Proper Life

Hogwarts Express! She was finally here! So why couldn't she find that excitement? The same feeling she'd swear she had from the very first time she had to see Bill get on without her, never-mind she was hardly a year old and shouldn't remember any such thing, she'd thought about it so many times the feeling was real enough!

But not now.

She looked longingly toward her luggage, though they'd barely pulled out of the platform and there was nothing new to say yet, she still longed to write in her new diary and share this...detachment. It had helped her all summer, when the feeling had started the day Harry appeared. She was so worried looking like a fool in front of him, and Tom was so sweet, even if he was just a silly book-

"Hello, do you mind if I sit there?"

Ginny froze while standing on her seat, she hadn't even realized her imagination had been playing out and she was now standing up to do just that, so was looking down on the new person.

She was definitely a first year as well, but unlike Ginny's used robes indicating she could be older and simply wasn't wearing any House colors, this girls were shiny and new, but with other decorations. There was a purple flower Ginny couldn't identify glued to her tie, her scraggly blond hair at first appeared to be tied back with string which, upon closer inspection could pass as a stuffed snake, and her vacant silver eyes seemed to be staring right through Ginny as if she hadn't a care what the answer was.

Ginny only hesitated a moment, but found herself feeling sorry the longer she wanted to say no. The only reason she did so was because she wanted to be alone and understand this odd feeling that no one in her family would get, but maybe a fellow student would.

"Sure," she waved her in and offered to take her luggage and put it up. "I'm Ginny."

"Luna." She had a soft, melodic sort of voice, that was never the less confident.

They sat quietly for what felt like ages. Ginny didn't know what she was expecting to happen, but it didn't seem to be coming. Luna seemed perfectly content to sit in her seat and hum to herself, while Ginny was used to the near constant noise. Even when all of her siblings were gone at school, her mum and dad still talked to each other all evening. She realized for the first time how they must be feeling, and a sense of smugness took over her that she finally wasn't the only baby left behind. It wasn't the excitement she still kept expecting to over take her, but it was finally a feeling none-the-less other than the detachment. She lunged this time and dug out her diary quickly to let Tom know, but just as she began dabbing her quill into an ink pot, another girl poked her head in.

Ginny automatically knew her, even though she'd never met her either. The bushy brown hair and Gryffindor scarf, along with the searching expression that zeroed in on her bright hair had her already assuming, "hello, you must be Hermione."

"That's right," she smiled pleasantly at being recognized and returned the same. "Ginny, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she bobbed her head and waited curiously for why she was here.

"Ah, have you seen your brother? Or Harry? I've found Neville and he's searching the other end of the train, but we can't find either of them."

"No, they went behind us, I never saw them get on the train," Ginny shrugged. "Mum was still looking for them as it was pulling away, said she was a bit mad at Ron not saying goodbye."

"Oh, alright then, thanks," Hermione told her before leaving.

Ginny watched her go with the abstract detachment settling on her once more. She glanced down at her diary and completely forgot what she'd been about to say. A miserable feeling began curling in the pit of her stomach, why couldn't she remember anything after five minutes anymore? Already Hermione's worry over where-ever her brother was felt like a distant memory-

The compartment door opened for a third time, and she glanced up without enthusiasm to see two more new girls standing there.

One had red-hair like hers, but it was much darker, and a mess of curls more than anything, with shy hazel eyes peaking over the other boys shoulder. She was clutching a cat cage so tightly her grip was white knuckled. The other had black hair streaming down his back and dark grey eyes that sparked with something Ginny had trouble identifying landing on her.

"Ello, I'm Leo, and this is Poppy. Mind if we join you two? We were sitting with this lot of boys in another compartment, and they were being right noisy, messing about with something that was steaming. Scaring this poor Muggleborn, I decided to get her out of there." He finished with another searching look on Ginny like he expected her to spontaneously begin doing the same, and Ginny understood.

"Redhead twins? A boy with dreadlocks?"

"Those are the ones," Leo sighed, shifting his weight impatiently for an answer.

Ginny glanced at Luna first, but saw no objections so waved them in and made some introductions before explaining, "those are my brothers, as you guessed-"

"Oh, I know," Leo snorted. "You're another Weasley, we met over the summer."

"Did we?" Ginny asked blankly, it all seemed like a blur...

"You don't remember?" Leo sounded genuinely surprised, or insulted. He had a rather haughty way of talking that set Ginny on guard. "We were all in Flourish and Blotts. Your dad punched some Pureblood arse, a fight broke out. My dad was laughing the whole time, so loud I thought the whole store would be watching him instead. We were standing right next to each other when it happened."

"Oh, right," Ginny finally recalled. "You're Harry's cousin."

"That's right," he rolled his eyes at finally getting a decent, yet obvious response, then his eyes fell on Luna. "What's that you've got in your hair?"

"A Garder Snake," Luna said pleasantly.

"That's not a thing," Poppy frowned at her. "You mean Garter, right? That's an American species, where did you get it?"

"No, it's a Garder," Luna said with dignity. "My daddy gave it to me today for luck."

"How do you know it's an American thing?" Leo asked, and distracted.

"My Mum's a zoologist, she knows about animals all over the world," she smiled, the blush on her face finally beginning to dim now that she was chatting about something she knew. "She spent all day in that Diagon Alley place telling me about Olly here," she gestured to the cage she'd insisted to keep on her lap rather than put up with the other girls luggage. A black and orange face was peering out with livid green eyes. After a few moments of hesitation, Poppy unlatched the cage and let her slink out, where she immediately curled up on her owners lap and began purring.

Leo kept the conversation alive in the compartment the rest of the trip, the bridge between Luna and Poppy who were clearly becoming quick friends, each wanting to learn about the others creatures they'd heard nothing about. Leo was clearly getting a bit bored after an hour though and tried to engage Ginny, but she spent the rest of the trip writing in a little book, until the train came to a halt in the Hogsmeade Stations blackness.

2

"Black, Leo," murmurs went through the crowd as he sauntered forward and sat proudly on the stool. The boy was only known in the Pureblood world by reputation, one his father had kept such a distance from. He'd go into Gryffindor for sure just like him-

"Slytherin!"

It had taken the hat almost seven minutes to shout that, and the little eleven year old looked just as surprised as anyone as he removed it and handed it back to Professor McGonagall. His eyes searched the Gryffindor table, but whoever he was looking for he clearly didn't find as he kept his head high taking his seat, but didn't truly relax amongst the cheering students the whole meal.

After Creevy, Colin became the first new Gryffindor, Leo glared at him and missed quite a few names, until one of the girls he'd been sitting with made her way up.

"Lovegood, Luna."

She walked casually up to the stool and sat like she would for evening tea. The hat took ages to sort her, but Luna seemed as serene as ever when it shouted, "Ravenclaw," and she went skipping away. Leo was a touch disappointed, the girl had been a riot to talk to and he would have liked to know her more as a housemate.

He kept picking at his lip and not making eye contact with everyone around, trying to swallow painfully past the lump building in his throat he couldn't let anyone see. His dad and both Uncles had told horror stories about the howlers his grandmother used to send. His dad told them as a joke, promising he'd never do the same, but would he now?

Then, "Tulin, Poppy." She looked petrified as she shuffled forward, her eyes pleading on Leo to lead her out of this like he had back on the train. Leo could only giver her a friendly smile and crossed his fingers under the table in hope, but the hat had barely touched her head before shouting -"Hufflepuff!"

Leo slumped in his seat with disappointment, but he was thankfully sitting on the bench right behind the now cheering table, and Poppy ran to the seat right behind, smiling the whole time and still speaking with lingering excitement. "That was terrifying, please tell me we don't have to do that again!"

"No," he laughed in surprise. "I'm sorry to say we can't try again."

Poppy registered the disappointment on his face and the hesitancy came back. "Did I, do something wrong?"

"Of course not," Leo scoffed. "We just might not be able to hang around each other anymore."

"Why?" Poppy looked truly baffled as the hall kept erupting in more cheers around them. "We can sit like this all the time, can't we?"

Leo appraised her for a few moments before smiling again, waving away the last of the heart stuttering tremors in his hands. His dad wouldn't care, and neither would Harry when he turned up. His new friend certainly didn't, though that could easily be because she didn't understand...

"Weasley, Ginnevra," was finally the last to be sorted, and the hat paused longest of all on her. It seemed to take ages before she was finally declared a Gryffindor, and their new Headmaster Dumbledore stood up to make introductions, such as the new Potions teacher being Lockhart. Then another man entered, a hobbled old fellow with a gleeful smile in place as he went right up to Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and began whispering in their ear. A few of the students closest to the staff table began whispering to each other in surprise for whatever they heard, and then it began sweeping down and across the tables like wildfire.

"Harry Potter got to school by a flying car, crashed into the Whomping Willow!"

2

"-willow trees, while others say they can only be found amongst wand bearing trees. Will-O-The-Wisps have caused much argument over their purpose, ah, Mister Black, nice of you to join us," Professor Lupin shot him a stern look, unbeknownst to anyone else in the room colored with fondness. "As it's your first day, I won't be taking away any points, but do please refrain from it in the future."

"Yes Professor," he said quickly, slipping into a seat Poppy quickly removed her bag from. She was sitting next to a blond boy, who leaned across her and offered a hand. "You must be Leo, Poppy's been chatting about you since last night. I'm Mikey."

"Nice to meet you," he shook his hand and smiled at Poppy. "Thanks for the seat."

"I told you it wouldn't be so hard," she giggled.

"I can't believe you got away without punishment," Mikey smirked. "Think if I sleep in next time-"

"Mr. MacMillian," Professor Lupin called from the front of the class. "Care to answer?"

Mikey flushed in embarrassment and stuttered, "ah, no sir."

"Well then, it's a good thing you weren't paying attention," the teacher crossed his arms. "Five points from Hufflpeuff, and Slytherin, now if I could please have your attention. Just because it's your first day doesn't mean we can slack off now does it?"

He got mutters for an answer and continued the class without interruption this time.

As they were packing their bags and leaving Poppy all but skipped along side her with excitement. "I don't care if we get lost on the way to our next class, this place is fantastic! Mikey promised to figure out how to get to the Owlery with me after dinner so I can send my mum a letter, by owl! Mum's not going to believe hearing about this place anymore than I'm seeing it!"

Leo hardly heard her he was so miffed. "I can't believe my Uncle took points from me for that, here I always thought he'd go easy on us, considering all the hell he got up to while he was here."

"What?" Both Hufflepuffs chimed in surprise.

"Yeah," Leo shrugged without concern, "he's my Uncle Remus, clearly it's not going to do me any good though. What do you have next? I've got Potions -"

"Hey look, there's Ginny," Poppy spotted her standing vacantly in the middle of the corridor. She looked sort of pale, but then, she'd looked like that on the train as well.

"You alright?" Leo asked.

"You look lost," Mikey offered.

She startled, as if just realizing she was in a corridor full of bustling students. "Oh, erm, yes, I mean, no. Ah, I'm heading to, to Defense Against the Dark Arts, I was just," she clutched the string of her book bag painfully tight, her hand twitching. "Got a little over whelmed I guess," she finished quietly.

"I'm glad it's not just me," Poppy said in relief. "I feel like the only one here who doesn't know someone here!"

"I keep telling you, having siblings around makes it worse than anything. I've seen my brother twice already today and he just keeps laughing with this smug look because I don't know where I'm going." Mikey sighed theatrically.

"I haven't even seen Harry today," Leo admitted with a shrug.

"Oh, so you missed the show this morning," Ginny finally smiled, and it actually managed to light up her whole face for the first time. "Mum sent my brother and him a howler for stealing the family car and driving it to school. Then, bout five minutes later, his Uncle Sirius sent him a letter, with a few galleons inside. Harry laughed really loudly, I heard him telling Ron about his dad and Uncle making a bet a long time ago about Harry never doing something as stupid as stealing a motorcycle like his Uncle Sirius once did, and there Harry went and done it."

"Damn, I can't believe I missed that," Leo pouted heavily to hide his disappointment he hadn't gotten any mail. Though, as he'd missed breakfast, maybe Buggle had just missed him?

"I can't believe you haven't heard yet, the school's been laughing about it all day," Ginny chuckled, but then it echoed in the silent corridor and the four cursed as they realized they were again late for their next class.

2

"-class was held back on account of Lockhart being a ponce! I'm not late I swear," Leo called, receiving a very dirty look from Madam Pince for nothing as he stopped in surprise to only see Mikey waiting at their preferred table in the library. He double checked it was the same one they'd been sitting at for a month before dropping his bag and sitting across from him.

"Where are Ginny and Poppy?"

"Ginny said she'd do it this weekend, she was feeling sick and went up to bed," Mikey shrugged without looking up. "Poppy stopped by the bathroom, she'll be here in a minute," then he paused and look up, frowning at the library's entrance. "That was a bit ago now, with you being so late, I hope she didn't get lost."

"I'm still getting lost, this place is insane," Leo sighed as he pulled out his assignment.

The two barely got any work done though before Poppy finally arrived, as bright red as the day they'd met. Her immense curly hair covering most of her face, it was a wonder she could see as she sat on the edge of her seat and kept her head down as she went through her bag.

"What's up with you?" Leo asked in surprise.

Poppy didn't answer.

"Come on Poppy," Mikey wheedled while still scratching at the margins of his paper in thought, "did Moaning Myrtle startle you in the toilet? Ernie tells me she does that all the time."

"No," she finally whispered, before sighing and looking up at them. Her hazel eyes were painfully wide, like a startled colt, and she spoke so quietly Madam Pince would have come around the corner and applauded her if she'd been able to hear. "What's a Mudblood?"

It was obvious by the tone of her voice she knew she was saying a bad-word not meant to be repeated as her face flushed another shade of red in shame and confusion.

Mikey's hand jerked so hard across the paper he nearly ripped it in half, as Leo shouted, "what!" Loud enough for half the castle to hear.

Madam Pince was there in a flash to reprimand. "One more outburst from you Black and I'll have you kicked out of here!"

Leo barely heard her as the two stayed focused on their friend.

"Who called you that?" Leo demanded in a forced whisper to compensate he still wanted to be shouting.

Poppy gave a small little shrug and whispered, "don't know, couple of Ravenclaw girls. They heard me talking to Luna, I met her in the bathroom and she was showing me this picture her dad sent her of a possible Crumple-Horned Snorcack sighting. They were leaving and called me an idiot Mudblood for listening. Luna looked really upset and told me not to listen to them. I asked if she wanted to come join us in the library again, but she wanted to go to the Forest to-"

"Could you point them out," Mikey interrupted, his dark brown eyes uncharacteristically serious as Poppy was clearly trying to change the subject.

"We've got flying practice tomorrow, all the first years are going to be there, you can then," Leo concluded.

Poppy recoiled into her seat. "Guys, I don't even know what it means, but it can't be that big of a deal-" Mikey leaned over and whispered into her ear. Her eyes went steadily wider, something Leo hadn't thought possible moments ago, and when Mikey was done she'd gone the other extreme, ashen in shock.

"Oh, I, guess I get it now," she muttered.

"I'll take care of those girls tomorrow," Leo promised.

Poppy nibbled on her lip for a moment before shaking her head, her curls flying haywire in all directions like her head had been set on fire. "I don't want any trouble guys. Besides, we don't know any spells yet to even do anything."

"I'll bet they're Luna's dorm-mates, she's told me a few times how much they're not very nice to her." Mikey said around her.

"You guys," Poppy tried again, this time a bit louder and getting both of their attention. "I mean it, don't go doing anything stupid tomorrow, please."

"They shouldn't have called you that," Leo said without remorse, "we're going to show them that."

"I'll bet we can get Ginny in on it," Mikey said with relish. "Those twin brothers of hers might even help out, they seem like fun."

Leo considered for a moment asking Harry for the same, but then decided, "no, we can handle this ourselves. Ginny, yes, but not her brothers. This is our friend."

Mikey nodded resolutely, and Poppy smiled at her friends, even if she thought they were a bit insane.

2

"Insane most likely," Remus insisted, pinching the bridge of his nose and not even realizing he had his chair tipped back.

"I think that's giving him too much credit," Pomona scoffed. "I still can't believe you gave Potter a detention with him tomorrow Minerva, what the boy did was extreme, but this feels like extra punishment."

"I'd hoped it would impress upon him the severity of his actions," Minerva said without remorse. "Hopefully it will do Potter some good to listen to his prattling for a whole night, keep him out of trouble the rest of the year," she finished with a fond, yet stern look at Remus.

"What are you blaming me for?" He asked innocently. "I didn't give them the keys to that car, I've told you that."

"Yes," Filius chuckled, "but you also weren't meant to laugh when Minerva told us."

Remus grinned, just a bit sheepishly, and kept them on track. "We're not here to talk about Harry, though in his defense, he really hasn't gotten into as much trouble as any of us thought he would, me especially."

"I'm much more exhausted by that other little nephew of yours," Filius chuckled. "I've yet to go a class without him causing some sort of disturbance, or having to shoo him out of a class he shouldn't be in! She follows that Tulin and MacMillian kid around, you'd think he was a Hufflepuff himself."

"We should have known Black's child would outdo Potter's, he always was the instigator," Pomona laughed.

"Well don't let them hear you saying that, James might blow up the castle just to prove you wrong," Remus snorted. "He's still not very happy with what happened last year," he finished while rubbing ruefully at the scar on the back of his head.

"I suppose young Mr. Potter's debacle with the Stone last year has seemed to mellow out his nosiness, just a bit," Aurora laughed. "Filch at least has stopped telling anyone who will listen about chasing him through corridors."

"What were you suggesting we do about Lockhart though?" Charity interrupted and finally got them back on point. "He's a blundering idiot, we all know that, but it's not as if we can go another year without a Potion's teacher. We tried that once, and it was disastrous," she sighed heavily for the year of '85.

"Well we can't just wait for him to set another classroom on fire," Remus insisted. "What next, setting pixies loose? I'm worried the next student Madam Pomfrey has to treat won't just be another classroom of students, but the whole of Hogwarts."

Silence fell in the teacher's lounge, before Bethesda spoke quietly, "perhaps we could appeal to Dumbledore, try and have him begin looking for another replacement already."

"I can't see how that will work," Remus shrugged. "He'd have to dig up a body at this point, he's apparently tried everyone on Earth."

"Well whatever we do, I agree with Remus, something must be done before more harm comes to our students," Minerva nodded fiercely.

Remus rocked his chair a few times, going back to pinching his nose and trying to concentrate. There was a feeling, deep inside of him, the same one that had been lingering since he'd met Gilderoy Lockhart. It had done him well last year when his unfounded suspicions of Quirrell paid off and he was indeed the one trying to steal the Stone, despite protests from the other teachers saying he seemed harmless and the new teacher shouldn't even be aware of what he was guarding. The feeling only increased the longer he knew this idiot. Lockhart was hiding something, if only they could find out what...

2

"What was Harper thinking, trying to ask out Cho Chang of all students!" Luke's nettling voice interrupted my musings, the only warning I had before half an assignment nearly went flying away when Jack and Luke entered. Leo grimaced at having agreed to get the bed right beside the door, as the same thing happened again only moments later when the last two boys entered their dorm. The four had quickly split off into their own friends, but Leo didn't usually feel left out of the conversations around him, considering he ignored them as much as they ignored him.

He did however still resent that hat putting him here, what was the point when he hated nearly every student he shared a house with. At least the dorm mates he had were better than that Malfoy, they could hear his obnoxious laughter a room over every night.

Luke asked him to turn the light off only an hour later, and though he still had half a page left on the Potions assignment, Leo didn't argue the point and stuffed his work away. Lockhart was such an idiot, he could probably turn it in as is and he wouldn't notice.

He lay in bed that night staring out the thick glass window, watching the lake-life swim past, wondering why his dad hadn't sent him a note yet. He'd been expecting it to happen the past four weeks, and couldn't decide what this silence was supposed to mean. Harry hadn't treated him any differently, on the few times they'd glimpsed each other in the corridor he'd given a friendly enough smile as they'd moved on. He knew the Gryffindor's were going to have their first training practice tomorrow morning, courtesy of Malfoy yelling loudly about Potter getting special treatment of this in the common room. Maybe he could stop by and try to talk to his cousin, someone as good as an older brother, assuming he wasn't in detention for decking Malfoy, something he'd been wanting to do so much already it would be a miracle if he completed first year without doing so, maybe that would get his dads attention.

2

"Attention! Everyone to your brooms now!" Madam Hooch demanded, the lot of them lining up to do just this. Leo listened impatiently to the instructions, and cried 'Up,' as soon as he could. Unsurprisingly, the broom sprang right into his hand, and he eagerly looked around at the others to see the competition.

Ginny's had as well, and she looked pleased for it. The bright sun shining down on them and her smiling for a change again actually made her look like a normal student instead of the stressed out, constantly quiet and shut away girl she was. At this point it was a surprise not to see her with her nose stuffed in her diary during the middle of class and on the verge of tears.

The only other one to have such success was a boy from Gryffindor he didn't know. The others were having a more range of success.

Poppy was saying it with wavering confidence, and the broom kept ending at half-way off the ground before sinking back like a deluded toy. A boy named Creevey he vaguely knew through Ginny was shouting with pure excitement, but the broom was only rolling about on the ground. Mikey was shouting at the top of his lungs, but his still remained only hovering a foot off the ground and no farther. Luna had only said it once and was just watching with intrigue now as the broom shuffled on the ground backwards, then she tried again and it sprang right into her hand like it was natural, only succeeding in making the first attempt look all the more out of place.

Then he eyed the two girls across from Luna, who looked rather bored with the proceedings and were hardly trying at all. When Madam Hooch finally told them to simply pick them up, they did so with looks of resignation, and half glares at Luna.

His eyes flickered to Mikey and Poppy, the later of whom nodded resignedly, and Leo smirked as he swung his leg over his broom with ease and 'accidentally,' went flying in a wild zig-zag right for them.

The two squealed in fright and fell off their own, and while it was barely a foot off the ground, Leo smiled at getting revenge and took the scolding Madam Hooch gave with a straight face. As their flying instructor couldn't prove it hadn't been a little first years accident, he wasn't even punished. His friends trying to hide laughter the whole time only made it better.

2

"Better not be late for this feast!" Mikey was shouting in his ear already. "I've been hearing crazy rumors for weeks, like dancing skeletons, and we won't get good seats if we also have to sit somewhere by you!"

"Well I'm so sorry I'm inconveniencing you," Leo shot back with a sneer. "I'll just sit by myself then and save you lot the trouble!"

"Oh don't fight you two," Poppy sighed.

Leo wasn't listening, he'd already flounced away, Poppy watching him go with a frown, before turning sharply to her other friend. "Why'd you have to say that Mikey? You know he doesn't like being in that house, he's really insecure about it, and his dad still hasn't written back. It's really bothering him today."

"Well, the day Harry Potter survived You-Know-Who is sort of around this time. I'll bet, as his cousin you know, he's kind of touchy." He snorted, before realizing what he was saying and toeing the floor. "Alright, I'm sorry, I didn't think before I said it."

"Well don't apologize to me," Poppy rolled her eyes.

Mikey found him just before dinner was about to start, talking to The Harry Potter. He stood there, star struck as the two chatted casually. Then Harry Potter gave him a quick hug, but instead of following the crowd into the Great Hall, he went down a side set of stairs to the dungeons.

"Hey Leo," he called, fighting through a horde of seventh years giving him filthy looks, they could have trampled him if they wanted to they were so huge, but finally making his way to his side where he stood looking rather relieved. Without any preamble he began, "I'm sorry about this morning-"

"Oh, it's alright," he waved off, grabbing his arm and pulling him farther off to the side so a burly Gryffindor didn't slam into them. "I'm sorry to, I didn't mean to snap at you. Come on, let's go find Poppy, I've got some news," he smiled with such delight and all but skipped inside Mikey couldn't help grinning as he followed.

They found Poppy squirming uncomfortably next to some very loud fifth year Hufflepuffs, and trying to timidly ask Malfoy's group of cronies to save a seat for her friend. Leo felt his nostrils flair and took the seat anyways with a grand flare of tossing hair over his shoulder.

Malfoy looked at him in disgust and moved plenty far away, while he twirled around on the bench and leaned towards them now in excitement. "I found out why my dad hasn't been writing, Harry did today too actually, though I didn't know Uncle James hadn't either since the first day. The Ministry's been doing raids on the house, and my dad got into a bit of trouble because he had an old motorcycle he shouldn't. All his mail was even being confiscated! There's been a bit of a Ministry fuss, they even took away their owls so they couldn't send out for anymore parts until all the paperwork was done. Buggle found me in the corridor on my way down here with a note," he finished proudly, waving the paper so excitedly it could have been a hundred galleons.

From what little they glimpsed of the note and his radiant attitude, they didn't have to guess it was filled with nothing but well-wishes for his Slytherin son.

"That's great Leo, I knew your dad wasn't ignoring you," Poppy said at once with excitement.

"I'm sort of miffed at Uncle Remus not telling us," Leo huffed, "I asked him today why he hadn't said anything, and he said he thought we knew, it had been in the papers a bit. I think I should take out a subscription," he finished with a shrug, smile still wide enough it looked painful.

"This is so great! I wonder where Ginny is so I can tell her, I haven't seen her today," Poppy finished with a curious eye to the Gryffindor table, but only the twins vivid red hair stood out and their Prefect.

"Why do you want to tell her?" Leo scoffed, lowering his voice and quickly turning back to his table proper as Dumbledore began serving the feast, but merely grabbing a drumstick and turning back around as the swell of conversation went right back up. "I don't think she wants to be friends with us Poppy, she never wants to do much of anything."

"I think she's lonely," Poppy insisted.

"I think she just likes to write," Mikey snorted as he shoveled steak-and-kidney pie into his mouth by the forkful. "We talk to Luna sometimes as well, but she doesn't like hanging out with us much either, and you don't think she's weird for it."

"Oh I think Luna's plenty weird, just another kind," Leo laughed. "Some kids are just loaners I guess."

Dinner seemed to fly past, but then without announcing dessert, Dumbledore instead told them all to head up to a corridor on the second floor, he'd meet them up there for a treat. All the students began whooping with joy that one of the rumors was clearly true and they were going to get a Halloween surprise.

2

"Surprise!"

Poppy must have indeed been surprised, because she dropped her bag, sending every one of her belongings inside scatting across the hall. The three scrambled around feet flying past to get her stuff back together before Leo handed her stack back with a sheepish expression. "Sorry, why'd you jump so hard?"

"Because you scared me," Poppy snapped, pushing her abundance of curls completely out of her face so that she could properly glare.

"That thing last night really got to you huh?" Leo asked in surprise as Mikey nodded behind her back in agreement. "Listen Poppy, we told you, it was just some stupid prank I'm sure-"

"What's going to happen to that cat? No one will tell me," she half-shouted.

"Mrs. Norris is going to be fine," Leo promised. "Madam Pomfrey can whip up a cure as good as anyone, she does for my Uncle Remus all the time."

"Why does Professor Lupin need a potion all the time?" Mikey asked.

Leo could have kicked himself, that definitely wasn't something he was meant to be spreading around. Nepotism was a very different kind of problem that he had no issues tackling head on, so instead side-stepped, "practice and junk, he's terrible at them himself. The point is Poppy, you don't have any enemies to beware, and that cat wasn't targeted because Filch is a Squib. It's because he's a jerk. I heard he tried to give Harry detention just because he came back from Quidditch practice all muddy, wouldn't you want to get him back for that?"

"Not by hurting his cat," she said stoutly.

"Fair enough," he raised her hands in surrender. "How's Olly doing? Getting fat and lazy sitting around the Hufflepuff dorm all day?"

Poppy eyed the neighboring students as they entered their Charms class, like she feared fellow students would be listening in for their next target, but finally said with a smile again, "he sneaks out most of the time actually, apparently cats around here do it a lot. Professor Sprout said it was okay so long as they're neutered, which she is, and she comes back every night with a dead mouse and stuff."

"Good, see, everything's going to be fine," Mikey grinned.

"And if I find the person who did that to that cat, I'll do worse to them than just hitting them with a broom," Leo promised.

The three paused in surprise to hear a little hiccup behind them, and turned to find Ginny covering her face and looking as dower as ever, while Collin was patting her shoulder for comfort beside her.

Then Professor Flitwick called the class to attention, and once again had to shoo Leo out to his proper class with another five points deducted while he grinned back at his friends without remorse.

2

Remorse had settled over Ginny like a cloud she couldn't shake, and there seemed nothing she could do to get out from under it.

She would have hoped Quidditch would help, it being Harry Potter's first game even and she getting to see the whole thing. It was certainly, an event, with a Bludger using him as targeting practice all game and he still managed to catch the Snitch spectacularly, then having to be taken off to the hospital wing by Professor Lupin to get it fixed. She'd wanted to say something to him, but he was gone before she even made it up there.

It was silly anyways, it's not like he would have noticed or cared with his hoard of admirers around his bed.

Be patient, Tom had advised. You won't have to suffer being over looked forever. By the time this year ends, everything will be better for everyone.

Ginny didn't see how. It took all of her concentration to focus on class, and even then she was barely scraping by on her homework and getting barely passing marks on each assignment. She could see the disappointment in her teachers and knew they'd expected better of another Weasley, just like her parents always had.

You're special Ginny, Tom promised, I know I wouldn't want to be talking to anyone else. What would you like to tell me about today?

She'd smile and admit to her yearning for Harry to notice her, for the twins to stop laughing about this Heir of Slytherin everyone kept talking about and making jokes.

At least I have you as a friend Tom, nobody else in this world even knows I exist. I wish you were real.

I'm real enough...

And she woke up in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom again with no idea how she'd ended up there. At least this time she wasn't covered in blood and fathers... right? She clutched the little black book in her hand painfully tight, already longing to find a quill and ink and tell Tom it had happened again.

It wasn't until she stepped out into the corridors and heard the rumors, no, the fact that Colin had been petrified just like Mrs. Norris.

The rumor was who had done it.

Not Harry of course, she wanted to scoff. He was so kind and brave, unlike her.

Christmas break went by in a blur, she'd avoided her parents and their disapproving stares she knew she'd get, but now almost wished she could go just so she could have purposefully left the diary here, in her trunk for a whole break. That way she couldn't sneak it into her bed every night, losing the compulsion to go just a little while longer without talking to Tom, and the increasing feeling she wasn't whole without him. She was being ridiculous of course.

I was always meant to fall into your lap Ginny, you're the perfect one to talk to about everything. We're connected now.

When school began again, and she was waking up in the middle of the night increasingly often, each time with another lingering nightmare about all the petrified victims with painful clarity she shouldn't have. The look of horror on Justin and Nick's faces she should never have seen. She kept waking up her dorm mates screaming, making them hate her that much more. Percy would be there, he'd try to help, but all that would happen is she'd fall back asleep and it would begin again.

I think I'm going mad Tom! I think I'm the one attacking everyone!

Ginny, there's nothing wrong with you. I have a way to make this all better...

She wound up back in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom without remembering how she got there again, but this time her fear snapped her awake while she was still standing. She didn't know why she was facing a sink and her tongue was buzzing as if something strange were fixing to come from it, but she knew she couldn't black out again, and she had to do something! She spun on the spot, lobbed the diary into the nearest toilet, and ran.

2

"-ran like a bloody coward from the scene of the crime!"

"My friend said it wasn't Harry Potter, so it wasn't," Mikey snapped back, fists trembling while Poppy grabbed his shoulder and tried to pull him away.

"Come on Mikey, dueling your older brother over this won't solve anything," she tried to plead while Ernie scoffed at the two.

"I've told you to stop hanging out with that Slytherin kid Mike, now look what's happening. Who else around here could be the Heir of Slytherin, except maybe it is that Black kid-"

"Enough," our Prefect stepped in between the squabbling siblings and ushered them both away. Hannah encouraged Ernie off to the Quidditch Pitch for the game while the two sat down so hard in their seats, cloth was likely to come loose from the seams.

"That's the third time I've caught you two at it!" The Prefect was still yelling, while Mikey wasn't paying attention but still glaring at where his brother had left. "You two keep this up and I'm going to have to ask Professor Sprout to give you both detentions!"

"He was scaring Poppy!" Mikey defended, clearly still needing to shout at someone. "She and the other Muggleborns have been terrified all year, and Ernie keeps bringing it up! I was just trying to get him to stop!"

"I'm a Muggleborn too, and you don't see me picking fights with some loud-mouthed kid," Gabrial snapped back. "Now knock it off, the both of you."

He stomped off as well while Mikey crossed his arms, still looking unrepentant.

"Between you and Leo, it'll be a wonder if the Heir of Slytherin doesn't run from the school screaming," Poppy tried for a laugh.

Mikey just sighed, looking exhausted as he finally sat down next to her. "I'm used to arguing with Ernie, he's always been a prat, but why's he got to go dragging Leo's cousin into this without any proof?"

"All that stuff he said about You-Know-Who does seem a little, sketchy," Poppy couldn't help but shiver at the idea of someone trying to murder a baby and a mum dying instead for some unknown reason. "People are scared, I don't blame them pointing the finger, lots of people like to dump everything on famous people."

"Leo's going to kill someone the next time he hears that kind of talk, he's been in detention nearly every weekend because of it," Mikey sighed, before he perked up and said, "speaking of, let's go find him and get to the Quidditch game!"

They only made it up to the Entrance Hall before the school was pouring back in, whispers and fear like a smog above them. Mikey understood in the same second what had happened, and grabbed Poppy, dragging her back down to the safety of their common room, neither hearing Leo trying to call after them.

Only a few hours later Professor Sprout was there again, delivering the new and even more strict set of rules. The students began to break out in whispers the moment she left, but not loud enough to cut off her cry of surprise.

Several students, mostly seventh years, were on their feat with wands drawn before they could hear her shouting through the barrels. "Mister Black, what do you think you're doing out alone!"

"Lockhart said it was okay, and I want to see my friends!"

Poppy and Mikey didn't miss a beat, they were already worming their way back up the slope and tackling him with relief.

Professor Sprout looked as furious as they'd ever seen her. "No, absolutely not, you two go back inside where it's safe and I'll escort Mister Black to his common room, as well as have a word with-"

"Please Professor, can't he stay here!" Poppy pleaded. "He doesn't like it in his dorm!"

"Besides, I'm not afraid of a stupid Heir," Leo scoffed, shrugging out of his friends hug and tossing his hair over his shoulder. "I'm a Pureblood in Slytherin, I'm the least of anyone's worries." Despite his bravado, he looked near tears at the end.

Professor Sprouts face aged into softness and worry, but she still spoke with complete firmness to the three. "All of our students are our worry right now Mister Black. I'm sorry, you can't stay here, but I promise I'll address the Slytherin students and make sure they know the seriousness of this situation for all houses."

The three shared one last hug before Professor Sprout made sure to leave the seventh years in charge to look after the lot of younger ones and escorted Leo back to his common room, doing as she promised and not leaving until she'd looked every student in the eye.

2

"I don't know how to tell you this," Minerva began, before her voice broke off with a quaver none had heard before.

Remus sat painfully straight in his seat as he watched her, unable to fathom what other horror could happen this year.

Then their Deputy Headmistress took a steadying breath, and began again, "so I'll just come out and say it. Dumbledore, is no longer at this school."

The outrage was instantaneous, but McGongall steadied them all with a firm hand as if they were a bunch of unruly first years themselves. "I don't know how, Lucius Malfoy must have played some dirty trick on the Board of Governors, but for now, it's the reality we're facing. I'll inform the students in the morning at breakfast, but in the mean time I'm going to need your help with something, every one of you."

"You have our full support, of course Minerva."

"You don't even need to ask," many of the teachers began promising at once, and though she smiled for the briefest moment at them, she waved this aside.

"Thank you, but what I meant to say was, the students need every one of you. Pomona went to Dumbledore with the very upsetting news of the houses dividing, all against Slytherin. They've had a troubled history, and it hasn't been helped along at all by not being able to have a definitive Head of House. They need us as much as our own," she stopped, her mouth forming into a thin line as they all knew who was deliberately missing, an irrational blame falling on Lockhart and every other Potions teacher who had left this post for one reason or another.

"We shall push through these coming exams, and then, we will need to have a serious discussion about this school opening again. I don't need to tell you how worried Albus was before this occurred," she said, sounding as exhausted as they'd felt all year.

She cleared her throat before concluding, "I urge the heads of houses, and all of my fellow teachers, to keep a close eye on every student, and any unusual activity should be reported immediately, no matter the circumstances. I don't need to tell you we are at a crisis, but that's no reason to lose our heads."

Recognizing their dismissal, the teachers began leaving in pairs, every face grim. "Remus, may I speak to you for a moment?"

He turned in surprise and went back to her, trying to arrange his face back to that open and polite look of his youth, before scolding himself even after all this time he wasn't her student anymore and he didn't have anything to hide.

Her mind seemed to be on the same thing. "There's no need to look as if you've set off another dung-bomb in these hallways." He cracked a thin smile, and she returned it, sitting across from him now. "Remus, when Dumbledore hired you, I'll admit I was not completely enamored with the idea. The height of You-Know-Who's powers, everyone in the Order suspecting someone or the other," her voice broke off, both of them unable to look at each other for a moment as the ending to that calamity sat in this very castle.

"However," she kept going even stronger, "you've proven yourself time and again you're more than up for this job-"

"Despite my, affliction," he concluded, beginning to grow a bit weary where she was going with this.

She merely arched a brow in surprise and went on curtly, "I'd say because of it rather. Being one of the youngest members on staff has always put you in the unique ability to be the most approachable to all of the students. I know it's rather unorthodox, as in the past we've always elected one from their own house, but that rule has hardly been followed in recent years regardless. These are trying times Remus, and I'm asking you if you'd consider becoming the Head of Slytherin House."

There was a long stream of silence while the two watched each other, waiting for the other to move first. Finally Remus swallowed a laugh and did as he always did, and tried to play this off as a joke. "A dark creature would make a rather poor substitute for the house of the cunning don't you think?"

"I am not joking Remus," Minerva said stiffly, and indeed there was not a hint in her being. "It's been insanity trying to guide along a new Professor into the job along with them heading that cursed class, why Dumbledore has been so resistant to it I can not fathom. However, as acting Headmistress, I'm sure he won't begrudge me this change the school needs. I'd like your answer by the end of the year please."

She got up and left without further ado, leaving Remus with an odd little feeling floating in his brain. The position was cursed, that had been joked about amongst the Hogwarts staff for years, but there was something about the way she said it. Not the position, the teacher, something about Lockhart, and a curse...

2

"Cursed?" Lockhart burst out laughing, but Remus immediately noticed the hard little edge to the sound, something a practiced liar like the Marauders had long since built out of their voices when hiding a secret. "Remus, my good man, I know every curse there is to know of course, how else could I have cured the Waga Waga Werewolf-"

"Hmm, yes, see that's where my question stemmed from." Remus leaned on his desk, and Lockhart's teeth-filled smile looked suddenly painful in his face. "See, I've a certain, ah, special sort of knowledge about dark beasts. The Homorphus Charm doesn't work on werewolfs, and I've been trying all year, ever since I actually sat down and read those drivel you call books, and tried to figure out how on Earth such a dunderhead like you could have managed to even think up such a thing, let alone write it as true."

Gilderoy bristled with indignation, and for the first time his jovial nature turned rather cynical as he stood up now. He was the same height as Remus, his baby blue eyes usually sparkling with delight were suddenly an uncharacteristic calculating. "I can show you the research papers, if you'd like? I've had tons of practice on the works well before I documented them of course, my poor research assistant at the time was unavailable-"

"You mean Damocles Belby?" Remus politely interrupted, and watched Lockhart's face turn his most interesting color yet, grey with shock. "You see Gildeory, I knew that man quite well for a time. There were a few years, fresh from my youth at Hogwarts, where I was desperate for a cure to my own werewolf affliction." Here he watched with the tiniest bit of glee at the fear now lining his every feature, "I asked someone I knew I could trust, our dear Professor Dumbledore told me about a man in Armenia I should chat with. It was like a dream, but I latched onto it with a vengeance and Merlin did I find him. Became his guinea pig of sorts for a time, put quite a bit of strain on my friends as I wouldn't tell them where I'd vanished too, but you see, Damocles had a sister who was also suffering a werewolf affliction and he was determined to find a cure. He tested quite a few theory's, such as the Homorphus Charm, but that never went anywhere. He found one though, and I returned home, reunited with my friends just in time for one of my best mates to lose the woman he loved, and got a job here where I thought I'd be able to help the world a little more."

He paused then, admiring the affect. Lockhart's knees were visibly shaking behind the desk he was holding onto for support, he'd swear the man was sweating bullets even. "I sent a few letters to Damocles over the years, to help along his research, being one of his most frequent users of the Wolfsbane potion every month for years, the affects of it all. I didn't receive a reply though, and it wasn't until I read your book that some of what he told me about his village, and his sister, finally had me investigating just what happened-"

"Alright, what do you want!" Lockhart demanded, his voice cool. Remus had to admit he was a damned good liar, just not as good as he still was. Lockhart's voice still held a note of fear, recognizing he'd been caught. "You say you're a werewolf, well obviously you're looking for money then, is that right? If you were going to eat me, I'd assume we wouldn't even be having this little chat."

Remus swallowed back a bit of bile for the errant assumption, he'd lived through far worse. His eyes flickered to Gildeory holding his wand in his robes, and he snorted in disgust this idiot actually thought he could curse him and it wouldn't cause another cauldron to explode in a students face. "Money? No, you blithering idiot, I want you to tell the truth. I want to know how you've been doing it all these years."

The hand that was still leaning against the desk began drumming out a rhythm, his eyes flickering between Remus' casual stance and the door. Remus could feel his blood pumping as he stared this arse down. He didn't really think he'd do the right thing, but a girl had died tonight, and Remus was determined to get some justice right in this world, and Lockhart wasn't leaving until he had it.

"Well, if you must know," Gilderoy began in that same smooth tone he'd likely used in countless press meetings. He'd certainly been using it all year for the lot of the teachers here to never hear a word he was saying. "I tipped a pretty young thing in the press to allow me to enchant my books, just a small thing really, a compulsion charm to read them. Damocles didn't know about that of course-"

"He didn't know about any of this," he quietly corrected, his voice laced with danger now. "I paid him a very recent visit, and he didn't know who I was, didn't know a damned thing about what I was talking about."

Lockhart swallowed uncomfortably. "Yes, well, age will, do that to a man-"

"I couldn't put it together what must have happened until I realized you're not just a fool who came up with a fantastic story, you stole someone's! Cursed them and pretended it was your own! Coming up with a peaceable cure wasn't a good ending though, was it? No, you elaborated some great fight, used a then newly invented Charm so no one would question your story, stole that mans notes, his life, to make it your own!"

He hadn't realized he was shouting by the end, recognized in the same second where they were and why someone would be knocking on Lockhart's door behind them, and the curse being shot at his face.

Remus was faster, as he knew he was, and leaped over the desk to tackle this excuse for a teacher to the ground, wrestling his wand away in blind panic as Harry, Neville, and Ron poked their heads with concern into the office.

"Uncle Remus, there you are," Harry was half-way into the room before he froze at what he saw.

"Harry, go back outside, now!" His nephew froze in uncertainty. "Go, I promise I'll be there in a moment."

Harry did as told, closing the door sharply behind him. Remus used his own wand to bind Lockhart where he was, purposefully pocketed the other wand in disgust, and kept his held protectively at his side as he opened the door to see the three second years staring up at him in fear.

"I'm sorry you lot saw that," he began in sincere remorse. "Your, ex-Professor- wait, what are you kids doing here?" He caught up in surprise to what exactly he was staring at.

"I didn't want to be grounded for a whole summer again, but I also don't want you going down there alone! Uncle Remus, you have to promise you won't!" Harry nearly shouted at him, despite being half Remus' age, looking so much like James it was nearly hysterical.

"Down, where?" He asked slowly, but Harry merely crossed his arms, and Remus swore, "I won't go anywhere alone, and I'm not letting you out of my sight regardless. What's going on?"

"We know where my sister is!" Ron said, a clear note of desperation in his voice. "We've been looking all over for you, we don't think McGonagall will believe us because she didn't last year, and we knew Lockhart wasn't going to do anything-"

"Alright, alright," he waved his hands to calm the boy who was near stammering with panic at the end. "I believe you, now tell me where." His own heart was pounding painfully in his chest at the idea he could save that little girls life.

"I'll explain how we know later, now come on," Harry turned about without another word and took off. Remus was right behind them in a panic, demanding, "Harry no!"

"I've got to be the one to open it, you'll understand-" Harry broke off, turning a corner before Remus had a chance to get in front of him and stop him, and stumbling into a door, wrenching it open.

Remus made a wild grabbing motion but missed, all three boys tumbling into the girls bathroom, he right behind them, wand still drawn and eyeing every cracked mirror. "Harry, what-"

"What are you doing in here?" Moaning Myrtle demanded as she floated out of her toilet.

Harry's eyes pleaded with him to just listen as he turned to Myrtle, and Remus could only watch gobsmacked as his nephew put the final pieces together and went over to a sink, speaking in Parseltounge, and leaving an opening in the bathroom floor.

"Get back, now," he barked, feeling only the slightest second of relief as Harry obeyed and went back towards him. "Alright, okay," his breaths felt like they were being strangled from him with every exhale, but he kept any of the boys from seeing that as he kept them behind him.

"You promised Uncle Remus," Harry reminded, grabbing hold of the back of his cloak as if planning to dive right down there with him any second.

"I'm not mad Harry, I'm not going in there alone! Come on, let's go get McGonagall-"

"But what about my sister!" Ron demanded. "She could be dead by the time you lot decide what to do!"

"Ron, I promise you, Ginny is my priority," he looked him in the eye as he began herding them back out the door. "Hear this though, we don't need a bunch of twelve year olds down there as well. I promise, I believe every word you've said, and if Ginny's down there, we'll get her back."

2

"Back up, back up," James waved his hands around as if to physically stop Remus in his tracks, and it worked. He sipped his drink and grinned at him and Sirius' open mouthed expressions, letting them soak in everything like he was still trying to do. "Harry told Dumbledore there could be a basilisk down there, and all he took, was his ruddy bird?"

"Yep," Remus popped the p for emphasis, the man was truly Merlin amongst them. "I understand why of course, phoenix tears, healing powers, but bloody hell was he risking a lot. I'm sorry to say lads I can't really tell much more of how he did it. He says he never ran into it, as he didn't give that diary, Riddle, Voldemort, whatever, a chance to call it. Somehow he, I don't know, forced that thing back into the book, and Ginny woke up. He came back out with her wide awake, crying a bit, but put her right into Molly and Arthur's arms."

"Where is it now?" Sirius demanded, and Remus could practically see his skin crawl in disgust at the idea it was still here in the castle.

"Couldn't tell you," Remus admitted. "Dumbledore hasn't really been keen on telling much of anything that happened down there, but he's worried. I saw the way he held that innocent looking thing, that Diary was dark magic. Arthur and Molly knew it as well as I did when Ginny tried to tell us around her sobbing what she'd been feeling all year. Poor dear, I wanted to wrap her up in a blanket myself by then," he finished his drink with a last heavy swig and put the glass down.

"I'm just thankful Harry went to you," James admitted, staring him full in the face. "Can you imagine if he hadn't? That basilisk would be the least of my sons worries when I went in after him."

"We're all damned lucky for the timing of it all," Remus agreed. "Dumbledore's reinstatement happening when I went to McGonagall with those boys, hell, if it had happened but an hour later no force on Earth could have given us the chance to stop Molly and Arthur going in when Dumbledore came out."

"I can't believe we couldn't pin any of this on Malfoy, at least give someone some proper punishment," Sirius slammed his fist onto his chair in protest, and Remus was surprised his whole office didn't shake with the force of the blow. "We know it was him! Can you believe he gave his elf clothes for trying to protect Harry all year from it?"

"Is that what Harry said happened?" James asked in amusement. "I still feel like we're missing part of that story."

"I've felt that way for years now," Remus said quietly.

Silence lingered in the room for several long, heavy moments. None of them had ever spoken of it much even before Lily's death, but now it felt like a jinx to invoke the feeling of deja vu none of them had been able to shake since Harry's first train ride. Why hadn't James been surprised Harry told him he made his best friend in a Weasley? Why was Sirius pretending more shock than he actually felt a cursed diary was the answer to this problem, like it was an answer he'd once learned and then forgotten right before an exam? They'd been asking these questions for ages with no answer in sight.

"What is with your kid and this place Prongs?" Sirius sighed aloud, running his hand through his hair. "It's like every danger in this school is magnetized to him!"

"At least if the basilisk is still in the castle, it's sealed tight again, and now Harry knows to alert someone." Remus tried to pacify.

"It was really the poor Weasley family, my son just got sucked into it," James corrected miserably.

"I don't know what you two are moping about," Remus snorted at the pair, trying to make his own relief at the mellow end to this situation infectious. "Harry broke nearly every rule in the book this year, I'd have thought you two would be cheering with pride."

"Next time," James sighed, "let's just hope he does it for some fun, for once."

2

Once she woke up, the past year of her life felt like a dream. Every horrible thought that had plagued her more a bad memory, but it wasn't over. Her hand still twitched for the book, her soul seemed to be screaming out it was still alive, still out there, a feeling she firmly tried to bury as deep as it would go. Dumbledore promised her she'd never have to see that thing again.

There was an argument, of course. Her parents wanted her to come straight home with them, but Ginny refused. She feared if she fled the castle now, she wouldn't be able to come back next year. So she swallowed the longing in her for her bed, and her normal life back, and pleaded with her parents to stay those last few days, to take that train ride home like the normal students.

Her dad caved first, convincing her mum to let her have this sliver of the school experience she'd deserved.

Ron, the twins, Harry, and all of his friends seemed to go out of their way to make her feel welcomed in the compartment they all shared, and at first Ginny was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but as this was the only happiness she'd had all year, she'd take it.

HPHPHPHP

So, yeah, this wouldn't make damn near as epic a novel as the Harry Potter series, huh? However, this is Harry using his head AU and has an adult family to rely on, where sometimes a boring ending has to take place where the adults actually kind of handle everything.

What you read was an amalgamation of all the plot-lines I wanted to do for Harry mixed in with his usual business in Chamber of Secrets, but then I was basically just copying/ pasting whole chapters and adding in paragraphs that, unlike JK Rowling, I couldn't drag a whole year out of. All the highlights happen exactly the same, Dobby, the Polyjuice Potion, I couldn't really think up anything worth noting in Lockhart's lessons in Potions anymore than what was mentioned, etc.

I'll go ahead and admit now, Leo will have just as much relevance as the story goes on, and I'm sorry about that, I didn't originally want to use an OC, but at the same time, I could hardly slip Ginny into this roll, and I came up with a really intriguing story for Leo I wanted to share, so it's going in this AU fic.

Really am sorry this chapter got taken up by a bunch of OC's, I'd have loved to elaborate more on students in Ginny's year if we knew of more than three, but I wanted some outside perspectives on other houses, so I made up my own. They'll be back around in later chapters, but not as prominently again, promise.