Chapter 50

Andre sat at the table with the rest of the study group inside the library, all of them looking at each other, but not saying a word. During the Christmas vacation, they performed the ritual again, and while the power boost had been much larger than the previous rituals, it had come at a cost.

This time it wasn't mild discomfort they felt, but debilitating pain. All of them had passed out immediately after performing the ritual, waking up sporadically through the week as the Alumni nursed them back to health.

Andre remembered screaming in pain in his more lucid moments, and hearing the screams of his friends going through the same thing. He knew he would need to make sacrifices to achieve their goals, but nothing had prepared him for the week of hell he had suffered through.

He still felt weak, incredibly so, but the Alumni assured them that just like the other rituals, the pain would pass soon enough, and they would be even stronger for it.

As he looked at his friends, he could tell they were far from recovered as well. 'Greatness requires sacrifice,' he reminded himself solemnly, remembering the words of the Alumni.

Beatrice looked at her friends, feeling drained. She didn't know if she could handle another ritual, not if it was anything like the last one. "What are we going to do if Harry says no?" she asked in a small voice.

"Harry's going to say yes," Andre said, trying to sound confident. "He won't turn his back on us. He'll help us see this through to the end. I know it."

Talbott and Ismelda shared a look, thinking about Harry's reactions, and weren't so convinced. He had asked far more questions than they had when they were recruited, and he also seemed far more skeptical, even after Celestia revealed herself.

".. Andre," Talbott spoke up. "We can't leave this to chance. It's too important. If Harry isn't on board, we need to make alternative plans."

"Like what?" Andre asked tiredly, not sure what they could do, considering how little time they had left.

"If worse comes to worse… we may need to do the ritual again," Talbott replied, not looking forward to the prospect of suffering through another empowerment ritual.

Lucian, Beatrice, and Elspeth looked up sharply at that. The ritual had been the hardest on them, and not something they looked forward to going through again.

"We need to find another way," Beatrice denied, shaking her head. "The last ritual… it was too much. It felt like my magic was being ripped apart. I can't… I can't go through that again," she added, knowing that she was letting her friends down, but unwilling to go through that torture again.

Andre, Talbott, and Ismelda looked at Beatrice in surprise. "…You can't be serious," Andre said in shock. "We can't do this without you."

"I agree with Beatrice," Elspeth jumped in. "No more rituals," she said, shaking her head as well.

"What's going on?" Ismelda asked, staring between them. "You can't lose your nerve now, not when we're so close. I know it was more painful this time, but that's no reason to give up."

"We're not giving up," Lucian denied. "But the ritual was much tougher on the three of us," he explained. "I don't think I can even cast a spell right now. What good are we going to be if we're too weak to even perform the ritual?" He pointed out.

Andre, for once, was lost for words as a divide formed within the study group in front of his very eyes. He knew he had to keep everything moving forward and on track, but between this, and all the problems with the thieves, his job just became even more difficult.

"…Alright, I'll talk to Celestia," Andre relented. "Doing the ritual again will be a last resort," he promised.

Morgan watched carefully, keeping her presence hidden. She had been afraid something like this would happen. Ideally, the ritual required nine students, not six. The last ritual had got them closer, but they would need at least one more student, maybe even two, to make it work.

She couldn't risk them dying on her, at least until they performed the ritual, and freed her. 'I'll need to convince Harry myself,' she thought, planning how to win him over.

***

Mungdungus rung his hands nervously. After the disaster of a meeting with Dumbledore, he didn't know what to do. Both him and Potter were breathing down his neck for results, and he could feel the walls closing in on him.

All it would take was Potter telling the wrong person, and Dumbledore would know everything. He shuddered to think what his attack dog Moody would do to him if he ever found out.

The money he got from Potter was nowhere near enough to disappear with, not with the reach Dumbledore had. His only hope was to get Potter to back off, and tell Dumbledore he couldn't find anything, and hope he believed him, then he could forget about this whole mess.

He threw a pinch of floo power into the fireplace, contacting Potter. "We need to talk," he said as Potter's face appeared in the fireplace.

"Good, it's about time. Step through," James instructed, glad that Dung had finally got back to him. "What did you find out?" He demanded, as Dung appeared in his living room.

"Nothing new. The trail's gone cold," Dung lied.

"What?" James asked, confused. "What do you mean, you have nothing? You've been at this for more than a month."

"The lawyers don't know anything else," Dung repeated. "And it's not like the goblins will let anything slip. I think it's time we face facts," he continued. "There's no new trails to follow, and this is taking up far too much of my time. There's a lot of promising work I've had to turn down to work on this."

"So, what? You want to quit?" James asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Tell him about Skeeter," Lily suggested, remembering what her husband said about meeting her at the Christmas party.

"Skeeter?" Dung asked, feeling his stomach drop. If she was investigating this, he was in real trouble. She was like a pit bull, and the last thing he needed was for this to be splashed across the Prophet.

"Yes, Skeeter," James replied. "She knows about Evergreen, and how they've taken control of my family fortune. She's writing an article about it. Find out what she knows," he suggested.

Dung cursed mentally, hiding his growing panic. It was even worse than he thought. He had to find out what she knew, and how close she was to publishing her article. He could read between the lines, and knew that Dumbledore had more than a passing interest in keeping Evergreen under wraps.

"…I'll do that," Dung said, turning to make his exit.

"Oh, just one more thing before you go," James said, drawing his wand and keeping it hidden behind his back.

"What is it?" Dung asked, wondering just how much worse this could get for him.

"Stupefy!" James shouted, catching Dung off guard and sending him tumbling to the ground.

"James!?" Lily exclaimed, looking between her husband and the crumpled form of Dung on the floor. "What have you done?" She demanded disbelievingly.

"He lying," James replied calmly. He had told enough lies over the course of his life to know that Dung was at the very least holding something back. "Help me get him on the couch," he said, picking him up by the shoulders.

"James, this is insane," Lily replied. "You should have talked to me about this first," she admonished.

"I didn't know I was going to do it until I caught him lying to us," James replied. "Grab his legs. I've got a plan," he said confidently.

With little other choice, Lily grabbed Dung's legs as she helped her husband dump him on the couch. "Now what?" She asked. "It's not like he's going to tell us anything after you attacked him."

"Don't be so sure," James replied, pulling out a vial.

"Is that what I think it is?" Lily asked, staring at the clear liquid in the vial suspiciously.

"Veritasium," James confirmed, uncorking the vial and placing a few drops on Dung's tongue. "I thought it might come in handy the next time Dung tried to extort us for more money."

Lily sighed, looking between her husband and Dung, trying to decide if she should be impressed by his strategic thinking or annoyed by his impulsiveness.

"Incarcerous," James said, binding Dung in magical ropes, which he quickly followed up with a Rennervate to wake him up.

They watched as Dung's eyes opened, glassy and dilated as he stared at them. James smiled, knowing the potion had worked. "Someone told you to drop this, didn't they?" He asked, starting his interrogation.

"No," Dung replied in a monotone voice.

James looked at Dung, perplexed. He was so sure he was right about this. Dung was always trying to weasel more money out of him, and for him to drop it the way he had was beyond suspicious.

"This was a bad idea, James," Lily said, shaking her head, wondering what they were going to do now. His impulsiveness had put them in another bad situation. "What are we supposed to do with him now?" She demanded.

"I know what I'm doing Lily, trust me," James replied, thinking furiously. 'Alright,' he thought. 'Someone didn't tell him to drop it, but there's still something going on.' "Who did you talk to about Evergreen? Recently?" He added.

"Albus Dumbledore," Dung replied.

"You talked to Albus about this too," Lily pointed out, looking at her husband. "He doesn't know anything. He probably went to Dumbledore for the same reason you did."

"No," James shook his head stubbornly. "I'm right about this. I know it. Dung," he said, looking at the man. "What did you talk to Albus about?"

"He wanted to hire me for a job," Dung replied.

"What job?" Lily asked in surprise.

"He wanted to know how you found out about Evergreen, and who you got your information from," Dung replied.

"Then what?" James asked, getting a sinking feeling.

"Tell Moody," Dung replied.

"Oh god, this is really bad," Lily said in panic as she rounded on James. "Moody's a former Auror! Albus is still mad at you about the trial! He's going to report you to the DMLE!" she said, drawing the only conclusion she could from the information she had.

James, on the other hand, went pale, his hands shaking visibly as he realized what Dung was really saying.

"…James?" Lily asked, seeing the state James was in. The confidence he had a moment ago, gone in an instant. The look on his face making her far more worried than she was before. "What aren't you telling me?"

"…He isn't going to the Aurors," James replied, remembering how Moody broke into his house and threatened to kill him.

"Then what? What's he going to do?" Lily demanded.

"Kill us," Dung replied in the same monotone voice.

Lily's eyes widened as she looked at Dung. "What are you talking about? We know Moody. He wouldn't kill us."

"You don't really know Moody," Dung said, finally able to shake off the effects of the Veritasium. "He's killed before, and not just during the war."

James regarded Dung, knowing he was just as deep in this as they were. "You're on the chopping block too," he pointed out. "What's Moody going to do to you when he finds out you're the one that told us about Evergreen?"

"Don't remind me," Dung growled, furious with himself for getting caught like this. 'I should have seen this coming,' he thought, berating himself for getting complacent.

"This doesn't make any sense," Lily said, looking between the two men. "Why would Albus or Moody even care about this?"

"Albus knows who Evergreen is," James answered. "And he wants to keep their identity a secret."

"Why? Why does he even care?" Lily asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Dung snorted. "He's getting paid off, just like the lawyers are."

"No," Lily shook her head, refusing to believe it. "You must have misunderstood the situation. Albus is a lot of things, but he wouldn't be involved in something like this."

"He's been at the head of British politics for decades," Dung replied. "That doesn't come cheap. Think about how many palms you would have to grease to stay on top for that long."

"He wouldn't need our money though," Lily pointed out. "He's already wealthy as it is."

"Maybe he's not getting money from Evergreen," James said. "What if it's something more valuable, influence?"

James, Dung, and Lily stared at each other as the implications set in, the same thought running through their minds as they realized the danger they were in.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked.

"I don't know," Dung admitted. "He's not going to wait much longer. If I don't give him the information he wants, he'll just send Moody here."

James gulped nervously, knowing full well that he was no match for Moody, and he had already proven he could break into the house anytime he wanted. "How long do we have?"

"A few more days at most," Dung replied.

"You were going to run, weren't you?" Lily accused, glaring at Dung.

"Of course I was!" Dung replied angrily. "I've never seen Dumbledore like this before. He wants Evergreen to stay buried, and he doesn't care how much blood gets spilled along the way."

"Tell him it was one of your competitors," James said, getting an idea. "You're not exactly in a safe line of work. There must have been someone that disappeared recently."

"That's not bad," Dung admitted. "It will at least buy us some time."

"Then you better get to work," James stressed, releasing Dung. "Dumbledore won't drop this otherwise."

"James is right," Lily agreed. "The only way to get him to back off is to expose Evergreen."

Dung sighed, knowing they were right. He would have to bluff Dumbledore and hope he bought it. "Alright, I'll see if I can find out what Skeeter knows and go from there," Dung said as he left through the fireplace.

Neither James nor Lily spotted the small, black beetle that landed on Dung's jacket as he stepped through the fireplace, returning to his home.

***

Rita flew off of Dung's jacket as soon as they appeared in his home, making a beeline for the open window, mentally congratulating herself on a job well done. Sneaking into Potter manor hadn't been easy, but was well worth it.

'It makes perfect sense,' she thought, putting all the pieces together. 'Dumbledore is at the very least in contact with whoever's in charge of Evergreen, if not running it himself. That's why he was able to stop Tom from being evicted.'

She pondered what to do as she returned to her home. Even she wasn't bold enough to spy on Dumbledore, especially at Hogwarts. The crafty old wizard would almost certainly catch her, and if he found out about her unregistered status as an animagus, there was no telling what he would do with that information.

She also didn't like what Dung said about Moody, either. There had always been rumors about the man, what he had done during the war, and how he had essentially gotten away with all of it. There wasn't so much as an inquiry by the DMLE or the Wizengamot about his actions. Nothing had ever been proven, but she could now see Dumbledore's hand in all of it.

'Potter may be more interested in talking to me now,' she thought confidently. She could lead with the stick, telling him she knew about the secret he and Dung wanted to keep from Dumbledore and Moody, along with the carrot of offering her services to expose the headmaster and Evergreen.

Rita frowned, knowing there was still something she was missing. She still didn't have a good reason for Dumbledore getting involved with Evergreen in the first place. He didn't need the money, and he'd been on the political scene for decades. With all the favors he could call in, he didn't need any more political power, either.

She sighed, knowing there was only one option she had left. It was a long shot, and would more that likely be a waste of time, but she needed something outside the box to push this investigation forward, and there was only one man she knew of that could give her that perspective, Xeno Lovegood.

The man had a reputation for being crazy, and the articles he printed in his 'newspaper' didn't exactly dissuade anyone from that notion, but his articles always held at least a grain of truth if you looked hard enough.

***

Rita stood outside Lovegood's ramshackle cottage, taking in the strange assortment of building materials used in its construction for a moment before knocking on the door.

As she stood there, she heard loud thudding footsteps approaching the door before it was flung open by an eager blonde-haired girl with a big grin on her face, wearing a pair of leather boots that were far too large for her and a wide hat.

"Oh," the girl said in surprise, "you're not Ginny," before her eyes went wide, recognizing who it was. "You're Rita Skeeter!" Then dashed back into the house.

Rita only had a moment to blink as the strange girl ran back inside the house as she wondered what had just happened.

The girl came back a moment later, with a copy of the Prophet in hand, the one from when Harry Potter solved Merlin's cypher, and took her by the arm, pulling her into the house.

"Could you sign this?" The girl gushed, thrusting her quill and newspaper into Rita's hands.

Rita looked at the eager, smiling face of the girl as a bemused expression worked its way onto her face. "And who should I make it out to?" She asked indulgently.

"Luna," the girl beamed. "Luna Lovegood."

Rita signed her name across the page before handing it back to the girl. "Luna Lovegood? Xeno Lovegood wouldn't happen to be your father, would he?"

Luna nodded her head enthusiastically, "he not here right now, but he'll be back soon. Would you like to wait for him?"

"Well, if you wouldn't mind," Rita said, finding the girl's demeanor strangely endearing.

"Yay!" Luna cheered. "Ok, you sit over here," she said, leading her to the couch. "I'll be back with tea and snacks."

Rita played along as the girl dashed off into what she presumed was the kitchen. After she disappeared around the corner, Rita couldn't help but look around at the odd and colorful assortments of furniture and decorations around the house. Nothing in any way matched with anything else, but somehow it worked, making the home feel cozy.

She didn't have to wait long until Luna returned, tray in hand, piled high with sweets and pastries, as well as two cups of tea.

Luna placed the tray on the coffee table and pulled out a notebook and quill as she sat across from Rita. "So, what brings you to the burrow, Ms. Skeeter?" She asked, a serious expression on her face.

Rita quickly took a sip of her tea to hide the smile on her face, seeing what Luna was doing, deciding to play along with this 'interview.'

"I'd like to speak with your father," Rita replied, doing her best to keep a straight face.

"And what would you like to speak with him about?" Luna asked, scratching out a few lines.

"I think your father may be able to help me with an article I'm writing," Rita replied.

"What's the article about?" Luna asked, leaning forward eagerly.

This time Rita couldn't hold back her chuckle. "Nice try, Miss Lovegood, but as a fellow reporter, you know I can't tell you that. You'll just have to wait until the article comes out, just like everyone else," she teased.

"Of course," Luna replied, staying outwardly calm, but jumping up and down on the inside as Rita Skeeter called her a fellow reporter.

Rita turned away, hiding her smile, not having the heart to tell the girl her poker face needed work. "So, how long have you been a reporter?" she asked.

"Since I was five," Luna replied proudly.

"Well, you must have written quite a few articles in all that time," Rita said. "What was your most memorable?"

"The one about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack," Luna replied immediately. "Daddy liked it so much he put it in the Quibbler," she added, a proud smile on her face.

"Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" Rita asked. "I'm not familiar with that," she said, leaning forward. "What is it?"

"Well, I only saw it once," Luna admitted. "But it had shimmering silvery scales, spiraled and curved horns, beautiful, kind eyes. And it's wings," Luna said, picturing the creature in her mind's eye. "They're the most beautiful part, ethereal, and translucent. It's a creature of pure magic."

"Wow," Rita said, picturing the creature from Luna's imagination. "It sounds incredible. I hope I'll get a chance to see one too."

"You will," Luna smiled widely. "I'm going to find one when I get older, and take its picture. That way, everyone can see it."

"I can't wait to see it," Rita said, returning her smile. "And reading about it in the Quibbler."

"Sweetheart, I'm home," a voice called from the front of the house. "You won't believe what I found at the market. I could hardly-" only to stop halfway when he came into the living room to find someone sitting in his house with his daughter.

"Daddy!" Luna said, practically jumping out of her chair as she rushed to her father, pulling him into the living room. "This is Rita Skeeter. She's really nice! She even signed my newspaper, see," she said, holding it out for her father.

"Rita Skeeter?" He asked in surprise. He obviously knew the name, but this was the first time seeing her in person. "What are you doing here?" He asked, obviously confused by her presence, and wondering why she was having a tea party with his daughter.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lovegood," Rita said, extending her hand for Xeno to shake.

"Just Xeno is fine," he said, shaking the reporter's hand.

"Xeno, I was hoping to discuss something with you, actually," Rita replied.

"I assume it's for an article you're working on," Xeno said.

"Yes," Rita said, glancing at Luna meaningfully. "I was hoping we could discuss it in private?" She asked.

Xeno looked at Luna, then back over at Rita, curious why the star reporter of the Prophet would need to discuss anything with him. "Luna sweetheart, why don't you play in your room?" He suggested. "Rita and I have some grown up stuff to discuss."

Luna looked at her father, feeling put out. "But I'm right in the middle of my interview, daddy," she replied.

"I think you have more than enough to get started with," Xeno said, looking at Luna's half filled notepad.

"Ok, fine," Luna said with a sigh, knowing when her father meant business.

Rita watched Luna walk up the stairs and close her door before she turned and faced Xeno. "You have a very precocious daughter," she complimented.

"Thank you," Xeno smiled. "But I doubt you came all this way for that. What can I help you with, Ms. Skeeter?" He asked, a serious expression on his face.

"I've read your newspaper on occasion," Rita started. "Considering you're a one man operation, you have quite the reader base, and despite the subject matter, there's always a bit of truth to your articles."

"I try," Xeno replied, wondering why Rita was buttering him up. "What's this all about?" He asked, cutting to the chase.

"I'm working on an article, a big one," Rita explained. "It involves people that don't want to be found, and a lot of stolen money."

"You're talking about the Rotfang conspiracy," Xeno said, his eyes widening. "I knew it was true," he added, pumping his fist in celebration. "What do you find out?" He asked eagerly.

"Wait, what?" Rita asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Rotfang conspiracy? What's that?"

"The Rotfang conspiracy. That's what you came here to talk to me about, isn't it?" Xeno asked, now confused as well. "The dark forces controlling the government? Purposefully dulling the magical potential of our children?"

"…No, nothing like that," Rita said, wondering if Lovegood really was crazy.

"Oh…" Xeno replied, feeling deflated. "I was really hoping to get some traction on that one."

"I'm investigating a company called Evergreen," Rita said. "They manage properties and other assorted investments for pureblood families, but I suspect they're doing a lot more than that. Have you ever heard of them?"

"…No," Xeno said, shaking his head. "Although it does sound similar to something I was working on it a few years ago, but their name was Greenview. They controlled a large number of pureblood fortunes, invested in real estate, and had partial ownership over at least two dozen businesses all over Europe."

"Greenview?" Rita asked, seeing the obvious similarities. "What happened when you published your article?"

"I never did," Xeno admitted. "My rent tripled at my printing facility. I nearly lost the Quibbler because of it and had to work out of my house ever since. After that, I thought it was better to drop the whole thing."

"Hmm," Rita thought. She remembered following up with Tom a little while after Cornelius told her about his connection with Evergreen. According to him, Dumbledore was the one that fixed the problem. "That's very similar to what happened to Tom at the Leaky Cauldron. His rent was also increased without any prior warning."

Xeno nodded. "I've done my best to stay away from them. You should too," he advised.

"You said there were more families that Greenview managed the investments for," Rita continued, ignoring Xeno's warning. "Who were they?"

Xeno regarded Rita for a moment. He could tell she was like a dog with a bone, and wouldn't let go of this one easily. "Fine," he sighed. "But don't say I didn't warn you. There were the McKinnon's, the Macmillan's, the Prewett's, the Selwyn's, and the Silverwoods. I'm not sure if there were any more on top of that, though."

"Thank you," Rita said, standing up to leave. The similarities between the names couldn't be a coincidence. 'Maybe Greenview was a shell company they dropped after finding out Xeno was looking into them,' she thought. She didn't know if Xeno's leads would pan out, but at the very least, she had something more to go on.

"I'm sure you don't want to hear it, Rita, but be careful," Xeno warned.

"I will," Rita replied, making her way to the door. "If I have more questions, can I come back?" She asked.

Xeno glanced up the stairs to Luna's bedroom. "So long as you can insure my name stays out of it."

"Fair enough," Rita said, understanding where he was coming from.

***

Harry stood inside the room of requirement with Hermione and Ron, waiting for the others to join them. He remembered what he promised Professor Green, and invited the rest of Gryffindor house to join him, along with Wayne, and Oliver.

It had gone better than he expected with a few of the third, fifth, and even a few seventh year students expressing an interest in at least seeing what it was about.

"Are you sure this is the best use of your time?" Merlin asked. "You're already training your friends. We have a lot more important things to worry about."

'I promised Professor Green I would,' Harry thought back. 'Besides, it's just the exercises I'm already doing anyway. It won't cost us any extra time.'

Neville was the first to arrive, looking around the room in awe.

"Wow Harry," Neville said, impressed. "I never knew there was a place like this in Hogwarts."

"We were surprised too when we saw it," Harry agreed, glad they were out of the cold.

"Gran took me to Ollivander's the day after you talked to her," Neville continued, still deeply impressed by how Harry was able to get through to her. "My new wand is loads better for me. My spells are so much easier to cast than they used to be, thanks to you."

"I'm glad," Harry smiled. "Now everyone can see how talented you really are."

"Thanks, Harry," Neville replied, finding even more determination to prove himself after Harry's words of encouragement.

Hermione remained quiet as Harry and Neville talked, quickly joined by Ron. Even Neville had distanced himself from her. He hadn't said anything mean to her like a few of her other house mates, but there was a distance between them that wasn't there before. She wished there was a way to fix it, but knew she couldn't tell him about the study group. 'It's only going to put him in danger,' she reflected.

Wayne, Oliver, and the rest of the Gryffindors arrived shortly afterwards, all of them looking around the room in surprise.

"Harry," Percy said, making his way to the front, looking at Hermione pointedly. "Maybe everyone shouldn't be welcomed here."

He and many of the other Gryffindors were still upset about the massive loss in house points, along with the dismissal of their head of house.

"…Harry," Hermione said, looking around the room, seeing the cold looks directed at her. "Maybe Percy's right. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable," she said, preparing to leave.

"No," Harry denied, growing tired of the way everyone had been treating Hermione. "Everyone is welcome here. Everyone. If anyone has a problem with it, they can come back when they get over it," he said, making sure his voice carried to the rest of the students.

"You know what she did, Harry," Alicia said, agreeing with Percy. "We can't just let that go."

"Hermione was punished for that," Harry replied. "And it's not something she'll ever do again. Ignoring her and treating her like this way is pointless."

"What about Professor McGonagall?" Percy asked. "She didn't do anything wrong, but she still had to pay the price for Hermione's actions."

"Hermione's my friend, and I'm not excluding her, and that's that," Harry replied, glaring at his house mates that were still giving Hermione a hard time. He could see the parallels between how his parents treated him, and how his house mates were treating Hermione and he didn't like it one bit.

The situation wasn't exactly the same, especially since they didn't have the full story, but it wasn't something he would put up with.

"Fine," Katie said with a huff. "If that's the way you feel about it, we'll leave," she said, walking out with a good chunk of the older students.

"Alright," Harry said with a sigh, looking over the much smaller group of students. "Let's start with a run," he said, knowing they were likely to lose a few more once they realized the full scope of their exercises.

"We're not late, are we?" Sally asked, walking in with Draco.

"No, just on time," Harry smiled.

"Good," Sally smiled, catching up with Ron and Hermione as they started running laps.

"Does this mean you're back?" Harry asked as he ran alongside Draco.

"Yeah," Draco said, keeping pace with Harry. He had spent the rest of Christmas Vacation in his room, with nothing else to do but think. After the party and his talk with Harry, he couldn't help the guilt he felt. Harry and Ron had stuck their necks out to help him and Hermione. They didn't have to do it, but they did, nearly dying to get them out.

In his short life, there were very few people he could trust. Most of them were hanger-ons, always playing an angle, and trying to manipulate things in their favor. He had been just like them, thinking that was the way it was supposed to be, at least until he got to know his friends, his real friends.

He couldn't trust Crabbe, Goyle, or even Pansy with anything that happened with the study group. They would turn against him at the first opportunity they saw to get ahead, just like every other proper pureblood.

"Good," Harry replied. Just like Draco, he wasn't prone to being overly emotional, seeing it as a weakness because of his upbringing. "Hermione, Ron, and I also do some extra training in the evenings. I'd like you to join us," he said, knowing if things went south, Draco would need all the training he could get.

"I'll be there," Draco promised, glad that Harry wasn't giving him a hard time for leaving.