Ascension: The Triumvirate

by Define Anachronistic

(AU) The Triwizard Tournament is here and Harry has qualified as its youngest-ever participant. Rivals the world over have put a target on his back, but he's eager to test his mettle against them- the very best of his generation. But unbeknownst to him, all of this is within the scope of Voldemort's plan. Friends appear to be enemies and enemies as friends. Nothing is as it seems.

15. Treason and Treachery

CHAPTER EIGHT

Treason and Treachery

Harry felt his entire world slow down. The various outcomes of the looming conversation played out in his mind's eye and he immediately knew that this needed to be hashed out in private.

Lisa was about to sit down beside him, leaning in for a kiss as she did so, but Harry turned away. She froze as her lips touched his cheek. "What's wrong?"

Having put it off long enough, he stood and made for the doors. "I need to speak with you." He didn't stop to let her catch up or even check to see if she was following. He was afraid any kind of contact now would devolve into another public row.

Ignoring her questions and demands for him to slow down, Harry searched for the nearest location free of gossiping NEWT students and rowdy First Years. Settling for the closest secret passageway, he approached the portrait of the Battle of Camlann and murmured, "Valour". The portrait swung open and he waited for the now much more relaxed Lisa to enter before he followed, closing it firmly behind them.

The moment they were alone together in the gloom, Lisa put her arms around his middle and craned her head upwards. "You could have at least let me have breakfast first." Her voice was amused. Before he could correct whatever assumption she had made, her lips, determined and demanding, sought his own.

Harry had come here for a purpose, but that purpose escaped him as his body instinctively did what he had directed it to do a hundred times before. He kissed her back, hands sliding down her sides before settling on her hips. She hummed, pleased, and her hands traced up his arms and then his shoulders before running her fingers through his hair. He walked her backwards until she was pressed against the wall, but something about his forcefulness seemed to amuse her. Her mouth was fused to his but he could feel a rumble in her chest as though it were his own. He paused.

She was laughing at him.

Harry tore his lips from hers and stepped out of her hold. When his eyes had been closed and his body pressed tightly against hers, the world had felt bright and warm, but now that his eyes were open, he'd returned to the cold darkness of the passageway.

"Why would you do that?" He asked. "I said I needed to speak with you."

"I thought that was your new secret code." He couldn't see the details of her face in the gloom, but he could make out her smile. "Why else would you bring me here?" It took a moment for him to remember. Last term, this had been a favourite hideaway of theirs between classes. She reached for his shirt- as though to pull him back to her- but he brushed her hands aside.

Not wanting any more miscommunication to delay the inevitable, Harry went right for the heart of the matter. "I'm only going to ask you this once. Are you working with Witch Weekly on those articles about us?"

There was a pause, one that was long enough to confirm his suspicions. "What are you talking about," Lisa finally said, her tone far too calm.

"I asked the editor and he spilled the beans." The lie was a gamble. Nicolas hadn't been able to find out who Lisa had been in contact with aside from the photographer. However, they had both agreed that it was unlikely the editor was clueless about the situation. After all, Lisa needed to be certain that the articles would be flattering towards her or she wouldn't get anything out of it.

He heard a sharp intake of breath. "They came to me!" Lisa blurted out. "Last year, when we started going out! But I said no then-!" She abruptly changed tack. "It was only meant to be one time, but the first issue sold so well and it was really good for the band-"

"Whatever." Harry made for the slide that led to the seventh floor, but Lisa grabbed his wrist.

"Don't you understand?" She pleaded. "Bands need publicity. Music isn't enough anymore- if it ever was."

If this was meant to be her defence, he thought it was a very poor one. "So you used me?"

Lisa's face was still hidden in the darkness, but he knew how sharp she found his words by the way her hand tightened on his wrist. "Oh, don't act so high and mighty," she snapped. "You were all too happy to snog that Witch-Hunter girl without thinking of how it would make me feel, and it killed me to lie to you!"

Harry couldn't believe she would throw that in his face. "I thought we had gotten past that." He didn't even bother to mention how she made herself out to be some sort of angel compared to him.

"No. You had gotten past that."

"Then why not dump me when I told you? Why drag this out?" Lisa said nothing and Harry understood. "Because you decided to take Witch Weekly's offer then and there didn't you?" He stared at her, numb. He thought they had hit their groove over the last seven months. All traces of awkwardness between them had vanished and arguments had become nonexistent. But she had been playing him all along. Putting up with him to get what she wanted. The memories of their time together were suddenly tainted. "You never forgave me. You did use me."

With one hand still gripping his wrist, Lisa put her other on his arm, soothingly, as though she were comforting a fussy child. "You're making it sound so much worse than it is."

"If you didn't think you were doing a bad thing, then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I needed this." Her voice had become choked. He could tell she had started to cry. "The band needed this. I've wanted this my whole life and I saw a chance. How could I not take it?"

"You know, I probably would've gone along with it if you'd told me about it beforehand," he admitted. "It's not that big of a deal. It's the fact that you went behind my back that-" That made me so feel used, he thought but didn't say. It felt like an admission of how hurt he was. "That I can't stand," he finished.

"I'm sorry," Lisa said finally. "Look, it won't happen again, okay? I never meant to..." She took a deep breath. "I really am sorry."

"Do you mean that? Or are you saying it because you're afraid a break-up might hurt your new public image?" When she took a moment to answer, Harry scoffed and wrenched his wrist free. "For whatever it's worth, I think your band is great." He shook his head. "It's sad that I have more faith in your music than you do."

"Harry, it's not-"

"We're done by the way," he said bluntly. He flicked his wand at the slide and transfigured it into a staircase. "Just in case you wanted to squeeze one last headline out of me." With that, he began the long climb up to the seventh floor, leaving her behind.

"Harry!" Lisa called after him. "Harry, wait!"

But he didn't turn back.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

It had become a habit for Harry to return home to Brightstone House whenever things at Hogwarts weren't going his way. Maia seemed put out that he would leave school so soon.

"You only just got back yesterday!" She exclaimed the moment she came downstairs. He was slumped on the sofa in front of the Odeon. "You should be with your friends."

Harry shrugged. His friends, as far as he was aware, were in Ravenclaw Tower and he didn't want to risk bumping into Lisa. Or worse, he thought, Lisa's friends.

His nonverbal answer seemed to worry his godmother. "What is it?" She crossed the room and put a hand atop his head. "Why so glum?"

"Erm…" He considered telling her the full story, but that included what he got up to with Sara and he didn't think Maia would take his side on that matter. Which told him a lot as she took his side on most things. That realisation left him ashamed. "I'm not all that happy with my performance in the prelims," he lied.

Maia's softening expression still made him feel guilty. "You're the youngest ever participant and you managed to reach The Three Tasks." She ruffled his hair. "You deserve to feel proud of yourself."

Harry smiled weakly at her. "I'll feel proud when I win the whole thing. Where's Nicolas?"

Maia sighed. "Take a day off, Harry. Go see your friends."

"I will. Later." He ignored her groan. "Don't worry, it'll be purely theoretical. I just need Nic to point me in the right direction." He stood and left the room before she could come up with a reasonable argument for why he should return to school.

As expected, Harry found his master in his laboratory, working on a familiar Artifice.

"Are you not finished with that?" It had only been a couple of weeks since he'd seen Nicolas work on his sphere of bronze rings, but that was normally enough time for him to have moved on to another project. His master was easily bored with things he'd already figured out, so this made Harry think this Artifice was something special.

Impossible to sneak up on, Nicolas didn't even look up at the sound of his voice. "Yes, but what's the point in inventing something if you never get to use it?" His words were flighty and childish, but his tone was serious. The copious notes piled on the workbench made it obvious that this experiment had a greater purpose.

Harry put his initial purpose for visiting aside and approached the workbench. "Need a hand?" He brushed his fingers along Eos' red-gold plumage as she made space for him on the table. She flew over to her perch to watch the proceedings instead.

Nicolas, who had been in the middle of summoning a bell jar from one of his many shelves, turned to him in surprise. "What? Oh, thank you," he added when Harry managed to catch the jar before it hit the ground. "We wouldn't want that to contaminate us."

"No, we wouldn't," Harry agreed, giving the Malspore behind the glass a wary look.

"Why would you want to help?" Nicolas asked as he took the jar back. "The clues and parameters of the First Task are about to be released any day now. You should be enjoying what time you have off."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're not the only one who likes to keep busy, you know."

"So it isn't the Triwizard then. Has something happened at work?" He guessed. "Your friends? Girlfriend?" Something in Harry's expression must have shifted as Nicolas said, "Ah hah!"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That's alright. Just know I'm here for advice if you need it."

"Really? I thought blokes in your day only got girlfriends by kidnapping them from other villages."

"Yes, that's how I met my first love." Nicolas sighed wistfully. "Oh, my sweet Robine."

Harry couldn't even tell if he was joking. "Whatever. Just keep me occupied." When his master looked unconvinced, he added, "I'm your apprentice. I'm meant to assist you with your research, aren't I?"

Nicolas sighed. "I could use the help. But," he added firmly, "you need to follow my instructions carefully. This is more advanced work than a typical Enchanting Apprentice is capable of, understand?" He waited for Harry to nod before continuing. "Also, this is just for today. You need at least a little time off."

"Agreed." Harry nodded. "Now, where do I start?"

Before that afternoon, Harry would have considered himself rather adept when it came to enchanting. Between school, his personal studies, Cadet training and being apprenticed to a Sage, he was years ahead of where he should be. He would have considered himself equal in skill with any Hogwarts Graduate or even an Enchantment Guild Apprentice. However, working with Nicolas, a true master of the art, showed just how far he had left to go.

"Why are you writing out the entire Complex over again?" His master had asked when he saw Harry begin to etch a second complex on another bronze ring. "One is enough for anything that isn't intended to be permanent. Just use an Unbounded Complex."

"A what?"

Nicolas stared at him blankly before comprehension dawned behind his eyes. "Right, they save that for the Magisterium these days. Here, watch carefully." He looked up once he was finished demonstrating the engraving of the short series of symbols, only to find Harry looking at him in frustration.

"I can use this for anything that isn't permanent?" He waited for Nicolas to nod. "Then why haven't they taught us this sooner?"

Nicolas shrugged. "Well, it does tend to blow up if done incorrectly."

Having both survived and caused more than his fair share of explosions, Harry wasn't all too concerned with that. "So, I can use a Connection Complex to attach the rings together and the Unbounded Complex to keep the magic in the circuit?"

Nicolas looked alarmed. "Please don't compare magic to electricity. So many promising young sorcerers meet their ends experimenting with the two."

Harry ignored that as it didn't apply to him. He had no time for research. "Can you teach me how to apply runes with just my hand?" He asked. "I've seen you do it before, and I wasn't in a hurry to learn, but then other duellists in the Tournament started doing it. Even Cedric pulled it off a couple of times-"

"Yes."

Harry blinked. "Yes? Just like that? Normally it takes a little more convincing for you to see things my way." He paused. "Or for my life to be under threat."

Nicolas smiled. "You surprised me during your duel with that Molotov boy. I didn't think you were ready to manifest a complete Combat Avatar, but you proved me wrong."

"Is that all it takes?"

"It's not necessary at all," his master chuckled. "But it suggests you now have enough power at your disposal to freely use costly techniques without depleting your Mana Reserves."

"So, can we-?"

"Let's finish this first before we move on to something else." Nicolas returned to working on the sphere. Harry felt abashed that he couldn't keep his promise to play the assistant for a single afternoon before making things about him again.

"What are we working on?" He asked, straight-faced. "And isn't experimenting with a Malspore dangerous?"

"Why would it be?" Nicolas asked absently. "We're protected by the Impervius Charm."

Harry couldn't hide his embarrassment that time. "Of course we are," he said, cheeks flushing as he hurriedly cast one on himself. Nicolas, who always seemed to keep his Mage Sight activated, glanced at him incredulously before shaking his head and returning to work.

As Harry watched, Nicolas removed the black, inky mushroom from the bell jar and placed it within the confines of the ringed globe. Within the sphere, it floated in mid-air, not levitating, but frozen in time. Nicolas spun the rings and they watched in bated breath as the Malspore first grew in size and released several explosions of tiny spores before it started to shrink and, eventually, return to a spore itself.

Harry didn't realise this was a negative result until Nicolas sighed in frustration. From her perch, Eos let out a slow mournful trill.

"What was supposed to happen?"

As though suddenly remembering he wasn't alone, Nicolas immediately reigned himself in. "I wanted to know if the origins of the Malspore would reveal itself if I reversed its temporality. I went to Azkaban Island to search for the oldest Malspores I could find, but-" he gestured to the Malspore that was still being manipulated by time- "nothing."

"But why would you need-?" Harry paused and thought about the only thing his master would desire. "You think if you find the origins of the Malspore, you can figure out how to take the magic away from the Philosopher's Stone, don't you?"

Nicolas nodded slowly. "It's called the Vestigial Malspore. It was only ever found as a reference in the notes Ekrizdis left behind when he died, and Azkaban's location was first revealed to the world. No one even knows if it is real."

"Oh." Suddenly, Harry's problems seemed incredibly small compared to the possibility of his master willingly leaving him. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure it out," he said weakly.

Nicolas grunted. "I can't do this anymore. Not today at least." He turned away from the workbench and forced a smile. "You came here for a reason." It was a statement, not a question.

"I kept getting seriously injured during the prelims." He frowned. "Logic says I should avoid situations where I get injured in the first place, but that's not possible for me. I could've done better, especially against Kurai Ikari, if I had just been tougher physically."

Nicolas hummed consideringly. "As ridiculous as it may sound, avoiding injuries isn't in your best interest." Harry raised his eyebrows. "It's good you asked me about wandless rune carving now because what I'm about to teach you would only make that easier for you to master."

"A new technique?"

"No." Nicolas sniffed haughtily. "Calling it an entirely new technique would be a bit of a stretch."

Harry smiled knowingly. "You've already named it, haven't you?"

"Yes," Nicolas admitted, sheepishly. "It is the final stage of the Body Enhancement Technique: Infinite Augmentation."

"Permanent enhancement?" Harry smiled at his mentor's put-out expression. "The name makes it a little obvious."

"Yes, that is essentially it," Nicolas sighed. "How do you use the technique right now?"

Harry shrugged. "In bursts whenever I need to. It keeps me from wasting what power I have."

A slow grin stretched across Nicolas' face. "Harry, you should know better by now. The best things come at high prices."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Harry had gone into this knowing it would be difficult, but he was still annoyed at how much destruction his new training regimen was causing.

"Magister Zhang's insistence on a treaty with all forty-seven Goblin clans instead of just the most powerful and populous of them was considered foolhardy during his reign. However, the wisdom of this would be understood by future leaders-" Professor Archibald's dry voice was difficult enough to listen to normally, but with Harry's attention completely focused on mastering his newest technique, it was nothing more than droning background noise.

Very distracting background noise.

BANG!

"What on-?!" Archibald's head shot up from his notes. He stared directly at Harry, along with the rest of the class who had whipped their heads around to see him clambering to his feet, red-faced among the splintered remains of his desk and chair. "Mr Potter!"

"Sorry, Professor," Harry sighed. He waved his wand over the demolished furniture. "Please continue." There were a few snickers from his classmates, but most of them had returned to the lethargic states they had been in before his loud interruption, already used to his random moments of destruction. Archibald looked like he was about to tell him off for either his interruption or his impertinence, but after a moment, he simply shook his head and returned to his lecture.

"Thanks for that," Anthony said lowly as he put his head back down on their newly repaired desk. "I love being woken up by loud bangs."

"You're welcome." Harry refused to be embarrassed as he'd been doing much the same all week long. The latest technique in his ever-expanding arsenal was easy to activate, difficult to maintain and almost impossible to use without causing very conspicuous damage to his surroundings.

"You're now capable of augmenting your body without harming yourself. Now you need to do so without harming your surroundings," Nicolas had said. "The trick is to constantly adjust the amount of power you're using without even realising you're doing so. After all, you don't think about how tightly you hold a quill or how much strength you use when opening doors, do you? Eventually, you'll even be able to adjust the levels of argumentation on a reflex, even when you're surprised. Injuries that aren't caused by magic will become a rarity even in your line of work."

It had better be worth it, Harry grumbled. I don't think my reputation will recover otherwise.

As soon as the class let out, his friends immediately let him know that they agreed with that assessment.

"What was that?" Michael exclaimed the moment they stepped out into the corridor. When the other departing students glanced their way, Harry gave him a withering look. Michael winced. "Sorry," he said in a much quieter tone as they moved away from everyone else.

"What do you think it was?" Harry asked. "I was practising Nic's Infinite Augmentation Technique."

"Hmm?" Terry pretended to look confused. "Oh! You mean Hagrid-Mode?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not calling it that." Terry had tried to convince him to rename the technique (even getting Hagrid on board with the idea) but he didn't want to deal with a sulky Nicolas. He'd never stop complaining if a technique he had invented was named after someone else. He was very touchy about that sort of thing.

"Dissendium!" Anthony tapped his wand on the frame of a painting consisting of frolicking Druids and Satyrs. It opened, revealing a secret passageway. "Call it whatever you want," he said as he led the way through the narrow passage that led to Ravenclaw Tower. "But you need to hurry up and get a handle on it or everyone will think you're on the verge of a breakdown or something." Harry sighed but said nothing. He knew exactly what Anthony was getting at.

Over the last week, rumours of Harry and Lisa's breakup had swept through the school. Though he had kept his mouth shut about it, vague details of their troubles had managed to get out and it did not paint him in the best light. At first, Harry had simply believed someone in Lisa's circle (most likely Padma who he disliked) had let details slip, but when the most recent issue of Witch Weekly dropped containing thinly veiled allegations of cheating, he knew that his ex-girlfriend was leading the slander campaign against him.

Needless to say, his moments of destructive clumsiness did not help his image any.

"I still say you should do something to get back at her," Terry said cheerfully. Due to the mutual enmity between himself and Lisa, Terry had been in high spirits after learning of the breakup. "A few Rapidly Expanding Tadpoles in her morning cornflakes and-"

"No." Harry was firm when it came to cutting all ties with Lisa, and that included retaliatory giant frogs leaping out of her cereal bowl. "Just leave it."

Terry sighed as they stepped out of the passageway and made for the circular staircase. "Fine, take the high road." He grumbled. "At least I won't ever have to hang out with her again."

Harry glanced back at him. "Why do you two hate each other anyway?" He had asked this before but had never gotten a straight answer.

"Well, I suppose I can tell you the truth now that you're not in her clutches anymore." Terry considered. "When we were at Pendle's, I saw her drown a litter of Crup puppies."

Harry missed a step and only regained his balance because Michael steadied him. "What?!"

"He's lying." Anthony sighed as Terry roared with laughter. "Think it through."

"But just the fact that you almost believed it says a lot." Terry chortled. "She really did a number on you." Harry shook his head and continued up the stairs. He didn't miss the other two giving Terry warning looks.

"You should get rid of her stuff," Michael said helpfully once they were safely absconded in Harry's dormitory, away from covert eyes in the common room. "It'll help you move on."

Harry gave him a weird look as he sat down on his armchair. "What stuff?"

Michael glanced around. "You don't have anything in here that belongs to her? Anything she gave you or left behind in here?"

Harry shrugged. "She gave me a scarf, but it's red and it itches, so I've never worn it. Oh, and she got me a Defence Against the Dark Arts book for my birthday, but it was a little rudimentary."

"What about her stuff?" Michael glanced around as though hoping they would be displayed.

"You think I'd let her keep her crap in my room?" Terry looked unbothered by this and began taking out his homework, but Michael and Anthony were giving him weird looks. "What?"

"How were you guys together for so long?" Anthony wondered. "I've got plenty of Luna's stuff in my dorm."

Michael nodded. "You should listen to him. They've been together since the Dark Ages."

"We've only been together a month."

Michael gave Anthony a pitying look. "You really were the last person to know about you and Luna, huh?" He turned back to Harry before Anthony could respond. "Seriously though, you two were a thing since Second Year. You didn't leave things behind in her dorm because you knew you could just go back for it later?"

Harry made a face. "No, I like to keep my stuff where it's safe so no one can curse it." His friends' expressions were so judgemental that he refrained from telling them about his Mokeskin pouch. It held his most treasured items and he kept it with him at all times, just in case he ever went on the run again. "Wait, so you two just leave your things lying around where anyone can get to them?"

"Yes!" Michael said, seemingly frustrated that Harry wasn't getting it. "I left a ton of stuff with Padma." He frowned then. "She still hasn't given me back last year's Quidditch jersey. Hooch is getting on my nerves about it."

"And this is supposed to convince me to be thoughtless with my things…how exactly?"

"We're saying you should have figured out something wasn't right a while ago." Anthony pointed out. "Remember when she used to get upset with you for always ditching her for Cadet stuff? Or training? And then she became cool with it out of nowhere?"

Harry thought back to Valentine's Day. "I thought we'd reached an understanding. She knew I wasn't ditching her without good reason."

"You normally notice everything, Harry." Michael sighed. "But I think you didn't notice anything weird about Lisa's behaviour because you didn't care enough to."

Harry's eyes flickered between Michael and Anthony. Though their expressions were both contrite, they also appeared equally resolute in their opinion. Feeling bizarrely desperate, he turned to Terry. "Are you hearing this?"

"Huh?" As Terry had been focused on getting his History of Magic homework done, it took a minute to catch him up. "Yeah," he said distractedly as he returned his attention to his parchment. "Lisa's the worst."

Anthony sighed. "And if it were any girl but Lisa?"

Terry winced and glanced apologetically at Harry. "You have been a bit of a prick to her, mate."

"How-?"

"You forgot her birthday," Terry began counting off his fingers.

"That was last year."

"You only gave her time of day when you didn't have anything better to do," Terry continued. "You avoided her whenever she was around Padma unless you had other people as buffers." He paused before glancing at the others. "Am I missing anything?"

"He snogged another girl when he was with her," Michael added helpfully.

"For a mission!"

Terry laughed. "How did I forget about that?"

"He ditched her at that end-of-year party." Anthony pointed out.

"I was a First Year, and we weren't even together." Harry was starting to wonder why he was even protesting.

"Don't forget when he didn't even-" Michael began, but Harry cut him off.

"Alright, alright! I get it!" Harry snapped as he slumped back in his chair. "I'm the worst."

"You kind of are," Terry said his lips quivering. "It's her birthday tomorrow. You dumped her a week before her birthday." He started to laugh.

"Wow." Harry's eyes widened. "I completely forgot. I really am the worst."

Michael was staring at the chortling Terry. "Seriously, what is your problem with her?"

Terry quickly sobered. "Nothing. I just don't-"

"You remember that Poltergiest prank Terry tried to pull?" Anthony asked. "Back at Pendle's," he added for Harry's benefit.

"Shut up, Anthony," Terry said warningly.

Michael snorted. "Hard to forget that clown costume." Terry got up and charged at Anthony but Michael held him back. "Go on."

"Terry thought it would be a good idea to put his Colour-Changing Potion into water balloons-"

"Argh, I remember that." Michael grimaced. "My hair was slimy and green for a week."

"You weren't the only person hit. Lots of kids kept trying to get back at Terry, but you know how crafty the little git can be-"

"I'm right here!" Terry complained, voice was muffled by Michael's headlock.

"Lisa was the only one who managed. She put a Sleeping Potion in his drink during snack time and somehow got him into a clown costume with no zippers or buttons. When he woke up, he didn't have any way to take it off. So-" Anthony had started to laugh- "he starts running around the school, crying-"

"I was not!"

"-but the headmistress thought he was moaning. You know, like a ghost. So, she suspends him for pretending to be a Poltergeist." Anthony turned to Harry with teary eyes. "That wasn't even a rule! But she made it into one just for him!"

Harry shook his head. "Wait, so you hate her because she pranked you? No-" That didn't sound like him. "You hate her because you took credit for her prank."

"I figured it was better to go along with the headmistress' assumption than ruin my reputation, but-" Terry sniffed. "It was a black mark on my honour."

"You are so weird," Harry muttered.

Michael tutted. "The Terror of Pendle's Institute was a mere mortal after all." He turned away dramatically. "I can't even look at you."

"It was one time!" Terry pleaded seriously. "Everything else was all me. I'm still the same terror!"

The conversation then deviated to other childhood mischief Terry had caused, and then the other boys brought up their own troublemaking. Even together, all three of them couldn't match the sheer quantity of chaos Terry had been behind, much to the boy's pride.

Eventually, they got around to their essay on the Confederacy-Goblin Treaty of 1512, but Harry's focus kept returning to the realisation he had earlier. The only thing worse than accepting that he wasn't entirely blameless when it came to Lisa was having his three best friends point it out to him.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Oh glorious weekend, why hath thou taken so long to arrive?" Terry dramatically bemoaned.

Susan rolled her eyes as she packed away her potions kit but she'd be lying if she said didn't share the sentiment. An increase in coursework was bad enough but when coupled with a week's worth of late nights spent watching the Triwizard Preliminaries on the Odeon was enough to do a number on her energy levels.

But a quirk in the class schedule meant that Fourth Years had Friday after lunch completley free of lessons. Which everyone treated as an early start to the weekend instead of the study periods the teachers had likely intended.

"Want to go into town tomorrow?" She asked Megan as they left the dungeon.

"I can't," Megan said quickly. "I have plans."

"Plans?" She didn't want to be rude but Megan wasn't exactly over-encumbered with friends. If she had something going on, Susan was usually the first to hear about it. "What kind of-" Before she could finish they heard the echo of voices up ahead.

"Oh, that's amazing!" Poppy gasped. "I heard it was sold out in minutes!"

"You're so lucky!" Sally whined.

"We're so lucky," Hannah corrected smugly. "My mother sent two extra tickets, but I can't decide who to give it to." As the other girls began clamouring to be chosen, Susan stopped dead in the corridor, too afraid to round the corner and face them.

She knew what they were talking about. Fleeing Sunlight was having three back-to-back shows in Hogsmeade this weekend. She would have loved to go but even if she did have a ticket she didn't have anyone to go with. All her friends hated the boyband, even Megan.

But she and Hannah had been best friends once, in their own twisted way. If anyone knew how much she would have wanted to go, it would be her. So, the last thing she wanted to do was walk past her and have her nose rubbed in it.

Megan read her mind. "This way." She led them back to the way they had come. "That cow will never let us eat in peace," she said as she headed towards the nearest bathroom. "So, we'll just sit with the boys at lunch."

Susan smiled. "Thanks." Just for that she decided to not pry about her plans for tomorrow.

When they entered the bathroom, Megan stepped into a cubicle and Susan went to wait for her by the sinks. She gave an obligortory glance to her reflection and grimaced when she saw how frizzy the potion fumes had left her hair. However, before she could even draw her wand to fix it, she heard voices nearing the door.

"-least try. You never know."

"Don't think I've ever spoken to him."

Not wanting to deal with the looks or snide comments about her family that had become commonplace, Susan went around to the sinks on the other side that couldn't be seen from the door.

"Now's the perfect time to start." The door opened and the muffled voices became clearer. "If you won't, I will."

"You would, wouldn't you?" The other girl snorted as she headed to a cubicle. "I had my eye on him first. You can't have him."

"Keep him," a third girl said. "What makes you think he'd treat you any better than Turpin?"

Susan groaned silently. All anyone wanted to do this week was talk about Harry and Lisa's breakup. Everyone seemed to find it fasincating, particularly the girls of the castle. Everywhere she went, there were people gossiping about it and theorising on what had gone down between them. She did know what happened and knew it wasn't all that interesting. The only reason they were even talking about it was because Harry was famous. Well, that and they had been together for over a year, which was about an eternity in Hogwarts time.

"Oh, you don't believe that rubbish do you?" The second girl said. Susan recognised her voice now. Flora Carrow, a Fifth Year Slytherin. Which would make the girl in the cubicle her twin, Hestia."If he cheated on Turpin, someone in the castle would have bragged about it by now," Flora continued. "Or at least their friends would have. Nothing stays a secret in this place."

"Maybe it wasn't with someone from Hogwarts," the third girl said. Zoey Lithgow, Susan decided with a growing pit in her stomach. She was the ringleader of the trio and, in her experience, the meanest girl in school. Just what she got for using a bathroom in the dungeons. "Maybe he got with someone at the Triwizard," Lithgow finished with delight.

"How would Turpin have found out?" Hestia asked from her cubicle. It was then Susan realised Megan was likely hiding as well. They'd both had bad experiences with these three. "Hawthorn doesn't talk to anyone and Diggory is his friend."

"Potter probably had a crisis of conscience and told her," Lithgow decided.

"So he's an idiot." Hestia sounded disappointed. "I thought he was meant to be brilliant."

"Maybe I will go after him," Flora giggled. "I like dumb boys. They're so much more fun."

"Ask him to the Masquerade Ball," Lithgow advised her. "Or the Magister's Banquet."

"Hey!" Hestia protested as she stepped out of her cubicle to wash her hands. "I just said I had my eye on him first."

"You actually fancy him. This one just wants to use him. At least I can respect that."

"Use him for what?"

"I haven't decided yet," Flora said mischievously as they headed for the door. "Turpin got plenty out him. I should be able to get something good if that frigid Ravenclaw managed to."

"Flora!" Hestia's whine was the last Susan heard of them before the door closed and their voices became muffled once again.

Turpin got plenty out of him. It was true. She'd seen the article in Witch Weekly along with everyone else. Quill for the Bard were rumoured to be the one of the supporting acts for The Hobgoblins when their new tour started next year. Even though the Hobgoblins weren't topping the charts anymore, they were still a household name. Turpin had likely gotten the opportunity from the press she had received for being with Harry.

"Susan?" Megan said. She had finally emerged from the cubicle to wash her hands. "Are you alright? You look worried."

"Hmm?" She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. It's not like Harry is the type to fall for a pretty face."

"Really?" Megan looked uncomfortable. "I'm starting to think all guys are."

Susan didn't agree until she they left the bathroom and saw the very boy they were discussing cornered by the trio at the end of the corridor. The Carrow twins seemed to be clamoring for his attention and, despite her earlier words, even Lithgow was smiling coyly up at him.

They were all small, delicate girls with dark hair, just like Lisa. Susan tugged at a strand of her own hair, vibrant red and frizzy from potion fumes. As she approached, she was level with Harry, taller than him even as he was leaning back against the wall. Nothing like his old girlfriend. Not his type at all.

"The way you dealt with that Yeti was just..." Flora trailed off with a sigh. "Wow."

For a moment, Hestia looked like she wanted to rip her twin's head off. Then she smothered it with a smile as she turned back to Harry. "It's about time Hogwarts had a Representative it could be proud of. You'll win the whole thing, won't you?"

Before he could reply, Lithgow trailed a hand down his arm. "Seeing you stare down that Sea Serpent was something else. You should have been in Slytherin. It's where a Parselmouth belongs." Harry looked unbothered by this attention, bored even, but Hestia looked like her head was about to explode.

Susan probably didn't look any better.

However, before either one of them could detonate, a voice called from the stairs. "Sorry to keep you waiting," Andrea Watkins said as she emerged from the gloomy staircase that led deep into the dungeons. "You know how long it takes to fit the canvas in my bag." That explained why he was here. Susan hadn't been able to figure out why he would be loitering alone in a dungeon corridor instead of eating lunch, but he and Andrea were both in the Art Club together.

"It's no bother," Harry said as he kicked off the wall and brushed past the older girls. "Ready to go?"

Andrea grinned at him. "Lead the way."

Susan pinched her lips. The Fifth Year trio was one thing but Harry was actually friendly with Andrea. He was friends with her eldest brother. He had called her nice before which was big as he was prickly and only tolerated most people. And she was just his type too.

Still, she would have dealt with it. She had dealt with far worse. But Megan chose that moment to make their presence known.

"Harry!" Megan called as she pulled Susan forward from where they had both frozen by the bathroom doors. "Could you give Susan a hand?"

Harry turned to face them, surprised. "What's up?" Was it her imagination or did he look a little overwhelmed now he was cornered by six girls instead of three?

"I promised to help my sister this afternoon, but Susan needs an extra pair of hands today," Megan said quickly. "Could you help her out?"

He looked confused. "Can't Professor Jones find someone else to help her?"

"No, I'm helping her," Megan said, deliberately misunderstanding his question. She then pushed Susan in the back, sending her stumbling towards him. "You help Susan today."

Harry caught her by the shoulders before she could fall into him. "You don't mind, do you?" He asked Andrea.

If she was disappointed she hid it well. "You've already been a big help. I'll see you at the next meeting?" She turned and walked away before he could respond.

"I should get going too," Megan said as she started towards the stairs that led to the upper levels. "Got a lot of work to do," she said meaningfully at Susan. For her part, Susan was left wondering when Megan had become such an accomplished liar.

Harry eyed Megan's back strangely, likely because they were going to head in the same direction. "Should we get lunch before we go?"

"No," Susan said quickly. Now that Megan had left, she was afraid she'd lose her nerve and not follow through. "We'll eat when we get there." She tugged on his arm, leaving the three Fifth Years to gape at her back.

"Alright, but you're buying."

While classes were over, it was still a Friday so they needed permission to leave school grounds. After getting the go-ahead from Professor Flitwick, Harry joined her in Professor Sprout's office to Floo to St. Mungo's Hospital. Despite his earlier demand, he ignored her protests and paid for their meals at the canteen. The room was full of vistors and Healers on their lunch break but they managed to snag a table in the corner of the room by the windows overlooking the capital.

"What was up with Megan?" Harry asked before taking a big bite of his sandwich.

Susan needed a moment to think, so she chewed on her chips before answering. "She thought you needed rescuing from those Slytherins."

"That was nice of her. Sucks about Andrea though," he muttered. "She asked for help with her painting so we were going to have lunch in the club room."

"Just the two of you?"

"Yeah."

"That does suck." Susan made a mental note to hug Megan when they got back to school.

After they were finished eating, they hung around until it was almost two o'clock before heading to the elevators. Harry looked increasingly nervous as the elevator climbed upwards. "I wish I brought something," he said quietly. "It's rude to show up empty handed, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't just show up to your mum's room with no forewarning and no gift." He tutted. "Not even flowers? Remus is gonna tell me off if he hears about this."

She was surprised. When had her mother come into this? "I'm here to volunteer at the children's ward."

He stared at her. "You and Megan do that?"

"No, just me. She wanted to rescue you, remember?" The elevator doors opened and she led the way down the long corridor towards the playroom where Healer Winters should be waiting for her.

"You know, a second ago I would have said no one could make you do anything you didn't want to, but-" he shook his head, smiling- "now I think I don't know you as well as I thought."

She raised her eyebrows. "It's not like you tell me everything you get up to."

"I kind of do," he shrugged. "The important stuff anyway."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're the only friend I've got who won't make fun of me." He paused. "Most of the time."

She faced forward so he wouldn't see her smile. "I'll keep you better updated then. But I've only been doing this on Fridays since term started and you've-"

"-been busy with the Triwizard," he finished.

"Exactly," she said as the colourful playroom doors came into sight. "This is only my fourth time, so it's not like I'm keeping secrets."

"You're right. I've been told I'm pretty good at reading people." He bumped shoulders with her. "I'd figure it out in an instant if you tried hiding something from me."

At that moment, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hit him or laugh in his face.

For her part, Healer Winters was in no laughing mood. "This is not for socialising," the elderly Healer hissed once she'd dragged Susan out of Harry's earshot. "I allowed you here because I've seen how paitent you could be with your mother. How can I be sure about this boy?"

Susan was insulted on Harry's behalf. "I didn't drag him off the street. He's an Auror Cadet. He knows to be gentle with people in need, especially children."

Winters didn't look convinced but she changed her mind once they reentered the playroom. Instead of playing haphazardly as they usually did in her limited experience, the kids were gathered on the colourful carpet before Harry who had somehow squeezed into one of the tiny chairs and was listing magical creatures.

"-Ogre, a Shrake, a couple of Yetis, a Wampus, a Basilisk, lots of Acromantula-"

"What's that?" A little girl with ears that had either been cursed to resemble figs or had a bout of accidental magic gone awry asked.

"Acromantula?" Harry asked mischievously. "They're giant hairy spiders the size of elephants, with legs that go like this-" he wiggled his fingers chaotically- "and pincers that go like this!" He began clicking and clacking towards the kids and they leaned away laughing, saying things like, "Ew!" or "I would squish it if it came near me!"

"Excuse me?" Healer Winters called. "What exactly are you telling them?"

"A list of all the Dark Beasts I've slain," Harry said casually.

"What?!"

"It's lots!" A boy that was floating as if filled with helium called.

Winters was so angry she forgot to take him aside. "What in Halycon made you think that would be appropriate?"

For the first time, Harry appeared contrite. "I'm sorry," he said, rising out the little chair. "Francesca here recognised me from the Triwizard and I thought if they were old enough to watch that, they could at least hear some stories."

"Triwizard?" Healer Winters finally put on the spectacles that had been dangling around her neck and gasped when she at last recognised him. "Godric's heart!" She exclaimed. "You're Harry Potter!"

"Yes, I am." Harry smiled pleasantly and offered his hand. "And you must be Healer Winters." Susan had no idea where he learned her name, but using it was effective; Winters all but crumbled when she put her hand in his. She wanted to roll her eyes but couldn't as Harry swiftly brought attention back to her. "Susan told me you were kind enough to let her volunteer, so I came today to lend a hand." Even though that wasn't how she remembered events playing out, Susan still smiled when Winters turned to beam at her.

The polite authority-fearing facade fell away the instant she turned her back and he winked at her. She was glad. She almost hadn't recognised him.

They spent the rest of the afternoon there, keeping a majority of the kids occupied while Healers and parents came to pick up and drop off, seemingly at random. As most of the attention was on him, Susan let Harry take the lead and was quietly impressed with how patient he was with their loud questions and demands he play this game or that.

As she watched him charm a dozen plush toys in a renactment of a battle, Susan began to wonder if this was a mistake. Seeing him here, taking so well to an activity that was important to her, made thoughts she wasn't yet sure of to take root in her mind.

Later, when Healer Winters' shift ended and the next Healer took over, she decided to say something. However, she wasn't quite sure where to start. "That was neat," she said at last. "That thing with the toys."

"It was just an animation charm," he shrugged. "I used it once to distract a kid while the others broke bad news to his mum."

Susan was surprised her earlier lie worked out so well; she hadn't known his experience as a Cadet would have been useful here. For some reason, it gave her confidence. "Do you want to go...? I mean, with me-?"

"We can go," Harry said softly. He stopped before the elevator to face her.

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I've never really met your mum before. I just wish I'd brought something." He smiled again. "Promise not to tell Remus?"

"I promise." Susan was too disappointed to point out the gift shop. Then she felt guilty for not feeling more excited about visiting her mother. She loved seeing her mother. "Come on." She pressed the button for the eighth floor where the Long-Term-Care Ward was.

"Sorry about never offering to go with you," Harry said as the elevator carried them up. "Anthony likes to visit his dad alone, but I should've known not everyone would be the same." He reached into his pocket and took out his communication mirror as the elevator stopped and its doors opened.

"Are you being called in?"

"Just want to make sure I look alright." He put the mirror away and straightened his uniform.

Susan knew she should tell him not to worry, that her mother wasn't the sort to concerned with how straight someone's collar was, but she just shook her head in wonder instead. She once saw him walk into the headquarters of hardened Rogues with more confidence then he was displaying now.

"Wait here," she told him when they reached the right door. "I just want to make sure she's up for visitors."

Harry nodded. "Just tell me to get lost if she doesn't want to see anyone right now." That wasn't the problem but it was kind of him to pretend that it was.

Susan knocked and entered when she heard, "Come in!"

Sadie Bones looked up from her book and beamed when she entered the room. "Hello, Susan," she said, delibrately saying her name to let her know that she was lucid. Susan hurried across the room and embraced her before she could even rise from her armchair.

"Hello, mum," she mumbled into her shoulder. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, dear," Sadie said as she stroked her hair. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes, even more than usual." Susan lifted her head and smiled shyly. "I brought a friend."

"Megan?" Sadie's eyes turned to the door. "Well don't keep her waiting."

"Erm..." Susan pulled back and took a seat on the sofa. "It's not Megan."

Sadie raised her eyebrows. Something in Susan's expression must have given away her thoughts as her mother's face lit up in comprehension. "Oh!" She smiled impishly before loudly calling out. "Come in!"

Harry stepped inside and paused. He was likely surprised by the size of it but St. Mungo's allowed it's patients in the Long-Term Ward to change the room as they saw fit, permitting they were able to afford the enchanting costs. Aunt Amelia may not be willing to visit her old friend but she still spared no expense when it came to her care.

She watched his eyes take in their surroundings- the airy sitting room, the sliding doors that led into the bedroom, the shelves of music records and books, and the blue hydrangeas withering in their vase- before he found them sitting by the windows. He moved to join them but paused again at Sadie's greeting.

"James!" She exclaimed. Susan's stomach dropped but when she turned to face her mother, she was surprised to find her cognizant. Her eyes had merely taken on a glimmer of nostalgia. "My word, you look just like him."

Harry grinned. "So, I've been told." He offered his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet to Mrs Bones."

"Call me Sadie, please," her mother insisted as she rose to shake his hand. "Won't you join us?"

"Thank you." Harry took a seat on the sofa next to her. "You knew my father?"

"Oh, yes. I was at the London Citadel at the same time your parents were. James was a bit of a showoff but he was as reliable as they come."

Susan knew it was bad for her mother's condition to linger too much on thoughts of the past, so she pushed things along to the present. "Harry's an Auror," she blurted out.

Harry eyed her strangely and she wished she had prepped him beforehand instead of letting her thoughts run wild. But, to his credit, he went along with her. "I'm a Second Year Cadet."

"You know, I was never a Cadet myself. I had no idea what to do with my future at your age."

"I'm a fan of the Captain Armstrong series, so I was hooked before I even stepped foot in Hogwarts."

Sadie laughed. "You'll never guess what I'm reading!" She lifted the book she had been reading so they could see the title: Captain Armstrong and the Emperor's Revenge. "It's the best one yet. I'm on my second read through."

Harry immediatley looked both delighted and worried. "Don't spoil it for me. I'm only on chapter eight."

"What?! It's been out for months!"

"I've been busy!"

Sadie shook her head. "If this series had been released when I was a kid, I would have enlisted too."

"Propaganda is a powerful tool," Harry said sagely and her mother laughed.

After that, the conversation devolved into discussions about the series, its animated show and constant hints that Sadie kept dropping that made Harry clap his hands over his ears. Susan felt both pleased they were getting along and a little left out as she couldn't stand those stupid books.

Harry must have noticed this as he tried to bring her back into the conversation. "You normally go out to eat on Fridays, right?"

"Right." Susan checked the clock. It was about a half hour later than when they would usually leave. "We better get going now or we'll miss both our curfews."

Sadie barely glanced in the mirror before leaving. Even though most of her week was spent in the ward, she looked as glamorous as ever. Her brown hair was sleek and her defined features didn't need improving with charms. People told her she took after her mother, but Susan sometimes felt like a paler, lesser version of her. The fact that she only just remembered that she hadn't combed her hair after potions made it worse.

As though sensing her distress, Sadie turned to her and smiled softly. She looped her arm through hers and led the way to the door. "Come on, Harry!" She called. "I've been looking forward to this all day."

After signing her mother out the hospital, they headed over to the fireplace. "Is The Howling Tavern alright?" Harry asked. Then he paused. Susan knew what he was thinking and it made her annoyed.

"Oh, I love Pam's peanut butter ice-cream," Sadie said happily.

"You have the best taste." Harry offered her the jar of floo powder. She took a pinch and vanished in plume of emerald flames. The instant she was gone, Susan pinched his arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You know what," she snapped. "You thought she was some kind of bigot who has a problem with Werewolves."

Harry took a pinch of floo powder for himself. "In my defence, bigots usually don't make themselves known until you stumble upon certain topics." He was whisked away by green fire before she could respond.

Dinner went well. Her mother took Harry's suggestion of skipping the meal entirely and eating peanut butter ice cream seriously. Susan was hungry and had been looking forward to eating a real meal but couldn't find it in her to be angry. Listening to the two of them talk about school, music and their favourite Odeon shows (all they had in common was icecream and a bizzare love for Captain Armstrong. They completely disagreed with each other about The Witches' Brew- Sadie thought it was trash and Harry tried and failed to hide how offended he was) was bizarrely soothing. It reminded her of how she had felt when Megan had met her mother but more intense. She wasn't sure how she would have felt if these two didn't get along.

Still, she couldn't let their camraderie pass without comment. "Are you finally done monopolising my mother's attention?" She asked when they returned to the Long-Term-Care Ward.

"Susan!" Sadie shook her head. "Forgive her, Harry. I've spoiled her with my doting. She doesn't know how to share."

"Oh, I'm used to being on her bad side," he muttered. "See?" He added when she scowled at him.

Sadie laughed and hugged him. "It was wonderful meeting you. You're welcome anytime."

Harry beamed. "I'll take you up on that." He stepped away to give them some privacy.

Sadie ignored her frown and pulled her in for an embrace. "I like him," she said quietly. Susan stiffened and she felt her mother's silent laugh. She tried to avoid her gaze but couldn't miss her knowing smile.

Susan and Harry went back to school, Flooing back to Professor Sprout's office with twenty minutes to curfew. The two walked side by side through the corridors in comfortable silence towards the Hufflepuff common room.

"Your mum is really cool," Harry said finally. "You're lucky to have her."

"I know, right?" Susan beamed. Unlike when her mother approved of Harry, she felt no embarrassment when it was the other way around. Only pride.

"Thanks for bringing me along today."

She glanced at him. His expression was serene. "I should be thanking you for helping me out."

"No, I needed something away from work, school and training. Today was the perfect way to destress."

Susan smiled. "Well, anytime you want to destress, just let me know."

"I will," he promised.

But as his training for the tournament increased, he was unable to join her the following Friday. She felt disappointed until she reached her mother's room and found fresh blue hydrangeas in the vase.

"It came with a card," her mother told her. She handed it over with a strange smile. Susan didn't know why until she read it:

Sadie,

These are an apology for annexing your time with Susan. Your company is so wonderful, I may have to do so again.

Best wishes,

Harry.

She listened to her mother's teasing with one ear but the rest of her focus was on the signature. The idea that had taken root before could no longer be ignored.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

There was a storm raging within the Forbidden Forest. Heavy raindrops pelted the ground and flashes of electricity illuminated the dark low hanging clouds before hammering onto the terrain below with booming thunder.

Despite being responsible for this unseasonable thunderstorm, Harry found it difficult to focus on it. Blood was rushing to his head and his vision was blurring. Worse was the thundering beat of his heart pounding in his ears.

Focus, he told himself. He strictly monitored his breathing in an effort to remain conscious. Maintain the storm. Protect your teammates. This internal mantra helped somewhat when it came to ignoring his body's silent cries of discomfort, but he knew it wouldn't last forever. Hurry up, guys!

As though responding to his thoughts, the foggy ground beneath the branch he was hanging from (high enough to avoid his opponents' natural eyeline but low enough to be unencumbered by the leaves of the branches above) was suddenly lit up from multi-coloured spellfire. Perhaps it was simply the excess of blood in his brain, but Harry felt rather smug. His team's ambush would've been impossible without him.

It had been an idea of his, inspired by tidbits Nicolas had brought up in passing once or twice. He'd overflowed his Storm Creation Spell with his own Mana, so much so that the low clouds, foggy air, streaks of lightning and every drop of rain was infused with his magic.

To put it simply, Mage Sight was all but useless in this environment as it was seeped with Harry's magical signature.

Still, there was one obvious flaw to this incredible technique: Harry's Mana Reserves were very, very limited. They were under a time limit here, one that was fast approaching.

Hurry, Harry pleaded silently as he felt his energy rapidly draining. Hurry up and win.

He was aware that he could stop the technique at any time, especially as he could feel someone on the enemy team trying to vanish the storm. It was costing him to maintain it, but he would rather exhaust himself than be the reason his team lost.

Unfortunately, Harry was so focused on maintaining his new Anti-Mage Sight Technique that he failed to defend himself from more conventional methods of attack.

"Your Disillusionment Charm was well done," Kingsley complimented after he revived Harry and helped get him safely back to the ground. "I only spotted you after the illusion of the raindrops going through you rather than around you started to fail." Harry remained silent as this failed to make him feel better. Kingsley quickly continued. "I wouldn't have even thought to look there if I didn't know hanging upside down like that was a favourite move of yours." Harry grunted this time and Kingsley smiled slightly, though he tried to hide it.

The two walked over to the others as soon as Harry was able to walk without teetering. When they made it to the clearing, he saw his bound and gagged teammates sitting back-to-back as Tonks teased them and an amused Richard leaned against a tree and watched.

"What was that?" She asked, pretending to listen to Cedric's grunts. "You don't want the sandwiches you brought along? Oh well, more for me then." Tonks shrugged and continued rifling through Cedric's bag, digging out his bagged lunch while ignoring his muffled protests.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Harry warned her. "He doesn't even let Eliza share his food. Cedric's nice and everything up until you mess with what goes on his plate." He had learned that the hard way after their week living together during the prelims.

Tonks didn't look as though she believed him. "Oh, how bad can he-?"

"Pretty bleeding bad, Tonks," Moody said sharply as he limped into the clearing. "Don't get between Diggory and his food." That stark warning coming from the even starker man was enough to have Tonks warily put the sandwiches back in the bag.

Moody freed the two with a wave of his wand and Cedric stood up with a dark look and snatched his bag away from Tonks. "Anyway," Moody said with the air of a man wanting to move things along, but only after glancing warily at Cedric. "That was a good idea with the storm, Potter, but you ended up blinding your allies as well as your enemies. Remember to only use that when you're alone or have no other choice."

Moody turned to critique both Eliza and Cedric. However, before he could say so much as a word, the sodden grass beneath them began to glow brightly. It took Harry a second to realise that the grass wasn't emitting light but reflecting it from the raindrops that coated each blade.

Looking to the sky, Harry saw a magnificent glowing serpentine creature flying towards them. It had shifting scales that changed colours as it slithered through the air, which caused rainbows to spring from the puddles on the forest floor. As it descended into the clearing, its tiny wings, which looked too small to even carry its massive body, blew that last of the fog and clouds away. The sudden direct sunlight caused the rainbows to glow even brighter before springing up into the clear blue sky.

It was an Occamy. Harry recognised the creature as he saw one in Hagrid's house three years ago. He wondered if the Forbidden Forest had ever been so picturesque before.

"What the Bedlam-?" Cedric started. Eliza began to draw her wand.

"Enough of that!" Moody said sharply. "Listen."

There was a brief pause when the Occamy landed and did nothing but stare directly at Harry. It was only when Kingsley gave him an encouraging push forward did he realise it was waiting for him to join his teammates.

The instant he fell into line with Cedric and Eliza, the Occamy bowed its head, opened its beak and began speaking in a clear voice. Or at least it did to Harry's ears.

"Three will challenge the guardian and remove its crown,

Two must deliver the neonate unharmed and unbound,

One shall reach the zenith alone and achieve renown."

The moment the last word was uttered, the Occamy lifted its head and began flapping its wings. Harry had to shield his eyes with his arms as the ensuing gusts of wind were so strong. By the time it was safe to lower them, the giant flying serpent was already high in the sky alongside the rainbow it had created. Turning back to face the others, he found them all staring at him.

"What?" He asked innocently. "You never bothered learning Parseltongue?"

"Who has the time?" Eliza asked airily. "What did it say?" Harry repeated the poem, word for word, and she frowned. "I'm guessing this is the clue for the First Task?"

Moody nodded. "I knew it was coming today, and that the messenger would find us as long as we were on school grounds." He smiled suddenly. "How lucky are we to have a Parselmouth on the team? It would have taken you days to go over the memory in a Pensieve and translate it otherwise. Be grateful for that gift, Potter."

"I am grateful," Harry replied honestly. While the ability carried some stigma in this part of the world, it had already proven itself useful during the Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Besides, it was better to have a skill and not need it than to need it and not have it.

But that didn't mean he had to like the unsettling way Moody smiled at him just then.

"I don't like the way the poem went down in numbers for every line." Cedric frowned. "It sounds like two people are going to get knocked out of the Task as it goes along."

"Or worse, turn us against each other." Eliza's voice had a dark tenor to it. "One shall reach the zenith alone and achieve renown? They're definitely trying to tempt us into either betraying each other." Perhaps she thought she was being subtle, but Harry could certainly feel her wariness when her eyes flickered in his direction.

He raised his hands. "I want to win to become Magister. I can't do that if I stab my comrades in the back." Eliza looked abashed at having her thoughts so easily read, but he ignored that. "We can try to figure it out this week and come up with different possibilities for what they have planned for us, but all we know for sure is that we can only use our wands. I'm guessing we're going to figure out the rest on the fly or-"

He was cut off as an orange jet of light hit him in the side. He flew across the clearing, spinning horizontally three times before landing roughly on the drenched grass. He lifted his head in time to see Cedric and Eliza suffer equally rough landings on either side of him.

"Enough of that now!" Moody called, his wand drawn. "We're still in the middle of training, in case you've forgotten!" Beside him, Kingsley, Tonks and Richard all had their wands drawn and raised at them. "On your feet! Remember the only way to improve the strength of your Combat Avatars is to learn just how much energy is needed to protect you from different spells!"

Harry groaned. Having suffered through this particular form of training over the last fortnight, he knew he was in no condition for it right now. He'd depleted his reserves for his Mana-potent storm and not even the sight of his rising teammates was enough to get him to stand and take his daily punishment.

Moody sensed this reluctance. "Unless you want to get killed by that Obscurial next time? Because there won't be any Assessors close enough to stop him from finishing you off during The Three Tasks, you know."

Only the thought of such a pointless death made Harry rise once again. He instantly regretted it when Richard struck at him with a whip made of fire and all he could do was stand there as purple energy flickered around him.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Avoiding Harry was much easier than Michael thought it was going to be. In retrospect, it was always going to be Felicia he should have watched out for.

Amid Michael's first attempt at spying on the Auror Covert Intelligence Division offices, his Captain stumbled upon him. "Aren't you scheduled to be in Hall Twelve for Personal Training?" Felicia asked.

Michael flushed. "I was just…" he trailed off, unable to believe that he'd been caught before he could even attempt to get inside.

Felicia's eyes flickered to the heavy steel double doors that had the letters ACID engraved in bold capitals beneath the Auror Crest. Instead of arresting him as she probably should, her expression softened. "Michael, you're not as ambitious as Harry or as driven as Anthony and you lack Terry's…" she paused before settling on "eclecticism, so I've been worried about you for a while now. Clearly, I was wrong."

"You were?" Michael asked weakly. That his most shameful thoughts about himself were being confirmed by his superior officer left him reeling.

"Yes." Felicia looked pleased. "Not many Cadets would have the nerve to seek out the Spooks for a career path."

Michael felt his stomach drop. The Spooks went undercover and took on the most dangerous missions with little to no backup and were never given credit for their actions. After all, they were meant to pass along any actionable intel to the actual field agents capable of taking advantage of it. In short, they did all the risky legwork and got none of the glory. Not his idea of a suitable career path, but he was in too deep now. "Well, I've always been interested in what they get up to," he bluffed.

Felicia looked proud of him. Michael thought he might cry. "I never wanted to bring it up before, but now…have you ever considered the position that you're in?" She asked. "With the right cover story and enough undercover training you could be a double agent."

"I could?" He wondered what skills he had, skills his friends did not already possess, that would make him well-suited for the job.

"The report that was taken after the Camden attack, May before last," she said as if it would explain her entire point. When his face remained blank, she added, "Your mother made it clear she would be happy to have you in her ranks."

Michael felt as though someone had yanked the carpet out from under him. "That makes sense." He wondered who had said that, but judging from Felicia's nodding, those words must have come from his mouth.

Felicia continued to speak while Michael occasionally nodded whenever she paused. He allowed her words to wash over him, his mind occupied with a stark realisation. He'd allowed himself to believe that he was permitted to join the Auror Corps due to his advantageous friendships. He thought he'd proved himself by helping to destroy the Prometheus Artifice and kill Antonin Dolohov.

What a fool he'd been. It was clear now that they had always planned to train him up as a Cadet, treating him like a favoured pet until they tricked him into signing up as a Sentry after graduating from Hogwarts. Then they would be able to order him to spy on his wretched mother without the risk of refusal. By coming down here today, he had simply moved up the timeline and given them a plausible excuse to bring this possibility to his attention.

A cold part of him wondered if his friends had known. It was difficult to say. They all hated Death Eaters and could be rather callous and manipulative when it came down to it. He could almost see them convince themselves that this was the best outcome for him.

It took three sessions in the following week before Michael and Megan were ready to enact their plan. Felicia had called in a favour from a friend within ACID and had been taking him into their offices whenever they weren't working on anything sensitive.

By the end of the first session, Michael had the layout of the offices memorised. By the end of the second, he knew exactly where to find the information Megan was looking for. By the third, he figured out four possible methods to distract what few Spooks lingered in the division to get what he needed.

Michael wished he had Harry's Invisibility Cloak and Kindjal as both Artifices would be perfect for this situation. Unfortunately, the thoughtful love the Potters had so freely given their son was amongst the many things that Michael's parents (both biological and adopted) so severely lacked.

However, while he hadn't inherited powerful Artifices, it didn't mean he lacked access to them.

Part of the training Cadets went through was the proper storage, organisation and security of the Citadel's evidence lockup, and an incredibly profitable gambling ring had been busted back in July by a Multi-Citadel investigation. What made them so special was that its organisers consisted purely of witches and wizards who attained masteries in both Enchanting and the Mind Arts.

Michael didn't need an Invisibility Cloak for a long search, not when he had a Probability Probe for a very short one.

During the fourth session, Michael breathed a silent sigh of relief when he saw ACID offices were even emptier than usual. Unlike the main Auror bullpen that was often teeming with activity, ACID only had a handful of desk jockeys and their contact in the division, Felicia's old Cadet teammate, John Dawlish.

"Ready for another afternoon of shadowing, Cadet?" Lieutenant Dawlish asked kindly.

Michael nodded. "Yes, sir." While he thought Dawlish was a bit of a sod, he was always nice whenever Felicia was around. Though he suspected that was due to a one-sided infatuation rather than him being intimidated by the presence of a higher-ranked officer.

Feeling a little nervous, as today was the first time Megan was joining him, he held his breath as he passed the threshold. He only released it when the door was closed a moment later without any alarms going off. She was in.

Michael went through the motions as he silently observed Dawlish's work while Felicia caught up on her own paperwork beside him. Aside from wishing he was able to work on his homework during these wasted hours, Michael felt little to no agitation as he watched the Spooks go about their business. It was only when the fourth alert of the day came through on the interactive map in the centre of the room did he finally come alive.

Unlike the interactive map in the Auror bullpen, ACID had its own colour-coded alert system. While the main forces served the public directly and responded to emergency calls uniformly, the Spooks were only ever alerted by other Spooks by spells only they and those ranked Captain or higher knew.

Green light meant information that needed to be reported, but not any that was time sensitive. Orange was for time-sensitive information, and someone needed to respond immediately. Red meant that the field agent had been compromised and required aid immediately.

Michael had only seen green lights this week. He took that as a sign of how good the Spooks were at their jobs.

Dawlish got up and examined the map and Michael followed. It was no harm for him to do so, as the only information that was revealed was the location- somewhere in Brixton- along with a string of letters and numbers that meant nothing to him.

But it also meant nothing to Dawlish as well.

"Wait here," he told Michael before walking to the far wall. There, looking like it was plucked right out of Gringotss, was a circular vault door. Michael knew that Dawlish was going to search the many drawers within for the specific file that had the same string of numbers and letters so that he could understand just who had sent the message and what mission they were undertaking. As Dawlish had so proudly told him that first day, the labels were enchanted to change each day so that no one would be able to tell which agent was reporting in. This was another layer of security to protect field agents from traitors and leaks.

Michael had pretended to find that interesting, but all he truly cared about was how much easier it made to steal the files they sought with the Probability Probe.

When the vault door opened, and Dawlish stepped into the vault, Michael held his breath for a second time. He feared that this would be the moment he and Megan were finally rumbled, but instead, he was forced to wait as the vault door remained open. When a minute went past and neither of them remerged, he was certain that she had been caught and was being interrogated within. He could do nothing but glance occasionally at the massive circular door as he had Felicia sitting beside him diligently working on her reports.

When Dawlish finally stepped out carrying a file, which he promptly handed to one of the desk jockeys, Michael could finally breathe easily again.

Whether they had the file or not, they were safe.

Later, when his shift was over, Felicia packed away her things and told him to return to school. Instead, he took Megan directly to Amelia's house as he knew his neglectful aunt would be busy working. Even if she wasn't, she would be too uninterested in his affairs to care about his guest anyway.

"Look at this," Megan whispered as she laid a treasure trove of information in neat piles on his bedroom floor. "All of this information on Acosta and the Aurors just sit on it."

Michael shifted, feeling torn. "Well, it's not as simple as that. This information isn't enough to track her down on its own, and the Aurors would rather have a chance of catching a big fish like her than the little fish who work for her."

Megan gave him a sour look. "Oh? And what about all the damage those little fish cause? Is that worth it just for the chance to catch an Acolyte?"

Michael raised his hands. "Hey, I didn't say I agree with them, just that I understand their logic." Megan continued glaring at him but eventually turned back to a report about one of Acosta's income revenues within British borders: a nightclub in Knockturn Alley called Nix as well as-

"The Heretic's Inn?" Michael said incredulously. "She owns-?" He started to laugh. Even Megan had to crack a smile.

While dark rumours about The Heretic's Inn and all that went on in there were whispered about in Hogwarts, it was mostly only First Years and cautious upper years who believed it. Michael and his friends had been dared to go in once by Eddie upon their initiation to The Marauders, but all they found inside was a grimy bar and drunk clientele. Terry had been very disappointed to learn that Vampires didn't roam within looking for vulnerable victims.

"I can't believe it lives up to the stories!" Megan snorted. "A pub run by a Death Eater Acolyte!" It was a strange thing to find humour in, but it had been a stressful afternoon. They needed to laugh about something.

By the time their chuckles had stopped, they were lying atop the sheets of parchment, side by side. Ever so slowly, they turned their heads to face one another.

Megan spoke first. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "For snapping at you. I know you're an Auror, it's just-"

"-the way they operate can be frustrating, or downright immoral." Michael finished, thinking of Felicia's "spontaneous" suggestion.

The ghost of a smile flitted across Megan's lips. "You always seem to know what I'm thinking. The only time I seem to catch you off guard is when-" Michael cut her off again, this time by pressing his lips to hers. His lips had been feeling tingly the moment he realised how close their heads were to each other, so when he saw his chance, he took it.

After a moment he pulled away. "-you kiss me?" He finished with a smile. "I think you've officially run out of ways-"

It was her turn to cut him off, and this kiss was much more passionate than the last. Megan's hands were not shy in what they wanted and Michael felt like he was scrambling to keep up. It was only when a considerable amount of time had passed, and their clothes were as rumbled and askew as the parchment beneath them, did they abruptly stop.

Megan pulled away from him, flushed. "Erm...is that your wand holster, or-?"

"What?" Michael reared back, embarrassed, before he relaxed. "No, I just forgot to put the Probability Probe back into evidence lockup." He gasped and shot to his feet. "I forgot to put it back into evidence lockup!"

Megan burst out laughing as he scrambled out of the room, holding the golden baton like a torchbearer as he did so.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Now aren't you boys glad I got involved?"

Anthony felt his jaw clench involuntarily at the sound of Felicia's voice. As such, it was up to Terry to answer politely.

"No, not really," Terry said brusquely.

Or not, Anthony thought.

Fortunately, Felicia took it all in stride. "He would have gotten into a lot of trouble if you hadn't," she reminded them. "You're helping him here, remember that."

She was being kind in her own way by assigning them so much credit for turning Michael over when it had only happened accidentally. Michael wasn't as sneaky as he seemed to believe, and Anthony and Terry weren't as covert in their knowledge as they had thought. This, coupled with Felicia's ingrained suspicion of her colleagues after what had happened to her parents, and it was only a matter of time before she found out.

Anthony had always liked and respected Felicia (it was impossible not to considering he had met her right after they had killed Dolohov together) and he knew his friends felt the same. However, he hated the way she was acting towards them, as though they had rolled on Michael by choice rather than by accident.

Terry shrugged. "At least this way we can say Michael was assigned an undercover mission by official channels or whatever."

Felicia's expression hardened. "It's going to be "or whatever" on that one," she said firmly. "He'll have to go. I won't teach a traitor."

"What?!" Terry looked stunned.

Anthony's stomach dropped. "He's our friend." He hated how meek he sounded, but her words had shocked the attitude right out of him.

"Which is exactly why I won't be bringing any charges against him, nor will I allow anyone else to," Felicia said magnanimously. "He was of great service in bringing down Dolohov and the Prometheus Artifice. And even if he wasn't, he's still my student."

Mentioning that unsanctioned mission seemed to revive Terry out of his shock. "You gave us the benefit of the doubt back then, before we even knew each other, but you won't now?"

"That was a Kill Mission against one of the Confederacy's Most Wanted." Felicia pointed out. "Even if you had been kicked out of the Corps, any charges levied against you would never have stuck. This is different. Michael has committed treason."

That word, treason, was enough to knock the fight from Terry. He sat down and finally joined Anthony in his defeated slump.

The golden period in which they operated as a five-man Cadet Squad had drawn to a close. There was no coming back from this.