The Temple of Le Fay

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Truth

"You killed Voldemort?"

"No."

"What, then?" Cho asked.

"It didn't work," Harry said quietly. "They all stood there. And I couldn't kill him. I was so distracted by their all going against me," he stammered. "I saw the Dark Mark on them. They were his. They were all his. What I was doing, trying to live a normal life, trying to have friends, it didn't work. I lost. I lost everyone. They turned on me, and I couldn't concentrate. Seeing everyone I know turn against me, seeing them all on Voldemort's side. Then he started laughing..."

Harry shuddered as he relived the sound of Voldemort's high-pitched, wheezing laugh.

"There was a flash, and the next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital wing. I couldn't beat him, even if he was just a Boggart. That's what it'll come down to. I'm going to be alone against Voldemort, and I couldn't do it on Halloween. That's what I've been doing ever since. Learning and..."

"Protecting your friends?"

Harry looked up. "What?"

"By forcing them away, you're protecting them, that's it, isn't it? You think that if you stop being friends with them, if you send Ginny away, they won't be targets anymore."

Harry laughed, abruptly, and stopped, just as abruptly. An unpleasant expression settled on his face.

"The way you say it," he said. "It sounds noble. Decent. Like something The-Boy-Who-Lived would do."

"It's not?" Cho asked.

"No," Harry said quietly. "It's not. That's not why I did it, not really. Oh, it crossed my mind, but that's not why I broke up with Ginny. That's not why I keep pushing Hermione and Ron away."

"Why, then?"

"Because I'm scared," Harry said, his head bowed. "I'm scared that the time will come that Voldemort will give them that choice, and that they will choose him. What can I offer them, after all? Everyone thinks that it's just me who stands between him and world domination. But I couldn't have come this far without my friends. And if they left me, if they decided to give up on me and join him... I know how much that would hurt me. To see the people I care for the most join Voldemort..." Harry paled at the thought. Cho wanted nothing more than to reach out to him, but he stood abruptly and walked away from the bench.

"I mean, what can I offer them? Life as a target, shunted from tragedy to rumour to lies to battles. It can't be much fun being my friend. I wouldn't blame them if they did decide to abandon me. But if they do join Voldemort, then I can't let it distract me. I can't take the risk that I'll care too much to put them down if they get in my way. That's why I've been pushing them away. I want them to hate me, to make them stay away from me. Then Voldemort won't try and use them against me. When the time comes, I'll have to face Voldemort, and I'll have to do whatever it takes to beat him. I can't risk caring for them, in case he uses that against me. I can't rely on them, because he might already have them working for him. I have to know everything that they do, in case I have to use it against them. If I do have to fight them, then I can't risk being distracted because I won't get a second chance."

Cho shuddered Put them down? How could Harry think like that?

"You can't really think..."

"Think they'd abandon me? Why not? My parents died because a friend betrayed them, not an enemy, a trusted, lifelong friend. I waited for ten years for someone to come and rescue me from the Dursleys, but no one did. I spent ten years locked in a cupboard because my parents were killed, and I keep getting told that I was some kind of hero to the wizarding world, but my parents' friends didn't care enough about me to make sure I was okay. Do you have any idea how that feels? And look at what happened after the match against Hufflepuff! I try and save Ginny and Vickie's lives, and then my entire bloody house decides that it's my fault we lost the match!"

"Harry, they were disappointed. I'm sure they didn't mean to-"

"I'm sure they didn't. But I'm just doing my best." His shoulders sagged. "I'm doing my best, and it's not enough. I have to face Voldemort, and I don't know if I'm strong enough, if I'll ever be strong enough, and I don't have anyone who can tell me what to do. I can't trust anyone, Cho, do you know how that feels? My parents went into hiding to try and save their lives, and they were betrayed. They died knowing that they'd been betrayed, that they couldn't trust anyone, and I know how that feels, and it's the worst thing in the world."

"Your parents must have trusted someone," Cho said, not knowing how else to respond to this.

"Sirius Black," Harry said shortly. "But he got put in Azkaban, didn't he?"

"Do you still worry about him?" Cho asked, automatically, her mind whirling.

"No. One day, maybe, I'll tell you why."

"Why do you trust me, then?" Cho asked, suddenly angry. "You say you can't trust anyone, but you're telling me all this. Why do you trust me, but not people who care about you the way-"

"You weren't there," Harry cut in. "No matter how many times I relive that night, you're never there. You didn't go over to him."

Cho fell silent, not knowing what to say.

"I should go," Harry said turning to face her. Cho was struck by how tall he seemed. "I'm sorry that tonight wasn't the night I promised you."

"Well it wasn't miserable, no," Cho said. She watched him walk away, and then decided that she had to make one last attempt. "Harry! They wouldn't abandon you! Ron, Hermione, especially not Ginny! They love you!"

He paused, and for a second Cho thought that she had broken through to him.

Half turning his head, he said, "So did my parents. Look what happened to them."

Harry rounded the corner, and disappeared.

*

By the time lessons started again, Ginny had settled into a rhythm. She threw herself into her work, tried to ignore rumours about Harry and Cho - for what Hermione claimed had been a mistaken kiss, there were a dreadful number of stories about it - and in the evening tried to ignore Ron glaring furiously at his former best friend. The tension in the Gryffindor common room was only alleviated by Harry's absences when he left to conduct his study sessions. Gryffindors were slowly trickling back to his sessions as time healed the memory of Harry ignoring the Snitch in his vain attempt to protect Ginny and Vickie from the rogue Bludgers.

Madam Hooch had invested in a new set of Quidditch balls for the next match, Ravenclaw against Slytherin, after realising that the old set had been in use for nearly four years. Ron had reacted with horror on the discovery, claiming that the magic in any set of Quidditch balls was only good for three seasons, and they had been living on borrowed time since the previous year. Hermione had just shrugged, and looked grateful that Ron had found something other than Harry to talk about for a while.

For Ginny, the worst part of it all was the pitying looks she had started to receive from other pupils. More than once she had been subjected to a talk on 'keeping her chin up' and 'not letting him get to you'. Daniella and Luna had saved her from detention several times, dragging her away before she hexed anyone.

Ginny had learned her lesson from too many years of adoring Harry. In her third year, Michael Corner had provided a way of getting over her crush on Harry for a time. Now, in her fifth year, she was working on other ways of driving her ex-boyfriend from her mind. One of those ways had involved trading Patronus lessons for swordfighting lessons with Dean.

Dean's mastery of swordfighting had raised his profile considerably among the other pupils at Hogwarts. Ginny had seen him talking to a number of girls from various years, and noted wryly that a number of them had been chasing Harry when he had been without a date for the Hogmanay Ball. Now that everyone thought that Harry was dating Cho, Dean had replaced him as the object of affection in the eyes of many girls, much to Dean's bewilderment and growing enjoyment. Word quickly spread through the school when he was seen kissing Padma Patil in Hogsmeade late in January, and Ginny had teased him about it relentlessly over the next week.

Eventually, as Dean guided Ginny through one of their twice-weekly lessons, he had admitted that it had all been blown out of proportion.

"She broke up with her boyfriend. Apparently that berk Goldstein - you know, the Ravenclaw sixth year? - well, he actually fancied Parvati, and asked Padma out 'cos Parvati's going out with someone in Hufflepuff. Anyway, the idiot admitted it to Padma, and you can imagine how well that went down," he grinned, disarming Ginny with an intricate manoeuvre that sent her sword flying.

"Like a lead balloon?" Ginny asked, retrieving her Gladius cast. She had known Anthony Goldstein slightly, as he was a friend of Michael Corner's.

"Yeah, about that well," Dean smiled, setting himself to attack again. "Anyway, I was chatting with Padma, and she saw Goldstein come 'round the corner, and she grabbed me. Not that I'm complaining, you know? I mean, she is gorgeous."

Ginny smiled, and set herself to defend against Dean's calculated assault. She enjoyed the lessons with Dean, even if they always seemed to end up talking about Harry, and how Ginny felt about him. It was still fun hacking at things with a big sword. She sometimes imagined that she was hacking at whatever it was that stood between her and Harry, but quickly chastised herself for being silly when she did so.

*

For Hermione, January was a month of frustration. Ron had refused to accept her explanation of Harry and Cho's accidental kiss, and was being, in her opinion, rather immature and unnecessarily stubborn. Every attempt to try and get him to move on proved futile.

"They didn't do anything wrong."

"They did plenty wrong!"

Ron barged out of the common room, sending a second year flying and leaving Hermione with a scowl on her face.

*

"Ginny doesn't care."

"Yes she does."

Ron stomped off, walking right through Nearly Headless Nick as he left the Great hall.

*

"She says she doesn't."

"Are you saying I don't know my own sister?"

Ron turned his back on Hermione and ignored her for the rest of lunch.

*

"It's none of your business who Harry kisses!"

"It is when he's breaking my sister's heart!"

Ron chose to work with Neville once they were inside the greenhouse.

*

"Why do you care? They broke up. Ginny's moved on, in case you hadn't noticed. She's fine."

"Harry Potter is a git! He acts like he'd do anything for anyone, and then he throws everything we've ever done for him back in our faces! How can you feel sorry for him when he's a complete -"

Professor Snape took great delight in giving Ron two weeks of detention for swearing in the corridor. Ron didn't speak to Hermione for the next two days.

*

Hermione was horrified to discover that her work was being affected by her arguments with Ron. Even the latest reports of attacks by Voldemort's forces - no fatalities, thankfully - didn't have the same impact as not getting "Outstanding" on her work. She knew that she was right, that Harry's behaviour wasn't about being nasty to anyone. She knew that he had his reasons, but he wouldn't confide in anyone. As she shoved her "Acceptable" Dark Arts essay deep into her bag, she saw Cho walking past.

"Cho, do you have a minute?"

Cho looked around in surprise.

"Oh, Hermione, yes, of course."

"I'm sorry to bother you."

"That's alright," Cho smiled. "Is it about Harry?"

"Yes," Hermione grimaced. "Everything's always about Harry. You'd think that when he dumps his friends, we'd at least be able to get on with things, but we seem to spend more time talking about him now than when he was hanging around us."

Cho laughed. Hermione felt a surge of anger welling up inside her, but it quickly disappeared as she realised, to anyone else, it would seem funny.

"I'm sorry," Cho said. "I know it's not very funny for you, but its Harry, isn't it? Things happen to him, and by reflection they affect everyone who cares for him. It must have been very hard for you, having him push you away."

"It has. Has he said anything to you? At all?"

Cho's eyes darted away, and for a second Hermione thought that she was going to lie to her. Then Cho said, "He has. I know why he's acting like this. He thinks he has good reason, Hermione, that's all I can say."

"Why does he trust you?" Hermione realised that she was close to whining, but she didn't care. Harry had been one of the first people to accept her at Hogwarts, and to have him abandon their friendship so abruptly felt dreadful.

Cho took a deep breath. "I can't tell you," she said at last. "What he told me, and why he told me, well, I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I can't break Harry's confidence."

Hermione nodded glumly.

"I suppose that it's good for him to have someone to talk to, at least."

Cho managed a small, tight smile. "I could try and talk to him again, but I've barely seen him since New Years Eve."

"You're really not going out with him, them?"

"No," Cho smiled again, more widely this time. "I suppose it makes for a good rumour."

"There's always going to be people ready to believe silly rumours," Hermione said, remembering her own period as Harry's 'girlfriend' during her fourth year. "Cho, listen, if you do talk to Harry, could you tell him something?"

"It's a big if, but okay," Cho said.

"Just tell him... Tell him that it's not the same without him. Ginny's miserable, even if she won't admit it. Ron's miserable, so he's acting foul towards everyone because he doesn't understand why Harry's acting so unlike himself. I'm miserable, and it's affecting my work. We just want him back. Tell him that we don't believe he doesn't want to be friends with us, and that we can help him prepare for facing V-Voldemort."

Cho blinked slowly, then nodded. "I'll try," she said at last. "I don't know how much good it will do."

"Thank you," Hermione said.

*

Ron scowled at the second year chattering loudly to his friends. It was Sunday evening and, after watching the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match the day before, Ron had a long Transfiguration essay to finish for the following day. His mood was worsened by what he had seen at the match. Ravenclaw looked unbeatable this year, with Cho Chang on particularly fine form.

Harry's magicless and besides, he's probably going to be too busy thinking about snogging Cho to even go for the Snitch.

His mood darkening still further, Ron glared furiously at the second year boy again.

Doesn't he have any homework to do? I should go over there and dock some points. That'll teach the little toerag.

Ron almost stood up, but slumped back in his chair. His gaze traveled disinterestedly over to where Seamus, Neville, Dean and Ginny were laughing at one of Josh Cochran's jokes. On the other side of the room, Katie and Vickie were arguing with Daniella Spinnet and two third year girls about an article in Transfiguration Today. Ron vaguely recognised the third years as having been in Harry's study sessions regularly. The realisation sparked off another surge of anger in him, and he got to his feet, heading for the portrait hole and then to the library to confront Harry and have it out with him.

The Fat Lady's portrait banged against the wall as Ron shoved it out of his way. There was an indignant yelp that Ron ignored as he stomped along the west corridor toward the library. He started down a staircase without seeing the person coming the other way.

"Ow! Bloody hell," he barked, lying sprawled on the floor where he had landed after colliding with the other person.

"My father says that whenever a writer is late with an article," Luna Lovegood said, peering owlishly down at Ron. She didn't appear to have even flinched at the collision, despite Ron being much larger than she was. "Would you like a hand?"

Ron took the proffered hand grumpily, and pulled himself upright.

"Sorry," he said gruffly. "Wasn't looking where I was going."

"You're Ginny Weasley's brother, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Ron said sourly. "That's me. Ginny's brother, Fred and George's brother, Charlie, Bill and Percy's brother. Harry Potter's best mate. That's me."

"Is that your name?" Luna asked, appearing to be serious.

Ron gaped at her.

"I don't think we've ever been properly introduced," Luna went on calmly. "My name is Luna Lovegood." She extended her hand again and Ron, at something of a loss, shook it.

"Ron Weasley," he said. "That's my name. Not the other thing. I'm just Ron."

"Ginny's favourite brother," Luna said. Ron stared at her. "At least, I think you are. She talks about all of you a great deal. It may just be because you're still here and the others aren't anymore."

"Er, right," Ron said. "Listen, sorry about running into you like that. These staircases aren't lit up very well."

"I was on my way to see Ginny. I thought she might have seen my wand. I haven't seen it since this morning," Luna said, as though Ron hadn't spoken.

"I don't remember her mentioning it," Ron said, swept along in Luna's wake. "Er, did you mean that about me being Ginny's favourite brother?"

"She insults you a lot," Luna said distantly. "I think that means she likes you. It may mean she hates you, I suppose."

"Probably," Ron said. He had been on the end of a tongue lashing from Ginny the previous day about the way he was treating Hermione.

As if it's my fault that Harry's being a git! Am I the only one not chasing after the big-headed idiot? Next thing everyone'll want me to forgive Harry because, well, he's Harry. It's always the same, and I'm ruddy sick of it. And this time he's messing around with Ginny, flaunting Cho the way he did at the ball. Why am I the only one who can see that Harry's just become too big for his boots this year? Everyone's fawning over him like he's flawless. He cost us the last match!

It hadn't escaped Ron's attention that a few people still held a grudge against Harry for not catching the Snitch, but he was in such a foul mood with his former best friend that it seemed like everyone was ganging up against him. No one who thought Harry had been wrong in the way he'd acted at the match had anything bad to say about him in any other way, and Ron, with his virulently anti-Harry stance, felt very alone.

"She is worried about you, Ronald," Luna said. Ron looked up, suddenly remembering that he had been walking Luna to the Gryffindor common room in silence.

"Sorry, who is?"

"Ginny. She doesn't like the way you've reacted to Harry Potter not liking you anymore."

"As if I care about that!" Ron flushed red. "Good riddance to the arrogant idiot. I don't like the way he treated everyone else. He was a complete-" Ron called Harry a word that would have made anyone but Luna recoil "-and he's got away with it! He always does! He's Harry Potter, so everyone treats him differently!"

"Oh," Luna said, walking up to the Fat Lady. "Ginny Weasley, please," she said. The Fat Lady nodded regally, scowled at Ron, and disappeared behind the tree that normally stood behind her in the painting.

"Here, where's she gone?" Ron asked. "She's only supposed to open for Gryffindors."

"She does only open for your house," Luna said. "But if someone wants to talk to one of you, she'll fetch them."

"Oh," Ron said. "Well, I didn't know that."

"Really?" Luna asked. "Our guardian told me all about it. Have you ever talked to your guardian?"

"What? No," Ron said. He knew from Ginny that Luna was slightly strange, but had never before experienced it. "Why would I want to talk to a painting for?"

"They know an awful lot," Luna explained, waving to Sir Cadogan as the knight puffed past, chasing his fat pony from painting to painting. "Almost as much as the ghosts. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington is very concerned about Harry Potter. Did you know that?"

"Everyone's concerned about Harry Potter," Ron snarled. "He's so bloody wonderful that everyone drops everything as soon as he stubs his toe."

"Really?" Luna asked. "Do you think he's using some kind of mind control? My father would love to have a story like that for the Quibbler. I imagine it would sell rather well."

Ron goggled at her, temporarily speechless. The Fat Lady reappeared in her portrait and smiled at Luna.

"Miss Weasley will be out in just a minute, dear. She's just washing her hair."

"Thank you," Luna replied, smiling at the Fat Lady.

"Harry wouldn't do that," Ron said at last. "He wouldn't control people, even if he could."

"Oh, that's a pity," Luna said dreamily. "It would have made for a very good story."

"No, listen, don't go getting the wrong idea. Harry's had a lot of bad things written about him. Don't go getting your Dad to publish anything else, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Ronald. I suppose Harry Potter has a lot of bad things said about him, as well?"

"Yeah, well he always has. Malfoy's always badmouthing him, well, he was until this year, anyway."

"Draco is a much nicer person this year," Luna commented.

"Yeah, right. Anyway, since then it's been..." Ron's brow creased as he tried to work out who had taken Draco's place as the person who hated Harry Potter the most.

"Oh," he said, realisation dawning. "Er, well, I suppose I've been giving him a rough ride. Er, blimey. I didn't know I was as bad as Malfoy used to be."

The Fat Lady swung open, and Ginny appeared in the portrait hole, her hair bound up in a bright yellow towel.

"Ron? Did you forget the password? Oh, hi Luna. I didn't see you there."

"Hello," Luna said. "Do you have my wand? I can't find it since we were working on Charms this morning."

"Er, no, I don't. At least..." Ginny paused. "I'll check my bag. I sort of just bundled everything together at the end of the session. One second."

It was nearer five minutes before Ginny returned, in which time Josh, Seamus and Dean left the common room for some Quidditch practise and the Creevey brothers came back from studying with Harry. Dennis had foot long tufts of hair sprouting from his ears and nostrils, but seemed to find it highly hilarious.

Eventually, Ginny came back, slightly breathless and with two wands in her hands.

"This one's yours," she said, holding one out to Luna. Luna nodded, and tucked it behind her ear.

"Thank you. Now I can hunt down the Lethifold that nearly strangled Sally-Anne last night."

Ginny sighed, tolerantly.

"Luna, she said herself that she just slipped and got wrapped up in the shower curtain."

"Perhaps," Luna said. "But father said that Lethifolds can be very clever. We can't be too careful. Well, goodbye Ginny, see you in class tomorrow. Goodbye Ronald."

"Loony," Ginny shook her head as her friend wandered away. "Ron, what are you staring at?"

Ron had been standing motionless and silent since Ginny had appeared at the portrait hole the first time. Ginny snapped her fingers in front of his face several times before he looked up.

"What?"

"Earth to Ron? Did Luna make you space out? There's a cure for that, you know? I hit you over the head with your broom."

"Er... What?"

Ginny sighed, slightly less tolerantly this time. "What happened?"

"Er, Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"I've been a complete git to Harry, haven't I? And you and Hermione."

"Yes," Ginny said. "Never mind. He doesn't seem to care, and we're pretty used to you after all these years."

"Sorry," Ron said.

"It's okay," Ginny said. "You got there in the end."

*

January for Harry meant a return to the routine interrupted by the Christmas break. On the first day of term he had conducted two study sessions, and every day thereafter saw him working hard with anyone who wanted his help. By the end of the month, it was not at all unusual to see Harry lecturing to sixth and seventh years.

By the end of the month, Harry was exhausted, hard work and a mild dose of 'flu laying him low.

Harry had had his last bout of exhaustion during the Christmas holidays. It had swept over him suddenly, whereas this had been gradual. He had felt it building up over several days, but by the Saturday, with Ravenclaw playing Slytherin at Quidditch, he was too tired even to get out of bed.

Instead, he watched Dean, Seamus and Ron getting ready to leave together. He smiled politely at Dean's jokes, and weathered a ferocious glare from Ron, who seemed to feel that Harry was feigning sickness in order to avoid studying Quidditch. Harry waved his TrueSight glass at Ron, who mellowed somewhat, but still didn't look happy.

As the door banged shut behind Ron, Harry scowled as well. It had occurred to Harry over the last month that the vision he'd had when he fought the Boggart, that his friends would abandon him and join Voldemort, might be brought about by the way that he was alienating them. He felt himself to be caught in a quandary, quite unsure of which way to move.

At least if I stay apart from them, and I do have to fight them, then I won't feel too bad about it, he told himself, struggling to ignore the pang of guilt that bit hard as he watched Ron, Hermione, Dean and Ginny take their seats in the stands.

Pushing thoughts of his former friends from his mind, Harry found himself thinking about something that he'd been trying to avoid. McGonagall's threat of failing him if he couldn't perform magic by the time his exams came around was beginning to way heavily on his mind. June seemed much nearer at the end of January than it had done at the start of the month. Harry was no nearer to casting a real spell than he had been after awakening from his Boggart-induced coma. Harry resolved to try not to worry about it -After all, what can I do about it?-- before settling back to watch the match in comfort.

A hard fought match saw Ravenclaw win with the capture of the Snitch. Cho just squeezed past Terrence Higgs on the inside to take the 150 points, giving Ravenclaw the win by 300 points to 180. Harry smiled, happy for Cho and her team, even though he'd avoided talking to Cho since the Ball. He felt as though he'd told her something he shouldn't have done, and didn't want her trying to get him to talk to anyone else.

Like Dumbledore. Or Ron and Hermione. Or Ginny.

Harry pulled a face, and forced himself to think about something else. He thought about what the day's result meant for the Quidditch house championship. Looking at the results to that point, Ravenclaw had two wins, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff each had a win and a loss, and Slytherin had lost both their matches. The outcome of the match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin in March would go a long way to determining the outcome of the house Quidditch championship.

Harry yawned, and sneezed. He checked his planner and decided that he had time to go to Madam Pomfrey for another dose of Pepper-Up potion before his first study session of the day. He dressed quickly, hopping about on the cold stone floor as he tried to find a clean pair of socks, and headed out of the common room before too many people returned from the match. On the way he passed Neville, struggling back into the common room after accidentally using trick root-tickling fertiliser - which Seamus and Dean had given him - while helping Professor Sprout repot some Tongue Smacking Tulips. Two of the surprisingly strong plants had tried to pull Neville's tongue out of his mouth in protest at what they had seen as a joke against them. At least, that's what Harry thought Neville was saying. It was hard to tell as his tongue was so swollen.

Madam Pomfrey was grudgingly happy to see Harry, as he had become a much more obedient patient than in previous years. He joined the queue of shivering Quidditch watchers and waited for Madam Pomfrey to brew up a new batch of the fiery red potion.

"Back again, Harry?"

Harry turned, and smiled at the sight of Professor Dumbledore. His nose was exactly the colour of his scarlet robes, while the rest of his face was as pale as his silvery hair.

"I thought a dose of Pepper-Up potion might be of some use," Dumbledore confided, standing beside Harry in the queue. "Poppy always tells me that prevention is preferable to cure, after all."

"With me it's always cure," Harry said. "She doesn't think that I even try to prevent myself ending up here."

"So I have noticed," Dumbledore noted, wryly. "Still, you have a great long way to go before you can claim to have spent more time here then any other student."

"What's the record?" Harry asked as Madam Pomfrey fussed over Morag MacDougal.

"Four years. Consecutively," Professor Dumbledore said promptly. Harry's mouth gaped as Dumbledore went on. "Stephen 'Sickly' Sickle, a Ravenclaw lad who reacted poorly to a bite from a wyvern. Remarkably, he managed to stay on top of his work, and maintain a wide circle of friends. In that I rather suspect that he was helped by the wide variety of interestingly disgusting symptoms he exhibited over those four years. Sickly Spotting was a favourite pastime."

Harry smiled at the story as Hannah Abbott walked past, steam hissing from her ears.

"Sir?"

"Yes Harry?"

"How did Sickle manage with exams?"

"Arrangements were made. I believe that he had some exams here in the hospital wing, and when he had to be elsewhere then he had a great many people willing to assist him."

"Sir?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry?"

"How am I going to manage with my exams?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry quizzically.

"I can't cast spells," Harry said, wondering if Dumbledore had somehow forgotten this side effect of Harry's own protracted stay in the hospital wing.

Dumbledore peered carefully at Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles.

"Harry, you certainly can cast spells," he said at last. "During your last Quidditch match you flew as well as I have ever seen you fly. You could not have done that without using magic. The magic is there for you to use, when you wish to use it. Ah, your turn, I believe."

Harry stepped forward to take his potion, Dumbledore's words weighing heavy on his mind. The Potion tickled his sinuses as he drank it, and he had a violent sneezing fit that made him blow steam rings out of his ears, nose and mouth all at the same time. When it faded away, he turned around to speak to the Headmaster. Dumbledore, however, had vanished.

Frowning, Harry headed off for his first study session of the day. As he entered the library, he was so caught up with his thoughts that he didn't even notice the blonde research wizard who had argued with Lockhart sneering at him. He sat down to await the rest of his class, steam boiling from his ears as his brain worked furiously on what the Headmaster had said to him.

*

Remus and Lucius stared at one another across the table.

"I am pleased to see that you have found gainful employment," Lucius said at last. "Reading between the lines of what he said, Draco seemed to learn a great deal during your year at Hogwarts."

Remus ignored him. They both knew that the Ministry had not hired Remus. Officially, he wasn't in the interrogation room with Malfoy. Officially, Mad-Eye Moody was. But Moody had been 'delayed' and Remus had arrived under cover of an invisibility cloak. Malfoy was mildly impressed with how thoroughly Dumbledore had penetrated the Ministry in order that Lupin could do this.

"Draco took a half-blood to the Hogmanay Ball," Remus said, looking down at a sheaf of notes. "They danced, they kissed, they seemed to enjoy themselves a great deal."

"You are spying on my son?"

"Draco's movements attract attention," Remus said, giving Lucius a toothy grin. "There are still people who think that he's playing a game. Imagine that: People not trusting a Malfoy."

"Malfoy in name only," Lucius sighed exasperatedly. "Do you really hope to use Draco against me? It is some four months since Alastor Moody found that that would not work."

"I just thought that you would like to know," Remus said. "He's well. Not suffering from having the Malfoy estates seized."

"Draco has his own money," Lucius said coolly. "He will want for nothing in life, provided he is prepared to work hard. Of course, if he had stayed loyal to me and believed in my innocence..." he tailed off.

"Well, when you are freed, you may tell him so," Remus said, looking down at his notes again. "One other thing, what happened the night Voldemort was resurrected?"

Lucius didn't flinch at the sound of Voldemort's name. Instead, he said "This has been gone over a dozen times before."

"Your trial is not until May," Remus said. "You have five months of solitary confinement ahead of you. Are you so eager to return to your cell?"

Lucius' expression didn't change. "The Dark Mark burned, and the next thing I knew, I was watching Voldemort and Harry Potter dueling. I would imagine that one of the other Death Eaters was using the Imperius curse upon me."

"It's strange," Remus said mildly. "For such a famously strong willed family as the Malfoys, for you to be susceptible to the Imperius curse."

"It is strange that Harry Potter was able to defeat He Who Must Not Be Named when he was a mere infant," Malfoy replied. "It is strange that Dumbledore continues to employ that oaf Rubeus Hagrid. Many things are strange in this world, Mr. Lupin. Your presence here is strange, or at least it would seem to be if Minister Fudge were to walk in, I imagine."

Remus smiled. "I was told to tell you that your lawyer will be arriving at one o'clock," he said. "I'm impressed that he has agreed to work for free," he added, standing up and pulling his coat around his shoulders. "After all, all your funds were seized on the day of your arrest. One might almost say that it was, oh, strange."

Remus departed, leaving Lucius alone in his cell for ten minutes before his lawyer arrived.

To be continued...