Chapter 24: Harry’s Priorities

November 22, 1943

Sunday Afternoon

Riddle ended up leading them around aimlessly, simply enjoying the cool halls of Hogwarts and the relative silence they had; quietly walking and bathing in the company Harry provided for nearly ten minutes before her hand tightened around his at the same time their course veered exaggeratedly.

"You were talking with them for far too long - did you forget that you'd promised a portion of today with me?" Riddle's voice was quieter than it'd been when she'd greeted him, though far angrier.

"No," Harry answered immediately, the tensing of her hand growing at his single-word response until he added more to it, "There's still more than enough time to spend together, you promised to help me with that ward scheme after all."

Elaine glanced at him a second before she tugged sharply on their connected hands, making him nearly slam into a wall as they turned a corner.

"Do you only date me for the knowledge I possess?"

"No! Not at all! It's just, we usually study a majority of the time we're alone and you said you'd help me fix whatever I'd kept messing up to render the protections invalid," Harry looked at the older girl awkwardly, the last thing he needed was the cancellation of all his sessions learning from her.

"I said that I'd take a look and potentially assist you in the solution, so long as the problem isn't obnoxiously obvious - there's no room for stupidity or laziness, Harry. As for studying whenever we spend time together, do remember that it's more often than not, you, that brings up varying curriculums taught at Hogwarts," Elaine cocked her head at him before looking down her own body, "I've been told by friends that boys your age are far more interested in their carnal thoughts than books or otherwise studious activities, I know firsthand that you share those urgings, yet you always falter in your attempts at furthering our relationship," She flung open the door to a classroom, making Harry realise they'd been stopped for a few seconds, and then she dragged the both of them inside; it was similarly done like his 'private' study, though this one had far more style.

Riddle glanced at his observing and stood taller when his eyes made it back to her.

"Enjoy my decorations? Your idea of having somewhere private enough for the general public but easy enough to entertain friends with was rather… inspirational, to say the least. I can say with certainty that there's been an increase in usage for those long-forgotten or otherwise abandoned rooms within Hogwarts," She waved her hand and a chair slid behind him, hitting him in just the right spot to have him fall back comfortably on it, "Tell me, Harry, what were you doing spending so much time with Marcus and Veronica? We can get back to the 'why' of your not showing too much physical affection after this is answered."

Harry saw the slight tightening of her lips and the straightness of her posture, he knew from those two minor details she wasn't all that pleased, but he didn't quite understand why.

So what if he spent an hour or two per week with Marcus and Veronica? They were people he'd begun to like, and it seemed that that line of thinking was shared by the way they kept him in their semi-awkward company for so long.

He mimicked Riddle's straight posture and met her cool gaze without worry or fear.

"I was spending time with friends, much less than I should but still more than I usually get the chance."

Riddle scoffed and waved her hand as she had earlier - only this time without magic, more as a means of disapproval or waving away his statement - without her look changing, "Spend that time with those that can prove helpful in future endeavours, not those enamoured with Muggle culture or the adapting of our ways for the Muggleborn that come in. I'm sure Corene would enjoy any time she could get from you, there's a host of others who would too; more than Aster, Reinhard and Yaxley exist in your house."

"I've spent a li- huge share of my time with Corene, and I'll continue to do so. Merlin knows I'll be spending time with her come Yule," Harry hid the smirk at the scowl that flashed across Riddle's face so fast he could've blinked and missed, "Aster, Reinhard and Yaxley are the ones who invite themselves to my company, if our housemates wanted to spend more time with me, then they should just do that, no? I doubt anyone besides Walburga's group is missing me all that much anyhow, everyone has their own little clique."

Harry spoke what he was sure was true; Slytherin was broken up into dozens of small groups, even within larger groups, that spent a majority of their time together. Riddle's group wasn't an exception to that rule either, her 'inner circle' as many called it, weren't all together in one group, but usually two or three.

"Sit alone in the common room for an evening one of these upcoming nights, Harry, you'll certainly see a change in those who approach when you're not seated with any of whom you're so closely bonded with," Riddle leaned forward in her seat and nodded to him a few times, "You're right of course, in regards to some being maddeningly cautious, that is. Perhaps some of the attraction I feel towards you is a result of your increasingly sporadic and careless attitude towards social queues."

"What're you talki-" Harry got out only a few syllables when Riddle raised her brows at his cutting her off.

In response, he paused, as any gentleman would.

"I apologise, my lovely Harry James Peverell, for my lack of tact in what I'm about to say; spend no more time with the Potter boy and that Weasley, they'll be of no positive or useful influence to you, of that I'm certain."

Harry paused and furrowed his brow, he thought he'd misheard her before, but he knew with absolute certainty that she'd just used his middle name… again. He couldn't for a second recall having ever said it, and despite the worry gnawing at his stomach, he tried his best to show no reaction, thinking if he were lucky, she'd gotten that useless bit of information when glancing through his mind upon one of their initial meetings.

If not and she knew far more? Well, he was completely and utterly done in, so there wasn't much of a point in making a huge fuss right this second regardless.

"I can't do that," Harry responded, shaking his head and warily keeping his eyes on Riddle in case she finally blew up.

She didn't.

Elaine smiled and shrugged at him, reaching an arm across to straighten his collar.

"Mhm, I've chosen you very well, boyfriend," That teasing word was the final one spoken between them before she launched herself at him, smashing her lips to his in the warm, firelit room.

December 4, 1943

Saturday Morning

"Harry?" A voice called, attempting to rouse him at the same time his body began shaking.

Tired and slightly upset at having his sleep interrupted, Harry rolled over, away from the voice while groaning at it in response to "Leave him alone," though it came out far less clear than he'd hoped.

"Wake up, there's time yet to have a conversation while the others are away. This is something we need to speak of while making sure that our ears are the only ones that hear," That voice - Yaxley, Harry recognised - sounded far more urgent than he'd expect for a calling at what he could only assume was far too early based on the tired, agitated response his body gave to his ordering of it to move.

"Yax-ley," He yawned, "What's so important that you've woken me up in the dead of night? Where are the others? Aster and Reinhard wake up for no man, we both know that," Harry said all that before he'd fully rolled over; the action being so delayed on account of how completely tired he'd been - staying up studying would do that, especially if that studying came directly from Salazar Slytherin's hands in some dank dungeon classroom.

"No man, yes, on that we agree," Yaxley's voice was stressed, and only then did Harry finally roll over to take in the boy's appearance to see if he could identify why he sounded so… off.

What greeted him wasn't the usually calm, bored, bland features of Yaxley, no, the boy had bags under his bloodshot eyes, and he seemed a bit thinner than Harry recalled; if Harry didn't know any better, he'd say the boy looked half-mad.

"Yaxley, are you alright mate? You should la-" Harry stopped speaking when the boy held a finger up to his lips and motioned towards the slightly ajar door to their year's entrance. He wasn't sure if Yaxley was implying somebody was listening, or just telling him a general warning to keep quiet.

Whatever the meaning, he didn't like it, not with how cagey his friend was acting.

"Briefly, only briefly, yes," Yaxley muttered to himself, glancing between the door and Harry before moving to the opposite side of his bed after pulling the curtains shut on the side he'd previously been standing by, "Keep an eye on the entrance, watch the door for movement - only the door."

Harry nodded, using every bit of willpower he had not to look to his right, where Yaxley had taken up position leaning half on his bed, half on the ground.

"Good, I needed to tell you that my warning now is far more serious than it's ever been; Elaine's up to something, though I don't know what, Walburga's group is more active than usual too. Normally I'd be at this type of meeting, but I fear I've lost Elaine's confidence for one reason or the other… Abraxas may have overheard us before, yes that's most plausible," Yaxley shook his head with so much force, Harry felt it rather than saw it, "Don't accept anything from either of them, but if you absolutely must, don't bring it to your home… have somebody you trust scan it for any signs of magic too, though not Corene or Sarah; neither of them are wholly as they've presented themselves to you, Harry."

"Yaxley, what're yo-"

Harry was cut off by the boy shushing him and swatting at his right arm.

"No no, say nothing, too risky. Study up on the journal I gave to you, and trust the notes I've left in it," Yaxley stood up abruptly, sprinting towards his bed and jumping into it.

Harry wondered why he'd moved so quickly and hadn't said even the smallest of goodbyes, but he noticed only a few seconds later that the door moved ever-so-slightly.

He couldn't see any figure enter, but he closed his eyes and let the half-inch or so of the curtain he'd been looking through close.

Not for the first time, he wondered intently about Yaxley's loyalties.

Harry had fallen asleep five minutes after the mystery person had entered into the boys' dorm, those five minutes being the time it took for his heart to stop racing and his mind to cease in the dozens of thoughts racing through it regarding Yaxley or the words he spoke.

It'd taken longer than it should've, and even while asleep, Harry wasn't free from the thoughts or worries that those words had given him.

His first dream had been back in the atrium of the Ministry, with Dumbledore being as rigid as he remembered… remembered! A new thought, no, a new memory raced through his mind in his dream; he knew the truth of it as soon as he witnessed it for the second time!

He was transported from that scene in the atrium to another, one he felt like he'd been a part of.

It was a cold, pure white and black room with dozens of lush chairs spread throughout, with a larger one sitting at the furthest corner. Voices began rising on either side of him and when he turned to look, he was greeted with one figure on either side.

Harry knew without a doubt he'd seen them multiple times, these exact two were strangely familiar to him in a way that caused immeasurable annoyance at his lack of remembering. All he could recall while seeing them was that these two others had made the same or similar agreements as he had, though their identities were lost to him, the features seen were oddly distorted in his mind regardless of how hard he tried to focus on them.

All he could recall were vague, generic bits of information that were mildly helpful at the most - one was a male, the other female; they were both around the same height, with voices that seemed around his age or close to.

When he doubled down on his efforts on focusing, so much so that he'd somehow achieved a headache in a dream trying to remember everything that he'd seen when in that odd room, he could only discern two additional pieces of information.

That woman sitting on his left, the one with her head cocked and an impatient tapping, was wearing an incredibly expensive gown of green and black, her hair matched the darkness of the secondary colour of her clothing.

As for the man, Harry could make out a great big bushy beard rolling down from his face onto a set of robes that looked just as expensive as the woman's clothing; the man's posture was relaxed, the opposite of the impatient looking woman on Harry's other side.

No matter when he looked at either of them, he could hear the indistinguishable sounds of both speakings following him perfectly.

Harry couldn't take the constant annoyance and closed his eyes, willing away the odd dream-memory that came to him with so much ferocity that he jolted up in bed, surging forward with a gasping breath as he went for his wand stored safely under his pillow - it was odd that he'd put it there - and once within his grasp, he flung open the curtains all around.

Nobody.

There was nothing around him, the curtains opposite all throughout the room just as silent as always, with not a single one of them being opened to reveal the occupant. Only one thing stood out as odd, which was some sort of object that made him squint his eyes to see. After a few seconds of looking, Harry sighed at the sight; somebody had discarded a bra… a bra!

Harry jolted forward again, waking himself up and whipping open the curtains just as he'd done in his dream to look at the bed opposite of him.

No bra.

Merlin, I'm going absolutely mental, Harry thought to himself with an annoyed groan as he shut the curtains to his bed with one final thought before sleep claimed him again.

Maybe I should spend some time with Elaine… snogging could probably stop me from dreaming about a bra again.

Harry woke up for the third time that morning, though this time it wasn't due to a visitor in the night or some sequence of dreams that sucked the joy or sense of normalcy from him; it was his body telling him to wake up because it was hungry and had a date with a hot shower in five minutes.

Strangely, he didn't feel all that tired, definitely not nearly as much as he'd expected after a night as eventful as the last had been.

No sooner did that bright mood have him fling open the curtains and launch from bed with a huge stretch did he run into the puzzled face of Reinhard as well as the sombre-looking one of Aster - both boys were huddled over a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"What's got you both down?" Harry asked, grabbing clothes from his wardrobe as he did so.

"Some Belgian blokes split their forces when Grindelwald came after them, got massacred in two different areas," Reinhard answered it with a startling sense of disconnect, when Harry turned around to examine the boy's expression after having said that, he could see the same expression on his face as when he played chess against Aster.

Speaking of Aster, the boy looked upset at the news, causing Harry to recall his fondness for Muggles, especially that of the soldiers they had based on his fascination with that uniform he'd received.

Aster must've noticed Harry's lingering glance too, considering the way the boy forced a smile in response to his question before verbally replying with, "Nothing" and "What're you doing today, Pev?"

Harry wouldn't press the issue, especially if his friend was that put down by it.

"Think I'll have breakfast with Corene or Sarah, figure I oughta spend a bit of time with them again - don't want to risk blowing them off, yeah?"

Reinhard chuckled lightly while Aster hit the bigger boy's arm.

"No jokes this early in the morning," He said disapprovingly before moving his eyes to Harry, "And you, no setting yourself up that well until we're all awake. It'll be nobody's fault but your own if we miss a perfectly good moment to be immature."

"Okay?" Harry responded, slightly confused with what just happened but happy nonetheless to see Aster switch so abruptly from his sorrowful look back to the more normal randomness he was often filled with.

"Yup!" Aster said back while Reinhard flipped pages again, this time cursing while pointing towards the Quidditch section.

Aster turned to see what Reinhard was whinging about and once he had, Aster whopped loudly in success while dancing in place. Reinhard wasn't all too happy with the dancing to start with, but once Aster started doing more provocative moves at his misfortune, the bigger boy couldn't let it slide any longer. One meaty fist dropped on Aster's head to start, causing the boy to get momentarily stunned.

"Might want to get out while you can Pev, otherwise you'll be caught in the middle of a horrible bout of pranks and other unpleasant happenings," It was Cade's voice - the older boy who was considered one of the top duellists in Hogwarts, the one who'd offered to teach him - and he was standing in the doorway to the fifth year dorms, glancing between the two boys about to throw down, and Harry.

"Surely the-"

Harry was interrupted in his speaking by the first spell being 'thrown', it was in direct response to Reinhard's fist but the larger of the two boys took that as a sign that a fight had started, drawing his wand in response while beginning to speak; maybe Cade wasn't wrong in telling him to get out while he could.

So Harry did just that, wal- running from the room with his clothes in one hand and wand in the other lest he needed to shield himself.

Cade looked amused at the entire chain of events that he'd gotten to witness, laughing openly once Harry was out of the room with the door shutting behind him.

Once that amusement wore off, the older boy glanced at Harry, then in the direction of the showers, and finally, towards the exit of the boys' wing.

"I don't imagine that I need to tell you why I'm here?" Cade asked, leaning against the wall with his eyes returning to Harry.

"Elaine wants me for something?" Harry guessed, taking a few steps towards the bathroom in the process.

"Shockingly enough, no," Cade nodded when he saw Harry's furrowed brows, "That would've been my first thought if I were you too. Think slightly shorter, slightly less-menacing and on friendlier terms with you."

Harry knew without needing confirmation who the older boy was talking about, but he said her name all the same.

"Corene."

Cade gave him mock applause, "Well done Peverell, you guessed it. I'll tell her you'll be down after your shower - when you meet with her, do me a favour and tell her not to have me run errands for her, yeah?"

Harry furrowed his brows a second time, "Why do it if you don't want to? Can't you just say 'no' and she'll send somebody else up?"

"Unfortunately for the both of us, no. For reasons that you can find out easily enough, I'm often helping her with some task; I hope for the sake of our duelling lessons, whenever you take them up, she doesn't send me after you all that often," Cade looked slightly displeased during the starting and middle points of his speaking, but he finished easily enough with a smile on his face, one that didn't look all that friendly.

Seeing no need to respond to that, Harry shrugged his shoulders and marched the remaining distance to the showers. Five minutes later and wearing all fresh casual clothing for the day of studying, he made his way down to the common room.

It didn't take more than thirty seconds to find Corene in a chair near the central fire, the pale girl signalling with her eyes for Harry to take the seat across from her.

Harry smiled in response to seeing her and made his way over faster than he usually walked, smiling wider when he saw his friend glancing up at him.

"Good morning Corene."

"Good morning, Harry, I was wondering if I could ask you something…" She looked around them, switching to a whisper, "About that book you'd gotten from our mutual… acquaintance in Black."

Corene was still going on about that? He could've sworn he'd told her that she could look at it eventually, or at least a copy of it; did she find something out about it that he hadn't considering the backseat on priority it's taken in recent times?

"Sure," was the cautious response he decided to give her.

"Thank you," Corene responded, her lips going up in the faintest hints of a smile, "I was wondering if you've had any growing urge to read it, one that strikes you randomly and fluctuates in the degree of urgency. Perhaps you've had weird dreams since reading it - assuming you finally have done so."

Harry looked for anything out of place with Corene which would've caused her to ask him this after so long, but came up empty. From all he could tell, the usually emotion-repressed, calm, lukewarm friend he had was entirely herself. It made him feel all the odder once he realised the pull had been stronger the most recent time he'd glanced at it.

"What're you thinking?" Harry returned, not yet deciding to grant the girl an answer, though based on the look she flashed at him, that no answer had been a 'yes' to her.

"I'm thinking that I'll give you an answer for an answer," Corene replied, her upticked lips raising slightly higher when he sighed in response.

Harry was about to respond smartly when the murmuring in the room grew - glancing briefly to see what caused the stirring, he wasn't overly surprised to see it'd come from more of his peers who'd only recently come down to read the Daily Prophet before going about their varying daily activities.

"I assume you know about what's happened?" Corene asked from her seat, her voice bringing his attention back to her from the crowd he'd been watching.

"Yeah, I got told b-"

"By Aster or Reinhard I suppose," Corene shook her head in amusement when Harry stared at her in response, "Don't look so surprised, Harry, they came down thirty minutes ago and took a copy upstairs before the room was filled. It's only natural to think they'd share the news with you considering the close friendship the three of you have developed."

Harry nodded along with Corene's words, supposing that she wasn't wrong, the two had taken to him better than almost anybody else.

"How much did they tell you? Reinhard tends to get abstract in anything militarily based," Corene's statement was exactly correct, Reinhard had seemed confused with what'd happened more than anything else… he wasn't sure if the girl knew about Aster's fondness for Muggles, so he didn't bring that bit up.

"They told me that some Belgian forces were split up and massacred," He put it as simply as he could, leaving out the word 'blokes' and other unnecessary bits.

Corene nodded, her eyes watching the green fire as it danced in place.

"While that's very minimal in the information given, they touched down on the most important parts," She then tilted her head and brought her attention back to Harry, away from the flames, "Excuse me, I hadn't meant to get distracted with the news - I suppose back to why I've called you down here earlier than you usually rise, so long as that's fine with you?"

Harry nodded, though slightly perplexed with her comment about his usual rousing time.

"Walburga's book that was given to you, I have a hunch there's more to it than the text she claims is within. Considering you've yet to open it and read the contents therein, the questions I can ask are slightly more limited; luckily for you, not reading it has likely done you a favour," Corene stopped her speaking momentarily, grabbing a quill and piece of parchment, "First and foremost, let's talk about that pull you're feeling towards it, how strong would you say it feels?"

"Are you taking notes?" Harry asked instead of answering, not liking how it'd gone from a friendly conversation to him somehow being studied by his friend.

Corene cocked her head at his question, "Yes?" She flipped the parchment over, showing him there was already writing on it, most of it detailing various bits of warnings with names dashed beside it.

Harry didn't want to risk appearing stupid, but that was something he had to bite on.

"What're those, wards or something?"

"Or something," Corene agreed, her lips finally breaking out into a full smile at the exasperated look that'd wormed onto Harry's face at her answer that provided nothing, "I was hoping that you'd laugh at that, was the delivery poorly timed?"

He crossed his arms in the chair and leaned back, staring blankly at Corene in poor intimidation of her usually empty stare.

"Understood, I'll work on my comedic timing, I suppose," Harry would've thought she'd smile again at that, but he was more than a little surprised when she flipped the parchment over to write something when she'd said that.

"Did you actually take a note for that?"

Corene's cheeks went slightly red while her expression had gone back to the neutral look she almost always gave off.

"No."

They stared at each other for half a minute after her one-word reply, and only when Harry was right about to shift awkwardly in his seat for the second time did Corene blurt something out.

"Wards," She paused when his attention was once more focused solely on her face, "Or curses. I suspect there's one of those in that book she gave you, some can be very tricky to find and should you fail, dangerous to your future health. There's no reason I can think of that she'd want you dead or otherwise indisposed for a long period of time either; your family tree, as hidden as it is in recent times, held no claim for House Black. Unless your family's been mingling with outcasts of those Houses - which I know isn't true considering you'd told Professor Slughorn your family spent a great deal of time in Australia - then the primary reason for her having given you a book on the Gaunts is more focused on altering your mind than destroying your body," Corene paused for a long breath and took a small sip of water, bringing one finger to her lip to wipe away a singular drop that'd escaped the corner of her mouth, "Do take everything I'm saying as guesswork rather than fact, Harry. Truth be told, this is all an assumption based on the character of Walburga and her family; they're never altruistic, even with one another."

"Suppose she just wanted to be the one to bring House Peverell to stand beside House Black, wouldn't that be reason enough for her to give me a fairly rare book? It's not like she gave me the Mona Lisa or an item as rare… right?" Harry remembered the preciousness of the acclaimed painting and doubted very much that an object that rare would be given to him regardless of the reasoning.

Corene looked at him weirdly when he'd said the Mona Lisa, her gaze staying curious for a few seconds past his finishing talking, but the girl responded easily enough.

"While I wouldn't consider it a priceless artefact or rare enough to warrant thousands of Galleons, a book like the one she gave to you is oftentimes kept within a familial Library with each copy being different based on the level of the knowledge that family had on the other," Corene saw Harry was confused and explained further without the slightest hint of frustration that Elaine usually got when a concept proved difficult for him to learn, "Think of it like this - my family, House Carrow, keeps a book filled with information of all kinds on House Black. Move your attention to Aster's family now, the Rosiers, they'll do the same thing as my family in gathering information as well as keeping the family tree as put together as possible. If you compared our two books after a month, they may look pretty similar, but turn that to decades or centuries; I assume you understand now," Corene abruptly ended, seeing Harry nodding and the look of visible understanding passing over his face.

"Yeah. You think Walburga gave me the entire House Black history on House Gaunt… and cursed it?" Harry thought he understood fully now why Corene was so persistent in speaking with him about the aforementioned book; it could be a goldmine in information on a family they were both curious about for one reason or the other.

Corene nodded her head and stood up from her seat, leaving her satchel behind in favour of stretching herself out - Harry's attention followed the extreme flexibility she showed as she stretched like a housecat… if he were in Quidditch still, he definitely would have tried his best to recruit her based on the showing he witnessed.

"Harry?" Corene asked, glancing at him with her satchel over her shoulder and the beginnings of a frown on her face.

"Yeah?"

"Failed to hear my question?" Corene's frown grew slightly larger.

"Yeah… sorry. I was just caught up, that was a lot of information… yeah," He finished lamely, feeling embarrassed at the thought of her having caught him checking her out, and more so that he'd done it in the first place. While Corene was incredibly beautiful and quite similar in appearance to Elaine, he felt upset with himself for checking her out; one portion of his brain, the hormonal part he realised, assured him there was nothing wrong that he'd done it, but he knew better with how nice she'd always been to him.

"I see," Corene responded, her expression going neutral after a few seconds and the moment continuing for another five before she'd extended a hand towards him, "Would you like to go to breakfast?"

Harry smiled and stood up, interlinking his arm with hers once he'd thrown his satchel over his shoulder as she'd done with hers.

"Definitely."

Corene and he walked through the halls discussing varying topics on their way to the Great Hall. From usual classroom topics and test scores to subjects as weird as the mating habits of Dragons, they'd touched down on a plethora of fun conversations across the board.

Harry obviously loved the randomness and neutral stance Corene had on everything, it made nearly everything easy to discuss without risk of judgement - at least outwardly - or argument. Maybe her curious stance on the happenings of something regardless of the importance it held or the ease with which she'd switch topics at the slightest hint Harry was uncomfortable was a plus too.

It was with this happy, easygoing attitude that the two friends entered the Great Hall, and it was that attitude that Harry lost when he noticed the several absences from the Staff table, with new faces sitting in the seats of old.

No information had been posted on the boards outside the entrance, nor had any ghost or classmate gone about the Castle yelling loudly about the change.

"I apologise," Corene said abruptly from his side, turning his attention away from the new staff and back to her.

"For what?"

"Our most recent topic upon entering the Great Hall, I suppose the differences between Mermaids and Sirens were a bit uncomfortable for discussion," Corene's neutral expression shifted with the slightest hint of her downturned lips; he'd gotten so much better at reading the girl now that he'd noticed the tell of her feelings!

Harry stopped his mental pat on the back and washed away her concerns.

"No, no I just got lost in my thinking, sorry. You can ask me again what you had before on the way to our seats if you'd like to."

Corene shrugged, "I imagine based on the look you're wearing right now that you have a few questions of your own - I'm thankful, a majority of the ones asked on our trip here were done so by me."

Almost snorting at what she'd said because of the truth of it, Harry led the two of them over to a spot near the end of the table their group favoured.

No sooner than the two were comfortable in their seats side by side with one another, did Harry ask Coren the first question that'd come to mind, "What do you suppose that's about?" He gestured towards the Staff Table to emphasize where he was meaning to draw attention.

"You don't know?" Corene asked him, her eyes staying on him rather than the direction he'd looked.

"No, I don't," Harry answered, turning his attention back to hers which allowed him to notice the almost imperceptible way her lips rose.

"Professor Dumbledore, as well as a couple of other Staff at Hogwarts are going on leave of absence. They've decided now would be a good time for a few personal days, with Professor Dumbledore taking the longest break of them all. Considering the tenure he's spent here, it isn't all that surprising," Corene noticeably frowned when she told him the next bit of information that had his heart in his throat, "Unfortunately for the school's representation, there's a Half-Giant and mon-, former expulsion from Hogwarts acting as the new groundskeeper; Hagrid," Her eyes followed his to where the giant of a man was seated uncomfortably at the table, his gaze firmly on the foot beneath him, "Don't get too close to him, Harry, I fear for your safety if you did."

All too suddenly Harry remembered the fate of his friend - the expulsion from Hogwarts on the grounds of suspicion for opening the Chamber of Secrets, the loss of his pet at the hands of Elaine in her attempt to cover her back, Harry couldn't imagine what Hagrid's life had been like for the few months until Dumbledore had given him this job.

Looking back at the dislike evident in Corene's, and when Harry glanced around, most of his fellow classmates' eyes, Harry felt empathy for the younger version of his friend hiding behind the messy hair on his head. Truthfully, Harry hadn't spared a thought towards the fate of Hagrid after he'd realised the Chamber had been opened just like it'd been in his time; it was too late to save Myrtle, he felt terrible about that after coming to know what she'd been like in his time, but there was nothing he could do for her.

He couldn't do anything for Hagrid either, not unless he ended up living in this time permanently and made it past changing or defeating Elaine… if that all went about without him being killed, then he'd give Hagrid a mansion with all the magical creatures the man would like. For now, however, Harry would just make do with sending his future friend a mystery gift of Galleons and look for an opportune moment to speak with him, away from the prying eyes Hogwarts was full of.

Harry didn't believe in any form of supremacy, but he knew others did, and he couldn't allow Hagrid's friendship to risk the others he'd built up after months here. Merlin, realising that tore at Harry's heart, but he knew he had to look at the bigger picture, it was why he'd been sent here, or so he thought.

Corene reaching for something and accidentally brushing his arm in the process tore him away from his absent-minded staring at the newest Hogwarts staff member. He looked over to the girl who'd since piled her plate high with varying foods from scrambled eggs to a thick piece of breakfast steak. She'd even grabbed some sort of cupcake or similar pastry, setting it near her drink as a finishing morsel.

"Could you tell me a bit more about that whole Grindelwald fiasco? Aster and Reinhard were surprisingly quiet in regards to it… I'd have figured if anybody would be loose-lipped with the details, it'd be them," Harry figured asking Corene a bit more about the incident wouldn't hurt, he'd heard of Grindelwald in his timeline, but he wasn't sure just how evil the man had truly been; getting it put plainly and being able to witness it, maybe he'd find something that could assist him in stopping Elaine.

"Are you asking for the details of the violence or a general brushing over the two defeats the Belgians suffered?" Corene dabbed at the corner of her mouth where a bit of egg had tried hiding away, "Perhaps the aftermath was what you meant?"

Harry watched Corene for a few seconds, wondering if the girl truly knew the details of the violence before thinking better to ask her of it. He didn't need to know how bad a slaughter either battle had been, he wanted to know the cost and the opinions brought forth from it.

"You can leave the overly gruesome details out of it, I'm more after a detailed explanation on the 'battles' and what'd come as a result of them; the aftermath is fine too."

"Have you ever heard of Gael Lavalle?" Corene questioned.

Harry quickly combed his mind, coming up short on any level of recognition with the name and telling as much to Corene - her expression wasn't one of surprise, that's to say, her expression was neutral with maybe the slightest of understanding shrugs.

"Gael was considered the strongest wizard in Belgium, his power was unmatched by any other in his homeland as well as the nearby countries of the Netherlands or Luxembourg. He still paled in comparison to countries with populations such as France or Germany, though for what he was, Gael may well have been one of the strongest ten wizards alive," Corene saw how Harry was following, his interest wasn't completely with her and so she changed her speaking, "I was telling you this to set up how strong a wizard he was; as you can guess why, he was defeated alongside a few dozen other Belgian resistors by Grindelwald alone. From all accounts, Gael had landed a spell that scratched Grindelwald before the Dark Lord snuffed out the remainder of Gael's forces as well as the man himself."

"Shouldn't it have been closer than just a scratch?" Harry asked, his mind thinking she'd overplayed the power of this 'Gael' man.

"You'd think based on the credentials and power Gael gave off. You'd have thought that for when the best of French went against him too; but no, Harry, neither fight was remotely close and nearly seventy Belgians were killed in very excruciating ways."

"What happened next then?" Harry pushed closer to Corene, squishing his body right up against hers in his questioning.

Corene raised her eyebrows at the contact but stood firm in her seat, not removing herself from the food before her that was slowly getting colder as Harry's questions dragged on.

"I'd imagine if you've read any earlier report you'd know, supposing you haven't however, I'll indulge you," Coren jabbed her fork through a few pieces of waffle at the same time she answered him, "All three villages from where those witches and wizards were removed from existence - not but one survivor's been found, that includes the varying pets or creatures that would've been within the towns."

Harry watched Corene's face carefully as she spoke and realised that her singular eye twitch - the universal sign she was highly agitated - happened when she'd gotten to the portion about pets or magical creatures. He still remembered how angry she'd been with the previous pet shop owner they'd visited, and couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of story to that, or if Corene was incredibly soft with animals as a whole.

"Aftermath?" Harry asked, seeing the narrowing eyes from Corene when his question stopped the fork midway to her mouth.

Watching him through those narrowed eyes, Corene resumed the forks path until the waffle with a slice of strawberry went into her mouth, where she smiled and sighed contentedly. She chewed it slowly and savoured every bite of it before turning to Harry with her fork held out towards him as if it were a wand.

"Same as usual, the governments actively fighting him openly condemned his actions, as did any friendly with them. Neutral ones that strive to avoid fighting had no comment or tentatively objected to his actions while 'promising' to support the victims that yet lived. Grindelwald's few allies supported his actions in their entirety, open denouncing anyone who opposed his removal of 'rebels' and 'terrorists'," Corene popped another few bits of waffle in her mouth and sighed the same as before, "Nothing changes, Harry, nor will it for some time I suspect - would you pass the waffles if you're done asking questions now?"

Harry was momentarily shocked still by the words Corene spoke until he realised the truth of them. By all accounts, politics was terrible and he remembered from his time that it'd taken a lot longer than where he currently was before Grindelwald was defeated… by Dumbledore… the man currently gone for a week. Harry knew he shouldn't worry for his former Headmaster turned Deputy of Hogwarts, though for some reason, something within him was making him do so anyhow. It was as if the be-

"Harry. Waffles," Corene prodded him in the ribs, her thin fingers making him wince from the feeling, "Pass them."

He looked slightly up at his friend and laughed at the thin, tight line her lips had settled in - he'd need to make a new note not to get in front of Corene and whichever waffles these were; they seemed to mean more to her than most things did if she were poking him in front of the entire table.

Right before Corene poked him a second time, he finally reached over and grabbed the plate filled with fruity waffles, setting it down in an empty spot beside Corene's almost empty plate.

"Thank you, Harry," Corene said once it'd hit the ground, her eyes having tracked his hand - mainly the plate - the entire time it'd been moving.

"Yeah, not a problem… why are those waffles so special?" Harry looked at them to see if he was missing anything, but they appeared to be regular waffles with bits of fruit mixed in the batter or on top of the stacks. He hadn't tasted one, but he couldn't imagine they were so tasty that they'd make Corene act out of her character.

"Haven't you eaten one?" Corene questioned him, setting four of the perfectly golden waffles on her plate.

"I've had waffles before, but not those ones. Wait, they're not with every breakfast are they?" Harry couldn't recall seeing them all that much, but realistically, it could've been an oversight on his part. He didn't exactly keep track of what food was available on what day at what time, who would?

Aster or Reinhard probably have an entire schedule. His mind answered, causing him to nod to himself while Corene hadn't yet responded.

"No, they're only available once a month. My father knows that these are among my most enjoyed breakfast foods, so he did what he always does for me and my brother; thus, once a month these pop up all across the tables on that one day," To emphasize her point, Corene used her fork to fold up a one-quarter piece of a waffle and brought the entirety of that piece to her mouth, sighing so loudly from the bite that Harry half thought she'd experienced something better than the thrill he got from Quidditch.

Or snogging Elaine, his mind added unhelpfully.

Harry shook his head a second time at his traitorous mind and went about eating his breakfast in silence alongside his friend. That lasted ten minutes (or two more waffles) longer, causing the two stuffed to the brim fifth years to finally make their exit after eating enough for twice their number, maybe thrice.

"Would you mind if I join you in your studies? I could offer assistance if you'd like, though I was thinking spending some time with you in addition to our meal could be pleasant so long as you're unopposed," Corene asked him roughly halfway back to the Slytherin common room, her tone conveyed nothing, nor did her face when he'd spared a glance to see if anything was readable on the surface.

"You don't need to bribe me with help, I'd be happy to spend more time with you - Aster, Reinhard and Yaxley take up so much of it, with Elaine taking a fair bit too, sometimes it's hard to have any chance to visit with you," Harry said so in an apologetic tone, switching to joking when he saw nothing change on Corene's expression, "Feel free to pull me away from them if you find me anytime throughout the day too, I see those blokes enough; pretty sure you scare Aster anyhow."

Corene's upticked lips told him he'd said something right.

"Good," She responded, tightening her arm around his as they reversed course for the library, "Aster and Reinhard do need to fear me, lest I exact revenge for their juvenile pranking," Corene's nose held high with the vaguest hints of a smile was something Harry would always enjoy.