Harry Potter and the Book of Shadows

Lessons in the Room of Requirement

Harry and Ron had just turned the last corner to the hall with the Fat Lady's portrait when Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. His heart leaping into action, Harry stopped in his tracks when Ron suddenly dove behind a statue. Feeling the rush of a spell whiz past him, Harry whirled around, wand out, to defend himself and Ron.

Seeing the black-haired girl aiming a scarlet wand at them, Harry realized it was another Gryffindor.

"Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted from behind the statue.

Harry quickly dove out of the line of fire, crouching as he made his way along the stone wall. Sitting on the cold floor near the portrait, Harry decided to wait and see who won the shootout. Figuring he was relatively safe where he was, Harry watched Ron's spell bounce off the shield the other girl had cast.

"Confuteo!" The girl, Harry knew her name was Emma Witherspoon, as she had been his target before Ginny had gotten him, cast the neutralization spell, but it collided with stone and missed Ron.

Ron swore from behind the statue. Before Harry realized what he was doing, Ron stood and rushed out from behind the figure, casting a Shield Charm. His sudden scramble from relative safety seemed to surprise Emma as well and it was almost too late when she cast her own shield. Ron's elimination spell just missed her shoulder, shooting past her a fraction of a second before she'd gotten her shield up. Startled, she pressed herself against the wall, trying to maintain her spell.

Ron, still behind his own shield charm, waited until she'd let her spell drop for just a moment in order to cast the elimination spell again. Ducking just enough to avoid the flash of light, Ron yelled, "Interimo!"

This time the girl did not cast her shield or duck out of the way fast enough. The spell hit her directly in the center of her chest.

"Bloody hell!"

Harry laughed because they'd both said it at the same time, though Emma's exclamation was loud and angry while Ron's was breathless and relieved.

Harry stood. "That was great."

Emma frowned. "Yeah. Thanks."

Harry looked to Ron who seemed a bit dazed, but very pleased. "Well done, Ron!"

Emma shook Ron's hand congenially, though Harry could see she was disappointed. Expecting her to tell Ron who his next target was, it suddenly dawned on Harry which spell Ron had used to end the showdown.

"You just won the Black Wand!" Harry said, amazed. Suddenly, he wondered who had gotten Ginny and when. It couldn't have been long after she'd eliminated him.

It seemed to dawn on Ron, then too. "I did. I did!"

Emma congratulated Ron again and made her way past the portrait of the Fat Lady into the common room.

Ron and Harry joined Hermione by the fireplace, Ron still beaming.

"Did you make Contentment Concoctions in tutoring, then?" Hermione asked as they sat.

"Ron just won the Black Wand," Harry said, still smiling.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Ron just grinned. His expression turned to confusion when Hermione stood, pulling him up with her. "What's this, then?"

"Well, if you won, then the game's over," Hermione said. At Ron's continued blank expression she sighed. "So we have to go tell Professor McGonagall."

Comprehension dawned. "Oh, right." Ron suddenly frowned, shaking off her hand. "That's it? I won and all you can say is, 'we have to tell McGonagall the game is over'?"

Blinking in surprise, Hermione opened her mouth, finally managing to stammer, "No! I didn't mean it like that! I mean it's really great you won, of course."

Ron looked at her sardonically and headed for the portrait hole. Hermione followed and Harry could hear her saying, "Really, Ron! I think it's brilliant you won!"

Harry chuckled to himself, his amusement dying when he realized the sharp corner poking him in the side belonged to Snape's book. He pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it on the cushion next to him, not really wanting to think about Occlumency or his nightmares. Instead, he let his mind wander as he watched the flickering flames of the common room fire.

Not long after Ron and Hermione had left, Ginny entered, laughing about something. Harry looked up and frowned as she bid goodbye to Julian and walked over to where he sat.

"So Ron won, huh?" Ginny said as she plopped down next to him.

Harry replied in a light tone that was, perhaps a bit too forced, "Yeah! It was a brilliant ending, too. You should have seen it."

Ginny caught his tone and looked into the fire, avoiding his eyes. She slid a sideways glance at him and asked, "You're not mad I got you, right?"

Harry straightened, wondering why she would have thought that. "No! Of course not."

Ginny seemed to relax. Relieved, she smiled brilliantly at him. "I hear you got the Wildfire Award."

"Really?" Harry said, surprised. "Did you see the board?"

Ginny shook her head, still smiling. "No. Who else would have, though? No one else came close to your four-in-five."

They continued to speculate on the winners in other houses when Ron and Hermione returned, Ron still a bit peeved and Hermione trying to placate him. It was late when they all finally tired of discussing the game and went to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katie had scheduled a practice right after lunch on Saturday and so Hermione went off to the library while Ron, Harry, and Ginny headed down to the Quidditch pitch. It was a cold, blustery day, but the sky was at least dry, if not clear.

Shivering as they stood listening to Katie outlining the drills she had planned, Harry caught Ron's eye and knew he'd had the same fleeting thought of the warm fires blazing in the library. But as soon as Harry kicked off, the biting wind whipping in his face, he forgot all about being cold, lost in the pure joy he'd always found in flying. He waved when he heard Katie shout she was releasing the Snitch and tore off after the tiny golden ball.

Harry made a game of catching it, releasing, closing his eyes and counting to five, then chasing after it again. Weaving in and out of the other team members practicing their drills, Harry felt some of his tension melt away. He had just caught it for the sixth time when he heard a sickening crack come from behind him, near the goalposts. Turning with his heart in his throat, he saw Ron flying awkwardly to the ground.

Speeding over as fast as he could, Harry was ready to fly off to the hospital wing as soon as he knew what had happened. The rest of the team had also noticed and were quickly joining Ron, already on the ground and off his broom. Catching sight of Ron's furious expression, Harry was relieved he seemed to be unharmed. Noticing what was left of the broom in Ron's hand, his heart sank when it became obvious his broom was not.

Ginny had landed not far from where Ron stood, one hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "I didn't mean-"

Ron whirled around to roar at her, "You did this on purpose! Getting me back for what I said the other day, weren't you?"

Shaking her head, Ginny tried to protest, "No! I swear! I didn't-"

He cut her off. "The one thing I had that was mine. The one thing that wasn't Charlie's or Bill's or anyone else's first, and you destroyed it. Taught me a lesson, didn't you? Are you happy now? Do you feel better?"

"Ron, I swear I wasn't-"

"What is going on here?" Katie broke in.

Several people backed up to let her by. Her eyes widened when she saw Ron's broom. The handle was shattered, sharp splintery bits were all that remained of the end of the shaft. A few feet behind Ron, the end of his broom lay in the sand surrounding the base of the goalposts, bits of wood scattered around it.

"Oh, no! I'm not sure that'll even be fixable." Her face took on a look of dismay. "You'll have to use one of the school brooms for now, I suppose."

Katie turned to Ginny, who still looked distraught. "What were you doing? I told you that move you pulled on Malfoy was too dangerous to try again!"

Ron glared at her. The rest of the team looked on, confused and a bit angry now that it seemed their keeper didn't have a decent broom anymore.

"But...I...it just got away..." Seeing everyone's accusatory looks, Ginny turned and fled toward the castle.

"Ginny, wait!" Julian called after her. Harry was several steps behind him as he turned to chase after her.

Katie waved them back. "No, let her go. Ron, get a school broom." Everyone stood awkwardly for another moment until Katie yelled, "Well? Back in the air! The rest of you don't have broken brooms!"

Ron grabbed the other chunk of his broken broomstick angrily off the ground and stalked off to the lockers. The rest of the team was rather subdued for the remainder of practice. Wisely, Harry didn't say anything to Ron as they changed and headed back to the common room. Ron still carried what was left of his broom, occasionally muttering angrily to himself.

When they entered the portrait hole, Harry suddenly wished there had been some way he could have sent a note ahead to Hermione. She was waiting by the fireplace as they walked in.

Catching sight of Ron, she said, "Oh, Ron. That does look rather bad, doesn't it?" Harry silently hoped she would stop there. Ron merely glared when she continued. "Ginny is quite upset about it. She really didn't mean to break it. Don't you think you're being awfully hard on her?"

Harry, standing behind Ron, tried to signal to Hermione to stop talking, but she either didn't see or ignored him. "I know Quidditch is very important to you, but do you really think a broken broomstick is worth a falling out with your sister? Especially now?"

Bracing himself for fireworks, Harry took a step back. But when Ron spoke, his voice was tightly controlled and icy cold, "Hermione, for once in your life, shut. The bloody hell. Up."

Without another word, Ron stalked up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, leaving Harry shaking his head and Hermione staring openmouthed. She turned to Harry, still at a loss for words.

Harry took a deep breath. "You might want to leave him for a bit." Hermione raised an eyebrow and he hastily changed tactics. "How did you know what happened?"

Recovering slightly, Hermione sat back down. "Ginny ran in here crying, saying something about how she didn't mean to do it. I followed her up to her room and asked what was wrong. She said something about hitting a Bludger wrong and accidentally breaking Ron's broom and how he was very, very angry with her and didn't believe she didn't do it on purpose. Then she pulled the curtains closed and hexed anyone who tried to get near her. What really happened?"

Harry sat next to her. "I didn't see. I wasn't watching them, but I know she didn't do it on purpose."

"Well, at least he just won the Black Wand, he can fix his broom with his winnings," Hermione said optimistically.

Shaking his head, Harry replied, "I don't think so. A minor crack can be repaired, but the Bludger took the whole end off. It's not a clean break either. The aerodynamics would be all off if they tried to reattach it since so many little bits are missing. And the acceleration would-" Harry stopped when he saw he was losing her. It didn't matter, as she seemed to have gotten the point.

"Oh. Maybe he could buy a new one, then?" she suggested.

He shook his head again. "I don't think Ron wanted to spend the money on himself."

They sat in pensive silence for a few moments then Hermione remembered something. "I suppose Occlumency practice is off for today, then?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow instead."

Hermione considered. "I can catch up on some reading in the meantime. How are you coming along with the history notes?"

"Oh, right. I've got them all copied. Thanks." Harry stood up. "I'll go get them."

Walking up the stairs, Harry had a thought. Now was obviously not the best time, but since they weren't going to be using the Room of Requirement for Occlumency, Harry wondered if he should start researching the Book of Shadows instead. He considered how to bring it up with Ron, telling himself he might actually welcome the distraction. Hermione's History of Magic notes, while as concise as ever, hadn't been nearly as helpful as Harry had hoped they would be. The day Binns had mentioned the Book was merely as a passing reference, one of a long list of reasons the Vampire Clan wars may have started. If nothing else, Harry no longer felt guilty about sleeping through that particular class. Gathering the notes, Harry saw Ron lying sprawled on his back across rumpled sheets, staring at the canopy. The two pieces of his broomstick lay next to him, near the foot of the bed.

For a second, Harry thought he should just leave Ron be and ask later, but decided he may as well try now, steeling himself as he walked over.

"Hey, Ron," Harry started. "I was wondering if-"

"I know she didn't mean it." Ron's voice sounded tired.

Harry stopped. "What?"

"Ginny. I know she didn't mean to do it. It's just...I mean you remember how you felt when the Whomping Willow destroyed your Nimbus..." Ron trailed off.

Harry sat on the edge of the bed. "Yeah. I'm really sorry, Ron. Maybe you can get a new one for Christmas."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, right." He paused for a moment. "Well, maybe if Fred and George are feeling particularly generous. Nah, it wouldn't be worth being in debt to them. Is Hermione angry?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably. I think she'll get over it, though. Maybe do some extra homework or something."

Ron gave a short laugh. "Is Ginny down there?"

"No, I think she's still hiding up in her room. Hermione said she was hexing people who tried to talk to her," Harry replied. Ron frowned at that.

"Are we still doing Occlumency today?" Ron sat up.

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. Maybe tomorrow. Actually, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to help me with something else instead."

Ron looked interested. "Really? What?"

Checking to see no one else was in the room, Harry briefly outlined what he knew about the Book of Shadows and how he was pretty sure Voldemort was after it. When he finished, Ron let out a low whistle. "Wow. So you think the Room of Requirement would have books about it or something?"

"I know it does. That night I got detention, I went to see if my idea would work. There weren't that many, but I flipped through a few books and it looked like the ones that were there might be good," Harry said.

"All right. Let's go. Better than staring at a broken broom." Ron stood up eagerly. "How come you didn't say anything before now?"

Harry hesitated. "I thought you might tell me it was a bad idea to go looking for the same thing Voldemort was after."

Ron gave him a look. "I think you should know at least as much, if not more than, You-Know-Who."

"Well, okay I wasn't worried you would think it was a bad idea," Harry said, "but what would Hermione or Ginny say?"

"I know Ginny would agree with us." Ron stopped himself. "Or at least she would usually. Hermione will come around if she doesn't agree at first. She always does."

"Should we ask her now, then?" They walked to the stairs. Ron agreed, but Hermione was not there when they walked into the common room. Harry left her notes under one of the books she'd left, hoping she'd find them. "Wonder where she went."

Ron shrugged. "Just us, then." He glanced up at the girls' staircase.

Harry shook his head. "We can't get up there, anyway."

They headed to the hallway with the Room of Requirement, trying to look as though they were just out for a walk and not up to anything suspicious. They didn't pass anyone on the way. Even so, Harry didn't breathe easy until they were safely inside.

Ron looked around at the familiar room, relieved to note there were no cushions in sight. He frowned at the meager collection of books haphazardly piled on one of the shelves. "That's it, then?"

Harry walked over and picked up the book on the top of the pile. "Yeah."

Joining him, Ron considered two volumes. "What, exactly, are we looking for?"

"I don't know. Anything, I suppose. What spells are in it, where it might be, why Voldemort would be interested in it." Harry sat by the fireplace.

"Well," Ron said, "if it does have necromancy spells in it, I would think that was enough reason for him to want it, don't you?"

Harry stared at the book in his hands. "I don't know. Of course Voldemort would be interested in anything it said about defeating death, but there's got to be more to the Book than that."

Wrinkling his brow, Ron asked, "What makes you think that?"

"Just a feeling."

They fell silent as they began to read, though it wasn't long before Ron spoke up. "Oh! Here's a good part, it describes what the Book looks like."

Harry looked up the volume he'd been skimming. It hadn't yielded anything useful yet. "What book have you got?"

Ron glanced at the cover. "A Chrestomathy of Necromancy. Bet that'd be in the Restricted Section."

"How does it look?" Harry asked eagerly.

Ron flipped back to the table of contents. "I didn't bother with the introduction. Looks like it's a sort of history of different necromancy texts."

Harry sat up, excitement building. "Does it look like there's a lot on the Book of Shadows?"

"There's a whole chapter on it in here, I skipped right to it. I just skimmed the 'legend or real' bit in the beginning, but it gets good after the first few pages." Harry made a mental note to go back over the chapter more carefully later. Ron continued, "It says: The most sought after tome of ancient necromancy knowledge, the legendary Book of Shadows, possesses many unique qualities. Said to be bound with the hide of an Innocent, the cover glows with the power contained within, shining white even in the darkest of places." Ron stopped. "White? I figured something about necromancy with the word 'Shadows' in the title would be made from blackened human skin and written in blood or something. Well, I suppose an Innocent might be human."

"It is." Harry said, wanting Ron to get back on track.

Ron looked over in surprise. "It is?"

Harry thought back to the brief mention in A Warrior's Will. "Well, I don't know about human skin, but it is written in blood. In the other book I was reading, A Warrior's Will, it mentioned the Book. It said it was 'bound with the hide of an Innocent and written with the Blood of the Betrayed'. Didn't say what an Innocent was, though."

Shuddering at the thought it might actually be human skin, Ron picked up where he left off. "Oh, there it is: The pages contain ancient and powerful spells carefully recorded by the Guardians." Ron stopped. "There's a little asterisk there, hang on. The footnote says it's not known to be definitive, though most evidence and accepted theory agree the Guardians probably wrote at least part of it. Anyway, the only ink that will permeate the Book's pages is that made from the Blood of the Betrayed. While the components of the Book may be common magical substances-" Ron halted mid-sentence. "Common? Common where? I've never heard of this stuff before."

Having abandoned his book for the moment, Harry thought maybe they should look into what the Book was created with, and said as much to Ron. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several books appear on the shelf below the Book of Shadows references. Crossing the room, he picked them up. He rejoined Ron on the couch and read the titles, "A Menagerie of Magical Beasts, Magick and Monster, this one I can't read, and Moste Potent Potions."

Skeptical of their usefulness, Ron took the one with the lettering Harry couldn't read. "It's written in runes. I bet Mione could translate it. Moste Potent Potions? I don't remember anything about Innocents or Blood of the Betrayed in that."

"Well, we didn't exactly read it cover to cover." Harry flipped to the back and scanned the index. "Blood of the Betrayed, there it is."

They both looked on the page illustrated with a witch in obvious agony who seemed to be bleeding profusely from a gash in her wrist. There was no recipe, merely a short paragraph. Reading aloud, Harry said, "The Blood the Betrayed is a rare and powerful magical substance useful in spells of binding, restoration, and necromancy. It can only be obtained from one who has suffered the deepest of deceptions, the most horrific of treacheries. Significant damage to the soul is required for true and potent formulations. Blood of the Betrayed may only be acquired with the donor's consent."

"See? Even that book says it's rare. I don't know what that other book was talking about," Ron commented. "I wonder what 'significant damage to the soul' means."

Harry shut the book and opened A Menagerie of Magical Beasts. "Something really horrible had to happen, I guess." Harry wondered if Sirius or his parents would have had the chance to give Blood of the Betrayed if they had lived. Wormtail's betrayal surely would have counted. Perhaps that was why it was rare, treachery of that scope seemed to end in death.

He scanned A Menagerie's index for 'innocent' but came up blank. "Innocent isn't in the index, but it's got to be in here somewhere."

Ron took the other book and started looking through it. "Not in this index, either." He opened to the contents page. "I don't see anything that would possibly be-" He stopped and started flipping pages.

"Find something?" Harry asked hopefully. Ron continued to search for something and finally held out the book.

"Unicorns," Ron stated. He showed Harry the page he'd flipped to and pointed to the first line under the heading. "Got to be. Look: the most innocent of all magical creatures... No wonder the book is white! It's bound in unicorn hide!"

Harry had to agree it made sense. "Okay, so now we know the book is bound with unicorn hide and written in some kind of human blood. Where would the Guardian get Blood of the Betrayed?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, it may be rare, but I'm sure you could find it somewhere. Maybe it was more common back when the Book was first written? Maybe they have their own supply hidden away somewhere?" Ron made a face, unable to imagine draining the blood out of another person or who would be willing to give their consent to have it done.

"Go back to the other book," Harry prompted. "What else does it say?"

Picking up A Chrestomathy of Necromancy, Ron found where he had left off. "It is unknown exactly when it was first written or who originally created the tome, though evidence points to someone of Immortal lineage or at least, association."

"Immortal?" Harry asked.

Ron didn't look up. "Old word for Vampires. They live so long a lot of the old texts and things called them Immortals. Especially the ones written back before people knew more about them."

Harry nodded, remembering A Warrior's Will had used the term, and waited for Ron to continue.

"Since the creation of the tome, a Guardian has been named and set the task of watching over the Book. It is no longer known who authored the first spells in the Book, nor if it was he who was the first Guardian. The first reference to the Guardian appeared in a volume of the history of the Vampire Clan Draguseni," Ron sounded the name out several times before giving up, "dated 722 AD. The most worthy male of the Clan was determined by an ancient vampiric rite, the nature of which is not known to those outside the Clans. Records hold the first Guardian was named Elek Draguseni. By the recordings in the family history, centuries passed with the Book safely guarded by the blood ties of the Draguseni Clan, until the Clan Wars began." Frowning, Ron looked up. "Why didn't we hear about this in Binns' class?"

Harry tried not to laugh. "We did. I borrowed Hermione's notes. But he only mentioned the Book as part of a very long list of potential reasons the Wars started. I think a lot of people don't believe the Book of Shadows actually exists."

"How come?" Ron asked. "So far it sounds like any other ancient or first copy of a book of spells. There're bunches in guarded places all over. Egypt, Africa, even the Ministry has an original or two."

"Because of the subject maybe? Necromancy seemed to be a rather touchy subject when I brought it up with Dumbledore. Maybe people don't want to believe such a thing exists," Harry suggested.

Ron shook his head. "Even though people don't like it, it's not that hard to find books about it. They don't teach anything but theory at any reputable schools anymore, and that only for Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, but the books are still around. I dunno, true necromancy is powerful Dark magic, I suppose."

Pondering if Hermione would have had any insights, Harry gestured for Ron to continue.

"There is spotty reference to the Book throughout history, mostly through local legends and myths. Numerous attempts to discern the location of the Book, for reasons both academic and more sinister have resulted in at best, inconclusive evidence and at worst, tragedy. Many historians believe the Book never actually existed outside of legend and only served as a means of inciting fear and awe of the Draguseni Clan over the surrounding peoples and rival Clans. Others believe the Book to be an actual manuscript, still in existence, passed to a Mortal line when the last of the Draguseni line died in the Clan Wars in the late sixteen hundreds. Can you imagine being given something like that?" Ron said, bewildered.

"Well, if no one believed it really existed it might not be so bad," Harry replied, but his expression clearly stated he would not be first in line to volunteer as Guardian. "Dumbledore thinks it's real. He even said there were ways to find out who the current Guardian was."

"Do you think you have to know who the Guardian is to find it?" Ron raised his eyebrows.

Harry shrugged. "I'm sure it would help. I think Voldemort is trying to find out who the current Guardian is and I think he's already found the Draguseni book." He quickly recounted his dream to Ron. "I'm pretty sure he's looking over these books, too." Harry gestured to the volumes he and Ron held.

"Too bad we don't have the Draguseni book," Ron sighed. "At least we'd know who the last Guardian was."

"The last vampire Guardian, you mean," Harry corrected.

"It's better than nothing. I bet if you knew who the last Draguseni Guardian was, you might be able to figure out who he gave it to. You'd have a better shot, at least," Ron said.

Harry thought hard about the Draguseni book, hoping it would appear, but when he glanced at the bookshelves, there was nothing more than what was there when they entered. He sighed. "Well, let's keep on with what we've got for now. Maybe we'll figure something out along the way."

Ron turned back to the book in his hands. "From what little reference can be found, the exact role of the Guardian is unclear. It is also unknown if the responsibilities changed when the Book was transferred from an Immortal to a Mortal line. While protection of the manuscript from destruction is clearly a key responsibility, there is much debate over the other duties that may be involved. Speculation of patchy and inconclusive evidence has brought up theories ranging from the Guardian serving merely as a keeper of the knowledge of where the Book resides, never actually coming in contact with it, to creating a new Book of Shadows with every generation, carefully recording the old spells but including new ones with each passing edition. There is a general acceptance of the latter theory among necromancy historians."

"Does it say what spells are in it anywhere?" Harry interrupted.

Ron skimmed the rest of the page and flipped ahead, his eyes darting back and forth over the pages. "It says..." Ron flipped more pages, "Oh, here's a bit: While there is general consensus as to the necromancy content of the Book, many Book historians believe it is not its entire focus. In addition to necromancy, they believe spells of binding and rejuvenation are major components and are of comparable proportion to the necromancy spells." He skimmed down the page. "Nothing on what spells specifically though, mate."

"Binding and rejuvenation? We just read something about that." Harry thought a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Blood of the Betrayed. It said it was useful in spells of binding and restoration. That can't be a coincidence."

"Do you think if we looked through spell book with those types of spells, we'd find out what the Book of Shadows has in it?" Ron asked.

Harry replied slowly. "I don't know. I suppose some of the spells would be in more than one book. But even if they were all scattered around, wouldn't it be easier just to look through a bunch of books rather than search for one that may or may not actually exist?"

Ron's enthusiasm flickered. "Yeah, you're right. There's got to be more to the Book of Shadows than what it says here."

"Well, we've only looked at one chapter in one book. Don't give up just yet," Harry encouraged. "And that's not a bad idea."

"What's not?"

Harry concentrated and an entire bookcase was suddenly bursting with books. "Looking up spells about necromancy, binding, and rejuvenation."

Ron ogled at the hundreds of volumes. "We're going to need help."

"Well, you did say Hermione would eventually come around," Harry said. "Ginny, too."

Frowning, Ron marked the page of the book in his hand. "Forgot about that for a while. Are we continuing with this?"

Glancing at the book in Ron's hand, Harry shook his head. "Let's leave off for now. We've got a start. I'm going to take a few of those to look over." Harry indicated the teeming bookshelf.

He and Ron read over the spines and each chose a few likely candidates. Leaving the Room of Requirement, Harry said, "You on for Occlumency tomorrow?"

"Sure," Ron agreed. "Maybe I shouldn't try with Ginny, though."

Harry couldn't help but think Ron was right, though he wasn't sure if Ginny would want to come anyway. "You and I still haven't had a go yet."

They rounded the corner to the corridor with the Fat Lady's portrait, "Think Hermione's back?"

Entering the common room, Ron's question was quickly answered. Hermione had looked up from her furious scribbling when they had entered and looked as though she was about to greet them. Catching Ron's eye, she quickly shut her mouth and bowed her head over her parchment again.

Ron looked at Harry with a guilty expression. Shaking his head, Harry gave Ron a nudge and a look that clearly said, 'well go apologize!' Taking an audibly deep breath, Ron walked over to Hermione's table and sat across from her. Harry, sensing Ron probably wouldn't want an audience, sat in an armchair out of earshot, though with a clear view.

Her bending lower towards her paper and the halting pace of her writing was Hermione's only indication that she knew Ron was there. Ron leaned forward and said something. Her quill paused. Though she was quite obviously aware of his presence, Hermione didn't seem to want to look up. Ron said something else, leaving Harry wishing he hadn't been so polite so he could hear what they were saying. Since Hermione hadn't moved, Harry could only guess she'd replied by the expression on Ron's face. Ron stammered something and Hermione finally looked up. Harry couldn't see all of her expression as her bushy hair hid most of her profile.

It was not unlike watching a tennis match after that, Harry thought as his eyes darted back and forth from Ron's face to Hermione's, and for some reason, Harry found the whole thing extremely entertaining. Though by now he was really wishing he could hear what they were saying because by their expressions, he couldn't figure out who was apologizing and who was forgiving.

"Hey, Harry, have you seen Ginny?" A voice startled Harry out of his musings. Turning, Harry was surprised to see Julian had sat next to him. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Harry took the opportunity to get a better look at Gryffindor's other Beater. Though a year behind Harry, he was maybe an inch or two taller and a good deal broader, with slightly wavy light brown hair and dark brown eyes. His features had an aristocratic cast to them, making him all in all, rather strikingly handsome. Almost too perfect, Harry thought to himself, wondering if Julian would agree a broken nose could only add much needed character to his looks. Of course, Harry thought, he would be more than happy to assist with the procedure.

Harry fixed his intense green gaze on Julian. "No, I haven't. Why?"

"Well, after what happened at practice, I just wanted to make sure she was okay. She seemed a bit upset." Julian had the perfect mix of concern and friendliness in his voice. "Shame about Ron's broom."

Harry didn't trust him. "I'm sure after she's had some time to sort herself out, she'll let her friends know how she's doing." He emphasized the word 'friends'.

Julian smiled. Harry wondered if a missing tooth or two might go well with the broken nose. "Well, if you see her, tell her I was asking about her."

Harry smiled back, though his eyes remained slightly narrowed. "I will."

After Julian left, Harry turned his attention back to Ron and Hermione. They seemed to have reached some sort of agreement, though Harry could only speculate as to what it was. Hermione said something else and Ron glanced toward the girls' staircase. Hermione shook her head. It was a second before Harry realized Ron was waving at him to join them, and he tried to pretend as if he hadn't been staring at them practically the whole time.

"You didn't see Ginny while you were out?" Hermione asked as Harry sat.

"No, why?" Harry replied. "She's not up there anymore?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. I went to get a book I'd forgotten in my trunk and thought I'd check in on her, but she wasn't there. When I came back down she wasn't here. I thought you might have seen her."

There were two places Harry figured she would have gone and since he and Ron had just come from one of them, it left just one other option. "She might be in the Astronomy Tower."

Ron stared. "What?"

Sorry he'd said it at all, Harry hurried to explain. "I've found her up there a time or two. It's pretty quiet if you want to be by yourself and think."

"Should we go check, then?" Hermione suggested.

Ron checked the clock. "We have a bit before dinner. Let's go."

Harry tried to protest but Ron and Hermione were already halfway to the portrait hole. Following them out he said, "I don't think she'll appreciate all of us barging in on her like this."

Hermione continued down the hall, undaunted. "Apparently she didn't mind when you did."

"Actually she did mind," Harry retorted.

"Exactly how many times have you been alone in the Astronomy Tower with my sister?" Ron asked, his tone making them all stop in the middle of the hallway.

Harry stared. "What? What do you mean? I only went to make sure she was all right. Once after Free left and the other day when she stormed off after Occlumency practice."

Ron still eyed him suspiciously but merely said, "Oh."

As they started on their way again, Harry looked to Hermione, utterly bewildered. What on earth had gotten into Ron? Suddenly, the thought that neither of them knew how many times he'd been alone in the Room of Requirement with Ginny sprung into his mind, making him want to laugh. He almost stopped walking. Where had that thought come from?

"What did Julian want?" Ron asked, jolting Harry out of his confused thoughts.

"He was asking about Ginny," Harry replied, frowning.

Ron bristled, muttering, "She's too damn popular."

Harry turned to Hermione, catching her suppressed snicker. He shot her an annoyed look. "What?"

When Ron turned, her face was perfectly innocent, save for the barest hint of a smirk. "I didn't say anything."

The intensity of his feeling of relief surprised Harry when they didn't find Ginny in the Astronomy Tower. He told himself it was because he hadn't been looking forward to her outrage over him telling everyone where she went when she was upset. Turning to go back down the stairs, Ron's voice stopped him.

"Where else would she have gone?" He was looking down the narrow staircase at Harry.

Deciding that telling them anything else about Ginny's personal business would probably get him hexed into next year, Harry shrugged and said he didn't know. Luckily, Ron's stomach grumbled loudly and he decided he'd apologize at dinner. Unwilling to provide any reason for Ron to change his mind, Harry merely nodded and headed back the way they had just come.

Ginny wasn't there when they arrived, so the trio sat in clear view of the doorway. Ron immediately began piling food on his plate. About ten minutes into dinner, Harry began to think Ginny wasn't going to show up at all. By her look of worry, he figured Hermione was having similar thoughts. Glancing at Ron, it looked as though he were unconcerned with anything but eating, but the looks he kept shooting at the doorway told Harry otherwise. When one sideways glance halted Ron's rapid pace of fork to mouth, Harry turned, expecting Ginny to be walking toward them.

However, it was Persephone striding toward them with a purposeful air, an odd jangling sound accenting her every step. Harry caught sight of something long and black in her hand and craned his neck to get a better look. Ignoring the curious whispers around her, Persephone stopped to stand between Harry and Hermione, directly across from Ron. Harry could now clearly see it was a sleek black broomstick in her hand, the silver D-rings lining either side of the end of the broom the cause of the jangling noise.

"I heard your broomstick was broken," Persephone began.

Ron swallowed. "Um, yeah. At practice. Ginny hit...not that-" Ron hurried on, obviously uncomfortable, "I mean, I'm not angry with her anymore. It wasn't really her fault."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear it can't be repaired. In the meantime, I thought you might like to borrow mine." She held up the glossy black broom. "It's not exactly a racing broom, but it'll do for a Keeper, I think."

They caught sight of the silver lettering on the handle: Windtec 2000AP. Ron and Harry's jaws dropped. Ron managed to recover enough to stammer, "Really? I can borrow it? A Windtec! Wow, thanks!"

"It's not like I'm really using it." Persephone handed the broom over to Ron. "It's a bit different than a racing broom, you might want to get a bit of extra practice in," she cautioned. Just as she turned to leave, she paused and faced them again. "Congratulations on winning the Black Wand, Ron. And the Wildfire Award, Harry. As soon as the other Houses are done, we'll have the Awards Ceremony. Did you enjoy the game?"

Surprisingly, Hermione spoke up first. "It went much better than I expected."

Persephone smiled. "It always does. I always expected total mayhem, too. Never seems to happen, though."

"It was great!" Ron said excitedly.

Harry nodded in agreement. "Maybe we'll play every year now."

"I'm sure they'll look into it. Enjoy your evening." Grabbing a dinner roll off the table, Persephone walked back out the way she had come.

As soon as she was gone, Ron stared at the boom in his hands. "Awesome."

"What's a Windtec?" Hermione asked. "Is it good?"

Harry looked over the table as Ron examined the broom. "Yeah, it's an American brand. Like she said, they're not racing brooms, so it's not as fast as a Firebolt or even a Nimbus, but it's still a really excellent broom."

"What's it for?"

Ron looked up as if remembering Hermione didn't know much about brooms. His eyes lit up. "Well, there's lots of different brooms for different things, you know. Mostly everyone here is always talking about racing brooms for Quidditch, but there're brooms for all kinds of other things. More comfortable but slower brooms for long-distance travel, more durable brooms for things like herding winged horses and dragons- Charlie's got one of those- other everyday traveling brooms."

Hermione seemed surprised there were so many varieties. "What's that one, then?"

Ron was examining the handle again. "Windtec is a working broom. The AP stands for all purpose, but she's got lots of extra rings on here and it's a bit different than the standard model. I'd guess she used it for herding winged horses and other ranch stuff. Charlie would kill for one of these." Standing up, Ron measured the length against himself and continued talking, though it seemed as though he'd forgotten Harry and Hermione were there. "It's a bit short for me, she probably cut the length since she's so small, to make it easier to handle. It's lighter than you'd think, too. I bet it's hollow core, better breakage resistance with that. Charlie wanted hollow core for his broom, but they tend to be much pricier. Yeah, this is custom all the way."

Hermione looked on, bemused as Ron continued to talk to himself. Harry wondered how Persephone had known about Ron's broom. He swore.

Hermione looked over in surprise. "What?"

"We should have asked her if she knew where Ginny was." Harry grabbed a sugared orange slice off the dish in front of him and glared at it as though it had failed to remind him to ask. "I bet Ginny was the one who told her about Ron's broom."

Ron, seemingly finished with examining every inch of the Windtec, sat back down, leaning it against the table. He helped himself to a poached pear, obviously in better spirits. "Well, she'll be back by curfew anyway. If I don't find her tonight, I'll talk to her tomorrow. Is she coming to occ-" Ron stopped himself and lowered his voice, seeing there were other people within earshot, "I mean, practice?"

"She said she was going to be there today," Harry said, "I don't think she knows we're doing it tomorrow instead."

Hermione shrugged. "I'm sure she'll guess. In any case, we'll probably see her at breakfast if not in the common room tonight."

Harry tried to muster the same optimism as they headed back to Gryffindor. Passing the game boards just outside the Great Hall, they saw all the Houses except Hufflepuff were finished, though Hufflepuff only had two people left. Surprisingly, no Lightning Awards had been named.

Harry was disgusted to see Malfoy had won Slytherin's Black Wand. "I bet he cheated."

Ron had a similar look. "At least he didn't win anything else."

Disappointment settled heavily when they scanned the Gryffindor common room and Ginny was not there. Hermione assured them they'd see her first thing the next morning and if nothing else, whenever they gave out the awards. Gathering her notes from the table where she'd left them, Hermione told Ron and Harry she had a headache and was going to bed early.

Plopping onto the couch by the fire, Ron said, "With all the studying she does, it's no wonder."

Harry sat in the armchair opposite Ron, with a clear view of the entrance. He pulled out Snape's book from his pocket. He'd been carrying it around in the hopes he'd eventually sit down and look it over again. Seeing Ron had pulled out one of the books they'd gotten earlier, but was already half asleep, Harry resignedly opened his own and turned to the section on dreams.

Due to the nature of Occlumency practice, it is not uncommon for those beginning to build their power to experience unintentional forays into the minds of others. This is particularly true when the unintentional target is at a weakened mental state, the most common of which being sleep. Though usually experienced as dreams when the two individuals are asleep at the same time, it may also occur when the practitioner is awake and the other individual asleep (dream readings). While spontaneous readings with any individual within a close proximity may occur (for example, Minnie McGillicutty described the disturbing dreams of a man seated next to her on a train in her memoirs ©1936), it is unusual for it to be with people the practitioner does not already share some kind of strong personal bond. Most commonly, dream readings occur between individuals who live together (siblings, couples, etc.). As with the intentional practice, proximity is essential and if the practitioner finds the venture into the dreams of others to be invasive or uncontrollable, moving to another room during sleep can eliminate the problem until greater control is achieved.

In some cases, an Occlumens has found dream readings helpful in learning to direct and control the process of examining another's thoughts. Also, interpreting the subconscious dream imagery of another can be a very useful tool in learning to interpret the memory images uncovered by the use of Occlumency. However, it is suggested one obtain the permission of the dreamer before attempting this.

From there, the book went on to describe what particular elements of a dream the person dreaming and the person using occlumency might interpret differently. Harry tried to focus, but ended up skimming through the detailed examples. Finding where they ended, he slowed down and read more carefully.

If it is agreeable to both parties, an Occlumens may attempt to direct the dreams of another. Though it requires some knowledge of the dreamer's mind and experiences, the nature of dreams (the suspension of reality) allows the practitioner a good deal of freedom in the process. Extreme caution should be used, as to prevent dream images for being mistakenly cast as actual memory. Only fully trained Occlumens should attempt dream direction.

Harry sighed and put the book down. What exactly, was that supposed to tell him about his waking nightmares? Was he having someone else's dreams or was someone having his and directing them? Feeling uncomfortable at the thought, Harry shook himself and stared into the fire. It certainly didn't feel like anyone was in his head, telling him what to dream. When he thought about it carefully, Harry was sure he was seeing someone else's dreams, though he wasn't quite sure why. Watching Ron asleep on the couch opposite him, he suddenly remembered the day he and Ginny had been in the Room of Requirement and she'd fallen asleep next to him. Hadn't he thought he heard Ginny talking? Harry wracked his brain, trying to remember what he'd heard. Something about the Chamber of Secrets, wasn't it?

Staring into the fire, Harry struggled to remember. He had to have been hearing Ginny's dream-memory of what happened in the Chamber. She'd been talking to Tom... Harry remembered the short conversation with a sudden sinking feeling. Ginny had sounded confused, saying she thought Tom had been her friend. Tom had laughed at her, calling her stupid and useless. It must have been right after he'd come out of the diary, just before Harry had gotten there. The fact that he'd never thought to ask if she was all right after the whole ordeal resurfaced in his mind and settled in a knot of guilt in the pit of Harry's stomach.

Hoping to divert those thoughts, Harry compared hearing Ginny's dream to his waking nightmares. Of course, while Ginny's dream hadn't had images to go with it, for which Harry was suddenly very grateful, it did have the same kind of feel. Feeling slightly relieved now he was sure no one was altering his dreams, Harry still had to wonder who the waking nightmares belonged to. Ron? Ginny? Someone else in Gryffindor?

Closing his eyes, Harry tried to focus on the dream images, frightening though they were. Attempting to be analytical, Harry mentally listed what he knew. There were two distinct nightmares, though Harry sensed they were somehow related and definitely from the same person. The first nightmare began with coherent thoughts at the beginning but quickly dissolved into the rush of intense feelings and jumbled pictures. The second was nothing but the random confusion. Both involved fear, pain, and a devastating sense of betrayal. Thinking about that, Harry leaned toward assigning the dreams to Ginny. There were certainly things in her past that fell into those categories. But had she ever been locked in a room? If so, by whom? And when? And why? Who would have hurt her? It didn't seem like the result of a prank by her brothers. The betrayal he felt in the nightmare was much too soul wrenching for that.

Harry didn't like where his thoughts were taking him. Opening his eyes, he realized his teeth were clenched and he was breathing hard. He thought maybe he ought to attempt to interpret the nightmares somewhere more private. Deciding he'd had enough for one day, Harry roused Ron and they headed up to bed.