The Guile of the Traveller

by Kingmaker'sUmbreon

After being hit by the Killing Curse, Harry finds herself in a limbo that looks a lot like Kings Cross station. Deciding that the remnant of Voldemort's soul does deserve a chance at redemption, Harry finds herself in London, 1944. However, Harry soon makes a name for herself, and discovers that adventure and drama followed her everywhere, including into the past.

41. Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Abraxas usually hated surprises, mainly because most people's idea of a surprise he found utterly unimaginative and tedious. However, the one that he got at six o'clock that Saturday morning was pleasant enough. Abraxas had awoken prematurely due to yet another set of interesting but heavy visions and the Malfoy heir had just finished having a shower and getting dressed when the swan Patronus of his twin sister gracefully flew into the room and landed in front of him.

"It is such a lovely morning," the swan spoke quietly in Loreley's silvery tone. "I would like to take a walk with you and Harry, if you both are not otherwise occupied or not asleep."

Abraxas frowned. This was most peculiar, but then again, today would be the day his Occlumency shields would be trained. Anyone who had talent with Legilimency could discover the truth about Harry Evans-Peverell's true identity, and Abraxas didn't fancy being the one having to explain how he knew about her status as a Traveller and not breathing a word about it. Naturally a Malfoy was under no obligation to explain themselves to anyone, but Abraxas also knew Tom Riddle was not a person to cross easily. He did not fancy vexing Riddle, whether he was Voldemort or not!

The Malfoy heir sighed and then summoned his own dinosaur Patronus, who looked around quickly for an enemy to fight, before turning to its caster. "Ask my sister where she wants to meet?" Abraxas whispered to the creature.

The dinosaur nodded curtly and disappeared through the door without delay. It was a good minute or two later – maybe it was longer – when the swan Patronus returned. "The Black Lake is looking magical this morning," was Loreley's answer.

Abraxas fetched his cloak, scarf and gloves as the swan faded away and slipped out of the dorm, quietly closing the door to make sure he didn't disturb any of the sleeping dragons inside. He subconsciously gave a quick glance towards Tom's dorm as he left as though he expected the burgundy-eyed boy to come to the door at any second. The Malfoy heir was semi-surprised to see the Lady Regnant of House Peverell waiting for him in the common room, wearing her military boots, scarf, gloves, ruana and cloak. She offered a small smile to him.

"Morning," Harry stated wryly.

"Good morning, my Lady," Abraxas replied formally, bowing his head curtly to her.

No doubt Harry rolled her eyes at his antics. "So, do I even want to know how your sister knew that the both of us are awake?" she asked lightly as they set off towards the Black Lake.

"I think you know the answer as well as I," Abraxas responded dryly.

"Touché," Harry half-chuckled. It seemed she insisted on continuing to make small talk. "Did you get any sleep at all?"

"Some," Abraxas responded candidly. "Not as much as I would have liked. Yourself?"

"Had a training session last night. When I did get to sleep, I had no nightmares, but a whole lot of visions," the Mistress of Death replied with a short, mirthless laugh as they stepped into the entrance hall of Hogwarts and headed towards the door.

Abraxas almost did not notice his own brow furrow. "Deaths?" he gauged.

"Indeed," he was surprised that the girl agreed so readily. It seemed that the Traveller enjoyed having a confessor with whom she could be completely open with. "I am only glad my Occlumency shields keep the rest of them at bay during the day, otherwise … well, I think you know yourself that it isn't a pretty sight."

"The Fainting Sickness," Abraxas clarified for himself. He then smiled smally. "You based it off what happens when you get your visions and what happened when Voldemort invaded your mind."

"Yes," the Mistress of Death confirmed quietly. She shouldn't have been surprised that the Sighted Malfoy knew about her former Horcrux connection with Voldemort; a vision likely had shown him the truth of the matter. Her tone then became lighter. "Though I have to say, my visions do come in useful during battles and dealing with teachers who can't take a hint."

Abraxas smirked as the two of them stepped out into the chilly November air. "Slughorn. Oh, dear Merlin!" Realisation hit him out of nowhere like a sharp bonk to the head. "You … you lowered your shields deliberately, didn't you?" he could not keep the awe out of his voice. "You used your Sickness as a distraction tactic to ensure Tom didn't have to go near the Amortentia!"

The evil, cunning smirk on the Lady Regnant's face was all the confirmation Abraxas needed.

The Malfoy heir let out some air, chuckling. "Wow. Well played, my Lady. Very well played indeed!"

"Thank you very much, Heir Malfoy," Harry answered happily, looking very pleased with herself.

Abraxas smiled to himself. "I probably should not tell you this, considering the fact it could get me cursed, but Tom … if he knew what you had done, he would appreciate it – highly. He probably wouldn't be too happy you did that to yourself deliberately though. When you collapsed, he was extremely worried about you. I daresay even," Abraxas sighed in disbelief, "scared."

Harry's own expression didn't alter all too much.

"I don't see why. Tom Riddle isn't scared of anything except of death," the Traveller answered in a tone that somehow sounded both melancholy yet fond.

"Perhaps," Abraxas knew that he couldn't convince the stubborn girl otherwise at present and he was not going to engage in that battle of wills before he had some coffee and breakfast.

Fortunately that conversation was cut short because the both of them soon met with Loreley, whose nose was already a little red because of the cold, who greeted them both with a bright smile. "Good morning, brother! Good morning, Harry. Thank you so much for obliging me."

"Turning down such a tempting invitation is rude," Harry shrugged slightly, squinting her eyes a little in the November sun and shielding her eyes from the rays as she looked over the Lake. "You're right; the Black Lake does look rather magical this morning."

"But we both know that you also don't make a habit of asking us for a walk," Abraxas wanted to get straight to the point, giving his twin a knowing look. "What is it, Loreley? What did you See?"

Harry looked away from the Black Lake with a frown. Loreley smiled smally as she gestured with her head for the two of them to follow her as they began to walk along the banks of the Black Lake. "We are going to get some very unwelcome guests at our family's Yule Ball this year," she stated, her usually whimsical tone now with a dark underlayer that made Abraxas and Harry exchange a look with each other.

"Unwelcome guests?" Harry repeated carefully. "What kind?"

Loreley turned to look at her fully at this. "Remember what I told you? The Elder Wand knows you're here," she stated, making the young semi-immortal frown slightly. "It is rebelling as much as it can against its current owner but that owner is getting rather fed up with its antics and has decided to try and speed up his search for the rest of the Hallows faster than my own visions anticipated."

Silver flashed momentarily in the Traveller's verdant orbs. Abraxas tried not to gulp at the look. "Grindelwald. He's coming to the Yule Ball?" Harry gauged in a dangerously calm tone.

This made Abraxas' eyes widen. Loreley, however, shook her head. "No, but Queenie and Vida will be in attendance, albeit disguised. No idea as who yet – the Weaves have not shown that to me."

"Either way, that could be a problem, especially since Queenie is a Natural Legilimens," Harry sighed as the three of them set off again.

"Agreed," Loreley concurred serenely and then smiled a little too angelically at Abraxas for his liking. "Which means, protecting your mind has become imperative, dear brother of mine!"

"As if that was not already the case," Abraxas refrained from rolling his eyes, instead giving his sister a pointed look.

"True, but it may be the case where you may have to train you shields to block out any sound from your memories to those who want to take a sneaky peak or to any invader who wants to rip the information from your mind," he was rather surprised when it was the Traveller who spoke, sounding colder than normal. "I was lucky that my own shields happened to be able to do that or the Aurors and Unspeakables in my meeting would have discovered my little secret and the game would have been up."

Abraxas actually snorted at this. "Some game you enjoy playing, my Lady."

Harry smirked. "What can I say? I have always lived rather dangerously."

"But your shields have your powers to fortify them," Loreley pointed out. "How could we do the same for Abraxas'?"

Those bright peridot eyes lit up instantly. "Simple. Extra walls and fortifications around the words people speak. Riddles, even. Anything that will make it so much more difficult for people to get to the incriminating evidence."

Loreley beamed at this.

"You have a disturbing amount of knowledge about this," Abraxas paled, shaking his head.

"Speaking of having a disturbing amount of knowledge in one's head, did you happen to see anything fascinating during your dreams last night?" Harry grinned at him. "Or am I not privy to that kind of knowledge."

"Usually not, but considering the fact one of my visions was extremely pertinent to your family, I think I can make an exception in one case," the Sighted Malfoy heir smiled wryly. "I saw something rather interesting regarding Evren."

Both Harry and Loreley lit up at this

-Flashback-

Abraxas stood in a sunlit room – a chamber that was a combination of study and personal library – and Watched Evren Peverell working on something at the desk while a young man who was practically a male counterpart to her and his wife, a woman with odd violet eyes and blonde hair, sat nearby. Abraxas got the distinct feeling, someone was about to be ambushed.

Indeed, the door to the study-library opened and he Saw an imperious man with some very familiar features – silver blonde hair, prideful grey-blue eyes and air of confidence – came striding into the room, looking miffed at the fact he had been clearly summoned.

"What is the meaning of this, Lady Peverell?" the Malfoy ancestor demanded. "I have much more pressing matters-"

"Yes, I am sure you do, Lord Malfoy," Evren interrupted with an impressively bored drawl, not looking up from her work as she signed and sealed whatever document she had been working on. Only then did Evren deign to raise her head. "Tis quite unfortunate that the matter that I wish to discuss with Your Lordship is of equal import, perhaps more."

Lord Malfoy glowered at her and then turned to the other two Peverells in the room. "Lady Margaret, may I offer my sincerest congratulations on your wonderful news? A new magical child is a treasure. As for thee, Thomas, you permit your sister to treat a Lord in this manner?"

"Considering Your Lordship has been in our acquaintance for a good few years now, I would expect Your Lordship to know the answer to thy own query," Thomas Peverell answered easily with a small smile as Margaret regarded the man coldly.

Evren sat back in her chair, keeping an unblinking gaze on the Malfoy Lord. "A report of an alarming nature has reached me. I can only thank Merlin, Morgana and any deity who had the grace to offer their boon and favour for the diligence of dear Francis' women in this matter, for I have been counselled that Your Lordship intends to court Her Majesty for her hand. Is this true, Lucius?"

Lucius Malfoy's lips pursed and he turned a nasty shade of white. "Francis Walsingham never learned not to meddle in affairs that do not concern him."

Evren chuckled coldly. "That is where thou art mistaken, Lucius. These 'affairs' regard the Queen's Majesty, which most certainly is of Master Walsingham's concern, as they are ours!" The young Peverell was suddenly on her feet, eyes dancing dangerously with power. "Have you even considered the ramifications for one of our kind marrying a Monarch – any kind of Monarch? Did you not heed the lessons the Saint-Pols were forced to learn with haste? You are risking the exposure of us all! Not just every single one of our kind on this great isle, but of witch kind everywhere. Unfortunately, that seems to be the least of thy offences."

Lord Malfoy had the decency to gulp at this point. Abraxas once more couldn't help but note the scary similarities between Evren and Hera at this point.

Thomas Peverell stepped forth with a vial, which made the Malfoy ancestor look set to bolt for the door. "We are rather fortunate my dear Margaret has some very loyal friends," he stated silkily. "Otherwise we would have had to be placed in the unfortunate position of confessing to Lord Burghley the existence of love potions and now we do not wish for anyone to be put into that position."

Lord Malfoy almost looked set to faint at this point.

"Poisoning the Queen is treason, as Your Lordship is well aware of," Evren snarled dangerously.

Even Abraxas was a little affronted when his ancestor had the nerve to look shocked. "I did not poison Her Majesty-"

"Yet," Lady Margaret Peverell stated silkily. "Have you considered what you could have done should Her Majesty have conceived any child? Children conceived under enchantment are a dangerous liability! We know not what they are or are not capable of. A liability on the throne? One should not countenance that prospect."

"A wife should know to hold her tongue," Lord Malfoy condescended through gritted teeth.

"A Malfoy wife, perhaps," Evren smirked. "How fortuitous that Lady Swinton married into House Peverell where a wife is an advisor and ally as well as heir producer." Lord Malfoy glared at her but she took no notice. "By right we should inform Lord Burghley of the plot on Her Majesty's person and have Your Lordship tried for treason but that will put all our relations with the Muggles and the Royal Family in jeopardy. Frankly, I also do not wish to read about a Malfoy execution in Court records. So, here is what you will do: you will drop all ambitions to be King Consort of England, you will marry a wife of Margaret's suggestion and you will endeavour to keep thy family out of the public eye before Muggle court scribes decide to cause problems."

Lucius Malfoy was suddenly quite pink with rage. "Thou art an arrogant, presumptuous little carbuncle!"

"Do not prove thy wit to be as thick as a Tewkesbury mustard, Lucius," Thomas snapped. "It is this, or watch thy House fall into infamy!"

Abraxas Watched as Lucius glowered menacingly at the three Peverells before swishing his cloak and stomping out like a dismissed school child, all three Peverells shaking their heads in utter disbelief.

"William was most certainly on the mark with that sentiment about dear Lucius," Evren chuckled.

"Let us pray to Merlin that tis the end of it," Lady Margaret added. "I would hate to see another execution."

-Flashback ends-

"Avalon's divine apples!" Harry laughed in disbelief. "My ancestors stopped a plot by your ancestor to marry Queen Elizabeth using a damn love potion? I am almost angry at my ancestors for being so good at their job because this kind of stuff is epic to know!"

"Lord Lucius Malfoy I was not the brightest knife in the drawer," Loreley sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "But he at least kept his word. He ended up marrying Georgiana Diggory, who also happened to be a close connection of the Lady Margaret's. "

"Of course she was," Harry snorted. "The Peverells were always going to ensure they had a spy in Lucius' household to make sure he behaved himself."

Abraxas shook his head at the idiocy of his own ancestor. "He was out of his wits. No amount of power is worth having to deal with a tempestuous Tudor Queen!"

Harry and Loreley snorted at that statement.

"I think you should be more worried about heirs of the throne being ridiculed for their hair colour!" Harry quipped. "'Are you sure this is Her Majesty's child? It looks like there is a dead ferret on his-or-her head!'"

Loreley laughed loudly but Abraxas spluttered. "How very dare you!"

"Oh come on, the Tudors going from flame red hair to having hair that looks like it was dyed by the moon? No one wants that!" Harry had to defend herself from a few minor curses and jinxes that were being sent at her for that comment. The Lady Regnant laughed the whole while.

Once Abraxas had calmed down, the trio continued their walk for a little bit longer, talking about the disastrous performance of Ravenclaw – with Loreley informing she had had actually seen far more casualties caused by Davies and Court than had actually happened due to the weather changes – as well as the possible choices for the new Slytherin Seeker that Avery had open to him. Harry and Abraxas couldn't decide whether to be thrilled or worried when Loreley suggested to them that they should tell Avery to try someone from War's year.

The trio only turned back to the castle when Loreley foresaw the rest of the student body and the faculty begin emerging from the Realm of Hypnos and the elves already putting food out for the no doubt ravenously hungry teenagers that were waking up. Abraxas had opted to join his sister and the Mistress of Death once more for breakfast, slightly regretting it when Artemis, the Weasley twins, Minerva and the Prewetts joined them. Gryffindors had never mastered the art of controlling the volume of their voices and it was too early in the morning to deal with their unbridled enthusiasm.

He was definitely regretting it when the Lions immediately tried to get the conversation to go in a Quidditch direction. Harry, who was definitely more of a Quidditch fan than Abraxas, also switched off at that point, preferring to be absorbed into her sketch book and doodles once more. Abraxas almost envied her ability to just switch off for a while and regretted not bringing a book with him so he would have something to distract him as well. He would soon need it.

"Good morning! Oh there you two are! Walburga, Druella, Ophelia and Ygraine have been searching all over for you, Harry, as have Altair, Arcturus and Tom. HEY GUYS! I FOUND THEM! Where were you anyway?"

Orion Black had arrived.

Goodie. Now Abraxas definitely needed some herbal tea for his newly formed headache. He tried to ignore the fond smile Loreley was shooting his way. It was definitely too early in the morning to deal with Mr. Hyperactive.

"Orion, tone it down!" Minerva stated sharply, pouring herself some coffee. At least Abraxas was not alone in Camp Cannot Tolerate a Bouncy Orion Early In The Morning. The Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black at least had the good sense to shut up and begin making himself some jam and toast.

Unfortunately, Harry's girls didn't get Minerva's memo. "Where were you?!" the four of them chorused as soon as they reached the Gryffindor table, causing even the young Lady Regnant to flinch slightly as she looked up.

"I was out on a walk with Loreley and Abraxas," Harry informed them easily with a shrug. "The morning was very fine and the three of us were awake anyway so we just walked along the Black Lake. Why? Should I have left a note or something?" The Traveller sounded a bit too innocent for Abraxas' ears.

"A quick note would have been nice," Druella admitted, smirking slightly in Altair and Tom's direction, who were pointedly avoiding her gaze, as the girls sat down. "There was almost a full search party for the two of you."

Abraxas scoffed. "Do not be so melodramatic. It was a walk. Nothing more."

"Indeed," Loreley sighed wistfully. "I do love sunrises on the best of days and the chipper weather is wonderfully refreshing."

"Yes, but a certain Lady Regnant that we all know and love has a propensity for making disappearing acts," Ygraine pointed out with a raised eyebrow in Harry's direction. The witch in question continued sketching as though she wasn't being addressed, smiling a little to herself.

As for Nott and Tom, they were not looking best pleased. Abraxas could only guess why, but he was not liking the cold looks that were being sent in his direction. Fortunately, Harry knew how to distract them by showing them a few of her portraits she had been making. Unfortunately, Loreley's smirk had grown into an evil grin at this stage.

In that moment, Abraxas knew he had inadvertently been made a patsy in one of his sister's experiments.

Bloody hell. Why could he not just have a quiet morning?

########################################

The group of Slytherins, one Gryffindor and one Ravenclaw split off from the rest of the group of students heading towards Hogsmeade village, the Slytherin girls leading the way into the Forbidden Forest and towards their gazebo. Dolohov and Felix were quietly complaining about it being cold and the girls perhaps choosing another practise place the next time. They were quickly silenced by a glare each from Tom.

Altair, followed by Arcturus, caught up quickly to Harry. "What did you talk about with Loreley and her brother?"

"Altair, really!" Arcturus rolled his eyes.

Harry smiled at their antics. "We discussed our ability to sleep, or not sleep, the Yule Ball, some Malfoy family stories that include my ancestors, the shambles that was the Ravenclaw Quidditch team," the two boys snorted at this, "and – well, anything and nothing really."

"Oh? Which Malfoy dared to cross the Peverells?" Altair asked with a mischievous smirk.

"Lucius Malfoy I if you must know," Harry chuckled lightly. "He made plans to win Queen Elizabeth I's hand, though … not in the most gentlemanly or noble manner."

"What did he do?" Arcturus had thrown decorum to the wind because of his curiosity.

"He tried to poison the Queen with love potion, only Evren, her brother Thomas and his wife Margaret were able to stop him because of the women in Francis Walsingham's spy network reading Lucius Malfoy's letters," Harry explained.

"Merlin!" Altair gaped, Arcturus looking just as scandalised. "That sounds like an epic story right there on its own."

"Indeed," Harry chuckled. "Would have made a good 'talkie movie', as Billy would say."

"Please tell me that Evren hexed the slimeball into the next century," Arcturus stated, a gleeful glint in his eyes.

"Nope, she didn't but I am pretty sure she wanted to," Harry chuckled as the group filed into the gazebo and girls immediately started conjuring pillows for everyone to sit on. "She basically told him to settle with a wife more on his level and told him to keep his face out of the public eye enough so the Muggles would not catch wind of our kind's existence."

"Ouch! And for a woman back then to do that? Wow, that woman had a spine," Altair marvelled with his usually bright, adorable grin.

"You can say that again!" Arcturus agreed, shaking his head. "Well, I officially am no longer surprised that Harry Evans-Peverell is a chip off the old block. James Peverell may have blood adopted you but it's obvious a lot of the Peverell blood is there in you."

"Peverell blood plus Lily Evans equals one scary Harry," Altair laughed.

Harry flushed but smiled brightly with pride.

"Harry, is this perhaps by chance the same place where you dealt with that stupid Time Compass?" Malum asked as Druella, Walburga, Ophelia and Ygraine began passing out the books on Occlumency and Legilimency.

"Indeed, yes," Harry admitted, nodding with a small, embarrassed smile. She tried to squash some of the latent anger that she felt towards the sentient Time Turner and the fact it did happen to get a last laugh. "Stupid bloody thing."

The venom was noted by everyone. Altair gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. It was a good thing that Druella took the hint and started the lesson on Occlumency, focusing on getting Tom, Loreley, Artemis and the Knights to build up the foundations for the defences and start building from there. As for Harry, Orion and Altair, Walburga and Ophelia put them through a crash course of Legilimency, which took all three by surprise. Ygraine had agreed to be their test dummy.

Orion had only managed to break through one of Ygraine's defences on the third try, much to the White heiress's delight. Altair seemed to struggle to navigate her mind because it took him five tries to find the weaknesses in Ygraine's defences, much to his own frustration.

"You're doing very well," Ophelia reassured when she saw the sour, frustrated expression on the Nott heir's face. "It took us ages to get this right and we had to do everything ourselves! You have no idea the amount of frustration we went through that first Saturday-"

"I think books were almost thrown around," Harry commented teasingly.

"It wasn't that bad!" Ygraine laughed as Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Not yet anyway."

"OK, Harry, your turn," Ophelia stated.

Harry felt her heart sink a little. The last time she had done Legilimency on someone, it didn't go very well. The prospect of seeing something that could potentially humiliate her friend was not something Harry was looking forward to.

"Harry, what is it?" Altair asked gently, his voice almost a whisper.

Orion and Ophelia frowned too, concern in their eyes. Ygraine, though, seemed to know what the problem was and smiled at her friend reassuringly. "It's OK. Harry, I trust you. It's OK," she encouraged her frightened friend.

Eventually, Harry raised her wand towards Ygraine's eyes and made sure to make eye contact, swallowing slightly. "Legilimens."

In a matter of seconds, Harry was delving into her friend's mind. When it came to feeling around for emotions, the Lady Regnant was met with some firm resistance. Almost purely by accident, she stumbled into a memory Ygraine had not guarded closely enough. Ygraine had eavesdropped on an argument between her parents two years ago.

"We are treating our only daughter and child no better than a heifer!"

"I know, my love, but what can be done? Our Veela heritage … it scares people."

"Why is it so bad that we simply not let Ygraine choose with whom she spends the rest of her life? We got to choose!"

"We are also mates, Zoë. That is rare, as you well know."

Harry withdrew out of her friend's head, staggering back a little and meeting Ygraine's kind and gentle expression.

"Did she manage to get past your defences?" Ophelia asked, looking a little apologetic at this point.

"She did," Ygraine confirmed with a small smile.

Druella came over at that point. "Would you say these three are ready to help test our new students' shields?" she asked eagerly.

Orion and Altair looked a little daunted and Harry suddenly felt nothing but dread. Ophelia and Walburga however were beaming quite brightly. "I would say that they are. It would be good practise for them," Walburga stated.

Druella grinned. "Excellent! Now let's see … Orion, try and get into Lestrange's head. Ygraine, you will try to get into Heir Malfoy's head. Ophelia, I think you should take Loreley. Wally, do you think you can get into Mulciber's head?"

Walburga scoffed. "I think I can try," she stated wryly with a small smile.

"Good! Then, Altair, you will be paired with Artemis – yes, that is a good idea – I think I will try to get into Avery's head and Harry, my friend, you will test dear old Riddle's defences. Dolohov, you and my dear brother will have to wait your turn, I'm afraid."

"Thank Mordred for that!" Dolohov sighed with relief.

Orion and Altair were relieved with their pairings, as were Heron and Artemis. But Harry, she suddenly felt her heart trying to escape her rib cage and a thousand different butterflies flying through her stomach. Voldemort had invaded her mind and taken pleasure in it … but this was not Voldemort, at least not yet. This was Tom, who, when she met his eyes, gave a warm smile. She stood rooted to the spot for what felt like an eternity until her legs began to move almost on their own.

"Forgive me," Harry stated as stepped towards him and drew her wand.

"I trust you," came the surprisingly soothing answer and encouraging smile.

Harry plucked what little courage she had – green eyes meeting burgundy – and pointing her wand towards Tom. "Legilimens."

Tom's mind was logical, ordered but there was an odd coldness in it that almost made Harry want to flee because of how hostile it felt. She soon came across a mental swamp that no doubt had some of his thoughts, emotions and memories lurking beneath. Feeling ever so slightly curious, she dived into the water. Almost immediately she was met with resistance from mental water snakes, the creatures wrapping around her legs and trying to bite at her, but Harry was able to fight them off.

Not long afterwards, she came across the first memory of a young Tom.

The room was cold; the floor most of all. Very little sunlight spilled into the room. Tom was around seven, angry, cold, wet and wrapped in a towel with an angry matron-like woman standing over him in an ugly, barren-looking bathroom with only a shower, one bathtub and multiple wash basins.

"- is that you have not learned your lesson? Your mother gave her life to birth you and you honour her sacrifice with your devilishness, you ungrateful spawn? How disappointed she would be to learn how wicked her only son is! No mother could love a wicked son! Are you even surprised that no one has come for you? No one wishes to adopt a wicked child!"

Tom flinched with every word.

Hearing enough, Harry forced herself out of the memory, disgusted at what she had seen, and soon found herself throwing the snakes off as she swam towards the shadow of another memory, this time the water itself trying to impede her by freezing. The issue was, Harry was a pretty decent swimmer, even in someone's head apparently, and she got to the memory quicker than Tom's defences could stop her.

Tom, this time around eight, was in the garden behind the orphanage, reading a book on animals from the meagre orphanage library, frowning darkly. He had once again be blamed for something Amy Benson and Billy Stubbs had done – of course, Mrs. Cole had taken their side again.

*It's a long way to Tipperary, it's a long way to go,* came the strange, hissing-like singing from in grass. *It's a long way to Tipperary, to the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly, farewell Leicester Square! It's a long, long way to Tipperary but my heart's right there!*

*Could you stop singing? I am trying to read!* Tom huffed, annoyed at being disturbed.

The grass snake stopped in shock. *A Speaker! Praise be to Python!*

*Speaker?* Tom frowned. *What's a Speaker?*

*Stupid hatchling, did your nest mother never tell you?* the grass snake huffed. *A Speaker is one who can Speak the Sacred Serpent Tongue.*

*I am not stupid,* Tom retorted indignantly. *I just didn't know.*

*Well, now you do,* the snake stated grandly.

Tom smiled. *So … others cannot Speak this language?*

*Only the rarest of walkers,* the snake informed. *I myself have known less than two Speakers.*

Tom smiled brightly at this. Unfortunately, he had a witness.

"Tom, what are you doing?" a blonde-blue-eyed boy with a sour face and rabbit, Billy Stubbs, demanded. "Are you talking to a snake, you freak?"

Tom glared at him. "Go away, Billy. I am not a freak!"

Billy scoffed. "Yes, you are. We all know you are. I am going to get Mrs. Cole and tell her you have been talking to that snake!"

"No, please, don't!" Tom begged but Billy didn't listen.

*Hatchling, what is it?* the snake asked, looking worried.

*Billy heard us talking,* Tom answered urgently. *Quick, you need to leave before Mrs. Cole gets here.*

The snake pouted, still not understanding the danger. *But I always come to this garden.*

*You can come back tomorrow!* Tom tried to bargain. *But you need to leave-*

"TOM!"

"Oh no," Tom muttered.

*Your nest mother sounds angry.*

Tom glared at the snake for the first time. *She is NOT my mother!*

"Tom, stop this unholy nonsense immediately!" Mrs. Cole snapped. "Speaking to a snake – how many times does it need to be taught to you that the creatures are emissaries of Satan? You wicked, wicked, child! You will go without dinner tonight as penance."

To Harry and Tom's horror, Mrs. Cole snatched the snake up from the grass, the poor creature hissing erratically. *What is going on? Put me down, walker! Put me down I say! Help-*

She began slowly suffocating the poor snake to death.

This time, Harry was yanked out of the memory as though she had been taken by the scruff of her neck. Not only that, but she was thrown back out of the water and onto the swamp back and Harry took the hint to withdraw out of Tom's head. Once she did, Harry felt herself take a few steps back away from him when he tried to help her despite Tom looking more concerned about her welfare than the fact she had seen some horrifying memories.

"Harry," he stated gently as he took a tentative step towards her, as though he were approaching a startled doe.

"Don't … please don't," Harry backed away, and took a few fortifying breathes, trying to ignore the urge to be sick all over the gazebo floor. "This was a bad idea …"

"You were in there ages, Evans," Dolohov commented from the sides. "Rosier and I thought you might be stuck inside there for a moment!"

"She wasn't, she got through my mental swamp," Tom informed him coolly. He turned to Harry with a small smile. "I think I may need to put some mental Dugbogs or something in there!"

Harry for once couldn't smile back.

"How many memories did you put in your swamp?" Druella, who had long finished invading Avery's mind – much to his embarrassment – asked eagerly.

"Three," Tom admitted readily. "Harry managed to get to two of them before I kicked her out."

"Oh well done, you two!" Walburga clapped enthusiastically. Mulciber was messaging his own temples and keeping his eyes to the ground, no doubt unhappy and ashamed at what Walburga had witnessed. She then noticed the state of her friend and frowned. "Harry, are you all right?"

The Lady Regnant shook her despondently. "I … don't have the stomach for this," she admitted weakly. "This is a step beyond invading someone's personal space …"

Druella gave her a sympathetic look. "We can switch roles if you want to. Have Riddle test your shields?"

Tom gave her a slightly cool look. "I think we should give her a moment to catch her breath, don't you?" he suggested with a slight tone of authority in his voice.

The Rosier heiress raised an eyebrow sassily at him but didn't argue with him. Harry immediately lowered herself back onto one of the cushions. Tom didn't hesitate to sit down next to her but she kept her eyes to the floor of gazebo.

"What's wrong?" she heard him ask gently and kindly.

"I shouldn't be looking into your head," Harry's breath quivered as she answered. "This shouldn't be what we do with our Saturday morning. We shouldn't even need to learn Occlumency! Why is this world so fucked up?! … Sorry, bit too strong there."

"It's perfectly fine," Tom reassured her gently, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Harry dared to raise her eyes to his. "How can you sit there so calmly considering what I just saw?"

"Because I trust you. I was not lying about that," Tom smiled brightly at her. "Would you like to try again, or can I have the honours of testing your barriers?"

It was at this point the Gryffindor stubbornness in her arose once more and she sighed sharply. "I will try one more time and then you can try."

"That's the Harry we know and love," he stated with a grin as Harry raised her wand once more towards him.

"Legilimens!"

Harry fell into a different part of Tom's mind only this time she stood on the rocks that stuck out of some very choppy waters. Once more she was getting flashbacks to when she and Dumbledore were hunting the Locket Horcrux because there were some serious similarities between this mental sea and the seaside Tom visited as child.

What is it with this guy and water? Harry found herself thinking.

Once more, Harry dived in and began searching the murky depths for anything that resembled a memory. That is, until she came across something that looked like a treasure chest. A chest, guarded by a bloody mental Leviathan.

Well, damn, Harry thought. And then she had a thought – what if the memory wasn't in the chest at all but inside the maw of the beast? A treasure chest was too obvious and Tom didn't like being predictable. Putting a memory inside a creature would be typical of Tom to do. So, bracing herself, Harry swam straight for the giant serpentine beast. As did so, mental seaweed once more tried to coil around her but Harry was determined to get to the beast so fought the seaweed's restraints as it tried to bind her legs and arms.

The Leviathan roared, thinking it would scare her off but it didn't; Harry disappeared down its maw and fell straight into a memory that Tom would not want just anyone to see.

Sixteen-year-old Tom was standing in a grand dining room with a man who looked too much like him to deny that he was Tom Riddle Senior and a well-dressed aged man and woman, who regarded with a look of absolute shock. The seated family had just started on dessert but the puddings were being forgotten.

"Who are you?" the elderly gentleman demanded, glaring at the stranger who resembled his own son uncannily.

Tom had smirked slightly. "My mother named me for my father and hers: Tom Marvolo Riddle. I am your grandson."

The Riddle family's faces turned ashen.

The woman, Tom Riddle Senior's mother, looked at her son in disbelief. "You told us that the woman was not with child!"

Riddle Senior flushed in embarrassment and set his jaws. "She bewitched me, Mother. I had no reason to care for the bastard that was not mine by choice. This boy is not my son. He will never be my son!"

Anger, hate, hurt, rejection, vengeance ran through Harry's veins – Tom's emotions in that moment, she quickly realised. She hadn't felt them in the two previous memories.

"You begot a child with that woman, witchcraft or not!" Tom's grandmother stated firmly. "Be a man, Thomas. I raised you to be better than this!"

"I will not have this house soiled by a bastard, Mary," her husband argued.

"Thomas!" Mary Riddle snapped.

Tom's father regarded him coldly. "Here, boy, I will give you a parting gift. I forgot to burn this – I was going to do so tonight – so you might as well have it."

Practically tossed across the sumptuous oak table was a photograph. A photograph of a young woman who was absolutely not classically beautiful, but nor was she a tremendous eye soar. Her face was gaunt but her dark eyes looked semi happy and the smile was genuine. It was perhaps the happiest Merope Gaunt had ever looked.

"Mother," Tom whispered.

Confusion, sadness, awe. Anger.

"You can tell that good-for-nothing common witch that I wish to hear nothing from either of you ever again and that if either of you ever both me again, I will have you arrested," Tom Riddle Senior stated harshly.

Tom's face darkened and his eyes flashed red. "Your

wife is dead. She gave her life giving birth to me in a dark, dingy orphanage where I was left to rot!"

"She was never my wife! How could she be? She was common, had a mad family and no looks to speak of," his father sneered. "I will never acknowledge you as my son! You mean nothing to me."

Anger, hate, hurt, rejection -

"I see."

Kill.

The moment Harry felt the murderous inclination she was hoovered up out of the Leviathan's stomach, forced back out of the sea and Harry actually fell back onto the gazebo floor with the force with which Tom had pushed her out. Fortunately she had been sitting down so the impact wasn't quite as hard as it could have been.

"Shit. Harry! You OK?" Malum, who had seen it happen, called.

"Yep. Yeah, perfectly fine," Harry answered meekly with some embarrassment, as she was lifted up easily. To her surprise, the person who had helped her, was Tom. Her peridot eyes met the burgundy orbs of Tom, who looked a mixture of scared, concerned, and … regretful.

"Are you OK?" he asked quietly.

Harry gave him a reassuring smile. "Yes." She took a deep breath, her breath quivering ever so slightly with adrenaline. "Shall we switch roles now?" Harry asked trying to sound as casual she could manage.

Tom gave her look of abject confusion before his countenance relaxed and the smile slowly returned. "Yes, but only if-"

Then the words came out of her mouth before Harry even realised what she had said. "I trust you."

################################

Tom had not expected Harry to take to Legilimency like a literal fish to water. Admittedly, he needed to work on his defences but Harry was clearly a natural at Mind Magics, despite her absolute loathing of the art. He hadn't expected her to find the Sea of Secrets, as he now called the mental sea with the memory-creatures inside it, nor had he expected Harry to actually suss out his trick so quickly. And the memory inside … how could he have not put better defences around it?!

How could he have been so stupid?

Tom had waited for the disgust and hatred in those beautiful verdant eyes for the emotions and the desire to kill she no doubt felt in the moment just as he had – it was the one memory he could never conceal his emotions from. But despite the fact she no doubt felt how angry and murderous he had been, Harry didn't so much as flinch away from him as he drew his wand and pointed it at her. He was not going to use his wandless Legilimency on her just yet.

I trust you.

His words had been reassurances; hers felt like some kind of oath. An oath Tom intended to honour.

"Legilimens!"

Almost as soon as he was inside, Tom was hounded by a mental version of Athenaïs and Hedwig, he guessed since he knew Harry's first familiar had been a snowy owl and the bird with the Gargouille, was a snowy owl.

"Out, get out! We will bite you and peck you; get out!"

Bloody hell, these things are vicious, Tom complained. As he got too close to some more off limits memories, he ran into another one of her defences. OWW! Lightning?! Really, Harry?

However, the lightning and the mental familiars chased him into place that looked very much like the Forbidden Forest, only somehow it looked and felt heavier. As he went further in, in a bid to shake off the defences, Tom started to be plagued with feelings that were not his own but felt very much like his own.

Hate. Hatred, for the spotlight. Hatred for not growing up normally.

Despair. Trying to protect loved ones, and failing …

Grief. Grief for Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Neville, the twins … countless others.

Fear. Fear of fear itself …

Revenge. Revenge on Avery … Revenge on the Dark Lord, Vida Rosier, Queenie Goldstein and Credence Barebone… revenge on her Muggle family…

Jealousy. Jealous of Ron and his warm family, jealous of Luna's ability to not care about other's opinion.

Insecurity. Not worthy of love or loyalty; has to constantly prove herself and put others first.

Depression. Who is going to betray me today? Oh no one has died today; good.

… Suicidal. My death would solve a lot of problems …

With each one, Tom felt tears almost prick in his eyes and actually felt his heart sink. It actually came to the point where he couldn't take the myriad of negative feelings, especially when it came to the feelings of depression and the inclination to snuff out one's own life and Tom forced himself out of Harry's head.

The Heir of Slytherin looked at the young Lady Regnant in utter disbelief. She in turn smiled smally.

"Tom! You were away for a while. Did you get past her defences?" Walburga asked eagerly.

"I saw no memories or thoughts, unfortunately. But it seems I did manage to find some feelings that Harry would rather not talk about," Tom admitted carefully to which Harry smiled gratefully.

"Good kind or bad?" Druella wanted to know.

"Bad," was all Tom was willing to answer.

Walburga and Druella got the hint and went to check on Altair and Orion's progress, who had now moved onto Mulciber and Loreley respectively. Tom and Harry once more turned to look at each other.

"Do you want to try again?" Harry wanted to know, looking extremely apologetic. Like she had done something wrong by even feeling all of those things.

"Only if you are up to it," Tom responded firmly. "I will not do this otherwise."

"Harry, do you mind going into Dolohov's mind once you two are done?" Ygraine called over, making the Russian Knight blanche quite heavily. "Ophelia, you will take Druella's brother."

"Yes, ma'am," Ophelia answered easily.

"Sure," Harry called over quickly and then turned back with a small sigh. "OK. Let's go one more time."

"Are you sure?" Tom wanted it clarified one more time.

Harry smiled at him, the shine back in her eyes again. "Yes."

Tom this time simply looked into her eyes without raising his wand. "Legilimens!"

This time, Tom came face to face with a gigantic wall of thorns. It was pretty impressive, and pretty daunting – it stood there imperiously, clearly blocking his access to some potentially interesting but … delicate memories or thoughts. Tom walked for a bit, studying the wall to see if he could see a weak spot that could be taken advantage of or a gap that he could slip through. Eventually, he found one but Tom was forced to crawl in a manner akin to a soldier in a trench in order to do so; he did this seemingly without complaint. From there he found another gap, and then another, and a third. By this point, the wall of thorns did start to close in on him a bit. Tom had no idea why, until he started hearing the voices.

"It is time for Harry Hunting … Harry Hunting …"

"HERA! It is time to make dinner and don't you dare burn anything!"

"A useless freak who can't even make a good cuppa …"

"I am warning you now girl, any funny business – any at all – and you won't have any meals for week!"

"Who would want to be friends with you?"

"I will be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending that I don't exist."

"Harry … we meet again …"

The closer and closer Tom seemed to be in finding the exit to the forest of thorns, the louder and clearer the voices became and also more voices were thrown into the mix.

"I am Ron, by the way …"

"I am Hermione …"

"TREVOR! … Sorry …"

"You're not going mad. I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am."

"Don't worry, sis. We will send you a … toilet seat!"

Tom pushed on, despite the wall enclosing on him even more. Then he discovered a memory that had somehow been caught inside the defences instead of being put behind it.

Harry was sitting on a rock by the side of a lake, playing a fiddle, a look of despair and sadness written all over her face as she played the notes to the mystic, eerie tune that was a mix between Greensleeves and one of Luna's songs. She looked slightly different; must be the full moon glasses on her face.

Grief. Anger. Resentment. Fear. Self-loathing. Harry's emotions coursed through him easily.

"Harry, there you are! You are going to miss pudding."

Guilt.

Harry stopped playing and turned around to smile at Luna, who was dressed quite outlandishly and had no shoes on her feet. Nicked by Nargles again, no doubt.

"Hey, Luna. I am not really all that hungry."

Lie. Guilt.

Luna smiled serenely as she sat down beside her. "I thought so – I wasn't very hungry either after Mum died. What are you playing? It sounds familiar."

Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "Just something that popped into my head."

"Well, I think it is very pretty. Can you play something else too?" Luna requested.

Harry smiled smally. "Sure. What would you like?"

"Something happy. Something about being friends and loved ones," Luna sighed happily.

Grief. Guilt. Anger.

"I don't have many of any of those left," Harry whispered. "I … don't think I can."

"Well, then. We will take it one note at a time," Luna stated brightly. "You still have plenty of us, Harry. Plus, all of our loved ones never truly leave. They're in your heart, you know."

Melancholy.

"Sirius used to say that too …"

"And he was right," Luna gave her a gentle nudge. "Shall I sing first? That always seems to cheer you up."

Pang of happiness.

"Yes, please."

Luna smiled brightly and cleared her throat.

# A silver hue on wings of blue,
As all around me,
Shadows dance in light

Sun is high above,
And winds are still enough,
And all I want do is stay,

For seven days,
They make the sky,
Look down upon them,
As they go their way,

Sun is high above,
And winds are still enough,
And all I want do is stay,

For seven nights,
They wait the moment,
For the morning light to come again,

Sun is high above,
And winds are still enough,
And all I want do is stay,

And one by one,
They wander one by one,
Meander never go astray,

Sun is high above,
And winds are still enough,
And all I want do is stay #

Harry had almost subconsciously started playing by the third verse, most of the emotions giving way to only grief and a brief moment of happiness.

Tom unfortunately was forced out by the end of the song and, though he was annoyed that he only managed to see one memory to completion – almost – he had to credit Harry for her excellent defences.

"I think I understand why you got angry at the Compass," Tom confessed before he even realised he had.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah …"

"Caius, she's done! Get ready!" Felix laughed.

"Give me patience," Harry muttered, causing Tom to chuckle lightly.

################################

When both Dolohov and Harry looked utterly and completely traumatised when Harry had finally been thrown out of his head, Walburga, Druella, Ophelia and Ygraine decided to pull the plug on any further Occlumency and Legilimency training before the appetite for relaxing in Hogsmeade could disappear entirely, much to the palpable relief of everyone involved.

"Thank Mordred that is over! I am fucking starving," Felix commented jovially on the way.

"Three Broomsticks it is!" Dolohov added. "I need some proper hardy food."

"I actually just want a sandwich so I am going to Madam Paddifoot's," Artemis stated.

"I'll come too," Heron put in rather quickly.

While the girls and Orion immediately caught on as to why those two decided to go together, and tried to contain their glee and excitement, Malum didn't get the hint at all. "Oh, I think I will-"

Artemis and Heron deflated but they were soon rescued. "Malum, I heard that they have your favourite at the Broomsticks again!" Orion informed excitedly.

"Really?!" Malum perked up instantly. "OK, boys, guess I am coming too."

"I suppose I should come along to make sure you all behave yourselves," Abraxas sighed, looking slightly irritated with himself.

"Most of us ladies have one more thing to do before we can think about eating, I'm afraid," Walburga added. "We are going to check up on the rest of Harry's order – no, my dear, you can definitely go and have lunch. We don't need an angry, hungry Lady Regnant stomping about the village. Arcturus, Orion, would you be dears and help?"

"Of course, dear," Orion answered serenely.

"If I must," Arcturus sighed with a short laugh. He turned to Altair and Harry. "Where are you going for lunch?"

"Honestly? I just want to get out of here for a while, clear my head," Harry replied candidly. "Plus I saw that the café in Kelpie's Hollow has shepherd's pie last time and I didn't dare take it because we had slightly more pressing matters to deal with."

"I'll come with you," Altair offered immediately.

"I want to come as well, if I may," Tom added.

Harry lit up.

"We will see you three later then," Loreley sounded a whimsical as ever, but it was the knowing glint in her eyes that made Harry almost roll her eyes. "Be sure to visit some of the shops this time. They are stunning."

"Will do. Thanks, Lorri," Harry smiled lopsidedly.

"Have fun!" Orion and the other girls called, Walburga and Ophelia sounding very enthusiastic.

"Oh, I almost forgot – the next carriage to Kelpie's Hollow leaves in six minutes!" Loreley added.

Harry, Altair and Tom caught the carriage in record time. The coach driver had been rather amused. "Only three of yee this time? Well at least the journey will be much quieter than last time! Hahahahaha!" he teased as Altair and Harry took one side of the carriage and Tom decided to sit opposite them.

"Every coach ride without Orion Black is quieter than normal," Altair joked as their coach set off, causing Harry and Tom to chuckle.

"He's just enthusiastic, but sometimes it is a little tiring now and again," Harry confessed, looking a little ashamed for it. "But I also know that the day Orion stays quiet for an entire day is the day that something is badly wrong."

Altair cocked his head at an adorable angle. "Is that why you feel the need to leave for Kelpie's Hollow for a bit? Are we … suffocating you?"

Harry shook her head. "It's not that. I genuinely need to clear my head after …"

Her breath shuddered as she sighed, her eyes refusing to leave the carriage floor until she felt the person opposite take her hands in his. The Lady Regnant lifted her eyes to see the Gaunt ring on the ring finger of the right hand and she lifted her eyes further to meet Tom's serious, burgundy eyes.

"Something tells me this is not your first time with Legilimency," he observed with a tone of confidence.

Harry smiled wryly. "You would be correct as always, Mr. Riddle."

Altair frowned with concern. "Why do I get the impression that it wasn't a particularly good experience?"

"Because it wasn't," Harry laughed shortly. "My Potions tutor hated my guts and for some inexplicable reason, everyone thought it would be a good idea to let him be the one to teach me Occlumency, despite our animosity."

"Well, that is a disaster waiting to happen," Tom commented.

"Disaster is an understatement," Harry scoffed. "He plundered my mind like it was nothing. I wasn't taught proper shield construction techniques or reinforcement techniques. Not that he was interested in teaching me at all. He was using these 'lessons' as a golden opportunity to humiliate me, as he always did."

"Why?" Altair pressed, anger and disgust laced in his voice.

"Because he hated Papa and because I … reminded him of Mama. I only learned later it was because he had loved Mama too," Harry smiled sadly. "In a way, I do pity and admire him, but the man made a good few years of my life quite miserable. He made the lives of the rest of my friends difficult too. Neville was so scared of him, the man became his Boggart!"

Tom blinked in disbelief. "A teacher should never become the Boggart of his or her student! He must have been merciless."

"He was," Harry confirmed wryly. "But it was my experiences with him during my farce Occlumency training that made me … hate Legilimency. Nobody should be able to look into the head of another. It's just rude!"

The Traveller shivered. Tom's hands gave hers a reassuring squeeze.

Altair looked like he wanted to ask something pretty badly but was restraining himself from doing so. The Nott heir tried to distract himself from pushing the limits by looking out of the window, but both Tom and Harry noticed the shift in him.

"Nott, what is it?" Tom inquired gently.

Altair shook his head. "It's none of my business," he dismissed.

Tom and Harry's frowns were in perfect sync.

"Altair, what is it?" Harry repeated Tom's question.

The Nott heir stubbornly stayed silent for around thirty seconds before temptation got too great. "What … what did you two see in each other's heads?"

Harry and Tom exchanged a look. Altair wilted a little. "See? It's none of my business."

"Yes, it is," Harry contradicted with a small smile, freeing her left hand from Tom's and taking his right one and giving it a squeeze as soon as their fingers were interlocked. "Tom stumbled into my Forest of Dark Emotions. I … have some pretty powerful emotions and my darker ones – well, they scare the crap out of me so ever since the girls started teaching Occlumency, I decided to put them in their own little place. Some of those emotions – they're not pretty."

"Understatement," Tom scoffed.

"I suffered from bad depression two years ago," Harry admitted after taking a deep breath. "Mainly because of the demon toad and … Uncle Sirius dying. It was also soon after his death that I started to get the inclination to …"

Harry's voice trailed off; she didn't need to say it out loud because she already felt both Altair and Tom's strengthen their grip on her hands slightly.

"No," Altair growled. "You didn't … please tell me you didn't-"

"It was only ever thoughts," Harry promised with a small smile. "Stray thoughts to jump off a bridge or take a poison … I don't think I could have made an attempt because whenever the thoughts got really bad, somehow Luna just popped out of thin air to distract me."

"What about Ron and Hermione?" Tom frowned. "Ginny, Neville, the twins?"

Harry smiled sadly. "Who says they knew?"

Altair and Tom were whiter than fresh snow in seconds.

"You kept it a secret from your own friends?" Altair was in complete disbelief.

"I didn't want them to worry about me. Besides I would have been labelled as an attention seeker if anyone else found out. More to the point, I was not entitled to grief; I just had to be the good little soldier. No one follows a General who is damaged," Harry smiled coldly. "My tutor may not have taught me how to hide my memories or my thoughts but I was very good at compartmentalising my … darker urges."

Tom's eyes darkened. "If it ever comes back, will you promise to tell us? As soon as you even remotely suspect it coming back?"

Harry smiled and nodded. Altair and Tom relaxed slightly. Then Tom spoke again, much to her surprise. "Harry saw some rather unpleasant memories about my childhood … and my meeting with my birth father."

Altair gaped. Tom smiled coldly. "None of those memories ended well."

Harry snorted at that. "Understatement!"

Altair nodded. "Knowing the hellhole you're stuck in, I can only imagine. But your father-"

"Was a useless piece of garbage," Harry found herself state with a tone of authority. Her peridot eyes had flashed dangerously at this point. "He said some unforgiveable things about Tom and his mother. I won't even repeat it because it's private to Tom."

To her surprise, it was Tom who confessed. "He called me a bastard, said that he was never married to my mother because she bewitched him and that I mean nothing to him because I was not his by choice."

Altair's eyes flashed dangerously and Harry swore the window cracked slightly. She knew why; this was hitting close to home for Altair. A father disowning a son. "Why that foul, loathsome, filthy earth worm! Abandoning his child simply because he unwillingly married someone? Wait till I ever get my hands on him!"

"I don't think we ever have to worry about him again," Harry reassured him with a gentle, soothing squeeze of the hand.

Tom regarded her with a look of shock.

Not long afterwards, the carriage came to a halt and the three Slytherins hopped out, Tom helping his two companions out. None of them noticed the coach driver chuckle at the blushes on Harry and Altair's cheeks.

Harry was very happy to be back in Kelpie's Hollow and was even happier when the three of them had managed to get the last table in the café, which was already busy with lunchtime guests. Their waiter, who remembered them from their last visit, made some small talk while taking their orders, quite amused at Harry's enthusiasm for the shepherd's pie.

As soon as the waiter was gone, the Traveller looked tentatively at the burgundy-eyed boy sitting opposite her. "Do you still want to play our little question game?"

Tom smiled brightly at her. "Of course. I don't want things to become strange between us because of … what we saw."

Harry nodded and bit her lower lip for a moment. "Are you willing to talk about your mother?"

Altair breathed in sharply. Tom's eyes saddened but there was no hint of anger in those eyes and his hands curled momentarily. "What would you like to know?"

"Anything," Harry shrugged. "When did you find out who she was? What … did the orphanage tell you about her?"

Tom pursed his lips for a moment and momentarily seemed to be fighting an internal conflict before answering. "My mother was Merope Gaunt. I discovered the truth during fifth year – right at the start actually. It was by accident, almost. I always assumed it was my father who was the magically blooded one but then I found newspaper clippings about the Gaunts." He took a fortifying breath. "As for what the orphanage told me about her, I was told by Mrs. Cole that she was a circus worker."

Both Altair and Harry couldn't help snort at that, shaking their heads. Tom continued. "I know my mother was damaged – I was always told how sad and defeated she looked, even after giving birth to me. She died an hour later instead of fighting to stay alive."

An old conversation between her and Dumbledore rang in Harry's ears at this point.

"Merope refused to raise her wand even to save her own life."

"She wouldn't ever stay alive for her son?"

"Could you possibly be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?"

Harry's answer had definitely changed. Well, it hadn't changed but now she could admit it to herself. Yes.

She hadn't expected Tom to continue. "I often wonder why she didn't heal herself. Instead, she sold what little possessions she had and fled, eventually ending up at a London orphanage to give birth to her child."

"Maybe she didn't know how to?" Altair suggested gently. "The ability to heal oneself requires a lot of power and skill."

"Or maybe she used the last strength she had to make sure her son would survive if she didn't," Harry stated. That took Tom by surprise.

"But why not use that strength to save herself too?" Tom questioned, sounding more lost than she had ever heard anyone.

Harry smiled sadly. "Because some people lack the courage to save themselves. They will sacrifice themselves, even if it causes the rest of the people around them to suffer long term. It's sad, but it's just the truth."

It was fortuitous indeed that the coffees came at this point. Harry and Tom thanked their waiter but Altair looked at his coffee despondently. "I sometimes wish my mother would save herself from her own grief and simply request a formal separation from my father," he stated as soon as the waiter was out of earshot.

This took Tom by surprise. Harry smiled sadly at Altair.

The Nott heir scoffed coldly. "The issue is my mother is a loyal woman. She was a Hufflepuff in her time for a reason. She still thinks that my father will do his duty to his family. I am too scared of dispelling her illusion for fear of the fall out, thus I am stuck watching my mother be quietly humiliated."

"The rift between your parents is that serious?" Tom asked quietly.

Altair nodded stiffly. "For good reason. But I am not ready to tell you yet."

Tom looked disappointed but didn't push the matter. Harry decided to try and cheer the atmosphere up a bit. "OK, next question. Tom, if you had to choose between getting stuck in a library full of singing books with Artemis and Heron, being put in charge of grooming Sigyn the demon cat or getting stuck on the Hogwarts roof with Athenaïs and Altair as company, which would you pick?"

While Altair was quickly dying of laughter, Tom chuckled. "Oh, Merlin. Well, the singing books might get irritating after a while and I would be forced to witness the constant pining between Potter and Heron so that is definitely not ideal! I would definitely not be willing to deal with Ophelia Rowle's beast on the best of days so that one is a 'no, thank you'."

Harry snorted. "Fair enough!"

"As for getting stuck on the Hogwarts roof with Athenaïs and Altair, I'd at least be able to have a conversation and watch Athenaïs hunt as well as get some peace and quiet. That one please. Altair, what about you?"

Altair spluttered for a moment. "Yeah, none of these options are ideal. Mainly because with the last one, it might be a bit of an issue because I have a eenie-meenie fear of heights."

"Oh, I never noticed," Tom frowned. "You made flying look effortless during our flying lessons during our first year."

"I am a decent actor when I need to be," Altair grinned mischievously.

Harry giggled. "OK another one! You're minding your own business by the Black Lake. Suddenly a mermaid couple swims up, wanting relationship advise. Not long after that, a Selkie swims up as well, because someone has stolen her seal coat. Finally three Kelpies come to you for help because they have something stuck in their hooves. Who do you help first?"

"How do you come up with these?!" Altair exclaimed, his head on the table as the waiter came back with their shepherd's pies.

"Oh, you have no idea the hours Hermione, Ginny, Luna and I wasted on coming up with these scenarios and quizzing as many people we know using them!" Harry laughed as they began to tuck into their food. She turned to look at Tom who was failing to not laugh. "Well? What's your answer?"

"Erm …" Tom laughed shortly. "I am usually not the best person to go to for relationship advise, and – do these merpeople speak Mermish only or English as well?"

"Yes, they speak English," Harry grinned as their food arrived, her eyes dancing with mirth.

"OK, then language barrier isn't the issue but my own inexperience is," Tom chuckled nervously. "As for the Kelpies, as much as I would like to help them I don't trust them not to drown me so I guess I will try to solve the mystery of the stolen Selkie coat."

Altair lit up. "This is what I would do. I would tell them couples get close by doing things with each other and talking and then find a way for the two of them to help the Kelpies get the stuff off their hooves without risking my own neck. I would then get everyone to help the Selkie find her coat!"

Tom and Harry laughed heartily at how pleased he looked with himself.

She then moved onto a more serious question. "Who is the most irritating student you have to deal with during the Revision Club?"

Altair groaned dramatically. "Don't get me started!"

"Cassius Smith," Tom didn't even hesitate with his answer. "I hope for all our sakes the boy doesn't want to become an Auror or we may all have a problem!"

"What, standards slipping?" Altair grinned.

"Slipping? More like cascading downwards!" Tom snorted. "What about you, Harry? Have your History students been giving you grief?"

Mirth danced in those burgundy orbs.

"Yes, they're all horrendous," Harry stated dryly with a great deal of snark embedded in it. Altair split his sides; fortunately he had just finished his morsel of shepherd's pie. Tom pretended to look affronted. Harry grinned. "No, I am kidding. The only thing I find irritating is if people get personal in debates or don't try their best. I don't have one annoying student."

"May I ask a question again?" Tom asked eagerly.

Harry could not say no to the oddly enthusiastic and, she could daresay, juvenile look on the face of her friend. "Go ahead," she replied before putting another chunk of shepherd's pie into her mouth.

"Which topic do you find the hardest to cover or which one do you dread teaching?"

Harry groaned and finished chewing and the swallowed.

"Well, the history of magical institutions was one I definitely did not look forward to covering because of how boring it is if not done properly," Harry admitted. "I am sort of dreading covering my topics for the extra class tomorrow because I hope the students won't give me too much attitude for taking up some time of their Sunday."

"The 1378 Soap Blizzard is one of them, right?" Altair guessed.

"Yes. Fortunately I have the spells and sources prepared for it already – that isn't the problem. The problem is no one wants to study on a Sunday." Harry cut another piece from her shepherd's pie. "Do you boys have topics you dread to cover or find difficult to teach?"

"Definitely – the Venomous Tentacula! I barely survived the last time we had a lesson on those," Altair shuddered. "Even Percy's dreading them and she's mad about plants."

Tom's answer was the one that stumped Harry the most. "The Unforgivables."

She blinked at him five times in complete shock. "Seriously?" she found herself saying in disbelief.

"Absolutely. The three curses have a sordid history and there are people with some very strong opinions about them, which makes teaching them potentially quite treacherous, which is why Professor Merrythought was extremely careful with us in class when she covered them in our fifth and sixth year," Tom responded before eating his own forkful of shepherd's pie.

"She definitely did not use them on us like your tutor did!" Altair laughed coolly. "I think Hogwarts would have been inundated with Howlers had that been the case."

"We need to know what we are up against out there," Harry stated.

"Agreed," Tom smiled. "The issue is, the Ministry seems to be interested in keeping us wrapped up in cotton wool until it is far too late. They keep saying that we are 'too young' to know what they do and then young trainee Aurors get the shock of their lives."

Harry shook her head. "Unbelievable. This is how one breeds problems for the future. So, how then are you going to handle the Unforgivables?"

"Honestly, I haven't the foggiest idea, because either way it could get us into trouble with the Headmaster and the faculty," Tom looked visibly annoyed at this. "I don't want to toss them out of the curriculum but I also don't want to jeopardise the rest of the Club."

"Maybe we could go to Merrythought about it?" Altair suggested. "She might know what to do."

"Hopefully," Tom sighed.

A thought shot into Harry's head as she finished another mouthful of her pie. "Speaking of Defence and Merrythought, how are you doing with your Patronus, Tom?"

Tom flushed bright pink at this point and he began to chuckle nervously. "Erm … I think it's best if I show you later."

Harry and Altair frowned in unison, exchanged a look and then both cocked their heads at adorable angles that made Tom's blush only deepen. Fortunately both of them seemed to take the hint and continued eating.

Altair then posed a question. "Have you figured out any more mysterious of Evren's violin yet, Harry?"

Harry finished the last of her shepherd's pie. "No, not yet, but I am going to train again tonight so hopefully I will figure something out."

"Training?" Tom repeated.

Harry flushed. "I like to keep my skills sharp, remember? It's why the girls say I sneak out a lot; I do, but only twice a week. Sometimes more if I feel like I need some extra training. Magic, even Family Magic, needs to be honed and work on."

"Do you use your weapons too?" Altair asked eagerly.

"Yep," Harry popped the 'p'. "Mostly my daggers and rapier. My scythe … well, let's just say that has a more non-combative role but I do know how to use it in combat when I need to."

"Did you need to use it the last time?" Tom asked, wording his question as carefully as he could to make sure any potential eavesdroppers couldn't suss out any specifics.

"Yes," Harry confirmed with a small, mischievous smile. "I am surprised you only start bringing that up now. You boys are learning some self-restraint!"

"Hey, we learned our lesson about being too nosy when it comes to your family," Altair laughed wryly. "Plus, you came back unharmed so that helped as well."

"Indeed," Tom readily agreed.

Harry's cheeks turned rosy. "Anyway, my foe had tried to attack me with his scythe so it is only fair to meet one's opponent with a similar weapon. The cheeky bugger tried to attack me while I was distracted because he had sussed out I had tricked him-"

"You had tricked him?!" Altair and Tom chorused in awed but low tones.

"How do you trick an immortal being?" Altair added in an urgent hiss.

"Simple: you make a new deal with a tiny little loophole," Harry smirked evilly. "I offered him Nick and Perrie in exchange for the people who summoned him, but I didn't specify I would be giving the real Nick and Perrie. Well, Mr. Ankou was not best pleased when he found out."

"You don't say. Oh, Harry," Tom shook his head at her, but he couldn't keep the fond smile off his face.

"It worked though," the slightly mental Traveller stated proudly.

"Only Harry Evans could engineer a trick like that," Altair sighed.

"Nah, it would have worked better if I had you guys and the others with me," Harry shook her head, drinking the last of her coffee; she thus didn't see the bugged out eyes of her companions. "But then again, I don't really fancy dragging people who mean the world to me into my battles ever again. Been there, done that!"

"And what if we want to help?" Altair pointed out.

"You're already learning Occlumency to help me," Harry countered. "I am not going to do what Dumbledore fears the Revision Club is doing and train you for battle!"

"What if we don't have a choice in the matter?" Tom joined in. "What if we have no choice but to fight and have no wand? Not all of us are able to do wandless magic."

The Lady Regnant sighed irritably. "Why do you always bring up good points?" she scowled at him.

Tom smiled as angelically as he could manage. Harry huffed.

"If I do this, I will teach you to fight with a sword, and daggers, and maybe some wandless magic but I first want to discuss it with the others," she decided. "And not on a Friday or Saturday. I want to keep my training days."

"Well, at least it isn't a no," Altair grinned. Harry rolled her eyes.

At least the topic was dropped as the trio finished the rest of their food.

"OK, boys, do we want dessert or shall we just pay and explore the village some more?" Harry asked as she finished the last bit of her coffee.

"Let's get exploring. We can now actually go places without the girls going one way or Orion going absolutely haywire!" Altair laughed as Harry called for the bill.

###################################

Tom enjoyed taking a step back to observe Harry and Nott, watching their enthusiastic antics and their interactions with interest and amusement, especially when the two of them happened to find the one store in the village that sold wizarding games. While Tom point-blank refused to participate in most of them due to their childish nature, he did play a round with them in Dragon Land: a board-game game where you played as different dragons and had to guard your eggs, jewels and land from your enemy's dragons but also angry humans.

Needless to say, it created some very interesting reactions!

"Tut, tut, Harry, leaving one of your nests unguarded? What would Athenaïs say?"

"Altair, you butthole, I'll get you back for that! Wait a minute, one of my crowns is missing – Tom, you absolute snake! I got that crown fair and square!"

"Well, it's mine now. Your baby dragon was not a very good guard. It got too easily distracted by the knight's helmet."

"I hate you."

Surprisingly enough, there actually had been people staying longer in the shop to watch these three seventeen-year-old Hogwarts students battle it out for draconic supremacy. Most of the audience had been captivated children but that was beside the point. After winning, much to both Tom and Harry's chagrin, Nott ended buying the game and the expansion pack.

"OK, shall we find the book store to appease Tom?" Nott stated with a blinding grin as they stepped back out into the main square.

Tom flushed at this. "I don't need appeasing, thanks, Nott!"

"What? You aren't a little vexed I just whooped your behind?" Nott teased, eyes shining.

"A little," Tom was forced to admit through slightly gritted teeth.

"As I thought!" Nott looked too pleased with himself. "So, is that a yes to the bookshop?"

Tom sighed. "Very well. If you insist."

"I never thought I would see the day that Tom Riddle doesn't want to go into a bookstore," Harry laughed, her peridot orbs shining like gems.

"I do have other passions too," Tom reminded her.

"I know, I remember: horse riding and annoying people," the Lady Regnant grinned.

Nott and Tom both snorted. "Cheeky bugger," Tom mumbled.

Tom was rather happy they did visit the bookstore though. He found an entire section on the history of old Family Magic belonging to Highland magical clans as well as vintage books on all topics from politics to philosophy to history. Harry had found some interesting books on Highland music so she was gone for a while behind them while Nott occupied himself with a book on Scottish magical military history.

Tom continued to peruse the books until he realised he was being watched. He looked to his right and was rather surprised to see that his voyeur was a young girl of around seven with golden ringlets and brown eyes that looked too wise for one of such a young age. He smiled at her as kindly as he could manage.

"Hello. Are you lost?" he asked.

The girl shook her head enthusiastically in the negative, her ringlets bouncing. "Chan eil mi, mister. This is mo mhàthair's shop."

Tom smiled kindly. "Indeed? It is very pretty."

"Tha fios agam," the girl smiled, looking very pleased. "You and your friends are pretty too. Are you trying to look for a medicine book? They are somewhere else, mister."

Tom frowned slightly. "I am not the best at Healing magic, I'm afraid. I know enough to get by but-"

"Then are you ill?" the girl frowned in concern. "Because you don't look too well, mister? Have you seen a Slànaighear?"

Tom blinked. "I'm sorry, a what?"

"A Healer," the girl's mother – judging by the fact they shared the same hair and eye shape – and the bookshop owner arrived at this point, shaking her head at her daughter. "Clare, what have I said about pestering our customers?"

Clare deflated. "Don't. Tha mi duilich, Màthair."

"She wasn't bothering me," Tom reassured the woman with a small smile.

"Mister needs a Slànaighear. He's injured," Clare stated to her mother candidly.

"I am sure he will see someone about it soon, mo ghràidh," her mother told her placatingly, shooting Tom an apologetic look. "Why don't you go and continue that painting for Athair?"

"OK," Clare cheered up slightly and then disappeared into the bookcase labyrinth again, leaving Tom thoroughly confused.

The bookshop owner turned him, worry in her eyes. "Forgive my daughter, young sir. She is – well, let's just say she's different to most children in Kelpie's Hollow. Apparently Clare has a Gift of some kind but … people are not very open-minded."

"No need to explain, ma'am," Tom reassured with a smile. "We have a friend who is a little like your daughter. No one understands her either; I didn't and still don't, I have to admit."

The bookshop owner peeked down to where Harry and Nott were reading. Clare had apparently decided to join them with her drawing. "Friends, siblings?" the woman guessed.

Tom smiled weakly. "Friends, ma'am."

Unfortunately, the woman caught onto something in Tom's tone. "But you want something more?" she inquired.

Normally Tom would have told the person being nosey to mind their own damn business, but there was something about this odd woman that made him want to confess.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I … have never felt the emotions that I feel for them before."

The bookshop owner smiled knowingly.

"Màthair, come down and look! Mister's lady friend is really good at drawing unicorns!" Clare called from downstairs.

Tom followed the amused bookshop owner back downstairs. Apparently Clare had asked Harry for help finishing her picture and Harry had drawn a couple of cute and funny unicorns in the roughly drawn field next to a small house. Nott had been set to work too; he was colouring the sky with Scottish rain clouds. It was endearing. Tom almost wished he had Harry's Hansa Canon camera so he could take a photo.

The bookshop owner shook her head at her daughter. "Oh Clare!"

The little girl pouted. "They offered to help me, promise."

Nott grinned charmingly. "Don't fret, ma'am. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Come here with that book, Harry, I'll go and pay."

Naturally the Lady Regnant was set to protest. "But-"

"You paid for lunch! Shush."

Clare giggled and whispered to Harry once Nott was out of earshot, "I think your friend is really funny."

"I know," Harry whispered conspiratorially back. "A bit of a pain though, sometimes."

Tom snorted.

Clare giggled again. "Màthair says the same about Athair. Your other friend is really serious, and is in a bit of pain," Tom was less happy about this and averted his eyes when Harry looked up with concern.

The look of concern was still present as the trio said their goodbyes to the bookshop owner and her daughter, promising Clare to visit as soon as possible. They ended up taking a walk to the Kelpies' Pool where they put their stuff down and Tom unsheathed his wand and braced himself. He had been practising again, that wasn't the issue. But it was still only shields that now lasted for around three minutes; there was still no sign of a corporeal and Tom hated to admit it but he didn't want to see even a sliver of disappointment enter the emerald and coffee eyes of his companions.

"Yay, Patronus time!" Nott stated giddily. "You can do it, Tom!"

"Take your time, Tom," Harry was back into full teacher mode. "Breathe, focus. Right now there is no Dementor or Boggart so whenever you're ready."

Tom already had the memory lined up: the trip to Kelpie's Hollow on Samhain's Eve. It was currently the most powerful happy memory he had. He simply hoped it would be enough.

He closed his eyes, focusing on the memory, opened his eyes and raised his wand with a sense of determination towards a tree at the other side of the pool that Tom imagined was a Dementor coming for his soul, or the soul of the two people with him. "Expecto Patronum!"

Tom had readied himself for another disappointing attempt. What he had not expected, was the undulating silver light that erupted from his yew wand, spreading out into the surrounding area, almost blinding the caster himself to the point he almost missed the silver serpentine, draconic creature with impressive feathery wings, whizzing around the air with an impressive speed.

"An amphitere," Tom whispered to himself. His eyes widened as Harry's Hungarian Horntail and Altair's golden jackal Patronus soon were challenging his own dragon Patronus around the Pool.

"Youdidityoudidityoudidityoudidityoudidit – you actually did it!" Harry shrieked ecstatically and Tom felt himself get tackled into a rather enthusiastic hug that almost knocked the two of them to the ground. He staggered back a bit.

"Whoa, careful Harry, you don't want me to break my back, do you?" Tom laughed heartily.

"Oh, come on, Tom! She hasn't been this enthusiastic that someone succeeded yet," Altair grinned from his boulder perch. "Deal with the pain!"

"Exactly!" Harry grinned.

"It would be St. Mungo's who would have to deal with my broken back," Tom quipped.

"They can mend your broken pride too then," Nott shot back.

Harry grinned mischievously. "We both know that would take longer to fix."

Tom mock-scowled at her. "Thank you kindly, my Lady."

Suddenly, Tom, Harry and Nott found themselves dodging shots of icy water as they gathered their things, their Patronuses fading, as they were chased away from the Pool by kelpies who had decided they wanted some peace and quiet, thus got rid of the three humans quite quickly.

"Bloody kelpies!" Harry scoffed once they were back in Kelpie's Hollow, all three slightly drenched.

"Kelpies' Pool is a gathering ground for kelpies – how did we forget that?" Tom laughed.

"I think we should be getting back before one of Harry's girls decides to send a search party," Altair chuckled.

"Oh Morgana, spare me," Harry grumbled.

"I think you should be more concerned about what they will say about your wet hair and clothes," Tom teased.

"Tom, stop tempting the Fates!"

Unfortunately it was already too late for that. Despite the fact Altair had tried to dry the three of them off as much as he could with Warming and minor Heating Charms, it hadn't quite done the trick and when their friends met them at the entrance of Hogsmeade, Harry's friends predictably noted the damp in their hair and clothes.

Walburga was not best pleased. "What have the three of you been doing, swimming in the Black Lake? Oh dear, we let you out of our sights for five minutes, Harry Evans, and you end up looking like Sigyn and Seraphina on wash day-"

"Wow, flattering," Harry muttered. "We got splashed by kelpies."

"Just your luck!" Druella and Arcturus chorused, laughing and promptly reminding everyone on why they were twins with how uncannily in sync they were.

"Well, let's give you a quick update," Ophelia looped her arm with Harry's and led the way back up to the castle. "Your dress and other clothes are almost done, Avery and the other knuckleheads tried to disturb Artemis and Heron but Arcturus and Orion handled them masterfully. Really, you should have been there-"

"Tom?" Nott distracted him from the Rowle heiress's babbling.

Tom turned to look at him with a smile. "Yes, Nott?"

"Call me Altair from now on," was not the answer Tom was expecting.

The words were still swimming in Tom's mind when they got back and he was very happy to escape to the Prefects' bathroom to take bath and hide for a while. Merlin knew he needed to get his Occlumency shields reinforced before someone could see something incriminating in his mind.

#######################################

"What happened between the three of you?" Arcturus demanded bluntly, sounding more serious than Altair had ever heard him.

Straight after dinner, Altair had gone to take a shower and have an early night – or so he thought. He had been ambushed by Arcturus and Orion, who had undoubtedly been planning this, because the door of the dorm had locked behind Altair the moment he stepped through it. The door had closed loud enough for Somnus the owl to momentarily wake up from his almost perpetual sleep.

Altair blinked in confusion. "What are you on about? Nothing happened! Have you lost your mind, Arc?"

"No, I haven't. I have been out of my mind for not talking about this to you. Some unofficial brother, I am," Arcturus snorted. "We can all see it, Altair. It's why we left the three of you alone. To see what would happen."

Altair gaped unabashedly. "What?"

"Well, we're always lurking around the three of you, so we thought it was best to see if you three would finally talk it out without any of your friends there to distract you," Orion confessed with a guilty smile. "We were hoping for some kind of resolution but apparently that has not happened yet."

Altair gulped. "Resolution to what?"

"Altair, please stop acting dumb," Arcturus groaned. "I have known you for too long; I can see it in your eyes. You like Harry – maybe that word isn't strong enough anymore – and you're starting to like Tom too."

The Nott heir knew the game was up at this point. "How … Artemis … she told you…"

"She didn't need to," Orion informed him. Heir Black actually dared to sit on the windowsill close to Altair's bed. "I just have one question for you. What do you want from her? From him?" he asked gently.

Altair swallowed slightly, trying feebly to ignore the feelings that had been plaguing him. "It will never happen …"

"Why not?" Arcturus asked impatiently.

It was this that seemed to break a dam inside the Nott heir's mind.

"Because you heard her as well as I did!" Altair snapped at him. "Don't you remember? When Malfoy said a marriage will calm her down? She will never marry unless she falls deeply in love with the person."

"Well, finally, we're getting somewhere," Orion stated after he and Arcturus shared a look that translated to 'Eureka, but oh Merlin'.

"So, that is why you are so stupidly stubborn!" Arcturus wailed. "Bloody hell! Oh Altair, you blind fucking idiot!"

"Harry does love you," Orion added with conviction.

Altair snorted. "No, she doesn't."

Arcturus gave him a pointed look. "And now say that one more time with some actual conviction," he drawled with snark dripping from his tone.

"Haven't you noticed how Harry has a problem with saying the phrase 'I love you'?" Orion continued. "I have. Every single time she wants to tell a person she cares for them, she does it in a way where she doesn't say the 'l-word'. When she does, it usually slips out without her meaning to say it. But the funny thing is, Harry doesn't need to say it because she shows it every moment she can. You know, I am willing to bet Athenaïs barely hears her say 'I love you'."

Altair paled at this. "Yeah, right!"

"You know what, let's put it to the test," Arcturus stated and with a quick Expecto Patronum had summoned his orca. The orca looked at its caster curiously. "Could you ask Harry if Athenaïs could come here for a minute or two. Tell her we need Athenaïs' help with something."

The orca was gone in seconds. Altair sat on his bed, fumbling with his hands nervously, with Arcturus and Orion still giving him disbelieving looks. It wasn't long until the Gargouille in question was on her way.

"Oh, hello, Athenaïs!" the three of them heard Tom and Heron chorus in the corridor.

Kyyuuuooo!

Not long after, there was a sound of light scratching on door and Arcturus allowed the curious Gargouille into the room. She ambled up to the boys and sat down just a little in front of Altair's bed, cocking her head at the three humans.

Orion leant forwards. "Atty, we have a question for you, and please try to answer it as honestly as you can."

Athenaïs gave a mystic chirp in affirmation.

"OK. Atty, how many times has Harry verbally told you that she loves you?" Arcturus asked.

The Gargouille looked absolutely taken aback for a moment but she quickly recovered and then started digging through Dolohov's parchment pile, found a quill, some ink, dipped the quill into the ink and carefully drew the number '1' before holding up the parchment.

"One?" Altair could barely believe his eyes. "Only once?"

Kyyuuuooo!

"See? Atty, would you say Harry has a problem with expressing her feelings?" Orion questioned further.

Athenaïs nodded enthusiastically in the affirmative. To the wizards' surprise, the dragon then wrote something else onto the parchment. ANNOYING!

"OK, who taught Athenaïs to write?" Altair commented.

"The point is, Altair, you need to talk to Harry, and Tom, sooner rather than later," Arcturus stated. "Harry is a woman who is not going to wait around forever, you know. We both know several pureblood families made matches due to attending Presentations-"

Altair's eyes flashed dangerously at this and his jaw clenched sharply.

"I for one know my family would love to have her in the fold. Harry is fierce, loyal, beautiful, powerful and intelligent. Only a fool would not consider her a match," Orion continued, ignoring his friend's jealous reaction.

The Nott heir deflated. "I know. I … will think of something."

"You'd better," Arcturus shook his head. "Because I refuse to stand by and watch you end up like your father."

While Orion frowned in confusion, Altair shuddered at that prospect.

################################

"I see you had fun today," Melinoë grinned as Athenaïs trotted into the Room of Requirement, looking very pleased with herself, followed by a rather confused and slightly annoyed Harry.

"I did," Harry confirmed as she put down Evren's violin, her scythe and cloak. "I feel like I missed something though because the girls and the some of the guys have been acting really strange and right now my own familiar is acting like caught her favourite bird species during a difficult hunt. I feel like someone is plotting something I don't know about."

The three deities shot each other a look, which made the Mistress of Death roll her eyes. "Not you three as well!"

"It is nothing, my dear. Now, let's get cracking," Hypnos clapped his hand jovially as the Room provided Harry with some more statues to animate; Harry summoned her growing spirit forces forth.

Once again, there were different statues: a hippogriff, a centaur, a Minotaur and a dragon. Of course they made sure there was a dragon. It was the one creature Harry had trouble with bringing to life. The other souls were used to the drill by now so the arctic fox, cheetah, lion and crocodile actually showed the Abraxan what to do. The Abraxan was a bit confused for around a minute until the carnivores did a demonstration by lighting a spark of life into the hippogriff. The new soul watched in awe as the newly animated hippogriff gave a cry of greeting and flew around the room. The magical horse soul was most eager to help animate the rest of the statues.

Soon a centaur was cantering after a newly animated Minotaur who was no doubt chasing the hippogriff to turn it into Hogwarts Fried Hippogriff, causing no certain amount of laughter from Athenaïs and the gods. It was when Harry managed to get the creatures to revert back to their inanimate state that she and her souls turned their attention to the creature that had thwarted them until now.

"We have been doing something wrong," Harry stated to her souls. They nodded in agreement. "We are missing something … but I just can't think what."

Athenaïs seemed to have an idea. Kyyuuuooo!

Harry frowned. "That could work. Good thinking, Atty! Abraxan, my new friend, could you settle at the wing base, please?"

The Abraxan whinnied and complied. Harry continued. "Lion, could you light up the head and the three of you, could you ignite the heart?"

The souls shrunk down, slipped into the statue and very soon it was ignited by Soul Fire at the head, heart and wings. Athenaïs' eyes started to glow bright green. HAAAYYUOOUAOOO!

The eyes of the dragon shot open, as blue-silver as the Soul Fire that was animating its body. The dragon regarded them coldly until it saw Athenaïs and relaxed slightly, the creature lowering its snout to take the Gargouille's scent and looking rather nonplussed that the stone dragon barely had one. Harry watched the creature spread out its magnificent wings, a smile on her face and glee coursing through her veins. She had finally done it! She had woken the dragon. Well, it was team work because Athenaïs and the souls had helped majorly.

But the dragon had been animated!

"Very good, Harry!" Thanatos praised, grinning brightly as the souls withdrew to their respective 'homes'. "Up for learning how to use your Shadows in combat?" he asked with a grin as the dragon slowly returned to its inanimate state.

"The Shadows can be used in combat?" Harry felt a little stupid for not knowing this.

"Indeed, for teleportation, defences and of course, offense," Hypnos stated. "The Shadows can be multifunctional, much like Soul Fire can be used for forging."

"Forging?" Harry repeated, sounding perhaps a little too awed for her own liking.

"You shouldn't have told her that, Hypnos, now you have her intrigued," Melinoë quipped.

"Of course!" Harry pouted. "Creating stuff from magic is so cool!"

"I will teach you the technique soon. But Tosti has been looking forward to teaching you how to use the Shadows," Hypnos smiled.

"Very well," the Mistress of Death grinned.

The Room once more made a small arena for the God of Death and his Mistress, both of whom were now decked in shadowy armour. Athenaïs, Hypnos and Melinoë watched Thanatos summon his Shadows with ease while Harry took a few seconds.

Thanatos began his lesson. "In order to use the Shadows to evade attacks, you need to envision yourself being transported to a spot of your choice; it's not dissimilar again to mortal Apparation. Now for offense and defence, the Shadows will respond entirely to you will – if you want the Shadows to temporarily blind someone, or knock them out, or encase a battlefield and only weaken your enemies but strengthen your allies, that is entirely possible. But what you need to maintain it, is practise, concentration and will power. Shall we give it a try?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir!"

Using Shadows in combat was more difficult than it looked. Harry had mastered Shadow Stepping, as she called the technique of quickly Shadow teleporting from one place to another on the battlefield, quite quickly, but discovered that creating a good offense and defence with them was definitely a bit more difficult. Especially, considering that her opponent was Death himself.

The first time she was too slow to make a counter attack or defence. The second time the Mistress of Death had created a decent shield wall that held up long enough to absorb most of the attack and for her to dodge. However, she still ended up on her butt because Thanatos had gauged her moves. The third and fourth time the Traveller used her ancestor's violin to try and boost her Shadows' power and for the most part it worked. Until the God of Death made his Shadows trip her and she lost her balance. Harry, after being knocked out of the ring for the fifth time, decided to try the philosophy of 'the best offence is the best defence', and eventually formed the Shadows into Hydra heads that would try to bite or block any attack heading her way. At least that time, the Mistress of Death could actually put up a bit of a fight!

It was when Thanatos decided to use his Shadows to temporarily take Harry's sight, that Hypnos and Melinoë called time on that little sparring session so that the Traveller could take a breather and get her sight back.

"Dick move, Tosti," Harry grumbled, really not best pleased at being shown up, even if it was by her godly guardian.

Thanatos smiled serenely. "You would hate me more if I went easy on you, my dear."

"True," Harry was forced to concur as she looked around randomly. "Yay – my sight's already starting to come back. I can already see Atty's cute little face."

"There is something you should know," Hypnos stated seriously. "Grindelwald might be up to something."

Harry chuckled triumphantly. "Already ahead of you there, Hypnos! He's going to send Madam Mind-Invader and Druella and Arcturus' oh so delightful cousin, Vida, as party crashers at the Malfoy Yule Ball in an attempt to find me. Difficult to say if he wants the Cursebreaker, the Silver Dragon, or Lady Peverell – at this point he is getting close to desperation."

The God of Sleep frowned. "I could simply knock them out for Yule and return them on New Year's Eve."

"Brother," Thanatos shook his head. "We are probably not allowed to interfere."

Hypnos rolled his eyes. "Party pooper. Fine. I will find a way for Henry Burke to attend the Ball just in case Thomas and Melanie need some extra back-up."

"The question is, who would be willing to take the reclusive Henry Burke as a date?" Melinoë teased with a smirk.

"We do know someone who is single," Thanatos smirked. "Rollo Rowle is also going, remember?"

"Oh yes! Much to his own chagrin. Apparently the goblins think he isn't getting out enough," Melinoë laughed.

Hypnos blanched. "Are mortal witches and wizards even accepting of seeing a man escorting another man? I mean this is not the time of the Ancients anymore-"

"It will be fine," Harry reassured him. "And if not, I will personally chuck them out of the Malfoys' overly carved front door, and then apologise to Lord and Lady Malfoy later for my uncouth behaviour."

The deities snorted.

"We love you, Harry, don't ever change," Melinoë stated through giggles.

Harry looked at the Goddess of Ghosts in disbelief. Athenaïs cocked her head at her Mistress's reaction. Thanatos and Hypnos noticed her reaction sadly. "You still are not used to the idea of someone loving you, are you?" Thanatos dared to ask her.

"Not exactly," Harry blushed. "I am not used to people saying it that bluntly, especially when the people in question are gods!"

"We are capable of loving mortals, you know," Hypnos grinned. "It just doesn't happen too often in our case. My brother adopting a Mistress as an honorary daughter doesn't happen often either!"

The young Traveller looked to Thanatos, who was actually blushing, in awe. "Honorary daughter, huh?" the Mistress of Death grinned.

"You may as well be at this point," Thanatos responded, uncharacteristically shy.

He had not been expecting to be tackled by a bear hug at this point, and actually staggered back a pace or two. The young Mistress of Death was crying silent tears. "You're the best honorary father any one could ask for, Tosti."

The God of Death returned her embrace, smiling and planting a quick kiss on her head.

"Oh is that the time already? Really? … Morpheus, tone!" the God of Sleep stated snappily. "Harry, it is time for you to head back to bed. My Realm is calling you, I'm afraid," Hypnos was very apologetic at breaking up this beautiful moment.

"It's fine, Hypnos. I had a busy day," Harry grinned, trying to stifle a yawn. Athenaïs didn't try to stifle hers. The Mistress of Death gathered her stuff and gave them a quick wave good night before leaving the Room of Requirement with her familiar at her heels.

The three deities watched her leave with knowing smirks.

"Harry's in love," Melinoë stated.

"Indeed, I noticed it too," Hypnos laughed.

"I think I need to brush up on my Intimidating Guardian routine," Thanatos commented wryly.

"Oh, Tosti," Melinoë rolled her eyes. "I don't want an angry Mistress of Death on my hands because you scared her lovers to death, ironically enough!"

"Who, me? I will be on my best behaviour," the God of Death reassured sweetly, mimicking a halo above his head.

"Sure you will," Hypnos shook his head at his twin, voice dripping with sarcasm. "And Mum and Hemera get along like a house on fire."

Thanatos barked out a short, sarcastic laugh. "Touché, dear brother."

####################################

Queenie was sitting in rare solitude in the parlour of her chambers. She had been nursing a quickly cooling cup of tea and had been staring unblinkingly at some of the photos she had kept from the past, a few lights and the moon creating an eerie spotlight on her and the photos. Her and Tina about to go to Ilvermorny, Tina about to go to her first day as an Auror trainee, and a photo of Tina and Newt's wedding, with Jacob and Theseus as Newt's groomsmen, that Queenie had managed to get her hands on. The people in the photos smiled back at her and waved cheerily. Not that Vida, Credence or Gellert knew about these treasures of the past that she kept. It was not any of their concern.

Ever since Queenie had returned from her mission in Eastern Europe and discovered Gellert's latest scheme inside Vida and Credence's heads, the Natural Legilimens had withdrawn herself to her chambers on the excuse that she was exhausted and needed to take a very long bubble bath. That had been more than five hours ago; apparently people had the sense to not disturb her at present. When Queenie had read the thoughts in her friends' minds, she had been angry. Furious, to be exact.

To head to England, even in disguise, and go to a ball attended by some of the most prominent magical families – many of whom were Light or against Gellert's cause – was to put the entire war effort in jeopardy! It was foolhardy, and could end in a potential disaster. Queenie had the urge to hex her master and friend for even contemplating such a suicidal notion!

The General had spent a few hours trying to figure out for herself why Gellert Grindelwald would make such an obviously stupid idea. It was almost as though he was losing sight of what truly mattered, about why they were doing this – why Queenie had chosen to turn her back on her friends, sister and the man she truly loved. Something was blinding Gellert's good senses.

It was then that the Natural Legilimens had decided to make herself a cup of tea and have a good think. It seemed that the chamomile and lavender tea was doing the trick because she suddenly remembered that Gellert seemed to be having some relationship troubles with his wand.

"Why ain't it workin' for him anymore?" Queenie whispered to the photographs. "What has changed?"

The photos didn't answer her. It was of little matter because she had put them back into their enchanted sleeves, had put her tea cup down and began pacing in front of her grand windows, looking out over the Austrian mountains, trying to come up with a thought, a theory – anything – to explain why the Elder Wand was doing this.

It didn't make sense. The Elder Wand served those who won it; it served the wizard with the most strength. Didn't it? Gellert won the Wand … didn't he?

Then a treasonous thought entered Queenie's head. What if he didn't win the Wand at all?

That particular train of thought was quickly derailed because for the first time since she was back, there was a tentative knock on the door of her chambers. "Queenie, it's me, Vida. Sorry to disturb you, girl, but I need to talk to you."

The Natural Legilimens refrained from rolling her eyes. "If this is about Gellert's latest scheme, I already know, Vida," she called back.

There was a moment of silence before Vida spoke again. "Rowle has written with some good candidates that we can … temporarily replace," she informed. "Gellert wants us to pick one and start planning already."

"Of course he does," Queenie muttered and waved her hand flippantly, unlocking her door and allowing Vida entrance to her chambers. "So, who are the poor doves that Rowle has selected?"

"Well most of them are from Minor but still prominent Noble families," Vida sniffed a little at this as she crossed the room to sit down on Queenie's sofa; Queenie scoffed quietly. Once a Rosier, always a Rosier. "A few of them have the most appalling fashion sense but we can make them look good for one evening."

Queenie reluctantly came back to the sofa and sat down next to her friend, eyes grazing lazily over the photos and the names of the women in question. "Have any of these girls got an escort or other family members that will be attendin'?" she questioned. "I refuse to be busted simply because we didn't act enough like these jaded princesses to pass as authentic."

Vida chuckled. "Indeed. Well, according to what dear Rowle said, none of these girls are high enough in their family's pecking order to be of any note. The ones who were have already been eliminated from consideration by dear Gellert. This one, for example, Isla Fawley, is the fifth daughter in her family. The Fawleys have five daughters and only two sons. Or perhaps this one? Helena Urquhart – apparently all this one does is want to talk about Abraxans, art and the horrors of familiar breeding, so this one is a good option if you want people to avoid you the entire evening!"

"You can take that one, dove," Queenie quipped with a smirk.

Vida scoffed. "Please! I have a bit more class. I am considering going for one of the Minor Nobles. Isobel Runcorn is a good option. I also have my eye on her – Diantha Underwood. Maybe you should go as her sister Anne?"

Morgana give me patience, Queenie internally prayed.

"Oh, maybe this one-"

"Vida, let me have a look for myself, doll!"

This was going to be a very long evening indeed!

##############################################

Occlumency shields are being built, but secrets are slowly being revealed. Things appear to be coming to a head between Harry, Tom and Altair and it seems that Queenie is starting to suspect that there may be more to the Elder Wand's rebellion than just adolescent petulance. The mock exams are fast approaching – will the Revision Club's efforts pay off? Will Arcturus, Orion and Athenaïs' intervention have any affect? Stay tuned to find out!

Oh my gods! I know this is a long one guys but it needed to be I'm afraid. I apologise if it took so long but I have to confess to you guys I am not feeling too well. I have somehow managed to catch stomach flu – yes, the damn flu is back – and I have been busy battling vertigo, nausea and headaches to get this thing out.

A disclaimer since I don't think I have done it in a while: this is my little sandcastle in JK's sand box, I do not own the world or characters apart from Athenaïs the Gargouille. The Merlin mythos belongs to the BBC. Luna's song is property of Enya since Luna was an Enya fan! It's A Long Way To Tipperary is property of John McCormack.

Orion: I hope Altair has listened because – Merlin this is really getting ridiculous!

Gellert: I admit it was very painful to watch.

Harry (sulky): A little rich coming from a Dark Lord who rejects his own feelings!

Gellert: I have no feelings-

Orion: Digestives are better than chocolate cookies.

Gellert: YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

Oh dear … we will see you guys in the next chapter!

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