Chapter 19: The Train Ride

"Wh…" Fred said, sitting up straight and knocking George's head off his shoulder, making his brother grunt. They both looked around with bleary eyes, but not seeing any danger, they slumped. "What happened?" Fred asked.

"Sorry, we didn't' mean to wake you. They're just surprised that Snape will be the DADA professor," Harry said, grinning at the twins' disheveled appearance. "Go back to sleep. We'll wake you when we get closer to Hogwarts," he said, knowing they needed it.

"Right," George said, and put his head back on his brother's shoulder and promptly fell back to sleep.

Fred didn't say anything, he just leaned back and nodded off.

"Keep it down, you guys. They were up all night," Harry said, waving casually to the twins. "I hope they made enough to last the year," he added, thinking how popular their stuff was going to be.

"Doing what?" Hermione wanted to know. She was sure it wasn't studying. She knew the twins were smart, but they wasted in on pranks and not schoolwork, which was just scandalous to her.

"Making pranks, probably," Ron answered echoing her thoughts, knowing his brothers like he did. "Don't' get me wrong, they're bloody brilliant," he added, seeing Harry get miffed.

"They might have been," Harry said with a lift of his shoulder. "However, they have a defense line now. I'll bet they were working on that. Though, I'm sure there are some pranks in there too," he added, tilting his head in thought.

"So, what happened at the last meeting. Mum came home in such a snit," Ron asked. he was sure Black had set her off. Though, for the first time ever, she was mumbling about Dumbledore. He didn't know why she was mad at the headmaster, but he was sure it was Sirius's fault.

"I can't tell you that," Harry said with a smug tone. He wondered how it felt to them to be on the other side of the information barrier.

"Why not?" was Hermione's question, looking for all the world like someone had kicked her cat.

"I'm not allowed," Harry stated, still with the smugness. "I've taken vows," he added, this time with a sigh. It wasn't true, per se, but if the others in the group couldn't talk about it, neither was he. It was only fair. That and he didn't trust these two to keep his secrets. Like he said before, Ron had anger issues, and Hermione had trust issues, as in she trusted the wrong people. Well, they were the wrong people to Harry.

"They made you take a vow?" the flabbergasted Neville asked, even though he was confused as to what they were talking about. "I mean, you're so young," he added at Harry's baffled look. "That could be dangerous." He looked worried.

"Yeah, it's a simple one. I didn't have to swear on my magic, or life. I just vowed not to tell," Harry answered, looking to his new friend, who seemed upset that he might have endangered himself. "I just can't talk about what happens at the house I was staying in," he finished, with a shrug. He wasn't going to back down on this.

"But we're your friends," Hermione stated, like that made a difference. To her it did. How could she help Harry, if she didn't know what kind of trouble he was in.

"It's a magical vow," Harry said, firmly. "That means it is more effective than just promising," he added, knowing that she would understand that. He hoped.

"He can't talk about it," Neville added, knowing more about vows than the other two. "Magic won't let him. You're harping on him won't change that," he said, looking at her like she was simple. He had seen her harass people all the time to do what she wanted. Like last year and the whole SPEW thing. No one could tell her different. It was only Harry's being chosen that calmed down her crusade. She still knitted hats under the delusion that she could free elves that weren't hers.

"But…" was as far as she got.

"He really can't," Ron said, he knew enough about them to know that. The twins had tried to get him to make an unbreakable vow as a kid. Boy, had his dad been mad. He sat him down and told him all he could about vows, but he had been so young, he'd forgotten most of it. "Neville's right, the magic will stop him."

"That's not fair," Hermione stated with a huff, folding her arms, and flopping back in her seat.

"How is it not fair?" Harry questioned, wondering why it was okay for her to keep a promise, but not him.

"I mean, we told you all we knew as soon as you came to… that place," she said, like they had broken the promise not to write him, or to keep him in the dark. Which they hadn't.

Well, to be fair, they did write to tell him, they couldn't tell him anything. Which was kind of redundant, but they did make the effort to let him know. Still, they could have written after that first letter, and let him know what they could, which is why he was still irked at them.

"Yeah, which wasn't much, I'll admit. But, Hermione, we weren't under oath," Ron said, he too was confused as to why she wasn't grasping the situation. She was one of the smartest people he knew.

"Well, I think they were cruel to make you take a vow," Hermione said changing tactics.

"How so?" the perplexed Harry asked, it was a simple thing that needed to be done. Their group was going to do some not quite so legal things. They weren't breaking the laws, just bending them a bit. They needed the vows to keep them safe. That and his doxy army needed to be kept secret from everyone not in the know. Not even his friends, old and new, would know about them.

"You should be able to talk to whomever you want to," she said as if it were a given.

"I can talk to whomever I want. I just can't discuss some things," he countered, hoping this conversation was over soon. It was going around in circles.

"Can we talk about what Harry can talk about?" Ron said, not wanting a fight. He too was tired of the subject.

"Like, how did you know Snape will be our DADA professor?" Neville asked, he was more than willing to change topics to something that they could talk about. It was bad enough that Snape terrorized him in potions, but now DADA. He didn't know if he was going to survive the year.

"Dumbledore told me when he brought my list," Harry answered, still peeved that the letters came out on the last day of summer. It was maddening to shop with Diagon Alley so full.

"Why did he transfer him to DADA?" Neville asked, really wanting to know. Maybe the curse would get the man, and they'd finally have him out of their hair.

"That, he didn't tell me, but I think it has something to do with my trial," Harry said a bit smugly. Yes, he was still proud of what he had accomplished with is doxy friends. "He did say that he was going to try and find the curse though. I guess it had to be someone he cared about before he looked for the curse," he added sullenly. He was mad that the headmaster didn't do it in his third year. Then they would still have Remus. For all he was still upset at the man, he was a great teacher.

"Oh, I remember reading about your trial. They really tried to try you under the whole Wizengamot?" Neville asked, amazed that they would try to pull something like that. His gran was in a snit the rest of the week over what happened in that courtroom.

"Yup, that was their first mistake," Harry said, still angry over the kangaroo court they tried to set up. He was sure they would have expelled him if he hadn't showed up. Forget that that was illegal, they still would have done it. He was disillusioned with the whole government. Well, maybe not Bones, but the rest of them were just… ugh.

"That's when you outed the fact that You-Know-Who was back?" the shy boy asked. He wasn't sure that that had been a good thing. He had always believed Harry, but the panic that happened when the Daily Prophet printed the fact that he was back was excessive. They had stormed the Ministry demanding protection from You-Know-Who. His gran told him that it was a madhouse for a week. It had died down since the Dark Lord hadn't made any moves. But…

"Yup, it wasn't easy, but I got my point across," Harry said, knowing the newspaper hadn't had the details. He too was a bit upset for the panic that the people had gone into, but he was more upset that they didn't do anything to protect themselves. No, they wanted the government to do it. "It's also when I proved my godfather was innocent," he added, changing the subject again. He didn't want to dwell on the whole Voldy was back.

"Sirius Black, right?" Neville asked, knowing that his gran said the man had been sent to prison without a trial. That didn't mean he was innocent, just wrongly incarcerated. He would keep an open mind for Harry's sake.

"Yup," Harry said for the third time. this time not feeling the need to explain.

"Well, I'm glad it worked out for you," the other boy said, happy to see Harry so relaxed. This summer must have agreed with him. Usually when they return to school, Harry was high-strung.

"Is that why you couldn't tell us about your trial. The investigation on Sirius?" Hermione wanted to know. She had been wracking her brain over that, and that was the conclusion that she had come up with. That and the investigation on whether Voldemort was back.

"Yup," was all the dark-haired boy said, not the least bit guilty that he had to withhold information. It served them right.

"I guess that makes sense," she conceded, knowing that if they had information, it could leak and cause issues with the investigation.

Silence fell for a while, Hermione took out a book, Harry leaned back in his corner and just enjoyed the quiet. Ron and Neville were having a quiet discussion on Quidditch. The twins snored on.

Suddenly the door slammed open, Malfoy had arrived. Harry quickly took the cane that had been sitting next to his leg and put it in front of him, leaning on it casually. He looked for all the world like he had had that cane all his life.

"Can I help you?" he asked in his best aristocrat voice, complete with an elegantly lifted eyebrow.

"What are you doing with my father's cane?" the blond boy demanded, instead of what he had initially was going to say.

"This old thing. I found it laying around the Ministry," Harry said, still putting on airs. Inside he was laughing his arse off. The look on Draco's face was just too funny.

"That is my father's," Draco reiterated, making to grab it from Harry. "How dare you touch some thing of my father's," he accused, not being able to get the cane back.

"Finder's keepers," Harry said, tucking it back next to his leg. He made a motion and the doxies that were always hovering over his shoulder flew over and jabbed the three Slytherins with joke arrows.

The three boys slapped their necks like something had bit them. Crabbe broke out in yellow feathers. Goyle's hair turned into green fur. All of his hair, including body hair. Malfoy took on a canary look, without the feathers. He looked like a plucked bird with human arms and legs.

"My father," Draco chirped, his voice much like Tweety Bird's. He stopped when he heard how his voice sounded, and he stomped his foot instead.

"Is in jail, and can do nothing," Harry said in a knowing tone. "I was there when he was arrested," he added with a smug look. "Bones didn't look happy."

"He was Imperiused," Malfoy yelled in his little bird voice, which made Harry think of people who inhaled helium.

"Sure, he was. That's why he's in prison," Harry said with a bit of sympathy. He knew that Malfoy Sr was going to be staying in Azkaban. And while he didn't like Draco, the boy wasn't his sworn enemy. Still, he was annoying. Maybe without his father around he'd finally grow up.

"You will rue the day you messed with me," Draco squeaked, and then stormed off, making platting sounds with his bird feet.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked, mulling over what she had just witnessed. No one drew their wand, so she was wondering if Harry learned wandless magic. He did make a movement with his hand.

"It's a secret," Harry said with a bright smile. He felt the doxies return to his shoulder. He was glad he worked out that there would be three out at all times.

"Oi," Ron said, trying to wake the twins. It was their joke stuff after all. He figured they would know.

"They've taken the same vows I did," Harry said, preventing the brothers from being woken.

"Bugger," Ron huffed, he really wanted the intel on how Malfoy got pranked. Harry hadn't even raised his wand, so it wasn't him.

"This is one secret that will not come out," Harry said, sitting back and resting his head on the back of the seat. He too was tired, just not as exhausted as the twins.

"Those were the twins' pranks?" Neville asked, looking to the dynamic duo, who were still sleeping like logs. It was the first time he had ever seen them relax in front of people. They really must trust Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Yup, once their mum left, they went into overdrive. The stuff they come up with is amazing," Harry said, not caring that he was gushing. He was impressed with those two. "I'll have them show you some of it later tonight, when we get to the dorms."

"My mum can be mean when it comes to the twins," Ron confessed when Neville looked his way. "She's always throwing their stuff out," he explained with a saddened look. "Like I said, I think they're brilliant. If only they didn't use us as test subjects," he added with a chuckle.

"Mrs. Weasley wants all her children to get jobs at the Ministry," Harry expanded the explanation. "She feels it's the cream of the crop job. Most of the boys disagree, bar Percy," he added, looking to Ron. "I'm not sure if she holds the same true for Ginny," he mumbled thoughtfully. For all he knew the woman thought that women were only good for housewives. He knew Ginny would fight that tooth and nail.

"Yeah, Percy," the redhead said with a great deal of anger. "He's turned into a right prat. Not that he wasn't one before, but now…" he trailed off, not knowing how to express his discontent of his older brother.

"Bill and Charlie got out as soon as they could," Harry said, trying to get the point across that it wasn't just the twins that rebelled. "Bill works for Gringotts, which I feel is a real top of the market job. Charlie works with dragons. After last year, I don't envy him."

They all chuckled at that. Seeing Harry face a dragon last year had been downright scary. None of them wanted to go through that again, so they could see the other teen's point.

"I don't want to work for the Ministry either," Neville said with a nod of his head. "I know I'll have to take my seat when I'm older, but I don't want to actually work there," he said with a grimace, fiddling with his sleeve.

"No, I'm betting you want to work in a greenhouse," Harry teased good naturedly. "Not that that is a bad thing, it works for you. I don't know that I want to become an Auror now that I've seen how corrupt the place is," he said with a great sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to see Ron staring at him.

"But, Harry," Ron started, only to trail off at the look on his friend's face.

"Honestly, Ron, I just don't know. You weren't there for the trial. It was a setup from the get-go," Harry said, trying to express his dislike of the whole government. "If I hadn't done what I done, I'd be expelled or even imprisoned. I wouldn't have put it past Fudge," he said, anger seeping in his tone.

"I guess," the redhead said with a pout. It was his dream to work as an Auror, but if Harry wasn't going to do it, maybe he'd think of something else. He really didn't want to work in any other department in the Ministry. His dad was in a dead-end job. The only reason Percy got promoted was because he was a brownnoser, and Ron didn't want to be like that.

The rest of the train ride was spent in quiet conversation. They played some card games, that Hermione had taught them with a regular deck of cards. However, they didn't play Exploding Snaps. They were trying to let the twins sleep. If those two woke up cranky, it could be bad for the other four.

When they got close, Harry woke the twins and told them to get ready.

Then the train pulled into Hogsmeade. Harry was preparing himself for a new year, wondering what danger he would face this year.

Oh well, at least he had his army.