A Cord of Three Strands

A Cord of Three Strands

By Cindale

Chapter 18

"Coquetry and Qualms"

"Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Ecclesiastes 4:12

The majority of the older students remained at Hogwarts during the Easter Holidays since most of their homework required reference books from the library. Harry's homework assignments were actually quite reasonable, and he was able to spend part of every day on his Firebolt, sometimes with Ron and sometimes with Malfoy. Hermione, however, spent a portion of each day pouring over charts and tables for Arithmancy.

"Glad I'm not taking that," Ron said, inclining his head toward Hermione, who sat mumbling to herself with her fingers entwined in her hair.

"Me too," Harry agreed, laying his Firebolt on the floor and flopping onto the sofa beside Ron.

Hermione looked up when Harry spoke, but it took a few seconds for her glazed eyes to focus on him. "For your information," she said, turning to glare at Ron, "this isn't homework. I'm helping Professor Vector with a project." She turned her eyes to Harry, and her tone became more tentative. "Did you have fun with Malfoy?"

Harry shrugged, unwilling to show too much enthusiasm for his scrimmages with the Slytherin. His friends were still suspicious, and he found himself wishing that Ron and Malfoy could put aside their differences long enough for the three of them to have a flying session together.

"I don't like it," said Ron, scowling at Harry. "Our next match is against Slytherin. He'll know all your best moves. What if he beats you?"

"He won't," Harry said without hesitation. "I'm still better than him. Besides, he's taking the same risk. I watch him very carefully."

"I still don't like it," Ron said. "He's a Slytherin. He'll find a way to use this to his advantage."

"It's working to my advantage," Harry said with a shrug. "These practices are really improving my flying."

"Not much room for improvement, if you ask me," said a voice behind Harry. He twisted around on the sofa, a little startled, and looked into the warm brown eyes of Ginny Weasley, which were gazing at him with an unfamiliar expression.

Harry was suddenly very aware that he was sweaty and dirty from practice. He tore his eyes from Ginny's, grabbed his Firebolt, stammered something about taking a shower, and escaped up the stairs, silently berating himself for acting like such an idiot.

She had only complimented him on his flying. Why couldn't he just thank her? Why did he always have to run out of the room? What was he afraid of? Lately it seemed that he was more frightened of Ginny than of Voldemort himself. It made no sense; she was just a girl.

No, she wasn't just a girl. She was a beautiful girl, an intelligent girl, a magically powerful girl, a girl he wanted to ... No. She was Ron's sister, and he was practically a Weasley. She might as well be his sister, dammit!

Harry turned on the water in the shower and stood under the hot spray, trying to wash away his thoughts of Ginny along with the grime from the Quidditch pitch. He soaped his body and hair mechanically as he struggled to clear his mind, trying to memorize the patterns in the tiles on the wall.

"You okay, mate?" said Ron's voice from the door of the bathroom, startling Harry from his morose thoughts. He turned off the water, grabbed his towel, and stepped out of the shower.

"Yeah," he said as he dried himself, unwilling to meet his friend's eyes. "Much better now that I've had a shower."

Ron grimaced in a way that suggested he was struggling within himself, as if trying to decide whether to say something. He avoided looking at Harry and finally focused his eyes on the far wall. "You've been acting - weird around Ginny lately."

"I have?" Harry gasped, panic filling his stomach. If Ron had noticed, how many others had? This stupid crush on Ginny could be very humiliating.

Ron stared at him for a long moment. Harry pretended not to notice as he rubbed his hair dry, but he could feel his friend's eyes burning into his skull. Finally, Ron quietly said, "I think you should talk to her."

"I talk to her all the time," Harry said, knowing quite well it was a lie and avoiding Ron's gaze because of it. He wrapped the towel around his waist and headed back into the dormitory.

"I think she likes you, mate."

Harry sighed, wondering if he should tell Ron about Zabini. No, Ginny wouldn't thank him for that; Ron would only get angry and give her a hard time. He couldn't even tell Ron that Ginny liked someone else, since Ron would certainly demand to know who. "No," he said, slowly turning to face his best friend, trying frantically to think of what to say even as he spoke. "She ... got over me ... a long time ago." He couldn't hide the defeated tone in his voice.

"I don't believe that," Ron said, shaking his head. "I think if you just ..."

"Just drop it!" spat Harry. "I know it would be really convenient for you if your sister and I got together, but it's not going to happen. So leave me alone about it."

Ron's eyes widened in shock, as if he couldn't believe Harry would say such a thing. Harry ignored the little voice in his head that told him he was being unfair and turned away to rummage in his trunk for clean clothes. After a moment, Ron's voice, sounding strangely low and dangerous, said, "Forgive me for wanting to see you happy. I guess I shouldn't bother."

He turned back just in time to see the door slam shut behind Ron. Furious with himself, Harry slammed the lid of his trunk and jerked his clothes on. He had been taking Occlumency for over a year, and he couldn't even manage to hide his feelings for Ginny! How could he when his waking thoughts were dominated by her voice, her scent, her face? He loved her freckles, and sometimes he dreamed of kissing each of them in turn.

Harry shook his head as if the motion would free him from his traitorous thoughts as he finished dressing. It took a supreme effort, but he managed to calm himself and resolved to focus on clearing his mind whenever he thought he might see Ginny. In the meantime, his first priority was to repair the damage to his closest friendship.

Ron and Hermione were sitting side by side on the sofa, apparently engrossed in their whispered conversation. Harry realized they were probably talking about him, but he swallowed his annoyance and forced himself to walk right up to them. He took a deep breath and said, "Fancy a game of chess, Ron?"

They both seemed a little startled, as if they had been so absorbed in their tête-à-tête that they didn't hear him approach. "Sure," said Ron after a moment. He gave Harry a small smile before summoning his chess board. Hermione bowed her head, but Harry still caught her grin, and he couldn't keep his face from imitating hers.

**********************************************

Harry had completed his Potions essay during the Easter holidays, but he went to the library on Monday evening out of habit. There was no reason why he shouldn't get a head start on the homework that was assigned earlier in the day. Malfoy was already sitting at their usual table, pretending to study, but actually eyeing the Ravenclaw girls a few tables away.

"Hand it over," Malfoy said in a resigned tone as Harry sat down.

"What?"

"Snape knows I'm helping you in Potions - I can't let you turn in a substandard essay," said the Slytherin, holding out his hand. He was talking to Harry, but he was looking at Su Li and Lisa Turpin, who had their heads close together as if whispering. Harry dug the parchment out of his bag and handed it to Malfoy without a word. Malfoy seemed reluctant to tear his eyes away from the girls, but read Harry's essay with a frown. "This is at least six inches too short, Potter, and you've reversed bicorn horn and boomslang skin," he said, shoving the parchment back toward Harry.

"Ta," said Harry sarcastically, feeling both grateful for the help and irritated at Malfoy's superior tone. He sighed, supposing Malfoy's attitude was easier to deal with than Snape's, and used his wand to erase his mistakes.

"Whenever I have an essay that's a little too short, I write something about what can or can't be added to make the potion taste or smell better," Malfoy said, his gaze wandering back to the girls. "Snape seems to like that - says I'm going beyond the requirements or some such nonsense."

Harry stared at the Slytherin in disbelief. Malfoy had never helped him this much before. After a few moments, Malfoy looked at him and scowled. "Get over it," he said in a quiet voice. "It's not like I'm going to tell you the answer - you still have to go look it up. In fact ..." he glanced over at the girls and lowered his voice further, "... it would be really helpful to me if you ... yes, she's coming over here ... in a few minutes, I need you to go find a book, okay?"

"What?" Harry said stupidly, but Malfoy only shushed him as Lisa Turpin came into hearing range. Harry struggled to refrain from rolling his eyes as Malfoy put on what he probably thought was his most charming smile and greeted Lisa warmly.

"Harry. Draco." She greeted them both with a nod and turned to Harry, but Malfoy spoke as she opened her mouth.

"Please, have a seat," he said, gesturing widely toward the chair next to him. Her cheeks turned slightly pink as she sat. She glanced over at Su Li, who was still at the other table. Harry followed her eyes and watched as Su nodded her head and widened her eyes as if to tell Lisa to go ahead with something.

"Harry," said Lisa in a quiet tone that might have been shy, "Su and I have a question about the Defence essay. Will you help us?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Malfoy spoke before he could make a sound. "He needs to finish his Potions essay first, don't you, Potter?" He shot Harry a glare, but Lisa had her eyes on Harry and didn't notice. "In fact," Malfoy continued, leaning toward Lisa and so that their shoulders touched, forcing her to turn her attention to him, "he was just telling me that he's going to look for a book."

"Er - yeah, I was," Harry stammered as he left the table.

Harry browsed idly through the books as he kept an eye on Malfoy and Lisa. As she talked, Malfoy kept a charming smile on his lips, but his eyes narrowed as though he was annoyed. After a few moments, however, his expression relaxed, and by the time Lisa stood to leave, he looked extremely satisfied about something. Harry hurried over to the table, totally forgetting that he was supposed to be looking for a book. "Do I have your permission to sit down?" he asked Malfoy in a tone that he hoped was dripping with sarcasm. He sat before Malfoy had time to answer.

"So, do you like Su Li?" Malfoy asked.

"What?" Harry said, completely baffled.

Malfoy gave a dramatic sigh. "Could you possibly be any more dense? All Turpin wanted to talk about was you. I was just about to tell her to bugger off, but then I realized that it's Li who likes you. I'm supposed to find out if you like her and tell Turpin. The good news is that she's meeting me by the lake later tonight to talk about it."

Harry stared at Malfoy for a moment, trying frantically to process this information. "You're going on a date with Lisa Turpin to talk about me?"

"She's a pure-blood, she's not bad to look at, and I might get a decent snog, maybe more," Malfoy said with a shrug, reminding Harry of why he was a Slytherin. "So, do you like Su Li?"

Harry glanced over at the girls, who were gathering their things to leave. Su looked up, saw Harry watching, blushed rather prettily, and hurried out of the library. He turned back to Malfoy and sighed. "No."

"No?" Malfoy repeated, raising his eyebrows. "Don't you know an easy snog when you see one? I'm sure we could find you a nice spot by the lake, too. Come on - I know you haven't been seeing anyone since you broke it off with Looney Lovegood."

"How did you know about that?"

"What? You thought it was a secret?" Malfoy asked incredulously. Harry nodded, feeling stupid. Did everyone in the school know about his love life? "What did you see in her, anyway? She's so ... loony."

"She's nice," said Harry, feeling a little defensive.

"Nice? She's weird! She must have been a really good snog, huh?"

Harry felt himself squirming uncomfortably; Malfoy was a little too close to the truth. A flash of red near the door provided a distraction, and his mind went completely blank as Ginny and Luna walked into the library, giggling quietly. Ginny's lovely brown eyes were sparkling and her hair glistened as she tossed her head in mirth. She caught sight of Harry and smiled a happy carefree smile that seemed to force Harry to return it. After a moment he realized he was blushing and grinning stupidly so he quickly turned back to Malfoy, who was giving him a knowing look.

"I thought you were still mooning over Lovegood until the baby Weasley smiled at you. How long have you had a thing for her?"

Harry shook his head to clear it, but to his chagrin, his blush only grew deeper. "I don't have a 'thing' for Ginny," he protested.

"Don't deny it," Malfoy said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "You want her. You looked hungrier than Hagrid at the Halloween feast."

That comment made Harry slightly angry; it seemed as if Malfoy was thinking of Ginny as an object. "Even if I did," he said, shoving his things violently back into his bag, "it wouldn't matter. She's going out with Zabini."

"Zabini? Really? He hasn't mentioned her," said Malfoy. Harry froze, torn between feeling horrified that he had given that piece of information to Malfoy and curious about his relationship with Zabini.

"What - you two are mates now?" Harry said, his curiosity winning out.

"We've played chess a couple of times," Malfoy said with a shrug. "I wouldn't call him a mate."

Harry nodded, wondering if he should be glad or nervous that Zabini appeared to be reaching out to Malfoy. He finally decided it was really none of his business and turned the conversation back to Ginny. "I've only seen them together once, so I'm betting she's trying to hide it from Ron. So keep your mouth shut about it."

Malfoy leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head, regarding Harry with a calculating look that was worrisome. "You expect me to refrain from telling Ron that his baby sister is snogging a Slytherin? The look on his face would be priceless. If you want that, you're going to have to do something for me in return."

Harry leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. "You refrain from telling Ron and I'll refrain from hexing you."

"You're almost scaring me," Malfoy said with a laugh, "but not quite. Look, I'm not asking for much. Just give me something more interesting to tell Turpin than, 'no, he's not interested'."

"I can't."

"Sure you can. Do you think Li's pretty? I know she's not a pure-blood, but she's still not bad to look at."

Harry thought about that. He couldn't help comparing her dark, exotic features to Cho, which gave him a sick feeling in his stomach. As if reading his thoughts, Malfoy continued, "She's not nearly as pretty as Chang was, but not many girls are. I can't believe she ever went out with you, but I guess many are enamoured by the charms of the 'Boy Who Lived'."

Before he even realized what he was doing, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy's throat. "Don't ever talk to me about Cho again!" he said rather loudly, causing many other students to turn their heads to stare at them.

A number of emotions flickered through Malfoy's eyes: anger, fear, sadness, realization, and finally an expression Harry didn't recognize. After staring at Harry for several seconds, Malfoy drawled, "I won't. Put your wand away."

Harry remained frozen, his guilt and anger about the Hogsmeade attack and Cho's death, long suppressed, boiling to the surface again. His wand hand began to shake. He took several deep breaths and tried unsuccessfully to clear his mind, barely conscious of the boy sitting across from him. "You know," Malfoy said, "this is a good way to squash the rumours that we're best mates." His voice seemed to wake Harry up from a trance, and he forced his eyes to focus on the Slytherin's face. Suddenly, he recognized the look in Malfoy's eyes. It was remorse. Harry had never seen Malfoy express remorse before. As he wondered about this, his hand stopped shaking and the violent emotions began to recede.

"Will it help if I apologize?" Malfoy asked very quietly, as if not wanting to be overheard. Harry suddenly realized that he was still pointing his wand at Malfoy's throat, everyone was staring, and Madam Pince was headed towards their table. Feeling very stupid, he put his wand away, grabbed his bag, and escaped from the library as quickly as he could.

*************************************

"Lavender told me you almost hexed Malfoy in the library last night," Hermione said as Harry sat down across from her at breakfast the next morning. "What happened, Harry?"

"What did he do?" Ron demanded as he took the seat next to Hermione, his ears reddening.

Harry felt a bit like he was being interrogated as he sat across from his best friends with both sets of eyes boring into him, but he forced down his annoyance. After he had left the library, he had spent the better part of an hour in Remus's rooms venting his frustration. Remus had helped him realize that even though the Slytherin had been rather abrasive about Cho and Ginny, he had backed down when he saw that Harry was angry. In fact, Malfoy had come very close to apologizing, and Harry had never heard the Slytherin apologize before. In the light of morning Harry felt a little sheepish about his behaviour in the library, especially since there had been so many witnesses.

"We had a disagreement, and I sort of got carried away." Harry smirked at his friends. "Of course, you two wouldn't know anything about that - I'm always so calm around you." Ron and Hermione stared at him, Hermione with an expression of disbelief, and Ron with his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Seriously, it's okay," Harry said. "And it might help with the rumours about our supposed friendship."

Hermione's eyes continued to intently search his; finally she sighed and said, "Harry, you're growing up."

Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended. "What a thing to say, Hermione. You're younger than me!"

"Either that or Malfoy has him under Imperius," said Ron with a scowl.

"What's Draco Malfoy doing?" asked Parvati as she sat down beside Harry. Harry looked up as Ron and Hermione turned around.

Malfoy had risen and picked up his book bag, but instead of leaving the Great Hall, he walked around the Slytherin table and strode up the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables. He stopped next to Lisa Turpin's seat, put a hand on her shoulder, and bent to put his lips close to her ear, apparently whispering something. Harry watched in amazement as a slow smile grew on Lisa's face and a blush stained her cheeks. She turned so that her lips were just inches from Malfoy's and gave him a slight nod. The Slytherin said, "Good," and turned to leave the Great Hall looking extremely satisfied with himself.

"What was that all about?" asked Hermione, turning back to Harry.

"He likes her," Harry said with a shrug. "He told me last night." That wasn't precisely true; Malfoy hadn't said he liked her; he had only expressed interest in kissing her. But he supposed for Malfoy that might be equivalent to true love.

"He probably just needs her for some Death Eater virgin sacrifice," Ron said with a bitter laugh. Parvati snorted in a disparaging manner.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded. Harry actually thought Ron's comment was amusing, but supposed he should refrain from grinning.

"I heard Su Li likes you, Harry," Parvati told him in the slightly whiney voice she always adopted for gossip.

"So I've heard," Harry said with a sigh, wondering why all of Hogwarts seemed to be fascinated with his love life.

"So are you interested?" Parvati asked, leaning forward and looking at him as if her life depended on his answer.

"No," Harry said, shoving a bite of eggs into his mouth so he wouldn't be expected to elaborate.

"Of course he's not," said Hermione in a matter-of-fact voice, as if she were quoting from a book. "If Harry fancied a girl, he would tell her, wouldn't you Harry?" Harry looked up and realized Hermione was giving him a pointed look, as if trying to tell him to do something.

Before he could answer, a book bag dropped heavily into the seat beside him. "You'll never guess what I just saw," said Ginny, grabbing a piece of toast and shoving it into her mouth, reminding Harry of Ron. Harry briefly considered escaping from the Great hall, but was afraid it would appear that he was acting "weird" around Ginny again.

"Ooh - Ginny - you just missed it! Draco Malfoy practically kissed Lisa Turpin in front of the whole school!" Parvati gushed from Harry's other side.

"Nope - mine's better," said Ginny with a smirk. "Mr. Quidditch Captain," she continued, turning her attention to Ron, whose eyes focused on his sister immediately when she mentioned Quidditch. "I think our Beaters might be starting to trust each other a little more. I just saw them snogging in the common room."

"Jack and Stacey?" Ron asked, eyes widening in shock. "Well," he said with a nod, his expression softening so that he looked extremely pleased with himself, "I guess forcing them to get to know each other in the D.A. might not have been such a bad idea." He narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Are you trying to get to know Andrew and Katie better?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and sat down, grabbing another piece of toast. "If you're suggesting I snog Andrew and Katie, you can just go find another Chaser right now, you prat."

"Er ... no," stammered Ron, looking both scandalized and disgusted.

"We'd better get to Potions, you two," Hermione said, her voice slightly muffled by the table as she leaned over to retrieve her book bag.

"We've got ages, Hermione," Ron whined, but Harry rose to leave, eager to get away from Ginny before he said something stupid, before he said anything, actually.

"See you, Harry," said Ginny.

Harry froze for a second, but quickly recovered. He forced himself to think about Aunt Petunia's flower garden and turned to Ginny with what he hoped was a smile that was warm, but not too warm. "See you, Ginny," he said, his tone sounding a bit stilted even to his own ears. It couldn't be helped, though; at least he had managed to say something coherent.

Ron talked about Quidditch as the three friends descended to Potions together, but Harry was only half listening. He glanced at his two friends' intertwined hands and found himself savouring an image of himself strolling down the corridor hand-in-hand with Ginny. Harry was still lost in the fantasy when he made his way through the maze of desks and dropped his book bag beside Malfoy's chair. They were early; Malfoy was the room's only occupant.

"I take it you got your snog last night," Harry said quietly to Malfoy as he took his seat.

"No," he answered in a whisper, "but I definitely will tonight." Harry rolled his eyes at the Slytherin's smirk. He leaned over to retrieve his parchment and quill from his bag, and when he straightened up he was surprised to see that Malfoy's expression had drastically changed. The smirk had reversed into a frown and his eyes were full of regret, hurt, and anger. Harry followed his gaze and saw two figures standing very close just outside the classroom door. As he watched, Nott wrapped his arms around Pansy Parkinson's waist and pulled her even closer as his lips touched hers.

Images of Malfoy with Pansy during their fourth and fifth year suddenly filled Harry's mind. He wondered why he had never realized they must have had a romantic relationship; Malfoy apparently still had feelings for the pug-nosed Slytherin. Despite the fact that Malfoy had taunted him the night before about his own romantic interests, Harry didn't feel at all like teasing Malfoy. The pain in Malfoy's expression was raw, as if he had just been recently betrayed, though Harry was certain Malfoy hadn't dated Pansy at all since fifth year.

Malfoy turned his eyes to Harry as if feeling his gaze and his expression slowly changed to defiance, his eyes daring Harry to comment. Harry turned his attention to his parchment, slowly writing the date at the top of the page. When he raised his gaze again, Malfoy had obviously recovered enough to smirk and wink at Lisa as she and Su walked into the classroom. Harry realized he had probably just witnessed the reason for Malfoy's callous attitude toward girls and felt a little encouraged at the knowledge that the Slytherin possessed the capacity to love. He hoped, however, that Malfoy wouldn't hurt anyone else in his quest to distract himself from his own broken heart.

Harry's eyes met Su's as she and Lisa sat at a table near his. He looked away when he realized he was smiling at her, knowing he shouldn't encourage her. Harry understood how painful it was to have unrequited romantic feelings. However, he had learned from his experience with Luna that he couldn't sufficiently distract himself with a different relationship and that the guilt he felt over trying only added to his frustration. It was all well and good for Malfoy, and maybe it would work for him, but Harry wasn't about to start a relationship with Su Li or any other girl when he knew he had feelings for someone else.

Thankfully, Harry's wistful sigh was covered by Snape's entrance into the classroom. He put his melancholy thoughts out of his mind and focused on the day's lesson.

***************************************

Harry crouched behind the makeshift barrier, every one of his senses on the alert. It had been a few minutes since the last hex and the silence was making Harry nervous. He knew it was unwise to risk a peek around the obstruction, but didn't know if he could stand the tension much longer.

As he turned to assure himself that he wasn't being approached from behind, a slight movement to his right caught his eye, and he threw himself to the ground just as a jet of light hurtled through the air above him. Harry rolled quickly around the barrier to put it between himself and his attacker and was immediately hit with the full Body-Bind from the opposite direction.

A deep, soft laugh echoed through the room as Remus's smiling face appeared above him and released him from the spell. "You're getting better," his guardian said proudly.

Harry rubbed his head where it had hit the floor and turned to scowl at Professor Shacklebolt, who was still chuckling. "I don't know how you expect me to defend myself without my wand," Harry complained.

Shacklebolt's expression turned solemn as he handed Harry's wand back. "You never know what situation you might find yourself in. Best to be prepared for anything."

"I know," Harry said in a sullen tone. The professor waved his wand over his head and Harry felt his headache disappear. "Thanks," he said, trying to smile.

"Order meeting in ten minutes," Remus said, looking at his watch. "We'd better get going, Kingsley."

"Can I come?" Harry couldn't keep himself from asking, even though he knew he would be turned down.

Shacklebolt shook his head, but Remus gave him a long, unfathomable look. Finally he spoke very slowly, as if still contemplating the consequences of his decision. "Yes, Harry, let's go. It will save me the trouble of telling you about it later." Professor Shacklebolt gave Remus a disapproving look but didn't say anything.

Harry couldn't believe his luck. Maybe they were finally beginning to treat him as an adult. His excitement mounted as he walked alone to Dumbledore's office. Shacklebolt was taking a different route, and Remus was using the floo from his quarters. It wouldn't do for them to be seen arriving together by the other students, or even the other teachers, since the Order suspected that one of the faculty was a traitor.

As he walked into Dumbledore's office, his excitement faded quickly. Mrs. Weasley's, Snape's, and even Moody's eyes narrowed in anger when they saw him. Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to speak, but Dumbledore spoke first.

"Ah, Harry. How appropriate that you decided to come tonight since we will be discussing you." Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward the headmaster as he watched Mrs. Weasley close her mouth and relax her eyes. He took the seat next to Remus and waited nervously for the meeting to begin.

As soon as Professor Shacklebolt entered the room, Dumbledore said, "Now that we are all here, we will begin with our plans for Harry's summer." He paused briefly as Shacklebolt took the last empty chair, and then continued. "Harry can no longer stay with his aunt, so I have determined the safest place for him will be the Weasley's home." Harry felt a jolt of happiness that he would be able to spend the summer with his friends, but then a little stab of trepidation when he remembered that he would have to live for two months in Sirius's former residence.

As if reading his mind, Remus leaned over and in a voice that only Harry could hear, said, "You won't even recognize it - Molly and the house-elves have really fixed it up." Harry smiled gratefully at Remus and turned back to listen to Dumbledore.

"I believe it will be safe to let Harry ride the Hogwarts Express to London as long as there are Aurors riding as well."

"That shouldn't be a problem," said Shacklebolt. "Amelia Bones has been very receptive to your suggestions in the past."

"I don't think you should risk exposing the boy for that long a period of time," argued Moody, his good eye on Dumbledore and his magical eye on Harry. "Voldemort could attack the train."

"That would be almost impossible," said Shacklebolt. "No one can Apparate or Portkey onto a moving object. He could only attack at Hogsmeade Station or King's Cross, and we can set up a group of Aurors to escort Harry to and from the train stations." Moody looked only slightly mollified at these reassurances.

"What about Harry's safety here, and that of the other students?" Mrs Weasley asked. "Are the wards still weakening?"

Harry turned his eyes to Dumbledore, examining his face carefully. There were deeper lines on the wizened face, and his eyes looked tired, as if he hadn't been sleeping well. "The wards are holding for now," the headmaster said with a sigh.

"But they're still weakening, aren't they?" said Mr. Weasley. "Do you have any suspects?"

"No," said Dumbledore. "The person is either a gifted Occlumens or is under the Imperius Curse. I also strongly suspect that there are at least two people working on the wards."

This statement was met with gasps and wide eyes. "T-two?" Professor McGonagall stammered. "You believe there are two traitors among the staff?"

If possible, Dumbledore looked even older than he had the minute before. "It is possible. It is also possible that the traitor has enlisted the help of a student."

For some reason, several pairs of eyes turned to Harry. "Any ideas, Potter?" Moody asked sharply.

Harry was startled by the interrogative tone. He managed to stammer, "Er ... w-well ... th-there's s-several kids who have D-Death Eater parents ..."

"What about Malfoy?" Moody barked.

Harry took a deep breath as his mind raced over the possibility. Could Draco Malfoy be a traitor? Wait a minute ... traitor wasn't the right word. He wouldn't really be betraying anyone, would he? He had never professed to support either side. Malfoy would actually be betraying most of the people in his life if he chose to support Dumbledore, not if he helped Voldemort.

After a moment, Harry realized he was having difficulty thinking logically about the possibility of Malfoy working for the Death Eaters because it hurt. Traitor was the right word. Harry recognized that even though Malfoy had never given Harry any assurances, he would feel betrayed if Malfoy did anything to support the Dark Lord. He realized in that moment that he considered Malfoy a friend, and that he expected loyalty from the Slytherin, just as he received from his other friends. Was he wrong to expect that? Was Malfoy only using him to get information?

Harry shook his head, both to deny Moody's allegation and to help clear his mind. "No," he said in what he hoped was a firm tone, despite his roiling emotions. He didn't want to express even the slightest suspicion of Malfoy for some reason. An annoying voice in the back of his mind suggested that he didn't want to admit he might have been wrong about Malfoy, but he squashed it firmly.

"I think Harry may be right," piped up a voice next to him, much to his surprise. Remus continued, "I've spent a little time with Draco, and I don't think he intends any harm to Harry."

"He's probably a great actor," growled Moody. "And even if he's not acting, he may not realize that helping the Death Eaters will harm Harry. Rotten to the core - that whole family."

"I don't believe Draco has any love for the Dark Lord," said Snape, speaking for the first time, "but I think he would be likely to put family loyalty above any other alliance."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure Lucius Malfoy stays in Azkaban, won't we?" said Professor Shacklebolt. "Do we have any concerns about security at the prison?"

Harry found his mind drifting as the Order members discussed the mermaid guards at Azkaban, and only vaguely noticed when the topic shifted to the goblins.

"It's only a matter of time until the goblins express their loyalty to You-Know-Who," Bill said in a tight voice. "I would like to advise people to pull their gold out of Gringotts, but that would only accelerate the process. For now, the only way to salvage the situation is to make the goblins think we still trust them. Albus, you've got to convince Fudge to give them some concessions - surely he understands that the goblins could give control of our entire money supply over to You-Know-Who."

"I don't believe the goblins will give up control of anything willingly - to either side," Dumbledore said in a sharp, but oddly comforting tone. "They will be unwilling to put the interests of either side before their own."

"Besides, I think the more pressing issue is the water supply," said Mr. Weasley.

"The protection charms that the mermaids recommended are holding," said Emmaline Vance.

"Water supply?" Harry asked so that only Remus could hear.

"The attack two months ago, when you were in my quarters," Remus answered. "The Death Eaters who were arrested were trying to put something in Hogsmeade's water supply, which Hogwarts uses."

Harry was so shocked at that information that he didn't hear the conclusion of the meeting. Of course, Voldemort's forces hadn't hesitated to attack children before, but this seemed especially heinous.

A few people stood to leave, startling Harry out of his morbid thoughts. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Bill all greeted him warmly. Mrs. Weasley expressed her enthusiasm at having him stay the summer, and Mr. Weasley asked him to pass their greetings along to Ron and Ginny.

As Harry made his way back to Gryffindor Tower, he thought about the Weasley's comments and began to panic slightly. It hadn't occurred to him that he would have to spend the entire summer with Ginny. He wondered how he would be able to refrain from acting "weird" around her for two whole months, and resolved to practice clearing his mind every time he saw her.

Harry took several deep breaths, forcing the panic away and trying to empty his mind before he reached the portrait hole. Another thought occurred to him: the members of the Order had actually asked for his input. Even though he hadn't had much to contribute, he appreciated being treated like an adult. These thoughts, however, turned to disturbing musings about Malfoy possibly helping the Death Eaters, which he immediately tried to put out of his mind.

By the time he arrived at the portrait hole Harry's mind was a jumble of unpleasant thoughts. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to focus on the parts of the meeting he could share with Ron and Hermione before he gave the Fat Lady the password.

Ron and Hermione were sitting in their favourite chairs by the fireplace, busily scribbling on parchment. When he was close enough to speak to them without anyone overhearing, he said, "Guess what?"

His friends looked up from their homework as Harry pulled a third chair close to theirs. "Your training session went long tonight, didn't it?" Hermione said.

"No," Harry said in a voice just loud enough that they both could hear. "I've been to an Order meeting."

"Cool!" said Ron, looking envious.

"What happened?" asked Hermione eagerly.

"Well, for one thing, Ron, your parents said to tell you and Ginny 'hi'. They couldn't be seen here, of course."

"Cheers, Harry. You need to tell Ginny, too." Before Harry could protest, Ron stood up and called, "Oi! Ginny!" Ginny looked up curiously from the table where she was sitting with some other fifth years. Ron jerked his head sideways, plainly telling her without words to join them. She gave him a look of mild annoyance and came to stand in front of his chair.

"You summoned?" Ginny asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Harry has something to tell you," Ron said.

Ginny turned expectant eyes on Harry, and he found himself wondering what on earth he was supposed to tell her. Oh yes, the greeting from her parents. He could handle that.

"Er ... your parents ... I ... er ..." Harry wondered exactly when he had become such an idiot. He took a couple of deep breaths, reminding himself that he was only giving her a greeting from her parents, not asking her to marry him. "Your parents said to tell you 'hi' - and Bill," he finally managed without faltering.

"Oh ... well, when did you see them?"

"Just now," said Harry, gaining a little more confidence now that he had actually said something without stammering like an imbecile. "I went to an Order meeting."

"Really?" said Ginny, the envious expression on her face very like Ron's. She turned and settled herself on the arm of Ron's chair, facing Harry. "Tell us everything," she said in a voice that did not expect to be denied.

Harry did not tell them everything. He told them about his summer plans ("Brilliant!" said Ron, punching the air with one fist), the security on the Hogwarts Express, and the problems with the goblins. Dumbledore had made it clear in December not to tell anyone about the weakening wards and the traitor, so he left out that part of the discussion. Besides, he didn't want his friends to have any additional reason to be suspicious of Malfoy.

He finished by telling them about the attempted pollution of the water supply in February, causing Hermione to gasp. "No wonder they kept that out of the papers," she said. "That would have caused a mass panic, and I'll bet most of the parents would have pulled their children out of Hogwarts."

As they continued to speculate about the war, Harry realized that he had said more in Ginny's presence in the past fifteen minutes than in the previous two months combined. If he could just think of her as one of his friends, like Ron and Hermione, maybe the summer wouldn't be so difficult.

**************************************

Harry didn't spend nearly as much time ranting about Snape the following Friday, partly because Snape had been slightly less horrible than usual and partly because he had some questions about Remus's journal. He had been reading the journal a lot recently, sometimes instead of doing homework, because it was a great way to distract himself from his worries about Dumbledore's health, the disintegrating wards, and the possibility of Malfoy being involved.

Harry had distanced himself from the Slytherin over the past several days. He told himself over and over that he was protecting himself from danger, but deep down he knew that he was actually protecting himself from betrayal. A sinking feeling beset his stomach every time he thought about Malfoy helping the Death Eaters, so he avoided all reminders of it, including Malfoy himself.

"I'm glad you've been reading my journal," said Remus, breaking into Harry's reverie. He shook his head and gave a small chuckle. "That's a strange thing to say, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," said Harry, relaxing into a chair beside the fire. He stared into the flames for a moment, his mind racing with questions. Finally, one bobbed to the forefront of his thoughts. "You told me that it took my father and Sirius three years to learn the Animagus transformation, and that they managed it in fifth year. That means they would have started it in second year, but there's no mention of it in your journal until your third year."

Remus nodded, his eyes glazing over slightly as he lifted them to a point above Harry's head. "Yes, that's right," he said slowly, as if remembering the past as he spoke. "They didn't tell me at first - they didn't want me to be disappointed if they failed. But though your father and Sirius were the smartest wizards in our year, I was cleverer in one aspect: research. There's no 'how to' book on the Animagus transformation, no simple instructions. They finally broke down and told me when they realized they needed help with some of the more detailed parts of the spells that weren't included in the textbooks." His eyes lost even more of their focus as they became sad. "James or Sirius probably could have written a book on the subject if one of them had lived long enough, but then, of course, they would have had to explain how they knew it, which might have been a bit uncomfortable."

Harry looked down at his shoes. He had thought Remus would enjoy talking about his friends; he hadn't meant to make him sad. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. Maybe he should just go.

"Harry?" Remus said in a questioning tone, breaking into his musings. He looked up and met his guardian's eyes, which were now clear and focused. "It's nice to remember how happy we were," he said as if reading Harry's mind. "Do you have any more questions?"

Before Harry could answer, there was a tapping on the window. "I think you've got an owl," Harry said unnecessarily.

Remus didn't seem surprised. He crossed quickly to the window, opened it, took the envelope from the owl's beak, and watched it fly off into the night. He shoved the letter in his pocket as he walked back to his chair, but not before Harry caught a glimpse of very familiar handwriting.

"Who's it from?" Harry asked as he narrowed his eyes, trying to identify the neat script he had seen.

To Harry's surprise, Remus shifted awkwardly in his chair. "Your aunt," he said, appearing to avoid Harry's gaze.

"You've been writing Aunt Petunia? Why?"

"I'm in charge of her safety and comfort. I make sure she has everything she needs, like food and such." Remus still looked a bit uncomfortable, and Harry wondered what he wasn't telling him.

"How is she doing? I haven't heard from her at all."

"Okay, I guess. At first she seemed to be shocked beyond grief, but now she's very angry. At least she's feeling emotion now. I think at this stage it helps that Dudley is away at school. It's safer for her to take her anger out on me than on him." Remus said all of this in a warm, concerned voice, further surprising Harry.

Another question occurred to Harry and demanded immediate attention, though he was fearful of the answer. "D-does she ... b-blame me?" he asked in a small voice.

"Harry, she's mourning, she's angry."

"Does she?" He stared at his guardian until Remus finally looked him in the eye.

"Yes," he said with a defeated expression. "But she won't always. Someday she'll realize it's not your fault, Harry, because it isn't. You can't blame yourself. You've got more important things to worry about."

A sudden pop caused both Harry and Remus to turn to the fireplace. Harry's momentary feeling of annoyance at the second interruption was overshadowed by déjà vu. Last time he had seen Dumbledore's head in Remus's fireplace, it was because the Floo Network had been attacked.

Professor Dumbledore's head swivelled in the fireplace, his eyes darting around the room, presumably to determine who was present. Harry wondered with dread how Dumbledore could possibly have worse news than before. The headmaster's face looked more ancient than ever and his blue eyes had a dead soulless expression that reminded Harry of someone who had been "kissed" by a dementor. "There has been an attack at the Ministry. The building is burning uncontrollably." The headmaster took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Cornelius Fudge is dead."