Harry Potter and His New Standards

* Chapter 18 - Venomous Tentaculas, Clabberts, Learning by Osmosis, and 'The Colony' *

In so far as one denies what is, one is possessed by what is not, the compulsions, the fantasies, the terrors that flock to fill the void.

"You need something with a straight edge," Harry said after Ginny had made her final dot on the parchment. "Then you can connect the points," he ran his finger over the parchment in a connect-the-dots fashion, "and you have yourself a dead superb piece of homework."

Ginny laughed and pulled Unfogging The Future on top of the parchment and started connecting the dots, using the side of the book as a straightedge, starting at '1600'. "If you wanted," continued Harry, "you could have Hermione charm your line so it's red at the high points and blue at the low points... I saw her do that for something she mapped out for Shaveire Studies."

Ginny was connecting '1800' and '1850' when she replied: "I'd probably get top grades for that. Thanks, Harry!"

"'Welcome," Harry said. "I was only offering the help of my own expertise in Trelawney's classes..." He smirked, knowing that Divination had to be one of his worse subjects. "But, I've got to go and get Ron, he wanted me to tell him when I was going down to dinner." He pushed his chair out and away from the table and stood up.

"Oh, hold on..." Ginny said, closing her assignment inside of her book, "Harry - - I'd like to talk to you for just a second." Harry raised his eyebrows and slid back into his seat. "Um, it's just... well you didn't have to sit down..."

"That's okay, I - - I like sitting," Harry rejoined feebly.

"Oh - - um... okay," said Ginny, "Well first off I'd like to ask you..." she grinned, "What were you and that Cho talking about outside of Lupin's office today?"

Harry cleared his throat, to give him some time, and said, "The fact she hadn't been talking to me for a week." It was true.

Ginny nodded knowledgeably and pressed, "Why hadn't she been talking to you?"

"I - - I'd rather not talk about it," Harry said quietly and quite truthfully. Ginny looked embarrassed that she had even asked, as she looked down at the table and moved her shoulders awkwardly.

"Alright, sorry-"

"That's fine."

"Um - - what I wanted to say was, I don't know... some variant of 'thanks'?" Ginny stated suggestively.

"What do you mean?" questioned Harry, having a fair idea this had nothing to do with the Divination homework.

"In another showing your terrific bravery and commitment to loved ones - - you've... saved one of my friends. Not to mention yourself and, my guess, others," Ginny said. She gave Harry a weak smile and glanced away.

"Y-you're welcome," Harry stammered.

"Well, you know, you're always risking your neck to watch out for others..." Harry thought about this, and didn't really see himself 'risking his neck' this time around, but didn't say anything. "And it's cool. It's just one of those things that makes you... well, you."

It seemed as though Ginny had been teetering on the line of saying 'special', but perhaps took that as a little lame and very easy to misinterpret, and that's why she decided on 'you'. Not too magnificent, but easy to understand.

"So," said Harry with a cautious smile, "you're thanking me for being... me?"

Ginny laughed. "Basically," she confirmed. "Thank you for doing what you do. That's pretty much what I'm saying, because trying to make it sentimental was a bit too challenging."

Harry laughed softly. "No problem, Ginny." And then he added, "And it sounded good to me." Ginny smiled. Harry stood up, turned, and took only a step before Ginny said something else.

"She really loves you, you know that?" This came out as more of an inferred statement than a question. Harry turned back to face her.

"Who?" he asked, rather unnecessarily.

Ginny sighed. "Holly." Harry raised his eyebrows, as though asking her to continue on this. "She loves you - - no matter what she puts you through."

"Holly doesn't... put me through things," Harry contradicted. Ginny gave him a disbelieving look.

"She does so. And if you don't think she does now, I'm sure she will in the future." That was nice to think about.

"What makes you think that?" asked Harry, crossing his arms in front of him.

Ginny shrugged. "An educated guess," she stated simply. "But, the point is, whether she acts like it or not... she couldn't survive without you." Now that sounded nice.

"She did for about 15 years," Harry said matter-of-factly. Ginny sighed again.

"That's only because-" Ginny stopped, and looked hard at Harry. After a moment she sighed. "You'll just have to ask her sometime."

Harry looked at Ginny, turning this over in his mind. By tomorrow, he would have forgotten all about it, he realized that. But if the topic ever came up, he would remember. But how often do you talk about something like that? Harry just tightened his lips and nodded. Ginny smiled toothlessly in an appeasing way.

Harry turned and walked in the direction of the staircase leading to the boys' dormitory. He passed Parvati and Lavender gleefully putting lipstick on Neville, who was snoozing in an armchair, and ascended the steps up to the top of the tower. He opened the door and poked his head inside. There was Ron's bed, Ron's book, but no Ron. Harry stepped into the room and looked around.

"Ron?" he tried, not seeing the point. Ron was clearly not there. Harry sighed, wondering where his best friend had gone. He glanced at his own trunk, wondering whether he should open it, activate the Marauder's Map, and find his roommate. "No. That's spying," Harry whispered aloud. He sighed and turned to leave the dormitory.

Now the common room was deserted except for Neville, who was asleep - his lips a vibrant shade of pink. Harry stood there a moment, and then decided to turn and make his way into the girls' dormitories. He, politely, knocked on the door with the bronze plaque proclaiming "6TH YEARS" to no answer. Parvati and Lavender had obviously gone down to the Great Hall, now. But, hadn't Hermione been heading back to the common room when Ron had been looking at the Marauder's Map?

He guessed she had left for dinner as well. Harry turned, walked down the stairs into the common room, exited through the portrait hole, and began making his way to the Great Hall alone.

*()%()*

Draco had been sitting in between Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table for about half an hour, picking unconcernedly at a scoop of potatoes, without gravy, on his plate. He could see someone walking in his direction, but didn't pay much attention. He commenced in smoothing out the surface of his potatoes and drawing a smiley face in it with his fork.

The moving body stopped behind him and cleared its throat. Draco coolly smashed in the face on his food and turned to face whomever it was standing behind him. Crabbe and Goyle had already done so, but hadn't begun growling and rubbing their fat thumbs over their knuckles. Naturally it had to be someone of authority.

"Mr. Malfoy," it was Lupin, "could you come with me to my office?" Draco, ignoring the curious stares from those around him, stood up and stepped over the bench. He nodded, and followed his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher towards the doors into the Entrance Hall. On their way out they met none other than Potter.

"Harry," Lupin said, nodding to him.

"Hello, Professor Lupin," he replied, his saintliness unceasing. The Slytherin didn't look at Harry when he sensed him trying to catch his eye, and continued walking behind Lupin, staring fixedly at his back.

*()%()*

Hermione's stomach was so full of butterflies she felt as though she was falling thorough the air. Ron's kiss, judging by the fact he was so much taller than her, hadn't exactly been dead on. Pretty much, he pecked the bottom of her nose. But Hermione had tilted her head farther up, so the next one didn't miss.

It was nothing steamy, just sort of subtle and slow moving. It was like Ron to just sort of stand there while they kissed, and that's how it was until she brought her arms up and wrapped them around his neck. Ron, in reaction, put one of his hands on her cheek of her face.

They just sort of stood there with Ron's nose practically smashed to the breakage point on Hermione's cheek, and their lips touching, of course. After a moment they carefully pulled apart, and when their faces were around 15 centimeters away from each other they both opened their eyes.

Hermione noticed that Ron's eyes, usually so unwavering and simple, looked lost. Befuddled, basically. It was odd - was that how you were supposed to look after you kissed your girlfriend for the first time? "Are you sure?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure of what?" Hermione rejoined.

"That you wanna be my girlfriend," Ron clarified, his eyes looking back and forth in between hers.

"Of course I am," she replied, hearing her own voice gloss over with a slight suspicion. "Why?"

"I'm just checking," he explained, leaning down and kissing her again. He pulled away rather quickly and added nervously, "Do you want to go down to dinner?"

Hermione laughed. "What is wrong with you?" she asked lightly, but meaning it quite seriously. Ron bit his bottom lip for a moment, looking shifty.

"Nothing," he said briefly. Hermione gave him a disbelieving look before putting her hands behind his neck and resting her forearms on the inside of his broad shoulders.

"Well, to answer your question... no, I don't want to go down to dinner." She grinned and so did her new boyfriend. Boyfriend. Ron Weasley... her boyfriend. She was all too happy to put those two referrals together as her own.

*()%()*

Harry looked down the Gryffindor table, at his seating choices. He could spot the group of seventh years, and deduced that he wouldn't feel at all comfortable with them. Ron and Hermione weren't there after all. This made him very suspicious. He searched desperately for Dean and Seamus - but they were no where to be seen. Parvati and Lavender were out of the question - he would go mad listening to those two gibbering back and forth. Colin and Dennis - there was no way.

After standing there for what seemed like a long time, he made a selection. Slowly he walked forward, and stood behind a group of fifth year girls (including Ginny) whom had all turned their heads and were looking up at him. He cleared his throat and asked, "Can I sit here?"

The girls burst into a fit of giggles, except for Ginny who smiled kindly up at him and said, "Sure, Harry." He lowered himself down onto the bench and looked around at the girls. He didn't know any of them, personally, but recognized them - and knew their names.

For the next couple minutes there was much whispering and giggling from the girls, and nothing from Ginny. After a while the conversation had started up again, and eventually Harry gave up trying to understand what they were talking about. He absently pushed his baked carrots into an "X"-like shape when he caught a bit of what the topic was.

Kylie Bell, a thin blonde of average height, was talking with the rather animated Lila Jordan. "You're always there for him, Kylie!" Lila was saying, "You do whatever his little heart desires, girl! You're Colin's girlfriend... and he should be kissin' your ass!" Lila slammed her hand down on the table for good measure, causing several students on any side of them look around at the girl. "Why are men such jerks?" she asked, "Tell me! Why are men such jerks?!"

Harry looked up and realized that this question was directed towards himself and that Lila, Kylie, Ginny, and various other students were all looking at him. He felt his eyes get round, and he looked around at the girls. "Wow... I just came here to eat," he said, pointing at his plate with his fork. There was some scattered laughing.

Lila sighed, turned back to Kylie and continued to state her opinions. Harry ate the rest of his food rather quickly, said 'good-bye' to the girls, and left the Great Hall.

*()%()*

Draco found himself in Lupin's office once again, but this time he was sitting in a tattered armchair. He picked nonchalantly at a tear in the fabric, slowly making the rip bigger. Lupin had told him that they must wait until after dinner as Dumbledore had to speak with Filch and he hadn't been able to find him other than at mealtimes. Why this was, Draco nearly feared knowing. What could Filch be up to now? Stupid squib.

In the meantime, Lupin had been correcting assignments. At the time he was on the Gryffindors, and considering that picking at ripped fabric wasn't Draco's favorite pastime - he used his perfect vision and sneaky eyes to check the grades of those students. Coincidentally, he was on the 6th years.

There was a substantial amount of red ink on Longbottom's paper - but what was to be expected? Lupin couldn't be kind and bump the boy up a grade when he answered simple questions from the book incorrectly, now, could he? All the same - Lupin wrote in the correct answers for the one's Neville had gotten wrong, presumably to help him on the tests.

Draco knew that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher always went over the questions of returned assignments in class, and had never written a single word on papers he had seen (other than the occasional 'great!' on perfects and whatnot). And the correct answers were always given out in the class period they got their work back.

Undoubtedly, Lupin was just being nice. Longbottom couldn't write down the right answer even if it were given to him... even the professors knew that.

He watched as Patil got four incorrect, Granger received 100%, both Finnigan and Weasley had three questions wrong, Potter two, and Black a 'minus one'. Always stepping on Granger's heels, that Black, but never quite good enough to beat her.

After what seemed like an age of watching Lupin dip his quill into the bottle of red ink, make checkmarks, and write down scores, Dumbledore entered. He didn't look as grave as he had before, but still didn't look very cheerful. "I have just received the Minister's letter," he said, not even looking at Draco.

"What did he have to say?" asked Lupin, pushing the papers on his desk over to the side and clearing the space in front of him. He looked as though he didn't even want to hear the answer. Dumbledore's mouth thinned.

"That he had never heard such an asinine stage play and refused, for the time, to further investigate," Dumbledore said, even-toned. Lupin shook his head, a cold look on his features. "Well, Mister Malfoy, shall we begin?"

Draco didn't say anything. Dumbledore didn't seem to take any answer from this to heart, and simply sat down in the second patched and threadbare armchair, turning so he faced Draco. It took great effort to look into the man's eyes, but Draco held them, managing a look of hubris. "We tried to contact Professor Snape to attend this little meeting, but he is not in the school at the time, I'm afraid." Dumbledore paused here, looking into Draco's dark gray eyes with his of light blue. "I want you to tell me," he said, "what happened today."

"Well," Draco began, "I woke up. Dressed... went down to breakfast. Ate a mighty fine bagel with some butter on it-"

Dumbledore frowned and said, "I meant from the point you left your common room with Miss Granger, and Misters Potter and Weasley. Or perhaps just before then." Draco rubbed his jaw line.

"Let's see... I heard some people bickering like extremely vexed and particularly loud rodents. I opened the door to find Potter, Weasley, and Granger standing about..."

Draco continued his story in admirable detail until he concluded, "And then I sat around in the hospital wing with Black." Dumbledore and Lupin looked at each other briefly before Lupin cleared his throat.

"Mister Malfoy," said the younger professor, "first I'm going to ask you where you learned to counter such a Transposing Spell." Draco paused for a moment, but didn't look at all apprehensive. He knew that it was common knowledge of his family's background, and there was no point in denying now that he, what, hadn't actually reversed the spell? That would be ridiculous.

"My father." Draco looked to Lupin and then to Dumbledore, seemingly glaring.

"Did he..." Lupin paused, looking thoughtful. "Did he teach you?" Draco shook his head.

"He taught me how to reverse it, in case I came across such a scenario in the future." That was true, but he didn't add that his father was planning on teaching him how to perform the spell when he was old enough.

"Next," said Dumbledore, "you said that you Stunned Voldemort?" Draco nodded in reply. "How do you suppose he walked away?"

"He didn't have to walk away," replied the Slytherin, raising an eyebrow.

"Could you elaborate further?" said Dumbledore. Draco looked back and forth between them, getting a bit nervous now. "Please, Draco... tell us what you know."

"I - I can't," Draco said, "I'm sorry." Lupin let out an exasperated sigh. "All I can tell you is that I didn't botch-up and do the spell incorrectly. I promise you that." Dumbledore looked hard at him.

"If that is all, Mister Malfoy, you may leave." Draco stood and walked to the door. After he had opened it, Dumbledore spoke to him again. "Draco," he said in a more softened tone, "if you ever wish to tell me anything, please do so." Draco nodded once, turned, and left - closing the door behind him.

*()%()*

"Professor..." Lupin said, gazing at Dumbledore. Most of the other professors at the school managed to call Dumbledore by 'Albus'... but Lupin still felt rather juvenile and couldn't manage to call one he saw so superior to himself by their first name.

"Yes, Remus?"

"Why did you let him leave?" The headmaster looked at him, his blue eyes giving him that familiar feeling that he knew everything about Lupin (especially the things he had done wrong) by simply gazing at him.

"The Malfoys," said Dumbledore, "are a family of the Dark Arts. Running in Slytherin, which is infamous for its involvement in Dark wizards such as Voldemort, for generations - pure-bloods, naturally. They have been followers of Lord Voldemort from the start. Young Draco knows of many things that others his age do not, and he also knows that he is forbidden to tell those on the side against the Death Eaters. His faith wavers, you can see that." He paused here, and Lupin didn't say anything. "The boy realizes that most everyone knows of what his family is involved in, and he has no reason to deny those things. But, he still would not betray them."

"So... why didn't you just give him Veritaserum and get it over with? You could gain information for our side!" After he had said this, Lupin saw that as a very Sirus-like suggestion.

"I believe I would be in trouble with the Ministry for administering a Truth Potion on one of my own students, they have rights against it and few 'special cases'. I knew that receiving further information from Mister Malfoy would be arduous," Dumbledore replied, his voice even, "and I'll leave the sharing of details to him."

Lupin wanted to ask why on earth he didn't press on the subject, difficult to get information from him or not. If Dumbledore knew that the Malfoys weren't exactly a family with a clean slate - why did he not find out more from the one with 'wavering faith'? But the man's tone was final, and Lupin simply nodded and looked down at his desk.

"I will be seeing you later, Remus," Dumbledore said, standing up.

"Yes, sir," he replied quietly. The headmaster turned and left Lupin with a head rather full of questions.

*()%()*

Harry returned to a mostly empty Gryffindor common room, wondering what he could do now. He could have gone to bed, considering he had to wake up early the next day to get to class, but getting 13 hours of sleep didn't sound like something he could manage. Instead, he plopped himself down in front of the fire where a couple of fourth years were playing chess, and stared out the window.

Snow was falling again, but this time in miniscule bunches of flakes that would sting your face if you let them fall onto you. The wind was blowing them nearly horizontally across the sky.

Harry sighed and began to consider whether or not Parvati and Lavender would notice Holly's absence that night. He shut his eyes and rested his head on the back of the sofa, watching the light patterns from the fire play across his inner eyelids.

*()%()*

Later that night, Ron and Hermione had still not returned. Harry had been talking to Dean and Seamus, who informed him they had been scouting for Filch's new plans against troublemakers during dinner to no success. The two Gryffindor boys hadn't been known as well as mischief makers as Fred and George nor had they been caught in the act of breaking school rules near as much as Harry and Ron, but all Filch's decisions on the rules of that castle seemed to effect them as it did many.

"We found an order form of some kind of equipment in his office, but that damned Mrs. Norris beast showed up so we had to leave before Filch was drawn to the spot," explained Seamus darkly. He sighed.

"What was it for?" Harry asked.

"Equipment! I just told you that!" exclaimed Seamus. Harry rubbed the top of his head as the silence between the three boys commenced, but Dean soon broke it.

"So where has Holly been all day?" Harry looked up at the tall black boy spectacularly playing an expression of suspicion. "I haven't seen her around. Considering she's practically taller than Angelina was, she's not hard to miss."

Harry shrugged. "She's been around."

"Haven't seen you much either, in fact..." Seamus added, "Ron and Hermione have been gone all day, too." Harry thought about an excuse for this, so that he didn't have to allow the rumors to spread further.

"Y'know... I've been wondering where Ron and Hermione have been, too." Dean and Seamus glanced at each other, grins begging to break the surface of their features. "But, I think I'm going to take a shower and go to bed.... I feel dirty."

"In the good way?" said Seamus. Dean snorted.

"No, Seamus. Not in the good way." Seamus winked in his very own mischievous way and Harry stood and left for the boys' dormitories. Neville was now snoring away in his four-poster. Harry wondered whether he had removed the pink lipstick. After finding a pair of pajamas, soap, and a towel... he made his way to the showers.

Setting his pajamas and towel on the levitating shelf (protected from water) he drew the thick purple curtain shut and stripped down. There was no one else in the bathroom, but Harry didn't take this opportunity to sing, of course. He threw his clothes on the shelf then carefully topped the pile with his glasses. Harry turned on the water, jumping out of the way until it warmed up.

When the water warm enough for him he stepped under the rapid spray and shut his eyes, occasionally wiping dripping water off of his nose and mouth. After a while he grabbed for the soap and scrubbed down his hair (Holly would have screamed if she knew that her own godbrother washed his hair with body soap) before cleaning off the rest of himself.

*()%()*

Holly had been sitting in the infirmary bed, bored out of her mind, watching the snow fall out the window. It was dark now, and she was actually beginning to feel a bit sleepy (despite her napping).

Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office with a vial full of potion. She poured it into a goblet, and Holly saw now that it was purple. She walked to her bed and handed it to her. "You'll need to drink this. A Sleeping Draught, for dreamless sleep. I don't think you should be asked to have nightmares about this whole ordeal-"

"I won't have nightmares!" Holly cut her off, "I don't have nightmares!"

"I'm sure, dear," replied Madam Pomfrey, in a tone that would be used with children defending themselves against being young. She took the goblet and tipped it up to Holly's lips. "Drink it." Holly reluctantly took a mouthful. "That's a good girl."

Do I look like a puppy to you, lady? thought Holly, narrowing her eyes at the nurse. Madam Pomfrey turned and retreated back into her office. Holly carefully spit the water back into the goblet and dumped the potion out onto the floor. The little bit that had gone down her throat only just increased her drowsiness. Holly took her wand and cleaned up the 'spilt' potion. After setting down the goblet and her wand, she curled up on her side and pulled the blankets up to her chin.

She needed to dream of that woman again. She had to know who she was, and how she could affect her when she, seemingly, didn't even exist.

*()%()*

Later on that night, it must have been nearing 10:30, Dean and Seamus sat in the common room, crouched under a table, looking through the gaps in wooden chairs. They had been waiting there since the common room started clearing out, around quarter to 10. "Seamus," whined Dean, "my joints have all ceased to work..."

"Shut up, Dean," the blond retorted in a whisper, "we're spying. Let me give you a lesson in nosing around. Lesson number one - don't give yourself away. Lesson number two-" Seamus stopped abruptly as the portrait hole swung open and admitted two shadowed figures, one tall and rather gangly, the other much shorter. As they drew closer, they could see it was Ron and Hermione, hands interlaced.

"See you tomorrow," Ron said under his breath. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. Hermione gave him a rather dreamy smile after they pulled away and the two sixth years let their hands slip away. The pair went through separate doors for either dormitory. After a moment Seamus and Dean pulled themselves out from under the table, Dean's knees cracking loudly.

"Do you feel guilty now?" Dean asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Guilty?" repeated Seamus, narrowing his eyes at him, "What do you mean?"

"Okay," said Dean, "guilt is an emotion that - oh wait, jumping ahead. An emotion is-"

"Oh I know what guilt is," snapped Seamus impatiently, making motions with his hands "It's one of those words people throw around that mean nothing. Like love or... addiction!" Dean shook his head in disbelief.

"I was thinking that maybe we weren't supposed to see that... what if they're trying to keep it secret?" suggested Dean, his eyes widening.

"We'll tell Harry, Lavender, and Parvati. No one else needs to know! If those two wanted to keep it secret, they should have been more... secretive!" There was a pause for a moment before Dean nodded.

"That's true," he agreed. Seamus held up his hands in an I-told-ya-so fashion. He knew he could sway his friend back onto his side with just a few statements. "But, we'd better wait a while before going up to the dormitory. Ron might catch on to the fact we were..."

"Spying on him," finished Seamus. "Good idea."

*()%()*

Ron carefully crept up the stairs and through the door into his dormitory. The curtains of each four-poster were drawn with the exclusion of his own, and Neville was snoring loudly. He could see the boy's arm hanging over the side of his bed, through the small part in the curtains.

Cautiously he changed into his pajamas, tossing his clothes in the basket that the house-elves took out every morning with robes and clothing that they washed. Naturally Hermione had attempted to find where the rooms in which the house-elves washed the students' clothes so she could do hers on her own, but had no success. Ron looked out the large window for a moment at the snow swirling about on its journey to the ground. The sky was dark, the stars and moon blacked out by the clouds.

After a while he crawled into his bed, moved Trevor off of his blanket and onto the floor, then drew the curtains shut around him. He lay on his back with his eyes shut, smiling at the image playing across the back of his eyelids for a moment. But after a while his stomach churned with culpable shock and nervousness. All of the sudden this Hermione - thing - didn't feel like quite the good idea.

*()%()*

The next morning, Harry woke up and moaned into his pillow in exhaustion. "Now Harry knows how to start off a new week!" he heard Seamus exclaim.

"Whaddya mean?" came Neville's voice.

"Well that was no ordinary morning moan..." stated Seamus sneakily. Harry ripped back the curtains and stumbled out of bed, frowning at Seamus and Neville who were both digging through their trunks. Seamus laughed as Harry put on his glasses and yawned.

"You're some sort of sex-driven maniac, Sea...Sea...Seamus..." remarked Harry, struggling to stifle yet another yawn.

"Sure, sure..." the boy replied, stuffing One Thousand More Magical Herbs and Fungi into his book bag. Neville, too, was filling his tan-colored bag with Phyllida Spore's published works.

"Your hair's a mess, Harry," said Neville, looking up at him.

"Isn't it always?" put in Seamus, raising his eyebrows innocently. Harry touched his hair delicately as though offended.

"So it is..." he observed; feeling the black mop sticking up in form and direction he wasn't even sure existed. "What happened to you being the subtle, honest type? I think I miss that Seamus."

"I just thought Seamus Finnigan - Universally Known Sex God was a better cover," said the blond in an apathetic tone.

"Mm!" said Harry, turning to his wardrobe and taking in his hands his school uniform. Herbology after breakfast, he observed mentally, getting a knot out of his scarlet and gold-striped tie.

*()%()*

Hermione was already up in the sixth year girls' dormitory, carefully applying Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to her hairbrush and combing through her hair, turning the bushy frizz of spirals into sleek, tight curls.

Lavender crawled out of her four-poster, the hair she had kept in a ponytail overnight falling all around her face. "Good morning, Lavender, dear," said Willow creakily.

Lavender looked into the mirror after greeting it in return, and touched her upper cheekbones. "Oh no! My eyelids are all swollen!" she cried, prancing off. Lavender fell to the floor by her trunk and pulled out the makeup case, frantically fumbling with the clasp to open it.

The curtains of the third girl's bed were pulled back by a manicured hand, and the squinting eyes of Parvati peered out. "'S it Monday?" she asked groggily.

"You bet it is!" replied Hermione brightly, twisting her hair back and securing it with a large, black hair clip. Parvati yawned.

"Okay. Why're you in such a great mood? I don't remember seeing you at all yesterday," she said, standing up and running her fingers through her hair.

Hermione remembered Ron telling her that he wanted to keep the relationship a secret. At that time she knew why, but right now the reason had left her completely. It was easy to see that she wasn't supposed to dish on where she had been most of the day, and by authority of professors. She bit her lip for a moment before saying, "Can you two keep a secret?"

Lavender's head snapped up, and she spun around on the floor, crossing her legs. Parvati's eyes opened wider, coming into focus. "Yes!" they said simultaneously. Hermione had been egging to tell someone since the moment Ron had asked her, and despite Parvati and Lavender's 'Queens of the Blether' status, they were first pick.

"And we want details!" exclaimed Lavender. Parvati sat down on the floor next to her friend after snatching her own hairbrush and a hair tie, nodding fervently. Hermione grinned weakly.

"Don't you forget me!" said Willow. Hermione laughed, turned the mirror to face the two girls already sitting on the floor, and sat down with them.

"Well, yesterday I was coming back to the common room and..."

*()%()*

The pale yellow morning light was flooding into the hospital wing through the frosty windows. Holly was sleeping like a log in the infirmary bed; the pillow pulled up over her head. She had spent most of the night trying to sleep, but her body hadn't been cooperating. Apparently she had received enough rest throughout the day, and she briefly thought that perhaps she had turned nocturnal. After realizing that this was ludicrous, she spent the night with her eyes shut, listening to the little activity around her.

Lupin walked in through the doors, carefully closing them behind him. He strode over to the bed that Holly was in, and stood at its side. "Holly," he said quietly, not wanting to give her a fright. It was early, and she had a day off. The girl didn't move. After a moment he put his hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Holly..." he said again, to no reaction. "You sleep like Sirius used to, don't you?" he said more to himself than to the young Gryffindor, sound asleep in the bed.

Thinking back to weekday mornings when he was a student at Hogwarts wasn't something he did often. But now he remembered having to kick at Sirius bed to simply get him to roll over. Pouring the pitcher of water kept in the dormitory on his head or down his trousers was usually what worked best. Then again, they only used that means to rouse him because on the rare occasion Sirius was the first awake, that's what he did to the rest of his roommates. Lupin's eyes traveled over to a silver pitcher on a table against a wall, but he shook his head, clearing the idea from his mind. After trying to wake her by shaking her shoulder a couple more times he sighed.

"Holly!" he exclaimed, kneeing the mattress.

"Mmph?" came Holly's reply after a moment.

"Wake up, Holly," he said kindly. She didn't make a noise this time. Lupin kneeled down and lifted the edge of the pillow slightly. He tilted his head and saw one of her eyes looking sleepily back at him. After she seemed to comprehend who he was the eye got wide and she yanked the pillow back down over her face. "Holly..."

"I'm not awake," she replied, her voice muffled.

"Holly..."

"Mmhmm?"

"I need to talk with you for a second, please," he said, shifting his knees around in the chance he might be kneeling on the floor for a while.

"Can't we talk like this, Professor?" she suggested.

"No."

"Ple-heeease?"

"No. Holly..." he stood and pulled at the pillow but she clutched the sides of it tight in her hands. "Holly, let go..." he said through his teeth.

"Mmph!"

Lupin grabbed the pillow and yanked it out of her hands, stumbling backward slightly. After he had regained his composure, he wrapped his arm around the pillow and pinned it to his side. Holly now had an arm thrown over her eyes. Lupin stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and moved her arm down to her side. She looked up at him through tired brown eyes. Her skin was pale, and she had rings under her eyes. "It doesn't look like you slept well."

"Thanks, Professor. You coulda just said 'you look like crap today'... but thanks for being so nice about it," replied Holly groggily, staring up at him from flat on her back, now that the bed lacked a pillow. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

*()%()*

As Hermione finished her story Lavender and Parvati squealed excitedly and she laughed. Suddenly Parvati gasped and frantically motioned for Lavender to be quiet. "What is it, Parvati?" asked Hermione.

"Is Holly still in here?" she asked in a whisper. Holly glanced over at Holly's bed, and the curtains were pulled. She wasn't even sure if Holly had spent the night in the hospital wing or been allowed to come back to her dormitory. That made her feel a bit guilty - she hadn't been to visit the girl. Hermione crawled across the floor to Holly's four-poster and peered through the curtains. Sure enough, she wasn't there. Hermione let out a sigh of relief... if Holly had heard all of that...

"She's not here. She must have woke up early," Hermione suggested cautiously. She stood up and went over to the long, low dresser that ran along the wall, curving like the stone of the circular room. The four girls had split it up, using a space 2½ feet long as a place to set some of their things. Lines had been magically chalked where they split the space. Hermione took up her own makeup case, containing much less than the rest of the girls', and pulled from it a bit of plain Muggle concealer. She noticed a blemish that had appeared on her nose overnight, and continued to try and make it vanish. Holly had said something about teaching her a charm to do that... but never got up to it. Or, perhaps she just didn't want to share her secrets.

"So you and Ron are together now," remarked Parvati. Lavender was carefully braiding her hair into a long plait. "That's so cute!"

"I knowww!" wailed Lavender, "Cute in a funny sort of way..." Parvati nodded slightly, carefully making sure to not wreck her braid Lavender was working on.

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you know, you guys have this big contrast thing happenin'!" explained Lavender innocently. Hermione frowned more.

"Yeah," added Parvati, "You're so short-"

"Ron's so tall..."

"You're really smart-"

"And he's a bit clueless most of the time!"

"Hmph!" put in Hermione.

"Pure-blood..."

"Muggle-born..."

"Y'know!" the girls finished simultaneously. Hermione looked from one gossiping ditz to the other and shook her head sadly.

"I know," she agreed, setting down her concealer and walking over to her closet. Opposing wardrobes, the girls had closets situated in four places across the walls. Hermione opened her closet door and pulled her school uniform out of the perfectly organized clothes space - seeing promise in her new day.

*()%()*

"Seamus, could I use a comb?" Harry asked, trying to finger through his hair.

"Which one?" asked Seamus, grabbing a bag from his trunk full of combs.

"Umm, the pink one," said Harry. He caught the comb his friend tossed to him and started struggling to flatten down the mop of black that grew on top of his head.

Dean was up now, lazily pouring water into a goblet by the window. He yawned widely as Seamus started to tell Harry that he saw Ron come in the night before. Harry looked away from Seamus' Quidditch Illustrated calendar and raised his eyebrows. Just as the boy had taken the breath to tell him where Ron had apparently been, a red head poked out of the curtains and looked around.

"Did s'mone say m'name?" he asked groggily, struggling to keep his words from slurring together. Neville shook his head.

"No, Ron... no one said your name," he replied with a weak smile. This, of course, was a lie. Ron put his face in his hands and moaned loudly.

"Now that's a believable morning moan," indicated Seamus, pointing at Ron. Harry just smirked and shook his head.

"Wha'bout Moaning Myrtle?" Ron questioned sleepily. He rubbed his eyes and blinked around at the boys.

"Nothing, Ron," Dean said, coming to stand by Harry. "I do love November, mate..." he said dreamily, looking up at the bikini and open-robe clad witch sitting on a broomstick above the list of days.

"Me too, Dean."

*()%()*

"I wanted to talk to you about..." Lupin paused here, trying to think of how to put this. "I wanted to talk to you about talking to you later on. And breakfast." Holly stared blankly at him, and despite his superiority to her in years and maturity - even she could make him feel stupid. Put it this way: Moony was not the most confident of the Marauders.

"What?"

"Madam Pomfrey says it's alright, and Professor Dumbledore wishes for you to speak with us in my office after breakfast... with your account on the entire ordeal. I don't have classes for the first hour, so it would be the best time." Holly nodded, and pressed her fingers to her eyes. "We would have gotten Professor McGonagall and perhaps another of the Heads of Houses to come too, but Professor Snape is gone at the time, and Flitwick is a hard... man... to find."

"I'll be there. I just need to rest up s'more, take a shower, and get dressed... can you give me a time?" Holly said, still pushing on her eyelids.

Lupin gave her a time that left her quite a while to be ready and added, "I think it would be best for you to come down to breakfast..."

"Professor," she whimpered.

"It's just a simple request, Holly-"

"I'm so tired, Professor Lupin, I couldn't sleep hardly at all last night, I-"

"Come, Holly! Greet the new day with a breath of fire!" he said brightly, his remaining childishness shining through brilliantly.

Holly took down her hands and looked up at him like an older child would a younger sibling at the break of dawn: sleepy, confused and annoyed. "It's breakfast." Lupin took this into consideration, and figured 'greeting the new day with a breath of fire' wouldn't be simply going to breakfast. "Do I have to? I... I'm still in pajamas." Holly, coincidentally, had never cared whether she walked around in her pajamas before. But now she was just dead tired.

"No one cares - many people go down to breakfast in their pajamas." Now that was a lie. "Are you ready? Let's go!" He dropped the pillow he was holding on the foot of the bed, turned, and started walking away. As he reached the door he turned and saw Holly with her hands over her face.

With a sigh he walked back and picked up the pillow. Holly turned onto her stomach with her head to the side obediently and he set the cushion on top of her head. Immediately she clutched onto it and pulled it tighter around her face. "Goodnight, Holly," he said in a simple way.

"G'nite, Professor Lupin."

*()%()*

Herbology was taking place in greenhouse three today. Each student had their textbooks open, and most of them were going through the glossary to find the reference pages on the plants they were studying. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were to be working with a plant Harry recognized from his second year...

"Venomous Tentacula... has anybody found the page?" asked Professor Sprout, looking around. Hermione raised her hand and the witch nodded towards her.

"Page two-hundred thirteen," said Hermione who was sitting a seat away from him. Ron was sitting in the middle, and Harry noticed that both of his friends had been acting rather peculiar. It was now that he didn't have Holly to occupy him that when Ron paid more attention to Hermione that he felt a bit left out.

On the subject of Holly, he had been hit with a few inquiries at where she was today. He found it easiest to answer with a shrug and suggest that perhaps she was "sleeping in" or "skipping on account that she's paired up with Pansy in Potions." The second reason was a bit petty - she could have just cut class for that hour (or perhaps Care of Magical Creatures as well, considering Slytherins were always happy to get the Gryffindors in trouble).

Harry turned to the page labeled 213 in his textbook and looked at the drawings of the Venomous Tentacula. Dark red and spiky, just as he remembered it.

"Right, I'm going to put you into groups of four, and assign you to tables," said Professor Sprout. "Susan, Hermione, Ron, and... Justin, table one, please." She went through with this, putting Harry with Parvati, Sally-Anne Perks and Hannah Abbott. Feeling extremely outnumbered he picked up his open textbook and made his way to table three.

"Now," Professor Sprout said once she had finished assigning groups and tables, "at each table I will place a Venomous Tentacula at a different life stage." She announced that table one would receive a teething plant, table two would be sat with newly sprouted seedlings, table four had a flowering Tentacula, and Harry's table was to work with a molting plant. "I want you to read through the chapter and find how to treat the Venomous Tentacula in your assigned phase."

Harry sighed and began skimming through the first column of words, and after turning a page found that they had to prune their plant. When he announced this, Sally-Anne found the paragraph stating this and read it aloud.

"'In this phase, the Venomous Tentacula commences in shedding its outermost layer of spike-like foliage and the leaves from its antennae and leg-like vines. Due to the sticky substance found at the tips of its vines, if the plant were to attempt in removing the layers it would find itself with much paper-like sheds of herbage tangled and attached to its vines. For the Venomous Tentacula to flower, it must be pruned and watered immediately afterward. Protective gloves recommended.' Well, that sounds fun." She grimaced.

"Beyond measure!" agreed Parvati sarcastically. "I'll get the watering can. Could you snatch up my dragon hide gloves, Harry?" she cooed.

"Um, yeah..." he said, grabbing her bag and pulling them out before getting his own. After she returned with the large copper watering can he handed Parvati her gloves and Professor Sprout came over with their plant.

On the table, Professor Sprout sat down the potted Tentacula. It's leg-like vines drooped, and only moved around slightly. All over the plant hung pinkish-colored layers of what looked like skin. It was clumped together in spots, dangling off the leaves in others.

"Eurgh!" said Hannah after the professor walked away, "That is disgusting!"

"I know!" wailed Parvati, flinching back away from the plant.

It was Harry and a brave Sally-Anne who ended up pruning the Venomous Tentacula. Parvati and Hannah agreed to water the plant when they were done, clearly thinking that this was doing their fair share.

Picking dry skin off of your arm, for example, wasn't anything near 'disgusting' compared to this. The shed layers stuck to Harry and Sally-Anne's dragon hide gloves, and were near impossible to rub off into the tray for the purpose of disposing of the foliage. The Tentacula was touchy, and would bite at them when they had to prune dead layers off on its front side. Upon closer examination, the spiky plant had minute maroon hairs all over it, and its sloughed herbage would more than often stick to them.

After spending most of the class hour picking at the red plant, Harry and Sally-Anne finished. Hannah watered down the Tentacula, which would lean forward and drink the water flowing off of its back through its mouth. Parvati had already begun putting her book and gloves away.

"Hey, Harry," she said as she carefully put her dragon hide gloves in a front pocket of her book bag, "where's Holly today? She wasn't in the dormitory when I woke up." Hannah and Sally-Anne came over to listen, both repeating Parvati's question with additional 'I was wondering that, too's.

Harry shrugged and said, "Probably skipping class. She might be in Hogsmeade for all I know."

"Hmm..." chorused the girls. The bell rang. Harry briefly wondered how, out in the greenhouses, the bell to dismiss class still rang... but then he reminded himself: it's magic.

"Good work on your Tentaculas today, class! All of you! See you on Thursday!" said Professor Sprout brightly. The class left and as the Hufflepuffs made their way to the castle, the Gryffindors turned and trudged through the snow to Care of Magical Creatures.

*()%()*

Meanwhile, Holly had been giving her account of what happened to professors Dumbledore and Lupin. She had only gotten to the part of how Voldemort had taken the Charm from her when Dumbledore interrupted.

"A Cretionis Charm? Could I see it, Miss Black?" Holly nodded and pulled the Charm up from where the pendant was hidden under her sweater. Unhooking the clasp she handed it to the headmaster, watching him curiously.

"First, I will remark that the charm used to repair the chain will not last and it would be best you replace it," Dumbledore said after only examining it for a moment. "Your mother had this, I suppose?" Holly nodded. "Remus," he said, "do you remember seeing this when it belonged to Charisse?"

Lupin answered nearly immediately. "I do," he said, "it was clear like glass. You could see right through it, into the back of its casing." Dumbledore nodded, but was silent. He turned the Charm over and looked at the back. He brought it very near his eyes.

"Can you explain these, Miss Black?" Dumbledore asked. He handed Holly her Charm and she looked at the back of the casing. On it there were thin lines carved, picturing the outlines of the backs of three birds in flight, a couple of the wings overlapping with the bird ahead of it. Holly thought back to her two dreams of the mysterious woman, her palace, and the three brightly colored birds. Those were the woman's 'magical avifauna', whose powers were transferred into the Cretionis Charm and gave it its healing powers....

Holly shook her head. "No, sir." Dumbledore pierced her gaze with his, and she immediately felt guilty. He knew she was lying, it was evident. She handed it back to him and he examined it longer. After a moment he pulled out his wand, tapped it, and said a quiet incantation that Holly couldn't make out. Nothing happened, and he tried again. Still nothing.

"This Charm hasn't been Dedicated," Dumbledore stated.

"Dedicated, sir?" Lupin said, raising his eyebrows in confusion. The headmaster nodded a confirmation.

"What does that mean?" asked Holly, ceasing to pick at a small hole in the knee of her jeans and looking up.

"Each Charm, upon being presented to a knew heir, is immediately bound to its owner. The color of the gem changes, and its metal presents the owner's body heat and heartbeat. Normally, it Dedicates itself to the holder immediately, and that makes the powers it holds available to the heiress. I have heard of a few odd cases when presented to the next person it loses all its power until the possessor finds a magical craftsman who can rebound it..." Dumbledore's words drifted off as he turned the necklace over in his hands. After a while in silence, in which Holly and Lupin exchanged looks, (Lupin's could be classified as the "What are you hiding now, Sirius?" look - given to someone else for a change, and Holly's would be the defending "Nothing! Quit it!" expression followed by an innocent look of unknowing, concerning Dumbledore's silent surveying of her Charm) Dumbledore returned the necklace to Holly.

"Please continue."

*()%()*

Upon arriving at Hagrid's cabin for Care of Magical Creatures, Harry, Ron, and Hermione greeted him twice (once along with the rest of the Gryffindors).

"Hullo, Harry. Ron. Hermione," said Hagrid, "How ar' yeh?"

"We're alright," answered Harry, "and you?"

"Alrigh'. Dumbledore sent ou' owls ter all the staff talkin' bou' where you three, Holly, an' tha' Malfoy spent yer Sunday..." he said under his breath. "I say goin' inter tha' fores' ain't the smartes' thing you kids have ever done, bu'..." he paused, "I'm glad you brough' Holly back alrigh'. She's no' comin' ter classes today, eh?"

"No," said Harry, "I think she was going to talk with a few of the professors sometime, and rest for most of the day. Chances are she'll get out of the hospital wing and spend the day sending owls, doing homework early, and looking up a nice new hex to make Pansy Parkinson's hair permanently affected by static." Hagrid gave him a small smile.

"Well, I'd like fer you three ter come down ter my cabin t'nigh' with Holly, if yeh can fin' her, an' have some tea w'me. Would yeh? I'd talk ter you three during class, bu' I got some sorta interestin' creatures fer yeh t'day."

"We'd love to come down and have tea with you, Hagrid," Hermione told him with a bright smile.

"Of course! I'll find Holly as soon as I can and tell her when to come. After dinner?" Harry suggested. Hagrid nodded.

"I'll walk yeh down here. We can' have yeh wand'rin' 'round the grounds," Hagrid said. The trio nodded in forced agreement.

"What kind of creatures do you have for us today, Hagrid?" asked Ron, brilliantly faking a tone of excitement.

"Yeh'll see," Hagrid answered mysteriously. "They ar'nt somethin' I would like to have," at this Harry's spirits brightened, "bu' they're unique all the same. Jus' gotta wait fer the Slytherins. Ah! They're comin' now."

"Great," said Ron under his breath. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined the rest of their class and a moment later the Slytherins were standing to the left side of the Gryffindors.

Harry cast a glance at Draco, who looked as cool and collected as ever. Crabbe and Goyle were standing a bit behind him, on either side. He had his arms crossed in front of him, and an eyebrow cocked skyward.

Hagrid, who had gone around to the other side of his cabin when Harry, Ron, and Hermione had walked back to the rest of the Gryffindors, had come back now with a large wooden crate. In the cracks between each board, Harry could see round, dark green eyes staring at him and wide, grinning mouths full of sharp teeth.

Hagrid opened the crate and held his hand down to one of the creatures. Upon him crawled an animal that looked something like a cross between a monkey and a frog. It had green skin with splotches of different shades of a lighter, kiwi color, short horns on top of its head, and webbed hands and feet. It's long arms and legs seemed rather limber, as the animal scurried around Hagrid's shoulders and began swinging from one of his arms to the other. On it's forehead was a round red spot, about the size of a Snitch, which looked like a semi-sphere, unlit, plastic light.

"Could anyone tell me wha' this is?" Hagrid asked after closing the crate. Hermione's hand shot into the air. "Hermione?"

"It's a Clabbert."

"Tha's righ'. Could you tell us a bi' more?" said Hagrid. Hermione nodded enthusiastically.

"Clabberts originated in the southern states of America, but since then it has been exported worldwide. It's most distinctive feature is the large pustule in the middle of its forehead, that flashes red when it senses danger or, often times, approaching Muggles. American wizards used to keep Clabberts in their gardens to warn them when Muggles were coming, but they attracted too much attention so the Confederation of Wizards established fines that came along with having the creatures where there are Muggles around, which stopped the practice." Harry goggled at her, wondering how she knew more about Clabberts than he knew about Mrs. Figg's cats.

"Very good, Hermione! Ten poin's ter Gryffindor," Hagrid announced. Hermione smiled in a self-satisfied but modest way. "We're gonna be workin' with these Clabberts fer a while. We're jus' gonna be feedin' 'em t'day, 'cause yer my firs' class, bu' the other classes ar' gonna be workin' on buildin' them a bit of a place ter swing around, trustin' the Clabberts ar' gonna stay with us, o' course." Hagrid smiled cheerfully around at all of them, and most of the Gryffindors managed to smile back. Clabberts didn't seem so bad...

"Now," continued Hagrid, "who can tell me wha' it is tha' Clabberts eat?" Hermione's hand shot into the air once more, and Hagrid nodded towards her.

"They feed mostly on small lizards and birds," she answered.

"Tha's righ'. Considerin' tha' the birds and lizards 'round these parts ar' mostly gone somewheres warm fer the winter, I got a hatch o' geckos tha' we can tempt 'em with t'day," he explained. "Bu' we can' allow the Clabberts ter live off o' livin' creatures fer too long, so I'm gonna be visitin' the kitchens t'nigh' ter get some spare turkey or some liver, maybe."

Feeding the Clabberts live geckos didn't sound like something Harry wanted to do... at all. But they did. The class threw the small, green lizards into the crate, and the geckos were devoured before they could escape. Most of the Gryffindors had their hands over their ears... not liking the sound of the poor little lizards being eaten.

After that experience was over, the class had to heave "logs" (tree trunks) from just outside the forest to the edge of the paddock behind Hagrid's house. The wood was to be split and set up for the Clabberts by the other classes that week in a jungle gym-like structure.

When class ended the Gryffindors and Slytherins all traveled up to the castle for morning break and lunch.

*()%()*

After Holly had finished telling Lupin and Dumbledore what she knew, she was sent off. She made her way to the Gryffindor common room, which was, of course, empty. There she wrote back to her father, replying to his statements and adding that she and everyone else were perfectly fine with a brief outline of her Saturday/Sunday. Then she scratched a note to her granny.

Holly went off to her dormitory and found another letter, this one sitting on her bed. After picking it up and looking at her name written on the envelope, she grinned. The handwriting on it she had always envied - the letter was from her friend Jackie.

Tearing the fold in the envelope, she withdrew the folded parchment and flicked it open with a casual movement of her hand. Flopping down onto the blanket covering her four-poster's mattress, she began to read.

Hollz -

I am going to murder you if you don't w/b to this right away! How are you, girl? Everyone back here misses you like crazy... the world is just not the same without seein' you every day.

What's happening over in the U.K.? You're so far away it freaks me out. Jo, Jennie, Lois, and George (and me too, I guess) all want a Christmas list from you. You're gonna be so spoiled this year, it's not even fair.

Quidditch/Quodpot is done for the year. I can't wait until spring! How's the sports scene for you over there? You're so lucky to have boys in your school... Three Winds just lacks the one thing that would give me the driving force to wake up every morning with a smile. I need to get transferred! You think your dad would mind an extra girl in the house? J/k

As soon as you can Apparate, you're going to pop your ass on over here. Thank goodness for those Apparating Point Islands, huh? So hurry up and get older!

And also - we figured out the spell! I'm so glad for our Muggle-born Jo! You just have to throw the disc up, hold your wand under it, and say "Emodulo!" and there you have it. The wand will hold itself up, and the music will play! She's got a burner now... maybe you should give her a list of 18 songs and she'll give you a free Christmas present.

This letter was by far the cheesiest I've ever written, but I'm psyched to hear back from you. Get yourself an owl and mail a reply! I told Jo and Jennie that if they wanted a letter from you they had better write one first - but you'd better owl George and Lois. Since they're Muggles they don't have access to owl post so...

TTYL! (