Transcendence

~ Chapter 14: The Tension Within ~

The details of what had happened to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and Dedalus Diggle were heavily covered up but the wizarding community could not help fearing the worse. A few uneasy days later, things began to change, but not for the better. Some Ministry officials deemed the placing of their Aurors in service to protect The Boy Who Lived as a waste of manpower. Lupin, who was in St. Mungo's after the nerve-wracking skirmish with the Death Eaters, was outraged when Kingsley and Tonks told him about the Ministry's decision. The Defence professor was hospitalized for his burns and to make sure that he did not suffer any internal injuries. By the third morning, Lupin was awake and missing his black-eyed lover.

The Potions Master would have gone to see his lover if Dumbledore had not given him strict instructions to stay out of sight and leave Lupin's safety in the hands of Tonks and Kingsley. Lupin's loss was Harry's happy gain. Snape came to The Burrow with the intention of staying for a couple of days. The rest were as enthusiastic as the emerald-eyed boy was. Hermione was particularly ecstatic since it meant that Snape would be able to lecture them about Salazar's book of defence magic. After many hours of research, the Weasleys and their surrogate family had managed to find some new ways to protect the village; a decision that was preferable to depending solely on Dumbledore's protection or that of the dead wraiths.

Due to the need to work longer hours at the office, Mr. Lovegood placed his only daughter under the Weasleys' care. At the end of his long work day, he would fetch her home personally. Being observant, Luna noticed that something strange had occurred between the two boys who had recently hated each other so intensely. She noted that every time Harry's eyes unfocused, Snape made him snap into attention by clearing his throat loudly. Then there was the time she caught Harry staring at the silvery-haired Slytherin dreamily during a storm. It was on one such evening that she asked Ginny about Harry's strange behavior.

**********

Sunday, 24^th August. At the Weasleys'.

The boys were in the living room playing chess and Snape was in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley. That left the three girls free to do anything they wanted. Hermione had conjured a desk for herself inside Ginny's room. She was reading up on her advanced Potions and taking notes while the two younger girls occupied the bed, going over their Herbology homework.

The Ravenclaw studied Hermione for a moment before speaking in a low voice, "Ginny, is Harry feeling all right?" The sound of scratching on parchment stopped. After a minute or so, the older girl resumed her work.

Ginny looked at Luna warily. "Why do you ask?"

The Ravenclaw shrugged and stared at the redhead until the girl became uncomfortable. "I find his behavior around Snape almost disturbing," Luna said bluntly.

"Disturbing? How so?" Hermione asked mildly, eyes still on her book and scribbling madly on the yellowish parchment.

"It's like he's infatuated with the greasy git," the Ravenclaw replied impassively.

Hermione turned and rested one arm on the back of her chair. She looked at Luna with an eyebrow raised. "They do act like they're rather close... but of course, Sev is his godfather..."

"How in Merlin's name can he even think of being close to him? I thought he hated Snape..." Luna muttered angrily.

"Loony," Ginny whispered when Hermione's expression hardened.

"Like most of us, Luna, Harry chose to grow up," the bushy-haired Gryffindor responded firmly.

"But... It's mad. First Snape, and now Malfoy. And you act as if the Slytherins weren't awful to you in the past. Maybe you're just too forgiving!" Luna jumped off the bed and stared darkly at Hermione.

"Are you listening to yourself, Luna?" Hermione was on her feet, glaring at the Weasleys' neighbor. "I think you ought to be thankful that we have at least one Slytherin on our side."

"Two Slytherins actually," Ginny corrected meekly, desperately hoping that the tension wouldn't increase.

"Sev's a teacher so he doesn't really count," Hermione answered.

"Which reminds me," Ginny took the opportunity to change subject and ease the anxiety, "do you remember when you folks met the Zabinis in the bookstore?" When Hermione nodded, she continued, "What exactly did Draco mean when he asked whether Zabini was neutral?"

"To know whether his friend is on Dumbledore's side or not?" Hermione nibbled thoughtfully on her quill but shrugged in the end. "The Parkinsons seemed to be giving the Zabinis the cold shoulder," she commented.

"Aha! That means we have another ally in the midst of the Greenies... ah... I mean Slytherins!" Ginny clapped her hands cheerfully.

"Don't count the chicks until they have all hatched," Luna said as she sat down on the bed again. "You are trying to change the subject," she accused Ginny.

"Hey! I had to!" the red-haired girl protested.

"Harry is acting like he has a liking for the other side." When Hermione and Ginny exchanged a look, the Ravenclaw paled. "No..." she spoke in a hushed voice. "That can't be right..." Still, the two other girls remained mute. "Draco?" she squeaked. Her face contorted into an expression of disgust.

"Just do me a favor, Luna," Hermione began hotly. "If you have some sort of aversion to same-sex pairings, keep your thoughts to yourself. And mind you, don't even think about just how much the thought may disgust you. That's if... you respect Harry's feelings..."

"I don't think it would affect him all that much," Ginny inserted since Luna was speechless. "Charlie doesn't really like the fact that Harry and Draco are together, much less Remus and Prof -- Sev. It's strange calling him that." Charlie, the second oldest of her siblings had gone back to Romania two days earlier to resume his duties.

Hermione chuckled to herself. Like them trying to familiarize themselves with calling the Potions Master by his first name, Snape was also learning not to give them his trademarked death glares when they tried. Luna's awkward posture caught her attention. "Merlin... she's so shocked..."

Ginny blinked and stared at girl on the bed. "Very shocked. Damn... She looks like she's been hit by a Gorgon's Stare or something..." The redhead crawled over to Luna and shook the Ravenclaw's shoulders gently. "Hey Loony... Loony!" There was no response. Hermione and Ginny started when a louder than usual roll of thunder shook the house.

**********

Harry looked up from the recipe book that he had borrowed from Mrs. Weasley to read. He frowned because he thought he had heard something.

"Goddamnyou..." Draco swore as he watched Ron's queen slay his knight. "Damn..."

"Hey, count yourself lucky that money isn't involved in this," Ron smirked in satisfaction.

"Yeah, and you should count yourself lucky since your mother is unaware of your gambling tendencies. Although the sound of your skull being smacked with a pan could be very gratifying," Draco leered. He was happily smirking at the red-faced Weasley when he suddenly found his mouth stuffed full of chicken feathers.

"Green-Eyes!"

Harry looked innocently back at his indignant boyfriend. Ron guffawed at the Slytherin as the boy spat out the feathers. Some of them hit Ron in the face.

"Disgusting!" the Weasley yelled before scrambling up to his feet and trying to wipe off the traces of saliva that hit him.

"Drake, you surprise me," Harry said lightly and continued to read. "I thought you, of all people, wouldn't have spit out something. You act too bloody hygienic to do that." He heard the silvery-haired boy snort derisively. The squishy sound of wet boots snagged the boys' attention and they looked around for the source of the noise. Ron's eyes finally rested on a dark brown shape standing by the front door. Nothing really registered in his mind even though he could clearly see that the shape was dripping wet and that Black was twining himself around its ankles, purring loudly. The boy took two steps forward. The shape removed its hood. The straggly strands of graying brown hair and hazel-brown eyes revealed the person. It was the Defence professor.

"Professor Lupin!" Ron exclaimed then rushed forward to help the wizard. Harry and Draco followed seconds later to greet the professor.

"Remus, are you really all right?" Harry asked as he helped Lupin remove his waterproof cloak.

"Yes, I'm fine, Harry. Don't worry. I didn't leave St. Mungo's illegally," Lupin replied jovially. "It's damn nasty weather to Apparate in but it's all I could do to escape being smothered by well meaning females."

The raven-haired Gryffindor was about to ask what he meant by that when he noticed that Lupin's attention had wandered. Brown-eyes locked with those of the Potions Master; silence descended on them. Ron stood back and watched Lupin with a raised eyebrow, growing uncomfortable when the professor's eyes darkened with longing. When the older wizard approached his lover, the Weasley groaned.

Draco chuckled under his breath when the two adult wizards kissed, oblivious to the world about them. Harry grinned from ear to ear but decided to focus his attention on a reddening Ron.

"If you don't mind me saying so, that is the most disturbing act I've ever witnessed," the Weasley said in a strained voice.

"I don't know..." Harry responded in a dreamy tone. "It kind of turns me on..." His friend grew purple in the face. Lupin and Snape disengaged from their kiss and looked guiltily at them, but especially Ron.

"Don't say anything!" the Weasley responded, "Please."

"Remus! You're going to catch a cold, dressed like that," Mrs. Weasley chided the rain-soaked professor gently, ignoring the fact that Snape was holding onto his waist. "Come into the kitchen and have some tea. Severus, do you mind dealing with his trunk?"

"Sev, you don't really have to..." Lupin's voice trailed off as Ron's mother dragged him off insistently.

**********

Upstairs in Ginny's room...

Hermione stretched in her chair and decided that she had done quite enough pre-revision for the evening. She turned sideways and watched the younger girls on the bed with a slightly amused expression. Luna had gotten over her initial shock and Ginny was trying to get the girl to remember that there were other boys to be infatuated with.

"Like the twins?" Luna asked and her friend shrugged. "I lost Harry to another boy," she moaned. "A boy who is a Slytherin and someone whom I thought he hated. I wonder what the new school year will be like with all these changes... And then, there's Snape and Lupin?" The Ravenclaw's eyes were wide with shock.

"I don't think they will do anything in public," Hermione said in a reassuring tone.

"It's not them I'm worried about," Luna answered, waving her hand dismissively. "I've heard rumors regarding the two professors... Of course, there are rumors about Harry and Malfoy too but I seriously thought Harry was... well... straight..."

"Rumors?" Ginny asked with a perplexed expression. "Spread by whom?"

"Those rumors have been around for years!" Luna exclaimed, then corrected herself when Hermione gave a skeptical look, "Okay, I was exaggerating. But some of the rumors about Harry and Malfoy have been floating around since our third year..."

"Interesting..." Ginny scratched her cheek thoughtfully. "We never heard anything like that before but I have heard the rumor about Remus pinning Sev on the Potions desk..."

"Ginny, you're putting scary images in my head," Hermione said warningly.

"It's not my fault that you're imagining things!" the Weasley girl retorted hotly.

"Crookshanks... leave the trunk alone..." They heard Snape speak wearily to Hermione's cat.

"He can't be leaving!" Ginny dashed and opened her door. She saw Snape trying to discourage the huge cat from jumping on top of the trunk. She heaved a sigh of relief when she noticed that Snape was going into Draco's room and not heading out. The letters 'Professor R. J. Lupin' made her squeal in delight. "Remus's home!" she yelled exuberantly, surprising Snape. Her thundering footsteps shook the entire floor and Hermione paled, clutching desperately to the back of her chair.

An hour later, Luna's father came by. Mrs. Weasley kindly invited them to dinner but the wizard declined, saying that he wanted to take Luna out to a restaurant. The twins had owled their mother earlier saying that they would be home late and would eat at the Leaky Cauldron. Dinner in the Weasleys' dining room was a happy affair, accompanied by a lot of questions and answers. At one point, everyone found themselves laughing until they cried. The only ones who weren't indulging themselves were Snape and Lupin.

"Forgive me, Remus... I knew that Tonks was infatuated with you but I didn't think it went further than that..." Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully.

The youngsters were still gasping for breath. Ginny tried to drink her pumpkin juice but ended up choking when the laughter overtook her again.

"I can't believe...Professor...McGonagall," the girl laughed hoarsely, "... fed you... porridge..." She cackled and Lupin dropped his eyes onto his plate in embarrassment. "Fed!"

"Don't get all defensive," Harry said lightly to his godfather and received a glare for his pains.

While most of the Weasleys went to bed after the meal, Harry and Draco hung out in the living room and lavished attention on their pets. It had begun to rain again and the Slytherin transfigured his shirt into a black turtleneck, something he learned from Hermione. Snape and Lupin had gone up ahead to the bedroom and the two youngsters made it a point not to interrupt anything that might be happening. The twins returned, quickly shrugging off their raincoats and charming them dry; then raiding the kitchen for some leftover meat pasties. Fred and George sat in the living room with Harry and Draco, chatting as they snacked. The twins Apparated to their shed twenty minutes later. After another two hours of playing with the owls and cats, the raven-haired Gryffindor and flaxen-haired Slytherin decided it was time for them to wash up and get some sleep. A loud bang outside The Burrow made the two rush out. It sounded as if the explosion had come from the shed.

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!!!" Mrs. Weasley shouted angrily.

"SORRY MUM!!!" the twins replied in unison. Harry and Draco drew their wands out from their pockets and studied the blackened pranksters.

"Are you all right?" the raven-haired boy asked in concern.

"WHAT???"

"I've read about something like this happening before." Draco muttered to himself. Harry glanced at him.

"What do you mean?" the Gryffindor asked his lover, head tilted in inquiry.

"Never mind that. They're deaf for the time being..."

Harry stared at his lover again before shouting at the twins to ask if they were okay. The twins waved them off. It seemed like Fred and George were in the middle of some experiment and as soon as the smoke cleared out from their shed, they went back in, conversing loudly and completely ignoring the two younger boys.

"Well, I think we ought to get some sleep..." Draco said softly into his mind.

"There's no one out here you know... I doubt anyone thought to place scrying spells or anything..." Harry said cheekily.

"Green-Eyes, I am going back into the house," the silver-eyed boy responded firmly and walked off.

"You seriously have no sense of adventure," Harry complained and followed his lover sulkily.

"Who would have thought that once exposed, you'd go carnal on me?"

The Gryffindor chose not to answer his counterpart but caught up to him and linked his fingers together with long, pale slender ones. The two paused for a moment to exchange a brief kiss and smiled when they separated.

**********

Hiding behind a window...

Fred stood back and scratched his head then carefully placed a peculiar-looking white box into a trunk. His twin wore the same puzzled expression on his face. George swept up the remains of the firecracker before conjuring up two mugs of hot chocolate and handing one to his brother.

"Who would have thought the Slytherin kid would be that honorable?" George asked before taking a sip.

"I agree... I seriously thought that either Draco or Harry would drag the other off for a quick shag..." Fred agreed.

"Well... Mum has nothing to fear... Seems like both of them can control their inner desires..."

"What about the professors though?"

"What about them?" George set his empty cup on the small table before leaning against the wall, looking down at his twin.

"I don't know but remember those erotic rumors about the two of them when Remus first came to teach us? Do you think he would really do those things to Snape in Hogwarts?"

"I have no idea... but I'm sure Harry would tell us if something like that occurred..."

**********

Two in the morning...

Snape gave a silent sigh and focused on the face of his dozing lover. Black eyes swiftly moved to the floor when he thought he saw movement. The sudden moan coming from a sleeping Harry caused Lupin to sit up immediately. After several minutes of studying the young couple, they determined that the cause of Harry's moan was not sexual in nature, but rather because the temperature had dropped again.

"Shouldn't he be warm enough, being wrapped about the other boy?" Lupin whispered and Snape allowed himself to smile. Both of them took another look at the entangled limbs below them.

"Draco gets cold easily... I think Harry was complaining about that rather than the temperature," the Potions Master answered softly.

His godson shifted again in his sleep. "Aren't the two of you tired?" the boy asked sleepily. Green eyes blinked owlishly in the glow of the soft candlelight.

"Did we wake you?" Lupin asked in concern.

"No, he did," Harry brushed a lock of silver hair off the Slytherin's forehead. "I don't know if he did it on purpose but his lips were damn cold." The boy readjusted his position. He now cradled Draco's head and pressed himself closer to his lover in an attempt to warm the lithe body in his arms.

Lupin relaxed and settled back into his previous position. He breathed contentedly when Snape began stroking his hair. "You better be careful with what you are doing, Harry. You don't want your boyfriend to be hot... not with the two of us in here..."

"Remus..." Harry began in a mournful tone.

The Defence professor laughed soundlessly. Snape watched the reclining wizard affectionately. Suddenly, his expression turned grim. Since Lupin's eyes were closed, he was unaware of it. However, Harry felt it.

"Sev?" the boy called his godfather softly.

Snape looked at the boy thoughtfully before sighing. "Nothing Harry..."

"You're brooding about something..." his godson insisted. Lupin looked up at him, suddenly interested in examining his face.

"Nosy Gryffindors..." Snape's lips curled slightly in amusement. "If you must know, I am worried about how Draco will fare once school starts..."

"Oh..." was Harry's response. The boy's eyes darkened as he began to brood.

"Isn't it better if you two try to act like you did before all of this happened?" Lupin suggested.

"I'm afraid it won't make any difference, Remus... If you haven't noticed, the two of us simply don't fight anymore... Not the way we used to..." the emerald-eyed Gryffindor replied softly.

"It won't be easy for you, but the journey ahead will be much tougher on him. This is just a suggestion, and you can ignore me if you want to," the Defence professor said lightly, "but I think it would be good if Draco doesn't depend too much on either of you," he looked at Harry and then Snape, "for support. Otherwise, people might think he's nothing but a bootlicker. I don't think we want that, not if he's trying to gain the respect of his juniors."

"I'll keep that in mind..." Harry said distractedly.

"This is too much to think about," Snape muttered to himself. His lover looked at him in bafflement. "I wonder if my own House will look at me in the same way they did before some of my students took it into their heads to intrude on my godson's privacy."

"In that case, lover," brown eyes looked at him brightly, "I think you should put on the meanest glare you can produce. Either the students flee or they'll faint dead away..." While Harry chuckled at Lupin's words, Snape smiled faintly and planted a warm kiss on the reclining wizard's forehead.

"So... when are you going back to Hogwarts?" Harry inquired sleepily, forcing his eyes to remain open.

"Probably Tuesday or the day after," Snape answered briskly. "I would like to try to get a full night's sleep before subjecting myself to the intolerably sleepless nights there."

He softly chanted an incantation and the room went dark. The bed creaked as Lupin moved over to allow Snape to lie down before curling up against the wizard. After fifteen minutes, only the sound of deep breathing could be heard in the room.

**********

Monday, 1^st September.

Draco checked the room once more. He was sure that he had forgotten to do something but he couldn't put his finger on it. Damn... what is it?

"Draco! Are you done?" Ginny yelled, running toward his door. A moment later, her head popped into the doorway. "Come on, the taxis are here."

Helios flew into the room, his tail gently brushing against the girl's hair. When his eagle owl greeted him with an expectant hoot, he suddenly realized that he hadn't acquired a cage for his pet. Before he could panic, Let appeared on the bed, holding up a huge cage with difficulty.

"Thank you!" the Slytherin said in a grateful tone and his house-elf disappeared. Once he managed to get his owl comfortably perched inside the cage, he looked around at the bare room and wondered if it would be the last time he would ever be in The Burrow. He yawned suddenly and blinked his eyes to clear them.

The night before, a last minute decision by Harry had kept most of them up into the wee hours of the morning. The raven-haired Gryffindor had decided to take all of his belongings to Hogwarts though Draco had warned him that some things might be stolen by a poltergeist if he wasn't careful. Harry insisted, saying that he might want to look at some of the presents he'd received but had not yet opened.

He went down the stairs with Ginny, with her holding on to Helios's cage. The moment he reached the landing, Bill put an arm about his shoulders and he was ushered outside where three cars were waiting for them. The Weasley helped him place his trunk inside one of the boots before indicating that the Slytherin should get into the back seat of the nearest automobile. He found himself sandwiched by Bill and Ginny and through his owl's cage, he saw that Tonks was sitting next to the driver.

"Who's with Harry?" he whispered into Ginny's ear and had to repeat his question twice when the sound of the engine drowned his voice.

"He's with Dad and Aberforth..."

"Who's he?"

"Aberforth?" Ginny asked and smiled briefly. "He's Dumbledore's brother."

"Dumbledore has a brother?" The Slytherin made use of the bond with the Gryffindor.

"Yes, actually... Everything all right back there?" his lover asked.

"Yes..."

"That's good... all we can hope for now is that we don't get separated while on the road..." Harry's thought echoed in his mind.

Draco leaned back and ignored the fact that it was rather cramped. Moments later, his eyes drifted shut. He wasn't even aware that they had reached the station until Tonks cheerfully yelled at him to wake up. He cursed his cousin for startling him; his heartbeat hadn't quite yet returned to normal when they reached the magical barrier. It was fifteen minutes to eleven and the group was on edge about missing the train as they waited for a natural lull to occur. When they finally made it onto Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, they only had a minute to say their good-byes.

Mrs. Weasley was rather insistent on hugging the boys and Draco was totally surprised when she did that and gave him a peck on his cheek too. Finally the group of students hurriedly boarded the train and scrambled to find an unoccupied carriage. Harry headed straight between a group of Slytherins to reach the last compartment. Since everyone was still in various states of confusion, Draco was able to slip past them unnoticed.

**********

Harry helped the girls to stow their trunks; thankfully, there was enough space for the cages. Crookshanks, as usual, was allowed to occupy his own seat. The youngsters managed to wave goodbye to the Weasleys on the platform before the train sped off. Then it was time for the prefects to go to their carriage for their duty assignments. Harry unashamedly helped Draco with his robe and kissed the pale hand briefly before letting go.

"If you can, come back here..." Harry said simply and smiled when the Slytherin nodded in agreement.

"Buy me something to eat..." Draco looked shyly at him before following Ron and Hermione.

"That leaves only the two of us," Harry said wryly to Ginny who just shrugged. Fearing the compartment would get too crowded later, the two changed into their robes before sitting down together. Ginny opened one of her smaller trunks and passed the Daily Prophet to him and took out a novel that she had borrowed from Hermione. Seventeen minutes passed without incident. Soon after, they both heard Dean's loud voice instructing the Slytherins in the other compartment to step aside.

"Let us through, you boneheads!" That was Seamus: he sounded irritated.

"Hmmmm... I know the Patronus worked on three Slytherins almost four years ago during a Quidditch match... Maybe we should try that on them?"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other in surprise. "Was that Luna?" the raven-haired boy asked softly. Ginny nodded in reply. Curses erupted and finally their friends entered the compartment, looking quite annoyed.

"Bloody imitators... At least Malfoy does his tricks discreetly..." Dean muttered under his breath as he shut the door. He saw his girlfriend sitting next to a very charming Harry. "I hope you're not trying to steal her from under my nose," he said lightly. Harry protested doing any such thing, making the others laugh. Luna laughed the loudest. "Malfoy-Crabbe-Goyle wannabes..." Dean jerked his thumb at the door and Harry grinned in response. The other boy didn't know that there was a very loud protest taking place inside Harry's head.

It took quite a while for the Ravenclaw, Dean, Seamus and Neville to settle. Nearly an hour had passed when the witch with the trolley full of sweets came in. Harry spent ten minutes deliberating what he should buy for his lover before deciding on several packets of Chocolate Frogs, pumpkin pastries, cauldron cakes and what the Slytherin loved most: licorice wands and several packets of peppermint, coffee and pepper-flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. He nearly decided to pass on buying the ice-cold pumpkin juice until Ginny reminded him that the drink was charmed to stay cold indefinitely. Harry grinned sheepishly at her and she rolled her eyes sarcastically before returning the smile.

A cold draft entered the compartment and they belatedly realized that it had started to rain. No one had been spending more time than necessary studying the view outside the window. Luna absently used her school robe like a blanket as she read a magazine that she had bought before going to King's Cross. Neville noticed the pile of foodstuffs beside Hermione's cat was still untouched but decided not to comment on it. Instead, he fiddled with the Remembrall he kept inside his huge pocket. He stared at it as it turned crimson and frowned.

Dean was examining the luggage racks overhead. "Hey, whose owl is that?" The boy jerked his chin at Helios, half-hidden by Pig's cage. Harry and Ginny were saved from answering his question when Neville exclaimed that his toad was missing.

"Just like old times..." Seamus smirked.

"Congratulations. You managed to remember that you had forgotten something," Luna spoke without looking up from her tabloid magazine.

"Thanks... I think," Neville replied uncertainly as he stood.

"I'll go with you," Dean offered and Harry quickly volunteered his help too.

"Seamus, do you think you'd be able to deal with any unwanted attention?" Dean asked lightly.

The two girls in the compartment snorted. "We're not exactly helpless, you know," Ginny said tightly and Dean grinned at her before wrenching the door open.

The three boys exited into a carriage filled with excitedly chatting Slytherins who ignored them totally. Harry didn't mind and their search for Trevor began. They had passed Leren's group once but there were no signs that the toad was there and Harry decided to ask Draco if by any chance, Trevor was in the prefects' carriage. It took sometime for Draco to reply but his answer was a negative no.

The three boys paused in a corridor filled with a rowdy mix of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Dean spoke first, "Neville, you couldn't have possibly left Trevor at home, right?"

Longbottom shook his head, face obvious with worry. "I know that I brought him with me because I remember holding him in my hand as Fletcher brought the trunk up onto the train."

"Damn..." Dean muttered under his breath. He looked at Harry expectantly.

"I think we should start searching for him from the Prefects' carriage. Don't worry, I'm sure we will find Trevor here, inside the train. And once we do, I think it would be a good idea if we start thinking of ways to tag our pets with something to let us know where they are..." Malachite-green eyes looked confidently back at dark brown eyes.

"Are you still looking for your friend's toad?" Draco's curious thought reached him.

"Yes, we are. We're just about to renew the search..."

"The toad isn't here," Draco said, startling Neville and Dean, "nor in the driver's cabin." Somehow, the Slytherin had managed to creep up behind them without warning. Hermione and Ron soon appeared wearing somewhat contented smiles.

"Ernie and Hannah are the Heads... thank Merlin!" Hermione breathed. Her expression turned quickly into one of annoyance as Pansy shoved rudely past her, glaring at Draco at the same time.

"What's up with her?" Dean asked curiously.

"She's just upset..." Ron made a face. "Most of us ignored her suggestion to 'recruit' students to perform routine checks alongside the prefects..."

"If Harry and I won't start a war on the train, you can be sure that there won't be much reason for any of your 'recruits' get entangled with hers," Draco said in a slightly amused tone.

Hermione chuckled, taking Dean and Neville by surprise. "You know, I'm rather glad the others listened to you about grouping the first-years together," she said happily to Draco, stepping aside to let Hannah and her partner through.

"We'll be gathering the kids now... so see you in a bit," the Hufflepuff said. "Good luck finding Trevor!"

The group of six slowly moved along the corridors and passed through numerous compartments but there was still no sign of the toad. Neville's face grew more anxious; his only thought was for Trevor. He didn't even realize he had entered the compartment where Leren and his fellows were hanging out on his own, so intent was he on looking under the seats.

Harry and the rest were still questioning some of the younger Ravenclaws whether they had seen anything strange in their compartment when Dean piped up, "Hey, where's Neville?"

"He already went into that compartment..." a girl with cute dimples answered, pointing delicately at the opposite door.

"Great, he chose to go in there alone," Ron muttered under his breath.

"Looking for something?" Leren Montague asked sweetly as the Gryffindors and Draco came in. Neville abruptly stood and stared at the leering Slytherin blankly.

"As a matter of fact, we are looking for something," Hermione answered carefully, not liking the way Millicent and Pansy were eyeing her. "Have you seen a toad?"

"You mean... this?" Gregory Goyle asked stupidly. The boy was slowly squeezing Trevor in his huge palm. Nasty chuckles erupted and there were satisfied smirks all around, save the Gryffindors, Draco, a young boy whom they hadn't seen before and Blaise.

"Give him back," Neville said quietly, looking unwaveringly at Gregory. The Gryffindor clenched his fingers tightly when Leren casually took the toad from his fellow Slytherin.

"Why should I?" Leren sneered, dangling and waving the struggling toad in the air cruelly. He used his other hand to slide the window open and glance briefly at the landscape. It was clear that the Slytherin intended to throw the amphibian out. "A pity we won't be able to see it being shred to pieces once it hits the wheels..."

Harry acted instinctively, creating an invisible net over the opened window. His eyes gleamed in satisfaction when he saw Leren's stupefied expression. He had thrown Trevor in the direction of the window but was surprised when the toad bounced against the invisible wall and landed on Millicent instead.

When the girl let out a piercing scream, the young boy jumped out of his seat and huddled in one corner. Before Millicent could harm Trevor, Blaise quickly grabbed the toad and tossed it to Neville. Then he drew his wand out and pointed it threateningly at Leren. Everyone in the compartment -- except for the young boy -- did the same, pointing their wands at their intended opponents.

**********

"Get out," Blaise hissed, eyes glaring at the Gryffindors before settling on Leren's face. Harry frowned, wondering why the Slytherin was trembling with rage. "You were the one who caused the fire..."

"What fire?" Ron demanded.

"I think we should go..." Hermione tugged at her boyfriend's sleeve. "We already found Trevor. Neville, Dean, come on..." She pushed the two boys gently ahead of her. When she caught sight of the frightened boy huddling on the floor, she decided to take him too. "You really shouldn't be in there... Are you a first-year?"

The boy was silent. Then in between hiccups, he answered, "Going t-to..." Hermione studied the boy's face carefully.

"Is someone in there one of your siblings?" she had to ask.

"No... but Blaise's a neighbor..."

"What's your name," the Gryffindor asked kindly.

"Julian... Julian Harshawk..." the boy mumbled.

"Do you want to stay here... or would you rather go and mingle with the new ones?" She pulled the small boy to his feet and smiled, only half paying attention to what was happening between Blaise and the others.

"My father told me to stay with Leren... He said that he is the best example one could hope for in a Slytherin..."

"Example? You're a Slytherin?" Dean asked curiously.

"All my family members were Slytherins," Julian said firmly. "My father wants me to be sorted into Salazar's House."

"I thought you were supposed to follow Neville back to our compartment?" Hermione asked archly. Her friend shrugged.

"Anyway," Julian spoke with more confidence, "my father will be mad if I don't stay with Leren."

"Hmmmphf... Well, Julian... Your father's not here right now nor is he the one who will put you in Slytherin..." Hermione said with a little shake of her head and steered the boy forward.

"That's true," the boy admitted. "I don't know why my father wants me to be influenced by Leren. He looks like a cruel boy." Julian turned to look at a white-lipped Leren in disapproval.

"You've got it all wrong... Not 'looks' but 'acts'..." Dean corrected. "Is this yours?" the Gryffindor pointed at a trunk overhead. When Julian nodded, Dean reached for the trunk and lifted the cage with an owl. "This yours too?"

"Yes... where are you taking them?" Julian asked, following the boy into another compartment. He wasn't given the chance to ask any other questions when boys and girls his own size and age suddenly surrounded him.

"You got space for another trunk?" Dean asked Hannah. The Head Girl snapped at him in irritation and jerked her chin upward to an almost empty luggage rack. However, her annoyance faded when she found herself being questioned by a dozen excited first-years. "Hermione, where's Harry and Ron?"

The bushy-haired prefect shrugged but looked worried. "I don't know but they'll be able to take care of themselves."

"Of course," Dean answered dryly. "Perhaps they could take care of themselves too well..."

**********

Draco, Harry and Ron stared at Leren in confusion. They barely managed to grab Blaise before he could hex Montague.

"Get a grip on yourself!" Ron shouted, his wand still pointing at Nott.

"Zabini," Harry called the Slytherin softly. Blaise shrugged their hands off his body and stepped back a few paces, baring his white teeth at the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. "Are you saying that he murdered a Muggle family?"

"You can't go around telling lies, Blaise," Theodore said angrily.

"Lies?" Blaise looked incredulously at the weedy-looking Slytherin. "Damn you..."

"Green-Eyes, this is a serious situation. Blaise is accusing Leren of murder..." Draco said in a worried tone.

"It is serious... But we can't do anything without any proof..." Harry answered gravely.

"You caused my mother to lose her sight, you filthy bastard!"

"All right! I'm taking him out of here!" Ron said, grabbing the enraged Slytherin and pushing him out of the compartment.

"Drake, get Blaise's things. We can question him later..." Harry instructed, looking impassively at the group of Slytherins.

"Yes... I wonder why we weren't informed of any other attacks besides our own..." Draco said.

"Turncoat..." Theodore muttered softly and made the mistake of letting Draco hear it. The light-haired Slytherin acted fast and in seconds, the skinny boy dropped to the floor.

"You killed him!" Millicent cried in horror.

Draco's laughter was scary. "I don't bother with flies, Bulstrode... I warn you: cause any more trouble and you will end up like him... But maybe I'll be doing those who might want to question you a favor." With that, the pale-haired Slytherin moved along. The students from the next compartment were already weary of being shoved around and subjected to curses. Harry looked wordlessly at them before following his lover. The door closed automatically behind him and he went in search of Ernie. The Head Boy was hunched down in a seat, introducing a complete set of Witches' and Wizards' cards to a group of interested kids.

"Hello Ernie," Harry greeted the Hufflepuff.

"It's Harry Potter!" one cute girl with a ponytail exclaimed. Harry smiled faintly.

"What do you want?" The Head Boy stood up, looking questioningly at him.

"I need you to do me a favor. Keep an eye on the Slytherins next to this compartment," Harry spoke in a low voice.

"You don't have to tell me that, Harry. We always keep an eye on Slytherins."

"Thanks..." Harry mumbled as he walked off. He reached the second to the last carriage. It was so crowded and noisy that he had to shout to the Slytherins to let him through.

"Can't you just stay in your bloody compartment?" a fifth-year Slytherin complained. The passing Gryffindor smiled inwardly. He was about to reach for the door handle when it slid open.

"There you are!" It was Ron, looking relieved. "I was wondering if they managed to curse you or something."

"Well, here I am," Harry responded as he entered. Ginny and Seamus were standing like everyone else, except for Blaise who sat quietly beside Crookshanks.

"Somehow it feels as if the whole world has been turned upside down," Dean whispered into Ginny's ear, looking at Draco and Blaise in bewilderment.

"What do you mean? It was already turned upside down when Voldemort reappeared," Ginny scoffed, hitting her boyfriend lightly on the chest. The Gryffindors looked at each other and sat down. Draco took a moment to clear up the packets of sweets, dumping them unceremoniously onto Hermione's skirt.

"Oi!" Ron gave Draco a hard look.

"What?" the Slytherin inquired innocently and deftly picked Crookshanks up from the couch. The ginger-colored cat gave a brief hiss of protest at the sudden disturbance but settled down quickly on Draco's lap. Across him, Harry, Hermione and Ron squeezed themselves on to one couch, with Harry sitting between his two friends.

An hour passed in silence, each doing their own thing until Draco felt that Blaise was calm enough to talk. The silvery-haired Slytherin offered a packet of Every Flavor Beans to the quiet one beside him. Blaise accidentally looked into his eyes and Draco held his gaze. Harry felt a strange twinge as he watched his Draco staring intently at another boy. He was contemplating whether he should break the eye contact or not when Hermione pinched him lightly. He caught Ron staring at him before his best friend rolled his eyes heavenward. Looking down, he found Hermione's eyes gleaming brightly and there was an amused smile hovering on her lips. Then he recalled the dancing Veelas incident and the truth finally hit him.

"Oh..." Harry blinked his eyes rapidly. Hermione did something she was not known for: she smirked before dissolving into laughter. Ginny looked their way curiously before turning back to her conversation with Neville. Harry felt his cheeks reddening as he contemplated Draco's face.

The two Slytherins stared at each other for another minute or so before Blaise gave a long sigh. He tore open the packet and dumped the contents into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

"It is up to you if you want to tell us..." At Blaise's raised eyebrow, Draco smiled faintly. "Yes, it's 'us' unfortunately... but you know that you will have to tell Professor Dumbledore, don't you?"

"I'm not as stupid as Greg, you know," the other Slytherin mumbled.

"How's your mother?" Draco asked seriously.

"Bad. The fire was too great for her to handle and she was badly disfigured. My father is still in shock about the entire tragedy..." Blaise answered miserably. "Her face actually melted, you know..."

Hermione paled and asked shakily, "The Flame-Freezing charm didn't work?"

"Not if the fire is created by magic." Surprisingly, it was Draco who answered.

"True... Someone had planted a clutch of active Ashwinder eggs in the drawing room. That's what my uncles found after they managed to put the fire out." Blaise shuddered visibly, recalling how his mother had looked like when they got her out. "It was nighttime and we could see the fire. He shouldn't have done it to the Savvils. They were nice neighbors."

"You're tolerant of Muggles..."

Blaise managed to give a small smile. "Not all Muggles. But the Savvils had twins... I loved playing with them. Damn unlucky that the Muggle authorities came to the site and made the fire worse by trying to douse it with water. I don't know if I should be grateful that a doctor managed to get the two babies out... probably took them to an orphanage... maybe an adoption center..."

"But it doesn't show us how Leren is responsible," Hermione pointed out.

"While my uncles helped the Muggles with the fire, I followed the doctor on my broom --" The Slytherin was suddenly cut off by an impatient Ron.

"What's so interesting about the doctor?"

"The babies had magic potential, you git! Now would you please let my friend hear my account without you interrupting me with irrelevant questions?"

"Fine! Fine! Carry on then!" the Weasley snapped.

Blaise scowled at him and continued, "As I said, I was following the doctor when I noticed shadows below me where none should be. I know my area well and I knew those shapes below the trees weren't the shadows of animals."

"Hang on..." It was Ron and Blaise looked as if he would like to cudgel the Gryffindor. "If the night you are talking about was the nineteenth of August, how could you see shadows when it was a moonless night?"

"FOR SOMEONE WHO THINKS HE KNOWS IT ALL, YOU ARE A FIRST CLASS IMBECILE!!!" Blaise yelled. "There are lampposts in the area! Besides, the full moon was on the eighteenth you moron... There were lots of shadows on the ground the following night!

"Oh..." Ron had the decency to look sheepish.

"Seriously..." Even Hermione seemed rather irritated.

"How the hell was I supposed to know his neighborhood?" Ron protested.

Draco couldn't help but made a smart comment, "That is why he is telling the story, not you..."

"I swear, if it wasn't for the fact that Harry loves you, I would have hung you upside down long ago!"

Dean, who had been sipping from a bottle of pumpkin juice, spluttered all over Neville's feet. Seamus and Luna jumped out of their seats to avoid being sprayed on. Suddenly, all was quiet and everyone gaped, except for Ron and Harry.

"What?" the Weasley demanded, wondering why Hermione was looking at him peculiarly. Then he noticed that Harry had bowed his head, covering his face with his hands. He belatedly realized that he had said something he shouldn't have only when his sister and girlfriend cornered him.

"Ron, you idiot!" Ginny screamed, whacking the top of her brother's head with Luna's magazine.

"You're so impulsive!" Hermione wailed, pinching her boyfriend's exposed arms.

"Owww! Ouch! 'MIONE!!!" Ron cringed against the window panel, covering his head with his hands to protect himself from Ginny's forceful blows.

Harry groaned, finding it hard to breathe with Ginny pushing him into Ron. "This is not how I wanted to start the school term..." he lamented to Draco.

"Calm down!" Ron pleaded. Both girls eventually let go but Ginny didn't go back to her seat. She was looking at Blaise who had a pained expression on his face.

"Maybe we should cast Memory Charms on them..." Draco said, mirroring the other Slytherin's expression.

"You will not tell this to anyone," Harry finally addressed the crowd. Neville's eyes bulged horribly, Seamus was too lost for words and Dean looked like he was about to vomit.

Blaise cleared his throat uneasily. "Your friend made a mistake. You don't have to sacrifice yourself," he said to the emerald-eyed Gryffindor.

"He thinks Ron's joking?" Harry was surprised. Draco too was in disbelief.

"Blaise..." The Slytherin prefect touched the boy's arm to get his attention. "Ron meant what he said." Then Draco turned to Ron and glared. "He just forgot that there are those who would be uncomfortable with the news."

"That's too bad, Draco but I don't believe that the Golden Boy would fall head over heels in love with you," Blaise insisted, momentarily forgetting his sadness.

"Do you want to say Ron was joking or not?" Draco looked at Harry, eyes showing his confusion.

"They're telling the truth," Luna said, adjusting her glasses.

"Really?" Blaise smirked, looking at Harry challengingly. "Go on and kiss him."

"Hey! Don't do it, Harry!" Dean said in a strangled voice. "Ron was pulling our legs! We're fine with that! You don't have to do anything the Slytherin says!"

"Damn! What in hell are we supposed to do now?" Draco pulled at his hair desperately, messing up his immaculately combed silver-blond locks.

Harry looked at his friends for help. Hermione bit her lip anxiously, Ron wasn't looking at any of them, and Ginny was smiling devilishly. She was making hand movements as if saying 'What are you waiting for?'

"What? Are you afraid?" Blaise gave Draco a twisted smile. The latter looked at him with a raised eyebrow before smiling and batting his eyelashes sweetly at Harry.

"Not you too!" Dean exclaimed. "Ignore your housemate! He's taunting you!"

"Do you want to kiss me?" Draco asked slyly and Harry sighed.

"Of course I do, but is this the way to do it?"

"Come here..." Draco looked at him alluringly.

"I think it's a bad idea." Harry shook his head, uneasy at the situation he found himself in.

"You know you want to..." Draco pouted and Harry rolled his eyes in aggravation. He got to his feet and pulled his lover up, ignoring the muffled gasps of horror from some of his companions. Blaise was still looking at them, daring the two boys to do the unimaginable.

"I think that I've just realized how irritating my sneer could be," Draco said wryly, looking at the other Slytherin in amusement.

Harry smiled, very, very faintly before leaning toward his significant other. He raised one hand and cupped Draco's sharp chin, pulling the blonde closer. His lover's amusement quickly faded, replaced by anticipation. The emerald-eyed boy pressed his lips tenderly on Draco's, shuddering slightly even from the simple act.

"You expect me to believe that you two are an item by just doing that?"

But Blaise's words went unheard as the kissing couple closed their eyes, blocking out everything else until they were only aware of each other. Both shifted on their feet, leaning closer to the other for the next step. Harry slowly traced Draco's lower lip with the tip of his tongue and smiled slightly when he felt the Slytherin trembling in his arms. Harry pulled away, searching Draco's face for several moments before swooping down to bestow a thrilling kiss upon the silver-eyed boy. They pulled away, both panting heavily.

"So that's how boys kiss," Hermione said clinically, startling Harry and Draco.

"Well?" Draco managed to gain his breath and looked at Blaise smugly.

"I believe you..." the other Slytherin mumbled.

"Okay," Hermione said after taking a deep breath, "Blaise, why don't you tell us how you knew that the shadows didn't belong to animals?"

Harry and Draco settled down on their respective seats, both smiling apologetically at Ron for the display.

"It took quite a while for me to make out what the shadows were," the Slytherin began in a serious tone, "I don't know if they saw me when I began to fly low. I realized then that the shadows belonged to people mounted on brooms."

"But they could have been someone from your family..." Harry pointed out.

"Wearing the infamous masks? No way..." Blaise snorted.

"So, these people were wearing masks. However, you accused Leren. Something must have happened to make you so sure that they were indeed the ones who caused the fire," Draco said with a frown.

"I did something so utterly unlike a Slytherin," Blaise answered in a defeated tone.

"You chased after them?" Draco yelped. "Are you mad?"

"Maybe I was... I maneuvered so that their backs were to me and I rushed at one of them. It's a good thing that I keep my wand with me all the time... I stamped the first person I could get within reach of."

"Stamped?" Harry asked in puzzlement.

"I shot a charm at the exposed neck. Whomever the culprit is, he will have the Zabini emblem on his neck. It won't wear off no matter what unless a pure-blood Zabini removes the spell."

"That won't really help unless you got all of them," Draco said in a disappointed tone.

"I'm not daft! Of course, I did them all! What surprised me was that one of them was a girl..." Blaise responded, smiling crookedly.

"I wonder who it was..." Draco said in a knowing tone.

"Pansy..." Blaise laughed but it was devoid of amusement. "You noticed that she's got bruises on her neck?"

"We did..." Hermione nodded and so did Ron.

"So you injured them in one way or another." Harry stared off into space thoughtfully. "This could be used against you... No, listen to me first... There were four of them and only one out of four was a female. How did you, acting alone manage to tackle them and get away safely?"

"How did you defeat three grown experienced wizards?" Blaise countered. "Two of the fliers were rather clumsy in the air. I had pushed someone to the ground and I saw two of them fumbling on their broomsticks. The other one was out of my sight in seconds and that person was flying a Nimbus 2001," the Slytherin elaborated.

"None of them were Crabbe or Goyle then," Ron observed.

"Thank Merlin for that," Blaise grimaced as he imagined himself being overpowered by the two super-sized boys armed with bats.

"So they were in the area when the fire started... Do you have any concrete evidence that someone from that group planted the eggs?" Hermione questioned Blaise.

The smile that Blaise gave her erased any doubts in her mind. "Of course I do," the Slytherin answered confidently.

**********