Trusts And Betrayals

Chapter 16

Harry tried several times in the next few weeks to speak with Lupin, but Lupin always seemed too busy. Finally one afternoon a week before the Christmas holidays, Lupin caught up with him and invited him in to his office.

"Hello Harry, sorry I've been so preoccupied, what did you want to speak with me about?"

Harry noticed that Professor Lupin seemed to lack the fatigued look he usually had, but Harry figured that it must be the phase of the moon or something.

"I've been worried over Sirius, he hasn't responded to the owl I sent him around Halloween..." Harry did not want to tell him that the owl had been about what had taken place, feeling sure it was a memory Lupin wouldn't want brought up. "...And the owl hasn't even come back! That's almost six weeks, and I haven't heard from him at all."

Lupin looked completely bewildered for a moment, likely shocked at Harry's outburst, then looked thoughtful. "Well knowing Sirius, he's very resourceful, he's likely hiding in a place that even an owl wouldn't be able to find him. Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine. If he wasn't we would have read about it in the Daily Prophet, wouldn't we?" He smiled at Harry, and Harry felt a bit comforted at what Professor Lupin had said. He had been sure that Sirius would have at least told Lupin where he was going to hide, but maybe he had to go quickly after seeing Draco off Kings Cross Station. Harry really hoped he hadn't been confronted by Lucius Malfoy, who had been spotted on Platform Nine and Three Quarters that very day, too, because as much as Harry hated the thought, he wouldn't put it past Malfoy to kill Sirius and hide his remains. Harry felt it would be better to believe Professor Lupin's explanation.

"I guess I'm being a bit silly, but it's just not like him not to write." Harry said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Not being silly at all, Harry. And if I get any word from him, I'll come straight to you and tell you. Hopefully you will do the same for me?" Lupin put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded.

"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"No, just that. Thank you, sir." Harry got up to leave, but Professor Lupin stopped him, tightening his grip on Harry's shoulder momentarily, then letting go.

"Oh, Harry! I nearly forgot, would you mind if I borrowed the Marauder's map off of you for a little while? Seeing as someone had broken into my office before, and a few others too, I'd like to be able to see if I can keep an eye out for it before it happens again."

"Sure, of course! I'll run and get it now."

Lupin followed. "I'll join you, if you don't mind, it's been a long while since I saw the old dorm rooms."

They walked down the corridors making small talk, and went in to the Gryffindor Common room. Lupin looked around in a bit of a daze while Harry ran up to his dorm to fetch the folded old bit of parchment, then hurried back down and handed it to Professor Lupin.

"Thank you Harry, hopefully I'll be able to use this to find out who was behind those break ins, but if not, it will at least bring back some nice memories." He smiled again, and looked ready to leave when Fred and George burst through the portrait laughing hysterically, holding their sides.

"Brilliant!"

"Bloody hell, we almost got busted, ole' Filch is gonna be pis..." They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Professor Lupin in the middle of their Common Room.

"Um..."

"Sorry Professor..."

The looks on their faces was so comical Harry had to choke back a laugh. Lupin smiled at them.

"It's good to see brothers so close, try and stay out of trouble, boys." He walked out through the portrait.

Harry looked at the very relieved twins. "So, what did you do?"

Fred snickered. "We just um, decorated the Slytherin Halls with Gold and Maroon ribbons, paint, and..."

"A nice Lion's head, right above Snape's door!" George chipped in.

Harry laughed, hoping he wasn't the unfortunate one to get blamed. Knowing Snape, though...

__ __ __ __ __ __

The rest of the week the teachers seemed determined to bring the students to tears, giving them more work than ever to do in their spare time.

"As most of you will be away for the holidays, you will be getting a lot of homework." McGonnagal reasoned. Harry was very well aware of how many students were going away. All of the Weasley's were going, and Hermione was to go with them. Harry had been invited too, but the Dursley's would never sign a Hogwart's permission form, and Sirius was nowhere to be found, so he wasn't permitted to leave. McGonnagal also had said that it was for the best that he remained, as there had been a lot of mysterious events happening out of the school - like the Dark Mark, and Karkaroff's murder, that Harry may be safer on the grounds. This was likely one of the reasons so many were going home, to be with their families.

Harry also knew that Draco would be staying behind. He had overheard him whining about it to Crabbe and Goyle during Potions class, the last day of classes before the holidays. Snape was in a particularly nasty mood, especially at Harry. Harry figured that Snape suspected him of the vandalism.

"Seeing as most of you seem to have a far too much time on your hands," Snape was saying near the end of the class, looking directly at Harry with a nasty sneer. "Specifically, the Gryffindors, I want an essay handed in on the dangers of tampering with illicit potions on the day classes resume, 10 feet long of parchment."

There were many moans and groans at this, but Snape only seemed to notice Harry's.

"Oh, I see that Potter has a problem with this?" He glided over to where Harry was sat, already putting away his caldron and getting ready for his next class. "Do you wish for extra services... Detention, perhaps?" His cold black eyes were focused hatefully on Harry. Harry was sure his own hate was reflecting back at him.

"No, sir, not at all. Especially with you" He regretted the words as they left his lips, but it just slipped out. Hermione made a gasping noise from beside him, and he could see Malfoy smirking and watching with pure enjoyment from behind Snape. Crabbe and Goyle were pointing and laughing silently.

Snape's face reddened with anger, and he gripped the sides of Harry's desk. "FIFTY points from Gryffindor," He hissed, as the others from Harry's class groaned. "And, you will remain here until you have scrubbed each and every one of those empty bottles there." He pointed towards the corner of the room.

"I have a class now, I can't," Harry began.

Snape smiled unpleasantly. Well, it looks like you'll have plenty of things to do over the holidays, like make up for whichever class you miss." He straightened up and looked at the rest of the students. "And why are you all still here? Get to your next class!" He hissed. "Weasley, I'm assuming that you've taken all the same classes as Potter here, seeing as you can't seem to separate yourself from him."

Ron reddened.

"You may inform the teacher that Harry will be missing that class, and take any missed assignments to him when you catch up later."

Ron nodded and hurried out. Harry shook his head and walked over to the potion bottles, rolling up his sleeves and pouring Potion Soap into a large basin. Ordinarily, Harry would give just about anything to miss Divination class, but not this way, detention with Snape. He began to wash the oddly shaped bottles in silence, wishing he could jam them down Snape's throat.

Strangely enough, Snape just sat at his desk not bothering to yell at him more, just reading from one book and writing in another. What seemed forever but could only have been fifteen minutes into the detention, the classroom door burst open and Trelawney stormed in.

"Harry has a class with me, an important one!" Harry wasn't used to hearing her speak without her whiny, annoying voice. This voice had a determination to it Harry would never have thought her capable of.

Snape barely glanced up. "If it's an important one you must have an entire class waiting for you to get back, now, wouldn't you?" He replied sarcastically, raising an eyebrow and looking straight at her. "Seems a waste, worrying over just one student. Potter is being punished, and as Potions is a class of the main curriculum, and yours is not, I believe that the Headmaster would see it fit that Potter learn his lesson here, now."

Trelawney stammered. "It's the last day of classes before the holidays..."

"Then get back to your class and teach it, you're wasting time here, Potter isn't to leave until he is finished." He looked at her again, this time smiling nastily. "Lovely ring, very similar to the one Professor Malfoy had from her husband, though hers was far bigger."

She glared at Snape, looking as though he had slapped her, then stormed out and slammed the door shut. Snape looked up at Harry then.

"Did I say you could do with a break, Potter? Get back to work so I can be rid of you by your next class!"

__ __ __ __ __ __

Harry had watched Ron pack up his things early the next morning, and saw Ron and Hermione off to their break. he noticed how empty the corridors were after, there had to be less than a dozen students remaining there.

Later that night when he sat down to dinner, he noticed that the only other student from his house was Collin Creevey, even Neville had gone home. Malfoy was the only Slytherin left, Cho Chang and a couple other Ravenclaws, and Justin Finch-Fenley of Hufflepuff. It was going to be a long holiday, he thought bitterly, as Collin began ranting about something he didn't bother to pay attention to. A couple of times he thought he saw Cho looking over at him, but she turned away when he tried to meet her eye.

He decided to take this time to get his homework out of the way, and went to work on the Potions parchment first. After a long while, Harry felt his eyes drooping and looked at the time, it was close to midnight, and he had only gotten half a foot done. He snuffed out the candle, and was about to get ready for bed when he heard a scratching sound at the window. He went over and saw one of the school owls flying around. He let him in, and took the small scroll from the owl, letting the large bird back out. He read the scroll, wondering who it was from, as he didn't recognize the writing. It read:

"Meet me in the high tower as soon as you get this, wear your cloak."

Harry felt curiosity as he read it, wondering who had sent it. Cho had been looking at him at dinner, but did she know he had a cloak? He excitedly ran over to his trunk, flinging the cloak over his head. "Might not be a bad holiday after all..." he thought, as he raced through the portrait and down the corridors. He felt very nervous, but excited at the idea of Cho wanting to talk to him. He took the stairs two at a time up to the top of the Astronomy Tower, opening the door.

He suddenly felt his heart sink. It wasn't Cho. It was Draco Malfoy, standing with a smirk.