Chapter 4: Halloween

A/N: I'm moving guest review answers for earlier chapters to the updated chapters from the more recent chapters so that they'll correlate appropriately. If the review isn't there in time for the update, I'll just answer it in the next updated chapter and label it as an answer for the actual chapter. Questions? PM me, please.

Summary: Motivated, miffed, and magical, Shikamaru Nara was a force to behold. Whoever had placed him here was going to get it, but first he'd have to get through a school for magic. And he'd thought ninjas could be stupid. Troublesome.

Rating: T, and should stay that way.

Genres: Friendship, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, maybe more, I don't know yet.

Warnings: Language, mentions of bullying, implied child abuse/neglect, non-canon elements, SPOILERS FOR HARRY POTTER AND NARUTO , warnings are individual per chapter, might change next chapter or might not. No slash or yaoi, yuri, shounen ai, shoujo ai, incest, pedophaelia or necrophaelia.

Pairings: As far as romance goes, it's canon for both series. Friendship!Shikamaru/Harry&Ron&Hermione&Neville&Fred&George. Mentorship!Snape/Shikamaru.I might add more later, if I think of it.

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will, either of them would be awesome, but alas there's a reason why I'm writing Fanfiction instead.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Emphasis on words

(#): A/N to explain something and/or justify something

Time Skip of Given Time

Regular text

A Shadow in Wizard's Robes Chapter 4: Halloween

By: AngelicSilverWolf

'A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out,' Walter Winchell

Age 8: Three years before Hogwarts.

Shikamaru had to admit, he didn't think they would sink this low. Naïve of him, sure, but honestly. Who would've suspected this?

He gave a hard look at the matron of the orphanage and then returned his stare to the man in front of him. His new...therapist. Great.

"Can I at least ask why?" he sighed, irritated. Just one more way to try and control him - it was getting old.

"Well, some people around here were getting worried about your night terrors," she said carefully. He raised an eyebrow that spoke of his disbelief. If she was going to lie she should've at least tried to make it plausible. They both knew that the only thing people around here were worried about was him flying off the handle and using his magic in despicable ways to murder them all.

"Right," he drawled. He gestured at the man who was watching the conversation intently. "So your solution is a shrink?"

She frowned at him while the man perked up at the terminology.

"I see what you meant about acting different from his age group," he said to the matron. She nodded.

"Indeed. We were concerned about his social development," she said. Her fake earnestness got on Shikamaru's nerves.

"You know, it would be nice if you stopped pretending that I wasn't here," he said with a bite of impatience. He wasn't particularly in the mood for this conversation. Last night had been a short scene of how the war could have gone. Suffice to say it ended painfully and with lots of death.

"Of course, excuse us," the man hurried to say. The condescending kindness irritated him. At least the adults here acknowledged his maturity, even if they didn't like him. If they picked up on this behavior, it might actually drive him insane.

Still, there no need to let the man know exactly how different he was. Operation: Fool the Fool was underway. So, in an uncharacteristic show of childishness, he crossed his arms and scowled. "Weren't you just saying that I was different from my age group?" he snapped. Satisfaction flashed through him, though he was careful not to show it, when the man raised a placating hand. Like he would with a temperamental child. Better to play the part he expected to see.

"I apologize. You are different," he said. Shikamaru pretended to think about it, and then relaxed slightly. No need to go overboard with it though.

"It isn't your fault that she thinks I'm crazy," he allowed. It was the man's fault for trying to pose as something he clearly was not. If he was an actual therapist intent on helping Shikamaru, then he wasn't a reincarnated ninja who hadn't actually died (still a bit unclear on that, by the way).

"That's right. He's here to clean up your act," the woman sneered. Shikamaru didn't have to fake the look of bored derision he shot her.

"Now, now, let's not fight," the man said in alarm. He turned to her. "Why don't you leave us to our meeting now? Thank you for the help."

It clearly wasn't a suggestion, and Shikamaru didn't bother to hold back the mocking smirk as she left with a burning glare. He turned back to see the man watching him carefully. It was easy to fake defensiveness and distrust. Most of it was true, but he kept everything else hidden. Besides, it wasn't so much defensiveness as it was wariness and warning. If the man tried anything, Shikamaru could easily arrange for him to have an accident.

"Now then, let's sit. May I call you Shikamaru?" The man continued at his slight nod, "My name is Dr. Avery. I understand that you've been having some nightmares? What do those entail?"

Shikamaru had a premonition of uncomfortable times ahead and decided that his life just became far more troublesome. He wanted a smoke.

…

"Well? Is it he?"

"Yes, Lucius. He's a tricky one. Smart, but still a child. She overestimated his ability to perceive."

"If you're wrong about this, Avery…"

"You heard Rowle."

"Ah, yes. Rowle. He is not the most...trustworthy of sources."

"His memory isn't tampered with, and nor is it cloudy. The prophecy is real."

"Very well. I expect you will take the lead on this?"

"Certainly. But we must give him time. Indoctrination and trust are slow processes. He doesn't know yet."

"He'll find out in time, and should he be unwilling, I want you to use any means necessary to ensure his cooperation."

"Of course. He will help the Dark Lord rise once more whether he wants to or not."

…

Present

Shikamaru gave himself one day in October to think about his past life. He also held a silent celebration for Naruto's birthday, asking the twins where he could find the kitchen house elves, who were more than happy to try a new recipe. They were delighted by the challenge he presented them with. Apparently ramen actually required some technique - the real stuff anyway. He separated himself from his friends and any company for one day, thankful that it was a Saturday, by explaining that he was honoring the memory of someone he was separated from.

The subject was dropped immediately, and he pushed away the guilt at the deception. Technically it was true, even if they didn't understand the context in which he meant 'separated'. When he emerged, they acted as if nothing had happened and he was grateful.

Hermione nagged him about the circles under his eyes and his continued unhealthy sleeping cycle, recommending all sorts of tips for better sleep; Ron talked about Quidditch and moaned about homework; Harry quietly asked about his health exactly once and then joined Ron on the Quidditch talk; and Neville just said, "Glad you're back," and left it at that.

Shikamaru deeply appreciated this. He didn't particularly want to tell them the reason behind his disappearance. They seemed to assume that his mellow mood stemmed from memories of the orphanage, and he was perfectly fine with letting them continue to think this. He was...less fine when they started to - subtly for them, which meant not at all to anyone else - inquire about it. It wasn't that he enjoyed keeping secrets, but he figured it was better to keep it quiet so that they didn't get any ideas about his summer life.

It wasn't terrible, especially not compared to Naruto's, but it wasn't particularly ideal either. He disliked the orphanage and that was it.

He also had nightmares, but silencing spells and little sleep prevented that from becoming known. He wrote a few down, as per recommendation from his last life, but otherwise they went unacknowledged. Healthy? Not really. He probably had PTSD, but it wasn't like there were a whole lot of triggers in this world for him. Unless there was someone out there secretly practicing hand seals (unlikely).

"Hey, Shikamaru," Ron said abruptly. Shikamaru looked up from his essay - another one, and good God, these teachers had absolutely no creativity with the assignments they gave out - to see his friend frowning. He saw the other three inch closer and recognized that they were about to have, as Hermione called it, a bonding session. He straightened in his seat as he saw the concerned looks the trio was sprouting.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked. Hermione rolled her eyes at this lackluster approach.

"What?" Shikamaru said in slight confusion.

"We've noticed that you've been distracted lately. More than usual, I mean. Yesterday, I tried for a solid five minutes to get your attention, but you were just spacing out. It was weird," Hermione interjected. Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully. Had he done that? He couldn't remember. That wasn't good. Though, now that he thought about it, he could remember Hermione shooting him furtive glances throughout the day. Damn, he clearly wasn't as aware of his surroundings as he needed to be. Before, he had a comrade to pull him out of his thoughts, but children wouldn't really expect it or know how to snap him out of it.

"Sorry about that, Hermione. I tend to get really deep in thought and it's hard for people to get me out of it," he told her. She shook her head.

"I know that, I've seen you do it before. But you've been doing it more lately. Any particular reason why?" she pressed. When he remained silent, she said hesitantly, "Is it because of the orphanage?" As much as he would like to blame the place, he could only use the excuse so many times before they started investigating his home life more.

Instead he sighed and said, "Nah. I'm just thinking about some old friends. Haven't seen them in a while." Twelve years, in fact. Kind of a long time not to see his family.

"Oh yeah? Why not?" Harry asked, perking up now that they weren't talking about the orphanage. It made him uneasy to hear about the place that he could have gone if not for the Dursleys.

"They live really far away. Somewhere Asian. I can't really contact them because I don't know their addresses or anything," Shikamaru explained. Asia, the Elemental Nations, same thing. "They got mixed up in some...gang work, so it would be dangerous to try anyway." Gangs, ninja, all sides of the same coin, right?

"Gangs?" Hermione looked properly disturbed.

"What're gangs?" Ron asked curiously, switching his gaze between the two of them.

"They're groups of people who control large areas. Usually they're in cities, and are quite often very violent and territorial," she said, biting her lip. "You aren't part of one, are you?" She looked at Shikamaru in concern. He lopsidedly smiled at her.

"No. That's just them," he said.

"Couldn't you try the police if they're having trouble with gangs?" Harry asked. Shikamaru shook his head.

"Not really. They like to have local law enforcement in their pockets, or they have member or two on the force to keep from getting in trouble," he said. The ANBU were the law enforcement in Konoha since the Uchiha were gone, and considering what the ANBU force's reputation...well, civilians tended to hesitate to ask for help. No telling what could cause an operative to crack.

"Well, as long as you're safe, what does it matter?" Ron asked reasonably. Hermione scowled at him.

"He's obviously worried about his friends," she began hotly. Shikamaru cut her off.

"No, they can handle themselves. If anything, I would worry about the people around them. They tend to get a little extreme," he said.

This silenced her, and the conversation switched again. Somehow he figured that she would find a way to corner him about this later. Oh well, life was like one big Shoji game. Sacrifices had to be made, even if it was his dignity.

…

Harry was concerned. Mostly about his Potions grade (if he didn't clean up his act he'd have to take remedial Potions, and no one wanted to do that), but also about Shikamaru. He had the feeling that his friend was hiding some big, but no matter how much he wracked his brain, he couldn't think of what it might be. And any attempts to find out what it was were brushed off with frustrating ease. At least Shikamaru's classes were going well - all the teachers liked him besides Snape, but the Potions Master seemed to tolerate him, which was more than Harry himself could say.

He'd just have to watch his friend closer was all. Of course these worries were put in the back burner of his mind when an owl dropped a broomstick in front of his face. Shikamaru could take care of himself while he tried out this broom.

…

Shikamaru's breakfast was disturbed when some owl dropped a broomstick in front of Harry, causing toast to fly, a juice to spill, and curses to fill the air. This was, of course, before everyone saw the package.

Shikamaru read the note while Ron went into raptures, and scoffed under his breath. Professor McGonagall couldn't have been serious about the secrecy. A broomstick wasn't exactly a common shape, and no matter what model it was, a first year having one was definitely unusual. There would be all sorts of talk tomorrow about Harry getting one when no one else could. Maybe that was her point though - what did he know about teacher intentions?

Harry and Ron dragged him away from his breakfast so that they could go drool over the thing properly in the dormitory, but they were interrupted by Hermione halfway up the stairs.

"Harry, I cannot believe that you're accepting the broom. You got it because you broke the rules," she said disapprovingly. Harry looked at Ron, who shrugged.

"Professor McGonagall gave it to me - it can't have been that bad, can it?" he said. She paused.

"She did?" she said. Harry nodded and dug around for the note.

"There, see? Teacher approved. Can we go now?" Ron asked impatiently. She nodded rather dazedly. Clearly the note was turning her world upside down. Shikamaru offered her a pat on the shoulder before he followed the other two upstairs. She'd have to learn that teachers weren't infallible someday.

Thoughts of the disillusioned brunette behind them were cast aside when Harry revealed the broom. Ron sighed in awe and Shikamaru had to admit that, despite his distaste for the objects themselves, it was very masterfully crafted. Everything from the sleek handle to the straight twigs spoke of time and concentration. Or magic.

The last thought sort of ruined the image for him as he imagined the magical equivalent for an assembly line.

Eventually, Shikamaru pulled them away to their classes despite Ron's insistence that they could afford to skive off just this once. Shikamaru pointed out that McGonagall wouldn't be impressed at all and might just take the broom back if they did - he wasn't serious, he didn't know, but it did the trick. Ron remained suitably quiet about skipping classes.

Afterwards, the other two boys wasted no time in taking the broom out to fly. Shikamaru declined the invitation and went to the Forbidden Forest. He was under a Disillusionment charm so no one saw him, and he took a minute to think as he stood in front of the line of trees. Having grown up in a village among an enormous forest, this was like coming back home. It would be familiar, training here. So he did.

For the next two hours, he practiced his weapons throwing and sparing with Kage Bunshin Henged as different people. He avoided the native creatures there, quite sure that questions would be asked if the occasional centaur he saw found a giant spider stabbed through with an unidentifiable weapon - his Kage Nui. Instead, he stuck to the tree branches and the tree trunks and worked himself into a light sweat. Then, he left the forest and headed towards the Great Lake. He did laps across the diameter of the lake for a half hour or so before spawning another Kage Bunshin to spar against. He wasn't particularly skilled with taijutsu, but Naruto had made some changes in his reign as Hokage, demanding that ninjas at least be proficient in more than two fields. Shikamaru wasn't fantastic at genjutsu either, so taijutsu came second behind ninjutsu and possibly kenjutsu. Sasuke had been put in charge of making sure anyone who made jounin could hold their own in their chosen fields alone.

The sun was setting when he lifted the charm hiding him and went back to the castle, tired but satisfied. All around a good day. The trio shot him questioning looks as he sat down next to them during dinner.

"Where have you been all afternoon?" Harry asked, eyeing his dirty and slightly torn clothes. Shikamaru shrugged nonchalantly.

"Took a walk," he said. "Cleared my head." Training had helped him with some of the stress of figuring out how to fulfill his mission so that he could get home, and to release some tension. Temari liked to call him lazy, but the truth was that he was wired just like any ninja; action calmed him and adrenaline was an ally. Ron eyed him skeptically.

"Right. A three hour walk," he repeated. Shikamaru turned to his food and the subject was dropped. After a minute, Harry said hesitantly, "Hey, Shikamaru?"

He looked up expectantly.

"I just wanted to know about the orphanage," Harry said carefully. Shikamaru slouched warily in his seat, and then made a mental note to fix the tell. It was subtle, but it was irritating to have one in the first place.

"Not much to know. It's pretty normal," he said. Well, except for the fact that it was run by bitter squibs and muggles who escaped the Statute because of family associated with the wizarding world. But he figured his orphanage wasn't the only one with prejudice against certain types of people.

"I just, I've never been to one before. I mean, if I didn't have the Dursleys then I would have gone there, right?" Harry said. Shikamaru didn't think so.

"I doubt it. You're kind of famous, in case you didn't know," he said wryly. Ron's head shot over to glare at him.

"You do know who he is!" he said indignantly. Shikamaru nodded slowly.

"Yes, Ron, I know who Harry is," he said patiently.

"The why did you pretend that you didn't on the train?" Ron demanded. Oh, right. That. Shikamaru smirked slightly.

"Well, I didn't want to add to the hero worship already happening in there," he said mildly. Ron flushed and scowled at him. "Besides, did you really think anyone associated with wizards could really not know who Harry Potter is? He ended the war that killed hundreds. It's pretty hard to ignore that," Shikamaru continued. "I rather think that had he not had blood relatives, anyone would have been fine adopting him. I'm a random orphan - hence the orphanage."

There was a somewhat awkward silence at this revelation. They seemed to think that the assessment was too harsh, but Shikamaru was pretty realistic about it. Why would a wizard family take in an orphan who just happened have magic, and why would a muggle family take in a kid who had real life magic, along with a whole list of rules and regulations to follow?

Harry broke in, looking highly uncomfortable with the subject matter. "What's the orphanage like?" he asked curiously. Shikamaru took a moment to choose what to tell them. No doubt they wouldn't be pleased with the behavior or any social interactions he'd ever had there, and he didn't trust the therapist so it would be better not to mention him at all.

"It's alright," he said finally. "I've heard of worse. They feed us and give us rooms and clothes. I dunno. The adults are pretty busy most of the time, so it's not like there's a lot of one-on-one time." And thank God for that. He didn't like to spend any time in close proximity with the inhabitants there. Not only would they try to immaturely insult him, but they weren't particularly intelligent conversationalists. Even his therapist - two days in and Shikamaru could feel his brain cells degrade from the unsubtle attempted manipulation that was happening. He didn't know why the man tried anymore; it clearly wasn't working.

"They educate the younger children on the basics but save most of it for school," he said thoughtfully.

"Who runs it? There has to be some wizards or something if it's for magical children," Hermione asked.

"Actually, there aren't any wizards," he told her. And he would have to be very careful how he phrased this to prevent further questioning. "It's run by a mixture of relatives of muggleborns and squibs."

"What's a squib?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's like the opposite of a muggleborn. Someone who comes from a magical family but doesn't have magic," Hermione said instantly.

"I was almost a squib," Neville butted in. All eyes in the conversation turned to him. "I'm sure everyone in my family thought so except for my great uncle. I thought so."

"How are squibs treated as opposed to muggleborns?" Harry asked. Shikamaru sat back, work done. The topic would inevitably bounce around back to its starting point, but by then dinner would be over and he could go to sleep. This was an interesting conversation topic though, since he didn't really know much about it. He was probably a little biased in regards to squibs, so he decided to just listen.

"I'd have to say worse," Ron answered with a slight frown. "I mean, yeah purebloods sneer at muggleborns and all, but imagine the shame they'd make their child feel if it didn't have magic."

This caused a contemplative silence. Neville looked especially uncomfortable, no doubt quite aware of what his status could have been. 'And that,' Shikamaru decided, 'is enough of that.' Hey, he might have used him as a convenient distraction, but he didn't want him to get depressed or anything.

"Anyone got plans for Halloween?" he asked. It wasn't like him to make small talk, let alone instigate a conversation over a holiday that he didn't even celebrate, but sacrifices for the greater good and such. Fortunately they seemed to understand.

"Not really. My parents are dentists, so they don't really approve of the entire concept of going out and begging for candy from strangers," Hermione said smoothly. Neville seemed to sigh in relief as others joined in. Shikamaru answered his grateful glance with a nod and a crooked smile.

Sometimes he was thankful to be around children - they could be more insightful than adults at times.

…

And the next day he remembered why he generally wasn't fond of children.

It started out well enough. Halloween day and the entire school was buzzing with energy. They were all looking forward to the feast at dinner. Even the dignified seventh years looked impatiently at their watches for time to end. The trio found themselves agreeing, not arguing, and generally being civil to one another during the day, something Shikamaru was incredibly thankful for.

Of course, because nothing could ever have been simple with his friends, Charms class was a disaster. It began with Ron failing every attempt at the Levitation spell and Hermione performing perfectly, and it ended with Ron's bitter comment about Hermione's lack of friends and her running off because she heard him (Shikamaru would later think this to be the most ironic day). (1)

Shikamaru turned around as her hair whipped around a corner.

"What the hell was that?" he asked in a deadly calm. Ron backed away; discomfort fading to shock and an edge of fear in the face of his friend's icy temper. Shikamaru reigned in his cold anger with more effort than he liked to admit. "'No friends'?" he repeated flatly. "What the fuck are we then?" The statement was made more profound by how inflectionless he made it.

Ron didn't answer, shame flashing over his face briefly. Shikamaru leveled a coolly furious glare at him. This was new. He'd never shown this much anger towards his friends before, but he couldn't help his reaction. Many of his friends had been bullied or teased or even abused as children, and he was so damn tired of having people he knew get their confidence and spirits destroyed because of jealousy and fear.

He wouldn't let this fester and grow into an enormous insecurity. "Clean up your act, Ron, because this is not how you keep friends," he said with an undercurrent of steel in his voice. Then, he turned and left, scattering people as they registered his emotionless expression that somehow conveyed anger better than any flare of temper.

In order to keep from saying something to damage their friendship permanently, Shikamaru kept to himself for the rest of the day. It wasn't that hard to stay separated from Harry and Ron. They seemed to recognize that he wasn't in the mood for conversation, and they kept away. Neville said nothing, just sat next to him in silent support. Shikamaru appreciated it, even if he never said so.

Later, after eavesdropping on a conversation between Parvati and Lavender, he ventured stealthily to the girl's bathroom where sounds of crying could still be heard.

"Hermione?"

The crying stopped as he stepped inside. She raised her head in disbelief.

"Shikamaru?" she sputtered. "What - you can't be in here - it's a girl's bathroom!" He shrugged.

"No one else is in here, and you won't tell," he said easily. He sat down a little gingerly next to her and awkwardly put a hand on her back (he might have gone to comfort her, but he never claimed to be good at it) and let her cry a bit more. After some time he asked, "How are you feeling?"

She sniffled slightly. "Better, I think. Cries always tire me out though," she admitted. He didn't really cry, so he couldn't relate. But he did understand the exhaustion from an emotional rush. She sighed. "I just...I don't understand how he could say that. Unless we aren't actually friends. I thought we were, but I have misunderstood before-"

"You didn't misunderstand," Shikamaru interrupted firmly. "Ron is just a typical boy with emotional issues." She snorted.

"Are you included in that category?" she asked dryly. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Doubly so, since I'm a genius. Didn't you know that we're socially stunted?" he told her. She giggled. "Besides, Ron probably has some attention issues, what with so many siblings and all."

"I didn't think about that. I guess it would be hard to have that many siblings," she said with a frown.

"Not that it excuses his behavior," he sighed. If he thought about it too hard it would piss him off again, so he brushed it aside for later.

"Sorry to make you miss the feast," she mumbled, wiping her face off with her robes. He shook his head and pulled out a tissue, handing it to her. She accepted gratefully.

"Don't worry about it. I don't care that much about Halloween or food," he said. He leaned back against the wall. She leaned against him and dropped her head on his shoulder. She didn't complain about his thin shoulders or his somewhat rigid body at the contact.

He breathed steadily. He relaxed. Suddenly she giggled.

"What?" he said.

"Nothing. Just, imagine if we fell asleep in here and someone found us," she said in amusement. "I'd like a picture of their faces at a boy willingly being in a girl's bathroom."

"As long as it wasn't McGonagall or Snape, I'd be okay with that," he agreed. She giggled again. They sat in silence for a bit.

"Listen, Shikamaru-" she began, but Shikamaru wasn't listening.

"Quiet," he said softly. She shut up immediately. He carefully pushed her away and got up into a crouch. He thought he'd heard someone coming towards them. He waited in silence, but no one came in.

"Shikamaru, what-" Hermione started again. Then, a troll stomped into the bathroom. And it turned to look right at them.

Hermione screamed and Shikamaru swore.

"Down!" he barked, forcing her to the ground as the troll swung its enormous club in their direction. Fortunately the rumors of troll intelligence and accuracy were true, for it missed and cracked the wall behind them instead. "Move! I'll distract it."

He shoved her towards the far wall and took out his wand.

"Diffindo!"

A large chunk of the troll's club cracked and broke off, but it didn't split the thing like he'd hoped.

Hermione screamed again as the troll took aim at what it gauged to be the largest threat. Shikamaru ducked and it destroyed the stall nearest to him.

"Hermione!"

Harry and Ron's timing was uncanny, Shikamaru thought. They just happened to find the largest spot of trouble and dive headfirst into it. How the hell was he supposed to keep them out of trouble if they insisted on finding it?

"Take her and go!" he said sharply, rolling out of the way of another swing. "Find a teacher and bring them here." At their hesitation, he rolled his eyes. Gryffindors and their propensity to be heroes. He supposed he was in that category now though. "Now!"

Finally, Harry grabbed Hermione by the arm and left. Ron stayed behind but thankfully out if the way.

"What can I do?" he asked anxiously, watching as Shikamaru took off another chunk out of the club.

"Get rid of its weapon or stay out of the way," Shikamaru ordered tightly. The problem was that troll hide was thick enough to withstand most of the spells that he knew - something he'd rectify once he got out of here. So that left…

"Troublesome," he muttered dodging left and backing up to himself a head start. He stowed his wand. When the troll struck once more and his club got stuck in the ground, he moved.

"Shikamaru, what-" Ron cut himself off in shock as Shikamaru darted forward and up the troll's trapped club, going all the up to the shoulders. Then he gracefully ducked around the swerving head and landed on the creature's shoulders, sticking solely through chakra. He crouched down to dodge another flail of an arm.

Club forgotten entirely, the troll moved about wildly, waving its arms and stumbling around. Shikamaru ignored this and stayed attached. He drew two kunai from his holster and plunged them into the creature's muscled neck. It bellowed in pain and crashed about even more. It went to ram itself into the wall, and Shikamaru jumped up and landed on its head.

In its efforts to get him off, the troll got closer to Ron and made a wild grab for him. Shikamaru flipped onto its back again, pulled out the kunai, and then drove them into its back once more. Roaring, the troll caught hold of his billowing robe - he'd always known the damn things would get him in trouble - and threw him into the wall. Because of the close quarters (and because his reflexes weren't as sharp as they shouldn't have been, something else to work on), he hit the wall and cracked both the tile and what felt like a few of his ribs.

The troll advanced menacingly on him.

"Oi! Peabrain!" Ron's desperate and scared, yet defiant voice called. Something hit the troll's head with a loud thunk. Gritting his teeth, Shikamaru stood as the troll turned, having picked up its club once more, and moved towards Ron. It started to swing. Oh, hell no.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"

He made it in time. The club missed him and slammed into the floor next to him. Ron, meanwhile, gaped as he tried to figure out how he and Shikamaru had switched places. Then, as the troll raised his club again, a stroke of brilliance hit him.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, brandishing his wand. The club slipped from the troll's hand and was held suspended in the air. The troll stopped to stare at it. Then, it dropped and crashed onto the beast's head, knocking it unconscious. It swayed, and then leaned decisively in Shikamaru's direction. Ah, shit.

"Impedimenta!"

The professors had finally arrived. About damn time.

…

Poke.

Nudge.

Cough.

Poke.

Nudge.

Sigh.

Poke.

Nu-

"Stop or I swear, you troublesome idiot," Shikamaru grumbled, opening his eyes blearily. He glared half-heartedly at Ron, who made an innocent face. "What? I'm trying to sleep."

"You slept all of yesterday," the redhead pointed out.

"Leave him alone. He faced a troll four days ago," Hermione scolded, though her lips twitched in amusement.

"But it's the weekend! This time shouldn't be used for sleeping. You're the one who wanted to come outside," Ron complained, lounging against a tree.

"It was for peace," Shikamaru said pointedly.

"Good luck with that," Harry said. Shikamaru swore they were getting cheekier by the day.

"What do we even have to talk about? We've exhausted every possible theory about the troll," he sighed.

"I dunno, but we shouldn't just-"

"Ron," Hermione said a little severely.

He stopped. She continued, "Shikamaru has spent the past four days in the Hospital Wing. Two because of the troll. The other two because he collapsed in Potions class. Remember? I think he's deserved his rest."

Ron sighed and flopped to the ground while Shikamaru didn't even bother to hide a grimace. A fit of PTSD in Potions, and he was dragged to the Hospital Wing. He didn't like it any more than an actual hospital and had been more than ready to leave.

"Yeah. Snape had to save you again," Ron snickered suddenly. Another thing. Snape had helped him twice in four days - somewhat bizarre in his and everyone else's minds.

"At least I didn't try to attack him," Shikamaru said, stretching out on the ground. Ron sputtered through excuses, and Hermione and Harry chuckled.

Life was good.

Charms (Spells):

Disillusionment Charm (Unknown Incantation): Spell used to conceal target. This makes the target act as a chameleon, taking on colors and textures of the environment to blend in.

Severing Charm (Diffindo): Used to precisely and accurately cut something.

Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa): Spell to make things fly or levitate.

Impediment Jinx (Impedimenta): A jinx that slows or stops the target.

Ninjutsu (Techniques):

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique): Creates copies of the user, splits chakra in half for each clone, and transmits memories of the clone to the user after it (they) dispel(s). B-rank, hand seals are Clone seal, or Tiger seal.

Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique): Changes the user into other people, objects, animals, or plants. E-rank, hand seals are Dog – Boar – Ram, in that order.

Kage Nui no Jutsu (Shadow Sewing Technique): Materializes shadows to attack and bind targets. The shadow is changed into multiple sharp needles and these are controlled separately. Unknown rank, seals are Rat – Bird, in that order.

Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique): User replaces their body with something else, generally to escape attack. E-rank, hand seals are Tiger – Boar – Ox – Dog – Snake, in that order.

(1): You know, I said it was ironic, but I can't really remember why anymore. Maybe you guys understand me than I do myself?

Guest Reviews for Chapter 3:

NaraRiko: I will check it out. Thanks for the review and the suggestion! Sorry I haven't updated…

IWuvYou: Nice name, by the way, and thanks for the review. I hope you like the recommendations. And it's okay; you are one of many who hate paperwork! Unless you don't.

Ake: Why, hello. I was going over my reviews, and I think I missed you! So sorry! Anyway, I'm glad you like the prank; though I'm sorry I had to take it out entirely. I'll put in another one later, probably. Yes, Fred and George are great. Shikamaru and Snape will have some, er, closer moments. I think I'll do a mentor relationship thing. Glad you like my characterization of Shikamaru, and that my writing is on target. Thank you so much for this wonderful review!

A/N: So, I'm back! Finally, right? Um, no excuses really. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this rewrite. As always, whatever happened in canon that didn't happen here will be mentioned later on. Below is a list of changes to chapter 3, thanks for the support and the patience. Please leave a review on your way out!

RECOMMENDATIONS: (Gotta tell me if you like them!)

Stay Standing – Windschild8178: A recently discovered and brilliant Harry Potter story concerning Ron Weasley and the other members of the Golden Trio. A darker take on what happened in the Department of Mysteries in OotP. Rated M for violence and…situations. Post DH, but before Epilogue.

10 Facts – Ame Namikaze: Just a cute little oneshot about Kakashi and our favorite blond knucklehead. Rated K+, and highly recommended.

Derp – HowYouDoop: Another oneshot (longer) with friendship between Sasuke and Naruto. Short and sweet, and I wish it was canon XD. Rated K.

Changes to the Story in Chapter 3 (forgive me if I miss some details, but I'm focusing on the big stuff for you who care):

Whole lotta talking between Shikamaru and the Golden Trio. Neville is more included than before.

Shikamaru goes to talk to Draco Malfoy, introducing himself to the entirety of the Slytherin common room in the process. No threats were issued, but he did hopefully provoke some thoughtfulness.

There was no prank from Fred and George because Shikamaru talked to Malfoy instead.

Shikamaru tells Harry and Ron about Snape's ability to read their thoughts.