Memory Lane

Harry walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, looking for someone in particular. He hadn't seen Ellie on the map at all, and he was beginning to worry. Unable to find her, he figured there was one person that would know for sure where she was.

He found Max, Hannah, and Susan heading outside.

"Hey, Harry!" Max greeted him. "How's it going?"

At first, Harry considered answering honestly, but realized he wasn't allowed to. Rose was alive, Alavel was gone, and he was being forced to take supplementary lessons with Snape.

"Fantastic," Harry replied dryly. "You?"

Max looked at his friends.

"Been better. Have you heard about Ellie?"

Harry shook his head, eager for an explanation.

"That's what I wanted to ask you about. I haven't seen her."

Max shook his head sadly.

"She left. After all those rumors about her last year, and all that stuff with Umbridge, she didn't want to come back. Didn't say goodbye or anything. I only know because her parents wrote to my parents."

Max's words hit Harry harder than Rose ever had. Ellie had left Hogwarts, and it was his fault. Those rumors… no, it wasn't his fault. He hadn't started them, nor had he enabled Umbridge. The traitor had.

Ellie was gone because of Perks.

"Oh," was all Harry could manage. His mouth was too dry for anything else.

"Who can blame her?" Hannah said. "If my parents had found out I'd—"

Harry caught Max nudging her to keep her from finishing her thought.

"Erm… What I mean to say… erm…"

"Word of advice," Harry said. "Quit now while you're behind."

"Harry, I'm sorry," Max said. "I don't know about you, but Ellie really did like you. I know she's sort of clingy, but…"

"Please stop," Harry said. "Just… stop."

Max muttered an awkward farewell, and they went their separate ways.

Harry turned and started back towards Gryffindor Tower. He had nowhere else to turn. Nowhere else to go.

More than anything else, he wanted to talk to Alavel. He tried to imagine what Alavel would say.

It's alright, Lord Skyeyes. You mustn't worry about the past, nor about anything which you cannot change. Focus on what you can change: the future. Your future.

An idea struck Harry. He ducked into an empty classroom and took out the map. He scanned it for a particular person.

Ginny's day was going much better than Harry's. She was still basking in the joy of being on the Quidditch team. No more "Ron, you're so amazing!" Now it was her turn.

She still felt uncomfortable. The walls were too small. Someone was watching her. It was the Twins. They were up to something again.

It can't be, she told herself. They're not in Hogwarts anymore. Besides, Harry said it wasn't them at home either.

As she walked through Hogwarts, she heard footsteps approaching. She crept around the corner, wand at the ready.

She aimed her wand at the threat, ready to strike. When she did, she found another wand aimed at her.

"I think we ought to put our wands away," Harry said.

Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"How do I know that's you?"

"Dreda drisi gil."

Ginny grinned at Rose's old saying and lowered her wand.

Harry lowered his and nodded down the corridor.

"Fancy a stroll through the castle, Lady Firecracker?"

He held up his arm for her.

She gasped in mock excitement.

"Why Lord Skyeyes, I thought you'd never ask."

She took his arm and they began a slow walk through the corridor. She still felt restless, but every time she thought of pulling her arm away, she decided against it.

"How've you been?" he asked.

"Fine. Everything still feels too small, and I'm pretty sure I'm being watched."

Harry offered her a small smile. She'd seen boys give her that smile before, but only when they liked her, and Harry didn't like her. They were friends, nothing more. He'd never cared for her. He'd always cared more about Ron or Sally-Anne.

Probably running out of options.

No, he's finally seeing how good I am. Things are changing now.

"Not having nightmares?"

Ginny frowned.

"Of course not. Why would I be having nightmares?"

Harry glanced around, tapped his ear, and lowered his voice.

"You killed someone."

In her mind, she saw the way that NPC had looked when she burned his body.

"So? He hurt Brain. He deserved it."

Harry nodded. He wasn't as happy as she was, but he wasn't about to lecture her either.

"Anyway, excited for Quidditch?"

Ginny grinned.

"I can't wait."

They continued down the corridor. Her memories of that night were safely tucked away in the back of her mind.

Before his rounds with Sally-Anne later that week, Draco let his mind wander back to the letter he'd received from his father that morning.

Draco,

You've been given the honor of a task. You are to keep an eye on Dumbledore. We must know what he is planning. Destroy this letter after you read it.

Your Father

That was that. His first assignment was to spy on Albus Dumbledore. It could've been worse, but how was he supposed to do it? Most of what Dumbledore did went on in his office. Why couldn't they turn one of the professors? Didn't Professor Snape used to work for the Dark Lord?

"Good evening, Draco."

He looked to Sally-Anne. He couldn't tell her anything, lest his father find out he'd been socializing with a muggle-born.

"Good evening, Sally-Anne."

She frowned at him. That frown usually preceded the question "Is everything alright?".

"Is everything alright?"

As clever as she was when it came to people, Sally-Anne could be predictable at times.

"Fine," he grumbled.

"That's not an 'everything's alright' grumble, that's a 'something's bothering me' grumble."

He scowled at her.

"I do not have a 'something's bothering me' grumble!"

He knew how this worked. She pushed, he pushed back, she gave in, they got on with their lives.

She stood in the light from her wand and waited for him. Something about the way the light caught her dress made it sparkle. Had it always done that? Perhaps she was holding her want differently than she usually did.

"You look especially hideous tonight," he said as they started off.

"Thank you," she replied. "I took extra special care to look grotesque just for you."

He smirked at her. She had thicker skin than he'd thought.

"Are you going to keep making snide remarks to mask whatever's bothering you all night?" Sally-Anne asked.

"I thought I would," he shot back.

"That's a shame," she replied. "And here I thought we were bonding."

Draco scoffed at her.

"Some advice," she said, "bottle it up, and it will eat you from the inside out. I've watched it happen before, and even though you're more emotionally durable than most people, it will still find its way out. Would you rather it happen around me, or around your parents?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. She was blatantly asking him to share his secrets with her. No clever ploy to get him to open up, or some subtle hand waving, she was just going right for it.

"Grief from my parents," he said. "Insisting I… I start scoping out potential matches."

He figured that was similar enough to satisfy her, but not nearly what his real orders were. As Auntie Bella had instructed him to do, he had his Occlumency shields up at all times.

"Thank you," Sally-Anne said. "We needn't speak anymore of this. I just wanted to prove a point."

"What point?"

"That I'm not out to get you. That's how friendship works, Draco. Mutual trust."

They walked their rounds in silence. He still refused to say anything more to her, but she didn't push him. What was her deal?

"Who taught you Occlumency?" she asked.

"What?"

"Professor Dumbledore wants me, Ron, and Ginny to learn Occlumency. We're supposed to meet with Professor Snape every week, but Ginny never shows up, and Ron hates spending extra time with Professor Snape. I thought if someone else had taught you, maybe we could bring in an outside tutor for us."

Draco nearly burst out laughing at the thought of his aunt teaching a bunch of Weasleys and Muggle-borns.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Sally-Anne said, noticing the look in his eye.

"She… no, she wouldn't be interested in teaching…"

"A Muggle-born?"

"No."

"I thought not. That's alright. I understand."

They walked on for a ways. Draco found it odd that anyone could be so easy to talk to. Sally-Anne was right; she wasn't out to get an edge on him. Why not? Wasn't that what people did?

"You're learning Occlumency?" he asked.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it," Sally-Anne replied. "Professor Snape keeps telling us we've got to control our emotions, which I think is fantastic practice for me. I've always had trouble keeping a handle on my feelings. It's why I took elocution lessons in the first place."

Draco scoffed at her, remembering the scared little mudblood he'd met their first year.

"You're a lot different than you were, I'll give you that."

Sally-Anne smiled at him, and something inside him stirred.

What was that feeling?

"That means a lot coming from you," she said. "Thank you."

They walked in silence again while Draco attempted to pick apart what he'd felt. He'd almost felt happy, but he only ever felt that while watching someone else be miserable. Sally-Anne wasn't miserable, she was smiling, so it couldn't have been happiness.

He focused on his Occlumency shields and kept his emotions in check. After all, he was a Malfoy, and Malfoys didn't have feelings apart from anger and smugness.

Harry met Professor Snape in the Dungeons again Sunday afternoon. Snape greeted him no more cheerfully than he had before.

"We are once again going to be practicing Occlumency," he said. "Hopefully, you will do better than last time."

"We can only hope."

Snape glowered at him.

"Sir."

"Better."

Snape brandished his wand.

Harry's was in his hand before Snape's was at shoulder-height.

"Legilimens!"

Harry concentrated on a black void, like Sirius had suggested, but images were still ripped out of his head and cast in front of his eyes. The office went out of focus again, just like it had before, but Harry brought up his wand and focused on his blindsight.

"Stupefy!"

The images faded and he returned to Professor Snape's office.

"I'm impressed, Potter."

Professor Snape still loomed over him, having dodged the stunner Harry had thrown at him.

"Thank you, sir."

"You can clearly stop an attempt when provided your wand. Now let's see how well you do without it."

"That hardly seems fair," Harry said, knowing what the answer would be. Nonetheless, he refused to let Snape say anything without protest.

"Do you think your enemies will care about fairness, Potter? Will the Dark Lord show mercy because you beg?"

A flash of the graveyard appeared, and Harry recalled how well begging had gone for Voldemort's subordinates. Those were people that were supposed to serve him. Harry was supposed to kill him.

"I doubt it."

Harry placed his wand on the table next to him, then faced Snape again.

"Legilimens!"

Harry focused on the black void again, forcing it to stay present in his thoughts. At first, there was nothing. No flashing images, no forced recollections, nothing. Then one forced its way into his mind.

He got an image of Snape sneering, and anger welled up in him.

That small spark lit the powder keg in his mind, and memories exploded forth.

He was out at a bar with Sirius, Alavel, and Remus. Sirius was on his fifth drink and slurring his words. Remus was hunched over, his eyes darting around nervously. It was a full moon that night, and Remus was still paranoid he would change at any moment. Alavel laid a hand on Remus's shoulder.

"Do not worry, my friend. Everyone here is safe."

A woman at the bar slapped Sirius so hard he fell off his chair. She got up and stormed off.

Harry exchanged glances with Alavel. Harry pressed his lips together to stop from laughing. Alavel gave a look of contained exasperation.

"Perhaps it is time to go."

"Thas a good plan!" Sirius said, stumbling over to them. "The New Marauders move on tah their ness stop!"

"Indeed," Alavel said. "Home."

"Wah?" Sirius asked, nearly knocking into Alavel with his drink. "Nah, we… we got all night! This is Harry's chance to party, and I'm his… that thing!"

"Guardian?" Alavel asked.

"That! I gotta show him how tah live his life!"

Alavel gingerly took the drink out of Sirius's hand, then punched him in the face.

"I would appreciate you not imitating that rare burst of violence," Alavel said, grabbing Sirius before he hit the floor.

Alavel gently settled Sirius into a seat, then walked over to the bartender. After a few words, Alavel placed some money on the bar and returned to their table.

"It's time we go home."

"No!"

Harry snapped back to reality and found that he'd fallen on the floor.

"You just let me in!" Snape roared. "That was a miserable attempt!"

"You cheated!" Harry exclaimed, climbing back to his feet. "I was doing fine until you pushed an image into my head, sir!"

"And you think the Dark Lord won't? He'll use any trick he can to get inside your head. You must learn to recognize it instead of getting stuck inside some daydream!"

"You would know, wouldn't you, sir!"

Harry didn't know why he'd gotten so angry so fast, but he quickly dismissed that concern when he realized what he'd said. He wished Snape would ask what he'd meant, that Harry would have a chance to retract his statement.

It wasn't that Harry thought he'd hurt Snape's feelings by reminding him that the man used to be a Death Eater. Harry didn't care what Snape thought or felt. If Alavel had heard him, had seen their argument, he would've been ashamed of Harry.

"Would I now? Perhaps since I know him so well, we should spend teaching you exactly what he'll do if he ever tricks you into the forest again!"

For the first time in six years, Snape had Harry's undivided attention.

"What?"

Snape rolled his eyes.

"What do you think happened two years ago? That he'd turned that girl? Crouch used the Imperius Curse to force her to lure you out of Hogwarts. The Dark Lord probably wanted to prove he could steal you out from under Dumbledore's nose."

Harry's head began to spin. If Snape was right, Ellie hadn't betrayed him to Voldemort.

If I can trust Snape…

While Harry and Snape got into a fight, Hermione met Professor Dumbledore in his office again.

"Why don't we start with my first memories of Rose?" she asked. "Just to give us somewhere to start. I'm… I'm not sure I can do the Yule Ball just yet. Or… anything else, really."

Dumbledore nodded, then motioned to the Pensieve.

"I take it you already know the spell to use it?" he asked.

She touched a finger to her head, envisioned what she wanted, and allowed her mind to handle the rest.

A silvery strand followed her finger, and she dropped it into the Pensieve.

"Shall we?" she asked.

"Ladies first, I insist."

They went into the Pensieve together. The blue void dropped her onto the Hogwarts Express, where a girl with long, bushy hair was making her way through the compartments.

The girl walked down the express, glancing at different compartments, clutching a bag to her chest.

"Why did you sit with her?" Dumbledore asked.

"What?"

He glanced at her as they followed her younger self down the aisle.

"It's possible she compelled you to sit with her. I need to be certain she didn't."

Hermione furled her brow as she allowed the memory to consume her.

"In primary school, I didn't have any friends. I was the clever one, and… a little stuck up about it. So I figured it would be the same here, and that I would be best to just find an empty seat."

They got to the last compartment, and she still hadn't found somewhere to sit.

"But I couldn't find anywhere, and Rose was reading our Potions textbook. I figured I'd at least try to make friends with another girl in my year."

They looked into the compartment. Sure enough, there was Rose, curled up on the floor reading.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" the other Hermione asked. "Most of the other compartments are taken."

Rose looked up at her and beamed.

Hermione felt a small pain in her chest. She missed that expression. There was nothing else on the surface apart from pure joy. It was Rose at her most honest.

"Sure!"

The other Hermione sat down in the compartment and took out a book from her own bag.

"How come you're sitting on the floor?" she asked.

"Because I like to curl up when I read, and I didn't want to put my boots on the seats."

"Why not just take off your boots?"

"I like my boots! I mean sure, once I activate them in the morning, I don't need them until the next morning, but still!"

"'Activate'?"

"Yup!"

Rose closed her book and hopped up on the opposite seat.

Hermione glanced at Professor Dumbledore, then decided she'd take a seat next to Rose while Rose explained how her boots worked.

"My name's Rose! Rose Peta-Lorrum!"

"Sorry, did you say 'Rose Petal'?"

"Peta-Lorrum. Mum's last name was Peta, Dad's was Lorrum, and neither wanted to change. So, they gave me both of them!"

"Oh." There was a pause while the other Hermione took in the situation. "Er, sorry, my name's Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione!"

"Nice to meet you, I guess."

Hermione smiled at Rose.

"I'm a Muggle-born, so this is all new to me."

"Oh."

"What about you? Pureblood?"

"Nope! Mum wasn't a Witch, and Dad wasn't a Wizard!"

"If you're not a pureblood, then how come you know so much magic already?"

"My brother told me about the primal suite."

"Oh. So you're both Muggle-born?"

"I guess. Sk'lar's adopted, though."

There was a pause, then Rose responded to something else.

"No, Peta-Lorrum and Sk'lar."

Dumbledore frowned at Hermione.

"What just happened?"

Hermione furled her brow as she tried to remember what had happened.

"I thought it was odd, how her brother's name sounded like 'Scholar' and hers sounded like 'Rose Petal'. I think Ref read my mind."

They watched as the girls talked for a moment, then Neville arrived. Rose sent prying eyes flying through the train looking for Trevor.

"I had completely forgotten about Trevor," Hermione said. "I feel like we never see him. Or Hedwig, or even Crookshanks."

���Ms. Granger, that's not the point," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Of course not."

They drifted out of the memory, falling back through the void into his office.

"Well?" she asked. "She seems about the same as she always has."

"Which means whatever happened to send her down this path happened later," Professor Dumbledore said.

"I told you that already," Hermione said. "Why was she on the express at all? She popped up here first."

"We thought it would help her get along with the rest of the students, rather than having her show up suddenly in Hogwarts."

"Makes sense to me, I suppose." She glanced at the clock. "Are we finished for today?"

"Almost."

Professor Dumbledore reached into his desk and took out a small package wrapped in black paper with a red bow on top.

"I've never been one for regifting, but I think you'll enjoy this more than I ever have."

Hermione frowned at the package, then at him.

"It was your 17th birthday the other day, was it not?"

Hermione nodded, saying nothing.

"Then happy birthday, Ms. Granger."

She took the present from him, then carefully opened it. Inside was a book, but not just any book.

"Ages of Arcrel," she read, a smile forming on her lips. "Thank you, professor."

"You're most welcome, Ms. Granger, but do remember one thing: Rose is on a different side now. I can see that these memories are dragging up old feelings, but the Rose we knew may be gone forever. I know how hard this is for you, but separating who she was from who she is will be crucial."

The same thought had crossed her mind before, but she'd tried hard not to think about it. The prospect of having to kill Rose had also crossed her mind. Everything at once was too much for her to take. She clutched the book to her chest and nodded.

"I know." She smiled again, but knew it looked fake. "Thank you for the book, professor."

"You're welcome, but please do heed my words. I'm giving you the book because it means more to you than it does to me, not because I believe there is a chance that Rose can be saved. I hope she can be, but neither of us has the luxury of believing it."

Harry stormed out of the Dungeons and made his way to the Quidditch Pitch. He was still early, but he wanted to be alone. With no one there to bother him, he had a chance to clear his head.

"Leave it in the castle," he told himself. "I'm angry at Snape, I can deal with it when I see him. Leave it in the castle."

His anger drained away, and with it, everything else. The whole world faded away, leaving him all alone in peace.

This is what it's supposed to feel like. I'm sure of it. I just need to figure out how to do it when Snape's around.

He got dressed on his own, then flew around the Pitch for a few minutes before the rest of his team arrived.

"Are we late?" Katie asked.

"No," Harry said as he landed, "I'm early."

Harry looked out at his new team. It wasn't quite the same as his old one, but he was determined to prove that it was just as good.

"We're going to practice some drills today to get acquainted with how we all work together."

They all took to the air. Harry set them against one another, allowing them to get a feel for the other players. He'd thought about letting them play a match, but it'd be an unfair match. It wouldn't do any of the players any good to play an unbalanced game.

It didn't take his Chasers long to get into a rhythm with one another. Ginny was still headstrong, as he'd expected her to be. Over the past few years, Ron had learned to be careful and analytical; his sister had learned to be chaotic and reckless.

Ginny was something of a concern. She had a tendency to ignore her teammates, which had gotten him into trouble many times.

At the moment, she had the Quaffle. She flew it in, straight at her brother, who tensed and watched for her next move. He seemed confident she was about to pass it to someone, but she wasn't backing down.

From up above, Harry focused on Ginny. She wasn't good enough to fool him with a feint. Either she'd improved over the summer, or she intended to ram the posts.

Harry dove down, hoping to intervene before something bad happened. Neither sibling was backing down. He was still meters away when they collided. Even knowing both should've been wearing rings to protect themselves from the fall, he didn't want to risk one of them having forgotten. Harry grabbed Ginny and her broom, while Katie and Jonathon covered Ron.

"Ground!" Harry called to the rest of the team.

They all drifted to the ground, giving him a moment to think about what he would say. It was his job to handle disputes, but a dispute often had a winner and a loser. Either way, it wasn't about to go well.

"First of all, are you two alright?"

"I'm okay," Ron said. "I've been hit with harder."

"No you haven't!" Ginny exclaimed.

Well, she's still running her mouth, so she can't be hurt too badly.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"That was proving that Ronald can't stop everything!" Ginny exclaimed. "What's the problem?"

Harry kept himself calm, but raised his voice to maintain his authority.

"You ignored your teammates, which was the entire point of this drill, and you can't fly the Quaffle in like that."

"Why not?"

Katie got his attention, then answered the question for him.

"You can't bank at those speeds, and you can't fit through the posts. They'll knock you clean off your broom if you try. If your brother hadn't been in your way, you'd have collided, and in a fight, I'd put good money on those posts coming out in better shape than you."

Ginny turned her fury on Katie. Harry heard the click of her wand moving into place and slid his into his hand.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she roared. "Think I can't handle myself?!"

Katie didn't back down, but she clearly wasn't expecting Ginny to get in her face the way she had.

"ENOUGH!" Harry roared.

"What's everyone's problem?!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm doing what has to be done!"

"You're grounded the rest of practice!"

Ginny turned her attention to him, and he spotted Ron with his wand at the ready as well.

"Why?! Because I thought of something no one else did?! Because I'm too good?! You don't ground your best player!"

A few of the other players scoffed, but Ron shut them up.

"Because thus far, you've shown you can't work with a team," Harry said, albeit more calmly. "If this continues, you won't be part of it. Understood?"

"What?!"

She did not understand.

Harry realized she wasn't going to recognize his authority, which meant he had to escalate the situation. As much as he didn't want to, he didn't see an alternative.

<Someone please send Professor McGonagall to the Pitch.>

"Why?! Because I'm not playing nicely? People aren't going to play nice! Slytherin's not going to play fair! You of all people should know that the world doesn't play fair!"

Harry tried again to get through to Ginny.

"Firecracker, calm down."

"What for? I'm fine! What about my question?!"

"This isn't the real world, Firecracker, this is Quidditch. This is Hogwarts Quidditch, and we've got to play fair to show the other teams that we're better than the cheaters."

"Big talk from someone who was conveniently missing during the last match!"

Harry counted himself lucky that no one had told Ginny why he was missing from that match.

"What in Merlin's Name is going on here?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she walked onto the Pitch.

"What's she doing here?!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Ms. Weasley, that is not the tone I expect to be greeted with." She turned to Harry. "Is there a problem here, Mr. Potter?"

"That's up to Ginny, professor," he said, turning to Ginny.

Ginny glared at both of them, then finally relaxed a little.

"No problem."

"Good," McGonagall said. "I'm glad to see you've got everything under control here, Mr. Potter."

McGonagall left, taking the tension with her. As per his instructions, Ginny didn't take to the air for the rest of practice.

Harry kept an eye on her. Something was going on with her, and if it wasn't resolved, she wouldn't be able to play. More than that, she was his friend, and if something was bothering her, he wasn't going to sit by and ignore it.