Simon says...

Harry woke up early the next morning. He hadn't gotten much sleep, being haunted by nightmares featuring flashes of masked Death Eaters, torture, pain, murder and happiness. The latter bore the significant evidence that Voldemort had indeed made a horrific, successful move. Harry opened the curtains and looked out of the window, groggy from his exhausting sleep. Crabbe's snores were echoing from across the room. He sighed. The burden of having known that something happened last night was heavy on his heart. If he could just remember details - or better have these visions in advance, so he could prevent the happenings. Now, he only knew that somewhere someone had suffered a horrible, painful death His shoulders were crunched as he let his feet plunge onto the cold floor and made to get up. Before he could make a step forward, he noticed something at the end of his bed.

Harry quickly grabbed his glasses, put them on and sighed again, but this time in relief. It was only a pile of presents. Of course, it was still Christmas. Not feeling particularly in the mood, he began to unwrap the first package. It was from Hermione: an extensive collection of curses, counter curses, defensive spells, their effects and specialities. It was very detailed, but still did not require more than a quick glance to find all there was to know about a certain spell. Harry could only imagine how much time Hermione had spent on gathering all this information.

The next present was from Mrs. Weasley. She had sent him another jumper, this time green, but lacking any kind of embroidering, plus a very small chocolate tree. Harry bit his lower lip. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley had heard about his fight with her youngest son, but also about Ginny's affection. There was a note telling him she was sorry he couldn't join them for Christmas. Apparently, Ron had explained all about his desperately needed extra studies for Potions, but she hope he'd be able to enjoy the break nonetheless. Harry arched his eyebrows. Ron was such a coward. Instead of facing Harry, he'd simply kept his mother's invitation quiet and spun a silly tale. Harry made a mental note to send a warm thank-you note with Hedwig later that day; it wasn't Mrs. Weasleys' fault after all. He reached for another present, wrapped badly in newspaper. It was a fountain pen from the Dursleys. He shrugged and put it on his nightstand.

Ginny had given him a beautiful snow globe. Inside, two small silhouettes, not unlike Ginny and himself, were standing side by side and would start to dance among the falling snowflakes when you shook it slightly. He let himself fall back onto his bed and admired it dreamily, remembering the night before. Suddenly, the door opened and Simon strode in, throwing a small, longish package at Harry, who hastily hid the snow globe underneath his sheets and coughed.

"Merry Christmas," Simon said cheerily.

"Thanks," Harry replied, his cheeks still blushing in embarrassment.

He opened Simon's gift. It looked like a fountain pen. But why in Merlin's beard would Simon give him a pen? Or rather, would Simon know what a fountain pen was? Confused, Harry placed it beside him on the bed. In the meantime, Simon had stepped to the window. Now, he turned back around and his eyes fell on Harry's nightstand.

"Oh, you already got one," Simon said, somewhat taken aback.

"I got one what?"

"A Potions Sensor. Right here," Simon told him, pointing at the fountain pen.

"No, this is a fountain pen. Muggles write with it. Here, try it out," Harry said laughingly and handed the pen over.

Simon tried to write on a spare bit of parchment, but only produced scratching noises.

"Morons! Simon, do I have to curse you to make you stop?" Malfoy's disgruntled face emerged from behind the curtains of his four-poster, his hands covering his ears.

Simon ignored his cousin, who retreated to his beauty sleep. "It doesn't work, you should return it."

Harry laughed. "No, here, you have to push here, and then it should work."

Simon tried again and this time successfully wrote his name, though he usually had much nicer handwriting. "Well, I prefer quills," he commented and handed the pen back.

"So, what's a Potion Sensor then?" Harry inquired, picking Simon's present back up.

"This is a Potion sensor. You dip it inside a potion, push the button and it analyses its contents and then gives you feedback," Simon explained, leaning against the wall. "Severus gave it to me once, but I don't need it anymore."

"Cool, thanks!" Harry answered and put it aside safely. Then he picked up Hagrid's present, weighing it in his hands. It was heavy. The creaking of mattresses told them that the other boys were slowly returning to consciousness. Harry ripped the wrapping paper aside and was able to get a quick look at a leather-bound book before it vanished with a poof.

"What the...Potter!"

The book had reappeared on Malfoy's face, who was just in the process of finally waking up and threw it off onto the floor. It hardly touched ground, when it vanished again, only to resurface on Harry's nightstand. Just as Harry tried to catch it, the book disappeared yet again, resurfacing on Malfoy's pillow. Problem was, Malfoy was lying back down in frustration and instead of falling onto soft feathers, his head collided with the hard cover of the book. Before Malfoy could snatch it and throw it angrily at Harry, the book exploded, littering Malfoy's bed with paper snippets.

Simon's lips were twitching, but he managed to look serious when he stopped the book with a strong Stunner, then summoned it and handed it to Harry. Chuckling, he said, "Nice gift. A self-apparating book. Better put it into your trunk, it won't get out of there easily."

Harry shook his head, disbelieving. "What did you get by the way?"

"Oh, the usual -- another potions book from Severus and a set of clothes form my parents. Let's go down for breakfast, I'm starving. And I still have to pack, Terry and I will be leaving for home right afterwards."

***

Hardly inside the Great Hall, they were surprised by the uncustomary chill and quiet inside. Most students were already gathered, but bore a glum impression, while picking their breakfast. Simon furrowed his eyebrows, trying to detect the cause. Harry, on the other hand, was reminded of his nightmare. Apparently, last nights events had made the news fast. They took their accustomed seats and Simon reached for a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"That explains it," he stated gravely.

Entire Family killed by Death Eater

Followers of You-Know-Who perpetrated two assaults on Christmas Eve, killing seven, injuring six badly.

The first attack was on the home of Ministry worker Smith and his family, located in the lowlands of Scotland. Smith, his wife, a Muggle, and her family were gathered to celebrate the holidays together, when the Death Eaters attacked late at night. Aurors, who were first at the scene, discovered traces of a desperate fight for their lives and finally found the slaughtered bodies in the basement. Details are too gruesome to print. Next to Steven Smith, Department of Muggle Relations, his wife, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law and his twenty-year old daughter were practically executed. His younger son was still residing at Hogwarts at the time of the attack, due to return home today.

Almost simultaneously, a second group of Death Eaters set a Muggle tenement in Gloucester on fire. Everyone attempting to leave the building was tortured with some of the most ghastly curses and forced to stay inside. Fortunately, one of the attackers was under surveillance by the Auror office, thus help could be called in immediately. However, six Muggles had to be taken to the hospital, bearing heavy burns. Even worse, two women were trapped inside the building and could not be rescued alive from the flames.

Two suspects have been arrested, but their names are being held back for the time being.

***

Harry let the newspaper slide down and out of his hands. An entire family. Voldemort had just extinguished an entire family. This was more horrible than he had expected. And it only seemed to be the beginning, but what more was there to come? He let his eyes sway to the Hufflepuff table, looking for Zacharias Smith. His suspicions were confirmed, when he couldn't spot the boy anywhere. He turned his attention to his porridge. He wasn't hungry, no, but he was afraid of all the feelings that would probably overwhelm him, should he happen to catch someone's eye. A door opened at the end of the hall and Dumbledore entered. He didn't lose much time, walked straight up in front of the school. There was no need to call for attention. It had been as quite as never before, four House tables too shocked to speak and the Slytherins not yet daring to show their true feelings openly.

"Judging by your faces, you have already heard the bad news. One of you lost his entire family last night. I do not have to explain the seriousness of the situation to you, nor can I give you helping advice. But let me give you this warning: I believe that Voldemort has deliberately chosen a time we usually consider peacefully and happy to spread his terror. Keep eyes and ears open, always be ready to defend yourself and your loved ones." His voice was grave, his eyes tired. After his speech he went down to the Hufflepuff table and exchange a few quick words with their Prefects. Then he approached the Slytherin table.

"Mr. Lestrange, I'd like a word in private," he said.

Simon swallowed hard, nodded and got up, following Dumbledore through the door he had previously entered the Great Hall. With another disgusted look at his porridge, Harry got up himself and sat next to Hermione at the Phoenix table. She was all by herself, engrossed in her copy of the newspaper.

"How are you holding up?"

"Better. I still feel dazed, but only slightly. What bothers me most is that I can't remember what happened..."

"It'll work out," he comforted her. "Thanks for the present."

"Hermione, hurry up! Dad will pick us up at the station in less than an hour!" Ginny had moved up to them.

"What? When did we agree on that?"

"I just got an owl. He said he'll pick us up in Hogsmeade and that we would take you home as well."

" I'm just going to get my stuff and we can take off," Hermione said, gulped down her pumpkin juice and hurried away.

"Thanks for the snow globe, it's really beautiful," Harry told Ginny, his eyes looking everywhere but at her.

Ginny blushed and shared his interested in the floor. To break their awkward silence, she quickly told him the first exciting thing that popped into her head.

"I met Elenor Branstone just now. She said that Professor Sprout came late last night into their Common Room to collect Zacharias."

"Do you know how he is?"

"No. He's in the hospital wing. They gave him a Calming Draught. Looks like he's going to stay here over Christmas. I mean..." She broke off and helplessly shrugged.

Simon had returned form his private chat with the Headmaster and was now approaching them.

"What did Dumbledore want?" Harry asked flat out, trying to push the depressing thoughts out of his mind.

"He asked if I could teach you in Occlumency," Simon said lazily.

"Oh, that's perfect and so much better than another round of extra lessons with Snape!"

"Okay, Ginny. I'm all set. When are we leaving?" Hermione was back, dragging her trunk behind her.

Simon took a step backwards. "Hi."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Ginny uttered.

"No, maybe not. But that doesn't change that it was a mistake. You naturally still have feelings for Ron, that's okay. I went along with the dancing-and-making-jealous-show, but the kiss wasn't called for," Simon said to Hermione.

Hermione nodded. "Sure."

Luckily, the girls had to hurry to meet Mr. Weasley, so they were saved from an enraged Ginny, who would otherwise have given them her opinion on the matter.

How thick can you be? Harry though forcefully, without intending to use Legilimency.

What?

Didn't you see the look in her eyes? Last night and just now? She likes you; Harry spelled it out for Simon.

***

More and more students left the castle during the course of the day. Unfortunately for Harry, all signs were indicating that Malfoy would be keeping him company over the holidays. Lovely. This Christmas break promised to be the best one ever. Harry barricaded himself in the dormitory in front of a window, watching the snowflakes play outside.

***

For some reason, Malfoy let Harry be. Not a single word was exchanged when they met in their dormitory or the Common Room. They sat on opposite corners at the single table that was set up every day for the remaining students -- a Hufflepuff, one Phoenix and two Ravenclaws - and teachers in the Great Hall. They both ignored each other.

At the end of the week, Zacharias Smith returned to Hogwarts. He was chalk-white and his eyes were deep holes. At dinner, everyone ate silently, only the occasional whisper was heard. Harry's eyes met Malfoy's and he almost dropped his fork.

Deserves him right, stupid Mudblood. Pity, they didn't get him, too... Malfoy's voiced ricocheted in Harry's head.

The Slytherin's thoughts became worse, so that Harry shuddered and cut the connection. Anger rose inside him. He finished his dinner as fast as he could, than hurried out. He was afraid he'd attack Malfoy in front of everyone, if he'd stay any longer.

"Where you're going in such a hurry?"

Harry pivoted with his wand levelled at...Lupin.

"Woah! What are you doing here?"

"Take your wand down, will you? I have a meeting with Dumbledore and thought I'd look in on you as well. So, why are you so jumpy?" Lupin answered, smiling.

"Well, what can I say? I'm sharing a dormitory with a lunatic who's celebrating the latest attacks and all my friends are spread all over the country to have a lovely time with their families. So, I'd say I'm great!" Harry was surprised at himself for this outburst.

"Na, aren't you exaggerating a bit? I don't think any Wizarding family is currently having a carefree time. The worries about follow-up attacks are immense."

Harry shook his head violently. "Whatever. You know the Malfoys."

Lupin made a defeated gesture.

"Are there news about the Christmas-attacks?" Harry decided to take a new direction and move his thoughts away from Malfoy.

"No. The two Death Eaters they caught are in Azkaban. They were only minor ones, hence no new information. They received their orders from a hooded person, never saw a face or recognized a voice, so it's almost nothing."

They had started to stroll along the corridor and now reached the library.

"You know, I was over at the Burrow the other day. Did you have another fight with Ron?" Lupin asked apprehensively.

Harry pursued his lips. "Kinda. Ron's got a problem with Simon..." He stopped when Lupin arched an eyebrow. "Simon Lestrange. Ron hates him because Simon's around a lot. Then Hermione and Ron broke up over a silly bit of jealousy on Ron's side. Now, Hermione does like Simon, maybe she even has a slight crush on him, but it's a one-way thing. Simon's not interested in her," Harry explained. It sounded stupid, but it was the facts.

"Relationship trouble -- the usual at this age, I guess." Lupin smiled. "How's Mr. Lestrange these days?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I knew him as a teacher, didn't I? He was a smart one, though not very into Defence against the Dark Arts. Simon reminded me a lot of Severus, as he was back at your age."

"What are you trying to say?" Harry asked coldly.

"Just that three years ago, Mr. Lestrange was extraordinarily engrossed into the Dark Arts and drawn to students from Slytherin. Now, he is a Slytherin. That gets people to wonder."

"People change. There's nothing anyone can do about what was three years ago. If he really still was on the Dark Side, he would have never helped me with Potions, but rather poisoned me. He would have never joined and helped the DA and he would never in his life taken Hermione to the Yule ball," Harry counted it down on his fingers, already becoming angry again.

"I'm just telling you to be careful whom you trust so easily. He's no dunderhead and always kept his feelings to himself. That's all. But of course, you're right. People can change."

***

Lupin would stay a few days at Hogwarts, researching in the library. On his last day, which happened to be New Year's Eve, everyone was gathered for dinner in the Greta Hall by invitation from Dumbledore. Harry was the last to enter. Zacharias had recovered to some extent and was talking to his fellow Hufflepuff. Even Professor Trelawney had descended form her tower to join them. Harry scanned the table and noticed that he would be the thirteenth person to be seated at the table. He hid a grin and hoped Professor Trelawney wouldn't become aware of this. She was seated next to a grumpy-looking Snape, who was already cheesed off by her continuous talk. Next to him, Dumbledore was chatting animatedly with Lupin and Professor McGonagall. The only free chair was next to Malfoy. Harry sighed and took his seat. The food appeared and everyone tucked in. Harry listened to Trelawney's mutterings about crystal balls (things looked dark for everyone present), impending doom, Snape's horoscope (he should be wary of a blonde, small women wearing green) and various tea leave interpretations. When she asked Snape to drink up so she could read his leaves, Snape, who had had enough, gave her a sharp, menacing look. The poor woman almost choked on her Sherry, muttering something that sounded like 'No wonder no one ever talks to him voluntarily.' All in all, there would have been nothing special about this particular dinner, if not for dessert.

All the sudden, Professor Trelawney jerked her hands upwards, her body became all rigid and her eyes rolled around in their sockets. She started to speak in an eerie voice.

"Torn by shadows and darkness. Pierced by a burning desire - his longing - for respect and acceptance.

Two, bound by trust - though not by blood - now separated by acts of treachery. Murderer and creator combined in the one, his sacrifice will unleash new powers in the other, stronger than before. Once united, they will become enemies to death.

There he is, trapped between heaven and hell - now and in eternity - trying to defy his never-ending thirst, until rescued by the love of a woman, freed from his torture ...- two - ... bound by trust... - ...but divided by betrayal... - ...between heaven and hell ...- ...his thirst will never decease ..."

As abruptly as she had started, she stopped. Trelawney reached for her Sherry, took a sip and startled as she noticed twelve bewildered faces staring at her, open-mouthed.

"Yes?"

TBC