Chapter 7: Lessons, Laughter, and Unexpected Alliances

Harry had woken up refreshed and more than a bit stir crazy, having enjoyed two simple days, doing very little on Friday and Saturday.

As much as he'd enjoyed having one class on Friday and no work on Saturday, he hadn't taken it easy by any means.

He was two years behind on Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, which would be abundantly clear once he started going to those classes. Not wanting to be put into other classes as replacements, appear simple to his schoolmates or hurt his appearance with the Professor's; he'd been using all his free time to do the only thing he could.

Study.

After having skipped Astronomy the night before, something he'd initially forgotten until Aster informed him the Professor was a pushover and would likely accept a simple apology, Harry looked for Riddle. For whatever reason, the girl seemed to love being in his presence and seemed to be slowly working towards cracking the code that made him… him, for lack of better thoughts. It was uncomfortable and oftentimes annoying but Slughorn had been correct, Riddle was extremely talented; thus, Harry spent eight hours on both days working with her, hoping that she would be able to squeeze in as much knowledge as possible.

She seemed to understand at least part of what his concern was over and assisted him just as much as Hermione had when he truly cared to pay attention. At one point she'd even used a stinging hex on Aster and Reinhard both when they came to take him to 'go bird watching' as they'd called it.

Now as helpful as the assistance proved to be and as good as her teaching was, Harry was still far from confident in his abilities; fortunately from what she told him, most of the work in class was a lecture and peer review.

In the time he had that wasn't spent studying, eating or doing other tedious tasks, Harry chose to spend it with the two boys who were slowly growing on him - in the worst way possible.

Aster and Reinhard were similar to the twins in a lot of ways, pranking or otherwise being disruptive to the pleasure of most classmates while a few would take offence. Unfortunately for the two of them and fortunately for the rest of the Hogwarts attendees - with the exception of Riddle - Aster loved changing the groups who were the butt of jokes, making himself enemies in every camp.

Harry was happy the two boys considered him something of a protege as the two seemed to take him along and teach him the ropes instead of treating him like the rest.

He chuckled to himself in remembrance of their running from Pringle, the man wasn't very fast but the adrenaline that pumped through his veins at the time had matched that of when he played Quidditch. Such a rush certainly made him consider the offer he'd gotten for tryouts.

Lastly, on Saturday evening, Harry had rushed towards the Hufflepuff table when he'd seen Sarah start to leave. He asked her for roughly an hour of her time to go over Potions before his first class, the girl agreeing quickly with a small blush on her cheeks after telling him to meet her in the library at seven in the evening.

She'd then run off giggling with her sisters not far behind, something that made him scratch his head in confusion before returning to his seat between Aster and Reinhard.

When asked why he didn't ask for Riddle's help in that subject too by the boys, he told them Riddle was already helping him with two classes, those two being subjects he was very far behind in. Because of that help, he wanted to lessen the load on the girl while at the same time make a new friend.

Unlike usual when the two would look between each other whenever Harry said something that would be likely to go back to the girl, both shrugged and moved on to their next topic, girls.

His Saturday would end with him being grilled on who had caught his eye so far and if they knew the girl, they'd offer their two cents of advice.

Sunday Morning

September 5th, 1943

"Off to your private tutoring again mate?" Aster asked from his bed as he made an exaggerated moan while stretching.

"Yes, I'll likely be doing this for most of the year." Harry had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the question, Aster had asked it both other times he'd gotten up to join the girls teaching him.

"Can't say I pity you, spending all your time alone with three birds that most of the boys in school find fit. Studying must get pretty hard sometimes, eh?" Aster finished his question with a few winks.

"Should I tell Riddle you said that today or save it for when you eventually throw another book at me?" Harry almost broke when he saw the boy's eyes go wide.

"I was just kidding Pev!" Aster sputtered out while looking towards a now rising Reinhard for assistance.

"I don't know, it did sound awfully serious… " Harry trailed off while he finished grabbing what he needed for today's session.

Eyes now wider, Aster frantically tried getting out from his bed only to fall to the floor in a heap of blankets. By the time he stood up and righted himself, he was greeted with Harry having lost his composure, laughing.

Reinhard wouldn't come to his aid at this moment either, the large boy grumbling something about 'shenanigans far too early in the morning, gonna clobber the both of you' until his head fell back on the pillow with snoring resumed.

Once Harry gathered himself and took in the scowl on Aster's face, he made his way towards the door while chuckling.

"Don't worry Aster, I won't be feeding you to any 'fit' witches today."

No verbal response was given, only a few gestures that had Harry back in full laughter by the time he greeted the three girls waiting for him in the Common Room.

None of them asked what had tickled him so much and Riddle chose to set them off in silence towards the usual quiet classroom they'd chosen to seclude themselves in for Harry's tutoring sessions.

As they arrived and got into actions that were becoming the norm, Harry got out his books on Ancient Runes while each of the girls went about various tasks in preparation.

By now, he'd come to the conclusion that Riddle hadn't chosen two people close to her at the time of his first lesson as he'd initially thought, rather, the girl seemed to pick the two in her closer group that seemed most competent in the subjects he needed the most assistance in.

With amazing efficiency, each of them would take over for Riddle when she needed a break or when prompted to add in additional information, very little time was wasted in waiting or private reading.

This was the first time the difficulty of his self given task truly showed, and it was in such an arguably minor way.

Unable to afford distractions, as they usually resulted in a painful slap on the arm from Riddle, Harry buckled down and went through his lessons with the girls while paying the utmost attention that he could. They'd managed to go over a large portion of Fourth Year material, that being which they deemed necessary; though they did tell him it'd eventually be good to learn it all in more depth than they were teaching him.

What they'd covered was The Asiatic and Far Eastern History of Runes, something he'd never even heard Hermione go over and that confused him to no end.

In addition to that challenging and time-consuming topic, they'd also gone briefly into the relationship between runic symbols and magic. They hadn't taught him any ward's or other such things that require rune usage, that task likely being impossible with where he currently was, what they did tell him was a multitude of things that could be done.

Examples given were runes to warn of another person's presence once they entered a specific area, runes that could do things to those people who tripped the first set of runes and more.

Harry didn't know how Witches and Wizards who'd taken this class didn't become overly complacent with using them.

Now, respect the girls as he did, especially with all the information they'd somehow crammed in while managing to keep it understandable, he found the task of eight hour days when they could be squeezed in, extremely tiring and brain-destroying.

They'd commented on his distraction or apparent lack of effort a few times while missing that it was just mental fatigue from the overabundance of information they were shoving into his brain. Try as he might to explain that fact to them, Riddle would ignore it and tell him this was the best way if he wanted to pass the two classes he'd gotten himself into.

He wasn't sure if that was the truth or if she were using this as an excuse to spend more time with him, one could never predict crazy.

Eventually, he'd finished yet another eight hours of constant studying with a small break for lunch between them and escaped the grasp of the witches with a courteous thanks for the help, rushing off towards the library.

As tired and mentally drained as he was, Harry wouldn't miss his meeting with Sarah that evening.

"Harry, you're early!" Sarah said in greeting, hastily putting away a muggle looking book.

"Sarah, you're earlier!" He teased in reply while peaking at her satchel, laughing at the flush and pout that her features morphed into when she noticed the book was still sticking out from her bag.

"Prat!"

Harry raised his hands in surrender. "Muggle books are fine by me, I haven't gotten the chance to read many."

Sarah looked around a bit before leaning in. "Don't tell anyone you saw me with one and I'll give you some?"

He shrugged and looked at her confusedly. "Not a lot of support for muggle literature then?"

"Not at all! Especially in your House… I mean, not House Peverell, obviously, but Slytherin!" Her jumbling of words made him smile, he could place with more certainty why he felt so attached to the girl after their few meetings.

She was real.

With the others in Riddle's group and the girl herself, he was always wondering if some sort of angle was being worked on. So often did their moods seem to vary and actions be done for the sole benefit of him that he knew something had to be up; why else would they seem genuinely charitable?

"So do we have a deal?" Sarah looked nervous that he'd say what he found her with.

"I won't say what I saw you reading, it's not anybody's business but yours." Merlin knows how much he hated his various life details being spread around the castle and wizarding world at large.

"Thanks, Harry… Do you like any particular genres or muggle authors?" With all his time at Hogwarts from years prior but also somehow in the future joined with the crazy week he'd had since he was deposited in this timeline, his mind went annoyingly blank.

"Uh, no, sorry."

Good job Harry, really bottled that you numpty!

She took pity on him, giving a soft smile as she replied. "I'll bring a few different types over for you to test out. Potions now?"

"Thank you, I am curious though, what were you reading?" Harry saw her scramble for a response and added in. "Potions right after."

Clearly embarrassed based on the redness of her skin and sputtering for an answer, Harry took the time to pull out his Potions book along with a notebook for anything she had in the way of advice. He'd almost not brought the latter until it hit him that her father was a potioneer and likely passed along many tips to his girls. Tips that would greatly benefit him considering just how great a job Snape had done.

Harry cursed his luck that he'd not been sent back in time to when the slimy git was in Hogwarts, he reluctantly acknowledged petty revenge falls behind the saving of a world, if only just.

Finally, it seemed the girl figured out her response when she got out. "I was reading 'And Then There Were None'… yeah… it's a good mystery book."

He'd never heard of it back in his time though he conceded there was already plenty here that he was unfamiliar with. Only the suspiciousness in her tone and the way she spoke seemed to make him doubt her answer. Oh well, there were better things to talk about than a book she was embarrassed about; even if it were fun messing with the girl.

"You'll have to throw it my way sometime. Potions then?" Her reaction to his response was immediate as she settled into a tutoring persona, one that came close to rivalling Riddle's in terms of seriousness but fell short in information compacted.

"Where do you want to start?"

"Strengthening Potion?" He still remembered just how poorly a job he'd done under Snape's tutelage and how tedious the follow-up paper had been to write. Unlike most subjects for this repeat year, Harry would be on a level playing field when it came to potions.

Sarah turned a rather old looking notebook to a page that was visited so often the book practically likely would fall open to it if given the chance. In lieu of a question, Harry raised an eyebrow at the girl who laughed before giving her response.

"My father was the youngest of five boys and would often get pushed around, unfortunately for his brothers he'd had a keen mind for potions along with an easy way to get the required ingredients."

"Oh." That'd have been a funny thing to see, too bad he hadn't the chance to properly make it before.

Sarah sat closely beside him following their minor exchange over the book, guiding him through the paragraphs of information filled with tips of stirring and so on. She'd even changed a couple of things from the book, further proving she was masterful in a subject he'd never been overly proficient in.

"So I add the Fanged Geranium following the Arm bone?" Once they'd moved on from the reading portion, Sarah trying her best to make him forget the 'official best' way of making them, she insisted that he repeat back to her the steps as best he could while not looking at the book.

"Yes, very good so far - don't forget to stir." She was sitting beside him still, her hands neatly folded with her head nodding.

Harry closed his eyes and tried to imagine the stirring amounts along with their directions rather than the smell of the girl's perfume. It'd take him half a minute to spout out what he believed to be the correct answer, with the pleasant smell fogging up his mind.

"Three counter-clockwise, followed by two sets of five clockwise, and then I add Salamander blood as a thickening agent?" His confidence was nowhere to be seen once his statement that sounded more like a question was complete.

Much to his surprise, he'd gotten it right and was rewarded with a sweet smile. "Almost done Harry!"

Smiling dumbly at the praise from the beautiful girl beside him, Harry said with his chest the remainder of the potion steps.

"I stir it in three sets of three, clockwise, let it mature for two days and then finally, add the Powdered Griffin Claw while the mixture is still cool, stirring it when it's just coming to temperature."

Sarah's response was a quiet 'yay' and subdued clapping, assuring him that he'd gotten it right while avoiding the ire of the librarian.

"Really, wonderful job Harry! You're a natural!"

Too bad Snape never seemed to think so, Harry had never done great in potions and was sure that as much fault could be placed on the slimy man, equal amounts could be placed on him for lack of effort. Maybe having a beautiful witch as a partner was all any bloke needed to do well while at Hogwarts.

"Thanks Sarah, really couldn't have done it without your help. You'd make an excellent Professor you know." His response was completely truthful, as rare as that occurrence seemed to be getting.

Not able to take compliments well or maybe being anxious in social interactions as he sometimes was, Sarah looked away from him while quietly saying thanks. They both stayed silent, Harry packing up their supplies and the girl waiting for her face to turn back from the red that'd overtaken it.

When she finally did, she was quick to move on from his compliment. "Do you want to go over any others tonight? Maybe set up another date to d- I mean date as in time, not like we're dating, obviously, you knew tha-" She slapped a hand over her mouth to stop the rambling and seeing no other option, buried her head in her hands while leaning into the table.

Harry laughed silently, not that the girl could see it; him doing it for that very reason to preserve their friendship should she take offence to his laughing at her awkwardness.

Being far quicker to get over the moment than she was, Harry spoke while looking away from her should she raise her head. "I'd consider myself amazingly fortunate if you'd be kind enough to waste your time helping me."

Her mumbled reply could still be made out with only a small level of difficulty. "Not a waste of time… you're my friend."

He was glad to hear that and gladder still when the girl tapped him on the shoulder, showing him that she'd revealed herself sooner than expected.

"Walk me to the Great Hall for Dinner?"

With a charming smile that'd give Riddle a run for her money - at least in his opinion - Harry offered the girl his arm with an overly accented "My lady."

Giggling at his moves, the Goldhorn girl took his offered arm and the two were on the move to the Great Hall. Unlike journeys with his housemates, Harry wasn't content to let it go on in silence and chose to speak with the girl, asking a question to start them off.

"You said you've grown up with Marcus Potter?"

Sarah nodded and let out a light huff. "I did; he was so much worse when he was younger if such a thing is possible!"

"That bad?" Harry desperately wanted to hear whatever stories he could, as no matter how trivial they'd be to her, they held value to him.

"Wait a minute Mister ." Sarah emphasized with a poke at his chest, mockingly glaring at him. "If we're doing this again, It's my turn to ask a question."

Ever the gentleman, Harry bowed to the girl and in almost the same tone of voice when he offered his arm earlier, said "My lady."

She raised her nose at him, holding her head high while patting his arm still holding hers with her free hand. "Such a gentleman, Peverell." she laughed at the wink he gave in reply and then leaned slightly closer to him. "You may not know just yet, however, I happen to be very informed about most people's lives here in the castle. Whenever somebody wants to know if the person they fancy is betrothed or dating, or where a person is going on holiday, they can come to me. Most of the time I'll get a little something in return while not actually giving anything private out… you have to imagine with your family name just how many girls have asked me about you."

"That was a whole lot of talking without a question, Miss Goldhorn." Harry laughed at the narrowed eyes she gave him.

"Are you betrothed or otherwise seeing anyone; assuming you're willing to share that?" The gleam in her eyes was amusing and as he'd already shared with a few housemates of his before they were that, he had no problem giving her the information she wanted - especially if it benefited her to some extent.

"Not betrothed and not dating at the moment." His response was casual and he laughed as she nodded fast enough to give herself a headache. For his own curiosity at the cost of progressing with anything important, his next question was related to hers. "Who was asking about me?"

"Hmm, telling you wouldn't be very nice of me…" Sarah said, dragging on the last word with a pointed look at him.

Picking up the hint from the girl, he sighed exasperatedly and asked what she wanted.

"Well, now that you mention it, one of those girls happens to be a friend of mine and Marcus'. You even met her, fortunately for the both of us! Her name is Indigo Birch, fifth-year Gryffindor."

Not seeing where this was headed out of pure density on his behalf, Harry motioned for the girl to continue.

"She really likes Hogsmeade and hasn't ever gone with a boy before." Sarah winked at him before realizing how that must've looked and promptly looked away blushing.

"I suppose I can take her to Hogsmeade next month rather than this one, I already have found myself with a planned trip." No offence to Sarah, her friends or any other girl that liked him; Riddle came first, only not in the way they'd think of it.

That was without thinking how the seemingly unstable girl would take his blowing her off.

Sarah continued looking away and responded to him. "I know you're good for your word, I'll tell her that I managed to snag her a Hogsmeade date with Peverell and see if I can't get a box of La Fudgerie's truffles from it."

First Corene, Now Sarah, Harry had to plan on a trip when he went with Riddle, just to see if the place was truly that good.

"The names?" He prompted her.

"Oh, there's too many to list without us arriving at the Great Hall before I'm halfway finished; should I give you the ones that are more prominent?"

Happy at the ego boost, Harry nodded at her question as the girl listed them off, prefacing that just because they asked doesn't mean they're fully interested - only she put it nicer than that.

"Adela Fourpetal, Olivia Hornby, Selena Caprine and Veronica Weasley."

He'd never heard of the first two names and was only vaguely familiar with Selena, her being one of the girls Aster pointed out from Ravenclaw. It was interesting she'd asked about him and he would be sure to gloat to Aster at a later date. Most surprising to him was Veronica Weasley asking about him, he'd never heard about her and Potter being together but had pictured them so based on their almost always being in one another's company.

"I'll tell you something more, something that I've heard from a few reliable girls that like to gossip. Riddle and Walburga Black have both been asking about you, the former far less subtly." Sarah looked a bit nervous for him but tried to alleviate any fears her words had caused, more so for herself than him, probably. "I doubt they're telling the full truth, anyways, back to me."

She looked to be thinking of a question when they made their turn and were in sight of the Great Hall, a bustle of their peers moving about.

Harry took that time to increase their speed just slightly in case she unleashed another corker of a question that would lead to him going on a date with another friend of hers.

Seeing what he was doing, Sarah began dragging her feet, causing him to slow down and give an exasperated look at the girl.

Not looking the least bit bothered by it, perhaps knowing what type of person Harry was, she asked him her question. "Can my parents write to you?"

"Why would they want to?" His brows furled and he examined the girls face for any signs of deception to come when she gave her answer.

"Well, my mum loves History, and my dad loves my mum. When they read in the Daily Prophet that House Peverell was active again, I may have said I met you where I work and told them who you were with. My dad got extremely excited and asked if I saw you again to ask if they could write to you from time to time; that's also why I can all but assure you that they'll not mind having you over for our Yule celebrations."

There could be a few benefits to having a Mediwitch and Potions Master writing you with the only downside being slightly less time to go Riddle watching. Spending Yule with Sarah was an added benefit that didn't sound too bad now that he was sure it wouldn't be imposing too heavily.

"Sure, they can write me."

Sarah smiled, hugged him and bolted into the Great Hall excitedly.

Seeing the girl so happy had the side effect of doing the same to him as he slowly made his way over to his housemates. His usual seat between Aster and Reinhard while across from Riddle and her groupies being available for him.

As soon as he sat down, Aster was ready to unleash a comment he'd likely been holding.

"Strike some Gold, Peverell?"

As bad as that was, he'd heard worse from the boy and as such, he was prepared to give a response that was becoming entirely too common for his liking.

"Do move your seat if you find such crassness amusing, Rosier." Daphne said with a disapproving glance at the whole of them, even if Harry had not been involved.

Aster bowed his head, tilting it to the side to wink at Harry before he raised it up again to reply to the Head Girl. "Sorry ma'am, I suppose I'll be having a detention with you tonight?"

Her disapproving glance now openly a hateful glare, she looked to Riddle who shrugged before taking in a deep breath while her face settled into a smile. "No, unfortunately, I'm busy tonight. I believe Pringle should be free though, so you'll have to be seeing him tonight."

"Is it too late to say you're the best Head Girl we've ever had and I apologize with the entirety of my being oh wise and beautiful Daphne?" Aster laid it on thick, bringing his hands in front of him to mimic praying in her direction with the largest puppy dog eyes he'd seen.

"Aster, do you remember a conversation we had in your second year?" Riddle spoke up, amusement and the slightest sign of maliciousness in her eyes, though Harry could be making that up himself.

"Are you talking about the one after I made you trip into that slime with the help of Prewett?" Aster looked chastised and sounded the same.

Riddle smiled widely, pride visible in her tone. "Very good! You've always had a good memory and a keen mind; which is why it troubles me that I should have to remind you of what we'd discussed. Perhaps another lesson is in order?"

"Nope, no, I understand you." Aster worked very quickly to decline the offer if it even were one at this point.

"Are you certain? Lessons on manners are something that I consider myself very good at, your forgetting doesn't mingle well with my up till now, pristine record." Riddle's tone had changed, it was sharp and cold.

Harry decided to step in for the boy even if he was annoying most of the time and a punishment for his remark about another friend of Harry's wasn't called for.

"I think he gets the message you two."

Daphne's eyebrows rose at his intervention while Riddle smiled victoriously, the others on her side also seemed to take more interest as conversations discreetly died now. Even in the few days he'd been in Slytherin, he knew what to look for when they were eavesdropping, all one had to do was pay attention to the room.

"Would you be needing a lesson from Riddle too, Peverell?" Daphne had her nose raised as she eyed him.

Harry didn't back down in the face of the older girl. "Unable to do it yourself?"

Daphne snorted and tilted her head forward, her downcast eyes peering at him from behind a curtain of hair.

Not nervous in the slightest, rather, feeling eager to beat the girl in a battle of wills, he stared back at her. He even raised his nose much like she had earlier, showing or hoping to show, just where he thought she belonged.

Aster and Reinhard were tensed beside him while the girls across from the table, Riddle included, watched the exchange; all of those involved were wondering who would be the first to break or otherwise escalate the situation.

In his mind, during the prolonged eye contact with the girl, Harry was nervous.

She was technically only a year ahead of him which shouldn't make her undefeatable for him; what did was how she seemed second in command to the group. Being second to Riddle likely meant the girl was very advanced in most if not all types of magic and based on how often they spoke, she likely held the younger girls ear enough to influence decisions. Riddle seemed weirdly infatuated with him for now, but should that change and he'd have made an enemy of the Head Girl, undoubtedly she would pursue him with extreme prejudice.

Regardless of everything, whether she duels him at a later date or try suppressing whatever he'd do down the line, he refused to back down in front of all those currently watching them.

After a minute finally passed, Daphne broke eye contact and looked to Riddle, the younger girl giggling.

Harry watched then as Daphne leaned in and said something, causing the giggling to erupt into full laughter.

He didn't want to know what was said between the two as their eyes went back to him from one another, instead, he dragged ahold of the two boys beside him and decided now was a perfectly reasonable time to leave. As unversed as he was in the matters of the fairer sex, contemplative looks from two very powerful witches would never be good for a Wizards health.

"Oi mate, I'm still eat-" Harry silenced Aster with a biscuit to the mouth, looking to Reinhard who shrugged while allowing the much smaller boy to drag him off. Aster, having seen the exchange, mumbled incoherently with a gesture towards the table.

"Nuh-uh, Peverell here was smart to book it when he did, could practically smell the plans running amuck across the table." Reinhard apparently supported his decision of fighting… by running away.

Aster looked disappointed that he'd not gotten to eat everything that he wanted but couldn't cause too much ruckus on their way back to the common room considering just whose fault it was.

Once they entered into their common room, they saw it almost devoid of life, only a small group of four students sat together in the corner farthest from where Riddle usually seated herself. It was a better spot to plot than most in the room, with nobody being able to disturb it unless they fully meant to and based on who was in that little group of four, that was entirely the goal of their seating arrangement.

Walburga Black was joined with the older boy who he'd met at Malfoy's home along with two other boys.

Almost as if she were waiting for them, the girl beckoned them over with a simple and straight to the point 'come hither' gesture. She'd also shown the same apparent lack of thought that Riddle did when ordering people as once she gave the sign, she looked back at one of the boys and resumed conversing with him.

"Pev, we shouldn't be seen with them ." Reinhard whispered, already showing signs of nervousness when he looked back towards the entrance to the common room.

Harry furrowed his brows at Reinhard. "Why's that?"

"Riddle's orders." Aster answered, also leaning in to join the whispered conversation, making it abundantly clear to the others in the room that they were debating going over should they look at them.

Scoffing at Aster's words, Harry looked between the two of them. "Since when do you actually listen to Riddle, Aster - need I remind you why we had to leave earlier than usual? What about you Reinhard, can't be that nervous that anyone will do anything can you?"

Both other boys exchanged looks, Aster looking like that was all it took while Reinhard appeared far more hesitant.

"Fair, I'm in, see if we can't cause some trouble yeah?" Aster smiled mischievously when he'd finished, looking between his two friends.

"I don't know, Riddle would be proper fuming if we were seen with them - even you'd get a lashing Peverell." Reinhard warned, looking

"Live a little L!" Aster was already onboard enough that he'd taken to convincing the other boy for Harry. "Besides, really think she'd do anything to risk Pev here jumping over to Walburga or Potter? All he'd have to do is say a little something and we'd be let off just like him!"

"I hate when you make sense, Rosier." Reinhard said with a sigh, looking between his two companions; seeing the looks on their faces and how they slowly were sliding towards the girl, he gave in. "Fine, you'd bloody well take the heat for it if Riddle catches us!"

So distracted and enveloped in their circle of whispering, the boys had failed to notice the footfalls signalling more arrivals in the common room - that was until a voice joined them in their whispering.

"Do tell." A girlish voice said from behind Reinhard's huge frame.

All three boys jumped apart with Aster letting out a brief but girlish scream as he did so. When they all looked to see who'd arrived most recently, they saw Daphne, Corene, a few other girls and the very one they'd just gotten over their fear of.

Riddle.

"If Riddles catches us… sneaking out after curfew?" Aster answered for the group, looking between the other two boys who were shaking their heads and mouthing 'stop', unfortunately for the three of them, he continued. "Oh well, better luck next time I always say, good catch and that. Best get going lads and leave the prefects to their duties."

Aster then tried to walk past the girls with a hand on each of his mates, both he and Reinhard passed them but when Harry made his attempt to, a cold hand he was all too familiar with, seized him by the arm.

Smiling widely and using her other hand to trace shapes on his upper arm, the girl questioned in a sweet tone what they were getting themselves up to. He'd heard her voice get deeper, husky before and assumed it was her actual tone in comparison to the usual one she'd used, this one lost the desired effect of innocence, instead, it felt like the most unsettling of the bunch.

"I was asking the two of them for help in missing my next lesson, I'd assumed you wouldn't suspect them of running interference for me if it were something stupid." Harry hoped she'd believe that, as he'd rather not have gotten them all in any heat with nothing to gain from it.

"Is that right?" Riddle questioned the other two, showing just how much she believed it.

He heard rather than saw the two boys nod, the noise from how emphatically they did so would have amused him if he weren't currently being held by her.

She looked back at him and moved in close, very much past personal space with how their bodies rubbed together. When she spoke, it was directly into his ear, her breath tickling him. "I see… I must say it's amusing that you'd think any involvement of those two would be seen as an accident." she then lowered her voice enough that only he could hear her next remark. "Your lying needs work, P- Harry ."

His eyes snapped to hers as soon as she'd stepped back, the girl laughing with the others when they took in his very flushed appearance.

Aster resumed his hold on Harry as he took the boy to the dorms, all the while Harry was remembering the time before then that she'd made that very same 'mistake'. Did she know who he was, if so, how could she? More importantly, why not kill him rather than play whatever game she currently was? Or did she truly mean to call him Peverell but revert back to his first name in that sickening tone he was hating that he liked in a purely physical way?

Still in his thinking, Harry was surprised when a hand poked his cheek, abruptly ending his panicked thinking.

Aster stood next to him while Reinhard had already gone off to his bed to get changed or some other thing to do.

"Alright mate?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Quick thinking, don't think she bought it though." Aster patted him on the shoulder.

"She most definitely didn't buy it, how do you get past lying to her?" Admittedly, Harry had never excelled in lying and out of all the houses in Hogwarts that could teach him the proficiency, it'd be the one he was in.

Aster made a 'pfft' like sound and laughed, "You can't get away lying to Riddle, the girl always seems to know whenever you tell anything but the truth. Morgana incarnate that one, 'specially if you believe everything Professor Slughorn boasts about her at balls and the like."

Harry rephrased his question. "Do you know anybody who's gotten away with it since you so obviously haven't?"

"Blimey mate, weren't you listening? Nobody gets away with lying to her, can't even get away with half-truths!"

Reinhard came over, dressed in his pyjamas now and entered into the conversation on Aster's side.

"He's right Pev, at least as far as we can tell. "

Harry wasn't willing to accept the fact that the girl was all-seeing. "Would you know anybody who'd have a chance?"

Both boys looked contemplative and took upwards half a minute before they both came to the same conclusion, much to Harry's annoyance. Said conclusion was a resounding no.

"Moving on from Riddle and her infallible nature in all things magical, why don't we get to something important." Aster led the group over to a couch after making a quick stop by his bed, taking a book with him.

Harry, not minding to be distracted until he retired to his closed-curtains bed for the night, followed the other two boys over to a seating area tucked between the glass, letting them see out into the lake on three sides.

Reinhard already seemed to know what was coming, taking his timetable out to modify it while Aster did much the same, motioning for Harry to mimic his but Harry not quite understanding what the other boys meant.

Eventually, Aster took pity and told him. "We're not going to History of Magic first thing in the morning. Waste of time honestly, all you ever need to know is in the book here." Aster took that moment to flash the book he'd brought over before resuming what he was saying. "And the few things you don't know, ask a higher year who put the effort in."

"Won't we get in trouble for missing the class?" Harry questioned, causing the two to bark laughter before Reinhard answered.

"Nah, unlikely as a talking pig that, Professor Binns doesn't take attendance."

Harry could see how a lack of attendance would be very beneficial if you planned on skipping a class and with him now having dropped two easy classes, maybe he could allow himself this slight mercy.

He'd never had an overly hard time in History and it'd always been an easily passed class; on top of that, if these two passed it while skipping it over the years as he suspected, it can't be hard.

"So, what do you say Pev? Sleeping in or should we tell Abraxas to head to class with you?" Aster snickered when he saw the look Harry returned at his comment.

Harry's friends were well aware of his thoughts on the blonde boy and shared most of his disliking towards Malfoy. Not for the same reasons as he had, considering how hard that'd be, but close enough for there to be no questions on why he disliked him.

Aster in a moment of clarity during downtime on a way to class had remarked just how spot-on Harry was with his assessment of the poncey brat.

Having made up his mind, Harry responded. "I suppose we should get our books opened then."

He stood up and had just taken his first step towards his bed when Aster stopped him. "No need for that, I brought three very special ones for the lot of us; had to get an acquaintance to copy them so expect an invoice, the both of you."

Reinhard laughed and gladly took the offered book, Harry doing the same towards what looked like the very same book he was preparing to get from his satchel. Looking it over and seeing nothing 'special' as Aster had remarked, Harry asked just what made these books better than the ones they already had.

Aster in response, opened Harry's book up, revealing it to be identical to the one he had; at least until Aster tapped his wand to it in a small pattern while mumbling something under his breath.

When he did that, the text scrambled around on the page until well over half was gone. In its place per page was two to three paragraphs instead of the many others that occupied the space.

Looking back at Rosier, Harry silently questioned just what he'd done.

"Special, remember?"

"Oh just tell him you git, don't need your head getting bigger than it already is." Reinhard emphasized his comment with a large, meaty hand to the back of Aster's head.

Yelping at the pain, Aster slapped at Reinhard briefly while the larger boy laughed with Harry.

"Fine, fine." Aster leaned in, causing Harry to do much the same. "Each of our special little books here is enchanted with the notes a mutual friend took whilst in our year, that mutual friend got a passing grade, quite a high one at that. Long as we aren't melons and give this a read the night before, we'll miss nothing important by skipping the class."

That… that was surprisingly clever. Riddle was right that Aster had his usages - when the boy cared about putting forth the effort.

Seeing the look Aster was giving him, Harry gave credit where it was partially due.

"Nicely done mate."

That was all Aster seemed to want as he settled back in his seat and began reading through the book.

Harry wasn't sure how the other boy knew when to stop but when he picked up his own copy and began reading as his companions were, after a few dozen pages he saw the date of the notes change. In his mind, that meant that he'd read the notes taken for the class he would be skipping and stopped at it.

Aster looked up when Harry put down the book and snorted, a look of surprise on his face. "Done reading all those notes already?"

"Yeah, some of those pages only had a paragraph and a few one-line snippets." Harry didn't understand how the other two boys were still reading while they seemed as confused at the opposite

"Quick reader Pev? Or did you just rush through it?" Reinhard had also put his book down, Harry seeing that he was a half dozen from finishing.

"I suppose I'm a quick reader in comparison to the two of you." Both boys took that fine and decided they'd question him further once their own reading was done.

Opening the book again, this time to no particular page or subject, Harry took in the notes. They were very neatly written and very straight to the point. Minimalistic in some points while very detailed in others.

Whoever had passed these to Aster, and by extension, Lestrange and him, was likely quite intelligent. He'd seen Hermione's notes before and while he'd not paid too much attention to them, the ones in his hands could likely compare to hers in terms of quality.

Had Aster stolen the notes or paid for somebody else to do so, just to save him and his friends time? Did the boy really have a contact that was a year ahead and didn't mind making a few galleons off their work from the year prior? Could these be Riddle's notes and Aster hadn't stolen or purchased them at all, instead the girl giving them for some nefarious plot that Harry had fallen for just by reading from it?

He hastily put the book on the table in front of him once the most recent train of thought ran rampant in his head.

If it were the lattermost case, surely he'd be fine since he'd not written in it?

"Scared of too much reading like Rosier here?" Reinhard looked amused, likely seeing the nervousness on Harry's face.

Trying to play it off, Harry laughed and hoped it sounded normal. "Not quite so much as he does, but somewhat, yes."

"I'll have you know I enjoy reading when it's something I pick out and not these ruddy books explaining stuff in ways we don't need to know." Aster piped up, having just now finished the reading of those notes.

"Suppose that's why you've always gotten the notes when you can - speaking of that, gotten any other classes for us?" Reinhard looked eager at the prospect of other notes that could do the same, likely envisioning his study time dropping and his time for doing whatever it is he enjoyed increasing.

Aster shook his head sadly. "Only agreed to give me these ones she did, said that me and whoever else is using them should 'spend the time learning in the classes not taught by that horrid ghost' or something along those lines."

Harry figured the boy wouldn't name whoever 'she' was that had helped them but still tried; unlike Sarah who was easily read, Aster could lie extremely well, at least in his opinion. That fact made him all the more nervous when the boy mentioned just how good at insight Riddle seemed to be.

"Aster, who exactly gave you these notes?"

Reinhard shook his head and muttered something about futility.

Harry asked the larger boy what he meant and the response was par for the course.

"Pev, no offence to you, Aster is far likelier to tell me something than you on account of my knowing him since we were far closer in size. I can't remember the number of times I've asked for this mystery benefactor only to get shot down. All I know, it's not his Sister or any of the girls who're generally by her side."

"What would it take for you to tell us, Aster?" Harry asked the boy, thinking that while Reinhard was never told, maybe he'd never offered anything.

Aster shook his head. "A lot of things mate, nothing bad enough to give up my contact before we graduate."

He'd find out eventually… probably, for now, no further progress would be made.

"So, what's our schedule for tomorrow with History of Magic gone?" Reinhard asked, not bothering to get up from his seat.

Off the top of his head and without full confidence, Harry recited it. "Nothing in that first period, Potions for half the second and all of the third period, Ancient Runes in fourth and Defence for fifth and sixth."

Aster ran a hand down his face and Reinhard groaned.

Harry pulled over his timetable with a quick flourish of his wand and double-checked, alerting the two others that he'd been correct. He'd then tell them that only Mondays and Tuesdays were so busy, Wednesday through Friday were far lighter days.

Rather than lighten the mood, more groans sounded at his Tuesday comment while ignoring the latter half of it.

All three boys stayed chatting with one another for another thirty minutes. Their conversation ranging from the stupidity of whoever made the schedule to Quidditch, Aster steering that last bit even further, towards a fit witch in Hufflepuff, as he almost always seemed to do.

At the end of the thirty minutes, the boys went off to their beds and closed the curtains, winding down for the night and preparing for the first full week of classes.