The Next Dance

Aerie22

Story Summary:
Harry Potter and Parvati Patil have beaten back an attack by Voldemort early in their fifth year and are now a couple. Lucius Malfoy is on the run and Draco is penniless. But will an injured Voldemort lash back? Or will an angry and embittered Draco strike first? And will Harry's romance survive Parvati's legendary temper, especially with Hermione there for him? And what of the brooding character that makes this fic decidedly A/U? Sequel to Dance With Me Harry.

Chapter 14

Chapter Summary:
Harry Potter and Parvati Patil have beaten back an attack by Voldemort early in their fifth year and are now a couple. Lucius Malfoy is on the run and Draco is penniless. But will an injured Voldemort lash back? Or will an angry and embittered Draco strike first? And will Harry’s romance survive Parvati’s legendary temper, especially with Hermione there for him? And what of the brooding character that makes this fic decidedly A/U? Sequel to Dance With Me Harry. This chapter: Dumbledore worries, Ron’s angst, Harry shops, and Sirius unburdens and receives a curious invitation.
Posted:
02/02/2004
Hits:
3,607
Author's Note:
Author’s note: This is a sequel to my earlier novel, Dance With Me Harry. Reading the first part of this series is highly recommended. Also, this is an A/U fic, taking place in Harry’s fifth year. However, there will be elements from OotP that may surface from time to time, so be aware of the potential spoiler effect for all five books. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. Please continue to read and review.


THE NEXT DANCE

BY AERIE22

CHAPTER 14

IN-LAWS

* * *

It was only a small gathering of the Order of the Phoenix. The Headmaster's office clearly could accommodate a larger crowd, but Professor Dumbledore felt that the five would be sufficient for this report. He glanced from Sirius, to Lupin, to Moody, to Snape.

"Any thoughts?"

Sirius, giving Snape an annoyed sidelong glance, pursed his lips. "Well, they must be in trouble if they're recruiting the likes of Schmoo Baker," he said with a smirk.

"Remus?" Dumbledore asked.

The werewolf shrugged. "After Sirius left, Baker talked to several people at the bar. The names I could get were Niles, Press, Porter, Broomstick and Clamshell. Only Clamshell showed any interest."

Sirius snorted. "Willie 'Clamshell' Singer. A real low-life. Totally worthless drunk. Niles Clairmont and Press Davies have jobs and families. Porter ... I don't know what his real name is ... and Charlie 'Broomstick' Steck are on the margins but seem to make some kind of living. Schmoo is just one step above Clamshell, and that's not saying much."

Dumbledore nodded. "So what does that tell us? Severus?"

Snape frowned in concentration. "Simply that the Dark Lord is finding it difficult to recruit among the purebloods and more powerful wizarding families. His little incident with Potter has scared many off, or convinced them that ... Voldemort ... is not as powerful as they thought. So he is seeking to build his strength among the underclass through financial incentives before pursuing strategic goals."

Dumbledore nodded. "Alastor? Any thoughts?"

Moody's magic eye kept flicking back and forth between Snape and the Headmaster. "That matches what I've been hearing from the MLE. There are indications of resistance among established wizarding families. A couple of people from prominent families actually reported approaches from known Death Eaters. And if two were approached and reported it, there must have been a couple dozen who said no, but are keeping their options open."

Dumbledore nodded, deep in thought. "So what does this all mean?"

Remus cleared his throat. "This is bad," he said quietly.

Snape turned to Lupin and gave him a thoughtful look.

"What?" Moody growled.

Remus sighed. "It means that Voldemort is desperate. He is recruiting an army of expendable foot soldiers. Once he feels he has enough, he'll strike hard in an attempt to terrify people ... and in an attempt to motivate the more powerful fence-sitters to choose up sides."

Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Severus? Your thoughts on the matter."

Snape sighed. "There is some concern among his followers. I understand there was an attempt on the Dark Lord's life recently. So he has to act. A strike by Black's low-life friends might just stir things up enough to give him credibility."

Sirius scowled. "He's not going to get anywhere with people like Schmoo and Clamshell. He's going to have to do something to show there's money in it for the real underworld to think about taking sides. Most of the Knockturn Alley types aren't true believers. They want what's in it for them. No Dark Mark without Galleons in hand and solid evidence of a lot more to come. So I think this recruitment phase will go on for a while until Voldemort feels he's got a critical mass ... an army to follow him. Until then, I think he'll lie low."

The Headmaster sighed again. Anything else?" Dumbledore asked. When the group could offer no more, he simply nodded. "Thank you all for coming. There is much to ponder in these new developments. If you have any more information or ideas, please communicate them at once."

At that, the little group broke up.

* * *

"Well, if you have something to say, say it!" Hermione exclaimed in annoyance.

Hermione had never been friendly with her roommates, but this year had been particularly difficult. At the beginning of the year, Hermione was annoyed to find Parvati was trying to get her talons into Ron and prying into her own relationship with her other best friend, Harry. And Hermione had turned snippy, angered that her roommate seemed to be trying to interfere with her relationship with her two best friends.

As it turned out, Parvati had been interested in Ron, and why not? But what Hermione hadn't realized until too late was that Parvati's prying was only her way of trying to be a friend and help her with Harry.

Then everything went to hell.

Parvati now had Harry.

Hermione, never the most sociable of girls, now found living with Parvati and Lavender an ordeal. She was actually surprised that Parvati seemed to make an effort to be friendly. She sighed at the thought that her roommate was probably exercising the old adage that you should keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Lavender, on the other hand, was her usual irascible self. If you were her friend, she loved you. If you were just an acquaintance, she was intrigued, particularly if you were a boy. But if she thought you were an enemy, she was cold as ice.

And Hermione felt a particular chill tonight.

She stared at Lavender and Parvati as she prepared to go to Hogsmeade with Ron, something she had promised him in a moment of weakness when she hadn't given enough thought to the crumbling state of her studies.

"Well?" she said in exasperation.

Lavender suddenly stood up and faced her. "What I want to know is how could you let Ron do that to his own sister?" she exclaimed.

Hermione looked in confusion at Lavender, then Parvati, who was frowning. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lavender continued to scowl, but Parvati's eyes fluttered in consternation. "Haven't you talked to Ginny lately?" Parvati asked.

Hermione gave a confused look. "Well ... I haven't seen her around much. What's going on?"

Lavender gave a theatrical sigh of exasperation and flopped down on her bed. Parvati, however, frowned thoughtfully. "Hmmmm, I think you should talk to Ginny about what's been going on."

Hermione blanched, realizing this was probably something important. "What's been going on?"

Parvati sighed. "Just talk to Ginny, okay?"

A chill went down Hermione's spine. 'What had Ron done?' she thought desperately.

* * *

Hermione knocked on the dorm next door and was asked in. She immediately felt a chill at least as cold as her own dorm. There were six fourth-year Gryffindor girls and they always seemed to get along. But as she entered their dorm, she noticed that they seemed to have gathered into two widely separated groups. Rachel Weiss and Moira Duffy were huddled on Moira's bed next to door on the right, while a frowning Regina Bowen was sitting with Chloe Jacobs and Toni Spina in the far corner of the room.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked.

Moira looked up. "Try the library," she said quietly.

Hermione blinked and, with a puzzled expression, turned a left.

* * *

It took Hermione a few minutes to find Ginny. She wasn't at the normal table where the fourth-year Gryffindor girls usually sat. She finally found her younger friend at a table near the restricted section next to a group of fifth-year Ravenclaw boys. Hermione made a face as she saw Ginny continually glance in a flirtatious manner over in the boys' direction, seemingly trying to catch somebody's eye.

Hermione walked over and dropped her satchel down on the table and took a chair next to Ginny.

Ginny looked up surprised, then suddenly narrowed her eyes angrily. "If you've come here for my brother, forget it," she growled. "I'm never speaking to him again."

Hermione was taken aback. "What are you talking about?" she whispered urgently.

Ginny glared at Hermione. "Oh, don't tell you haven't heard about my brave and noble-minded brother's actions to defend my honor?"

Hermione gave a puzzled blink. "I...no I haven't. He said you were upset over something or other, but didn't elaborate."

Ginny gave Hermione an angry frown. "Well, allow me to elaborate a little..."

* * *

Harry took a deep breath and entered the dorm.

He knew Ron was up there. And he knew that Seamus, Dean and Neville were down in the common room. It was now or never.

"Ron?" Harry said softly.

He heard a grunt from behind the closed curtains around his friend's bed.

"Ron?" Harry repeated.

"I don't want to talk about it," came the muffled reply.

Harry sat on his bed, his shoulders sagging. "Ron, we have to talk."

Suddenly, the bed curtains were yanked apart and a visibly upset face appeared. "Don't you start on me, now. I've had enough for one day," Ron said, his voice cracking.

Harry gave his best friend a puzzled, sympathetic look. "What?"

"Bloody hell," Ron said, flopping back on his bed.

Harry was puzzled now. "What happened?"

Ron gave a big sigh. "Hermione and I...well, she told me if Ginny didn't have a date for the Yule Ball, I could forget about her and the Ball. She said she would go with my sister and I could find someone else or go alone."

Harry shook his head in confusion. "What?"

"Ginny told Hermione about the...well, what happened with Velazquez and all. And a couple of things I might have said to a couple other guys, real jerks who were interested in Ginny. I've never seen Hermione so mad. She told me I hurt Ginny, broke up a bunch of friendships among Ginny's classmates. She said she could barely show her face in her own dorm until I straightened things out. She accused me of everything except being a Death Eater. Said I probably caused more harm in Gryffindor than any three Death Eaters could."

Harry sighed, closing his eyes. "You meant well," he said in a soft, consoling voice.

Ron raised his head sharply. "That's what I told her. She just accused me of being a Neen-der--something or other. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good."

Harry shook his head. "Neanderthal. A cave man. Just another name for a jerk."

Ron snorted.

"She's right, you know," Harry said quietly.

Ron screwed up his face in anger. "I told you not to start..."

"So Hermione won't go to the Ball with you unless you find Ginny a date?"

Ron rolled on the bed to face away. "Yeah," he said in a faraway voice.

Harry sighed again. "Well, what about Dean?"

Ron grunted. "Asked him. He said he wanted to ask Megan Jones in Hufflepuff."

Harry pondered. "Not Colin?"

Ron snorted. "He's going with Loony Luna. There's a match made in heaven."

"What about Cecil Huddleston? He's a little annoyed at things, but they are Quidditch teammates and all."

Ron shook his head. "Snape...Velazquez arranged for him to take Chloe Jacobs. All the fourth year Gryffindors are spoken for."

Harry took a deep breath. "How about one of the other houses? They can't all be spoken for. It's too early."

Ron snorted. "I don't know guys in the other Houses. Well...not that well, anyway."

Harry suddenly got an evil look. "Well, there's always Malfoy. You know him," he said with a smirk.

Ron sat up and gave Harry a foul look. "Don't even mention that name in our dorm."

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Look, I'll ask Parvati. Maybe she'll have some ideas. After all, we wouldn't want your new dress robes to go to waste."

Ron nodded. "I hope so." Ron lay back in his bed, his frown turning slowly more thoughtful. "Oh, listen. I've got a few ideas about some plays for the reserves. I ..." Then Ron paused as he saw Harry's expression darken. "What?"

Harry closed his eyes and lowered his head, remembering why he had come up to the dorms after Ron in the first place. "Oh, I needed to talk to you about that," he said quietly.

Ron's face fell. "What about?" he said in an anxious voice.

Harry took a deep breath. "That thing about being captain of the reserves. Angelina changed her mind," he said in a quiet voice.

Ron's face flushed and his eyes widened in disappointment. "Why, Harry?"

Harry gave his friend a sad look. "Well...after your confrontation with Seve and all, things have gotten a little tense on the team. Someone made some comments about Regina being Seve's second choice for the Ball, and so she's mad at Ginny. Now there's all kinds of problems among the fourth year girls and it's spilled over to the team. Seve, Regina and Cecil aren't talking to Ginny and Theo, and all of them are angry at you. And Angelina is furious. She says you owe about a dozen people apologies. Says you couldn't manage a one-man line at the loo." Harry scowled and silently cursed himself for adding that unnecessary detail.

Ron's face turned a crimson and turned away from Harry.

Harry closed his eyes in sorrow for his friend. "Look, maybe if you talked to them one at a time. Try to mend some fences. At very least you need to talk to Seve. If you could make things right with him, I think a lot of the rest will fall into place."

At first, Ron didn't respond. He simply curled into a ball facing away from Harry.

Harry shook his head sadly and was about to get up when he heard Ron grunt. "Look...I don't know. Things will work themselves out, I guess," the redhead muttered, still facing away from Harry

Harry took a deep breath. "You know, there's still a lot of tension on the team. And among the fourth year girls. You think that's just going to go away?"

Harry could see Ron's shoulders seemingly hunch as if in a shrug. "In a couple weeks...maybe. After Christmas...Everything will be back to normal," he said in a quiet, tentative voice.

Harry was getting annoyed. Things like this didn't just go away. Broken friendships were not easily mended. How could he explain it to Ron? How could he get his point across to get Ron to think, rather than have his roommate simply start a row rather than listen. Then he remembered an incident when he was little, when Aunt Marge was visiting and her hated dog Ripper had an accident on the rug. He remembered Aunt Petunia's lecture about how Harry had to clean up the mess, which was delivered to him in low, almost polite tones, because Marge was in the next room and wasn't to be embarrassed.

"Ron?"

The boy slowly turned to look over his shoulder at Harry.

Harry gave Ron a level gaze. "Just imagine a dog comes into the Burrow and makes a mess on the rug."

Ron turned and blinked in confusion, figuring this was another of Harry's weird tangents.

Harry nodded. "Well, you could leave it there. It will smell for a while. But pretty soon, the smell will go away. But the stain will always be there. At least unless you clean it up right away. And the longer you put off cleaning the mess, the harder it will be to clean it up, and the better the chance that the mess will be stepped in by others."

Ron gave Harry a blank look.

Harry sighed. "When you picked that fight with Seve, you made a mess. And you've been putting off cleaning it up. And people have already stepped in it and dragged it up to the fourth year girls' dorm. I hear that no one is speaking to each other up there. Now Cecil and Theo have gotten involved, which means our two keepers are not speaking. You've got to do something to make things right. You owe Seve an apology. And Ginny, too. Maybe that will be a start in really cleaning up the mess. If you don't, there'll always be that stain there."

Harry braced himself for Ron's angry response. But instead, Ron simply rolled over on his bed again. It took a few minutes before he spoke.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," he said quietly. "I just was trying to watch out for Ginny."

Harry could hear Ron breathing heavily.

Ron threw an arm over his face. "When I was growing up, everyone always watched out for me. I just wanted to be able to watch out for someone. And I really didn't like seeing Seve act that way around her. I just wanted to protect her."

Harry took another deep breath. "Ron, she's not an adult yet, but she's not an infant either. You can be there for her without smothering her."

Ron grunted. "I wasn't trying to smother her. I just...want her to be careful."

"Ron, you can't be a good big brother if you're acting like her jailer. And you can't listen to her problems if she isn't speaking to you."

Ron turned on his side, facing away from Harry. "I don't know. It's just my way..."

Harry shook his head. "Well, your way is wrong," he said quietly but firmly.

Ron was silent except that Harry could hear a quiet sniffle. Finally, Ron coughed. "Just one little thing...one mistake. And it's bollixing up everything," he said in a choking voice.

Harry sighed. He understood how one little misunderstanding could change lives.

* * *

It was a subdued, even boring prefects' meeting. For once, there were no pressing crises to discuss, so some of the prefects felt it time to bring out pet peeves. Harry gave an internal shrug and simply let his mind wander. He knew he'd have to talk to the fifth years that were part of his group teaching Defense to the younger students. After a second session with such a large group, he knew things were totally out of hand.

He had toyed with the idea of asking the leaders from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to take the lessons in-house. But he saw how a large part of the fun that the younger students were having was getting the chance to associate with their classmates from other houses for the first time.

And then there were the Slytherins. Who would work with them?

Harry knew that if he were to break up the lessons and practice into houses, those from Slytherin would feel betrayed. He wouldn't be able to face them again.

Which left dividing the group up by years. But who would handle that? He couldn't take on four---even five, counting the fifth years--different sessions. He was already sacrificing his Tuesday afternoons for the younger students and Thursday afternoons for the fifth years. Between that, Quidditch practices on Monday and alternate Friday afternoons and losing Wednesday afternoons to prefects meetings, he was beginning to feel the burden.

He would have to talk to the others to try to figure something out.

Instead of worrying about that issue, he gazed around the room. He wondered at the interesting mixture of students. Even among the fifth years, it was quite a collection. There were the swots, Hermione full of enthusiasm and drive, Mandy Brocklehurst intense and insecure, and Terry Boot, the unfocused dreamer. Hannah, the innocent, fresh-faced beauty, full of concern and compassion. Millicent was the cynical organizer, tough but with a surprising sense of humor. There was Ernie, the good-looking man's man who couldn't think past his own hormones. And then there was Malfoy, the sneering, angry little twit who was slowly falling apart.

Then Harry was distracted by a movement to his left. It was Mike Gillespie, the Hufflepuff seeker and sixth year prefect. Gillespie was motioning to signal Ernie Macmillan and, when he got Ernie's attention, gave a subtle shake of his head. Harry gave a sidelong glance down the other end of the fifth year table and saw Ernie give Gillespie a quizzical look, then lean back, no longer trying to catch McGonagall's attention.

Harry frowned. Mike Gillespie was a puzzle. Harry hadn't known him except as a chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team two years ago. Mike had moved to seeker this year.

By any measure, Gillespie was an enigma. He was often friendly in a quiet way, taking you aside for a funny or quirky story or observation. But at other times, he seemed to be quietly observing, sometimes showing a small smile of amusement at something only he seemed to notice. And Harry also noticed how he seemed constantly pulling over other Hufflepuffs for quiet conversations. Harry never knew what he was thinking.

But this year, he had gotten to talk to Gillespie and began to hear things about him. Harry was surprised to learn that Gillespie was consistently in the top five academically in his class. And he discovered that he had been good friends with Cedric Diggory. One of the first things Harry had experienced this year was Mike pulling him aside and asking about Cedric's death, frowning and nodding in concentration. Finally, Mike had simply looked at Harry and, with a rare serious expression, thanked Harry for bringing Cedric's body back. He mentioned quietly that this one act had convinced him and most of the other Hufflepuffs that Harry had no responsibility for Diggory's death.

It was that, more than anything else--even a quiet conversation with Cho earlier this year-- that helped lighten Harry's burden over the murder of his friend.

Now, as the meeting was breaking up, Gillespie caught Harry's eye. Harry shrugged and hung back after grabbing Mandy to tell her he wanted to meet the DADA group later. To his surprise, Hannah, looking uncomfortable, and Ernie held back, as well.

Gillespie motioned the three students to the side of the prefects meeting room. Gillespie eyed Harry cautiously. "I hear you're training students in Defense."

Harry paused and looked back and forth between Hannah and Ernie, who had taken spots on either side of Mike. He turned his attention back to the sixth-year prefect. "We're just teaching them to defend themselves. Giving them some self-confidence."

Gillespie's eyes seemed to bore into Harry's. "You're building an army. You're getting them ready for his return."

Harry stared back at his fellow seeker. "I'm preparing them for whatever happens," he said in a low voice. "Whether here, or outside."

Gillespie continued to stare at Harry. "He's not dead like the Ministry claims, is he?"

Harry narrowed his gaze. "Voldemort is still alive," he said evenly. "We hurt him. But he'll be back."

Hannah gasped, and Ernie looked uncomfortable. But Gillespie didn't blink. "He killed my aunt and uncle--my mum's brother back when I was a pup. Him and his ... people. And he killed Cedric. If he's back, I want a part of it," he said with quiet intensity. "And I know some others who would want to be a part of it."

Harry continued to stare at Gillespie, but now more in surprise. "What do you want?"

Gillespie frowned and looked down, as if in thought. He glanced up with a serious expression. "There's a lot of people who want to do something. To get revenge. To stop living in fear. But they never had a focus. You are providing focus. We want to join what you're doing."

Harry took a deep breath. "Can they be trusted? Your friends?"

Gillespie took a deep breath. "The ones I vouch for, yes," he said quietly. "Not everyone you've got can be."

Harry frowned. "The Slytherins?" he asked quietly.

Gillespie pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I don't know who you've got among the kids. The ones you've got in fifth year are okay, I guess. Maybe not Blythe. Not because he's a Death Eater, but he's weak. But don't trust any of the older ones. The only one I'd trust is Bletchley, but I wouldn't put him in that position of keeping that a secret."

Harry continued to listen intently. "So who?"

Gillespie frowned in concentration. Finally, he looked up. "This is an old-line pureblood issue. They've been losing influence for generations. Now they survive through bribes and bullying. They corrupted the Ministry. Now, they see ..." and Gillespie cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "They see Voldemort as a way back to power. Them, and the ones with ruthless ambition. They're the ones to watch out for."

Harry nodded. "Who do you think fits that profile?"

Gillespie shuffled for a moment. "The usual crowd. And you have to watch out for the young ones and the Muggle-borns who don't understand what's at stake. To them, it's just a game."

Harry frowned. "You're not going to tell me who is a threat."

Gillespie sighed. "Boot in Ravenclaw is a nitwit. Don't trust him to be discrete. In Hufflepuff, watch out for Zacharias. Finch-Fletchley doesn't understand what we've been through. He's not a bad guy, but he may not understand what's at stake. There are a couple more Muggle-borns who don't get it. There are a few others that I don't know about. And like I said, maybe some of the young ones think this is all a game. But most of Hufflepuff can be trusted. I'd rely on Hannah and Ernie for more on the younger ones. I can't tell about the Ravenclaws. Just watch out for Roger Davies. He's a little too ambitious for my tastes. And beware of anyone with Ministry connections."

Hannah gasped, but Gillespie quieted her with a glance. "Susan Bones is okay. I trust her. Hannah trusts her."

Harry eyed Gillespie suspiciously. "What about in Gryffindor?" he asked with an edge in his voice.

The Hufflepuff snorted. "You should know that better than I would. This is in part a pure-blood crusade. Look at your old-line purebloods. The Weasleys? Longbottom? The Browns? The Duffys? I believe you've got a Richardson and a Young. Do they seem to be the type who would betray us? And your Muggle-borns have seen what's at stake up close and can be trusted. Or at least I assume they can. The only Gryffindors I could think of to watch out for have already graduated. I don't see anyone else who is overly ambitious. At least not to that level."

Harry's glare softened. "So what do you want?"

Gillespie once again looked down thoughtfully. "To help teach the young ones. And to get together to learn and practice. Maybe not so formally. And I can bring a couple others in from my year, and maybe a seventh year or two. And, if you're smart and can control them, Fred and George Weasley can teach us all a thing or two about charms."

Harry suddenly smiled. "I'll have to think about that," he said with a quiet chuckle. "You free after supper? Down in the DADA classroom with Moody?"

Gillespie nodded. "Tonight's fine." He said quietly. Then, he got a mischievous expression on his face. "But for future meetings, I'll have to check my dance card. Got to watch out for Thursday afternoons and alternate Mondays. Quidditch practice," he said with a smile. "We've got Ravenclaw in a couple months. If we'd had a little more time to get in shape before facing you guys, we would have taken Gryffindor and been a lock for the Cup," he said with a smirk.

Harry chuckled. "If we've had a little more practice, well ..."

Harry smiled inwardly, as well. This might help solve the problem of breaking up the DADA lessons for the underclassmen.

* * *

"Harry, I'm inclined to recommend against your plans."

Harry frowned and took a deep breath. "It's not your decision to make," he said in a flat, emotionless voice. "I'll just have to find my own way. Now, if there was anything else you wanted to see me about." He made to rise.

Dumbledore sighed. "Please, Harry, sit. I just wanted to voice my concerns."

Harry looked sadly back at the Headmaster. "I never had a real family. I've never had a real home," he said quietly. "I've never had a real girlfriend. And I've never had a real Christmas." Harry was almost whispering now. "So I'm going home to be with my family and my girl for the holidays."

Dumbledore returned Harry's sad look with a resigned smile and nodded. "Very well, Harry. I will take care that you enjoy your holiday. I will see if we can get portkeys, or perhaps open the floo network to the vicarage."

Harry gave a curt nod. "Thank you, Professor," he said softly, before turning and leaving.

Dumbledore sighed as he watched the door close. He closed his eyes and pondered. He had to do something, or he would lose Harry.

After the events of this summer, he had finally realized his mistake in sending Harry to live with the Dursleys. Surely, the ancient blood protections were an issue. But they did not become a necessity until after Harry's fourth year, when Voldemort rose again. The Headmaster had simply wanted Harry to be raised as a normal boy. Once the LeStranges were captured not long after Voldemort's first downfall, there was not much more to be done except keep his eyes open for new signs of Dark activity. He even disbanded the original Order of the Phoenix. And he simply forgot about Harry until he arrived at Hogwarts.

It was only this past summer that the Headmaster realized that Harry's childhood had been anything but normal. He had expected to see the scar on the boy's forehead. He had not expected to see the other scars, both visible and invisible. He had hoped to see an excited, enthusiastic boy enter Hogwarts and was rewarded. He did not expect the angry and suspicious young man that Harry had become and was now troubled.

And now, as if to make up for the years of neglect, Dumbledore was trying to find the best way to protect Harry. Perhaps he was being as overprotective now as he had been neglectful during Harry's formative years. He had to find a way to protect the boy without smothering him. Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed. What of the boy's happiness? But what of the prophecy? he thought

Maybe Minerva was right. Perhaps it was best simply to let Harry enjoy himself. Security could be arranged where necessary. And Harry could be trained to watch out and protect himself. Moody was taking care of that for now. And maybe more could be done in the next term.

Still, the Headmaster was troubled and saddened. He truly loved the boy. And he felt that love returned during Harry's first few years at Hogwarts. But now he felt he was losing Harry. No, he didn't fear Harry would turn to the Dark. But Dumbledore felt he was losing Harry in other ways. Perhaps it was natural. The boy was now fully into his rebellious adolescent years. But Harry was too important, too valuable, to be let go.

So Dumbledore was worried. He felt he was losing Harry's trust, and that was critical. He would have to find a way to reach out to the boy -- make that the young man that Harry had become.

Dumbledore sighed again and turned to the next crisis on his agenda.

* * *

It was the last Hogsmeade weekend before the Yule Ball and the Christmas break. After a tumultuous couple weeks, things suddenly had begun to look up.

It had started a few days ago, when Professor Dumbledore told him that an agent in the Ministry would quietly open up a floo connection between the Patil estate and the Strowbridges between 3:00 and 3:30 in the afternoon on Christmas Day to allow Harry and Parvati to visit his foster parents. A return floo connection would be opened at the same time four days later.

Then Harry noticed at the next Quidditch practice that Ron and Severino Velazquez amiably going over plays, and Ginny and Regina Bowen having a quiet conversation outside the lockers. 'Maybe that crisis is finally over,' he thought.

Then, it happened. Thursday, Ravenclaw stunned Slytherin in their Quidditch match.

There was absolutely no reason why Ravenclaw should have beat Slytherin. Slytherin had four members of a veteran team returning, including probably the best keeper in the school, Jack Bletchley.

On the other hand, Ravenclaw had a young, inexperienced team. Harry recalled chuckling with Angelina, Katie and Alicia over the new Ravenclaw chaser line, and the fact that Kevin Entwhistle, who was a steady but plodding flyer, had made the team as a right wing. The only really formidable players on the team were Cho Chang as seeker and Tony Goldstein as one of the beaters.

But come time for the match, Slytherin seemed to play a loose, disorganized match. Even Bletchley's constant chattering from goal to organize attacks and to call the defenses seemed to have little effect. Harry had heard that there was a lot of bad blood on the Slytherin team. Malfoy, who had been named captain at the beginning of the year, had been ousted after Crabbe and Goyle left and he was unable to deliver on his promise of new brooms for the team. Now the seventh-year, Bletchley, was captain. And there were rumors that Millicent Bulstrode and second-year Malcolm Baddock had been kept from the team to make way for Crabbe and Goyle, who were only marginal flyers, only to be brought back reluctantly when Malfoy's cronies left the school. Bad blood indeed.

Despite all this, and the fact that Ravenclaw fought hard, the outcome seemed certain.

Then lightning struck.

Malfoy's play seemed lackadaisical, with him casually shadowing Cho throughout the match. Clearly, shadowing Cho Chang was one of the most boring of Quidditch tasks as she tended to cover the pitch in her search for the snitch in regular, methodical patterns. But the fact that Malfoy was not paying attention when Cho suddenly bolted cost him the edge he needed to muscle her off the snitch.

So Ravenclaw beat Slytherin, 170-70 only 35 minutes into the match.

Harry chuckled at the scene of a stunned Slytherin crowd, filing out, grumbling about the cold weather and an even colder Malfoy.

Now, it was a Hogsmeade weekend and Harry was excited. He had willingly let Parvati run off with Lavender on a last minute shopping spree for the afternoon.

It had given him the chance to visit Sirius.

He had visited his Godfather several times during previous Hogsmeade weekends and Sirius had made an occasional surprise visit to Hogwarts over the past couple months. Even during the Golem crisis, Sirius' cousin, Nymphadora Tonks, had arranged with the Auror contingent for Sirius to have a couple quick visits to Harry at Hagrid's cabin.

Still, Harry was pleased whenever he got a chance to visit his Godfather. But he had a couple errands to attend to before meeting Sirius.

First he stopped into Simple Simon's Bakery, then made his way to the shop next door.

* * *

"See anything else you like, Mister Potter?"

Harry smiled. It was easy. He knew exactly what he was looking for, a rare thing for a teenaged boy in a jewelry shop. "This," he said with a smile, pointing down through the security charms.

The sales clerk raised her eyebrows and gave a knowing smile. She tapped her ring with a wand and reached through the charmed barrier to withdraw the necklace. It was a simple gold chain with two intertwined gold hearts. "It is a lovely piece," she said quietly.

Harry looked at it closely. "What are these little indentations at the top of each heart?"

The sale clerk smiled again. "They're to hold the stones. It's something new and unique to us here at 'All That Glitters.' Instead of engraving initials, we provide small gemstones to identify the hearts. Not big pieces. Just chips. Nothing too flashy. Or particularly expensive. But they do identify who the hearts belong to. Here's an example of one with the stones in."

The clerk reached into another counter behind her and produced a similar necklace. One heart had a small blue gemstone and the other had a yellow one.

Harry smiled. "That's nice," he said. "Is that what I would get?"

"The stones are personal to the giver and the recipient. What is your birthday, and your girl's birthday?"

"Mine is July 31 and Parvati's is August 25."

The clerk continued to smile, but it seemed a little softer now. "First, let me tell you that the necklace and enchantments are twenty-five Galleons with another ten or so Galleons for the stones. Is that in your price range?"

Harry looked up at her and smiled. "No problem," he said.

The clerk nodded. "Are you sure this is what you want? We have a number of other items you might like in your price range, or maybe even a little less, that your girl...Parvati?...would love."

Harry gave a puzzled frown. "No. This is exactly what I want. I saw something similar on a friend of mine this summer and I knew I would want to give it to my girlfriend." A quick cloud passed over Harry's face when he thought back at about seeing this necklace, without the stones, on his Muggle neighbor and mentor, Sara Geddes, and thinking of how much he wanted to give one like it to Hermione. But all that had changed since Parvati came into his life. He sighed.

The clerk noticed Harry's quick change in expression. "Is your friend still with her gentleman friend?"

Harry frowned. "Well, no. And he could hardly be called a gentleman."

The sales clerk closed her eyes briefly. "That's the danger with this piece. Are you sure you wouldn't like to see something else?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I want this one."

The clerk gave him a wistful smile. "You really must love her," she said quietly.

"I do," he said with unfocused eyes.

The clerk nodded and turned. "George?" she called.

A small, elderly wizard came out of the back room and looked at Harry, then the necklace. "Ah, young love," he said with a chuckle.

"July and August," the clerk told the master jeweler.

The elderly man nodded and took the necklace to a back corner and performed a series of quiet incantations. He slowly returned just as Harry finished paying for the piece.

Harry looked at the necklace and shook his head, smiling. The stones were red and green. 'Of course, an emerald to match my eyes and a ruby to match Parvati's favorite color and her passionate nature,' he thought. "It's beautiful. She'll love it."

The clerk chuckled. "I imagine she will, as long as you stay true to her," she said with a grin.

Harry took the wrapped package and placed it securely in his robe and left to see Sirius.

The clerk and the jeweler exchanged glances. "I hate to sell something like that to someone so young," the clerk said with a sigh, her smile fading.

The jeweler shrugged. "Maybe it will last. But if not, well, she can sell it to someone who deals with Muggles. If she doesn't throw it in the lake first," he said with a knowing smile. "And a sale's a sale."

* * *

"Soooo...spending the Christmas holidays with your future in-laws, are you?" Sirius said with a knowing grin.

Harry looked startled, then recognized his godfather was teasing and rolled his eyes. "Sirius, be serious."

Sirius chuckled at the familiar jape. "I haven't heard that one before...at least since I saw Remus a couple days ago."

Harry leaned back and joined in the amusement. It was good to see Sirius laugh. It was a rare thing.

Once Sirius' innocence was established and the pardon had gone through, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had been generous in permitting Sirius access to Harry. But once the furor died down, Harry was forced into his school routine again and Sirius was left only with his friendship with Remus Lupin, and his forays into the underworld with Shane Patil, to get him by.

And Harry noticed that, in his chances to be with his godfather, Sirius often would act like a high-spirited older brother despite the 20-year difference in age. But Harry could sense a darker, more sullen side of Sirius, with flashes of a temper from time-to-time.

Harry didn't mind the occasional harsh word, now and again. He knew his own temper would flare as well, although years of living under the threats of his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys, had taught him well about keeping it in check.

But still, Harry worried. Sirius was having difficulty in getting used to his freedom and, despite the fact that his innocence was well publicized and acknowledged, many in the wizarding world shied away from someone who had spent so long a time in Azkaban.

So Harry was pleased that Sirius was in a playful mood today in his small flat in Hogsmeade. It was the Saturday of a Hogsmeade weekend and tonight would be Sirius's formal introduction to Parvati. And Harry desperately wanted things to go well.

Sirius was still laughing at Harry's Sirius/serious comment. He was enjoying Harry's discomfiture over his in-law joke. But he saw an underlying spark in Harry's eye and his face softened.

"You really do like this girl, don't you?" he said with a smile.

Harry sighed with a smile. "Yes...I do."

Sirius shook his head in wonder. "She's high-spirited, that's for sure," he said chuckling. "And quite a pretty one."

Harry nodded, still smiling.

Sirius shook his head. "Still, I always expected you would end up with Hermione."

Harry's smile faded a little, and he shrugged with a sigh. "I guess I did, too," he said softly.

Sirius caught Harry's eye. "You know, you never really explained what happened. Just that there was some misunderstanding. What really happened?"

Harry shrugged again. "It's hard to say...I tried to tell her how I felt about her, how I liked he, but I guess she just froze. She wouldn't even react. Wouldn't even look at me. I thought she was mad, or embarrassed for me, or something. But at the time, I think I was about ready to throw myself off the Astronomy Tower."

"Don't do that, Harry. There's few enough of us good looking guys around for the gals as it is. You don't want to increase the shortage," Sirius said with a grin.

Harry grinned back. Then his expression became wistful. "No...I was hurt. Really hurt. I sulked and pouted for a couple weeks. Then I got to know Parvati. We made a deal. She would work on Hermione for me, and I would work on Ron Weasley for her. And somewhere while that was going on, we fell in love."

"Why, Harry? What happened?"

Harry shrugged once again. "It's kind of hard to explain. Hermione was always dragging Ron and me to the library, or on this project, or that. She's get all enthusiastic and would be so cute, in her bossy little way. But when I got to know Parvati, I realized she was someone who I could just sit and talk to. And she would listen. I don't know that anyone ever really listened to me before...except Ron. Sometimes, Hermione would start to listen, but most of the time, she wouldn't even let me finish what I wanted to say before she'd be off dragging me here or there with whatever took into her head from what I was saying. But Parvati would listen...really listen...and then give me hell or give me her shoulder to cry on."

Sirius nodded, understanding.

Then Harry looked up. "And she makes me laugh."

His godfather smiled, now truly understanding Harry's affection for the pretty young girl that Sirius had met only a few times in passing. He had felt a spark of pride that his godson had snared such a beauty, but it also worried him. Beautiful young girls usually spelled trouble back when he was at Hogwarts. The only truly beautiful young woman who went against this grain was Lily Evans, and even she had given Harry's father his share of heartaches before finally agreeing to marry him.

"Well, I hope you are going to be careful, Harry. After all, you're only fifteen, and that's pretty young to start having little Harry's running around all over the place," Sirius said with a chuckle.

Harry smile faded and he began to shift uncomfortably. He looked up at Sirius with his own serious look. "I know," he said quietly.

"No, Harry. This is important," Sirius said in his most fatherly of voices. "You're big news. An important person in the wizarding world. You make one little mistake and the whole world will know about it."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "We're using both potions and charms," he said in a barely audible voice.

Sirius started, his jaw falling. "You mean...?"

Harry stopped squirming and looked Sirius in the eye. He nodded.

Sirius leaned back on his chair, stunned. This wasn't the Harry he had known in the past. The awkward, shy boy who seemed to attract trouble and who managed to survive by his wits and animal cunning and a large measure of luck. This was now a young confident man. But this, too, was troubling, given his age.

Sirius tried to take Harry's confession lightly. "Ah, hormones. Fifteen years old and he's getting more action than his grown up godfather," he said with false joviality.

Harry's face clouded. "Parvati is not 'action.' She is the first girl I've ever truly loved. And the first girl who has ever shown me true love."

Sirius was taken aback. "Harry, you're only fifteen..."

Harry leveled his gaze at Sirius. "You know what Seamus Finnegan, one of my roommates, said to me after I fought Voldemort?"

Sirius shook his head.

"He said: 'Well, Harry my boy. You know what this means? It means you'll never have to sleep alone again. They'll be lining up for you'," he said flatly.

Sirius didn't know what to say.

Harry kept his gaze level and his voice steady. "Seamus was right. I've already had three girls proposition me outright. And maybe three or four more hint around that a midnight snog might lead to something more, even knowing Parvati and I were a couple."

Harry's look softened, but his voice remained steady. "You know, before all this, I would have given almost anything to kiss or to hold hands with a couple of those girls. But I'm not interested. I've found someone who makes me feel like I've always wanted to feel. Wanted. Loved. Not because of a scar or a stupid story in a teen magazine. But for me. That's all I ever wanted. And it's more than I ever expected."

Sirius was now staring at Harry open-mouthed. "But...but...where are you getting the potions? It's not some home brew...?"

Harry shook his head and shrugged. "After the stupid articles came out saying that we were in the Forbidden Forest to go shagging, Madame Pomfrey approached us and gave us the potion," Harry said with a resigned sigh. "Then Professor McGonagall pulled us aside and, after a lecture about responsible behavior, told us she too had had 'a wee bit a fun in mae prime'," Harry said, with a reasonable imitation of McGonagall's Scottish burr. "Hell, even Flitwick and Mad Eye Moody pulled me aside for some fatherly advice about girls and 'protection'," he said, shaking his head with a hint of a smile.

Sirius was now laughing. "But nothing from Snape, I don't doubt. He wouldn't know what to do if you gave him an instruction book and a lifetime subscription to Gentleman Wizard," he said with a chuckle.

Harry was giggling by now, as well. "Well, he did look down his nose at me just as I was getting ready to leave the hospital wing. 'Ummmm, Mister Potter. You and Miss Patil have had a chat with Madame Pomfrey, I believe...'," Harry said, imitating Snape's drawl. " 'Very good,' and he swept out of there like he had Voldemort on his tail. I swear, Sirius, it almost looked like he was blushing," Harry said, now shaking with laughter.

The two shared the laughter. The Sirius looked up at his godson. "You mean you two...I mean before Voldemort...Never?"

Harry shrugged again. "No. We'd done a little snogging, but that story in Witch Weekly the week later...you know the one: 'The Kiss Interrupted by Death,' was essentially true, even with Rita Skeeter writing it. Parvati had just introduced me to her unicorn friend Snowflake, when Voldemort and the Death Eaters arrived."

Sirius tried to take a more measured tone. "So now you are..."

Harry nodded, his face flushing.

"It's quite something..."

Harry hung his head with a small smile. "It's nice..."

Sirius let loose a laugh.

Harry began to chuckle a little through his embarrassment. "Okay, it's more than nice..."

But Sirius now resumed his fatherly tone. "Harry, you're very young..." he said in a tight voice. "I just don't want you to get in trouble. I don't want to see you getting hurt."

Harry gave a small nod and stared off to the corner of the small room. "We are taking precautions. But if we were to break up, that would hurt me badly, whether we were sleeping together or not. I love her."

Tears suddenly formed in Sirius's eyes. Had he ever said that about a girl and meant it? Had he ever even felt that way? His head drooped down.

Harry looked up startled as he saw his godfather's unexpected weeping. He reached over and put his hand on his Sirius's shoulder, then wrapped his arms around him to comfort this man who had lost so much, who had lost so many years.

* * *

Parvati was already at the entrance of 'Le Manche a Balai,' Hogsmeade's answer to fine French dining and the continuing source of outrage to Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks, when Harry and Sirius showed up. She was bouncing in anticipation, wearing and elegant, fur-trimmed black winter cloak against the cold early December evening.

"Well, it's not every night that a young witch has two such handsome escorts. It's almost enough to make me forgive you for making me wait 15 minutes in this cold," she said with a devilish grin.

Harry laughed and leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She then turned to Sirius, turning her cheek to him. "Well come on. I'll be comparing notes on you two at the end of the evening."

Sirius laughed and gave her a peck on the cheek, as well.

She stepped between the two and, looping her arms in theirs, led them into the restaurant.

The dinner was going well. Parvati was effervescent with her descriptions of her crazy brothers and sisters. She shook her head in describing Hari, who worked in the family importing business and who everyone was trying to marry off. When Shane's name came up, Sirius decided not to mention his partnership with the Auror on secret missions for the Order and the MLE. Sirius was interested to hear Parvati's description of her older sister Lakshmi, who kept the books for the family import business and, on occasion, was literally a bean-counter when it came time to check the inventory. Again, Sirius decided not to mention the contentious meeting and the lecture she had given him at the Muggle restaurant the previous month, nor the questioning Sirius had done about his life since then.

However, Sirius laughed heartily over Parvati's description of her next youngest brother, Hanuman, who worked in the Ministry of Trade. He couldn't help but shake his head over Hanuman's antics, wearing a turban as a self-styled Sikh that made him a continuing source of outrage to his father, who considered his behavior disrespectful to the family and to real Sikhs. But the trio's laughter paled at Parvati's description of her youngest brother, Ganapathi, who saw the fact that the Patils had lived in England since the time of Robert Clive in the mid-18th century as no obstacle to his claim that he should be given a tryout for the Indian National Quidditch team. And, of course, Padma. Sirius chuckled at Parvati's calling Padma her 'adopted' identical twin sister.

Sirius admitted to himself that Parvati was absolutely delightful. But soon, Parvati turned to him. "So Sirius. Enough about me. What about you? What do you think of my outfit?"

Sirius laughed appreciatively at the old joke, but saw she had become a little more serious.

"So what about you?" she said with interest.

"What about me?" he said warily.

She smiled. "Well, I read an article in Teen Witch Weekly..."

Harry snorted in laughter, and was instantly elbowed by Parvati.

"As I was saying, I read an article in Teen Witch Weekly that it's polite to give a guy a word in edgewise every once in a while. Two words, if he's cute. So what about you?"

Sirius saw that she really was interested. But his sense of unease increased. "I suppose you want to hear about Azkaban?"

She looked at him with intense eyes. "I'm interested in whatever you feel you'd like to talk about. If it's Azkaban, that's fine. If it's something else, that's fine, too," she said with a smile.

Sirius gave her a forlorn look and began a very general recounting of his experience from the time Harry's parents made him their promise-keeper, and his ill-fated decision to transfer this duty to Peter Pettigrew. But somewhere during his conversation, something inside Sirius broke, like a logjam suddenly giving way. Maybe it was the intensity of her gaze that had caught him off guard. Like she really cared, not out of idle or morbid curiosity, but that she wanted to know, wanted to help in some way.

And so Sirius talked about Azkaban. He spoke of the terror, the despair, the loneliness. Of the other inmates who sang or howled constantly. Of those whose bodies he had seen carted away, victims of the inability to cope. Of the unrelenting cold of the winters and the stifling heat of the summers. Of poor food and sanitation. Of spending nearly all his time in his animagous form to save his sanity, only to feel less than human as a dog, whose rational thought processes were dulled but whose other senses, those of hearing and smell, gave him entrance to sounds and odors no one should ever experience.

He told her things that he had forgotten. And those he could not forget. Things he had never even told Harry, or Remus. In the end, he looked up, horrified at what he's said, and shocked to see not disgust on her face, but tears of compassion. He never even realized that she had been holding his hand throughout.

He looked quickly over at Harry, who was weeping through hands covering his face.

Sirius looked down. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"No," Parvati said firmly. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Those who caused you this pain are the ones who should be sorry." She got up from her chair and embraced him as he sat. And Sirius cried.

* * *

As they left the restaurant, Sirius was breathing heavily. He was angry at himself for ruining the dinner. But he felt surprisingly more at peace. He didn't know what to say to Parvati. But he did know what to say to Harry, who was preparing to escort her back to Hogwarts.

He pulled Harry aside to say good night. He embraced Harry and whispered into his ear: "Now I know why you love her."

Sirius was preparing to say some sort of awkward good night to Parvati, when she leaned over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "We will expect you at the Parvati estate at Christmas. Harry will give you the details in an owl, if I don't get a chance to see you before then."

"What?" Sirius said, blinking in shock.

Parvati gave him a soft smile. "Well, Harry's going to be there for the first few days of the Christmas holiday, but you didn't really think we would deprive you of your first Christmas together with him, did you?" she said, her smile broadening.

Sirius gaped, still not sure what to say. Suddenly, she put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Boys! No matter what their age, they are so thick! I said that you are coming to my house for Christmas. Now close your mouth and nod your head!"

Sirius nodded, but still looked open mouthed at the young witch in front of him.

"Well, I guess that will have to do," she said, turning to Harry. "Harry, I guess you'll have to be the grownup in the family. Do you think he can find his way home or is he going to stand there all night?"

Harry gave Sirius a soft smile. Then he hugged Sirius again. "Hey, old man. I guess I'll be seeing you at Christmas, if I don't get a chance to see you before then."

Sirius looked at Harry. "Did she really...?"

"Christmas dinner...oh, and don't expect a roast and Yorkshire pudding. It'll probably be goose," he said, chucking Sirius under the chin.

As Harry and Parvati walked off arm-in-arm, Sirius shook his head. 'Christmas dinner with Harry and Parvati and her family,' he thought. 'Wow.'

* * *

Parvati put her arm around Harry's waist and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked back toward Hogwarts. "Let's just walk," she said.

Harry's thoughts were a jumble. How was she able to do these things, like getting Sirius to talk about his experiences like he never done so to Harry. And then lift Sirius's mood instantly with just the right thing--an invitation to Christmas dinner.

Had she known of Sirius's depression about the upcoming holidays? Harry was going to refuse Parvati's invitation in order to stay with his godfather until Sirius threatened to leave the country rather than to spend the holidays with someone stupid enough to turn down four days with his girl.

But Parvati was now leaning heavily on him. She seemed unusually quiet. Harry was about to say something when a figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Well, if it isn't the 'Boy Wonder' and the slut who destroyed my family," said Draco Malfoy, his voice full of venom.

"You..." Harry growled, as he reached for his wand. But Parvati suddenly released her arm from around his waist and grabbed his right hand.

She raised her head from Harry's shoulder languidly and looked at the silver-blonde haired foe, who was looking almost feral in his hatred.

"Oh, lighten up, Malfoy," she said.

Then Harry heard her utter: "Titillatio," and Malfoy jerked. Then jerked again. The he fell to the ground and began rolling uncontrollably on the roadway.

Parvati looked up at Harry with tired eyes. "You can always count on a good itching charm to lighten up a tense situation," she said with a forced smile.

"Parvati, are you all right," Harry said, worried as he eyed Malfoy, who continued to grimace and squirm on the cold ground.

"Sure, Harry. Now let's get out of here."

They walked in silence down the lakeside road. Harry had never seen her down and was at a loss as to what to say to help relieve her mood or give her support. Finally, he spoke. "Technically speaking, we're not supposed to do magic off school grounds," he said in a forced attempt at humor. "As a prefect, I could deduct house points, you know."

Parvati looked up and smiled wanly at him and gave him a squeeze.

She sighed. "Well, if you're going to be technical about it, you'll have to prove it was me," she said with a slight hint of humor.

She slowly withdrew a wand from her coat and casually snapped it in two.

Harry stopped and gasped. "Parvati...???"

Her smile broadened, but did not quite reach her eyes. "Harry, would you be a dear and throw these pieces into the lake for me? As far as you can?"

Harry was stunned. "But...your wand?"

Parvati continued to smile, her mood elevating slowly as a note of mischief crept across her expression.

"Promise you won't tell?" she asked.

Harry was staring at her. "But...your wand?" he repeated.

"Promise?" She asked again.

Harry was getting upset. "Okay, I promise. But what about your wand?"

Some life was now back in Parvati's face. "Oh, this? This isn't my wand. Now do be a dear and toss it in the lake."

Finally, Harry took the pieces of the wand and threw them out into the water. "Now are you going to explain? What's going on?"

Parvati grabbed him around the waist and steered him back toward Hogwarts. "Harry, I told you how my family imports potion ingredients, right?"

Harry looked at her, puzzled. "Yes?"

She sighed. "Well, they also import other magical products. Like wands. Places like Ollivanders in Daigon Alley, Tarn's in Edinburgh, and Cuchulain's in Dublin import directly or make their own, but the smaller wand shops in England use firms like Patils Imports to restock."

Harry nodded, still puzzled.

"Well, my sister Lakshmi was doing a thorough inventory of one of our warehouses and came across several boxes of old wands that were supposed to be shipped to a Cornish wand shop back in the 1930s. Apparently, the shop went out of business and my grandfather or one of my great uncles simply stuck the boxes in the back of the warehouse and forgot about them."

Harry was surprised. "How many?"

Parvati shrugged. "About four gross."

Harry stopped. "Parvati, that's almost 600 wands. At, what, seven galleons a piece, that's a fortune. How could they simply toss them aside?"

Parvati blinked in mild surprise. "Seven Galleons?"

Harry looked at her in confusion. "That's what mine cost."

She gave him a puzzled look. "Not at Ollivanders, was it?"

Harry shrugged and nodded.

Parvati's confusion deepened. "Harry, an Ollivander wand starts at about thirty Galleons, and can cost up to eighty or more. Let's see yours."

Harry reached into his robe and withdrew his wand. "Don't tell Moody," he muttered as he handed it to her.

She looked up at him. "Why not?"

"He's always going on about never letting anyone else take your wand. You're not a Death Eater in disguise, are you?" he asked with a chuckle.

Parvati giggled, then looked at the wand. "Holly," she said quietly. "What's the core?"

Harry pursed his lips. "Phoenix feather."

Parvati nodded and lifted her wand, then paused, looking around. "We're on school grounds."

Harry looked up and nodded.

Parvati nodded. "Good. This is my wand." She uttered an illuminatus spell, giving them some light. She turned Harry's wand to check the handle's butt end. Then she gasped.

"Harry? This is a Herus."

Harry blinked and shrugged.

Parvati stared at him. "Look," she said, holding the base of the wand up for him to see,

Harry shrugged again. "It says 'HH 36.' So?"

She sighed. "Heironymous Herus was one of the most gifted wand makers ever. He was the DADA Professor at Hogwarts for years and made wands in his spare time. He was very powerful. This must have been one of the last ones he made. He died around 1936 or so, one of the first major victims of Grindelwald. And it is said that he put everything he knew into those last wands to help in the fight against Grindelwald. That's the date of your wand. 1936."

Harry nodded. "That makes sense. That's probably how he got the feather. It's from Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, Faulkes."

Parvati looked up at Harry. "That's probably why it only cost you seven Galleons. Ollivander takes an initial 50% markup, then never changes the price. Seven Galleons in 1936 is like a hundred Galleons now. And Ollivander never found someone for this wand for over 50 years. Wow."

Harry shrugged. "It has a sister wand, you know," he said quietly.

Parvati looked up with a curious expression. "Who?"

"Voldemort," Harry said in a whisper.

Parvati closed her eyes and sighed, returning Harry's wand. Nodding, she turned and began to walk slowly toward the castle with Harry by her side.

Finally, Harry cleared his throat. "So I got a bargain, then?"

Parvati let out a small laugh. "I guess."

As they strolled together toward the castle, Harry gave Parvati a sidelong glance. "But what about your wand?"

Parvati glanced back. "Like I said, it wasn't my wand."

Harry nodded. "So it was one of your sister's wands you found. At thirty Galleons apiece, that must be like striking gold in your back yard," he said with an amazed chuckle.

Parvati smiled. "No, Harry. They weren't top line wands. Not Gregoroviches or Zauberhafts. And certainly no Heruses. Simply every day, basic wands. Fifteen Galleons each, maybe."

Harry turned to continue walking with her. "But...I still don't understand..."

Parvati squeezed him a little tighter. "Simple. A girl has to be prepared. And sometimes she has to defend herself. And a nasty little spell against someone who is causing you problems usually does the trick. The problem is that a nasty little spell can get a witch into trouble with the ministry. But if you seriously hex a boy, or a man, and he complains, you can always say, 'Oh no, sir. It wasn't me. He was always that small. Here. Test my wand and see. I didn't do it'," she said in a sing-song voice, batting her eyelashes.

Harry stopped again and stared.

Parvati chuckled. "That, and I can't be cited for practicing underaged magic since the Ministry can't trace the magic to my wand, just some anonymous one with no connection to me."

And then he threw his head back and laughed. "Oh my God. I better watch my step," he said with a sparkle in his eyes. "I hope you don't have any more spare wands about."

Parvati flashed a smile. "Only about a dozen that Lavender and I keep on hand in case of emergency. That's how I could give Neville a spare wand a couple months ago to record messages to his parents."

Harry drew her close and they kissed. Parvati broke it off before it became too intense.

"Harry, I think I just want to go back to the house tonight. Maybe talk. And maybe you could hold me. I hope you don't mind."

"Sure, sweetheart," he said with only a little disappointment. It had been an emotionally charged night for him, as well, and he didn't mind.

* * *

The common room was in its normal chaotic state for a Hogsmeade weekend when Harry and Parvati arrived. It was late and most of the upperclassmen had returned from Hogsmeade but were still in high spirits. The only ones, aside from the first and second years, who didn't seem to be in a rowdy mood were Hermione and Ron, who were keeping company a lot more when Harry and Parvati weren't around. Ron's eyes lit up when he saw Harry, but Harry gave a little shake of his head to warn his friend off for the moment.

Parvati surveyed the uproar. "Oh, dear," she said quietly.

Harry, sensing her need to talk and for some solitude, offered to find his invisibility cloak and take her up to the Astronomy Tower or someplace else that was quiet.

She shook her head. "Let's just find a place to sit and wait for things to quiet down," she said.

Harry surveyed the room. The only quiet place in the entire common room was in the far corner, which the first years had claimed as their domain. There was a vacant love seat against the wall, but Harry knew he would be infringing on one of the few privileges the first years had by taking it.

Then he saw Willie Peters, who seemed to be the natural heir to the Weasley twins when it came to jokes and tricks. Despite his being a constant source of mischief, especially as Harry was a prefect and duty-bound to keep him in line, Harry and Willie had formed something of a friendship. And Willie was one of the few first years who treated him like a normal person, rather than some hero to be worshipped.

Willie was staring at the couple with a curious look on his face when Harry tossed him a package of sweets from Honeydukes, treats he bought for the first and second years who were too young to enjoy Hogsmeade, something that Harry had been doing for the past few Hogsmeade weekends.

Suddenly, Willie handed the package to Pat McGrady to distribute and turned to some of his fellow first years and whispered. They all looked at Willie and nodded.

Harry braced himself with a small smile for whatever mischief might be coming next and began to turn away. But instead, Willie walked up to Harry and Parvati. "Would you like to sit in the quiet chair?" he asked.

Harry looked at him, puzzled. "The quiet chair?"

Willie smiled. "Sure. Back in primary wizarding school, when someone would act up, the teacher would always make us sit in the quiet chair away from everyone else. Now, when one of us is causing problems among the first years, we tell them to go sit in the quiet chair. Or sometimes one or two of us just want to sit there and be alone. But you can use it if you want. It's okay."

Harry and Parvati looked at each other and smiled. She turned to the other first years. "We'd like that, if it's all right with all of you."

The rest of the first years nodded enthusiastically. "We can even turn it around so you can be more alone," said Maura Duffy, Moira Duffy's little sister and usually Willie's partner in crime when mischief was afoot.

"Thank you," Parvati said with a smile, and several of the first years jumped to the task of turning the chair to face away from most of the common room.

Moments later, after Harry and Parvati sat down in the quiet chair, Seamus, Lavender and Dean burst into the common room after an evening of fun. Seamus spotted Harry and Parvati in the corner and shouted "Hey you two, get a room."

But suddenly Willie stood up with a stern look on his face, Then Maura. Then the other first years did the same.

Seamus looked at then and gulped. "Oops. Sorry," he said with a bemused look on his face.

* * *

Parvati snuggled into Harry's arms and was quiet.

Harry, stroking her shoulder absently, was a little concerned. Over the past two months, he had seen her exultant, sullen, excited, angry, and tired, but he had never seen her quiet.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" he asked quietly.

She mewed a small sigh.

Harry stared out into space, beginning to get angry. "If Malfoy ever bothers you, just let me know. I'll take care of him."

Parvati sighed. "It's not Malfoy," she said in a whisper. "Although I'd watch myself around him. Half of Slytherin House hated him before Voldemort and his father's death. Now, with Crabbe and Goyle gone and him here only on sufferance, he's got nobody left."

Harry turned to look at her. "Not even Pansy?"

Parvati snorted. "She was the first to turn her back on him, the little tramp. You saw how she was after you."

Harry smiled. "You mean she might still available..." he said teasingly and got a playful pinch for his effort.

"No, Blaise says Pansy's talking to him again. But he's pretty much alone. Maybe one or two of the younger people there still talk to him, but he's still withdrawn, from what I hear. He could be going a little mental."

Harry sighed. It was hard to feel sorry for Malfoy, even after his beating. But Harry had seen how morose his rival had grown, and he did feel a trace of pity for the boy.

Harry pulled her a little closer. "So what is it?"

Parvati shrugged, trying to snuggle a little closer. "I don't know...I'm just so sad about all that happened to Sirius. He seems like a good man, but you can tell how much it still haunts him. I don't know."

Harry sighed. Yes, Sirius was a good man. But to have so much taken away from him, so many years, so many friends and family.

"I was hoping that he wouldn't talk too much about what happened to him. I thought it would depress you," he said.

She sat there quietly against him for a few moments. "Harry, you know what my favorite subject of conversation is?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Clothes?" he said with a small grin.

Parvati made a face at him. "No. The thing I like to talk about most is me. And you know what your favorite topic of conversation is...besides Quidditch...and sex?"

Harry blushed. "No, what?"

"Your favorite topic of conversation is you. It's something I learned early on. Everybody loves to talk about themselves," she said quietly. "And you know what that means?"

Harry shook his head.

"It means that everybody is out there looking for a listener. That's why I like you so much, Harry. You are one of the few boys...one of the few people...I've ever met who can listen."

Harry grunted, noncommittally.

Parvati turned to look at Harry directly. "The problem is that sometimes the people who need to talk the most are the ones who can't seem to bring themselves to do so. I know you've talked, and I know you've listened, to Sirius. That's the way you are."

"But you're both too close to each other for Sirius to be able to open up fully. He sees himself as almost like your father. And I'm sure he can't really open up for fear of damaging whatever authority his advice might carry with you. How can you take the advice of someone who has more troubles than you do...who is less able to cope that you are?"

Harry lowered his head. "He tries to be like a father to me. And I try to listen to him."

Parvati sighed. "But don't you see? He can't, really. At least not to you. He needed someone like me to open up to. Someone who is close enough, I suppose, but not too close. Even though you were there, it was like he was finally able to express his sorrow and pain to someone without damaging your relationship with him."

Harry nodded slowly and leaned his head against hers, taking in the exotic spice-like smell of her dark, glossy hair. After a minute or so of silence, he murmured: "How'd you get so wise?"

She chuckled softly. "It wasn't my fault. It comes from being the youngest in a large, crazy family."

"Hmmm?"

Parvati closed her eyes and snuggled against him.

Harry opened his eyes in slits. "What do you mean?" he whispered.

Parvati took a deep, satisfied breath. "Padma and I were the babies of our family. And our older brothers and sister would take turns babysitting for us. They would tell us stories. My favorite was when Hanuman would tell us of his mischievous namesake, who was a monkey minister and a prankster as a child."

Harry chuckled. "I wish I had brothers and sisters to take care of me," he said wistfully, and Parvati gave him a squeeze.

She leaned against him again, talking as if to herself. "But often, when they ran out of stories or were upset, they would tell us their problems, or their dreams. Padma and I would listen for as long as they wanted. About boyfriends or girlfriends, teachers or classmates, enemies or friends. We loved to listen to them. I think we just wanted to know what it was like to be grown up like them, even Gani who was only six years older than us. When we were little, anyone that old was a grownup."

Harry chuckled softly. "So you and Padma were alike in that," he asked.

"Well, yes and no," she said. "I mostly wanted to listen to my brothers and sister, to understand what their lives were like. On the other hand, Padma was a lot like Hermione. She would want to race around to try to find the answers to their problems. Once we were a little older, she got to be almost as big a library ghost as Hermione is now."

"So why isn't she in Gryffindor with us?"

Parvati shrugged. "Well, Padma would sometimes go overboard. She would listen to our brothers' and sister's problems and then start asking inappropriate questions of our parents or the rest of the family."

"The final straw was one day when we were about eight she saw some boy that Lakshmi was pining over and went up to him and yelled at him for making our sister cry. Lakshmi was furious and screamed and cried at Padma something awful. Padma was upset for days after that and I couldn't seem to console her. After that, she would still try to find answers to our family's problems, but would always come to me with whatever she found. We would weigh the merits of what she found but I would always be the one to suggest them to other members of the family, not her."

"From that time on, she was always afraid that she would do or say something inappropriate. That's probably why she's so reserved now. She's probably even more so now that we don't see each other as much. I really do miss her, though. It's really not the same when you have to work it into your schedule to talk to your own twin sister," she said with a sigh.

Harry wrapped both arms around her and stroked her back soothingly as she wept quietly. He didn't try to talk to her. He knew her listening to Sirius, the confrontation with Malfoy and her bittersweet reminiscences about her sister had taken an emotional toll and he was only glad to be there for her. They held each other long into the night.

* * *

Sirius was in a daze. He had wandered back to his cramped apartment, but he had too much nervous energy and the room was too small to pace in. So he went outside again and wandered the streets of Hogsmeade for nearly a half hour. But he realized he needed someone to talk to. He apparated.

Remus Lupin was also restless. He knew he was only two days away from the full moon and a day away from using the potion Snape continued to prepare for him. He would have preferred to continue work on the elementary text on Defense Against the Dark Arts that the publishing arm of Flourish & Blotts had contracted him to write, but he simply was too restless.

Lupin shook his head. Voldemort's inactivity took some of the urgency away from his work with the Order of the Phoenix. It was only Sirius' suggestion that he tail along incognito while trolling the underworld for information that gave Remus a real feel of contributing to the war against the Dark Arts. Had he still been at Hogwarts teaching, that would have been a different story. But now, with things on hold and Sirius free and living at Hogsmeade to be near Harry, Remus had little to occupy his time except his writing.

He was pleased that he was able to make a living writing. He was able to put food on the table as an associate editor at Oddbins, a small literary and cultural magazine for the wizarding world, even though it annoyed him to hear people call it Dustbins, the literary route of last resort for witches and wizards who thought they could write. And he had sold an article to Gentleman Wizard, an analysis of the Voldemort threat, which he was told would be given the alarming title: The Werewolf Who Stalked The Dark Lord. But they paid well, and on time, so he wasn't about to complain, even though the story would probably be lost among the photo spreads of wiggling, scantily clad young witches.

But it was a solitary life. He knew he could count on his old friend Sirius to be there for him during full moons and whenever the urge struck old Padfoot to see his old friend Moony. But he no longer had the day-to-day interaction and planning, the excitement and fear, that was the lot of those who had fought an active Voldemort. Remus chuckled at the thought that he even missed the regular verbal sparring sessions with his old nemesis, Snape.

So Remus was delighted when Sirius apparated into his study a day early.

* * *

"Moony, you old sod! I'm here to liberate you from that dustbin you call a literary life!" Sirius exclaimed upon apparating in.

Remus, surprised, laughed. "Padfoot, you old dog. I hope you've eaten as we are fresh out of soup bones and kibble."

The two embraced, patting each other on the back like long lost mates. Sirius then threw himself down of the settee in Remus's drawing room/library. "I hear your posing in Gentleman Wizard. Shouldn't that be in The Lady Witch magazine. Either way, sales will no doubt plummet."

Lupin had to laugh at Sirius's high spirits. Too often over the past couple months, his friend had been dour and uncommunicative. The clearing of his name had done little for Sirius except to allow him to walk on the streets without fear of arrest. But people still tended to avoid his friend Padfoot. After all, he had spent the past fourteen years in Azkaban or on the run. And one look at Sirius's haunted eyes seemed, to many people in the wizarding world, to belie the ministry's very public announcement of Sirius's innocence.

"And to what do I owe the honor of your unexpected, but nonetheless, most esteemed presence in my humble digs tonight?" Remus said archly, trying to stifle a grin.

"I have come to give you my regrets, kind sir. I will not be able to spend Christmas with your honorable family. I will be with my godson, Harry," he said with a grin.

Remus was a little disappointed. He would have enjoyed Sirius's company during the holidays.

"Well, bring young Harry along. I'm sure my aunt Matilda with will shave before giving our young hero a big wet kiss," he said with a heartiness he didn't feel.

"Oh, I'll be along after Christmas. I couldn't resist a good snog with Aunt Matilda. But Harry will be indisposed, quite deliciously I might add, at the home of his future in-laws," he said, laughing at the same joke he had used on Harry earlier.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "You mean he's going to the Patil's for the holiday break? Is it serious, Sirius?"

Sirius groaned. "That's twice tonight...so far, anyway."

Remus laughed and Sirius pouted, then his face lit up again.

"I must say, Harry has himself quite a young lady there. I'd met her a couple times when I came to see him at the hospital wing. I could see he was quite smitten, but I thought she was just a pretty face..."

"I know," Remus said in curiosity. "I taught her in her third year. She was a slightly better than average student, but nothing special. A little giggly if you ask me, shaking an armful of bracelets at every opportunity. But you could tell then that she was going to be a real beauty, along with her sister."

"That she is. If she were ten years older..."

"...or you were twenty years younger," Remus said with a smile.

But Sirius's face became more distant. "Yes, I suppose you could get the impression that she was somewhat giggly at first. But I talked with her tonight..."

Remus looked at his friend curiously. "You talked?"

"More like I talked and she listened. The three of us went out for dinner in Hogsmeade. And somehow she got me to tell her about it all. Things that I've never told anyone except you and Albus and Harry...and some things not even Harry had heard before." He sighed.

Remus frowned. "That must have been pleasant," he said flatly.

Sirius was now staring off into space. "It wasn't like she wanted to hear all the gory details...like wanting to stare at a splinch. It was almost like she was less interested in what I said, but more that she wanted me to say it. I don't know...does that make any sense?"

Remus stared at his friend for a long time. "Like a sin eater," he murmured.

Sirius blinked. "A what...?"

Remus shook his head in confusion. "Oh, it's something I've read about. You know, like a Christian confession has a cathartic effect on the sinner. Well, some aboriginal tribes...don't ask me where, I don't remember...you go to the sin eater and unload all the guilt and the crap that's bothering you on to them. They take up your burden for you."

"Huh?" Sirius grunted, still confused.

Remus shook his head. "She was just trying to help you get some of your pain out of your system. We talk. But sometimes you need someone who isn't so close to you to talk to. That's why psychiatrists make so much money in the Muggle world. It's called unburdening. I'm amazed that someone so young and...well...some pretty young thing like Parvati would be able to do that. Maybe she has a gift."

Sirius was becoming uncomfortable. "I just hope I didn't spoil their evening."

Remus shrugged. "So Harry misses a night of snogging. He'll live. It's something you've needed to do for a long time."

"He's not just snogging," Sirius said in a low voice.

Remus jerked his head up to face Sirius. "You're not serious?"

" 'Serious, Sirius'...you missed your chance, Moony. And, yes, he is. From what he told me, and judging by the level of his blushing, I have no reason to doubt him, they've been doing it for a month now. Ahhh, to be young again," Sirius said with a soft smile.

"But...but...they're, what, fifteen? What'll happen if McGonagall finds out...or Rita Skeeter?"

Sirius threw his head back and laughed. "The papers have already planted that notion in the public's mind, or haven't you been reading them. All that 'Lovers' Showdown in the Forbidden Forest' rubbish. And as to McGonagall, she apparently took them aside to teach them the facts of life, including charms. From the way Harry tells it, half the faculty has taken a keen interest in this, including old Mad Eye, Flitwick...hell, even that old virgin Snape, himself, did a blushing soft shoe about potions, according to Harry."

Remus had by now collapsed in laughter. "I can just see him. 'Mister Potter, what do the birds have to do with the bees...oh, please...no need to illustrate'."

Sirius was gasping for air now. "No. According to Harry, he did a big stuttering act. 'Ahhh...Mister Potter....ahhh...Madame Pomfrey...ahhh...and potions...ahhh..."

The two were now laughing hysterically.

Remus was the first to catch his breath. "Padfoot...I think you're a bad influence on your godson. If he grows up to be a rake-hell, I'm sure we'll be able to thank you. And I'm doubly sure he will thank you," he said, still chuckling.

Sirius looked over fondly at his old friend. "You know, I don't think he will. He really likes this girl. He said he'd gladly forego the shagging as long as she stayed by his side. He's something special, that boy."

Remus nodded his head, smiling. "That he is, Sirius. That he is."

* * *

Remus' monthly transformations had not been so bad recently since Snape had been sending him the Wolfsbane potion. But still, they took a lot out of Remus.

And they took a lot out of Sirius, as well. So he was almost as happy as Remus when the moon phase changed to allow his friend to relax and recover.

Remus was still a little keyed up as Sirius poured another glass of Ravensblood wine as the two faced each other in the werewolf's study. Then, an owl appeared, disturbing the silence.

Sirius blinked as the owl flew over and perched on his shoulder.

"Fan mail?" a tired-eyed Lupin said with a lazy smile.

Sirius fed the owl a bit of biscuit and slowly opened the letter. His face took on a surprised and puzzled aspect.

Remus chuckled. "Another lady admirer, no doubt."

Sirius looked up. "I don't know. It's from Lakshmi Patil, the older sister of Harry's girl. Shane's younger sister. She wants to meet me for lunch."

Remus' chuckling increased. "Oh, you are such a dog, Padfoot. Captured another heart, did you?"

Sirius frowned. "I doubt that...more like she in desperate need to scream at someone, and I fit the bill." Maybe she wanted to give him hell about his dinner conversation with Parvati. Or maybe it was something else. Sirius couldn't help but wonder.


Author notes: A/N: To my friends, I apologize for how long it took me to update with this new chapter. This time, I have no excuse except work. I appreciate your patience and hope to update more frequently in the future. Thank you for your kind reviews. And to hp4all, I am working on a list of characters in my fics, including those in canon, those noncanon characters mentioned only in Quidditch Through the Ages [i.e., Kevin Entwhistle], and original characters. It has turned out to be a bigger project than I thought. But I hope to have a fully indexed and descriptive list together and available in the next couple weeks, along with the next chapter of this fic.