harry_10

Chapter 37: Creating New Bonds

A/N: Read, Review, and Enjoy!



Draco made sure to keep tight control over himself as he held his arm against Crabbe’s throat while pinning the boy to the wall. It was difficult but he knew why they were there and forced himself to be stronger than his outrage. “What do you mean you aren’t here for that?” Crabbe sputtered. Apparently he had been expecting retribution… and he would get it in good time. Draco hated this kid and everything that he represented in himself but rather than focus on those thoughts, he reveled in the pleasure at the whimpering fear Crabbe was unable to hide.

To counter that fear, he was sure to keep his voice strong and menacing. “I mean that you have other sins to answer for first… apparently ones that you were carrying out in my name.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Crabbe wheezed out as Draco pushed a little harder on his throat. “I’m sorry okay! It was Tristan’s idea to go after you, him and Troy! I swear, Goyle and I didn’t want to! Not really anyway…”

“I already said this wasn’t about that!” He shouted. He wanted his former friend to know that this wasn’t revenge… and when it was, he would know it. His anger and frustration overwhelmed him and he grabbed Crabbe by his robes and slammed him against the wall, again and again.

“Draco!” He heard Ginny’s voice break through the cloud of fury, felt her hand roughly grab his shoulder as she tried to pull him back and force her way between the two boys. He’d entirely forgotten she was even there, but the moment he realized Draco felt the switch inside his head flip off as he instantly sent the wolf away… at least he was getting better at controlling it and felt a moment of pride. Until he looked at her and saw the brief flash of fear in her eyes, fear of him- she’d tried to hide it but hadn’t been quick enough.

He let go of Crabbe and watched as the boy slumped down to the floor. A small splatter of blood painted the spot on the wall where he’d stood. “Sorry.” Draco said quietly.

“It’s fine. We just need to keep him conscious long enough to be able to talk to him. After we get what we need you can bash him into as many walls as you like I suppose… though I don’t think I’ll stay to watch it.” She replied with a faint smile.

“I said I was sorry.” Crabbe burbled out.

“No one cares.” Ginny told him.

“Come on, I’m really hurt here.” He pleaded.

“No one cares about that either.” Draco snapped.

“You should. I think you cracked my skull open!”

“Oh you’re such a big baby.” Ginny answered with a frustrated sigh. She knelt down to check on Crabbe who was clutching his head and trying not to cry in front of them. She roughly shoved his hands away so she could take a look.

“Hey watch it will you!” He yelled, clutching his previously broken and still bandaged hand.

“You watch it.” Draco warned him. Apparently his tone was enough to silence the other boy as Ginny none too gingerly checked his injury. Her fingers came away bloody and she wiped them on Crabbe’s robes in disgust before rising to her feet.

“He’s fine, definitely no skull showing.” She grinned uncomfortably. It seemed that as hardened as Ginny wanted to believe she’d become, this sort of thing made it difficult for her to hide who she really was. Draco began to feel guilty for bringing her down here with him, this was really the sort of thing he should have done alone… or possibly with Potter. At the same time, he wasn’t sure he would have the control over himself that he did had she not been there… in the few moments he’d forgotten her presence he’d already hurt Crabbe more than he’d intended. This was one more situation showing him what an odd pair they made, and one more reason for him to fear she’ll see how strangely mismatched they were.

“What do you want from me already?” Crabbe asked quietly as he tried to regain his composure and sense of authority. The quiver in his voice betrayed his efforts.

“We want to know what you know about Carter James.” Ginny demanded.

He looked up at them in confusion. “Who?”

“Ravenclaw prefect, third year, ended up blind.” Draco put it in simple terms that Crabbe would understand- the only reason he’d know Carter by name was if the kid had been targeted and Draco doubted that was the case.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He claimed again. But this time recognition flickered in his eyes and Draco knew he was lying.

“I think you do.” He countered. “And it’s in your best interest to just tell us as quickly as possible everything you know about what happened to him and why his brother thinks I’m responsible.”

“Oh come on Draco, we didn’t blame you for it! Everyone just always assumed you were involved in everything, we just didn’t set ‘em straight. It’s not like you got in trouble, they could never prove anything anyway.”

“What couldn’t they prove? What happened?” Ginny asked, her irritation rising.

“Nothing. It wasn’t a big deal or anything. That guy shouldn’t have been there anyway, prefect or no prefect.” Crabbe continued to stall. It was obvious he didn’t want to admit what he had been up to all those years ago making Draco all the more curious to know everything… and more frustrated with the lack of forthcoming information.

“Alright…” He reached down and again picked up the other boy by his robes before once more pinning him against the wall. “…I said we wanted answers quickly, so let’s get to the point.”

“Okay, okay!” Crabbe tried to pull free but Draco held steady and remained unmovable. “I’ll tell you everything! Just get off me!”

“Fine.” Draco released him, positioning himself in front of the exit in case Crabbe tried to flee again. But all the fight seemed to have left the other boy as he sank to the floor again, settling heavily before starting his story.

“It’s not like we were going behind your back then, not like you did to us last year.” He started off, throwing in the jab to maintain a sense of rebellion. Draco let him have it, remaining silent so Crabbe would continue. “Me and Goyle, we were actually trying to help you but it went so wrong we worried you’d get mad, and since nothing ever came of it we never said anything. Remember your father told you to find out everything you could about Professor Lupin that year, he wanted you to try and find out why he was there and if he was helping Sirius Black. You told us Lucius and the others wanted to get him out of the way quickly and sent you to find out how.”

“I remember.” Draco answered stiffly. In light of everything he’d been through with Lupin since that time in his third year, he felt horribly guilty to be reminded of how he’d once spied on the man, trying to learn all his secrets. Then he was either supposed to kill Lupin himself or let him be destroyed by the then still underground Death Eaters. It was something none of the others had known and he glanced at Ginny to see what her reaction would be. But she seemed unfazed, relieved more than anything else… as if she’d expected something worse.

“Well, we found him walking off into the woods after dinner and decided to help. It was the day that bird thing bit you in class and you were still in the infirmary making like it was worse than it was so they’d fire that dumb giant.”

“That giant is Hagrid.” Ginny angrily interrupted. “And the bird thing is a hippogriff and his name is Buckbeak. And had you paid attention in Hagrid’s class you may have actually learned something.”

“You weren’t even there.” Crabbe snapped.

“Apparently I wasn’t either so why don’t you continue telling us both what happened.” Draco demanded.

Crabbe sighed, now more angry than scared, though he still wasn’t brave enough to take a stand against them. With nothing else to do, he went on. “Like I said, it was after dinner and we saw Lupin heading out of the castle and towards the woods so we followed him. We didn’t know that prefect saw us and we certainly didn’t know he followed us. Lupin disappeared into the trees but before we could follow, the kid stopped us. He thought you were out there somewhere with us, kept asking where you were and why we were out of the school after curfew. We didn’t see Troy behind him until it was too late.”

“Troy? Troy Mason?” Draco was confused. Until this year after teaming up with Tristan, Troy had always been on the quiet side… easily overlooked and often unnoticed by himself and the other more infamous and troublesome Slytherins.

“Yeah, we were just as surprised.” Crabbe muttered. “We didn’t know he’d been following us. Anyway, he’s the one who cursed that kid. I think he was trying to stun him and use Obliviate at the same time and it came out wrong. That prefect dropped to the ground, he was screaming, bleeding from his eyes, covered in boils and coughing up blood. We didn’t know what to do, so we all ran knowing Filch or someone would find him. Of course we were hoping he’d die before someone came along.”

“I’m sure you were.” Ginny scoffed.

He ignored her and went on. “I guess they did find him and all he could remember was that he was outside looking for you Draco… but since Dumbledore and the other professors knew you had been in the infirmary at the time they couldn’t prove you had anything to do with it.”

“But why would Troy do that? Why was he out there?” Draco mused.

Crabbe shrugged. “Afterward he came up to me and Goyle, tried to blackmail us to let him hang out with us… we beat him up for trying it and told him that if he didn’t keep his mouth shut we’d shut it for him permanently.”

“Why did he want to hang around you two?”

“It wasn’t us, it was you. He wanted an in with you. He also tried to date Pansy last year while you were locked away in Dumbledore’s office but she wanted nothing to do with him of course.”

Draco had no idea that Troy had been looking for power for so long- he must feel like he struck gold now that he had Tristan to team up with. “How come I never knew any of this? Why wouldn’t you have told me what Troy was trying to do?”

“We figured we scared him off and after finding out Dumbledore was going to keep the incident quiet we decided it would be better for us if you didn’t know. We didn’t want you to get mad at us and try to curse us again!”

“Again?” Ginny turned to him with her eyebrow raised.

But it was Crabbe who continued to spill all their secrets. “Yeah, second year we found out that Potter came across that stupid diary that Draco said Lucius wanted you to have, so we were planning on how to steal it and give it back to you… but then Draco found out. He used the Cruciatus Curse on us for trying to do something without him and then told us to just let Potter keep it, that it was better if it killed him instead of you. He said he was worried that if we tried to fix things we’d only make it worse. But then I guess you stole it back yourself.” He was looking only at her as he recounted some of the horrible things Draco used to be capable of… that he still could be capable of.

Draco recalled the incident instantly. At the time he’d convinced himself that he’d only been upset that Crabbe and Goyle had tried to make a move without his orders, that he was merely keeping them in line by using an unforgivable on them. Of course now all these years later he knew better… it was that long ago that he’d developed a soft spot for Ginny. They were confusing and turbulent memories and he didn’t want to be reminded of them. “You’re getting off topic, we all know what happened with the damn diary. What I want to know is what Troy was up to then and what he’s up to now.”

“I thought you wanted to know about that Carter kid.” Crabbe shot back.

Standing tall and taking a few steps toward him, Draco made himself as menacing as possible. “You’re going to tell us everything we want to know or you’ll wind up worse off than ‘that Carter kid’.”

“I don’t know! Okay?! I don’t know what he wanted back then other than to try and be part of your group and I don’t know what he and Tristan are up to now! They’re always off by themselves talking and planning. But they don’t come to us until they know exactly what they want us to do! Like on Friday, we were already outside when Troy came up to us and said we were going to follow you. We didn’t know what they wanted us to do until right before we found you!”

Draco and Ginny shared a worried look. If that was true then either Tristan or Troy knew about Luna’s powers and how to get around them… by putting off any decision making until the last possible moment. Of course it wasn’t a sure-fire way to ensure Luna wouldn’t receive a vision, but it seemed to at least hold them off.

“Can I go now?” Crabbe asked indignantly as he struggled to his feet, though he didn’t make a move to try and get past them.

“Until I think you’ll be useful again.” Draco relented, figuring if Crabbe knew more about Tristan and Troy, it may be something only Potter and Luna could get out of him with their mind powers… he knew the other boy was scared of him and that’s why he’d disclosed as much as he had. Apparently he was more scared of Tristan and at this point, Draco couldn’t blame him.

“Just one more thing.” Ginny quickly stepped in, pulling her wand out and waving it in Crabbe’s face. “Obliviate!” Draco watched as Crabbe fell back against the wall sliding back down to the floor before turning to her with a questioning grin. “Well, we couldn’t have him run off and tell everyone what happened, and we certainly don’t want him letting Tristan or Troy know that we’re asking about them.” She replied as she grinned back at him.

Leaving Crabbe where he was, they quickly made their way back upstairs and out into the chilly afternoon. Lunch was over and many students were out enjoying their last hours of Sunday freedom before classes resumed in the morning. Making their way far past everyone, they settled themselves under one of the giant trees to discuss what they’d just learned. But as he listened to Ginny put it all together, he couldn’t help but focus on anything else except those few moments when she’d been scared of him. “So I’ll let Colton know before class tomorrow and then he’ll have no choice but to believe you didn’t do it.” She concluded at last.

“I could care less what he thinks. As long as he leaves me the hell alone.” He answered moodily.

“What’s your problem? I would’ve thought you’d be happy to know that for once they can’t blame you for something.”

He shook his head. “Can’t they? If I wasn’t supposed to be spying on and trying to get rid of Lupin, those two morons wouldn’t have tried to follow him and Carter wouldn’t have had to come out to catch them doing something wrong.”

“And if we all hadn’t gone to Knockturn Alley, Percy wouldn’t have had the chance to force Harry away and we wouldn’t have had to chase after him and George wouldn’t have died.” She answered wryly. “We all make choices Draco and each one has a cause and effect. There’s nothing we can do now except try to make the right decisions.”

Draco looked down at his hands where he saw that he still had a smear of Crabbe’s blood on his thumb. “It’s easier for you… you’ve had more practice making the right decisions… and I’m really sorry.”

“For what?” She asked.

“For getting so mad back there and losing it a bit. It’s just that everything was so built up inside me- I was so mad for what happened Friday and then he was there in front of me and it was like he represented everything I hated in myself. And then you were there and I saw how scared you were of me and I felt horrible…”

“Oh Draco, you are just so silly sometimes.” Ginny said with a smile as she gently took his hand and used her robes to clean off the blood, that last trace of the violence he’d inflicted. “I wasn’t scared of you, I was scared for you.” She admitted at last.

He was taken aback, unsure whether he believed her. “What do you mean?”

“You think just because you haven’t talked to me about it that I don’t know how much what happened Friday is bothering you? From the moment you told me we were going to talk to Crabbe I was scared for you, that you’d let everything you were keeping cooped up inside explode out of you and make you do something you’d regret. We both know all about how bad that can be. So no, I wasn’t scared of you back there… never that, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you might not be able to keep.” He warned. There was a part of him that could never let go, that would never let him rest until he felt he’d gotten even with Tristan, Troy and the others.

“Oh, but I can. It’s not like I was ever scared of you before.” She teased.

“That’s because there was a lot I was a part of that you never saw, that you never knew about. You think letting you continue to use that diary was the worst? Or that I was only sent to spy on Lupin? They knew he was a werewolf, everyone from the first war knew and they sent me in prepared. I was supposed to find out if he was helping Sirius Black and then I was supposed to kill him. They gave me Lycosin, but then Potter, Granger and your brother got their hands on that time turner and mixed up the whole plan.”

“Lycosin… that’s the poison created specifically to kill werewolves.” She said as she recalled some long ago lesson. “But it was supposedly outlawed, put on the list of banned potions and poisons.”

“Yeah, well so was Bickeross, Psychohemia and several other potions they were able to get their hands on. I was told back then that Snape had brewed the Lycosin, but knowing what I know now, I wonder if it would have even worked.”

“With Snape, who knows. He and Lupin go way back and have a really bad history between them… though I suppose it was always more between Snape and James.” She mused. “Either way, it’s all in the past now and that’s where it needs to stay. We can’t keep letting old feuds take over our lives as well. You and I are here now, together and on the same side and that’s all I need to know Draco. I really don’t care about anything that came before so I refuse to let it influence me now… and that’s a promise I can keep.”

He shook his head and smiled, deciding she was right. He would deal with the past in his own way, but to keep dragging it up over and over was only going to hurt them in the long run. “Okay, I can agree with all that.”

“Good, because I already told you that I love you and the way you keep trying to push me away by telling me all the horrible things you were forced to do is really starting to get irritating.” She laughed before leaning in and kissing him deeply.

He kissed her back while hoping that there really was nothing in his past that could ruin what he and Ginny were building together. But he knew there had to be something and perhaps that was why he kept confessing to her… to find that one thing that would turn her against him now before they got in too deep. But as he pulled back and looked in her eyes, he realized it was already too late- he was past the point of no return. “I love you too.” He smiled, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips as he prayed that there really wasn’t anything he’d done in the past to ruin his future.

(BREAK)

After dinner that night, Hermione had shut herself up in her room desperate for time to think, to process everything that had happened and what she’d been told over the long and turbulent weekend. There was so much information that had been gathered by so many of her friends, so many different puzzles seemed to be coming together to form one big one. And so many things had happened- from Draco’s assault all the way to him and Ginny telling them all that they had gone and demanded answers from Crabbe. And rather than focus on what was going on right in front of her for the past few days, her mind had been back in London wasting time with crystals and potions that quite possibly wouldn’t even work. Worse, she couldn’t get past what she’d seen that morning, no matter how she tried to distract herself.

When she had earlier agreed to do something as silly as help the guys with the quidditch team, she’d done so with the hope that it could help erase the image of the slaughtered bodies of those two little house elves. It hadn’t, and neither had working on the ministry documents, cleaning her room, or attempting to study. She wanted to talk to someone about it, but Harry had gone to bed right after dinner claiming a headache and though she saw that he’d once again left his door open for her, she just didn’t feel like burdening him. As much as she knew the incident bothered him, she also knew he and Ron had never felt as strongly as she did about the elves and their right to freedom. Perhaps if they had been given it, this would have never been able to happen… despite their protests that they like working in the castle. Of course she’d thought to call up Fred on the compact to see if he could offer anything that would make her feel better but she’d held off, worried that his non-seriousness would only make her feel worse. At least Harry could grasp the gravity of the situation, there was no way to turn this into a joking matter and that’s exactly what Fred tended to do when he was uncomfortable or scared.

Leaving her room, she quietly walked over to Harry’s and opening the door a little wider she could hear his soft snoring. So he really had gone to bed early… she began to worry that maybe this time he really wasn’t feeling well though she’d never known him to be sick, ever. He didn’t catch colds or flus and if it weren’t for the damage done to him, she knew he would never have needed to see the healers. At times Harry seemed invincible to her, but in other ways she felt him extremely delicate as if this unnatural strength he carried inside him could be extinguished at any time by anything. And so this headache he’d claimed to have suddenly felt much more significant- she knew he hadn’t been using the ring and so that couldn’t be the cause. But was she simply blowing all this out of proportion so she’d have something else to focus on? Worrying about Harry was easy; it came naturally to her and was a far more familiar feeling than her concern for the lives of so many house elves.

Deciding to leave him to his peace, she closed the door tightly so that no one else would be able to sneak in there. Then with a heavy sigh she went back to her own room where she collapsed on the bed and turned to stare at the ceiling. Everything was far too complicated these days and she wasn’t sure that this time she could overcome the fear, stress, and uncertainty. Other than her schoolwork, she just wasn’t sure about anything in her life anymore and found herself constantly questioning her motives.

Reaching under her pillow, she could feel the smooth casing of the compact and wrapped her hand around it liking the instant sense of connection it gave her. She suddenly didn’t feel quite so alone and decided that she had to talk to someone. She’d just make sure Fred understood how horrible the situation was and that she didn’t want jokes and nonsense from him… of course, she wasn’t really sure what she did want from him but she wasn’t going to find rest until she could unload all these things she was feeling. She flipped open the compact and before it even had a chance to grow warm in her hand, Fred’s voice filled the room. “Hey, I think I’m on the right track here.” He said by way of greeting.

“Great.” She answered unemotionally. The potion was the farthest thing from her mind and he must have picked it up in her voice as his softened with concern.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Something bad happened this morning-” she began.

“What? What happened? Are you okay? Is everyone else okay? Ron, Ginny?” He interrupted in a panic.

“They’re fine. We’re all physically fine.” She assured him.

“So what happened then?” He asked, not hiding his relief that everyone he cared for was unharmed. “Did they go after Draco again?”

“No, today he was the hunter not the hunted, but that’s a whole other story.” She replied.

“And one I look forward to hearing.” He answered with a hint of a smile in his voice before once more turning serious. “So what was it that was so bad?”

“Well, this morning after hearing Padma screaming, we all ran into the common room to see that she had found two house elves… dead… with their little throats slashed.”

“You’re kidding!” He sounded upset and astounded. “Who would be able to kill a house elf?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t get the image out of my head. They were so small, and their faces were frozen in fear. They were just left laying there, in a small pool of their own blood. Whatever happened to them, they were the last creatures on earth to deserve it.” She felt tears running down her face and used her sleeve to wipe them away.

“If their throats were cut, wouldn’t there have been a lot more blood?” He mused.

“I think you’re missing the point.” She answered angrily.

“No, I think you are.” He returned calmly. “I know you’re upset, any decent person would be after seeing that. But you aren’t being your normal rational self. Does Dumbledore know what happened?”

“If he does he’s not saying anything and neither are any of the other professors.” She replied huffily.

“Aww come on, don’t be mad at me.” He begged. “I’m just trying to figure out what happened. But obviously that’s not what you wanted so… what is it you want me to say?”

She shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. I just feel horrible that this happened at all.”

“Of course you do! But sitting around moping has never helped anything, right? What do Harry and Luna think happened?”

“I don’t know. Luna claims she didn’t get a vision about it but as always she seemed to be holding back. And Harry hasn’t talked about it with any of us… of course none of us has even tried to talk about it with each other…”

“Well it’s harder when something so innocent is killed, it’s like watching some horrible person drowning a bag of puppies and kittens.” Fred mused. “But if you feel this bad about it, maybe you should go talk to McGonagall or someone.”

“McGonagall?” She asked, smiling at the thought.

“Hey, she’s a crafty old bird.” He said, a grin once more evident in his voice. “Right on top of things she usually is, was the hardest professor for me and George to get anything past. And as tough as she seemed on the outside, she was always pretty soft when it came to helping her students… the ones she liked anyway.”

“I don’t know. I just feel like I’m suffocating here… it’s never felt like this before. I can’t wait for this weekend, I think the time spent back at Harry’s house and away from this school is just what we all need.”

“What are you talking about? Why would you all be coming here this weekend?” He asked suspiciously.

Hermione slapped her hand to her forehead, ashamed that she’d forgotten. “Oh no, forget everything I just said.”

“Impossible, I remember everything you’ve ever said.” He teased. “Two things, why are you all coming here and since when do you want to be anywhere other than school?”

“It doesn’t feel like a school here anymore.” She protested, hoping that by grasping onto this thread of conversation he would forget the other. “It feels like the hunting grounds, where we’re all at once both predator and prey. I don’t like feeling the need to constantly look over my shoulder, or worry about whether it’ll be Harry or Draco to get attacked this time. I don’t like waking to find bodies in the common room or being threatened on the staircase… it just feels safer back at Grimmauld place.”

“Well of course it’s safer, we control who walks in the front door where as at Hogwarts they have to let any old trash come in. But you can’t hide here forever.”

“I know. But a break will be nice.”

“Who threatened you on the stairs? Why didn’t you tell me?” He demanded suddenly, as if he’d just realized what she’d said.

She hadn’t intended on telling him, but thanks to her own big mouth she now had to. “It wasn’t as big a deal as you’re thinking and Harry and Ron were right there before anything could happen.” She proceeded to tell him about her fright on the stairs to the Astronomy tower and how Tristan had been perfectly nice and perfectly horrible all at the same time.

“I really don’t like this guy.” Fred replied when she was done. “He’s gone after and goaded all of you now. Can’t Dumbledore do something about it?”

“Without proof, it’s all a matter of he said/she said. And these days, our word isn’t good enough, not with Edmund and Voldemort just waiting for their chance to get in here. They would use anything that could possibly call Dumbledore’s judgement into question by the uninformed masses against him… and I think this place would be even worse without him. I’m sure you recall Umbridge and the lengths some had to go through to get away from her…”

“Ah yes, how is the swamp doing by the way?” He laughed.

“Anyway,” She grinned and brought them back on point, “I don’t think there’s anything we can do about Tristan without some sort of proof that he’s done something horrible.”

“Like kill house elves?” He put forth.

“You think he did it?” She recalled Tristan’s unfeeling and blasé attitude when the bodies had been discovered… at the time she’d associated it with his inhuman coldness but now… “I suppose he could have.”

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s the only one who could have. Who else could sneak up on and kill a house elf besides a pureblood vampire? And you said yourself there wasn’t much blood.”

“But if he had done it, wouldn’t there be no blood? And why would he have had to slit their throats? Wouldn’t he have just been able to bite them and have that be the end?” She asked.

The questions seemed to stump him for a moment. “Maybe he wasn’t really snacking, maybe he did it for some other reason.”

“Maybe… but maybe doesn’t convince people and maybe won’t be enough to get him kicked out of here.”

“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you’ll all be heading home this weekend. And why was that again?” He asked with amusement.

“It was supposed to be a surprise. How am I supposed to explain to everyone that you found out?” She returned, upset with herself for mentioning anything about it.

“Other than telling them you have the compact you mean?” He taunted.

“Exactly.” She said simply. At this point, she wasn’t sure how to explain to anyone, herself included, why she hadn’t told her friends that she had a way to communicate with Fred back home. At first she could have easily told Harry and Luna, who already knew about the potion, that they were still working on it… and to Ron, Ginny and Draco she could have said they were conferring on Fred’s Quick Cures. She could still claim the same now, but how could she ever explain why she’d been keeping their communications secret?

“So, are you going to tell me or what? You’ve already said too much, might as well go all the way.” He asked in a light tone to break the sudden silence.

“Fine, but you better act surprised.” She finally gave in as a distraction from a more upsetting train of thought.

“I think I can manage that.” He laughed.

“Harry didn’t tell us until after Hogsmeade, but your dad found a way to get Willem secretly released sometime this week. He’ll be staying there at the house until they can find somewhere safer and more permanent for him.”

“Hey, well that’s good news right?”

She hesitated. “I guess in the sense that an innocent man will no longer be sitting in prison. But Harry and Luna are convinced that somewhere in his subconscious he knows something more about Edmund and Jayalina than what he’s told them. So in an effort to get near him, they’re sending Ron to ask permission for us all to go home and attend your store opening.”

“Really? You think Dumbledore will allow that? I mean, I’d love for you all to come back here, but I thought he had to be careful about everything he does and letting you all leave for the weekend could be viewed as special preference.” He sounded hopeful yet skeptical.

“It’s a toss up at this point. With Willem being released, I’m sure Dumbledore will see through the ruse of Ron’s request and know that Harry is the one who wants to go home. And we all know how hard he tries to accommodate Harry in anything he wants… I think it’s his way of trying to make up for lying and withholding the truth from him for so many years.”

He laughed again. “Whatever the reason, you have to admit it comes in handy for us all.”

She smiled but remained serious. “Whatever you say. Just remember, you aren’t supposed to know any of this… and don’t get your hopes up too high. Dumbledore may not give in this time.”

“Well I look forward to seeing you- and the rest of the unruly bunch. It’s quite lonely here without everyone. And having you around makes all this work such a more pleasurable experience. Instead it’s long hours, all by myself with no help from anyone.” He made himself sound pitiful, though she could still hear his amusement underneath.

Hermione grinned in spite of having not wanted to be cheered up… or perhaps she had subconsciously wanted a few moments to not think of anything horrible and that’s why she’d given into calling him. It was all too confusing and either way she refused to let him try and play on her sympathy. “I’m sure you’re more than capable of working it all out. And besides, you can look at all this time without us as an opportunity to build up your relationship with your parents.”

“You’re very amusing my dear. But this is no time for jokes.” Fred replied in a wry tone. She could picture the offended face he was making at her suggestion and couldn’t help but laugh at the image. “Well, I’m glad you find it funny.” He said sourly, though she knew he was smiling.

“I find you funny.” She countered.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s change the topic.” He suggested.

“To what?”

“Well, what were you saying earlier about Draco being the hunter this time? If he went for some revenge I definitely want to hear all about it.”

She shook her head uncertainly. “I don’t think it was revenge exactly. He and Ginny went to Crabbe for some answers.”

“Ginny was involved?” He asked with surprise and a hint of anger. “Now I really must know everything.”

Feeling he had a right to know, she proceeded to tell him everything Draco had told them at dinner and their fears about what Troy’s involvement in such a long ago occurrence meant for them in the present. She and Fred talked long into the night and only when she felt herself drifting off during the conversation did they finally say goodnight. She of course asked for and received his word that he wouldn’t mention anything they discussed until the others brought it up to him. It was evident he was grateful to be kept in the loop and Hermione took some pleasure in knowing that since he still hadn’t asked to speak to anyone else, he must be happy having her be his contact here.

Placing the compact under her pillow once more, she lay down feeling bad that she’d at first dismissed talking to Fred because of his lack of seriousness. He’d actually been quite logical and attentive when the topic called for it, and when it didn’t his jokes, teasing and antics had definitely lifted her into a better mood. Feeling less somber and more hopeful that tomorrow would be a less intense day, she was finally able to close her eyes and not see the horrible images she’d once thought to forever be permanently etched in her mind. She could now separate herself and her emotions about what happened to those house elves from her conscious life- just as she’d forced herself to do after Sirius, Neville and George left them. She would use this as one more event to fuel the fire of rebellion that was keeping her going in this war. As to the other emotional turmoil surging through her, she was getting used to squashing it down and wouldn’t allow herself to lose any sleep over it… after all there wasn’t much she could do about it now anyway.

(BREAK)

Harry woke early and was dismayed to learn that his headache had not only stayed with him, it had added a sore throat and stuffy nose to the mix. He couldn’t ever remember feeling this way and wondered briefly if he was dying before realizing he was being silly. Surely it was just a cold, perhaps karma for faking one a few weeks ago. Of course he knew Hermione hadn’t bought his act the last time and rather than seriously question why, he’d been grateful that she’d let him pretend. Would she believe him this time?

With a groan he forced himself to get out of bed and put on his school robes, sending a soft mental call out to Luna with the hope that she was already awake. Yes? He heard her alert reply, telling him she’d been awake for several hours. He asked her to meet him in the common room and she readily agreed, probably already aware of what he wanted to discuss. They hadn’t had a moment to find time alone since everything happened yesterday morning and so much had occurred since then. He needed to know what, if anything, she had seen and just how worried he should be.

Once both were ready for their day, they walked into the common room and met in the far corner, careful to keep their voices low even with the silencing charm she cast. He was a bit unnerved by her appearance, from her wrinkled clothes to her tired eyes. Her hair was unbrushed and messily pulled back and he could see she’d accidentally put on two different socks.

“Are you okay?” He asked right away.

“I’m fine.” Luna answered stiffly, avoiding his gaze by digging in her pocket. “Here.” She handed him a bottle filled with some leafy green liquid.

“What’s this?” He asked, sniffing hesitantly at the concoction. It was emitting a surprisingly pleasant odor.

“An old recipe from my grandmother, it’ll clear your cold right up. I asked Dobby to meet me and had him get me all the ingredients from the kitchen. He wasn’t too happy to break Dumbledore’s rule about students interacting with the elves but I think I convinced him not to punish himself.” She smiled grimly. He didn’t bother to question how she knew he was sick.

“About the elves, did you know anything like that was coming?” Harry asked before bravely swallowing down the liquid in one gulp. It was cool and soothing on his throat, instantly taking away the uncomfortable soreness. Within seconds he found he could once again inhale through his nose as a blast of mint and eucalyptus rushed through his sinuses relieving the crushing pressure in his head.

“Better?” She asked, crossing her arms and looking at him in disappointment. He merely nodded and waited to see what was to come. Luna sighed deeply before continuing on. “Don’t you think if I knew that was going to happen I would have done or said something?”

“Well I would hope so, but I wasn’t accusing you of anything.” He replied uneasily.

“Really? Because it seems like you thought I had kept some secret vision that led up to those poor creatures meeting with such a horrible death.” She moodily replied as she ran her hands through her unkempt hair in agitation, leading him to believe her anger was directed more towards herself than at him. He once again took in the dark circles under her eyes, they way she’d haphazardly put herself together and realized something had been bothering her, that she was torturing herself over… something.

“Okay, so there wasn’t a vision. But there’s some reason you’re making yourself feel so guilty.” He reached out and rubbed her shoulder in support. “Whatever it is, it’s not your fault.”

“I know.” She said quietly, hanging her head. “It just feels like I should have seen this coming. The things I’ve been dreaming lately… always so dark and troubling, they seem full of warnings but then I never get any sort of vision to make things clearer. Or I get one when it’s almost too late, like Friday and the whole Draco thing. I try to interpret what I see but…”

She looked up at him, searching for answers and reassurance. Harry could see tears of frustration, anguish, and guilt brimming in her eyes giving them a soft blue, crystal-like glow that only slightly diminished the shadow of horror that had taken over. Her entire demeanor held the feeling of a dying innocence and he hated to see it, wanting instantly to make things right again. But he had nothing to offer except more problems. Squeezing her shoulder, he smiled before giving the first comforting words that came to him. “Look, unfortunately your power is not something you can control. But you know what that means? It means you are in no way responsible for what happens, whether you receive a vision or not. What’s going to happen will happen, sometimes we can stop it and sometimes we can’t. Isn’t that what everyone is always telling me? Haven’t you said something along those lines at some point?”

“And aren’t you the one who always replies that knowing it isn’t your fault doesn’t make you feel any better?” She returned. “But how I feel- how any of us feel- doesn’t matter. We need to put aside the sadness and try to figure out what happened. Looking back at what I’ve been dreaming, I’m pretty sure Tristan is involved.”

“But why?” Harry wondered, having already thought the same thing. He listed his arguments, hoping Luna could provide the counterpoints. “Why would he kill them that way, or at all for that matter? And why would he leave their bodies to be discovered?”

“That’s what’s all unclear. It’s nothing but shadows, no shape but large and ominous… and his presence is what I feel when I think of those shadows.” She looked at him earnestly, hoping he would trust her judgement.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. “I believe you. And we’ll figure out something to do about Tristan before this all gets out of hand.”

“But how? I mean it’s not like he’s above suspicion but without solid proof of anything there’s nothing that can be done without some other consequence.” Her voice quivered as she hovered on the brink of tears, finally allowing herself to rest her head on his shoulder and take the comfort he was trying to offer. It was obvious that she was beyond exhaustion, that she’d been dealing with so much alone when he should have been there helping her- instead they’d added to their burdens by continually putting themselves at odds with each other. But what else was there to do? There had to be something, because the continued stress was clearly beginning to take it’s toll on Luna… on all of them if his sudden cold, Hermione’s aloof secretiveness, and Ron’s intuitive suspicions were any indication.

A few other students had begun to enter the common room, Draco and Ginny among them. Studying Draco carefully Harry realized that maybe there was someone who, with convincing, could tell them everything that was known about what had happened to the elves… surely Lupin had more reason to go against Tristan than the other professors. And since Harry knew that Draco’s desire to be rid of Tristan was quite possibly higher than his own, he may just be the one to help him convince Lupin to tell them.

Turning back to Luna he offered a warm smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to take care of Tristan.” He assured her, wanting to make this one thing right when there was so much else he couldn’t give her.

But she shook her head sadly. “And that’s exactly what I’m afraid of Harry, that you’ll not only find a way, you’ll succeed.”

(BREAK)

“We need to talk.” Ginny said as soon as Colton rounded the corner. There was still ten minutes before class was to start and she’d been waiting for him in the corridor just outside the gargoyle. Though Draco hadn’t been pleased to let her go at this alone, they both eventually figured that it would be best if he wasn’t there so that Colton would be more receptive to listening.

“I’m really not in the mood.” He snapped, mumbling the password and attempting to get by her.

She grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around. “And I wasn’t in the mood to listen to your accusations yesterday but I did. It’s only fair that you listen to me tell you what really happened.”

“Oh?” He let her lead him down the hall and away from the other sixth years trickling up to Dumbledore’s office for class. “And what do you think the real story is?”

“I know what the real story is, from the mouth of one of the people responsible.” She shot back before relating the whole of the story minus the small detail of how she heard it. At the end she could tell he didn’t fully believe her, but she felt hopeful seeing that he was at least thinking hard and not dismissing anything right away. “That’s why your brother thinks Draco was involved,” she concluded, “because the last thing he remembers before Troy cursed him was being outside talking to Crabbe and Goyle and thinking Draco must have been there as well.”

“So what, I suppose your lying conniving boyfriend told you all this?” He sneered, refusing to fully believe his brother had been mistaken all these years. “I mean it all sounds plausible, but he could easily just omit himself from the story who would contradict him?”

“Actually Crabbe told me.” She admitted angrily. “Draco couldn’t tell me anything- truth or lie- about what happened because he wasn’t there. It’s an easy enough fact to check since he was logged in at the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey herself signed his chart saying she’d just finished her last check on him at the same time Carter was being attacked.” Ginny was more than certain of this, having snuck into the healer’s office before dinner the night before to see the records with her own eyes. She hadn’t for a second doubted Draco, she had just wanted to be sure that if necessary his innocence could be proven. As an extra measure, she’d made two copies of the records and found places to hide them both should Troy or Tristan decide to start destroying evidence.

“If he really was involved, why would Crabbe tell you anything?” Colton asked stubbornly, though he seemed more uncertain now that the idea of an actual paper trail to the truth had been presented.

“His motivation to tell the truth doesn’t matter, he won’t remember the conversation anyway.” She answered darkly. “What does matter is that now you know who really deserves your anger. So direct it toward them and leave us alone.”

He hung his head for a moment, lost somewhere in his own head. “If this is all true then… well then thank you for finally giving me answers. I’ll finally have something to tell my family, a reason however stupid for why this happened to him.”

“And now you can forget Draco and I even exist.” Ginny quietly answered before walking past him and making her way back towards class. She didn’t glance back, didn’t care to see how this affected him and hadn’t wanted his thanks. Her reasons for finding this truth had nothing to do with him, it was for her and Draco… she sensed it was better that Colton understand that right away. All through their first classes of the morning, she was careful not to pay him any attention no matter how intensely she felt him staring at her.

To keep herself strong in her resolve to no longer acknowledge Colton James, Ginny focused instead on Luna who appeared to be a mess. Sure the mismatched socks were something Luna may have done a few times in the past due to her lack of attentiveness, but the tangled mass of hair pulled untidily back from her tired and pale face was something else entirely. Apparently life was beginning to take it’s toll on Luna and Ginny found that she was reminded of herself only a few short months ago. Of course there was no fear that Luna would go off and do something dangerous or crazy as she just wasn’t the sort without Harry’s provocation, but she was scared to think of how her friend would finally express everything she was letting weigh her down. She wanted to help Luna, someone she actually did care about, but she didn’t know how. Never one to say anything more than what she wanted to say, Luna could be as open or as secretive as she wanted and though Ginny had a feeling she knew some of the things plaguing her friend, she doubted she would want to talk about them. Still, she felt she ought to try and made plans to accost Luna sometime during their weekend home… to try and help the other girl sort things out before they overwhelmed her completely. She felt it was best the conversation be attempted away from the school where the pressure they were all under seemed so intensified.

At last Dumbledore dismissed them all for an hour break before classes would resume. Ginny hung back, mentally giving Luna the okay to wait with her as neither of them wanted to go anywhere alone these days. “What can I do for you Ginny?” Dumbledore asked tiredly after all of the other students had left.

“I was hoping you’d be able to get this letter sent for me?” She hesitantly reached in her bag and pulled out the letter she’d penned the other night. She didn’t want to trouble him, but after all that had happened and was in the process of happening, she felt it more important now than when she’d originally written it. “I know it’s imperative that we not try to send things ourselves through the normal post.” She added quickly to explain why she felt the need to bother him with such a trivial request.

“I’d be more than happy to ensure this safely reaches only it’s intended recipient.” He smiled weakly at her before rising to his feet and gesturing towards the door. “Now I don’t wish to be rude, but if that it all I’m afraid I have much to do in this short break.”

“Yes that’s all. Thank you very much.” She answered quietly as she and Luna hurried out of the office, both uncomfortable with the rundown man who had once been their charismatic headmaster.

“What was that?” Luna asked as they walked toward the common room.

“Nothing important.” She lied, breezing off the whole incident. They headed outside and down to the lake, letting a comfortable silence fall over them as they lost themselves in their own heads. Just having each other’s company was enough, conversation was unnecessary at this point as they both sensed it was neither the time nor the place. Ginny had felt uncomfortable at Hogwarts before- all of last year for instance. But the discomfort and pressure she felt here now was something completely different. She hoped Ron was able to convince Dumbledore to let them all go home for the weekend as she definitely needed some time away. For the first time, she realized just how grateful she was that she only had to spend one semester here… and then it hit her- next year she would have one more semester, with only Luna here with her. No Draco, no Harry and Hermione, and for the first time ever she’d be the only Weasley child… how would she survive?

(BREAK)

Ron felt like a victorious loser as he approached his friends who had all gathered outside by their study tree. They were waiting to learn if he’d convinced Dumbledore to allow them to go home and support Fred reopening his store. Deciding it was best to wait until after lunch when a full stomach may make the headmaster more agreeable, Ron had been too nervous to actually eat anything himself. Now that it was all over, he had to find a way to tell them what had happened.

“Well?” Harry asked as Ron sat down with them.

“Well, we have a classic good news/bad news situation.” He answered hesitantly.

“Meaning what?” Hermione demanded anxiously.

“Meaning most of us get to go back to London for the weekend.” He said in an upbeat tone, hoping to distract from what he was actually saying.

“What do you mean most of us?” Harry was anxious, and looking around Ron realized the others seemed just as uneasy. He hadn’t realized they were all so eager to go home.

Taking a deep breath, he threw out his answer, trying to get it all out as quickly as possible. “Well, it seems that Dumbledore thinks a visit home would be easy enough to arrange for me and Ginny since all it would require is a letter from mum. Same for Luna as long as Mr. Lovegood sends in a request to have her home. As for Harry and Hermione, he thought since mum and dad are currently listed as guardians for you guys that a letter from them would suffice as well…” He trailed off, letting the others realize on their own what exactly he was implying.

“So it’s me then. I can’t go with you guys.” Malfoy picked up right away.

“Dumbledore said that without a letter from a parent or guardian, there was no reason he could find for you to accompany us.” He shook his head in frustration, hating that he had to be the one to deliver the news. Ron may not want to like the guy, but even he had to admit that Malfoy deserved a break. It wasn’t fair that he be forced into their companionship but then not get to be treated as one of them.

“I thought Dumbledore was your acting guardian.” Hermione turned to address Malfoy directly who merely shrugged in reply.

“I asked the same thing.” Ron threw out. “He said that he was only appointed by the ministry to take charge of Draco’s academic decisions and basic needs like food and shelter. The way he explained it-“

“I don’t need it explained.” Malfoy interrupted. “I remember the way kids of known Death Eaters were treated when left in the care of the ministry. Our rights and needs go right out the window whether we deserve it or not… and I probably don’t deserve a whole lot of their trust.”

“Well, if Dumbledore can’t do anything with his hands tied by the ministry then why can’t mom and dad ask the be appointed his guardian like they did with Harry and Hermione?” Ginny demanded angrily.

“Because it’s not their responsibility.” Draco answered before Ron could, leaving him surprisingly pleased with the other boy. “Besides, your dad already made such a difference at the ministry, think of what happened to Sarah when they found out who her father was- left wandless and pushed around from home to home each time knowing the people you’re supposed to rely on hate you. I think I can handle not getting to leave school for a weekend trip.”

Ron saw Harry shudder and knew the image Malfoy had painted of Sarah’s youth had probably reminded his friend of his own very similar upbringing- that had been Dumbledore’s doing, moving outside the ministry to keep Harry “safe.” Perhaps the headmaster was simply unwilling to do more for Draco than he already had, after all he hadn’t come to the headmaster as an innocent, humble and friendly young boy as Harry had. Since arriving at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy had been sneaky, manipulative, and mean and who would want to help someone like that? Sure he may have changed enough to now use his attitude against the other side, but was it truly enough to erase the memories of who he’d been against for so many years? Apparently it wasn’t, not entirely- not for Ron and not for Dumbledore either it seemed. Still, the implication must hurt… that his wants and needs weren’t considered worth the risk like theirs were.

Having somewhere he needed to be, Ron left the others to figure out what they wanted to do about this upset to their plans. He was relieved to walk away, not wanting to see the hurt yet accepting look in Malfoy’s eyes. Besides, he’d seen Harry’s reaction to the news and knew his friend was already spinning his wheels trying to figure out a way around this hurdle. Moving quickly to put as much distance between himself and the unpleasantness behind him, he made his way back into the castle and up to the Gryffindor common room where, as a Gryffindor, he still had access. Seamus had been waiting impatiently for him and jumped up from the chair as soon as he walked through the portrait. “Where have you been? They’re all expecting the list to go up before dinner!”

“Relax, we basically decided who we wanted last night.” Ron grumbled, sinking into the couch as Seamus stood over him in agitation.

“Yeah, but now I’m not so sure. I mean are they all really our best options?” He pulled the list of names they’d put together from him pocket and studied it as if it held all the answers to life.

Ron couldn’t help but smile. “We’ll just have to train them as best we can and then pray.”

“So this is it then, we’re sure?” Seamus nervously ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m as sure as I can be, but you’re the captain and you’re the one who’ll have to play with them so it’s all really up to you.”

He nodded decisively. “This is it then. We decided and there’s no turning back now.” And without further hesitation he marched over to the message board and pinned the list right in the middle.

Then as if all of the other Gryffindors had been hiding in wait, they flooded the common room, rushing to the board to see who had taken those coveted spots. Dean came away looking both pleased and disappointed. “I guess chaser is okay.” He said, walking up to Ron and Seamus. “I was really hoping for seeker though.”

“Then you should have actually caught the snitch during try-outs.” Seamus teased him.

Dean’s scathing reply was cut off as Dennis Creevey ran up to them. “Is that for real? I really made the team?!” He asked with nervous excitement as if waiting for them to tell him it was all a joke.

“You really made the team.” Ron assured him. “And I think you’ll be a great keeper.”

“I’ll do my best, I promise!” Dennis earnestly reached out to vigorously shake both his and Seamus’s hands.

Ron smiled at seeing how proud of himself Dennis was… but it was Colin Creevey who made his heart swell with happiness. The younger Creevey brother emerged from the crowd, his expression awed and his eyes shining with fearful excitement. “You made me seeker.” He said in a trembling voice.

“You made yourself seeker.” Seamus replied, walking over to the small boy and slapping him on the back. “You were the best of the worst out there Creevey, so there’s still a lot of work to do. But Ron and I both think you’re more than capable of handling it.”

“That’s right.” Ron agreed gathering the new team together. “You all have a lot of work to do before you’re ready for the first game so don’t get too excited.” He took in their worried yet still happy expressions as he let Seamus take over the short meeting. After disclosing the practice dates- of which Ron already knew there were several he’d have to miss for class- they sent everyone off to rest up as they intended to get a few hours of flying in after dinner that night.

Making his way back down to his own room for a nap, Ron reflected that he wasn’t as tortured as he had thought he’d be at passing on his passion to a new generation. Instead he rather enjoyed being able to see how much it meant for Dean, the Creevey brothers, and the other three to be chosen. It reminded him of simpler, more naïve days and seeing the look in all their eyes had made him realize he was too far beyond that time in his life to have been able to really have enjoyed playing quidditch. And now for the first time since learning he couldn’t play anymore, he was really okay with it and much happier being in the position of passing on his love of the game- even if he never was the best player Hogwarts had ever seen. With these thoughts swirling through his head as he prepared to lay down for his nap, he suddenly felt very mature and decided he liked the feeling.

(BREAK)

Harry had awoken Tuesday morning already feeling impatient. As the day stretched on the feeling grew to the point where he felt he couldn’t stand it anymore and his friends began to take notice. He assured them nothing was wrong and was careful to particularly allay Hermione’s concern as she was far more observant than Ron, unwilling to divulge what had him so on edge lest she try to talk him out of it. Only Draco knew what was to come- Harry had sought the other boy out late last night to ascertain that they had similar goals concerning getting rid of Tristan, turns out they did. Of course Luna had an idea of what was going on and the more decisions he made, the more she’d probably know… but he refused to let her talk him out of anything either. After all, everything he was trying to accomplish now was to keep her, their friends and everyone else in the school safe.

Finally it was time for their last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry eagerly followed Hermione, Ron, Draco and the other seventh years, his thoughts whirling in his head as he tried to figure out exactly how he wanted this to go. As soon as they sat down, he sent his mind out to Lupin’s. You have to ask me to stay after… Draco too. Please, we really need to talk to you. In reply, Lupin merely nodded as if to himself before standing in front of them all to begin his class. Unable to concentrate on anything other than the multitude of questions he had for his friend, Harry decided it was best to simply stare down at his book and try to will time to go faster. At last Lupin wrapped up the lesson and began dismissing his students. “Oh, and Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy- if you two could stay after a few moments? There are a few things we need to discuss about your last essays.”

Waiting until everyone was gone, Lupin closed the door and cast a silencing charm before turning to his two remaining students with a deep sigh. He seemed to know what was coming. “Harry, before you even start let me tell you- I’ve been instructed not to tell any student anything about what happened yesterday morning.”

“I figured. But we aren’t just any other students. We’ve already both been seriously threatened by Tristan, our friends have been threatened… we have a right to know if he’s killing in our own common room.” Harry argued.

“What exactly are your intentions when it comes to Tristan?” Lupin asked suspiciously as he looked back and forth between the two boys.

“Only to find a way to catch him up and get him out of here.” Draco answered quickly, leading Harry to believe that he was more than willing to do more to ensure safety from Tristan but didn’t want Lupin aware of it.

“And it would be easier if we could get a sense of what his plan is.” He added.

Lupin sat behind his desk and leaned back, regarding them carefully before breaking out into an amused smile. “Well, I must say I’m glad to see you two so eager and willing to work with each- though I’m not sure if putting your separate talents together is a good thing or something that will ultimately get you both in more trouble on a grander scale than ever before.”

Glancing at each other, both Harry and Draco shrugged. “Does it matter in the long run?” Harry finally asked.

“That’s yet to be determined I suppose.” Lupin replied. “What makes you so sure that Tristan was involved in the murders of those house elves?”

“Common sense.” Harry muttered.

“That, and despite a few questions and doubts there’s no one else who could have or would have.” Draco reasoned out. “We just need you to tell us we’re right.”

He sighed and shook his head in defeat. “Of course you’re right. Roscoe Drake found the bite marks on one of their necks… it seems Tristan tried to hide what he’d done when he slit their throats.”

“You mean there’s proof?” Harry was incredulous. “Why hasn’t Dumbledore done anything?”

Again Lupin shook his head. “There’s no proof, Harry. We had to dispose of their bodies to ensure the vampire virus wouldn’t be spread. It was too risky… they hadn’t been fully drained of blood and there’s just no documented case of what the virus would do to an elf.”

“Okay, I can understand there was an issue of safety…” Harry began, “But isn’t keeping Tristan here to continue trying to do whatever it is he’s doing more dangerous?”

“An argument I and a few other professors made. But Albus knows what he’s doing, we have to continue to trust that.”

“Why?” Draco asked before Harry could. “I mean I have a ton of reasons to be grateful to him, but it just doesn’t seem like he made the right choice here.”

“It’s not for us to question.” Lupin responded tensely. “What’s done is done and everyone is keeping an eye on Tristan Macnair, so you two can put whatever plan you’re hatching to rest.”

“There’s no plan yet.” Harry replied angrily. “And having everyone closely watching Tristan doesn’t exactly calm my worries about him sleeping down the hall from me and all of my friends.”

“Watching Tristan isn’t enough, he’s been here too long already.” Draco argued on their behalf. “He’s already done something to Troy, I talked to Crabbe and he said those two were always off on their own, plotting who knows what.”

“What do you want me to do?” Lupin shouted at them in frustration before regaining his composure. He leaned forward on his desk before raising his tired face to them. “I’m a professor, I’m supposed to be indifferent to all students, to care for them all equally and without prejudice… You don’t think I want to do something about Tristan? I do and for more reasons than just the blood feud between our species. When it comes to you guys, and Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna… there is no neutral ground for me. I care more about you all than the other kids in the school and that’s not good, it’s not fair to them that I would be willing to put all of your safety above theirs. I can’t let it influence me to do something that could only make things worse for you all later. And so I have to put my trust in Dumbledore who has lived longer and understands more than I could ever hope to.”

“I just don’t want them to get us first just because we have to play nice.” Harry said quietly.

“And hopefully by playing nice, we’ll keep that from happening. Other than that, there’s nothing left to tell you. Not that I know of anyway.”

Harry felt defeated. He’d been expecting so much more, but he was certain Lupin wasn’t holding anything back. Perhaps he hadn’t been told much just in case this very situation arose- Dumbledore always had his secrets and knowing Harry had a new way of discovering them could have pushed the headmaster to be less forthcoming with certain members of his staff. He shuffled his feet, hoping the other thing he wanted to discuss with Lupin went better. “Okay, I believe you. I just wish there was more that could be done.”

“You and me both.” He replied.

“Hey Draco, could you please wait out in the hall for a minute?” Harry turned to the other boy who looked both surprised and upset by the request. “I just need to ask him for a favor. It’ll only take a few minutes.” He added quickly, not wanting to hurt Draco’s feelings but also not wanting to give anything away until after he spoke to Lupin.

“Sure. No problem.” He tightly replied, gathering his things and stepping out of the classroom.

Harry turned to find Lupin staring at him with his eyebrow raised. “A favor?” He asked with a smile.

“Yeah, but it’s not really for me… how would you feel about being a legal guardian?”

Lupin appeared to do a double-take, his mouth hanging open as he tried to make sense of what was being asked of him. “You mean for Draco?” He finally asked. “He’s already seventeen.”

“Yes, but because he is currently under the care of Hogwarts, he must abide by their rules unless granted permission by a parent or guardian.”

“I see. And what rule exactly are you trying to get around?” He asked.

“We all have permission to go home this weekend as long as Arthur, Molly and Mr. Lovegood write and request it, which is already in the process of being arranged.” Harry explained.

“Hmm, and let me guess, because Dumbledore’s guardianship of Draco is limited he can’t rightfully give him permission to leave the school. I understand all aspects of why you’re asking me, but what you have to understand is what you’re asking.” Lupin stood and began pacing. “I mean I’m a married man now, decisions like this have to be made with Tonks’s input. It’s not something to be taken lightly just because you all want a weekend pass.”

“It’s more than that.” He argued. “Right now he has no one to take responsibility for him. He’s been pushed around and forced on everyone since he switched sides. He’s done a lot for us and it’s not fair that we not try to help him out in return. Believe me, I never thought I’d be arguing on behalf of Draco Malfoy… but he needs to feel like someone wants him. His parents wrote him off, his father wants to kill him, and Dumbledore can’t give him the attention he needs while he’s here surrounded by enemies and people who would very much like to hurt him. I know what it feels like to think everyone has forsaken me… as do you. But I found the Weasleys, you found Tonks and we found each other.”

“He has Ginny…”

“Who isn’t the authoritative figure he needs right now.” Harry returned. “Look, you don’t have to say yes because I do know what I’m asking. I just thought that maybe this would be a good situation for you as well as him.”

“Oh?” Lupin stopped pacing and turned to him with a quizzical smile.

“Well, he’s someone who has something in common with you that the rest of us will never have-“

“And I hope to keep it that way.” Lupin fiercely interrupted as he was reminded of the werewolf curse both he and Draco were plagued with.

“As do I.” He quietly replied.

There was a long silence, until Lupin finally sat on the edge of his desk and sighed heavily. “What does Draco think of all of this?”

“I haven’t said anything about it to him. I didn’t want to put you in the position of being forced into saying yes just to keep from hurting his feelings. This decision has to be yours.”

Lupin sighed once more, shaking his head as he moved to once again slump into the chair behind his desk. “No Harry, it has to be his as well.”

(BREAK)

Draco waited impatiently outside the Defense classroom. Normally he wouldn’t have stuck around, he’d never liked being ordered out of a room. But the fact the Potter had asked and not ordered went a long way with him… plus he wanted to discuss a few things with the other boy anyway. He had sensed that Potter’s disappointment was as deep as his at finding out that nothing serious was being done about Tristan and it was time Draco gave him a sad dose of reality- that sometimes playing nice would only get you killed faster. Potter was meant to be a good guy, it ran through him all the way down to his soul, but Draco also knew him to be capable of much darker things with the right incentive. In Tristan, they were dealing with someone very dark and kindness wasn’t the way to destroy him- it would only get them killed.

At last the door opened and Potter emerged with a grim look on his face. He spoke before Draco had a chance. “Lupin wants to talk to you about something.”

“About what?” He asked suspiciously.

Potter simply shook his head and offered a small grin. “I’ll wait here.”

Feeling apprehensive, Draco made his way back into the classroom and was surprised to see the professor waiting for him with a wide welcoming smile. “So I understand you all wish to go home this weekend.” Lupin started.

“Luna and Potter want to try and talk to Willem Fritz. And everyone else wants to go support Fred opening the store again. I can’t get permission to go with them so I’ll be staying here.” He shrugged as if it didn’t bother him. In truth it bothered him a lot that he be expected to be part of Potter’s group but wasn’t treated like the others. Of course he understood- he hadn’t earned the privileges and trust they had by being good students and good people in general.

“Would you like to go home with them?” Lupin asked gently.

Again he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t.”

Lupin gestured that Draco take a seat at one of the desks before coming to sit next to him. “But what if there was a way you could? What if there was a way for you to completely separate yourself from your parents control… and Albus’s?”

“I don’t know… is there a way?” He asked, unwilling to be honest about his desires unless the solution was more than hypothetical.

“There is…” Lupin hesitated before shaking his head and turning back to him with another friendly smile. “…if you emancipated yourself from your family and took on another guardian the few months you have left here at school.”

Draco felt his throat tighten and his chest began to feel too small to hold his pounding heart as he realized what they were discussing. “What are you saying?” He asked breathlessly, needing to be sure.

“Well, I would have to speak to Tonks first… but since she’s your cousin and also an outcast from your family, I don’t think she’d have a problem if we took over your guardianship while you’re here.” Lupin appeared as nervous about the topic as Draco felt. “You would be able to get permission to do things like the others and you’d have someone fighting on your side when it comes time for you to register with the ministry as a werewolf. And I think best of all for you is that you wouldn’t have to depend on Albus, Harry, Arthur or the ministry to look out for your best interests.”

“And you’d really be willing to do that… for me?” Draco was in a daze, unsure how or what to feel.

“Draco, like the rest of them, you and I didn’t have the greatest history. You were obnoxious in class, mean to other students and tried to go after the son of one of my best friends… and I’m sure there are a million other things I don’t even know about. But like the others, I can separate who you are now and the decisions you’re making from the past.” Lupin reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

It was too much, Draco shrugged off the gesture of friendship and rose to face the professor. “Even if I tried to hurt you in the past?”

“Did you?” Lupin asked with an amused smile.

“Third year when you first came here.” Draco confessed. “I was told to spy on you, told them all your secrets and how you were trying to help Sirius Black. I was suppose to kill you, get you out of the way since they looked at you as one more person protecting Potter. They gave me Lycos and everything! And I would have done it too, except the night I was supposed to do it, Potter and Granger used that time turner and screwed it all up.” He had been pacing while disclosing the failed plot, but now he turned to stare the professor down, daring the man to still want to help him.

Lupin stared right back, still smiling. “Well, may I just say I am personally grateful that you failed, even if Lucius and the others weren’t as happy with you.”

“I’m sorry about it now.” Draco answered quietly. “I wasn’t then.”

“You had no reason to be sorry then. We didn’t know each other and I’ve thought some horrid things about you in the past. What counts is that you are sorry now. Don’t you see? It proves how far you’ve come and that you deserve a second chance.”

“Sometimes, it feels like I don’t deserve anything.” He confessed, thinking of Ginny and happiness he had no right to experience with her- of everything Potter had done for him up to and including trying to give him back this sense of family- of Luna’s full acceptance of his change of heart from the beginning. He also recalled the kind words Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had spoken to him when he felt he had no right to receive them. And Lupin, he’d already done so much by making this whole werewolf curse bearable, by making him feel not quite so alone. How could he ask for more?

“We all have that point in life where we just don’t feel we deserve a chance. But all we need is someone to give it to us and that’s enough to change your whole life. You’ve already gone this far Draco, and yes with help and acceptance from some extraordinary friends. I’m sure normal people wouldn’t be able to forgive or forget past sins, but it seems you’ve changed everyone’s mind. I’ve noticed even Ron seems more accepting.” Lupin paused to smile again. “Though I suppose it is harder to forgive the past when one’s sister is involved in the present.”

“You really think this is a good idea?” Draco wanted to say yes, to accept Lupin and Tonks as the adults in charge of making sure he goes through life the right way. It was all he ever wanted- to have the feeling that someone not only took responsibility for him, but who wanted him to be happy and cared about him and his wants and needs. His mother and father had failed his whole life to instill that feeling of family, of belonging, of being accepted whether he succeeded or failed.

Lupin rose to come stand next to him. “Only if you do. I can admit that when Harry first presented this idea, I was apprehensive. After talking to you about it, I’m convinced that I want to do this for you Draco. If you’ll let me.”

Draco thought hard. He desperately wanted to agree to this. And Tonks, who he hadn’t even recognized the first time he saw her at the Hogsmeade battle, was his family… the daughter of an aunt ostracized but his mother and the rest of the family for who she chose to love. He briefly wondered what Narcissa thought of the Quibbler article and learning that she had married a muggle born wizard. Getting to know Tonks over the past few months he’d felt her mother had made the right choice, picking a muggle over her family. But liking both Lupin and Tonks made it that much harder for him to accept this arrangement. He didn’t want to do anything to disrupt or ruin their lives. He was stuck going back and forth between what he wanted for himself and what he wanted for them. “It’s all so much harder when you actually care about people.” He finally grumbled.

Lupin laughed before once more reaching out to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Tell me about it. Look Draco, don’t worry about me and Tonks. We’ve both done things far more controversial than signing our names as guardians to the child of a Death Eater, starting with our marriage. My kind… well, your kind now as well… we don’t receive the same rights as fully human wizards, as you’ll learn when you get out in the real world. But as I said before, I want to do this for you. I remember what it was like to be convinced that no one cared if I was happy. This goes beyond needing permission to go home for the weekend. You’re lucky enough to have turned your enemies into friends but as I learned with my own friends, outside this school, there’s very little they can do to help you. As someone who’s already fought the good fight for werewolf rights against the ministry, I can help you. All you have to do is let me.”

“Okay.” He finally agreed. He wanted this, Lupin seemed more than willing… it would be stupid not to allow this to happen for himself. “Just tell me what I have to do.”

Lupin smiled widely, squeezing his shoulder before heading back over to his desk. “I’ll draft a request to both Albus and Arthur. As soon as we get the proper paperwork, all you’ll need to do is sign.”

“Thank you.” Draco said more easily than he’d ever been able to say those words before.

“Hey, almost everyone deserves a second chance right?”

“Yeah, almost everyone.” He responded, thinking of all the people he knew who deserved no such thing. Lupin sent him off to dinner, promising that he’d have news by the next evening. Stepping out of the classroom, Draco was surprised to see Potter leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting. “I’d have thought you would have gone ahead to dinner.”

“No one is supposed to go anywhere alone, remember? That applies to you and me as well as everyone else.” Potter answered uncertainly. “So… how’d it go?”

Not knowing what else to do, how else to show his appreciation, he stuck his hand out. Looking apprehensive, Potter reached out his own and Draco took hold, shaking it vigorously in a show of friendship. “Thank you.” He said, again finding it easier now that he felt he fully owed his new life to this other boy who was the first to give him a chance back during the trial. They both knew that no more needed to be said on the matter, that words would only mess up this moment of understanding. And so together they walked to the Great Hall in silence, each just a little more comfortable in the other’s company than they were before.

(BREAK)

The week flew by in a haze and Luna barely noticed. Although she had been as impressed and touched as the others by Harry’s initiative to help set up the arrangement between Draco and Lupin, she just wasn’t sure now was a good time for the two boys to completely solidify their friendship. The feeling was based on more than the horrifying images swirling in her head at night… she knew what they could both be capable of when backed into a corner and so the idea of them attempting to team up to solve the problem of Tristan was rather frightening. Sure Draco was more level headed, had more foresight, and was better able to control his emotions by keeping them inside rather than wearing them out on his sleeve like Harry… But he was also determined to prove himself worthy of what he now had while holding in a beast that was always struggling to be free, one that embodied what he considered that worst parts of himself. Meanwhile Harry had this compulsion driving him, this need to overcome and protect that ran deeper than his love for his friends… It all stemmed back to that time in his life when he’d felt weak and unprotected himself, and because of those feelings he couldn’t shake, he would always strive to not only be strong but to also be viewed as stronger than anything put up against him. If those two began collaborating as she was beginning to foresee… well, she could only hope she received a vision in time.

With Friday morning came a sense of relief. She had been looking forward to this time away despite the real reason they were going, feeling like once away from the constant fear and uncertainty she’d have a chance to breathe… perhaps even relax enough to provoke a vision. Trudging her way through classes and dinner along with the rest of her friends, they were finally allowed to grab their weekend bags and make their way out onto the lawn. The sun was nearly done setting as Dumbledore gathered them together, Draco included, giving last minute instructions. Drake and Lupin were also there as they were to be their chaperones home, though they all knew the latter was really going in order to see his wife. At last the portkey Arthur had arranged was produced and they all reached out together to grasp it.

As soon as the familiar tug came, she closed her eyes to avoid getting dizzy while being whipped through time and space. They quickly landed in a heap in the backyard of Number 12, Grimmauld Place and Luna instantly felt her spirits lift. Despite what she’d been feeling the last time she was here, she now felt at home.　



A/N: References to Riddle Diary not original to this plot from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling; References to the timeturner and all occurrences to third year not original to this plot from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling; Reference to Umbridge and the Weasley Twins’ swamp from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Chapter 38: A Weekend Home

A/N: With this chapter we continue to collect answers and more pieces to the puzzle so Read on, Review when you’re done and Enjoy thoroughly!



As they all helped each other to their feet, Molly came running out the back door eager to greet her children. Watching as she grabbed up Ron and Ginny in bone crushing hugs, Luna, Harry, Hermione, and even Draco were all smiling… anxiously waiting for their turn to be greeted as nobody made one feel as missed and welcomed as Molly Weasley. They weren’t disappointed as she turned from her own children to cry and fuss over each of the other teens. Finally Lupin insisted they all venture inside where he quickly proceeded up the stairs to find Tonks. Arthur met the rest of them in the kitchen and a more controlled but equally happy greeting was repeated before Molly sent them all upstairs to get ready for bed.

“Harry, Luna, before you go upstairs with the others I’d like to introduce you to someone.” Arthur said, raising a hand to hold them back as he and Drake shared a smile. The healer eagerly made his way past them and down the hall to the parlor where Willem was apparently waiting. “Now before you go in there, I just want to warn you that Mr. Fritz’s appearance may be shocking. He was very unhealthy when we got him out a few days ago and he’s still not all there.”

Luna snuck a troubled peek at Harry, wondering how they were ever going to pull off continuing to keep their previous meeting with Willem a secret from Arthur and the other adults not already in the know. She could see him working his jaw as the wheels in his mind whirled, trying to figure out the best way to approach the situation. In that few seconds of silence she decided to let him take complete control, knowing he was better at fabricating stories than she was. Sure she was willing to believe all sorts of out there things, but when it came to creating something out of nothing she was out of her depth and didn’t want to be the reason they were caught up in their lies.

“I remember what an innocent man looks like when he’s finally let out after years of imprisonment.” Harry replied, referring to Sirius as a way to distract from the fact that he didn’t want Arthur to know that they had already seen Willem at his worst. “I’m more than prepared.”

“Okay, then let’s meet your newest houseguest.” Arthur took a deep breath and shot them a reassuring smile.

With a nervous glance at each other, she and Harry followed him into the parlor where the familiar figure of the formally tortured Willem Fritz was settled comfortably in one of the big, blue chairs. Luna thought that he already appeared more healthy and happy, less like the forlorn man who’d uttered such howls of despair when helping them escape the prison. “Willem Fritz- meet your host Harry Potter, owner of this fine house. And this is Luna Lovegood, the sister of the victim in the last case you investigated. Of course you briefly met her years ago.” Drake proudly introduced them. “I knew you’d want to get acquainted right away considering the role these two played in helping you get released.” He added with a conspiratorial wink that left Arthur scratching his head.

Luna sensed the minister had caught on to the fact that maybe the healer was referring to something more than what they’d seen in Sarah’s head. Glancing at Harry, she saw that he was feeling the same and with their nervousness now tripled, they turned to Willem. It all rested on him now as Arthur was very closely observing the scene before him. Could he pull it off and convince the other man that he’d never spoken to the two teens before?

As Willem rose from the couch and moved toward them, Luna held her breath and tried not to appear suspicious while at the same time hoping that Harry had a story ready should they fail to be good actors. “Hello.” He reached out with both hands, grasping hers and Harry’s at the same time, shaking them eagerly with a wide, happy smile across his face. “I’m so glad to finally meet you both!”

(BREAK)

“Well, I thought I heard the troops arriving.” Fred grinned from the top of the second landing as Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Draco climbed the stairs. “Mum mentioned you were all coming home for the weekend, to what do we owe the pleasure?” He asked, sharing a conspiratorial smile with Hermione alone.

“Officially we’re here to support you, our big brother, as you reopen your store.” Ron replied moodily, breezing past him and continuing up the last flight of stairs to his room. Apparently he was still unhappy with Fred, though Hermione reflected that he had seemed to let go of whatever anger he had with her and Harry.

“And Mr. Happy weighs in.” Fred sarcastically called after him before turning back to the others. “So if that’s the official reason, why are you all really here?”

“Because Harry and Luna wanted to take a stroll through Willem’s head.” Ginny answered as she walked into her room, gesturing everyone else to follow. “What’s he like?”

“Willem? I don’t know, he’s kept to himself since he got here.” Fred shrugged as they all settled themselves. “His room appeared on the second floor with all the other grown ups Wednesday morning before dad brought him here and that’s where he’s spent most of his time.”

Hermione felt uncomfortable knowing that the last time she was in this room, she had instigated a fight that had resulted in her receiving black eye. But if Ginny had moved past it, she had to as well. “It’s not surprising.” She responded as she sat in the desk chair. “After all that time with all those crazy people I can imagine the desire to not be near anyone… especially a bunch of strangers.”

“Yeah, but if he was locked up for six years with only crazies to talk to you’d think he wouldn’t want to spend all his time locked up in another room, albeit one much larger and more comfortable if the other rooms in this house are any indication.” Draco added absently.

“Either way, I’m sure he’ll be more social now that Drake is here. From what I understand they grew up together and have been friends for a very long time.” Hermione replied as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“Yeah, well, I’d hope my friends wouldn’t let me sit in Azkaban for six years.” Ginny shuddered.

“Even if you were guilty?” Fred teased. She stuck her tongue out at him in reply. “Well, this has been fun, but since we’ll have to wait on the wonder twins to get any more information about Willem I’m going to choose to spend my time wisely. And since I’m lucky enough to have my lab partner at the moment maybe I can actually make some progress.” He turned to Hermione. “Care to assist?”

“I suppose.” She replied reluctantly.

“There’s the enthusiasm I’ve been craving! Let’s go.” He grinned before heading out into the hallway and down to his own room.

With an awkward wave to Ginny and Draco, Hermione slowly followed Fred with a sudden sense of the same nervous anticipation and dread that she felt whenever they were all about to do something scary or dangerous… Only it wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling like during those times, this felt more like as if there was a balloon growing larger inside of her that was on the verge of bursting. He’d left the door open for her and standing in the doorway, she saw that he’d already put his splattered lab coat on and was back at work. Taking a deep breath she felt the balloon deflate a bit and was able to enter with an amused smile. “So, where are you on all of these cures?” She asked, picking up the other coat -one Fred had bought for her, she knew George’s was packed safely away in the attic.

“I’ve already created enough to run tests and so far Zander is still alive and relatively unharmed.” He grinned widely. “I’ve also gotten approval from the RCPP on all but one of the cures so I’m all set for the opening tomorrow. The only thing left to do it ensure there’s enough to stock the shelves… I’ve sort of ignored quantity while trying to perfect quality.”

“Okay then. Just point me to a cauldron and we’ll whip up whatever you need.”

“Ah, the optimism… that’s what’s been missing.” He teased though she could tell he actually meant it a lot. She began to worry that without the others, Fred had lost a lot of his motivation if not his drive. Perhaps this half-cocked plan of Harry’s was a better idea than she’d thought, especially if she ensured they all put all their side projects aside tomorrow long enough to really show their support not only in the store, but in Fred’s progress toward life without George.

(BREAK)

Harry shook hands with Willem, trying to appear confident and unsuspicious while they greeted each other as strangers. It was an easier task for Willem who hadn’t actually laid eyes on them before while he and Luna had to pretend no familiarity. Arthur was watching closely and though the minister may not be sure exactly what clue he was looking for yet, it was apparent that he’d suddenly grown leery that there was something he wasn’t being told.

They all sat together though both Harry and Luna were reluctant to bring up the topics they really wanted to discuss while Arthur remained in the room, fearful that they’d accidentally give something away. They’d gone this long keeping their trip to Azkaban a secret, there was no turning back now. But no matter what they and Drake (who had caught onto their plight) tried in order to get Arthur to take a hint and leave, it didn’t work. He was firmly planted in his chair until Molly came to strongly suggest they all go to bed in preparation for their early morning. A wave of disappointment washed over Harry but he remained calm as Luna silently reminded him that they had until Sunday afternoon to find time alone with Willem.

They rose to follow orders for no other reason than to appease Molly. “Thank you again Harry, for letting me stay here and for helping get me released in the first place.” Willem said, stopping him at the bottom of the stairs. “You have no idea the gratitude I feel to you. Both of you.” He turned to smile at Luna also.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw that Arthur was still in the parlor caught up in conversation with Molly and Drake. “Don’t worry about a thing, we were happy to do it. But we do need to find time to talk to you while we’re here… maybe tomorrow night after dinner?”

“Of course, though if this is about Kane’s case I’m not sure there’s much more I can tell you.” He shrugged apologetically.

“Don’t worry about that either.” Luna assured him. “We have other ways of helping to find out what you know.”

“So Roscoe has told me. Quite the impressive pair the two of you are.” Willem said raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Only two of twelve.” She replied absently without a trace of vanity or boastfulness making both Harry and Willem smile. After bidding him goodnight, they headed upstairs to his room, silently calling the other teens to join them. “You aren’t too disappointed are you?” she asked as he closed the door, leaving it slightly ajar for their friends.

“Hey, at least he’s here, we’re here… tomorrow night will be soon enough.” He replied with false easiness.

But Luna had never been easy to fool and she saw right through his ‘glass half-full’ optimism. “Unless something happens between now and then.” She finished his thought.

Crossing his arms he sat on the bed and stared back at her. “Well, it would be par for the course, wouldn’t it? If something bad happened to either us or him before we get the chance to talk?”

“Harry, even if something goes wrong tomorrow at the store, Arthur will be there. And having the minister with us pretty much ensures there will be an abundance of Aurors in addition to the small army they’ve taken to assigning to you and the rest of us while we’re in the city. And Willem will be staying here, the safest place he could be at the moment.”

“Logic does nothing to alleviate my doubts.” He pouted.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs signaling their time alone was over, she sat across from him in the desk chair and smiled. “I know. But at least I tried.”

(BREAK)

It was very late and Ron knew everyone else had long ago fallen asleep. But his mind was working too feverishly to let him rest. His friends hadn’t been acting like themselves with him or each other for awhile now and it was bothering him even more than he cared to admit to himself. Thinking of everything he’d overheard and seen in the last few weeks, he began to fit the pieces of that puzzle together and didn’t like the picture that was forming. Harry, Hermione, Fred, and most heartbreakingly Luna- it seemed they were all preparing to once again spin the roulette wheel that was their entire group’s relationship with each other. He’d only just recently managed to barely come to terms with the last spin that had resulted in his sister dating Draco. That twist of fate had been hard enough, he wasn’t sure he could handle such an enormous change this time.

He wanted things to stay the same, for something to remain constant in his life. He didn’t want his two best friends to break up so that one could run to his brother and the other to his ex-girlfriend… especially since he’d had to swallow his own feelings for Hermione when Harry had set his sights on her last year. But he’d convinced himself then that it had been for the best, seeing how in love they’d been with each other. And to now see it fizzle out and know that not only had he stepped aside for their tumultuous love affair but rather than turn to him as an option, Hermione was now interested in Fred… And Luna! Harry had already gone and taken one girl, was Ron really supposed to let him do it again? Upon reflection, he knew his resistance to this idea wasn’t due to any torch he was still carrying for Luna- though he’d always love her, he wasn’t in love with her and was finally in a place to admit it. And it wasn’t that he still had feelings for Hermione either… He just didn’t want things to happen this way after everything that had come before.

Were Harry and Luna a good fit together? It seemed so, they had so much in common and they were both set up for spectacular lives should they survive the present. And as for Hermione and Fred, they were linked through their separate intelligence and provided much needed balance in each other’s lives… Hermione was slowly learning how to relax and let loose and Fred was beginning to see the benefit in taking some things seriously. Okay… so maybe they’d all be happier but it didn’t change the fact that he was once again left out in the cold. And as much as he could reason with himself, he could also argue.

Whose fault was this sudden shift of emotions among his friends? He knew Harry and Luna had always had their own little world to step into together, even back when their interests had been fully in their separate partners. After she and Ron had broken up, their interests had certainly begun to shift more toward each other even as Harry continued to proclaim and display his love for Hermione. Ron knew his best friends well and Harry especially was one to keep to his promises and commitments… and after the disastrous mess he’d made last year, Harry would never be the one to hurt Hermione… he wouldn’t leave her no matter how deeply he was in it with Luna. And Luna was all purity inside and trust was very important to her, she could never purposely do anything that would break up her two friends no matter what vision she may have received. Hermione certainly wasn’t the type to stray and Ron doubted she would actively pursue anyone beyond Harry. She wasn’t the kind of girl to easily give into temptation, but… It seemed of the four involved in this love square, Fred was the only one not fighting the feelings they were all apparently having about each other.

With that realization came another, that this was the reason he’d lost his anger with the others but maintained a grudge against his brother. At some point he’d decided to blame Fred for the emotional chaos swirling beneath the surface of their friendships… it had probably been the moment he’d caught him rolling around on the ground with Hermione in Hogsmeade the weekend before. While with Harry, Hermione had certainly given into her playful side but often only when they were alone if he was to believe the memories Harry had shared. But Ron had never known her to be so open and free as to playfully wrestle with a guy on the ground in the middle of a village with people everywhere. It was easy to get caught up in Fred’s antics, he’d often gotten himself in trouble following his brother’s lead… but he wasn’t sure he was ready for the kind of trouble that could result in shaking up their group’s dynamic.

It was simple- Harry would never leave Hermione unless she was the one to let him out of their commitment. Luna would never actively pursue Harry unless he was single. And Hermione had no reason to leave Harry so long as Fred stopped trying to tempt her away. If he wanted to keep everything as it was, in comfortable terms he was familiar with, he had to find a way to stop Fred. Distance wasn’t enough if they were going to find a way to be around him every weekend. No, he had to take a lead out of the same playbook Harry, Draco and Fred himself had been using last year when deceiving them all about the Hogsmeade battle. He had to be sneaky and after watching everyone else doing it over the years, he thought he had a good grasp on the best way to handle the situation- a tactic Fred himself had often used against his siblings many times over the years though often with George’s help. Ron would wage all out psychological warfare on his brother… and maybe a few of his friends, just for reassurance.

(BREAK)

Ginny awoke, keeping her eyes closed as she stretched luxuriously. No other bed was quite as comfortable as the one provided for her here at Harry’s house… of course that was probably because, like everyone else’s, it had been created specifically for her along with everything else in the room. Opening her eyes she turned to greet Draco only to discover he wasn’t beside her. Sitting up in panic she quickly searched the room but there was no sign of him. A glance at the clock told her that it was early, still a half an hour before her alarm was supposed to go off.

With a sense of urgency, she leapt out of bed and rushed to dress herself for the day, running a brush through her tangled mass of hair before hurrying down the hall to Draco’s room. She knocked loudly but there was no answer. Instead, the door across the hall opened revealing a sleepy and severely disheveled Luna. “What’s wrong?” She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Ginny suddenly felt silly, acting crazy for no reason. “Nothing. I was just looking for Draco. He wasn’t where I left him when I went to sleep last night. Sorry I woke you, you can go back to sleep for a bit if you want. It’s still early.”

Luna smiled slightly. “Well I’m awake now. Might as well start my day. Molly’s probably already starting breakfast, I should go down and help her.” She made to head downstairs but Ginny quickly stopped her.

“Don’t you want to get dressed first?” She asked her friend who apparently hadn’t bothered to change out of the clothes she’d worn last night before falling asleep. Likewise, her hair was still in the same messy pulled back fashion that it had been and appeared as if she hadn’t washed it in days. “Or take a shower?” Ginny lightly added. Remembering her own bout of depression and the lack of care she’d taken in her own appearance at that time, she was beginning to really worry about Luna.

Looking herself over as if she hadn’t considered the image she was giving out, Luna sighed deeply. “I suppose I should. Wouldn’t want to offend any customers Fred may have today.”

“Are you okay?” she asked carefully.

“Sure.” She weakly smiled in response before trudging off down the hall to the bathroom.

Determined to find the time to corner her friend at some point that weekend, Ginny shook her head and went downstairs to continue her search for Draco. She found him in the kitchen reading the newspaper as Molly, Arthur, Lupin, Tonks and Drake stood in the corner with their backs to him, talking in low voices, their expressions lined with concern. She couldn’t help but wonder what had the adults looking so troubled.

Finishing whatever article he was reading, Draco threw the paper down in disgust before realizing she was there. With a grim expression he got up and gestured her back into the hallway. “What happened? Why were you up so early?” She asked as soon as they were alone.

“I never went to sleep.” He answered distractedly as he led the way back upstairs.

“What’s wrong?” Suddenly dread was gathering in the pit of her stomach.

“Maybe something, maybe nothing.” He continued up the stairs to the top floor, going directly to Harry’s door and knocking loudly.

He answered looking as wide awake as they were. “What’s up guys?” He asked nervously.

“Mr. Weasley gathered all the adults this morning after he read the Daily Prophet, they were so distracted that they forgot I was in the room and left the paper on the table.” Draco began without preamble, looking back and forth between her and Harry. “There was an article about Fred reopening the store and it was written by Elanya Delamora.”

“So she went to work for the father she wants to kill?” Ginny was confused. Hadn’t they all just agreed that Edmund and Jayalina were Elanya’s parents and that he must be the one she intended for a revenge murder? “Why on earth would she do that?”

“Only she knows at the moment. But for us, it’s more imperative to figure out why she wrote the article and why Edmund included it in the paper.” Harry replied, turning to Draco. “What did it say specifically about Fred and the store?”

“Nothing much… just a blurb really, talking about the fire and how the store has finally been renovated after months of sitting in disrepair. Mainly it was letting people know that the reopening was today and that the merchandise had changed from jokes to cures.” He paused, shuffling his feet. “But the reason for the article was clearly the last paragraph suggesting Voldemort’s followers had been behind the fire that destroyed the store in the first place and…”

“And?” Ginny and Harry prodded at the same time.

“And they speculated that you would probably be there today Potter.” Draco sighed. “They wrote the article so that the entire wizarding population would know where you and all your friends would be. So what we really need to figure out is why they would want to do that and who has what planned for today.”

(BREAK)

It had taken a rather long discussion with everyone in the house but it was finally decided that it would be best to go ahead with the reopening as planned. Arthur sent Tonks and several other Aurors to Diagon Alley, preparing the shopkeepers for the possibility of trouble before setting themselves up all long the street as lookouts. Staying true to himself, Harry refused to be left behind though surprisingly very little debate was needed before the adults gave in. Apparently they were beginning to understand that Harry was his own guardian and didn’t need anyone’s permission but his own to go anywhere… at least he hoped that was the case. It was also entirely possible that they just had other things to focus on than figuring out a way to keep him at home.

This was the time Harry hated, the waiting. Something could happen today or they could spend all their time on edge only for nothing to come of it. No specific threat had been made and though he didn’t want to sour Fred’s day, he knew Arthur was right to take precaution- it was better safe than sorry. Rather than risk apparating or driving through the streets they used one of Arthur’s portkeys to bring their whole group to the store. Willem and Molly were the only ones to stay behind.

Everyone rushed around helping Fred and Lee as they took care of last minute problems and details. It had been decided early on in planning that Harry would keep to the office, denying those curious customers who’d only come to catch a glimpse of him yet allowing him to be in the area should there be trouble. Now sitting at Fred’s desk with the opening of the doors mere minutes away he felt nervously hopeful that there was some personal reason Elanya had for writing the article, that she was acting separately from her female counterparts and Voldemort as she’d claimed to Fred. Sure it was possible that she was just trying to stir up trouble, after all, other than the article coming from Edmund’s Daily Prophet there was nothing to tie this newest twist to Voldemort. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done to find out anything for sure other than wait to see what happened.

(BREAK)

“Well, do you think we’re ready?” Lee asked impatiently as Fred continued to look uncertainly around the store. Everyone else was also staring expectantly at him, waiting for him to give the okay to open the doors. Surprisingly there was a line of people already outside, though Fred assumed it was due more to morbid curiosity than the desire to actually purchase his wares. Apparently the newspaper article had done it’s job, letting everyone know that this was the place to be.

Taking a deep breath, he nodded and Lee unlocked the door, letting in the potential customers. Without Harry in the main room, Arthur was the next target for the barrage of questions the public had. As they shouted out concerns about Voldemort and the way the ministry was handling the terrifying situations that had been taking place in the city and surrounding countryside, Fred watched his father grow tired and frustrated. He wondered just how Arthur was able to handle the stressful responsibility of such a thankless job and began to dislike every customer in the store for thinking his dad was required to answer for their happiness… but that was the job he’d chosen. After making a brief statement that he was simply there to support his son, he turned to Fred and muttered that he was going to help Harry in the office.

With a glance at Drake, Fred gathered everyone’s attention and went into his sales pitch before the restless crowd could disperse. Shockingly, only a few disappointed people left, everyone else took to either perusing the shelves for cures they needed or hassling his friends for information about Harry- Ron and Hermione were the most recognizable as Potter companions and were therefore bothered more than he, Ginny, Luna or Lee. Draco was keeping himself busy behind the counter and far from the continuous flow of customers, scowling at anyone who dared try to bother him with non-store related questions. After hearing some of the things people were asking about, up to and including his break with his family, Fred decided not to scold him on proper customer service. If those people were going to be so openly rude and nosy then they deserved whatever response Draco chose to bestow on them.

For the next couple of hours the store was a whir of activity with a continuous flow of people coming and going. “What would you recommend for this?” A large woman asked, thrusting her meaty hand in Fred’s face. It was covered in tiny angry boils. “Got into a fight with my sister and she jinxed me. It hurts something awful and I can’t do anything with it. I’ve tried all the other home remedies and was about to go see a healer, but thought I’d come here first to try and save some money.”

Quite disgusted, Fred pushed her hand away from him before smiling up at her as if he wasn’t grossed out by her ailment. “I think I may have just the thing for you.” He walked over to a far shelf with the woman shuffling behind him. “This should do the trick, it’s specialized for jinxed skin growths.”

Thanking him profusely, she took the small vial and eagerly went to pay. Looking around he caught Hermione’s eye as she stood explaining one of the potions to another customer. They smiled at each other, though he still wasn’t sure whether or not he was grateful to her or George for helping push him to do this. So far it seemed to be going well, on it’s way to a booming success… but the day was still early and anything could happen.

“Hey, this just came for you.” Lee said coming up to him with a small envelope.

Fred felt his stomach drop in dreadful anticipation. He knew things had been going too well. “From who?”

Lee shrugged. “I don’t know, but it must not be an explosive or anything because it was cleared by one of the Aurors.”

“Which one?”

He pointed to the door. “That big guy standing right outside checking everyone as they come in. He said someone gave it to him to deliver to you. But you were talking to that woman so he gave it to me. Do you want it or not?”

Hesitantly Fred took the envelope. His name was scrawled out in neat, precise handwriting. “Thanks.” He said absently as he headed down the short hall, past the office and out the back door where he had a little more privacy. There were of course Aurors placed in the alley, but they remained at either end and didn’t come to bother him.

With nervous dread gathering in the pit of his stomach he tore open the envelope and pulled out two pieces of paper. One was a copy of the Daily Prophet article from that morning’s paper and the other a letter from the author of that article. The second he read through very carefully, several times over.

Dear Fred,
I hope today is going well. Were you surprised when you read the newspaper? I couldn’t be completely sure you had read it this morning so I thoughtfully included a copy in this letter. I am sure that you’re wondering why I wrote the story… or why I’m working for the Daily Prophet at all. As to the last I’m afraid my reasons are my own, a girl is entitled to her secrets after all. But I’m happy to let you know that I had no sinister reason for writing my first article about you and your little store. I was hoping for nothing more than to help spread the word through a little free advertising. Consider it a gift to make up for the fire that destroyed the store in the first place.
Of course I had wanted to tell you all of this in person. However, with the multitude of Aurors and ministry employees about, I knew that wasn’t the best idea. But I just couldn’t wait to let you know that I was serious when I came to see you a few weeks ago. I want to accomplish my goals separately from the others, and I think you are the person to help me. And now that I’ve helped you with something, maybe you’ll be more willing to assist. Obviously I can understand how you may still be uncertain and not entirely trusting of my motives. But don’t worry, I have plenty of ideas for ways to prove myself and I can’t wait to show them to you. I think we’ll be seeing each other again very soon- a prospect I am very much looking forward to. In the meantime I hope you think of me, as I am always thinking of you… and how we can help each other.
Your new loyal friend,
Elanya Delamora

Fred’s heart was thundering in his chest. He didn’t believe a single thing she was trying to convince him of and was horribly worried as to the reason she was trying so hard. And while Lee or Zander may have been thrilled by her promise of another meeting, he was considering it a threat. She was up to something that she clearly needed him for… but what? Could it really only be about getting even with her father? Had she meant it when she’d claimed she was trying to give up Sarah, Elise and Voldemort? Was he willing to take the chance of believing her? As to the last question he immediately knew the answer- no, he wasn’t willing to take the chance, there was too much at stake.

But he also wasn’t willing to share this letter with anyone else. His parents would have no other choice than to close off the only way Elanya had to reach him, the store. And his friends would only worry about him more than they did now, it’s not like there was anything they could do. All she’d done was write an article and a letter… and neither of those had been appropriately incriminating to illicit an official response from the ministry other than to take precaution with today’s events. Despite her letter’s mention of the fire and her desire to break with the “others” there was nothing to specifically link her to even the suspicion of being a Death Eater. It wasn’t enough, yet. If he went about as normal, keeping the letter to himself, then he could wait and see what happened the next time she came. Part of him was certain he would be safe that far… that as long as he didn’t anger her too much, then her plans included keeping him alive. After this next meeting, he would make sure he came away with enough information to actually do something about it.

Fred carefully folded the letter and put it in his pocket, clearing his thoughts and reinforcing the walls around his mind to keep Harry and Luna out. He decided he wouldn’t tell Hermione either. She already had to worry about all the crazy plans Harry was always plotting, why put her through his insane schemes as well? Besides, he didn’t need her to tell him this was a bad idea, he already knew it. Shrugging off his agitation and uncertainty he made his way back inside, happy to see that the store was still milling with customers. Maybe every day wouldn’t be this profitable, but today was an optimistic start to his new venture. Hopefully everything else in life would follow suit and begin going this well too.

(BREAK)

Fed up with being around so many nosy strangers, Draco announced that he was taking a break and walked back to the office without waiting for a reply. If providing humiliating free labor was required in friendship, then it was definitely his least favorite part of the experience. Potter and Mr. Weasley looked up from the files they were perusing when he entered the room, staring at him inquisitively. “I needed a moment away.” He explained, leaning against the wall.

Mr. Weasley looked at his watch before rising from his chair and stretching. “Well, it’s about time for lunch, I suppose I’ve been hiding long enough. It’s only fair to give someone else a turn.” He grinned at the boys. “I think I’ll go around and gather food orders, bring everyone back something from the Leaky Cauldron.”

“Need any help?” Potter offered.

“No I think it’s best everyone continue to think you aren’t here. I’ll see if Ron and Hermione want to tag along.” Mr. Weasley insisted. He took their orders before heading out to the others, closing the door behind him.

Relieved to be off his feet, Draco sank into the vacated chair. “Consider yourself lucky that you get to stay back here all day.” He grumbled to Potter.

“Is it that bad?”

“I just find that I really don’t like people in general.” He sighed. “Guess I’ll have to find a job far away from sales and customer service. Fred seems made for it though.”

“Yeah, his secret is making fun of people he doesn’t like in his head to keep himself entertained while dealing with them.” Potter smiled as he shared what he’d seen in his friend’s mind.

Realizing they were alone and that the possibility of being interrupted was slim, Draco decided now was as good a time as any other to finally take steps towards trying to pay Potter back for everything he’d done for him. He knew how desperately the other boy wanted to get rid of Tristan Mcnair but was held in check by his sense of fairness and decency, no matter how naïve and vulnerable that made him. Normally for Potter to take action, he must believe a serious crime committed against him, but even Draco could see the struggle he was going through in trying to justify keeping the vampire around. He would help Potter get in touch with his darker side, to ensure that they neutralize the threat Tristan presented before it was too late and Potter could thank him later. “Listen, I think we need to have a serious discussion.” He began carefully, leaving certain thoughts open for viewing to make the conversation go easier.

“Okay. We seriously can’t do anything to Tristan.” He frowned as he immediately grasped the topic.

“And we seriously can’t sit and wait for him to do something to us. You can’t always be on the defensive you know, sometimes it’s necessary to take the offensive position.”

Potter shook his head. “Believe me, I understand the logic. But there’s also having to deal with the consequences of making the first move… I already talked to Luna about it and as she pointed out, a lot of people will be forced into action should something happen to Tristan. The Macnairs certainly wouldn’t just let their son disappear, Voldemort would know who was responsible and best case scenario, he’d just send another spy- one who’s identity we don’t know. And if another student came up missing or dead after everything that happened last year, well it’s like an invitation for Edmund or anyone else to challenge Dumbledore for the position of Headmaster.”

“And if left to his own devices, one of us could die or worse, be turned into a vampire… his possession, his puppet, having no choice but to do as he says, even be forced to turn against the rest of us. Would you want that for Hermione or Luna or Ron? I certainly don’t want it happening to Ginny.” Draco countered, laying it out in the basest terms. In his estimation, there was no argument that could measure up to that and he could see Potter struggling to hold his position of righteousness. “What if we figured out some way to get rid of him without provoking all those other things?”

“How?” He asked, his curiosity highly peaked.

“I don’t know yet.” Draco admitted. “But I figured if we put our heads together, between the two of us and our separate specialties we should be able to figure something out. I just need you to be on board for this, to see that there’s nothing else to do but get rid of him.”

“Trust me, I’ve thought that since Ron had that first encounter with him.” Potter assured him. “But we have to keep the others out of it… can you pull off not telling Ginny?”

“As long as you can handle both Granger and Luna.” He smirked.

Potter shook his head again, deliberately ignoring the ambiguity of the statement. “Hermione is pretty sharp, but Luna is the one who actually gets visions of what everyone is up to. I think she’s the one we have to worry about the most. She made it pretty clear when we talked that she thinks getting rid of Tristan is a bad idea.”

“And it is. But keeping him around is an even worse idea.” Draco replied, as careful as Potter was not to actually say the words kill, killed or murdered. He knew the way to keep the other boy on his side was to work in terms he was comfortable with… “getting rid” of Tristan was a noble necessity and an action that was still open to interpretation, whereas “killing” Tristan was a dark, evil deed bred from fear and very exacting in its finality. If Potter thought he was doing no better than Voldemort’s people then he’d be less willing to embrace the necessity of doing anything at all.

“Right. But if- IF- we’re going to do something, it’s imperative the others have deniability and more over, it’d be best to find a way that wouldn’t trace back to us at all.”

“Agreed. You sound like you have a few ideas already.” Draco grinned. He hadn’t realized just how close Potter already was to wanting to unleash his more vindictive side.

He looked down, appearing almost ashamed. “Well, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been thinking about it… a lot lately.”

A sudden knock on the door interrupted their discussion as Luna opened up and poked her head in, giving them both a funny look. “They sent me to make sure you two were okay back here.”

“We’re fine.” Potter stared back at her as he twisted his face into a mask of confusion. “Why?”

“I don’t know, Arthur seemed concerned that you two were back here alone.” She shrugged, not quite meeting either of their gazes. Draco glanced at Potter and saw him nod slightly to answer his unspoken question- Luna was lying. She was the only one worried about what the two of them were up to.

“Why would he be concerned? It’s not like Draco and I are at each other’s throats all the time… anymore.”

Again she shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just told to make sure you guys were alright.”

“Well, we haven’t killed each other yet if that’s what you’re asking.” Draco replied snidely.

“Yours aren’t the deaths I’m worried about you two plotting.” She muttered just barely loud enough for them to hear as she turned to leave, once more closing the door behind her.

“Well, it didn’t take her long to catch on, did it?” Potter grumbled. “She probably knew you were going to come talk to me before you did.”

“This is for her safety too, whether she likes it or not.” Draco reminded him, worried that Luna’s displeasure with the idea of what they were going to try to do would keep the other boy from acting. “Weren’t you the one who told us that Tristan very specifically threatened her right in front of you?”

“Okay! I already said I was in.” He said, throwing his hands up. “I just hope we can handle the fallout that’s going to come along with this because even if we can keep it from being traced back to us, they’re all going to suspect one or both of us anyway. We haven’t exactly hidden the fact that we want him gone.”

“But who would turn us in? Lupin? Dumbledore? Luna? Let’s face it, anyone who catches on isn’t going to do a damn thing about it other than be happy they can breathe just a little easier.”

But Potter was shaking his head smiling. “There is no breathing easier. The world may always be in short supply of heroes, but villains never seem to die. Each time one is taken out, another comes forward to take their place… for example, if you were still working with Voldemort and your father and Cho hadn’t been caught, do you really think they would have needed to send Tristan at all? You two left a void there and they filled it, just like they’ll do again when Tristan is no longer there.”

“You make us all sound so disposable while you are all what… irreplaceable?” Draco replied, suddenly feeling angry and insulted.

“It’s not that exactly, but I know you can admit that people don’t care as much about each other on Voldemort’s side.” Potter carefully countered. “Besides what do you care what anyone says about that side? You aren’t a part of it anymore and from what I understand, you wouldn’t exactly be welcomed even if you wanted to go back. Can you honestly say that since you came over to our side, you haven’t begun to feel a little more irreplaceable?”

Draco sat in silence, contemplating that that was exactly how he was starting to feel…. wanted and irreplaceable. But he couldn’t say it aloud, he was worried that to voice his happiness was to lessen it somehow. Potter nodded, understanding without him having to say anything. After all, he’d also been thrust into the unfamiliar world of feeling loved and wanted after years of the exact opposite.

“See, it’s not that any of us couldn’t be replaced with another person of equal or greater power… it’s that every one of us is deeply cared about by several others and that is were the sense of irreplaceability comes in. Because we know there isn’t another Weasley family or Luna Lovegood or Hermione Granger or Remus Lupin… only someone else to sit in for them, someone uniquely their own. It’s like with Neville, he died and left a void in our group that you filled when you joined us… but you haven’t replaced him… you are your own person just like he was.”

“By that logic there isn’t another Tristan either.” Draco returned, feeling awkwardly pleased by Potter’s strange compliment.

“Nope, he was sent in to replace you and Cho. But he’s his own unique creature, which is something not considered by anyone other than us. His side may want to avenge his eventual… disappearance… but ultimately he’s just one more pawn in their game, right?”

“I think to Voldemort, most everyone is a disposable pawn.” He scoffed. “Except apparently his sister and Bellatrix LeStrange, but they’re both dead now.”

Potter looked away, suddenly on edge. “Yeah, they are. And I’m still sorry every day that I had to kill her.”

“Bellatrix? I thought it was a- you or her- situation… nothing to feel bad about. I certainly don’t miss her and she was my aunt.” Draco tried to assure him. After all, he didn’t see a problem with defending oneself and Bellatrix was an evil, crazy old bat who would probably only be missed by Voldemort.

“Actually, it was a her or Hermione situation. And I know it shouldn’t bother me, but it does, as will this whole thing with Tristan.” He got up and walked over to the tinted window, looking out over Diagon Alley. “Which is why I’m still going to go through with it. Hopefully the fact that I’m not completely okay with it means I’m better than Voldemort, that I’m not just taking a life out of fear but to actually save lives. And hopefully knowing that will keep my soul intact.”

“Look, I don’t want to push you into doing anything that you think will jeopardize your soul.” Draco muttered, remembering his own time wrestling what he knew to be right against what he felt was right. “I can figure this out on my own and take care of it for you. I’d be more than happy to do at least that much to repay you.”

Potter looked at him in amusement. “You don’t have to repay me anything. We’re… friends… now, I guess… and anyway everything I did was simply what people should do for each other.”

“You are so naïve.” Draco grinned, shaking his head.

“And you’re so cynical.” Potter shot back. “We can do this, I’m just never going to be happy about it.”

Draco shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t say the same. I’ll be thrilled to get him out of our lives.”

(BREAK)

It was near the end of the day and despite the worrying start, it had been a rather quiet and successful event. With only a few customers remaining in the store everyone else had retired to the office to rest, but Hermione and annoyingly, Ron, had stayed in the front to help close up. Finally the last patron left and Fred was able to lock the doors. “So, are you happy?” she asked him.

“Absolutely. And if we close up and get out of here before the Death Eaters descend then I’ll consider the day a completely successful and victorious endeavor.” Fred grinned in response, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. “And I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Sure you could have.” Ron interrupted. “You just didn’t want to.”

“Fair enough.” Fred replied, clenching his jaw as he bit back the words he really wanted to say. “But sometimes it takes a little push in the right direction.”

“It’s all about the right incentive, isn’t it?” he taunted.

“Whatever the case, the store has officially been reopened and is off to a good start.” Hermione said, physically placing herself between the two brothers in an attempt to quell their argument. “There’s nothing to fight about!”

“It’s obvious you’re an only child.” Fred pouted. “There’s always something to fight about.”

“Some things more important than others.” Ron added, crossing his arms.

“Hey! Ready to go home?” Arthur asked happily as he walked into the main room. It was obvious that in his excitement to get home without trouble breaking out, he was oblivious to the tension flowing between his sons.

“Sure, let me just go through the inventory. Then I can grab all the receipts and handle the paperwork back at the house.” Fred answered with false brightness, trying to mimic his father’s mood. “Actually, why don’t you take everyone else home and come back for me so you all don’t have to wait? I want to make sure Lee leaves alright anyway.”

Arthur regarded his son suspiciously before speaking. “Fine, but the Aurors are staying in place until every one of us is safely home so don’t get any ideas about taking a stroll.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Fred assured him, though Hermione could see that it bothered him to be told what to do.

“Okay then. Ron, Hermione… shall we?” Arthur gestured toward the office where everyone else was waiting.

Ron made to follow, but Hermione hesitated. “If it’s okay, I’ll stay and help go through inventory. No offense, Fred, but your organizational skills need work and if you try to do it alone you’ll be here all night.”

“Then I’ll stay too.” Ron declared automatically.

“She said we need to go faster Ronnie, not slower. Hermione knows the inventory, she helped make half of it.” Fred argued. “It’ll only slow us down to have to explain everything to you so that you could help.”

“I think I can group and list like things.” Ron replied angrily.

“Of course you can.” Arthur interrupted. “But I agree with Fred, today is about getting everyone home safe as quickly as possible. If Hermione can help the boys get things done, then she can stay.” He turned to his other son. “I’ll give you half an hour before I come back and if you aren’t ready to go by then too bad.”

“Deal.” Fred agreed.

“Alright. Let’s go Ron.” Arthur led an extremely unhappy Ron into the office.

“Whoa!” Lee emerged as they heard the whooshing sound indicating everyone else had touched the portkey and left. “I guess now it’s just we three.” He grinned as he walked toward them.

“Right, let’s get to work before my dad comes back.” Fred replied distractedly. Hermione had a sense that he wanted to talk to her alone and was upset that they still had Lee to get rid of.

“You know, when you and George first approached me about all this, I thought ‘sure, it’ll be a fun way to make some cash until I find my real calling.’ But good lord man!” Lee came over to pat Fred on the back. “I never thought I could find the way into early retirement!”

“Don’t get too excited.” Hermione warned him. “This was only one day.”

“Well thank you Mary Sunshine.” He rolled his eyes.

“Hey, do me a favor and round up all the receipts.” Fred instructed him. “The more math you can do back in the office now, the less I’ll have to do at home later.”

“Whatever you say boss.” Lee rolled his eyes once more before gathering all the necessary papers. “You’d think everyone would be a little happier after having a good day.” He muttered as he made his way to the office.

Fred picked up a clipboard and with his back to Hermione, began going through the shelves. “There’s a quicker way to do that.” She offered.

At last he turned to face her, a slow smile spreading across his face as he crossed his arms. “Okay, show me.”

Waving her wand as she muttered several charms under her breath, she concentrated on separating each vial of potion into sections before grouping them in bunches of ten for easier counting. Then she carefully floated them all back to sit neatly on their shelves. “There, that should make things a bit easier.” She grinned.

“Always impressive. You start on that side, I’ll be over here and we’ll meet in the middle.” He winked.

Unable to keep a smile off her face, she quickly jotted down numbers, eager for the work to be done. Within ten minutes, they had gotten though all the shelves and sat behind the counter to double-check their numbers. “So, was it what you were hoping?” She asked at last to break the silence.

“Hey according to this, we sold have the stock!” He turned to her with a happy smile. “Like I was trying to say earlier before Ron lost his mind… thank you. You really helped make this all possible for me.”

Feeling her face grow red, she looked away. “I think you’re overestimating my role in this.” She laughed nervously.

“Hey, you made the product suggestion, helped me maneuver all the legal hoops, took a hand in making the actual potions and more than that, you made me think I could do it all without…” He trailed off, staring off into space for a moment.

“Without George here beside you.” She finished his thought. “It’ll never be right that he’s not here.” Hermione tentatively put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“No, it won’t. But I guess you help make every day that goes by a little easier so… thank you.” He replied quietly, reaching up and taking her hand in his.

Feeling uneasy and a little scared she gently pulled away and stood. Then needing something to do, she moved over to the windows to draw the shades. Turning back to look at him, she saw that he remained where he was but there was a silent struggle playing across his face. “You’re welcome.” She finally answered. “So Arthur will be here soon, is everything locked up?”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable you know.” Fred looked hurt and confused. “I was just… saying what I felt.”

“I know.” She answered quietly.

“So I’ve got good news and more good news.” Lee announced brightly, coming out of the office. “Which do you want first?”

“The good news.” Fred grinned at his friend, hiding the emotional upset he’d been going through moments before.

“We more than broke even on the cost of repairs and being closed for those few months.” He replied, brandishing the paper holding his figures.

“And the more good news?” Hermione prompted.

“We also covered the cost of licensing, product manufacturing and operations… with a thousand galleon profit left over! On the first day! Talk about making magic happen my friends!” Lee laughed. “I might actually start getting paid well… and I thought that was only a dream!”

“Well, let’s hope people continue to get sick then.” She said sarcastically.

“Boy, you really know how to kill a good mood.” Lee made a face at her before turning to Fred. “Are you guys done up here? You’re dad will be back any minute.”

“All closed up.” He answered.

“Alright, guess I’ll head out then. I’m supposed to meet Kingsley and Tonks in the Alley, it’ll be nice to have someone walk me home.” Lee grinned again.

Letting him out the back door, Fred made sure Kingsley was there before closing it and locking up. Before he even had time to turn around, they heard Arthur arrive. “Guess it’s time to go back.” He muttered.

(BREAK)

“It doesn’t bother you?” Ron asked incredulously. He and Harry were alone in his room, playing chess to pass the time until dinner.

“It really doesn’t. She’s been helping Fred with his potions and getting the store opened for awhile now.” Harry shrugged.

Uh oh. Harry was apparently willing to see what would happen if Fred and Hermione were left to their own devices. Time to intervene, and the best way with Harry was always to play on his guilt. “And how do you think this all looks to Hermione?”

“What do you mean?” He looked up quizzically.

“Well, if it seems to me that you’re giving up on your relationship what must she be thinking? Did it ever occur to you that if you actually paid more attention to Hermione, she wouldn’t be spending so much time with Fred?”

Harry shook his head, obviously becoming upset by the conversation. “What does it matter to you?”

“Look, when you and Hermione first started all this together, I had to put aside some very strong feelings that I’d been having for a long time. I stepped aside because I thought you and her were supposed to be together. The last thing I want is to know that I gave up without a fight for nothing… for you to now try and push her off on Fred and for what reason?”

“I’m not pushing her off on Fred.” He answered defensively. “There’s no reason for me to.” He added quietly.

Ron knew he was lying but let it slide in the interest of his plan. “Do you still love her?” he blatantly asked.

Harry appeared adequately shocked. “Of course I do, just-” He cut himself off before too much honesty could come out. But Ron had an idea of what his friend had been about to say- “Of course I do, just not in the same way.”

“Then show it a little more!” He insisted. “You’re losing her because you’re pushing her away, not because she’s losing interest. Fred wouldn’t even be in her sights if you hadn’t been pushing her there. It’s not what she wants, it’s what she thinks you want for her.” He could feel Harry trying to push into his mind, to find out what he was up to. But he wouldn’t let him in and focused on keeping his barriers strong. Of course Ron knew that if he really wanted to, Harry could rip his way right through but he was counting on his friend’s sense of morality to hold him in check… and thankfully it did as he felt the foreign presence leave his head.

“How do you know?” Harry finally asked after studying him carefully.

“She told me.” He lied.

That seemed to take Harry back. “She did?”

“She said that she knew you were pushing her towards Fred, that she saw your indifference to how much time they were spending together. You have no idea how hurt she is by it all, but after everything you’ve been through and everything you still have to deal with, she doesn’t want to be one more thing for you to worry about. She figured you were looking for a way to get out of your relationship with her and so to keep you happy, she’s been doing what she thinks you want her to do. Is that what you wanted? To push her onto someone else, someone she doesn’t really want to be with but will do so just for you?” Ron let out a deep breath. He felt horrible after telling so many lies, especially seeing how tormented, confused and guiltily uncertain Harry was. But he had to go through with it, to keep things the way he thought they should be. Sooner or later this would all blow over and they’d be glad he’d gone to such lengths to stop them all from making a mistake.

“She said all that?” Harry swallowed hard as he looked at Ron, his eyes almost pleading with him to say it wasn’t true.

“Maybe not in those exact words but that was the gist of it.” He answered steadily, not wanting to give away anything.

“Hey!” Ginny shouted as she knocked on the door. “Dad’s back with Fred and Hermione so mum said it’s time to come eat!”

“We’re coming!” He responded before turning back to Harry. “Just think about what I said. She’d be mortified if she knew I told you, but I had to say something before it was too late.”

“Yeah.” Was all he had to say as they both headed downstairs and to the kitchen for dinner. Harry’s head was definitely left spinning and Ron felt proud of himself. After all, it was Harry who had proved many times over that no one could mess with someone’s head like their best friend…

(BREAK)

Luna was on edge as she tried to figure out what to do about the small alliance Harry and Draco had struck between themselves. Sure she also wanted Tristan gone, but not at the expense of her friends. She’d thought she’d gotten through to Harry before, but apparently she’d been right not to hope that he’d hold onto reason. Part of him wanted to do this, despite the part of him that knew it wasn’t right, and Draco was the best person to draw out the darker and more primal instincts and desires in his nature… Not that she blamed Draco… She could understand his desperation to be rid of the one person organizing everyone else against him, and she knew he felt he was without a doubt doing right. Could she stop them? Should she? Oh how she desperately needed a vision!

Ginny knocked on her door to announce dinner and feeling like her legs each weighed a thousand pounds she trudged down the stairs, eager to get through the meal and onto later in the night when she and Harry were to talk to Willem. Everyone was gathered round the table and talking excitedly about their day, though most conversation seemed to swirl around Elanya’s article and the reason for it. A sudden spark caused Luna to turn to Fred who was trying extra hard to be as confused as everyone else… something told her that he may know more than he’d let on. She shook her head, feeling frustrated and more than anything, tired of all the secrets… hers, Harry and Draco’s, Fred’s, Ron’s… everybody was keeping things from everyone else and trying to keep track of it all was starting to wear her down. How was she supposed to get visions and help out if everyone was on different paths shrouded in secrets and essentially working against each other? Neither Harry nor Draco paid her any attention during the meal, both staring purposefully at their plates and barely conversing with anyone else. Molly however was in an excellent mood since, for once, nothing bad had happened when they’d all gone out in a group together. She provided most of the conversation, leaving everyone else the simple task of offering a response when required.

When at last they were all excused from the table, Luna chose to go wait in her room alone until it was time to talk to Willem. Ginny had tried to follow her, but she’d insisted on her solitude, claiming a sharp headache as her reason. She knew her friend was worried about her, but it didn’t matter. As long as she felt in control, that she knew what she was doing, no one else’s opinion mattered… she was entitled to feel blue after all… they all had a reason to feel sad, angry and frustrated. So what if she was in too deep this time to be the positive one, the one to look on the bright side. Didn’t she ever get a turn to be unhappy? Every time she tried someone was there telling her it was wrong, desperate to make it right for her… maybe this time she wanted the luxury of wallowing, so long as she didn’t let it interfere with her openness to receive visions. Maybe this time there was only one solution to make things right and until it came to pass, she would allow herself to feel however she pleased.

(BREAK)

At last Arthur turned in, though Harry waited another hour before searching out Luna. The minister was the only person in the house that he worried would find out what they were up to, he just couldn’t let it happen and therefore preferred caution, waiting anxiously to the point where he could literally feel his skin crawl. Not being able to take the anticipation any longer, he quietly made his way down the first flight of stairs, stopping only to knock on Luna’s door. Together, they crept down to the next floor, both sending their minds out to ensure Arthur and Molly were both deep in unconscious sleep. Creeping past their room, they went all the way down to the end of the hall and knocked lightly on Willem’s door, though it was Drake who answered. “Well, look at that, ghosts in the night.” He smiled, gesturing them in. “Willem and I have just been catching up a bit.”

“Yeah, In addition to what Minister Weasley has told me, I’ve had Roscoe here fill me in on six years of life in London… apparently it was safer and less troublesome where I was.” He replied, grinning at his friend. “I was floored to discover that not only has Drake become a teacher, my dear brother is in the newspaper business.”

“Along with his suspected daughter.” Harry muttered.

“His daughter? I have a niece?” Willem asked in pleased surprise as he turned to Drake for confirmation.

“I hadn’t gotten to all of that yet, but yes, all signs point that way.” He answered. “The kids here put together that Edmund must have had some kind of affair with Jayalina Delamora… and that resulted in Elanya who seems to be following in her parents footsteps.”

“Maybe.” Luna corrected. “We still aren’t completely sure what she’s up to other than she claims to want revenge on her father for killing her mother.”

“So Edmund killed this Jayalina woman? Why?” Willem looked at them, completely overwhelmed with information. Apparently Arthur had been slowly integrating him back into life as it is today… well they didn’t have the luxury of time so hopefully Willem had been able to hold onto most of his wits during his imprisonment.

“That’s what we’re hoping to find out tonight.” Harry replied. “We need to see your memories, all the ones pertaining to your interactions with either Edmund or Jayalina. We’re hoping there’s some clue there that maybe wasn’t important enough for you to pay attention to then, but that may be relevant now.”

He once more looked to Drake before shrugging. “I guess I don’t see the harm in it. What do I have to do?”

“Be asleep.” Harry grinned. “We’ll do the rest.”

“And you’ll look at everything having to do with my brother and Jayalina…”

“We hope to.”

“But what about… you know, that day…” Willem glanced at Luna meaningfully. “By the time Jayalina was there, his body was gone… but still.”

“I can handle it.” Luna bravely assured him. “I’m doing this to help solve Kane’s murder, so if I have to see parts of it I’m prepared.”

Though Harry remained unconvinced of her ability to watch the sham of an investigation into her brother’s death, Willem seemed to take her at her word. “It won’t hurt will it- you two going through my head?”

“We don’t know. The only other person we did this to was in a coma.” Luna answered nonchalantly, eliciting smiles from all the others.

“Don’t be such a baby, Willem.” Drake teased. “All you’re going to have to do is lay there, Harry even asked me to bring a sleep potion for you to make things go even easier.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He brushed off his friend, turning to stretch out on his bed. Drake handed him the potion, which he drank down without question. Harry thought it nice that even after all these years apart and all the things he’d been through, Willem could still completely trust someone. “See you all on the other side I suppose.” He closed his eyes and instantly drifted off.

“Care to have an audience?” Drake asked as Harry and Luna pulled chairs up to the side of the bed.

“I’d prefer it actually, in case something goes wrong.” He said, taking Luna’s hand.

He could feel the deep swirling emotions that had been dragging her down though she was shielding the worst of it from him. He instantly felt torn in two… he certainly couldn’t let Luna continue to hurt so deeply, but after his talk with Ron he wasn’t sure what to do about it. He’d begun to be so certain that Hermione’s heart was leading her away from him and had felt gratefully relieved that it was happening at the same time his was leading away from her. But had he been wrong? Had she simply seen his falter in emotion and reacted accordingly? Could he leave her if she wanted him to stay?

“Are you ready?” Luna asked quietly.

Mentally shaking off his questions and doubts, he cleared his head and nodded. Linking their minds, they entered Willem’s head as one, traveling back quite a ways until they found what they were looking for- six years in the past.

***

Willem stood behind the Malfoy mansion in complete shock. Not only had a missing ministry worker been traced to this house, but the Auror sent to investigate had met with what could only be described as a murderous end. But he wasn’t here to arrest Lucius Malfoy, whose current story is-he doesn’t know anything about Julian Heath and Kane Lovegood had fallen off the balcony all by himself. No, instead he was yet again waiting for Fudge’s new agent who, while claiming the wandless ability of post-sight, had the uncanny ability to exonerate anyone with the money and standing to keep the minister in office… even a suspected Death Eater like Malfoy. Glancing to the side, he took in Malfoy’s demeanor… he appeared at ease, completely unconcerned with the fact that someone had just died on his property. He’d kept the man there under his watchful eye so he couldn’t tell the psychic anything, and to try and get a gut reading on him. And what had he figured out? Lucius Malfoy was a cold, unfeeling man- no big revelation there.

Willem shook his head. It just wasn’t right that these people continue to get away with murder simply because they were good at playing the game of politics. What this Miss Delamora got out of it he wasn’t sure… in fact, he wasn’t even sure she was really psychic since no matter what the facts proved she always saw it happen however the suspect said it did. He’d already gone to the Department Head of the Auror division with his concerns, but this time an Auror was killed in a way in which it was nearly impossible not to conclude murder… so maybe they’ll finally listen.

At last the woman rounded the corner with Minister Fudge himself in tow. “Miss Delamora, it’s nice to see you again.” Willem bowed and politely shook her offered hand.

“Auror Fritz.” She nodded in return. Behind her kind smile, he felt the same loathing for him that he felt for her and it took him by surprise. Well, he didn’t like to be foiled doing his work, apparently she took exception to the fact that he was trying to foil hers.

“Go ahead, Miss Delamora. Tell us what happened.” Fudge prodded her, obviously in a hurry to be done with this charade.

“Everyone step away from me.” She ordered. “I don’t want your energies interfering.”

Though he couldn’t be sure what she’d been prepped on, he knew Malfoy at least hadn’t been given the opportunity to tell her anything. So he was truly shocked when she closed her eyes for a moment before walking right to the place where Lovegood’s body had been discovered. Willem himself had been sure to erase all traces of the incident after all the evidence was collected, there was nothing, not even a speck of blood to give it away. She dropped to the ground, her haunting golden eyes shooting open as she stared blankly across the garden.

“He fell here. He was leaning over the balcony railing trying to see into the garden and lost his balance, just as Mr. Malfoy said.” She said, finally coming out of her trance.

Willem regarded her suspiciously. “And how exactly do you know what Mr. Malfoy’s account is? Who told you?”

“No one.” She icily replied, shooting daggers at him through her fiery gold eyes. “I know it must be his version as it is the way I saw it happen.”

“And there you have it.” Fudge said, shaking his head in mock regret. “The poor boy tripped himself up, a tragic accident. I’ll personally inform his family. Xenophilius is a good man.”

“With all due respect sir,” Willem cut in, “I’d rather go to tell the father myself. It is my report after all.”

“Certainly.” Fudge waved him off, seemingly happy to be relieved of the burden.

“I trust this will end the intrusions on my home.” Malfoy sneered.

“Well, there’s still the matter of Julian Heath…” Willem decided to try and pick up where poor Lovegood left off. If they couldn’t get Malfoy on Kane’s murder perhaps they could still link him to Heath’s disappearance and for once make the man pay for his actions.

“Actually that case has been closed.” Fudge replied.

“He’s been found?”

“Well, not exactly.” The minister shifted his gaze nervously. “But his family is now convinced that he has run away, decided to desert his life and start over somewhere new, somewhere he can’t be found.”

“Oh, I believe he’s somewhere no one will find him… I’m just not sure I buy that he’s still alive to enjoy the new surroundings, sir.” Willem replied steadily.

“I’m sure he’s alive… at the moment.” Malfoy grinned wickedly.

Willem turned on him. “Meaning?”

“Meaning we all die sometime and of a multitude of things.” He smoothly answered. “Now if you would all kindly get off my property I’d greatly appreciate it. Otherwise I’ll have to file a harassment complaint with the ministry.”

***

“You okay?” Harry whispered to Luna.

Keeping her eyes closed, she simply nodded. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“I take it things are going well?” Drake asked them, a bit of concern coming through in his tone.

“As far as we know.” Harry answered, giving as much truth as was possible. Whether or not their intrusion into his head would have any negative effects they wouldn’t know until Willem woke up. Closing his eyes again he once more linked up with Luna and delved deeper, hoping for his first glimpse of the now infamous Edmund Fritz.

***

The house towered in front of him, a monstrous thing with gothic towers, menacing stone creatures and surrounded by dark, dense trees. Willem hated being summoned, especially by his brother and especially here. How Edmund could call this place home, he had no idea… to him it felt like he was walking into a dangerously haunted mansion. Straightening his shoulders and looking as confident as he could he rang the bell, prepared to walk into the lion’s den. A tall lanky man with thinning brown hair and drooping eyes answered the door. “Good evening, Mr. Dunham.” Willem greeted the man who was acting as his brother’s personal valet.

“Mr. Fritz, do come in.” He replied in a deep, quaking voice as he slightly bowed and gestured toward the entry hall. “May I take your hat?”

He took it off and decided not to hand it over, knowing that holding it would keep his hands busy and stop him from being overly fidgety. “That’s okay, I don’t plan on staying long. Where’s my brother?”

“Master Fritz is in his study. He is expecting you.” Dunham nodded and led the way down the dark hallway.

“Trying to save on lighting?” Willem asked, feeling a bit anxious and even more nervous. It was how he always felt when he anticipated a meeting with Edmund.

“Master Fritz prefers less light.” Dunham answered simply.

“Oh, I remember.” When they were still young boys living in their more modest lifestyle, they’d had the misfortune of sharing a room and he remembered the fights they had about shuttering the windows. He’d wanted the bright sunshine but his brother had always insisted on candle or wand light- being older and more prone to anger and abuse, Edmund had always gotten his way. Apparently though his circumstances had changed considerably, he still held onto who he was in their more humble beginnings.

Dunham left him at the large double doors leading into the massive study. Without bothering to knock, Willem barged in and right up to the desk Edmund was seated behind. His eyes sparkled with devious displeasure in the same clear, crisp shade of blue as Willem’s, but that’s where the similarities between the brothers ended. It had been several months since the last time he’d seen Edmund and was surprised to see the slight patch of gray that had begun to creep in at his temples, marring his jet black hair. Though seated he seemed taller, wider and more menacing than the last time they’d met… though in Willem’s eyes, Edmund had always had a very threatening, larger-than-life feel about him. “You called for me?” He tried to sound as put out and angry as he felt, not wanting to show the weakness his brother had always despised in him.

“Relax, Lemmy.” Edmund smiled, reverting to the hated nickname from their childhood. “Have a seat, there are some things I want to discuss with you.”

“Actually I’m kind of in a hurry. So why don’t you get to your point, Eddie?” Willem shot back, refusing to be made to feel like the eternal little brother, to feel lesser than.

“Very well.” He looked even more displeased which actually made Willem feel happier, bolder. “I was having a lunch meeting with Minister Fudge and he mentioned that you have reservations about Miss Delamora.”

He was taken aback, it wasn’t what he’d been expecting. “What’s it to you?”

“My interests in Fudge and this woman are of no concern to you. But I understand that you have gone to the Head of the Auror Department and they’ve decided to open an investigation into Miss Delamora.” Edmund rose and moved around the desk to stand right in front of him. ” I can’t have this leading back to me Lemmy.”

“What exactly is going on?”

But he smiled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. You and I, we’ve never had similar goals in life but it’s evident which of us came out of top. I’m a very wealthy man and on my way to being one of the most successful and influential in London.”

“I’m aware. But you can’t keep progressing at the expense of innocent hard working people. What have you done now, Edmund?” Willem demanded. He knew some of the despicable ways his brother had gained his fortune, had even tried to step in and stop him a few times before but Edmund had always been good at making the right contacts and therefore remained unchecked in his behavior.

“I’ve done nothing that concerns you. I’m simply working my way into the good graces of the right people. Big things are coming little brother, things Fudge and the rest of the pathetic ministry are wholly unprepared for. I’m warning you to get out of there now, to leave your position and stop your investigations.”

“Why? What’s coming? Surely nothing greater than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?” He knew that particular threat had been handled ten years earlier, and by a child of all people.

But Edmund merely shook his head and smiled before moving to regain his seat behind the massive desk. “Vanquishing isn’t exactly the same as killing, not quite as final.”

“What are you saying?” A sudden chill went down Willem’s back as his head willfully refused to interpret the meaning in his brother’s words.

“Ah, Dunham! Tea time already?” Edmund looked past him to the valet who had just entered with a tray of tea things. “Willem, I must insist you stay.”

Willem sat hesitantly. He wanted to leave, but not as much as he wanted to try and figure out what was going on. “It’s not poisoned is it?”

Edmund laughed wickedly. “Please, Lemmy. I may have committed many sins against you and I’m capable of a multitude more, but I could never take your life. You are my little brother after all.”

“Your affection warms my heart.” He answered sarcastically, taking the offered tea cup from Dunham.

***

“NO! Don’t drink it!” Luna yelled, bringing both her and Harry out of Willem’s head.

“What? What did you see?” Drake demanded.

Harry turned to Luna, his shock quickly turning to concern. Something had felt off about her presence while they’d been watching the memory, as if she where there but not at the same time. “What was that? What happened?” He asked, ignoring the fact that Drake was there at all.

She shook her head, looking as bewildered as Harry felt. “I don’t know… but I think I just had a vision while we were in there…”

　



NOTE: Sorry this one took so long to get out, life has been busy and hectic lately with little time left for writing. But now I have a job that actually allows me time on my computer so hopefully these chapters will get done and posted more quickly. Coming up… we discover everything Willem knows, Harry and Draco both get to go on surprise visits, Ron continues to work his friends emotions, and a whole bunch more so stay tuned!

Chapter 39: Meeting Edmund Fritz

A/N: This chapter seems to be all about family interactions… lots of clues and information forthcoming here so pay attention J Read, Review, Enjoy!





“A vision? About what?” Drake demanded.

Luna shook her head, still uncertain about what had just happened. She’d never felt something like that before… of course, she didn’t usually go running around in other’s memories. “About Willem drinking the tea Edmund offered him, there’s something in it.”

Drake looked confused but Harry was downright befuddled. “But… but that happened in the past. I thought you were only precognative.”

“You mean, you’re saying you had a vision of the past-future in a memory?” Drake was still trying to catch up despite the fact that both she and Harry were pretty much ignoring the fact that he was there.

“I am only precognative… I don’t know why it happened, it’s not like I can change what happened six years ago…. But while we were watching Willem talk to his brother it just came to me, that man Dunham had mixed something into the tea at Edmund’s request. It was just like any other vision but it felt so odd.”

“Are you okay?” Harry asked, concern clouding his features as Drake came forward to examine her, checking her temperature and pulse while studying her pupils.

“Well you seem perfectly fine.” The healer gave his professional diagnosis.

“I am, it didn’t hurt or anything.” She assured them both. “It just felt really strange that’s all… like I was watching myself having a vision while watching them… I really don’t know how to explain it better than that.”

“So what was in the tea?” Drake asked eagerly as he moved to check on Willem, who was still sleeping peacefully.

Luna shrugged. “It was red, probably the Sulpanus potion they used to keep him from telling anyone anything he found out.”

“Well, let’s go back and see.” Harry suggested, looking her over very carefully. “Unless you want to stay here. I can try it by myself for awhile.”

She smiled back reassuringly. “Really, I’m fine. It just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

His eyes said he was still unsure, but luckily he knew better than to push the issue. With a deep sigh, Harry once more closed his eyes and took her hand. Closing her own eyes, she tightened her grip on him as they yet again leapt into Willem’s mind.

***

Willem took a tentative sip of the tea. Though it’s color was questionable, it tasted normal. Glancing across the desk, he saw Edmund pour his own cup from the same pot and drink heartily… it gave him a bit more piece of mind about taking the offered beverage. Once Dunham left the room again, Willem prepared to get to the bottom of his brother’s most current misdeeds. “You were saying before? Something about aligning yourself with forces Fudge and the ministry were unprepared for?”

Edmund regarded him with a sinister smile. “Yes. I’m making powerful allies that will put me in the right places when he comes back.”

“When who comes…?” He trailed off, realizing what he’d feared his brother had been alluding to was true. “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone, vanquished if not one hundred percent dead. Anyone who would try to bring him back would be considered a criminal of the worst kind.” He warned.

Edmund’s smile only grew wider. “I’m not necessarily involved… yet. Let’s just say that plans are being made now that a certain child is coming of age.”

Willem shook his head, trying to put all the clues together. “You can’t mean Potter. He can’t be more than ten.”

“Just recently turned eleven actually and finally out in the open, on his way to Hogwarts in a few days.”

“Who cares?!” Willem shouted. “Without He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named there is nothing for the kid to fight!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Lemmy. There are several of us who would prefer the boy be neutralized early, before he has the chance to fulfill any prophesies.” Edmund leaned forward on the desk.

“There was only one prophesy and he already fulfilled it.” He argued. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was trying to talk his brother out of, but he knew it was important. Especially if there were Death Eaters out there looking to resurrect their fallen master, as Edmund seemed to be implying.

“So you know of that one as well?” Edmund appeared pleased. “He did not fulfill it. The Dark Lord had gone to Godric’s Hollow that night to take care of the prophesy himself but something went wrong. But that doesn’t mean an infant won, it simply means the boy’s mother was a craftier witch than had been anticipated for a half muggle.”

Willem stood, not believing what was taking place. “Are you really admitting to being a Death Eater – to plotting something so dangerously insidious right in front of me, an Auror? Brother or not, it is my job to do something about this.”

This time, Edmund’s twisted grin shot right through him, sending shivers of fear down his spine… there was something he’d missed… his brother would never be so stupid as to reveal more than he intended. “Sit back down Lemmy. I’ll answer all your questions.”

He remained standing. “Why?”

“Why not? I already warned you to get out of the ministry. If you don’t you will be forced out one way or another so I am unconcerned. Besides, I took precaution to ensure our conversation remains private.”

Willem slowly sank down into his chair. “The tea…”

“The tea.” Edmund nodded. “Like I said, nothing that will end your life, just a very strong truth suppression potion that’s just been created.”

“You did this to torture me, didn’t you?” Willem shook his head sadly. Why couldn’t he have had a normal loving brother like most people?

Edmund laughed. “You have yet to experience anything truly torturous little brother. But if you try to fight the potion, if you try to fight me, I promise you will know exactly what it feels like. I know you, and I know how important it is for you to feel like you’re doing the right thing. This time, I’ve simply taken the precaution of ensuring you don’t stick your nose in the wrong place. Believe me or not, everything I do now is for your protection as well as my own… I may not always have liked you Lemmy, but I do love you, as much as I can I suppose. I won’t see you killed because you don’t know when to give up.”

Willem felt helpless, there was nothing he could do at the moment other than leave and try to figure out his next step. But he wanted to stay, to gather as much information as he could so that hopefully he could give someone a warning as to what kind of hell was trying to be unleashed. “Jayalina Delamora, Julian Heath, and Kane Lovegood… how do they fit in all this.”

He shook his head. “Your Auror was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and got a broken neck as a result. Perhaps next time your department shouldn’t send someone so new to the force to the Malfoy Mansion.”

“No one sent him, Lovegood’s investigation and intuition led him there.”

“And had he been a little more seasoned at his job, maybe he would have known- or had the intuition- to call for back-up before heading into the Dragon Pit. Lucius may have been exonerated for his crimes by the ministry but he’ll soon have to answer for his disloyalty to an entirely different organization and it has him nervous and desperate. He’s even using his son to try and get at the Potter kid so that the Dark Lord will be pleased and less likely to punish.” He slid a document across the desk. “Sign this.”

Willem saw that it was another copy of his earlier report on the days events, only this time it concluded that Kane had accidentally fallen all on his own. So this was why Edmund had been stringing him along offering information… he had wanted something in return. He stood and threw the paper back across the desk. “Malfoy murdered that kid! Auror Lovegood was onto something and that’s that. You’ll never convince me otherwise, nor will Fudge and his lying psychic. I refuse to sign this! I refuse to cover up a murder on the word of a scam artist!”

“Save your indignation Lemmy.” Edmund leaned back in his chair, looking completely at ease. “Miss Delamora is the real deal. Maybe she isn’t always honest about what she sees… women are fickle that way… but she always sees the truth.”

“How would you know?”

“Who do you think brought her to Fudge? She and I have known each other for many years… but you won’t have to worry about her much longer. Unfortunately I’ve been told that she’s outworn her usefulness. Not a problem so long as there’s someone to take her place and I’ve recently learned that there is.”

“You make it sound like this woman is about to be killed off…” Willem was nervous. He may not like Jayalina, but he didn’t feel she deserved death. Of course, she had put herself in this terrible situation when she chose the company she kept.

“She has sent away her own replacement, hiding the girl from me and everyone else. As long as she tells someone where the girl is, there’s no reason Miss Delamora can’t live a long, happy life.” Edmund looked at him closely before smiling again. “And don’t bother yourself about trying to find and warn her after you leave here. She’s already with some friends.”

“Are you really this cold and cruel Edmund? Does no one’s life hold weight with you?”

Edmund turned very serious, his easy grin disappearing altogether. “As I said, yours is one I will not allow taken if it is at all in my power. And right now it is. Sign this Lemmy and then go do what I know you will do and seal the fate I’ve provided for you. But always know I did it for you, to keep you safely away from all this.”

He was unsure. If it was true that his brother refused to kill him, then what consequences would there be if he refused to sign? And what had Edmund meant when he’d told him to go do what he knew he would do? Did that mean everything was in Willem’s hands now? What act would he carry out that would set Edmund’s plan in motion? “No.” He stood tall and reminded himself to breathe. “Lovegood’s family deserves to know the truth and so does the rest of the wizarding world.”

Edmund nodded. “So predictable… Don’t make me force you to do this, Willem… I’d really rather not use an unforgivable on you again. There is no choice here, I apologize if I gave the impression that there was.”

And he was right. Willem didn’t doubt for a second that Edmund would use the Imperious Curse to get what he wanted… he’d used it on him all the time when they were in school together, just to impress his friends. He wanted to refuse, to prove his defiance in any way possible just to force Edmund to do something he really didn’t seem to want to do. But in the end, it would prove nothing and he’d still wind up signing the report. With a sigh of defeat, he leaned over and penned his name, feeling despicable the entire time. He looked Edmund right in the eye. “I hate you.”

“And that is my cross to bear. Fortunately I think I can handle it.” He rang a bell and Dunham instantly appeared. “Someday you’ll thank me Lemmy.”

“Someday I’ll figure out a way to stop you.” He promised as he walked toward the door.

***

“Wow.” Harry said as they took a break.

Luna turned to the still sleeping Willem, looking at him with new respect and admiration. “He wanted so badly to tell the truth…” She trailed off, not wanting to let loose the tears of gratitude welling in her eyes. Harry squeezed her hand and offered a supportive smile.

“Well?” Drake looked at them expectantly. She left it to Harry to relate what they’d seen, instead focusing on what they’d learned.

“At least we now know why Jayalina was killed.” Luna said when Harry was done. “For some reason she’d decided to tell Edmund he had a daughter, then sent Elanya away and refused to tell him where his daughter was, probably in hopes that neither of them would be killed since Edmund claimed she was no longer proving useful. But what had she done to make them want to replace her in the first place?”

“Who knows… with them it doesn’t seem to take much.” Drake muttered. “I knew Edmund was an evil jerk nearly my whole life but this is ridiculous.”

“Well, we know what happens next. Willem tries to tell what he knows despite the potion and gets himself investigated as a result.” Harry said.

Drake nodded. “I remember. Without Jayalina around to talk to, Fudge refused to collaborate her involvement in the investigations. They made Willem look like a liar no matter how many of us stood up to testify on his behalf. Eventually, Edmund got what he wanted and Willem was out of the way, locked up in Azkaban.”

“Right. So now we need you to wake him up.” Harry nodded eagerly.

“Why?”

“Because I’m not sure what else there is to see in his memories right now. We can always sit and really dissect what we already saw later when there’s more time, but right now we need to gather as much information as we can before we go back to school.” He answered.

Luna nodded, picking up his train of thought. “Exactly, and right now we need you both to tell us everything you know about Julian Heath.”

(BREAK)

Ron was sitting up in his room waiting for Harry and Luna to finish up with Willem. The time was ticking by at an impossibly slow rate and he felt like he was ready to bounce off the walls, despite the late hour. The need to do something was strong upon him and after feeling like he’d made headway with Harry earlier, he decided to keep the momentum going. Confidently leaving his room, he walked down the stairs and strode purposefully up to Fred’s door.

He answered after the third knock. “What do you want?” He asked grumpily.

Ron pushed his way into the room, looking around expectantly. “What, Hermione’s not down here tonight?”

“Was she supposed to be?” Fred asked, closing the door and casually leaning against it with his arms crossed.

“I know what you’re doing.” He said quietly, turning to face his brother.

“Glad someone does because I usually don’t have a clue.” Fred grinned. “Want to fill me in on what I’m doing that has you acting so dramatic?”

“I see what you’re doing with Hermione.” Ron answered darkly.

“So does everyone else! We’re making potions!” He threw his hands up in frustration, turning to pace the room in agitation.

Now Ron was sure about his brother’s feelings and it hardened his resolve. “You want her to break up with Harry.” He accused.

Fred stopped and hung his head for a moment. “So what if they break up?” he said at last. “It’s not like they’re the couple they once were.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“What are you getting at?” He asked suspiciously.

“I mean you’ve been drawing her in with all these projects! We all know how much she likes all this stuff-“

“You mean academic pursuits?” Fred interrupted. “I guess not everyone likes to be an ignorant fool.” He added the insult, his anger evident.

“You’re right, and I refuse to remain ignorant on this anymore. I see how you try to be alone together and so does Harry!” Ron shouted.

“What do you mean? He’s always off somewhere with Luna. Like now for instance.” His tone was steady but he seemed uncertain.

“I talked to him today about that and he explained how he and Luna were drawn to each other because of who they are. But they felt the same way about Gabby when she came to the castle too, it’s a coven thing.” He was surprised by how easily the lies came to him… unlike Harry, Malfoy or Fred himself, Ron had always needed time to put his stories together, they hardly ever came off the top off his head. “He doesn’t know what to do right now, he’s heartbroken! He thinks Hermione is getting ready to break up with him for you, and you know Harry… he’d give her whatever she wanted and he wouldn’t even be mad at you for it, he’d blame himself. But can you live with the guilt?”

“I haven’t done anything!” Fred protested.

“So I saw in Hogsmeade.” He replied smugly. “You’ve witnessed the depths of devotion those two had for each other… well it’s still there but you and Luna were mucking it up. Now the whole thing with Luna has proven innocent… can the same be said with you? I don’t think so. And just so you know, after I explained to Harry how Hermione had told me she was feeling about him and Luna, he now intends to make clear to her that he and Luna are merely friends.”

“And what exactly did Hermione tell you?” He asked anxiously.

Ron shook his head and smiled inwardly. Fred had taken the bait. “She said she’s confused. That while she feels drawn to you, it’s nothing compared to what she feels for Harry. But she was worried that he wanted Luna and was therefore struggling to deal with whether or not to give into her lesser feelings for you so that Harry could break up with her guilt free.” Taking in his brother’s face, he felt himself waiver a bit. “Sorry if the truth hurts, but you asked and I think you deserve to know.”

“To know what?” Fred turned away angrily.

“That if she chose you, it was only because she didn’t think Harry was a choice anymore.” Ron answered softly. “Look, I know I shouldn’t be getting involved in all this, but you’re my brother and they’re my best friends. I’d hate to see you all make a mess of things based on several misunderstandings.”

“Well aren’t you wonderful.” He muttered in reply.

“Just back off Hermione okay? Ultimately it’s not you she wants and you’ll only get hurt in the long run.”

“Gee, Ron, can I still be friends with her?” Fred asked sarcastically.

“Look, I know you’re going to do whatever you want anyway… I was only trying to warn you. Besides, if you really care about Hermione, you wouldn’t want to mess this up for her… You wouldn’t want to be responsible for driving her into that moment of weakness that ruins what truly makes her happy… And you wouldn’t want to be with her knowing you’re her second choice, would you?”

“I think you’ve made you’re point, Ron. Now if you would kindly leave.” He opened the door and gestured to the hallway.

“Fine, but just think about it at least.” He said as he walked out.

“No reason, nothing to think about is there?” Fred slammed the door behind him.

Returning to his room, Ron was unsure whether he’d fully reached his brother. But there was still Hermione and Luna to talk to… surely he could make this work.

(BREAK)

Harry watched Drake wave the smelling salts under Willem’s nose in tense anticipation. The man shot awake, startling the others. “Well, did it work?” He demanded.

“You didn’t feel us in there?” Luna seemed surprised. “Then maybe Sarah doesn’t know we went in her head…”

“Well, what happened?” Willem asked.

Together, Harry and Luna filled him in on the two memories they’d watched and lived through with him. “Why didn’t you just tell us about all of that?” Harry asked when they were done.

Willem shook his head. “I guess you were right, I didn’t think it important and forgot about it… or rather I may have misgauged the important parts. I figured since most of it was revelatory about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s return- which has already come to pass- it was an irrelevant conversation. Plus how was I to know that the girl he referred to was my niece? Besides, what good would it have done to let you know how easily I was tricked and how miserably I failed to bring the truth to light.”

“I thought it was important to know how hard you tried.” Luna offered with a kind smile as she reached out to pat the man’s shoulder. “I really appreciate it.”

“I only wish I could have done more.” Willem hung his head in defeat.

“Hey now.” Drake gave his friend a playful shove. “You aren’t in Azkaban anymore, positive thoughts and optimism are welcomed here.”

“Right, there’s plenty you can do now. Especially since the potion is no longer binding your tongue.” Harry assured him. “And you can start by telling us everything you know about Julian. He seems to be the only piece of this puzzle we have no information about.”

“Well, do you remember him at all from the ministry?” Willem turned to Drake.

The healer shook his head. “He came way after I parted ways with the ministry. All I’ve heard is that he took over working on some of the werewolf experiments in the Department of Mysteries, which was quite far from the department I worked in.”

“That’s right.” Willem nodded. “Secretive lot they are, but from what both Kane and I were able to gather Julian Heath wasn’t just a potion-maker, he was a rather skilled alchemist. Other than that he was a young man of twenty-seven, average height, brown hair and eyes, and had a scar across his chin from a childhood accident, very little is known about the man. Did they ever find a body?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Drake answered. “Were you able to find out what he was working on?” Harry perked up with interest, eager to hear what Willem had to say.

“It was my understanding that rather than look for a cure, he was working on ways to control the werewolf curse, to take it and manipulate it to the point where someone could change at will rather than at the whim of the moon. As far as I was able to find out, he had so far been unsuccessful.”

“It was for Harland.” Luna surmised. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. Who else would enjoy the ability to change whenever they wanted and why else would Lucius be interested in Julian? We know he had already hidden Harland for nearly a decade and that Lucius was scared of him the whole time. What if Harland demanded they take Julian so he could make the potion only for him?”

“That’s got to be it.” Harry agreed instantly. “Like you said, it’s the only thing that makes sense here. So what happened to Julian?”

“Well, it’s obvious Harland never got that potion, otherwise he would have just turned that night he bit Draco in the hospital and tried to take care of you all right then.” Drake observed.

“Okay, so are we assuming that after six years and no apparent success, Julian is dead?” Willem put forth.

“I would say so.” Harry answered, trying to tie together everything he knew about everything. “Why else would they have kept Snape alive… or not try to kill him when he escaped? He’s also really good with potions but the only reason they’d need him was if Julian was no longer around to try making all the things they need.”

“I can agree with that, but…” Drake looked from Harry to Luna, appearing unsure, “there’s nothing to suggest Severus Snape is still alive either. He escaped some time ago and yet still there’s been no sign of him.” He said delicately.

“No bodies don’t necessarily mean he or Julian are dead I suppose. Peter taught us that.” Harry replied.

“So where are they?” Luna asked softly. They all looked at each other, but no one had an answer.

(BREAK)

It was well after midnight when they all gathered in Harry’s room to find out what he and Luna had learned from Willem. Thankfully it didn’t take long and everyone decided to take some time and think on everything, see if separately they could come up with a few more connections between what they’d already known and the new information they’d just received. Though relieved to be continuing to get answers, Fred was irritated with the fact that those answers only seemed to breed more questions.

Of course, the irritation and frustration currently keeping him awake and agitated in the early morning hours probably had less to do with the many puzzles taking over their lives and more to do with the things Ron had said to him a few hours earlier. Had the words his brother spewed all over him held any truth? He certainly didn’t think he’d been doing anything to come between Hermione and Harry… not that he hadn’t wondered what life would be like under different circumstances. But daydreams didn’t equal reality and in reality Harry was his friend, an adopted brother… he would never do anything like what Ron had accused. Would he? Had his subconscious thoughts been influencing his behavior?

Fred flung the covers away and sat up in bed, running his hands through his hair in agitation. Certainly one part of what Ron had said was true, he was second choice material… at least next to Harry Potter. Never before had he felt the need to compare himself to Harry, simply content in his friendship. But now that his brother had forced him to size the other boy up as a romantic rival…

“Arghh.” Fred grunted in frustration and got up to begin pacing. He wouldn’t allow his mind to start doubting himself and the first step to that downward spiral was to compare himself to Harry- as Ron had proven for many years. There were certain facts one had to accept in life and one of those is that there is always going to be someone who makes everyone else look like a second choice. In all probability, there was some guy out in the world who was so wonderful that next to him, Harry had all the appeal of Crabbe or Goyle. If- IF- something were to happen that put Hermione in his path could he accept her always wondering what could have been? Maybe.

And maybe Ron had overreacted so convincingly that he’d drawn Fred into making this all into something it wasn’t. Sure it was true that Hermione had worked her way under his skin like no other… but that didn’t necessarily mean anything romantic was brewing, right? Perhaps, with him losing George and Hermione dealing with the epic that is life with Harry, they had simply found a kinship with each other… a relationship built around helping each other cope. Surely a close friendship such as they’d been building could be misconstrued as something less innocent by an outside observer… or even by the two involved? Was the way he felt about Hermione different from how he felt about his other friends? When Ron had accused him of wanting her and Harry to break up he hadn’t denied it… but…

He couldn’t take the doubts anymore and he couldn’t keep going around in circles. He needed to talk to someone… someone who should be here helping him figure life out but was no longer able. Creeping from his room and up the stairs, Fred hesitated before knocking on Harry’s door. Hey, you awake in there? He thought out, not wanting to bother him or anyone else this early but having no choice.

**No. Harry’s groggy voice filled his head. Moments later the door flung open. “What’s wrong?” He demanded, rubbing his eyes and trying to look alert.

“Nothing. Sorry I know it’s late but… I really need to use the ring.” Fred felt horrible but there was nothing to be done. They were leaving tomorrow and he had to be at the store, there was no other time.

“The ring?” Harry looked confused, still trying to make his brain accept that it was awake. “Oh, okay.” He shook his head and went somewhere into the depths of his room, returning with the monstrous piece of jewelry. “Just give it back in the morning. Goodnight.” And without waiting for a reply, he turned to presumably climb back in bed.

“Thanks!” He called through the closed door before heading back down to his own room.

Taking a moment to calm himself, Fred sighed deeply and then slipped the ring on. George appeared within a matter of moments. “Well, it’s been awhile hasn’t it? Glad to see you’re getting along Freddie.”

“By all appearances it seems that way, doesn’t it?” He answered.

“Uh oh. What’s wrong? From my understanding here, things went great at the store today.”

“Everything with the store is fine.” Fred assured him. “It’s just… I guess I just don’t know what to do.”

“About what? Your new lab partner?” George asked slyly.

“She’s become a really good friend.” He answered defensively. “And Ron seems to think I’ve some horrible agenda to get her and Harry to break up.”

“Since when do you listen to Ron?” George shook his head in amusement. “Let’s face it, our little brother doesn’t handle change easily, no matter how often he has to deal with it.”

“Normally I wouldn’t listen to Ron… but what if this time he’s right?” Fred was nervous, he didn’t want to turn out to be a horrible friend to Harry and he certainly didn’t want to do anything to make Hermione unhappy.

“If he’s accusing you of vicious alterior motives then he’s absolutely wrong, isn’t he. You aren’t out to hurt anybody Fred, it’s not who you are so stop worrying about it. Besides, Ron doesn’t know what he’s talking about half the time. Why not go talk to Luna? She’s the one who would actually know what the future holds for you. And besides, she’d have comforting words like ‘if it’s fated to be then it will be’ or something like that.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be comforted.” He stubbornly replied. “I mean Hermione is so logical and annoying, she always has to be right, you have to practically twist her arm to get her to loosen up, and most importantly, she’s already in a relationship with my close friend who is considered a son by our parents. Maybe Ron was just making something out of nothing. Maybe I misinterpreted the emotions she brought out in me, you know, mistaking gratitude for something more. Maybe-“

“Maybe an arm will grow out of your forehead.” George interrupted. “And maybe it’s not your feelings for her that you’re questioning… maybe what you’re really confused about is her feelings for you. What exactly did Ron say?”

“Nothing I wasn’t already thinking on some level.” Fred shuffled his feet, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “He said he’d talked to Hermione… Basically what it boiled down to was she felt Harry was sort of encouraging our friendship because he really wanted Luna… she said she was debating giving into lesser feelings for me in order to give Harry what he wanted because he’ll always be the one she really wants.”

“She said all that… according to Ron.”

“Why would he lie? What would he have to gain from it?”

“Who knows? But I’ve talked to Harry, and to me it just doesn’t ring true. From what I know of, the four of you are getting along fine… or at least you were until Ron started talking to everybody.” George replied, his tone suggesting he was strongly hinting at something.

“If you have something to say, just say it.” Fred pushed.

He sighed and shook his head. “Look, I can be your sounding board but I refuse to get involved in this, too many things are at stake for me to influence anyone. All I’m saying to you now is not to doubt yourself so much. Regain some of that confidence you used to have and it’ll get you through this and everything else in life. And if nothing else, at least you won’t be so whiny.” George grinned widely.

“You’re so much help.” He rolled his eyes. “You really think Ron’s full of it?”

“I don’t know, but you just can’t always trust hearsay.”

“Maybe…” Fred answered thoughtfully.

(BREAK)

It seemed he’d just laid down again when Harry was once more roused from sleep. This time, rather than Fred’s voice invading his dreams, it was a light knocking at his door that startled him awake. With an agitated sigh, he yet again threw back the covers and unwillingly got up to see who wanted what. “I told you, you could just give it back in the morning…” He opened the door expecting Fred and found Arthur instead. “Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else.” He muttered.

“So I gathered.” Arthur answered, glancing behind him nervously. “It is morning Harry, very early, but still morning. Look, normally I would never willingly involve you in this and I heavily debated what to do last night… but I guess I need you there, as sort of a human lie detector.”

“Where?” Harry asked, now definitely more awake and highly interested. Usually it was him going to Arthur to beg to go along somewhere, it was nice to have it go the other way for once.

“To see Edmund Fritz.” Arthur looked directly at him.

“Really?” He felt his heart beat faster. After seeing the impressive man through Willem’s eyes, he was very interested to meet the real thing to size up for himself.

“I trust I don’t have to tell you that he is a very dangerous man and taking you to see him could have very bad consequences.” He said steadily. “I am being very serious when I say that if you come with me, you must do everything you are told, not speak to Edmund unless absolutely necessary, and above all else, do not goad the man or let yourself be goaded.”

“I can promise to try.” Harry answered honestly.

Arthur shook his head and offered a grave smile. “I suppose that’s the best I can ask for.”

“But… I think Luna should come too.” He said hesitantly. “Edmund may know about my powers and be blocking his mind, but when Luna and I are together, our powers are strengthened… even more so when Gabby was around but I guess that’s not really an option at the moment.”

“I don’t know… taking you there is bad enough…”

“It’ll be fine. If nothing else, she’ll help me not lose my temper should Edmund decide to push me.” Harry argued.

“Okay, you win. I’ll go wake her.” Arthur said with a heavy sigh. Harry realized the man knew he had alterior reasons for wanting Luna there but had decided not to push the issue. “Go get dressed, we have to leave in a few minutes.”

“Why so early? The sun’s not even up yet.”

“Well, apparently Edmund is a very busy man, too busy even for the Minister of Magic. I have to investigate Elanya’s article and the only opening he had for a meeting was at 6 a.m., which is just as well if you two are coming with because…” He trailed off, looking rather sheepish.

“Because you’d rather leave the house with us before Molly finds out.” Harry grinned, finishing his thought. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”

Harry closed his door and quickly rushed around getting himself dressed. He desperately wanted to find out why Elanya had submitted that article and why Edmund had hired her in the first place… surely he knew who she was, she had used her real name. Of course… she could have done that for this very reason, to draw them out and into some kind of trap. But how could she know that Arthur would risk bringing him or Luna straight to the Daily Prophet? He was sure that the only people in the world who knew Harry was going to Diagon Alley today were the he and the minister. Truthfully, he was just as nervous and unsure about bringing Luna along as well. But there was something they needed to know and Edmund was the only one who could give them the answer… and Luna was the only one who could help him reach into the man’s head to get that answer. Today, they would learn exactly what fate Jayalina Delamora met with.

Hurrying downstairs, he met up with Arthur and Luna in the parlor. She had apparently read his mind to see what his plan was and he could feel the doubtful dread radiating from her. Are you sure this is going to work?She demanded.

Luna, I’m really not to sure of anything anymore. He answered as Arthur quietly spoke to his Aurors through a communication device, preparing their departure.

What if he feels us in his head? We’ve never tried this on someone awake before. She shot back.

We’ll deal with that as it comes. He quickly answered as Arthur rounded them up to leave. Trying to be as quiet as possible, all three apparated to the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron.

The sky glowed a pinkish light blue in the early morning hour and going through the secret gateway, Harry saw that there weren’t very many people out on the street. Pulling his hood down and his jacket tighter around himself, he knew it was more than the crisp, late September air that was sending a chill down his spine… anyone could be out here, any number of people wishing to do harm to them. Stepping closer to Luna, he swallowed those fears as they met up with Kingsley just inside the Diagon Alley limits- after all, if he worried about all those plotting against him then he’d never leave the house at all.

There were three other Aurors with Kingsley, unfamiliar faces Harry was sure he’d never seen. The tall, lanky man with tattoos covering the exposed skin on his arms and neck was introduced as Apollo Addams. The other man was called Magnus Grover and he was shorter and of a stockier build, with thick, bushy black eyebrows and a shiny bald head. The last was Althenia March, a slight woman who looked like a good gust of wind would carry her away. But looking in her eyes, Harry saw a determined hardness that made him think twice about her waif-like appearance. She stepped forward to shake his hand, her grip like iron. “Please, Mr. Potter, Miss Lovegood, everyone calls me Nia.”

“Well, everyone calls us Harry and Luna.” He returned with a friendly smile. At once he made the connection to where he’d heard all of their names before… it seemed like ages ago when Arthur had asked Tonks and Kingsley if they knew of any other Aurors who could be completely trusted and these three had made that short list.

Flanked by the Aurors, they proceeded down the street to the Daily Prophet offices. “Well, this is different.” Luna said as she stared up at the monstrous building. Harry followed her gaze, attempting to take it all in. It was an eyesore that towered toward the sky with all sorts of unnecessary additions and looking nothing like what he remembered.

“Yes, Edmund has been making quite a few changes… all with the proper building permits of course.” Arthur said, his tone heavy with disgust. “It certainly stands out now, doesn’t it?”

“I can’t wait to see the inside.” Nia replied, wrinkling her nose in displeasure as she took in the sight before them.

Entering the large double doors, the group was admitted into a cavernous lobby, dimly lit with dark mahogany walls. It made Harry feel like he was once more about to descend underground in pursuit of the ring, only this time he was after information. Their shoes clicked against the shiny floors as they crossed the lobby, striding confidently up to the desk at the far end where a very pretty, very bored-looking receptionist sat. “Can I help you?” She asked, barely looking up from the book she was reading.

“Minister Weasley, here to see Mr. Fritz.” Arthur answered with authority.

She glanced up slightly interested yet still contemptuous for the interruption. “Elevator is over there. All the way to the top, he’s expecting you.”

Making sure to keep his head down and to stay crouched behind Kingsley and Apollo, Harry eagerly followed to the elevators, feeling like the woman’s eyes were on him the entire time. Of course, that was probably just his paranoia… either way he refused to turn around and look, wanting to appear as sure and steady as the others. Stepping into the elevator, Harry felt his stomach lurch uneasily as the doors closed behind them. The entire car was mirrored and the seven all found themselves staring uncertainly at each other, repeated and refracted into infinity. “It feels like a funhouse.” Kingsley muttered.

“Yeah, except I’m not having much fun.” Nia shot back. “It’s kind of making me queasy.”

“We’re almost there.” Apollo assured her.

“Fifty floors up, hope no one is afraid of heights.” Luna said kindly with a knowing air.

At last the car came to a stop and the doors slid open to reveal a small reception area. Straight ahead was another pretty young woman sitting behind a desk, guarding the office door behind her. On either side the walls were made of darkened glass, allowing them a dim view straight out over all of Diagon Alley. “Too late to worry about height issues now, isn’t it.” Magnus grumbled. Peeking in his head, Harry saw what Luna had already known about the man- that he was in fact terrified of heights. But to the Auror’s credit, he strode up to the desk with the others as if he hadn’t a fear in the world.

“Minister Weasley? Mr. Fritz is waiting for you.” She gestured brightly to the door behind her.

“Thank you.” Arthur replied, making his way to the door with the entire group following him.

“Just a minute!” The woman said, her voice still cheerful. “You can go in Minister, but the others must wait out here.”

“That’s not happening.” Kingsley answered with authority.

“It’s okay.” Arthur reassured him before turning back to the woman. “The Aurors will wait out here, but those two are coming in for the meeting.” He pointed at Harry and Luna without giving away their identity. Harry turned away slightly under her gaze, pulling his hood lower.

“I only have you on the books, Minister. May I have the names of your guests please?” She asked politely.

“You may not.” Arthur replied shortly. “Come on.” He grabbed Harry’s shoulder and bustled both him and Luna through the door, leaving Kingsley and the others to deal with the overzealous receptionist.

“Minister!” They turned to find Edmund Fritz, tall and impressive looking as he stood, coming from behind his desk to greet them. “And young guests! How… unexpected.” His smile sent shivers through Harry’s body, making him certain the man had recognized him on sight. Up close, he could see that Edmund had aged very little in six years. The only thing to give away the passage of time since Willem had last seen his brother was the spreading of gray hair along the man’s temples… and even that only made him look more distinguished.

“Mr. Fritz. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.” Arthur stepped forward to shake the other man’s hand, ignoring his comments entirely.

“Please, call me Edmund. Well, I knew this matter had to be serious if you were coming yourself rather than sending an Auror to investigate.” He returned to his place behind his desk and gestured to the three seats in front of him. Harry’s gaze was drawn to yet another floor to ceiling darkened window directly behind the man and he wondered if Edmund had some kind of fear of enclosed places in addition to bright light… he certainly enjoyed having a view. “Please have a seat, Minister and… young friends.”

“Let’s not play games Edmund.” Arthur said seriously as he sank into one of the seats.

“Very well.” He answered with a sinister grin. “Won’t you also have a seat, Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood, isn’t it?” He once more politely gestured to the chair.

“Thank you.” Harry answered steadily, pulling his hood off and sitting next to Arthur. Luna remained silent as she also sat. He could feel the dark emotions swirling within her as she finally met face to face the man who had facilitated the cover-up of her brother’s murder. He sent her his silent support which she gratefully accepted, for once being the one to let his calmer emotions soothe her agitated ones. Turning his attention back to Edmund, Harry was more determined than ever not to let the man unnerve him, for Luna’s sake if nothing else.

“The kids are here because they have an interest in the topics I have to discuss with you, Mr. Fritz. But their roles in this meeting are as silent observers.” Arthur said in a warning tone.

“I see.” Edmund replied, turning to Harry. “Well, it’s not often one gets to meet a celebrity hero. Though I must say that from the things I’ve heard about you young man, I thought you would be more impressive in person… but hey, appearances can be deceiving, can’t they?” He sneered. Harry forced himself to hold back any reply and felt both Arthur and Luna’s pride in him. Instead of verbally responding to such an obvious attempt to get under his skin, he simply stared the other man down in a test of wills… a test Harry had yet to fail due to his own competitive stubbornness. He smiled when at last Edmund uncomfortably shifted his gaze back to Arthur… one small victory out of the way. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this impromptu meeting Minister?”

“It has come to the attention of the ministry that you have recently employed a person of interest to us. Elanya Delamora?” Arthur let the name slip smoothly from his lips.

Though his face gave nothing away, Harry could see the dark, anxious thoughts swirling through Edmund’s mind. He was trying to determine his best course of action, though Harry could also see that this wasn’t wholly unexpected. “She came looking for a job and after having her submit a sample of her work I hired her on a trial basis. There’s little else I can tell you.”

“Oh, I think there’s quite a bit more you can tell me, Mr. Fritz.” Arthur slyly insinuated.

“Such as?”

“Well, surely you know where she lives, what with having to send her a paycheck.”

Edmund shook his head. “She has us directly deposit it into an account at Gringott’s. We have no address on record for Miss Delamora.”

He’s telling the truth. Harry assured Arthur who nodded slightly.

“And is that standard practice here- to not collect the information you are required by law to have from your employees?”

“It is not.” Edmund replied huffily.

“Then may I ask why Miss Delamora was exempted from the policy?”

“What are you suggesting Minister?” He asked in a calm, steady voice with small undertones of agitation. Harry smiled inwardly, knowing Edmund was becoming very angry and defensive but was unable to show it… the newspaper man knew better than to let on to what he was really feeling.

“Absolutely nothing, I was simply trying to find out why no one seems to be able to point us in the direction of this young woman…” Arthur made himself appear confused and a bit suspicious. “Why, are you feeling guilty about something?”

Edmund rose and turned to stare out the enormous window, his hands clasped easily behind his back. But Harry could see the wheels turning as he mentally prepared to give them the speech he’d prepped should a situation like this arise. “Okay, I should have done what was right and demanded she produce the required information to hold a job. But she came to me, begging for a chance. She claimed she’d run away from her family because they refused to support her dream… Said all she wanted to do was write. She said she had no where permanent to stay in London, was going from friend to friend sleeping on floors and couches. Pretty little waif of a thing, I felt bad for her- I didn’t want the city to chew her up and spit her out broken and defeated. Of course girls like that, they go through their whole lives getting what they want because of how they look and they know it too. Maybe she played me with her sob story, but I couldn’t help it. I took a chance and gave her a shot at being a reporter. That little article yesterday was something she’d submitted and just to ensure she made some money I let it run in the paper.”

All lies. Harry and Luna both thought to Arthur.

“You’ve quite the generous heart, Mr. Fritz.” He said, letting a bit of sarcasm slip into his tone. “Perhaps she told you why she chose to write her first article about the reopening of my son’s store?”

Edmund turned back to face them, his expression one of boredom. “As to your son, she claimed she knew him from school and wanted to do him a favor. But regarding her employment with the paper, make no mistake, she is not officially a Daily Prophet reporter… it was more of a freelance trial. I understand I openly defied policy and if there is a fine to pay I will gladly do so.”

“At the moment we aren’t here to investigate you, Mr. Fritz. There will be no need to take any action now that I know you understand the necessity of following said policy.” Arthur replied almost mockingly.

“I’m much obliged.” Edmund nodded distractedly as he sat at his desk again and started pulling out files. “Now unless there is anything else, I do have a rather full day ahead of me and I’d hate to get behind schedule. The news waits for no one after all.” He began reading through some of his papers, a sign of dismissal for them.

But Arthur stayed where he was. “If you are unable to tell us how to find Miss Delamora, perhaps you could at least tell me when you next expect her here in the offices?”

Letting out a quiet sigh Edmund put his papers aside, no longer bothering to hide his irritation. “Unfortunately I cannot. As I said, she was never hired as regular staff. The next time I’ll see her is when she has another story to turn in and who knows when that’ll be? For all I know, the girl’s taken the small amount she did make and used it to skip town to go look for bigger and better.”

That much is true. He really doesn’t know where she is and he doesn’t like it. Harry said, taking a close look through the man’s thoughts.

Arthur nodded. “If you say so, Mr. Fritz. But I will warn you that if another article by Elanya Delamora runs in the paper, her information had better be on file in your magical resources department.”

“Understood Minister Weasley.” Edmund smiled as his eyes shot daggers through them all.

Stall him, please… Harry silently begged Arthur.

He shifted in his seat to show he’d heard the request, his mind full of questions. But Harry saw he intended to do as he’d asked. “Now perhaps we could discuss the fire that occurred a few weeks ago at the Quibbler offices. We have sources telling us that perhaps someone at the Daily Prophet might be responsible…”

“And why would anyone here care anything about the Quibbler? No offense to your father, Miss Lovegood.” Edmund returned.

“That’s what’s so suspicious… the lack of care such a large paper as this had for such a large story. One small article to report on such a big fire? And no mention at all of the questionable nature of the blaze itself… one has to wonder why the Daily Prophet wouldn’t investigate further.”

Leaving Edmund and Arthur to volley that subject back and forth, Harry tuned out everything but Luna. You ready?

I guess so. She replied uncertainly. Let’s just try to be extra gentle so he doesn’t feel what we’re doing.

They both discreetly dropped their arms between the chairs, tightly clasping each other’s hands. Here goes nothing. He thought out as they stealthily made their way into Edmund’s subconscious, looking for signs of Jayalina in her last moments.

***

Edmund followed Lucius and the others down the long somber corridor. He forced himself to remain hard and emotionless in front of them. She was supposed to mean nothing to him… She didn’t mean anything to him, he had to remind himself, not for a long time at least. He used his anger with her to power himself on, after all she had been the one to force herself back into his life, using his supposed daughter to get whatever she wanted from him. And now she had the audacity to hide the girl, thinking that would keep them both safe… well she’d been half right, the girl was safe.

“She refuses to say anything. You are her last chance, make sure you make that clear to her.” Lucius said as they stopped outside a heavy steel door.

“I doubt she cares.” He answered nonchalantly, as if the outcome didn’t matter to him either. And it didn’t. If the woman didn’t want to save her own life then that was her decision, but he had to try… they needed information that she had.

They opened the door long enough for him to slip through, slamming it shut with a resounding slam. Edmund glanced around the room taking in everything but acknowledging nothing, not even her, all huddled against the wall, her golden eyes wild and dangerous like a cornered animal. She looked so much smaller, more vulnerable but he knew the strength of insanity she carried with her and remained alert.

He used his wand to produce a chair, feeling her watching as he sat as far as possible from the single bare bulb lighting the room. “A rather dreary existence this is, Jaya.” He said at last.

“I had asked for a room with a view but they aren’t very accommodating here.” She shot back bitterly. “And don’t pretend familiarity with me Edmund. Not anymore.”

“Very well Jayalina. Or would you prefer the even more formal Miss Delamora?” He sneered. “You are capable of changing your situation you know. All you have to do is tell us what we want to know.”

“I think I’ve told enough lies on your behalf. I’ll save the truth for someone more worthy.” She spat out.

He was struggling to hold his temper. The woman was infuriating, refused to play by anyone’s rules… especially his. It was why he’d tried to expel her from his life so many years ago, if only he’d known of the child then, things would be so much simpler now. “There is no one more worthy than those capable of saving your life.” He replied.

“Even if they’re the ones threatening it in the first place?” she countered.

“Tell me where Elanya is. I have a right to know.” He demanded.

“You have a right to nothing!” She yelled back.

Edmund clenched his hands into fists. “If you don’t start giving answers, there’s nothing I can do to help you.” He warned.

“I don’t want any more of your help.” She said, rising to her feet. “I’ve twice accepted your help and both times it has ruined my life. I’m ready to let things happen as they will.”

“You’re a fool!” He shouted, also standing.

Jayalina smiled mockingly. “You should look in a mirror when you say that. What exactly do you think you’re accomplishing Edmund? Do you really think you’re going to be somebody among all of these idiots? Even if everything they’re planning comes to pass, do you really think you’ll be anything more than another puppet to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? You are all fools!” She laughed loudly and freely.

“Stop it!” He screamed at her. “You know nothing about it!”

“I may not see the future Edmund, but I’ve seen your past, I know where you came from! You’re destined to fail! Any success you have is only setting the stage for a harder fall to the bottom, know this if you know anything at all! You are doomed, cursed for failure! It is your fate!” She screamed in his face, beating her hands against his chest.

He angrily grabbed her arms and shoved her away. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said low and dangerous.

“Then why do you look so scared?” She asked softly with a sly smile.

That smile, he hated that smile… that ‘I know something you’ll never know’ smile. He wanted to wipe it off her face. “Where’s Elanya? And what have you done with Julian?” He asked through clenched teeth, just barely able to contain himself. No one had ever pushed his buttons the way this woman, it was like she instinctively knew how. Not even Willem had dared defy him to the point Jayalina had.

“My daughter is safe. As for Mr. Heath… I simply set him free that day at Malfoy’s mansion, before I was taken.”

Edmund stood back in shock. “You didn’t.”

“I did.” She crossed her arms, looking smug.

“You idiot! You know what he’s become!” He started pacing trying to figure out what to do.

Jayalina simply watched him, smiling wider as his agitation grew. “Of course I know what he’s become… And to think, your brother and that poor Auror you made me lie about almost saved him from that fate.”

“No they didn’t. They arrived right in the middle of the process, so rest assured, Julian was never going to be rescued from his fate. The fact that you think setting him free a few hours later is going to save him, proves you’re delusional.”

“So be it. I’ve been called worse.” She shrugged.

“I have my orders Jayalina. You know what I have to do if you refuse to cooperate.” Edmund said, raising his wand.

“Do what you have to do… I’ve already withstood all the truth potions and endured the other two Unforgivables… I spent my life learning how to overcome them. But you’re right, there is one thing none of us can escape.”

“You’re choosing death?” He wavered a bit, becoming unsure in her certainty.

“You’re the one who will one day have to explain all this to our daughter.” She replied coldly.

“And when I find her, I shall.” He once more raised his wand, hardening his resolve. She was nothing to him anymore, he had to remember that.

Jayalina laughed. “Just be sure she doesn’t find you first!” she happily warned, once more wearing that sly knowing smile.

“I am not scared of her or any other child.” He sneered.

She laughed again. “Who are you kidding? You are all scared of a child, why else is anyone trying to resurrect such a dangerous man?”

It was over in a flash of light… With two words, Edmund ended her life. Jayalina dropped to the ground, her laughter still echoing around the room. He took a few moments to collect himself, to convince himself that she never would have told them where Elanya or Julian were, that it was better he be the one rather than hand her over to the others.

“Well?” Lucius asked when Edmund finally emerged from the room.

“It’s over. In the end, she proved completely worthless.” He shook his head. “We’ll have to find them on our own.”

“Them?” Lucius raised an eyebrow.

“Turns out you were right, Malfoy. Julian Heath didn’t die in the crash. She helped him get away.”

***

Harry, we have to stop. Arthur’s running out of things to talk about with him. He heard Luna’s voice bore through his concentration.

He mentally shook his head to clear it of the horror of what he’d seen. There was no reason for Edmund to have killed Jayalina, none at all other than that she chose to defy him. He glanced at Luna to see that she was struggling hard with being around this man and he suddenly felt anxious to leave, for her sake. We’re ready. He thought out to Arthur.

“You’re right, Mr. Fritz. There’s absolutely no proof to tie anyone at all to that fire. I just thought you should be aware of what’s being said and where the investigation is taking us.” Arthur said, rising from his seat and indicating the teens stand as well.

“Well, I appreciate the warning.” Edmund replied with a tight smile. He gave no indication that he knew anyone had invaded his head, which allowed Harry to breathe a little easier.

“No before we leave, I need you to sign this.” Arthur ordered, producing a piece of paper and leaning over to place it in front of the other man. Harry and Luna were both struck by the similarity to the memory they’d seen in Willem’s mind though they’d yet to tell Arthur anything about it. Harry was surprised and a bit intrigued to note that Edmund’s mind had also gone back to that moment. He was even more surprised to discover that when this Fritz brother recalled the scene, it was with hardened regret and sadness. Perhaps in his own twisted way, he really did care about Willem.

“What is this?” Edmund sat back in his chair, refusing to even glance at the paper.

“A confidentiality agreement that will place everyone in this entire building under gag order not to mention, discuss, or print anything about our meeting today, including the identities of any of my companions. I trust there’s no reason you wouldn’t want to comply?” Arthur challenged.

“None at all.” Edmund answered immediately, grabbing up a quill and calmly signing his name. On the inside, Harry could see the man was fuming mad to have such restrictions placed upon him.

“Great.” Arthur took the paper and put it back in his briefcase. “It was a pleasure, Mr. Fritz. Keep up the great work here.”

“I wasn’t aware you were a fan of the things we’d been printing lately.” Edmund raised his eyebrow in interest.

“Don’t be ridiculous! As minister I must know every time my name appears in print and I do so enjoy a good work of fiction… especially when I’m the inspiration for it.” He replied smugly. Harry smiled, apparently Arthur wasn’t going to be following his own advice about goading the other man.

“An amusing assessment, Minister.” Edmund replied. “But not all of our reader’s share your rather liberal view of what this paper has to say. After all, one can’t argue with facts.”

“And just because a ‘fact’ is printed doesn’t make it true.” Arthur countered. “Thank you for your time this morning. We’ll let you get back to your schedule.” He turned and led them back to the door.

“Anytime Minister, a pleasure to see you in person. You as well Miss Lovegood.” Edmund called after them. “And Mr. Potter, it was wonderful to meet you at last.”

They ignored him and returned to the reception area. The Aurors were standing just outside the office, ready to escort the Minister wherever he wished to go. Signaling that none of them were to speak to each other, Arthur led the way to the elevators. The group remained silent on the way down and through the enormous lobby. In fact, no one spoke until they were once again on the other side of the barrier between the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. “Well, how did it go, sir?” Kingsley asked at last.

“Perfectly. Hopefully we’ve given Edmund enough rope to hang himself with, there’s a good chance he’ll either violate the confidentiality agreement or print another of his daughter’s stories without the proper paperwork on file.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Harry asked, now knowing the other reason Arthur had wanted him along… It was a mighty big temptation to print a story about the Minister once more involving Harry Potter in official ministry business, it was too good a chance to yet again attempt to cast doubt on Arthur’s ability to handle the job. And by getting him to sign that agreement, they would finally be able to do something about it.

“That’s where the second part of the plan came in.” Arthur held up what looked like an altered version of the twin’s extendible ears. “Sorry I didn’t have time to completely fill you in on what we were doing, but I also wanted to be sure Edmund didn’t see me placing these in his office. I worried that if I told you what I intended, you’d be watching me and could have drawn his attention to what I was doing when his back was turned.”

“Are those what I think they are?” Harry asked, at once forgiving him for not telling him the whole story. After all, he was getting it now.

Arthur smiled. “Fred and George really were brilliant when they put their minds to it. I’ve always wished they’d have put those talents to better use as Fred is doing now, but for once their mischievous tendencies have proven extremely useful. I gave some of those extendible ears to the weapons department and with a little tweaking they were able to turn them into rather effective listening devices. As we speak there is someone back at the ministry monitoring what’s going on in Edmund’s office.”

“And the reception area.” Apollo grinned, holding up a few devices himself.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to do something about Edmund Fritz very soon.” Arthur nodded happily. Harry mirrored the sentiment as they prepared to apparate home. He couldn’t wait to tell the others what had happened.

(BREAK)

Molly hadn’t been pleased to find out where Arthur had taken Harry and Luna so when they returned, the teens left the two elder Weasleys to talk it out among themselves. They all gathered in Harry’s room to talk about what he’d found out and Ginny was impressed to learn the lengths her father had gone through to legally stop Edmund. However the other part of their story, about what they saw in Edmund’s head, she found completely disturbing. After they were done, everyone dispersed to their separate rooms to make sure they were all packed and ready to return to school later that day, except for Fred who handed Harry the ring and bid them all goodbye before heading into work.

Ginny ran around throwing things haphazardly into her bag before heading over to Draco’s room. Although he’d been right next to her that morning, she’d clearly seen that once again he hadn’t slept. Now she was determined to find out what was bothering him and how she could help. He answered her soft knock and offered a small smile. “Come on in.”

“What’s going on?” She demanded, coming in and closing the door behind her. She knew he hated being cornered, but she also knew that sometimes it was the only way to force him to open up.

“With what?” He asked, playing dumb.

“With you! For the last week you’ve been withdrawn and grumpy and now were back here and you aren’t sleeping anymore. So what’s wrong?”

Draco shook his head and sank down onto the bed. “I guess I think I’m having doubts about this whole guardian thing…” He admitted.

“Why? I thought Lupin said he and Tonks want to do it?” She sat next to him and rubbed his back reassuringly.

“Maybe… but Tonks hasn’t so much as glanced in my direction since we’ve been here. I mean, not that we’d become best of friends or anything, but as estranged family I thought we were getting on pretty well… As soon as I agreed to this whole thing I had a feeling she wouldn’t be happy about it… I think she’s mad at Lupin for doing this without talking to her. After all, her family was looked down on by mine her whole life, why would she want to help me now?”

“Because she’s Tonks.” Ginny said confidently. “She doesn’t hold grudges like that. She probably just doesn’t know what to say. In case you hadn’t noticed, she is a bit socially awkward.”

“Maybe… I just feel bad being a burden on her after looking down on her for so many years without knowing why, without even knowing what she looks like.”

She smiled. “I doubt even Tonks knows what she really looks like anymore, she changes her appearance so often. Besides, this doesn’t affect you or them that much. You’re already seventeen so as soon as you leave school in a couple of months their part is done.”

A knock on the door interrupted his reply and shooting her an uncertain glance, Draco went to see who was there. Surprisingly Lupin, one of the two topics of their discussion, was on the other side. “Hey Draco, do you have a few minutes? I want to talk to you about something.”

“Now that this weekend is out of the way, you want to revoke your guardianship, right?” He asked.

Lupin looked at him in confusion. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Self-loathing.” Ginny answered smugly as Draco turned to glare at her.

“Well, no, it’s nothing like that. Come on down to the parlor for a minute, okay?”

Draco shrugged and glanced her way. “Go ahead.” She encouraged him, I have a few things I want to take care of anyway.”

Walking out of the room with them, Ginny waited until they’d descended the stairs before going to knock on Luna’s door. “Hey!” She brightly greeted the other girl as soon as she opened up. “Do you have a minute?”

“For you, I suppose.” Luna answered with a soft smile, inviting her in. “What’s on your mind.”

“Well, you actually. I’m kind of worried about you Luna.” She admitted, taking a seat at the desk.

“Why?” She asked uncertainly.

Ginny offered a friendly smile. “Because you always look so unhappy. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to help…?”

Luna shook her head slowly. “There’s nothing wrong.”

“Except all the confusing things happening between you and Harry, right?” She said, seeing the uncertainty cross her friend’s face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Right, Luna. Because I’m deaf, dumb and blind.”

“Meaning?” She asked, being purposely obtuse.

“Meaning I can see what’s going on between you two… and between Hermione and my brother. Why don’t you all just sit down and talk it out? Take care of things once and for all.”

“And how is a conversation like that supposed to go? ‘Okay everyone, switch partners!’” Luna replied with uncharacteristic sarcasm.

“Why not?” Ginny shrugged. “Whatever happens, it’s got to be better than what you’re all going through now, right?”

“Everything happens when it’s supposed to.” She sighed, sinking down onto the bed. “If things are rushed who knows what kind of consequences that will have. If that’s the way it’s supposed to be then someday it’ll happen.”

“And so what, in the meantime you just suffer through?”

This time Luna shrugged. “There really isn’t another option. And I’d really appreciate it if you kept your theories to yourself. There’s no need to go and stir the pot.”

“And there’s no need to punish yourself anymore.” Ginny shot back. “If you really believe that it’ll happen when its meant to, then there’s no reason for you to be this upset until it does, is there?”

“I guess you’re right.” Luna replied uncertainly.

“I just don’t like seeing you so upset.” She moved to sit next to her on the bed. “I messed up a lot last year Luna, and looking back, I know you were trying to help me and all I did was push you away. If I can help stop you from making the same mistakes, then I have to try.”

“Well, I suppose I appreciate the effort.” She shrugged, looking away uncomfortably.

“Just pull yourself together! There’s no reason for you to let this or anything else defeat you.” Ginny insisted. “You’re supposed to be one of the special ones, start acting like it!”

Luna smiled. “Well, aren’t you the inspirational one today…”

“Hey, we don’t get a lot of chances to look on the bright side. Might as well take the opportunity when it comes.” She smiled back.

“And what’s the bright side here?”

Ginny smiled wider, glad to see that she was boosting her friend’s mood. “That no matter what happens, you’re the only one who knows for sure how this will all turn out and luckily, patience is a virtue you are capable of possessing in spades. Someday it will all turn out as it’s supposed to and you are in the lofty position of ensuring the future swings in whatever direction you desire.”

(BREAK)

Draco followed Lupin into the parlor and was startled to find Tonks sitting there, waiting for them. He nervously sat in one of the chairs across from her, anxious to find out exactly what was going to happen. To his surprise, she smiled warmly at him. “Well, we haven’t had much time to talk about anything have we? Especially this new arrangement Remus has put together.”

“I’m sorry about all of this… maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to it…” he stared down at his hands, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

“Why not? I wholeheartedly agreed as soon as he got a hold of me to ask permission, even if it was after he’d already committed us to it.” Tonks laughed.

“Well if he’d already said yes, then there wasn’t really any way for to say no.” Draco pointed out.

This time it was Lupin who laughed. “Someday you’ll learn it’s never too late for a woman to override your plans and say no, no matter how awkward a position it leaves you in.”

“Well said my love.” Tonks replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “The point is, if I had wanted to say no to this, I would have. Look Draco, I know it’s hard to learn to get used to people accepting you without alterior motives when you come from the kind of background my mother escaped.”

Andromeda had escaped the family… that was one way he’d never thought to look at the situation, having been told his whole life that his aunt had instead been cast out, banished as punishment for what was in their eyes an unforgivable crime. “I guess I just feel bad asking for any kind of favor now.” He replied honestly.

Tonks smiled wider. “It seems you’ve come a long way from the person I used to hear about. Listen, I have sort of a proposition for you. I think it would do you some good to know that you have family on this side of the war too and I only regret that I didn’t do something about it sooner. So with that in mind, how about if rather than go back by the train, Remus and I bring all you kids back to school, with a short stop at my parents’ house along the way?”

“I don’t know…” He looked to Lupin who was nodding encouragingly.

“I’ve already spoken to my mum about it and she was absolutely thrilled by the idea… she’s nothing like her sisters Draco, a rather spectacular woman if I do say so myself.” Tonks laughed, infusing the moment with positivity. “I promise there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Well, I guess if no one else minds…” He was still unsure but also strangely excited by the thought of having family on this side, curious to see just how different his aunt was from Narcissa and hoping she was something like Mrs. Weasley. He was also glad Ginny was going to be there.

“The kids don’t have a choice.” Tonks grinned slyly. “Arthur’s permission is all we need and after agreeing to an additional Auror escort, we have it. Everyone else is simply along for the ride.”

Draco smiled back before a sudden thought struck him, instantly recalling bits of the conversation he’d had with Potter the day before. “Maybe Potter should go back by the train, he could take some of the others with him for company.”

“Why?” Tonks asked, her face a mask of confusion.

He hesitated, not wanting to betray any confidences. “Well, I sort of know that it’s really bothering him about the whole thing with Bellatrix. I of course told him I understood and wasn’t mad at him… To me she was only an aunt I really didn’t care for and who never really cared for me, but she was your mum’s sister.”

“I see.” Tonks turned to look at Lupin. “I really don’t think anyone holds it against him, he did what he had to do and to be honest, the hatred Bellatrix and Narcissa felt for my mother went both ways. They took sibling rivalry to a whole new level.”

“Still, if Harry’s struggling with it, it may be a bit much to throw him in front of the woman’s family, no matter how they feel about it.” Lupin put forth.

“He’s fine around me and Draco, I think he can handle it.” Tonks argued. “I also think he’d be stubbornly insulted if we suggest otherwise.”

“You have a point there.” Lupin conceded. They all knew what Potter was like.

“Okay, so it’s decided then. I’m so happy! I haven’t had a chance to see my mum and dad in over a year. They couldn’t even make it to the wedding, it was only luck that they happened to be in town this weekend.” Tonks grinned widely, reaching for Lupin’s hand.

Draco left it to them to inform the others of the change of plans, instead going straight back to his room where he hoped Ginny was waiting after taking care of whatever she had to do. Thankfully he wasn’t disappointed. “Hey, what’s got you looking so rattled.”

“I just talked to Lupin and Tonks, apparently we’re all going back to school with them and on the way I’m going to meet Ted and Andromeda Tonks…”

She looked surprised and highly interested. “Really? You’re going to meet your aunt and uncle? I think that’s great!”

“So does Tonks… I’m just not sure.” He shook his head and started packing up the few things he’d brought home for the weekend.

“Is it just because you’re nervous of what they’ll think of you?” She asked, handing him his jacket.

“Maybe… I think I’m also nervous of what I’ll think of them. I mean, I really don’t even know what to guess they’re like. but I have an idea of what I want them to be like…” He wanted them to be just like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, like Lupin and Tonks, like any other number of normal, happily married people with no dubious intentions… who simply wanted to live their lives peacefully but were courageous enough to fight for the privilege. They were his last chance at a real family, he wanted them to be perfect.

“But you’re sure you want to meet them, right?” Ginny took his hand and forced him to stop moving distractedly around the room, pulling him to sit next to her on the bed. “If you’re not ready, you should tell Tonks now.”

“No, it’s now or never. I have to be ready.” He insisted. “They could be the next best thing to ever happen to me, why put it off just because I’m nervous. That’s never a reason to not do something, right?”

“Hey, if you want to do this, then I’m all for it. After all, look at how Tonks turned out, they can’t be all bad.” She smiled.

“Half an hour until we leave!” They suddenly heard Lupin yell up the stairs, his voice amplified by a spell to reach every floor of the house.

“Well, I guess that’s that then.” Draco smiled, feeling almost relieved that this first meeting would soon be over.

“It’ll be great.” Ginny assured him. He squeezed her hand, hoping she was right.





NOTE: More to come soon!

Chapter 40: The Death of Jasper

A/N: Some of you may notice that I changed quite a few things about Andromeda and Ted Tonks from how they were in the real books including their appearances and the fact that Ted is a full muggle here rather than a muggle born wizard. Also I’ve changed a little bit of the Black family tree, though minor characters barely mentioned at all in the real series. These choices were made to keep the tide of this story turning so bear with me, after all most of this stuff was revealed in HBP and DH which these stories are supposed to replace in the series. As always Read, Review and Enjoy!

　

“This is going to be horrible!” Harry exclaimed as he paced his room in agitation after hearing Lupin’s announcement about their plans to stop by the Tonks’ house. Hermione and Luna were there with him, going through ministry documents to pass the time. And if being enclosed in the same space alone with the two girls wasn’t an awkward enough situation, he now had to figure out how to prepare to meet members of the family of the only person who’s life he’d taken.

“Relax, it’s not like we’re going to see Narcissa.” Hermione looked up from the papers, her expression sympathetic. “She’s the one who actually cared about Bellatrix, and even then she doesn’t seem the type to care very much.”

“Yeah, I’m sure Andromeda will be far more understanding.” Luna added.

“How sure?” He asked nervously.

She smiled. “I haven’t gotten a vision, but I doubt Tonks would take you there if it was going to be a problem.”

“I agree.” Hermione said, gathering the documents to start putting them away.

“Look, I know I’m being difficult and I know Draco’s probably ten times more nervous than I am but… I just… how am I supposed to face her?”

“Well, how do you face Draco and Tonks? Bellatrix was their aunt after all.” Luna shrugged.

“It’s not the same… I know them and I know they would have killed her if they had to, and she would have done the same to them.” He hesitated, not really sure how that made it different. “I mean, I talked to Draco and he said he understood. And Tonks had already gone against Bellatrix way back at the Department of Mysteries.”

“So you’ll talk to Andromeda and I’m sure she’ll tell you she understands too.” Luna reasoned.

“Plus, she already went against the whole family before, when she chose to leave them.” Hermione added logically. “Besides, this isn’t supposed to be about you.”

“I know.” He answered miserably, sinking down into his desk chair. “I just have tried really hard not to think about Bellatrix at all… or about anything else I’ve done in any battle. It’s easier that way to go on to the next one, you know?” He looked back and forth between the two girls, for a moment actually liking that they were both in front of him… they were the two people he always wanted to go to when he needed comfort as well as a hard dose of reality.

“FIVE MINUTES AND YOU ALL NEED TO BE DOWN HERE READY TO GO!” They heard Tonks’s magically amplified voice call up the stairs.

“Okay, I think that’s all the documents.” Hermione was instantly distracted, rushing between their rooms in an effort to ensure they were both properly packed. He and Luna watched in amusement as she literally became frazzled before their eyes. “Whew, that should do it.” She said, dropping her bags next to his and collapsing on the bed. “Harry, all you can do is go get it over with. Afterwards when you see it isn’t the disaster you’re making it, you’ll feel better.”

“Well, I’ve run out of time to argue with you.” He said with a smile as he shook his head. Even when flustered, Hermione could maintain her focus.

“There’s nothing to argue.” Luna put in. “You and Draco both feel the same way about this you know, just for different reasons. At least neither of you will have to overcome your fear of facing Andromeda alone.”

They walked down to the parlor where Lupin, Tonks, Drake, Ginny and Draco were already waiting with Arthur, Molly, and Willem. Harry didn’t even have to use his powers to know that Draco was just as anxiously nervous as he was, though there was more in the other boy… Draco was also trying to hide the happy hopefulness he felt. With a sigh, Harry put his own reservations aside. He wouldn’t sour this for his new friend, Draco probably needed this more than even he knew… to have his own family to look to for support rather than those he was forced to depend on. After all, as Luna and Hermione pointed out, there was probably no love loss between Bellatrix and Andromeda. He could only hope the Tonks family was as understanding as their daughter and nephew.

(BREAK)

“Almost there!” Tonks said happily from behind the wheel as she sharply turned around a corner, throwing all the occupants of the ministry car around.

“Thank Merlin.” Healer Drake grumbled as he picked himself up off the floor.

“You’d think with her driving, they’d give us a vehicle with seat belts.” Ron whispered to the others with laugh as he settled back into his seat.

“Or at least a handle to grab onto.” Ginny grinned.

Draco squeezed her hand tightly, feeling more anxious the closer they got to their destination. So many thoughts were trying to push their way to the forefront of his mind, all involving his hopes and concerns about this meeting. The one worry that stood out was whether or not he would be disappointed by his aunt and uncle and therefore he refused to try and imagine them, hoping that by having no expectations he couldn’t be let down. Of course the next natural and more troubling thought was whether or not he would disappoint them. Tonks had said her parents had been pleased with the idea of meeting him… but would he, could he measure up to what they were expecting? He’d already proven a disappointment to his parents, could he handle being rejected by another part of his family? He wasn’t sure and felt the ball of dread in his gut grow larger. Ginny squeezed his hand back, smiling in amusement as everyone joked around. Draco remained silent as the others teased his cousin about her lack of driving skill, but he couldn’t help but grin when she told them all to shut up or get out and walk.

“It may be safer if we walk.” Lupin said with a smile, also teasing his wife.

“Walking will definitely be safer for you if you don’t stop egging them on.” Tonks grumpily threatened, though a small smile tugged the corners of her mouth.

Draco looked out the window, trying to figure out where they were heading. They’d already left the more densely populated city far behind them and had traveled deep into the countryside. Now they were making their way through thick forest, the trees so plentiful that the small, dirt road they were on was covered in shadow without a hint of daylight. Tonks turned on the little lights at the front of the car, washing the path ahead in brightness and illuminating an even smaller road up ahead. “This will be it then.” Tonks grinned widely as she turned onto the small path, this time far more gently than the last time. It as barely wide enough for their car to pass through and Draco stared ahead expectantly, waiting with great impatience to see where he’d been brought. As the trees thinned, he was able to make out a clearing ahead that was bathed in sunlight.

Tonks stopped just outside the tree line, hopping out before remembering to turn off the car. “Come on!” she excitedly beckoned the others. Lupin shook his head and smiled as he waved his wand, shutting off the engine. They all climbed out of the car and breathlessly took in the sight before them. Rays of sparking sunlight shone down on a small stone cottage with a heavy thatch roof surrounded by a sea of colorful wildflowers. Wisps of white smoke fluttered from the chimney, indicating that a warm homey blaze awaited them. Off to the side was a small stone well and beyond that an arched wooden footbridge wrapped in bright flowering vines that led over the small stream and into the woods. A symphony of bird songs greeted them as small animals scampered through the unkempt garden. Draco found that he couldn’t take his eyes off the pleasant yet strangely uncomfortable picture that was unlike anything he’d ever known or imagined… it was surreally perfect, as if a dream or… or…

“It’s like a fairytale.” Luna marveled, providing the words he’d been struggling for. That was exactly what he thought of the little home, that it was fairytale perfect. However, he knew some of those stories began with an innocent picture like this only to end somewhere much darker. He hoped this wasn’t one of those deceptive tales, knowing better than to take something at its face value. He couldn’t imagine any member of his family living here… this was a place for someone like Luna, who seemed a walking fairytale herself with her ethereal presence.

“Come on!” Tonks said again with more impatience, leading them all up to the small wooden door. She knocked vigorously, an expectant smile across her face.

A tall man answered, his eyes a kind blue and his hair a deep chestnut. He looked very much like Tonks when she chose to look more normal. “Dora!” He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his daughter. They embraced tightly before she pulled back and gestured to her husband.

“Dad, you may vaguely remember Remus Lupin.” She reintroduced the two men who amiably shook hands.

“Well, we’ll certainly have to get to know each other now won’t we!” Mr. Tonks laughed. Lupin offered a weak grin and Draco realized that his new guardian was also nervous, this being the first time officially meeting his wife’s parents. It made him feel better, knowing that Lupin and Potter were just as uncomfortable as he was.

“Come on in, all of you! We’re glad you’re all here.” Mr. Tonks invited, happily leading the way back into the house. Muggle or not, Draco found he instantly liked the man and could see why his aunt would chose his warm openness to their family’s cold indifference.

The inside of the house was as cozy as one could imagine from the outside, instantly giving off the feeling of being the home of a happy family. They were brought to a small parlor crammed so full of evidence of the Tonks’ life together that there was barely enough room for them all to fit. “Hold on.” Tonks smiled, waving her wand. The room stretched out, expanding to comfortably fit them all. “Where’s mum?” she asked as she went about creating enough seating for everyone.

“Oh Dromeda darling!” Mr. Tonks called up the stairs. “Dora and the kids have arrived. And she brought that bloke she married!” Above their heads they heard a heavy thud, as if someone had just dropped something heavy. Then the quick patter of light footsteps making their way down. “I hope whatever that was didn’t break.” He shook his head and grinned at his daughter. “We’ve managed to be here three days without her having an accident.”

“Mom’s a bit more accident prone than I am.” Tonks explained as Andromeda rushed into the room.

“Oh I didn’t even hear you all!” She cried, wrapping her arms tightly around her daughter. As introductions were made between all the adults, Draco took the time to discreetly study his aunt. She had the same long, flowing blonde locks as his mother though Andromeda’s were more golden than icy. Like Bellatrix, her eyes were chocolate brown though without that touch of sinister insanity. If Narcissa was considered a statuesque beauty and Bellatrix a strangely exotic creature, then Andromeda could only be described as radiantly divine. The three sisters were each so different and yet their kinship was undeniable.

Turning from Lupin and Drake, Tonks began to introduce the teens but her mother interrupted her, walking directly over to him. “You must be Draco.” Andromeda smiled, though he could tell she was sizing him up the same way he’d just done with her. “I’d know you anywhere, there’s so much of your parents in you.”

“That hasn’t always been a good thing.” He mumbled.

She smiled wider, placing a slight, delicate hand on his shoulder. “Well, in appearance, it is definitely a good thing.” She complimented him before pulling him in for a warm hug. He was momentarily shocked into stillness before stiffly returning the embrace. She stepped back and looked at him closely, a friendly smile still in place. “Well, I can see you still aren’t used to all this. Took me quite awhile after I left the family to realize not only that people could be warm but that it was okay to be so as well. Isn’t that so Ted?” She turned to her husband with a laugh.

“First time I tried to hold your aunt’s hand, she cursed me with one of those binding spells you all do.” Ted laughed along with his wife.

“Bet you’re thankful she got over that!” Drake joked and the two men laughed together.

Andromeda gave her husband a small playful shove before turning back to her nephew with a bit more seriousness. “You and I, we’ll go talk in a few moments. There is so much I need to say to you, and so much about you I’d like to learn.” She squeezed his shoulder. Then she looked to Potter, her eyes filling with sympathy. “You of course are Harry Potter. Another parental resemblance that is impossible to ignore.” She laughed lightly before wrapping him in a hug as well.

Potter appeared as shocked as Draco had been. “It’s nice to meet you.” He said politely. “You knew my parents?”

“Not very well. Our paths crossed a few times all those years ago. It was heartbreaking to hear what had happened… though we were also glad that it had meant the end of all that madness. Or so we’d thought.” She shook her head sadly.

“As much as we knew them, Lily and James Potter were wonderful people.” Ted added with an encouraging smile.

“Mum, dad, let me also introduce Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood.” Tonks gestured proudly at the teens assembled before her.

“It’s wonderful to meet you all. Sirius had told me a bit about some of you and I must say I agree that you appear to be some of the best examples of your generation.” Andromeda said, gaining a bit more formality with the others. The way she held herself slightly aloof from those not immediately important to her was evidence of who she had been raised to be, a left over conditioning to never let strangers get too close. Though a warmly genuine smile still crossed her face Draco saw more traces of his mother in the stiffly regal way his aunt now held herself. He felt his heart plummet, seeing that even after all these years there was still a part of her that she couldn’t overcome. After all, her husband and daughter were both equally warm to everyone.

But Potter was of course more hung up on her actual words than the way she delivered them. “You spoke to Sirius before he died?”

“You mean before my sister murdered him… Dora has filled us in on all the particulars.” Andromeda answered regretfully. “I really liked Sirius, despite his obvious character flaws.”

“Mum was always looking to reach out to anyone willing to break free of the family.” Tonks said with a wink in Draco’s direction. “She always has to keep the blaze of rebellion alive.”

“I chose my side during the last war, if by no other action than inaction.” Andromeda told them all with a deep sigh. “This time, with Dora right in the thick of it, I am forced to defend all the choices I’ve made. I like the life I’ve made for myself and only wanted to help others like me in the family see that they could have better. When Sirius showed up at my door a few years ago, asking for a temporary place to hide I couldn’t say no. In the few weeks he stayed with us, we bonded even more than we had as children over our extreme desire to separate our images from those of our family… he had been worried that for him it was already too late.” She looked to Potter, her eyes full of sadness. “He told me how much he cared for you especially Harry and how happy he was to be able to try and fill in for James as the one to guide you… not that he was one who should be offering guidance to anyone.” She laughed.

“When we found out he was also taken away… Dromeda was devastated.” Ted added, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“I was mad too!” she said with a bit of bitterness. “Bellatrix had been trying for years to destroy my life, it wasn’t fair that she got Sirius before he ever had a chance to really live.”

“So you aren’t mad at me then.” Potter asked quietly.

Andromeda seemed to melt before their eyes. “Of course not Harry! As I said, Dora has filled us in on all the particulars. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted it to go the other way! There’s no excuse to murder children, especially when this battle should really only belong to the older generation.”

Draco hung his head, knowing that by his silence alone he was guilty of Neville Longbottom’s death. He’d known what Cho had intended, that more people had been expected to die and he’d done nothing except take the blame for a short time. But you knew it was wrong, that’s what’s important. Luna’s voice flowed through his mind. I knew what was going to happen and I didn’t say anything either. It’s guilt we will just have to carry with us the rest of our lives.

So she had gotten a vision before the stands blew… he’d always wondered. And then he remembered that in order for her to have answered his thoughts, at some point his shields must have gone down. He reinforced them now, not wanting his thoughts out in the open.

Tonks suggested that everyone not part of the family go outside to stretch their legs after such a long car ride. “There are protection charms everywhere so don’t be afraid of taking a stroll through the trees.” She assured them. “It’s quite relaxing out there.”

Taking the hint, they all filed out leaving Draco alone with Lupin and the Tonks family. He met Ginny’s questioning eye as she stood to follow her friends and shook his head, indicating he didn’t need her to stay, that he thought he’d be okay. Shooting a dazzling, reassuring smile at him, she went along out the door with Luna. Draco held his breath in anticipation. But the words Andromeda spoke were surprisingly unexpected.

“I’m so sorry, Draco.” She hung her head as she took a seat next to him.

“For what?” He asked in breathless confusion.

She shook her head. “That I tried to make it so you’d never be born.”

(BREAK)

Hermione watched as Harry, Ron, Luna and Ginny walked towards the woods. Drake had decided to sit down and meditate, to rejuvenate himself before returning to the school. She had claimed to her friends that she wanted to meditate as well and though she’d received some odd looks, luckily none of them chose to question her. Once certain they had all crossed the little footbridge into the trees, she walked around to the back of the house away from the healer and seated herself in the soft grass. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the compact and quickly opened it. She had noticed a slight change in Fred, he’d been standoffish when they’d said goodbye to him that morning and she wanted to know what could possibly be wrong after such success with his store… but he didn’t answer. She waited several minutes before deciding he must have forgotten to take his compact with him to work, though she’d never known him to be without it before. Sighing heavily, she put the device back in her pocket and lay down among the flowers, staring at the patch of sky and wondering what her life was and how she’d gotten there.

“Hermione?” She felt someone shaking her and bolted upright, unaware that she’d dozed off. Feeling disconcerted, she glanced up to see Ron grinning at her. “So I take it the meditation went a little too well.” He smirked.

“Where is everyone?” She ignored his teasing.

“Harry, Luna and Ginny are out front talking to Drake. They wanted to let you continue napping but…”

“But?” She pushed when he faltered.

“But I kind of wanted to talk to you before we went back to school.” He said slowly.

“About?”

“You and my brother.” He answered, looking her directly in the eye.

Hermione instantly felt her chest tighten with guilt. But she tried to hide it, to remain calm and inconspicuous on the outside. “What on earth are you talking about?” She demanded.

“Oh come on Hermione, I see how whenever he’s around you’re always paying him extra attention, always running off to help him with potions or the store. When did this interest in Fred develop?”

“Since he became my friend years ago. I like to pay attention to and help all of my friends.” She answered defensively. “And why do you care anyway?”

Ron shook his head, his eyes full of accusation. “I don’t. Harry does.”

“Harry knows Fred and I are working on projects together. He’s fine with it.” She said confidently though inside she suddenly wasn’t so sure anymore.

“So he tells you. But when he talks to me, he’s devastated.” He insisted.

She was suddenly skeptical, feeling that if something were bothering Harry that bad she would have noticed. As far as she knew, he as absolutely fine with her spending time with Fred, encouraging even. “What do you mean?” She had to be sure. Harry could very well have talked to Ron, not wanting to upset her.

“I mean he thinks you’re getting ready to break up with him for Fred!” He declared as if it should be obvious. “Is that really what you want to do?”

“Of course not!” Hermione insisted.

“Good, because… well, I mean you already gave up so much to be with him. When you picked him over your parents, you seemed so certain that only the Grangers questioned you. Do you want to prove your parents right? That you and Harry were simply in the throes of ‘puppy love’?”

Her suspicion grew deeper and intuition pricked at the back of her neck. Something didn’t seem right here, Ron was pushing hard, trying to guilt her into… what exactly? Staying with Harry? It just wasn’t making sense. “I didn’t choose him over them, I chose all of you, this entire life over the life my parents wanted for me. Did Harry have something to do with the decision, of course! But he wasn’t the only reason.”

“Whatever you say.” He shook his head. “I just don’t want to see you make yourself and Harry unhappy because of some temptation. You two are the real thing… at least you used to be.”

“We still are.” She insisted, feeling herself begin to become angry.

“Well, you might want to let Harry in on that fact. He’s been trying to figure out how he was going to be able to let you go.” Ron pushed even more. “He told me that all he wants is for you to be happy and was resigned to doing whatever it took, even if it meant letting you go.”

Hermione stood, brushing grass and dirt from her clothes. “If that’s true at all, it’s only because then it’ll free up more time for him to spend with Luna.” She said cruelly, using his ex’s name in hopes of upsetting him as much as he as upsetting her.

Ron also stood, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I asked him about that. Come on, Hermione! We know their pull to each other comes from being in the Coven. You saw it was the same when Gabby was around, she ignored all the rest of us once introduced to Harry and Luna, as if only the three of them existed. Don’t be stupid because you’re jealous.”

She’d never felt so insulted in her whole life. “Thanks for your concern Ron.” She said through clenched teeth before deliberately walking away. Rounding the front of the house, she saw Luna and Ginny sitting off together talking while Harry and Drake walked the yard, also deep in discussion. When he saw her, Harry shot her a friendly smile, gesturing her to come join them. Sighing away the tension built up during her conversation with Ron, she walked over feeling her friend had overreacted. There was a lot going wrong between her and Harry, but who was to say what the reason was? There had been so much growing between them that her attentions to Fred couldn’t possibly be the thing that finally topples them… But as she took his hand and walked by his side, she sadly reflected that eventually there would be something that drove them apart. She felt her heart swell with pain at the thought of not being with Harry, but at the same time, there was a tiny part of her that wondered how life would be without him. As soon as the thought crossed her mind she chastised herself… Whether or not they were a couple there was one thing Hermione was completely certain of- Harry would always be in her life. There was no other way it could be.

(BREAK)

“What do you mean you tried to make it so I was never born?” Draco asked nervously. Tonks reached over to rub his shoulder reassuringly while her mother gathered her thoughts.

At last Andromeda raised her head to meet his eyes. “You know very well what life was like for you growing up… it was worse for me and my sisters. Once Narcissa married Lucius, he pretty much kept her as his, away from the Black family. Unlike Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus, Narcissa had no desire to join the Death Eaters and so for the most part you were protected. But before my sisters and I married, we were fully raised as Blacks. Cousin Sirius and I always got on well as we were the two who never quite fit in, but that family is full of not only evil, but a whole lot of insanity as well. Bellatrix was the one who always embraced that life the most and she was the one who carried on her hatred for me after I left the family for Ted. When I heard that she was to be married, I took the chance, armed myself well and went to see her. I managed to slip the potion into both of their glasses and get out with my life. But it was worth it.” She paused, obviously trying to gather her thoughts.

“What potion?” Draco asked nervously.

She smiled sadly. “One to ensure they never bore a child. I already had Dora to think of… I couldn’t let the evil of our family continue to spread. A child born not only of a Black, but a Lestrange as well? I could easily imagine the monster that would produce and couldn’t let it come to be.” She paused again. “Draco, when I found out your mother was marrying Lucius Malfoy I was horrified. The Malfoys had their own reputation as well, maybe not as barbaric as the Lestranges, instead they were viciously cunning. I could also easily picture their child, very intelligent, highly civilized and extremely dangerous. I didn’t want a more advanced version of Lucius running around in the world.”

“But he’s not a Malfoy! And I’m nothing like him.” Draco insisted, feeling himself begin to panic. He had so wanted these people to like him. Lupin and Tonks moved to sit closer to him, trying to offer reassurance. But he could only look at his aunt.

Andromeda smiled sadly. “No, you aren’t like Lucius… and it very well could be because he wasn’t really a Malfoy. And I’m very glad that by the time I was able to approach Narcissa with the potion to prevent her pregnancy it was too late. You were already on the way and obviously meant to be here.”

Draco shook his head, thinking hard about the fact that because of who his parents were, he was almost never born. “I’m sorry.” He said softly.

“For what dear?” Andromeda asked gently.

“For the way I acted all those years. I’m sorry I almost proved you right, that it would have been better if I hadn’t been born.”

“Oh no, don’t think like that.” She cooed, kneeling before him and hesitantly reaching out to caress his cheek. “I was the one who was wrong Draco, don’t you see? You deserved a chance and I’m so happy you had it. And no matter what has come before this moment, I am grateful that you are here now. I just had to tell you… to make you understand that even after leaving that life behind, it was so difficult for me not to think like them. Even to this day I find myself scheming the easiest way for me to get what I want, but it gets easier to ignore those impulses. Perhaps if I had family to turn to, if Sirius hadn’t been wrongly imprisoned… maybe it would have been easier for me. I want to help you now, to be here for you and make this as easy as possible.”

Draco didn’t know what to say, what to do. Andromeda was a mixture of what he hadn’t admitted he’d been expecting. She was both cold and warm, distant and comforting, scared and courageous. She was someone continually battling her genes and upbringing to be the person she wanted to be and he found that he liked her very much. Searching her eyes he saw no alterior motive, only concern for him. Other than with Ginny, he’d never been the one to initiate affection of any kind, often finding the displays awkward though comforting. Now, acting on impulse he threw his arms around his aunt hoping it was the right thing to do. As he felt her instantly return the embrace, he knew it was what she’d been hoping for. In her arms, he felt safe and secure in a way he never had before… it was the way he’d always wanted to feel around his mother. Though he felt his eyes stinging, he refused to shed any tears. He never cried and wasn’t going to allow himself that weakness now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ted, Lupin and Tonks discreetly make their way out of the room.

“Well then.” Andromeda said when they broke apart. He could see that she was also on the verge of tears, and was just as stubborn in her refusal to shed them. Cupping his face and smiling kindly, she then rose and returned to her own seat continuing on in the conversation as if the moment that had passed between them hadn’t happened. He was grateful. “I suppose my only regret at this point is that I didn’t try to seek you out sooner. Perhaps I could have helped save you quite a bit of grief over the years. It was my mistake to assume Sirius and I were the only ones not to entirely fit in.”

“I think it was better this way, even if it is harder. I never would have listened to you before now, I had to find my own way out, like you and Sirius.” He answered thoughtfully.

She smiled. “You’re probably right.” Then she once more turned somber, lowering her eyes as she asked a question she was clearly uncomfortable asking. “How is your mother? I imagine it must be difficult to be abandoned by one’s husband and child.”

Draco shook his head. “The last time I saw her, she was more frazzled than I’d ever seen her, but immovable in her way of life. I guess I was disappointed, I sort of hoped she would have chosen me over Lucius.”

Andromeda sighed deeply. “Narcissa was a strange creature… always needing things to be just so. She tends to lose herself a bit when surrounded by chaos… she even brought you to me once during the last war.”

“What?” he was astounded by the revelation.

“That’s right… she was so overwhelmed by things being out of her control, she accidentally went sane.” She smiled. “It was the first and last time I saw you before today, and Lucius came pretty quickly to collect you both. But for a moment I thought I had her convinced that for your sake it was better she disentangle herself. Ted and I offered to hide you both, to send you away until things were more settled. But when your father showed up with Bellatrix and Rodolphus, disgusted by the fact that she’d brought you to us of all people, Narcissa became who she always was… a beautiful sculpture that was trying to hide the cracks in her finish. It was how she’d trained herself to survive… I didn’t want to let her go back but I was no match for Lucius and Bellatrix both. Dora was a little girl and Ted wouldn’t have stood a chance against their magic. I was too scared for the family I made to try and save the one I’d left behind. I’ve had no contact with any of them since… I just thought you should know, if she could, your mother would choose you. But she can’t, not because she’s choosing your father, but because she’s choosing herself. She loved you Draco, probably still does. It’s her flaws that keep her from showing it, not yours.”

“Sorry to interrupt.” Ted said brightly as he reentered the room carrying a tray. “I thought everyone could use a little refreshment. Dora and Remus are outside handing out snacks to the others.”

“Thank you.” Andromeda smiled warmly at her husband as he handed her a cup.

“I hope you are both getting on well.” He returned her smile as he sat next to her.

“Better than I’d hoped actually. It seems Draco is a bit further along in his acceptance of a different life than I thought.” Now she turned her smile on him as she became teasing. “It makes me curious as to which of those lovely ladies you decided to fall on your sword for…”

Draco felt himself blush and shifted uncomfortably. “Well… I…”

“Don’t worry… if I hadn’t met Ted, who knows if I ever would have chosen to leave. We all find our reasons. Sirius had his friends, I had Ted and you have…”

“Ginny.” He admitted at last. Who better to understand betraying everyone for someone they loved than his aunt?

“Ah, a Weasley. I believe there was someone else in our family who was blasted off the tree for going after a Weasley… my grandfather’s cousin I believe… fell for one of young Ginny’s great aunts. A very old family, but not quite as respected as they ought to be.” Andromeda sighed.

“But Dora has said that Arthur is doing his best to change that. Says he’s doing great things with your ministry.” Ted added.

Before Draco could reply on just how great Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been to him, Lupin and Tonks reentered the house and came into the magically altered parlor. “Sorry to interrupt, but Remus has insisted it is getting to be that time. Albus will be furious if I’m late returning two of his professors and six of his students.” Tonks grinned regretfully at her parents.

Andromeda stood and embraced her daughter. “And when will be the next time we see each other Dora?”

“Much sooner than a year this time I hope?” Ted added, going to his daughter’s other side.

“Hey, you were the ones out of the country almost that whole time!” Tonks protested as they said their goodbyes.

They all headed outside where the others gathered round to politely thank their hosts. Draco walked over to Ginny and was grateful when she instantly reached for his hand. It had felt so intense while talking to his aunt, it was nice to be back in the presence of someone who reminded him of the lighter, more fun side of life. Ted and Andromeda walked them back to the ministry car, pulling him back for a more private farewell. This time, Ginny stayed at his side. “Well Draco, I’m so happy to say that it has been a pleasure to meet you.” Ted reached out to shake his hand. And so Draco did something he wouldn’t have done a year ago, he cordially shook hands with a muggle- with no alterior motive, with nothing more than mutual respect. It was strange yet freeing to accept someone for who they were and not what they were.

“Please know that you are always welcome here now Draco.” Andromeda placed her hand on his shoulder before turning to smile at Ginny as well. “You and your friends.”

“Thank you. I wish I had something to offer in return.” He replied, feeling more than a little embarrassed by all of the attention he was being given.

“You do. Keep an eye on Dora for us, keep her as safe as she’s sworn to keep all of you.” She whispered so her daughter wouldn’t hear. Then she pulled him into yet another hug. “All of you be careful.” She said loudly when they parted. “And Dora, we expect you here at least one night this week for dinner.”

“Whatever you say mum.” Tonks laughed as she ushered the teens into the car.

Draco was the last to get in, following Lupin and Ginny. There was no place to turn the car around and so they had to go in reverse down the narrow road. He kept his eyes trained out the front window even after the clearing faded, his only regret being that he hadn’t left his parents years earlier.

(BREAK)

Ron was glad to be back on the road to Hogwarts. After his talk with Hermione, she’d spent the rest of their time at the Tonks house glaring at him. This hadn’t bothered him so much, he’d expected her to be mad. No, what made him uncomfortable was the other look in her eye, the familiar focused intensity she always wore when trying to figure something out. The last thing he wanted was for her to catch onto what he was doing. Perhaps he’d pushed his luck trying to manipulate Hermione… she wasn’t as easy to guilt as Fred and Harry and certainly far more aware. But what was done was done and if the way she was tightly holding Harry’s hand was any indication, he’d gotten into her head a little.

Three out of four taken care of, that just left Luna. He glanced in her direction and shook his head. No, he wouldn’t be talking to Luna about any of this. Of the four, she was the one who would see through him in an instant. Between her powers and her uncanny way of reading people through careful observation, there as no way he’d get away with it. Hopefully he’d done enough already without involving her. It wasn’t like she’d do anything sneaky or underhanded to get what she wanted the way Ginny had tried last year. Even in her darkest times Luna was all goodness and light; if Harry and Hermione remained a couple, Ron was certain she wouldn’t do anything about it. In time they’ll all forget they were even thinking of shaking up the group, and maybe then he tell them how hard he tried to keep them together. He couldn’t wait for the day when they’d all thank him for his effort… especially since in the current moment, he felt horrible for the lies he’d told his friends and his brother.

“We’ll be at the school in about two hours. Just in time for dinner.” Drake said happily as he turned onto the main road. Now that they were going somewhere familiar, he’d insisted on driving, much to the relief of all other passengers.

Ron’s stomach rumbled in reply, apparently the cakes and tea they’d had at the cottage hadn’t been as filling as he’d hoped. Putting aside all unpleasant thoughts, he settled back against his seat and tried to think only of how close he was to being back at Hogwarts.

(BREAK)

“So?” Ginny asked Draco as soon as they were locked away in his dorm room. They’d both decided to skip dinner.

“So what?”

“So how do you think it went? Did you like them? I mean I thought they were nice and they seemed to really like you so that makes me like them even more. Did she answer all your questions? Were they what you expected? Was-” She was cut off as Draco placed a hand over her mouth.

“Why do you seem nervous? It’s all over now.” He grinned.

“I’m not nervous.” She protested, pulling his hand away. “You said very little the whole way back here, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine. Just… I don’t know. I guess I just feel a little bit stupid right now.” He admitted, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“What do you mean? We both now you’re irritatingly smart.” She joked lightly as she sat and threw her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

“It just took me so long to decide to leave… and even when I did I was always questioning myself… well, except when you were around.”

“You say the nicest things about me… for you anyway. But flattery is flattery I suppose, I’ll take what I can get.” She grinned with another light joke, finally eliciting a small smile from him.

“I’m just tired of all of this.” He sighed. “Sometimes I wish it were years in the future and everything was settled and everyone finally knows where they stand and who they are.”

“You think you’re the only one who wishes for that?” She asked gently as he leaned to rest his head against hers.