Harry awoke to Ron shaking him and urgently whispering his name. His scar felt like his skull was about to crack open. He winced and clapped his hand to his forehead.

"Alright, I'm awake," he said, pushing Ron away with his other hand. "What's going on?"

"You were thrashing around and talking in your sleep."

"Sorry." Harry squinted, trying to make out the other beds in the darkened room. "Bad dream. Did I wake anyone else?"

"Don't think so. That's why I woke you though. You were starting to get kind of loud. What were you dreaming about?"

"I don't remember much. A big snake–not Basilisk big, but bigger than I'd want to have a chat with. Riddle was there, threatening some old guy in Muggle clothes."

"Then what?"

"Then you woke me up. What does it matter? It was just a dream."

"Was it?" Ron asked, flicking his eyes up to where Harry was rubbing absently at his scar.

Harry lowered his hand. "What else would it be?"

"When your scar hurts, it usually means–"

"It's nothing. He hasn't been back since the end of first year. Not for real. The diary was more like a memory. Last time he got driven away, ten years went by before Quirrell found him and brought him back."

"Yeah, but after what happened at the World Cup… You should tell Dumbledore."

"Tell him I had a bad dream? I'd rather try to get back to sleep. You should too. Sorry I woke you."

Ron gave him a long look, but nodded and returned to his bed.

Harry found himself unable to follow his own advice. He did want to talk to somebody, but couldn't see bothering the headmaster with it. Rather than wake Sirius with a mirror call, he started writing him a letter. Besides, Hedwig got cranky if he didn't give her something to deliver from time to time.

After finishing his letter, he got ready for the day, then went to the Owlery to send it.

He spent some time stroking Hedwig's feathers before sending her on her way. By the time he got to breakfast, his friends were already seated at the Gryffindor table. Hermione was fretting, while Ginny studied him without letting her expression give anything away to anyone who might be watching. Ron glanced at him, then dropped his eyes to his plate. Great. Just what he needed to continue his fabulous morning.

As Harry sat in his usual place next to Ginny, Hermione said, "Good morning, Harry. How did you sleep?"

Her tone was too bright to be genuine, even for an early riser like her.

"Fine," he said. "Good morning."

"Pleasant dreams?"

Harry shot a look at Ron, who raised his head to meet Harry's gaze.

"I told them," admitted Ron. "What did you expect?"

Hermione said, "Harry, you need to tell the headmaster. You can't keep things like this to yourself."

"It was just a dream," Harry insisted, while moving food onto his plate. "I'm not going to bother him with this. Besides, I sent a letter to Sirius. Let's wait and see what he thinks."

Hermione didn't appear satisfied, but let the matter drop for the moment.

~*~

That evening after dinner, on the way back to the common room, Hermione and Ginny diverted the group into an empty classroom.

Ginny said, "After that dream you had, I think we need to ramp up your Occlumency training."

"Occlumency helps with bad dreams? Can't I just drink some warm milk before bed or something?"

"It might have been more than a dream. I wouldn't have thought a mental connection could reach so far, but if anyone could pull it off, it would be Riddle."

Harry grimaced. "Great. Though I suppose it could be useful to see what he's planning."

"If what you saw was even real, and not just what he wanted you to see. That's one of his favorite things, you know. If the connection goes both ways, he could spy on you, while sending back nothing but lies in return."

"That would be less useful," he admitted, but gave her an uneasy look. "Didn't you say learning Occlumency faster would suck harder?"

"That's one option. The other is for you to spend more time practicing."

Ron asked Hermione, "Aren't you worried about cutting into study time?"

Ginny remarked, "Yeah, if only we had more hours in the day."

"You can stop with the cryptic remarks. I already agreed to tell them," Hermione said. She reached for the chain she wore, and used it to pull the Time-Turner out from her robes. "This will give us more time in the day to get things done. It's how I've been able to do overloaded class schedules."

"More time? How?" Harry asked.

"It's called a Time-Turner, and within certain strict limits, it lets you travel back and live through the same period of time more than once."

"A time machine?" Harry exclaimed.

"Shhh! I hope that's not your secret-keeping voice."

Ron said, "Merlin. I can't believe they gave you a Time-Turner. And you told Ginny, and not us? You two weren't even friends until last year."

Harry gave Hermione an annoyed look. "You always expect me to tell you everything that's going on with my life."

"No, just the parts which might be dangerous," Hermione replied.

"That's most of my life!"

"Maybe it wouldn't be, if you followed my advice more often. Besides, I didn't tell Ginny. She figured it out."

Ginny nodded. "Even then, she didn't want to admit it. I had to catch her with it, so she couldn't deny it." She winked at Hermione. "It worked out though, and even turned into a real bonding experience for us."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and continued her explanation. "I'm not supposed to tell anybody, or use it for anything other than extra classes. But I've decided this is important enough to make an exception."

"Fred and George would do anything to get hold of one of those," Ron mused. "Actually, I can think of one or two things I'd like–"

"We're not telling Fred and George, and we're not playing any tricks with it," Hermione snapped. "What part of being a secret, and only for classes and vitally important exceptions did you not understand?"

"Alright! It was just a thought."

"It wasn't a very good one."

"How far back can you go?" Harry asked.

"No more than a few hours," Hermione answered.

"Oh."

She gave him a sympathetic look. "And you can't change anything. Not really. It's complicated, but the short version is that you can't fix something you know went wrong the first time through. Sorry."

"Okay. I just wondered… Never mind."

She put her hand on his arm. "It's the first thing that occurs to anyone who's ever lost someone close to them. When Professor McGonagall first told me, I thought of my grandmother who died at home by herself when I was eight."

"Right. I should have expected that. And sorry about your grandmother."

"Thanks." After a brief silence, she said, "We need to work out a schedule of meeting times and places. But first, I need to go over the rules for using it safely."

"Great," Ron sighed. "When you pulled us in here, I just knew we'd be getting a lecture."

Hermione ignored him as she started to explain the precautions one had to follow to avoid becoming un-born.

~*~

Later that evening, Sirius used the paired mirrors to make contact. When Harry answered, Sirius began with, "I got your letter. How are you?"

"I'm fine, now. I was just a bit freaked out when I first woke up. Sorry if I made you worry."

"No, you did the right thing. You should always tell me about anything involving Voldemort. And use the mirrors, rather than an owl. It's faster."

"I knew you wouldn't be up yet."

"Harry, if it's important, you can contact me any time."

"I'm still not convinced it was anything but a dream."

"Ordinary dreams don't cause physical pain."

"I guess. We're handling it. Ginny and Hermione want to step up our Occlumency practice."

"Good idea. Have you talked to Dumbledore yet?"

"I didn't want to bother him with a bad dream."

"I'm going to talk to him. Alright?"

"I guess so."

"I don't want you to feel like I'm going behind your back."

"It's okay. Thanks for telling me."

"Anything else going on?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, for a magical school. Classes. Pickup Quidditch. More Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs have been showing up. I thought they'd start their own practices, but I guess it's easier to just show up and see who's around. No snakes so far, though."

"Slytherins aren't too keen on mixing with other houses. They might not care as much either, with no Quidditch Cup to compete for. House of ambition, and all that."

"I can't say I'm disappointed, whatever the reason."

"Yeah, probably for the best. Listen, I'm afraid I have news as well. It's not good, but not too surprising."

Harry sighed. "Let's hear it. The day started out rough, might as well end the same way."

"I found something in the transcripts of the Death Eater trials. A wizard named Karkaroff named names to save his own neck. One of them was Snape. He was a Death Eater, Harry. Dumbledore confirmed it during the trial, but testified that Snape switched sides, so they let him off."

"I knew Snape was horrible, but not like that. He should have been in Azkaban, not you."

"You'll get no argument from me there."

"How is he allowed to be a teacher?"

"I don't know what happened with Snape in particular, but when a civil war ends, you can't put half the population in prison. A lot of people get a pass, if they can claim any sort of mitigating circumstances. At least that's what Remus said to calm me down when I found out."

"Am I supposed to just keep going to his class, knowing this?"

"Dumbledore trusted him enough to bring him into the school. He must have a damn good reason."

"Good luck getting it out of him."

"Yeah, he's not big on sharing sometimes. Either way, I think you should hold off on confronting Snape for now. Can you do that?"

"I'll try. He makes it tough. But since we've never gotten along anyway, I doubt he'll notice any change in how I act around him. I guess it isn't even that surprising, like you said. The rest of his crowd from school all went on to become Death Eaters. Not to mention his obsession with the Dark Arts. But I won't pick a fight as long as he doesn't."

"That's all I can ask. Sorry to dump even more on you, but I figured you'd want to know."

"I do. I appreciate you not keeping things from me."

"You need to know how things stand. Bliss that comes from ignorance never lasts. Anything else we need to discuss?"

"All that wasn't enough for one day?"

Sirius snorted. "Right. Stay safe, have fun, and keep in touch."

"I will. Good night."

"Good night."

Harry closed the mirror, and started getting ready for bed.

~*~

The next day, Harry took his friends aside to tell them what he'd learned about Snape.

"What are you going to do?" asked Ron.

"Sirius wants me to act normal."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that. But I was asking Ginny."

Ginny shrugged. "Nothing for now. Snape isn't the only Death Eater walking around free. Dad works with a couple of them at the Ministry."

"Sirius said something similar," Harry said. "Even so, you're taking this better than I expected."

"Someone who switched sides is better than those who fought to the end, then used the Imperius defense after they lost. I'd like to believe someone can go down into darkness, and return from it. Doesn't mean Snape has. I don't trust him, but I had doubts about him even before."

Hermione said, "Professor Snape saved Harry when Quirrell cursed his broom to throw him off."

"True, but he might have thought he was keeping Harry alive for Riddle to deal with personally. Snape may not have known about Quirrell's Dark Lord scalp condition."

Harry said, "If Riddle wants me gone, why would he care who does it?"

"That sounds rather like movie villain thinking," agreed Hermione.

"You know I don't know anything about Muggle films," said Ginny.

"Right. Well, in a lot of them, the villain gets distracted with boasting and other nonsense, or he comes up with some absurd plan that's far more complicated than it needs to be. It always seems like it's done to make the story come out with the hero winning in the end, rather than representing anything an actual criminal mastermind would do."

"I'm not so sure. Look at it like this. You have to have a massive ego to go around calling yourself a Dark Lord. It must gnaw at him every day to have people believe an infant defeated him. I can easily see Riddle making things harder on himself, just to prove a point."

Hermione considered this. "You're saying Riddle might actually have a real life tragic flaw of hubris–though I think people mainly use those terms to talk about the protagonist. Sorry, that's a digression. The point is, if you're right, maybe we can use that against him somehow."

Ron said, "Like if we set up a fight where Harry has an advantage, which Riddle would avoid if he was smart, or at least break off from once the fight starts to turn against him, but he can't bring himself to do the smart thing with people watching."

"Yes, exactly!"

Harry said, "That's great and all, but I'm not sure what sort of fight would give me an advantage. I don't suppose Riddle would be willing to settle our differences with a Quidditch match."

"That part's obvious, mate," Ron told him. "The sort of fight where you're not fighting him alone."

"Yeah, maybe… As for Snape, I think Sirius is right. We just have to trust Dumbledore to know what he's doing, at least for now."

"Agreed," said Hermione.

Ron said, "I trust Dumbledore, but that doesn't mean he's never wrong. He also hired Quirrell and Lockhart."

Ginny added, "People say Snape has always wanted to teach Defense. If he ever gets the job, that's when we'll really have to start watching him."

Hermione frowned. "That doesn't necessarily follow. Even if the curse is real, Professor Snape could teach Defense for one year, like Remus and Professor Moody, then switch back to Potions."

"I doubt he would," argued Harry. "He seems like another one who's too full of himself for his own good."

"Snape has wanted the job for too long," agreed Ginny. "Remus has a healthy respect for what the Dark Arts can do, and it seems like Moody does too. He'd pretty much have to. You can see by his scars what the Dark Arts have done to him. It would take something huge for Snape to see the error of his ways."

~*~

In Defense class, Moody moved on from spiders.

When he announced he would be putting each student under the Imperius curse, Hermione questioned the legality, but still chose to participate. She turned out to be the only one other than Harry who was able to shake off the effects of the curse, though neither of them managed it quickly enough to satisfy Moody.

Ron was even less fortunate. He seemed quite susceptible to the curse, which left him in a sullen mood. Hermione whispered to him that she had been calling on her Occlumency to help her resist, and stepping up his practice could help him too. This somewhat cheered him up.

When they all met up with Ginny at dinner and told her about the lesson, she related that Moody had told her class he wouldn't be demonstrating any curses on them, Imperius included.

After dinner, on the way back to the common room, Ginny made sure no one was within earshot, then told Harry she wanted him to put her under the Imperius curse.

Harry stared at her, at a loss for words, but Hermione hissed, "That's illegal!"

"And? Moody's been doing it."

"Under controlled conditions in an academic context, with special permission!"

"Which would be fine if he were teaching my class to resist it too."

"Teaching these curses to our year is already two years ahead of schedule."

"Yeah, funny how he's changed things enough to teach it to Harry's year, but no lower. That's no coincidence. Dumbledore and Moody know what's coming, and they want Harry to be ready. Maybe you and Ron too, because you're friends with him. I can't be the only one left out."

"That's… well, it's awful, but it does make sense of their actions," Hermione admitted.

"Glad we agree," Ginny said, then turned to Harry. "So what do you say, handsome? Fancy bending a cute young witch to your will?" She pressed her hands to her cheeks in mock dismay. "Oh dear, I hope you don't take advantage of my sweet innocence too awfully much."

"Absolutely not," Harry answered, not smiling. "Seeing Moody use it was bad enough. Hell, even the spider was hard to watch. I never want to do that to anyone, least of all you."

"Hermione would probably be better at it anyway," Ron put in. "She's pretty bossy."

Hermione snapped, "Take that back right now and apologize!"

"I rest my case."

Before the two of them could get into it, Harry put his hand on Ginny's arm and asked, "Don't you think it might… bring up bad stuff for you?"

Hermione and Ron fell silent as they waited for her reaction.

Ginny dropped her flirty demeanor. "My bad stuff is why I need this. I need to know it can never happen again. You trust me to use Legilimency on you. I trust you to do this to me. Hermione would never agree to do it, and if Ron couldn't shake it off, he probably won't be able to cast it. It has to be you. I know you have the strength of will for it."

Harry said, "How about this instead? I'm planning to ask Moody for extra lessons, like we had with Remus. If you're right about him changing the class for my benefit, he'll definitely agree. And you need help to continue safely with your fire. When we go and ask him, we'll put resisting the Imperius on the list of things we want lessons on."

"No. If we let him do it when it's just the two of us, and he does manage to control me, you'd basically be alone with him. We don't do that with Defense teachers."

Hermione suggested, "You could ask him to offer the option for third-year students to try to resist it in class. He's right not to expect everyone in your year to do it, but it's different if it's on a volunteer basis."

Ginny said, "I like that a lot better."

Ron asked, "If you're going to him for lessons, does this mean we're leaning towards thinking he's not evil?"

Harry said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you all I got a letter from Tonks today. I asked her about Moody in my last letter. Although he's retired from active duty, it turns out he helped a lot with her training."

"So she vouches for him?" Ron asked.

"Sort of? She said he knows about fighting the Dark Arts inside and out, but he's kind of unpredictable. Not evil, but still dangerous."

"That'll work," Ginny said. "We need dangerous people on our side. He knows things we need to learn. I'd try Legilimency to get a better sense of him, but that hasn't always worked out well for me. Someone as cautious as Moody is sure to know Occlumency."

"Cautious?" Ron asked. "Not paranoid?"

"I said what I said. Harry, can we go talk to him now? If you won't put the curse on me, I want to at least know I'll have a chance to test myself against it soon in class."

Harry agreed, and the two of them split off to head for Moody's office, while Ron and Hermione continued on to Gryffindor Tower.

When Harry and Ginny knocked on Moody's door, they heard something slamming shut on the other side. Moments later, Moody yanked the door open.

He gave them a glare, then peered up and down the corridor, before putting his focus back on them. "Potter! Weasley! What do you two want?"

"We know the real reason you're here at Hogwarts," Ginny said.

"Is that so? And just what do you think you know?"

"You're here for Harry."

Moody scanned the corridor again. "Am I? Perhaps you should come inside to discuss it."

He stepped back, watching them closely as they moved past him. He shut the door behind them.

"You're here to train Harry to fight," Ginny elaborated. "That's why you changed the curriculum to include Dark curses for fourth-years–to make sure he's ready to face Riddle. I assume you know that name. We're here to set up his extra lessons, and I want in."

Moody stared at her for a long moment, then barked out a harsh laugh. "Lupin was right about you. I'd say you've got yourself a keeper there, Potter, and I'm not talking about the little Quidditch games you've been squandering your time on. Though for the record, I didn't change the curriculum. That was Dumbledore's idea. Took you long enough to figure it out and come see me."

Harry said, "You could have brought it up. You didn't have to wait for us."

"I'm not going to waste my time on anyone who can't be bothered to take some initiative."

Ginny said, "Well, we're here now, so I'll take that as a 'yes'. Besides whatever you're teaching Harry, I want to pick up where I left off with Remus on fire magic."

"Any side effects so far?"

"I don't think so."

"Never felt sloshed?"

"Oh, then yes. One time. Not from lessons though."

"That mess out on the grounds with Pettigrew?"

"You know about that?"

"Of course. You're lucky the effect didn't hit you in the middle of a fight. That's the problem with holding back during training. You don't know what to expect when it's for real. The best way to learn how to handle going all-out is by doing it."

"You'll teach me that?" Ginny asked.

"We'll work up to it. How fast we go depends on how well you convince me you're not so damn eager you wind up killing yourself–or more importantly, me."

"I understand. Fire magic demands great caution." She gave a slow nod, trying to keep her expression solemn.

Moody snorted at her attempt and turned to Harry. "What about you, Potter? Anything to say for yourself, or are you going to let your girlfriend do all the talking?"

"I want to learn to stop Riddle for good."

"Don't be a fool. You're years away from being ready to face him, if you ever get there at all."

"He won't be facing him alone," Ginny declared. "But before we get into that, I need to learn to resist the Imperius. Can you offer it to my class too? Just for volunteers?"

"Hmmm," Moody mused, then drew his wand in a flash and pointed it at Ginny. "Imperio. Take out your wand by the tip, and throw it across the room."

Harry drew his own wand, but Moody disarmed him easily. "Stand down, Potter. She wanted this, and no Death Eater is going to give you a chance to prepare yourself. You have to be ready to react and fight back at any time. I just told you that if I train you, we'll go hard and real. Consider this your first lesson. Constant Vigilance!"

Ginny had stood frozen through this. Slowly, she clenched her fists. "My wand won't do me much good across the room, if we're starting our first lesson now."

"Not bad, Weasley, but that was an order I'd expect you to resist. Let's try something which should come more naturally to you. Imperio! Tell Potter how much you love him."

"Hey! That's too personal!" Harry objected, but Moody ignored him.

Ginny blinked several times, and shook her head. "I don't think I could find the words to tell Harry how much he means to me. But that's none of your business."

Moody put his wand away. "Slow, but you managed to shake it. Maybe giving you lessons wouldn't be a complete waste of my time."

Ginny glared at Moody, but pulled out a copy of the parchment Remus had given her over the summer, and handed it to him. "Here's what Remus thinks I should work on this year."

Moody read through it, raising his eyebrows. "He does have a high opinion of you. All useful stuff, if a bit heavy on theory. I use a more practical approach when I train people. You want to learn fire magic. Potter needs to learn how to deal with people trying to kill him. Sounds like you two are a perfect match. You're going to try various ways of setting him on fire, and he's going to try to stop you."

Harry and Ginny exchanged an uncertain look.

"You won't be doing each other any favors by holding back," Moody warned them. "The Death Eaters still running around loose are a bunch of cowards and liars who gave up names or pretended to be under the Imperius. That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. It just means they won't play fair."

After another moment of silent communication, Harry and Ginny turned to Moody.

"We're in," Harry said, with Ginny nodding in agreement.

Moody tossed Harry's wand back to him. "We're starting now. Defend yourselves as best you can."