Simon says...

Wenn böse Zungen sich verknoten und die Dummheit zirkuliert,
siegt in jedem schwachen Herzen die Intoleranz. Ein Angriff als Verteidigung;
und die Schlacht beginnt.

(by Lacrimosa)*

The pondering and musing about Trelawney's words caused Harry to wake up with a throbbing headache. He had spent the major part of the night trying to figure out the meaning of last night's prophecy; who was involved and so on. Finally, he had fallen into an uneasy sleep, twisting around in the sheets. Holding his head with one hand, he got up and carefully climbed the stairs to the Great Hall. Lupin was the only one up this early, already clad in his travelling cloak and thoughtfully nibbling on a toast.

"Morning, Harry. Sorry, but you look awful," Lupin said.

Harry blew a strand of hair from his eyes, slumped onto the bench and reached for a slice toast.

"That was her third true prophecy last night," Harry stated.

Lupin smiled, he hadn't expected anything else but for Harry to be trying to solve the mystery on his own accord. "I sat with a few teachers until late last night. Professor Snape came up with a plausible assumption. But we didn't determine who or what exactly it could mean. I think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, though."

When Harry looked at him questioningly, Lupin grinned. "Hey, hey. You really are lost without Hermione, aren't you? How about paying attention during your lessons for a change? Well, there are different kinds of prophecies. First, there are the ones that are not solved until they happen. Then, the ones that are more detailed, more exact, those you can influence. Take the one about you and Voldemort for example."

"How can I influence that one?"

"Fulfilment and time are naturally unknown, but you know what is going to happen, so you can train and gather knowledge along the way, which will give you a better chance to survive and this will influence its outcome."

***

Harry needed to get his head free of any more speculations as to how the new prophecy could be related to the last one and what it meant. The common room was occupied by Malfoy, who was seated in a back corner, almost hidden behind a stack of books and scattered parchments. He was staring thoughtfully at a wall. Harry decided to retire to his dormitory and try to write a few paragraphs for one of his essays. Hardly a few minutes after he had neatly laid out a role of parchment, a book and a quill on front of him, Malfoy walked through the door. Once again ignoring the pale boy, Harry tried to focus on the task at hand, but his thoughts kept wandering back to the night before. Then, he was distracted by creepy sounds coming from Malfoy's end of the room. Apparently, he had received a wireless radio for Christmas and had chosen now of all times to try it out.

"Can't you move that to the Common Room? I was here first," Harry moaned. The screeching 'music' was a nightmare for even a banshee's ears.

Malfoy glared at him and with a tiny movement of his wand, the music grew louder. Harry closed his eyes, trying to keep his self-control. He knew Malfoy was in for a fight, but Harry wasn't stupid enough to go for it. Harry yanked at the curtains of his four-poster, but only ripped them. Malfoy laughed, causing Harry to forget all about cautious behaviour. With a grim expression, he pulled his wand and levelled it at Malfoy.

"Potter, you're cute when you're angry, you know that?" Malfoy taunted and directed his own wand in Harry's direction.

"Well, let's see if you still think that when I'm done with you," Harry hissed back. "Locomotor mortis!"

Malfoy, expecting an attack, had no trouble wielding the spell off. It bounced off his shield and back at Harry who lost his balance and toppled off his bed, sending his wand flying underneath it. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment and rage. He had once again lost in a duel with Malfoy. It was pure humiliation. Malfoy had stepped up to him and was now poking his wand into Harry's skull.

"Oh, Potter. Don't you ever learn? You're no match for me. No dumb, clumsy Longbottom and no superhero Simon around to help you this time so I say we have some fun," Malfoy announced, the grin on his face growing wider with each word.

"Draco, don't you ever learn either? Holding speeches won't get you anywhere. Step back."

Malfoy spun around, on his face grew ugly spots of anger as he saw Simon standing lazily in the doorway, his arms crossed lightly in front of him.

"Hi, missed me?" Simon said, smirking.

"What are you doing here?" Malfoy spat.

"Sally gave birth over the holidays to our little sister. She's a cute baby but you can't get any homework done with her crying all the time, so Terry and I decided to return earlier. Now, move it, Draco," Simon replied, pulling his wand from beneath his travelling cloak.

Malfoy gave in, though clearly mad that Simon had just ruined another chance for him to apply some serious damage to Harry. He lowered his wand and left the room.

"Finite Incantatem." Simon released Harry from the spell and helped him back up. His legs still felt like jelly.

"Thanks. Mrs. Boot gave birth? I didn't even know she was expecting," Harry inquired, thinking about the earlier comment.

"Yeah, sorry. You know I don't like to talk about private stuff." Simon scratched the back of his head, seeming a bit lost in the situation. "I have a picture if you'd like to see it?" he said and produced a photograph of himself tentatively holding a tiny, red-faced infant in his arms. Sally Boot was standing behind them, laughing happily.

***

It was the last evening before the other students would return to Hogwarts, when Simon took the chair next to Harry by the fire to discuss their Occlumency lessons.

"It's time we got started with Occlumency," he began. "Dumbledore asked that we would practice at least twice a week. I don't think more will be possible anyway. I mean, next to Quidditch practice and the DA for both of us, there's also keeping up to scratch with Potions for you. And I'll have my N.E.W.T.s in three months' time."

"Already?"

"Yes. That's why we should get a move on. I won't have much time once I start revising. Meaning you should master the basics soon so we can cut down on the tutoring as soon as possible and then I can concentrate on my exams."

Harry squinted at this. The doomed lessons with Snape and his inability to empty his mind successfully even once were still vividly in his memory.

"Oh, come on," Simon laughed. "Don't you worry about that. Severus didn't manage to teach you Potions, either. But look at you now. You'll be fine. How about starting tomorrow and then every Monday and Thursday evening?"

Harry agreed; though he was not yet as convinced as Simon that he'd manage.

***

No sooner said than done. Following dinner the next evening, Simon led Harry to a deserted classroom in the dungeons. They sat down at a table, facing each other. Simon came straight to the point.

"Just to make things clear. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Sometimes, your mind is as open as a book on displayed for public viewing."

Harry was dismayed; he had heard these words before.

"So, what horrible things did Severus do to you last year?" Simon asked with amusement dancing in his eyes.

Harry's eyes widened and his pulse quickened in anger as he thought back to Snape invading his mind and him failing to hinder him over and over again. The humiliation, Snape's obvious delight...

A grin curled around Simon's lips. "Don't worry. That was a rhetoric question. I believe he took the wrong approach using Legilimency with such a force right away. But then, maybe he just likes to see you fail."

Harry whistled lowly. Had Simon been able to access that much information in such little time? He really had to work on this and began to understand what Snape had meant, when telling him that he was wearing his heart on his sleeve.

"No, seriously. You have to understand that Legilimency is the forceful invasion of someone's mind, if you're skilled in it, almost no one can stop you. The invaded won't even know you're there. Severus has mastered this skill on a superior level, he had to, or he wouldn't have lasted long as a spy. He probably attacked you with it, to prepare you for the worst. But I think we should get started with the basics."

Harry was biting his lips in concentration, intending to milk Simon for all the information he could give him. He nodded eagerly and pulled his wand out; ready to face what he thought would come.

"No, you can leave that aside. We have to work on your will-power first. So..." Simon got up and paced the room, thinking. "What's you favourite colour?" He suddenly shot the question at Harry.

Harry was taken by surprise, trying to understand what this question had to do with Legilimency. He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could utter a sound, Simon answered for him.

"Green, right? I made you think about something specific. You were surprised and confused, still you thought about the answer. This is the oldest trick there is to gain information," Simon elaborated.

Harry nodded slowly, embarrassed that he had fallen for it. "How do I prevent this?"

"By being prepared for everything. Let's take another example. I could ask you where you're storing your Firebolt and before you would answer, I'd know that it's next to the closet in your dorm."

"No, it's not," Harry answered bemused.

"I know; it's only an example. It's underneath your bed." Simon was smiling.

Harry felt stupid. He had failed again. "Does this mean that I shouldn't think about the answer at all?"

"Yes and no. It's like...you have to think on a higher level than the other person, which is the major problem. As soon as you accomplish that, you're a huge step closer to closing your mind. The first thing you have to do is control your emotions. Emotions like being confused, mad, annoyed, scared and so on are the entrance - if you want to call it that -- to your mind. They are the easiest way to access and poof - you're in." Simon snapped his fingers at that. "If you want to close your mind, wearing your heart on your sleeve is a foolish thing to do, so these emotions have to vanish from your face completely."

Simon sat back down, opposite Harry. "Lean back, get comfortable. Take a deep breath and try to calm yourself."

Harry did as he was told, closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He was uncertain if he was already calm enough and Simon's silence didn't help. Harry wrinkled his nose uneasily.

"There's nothing here to make you uneasy. We're alone and I'm not going to harm you." Simon finally broke his silence.

Harry opened his eyes. Sitting in front of someone with closed eyes wasn't easy. Not even when you knew the person and trusted them. He still had Snape's attacks in mind and his subconscious, evaluating the situation based on former experiences, told him to be on his guard. He sighed helplessly.

"Okay, let's try again. Take as long as you need and nod whenever you ready," Simon said in a calm, low voice.

Harry pressed his lips together, determined to succeed this time. He closed his eyes again, shook his head in an attempt to get rid of all the thoughts swirling in his head and exhaled a deep breath. He felt himself become calmer bit by bit. There was no noise whatsoever. Nothing to disturb him or his thoughts. He nodded. He opened his eyes.

"Why did you fight with Draco?" Simon's voice as still low, barely cutting the quietness of the room.

Harry avoided Simon's eyes and thought about the question. He remembered every little detail about every confrontation he had had with Malfoy over the past weeks. Gradually, he felt the well-known anger raise inside him.

"That wasn't so bad," Simon interrupted him.

"Did you see something?"

"It took me a while until I found a gap to pierce through, but I did, yes," Simon answered.

"My anger?"

"No, first it was uncertainty, the anger was not until later," Simon explained.

"I wasn't uncertain," Harry defended himself.

"You wish. You doubt yourself and your skills, especially now, after having lost a few duels against Draco," Simon reminded him.

"Mmh." Harry had to agree. Not coming out the winner in these recent fights, had indeed left him doubting and fearing the outcome of the prophecy.

"You already faced You-Know-Who a few times and if I can believe Dumbledore's words from a few years back, you were rather successful then." Simon tried to lift Harry's self esteem.

Harry only shook his head, letting his thoughts travel on memory lane: the song of a Phoenix, Cedric's death, a golden cage. Nothing he had gotten out of all by himself.

"No, I was always just lucky." Harry rubbed his eyes with his hands and sighed.

"What kind of cage was that?" Simon asked.

"Priori Incantatem."

"Hmm, it was certainly an achievement but Cedric's death throws huge shadows on it," Simon mused.

They continued practicing for another hour. Harry never managed to withhold Simon's invasions for long. Finally, Simon called it a night.

"That's enough for today. You know now what you have to work on, try to observe your own emotions during the next days and write them down and add what you were doing at that moment, what happened and maybe even why."

***

Everyday life was back all too soon. In the course of the following day, the Hogwarts students returned from their Christmas break, bringing back adventurous stories and rumours of attacks. Hermione and Ginny found Harry in the library.

"Hey, how was your break?" Ginny greeted him happily.

"Okay, nothing out of the ordinary," Harry answered, glad not to be alone anymore and to see her again. "What about yours?"

"Oh, well, Ron and I constantly jumped down each other throats because of Hermione. At some point, my mum freaked and allowed me to stay at Hermione's for a few days."

"Cool. What was it like?" he asked, trying to imagine the witch amidst Muggles.

"Fun! Though, I still can't imagine what it would be like to live like a Muggle," Ginny reported, but then her grin faded and with a side glance at Hermione, she added, "She received an owl from Simon."

"Really? I had no idea. What did it say?" Harry looked at Hermione expectantly, but Ginny answered for her.

"Well, she was pondering the entire time if she should maybe choose Simon and go out with him. You see, he was nice to her and they kind of clicked. You know?"

Harry smiled at that. Simon and Hermione had indeed many things in common, he could picture them nicely sitting side by side in the library discussing some theory and exchanging shy glances once in a while.

"In that letter, Simon asked Hermione not to get her hopes up. He had just gotten out of a long term relationship and didn't really want anything new as of yet and the kiss at the ball...was...more like a...slip," Ginny continued, obviously not happy with the situation.

Harry dared a fleeting look at Hermione. Her eyes were so sad.

Hermione was sitting in her room and her bed. She was holding a piece of parchment in her hands, starring at it in disbelief. Ginny entered the room and sat next to her. Hermione gave her the letter without a word.

Harry stopped there, quickly looking away, already feeling horribly at sneaking into her thoughts.

Harry! You are not supposed to be practicing Legilimency, but Occlumency! Simon's words echoed in Harry's head. Looking up, he saw Simon who had approached them.

"I think it's a bad moment. Shall I leave?" Simon asked, addressing Hermione.

"No. Stay. It's okay," Hermione replied. "I mean, you were right, after all."

"Hermione! Did you forget our talk already?" Ginny was gnashing her teeth.

"No." Hermione narrowed her eyes at Ginny, annoyed. "Am I not allowed to talk to him, then?"

Ginny wanted to go on arguing, but a swift look at the two boys silenced her. Instead, she thought of a new topic.

"When will you be starting with Occlumency?"

"We already did. Yesterday," Harry answered.

"Why did Dumbledore think of you?" Hermione asked.

"It wasn't his idea, but Severus'," Simon explained. "Dumbledore himself has enough on his hands as it is and Severus and Harry don't trust each other enough for this."

"Don't you have to be able to apply Legilimency to teach someone how to use Occlumency?" Ginny asked.

"Simon is as good at that, too," Harry said without thinking.

"Accomplished Legilimens are rare," Hermione stated, viewing Simon with interested eyes. Harry could tell that it wasn't only academic curiosity.

"That's true. And by far, I'm not as good as Harry claims I am," Simon uttered, shooting Harry an angry look. And most importantly, you shouldn't be barking it into world. You should know better than that. People will be even more hostile towards me when they hear about this.

Why? Harry didn't understand the problem.

I am a Lestrange. That's why. People are already suspicious of whatever I do -- if it's eating porridge or being friends with you. When they find out hat I'm a Legilimens, they certainly won't like it. Things could get worse for you then as well.

"Why are you staring at each other like that?" Ginny inquired about the chat she couldn't hear.

"Not important." Harry waved her question away.

***

All his work kept Harry extremely busy from then on. Next to his homework assignments, he had to prepare the DA meetings, with Hermione's help, of course, Quidditch, observe his emotions and keep track of them and practice his Occlumency. To avoid unnecessary distractions from Malfoy & Co, Harry often sought refuge in the library. Ginny, Hermione and Simon kept him much appreciated company every now and then. The tension between Hermione and Simon increased with every time the two met. Simon's feelings on this matter were unattainable for Harry, but Hermione almost drowned him in her emotions. There was respect, longing, maybe even a bit of love and more and more desperation radiating from her. When fear of rejection joined in, Harry decided it was time to have a chat with Simon. But he postponed this talk further and further, not knowing how to address this problem.

***

By the end of January, the snow had almost entirely melted. As a replacement, rain was knocking on the windows and stormy winds raged outside, causing a few trees to fall. Harry was seated in the common room, a book open in his lap. But instead of reading it, his eyes were directed towards the dark window, watching the outline of trees in the distance bending back and forth. Simon joined him, handing him a cup of Confundus Draught.

"Thanks," Harry said, his eyes still following the movements outside. Simon got back up and Harry finally turned his attention to his surroundings.

"Hold on. There's something I want to talk to you about." Harry stopped Simon from leaving. The other boy sat back down, waiting. Harry still had no idea how to approach this topic, but he had to get this over with. "I need to talk to you about Hermione. She's having a hard time and I think it's partly your fault."

Simon tilted his head. "I know. What I don't know is what to do about it."

"What do you think of her?"

"She's a nice girl, intelligent, enquiring..."A faint smile spread across Simon's features.

"And still you rejected her. Even though you know she-" Harry stopped himself. He had almost said 'loves you', except that would have been wrong.

"She likes me a lot. But it takes two, so..." Simon broke off. "I have no such feelings for her. I don't want to get her hopes up and then hurt her. She'll get over it. Then, we can stay friends. Not more, not less."

Harry thought about his words. Maybe Simon was right and Hermione simply had to learn to live with it. He sighed and took another sip from his cup.

***

The week following his talk with Simon, Harry had to find the nerve to let Hermione in on the good news. While they were looking up spells in the library, he explained to her and Ginny Simon's distant behaviour. Hermione took it with composure. Ginny was outraged. It took them a few minutes to calm Ginny down and convince her that this way would be best for everyone. At the beginning of the next DA meeting, however, Harry wasn't so sure anymore. Everyone was already gathered when he arrived, excluding Hermione.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron jumped at him.

"Dunno," Harry answered, puzzled.

"She can't come today; she has other things on her mind." Ginny grimaced.

Harry immediately saw the need to lie; the true reason was seated in his customary corner engrossed in a book.

"Yeah right. There's nothing more important to her than these meetings." Ron had no intention of backing down. "Where is she?"

"It's all Lestrange's fault," Dennis Creevey whispered, checking warily if Simon was watching them.

"Take that back," Anthony Goldstein intervened.

"No." Dennis shook his head vehemently.

"Anthony, look at the facts: she's not herself anymore. Somebody influences her; he must have done something to her. He must have," Ron exclaimed loudly.

"This is the most ridiculous accusation ever," Terry said, scorning.

"He's a Legilimens," Neville suddenly shouted, silencing everyone. Ron looked at him, trying to make him shut up and obviously nervous at their revelation. "What, it's the truth. People should know," Neville backed himself up.

"Neville, please..." Harry tried to reduce the damage, still surprised by Neville's outburst. He should have known that Ron wouldn't keep his knowledge about a common 'enemy' quiet.

"Oh, cut it out! He messed with your head, too," Neville bawled.

"Ehm, what exactly is a Legili-thingy?" Susan Bones spoke up, timidly.

"The ability to spy on other people's thoughts and influence them." Ron used the most negative explanation that he could think of, trying to make Simon look even worse. "And if I'm not mistaken, he's got all of you already under his spell," he added.

"You've lost it. Completely lost it." Ginny had built herself up in front of her brother. "You're only mad because he kissed your ex at the ball."

"Oho, watch it! Don't you know what a Legilimens can do to you when he kisses you?" Padma Patil had jumped up, her eyes looking around in excitement. "I read about it in a magazine, it's supposed to be the most intense feeling a person can feel." All the attention was on her now and she continued with a conspiratorial voice. "The Legilimens can see deep into you, all your soul is there - open for him to read. He has accesses to everything no matter how much you want to hide your secrets. E-ver-y-thing." She stressed each syllable of the last word. For a moment, it was quiet.

Then Luna laughed. "You should read the entire article next time. Simon can't have done that. A Legilimens, who can pull the personality of another person from a kiss, is extremely rare. He has to have mastered this skill to every extent and he is only born under a certain star constellation. The last one was sixty years ago."

"Only you can fall for that," Padma retorted, embarrassed that she might have misunderstood something. "Legilimency is maybe a rare gift, but it can happen all the time. Just like being a Parselmouth."

"Who cares if he's a Legili-things. All that matters is that he's a Slytherin and will betray us all to no other than You-Know-Who," Zacharias said, his eyes a sea of anger and pain.

"He won't," Terry defended his brother again. "I know him well enough to tell."

"Just because he's your freaking brother doesn't make him a nice guy. Look at who his real parents are." Neville was breathing heavily and had a hard time not to curse Simon here and there.

"If he really is the good guy, why didn't he stay in Ravenclaw?" Padma asked the question of all questions.

The circle widened, giving the view free on Simon, who was still seated in his corner. The book lay forgotten on the table and he was watching the fight. Now, he got up.

"I guess I'll be going, then," he said.

"No, you aren't. How can your parents be your fault?" Harry asked.

"Oh, get going. No one's holding you back." Seamus gave his input now, too.

"You're staying," Terry supported Harry and held on to Simon's sleeve. "We can have another vote."

"Go ahead, but the majority obviously wants me to leave. It's okay," Simon said calmly.

"No, I don't want you to leave. Let's vote and if the majority really is against you staying, I'll go, too." Harry gave the round a challenging, determined look.

"Harry, you can't possibly mean that," Ginny cried lividly. "You can't leave. The group needs you."

"It doesn't matter if he stays or leaves with him. As long as he's under Lestrange's influence, he's gonna be no use as a Defence teacher," Seamus reasoned.

"What?"

"You heard me. Harry is no better than Lestrange. A Parselmouth in Slytherin. What do you expect?" Zacharias agreed.

"You can keep your accusations to yourself." Ginny's flushed cheeks matcher her flaming hair.

"Well, I have to say that Zach has a point," Hannah Abbott piped up. "I mean, all known Parselmouths have been on the Dark side. We've trusted one long enough. If Harry decides to bond with someone like him, it's his choices. But we don't have to risk our lives too."

"You are all insane," Harry murmured, disgusted by his friends' behaviour. "Let's go." Simon and Harry walked past the furious line of students and out of the door. As soon as it closed behind them, Harry let his anger burst out of him.

"What the heck is wrong with them?"

"Hey, calm down."

"How can you be so calm about this? They threw you out. They accused you of intolerable things, they..."

"Because I've seen it coming all along," Simon said loudly over Harry's ranting. "Neville hates me because of my parents; Ron because of Hermione. Then, there are many doubters not knowing what to believe and now sticking up for those they've known for years. It's the natural thing to do. It's okay. Really."

Harry's jaw dropped as far down as it could. Lost for words, he followed Simon down the stairs, away from the murmur behind them.

TBC