Chapter 11 Part 2/2

...HhHhHhhHHhH

The trial would go on to have the biggest twist in Magical Britain's history. The entire court voted in agreement for the same thing. That had never happened before.

Sirius Black had been left in complete shock ever since seeing Malfoy willingly although begrudgingly hand over the entire Black fortune. Perhaps the most surprising part was that Albus Dumbledore hadn't been in court, he'd only recently found out that Dumbledore was not in fact chief warlock anymore.

That still didn't compare to Malfoy's actions.

He had wanted to investigate that phenomenon before a letter from Dumbledore had explained everything. Apparently, the old man had called in a favour. Whatever it was, it must've been big to have convinced Malfoy. Even out, of course Dumbledore seemed to still have a hand in it... It also meant Sirius Black owed a favour to the headmaster... Thinking about it, he realized he owed a favor towards a particular Slytherin although that was definitely justifiable... Owing someone a favour definitely beat living in Azkaban. He had a strange feeling regarding the headmaster though, somehow either he didn't believe he owed him one or he felt that whatever the man would ask of him... Wouldn't be worth the Black fortune... He quickly shrugged that off, he had things to do.

He knew Harry Potter would be rather happy with the turn of events, in fact, he himself was quite happy with the outcome... He could afford a better lifestyle for the both of them, plus the sudden fortune meant he could afford another part of his plan to help give Gryffindor it's lead... Ever since the 300 points boost to Slytherin Harry had been somewhat moody regarding the points... He'll be happier to know his house still stood a chance!

If only he knew.

...

When Albus Dumbledore saw the newspaper, he sighed, at least the letter to Sirius Black would make more sense, he'd sent it off earlier expecting the vote to be successful, all the signs certainly pointed towards that... Albus almost chuckled at the thought of Black receiving that letter after losing the vote, remembering his deal his mood dropped once again. He turned towards Fawkes and found amusement lining the bird's face.

"I had hoped Gryffindor would win..."

The bird scoffed.

Albus Dumbledore frowned, "Who are you rooting for?"

The bird's screech shook Dumbledore to his core.

"That is quite rude Fawkes! Gryffindor certainly does stand a chance against Slytherin!"

The bird had the audacity to ask him the chance of Gryffindor winning this year.

...

Weeks passed by too quickly for Rodrick's taste, he'd been spreading his time over between doing homework and working through magic extraction, and friends. He was forced to socialize with them as well, couldn't be helped if he forgot every now and then could it?

Of course, the amount of time he'd spent learning the advanced piece of magic had lessened considerably. He'd finished through all the pages regarding the process and was really only going over the basics and functions of it. It was once again to his surprise very complex. The living extraction was in any case. There were several layers to go through when trying to extract something from a living being, ranging from physical parts such as bone, that had been a complete shocker. Learning he could extract bone... that had set his head for a loop. Ranging to the more difficult layer regarding human organs as well as human cells. The hardest layer was, of course, one's magic.

Naturally, with his luck, that happened to be the layer he had been trying to learn. The upcoming holiday would be his first attempt at true extraction, Rodrick was set on using his phoenix feather for the job. The feather had been quite unique in that it was both a living and non-living object. That simple fact meant two things, one it wasn't as hard as trying to mess with one's magic but it was the closest thing to it, and two he didn't need a living container for whatever he extracted it to. He wanted to test the feather for two reasons, to get an idea of how difficult removing Astoria's curse would be and to help his second goal, a goal that should from what he's seen on it so far, take up his upcoming summer...

He also needed to get a guide on Apparition...

The extra time he'd found, he'd spent it on his class work. With the house cup practically gift wrapped to Slytherin for the year, that thought always brought a smile to his face, he didn't need to bother with acquiring points anymore. Of course, no one else, save Daphne knew that particular fact. It seemed most of the Slytherin's were still waiting to see what he'd actually been planning as well as complaining that he wasn't trying hard enough. Malfoy to his surprise hadn't mentioned it at all, the boy either had a lot of faith in Rodrick or expected compensation at the end of the year, should he fail to uphold his end of the deal.

He doubted it had anything remotely to do with faith. Hell, he was half sure Malfoy's were more likely to be satanist than anything else, he couldn't really judge them about it, he probably knew more curses than most death eaters did. Really, being a Satanist was probably seen better in the eyes of magical Britain when compared to being a dark wizard. Then again he wasn't certain Magical Britain even knew who Satan was... Probably thought he was Salazar Slytherin's cousin or something.

The deal had probably been one of his better plans of late, it didn't involve getting a Basilisk to almost biting his arm off, to get the house cup. It seemed to have hit the headmaster rather hard though, the morning following Black getting his family fortune, following that 'trial'... Rodrick had never seen the Headmaster looking so upset, which in retrospect probably sent the completely wrong message to Harry Potter...

He was currently going over his History book. He was sitting in an empty library, a rare occasion. It usually happened whenever a Quidditch game was on... Coincidently one happened to be going on this very day... It was the one between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, as much as he 'loved' the game he simply found no reason to watch it. His friends and pretty much everyone else disagreed, Quidditch was basically a religion for wizards.

He snorted slightly as he read over the current chapter regarding witch hunts. 'Man and I thought my generation was crazy...' He inwardly scoffed at the thought.

To think there was a witch who'd enjoyed the burnings enough to go back for second helpings...

He wasn't really here to study, so much to simply get away from all the Quidditch fanatics, that was really the bigger priority, getting homework done that wasn't due for well... Until after he returned from his holiday was a bonus, it meant more time with the Greengrass family, as well as the occasional visits from his other friends. Another smile crept to his face when he realized how numerous that really was, he was pretty sure Luna was planning to spend quite a bit of her Christmas flooing over due to Astoria... Which meant she would be joining him and Daphne in whatever they planned to do for the holidays. A small thought quickly popped to his head, 'I wonder if there'll be any parties this year...'

Footsteps quickly grabbed the boy's attention, his gaze landed on one Hermione Granger, the girl was currently turning on her feet peering over the library before her eyes landed on him.

Her eyebrows quickly shot up in surprise, having found another human being not screaming his head off cheering a team on. Madam Pince was, of course, stalking the library but no one was actually sure she was human so to speak. 'Honestly!' Hermione thought. 'Why do they need to attend a game where our house isn't even playing!' She could almost pull her hair out at the irresponsibility. Harry, she didn't mind as much as he was finally allowed to actually enjoy the game with his godfather but Ronald! Honestly, the boy was already behind! He should be using this time to catch up. That brought a somber thought to her head, the work load had started getting to her recently, she hadn't even finished her homework yet! Homework that was due in 5 days! Her eyes finally took in the sight in front of her, it was Rodrick surrounded by what looked like parchments of homework and a History book. 'Finally, someone else who understands how valuable time was.' A few moment's later she watched as the boy's face took on a more amused look... 'Right... I've been standing here for a good 3 minutes...' Thought the girl as she slowly walked towards the Slytherin.

Rodrick had an amused grin on his face as he watched Hermione Granger flop down the seat next to him casually. The girl seemed to be far more comfortable around him than he'd realized... Then again he did save her life in the first year, maybe that had something to do with it. He waited for her to start speaking.

Hermione stared at the boy for a few seconds before realizing he wasn't planning on opening up the conversation.

"Hello," Hermione started before inwardly sighing, of all the things to start with...

Rodrick's lips quirked upwards slowly, he had to control himself when he noticed the frown that slowly appeared on the girl's face due to his reaction. "Hello," he replied back with a hint of mirth.

A few seconds passed with the two just staring at each other, Rodrick slowly but surely losing control. Hermione quickly looked away, the boy clearly had no intentions of bringing up a subject. her eyes glanced towards the parchments on the table before a frown took over her face... She didn't recognize any of it. "What are you researching?" she questioned, curious. There was parchment spread all over his side of the table.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her before chuckling, "Not researching anything," he started off, noticing the confused look on her face he added on, "This is homework."

Hermione's eyes widened, 'Homework!? I don't remember this! Oh god, when is it due!?'

Noticing the frantic look that passed over her face, Rodrick brought his hands up, he clarified that it was meant to be set for the holiday.

The frantic look quickly changed to narrowed eyes. "Why do you already have it?" Hermione questioned. Forcefully.

Rodrick had to stop himself from laughing at the idea of being interrogated by her, "I finished everything else, the professors decided to give it to me early so I have something to do in my free time," he shrugged. Of course he knew the real reason, Dumbledore no doubt had something to do with it, after the whole house cup fiasco he probably wanted to get back at him somehow... Either that or he was trying to stop him from focusing on Magic Extraction, no doubt hoping that if he'd missed the specific day he would have to wait and practice more. Knowing the headmaster it could really be either one... Or both for that matter.

Hermione knew her face outlined shock, it was really the only feeling she had at the moment... By the look on the boy's face, he probably realized it as well. How could he be so far ahead of her? She was still aggravated from the current week's homework and he was already working through his Christmas work... Hundreds of questions passed through her head before she sighed and settled for a simple statement.

"I don't know how you do it," Hermione grumbled, she picked up one of the parchment's scattered on the table.

Rodrick's face quickly changed to a curious one, he watched as Hermione frowned as she read through his paper. 'Did I write something wrong?' Not a lot of people could actually correct him, at least not from their year but if there was someone who could, it was Granger.

Hermione let out a sigh, "This looks correct..." she quickly returned the paper before she grabbed another and once again sighed.

Rodrick tilted his head, wondering what was going on. "I am not sure I understand what you're talking about,"

A small smile fretted over the girl's face, "There's a first..."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her statement. "A first of what? Me not understanding something?"

Hermione nodded at that as she continued to read through his Potions paper... It really was extensive... the boy had an almost inhumane talent for the subject... That and Transfiguration... 'I still can't believe he managed to perform NEWT level magic..' When she finished the paper she promptly put it back with a groan.

Rodrick's eye twitched at that, "I am gonna need you to explain what the problem is," He stated... Well demanded.

Hermione looked up from the table before she shook her head with a wistful smile. "I don't know how you can keep up or well in your case, manage to get so far ahead, I am feeling the pressure from just the current assignments and you're here doing work that won't be set for almost a month!"

Rodrick leveled an inquisitive stare at her, "Well... You're doing two more subject's than me so..." He started before he decided to add on, "I mean using a time turner probably has some side effects,"

Hermione's eyes twinkled at that, "I suppose..." however her mood quickly dropped, "That doesn't really count though because one of those subjects, muggle studies, by the way, is something I know quite a lot about and so isn't that challenging to me, not really any way." She watched as the boy took that in before he nodded, "The other is Divination and I am not really planning to continue it... So it doesn't count, so really it doesn't justify that I am having so much trouble while you're breezing through everything," Hermione finished.

Rodrick stared at her for a few moments, "You talk a lot," he remarked.

Hermione felt both embarrassed and angry at the remark, she was about to speak before Rodrick cut over her.

"It's probably the Time Turner's fault," he added on lazily.

Hermione took in the words, "I suppose... Professor McGonagall did say it would have a strain on my mind if used too much..." she quickly sighed at that, when she looked up however she found the same smile on the boy's face.

"I know something that might help you there,"

Hermione's face slowly took on a surprised look.

"It's called Occulumency, find a book or ask your head of house about it,"

Hermione blinked at the information before she asked what it was about.

"It's mind magic that helps keep your brain free of stress and your emotions under control,"

That explained so much regarding the boy's ease at studying. Hermione frowned somewhat knowing that it was her brain's habit to strain itself that was causing her work to slow down. "I will... Uh, thank you"

The two fell into a comfortable silence, Hermione had taken to reading through each of his papers... For some reason.

"Why do you want to drop Divination?" Rodrick suddenly asked, breaking the calm, he had his own reasons for disliking the subject but he wanted to hear someone else's.

Hermione looked up, "Hmm?" a moment later she took in his question before her brows furrowed at the subject... Really there were hundreds of reasons... "Because according to my 'professor'" she added emphasis to the word, "It isn't possible for me to pass the subject without my 'inner' eye, after all without that I can't predict peoples deaths now can I?" she finished in a more strained voice then she'd started with.

Rodrick had a passive look on his face as he took in her words, one thing he understood... Granger didn't like being told of something she was unable to do. A small smile crept across his face as he broke the ice, "Considering our previous years, you don't need an inner eye to predict a danger..."

Unsurprisingly Hermione found herself laughing at the joke. She wound up having to cover her mouth with a hand to stop herself.

"Besides, you only need the inner eye crap for Prophecies', you don't need it for visions... Well visions of your own future anyway," he remarked lazily. "Funny thing is I have that... It's the reason I didn't want to take the bloody subject in the first place," There was a tone of irritation as he let the words out.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him as soon as she took in his words, "Right.. you had visions, I did wonder why you never took the subject."

Rodrick shrugged, "If you need an inner eye for the subject then do you really think it'd be such a researched subject?" he questioned.

Hermione blinked in surprise at that... He had a point, if you needed an inner eye for it, it would be an even harder subject to research then the birthday issue with Arithmancy... "Then..." she started before she quickly realised, "Divination is meant to teach you to interpret the visions... Not to show you how to have them..." The realization surprised her somewhat... It gave the subject a lot more credence than it was due, it gave it a more intellectual one anyway. Hermione sighed, it also meant she couldn't in her right mind drop it if it wasn't a complete waste...

Rodrick nodded at that although he did add, "Yea, although they're more likely to interpret Prophecies then some visions,"

"What do you mean? Aren't they the same?" she questioned. Her grievance with accepting the subject already gone.

Rodrick shook his head, knowing he'd once wondered the same thing, "No, not really, think of it this way. Prophecies are a guaranteed future, while visions are simply possible ones."

Hermione furrowed her brows at that, "Multiverse theory..." She muttered quietly mostly to herself expecting the other boy not to understand, to her surprise, however, Rodrick simply nodded at that.

"Yes, that's one way to put it I suppose, hmm... Yeah that's probably the best explanation, Propechies, on the other hand, would be your own future, although I suppose they'd be set in every possible future..." he murmured the last part mostly to himself. Looking up however he found Hermione staring at him with a strange look.

"What?" Rodrick remarked slightly unsettled.

Hermione shook her head quickly out of the sudden daze, "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to understand it,"

Rodrick frowned, "Why wouldn't I?" he questioned.

Hermione tried to think of a good way to phrase her answer, "Well it's such a muggle thing... Isn't it?"

Rodrick nodded, "Yes... I don't see why I wouldn't understand it though. I did come from an orphanage, there were plenty of random books regarding science there, although mostly for the older children I suppose," Rodrick muttered. Before he'd been convinced that he was actually magical and not a hallucinating child with mental problem's and very weird dreams, he'd spent most of his time going through the books at the orphanage as the other kids didn't like him.

Hermione nodded slowly, "Still, I am surprised you didn't just consider it dribble after coming here," she remarked.

"Why would I do that?" Rodrick questioned, curious.

Hermione blinked, she didn't really have an answer to that.

Rodrick decided to clarify, "I mean don't get me wrong, magic certainly changes a lot of things... But there is one thing that muggles will always have over us,"

Hermione's eyes widened slightly wondering where he was going with it.

Rodrick smiled somewhat, "This world was Muggle long before it was magical, it's only natural for me to accept some things that muggles have come up with, don't you think? I mean Multiverse certainly seems more plausible considering magic exists," he finished laughing at the thought.

Hermione, however, was still transfixed to what he'd said before that, it was strange for her to never have considered it before, "You think muggle's existed before wizards did?" She questioned eagerly to see his reasoning.

Rodrick nodded, "If wizards had existed first, it would be the muggle's that would need to hide, not us," his words drifted off another silence.

Hermione slowly took in the words... It made sense... Too much sense. It was a good thing really, that muggles were first, it'd be pretty hard for them to hide from wizards otherwise.

Before the two could continue however a third voice interrupted them, neither had heard what they'd said, they assumed it was a greeting, a somewhat upset greeting. Rodrick turned, already knowing who the voice belonged to, no one else could have such a dreamy voice. He waved cheerfully at what looked like a frowning Lovegood.

That was new. "Hello Luna,"

The frown quickly disappeared to a more passive look, she quickly took a seat next to the boy, on the opposite side of Granger. Luna eyed the bushy haired witch before introducing herself, the other doing the same.

Surprise and some shock quickly went over Rodrick's face as he heard Luna suddenly turn her attention to him.

"You weren't at my houses game," she remarked with a tone of hurt.

Rodrick blinked at her before having to stop himself from chuckling, "I am barely at my own house's games..." he replied.

Luna's eyes narrowed, "I know. I am not upset you didn't show up. I am upset you didn't invite me here," she finished by crossing her arms.

Rodrick scoffed at that, "I figured you wanted to keep Astoria company, seeing as it was her first Quidditch game,"

Luna's eyes widened, "Oh no and I left her alone early! Oh, I hope the game ends soon..." She remarked fidgeting to herself.

Rodrick watched the blonde with amusement, "It's okay, I'll tell her I needed you for some thing," he remarked with a smile.

Luna's face broke into a smile, "Oh thank you! That would help quite a lot." she stared at him beaming before she added on, "You're a really good friend sometimes you know that?"

Hermione blinked at that, "Wait what?"... "Didn't you jus-" Rodrick shushed her.

"So what were you two talking about?" Luna quickly changed the subject, still smiling.

"Multiverse Theory," Rodrick remarked, "We were talking about how witches and wizards understood the term," he added on, honestly he wasn't even sure what they were talking about, he was guessing at this point.

"We were?" Hermione questioned, suddenly unsure herself.

Luna cocked her head to the side, "I don't know what it means..."

"Well you are a special witch Luna," Rodrick remarked cheerfully as he patted her head. The girl giggled at the action before thanking him for the compliment.

"I don't think that was a com-" Hermione started before once again to her annoyance, she was shushed by the black-haired snake.

"It basically refers to different possible future's where you made a different choice etc etc," Rodrick remarked.

"I don't think you're supposed to use 'etc' like that..." Hermione grumbled mostly to herself.

Luna seemed to pick up on the concept quickly, "Oh I see, yes I suppose that makes sense... How many worlds do you think there are?" she questioned.

Hermione blinked in confusion at the sudden question... The idea was that there were infinite worlds... Not a limited number... She turned to Rodrick finding a thoughtful but amused look, 'He's probably trying to figure out how to explain that there are a limitles-'

"Three," Rodrick answered matter of factly.

Hermione blinked again... "What?"

Luna nodded, "I agree... Three sounds like a reasonable number of worlds." she spoke smiling.

Hermione switched glances between the two waiting for them to clarify... They had to be joking... Neither of them decided to say anything, sighing she questioned them instead... 'I can't believe I am even considering this...' Well, it was mostly due to the fact Rodrick had said it... At this point, after everything that had happened, it really wasn't a good idea to dismiss his words.

"Why three?" Hermione questioned, inwardly groaning.

Luna blinked at her a few times, "Because it's a cute even number," she remarked playfully, humming along to something.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It really isn't an even number," she muttered through grit teeth.

Rodrick was having the time of his life.

Luna stared at her before adding on, "It is if you put an inverted three right next to it, then it becomes an even number,"

Hermione blinked at her... This level of thinking was... Where did they find this girl exactly? "That's not how numbers work!" Hermione ground out, somewhat forceful.

"It is with magic," Luna shrugged.

Hermione had to force a smile on her face as she turned to face Rodrick. Silently questioning how the girl was a Ravenclaw.

Rodrick chuckled, "She's only joking," He remarked.

Luna chuckled as well, "You really shouldn't take everything too literally Miss Granger"

Rodrick had a hard time believing the girl had said that.

Hermione sighed, "Of course..."

Luna turned towards Rodrick, "Why do you think it's three?" she questioned curiously.

Hermione had to stop herself from lunging at the girl. Multiverse means infinite! She all but screamed into her own head. When she turned to Rodrick, however, she found the guy surprisingly thoughtful about it.

'I am not even sure why I said 3... although I suppose it would make some sense if we went with that direction...' Rodrick thought to himself. He turned towards Luna and answered. "Past, Present and Future,"

Hermione didn't know what that meant. She turned towards the blonde and was was surprised to see the girl seemed to have understood... Way too quickly and with no explanation, the blonde had understood what Rodrick had meant and she didn't... She felt like pulling her hair out.

"That does make quite a bit of sense," Luna remarked, thoughtfully.

Hermione had to force herself to ask, "Why? What does it mean?" it was difficult keeping her voice level...

Rodrick had to stop himself from grinning at the Gryffindor's reaction... Honestly when will they learn? "It's pretty simple really..." he started and almost laughed when he saw Hermione twitch.

"Rodrick..." Luna warned.

Rodrick rolled his eyes before he gave out his thoughts on the matter. "Whenever you make a choice in the present, what's the first frame of reference you use to decide whether the action you're about to make is good or bad?" he questioned Luna, knowing that Hermione was in no condition to answer.

Hermione frowned at the sudden question, wondering what he was referring to.

Luna thought about it for a few seconds before realizing with a grin what the boy was trying to say... "My past choices!"

Rodrick nodded with a smile, "Yes the past..." He turned found Hermione slowly comprehending the situation.

"Then..." Hermione muttered... 'Oh my god... It actually makes sense... what is the world coming to...'

Rodrick grinned, "Yes, if we take that theory into practice then the future would depend on our present selves..."

Hermione sighed as she took in the full idea, "Which is why some visions don't always happen because our present selves tend to change..." she practically slapped her head to the table. It was a viable theory.

"I suppose Prophecies would be guaranteed things that would happen," Luna added on, staring at the boy.

Rodrick nodded, "Which is why you need the inner eye to see through all the potential futures," he answered, surprisingly with a straight face.

Luna nodded quickly, it made sense.

That was enough for Hermione as she quickly got up. "I am going to go find that book on Mind magic,"

Rodrick watched her go, wondering why she'd come into the library in the first place.

"You really are quite smart you know," Luna remarked.

Rodrick leveled a stare at the girl, "Why?" he questioned.

Luna chuckled, "Being able to come up with all that rubbish in a manner of seconds is quite impressive,"

Rodrick rolled his eyes, "It's perfectly reasonable," he muttered.

Luna shook her head, "Perhaps but you wouldn't need three worlds for that..." she spoke in a far away voice.

Rodrick stared at the girl wondering what she was about to say.

"Do you think my mom would be alive in one of them?" she questioned.

Rodrick felt his face suddenly etch into a surprised expression at that, "Maybe? I am not entirely sure,"

Luna turned towards him, "Do you think we'd be friends in the other ones?" she asked again.

Rodrick grinned, "Definitely," he remarked quickly. It was an easy answer.

Luna beamed back a smile. "That's good to know... That's really good to know," she affirmed to herself.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her, "I am sure even if I wasn't around, you could still be friends with Astoria," he remarked, the two seemed almost inseparable until Quidditch was involved it seemed.

Luna shook her head slightly, "I don't know, I met her through you... And it wouldn't really be the same anyway"

"It wouldn't?" Rodrick questioned curiously.

"No, It's not the same as your first friend, really,"

If Rodrick was surprised by the sudden proclamation he didn't show it. "First friend huh" he repeated the words.

Luna smiled, "I am quite grateful to have met you first you know, you left quite a good impression," she chuckled.

"Well, I had to, you are special after all," he added on earning a playful punch. "It's a compliment!" he tried to defend himself.

Luna tried to force a frown, "The first one was, I feel like that one wasn't," she huffed as she crossed and stuck her nose up.

Rodrick shook his head at the blonde girl's antics, when she looked back down towards him the two started laughing and were promptly kicked out of the library.

...

"I really don't see what the big deal is," Rodrick spoke as he stared out the compartment window. he felt much better than usual, his Transfiguration was off. He'd taken it off as soon as he entered the compartment and set up privacy charms, he knew he needed to have it back up before they got out though. It took him a few moments before he realized Luna had never actually seen him like that before. It took that long because she made no reaction what so ever to it, as if it was completely natural. She didn't even ask about his family name although Rodrick did make sure to tell her.

Which resulted in her smiling... That really should've concerned him but frankly, he was just glad she wasn't against him. Although he doubted she ever would be.

"Honestly you're overreacting at this rate," Added on a smirking Nott.

"Seriously, it's unbecoming of you to be so melodramatic," Daphne remarked rolling her eyes, a mocking tone in her voice.

"I think you've been infested by quite a lot of Wrackspurts," Luna added on dreamily towards the other Blonde in the compartment.

Malfoy's face twitched more with each person that spoke before finally, he turned to Rodrick.

"You made me give away the Black fortune for a bloody cup!" He seethed.

Rodrick had trouble keeping the smile off his face, Does he not realize the amount of fun he could have with that?

It was at that point, the last person in the compartment decided to contribute.

"I agree with him to be honest," Astoria muttered, surprising the rest.

"See!" Malfoy remarked gleefully having a supporter.

"I think it would've been more worthwhile to sell it for some candy," Astoria added to everyone's amusement.

Malfoy stared at the girl in front of him, there was a strange look on his face as he wondered what on earth was wrong with her.

Nott could barely control himself at his face.

The compartment had six people, the girls on one side and the boys on the other. Both Tracey and Blaise had, to their friends surprise elected to stay at Hogwarts, for the Christmas holiday's, Tracey's parent's had their work cut out for them for the holiday while Blaise had decided that Hogwarts was better than a holiday with step-dad number 29.

Rodrick wasn't actually sure how many step father's the boy had but it always irritated Blaise when he exaggerated the number so he always did. Of course, he and Daphne did make sure to get permission from their head of house and naturally Daphne's parents to let the girl come over for Christmas. They offered Blaise the same but he'd refused on the grounds of protest against his mother... It didn't make any sense.

Rodrick just assumed the boy wanted to study History in secret.

"It's not like you would've kept the fortune or ever even received access to it," snorted Rodrick.

Malfoy deflated at that, "Still to lose it all for a cup we probably would've won..."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "Raise a hand if you think Slytherin could've won without cheating,"

Daphne had trouble keeping a straight face, Rodrick just admitted to it, in fact, been cheating...

Unsurprisingly no one even bothered to consider the notion, no one raised their hands, not even Malfoy.

"Besides, look at this way. You can annoy Harry Potter as much as you want now and still be guaranteed to win... Imagine the look on his face at the end of the year when Dumbledore hands it over to us anyway..." Nott spoke... his voice slowly getting more excited as he himself realized the full effects.

Malfoy stared at the boy for a few seconds before an evil grin slowly plastered itself on his face.

Daphne looked at the smile before she turned to Rodrick, "Why are you friends with them again?"

Rodrick chuckled at that, "I have absolutely no idea," he remarked. "Also you still can't kill him Malfoy,"

Draco rolled his eyes, "I know I know, it's against the rules"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "No, I happen to like him, I'd be disappointed if he disappeared,"

Malfoy had a look of horror etched on his face at that.

"If my secret is ever blown I could use him to avoid Azkaban, besides he's a good link to Sirius Black and considering he's the head of the Black family..." Rodrick added on

The look of horror quickly changed to confusion.

"And whose fault is that!?" Malfoy yelled out, exasperated.

Everyone ignored the outburst.

"You could say the same about your connections to our families," Nott remarked.

"No offense but that'll speed up my trip to Azkaban," deadpanned Rodrick.

"What about mine?" Luna asked cheerfully.

Rodrick contemplated her words, "I wouldn't know, they'd probably never believe I existed." he shrugged.

"Probably sent to a St Mungu's mental ward," Malfoy muttered.

"I doubt you'll end up there, My family wouldn't stand for it," Daphne remarked defensively.

'As if your family could stand to anything,' Nott thought to himself.

"That still doesn't justify me not being able to kill him..." Malfoy muttered disappointedly.

"I am pretty sure morals alone should justify that..." Daphne spoke, a tone of uncertainty in her voice as she stared at Malfoy.

Nott snorted at that. "Malfoy's having morals... Good one Greengrass,"

Malfoy glared at Nott. "I don't want to hear that from you."

Nott shrugged at that uncaring.

"We make quite the strange group don't we," Astoria murmured. It came off as a surprise when the other's realized the girl was surprisingly self-aware... When she wasn't filling her mouth up in desserts anyway.

"How so?" Luna questioned curiously.

Nott snorted at that, "You're here," he answered to her.

Luna turned her gaze back to the boy "I don't understand,"

Nott was tempted to make some insult regarding the girl before remembered who the person next to him was, "Well you're a Ravenclaw..." he decided to settle on. He failed to notice the amused face both Malfoy and Grindelwald made.

Luna tilted her head at that, "What does that have anything to do with the compartment"

"Well it's filled with Slytherins," The boy stammered.

"But you're a Hufflepuff," Luna remarked with a smile.

Everyone else broke into laughter at that. The look of horror on Nott's face was priceless.

...

The Greengrass family were outside of Gringotts bank, a detour Rodrick had asked to make at the last minute. He had contemplated whether the Deathly Hallow in his vault could help his magical extraction in any way, he still remembered his grandfathers warning regarding it but considering what he was planning to do, he figured it counted as stupid and reckless.

The goblin he spoke to was the same one as last time, when he'd asked him to let him enter his vault, he led him in with a sneer. Rodrick could've sworn the cart ride was much faster than last time. 'Goblins hold a grudge... Go figure,' He mused to himself. Countless wars with the race filtered through his mind.

"We're here," The goblin muttered disdainfully, he really didn't like visiting this particular vault, it almost always resulted in a headache.

Rodrick nodded amiably as he made his way inside. He eyed the necklace in the middle warily, once again, second thoughts regarding it rose up. He gulped as he moved towards it, when he grabbed it he immediately felt a jolt of magic rush through him at the contact. He blinked a couple of times before he removed the necklace from where it hung and eyed it closely.

It looked very similar to the time turner that Granger had used only... Rodrick frowned, there wasn't actually a way for him to turn back time using it, in fact, he couldn't even touch the hourglass in the middle at all. Peering at it closely, he noticed that the actual Time Turner was encased inside what looked a triangular crystal. There was a large amount of small unreadable text sprawled all over the crystal, inside he could see a faint silvery glow from each of the small pieces of sand inside the hourglass. Perhaps the strangest part was that there were 3 small looking pins extended from each corner of the crystal. Taking a closer look he frowned, he couldn't read any of the writing inside.

"It's another language altogether," Rodrick heard the goblin say, he turned to find the goblin looking far paler than before.

Rodrick nodded before he, to the goblin's shock, put on the necklace.

For a split second he felt his heartbeat echo through his head, when he looked up, he found the goblin watching him with a crazed look, a sudden rush of magic seeped through him at the contact, looking down, however, his eyes widened, the necklace had changed.

The shape had changed to match a pendant, one that took the image of the mark of the Deathly Hallows themselves, only this time, where the wand had originally been, there was now also a small horizontal hourglass crossed at its center. All of it was encased in what looked like a silver crystal globe. Rodrick turned towards the goblin and found an inquisitive look on his face.

"It fit's you,"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "What makes you say that?"

"You're not dead." The goblin replied, sending a shudder down Rodrick's spine.

He nodded once and turned towards the Deathly Hollow's book. He felt another jolt of magic go through him, unbeknownst to him was the small engraving of a book that etched itself onto the pendant, surrounded by, once again, the strange foreign language. He turned back to the goblin, however, Rodrick furrowed his brows when he noticed a silvery glow emanating from the creature's chest, where his heart supposedly was, he shook his head once and the glow seemed to disappear.

"That's all," Rodrick remarked, he placed the book into his bag, it was heavier than usual, he'd shrunk all three of their trunks and placed it inside, with a weighting charm of course but that could only do so much.

The Goblin replied quickly before moving back to the cart, there was a skip in his step, they'd finally gotten rid of that cursed item.

...

When he left the bank, Rodrick found the Greengrass's waiting for him outside, The parent's smiled at him as soon as he came into view, Daphne was busy eyeing the new addition to his neck while Astoria skipped around cheerfully as she waved her wand around.

"What is that?" Daphne questioned, referring to the necklace.

"Family heirloom," Rodrick replied, a small smile on his lips.

It took a few moments before Roxanne joined in, "It looks quite nice," she made an attempt to reach it to examine it closer before Rodrick instinctively moved back. A surprise expression took over the woman's face. Cyrus had a thoughtful one on his. Rodrick had a sheepish smile on his, wondering what to say.

Daphne broke the small silence. "It's cursed isn't it?" there was a tone of amusement in her voice.

Rodrick nodded, "I'd be surprised if it wasn't,"

"Why wear it?" Astoria asked, blunt and straight to the point.

Rodrick shrugged, "Might help, regarding you," he answered.

A look of understanding swept over the Greengrass adult's faces, "It won't affect you right?" Roxanne asked worriedly.

Rodrick shook his head, "If anything, it seems to keep my magic in check," When he looked closer, however, he furrowed his brows as he noticed the same silvery glow come out of Roxanne's heart.

"Problem?" Daphne asked, worriedly.

"No, not really,"

The group fell into a small silence at that, Rodrick quickly perked up, "I think I need new robes, these ones don't fit me as well as before,"

Roxanne nodded quickly at the sudden change, there was a cheerful look. "Yes, I agree," she chuckled, "It looks like your finally growing," she remarked playfully.

Rodrick felt himself turn red at that, his height was a sore point, when he turned towards Daphne he found the same amused look on her face, she'd teased him about Tracey being taller than him for quite a while. It seemed he'd grown a couple of inches taller than Daphne in the past several months, realistically that put him on height with the red head... He was nowhere near Blaise but it was better than before. Rodrick guessed it might have had something to with the fact he was using Transfiguration much less than usual.

"Ah, I should probably take some Galleons out," Rodrick muttered quietly, already turning around.

"No need, I won't have you paying for it," Roxanne spoke up.

Rodrick turned back to the woman about to object before he found an almost fanatic look on her face. He tried to refuse the offer.

"It'll be your Christmas gift," Roxanne 'persuaded' the boy, Cyrus could barely hold his smile as he noticed the sudden change in his wife's behavior.

"Ruins the surprise don't you think?" Rodrick tried to counter before Roxanne decided he would get both, the robes and a mystery gift. He sighed as he turned to find Daphne barely able to hold her laughter.

"What?" he questioned.

"You get weirder every year," she snorted.

Rodrick rolled his eyes at that.

"Don't listen to her, she's just jealous," Astoria spoke in defense of the boy, earning laughter out of the adults.

Daphne huffed at her sister, "Whose side are you on?"

"The one that lets me eat as much candy as I want,"

Rodrick patted the girl for that one, turning he found Daphne giving him an unamused look.

"I really think we should stop feeding her so much sugar though..." Roxanne spoke to her husband quietly.

Astoria seemed to hear that as she turned towards her mother with the most cheerful smile she could pull off, "Mom can we buy candy?"

There was no hesitation on Roxanne's part as she quickly agreed to her daughter. Astoria cheered in the victory, for a second she'd been worried.

Cyrus shook his head at that, his wife really couldn't handle Astoria.

"Am I the only one that's responsible here!?" Daphne questioned dramatically.

Rodrick snorted, "Responsibilities boring,"

Daphne rolled her eyes at that, "I am just trying to make sure she keeps her looks,"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her, "Why does that matter?"

"So if she ever get's a crush on anyone, they won't reject her," Daphne deadpanned, half serious.

Rodrick stared incredulously at her before laughing, "I am pretty sure the love of her life is candy, any way you never seemed to worry about that yourself."

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.

"Right," Rodrick muttered quickly realizing why. Dangerous ground.

It seemed Cyrus had been paying attention to their little conversation, at least the part about Astoria possibly having a crush as he decided to walk up towards his youngest daughter and effectively tell her she can buy as much candy as she could ever want. He was already losing one daughter to a boy, he wasn't risking his second one.

Roxanne started laughing, she'd been about to remind him that the girl was only eleven before remembering Daphne had been a similar age before she'd developed her own crush.

Daphne facepalmed herself at her father's actions. Astoria felt like she was in heaven.

"Doesn't bode very well for me does it," Rodrick muttered quietly, thinking about the protective father.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, "You sound worried,"

A small frown etched its way onto his face causing the girl to laugh.

"Why do I feel like your not comprehending the situation properly?" Rodrick remarked as he followed the group ahead of them.

Daphne shook her head, "I know what you're talking about, there's a solution to it, that's all"

Interest piqued, Rodrick turned towards the girl, "And that is?"

Daphne grinned, "We're teenager's, we rebel,"

Rodrick blinked at that, "That doesn't sound like a good solution,"

Daphne shrugged, "It works pretty well,"

"I really doubt that... It's hopeless isn't it" He sighed.

Daphne shook her head at his antics, "You can stand up to a Basilisk but you can't stand up to my parent's, who happened to like you by the way,"

Rodrick snorted, "The Basilisk sort of put me in a situation where I had no choice,"

There was a glint in the girl's eyes as soon as she heard him, "Is that right?" she remarked.

Rodrick had a bad feeling as he watched the girl's face slowly adopt a mischievous smile, "Daphne..." he started before he watched the girl skip towards her parents. He could feel the danger in the air.

"Father..." Daphne started off on a formal note.

The feeling of dread escalated as soon as he heard that.

Cyrus turned to his daughter before he found the girl adopting an adorable smile on her face, 'Uh oh...'

"Can I date Rodrick?" she asked in her most cheerful voice, her eyes were wide and hopeful.

Astoria dropped her ice cream she turned to stare at her sister wide eyed.

'Where did she get that!?' Rodrick idly thought.

Roxanne could barely hold her laughter at Cyrus's face.

Both adult's quickly turned towards the boy, only to find him comically frozen in place unable to utter any words.

Rodrick did the first thing that came to mind as he took out his wand and placed a Disillusionment charm on himself.

Daphne rolled her eyes at that, "Oh real mature,"

Roxanne started laughing at the situation, while Cyrus was still perplexed by the whole thing.

A few moments passed and Rodrick showed no signs of reappearing.

Daphne frowned at the boy's action, it really was making things quite awkward, she was about to call his name out before Astoria spoke up.

"I think he's waiting for daddy's answer," there was a cheerful tone to her voice as she said this.

The eyes quickly glanced towards Cyrus, Daphne raised an eyebrow at him when he didn't say anything.

In a moment of panic, Cyrus said the most reasonable thing he could think of, an answer that always worked no matter the situation. He'd been using it ever since Daphne learned to talk.

"Ask your mother,"

The pressure immediately shifted towards the amused green eyed woman, she chuckled before turning to her daughter, "I think you should be asking the person in question," there was a smile plastered on her face, she'd long approved of the boy ever since he'd saved both her daughter's, the fact he was so willing to help Astoria only added more points in his favor.

Daphne waited a few moments before raising her hands into air dramatically, "I really doubt this is how you dealt with the Basilisk Rodrick!" she spoke somewhat annoyed.

"This is hardly the same thing!" A voice echoed out from nowhere.

It was at that moment that Cyrus truly realized how much people were willing to ignore in the street so as to avoid attention, this really must look like a comic and yet people walked past like it's normal.

Daphne frowned when she still didn't see anyone reappearing.

'Thud'

Daphne and her parent's quickly turned towards the sound before they found Astoria... Hanging in mid air, her arms around something.

"Found him!" she cheered, causing Roxanne to let out a laugh. Cyrus shook his head at all this.

Rodrick quickly reappeared out of nowhere.

"There you are!" Daphne spoke as she crossed her arms.

"And you can't get away!" Astoria added on happily.

Rodrick swished his wand and both he and the girl around his neck disappeared.

"Oh for the love of..." Daphne muttered.

Cyrus eyed the situation with amusement, "Honey, I think our daughter's been kidnapped,"

Roxanne shook her head, knowing what he was trying to do. "It's ok, we still have Daphne,"

"Hey!" a voice echoed out of nowhere, once again revealing the two students.

"I can't believe you fell for that," Daphne remarked cheerfully as she quickly swept over towards the two and took the wand out of Rodrick's hand. "No more wand-waving until you get home," she remarked, her eyes glowing with amusement.

"Why didn't you set up a silencing charm?" Cyrus questioned curiously, he knew the boy was capable of that.

Rodrick sighed, "I did,"

'Oh... Wow,' The collective thoughts entered each brain, except Astoria's.

"..."

"Tori, you can let go now,"

Astoria shook her head, her hair had managed to whip Rodrick in the face causing Daphne to stifle a laugh at the situation.

"They abandoned me! This is their punishment!" she spoke, attempting a glare at her parents.

"How is this a punishment!? for them anyway?" Rodrick questioned incredulously.

"Use your imagination," Astoria shrugged.

Cyrus couldn't help himself as he started laughing at his youngest daughter's face. Even Roxanne seemed to crack.

"Astoria... You're not exactly light..." Rodrick remarked, much to Daphne's amusement, he was proving her point.

"Use magic," she spoke.

"I don't have a wand,"

"As if!" Daphne snorted, "I've seen you do a summoning charm without a wand before!"

Rodrick stared at the girl with a look of betrayal on his face before he sighed and levitated the girl on his back.

Astoria had been about to complain before Rodrick placed her on his shoulder's, she quickly grabbed onto his hair while he held her legs still, if she started kicking he wasn't sure he could hold her in place. "This is much better," the girl exclaimed.

"Imagine if Malfoy saw us like this..." Daphne remarked as she shook her head.

Cyrus seemed to take the words in quickly before sighing, his daughter was having too much fun from the looks of it. Turning to Roxanne, hopeful she could get everything back under control. His stomach squirmed when he realized she had no intention of doing anything.

Daphne quickly walked up towards Rodrick, "You haven't actually answered," she spoke barely able to hold her laughter at the look on his face.

Rodrick twitched slightly before smiling at Daphne. "No," he replied amiably as he walked away, dramatically turning his nose up. Astoria started laughing.

Daphne blinked a few times before she turned to her parent's, "He's joking, right?", quickly she turned back to the boy and called out to him to no avail.

"Where to Astoria?" Rodrick asked, enjoying the frustrated look on Daphne's face.

A thoughtful look took over Astoria before she beamed, "If we put a cloak over you we'd look like my mom" she remarked.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow at that wondering where it was going.

"And then...?" Rodrick questioned.

"We can go to a bar and order fire whiskey!"

Cyrus' head ringed with alarms at that, "Absolutely not!" he spoke quickly.

Astoria turned towards her father which in turn forced Rodrick to turn around and put on the biggest pout she could.

Cyrus looked away unable to hold her gaze.

"Mom..." she started on her mother looking down.

It took a second before Roxanne broke, "Ok fire whiskey it is dear,"

Cyrus turned to his wife, "Roxanne! she's eleven!"

"She's just so adorable," Roxanne cooed.

Rodrick stared incredulously at his guardians.

"I really don't see the big deal... " Astoria remarked, smiling mischievously at her sister, "I mean Daphne's already drank it,"

The temperature quickly dropped, even Rodrick felt the tension, he quickly schooled his expression as everyone turned towards a frozen Daphne.

Her father's gaze swept straight into her, Daphne squirmed for a few seconds before she blurted out, "So did Rodrick!"

Rodrick chuckled at that, "It's not as big of a deal as their dau-" he stared before he noticed Roxanne's glare on him.

"Explain! Now!" Cyrus spoke thinly to Daphne while Roxanne did the same to Rodrick.

"Malfoy's house elf accidentally gave me some!" Rodrick spluttered, the answer seemed to mollify Roxanne.

"Draco Malfoy snuck it into the common room!" Daphne remarked it took her a few seconds to realize her's wasn't much of an excuse.

Rodrick remembered the day, it was on the day Harry broke his broom.

Cyrus frowned at Malfoy's actions... Who gave a third-year access to Fire whiskey?

Roxanne, however, questioned further, "And why exactly did you decide to try it?"

Daphne squirmed on her feet for a few seconds before she saw her sister smiling even more... 'She wouldn't...'

"Rodrick warned us not to drink it..." Astoria started, "I listened... She didn't," she finished with a cheerful smile.

Daphne's face fell at that.

"She got super drunk," Astoria added on.

"TORI!" Daphne exclaimed.

Rodrick turned away from the spectacle, "Let's go buy you a candy shop,"

Astoria's eyes widened, "You can afford that?"

Rodrick nodded, chuckling, "I have an idea that might work,"

"What is it?" Astoria asked eagerly.

"It involves a hyperactive eleven year old," he finished as he walked away. 'That reminds me, I need that book on Apparition.'

Daphne took it for what it is and thanked Rodrick in her head, who knows what else Astoria might've said as well... She turned to her parent's and relaxed when she saw 'some' amusement in their faces. 'Maybe it's not so bad...'

"Daphne Greengrass," Her mother started.

'I am screwed,' Daphne quickly thought of her mother's full use of her name.

Cyrus quickly shook his head as he followed the other two student's wondering when he'll get the chance to tell Rodrick of Sirius Black's invitation to his home.