RELATIONS

Chapter XI

The group arrived on Platform 9 3/4 a few minutes before 10:00. All were Prefects or Security Prefects (Hermione had been shocked that Luna had been named a prefect, although she'd long predicted Ginny would be), and they were told to come early this time. Ron and Harry shared a grin when they saw that Draco and Pansy were missing from the group. Katie Bell, the new Head Girl, confirmed that there would be no Sixth year Slytherin prefects -- Blaise Zabini had been the only member of their year who had not joined the Inquisitorial Squad, and he'd been named a Security Prefect.

The prefects got their assignments early this year. Edward, Remus, and Snape would be riding the train, and the prefects would be patrolling it in pairs. Now that the war was on, Dumbledore did not want any attack from, or on, the pro-Pure Blood faction.

The non-Slytherin prefects helped the newer students find their way onto the train. The Slytherins kept the student traffic gently moving along, in their own fashion. ("Come on! Get a move on! You've said your goodbyes and you've got a whole year to gossip! The train will leave right on time!")

Shortly before the train was to move out, Harry, Ron, and Luna heard a drawling voice. "Well, what have we here? Arrogance, poverty, and lunacy!"

"Missing something, are you, Draco?" Ron snarled as he turned.

"Like what?" Draco snapped back.

"Prefect badge, Inquisitorial badge. . . ." Harry taunted.

"Mummy, Daddy, Crabbe, Goyle. . . ." Ron went on.

"Ask his cousin about that!" Draco hissed.

"My cousin captured Crabbe and Goyle," Harry said, "They were alive when they were taken to the Ministry. If someone there didn't kill them for their part in the attack, then your father had them killed to prevent them admitting you were there as well!"

When Draco started to protest, Harry cut in, "Don't say it! I know that was you, right next to your father, the one that port-keyed out. If your mask had slipped enough for one of the others to have recognized you, you certainly wouldn't be here right now!" Harry wasn't about to mention he hadn't been a direct witness; he wanted to see Draco's reaction.

Draco flushed, and his hand twitched near his wand. "That wouldn't be your best move," Luna advised. Harry, and especially Ron, looked like they wouldn't mind Draco going for his wand.

"Draco!" Snape called. "Come here! You three! Split up and do your jobs!"

Snape dragged Draco away from the crowd. "Now look here! You and your friends backed Umbridge last term, despite my warnings. You picked the wrong side in the confrontation. When you take a gamble, sometimes it does NOT pay off. Live with it! Learn from it!" Snape's expression hardened even more. "And Potter was right. Crabbe and Goyle were taken to the Ministry alive, and your father thought it necessary for you to complete your education if you are to have any chance at taking your proper place in the wizarding world."

"But. . . ." Draco started to protest.

"Be quiet and listen for once!" Snape ordered. "You have this chance at the cost of Crabbe and Goyle. Unless you receive direct orders from the Dark Lord, I suggest you make the most of the chance purchased for you. You are on every 'watch' list there is now. Make one major transgression, and you will be out! Make too many small ones, and you may be out as well. Take care! Your father voluntarily paid a large price to keep you free and in school. Crabbe and Goyle paid a higher price. Do NOT waste it!"

"I didn't . . . I swear I didn't know!"

"I believe you, but many of your House mates will not," Snape reminded Draco. "In any case, stay away from Potter and his friends! That especially goes for Lovegood. She went through that entire firefight at the Ministry, took out some very experienced associates, and didn't get so much as a scratch. She's not nearly as helpless as she appears."

"Very well, sir." Draco went to the train, subdued and thoughtful.

Snape caught up with Harry and Ron just before the train left. "Listen to me, you two. Do NOT harass Mister Malfoy." He held up a hand to stop any protests. "I know, he provokes you at least as much as you provoke him. I know you feel you have scores to settle with him after last year. Don't settle them! Let him have a chance to think. There is still a slight chance he will not follow his father. If you push him, he has no chance. If he pushes, push back, just don't start anything."

"Yes, sir!" Harry said immediately. Ron looked surprised, but agreed as well.

After Snape walked away, Ron turned to Harry. "You figure there's almost no chance Malfoy won't try something, right?"

"Right."

"And then we can hex the hell out of him, right?"

"Right."

"Wicked."

Harry shrugged. Draco Malfoy was the closest of the many people he had to worry about, but he was almost the least important.

Despite the worries of Dumbledore and the staff, there were no real problems on the train during the first part of the trip. A few of the younger Slytherins, who were harassing the remaining Muggle-born First year, were reprimanded, and left the child alone fairly quickly. A short time later, the prefects were given two hours off, after which they would patrol for the rest of the journey.

The sextet had been assigned a compartment, and they quickly paired off -- Luna and Harry facing backward (with Harry next to the window), and Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville across from them. Luna quickly curled up and fell asleep, her head on Harry's lap and Harry's arm on her shoulders.

"I wish I could do that," Ginny muttered, drawing stares from the others. "Lay down!" she protested quietly. "I meant just lay down!"

"We can wake her up or adjust her in a bit," Hermione said. Ginny shrugged and leaned against Neville, and soon she, Ron, and Harry were napping, too. Neville and Hermione looked at each other, shrugged, and tried to rest as well.

Within five minutes they were also asleep.

Harry winced in pain, and realized, although asleep, that it was his scar. He winced again. "Well, well, who have we here?" Harry heard the voice, but couldn't see anything yet. He fought to put his training to use, and he found himself looking at Voldemort. 'At least we're not inside each other,' Harry thought.

"You seem to have acquired some power over your mind, boy," Voldemort said softly.

"Some," Harry said, thinking quickly, "thanks to you."

"Really?" Voldemort said, trying to hide his surprise.

"Come on, you know Dumbledore would tell me the Prophecy," Harry said, angrily enough to disguise the bluff. "He said you know most, if not all of it."

"Well," Voldemort temporized, "since he hadn't told you before. . . ."

"How else could he explain the jump in my power? Every time you attack me or kill someone close to me, it jumps and I have to learn to control it! Including that diary version of you, you've attacked me with deadly force four times, and you nearly did again in June! You killed my parents, attacked Ginny, attacked Mister Weasley, attacked the Lovegoods, were responsible for Sirius and Cedric getting killed, and you invaded my mind at least twice! I'm already stronger than Dumbledore! Another attack, and I might equal my cousin." Harry grinned nastily. "Since Dumbledore beat you so easily, even more so than I did last year, I guess that means you're toast!"

Voldemort roared with anger. Harry saw Wormtail slinking into the room, which he really saw for the first time. Voldemort was laying on a cot -- obviously both had been asleep, but Harry was now invading Voldemort's space. Torches lit stone walls, and Harry saw a old coat of arms over the fireplace. Dream-Voldemort looked in the same direction, and broke the connection.

Harry woke up with a start, breathing hard. He opened his eyes and saw Luna's silver-blue eyes looking into his, concern obvious in her expression. Her right hand was again over his heart. "You're back," she breathed. "I was worried."

"I was gone?" Harry asked.

"Not physically, but partially mentally," Luna answered, still speaking softly. "We should find your cousin." She pushed herself up and dragged Harry with her. The other four were still asleep.

It didn't take them long to run into a patrolling teacher. Fortunately, it was Remus rather than Snape. A few minutes later, Remus had located the other two teachers, and taken the pair of students to their compartment. It took Harry less than five minutes to tell his tale.

"So," he concluded, "I guess I still have a long way to go."

"You do," Snape agreed, "but you did an adequate job."

"But will Voldemort buy the lie?" Remus asked.

"In the long run, of course not," Snape commented, "but the more distractions the better. I don't see any down side."

"There probably is one, but if so, we'll just hope it's nothing major," Edward said. "It's almost time for you folks to restart the prefect patrols. Why don't you start waking them up as you make a patrol."

"Alright," Harry said.

"And we're not to mention this to anyone?" Luna asked.

"Harry can tell your friends when we have a secure place for Harry to have meetings," Remus told them. "Dumbledore said he would let us know."

The rest of the trip was as quiet for most of the students as the first part. Harry, however, did have one other run-in.

"Potter!" came an insistent whisper from the toilet at the end of one carriage.

Harry turned, and was pulled into the little cubicle. It was a tight fit, because Millicent Bulstrode took up most of the compartment.

"What!" Harry shouted as he was yanked in.

"Quiet!" Millicent hissed quietly. "I'm not going to hurt you, idiot!"

"What, then?"

"Tell me the truth! were Greg and Vinnie really on a Death Eater raid this summer?"

"Them, their fathers, Lucius Malfoy, and I'm pretty certain Draco was there, too," Harry told her. "Vold, err, the Dark Lord was also there. They were ransacking a farmhouse that belongs to Ron's cousins and my cousin's wife -- that's Edward Potter, the new Runes professor."

"And what happened to them?"

"Edward killed Macnair and the senior Crabbe and Goyle, and three or four others, just like The Daily Prophet said. Crabbe, err, Vincent and Gregory, were knocked out. They were killed that night, just before midnight, in the Ministry holding cells. I don't know who did it, or why. It wasn't us, I do know that."

"But it might have been Fudge or the people around him?" Millicent asked.

"I wouldn't put it past some of them, considering some of the things Umbridge did," Harry admitted. "If it wasn't, well, then Malfoy senior was making certain they couldn't put Draco on the spot. At best, that would end his education and get his wand snapped. At worst. . . ." Harry shrugged.

"But you don't know if it was Malfoy, do you?"

"No," Harry said honestly, "I don't." Harry looked up at Millicent. "Why? Does Malfoy claim Edward or I killed them?"

"No," Millicent said, slowly, "not today, anyway. Pansy said that's what he told her, but when Theodore Nott asked him today, he just brushed it aside."

She thought a moment more. "It's not like Draco not to blame you for something if he can, even when it's not your fault."

"That's true," Harry agreed. "Maybe he just found out his father arranged it, or something."

Millicent's face turned blotchy, and she screwed up her face so that she wouldn't cry. "Thank you, Potter. Please, go away."

"I'm sorry, if you were close to them," Harry said, while trying to figure out how to open the door without seeming to molest the young woman.

"You hated both of them!" Millicent stated.

"I disliked both of them," Harry corrected gently. "And, to be honest, considering you and your lot helped Umbridge last year, I don't like any of you. That doesn't mean I want any of you dead."

"I know," Millicent said, a few tears now falling. "It all seemed like a game, until . . . until the Ministry agreed He was back. Us versus them, you . . . we, the good guys, supporting the Old Ways against the people breaking down traditions."

"Maybe you lot should be trying to teach people like me and Hermione some of the Old Ways," Harry said. "Even if we don't follow all the traditions, we should all know what they are. Don't think we hate all the Old Ways."

Millicent was now turned around and leaning over the sink. Harry patted her on the back, and managed to extricate himself without any more unnecessary touching.

A few seconds later, Harry encountered Pansy Parkinson. "Potter!" she spat, "Have you seen Millicent?"

"There's someone crying in the near toilet in the next car," he answered, thumbing back towards it. "That might be her."

Pansy brushed passed him, without another word. "You're welcome!" Harry called to her. Pansy flipped him off without turning around.

"I wonder if she knows that's the Muggle version of the gesture," a feminine voice said.

Harry turned and saw it was Cho. "I doubt it. Have a nice summer?"

Cho shrugged. "Not too bad. We had a hard time explaining things to Marietta's Mum."

"I'm sure she came up with something," Harry said drily.

Cho looked at him, considered saying something, and clearly went on to a different subject. "Will you be playing Quidditch this year?"

"I should be," Harry answered. "I might be getting a little too tall for seeker, but we'll see. If I am, I might make beater."

"No," Cho said, "You still have a few inches and at least twenty pounds before you'd be too big to be a professional seeker. I'm sure you can win your old spot back." Without letting Harry reply, Cho slipped past him and into a compartment.

Harry shrugged and moved on.

Harry rode to the castle with Luna and two of her Dorm mates, Joy and Amber. Both seemed rather amazed that Harry would be interested in Luna, both staring at them holding hands as they went. After they arrived, Harry managed to whisper in Amber's ear while Luna petted one of the thestrals, "Can you do anything about people hiding Luna's stuff this year?"

Amber nodded, her mouth still agape. Luna came up to them, and wrapped her arm around Harry's. As the crowd jostled them into the great hall, Luna whispered, "Thank you, but it wasn't necessary. I always have enough things to wear, and I always get everything back."

"I know," Harry said, not about to make an issue of it, "but since it's mostly your dorm mates who either do it or allow it, why not ask them nicely to stop? It's not like I'm going to hex them if they still do it."

"That's good," Luna said seriously. "Someday, we might have to hex someone to save the other. I wouldn't want us to do it for something trivial."

"You'll never be trivial to me in any way," Harry said, flushing as he realized how pompous he was sounding.

"Don't be silly," Luna told him. Their arms slid apart, they clasped hands, and went off to their tables.

Before the Sorting Hat was allowed to sing, Dumbledore requested that all the students and staff stand to honor the First years who had been killed or Kissed in August, and for Crabbe and Goyle, "who may have been fighting on the wrong side, but who died under such mysterious circumstances"). All the students did so, although Harry noticed Malfoy was rather flushed when he joined in. Bulstrode started crying again, although not loudly.

The Sorting Hat's song, like the year before, pleaded for understanding and cooperation between the Houses. This year's class was much smaller than usual, and not just because of the dead students. There were only thirty First years.

As the Sorting started, Harry whispered his view of Malfoy and Bulstrode, since Hermione and Ginny couldn't see while Ron and Neville had his back to them.

"Malfoy should be embarrassed," Ron whispered. "He probably had them killed."

"I don't think so," Harry answered.

"I have to agree," Hermione said. "His father probably ordered it, though."

"What's the difference?" Ron demanded, making a number of students shush him.

"A lot," Ginny whispered. "Malfoy is a stick, but Crabbe and Goyle have been close to him since he was an infant. He no doubt thought it was their duty to serve him, but to have his father casually order them killed just so Draco could come back to school. . . ."

"I guess," Ron said reluctantly.

"I'd feel just awful," Neville added.

"So would I," Harry agreed, "but I didn't really expect it from Malfoy. I thought he'd twist things around as usual to blame me."

"He will," Ron snarled.

"Well, he probably will," Harry said. "Look, there's almost no chance we can get Malfoy on our side. . . ."

"Why would we want him?" Ron asked.

Harry ignored that. ". . .but if there's any chance, this is probably it. And if he doesn't join us, maybe he will find some way to stay out of it. If he joins them, that's one more soldier for Voldemort. If he stays out, maybe some of the others will follow him. If he joins us, maybe some will join us. That means we cut him some slack. If he runs true to form, he'll come around and start blaming us for everything, and then we'll ride him. Until then, we let him think it through."

Harry turned on Hermione and Ginny. "That also means no being extra-nice, either. He'll see that as weakness and that would be more likely to drive him away than attract him."

"I wouldn't be nice to that . . . that . . . ." Ginny sputtered.

Hermione cocked her head and regarded Harry for a moment. "Alright, Harry. You might be right at that."

The Sorting Hat finished, having sent 6 students to Slytherin, 7 to Gryffindor, 8 to Ravenclaw, and 9 to Hufflepuff.

Dumbledore stood up. "As always, the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden unless you are given specific permission from a member of the teaching staff. We have four new security prefects, they are to be obeyed as much as your own House prefects. Mister Potter is the student coordinator of security, and his instructions override those of any prefect, the Head Boy or Girl, and any previous command of a member of the teaching staff. We live in perilous times, and so I beg you all to be careful this year."

"Professor Hagrid will be teaching Third and Sixth year Care of Magical Creatures, while Professor Glubbly-Plank shall be doing Fifth and Seventh years. They shall be sharing the Fourth year class. Professor Trelawney shall be teach Third through Fifth year Divination, while Professor Firenze shall be taking the Sixth and Seventh years."

"As you can see, Professor Moody has returned to Hogwarts. He shall act as a security consultant." Moody gave the students a twisted grin.

"As most of you no doubt know, Doctor Edward Potter, the famous archeologist, will be teaching Runes for the next three years." Moderate applause greeted Edward from the Hufflepuffs, but loud applause came from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Slytherin was mostly silent.

"Finally, returning as our Defense against the Dark Arts instructor is Professor Remus Lupin." Wild applause came from three tables, and some applause and some hissing came from Slytherin. "To inform the younger students, yes, Professor Lupin is a werewolf, but that also means he is safe every day and twenty-seven out of every twenty-eight nights. Secure precautions are in place to make that one night a month safe for all of us. Should Professor Lupin feel ill afterwards, Professor Moody, Professor Potter, or Professor Snape shall substitute for him."

"And now, we shall sing the school song, and then we can tuck in!"