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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

After the home visit by Professor Lupin on the first day of the holidays, the summer of 1995 flew by extraordinarily quickly. Mary MacDonald usually took as much time off of her job as she possibly could during the summers, given that it also mostly coincided with the summer break of the Quidditch League, although surprisingly to Leo, this year she had been called into the office every single weekday of the holidays leaving Leo alone at Loch Ryan fending for himself. He was old enough to make his own entertainment however, spending a lot of his summer holiday out on the Loch fishing like he used to with his Grandfather, as well as making the most of the heatwave that had rocked the United Kingdom that summer and getting his summer homework completed out on the hills overlooking the Loch while watching as the muggles went about their business on the giant body of water.

But before he knew it July had turned to August which had in turn ticked over into September, and on the 1st of the month at around 10:30am Leo found himself stood back on Platform 9 ¾ staring up at the scarlet Hogwarts Express, both wondering how the summer had flown by so fast whilst also preparing for a brand-new year at Hogwarts.

Unlike the fears his mother had had about the atmosphere on the platform given the end of the previous year and the sheer nonsense being spouted from the Daily Prophet all throughout the summer holiday, Leo noticed that all of the parents and students gathered on the magical platform seemed to be acting as if nothing was wrong in the world, with the same old excited faces beaming at the thought of another year at Hogwarts whilst their parents fussed over last minute issues. A sense of normality was something which Leo definitely wouldn't say his Mother felt as she dragged him through the crowd of people towards the train, her hand gripping his tightly as they kept up a light jog. "You make sure you stay safe." Mary stated hurriedly, her nails threatening to dig into the skin on his hand while her other was deep into her jacket pocket, where Leo knew her wand was kept. "And remember I'm only an owl away, if you need anything at all then you let me know as soon as you can, and make sure there is no dawdling because you don't want to worry me..."

"Aye, mum." Leo rolled his eyes, embarrassed at the urgent caution she was showing plainly. "I will." He added, but it seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Mary stopped and turned back to face him sharply.

"Don't 'aye mum' me, Leo, not now." Mary whispered harshly, her eyes darting around. "The Prophet might be spouting the usual nonsense that life is all sunshine and rainbows, but we know better, don't we?" She raised an eyebrow, challenging him to argue back.

The Daily Prophet had been claiming that things in the Wizarding World were normal, whilst on the other hand trying their utmost to discredit Professor Dumbledore as a crackpot old fool and Harry Potter as an attention seeking brat somewhat subtly within their articles. Leo didn't believe either of those points to be the case, but he still couldn't quite join his Mother on her pedestal of fear, something that she had felt consistently ever since the first day of summer. He nodded again more solemnly however, not wishing to rise to the challenge he knew he would lose. "I know, and I'll be sure to write to you often." He promised. "But I better get on." He gestured to the train where more and more students were stepping on as the clock ticked closer to 11.

Mary nodded, pulling him in for one last bone crushing hug before pushing him towards the Hogwarts Express. "Aye, go on."

As the tall 15-year-old stepped onto the train he began to walk down it while scanning the compartments for his friends, but as he reached the compartment that both Fay Dunbar and Anna Bailey were occupying he spotted that they were sharing with the entire school Gobstones team and the games had already started. As much as Leo enjoyed Fay's company, he didn't really want to submit himself to 9 hours of Gobstones talk and the threat of being covered in stinking sap every time he inevitably lost a match, so instead he waved at his friends through the open door, laughing quietly as he walked down the train hoping to find a quiet compartment that he could read in. When he looked out of one of the windows on his way down the train he saw Harry Potter and a group of people rushing onto the Platform with a large black dog, seemingly just in the nick of time. Leo decided to get as far away from them as possible and ended up settling himself in a compartment right at the back end of the train. He placed his trunk in the overhead luggage rack and opened the window of the compartment where his Mother was stood waving having found him again.

"Remember what I said." She called over the noise of the growing crowd. "Stay safe and keep alert."

"I will, Mum." He promised her for what must have been the thousandth time that summer. "And I'll be back for Christmas this year anyway!"

"You better be!" She chuckled, though Leo could see in her eyes that she desperately wished for it to be Christmas already. She kissed her hand and placed it against the glass as the train began to announce its departure with a loud whistle. At that moment there was also a knock at the compartment door and Leo turned back to see a blonde girl with a necklace of butterbeer corks was standing in the doorway, her head cocked to one side as she stared at him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked in a high, dreamy voice after a moment of awkward silence. "It's just me, I promise I won't make much noise."

Leo shrugged nonchalantly. "It's only me too." He answered her politely. The girl smiled quickly and settled down in a seat by the window, pulling a magazine out of her backpack. Leo turned back to his mum as the train made another loud whistle and the doors began to lock.

"Make sure to write when you can!" Mary called out as the train began to move out of the station. "I love you!"

"Love you too!" Leo called back as he held his hand up high and waved until the train had passed the platform on its way up to Scotland and she was out of sight. He then sat down to reach into his backpack and pulled out A History of Magic, settling down in his seat to read a passage about the Giant Wars, a subject that would be coming up this year in one of his favoured subjects, History of Magic.

He was completely engrossed in the book when the compartment door reopened, and Leo was both surprised and slightly annoyed to see Harry Potter in the doorway with Neville Longbottom holding a large and unusual plant in his hands. Also stood with them was Ron Weasley's younger sister Ginny. The Weasley was the assertive one of the three as she spoke to the girl opposite Leo. "Hi Luna, is it okay if we take these seats?" The girl, Luna, looked up at the newcomers, her eyes quickly focusing on Harry before nodding. Leo nodded too, shifting himself over so that everybody else had more room. "Thanks." Ginny smiled, and the three Gryffindors entered the compartment.

Leo had only just noticed that the blonde girl, now known to be named Luna, had been reading her magazine upside down, and was about to mention that fact when Harry sat down next to him, but Ginny beat him to it as she started the conversation. "Had a good summer, Luna?" She asked.

"Yes." Luna replied in her dreamy voice, the girl still staring at Harry, who Leo could sense was uncomfortable at the attention. "Yes it was quite enjoyable, you know. You're Harry Potter." She said suddenly.

Leo cringed with awkwardness. "I know I am." Harry said shortly. Neville Longbottom chuckled at that, and Luna looked at him next.

"And I don't know who you are." She admitted.

"I'm nobody." Neville said hurriedly.

Ginny took offense to that, frowning at the boy. "No you're not." She told Neville firmly. "Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw."

Luna smiled. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." She sang, before hiding her face behind the upside-down magazine once more.

The sunlight from outside soon vanished as the clouds began to turn grey, and it was at that moment that Neville turned to face Leo to pick up conversation. "How was your summer, Leo?" Neville asked, genuinely interested.

"Alright, I guess." Leo shrugged. He had always gotten on alright with Neville although they didn't hang out much outside of lessons. "Mum was pretty spooked after I got back and ended up really busy at work, we managed to get to a few Wigtown games at the start of the season but other than that I just spent a lot of time on the lake by my house or doing homework as I wasn't able to go anywhere. I think I read ahead so much that I could probably do some of my O.W.L.s now." He admitted, confident in that statement.

Neville groaned at the mention of the exams. "I'm dreading this year." He admitted. "Herbology will be fine, but I really hope our new Defence teacher is patient…" He trailed off. Leo smiled briefly before finding his place in his book again as Neville started talking to Harry about his birthday present, the plant Leo now knew was called Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Tuning out the conversation was working brilliantly as Leo found himself once more engrossed in the effects of the Giant Wars on the muggle world, until he was once again distracted when Neville started prodding the plant he was holding with his quill and dark green jets of stinking, thick liquid squirted out from every boil on the plant. Leo quickly threw his book to the other side of him trying to save as much of the paper as he could, but in the process he only got himself covered more. "Sorry!" Neville gasped. "I haven't tried that before… didn't realise it would be quite so…" He trailed off. "Don't worry though, Stinksap's not poisonous."

Harry spat a mouthful of the green liquid on the floor almost at the same time as Leo grumpily shook his arms to try and relieve himself of the foul-smelling liquid. Leo pulled out his wand from his bag quickly and pointed it out into the room, muttering. "Scourgify." As the spell worked its magic, the Stinksap vanished.

"Thanks." Ginny murmured unhappily as the compartment door opened once more, and Leo noticed that Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker and Cedric Diggory's date to the Yule Ball last year, was stood there looking at one person in particular.

"Hello Harry." Cho smiled brightly.

Harry Potter smiled at the sight of her, before he looked like he had remembered that he had just been covered in Stinksap and that he was holding a toad. "Hi." He said, more antisocially that he probably wanted to be.

There was an awkward silence as Leo grabbed his book once more, almost wishing he had gone into the Gobstones compartment and braved the cramped, competitive atmosphere. He faintly heard Cho and Harry speaking for a few more seconds before the compartment door shut once more and Leo was immersed back into the Giant Wars. He had found himself on a thoroughly interesting part about a civil war in Andalusia in 1884 when the trolley had arrived, and after buying his share, Leo began tucking into some of the delicacies on offer. He even tried to be sociable for a while, swapping Chocolate Frog cards with Harry, Neville and Ginny and was delighted to get a much needed Bran the Bloodthirsty card from the Longbottom.

"Your mum is Mary MacDonald, right?" Ginny asked him to the MacDonald's surprise.

Leo noticed Harry snap his attention to him before he had a chance to even think, realising that he was actually a bit bemused. "Yeah… how do you know that?"

Ginny shrugged, a wide smile on her face. "A guess. I think my mum or dad knows her."

"She never mentioned it to me." Leo shrugged. "In fact, she doesn't really see any of her old friends when I'm about." He did wonder if he should mention the visit from Remus Lupin at the start of summer, but Leo decided against that as he remembered Mary's tears over her photo albums.

Luckily the conversation got stopped in its tracks as at that moment the compartment door opened yet again, and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger entered. It was starting to be a little bit of a squeeze now, but Leo found himself not minding as soon as Hermione opened her mouth and the group started discussing who had been named Prefect for their year. Leo had to groan when the Slytherin ones were announced, although he laughed along when Hermione called Pansy Parkinson 'thicker than a concussed troll.'

The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects were explained after that, and then Leo was once again bemused as Luna interrupted. "You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil." She aimed at Ron.

"Yeah, I know I did." He replied, surprised.

"She didn't enjoy it very much." Luna told him. "She doesn't think you treated her very well because you didn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded. I don't like dancing very much."

Leo's shoulders were shaking as he tried not to laugh, and he noticed Ginny had stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself from laughing loudly. Hermione turned to Leo to try and defuse the situation as Ron's mouth was wide open in shock. "Who did you go with again, Leo?"

After a second to register that she was in fact talking to him, Leo cleared his throat before answering. "Fay Dunbar." He told Hermione. "She didn't actually want to go with anybody as a date, but she wanted to go and enjoy it, so we went as friends."

Hermione nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember! She wore that green dress…"

"Are we really going to spend our day talking about dresses and balls?" Ron interrupted, mildly frustrated. "When we could be planning how we can get Crabbe and Goyle in detention?"

Harry was chuckling beside Leo, who again tried to immerse himself in his book to stop anybody from noticing the heat in his cheeks. He was glad when Luna started cackling with laughter at a joke that Ron had made distracting everybody, although his attention was once again drawn away from the Giant Wars of the 19th Century to the compartments occupants when Harry asked to borrow Luna's magazine.

Leo noticed the article that Harry was intrigued by was the one on Sirius Black and realised that of course he would be curious. If Leo had known that a murderer was on the loose and coming for him then he would no doubt be feeling the same way wanting to know every rumour no matter how untrue. He tried to settle back into his book, but the thought of Sirius Black and Harry being threatened by the man didn't sit well with Leo. He had always seen Harry as an aloof entity, they had spoken every now and again but couldn't class one another as friends, and Leo would admit that the level of attention that the Boy-Who-Lived got at school was annoying, yet he was still jealous by it.

He came out of his thoughts when Draco Malfoy and his cronies tried to rile Harry up, but Leo didn't get involved, instead he only wondered how a compartment at the very end of the train could gather so much attention. He prized himself on being fairly observant however, and noticed Hermione and Harry look at each other alarmed when Malfoy used the word 'dogged.' An interesting expression considering the dog that Leo had spotted on the platform with their group.

Nothing else of note happened on the train ride thankfully, and Leo could get a good chunk of his History book read on the way. The grey of daytime was soon replaced by the darkness of night, and Hermione broke the silence in the compartment. "We'd better change." She told them. Leo agreed, and they all changed into their school robes, with Leo proudly displaying the Gryffindor colours, the same House his Mother had been sorted into when she had attended Hogwarts.

Leo quickly got off of the train once it had pulled into Hogsmeade station and tried to find both Fay and Anna, although he very quickly realised the futility of that mission as he spotted Anna's auburn hair in an already departed carriage up the road, and so Leo instead hauled himself up into one of the empty carriages and waited for it to fill up. As he waited he looked over at the creatures that he hadn't known existed until his first experience with them the year before, admiring the Thestrals dark coats that clung to its skeleton, and their tucked in wings giving them an eery look. Shaking his head of the darker thoughts on Thestrals, he heard Ron Weasley's voice and quickly realised that his train compartment companions were probably about to join him once again.

Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger were the first ones in the carriage, closely followed by Ron, Harry and Luna Lovegood. Sighing silently at the intrusion, Leo wanted to grab his book once more, but remembered that as the train had pulled into Hogsmeade Station he had stashed his books in his trunk. He tried to ignore the conversation that the others were having about the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid, given that wasn't a subject that he had elected to take in his third year, but his attention was drawn in by Harry trying but failing to subtly stare at the Thestrals pulling the carriage.

"They're real." Leo commented during a lull in conversation, remembering his own surprised expression the first time that he had seen the creatures. "You aren't seeing things."

"You can see them to?" Harry asked in surprise.

Leo nodded. "They can only be seen by somebody who has seen and accepted death." He explained. "So, whatever happened to you in the third task, you hadn't accepted the finality of it until after you boarded the train before summer, but because you have since then it means that you can see them now." Leo saw that it was a touchy subject by the way that Harry looked down at his feet. "I was there when my Grandad died, last summer."

"Oh Leo I had no idea, I'm sorry to hear that." Hermione said honestly.

Leo smiled sadly; the memory of that fateful day seared into his brain in explicit detail. "It was his own fault. Creaothceann is banned for a reason." He muttered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Harry asked bemusedly, clearly having never heard of the lesser-known sport before.

Leo chuckled, understanding the ignorance given Harry's muggle upbringing. "Creaothceann… it's an illegal broom sport. You and eleven opponents strap a cauldron to your heads and a hundred rocks are charmed to fall from the sky at various times, whoever catches the most wins. My Grandfather Magnus wanted to bring it back and legalise it again, but obviously he didn't manage it."

"Quidditch isn't the only broom sport?" Harry asked, genuinely intrigued.

Leo shook his head. "It's definitely the most popular, but no there are others. Swivenhodge, Aingingein, Shuntbumps…"

"I remember Shuntbumps!" Ginny exclaimed. "You played it as a kid, remember Ron?"

The male Weasley however was staring at Leo quizzically. "Magnus?" Ron asked, having been stuck on Leo's Grandfather's name. "Magnus Dent-Head?"

"Ron!" Hermione scolded; her eyes wide aghast at the nickname. "Apologise to Leo! That's his Grandad… you don't need to be so rude!"

Leo appreciated Hermione's scolding, but the nickname had stopped bothering him from a young age. "That was the nickname he was given by Nobby Leach, the Minister for Magic a while back, and one Grandad laughed at loudly and often, calling himself it to his pals. It was fairly accurate as well, seeing as though he died being hit in the head by a rock." He could see that he was being looked at by most with pity and sighed again. "All I'm saying is… whatever happened in that maze, whatever you saw, that's why you can see the Thestrals."

Harry nodded, but he didn't say anything. Leo looked out towards the road as they passed by the great stone pillars topped with the winged boars that headed the main Hogwarts gates. "How did you find out about them?" Ginny asked Leo.

Leo was aware that this was likely the longest conversation that he had ever had with most of them in the carriage and so he understood and even enjoyed the thought that he must have seemed like one of the most interesting people in the world at that moment, although the thought was funny to Leo considering Harry Potter shared the carriage. "I saw strange, winged horses for the first time… as soon as I got a chance I opened Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them of course."

Ron groaned, and Harry grinned widely. Leo realised that it must have been a bit of an inside joke when they all turned towards Hermione. "Oh no." Ron barked out a laugh. "Four years we've lived in the same room and I never realised that you were a bookworm like Hermione."

If he had been compared to anybody else then Leo may have been offended that his roommate could just ignore him for that amount of time, but he saw the blush appear on the Muggleborn's cheeks and smirked. Hermione slapped Ron fondly on the knees, causing him to cry out. "Just because somebody wants to research something that they are unfamiliar with Ronald, doesn't mean that they are a 'bookworm'."

Before Ron could reply the carriage stopped as they had arrived before the main oak doors of Hogwarts. Harry got out first, followed by everyone else and Leo dropped out of the vehicle last, watching Harry stare at the Thestrals again, lost in thought.

"Are you coming, or what?" Ron asked the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Oh… yeah." Harry said a bit too quickly. He turned to Leo and spoke. "Thanks, for explaining. I'm sorry about your Grandad."

Leo waved that away, having accepted the loss a year beforehand. "He shouldn't have been playing after the Ministry told him not to, but thanks, I appreciate it." He explained.

Nodding, Harry smiled back at him. "See you later." He said, before he ran after Ron, Hermione and Ginny, who had all already entered the castle. After Harry, Luna was the next to walk through to the Entrance Hall, and Leo was left standing alone. He was jolted back into reality when the carriage pulled away, and so with a deep breath, Leo rose up the steps ready to start another year at Hogwarts.

Chapter Text

The ceiling in the Great Hall of Hogwarts was, as always, charmed to look exactly like the sky outside of the high windows with tonight being a starless black night. Leo looked up at it for a moment as he entered the Great Hall, hoping that his Mother was doing the same thing before he quickly walked over to the Gryffindor table and spotted the dark brown hair of Fay Dunbar, who was eagerly chatting away with Anna Bailey about something. Fay smiled brightly as she saw Leo however and got out of her seat to hug him tightly.

"Leo!" She exclaimed, squeezing him forcefully before pulling away and looking up at him, smoothing her skirt in the process. "Why didn't you come back over to us and say hello on the train?"

Leo shrugged nonchalantly, feeling like the answer was relatively obvious. "You were surrounded by Stinksap, and even if I wanted to join you and suffer the Gobstones club after we set off, I couldn't really leave my compartment."

Anna snorted quickly. The red-head's relationship with Leo was like that, whereas he had genuine affection for Fay, with Anna it was more banter filled and full of japes at one another's expense. "What happened, cornered by Slytherins?" She teased.

"The 'Golden Trio' actually." Leo rolled his eyes, ignoring the mockery as he sat down next to Fay facing the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables.

Anna's jaw dropped from opposite the two. "You were in the same compartment as them?" She asked disbelievingly.

"Not by choice." Leo grumbled, still a little bit sour about the Mimbulus Mimbletonia incident. "There I was, sat basically on my own and hoping to get some reading in about the Andalucian Giants in the 19th Century before the term started, and in stepped Harry, Neville and Ginny Weasley."

Fay's mouth widened in a large grin. "I bet you loved that." She teased, knowing full well how Leo usually acted around Harry Potter.

Leo shrugged again. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Especially when Hermione and Ron joined them." He explained to the two girls.

Fay was confused. "Why were they not with him at the start?" She asked, before looking towards where that group had sat down further at the table and everybody saw the badges pinned onto their robes. "Oh… prefects." Fay muttered.

"Ron Weasley's a prefect?" Anna snorted in amusement yet again. "Even you would have been a better choice Leo, and you're..."

"Thanks Anna." Leo muttered dryly before she could finish her sentence, taking enjoyment of her put out face as he stuck his tongue out at her childishly. Turning to Fay, he changed the subject. "Anyway, how was your journey?" He asked quickly, not wanting to dwell on the fact that he agreed with Anna's assessment. Of all the Gryffindor 5th year boys he felt that he was the most responsible and the least likely to get into trouble so should have been a shoe in for Prefect. Though when his badge didn't arrive with his letter, the sinking feeling of Harry getting another reward did fill him with dread for a few days, so at least that didn't happen.

Unaware of Leo's old jealousy issues over the Boy-Who-Lived spiking up yet again, Fay groaned as she answered the question. "I love Gobstones don't get me wrong, but 9 hours of it? Even I needed a break, the compartment reeked before we got to Nottingham." Fay Dunbar was a member of the Gobstones club at Hogwarts, and while she loved the game, it was very obvious after spending a matter of minutes with her that Quidditch was her true passion. At that moment she gave Anna a sly grin. "Although Anna seemed to enjoy herself." Fay teased the red-head.

"Shut up." Anna hissed, a blush appearing on her face.

"His hands were everywhere!" Fay exclaimed at her as quietly as she could, though she was still grinning.

Anna just smiled back at her smugly. "Mine were too."

Leo snorted a laugh. Anna had been the only one of the three of them to enter into the dating scene with any sort of success so the news that she had been with a boy wasn't at all surprising. "Who are we on about?"

"Wayne Hopkins." Anna shrugged. "Hufflepuff in our year in the Gobstones club. We got together towards the end of last year and he must have missed me more than the Gobstones crew." She added with a grin, before she saw the look that the other two were giving her. "What? It was better than listening to you talk about Gobstones all the way here." She directed to Fay.

"You dragged me in there!" Fay whispered back. "I was more than happy to wait for Leo yet you just wanted to snog Wayne!"

Anna stuck her tongue out with a grin. "Worth it." She smirked, though before Fay could retort the doors to the Entrance Hall swung open, and in stepped Professor McGonagall leading the First Years up to be sorted. They stopped in front of the head table, and having been through four of these at this point Leo sat upright along with everyone else in the hall as they waited for the Sorting Hat to sing its song.

"In times of old when I was new and Hogwarts barely started,the founders of our noble school thought never to be parted:United by a common goal, they had the self-same yearning, to make the world's best magic school and pass along their learning.'Together we will build and teach!'The four good friends decided, and never did they dream that they might someday be divided. For were there such friends anywhere as Slytherin and Gryffindor?Unless it was the second pair, of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?So how could it have gone so wrong?How could such friendships fail?"

"Why, I was there and so can tell the whole sad, sorry tale.Said Slytherin, 'We'll teach just those whose ancestry is purest.'Said Ravenclaw, 'We'll teach those whose intelligence is surest.'Said Gryffindor, 'We'll teach all thosewith brave deeds to their name.'Said Hufflepuff, 'I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same.'"

"These differences caused little strife when first they came to light, for each of the four founders had a house in which they might take only those they wanted, so, for instance, Slytherin took only pure-blood wizards of great cunning, just like him, and only those of sharpest mindwere taught by Ravenclaw, while the bravest and the boldest went to daring Gryffindor.Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest, and taught them all she knew. Thus the houses and their founders retained friendships firm and true.So Hogwarts worked in harmony for several happy years, but then discord crept among us feeding on our faults and fears."

"The houses that, like pillars four, had once held up our school, now turned upon each other and, divided, sought to rule.And for a while it seemed the school must meet an early end, what with duelling and with fighting and the clash of friend on friend. And at last there came a morning when old Slytherin departed, and though the fighting then died out he left us quite downhearted.And never since the founders four were whittled down to three have the houses been united as they once were meant to be."

"And now the Sorting Hat is here and you all know the score:I sort you into housesbecause that is what I'm for, but this year I'll go further, listen closely to my song:Though condemned I am to split you still I worry that it's wrong.Though I must fulfil my duty and must quarter every year, still I wonder whether Sorting may not bring the end I fear.Oh, know the perils, read the signs,the warning history shows. For our Hogwarts is in dangerfrom external, deadly foes. And we must unite inside her or we'll crumble from within. I have told you, I have warned you… Let the Sorting now begin."

Leo's applause was relatively muted as he turned to Fay beside him with a concerned look on his face. "That was…" He began, but he trailed off when he knew that he couldn't find the right words to properly express himself.

"A warning." Anna added helpfully, her face pale, and Leo was reminded that she wasn't actually as unintelligent as she portrayed half of the time. "Telling us all that the infighting between houses will doom us."

Fay shook her head briskly. "Nope, I am not sharing my bread with Pansy bloody Parkinson…" She muttered, shuddering as Professor McGonagall gave the entire room a glare to shut them up and begin the Sorting Ceremony.

Once the muttering had died down, Professor McGonagall took a look at the parchment in her hands. "Abercrombie, Euan." The Deputy Headmistress called out, and a small boy stumbled towards the stool and placed the hat on his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat roared out, and Leo clapped loudly along with the rest of his table, as the Sorting got underway. All the tiny first years were quickly called up to the stool and sorted into one of the four houses of Hogwarts, with Leo clapping loudly every time Gryffindor was shouted out by the thousand-year-old hat. Eventually Professor McGonagall took the hat and the stool away, and Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"To our newcomers, welcome!" The headmaster's voice rang out as he stretched his arms wide in greeting. "To our old hands… welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Leo laughed along with most of the hall at the Headmaster's oddity but was extremely grateful for the food that had very quickly appeared in front of them all. He grabbed a couple of pork chops and a large spoonful of each of the veg that had appeared and quickly tucked in, sighing in sheer contentment as he filled his stomach.

"What do you reckon the hat was warning us about then?" Fay asked in between mouthfuls of her steak and kidney pie.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Anna mumbled happily as she also tucked into the exquisite banquet. "It's Dumbledore's way of getting us to ignore what the Daily Prophet has been saying about him."

Fay looked nervously over towards Harry Potter, who was seemingly ignoring his two best friends as they were bickering. "Can we not do that here." She whispered a bit too harshly.

Leo agreed with Fay, the debate over who to believe, Harry and Dumbledore or the Daily Prophet wasn't one he wanted to get into when the feast was still raging. Thankfully Anna dropped it, and they continued their meal in silence until their plates were empty. Once the majority of the Great Hall had also finished their plates, the excess food disappeared and Professor Dumbledore was up giving his speech.

The usual topics were being covered, and given that Leo was starting to feel drowsy after all of the food he had consumed he barely registered the comments on the Forbidden Forest being out of bounds, the list of rules pinned to the door of Mr Filch's office and the new staffing changes, which Leo began applauding a few seconds after everyone else once Fay nudged him and whispered that he was falling asleep. Unfortunately for him, that meant that Leo was paying attention as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor interrupted Professor Dumbledore and made her way to the front of the teachers table to stand beside the Headmaster.

"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome." The woman in a harsh pink outfit spoke in a voice that belonged to one of the first-year girls, not a grown woman. It was off putting enough that Leo decided he already didn't like her. She cleared her throat again before smiling patronisingly out at all of the students. "Well, it is lovely to be at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking up at me." Leo didn't know about everybody else, but nobody around him was even close to smiling up at the pink, frilly woman. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends."

"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan." Parvati Patil whispered to Lavender Brown within earshot of Leo, and he tried to contain his laughter.

Parvati wasn't the only one to make a comment at that, and when Umbridge continued speaking it was a lot more professional, and less childlike. "The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching…"

"She's so boring." Anna groaned. More and more people were zoning out and having their own conversations with their friends, but Leo was getting more concerned with every word Umbridge spoke and quickly shushed his friend.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"

"What is she going on about?" Fay whispered to Leo.

Leo clenched his teeth together, frustration seeping in. "She's saying that the Ministry is poking their noses in at Hogwarts. She's saying that we must abide by their 'tried and tested' rules. Basically saying that Hogwarts has been too lax in how we've been taught and it needs to be rectified."

"They can't do that, can they?" Anna asked, as Umbridge carried on her speech. "Interfere at Hogwarts?"

Fay shrugged, as Leo was still trying to listen to the Professor's speech. "They're the Ministry, they can do what they want."

That comment didn't sit right with Leo and he frowned. "But should they?" He asked. "This is a school, it's a place we come to learn magic and learn who we want to become, the Ministry being scared of our own free will and effectively prohibiting that…" He looked back up at Umbridge who was just finishing her speech. "Hogwarts is going to be very different this year."

Professor Dumbledore soon dismissed them, probably as eager to get the students away from Umbridge as Leo was to get away, the 5th year thought, and so he quickly got up and made his way out of the Great Hall, before remembering what he was missing and stopping by Hermione. "What is the password?" He asked her quietly.

"What?" She asked distractedly, before her eyes snapped open in shock. "Oh! Ron! We're supposed to show the first years where to go!" She turned to Leo quickly. "The password is Mimbulus Mimbletonia."

Leo groaned, once again remembering the damage to his book caused by the Stinksap from Neville's plant. "Of course it is. Thanks, Hermione."

He walked away with Fay and Anna just as Ron exclaimed. "Hey! You lot! Midgets!"

Leo snorted in amusement, but Fay looked back at Ron with a look of disgust. "Anna was right you know; you should have been prefect." She told him as they moved out of the Great Hall. "Weasley will just take the piss."

The dark-haired boy shrugged, once again internally agreeing but really not wanting to dwell on it too much now that it couldn't be changed. They began their walk towards the Grand Staircase to go up to Gryffindor Tower and thankfully Fay then changed the subject to the start of the Quidditch League as they took the route up to the 7th floor and the portrait of the Fat Lady.

After speaking the password and entering into the homely common room, neither Leo or the girls wanted to stay up after such a long day travelling, and so he bid them a quick goodnight before walking up to his dormitory. Having arrived quite quickly Leo thought he would be the first one up there, but it seemed that most of his classmates had had the same idea as he ended up being beaten there by everybody but Ron. He knew he had walked in at a bad time, as the room was eerily silent as Harry was pulling on his pyjamas angrily. He walked over to his own bed and began pulling his own pyjamas out, when Seamus Finnigan spoke.

"Look… what did happen that night when… you know, when… with Cedric Diggory and all?" The Irishman asked nervously.

Leo sucked in a breath, guessing clearly as to what had been said to cause such a tense atmosphere before he had entered the room. He looked towards Neville, who just shook his head back at Leo solemnly. Harry clearly wasn't amused when he spat back. "What are you asking me for? Just read the Daily Prophet like your mother, why don't you? That'll tell you everything you need to know."

Leo could sense where this was going, and he really didn't want a part of it. He tried to zone out and start unpacking his trunk as Harry and Seamus began a bit of a shouting match, only to turn back around to look when Ron's voice echoed over everyone's. "What's going on?" The Weasley shouted. Leo turned to see that Harry was kneeling on his bed with his wand pointed at Seamus, while the latter was more ready for a fist fight.

"He's having a go at my mother!" Seamus yelled; his accent thick with rage.

Leo clenched his teeth, knowing that Seamus was trying to dictate the narrative a bit there. Ron to his credit didn't believe it either. "Harry wouldn't do that… we met your mother, we liked her."

"That was before she started believing every word the stinking Daily Prophet writes about me!" Harry yelled back.

"Oh…" Ron said quietly. "Oh… right."

Leo turned around to do some more unpacking as now Ron started joining in the angry debate, although he froze as soon as Seamus shouted. "You believe all the rubbish he's come out with about You-Know-Who, do you? You reckon he's telling the truth."

If there was one thing that Leo knew about Ron, it's that for the most part when he believed and trusted in somebody, he was loyal to a fault, and that was proven when he immediately retorted. "Yeah, I do!"

"Then you're mad too!" Seamus spat.

"Yeah?" Ron asked, his eyebrows raising as he stepped closer to Seamus. "Well unfortunately for you, pal, I'm also a prefect." Ron told him. "So unless you want a detention, watch your mouth!" Leo got into bed at that point, just about to close the hangings on his own bed when Ron added. "Anyone else's parents got a problem with Harry?"

He looked over at Leo with an odd expression of almost hope. Leo shrugged. "My Mother has only said that something doesn't feel right at the Ministry, and after the Hat's message today…" He looked over at Harry who was still scowling. "I believe you. Something is different and the Ministry are clearly scared of what's being said. If they're trying to shut you up and lie to stop a panic from spreading, then this sort of propaganda is the obvious play to try and convert the masses."

"Who asked you?" Seamus muttered darkly. Leo had never been best friends with the Irishman, but the scathing remark had stung a bit.

"I did, actually, so shut it." Ron was almost growling at this point, but he calmed down when he turned back to Leo. "Thank you."

Harry also nodded his appreciation. Leo nodded curtly back, eager for everyone to fall asleep and to stop arguing. The dark-haired boy quickly shut his hangings and drowned out the conversations, which had turned towards Dumbledore. Thankfully Ron soon extinguished the candles in the dormitory and it all fell silent, allowing Leo to let out a deep breath in relief before shutting his eyes, hoping for a drama free year at Hogwarts for once.

Chapter Text

The first morning back at school was always an early rise for Leo, and after waking up and taking a moment to breathe and remind himself that he was back at Hogwarts he checked his watch to see that it was half past 6. When he left the comforts of his four poster bed he quickly dressed himself in his school robes and quietly left the room full of still sleeping 5th years to move down to the common room intending to have a moment to himself to get his bag together. Surprisingly however, he wasn't alone

"Morning." A female voice piped up at him from behind her copy of The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5, as Fay lowered it to smile up at him, though not as brightly as she usually would. Leo noticed that she looked tired, and given he wouldn't normally see her before breakfast, he could tell something wasn't quite right.

"Rough night for you as well?" Leo asked her as he sat himself down on the sofa beside her. "I didn't expect to see you this side of 8."

Fay groaned, stretching out so that her legs were sprawled across him. "I couldn't stay up there… Lavender Brown and Hermione Granger were having a go at one another over this Daily Prophet thing."

"Yeah, we had Seamus start that with us last night." Leo shook his head before shoving her legs away unceremoniously and placing his bag on them to stop her from returning. "I don't see how anyone can believe it. It's so obviously propaganda it's laughable."

Fay looked unconvinced as she moved around to sit up properly, her book dropping down gently onto her lap. "The Daily Prophet gets into every home though, Leo." She explained. "And some of the things they say are very convincing, especially about Dumbledore."

"Please don't tell me you believe it too." Leo groaned, throwing his head back as he sunk into the sofa, hoping that Fay of all people wouldn't be that gullible.

Fay shook her head vigorously. "No, I saw Cedric's body last year…" She stopped for a moment as the memory replayed itself in her head and her face went pale. "That was no accident no matter what they say. But Anna is kidding herself, as is Lavender."

"Anna believes it?" Leo asked with another groan.

Fay sighed as she nodded. "You know what she's like, of course she'll be swayed by the gossip columns."

Leo rolled his eyes. "I really don't understand her." He stated.

"I don't think anybody does." Fay snorted in amusement, before setting her face more seriously. "She'll come around. She just needs to work out that she lives in the real world first."

"That'll be the day." Leo muttered; a bit harsher than intended.

The glare from Fay told him that his tone had been noticed. "Anyway, enough about arguments." Fay waved away as she rose to her feet, packing her book away in her bag before pulling Leo's arm to help him up too as the pair made their way out of the Common Room and started on the walk to the Great Hall for breakfast. "We barely spoke yesterday, how was your summer? I feel like you wrote so few letters."

Leo shrugged, responding similarly to the day before. "Weird, Mum was swamped at work. Other than a couple of hikes and trips to see Wigtown play I didn't actually do a lot other than hang on the loch or go through my schoolwork, I'm glad to be back with other people in a way. How was yours?"

Fay grinned. "Wicked! I cashed in my birthday present from you and took that tour around South Esk Stadium. It was awesome!"

Fay was an avid Montrose Magpies fan, and so Leo had called in a favour with his Mother for her present, using Mary's links from work and her former boss to sort out the tickets. "I'm glad you liked it." He smiled, letting her leave through the portrait first as the pair began the walk down to the Great Hall. They spoke more about Quidditch and the summer, but in the back of Leo's mind he couldn't shake the thought that this year would be filled with division, the complete opposite of what Professor Dumbledore had asked for last term.

They were among the first students inside the enchanted room for breakfast and had already filled their stomachs by the time that Anna had come to join them as the conversation between the pair had turned away from the summer and instead towards the year ahead and their O.W.L.s.

"I slept on it, and I'm worried about Professor Umbridge." Anna interjected, delicately buttering some toast as she spoke. "If the Ministry truly are coming in to interfere, then she's basically a spy."

Fay snorted in amusement. "That's rather dramatic, no?"

"No." Leo shook his head, agreeing with Anna having been thinking about that himself overnight. "Bailey's right. Umbridge will be reporting back to Fudge regularly, and it is already obvious what sort of thing they're looking out for."

"Is it?" Fay asked, confused at what they were getting at.

"Potter and Dumbledore." Anna shrugged.

Groaning, Fay shook her head. "Can we not start that please." Fay hissed quietly at her, looking further down the table to where the Gryffindor in question was sat. "I'm already sick of it thanks to last night." Thankfully they could stop following that thread as the owls swooped in delivering the post. The Daily Prophet was dropped in front of Anna, and she unfurled it to read whatever nonsense the newspaper had on offer that day.

Ignoring the paper, Leo instead took a look around the Great Hall and noticed that the Heads of Houses had begun the walk down their tables to hand out timetables for the year ahead. As she got to Leo she briskly handed him a sheet of parchment before also giving the girls their own and moving along the table again. Leo had barely glanced at his schedule for the year when he heard a groan coming from Anna who had pretty swiftly put down the newspaper after realising there was no new attack on Harry or Dumbledore. "Binns and Snape before lunch!" She exclaimed dramatically.

Leo actually liked the subject of History of Magic, although even he would admit the teaching was sub-par. The thought of double Potions that was scrawled on his timetable however elicited a similar response from him. "Oh come on guys, Potions is really not that bad." Fay tried to say when Professor McGonagall made her way down the table towards the rest of the fifth years, conveniently forgetting that of the three of them she was the only one with a proclivity for the subject.

"It's awful Fay." Anna retorted stubbornly. "And we have double Umbridge too after lunch! Someone send for the train to take me back home… I don't think I can cope…"

Fay rolled her eyes and turned to Leo. "You'll let us copy your History notes again, right?"

Leo smirked knowingly. "Are you not even going to try and stay awake in Binns' lesson?" He asked, an eyebrow raised tauntingly.

Fay shrugged back at him. "We always try..."

"We just always fail." Anna finished for her, causing both the girls to giggle at one another.

Rolling his eyes, Leo nodded in response to the original question. "Fine, so long as you help me with Potions again."

Fay nodded, and then shrieked a little as the Weasley Twins poked their heads either side of the girls. "Anybody want to buy some Extendable Ears?" Fred asked.

"Perfect for your eavesdropping needs." George grinned.

"Listen to your crush…"

"Your friends…"

"Or your teachers badmouthing you!"

"All for just 5 sickles!" George finished.

"No thanks!" Fay said quickly. The twins just shrugged and made their way down the table to say the same speech to a group of third years. "Honestly, those two are already worse than usual this year. Did you see the sign they put up on the notice board last night?"

Anna had finally finished her breakfast by that point, and so instead of hanging around they rose from the bench to leave the Great Hall, making their way towards the first floor where Professor Binns' classroom was. History was Leo's best subject and so while the rest of the class bar Hermione settled into comfortable positions to extend their sleep, Leo had taken out his books, ink and quill waiting for the lecture to start. Once it did, Leo began furiously taking notes, popping his head up and noticing that Anna had managed to make it twenty minutes before falling asleep, while Fay managed another ten after that before succumbing.

Potions followed, and it was as bad as predicted. Snape had both the Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years creating the Draught of Peace by following the instructions on the blackboard. Once his time was up Leo had sweat dripping from his hair and was panting after such an intense brewing session, and his potion was a royal blue and letting off a nasty stench. He looked over at Fay who looked pleased with herself and sighed. Snape came round the cauldrons and noted that Leo must have mistimed some of the stirring, while simply nodding at Fay. He then came to the next table where Harry Potter and his friends were.

"Here we go." Fay grumbled quietly, as Snape stopped by Harry's cauldron. Leo could only agree, every potions lesson from their very first one years earlier it seemed that Snape had to taunt Harry in some way.

"Potter, what is this supposed to be?" Snape asked. Leo couldn't see his face, but judging by the smirks and grins on the faces of the Slytherin's Leo could only imagine Snape was also enjoying it.

"The Draught of Peace." Harry replied.

"Tell me Potter." Snape said quietly, but so everybody could hear. "Can you read?"

Leo noticed Anna's hands fly to her mouth, to either stop a gasp or a snicker. Draco Malfoy of course laughed aloud. Leo turned to Fay who looked alarmed as well, as she gestured towards Harry who had his hand in one of his pockets, grasping his want tightly. "Yes I can." Harry replied, annoyed.

"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter." Snape requested.

Harry looked over at the blackboard, squinting so that he could see the instructions through the haze of steam that filled the classroom. "Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counter-clockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes and then add two drops of syrup of hellebore…" He trailed off at the end, and Leo immediately knew where Harry had gone wrong.

As Snape began to question Harry, Leo realised that his mistake had been that he had rushed his potion and hadn't left it for seven minutes. He looked down at the royal blue liquid and shook his head, looking back just in time for Snape to pull out his wand. "I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesco." Leo couldn't see the result, but Harry's cauldron stopped smoking and Leo knew that his potion had been vanished. "Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing." said Snape. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday."

Leo quickly filled a flagon and labelled it, handing it over to the Professor to be tested eventually. The bell rang as Leo was tidying up his cauldron, and he still had another few minutes before Snape called him up.

"Adequate." Snape muttered unhappily. "Although you would have given the patient swelling in the mouth if this had been ingested. Next time remember your timings, MacDonald."

"Yes, Professor." Leo said quickly, eager to get out of there.

Thankfully, Snape seemed to agree. "You may go." Snape dismissed him, and Leo rushed out of the dungeons, grabbing his bag as he went and met up with Fay and Anna again for lunch.

"He's so cruel." Anna said unhappily once they were sat back at the Gryffindor table. "Harry's potion was no worse than anybody else's."

Fay nodded. "It's unfair." She admitted. "But he proved he knows what he's doing when he knew exactly went wrong…"

"Don't stick up for the greasy git." Leo exclaimed, horrified.

"I'm just saying!" Fay retorted. She was about to comment further when they heard Harry's voice raise, and the three of them watched as Harry abandoned his shepherd's pie half eaten and stormed out, leaving Ron and Hermione bewildered. "What's that about?" Fay whispered.

"He's just attention seeking again." Anna waved away.

"Anna!" Fay gasped. "That's harsh."

Anna shrugged. "What? It's obvious isn't it?"

Leo scowled down at his plate. "He's being judged left right and centre. After Seamus last night, all the stares today and Snape just now, he's bound to be frustrated."

Anna barked out a laugh, before scoffing when she realised that Leo was actually being serious. "Since when do you stick up for Harry Potter?"

"I don't like bullies." Leo snapped quickly, stabbing a roast potato with his fork and angrily jamming it into his mouth, not saying another word out of annoyance for the entire meal.

After lunch Leo had Arithmancy, a class in which he, Anna and Hermione were the only Gryffindor's signed up for. Focusing on his work and not wanting to talk to Anna after their disagreement at lunch, he didn't actually speak a word other than answering Professor Vector's numerous questions until after the lesson where he caught up with Hermione as they made their way down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Hermione noticed him as Leo moved beside her. "Oh, hello Leo."

"Hey." He said, forgetting what he had wanted to say in the first place. "Fascinating lesson, wasn't it?" He settled for, wanting to wince as he thought himself completely cringeworthy.

Hermione gave him a soft smile. "It always is, I find. The way Professor Vector explains the meaning of the numbers… it's fascinating."

She wasn't speaking as enthusiastically as normal about the subject, something that Leo noticed immediately. "Are you ok?" He asked, concerned.

"What?" Hermione said quickly, looking at him in alarm. "Of course, I'm fine."

"It's just…" Leo began, before sighing softly. "We heard Harry at lunch."

The brunette stopped in her tracks for a moment. "Oh." Hermione mumbled, brushing some of her hair away from her eyes. Shaking her head she then said. "He's just stressed, he didn't mean it."

Leo smiled back at her sadly. "I can't imagine how tough it is for him at the moment… nor how tough it is for you."

"Me?" Hermione looked surprised.

Leo shrugged. "I only see what you the three of you show to the rest of us mere mortals, but with everything going on with him it can't be easy being one of the only people Harry trusts."

"I… It…" Hermione clearly didn't know what to say as her eyes moved to look down at her feet. "It's nothing." She said finally after a brief pause. "I can handle Harry."

Leo smirked at that, completely believing it. "I know you can." He told her as he heard some heavier footsteps storm past them, and Leo watched as the auburn hair of Anna stormed past them muttering something about 'attention seekers.' "Ignore her." Leo added, rolling his eyes at his friend.

"She was muttering last night too." Hermione noted out loud. "Isn't she your friend?"

"Sort of, it depends on the mood." Leo shrugged. "She believes the Prophet for some daft reason, and can't understand why I think that it's full of rubbish… she'll come around eventually."

"She can think what she wants." Hermione stated stubbornly as they were approaching the classroom.

Leo nodded. "But I'll still talk to her anyway." He saw Fay waving over at him and turned to Hermione one more time. "Let him know that he's not alone, and if you ever need to vent away from the other two, you know where I'll be."

Hermione smiled at him, causing Leo's stomach to do something odd. "Thanks, Leo." She said before walking into the classroom.

Leo waited a moment watching her depart through the door with a smile on his lips, before he heard his name being called. Noticing Fay nearby looking at him quizzically, he walked over to her. "What was that about?" She asked with a glint in her eye and a smirk on her face. "Anna just stormed past me without saying a word and you're talking with Hermione Granger of all people."

Hearing it aloud was nice, Leo thought, but he tried to play it cool instead by shrugging and he replied. "I just let her know that there are those that believe Harry, we're not all idiots."

Fay barked out a laugh, knowing immediately that he was being coy. "Is that all?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Leo knew what she was insinuating and shoved her with his shoulder softly. "Shut up." He murmured, leading Fay into the classroom and sitting down at his desk beside her.

Professor Umbridge was sat at her desk, wearing the same ugly pink fluffy cardigan that she had been wearing the night before. He was quiet as he placed his bag underneath his desk, his eyes trained on the new Professor as he was unsure of the sort of teacher that she would be. Once everybody had settled down, Professor Umbridge cleared her throat and said brightly. "Well, good afternoon!" Leo didn't bother responding, but a few people muttered the same greeting back. "Tut, tut." Professor Umbridge said. "That won't do now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon class."

"Good Afternoon, Professor Umbridge." Leo replied dryly along with the rest of the class.

"There now." Umbridge remarked sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out please." Leo groaned, but he packed his wand in his bag and set out his quill and parchment ready to start taking notes for the class. By the time he was done Professor Umbridge had tapped the blackboard with her own want and the words 'Defence Against the Dark Arts: A Return to Basic Principles' began writing themselves on the surface. "Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" Professor Umbridge told the class, clasping her hands in front of her. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year." She was pacing across the front of the room as she said this. "You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry approved course of defensive magic this year." She was back at the blackboard now. "Copy down the following, please."

Leo began scratching down the course aims that were appearing on the blackboard, internally mulling over the Professor's words about the lesson being theory-centred, when Fay leaned in towards him. "You were right, the Ministry is interfering." She barely whispered. Leo just nodded, not wanting to draw attention to himself as he wrote.

"Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Umbridge asked. Leo nodded, preparing to open the book to the relevant page when the Professor decided she wasn't happy with the response. "I think we'll try that again. When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply, 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or, 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes Professor Umbridge." Leo added to the voices confirming that they had purchased the book on their school lists.

Umbridge smiled an ugly smile. "Good. I should like you to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One: Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk."

Leo had already done so during the summer, but he willed himself to trawl through the words once more. It was extremely boring, with instructions and notes that even first years would find dull. He was almost at the end of the chapter when Fay nudged him in the side with her elbow. He looked at her, annoyed, when he noticed her grinning. She nodded her head towards Hermione, who was sat staring at Professor Umbridge, her arm straining in the air.

"She's been like that for ages." Fay whispered in barely more than a breath to Leo.

A few minutes later, and with around half the class staring at Hermione's raised hand, Professor Umbridge relented. "Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not about the chapter, no."

"Well, we're reading now." Professor Umbridge explained as if she was talking to a small child. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims." Hermione said quickly. Leo was immediately enraptured at the back and forth.

Umbridge raised her eyebrow at Hermione. "And your name is?" Hermione answered her truthfully. "Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully." Leo almost gagged at the fakeness of her kind voice.

Hermione replied bluntly. "Well I don't. There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

Leo had to double check his own writing, but he quickly noticed that Hermione was right. The aims were all theory based. Umbridge gave a little chuckle as she responded. "Using defensive spells? Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger? You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron Weasley exclaimed loudly.

Umbridge didn't take kindly to the outburst. "Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr…" She trailed off.

"Weasley." Ron answered, putting his hand in the air.

Umbridge then ignored him. Leo noticed both Harry and Hermione put their hands up, and sucked in a breath expectantly for Harry's turn. The Professor however turned to Hermione again. "Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

Umbridge stared at Hermione, her fake smile returning. "Are you a Ministry trained educational expert, Miss Granger?"

"No but…"

"Well then." Umbridge interrupted. "I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new programme of study." Leo snorted at the thought that anybody was cleverer than Hermione adult or no, unwillingly catching the ire of Umbridge mid tirade. "Have you something to say, Mr…"

Leo gulped. "MacDonald." He answered.

"Mr MacDonald?" Umbridge finished.

Leo sighed. "Only to ask how are we to know whether we understand the theory if we can't practice the spells? If we can't do it here then we will be forced to practice outside of class and risk detentions."

"That is no issue of mine, Mr MacDonald. Together we shall all follow the Ministry's instructions by learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way…"

"What use is that?" Harry asked loudly, and Leo turned to him expectantly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a…"

"Hand, Mr Potter!" Umbridge interrupted. Harry thrust his hand up, but by now half the class had done the same. "And your name is?"

"Dean Thomas." Dean answered.

"Well Mr Thomas?"

"Well it's like Harry said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free."

Umbridge's eyes were showing how frustrated she was getting. "I repeat, do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No but…" Dean began, but Umbridge spoke over him.

"I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school, but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed. Not to mention…" She gave a low, evil laugh. "extremely dangerous half breeds."

Leo remembered the shaggy Professor Lupin and his face contorted in annoyance. He turned to Fay who was also outraged, while Dean protested the loudest of them all. "If you mean Professor Lupin, he was the best we ever…"

"Hand, Mr Thomas!" Umbridge exclaimed. "As I was saying, you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet dark attacks every other day…"

"No we haven't, we just…" Hermione began.

"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!" Umbridge exclaimed loudly. Leo had a firm scowl on his face now as he watched Hermione lift her hand up, and promptly get ignored. "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you."

Leo's scowl dropped as the memory returned to him. The Imperius lessons of last year and the fact that he had failed miserably to throw the curse off had haunted him for weeks, giving him both nightmares and shaking fits. Fay noticed this and placed a hand on his arm in comfort, and Leo was dragged forcefully out of his memories by Harry shouting. "And what good is theory going to be in the real world?"

"This is school, Mr Potter, not the real world." Umbridge replied, softer than the anger her eyes were showing.

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting for us out there?" Harry asked her angrily.

"Here we go…" Fay whispered expectantly, a grin on her face as she could see exactly what was about to play out. Leo was no seer, but even he could see the explosion that was imminent.

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr Potter." Professor Umbridge claimed.

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked, almost mockingly. His anger was almost equal to Umbridge's hidden fury.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children such as yourselves?" Umbridge enquired.

And then despite his own mental prediction, Leo couldn't believe what happened next as Harry put his hand to his chin and responded in a mocking, thoughtful voice. "Hmm, let's think. Maybe… Lord Voldemort?"

Ron gasped. Lavender Brown shrieked. Anna snapped her quill in half and Neville slipped off his stool, all at the same time. Even Leo was audibly shocked at the brazenness of Harry, and he felt Fay's nails grip painfully into his arm. The worst reaction of all however, was Umbridge's. She stood there with a smug expression on her face as he crossed her arms.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter." The class was silent now, eagerly anticipating whatever was going to happen next. "Now let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain dark wizard has returned from the dead…"

"He wasn't dead." Harry retorted angrily. "But yeah, he's returned."

"Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-house-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself!" Umbridge snapped in a single breath, not even looking at the bespectacled teen. She took a deep breath and continued, her fake, sweet voice still grating on Leo. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

"It is NOT a lie!" Harry roared. "I saw him! I fought him!"

"Detention, Mr Potter!" Umbridge exclaimed triumphantly, and Leo realised she was doing all of that just to rile up Harry. "Tomorrow evening, five o'clock, my office." She returned her attention to the whole class. "I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in any danger from any dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners'."

Umbridge then sat down at her desk and for a split-second Leo thought it was over. He should have known however that Harry Potter would let his temper get to him, and the Boy-Who-Lived rose slowly out of his seat, shrugging off an alarmed Hermione as she tried to stop him. The entire class had their eyes on him now. "So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" His voice was shaking with venom.

Leo sucked in a breath, as did a number of the class. He had only heard Dumbledore's explanation of that night, and was wondering if Harry was going to break his silence on it or not. Fay's grip was even more painful now, as she had both hands on his arm.

Umbridge stared at him coldly, the first time a fake smile had not been on her lips. "Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident." She told them all, coldly.

Harry wasn't having any of it. "It was murder." He said slowly, and Leo was clinging on to every word. "Voldemort killed him, and you know it."

His tone was what got to Leo most of all. It wasn't rage; it wasn't boastful. It was cold. The hairs on Leo's arms and neck were standing upright as Harry muttered those words, the words that confirmed everything in Leo's mind. Harry's face was almost haunted as he spoke, and that was all Leo needed to see to know he was telling the truth.

Umbridge didn't react either. She simply stared at Harry devoid of emotion until she said in her sickening, sweet voice. "Come here, Mr Potter, dear."

Harry kicked his chair aside and went up to her desk. All Leo could see was Umbridge pull out some pink parchment and scribbling on it. None of the class wanted to say anything as they watched the exchange, with Umbridge handing Harry the parchment and saying quietly. "Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear." Harry didn't say another word, instead he just took the parchment and stormed out of the room, not even collecting his bag as he went. The door slammed, and the entire class turned back to Professor Umbridge. "Now then." The Professor said calmly. "Open your books to page five, and continue reading chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners'."

Leo slowly did as he was asked, and from that moment until the end of the lesson there wasn't a single word spoken from the entire class. Leo was eager to leave the room as soon as he could, and as the bell sounded and they were allowed to leave the classroom he breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Fay, noticing that Ron and Hermione had almost ran off straight away. "Wow." Was all he could muster up.

"Tell me about it!" Fay exclaimed, her tone being one of rage. "Can you believe her? Calling Cedric's death an accident… we all saw the body. Nothing leaves no marks other than the Killing Curse."

"Fay…" Leo tried to calm her down.

"No, Leo." She insisted as they started to walk down the corridor towards their Common Room. "Harry was right, as stupid as he was to react like that when all she wanted to do was rile him up."

They heard a scoff, and Leo turned back to the direction of the classroom and saw Anna walk up towards them. "Please, you don't believe that lunatic do you?" She asked. "As if he fought You-Know-Who…"

"I do believe him." Fay said cautiously, staring at Anna in anticipation of her reaction.

"I do too." Leo nodded, more firmly than Fay had. "The way he spoke about it… that wasn't attention seeking. He was haunted by it."

Anna snorted. "You guys are idiots. You'll see soon enough!" She began to skip away. "See you at dinner!"

Leo shook his head in disbelief. "How can she still not believe it after all that?" He asked, incredulously.

Fay looked uneasy. "Not a lot of people do, Leo. Most don't even want to admit it could be anything other than nonsense. We've all heard stories from the war…" She trailed off. "They might start if they listen to Harry though… if he can keep his temper for more than 5 minutes.

Leo agreed with that. "Come on." He said, poking his elbow out so Fay could slip her arm in. "That's enough talk about Harry Potter for one day. We better try and get started on some homework before dinner." He told her, and the pair made their way along towards the Common Room, eager to relax after what had been a strenuous first day.

Chapter Text

The first week of term passed relatively quickly for Leo, although the constant reminder on how important their upcoming O.W.L.s were and the ability of Harry to just turn around and snap at every little thing did challenge that and create some awkward, lengthy moments. The Boy-Who-Lived did seem fairly pleased when both Leo and Fay told him that they believed him however, and Leo could only imagine the stress that he was under given the scrutiny the entire school was giving him.

The second week of term brought about the biggest change though as it was announced in the morning's Daily Prophet that Professor Umbridge had been appointed the first ever Hogwarts High Inquisitor, giving her the power to sit in on lessons and effectively judge the teachers. Leo didn't have one of those lessons until the Tuesday however, when Professor Umbridge came up against an equally defiant Professor McGonagall. After that however, school progressed as normally as it ever could for Leo. He hung out with Fay, and even Anna after she had spent a few days after the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson ignoring them, he did his homework getting relatively good grades in most of his subjects despite an A in his first Potions essay on moonstone, and he tried to keep as far away from Harry Potter related drama as he possibly could.

Time then settled into its usual pattern, and soon enough it was the first weekend of October which brought about the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, and Leo was excited to get away from schoolwork for a day. It was his mum's birthday a couple of weeks later so he wanted to find a good gift to send back to Loch Ryan while he was in the wizarding village. Dressing in a comfy black jumper and some baggy jeans he met up with the two girls in the common room, quickly getting their breakfasts in before making their way to the northern exit, queuing up for Filch to check their names were on the list of students that had permission to visit Hogsmeade. Thankfully that was over with quickly, and they began the walk to the village.

"I can't believe it's been a hundred years since students could go freely." Leo pointed out as they passed through the gates.

"Why did that change?" Anna asked. "I would love to be able to just nip down to Hogsmeade during a free period and spend it in Gladrags."

Leo shrugged. "It's not very clear. I think some students abused it and skived off lessons."

"As fascinating as the history lesson is…" Fay rolled her eyes. "Have either of you thought about what you want to do after Hogwarts?" She asked them both as they walked.

Leo was slightly taken aback having not expected such a heavy question. "Urm." He murmured. "I dunno, why?"

"Because we need to start thinking!" Fay exclaimed. "We have to pick NEWTs soon after all."

"Fay!" Anna groaned. "We haven't even taken our OWLS yet."

Fay pouted, and Leo rolled his eyes back at her. "What do you want to do?" He asked, realising that she had obviously put some thought into it beforehand to ask the question.

Grinning, Fay answered. "I don't think I'm ever going to become a world-famous beater any time soon unless for some reason next year I get picked for the team and surprise everybody, including myself…" Her smile dropped quickly however and she grew serious. "Though with everything that's going on… maybe an Auror would be useful. They will need as many people as possible."

Anna snorted, and Leo elbowed her. "That's a wonderful idea." He said pointedly. "And you are good at Defence…"

"Nobody is good this year." Anna rolled her eyes. "That old hag is making sure of that."

Fay had an odd look on her face, which Leo noticed. "What is it?" He asked her.

"Anna is right, nobody will be passing at this rate." She began. "And I only thought about being an Auror when I overheard Hermione Granger telling the Weasley twins about a meeting…"

"No." Anna said quickly. "I'm out."

"You don't know what I'm about to say!" Fay exclaimed.

Anna crossed her arms. "You said meeting and Hermione Granger in the same sentence. I don't want to know what you're about to say! I spend far too much time with her in the dorm as it is, I do not need Hogsmeade ruined by her too." She looked around and grinned as she saw a familiar face. "You two can go and be bored to death by Hermione, I'm going to actually enjoy myself and stick my tongue so far down Wayne's throat…"

"Ew." Fay grimaced. "Fine, go then." Anna stuck her tongue out at the pair of them and skipped away towards her Hufflepuff sort of boyfriend. "I'm so glad I don't like boys."

Leo pouted. "We aren't all that bad."

Fay snorted. "Don't tell me you wouldn't like to do that." She pointed at Anna who was sticking true to her word and looked like she was hoovering up Wayne's face with her mouth. "To Hermione."

"What?" Leo questioned too quickly. "No… I… what do you mean?"

Fay snorted an extremely unfeminine laugh. "Come on, let's go and get good seats. I hear Harry is going to actually talk about what happened in the Third Task."

She took his arm and dragged him further into Hogsmeade, and Leo was growing suspicious when they reached the Hog's Head. "Fay… what are we doing here?" He asked quietly.

"Come on!" She just insisted, dragging him through the door close behind the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan.

The pub was disgusting. Grime covered the windows so much that the only light coming into the room was from the lit candles floating around the place, and the floor felt like compressed earth, yet was clearly stone with hundreds of years of filth having been squashed down by customers boots. Leo grimaced as he entered, looking around and he was surprised to see Harry, Ron and Hermione already sat down inside. He looked around and saw more familiar faces. Dean and Neville were there from his dorm, while fellow Gryffindors Ginny Weasley and Parvati Patil were mixed with a group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. "What are we doing here?" He asked Fay yet again.

"You'll see." She smirked, annoying Leo even more.

Leo just shook his head, but he still reached into his pockets when Fred ordered 27 butterbeers from the barman. Leo took his bottle, making sure to wipe the rim vigorously with his jumper sleeve before he and Fay took a seat with everyone else, all eyes on Harry Potter.

When the group was completely silent, Hermione cleared her throat. "Er." She began, her voice sounding nervous. "Well, er, hi." She looked around, and Leo tried to give her a quick smile, although he was sure that it looked more like a grimace. As he began kicking himself for being an idiot, Hermione continued. "Well… erm… well, you know why you're here. Erm… well Harry here had the idea… I mean…" She looked nervous at speaking to so many people, and Harry glaring at her couldn't have helped. It was a side of Hermione that Leo had never seen before. "I had the idea, that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts… and I mean really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us, because nobody could call that Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Hear hear!" A Ravenclaw from Leo's year, Anthony Goldstein, said, giving Hermione a welcome boost.

"Well I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands." She looked at Harry briefly. "And by that, I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells."

"You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too though, I bet?" Michael Corner asked.

Hermione nodded. "Of course I do, but more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because… because…" She took an audible deep breath before continuing. "Because Lord Voldemort is back." Leo gripped his chair, wincing at the name. There were numerous other inevitable reactions, but all eyes were quickly fixed on Harry, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment. Hermione continued her speech. "Well, that's the plan anyway. If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to…"

"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" A blonde Hufflepuff, Zacharias Smith, asked aggressively.

Hermione looked surprised. "Well, Dumbledore believes it…"

"You mean Dumbledore believes him." Smith countered, nodding at Harry.

"Who are you?" Ron asked defensively.

Smith answered with his full name before adding. "And I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him saw You-Know-Who's back."

"Look. That's not really what this meeting was supposed to be about…" Hermione began saying, and Leo felt himself feel slightly disappointed that the full story wasn't going to come out. He shouldn't have worried however, as Harry interrupted her.

"It's ok, Hermione." He said to her, before staring out at the gathered crowd, although his eyes were pointed directly at Smith. "What makes me say You-Know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you won't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone."

The group had held their breath as Harry spoke, Leo included. Smith wasn't happy with the answer. "All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details; he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered. I think we'd all like to know…"

Leo felt angry at the brazenness and almost went to say something, although as always Harry got there first. "If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you." Harry explained coldly. "I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out." He looked angrily towards a bashful Hermione, a move which Leo felt was uncalled for himself.

Leo looked around briefly and noticed that nobody moved a muscle after the speech, and that must have been a signal for Hermione to continue. "So… so like I was saying… if you want to learn some defence, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet and where we're going to…"

"Is it true that you can produce a Patronus?" Susan Bones asked. Leo was surprised at that, a Patronus was advanced magic.

"Yeah." Harry muttered defensively.

"A corporeal Patronus?" Susan asked undeterred. Leo was even more surprised at that, being able to produce a corporeal patronuses was very advanced magic and most 7th years struggled with it.

Harry stared at Susan questioningly. "Er… you don't know Madam Bones, do you?" He asked for some reason.

Susan just smiled. "She's my auntie. I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing." Leo had no idea what was going on now. "So… is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?"

"Yes." Harry confirmed.

Leo was impressed, as were a number of other students as they all let their feelings known. The loudest of whom was Lee Jordan. "Blimey Harry! I never knew that!"

Fred Weasley looked proud as he grinned at Harry. "Mum told Ron not to spread it around. She said you got enough attention as it was."

"She's not wrong." Harry mumbled, and Leo shrunk into his seat, feeling a bit ashamed for being jealous of the boy.

"And did you kill a Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office? That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year." Terry Boot explained.

Harry looked uncomfortable, but he confirmed the story. Leo let out an audible whistle of amazement. "How big was it?" Fay asked.

"Huge." Ron grinned. "I only saw the skin, but it was massive!"

"Bloody hell Harry." One of the Ravenclaws gushed.

"And in our first year, he saved that Philological Stone…" Neville began.

"Philosophers." Hermione corrected.

Neville nodded. "Yes that… from You-Know-Who!"

Leo was in awe at that point. There he had been usually stressing about homework and exams when Harry was fighting You-Know-Who at 11 years old. Cho Chang then spoke for the first time, immediately capturing Harry's attention. "And that's not to mention all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year. Getting past dragons and merpeople and Acromantula and things."

Leo nodded, remembering the horrific things that had been thrown at all the champions. He turned to Fay who just had a look of pure joyous bewilderment on her face. Harry meanwhile looked even more uncomfortable. "Look. I… I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but… I had a lot of help with all that stuff."

"Not with the dragon you didn't. That was a seriously cool bit of flying." Michael Corner explained.

"Yeah well…" Harry tried to counter.

"And nobody helped you get rid of those Dementors this summer." Susan added. Leo was taken aback, what were Dementors doing going after Harry?

"No." Harry sighed. "No, ok. I know I did bits without help, but the point I'm trying to make is…"

Zacharias Smith of course, couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?"

"Here's an idea." Ron stated loudly. "Why don't you shut your mouth?"

Leo had taken a sip of Butterbeer at the time and snorted it out, spraying the obnoxious Hufflepuff in the process. Smith looked aghast and clearly thought he had done it on purpose, but it served to shut him up once and for all. Hermione had a smirk on her face, but she quickly set her face again as she said. "So are we all agreed, we want to take lessons from Harry?" Leo nodded, he knew why Fay had brought up becoming an Auror now, and hearing some of Harry's deeds had made his mind up. He hated Umbridge as much as the rest of them and wouldn't risk his OWLs if he could help it. Hermione looked pleased at the response. "The next question is how often do we do it? I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week…"

Then came the bartering of begging against clashing with different clubs, as the three houses Quidditch representatives reminded Hermione of their practices, while Fay was vocal about the Gobstones club, much to the Weasley twins' amusement. Fay crossed her arms and pouted. "It's important." She tried, but her eyes twinkled in amusement.

"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everybody, but you know this is rather important too." Hermione explained. "We're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters…"

"Well said!" Ernie Macmillan exclaimed. "Personally I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our OWLs coming up!" Leo frowned at that statement disbelievingly. Nothing was more important than OWLs. Ernie looked around as if he might have shocked more people, but when nobody reacted he continued. "I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher on us at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells…"

"Because they are interfering at Hogwarts." Leo said quickly, suddenly feeling bad when he saw Hermione had opened her mouth to speak at the same time. He took a deep breath and then continued. "Umbridge made that clear enough in her speech at the Welcoming Feast, that the Ministry didn't want anything other than their own tried and tested methods. And now they're combing through the teachers and inspecting them, probably with a view to kick out anybody that they feel don't match whatever stupid criteria they have."

He saw Ron Weasley lean into Harry and whisper. "Blimey, Hermione's found her match with that one."

Hermione heard that and glared at Ron, before looking apologetically at Leo. "Leo is right, and the only theory that makes an inkling of sense in my eyes, is that the Ministry have a feeling that Dumbledore will use the students as some form of private army."

Fay snorted in amusement, while Leo just put his head in his hands at the thought of the Ministry being so idiotic. "We can't even use magic outside of school." Fay laughed. "How are we meant to fight for Dumbledore?"

"Exactly." Hermione agreed. "But Umbridge seems to have it in her head that that's what we will become, so she is refusing to allow us to practice and become capable with defensive spells. Which is why it is so important that we meet regularly so that we can keep everything we learn fresh in our minds."

Lee Jordan stuck his hand in the air. "Once a week sounds cool." He shrugged.

"As long as…" Angelina Johnson began to say, but Hermione was already knowing the point she was going to make.

"It doesn't clash with any clubs, yes. Now, about where we will meet."

Leo racked his brains to think of somewhere that could both fit them all in, as well as be conspicuous enough to not be found by Umbridge. He couldn't think of anywhere.

"The Library?" Katie Bell suggested.

Harry grinned. "I can't imagine Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library."

"Maybe an unused classroom?" Dean input.

"Yeah, McGonagall might let us have hers, she did when Harry was practicing for the Triwizard." Ron nodded.

Leo shook his head. "That was for an official school event, this is for a group that by all accounts shouldn't be needed and almost certainly wouldn't be sanctioned. I can't see Professor McGonagall letting us toe the line of the school rules, even if it does annoy Umbridge."

There were a few murmurs of agreement, even from Ron as he realised the reality of his suggestion. The room grew quiet as they tried to think of somewhere else, but nobody could. Hermione spoke up to stop their thoughts. "Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere. We'll send a message round to everybody when we've got a time and place for the first meeting." She then reached into her bag and rummaged around for a moment, before bringing out a sheet of parchment and a different quill to her usual one. She stopped herself for a moment before speaking once more. "I… I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. I also think that again, Leo is right. This is bordering on breaking the school rules, so we shouldn't tell anybody what we are up to. Especially not Umbridge."

The parchment began to go around the room, but some of the non Gryffindors began to hesitate, until Hermione insisted that the list wouldn't be seen by anybody else. When it came to Leo he signed it without hesitation. Zacharias Smith was the most hesitant, but even he signed the parchment after everybody, giving it back to Hermione who placed it carefully in a section of her bag.

"Well." Fred Weasley said, standing up. "Time's ticking on. George, Lee and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase, we'll be seeing you all later."

Leo and Fay looked at one another and decided that they should leave too, getting to their feet and taking their grimy bottles of Butterbeer with them. As they stepped into the sunlight of Hogsmeade, Fay let out a relieved sigh. "That was…"

"It was good." Leo nodded, checking his watch and realising they still had plenty of time left in the village. He found a bin and threw his almost full drink into it, having not wanted to drink too much from the filthy bottle. "I can't believe Harry did all those things without us knowing."

Fay nodded, putting her hands in her pockets as she walked. "It really puts things into perspective. You just know if Malfoy had done those things the Slytherins would have put on a parade."

Leo gagged at the thought. "Could you imagine?" He shuddered. Turning back, he saw Harry, Ron and Hermione stepping out of the Hog's Head together. "But knowing he did everything that was said… it's made me see him in a new light?"

Fay grinned. "Aww do you fancy Potter now?"

Leo shoved her with his shoulder, ignoring her cackling laughter. "I'm not the gay one here." He said, ensuring that he said it quietly because while Fay didn't mind talking about it between themselves, the wider school didn't know yet. Fay just stuck her tongue out at him before pulling Leo into Honeydukes. "I'm being serious though; I've always been jealous of him for no apparent reason. I'm the quiet geek who doesn't speak much and always does his homework. He was the cool one with all the attention simply because he did something as a baby." Leo shrugged. "Hearing his story has put a lot in perspective."

Fay smiled at the admission. "Just don't be so quick to judge people in the future." She looked down an aisle at some of the sweets. "Oh, your mum loves those!" She was pointing at the liquorice wands.

Leo nodded and grabbed a handful. "I still need to get her a book. Maybe a fancy quill from Scrivenshaft's too." He mused. He paid for the sweets, buying Fay some chocolate frogs in the process before he finished shopping for his mother's birthday. As they left Tomes and Scrolls with a book about his grandmother's family business, the alcoholic drink Quintin Black, Leo had filled his bag up with things for both his mother and himself, and the pair of Gryffindors were walking towards the Three Broomsticks to meet up with Anna again. Before they entered Fay pulled on Leo's arm. "What is it?" He asked.

"Perhaps it's best we don't tell Anna anything about the meeting." She said quietly. "You heard Hermione, we shouldn't tell anyone."

Leo shrugged. "I wasn't planning on it myself, she's mainly your friend."

Fay hit him lightly again. "She's your friend too!" She grinned at Leo's pointed look. "Fine, I just wanted to be on the same page."

Leo nodded in agreement. "We are." He insisted. He looked at the door to the pub. "5 sickles that she's snogging him right now."

Fay groaned. "No way I'm taking that bet, of course she is." She pushed through the door without taking the bet and barked out a laugh when she saw their friend, doing exactly as Leo had predicted.

Leo went and bought some butterbeers while Fay went to interrupt Anna and her Hufflepuff boyfriend. When Madame Rosmerta handed him the drinks he sat down beside Fay, nodding awkwardly at Wayne. "What did I miss?" He asked.

"Nothing." Anna said quickly, patting her hair down to look presentable again. "What have you two been doing all day then?"

Leo looked at Fay, who was just smirking. "Oh nothing much." She answered. "I did almost buy a new beaters bat though…"

Leo grinned at the ease of which Fay took the conversation as far away from the Hog's Head as possible. He took a sip of his actually drinkable Butterbeer and his mind went back to the meeting. He felt oddly excited about the future defence lessons, and really hoped that Harry was as good a teacher as he was with performing acts of sheer bravery.

Chapter Text

As usual in Hogwarts, nothing ever ran smoothly. Once the weekend had rolled over and Monday crept up on them once again, a brand new notice on the notice board had taken over the chatter in the Gryffindor Common Room. Educational Decree Number Twenty Four decreed that Professor Umbridge was required to approve of all extra-curricular clubs and groups.

"That means Gobstones." Anna was the first to talk, looking surprised at the parchment. "Wayne is going to be pissed…"

"Wayne is?" Fay raised an eyebrow. "Everyone is! Quidditch, Gobstones, Band, Potions… this affects nearly everyone." She turned to look at Leo with a worried look, and Leo could only agree with the unspoken addition, that Harry's new Defence club was the reason that this was being made. "I best go and speak to Marcus and find out what's going on… sorry guys." She added, before hoisting her bag over her shoulders and rushing out of the Common Room.

As the portrait closed behind her a commotion was sounded from behind and Leo turned at the sound of a wailing klaxon before a thud, and Ron Weasley was on the floor beneath the girl's dormitory… "Slide?" Leo voiced.

Anna snorted. "What an idiot." She nodded at Ron. "Everyone knows boys can't go up the girl's stairs." She yanked his arm and snaked her own inside. "Come on, before we miss breakfast."

The Great Hall however was just as abuzz with the new Decree as the Common Room had been. Leo and Anna sat down, with Leo making sure to be as far away from Harry as he possibly could be. Thankfully Wayne Hopkins joined them at the Gryffindor table so he could melt into obscurity as the couple gossiped, thinking about what could have happened. His eyes kept darting to the Staff table and Professor Umbridge, the obnoxious pink cardigan glaringly visible as her eyes kept a watchful gaze over the entire room.

It even distracted Leo for History of Magic, and for the first time in memory Leo barely took any notes from Professor Binns' lecture, instead fretting about who else had been in the Hog's Head, and what on earth Harry's owl was doing on the ledge…

By the time Potions had come around however Leo was fully immersed in his schoolwork. Professor Umbridge was there inspecting Professor Snape as they continued with their Strengthening Solutions, so it wasn't until Arithmancy that Leo had a chance to ask about the Defence Club, though the mutter of "We'll let you know." From Hermione didn't inspire any confidence in him.

News eventually came on the Wednesday, when Harry managed to corner Leo in double Herbology to let him know that the first meeting was to be that night at 8 o'clock, and to go to a certain location on the 7th floor. Leo could barely contain his excitement throughout Transfiguration that afternoon and he kept glancing at his watch after dinner so much that even Anna was noticing. The three friends were sat together in the Gryffindor common room as it got to half past 7 when Fay nudged Leo, who saw that Ginny Weasley, Neville, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were all heading out of the common room. Nodding, Leo packed away his book and began the charade. "Are you coming to the library, Fay?"

Fay nodded, while Anna looked at them in disgust. "Has Homework Club been approved? Urgh, why am I friends with you two?" She asked dramatically.

Leo shrugged. "You can't be seen as a loner; it would ruin your reputation." He said in jest. Anna just threw a cushion at him.

"We'll see you later, Anna." Fay said kindly. Anna just waved, returning to the new issue of 'Witch Weekly.'

The pair caught up with the other Gryffindors not far down the corridor, and together they moved across the castle to where they were supposed to meet. "I've never seen that door before." Parvati said curiously.

"This must be it then." Ginny said confidently, knocking on it. Harry poked his head around as he opened it, letting them all in. Leo gasped at the large space behind the door. There were bookcases lining the walls filled with large leather books, each tome dedicating itself to a different area of defensive magic. More shelves at the far end of the room housed instruments such as secrecy sensors, sneakoscopes, and even a large, cracked Foe Glass. He noticed Ron surveying the room too whilst Hermione was sat on a cushion, her nose buried deeply into Jinxes for the Jinxed.

"Whoa." Dean surmised everybody's feelings as he looked around too. "What is this place?"

"The Room of Requirement." Harry explained. "It's a part of the castle that barely anybody knows about, so we won't be interrupted…" There was another knock on the door then, and a group of Hufflepuffs walked inside.

"This room is great!" Ernie exclaimed in awe as he looked around. "Why haven't I heard about it?"

Harry began to explain again, but more and more people entered the room. Leo and Fay moved further into the room towards where Hermione was sat. "This is awesome." Fay whispered to him.

Leo just nodded, going over to the bookcase and having a look at the number of tomes that were on display. "Most of these aren't even in the library…" He muttered, before he picked up The Dark Arts Outsmarted and settled into a beanbag opening it and immersing himself in the pages.

A few minutes later Leo heard the door lock and he placed his book back down to join the group. After a few moments of Harry having to explain what the Room of Requirement was and what some of the instruments dotted around the room were, the Boy-Who-Lived turned back to the wider group and began. "Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and… er… what Hermione?"

Leo turned to the girl in question and saw her hand was raised. "I think we ought to elect a leader." She told Harry.

"Harry's leader." The Ravenclaw seeker that Leo had spotted on the train answered back at once, almost angrily.

Hermione, however, wasn't fazed at the tone. "Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly." She explained. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority." Then she directed her words towards the group at large. "Everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"

Leo's hand went up almost immediately, as did everybody's. Harry looked awkwardly at the raised hands. "Er… right, thanks. And…" Hermione's hand was the only one that was in the air still. "What, Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name." She replied brightly. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

Leo smirked at the suggestions that followed, with the Anti-Umbridge League and the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group being his favourites. A joint effort from Cho Chang and Ginny led to Dumbledore's Army being chosen, to which Hermione quickly wrote the name of the group down on some parchment and allowed Harry to finally begin.

"Right. Shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful…"

"Oh please." The annoying Hufflepuff from the Hog's Head piped up. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

Harry, to his credit, didn't respond angrily. Instead he quietly replied saying. "I've used it against him. It saved my life last June." Zacharias Smith opened his mouth to retort, but Leo was thankful that all that came out was breath. Harry then continued. "But if you think it beneath you, you can leave." Nobody moved a muscle. "Okay, I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."

Leo and Fay quickly moved into a space, ready to begin. Fay was smirking at Leo, twirling her wand in her hand. "Do you remember Second Year, the duelling club?" She asked.

Leo did. "You won't get the jump on me that easily again." He grinned, his own wand at the ready, pointed at her torso.

"Right, on the count of three then." Harry called out. "One, two, three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Leo cried, and Fay's wand quickly jumped out of her hand, and Leo scrambled to his left to catch it. Grinning at his friend's scowl, he looked around to see only a handful of people had done the spell right. Feeling smug, Leo threw Fay her wand back and they went again. "Expelliarmus!" Leo called out again, and once again Fay's wand jumped into his hand.

"Urgh!" Fay stomped her foot, and Leo laughed, throwing her wand back again and readying himself. He intentionally cast his spell a fraction slower that time, but instead of being disarmed, he felt himself being pushed back a few inches and his stomach felt as if he had been punched. "Sorry." Fay winced.

"It's your wrist movement, Fay." Harry was now walking around the room and had stopped to give her some pointers. "It's a movement more like this." He waited for Leo to be ready, and before Leo could register what had happened, his wand flew out of his hand towards Harry. "You see?"

Fay nodded. "I think so, thanks Harry." Happy with that answer, Harry walked over and handed Leo his wand back, watching as Fay managed to cast the spell correctly before he moved on again.

They carried on like that for the rest of the lesson, with Leo winning their duels more often than not, and by the time Harry called a halt to the session the pair were panting through exertion. Another lesson was scheduled for the following Wednesday, and the group of Gryffindor's filed out of the room all with huge smiles on their faces.

"Who knew Potter would be such a good teacher?" Fay said quietly from the back of the group.

Leo nodded. "It really makes you sure he's done it all, doesn't it?" He commented. "He disarmed me so naturally it was scary; I didn't even have time to think before he caught my wand."

Even Neville was feeling really cheerful, hearing the pair's conversation. "I've never disarmed anybody before tonight." The Longbottom was grinning.

"You did well, Neville." Leo nodded, presuming his words were correct, having been focused on his own duels rather than watching the others closely. "I didn't think I'd be this excited for the next one, but I can't wait for Wednesday now!"

The D.A. meetings had given all of its members an added spring in their step, with the entire group learning more from Harry than they had from pretty much all of their Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers. Spells like Expelliarmus had become like second nature to Leo, while he also had developed a good Impediment Jinx. The Reductor Curse was slightly trickier, but with Harry's patience he was getting there. It truly felt like an underground movement once Hermione had handed both him and Fay a golden Galleon, before explaining the magic behind it. Leo was once again left gobsmacked at the brilliance of the 5th Year witch.

Unfortunately, as the year pushed through to November the time available for D.A. meetings began to lessen as Quidditch took priority leading up to the first match of the year. Leo made sure to dress in crimson and gold the morning of to show his unwavering support for his House, and was delighted to see that Fay had done the same, her jumper showing a snarling lion.

"Looking good!" Leo noted as the fabric lion went to bite him. "How did you do that?"

"A present from Mum." Fay grinned. "I figured I'd try and walk behind as many of the Slytherin team as I could, and maybe try out my new favourite spell…"

"What favourite spell?" Anna's songful voice sounded from behind them, and Leo and Fay both froze as she neared them, noticing their worried looks and frowning. "What spell?"

"Silencing Charms." They both said in unison, grinning at one another at how they'd just saved an awkward conversation. Fay continued. "If I silence enough of the Slytherin's then we'll be the loudest in the stands of course."

Anna tilted her head curiously, but accepted the answer. "You'll have to teach me; I've not got the hang of them just yet." She turned to leave the Common Room. "Come on!" She summoned.

Fay gripped Leo's arm tightly. "We need to tell her at some point." She whispered.

Shaking his head quickly, Leo retorted. "The parchment is jinxed, Fay, we can't." He didn't fancy a face full of whatever Hermione had ingeniously planned. "We just need to be more careful around her…"

Thankfully all the talk over breakfast was about Quidditch, and though the game started off poorly for Gryffindor with Ron Weasley seemingly letting the songs of Slytherin get the better of him, Harry once again caught the snitch sending the crimson fans into jubilation… a state that they remained in right up until Harry threw a punch into Draco Malfoy's stomach…

"Bloody hell!" Fay roared. "GET HIM HARRY!"

It looked as if Harry took that to heart, pummelling the blonde boy until Madame Hooch herself was forced to jinx the black-haired boy and send him and the Weasley twins away, though it wasn't until a while later that the full extent of what happened became clear, when Harry, Fred and George had to announce that they had been banned from Quidditch for life…

While the disappointment over Quidditch lingered on for the next few weeks, the rest of the school term seemed to fly by almost uneventfully for Leo. He didn't take Care of Magical Creatures so he could only hear about Umbridge's next evil deed second hand, and for the most part his time was taken up with homework and the DA meetings. After Leo's success with the early spells that Harry was teaching them, the Reductor Curse was a little bit more challenging for him.

Thankfully, his last few spells of the term were the stunning spell, and that was a spell that Leo enjoyed casting. At the end of the hour Harry called a final halt of the term and gathered everybody around to talk to them. "You're getting really good." He told everyone happily. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff… maybe even Patronuses."

That excited Leo, who had been reading up on the guardians since the meeting in the Hog's Head. When he left the Room of Requirement with Fay, he excitedly beamed at her. "Patronuses, finally!"

"I wonder what ours will be." Fay wondered aloud. "I've always resonated with the lioness…"

Leo smirked. "We'll find out soon enough." He said happily. As it was getting late, Leo didn't bother with socialising in the common room and instead went up to bed early that night, eager to get some sleep before the long journey the next day. Closing his blinds on his four-poster bed before anybody else had entered the dormitory, Leo closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep…

He had been dreaming of facing off thousands of Dementors and casting a Patronus, expecting it to be some kind of dragon, when a magpie erupted from his wand. Waving it around he kept the Dementor's when one of them opened whatever the creature's mouths were, and it let out a high pitched scream that sounded awfully like Harry. Leo opened his eyes and sat upright, but it was only when someone scrambled audibly out of bed and started shouting "Harry!" that Leo moved, opening his curtains and moving over towards Potter's bed. Ron was leering over the Boy-Who-Lived, frantically calling out his name whilst the others in the dormitory began to converge on Harry's bed. "Harry! HARRY!" Leo watched as Harry's eyes opened, his chest rising and falling drastically and beads of sweat dripping down from his face. He was tucked unceremoniously into the covers and almost as immediately as Harry opened his eyes, he winced in agony. Leo was starting to get extremely worried, but not as much as Ron who cried out again trying to get Harry's attention. "Harry!"

Harry finally moved, though it wasn't a good thing. His hands shot up to his head to try and counter the pain, before Harry rolled over to the side of the bed and violently threw up. Leo grimaced as the room began to smell of vomit, but he couldn't move out of horror.

"He's really ill." Neville said, fear in his voice. "Should we call someone?"

Ron didn't respond. "Harry! Harry!" He called out again.

That seemed to register with Harry as he rolled back over and tried to sit upright. He looked like he was desperately trying to force himself to not be sick again. "Your Dad." Harry panted breathlessly. "Your dad's… been attacked…"

Leo turned to look at his dorm mates and every single one of them had horror in their eyes at the words, Neville most of all. "I'm going for help." Neville told them all before he bolted out of the dormitory.

Ron looked nervous, but he turned back to Harry and told the Boy-Who-Lived. "Harry, mate, you… you were just dreaming…"

"No!" Harry cried out furiously. "It wasn't a dream… not an ordinary dream… I was there, I saw it… I did it…"

That sentence terrified Leo more than any other. He had heard enough about prophecies and seers from his Mother when she spoke about the Unspeakables, and nothing that she had been talking about had made the subject seem anything other than horrifying. The retching reminded Leo of the smell, and he turned back to grab his wand and pointed it at the mess on the floor. "Evanesco." He muttered, remembering Transfiguration lessons from earlier that schoolyear, and the sick disappeared.

Ron was still staring at Harry with concern. "Harry, you're not well. Neville's gone for help…"

"I'm fine!" Harry cried out, wiping his mouth shakily. "There's nothing wrong with me, it's your dad you've got to worry about! We need to find out where he is! He's bleeding like mad… I was… it was a huge snake…"

He tried to get up, but Ron was having none of it and pushed him back. Leo moved quickly to help Ron. "Harry, calm down. Help's coming I promise." He tried to reassure, but Harry was getting angry.

Thankfully, Neville's voice came through the doorway. "Over here Professor…"

The Head of Gryffindor came rushing inside, and Leo took a step back to allow her to get closer to Harry. All he could do was watch on as the Professor spoke. "What is it, Potter? Where does it hurt."

Harry looked relieved to see an adult. "It's Ron's dad." He explained, sitting upright. "He's been attacked by a snake and it's serious, I saw it happen."

Leo couldn't see McGonagall's face, but he could imagine the cogs whirring around her head. "What do you mean you saw it happen?"

"I don't know…" Harry began. "I was asleep and then I was there…"

"You mean you dreamed this?" The Professor asked.

"No!" Harry shouted impatiently. "I was having a dream at first about something completely different, something stupid, and then this interrupted it. It was real, I didn't imagine it. Mr Weasley was asleep on the floor and he was attacked by a giant snake, there was loads of blood, he collapsed… someone's got to find out where he is!" Leo felt ill at the description, and internally his mind was racing to think of any other seers that had described something in such horrific detail. He couldn't think of any. Harry was getting angrier by now, thinking that nobody believed him. "I'm not lying and I'm not mad! I tell you; I saw it happen!"

"I believe you, Potter." Professor McGonagall said shortly. "Put on your dressing gown, we're going to see the headmaster." Harry didn't waste a moment, leaping out of his bed and putting on his dressing gown and glasses. "Weasley, you ought to come too." Professor McGonagall stated. Ron followed suit, and soon the three of them left the dormitory, leaving Leo with Neville, Dean and Seamus to try and process exactly what had just happened.

"I told you all he was barmy." Seamus grunted, moving back towards his bed.

"He had a vision." Leo said coldly. "That doesn't make him crazy."

Seamus snorted. "If you say so, MacDonald." The Irishman muttered dismissively before shutting his curtains. Dean shrugged and followed suit, but Neville was stood there still trembling.

"I don't know if I can sleep again." Neville whispered. Leo agreed with him, and he stood still for a moment before an idea came to mind.

"We can go to the Common Room; you can help me with my Herbology homework if you like? I still don't really understand why Gillyweed can't grow in fresh water." Leo suggested, hoping that taking his friend's mind off of it with the subject he was best at would help. Neville nodded gingerly, and Leo went to grab his bag, hoping more than anything that Harry had simply had a dream and hadn't witnessed anything too sinister.

Chapter Text

The lack of sleep caused Leo to be relatively grouchy on the Hogwarts Express as it sped along towards Kings Cross. He shared a compartment with Fay and Anna, the latter of whom spent the majority of the trip snogging Wayne Hopkins, and with Leo not wanting to talk about Harry's incident he pulled his hood further down his face to cover his eyes he tried to have an extended, journey long nap, but sleep evaded the Gryffindor and all he could think about was what Harry had been saying. Eventually, after what seemed like the longest train journey yet the train pulled into King's Cross and Leo didn't hesitate to grab his things and try to rush away, only to be pulled back by Fay.

"Oi!" She exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. "Stay in touch, yeah? I don't know what happened to make you so grumpy today but you know I'm always here to talk."

Leo nodded. "Thanks." He muttered miserably, before scolding himself in his mind for treating his friend like that. "Have a good Christmas." He added kindly.

Fay smirked, punching Leo lightly on the arm. "You too Leo." She said, before disappearing to find her family.

Leo took a deep breath and made his own way onto the platform. He looked around for a moment and spotted his mum walking briskly towards him. Smiling in relief at seeing her, he went to hug her but instead of a warm greeting all he felt was the feeling of apparation. Grimacing as he felt his feet land on the banks of Lock Ryan, Leo turned around accusingly. "What was that for?" He shot at her.

"Get inside." Mary stated warningly as she ignored his complaints, before whipping her wand out and silently casting a few unrecognisable spells in the area surrounding the cottage. Leo just stayed where he was looking at her questioningly, causing Mary to turn back to him sharply and snap. "Quickly!"

Leo frowned but did as he was told, dumping his trunk on the floor in their cottage and turning back to face his mother. "What's going on?" He asked her.

Stil not answering his questions, Mary instead grabbed Leo's arm and pulled him over towards the sofa dragging him to sit down sharply. "You were there with Harry Potter when he had his vision, right?" She asked him rhetorically. "You saw what happened?"

Leo was confused. "How do you know? What does that have to do with anything?" He asked.

"Did he say anything? Did he look any different?" Mary asked frantically.

Leo shook his head. "He looked normal, just sweaty." He explained. "He was thrashing around a lot but he didn't actually say anything until he was awake?" He shifted awkwardly in his seat, confused and worried at the questioning. "What is this?"

Mary sat beside him and grabbing his hands in her own. "Just tell me what happened." She said quickly, her eyes urging him on.

Leo shrugged. "He woke me up screaming. Ron was already by his bed trying to wake him up unsuccessfully and we all went over to see what we could do. When he woke up he said that Ron's dad had been attacked, that he was the snake that bit him." Leo sighed. "It was scary, I'm wondering now if he's actually a seer, that he saw something..."

"He's no seer." Mary explained, interrupting his thought process. "Seers see the future, Harry saw the present."

"You mean it happened?" Leo asked, surprised. "Mr Weasley was actually…" He trailed off, horrified.

Mary shook her head. "There's only so much I can tell you, Leo." She whispered sadly. "Tell me what happened afterwards, and then I'll try and explain what I can."

Nodding his head, Leo continued. "Professor McGonagall came and took him and Ron away, and we didn't hear anything after that. Even Hermione didn't know anything when I spoke to her at breakfast this morning, then she got whisked away by Professor McGonagall too. Umbridge questioned us after that and then we got let onto the train."

Mary sighed, her brow furrowed. "Which means the Ministry will already know that something has happened." She surmised.

"What does that matter?" Leo asked. "And why are you asking me all of this. You're in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, surely this is something for…"

"I work there during the day, yes." Mary interrupted before Leo could mention the Department of Mysteries. "But there's more going on than you realise, dear. There's a war going on, under everybody's noses."

"You-Know-Who." Leo said darkly. "I know he's back, Harry's made that quite clear."

Mary smiled and cupped Leo's cheek. "You always have been bright. You're right, he is definitely back but the Minister for Magic won't act. That's why there's a secret group working in the shadows to fight him, a group that I've been a part of since the first time… since I left Hogwarts."

Leo was shocked as he imagined his little mother fighting in a war... it seemed ridiculous to him. "You're like a spy?" He asked disbelieving.

Mary shook her head amusedly. "Not a spy, just a witch trying to make a better world for you to live in."

As his mind processed all of the information being thrown at him Leo began putting two and two together as more odd instances started to make sense to him. "Professor Lupin… last summer…"

"He came and told me what had actually happened with Harry Potter during the third task, yes." Mary explained. "Last time, before You-Know-Who was beaten, we were purely reactionary, we had very little intelligence on him and could only do so much, and a lot of my friends died. This time, we're much better prepared."

The realities had truly settled in as Leo felt the room grow colder. Staring at the brunette Scotswoman, Leo whispered. "Mum… are we in danger?"

Mary had a tear fall from her eye, and she nodded quickly before wrapping him in a tight hug. "Aye, we are." She explained, her accent thick in his ear. "Almost my whole class joined the Order straight out of school. I was good friends with Harry's parents, and they were big targets even before officially joining. Thankfully I was lesser known, but after the incident with Mulciber and Avery…" She shuddered. "I knew I needed to do something to help, and nothing has changed in all the years since." She grabbed Leo's hands again. "But while this place is remote, it's not quite as safe as we might need to protect ourselves so we need to go and spend Christmas somewhere else."

"Are we going into hiding?" Leo asked, his eyes wide in fear.

Mary shook her head. "Not quite, but the place we are going, it has all of the best defensive spells that Professor Dumbledore can think up. We'll be safe there, I promise."

Leo nodded, going to stand up. All throughout his life it had been him and his mum, and her word meant everything to the Gryffindor boy so he didn't need to know any more than that. "Then let's go." He said calmly.

Mary noticed his quick reaction and looked at him with surprise. "You don't have questions?"

Leo shrugged. "I trust you, mum. Harry was really scary last night, and if it is something to do with your fight against You-Know-Who, then we both might be in danger."

Mary considered him for a moment before wrapping him once again in a tight squeeze. "I love you." She whispered, before letting him go slightly, her hands remaining on his shoulders. "But there's something else I need to tell you." Mary sighed, and another tear fell from her eye. "I said a number of my friends died the last time, lots of people I knew well, but Lily Potter was my best friend. Her death was more painful than anybody's…"

Leo was confused. "You told me my Father died during the war too." He said slowly. "You never told me who he was, only that he was a hero. If his death didn't affect you more, then what happened?"

Mary took a deep breath as she lowered her hands from her shoulders and instead massaged her temples. "What was I supposed to say to a kid?" She muttered more to herself than anything before looking back at Leo. "Your Father, I loved him from my 5th year at Hogwarts right up until the night You-Know-Who was defeated."

"What happened?" Leo asked. He had never gotten this much out of his mother about his father and he was eager for more.

Mary wiped her eyes before she continued. "He murdered his best friend, or at least, I thought he did." She sighed. "James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. The four of them were inseparable before and after school, though when the war grew fiercer they spent less time together. That took a toll, and when James and Lily went into hiding…" She sniffed, emotions clearly bubbling within her. "I always thought Sirius was the secret keeper."

"He was." Leo said firmly. "I know the story, Black betrayed them…"

"No, Leo." Mary interrupted quickly before she sighed. "I only found out the truth this summer. Pettigrew was the traitor. Sirius… that daft man… on the night of Halloween he kissed the both of us goodbye and told me he just needed to check on Peter, the next thing I know our house is swarmed with Aurors and he's been sent to Azkaban." Leo's eyes were wide open at this point as he was digesting the story. "I tried to go on without him but it just got too much… so I moved back in with Grandad and we've been living here ever since."

His mind was racing and threatening to explode with all the information he had just received. Leo remembered his third year vividly, the terror that many students felt at the thought of a serial killer on the loose. Sirius Black had been a nightmare figure, but now… it was too much. He looked back at his Mother, the pleading on her face explicit to see. "So Sirius Black…" He managed to choke out.

"Sirius Black is your Father." Mary nodded. "We got together in our last year of Hogwarts and had you just months before James and Lily had Harry. We found out she was pregnant just after you had been born." She wiped her eyes and smiled at the memory. "For over a year we were happy… despite everything going on we had a family, you had a playmate… and after everything with his family..." She trailed off ignoring Leo's confused look, and then continued through clenched teeth. "Yet he didn't think of you before rushing in and trying to commit murder."

"Trying?" Leo's mind was racing at the sheer amount of information being thrown at him, but he didn't miss the wording she had used.

Mary nodded. "Aye, trying. Pettigrew is alive. Turns out he cut off his finger and escaped that night, transforming into a rat and framing Sirius for murder. He says that he only managed to escape Azkaban so that he could keep you and Harry safe from him."

Leo gulped in realisation as the events of the third year were brought back once again, namely that Ron and Hermione had been having constant arguments about their pets until all of a sudden it was all forgotten. "Scabbers…" He whispered, remembering Ron's dozy pet. "He had 4 toes on one paw and Ron said he died not long after Professor Lupin was outed…"

"Aye." Mary nodded, her accent thick. "I'm so sorry to keep you in the dark, Leo. I just wanted to keep you safe. I'm still so angry at Sirius for abandoning us and I didn't want to bring you into it until we could be in the same room with each other without screaming the bloody house down, but then Harry had his vision and I was told to move in…" She sighed as she rubbed her temples again. "It's too soon."

Leo shook his head, wrapping an arm comfortingly around his mother. "It is what it is." He said, though his mind was spinning as he realised that for the first time in his life he had a father somewhere out there. "If we need to go… I'll go."

Mary smiled, pulling Leo in for another firm hug. "I love you." She whispered. "I'm so sorry to spring this on you."

Leo nodded. "We should go." He looked out the window nervously, the dark clouds feeling ominous as the temperature dropped once again. Mary clearly agreed, rushing out to grab his school trunk as well as one of her own, and after a few minutes of frantic packing once again Leo found himself being apparated away.

They landed in a grimy street of townhouses and Leo immediately felt on edge. It had grown dark and many of the houses in front had broken windows and a lack of fresh paint on the doors, making the entire street seem derelict and forgotten. Keeping his hand in his pocket and gripped to his wand, Leo started looking around in more detail, noticing the old cars parked on the road, one of which had a door a different colour to the rest of it…

His attention was drawn back in as a piece of paper was thrust into his hands. "Read that." Mary explained with a frantic whisper, and Leo did as he was asked, holding it up to one of the lamp posts to read in the light.

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

Mary quickly grabbed the paper again once his eyes had roamed over twice. "You remember it?" Leo nodded, and Mary incinerated the paper with her wand. "Think about the words." Leo looked at the row of houses in front of him and did exactly as he was asked to, and almost immediately the buildings began to tremble, and in between numbers eleven and thirteen, another house began to almost inflate, pushing them to the sides. Leo grinned at the magic on offer as it went on, until number twelve was fully formed in front of him as if it had always been there. He wasn't allowed any time to admire the magic however. "Come on." Mary hurried him and pulled him by the arm up the stone steps towards the shabby black door. Leo stared at the twisted serpent door knocker, concerned at the symbol of Slytherin. Mary however quickly tapped the door with her wand, and the door began to unlock loudly before it swung open. "Get inside, and don't touch anything." She instructed, and Leo stepped inside the house.

He could almost feel the old magic coursing through the mangy wooden floorboards. There was a closed door at the end of the narrow entranceway and Mary gestured for him to walk towards it. When they were about halfway down he passed a set of moth-eaten curtains when the door in front of them opened, and out stepped Ron's mum, a woman that Leo had never actually spoken too but had seen a handful of times on Platform 9 ¾.

"Mary love, you're just in time, and you must be Leo." The red-headed woman greeted kindly. "The others are upstairs dear." She directed at him.

Leo turned to Mary. "Others?" He asked.

"Molly's family are staying here, as well as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." His mother explained.

Molly nodded. "They'll show you to your room, you're in with Harry and Ron I'm afraid." She then turned to Mary. "He's getting impatient."

Mary swore under her breath. "I bloody told him…" She mumbled. Turning to Leo she kissed him on the cheek and said. "Go upstairs and get settled down, I'll call you back down in a minute."

"But…" Leo complained, knowing that behind that door was the man that he had been thinking about on and off for 15 years, only just now knowing that he was actually alive.

"Go, Leo." Mary said firmly, leaving no further room for argument as she pointed up the stairs.

Leo nodded and turned towards the staircase, but not without a final glance to the door. His father was inside that room, he knew it. Huffing, he began to climb up the stairs, grimacing at the number of mounted House Elf heads on plaques. He got to the first landing and didn't see anybody when a voice called from above. "Leo!" It was Hermione. Leo felt nervous as he climbed up to the second level, and another surprise followed when Hermione crashed into him, hugging him tightly for a moment before letting go just as quickly to Leo's disappointment. "I'm so glad you got here safely."

"I don't know what's going on." Leo admitted, his face blushing as the smell of her shampoo lingered in his nose.

"Well of course you don't." Hermione noted, thankfully ignoring his rosy cheeks. "I imagine it's been a big shock to you. Come on, let us get you settled in and we will explain what we can." Leo nodded, following his classmate as she led him into a room down the corridor.

Harry and Ron were inside playing a game of wizard's chess, and Leo had to admit he was glad to see Harry looking relatively normal, albeit the bags under his eyes showed how tired he must have been. It was Ron who spoke first, cheerfully calling out. "Leo! Sorry about last night mate… we didn't expect to go straight away."

"What happened?" He asked. "One minute Harry was writhing around in bed screaming, the next both of you are gone and we all know nothing. Then I get home, I'm quizzed by mum and she says she's part of some secret group fighting the war and I'm whisked here." He didn't want to mention the fact that Sirius Black was his dad, that was another level of crazy rushing through his mind.

The trio looked between themselves and Leo could all but hear the internal dialogue between them. "The secret group is the Order of the Phoenix." Hermione explained finally. "Professor Dumbledore started it in the first war to fight back, and he restarted it immediately after the third task when it became clear what had happened."

"They're guarding something." Ron continued. "We don't know what, but it's a weapon of some kind to use against You-Know-Who."

"Ron." Harry warned.

"He deserves to know, mate." Ron countered. "His mum…"

"Would have told him if he needed to know." Harry replied in a tone that stabbed through Leo.

Hermione scoffed. "You were exactly the same in the summer, Harry. Angry at us for not telling you anything and demanding to know everything, even things that you aren't allowed to know."

"That's different…" Harry began.

"If my mum is putting herself in danger, then I want to know as much as you do." Leo scowled, interrupting rudely. "I'm not a kid Harry, so don't treat me like one."

"I wasn't…" Harry began before he sighed defeatedly. "Fine, tell him. I need some air." He got up and walked out the room.

There was an awkward silence as the heavy footsteps disappeared into the distance as Ron and Hermione looked between one another again. "Ignore him." Ron sighed eventually. "He's had a rough day."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Don't take it personally. He's snapped at all of us today too."

"Is it to do with whatever last night was?" Leo asked.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, he…" He turned to Hermione. "I don't even know how to explain it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and gestured for Leo to sit down beside her. "The Order are protecting something and last night it was Ron's dad's turn on guard duty, and somehow… Harry saw him get attacked."

"He said something about a snake…" Leo began.

"It was a snake that attacked Dad." Ron muttered darkly.

Leo gulped, a memory of duelling club immediately springing to his mind. "This isn't anything to do with second year, is it?"

"No it isn't a basilisk." Hermione said to Leo's relief. "This is… different. Nobody really understands it. All we know is that Harry saw it and alerting Dumbledore early saved Mr Weasley's life. But as a result of that for everyone's protection, we're spending Christmas here."

Leo nodded, breathing loudly as he digested the information. "And here is…?"

"Headquarters." Ron said.

"Sirius… wait do you know about Sirius being innocent?" Hermione asked. Leo nodded, not trusting himself with any words on that particular subject. "He let Dumbledore use it for the Order, I think he wants to feel useful as officially he's still on the run. It's his family home."

So it was Leo's ancestors house too. He looked around a bit more and noticed a portrait of a man with an expertly kept black goatee staring back at them intently. "So this is where Mum would go to instead of working at all hours?" Leo asked. Hermione looked confused. "During the summer, she was in and out all the time. I didn't really mind too much then as I thought it was something boring about the Quidditch championships."

"She was working for the Order." Hermione nodded. "We met her a bit in the summer, she was really nice."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Nice to know you knew her." He commented bluntly.

Ron frowned at his tone. "It's top-secret mate, you understand right? What would you have done if we had said we knew her? You'd have asked all kinds of questions we couldn't answer."

He would definitely have followed it up, so he ceded that point. "Alright." Leo nodded. "And you know Sirius Black?"

Ron grinned. "He's pretty cool, not at all like he was portrayed in the Prophet."

"He is really nice." Hermione agreed. "Almost like a father figure to Harry…" Leo scowled at that. He knew he didn't really have a right to be upset given that Sirius was in hiding and in a secret base all the time, but his old jealousy of Harry began to flare up again. He realised that Hermione was still talking and tuned back in. "… he gets excited when your mum is here too, though all she gets is angry…"

Before Leo could respond to that, two loud cracks sounded in the room and Leo jumped out of his skin as the Weasley Twins appeared in the room.

"Honestly!" Hermione raised her voice as she rounded on the pair of identical red-heads. "Just walk!"

"Now where's the fun in that." Fred grinned.

"We just wanted to tell you that the meeting is over and dinner is being served." George explained. "Harry and Ginny are already going down."

Leo was feeling a bit hungry but being the newcomer he waited for the others to rise and followed them down the stairs. As they reached the first landing level, he spotted Harry and Ginny sat down on the stairs waiting, as voices were being raised behind the door Leo spotted earlier.

"They're at it again." Ginny said. "Hi Leo." Leo nodded a greeting. "It's worse than normal, less disguised." She added to the rest of them.

He heard his mum's voice then loud and clear. "YOU MADE YOUR CHOICE!"

"What's it about?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not sure. We did hear Wormtail get mentioned though."

The door opened below them and Mrs Weasley stepped outside and put some charms on the corridor quickly. Sighing in relief, she then noticed the youngsters hanging over the banister. "Go back up to your rooms, kids. I'll bring some plates up…"

"I HAVE A RIGHT TO SEE HIM!" A man's voice roared.

"YOU GAVE UP ALL YOUR RIGHTS WHEN YOU ABANDONED HIM FOR A STUPIDLY PLANNED REVENGE MISSION!" Leo's mum screamed, and Leo knew who the man was. He began to descend down the stairs as Mrs Weasley hurried back into the room and shut the door tightly.

"Leo." Hermione hissed. "You don't want to be in the middle of those two when they're going at it like this…"

Leo shook his head. "It's about me." He said monotonously.

Hermione was shocked, but Leo ignored both hers and the others surprised faces and continued down the stairs, wincing as he heard Sirius Black shout. "I WAS IN AZKABAN MARY! I DIDN'T CHOOSE…"

"YOU DIDN'T THINK! YOU NEVER DO!" Mary shouted back. The door opened then and Leo was face to face with Molly Weasley, who quickly shut the door behind her.

She was surprised to see him about to enter the kitchen and with an obviously forced smile she said. "I don't think now is a good time dear."

"It's ok." Leo nodded. "I need to."

The shouting match continued as Leo placed his hand on the doorknob as Mary screamed. "YOU RUSH IN BLINDLY AT ANY OPPORTUNITY AND I WILL NOT HAVE YOU HURTING MY SON!"

"OUR SON!" Sirius roared.

Leo pushed open the door and very quickly spotted his Mother, red in the face from the shouting, move from staring angrily at a tall, hauntingly handsome man to staring over at him in shock. "Leo…" She whispered.

Leo, however, only had eyes for the man that was also relatively red in the face. He had seen the face dozens of times in the papers over the last few years, but never did he dream that the face would mean anything to him. Sirius looked back at him with a hint of adoration and shock in his eyes. With the entire room so silent that you could hear a pin drop, Leo said the only words he could at that moment.

"Hello Father."

Chapter Text

"Leo…" Mary had said after an uncomfortable silence of both Leo and Sirius staring at one another. "We can do this in the morning, you're likely tired…"

Sirius groaned audibly. "Let him speak, Mary." The tall, dark haired man shook his head exasperatedly before turning towards Leo, allowing the teenager to get a proper look at the fugitive. His eyes were baggy, though there was a true happiness within the grey orbs. His hair was long and scraggly, while his beard looked unkempt. Immediately however Leo thought that he could see himself in the older man, a thought that made him look back towards his mother, wondering how she managed to cope all these years… "I understand if you want to shout and be angry." Sirius continued, drawing Leo's attention back.

"I'm not angry." Leo told him, his voice deadpan and not betraying the whole host of emotions that were completely drowning his brain.

That statement clearly surprised Sirius however. "You're not?" He asked, his eyes widening and Leo noticed a glimmer of hope within them.

Leo shrugged. "I was told you'd died. I grew up as the kid with no dad and that was fine, I had my mum and I had Grandad, I didn't actually need a dad."

Sirius winced, the mirth in those grey eyes dimming almost immediately. "I thought about you every day, I swear." He insisted.

"Thinking about isn't being there." Leo retorted quickly, before he closed his eyes and winced at how harsh it had sounded. "Sorry, that's not fair."

"No, you're absolutely right." Sirius sighed. "I had a good life; one I was truly excited for going forwards despite everything that was going on and I let my emotions get the better of me that night. Though you don't know what it was like…"

"Don't do that." Mary snapped at him, her eyes glaring daggers. "He's not a kid anymore, don't belittle him."

Sirius's mouth curled in a growl as he turned to Leo's mother. "Give me a break Mary, I'm trying here…"

"Tell me what it was like." Leo asked quickly, stopping the argument before it brewed up again. "Not the kid friendly one. The entire, uncensored truth. Let me understand why you did what you did."

Sirius sighed, looking between Mary and Leo for a moment before he nodded at Leo. "Fine… we had friends disappearing and we were losing the war, so everybody was scared out of their skin not knowing who would be next, worrying about their friends and family... then not long after you were born James and Lily… Harry's parents that is, they had to go into hiding too. He was my best friend, you understand? So naturally I was chosen to be secret keeper." He paused for a moment, the memory fresh in the man's eyes and Leo thought he saw them glisten with moisture. "I thought I was too obvious a choice though, everyone knew that me and James were like brothers and I'd be the most obvious target for You-Know-Who, and while I would never betray them I'd seen enough torture in my life to know that there had to be a better way without myself being stuck in hiding too, so I suggested Peter." He sighed, taking a minute to have a sip of his drink. "I'll regret that for the rest of my life."

"It wasn't your fault Sirius; it was an excellent idea in theory." Mary said soothingly, her prior anger having evaporated quickly, and Leo knew his Mum well enough to see that her tone was one of caring, that even after all this time and all those arguments she still cared about the man in front of the pair of them.

Sirius rolled his eyes, clearly having had that discussion multiple times. "Anyway, I'd agreed with Peter that every other day I would check up on him at his place, just to make sure he was alright and hadn't been captured or anything. It was often brief; I had a girlfriend and kid to get back to after all." Leo felt a wave of something that felt like genuine affection for the man then, and let him carry on his story. "On that night… I went round there and he wasn't there when he should have been. Instantly I knew something was up. He hadn't been taken in a fight, everything was too normal for that and there was no trace of restorative magic. So I instantly went to James and Lily's and…" He trailed off, wiping his eyes of the now noticeable tears. "The house was a ruin and Hagrid was walking outside with Harry in his arms. I tried to take him, but Dumbledore had other plans…"

Leo instantly imagined a new life, one where Harry was basically a brother to him having grown up together. It felt strange given the past 4 and a half years. "So with Harry safe you tracked Pettigrew down?" He surmised, eager to move the story along and not get caught in what ifs.

"You should have come home." Mary said sternly.

"I should have." Sirius agreed quickly. "In hindsight obviously I would have, but in that explicit moment I just felt pure anger. My best friend was dead because of a mistake I had made, and I had to fix that."

"So you found Pettigrew and fought him?" Leo guessed.

Sirius snorted. "Fought? The coward took one look at me and screamed loudly that I'd killed James and Lily, that I was the traitor. Then he blew up the street and cut of his finger, escaping as the filthy rat he was. I was dumbfounded… angry at Peter and angry at myself. Then the Aurors came and I was taken straight to Azkaban. I didn't even have a chance to speak to either of you."

Leo noticed he genuinely looked upset at that, but on top of the revelation his mind was spinning with the addition of all the new information. "You didn't even get a trial?" He asked, horrified at the thought.

Mary shook her head. "I tried, but nobody would listen to me at the Ministry and I had you to worry about. It was considered such a clear-cut case and the Ministry were so jubilant over the end of You-Know-Who that it apparently wasn't worth it to actually find the truth."

"So there I was for twelve years locked away behind bars in the worst place in the world. I thought that was it, that my life was over and I would never get to see you grow up, until one day Fudge brought a newspaper into Azkaban and I saw the rat on the front page." Sirius explained bitterly.

Leo had to think back for a moment before he remembered the paper in question, the one that had shown the Weasley family after winning the lottery that he had shown his Grandad one summer day before third year. "Ron in Egypt." Leo whispered.

"Exactly. They mentioned that the youngest few were students at Hogwarts and I knew that you and Harry were in danger." Sirius explained. "I got out, and I came to Hogwarts to try and keep you safe."

Leo snorted as he remembered more about his third year now that he was thinking on it. "You didn't do a good job; the entire school thought you were there to murder Harry."

Sirius smirked. "Hogwarts always did have a way with rumours." He sighed again and his face grew serious. "I swear, I didn't want to leave you."

"I believe you." Leo said honestly, the quick statement another surprise to the elder man. He looked between his parents, the realisation starting to dawn that he had a brand new reality now. "This will take a lot of getting used to of course, but I get it."

"You do?" Sirius asked, looking delighted.

"Yeah." Leo nodded affirmingly. "You're an idiot for rushing in blind don't get me wrong, but I get it. Your friend had died and you wanted to make it right."

Sirius nodded as well, a grin starting to show on his face at the words Leo was saying. "Exactly."

"I'm not saying this won't be weird, or that we'll have a perfect father son relationship. I've lived my whole life without you after all and this is so new." Leo made sure he said, seeing the grin slightly dim. "But I feel like a weight has been lifted, you know? Like there isn't this big gap in my life anymore."

Mary sighed, moving to hug Leo from behind. "I'm so sorry I kept it from you." She whispered in his ear.

Leo shook his head as he turned and reciprocated the hug, squeezing her tightly. "You did what you thought was right." He insisted, before another question popped into his head. "Did you think about talking to me at all that night you broke into our common room?" He asked after letting his Mum go and turning back around.

Sirius sighed, shaking his head with a light chuckle. "I didn't want to scare you and I knew I didn't have long. I knew you were there of course, but I knew you had your mum's name and guessed that my part in your life was obviously being hidden from the world… and also my hungry, vengeance filled brain thought I just needed to get in, kill Wormtail and get out again before I was spotted."

Leo just nodded, expecting that sort of answer. They stayed there in silence for a moment until he looked at the clock and saw how late it was getting. "I think I should head up to bed."

Mary smiled, kissing him on the cheek. "Goodnight love." She said.

"Night." Sirius smiled over at him. "And Leo?" Hearing his name come from the mouth of his Father sent tingles down his spine. "Thank you."

Leo nodded. "We'll talk tomorrow." He replied, giving his Father one last look before turning around and heading out of the door, rushing straight past his gawping classmates as he ran up the stairs.

It had been such a long and draining day with all of the travelling and the truth finally being out there, but despite feeling extremely tired Leo couldn't drift off to sleep. It wasn't even the loud snoring coming from Ron's direction that was keeping him awake, nor was it Harry's constant writhing in his bed from whatever nightmare the Boy-Who-Lived was inevitably having as he was used to both of those while in his dormitory at Hogwarts. This time, he felt restless as he kept replaying the last few hours over and over in his mind until the entire night had seemed to pass as he noticed the sun beginning to appear through the dusty curtains. Sighing and knowing that the amount of people within the house would make sleep impossible soon, Leo got out of bed and as silently as he could, left the room.

He didn't know where he was going, but almost immediately after he had turned away from the room he was sharing with his classmates he heard more footsteps. Turning, he spotted Harry. "This way." Harry insisted with a nod, leading Leo down the stairs to the first floor. He entered the drawing room and saw Harry immediately point up at the tapestry adorning the walls. "Once you ran off yesterday Mrs Weasley dragged us inside the Kitchen and ordered us to keep the noise down… then your mum told us that Sirius is your dad and that you didn't know until then."

Leo nodded. "That still feels strange to hear out loud. Yesterday Sirius Black was a murderer that was on the loose, today he's innocent and he's my dad?"

Harry let out a snort of amusement. "Yeah I can imagine, it's all mad isn't it? I remember when I found out he was innocent. I was convinced that he was the traitor that got my parents killed and was ready to attack him, then the next minute he was telling me that he was my godfather and that I could live with him if I wanted."

Another wave of jealousy hit, a usual feeling when it came to Harry but this time it stung just that little bit more as Leo wondered on what it would be like if he was the one to live with Sirius. "Did he mention me?" He asked, internally grimacing at how childish he sounded.

Harry thankfully didn't seem to notice that and simply shrugged. "He asked about my classmates. Now I think he was just feeling out information, but when I said your name he didn't press for anything more."

Leo understood why. "I have my mother's surname." He explained Sirius' words from the night before. "He probably knew that mum kept him a secret."

"For the best, right?" Harry asked.

Leo shrugged. That was one of the main questions that had kept him up all night, trying to understand if he would have been better off as he was, or if knowing the truth despite the stigma that would have followed would have been better. "We'll see." He muttered. He turned to the tapestry looking around at all of the names. He spotted an infamous Hogwarts Headmaster quite quickly. "So am I on here?" He asked.

Harry shook his head, pointing over to a scorch mark on the wall not too far away from that Headmaster. "Sirius was blasted off… I'll let him explain the story. But no, the magic connecting him to this room was severed."

"Ah." So it was like he had never existed. "I really don't know what to think." He admitted.

It was probably about as vulnerable as he had ever been in front of Harry, and it was clear that he noticed it too. "I felt the same when I found out I was a wizard. One minute I was a strange muggle that was hated by his family, the next minute I'm famous in an entirely new world." Harry chuckled. "I'm still adapting to that; you'll do so quicker I'm sure."

"Let's hope." Leo nodded. "Thanks, for this." He spread his arms around the tapestry room. "I've only ever really had my mum and Granda', so this is overwhelming, but nice to know where I've come from."

Harry shrugged. "I've not had a proper family for so long that when Sirius came around it was overwhelming too, like I had some form of family again. I do feel bad that he never got a chance to be that for you before now when he's had a couple of years getting to know me. He's a good man, honestly."

"I can feel that." Leo agreed, though he was still a little unsure what to make of his newly returned paternal figure. "It's all still so new."

Harry nodded, gripping Leo's shoulder and squeezing. "You'll get used to it. And I know I may not always be the most open of people, but I know about this, so if you ever need to talk I'll try not to snap your head off."

Leo grinned. "Thanks." He said, and Harry nodded the once before leaving Leo alone in the room. Leo looked at the scorched mark detailing Sirius on the tapestry and began to trace his finger back, learning all about this brand-new family that he had gained.

After that first night inside Grimmauld Place, Leo had started to feel a little bit more settled. Whilst it was a bit awkward for Leo to be around Sirius the other Hogwarts students clearly felt at ease and relaxed around the fugitive and the run up to Christmas was mainly spent with a brief trip with Mary into Diagon Alley for some last-minute gifts for everybody he was now staying with for the holiday, and also decorating the grubby and dark house into something vaguely resembling an extravagant Christmas grotto and Leo had had far too much enjoyment placing Christmas hats and beards onto the stuffed elf heads.

Leo woke up on Christmas Morning to see Harry and Ron sat on the floor of their room, already mostly through opening their own presents. "Morning Leo." Ron said happily, putting on a woollen Christmas jumper with his first initial in the middle.

"Morning mate." Harry added, grinning as he let a model firebolt whizz around his head. "Your presents are there." He pointed to the foot of his bed.

Leo usually opened everything a bit later on with his mum, but whilst he looked through his modest pile he noticed that her gift wasn't actually there with a note in Mary's handwriting saying to open these ones now. Shrugging, Leo did as he was requested and ripped into the gifts, noticing one from Hermione first, a homework planner. Opening it, Leo was amused to find it spoke to him. "Don't leave it till later, you big second rater!"

"She got you one too?" Ron asked, horrified. "I'm so sorry mate…"

"No, it's cool." He chuckled, placing it to one side with a smile. "I needed a new one…"

Ron was even more horrified at that statement. "You're mental." He said, turning his face into a smirk.

Leo snorted in amusement as he turned to some of his other gifts. He got some sweets from all of the Weasley kids and a book on Ancient Wizarding Families from Harry. Professor Lupin had given him an annotated version of his third year Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook with additional tips and pointers, but then Leo spotted gifts from his friends. Fay had managed to get a couple of presents over to him, a new Wigtown Wanderers Gobstones set and some chocolate frogs, while Anna had sent him an edition of Witch Weekly with an interview from Kennilworthy Whisp, the author of Quidditch Through the Ages. His last gift in the pile came from Mrs Weasley, who had knitted him a silver Christmas jumper with a black L in the chest.

"You best put that on." Harry noted holding a painting of himself judging by the scrawling on the back. "It's a Weasley tradition…"

Speaking of Weasley's, a loud crack sounded making Leo drop his jumper and the twins appeared at the foot of Harry's bed. "Merry Christmas." George said, Leo presumed because of the big G on his own jumper. "Don't go downstairs for a bit."

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"Mum's crying again." Fred explained to them. "Percy sent back his Christmas jumper."

"Without a note." George added. "Hasn't asked how Dad is or visited him or anything…"

"We tried to comfort her." Fred told them. "Told her Percy's nothing more than a humungous pile of rat droppings…"

"Didn't work." George interrupted, tucking into a chocolate frog that he had stashed in his pocket. "So Lupin took over. Best let him cheer her up before we go down for breakfast, I reckon."

"What's that supposed to be anyway?" Fred asked, pointing at the painting. Leo tried not to laugh when he saw what the painting of Harry looked like, and with a grin he got up and put the jumper on, leaving the room to go and find his Mother.

On the way out he almost bumped into Hermione and Ginny, neither of whom were wearing a matching jumper. Ginny just laughed at him but said. "Thanks for the sweets… and sorry." She nodded to the jumper before walking away.

"Great." Leo muttered. "They told me it was tradition."

"It is, for the boys I think." Hermione shrugged. "Ginny never wears hers if she even gets one." She then looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you for the Bridget Wenlock book by the way, she's a fascinating historical figure..."

Leo had known Hermione was interested in her through their Arithmancy lessons, though choosing the right present for her had been the toughest challenge of all as he wondered if it was too obvious, or too personal, or a whole host of other worries in the middle. "I read it a couple of years ago and found it fascinating. I wasn't sure if you had read it or not when I got it but…" He trailed off.

"It was thoughtful." Hermione smiled. "And I haven't, so thank you! I'm looking forward to opening it already."

"I opened the planner." Leo grinned at her. "It's very loud."

Laughing and nodding, Hermione added. "It's meant to be! It's there to remind you to do things. Not that you need reminding of course, you're normally as on time with homework as I am I just didn't know what else to get you…"

"It's great, I really needed a new planner." Leo explained, stopping her from starting a fast-paced, nervous rant. "Thank you, seriously." He said honestly, admiring her smile as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Hermione!" Ginny called from the floor below.

"Coming!" Hermione called back, before looking over at Leo once more. "Are you coming to St Mungo's today?"

Leo shook his head. "No, I don't know Mr Weasley so I'd feel a bit weird about taking up a visiting space. Best I stay here out of the way."

"Oh of course. That's considerate of you." Hermione nodded. "Well, I'll see you later?"

Leo smiled over at her. "Sure." They stood there for a moment not saying anything when Hermione tucked her hair behind her ear with a smile and turned to descend the stairs. Leo went to lean against the wall for just a moment before he went to walk to his Mother's room, but before he could move 5 paces he spotted Sirius Black coming his way with a grin.

"Smoothly done." Sirius said with a smirk. "She's a nice girl."

Leo didn't like the tone that was used and frowned. "Yeah, she is." He said shortly. "Sorry, I need to find Mum."

Sirius nodded, but his eyes quickly lost their joviality. "Downstairs, drawing room." Not wasting any time with any more words or a farewell, Leo briskly walked away and down the stairs, eager to find his Mum and wish her a Merry Christmas.

Once the majority of the house's current occupants had gone to visit Mr Weasley in the hospital Leo and Mary moved into the kitchen to start on some of their own, personal traditions while it was quiet inside Grimmauld Place. Together they laughed as they made Christmas themed scotch pancakes and absolutely drenched them in syrup before they began opening presents. Mary had bought him some new clothes as well as the brand new Wigtown Wanderers jersey, which Leo very quickly put on instead of his Weasley Jumper, while Leo handed over the liquorice wands he had got from Hogsmeade a couple of months earlier and a rather nice locket in the shape of a Creaothceann bucket.

The door swung open as Leo was about to tuck into his breakfast and Sirius came through the door, looking alarmed to see them. "Sorry, I thought you were…" He trailed off, looking behind him. "I'll go."

"No, don't." Mary sighed. "It's Christmas, and if this is going to be the new normal, we may as well get used to it." She looked at Leo. "Is that ok?" Leo just nodded, and so Mary got up and put some of the extra pancakes on a third plate. "Come, Sirius. I remember how much you liked these."

Leo was surprised. "You spent Christmas with Gran and Grandad?" He asked without pausing to think.

Sirius chuckled at the rash question. "Yes, the first year after we finished Hogwarts. We'd just started planning on moving in together, hadn't we?"

"Aye." Mary nodded. "And you wanted to get Da's blessing." She snorted and looked at Leo. "Well, you know what Granda' was like."

"We could have his blessing and some money towards the house so long as I beat him at the game he liked." Sirius was reminiscing fondly with a grin adorning his face. "I lost. Handsomely."

Mary grinned. "But the fact you indulged him warmed him up to you. He helped us get that little cottage." She sighed. "He never believed the stories after you were arrested, always said you weren't that sort of person."

"Magnus was a good man." Sirius said solemnly, before sighing heavily. "I really am sorry I wasn't around for either of you. I honestly did think of you both every single day after it happened."

"You should have thought about us on the day." Mary said firmly, her Scottish accent heavy. "Honestly… when I heard about that after Lily and James… That really was the worst day of my life."

Sirius nodded. "It's my one regret." He said quietly. "When I first met Harry and thought on what could have been… us four all together, happy."

"We can't dwell on the past." Leo said calmly. "But, for what it's worth, I didn't have an unhappy childhood. I always wondered who you were of course, but it never affected me too badly because I didn't remember you if that makes sense. Now I have the chance to get to know you better and to build a relationship."

Sirius smiled, touched by the words. "You mean that?"

Nodding, Leo honestly did. "I do, and I can't speak for Mum but I guess I forgive you. It might take some getting used to as Mum says, but I'm ready to try."

Sirius grinned and clasped Leo on the shoulder. "Thank you." He whispered.

"And you can start by telling me what Mum was like at school…" Leo smirked, causing Mary to protest and Sirius to bark into laughter.

The others came back hours later where the three were still sat in the kitchen listening to tales of Hogwarts from his parents' time at the school, and Leo was very hopeful that all would be well.

Chapter Text

Being stuck inside the dingy old townhouse meant that the days following Christmas Day fell into a bit of a monotonous cycle, although despite the boredom and frustration at not being able to send an owl over to Fay and Anna, Leo almost wished that he didn't need to go back to Hogwarts now that he had finally started to get to know Sirius in a bit more detail. After the initial frostiness before Christmas the pair had spent a lot of time as the winter break went on just trying to get to know the others hobbies and personalities. Learning stories about Sirius' school escapades was probably Leo's favourite, though the brief introduction in Hippogriff care was interesting for the student given he had never taken Care of Magical Creatures. Eventually though, the time came for all of the students to board the Knight Bus to head back to Hogwarts, but before they departed Grimmauld Place, Sirius pulled Leo aside into his bedroom.

It was the first time Leo had been inside and compared to the rest of the dark and brooding house, this room was brilliant. Gryffindor banners and colours were everywhere, and it would have taken Leo days to look through the number of photos plastered all over the walls. Leo was drawn to one in particular though, where he recognised his Mother in her Gryffindor Hogwarts robes, sitting on Sirius' shoulders as the pair were laughing along at a long-lost joke.

"That's a recent addition." Sirius admitted, noticing what Leo was looking at. "We didn't get together until our Seventh year, and by that time I'd already run away from this place." He said the last two words with such venom it gave Leo a chill down his spine. "Thankfully on one of the few days we weren't shouting at each other this past summer she brought that along, and it's had pride of place ever since. Lily took that, just after our last exam." He added, his voice turning softer at the mention of Harry's mother.

"You both look so happy." Leo noted, his eyes locked to the picture of his parents actually acting like a couple instead of the more recent arguments that Leo had been hearing all about from the others in the townhouse.

"We were." Sirius muttered from behind him, his voice trailing off as he was once again trapped in a distant memory. "But anyway, I didn't bring you here just to show you some old photographs, come here for a second." Leo turned around and Sirius passed him a package the size of a small book, really badly wrapped in loose, brown paper. Leo opened it quickly and saw that it was a mirror, and the look of confusion adorning his face must have been obvious because Sirius snorted, continuing his explanation. "It's a communication mirror. I used to have one with James at school so we could still talk during our many, many detentions, but I've charmed this one specifically for you. I won't force you, but if at any point you need to talk to me then all you have to do is say my name."

Nodding, Leo stashed the mirror into his inside coat pocket. "I will." He said, though in the back of his mind Leo was thinking about how sad Sirius had looked the day before at the thought of all of them leaving. "But you also need to remember that you're still on the run. Don't go rushing into anything stupid that could get you caught…"

Sirius smirked, but the amusement noticeably didn't reach his eyes. "And I thought I was meant to be the adult."

Leo chuckled. "Maybe you will be one day." He grinned, before the moment got interrupted by a familiar Scottish voice.

"LEO MACDONALD! WE WILL LEAVE YOU HERE IF YOU DON'T MOVE YOUR ARSE!" Mary barked up from downstairs.

"COMING!" Leo called back, but he turned to face Sirius again. "I guess I'll see you in the summer then."

Sirius smiled, nodding the once. "I'm looking forward to it already." He replied honestly. "Go, or your Mother will hex me after you've left and I've had enough of that for a lifetime."

Grinning, Leo nodded again and left the room, rushing down the stairs to join the rest of the group stood by the door and accidentally setting off the portrait of his Grandmother, to which Professor Lupin immediately waved his wand and shut her up and ushered the students out of 12 Grimmauld Place as he shared nervous glances with Nymphadora Tonks, the pair of adults looking around nervously as if they were worried about an imminent attack of some kind.

They all arrived at Hogwarts late on the Sunday night after a truly horrific experience on the Knight Bus that Leo never wanted to repeat for as long as he lived, and given that they hadn't taken the Hogwarts Express like most of the students that were returning to the school Leo didn't really get a chance to speak to either Fay or Anna until the evening of the first Monday back when he found himself a spare table in the Common Room, wanting to get a head start on his Potions homework so that Professor Snape wouldn't be breathing down his neck after the glares he had received in class that day.

The two sat down either side of him as if he was about to be interrogated. Keeping a straight face despite wanting to burst into laughter as he looked between the girls' stern faces, Leo muttered. "Evening ladies."

"You weren't on the train." Anna said bluntly as both of the girls stared at him, unblinkingly.

"Your observational skills are incredible." Leo smirked, earning a whack on the arm from the auburn-haired girl in the process.

"Jerk! Fay went looking everywhere for you!" Anna nodded to Leo's best friend. "We were really worried!"

Fay nodded ferociously; concern clearly written all over her face. "You didn't even write to me all Christmas; I only got your present… thank you by the way… and that was it? No letters, no sign… I thought something bad had happened!"

"I'm fine, I swear." Leo sighed. "I just can't really talk about it." He said honestly, noticing Harry walk into the common room looking extremely pale and unwell. He went to say hello, but the Boy-Who-Lived just walked past without any acknowledgement and went to join Ron and Hermione in the window. Leo shook his head and went back to his essay, understanding that despite what had happened over the course of the holidays, the trio were back to being just that, and he was once again stuck on the outside looking in.

"You can't talk about it?" Fay asked incredulously, drawing Leo's attention back towards her. "You always write over Christmas! It's basically a tradition at this point."

Leo looked around nervously in the hope that nobody was listening in and was grateful that he didn't see anybody looking towards them. "Look, where I was, owls couldn't find me. I'm really sorry, but it really is top secret."

Anna snorted. "You're not that interesting, MacDonald." She laughed. "But anyway, listen, you'll never guess what I heard on the train…"

Leo just shrugged and reopened his book as he continued with his Potions homework while ignoring whatever Anna's gossip of the day was. He really did feel bad about not telling them the truth, but with how Anna had reacted earlier in the year he really didn't want to open that can of worms in the middle of the common room. He looked up at one point when the common room burst out laughing, and Leo noticed that Hermione was now on her own just about to scold the Weasley Twins for forcing a headless hat on a second year, but in the corner of his eye he saw Fay looking at him, concerned. "I'm fine, I promise." Leo said to his friend quietly.

"Hmm." Fay just muttered, gathering her things. "I'm going to bed." She then got up without a second look towards him and walked away briskly.

Anna snorted. "You're in her bad books." She then blew him a sarcastic kiss. "Later, MacDonald."

"Later, Bailey." Leo responded bluntly, watching both of them head up the stairs to the Girls Dormitory's. Sighing, he settled back into his essay, hoping to get it done before bed that night only to be interrupted once again. He looked up at the recently vacated seat beside him however and was surprised to see that it had been filled by Hermione.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked. Leo shook his head, gesturing her to sit down. "Thanks, Harry had his… lessons… with Professor Snape and he and Ron have already gone up to bed but I want to get started on the Defence Against the Dark Arts homework from today."

Suddenly Harry's pale and ill looking demeanour made total sense to Leo, the discussions over Occlumency after Christmas being quite a big one while Leo was simply getting to know his father. He looked up at the stairs to the boy's dormitory, seeing Harry peer over his shoulder at him before the Boy-Who-Lived skulked upwards, allowing Leo to fully focus on his present company. "I'm worse at Potions, so I started that first." He explained, eagerly looking forward to the end of the year when he could finally drop Professor Snape's class and definitely not envying Harry at having to spend even more time with the unlikable Head of Slytherin, not to mention the thought of Snape digging around his mind.

Hermione smiled as she began to lay her parchment out and prepare her books. "It's so nice talking to someone who actually cares about their education as well. Harry and Ron mean well, but if they could get away with it they'd never do any additional learning other than what they get taught in lessons." She then looked around again towards the stairs to the dormitories which had now cleared. "I noticed your friends weren't too happy with you tonight, is everything alright?"

Not really knowing what to say, Leo simply shrugged. "This Christmas was such a big change and I can't really talk to them about it. Fay doesn't understand and I can't tell her to explain it, which is weird because we talk about everything together. She'll be fine eventually I'm sure, but she's pissed off at me and for good reason."

Hermione nodded sadly. "That's where I am lucky I suppose, I can all talk about whatever is going on to Harry and Ron, and even you now because we're all involved now." She sighed. "I'm sorry, this must be really difficult having everything change so quickly."

"It's strange, not odd." Leo admitted. "I just hope… you know… doesn't do anything…" He trailed off, but thankfully Hermione knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Snuffles." Hermione said quickly. "At Hogwarts, he's Snuffles."

Leo grinned at the absurdity. "Snuffles then, I hope he doesn't do anything rash or stupid."

"Your mum will stop him." Hermione smirked, and Leo enjoyed the sight. "In the summer their shouting matches rivalled my own with Ron, but you can see he still cares for her deeply."

Leo nodded, though despite knowing that he was proof they had had a relationship, the thought still turned his stomach a little. "That's weird in itself." He commented bluntly. "She's never been one for a relationship. Of course now I know why, but it will take a lot of getting used to."

Laughing, Hermione said one last thing before they settled into their homework. "He has something to live for, Leo. That will keep him safe, I am sure." She placed her hand gently on his arm, and that action mixed with her words were comforting for the black-haired teen, allowing him to relax slightly as he settled in to his essay.

That state of relaxation barely even lasted the night, as straight away at breakfast as Leo was dipping some bread into his eggs, Anna's subscription of the Daily Prophet arrived. Leo tried to ignore it, thinking bitterly about the state of the national newspaper and all the lies that he now knew they had been spreading about Sirius on top of the well-known idiocy of the summer, but the horrified gasp that came from the Gryffindor girl was very distracting.

"What is it?" He finally asked, grumpily as he took a bite.

"A mass breakout of Azkaban." Anna whispered, the usually bubbly girl had turned quiet and pale. "The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban… There's ten of them!"

"Ten?" Fay whispered. "But… isn't it meant to be impossible?"

"Who's out?" Leo asked coldly, desperately hoping not to hear one name above all else.

Anna skimmed the article, but then found the list. "Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange…" She was listing with a pause between each. Annoyed at how long she was taking, Leo snatched the article out of her hands impatiently. "Hey!" She complained.

But the name Leo dreaded was there as he read the crimes of those that had escaped. "Mulciber…" He whispered; his voice full of hatred. He slammed the paper down on the table and picked up his bag, storming away.

He had been just about to go to Hogwarts for his third year when his Grandad had sat him down to give him the dreaded birds and bees talk. It was probably the most awkward conversation of his life, but when the topic of consent came up his Mother had joined them, and tearfully had explained to him how forcing people to do things they are unwilling to can scar a person. It had been a horrifying tale, but he would never forget the anger on his Grandad's face at the names of Mulciber and Avery.

His feet had taken him outside the castle into the snowy grounds, and Leo immediately regretted his direction when he exited the castle to the snowy grounds of Hogwarts, a chill forcing itself upon Leo. He pulled out his wand and stated clearly. "Focillo." Then he put the tip of his wand up his sleeve and enjoyed the warmth that his wand was pushing out.

"Leo." He heard a feminine voice coming from behind him. Expecting to see Fay, he didn't turn around. "Leo." The voice repeated again.

It wasn't Fay, and for the second time in two days Leo found himself alone at school with Hermione Granger. "Oh, hey." Leo said, his voice low.

She handed him some toast. "I saw you rush out, here." Leo took it gratefully, not realising how hungry he had been before storming out. "Is it the article? Your dad… Ron said you'd be fine but this is all so new to you that I just wanted to come and make sure…"

"It's not about Sirius." Leo said quickly, still not completely sure on how he should feel about the man. "I know people will be blaming him for the break out of course, but no this isn't about him." He kicked some snow. "It's the list of escapees."

Hermione frowned as she dragged her shoe through the snow in repetitive motions, to which Leo couldn't decide if it was worry or nerves. "They are some evil people." She finally admitted.

"Mulciber." Leo explained, gritting his teeth as he struggled to say the name. "The paper says he specialised in the Imperius curse. It doesn't say what he did with it. It doesn't say what he tried to do to my mum with it." Hermione didn't know what to say, and so Leo continued. "She told me her fifth year was when the pranks between Gryffindor and Slytherin students started to get more dangerous as people picked sides in the war. She told me that the Gryffindor boys in her year… I guess Snuffles and Harry's dad, were hexing Slytherins, but they retaliated by attacking whomever they could find." He sighed, trying not to cry as he remembered the tears coming from Mary when she told him about it. "Mum… she was cornered by two of them. Mulciber used the Imperius curse on her and dragged her into a boy's bathroom against her will. Then they made her…" He trailed off, his hand flying to his mouth to stop himself from sobbing.

"You don't need to say it." Hermione whispered quickly, gently placing her hand on Leo's shoulder comfortingly as he noticed her eyes were wide in horror and watery. "I get it. They are evil."

His upset then turned to anger. "I will kill him." Leo snarled. "Him and Avery, I'll kill them both."

Hermione shook her head but pulled Leo into a hug. "You're better than them, Leo, but they will pay. I promise." She was rubbing his back comfortingly, a soothing action that was helping him calm down. "Come on, we'll get out of the cold and head to Charms."

Nodding, Leo pulled away from the hug and allowed himself to be led back into the castle, though like most people inside the castle and throughout wizarding Britain, his mind was very much still on Azkaban and the faces of the men who had assaulted his mum.

Chapter Text

The days after the breakout were not much better than the morning the article came out. Leo was able to patch things up with Fay once the articles had come out as in the briefest terms possible Leo explained the Fidelius Charm and that he had to be under it for his mum, but even then their friendship was more strained then they had ever been, at least until the whispers started filling the corridors of the names of the Azkaban escapees, and even worse, the names of their victims. One herbology lesson had seen Susan Bones almost run out in tears as her family past was brought back up. Even the teachers had taken to whispering out in the corridors, something that Hermione had suggested was related to Umbridge being inside the staff room. Leo agreed with her, though silently wished for his own sanity that Professor Snape would somehow find a way to get along with the new reality of Hogwarts as once Potions lessons had started the teacher's mood towards the Gryffindor had drastically altered to the extent that Leo was worried he would start getting grey hairs due to the stress of ensuring his classroom efforts were of a barely acceptable standard. Even the usually bright and cheerful Anna's mood was noticeably erratic, with the auburn-haired girl going from overly happy to overly sullen in almost an instant. All of this whispering meant that Umbridge needed a new way to control the castle, and so Educational Decree Number 26 had been drawn up, a decree which forbade teachers to discuss anything unrelated to their subjects with students, though some students enjoyed that decree to try and get out of trouble for a little while, until the detentions started.

With the overbearing nature of the High Inquisitor actually bringing a sense of normality to Hogwarts, school life eventually devolved into the same situation as it had been before Christmas with Umbridge trying to dictate their daily life as much as humanely possible. Teachers were being placed under probation and were under strict supervision by Umbridge, though neither Professor Trelawney nor Hagrid being watched carefully had affected Leo's lessons given that he wasn't taking either Divination nor Care of Magical Creatures as part of his O.W.L.s. In fact, given the absence of any of his lessons being put under supervision the only two extracurricular things that kept Leo occupied in the first month of term was researching as much as he could about Sirius and the Black family, and the returning regular meetings of the DA.

Due to their status as one of the Sacred 28 information on the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was plentiful in the library, though the reading wasn't pretty. He found out that his most distant, direct ancestor went to Hogwarts in the 11th Century, and every descendent had been sorted into Slytherin until Sirius in 1971. There were a number of interesting articles dating back a century when Phineas Nigellus Black was Headmaster of Hogwarts, though it seemed he had an unusual distain for students given his profession.

Even their family words of Toujours Pur, or Always Pure, made Leo's skin crawl along with seeing that escapee Bellatrix Lestrange was closely related to Leo as his first cousin once removed, as was Draco Malfoy as his second cousin. There was some good to come of his family research however, as Leo realised just how interconnected most of the Wizarding world actually was given that Ron Weasley and all of his siblings were his third cousins once removed, whilst Harry had once had a great uncle that would have been Leo's two times great uncle by marriage.

Away from the family tree research however, Leo was also really interested in the political history, although once again it was anything but pretty reading. His ancestors had routinely voted against progressive new legislature and were among the leaders in trying to keep both magic and influence within a small circle, something which made Leo feel both ill, as well as determined that one day maybe he could change that for the better.

Away from the library the other thing that kept Leo excited to get out of bed in a morning was the regular meetings of the DA. Harry had taken to teaching them the shield charm Protego after the news of the breakout broke, and to everybody's surprise the fastest learner, other than Hermione of course, was Neville Longbottom, who had come away from the news about the escapees with a newfound grit and determination to learn as much about defensive magic as he possibly could, something that Leo completely understood having seen his parents' names as victims of Bellatrix Lestrange, Leo's own first cousin once removed, a fact that made him shiver whenever he thought about it.

As the routine continued and the weeks began to pass quickly January turned to February, and the Valentines Hogsmeade weekend was upon them. Given that he was so grateful to be out of the castle and away from the oppressive feeling of Professor Umbridge's decrees it didn't even bother Leo that he didn't have a date for the romantic holiday as he and Fay strolled around the village, making a point to laugh at the view inside Madam Puddifoot's tea shop as they spotted Anna and Wayne Hopkins sharing a table, before they made their way up towards the Shrieking Shack for a bit of peace and quiet.

"Does it bother you, wandering around with me instead of having a date of your own?" Fay asked him honestly.

Leo frowned as he stopped in his place. "Where has this come from? I've never been bothered by hanging out with you. You're my best mate."

Fay shrugged. "I dunno, just seeing Anna in there… normally she'll bounce from guy to guy but this time Wayne's stuck around longer than I thought he would. Even Harry Potter was in there, I saw him with Cho. I don't know, I guess we're growing up and while my options are vastly limited to girls who are out, yours aren't."

Laughing, Leo shook his head. "I'm happier here with you than I would be on some awkward first date with a girl I barely know, Fay."

He saw her smile at that. "Thanks." She admitted. "I dunno, it's just… things are changing. You're changing." She told him pointedly.

Leo's smile dropped from his face as he thought about it. He knew he had changed since discovering the truth over Christmas, but he also knew that he couldn't tell her the whole truth without breaking his word to his mother to keep it all a sworn secret. "I'm still me." He settled on saying, though he could see that Fay didn't believe him entirely.

"But quieter with us, more reserved as if you're hiding such a big part of you from us." Fay shrugged solemnly in response, causing Leo to pause as she hit the nail squarely on the head. "And you're talking to all of the Golden Trio more." She almost sneered at the word jovially. "And I don't really understand why."

"The world is changing Fay." Leo picked up a rock and juggled it in his hands before throwing it out towards the shack, not reaching anywhere nearby the ramshackle of a building. "You've heard the whispers all over the castle, Death Eaters are breaking out of Azkaban, disappearances are starting to creep up… Mum doesn't tell me a lot about what happened before, but I know enough to see that it's similar."

"It scares me, the thought of another war." Fay admitted. "I like the DA, but thinking that we could be using them spells to save our lives…" She shivered.

Thinking that he needed to change the topic before he broke his promise, Leo grabbed a handful of what was now turning to slush in the torrential rain and launched it at her. "Stop being such a downer." He forced a smile on his face as he whipped out his wand and cleaned her up quickly. "Come on, let's get a butterbeer on me. Who knows if Umbridge will ban Hogsmeade in the future, we best make the most of it while we can."

Fay nodded, and the pair of them walked briskly through the village with their hoods up until they reached the Three Broomsticks. Telling Fay to grab them a table Leo went up to the bar, spotting Hermione in a corner with Luna Lovegood and Rita Skeeter of all people. Concerned, he waited to try and get her attention but to no avail as the brunette didn't look up once before Madame Rosmerta took his order. Sighing, he turned around and walked towards his table, offering a brief hello to Hagrid before settling in for the afternoon.

It wasn't until a few weeks and a miserable Quidditch match where Gryffindor lost to Hufflepuff 240-230 later when finally understood why Hermione had been so focused on the controversial journalist. Harry had told them all briefly that he had spoken all about his experiences with You-Know-Who returning to Rita and asked as many people as possible to subscribe to the Quibbler in preparation, but it wasn't until March's edition of the Quibbler arrived in front of Leo on the first Monday of the month when he truly understood. Having grabbed a quick breakfast before the owls had arrived he passed Harry and Ron on their way into the Great Hall, and Leo quickly his way to classroom 4F for History of Magic before settling down in the corridor and reading the article.

He had finished when the rest of the class had started turning up, and the first people he saw were the famed trio. He made his way over to them noticing Harry was looking glum. "This article is incredible." He commented. "I believed you before, but seeing it all spelled out in detail…" He shuddered.

"Thanks Leo." Harry muttered. "I'd hide that though if I were you, Umbridge is on a rampage."

Hermione nodded, a sly grin on her face. "Harry had a lot of letters this morning about the article. Professor Umbridge didn't appreciate the attention he was getting."

Leo smirked at the image he had just thought of, the woman's head erupting in pink flames. "Then let's hope she stays true to form and bans the Quibbler, there's nothing like contraband to make the story spread."

And Umbridge, delightfully, was as predictable as Leo had thought she would be. After a fascinating lecture on the Werewolf Code of Conduct there were notices all around the school detailing Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven, expulsion to anybody caught with the Quibbler. The decree meant that it wasn't until after dinner that day that he managed to show Fay and Anna the article, and another prediction of Leo's came true as Anna simply snorted as she finished.

"I've read some fictional drama in my time, but that's up there with the best." The auburn-haired girl chuckled, only she stopped when she realised she was the only one laughing. "Oh come on, don't tell me you believe this?"

"I do." Leo nodded adamantly.

Anna snorted again. "As if."

Leo sighed, taking the magazine back and transfiguring it into a notepad. "Think back to the third task when Harry and Cedric got back… Harry was bloodied and Cedric was lying their unmoving, without a single mark on him. How do you think he died if it wasn't the killing curse?"

"Who knows what Hagrid had in that maze." Anna shuddered. "I can't believe you of all people are defending Potter."

Leo shrugged. "The facts add up if you pay attention."

Anna scowled. "I know we have our banter, Leo, but I'm not an idiot." She snapped. "Whatever happened, You-Know-Who is dead, he can't be behind Cedric's death, nor is he back and terrorising us all again."

She got up and stormed away to the girls dormitory, and before Leo could say anything back he felt a hand on his arm. "Leave it." Fay said quietly. "I believe it and I'm terrified, so I guess Anna has good reason to fear it. Everybody with prior magical blood knows someone that died during the war, don't we?"

Leo shut his eyes and mentally slapped himself as he sank into his armchair. "I didn't even think." He whispered. "I'll apologise."

"She has a point though." Fay shrugged. "I'd never expect you to be so quick in defending Harry."

He thought for a moment about what he was going to say. "A lot changed over Christmas Fay. I didn't go home, I can't even tell you where I went, I'm literally not able to. But… certain things came to light about my parents."

Fay's eyebrow shot up noticing the exact word that he had used. "Parents… plural?"

Leo nodded. "My Father… it turns out he isn't dead like I thought all these years. He's in the resistance. This war is coming sooner than we'd like and we'll all have to pick a side eventually. I've just already chosen where I stand."

His words had seemingly had a profound effect on Fay, who was looking at him with a mix of happiness and sadness at the same time. "Who is he?" She whispered.

Shaking his head, Leo simply said. "I shouldn't. I've barely wrapped my own head around it." He looked over to where Fred and George Weasley had found a copy of the article and had begun enlarging it, enchanting it so that Harry's giant head would come out with random phrases bashing Umbridge or the Ministry. Laughing to himself, Leo grabbed his books out of his bag and settled in to finish some homework amidst the celebrating, taking one final look at Fay and adding. "You'll be the first person I tell; I promise."

She didn't look convinced, but thankfully let it slide as she took her own books out to get on with her work.

Chapter Text

There was never a dull moment in Hogwarts, that was a statement that had been proved time and time again. Once the clamour over the Quibbler article had died down, with the effect being that more and more people were coming around to believe Harry's side of the story over the Ministry's, in true Hogwarts style the next dramatic thing was simply around the corner. When the final days of March arrived, the first official staff sacking occurred. Leo hadn't taken Divination and as such didn't have an opinion either way on the resident seer Professor Trelawney given that he didn't think he had ever seen her outside of the Great Hall, but he was still an enraged onlooker as Umbridge tried to have the teacher both sacked and evicted from the castle grounds. Thankfully Professor Dumbledore had stepped in and even managed to replace her swiftly without Umbridge's interference, though for the first time ever Leo had actually felt a little bit annoyed that he hadn't chosen Divination as an option as the new Centaur Professor was the talk of the common room.

Then of course as ever at Hogwarts, that drama died down and life soon settled back into a pattern. O.W.L.s were creeping closer and the teachers had begun ramping up the pressure on the 5th year students. The homework and revision were hurting even Leo's brain and it was taking all of his free time to keep up to date with the heaps of homework that the 5th years were receiving.

Thankfully, the DA proved to be a welcome break for the most part and after Christmas they had moved on from shield charms to more unusual hexes, before finally coming onto Patronuses. It had taken until the third session for Leo to produce more than a wisp of silver smoke, and after remembering a particularly enjoyable family holiday with his Mum and Grandad before Leo had turned 11, the Irish Wolfhound had escaped his wand and began bounding around the room. In the corner of his eye he had noticed amused looks from the Trio, but he hadn't cared as he stared in awe at possibly the greatest bit of magic he had ever done.

He had then taken to helping Fay, and was ready to cheer at the exact moment that she produced a silver Chaffinch the room went silent. Looking around to see what was going on, Leo noticed that a space had appeared by Harry and at his knees was an odd House Elf wearing around eight hats. Harry was surprised to see him. "Hi Dobby!" He exclaimed. "What are you… what's wrong?"

Leo looked down to see that the house elf did indeed look terrified, and the room had suddenly dimmed as the Patronuses disappeared.

"Harry Potter sir…" The house elf trembled. "Harry Potter sir… Dobby has come to warn you… but the house-elves have been warned not to tell…" Dobby then sprinted off towards the wall head first, evading Harry's grab as he went and cannoned off of the stone wall. Leo felt Fay tense up and squeak in fright at the sight, and he held his hand out for her to grab.

Harry moved to grab the elf by the arm, stopping him from self-harming. "What's happened Dobby?"

"Harry Potter… she… she…" Dobby then slammed his large nose with his spare fist, causing Harry to grab that one as well.

"Who's 'she', Dobby?" Harry asked, before his mouth opened in an O shape. "Umbridge?" He asked, horrified at the thought. Dobby simply nodded, before trying to headbutt Harry's knees but failing to overpower the wizard. "What about her? Dobby… she hasn't found out about this… about us… about the DA?" Dobby nodded again before trying to hurt himself by kicking himself, falling to the floor. Harry was quieter this time, but the room was so silent that everybody heard his next question. "Is she coming?"

Dobby began to let out a little wail, before howling out. "Yes Harry Potter! Yes!"

Harry dropped the elf and straightened up, looking around the room. Leo felt his body freeze at the look on his face, though he soon snapped out of it as Harry roared at them. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!"

Leo didn't wait for further permission, as he yanked Fay towards the door in a panic. Unfortunately, everybody in the group had also had the same idea and so it became a bit of a crush. He felt Fay's hand slip out of his own and as he looked back he couldn't see her as he spilled out into the corridor. A quick check of his watch showed it was ten to nine, and he had ten minutes to find an alibi. Realising the library was within distance he decided to sprint there, colliding into Hermione as he turned a corner.

"Is Harry…" She began, slightly breathlessly from the exertion.

Leo shook his head and grabbed her hand. "No time, we need to go." He insisted. At that moment a hex flew above their heads and Leo pulled Hermione away, sprinting as fast as they could down the corridor. A couple of corridors away he pulled Hermione into an empty classroom, hiding behind one of the columns between windows. Panting, he looked over at Hermione who was furiously burrowing in her bag like a Niffler digging for gold. "What are you looking for?" He asked.

Hermione barely glanced at him before continuing. "The sign-up sheet." She told him. "But it's not in here."

Leo's blood ran cold as he remembered seeing it earlier that night. "It's on the wall…" He whispered. "In the Room of Requirement. If they get in…"

"They have access to every name of the group." Hermione nodded angrily. "And we can't know who gave us up."

Of course, Hermione was brilliant and the way the sign ups went there would have been a consequence for breaking the vow. Leo snuck a look out of the window and noticed Millicent Bullstrode and Goyle prowling the corridor. "They're out there." He whispered.

Hermione nodded, and Leo could tell by her frown that she was working out a plan. "There's a staircase down that way, isn't there?" She asked, fully aware that Leo knew she knew the answer. "Follow that and we get to the library corridor. From there we can work our way back up to the common room."

"We need to get past these idiots first." Leo shoved his wand in the direction of Goyle and Millicent.

Hermione nodded. "Come here, hide behind one of these desks." She motioned to the far corner of the room. "We bring them in here and stun them."

Leo nodded, taking another look to be sure that he could move. When he saw that the Slytherin's backs were facing him he ducked and ran to where Hermione had moved to. Without speaking another word to Hermione, Leo held his wand in the air and muttered. "Vermillious." Red sparks erupted from his wand, and he made sure to snap his arm down to hold his wand at the door. Hermione had done the same beside him, and for a moment the only sound was the breathing of the pair. The door quickly burst open however and Goyle came lumbering in, to which Leo quickly exclaimed. "Stupefy!"

Another red light burst from his ebony wand, slamming into Goyle who crumpled down in a heap. Millicent Bullstrode came into view quickly and looked like she was about to scream, but Hermione quickly followed up with a stunning spell of her own, and Bulstrode fell down unconscious on top of her housemate.

"Why is it always her." Hermione muttered to herself as she grabbed her bag. "Come on, we need to go." Nodding, Leo followed her in stepping over the two Slytherin's and making their way into the corridor before legging it away.

Around fifteen minutes later they were racing towards the Fat Lady, with Leo calling out. "Carpe Diem!"

"Oh, how rude." The Fat Lady groaned, but opened up her portrait anyway to let the pair fall in. Panting, Leo placed his hands on his knees to try and catch his breath, only for hands to grab him a moment later and wrap around him so that all he saw was long, dark hair.

"Oh my god." Fay's voice sounded from the woman attached to him. "I thought you got caught."

"Fay?" He asked, pulling away to see her face. "I'm so sorry… I thought I had you."

"It's ok." Fay insisted. "I ran with Lavender and Parvati. What happened to you though?"

Leo let out a large breath as he saw Hermione looking around the room. "We got cornered in a classroom by Goyle and Bulstrode." He explained. "Remind me to thank Harry when he gets here, his lessons got us out of there. We stunned them and ran for it."

"You were great." Hermione insisted. "Really calm under pressure." She turned to Fay. "Is Harry here?"

Fay shook her head. "Dean and Seamus got back before we did. I've not seen anyone else…"

At that moment the portrait opened again, and in stepped the Weasley quartet and Neville. "Ron!" Hermione gasped. "Ginny, are you guys ok?"

Ron smirked. "Nothing to worry about." He insisted. "We just went the long way around." Ron looked in the room then. "Harry?"

Hermione shook her head worriedly, and Leo left her to her conversation with the Weasleys to turn back to Fay. "This is going to blow up." He commented to her. "Umbridge won't let this go."

"Hem hem." Somebody behind him cleared his throat in the exact sound that Umbridge used, and Leo jumped out of his skin, his hand going to the wand in his pocket as he turned around and saw Anna smirking at them. "What's all this then?"

"Fuck…" Leo swore. "Don't do that!"

Anna pouted. "Language, MacDonald." She smirked again, before seeing the serious look on his and Fay's faces. "What's going on."

Leo looked at Fay knowingly. "We need to tell her." Fay said.

"I know." Leo sighed. He looked over to Hermione questioningly, and the brunette simply nodded before they pulled Anna to one side and began explaining everything.

"And then we made our way back here." Fay finished off to a disbelieving Anna.

The auburn-haired girl looked more upset than anything. "So you two joined a secret club aimed at protecting ourselves and didn't think to invite me?" She asked, her usual airy tone gone in place of one filled with hurt. "Wow guys. I didn't know you hated me that much."

"We don't." Leo insisted. "But you weren't at the meeting and we were told…"

"Save it." Anna snapped. "I don't want to hear it, from either of you." She rose to her feet, sniffling a bit. "I really thought we were friends, despite our disagreements."

"We are…" Fay insisted, but Anna pushed her out the way. Fay sighed dramatically as she watched Anna run up the stairs and she fell into the armchair. "That was awful."

"I feel bad." Leo insisted. "We should have invited her."

Fay nodded, but any comment she was about to make was stopped in its tracks as a loud bang echoed outside the window, and the room shook for a brief moment. "What was that?" Fay asked loudly.

"It came from the Headmaster's tower." Ginny was pointing out of the window. "I saw a flash!"

Most of the room began to crowd around the window in question, but Leo kept back slightly with Fay, noticing Ron and Hermione had joined him. "That's not a good sign." Was all Leo said, voicing everybody's thoughts. "Whatever that was… things are only going to get worse."

Chapter Text

Harry eventually reappeared, walking through the portrait hole and into the Common Room around an hour after the tremor that had shaken the castle, and after being surrounded by all of the Gryffindor DA members, he explained everything that happened to him since Dobby's warning, leaving everyone silently raging at the Ravenclaw that had betrayed them, as well as leaving them all nervous about what was about to follow given that Professor Dumbledore had seemingly abandoned them. Leo had gone up to bed that night more worried than ever before, thinking partially about how without Dumbledore and the DA, Umbridge would have no reason to hold back.

His immediate worry was Anna though. When he met up with Fay the next morning to go to breakfast the red-head had already left the Common Room, and it was Leo that spotted her sat at the Hufflepuff table when they entered the Great Hall, though Fay was the one to drag him over to the Gryffindor table instead of talking to her first. Both Leo and Fay ate their morning meal with one eye on the Hufflepuffs and one ear towards the head table where Umbridge looked completely out of place in Professor Dumbledore's chair, and when Anna and Wayne rose to leave, they quickly finished their mouthfuls, grabbed their bags and followed.

"Anna! Please!" Fay called out slightly out of breath from the rush.

"Go away, I don't want to talk to you." Anna snapped, grabbing Wayne's hand roughly and trying to drag him away towards the Grand Staircase.

"Please, let us explain." Leo tried, but again she wasn't having it and completely ignored him with a scowl as she began to move.

Wayne stopped her from walking away however, and turned around to get in between them and Anna. "She doesn't want to speak to you guys." He told the worried pair. "Just… give her time. She'll come to you when she's ready to talk."

And she did at lunch that same day, pulling both Leo and Fay outside for a walk around the Great Lake after Herbology. The trio walked around in silence for a little while, with Leo and Fay waiting for Anna to say something, Leo using the silence to awkwardly skim stones across the surface of the water, managing 5 bounces before Anna's voice, unusually timid, sounded. "Why didn't you include me?"

Leo turned, looking towards Fay who just sighed. "Remember Hogsmeade in October?" Fay asked, and Anna nodded. "It started then. When you went off on your date and curled your nose up at that meeting with Hermione Granger, we thought you wouldn't want to be a part of a group led by both her and Harry, given your adamant refusal to believe him too this year."

Leo took over then. "That meeting was about what Harry said in the Quibbler, just less detailed and it went on to all the crazy stuff he's been a part of. He's been able to perform the Patronus charm since 3rd year!"

Fay grinned and whipped her wand out. "Expecto Patronum!" She cried, and her silvery Chaffinch flew out of her wand and above her head. "It's a N.E.W.T. level spell, but Harry taught it to us in weeks."

Anna, to her credit, was in awe. "Wow!" She let her guard down, before shaking her head as she regained her emotions. "But that doesn't explain why you didn't tell me afterwards? If it was so important then why couldn't you include me later?"

"Hermione said we shouldn't." Leo sighed. "And two days later that decree came about. We were breaking rules, and we didn't think you would be one hundred percent invested and could go telling Wayne, or whoever else. We were wrong." He held his hands up in a mock surrender when she glared at him icily. "But we didn't want to be the ones to break the vow."

"Spot Marietta Edgecombe when you can." Fay added. "Harry told us last night that she has boils that spell sneak across her face because she went running to Umbridge."

Anna gasped in horror. "That's evil." She hissed.

Leo shrugged nonchalantly, feeling no sympathy whatsoever for the Ravenclaw. "It was serious stuff Anna. We've learnt so much that the Ministry are trying to keep from us. Stunning spells, shield spells, all kinds of hexes and jinxes that would be very useful if the worst happens and we need to defend ourselves against Death Eaters… or worse." He then thought for a moment. "We can try and teach you too if you like. So you're not left behind."

Anna scoffed. "That's the least you can do." She frowned over at him. "It isn't nice being the only one in our year to be left out, let alone the last one in our friendship group."

"It won't happen again." Fay insisted. "We'll tell you everything from now on. Won't we Leo." She looked at him pointedly.

It took a moment for him to commit to what he had decided on, but Leo eventually nodded in response. "Starting now." He said, before letting out a dramatic sigh, looking around to see that they were all alone and couldn't be overheard. "Fay knows some of this, but not everything. Over Christmas… I found out the truth about my Father."

Fay's eyes widened in realisation, while Anna was simply shocked. "You said he was dead… died in the first war and you never knew him." She whispered.

"That's what I was told by my mum and Grandad for all of my life." Leo said. "But with everything spiking up again… the truth came out. I'm still not allowed to say a lot, but I can tell you some bits. My mum was a part of a group that resisted You-Know-Who last time around… and she is again. This Christmas she dragged me off of the platform to pack some things before going somewhere else… but before we left she told me the truth. My dad's alive."

"Did you meet him?" Fay asked eagerly.

Nodding, Leo looked back out to the Great Lake. He saw the Giant Squid's tentacles waving around above water level and watched them for a moment as he worked out what to say. "I did." Was all he could settle on. Turning back he saw both girls were looking at him, hanging on to every word he was saying. "Just, don't react until I tell you the full story." They nodded. "Sirius Black is my Father, and he's innocent. I was with him over Christmas in a place under the Fidelius Charm which is why no owls could find me."

The girls were horrified at the revelation. "But…" Fay began to protest, and Leo quickly went to tell her the truth before either of them could start on how he was a convicted criminal or the like.

"He was set up and had no trial to prove his innocence." Leo interrupted. "He wasn't the Potter's secret keeper but led everyone to believe that he was. He tracked down the real traitor, Pettigrew, and Pettigrew blew up the street and the muggles and cut off his own finger." He sighed again, grateful to get that off his chest. "This is all top-secret guys, nobody else can know. I'm telling you because you're my friends. Despite our differences." That last sentence was aimed more at Anna, who grinned amusedly.

"Sirius Black…" Fay whispered, her eyes wide in fear.

"We call him Snuffles in school." Leo explained.

"What's he like?" Anna asked, intrigued.

Leo was taken aback, not expecting Anna to be the one that could grapple with the revelations the quickest. "Normal? He's really bored of being cooped up in the house all the time. He argues with my Mum a lot." He laughed.

Fay wrapped her arms around Leo. "Well, if you're sure that he's innocent that I believe you. I'm so glad for you, Leo, that you've finally found him." Leo returned the hug.

"Me too." Anna nodded. She then took a deep breath, causing Leo to look over in concern. "I want to learn everything. If you're all preparing for another war… then I won't bury my head in the sand any longer." She looked to Leo, determinedly. "Before my mum married my dad, she was a McKinnon." Leo gasped, remembering his mum talk to him about some of the travesty's that happened in the first war, including the fate of the McKinnon's, and suddenly Anna's denial throughout the entire year made total sense. "Exactly, that's why we don't share that fact around. Mum's entire family were butchered and she only survived because she was with me overseas, in hiding. That's why I've been so against all of this talk about him being back… my mum is terrified. All summer long she was crying, worrying about if they would come and find her to finish the job off."

This time Fay wrapped her arms around Anna, who gratefully reciprocated the embrace. "I'm so sorry… we had no idea."

"It's not your fault, I didn't tell anyone because we don't talk about her family a lot at home." Anna explained. She wiped a tear away from her eye. "You guys are sure it's starting again? No bullshit, you're certain that You-Know-Who is back?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt." Leo nodded firmly.

Anna took a deep breath. "Then it's time to grow up, sorry mum." She whispered. "I forgive you both, so long as you teach me EVERYTHING you know."

Leo nodded, wrapping his arms around both girls. "We can do that." He agreed, moving them over to a slightly larger clearing where a tree was sat prominently, perfect target practice. "We started with the disarming spell…"

After an impromptu mock duel and a light telling off from Professor Hagrid for casting spells on the school grounds, the group managed to catch a few minutes of lunch to eat something before they had to go to Transfiguration, a lesson in which absolutely nothing happened because of an odd appearance of magical fireworks all over school. Even Professor McGonagall seemed amused by them as she instructed Lavender Brown to retrieve the new Headmistress to deal with the problem rather than the Head of Gryffindor take the risk of breaking Educational Decree 26 by getting rid of the fireworks herself.

The new emergence of the Inquisitorial Squad had also been a big talking point as the Slytherin's that Leo thought least deserved power suddenly gained the ability to dock house points. Already Leo had been unjustly docked 5 points from Malfoy for his shoelace being untied in the Great Hall, something that he was sure hadn't been the case 5 seconds earlier...

Thankfully however April arrived and very quickly the last week of lessons before the Easter holidays was on the horizon, with the Sunday before the break being Leo's 16th birthday. Waking up excitedly to the small stack of presents at the bottom of his bed he very quickly got dressed and raced downstairs to the Common Room, happy to see Fay and Anna waiting for him.

"Happy birthday!" Fay exclaimed, jumping at him and forcing him into a hug.

Anna repeated the sentiment with enthusiasm as she thrust a package into his hands. "Open it!" Chuckling, Leo sat himself down into an armchair and ripped open the brown packaging, seeing that it was an old autobiography of Licorus Black. "He was a part of the Wizengamot in the 19th century." Anna explained, before leaning closer and whispering. "And an ancestor."

Leo grinned, though he placed the book back in the wrappings. "Thanks, that must have been short notice."

Anna just shrugged. "Someone owed me a favour." Was all she said.

Laughing, Fay pushed her present into his lap then, and Leo opened a calendar for the Wigtown Wanderers. "I know it's late for a calendar, but it's really cool… even if it is Wigtown. July has the European Cup winners." She explained. Leo grinned, racing through the pictures to see the team photo of the most famous seven in Wigtown history, laughing as the players waved up at him.

"Thanks." Leo grinned.

More presents followed then as Leo opened up a small parcel of sweets and chocolates from Mr and Mrs Weasley, a crate of butterbeer from his dormmates. He had just opened up a Chocolate Frog when Hermione had come down the stairs with Ginny, the former holding a neatly wrapped parcel. "Happy Birthday Leo." The brunette smiled. "This is from me."

"You didn't have to get me anything." Leo exclaimed, though the smile on his face gave his appreciation away. "Thank you." He opened the wrapping and saw that it was New Theory of Numerology by Lukas Karuzos.

"That book has been a lifesaver for me since Christmas." Hermione explained. "It really gives a whole new meaning to Bridget Wenlock's theories on why seven has the most magical power…"

Leo opened up the first page, only for a cushion to be thrown at him, hitting him in the head. "Read it later, you've still got gifts here!" Anna called over to him. Leo, bashfully, thanked Hermione again and went to sit down, spotting a larger package and an envelope. Picking up the envelope first he realised it was from his mum, and he opened it to a pair of letters.

"Mum's gotten us box tickets for the first Wigtown match of next season against Caerphilly Catapults." Leo grinned.

Fay groaned in jealousy, but Leo simply grinned at her as he took the second letter, which was surprisingly blank. Placing it back down on the table he looked towards the final package, though a wince from Anna brought his attention back to the blank letter. "Your mum is furious." Anna half laughed.

"What?" Leo asked, picking it up again.

"She's having a go at you for joining an illegal group, are you blind?" Anna asked, pointing to blank parchment. "Right there."

Knowing what was happening, Leo smirked and placed the letter back down. "She's a genius." He bragged, pulling his wand out and tapping the parchment. "Aparecium." Ink began to scrawl over the parchment in his Mother's handwriting, and Leo found himself grinning at the shocked look on Anna and Fay's faces, also noticing the impressed stare from Hermione and Ginny just further over. Picking up the parchment once more, Leo began to read. "Mum's proud that I stood up for the truth and didn't just coast by on an easy education." He explained. "She's also going to show me some of her old notes from the first war…" He dropped his voice looking over at Hermione, mouthing 'order' at her.

"Isn't your mum in the Department of Magical Games and Sports?" Fay asked.

Leo simply shrugged. "In her day job." He told them cryptically, waiting for both girls' mouths to turn into O shapes in realisation before changing the subject. "Right, one more." He looked at it, noticing that unlike the other packages this one didn't have the large red stamp showing that it had passed inspection. Confused, he turned it around a couple of times just to see if anything was off.

"Professor McGonagall dropped that off last night." Fay admitted. "I don't know how she got it passed Umbridge though…"

Confused as to why their Head of House would be giving him a present, Leo began unwrapping it slowly. Inside was a picture frame, and a letter was attached to the back. Opening that first before turning the picture over he began reading the words of Sirius Black out loud.

"I've not been there for you and I can never apologise enough for that." Leo whispered the pen markings out loud. "I can't get 15 years' worth of presents to you with the screenings at Hogwarts, but consider this a start to show how much I care. Snuffles." He turned the photo frame over, and smiled softly at the image. He was a baby, no more than a few months old. His Mum was sat down holding him, while either side of her stood his maternal Grandparents. Behind Mary however was the person he had taken to staring at more, his clean-shaven and young-looking Father, Sirius. It was a lovely image, and one that brought a tear to Leo's eye.

"That's so sweet." Fay whispered. "You look so happy."

Leo nodded. "I'm sure we were." He answered, wiping his eye. "I can't put it up anywhere…"

"Here." Hermione had been eavesdropping clearly and she held her hand out. She whispered a spell before following that up with a declaration of Sirius' innocence and Leo felt something warm float through his body. "It's an adapted disillusionment charm. Now, only those that have spoken the truth and truly mean it will be able to see the picture for what it is. Others won't be able to see Snuffles."

She held it up to Anna, who gasped when she realised that the picture was now blank to her. "What do I say?" She asked.

"Sirius Black is innocent?" Hermione shrugged as she guessed. "It's more a feeling than a specific password, you have to have conviction that what you feel is true."

Anna repeated the words and grinned as the picture returned to her vision. "That's brilliant magic." She said in awe at the frame.

Leo agreed wholeheartedly, thinking that the charm was possibly the best present that Hermione had got him. Silently but heartfeltly thanking her, he took the picture back and stared at it some more, the loss of a complete family throughout his childhood being felt fully. "Right." He sniffed, placing the picture down. "Who wants to help me with these chocolate frogs?"

O.W.L.s may have been on their way and the stresses of fifth year life mixed with the uncertainty of the future were taking their toll on the year group, but for one day Leo was more than happy to slack off and just appreciate a day of happiness, as those sort of days would soon be few and far between.

Chapter Text

As predicted Leo's birthday had been the only day of relaxation that they had had around the holidays, with the holiday homework seeming like it was never ending. It seemed that the time away from lessons was limited to being spent either in the library, in the Great Hall, sleeping, or walking to class with the added task of avoiding the fireworks that were still flying around the castle. The 5th years worries weren't helped when towards the end of the holiday a notice had been placed up on the notice board in the Common Room.

CAREER ADVICE

All fifth years will be required to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of the Summer term, in which they will be given the opportunity to discuss their future careers. Times of individual appointments are listed below.

Leo looked down the list of Gryffindor students to see that he was expected in Professor McGonagall's office at noon on Monday. "Get in." He grinned to himself as he grabbed a handful of leaflets delving into their future options. "I'm out of Potions early."

He heard another laugh from beside him, turning to see Ron with a wide grin on his face as the red-head saw his own name. "Mine's during Defence, so less Umbridge this week!" He cheered.

The mix of dread and excitement over the prospect of future careers only grew as the day went on, and the final weekend of the Easter holiday became a flurry of research inside the Gryffindor Common Room, with the 5th Years having to split their time between studying and researching the relevant information for future job prospects, but while Fay had doubled down on her idea from earlier in the year to become an Auror, Leo was undecided as he flicked through leaflets about code breakers and troll trainers in between their Eradication Charm practice. Muggle liaising sounded fun as he imagined some of his new found ancestors rolling in their graves at the supposed heir of the House of Black working with muggles, but in the back of his mind he didn't want to choose a career in a spiteful manner.

As he was looking at a leaflet with the ministry department list, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Harry. "Hey." Leo greeted, ignoring Anna's attempts at the charm.

"Can I have a word?" Harry asked. He seemed nervous, almost skittish. Leo nodded as he rose out of his chair to walk up to the now empty dormitory. Harry closed the door behind him before starting to speak. "Snuffles… have you spoken to him at all?"

Leo shook his head. "No, not directly since Christmas. Is everything ok?" He asked, worried something has happened.

"I just…" Harry sighed. "I need to talk to him, but discreetly. All our letters are being screened and what I need to talk about is private."

Knowing he wasn't going to get anything else out of the Boy-Who-Lived, Leo shrugged. "I don't need to know more mate. But sorry, I've not spoken to him since I left the house…" He trailed off as he remembered something. "Hold on." He said, moving to dig through his trunk until he found the package he was looking for. "Here." He said, unwrapping it from the socks that covered it and handing the mirror to Harry. "It's a communication mirror. I've never used it before, but he told me if I ever needed him…"

Harry grinned as he looked down at the mirror, simply pleased to have found something to get around Umbridge's censorship. "How does it work?"

"You say his name into it and he should appear." Leo explained, throwing the socks back in his trunk.

"Sirius Black." Harry muttered quietly. "Sirius Black." He repeated. "It's not working."

Frowning, Leo moved back over to Harry. "That's how he explained it to me…" He trailed off, before realisation hit him. "He keyed it to my magical signature, hold on." Leo took the mirror back and stated firmly. "Sirius Black."

The reflection became blurry before it shifted into a different picture entirely and instead of the pair's faces the mirror showed the vibrating ceiling of a different room. They waited for a moment when a door was barged open and suddenly the image shifted violently before Sirius' face was visible. "Some warning would have been nice." He grumbled, before grinning at the sight of the pair of Gryffindor's. "Boys!" He exclaimed happily.

"Hi Sirius." Leo stated, still not ready to call him Dad to his face. "Sorry I know I probably shouldn't have told anyone about this, but Harry needed to speak to you urgently."

Thankfully Sirius didn't show any disappointment at the name, nor that it wasn't Leo that wanted to speak to him. "Of course, good thinking. I guess after last time the Floo Network is off limits?"

"Yeah, she's cracked down on any way to communicate with the outside world." Harry admitted, before looking at Leo. "Thanks, but do you mind…?" He trailed off, gesturing to the door with his head.

"Sure." Leo shrugged. "Thanks for the picture!" He called to Sirius before handing the mirror back to Harry. "I'll see you in Summer."

"Don't hesitate to call just for a catch up." Sirius grinned, before turning his attention to Harry. "Now Harry, what can I do for you…"

Leo quickly left the room before he heard any more, less eager to go through his future career options as he had been, and once he had sat down in front of the leaflets again his eyes kept wandering over to the dormitory staircase as he tried to figure out what could have been so urgent.

Monday came around in what seemed like the blink of an eye, and after being excused by Professor Snape twenty minutes early and making a mad rush away from the Dungeons, Leo found himself waiting outside of Professor McGonagall's office still with no idea what he wanted to do after he had left Hogwarts. He checked his watch to see the clock turn to exactly noon, and precisely at that moment the door opened and Neville walked out.

"How was it?" Leo asked his classmate eagerly, hoping for even a shred of information about what he should expect.

Neville shrugged. "There aren't a lot of plant-based jobs and that's all I'm good for. Professor McGonagall thought maybe a medical researcher or a teacher?"

That gave Leo a bit of relief, as it told him that they weren't expected to have planned out their futures straight away. "You'd be great at either of those." He encouraged his friend. "You've saved me more times than I can count with Herbology. I could definitely see you taking over from Professor Sprout."

Neville's face went pale at the thought. "I'll never be at that standard…" He whispered, shaking his head. "Good luck anyway." Neville waved. "I'm going to take the long way back really slowly so I don't need to go back to Snape."

Grinning, Leo waved too before he walked through the door. The office was a cosy area, with a good view of the Quidditch Pitch. The Professor was sat at her desk, shuffling papers. "MacDonald, please have a seat." Leo nodded and did as he was asked. "As you likely know from talking with Longbottom outside, this is a meeting to talk over any career ideas you may have, and to go through which subjects you should continue with or take on as an addition through your sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall explained. "Have you had any thoughts on your future?"

Leo sighed. "I had a look Professor, but most of the options just didn't quite seem right."

McGonagall nodded. "You're not the first and will not be the last to come in here with no ideas on where your future will lead, so let me help you go through some options." Healing was dismissed straight away, as was banking and so was teaching after the Deputy Headmistress had explained that until Professor Binns passed on the position of History of Magic Professor would never be available due to the lack of a wage needed by a ghost, but when Professor McGonagall came to a list of Ministry roles, Leo's nose turned up noticeably. "You do not like the idea of working at the Ministry of Magic?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Not really." Leo admitted. "It's just… mum works there and hates almost everything about it. And after everything that has happened this year… I just don't trust the Minister to levitate a feather, let alone run a competent government."

Professor McGonagall grinned, and it was a slightly unnerving sight to see from the usually stern woman. "What do you know about the magical government?" She asked him.

Leo thought back to previous History lessons when they learnt about the formation of the Ministry and the rules that had been set in place. "Elections for Minister are held every seven years because of the magical power of the number seven." Leo began explaining. "And a Minister can run for as many terms as they feel able to provided they keep winning elections, a measure put in place to keep our leaders accountable to the public."

"The Minister for Magic should be held accountable by the public." Professor McGonagall nodded. "Although as seen in all but a few, rare cases, power corrupts weak witches and wizards. Minister Fudge for example was a bumbling, nervous wreck at the start of his term and now look at him." It was strange to hear the Professor speak so openly about the current situation, but Leo kept quiet to allow her to carry on. "Politics is not a career that I would usually recommend, for while I wish it was not so, in order to make a true difference one must need more than just being clever and knowing the law. You need an ability to sway people, a knack for public speaking, and a personality that will encourage the community to put their faith in you." She took a look at a paper in front of her, which Leo noticed was his own school file. "Though I'm looking at your predicted grades, MacDonald, and I'm impressed. An Exceeds Expectations in Arithmancy, an Exceeds Expectations in Charms, even an Exceeds Expectations in Potions, though to continue that into N.E.W.T. level with Professor Snape you will need an Outstanding." She then tapped the paper. "And whilst I'm very impressed at your predicted Outstanding in both Muggle Studies and Transfiguration, you seem to be one of the few with a genuine proclivity for History of Magic."

"I find history a fascinating topic, though most of it is self-taught..." Leo admitted, not wanting to say anything rude about a teacher to his Head of House. "I did think at looking into becoming a historian, but there don't seem to be many jobs in that field other than teaching or archaeology and I'm not entirely sure about either of those."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "As we have already discovered." She said, before adding. "Then my personal suggestion would be to use your historical knowledge and your wish to see the Ministry do better to look further into the politics route if you would like to be the one pioneering the changes you seek. A mind and a heart like yours could make a large difference if applied right." She peered over her glasses down at him. "In my experience, those with the right family name and the right level of funding do well quicker than those without in this area."

Leo smirked, realising that the Professor was well aware of his familial relationships. "I guess some good can finally come out of such an Ancient and Noble House."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "And to get you on your way, you will need to be fully aware of the law and the governance of our nation, as well as the international wizarding community. Thankfully one of our N.E.W.T. electives, Magical Law, delves into those topics. I would recommend choosing to study that alongside History of Magic, with your best core subjects filling your timetable to give you more variety in your education so that you have back up options. You will obviously be dependent on your grades this summer, but I see a course of Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration benefitting you." She then thought for a second. "And perhaps Muggle Studies too, the Minister for Magic has one of the closest relationships with the Muggle World after all and it wouldn't hurt to learn all you can there to prepare yourself." She looked at her notes again. "These are all subjects you have a strong chance of advancing to N.E.W.T. level education in, MacDonald."

"Thank you, Professor." Leo said a bit taken aback. "Is there more information on the Magical Law course? I'd like to take a further look at it."

"Of course." Professor McGonagall handed him another leaflet. "It is usually a small class, so there will be no room for slacking off as Professor Marchbanks will be able to have more time with you all individually, and she has little patience for troublemakers given she is only at the school for two days out of the week."

Leo nodded. "I understand."

"Then I believe we are all done for today." Professor McGonagall smiled. "And just in time for lunch too. You may leave, MacDonald. Keep up the hard work, I expect to see good things from you in your future."

Leo started to feel a little bit of pressure at that statement, but he thanked the Professor again and rose to his feet, starting to leave before Professor McGonagall added one last comment. "And enough duelling on the school grounds please, you were lucky that Professor Umbridge was otherwise occupied before…"

Despite having Arithmancy and Defence Against the Dark Arts after lunch, mixed with a Professor Umbridge that seemed to be in an even more foul mood than usual, it wasn't until after the 5th year's Defence class that his imagination stopped showing Leo images of himself dressed in Wizengamot robes proceeding over a trial for Sirius' innocence, and even then that illusion was only shattered because a crowd similar to that of the one that had gathered when Professor Trelawney had been sacked had gathered around the walls of the entrance hall, and as Leo managed to push to the front with his classmates. He saw Fred and George Weasley cornered by members of the Inquisitorial Squad.

"What's happened?" He asked Harry as Leo moved over to stand beside him.

Harry smirked. "They've turned a corridor on the fifth floor into a swamp. Some students fell in. Umbridge is fuming."

"They'll be expelled." Leo noticed Hermione as she tutted from the other side of Harry.

Ron snorted. "Look at them, they don't care."

And Ron was proved right as Umbridge had finally arrived, walking down some steps with her face looking pinker than her awful cardigan. "So!" The imposter headmistress exclaimed triumphantly. "So… you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

Leo couldn't hold back his snickering, and neither could many of those around him.

"Pretty amusing, yeah." Fred told her defiantly.

Some wheezing followed and Leo noticed Filch running like he'd made a mess in his trousers, brandishing some parchment. "I've got the form, Headmistress! I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting… oh let me do it now…"

"Very good, Argus." Umbridge stated proudly, turning back on the twins. "You two, are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

Without missing a beat, Fred responded. "You know what? I don't think we are." He turned to his twin. "George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."

The twins had their backs to where Leo and the other fifth years were stood, but Leo could almost feel the smirk on their faces radiating around the room. "Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself." George added.

"They wouldn't…" Ron whispered nearby. Leo was almost inclined to agree, but it was growing increasingly more obvious that Fred and George had planned this charade down to the last detail.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" Fred asked.

"Definitely." Replied George.

Together, they immediately lifted their wands in the air and said in unison. "Accio brooms!"

A crash sounded almost immediately, and Leo laughed along with the rest of the crowd as Umbridge ducked out of the way of the Cleansweep's, the broomsticks racing into their owners' hands despite still pulling the chain that Umbridge had incarcerated them in.

"We won't be seeing you." Fred needled at Umbridge as he swung his leg over his broom.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch." George added, mounting his own broomstick.

They were about to set off when the pair began looking around at the gathered crowd, and Fred couldn't help himself. "If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three Diagon Alley, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!" He called out to everyone. "Our new premises!"

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat." George finished off, pointing deliberately at Umbridge much to the gathering's amusement.

And then the pair lifted off into the air, causing those still on the floor to look upwards as they veered around towards the open front doors of Hogwarts. In their eyeline now was Peeves the Poltergeist, watching on. "Give her hell from us, Peeves." Fred requested. Leo had only ever seen Peeves take orders from Professor McGonagall and the Bloody Baron before, but to everybody's astonishment the Poltergeist swiped his hat from his head and performed the most militant salute that Leo had ever seen from the troublemaker.

Cheers erupted at the sight of Peeves, and Leo joined in the cheering and the clapping as the Weasley twins did a quick circuit of the entrance hall, lapping up the applause before speeding out towards the sunset letting off one final firework each that began fizzing in the shape of a W.

Chapter Text

Talking about the summer term of Leo's fifth year in the future would soon become a case of Before the Weasleys and After the Weasleys. The twins' defiance and flight served to bolster the spirits of the students, and if it hadn't been for the O.W.L.s growing ever closer Leo would have definitely joined in on the skiving snackboxes that seemed to have grown massively in popularity. Unfortunately though and unlike a lot of his classmates who indulged in the Weasley's products more than frequently, Leo felt like he needed to be sensible and his self-made schedule had allowed him only one free afternoon away from classes or studying, and that was for the final Quidditch match of the school year.

The way the season had worked out so far meant that Gryffindor needed to beat Ravenclaw in order to win the cup due to the Ravenclaw team having a better points difference thanks to their heavy victory over Hufflepuff, and so a lot was on the line as the school made their way towards the Quidditch Pitch and up the stands. Leo actually felt nervous, hoping that Ginny Weasley, Harry's replacement, would just catch the snitch quickly.

The weather leant itself to a Quidditch match as the sky was bright blue and cloudless, and Leo found himself in a simple red shirt discussing with Fay, Anna and Neville all the possible permutations for the day.

"So if we win, we win the cup." Leo was saying.

"And if we lose… then Ravenclaw win it?" Neville asked.

Fay nodded. "It's simple. We either finish first or third because Hufflepuff beat us, but if Ravenclaw lose then they finish second because they beat Hufflepuff…"

It was hurting Leo's brain, and so he was grateful when Lee Jordan began drowning out the 'Weasley is our King' chants from the Slytherins at the far end by reading out the teams, before Madame Hooch blew her overly loud whistle and the Quaffle was thrown into the air.

"And they're off!" Lee Jordan was commentating. "Davies takes the Quaffle immediately, Ravenclaw captain Davies with the Quaffle. He dodges Johnson, he dodges Bell, he dodges Spinnet as well…" Lee was growing less enthusiastic as he went along. "He's going straight for the goal! He's going to shoot! And… and… and…" The Quaffle soared past Ron and through the right hoop. "And he's scored."

Leo groaned along with the rest of the Gryffindors as both the Slytherin and Ravenclaw sections began to cheer, with the Slytherin's starting up their favourite song once more.

Weasley cannot save a thing. He cannot block a single ring…

"I wish they'd shut up." Leo growled as the game got underway again. He began searching for Ginny who was hovering over the centre half staring at Cho Chang. Leo was watching as Lee started speaking again, though not flirting as much as normal over the speakers. "Johnson with the Quaffle, she dives over Davies, hands it over to Bell. Bell spins underneath Bradley! Bell to shoot… Bell to score!"

Leo cheered loudly, hugging Fay beside him before turning his back and noticing two spaces where Harry and Hermione had been, the occupants having seemingly vanished into thin air. Shrugging to himself he gave Neville a hug as the celebrations died down and the nerves settled in once more as the Ravenclaw Keeper threw the Quaffle over to Davies. "Ravenclaw on the attack now as Davies passes to Bradley, who passes to Chambers, who passes it back over to Bradley…" Lee was explaining. The Quaffle was flying between Ravenclaw chasers quickly and it was tough to keep track of the red ball. "Davies feints and sends Bell heading towards the castle! The Quaffle goes to Bradley who feints and shoots… AND WEASLEY SAVES IT!"

Leo let out a roar alongside the rest of Gryffindor as for what seemed to be the first time all year Ron had caught a shot to his left cleanly before passing to Alicia Spinnet to counter, and the game began to settle into a pattern after that much to the jubilation of the Gryffindor students. Ron would make a save, and then Gryffindor would attack at pace, scoring more often than not, and one of the more creative third years had started singing a different song…

Weasley is our King! Weasley is our King! He didn't let the Quaffle in, Weasley is our King! Weasley can save anything, he never leaves a single ring, that's why Gryffindors all sing, Weasley is our King!"

Leo and Fay were two of the loudest in their part of the stands, watching as the score grew and grew on the Gryffindor side whilst staying at 10 points to Ravenclaw. By the time Ginny Weasley had sped towards Cho and snatched the Snitch from right under the Ravenclaw's nose, the score was 290-10 and the Gryffindor section erupted.

"WE WON!" Fay was screaming as Leo picked her up and spun her around. "WE WON! WE WON!"

"WEASLEY IS OUR KING!" Leo was screaming in tune at the same time, as they pulled away from one another to see the players fly down to the pitch, Cho throwing her broom tearfully in frustration as the Quidditch Cup was brought out by Professor McGonagall to hand over to Angelina, who immediately hoisted it into the air to a loud roar from the Gryffindor stands before handing the trophy over to a deserving Ron Weasley.

Thankfully Lee Jordan had been supplied with enough butterbeer to feed the whole House, so despite Fred and George no longer being at the school their famous parties could go ahead anyway. Leo didn't know who had gotten the kitchens to supply the food, but as the entire common room erupted into the Weasley is our King chant whilst the man in question jumped around on the main sofa pumping his arms in the air, Leo didn't care for the logistics. He even got to hold the cup for a split second as it was passed around the common room, something that would be a fond memory as the days afterwards brought only stress and revision.

Despite the jubilation of winning the Quidditch Cup, reality very quickly set in as June soon fell upon them and exam season was just around the corner. Students were caving into the stress and Leo had taken to completely ignoring certain people, such as Ernie Macmillan's constant badgering on how many hours they were revising for. Even those that Leo considered to be relatively sane were buckling under the pressure, as sixth years were taking advantage and offering bogus potions and elixirs that they swore got them great grades the year before.

Soon enough, the schedules had been posted and the first exam would be Charms on the Monday. Students reacted differently the weekend before, with some deciding that they had done as much revision as they physically could whilst others, mainly Leo and Hermione from the Gryffindor Common Room, had decided to quiz each other on the entirety of the Charms textbooks. Leo somehow even managed to get Hermione to stop believing that he was misleading her by telling her she got her answers right, having winced earlier in the day at Harry getting whacked in the nose by the brunette before deciding to sub Leo in.

Dinner that night was possibly even worse as the examiners arrived to make it all seem horribly real. Professor Griselda Marchbanks was the one that drew the most looks, being a famous examiner who had even supposedly examined Professor Dumbledore almost one hundred years earlier, and Leo knew that she would be the one that took the Magical Law lesson next year that he was extremely interested in.

"I recognise her." Harry had whispered as Umbridge led the small, wrinkled woman away from the nervous fifth year crowds. "She was at my trial…"

Not wanting to think about Professor Marchbanks beyond the fact that she would be in charge of the biggest moment of his life up until that moment, Leo had decided to get to bed early that night for some decent sleep, though he didn't drift off until well after midnight and the dream had turned into a nightmare when he managed to charm Professor Marchbanks into doing an Irish jig when he was meant to be enchanting a kettle.

Breakfast was subdued, and then it was time. For all of the subjects the written exams were in the morning and so the Great Hall had done away with all the House Tables, settling instead for individual tables in alphabetical order. Leo was placed in behind Neville and front of Ernie Macmillan. After everyone had settled Professor McGonagall called out. "You may begin." Before turning over an enormous hour glass on her desk.

The rustling of paper was loud but brief, and Leo looked at the first question, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw:

Give the incantation and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly.

Grinning at the memory of an eleven-year-old Hermione Granger berating Ron about his pronunciation on the other side of the Charms classroom, Leo began to write out his answers.

After the written exam and lunch, it was time for the Charms practical exam. One by one again in alphabetical order students were called into the Great Hall, and Leo found himself being directed to Professor Tofty, an old, balding wizard that his Mother had praised when discussing her own exams. "Ah, MacDonald. I had the pleasure of examining your Mother for her Charms O.W.L.s.. She was rather talented at the Cheering Charm."

Leo smiled, though the nerves would surely have been clear on his face. "She mentioned to me how relaxed she felt taking them, Professor."

Professor Tofty smiled kindly. "An endeavour I shall hopefully pass on to you." He responded, before he gestured to the egg cup on the table. "Now take a deep breath, and if you could make this do some cartwheels for me?"

Leo nodded and pointed his wand at the egg cup, rotating it in small circles before saying. "Facere Rota." The egg cup floated a couple of inches in the air and began spinning around. The rest of the exam followed similarly, and by the time Leo had needed to levitate a wine glass, turn a rat into a shocking neon green and enlarged a dinner plate to the size of a medieval shield, he left the room feeling extremely buoyant.

Transfiguration went just as well on the Tuesday, although his good luck was about to come crashing down as his overconfidence as he walked into the Herbology exams on Wednesday, forgetting a number of the answers to the questions in his written exam before the practical ended with an escort to the Hospital Wing, as a mistimed yawn led to Leo ending up on the receiving end of a rather nasty bite from a Fanged Geranium.

Thursday was his best day however, as Leo felt like he nailed the written exam whilst in the afternoon Professor Umbridge was skulking around the room watching in silent anger as all of the DA performed better than expected in the practical. The only thing that Leo felt like he messed up was that it took two attempts to banish his boggart, being shocked initially at the sight of his mother's lifeless body. Thankfully Professor Tofty was once again kind and sympathetic. "Our greatest fears are terrifying by nature dear boy, worry not."

Friday was a bit calmer, with Muggle Studies only having a written exam which Leo once again thought he did rather well on, and by the time Friday lunchtime came around Leo simply collapsed into an armchair, listening to Harry and Ron playing chess before falling asleep in the Common Room, not caring about the noise around him.

Saturday and Sunday like the week before were spent revising, although for the first time in a long time Leo had decided to avoid Hermione, who's bad mood was growing by the hour, and with Potions being one of Leo's weak points he needed all the focus he could get. The exam went as well as Leo could have hoped for, as he felt like he messed up more than normal on the written section but without Snape breathing down his neck the practical went well, corking the last of his sample vials and thinking that the only issue was that the colour was a little bit paler than it should have been.

Given that Leo wasn't doing Care of Magical Creatures his entire Tuesday was spent revising for Arithmancy and catching up on some sleep as the next day meant he was doing four exams in one day. The astronomy written paper was fine, though immediately afterwards was the Arithmancy paper which turned out to be the toughest of them all, not least because Leo's mind was still focused on Jupiter's moons. The Arithmancy practical went a little better, with Leo only miscalculating a couple of calculations.

Then that night was the Astronomy practical exam, and the 11 Gryffindor fifth years all trudged up to the top of the Astronomy tower. Leo was already yawning and so really wasn't expecting too much by the way of success tonight. They had to fill in a blank star chart based on the night's sky, and the scribble showing Leo's first input would inevitably dock him points.

His attention was taken from the night sky to the grounds down below them when a loud bang sounded, and Leo began to stare down at Hagrid's hut in the distance where half a dozen figures were standing outside. That bang was followed by a roar, and Leo, completely forgetting that he was in the middle of an exam, gasped at the number of stunning spells aimed at the gentle giant.

"No!" He heard Hermione cry, and Leo looked around to see that everyone was watching the confrontation below them rather than the sky.

"My dear, this is an examination!" Professor Tofty cried in outrage, but nobody cared at that point as the scene below them grew brutal. Leo heard the yapping of Hagrid's dog, Fang, before a final yelp and silence. Leo gasped once again as Hagrid bellowed out an angry roar and grabbed the dog stunning culprit, launching him ten feet or more away. It was terrifying to see Hagrid like this as he took stunner after stunner without affect.

"Look!" Parvati squealed as she pointed towards the front doors of the castle and Leo saw a lone person storming over towards Hagrid's hut.

"Now really!" Professor Tofty continued to complain about the noise from the students. "Only sixteen minutes left, you know!"

But once again nobody cared as the familiar Scottish tone filled the night sky, with Professor McGonagall shouting as she ran towards the battle. "How dare you! How dare you!"

"It's McGonagall!" Hermione whispered the obvious.

"Leave him alone! Alone I say!" Professor McGonagall cried out. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such…"

Four stunners shot towards Professor McGonagall simultaneously, and Leo heard at least three people atop the tower scream in horror. Professor McGonagall was illuminated briefly by the red shots before she was lifted straight off of her feet, landing in a crumpled heap a few feet away.

"Galloping gargoyles!" Professor Tofty cried out, becoming the last among them to forget that there was an exam ongoing and instead peering over the side of the tower, drawn to the scene below. "Not so much as a warning! Outrageous behaviour!"

Hagrid seemingly agreed. "COWARDS!" The half-giant shouted before he moved to attack. "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT! AN' THAT!" He was throwing his fists around at the attackers, connecting with a pair of them and knocking them out immediately. Leo winced at the sight, but that turned to horror as Hagrid fell to a knee.

"No!" Leo cried out, but his fear was unfounded as Hagrid hadn't been taken down, he had only stopped to pick up his unconscious dog and drape Fang around his shoulders.

"Get him! Get him!" The shrill voice of Umbridge sounded, but she only had one companion left who even Leo could tell from the distance he was watching from, didn't want to get involved with Hagrid's fists as the half-giant sprinted away towards the gates.

There were only 5 minutes left of the exam, but Leo couldn't focus on the stars after all that they had seen and he was glad of Professor Tofty finally excusing them. After putting his telescope back into its holder Leo, all tiredness forgotten, joined in the discussions.

"That evil woman!" Hermione was raging in front of him. "Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!"

Leo scoffed in anger. "She thought she had learnt from Trelawney." He surmised. "But clearly didn't realise what being half giant means to one's biology despite her hatred of them."

"Was that why all those spells bounced off him?" Ron asked.

Hermione nodded. "Giants are like trolls when it comes to spells affecting them, they're really tough. Professor McGonagall though… four stunners to the chest, she's not exactly young, is she?"

They had reached the bottom of the tower now and students were starting to split into House groups as they returned to their common rooms. All the chatter was about the incident, but Hermione seemed to be taking it the worst out of them all. "First Dumbledore, now Hagrid… Professor McGonagall out for how long… she really is an evil, vile woman." She raged as they reached the Fat Lady.

Wanting to get some sleep due to his hectic day Leo ignored the gathering in the Common Room as everyone began retelling the events and went straight to bed so he could get enough sleep before the History of Magic exam the next afternoon, though in his dreams all he could see was the illuminated form of Professor McGonagall being launched backwards through the air.

Chapter Text

The morning after the Astronomy exam thankfully was free, with just the History of Magic written exam to follow before the end of the exam period. Once the rest of the dormitory had filtered out for breakfast, something that Leo was in no mood for, he whipped out the mirror and called Sirius' name, happy to see the adult quickly appear.

"Leo, is everything alright?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"Professor McGonagall." Leo said quickly. "We saw it all from the Astronomy Tower… is she alright?"

The concern didn't disappear, and Sirius leant back in his arm chair breathing out a sigh. "Not really. She took four stunners to the chest. That's a danger to even a young wizard, the pinnacle of health. Minerva is strong, but not young."

Suddenly, the reality of it all was really hitting Leo. "It was Umbridge." He scowled. "That… that foul woman."

"Be careful." Sirius warned, though Leo noted the hint of mirth in the man's eye. "Today is your final exam, right?"

"Right." Leo nodded.

"Then focus on that. I can't believe I'm saying this but get that out of the way first before you even think about what we are going to do as revenge."

Leo raised his eyebrow at that. "We?" He asked.

Snorting, Sirius nodded ferociously. "From what both you and Harry are telling me about this woman… she is in dire need of some… special Marauders treatment. Moony and I will be delighted to push the next generation into the right direction of hellraising."

It was a weak laugh as his worry about Professor McGonagall was still pretty overpowering, but the thought of taking the fight back to Professor Umbridge again stirred something inside of Leo, making him almost yearn for it. "Thanks for this." He said after a small pause.

Sirius' features softened. "I've missed out on so much of your life." He began. "I should have been there to help you grow up, to teach you how to ride a broom, teach you a few, harmless spells to throw at the Slytherins before you went to Hogwarts… I can never make up for all of that, I know, but I have never stopped loving you, never stopped thinking about you or your mum. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for those years. If a brief chat to take your mind off of how awful the world truly is can help, then I will always be here to do that."

It was a weird feeling after all these years with only his Grandfather as a paternal figure in his life, but Leo instantly believed Sirius. "We'll have many more, I'm sure." Leo grinned. "I best go, I've almost missed breakfast."

"Don't rush, go down the staircase just off from the Great Hall and find a painting of some fruit." Sirius explained with a mischievous grin. "Tickle the pear, and ask for Dobby."

Remembering all of that, Leo nodded. Saying goodbye to his Father before taking his time to get ready. Down in the Common Room he noticed a number of 5th Years getting their final attempts at revision in, with a dozing Harry over in the corner surrounded by a stack of notes. His stomach making noises, he decided against saying anything and simply left the Common Room, following the directions Sirius had given him.

After a hearty meal better than anything Leo could remember having at Hogwarts down in the Kitchens, it was finally time to head back towards the Great Hall. History of Magic was Leo's best subject and that was clearly showing as he found himself racing through all the questions about wand legislation, the Goblin riots of the 1700's and the statute of secrecy breach before the final exam of Leo's O.W.L.s. was even halfway done. Even with over expanding on most of his answers and going over the entire paper again to make sure he hadn't made any glaring mistakes; he had managed for a second time to get to the final question on why the Lichtenstein wizards had refused to join the International Confederation of Wizards with fifteen minutes left and was racing through the proof read of his answer when a loud yell from behind him made him flinch and smudge his ink. Turning around angrily, that anger quickly turned to concern as Leo saw that Harry was on the stone floor, his right hand slammed firmly on his forehead.

He noticed Professor Tofty was quick to grab Harry and lead him outside, presuming that the elderly wizard didn't want a second exam in a row derailed by issues, and once the doors shut behind him Professor Marchbanks cleared her throat. "Fifteen minutes remaining, please try and focus."

Leo did just that, scratching out the last three lines that had been ruined by him jumping at Harry's outcry and rewriting them, finishing the question with plenty of time spare. When only five minutes were left Professor Tofty re-entered the room and picked up Harry's papers, proving that he wasn't coming back.

Finally the hourglass at the front of the room ran out of sand, and it was a rather hurried collection of exam papers that followed. Leo grabbed his things and moved over to Fay and Anna. "What happened? We were at the front and couldn't see anything." Anna whispered to him as the entire year tried to get out of the Great Hall."

Leo shrugged. "I dunno, he just keeled over." He explained to them.

"What if it's the scar again?" Fay asked. "Remember, like you told us about Christmas?"

Leo's blood drained as he remembered what that had meant as they exited the Great Hall, and with one look up the marble staircase he saw Harry drag Ron and Hermione away hurriedly. "Something's up, whatever it is." Leo commented before the group slowly made their way up to the common room.

When they got there they realised that Dean and Seamus had already roped Lavender and Parvati into starting the celebrations, and the Irishman roared his happiness as he spotted Leo. "Come on! Join us!" He called over, thrusting a butterbeer into Leo's hand before grabbing one for Anna and Fay. "We're free!"

Grinning, Leo dumped his bag down by the armchair and sprawled out over the sofa, soon joined by Fay. "Finally, this fortnight has been hell." Fay let out in relief. "Why couldn't they have started with History, get that one out the way."

Leo mocked outrage. "That exam was fascinating." He pouted. "I must have had a full 12 inches of information left in my head that I couldn't get out about the Giant Wars…"

Dean laughed loudly. "Come off it Leo, even you won't ever need to know about why Lichtenstein didn't do… whatever it was that they did. See? I've already forgotten."

Leo laughed with the rest of them, only for the group to fall silent as they noticed Harry running into the room alone and racing up the stairs, ignoring Seamus' call to celebrate. "Fine then, be like that." Seamus shrugged. "More for us."

Harry wasn't more than a minute before he came barrelling down the stairs again, though this time he paused. "Leo?" He called over.

"Yes mate?"

Harry bit his lip before shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. Sorry." He muttered, speeding away and back out of the common room.

Leo frowned at Harry's back but shrugged again as he turned back to the group. Not caring only worked for a few minutes however, and Leo eventually got up. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Oh don't worry about Potter." Anna frowned. "He probably just needed something for the Hospital Wing."

Leo shook his head. "Where is everyone else then?" He asked, worrying about Hermione, Ron and Neville. "I'll be back in a bit." He repeated, before grabbing his bag and leaving the Common Room to wander the castle.

He had gotten to the Entrance Hall fifteen minutes later when he was almost clattered into by Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville. "Woah! Sorry mate." Ron said, out of breath.

"What's going on?" Leo asked as he took them in and realised how terrible they all looked. Ron's lip was bleeding, Neville's eye was growing a purple lump while Ginny's own cheek showed several scratches. "Harry's just acted weird in the common room and the last time he reacted like he just did in that exam, your dad got hurt."

Ron gulped nervously. "Listen mate…"

"It's his dad, Ron." Ginny scolded, before turning to Leo and explaining it all. "Harry saw Sirius captured by You-Know-Who in the Department of Mysteries. Hermione's dragged Umbridge off with him into the Forbidden Forest to try and throw her off, we've just fought off the Inquisitorial Morons before heading down to meet them both."

"Hermione reckons he's crackers." Ron shrugged. "But we've just tried flooing Sirius and only got the elf, who's said Sirius is away. It doesn't look good…"

Leo's eyes widened in horror as the reality of the situation set in. "Dad is… how is that possible? He can't leave the house." He let the title out unknowingly while also momentarily forgetting that there were two people with no clue of what was happening.

"Who knows mate." Ron shrugged. "But Harry and Hermione are wandless in the Forest, we've got to get to them." He said, waving the pair of wands in the air.

A plan formed in Leo's mind as he thought back to Christmas. "Go, but wait for me." He stated urgently. "I just want to check something. If the floo didn't work then maybe…" He trailed off, before bolting back up the stairs to the Common Room and his dormitory. Flinging his trunk open he rifled through until he found his mirror. "Sirius Black!" He called out hurriedly, and the mirror's reflection changed to a pocket.

"Leo?" Sirius asked worriedly as the picture in the mirror moved to show Sirius Black's unblemished face. "Twice in one day is a surprise… I thought you had an exam now… or is it over?"

"Are you alright?" Leo asked in a panic. "You're not hurt… or…"

"I'm fine mate, it's Buckbeak who's hurt, poor guy's gut a busted wing." Sirius told him. "What's brought this on?" And so Leo started to explain everything. He told Sirius all about the exam and Harry's reaction, before moving on to about Harry's actions of trying to contact Sirius by floo after the exam, before moving on to the reason why everyone at Hogwarts was so worried. By the end of the tale Sirius was apoplectic with rage. "I'm going to kill that damned elf." He snarled. "KREACHER!"

"I better go." Leo said quickly. "If I can stop Harry before he does anything stupid…"

Sirius nodded. "Go. I'll warn the order that Voldemort is trying to lure him to the Ministry. He's clearly making a play for it…" He stopped himself quickly. "Good job, son." He added finally.

And the mirror faded back to his own reflection. Leo shoved it in his pocket and once again began sprinting across the castle, reaching the entrance hall and bursting through the doors to head towards the Forest, getting partway there just in time to see six Thestrals shoot up into the air flying Southwards. "Fuck!" Leo swore aloud, reaching back into his pocket to pull out the mirror out again. "Sirius Black."

"Leo." Sirius was far more agitated this time. "What's happening?"

"They've gone." Leo cursed. "I couldn't get them in time… they've gone on Thestrals."

"Fuck!" Sirius sounded exactly like Leo had a second ago. "I've already alerted the Order, they're flying 500 miles, so we should be there to meet them before they arrive."

Initially nodding, it was only after repeating the words in his head that Leo realised what Sirius was implying. He quickly shook his head and argued. "No, you can't be spotted…"

"I've been cooped up here for too long as it is." Sirius bit back, more harshly than he would have meant to be. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Head back to the Common Room and keep your mirror on you, I'll contact you once I've got Harry and we're safe, ok?" Leo hated that idea, and he looked over to the forest as another plan was forming in his head. "Don't be an idiot." Sirius snapped from the mirror. "I know exactly what you're thinking as it's what I would have done when I was your age, but it's a mistake. Let us adults handle this Leo, please. Promise me you won't follow them."

Torn, Leo kept looking between the castle and the forest, before audibly groaning in frustration. "Urgh! Fine, but you call me as soon as you can. I can't sit here not knowing anything, I'll climb the walls."

Sirius nodded. "I will, I promise." A noise came from the mirror, followed by the familiar wailing of his Grandmother's painting. "Tonks is here, I have to go."

"Stay safe, Dad." Leo said, the title slipping out before he could help it.

Sirius smiled fondly. "I'll speak to you later son." And the mirror turned back to a reflection, leaving Leo stood alone in the summer evening feeling more helpless than ever before.

Chapter Text

Sleep evaded Leo for that entire night as he stayed inside the drapes of his four-poster bed tossing and turning, the mirror clutched tightly to his chest as Leo willed it to heat up and vibrate. As the hours passed however, nothing was happening. Groaning quietly so as to not wake up Dean and Seamus, Leo pulled his Arithmancy book out that Hermione had gifted him for his birthday, but even the complexity of the most difficult subject Hogwarts had to offer couldn't calm his mind. He was both worried about both of his parents potentially fighting You-Know-Who considering both were in the Order of the Phoenix, and then angry at Harry.

He felt like he had done well to get rid of his old jealousy about Harry Potter since Christmas. He thought he had decided that it had all been irrational and misplaced, that after listening to his stories in the Hog's Head, Grimmauld Place and even in the Quibbler he could get past his old annoyance and move on by being friends with the Boy-Who-Lived. Now though, Harry had deliberately excluded Leo from something that was directly to do with his Father, and Leo wasn't sure how he could forgive his classmate if anything happened whilst he was stuck in his bed.

More hours passed and Leo was still sat, festering in his emotions. He had thrown the book away by midnight and had started simply staring at the mirror, almost willing himself to say the name that would activate it but stopping himself just in case he caused a horrifying distraction. He then picked up the picture at the side of his bed, and smiled fondly at the sight of his Grandfather. Magnus had always been Leo's biggest fan at whatever he had done, and had taught the Gryffindor how to ride a broom, how to fish, and even how to do his first spell, much to his Mother's anger. Smiling fondly at the memory and at the grinning old man looking up at him in the picture, Leo's thoughts once again turned to whatever was happening in London as he worried about his Mother.

More time passed, and Leo still hadn't managed to get a wink of sleep. He could see the start of the sunrise begin to filter through the curtains, and almost at the same time a silver husky floated through the drapes on Leo's bed and in an echoed version of his Mother's soft Scottish tone.

"Come to the Hospital Wing. We are here."

Leo didn't hesitate, and he ripped open the drapes and hastily put his shoes on. He didn't even wait to see that Seamus and Dean had woken up and were groggily staring as he sprinted out of the dormitory and the Common Room down to the Hospital Wing, not caring one bit about being caught out of bed after curfew.

The scene in front of him looked awful. Most of the beds had been filled and Madam Pomfrey was moving between them all as well as her office rapidly. Leo opened the door gingerly and took one step in before the scary nurse was in front of him with a glare. "Not today!" She exclaimed angrily.

"Poppy, it's ok." Leo's mum's voice sounded from one of the beds. "I invited him."

Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes and tutted. "Very well, but be sure to stay out of my way." She warned Leo, who simply nodded. Madam Pomfrey then went over to Neville Longbottom who was sat up, his lower face covered in blood and his nose was bent out of shape. "Finally, your turn Longbottom. Episkey." She waved her wand and Neville's nose shifted back into place. "I want you in overnight just to be sure you haven't been hit with anything we might have missed. Drink this." She handed him a blood replenishing potion. "If you feel anything out of the ordinary, tell me."

Leo ignored the nurse then and looked around. Professor Moody… or the real Alastor Moody, Leo realised, was sat upright with a nasty looking salve on his chest covering some form of wound, though the former Auror didn't look too worried. Next to him lay Nymphadora Tonks, who Madam Pomfrey had just gone to crowd around by pulling the blinds around the bed. Opposite Tonks sat Luna Lovegood looking relatively healthy as well, though the bed next to her worried Leo. Hermione was lay there in a hospital gown fast asleep, her table full of all kinds of different potion vials.

Nearer to the door was his Mother, and after fully assessing the scene Leo walked quickly over to her bed. "Leo." She whispered fondly, pulling him into a hug as she sat upright on the hospital bed.

"You're ok." He whispered. "I feared…" He pulled back, noticing a nasty gash on her shoulder and falling silent in worry.

Mary smiled, though Leo could see it was forced. "I'm fine, just a bit of a nasty curse." She waved away.

"Your mum was brilliant, Leo." Neville grinned. "She banished one of the Death Eaters into this… bell thing. Turned him into a really old man." He then frowned. "Then he turned to bones before they just crumbled into dust… it was actually quite brutal now I think about it."

"Mulciber." Mary explained, a dark tone to her voice. "It wasn't intentional, I didn't know it would kill him, but I'm not beating myself up about it."

Leo nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. "He deserved it." He whispered, settling into a chair and holding his mum's hand. "What happened? I've been left in the dark…" His eyes wondered over to Hermione. "Is everybody ok…"

Mary's eyes watered. "No." She whispered. "Arthur…"

"I told him." Moody muttered groggily from his bed. "He wasn't fit for it."

Mary looked harshly at the former Auror. "He was protecting his children, Alastor. I would do the same no matter how healthy I was without question."

Leo realised what was being implied. "Mr Weasley?" He asked horrified.

Mary nodded sadly. "His body was taken back to the Burrow with Ron and Ginny. They're fine, by the way. Just cut up, as well as the obvious."

Leo had only ever seen Mr Weasley from afar for the most part, but the way everybody that knew him spoke about the Weasley patriarch it was still a blow. Leo then thought of Ron, Ginny and the twins and his heart almost broke for them. "What about Hermione?" He asked.

"A nasty curse." Mary muttered coldly. "Dolohov was always brutal."

"Madam Pomfrey reckons she'll be ok though." Neville explained. "But… out of action for a while."

"We don't really know what she was hit with." Mary explained. "But other than a nasty scar, it seems like she will be ok."

Leo breathed a bit of relief, before asking the question he felt obligated to ask. "And Harry?"

"Up with Professor Dumbledore." Mary explained. "With Sirius."

And there it was, Leo let out another sigh of relief as he realised that he was one of the lucky ones and both of his parents had come out of the fight. "What actually happened?" Leo repeated the question.

Neville started. "We tried to get Harry to wait for you, honestly we did. But he was convinced he needed to rush to the Ministry to save Sirius and we weren't going to let him go on his own." He looked bashful. "Sorry mate." Leo waved that away despite the anger at being left behind that was bubbling under the surface, he knew it wasn't Neville's fault after all. "Anyway, once we got to the Ministry and into the Atrium the fires all turned green…"

"Your warning got us ready." Mary explained. "Aye, Sirius called us all and sent us to the Ministry where we met the kids, and once Harry realised that Sirius was fine he felt like a right wee prat. But we knew that You-Know-Who was luring him for something, and we thought we could take him by surprise. We got to the Department of Mysteries and split into groups of adults and kids. I was with Luna here."

"I'm very glad." Luna smiled airily.

Mary smiled back. "Anyway, the first thing I knew of trouble was when we heard spells being cast and glass smashing, Harry and Sirius managed to get out of the Hall of Prophecies in time, but they were followed by Death Eaters. Then we fought."

Neville grinned menacingly. "Sirius cut off Bellatrix Lestrange's ear. It was brilliant!"

"Neville." Mary warned, but the Gryffindor just shrugged. "I don't know what happened at the end, but once we'd fought our way out to the Atrium once more having taken most of the Death Eaters hostage, Fudge was there with what looked like the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"And the press." Neville added.

"Aye, and the press." Mary explained. "I barely saw Dumbledore hand Harry and Sirius a portkey before he came over and made some for us, and then we were here."

"And I became busy at three o'clock in the morning." Madam Pomfrey muttered from Tonks' bed. She drew back the curtains and Leo noticed that her face was lined with worry. "Is everybody alright for a moment? I need to send an owl to London…"

"Go, Poppy." Mary nodded. "We'll be alright."

Madam Pomfrey nodded, briskly walking out of the room. Leo then sighed, leaning back in his chair but still keeping his hand in his mum's. "So whatever You-Know-Who wanted Harry there for… did we stop it?"

Mary just nodded. "Aye, we didn't lose."

"What was it?" Leo asked, intrigued. Mary looked uneasy at telling him, but thankfully Neville was tired enough not to see that unease and blurted it out.

"A prophecy." Neville explained, before his face fell into one of guilt. "I smashed… I mean, it smashed." He explained. "We don't know what it was, but it was something to do with Harry and You-Know-Who. Their names were on the label."

Leo felt more confused than ever. "All of this just to get his hands on a prophecy that he could have retrieved himself?"

"Voldemort's far too arrogant to do his own dirty work." A voice sounded from the doorway, and Leo turned with a grin as he saw Sirius standing there in the doorway.

"Shouldn't you be hiding?" Mary hissed.

Sirius simply shrugged. "Fudge is in disarray with Voldemort showing his ugly face, Dumbledore says he's used the commotion and has finally got me that trial he should have managed to sort out fourteen years ago. For now at the very least, I'm safe. The news should break tomorrow."

Leo grinned at the one bit of good news from the night. "So you'll be free soon?" He asked.

Sirius nodded, coming over to sit down next to Leo. "With any luck, depending on certain witnesses." He looked pointedly at Mary. Leo followed the gaze and noticed that her cheeks were pinker than before.

"Only if you're nice to me." Mary shrugged.

Sirius chuckled, before placing a hand on Leo's shoulder. "You did good today." Sirius said.

Shaking his head, Leo looked at his feet. "I didn't do anything; I wasn't even there."

"Listen to me." Sirius moved his hand to Leo's chin, lifting it up so that Sirius' grey eyes met Leo's own dark blue ones. "Your warning stopped us from going in blind. We could form a plan before Harry got there and you gave us the upper hand over the Death Eaters."

"But Mr Weasley still…" Leo trailed off.

"That isn't your fault." Sirius said softly his hands moving to stroke Leo's hair. "Arthur made his choice to protect his family and he died believing wholeheartedly in that choice. That's not on you. In fact, without you who knows what else would have happened, who else would have died."

It didn't make him feel any better, but Leo nodded all the same as he heard the words. "Are you staying here tonight?"

Sirius nodded. "I am. Your Mother needs to be kept in overnight and I think Poppy wants to check me over too. We'll see you after you've gotten some sleep, you look shattered."

He was shattered, and his eyes were starting to close of their own accord now that he knew those he cared about the most were safe, though his heart still ached for the Weasley's. Nodding, Leo rose to his feet. "I'll get a couple of hours and then come and see you." He explained.

Sirius nodded, rising to his feet as well. The pair stood there for a brief moment not knowing what to do until Leo broke the stand-off and moved in for a bit of an awkward hug. He leant over and kissed his mum on the cheek, then said bye to all those still awake in the Hospital Wing before making his way back up to the dormitory for some well-deserved rest.

It was lunchtime by the time Leo managed to wake up, and after getting changed and grabbing something quick to eat he made his way back to the Hospital Wing. It had changed in the few hours since dawn. Tonks and Moody were gone, their beds fully made up. Neville and Luna were also gone, whilst Leo's mum was just getting a final check-up from Madam Pomfrey.

"Leo." Sirius was the first to acknowledge his presence. "We've got to go and see Professor Dumbledore quickly, but we'll be back down in a bit, ok?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, fine." He looked at where Mary had been injured, noticing only a thin purple line on her bare shoulder.

"You're good to go, Mary." Madam Pomfrey explained. "But make sure you drink a sip of this every four hours for three days." She handed her a large vial.

"I will, thank you Poppy." Mary smiled, before swooping towards Leo and kissing him on the cheek. "We'll be back soon, stay here?"

Leo nodded, turning to watch his parents walk out of the room. Once they had turned a corner Leo turned back and began to fold some things of his mum's up, placing them in a bag. His attention was grabbed by a voice further into the room however. "Leo."

Looking up he saw Hermione. Her eyes were red as if she'd been crying but she was sat up without looking too uncomfortable. Putting the folded clothes on the bed he walked around to the chair by Hermione's bed and sat down in it. "You're ok?" He asked, worriedly.

Hermione scoffed. "10 potions a day for as long as it takes and the memory of feeling like my insides were on fire…" She sighed. "But I'm better off than some." She sniffed again, threatening to cry. Leo conjured up some tissues and handed them to a grateful Hermione, who wiped her eyes and blue her nose. "I'm sorry we couldn't stop Harry… I did say we should have included you but he was adamant…"

"He may have had his reasons, but not letting me in shouldn't have been his decision to make." Leo stated bluntly.

"I think he forgets sometimes that Sirius has a child." Hermione explained. "We've not really spoken about third year much, have we?" Leo shook his head. "Well when the truth came to light and we realised he was innocent… Harry and Sirius had a moment between themselves. I was told later of course, but Sirius offered to let Harry move in with him when it was all settled because he's really the only parenting figure Harry has left. His aunt and uncle are terrible…" She caught herself and took a breath before going too deep into a tangent. "At the time we didn't know your link of course, and I think Harry took that idea to heart. Then obviously things happened and Sirius had to go on the run, but that future never truly left Harry, I don't think."

It honestly did explain a lot. "When did you find out?" He asked her, not remembering.

Hermione looked a little embarrassed. "I guessed just before school started. I was at headquarters for a while before Harry and I didn't think I could spend every waking minute with Ron without clawing my eyes out so I took some time and visited the Black library. Some of the books in there are awful by the way…" She was going off track again, but thankfully a look from Leo made her continue. "But anyway, I overheard some of the arguments between Sirius and your mum and I realised that they had some kind of a relationship before Azkaban, and after seeing Sirius looking slightly healthier again as well as knowing you for 5 years… I worked it out." She looked into his eyes. "You've inherited his dark eyes but have just enough blue to get away with it."

Leo felt himself blushing as he stared back into Hermione's own brown eyes. Clearing his throat nervously he was the one to break eye contact. "You could have told me." He mumbled awkwardly.

Hermione snorted amusedly, before wincing in pain. "Ow." She whispered but carried on speaking before Leo could make a fuss over her. "That would have gone well. 'Hello Leo, I know you don't know who your Father is but he's actually the fugitive Sirius Black, and also he isn't a murderer but a really nice guy'." She smirked. "What would you have thought to that?"

"That you were loopy." He admitted, grinning back. "Fair enough, I'll forgive you."

Hermione smiled. "I wasn't completely certain until we all found out together at Headquarters." She told him. "If that makes you feel better." It didn't, but he wasn't that fussed about exactly when she theorised it. It was nice chatting about anything to take his mind off of his anger at Harry. The conversation soon shifted to their exams, a topic which Leo protested until he was told that it would keep her mind off of the pain and so Leo indulged, explaining his reasoning behind his answers in History of Magic and debating different arguments before Hermione gasped suddenly. "I'm going to miss so many classes!"

Leo laughed aloud. "After everything you've been through you're worried about missing a week of classes where we won't even do anything?"

Hermione pouted. "We might get a start on next year…"

Leo shook his head. "Fifth years and seventh years get some time off after their exams. So all you need to worry about here is getting yourself better."

The unspoken grief following Mr Weasley's death was obvious at Hermione's face, but she nodded all the same. "Can you grab me some books for next year then? There should be some in the library." She asked. "If I'm going to be stuck here without any homework I may as well get a head start on some reading…"

Leo grinned at her eagerness. "Sure." He promised, hearing the door open behind him as he said it to reveal Mary gesturing for him to follow her. "I need to go, but I'll be back in a bit. Get a list together and I'll sort those books out for you."

"Thank you, Leo." Hermione smiled, placing her hand on top of his for a second before retracting it. "See you later."

He ended up taking a walk around the lake with his mother. Sirius had needed to go back to Grimmauld Place via the floo network so he wasn't flaunting his potential freedom too early, but Mary had immediately explained that he was already hard at work in preparing his case. Leo's main questions though, were on what was going to happen in the future.

"You-Know-Who won't be so stealthy now." Mary admitted worriedly after he had voiced his concerns. "We'll have to be careful, if being at the Ministry wasn't enough to have placed a target on my back then beating Mulciber will be."

Leo stopped walking, pulling his mum's arm back to stop her from moving too. "Are you sure you are ok with that? It's not an easy thing…" He trailed off.

Mary smiled. "My sweet boy." She moved her hand up to tuck his hair behind an ear. "I made my peace with it years ago. I'll never tell you that murder is acceptable, you know it isn't. But my intention wasn't to kill him no matter if I felt he deserved it for what he did to me, I was simply trying to protect Luna from him."

Leo nodded, but he made a mental note to keep checking up on her throughout the summer. "So what about the Order? If you aren't protecting the prophecy…"

"I can't tell you everything, Leo. You're still only sixteen." She sighed apologetically. "We'll keep doing whatever we can to fight against You-Know-Who and his followers. Hopefully, now that Fudge is about to publicly announce You-Know-Who's return, we can get back on the front foot." She kissed his cheek. "But please, enough dreary chatter. Talk to me about Hogwarts. How are Fay and Anna? I haven't seen them in a while. And Hermione, you two looked cosy in the Hospital Wing."

"Mum." Leo groaned. But he indulged her all the same as the MacDonald's tried to distract themselves with positivity.

Chapter Text

The final week of term was a strange one. The Saturday papers were the first to announce You-Know-Who's return, albeit the article was brief given the lack of time the journalists had to print the story, while the Sunday paper had gone into more details about the incident at the Ministry, even going so far as to start praising Harry and Professor Dumbledore despite the tirade of the past year.

Arthur Weasley's funeral was held on the Wednesday before the end of the school year, and though Leo hadn't attended he did make sure to share his condolences with Ginny and Ron once they returned for the final few days of school, apparently wanting a semblance of normality before the inevitable gloomy summer. He shared them with Hermione too who had been released by Madam Pomfrey just in time to attend, and after saying he was sorry she had said nothing, but instead started weeping into Leo's shoulder after the mourning party had returned to the castle.

Harry was still a bit of a sore spot for Leo however, and the only words he had shared with the Boy-Who-Lived had been a brief apology for Arthur in the presence of everybody else. He hadn't been alone with Harry until their last evening at school just before the feast having just seen off Umbridge as she left the school for the final time, when the pair were packing up their trunks with Harry looking like he had specifically tried to get Leo on his own. Leo kept silent, just wanting to get it over with, though when he came to pack away the mirror and the picture he had received on his birthday, he supposed Harry must have seen. "I am sorry, you know." The Boy-Who-Lived spoke up.

Leo frowned, spinning around to see Harry sat on his bed. He took a deep breath, and shook his head disappointedly. "I know you must have felt some claim to Sirius, knowing him before I did and all that. But you should have at least told me what was going on before running off."

"I… I can't explain it." Harry sighed. "I was so focused on what I saw, all logic just flew out of the window. I had to get there and make sure he was ok."

"So focused that you forgot that I had a direct way of getting him." Leo muttered bitterly. "If you'd have told me what was going on, or just stopped to think about the mirror after you used it yourself about two months ago!" His voice was starting to raise, so he took a moment to try and calm himself down. "It hurt, Harry. To be sat here not knowing what was happening. I know we've never been the best of friends but I thought given our new link that you could have trusted me enough to help."

"I know… I do." Harry nodded. "I do now, at least."

Leo could see that Harry had been beating himself about it all, and despite his anger at his classmate he wouldn't rub it in. "Good. Just remember that from now though, please." He turned back to pack the mirror and the picture. "After all, we're going to be spending a lot of time together from now on aren't we?"

"I suppose so." Harry said from behind him. "You're ok with me coming to stay then?"

Leo didn't know the full plan yet, but he shut his trunk. "Colloportus." He muttered, locking it. "I'm not cruel. Sirius is the closest thing you have to a parental figure. I remember you mentioned your other family over Christmas and they seem horrible. Of course I don't mind, you likely need him more than I do." Harry didn't say anything to that, instead just nodding. Leo took that as conversation over and levitated his trunk off of his bed. "I'll see you at the feast." He stated, walking out to the common room where Fay and Anna were waiting for him.

The final feast was relatively anticlimactic, though the cheers for Professor Dumbledore being back were only outmatched by the boos from all over the room when Slytherin were announced as the resounding victors of the House Cup. And soon enough after a final night, the Hogwarts Express was ready to take them all back home.

Anna and Fay had been dragged into a compartment with the rest of the Gobstones team which had left Leo standing there surprised at how quickly he had been left alone by his two female friends, but he spotted Neville waving at him from a few compartments down. Shrugging, Leo went and joined him, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry. Sitting in between Hermione and Neville, Leo made to settle in by grabbing a book on the Wizengamot. Not long after the train left Hogsmeade Harry went to use the toilet and Hermione leaned into him. "I hear you two spoke last night?"

Leo shrugged. "We understand each other I think." He muttered back, not offering any further information so that he didn't rile himself up with frustration again. Thankfully Hermione understood with a simple nod.

They were startled a couple of minutes later when the corridor of the train began flashing all kinds of colours, and Neville and Leo jumped up wands at the ready as they poked their heads out the door, only to laugh as they noticed three giant slugs in Slytherin robes with almost a dozen wands pointed at them, all held by DA members. Leo grinned as Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley levitated the three into the luggage rack, leaving them to ooze.

It was a silent trip after that however. Neville was content with looking after his Mimbulus mimbletonia while Hermione was silently reading the Daily Prophet in detail. Leo tried to get into his book but he simply noticed the two red-heads across from him, with Ron staring silently out of the window at the passing scenery and Ginny attempting to get some rest by leaning on Harry's shoulder. A nudge from beside Leo took his attention away from questioning that particular relationship as he saw Hermione open up the paper to a page where his Father was grinning and waving.

"He got cleared?" Leo whispered happily.

"Of all charges, with the full apologies of Madam Bones." Hermione smiled back at him. "Harry, look!" She whispered so as to not wake Ginny as she showed him.

Harry beamed happily as well. "About time." He stated, and as the two Gryffindor boys looked at one another, both feeling the same thing despite their recent differences, Leo could only nod heartily in agreement.

After hours of quiet chatter to keep their minds away from the horrors of the last week or so, the Hogwarts Express finally began to slow itself down as it neared King's Cross. He helped out by grabbing Hermione's trunk off the top rack before making his way off the train.

He spotted his parents almost immediately as they were talking to a tall, ponytailed red head man, with Sirius wearing a set of sunglasses with the word 'Freeman' on the frame. Snorting in amusement Leo said goodbye to Neville who had spotted his Grandmother before he made his way over to Sirius and Mary with the group.

"Hey guys." The red-head said to them all. "Ron, Ginny, we're apparating ok? We'll avoid the stares…"

Ron nodded, making his way to the man who Leo presumed was their older brother. Ginny quickly gave Harry a hug before joining her brothers, and almost immediately afterwards the trio disapparated. "Molly was understandably too emotional." Mary explained. "The twins are with her now."

"Harry, are you sure you need to go back there?" Sirius asked. "Blood protection be damned, we've got the Fidelius, you won't be found."

Leo didn't know what that was about, but Harry nodded from beside him. "Yeah, Dumbledore said I needed to for a bit, but as soon as I can I'll stay with you guys."

Sirius looked disappointed but nodded all the same. "Right then, well we best head off. Mary, are you sure about coming straight back?"

Mary nodded. "Aye, you've got better protections and I've already grabbed our things." She looked at Leo. "I know you love the Loch, dear…"

He did, the peace of the water would have been a more than welcome sight after such a tumultuous year at school, but as he looked into his Mother's eyes and saw the worry in them, he knew that avoiding their registered address for the time being was the smartest thing to do. "We'll have years after all of this to spend by the Loch." Leo shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

Mary nodded again. "Aye, exactly." She said, wrapping him into a comforting hug. "Thank you for understanding."

There was a glint in Sirius' eye as he smirked at Harry. "We've got a surprise for you." He said, before whirling his arm around in a spinning motion above his head and pointing to the magical barrier. "Let's go!"

Leo snorted in amusement again as he ignored the dozens of pairs of eyes looking at a blissfully unaware Sirius fearfully, and he walked through the barrier surprised to see both Mad Eye Moody, Tonks and Professor Lupin having a conversation with an extremely thin woman and an extremely fat man. Harry snorted in laughter as he saw it. "Oh that can't be good." He grinned beside Leo.

Hermione quickly ran off to hug a different couple a few yards away from the conversation that had interested the others, but quickly asked for a couple more moments as she joined them all, now in earshot of the what Moody was saying. "If we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way, you'll have us to answer to."

The man's face reddened in anger, and he seemed to suck in a breath to make himself look tougher. "Are you threatening me, sir?" He asked loudly.

Mad Eye was completely unperturbed by the macho action, and without any hesitation, the ex-Auror nodded. "Yes I am." He stated bluntly.

"And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?" The man barked, getting louder and drawing attention.

"Well…" Moody said, and Leo couldn't see what was happening being behind the former Auror, but the affect must have been what he intended as the man leapt back in horror, colliding with a luggage trolley. Harry snorted in amusement again and took a step forwards with Sirius.

"That's enough, Alastor." Sirius laughed. "Vernon, Petunia. We weren't actually introduced at the wedding but Lily made sure to tell me all about you both in great detail. I'm Sirius, Harry's godfather." Petunia gasped, but Sirius simply continued. "Now you simply have to look after Harry for a few weeks and then someone will be along to collect him from you. But until then, I expect you both to be on your best behaviour."

Petunia pointed at him. "I know you… you're the murderer from the telly!" She hissed quietly.

"You should read the newspapers; I've been acquitted on all charges." Sirius explained with a grin, jabbing himself in the chest with his two thumbs. "Though, I've been hearing some nasty tales about you both that would cause your sister to rise from her grave and haunt you mercilessly. If I smell even a whiff of anything similar going on this year, then maybe I'll actually commit the crime I was imprisoned for."

Sirius' tone had shifted from jovial to outright threatening and Leo thought that the woman was about to wet herself with the amount she was shaking. She managed to nod eventually, looking at Harry in terror. "C… come along then H… Harry."

Harry turned to Hermione in amusement. "I think that's the first time she's used my actual name." He muttered, hugging her goodbye. "Actually write to me this summer, yeah? No matter what Dumbledore says."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course. Bye, Harry." She added with a wave. The Boy-Who-Lived's eyes then met Leo's once more, and the pair simply nodded at one another.

And with a final wave to the group of witches and wizards, Harry departed with his shaking Aunt and Uncle. Sirius clapped his hands together and barked out a laugh once they were gone. "That was fun."

"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Professor Lupin smirked.

Sirius actually looked bashful. "It's got nothing on yours, Moony."

"Enough jabbering, we need to go." Moody stated, interrupting whatever the two Marauders were talking about, his bowler hat covering his magical eye, though Leo could imagine it was whizzing about in its socket. "Say your goodbyes, MacDonald."

Given that nobody had wanted to hang around the station, there was only one goodbye left, and so Leo turned back to Hermione. "I'll see you next term then?" He asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys." She tutted. "I'll likely see you in a few weeks too, Leo."

Surprised and kicking himself for thinking that she would spend all summer with her parents, Leo grinned at the thought. "Oh, ok then." He stated happily. "See you soon then."

Hermione shook her head amusedly, but she did her own round of goodbyes before wrapping Leo in a tight hug, holding on for 4 seconds, Leo made sure to count. Once she let him go and stepped back, her hair covering her cheeks she joined her own parents. Leo quickly felt an arm around his shoulders once the Grangers had departed, with a grinning Sirius leading him away. "Come on." Sirius was laughing. "Let's get you home. You must be cold; your cheeks are rosier than Umbridge's cardigans from what I'm told."

"Shut up." Leo complained, shoving a laughing Sirius off of him, but as he was led away to walk down the streets of Islington, despite all the problems that the world had started to throw at him, for the first time since he could remember, Leo felt whole.

Chapter Text

The summer holidays were usually Leo's favourite time of the year. He could take advantage of the few weeks of nice weather in Scotland by swimming in Loch Ryan or going out for walks or trips out with his Mum, and they could usually catch a couple of Wigtown games before Leo had to travel back to Hogwarts, so a summer of cleaning out dark artifacts felt completely alien to him, though there wasn't too much left to do. Thankfully that was offset by getting to pick his room out and decorate it. He had picked one on the third floor, the same one that Fred and George had apparently stayed in the year earlier judging by some of the leftover ingredients and failed joke items.

It would have taken longer to decorate had Sirius not been around. While the actual adults were constantly in and out of the bottom levels on Order business, Sirius took as many chances as he could on the first few days to escape and magically help Leo. He changed the wallpaper colour to crimson in an instant, and actually had a good design sense of where to place Leo's bed, books and pictures. Three days after getting back from Hogwarts and the 16-year-old had a room to call his own.

"It's not Scotland, but it's still good." He teased Sirius, who simply laughed and clapped Leo on the back.

While being secluded in a London townhouse wasn't perfect, it did have its perks. Information was easy to come by given the different types of people that were involved in the Order, so he got the true scoop behind the vote of no confidence in Fudge, as well as the truth behind the Daily Prophet report on an argument between Dumbledore and the new Minister for Magic, and Leo didn't blame Dumbledore one bit for not letting the lion-maned Minister Rufus Scrimgeour speak with Harry to try and force some positive publicity...

The final thing to be glad about appeared in the entrance hall on the second Tuesday evening of the holidays. Leo had been reading the article on Harry being the chosen one when a knock at the door sounded, and Sirius appeared.

"Is dinner ready?" Leo asked.

Sirius shook his head, a light smirk on his lips. "Not for a while… but we've got a visitor you may want to see."

Curious, Leo leapt off his bed and walked down three flights of stairs, not noticing the mane of bushy brown hair until he got down to the ground floor and looked into the kitchen. "Hermione!" He exclaimed.

Hermione smiled, although it looked forced. She had a single trunk behind her and her cheeks were pink, presumably from carrying both the trunk and the cat carrier that was currently in her hands. "Hi, Leo." She greeted.

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not pleased to see you, we just weren't expecting you yet…" Leo stumbled over his words, causing a light chuckle to escape the brunette as she placed the cat carrier on the ground and let Crookshanks out.

"I'm only an hour on the tube… muggle underground train." Hermione corrected herself to put it in terms the pureblood would actually understand. "Near Barnet."

From further down the table, Alastor Moody grumbled. "Stupid girl, you should have called for an escort. It's not safe out there, especially for you."

Hermione nodded. "I know, and I regretted the decision as I got to Angel tube station… I just needed the space."

Leo wasn't totally oblivious and he could tell that something was the matter, though he had the decency to wait until after everybody had eaten and after he had been asked to help Hermione take her things up to her room on the first floor. He pushed the door so it was barely open an inch before he began the questions. "Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.

Shaking her head, Hermione sat on her bed and took a deep breath. "You're a pureblood, aren't you?"

If the question surprised him, Leo thankfully didn't show it as he sat down on the bed that had belonged to Ginny when she had stayed in Grimmauld Place the year before. "I am, although I'd still be considered a blood traitor by most." He explained. "Grandad never believed in that nonsense and openly spoke against it last time." He thought that was why his mum had been attacked so brutally at school personally, though he didn't dare share that thought with anybody. "But yeah, the MacDonald's are considered Pure Blood, but I'm not one of the Sacred 28 like Neville or Ernie…" He trailed off. "Or maybe I am now that I'm a Black…"

Hermione laughed, wiping a tear away. "You've still grown up with magic. Your parents went to Hogwarts, your Grandparents did and so did their parents before them and so on." Leo nodded in agreement before she continued. "I don't have that. My parents understand the idea of school and even a little of magic from what they've seen from Professor Sikander, the old Muggle Studies teacher, when he came and handed me my letter." She smiled. "They were so proud when I told them about my prefect badge because it's something they actually understood, but how are they going to understand it when a troll breaks into the school? Or that I was petrified for almost a month?"

Leo honestly had no idea. "They're still your parents…"

"They are, and I love them dearly." Hermione nodded. "But it's a different world. We went to France just before third year and I spent most of my time studying French wizarding history rather than enjoying the beaches or the pool. Mum and Dad indulged me of course, but I could see they were lost when I started talking about Beauxbatons and the like." She sighed. "I already couldn't explain the basilisk properly to them and then it just spiralled. I'd write back about classes being good or the interpersonal relationships, but never any magical details like Harry facing a dragon in a task that he was magically forced to participate in, or the fact that the serial killer they'd seen on TV was actually a really nice wizard that I had spent a good amount of time with, or that my teacher was a werewolf." Hermione sighed again. "Now I'm a completely different person to the girl I was when I got my Hogwarts letter. Magic is my future and I could never go back to just being a muggle, and yet we're about to be dragged into a war on a scale Muggle Britain hasn't seen in fifty years. How do I tell them that? That I'm going to be fighting in a war when I'm only sixteen." She shook her head as she reached into her rucksack and grabbed some tissues, blowing her nose. "Even this summer, my ribs are still painful so I couldn't hug them properly but I can't tell them why now without spiralling into everything and then inevitably getting pulled out of Hogwarts because they are so scared that I might die there."

It was a lot, and Leo really didn't know what to say to make it any better. "I think you're incredible, do you know that?" He told her softly. "To be going through all that and to still be as brilliant as you are… it's a wonder you don't explode."

Hermione chuckled. "You remind me of a talk I had with Harry and Ron earlier in the year about Cho." She smiled. "They didn't know how girls felt so much all the time."

Leo shrugged. "It does sound exhausting." He tried to be funny, and thankfully there was the feintest glimmer of a smile on Hermione's lips. "But seriously, if you need someone to talk to your parents then my mum can…"

"That's not my point." Hermione interrupted shaking her head as her smile disappeared. "I almost want them to be oblivious now because it makes their lives easier, but being there in a muggle house with everything going on, hiding the newspapers… I'm not the same person as I was before I realised that I was a witch, I just can't stay there and still be myself. That's why I've told them that we're going on a trip to magical Italy this year but that muggles aren't allowed." She sniffed again as a tear dropped. "I hate lying to them, but I can't do anything else."

Tears were starting to fall freely now, and Leo quickly jumped to his feet to sit next to her on her bed. "I'm sorry." He said, silently kicking himself for not being more comforting. "I really wish I could do anything to stop you feeling like that."

Hermione chuckled again. "Thanks, I mean it. But there's nothing to be done. I've said my goodbyes to them for this year and I'll see them again at Christmas for the first time in a few years. Other than that, my life is in the magical world."

"Then I'll just have to distract you to make you feel better." Leo grinned, hoping that his next tactic would help her feel better. "I want to learn a lot more about the political power that the House of Black have had in the past…"

That worked, as Hermione wiped her eyes for one last time. "I saw a book in the library last summer about the history of the Wizard's Council, the dissolution of which is something that we'll be covering in History of Magic this year and I'm sure that a Black had some part in it…" And she then spent the next five minutes going on a little rant about some of the famous names she could remember like Nicholas Malfoy and Ulick Gamp. She was just about to talk about how Leo's ancestors fit in when she suddenly stopped and threw her arms around him.

"What's this for?" Leo asked, not complaining as he returned the hug.

Hermione pulled away with a shrug. "For helping." She told him. "Come on, I want to show you this book!" She exclaimed, completely ignoring the dumbfounded Leo as she began almost skipping her way to the library.

Leo and Hermione spent their mornings in the Library while they were the only two students in the house. With the house basically cleansed of everything that they could deal with and the Order becoming busier and busier with increased Death Eater attacks, they were more than happy to just stay out of the way. With Sirius' permission, expressly given in the close vicinity of the portrait housing Leo's eternally screaming Grandmother, Hermione was given free rein to reorganise the library as she went along, while Leo was more content just slowly flicking through the books that interested him. He was currently flicking through a copy of The Dark Arts: A Legal Companion and reading a particularly nasty chapter about the different levels of Muggle Baiting and the line of where legal action could be taken. Leo ended up throwing the book down in disgust. "I know the Blacks were those sort of wizarding family, but this stuff is vile."

"I don't know why you're so interested in the dark side of your ancestry." Hermione admitted as she sorted books into dark and light sections. "Neither Sirius nor yourself are anything like that."

Leo shrugged. "It's not that I want to be like that, it's just that I need to know what I'm going to be walking into if I want to make a difference. If I'm leaning on a name known for their past pureblood supremacy views to get me ahead then I want to know what the law-making Blacks have been up to so I'm prepared to face whatever gets thrown at me."

Hermione shook her head as she put half a dozen books straight into the dark section. "I'm never one to counsel against a good bit of research, but don't you think learning about it all might… impact you somehow?"

Leo frowned at that comment. "I'm not going to turn dark because of some words on a page, Hermione."

"No I know!" Hermione protested. "I… I don't know what I'm saying, forgive me. My mind's a bit preoccupied today."

Standing up to stretch his legs, Leo walked over to her. "What's wrong?"

"Harry." Hermione sighed frustratedly, noticing Leo's brow narrowing. "Oh don't be like that, please."

"What does he want?" Leo asked.

Hermione shifted her body so she was sat with her back leaning on the bookcase. "Professor Dumbledore is collecting him personally and they have a task to complete." She explained. "Then he's coming here early Saturday morning."

"Ah." Was all Leo could say, not meaning to sound so glum about the prospect despite the fact that he honestly felt a bit disappointed.

"You're still cross with him, aren't you?" Hermione asked, though there was no sense of annoyance on her part.

Leo nodded, letting out a huff in frustration. "Of course I am! I don't like people making my decisions for me. I know it was dangerous, but I should have been told what was going on and been given the option to help…"

"I agree with you." Hermione stopped him in his tracks.

"I mean he doesn't know what it's like!" Leo began, before her words truly registered within his mind and he turned back to her in surprise. "You do?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course. You're right, it's your family. If there were decisions about my parents being made without me when I knew I could help I'd be cross too."

Leo felt a warmth rising in his chest as a brief silence settled over the pair of them. "I thought you'd stick by Harry." He admitted bashfully, running a hand nervously through his hair.

"What, because he's my friend?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Harry is a lot of things, but perfect he isn't. He's moody, and sullen, and he tries too much to do everything himself. And then when people are in danger he's adamant that it has to be him that risks his life to protect them, nobody else. He's got a bit of a saving people complex."

The memory of the second Triwizard Tournament task came to Leo's mind. "The Delacour girl." He muttered knowingly.

"Not just that, but Ginny in second year too, then obviously how he rushed to the Ministry." Hermione shrugged. "No, Harry is the closest thing I'll ever have to a sibling and I love him for that, but he's not always right." She then sighed. "And he knows that, Ginny wrote to me last week… apparently they've been writing to each other this summer and she wanted to know how I would stop making him feel guilty about Mr Weasley…"

"That wasn't his fault." Leo said quickly.

Hermione smiled fondly. "And that's Harry, taking blame where none is needed." She held her hand out for Leo to help her up, and he duly obliged. "Just… can you promise me you'll try and go easy on him at least? With everything going on and having him already feel guilty… he doesn't need added stress."

Leo felt blackmailed, but as he looked into her eyes once again he found himself nodding. "I know it's unfair and he was just wanting to keep me out of danger." He said, though the words felt like lies in his mouth. "I just don't want to be left out again." He chuckled. "It sounds childish, like someone's kept a toy from me."

Hermione shrugged. "It's a fair feeling, though I would actually think more on what it was you think you missed out on. It wasn't one of Fred and George's parties, it was really dangerous…" She said simply, her fingers tracing the area that the curse hit her. "Come on, we better go and sort his room out for him."

Nodding, Leo placed the book he had thrown earlier straight into Hermione's dark pile before following her out of the library, thinking a lot on what she had just said.

Harry in fact arrived much earlier than anybody anticipated and instead of his alarm clock Leo was awoken by the sound of a screech coming from downstairs at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. Groaning but not getting out of his pyjamas, Leo groggily made his way downstairs wand in hand only for Hermione to race down the flight below him. As Leo reached the second floor he spotted Harry, also barely awake, standing in the doorway bemused.

"Alright?" Leo greeted, seemingly surprising Harry by being civil.

"Leo. Hi." Harry greeted back.

"You got in alright then? We weren't expecting you for another couple of hours."

Harry nodded. "Yeah… Dumbledore just wanted to take me to recruit some old teacher." He shrugged. "It was easier than he thought, I got in about 1."

"Fair enough." Leo shrugged. "What was all that about?" He asked.

Harry didn't have a chance to explain though as Hermione came running back up the stairs. "They're not here yet!" She was exclaiming. "Are you absolutely sure Professor Dumbledore said today?"

"Yes Hermione." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Oh no…" Hermione groaned, as she started jigging nervously on the spot. "I know I messed up Ancient Runes at least once, probably more. And then there was Defence…"

"Hermione." Harry stated bluntly but calmly, catching the attention of the girl immediately. "Relax."

It didn't seem to have the desired effect, however. "Relax?" Hermione snapped at him incredulously. "How can I relax when our results are coming today?"

Harry shrugged at her nonchalantly. "Fretting won't change them, will it?"

"Oh shut up Harry." Hermione snapped again before she caught the grin on Leo's face. "And you, stop enjoying this! This is our future… this affects everything! All our plans…" She looked down the stairs again. "I'm going to check again." And with that she ran down the stairs once more leaving the boys stood there in their pyjamas bemused.

"Have you heard from Ron much?" Leo asked, not wanting to push whatever budding relationship with Ginny too much in case he wasn't actually meant to know about that. "Mum's been going round regularly but she doesn't want me straying from here too often so I've not had a chance to visit." Not that he'd have known what to say, he kept that part to himself though.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, G… I've been told that Mary's been invaluable." He caught himself. "Bill has moved back in to the Burrow with Fleur which is helping to keep everyone's mind off of things, I don't think Ginny likes her too much but Mrs Weasley needs the help and seems grateful..." He looked at his feet sadly. "I did ask Dumbledore if I could go there for a bit first, but I was told they need time."

Leo understood completely, remembering the feeling from when his Grandad died. "Sirius was talking about setting up a fund for them, and paying for Ron and Ginny's books and stuff this year."

"They won't like that." Harry stated.

"They can't live off Bill's wages, nor on Fred and George's." Leo countered sadly. "And the Black fortune is too big for just us, I don't think no will be taken for an answer."

"Too right and all." A voice from the top of the stairs sounded, and Sirius was walking towards them dressed smartly in a suit that cost far more than it needed to, as usual.

Harry grinned. "Sirius." He greeted, moving forward to embrace the Black.

"Good to see you, Harry." Sirius said. "Although I had hoped for a bit of a lie in. What's the noise about?"

Leo smirked. "Results. Hermione's worrying."

"Pffft." Sirius scoffed. "She's got nothing to fear. Smarter than your mum was, Harry, and Lily passed all ten of her O.W.L.s."

"She did?" Harry asked, his eyes immediately lighting up at the mention of his Mother.

Sirius nodded. "8 O's I believe it was? Never let us forget it." He smiled reminiscently.

"THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!" Hermione almost screamed from the Kitchen, causing Leo's grandmother's painting to start screeching once again.

"Oh shut it you old hag!" Sirius roared, waving his wand to silence the portrait before turning back to Leo. "Go and get your results, I'll sort her out and grab your mum."

When they arrived downstairs Hermione had already set the envelopes out in three separate places before sitting down. She held the envelope in her hands nervously. Leo found his one and sat down opposite her, beside Harry. The three students sat there in almost complete silence, with the ticking of the clock on the wall the only sound as Leo swapped his gaze between both Harry and Hermione constantly.

"On three?" Harry asked, finally breaking the nervous tension in the room. Leo went to answer, but his mouth had suddenly completely dried out and he could do nothing but croak. Embarrassed, he shut his mouth again and instead just nodded, and thankfully Harry ignored the noise and began counting. "One… two… three."

Leo snapped the Hogwarts wax seal and opened it up, pulling his letter out. Unfolding it he took a deep breath before reading.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

PASS GRADES

OUTSTANDING (O)

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E)

ACCEPTABLE (A)

FAIL GRADES

POOR (P)

DREADFUL (D)

TROLL (T)

Leo David MacDonald has achieved:

Arithmancy E

Astronomy E

Charms O

Defence Against the Dark Arts E

Herbology A

History of Magic O

Muggle Studies E

Potions E

Transfiguration O

Three Outstandings, five Exceeds Expectations and only one Acceptable in Herbology which Leo was expecting anyway. Grinning, he read the results through a couple more times before setting it down on the table and letting out a large breath of relief. He looked around at Harry and Hermione, noticing that Harry looked relatively pleased with himself and Hermione… she had turned her back to them and had her head bent so Leo couldn't judge.

"How did you do?" Harry asked, and Leo handed him the results. A moment later and Harry added. "An O in History? Even with my…" He trailed off awkwardly at the reminder of the fainting fiasco and what followed afterwards.

Leo shrugged with a grin. "I like History, I was basically done by then anyway. How did you do?" Harry handed over his parchment and Leo immediately noticed a P and a D in Divination and History, but the O next to Defence Against the Dark Arts was impressing him. "Well done mate."

"Thanks." Harry grinned back. "Hermione?"

Hermione swivelled her chair back around, and she looked almost sullen. "Not bad." She said quietly. "I got an E in Defence." She told them, and she actually looked disappointed.

Harry leant over to see her sheet. "And O's in literally everything else." He chuckled.

"Congratulations, that's incredibly good considering how many subjects you were doing." Leo told her, and Hermione finally put a little smile on her face.

"Only one more than you…" Hermione trailed.

"Which was Ancient Runes." Leo shook his head amusedly at her downplaying the achievement in such a difficult subject. "You did brilliantly, you are allowed to admit it."

She didn't, but at that moment Mary and Sirius came into the kitchen and the Scottish woman immediately made a bee line for Leo. "Well?" She asked expectantly.

Leo held up his results with a big grin. "9 O.W.L.s." He told them. "Only one A."

Mary screamed in delight, setting off the portrait in the hallway once more. "Oh well done." She shouted over the noise, smothering him in kisses, and Leo's squirms were only making his classmates laugh louder. "That's brilliant! We need to celebrate!" She turned to Harry and Hermione after that. "And what about the pair of you?"

"Seven." Harry said happily. "And Hermione over there has ten, only one wasn't an O."

"Ten?" Mary gasped. "Not even Lily got that many O's and she was utterly brilliant. Well done dear. And well done you Harry, your parents would have been pleased."

"Definitely." Sirius agreed, ruffling Harry's hair. "I tell you what, after breakfast we'll go out shall we?"

"No." Mary stated firmly. "We'll do it here. Go and get changed boys and I'll whip up some breakfast. We'll see if Ron is up for celebrating too, aye?"

Nodding, Leo raced up to his room to start putting on some clothes. Looking at his results he realised that the only subjects he couldn't continue with into N.E.W.T.s were Herbology and Potions, two that he wasn't planning on taking on anyway. Feeling extremely pleased with himself, Leo thought he'd race down and see if they could make some of their Christmas pancakes in celebration.

Chapter Text

After a brief celebration of everybody's O.W.L results with a small party where both Ron and Ginny flooed over for the afternoon, life at Number 12 Grimmauld Place settled into a relatively boring pattern. Other than one manic day where Mary had been determined to rid the two Gryffindor boys of their hair, something which neither appreciated but only Harry seemed to emerge from his room the next day with the same mop he had started the previous day with… Leo still wasn't sure how he managed to regrow about 4 inches of hair overnight… the three soon to be sixth years staying in the London Townhouse would spend most of their time either in the Black Library reading or in the drawing room playing some kind of games, trying to take their mind off of the almost constant news of a new murder or disappearance. The murder of Emmeline Vance was the one to hit Sirius the hardest, whilst Leo's biggest shock had been that of Amelia Bones before the new election for Minister for Magic after Fudge had been sacked, given that she had been the overwhelming favourite for the job before her murder by Voldemort himself.

As was the case whenever a larger group of the Order gathered in one place, Harry's birthday at the end of July was one where news about the wider world almost flowed freely. Despite the majority of in attendance Weasley's being understandably subdued despite the occasion, rumours of the more recent events in Wizarding Britain were everywhere. Leo hadn't been in the kitchen for more than 5 minutes when he overheard Fred and George talking to Bill and Remus Lupin about the disappearances of Florean Fortescue and Ollivander, the latter of which scared Leo more than he would admit given the quality of the man's work. He also found out through his mother that Slughorn was the old Potions master, something which didn't sit right with Leo at all.

Thankfully Sirius brought the mood back up with a literal bang, causing a semi explosion in the drawing room once everyone had moved upstairs for the gifts as 100 tubs of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion appeared in a puff of lilac smoke stacked up in the corner of the room, much to everyone's amusement given the recent haircut debacle.

Sirius was the first to pick up the top tub and throw it towards Harry. "Your Grandad Monty would never go a day without slathering some of this on his head." He explained fondly. "Most of your money is down to him selling the company." He then looked at the Weasley gathering across a couple of sofas. "Though I'd steer clear if you're red headed… he never could work out why it affected you guys so badly… poor Lily cursed James so badly in our fifth year when she found out he knew it would affect her poorly that she cursed him bald for a week."

Harry looked surprised, though his eyes sparkled in joy at the story of his parents. "My Grandfather created Sleekeazy's?" He asked, eager to hear more about his family history.

Sirius nodded, though he looked surprised. "Did you not know that?" Harry shook his head and Sirius genuinely looked outraged. "You don't know anything about your Grandparents or your family history?"

"Nothing." Harry shrugged.

Shaking his head, Sirius stated. "Tomorrow I'll tell you everything I know." He stated bluntly, unhappy at his godson's lack of education on his own family. "You've got a mental but brilliant family line. Your Father and Grandfather told me a lot of crazy stories…"

The biggest eyebrow raiser between Leo and Hermione however was when Ginny quietly handed Harry a neatly wrapped parcel. Harry carefully unwrapped it, and quickly showed everyone with a grin that it was a picture taken from one of the DA lessons of Harry helping Ginny with her Patronus. Leo felt a nudge at his side from his position sat on the arm of a sofa and turned to see Hermione looking at the birthday boy with a knowing look on her face. Leo simply grinned, happy that through everything Harry and Ginny were finding something together.

The doom and gloom of most of Harry's birthday made way to excitement the next day however, as August 1st brought the letters and booklists from Hogwarts. Leo's was the standard list of required supplies, whilst Harry had received an extra surprise in his letter as he emptied out his envelope to see a silver badge drop to the table.

"Quidditch Captain?" Hermione gasped excitedly. "That's great news Harry! You can use the Prefect Bathroom now too now that you're on an equal standing with Ron and I!"

Leo let Sirius and Hermione gush over the badge as he made his way to his Mother, handing her his list. There were three magical law specific books on there, along with the regular list for his other subjects. Mary sighed. "I'll speak to Alastor next time I see him, but we'll need to go to Diagon Alley soon for all these." She looked Leo up and down. "And new school robes too, you've grown half an inch since you've been back!"

"I'll buy your things for you." Sirius' voice sounded louder than expected, and Leo realised that he had moved over to join the two MacDonald's. "I've missed enough of your life, it's the least I can do…"

"You don't need to be waving your money around to feel like a Father, Sirius." Mary rolled her eyes. "I can handle it."

Sirius shook his head. "There's… something else I want to do in Diagon Alley, something for just us." He said to Leo, unusually solemn before turning back to Leo's Mother. "Please, Mary. Just let me."

Mary stared at Sirius oddly, and unusually for the pair of them she simply nodded without an argument. "Aye, fine." She looked at the list again. "Maybe I'll get you an owl this year with the money I'll save on your books… Merlin knows it will be easier to talk to you when you're not reliant on the school ones."

Leo grinned, nodding his head. "That would be great. Thanks mum." He kissed her on the cheek before re-joining the table as Hermione was only halfway through her explanation in what perks Harry would be getting as the new Quidditch Captain.

In the end it was the Ministry of Magic that arranged a trip to Diagon Alley on the Saturday after their letters had arrived, sending a pair of their cars to The Burrow. Already annoyed that his mother had been dragged into work it was a grumbling Leo that flooed over to the Weasley house before driving the hours back into London when the Leaky Cauldron was a half hour walk away from Grimmauld Place, but it seemed like Mad-Eye Moody would glare at him every time he went to complain, so in the end he simply didn't say a word and tried to enjoy the ride.

He was surprised to see Professor Hagrid waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron for them, though his surprise was more muted than Harry's as they stepped out the car as Hagrid called his name and enveloped The Boy-Who-Lived in a bone crushing hug before escorting the group in through the door, and for the first time ever Leo noticed that it was empty save for Tom the barman, who looked glum when he realised that the large group were only popping through and not sticking around for a drink and a meal.

Even the alley looked different. Ministry of Magic posters covered the once colourful window displays, either displaying advice or wanted posters of known Death Eaters. Leo heard Sirius growl as they passed the Apothecary and turned to see the cackling face of Bellatrix Lestrange. Another new addition to Diagon Alley was the emergence of pop-up stalls. The one nearest Flourish and Blotts had trinkets to ward against magical creatures, and the stall owner quickly tried to hassle Ginny before shrinking away at a growl from Mad-Eye.

Ron hadn't taken that well, grumbling. "If Dad were here and saw those…" He muttered, fixing his face in a scowl as the rest of the group fell silent, still missing the Weasley patriarch dearly.

Bill Weasley cleared his throat from the front of the group. "Sirius, do you still want to go to Gringotts?" He asked, clearly eager to switch the conversation away from Arthur.

Sirius nodded. "I do." He said before turning to Leo. "I need you to come with me too, I've something to show you."

"Ron, Ginny. You stick with Alastor for the moment. I won't be too long." Bill told them, being the Weasley in charge. "Hermione, Harry. Hagrid will take care of you two. We'll meet inside the twin's shop once we're all done with our shopping."

The group split then, with the two youngest Weasley's going for their books first whilst Harry and Hermione popped into Madam Malkin's. Wondering what he was being dragged along for, Leo walked to the large marble bank with Sirius and Bill. Six Goblin guards stood outside the bank looking out at the street menacingly.

"Hold on a moment." Bill muttered darkly as they reached the security checks. The Weasley then stepped forwards and began speaking to the lead Goblin in what Leo presumed was Gobbledegook, the language of the Goblins. After a couple of minutes of back and forth, Bill returned to them. "We're being pushed through screening quickly, thankfully." He explained. "Just don't complain, or they'll make this worse."

Twenty minutes later having been poked and prodded in places that Leo never wanted to be poked or prodded in again, and they were inside the bank. They were led to the very end of the banking hall to an elderly looking goblin writing something into a ledger.

"Good Morning, Bogrod." Bill stated firmly. "I believe you are expecting us?"

The Goblin barely even looked up. "Mr Weasley." He greeted. "Mr Black."

"Bogrod, it's been a long time." Sirius replied calmly.

Bogrod finished his writing and then closed his book before pulling out a piece of parchment. "You wish to allow a new person access to Vault 711." The Goblin stated.

"I do, Leo David MacDonald." Sirius stated. "My son."

Bogrod took one look at Leo, and the 16-year-old didn't like the way the Goblin's black eyes were looking him over. "I see. One moment please." The goblin said before he pushed himself off his chair to go and talk to one of his colleagues.

"What's Vault 711?" Leo asked.

Sirius grimaced. "My vault… well, my family's." He explained. "When I was struck off I was reliant on the Potters for a year, but my Uncle Alphard died just before my seventh year at Hogwarts and left me a decent amount of gold and a nice cottage to go with it. He got blasted off the tapestry for that." Sirius muttered bitterly. "Anyway, I haven't touched the Black vault since I ran away, though I restricted access to just myself and my cousin Andromeda, Tonks' mum, the day I was cleared. Thankfully Bellatrix couldn't get into it in Azkaban and Narcissa had the Malfoy vault to sort her out without taking too much of the Black gold."

Leo nodded in understanding as he felt relieved that Sirius' money hadn't been pilfered too much by Malfoy, though one question remained. "But why am I here? I already have a vault of my own left to me from Grandad."

Sirius sighed. "I barely touch the Black vault because of things that happened before you were born and Andy has her own money now with her husband and little incentive to revisit her past by coming here, but the amount of gold in my family vault shouldn't be sat there gathering dust and you don't have the hang ups that we do. You'll have a limited access until you turn 17 in a few months, after which you'll have free access to do what you wish with it."

Leo didn't get a chance to respond to that as Bogrod had returned. "Sign here, here and here." He explained, and Sirius quickly scratched his signature onto the parchment. "You have your key, Mr Black."

Sirius held up a key with 711 imprinted in the head, before holding up another one with 482. "And I'd like to visit my personal vault."

Bogrod clenched his jaw but nodded all the same. "As you wish. Follow me please."

Bill left them to it as the father and son duo followed the Goblin into the underground cart. Firstly they stopped at Sirius' vault where he filled up his coin pouch from a pile larger than anything Leo had ever seen. That fact held true until they stopped at Vault 711 however, where a mixture of the key and a goblin's palm opened up the heavy metal door and once that had swung open Leo stepped inside what could only be described as a deep cavern of gold and silver. Dozens of trophies lined the cabinets along the walls along with all sorts of paintings and rich artifacts of the like that Leo had never seen before. The floor of the large room however was covered in gold heaps, likely twenty times more than Sirius had had in his own vault, whilst Leo's own vault didn't even scratch the first mound. "How much is in here?" Leo gasped.

Sirius shrugged. "Millions of galleons, the Blacks have had their fingers in all sorts of dirty pies since the Middle Ages." He looked unhappy as he looked around the room explaining it all to Leo. "That's partly why I want you to have it. I know you're not called Black anymore and I'd never ask you to change your name given how good a job Magnus and Mary have done in raising you. But you've my blood in your veins, which makes this your inheritance just as much as it is mine." Sirius shrugged. "Just… do some good with it, yeah? Maybe our name can mean something more than dark and pureblood in the future."

Leo nodded, and he went to move forwards, examining some of the trophies and awards that spanned from as far back as the 15th century, and there were more that looked even older that Leo couldn't reach from his position in the entranceway to the Vault. "I could spend hours in here…" He whispered. "All this history inside four walls…"

"You've got ten minutes." Sirius smirked, grinning at Leo's frown. "Grab some gold for the year and let's go, the shop owners don't hang around anymore after closing and old Mad-Eye might just kill me himself if I suggest coming back another day." He moved towards Leo with a fancy looking money pouch. "Present number one of many that I owe you for your childhood, that's a family heirloom that I did keep. There's an undetectable extension charm and a featherweight charm on it so while you can't empty this place, you can grab a few handfuls of galleons and barely even notice the weight." He then gave Leo the key, handing over control of the Black treasure. "Your mum says you can be trusted with this. Whatever you do, don't give it to the Malfoy boy…"

Their trip was rushed after leaving Gringotts with Leo having been the only one going to Gringotts and being behind everybody else when it came to purchasing his things for the year. He methodically made his way down Diagon Alley as he started by rushing through Scribbulus getting his writing equipment, before completely ignoring the apothecary with a smile as he remembered that he didn't need to take Potions this year. Quickly after that Leo managed to grab most of his books in Flourish and Blotts before realising that some of the Wizarding Law books weren't inside, and so they crossed over to Whizz Hard Books for those. Penultimately came the robe fittings at a sour looking Madam Malkin before Leo and Sirius finished off buying the present from Mary, and Leo chose a Tawny Owl called Cosmo.

Once all his school supplies had been bought, Leo and Sirius finally had a chance to check out the twins' new shop… and even from the outside it looked brilliant. It was the only shop on the street that actually looked alive, with bright colours and a giant model of one of the twins above the door making a rabbit disappear into a hat. On one of the windows was a giant purple poster, with yellow letters flashing.

WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO?

WHEN YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO

THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!

"Ha!" Sirius barked out a laugh. "Those two have nerves of steel." Leo was grinning too as he entered the shop, and once again in contrast to the rest of the street, the shop was rammed. There was barely any space as customers were everywhere. Sirius stopped off to look at the few remaining Skiving Snackboxes as Leo tried to force his way through the crowd to get further in, where he only saw Ginny sat on the counter chatting away to her twin brothers. Poking his head up to try and spot the other three, Leo was suddenly yanked to one side as Sirius dragged him towards the counter.

"Well if it isn't the master to our apprentice." Fred smirked as he bowed to Sirius. Leo simply presumed that Sirius had helped them out after leaving school a few months earlier and so he moved to one side to look at something called a Pygmy Puff, not noticing that Ginny had joined him until she picked one up.

"They've disappeared. Mad-Eye's gone to chase them." Ginny told him solemnly. "I don't know where to. Despite everything this summer they'll always be the golden trio I guess."

Leo didn't react to that, instead simply thanking Ginny for telling him before returning to the shelves so that he could buy a couple of the muggle magic tricks, noticing a plaque on top of the section with a dedication to Arthur Weasley, the elder Weasley's portrait looking down at Ginny with a warm smile on his face, a touch that Leo thought was a lovely addition from Fred and George.

Soon however it was time to leave, and the students somehow managed to get the adults to agree to sharing one of the cars to themselves once Harry, Ron and Hermione had reappeared. Harry made sure to have the screen between driver and passengers up before whispering harshly. "He was happy!"

"He'd just managed to get rid of his miserable mother, of course he was." Ron grumbled, as Leo and Ginny looked at one another, bemused at whatever was going on between the three.

Hermione simply tutted. "There are hundreds of explanations as to why Malfoy was happy." He explained. "A good sale, a good purchase, a job…"

"You think Malfoy's got a job?" Ron snorted in amusement. "That pampered prick…"

Hermione scowled. "That's the thing Ronald, we don't know anything. And jumping to conclusions so quickly whilst knowing none of the facts is dangerous, Harry." She looked at Harry pointedly, and an awkward silence fell over the group.

"I know what I saw." Harry muttered. "And heard. He wants something fixed, and Borgin has a spare in his shop."

"You went to Knockturn Alley alone?" Ginny asked incredulously, frowning at Harry. "Are you completely daft?"

Harry shrugged, unfazed by the youngest Weasley's outburst. "We had the cloak, and Malfoy is up to something I just know it. His Father's in Azkaban, maybe he's trying to get a plan together to get back at us…" He trailed off, realisation kicking in as his mouth made an O. "His arm Hermione."

"What?" The witch asked.

Harry however leant forwards, almost excitedly. "His arm in Madam Malkins. He flinched and wouldn't let her touch his left arm. He's replaced Lucius as a Death Eater."

"He's sixteen." Leo contributed. "Isn't that a bit… young?"

Harry shook his head. "Voldemort had already murdered before sixteen. It wouldn't be too young to him if he needed something. Malfoy showed something to Borgin that terrified the man… what if it was the Dark Mark?"

Ron's face turned into a scowl, while Hermione just shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "Draco Malfoy is many things, but a Death Eater?"

"If he is I'll kill him." Ron muttered darkly. "But sixteen…"

"Is old enough." Ginny stated plainly. "I'm fifteen and was there at the Ministry at 14. Age is nothing if you're good enough. You-Know-Who knows that." She looked at Harry. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I know what I saw." He repeated. Ginny then simply nodded her agreement, folding her arms defiantly.

Leo wasn't convinced either however. "It still seems a bit strange that You-Know-Who would be relying on a schoolboy…" He trailed, shaking his head. "I can't see it, not until he's of age. What's the point of joining if he can't actually perform magic out of school yet?"

"Fear." Harry explained. "With Malfoy in the Death Eater ranks Voldemort has the whole family in his grasp. They'd have to do anything for him out of fear of his life."

Hermione sighed. "That's a big leap Harry."

Harry groaned, audibly frustrated. "Fine, don't believe me. But when it's clear that I'm right…"

"If." Hermione corrected.

"When." Harry countered. "You'll wish you believed me here and we could actually do something about it together."

The rest of the trip was taken in silence, and it wasn't until they had said goodbye to the Weasley's and flooed back to Grimmauld Place when Hermione let her frustrations out as she stood in Leo's room as he packed his new books and robes away into his school trunk. She began explaining exactly what he had missed, the incident in Madam Malkins, the argument with Narcissa Malfoy who had had some rather mean things to say about Sirius, and following Malfoy down into Knockturn Alley as well as the overheard conversation. When she was finally done, she asked. "You don't believe it, do you?" Hermione asked.

Leo shook his head. "No, despite what Harry says sixteen seems too young even for You-Know-Who." He admitted. "Though I'll admit it is suspicious."

"Of course it's suspicious, Borgin and Burke's is a dark shop and Malfoy is no doubt up to no good." Hermione huffed. "But to be a Death Eater? There's no way." She shook her head before sighing. "Harry won't let this go… do you realise that? And Ron won't help much if he thinks that Malfoy's become one of the group that murdered his Father."

Leo didn't know them as well, but the determined nature once Harry set his mind to something wasn't a secret, nor was Ron Weasley's ability to hold on to a grudge. "We'll keep an eye on them both." He told her.

Hermione looked happier with that, until she continued her tirade. "And Ginny as well? I thought she was more sensible than that."

While Leo didn't know all of Hermione's secrets, the time they had spent together that summer had given him quite a bit of additional information on their school days that he hadn't known before, including the full truth behind Second Year. "Perhaps the Chamber incident is in her mind when thinking about it. The memory was 16 years old, wasn't he? She'll know what that was capable of more than anybody." Though in his head he knew that there was a big difference between Draco Malfoy and You-Know-Who.

Hermione nodded, sighing dramatically as her anger deflated. "I guess. I'll speak to her when I see her next." She shook her head quickly. "But enough of that… can I read Magical Moral Perspective?" She put on a hopeful smile.

Leo laughed, spotting one of his new subject's books in the school pile. Picking it up and handing it to her, he said. "Fancy a career in law?" He asked teasingly.

Hermione shrugged with a grin. "Perhaps, or perhaps I've just not read this one before." She turned away from him and began walking out of the room, stopping in the doorway. "Thanks Leo." She said before moving again, and Leo could tell from her voice that she was holding in a laugh. Falling on the bed he sighed dramatically as he looked up at the ceiling, realising once and for all that he definitely fancied Hermione Granger.

Chapter Text

August was another month that arrived and left far too quickly for Leo's liking, and other than a single outing to the Burrow for Ginny's birthday it was all spent stuck inside Grimmauld Place. Leo had spent the latter half of the month looking into the House of Black tapestry to see if it would be possible to repair it and add to it now that the truth had completely settled in, but so far the magic was far too advanced for him to even comprehend and not even an uneasy alliance with the House Elf, Kreacher, had done anything for it. He quickly ran out of time however, and before he knew it he was being shepherded into the back of a ministry car once again for the short journey towards King's Cross. Both of Leo's parents joined him as they rushed through the barrier, and he was unprepared for all the stares that quickly came their way.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Mary whispered as they pushed their way through the onlookers.

Sirius shrugged. "Nonsense." He said quietly, before raising his voice. "I'm a free man after finally having a trial, if others can't keep their eyes to themselves then that's their problem." A few onlookers quickly looked away abashed, but numerous eyes were still on them.

He spotted Fay chatting to her parents towards the middle of the train and pushed his trolley over to her as she hugged her parents goodbye before meeting him in the middle. "Leo!" She called out with an enthusiastic wave. "Hi!"

Leo returned her hug eagerly. "Good Summer?" He asked once they had separated, moving over to a bench to avoid all of the parents and students rushing around the platform.

"You know how it is." Fay shrugged as she sat down. "Saw some Quidditch, didn't stay outside for too long." She jerked her head at her parents, whom Mary had gone over to speak to while Sirius was talking to Harry. "Mum's nervy given everything that is going on, wanted me inside at all times, she didn't even really want me going to watch the Magpies, only relented when I threw a tantrum."

"She's just being sensible." Leo said quietly. "We were the same, only time we really left the house was to go and buy school supplies. I missed the game I had tickets too because we were being that cautious."

"Yeah that sucks, but the Fidelius is still cool." Fay whispered, and Leo groaned at the sight of Sirius' raised eyebrow as the man appeared in front of them.

"You must be a good friend if Leo's breaking meticulously set rules to tell you things he really shouldn't be talking about." Sirius interrupted, placing his hand on Leo's shoulder. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Fay Dunbar, Sirius Black. Fay is my best friend, we met on the Hogwarts Express before our first year."

"And he's not managed to shake me off since." Fay grinned, shaking Sirius' hand enthusiastically. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Sirius nodded, visibly happy at not being treated like a criminal by somebody on the platform.

The whistle of the sounded behind them indicating that departure was imminent. "We best get on." Fay said, rising to her feet to walk towards the crimson locomotive.

"I'll be a minute." Leo explained, and Fay gave him a knowing smile as she returned to say a final goodbye to her parents. He then turned to Sirius, standing there for a moment of silence not managing to find the right words to sum up the goodbye. "Right then." Was all he managed, as he winced feeling awkward.

"Be sure to use the mirror, yeah?" Sirius asked. "Getting to know you this summer has been great, I'm not sure I'd like having no contact with you other than whatever letters we can slip through the system."

Leo nodded, agreeing completely as he looked back over to his mum, who was keeping his new owl behind for the time being to lessen his luggage. "I will."

"And be careful." Sirius whispered, uncharacteristically cautious. "Things are heating up. We can all sense it in the Order. Harry told me what he saw about Malfoy, and while I doubt Voldemort has trusted him with some sort of secret mission, he's used children of important wizarding families before." There was something else in Sirius' eyes there, something that Leo couldn't quite work out.

He let Sirius pull him into an awkward hug before they parted just as briefly. "I'll see you at Christmas. Try not to shout at Kreacher, he's just starting to warm up to me." Leo stated, grinning at the uneasy look on Sirius' face before he moved over to his Mum, giving her a fierce hug.

"Stay safe, dear." Mary squeezed him. "Please, keep in touch. I'll send Cosmo along with a letter in a week."

"You're the one that needs to stay safe." Leo whispered.

Mary chuckled. "I'll be fine, love." The whistle sounded again. "Right, go! Get your arse on."

Leo grabbed his trunk and got onto the train just before the doors slammed shut, and he made sure he had a good spot by the door window as the Hogwarts Express began to move away, waving at both Mary and Sirius until the platform was no longer in sight. After he found Fay again, they began making their way up the platform until they saw a commotion outside one of the compartments, where one of the new 4th years was running away being chased by hideous looking green and dripping bats. Letting her and her group run past, Leo was still smirking as he saw Ginny stood outside a carriage, though his smirk left his face when he saw she was being spoken to by what looked like an elderly professor.

"One o'clock sharp!" The man stated. "All three of you! I expect you there!"

"Of course sir." Ginny stated, her tone of voice showing more confusion than anything.

The teacher nodded with a smile, before his eyes turned on Leo. "Merlin's beard! It's like I've seen a ghost! You must be Leo!"

Leo's eyes were wide in surprise as the teacher rounded on him, grabbing his hand and shaking it violently. "Sorry… do I know you?"

"Professor Horace Slughorn." The man introduced himself. "And no, we won't have met but I know your parents extremely well! Taught them both, and your uncle, and all of your grandparents too!"

Leo looked at Fay alarmed. "I wasn't aware that my Father was common knowledge…" He trailed off.

"It will be soon my boy after today!" Professor Slughorn laughed. "But I remember your parents when they first became involved with one another, and just looking at you it's obvious! Why I had generations of Blacks in my time as Head of Slytherin I could recognise you from a mile off! You must come to lunch as well! Mr Potter, Miss Weasley and Mr Longbottom here are all coming!" He spat at a million miles an hour before he gestured into the compartment, and Leo saw the three mentioned along with Luna Lovegood in the corner reading the Quibbler upside down. Leo was patted firmly on the back to the extent that he was almost knocked over as Professor Slughorn left down the corridor. "1 o'clock sharp!"

Once he had left their view, Leo turned to Ginny who was still in the doorway. "What was that about?" He asked, completely baffled.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We had barely sat down before that Romilda Vane tapped on the door to try and get Harry to sit with them. A firm no didn't send her away and she was being a little too flirty… so I hexed her."

"It was brilliant." Neville grinned. "Bogeys started flying out of her nose and whacking her with their wings."

"Anyway, Professor Slughorn saw. I thought I was going to get a detention but he said he really enjoyed the magic, and the loyalty to my friend." Ginny said the last word oddly. "And invited me, Neville and Harry to lunch."

"He collects students." Harry explained. "The famous or the powerful, he can spot whatever potential in them and collects them to make sure he gets favoured when they go on to be a success. Though he says he invited me because he knew my Mother, not because of..." He trailed off.

That explained Leo's own invite then, the boy thought to himself. He and Fay followed them into the compartment, with Leo pulling his friends arm as he noticed Fay's hesitation. "They won't bite." He reassured her before putting both of their trunks in the luggage rack.

"How was your summer, Leo?" Neville asked politely as he sat beside Luna. Leo took his own seat by the compartment door, noticing Harry and Ginny sitting closely next to him by the window.

"Alright I guess, didn't get to do much." Leo shrugged. "How was yours? You've been all over the papers…"

Neville simply grinned. "I thought Gran would be angry about it, but she was really pleased! Said I'm starting to live up to my dad." He noticed Leo's and Fay's confusion. "He was an Auror, a really good one apparently before…" He also trailed off, though Leo was less sure of why with Neville, but he continued speaking before Leo could ask about it. "Anyway, I'd been using his wand until the Ministry and she was so pleased she bought me a new one!" He pulled it out. "Cherry and Unicorn hair. It must have been one of the last Ollivander sold…"

Neville trailed off once more as his toad was threatening to escape, and once he returned the conversation turned more to their O.W.L. results with input from Ginny and Luna on what they should expect. Around an hour into the journey Ron and Hermione joined them in a tight squeeze and told them about the unusual behaviour from Draco Malfoy. Leo could tell that Harry was eager to focus on that, although a quick look at his watch showed that it was ten to one. "We best make a move." He said to the invitees. Saying goodbye to those that weren't joining them, although Fay joined them part of the way to Compartment C as she wanted to find Anna.

The compartment was already relatively full as they entered, and Harry of course got the main brunt of the welcome before they were gestured to a quartet of seats surrounding a formally displayed table. Professor Slughorn then turned on them and asked. "Now, do you know everyone?" He gestured around the room. "Blaise Zabini is in your year of course… this is Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other?" Leo recognised one of the new Gryffindor seventh years, and Cormac McLaggen waved in response to his name being mentioned. "And finally this is Marcus Belby." He then turned to the prior occupants of the carriage. "And for your benefit, we have Neville Longbottom, Ginevra Weasley, and Leo Black…"

"MacDonald." Leo interrupted quickly, much to Professor Slughorn's annoyance. "My surname is MacDonald, my Mother's."

"Ah, of course. Terrible circumstances…" Slughorn trailed. "Where was I… Oh of course, and everybody will know Harry here!" Professor Slughorn fell into his seat. "Well now, this is most pleasant." He waved his wand and a large basket began to float towards the fancy table, and another jerk of his wand allowed the food inside to come leaping out, filling their plates with such detail that it looked like one of the fancy muggle restaurants that he'd seen in books. "I do hope you all are comfortable with a different lunch than usual? The liquorice wands from the trolley play havoc on my digestive system these days…"

Leo of course didn't mind as he tucked into a pheasant leg, almost ignoring the elderly professor as he spoke to each individual guest about their famous relatives. From what Leo could understand Belby had an estranged Uncle that the Professor was fond of, Zabini had a more than likely murderous mother, whilst Cormac McLaggen had a well-connected Uncle named Tiberius. Neville looked extremely uncomfortable when talk got round to his Auror parents, and Ginny was left scowling after her own interrogation about her family, with hasty condolences given by the Professor when it came to speaking about Arthur.

Then it was Leo's turn almost an hour after he had finished eating. "Mr MacDonald…" Slughorn grinned, though Leo quickly glanced out the window in the hopes that the sky was darkening and it was almost time to leave to get changed into his school robes… though no such luck. "Of course I knew your Grandfather Magnus, a rather odd fellow I always found, though I was sorry to hear of his passing. But it's your paternal side that intrigues me, they were Slytherin's one and all you see and I their Head of House. Well, other than Sirius of course… he went to Gryffindor. Such a shame! He was a talented boy. I got his brother Regulus in the end, but looking back I'd have loved the set…"

"I don't really know too much about that side of my family, Sir." Leo said, his patience wearing thin. "I didn't know who my Father was until last Christmas after all, and even then he was disowned almost two decades ago. We have a rather obnoxious painting of my Grandmother, but she won't stop screeching obscenities for long enough to let me butt in with any questions I have about the dark part of the Black family."

Slughorn gulped. "Walburga… She was one of my prefects you know. I recommended her to Professor Dippet for Head Girl, though he disagreed with me. Never one to back down from her beliefs."

"Until You-Know-Who began slaughtering people. She backed down then." Leo stated bluntly, causing a couple of gasps from Neville and Marcus Belby. "Forgive me, Professor. As I implied earlier, all I know about that side of my family comes from the disowned, disillusioned son."

Slughorn didn't look abashed, and instead was grinning. "My boy, are you sure you wouldn't take on the name now that things have come to light? I can already tell you would go far within the system no matter your name, but with one as old and as powerful as Black…" He looked out the window fondly. "Why you'd be unstoppable."

"My Grandfather and Mother raised me, Professor, and they were MacDonald's. They might not have been inducted into the Sacred Twenty-Eight like the Blacks, but their blood is just as pure, if that's the way you're inclined." Leo replied coolly.

Slughorn gasped, horrified. "Not at all! Forgive me if that was the implication you took! I only mean to say that there have been powerful Black's in politics before, why my own headmaster when I was a student was a Black! But as you've so succinctly put, your maternal side are no slouches…" He then turned, and his focus was quickly on Harry. "And now… Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer!" He paused for a second, eyeing Harry up like a piece of meat. "The Chosen One, they're calling you now…!"

Leo's attention failed him as Slughorn began prattling on to an equally uninterested Harry, although after a rebuking by Neville and Ginny about their escapade at the Ministry followed by what seemed like hours of talk about the famous people that the Professor knew, finally they were allowed to leave as the light outside began to fade.

"I'm glad that's over." Neville muttered as they made their way back to their compartment. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah he is a bit." Harry agreed.

"You handled him well though Leo." Ginny noted. "I thought he was going to hand you a form to change your name there and then."

Leo shrugged. "People like him can only see what others can give them. You heard him dismiss my mother's family there, because all they gave to the world in the last century was a laugh over a banned broom game. Sirius' family however…" He shuddered. "I don't want to profit from that type of history."

"Hold up guys." Harry stated quickly but quietly. "I'll join you in a bit… just need to do something." And Harry immediately pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket and flung it over himself, darting away as he did.

"That was odd." Neville repeated the sentiment from earlier about Slughorn. They kept walking, noticing that Zabini was having trouble with the door to his compartment as they passed, and they were soon at their own compartment, where everyone had changed into their school robes already and Hermione was stood in the compartment with her arms folded and tapping her foot.

"Where have you been? We're almost there!" She whispered harshly, dragging the three inside. "Get in, get changed… where's Harry?"

Ginny was the one to answer. "Probably trying to eavesdrop on Malfoy. He'll be along soon." She insisted before turning to the boys. "Do you guys mind…"

"Not at all." Leo said first, half-heartedly pushing Neville and Ron out of the compartment so that she could get changed, before the boys kicked the girls out so that Neville and Leo could do the same. Leo hadn't even fixed his tie when the train began slowing down, and he knew that he'd have to redo it as the train stopped.

"Harry's not back." Ginny stated as the occupants of the compartment began to gather their trunks to leave.

"He'll be fine." Ron shrugged. "He's probably already off the train reeling from whatever nefarious schemes Malfoy's admitted to on a train full of underaged wizards."

Leo chuckled at the thought as he stepped off the Hogwarts Express, and he stared up at Hogwarts in the distance wondering what this year would bring them.

Chapter Text

They still couldn't find Harry as the students of Hogwarts made their way over to the carriages that would take them from Hogsmeade Station up to the castle, nor could they find him once they arrived and were shepherded into the Great Hall after being subjected to all sorts of checks that Leo would rather forget outside the castle by Filch. The Gryffindor sixth years were all sat closer to the staff table, though most of the discussion that was taking place was quickly shifted to Harry being missing once everyone but him had sat themselves down. The conspiracy theories didn't have long to do the rounds however as the doors to the Great Hall opened, and in came the two dozen or so eleven-year-olds in their standard, Houseless Hogwarts uniforms walking in the middle of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables. They came to a stop before the staff table, nervously waiting as Professor McGonagall picked up the stool and placed it in front of them, the Sorting Hat sat atop it.

This was the best bit of the opening feast, Leo thought, as he waited eagerly for the Hat to begin its song. He didn't need to wait for long as the enchanted garment opened as if it had a mouth and began.

"Again we're gathered here beneath, this great enchanted ceiling.

There's thunder, lightning, heavy rain, that none of us are feeling.

My task this year, as years before, to choose your rightful place.

To help you conquer and endure, the tasks you're soon to face.

The Hogwarts founders, long ago, put me to this task.

Though now I think it may have been, somewhat unwise to ask.

I fear this may be the last time, I can so frankly speak. 

For there are those among us all, that hope for our defeat.

And so, before I sort you, my other task is clear.

To say the words our founders four and I feel you must hear.

Ravenclaw's have shown us, any problem can be solved.

While Slytherin's have long defined, the advantage of resolve.

Gryffindor's know well that fear, is nought to be afraid of. 

And Hufflepuff's know just as well, what true kindness is made of.

A thousand years these houses stood on these few strengths alone.

But great minds and hats think alike, weakness is what we've shown.

The unity of our four houses, hangs just by a tether.

True greatness, power and victory, we can only achieve, together."

The hat became motionless once more after it stated its final words, and the applause from the students was even more staggered and muted than it had been the year before as they all tried to digest the heavy words. Leo looked around at his friends with a worried look, though Anna was the one to comment.

"What did it mean, that it fears this might be the last time?" She whispered.

Leo gulped. "It means that there's no more sitting on the fences." He explained. "The winds have shifted, and the war is coming for all of us one way or another."

"It's almost crying out for unity, begging us." Hermione added. "You heard the bit about weakness? It's saying that the divides in our world need to be stopped before it's too late."

Ron gulped. "I'm not cosying up to Goyle, no matter what the hat says." He said causing a nervous laugh around the table, though none more enthusiastically than Lavender Brown.

They quietened down however as the sorting began, with Professor McGonagall calling out for Alice Abernathy. One by one the first years were quickly sorted, with Leo clapping every Gryffindor as usual. Finally James Tuckett was sorted into Hufflepuff. Once Professor McGonagall had removed the stool, Professor Dumbledore stood up behind his podium as usual, though Leo's eyes were firmly directed onto the blackening hand of the Headmaster as he began his opening speech. "I for one, am as hungry as most of you will no doubt be after your journeys, so for now I will simply ask you, to dig in!"

The Headmaster held his sole normal hand out, and the middle of the House tables were suddenly filled with a wide range of food and the air was filled with the delicious smell. Leo had eaten well with Professor Slughorn and so he hadn't rushed into load his plate up like the others around him. He noticed Hermione also wasn't overly focused on eating as she kept glancing over to the doorway, though Ron at her side didn't have that problem as he shovelled in whatever he could.

"How can you even think of eating when Harry's missing?" She hissed at him.

Ron looked offended. "I'm 'ungry." He said, swallowing a mouthful of mashed potato. "Harry will be fine."

"Urgh." Hermione grumbled, angrily stabbing a carrot chunk.

Harry, still dressed as he had been at lunch, ended up walking in with Professor Snape twenty minutes after the food appeared, and he quickly skulked over towards them forcing himself in between Ron and Hermione. Ron was the first to speak. "Where've you…" He began before noticing Harry's bloody face. "Blimey! What've you done to your face?"

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Harry asked as he grabbed a spoon to inspect himself.

"You're covered in blood!" Hermione exclaimed quietly. "Come here…" She grabbed her wand and pointed it at Harry. "Tergeo." And his face cleaned.

"Thanks." Harry said as he rubbed his hand over his face. "How's my nose looking?"

"Normal… why shouldn't it?" Hermione stated worriedly. "Harry, what happened? We've been terrified!"

"I'll tell you later." Harry said bluntly.

"But…"

"Not now, Hermione." Harry snapped, quickly ending the discussion as he looked around at the rest of their section of the table listening in intently. He went to grab some dinner but as he reached out it disappeared and was replaced by puddings. Leo went for a slice of cheesecake and tucked in, still listening in to the conversation opposite him.

"You missed the sorting, anyway." Hermione seemed to have recovered from her rebuke to tell him.

Harry had grabbed a larger than usual piece of treacle tart and dug his spoon in. "Hat say anything interesting?"

Leo nodded. "Another warning. Went all in on telling us the war will hit us soon and wants us to unite in the face of it for victory."

Harry nodded, unsurprised. "Dumbledore mention Voldemort yet?"

Leo flinched again at the name as Hermione shook her head. "Not yet, but he always saves his proper speech for after the feast."

Leo tried drowning them out as they began to speak about Hagrid being late as he finished his dessert. He zoned back in as Fay nudged him in the side, and Professor Dumbledore was on his feet again. "Look at his hand." Fay whispered, finally voicing the obvious as Leo stared once again at the blackened, dead looking appendage.

She wasn't the only one that had voiced her concern, and The Headmaster seemed to know what was being whispered about as he shook his purple and gold sleeve over the injury. "Nothing to worry about." He explained. "Now… to our new students, welcome! To our old students, welcome back!" He gave the usual announcements that came with the start of the year feast, by explaining the areas that were out of bounds and telling them that Filch had a list of banned items, including everything from Fred and George's shop which rankled with Leo a bit. The most contentious bit of news followed the Quidditch announcement however, when Professor Slughorn was announced as the new Potions master. Most people were shocked at that, but more were surprised when Professor Snape was announced as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Harry sat there glumly staring at the place where his treacle tart had been, not making a sound having already known.

"Snape of all people teaching us to defend the Dark Arts when there's a war going on." Anna groaned. "We're doomed."

Harry looked up. "At least he'll be gone by the end of the year."

"How do you mean?" Leo asked him.

Shrugging, Harry continued. "The job's jinxed isn't it. No one's lasted more than a year since the sixties. Quirrell died, Lockhart lost his memory, Lupin resigned, Moody was locked in a trunk all year, Umbridge went mad from the Centaurs…" He held his goblet up. "Here's to another death, we're a bit overdue."

"Harry!" Hermione scolded, though she couldn't add more as Dumbledore cleared his throat, silencing the room.

"Now." The Headmaster continued. "As everyone in this hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose on you however irksome you might find them, in particular the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety." He left the students hanging over his words for a moment before letting a smile show. "But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say goodnight. Pip pip!"

The students all made their way to their Common Rooms in a bit of a hurry, and with Hermione helping the first years to the Gryffindor Common Room it wasn't until later that Harry explained the altercation on the train with Malfoy.

"He's surely just boasting for Parkinson." Leo suggested after Harry had finished his tale. "Her family are as dark as you can imagine too, he's just showing off for her in the hope that she'll slip him a bit extra…"

"Gross." Hermione interrupted as she grimaced at the thought. "But Leo's right. Voldemort wouldn't give Malfoy of all people a mission of importance Harry…"

"Do you think that of anyone, I might actually know more about what he would do?" Harry scowled.

Ron stood up and began to face the window. "Do you really think that Malfoy's taken the mark Harry?" He asked coldly. "Like, 100% believe it?"

Harry nodded without a hint of hesitation. "I do, it all makes sense."

"Then I believe you." Ron stated, causing all of Leo, Hermione and even Ginny to look at him in surprise. "I don't know why You-Know-Who would be daft enough to let that prat into his little club, but if it means I get an excuse to pummel him I'm all for it."

"Ron..." Hermione tried to reason, but Ron was fuelled up on anger over the events of the last year.

"They murdered Dad, Hermione." Ron stated bluntly. "They can all get ploughed by a Graphorn for all I care, Malfoy included." He turned to Harry. "What do we do?"

"Keep a close eye on him." Harry explained. "If he does anything out of the ordinary, we need to know."

Hermione shook her head, rising to her feet. "This is absurd." She claimed. "He's underaged, what could possibly be so important at Hogwarts that a sixteen-year-old needs to take the Dark Mark?" She looked around, not getting an answer. "I thought as much. I'll see you all in the morning." And with that she stormed off up to her dormitory.

"She'll come around." Ginny insisted at the look of disappointment on Harry and Ron's faces. "As will you." She was looking at a yawning Leo then.

Holding his hands up in a surrender, Leo recovered from his yawn and said. "I'm not saying it's impossible, and neither is Hermione. I just can't see Malfoy being so important to You-Know-Who that he's been given a secret mission that nobody else knows about." He also stood up. "I'm happy to be proved wrong though." He added, before starting to make his own way up to bed. "Night, guys." He parted with, turning away from whatever conspiratorial whisperings would follow between Harry and the two Weasley's, eager to get some sleep.

Breakfast the next morning had the added excitement of Professor McGonagall clearing all of the sixth-year students for their N.E.W.T classes. She went to those that wished to continue with Ancient Runes first as that had been scheduled in first period before going round the rest of the Gryffindors, clearing the majority for their classes before coming to Leo. "Mr MacDonald." The Deputy Headmistress said, finding the right page in her notes. "Charms, yes. Defence Against the Dark Arts, yes. History of Magic, yes. Muggle Studies, yes. Transfiguration, a fine performance getting an Outstanding." She was ticking off all the classes Leo had applied for. "You are good to continue with all of those classes. And you still wish to take up the Magical Law class?"

"If I can Professor." Leo nodded. "Our talk last year was inspiring, and if I can make a difference through the system then I have to try."

Professor McGonagall smiled. "Quite right. Well there are three students including yourself that have expressed an interest, and so Professor Marchbanks has agreed to come into Hogwarts on two afternoons a week to teach you. As a former Wizengamot resident she is uniquely qualified for such a role." She tapped her wand to an empty schedule sheet and handed it to Leo. "There you are Mr MacDonald. Now, Mr Potter…"

Ron was sat opposite Leo and took the moment before his own schedules to look at Leo's sheet. "Magical Law… why would you want to start brand new classes? The ones we've been doing for years are bad enough."

Hermione tutted from beside him. "Just because you can't fathom extra work Ronald doesn't mean everybody thinks similarly." She turned to Leo. "I think it's a really brave choice. You'll have to share your learnings with me, I tried to owl Professor McGonagall in the summer to see if I could add it to my schedule but seven subjects are the most we are allowed to take at N.E.W.T. level and I couldn't bring myself to drop Ancient Runes."

"Breathe, Hermione." Ron laughed.

"It's not just the class though, Ron, do you not see?" Hermione asked him. "Leo is setting himself up for a career in politics."

Leo nodded, turning to the red-head to explain. "The system is corrupt with pure-blood bias at the very top, not to mention we've just got rid of the most useless Minister for Magic we've likely ever had who wasted a whole year of war preparation because he was scared. I can slot into the system seamlessly given my newly discovered parentage and use that broken system to try and change things for the better." He grumbled at being forced to use his paternal family name, but every marathon had to start somewhere.

"I know you don't appreciate having to use a family you feel like you can barely relate to." Hermione stated putting her hand atop Leo's as Professor McGonagall moved to Ron. "But if a name like Black can be exploited to do a bit of good for the world, then that's worth it, is it not?"

"It is, I just want it to be based on merit." Leo sighed. "And maybe eventually I can make that happen."

Ron's schedule was the last to be sorted, and the Weasley was already grinning at the thought of a free period. "One now, one after break and one after lunch!" He expressed his joy as those not doing Ancient Runes made their way back to the Common Room.

"Enjoy it while it lasts." Leo chuckled. "We thought last year was hard, we'll be drowning in homework by the end of the week…"

Ron shrugged. "Perhaps, but for now I can get an extra half hours kip before Snape tries to curse me later, I think I'll make the most of it…"

Leo laughed at that as he found an armchair in the Common Room and looked at his timetable again. There was a nice gap on Monday afternoons where most of his classmates would be taking Potions, but Professor Snape and Professor Vector before that free period didn't give him a feeling of total joy. Friday's also looked awful with no free periods, although on Wednesdays he was finished by lunchtime. Overall he wasn't too unhappy with the timetable, and he settled in to read the paper relaxed, doing as Ron would and enjoying his free time before the work piled in.

Chapter Text

The first lesson of the year was double Defence Against the Dark Arts, and as usual for that lesson they walked into the classroom to find it completely different to how it had been the year before. The curtains had been drawn and the room was lit only by candlelight, whilst all over the walls were wizarding pictures of people in all kinds of pain or with horrific injuries. Leo winced as he took a seat next to Hermione, and he went to grab his copy of Confronting the Faceless when Professor Snape stated. "I have not asked you to take out your books." Rolling his eyes, Leo dropped his book back in his bag before settling into his seat, watching Professor Snape move to the front of the class. "I wish to speak to you, and I want your fullest attention." He then looked over the class before carrying on. "You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I believe. Naturally these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work which will be much more advanced."

Leo thought to himself that they were being underestimated, as more than half of the current class had been involved in the DA the year before and a lot of them had already produced corporeal Patronuses. He didn't dare state that out loud however, not wanting the wrath of Snape that had been extremely quick to be thrown at him since the revelations of last Christmas, in his first lesson.

The Professor continued, having set off on a path around the edge of the classroom. "The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible." He sounded enthralled by the subject and Leo felt a shiver run down his spine at the tone that Snape was using. "Your defences must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo. These pictures give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse." He pointed to a picture of a witch who was writhing and shrieking in sheer agony. "Feel the Dementor's Kiss." Another picture, this time of a wizard sitting in a huddle, blank eyed and barely breathing as he stared into nothingness. "Or provoke the aggression of an Inferius." This time there was no witch or wizard, just a mess of blood and limbs.

"Has an Inferius been seen then?" Parvati Patil asked in a sort of squeal.

"The Dark Lord has used Inferi in the past." Snape explained. "Which means you would be well advised to assume he might use them again. Now…" He trailed off as he began walking down the other side of the classroom, and Leo was enraptured in the lecture, feeling a similar sort of way as he had done back in the Hog's Head or the Room of Requirement last year listening to Harry. "You are, I believe, complete novices in the use of nonverbal spells. What is the advantage of a nonverbal spell?" Hermione's hand shot up into the air, but Leo's joined her at a slower pace half a second later. Snape looked between the pair with loathing, waiting for another hand to rise up. When no others joined however, Snape unhappily said. "MacDonald."

He looked apologetically at Hermione, but he began his answer. "Your opponent doesn't know what spell he is facing, though depending on the caster the spell might be underpowered due to your focus going on the act of nonverbally casting instead of the spell itself."

Snape looked at him, deadpan. "I only asked for the advantage, and yet you arrogantly assumed you would continue with a disadvantage." He scolded, leaving Leo recoiling at the unexpected vitriol. "But yes, those who progress to using magic without shouting an incantation will gain an element of surprise in their spellcasting. Not all wizards can do this, of course. It is a question of concentration and mind power which some… lack." His gaze was now on Harry, though Leo thought he saw a brief glance towards himself, though he assumed that was his imagination after being scolded in front of the class. "You will now divide into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on."

As the group cleared the tables out the way, Hermione whispered over to him. "That was a good answer, Professor Snape just…"

"Hates Snuffles, yeah." He whispered unhappily, interrupting her. "Do you want to go together?" She nodded, and they took their places opposite from one another. Thankfully Harry had taught them all shield charms early in their DA meetings so Leo was proficient with the spell, but the nonverbal aspect was trickier to get to grips with. He tried a couple of different methods, trying to force the thought down to his arm had no effect, and so he moved onto just imagining a shield, and ended up inside a giant water bubble for his efforts. He was half a meter off the ground when Professor Snape jabbed his wand to burst the bubble, causing Leo to fall to the floor.

"Sorry." Hermione whispered. "Try jinxing me. Just breathe naturally and think the spell calmly."

"I said silence." Snape called from across the room. Leo sighed and nodded, pointing his wand at Hermione and thinking Locomotor Wibbly. At first nothing happened, but as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he tried again, hearing his spell bounce off a shield. Opening his eyes he saw Hermione grinning and nodding, before stopping with wide eyes as she saw Snape behind Leo. "Next time, keep your eyes open. If you are duelling with your eyes closed then you are doomed."

Leo nodded, but try as he might when he could see his target the nonverbal aspect was too difficult. Thankfully Professor Snape had moved to a new target, as he called out. "Pathetic, Weasley." Leo looked around to see a purple faced Ron gasp a large breath, as he was evidently holding it to try and cast. "Here, let me show you…"

He turned his wand on Harry quickly, so quickly that the Gryffindor yelled out. "Protego!" And pulled off a shield charm so powerful that Professor Snape flew into a desk.

Leo didn't know whether to be horrified or grin at the sight, but as Professor Snape got back to his feet and brushed himself off he was scowling, and Leo gulped at the sight. "Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?"

"Yes." Harry stated bluntly.

"Yes Sir." Snape corrected.

And then, Harry said one of the greatest things that Leo had ever heard. "There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor."

Leo unintentionally snorted in laughter, and covered it up with a cough, semi successfully. Thankfully a few others in the class had made noises of their own in either horror or amusement so his own slip was drowned out. Professor Snape's scowl was even greater after the reactions of the class, as he snarled over at Harry. "Detention, Saturday Night, my office. I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter… not even 'the Chosen One'."

The lesson settled down after that as Professor Snape simply began to prowl the room silently, looming over the class like a Dementor. Thankfully Leo didn't leave the lesson having completely failed as he managed to shield a trip jinx silently mere moments before Professor Snape had them pack up and leave, though the talk in the corridors afterwards was expectedly focused solely on the altercation between Harry and Snape.

The sixth-year schedule was such that Leo had another free period after that Defence lesson, and this time he found company with Fay in the Common Room, though his best friend barely even glanced up from her Ancient Runes essay when he greeted her. Sitting down on a separate seat, Leo then asked. "Are you annoyed at me?"

Fay rolled her eyes. "No, Leo." She muttered, keeping her attention on her essay.

"Then what's up?" Leo asked. "I know you well enough to see that it's something."

Sighing, Fay put her parchment to one side. "It's nothing, it's petty…" She trailed off. "It's just always been us; you know? Me, you and Anna. Now you're acting all chummy with Harry and the others and leaving us two out."

Leo felt like he'd taken a punch to the ribs. "I don't mean to leave you out…" He insisted. "I just… how do I explain it. We spent a lot of time together over the summer. My mum is deeply involved in the resistance to You-Know-Who… that sort of thing means we sort of have to become friends, you know? We're stuck there not being able to talk to anyone else about it."

"Why not?" Fay asked. "You can talk to us."

"I can't." Leo sighed. "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I am literally sworn to secrecy by Professor Dumbledore…"

Fay looked at him sadly, though thankfully she didn't push that any further, and instead said. "I just miss us, you know? We were never the popular Gryffindor's, we could keep to ourselves and let the others get into whatever trouble they wanted. Now it seems like you're with them when a few years ago you couldn't wait to be away from Harry."

"I'm not on any side but the one that's trying to stop You-Know-Who." Leo told her. "Things just aren't the same anymore. The things happening out there in the world are affecting things here at Hogwarts, and Harry is… well he's basically family now. My Father is his Godfather and the only decent family he has left by the sound of it."

"You're being dragged into the war by everyone around you." Fay said sadly.

Leo shrugged. "With my parents I never had a chance of staying out of it. But it's not a bad thing, Fay. Fighting for what is right… it shouldn't be something we feel forced to do, it should be natural." He moved over to sit on the sofa beside her, careful not to sit on her homework as he stared into the fireplace. "For a while I wondered why I was put into Gryffindor. I'm not brave like Harry, I liked my lessons and I often enjoyed learning, I believed I should have been in Ravenclaw. This new reality… it's eye opening. It's making me sure of who I am and who I stand for." He took a breath and looked over at Fay, who was staring at him with… some kind of look that he couldn't quite work out. A mix between admiration and pity. To break the tension he nudged her arm with his shoulder. "But I swear I'll make time for us too, you're my best friend, never forget that." Fay nodded, leaning in to rest her head against his shoulder contently. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes when Fay snorted in laughter. "What is it?" Leo asked.

Sitting upright again and grabbing her homework, Fay answered with another question. "If you're best friends with Potter now, can you convince him to put me in the team as a beater?"

He met up with Fay again as the latter was coming away from her first Potions class, and the walk down to dinner was purely her talking about Professor Slughorn's lesson.

"He let us all smell Amortentia before we started brewing." She was saying. "We get to try brewing it later in the year."

"That seems like a terrible idea." Leo shuddered. "Letting a bunch of 16-year-olds run around with love potion…"

Fay shook her head. "It's heavily restricted, any hint of taking it outside the dungeons and you risk expulsion, Professor Slughorn said. It really was a fascinating lesson; I've already learnt a lot more than in anything Professor Snape taught us." They'd arrived at the Entrance Hall at that point and were slowly making their way towards the Great Hall. "Then we got to see a little vial of liquid luck, and that was the prize for brewing the Draught of Living Death. Mine wasn't great, more like a royal blue than pale… but at least it wasn't as bad as Ron Weasley's." She chuckled. "But you'll never guess who won."

Leo shrugged. "No Snape… did Hermione finally get the credit she deserves in Potions?"

Grinning, Fay shook her head. "Harry. Apparently his Mother was a potions expert. I don't know where he's hidden that talent…"

Leo would find that out not fifteen minutes later whilst halfway through his lunch, a bit put out about the odd look that he had been given from Hermione when they first saw each other. All that was put to one side however when Harry explained about the notes written all over his Potions book and Hermione's ire seemed to have been pushed to the Boy-Who-Lived instead. "I suppose you think I cheated?" Harry asked after his explanation, clearly put out by her expression.

Hermione tutted. "Well it wasn't exactly your own work, was it?"

Ron, however, wasn't put out at all. "He only followed different instructions to ours." The red-head shrugged. "Could have been a catastrophe, couldn't it? But he took a risk and it paid off." He sighed dramatically as he piled his plate with second helpings. "Slughorn could have handed me that book but no, I get the one no-one's ever written on. Puked on by the look of page 52 but…"

"Hang on." Ginny had arrived and had overheard part of the conversation, and she was standing behind Harry with her hands on her hips, not looking pleased at all. "Did I hear right? You've been taking orders from something someone wrote in a book, Harry?"

"No…" Harry trailed off. "It's not…" His voice lowered. "It's not like the diary, it's not sentient, it's just a load of scribbles and notes from someone who was really good at potions." His eyes widened as he stared down at his bag. "What if it's my mum's old textbook?"

Leo shook his head. "The odds on that being the case Harry…" He trailed off, knowing that that would be next to impossible.

"I've never seen her writing." Harry stated coldly, clearly frustrated at the lack of support around him. "Slughorn keeps saying how good she was at potions… if she didn't strictly adhere to the instructions written in the textbook then that might explain it…"

"I'll call Sirius tonight if you like." Leo said quietly. "He'll know your mum's handwriting."

Harry, finally, looked happier at that, though the two women at his side were still uncomfortable. Harry groaned angrily and grabbed the book out of his bag. "Fine, check it! Do whatever if it will get you off my back."

Ginny simply huffed and stormed away, whilst Hermione quickly grabbed the book and hit her wand on the cover. "Specialis Revelio!" She stated confidently, though the grotty old book did nothing.

Harry grabbed it and took a final sip of his drink before dumping it in his bag and swinging that over his shoulder. "Happy?"

"It seems normal…" Hermione trailed; her voice laced in suspicion as she eyed the tome quizzically.

Harry shook his head and got to his feet. "Then back off, Hermione." He said firmly, before running down the table no doubt to try and catch after Ginny, leaving behind an awkward atmosphere at the table.

Given that he had dropped the subject, it seemed like Potions was on Leo's mind more now than it had ever been before because of Harry's used textbook. On that first Monday he had escaped to his dormitory after spending over an hour trying to calm Ginny down explaining that they'd found an inscription in the cover and that it couldn't be Lily Potter's old textbook, something that sent her into a brief panic as she was remembering her first year of school. It came up again when on the first Thursday morning of term as he was walking with Hermione to Arithmancy straight after breakfast, she began to rant on about the book once more.

"It isn't just Potions though… it's spells and other advice for sixth year schooling. Some of the spells don't even look like they're Ministry approved…"

"If you're worried about it, why don't you tell someone?" Leo asked her.

Hermione sighed. "Do you remember in third year, when Harry got his Firebolt?" Leo nodded. "I was worried then too and I went to Professor McGonagall… they didn't speak to me for months. He's already under so much pressure, I don't want to add to that because I don't trust this Half Blood Prince character."

They arrived outside the classroom where the other dozen students were, Anna included. Knowing that they wouldn't get more of a chance to speak about it now, Leo put his hand on her arm soothingly and said. "You've got good instincts, Hermione. If the book truly is dangerous then Harry will come around eventually, I'm sure of it. And if he does decide to be an idiot and do the same as three years ago, well then you won't be on your own."

She didn't look too overjoyed at his words but she nodded anyway in thanks as they went to join Anna, both of their minds more focused on a Potions book than the Arithmancy lesson they were about to attend.

Chapter Text

Despite the normality of school lessons and homework, things at Hogwarts were noticeably different even this early into the school year. A handful of students of all years were suddenly dropping out, including the Ravenclaw Eloise Midgen in Leo's own year. Professor Dumbledore also wasn't around all the time much to the surprise and whispers of most of the students, though Harry quietly swore Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Leo to secrecy before telling them about his meetings with the Headmaster, and the fact that he was learning all about You-Know-Who's past, something which sent chills running down Leo's spine.

Leo thankfully had the distraction of his new Magical Law subject, a course which was looking like it was going to be as intensive as Professor McGonagall had suggested back in his Careers Day talk with the Head of Gryffindor House. The lessons were held in a small classroom on the 6th floor, and again as predicted by the Transfiguration Professor, there were only 4 students including Leo himself.

Leo was the only Gryffindor in attendance, with the rest of the class being made up of Ravenclaw Terry Boot, someone that Leo knew mainly from the pairs involvement with the DA the previous year, while the other two in the class were both Slytherins, in Alice Rosier and Milicent Bulstrode, who Leo realised in his first lesson would be his third cousin once removed given his newly discovered Black heritage, and their first month of lessons began intensely, with the four students needing to memorise the laws implemented and upheld by the Ministry for Magic by the end of October where they would be holding mock trials led by Professor Marchbanks to give the students a clear insight into the way the judicial system worked.

The lack of students in that lesson however meant that for the vast majority of Gryffindor students, Quidditch Try Outs were the distraction to the new reality of life at Hogwarts. Fay had decided that it was her only chance to attempt to play the game she loved so much at school and had signed up to try for Beater, and Leo made his way to the stands with Anna in order to watch. There were so many people that had signed up however that Harry had to get the applicants into groups of ten to fly around the pitch once. That thinned the crowd a lot, and he could see some of the crowd were getting annoyed and agitated at the nonsense going down on the pitch.

"Look, they're Hufflepuffs." Leo pointed out grumpily at the fifth group of flyers.

Anna frowned. "Urgh, don't mention that House to me." She crossed her arms, before explaining in more detail than Leo needed about her recent break up with Wayne Hopkins. Thankfully it was soon Fay's turn to fly, and the pair of them stood up to applaud her as she successfully completed a lap of the pitch to move on to the next phase, as Leo was explaining to Anna about his latest dinner party with Slughorn later that night.

Firstly the chasers were picked, with Katie Bell, Ginny Weasley and fourth year Demelza Robins being chosen. Then it was time for the Beater specific trial. Unfortunately Fay wasn't picked, losing out to third year Jimmy Peakes and fourth year Ritchie Coote, though she had a couple of minutes chat with Harry afterwards before coming up to the stands to join them to watch the Keepers.

"Well done!" Anna cried clapping her hands as Fay squeezed in between them. "You were good!"

Fay shrugged. "Not good enough, but Harry told me that I'd be first choice if they need a reserve which is nice of him." She looked to Leo. "Was that your doing?"

He shook his head. "I haven't spoken to him about Quidditch, if he's picked you, it's on merit."

That gave her a grin that wouldn't leave her face as the final two Keepers took to the air. It was a straight shoot-out between Ron and Cormac McLaggen where they would face five shots each, and pretty much all of the Gryffindors in the stand were nervously whispering for Ron. They both did a lap of the pitch before settling into their goals, and Leo noticed McLaggen giving a leery smirk in their group's general direction. Looking around he spotted Hermione behind him looking rather green.

McLaggen would face his shot first, and by the time each Keeper had faced four there had been no goals scored. The fifth one however McLaggen shot off in the wrong direction as if he'd been confunded, conceding the goal. Leo stood up and clapped with the rest of the sixth years, but he looked back at Hermione knowingly as she was stashing her wand away discreetly. Thankfully Ron saved the last one and was confirmed on the team to the jubilation of Gryffindor.

"Don't look at me like that." Hermione snapped jovially as Leo rose a level to join her. "You saw him… he's been trying to talk to me all week as well." She shivered at the thought. "He makes my skin crawl."

"No judgement here." Leo shrugged, a feeling of elation beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach.

"I mean look at him." Hermione nodded to the direction of Harry who was being angrily accosted by the losing trialist. "We don't need that on the team, do we?"

"My lips are sealed, Hermione." He chuckled. "Changing the subject away from slimy seventh years… are you and Harry going tonight?"

Professor Slughorn had surprised him with a second invite to his so called 'Slug Club', with the Professor supposedly being impressed with the speech that Leo had aimed at him on the train, whereas Neville had seemingly been dropped from the Potions Professor's club completely.

"I am, and I'm so glad you're going too. I would have hated it on my own." Hermione nodded. "Harry's got his detention with Professor Snape though."

"Shall we walk down together then?" Leo asked, silently cursing at how lame he thought he sounded.

Thankfully however Hermione had a smile grow on her lips as she nodded. "Yes, I'd like that." With those four, simple words, his excitement for that evening tripled.

The Slug Club dinner was… nice. That was all Leo could really describe it as. It had been similar to the one on the train as new students that impressed Professor Slughorn on merit were interrogated about any famous relatives they may have, or just of boasting of certain skills and abilities that he had seen in them. The most interesting part of the dinner however was Professor Slughorn outlining his intention to host what the Potions Professor had described as 'a small, intimate Christmas Party' in a few months' time.

But aside from the interesting Slug Club meetings once every couple of weeks the days churned on. Hermione's birthday was on the third Thursday of term, and Leo gifted her with a history book about the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers of which she had mentioned an interest on in passing, perhaps due to one of the founders of the society having a double barrelled surname that included 'Granger'.

But the days passed and as predicted the joys of free periods turned into a standard practice of doing the excessive homework that was being set in the library or the Common Room mixed with a dinner with Professor Slughorn every fortnight. Leo was also spending a couple of hours each day practicing his nonverbal spells and was slowly getting the hang of some of the basic ones. He could now levitate objects silently as well as throw out a basic blast of magic for more offensive purposes, though more advanced magic was still alluding him.

As the first month of the school term faded and October arrived however, there was another notice appear on the noticeboard that excited all the students in Gryffindor as a Hogsmeade trip was planned for the second weekend in October, although with that excitement came nervous whispers as everybody was a little surprised that it was going ahead given all the extra security measures in place at the castle. Not wanting to pass it up though, Leo made sure he was in bed early the night before the trip and settled down, having some lovely dreams including one about Professor Slughorn's Christmas party. Hermione was wearing the periwinkle blue dress she had worn for the Yule Ball and the pair of them were dancing underneath mistletoe. As they leant in towards one another, dream Leo closed his eyes and…

He was forced awake and bolted upright as the dormitory room was filled with a flash of light, and a scream made Leo rip open his four poster bed curtains in a frenzy, only to see Ron hoisted in the air by his ankle flailing about. The scene before him was too funny to contain himself and Leo joined both Neville and Seamus in roaring with laughter, as Harry apologised and rifled through his potions book, before pointing his wand at Ron. The Weasley dropped onto his mattress after a second flash of light and Leo was still howling with laughter.

"Sorry." Harry repeated.

Ron was still face down in his mattress so his speech was muffled. "Tomorrow, I'd rather you set the alarm clock."

Leo had decided it was still hilariously funny after getting changed and ready for the trip out to Hogsmeade, and after heading down to breakfast with Harry and Ron, it was only Hermione that was unhappy at the amusing bit of magic, rightfully questioning the seriousness of testing out a handwritten, unknown spell. The kicker came when Hermione reminded them all of the Quidditch World Cup a couple of years earlier.

That had been Leo's last trip with his Grandad before Magnus MacDonald had passed away, and the fear that the old man had brought in him as he forced Leo to wake up and pack before apparating them both back to Loch Ryan haunted him to this day. Magnus wasn't a man to frighten easily, but the attack of the Death Eaters that day had chilled him to the core.

It was Leo's turn to be chilled when Hermione rounded on them about their magical blood. "The Death Eaters can't all be pure-blood, there aren't enough of them left." She was explaining after Harry had brought up the book's scribbler was a half-blood. "I expect most of them are half-bloods pretending to be pure, it's only Muggleborns they hate. They'd quite happily let all three of you join up."

"There is no way they'd let me be a Death Eater." Ron exclaimed, letting loose a bit of cut sausage from his fork towards the Hufflepuff table in his protests. "My whole family are blood traitors! That's as bad as Muggleborns to Death Eaters."

Harry agreed. "And they'd love to have me." He muttered sarcastically. "We'd be best pals if they didn't keep trying to do me in." That made Ron laugh and Hermione barely smiled, but they all looked at Leo and their mirth fell.

"Even if they'd have me, given my Father being one of the biggest Black traitors in recent history." Leo shook his head. "There is no chance I'd join them." He said, protesting.

"But they'd have you in a flash, Leo. The chance to bring the House of Black back into their ranks would be too good an opportunity to pass up." Hermione told him harshly. "So don't go telling me that this Half Blood Prince can't be a Death Eater, because the facts are that we don't know who he is, nor do we know his thoughts on Voldemort or blood supremacy…"

That sobered up the conversation, and Leo was grateful for Ginny appearing to sit beside Harry to hand him a note, as well as the arrival of Fay and Anna, whom he was travelling to the village with and paying for their drinks as a way to cheer up the latter after her break up. As he stabbed a rasher of bacon with his fork though his eyes wandered to his left arm as he wondered about how the news of his father had been received in the Dark Magic circles.

After their breakfast and an enthusiastic Filch jabbing them with the Secrecy Sensor, the students next battle was with the elements as they were getting buffeted by the wind, and the promise of an exciting trip out was growing less likely by the step. Leo's face was numb and his usually sleek black hair was in a mess by the time they escaped the wind inside the Scrivenshaft's, and from there the shopping trip that usually would have taken a few hours was done inside one, as Leo and his friends rushed around the village trying to avoid both the cold and the few still open crowded shops filled with students.

They arrived at the Three Broomsticks at just gone 11 after a second visit to Honeydukes, and nobody was more grateful than Anna as she threw her coat over the back of her seat. "We should have stayed in Hogwarts." She grumbled. Leo chuckled as he placed his own coat over the seat back and made his way to the bar to order their drinks. About ten minutes later he was back with three steaming tankards of butterbeer.

"Here we are." Leo said, placing them on the table. "The first of many… I still can't feel my toes."

Fay groaned. "I know butterbeer is really weak, but if we're going to be here for a while then I'm probably going to get drunk." She took a big sip anyway and sighed loudly in satisfaction. "That's the stuff."

Anna nodded, wiping her foam moustache away. "I could get used to you buying all the drinks Leo. Why couldn't you have got into that vault sooner?" She smirked.

"Shh." Leo whispered. "This is a one off to cheer you up. I don't have unlimited access until April, and even then I'm not using that money to fund a drinking habit." He took a sip himself and the warm butterscotch was soothing as his body started to warm up as they began to discuss everything from the Quidditch season to their lessons.

After their fifth butterbeer each the topic had gone back around to Anna spilling all about her breakup with Wayne once again. Not wanting to hear about whatever rebound plans the girls were about to begin to plot, Leo got up and made his way towards the toilets, spotting Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny sat around a table finishing up their drinks. He stopped for a quick chat with them before he went to the loo, almost getting knocked over by a determined Katie Bell as he went.

They stayed for a couple more hours until the drink had started to affect them noticeably, and the trio went arm in arm to protect themselves from their uneven balance and the wind, not knowing the seriousness of what had just happened on the path they were taking.

Chapter Text

The truth of the Hogsmeade incident was, in true Hogwarts fashion, the talk of the entire school the following day. Katie Bell had been the victim of a curse, and so the gossip mongers were out in full force trying to discover just why anybody would attack her. Anna's suggestion was a scorned girl who Katie had stolen a boyfriend off of, but it wasn't until after lessons that Leo managed to get a moment with Harry, Hermione and Ron where they told him what they knew.

"Another thing I missed." Leo rolled his eyes jokingly. "First last summer, now this…"

It was the wrong thing to joke about however as Ron's face whitened, while Hermione slammed her book shut. "Count yourself lucky that you weren't at either." She whispered harshly. "Katie could have died if Hagrid hadn't of been there and last summer…" She huffed. "I need to go." Was all she said, and she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the Common Room.

Leo immediately turned to Ron. "Ron… I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"It's fine, I know you didn't mean it like that." He said, colour coming back to his face. "I get it, I mean we were going to protect your dad… It feels awful thinking about what I could have done differently to save Dad, but at least I was there, you know? I helped where I could."

"You did." Harry said firmly.

Ron was thankful at that. "But look, if there's one thing I've learned about Hermione after all these years, it's that she'll only snap at you like that if she likes you."

Harry smirked. "Yeah, go and apologise to her and she'll be fine."

Leo somehow doubted it would be that simple, but he simply rolled his eyes as he grabbed his bag. "Where do you think she'll be?"

"The library." The pair said in unison without wasting a breath before they started to laugh together.

Shaking his head at both his own stupidity for not realising that, and the antics of the two Gryffindor's, Leo followed the route Hermione would have taken, arriving at the library to see it empty other than a handful of tables on the top floor. Thankfully one of them had the bushy brown hair that he was seeking. Taking a deep breath, Leo moved over to her table and placed a hand on the seat opposite her. "Can I sit?" He asked quietly.

Hermione glared at him for a second, but her expression softened and she nodded. "I'm sorry for snapping at you." She said. "I should have realised that you still feel some resentment for being left behind."

"I do." Leo admitted. "But that's no excuse for being a prat about it. Mr Weasley died, and you could have too. I should have thought about that before I opened my mouth. I'm the one that needs to apologise, and I really am sorry."

Hermione tensed up as she was reminded of her injury. "You're a boy, talking before thinking is something you're hardwired to do." At Leo's blank expression she chuckled. "A muggle term, you're built that way."

"Oh." Leo smiled. "I guess so, but it's no excuse."

Hermione smiled back at him and placed one of her hands on top of his. "And you really must stop beating yourself up about last summer. We left without you sure, but without you warning the Order then it could have been so different, and more people could have died."

He had been told that a few times, but that thought had never really sunk in before until it had been voiced by her. "I guess I did help in a way." He shrugged.

"You really did." Hermione nodded, squeezing his hand. "Now, while we're here do you want to work on Professor Snape's homework?"

Leo nodded, grabbing his relevant books as they began to work on their most recently set Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, happy to move past his stupidity quickly.

Magical Law was quickly becoming one of Leo's favourite lessons and he was growing increasingly thankful to Professor McGonagall for pushing him towards it. The intimate nature of the class with only 4 students allowed the classes to feel more relaxed as the early lessons were all centred around the basics of Wizarding Law, though by the time the third week of October hit, Professor Marchbanks was starting to crack down on their knowledge, spending the first half of each lesson quizzing the four students on certain areas of the law.

The second half an hour was usually reserved for a more historical topic, which was likely the reason Leo enjoyed the lesson so much, he realised as Professor Marchbanks began to write something out on the blackboard. He strained his eyes to see, deducing the word Wizengamot out before she had finished.

"The Wizengamot, who can tell me when this body was founded?" She asked. Leo's hand darted straight up, as did Terry Boot's. "Boot."

"1296, after the Sack of Berwick." The Ravenclaw explained. "One of the wizards supporting Scottish Independence, Hugh MacDuff, was imprisoned by the Wizard's Council for attempting to murder King Edward as a result of the massacre. As the crime had not actually occurred, merely being planned and recruited for, the Council were split on how to proceed, and so the Wizengamot were formed with the express remit of passing judgement over complex crimes."

Professor Marchbanks nodded curtly. "Well expressed. 1 Point to Ravenclaw." She stated. "The Wizengamot were originally formed from the nobility, but as the years have progressed and the Wizard's Council became the Ministry for Magic, so to did the Wizengamot. Does anybody know how many members there are?"

Leo's hand once again was raised, and this time he was called upon. "49. As 7 is a powerful number, the idea of the Wizard's Council was that 7 groups of 7 would be able to make the most informed judgements."

Professor Marchbanks once again nodded at the correct answer. "And a point to Gryffindor. Yes, the 13th century was a time of superstition, and so the Wizard's Council gathered men from all of the most important Pureblood Houses at the time and had them sit in judgement of MacDuff, including his own Uncle. They found him guilty by a margin of 31-18 and sent him to the Tower of London, but a precedent had been born."

Leo had done enough searching through his own family line to realise that both sides if his family at the time had likely been involved in the early Wizengamot, with his mother's ancestors being a large part of the Independence movement at the time. He thought on that after the lesson had ended and he made his way over to the Gryffindor Common Room, spotting one of the other Gryffindor girls in Ginny's year Anita MacDuff, related in some way to the subject of the first Wizengamot trial, as he passed.

Opening A History of Magic once he had changed out of his school robes and nestled into a comfy armchair, Leo began flicking through to pages about the early Wizengamot, eager to see if it had ever been recorded just how involved his ancestors had been.

The following Monday was a different gathering of the Slug Club, a name Leo absolutely detested, although the party had been entirely the opposite. Rather than the usual sit-down meal, Professor Slughorn had invited a group of his former favourites to share a drink and some music, but it wasn't until he was walking to Charms on Wednesday morning that he realised just how much the weekend's events had distracted him.

"You met THE Gwenog Jones and you didn't tell me about it until now?" Fay was exclaiming as she slapped his arm. "Are you an idiot?"

Leo's eyes widened in shock as he rubbed the area that had been assaulted. "Yes?" He asked tentatively, a smirk on his lips.

"Of course you are! Why didn't you tell me before? She's like my hero!" Fay continued. "A Gryffindor AND a beater! Tell me everything!"

Leo grinned at her excitement. "She was great, talked a lot about professional Quidditch and how tough it is compared to the school game. But did you know she got an O in her N.E.W.T.s for Transfiguration?"

Fay shook her head. "She's unbelievably talented, of course she did." Then she sighed. "I think she was my first proper crush, despite her being a Harpy…"

"She might be back at the Christmas Party." Leo shrugged. "We've been told we can bring dates, why don't you come along?"

Fay stopped in the corridor and pulled Leo's robe arm to halt him too, before she whacked him with her bag. "Are you dense?" She asked once more.

"Ouch, stop hitting me you harpy." Leo complained, rubbing his arm again.

"Leo, focus." Fay said abruptly. "You've been pining over Granger for ages, and now that the pair of you finally look like you could be more than just homework buddies, you ask a gay girl out?"

Leo frowned at the insinuation. "Not like that… but she's invited anyway and I thought…"

"It doesn't matter if she's going anyway!" Fay rolled her eyes in frustration. "Ask the girl out, MacDonald. Go together, have a romantic date. I can pass on meeting Gwenog Jones if it means you finally pull your head from your arse and ask Granger out."

Leo mulled that over for a moment, not even caring how many people walked past them in the corridor. "Are you sure…"

"Leo, stop." Fay sighed, changing tactic as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I enjoyed the Yule Ball as friends, but inviting me to these sort of events isn't compulsory, and even if I'm not shouting it from the Astronomy Tower, I'm done hiding who I am by hiding behind you. I want you to be happy more than I want to meet Gwenog Jones even if that would be really cool."

Leo smiled, and hugged his best friend. "Thank you." He whispered before pulling away. "But… how do I ask her?"

Another slap on the arm followed. "Just talk to her like a normal person you dolt." Fay rolled her eyes again. "Come on, we'll practice it in Charms."

And once again his arm was being tugged, and the pair made their way to the Charms classroom, though Leo's mind was never going to focus on the Extinguishing Spell, but instead on the thought of asking Hermione out. Unfortunately for him, Charms was the first lesson of a day where Leo had the entire afternoon off, but Hermione's afternoon was full with Herbology and Potions, so it wasn't until after dinner that he managed to be alone with her as they went over the day's homework together, a routine that Leo had come to really appreciate. They had a set of six candles set up as they were practicing the new charm.

"Suffocare Ignem." Leo tried, but nothing happened.

"Suffocaré, don't say it like care, but more like car-ay." Hermione corrected. "You need to accent the E on the end. Most spells have a form of Latin origin so while they aren't quite spelt the same when written down, you have to take care to say it like that." She pointed her wand at one of the candles. "Suffocaré Ignem." She said correctly while performing the wand movement, and the flame was immediately snuffed out.

"Right…" Leo trailed off, before trying the same spell, and thankfully getting the same result. "Thanks." He beamed over at her.

Hermione smiled, her cheeks reddening. "Now we need to focus on doing it nonverbally." She reminded him.

That brought a groan from the black-haired Gryffindor. "And that is where I'll struggle." He proclaimed dramatically as he placed his head on the table

"Nonsense, you've done well in Professor Snape's classes at not speaking the spell."

"Only because I tend to whisper it as quietly as possible when he's on the other side of the classroom." Leo shook his head. "That's the only lesson I'm worried I might actually get tortured if I do it wrong."

"He wouldn't…" Hermione trailed, before her mouth made a perfect O. "Oh of course, Professor Snape knows, doesn't he… sorry I don't know why I forgot that."

Leo nodded. "And ever since it's been like father like son as far as he's concerned." Leo shrugged, remembering the needless points that had been taken away from him since the start of the year for his shoelace being slightly loose, his tie not being up to the top bottom properly and similar, minor infractions. He tried to complete the extinguishing spell nonverbally to distract himself, but the candle only flickered. "Damn it."

"You've done well anyway considering you struggled in class earlier." Hermione said positively. "And the library will close soon, we should get going."

Leo's mind went back to his conversation with Fay, before he realised what Hermione had said. "We weren't sat together in class…" He trailed as she was packing her books away.

He noticed her pause for a second before continuing her clean up. "I noticed you were struggling from where I was sat, that's all." Leo smirked knowingly, and as Hermione looked over at him again she huffed. "Don't give me that look! Suffocaré Ignem." She extinguished the rest of the candles in one go with a wave of her wand.

"No, it's fine. I notice you in class too." Leo said, before wanting to slam his head on the table at how lame that sounded. "I mean…"

"I know what you mean." Hermione smiled at him, her cheeks reddening once again, thankfully not offended or unhappy at the prospect of Leo's gaze.

Leo was thankful that it apparently didn't sound as weird to her as it had to him, but he didn't say anything else until he had cleared his books away into his bag. Once he had and they tucked their chairs away, he did continue. "So… have you thought about Slughorn's party at all?"

That managed to stop Hermione in her tracks as she froze, the strap of her bag threatening to fall off of her shoulder as she hadn't quite placed it correctly in time. "The one we just went to, or the Christmas one in a couple of months?"

"The Christmas one." Leo said, trying to keep the nerves he was feeling out of his speech.

Shifting her bag so it was properly supported, Hermione then moved to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've thought about it." She replied quietly. "I told Harry about it and that he hasn't got an excuse not to attend. Cormac tried to ask me but I think I'd rather bring Grawp than spend an evening trying to fend off him… and I did think about including Ron, but…" She trailed off as Leo's heart sank, imagining the red-head on her arm under the mistletoe... "I wanted that to be a last resort in case nobody I actually wanted to go with asked me." She said finally, snapping him back into the conversation.

Leo took a deep breath to try and fill himself with more confidence that he had and said. "So if I were to ask you…" He trailed away hopefully.

Hermione didn't betray any emotion as her brown eyes stared into his own. "Ask me what, Leo?" She asked sweetly, a glint in the brunette's brown eyes.

Leo could sense that he was being teased, and that, strangely, gave him some additional confidence. Taking a breath and slightly puffing his chest out, he asked her. "Will you go to Slughorn's party with me, as my date?"

Hermione kept eye contact as her mouth twisted into a big smile. "Yes, I'd love to." She told him softly, her cheeks starting to flush pink.

A massive weight seemed to lift off of Leo as he grinned back at her. "Really? Brilliant." Was all he could say. Hermione simply laughed again, and the pair left the library in a comfortable, happy silence as both of their thoughts were eagerly latched onto the upcoming party.

Chapter Text

The day after Leo had asked Hermione to Professor Slughorn's party, the pair made sure to sit down together and have a long chat about their expectations, agreeing not to rush into anything else beforehand, both noting their friend's failed relationships after rushing things too quickly. That didn't stop them from continuing their evening trips to the library to complete whatever homework they had been given that day away from the distractions of their friends. It also allowed the pair to get to know each other a lot better in a similar vein to when they had been the only kids in Grimmauld Place earlier that summer, with Hermione opening up more about her growing up as a muggle and the difficulties in taking her school life back home with her, while Leo told her all about growing up without knowing who his dad was, but how his Grandfather had stepped up and helped his mum raise him, and the pair ended up comparing the differences of their childhoods regularly in between bouts of silence and the scribbles of quills.

Their regular meetings had not gone unnoticed by Fay, as she so keenly noted during Transfiguration the next week. "She said yes then." She whispered as the rest of the class were still attempting to conjure birds, with only a handful of loud bangs and smoke being accompanied by birds at that point.

"Fay." He warned. "Avis." He stated, waving his wand to no effect.

"Silently please, Mr MacDonald." Professor McGonagall called from across the classroom.

"I can't even do it out loud." Leo grumbled quietly.

Fay smirked. "Too much on your mind?" She asked, a clear attempt to tease him

Shaking his head, Leo tried again, although this time he thought the spell, and yet still nothing happened. "We just aren't shouting about it." He explained. "We're comfortable how we are as friends for now until the party, and then we'll go from there. Too many friendships get ruined by rushing into things." He tried the spell again, although this time a loud bang sounded, though the bird that appeared from his ebony wand wasn't exactly capable of flight, instead just flopping and twitching on the desk. He jabbed his wand at the thing and vanished it quickly. "Think of Anna and Wayne, they were attached at the hip beforehand, and now they can't see one another without screaming."

"Do you honestly think that will happen to you and Hermione?" Fay asked, her eyebrow raised.

"No." Leo shrugged. "But the closest I've been to being in a relationship is taking you to the Yule Ball and I don't think that's close to having an actual girlfriend. My mum's been single pretty much all my life and I can't really remember my Nan other than brief moments, so all I've ever really known is single people. Hermione's only ever been to the Yule Ball with Krum too, so yeah, we're taking it slowly and knowing each other as friends before labelling it as something it isn't yet. And that's working." He insisted, as he looked over at Hermione showing Harry how to wave his wand for the spell. Leo tried again, and this time a tiny little blackbird erupted from his wand with a bang and began flying around the room.

"Well done MacDonald!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, making her way over to their desk again. "And was that nonverbal, or did you whisper?"

"It was nonverbal, Professor." Leo answered.

Fay nodded up at the bespectacled teacher. "It really was." She backed him up honestly.

"Then do so again if you will." The Professor told him sternly, not moving a muscle. Leo did exactly the same as he did last time around, and once more a small little blackbird erupted from his wand with a bang and some smoke, joining the first one in flying around their desk.

"Excellent, Mr MacDonald. 5 Points to Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall rewarded him. "Miss Dunbar?"

Fay furrowed her brow in concentration and waved her wand, but nothing appeared from it. "Still trying, Professor."

"Well, perhaps Mr MacDonald here can aid you." The Professor said, before raising her voice for the whole class to hear. "This is the fourth session on this topic and next week we shall be moving on to our next spell, so I want all of you to continue to practice so that by our next lesson, every one of you can produce an animate bird!"

The bell rang soon after and the class was dismissed. Leo put his books together quickly and swung his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you later, I've got to run to History of Magic."

Hermione rushed past at that moment. "Well done today Leo." She smiled over at him brightly.

"Thanks." He grinned back, the smile staying on his face as she walked away, only for Fay to slide into his view with an even bigger grin, causing Leo's to fall off his face. "What?"

"Well done today Leo." Fay teased. Leo rolled his eyes and shoved her out of the way, listening to her cackle with laughter as she caught up with him. "Oh don't be like that. It's cute."

"You're annoying. And you're taking it way too seriously." Leo laughed. "Just, be cool."

Fay nodded, pretending to zip up her mouth, lock it, and throw the key away. Leo relaxed slightly as he started his route to the third floor, only to tense up again as he heard Fay whispering. "Leo and Hermione sitting in a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

Even Professor Binns droning on about the abolishment of the Wizards Council in 1707 couldn't distract Leo from the song that Fay had been singing earlier, and he was completely distracted while in the library with Hermione later that evening as they got on with that day's homework, with Hermione making the most of Harry, Ron and Ginny having Quidditch practice, the first with Dean Thomas who had been brought in as the replacement chaser after Katie Bell's attack. As a result Leo had barely had a productive evening by the time they were being hurried out before curfew hit, and as they made their way back to the Common Room via the secret passageway leading to the 7th floor corridor behind George von Rheticus' portrait, coming towards the exit of the passageway they paused slightly, raised voices sounding from the corridor outside, noticing the extremely familiar tones of the only two Weasley's left at the school.

"And Hermione's snogged Viktor Krum, and probably even Leo MacDonald! It's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got as much experience as a twelve-year-old!" Ginny was screaming.

"Merlin's beard." Leo whispered, looking to Hermione who had gone ghostly white as her brown eyes were plastered to the back of the portrait in front of them. They stayed completely still until it had been quiet for a couple of minutes when Hermione finally gripped Leo's hand tightly and turned to face him, her eyes widened in a panic.

"What she said… about Viktor…" She began. "I never… we never… we only danced at the Yule Ball and then spent time together learning about our different cultures. He was too old…"

Leo would never admit the feeling of relief that flooded through him at that moment, but at the look of her utter panic he somehow managed to keep his cool and insisted. "You don't need to explain anything to me, Hermione." He told her, squeezing her hand back.

"I feel like I do though." She responded. "I know we aren't… officially together in that way, and I'm still not saying we change our decision before the party, but being honest with each other is important. I don't know why Ginny said all that…"

Shrugging, Leo made to move before realising that he and Hermione were still holding hands. They both stared at their hands before quickly dropping them to their sides. Leo cleared his throat, which seemed to snap Hermione out of it as she threw her hands in the air. "Honestly, what is it about relationships that makes things so difficult?" She exclaimed. "It's like Harry and Ginny. They don't label themselves but it's obvious they have a bond together and can share parts of themselves with one another that they can't with others…" Her mouth once again formed a perfect O as she came to a realisation. "Oh… Ron found out."

Leo, meanwhile was completely confused. "What?"

"Ron found out that Harry and Ginny were growing closer and blew up at them. Honestly, that boy…" She shook her head. "And Ginny has been the little sister all her life and is sick of being babied, if Ron tried to tell her off for kissing someone she wouldn't take that lightly."

"Do you reckon he knew they were growing closer?" Leo asked, starting to walk again now that the path was clear.

Hermione shook her head. "Ron's been preoccupied understandably, but he's always been a bit dense when it comes to noticing that side of things… no, that's not fair." She sighed, internally retracting that statement. "I think he's just feeling a lot after Mr Weasley… and he needs constants in his life. Realising that Harry and Ginny are, whatever they are, it's probably just more change that he isn't used to."

They both arrived in the Common Room and noticed that both Ron and Ginny were nowhere to be seen. Harry meanwhile was sat by the fireplace poking the logs with the poker looking relatively sheepish. Leo was in the mindset to just leave him to it, but Hermione marched over and dropped into an armchair beside him. "Quidditch Practice seemed like it ended well." She commented dryly. Harry looked over at her questioningly. "We heard the end of Ginny's tirade as we were coming back from the library."

"Ah." Harry muttered. "Yeah, practice was terrible." He then explained a bit more on how Ron had injured Demelza Robins before getting to the bit of the argument. "So Ginny and I left together and when we got to the shortcut…" He trailed off, seemingly not sure on how to describe it.

Hermione, thankfully, wasn't shy about it. "Ron caught you two kissing." At his alarmed face she tutted. "Honestly Harry, you aren't as subtle as you believe, we've known something was going on between you for weeks."

"You have?" Harry asked, looking between the pair of them in surprise.

Leo nodded. "We didn't say anything because it's nothing to do with us, but it's been clear that you've both been helping each other get through last year… in your own way."

Harry was silent for a moment as he digested that before nodding. "I knew we shouldn't have kept it a secret from Ron, but Ginny just knew that something like this would happen." He sighed. "We're not even… we haven't really spoken about what it is really. I just need her and she needs me. We get one another in a way that nobody else does. Sorry Hermione." He added quickly.

"No, it's fine." She smiled softly. "I completely understand what you mean. Some of the things the pair of you have been through are really traumatic, I'm really glad you can help each other get through it."

"What do I do about Ron though?" Harry asked. "4th year was bad enough; I don't think I can go through that again with everything else going on."

Leo began to feel like he shouldn't be there when Hermione moved to hug Harry. "He'll come around when he realises that if he's honest with himself there is nobody he would trust dating his sister more. No don't give me that look, you two are dating even if you haven't labelled it yet." She scolded. "Just… give him time."

Harry nodded, looking like he had perked up a bit after the talk. "Thanks Hermione. And listen… about what Ginny said…"

"She knows full well I didn't actually kiss Viktor." Hermione rolled her eyes. "She was just trying to wind Ron up and it clearly worked."

Harry didn't even try to hide the fact that he didn't believe her, but as Leo was already feeling fairly jealous about the world famous Quidditch star he was thankful Harry didn't say anything else about it. Deciding that now was the right time to leave, Leo cleared his throat and said. "I'm going to head up to bed. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Night Leo." Harry nodded.

"Good night." Hermione also said, and Leo just smiled at the pair of them before he walked over to the dormitory stairs.

When he got to the 6th year's room he immediately noticed that Ron's drapes were shut haphazardly. Thanking Merlin for not needing to have another extremely awkward conversation, Leo quickly got himself changed and into bed, hoping that the next day would be drama free.

Of course however in truly normal Hogwarts standards, Leo's hopes were unfounded and the night's sleep had done nothing to cool the temper of Ron Weasley, who had stormed down to breakfast alone and was very careful to stick with Seamus and Dean at the other end of the Gryffindor Table. Grimacing at the fact that neither Anna nor Fay were down in the Great Hall, Leo had joined Hermione and Harry that morning and he could instantly tell that the silent treatment was affecting Harry. Not used to the awkward silence and not being able to find Fay and Anna, Leo quickly rushed his meal and excused himself, leaving Hermione grumbling something about boys being idiots.

They didn't see Ginny until the Weasley girl caught up with them on their way out of the Great Hall after lunch that same day when Leo was walking Hermione to Potions before making his own way to the library to complete his Magical Law homework during his free period. Ginny started by pulling the pair to one side of the corridor and saying quietly. "Harry told me that you overheard last night… I just wanted to say sorry."

"It's fine." Hermione shrugged. "Ron was being a prat, I know."

"He was, but I shouldn't have named the pair of you when I was trying to make a point. I was angry and I just wanted to hurt him." Ginny sighed. "He's my brother and I love him, but ever since Dad died he's been treating me even more like I'm a child and I just blew up when I shouldn't have."

Hermione hugged her friend. "I understand Ginny. He was just shocked to see you and Harry together I'm sure, he'll get over it soon I'm sure."

Ginny nodded, appreciating the embrace as she leant into the embrace. "It's just so frustrating." She said into Hermione's shoulder. "Harry came to me today and started to talk about not wanting to cause a rift and how he had decided to call whatever we are off before we've even started."

Hermione groaned audibly. "The noble idiot." She shook her head. "He doesn't realise how important having you to talk to is."

"That's what I told him when I said he needed to stop talking before I hexed him." Ginny chuckled. "Yesterday was the first time we had actually kissed. Until now we've just been the others shoulder to lean on and that's been nice."

"He'll come around." Leo said, hoping he wasn't sticking his nose in unwanted. "So will Ron. Change always takes time to get used to." He thought himself on still not completely being used to having a Father in his life.

"I hope so." Ginny sighed, bringing Leo back into the conversation and away from his thoughts when the bell began to ring to indicate the end of lunch. "Anyway, I have to get to Transfiguration. I'll see you both later." She waved them goodbye before running towards Professor McGonagall's classroom as Leo and Hermione continued their walk to the dungeons.

That Potions lesson had apparently turned out to be just as dramatic as the previous night however, as an angry Hermione came charging into the library after her afternoon lessons and threw her bag down on the table in front of him. Leo had to quickly move his ink pot out of the way as she began ferociously throwing her books and writing equipment on their shared table, and he was actually nervous to ask what was wrong in case of a rant being started when he only had a little more left on his essay.

"He is…" Hermione began, flicking through the pages of her potions book at speed. "The world's… biggest… prat."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Leo asked, hoping that he could finish the last inch on the International Ban on Dueling for Magical Law before he needed to focus his attention on her.

Hermione just shook her head and began scribbling furiously, leaving Leo to take a breath and continue his own work, making it all of 5 words before she inevitably spoke up. "He completely snapped at me in Potions, and for what? All I tried to do was help him ensure that his Everlasting Elixir was the right shade of blue and he just flies off the handle talking about Slughorn's party of all things! He shoved past Harry on our way to Herbology too, muttering about betrayals. Harry is dreading Quidditch practice on Friday in case he flies off the handle again."

Leo didn't blame him. "He'll calm down." Was all he could say, his thought process on the Ministry for Magic's foreign policy dwindling. "If he doesn't, then I can't imagine Harry will be careful around him for long."

And after Ron continued on his tirade of being horrible to Harry, Hermione and Leo over the course of the following two days, Leo's library prediction turned out to be exactly the case that Friday when the Quidditch practice ended and the team filtered back into the Common Room slowly. Dean Thomas was the first in, rushing straight up to the dormitory and out of sight before Demelza Robins, Ritchie Coote and Jimmy Peakes stormed in with faces like thunder, to which Leo distinctly heard Ron's name being mentioned aggressively by one of the two beaters.

It was twenty minutes afterwards when Harry, Ginny and Ron walked in. The latter looked like he did when he had received the Howler in their second year and went up to bed early, while Harry and Ginny sat down on a nearby sofa. Harry immediately closed his eyes and let out a big sigh.

"Everything alright?" Hermione asked.

Ginny scoffed. "Ron was an absolute arse tonight." She muttered darkly.

"He made Demelza cry." Harry explained. "And he tried to punch me when I went to talk to him afterwards."

"He did what?" Hermione exclaimed, horrified as she bolted upright in her seat.

Ginny nodded. "It wasn't pretty. We finished early then and I'd had enough, so I dragged the pair of them by the ears and sat them down to set the record straight."

"Do you think he listened?" Harry asked, and Leo could clearly see the wave of hope that rose in his face.

"You kissed and made up, didn't you?" Ginny raised an eyebrow, laughing at Harry's wide-eyed reaction. "He'll sulk tonight and then feel guilty by the morning, it will be fine." She leaned over to kiss Harry on the cheek. "I better get some sleep, if he plays like he did tonight then I'll need to be well rested to score more than Slytherin do." She bid the rest of them good night before departing.

Hermione ended up moving to take Ginny's vacant seat. "Do you really think you've made up?" She asked hopefully.

Harry shrugged. "He apologised for blowing up at us and being an arse in Potions the other day, Ginny apologised for mocking him. I apologised for not talking to him about Ginny and I earlier. I think he's cool with us now, but he did make a point of saying he doesn't want to see us… getting intimate." Harry told them, making quotation marks with his fingers at the last two words.

"He's such a child." Hermione scoffed, lowering her voice as Lavender and Parvati passed them to sit down at a different table. "He won't be turning his nose up at the idea of two people snogging when it happens to him."

"If he keeps acting like this it won't happen to him." Harry sighed. "He's cut up about you two hanging out a lot for some reason, as well as being the only one left out of Slughorn's party now that Ginny is going with me. He seems to think we're all keeping secrets from him and he's being pushed out."

Leo shook his head. "That's not what's going on…" He tried to begin, but Hermione wasn't quite as diplomatic about it.

"Nothing's going on." Hermione huffed as she threw her hands up in exasperation. "Leo and I enjoy doing our homework in peace without me having to worry about finishing off two other sets of the same work. That's not a crime, I'm allowed other friends and I don't deserve to be snapped at for doing so."

Harry held his hands up in surrender. "I'm not saying anything, Hermione."

She nodded, leaning back with her eyes closed while she pinched the bridge of her nose in a way to calm herself down. "I know, I'm sorry Harry. I just hate being treated like dirt when I've done nothing wrong."

They fell into a brief moment of silence before Harry put his foot in it. "Could you not invite him to the party?" Harry asked. "Just… bring him as a friend or something, so he doesn't feel left out."

Hermione clenched her jaw tightly. "I'm not inviting him out of pity when he's been mardy with me all week. Besides, I'm already going with Leo. He asked me a couple of weeks ago when the party was first announced."

Harry's eyebrow raised as he looked between the two of them and despite wanting the floor to swallow him up to avoid the gaze Harry was giving him, he stood firm. "I did." He nodded.

"So… was Ginny right?" Harry asked, still staring at Leo with an odd expression. "Are you two… you know?"

Leo looked into the fireplace with a brief thought on how much it would hurt to jump into it instead of answering that question, but he heard Hermione slap Harry round the back of the head with some parchment before exclaiming. "Is that really all you boys think about? No, it's not like that at all, we are friends. I wasn't actually going to say anything at all and only told you now because I don't want to lie to you again like I did with the Yule Ball. Leo and I enjoy one another's company and have become good friends this year which is more than I can say about how I feel about Ronald at the moment. These parties Professor Slughorn has been hosting are actually fun, Harry, and I want to enjoy myself without worrying if my guest is going to start having a go at me for something that didn't even happen."

"Ok, ok." Harry nodded, grimacing as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I just…" He trailed off as he stared into the fire with a rare grin on his face. "When I came to Hogwarts this year I expected to be worrying about Voldemort, about being stuck here not being able to do anything while he's out there. I didn't expect to be worrying about who is seeing who this year with everything that's going on. It's almost nice to have normal worries for the time being, like a new relationship or questioning how to stop Ron thinking he is rubbish at Quidditch."

Hermione chuckled at the thought. "It is a nice change of pace I suppose."

"But one that won't last." Harry sighed, the weight of the world completely on his shoulders. "I better head up to bed too. Maybe if I can get lucky and catch the snitch early…" He trailed off again, his eyes wide in some kind of realisation. "Night!" He said quickly, jumping to his feet.

Another round of good nights followed, and very soon the common room was practically empty. Hermione stretched out on the sofa and sighed loudly. "I'm sorry about that." She said quietly. "I just… I had to tell him it was platonic to stop whatever was going to be said next. I love Harry but considering the last time I went on a platonic date with somebody…" She stopped there, turning onto her side to look directly at him, her brown eyes seemingly pouring into his soul. "I just know what will happen, he'll try and be ok with it but will feel protective, Ron will be Ron and I'll never hear the end of it. I meant what I said when you asked me, Leo. I'm very happy with how we are at the moment, but I'd love to go as your date."

Leo smiled widely. "I'm glad." He said softly. "And I'm happy too. I enjoy your company, whatever form that takes. I've seen with Anna what rushing into a relationship can do and I don't want that."

Hermione smiled as she closed her eyes for a moment to get a final moment of relaxation in before bed. "I agree." She nodded, before pushing herself upright. "I think I'm going to go to bed too. I think I'll need to be well rested for tomorrow in case Ron is still going to be a prat." She rose to her feet, squeezing Leo's shoulder as she passed him to get her bag. "See you in the morning."

"Good night, Hermione." Leo said as she walked away. When she had gone he turned to the fire and took a deep breath. Harry's glare was still etched in his mind, but the thought of turning this enjoyable friendship with Hermione into something more was starting to become more real, and Leo couldn't decide if that was brilliant or just a downright scary prospect.

Chapter Text

He dreamt that night of a bright summer's day on the shores of Loch Ryan. He had made a picnic basket full of snacks and treats, and he was lying down on the blanket while Hermione was wading in the shallows along with his parents. It was pure bliss, and he couldn't help but smile when she turned around and gave him a wide smile, when suddenly the sky went dark, and plumes of black smoke began descending from the sky, until a flash of green light woke him up with a jolt.

Panting, Leo noticed that the sunlight was streaming in through the windows and into the gaps between the curtains on his bed. He took a minute to settle himself down from the dream before pulling the duvet away and swivelling around so that his bare feet were on the wooden floor. Pulling the curtains open, he noticed that the others in the dorm had already left and one glance at his watch showed that he only had an hour left to get some breakfast. Quickly getting changed into some casual clothes while adding a crimson jumper over the top, he finished off by pulling on some boots and went running down towards the empty common room, only to bump into none other than the witch he had been dreaming about the night before.

"Leo!" Hermione exclaimed, a brief smile on her face as she saw he was about to run into her. Thankfully he stopped just in time, but at that exact moment he also noticed her face morph into a frown. "You're late, you've almost missed breakfast."

"I know, I overslept." He admitted bashfully, running a hand through his hair. "But I'll meet you down at the pitch after I grab something?"

Hermione huffed, folding her arms angrily as she tapped one of her feet on the floor angrily. "I don't think I'm going." She said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Leo asked, completely confused. "Why not?"

She flung herself into a sofa and groaned louder than Leo's stomach rumbled. "Harry is cheating! He won a vial of Felix Felicis in Potions earlier in the year." At Leo's blank look of not understanding she scoffed, shaking her head before rushing into an explanation. "It's liquid luck, and has been banned in both examinations and sporting events since the 17th Century! His grand idea to stop Ron panicking was to douse him in an illegal substance!"

Leo's first thought was to think that it was a brilliant idea, before the more rational part of his brain took over. "Are you sure it was liquid luck?" He saw her glare at him and tried to explain quickly. "I'm not doubting you! I'm just checking. Maybe it was a calming drought, or maybe a laxative potion to keep him otherwise occupied instead of jumping down all of our throats at the slightest thing."

He could see Hermione's lips flinch towards a smirk before they returned to the frown. "I recognised the bottle from Professor Slughorn's class when he put it away. I just can't believe him!" She let out a frustrated grunt again. "He knows it's illegal. If he's caught…"

"He won't be. He's Harry Potter." Leo said wanting to roll his eyes at the mere thought of Harry ever getting in major trouble, but he resisted his urges, instead moving closer to sit on the arm of the sofa she had jumped onto. "I'm sure his intentions were good, and…"

"Please tell me that you, the Magical Law student who has been speaking for months about a career within the government, are not about to defend Harry as he is about to potentially break a 300-year-old law intended to ensure fair sportsmanship here." Hermione frowned up at him, folding her arms crossly.

Leo shrugged, knowing that she made an excellent point. "I wouldn't normally…" He insisted. "But…"

"But what?" She narrowed her eyes.

With a grin, he simply said. "We're playing Slytherin." This time it was his turn to receive the slap over the head, but there was no malice behind it and Leo heard soft chuckles follow.

"I suppose it is always nice to see Harry get one over on Malfoy." She sighed, though her brow furrowed once more as she gave Leo a determined glare. "But I'm not happy about the cheating."

Leo nodded. "We'll tell him off together afterwards." He joked, before offering her his hand to help her up. "Come on, I need some food before I head down or I'll be the one falling out of the sky."

He grinned later on when he realised that they didn't let go of one another until they reached the staircase.

After scoffing down two slices of toast and a pumpkin juice, Leo was among the last to arrive at the Gryffindor section of the Quidditch Pitch, rising up the stairs just as the new announcer for the year had started his commentary, and it only took the first sentence for Leo to groan at the boring tone and wish Lee Jordan hadn't left Hogwarts the previous summer.

"Hello and welcome to the start of the 1996/97 Hogwarts Quidditch tournament with the usual matchup between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Today we have two new captains leading the teams out, as Potter and Urqahart have picked their teams to get their Houses off to the best possible start."

"Not that clown." Leo heard Seamus groan from the front of the stand as he took his spot next to Fay, with Hermione joining him on his other side.

Leo turned to his best friend. "Have I missed anything?" He asked her.

Fay turned to him and grinned after wiping the hair out of her face from the wind. "Malfoy's not playing, nor is Vaisey, he took a bludger to the head yesterday." She explained.

Her words made his eyes widen in sheer alarm and he looked over at Hermione knowingly. "That's a stroke of luck." He muttered dryly, realising that perhaps Harry really had done it and his thoughts ran at 100 miles an hour from there, thinking about how if he was caught then Gryffindor would likely forfeit the entire season, and then they'd all be in trouble with no Quidditch to distract them. Hermione seemed to agree and her frown returned as she folded her arms.

"And here come the teams." The announcer stated as 14 players came walking out of their changing room tunnels before mounting their brooms and pushing up into the air. Leo recognised the voice at this point, hearing 5th year Hufflepuff and heavily disliked former member of the DA Zacharias Smith. "For Gryffindor we have Weasley, Weasley, Robins, Thomas, Coote, Peakes and Potter. For Slytherin meanwhile, we have Bletchley, Urqahart, Pummel, Baddock, Crabbe, Goyle and Harper!"

"He's so dull, what was McGonagall thinking choosing him?" Fay groaned. Leo agreed, being used to the enigmatic Lee Jordan for the last 5 years had given them a certain expectation in how Quidditch commentary at Hogwarts should be.

"Instead of having one commentator we have 3 this year." Hermione explained to them all. "Apparently some students complained about bias when Lee was here so there are just enough to ensure there's always an unbiased party."

It made a lot of sense, but everybody around them agreed that they would miss Lee as all of the players but Harry and Urqahart got into their positions. Leo leant forward excitedly as Madam Hooch spoke to the two captains, noticing that Harry offered his left hand for a handshake before the whistle blew, the players kicked into the air and the balls were released.

"GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" The chant from around them roared, Leo included as he clapped his hands watching as the Quaffle immediately was captured by Slytherin 3rd Year Malcolm Baddock.

"Well there they go." Smith announced. "And I think we're all surprised to see the team that Potter's put together this year. Many thought given Ronald Weasley's patchy performance as Keeper last year that he might be off the team. But of course… a close personal friendship with the Captain does help…"

"He got in on merit!" A feminine voice shouted from behind Leo, and he could only nod his head fiercely as the Slytherin chasers broke down the pitch for their first shot.

"Oh and here comes Slytherin's first attempt on goal… it's Urqahart streaking down the pitch and…" The Slytherin captain punched it towards the right hoop, only for Ron to swoop down and kick the Quaffle away. "Weasley saves it. Well, he's bound to get lucky sometimes, I suppose." Smith added, only for the Gryffindor's to boo the dull commentator before chanting Ron's name out. Hermione and Leo just looked at one another again, and as the game went on it was looking more and more likely that Hermione had been right and Ron had ingested liquid luck. Everything was going his way as he punched, kicked and one time even headed the Quaffle away, letting absolutely nothing in the hoops behind him while Ginny alone scored 4 goals to help Gryffindor to a 60-0 lead on the half hour point, something that stopped Smith from picking on the pair of red heads and moved him on to the two beaters instead.

"Did we really offend him that much last year in the DA?" Fay grumbled, clapping as Dean intercepted a good break from the Slytherin's before the Gryffindor crowd began cheering when he went all the way up the other end and scored again. In fact the goals kept coming and Leo's voice was starting to feel a little hoarse after another rendition of their own version of Weasley Is Our King.

Of course, a Quidditch match wouldn't end until one of the Seekers caught the snitch, and so when Gryffindor went 100-0 up Leo started to watch Harry more, meaning he had a clear view of the moment that the Slytherin Seeker Harper decided to collide with the Gryffindor Captain. "That's a foul!" He roared alongside numerous others that had joined in the protests, but soon his outcry was replaced with excitement as both seekers soared upwards, with Harry snatching the small golden ball from just underneath Harper's own hand, sending Leo and his fellow Gryffindor's into jubilation.

The Gryffindor team all soared towards Harry as the team celebrated all together, although one crimson blur went beyond the team and crashed into the commentators podium, causing almost the entire stadium to burst into laughter.

"I knew that Butterbeer would come in handy!" Seamus exclaimed over the noise as he started running towards the castle. "Party in the common room!"

Leo joined in the cheers that followed, only stopping when he felt a tug on his sleeve as Hermione looked up at him. "I'll meet you there, I want a word with Harry." He went to say that he'd join her, but Hermione pre-empted that by adding. "It's fine, I'll meet you there."

He watched her walk off before his sleeve got tugged again, and he saw Fay beaming up at him with a telling grin. Rolling his eyes he joined the descending Gryffindor's on their walk back to the castle. Most of them were singing Weasley Is Our King, but Fay instead decided she wanted to tease him, snaking her arm into his own. "I'm surprised you aren't trundling off after Granger."

Scoffing, Leo shook his head as he shoved her away. "We're not attached at the hip, Dunbar."

"It seems it." Anna said from Fay's other side. "You're always together now. In classes, in the library, snuggling up in the Common Room…"

"We're friends." Leo protested for what seemed like the thousandth time. "What is it with two people hanging out that makes everybody else so… judgy."

Anna and Fay looked at one another before they burst out laughing. "I think the gentleman protests too much." Anna smirked.

"I agree." Fay grinned widely.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate the pair of you." Leo grumbled.

"Almost constantly." Anna sang.

Fay linked arms with Leo and began to skip back to the castle. "We just miss you Leo, that's all."

"I'm not going anywhere." He shrugged, suddenly feeling the jubilation of the match disappear as his thoughts turned to the wider world and the threats that were moving out in the open. "It's just… times are changing. We're at war and whether I like it or not I'm right in the middle of it given who my parents are and what they are doing. As are Harry, Ron and Hermione. Me being friends with them is just an extension of that, it can't be like it was a few years back. Times have changed."

They stayed silent for a moment contemplating that fact as they entered the castle until they started rising up a staircase to take them towards the Gryffindor Tower when Anna asked. "Do you like it?"

"Sorry?" Leo turned questioningly.

"Do you like the fact you've been dragged into it." Anna asked. "I mean, before it was just us three getting on with things basically on the sidelines while everything revolved around Potter and his gang. Now, you're pretty much in that gang, the tides have shifted. You aren't… ignored for want of a better word."

Leo quickly got her meaning. "This isn't about having more friends, Anna." He tried to explain, his mind racing to try and find the words that would make two people as separated from the dangers as any both Fay and Anna were understand. "I just… part of my life has always been missing and knowing about my Father has just opened up more doors, but those doors being opened also means that the war is closer to me than it is to you because my parents are actively fighting. But if not knowing my who my Dad is meant the war never happened and You-Know-Who wasn't terrorising the country then I'd give it all back in a heartbeat."

"Even if it meant Granger going back to not knowing you exist?" Fay asked with an eyebrow raised. She chuckled at the look Leo gave her. "I'm only messing. It's nice, I've never actually seen you so… happy."

"It's reciprocated." Anna shrugged. "She talks more to us now too because of you."

"Does she? What about?" Leo asked, a little bit too quickly and the girls laughed again. "Oh shut up." He shook his head, storming ahead of them before the pair noticed the soppy grin that had appeared on his face.

When they arrived back in the Gryffindor Common Room the party was just kicking off, and no sooner had Leo returned from dumping his hat and scarf on his bed, passing an irate McLaggen on his way back down, when a bottle of Butterbeer was thrust into his hand by Seamus. Re-joining the girls they started talking more about the game when the portrait opened once more, and this time the applause ramped up as the members of the team started to filter in. First came the younger ones as Demelza, Ritchie and Jimmy entered, before the room erupted as Ron arrived with Dean.

"WEASLEY! WEASLEY! WEASLEY! WEASLEY! WEASLEY! WEASLEY!" The chants were roaring, and Ron lapped up the applause, shaking people's hands and grinning from ear to ear at the praise. A bottle was also thrust at him, and the red-head quickly downed the entire drink before cheering, as more applause and celebration sounded. Leo chuckled at the scene before turning around to congratulate Dean when all of a sudden further whistles and cat calls flooded the room and Leo turned back to see that Ron had suddenly found himself lip locked with Lavender Brown.

"Bloody hell." Anna grimaced from nearby.

Leo could only agree, the reminder of the accusations from earlier in the week springing to his mind. "Hypocritical little…" He trailed off, not finishing the curse and instead taking an angry sip to finish off his drink. Thankfully the snogging pair moved out of the centre of the room still attached at the tongues, leaving a clearer view to the portrait hole where a few minutes later Hermione came inside the Common Room, and Leo noticed her eyes didn't show the smile her lips were. She noticed him quickly and walked over to him.

"He didn't put it in." She whispered hurriedly, her voice showing her frustration. "He made me think he had… made Ron think he had, but the bottle was unopened. And now of course Ron is even more cross with me." She rolled her eyes and huffed, but that only served to point her in the direction of where Ron was currently wrapped around Lavender. "Oh for the love of…" She scowled. "After everything he's thrown at me this week?"

"I guess that's one way to get experience." Another voice sounded, and Leo hadn't noticed that Ginny and Harry had returned to the Common Room too, with Ginny looking over in disgust. "He looks like he's eating her face, doesn't he?" Ginny added, before shrugging. "I suppose he's got to refine his technique somehow."

"At least he won't be badgering you any more Hermione." Harry noted, and finally a laugh fell from the brunette's lips.

"That's true." She smiled, and Leo felt comfortable enough to go and grab another pair of Butterbeers, opening the caps and handing one to Hermione. "Thank you." She said softly.

They managed a conversation about the match for 5 minutes before Ginny shook her head. "No, I can't, if I stay here I might just throw up at the sight. Can we go?" She asked Harry, her eyes moving between him and the snogging red-head in the corner.

Harry looked over at Hermione, asking a silent question of if she would be alright. Hermione nodded. "Go, we'll be fine." Harry smiled at that, letting himself be led away by Ginny's hand.

"It gives you a bit of hope, doesn't it." Leo noted. "Seeing them two together and smiling."

Hermione nodded. "It's been a tough year, a tough few years, for Harry more than most. To see him acting like a normal 16-year-old… it's nice."

But the unspoken truth was there, and Leo knew both of them could sense it. He looked out of the window and saw the open plains of Scotland spreading out into the horizon, knowing that somewhere out there You-Know-Who was plotting something that would make all the smiles fade.

Chapter Text

While butterbeer itself isn't very strong, the celebrations of the Quidditch win had led to Leo drinking more than he normally would on a Hogsmeade weekend in a vastly shorter amount of time, and he woke up feeling slightly worse for wear. Noticing that all the other four poster beds had their blinds shut he got dressed in some comfortable clothes and groggily walked down to the common room to meet Fay, who had eagerly set up her Gobstones for a game of Jack Stones before they descended for breakfast.

As usual, he lost, and his groggy morning wasn't helped by all four of his stones letting out a foul-smelling liquid directly into his face. Spluttering, he very quickly wiped as much away as he could. "I hate this game." He stated grumpily.

Fay meanwhile was laughing. "You just need to be better at it." She smirked, collecting all the stones and setting them up for a classic game instead, where Leo groaned audibly at the thought of even more stones squirting him in the face. As they set up for another game, Fay then added. "Baz says hello."

Barry Dunbar was Fay's older brother having left Hogwarts after their second year to move to Iceland for work, and a person that Leo looked up to and respected greatly, being appreciative of how the at the time 6th year had looked after him in the first few weeks of his first year. "How is he?"

"Enamoured with the September Equinox still." She rolled her eyes. "Apparently this year there have been big links between that and the migration patterns of glacial plimpies." Shrugging, she flicked in the jack and begun the game. Fay had never understood her brother's obsession with Astronomy. "It had already been opened though."

Leo could understand that. A few days before Cosmo had flown in at breakfast with a package from his Mother, new Dress Robes for the Christmas Party, but he knew his Mother's wrapping well enough to see that it had also been tampered with. "What are they expecting, you to be writing to Baz to recruit Icelandic wizards to fight You-Know-Who?" He chuckled, his first Gobstone way off the mark.

Fay shrugged, her first effort gently nudging the jack. "I don't know, maybe?" She offered. "I'm just glad to know he's safe, and out of the country."

They stayed in silence after that, each thinking about the world outside of the castle as Leo, as usual, lost the game and ended up getting sprayed with Stinksap to Fay's muted amusement. Another loss followed by the time Anna joined them in the common room, and the trio made their way down to the Great Hall for their breakfast. They weren't early, but they were still among the first Gryffindor's at the table. Leo stuck to the toast at first to try and ease his stomach a little, but after spending about half an hour on one slice he decided he may as well make himself feel better with more of a half-hearted full English. He was cutting into his fried tomato when a body slid into the bench beside him, and Leo turned to see Ron Weasley there, his hands clenched together as he stared at them.

"I'm sorry." Ron started, taking Leo aback somewhat. "I've been a massive prat to you."

The darker haired Gryffindor steeled his face and just nodded. "Not just me." He stated bluntly.

Ron winced, but he nodded again. "I know… and I'll apologise to Hermione when I see her too…"

"She was really upset you know." Leo said shortly. "She was just looking out for you and you kept snapping because of what? Jealousy?"

Ron frowned. "I wasn't… look I didn't come to argue more, I just… I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Leo did, and he had literally just stated it. Not wanting to cause more of an issue however he just nodded. "As far as I'm concerned we're cool. I can't say the same for anyone else though."

It was as close they would come to a complete agreement and Ron could sense that, wisely choosing to nod and clear his throat before picking out some breakfast for himself. They sat like that in silence for a little while with Leo desperately trying to avoid the gaze of the two girls opposite him when for the only time ever, Leo was thankful at the arrival of Lavender Brown. Ron once again awkwardly cleared his throat before saying. "Right then. 'scuse me."

Leo breathed out in relief when Ron moved away to sit with his new girlfriend. "Bloody hell…" He whispered, shaking his head as he dropped it into his hands. "It's too early for this."

"You guys are so dramatic." Fay snorted, causing Anna to laugh out loud as well. Leo shot them a glare. "Don't look at me like that and talk to us! What's Ron Weasley apologising for this time?"

So Leo explained the argument that he and Hermione had overheard, as well as the days of vitriol that Ron had put them through. "He's only apologising because he started playing with Lavender's tonsils…"

"Ew!" Anna gagged, slapping him on the arm with a glare on her face. "That's an image nobody needs."

"It's one that's now ingrained in my brain." Fay shuddered.

"Anyway, enough about Weasley." Leo tried to change the conversation quickly, having had enough of thinking about the red head for the time being. "Hogsmeade is coming up, are we Christmas shopping again?"

"Only if you aren't taking Hermione to Madam Puddifoots." Fay grinned, causing Leo to groan and smack his head on the table.

Thankfully with Ron apologising things for the last month of the term settled into a pretty normal fashion with classes beginning to ease up slightly before the Christmas Break. Leo had already arranged that he would be going back to Grimmauld Place for the holidays and when the list began doing the rounds he quickly signed his name up to leave, only for Professor McGonagall to take him to one side after dinner two days before the train.

"Given your… circumstances." She began. "The Headmaster and I believe it would be wiser for both yourself and Mister Potter to avoid the extended journey of the Hogwarts Express this break, MacDonald. On the morning of the 21st December you both shall arrive to my office at noon and you will travel by Floo. Please could you also inform Mister Potter"

"Of course, Professor." Leo nodded; a bit disappointed that he couldn't travel on the train as planned.

The Professor noticed this disappointment and her face softened as much as her stern posture would allow. "I understand your disappointment, MacDonald, but it really is just a matter of safety, given you are to travel to the same location as Potter. Think of it more like you will see your Mother and other loved ones for a few hours more than usual, rather than missing out on a journey with your friends."

That helped, and once Leo was dismissed and had returned to the Common Room he noticed Hermione, Harry and Ron all sat in their favoured seats. Not seeing Anna and knowing that Fay was at her Gobstones club, he decided to go and join them, explaining to Harry what he had just been told.

"You're going to be together for the holidays then?" Ron asked, having successfully re-joined the group as if nothing had happened.

"We are." Harry nodded. "Though you're all coming over on Christmas Eve for three days, right?" He asked Ron.

Leo nodded, giving the answer for the red-head. "Mum insisted. I think Moony will be there too."

Harry perked up at that. "Good, I've not heard from him in ages." He said with a grin, before turning and asking Hermione. "What are you doing, Hermione?"

"I'm going home." She explained, barely taking her nose out of the book she was reading. "I've not been back for Christmas in 3 years at this point and my parents insisted…"

Leo remembered their conversation from the summer and winced, knowing how hard the next fortnight was going to be for her. The others meanwhile seemed oblivious. "You're not far away from Headquarters, are you?" Ron asked. "Maybe we could meet up…"

Hermione scoffed at the thought. "I almost got hexed by Moody when I travelled on my own last time, a quick stroll into the middle of London would go down horribly now!" She shook her head. "No, I'll see you back here after the holiday."

"What's Lavender doing?" Harry asked the red-head, who only groaned. It seemed like the novelty of snogging had worn off for Ron, as he had explained earlier that he was glad of the rest given that Lavender had received a detention for that night. He was saved from explaining that again however as at that moment the portrait hole opened and a loud, high-pitched wail was immediately heard. All the heads in the Common Room turned towards the source of the noise to see the 4th Year Romilda Vane running into the room in tears, with what Leo could only describe as ugly green winged things flapping around her face attacking her. She ran over to the dormitory staircase and out of sight as quickly as she could, only to be followed into the Common Room by a grinning Ginny Weasley, twirling her wand around her fingers.

Harry burst out laughing as the red-headed girl came over to join them, squeezing into Harry's seat beside him and giving him a quick peck on the lips to Ron's disgust. Ignoring him, Harry turned to his girlfriend and asked. "She tried it then?"

"Of course she did, the little slapper." Ginny rolled her eyes, though Leo could see the remnants of anger within them.

Harry turned to explain to the rest of them. "Apparently some girls have found it hard to believe that I'm taking Ginny to the party tomorrow night and they've been trying to sneak me love potions. I've taken to travelling through the secret passages for a fortnight to avoid them all. She's already tried to feed me some kind of chocolates."

"And tonight I was in the loo when I heard Romilda Vane smugly pouring something into a bottle of Gillywater telling her friend that tonight was the night." Ginny continued. "I don't think she appreciated me overhearing…"

Ron burst into laughter and even Leo snorted at the thought, wondering how anybody could think it was a good idea to cross Ginny Weasley. Hermione however frowned. "You shouldn't have hexed her, Ginny. This is the second time now."

The red-head rolled her eyes. "I'm not a Prefect, Hermione. I couldn't just give her a detention could I?"

"You could have gotten a teacher, or me…"

"And by the time that would have happened Harry could have been dosed." Ginny shook her head. "No, the bitch already knew not to cross me and she tried anyway, she deserved it." She kissed Harry again, lingering longer this time.

Ron scowled. "Come on…"

Ginny simply flipped him the middle finger before breaking away from Harry. "Go and inhale Lavender's face." She mocked.

"I'll see her tomorrow." Ron shrugged. "While all of you abandon me for a bloody party." Leo looked over at his date with a small smile. He had been looking forward to it for weeks and now that the day was finally here he was feeling nervous.

"That reminds me." Hermione stated, turning to face Leo. "You boys need to be ready for half past 7."

"And no later." Ginny added. "Then we can walk down together."

Half past 7 seemed doable despite Leo having a full day of lessons on the final Friday of term. "We'll be there." Leo nodded, with Harry quickly agreeing, both boys wishing that the next day would rush by quickly.

Of course, it didn't. Leo's first lesson on the Friday was double Transfiguration where Professor McGonagall gave them an insight into their first topic of the New Year as they moved onto human transfiguration. It took an hour and a half before Leo's left eyebrow changed from its usual black to a bright purple, and the lesson ended before he had been able to wordlessly change it back.

He had to rush to History of Magic after that, and even Lunch was a quick affair before Leo's full afternoon of Muggle Studies and Charms. He had changed his fringe to hide the purple eyebrow and had basically forgotten all about it until it was time to get ready for the party. Dressing himself in his new sleek black dress robes he left his tie until last before he moved his hand in his hair to style it how he usually liked, before audibly cursing at the sight of the purple eyebrow in the mirror.

"What is it?" Harry asked urgently, fixing his own burgundy tie as Leo turned around causing Harry to laugh.

"It's not funny!" Leo exclaimed. He pointed his wand at his eyebrow and said. "Finite."

It didn't work. Nor did it work when Harry tried the same thing to which the 'Chosen One' found even more hilarious. "Come on." He eventually said after his laughing spell. "It's almost half past and Hermione will be able to fix it."

Leo grumbled under his breath, but after one more failed attempt to right his eyebrow he gave up, following Harry down the stairs to the Common Room to wait.

Twenty minutes later and the girls arrived, and both boys jaws dropped. Leo noticed that Ginny had worn a lovely dark green dress out of the corner of his eye, but he was left stunned by Hermione. She was in a low-cut peach dress with a beaded necklace and she had tamed her hair so that her usually bushy locks were now simply wavy.

Harry managed to recover first, simply grinning as he pressed a kiss to Ginny's cheek as he said. "Wow, Gin."

"You don't clean up badly yourself, Potter." Ginny smirked.

Leo meanwhile was still struggling to find the right words. "Hermione… I… you look…"

"Breathe, Leo." Hermione laughed, a blush forming on her cheeks.

Leo nodded and took a deep breath. "You look beautiful." He said softly.

"You look good too." She smiled, before her brow furrowed. "Is your eyebrow purple?"

Leo groaned as he nodded. "I couldn't fix it." He muttered sheepishly.

"I think it looks good." Ginny shrugged. "Gives you a bit of colour other than just black." A grin broke out. "Black! Of course! How didn't we figure it out before!"

Leo glared at her jokingly, but thankfully Hermione had a smirk on her face and her wand in her hand. "Here, let me." She said softly. "Finite."

He didn't even need to look in a mirror to know it had worked as a wave of magic washed over his eyebrow. "Thank you." He said quietly, before offering her his arm. "Shall we?"

"Let's." Ginny was the one to state, pulling Harry towards the Portrait Hole. With a laugh and a wave to Fay and Anna in the corner of the room, Leo and Hermione followed on, the excitement of dressing up and the party the only thing in their minds.

As they walked down the corridor towards Professor Slughorn's office, Leo noticed the sounds of a party growing with each step as the laughter, conversation and the music became more evident. It was Harry that pushed the door open and almost immediately they were assaulted by the complete change to the room. Instead of a standard teachers office, it looked more like a wizarding tent with emerald, gold and crimson hangings instead of a ceiling. The room was bathed in a red light too as the golden lamp hanging from the ceiling was surrounded by bright and dazzling fairies. Leo also noticed that the students were outnumbered by a vast number of guests, a handful of whom he had seen before at previous meetings but a lot of new faces too.

"That's Eldred Worple." Hermione whispered to him; their arms still interlocked. "He's the author of Blood Brothers: My Life among the Vampires."

Leo saw a short, portly man in glasses next to a tired looking taller gentleman and his eyes widened. "It seems he brought one of them as his guest." He commented.

Professor Slughorn came charging towards them before the quartet had a chance to settle. "Harry m'boy!" The Potions Professor boomed. "Come in, come in! So many people I'd like you to meet." He gestured around. "And Miss Weasley, looking as lovely as ever." He then noticed Leo and Hermione. "Mr MacDonald, Miss Granger. A pleasure to see you once more!"

"Thank you for the invite, Professor." Leo smiled.

Professor Slughorn tugged Harry away quickly at that point, who was also attached to Ginny as they went around with Slughorn greeting certain guests and introducing them all to Harry. Leo was thankful that the Professor's attention was focused on Harry though, as it meant he could ease into the night. "Would you like a drink?" He asked Hermione, who nodded as they went to grab two glasses of mead.

In reality the party was more of a networking event than a dance, with numerous past members of the Slug Club being rather influential in the Wizarding World. Leo and Hermione slowly moved around the room, speaking briefly to Wendy Slinkhard, Ambrosius Flume and Barnabas Cuffe before Leo's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

"Hamish MacFarlan…" He whispered, spotting the man who had given his Mother a job as the Head of her department.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

Leo began explaining. "He played for the Magpies, Fay's team, in the 50's and 60's before becoming the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He gave mum a job before retiring about 10 years ago."

Hermione frowned. "So he's responsible for Ludo Bagman." She noted.

Leo smirked at her logic. "In a way." He took her hand. "Come on."

They moved over to where Hamish was speaking to Gwenog Jones, the latter of whom moved away just before they arrived. "Mr MacFarlan." Leo began.

"Ah, it's Hamish lad." Hamish stated. "Always at these events it's just Hamish. What can I do you for?"

"I just wanted to say it's an honour to meet you sir. My Mum always spoke highly of you." Leo began, shaking the elder man's hand. "Leo MacDonald, Mary is my Mother.."

Hamish broke into a grin at the recollection. "Aye of course, a bright young lass that was destined to work in sport. Your Granda must be old Magnus then?" Leo smiled sadly and nodded. "A fine shame that was, I was truly sorry to hear the news. I enjoyed my monthly talks with ol' Magnus despite him constantly petitioning me about that blasted game."

"He was obsessed with Creaothceann." Leo chuckled as he sipped his drink. "But he always spoke highly of you too."

The elder man smiled warmly at that comment. "Are you moving into sport too then lad? I still know a few people." Hamish wiggled his eyebrow.

"Not quite…" Leo began, though he left it there, not quite sure how much about his motivations he should say to his Mother's former boss.

"Leo wants to move into politics." Hermione beamed, noticing Leo wasn't going to add any more. "Hermione Granger, Mr MacFarlan, a pleasure to meet you."

"Granger… I don't know any Grangers." Hamish pondered bringing a hand to scratch his chin.

Hermione nodded. "You wouldn't, I'm Muggleborn, sir."

"Well that'll be why then." Hamish grinned. "Nice to meet you too, I don't suppose you're itching to move into the regulation of sports are you?"

Hermione chuckled. "Not quite." She repeated Leo's comment from earlier with a grin. "I'm leaning more towards the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"We both want to make the world a better place." Leo added, realising for the first time that Hermione hadn't truly moved away from her S.P.E.W. idea. "For people and for creatures."

Hamish's grin lessened, but he nodded all the same. "Fine ideals, and some that are sorely needed right now I'll tell you that for nought. Though, it's important to temper your expectations, I remember full well the blood rush of youth, but wizards are a slow lot to change."

"We know." They both said together.

Hamish clapped his hands together. "Well good luck to you both, and say hi to your mam for me lad." He pointed over towards a middle-aged woman. "Come with me and I'll introduce you to Madam Prickle, she works in the DRMC."

Hermione's eyes lit up, and the next half an hour was spent with Hermione firing off all kinds of questions to Madam Prickle about the department and how they could help creatures of all kinds. Leo was happy to sit and listen, truly inspired by the enthusiasm Hermione was showing.

A rather flustered Harry and an excitable Ginny soon joined them as the teenagers moved over to the window for a small respite. "Slughorn is restless." Harry complained. "I feel like I'm a show horse being auctioned off."

"One of those interested parties is Gwenog Jones." Ginny rolled her eyes before her grin returned. "And she's heard of us!"

Leo's eyes bulged in surprise. "Are scouts watching your games too?"

Harry nodded. "They scout all the games in some form, but Gwenog said that they only really pay attention to 6th and 7th year players unless somebody unbelievably talented shows up on their radar."

"And she knows my name!" Ginny almost shrieked, such was her excitement. "If I could play professionally… I know I've only played one game as a chaser so far, but Gwenog says my versatility is a strength."

"Well you've just got to keep training hard haven't you." Harry smirked, earning himself a light, playful slap on the arm.

"What about you, Harry? Have you thought about your career afterwards?" Leo asked, not prepared for the mood between them to shift as Harry's smile fell.

"One step at a time, Leo mate." Harry shrugged. "I'm a bit busy at the moment to be thinking about a career."

Leo felt awful, but Hermione came to his defence almost instantly. "It's worth thinking about Harry." She told him, placing a hand on Leo's arm. "If you have a future to look forward to…"

"I like the idea of being an Auror." Harry interrupted abruptly, mainly to stop the conversation in its tracks. "But I need to focus on Voldemort."

There was a sudden chill in the air at the sound of the name and Leo felt like an absolute arse for bringing it up. "Sorry." He said softly, and thankfully Harry put on a fake smile to retrieve the jovial atmosphere, patting Leo on the back.

"No worries, but let's grab another drink."

They moved further into the tent and picked up another glass of mead each as Harry and Ginny began to explain some more about their own meetings. Apparently Professor Trelawney was drunk and lamenting Harry's absence in her classes while Eldred Worple wanted to write a biography on Harry.

"I mean I'm 16, what sort of biography would that be?" He was saying, the mead perhaps loosening Harry's tongue. "Ten years of the Dursley's, and then a few hijinks at school?"

Hermione scoffed. "Really Harry? Hijinks?" He shrugged. "You've always downplayed your achievements."

"He's just humble." Ginny shrugged, standing on her tiptoes so she could plant a kiss on his cheek.

"It's not even that." Harry frowned. "I just… I don't know, we had this discussion last year."

"And since then I've learned so much more defensive magic from you than I had in 5 years previously." Leo stated bluntly. "Whatever you see your experiences as mate, what you've learned from them is invaluable to a lot of people now."

Harry looked incredibly awkward, and he was saved as he started peering behind Leo and Hermione towards the entrance to the office. At his slight smirk, Leo turned around to watch as the caretaker Filch was dragging Draco Malfoy in by the ear.

"Professor Slughorn!" The Caretaker wheezed in glee. "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

Leo checked his watch as Malfoy began to admit he was gate crashing, but the time of 7 minutes to 10 made that statement almost ludicrous, the party had been ongoing for a couple of hours almost and it was an hour past curfew. Professor Slughorn however had indulged in a lot of mead, and began slurring as he waved away Filch's protests. "That's all right, Argus, that's all right. It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once we'll forget any punishment. You may stay, Draco."

"He looks ill." Ginny whispered.

"He's up to something." Harry surmised.

Hermione groaned. "Not this again, Harry…"

"I told you in Diagon Alley what he is and you didn't believe me." Harry whispered. "I warned you that he was probably the one to attack Katie, and again you didn't believe me." He looked over at Malfoy again, who had now been dragged off by Professor Snape. "I'll be back later; I want to know what they're up to." And with that he was gone, his hand in his pockets retrieving something.

Hermione meanwhile was shaking her head as she downed her mead. "16 is too young." She stated again.

"You've been in Headquarters enough, Hermione." Ginny stated bluntly. "They recruited young last time too. And given how many we caught at the Ministry last year…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the reminder of the battle that cost them Arthur Weasley brought up fresh grief. "I can understand Voldemort recruiting young, trying to get a feel on who at school will be sympathetic to his cause or not." The logic made sense to Leo, and he hated to admit it to himself. "I'm going to follow him, knowing Harry he'll do something that will get him in trouble." She said, before briskly walking out of the room.

Hermione looked frustrated, and so Leo put his half-finished drink down and offered a hand. "A dance to take your mind off of it?"

Hermione threatened a smile, but despite her face remaining unhappy, she took his hand and they moved into the middle of the room anyway and began swaying. "Have you changed your mind?" She asked quietly.

"I don't think he's a marked Death Eater." Leo shook his head. "But Ginny made some sense there Hermione, we know his parents are right in the middle of it all, and honestly who better at the school to be a foothold into recruiting the younger generation."

"I just worry he's focusing too much on Malfoy out of grief for Mr Weasley." Hermione explained. "Ron will believe him of course, and you just saw Ginny… I don't want them doing anything rash until we know something for certain. They've already lost enough…"

Leo nodded, though he knew that they would all no doubt lose a lot more before the end, and the Weasley's were nearly all involved somehow. "I'll speak to Sirius over Christmas and see what he thinks." He offered. "And I'll keep an eye on Harry too, if he'll let me."

Hermione smiled at that, leaning her head to rest it on his chest as they swayed to the music. "Thank you, Leo." She said softly, before all conversation stopped and the pair simply danced away to the music, enjoying the rare opportunity they had been given to spend a more intimate evening together.

Chapter Text

The high that Leo felt immediately after Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party was very quickly tamed when the following morning he and Harry were forced to watch everybody else depart the school on the carriages first thing, waiting until noon before they were allowed into Professor McGonagall's office.

Leo was the first one to step through the fireplace and arrive at Grimmauld Place, and before the 16-year-old had even had a moment to take in his new surroundings he was enveloped in a bone crushing hug from his Mother. Smiling at the contact, Leo made sure to shift the pair of them to the left slightly so that Harry's arrival a few seconds later didn't knock them all over.

"I missed you too mum." Leo chuckled, gently releasing Mary from his grasp. She looked older, Leo realised, the stresses of the war had given her eyes a couple more age lines while he could tell her hair was lightening too. Despite that, she looked as happy as Leo could remember, her eyes beaming up at him as she took him in.

"Look at you." She said eventually, reaching up to caress his cheek gently. "You've grown again."

Leo barked out a laugh. "That tends to happen." He rolled his eyes at her, earning a gentle slap on the cheek from Mary at the cheek.

Closer to the doorway stood Sirius, having just embraced Harry. "Leo." He smiled warmly, opening his arms. Leo grinned back and walked towards him, hugging Sirius firmly in greeting. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to be back." Leo admitted, looking around at the old townhouse and actually feeling a sense of belonging there, a fact that surprised him as Mary ushered them all into the hallway.

"Come on, away from the fireplace." She instructed. "Go and put your trunks away and be back down here in 5 minutes for dinner."

Rushing up the stairs to his room Leo did exactly that, spending a bit more time than he was allowed by looking at the picture Sirius had gifted him on his last birthday before rushing back down to see that his meal had been plated up and Mary was glaring at him, though Leo just grinned cheekily before settling down in his seat. The teenagers both rushed it, eager to find out anything they could about the Order, and when they were all finished it was Harry that brought up the conversation that Leo had been waiting for. "So, what's been happening?"

Mary rolled her eyes as Sirius turned to her with a big grin. "I told you they'd ask." He chuckled, holding his hand out.

"And I told you, they're still young." Mary said scoldingly, though she reached into her purse and pulled out a sickle and handed it to him. "Harry dear, we'll tell you what we can but you must realise that some things are classified…"

"I do." Harry sighed, clearly frustrated at the answer. "But we all know that it will come down to me, I think I deserve to be kept in the loop."

"And you will be." Sirius nodded firmly. "But ultimately, since the summer Voldemort has been quiet. His followers have been terrorising muggle towns as before but news of him has been lacking. Remus has gone underground to touch base with the Werewolves, Malfoy Manor has been raided quietly and nothing came of that…"

"He's still up to something, Malfoy that is." Harry stated quickly. "I overheard him with Snape at the Christmas Party, he's been avoiding Snape, he's even perfected Occlumency to keep Snape out of his mind and he's definitely up to something. He has a task, one that Snape made the Unbreakable Vow to help him with. I knew it, and nobody believed me."

Mary frowned at that revelation, looking nervously towards Sirius. "I'm sure Professor Snape was just pretending to help so he could gather information."

Sirius scoffed. "Even Snape isn't that good of an actor." He retorted childishly, though he too frowned after a moment of thought and turned back to Harry. "But you're sure he said the Unbreakable Vow?"

"One hundred percent." Harry stated bluntly. "'I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow.' That's what he said."

"Sirius, Severus has had to act convincingly enough to fool some of the darkest witches and wizards that his closeness to Dumbledore over the past 15 years has been a cover, if he was a terrible actor then he would have been killed immediately after Voldemort returned." Mary sighed, and Leo surmised that she was too used to the old rivalry between Sirius and Snape. "You're letting your personal feelings cloud your judgement again." She then turned to Harry, ensuring him that his fears wouldn't be forgotten. "We will bring this up at the next meeting, I promise."

That seemed to placate Harry for the time being as he nodded and stood up, pausing slightly before asking. "Can I go?"

Sirius nodded his assent. "Go and unpack mate, we'll see you later."

Harry left the room then and Leo went to follow, wanting to try and send out Cosmo with a letter to Fay to let her know how to contact him this holiday when Mary moved over to the door and shut it behind Harry. "Am I in trouble?" Leo asked, an eyebrow raised questioningly. "I swear, I've been nothing but good this term…"

Sirius snorted in amusement. "No you're not in trouble, just sit down. We want to talk to you about something."

Leo frowned as he did just that, waiting for Mary to stand beside Sirius, nervously wondering what they were going to say. Mary took a breath and began. "Obviously you know that Sirius and I had a relationship in our last year at Hogwarts, one that continued after we graduated and led to you being born." She explained, and Leo immediately began to feel like the conversation he was about to listen to was going to be an awkward one about his parents' relationship. "When the Order was reformed and we were… forced back into one another's company for lack of a better term, it was a struggle. I held a lot of resentment while Sirius…"

"I was a mess, I'll admit it." Sirius shrugged. "Azkaban isn't exactly a spa…"

Mary glared down at him, ignoring the comment as she continued. "Well, now that all of our secrets are out in the open we've actually stopped fighting as much."

"Given that most of our arguments in the first place were over you." Sirius input bluntly.

Mary glared at him again. "Not helpful, Sirius." She scolded before turning back to Leo. "But yes, and since the Ministry after… after Mulciber, we've grown closer once more." The name of that man sent a scowl to Leo's face at the thought of what he and Avery had forced her to do.

"I'm with you." Sirius said to him noticing the scowl, unusually solemn as he placed a protective hand on Mary's arm. "But on the topic of us not arguing… it's taken a lot of talking, and listening, to work through the emotions of the attack at school as well as what happened in the summer, but… provided you are ok with it of course, we want to give our own relationship another go."

Leo looked between them, noticing Mary had both of her hands gently atop Sirius' shoulder. They certainly looked closer than he had seen them be in the summer and he could see the happiness in Mary's eyes. They rarely spoke about what happened at school, with Leo now an age where he could completely understand why it was difficult to speak about to him, and he was surprised to think that his initial reaction was one of relief, relief that Mary finally had someone that would finally put her first completely. Perhaps it was his ongoing… something… with Hermione that had made Leo feel more mature when it came to relationships, but the smile on his face was genuine. Looking at his Mother and watching her eyes light up at his look, he asked. "You're truly happy?"

"Truly. Despite hating him for what he did, abandoning us like that. I never stopped loving Sirius, not even all these years later, it was always him." She smiled down at Leo's Father with a sickeningly sweet grin, before realising herself and clearing her throat, looking back at Leo. "But while this is what I want, you come first, always. If you're uncomfortable with this…" She trailed off, not knowing what to add and just staring at him hopefully.

Leo stood up and rounded the table quickly, hugging his mum tightly. "I just want you happy." He whispered into her ear before taking a step back and speaking louder so that Sirius could hear too. "If that includes Sirius then of course I'm ok with it. What son wouldn't want to see his parents get back together?"

Mary's face lit up in elation and she leant up on her tiptoes to kiss Leo firmly on the cheek. "I love you." She told him firmly. "You mean the world to me… and now, perhaps, we can finally be a proper family, as we should have been all those years ago."

"Just don't go being too intimate when I'm here." Leo teased the pair of them quickly, giving them both pointed looks. "Some things I really don't need to know about…"

He earned a slap on the arm for that. "Cheeky git." She scolded, her accent thick as shook her head. "But honestly, thank you." She waved her wand and summoned some boxes towards her, floating around the kitchen almost as if a great weight had been lifted. "Right boys, I'll be back soon, I just need to pop over to The Burrow to see Molly. Bill is working today so she will need a hand at the station. Don't burn the place down while I'm gone."

"Can you wait a moment?" Leo asked quickly, realising an opportunity. "I wanted to write to Fay and Anna, to let them know how they can contact me; you could give it to them on the platform instead of me risking Cosmo."

"Aye, hurry up then." She nodded, counting out all of the boxes, allowing Leo to run back to his room to quickly scribble out a pair of notes, a smile on his face as he thought of just how happy his Mother was and hoping that this Christmas would be one to remember.

With their relationship now well and truly out in the open, Mary and Sirius had become more reminiscent of a couple that Leo would expect in his year at Hogwarts than a pair of 37-year-old adults with a teenage son. It seemed like wherever he turned they were tucked away in a corner either giggling away at something or snogging, and Leo knew for a fact that what had been his Mum's room in the summer hadn't been slept in for weeks. The thought almost made him gag as he was peeling sprouts and he almost cut himself as his knife slipped.

"Not a fan?" Harry asked, nodding down to the sprouts with a grin.

Shaking his head, Leo then pointed the knife behind him where Mary and Sirius were curled up sat at the table, reading the Daily Prophet together. "It's just… weird. All I've ever known is mum on her own, looking after me or my Granda' and never having any time for, dating or whatever it is adults call it. It's like she's gone back to being a teenager... they're just as bad as Ron and Lavender."

Harry laughed at that, though he seemed to cringe at the comparison. "It is weird, even for me. You missed most of their screaming matches last year. Fred and George were about to start taking bets on who would murder the other first."

Leo had experienced enough of them at one another's throats to know exactly what Harry meant. "My money would be on Mum." He joked, laughing with Harry aloud.

Unfortunately for the teenagers, that caught Mary's attention. "Sprout peeling shouldn'y be that much fun, boys." She stated, her accent thicker than usual. "Less laughing, more peeling please."

"Why are we even doing this now?" Leo complained towards the sink. "Christmas is two days away..."

A whizzing sound came from behind him, and Leo had to duck to avoid the incoming yoghurt that was aiming directly for his head, splashing against the window in front of him. "You try cooking for 12 bloody people with no preparation!" His mum scolded, quickly waving her wand to vanish the mess that she had made. "You'll wish you'd peeled the sprouts early then!"

"I had to do this on Christmas morning for Aunt Petunia." Harry told Leo with a shrug. "This is preferable."

"Christmas morning?" Leo asked, shocked at the thought. Harry simply shrugged like it was no big deal. "The only thing we ever made on Christmas morning were pancakes."

"Which won't be happening this year unless you get all of that pile done!" Mary called back at them, and Leo got back to work immediately with renewed vigour. "Aye, I thought so."

"Pancakes?" Harry asked quietly as the Gryffindor pair got back to their task of peeling.

"It's a tradition." Leo explained fondly. "My Nan and Grandad used to do it for Mum when she was a wee girl. First they just made the pancakes, but as Mum got older they made a habit out of trying to get the most Christmassy shapes possible. We couldn't be overly creative last year because of everything that was going on, but this year…"

"This year we're making up for it!" Sirius called out excitedly. "I've got some thoughts…"

"No." Mary scolded. "Not again… this was nice and innocent until you showed up our first year after leaving school." Mary said, and Leo could hear the eye roll that he knew she was pulling. "What was it you made again…"

"If you don't believe Reindeers need to go when they're working for that long, then somebody needs to restart school and learn some geography." Sirius stated bluntly. The rest of the room's occupants all groaned at the same time. "What?"

Mary shook her head amusedly. "Mam was horrified." She cried, though the laughter in her voice said a lot.

"Of course she didn't! Gracey found it hilarious!" Sirius pouted.

"Just stick to the basic trees this year, love." Mary muttered, patting his arm, and Leo couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face.

"Are you doing that this year?" Harry asked.

Grinning, Leo nodded again. "Best get thinking now, Potter. I've had my idea locked in for weeks." He looked around at his shoulder to see his parents still laughing along at Sirius' reindeer dropping pancake. "I do see now why she spent so much time focusing on us though." He muttered so that the adults couldn't hear.

Harry seemed to agree. "When you find that one person, nobody else even comes close." He said. "Seeing Mary and Sirius… it makes me think of my parents. I hear so often about how in love they were, and how great they were, but I sometimes wish I could experience it, you know? You're lucky, Leo, you get to witness it."

With a smile on his face as he watched Sirius stop laughing to kiss Mary, Leo knew exactly what he meant. Seeing the happiness that had once made him possible was enough to bring a bit of light into an increasingly darkening world.

Mary was collectively voted as having the best pancake with an intricately curated effort of Santa telling off a naughty puppy, a design that caused Sirius to pout while the two teenagers laughed their heads off before they all settled down to their Christmas Breakfast, closely followed by half an hour where the four in Grimmauld Place shared their gifts to one another, with Leo receiving a book called Stubborn as Spavin: The Secrets to Longevity in the Office from Harry, and what seemed like an entire new wardrobe of clothing from his Mother, with numerous shirts, jumpers, jeans in a large bundle. The most surprising gift however, came from Sirius, who while grinning, left the room to bring it in.

"Is that…" Leo trailed away as the very obvious shape was obvious despite all the wrappings. It was placed in his lap and Leo wasted no time in tearing it open to reveal a broomstick. "You didn't…"

"This might be a Comet 290 but it isn't just a luxury." Sirius said seriously. "With everything going on, who knows when you'll need a quick getaway. You'll learn to Apparate soon sure, but a broom is always handy."

Leo pushed it to one side to hug his Dad tightly. "Thank you." He whispered.

The peace and quiet didn't last long into the afternoon however, as the rest of the guests turned up to Grimmauld Place to celebrate the holiday. The Weasley's, Remus and Tonks all found themselves in the London townhouse, where Leo found himself initially sat down with Tonks as the older Auror sullenly explained the latest goings on inside the Ministry, though the Gryffindor did keep glancing over towards Harry who was deep in conversation with Ron, presumably speaking about his Draco Malfoy theories again, and worryingly, Ron seemed to be in full agreement with whatever was being said.

They were summoned through to lunch at around 2 o'clock, to which Leo was sat with his classmates at the table, with Harry filling him in on Ron's input on the Unbreakable Vow. "If Snape doesn't do what he's promised… he'll die!" Harry whispered, though Leo couldn't tell if it was excitement at the knowledge or the prospect in his voice.

"Then why would he actually make it? Especially if he's on our side." Leo asked, confused. "It's more likely that he's trying to manipulate Malfoy into sharing whatever he is up to."

"So you admit he's up to something." Harry remarked smugly, and despite Leo's protests, it seemed that the conversation had been shut down completely, with Harry moving on instead to probing Ron about the present the red-head had received from Lavender, a really gaudy gold chain with the words My Sweetheart hanging off of it.

Once dinner had been eaten and the entire household could barely move, they moved up to the drawing room and Leo ended up as close to Fleur Delacour as he had ever been in his life as the Frenchwoman was doing her utmost to not scowl at the song playing on the radio that Mrs Weasley looked grief stricken listening too, yet wouldn't turn it off either. To try and ignore the awkwardness of both that and Mary and Sirius, Leo opened up his gift from Hermione to distract himself, engrossing his mind in what looked like an ancient book about the formation of the Wizengamot by Cuthbert Gamp. He had reached the 6th chapter as the clock struck 6 o'clock when he needed to use the toilet, though on his way back from that he found himself accosted by Harry once again.

"Alright?" Leo asked, trying to move around him to get back to his seat, though Harry blocked his way. "What is it?"

"That book you were reading, it's from Hermione isn't it?" Harry asked, a stern tone coming out which took Leo by surprise.

Frowning, he nodded. "It was." He stated shortly, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Is anything going on with the two of you?" Harry pushed. "I remember her looking for this… it took a while to track down."

The unspoken statement was also that it wasn't cheap, something that made Leo feel bad as he thought about it, looking back down at the old cover. "We're friends Harry." He said after a long pause, not thinking that explaining that he thought they were on the way to something more, perhaps, was the best way to end this conversation quickly. "We enjoyed the party together sure, but we haven't spoken any more about it since."

Harry looked unimpressed, moving closer so he could speak more quietly. "Just… don't mess her around. We all know how close you are with Fay; and I don't want Hermione getting hurt."

Leo scoffed, and gently shoved Harry away. "Give over, Harry." He said coldly. "Fay and I aren't like that at all, we're just friends and have been since our first trip to Hogwarts. Something I thought you could understand, unless there's something you want to tell me about your own feelings for Hermione?" He raised an eyebrow accusingly, enjoying the scowl on Harry's face. "No, I thought not."

The Boy-Who-Lived looked disbelieving, but nodded all the same. "Fair enough. If you're sure." He shrugged. "I just don't want her getting hurt." He repeated.

"She's more likely to get hurt knowing you've put on this act." Leo muttered, but there was no reaction as a loud, tinny screeching sounded from the drawing room. Both Gryffindor boys whipped their wands out in an instant, sprinting towards the drawing room ready for any incoming danger only for Mrs Weasley to flee the room in tears closely followed by Ginny, while everybody gathered around a small crystal ball.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Someone's tripped the wards at The Burrow." Fred explained, before letting out a cheer as he beat George in a game of Exploding Snap.

Harry's hand immediately went to his wand. "Who?" He asked darkly.

"Scrimgeour." Bill was the one to answer, inspecting his own wand. "He's been trying for days to arrange a meeting with you, Harry. It looks like he wouldn't take silence as an answer."

Ron moved over towards the other 6th years. "Percy was with him." He whispered. "He didn't bother coming to the funeral, but Mum keeps a version of our clock on her at all times. She got really excited when it pointed to Home for him, but given he's with Scrimgeour… it's set her off." He shifted awkwardly. "I better…" He nodded towards the door.

"Go." Harry agreed as he moved aside, letting Ron run after his mother and sister before looking over to Sirius. "Why does he want me?"

"He wants your endorsement of his regime." Tonks muttered. "He's spoken to us all at the Ministry that are considered by him as being close to you, asking us about this whole Chosen One thing and what happened in the summer. Dumbledore has been keeping him away while you are at school, so he must have thought he could try his luck when you are away…"

Leo gulped, looking around the room at all the worried, adult faces, and he knew that the jovial and celebratory Christmas vibes allowing them to somewhat forget about the troubles outside of Grimmauld Place had just been killed completely.

Chapter Text

After a really enjoyable break from school, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Leo all returned to Hogwarts a few days after New Years, stumbling through the fireplace into Professor McGonagall's office, though the Head of Gryffindor barely looked up from her work as she welcomed them back to the castle before sending them on their way to the Common Room, or at least to the portrait of the Fat Lady who refused to let them in with the only Password they knew.

Thankfully, they were saved by a cheery. "Hey guys!" Hermione called out, interrupting the quartet from a brief argument with the Fat Lady. "I got back a couple of hours ago. I've just been down to visit Hagrid and Buck… I mean, Witherwings." She told them all breathlessly, looking over at Leo and smiling brightly, her red cheeks brightening the room. "Did you all have a good Christmas?"

It was Ron that answered, shrugging. "Weird, given… you know, but it was alright, sort of fun really. Though the most interesting thing that happened was Scrimgeour."

Hermione's eyes widened. "The Minister for…" She trailed off, looking at Leo and Harry for clarification.

Ginny snorted. "He and Percy went to the Burrow… or at least attempted too, Bill's protections were too strong even for him. Tonks said a few days later that they were both extremely put out."

"He just wants to recruit me." Harry sighed, having gotten sick of the Minister's actions quickly as the holidays wore on. "Get me to tell people that his regime is the one best equipped to defeat Voldemort and that I support him wholeheartedly." He ignored the winces at the name.

"If you're going to speak like that, either tell me the password or go away." The Fat Lady grumbled.

All four of the recently arrived Gryffindor's turned towards Hermione, who despite her already rosy cheeks, blushed and rolled her eyes. "Abstinence."

"Precisely." The Fat Lady mumbled, swinging to reveal the portrait hole.

Ginny went first, followed by an eager Ron, Harry and Hermione before Leo was the final one through, catching another Hermione explanation. "…her friend Violet drank their way through all the wine in that picture of drunk monks down by the Charms Corridor. Anyway…"

She rummaged in her pocket briefly before holding out some parchment for Harry to take, though they were interrupted by a rather loud squeal of "Won Won!"

"Oh boy." Ron whispered horrified as the others laughed at their friend as Lavender Brown came barrelling into her red-headed boyfriend.

Leaving Ron to his fate, the others moved over to a spare table, where Ginny sat on top of Harry's lap causing him to grow red at the number of staring onlookers. Ginny was having none of it though, pre-empting his complaint by saying, slightly too loudly. "Let them look, we have nothing to hide."

Scoffing at the sheepish heads turning back to their own conversations, it was then that Leo spotted both Fay and Anna playing Gobstones at a table. His first thought was to go and greet them, but he had also missed Hermione…

The brunette seemed to read his thoughts. "Go, I'll see you in the morning." She said with a smile.

"You're sure?" Leo asked. "I wanted to…"

"We'll have time to catch up." Hermione nodded, her still gloved hand moving to cover his. "I want to thank you anyway for my present."

He had enlisted the help of Fay for his present for Hermione having agonised for far too long for a gift that would fit their new… Leo wasn't quite sure what to call it, but he had known a book just wasn't good enough this year, and as he looked at her neck he could see the silver chain hanging from it, one that he knew had a pendant of a quill hanging from it, he smiled, turning his hand to briefly hold hers and squeeze, Leo moved to the other side of the Common Room just as one of Anna's stones let out a loud squelch and pus filtered into the air. "Maybe I should go back." He muttered dryly, catching the girls' attention.

"Leo!" Fay exclaimed, rising from her seat to wrap him in a hug. "How was Christmas? It's so weird not being able to simply owl you during the holidays, but I hope you got my present? I got yours, the Magpies kit fits me perfectly thanks!"

Pulling up a chair, Leo took one final glance over at where Hermione, Harry and Ginny were sat, crowding over the parchment, before being thrust into a conversation about the last couple of weeks with his friends. "Eventful… boy do I have a lot to tell you." He first spoke about his parents getting back together, something which made both girls swoon, much to Leo's surprise.

"That's so romantic!" Anna exclaimed.

"After so long apart…" Fay continued with a wide grin.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Because he was in Azkaban!" He exclaimed. "Because he decided to take petty revenge instead of check on his family…" He sighed, shaking his head. "Which I'm totally over, that's not the point. Them acting like Won Won and Lav Lav isn't the most interesting thing that happened… the Minister for Magic tried to get past the Fidelius after Christmas."

That stopped their cooing over Leo's parents renewed relationship as they both sat straighter, leaning towards him. "The… Minister for Magic?" Fay whispered, as if the name was tabooed. "What happened?"

Leo grinned as he reminisced over the latter half of the Christmas Holidays. "He tried to use Ron's brother to get to Harry." He said quietly. "But they were with us for Christmas instead… so when everyone went to work a few days later, they got a visit from the Minister asking about their holidays. Tonks told me… my… second cousin I guess, that she was asked to reveal his location and when she couldn't, he apparently subtly hinted at it affecting her job."

Anna gasped. "Can he do that?"

"He's the Minister, of course he can." Fay rolled her eyes.

"He couldn't." Leo explained. "Robards put a stop to it quickly, reminding the Minister that they were fighting a war, but still… he's getting desperate. Sirius warned us about which Aurors to trust and which not too before we came back today… some of them were posted outside the house, despite not being able to get in."

"How can they do that?" Fay asked. "You're under Fidelius."

Shrugging, Leo hated that he didn't know. "Something to do with Harry and the Trace I guess, but it really annoyed my parents to no end, Mum almost went out there and duelled Dawlish…"

Anna gasped, interrupting him. "He was on the platform!" She looked over at Fay. "That has to be it… there were so many wizards and witches just standing there… we thought it was to protect us but what if…"

"What if they were there to spot Harry." Fay completed the sentence, her face going pale. "But… they should be fighting You-Know-Who… not trying to grab Harry or whatever."

And that was the crux of it for Leo, as he leant back in his chair and let the girls fret over the state of the Ministry, something that had been on Leo's mind for months. He looked over towards Hermione, and by the look of the outrage on her face Harry and Ginny had been having the exact same conversation with her. What had become abundantly clear to Leo was that the new regime would be no more help than Fudge's had, and a grim determination set into the Gryffindor. If they couldn't focus on what was needed to defeat You-Know-Who, then Leo would make sure that he was a part of the group that would be able to do exactly that.

"And when it came to showing Professor Slughorn our antidotes, he whips out a Bezoar of all things!" Hermione was complaining animatedly to Leo as they sat in a corner of the Restricted Section of the Library. "It's like this so called Half Blood Prince is mocking me!"

On their second morning back Harry had explained that the parchment given to him by Hermione had been to invite him to another meeting with Professor Dumbledore, and this time Harry had needed help afterwards, explaining that he needed to convince Professor Slughorn to give him a memory, and to find out what something called a Horcrux was. With him having dropped potions, Leo had offered to spend time in the Restricted Section to see if there was any mention within the library.

Their table had a pile of books atop it and the pair were combing through them all to try and find any mention of Horcruxes to decipher what they were. It being a Wednesday Leo had been free all afternoon to start the search and was actively frowning at some of the ideas that were listed even in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts as Hermione was going through the list of books he had already worked through during her Potions and Herbology lessons. He heard a huff and looked up, noticing Hermione scowling over at him. "Yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Urgh, are you even listening?" Hermione whispered harshly.

Leo nodded, making sure to mark his place in the book. "I am, I just don't think a book that was probably scribbled on before you were born is actively trying to mock you." He told her, returning to the book before quickly closing it. "This is getting us nowhere, there's no mention of Horcruxes whatsoever." He stated grumpily.

Hermione meanwhile clearly wasn't finished as she sighed and folded her arms. "That book is dangerous, Leo. I mean it. Not only is he not actually learning anything so he'll completely fail his exams, but the made up spells within… they worry me."

"Harry is sensible…" He began, before noticing her raised eyebrow, questioning his statement. "Somewhat." He added. "If this Prince is teaching him things then surely, given what he's facing, that's a good thing?"

Hermione scowled, but sighed. "I didn't think of it like that." She admitted. "But it's how he reacts… he's almost glad to be Slughorn's favourite."

"Something he needs to be." Leo noted. "Especially if he needs to get this memory…"

The mention of the memory reminded the pair of why they were both there in the first place, and so together they sifted through the large pile of books, with Hermione occasionally roaming off to bring another handful back.

The search eventually took days, with both Leo and Hermione spending all of their free time within the Library. Even then, when the moment of triumph came, it was over in a flash. Hermione had been reading and grimacing at every few lines of the start of the book when she came to it. "Here we go!" She began excitedly. "Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction…" She frowned again, turning the page back and forth multiple times before growling in frustration. "Is that it?"

Leo pulled the book from her place and read the lines in the introduction of the book, before moving to the contents page. Some of the titles were making him feel queasy, but he pushed on and skimmed through the most likely chapters to speak further, with nothing doing. An hour after the initial discovery both had been through the book twice each and were exhausted. "We're close." Leo muttered, keeping the book to one side.

"There's nothing else, Leo." Hermione sighed. "I've been through all of these books… not one single mention of a Horcrux other than they're so foul that even this disgusting book won't talk about them." She sighed, closing Magick Most Evile and ignoring the wail it gave. "Whatever they are… it's beyond anything we can imagine."

Leo went to grab a different book when he could hear the harsh tones of Madame Pince in the regular section of the library telling people to leave. "We best go. But at least we can tell Harry something."

"Barely." Hermione grumbled, but she agreed and collected half of the books so that they could share the clean-up, before gathering their bags and walking back to the Common Room together.

It was only after cornering Harry and Ron in the Common Room and explaining their lack of progress that Leo felt like a lightbulb had just been turned on in his brain. "Of course!" He whispered excitedly.

"What?" Hermione asked.

Leo looked around to make sure nobody was listening in. "If these Horcruxes are so bad that even Magick Most Evile won't speak of them, then why would books even be kept in the library about them?"

The comment deflated them all. "Brilliant." Ron muttered miserably. "So we have no idea what they are, and now you've gone and blown it with Slughorn." He nudged Harry. "So what do we do now?"

Nobody had a quick answer, and so Leo began to grin. "We go outside Hogwarts."

Spluttering, Hermione protested. "Outside Hogwarts? Even if the security was lax, which it isn't of course, where are you supposed to go? Hogsmeade? Tomes and Scrolls aren't likely to sell you anything, and then you can't Apparate anywhere…"

"Hermione." Leo said, interrupting her rant. "Breathe. I have a plan." He looked around again, happy that nobody was listening but even so he lowered his voice. "Snuffles has a big library, one that is full of all kinds of obscene, dark magic."

"Dumbledore said not to go spreading this around." Harry whispered unhappily, not relishing the thought of another voice in the conversation.

Ron snorted at that comment. "He told you to only tell me and Hermione mate. You told Ginny and Leo, and we know Snuffles is on your side."

"It's not like I can just send him an owl." Harry complained, before Hermione slapped him on the leg with parchment and gestured to Leo, who was now frowning and remembering the year earlier. "What?" Harry asked, oblivious.

"Figures, you forgetting again." Leo said coldly. "I have the mirror, don't I?" If he wasn't so pissed off, Leo might have enjoyed the sheepish and guilty look that appeared on Harry's face. As it was, he was simply regretting opening his mouth. "We can use it and talk to him."

He sunk deeper into his armchair, his arms folded, trying to pay little attention to the awkward silence that had followed and instead just staring into the fireplace. After a short while, he felt a hand on his leg and quickly looked back up to see Hermione sat on the arm of his chair, looking at him. "Leo, it's a great idea." She insisted. "Isn't it Harry?" She turned to face the Boy-Who-Lived, her tone more forceful.

"Urm, yeah." Harry nodded, running a hand through his hair nervously. Hermione cleared her throat and Harry simply glared at her, but he spoke more clearly after that. "Asking Snuffles is a good idea, especially with his library. Can I borrow the mirror, talk to him myself?"

Taking a deep breath to keep his cool, Leo nodded curtly. "Sure, come on." He said, rising out of the armchair, placing his hand on Hermione's shoulder and squeezing a thank you, before leading Harry up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Thankfully none of the others were heading to bed yet, so Leo rifled through his trunk to find the mirror and spoke Sirius' name, waiting for the reflection to change.

"Leo! This is a surprise!" A chirpy voice came from the object. "How are you?"

"Fine." He said, a little too snappily. "I'm alright, just… Harry had something he wanted to ask you."

The mirror reflection shifted as it was being picked up, and Leo saw his dad's face was sporting a mischievous grin. "Something girl related, or something you shouldn't be doing related?" He asked.

Leo handed the mirror over to Harry, who only nodded back at him. "Something Dumbledore asked." Harry began, and Leo skulked out of the dormitory to return to the Common Room, not wanting his frustrations to be too distracting to Sirius given the serious nature of the conversation despite Leo wanting to throttle Harry there and then.

Chapter Text

It took a couple of weeks before the atmosphere between Harry and Leo had settled down enough to be considered more normal with Leo not speaking to him for a number of days until a frustrated Hermione sat them down together and forced them to both to apologise to one another, something that Leo frowned at before a scolding look from the 17-year-old made him gulp and do as she asked, after which January rolled along quickly, turning into February as the snows melted around the Hogwarts grounds, being replaced by the typical Scottish biting cold and constant rainfall from the dark grey clouds above. It was usually a miserable time, but the terrible weather was a bonus for the 6th years as their first Apparition lesson was moved from the Hogwarts grounds into the Great Hall, and their excitement was even more heightened as they passed the Entrance Hall, where Professor Dumbledore stood with Professor Snape, the pair of teachers seemingly blocking somebody from entering…

"Is that…" Ron asked from behind Leo, bemusement in his voice. "It is! Harry! It's the Minister!" The red-head snorted in laughter, and the whispers of the students grew louder as everybody tried to get a glimpse of Rufus Scrimgeour.

Leo quickly saw that Ron was correct as the recognisable mane of tawny hair could be seen in between the two Professor's, but the students didn't get much of a chance to stop and stare as Professor McGonagall guided them in. "Quickly now!" She called out. "Weasley, stop gawping and move!"

Hoping to find out more about what the Minister for Magic was doing at Hogwarts later, Leo arrived into the large room early with Anna and Fay, finding a spot by the doors to the gardens above the Hufflepuff Common Room and leaning back against the wall. The floating candles had been levitated higher into the air, almost level with the thin, misty layer of the enchanted ceiling detailing the miserable day outside. All of the tables had vanished too, so as more and more students, along with Professors McGonagall , Flitwick, Sprout and Professor Snape who had joined them after slamming the giant doors shut. Beside the Heads of Houses stood a very small, elderly wizard too who instructed them to gather round near him.

Once the final 6th years had found a spot to stand in Professor McGonagall called for quiet, before allowing the small wizard stood atop the handful of stairs in the position that Professor Dumbledore's owl lectern usually stood to speak to them all. "Good morning!" The man called out to the group. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time…"

"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" barked Professor McGonagall, causing everybody to turn and face the Slytherin. Malfoy looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, his cheeks a feint pink colour.

The interruption didn't seem to have disturbed Wilkie Twycross however, who continued as if nothing had happened. "By which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests. As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The Headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try." The thought made Leo gulp. His Grandfather had enjoyed telling stories of when Apparition went wrong, and Leo had no wish to lose any limbs. Twycross continued again after the pause. "I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."

As seemed to be the usual case with Leo's year group, even that instruction couldn't be followed calmly. The Ravenclaw students all darted to the front, with Stephen Cornfoot almost knocking Anna cleanly over as he shoved through the crowds. "Oi!" Leo called out after him angrily, his blood riled and his arm darting down to where his wand was stashed, but Professor Sprout had beaten him too it and cautioned the Ravenclaw boy.

"Come on." Fay whispered, before the trio were stood in a triangle with enough distance between them, and the room settled down again once all four of the Heads of Houses called out for quiet.

"Thank you," Twycross said to the four adults in the room. "Now then . . ." He waved his wand, and Leo was surprised as an old-fashioned wooden hoop appeared on the floor in front of him. "The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D's!" Twycross added. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation!" Repeating the words in his head as he stared down at his hoop, Leo began to clear his mind, focusing. "Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination, in this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."

Leo could hear the rustling of clothes that indicated that others were looking around to see if the others were doing as instructed instead of just doing it themselves. He simply found a small stone slab inside his hoop and tried hard to block everything else out from around him, something which was shattered when Wilkie Twycross continued. "Step two, focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!"

The wording almost made Leo break his concentration and laugh, but he continued to stare harshly down at that stone slab, imagining his foot on top of it… "Step three," called Twycross. "And only when I give the command… Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command, now… one… two… THREE!"

Leo turned on the spot as instructed, and the next thing he knew his nose was sore, having fallen flat onto his face. Groaning, he pushed himself over so that he was staring up into the miserable enchanted sky before hauling himself up to a sitting position feeling like an absolute prat. Thankfully, he was not the only one. Neville was flat on his back, Kevin Entwhistle looked like he had done a summersault instead of disappearing and reappearing, and as he looked behind him, he could see Fay roaring in laughter as Anna had spun herself directly into the wall.

"Never mind, never mind," said Twycross dryly, who to Leo's relief did not seem to have expected anything better. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions."

The second attempt was no better than the first, though this time at least Leo managed to keep his balance and simply staggered around dizzily for a moment, with similar happening on the third attempt. The fourth went no better for Leo either, though from the middle of the room came a terrible screech of pain and everybody shot their glances to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away where she had started.

As Leo went to gag, the sight of the lone, unattached leg making him retch loudly, the Heads of House converged on her at great speed. After a loud bang and a puff of purple smoke, Susan could be seen crying profusely, but thankfully she was whole again.

Wilkie Twycross was proving himself to be an unemotional teacher, barely reacting to the horrifying scene before him and instead using it as an educational tool. "Splinching, or the separation of random body parts, occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation… thus."

Twycross stepped forward and turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched in a showman type of way, and vanished in a swirl of robes. Leo for a moment was completely baffled as to where the man had gone until a voice sounded from the other end of the room. "Remember the three D's." Twycross called out. "And try again. One… two… three!"

Leo tried once more, but once again nothing happened other than a short dizzy spell from spinning. That was the case for the rest of the hour, as time after time the Gryffindor struggled, and was feeling rather sorry for himself as the lesson came to an end.

"I thought I felt something…" Fay was explaining as they began to rise up the Grand Staircase. "That last time, I swore I could…"

"I couldn't." Anna muttered grumpily, still upset about spinning into the wall. "And the way he made it look so easy… urgh."

Leo could only nod in agreement, happy to join in on moaning about Wilkie Twycross as they made their way up to the Common Room.

"He said what?" Hermione was asking. Once in the Common Room after their poor attempts at Apparition, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Leo had all moved to a secluded corner of the cosy area. Leo found himself staring out of the window towards the Quidditch Pitch, where he noticed that the Ravenclaw team were holding a practice, while the other 4 were crowded around a small table whispering to one another.

"He's using Crabbe and Goyle as look outs." Harry explained again. "I told you he was up to something!"

Hermione sighed, unimpressed. "He's been using the pair of them to do his muscle work for as long as we've been at Hogwarts Harry. This doesn't mean that your theory of Malfoy being a Death Eater is true."

It was Ginny who retorted. "Wake up, Hermione." The red-head said. "Something isn't right with him this year, surely you've noticed? He doesn't boast, he isn't as much of a bully… he's distracted, and it looks like it's making him ill."

That caused Leo to turn around with a frown. "He has looked ill." He muttered, looking at the younger Weasley. "Ginny… you mentioned that at Slughorn's party and that was over a month ago."

Hermione looked up at Leo, exasperated. "Not you too…" She groaned.

"I still don't know if You-Know-Who would actively trust a 16-year-old, but Malfoy is different this year." Leo noted. "Almost…"

"Scared." Ron finished his sentence for him, scowling down at the table. "As if whatever he has been told to do, he can't, and he's scared of failure."

Harry nodded fiercely, before turning to Hermione. "It's worth keeping an eye on him." He told her. "Him, Crabbe, Goyle, and where they are going."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but conceded that. "You're right, it can't hurt." She admitted.

"So what now, are we each going to take turns in scouting the Slytherin Common Room?" Leo half joked, but the looks between the other four made it clear that he was missing something. "What is it?"

"Have you not told Leo?" Hermione whispered harshly.

Harry shrugged. "I thought you must have, given how close you are nowadays." That earned him a punch to the arm. "Ouch, Hermione!"

"When will you learn!" Hermione continued the whispered tirade, causing Leo to gulp and feel like he was intruding on yet another moment he shouldn't be there for. "He is as much a part of this as we are now, you need to start trusting him! After all he's done for you!"

"Give the guy a break Hermione." Ron muttered.

"No, I will not!" She continued, before turning to Leo. "Harry has a map, created by both of your Father's, Professor Lupin, and Wormtail when they were in school together. It shows the location of everybody within the castle grounds in real time. Technically, it belongs to the both of you." She looked pointedly towards Harry at that final sentence

A million thoughts began racing through Leo's mind ranging from being intrigued as to what his Father was like at school, to the knowledge that this was yet another thing that Harry had obviously not wanted to involve him. He ultimately felt hurt however, and the look must have shown. "It's fine." He said before anybody else could add anything. "I get it, it was always the three of you before now and I've just been dropped in the middle of it."

Harry shook his head. "Leo it isn't like that."

"It is." Leo snapped. "But I never asked for this, remember. Just over a year ago I thought my mum was a miserable Ministry employee and my dad was dead. Now because of their bravery and longing to do good, I'm as involved in the war as any of you and I don't think I've done anything but try and help you. The least you can do is be honest with me when it comes to my own bloody family."

Without waiting for another response, Leo grabbed his back and swung it forcefully over his shoulder, before storming out of the Common Room towards the library, eager to take his mind off of Harry Potter.

With the next Hogsmeade trip being cancelled, something that really frustrated Ron Weasley who told everybody loudly how it had fallen on his 17th birthday, all the 6th years had to look forward to as February turned to March were the Apparition lessons, and even they turned sour quickly as Twycross continued his less than empathetic teaching methods, and Splinching became more and more common. Fay's first incident had been when her nose had been left behind, while Leo was certain that his toenail hadn't been reattached correctly.

Instead of Hogsmeade and eager to stay as far away from Harry Potter as humanly possible, Leo decided that he would spend his time in the Library. Not only was the Boy-Who-Lived not likely to interrupt him here, the interruption of the Minister for Magic over Christmas, his insistence on trying to get through during their Apparition lessons and the reasons behind it had slowly lit a fire within the Gryffindor's belly and he was even more determined to learn everything about the magical government that he possibly could, from the history, to the makeup of its members throughout the years. One book in particular gave him mixed opinions at the sight of a name, as he learned that Henry Potter, a Wizengamot member between 1913 and 1921, was one of those most influential in the incarceration of William Hitchens, a mass murderer operating around the local Hogwarts area in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

As he was reading a fascinating part about the Muggle First World War and the lack of aid coming from the Wizarding World, the opposition to which was led by Henry Potter, something in his pocket began to vibrate. Quickly realising it was the enchanted mirror, he closed his books and grabbed his bag, rushing out towards the Transfiguration Courtyard before he found a bench, cast Muffliato and brought the mirror out. "Sirius." He greeted.

"Leo, mate!" Sirius beamed through the mirror. Leo noticed he was in the Grimmauld Place Library, with piles upon piles of books surrounding him. "I heard your Hogsmeade visit got cancelled so just thought I'd check in."

Sensing there was more to the story, Leo raised an eyebrow quizzically at the mirror. "So you aren't trying to get me to talk to Harry then?"

The feigned look of surprise didn't kid the teenager. "What? No! You aren't speaking?" He tried to pretend, but the look Leo gave him made Sirius sigh. "I just, wanted to chat, to see what was up and if I could help in any way."

"He doesn't trust me." Leo said bitterly, making sure that the other students in the courtyard were too occupied to listen in to him. "Every time I think we're getting somewhere… he throws something new back into my face. This time it's that map you made at school. Surely I should know about it if it's something you made with his dad?"

Sighing, Sirius leant back against the bookshelf. "He mentioned that in his last letter." Sirius admitted. "And don't start!" He added, seeing Leo's face. "I've heard enough from the pair of you and your mother to know that there's some level of resentment, on both sides."

Scoffing, Leo shook his head. "He has no reason to resent me." He muttered. "He's the Chosen One, the one that's good at everything, the one…"

"With no family that cares for him but me." Sirius interrupted. "The one that for 10 years of his life was in a place he hated and found a home at Hogwarts." He took a moment to pause. "He's jealous of you too. Of the family you have, of how your new relationship with Hermione is affecting the status quo. No don't interrupt, you need to hear this, as he needed to hear what I wrote to him about so don't you go thinking I'm taking sides here. You are both stronger together, not apart, and Harry needs all the friends he can get given what is looming over his head."

"What is?" Leo asked.

Another pause followed as Sirius took a breath. "This is top secret, so don't breathe a word of this to anybody else. This is Harry trusting you."

"I swear." Leo nodded, curious as to what would follow.

"Last summer, in the Ministry." Sirius began. "Voldemort lured Harry there for a reason."

"A prophecy." Leo nodded. "I remember, Neville mentioned it in the Hospital Wing."

Nodding, Sirius continued. "A prophecy, yes. One that says that when James and Lily died, and Harry survived, Voldemort marked Harry. In trying to kill him he marked Harry as his equal." He took a breath and Leo could see the emotion in his eyes. "Neither can live while the other survives, that's what it says. Basically…"

"Harry has to kill You-Know-Who." Leo muttered quietly, realisation settling in. "Or be killed by him."

Another nod followed from Sirius. "He's just a kid, like you, but with the weight of the world on his shoulders and the Minister for Magic constantly breathing down his neck trying to get him to support the new regime. If word of the prophecy or its contents gets around… if people like Draco Malfoy or any other children of Death Eaters catch wind of it… then there will be battles in the corridors at Hogwarts for anybody trying to incapacitate Harry to send to their master…"

It was a tough thought to process. "He's just trying to keep things normal." Leo whispered, more to himself than anything. "But he should still realise I'm not out to harm him…"

"He does." Sirius told him. "It's an all-round shit situation Leo, I won't sugar coat it for you. Give him patience, and the benefit of the doubt, and I promise he will be more forthcoming with you too."

The talk had given Leo a lot to think about, and after another 5 minutes or so of general chit chat, with Sirius admitting he had found nothing so far on Horcruxes in the Grimmauld Place Library, the pair said their goodbyes to one another. It was a slow dawdle back up to Gryffindor Tower and the Common Room that allowed him to process this new information, though it was almost immediately put to one side when the Fat Lady swung her portrait open and Leo was almost barrelled over by a frantic Ginny and Hermione, the latter of whom dragged Leo by the arm and marched him over to the Hospital Wing, where Ron was currently recovering from a terrible birthday ordeal…

Chapter Text

By the time that the 6th year Weasley had recounted the details of his poisoning and Madam Pomfrey had kicked them out of the Hospital Wing as curfew was about to come into effect, Harry had somehow managed to work himself up into a frenzy about the possibilities of why Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape would be arguing. With neither Leo or Hermione wanting to go down the conspiracy rabbit hole, they left him downstairs in the Common Room and made their way up to their respective dormitories for a much needed sleep.

He joined Fay and Anna the next morning for a late breakfast given that it was a Sunday, and was halfway through telling them what had happened to Ron to an engrossed pair of women when loud, rushing footsteps grew louder and Harry threw himself into the seat beside Leo. "Fay!" The Boy Who Lived exclaimed, as Leo looked upon his dormmate in a brand new light given his conversation with Sirius the day before, seeing for perhaps the first time the true burden that had been placed upon him all those years ago when he was just a baby..

Fay's eyes widened in a fluster at the new arrival. "Harry Potter!" She squeaked out awkwardly, before grimacing at herself and adding just as awkwardly. "Hi, hello. What's up?"

Harry, thankfully, took no notice. "I know you're a Beater really… but how are you at Keeper?"

"Urm…" Fay trailed off, looking towards Leo with a horrified expression. "I'm fine against my brothers, but Baz was never much of a Quidditch player and the other two are due to start Hogwarts next year..."

"If you can save the Quaffle, I'll take it." Harry admitted exasperatedly, before looking around the Gryffindor table and lowering his voice. "Vicky's got a detention so it's either you, or I'm forced to have McLaggen on the team, and between us, I think I'd rather forfeit the game."

Both of the girls winced and in unison called out. "Yuck."

"Exactly." Harry stated excitedly, seeing that his plan was working. "So listen, I've scheduled emergency practices for tonight, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Come along tonight and we'll see what we can do."

Fay's eyes widened once more in horror. "I… I haven't said…" She looked over at Leo who simply nodded in encouragement, knowing how much his friend loved Quidditch. Closing her eyes for a moment, she sighed deeply. "I'll do it, but I won't be very good Harry."

Harry nodded his understanding. "Look, I'm not going to kid myself into thinking you're going to be a natural, but if you work hard this week and we get some good tactics sessions in, we'll be sure to at least outscore Hufflepuff until I can catch the Snitch." He tapped his hand on the table in excitement. "Brilliant, I'll meet you in the Common Room at half past seven and we can go and get your gear sorted out."

With that, Harry rose out of the seat and went bounding away back out towards the Entrance Hall leaving the trio of Gryffindors completely perplexed. "What the hell just happened?" Fay asked, her pitch rising in panic. "Did I… Surely I didn't…" She stumbled over her words before faceplanting the table.

"You did." Anna grinned, before squealing in excitement. "You're going to be on the team!"

"Merlin's beard…" Fay whispered as she rose upright again, her face paling as she looked like she was about to throw up.

Finishing his own breakfast, Leo swallowed down the last of his eggs before saying. "Finish that and we'll go out on to the grounds…" He trailed, looking up at the Enchanted Ceiling to see that the weather outside was dry but cloudy and grinned at the chance to get his own broom out, a rare occurrence for Scotland in March. "We can help you get a feel for it before practice."

Thankfully Anna nodded along enthusiastically. "We'll have you as good as Ron in no time!"

The dark-haired girl still looked as if she was going to turn green, but she nodded her agreement and tried one final spoonful of her breakfast before refusing any more, before allowing her friends to drag her down the Great Hall so that they could ignore their homework for a day of Quidditch.

On the morning of the match it took all of Leo's willpower to not delve into Harry's trunk to find the bottle of Felix Felicis to douse Fay with, given that the 6th year was constantly flitting between confidence and self-doubt with every minute that was passing by. As he pulled on his crimson jumper that had been charmed in the past week with 'Dunbar 1' on the back in gold lettering, he hoped that this morning was a confident one. Descending down the dormitory stairs to see it completely empty only worried him more.

The only person he knew more than as a face to say hello to as he passed them in the dormitory left in the Great Hall at breakfast was Neville, and so the pair finished their meal together before eventually wondering down to the Quidditch Pitch for 11 o'clock. The stands were completely packed as the sun shone down on them all, with everybody in the school seemingly eager to see how Harry Potter had reacted to his best friend being hospitalised. Together with Neville he climbed the stairs to their spaces, with Leo noticing that Anna was sat down nervously looking ahead, giving him his answer from earlier. "That bad?" He asked knowingly, as he looked around and failed to spot a certain brunette, with Lavender Brown also missing from the stands.

"She barely ate." Anna admitted when Leo stood beside her. "Ginny dragged her away before I could shovel some toast inside her, so I hope she's alright."

Leo did too as he turned back to the pitch, with one final glance at his watch to see that it was 2 minutes to 11. "They should be out by now." He muttered worriedly.

He didn't need to wait too much longer though, as out from the tunnel came the Gryffindor team to thunderous applause, closely followed by the Hufflepuff's, to which the commentary began as a familiar, dreamy voice echoed over the stadium.

""Hello, everyone! Welcome to today's Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff! It's such a lovely day, isn't it? The Wrackspurts seem to be keeping their distance, which is always a good sign for clear thinking…"

"Miss Lovegood!" The voice of Professor McGonagall sounded, and Leo grinned fondly at the Ravenclaw 5th Year while his eyes remained on Fay who was zooming around the pitch on her broom, trying to get a feel for flight.

"Yes Professor?" Luna asked innocently, before some silent words were spoken between teacher and student. Eventually the commentary continued. "In today's match, we have Gryffindor, known for their daring and bravery. Perhaps the Lions have been eating lots of Gurdyroot, which could make them extra sprightly today. They will be playing, Hufflepuff, the House of loyalty and hard work. I wouldn't be surprised if their brooms have been enchanted with a bit of Nargle-repellent to keep them flying smoothly…"

"MISS LOVEGOOD!" Professor McGonagall cried again, but a decent chunk of the crowd were laughing as the players began to take their spots over the pitch, with Harry and the Hufflepuff Captain, Eurig Cadwallader, shaking hands.

"Is Nargle repellent a banned substance now?" The dreamy voice was asking the Deputy Headmistress. "Oh that's a shame… well here are the teams!" Luna continued, listing out the Hufflepuff team first before she arrived at the Gryffindors. "At Keeper we have a late change, with 6th year Fay Dunbar coming in for Ronald Weasley." Leo made sure to give a hearty applause for his friend. "At Chaser we have Ginny Weasley, Demelza Robins and Dean Thomas. The Gryffindor Beaters are Ritchie Coote and Jimmy Peake, while we all know the Seeker…"

Harry seemed to not be listening to the commentary, Leo noted, thinking that he may have gone as crimson as his jersey at the commentary, but soon enough Madam Hooch was ready to begin the game, letting the Bludgers and Snitch go before she threw the Quaffle into the air. "And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle. He did the commentary last time of course, and Ginny Weasley flew into him, I think probably on purpose, it looked like it. Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor. I suspect he regrets that now he's playing them… oh look, he's lost the Quaffle! Ginny took it from him. I do like her, she's very nice…"

Leo grinned amusedly, but his eyes turned over towards Fay, analysing her positioning as the first Hufflepuff chance grew closer, to which Cadwallader scored it much to the groans of the Gryffindors in the stands.

The game did begin to even out thankfully, and Leo was among the loudest again as Fay made a couple of really good saves, but soon it was 30-40 to Hufflepuff as they neared the posts again. Leo felt like he was trying to direct his friend with his eyes, but Zacharias Smith feinted well and scored through the smallest post and causing Leo to growl in frustration again as the score changed once more in Hufflepuff's favour.

"Look!" Neville cried. "Harry!"

All eyes looked upwards as high above the stadium Harry Potter was utilising all the speed of his Firebolt chasing something, with the Hufflepuff seeker Summerby trailing behind. Everybody around Leo was leaning forwards in anticipation, watching as the captain extended his arm…

"YES!" Harry was the first to cry out, closely followed by a quarter of the stadium as all those in crimson and gold erupted.

"Oh look!" Luna seemed to realise later than everyone else. "Harry's caught the Snitch! Gryffindor win 180-50!"

He was quickly assaulted by a mane of auburn hair as Anna jumped at him in celebration, with Fay flying past them pumping her fists in the air not a moment later. "Come on! We need to get back to the common room!" Leo called out above the noise of the crowd. Anna grinned at him knowingly, and copied Leo's next words at the same time. "Victory party!"

Just like last time Leo had barely settled down before having a bottle thrown towards him, as the celebrations well and truly started early. Before his first sip he had already heard three people mention how it was Gryffindor's first victory over Hufflepuff since his first year, that 'blink and you will miss it' game where Snape refereed and Harry caught the snitch inside 5 minutes.

He was three drinks down when Fay finally appeared to a thunderous reception as she was forced to shake hands and thank everybody that was rushing around her, clearly making the poor girl flustered at all the attention. Eventually she managed to make her way over to Leo and Anna, the latter of whom forced a crushing bear hug onto Fay. "Well done!" Anna squealed.

"I can't do that again." Fay grimaced, grabbing Leo's bottle and draining it completely within seconds, gasping for air as she finished and wiping her mouth unceremoniously with her Quidditch robes. "That was bloody terrifying."

"You were great." Leo admitted, hugging her less vigorously than Anna had done, but with no less meaning.

"I was lucky." Fay shook her head, her blue eyes still wide and fearful. "Half the time I was up there thinking 'what in the name of Merlin's left bollock am I doing up here'."

Leo snorted at the image as Anna gasped. "Fay!" The auburn haired girl whispered, horrified.

"I'm serious!" Fay shuddered. "That was terrifying."

"Even so, it's our first victory over Hufflepuff since First Year." Leo found himself as the one repeating the stat now. "And you played a part in it." He jabbed her lightly in the shoulder before reaching around for two more bottles of butterbeer. "So take the praise, have a drink, and tell us all what it was like!"

Accepting the bottle, Fay went into all of the details of the game, starting with Harry being late into the changing rooms. "He gave a quick speech before getting changed and then asked all of us but Ginny to leave… so that wasn't great to start with." She explained, causing Leo to frown, realising that there was an inevitability of Harry not telling him whatever was going on once again. Fay had now reached the actual game in her retelling however, and so Leo tuned back into his friend's words as she began to tell them all about being up there and watching the Hufflepuff chasers speeding towards her. "I thought I was about to wet myself." She whispered. "Then when the first went in…"

"Don't dwell on that." Leo shrugged. "You're a beater, not a keeper, and yet you still made 2 good saves." Fay's attention was behind him however. "Are we keeping you?" He asked with a smirk.

"Don't look." Fay muttered. "But Vicky Frobisher keeps looking at me." Of course, both Anna and Leo ignored her completely and turned around to see that across the room the 5th year Gryffindor was in fact staring over, a small blush appearing on her cheeks as she ducked behind her own friends. A knowing grin appeared on the pair's faces as they turned back in unison, to which Fay landed a pair of punches on them both. "Arseholes." She muttered.

"Look, relax Fay." Anna said, rubbing her shoulder. "Have a drink, and chill. Then when you are nice and buzzed, you go over there and talk to the girl a bit later on."

"What if she's just annoyed I took her spot?" Fay whispered.

"I'm no expert, but girls don't hide like that if they're annoyed." Leo grinned, taking another swig of his own drink. As he moved his arm back down he noticed the portrait closing and a familiar bushy haired girl enter the Common Room. "And on the note of girls…"

"He's abandoning us." Anna retorted.

"How rude is that." Fay grinned back teasingly; her shyness seemingly forgotten.

Leo flipped them both off before grabbing a second drink and making his way over to Hermione, who's eyes brightened up as she waved him over. "Hi Leo… oh, thanks!" She beamed as she took one of the bottles. "I guess we won?"

"180-50." He nodded. "Fay was good, and is getting the attention she deserves now because of it." He chuckled, managing from his new position to see that she was giving her new admirer the odd glance from across the room. "Did you find anything?" He switched subjects as Hermione took a sip of her own drink.

"Huh?" Hermione asked. "How do you know…"

"You weren't at the game; I presume you were combing the library over while it was quiet." Leo shrugged. "Did you?"

She sighed frustratedly. "No, nothing on Horcruxes, nor on who this Half Blood Prince could be." She told him, reminding Leo of her change of focus since the bezoar incident. "Then I saw Cormac on the way up. He's not happy at all with Harry, nor with Fay."

That made Leo lose basically all of his excitement as he looked back over at Fay, this time with concern. "We won, can't he just back off." He mumbled, as Hermione placed her hand on his arm comfortingly.

"He won't make a scene." She added, though Leo silently doubted that, and he could see from her eyes that she barely believed her own words either.

Thankfully there was no sighting of McLaggen for the first hour of the party and so Leo and Hermione quickly forgot about him, turning their conversations instead to the lack of Slug Club meetings recently, to which Hermione was clear in her belief that Harry's failed attempt to gather the memory was the reason for that. Talk then moved on to their respective lessons, with Hermione asking a hundred questions a minute about Leo's Magical Law class to such an extent that the arrival of both Harry and Ginny to thunderous cheers was a welcome relief. It took a while because of the entirety of Gryffindor wanting to congratulate them both, but eventually Harry and Ginny joined them in a more secluded corner of the room, to which Harry immediately brought out his wand and muttered. "Muffliato." He looked around to ensure that nobody was watching them too closely before going to begin, but a final look at Hermione gave him pause. "Oh, lighten up Hermione, you don't want other people listening in to this…" The brunette still closed her mouth tightly and crossed her arms with a huff, but Harry ignored her. "So before the game, I ran into Malfoy…"

Leo immediately wanted to groan, and both Harry and Ginny could sense it. "Please, listen. Something is up." Ginny insisted.

"It's the second game running where he has used the emptiness of the castle to do… something." Harry insisted. "If it hadn't been for Ron being in the Hospital Wing I might have asked Ginny to play as Seeker, but anyway… we've just been to see Ron in the Hospital Wing and were talking about it…"

"It's brilliant really, and it was all Ron's idea." Ginny said with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Dobby is following him to see what he is up to." Harry finished off, his face beaming with pride. "We'll finally get the proof we need that Voldemort has given him something to do."

Leo looked over at Hermione who's eyes had narrowed in anger, but was still refusing to talk under the spell. "Is that fair on Dobby?" He asked for her, thinking of his rare experiences with Kreacher whenever he had been at Grimmauld Place. "House Elves take things really literally, if you just told him to keep an eye on Malfoy then he'll barely get any sleep…"

"We were careful." Ginny appeased him. "We had three of us, Dobby knows to sleep and to only follow Malfoy at certain times, away from classes."

Leo remained unconvinced, vowing to himself to call upon Kreacher that night and see if the House Elf of the House of Black would know any more. Before Harry could continue however the portrait was opened once more, and the room fell silent as Cormac McLaggen walked in.

"Oh boy." Hermione muttered, as Harry took the spell down and Ginny placed her hand on his wand arm, with Leo sensing that another conversation about the Gryffindor 7th year had occurred between them.

With another look over to Fay and Anna, who had finally moved over to talk to the 5th years, Leo noticed that his best friend once again looked worried. "I'll be back in a bit." He muttered quietly in the silence as he left his seat and made his way over towards Fay, noticing her grip his jumper arm tightly as he moved beside her.

"Don't stop celebrating on my account." McLaggen called out. "I just want to congratulate our new Keeper."

"Back off, Cormac." The 7th year prefect, Carl Hopkins, called out. "We don't want any trouble."

"Trouble?" Cormac retorted as he looked over towards Leo and Fay. "I won't be any trouble. I only spent the last 7 years dreaming of being Keeper, and despite a rigged try out I was the natural replacement…"

Leo took a single step to block McLaggen's path. "That's enough." He stated firmly.

"I just want to congratulate…"

"Yeah, you've said." Leo stated coldly, barely registering the fact that the entire House was staring at him now. "But you're causing a scene when all we want to do is celebrate the win, so back off."

"I'm causing a scene?" McLaggen exclaimed incredulously. "You're the one getting in my face, MacDonald." He stated, jabbing a finger into Leo's chest.

It was at that moment that Leo realised that McLaggen was at least half an inch taller than he was and built with far more muscle. If it came to muggle brawling Leo would be outmatched in an instant, and so his hand tightened around his wand in his pocket, staring coldly towards the 7th year as his mind raced through the best hexes to use if it came to it.

Harry then stood up from his table and called over. "This is exactly why you didn't get picked, McLaggen. Quidditch is a team game where we need to trust one another. If you're going to get like this when something doesn't go your way, why would I want you?"

Cormac was growing redder with anger and Leo had settled on the Jelly Leg Jinx, withdrawing his wand ever so slightly from his pocket when Carl Hopkins had closed the gap and pushed himself in between the pair. "That is enough. Break it up or you'll both get detentions." He stated firmly looking between McLaggen and Leo. "This is a party, act like it."

Leo stood deathly still however as he refused to back down until McLaggen turned away, finally sighing loudly in relief when the 7th year was marched up the Dormitory stairs by Carl. He turned back around to his friends where the first thing he noticed was Anna staring at him as if he had grown an extra head. "Bloody hell Leo, where did that come from?" The auburn-haired girl asked, breaking all the tension in the room as the music began once again and conversations returned.

He turned back to his friends and shrugged. "He's been lusting after Hermione all year and she's not been very complimentary about how he takes rejection; I didn't want him to get in Fay's face and have a go at her in the same way." He explained, turning to the darker haired 6th year girl. "Sorry Fay, I know you could have handled it but…"

"I'm glad you did." Fay insisted. "I'm so overwhelmed with everything I'd have probably just cried." She leaned in to hug him. "You're a good friend, Leo." She told him quietly, giving Leo a warm feeling of pride in his chest as he returned the hug, before they pulled apart again and Fay took a large gulp of butterbeer, inhaled an extremely deep breath, and made them all laugh with her final comment. "I think I'll stick to Gobstones in the future…"

Ron was released from the Hospital Wing on the Monday after the Quidditch Match and had immediately come to find Leo to praise him for what Leo considered to be an extremely overexaggerated version of what had happened in the Common Room of an actual dual occurring between the pair, a tale that seemed to be the story being spread around the castle and had led Leo to frequent the secret passages through the castle to get around to his lessons, something that was intended to avoid both Cormac McLaggen's retaliation, as well as people asking him for the thousandth time what it had been like to cast the Cornflake Skin Jinx.

As such the library became a home away from the Common Room, more often than it had been beforehand. Together with Hermione after her Wednesday afternoon double potions lesson they had bunkered down for the evening, and Leo must have read all the books relating to Dark Magic thrice over since lunch without even a mention of the word Horcrux in any of them, as well as reading all of the news articles about Hogwarts Students over the last 40 years in a hope to find the identity of the Half Blood Prince. Neither were giving up any form of information however and so while Hermione was stubbornly continuing, Leo had changed his approach and instead had begun to research the Gaunt family, an old Pure Blood family directly descended from Salazar Slytherin himself that Harry was being taught all about in his lessons with Professor Dumbledore.

As a part of the Sacred 28, there was an abundance of information on the House of Gaunt up until the turn of the 20th Century, where all information seemed to just disappear after a news article about an influx of Dragon Pox killing a number of the male line. One descendant of the House had even travelled across the Atlantic and founded a school in the New World… but that branch seemed to die out in the 18th century with the current Ilvermorny being useless when it came to information about the Gaunt's that would be directly linked to You-Know-Who, so that was no help to their current predicament. Leo closed his latest book slightly too vigorously, causing Hermione to peer over her own at him. "Nothing?" She asked.

Leo shook his head, turning to the next book all about Ranrok's Rebellion in the hope of any word being mentioned on Marvolo Gaunt's generation when his bag began to vibrate. Cursing under his breath, Leo quickly waved his wand, muttering what seemed to be each 6th year Gryffindor's favourite spell. "Muffliato."

Each 6th year barring Hermione, who once again tutted at the use of the Half Blood Prince's knowledge as Leo withdrew his communication mirror out. "Sirius." He said quietly, his eyes darting to make sure the spell had worked.

"Leo! I've not caught you at a bad time, no?" The elder man asked.

Shaking his head, Leo replied. "I have a free afternoon on Wednesday and I'm up to date with homework, we're just in the library trying to help Harry out about the You-Know-What's while Professor Slughorn is still being stubborn."

The grin that rapidly appeared on Sirius' face was completely unexpected. "Well, I think I can help you out there." Though it disappeared just as quickly as Sirius looked away from the mirror and stared into his other hand, where Leo presumed he had a book."

Hermione must have come to the same conclusion as almost instantly she had moved around the table to sit closely beside Leo, to the extent that her hair began to tickle his neck as she leaned in. "You've found something?" She asked Sirius eagerly.

"Something is the right word…" Sirius nodded, as his face began to look pale. "This book Hermione… I cannot in good conscious even try and disguise it so you can read it. The things in these pages could get me sent back to Azkaban if I'm caught sharing it out with students, and I don't say that lightly. I remember my Mother complaining about Professor Dumbledore stealing it from the school library back when she was in school when I was younger, as she believed it to be essential reading." He clenched his jaw tightly. "But it has information on how to create these Horcruxes, and more importantly, how to destroy them."

The students looked at one another with a mix of both excitement and horror. "Thank you." Hermione was quick to say. "Can I at least see?"

"Be quick." Leo muttered, looking around again to make sure nobody was watching them, before a check of his watch. "We have half an hour until dinner."

"It won't take that long." Sirius shrugged, setting the mirror down so that all they could see was the ceiling. "It's barely a couple of pages." A couple of pages that took a determined Hermione mere minutes to scribble down onto a new bit of parchment. "I've combed through everything I can in this place though, and while there's an abundance about the most obscene magic you can think of, this is all I could find about Horcruxes."

"This is a big help." Leo admitted, reading the scribbles Hermione was writing out and wincing at the descriptions. "Even if they're… unnerving."

"If Voldemort has created one of them then finding it needs to be our biggest priority." Sirius admitted. "But until Dumbledore tells us about it…" He sighed. "It feels like last year again, wanting do something but being cooped up in this dump instead." He grumbled the last couple of words miserably

"At least you have Mum." Leo noted, trying to cheer them all up.

There was a pause, to which Leo could imagine the nod of realisation that could have followed. "You make a good point. She can't wait to see you, by the way. Sends her love and wants to make sure you're prepared for your Apparition exam."

Leo groaned. "They've scheduled it for the 21st. A great way to spend my coming of age…"

"No better way to do it!" Sirius retorted chirpily. "Once you can Apparate my boy not even the sky is the limit! Well, under normal circumstances…"

The silence that followed made Leo think of all the ways the current war was affecting his life. Sirius was right, normally after returning home this summer he would have spent his days practicing his wand work and apparition out by the Loch, though the reality was that he would likely be cooped up in Grimmauld Place again. "I guess I can join the Order." He muttered.

"Not quite, not until you're out of school." Sirius stated, perhaps the most parental that he had ever been. "Dumbledore's orders."

"I'm done!" Hermione exclaimed. "Now, to make sure that nobody finds it… Inconspiculum." She whispered, waving her wand delicately over each line. Leo watched as the ink seemed to soak into the parchment, leaving it almost as fresh as it had been brand new. She then marked the corner with a scribble that Leo couldn't quite decipher.

"I better burn this now then." Sirius muttered with a slight smirk telling Leo that even Sirius Black knew that certain books were too valuable to just destroy despite their contents being awful. "And Buckbeak needs cleaning out, so I best let you two go."

"Thank you again, Sirius." Hermione stated quickly. "This is a great help; we'll go right to Harry."

Leo nodded his agreement. "And hopefully we can think of some way to try and persuade Professor Slughorn…"

"Good luck with that." Sirius snorted. "If Harry can't… well, some things are beyond even the memory of Lily I guess."

With a final wave, Sirius' face shimmered and disappeared, leaving Leo looking at himself once again. He stuffed the mirror back in his bag along with his own writing tools, noticing Hermione do the same. "We need to make sure that parchment doesn't get lost."

"I'm already on it." She smiled, stuffing it inside her robes. "This is a breakthrough; we do really need to go and tell Harry."

Looking at his watch Leo noticed that it was close to 6 o'clock. "We've almost missed dinner as it is." He said. "Let's go and eat, and we can show him afterwards. We've earned a break I think."

Hermione seemingly agreed as she pulled her bag strap over her shoulder. "I couldn't agree more." She said, grabbing a handful of books to put back before the pair of them made their way out of the library, both pleased with the progress they'd ended up making.

Chapter Text

"This is foul…" Ron said with a greenish tint appearing on his face as he read over the parchment. It had taken until Sunday to be able to share it with the Weasley given his tendency to sneak off around the castle with Lavender Brown, but finally they had caught him and his reaction was similar to the rest of the others. "Truly… this is evil. To go to this length…"

"It's barbaric." Harry agreed, though his tone seemed calmer his eyes were angry.

Ginny meanwhile snatched the parchment from her brother's hands to read through it thoroughly again. "I still don't get it…"

Hermione, who had now managed to digest the information she had copied down, spoke quietly from her seat beside Leo. "In order to create a Horcrux, you must sacrifice a part of yourself in a ritual and imbue the object you choose with your essence through a series of spells." She began. "Then, once you have murdered, you cast a soul binding curse seven times, merging both your soul fragment and the soul of the deceased and binding them both to the Horcrux, tethering the wielder to life."

Leo was grateful for the Muffliato spell once again as he looked around at the rest of the Gryffindor's in the Common Room seemingly just enjoying their evenings whilst the small group were discussing some of the foulest magic Leo had ever heard of. "What kind of sacrifice?" He asked.

"Physical." Harry muttered bitterly. "You've not seen Voldemort, but I have. He is unnatural, his skin, his eyes… his nose. If you were to tell me that he cut bits off in order to create Horcruxes, I'd believe you."

"He was charming in the diary." Ginny whispered, her face a pale white. "Attractive, now I think back to it."

Harry grabbed her hand tightly, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "Not anymore, whatever he has done in his quest for immortality, he's changed."

A silence fell over the group at that revelation, as Leo gingerly retrieved Hermione's parchment and read through it for what must have been the tenth time. This time however he focused on the destruction. "To destroy a Horcrux, the object containing the soul fragment must be destroyed beyond all methods of repair." He read aloud. "Both physical, and magical."

"It's a start." Harry noted. "Dumbledore has been insisting I need to focus on this… so thanks guys." He looked over at Hermione and Leo, and the latter saw that he was genuine from his green eyes. "This is really great stuff."

The two boys looked at one another for a long moment, the tense last few months or so definitely on both of their minds. Leo hoped that it was the start of Harry actually learning to trust him properly, and nodded towards the Boy-Who-Lived, who nodded back at him, that action saying it all to one another. "Boys." Hermione rolled her eyes from beside Leo, causing everyone to crack a smile as they settled into their armchairs and focused on some homework for the rest of the night. Hermione helping Ginny with her OWL Herbology work, Harry and Ron focusing on their Dementor essays for Defence Against the Dark Arts the next morning, and Leo delving into an assignment on Pierre Bonaccord for Magical Law.

The room emptying completely seemed to pass them by, and it was only when Harry rose out of his chair staring inquisitively at the other side of the room when Leo realised that the only occupants were the five of them. Ginny peered up from her own seat, parchment scrambled everywhere, and asked. "Harry? What is it?"

"I thought I saw…" Harry mumbled, taking a few steps. "Dobby! What are you doing!"

All four heads perked up as they looked over towards Harry, and from underneath a table Leo spotted a pair of large, green eyes illuminated in the fireplace light. "Harry Potter sir!" A loud squeak followed. "Dobby did not want to interrupt…"

"Nonsense, come on." Harry waved the House Elf over. "Whatever you want to say to me you can say it to these guys as well." Dobby was years younger than Kreacher, Leo noted immediately. His ears were less drooping and his movement far quicker, but the main thing that surprised the Gryffindor boy was the amount of jumpers and clothes that the House Elf was wearing. He wore a floppy crimson hat and a bright green and pink jumper, with socks of a vile shade of yellow and blue. It was tough not to let out a chuckle at the sight, but Leo managed to hold it in as Dobby was told to sit in the seat Harry had just vacated, the House Elf wringing his hands nervously. "Well? Do you have something?"

Dobby's eyes dropped nervously and his hand wringing grew faster. "Dobby saw nothing out of the ordinary, Harry Potter sir. The Malfoy Boy is breaking no rules that Dobby can discover. He eats in the Great Hall; he sleeps in the Slytherin Common Room. He visits the Seventh Floor with a variety of students who keep watch as he enters…"

That sparked a light into all five of the humans around the table, but Harry was the first to exclaim it. "The Room of Requirement!" He cried out, slapping himself on the forehead. "Of course! That's where he's sneaking off to. That's where he's going…" He reached into his robes and pulled out a scrappy bit of parchment that Leo now recognised as the map his Father had a hand in making. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He muttered, before folding it around for a moment, tapping it with a finger. "Here."

Ron peered over. "I don't see anything." He muttered.

"I don't think I've ever seen it appear there." Harry explained.

"It will be part of the magic of the room." Hermione had an answer for that. "If you need it to be unplottable, it will. It's rare, but you see unplottable locations in the wider world. Azkaban, Beauxbatons…"

"Grimmauld Place." Leo interrupted. "Professor Dumbledore made it unplottable when he made it Headquarters, my Dad told me that."

"Exactly." Hermione nodded.

Harry turned back to Dobby. "Have you seen what he's been up to, Dobby?" He asked.

The House Elf shook his head sadly. "No, Harry Potter, that is impossible."

Leo frowned. "Then how did Malfoy get in last year?" He asked.

It was Ron with the answer. "He knew what he was looking for I guess, and we'll have no chance if he's hiring look outs."

"Is there no way for House Elves to get in?" Harry asked.

Leo shook his head at that. "If the room is unplottable, it will likely have other defences too, including keeping House Elves out unless they are wanted."

"Harry Potter's friend is right." Dobby nodded, before unwillingly letting out a large yawn, slapping his hands to his mouth. "Dobby is sorry…"

"Dobby, have you been sleeping?" Ginny asked, and Leo already knew the answer before it was spoken.

"No, Harry Potter's Miss Wheezy." Dobby shook his head vigorously as he responded in an exuberant and excited manner. "Dobby has been extra vigilant in following Harry Potter's request!"

Harry at least had the decency to look bashful. "I didn't mean…" He sighed. "Dobby, please get some sleep, you've been brilliant but I'd hate for you to be tired."

Nodding, the House Elf stretched his little arms out. "Thank you, Harry Potter sir." Dobby mumbled, before his eyes began to close and soon enough soft snores were heard.

The 5 Gryffindors looked around at one another, bemused. "So… what now?" Ron asked, trying not to laugh at the sight of the House Elf sleeping while still stood upright.

"Let's get to bed." Hermione was the one to say, looking at Dobby. "Let Dobby get his rest and we'll sleep on it, but Harry, you really should leave Malfoy alone. The memory is what's important, not him."

Harry wanted to complain but Ginny reached out and squeezed his hand as the pair shared a look. "Right, yeah. Goodnight then." Harry nodded, giving Ginny a kiss, gently picking Dobby up and placing him on an armchair before heading up the stairs to the boys dormitory. Ron followed after pulling a face towards his sister, while Ginny was next.

"He won't give this up." Leo stated the obvious as Hermione gathered her books.

She sighed. "No, he won't, but we need that memory."

"There are 5 of us." Leo shrugged, starting to feel too tired to think properly and wanting nothing more than to crawl into his bed and close his eyes. "Between us we'll think of something, I'm sure."

Hermione didn't look too convinced, but she smiled warmly at him as she made for the Girls dormitory stairs, pausing as she rose up the first step before turning back and smiling at him again. "Night, Leo." She said softly

"Night." Leo replied with a reciprocated smile, before making his own way to bed, barely managing to remove the days clothes before he drifted off into a deep sleep.

Despite the good night's sleep, Leo was none the wiser in coming up with a plan to try and encourage the memory out of Professor Slughorn as the new day dawned, and it seemed like the same was the case with the others when they met for breakfast, though Ron had concluded that Polyjuice Potion was being used from Dobby's various students comment, and a quick look over at the Slytherin table to see a grouchy Crabbe and Goyle gave more evidence to the thought. They quickly had to split up for lessons, with Hermione going to Ancient Runes while the boys all had free periods, Leo taking the free to help Fay with her Charms homework before a lesson with Professor Snape in Defence Against the Dark Arts, later finding out that Harry hadn't spent his free period doing anything productive, but instead pacing outside the Room of Requirement with no luck in catching the Slytherin's.

The majority of that week however was once again dominated by Apparition. Those old enough to take the test in April, the group of which Leo just snuck into given that the test was on his 17th birthday, were able to spend their Sunday practicing out in Hogsmeade. Hermione of course was perfect, while Fay Dunbar managed to travel to the intended spot, just facing the opposite way than intended. Leo meanwhile had finally gotten the hang of it and moved without any major issues other than falling flat onto his face at the landing.

As a result of being in Hogsmeade however they did get to enjoy a short trip out into the village, and so Leo, finding his courage, managed to ask Hermione to accompany him around some of the shops, namely Scrivenshafts, Honeydukes and Tomes and Scrolls, before settling back into the Three Broomsticks with the rest of the Gryffindors for a quick drink before they returned to the castle, with Leo keeping a big grin on his face for the rest of the day.

As March turned to April and the added pressure of the Apparition exam grew larger as each day passed mixed with the looming end of the school year and compounded by Harry's constant obsession with Malfoy that exceeded the Horcrux problem, that good feeling from the Hogsmeade trip barely returned. By the time of the 21st April it was another early rise, though the parcel wrapped in the red and silver of Wigtown Wanderers perked him up despite the 6 o'clock start. Opening the letter first, he was glad to see the scribbles of his mother.

My darling Leo,

I can hardly believe you're 17 today, my son. It feels like only yesterday I was holding you in my arms, watching you grow, wondering what kind of person you'd become. And now, here you are – so strong, so brave.

I know the world is heavy right now, and everything feels uncertain, but please never forget how deeply you are loved. You are my heart, and nothing can ever change that. I'm so eternally proud of you.

Stay safe, my darling. Always remember, you have the strength to face anything that comes your way. I promise we will celebrate properly, in the MacDonald way, when I see you next. For now, please enjoy this gift from your Father and I. You're smart enough to know what it is, but take some comfort in the fact that it was your Father that picked it out.

All my love,
Mum

With a big smile as he wiped away a rogue tear from his eye at her words Leo set the parchment to one side and carefully began to open up the present, his eyes widening at the shine coming from the opened box. It was a watch unlike anything Leo had ever seen, the black leather strap led to a silver outer rim, with the face of the watch also being black, and the silver numbers shown in roman numerals instead of numbers. Just looking at it Leo knew it was the most expensive item he had ever owned, and he eagerly but carefully unboxed it and strapped it to his left arm before getting dressed.

Given it was a Monday Leo technically had a free period before and after Defence Against the Dark Arts, and it was during the latter free after a standard, dismal lesson with Professor Snape, when Leo was cornered by his friends and dragged back to the Common Room and forced down into a comfy armchair by the pair of them. He waited for them to begin, but they held their silence with their arms folded. "What is…"

"You're 17 now." Fay began, interrupting him quickly. "And as such… it didn't feel right that we just get you chocolate or sweets."

Shaking his head, Leo began to argue back. "But I like…"

"But I like sweets." Anna finished for him; her tone high pitched in light mockery. "We know that dummy! But just listen."

They were standing over him looking eerily similar to two parents lecturing their young child, a thought that brought a light chuckle out. "Alright." He surrendered, leaning back into the armchair to allow whatever pageantry the girls had planned. "Go on." Anna looked over at Fay and giggled, worrying Leo slightly more as she then ran off up to the girls dormitory's. "What are you up to?" He smirked at his best friend. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this…"

Fay gasped exaggeratedly. "How dare you!" She exclaimed, her eyes shining with mirth before she collapsed beside him in giggles. "It's over the top sure, but trust me you'll love this."

He believed her completely, relaxing even more into his chair as he waited for Anna to return. He glanced at his new watch, noticing that the time was now just after noon. Fay noticed his glance and grabbed his wrist roughly. "Woah!" She exclaimed.

"A present from my parents." He admitted with a grin. "That still feels weird to say, but yeah, my dad picked it out apparently."

"That must have cost a fortune." Fay whistled. "I knew you had money now, but…"

Leo shrugged as he shook his sleeve back over his watch. "I'd give it all up for a normal family life growing up." He muttered, appreciating the watch but being reminded of what he had missed out on all those years.

She winced at that. "Leo… sorry."

"It's fine." He said quickly as he smiled over at her honestly. "It is expensive sure, but that's not the important thing about it to me. It's an actual present from my dad, that means more to me than the entirety of Gringotts."

Her hand moved to his shoulder as she gave him a quick squeeze as footsteps came thundering down the dormitory steps and Anna reappeared in front of him. "Close your eyes." The auburn haired girl said sternly.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Both girls laughed, and Leo did as he was told. "Now hold out your hands…" Once again he did as he was asked, and a heavy cylindrical glass object was placed in. Opening his eyes, he saw a bright crimson bow wrapped around a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky, with a bold 1980 printed on the label. "Happy birthday!" The girls exclaimed.

Leo held the bottle up, admiring it in the light of the fireplace. He'd drank butterbeer before of course, but Firewhisky had been kept far away from him during the summers back home with his Mother having hexed him at least three times for accidentally reaching his hands towards a bottle, much to his Grandfather's amusement. "Wow… you guys really shouldn't have!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"With Apparition coming up and all, we thought… if we all passed." Fay shrugged her shoulders.

"Of course we'll share it." He laughed, moving over to hug each of them tightly. "Thank you, both of you." He looked down at the bottle in his hands, a plan forming in his head. "If we all pass today, we'll open this up."

Fay snorted in amusement as Anna looked aghast, making an extremely good point as the bell rang for the start of lunch. "Do you really want to go to Transfiguration tomorrow with a hangover?" All three began to laugh at the thought as they grabbed their things and began to walk out of the Common Room ready to eat. Anna, however, paused for a second, turning to the other two and saying. "Do you remember our first day at Hogwarts?"

"Why are you bringing that up?" Fay scoffed.

Anna shrugged. "Just… we're all 17 now. We're old, and you're uglier." She nodded at Leo who kicked out at her, though she dodged it with another giggle. "Seriously though, that Herbology lesson on the 1st day… when we first met properly because you two were friends on the train and we had the beds next to one another." She nodded at Fay this time. "Between then and now, so much has happened."

"Time does that." Leo shrugged. "Looking back can be fun, but we can't get bogged down in the past."

"You just don't want to be reminded at how shy you were." Fay grinned.

Leo rolled his eyes at the teasing, but she made a good point. "I was shy." He nodded. "I was in a dorm with the Boy Who Lived, Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnigan… it's easy to get pushed to the corner with them." He sighed. "Thankfully I had you guys, or I don't know what I'd have done." The conversation was getting slightly more real than any of them had intended, but Leo pressed on. "I know we've not always seen eye to eye Anna, but I mean that. I found my place in Hogwarts with you two, and I know I've been more distant recently but I don't want you to think that anything has changed in that regard."

Both girls smiled at him, with Fay putting her arm awkwardly around his shoulders, the height difference glaring. "You're still our little brother really, Leo."

Anna grinned, doing the same and forcing Leo's neck down to their level. "Exactly. You can canoodle with Granger all you like, just remember that at your wedding, we're going to talk about that time in the library in 4th year…"

He forced his way away from them and shoved them. "You promised." He reminded them warningly.

Laughing loudly as they reached the staircase, Fay and Anna linked arms and ran down the steps, with Leo pausing slightly to just listen to the increasingly rare noise of laughter filling the castle.

He managed to eat a couple of ham sandwiches and a handful of still steaming chips from the central trays before his robe sleeve was getting pulled, as Hermione stood behind him. Finishing his mouthful unceremoniously, he turned, wiping the crumbs from his lips. "Is everything alright?"

Hermione nodded. "I'm going to go for a walk by the lake, do you want to join me?"

His initial thought was that he didn't, he was already for one of the first times in his life unsure about attending History of Magic because of the nerves he felt for the Apparition Exam later that afternoon, but one look into Hermione's brown eyes stopped his refusal before it had even begun to form, and Leo found himself saying goodbye to Fay and Anna, grabbing one last gulp of his drink before joining the brunette for a walk around the grounds.

They quickly found themselves down at water level with the cliffside that held Hogwarts up as the crowning jewel of the valley at their backs. Leo was the first to take his shoes and socks off, rolling his trouser legs up to his knees and slowly made his way in to the water to make the most of the warm day until he was ankle deep. He looked back at Hermione who was staring at him incredulously. "What?" He asked with a grin.

"We have no towels, or spare clothes…" She trailed off as Leo reached into his pocket, pulling out his Ebony wand and twirling it teasingly in his right hand. "Ah." She vocalised, before snorting in laughter and unbuckling her own shoes before she froze for a moment. "Turn around." She said earnestly.

Without a thought, Leo did as he was asked, turning to face the lake. Across the water he could see the bridge holding the train tracks, while the horizon was filled with large peaks from the Scottish Highlands and Leo could spot the smoke plumes that indicated the village of Aranshire. Even the Giant Squid was taking advantage of the warm blue skies, its tentacles floundering in the air as it splashed around enjoying the weather.

Further, delicate splashes were heard from beside him as Hermione had finally entered the lake, with Leo noting immediately that he had needed to turn around for her to take her tights off. Her hands were pressed to the side of her skirt tightly, and so Leo decided to take a deep breath as he smelled the fresh air, before talking over the sounds of nature. "This reminds me a lot of home." He told her. "We have a cottage, by Loch Ryan. Isolated enough so that muggles don't come anywhere near, their roads stretch away from the cottage and it's off the local rambling paths, but it gives us a private route to the water, almost like a beachside property if the shore wasn't so… Scottish." He smiled fondly, picturing it vividly in his mind, the thatched roof and the white walls, the broomsticks leaning on the house and his Grandad's old cauldrons for the game he enjoyed so much, and the little path his ancestor had created that led down to the Loch. "Granda' would take me down to the water's edge and teach me to fish." He scrunched up his face and deepened his voice to mimic his Grandfather's gruff Scottish accent. "It'll learn you patience, laddie. A trait so far gone from our kind that we've lost the beauty in the world." He returned to his normal accent. "For someone that enjoyed having rocks charmed to hit him on the head, he was a wise man occasionally."

"I wish I could have known him." Hermione said softly, her hand now moving to brush his own, their fingers dancing around the others before the pair of them shifted their arms ever so slightly, and their fingers interlocked. "You must miss him a lot, especially today."

Leo nodded, realising that today was going to be a day full of reminiscing with this conversation coming so soon after his talk with Fay and Anna. "I do. He would be shocked to see me now though, I think."

"Really?" Hermione shifted in the water, completely facing him now.

"You remember me in our 3rd year, right?" Leo chuckled. "I kept myself to myself, did my homework on time and barely socialised with you all. I only really spoke to Anna and Fay outside of our teachers." He sighed, thinking back to his younger days at Hogwarts. "I often wondered why I was put into Gryffindor, and not Ravenclaw."

Hermione grinned at that comment. "The hat almost put me in Ravenclaw too!" She exclaimed, and Leo remembered being stood there waiting as the hat took around 4 minutes to sort Hermione. "I chose Gryffindor of course, I think I was influenced by Professor Dumbledore being in Gryffindor at the time, but I wouldn't change that at all." She knocked her hand against his again gently. "But you belong in Gryffindor, Leo, and though I didn't know him, I'm sure your Grandfather wouldn't be shocked at all to look at the man you've become."

Leo chuckled, thinking back on the letter that he had received on his first morning at Hogwarts from his Grandfather, full of bluster and cheer about Gryffindor, and asking Leo to find a surprising number of secrets passed down to him through generations of MacDonald's. "He'd be proud I'm sure, but still surprised." He sighed. "Knowing what I know now… it makes me wonder about what he thought during our 3rd year, he wasn't well at all at the time, but with Sirius roaming around being thought of as he was…"

Hermione's hand squeezed. "From the things your parents say and how you describe him, I think once the truth was known your Grandfather would have been happy that your family has found its way back together."

Leo nodded; it was exactly the sort of thing he would have said. "Aye, I think you're right."

They allowed silence to fall over them then, with the waterfall behind them and the birds in the sky being the only noises until Hermione shifted again, taking Leo's attention away from the views. "I didn't know what to get you for your birthday this year." She began.

"You don't need to get me anything." Leo shook his head quickly, simply enjoying their time together as their fingers remained interlocked.

"I do though." Hermione said with a smirk. "And a book just didn't seem right this year, especially after you completely outdid me at Christmas." Her free hand went to her neck where Leo had become accustomed to seeing the silver chain with a quill pendant.

"It's not a competition." Leo muttered quietly. "I just saw it and I immediately thought of you, and when I did I knew I needed to get it for you."

"Well, be that as it may." Hermione began. "This year, I wanted to find something more… more meaningful. Though everywhere I looked, nothing quite seemed right."

"Hermione." Leo sighed, turning to face her completely, his other hand reaching for her free one so they held one another with both hands. "I promise you; you don't need to get me anything, and definitely not spend so much time worrying over it."

Hermione smiled brightly. "I know." She all but whispered. "But still, with how much I've enjoyed spending time with you this year, and getting to know the real you. I wanted your 17th to be special."

And with that, Hermione gently tugged him closer, pulling him so that their bodies were mere inches away from one another, before Hermione's hands left Leo's and began to run up his arms, over his shoulders and snake around his neck, pulling his head gently down towards his own…

It felt like Leo was 11 again stood in Ollivander's Wand Shop as the warm feeling of his wand shot up his arm, but instead that feeling went all throughout his body as he allowed himself to just live in the moment, kissing Hermione. It was so much better than any of the many, many dreams he had had about this moment, and his own arms moved to wrap around her too, pulling her closer towards him as the kiss deepened. He had no idea whether they were locked together for seconds or hours by the time they split apart, but his face must have shown his surprise as Hermione couldn't contain her giggles.

"I… you…" Leo struggled to form words as he registered what had just happened. "Wow." He settled on.

"Happy birthday, Leo." She said warmly, and Leo could have stayed in that moment forever, staring down at her beautiful brown eyes.

Unfortunately, as ever, the moment would be interrupted as his watch began to vibrate, and Leo noticed that the bell to signify the end of lunch was close. "I don't want to move." He managed a full sentence this time. "Does this mean… are we…?"

"We'll talk about that properly later." Hermione insisted happily as she grabbed Leo's hand once again and dragged him out of the water. "I probably should have waited until this evening… I'll be thinking about this instead of the 3 D's now… but it felt right."

Leo could only agree as they reached the spot where they had left their shoes and bags. He pulled out his wand as she sat down and aimed at her feet. "Ventulus Calidus." He muttered, and a soft breeze of warm air shot out, drying her quickly so that she could put her tights on. He then dried his own feet with the same spell, eager to hold Hermione's hand once again for the journey back up to the castle, his thoughts locked on the moment that she had pressed her lips to his own.

Hermione had been right, and Leo had failed to pay any attention towards History of Magic in his sole lesson between lunch and the Apparition Exam. His mind had been replaying the moment over and over again, completely ignoring the lecture from Professor Binns about the 14th Century Wizarding Economic Bubble. Though by the time the bell had rung to signal the end of the lesson, Leo's thoughts had changed as he replayed a conversation he had had with Harry on Christmas Day.

"Just… don't mess her around. We all know how close you are with Fay; I don't want Hermione getting hurt."

His thoughts must have been projecting clearly as the students began to gather in the Bell Tower Courtyard before their journey towards Hogsmeade where the Apparition exam was taking place, though it took another half an hour, by which time the students higher up in the alphabetical list had begun to take their tests in threes, for Fay to nudge him and take him out of his mind. "Everything ok?"

"Huh?" Leo was startled, which only caused Fay to snort in laughter as he registered her question. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

"Except you're not." Fay noted as she leant against Gladrags waiting for their turns. "Go on, spill. You'll take my mind off of being nervous here." She gestured around as Susan Bones returned with a relieved grin on her face, just for Michael Corner to be called next.

Leo sighed, looking over at where Hermione was standing with Ron, the pair whispering between one another. "We kissed." He said quietly.

Fay's eyes widened in delight. "On your birthday?" She quietly squealed. "Oh that's romantic!"

"We went down to the lake and yeah." Leo nodded. "But now…" He then sighed. "I keep thinking of something Harry said at Christmas. About how he doesn't want her getting hurt and how close we are." He gestured between the pair of them.

The delight in Fay's eyes dimmed quickly as she saw the meaning behind that. "What did you tell him?" She asked him, her voice low and full of worry.

"That we are friends and nothing more." Leo stated quickly. "I'd never… it's not my place to talk about you like that, Fay."

They fell into a brief moment of silence then, until Fay spoke out loud what Leo had been fretting about. "But you're worried that it's something that will affect whatever is going on between you and Hermione."

"No? Not really?" Leo sighed. "Not with her, but others. It's daft, I know. Just saying it out loud makes me sound ridiculous."

"It's not." Fay stated quickly. "We are close, I love Anna but it's a different type of friendship. I trusted you with this before anybody else and if I was asked, I'd have to say I loved you, Leo, because I really do, but not in that way, the way that people would run off and gossip about. You are my best friend without a shadow of a doubt and you've always been there for me throughout all of this. Taking me to the Yule Ball meant more to me than you'll know." She sighed dramatically as she paused for a moment, relaxing her face as she did. "Look… tell her the truth."

"Huh?" Leo said again, surprised. "But… no, it's not my business."

"I know girls, Leo. Even if she trusts you as much as I do, there's always going to be something lingering in the back of her head unless we grow apart, and I don't want that." Fay explained. "I know how much you care for Hermione and I know that you would never fall this hard for a girl unless she was special and you could trust her and if you can trust her, so can I. Tell her, nip this in the bud quickly before it can fester into something it isn't."

Leo digested that for a moment. "Only if you're sure." He insisted again. "It's probably just me being…"

"No, and you've not asked this of me, I'm suggesting it." Fay stated, placing her hand gently on his shoulder and giving it a kind squeeze. "I don't know what things will be like by the summer, but I've been spending more time with Vicky over the last few weeks and who knows, maybe that will turn into something more public and all of this will be for nothing, or maybe not. All I do know is that I'm getting there, and I don't want to be the reason that your own happiness gets affected." Leo was about to complain at her last point but she shook her head firmly, stopping him before he could begin. "Just, name one of your kids after me, yeah? That's the least you could do."

Now it was Leo's turn to snort in laughter, shoving her gently away. "Behave." He muttered as he watched Milicent Bulstrode return from her exam with a large grin on her face.

"Fay Dunbar!" One of the instructors called, and Leo noticed the girls shoulders slump.

"You've got this." He whispered to her. Fay didn't respond, instead she walked off whispering to herself about the 3 D's repeatedly, leaving Leo to stand on his own thinking about her words, as his eyes kept creeping over towards a certain bushy haired brunette…

Thankfully when it counted, Leo managed to push the kiss with Hermione to the back of his mind so that he could concentrate fully, and managed to get through the exam without Splinching himself, earning himself the Apparition License in the process. With Anna, Fay and Hermione all also passing the temptation was there for Leo to go and open the bottle of Firewhisky that was now sat comfortably in his trunk, though the reminder of double Transfiguration the following morning was more than enough to throw that thought away, as instead the Gryffindors sat with bottles of Butterbeer as they rehashed their experiences of the exam to each other. Ron's tale of just leaving half of his eyebrow behind made all of the group wince in frustration at how meticulous the examiners had been.

Harry joined them on their third drink, appearing from the dormitory to the surprise of Leo who hadn't seen him go past. That perked Ron up at least, who immediately turned to him and asked. "So? Are you going?"

Harry nodded, though his eyes wandered over to where Leo, Anna and Fay were sat near one another and simply said. "Yeah, I just fancy a drink before I do."

"Where are you going?" Anna was the one to ask.

In unison, both Harry and Ron responded almost immediately. "Quidditch Pitch." Which caused the pair of them to laugh.

"Ravenclaw are training tonight." Harry then explained to those that didn't know otherwise. "I wanted to see if I could sneak down and watch, to prepare for next month, try and get the jump on them."

That seemed to appease the girls at least, but Leo kept half an eye on Harry as he sat down and grabbed a Butterbeer, slyly pouring a few drops of something else into the bottle before he took a large swig of the drink before the strangest thing happened, and Harry Potter began smiling. He then quickly downed the drink before letting off a quiet belch before stating jovially. "Right, I'm off to Hagrid's."

Everybody was confused. "Hagrid's, Harry? Not the Quidditch Pitch?" Hermione was the one to voice.

"I'll end up there I'm sure, but I really feel like I need to go to Hagrid's. He's a dear friend, he shouldn't be alone tonight of all nights."

Ron's face went pale. "It's an Acromantula, Harry, not a family member."

Harry simply shrugged. "Same thing to Hagrid." He exclaimed cheerfully, before waving to everybody and turning away, whistling the school's theme tune loudly. The 6th year's sat there, all their mouths wide in surprise as Harry moved towards the Portrait Hole, passing Ginny on her way back from the Library and kissing her deeply before he crouched through the Portrait Hole and was out of sight.

"What… was that?" Fay asked with a grin. "He's cracked, he's finally cracked."

"He's taken it?" Hermione whispered to Ron, who nodded. Sighing, Hermione leant back in her chair, turning to Anna, Fay, Leo, and the now arrived Ginny who's blush hadn't rescinded yet. "Harry won the Felix Felicis in Potions back in September, and he's evidentially taken some tonight to not be spotted while spying on Ravenclaw." She lied; the darting of her pupils to and from Leo's own made for a certainty that he realised instantly. "Smart really, how better to ensure you don't get caught than by being lucky."

It seemed to appease the girls however, who immediately started a debate as to what they would have done with Liquid Luck, although that was quickly interrupted by the Portrait opening once again as Lavender Brown stormed in, her face looking furious. "Ron, a word." She said as she approached them all.

"Everything ok?" The red-head asked.

Lavender huffed and crossed her arms. "Outside." She stated, causing Leo to catch his laughter at the scene. Lavender then turned and skulked back outside the portrait hole, leaving Ron bemused and dazzled as he got to his feet.

"Mental, that one." Ron muttered under his breath, but he followed his girlfriend outside. Then it was Fay and Anna's turn, deciding that it was time for Gobstones Club. When Ginny left to put her books away, it left Hermione and Leo alone.

Sensing that they were about to have a big conversation and noting that their seating area would be filled up quickly by students settling down for the night, without a word both of them rose and moved to a more secluded sofa by the fireplace and sat down. Minutes passed before either of them spoke, and it was Hermione who broke the silence. "We should talk about earlier."

Leo nodded. "That was… incredible." He said with a grin. He looked over at Hermione, who had an expression that he thought was relief spread across her face. He grabbed her hands and held them tightly. "It really was the best gift, you were right… as usual."

"I saw you when we were waiting for our tests this afternoon." Hermione told him. "There was something… I couldn't tell what you were thinking but it was more like worry than anything good, and I guess I got in my own head a little bit." She chuckled nervously.

He then knew it was time to speak about his conversation at Christmas with Harry, but as that realisation settled in he found his palms beginning to heat up and sweat. Pulling them away to wipe them, he sighed. "I really care about you, you know that, right?" He asked. Hermione nodded. "I've known I liked you since the summer, but there's always been something about you Hermione that's drawn me to you… I hope that doesn't sound creepy."

Hermione chuckled lightly. "No, it doesn't."

"So I don't want to mess this up." He continued. "I want this, I want us. I want to be with you, and I don't want us to have to hide things from one another either." He took a breath before launching into his explanation. "Harry spoke with me at Christmas, I guess after Slughorn's party he realised what was happening between us and was playing the part of the friend, you know, warning me not to hurt you and everything."

She tutted, annoyed. "I'm an adult, I don't need Harry protecting me from my own decisions." She muttered.

"It wasn't out of spite or anything, it was honest concern." Leo said, bewildering himself for defending Harry. "But he said something at the time… about how close I am with Fay. That popped into my head after the Lake, that's all."

Hermione nodded, turning to face the fire. "I'll admit that I believed you and Fay were an item for a while. It's something Harry and I spoke about in the summer before 5th year, before you found out… well everything. When we knew your mother was in the Order and that one day, you'd likely be a part of the Order too. Harry was one of those wanting to keep you in the dark in case you shared certain things with Fay." She held up her hand as he was about to interrupt, predicting him entirely. "I know you would never now, but we didn't really know the real you back then." She said softly, resting that hand on his leg. "But you say you've only ever been friends, and as a girl with two guy friends… I understand that."

"It's not just that." Leo said, his voice barely a whisper now as he nestled into the sofa, leaning towards Hermione so that he wouldn't be overheard. "Fay… she spotted this coming too, so what you saw earlier, was her telling me to tell you the truth. Fay likes girls, Hermione. We went to the Yule Ball together because I couldn't pluck up the courage to ask anybody else, namely you if I think about what I was too dumb to realise at the time, and she didn't want to pretend to be on a date with some guy with expectations that she couldn't match."

He knew her well enough by now to know that she was digesting that information, likely going through their 5 years of sharing a dormitory at Hogwarts for the signs, and Leo could only grin as her mouth widened to a perfect O. "That… makes so much sense." She whispered eventually, before a smile appeared on her face. "I need to thank her the next time I see her, for trusting me."

"She sees how you make me feel." Leo shrugged. "Her exact words were 'if you can trust her, so can I.'"

Hermione was the one to reach for his hands this time, and Leo once again felt sparks fly through his nerves as they touched. "I feel the same about you." She admitted. "I first thought about the idea of you last Christmas if it's my turn to be honest." She was blushing, and Leo was enamoured with the rosy tint on her cheeks. "Seeing how you dealt with all that information with that much maturity was genuinely inspiring, and then after that, I actually got to know you more."

He wanted to kiss her there and then, but held his temptation for a moment longer. "So… if this is what we both want, and we both care a lot for one another." He began, the Gryffindor in him suddenly leaping out from nowhere. "Do you want to be together?"

Hermione snorted quietly, amused at the question. "I thought that was clear from earlier." She teased him, before becoming serious. "Yes, Leo, I do." They pushed together and kissed once again, and the same feelings that hit him earlier rushed through his body as their lips were pressed together, only for them to jump apart as footsteps pounded through the room. Leo turned and saw a teary faced Lavender storming through a group of 3rd years on her way to the girls dormitory, while Ron was sheepishly making his way in after her, spotting them in the corner and moving towards them. "Perhaps we don't broadcast it just yet though." Hermione whispered.

It was something that Leo could only agree with once Ron found them and joined them. "That girl is mental, I swear." He repeated, oblivious to the fact that Leo was still holding Hermione's hand. "She seems to think I've got… some form of harem going on with the girls dormitory." Ron exclaimed. "Where in the name of Merlin's left nipple has that come from?"

Looking over at his new girlfriend, Leo knew that she was thinking the exact same thing as she was. "Liquid Luck." They said at the same time, as they quickly distracted Ron with theories about what Harry was getting up to down at Hagrid's, with only the odd subtle glance between them to show any indication of the conversation they had just shared.

Chapter Text

"Wow." Ron said, after Harry had eventually finished his tale of his Felix induced adventure. After leaving the Common Room he had indeed ran into Lavender as suspected, pushing the idea that Ron was enjoying his company with a group of women that didn't include her and setting up an argument that would spell the end of that particular relationship. Harry had then ended up meeting Professor Slughorn down by the Greenhouses and inviting the previously elusive Potions Master to the funeral of Aragog, who Leo had now learned was the Acromantula pet of Hagrid's that had been the scapegoat for the initial opening of the Chamber of Secrets some 50 years previously. That had all led to a series of events involving a pair of drunk Professors and some well placed guilt tripping on Harry's part and finally ended up with the memory that they had all been desperate for being retrieved, and Harry had explained to the small group of Gryffindors exactly what Professor Slughorn had said to the young Tom Riddle that one night so many years earlier, and also about Dumbledore's theory of 6 Horcruxes that the Headmaster had shared with the Boy-Who-Lived in the early hours. Leo felt ill when he had heard that particular theory, remembering the foulness that went into creating just a single one, but his stomach had quickly solidified at the news that Ron was now reacting to, that Harry had been invited to go on Professor Dumbledore's next trip to destroy a Horcrux. "Wow! You're actually going to go with Dumbledore… and try to destroy… wow." He trailed off, so amazed at the idea that he didn't realise that he was making it snow in their small section of the Common Room, something which Hermione quickly corrected and they began brushing themselves off.

"So something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's?" Leo asked Harry once again, this now being the fourth time this particular question had been asked. "That's the theory?"

Harry nodded his affirmation again, not even close to being annoyed at the repetition. "That's what Dumbledore said, yes."

Leo could only agree based on the knowledge that he had heard. "We know that he has had Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket and the Gaunt ring in his possession, and that these were all, most likely, turned into Horcruxes. It stands to reason that he wanted to use items from famous families, and especially those with links to the founders." His brow furrowed as he began to think of everything that he knew about the Founders and their lines of descendants. "Rowena Ravenclaw's line died out with her daughter Helena, while we don't actually know if Godric Gryffindor had any descendants, the end of his life is shrouded in mystery..." He thought for a moment, his mind racing through his knowledge of magical history and the important families that managed to last the test of time to the 20th Century. "If You-Know-Who was thinking along the lines of wanting to prove himself as more than a Half-Blood son of a muggle, then perhaps looking more into the Sacred 28 could work…" He trailed away, grabbing some parchment and writing out the list from memory, underlining those with students at Hogwarts there and then. "We don't have anything that I'm aware of, but I can check the vault come the summer just in case…" He then began to list them out loud. It was quickly presumed by all that Hannah Abbot, Neville Longbottom and Ernie MacMillan wouldn't have any relics that Voldemort would desire, while the list of Slytherin's would need to be combed through more thoroughly. A pair of names did intrigue Leo though as he turned to both Ron and Ginny. "There's nothing that stands out for you two is there? From the Weasley or Prewett side."

Hermione's eyes bulged in recognition as she knew exactly what Leo was thinking without him needing to verbalise anything. "You think that Fabian and Gideon could have been protecting something?"

Leo shrugged. "I think that whatever You-Know-Who turned into a Horcrux, he would want to retrieve it himself, not leave it to his followers to hand to him so he could murder somebody else later. He killed his family himself, he killed Hepzibah Smith himself too, what if he took something from another of his victims?"

"Nothing comes to mind." Ginny was the one to say, shaking her head as she thought. "Mum's never mentioned an heirloom from the Prewett side of the family of any kind at least."

Ron concurred, adding. "All I got from Grandad Prewett was a chess set, hardly something Voldemort would care about."

Leo clenched his jaw, frustrated at the lack of further progress. "I'll have a look in the library at some familial records though, something might come to mind…" He muttered to nobody in particular, not really seeing where Voldemort would be so enamoured with a family that he would need one of their heirlooms to desecrate, but nothing else made any sense.

He was brought away from his internal thoughts when Ron audibly shrunk into the back of the armchair, trying to almost bury himself within the crimson fabric, his eyes wide as he looked beyond Leo. He quickly turned around to see what was going on behind him, and only saw that Lavender and Parvati had entered the Common Room, the former's eyes red and puffy as they made their way straight up to the dormitory.

"Oh, grow up Ron." Ginny rolled her eyes as she shifted herself to a more comfortable position, her legs draped over Harry's on their own sofa. "You didn't want to be with her anyway."

Ron's face reddened. "Well, no, but the shouting wasn't pretty and I don't fancy another round of that."

Hermione scoffed. "Coward." She muttered. "You should have just been upfront with her when you stopped liking her and made it easier on everybody. I had to throw up a silencing charm around my bed last night because she was so upset."

Ron shrugged. "Perhaps, but we are where we are. She'll get over it eventually, she's the one to break up with me after all."

"Pig." Hermione retorted unhappily, moving her focus back to their Charms homework while Leo was flicking his own way through Hogwarts: A History to see if there was anything in there on the Founders that he had somehow forgotten, though a glance up at Hermione showed that she had had the same idea to look over at him too, their newfound relationship still being kept a secret from their friends for the time being, a wise decision they had both agreed earlier that morning once the truth about Ron and Lavender's split had spread.

"Well, just don't rush into anything else Ron." Ginny warned her brother. "You'll only end up hurting people if you do."

"Don't lecture me." Ron pouted. "Just because I gave you two my permission…"

"Your permission?" Ginny fought back, her face turning a scary shade of red as she moved her legs so she was sitting stiffly upright. "Since when do I need your permission to date Harry?"

"Guys, please." Harry mumbled weakly, but everyone knew once the two Weasley's started, stopping them was nigh on impossible, and so Leo tried to drown out the bickering siblings by focusing on his book, though he subtly shifted so that his hip was touching Hermione's while trying to keep the inevitably forthcoming grin from appearing on his face.

As the weather started to get warmer and dryer, May was soon upon the students of Hogwarts and as usual for this time of year the discussions around the castle became increasingly about one of two things, either the end of year exams that were beginning to creep up on them all, especially the 5th and 7th years… or the upcoming Quidditch final round of games. The first weekend of May saw Hufflepuff trounce Slytherin by 400-90, meaning that going into the final match of the year between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Gryffindor only needed to win it in order to win the Quidditch Cup, whilst Ravenclaw needed to win by a whopping 490 points to have any hope of winning it themselves. A tall ask considering the Gryffindor team had been bolstered by the return of Katie Bell from St Mungo's, meaning that it was easily the strongest Quidditch team since Gryffindor in Leo's 3rd year taking the field, and the entire House was confident of a win.

That was, until, the Tuesday before the match. Leo had been late down to dinner after their Arithmancy lesson after Hermione had wanted to stay behind, waiting to question Professor Vector about a mistake she believed she had made in her latest essay, and after a quick detour making use of the empty Common Room for a few minutes, they arrived at the Great Hall to find it abuzz with rumours of Harry running through the castle drenched in blood. As usually happened whenever a particularly alarming rumour around Harry surfaced, Hermione couldn't relax until she had found her best friend, and so despite only having been sat down for a matter of seconds, she grabbed a chicken leg and apologised to Leo, running out of the room as she tried to scoff the leg as quickly as she could.

Leo meanwhile arrived at the Common Room later on, figuring that if Harry being covered in blood was the worst of the rumour then nothing more serious had happened and he didn't need to give himself indigestion to find out the truth as quickly as possible, and as he straightened himself from the Portrait hole, he saw that he had stumbled onto a scene of Hermione finishing a long and damning speech, and as he grew closer to the group, the first words he could hear succinctly was when Harry snapped at her. "Will you stop harping on about the book!"

"Woah!" Leo interjected loudly, and without thinking, he waved his wand with a silent Muffliato. "Don't have a go at her!"

"Back off, Leo." Harry countered angrily, turning towards him with a glare.

Leo was long past the stage of doing that to Harry Potter however, the Boy-Who-Lived no longer a source of eternal jealousy and rather just a guy that Leo often clashed with, and he stood firmly beside Hermione as he glared back at Harry venomously. "Not until you calm down." He stated coldly, his hand gripping the ebony wand tightly.

"Enough, boys, please." Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly, for the first time not being put out by the use of the muffling spell. "Harry… I just can't see how after what you've done, you are still defending the book…"

"For all we know that spell was there as a warning!" Harry countered angrily.

Leo looked confusedly between Harry and Hermione, but none were moving their focus away from being angry at the other so it was left to Ron to fill him in as to what happened quickly, and Leo felt ill as he heard the state that Malfoy had been left in after use of Sectumsempra. By the time he was paying attention to the argument again, Hermione was looking completely baffled. "Are you telling me that you're going to go back…"

"And get the book? Yeah, I am." Harry retorted powerfully. "Without that book, Hermione, Ron wouldn't be alive."

"And without that book, you wouldn't have almost killed Malfoy." Hermione snapped back.

"Enough!" Ron came between the pair of them, standing tall as he moved in between his two friends. "Both of you, just stop bloody shouting at one another." Now it was Ron's turn to face the ire of both angry Gryffindor's, but it went nowhere as Ginny had arrived with a stern look on her face, and so Leo quickly dropped the spell and recast it, including the 5th year. Ron looked towards Hermione first, telling her. "The book isn't evil in itself, Hermione, you know that, you know that it's simply one students scribbling stuff down, you've just had the hump all year because someone is actually better than you at Potions…" He held a hand up to her face, stopping Hermione's tirade before it began. "But, Harry can't keep it. Not after what he did. So here's what we'll do." He looked towards Ginny. "Take Harry and grab the book, and then you hide it somewhere that he won't find. If we ever need it again, we'll know it isn't lost but Harry won't be able to get to it without you."

Ginny for a moment was taken aback by Ron's authority in the matter, but nodded his head. Hermione wasn't comfortable still though, butting in. "Ron, we have to turn it in! Who knows what other dark…"

"Oh, zip it Hermione!" Ginny was the one to snap harshly this time. "Ron's right, we might need it some day and you know the book itself isn't dark."

"He nearly killed Malfoy!" Hermione was almost screeching now, trying to get her point across.

Ginny shrugged, before muttering something that instantly reminded Leo that she had also lost a parent last year. "One less Death Eater."

Hermione was left flabbergasted by the blasé statement, blinking rapidly towards Ginny. "That's callous." She told the red-headed girl, quickly adding. "And unproven…"

"Right, let's all of us shut up, and stop this arguing right now." Leo stated sternly as Ginny opened her mouth to rebuke Hermione angrily. "Hermione, come on, we have that Arithmancy work to work on." He immediately noticed her turn her angry gaze towards him but refused to let her begin another rant, glaring back at her strongly and exclaiming. "Now!"

He took her hand and dragged her away from the others, making sure that he picked up her bag on the way past. They didn't speak to one another all the way through the Common Room and through the Portrait Hole, even as the Fat Lady complained about being forced to open every three seconds. Their silence continued through the 7th Floor Corridor and until they had reached the Grand Staircase when Hermione yanked her arm back, folding her arms angrily as she glared at him. "I can't believe that you're not…"

"I am on your side on this." Leo interrupted her knowingly, silently relishing the sight of the stubborn woman's face shifting more towards surprise as her arms relaxed. "That book is dangerous and knowing what we know now perhaps we should have handed it in."

"Then why…"

"Because Ron is also right, and we might need dangerous very soon, Hermione. What Harry did was wrong and he should have never tested an unknown spell on a person, even Malfoy, but now we know what it does, and with what's coming… we might need something like that in our pockets."

Hermion's face now morphed to bewilderment, as she struggled to comprehend his words. "Leo, that spell is foul! It's extremely dark magic!"

He was torn. She was right of course, but a little voice in the back of his head was also telling him that times were changing. "The important part behind any form of magic is intent." He explained. "I could use a spell as simple as the levitation charm to drop a rock on somebody in order to harm them, or I could use a spell like Sectumsempra to save somebody's life when it's threatened by a Death Eater. Harry went about it wrongly, I'm never going to deny that, but we need to think beyond the here and now."

She sighed, and Leo could see she was beginning to relent and come around to his way of thinking. "I don't like it." She muttered stubbornly.

"Neither does Harry, but he's been punished enough without an argument that will end up in him being a prat and saying something he can't take back." Leo added, remembering his feelings from the year before and how Harry had unilaterally ignored him when it came to leaving for the Ministry. "Let's just, leave him be for now. Let us all calm down." He held his hand out again, this time pausing before he reached her to let her make the choice. Hermione hesitated for a moment, but thankfully she moved her own hand, placing it into Leo's. He grinned at the contact, closing his own hand around hers and rubbing the back of her hand gently with his thumb. "I don't want us arguing too." He told her softly, not caring that they were in the middle of the staircase and that anybody could walk through and see them.

Hermione nodded. "I know, I don't want that either… but it does feel like 3rd year once again." She said quietly, a tear forming in her right eye. "I just hate that it came to this when it was so obvious that that book was dangerous. Now Harry can't play Quidditch and everyone will be on his back again, he'll get angry and take it out on us because he's stuck with Snape every weekend…" She sighed. "Thank you for stopping us… me before I went too far."

"Ron stopped you guys." Leo said with a light smirk. "I just felt like you would be better off away from one another, at least for now. Leave Harry to Ginny, she will calm him down. And then you can both apologise to each other and it will all be like this whole thing never happened."

Hermione went to complain, but a stern look from Leo stopped her as she seemed to realise that she was going too far, kicking Harry while he was already down and backed into a corner. "Fine." She muttered, before a smile and a blush formed on her lips. "And I guess Arithmancy will distract me."

Leo pouted slightly, not actually expecting to need to do any homework, rather hoping that the pair of them could find a secluded place in the castle to distract one another in a different way, but he wasn't about to counter Hermione just so they could snog, and so with a forced bright smile he nodded, leading the way towards the library asking a number of questions about the magical mathematical subject to get Hermione's brain as far away from one battered copy of Advanced Potion-Making as it could possibly be.

Thankfully, all animosity with the fallout of the Half Blood Prince's book was placed on hold as the weekend arrived and the day of Gryffindor v Ravenclaw was upon them. Harry may have left for his detention feeling dejected, but Leo was still feeling confident as the players flew out onto the pitch, with Ginny taking the number 7 Seeker shirt and Dean Thomas filling in once more as Chaser. It was an entertaining start to the game as of the stadium were supporting Ravenclaw for various reasons, but the strength of the Gryffindor team won out as despite an early end to end flurry of goals, the return of Katie Bell, taking over as Captain for the day as she was playing her last match before graduating, spurned the team decked in crimson to a romping 450-140 victory, spawning jubilant celebrations in the Gryffindor section of the stadium, and the call of another party was immediate once the players had received the cup.

"Three in a row!" Fay was the one to call out over the noise as they made their way back to the castle. "Who'd have thought that after 1st year!" She was technically correct. In their 6 years of schooling they'd already had 2 years of Quidditch suspended, and whilst Ravenclaw won the cup in their first year Gryffindor had won every other time.

"When you have a team like ours, who's going to stop us next year?" Anna asked. "It's not like we need any replacements… Dean will slot into Katie's place..." She grinned ecstatically. "And now Ron is looking better and better with each game…"

"Oh stop." Fay groaned. "I've had enough of this… can you please stop drooling over Weasley of all people?"

That was news to Leo who looked at the two girls, bewildered. "Excuse me?"

"Anna totally has the hots for Ron." Fay laughed. "Ever since Lavender split up with him she's been…" She paused, hard at thought until a grin spread across her face and she looked towards Anna with a teasing glint in her eye. "Well, she's been sickening really, I can't think of any better word."

The auburn-haired girl pouted. "He's grown up a lot this year." She then shrugged with a matching grin. "He's grown fit this year, and you heard as well as I did everything that Lavender was saying about him."

"And I would not want her sloppy seconds, thank you very much." Fay snorted, grabbing Anna's arm tightly. "Come on, what you need is a drink and a dance, not a snog with Weasley." She then marched the pair away, leaving Leo left with Hermione and Neville looking completely bewildered at what had just happened.

Once they got to the Common Room the party was already in full flow, and Leo managed to get onto his 3rd butterbeer when the portrait opened to a roar, as the team filtered through, with Katie Bell being the one holding the cup aloft in jubilation. Despite Fay's best intentions to keep Anna under control, the brunette herself got distracted when Vicky Frobisher came and joined her, Leo and Hermione standing in a corner, the latter of whom was merely nodding along instead of getting involved excitably in a retelling of the match. That distraction proved costly when a loud cheer went up, and eventually Leo managed to spot the source, as Ron and Anna were seemingly wrapped around one another in the centre of the room, locked at the lips.

"Unbelievable." Hermione muttered, and Leo could only agree, counting that after both of the matches that Ron had played in, he had ended up snogging somebody in the middle of the Common Room. He quickly spotted Lavender Brown running away in tears, closely followed by Parvati.

"You'll have to deal with that tonight then I guess." He muttered to both Hermione and Fay, who looked at each other with grim glances. "I can't say I envy you."

"I can't believe her." Fay shook her head, though her grin betrayed her.

Vicky took her hand at that moment. "Come on, let's get out of here before you end up hexing her. Today is a celebration, not a battle ground." Leo simply grinned at the obvious excuse that the 5th year was making, an extremely unsubtle look that earned himself a punch on the arm from Fay.

"See ya." Leo called after them with a smirk. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

That one earned him another punch, before Fay stuck her tongue out at him, giggling as she was led out of the room by the 5th year. "Bye guys." Vicky called, joining in the laughter as the two snaked through the celebrating crowds to also leave the Common Room.

The distraction of Ron and Anna had allowed Hermione and Leo to also move to a more secluded corner, though still being careful to not be too overt to draw the same amount of attention as Ron was currently doing. The lack of needing to tiptoe around the Weasley meant that for the first time Leo felt brave enough to hold her hand while people surrounded them, and he enjoyed the blush that appeared underneath her hair as he made contact. They were eventually joined by Ginny, now having taken hold of the cup and refusing to let anybody else take control of it until Harry himself had held it. Thankfully, she only needed to wait around 20 minutes longer as the usual Quidditch Captain wandered through the Portrait at around 1 o'clock to yet more thunderous cheers, and Ginny went running into his arms, planting a forceful kiss onto his lips while all around him people were screaming their own versions of the match towards him, something which Leo was happy to avoid. He did however take the moment of distraction to plant a kiss of his own on Hermione's cheek, laughing as she pushed him away with a grin on her face. "What?" Leo asked her, mock innocently. "Everyone else is kissing." He shrugged, dodging her second shove before going to the now empty table of Butterbeer and grabbing some more bottles, happy to spend the afternoon celebrating quietly with just her while the rest of the House went crazy over the victory.

That Ron Weasley and Anna Bailey were going out was the talk of the castle for days past the Quidditch Match, and something that neither party were doing anything at all to try and dissuade the gossip, spending nearly every second they could in one another's vicinity, something that was causing a lot of tension in the girls dormitory, a fact that Leo was more aware of than most boys after getting the retelling of the night before from both Fay and Hermione every morning. Fay seemed more put out about it than Hermione, telling Leo that she felt more alone without Anna at her side, so Leo made more of an effort to spend his days with his friend, while ensuring that the evenings were spent with Hermione in the library, doing either homework or research into the Half Blood Prince, something that Hermione was still worryingly obsessed over despite his concerns.

It was one such Thursday evening, spent in the library closer to curfew than both Leo and Hermione would have initially liked due to a particularly public display of affection from Ron and Anna in the middle of the Common Room where Hermione was multi-tasking, talking at breakneck speed about the bursts of silent treatment and arguments occurring between Anna and Lavender whilst the Prefect was also searching through public school records for any hint on who the Half Blood Prince could be. Leo meanwhile was finishing up on a Magical Law assignment from Professor Marchbanks about the Supreme Mugwump Election of 1932 and the eventual illegal rise of Grindelwald when he interrupted his girlfriend by slamming his quill on the table, saying "Of course!"

Hermione, looking somewhat put out by being interrupted, looked at him questioningly. "What is it?"

"I've been looking at things from too narrow an angle." He said softly to her, wary of Madame Pince's glare that had found him. "Looking at the Sacred 28 as if that's something You-Know-Who would have cared about. It's not about being a Pure Blood, it's about his own relationship to the wizarding world." He took out a brand new piece of parchment and began to scribble, jotting down You-Know-Who in the middle of the page, before splitting it into 6 sections. In each section he wrote a heading, Diary, Ring, Locket, Cup, Snake before the given reason from Professor Dumbledore as to why each were chosen as Horcruxes. And finally, he wrote down a question mark for the final, unknown item. "Each has a personal meaning to him, even the cup, yes it's a founders item but what if that's not the reason that he chose it? What if he chose that because it represented his first entry into the adult Wizarding world. His first job that gave him access to such valuable historical artifacts."

Hermione frowned, not sure where he was going with that line of thinking. "But he cared about Hogwarts above all else, it makes complete sense that the last object is something we haven't discovered belonging to either Ravenclaw of Gryffindor."

"But failing finding one." Leo then carried on. "Where would he go? He had access at Borgin and Burke's to all sorts of treasures. If he could find something once belonging to a famous magical family, one not necessarily on the Sacred 28 but meaningful to the world…"

Hermione pondered that for a moment. "What sort of families are you thinking?"

"Families with undisputed importance to history." Leo began. "People like the Flamel's and the Philosopher's Stone, the Peverell's…" A brainwave hit him as his eyes widened excitedly. "Professor Dippet… he was Headmaster at the time, the person that was in charge when You-Know-Who learned who he was. What if there's something of his?"

He rushed to his feet and moved to a section on Wizarding History, finding the book Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy and bringing it back to the table, this time sitting himself down next to Hermione as he flicked through the book, passing by Deverill, Dipple and Diggory before frowning. "Huh. He's not here."

"Professor Dippet was a Half-Blood." Hermione explained, causing Leo to sigh, deflated. "Keep searching though, there must be something here."

He did just that, flicking past names such as Hopkins and Lovegood before stopping for a brief moment on MacDonald, before continuing to the P's, where after a quick look at the Potter page, another name stood out clearly. "Prince." He said.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked.

Repeating himself, Leo said. "Prince. The Prince's were Pure-Bloods."

It took two more repetitions before Hermione, abandoning the newspapers she was currently reading to take the book and pore over the words, before a bright smile appeared and she looked at Leo, beaming. "This is it! It has to be it! She exclaimed, before grabbing Leo by the neck and pulling him in for the most passionate kiss they had shared yet, only breaking apart when the voice of Madame Pince was heard warning everyone that curfew was almost upon them. Another kiss followed once they had packed everything away and Hermione had checked the book out to read that night, as the pair found a secluded corridor to continue their earlier activity, leaving Leo to be extremely grateful twenty minutes later that Hermione could use her Prefect badge as an excuse when they were caught running towards the Gryffindor Common Room after curfew by a frowning Professor McGonagall.

Chapter Text

Unfortunately for Leo, his not being a prefect and being caught out past curfew had cost Gryffindor 20 points, and Hermione had got a stern warning about abusing her Prefect powers before sending the pair off to the Common Room, where none of their friends agreed that the discovery of the Prince's being a Pure Blooded family was a major discovery. It also turned out to be one of the last nights that they managed to get away with non-schoolwork research as the countdown to their exams was getting more and more pressed on them by all of their teachers, with Ginny especially making herself scarce so that she could revise for her OWLs.

When they did have a spare couple of hours however, it was spent in the library as Leo and Harry poured through all of the historical artifacts that had been noted down throughout the history books, while Hermione had almost memorised the Prince family tree from between 1764 and 1932, with absolutely nothing of interest within that time range. The last of the Prince's in the Hogwarts records was a girl named Eileen, who Hermione discovered midway through June was at Hogwarts in the 1940's as a Slytherin and eventually became the captain of the Gobstones club. That wasn't something that actually interested Harry however, who even laughed that news off claiming that the Half Blood Prince couldn't be a girl down to the writing, something that ticked Hermione off even more adding to the friction between the friends.

All of that and the stress over their upcoming exams meant that when Harry was summoned away by Professor Dumbledore one evening at the end of the month, it was somewhat of a relief for Leo not being in the middle of the pair's sniping, and it allowed him to draft out his rather excessive notes on the Goblin Rebellions of 1612, 1752 and 1890 while Ron and Anna revised Herbology, Fay and Hermione were quizzing one another on the dangers of the Babbling Beverage, while Ginny kept interrupting them with her own revision of basically everything she had ever learned at Hogwarts. That was until Harry came rushing back into the Common Room, almost knocking over a pair of third years on his way back over to them.

"I've got to be quick." He panted as he recovered his breath, looking mainly towards Ron and Hermione, all disagreements seemingly forgotten. "Dumbledore thinks I'm getting the cloak, but listen. I'm going with him, he's found one."

"Found what?" Anna asked nosily, but Fay shushed her immediately, with Leo noticing the excitement in her eyes as she was finally, and possibly accidentally, being included in something. A familiar feeling to himself earlier in the year.

Harry carried on without showing that he noticed the interruption however. "But we'll be away from Hogwarts, so you see what this means?" He asked rapidly. "Dumbledore won't be here tonight, so Malfoy's going to have another clear shot at whatever he's up to."

"Harry…" Hermione began to roll her eyes.

"No, Hermione, listen to me!" Harry said, his urgency was borderline panicky, a tone he hadn't used before in his exasperation with the brunette girl. "I know he was celebrating in the Room of Requirement. Please, trust me."

She paused for a split second, but nodded firmly, something which Harry breathed a breath of relief at. He then looked at Leo and reached into his pockets. "Here." He said, handing him a scrap piece of parchment. "Hermione knows where to look, but please, watch him. And watch Snape too, I'll explain that later too but I don't trust him at all. Get everyone you can from the DA." He then flicked a large Galleon over to Ron. "If I'm right and Snape is involved we need all the help we can get."

"Mate…" Ron began, wanting an explanation like the rest of them sat around the small table, but Harry once again interrupted him.

"There isn't time." He urged before he also shoved a pair of socks in Ron's hands, explaining after a moment of confusion from the red head. "It's the Felix. Share it around with everyone that you can." He looked at his watch. "I really need to go…"

"No!" Hermione stated just as urgently as Harry, rising to her feet. "You should take the Felix, Harry. You'll need it."

Harry smiled as he shook his head. "I'll be fine, Hermione, I'll be with Dumbledore. I'd rather know you are all ok…"

Everything over the past couple of weeks was completely forgotten when Hermione jumped out of her seat and in a flash of bushy hair had claimed Harry in a vicious hug, clinging on to him. Harry looked surprised, and then grateful, returning the embrace before pushing her away towards the chair that Leo was sat in. "I'll see you later. Just… trust me." He repeated. Hermione could do nothing but nod in answer.

And with that he was off, leaving the five 6th year Gryffindor's extremely confused for a moment. Leo looked down at the parchment, realising finally what it was and looking back at the portrait hole in surprise before he began to lay it out flat on the table after Ron had very quickly dumped all the revision notes into an open bag. Hermione immediately threw up a privacy charm around them as he pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He muttered. As the map of Hogwarts began to scrawl across the page he heard Anna and Fay gasp, grinning as he watched their faces light up in wonder at the sight. "What is this…" Fay whispered.

"A present from mine and Harry's dad's." Leo said, the briefest explanation he could think of before the urgency Harry was in festered in Leo too. He turned to the map and asked. "Where's Malfoy?"

"It's late, he should be in the Common Room." Hermione responded, moving the map until a whole host of Slytherin's were named in the same place. Leo noticed Alice Rosier was sat in a huddle with Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass, while Crabbe and Goyle were also in their Common Room… though nobody saw Draco Malfoy.

Other suggestions were bandied around as they checked the kitchens, and all the usual detention spots before Ron slapped himself on the forehead in realisation. "The Room of Requirement! He'll still be there!"

"Of course!" Ginny gasped, pointing to the spot where the Room should have been. Of course there were no names, but the fact that they couldn't see Malfoy's anywhere else gave them their answer. "We need to go…"

"Hold on." Hermione said, as she shifted the map to show the Potions classroom and tapped it nearby at the mark that was showing Professor Snape in his office. "There."

"Can someone explain what is going on?" Anna asked impatiently, finally speaking up as she looked towards Ron with a glare. "What is this… where has Harry run off to, why do we care what Malfoy is up to and what is going on!"

The Weasley seemed unbothered by her glare and rattled off into an explanation as . "Harry is off on a secret mission; we can't share what that is on Dumbledore's orders." He added at her pout. "But he's also been suspicious of Malfoy all year, who has a mission from Voldemort." He ignored the winces. "Which Hermione disagrees with…"

"Ronald." Hermione warned. "Not the time."

"Right. So we're going to do what Harry has asked because if Harry is even remotely right, Malfoy needs to be stopped." Ron explained to now the now gawping 6th year girls. "Hermione, you scout out Snape's office. Keep a lookout and try and stop him if he leaves, you'll think of something to stall him with." He pre-empted her question. "Leo, me and you will go to the Room and block off Malfoy."

"I'm coming too." Ginny said defiantly, her wand already in her hand.

Ron looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it and nodded his head. "Fine." He looked at the other girls. "Fay, you were part of the DA, are you in?"

Fay paused and looked over at Leo, a silent question that he could decipher almost instantly. "You're ready." He nodded, realising at that moment that the same question should really be being asked of him.

"Then yes. I'm in. I want to help, especially if Malfoy is… one of them." Fay explained firmly.

Ron didn't question it any further as he looked at Anna next. "This is going to be dangerous." He tried to warn her.

"You are all going, so I am too." Anna said stubbornly, folding her arms. Once more Ron refused to argue, the urgency once again showing on his face.

"Right, you both go with Hermione then." Ron said. "And keep the Galleons on you in case we need to communicate." He reached into his own pocket and pulled out another Galleon, gently passing it over to Anna. "Don't lose this." He urged.

"Send a message out now." Leo added to Ron's instructions, reaching behind him for his denim jacket in anticipation of leaving imminently. "Any DA members that are paying attention, we need them ready. Get the prefects patrolling their areas, but especially near the 7th floor."

Hermione immediately got to work relaying that message and Leo felt a humming in the pocket of his jeans where he kept his own Galleon. Ron stood up and took a deep breath, before noticing that Neville had immediately wandered over to them. "Neville, follow me I'll explain on the way." He commanded, before uncorking the Felix and pouring a drop onto his tongue, before passing it around. Leo took it from Ginny, pouring a drop into his mouth and relishing in the delicious honey-like flavour before he passed the small bottle over to Fay and making sure his wand was secure.

Once he was prepared to run, Leo turned to Hermione, a million words passing through their eyes that went unspoken in their present company. Once the others had started to move, he held his hand out and squeezed hers gently, conveying that message before he ran off, catching up to Fay and Anna as they exited the Portrait Hole. "Stay safe." He told them. "I don't know what's going to happen tonight… but please, stay safe."

"You too." Fay responded, and as they reached the staircases Ron and Anna shared a parting kiss before the two groups split, neither knowing what they were about to walk into.

Once they got to the 7th floor corridor that housed the Room of Requirement Leo stopped, and immediately cast a disillusionment charm over himself, waiting for the others to do so as well before slowly making their way towards the wall that housed the entrance to the room. Checking that Malfoy was still undiscoverable on the map, they then settled in a spot down the corridor and waited.

Leo use that time to play around with the map now that he had finally gotten to spend some time with it. He quickly spotted Hermione in the corridor outside of Snape's office, joined now by Luna Lovegood as well as Fay and Anna. He kept an eye on her marker for what seemed like the longest time, until all of a sudden Neville gasped and tensed up behind him. Looking over, Leo saw that the door was reappearing and so he quickly shoved the map into his jeans and kept his hand on his wand, staying expertly still so as to not risk the disillusionment charm's strength.

Malfoy was the first out, holding a strange, shrivelled arm as he began giving the area a quick scout Once he was happy he then gestured for 7 figures in dark robes to leave the Room of Requirement. "The Astronomy Tower." The Slytherin said as the Death Eaters filtered out. Leo recognised around half of them from an article in the Daily Prophet the year earlier, the one explaining the mass breakout from Azkaban. At the back of the line of Death Eaters was a different face that Leo recognised, one that he had hated ever since he had been told the story of his Mother's worst nightmare and been shown his picture as a warning. He spotted the thinning, long brown hair, the almost black eyes, that same, evil smile that had been on another newspaper article all those years ago. He was the one to tense up now, his hand squeezing his wand tightly as he thought on some of the spells he swore he would use on that man...

He soon wished that he hadn't, as that was the exact moment that Avery looked over towards their direction, his black eyes looking through them almost. He pointed his wand at Leo who prepared to defend himself… only for the Death Eater to cast "Revelio."

Barely waiting a moment before the shimmer of his disillusionment charm signalled its failure, Leo was ready. "Stupefy!" He cried out, aiming at Avery who easily batted the spell away with a grin. Three more stunning spells fired from behind him towards the group of Death Eaters but before they could impact them, the corridor lost all light and in a matter of seconds Leo couldn't even see his wand in front of him. "Lumos!" He tried, with the others trying various light and fire spells too as footsteps grew louder. Leo tried flinging a fist out in the direction of the noise, but he connected with nothing but air.

As the footsteps died the school kids turned back around. "Try and get back to the staircase!" Ron called out, but it was awkward moving, as Leo tried groping around for the wall to aid him, instead bumping into one of Ron or Neville on the way. Eventually after what seemed like minutes the darkness lifted and Leo had to take a moment for his eyes to readjust, but by the time he was somewhat aware of his surroundings once more, there was no sign of the Death Eaters.

"FUCK!" Ron was the one to swear, the red head kicking out at the wall before shushing the complaining and outraged portraits that were housed in that corridor.

"We need to get to the Astronomy Tower!" Ginny cried out. "That's where they said they were going!"

Ron nodded, but turned to Leo and asked. "Hermione?"

Leo looked down at the map again, noticing firstly that Hermione was thankfully still in the same place, but also that a few floors down from their position Remus Lupin was patrolling the castle. "Come on." He said, taking the lead as he began to jog towards the staircase. "We need to warn the Order."

By the time they had raced down two flights of stairs Remus Lupin had moved over towards them, turning the corner just as Leo did and the two collided into one another, sending both tumbling to the ground.

"Leo!" Remus exclaimed unhappily as he dusted himself off. "What in Merlin's name…"

"The Death Eaters!" Ron was the one to exclaim, interrupting the former teacher. "They're in the castle!"

There was an initial laugh of disbelief, but the looks on all four of the students faces gave it away and Remus looked frantically between them all. "Tell me everything." He said sternly, and so between them they did, explaining what they could of Harry's request and what Malfoy had now been proven to definitely be up to all year, finally getting to the part that had happened mere moments ago upstairs. Remus digested all of the information quickly before he retrieved his wand from his robes and after a momentary pause to steel himself, waved it silently producing a silvery wolf. Caster and Patronus looked at one another for a few seconds before it bounded off through a wall and out into the night sky. "The Order shall be here momentarily." He explained. After a moment of awe for the magic, Leo then realised that he also had a way to communicate, pulling out the Galleon from earlier and pressing his wand to it, thinking of his message. Death Eaters in Castle. Astronomy Tower. "You should all return to your common room." Remus told them.

"No chance." Neville was the one to say, a frown forming on his face. "Not while there are Death Eaters here!"

"Exactly, Death Eaters are here and you are all underage!" Remus told them. "It is our job to protect you…"

Leo shook his head. "This is our school, Professor." He said firmly. "We will protect it."

The adult's head flicked between 4 determined faces and eventually growled in frustration, but nodded, a look of respect very briefly crossing his eyes. "Very well, but stay behind me please." He instructed them all, holding his arms out wide as he turned and began to run.

They all sprinted through the castle towards the Astronomy Tower, and within minutes they had caught up to the group of black clad intruders. "STUPEFY!" Ron was the one to cry out first before sprinting past him, and Leo saw the Weasley's face had contorted into unbridled rage as his spell ricocheted away from a large blonde Death Eater, who had managed to shield himself just in time before throwing back a bright green jet of light.

"Down!" Remus cried out, but the time for order and discipline had gone. The corridor was quickly lit up by a multitude of colours as green, red, blue and purple spells were cast firing one way or another, some connecting in a clash of sparks, others missing Leo's head by inches as he ducked, throwing out a stunning spell in return.

"We don't have time for this!" One of the Death Eaters cried out, before pointing up to the ceiling. "Confringo!"

"Arresto Momentum!" Leo threw the spell upwards less than a second after the blast of fire connected with the ceiling, catching the rubble just in time to keep the corridor clear, noticing as Death Eaters bolted one way or another to try and get away.

"Quickly! We must stop them!" Remus cried out, though Ron was the first to charge down the corridor after them. Leo waited until he had moved past the debris' path before releasing the spell, watching as the corridor was covered in dust and marble chunks.

Leo took the different route, having spotted where Avery and another had run off to. Giving chase as his rage grew, he sped through corridor after corridor, catching up with the Death Eaters just as he passed the Magical Theory classroom. Leo threw out a jelly leg jinx towards Avery, tripping him up before knocking over a cabinet in order to block off the path. Avery was clearly experienced however and as he fell towards the floor, fired back before he landed, a jet of green light that caused Leo to dive into the classroom. When he popped his head back out into the corridor again, three more curses of various colours flew past his head and scorched the stone walls behind him. Growling at being pinned down, Leo used the adrenaline coursing through his veins to fire a variety of hexes and curses towards the trapped pair of Death Eaters, ducking through the doors after each spell to cover himself.

After minutes of stalemate, Leo decided to try something new, aiming his wand at one of the desks within the castle he cried. "Cuerda Ignis!" A rope of fire shot from the tip of his wand and wrapped around the leg of the desk, and Leo hauled the desk towards him as the flames began to lick at the wood, before urging the spell to constrict towards his wand, bending the desk around the doorway and down the corridor with a loud crash. Using the distraction he darted out from the room and shouted. "Confringo!" towards Avery when around half a dozen stunners flew overhead from behind him. Avery snarled as he realised he was now outnumbered as well as trapped, blasting through the cabinet and racing through the gap as he dragged his Death Eater friend with him, and though Leo wanted to give chase he needed a moment to catch his breath as six Ravenclaw students ran towards him.

"Leo! Mate! What's going on?" He heard the voice of Terry Boot call out as a large hand grabbed him by the shoulder of his denim jacket and hauled him upright. Leo then saw that all of the Ravenclaw's that joined the DA the year previously had answered his call. Well, all but Marietta Edgecombe he noted, but that was understandable to him. As he looked over at the group he was delighted to see that his DA Galleon message had worked. Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner had pushed past to try and repair the damage to the cabinet, while Cho Chang, Sue Li and Padma Patil all looked up at Leo concerned. "Leo?" Terry urged.

"Death Eaters in the castle." Leo explained. "They're doing something in the Astronomy Tower… I don't know what."

"We're not far." Cho explained, looking around. "Come on, we're with you."

Leo led the way as they all ran through the castle, noticing scorch marks, burning paintings and rubble as they went, soon getting to the main chamber of the Astronomy Tower where the sight before him showed Leo that he had been delayed by a while. Spells were flying everywhere in the wide, circular chamber and he could count at least 2 bodies lying on the ground, but by far the most horrifying image was the Dark Mark that loomed in the skies above them, visible through the chunk of the tower that had been blown out. He was brought back to the scene in front of him when a large body shoved him to the floor, and over Terry Boot's head flashed another green light.

As he rose to his feet and started firing hex after hex towards the Death Eaters, he could see that as promised that a number of the Order of the Phoenix had arrived as he launched a stunner towards one of the Death Eaters who was engaged in a duel, with Tonks on one side of the chamber, while on the other… Leo gasped, watching as his Mother was manoeuvring dozens of rock shards to fly into nearby Death Eaters repeatedly. He ducked another curse before throwing back a leg locking jinx in the direction it came from, ducking and weaving around different spells, the Ravenclaw's and damaged objects until he was close to his Mother. "Mum!" He cried out.

"Leo!" She returned frantically, reaching out for him with her spare hand and gripping his arm tightly as she dragged him into her arms, wrapping him in a fierce hug. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" She demanded.

He threw up a shield charm behind her back to block a yellow spell from hitting them. "Fighting!" Was all he said, pulling away from the hug as he shot a stunner back. "What's happening?"

The look on Mary's face told him that they would be having a very long conversation about his rushing into danger later, but thankfully she put a cork in that lecture and instead began to explain everything, in between spellcasting as they defended their position. "There's a barrier blocking the stairs, but Professor Snape has gone up after the Death Eaters and will force them back down, then we'll get them!"

His initial relieved breath was cut short as a loud explosion caused both of them to jump and stare in the direction of the stairs as the ceiling above began to collapse. Leo immediately threw up a shield charm to block the debris, managing just about to stay on his feet as dust was thrown up everywhere by the clattering stone. Coughing and spluttering, Leo tried blowing the dust away with a light breeze charm but to no avail. A shout went up from somebody, Leo had no idea who, that the barrier had been broken, and before having any time to register that Mary was dragging him with her towards the stairs, not letting him go for a moment as he heard Professor Snape's voice in the distance, once more not making out properly what was being said as the spells started again in more volume as Leo realised that they had only been defending against a smaller number, and the rest of the Death Eaters were now charging down the stairs in their numbers, closely followed, to Leo's surprise, by an extremely angry Harry Potter, who vaulted the last ten steps and raced past without so much as a word. Leo wanted to follow him but his Mother's grip was too strong, and all thought of running after Harry was abandoned when he was forced to throw a shield charm up as the large blonde Death Eater had continued his onslaught of firing destructive spells everywhere he could point his wand at, with the final one coming as the floor beneath Leo exploded.

Groaning as a searing pain spread through the back of Leo's head he grabbed hold of his wand again, gripping it tightly as with his other arm Leo wiped the blood and dust away from his eyes. He tried to regain his bearings, wincing as the pain in his head grew, presumably from being slammed into the wall, Leo thought to himself, before trying to focus on the aftermath of the floor explosion.

The Death Eaters had begun to flee one by one as the Order and students of Hogwarts managed to gain more of a foothold within the chaos. Pulling himself to a sitting position Leo looked around for his Mother, only to find her around twelve feet away locked in a vicious duel with the one man Leo dreaded to see her facing, as he recognised the rotting teeth and cold, black eyes of Avery. He tried to get to his feet again but a blasting curse shot overhead and it was all Leo could do to duck out of the way, shielding himself again from the debris falling over him before once again attempting to haul himself upwards, finally managing to regain his footing as he shooting a blasting curse towards Avery, missing him by inches. Leo began to move towards them when a force of air knocked him back onto the ground.

Groaning, Leo pushed himself up with his arms, straining his neck to find his Mother again as he was doing so. The duel was still ongoing as in his dazed vision he saw a multitude of colours flash both ways, only for the final colour to be green, and coming from the direction of Avery.

The scream that left his mouth didn't sound human, a raw, guttural cry that felt like it was cracking his throat like glass. His vision blurred and shook around him but the pain in his head was no longer there, the only thing in the entire world in that moment was that green light from Avery's spell hitting Mary MacDonald squarely in the chest.

Chapter Text

It was as if all sense of sound had disappeared. He couldn't hear the shouting of spells, nor see the destruction of the castle around him as the Death Eaters began to flee the scene. All that mattered was the seemingly slow motion action of Mary MacDonald falling to the ground, her eyes wide in her final look of surprise. He didn't even feel his legs moving as he pushed himself up to his feet and ran towards her, skidding on rubble as he neared and dropping to his knees again as he roughly grabbed her red jumper, a present that he had given her for Christmas three years earlier. He shook her once, and then again, but she wasn't moving.

"Mum." He croaked, not knowing if the dripping that he felt down his face was blood or tears anymore. "Mum!" He cried louder, but nothing worked, she just wouldn't move of her own accord. "Wake up, Mum." He said, his chest restricting with each word as the reality was settling in. He buried his face in that red jumper and let out a muffled scream as grief threatened to overtake him. Taking a shaky breath he looked to where Avery had been standing, only to see nothing at all. Anger was all he had then, the rage of vengeance as he gripped his wand tighter in his right hand, pushing himself back up to his feet with a tight scowl as he took a step towards the exit…

He was stopped three steps in as a strong pair of arms stopped him. The owner of them said something that Leo couldn't register; his sole focus was running after him. He shook his body, trying to free himself but to no avail, and so Leo gripped the arms tightly with his hands, forcing them away before shoving backwards with his shoulder, unnatural strength seeming to flow through him as he ran through the corridor he had come from initially. He saw the blast marks on the walls and ceiling, the burn marks from his fire whip as he continued, chasing down the Death Eaters until he reached a junction. Looking left and then right Leo cried out in frustration, bundling his hand into his pocket to pull out the Marauders Map, quickly snapping the password before searching the castle for the group of Death Eaters. He spotted Severus Snape just before the marker left the castle, and the tightening of Leo's chest grew more restrictive as his breathing quickened. He kicked out at a fallen painting, before kicking it again further down the corridor with a frustrated shout. Realising his wand was still in his hand he then channelled his anger into his magic, throwing basic red sparks towards the nearest wall and not letting the scorch mark settle before firing again, and again, and again. With each cast his cry grew louder and louder until he heard footsteps running towards him once more. Angrily turning to his right and aiming his wand, he noticed four girls all looking at him with concern.

"Leo?" Hermione was the first to speak, stepping towards him, her eyes raking all over his face and noticing the dirt, blood and tears. She took another step closer when Leo's knees buckled and he fell once again to his knees, now noticing how painful they were. She managed to catch him, falling to the ground with him as he gripped her purple sleeves, using her as a crutch to stop himself toppling further. He felt other arms around him, hoisting him up as he spotted Fay and Anna too, their eyes brimming with worry.

Once he was up on his feet again he moved to grab Hermione's hand, holding it tightly to feel the warmth and life still within her. Without a word he started walking, back towards the Astronomy Tower chamber. Once within, he spotted his Mother's body immediately and his breathing was panicked again. He heard Hermione gasp and let out a sob, but she squeezed his hand tighter than before.

"Are you alright?" Remus Lupin had joined them, Leo realised, checking over the girls before returning to him, and the student recognised his as the arms that had tried to stop him before. "Leo…"

He nodded, not trusting his voice to speak for him. He let go of Hermione's hand as he walked back to where Mary lay, dropping to his knees gently and by choice this time. That look of surprise was still on her face, but there was something oddly peaceful about her still face. He brought his left hand up, stroking the hair away from her eyes despite how much he was shaking, before he couldn't contain his sobs anymore, letting out a choking noise that he had never heard before as the tears fell freely.

How long he was there for, Leo would never know, but eventually he was gently prized away by soft hands as Remus stepped forwards, waving his wand to slowly lift Mary's body into the air. "Take him to the Hospital." The former Professor told Hermione as he levitated Mary in that direction, the only thing that encouraged him to move, walking beside the woman that had raised him alone for so many years.

The next moment that truly registered to Leo was a short while later. He was sat on a bed in the Hospital Wing with Hermione leaning into him sat on the edge, her head resting on his shoulder as tears dropped silently down her own face. Madam Pomfrey had worked her magic and had quickly healed all of his cuts and scrapes, and had poured out a portion of Dreamless Sleep potion in anticipation.

He had heard more about the parts of the battle he hadn't seen in the time since arriving, having known so little other than what was happening directly in front of him while it was raging. Neville was in the bed beside him in an induced sleep to allow his many injuries to heal after the Gryffindor had fought with a courage that many would have been surprised at had the last 12 months not happened, while Leo had also learned that Bill Weasley had been one of the worst injured on their side, being attacked by an untransformed Fenrir Greyback. Mary looked to be the only casualty on their side, and it was almost a miracle that things hadn't been worse, though that would never make Leo feel any better, as he wished that they had thought to give the Felix Felicis out to everybody...

The doors opened and all eyes turned to see Harry Potter standing there, hand in hand with Ginny. Hermione immediately rushed over and engulfed him in a bone cracking hug. Leo nestled into his pillows, barely listening as Harry took notice of Bill's grotesque injuries. He tried to close his eyes but all he saw was his mother's body lying there, her eyes wide in the surprise of death… and a tear dropped down his cheek.

"Ron… Dumbledore's dead." Ginny's voice brought him back into the Hospital Wing as his eyes bolted open, a mix of horror and shock showing clearly on his face. Remus was the one to voice their horror before collapsing into a chair beside Bill's bed as he covered his face with his hands.

"How did he die?" Tonks whispered. "How did it happen?"

"Snape killed him." Harry told them, causing Leo to gasp, once more in surprise, remembering how relieved he had been to hear that Snape was up there on their behalf… he couldn't believe it. Neither could the others it seemed, and so Harry began to explain his side of the night, telling them all how they had arrived on the Astronomy Tower in fear of the Dark Mark and how Professor Dumbledore had been ill and yet still managed to put a body bind curse onto Harry before Malfoy of all people had disarmed the Headmaster, and finally how Snape had used that fatal curse that Leo so hated with every cell of his body. As Harry was talking Leo heard the terribly beautiful sound of birdsong coming from outside of the windows louder than the sobs coming from somewhere in the room. It brought fresh tears to Leo's eyes, as the mournful tune overloaded Leo with grief. Hermione was quick to notice and rushed back beside him, and Leo even noticed Harry look at him sympathetically, and realised news must be spreading. "Where's Sirius?" Harry asked, but no answer could be given as Professor McGonagall burst through the doors, her usually pristine robes ripped and bloodied.

"Molly is on her way." She explained looking over at Bill, before once again the news about Snape being the one to kill Professor Dumbledore was shared. Professor McGonagall was lucky that a chair was conjured as she stumbled backwards, her face showing her complete disbelief. "We all wondered…" She said faintly, her voice rising with every word that followed. "But he trusted… always… Snape! I can't believe it…"

"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens." Remus stated with a biting tone. "We always knew that."

"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't…"

"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered Professor McGonagall. She had brought out a tartan patterned handkerchief to dab her eyes with as they continued to leak slowly. "I mean… with Snape's history… of course people were bound to wonder... but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine… Wouldn't hear a word against him!" She was on the verge of shouting, Leo realised, a new sort of anger than he had ever seen in the Professor's eyes.

"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him," said Tonks, voicing the opinions of almost everybody in the room.

"I know," said Harry, and everybody turned to look at him. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my Mum and Dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realised what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."

Leo sat, his mouth agape at the… pitiful excuse, he realised. He had heard enough about Snape and his relationship with the Marauders during his time spent at Grimmauld Place getting to know Sirius to know that there was no love lost between Sirius, James Potter and Snape, a fact that Lupin also mentioned incredulously. "And Dumbledore believed that? Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James..."

"And he didn't think my Mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, "because she was Muggle-born. Mudblood, he called her."

Leo scowled at the word, his hand reaching out for Hermione's to hold comfortingly as the room reacted to what seemed to be the utter stupidity of the Headmaster. The doors quickly opened again during the silence and Leo's stomach tied itself in knots as he saw his Father looking around frantically, before spotting him and running to his bed. "Leo… I came as soon as I heard."

He couldn't speak, he simply welled up again and leant over to sob into Sirius' shoulder as the adult wrapped him up tightly. Leo could feel tears drop onto the back of his head but he didn't care, just wanting some form of parental comfort. He only let go as the conversation began to turn back to what had happened that night as Ron, Ginny and Hermione explained the actions of Dumbledore's Army, with Leo moving back to squeeze Hermione's hand again once Lupin told her that Snape could have killed her if she hadn't let him pass, the thought of losing her too just too much to handle.

"And what about Mary?" Sirius asked, raw emotion in his voice. "Was that…"

"Avery." Lupin snarled.

"I should have killed him when I had a chance." Leo muttered, causing all eyes to turn to him. "We duelled in one of the corridors… if I'd only…"

Hermione shook her head. "It's not your fault, Leo." She whispered.

"No." Sirius agreed. "It's nobody's fault but Avery's, and he'll get what's coming to him."

"As will Snape." Harry muttered darkly.

Sirius nodded. "Yes, he will. I'll raze Spinner's End to the ground myself if I have to." He said darkly, before emotion got to him once again and he dropped into his own chair tearfully.

"Is that where Snape lives?" Harry asked, seemingly surprised at the thought of teachers living anywhere away from the castle. "How do you know that?"

Remus was the one to answer, having moved from his chair to grip Sirius' shoulder comfortingly. "It's where your grandparents used to live Harry, your muggle Grandparents." The former Professor explained. "Lily arrived at Hogwarts already knowing, and having befriended, Snape."

Leo noticed that Harry stumbled subtly, and he completely understood the reasoning given how little he knew about his parents. "But… he called her…"

"Everything shifted in 5th year." Sirius had recovered enough to explain. "Snape, Avery and Mulciber were getting into some dark stuff, but Lily was the only Muggleborn spared from their cruelty, seemingly because of her friendship with Snape. They grew apart as time went on of course… Lily was furious after they…" He trailed away but he looked down at Leo, and Leo knew exactly what he was talking about, and another scowl adorned his face as he thought back on what his Mother had been forced into, before another wave of grief washed over him as he realised she wouldn't be there to tell him to ignore it.

"And then that moment you told us that you saw last year happened, after our History of Magic O.W.L." Remus continued for Sirius. "And Lily stayed well away from Snape for the rest of our time at school."

Harry moved to sit down in a chair, his mind looking to be racing with new information as the doors, once again, flew open, and this time it was Molly Weasley that flew into the room in tears. Leo's stomach churned again as Mrs Weasley fretted over her eldest and he thought once again of Mary, of what she would have done had he been attacked by Greyback. He felt a tear fall once more and Hermione realised immediately, pulling the outer curtains around with a quick word to the others that Leo barely caught. "Take your potion, Leo." She whispered. "We'll be here when you wake."

"We will." Sirius nodded, gripping Leo's other hand tightly. Hermione was the one to bring the potion to his lips, with Leo drinking all of it before his eyelids grew heavy, and he fell into a deep slumber.

It took Leo a grand total of 19 seconds to remember what had happened after waking up on the morning after. His initial confusion was quickly turned to grief once more as remembered that flash of green light and the surprise… His first tear quickly followed, but the sniff and movement to wipe it away brought attention to him. At his feet he felt something heavy stir, and noticed a large, black lump of fur shifting, big black eyes soon staring over at him with concern. Leo sniffed again and the dog jumped off of the bed, turning back into Sirius before reaching the ground.

"Leo." His Father said softly. Looking around, Leo tried to find Hermione who had promised to be here. "She had to go back to Gryffindor Tower." Sirius explained, almost reading his thoughts. "She kicked up a fuss though wanting to stay, but Poppy wouldn't allow it.

"I shouldn't have let you stay either." The matron stated tersely. "Not in that form."

Sirius showed off a weak grin, but it didn't reach his eyes which remained devastated. They stayed in silence as Leo was checked over and declared to be fit enough to leave, making a quick detour to the kitchens to get some breakfast in peace as Sirius did all of the talking, explaining the number of times he had been caught causing trouble in a certain room as they walked out into the grounds by the lake. Leo stood still for a moment as the shore lapped at his shoes as Sirius once again went on about some story, though this time Leo caught something that meant he paid attention. "…your mother and I first got together."

"Sorry, what?" Leo asked, his voice hoarse and harsh.

"This spot here." Sirius said, and Leo turned to see Sirius looking at a tree. "This is where I first asked her out." He pointed at a mark in the bark that Leo must have seen a dozen times on his walks, a mark that looked like a fancy M, but now Leo was looking at it in context the left side of the M was written in a curved way that could have been an S. "She carved that on our last day at Hogwarts." Sirius explained. They both fell into silence, both pained beyond words by her loss, and both seemingly thinking about the future judging by Sirius' next words. "After… after the funerals. I want you to come back to Grimmauld Place with me."

Leo scowled. "I have a home." He stated bluntly.

"You do." Sirius admitted calmly. "And it shall always be your home mate, but it's not safe…"

"Nowhere is safe." Leo muttered bitterly. "Hogwarts was supposed to be safe."

The silence that followed said it all, that Sirius agreed with him, before realisation hit him. "The secret keeper…" He whispered, before swearing. "Another thing to sort out."

Leo looked at him questioningly. He realised now that Professor Dumbledore had died that anybody who knew the secret about the Order's headquarters was now a Secret Keeper, but what else… he stopped in his tracks. "The funeral." Sirius nodded, and Leo continued, sounding more Scottish than he had in years. "She wanted to be buried at the Loch, next to Granda' and Gran." He could see the thoughts stirring in Sirius' head about safety and the like, and so Leo angrily added. "If they come… let them. I'm more than happy to face a few Death Eaters right now."

"As am I." Sirius said coldly. "But we need to be smarter." He thought for a moment. "Yes, we'll bury her there before Albus' funeral." He said, mainly to himself. "Small, discreet, just us two. Then we protect the cottage until…" He took a breath. "Until this is all over, and we can go back properly. I'd like to see the old place again… under better circumstances." The thought of not going home outside of a funeral was a gut punch to the 17-year-old, but Leo nodded in agreement, not speaking still as he admired the beauty of the lake in the summer light. The Giant Squid was cruising mournfully at the top of the lake causing the body of water to appear still, with only the light lapping of the water's edge making a noise. It was peaceful, Leo thought as he looked up at the Astronomy Tower, flashes of light and screams returning to his mind.

The pair stayed there for a long time, the sun moving across the sky as it grew closer to noon. Eventually though, Sirius sighed and Leo knew that he needed to go and arrange things. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "I know I'm not your Mum, Leo, I'm no comparison given everything the two of you went through and shared together while I was… while I wasn't here. But I want you… no, need you to know that I'm here, and though we'll both miss your Mum forever, this doesn't mean you're alone."

Leo nodded, more tears starting to form as the realisation of that statement kicked in, that he wouldn't see Mary again. He turned and hugged Sirius tightly, trying to convey in action what he couldn't in words. Sirius seemed to pause for a moment before returning the hug tightly, letting Leo burrow deeper into his shoulder once again. He was right, it wasn't like his Mum, but it was something. And at that moment as the changed world was just beginning to show itself, Leo would take a little something.

Chapter Text

The funeral took place 4 days after the battle. There were only a handful of people in attendance due to the security enchantments placed upon the cottage overlooking Loch Ryan. Sirius and Remus were there, along with other members of the Order of the Phoenix that Leo barely recognised. He hadn't been able to speak, leaving that to Remus instead.

The worst part about it was packing up the house. He would be moving to Grimmauld Place full time after the funeral of Albus Dumbledore had taken place and so Leo used the time at his home to gather anything and everything he thought he would need. Once he was finished, the room he had lived his childhood in looked bare, with the red walls and the Wigtown Wanderers bed spread looking more childish than he remembered it being before, a thought which just compounded the sadness, as he remembered the delighted faces of both his Mother and his Grandfather on the day that he had received it. His mood seemed to be matched by the posters around the room, with the players of Wigtown throughout history all looking back at him, solemn and pitying looks etched on their faces.

Eventually, some three hours after the funeral had taken place, Leo moved through to the living room. Sirius was sat in his mother's chair staring at photographs, while Remus had stayed behind for them was casting some final charms around the house, with the aim to hide it completely until such a time that it was safe for Leo to return.

"Come here, Leo." Remus said gently, before Remus gently poked his wand into Leo's chest, casting quietly under his breath. A warm feeling rose in Leo's chest, and he repeated some words dazedly. "You are now the secret keeper here." Remus explained. "As the last of your branch of the MacDonald family, everything that once belonged to Mary, or your Grandfather, now belongs to you. That includes this cottage, that we will forget the location of as soon as we exit the property." He then handed Leo a Gringotts key. "And then there is this."

He held it gingerly in his hands. Though the MacDonald's weren't anything close to being as rich as the Black's, they were equally an old Pureblood house and the contents of the vault would have been enough for a modest life in itself. "Thanks." He muttered quietly, stuffing the key into his pocket. "I'm going to…" He looked out towards the window, the lone Silver Birch tree standing elegantly in the sunset.

"Yes, of course. Take your time." Remus nodded, and without another word Leo walked out of the door towards the tree, only stopping when he saw the three headstones sitting side by side. The first he glanced at only briefly, his Grandmother had planted the tree he was told, but had been the first to die of Dragonpox when Leo had only been young.

GRACE CONSTANCE MACDONALD

BORN 26 AUGUST 1930

DIED 9 APRIL 1984

She lived with love

She left with grace.

Forever held in time's embrace

The grave beside hers however he stopped at for longer. His Grandfather had been the main paternal figure throughout his childhood and Leo still missed the old man's laughter.

MAGNUS WALLACE MACDONALD

BORN 16 SEPTEMBER 1929

DIED 11 JULY 1994

By loch and glen

By moor and sea

His soul flies free, eternally

"Look after her, Granda'." Leo whispered, carefully moving his wand in an arc as a wreath of Scottish Primrose's were conjured to sit against the headstone, before he finally pulled himself to look at the newly created mound, and the pristine silver headstone at its head.

MARY KATHERINE MACDONALD

BORN 13 OCTOBER 1959

DIED 30 JUNE 1997

Say not in grief that she is no more,

But say in thankfulness that she was.

A death is not the extinguishing of a light,

But the putting out of a lamp because the dawn has come.

It was a quote that Leo had heard one day in Muggle Studies a few years back, the only one that came to mind when asked to think of something. He wiped away the lone tear that fell as he sat down at the foot of the grave, only able to stare at the gravestone, the carvings etched across it the final indicator that she would never be back… that he would never see her again.

The sun was starting to drop in the sky by the time Leo felt like he could pry himself away. He kissed his hand and placed it on the carving of her name, wincing at the coldness of the stone before pulling himself away. "I love you." He whispered, before turning away and rejoining Sirius and Remus by the front door, no words being spoken between the three of them as they Apparated to Hogsmeade.

They shared a drink together at the Three Broomsticks in near silence too before Leo stood up and said his farewells, before walking on his own towards the castle. He let Filch poke and prod him as he walked through the gates and kept walking until finally, he entered the castle and made his way up to the 7th floor and the corridor leading to the Fat Lady's portrait. "Password." She asked, her painted eyes still red from all of the crying.

"Vale Dicimus." Leo answered bluntly. The Fat Lady nodded briskly, a loom of understanding across the portraits face as she swung open, and as Leo crouched through the portrait hole he heard a distinct wailing as it shut behind him.

The Common Room was empty save for a handful of students, and the atmosphere inside was quiet. He spotted Ron sat on a windowsill in one of the nooks that the 6th years liked to frequent and was glad to see Hermione there too, suppressing the need to just have her hold him as he sat beside her. "Hey mate." Ron said, his tone solemn.

Hermione grabbed his arm tightly. "How was it?" She asked softly, before frowning at herself. "I mean… ignore me." She stumbled over her words, her eyes welling up.

Leo, oddly, appreciated her question. "It was nice, as nice as funeral's can be." He admitted. "Sad, but she's beside my Grandparents like she wanted to be. That tree gets plenty of sun when it's out, and she's at peace." He explained to them, his accent somehow feeling thicker than usual as he did so. "Where's Harry?"

Ron pointed upwards. "He and Ginny both went up early to try and get some kind of rest before tomorrow." The red-head explained.

"I shouldn't have mentioned the Half Blood Prince." Hermione said, frustrated with herself. "I knew it would only upset him." Leo looked quizzically at her, and thankfully she explained. "Your clue about the Prince family was sort of right. Eileen Prince married a Muggle, Tobias Snape."

"And so Snape was the Half Blood Prince, the son of a Pure Blood and a Muggle." Leo nodded, filling in the blanks. "All this time we had proof that Snape was dangerous…"

Ron snorted in amusement. "That's what Harry said."

They fell into silence again, something that seemed to happen a lot lately as everybody was working through their feelings. Leo's hand subtly found Hermione's as they interlocked their little fingers out of Ron's view, the red-head being the one to break the silence as he was levitating a burning piece of parchment. "How's Sirius?"

Leo sighed at the thought of his Father, who had barely said a word all day. "Desperate to get back to Grimmauld Place for the first time… ever, I think." He explained. "He wants to be there for if Snape tries to break in. Now that the secret is open… the Order are expecting an attack."

Hermione shook her head. "Reckless."

Agreeing, Leo continued. "Kingsley and Moody went there immediately after… after Sunday night." He took a moment to compose himself. "It has the best defences possible, if he gets through the front door, he won't be there long before he's surrounded."

"Let him try, I'll be there." Ron muttered darkly, losing control for a second as the flame engulfed the parchment completely, raining ash down on the table. Sighing, he put his wand down beside him and continued. "Once we leave Hogwarts tomorrow, I'm joining the Order properly. I don't care if they said before that we have to finish school, I'm of age now and things are different."

It was an idea that Leo had been toying with too in his long periods of silence with nothing but his thoughts to occupy him. "They are." He stated, with a firm finality about it. "And I'm with you too, I want to join… I want to fight." He wanted to kill Avery, to make the Death Eater suffer slowly before he died, but that was a thought he would keep to himself.

Hermione looked between the two boys. "Things really are just going to get worse now, aren't they." It wasn't a question; Leo knew immediately from her tone.

"With Dumbledore gone… You-Know-Who will be emboldened." Leo nodded. "This summer will be the worst yet. People will die, go missing… everything will happen with more regularity."

"Bodes well for Bill and Fleur's wedding then, doesn't it." Ron retorted dryly. Leo looked at him confused again and Ron slapped himself on the forehead in realisation. "Blimey, I forgot you went to sleep before all that happened… you missed a lot. Mum's like, Fleur's biggest fan now. Fleur stood up to her and basically vowed that she would always love Bill no matter how bad the scarring is… and Mum ended up offering her a goblin made tiara to wear on the wedding day and everything. They're marrying at the Burrow on the 1st August."

Leo smiled at that thought. "Good, I'm glad. The world needs a bit of joy… to remind all of us exactly what we're fighting for." He moved his little finger ever so slightly in an action that hopefully showed Hermione what he was thinking, about her and about them. He then rose out of the seat. "I'm going to head to bed… it's been a tough day I should try and sleep some, tomorrow will be just as bad."

"Good night." Hermione said softly, her eyes looking weepy again. He smiled down at her, not trusting himself to not break down if he said anything, and with a final wave to Ron he ascended the stairs to his dormitory, noting that most of the beds were occupied and the heavy breathing of his dorm mates filled the air and hoping that he could fall to sleep just as easily.

All of Leo's things at Hogwarts had been packed before he left to go back to Loch Ryan, and so on the morning of Dumbledore's funeral while Harry, Neville and the others were making sure that they had everything, Leo was able to take his time, pulling on the formal black dress robes before making his way down towards breakfast in the Great Hall. He looked up at the staff table, noting immediately that Professor Dumbledore's thronelike chair was empty with Professor McGonagall in her usual seat beside it keeping up her usual appearance, while Hagrid's seat was also empty. Professor Snape's, however, wasn't, and Leo recognised the current Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, staring at him for a brief moment before his eyes darted past Leo, keeping a watchful eye on everybody that entered the room.

Fay and Anna were already sat down at the Gryffindor table, along with three adults sat nearby them. Leo recognised Fay's parents immediately having spent plenty of time talking to them on Platform 9 over the years, but the other man was new to him. He walked over and said hello to the adults before nestling into his seat on the other side of Fay.

"Dad, this is Leo." Anna said quickly, introducing Leo to the unrecognised man. "Leo, this is my Dad, Patrick Bailey."

Shaking the man's hand and accepting his condolences over Mary's death, Leo made to fill his plate, though the offerings on the Gryffindor table for perhaps the first time didn't look appealing in the slightest. Grabbing a couple of slices of toast he buttered them and took a bite, before placing the bread down on his plate and turning to the girls. "I've barely seen you since…" He said quietly. "How are you doing?"

Fay's face dropped in sadness. "We should be asking you that." She said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We missed it all... Snape… he just ran passed us and we took care of Professor Flitwick inside Snape's office, that's about it."

Anna nodded in agreement. "Even that though… when I heard about… well, I felt bad about when I asked if you liked being dragged into all this and I wanted to say sorry…"

Leo remembered that conversation, but there was no part of him that felt like it was worth an apology. "I told you back then, the war is closer to me because of my parents. Mum wouldn't have wanted to be locked away safe somewhere if she had the ability to help out, and that's what she was doing in protecting the school that night. I'm proud of her, Anna, I'm devastated because she isn't here anymore of course, but I'm proud to be her son, to be fighting the same cause that she fought for so long for."

Anna nodded, sniffing as she wiped away a tear, looking over at her Dad who was deep in conversation with Mr Dunbar. "Mum refused to come to the funeral… she's scared of being a target. Dad says it's all bringing back memories of before… with her sister and parents. He's only here because I wanted to stay. She wants to go back to Canada, where I was born in hiding." Anna looked crestfallen, before a fierce determination took over as she furrowed her brow. "But I want to stay, I want to be here and do my part… pay your Mum back for her sacrifice, Leo, if that doesn't sound ridiculous..."

It didn't at all, Leo thought, and he realised he was seeing a new side of his auburn haired friend, the reason she was placed into Gryffindor almost. "She would be proud to see that she had inspired somebody, and that somebody was standing up for what they believed in." He said, leaning over to squeeze her hand."

Fay looked glumly at the pair of them, whispering. "I'd love to as well… but I think my folks want me to stay away from Hogwarts next year. We haven't discussed it but with Baz in Iceland and the twins still being so young… we have an out and they want to take it…" She shook her head sadly. "I can tell it's coming. I heard Mum mention a small school for Icelandic witches and wizards… Töfraskóli, it only has about three dozen students." She grumbled, and Leo's heart sank at the thought of his best friend being so far away.

"Seamus had an argument with his Mother yesterday as well." Anna explained, and Leo was almost happy to be back listening to her gossip as he noticed her eyes watering, the thought of Fay being so far away clearly affecting her as much as it was him. "She wanted him to go home too, to Ireland, but he refused."

Fay shrugged. "I'll fight my corner, but Mum's Muggleborn, and scared."

"I am." Mrs Dunbar said coldly, causing all three students to look at her with wide eyes not having realised that she was listening to them. "As should you all be."

"That's enough, dear. Not today." Mr Dunbar soothed, running his hands along Mrs Dunbar's arm. "Fay, come and show us the Gobstones Club please, before we need to head on down to the Grounds. I'm fascinated to see just how much things have changed since my days…"

Fay nodded, finishing her drink and shooting the other two an apologetic look before leading her parents out of the Great Hall. Mr Bailey sighed and looked over at the two students. "Everybody is scared." He explained, continuing the conversation. "Anna, you know how worried your Mother is… if it were up to her we'd also go into hiding and I'm running out of excuses to alleviate her worries."

"I can't just run, Dad." Anna said, tearing up again. "I just can't, it's not right. Leo isn't running…"

Mr Bailey looked at him sadly. "Perhaps you should, son."

"I don't have a choice." Leo responded softly. He looked down the table and saw Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny along with the other Weasley's that had stayed in the castle, Bill and Fleur being the only ones missing, with Bill still stuck in the Hospital Wing. He then saw his Dad enter the hall; an air of defiance plastered across Sirius' face that Leo could tell was a façade even from his distance. "I won't let my Mother's memory down by running from what she believed in, Mr Bailey, a belief I share with everything I have. If we all run we let him win, and I'd rather I died for what was right, then lived knowing I did nothing to stop it."

"A sentiment more likely to get yourself killed." Mr Bailey said sadly. "But, you are of age, both of you." The adult moved to grasp Anna's hand. "And I am so proud of you, no matter what. And so is your Mother despite all her worries, we both just want you safe, Annie."

Sirius had joined them at that moment and agreed with Mr Bailey. "We all do." He began, sitting down where Fay had been a few moments earlier. "But we won't be safe for long if we run, and we'll never forgive ourselves for abandoning our friends either." He held his hand out for Mr Bailey to shake. "Sirius Black."

Mr Bailey stopped for a moment, clearly thinking about his 14 years of fearing the man now sat in front of him. Anna cleared her throat obviously and Mr Bailey returned the handshake. "Patrick Bailey."

Sirius grinned. "I remember, you were the 5th year Prefect that took us to the Common Room for the first time."

Patrick grinned at the memory, but before the two Father's could begin to reminisce, Professor McGonagall stood up and announced to them all. "It is nearly time. Please follow your Heads of Houses out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after me."

The parents quickly said their own goodbyes and filtered out before the students did so in an orderly fashion, making their way down to the Black Lake. Leo noticed Fay running back to join them, filing in beside him and Anna. As they grew closer Leo could see that half of the chairs were quickly being filled up by adults of the Wizarding World, he recognised some of them as Order members and Ministry officials, the shopkeepers and bar owners of Hogsmeade, Ernie Prang from the Night Bus and a number of Diagon Alley shopkeepers too. Walking slowly down the aisle he saw the famous old faces of Newt and Porpentina Scamander, their three children, one man and two women, the taller of whom Leo recognised as having attended his Mother's funeral, and three grandchildren, one Leo knew was Sullivan Fawley, a 5th year Hufflepuff. Even the witch that pulled the sweet trolley on the Hogwarts Express was there he noted as they found seats near the lake. He looked around to where Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had filtered in a couple of rows behind them, leaning over to Anna and asking. "I thought Ron might sit with you?"

She shook her head. "It was fun, but we both agreed that it wouldn't last and with everything going on… we parted as friends." She shrugged, though a blush appeared on her cheeks that clearly indicated a memory that Leo decided he had no interest in hearing the sordid details of.

He noticed a battered and bruised Neville then being helped into his seat by Dean Thomas and Hannah Abbott, and for the first time since the Battle he saw the Ravenclaws that had aided him. Terry Boot had scratches on his face while Sue Li had her arm in a sling from a particularly nasty curse. He nodded his head towards them, truly glad to see them all.

An otherworldly song made all of them in attendance look out towards the lake, where Leo noticed the Merpeople just beneath the surface singing their song of loss and despair, a touching display that brought the first tear of the day to his eye. They looked the other way next when loud movement was heard, as Hagrid walked slowly down the aisle silently crying, an object covered in a purple and gold velvet… Leo took a sharp intake of breath at the realisation that it wasn't an object at all that Hagrid was carrying, but Professor Dumbledore.

They were too far away to see the details of the ceremony, only managing to see Hagrid's back as he presumably placed Professor Dumbledore's body onto the table at the front of the congregation before retreating up the aisle once more, letting out a trumpeting sound as the half giant blew his nose. Once Hagrid had sat down, the ceremony truly began as a small wizard in plain black robes stood before them, though Leo quickly frowned when it was clear that the Sonorous Charm hadn't been used so he could barely hear.

By the time the small wizard had stopped speaking Leo's leg had cramped up, so he began to flex it as the wizard returned to his seat, looking down as the screams began. His eyes shot back to the front of the gathering as white flames seemed to engulf Professor Dumbledore's body, stitching together as the flames rose until it became a white marble tomb. An incredible display of magic, Leo thought, and one more than fitting for the incredible wizard that would lay inside for eternity.

Towards the forest a shower of arrows fired from the edge of the Forbidden Forest quickly after the tomb had been created as the Centaurs made their tribute, coming nowhere close to the gathering of people who after their initial shock, were now beginning to rise out of their seats. Leo looked back to see Hermione, who was also looking over at him. He gestured towards the lake hopefully, breathing a sigh of relief when Hermione nodded and turned to Ron.

"I've got to go." Leo said softly to Anna and Fay. "I guess you aren't hanging around?"

Fay shook her head. "Mum and Dad want me home, the twins have been with my Nan for too long, they'll have probably burned the house down." She laughed, and Anna nodded her head, also explaining that she needed to leave earlier than planned to get back to her Mum.

"Then stay safe, please." Leo said, almost begging them as he pulled them both in for a tight hug that expressed more emotion than any other hug that had come before. "I don't know when…" His voice broke. He remembered their first week of Hogwarts as fresh faced 11 year olds… and here they were almost 6 years later. He truly began to tear up then as he kissed them both on the top of the head, a gesture which showed them both his thoughts of this maybe being the final time he saw them both.

Fay was the one to shove him away, her own eyes watering but her face contorting into defiance. "We will see you again, Leo. Don't even think that."

Anna nodded her agreement, openly crying however. "We have… have to share that Firewhisky, remember." She sobbed.

Leo let out a chuckle, nodding as he thought of that bottle tucked safely in his trunk. "Agreed. The next time we're together then." They all hugged one more time, though Leo saw Fay's parents and Anna's dad looking over at them. He locked eyes with Mrs Dunbar who also seemed to be crying, a knowing realisation on her face too as he didn't need Legilimancy to understand that she also thought this would be the last time they saw one another. "Go on, your folks are waiting." He murmured, breaking the hug once again and stepping backwards.

"Keep in touch… however you can." Fay was now crying too. Leo nodded, watching as they backed away to be embraced by their parents and led away back to the castle. He turned and saw Hermione looking over at him, her own eyes red and puffy, and he smiled sadly as he moved to join her.

They made to walk around the lake together, passing Harry and Ginny in what seemed to be a heated discussion as they went, but waiting until they were clearly out of earshot before they started speaking. "The Horcrux was a fake." She said quietly. "I realise you didn't know that."

Leo's stomach twisted. "So it was all for nothing." He murmured, thinking on how pointless his Mum's death had been, as well as Dumbledore's, if they were still stuck in the same place.

"Not quite." Hermione explained. "The real one was taken by an RAB. I'm not sure who that is, but it's something to go off." She sighed, as she moved to take his hand, both squeezing one another tightly as they clang to one another for support while continuing their walk along the lake, trying to at least enjoy the peaceful day while they could. "I don't think Harry is coming back to school next year." Hermione added, finally breaking the peaceful silence.

It wasn't surprising information, Leo realised when he thought about it. "He's got to hunt them down, and he can't do that from here." He agreed with the decision. "It makes sense." Hermione pulled her own hand away at that point and rubbed her hands together nervously, telling Leo all he needed to know. "You and Ron are going to go with him, aren't you." He stated bluntly, already knowing the answer.

She nodded, sniffing to try and halt her tears. "You can come with us." She cried softly, looking up at him with red and wet eyes.

It was tempting, he had to admit, but as he grabbed her hand back and gave her a hug, pulling her into his chest as he rubbed her back to try and soothe her sobbing, he saw Hogwarts in the distance. "I can't." He whispered, noticing that Harry and Ginny had stopped their discussion and were holding hands tightly beside Fred and George, with Mrs Weasley hugging a different red-headed boy tightly into her. "My place is here, Hermione. With you three gone… somebody has to be here, looking out for the castle… keeping the DA up to scratch for the moment that Harry needs us."

Hermione smiled. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about the past, about our time here." She began. "Thinking of us all when we started compared to now…"

He was different, he knew that immediately. "We were young." He laughed, though the amusement didn't reach his eyes. "Our youth has been robbed from us; we've needed to grow up far too quickly it's true." He moved one hand to her chin, lifting it up as he stared into her brown eyes. "But we need to fight, Hermione. If we don't… life won't be worth living anyway. And I am proud to fight, I don't wish we were 1st years again, naïve to the world and just happy to be at Hogwarts. I want to live in a world I can be proud of, and we need to create that world ourselves. You by destroying the Horcruxes, and me…" He trailed off.

"By changing it from the inside." She whispered. "I admire that about you, Leo. Your strong sense of heart, and your mind, your willingness to be the change you want to see."

He smiled, knowing that she was a large part of that mentality, but it was clear that she already knew that. He leant down and captured her lips with his own, pressing all of his emotion and feeling into the kiss and making the most of what little, precious time they had left together.

They didn't spend a long time alone around the lake, knowing that they needed to be back in order to organise a mass exodus from the castle. The students such as Anna and Fay that had parents attending the funeral had already gone by the time Leo and Hermione had returned to the castle, but a large number ended up getting the Hogwarts Express, with Leo included in that despite Sirius being there, with the adult's excuse being that the Order were due to meet at Hogwarts to discuss their next moves.

With Hermione going off to find Ron and Harry and privately discuss their own plan for the following year, Leo walked down the train as it pulled away from Hogsmeade Station looking for a compartment. He eventually found one with Neville inside, noticing that other members of the DA from their year group had joined him and were gesturing Leo to enter too. Doing so and sitting beside Padma Patil, he noticed most eyes turning towards him and Neville.

"We need to think about September." Anthony Goldstein began. "We've been thinking… with Professor Dumbledore gone, the likelihood of Hogwarts being left alone is miniscule."

Leo could only agree. "We need to be ready." He began, looking at Neville who was still weak from his injuries, but the Longbottom teen nodded firmly, giving Leo courage to continue. "Dumbledore's Army will need to be the light in the darkness at the castle, the ones showing other students that we haven't given up just because of what happened."

"Do you think that You-Know-Who will want to take over the school?" Hannah asked. Leo almost certainly did, having heard all about how Voldemort, if he could ever love anything, loved the school. But knowing he needed to keep Harry's mission secret he didn't risk anything other than a nod.

Terry Boot clenched his fist and pounded his leg. "We won't let him." He stated bluntly. "We were lucky that Cho saw the DA coin this time around, we got lax. That can't happen again."

Leo agreed once again. "Keep them on you at all times, tell whoever you can trust. Next year, we'll start again bigger and better than ever." He said firmly, looking out of the window as Hogwarts began to depart from view. He thought once again of his Mum, and his conversation with Anna at breakfast that morning, and as the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws all began to list off ways that communication could improve, Leo vowed to himself, and to her, that he would make her proud, as she had made him proud all of his life.

Chapter Text

The rainfall from outside was echoing within the bedroom of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Despite it being the height of summer the outside skies were grey with clouds and the rain had barely stopped in the week since Leo MacDonald's return from Hogwarts, leaving the street outside resembling a low running stream more than it did a road. Not that Leo had even felt a solitary rain drop upon his body, with Grimmauld Place feeling more like a prison than it ever had done.

The lack of any form of outdoor exercise mixed with the lack of any visitors from the Order of the Phoenix had meant that the 17-year-old had rarely left his room since his return to the London townhouse, and as a result he had barely even seen another room, let alone his Father, now the only other occupant of the house. He instead found himself hunched over his desk throughout the day, books stacked beside him that described various levels of charms work intermingled with a small stack of plates that Kreacher had unhappily delivered him.

A hoot sounded from the other side of the window, reminding Leo that the House Elf wasn't the only grumpy creature within the house, as Cosmo, Leo's barn owl, made his frustration with being cooped up inside his cage known for the third time in the past 20 minutes.

"Alright." Leo muttered, turning another page of Advanced Charm Casting by Professor Eulalie Hicks, the latest in a long stack of Charms books that Leo had been examining intensely. "I hear you, Cosmo." The owl simply hooted in frustration again before hiding his head under his wing, thankfully allowing Leo to continue with his task. For the past three days he had been trying to adapt the DA Galleons so that all of those linked by Hermione's excellent spell work could both send messages as well as receive them, instead of just the one Galleon able to send anything out. Nothing seemed to be doing the job however, and after a third replica coin simply melted through his desk, quickly followed by a hasty set of repair charms, the Gryffindor growled out his frustration, throwing the now singed replica coin across the room and knocking his head multiple times on the desk in order to try and force some kind of spark. Nothing happened other than a slightly sore forehead however, and so begrudgingly the 17-year-old kicked back his chair and rose to his feet to retrieve the coin.

He tried to pet Cosmo on his way around the bed, but the owl shifted away angrily to avoid any contact. "I hate this too." Leo muttered, truly meaning that. He longed for the Loch, for fishing with his Grandfather and for the warm summer walks he often took with his Mother when he was younger. He missed the space that they had, hating the cramped walls of the Black family home.

"Tell me, is it sheer indolence that plagues you, or do you simply lack the constitution for perseverance?" A deep voice sounded from the corner of the room, and Leo groaned once again. He looked over at the portrait that had decided to make itself known in the past week, having before just remained remarkably silent. "If it is the former, then I must lament the degeneration of my lineage. If it is the latter however, I would advise you to spare yourself the indignity of attempting anything remotely demanding in future, lest you continue to bring embarrassment upon yourself... and by extension, me."

The figure in the painting was a haughty middle aged man with black hair and grey eyes that just a glance would make anybody feel inferior before you saw the exemplary dark green 19th century robes and top hat. Licorus Black was Leo's direct ancestor, and the last Black to sit on the Wizengamot in his own right back in the 19th Century.

"Nobody remembers who you are." Leo scowled over at the portrait, already bored of the constant interjections and put downs, mentally making a note to throw the biography that Anna had bought him back in 5th year at the portrait the next time it spoke.

Licorus Black barked out an arrogant laugh. "Lying will not improve your capabilities." It retorted, and so Leo kept his mental promise and grabbed the book, throwing it in the direction of the portrait. "How uncouth! Has the once proud Noble and Most Ancient…"

"Silencio." Leo pointed his wand at the painting, and he smirked as the painting tried to speak with no volume, the colour of his ancestors face beginning to grow redder. "Finally." He muttered, but he couldn't stand to be in that room for any longer and so he quickly picked up the thrown coin and jammed it in his backpack, already packed with everything he would need at a moment's notice, something that had been growing increasingly likely the longer Snape went unfound. As he zipped it back up again an almighty crash sounded from down the stairs, quickly followed by the screeching of yet another painting. Groaning, Leo grabbed the stack of plates and walked out of the room, heading down towards the kitchen.

"HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE THIS HOUSE, THIS SACRED LINEAGE, THIS NAME THAT YOU ARE NOT WORTHY TO BEAR! YOUR BLOOD IS BLACK, BUT YOUR SOUL…"

"SHUT UP!" Leo roared as he passed the portrait of his Grandmother, angrily jabbing his wand at the curtains and sealing them shut again. "This bloody house…" he muttered, pushing his way into the kitchen to yet another dramatic scene.

Kreacher was stood on the top of a glass cabinet, his arms folded angrily as his large eyes were narrowed, staring at an equally incensed Sirius. Shards of brown glass surrounded the elf, as Leo recognised the debris of a bottle of Ogden's Firewhisky.

"Move." Sirius Black stated coldly towards the elf.

Kreacher however, shook his head slowly, his bloodshot eyes narrowed further in as much anger as the House Elf could muster. "Master told Kreacher to keep him from this cupboard, and Kreacher lives to serve the Noble and Most Ancient House…"

"I'm giving you a new bloody order!" Sirius was raising his voice now, slurring his words slightly as spit was being thrown from his mouth. "Move out the way or I'll give you clothes! Don't think… don't think I won't!" He hiccupped. "Dumbledore isn't here to stop me now!"

"No, but I am." Leo said, announcing his presence finally as both pairs of eyes turned to face him. "Thank you, Kreacher, but the cabinet has already been emptied."

Now both sets of eyes turned to the drinks cabinet, with Leo waving his wand to release the glamour charm he had set up the last time he had emerged from his room. Quickly the bottles of alcohol vanished leaving nothing but empty shelves. Kreacher jumped backwards in surprise, almost toppling off of his perch, but it was Sirius' reaction that Leo was focused on. The elder of the pair stormed forwards, knocking Kreacher to one side as he ripped open the doors of the cabinet, pawing inside it to try and find anything. When it was clear that the empty cabinet was real, he turned to face Leo. "Where is it?" He asked, his voice low and angry.

It wasn't an unusual state for Sirius to be in since their return from Hogwarts, and so the sight didn't do anything to startle Leo. "Gone." The 17-year-old replied. "You're relying too much on booze and it isn't healthy, so I got rid of it all."

"You. Did. What?" Sirius asked slowly, his voice lowering in rage.

"Got rid of it all." Leo repeated.

It clearly wasn't the right answer, as Sirius took a few steps towards him. "Well then, it looks like I need to go and buy some more." Sirius said coldly. He stopped just before Leo's position, still stood in the doorway. "Out of the way."

Leo didn't flinch as he stared into the dilated pupils of his father. "No." He said boldly, standing his ground.

"Leo." Sirius growled. "Move."

"No." Leo repeated himself. "You're going to go and sober up instead."

Sirius growled again. "The fuck do you think you are?" He slurred. "I'm a free man; I can go and get some drink if I bloody well like."

"You can go up to bed." Leo stated bluntly, for the first time thinking that talking to Licorus Black would have been more productive. "And sober up." They stared angrily at one another for a few seconds, before a sluggish movement caught Leo's eye. Sirius tried to barge past him, but Leo, now taller than his Father, stood his ground again, causing Sirius to merely bounce off him. "Don't…" He began, but he saw Sirius' hand reach to the table and his own right hand clenched around his wand. "You don't want to do this…" Leo started, but he was forced to throw up a shield charm as a blast of red light came speeding towards him. One more blast followed that was just as easily defended when Sirius fell to the ground, throwing his wand away in frustration as he kicked out at the table, pulling a chair out and throwing himself into it. Leo quickly grabbed Sirius' wand with his spare hand before lowering his own guard, pulling over his own chair. He saw Kreacher still standing in place, staring wide eyed at the pair of them. "Kreacher, can you get him a tea?"

The elf remained in place for a moment, before his eyes narrowed in annoyance once again. "Kreacher can." But he didn't move.

"Then do it, please." Leo added, firmly, watching as the House Elf snapped his fingers and appeared on the counter, making the beverage. Leo then turned his attention to his now slumped on the table Father. "This isn't the answer, Dad." Leo said calmly, keeping his own wand in hand but moving towards Sirius. "The alcohol… Mum…"

"I was going to marry her, you know." Sirius mumbled into his arms, before he shifted to an upright position and thrust his hand into his pockets. Leo was on edge for a second, when instead of a second wand, Sirius pulled out a small, cuboid box lined with crimson velvet. "Everything happened so fast last time… we left school, we fought Voldemort, we had you…" He looked up at Leo and instead of the previous anger that had caused him to throw offensive spells, all Leo saw in the man's eyes this time was grief. "I never got a chance to ask… I bought this three days before… before that Halloween." Sirius offered it to Leo clumsily, the alcohol still running through his system, but Leo took it carefully and pried the box open. He gasped audibly when he saw inside. Set in a comfortable velvet cushion was an elegant, but simple silver ring and peering up at him was a brown gemstone that Leo recognised immediately as cairngorm, the national gemstone of Scotland.

"You were about to propose?" Leo asked, his voice cracking as he spoke at the moment a tea appeared from thin air beside Sirius.

Sirius simply nodded his head as he grabbed the mug. "I don't know why I waited… we had you and then life just… happened with raising you and the war. Then I went and messed up by chasing that rat… I got the ring back when I got cleared, I had it on me when they arrested me… but I didn't want to rush going onto one knee..." Tears were brimming in Sirius' eyes now, and Leo could feel similar happening to him. "I was going to talk to you about it this summer…"

"She would have said yes." Leo said quietly, not trusting his voice to stay in control if he said it any louder. "She would have loved this." He nodded to the ring in the open box. "She loved our home, and she loved this stone… but she wouldn't love seeing you in this state."

Sirius went to argue, the anger in his eyes returning for a split second before his shoulders dropped and a sigh sounded. "No, she wouldn't." He concurred, defeatedly. "She was all I had left Leo… of those days." He muttered. "Moony… that's not been the same since…" He trailed off, lost in a memory. "It can never be the same with Moony even if we are the last two left. After school it was mainly the four of us though… James and Lily, taken from me. And now Mary… all of them gone."

"She's never truly gone." Leo insisted, grabbing his father's hand and placing it over the elder man's heart. "She's always here, always." He took a deep breath as he placed that same hand over his own heart. "And she's here, in me, and I can't do this alone, Dad, I need you now. It's like you said at the lake, we aren't alone and we need to stay strong, stay strong for each other, and for Harry…"

He hated bringing Harry into it, wishing that they could keep the moment between the pair of them instead, but the effect was clear as soon as Sirius heard the name, the realisation of what Harry was going to be put through in the near future. As he took a sip of his tea, Sirius nodded determinedly. "I've let myself down here, haven't I." He stated.

Leo chuckled at the self-awareness. "We all cope in our own way. After Granda', Mum wouldn't stop washing up. I reckon the plates were scrubbed of all their artwork by the time I went back to Hogwarts."

The laugh that came from Sirius was a welcome sound, and for the first time since their return, the father and son pair finally managed to sit down and share both of their fond memories of Leo's mother, with Leo learning more about her school life than she had ever admitted to him before. He found himself wheezing as Sirius recounted their first meeting in first year on the morning of their first lessons, and by the time they went up to bed hours later, Leo had hope once again for the future.

Despite their heart to heart the night before, Leo returned to his charms work as he woke up the next day, a day that was very quickly devolving into further frustration as nothing that Leo could think of was working. He worked on various ideas until his watch showed noon's arrival, and then with a final act of desperation threw it again.

"Once more your talent for patience is astounding." Licorus Black drawled, leaving Leo to utter a bunch of curse words that left the former Head of the House of Black outraged at the state of the latest generation.

Without wanting to deal with the portrait once again, Leo left to fix himself some lunch, quickly spotting that Kreacher was in the kitchen once again muttering to himself, and Leo simply ignored the House Elf and made himself a sandwich, noticing later than he should have that Sirius had evidently passed out on the kitchen table the night before and was still snoring loudly. Shaking his head, he took his food upstairs, but instead of returning to his room and forcing himself to either ignore or insult a painting, he went for a further walk.

On the first floor of Grimmauld Place was the bedroom that Hermione and Ginny stayed in when they had been here, though the room felt cold and empty without the signs of the two girls living within it. Beside that room was a bathroom, and rounding off the first floor was the Drawing Room, where the large tapestry of the House of Black was kept. Walking into the room, Leo spotted a number of cabinets full of certain treasures that the Black family had collected from over the years, with Leo stopping to stare at the Order of Merlin, First Class that had been awarded to his Great-Grandfather Arcturus for services to the Ministry. That was surrounded by a number of objects that looked over a hundred years old at the very least, with a silver snuffbox, a musical box and a bunch of golden jewellery that included a signet ring that Leo was very intrigued by.

He had entered the room because of the tapestry though, and moving over towards it, tracing the golden thread from the burn mark he knew to be Sirius' and his uncle Regulus' beside it, up through Orion, Arcturus and another Sirius until that thread and a number of others converged on Phineus Nigellus: 1847-1925.

Seeing the former headmaster's name reminded him about a passage in Hogwarts: A History about the Headmaster's office and what happened after the death of one of the many that had been in charge of the school throughout the years. Professor Dumbledore should now have one… and through Phineas Nigellus Black, Leo had a direct link to the Headmaster's office within the house.

Remembering that the portrait was upstairs in the first room that he had ever slept in inside the house, and so he walked out of the Drawing Room and rose up the next flight of steps, entering the bedroom he had shared with Harry and Ron during that Christmas break when everything had changed. His bed had long since been move, but the two twin beds that Harry and Ron had slept in remained in place, looking as cold as the girls room had done. Looking at them made Leo think on how Harry was managing on his own at his Muggle relatives, but he quickly moved his eyeline to that of the portrait.

"I heard the noise last night from Hogwarts. There's been rather a lot of smashing, hasn't there?" The portrait asked just as haughtily as Licorus Black tended to be. "A shame really, that this is what is left of my bloodline."

Leo scowled over at the figure in a pristine and expensive green suit, not wanting to engage in yet another conversation about the disappointment that a bunch of blood purists felt with him. "Is Professor Dumbledore's portrait awake yet?" He asked impatiently.

The painting of his three times Great Grandfather scoffed and folded his arms angrily. "Thankfully, no. It's been so long since I've not had to listen to that eccentric old fool, and I'm rather enjoying the quiet." The painting turned to the side of the frame and shouted out. "I said what I said, Amrose!"

Leo scoffed at his ancestor. "No wonder you were hated." He muttered, his experiences with the portraits dotted around the house showing him exactly why his Father had such a distain for the Black family, not saying another word as he walked away, ignoring the spluttering objections of rudeness of the portrait behind him.

There was nothing interesting for him on the third floor where his room was housed, and he paused for a moment as he looked up the final staircase, to the floor that housed only two rooms. He rose the stairs and saw that on one side was Sirius' room, a place he had already been in and enjoyed a lot. On the other was his uncle's. Having seen the name downstairs on the tapestry, Leo found himself intrigued and moved over towards the door, gasping aloud when he read the paper that was stuck onto it.

Do Not Enter

Without the Express Permission of

Regulus Arcturus Black

"The real one was taken by an RAB." Leo whispered quietly, parroting Hermione from their walk around the lake. It seemed too good to be true, but Leo went to open the door anyway, cursing himself for not realising it would be locked when the knob wouldn't turn. He drew his wand and pointed it at the door "Alohomora." He muttered, and with a click, he was finally able to enter the room.

Inside was very… Slytherin… Leo thought. Emerald and Silver colours were everywhere around the room from the wallpaper, the curtains and even the bedspread. On the headboard of the bed Leo noticed the Black family crest, the motto of Toujours Pur engraved beneath the crest. A collage of newspaper clippings was also hung near the bed, to which Leo was unsurprised to see what seemed like a shrine to You-Know-Who.

He looked around some more, taking a note of some pictures and some more newspaper clippings, this time, oddly, a Muggle newspaper of a couple of disappearances. Elsewhere in the room Leo noticed a desk which didn't show anything out of the usual as he went through everything, with the draws being filled with old textbooks and ink bottles, with a few quills too.

There was something off about the bottom draw though, Leo thought to himself as he emptied the contents onto the floor. He knelt down and measured the inside with his hand, feeling that there should really be more space within. He pulled the draw away from the desk, feeling around the base of the draw to no avail, but when he ran his fingers along the back, he felt something. Pressing down, the draw clicked and the base came away, revealing a small folder within the hidden compartment.

Leo lay the draw down on the bed without tearing his eyes away from the folder. Most of what was written included things about Horcrux's that Leo already knew, showing him that Regulus had read the same book that Sirius had just a few months previously, but it was the final page that interested him the most. It was a drawing of a golden locket, a green serpentine S in the centre, and Leo slapped his forehead the moment he saw it. "Of course!" He cried, holding the parchment tightly as he leapt to his feet and raced out of the room and down the stairs three at a time until he was back in the Drawing Room, staring down at his Great-Grandfather's Order of Merlin that was neatly placed besides a familiar golden locket...

With just one confirmational glance at Regulus' drawing, Leo grinned, holding his wand out as he went to unlock the cabinet when a loud bang sounded, and Leo was thrown across the room into the nearby sofa, an invisible force stopping him from being able to get up again. By the cabinet was Kreacher, the old House Elf looking half his age and angry, holding a hand out towards Leo. "Master will not throw away Master Regulus' things again!" Kreacher shouted angrily. "Nasty blood traitor! Thinks he is one of Mistress' own…"

"But… the locket…" Leo gasped, the force pressing down on his chest. "I know… what it is!"

Kreacher cocked his head curiously as he stared at Leo. "Master Regulus' locket." He muttered to himself. "The brat knows about Master Regulus' locket."

"It needs to be… destroyed!" Leo gasped, and at that comment he was released, falling to the floor coughing and gasping for air. Once he had recovered he looked towards Kreacher, who had turned to face the locket. Leo rose to his feet and gingerly walked over towards the Elf, noticing in the reflection in the glass that Kreacher had tears falling down his cheeks.

"Kreacher failed Master Regulus." Kreacher croaked after a little while of silence. "Master ordered Kreacher to destroy the locket, but Kreacher couldn't. The locket wouldn't open, and Master Regulus was dead… and…" Kreacher began to wail loudly as more tears fell from his eyes, down his cheeks and soaked his already filthy loincloth.

Leo felt incredibly awkward at the sight of the sobbing House Elf, but he closed the door and knelt next to him. "Kreacher… can you tell me about what happened?"

And Kreacher did exactly that, through regular intervals of sobs he explained to Leo how Regulus Black had offered him to You-Know-Who for a task, a task that sounded very familiar to Harry's own tale of his mission to retrieve the Horcrux with Professor Dumbledore, with Kreacher being the one to drink the potion and try and crawl for some water only to be pulled down by what Leo knew to be Inferi, but his orders had forced him to return to Regulus. Then, a short while later he returned to the cave with Regulus, only this time it was Leo's uncle that drank the potion to spare Kreacher, and Leo's uncle that had been pulled under by the Inferi, never to return…

It was a horrible story to listen to, and Leo felt a wave of pity for the House Elf by the time his tale had finished, and he allowed Kreacher some time to compose himself before he continued his questioning. "Kreacher… I can help you destroy the locket. I just need you to open the case, if you can?" Leo asked hopefully.

Kreacher looked up at Leo curiously once more, his eyes red from crying. "Master… will help Kreacher?"

Leo smiled down at the Elf. "I will." He nodded fervently. "I will help you fulfil Regulus' request."

It took a moment longer for Kreacher to agree with the House Elf seemingly thinking of all the ways that this could be a trap of some kind, but eventually he snapped his fingers again and the cabinet door swung open at the same time the door to the room barged open, and Leo stared up to see Sirius there, his face looking worse for wear and his hair being a complete mess, but his grey eyes were blazing with anger. "What in Merlin's name is going on up here?" Sirius asked angrily.

Kreacher took the golden locket in his hands, and carefully held it out for Leo. The teenager took it, feeling the large, golden object in his hands and immediately wanting to throw it as far as he could because of the dark feeling that swarmed him. It seemed to hum, almost like a heartbeat trying to burst out of its cage. "We've had one under our noses this whole time." He explained to Sirius, holding up the locket so that he could see the S engraved on it clearly. "This… this is one of them… this is one of You-Know-Who's Horcruxes."

Chapter Text

It took three repetitions of Kreacher's tale for it to truly sink in for Sirius, as the elder man stumbled over to the nearest sofa and collapsed into it, his hand scratching at his beard awkwardly. "So Reg…" He muttered, the hang over evident in his voice as much as it was his eyes. "He actually turned on Voldemort? He died opposing him? He didn't just get scared and… flee?"

"No, Regulus was seemingly one of the bravest of his generation." Leo explained, never taking his eyes away from the locket throughout all of this discussion. It was a heavy item, golden with a large green S in the shape of a miniscule snake slithering across the face, and it brought about a strange feeling within Leo as he held it in his hand, a feeling that gave him a sense that he should be disgusted with it and throw it as far away as he possibly could, but at the same time he also wanted to pull it closer; to learn all of its secrets… He clenched his fist around it as he closed his eyes tightly, trying to regain control of himself by shaking his head fiercely. "He didn't run, he didn't flee like a coward. He was clever and brave in managing to work out the truth about the Horcrux and find a way to retrieve it without Voldemort knowing… and he is a big reason why we are now a step closer to defeating him."

Sirius swore under his breath as the revelation seemed to completely sober him up. He leant forwards and hung his head in his hands. "I never would have thought… I thought I knew him." His voice was muffled by his hands. "But all this time…"

"You'd left this place when he was 15." Leo explained. "Things change, look at what's happened to me since I turned 15…"

He had made a point that seemed to resonate greatly with Sirius as he sank deeper into his chair once more, nodding his head. "Bloody hell…" He whispered again, before his own eyes settled on Leo's clenched fist, the one holding locket. "So now what?"

"We destroy it." Leo said firmly, pulling his wand out of his jeans pocket with his spare hand. "If we can destroy it before Harry turns 17 then that's one less thing for him to worry about." He took a deep breath and looked towards Kreacher, who was still stood in the doorway looking on at them wide eyed. "Kreacher, can you put protections up so that the house is secure?"

Kreacher bowed his head slowly, but surprisingly less sarcastically than usual. "Yes Master." And the House Elf clicked his fingers.

A golden bubble began to spread from inside Leo's fist, warping its way around the room by pressing into every small bit of furniture like a protective wrapper. In his bones Leo knew that it was a powerful shield, one that seemed to hum around him. He turned to the Elf with a warm smile. "Thank you, Kreacher."

Kreacher bowed again, an action that was seemingly too much for the third person in the room as Sirius muttered from beside him. "This is so strange."

"Kreacher has been very helpful so far, we wouldn't have found this without him." Leo held his fist up towards Sirius as he turned back to his Father. "It's only fair that we help him now, help him to complete Uncle Regulus' final wishes."

Kreacher had a tear drop from his large, bloodshot eye and Leo nodded at him politely, before returning his focus to the locket, placing it down on the protected 19th century table. He took a few steps back before pointing his wand towards the Horcrux. "Confringo."

A blast of flames shot out of his wand striking the locket with a loud boom. The area erupted into flames leaving Leo to duck behind his arm to protect his eyes. Once a few seconds had passed and the flames began to dissipate he dropped his arm and hoped that it had worked, though the locket remained on the table looking as pristine as it had beforehand.

Sirius growled as he stood up from the sofa, his own wand in his hand pointed at the locket. "Bombarda." A loud boom followed and the locket shot upwards off the protected table, but as soon as it hit the golden barrier covering the ceiling it bounced back down and slammed down into the table again, unharmed.

"Reducto."

"Expulso."

Nothing they did was working, and Leo was starting to get extremely frustrated as each spell refused to even scratch the locket. "Sectumsempra." He muttered angrily as he jabbed his wand towards the locket, but once again the spell did nothing but annoy it as it started to hiss.

"Leave me alone for a moment." Sirius stated bluntly, his wand still trained on the locket. He saw that Leo was about to argue, but before the teenager had a chance Sirius snapped. "I'm about to try something and just on the off chance, I don't want you in here to get hurt." Leo stood still for a moment defiantly, not wanting to go anywhere until the locket was destroyed, but he lost the stare off between father and son and moved outside of the drawing room, slamming the door behind him angrily when a burst of bright green light illuminated the gap of the door. Leo paused for a moment recognising the Killing Curse immediately and feeling surprised that instead of horror or anger at the memory of the last time he had seen that spell, his first thought had been hoping that it had worked. "No." Sirius called through the door bitterly, and Leo opened the door to see that through Kreacher's protection a large scorch mark had appeared on the table, but the locket itself remained unharmed.

Leo kicked out at the nearby armchair, the protection engulfing it simply knocking his foot back without making any impact. "There must be something!" He exclaimed angrily, but he couldn't think of any more spells more destructive than those already cast, and in a huff, he grabbed the locket and stormed out of the room towards the library on the third floor hoping to find something that he had missed.

He was all out of luck, however, and after around 2 hours of searching through and then throwing around a dozen of the foulest books he had ever seen anywhere he could around the library, he curled up against one of the bookshelves and dropped his head between his knees, all of his prior joy at finding the locket and being able to do something to help was gone, and an overwhelming feeling of despair and disappointment had taken its place, eating away at the 17-year-old.

He finally poked his head up again at the sound of hurried footsteps racing up the stairs towards him, and the door burst open to reveal a frantic Sirius, his eyes wide and sober in a panic. "Get any essentials packed in a bag quickly and meet me downstairs."

"What's going on?" Leo asked.

"Snape's told the Death Eaters the secret. They're coming for the house." Sirius told him hurriedly, before bolting up the stairs to his own room to do his own packing.

Leo immediately sprang into action, racing to his room and quickly scribbling out a note to Ron telling him that Grimmauld Place was under attack before releasing Cosmo from his cage and tying it to the owls leg. "Take this to Ron." He told the owl, before casting a disillusionment charm on the bird and letting it out of the window, hoping that would be enough.

Then turning to where his trunk and backpack lay, he pointed his wand towards it, silently casting both the feather-light charm and the shrinking charm until the trunk was able to fit neatly inside his pocket. Finally he pulled his backpack over his shoulder and bolted for the door… only to rush back into the room and pick up the DA Galleon he had thrown earlier that day.

After magically sealing the door to the library in the hope that not even Snape would be able to enter, he met Sirius in the downstairs hallway as the elder of the pair was casting a number of strange wards, hexes and curses. "Ready." Leo called out, causing the man to stop his casting and look over to Leo.

"Is that all?" Sirius asked.

Leo nodded, tapping the strap of his backpack. "Extension charm."

"Good." Sirius nodded his approval. "Kreacher will meet us there, so don't worry about him." He finished his sentence by waving his wand to finish his casting, and took one look towards his mother's portrait curtain as a grin formed on his face. "I've always wanted to do this to this house." He pointed his wand at the curtains and they blasted open.

"FILTH! MUDBLOODS! BLOOD TRAITORS DEFILING MY FATHER'S HOUSE!" The portrait shrieked.

"Oh shut up you old bat!" Sirius roared back, before turning to Leo. "Outside, now. Wand ready."

"But the statute…"

"Isn't binding when in a life or death situation." Sirius explained impatiently. "And we're bloody well about to be in one if you hesitate! So move!"

Nodding, Leo rushed towards the door, jumping over the troll leg umbrella stand as he went and burst out of the door. Considering it was the height of summer the weather outside was damp and drizzly. That had been the norm for the summer so far though, but the biting cold and the rapidly settling mist indicated something more was on its way. Holding his wand ready, Leo looked in the direction that the mist was coming from and his whole body fell numb at the dozens of black specks that he could see in the distance soaring towards him. Grimacing, he focused on the memory of that day on the lake back in April, and the feeling of Hermione's lips on his own. Feeling warmer, he roared. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A large, silvery Irish Wolfhound raced from the tip of his wand and did three laps around him before settling protectively in front of Leo as the Dementors grew closer. The door slamming on his right diverted his attention for a second as Sirius appeared beside him, the elder of the pair looking over at the oncoming creatures with an expression of sheer loathing. "That's the stuff." He growled, his grey eyes blazing black as he turned back to the house and muttered in a low, hateful growl. "Malignis."

Leo gasped and his patronus almost faltered as a result of the heightened distraction, because as he turned back to the house he saw the cursed fire he had only read about before spurting out from Sirius' wand like a hosepipe through the open doors of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Despite the searing heat of the nearby flames a sense of cold crept back through Leo's body making him shiver slightly, and so he focused more on his happy memories by the lakeside and that kiss, with the Wolfhound seeming to grow slightly larger as the Dementor's were within range. Once they were three doors down a large pulse of silver energy sprouted from the dog, slamming into the Dementors and causing a shrill shrieking sound to echo down Grimmauld Place. The pulses continued as Leo poured everything he had into the spell, throwing the Dementors back as if they were caught in the middle of a tornado.

"Come on!" Sirius called out frantically. In the time taken for Leo to drive away the pack of Dementors Sirius had managed to set the entirety of Number 12 ablaze as thick flames were roaring hungrily, leaping out at the windows and causing them to shatter from the heat.

Leo was about to take it when he remembered the heavy item within his pocket, and as it often did, the voice of Hermione Granger filtered into his mind…

"To destroy a Horcrux, the object containing the soul fragment must be destroyed beyond all methods of repair."

"Beyond all methods of repair." He repeated, grinning as he pulled the locket out of his pocket, and in one swift movement threw it deep into the burning house.

The entire line of houses erupted in an ear splitting blast, lifting both Leo and Sirius high into the air and backwards into the road, with Leo landing with a heavy thud. Groaning as he regained his senses he looked around in horror at what he had done, watching as the entire row of houses along Grimmauld Place resembled a war zone more than a London street with debris raining down upon them from all of the houses. Inside Number 12 he saw the flames warp and twist with a pained, hissing scream that would haunt Leo until the day he died, but before he could react more and try to help the Muggles that were gathering he felt a hand grab his arm tightly, and with a crack, Leo disapparated.

By the time that it had registered in Leo's brain that they had Apparated, Sirius was already striding up a gravel path towards a modest two story house surrounded by tall trees, wand out and muttering protection charms. Leo made sure that his backpack was still on his shoulders before rising to his feet and following him.

"Where are we?" Leo asked impatiently, just one of around three dozen questions firing around his brain all at once. "Why… Fiendfyre?" He then levelled accusingly. "Why the bloody hell did you use Fiendfyre?"

Sirius scoffed derisively. "It worked, didn't it?" He then held his wand up. "Protego Maxima, Protego Horribilis, Salvia Hexia."

"But…" Leo stopped, the explosion still ringing in his ears. "All those people…"

Sirius stopped throwing protective spells up and turned to Leo, grabbing his neck tightly with each hand. "You did what you had to do to survive. Never apologise for that." He then pulled Leo in for a tight hug. "And you got rid of that thing, that's the most important part. Voldemort has one less Horcrux in the world now, thanks to you."

"You think it's really gone?" Leo asked, realising now that things had calmed down slightly that he had been extremely rash in just throwing it.

"It's gone." Sirius said darkly. "So is the house… nothing survives Fiendfyre."

Leo nodded, understanding all of that but now thinking solely of all of those people in the many houses in Grimmauld Place, hoping more than anything that he hadn't killed a bunch of Muggles. He was led inside the house by Sirius, noticing already that Kreacher was already in the kitchen rifling through the cupboards moaning at the state of the pots and pans. "Where are we?" Leo asked again as he looked around at the modest hallway.

"My place." Sirius explained, dropping into a wooden chair and taking a deep, needed breath. "When I turned 17 my Uncle Alphard died. He was another one that thought Pure Bloods were something special, but luckily for me, he cared more for family than he did his ideals. He argued when my Mother blasted me off the tapestry and left me a decent amount of gold when he died so that I wouldn't live a life beneath my station as a Black." Sirius drawled, the displeasure in his voice evident. "I used the gold to buy this place. James' parents lived nearby so it was ideal, I could visit whenever I wanted and Euphemia helped look after it in our last year of Hogwarts, bless her heart, she died not long after that..." He trailed off, lost in his memories for a moment before managing to snap back into the present. "Once we left school, your Mum and I used it as a…" He trailed off, but Leo understood completely, feeling the urge to shiver as he thought on exactly why his parents would need an empty house to meet up. "Anyway, when I got pardoned, it got returned to my possession, we were fixing it up last year together, your mum and I, in case we needed a place to escape to."

Leo dropped his backpack on the floor and moved further into the kitchen, admiring the basic wooden units that surrounded the room, and the cosy table in the centre. He was only stopped his exploring once Kreacher snapped his fingers and a pair of three tier sandwiches floated over to the table. "Thanks Kreacher." Leo muttered, realising just how hungry he was as he tucked into it.

He was still worrying about his actions at Grimmauld Place however, and Sirius could see that. Sirius looked around briefly before jabbing his wand wordlessly at the radio, with the audio device roaring into life as Leo recognised the Muggle news.

"…and finally news is just coming in to us of an explosion in Islington today. Officials at the scene of Grimmauld Place are reporting a major gas leak has caused an explosion that has decimated 9 houses along the road and has left 7 people hospitalised with burns and smoke inhalation, though thankfully there are currently no reported fatalities…"

Leo breathed a loud sigh of relief as he sank into his chair, his fear of his own actions evaporating instantly. "Nobody died…" He whispered to himself.

He noticed Sirius also looked brighter having listened to the newscast, turning it off as 'I wanna be the only one' was announced as the upcoming song. "We need to let people know we're ok." Sirius then began, not wanting to dwell on what Leo presumed was more guilt for having cast the dangerous spell. "Can you cast a voiced Patronus?" Leo shook his head. Sirius gestured for him to come closer. "Here, watch carefully.

It took less than ten minutes for Leo to be able to send his Wolfhound away to Hermione and Remus Lupin, while Sirius sent his own Patronus away to Bill Weasley and Harry explaining that they were safe. It was tempting, Leo thought, to include the fact that they'd rid themselves of a Horcrux, but Leo realised that that news was better off said in person where he knew that no prying ears could listen in. Once they had finished their messages and Sirius poured a glass of Firewhisky, something that Leo frowned at but relented when he decided that after the days ordeal he could really use one himself, he went to take his glass and his backpack upstairs to scope out the rest of the house, only stopping in the doorway at the nagging question that had sprung to mind since he had learned nobody had died. "How do you cast it?"

Sirius knew exactly what spell he meant, and grimaced at the thought. "It's dark, Leo. It's the opposite of a Patronus, you need to really feed into your hatred and destructive thoughts." He took another swig of the drink, staring at the bottle afterwards before shaking his head and capping it. "I have too many of those at the moment." He added bitterly.

Leo paused in the doorway not knowing how to react to that, but certainly feeling like he too had enough anger and hatred bubbling within him to be able to cast Fiendfyre then and there if he needed to. He tapped the door frame twice with his hands to signal his departure before walking away from his Dad and up the stairs, spotting that there were four doors as he reached the top floor.

In the first one he noticed what was clearly going to be his parents room. There were pictures dotted around the crimson walls of their time at Hogwarts, as well as what seemed to be a handful from after they graduated. Leo grinned at one in particular of his Mother, clearly pregnant with him at the time, pulling open a Christmas cracker with his Gran before he left the room, closing the door behind him. The next room was a large bathroom, while on the other side of the landing were two doors with small, golden plaques on the white wood. The right hand side plaque had Harry James Potter engraved, while it was the left hand side one that drew Leo's attention.

Leo David MacDonald

He pushed the door open and immediately tears began to well up once again, a regular occurrence since that night his Mum had been killed. The room was painted blood red, with silver and gold stripes falling down the walls intermittently, his Gryffindor and Wigtown loyalty proudly on show. There was a double bed in the centre of the room, and either side of the bed stood tall bookcases filled to the brim with various books, both for academic and leisure reading. Under the window was a writing desk, with empty containers ready to be filled with quills and other stationary, one thing that had seemingly been left until last. He tapped the wall with his hand when, on the windowsill, he noticed a picture. Moving closer, he gingerly picked the frame up, looking down as five pairs of eyes looked up at him. It was clearly a picture from the cottage by the sight of Lock Ryan in the background, and it was a summers day judging by the short sleeves and the clear skies. His eyes first spotted his Grandmother, her short white hair framing her face kindly as her eyes sparkled with joy. On the other side of the frame was Leo's Granda', clearly laughing his regular booming laugh.

It was the pair in between that caught Leo's attention most of all though. He recognised his mother instantly despite her clearly being younger in the photo… barely looking older than Leo was now. She was holding a child, clearly Leo judging by the hair and eye colour, and Leo guessed he was barely over 12 months old at the time that it was taken. She looked so happy, with her eyes constantly moving from baby Leo, to him, to the man on her left…

Sirius Black looked completely different, and it was only now that Leo realised exactly how much Azkaban had aged him. Gone were the hollowed cheeks and the age lines, and instead Sirius looked… well, Leo realised that he could see himself in the photo version of his Dad. Their hair was similar and the shape of their eyes… though Sirius had a carefree smile on his face there standing outside Leo's childhood home.

He didn't notice he was crying until his eyes became blurry from the tears, and so with a sniff he held the picture close to his chest, taking his trunk out of his pocket and placing it on the ground beside his backpack before he settled down onto the bed, holding the image of what seemed like a perfect afternoon close to his heart.

Chapter Text

The first couple of days after their escape from Grimmauld Place was spent mainly exploring the wooded area that Sirius' house was located in. Goblin Combe was a woodland valley near Bristol, also only being around 50 miles away from The Burrow where, after the invasion of Grimmauld Place, the Order of the Phoenix had quickly set up as its new Headquarters. Finally, and more interestingly, Leo thought to himself, the house was located barely 10 miles away from Godric's Hollow. Though he was tempted to go and visit the historic village along with the extensive fairy colony that was rumoured to live in Goblin Combe, Leo stayed strict with himself and kept within the confines of the protective charms that surrounded the house, and when the wonders of seemingly endless trees at the border of those protections had worn off, he returned to work on his DA Coin.

It took around a week after they fled London until Leo was finally getting somewhere with the charms, managing to send messages to and from a couple of scraps of parchment much to his delight, when in the midst of his celebrations he heard voices coming from outside. Instantly he had his wand in his hand pointed out of his window in anticipation of another attack, but instead of the expected Death Eaters, Leo recognised his Father walking down the lane with a familiar red-headed Weasley. Dropping his wand arm down in relief he descended the stairs in time for them to enter the house.

"I've checked." Sirius said quickly, causing Leo to want to hit himself from annoyance at forgetting. The new Order protocols had been to check everybody upon a new meeting through a predetermined security question in order to determine if there was anything amiss, such as Polyjuice Potion. "It's him."

"Afternoon Leo." Bill Weasley said kindly, and Leo quickly made sure to shake Bill's hand. The Weasley's face still bore ugly scars of his encounter with Fenrir Greyback a few weeks previously, but thankfully he looked well enough within himself as he kept his warm smile up. "How are you keeping?"

"Going stir crazy stuck here." Leo admitted, to which Bill thankfully chuckled. "How are you, how is everyone at home?"

Bill moved to sit down at the kitchen table while Kreacher floated some teas over to the three of them. "Good, as good as we can be. Mum's thrown herself into the wedding planning of course, I think she likes the distractions. She was glad to hear you two were alright. You gave her quite a scare until I received your Patronus, Sirius. She keeps the radio on at all times now, listening for any news on Diagon Alley I reckon to keep an ear out for the Twins, but I can tell she's hoping that she hears nothing that could mean you and Harry are in trouble." He explained. "Percy's back too."

That surprised Leo massively. "Really?" He asked, eyes wide.

Bill nodded briefly. "Mum cornered him at the funeral… and to his credit he apologised there and then, says he'd been thinking a lot about Dad over the past year or so and what he stood for, and after Dumbledore's death things just… clicked within him." He sounded somewhat bitter. "Better late than never, I guess." He then turned to Sirius. "The protections look good Sirius, but there are a few things I just want to add in order to bolster them. Have you thought about the Fidelius?"

Sirius frowned. "I've thought about it and discarded the thought instantly. It's caused me nothing but grief, no thanks."

Bill looked concerned as he took a sip of tea. "It's the most secure…"

"No, Bill." Sirius said sternly, and that was the end of that. Leo took a sip as well, relishing as the hot liquid slipped down to give him something to do as the two adults stared at one another, before Bill finally nodded.

"Very well." The Weasley said, ending the awkward silence. "Then give me half an hour and I'll get this place about as protected as I can without the Fidelius."

He gulped down the remainder of his tea and walked outside, leaving Leo and Sirius sitting in the kitchen. Sirius pre-empted Leo's question by saying. "James and Lily died under the Fidelius, and I've been stuck at Grimmauld Place for years now because of it. No, no more."

It ended the discussion briskly, and they sat in relative silence other than the sounds of Kreacher muttering to himself as he cleared things away, so it was a relief when Bill walked back in and stated. "There we are."

Rising to his feet, Sirius was the one to shake Bill's hand first. "Thanks mate… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped."

Bill waved it away nonchalantly. "It's fine. I understand."

"How much do you…" Sirius asked, his hand reaching into his pocket for his money pouch.

"No." Bill said firmly, his hand gripping Sirius' arm tightly. "This is on me, you've done more than enough for our family, Sirius. This is the least I can do." Now it was Sirius' turn to accept that he wouldn't have the final say, and Leo saw the starting of a grin appear on his face. "Will we see you on Friday?"

Sirius thought for a moment, looking over at Leo with a glance. "Yes, you will."

"Is this the Order?" Leo asked, interrupting.

Bill nodded slowly. "Yes, we've been in somewhat of a disarray since… well, since Dumbledore, but Mad-Eye is insisting…"

"I want to join." Leo stated bluntly, causing both of the adults to stare at him in surprise.

"The Order is for of age and graduated wizards, Leo." Bill explained. "The dangers…"

Leo scoffed derisively. "I fought just as much as you did at the Tower, Bill. And with…" He took a breath to steady himself, the green flash of light seared into his thoughts. "With everything that's happened, don't you think that the more wands the Order have, the better?"

"I think that you're grieving and angry." Bill explained, moving to place a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder. "Trust me, I've been there, but you still have another year of Hogwarts left."

"A year where we don't know what will happen given that we don't have Professor Dumbledore there anymore." Leo argued back. "Keeping us in the loop so that the students can help out if needed…"

"We have teachers in the Order." Sirius was the one to respond now, though Leo sensed that his heart wasn't there to stop him.

Bill nodded at his point, however, and it only caused Leo to double down as he shrugged the Weasley off of him. "I know you think this is just me wanting revenge, but that's not all of it. I want to fight; I want to do my part and I'm going to join in a year anyway. Given the state of things… I don't see a need to wait. I'm 17 and I can be of some use, there are things that the Teachers can't be privy too, so eyes in the student body could be useful." He then looked to Sirius. "And we have a way of communicating that can't be tampered with or spied upon so I can be kept in the loop."

Bill looked to Sirius for back up, but to Leo's elation, Sirius simply shrugged, the arguments Leo had made seemingly working on him. "I've seen the kid fight off a pack of Dementors, if he wants to join, I certainly can't stop him." Sirius said, turning to Bill.

Sighing, the Weasley shook his head frustratedly. "I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Ron's been badgering me about joining too, he wants to be in the loop for whatever mission Dumbledore gave to Harry." He turned to Leo. "I don't suppose you know what that is?" Leo shook his head, though Bill didn't look like he believed him. "Right. Look, we'll bring it up at the next meeting, you're right we do need wands, but we need them where we can act, not stuck inside the Castle for months at a time."

"Unless you need something doing at the Castle that the teachers can't get away with." Leo grinned, and Bill just chuckled, shaking his head.

"I better get back, but I'll see you Friday, Sirius. And just you." He stared pointedly at Leo, grinning at their amused faces before waving to the pair of them and leaving the house.

Sirius waited until he saw Bill walk down the lane and Disapparate past the protections before he turned to Leo. "You lied just then."

Nodding, Leo explained. "Professor Dumbledore didn't even want us two knowing, but if it spreads too thinly, then there's more chance of You-Know-Who figuring out what Harry's up to."

He could see the cogs turning in Sirius' mind, but was glad to see an agreeable nod follow his words. "True, that's very true, and he has a powerful legilimens on his side in Snape." He stated bitterly, before his eyes widened in realisation. "Come on, through to the living room, I want to teach you something." They moved across the hallway into the room opposite the kitchen, with a pair of comfy sofas and an armchair the highlights of the room. Sirius, however, sat on the floor and patted the carpet in front of him, gesturing to Leo to sit down. When he had, Sirius continued speaking. "Now, I'm nowhere near an expert at this, but after Harry was tricked in your 5th year, I knew that I needed to at least try, for his sake as well, to understand occlumency. If we are going to keep this secret for him, then you need to know the basics too." It made complete sense to Leo, and so without a word he paid full attention to Sirius, happy to have both something that will aid the Horcrux hunt, as well as a much-needed distraction for the both of them.

The week's wait between Bill leaving Goblin Combe and Leo being allowed to apparate to the Burrow after the Order finally agreed to allow any of age Witch or Wizard with family already in the Order was spent by Leo focusing on either his Occlumency, or working on the DA Galleon, and as he walked up to the crooked, clearly magical dwelling he was relieved to have a break from the studying, and enjoy a change of scenery and additional company. Sirius had largely kept to himself, and though he hadn't reached the drunken heights of their time at Grimmauld Place, Kreacher was having to throw away multiple bottles of various drinks out each night.

As he neared the Burrow it was easy to admire the sheer scale of magic that had been put into building the Weasley family home. The building was so tall and yet so crooked it looked like it should topple over at any moment, but the magic was so strong and emanated from the building that it made Leo feel warm inside as he neared the red-roofed house. He was laughing at that as he spotted a pair of red-headed men standing outside of the doorway, recognising both Bill and Ron as he grew closer.

"Bill, Ron." Sirius greeted, with the Weasley's returning the greeting to the pair of dark haired men. "Are we late?" Sirius asked.

Bill shook his head. "We're still missing a few."

"Mum'll be glad to see you." Ron nodded at Leo after the pair quickly hugged. "Almost had kittens when she heard about what happened… did you really fight off a pack of Dementors?"

Sirius frowned at the reminder of the creatures, though a slight glint of mischief that Leo hadn't seen in a while appeared in his grey eyes. "Are you calling me a liar?"

Ron snorted, not taking the bait for a moment. "No, just surprised, that's all. It's a seriously impressive bit of magic."

Leo just shrugged. "I did what I had to do, I'm just glad we all got out safe."

"And managed to burn my Mother in the process." Sirius grinned at the same moment that the door opened, and out strode Mrs Weasley. She looked older than when Leo had last seen her around a fortnight before, with more grey streaks in her hair and a few extra lines adorning her face, but her hug was bone-crushing as she rushed towards him. "Oh, Leo dear, I'm so glad you are alright. When I heard the news… well, it was a relief when we heard you were safe."

He felt strange as he returned the hug, wanting nothing more than to lean into the motherly woman's body and just embrace the warmth. "I'm alright, thank you Mrs Weasley." He said softly.

She took a step back and took one look at his figure. "But not eating enough I bet, come, I've prepared food." She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him inside, sitting him down at the table forcefully as a laughing Ron settled beside him.

There were a number of the Order already sat down, with Leo recognising some faces from his time at Grimmauld Place, though naming them was more difficult. He recognised Mad-Eye Moody, gulping nervously as his magical eye was trained directly at him, and Remus Lupin gave him a warm yet tired smile. Also sat at the table were the twins Fred and George, a welcome pair of familiar faces as the food began to slowly soar towards them.

After digging into his meal, Leo used the conversation of the adults to his advantage as he leaned into Ron and whispered. "Have you heard from anyone?"

Ron simply shook his head as he gulped his food down quickly. "It's too dangerous, Bill says. Harry's being watched though, he's fine from what I've heard. And once we heard the news on the radio I realised you might not have a chance to contact Hermione so I managed to let her know you were safe."

While he was glad that she wouldn't have been worrying, that news only served to make Leo worry about Hermione being all alone in Muggle England, but before he could say anything else, and on top of that mention the fact that they had destroyed the locket in the process of the Dementor attack, Mad Eye Moody cleared his throat and slamming his staff three times onto the floor. Molly waved her wand and the plates began to fly through to the kitchen, leaving Leo sat there with a growing anticipation at what was to come. "Thanks Molly." Mad Eye stated gruffly, leaning forwards on his elbows as his magical eye began swivelling around, taking in everybody in attendance. "Right, first things first, we have two new members joining us tonight." All eyes turned towards both Leo and Ron. Like when he had first arrived, he recognised most of the group from his last couple of Christmas' at Grimmauld Place, though one or two faces remained entirely unfamiliar. "MacDonald, Weasley, let it be known that not all agree with your joining us here tonight, but the decision has been made, and going forward you must swear your wands to our cause, never to betray our secrets to the enemy."

It sounded like an Unbreakable Vow, but Leo was ready as he pulled his wand out, his right arm tingling as he and Ron said together. "I swear." As the tip of his wand lit up red.

"Good, now, onto the meeting." Moody began. "I've had contact with Granger, and she will join us after making arrangements for her family, but the more pressing matter is Potter. We have just over two weeks until he turns 17 and the protection around that house breaks once and for all."

Leo mainly sat back and listened as the Order of the Phoenix discussed various plans and ideas to get Harry to safety, from Polyjuice Potion and muggle transport to simply apparating out of there, until around 15 minutes into a conversation on working out how to stop the Death Eaters from getting to Harry once he's outside of the protections, a small, grubby man at the far side of the table cleared his throat. "Decoys." He seemed to seize up nervously as all eyes turned to him, but the man continued. "We whip up some o' that Polyjuice Potion, nick a bit o' the kids hair, yeah? Then when we come to smugglin' 'im outta there, we got a bunch of Potter's all leggin' it off in different directions. Confuse anyone tryin' to follow 'im."

It was brilliant, Leo thought, as he expanded on that idea. "Seven Potter's, all travelling to separate safe houses with pre-arranged portkeys leading him here." He added, knowing the power of the number 7, guessing that any additional form of luck would be needed to pull off such a daring idea.

"Surely Voldemort will be expecting some form of subterfuge?" Remus asked.

"We'll lure him away from the scent." Fred grinned, turning to Mad-Eye. "Everyone knows that after Dumbledore, you are the biggest threat."

"And that you won't exactly hold back when it comes to facing the Death Eaters." George continued.

"So if we make sure that you are there without any form of disguise."

"Then you'll be the first target. Able to handle yourself while Harry soars away to safety." George finished.

"A Potter and a guardian." Mad-Eye nodded. "Aye, there's something in that."

"Harry will never agree." Ron stated to them all.

"Harry, will be underage." Sirius countered. "For his own protection, he'll go along with it, like it or not."

Mad-Eye nodded once again. "Then we'll work on this, we need transport that the Ministry can't trace, and we need volunteers. I'll speak to Kingsley, see if he has any further suggestions to bypass the Ministry. We don't want those clowns impeding us in any way." He stood up, looking around to see if there was anything else to discuss. When it seemed like there wasn't, he leant back more comfortably and said. "Sirius, I want a word before you go. The rest of you. Dismissed."

Leo waited, looking at his Dad confused as the table began to clear quickly, with Mundungus among the first to leave as the echoes of Disapparation soon sounded from outside. Ron however used the dismissal to drag Leo upstairs one floor, pushing into Ginny's room to see her standing facing the doorway, her arms folded around an Extendable Ear. "Well?" She asked. "This bloody thing didn't work."

"Just stuff about getting Harry here." Ron explained. "You were right, I bet they agreed to keep it low key and Harry focused today, to get a taste of us before we get involved with anything bigger."

Ginny nodded, seemingly satisfied at being correct, though Leo recognised the look of worry in her eyes. "So they didn't press you on… you know?"

"Bill did when he came to see me last week." Leo said quietly, looking over at the door to make sure that nobody was listening in. "I don't know if he believed me when I said I had no idea."

"He doesn't, but he's past it I think." Ron explained. "He's been helping us get ready, transforming the ghoul in the attic to give me an excuse as to why I'm not at school."

A call came from downstairs to stop the students' conversation. "Leo! We're going!"

Sighing, Leo turned to the Weasley's again. "I'll see you next time. I'm working on something that will help us communicate securely, but I'm not there yet." He told them. "If you hear anything from Hermione…"

"We'll find a way to let you know." Ron insisted, nodding firmly. "But she'll be fine."

"I know she will, I just…" He sighed, not really able to put his feelings into the right words as his worry for her had only grown throughout the meeting. "I'll see you, guys." He gave them a wave before returning down the stairs, seeing Sirius whispering to Remus before falling silent as Leo approached. "Ready?" Leo asked.

"Ready." Sirius nodded.

"You did well today, Leo." Remus said with a half-smile, he looked tired, and Leo realised that he was in the last few days before his transformation. "That was a very good idea about having seven Harry's."

Sirius nodded, gripping Leo's shoulder proudly. "Come on, I'll see you Sunday, Remus."

"Sirius you don't need too…"

"I want to." Sirius said firmly. "You won't be alone."

Leo watched as the two best friends hugged firmly, before Leo was gently shoved outside, his thoughts as he walked remaining solely on his friend, and girlfriend, seemingly trapped in the Muggle World.

Chapter Text

The dining table of the Burrow had been commandeered as a large map of England was spread out across the surface, with Leo placing the seventh and final pin down in an area just outside of Baverstock. "Are you sure she's agreed?" He asked Bill Weasley, as the eldest of Molly's children sat opposite him with his arms folded, inspecting the plans himself.

Bill nodded at the question. "Muriel will moan and complain for a long time no doubt, but she's agreed." The elder man leant back in his chair and sighed in relief. "So that's it?"

Leo co. "Seven groups will all fly away from Little Whinging in seven different directions towards a predesignated safe house." He then listed them off, pointing to each one. "Kent, Essex, Sussex, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and then two in Wiltshire."

"Where pre-arranged Portkeys will have been set up, eventually bringing everybody here to the safety of the Burrow." Bill completed for him. He furrowed his brow for a moment, seemingly looking for flaws in the plan, though eventually he relented and nodded. "It sounds good to me."

"Will Moody go for it?" Leo asked, an air of hopefulness in his tone as he desperately wanted to get things perfect for that night.

"I'll personally see to the defences of each safehouse before we leave to collect Harry." Bill began. "The only issue will be finding the transport, but I'm sure between us all in the Order we will manage to get enough together. I don't see why this won't be agreed."

It was the sentence that Leo had been waiting to hear as three full days of planning had gone into his proposal. He had worked tirelessly on which safehouses would be needed; the routes taken to each safehouse and when the best day for trying this mad plan would be. The meeting tonight would be his first major involvement in the Order and he wanted to ensure that everything was right for it and so had managed to convince Bill to listen beforehand. "Thanks, Bill." Leo said, relief evident in his voice.

"You've done good here, Leo." The Weasley grinned, before his face fell more serious. "How's your Dad doing?"

Leo's own mood soured. "Better." He said shortly, though that was a stretch. Sirius was definitely drinking less than he had been, but the amount of empty bottles in their kitchen continued to grow and his go to way to try and hide his drinking had ended up with the result of Leo being able to recognise an air freshening charm from around 50 yards away now.

His face hid nothing as Bill nodded in recognition. "I'll get Remus to have a word, or failing that, Alastor."

"Should I be keeping more of an eye out?" Leo asked quickly, before he could really think about it. He took a breath as the trustworthy Weasley listened on, and Leo felt comfortable enough to open up. "We had a duel… sort of, the day before we had to leave Grimmauld Place. It was barely anything… but…" He trailed off, not really knowing what to say. "We've not really spoken much since moving… I've had my projects and he…"

"He shouldn't be raising his wand at you in any case." Bill said quietly, his frown saying more than his words ever could. "Not when you are grieving too."

Leo simply nodded. "I don't know how to talk to him. I've only known him for what… 18 months? I feel awful for thinking it because I don't really mean it at all, but it would almost be easier if it were the other way around… if Mum had survived and Dad…" He trailed away again, not wanting to vocalise his thoughts there.

"I understand you." Bill nodded, thankfully keeping Leo from speaking the words out loud. "Listen to me though. Though you've not known each other properly for long, you have a bond there that nobody else can match. He loves you more than you can realise, the way he speaks of you to all of us here in the Order, how proud he is. That person is still inside somewhere, he's just too buried in grief right now. Imagine right now, that it was Hermione that had died." Leo looked up at him alarmed, and noticed the slight smirk on the Weasley's face. "You've both been pretty good at keeping it hidden, but I can tell. Imagine that was her, and she was all you felt you had left in the world, and all of a sudden she's gone. That's what it's like for Sirius right now. Mary was his one tether to normality, to a life where Azkaban could have simply been a bad dream but now she's gone. Remus is starting his own life so he doesn't want to fall back on him, and you're his kid, he can't use you as an emotional crutch." Bill held his hand up to stop Leo from arguing. "You might think you're ok with that now, but you go off to Hogwarts again in a couple of months. After that, he feels like he's on his own."

"He won't be." Leo said, unconvincingly.

Bill nodded, leaning over to squeeze Leo's shoulder. "He won't be." He repeated. "But right now, that's how he feels. So no, he shouldn't have raised his wand at you, but Azkaban messes with your mind, he just needs to find that place where he can function properly and that will take time. It might be easier for you if it had been Mary that survived, you might feel whatever you feel towards Sirius right now, but at the end of the day, you will be there for each other, I know it."

Leo let that settle for a moment as he thought on his feelings. He knew he loved his Father, that was definitely clear and had been for a while, and he knew Bill was right in what he said, but the mention of it taking time was what resonated with him the most, despite any thought of the future terrifying him to his core. "Thanks Bill." He said once again.

The Weasley smiled, rising to his feet. "I best make sure Fleur and Mum haven't killed one another. Trust me, if you do ever marry Hermione, don't have an elaborate wedding, just elope or something." He grimaced, but looked down at Leo one final time. "You alright?"

Leo nodded. "I will be, I just want to go over this in my head one more time." It was simply a distraction and Bill knew that, but thankfully the Weasley nodded firmly before he left without another word.

By the time that darkness had fallen and the Burrow was filling up with members of the Order of the Phoenix, Leo was feeling the nerves more. There were a handful of members that he had never been formally introduced to and had only seen once or twice in passing, one small man almost bouncing off his seat with a purple top hat sat wonkily on his head and a witch beside him, younger than the man with black hair and rosy cheeks that was sat calmer than her companion. The final stranger was the one that Leo was focusing on however as he recognised her from the first time that he had been to the Burrow a few days earlier, a brunette witch in her late 40's or early 50's, a stern expression on her face as she removed a heavily scratched brown leather jacket before sitting down beside Molly Weasley.

"That's Dedalus Diggle." Ron whispered beside him, catching Leo up on the man with the purple top hat. "And Hestia Jones beside him."

"And who's the witch next to your Mum?" Leo asked.

Ron grinned fondly. "Leta Scamander." Leo's jaw almost dropped, even despite his lack of interest in Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts, the Scamander name was a very famous one. "She was dating one of my Uncle's or something at Hogwarts and ever since they were both killed she's always been there for Mum. She's been popping in a lot since… you know."

Leo did, thinking once more of Arthur Weasley as he looked over at the two chatting elder witches, but there was no more time for chatter as Mad-Eye stood up and slammed his staff on the stone floor. "Right, let's get on with it." He muttered gruffly.

"Firstly, we need to keep a watch out for Charity Burbage." Remus Lupin explained, his right hand playing with the brand new band that adorned his ring finger, something that had come as a surprise to Leo when Sirius had left the house for an afternoon a couple of days previously and had returned in a jolly, yet intoxicated mood to reveal that he had been the best man at Remus' wedding to Tonks boasting that he had finally dragged Remus into the family. "I received a Patronus from Minerva last night and it seems that she has gone missing." Leo's blood ran cold. Professor Burbage was his Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts and she was always kind to him, though the cynical part of him understood why the Death Eaters would potentially target her considering her profession, a thought that darkened the mood even further within Leo's mind as he wondered what the war was doing to him.

"They are making moves within Hogwarts then." Kingsley said grimly. "The Ministry has been increasingly occupied by Yaxley and his ilk taking over key positions. They have already implanted their own people within the Department of Magical Transport."

"So as we predicted." Sirius sighed, leaning back into his chair with a resigned expression on his face.

Moody nodded. "Any Apparation near Privet Drive can no longer be trusted. Anybody watching Potter will need to Portkey directly into Arabella's house." He said firmly.

"There has also been another break out." Kingsley said, moving the meeting along. "Any Death Eater's that we had captive are now back out in the public. Malfoy, the Lestrange's, Dolohov…"

A number of faces went pale at the sound of Dolohov, including Molly Weasley and Leta Scamander. "Then we must be extremely aware of our surroundings." Remus stated, shifting awkwardly in his seat. "Dolohov is dangerous, and takes great pleasure in his crimes."

"And this infiltration into the Ministry troubles me." Leta Scamander said for the first time, her voice calm and measured despite the look of dread on her face. "If we are to move Potter… we should ensure a false trail is leaked within to keep their focus away."

Moody's magical eye swivelled towards Leo. "MacDonald has been working on the plan to move Potter, I believe." And then all eyes turned towards him, and Leo gulped.

Nodding firmly as he steeled himself, Leo opened up the map he had been working on and pushed it to the middle of the table, with the figures designating the safe houses magically stuck on. "For this to work, we need safe houses all somewhat equidistant from one another, and in all different directions so if we do have any unwanted guests, we can spread their focus right from the get go." He explained. "All of the locations I have marked as safe houses have been agreed by their owners, so now we just need to organise the transport there, transport that cannot be detected by the Ministry now that we know they have been infiltrated, and the teams that will actually go to escort Harry."

Moody nodded. "Hagrid has volunteered to escort Potter on that bike of his." Leo saw Sirius perk up at that mention, but Moody continued, ignoring him. "As have a number of us at this table."

Leo scribbled Hagrid's name on the right hand side of a list he had begun. "So far I have myself, Ron, Fred, George and Fleur willing to take Polyjuice Potion to turn into Harry." They all nodded their agreement once their names were read out. "I'm sure Hermione will too to make 6, and of course Harry as the 7th." Leo finished off.

"We'll know Hermione's intentions soon enough." Remus explained. "Tonks has gone to collect her this evening."

That brightened Leo's mood considerably as he looked down at his list again to try and avoid his joy being obvious to the rest of the Order. "Then to escort us, I've gotten agreement from Moody, Kingsley, Remus, Tonks and Bill…" He noted. "Hagrid would make 6, so we need one more."

"I'll do it." Sirius said quickly.

Moody frowned in his direction. "We'll discuss the final volunteer later." He said shortly, cutting Sirius off quickly. "There are enough of us that the final escort will not be an issue, the more pressing matter is transport. We can use brooms…"

Fleur "I am not zo… 'ow do you say eet… confortable on a broom."

"The Hippogriffs we breed would take too long to tame, but I can get hold of some Thestrals so we don't need to go near Hogwarts for the time being." Leta Scamander was the one to say quickly to that. "Dad has a herd he looks after." She thought for a moment as she counted on her fingers. "Mara, Ophelia, Ahimoth, Dearil… four adults of riding size."

"Hermione will prefer a Thestral to a broom." Leo explained. "So that helps out, thank you."

"The rest of us will be fine on a broom." Fred stated happily.

"Harry especially." George grinned.

"Which is why he won't be on one." Leo said authoritatively, causing all eyes once again to turn to him. "This is all about deception. With any luck it will be a smooth operation but in the likelihood of there being trouble, we need all eyes to be as far away from Harry as possible and everybody knows how good a flyer Harry is." He looked over to Moody. "Hagrid and the bike can work in our favour there."

"Aye." Moody nodded. "Potter cannot be on a broomstick." He paused for a moment, nodding again curtly at Leo. "Nice job, MacDonald."

"We can work with this." Remus said, looking down at the map, his own house with Tonks being one of those listed as a safe house before looking over at Bill. "Are you still comfortable with warding them all?"

Bill nodded. "Most should be already protected well enough, I know Aunt Muriel's house has had all manner of protections placed upon it over the years by the Prewett's throughout history, but I'll give them all the once over and improve them where I can."

Moody nodded his agreement once again. "Very well, we have our plans. Kingsley, see if you can weed out the best way to plant a false trail within the Ministry and next meeting we'll finalise our plans for bringing Potter here." He turned to Sirius quickly. "I want a word with you, Sirius, but as for the rest… until next time."

Chairs began to be scraped as the Order began to depart. Leo was one of the last as he gathered his things together and by the time he stood up he spotted Moody almost dragging Sirius outside. Confused, Leo made one step to follow only to be cornered by Ron. "You coming up?" He asked.

"In a bit." Leo answered, and Ron simply shrugged and let Leo walk out of the Burrow, following the two adults outside.

He didn't get very far before he was stopped again, this time by Leta Scamander. "Leo MacDonald, right?" She asked.

Sirius and Moody disappeared into the darkness, briefly annoying Leo, though that went as he turned his attention back to the woman in front of him. "I am." He answered. "And you're Leta, I saw you at Mum's funeral… and at Dumbledore's with your family too... It's an honour to meet you properly."

She chuckled. "Normally people say that about my parents rather than myself, but thank you. I was truly sorry to hear about Mary… she was a fine friend."

Leo felt his chest restrict at the mention, but was thankful at Leta's words. "She would have loved knowing how well thought of she was."

Leta smiled. "Quite." Her smile dropped. "Listen, I don't know exactly what's going on with Sirius there… but I do know Alastor. He has an issue with Sirius being an escort." Leo agreed as he stared back in the direction that they had walked off towards, thinking that it must have been something to do with the drinking. "In any case, I'll volunteer if needed."

That did surprise him. "Thank you." He managed to get out in the end.

"I've been mainly a silent party in the Order, feeding information from contacts across the Magizoology world. But my Father told me and my siblings stories of his time fighting for Albus Dumbledore all the time when we were kids and how proud he was to do so… with everything that's happened in the past month, it feels right for me to do the same. If I can protect the child Albus died for, then I will do so."

It felt strange to hear Professor Dumbledore's death put down to being for Harry, but Leo supposed that there was a small element of truth to that given one of his final acts was to protect Harry. Leo nodded his agreement. "I'll speak with Moody, but this is a big help, thanks again."

Leta smiled one final time, before she too disappeared into the darkness leaving Leo alone in the candlelight of the house. He looked again to the direction where Sirius and Moody had walked into, still seeing nothing but darkness and breathed out in relief, grateful of the thought that Sirius wouldn't be put into the same level of danger.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from the Apparation point. Loud, frantic footsteps that were running towards him. Quickly he pulled his wand out of his pocket and silently cast the Lumos charm, immediately seeing a pink cardigan and brown bushy hair launching towards him, engulfing him in a tight embrace as he felt tears running down his neck and shoulders. Behind the girl he saw Tonks holding a rather large animal crate, looking sympathetically over at him as he moved his arms around Hermione Granger, holding her tightly.

He dragged Hermione away in a different direction to where Moody and Sirius were having a rather intense discussion by the looks of the hand waving, towards the garage that had housed all of Arthur Weasley's muggle artifacts, all of which were now lined with a thick layer of dust having seemingly gone untouched since his death. Leo waved his wand gently, and the dust gathered in a gentle tornado before shrinking until it was gone. "There." He muttered, before finding a couple of foldable chairs and placing them on the floor, casting Muffliato silently too before finally conjuring a handkerchief.

"You've gotten better at your silent casting." Hermione sniffed, taking the handkerchief gratefully and wiping her eyes before blowing her nose.

"I've had to." He shrugged, thinking back on how different things were now to even the last time he had seen Hermione. "Things have changed."

She nodded her agreement quickly. "I was so relieved when Ron sent me your letter. We heard about Grimmauld Place on the news, even the Muggles were concerned… I was so worried."

"I wanted to write to you myself." He insisted, reaching over and taking her hand in his. "But it's just too dangerous, all owls are being watched and knowing who to trust… it was safer not to draw attention to you when I knew the Burrow was better protected."

"I understand." Hermione agreed. "It's been awful, being at home not knowing what was happening other than what the Muggles knew… Mum and Dad tried to help… but…" She sobbed again, blowing her nose on the handkerchief. "I'm sorry." She cried. "I can't… can't stop."

Leo rose from his chair and knelt in front of Hermione, rubbing his hands on her legs to try and soothe her in any way he could. "Take your time, I'm here." He said softly.

It took a couple of minutes for her to calm down again, and eventually she managed to begin her story. "I've been thinking of ways to protect them, for when I go away searching for… you know. I don't have any Grandparents left and we don't really talk to Dad's brother or sister and my cousins… my Nanna had two husbands and they were from her first and never really liked my Dad, so it's just been us for as long as I can remember." She explained to him. "And the best way seemed to be just to… to change their memories completely. So now David and Susan Granger are called Monica and Wendell Wilkins, and are as of right now on their way to Heathrow to fly out to Australia in the morning without any knowledge that they have a child."

It was awful, Leo felt that immediately. He thought on his own Mum, and wondering what it would have felt like to have her here alive, but not knowing who he was or that she had ever had him. "Is it reversable?" Leo asked gently.

Hermione nodded, though her eyes lit up in fear. "It should be… but I don't want to think about that."

"I'm not saying if they're caught… I mean for afterwards… when this is all over." Leo said, putting more hope in his words than he felt as he gripped her hands tightly, his eyes staring deeply within her own. "Because it will be over, Hermione, and we will win. And when we do… together we will go and get them back."

"What if they don't want to?" Hermione whispered. "It's already been tough enough talking to them over the past few years, the few bits I can tell them pale in significance to the kind of threat that they would understand would force me to do this. What if they resent me… and hate me?"

"They're bright people, they will understand." Leo said, moving his right hand to wipe away a tear from her cheek. "Because they raised you, and they will know that everything you've done is for their own safety."

She smiled, though the smile didn't come close to reaching her eyes. Nonetheless she reached around his neck, gently stroking the back of his head. Leo smiled assuringly, placing a kiss to her cheek, ignoring the wetness of her tears. "Thank you." She whispered softly. "For saying you'll come with me… for letting me cry…"

"Hermione…" He said, before stopping himself. He knew what he wanted to say, but the timing just felt wrong. "I am always here for you, never forget that."

She smiled, and moved to nestle her head into the crook of his neck. It was an uncomfortable position for him, but he stayed deathly still so that he could comfort her. Eventually, when however long had passed, she asked him. "So… what's happened here?"

Leo chuckled lightly and began to relay all the information he had learned over the last couple of weeks, going from his attempts to rework the DA Galleon to everything that had been said in the Order meetings he had been a part of. By the end of his lengthy speech Hermione had been distracted just enough from her sadness and instead was excitably asking questions about their plans to rescue Harry, Leta Scamander and everything in between.

It was around quarter to midnight by the time the pair left the garage and walked back into the kitchen of the Burrow, where Molly Weasley was stood by the sink washing up the last of the dishes from that night. "Oh, hello Hermione dear." She said brightly, carrying on when she saw Hermione was about to say something. "Tonks explained it all. No need to tell me anything. Ginny's room is all set up for you, dear, she went up a little while ago."

"Thank you, Mrs Weasley." Hermione said, her shoulders relaxing in relief.

"And Fred and George's room is ready for you, Leo dear." Molly explained. "Your Father stayed for a while but wanted to head home… I said we could keep you here for the night to save you from travelling so late."

Leo felt bad about how relieved he also felt, wanting to be there for Hermione first thing. "Thank you Mrs Weasley. Was he alright?"

Molly shook her head honestly. "Angry at whatever Alastor spoke to him about, but I think he'll have a distraction soon enough, he's going to get that bike back to work on before… well you know."

He did, and it took a lot of will power to not smirk at Mrs Weasley trying to keep the Order's secrets given he had just told Hermione everything. "I'll make sure I go back early tomorrow." He told her.

Molly smiled, patting his cheek comfortingly. "Good boy. Now, you best get to bed the pair of you, it's been a long day."

It had, and together the teenagers ascended the stairs, stopping on the first floor outside of Ginny's room. Leo looked at her softly, saying a simple. "Goodnight."

"Night." Hermione responded, though she seemed to pause before opening the door to Ginny's room, and brazenly she turned and kissed Leo on the lips before turning back and entering the room, the door shutting behind her.

Grinning, Leo stayed in place for a moment before rising up the steps towards Fred and George's room, closing the door gently behind him before he dropped into the bed, his eyes closing quickly as he drifted off to a deep sleep.

He ended up rising from his bed later than most others in the Burrow the next morning, and by the time he had freshened up and finished his rushed breakfast to join Hermione, she had been sat with Ron and Ginny for a while, with Leo entering Ron's room just as he was finishing explaining to Hermione about the Ghoul.

Once she had recovered, Hermione then turned to him and Ginny. "I'm worried about the two of you returning to Hogwarts." She explained. "Hopefully it will be safe and normal, but on the off chance it isn't and the Death Eaters are placed there… you know too much."

Ginny frowned. "I don't want my memories…" Leo stopped her quickly however, noticing Hermione's bottom lip wobbling.

"I've been learning Occlumency since leaving Grimmauld Place." Leo told her. "And I'm getting pretty good… I can teach Ginny before school starts so it would have to be an expert Legilimens to get anything out of either of us."

That seemed to ease Hermione's worry as she once again relaxed her shoulders. "Well… good." She thought for a moment. "Perhaps you could teach Harry too…"

Leo didn't think Harry had the temperament for it, but nodded for Hermione's benefit. "I can try." He then looked at the closed door, and once again silently cast Muffliato. "Now… I have something to tell you guys. I was going to wait until Harry was here… but I can't really let you go on planning without saying it... I found RAB."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed loudly, startling Errol who lost his footing and fell off the windowsill perch. Ron quickly went to check on the owl as Hermione pulled her beaded bag onto her lap. "How? I've been looking everywhere…"

"Regulus Arcturus Black." Leo said quickly, remembering to put up the Muffliato Charm before they had any more outbursts before Hermione began her tirade on any and all famous Witches or Wizards that happened to have the same initials. "We got the full tale from Kreacher…"

A crack sounded and the House Elf in question appeared in the middle of their circle armed with a rolling pin and flour down his rag clothing. "Master summoned Kreacher… though why Master brought Kreacher to this blood traitors abode Kreacher will never unders…"

"That's enough, Kreacher." Leo stated firmly, stopping the Elf's offensive remark before Kreacher could finish. "I was just explaining what happened to Regulus' locket, I didn't mean to summon you."

Kreacher bowed slowly. "Kreacher will go back to preparing dinner. Kreacher is making Steak and Liver pie for Master, if he will be returning for dinner."

"I will be, thank you." Leo added, and with that Kreacher disapparated away with another crack.

The rest of the rooms occupants were utterly dumbfounded. "What in the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked.

"Kreacher was… nice?" Hermione asked next, her face showing the confusion that her words had voiced.

Leo just shrugged. "He's been good to me ever since we left Grimmauld Place. But that's what I wanted to talk to you about. So RAB was Regulus… and he had the locket at Grimmauld Place. You actually tried to throw it out before…"

Hermione slapped her forehead. "Oh of course! I knew I recognised it from somewhere!"

"No you didn't." Ron scoffed amusedly, but Hermione was ignoring him.

"So that gas explosion…" She began, trailing off to allow Leo to fill in the gaps

"Was actually Fiendfyre." Leo nodded. "We tried everything… all the destructive curses we could think of, Dad even tried the Killing Curse but nothing damaged it at all. When we were being attacked by the Dementors… Dad set the house aflame and I threw the locket in… and it worked, disastrously."

Hermione had jammed her arm into her small bag so far that her shoulder was touching the rim, surprising Leo who hadn't realised it had an extension charm cast on it. She ended up bringing out a pile of notes and began furiously flicking through them, scribbling certain sections out and writing down on others. As that was going on, Ron turned to Leo. "Is Fiendfyre worth learning then?"

Leo shook his head vigorously, the explosion ringing loudly in his ears. "That should be used as a last resort if you have all of the Horcruxes and can destroy them in an open field with nothing for miles around. The damage that spell caused… it was catastrophic. There has to be a better way to destroy Horcruxes."

"At least this is some good news to bring to Harry." Ginny smiled brightly.

"And some really valuable information too." Hermione muttered, not looking up from her notes as she was correcting them.

Leo chuckled at her enthusiasm, grateful to have taken her mind off of her parents for a short time as she delved further into research. Rising to his feet he removed the Muffliato charm and told them. "I best go check on my Dad, but I'll be back later."

A round of goodbyes with the three in Ron's room and finally Mrs Weasley followed before Leo left the Burrow, and as he walked down towards the Apparition point, though he wished his mind could remain thinking about his girlfriend and friends behind him, the dreaded lure of what was to come in trying to protect Harry and everything related to that with Sirius loomed over him like a dark cloud.

Chapter Text

With Hermione at the Burrow the rest of July seemed to fly past, as Leo finally managed to put aside his urgency surrounding either planning or in upgrading the DA Galleons, and instead took the time to actually relax. While the Order met regularly as the plans for rescuing Harry grew sharper, his days were spent with Hermione, Ron and Ginny, often flying so that they could get used to being in the air, with Leo getting to actually use his Comet regularly for the first time. Leo knew that those days spent in the Burrow's garden practicing his flying or stealing a few moments away with Hermione when nobody was paying attention would keep him going for a long time afterwards, but even then the evening of the 27th seemed to sneak up on him.

The escort party had all gathered at the Burrow before dusk had fallen and been given an extremely in depth safety briefing by Moody before they left for Surrey, with Disillusionment Charms being placed on each member of the party one by one by Moody himself before their departure, though by the sound of Hagrid's motorbike the charms seemed obsolete, Leo thought to himself as he flew in formation, but they made it to Little Whinging and landed in a moderately sized garden without any trouble. The back door of the house opened as their charms wore off, and Leo watched Hermione launch herself at a bemused Harry Potter, who was rubbing the top of his head having seemingly bumped it on something.

"I wasn't expecting this many of you!" Harry exclaimed after greeting everybody quickly, his face beaming as he studied them all.

Moody had dismounted his broom by then and had two large brown sacks in his hands while his magical eye was spinning wildly trying to ensure they were safe. "Change of plan." He told Harry. "Let's get inside before we talk you through it."

They all squeezed inside the empty kitchen with Harry sorting out as many chairs as he could. Leo went to stand next to Hermione's chair as the final two escorts entered the house, with Kingsley and Leta having flown around the perimeter as lookouts. Harry seemed surprised to see them most of all. "Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?"

"Tony can get along without me for one night." The Auror stated. "You are more important."

Harry then turned to Leta; a questioning look in his eyes. "Leta Scamander." She stuck a hand out. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Harry said, before his eyes widened in recognition of the name. "Scamander?..."

Moody let out a low growl, stopping the introductions short before Leta could confirm her identity to Harry. "We'll have time for a cozy catch up later." He snarled, dropping the two sacks with a loud thud. "Now… as Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. The Department of Magical Transportation has been infiltrated and Pius Thicknesse has gone over, making it an imprisonable offence to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out."

"All done in the name of your protection of course." Ron scoffed, before sinking into his chair as Moody's eye swivelled to stare at him.

"As I was saying…" He growled. "With all that, and the fact that you have the Trace still on you, if anybody here casts a spell, the Ministry will be on you sooner than you can say Hippogriff dung."

"Hippogriff Dung." The Weasley twins repeated at the same time, before pointing at one another amusedly.

"Enough!" Moody roared, getting more and more agitated. "So we've got transport here that the Ministry can't detect. Brooms, Thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."

Moody then looked over at Leo, and he could almost hear the former Auror telling him to explain his plan. Looking over at Harry, he took up the explanation. "We have 7 different Safe Houses set up, all protected as much as we possibly can. Six of us will use Polyjuice Potion to transform into you, and we'll all leave here to go to a different Safe House each…"

"Are you mad?" Harry interrupted, his face scowling as he reacted about as expected to the plan. "I'm not going to let…"

"It's not about you letting us, Harry." Leo said, not in the mood for his noble self. "We're doing this. We've planned it out to every bloody detail."

Harry was still scowling. "You're risking your lives…"

"Because it's the first time any of us have done that." Ron rolled his eyes.

"This is different." Harry snapped. "Pretending to be… no, becoming me!"

Leo scoffed. "We're all well aware of your importance, Harry, that's why we're all here doing this in the first place. Everybody here has agreed with the plan, accepted the risks, and we're here for you despite of them."

"And if I don't cooperate?" Harry asked angrily, only to yelp as Leta Scamander yanked a handful of hair out of his head. "Ouch!"

She chuckled. "Hippogriffs are harder to sneak up on than you, Potter."

Leta then handed the hair to Moody, who placed them into a flask that quickly began to froth and smoke, before turning a shade of gold that didn't actually look that bad, a fact that Hermione seemed to agree with as she exclaimed. "Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry!" She then seemed to realise what she said and looked up at Leo with wide, horrified eyes. He just raised an eyebrow at her, teasingly, and she scoffed at him. "Oh, shut up, you know what I mean. When we made Polyjuice for the pair of them, Goyle's portion looked like bogies."

Moody was once again hurrying them up as the potion began to settle. "Right then, fake Potters line up over here." He pointed to a spot in front of the sink and Leo moved to stand between Hermione and Fred. He was quickly handed an eggcup sized glass and waited as the golden sludge was poured into it. Once everybody had received their potion, Leo took a quick gulp, downing it all in one swallow. Immediately his stomach began writhing and contorting as he doubled over, a strong sense of bile feeling as if it was forming inside. His skin quickly felt as if it were aflame as he began bubbling, his entire body shifting until by the time he finally felt normal again, he stood shorter than normal and his vision had blurred significantly. He could just about make out Moody at the other end of the room as the former Auror began handing out identical clothing to each of the newly transformed Harry's. Feeling comfortable that it wasn't his own body, Leo quickly stripped out of his own shirt and jeans, placing the new ones on and relishing the glasses that were in the jeans pocket. Once he could see again he turned to Hermione, who had changed her jeans and had quickly stashed her bra in her back pocket before changing tops in an instant, looking over at him and nervously grinning, an image that Leo decided he never wanted to see on Harry's face ever again.

"I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo…" Ron muttered, topless and staring down at the dark hairs on Harry's chest.

"Harry, your eyesight really is awful." Hermione commented as she was now fully dressed and placing the glasses on her nose.

"Is everyone done?" Moody asked impatiently. "Good, now… listen up. The pairs will be as follows: MacDonald, you're with me by broom." Leo nodded, having been the one to make the pairs. He waited patiently as Moody listed them all off. George with Remus, Ron with Tonks and Fred with Leta would all be travelling by brooms while Hermione with Kingsley and Fleur with Bill were all travelling by Thestral. "And Potter, you're with Hagrid."

Hagrid shifted so he was talking directly to Harry. "We'll be on the bike, brooms an' Thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar."

"We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom." Moody explained. "Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who look at home on a broomstick. Which reminds me." He shuffled forwards, holding his hand out expectantly. "Your Firebolt."

Harry paused. "My… what?"

"Firebolt!" Moody said with more urgency. "You'll be expected on it, so hand it over. MacDonald will fly it."

"No." Harry said again, and Leo felt a comforting arm on his shoulder that he knew was from Hermione, who had been unhappy at Leo being put in what seemed to be the most danger initially ever since she had heard the full plan. Harry also looked over towards Leo, knowing full well the risks that were being hinted at "No, if looking like me isn't enough then having my broom…"

"I'll be fine, Harry." Leo said, more to himself than Harry. "The plan is for them to follow me first. Most of you are travelling over countryside, I'm flying over London itself. Plenty of areas to get lost in. This has all been planned out meticulously to lessen the risks…"

"And he's with me." Moody said, and that was the final comment on the matter. Harry, still frowning, went into the hallway to retrieve his broomstick, pausing slightly before handing it to Leo, who in return gave Harry his own broom, a Comet 290 as Moody checked his watch. "I make it 3 minutes until we're supposed to leave." Moody said, before barking his final instructions at the escorts, and finally a comment to Harry about not needing to lock the back door, given that the now empty House was bound to be searched in a few days anyway. Moody grabbed Leo's shoulder tightly once everybody was outside, making the teenager wonder if his eye could even see through Polyjuice Potion. "Wait until everybody else has taken off." He instructed. "We go last." Nodding, Leo made sure to look around at the rest of the group. His first port of call was the Thestrals, where he saw Kingsley helping a Harry that he knew to be Hermione up onto the back of one. He caught eyes with Hermione once she had settled in her saddle, everything unspoken going into that single look before Moody slammed his staff on the patio. "Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody, as Leo mounted the Firebolt "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One ... two ... THREE."

The motorbike roared into life as all together the 12 others soared into the air, quickly followed by Leo and Moody on their brooms. Once in the air, and with a final look towards Hermione on her Thestral who was also looking back at him until the last moment, they both angled towards the city of London, praying that their paranoia would be for nothing.

The Firebolt was unlike anything Leo had ever ridden before, with the broomstick seeming to feel Leo's very thoughts when it came to subtle changes of direction and pace, with even the standard speed of the broomstick feeling a lot faster than his Comet did at full speed, as he waited for Moody to lead them away towards the south-east. He took one final look at Hermione, who's Thestral was racing away eastwards too, managing one last calm breath before all manner of hell broke loose in the skies above Little Whinging.

Around three dozen hooded figures had descended upon them, with spells of various colours flying around the clouded skies. Leo gripped his wand tightly as he fired off a stunning spell towards the closest hooded figure, narrowly missing the man's head by a matter of inches. Urging the broom on, he felt his cheeks flapping as he fought against the air resistance, noticing a break of clouds that showed London in the near distance before a bright green light shot past his side, and Leo focused again, firing a Hurling Hex behind him, barely hearing the yelp of the Death Eater being thrown off of his broom with the wind.

He ducked just in time as a large object… Moody, Leo was surprised to see, did a barrel roll over the top of him, settling down beside him as they raced towards South-West London. "PICK UP THE PACE!" Moody roared, his modified broomstick allowing him to pick out his spells more easily than Leo was able to with one hand tightly clinging on to the shaft of the Firebolt. The broomstick listened again though as he shot forwards even quicker as the clouds began to thin, although streaking towards them was a thick plume of black smoke. A cold sense of dread shot through Leo's body as he watched the trail head towards them until a green light shot towards Leo, who just managed to dive to his left in time for the curse to fly harmlessly away.

Now though, Leo could see the white skin within the black smoke, and he felt his whole body begin to shake as he realised that their plan was working too well, and the reality of that was now staring at them with cold, red eyes sooner than they had planned for. Hoping that his few days of flying practice would come in handy, Leo rolled away and shot down towards the Muggle world, where he noticed a large building surrounded by vast gardens growing closer as he angled downwards. Glancing upwards, he saw Moody take out two more Death Eaters, both managing to Disapparate before fatally hitting the ground. Another spark of green jolted Leo back into his own fight however, and once again it narrowly missed him as he reached the treeline, weaving through them to try and lose Voldemort. It was of no use though, as in unison all of the trees erupted into flames, and Leo's wand arm was needed to stop him from breathing in the smoke as he shot back into the sky, wanting to get to the fountain in the palace gardens for a small area of safety from the flames, that had also begun to engulf the palace itself.

Trying to focus again Leo angled his wand up to the sky, where he saw Moody was surrounded by three people. He shot vertically in the air, firing stunning spell after stunning spell and managing to connect with one of them before he burst through the middle of the fight, surprising the Death Eaters enough to allow Moody the chance to take them both out, when another green flash came from below Leo from the direction of the black smoke of Voldemort. Swirling back around on his broom and flying down towards the ground, he was horrified to see that Mad-Eye had been knocked off of his broom and was plummeting down towards the ground motionlessly.

Panic began to set in as Leo pulled up, wincing at the splash of the fountain that signalled Moody's body had landed. In the distance he could see the floating form of Voldemort, shrouded in the black cloud that was allowing him to fly without aid. Voldemort was staring at him, almost willing Leo to make the first move. His mind was racing faster than even the Firebolt and Leo quickly debated just flying away to the safehouse alone and escaping, but the knowledge that Mad-Eye was lying beneath him… dead and lying in the middle of a Muggle fountain… that thought made him hesitate, a fact that he knew he that he would be berated for later. Growling in frustration at himself for knowing exactly what he needed to do, Leo pointed his wand at Voldemort and cried out. "BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"

The blasting curse was easily parried away by the Dark Lord as he slashed his wand defensively, sending the spell towards the corner of the burning Palace which exploded in a shower of bricks and dust, Leo tried not to look over at the nearly 500 year old building, its roof starting to collapse in on itself at the force of the spell mixed with the flames now raging up into the air trying to suck in as much oxygen as it could, and instead he tried to focus on the flying figure in front of him, the only semblance of colour being Voldemort's red eyes, staring into his soul it seemed like as the memory of taking the Polyjuice Potion oddly enough sprang to mind.

"Tricks." Voldemort hissed over the roar of the flames, though Leo heard it as loudly as if he were stood less than an inch from his ear, and with a flourish of his cloak that Snape would have been proud of, Voldemort flew away, heading Northwards.

It took a moment for the Gryffindor to realise his full surroundings once more, only coming back around as he focused on the burning palace, flames rising up into the sky like a signal fire. With his wand hand he rubbed his temple to try and process what had just happened and relax his mind again. "He read my memories…" He whispered, panic once again setting in. "He knows…"

There was no chance to sink further into stress and panic, as with a loud bang Leo found himself launching up into the air off of the Firebolt before gravity took over and he went falling down to the ground, landing a few metres away from the fountain on his left leg that buckled immediately with a sickening crunch. He screamed in agony, his hands rushing to the pained area as the debris of the Firebolt rained down around him, with around 5 Death Eaters beginning to circle around. Grimacing, Leo forced himself upright and hobbled painfully towards the fountain, and Mad-Eye's body, with adrenaline beginning to take him over as he toppled over the fountain's stone edge, plunging into the cold water. Kicking the side with his strong leg, he only needed a couple of strokes to reach Moody's body before he closed his eyes and thought of the safe house he had been trying to reach, and Disapparated.

With the protections around the Safehouse not allowing any form of Apparation within sight of the building itself, the closest Leo could get was in the middle of a forested area, where he landed with a thud on his back, his right hand tight around his wand while his left had almost ripped a chunk out of Moody's thick leather coat with how he was gripping it. Taking a breath as he looked up to the night sky he was almost tempted to lay there for the night and sleep under the summer sky, but one look at his watch, now with a shattered face, caused Leo to groan, realising that there was only 15 minutes left until the Portkey departed. Grimacing, he hauled himself up, hopping on his good leg to gain balance when he realised that his shirt was stuck to his chest and a darker red than it had started out. That was when the pain truly struck him, and Leo hunched over, tears forming in his eyes before he began to punch his good leg in frustration. He looked down at Moody's body for one last time, realising that there was no way he was going to be able to move it with his injuries, and quickly cast a weak Notice-Me-Not Charm to try and give the former Auror a small semblance of privacy for the time being.

Then came the struggle of hopping and hobbling on a broken leg towards the safe house, where the two minute walk became twelve, and by the time Leo had navigated the house and found the glowing blue boot sat on the table, barely managing to reach it in time before once again he felt himself hurtle away, landing roughly again on the grassy ground looking up at the sky as the adrenaline that had kept him going throughout the flight and fight left him and all that remained was agonising pain in both his leg and his chest.

"LEO!" He heard his Dad roar, and loud footsteps raced towards him, hands roughly grabbing his shoulders as Sirius' long hair dangled down into Leo's face. "Merlin…" He whispered, fear bleeding out from his voice. A feminine gasp sounded quickly afterwards as next to race towards him was Hermione, thankfully looking like herself again, though she stood above him trembling, her hand gripping her wand so tightly Leo could see the whites of her knuckles as she slowly lowered it to him. "What the hell are you doing?" Sirius asked her angrily over Leo's groans of pain.

"What… what we are… are told to." Hermione was sobbing, stumbling over her words as she tried to explain. "What… what did Magnus MacDonald tell Leo that the Wizarding World lacked?"

If he wasn't in so much agony, Leo would have laughed at the memory. "Patience." He growled through clenched teeth.

Hermione dropped her wand and fell to her knees, pulling a bottle out of her pockets. "I need to get to the wound…" She whispered to Sirius.

His Dad nodded, and carefully lifted up the hem of Leo's shirt. "Diffindo." He whispered, and a tear ripped through Leo's shirt, freeing his chest to the open air.

It can't have been pretty as Hermione gasped again, and he noticed Sirius balk at the sight too. "Splinched." He managed to mutter as Hermione dropped some liquid onto his wounds, Dittany, Leo surmised as the angry pain began to lessen almost immediately.

"Why the fuck were you Apparating?" Sirius swore angrily. "You were on a broom?"

"Is he alright?" Harry's voice called, rushing out again. "Leo…" He trailed away, having clearly moved where he could see the prone and bleeding teen. "Where's Mad-Eye?"

Leo noticed Sirius and Hermione's eyes both widen as they realised they had been so focused on him that they had forgotten his escort, and both looked around in search. Leo groaned as the pain in his leg once again overtook anything, threatening to overwhelm him as the adrenaline rushed away. "Dead." He managed to grind out. "Voldemort…"

He felt his head go light at that moment as a number of newer voices joined them outside, and before he knew it Leo was gathered in a pair of large arms and carried inside, finally allowing himself to let go and pass out once he felt the softness of a sofa cushion under his back.

Chapter Text

"Ennervate."

Leo's eyes opened slowly, wincing at the light from the candles as he began to take in his surroundings. He was laying down on a sofa in the living room of the Burrow, that was for certain, and among the first things he noticed was that across the room another figure was lying down similarly, dried blood covering half of one of the twins' head. As he looked around the room he saw nearly everybody that had been there at Little Whinging, and he breathed a sigh of relief at that, realising that they hadn't lost any more to the Death Eaters. Bill and Fleur were stood gripping one another's hands tightly in the corner of the room, with Bill whispering to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus was stood to one side with Sirius, both looking nervously in his direction, while Ron and the other twin were standing by their injured brother. Leo shifted slightly trying to sit upright and see more around the room but he felt a sharp pain all across his chest, followed by a delicate hand that pressed gently into his shoulder, stopping him.

"Don't move." Hermione told him softly. She was sat on the arm of the sofa by his head, and even from his awkward angle he could see she had barely stopped crying. "We've fixed your leg, but…"

"But those splinch injuries will take some time." Leta Scamander's voice told him from nearby. "You've ripped open your entire torso and none of us are trained Healers… my specialty is Hippogriff's, not wizards." She added quietly to whoever was beside her.

"What happened?" Harry's voice sounded from another angle, and Leo turned his head to see him leaning against a wall by the stairs, Ginny having wrapped herself around his arm tightly leaning her head into his shoulder, not wanting to let him go. "You mentioned Mad-Eye…"

"Harry." Hermione warned him with a scowl. "That can wait."

Leo shook his head however, thinking it best to just tell his tale now while it was still relatively fresh in his mind. "No… I swear, I did what I could but…" His voice was croaky, and Hermione immediately conjured a cup and said. "Aguamenti." She then slowly poured the cool liquid into his mouth, helping him drink so that he could continue. "We were ambushed immediately; we were fighting them off but… but then he was there." His eyes shot open in panic as one thing popped into his memory. "He can…"

"Fly, yes." Kingsley nodded grimly. "We encountered him too, but only for a moment."

Leo's eyes sought Hermione worriedly, checking her for any visible signs of damage, but she soothingly ran her hand over his shoulder, letting him know that she was alright and he calmed enough to continue. "He killed Mad-Eye… and he was going to kill me too… but he looked inside my mind and saw what we had done with the Polyjuice… it's my fault, he knew the plan."

"Leo, if you hadn't have given him that information, you'd be dead right now." Leta explained as she looked around the other adults in the room, all of whom nodding in their agreement with her. "But that explains what he did afterwards."

Confused, Leo looked around for an explanation, to which Kingsley answered, repeating himself. "After he left you, he came for us."

"Likely going through who he believed to be the strongest protectors." Remus added.

"Until he found me." Harry muttered darkly, and Leo's eyes sought Harry's, but the Boy-Who-Lived was keeping his head down, staring at the floor. "Because I wouldn't kill Stan Shunpike."

It was all starting to get to be too much at once for Leo, scrunching his brow in confusion. "Stan Shunpike?" He asked.

"Harry only disarmed him, the noble git." Ron said with a quiet smirk.

There was a sense that this was an already played out argument, and when nobody looked to rehash it, Leta urged him on with his own tale. "Go on, Leo. What else happened?"

"Once he left, I… I was dazed for a bit. He'd been inside my head and everything felt jumbled. By the time I came round… the Death Eaters had found me and they blasted me off the broom." Another thing to feel guilty about as he looked over at Harry. "I'm sorry…" Harry said nothing, but Leo could see the devastation in his eyes, not saying a word and simply nodding the once. "I landed… painfully." He shifted his leg at that, realising that someone had healed it while he had been passed out. "And I made my way over to Mad-Eye's body… just wanting to get out of there."

"And then you disapparated." Leta surmised. "After having You-Know-Who in your head, with a broken leg and it was Side Along just to add more stress. Merlin's beard, it's a wonder you didn't tear yourself in half."

Leo chuckled painfully. "I think I did." He retorted as the pain in his chest seared up again. He winced and Hermione immediately shifted, holding his hand now as he tried to get comfortable again. Mrs Weasley quickly began rushing around gathering some bits in the kitchen, and Leo was desperate for that to be something to dull the pain he was feeling.

"Where's Mad-Eye's body?" Bill asked grimly, lowering the mood again.

"Bill." Leo heard Molly Weasley scold. "Let the boy rest…"

"Bill is right, Molly." Sirius said, speaking up for the first time. "We need to be the first there." He left the worst case scenario unspoken, but the silence in the room said it all, that they were all thinking the same as Leo had when he had risked everything to save Mad-Eye's body in the first place.

"Outside the Safehouse." Leo answered, the pain in his chest getting more searing with each breath. "I put a Notice-Me-Not charm over it… but I don't know how strong it will be…"

He heard movement as people began to walk to the door. "We'll find it." Sirius was the one to say. "No, Moony, I've done bugger all tonight, I'm not sitting this one out."

"Leo needs you." Remus said scoldingly, and Leo saw that he had a firm arm on Sirius' torso, stopping him from passing.

"Leo, needs rest." Molly countered angrily as she came back into the room holding a vial and a bottle. "Now unless you want to dose him with Veritaserum and get him to spill every single detail, I'm going to give him some Dreamless Sleep." She knelt down by the sofa, running her hand gently through Leo's tangled hair. "You're staying here until you are better, dear, best not to send you anywhere just yet, not until you're healed."

Though all he really wanted was his own bed at that moment, he didn't fight it with the adrenaline leaving his system completely and exhaustion quickly setting in, and so he allowed her to pour the potion into his mouth as Hermione called out concerned for whatever Harry was going through, but before he could turn and face Harry again the potion's effects were strong and Leo drifted off to sleep instantaneously.

When he finally opened his eyes again, Leo had to quickly shield them from the bright glow of light streaming in from the single, circular window that was illuminating the almost golden room so much so that it took a while for Leo's eyes to adjust. By the time they did, he also registered that his left hand was being tightly squeezed. Slowly turning his head he saw a figure sat at his bedside, leant back in a chair with her nose buried in a book. Her pink shirt was darker in patches near her shoulders with the stain of tears, and Leo heard the light sniffling indicating the aftermath of crying. He couldn't make out what Hermione was attempting to read, though realised that she was inevitably trying to distract herself, though he then shifted a bit too obviously and her eyes peered over the top edge of the green tome, red and puffy. She snapped the book shut with her book holding hand and threw it onto the bed beside him, bringing that same hand to rest over her other one that had him grasped tightly. "Leo." She gasped, the sense of relief very clear in her hoarse voice. "You're awake."

He nodded gently, shifting to try and sit more upright, to which Hermione quickly jumped out of her chair and helped him, setting his pillows comfortably and helping him move so he was sat, his back leaning against the pillows and the headboard. He quickly saw the state of his chest, with bandages covering his torso with the odd speck of blood still managing to seep through. Grimacing, he turned back to Hermione who had fresh tears falling from her eyes. He moved his left arm gingerly and wiped them away, only for Hermione to sob even more. "Shh…" He said in an even hoarser voice than hers sounded. "I'm alright."

She chuckled tearfully, shaking her head. "It's not just… last night was just hard." She whispered, before placing a kiss on his forehead tenderly. "Though I am glad you're alive… I've never been so scared, Leo, seeing you like… like that." She winced at the memory.

Leo only squeezed her hands as tightly as he could. "I'm still here, thanks to you." He told her. "You were brilliant."

She smiled weakly, moving to the bedside table and picking up a glass of water and helping Leo take a sip that made him gasp in happiness at his throat being wettened. "I was a mess inside." She admitted, as she placed the cup back and returned to holding his hand. "When you went to sleep I couldn't stop crying…"

"What happened after I took the potion?" Leo asked, desperate for any information he could get.

Thankfully, the retelling allowed Hermione to be distracted from how upset she was as she leapt into the story. "Sirius, Kingsley and Bill all went to Mad-Eye's house, your safehouse. They found the body quickly, Bill said, they could trace the magic given they knew what they were looking for and were easily able to remove it, and they buried him in his garden before stripping the house of anything they thought was useful before Sirius set it aflame."

Leo nodded his agreement with that, knowing he would have done the same had he not been so focused on just reaching the Portkey in time. "Good." He said morosely, wondering what they would do now that Mad-Eye was no longer with them.

"And Harry almost walked out." Hermione then added, causing Leo to scowl. "Don't worry, we all set him straight, Ginny was furious, and well I…" She trailed away, her eyes avoiding his as he realised she was embarrassed. His gaze must have gotten to her quickly as she rolled her eyes and tutted. "Don't look at me like that Leo, I said some rather unkind things, that's all, I was worried about you and may have used your injuries to prove a point…"

Leo gently rubbed his thumb over her hand, trying to convey his appreciation. "It's alright." He told her. "We went through a lot to get him out of there, I would have no doubt been less polite."

"I wasn't exactly polite." She muttered, but the smile was back on her lips, and that was all that mattered to him. "He had a vision too." She said in barely a whisper, before quickly explaining Voldemort's unhappiness at Ollivander.

"He used Lucius Malfoy's wand?" Leo asked, surprised as his mind tried to digest the information he was receiving, thinking back to his numerous near misses with the Killing Curse and wondering if the change in wand had anything to do with Leo being alive then. "And it broke as he duelled Harry?"

Hermione nodded, her brow frowning as she continued her explanations. "Harry believes it was his wand that moved of its own accord, but he was duelling, he doesn't know what happened." She told him. "But yes, Lucius Malfoy's wand was destroyed and now it seems You-Know-Who is seeking out another."

His first thought was of a bed time story when he was young. The Tale of Three Brothers had never been his favourite from Beedle, but a seemingly unbeatable wand in the hands of You-Know-Who sent shivers down his spine. Thankfully however, it was just a children's tale. "So he'll be distracted." Leo muttered eventually. "Good."

"Or, he's using the link with Harry again to try and trick us." Hermione explained. "You've been learning Occlumency… can you…" She looked down at him desperately, the question not needing to be voiced as he knew what she was trying to ask.

"I can try." He whispered weakly, repeating his words from days before. "Once I'm out of bed again."

Initially she beamed, before her eyes widened in alarm. "Oh, I should have thought… I'm sorry." She teared up. Leo chuckled lightly and tightened his grip on her hand to soothe her, but before any further words could be said there were loud footsteps outside of the door and Mrs Weasley pushed her way inside.

"I thought I heard voices!" The Weasley matriarch stated cheerfully. "Welcome back dear, how are you?"

"I feel like I've been stampeded by a herd of Hippogriffs." Leo answered truthfully.

Molly let out a brief snort of amusement as she set down the tray on the bed beside him, to which Leo saw a number of potions and salve's along with a plate with a hearty bacon sandwich sat on it. "At least your humour is with us still." She noted. "Now… I wanted Madam Pomfrey to come and take a look at you really, but she's being watched so could only send brief advice through a Patronus. Splinching on this scale is a nasty business, and you'll be off your feet for a while yet." She turned to Hermione. "Help me get the bandages off, dear."

Hermione's eyes widened again. "I… shouldn't I go…" She stammered, looking between Leo and the door.

Molly rolled her eyes. "You aren't as good at hiding yourselves as you think… not to me. I've had seven children who each think they're better at hiding secrets from me than they actually are." She smiled brightly, though the smile failed to reach her sad eyes. "Don't worry, I won't say anything, but help me here, Leo would feel more comfortable if you applied these than if I did them I am sure."

After a few minutes of being uncomfortably pushed around as his bandages were removed, Leo simply watched the two women's reactions to his injuries, realising their extent by the horrified looks that neither were able hide. More time passed as Mrs Weasley explained which salve and potion was required at which time, before she made one final remark to Leo to eat the sandwich that she had brought up as she left the room.

Hermione nervously unscrewed the lid of the first salve, gently rubbing it over Leo's torn apart chest, causing both a fiery pain and a cool soothing sensation at the same time. No words were spoken between the pair of them, but Leo simply stared into her brown eyes as Hermione treated his wounds. The silence was broken once Hermione handed him the plate cautiously. "This will scar." She said softly, the worry in her voice. "I know all of these… they'll fix you up eventually, but you'll have scars." She then sighed as her lip twitched to a smirk for a brief second. "We'll both have chest scars."

It took all of his willpower not to choke on the bacon sandwich he had just taken a small bite out of as his eyes wandered down to where she was talking about imagining what it looked like underneath… though he snapped out of it just as quickly, hoping that he wasn't too obvious. The laugh that followed however made it clear that he had been however. Swallowing his mouthful, Leo muttered. "Sorry… I shouldn't have."

She leant over and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "It's fine." She breathed as they lingered less than an inch away from the other. She pulled away again as her face fell and she looked saddened. "I honestly thought you were dead last night, Leo."

"I'm fine." He tried to comfort her.

She ignored the obvious lie however and continued. "But it just makes me think… we're going to be apart for I'm not even sure how long… what if…" A tear fell from her left eye. "What if one of us does die and we're apart?"

With his chest now feeling better given the number of salve's and potions in his system, Leo leaned forwards and placed his hand on her cheek, cupping her head as he wiped the tear away. "I don't know what will happen." He told her honestly. "What I do know though, is how I feel. Whatever happens, wherever you end up and whatever you need to get through, I have faith that we will find our way back to one another."

"How can you be sure?" She whispered.

The answer was obvious to him, and as he stared into her eyes and could see the worry, the fear and everything else within, there was no hesitation in his voice as he spoke it out loud. "Because I love you. I've loved you for a long time, Hermione. And I know that no matter how long it takes, even if it means we can't talk to one another or see one another, that this between us is something special and something that will endure. And I know that this love is how we will win this war." He saw the shock in her face turn into adoration as she leaned forwards again and pressed her lips to his with more force than before, his declaration awakening something inside her as their surroundings seemed to disappear, and the only things left in the world were the pair of them locked in a passionate embrace.

They only broke apart when footsteps were heard outside once again, and it was Sirius this time that opened the door to see the pair of teenagers clinging on to one another as if their own lives depended on the other, the adult taking a moment to take in the scene before him before his eyes settled on the half-eaten sandwich. "I owe Molly a Knut, she said you wouldn't be eating." He said teasingly. "You need to eat, Leo."

The injured Gryffindor leant back in the bed and nodded, still somewhat dazed at what had just happened. He barely even registered the quick conversation between his girlfriend and his dad as the plate was pushed back into his hand and his bedside companion changed, with the flushed look on Hermione's face as she looked back at him while stood in the doorway the most important thing in the world to him.

As the door shut gently behind Hermione, Leo forced himself to take another bite of the sandwich as Sirius sat down in the newly vacated seat. The silence was extremely awkward as both of the similar looking men struggled to think of anything to say, with the birds chirping outside along with the calls from Mrs Weasley the only indication of sound as she called out to Ron, who must have been outside.

"Molly seems to think she can get the truth out of Harry and the others." Sirius muttered amusedly, breaking the silence. "She's tried to get me on side, to force it out of them."

"What did you say?" Leo asked, taking another bite.

Sirius shook his head, that smile still etched onto his lips. "No of course, I said Dumbledore left Harry a mission and that if he had wanted us to know, he would have told us." He smirked at the memory. "She rapped me around the head with a cloth and called me a terrible example, but she's not tried again." Leo noted that, expecting that the reason Sirius hadn't been quizzed was because of his own injuries and presumed Mrs Weasley didn't want to add to Sirius' stress, and for the first time he was almost grateful for the Splinching. Sirius noticed his look towards his chest and laughed, patting him gently on the shoulder.

Another moment of silence followed then, as Leo tried to remember the last time that the pair of them had been alone in a room together, realising it must have been their Occlumency lessons just after they had abandoned Grimmauld Place. Sirius also was thinking the same thing, it became clear, when he spoke again. "I've binned the booze." He said somewhat mournfully. "Mad-Eye kept me from helping you because I couldn't be trusted to stay sober, and now…" He trailed off.

"This is not your fault." Leo said as firmly as he could. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine… I should have done more, fought harder…"

Shaking his head, Sirius had a wry smile. "No mate, you're not to blame…" He sighed dramatically. "But I realised I can't sit here and do nothing again, so I'm cleaning up my act. Your Mum would have smacked the living daylights out of me for being in the state I've been in recently and I owe it to her, and to you, to do better."

It meant a lot to hear that for Leo, who agreed on how his Mum would have acted. "I've not exactly been there." Leo admitted. "If it wasn't the DA coin it was the meticulous planning last night…" He stopped briefly before admitting something he had failed to admit to himself for weeks. "And I've been avoiding you… seeing you hurt, it made me think of Mum and her not being here… and that isn't fair. I'm sorry."

If Sirius was hurt by that statement he didn't show it, placing his hand on Leo's shoulder and squeezing gently. "I understand." He said. "And I promise, and I want you to promise too, that we'll both be better. You're all I have left, you and Harry. And we need one another." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a Galleon. "Here." He said, placing it in Leo's hand. "Same password as the map." As soon as those words left Sirius' mouth, Leo understood. It was his DA Galleon. Flipping it around to see an engraving of Dumbledore on the back, Leo couldn't help his grin as Sirius continued explaining. "When it hums, speak the message you want and any coin connected to it will show the message on the tails side. I've written down how to replicate it for when you get back to school." At Leo's amazement, Sirius shrugged. "I had to do something while you were fighting for your lives last night. Honestly the distraction helped a lot."

"Thank you." Leo said softly as he flipped the coin around again. "Seriously Dad… thank you." He whispered, looking up at his father, taking in the man's features for the first time in ages. His hair was less well kept and his eyes looked decades older than they had before, but despite the tired look, Sirius' smile still brightened the room.

"I'm here to help you, son." Sirius insisted. "In any way you need me to. Though I think you have someone else already to play nursemaid." He said teasingly, causing Leo to blush. "But if there is anything, I'm here, and I promise I'm not going anywhere again."

Leo reached up to grab Sirius' hand and squeezed it comfortingly, before an idea struck him. "Actually… there is something, if you don't mind doing me a favour…" Sirius' raised eyebrow was the only response he received, before Leo leapt into his explanation of his request.

Chapter Text

The days after retrieving Harry from Little Whinging had Leo wanting to climb up the walls of Fred and George's bedroom out of sheer boredom. Sirius had brought over a number of books on Occlumency for him to practice clearing out his mind while he was unable to get out of bed, talking him through a number of practices that the elder Black had found useful, but despite the quality time with his Father, for the most part, Leo was unbelievably bored being stuck in bed all day.

There were some perks, however, Leo thought to himself as the residents of the Burrow were being thrown head first into wedding planning, the complaints that followed often echoing through the house and even filtered up to the window of the room from the garden. While Hermione managed to escape the chore wheel for a few hours every day, the rest of the occupants within the house weren't so lucky, being tasked with all manner of cleaning, tidying, mending and planning tasks to prepare for what was turning out to be if Mrs Weasley got her way, the event of the century. With so many tasks being handed around however, it was a rare moment when Harry, Ron and Hermione were able to sit in the same room for a while, the first instance of which managed to come just a couple of days before Harry's 17th birthday, as they all joined Leo in Fred and George's room, a day where Leo was finally managing to sit upright on his own with his chest healing up slowly but surely.

"Percy is doing my head in." Ron grumbled as he fell into an armchair in the middle of the room, closing his eyes for a moment as he laid his head back before continuing to complain. "He's been back, what, 5 minutes? It's all 'do this Ronald, do that Ronald, listen to mum Ronald. As if he didn't abandon us for a bloody year."

"He's trying to make up for things." Hermione explained, barely looking up from her book Magical Locations of Britain as she sat on Leo's bed.

Harry frowned from his spot at the door, leaning against it to keep it closed in case of any unwanted eavesdroppers. "Ignore Percy. Your mum will find us soon enough… and we need to start thinking about what we're going to do once we leave here… are you guys still sure you want to…"

Hermione slammed the book shut and glared over at Harry venomously. "We've been over this, Harry." She said coldly, and Leo rubbed her back gently, trying to soothe the frustration that was building up inside her.

"We've prepared mate." Ron added, before looking over at Hermione with sad eyes. "Tell him."

Hermione froze in place as Leo flinched slightly. Harry looked at all of them, realising that something had happened at their reactions. "Tell me what?" He asked impatiently.

"Don't push it Harry." Leo stated calmly, though he could feel his own annoyance rising. "We've all sacrificed things to protect you for what's coming... some more painfully than others."

Harry was confused still. "Painfully… what are you on about?"

"I changed my parents memories." Hermione explained quickly, and Leo knew that he would be a liar if he didn't admit that the look on Harry's face at the revelation was somewhat satisfying. "I thought that if I didn't show up to school in September, then the Death Eaters would be likely to pay them a visit in order to try and flush me out of hiding. So now Mum and Dad think they're called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, a married couple with no children, and the last I knew they were on their way to Heathrow Airport to fulfil their dreams of emigrating to Australia."

The silence said it all, and Leo studied Harry's face as it moved from shock, to realisation, and finally to sorrow. "I didn't know…" Harry began.

Hermione however retorted quickly, interrupting him. "Didn't know that we would know exactly what we were getting ourselves into when we agreed that we would help you?" She asked with an eyebrow raised towards him accusingly. "Well, we do. We've planned meticulously for this… I've even managed to convince Mrs Weasley to look after Crookshanks while we are away despite her constantly trying to get us to tell her our plans and stop them from happening." She looked over at Ron then. "Your turn, show Harry what you've done."

Ron's face scrunched up as if he had just smelled something more fitting for a Deathday party. "Nah, not now Hermione, we've just eaten… I don't want to smell that after I've just had…"

"Do it." Hermione said bossily, and Ron sighed dramatically.

"I'll show you later how it looks, it would honestly bring my lunch back up and nobody wants that…" Ron explained, his cheeks turning pale at the thought. "But I can't do what Hermione did and have my whole family disappear can I? They all have jobs… so once we leave, the Ghoul is going to come down and live in my room. We've transfigured it to look… somewhat… like me. Bill and the Twins will put the word out that I've got Spattergroit, it's really contagious so one look through the door should be enough for anyone that wants to investigate."

Hermione then picked her book back up and loudly returned her place, saying as she flicked through the pages. "So we are more than equipped to join you, Harry, and now I'm trying to decide which locations would be more likely than others to mean something to Voldemort so that we have an active plan on where should start. I've already got the addresses of the old Gaunt manor from before they fell from grace, the orphanage he lived at as a child, and now I'm searching through for any locations that have links to Slytherin himself."

"Good thinking." Harry nodded enthusiastically, trying to move forwards with their planning. "Any luck on R.A.B?"

Ron and Hermione's eyes swivelled to look at Leo. "Yeah." The injured teen nodded; his voice quiet. "I found him."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "You did? Who…"

"Regulus. Arcturus. Black." Leo stated slowly. "Dad's brother." And then he flew into the story that he had already told the others about how they had spoken to Kreacher after finding Regulus' room and realised that the locket had been inside Grimmauld Place all that time, before eventually trying to destroy it unsuccessfully until the Death Eaters attacked. "So that explosion on Grimmauld Place… that was Fiendfyre."

Harry took a moment to digest the information. "We're sure that Fiendfyre destroyed the locket?"

Hermione was the one to confirm it. "To destroy a Horcrux you must damage the object the soul fragment is housed inside beyond all magical and physical repair. Fiendfyre is dangerous, Harry, it's cursed fire. Once it starts it's impossibly difficult to stop and it burns away anything it touches."

"I didn't get a good look at the house before leaving, but as soon as I threw the locket into the fire, the entire street erupted." Leo added darkly, the memory still haunting him. "It's gone."

Harry actually smiled at hearing that. "Nice one." He praised. "So we've got the Diary, the Ring and the Locket."

"Leaving the Cup, the snake, and something we don't have a bloody clue what it is." Ron confirmed.

"Which is what I've been doing stuck up here all day, outside of meditating." Leo added, his tone sharing his boredom. "But other than this lost Diadem, which it clearly can't be, there's nothing else once owned by the Founders themselves that we know about. So I've been researching the Gaunt's a lot. If there's a family that Voldemort would have been interested in… it would be them."

He was about to list off some of the artifacts that he believed to be Gaunt owned at one point in history when a bang at the door sounded and Harry was thrown into the middle of the room, with the door swinging open properly at the second time of asking with Mrs Weasley standing in the doorway looking rageful and dishevelled. "I'm so sorry to break up this cosy little gathering." She bit out coldly. "I'm sure all of you need your rest… but there are wedding presents stacked in my room that need sorting out, and I was under the impression that you had agreed to help." She looked from Ron, to Harry, and finally to Hermione as she said that and her glare sent shivers down all 4 of their spines. Harry leapt to his feet, nodding as he stuttered out some apologies and bolted from the room, closely followed by Hermione, though she was stopped before leaving the room. "Hermione dear, if you could change Leo's bandages first, they're due replacing."

"How come she gets out of it?" Ron complained, earning a swift slap to the back of the head from his Mother.

"Because Hermione is still helping!" Mrs Weasley shouted. "Whereas you, Ronald Weasley, still have not tidied your bedroom after I asked you to do so DAYS ago!"

"I did!" Ron pouted. "It's just… messy again." Another slap followed. "Alright! Alright I'm going!"

He shot an apologetic look over at Hermione and Leo before being hounded away from the room by Molly, who shut the door for Leo's privacy with such a force it shook the entire house. "Bloody hell." Leo muttered, before both of the teenagers descended into laughter at what had just happened. They prepared to change the bandages in relative silence, with enough feeling having returned to Leo's chest without falling into excruciating pain that he could just enjoy the feeling of her hands on his skin. Once they were removed and Leo's body was exposed to the fresh air, he noticed Hermione's eyes roaming his torso. "You can see where the scars will stay now." She muttered, running her hands along part of the reddened skin.

"So long as you aren't scared off." Leo muttered softly, but Hermione simply rolled her eyes and pressed a kiss to his lips, her hand gently caressing his injuries and sending shivers down Leo's spine at the touch.

"Does that hurt?" She asked him, to which Leo, not trusting his voice at that moment, shook his head. "Good." She then continued to gently run her hands across his torso, and Leo closed his eyes just relishing the movements. That was until a cold sensation hit and he realised that Hermione had started rubbing the salve in, a cheeky grin on her face as he opened his eyes again.

Once she was done and Leo helped her to bandage himself back up, she got an idea and stood up. "Come on." She turned to him and gestured, holding her hands out. "I think you're ready." She then grabbed his hands and started to pull him to his feet. His breath shortened at the unfamiliar movement, but eventually Leo rose to his feet, holding on to Hermione's hands tightly. There was silence between them as they stared into one another's eyes, slowly moving across the room and back again. Leo quickly dropped to sit on the bed, gently massaging his ribs as he caught his breath again, but the wide grin on Hermione's face was being echoed within him. "You'll be running down those stairs in no time."

"All thanks to your nursing." He grinned back, before allowing her to help him lie back down. She then went to pass him his glass of water when the bedside unit drawer being slightly opened caught her eye. "Wait…" Leo began, but it was no use, and Hermione opened the drawer and pulled out two matching handheld mirrors, both of them silver and ornate.

"These are beautiful…" Hermione began.

"They belonged to my ancestor." Leo explained. "Ursula Flint, Phineas Nigellus' wife." Hermione placed one on the unit and examined the other, running her hands on all of the intricate detailing. "I want you to have one."

At that sentence Hermione froze, looking over at Leo. "Are these…"

"Communication mirrors, yes." Leo confirmed. "Our talk the other day made me realise… I can't go weeks or months without talking to you, so I asked Dad if he would help make a new set of mirrors… just for us. This way, wherever you are, you know you can always talk to me."

He could see a tear welling up in her eye and moved to wipe it away, letting Hermione lean into his hand, turning to kiss it gently before placing the mirror on the unit again. "I love it, what a brilliant idea." She whispered emotionally, pausing for a moment before looking deeply into Leo's dark eyes. "I love you. I realise I didn't say it before… but I do, Leo. This is so thoughtful, and needed." She leant down and kissed him firmly, showing the truth to her words as she pushed him down and brought one leg over both of his, straddling him and pressing her lips to his again. Leo simply melted into the embrace, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment until footsteps and shouting were heard from downstairs as from the sound of Mrs Weasley's screaming, Ron had dropped a handful of presents. With sad eyes Hermione managed a weak grin. "Another time." She whispered. "When you're better." She patted his chest lightly and pushed herself off of him, flashing him another grin as she opened the door and walked out, leaving Leo alone to digest what in Merlin's name had just happened.

He finally managed to tackle the stairs on the last day of July, managing the two flights down from Fred and George's room slowly and with the help of both Sirius and Bill Weasley, but it was a great sense of relief when he finally sank into the comfortable armchair in the living room of the Burrow and looked around at different walls. He'd come down late for Harry's 17th he noticed as he saw the already opened pile of presents in the corner, spotting the Sneakoscope that he knew was from Hermione, an enormous box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products from Fred and George, and a number of French chocolates that Leo presumed were from the recently arrived Delacour family.

"Here you are, dear." Mrs Weasley said fondly, placing a large plate filled with two rounds of bacon and sausage sandwiches filled to the brim with ketchup. "You need to keep up your strength."

"Blimey Mum." Fred exclaimed. "Where were our seconds?"

She flicked the twin around the head with her tea towel as she moved back into the kitchen to tidy up, allowing Leo to tuck into his breakfast as he caught up with everybody, hearing about how George was recovering from his own injury and how things were tense within Gringotts from Bill, before talk inevitably moved to the wedding the next day.

By the time he had finished his meal, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had appeared from upstairs, with Harry now sporting a worn gold watch on his left wrist, and a chain around his neck that was tucked into his t-shirt. "Welcome back mate." Ron was the one to gesture over to Leo.

"Cheers." Leo nodded. "Happy birthday Harry, here." He reached into the pocket of his baggy joggers and handed Harry a small parcel. The birthday boy quickly unwrapped it, confused at the sight of a sole Galleon. "It's your DA one." Leo explained. "I've adapted it slightly. Now that we can send messages ourselves, you'll be able to keep in the loop with what's going on at Hogwarts, and if you need to, you can send us messages back."

Harry eyed the coin up happily as he flicked it between his fingers, a slight glance towards Ginny's direction who had gone to sit with Fred, as Leo noticed a blush just starting to disappear from her cheeks as she settled into the room. "Thanks." Harry said gratefully. Leo shrugged that away as Hermione came and settled beside him, with Harry being pulled away at the arrival of Sirius for a private talk about Sirius' gift to his Godson, before he joined the party in the living room too.

Evening soon arrived and the party was moved outside so as to fit all of the arriving guests. Charlie was first, not managing to escape Mrs Weasley forcing him to cut his hair, and he was closely followed by Remus and Tonks, with Hagrid being the last to arrive, gifting Harry a small and furry drawstring pouch with a long string. "Mokeskin." The half-giant explained. "Hide anythin' in there an' no one but the owner can get it out. They're rare, them."

As Harry thanked Hagrid, Leo's mind began to whir as he thought immediately of a use for it. Turning to Hermione, he mouthed "Locket." In the hope that it was subtle enough, but Hermione's eyes widened in realisation and nodded vigorously.

As cake began to be dished out, the inability to move a lot was starting to bug Leo, and he couldn't shake the frown on his face even as Ginny sat on the arm of his chair, grinning as Harry, Hermione and Hagrid were chatting to Charlie. "I need a favour." She whispered as he took a sip of Butterbeer. "Hermione's going to stay with you tonight."

His cough and splutter brought the attention of those closest to him, and as he finally recovered from the surprise and vanished the mess he had made, he apologised. "Went down the wrong way." He explained, before lowering his voice and asking Ginny. "I'm sorry?"

Unperplexed at his splutters, Ginny replied. "Harry's in with me tonight. No nothing like that you prat, but I don't know when I'm going to see him after tomorrow and I don't really want to be down the stairs from him… so we're going to sneak him in, and Hermione will be with you. Mum's already on the wine and trying to keep up with the Delacour's, she'll be out like a light by 11."

Leo grinned at the deviousness, although his mind was more focused on spending the night with Hermione than anything else as he looked over to see Mrs Weasley was indeed throwing back the red wine as she chatted loudly with Fleur's parents. "Is that your birthday present then?" Leo asked with a wry grin.

Ginny smacked him gently on the arm. "Git." She said without malice. "No, I had Fred charm a locket for me, there's a picture of me inside in my Quidditch robes that Harry likes, and when things seem dark, it's supposed to warm up as he thinks of me. I figured… it could be helpful if there are Dementors or something nearby."

It was a really lovely gift idea, Leo thought to himself. He then nodded. "Aye, alright." He said.

Grinning, Ginny leapt off the armchair and threw him a wide smile. "As if you'd have said no." She teased, before skipping towards Harry and snaking her arm into his at the exact moment the Burrow's alarms sent a loud and repeating shrieking sound into the air. 13 wands came flying out of their pockets, as only Mrs Weasley and the newly arrived Delacour's paused in terror at the noise. Leo had a good view of the lane leading towards the Burrow from his seat and aimed his wand at the incoming figure suspiciously, only for Percy to be the one to recognise the arrival.

"Minister!" The bespectacled Weasley exclaimed, rushing towards the Minister for Magic.

"We shouldn't be here." Remus whispered loudly to Tonks as he began to rise out of his chair, who held firm and sat Remus back down with a thud.

Leo quickly then looked across the table to his Dad, who had a dark expression on his face as he unblinkingly glared at the Minister for Magic, his mane of hair recognisable the closer he got. Percy had been engaging him in quick conversation as he approached their table, and the Minister eyed the wands trained upon him with a simple raised eyebrow. "Sorry to intrude." Scrimgeour said calmly, as he limped to a halt before the table. "Especially as I can see that I am gate crashing a party." Leo watched as the Minister's eyes moved from the wands towards the giant Snitch cake. "Many happy returns, Mister Potter."

"Thanks," said Harry icily as he lowered his wand slowly.

"What do you want?" Sirius asked venomously, not moving a muscle as his wand remained in place aimed at the Minister's head.

"I require a private word with Mister Potter, Black. I'm not here for you, this time." Scrimgeour retorted, the glare in Sirius' eyes being reciprocated. "And also with Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger."

"Us?" said Ron, the surprise in his voice evident. "Why us?"

"I shall tell you that when we are somewhere more private," said Scrimgeour. "Is there such a place?"

He looked around at all of the guests, waiting for a response. Mrs Weasley looked shellshocked and remained in place, and so Bill was the one to stand up, clear his throat and gesture towards the house. "The living room. I can take you…"

"No need, I am sure that Mr Weasley here can lead the way." Scrimgeour nodded towards Ron. "Come along."

Leo glanced over at Hermione who looked worried, but moved to follow Ron and Harry inside the house, though it wasn't until the door shut behind them that anybody outside breathed a word, with Sirius moving towards the Burrow looking to break down the door if he needed to. "Sirius." Bill warned him.

"No, that bastard locked me up." Sirius said bitterly. "If you think I'm going to let him in there with Harry…"

"He's the Minister for Magic, Sirius." Remus interrupted, sounding extremely tired. "You can't just barge in there. Harry is both sensible, and now an adult. He will be fine with Ron and Hermione." He looked nervously at Tonks. "We should really depart though… we got away with that; I don't wish to risk another meeting."

Tonks nodded, rising to her feet to give Molly a quick hug before waving at the rest of the attendees. "See ya." She muttered, before she hopped over the fence with Remus and disapparated with a crack.

"We should go too." Mr Delacour said, giving his eldest daughter a long hug. "Thank you, Molly, eet 'az been a… merveilleuse soirée. We will be back 'ere tomorrow, for ze wedding." Fleur's parents each placed a kiss on both of Mrs Weasley's cheeks before grabbing Gabrielle's and Fleur's hand, barely allowing Fleur to kiss Bill goodbye and Disapparating themselves to Bill and Fleur's new home, where the bride would spend the night.

Ginny soon moved to stand with Leo again, her eyes trained on the now closed door to the Burrow. "Harry said the Minister's been trying for ages to talk to him one on one." She said in a low whisper. "Why won't he leave him alone?"

Leo didn't know the answer to that, but as he wondered what was going on behind that closed door, he knew that the Minister for Magic focusing his eyes on Harry instead of Voldemort when the world was falling apart could only lead to their doom.

They only managed around 10 minutes of awkward silence outside of the Burrow before the raised voices inside gave Sirius the excuse he needed to burst through the door with his wand drawn. Leo was the slowest, but even he rushed through to fill the ground floor of the Burrow, barely being able to see past Charlie and Percy into the Living Room. He could see the back of his Father aiming his wand directly at Scrimgeour's head however, and his breath hitched in nervous anticipation.

"I think it's time for you to leave, Rufus." Sirius said with a snarl. "We've already told you… Harry isn't going to become some Ministry poster boy you can pin up to kid the rest of the country that you've got things under control."

Rufus Scrimgeour growled in frustration, looking between Sirius and Harry with a venomous glare. "This is not a question of asking for support, Black. Though I regret you feel that your band of rogues and misfits are better equipped to deal with the coming threats than the might of the Ministry."

Sirius scoffed. "Better equipped my arse. We'd been all the way to the Prophecy Room and back before any of your lot knew we were even there a couple of years ago. Fudge, you, Bagnold, you're all the same. Useless, vying for popularity rather than doing your damn jobs..."

"That's enough, Sirius." Bill said firmly, though his eyes remained trained on the Minister for Magic.

Scrimgeour nodded gruffly and straightened himself up, standing taller as he did so. "I shall repeat to all of you what I have just explained to Mister Potter. I am not Albus Dumbledore, he who might have forgiven your disrespect and insolence. Speak to me that way again, Black, and I shall ensure your old cell is made available."

"You can't do that!" Harry exclaimed loudly.

"He can." Leo said softly, but the tension in the air meant that everyone heard him and all eyes swept towards him. "We're in a state of war; the Minister has executive powers that should be focused more on arresting the Death Eaters." He glared at Scrimgeour, not shying away from the head of Magical Britain. "Not used to threaten those trying to stop them."

Scrimgeour nodded curtly. "And we are, though as far as I am concerned, those that will not work with the Ministry, stand in our way." He turned to Harry again then. "We ought to be working together, standing strong for the rest of the world to see a beacon of hope…"

"You imprisoned a bus conductor for telling a joke." Harry retorted, curling up his fist and for a moment Leo thought he was going to punch Scrimgeour, though he ended up simply holding his fist out to show the Minister the scars that were permanently etched.. "And I've been privy to the Ministry's torture tactics. I don't like your methods, Minister, I told you that the last time we spoke after Professor Dumbledore's funeral."

The look that appeared on the Minister's face then was a stubborn sense of defeat, as he pointed his nose into the air and took a step towards the door, only for Sirius to block him. "If you'll excuse me." Scrimgeour said coolly.

Leo couldn't see Sirius' face, but by the cock of the head, he knew Sirius was arrogantly smirking at the Minister having just gestured for him to squeeze by. Scrimgeour did just that, his eyes showing an angry blaze as he passed Leo and strode out into the evening air, a loud crack sounding as he arrived at the Apparation point.

"What did he want?" Sirius was the first to say, lowering his wand finally as he rounded on Harry.

"To give us what Dumbledore left us." Harry shrugged, holding out a Snitch as Ron was flipping around a small necklace, inspecting it thoroughly. "They've only just released the contents of his will."

They were hurried back outside by a nervous Mrs Weasley and returned to their seats at the table, with Hermione sticking close to Leo, allowing him to be the first person to hold the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that she had received. He carefully opened it, running his hands over the ink inscriptions. "It's a first edition." He stated in awe. "15th century… this is penned by Beedle himself!" He flipped through the pages carefully, though to his frustration nothing inside was written in English and instead the pages were scribbled with two sets of Runes, one that clearly belonged to the book while the other set seemed more frantic, like note taking. "These must be Dumbledore's notes…" He trailed slowly, realising the magnitude of the book in his hands.

"I've never heard of these Tales." Hermione said, her frown showing exactly how unhappy she was at finding something that she had never heard of.

Leo flicked through the pages in the hope of any English being found, though nothing showed. "They're kids tales. Mum and Granda' used to read them to me when I was younger. The Fountain of Fortune, The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump…"

Hermione let out an uncharacteristic giggle. "I'm sorry, what was that last one?" She managed to say through the laughter.

Leo grinned at her. "Babbitty Rabbitty. It's a story about a Witch getting revenge on Muggles that were persecuting witches after they tried to use her magic for their own purposes. She was a rabbit Animagus. And at the end of it she hopped away as a rabbit out of a tree stump or something, it's been a while since I've even thought about Babbitty Rabbitty."

Hermione however had latched onto that story. "So the rabbit out of the hat… this is where that originates from?" She exclaimed, though Leo had no idea what she was going on about. "A muggle magic trick. Muggle's use hidden compartments, but it originates from an Animagus…"

And then she was lost to him, taking the book back as she slowly went through the runes that she remembered off by heart, though after a surprise yawn and a quick look at his watch showed that it was nearing 10pm, Leo tried to rise out of his seat, saying goodnight, with a knowing glance over at Hermione.

Sirius helped him up the stairs, pushing the door to Fred and George's room open and gently lowering him to the bed. "I'm sorry about earlier." The elder Black said. "I shouldn't have lost my head at Scrimgeour…"

"There's no need to apologise, Dad. If I'd gone through what you did because of him…" He shivered, thinking about the horrors of Azkaban. "I actually thought you were quite restrained given the circumstances."

Snorting in amusement, Sirius grinned as he waved his wand, dimming the lamps and shutting the curtains in one movement while Leo changed into his pyjamas. "Oh, there was a letter for you that came to the house, I left it there for you." He gestured to the bedside unit. "I'll let you read it. Night mate, see you tomorrow."

"Night, Dad." Leo said as he shifted himself under the covers and rested his back on the pillows as the door closed behind Sirius. He took a sip of water before taking the envelope, spotting the familiar scratches of Fay's handwriting. Smiling fondly at the thought of his best friend, he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

Dear Leo,

I won't be coming back to school this year. Plans changed quickly, and it was safer for me to head somewhere quieter. Please don't worry. Everything's fine, and my family is with me.

It's strange to think just how much I'll miss the castle, but I know you'll do brilliantly without me there to distract you. Keep an eye on the first-years; you know how they wander off.

Take care of yourself, and remember what I said about keeping warm. You always hated the cold, didn't you?

All my best,
Fay

P.S. No need to write back—I'll be in touch when I can.

Frowning, Leo read and reread the letter multiple times. It was the barest of information, which made him worry despite her words.

"My family is with me…" He whispered, before the line about the cold made everything make sense, that Fay and her family had fled to Iceland to be with Baz. Sighing in relief, he folded the letter back up and placed it neatly in the drawer for now, before looking towards the curtained window, hoping that wherever she was, Fay was safe.

Leo must have dozed off, and he had no idea how much time had passed when his eyes opened at the sound of the door being gently pressed back into the frame. His eyelids were heavy as he leant up on his elbows to get a better view, turning his head towards the sound, towards her as she had her back to him.

Hermione then turned back towards him, a look of defiance and nervousness mixed together on her face, though her bushy hair was caught in the small moonlight stream that poked through the gap in the curtains and to Leo, it looked like an angelic halo. His heart did a slow somersault as she grinned at him, two books in her hands.

"I hope you don't mind." She whispered gently. "I brought Spellman's Syllabary to try and start translating… it must be important if Professor Dumbledore singled me out…"

He didn't care one bit, as she said that she slipped off her dressing gown and Leo's chest tightened, and he gulped. She was wearing a thin, white strap top and small pink shorts, showing more skin than Leo had ever seen her show off before. "No." He said, his throat dry and the noise came out as more of a croak.

The moonlight illuminated the blush that was forming on her cheeks as she folded her arms, which only caused him to gulp again as she unwillingly pushed her chest up. "Honestly, Leo." She shook her head, pulling her wand from her dressing gown pocket and silently waving it. Without making a noise, the bed Leo was lying on expanded wider, and his pillows duplicated. Grabbing her books, Leo shifted across so that Hermione had room to join him, pulling the covers up to just beneath her chest as she sat upright, the pair of books laid out on her lap. She leant down and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips before returning to her position. "Sleep well, Leo." She whispered softly. "You don't want to be tired for tomorrow."

He grinned, settling down as he settled down into the pillows, his arm moving over to gently caress her leg, but he was soon drifting back off to sleep, feeling a contentment deep within him that was almost overwhelming, like there was nothing in the world that he needed other than the woman he loved beside him. It was almost enough to forget that they only had one more full day left together.

Chapter Text

The grin on Leo's face evaporated almost immediately after he awoke on the morning of Bill and Fleur's wedding. Unbeknownst to him, the magically expanded bed had reverted back to its usual single frame, and he was also the only occupant of the room. Disappointed at the absence of Hermione, he hauled himself upright to drink some water and a brand new pain relieving potion he hadn't tried before. As he looked around the room again he saw his navy blue muggle style suit had been hung up neatly across the floor. Spotting some parchment attached, Leo slowly walked over towards it, smiling at the note from Hermione explaining that she'd chosen the tie especially for him to match his suit.

A few minutes later and he was mostly dressed, though found himself struggling in the mirror with the tie. Grateful for the knock at the door to distract him, Leo called out. "Come in." Before returning to his wrestle with the material.

It was Sirius, dressed in a fine hunter green muggle suit, a black bowtie to finish off. He stayed in the doorway for a moment, looking over at Leo with a sense of pride in his eyes. "What did I tell you…" He grinned. Sirius had been the one to say that muggle fashion was superior to the stuffy dress robes that wizards preferred, and Leo had to admit, he felt good in the suit. "Look at you." Sirius whispered proudly.

Leo shrugged however, more frustrated at that moment as he wrangled with the material meant to go around his neck. "I'm not done yet." He gestured the tie. "Bloody thing…"

"Here." Sirius said, stepping forwards and grabbing the material. "When James and Lily got married, we had to wear muggle styles, so we didn't give the extended Evans family a fright." He laughed at the memory as he began to tie the neck item. "Remus of course knew how to do everything perfectly, but James… he was useless. I meanwhile had spent enough time in the muggle world as a middle finger to my family to know some things about their fashion and how it's so much better." He had a grin, as he looped the material through itself and tightened it to finish off. "There." He took a step back and admired Leo from head to toe. "Hermione won't know what hit her."

Leo grinned, looking over in the mirror to check himself. "Maybe you do know what you're talking about."

Sirius barked a quick laugh. "Git. Here, take this." He offered Leo a handkerchief and showed him where to place it on his jacket pocket. "Trust me, you'll be grateful later." Leo shrugged and folded it neatly, returning to the mirror as Sirius joined him, though very quickly a sadness fell upon the elder man's face. "Your mum would have loved this." He said solemnly.

It was true. There had been a number of times where Mary had left Leo alone with his Grandfather as she ventured off to a coworkers wedding, happily singing love songs as she departed. Leo had often found it embarrassing at the time, though his Grandfather had kept him in line. "You're young now laddie, but when you hear those pipes playin', and watch up as the happy couple speak their vows, you'll believe that love can conquer anythin'." He whispered to himself more than anything.

Sirius however had heard that loud and clear, freezing in place for a moment, before Leo saw a brief smile appear on his lips. "Magnus." The elder man said. Nodding, Leo moved back over to the bed to start tying his shoes, leaving Sirius standing there. "I was going to propose." He whispered sadly, his hand moving to his pocket. "I even saved the ring… when that place burned down, I saved it."

Leo paused, his own emotions threatening to spill out as he thought on a memory that might have been, of leading his Mother down the aisle in the absence of his Grandfather, of his immediate family finally being whole... "She would have said yes." He said softly again, wondering if his dad remembered the same words being said to him weeks earlier. "And she wouldn't want you to be sad about her today of all days. She'd tell you…"

"She'd slap me on the arm and say 'it's Bill and Fleur's day; don't you go spoiling it for them.'" Sirius finished for him. He took a deep breath and nodded, more to himself than to anybody else. By the time he moved again, Leo had finished tying his shoes. "Are you ready?" Sirius asked.

"Are you?" Leo shot back. It took a moment more, but Sirius nodded again. "Come on then."

He walked to the doorway with more ease than he had since the Splinching, realising the pain potion must be working it's magic. "Do you need a hand?" Sirius asked from behind him, though as Leo reached the stairwell and took his first step with a wide grin, he shook his head, thinking about how it was a very good sign to start the day with.

It was around 3 o'clock when all of the guests started gathering outside in the large white marquee that had been erected in the orchard outside the Burrow. He and Sirius were stood behind Xenophilius Lovegood, the eccentric father of Luna, who was just explaining to Ron that Luna had been chatting with the Weasley's gnomes when the Ravenclaw skipped over towards them all.

"Hello Leo, Harry." She nodded back to Leo, and then to the slightly chubby red-headed muggle that Harry had Polyjuiced into so that he could be passed off as the Weasley's 'Cousin Barney'.

"Er… my name's Barney." Harry attempted to convince her about the subterfuge.

Luna, however, saw right through it, dreamily asking. "Oh, have you changed that too?"

"How did you…" Harry trailed away.

Luna shrugged. "Just your expression. Hello, Ronald. I like your robes." She looked up at the tall Weasley with a bright smile. Ron was wearing a set of bright green robes, a much more fitting outfit than the set that Leo remembered Ron had worn during the Yule Ball. Smiling brightly at the compliment, Ron thanked her before escorting the pair of Lovegood's to their seats and finally allowing Leo a good look at the marquee from the inside as he was at the front of the queue.

A purple carpet ran through the middle of the marquee as rows and rows of fragile looking golden chairs had been meticulously placed on either side of it. At the end of the Marquee a small stage had been set up with an enormous bunch of golden balloons hovering over the spot where Bill and Fleur would stand and exchange their vows. He spotted a handful of guests he vaguely knew, before finally a recognisable face waved over at him in Leta Scamander who was happily say chatting to an old man, Elphias Doge, Leo recalled from the Daily Prophet article about Professor Dumbledore's death.

"This way." Harry said, gesturing to Sirius and Leo, bringing him back to what he was actually doing. "Sirius, you're with Remus and Tonks over there." He pointed over to where the newlyweds were sat. "And Leo, you're with us here." He pointed to a grouping of chairs a in the second row where Hermione was already sat waiting patiently. She perked up immediately when she looked back and saw him, rising out of her seat and hurrying towards him. "Leo! Look at you!"

"Whatever potion you left was spot on, I feel great." He said, twirling in a circle to show off his suit and his improved movement. "But you… Merlin, Hermione, you look... beautiful barely scratches the surface."

She was wearing a slim fitting and modest knee length red dress, with sections of layered ruffles on the shoulders and around the waist with some added, flowy ruffles on the skirt cascading down towards the hem… and Leo doubted he had seen anything as stunning in his entire life as he found her in that moment. She blushed a deep pink. "Stop it." She said, unusually shyly, discreetly reaching out her hand to brush his.

"He is correct. You look vunderful." A deep voice sounded from behind Leo, who turned around and was shocked to see a familiar face.

"Viktor!" Hermione exclaimed, a wide smile on her face. "I didn't know you were… goodness, it's lovely to see you… how are you again?"

"Vell." Viktor Krum said, his accent still as thick as Leo remembered. "And how are you, Herm-own-ninny?"

Leo raised his eyebrows in amused surprise as he looked back towards Hermione, who was desperately trying to keep a straight face instead of inevitably slapping him playfully at his look. "I am well, thank you. Viktor, this is Leo." She gestured towards him. "Leo is actually a big fan of yours."

Grinning at her good effort to turn the tables back onto him, Leo tried to remain calm as he reached out his hand to shake the Bulgarian's. "I am. I was there at the World Cup Final, and your demolition of Luxembourg in the qualifiers this year was exceptional. If only you'd sign for Wigtown…"

The gruff look on Krum's face never faltered. "Perhaps one day. I vould like to play in England at one stage of my career."

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked Krum brightly.

"Fleur invited me." He explained. "Ve still keep in touch after the Tournament." The room was filling up even more by that point and their conversation was being bumped around my people finding their seats, so Krum gave a polite nod to Leo before turning to Hermione. "I shall talk later." He bowed, before finding his own seat the other side of the purple carpet.

Leo quickly turned to Hermione with a grin. "Would you care to take your seat, Herm-own-ninny." He gestured, getting that smack on the arm that was all but guaranteed earlier.

"Prat." Hermione said with a grin. "He's gotten a lot better with his English, but my name… it's difficult."

Leo chuckled as he helped her retake her seat and looked around at the filling marquee. He recognised a few faces on the Bride's side from the Triwizard Tournament a few years earlier, but he was completely distracted by the sight of Fred helping Percy and a woman to their seat in the row in front. "Madame. This concludes your personal escort." The twin bowed exaggeratedly, before spotting Leo and Hermione and rushing over towards them, whispering excitedly. "Percy has a GIRLFRIEND!"

"He what?" Ron asked from behind them, a distinctly pleased look just making way for surprise on his face.

"A girlfriend." Fred repeated. "There I am, put out because apparently those Veela cousins prefer invalids…"

"Men with battle wounds." George retorted, having been listening in from nearby.

"I said what I said." Fred grinned at his twin. "Anyway, and then here comes Percy with an actual woman on his arm!"

Hermione frowned at the Twins. "He's had a girlfriend before… Penelope was really lovely." Leo placed his hand on her leg, running his thumb soothingly as he realised she was remembering being petrified with the former Ravenclaw Head Girl.

"And apparently… so is Audrey!" Fred exclaimed in a low whisper. "None of my embarrassment tactics worked! I called him Perfect Prefect… she simply agreed with his perfection and kissed him!"

Ron gagged and George coughed his surprise. "So it's real?" Ron asked. "He's not… you know…"

"Paid me?" The woman sat beside Percy turned around with a grin. "No, it's real." She then turned to Percy. "You were right babe; they really are quite loud." Leo burst out laughing at the multiple shades of red that the 4 Weasley brothers, Percy included, decided to turn to at that moment. "I've heard a lot about you all. Fred, George, Ronald." She nodded towards each of the Weasley brothers in turn, before pausing as she saw the newly arrived Harry. "And you must be…" She looked at Percy for guidance.

"Our cousin, Barney." Percy stated, lying with ease. "And these are Ron's friends, Hermione Granger and Leo MacDonald."

"Pleasure." Audrey said, shaking their hands. "I'm sure we can get properly acquainted after the ceremony; it looks like it's about to start." She nodded behind them, and as all of their heads swivelled, sure enough Bill, Charlie and Mrs Weasley, already a blubbering wreck, were walking down the aisle towards them, and the crowd began to hush as music played from the balloons once Bill and Charlie were stood in position.

"Ooooh." Hermione cooed, and Leo wasn't sure if it was at the delicate, beautiful musical magic on display, or Fleur that had just rounded the corner and was now making her way up the aisle with her Father. Fleur's dress was very simple by her standards, but there seemed to be an unusual, silvery glow that emitted from the dress like wisps that enhanced the beauty of everyone around her, especially Ginny and Gabrielle, her bridesmaids.

The ceremony was shorter than Leo expected, but his Grandfather's words rang true as he couldn't keep the smile off of his face as Bill and Fleur made their vows hand in hand. He heard Hermione sniff and instantly knew that his Father had been right, swiping the handkerchief from his pocket and handing it over to her just in time, as the heaviest tears followed the officiant loudly and proudly calling out. "… then I declare you bonded for life!" He waved his wand high over the heads of both Bill and Fleur and Leo was amazed as a shower of silver stars fell gently over them before picking themselves up and beginning to spiral around the both of them signifying the union had been made. The golden balloons above then burst loudly as small birds and golden bells soared over the top of the gathered guests, illuminating the beautiful noise of the bond being formed. A round of applause was quickly drowned out by the officiant again. "Ladies and Gentlemen! If you would please stand up!"

Leo did as he was asked, offering his hand to Hermione to help her up just in time as the seats rose delicately into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished. With bright golden poles appearing in their place to open up the room to a glorious view of the West Country countryside.

"Look!" Hermione patted him vigorously on the arm, and Leo turned back to look into the marquee again as molten gold began to spread from the centre of the now opened tent, forming a dance floor in the middle as the chairs that they had just been sat on grouped with some newly appeared tables, waiting for the tents occupants to move before they settled down into their places, and almost as quickly as the ceremony, the reception had started as romantic music began to blurt out from nowhere in particular, encouraging Bill and Fleur to the dancefloor for their first dance.

Once the Bride and Groom had listened to the applause from the gathered crowd for their first dance, they were the ones that gestured for the everyone else to step foot on the golden dancefloor. Charlie was the first on, dragging Mrs Weasley who was finally showing off a beaming smile, and Mr and Mrs Delacour quickly followed. Holding his hand out to Hermione, Leo pulled them both onto the dancefloor and settled into a slow rhythm, swaying to and fro to the music as he held her close, her head resting on his shoulder. He looked around at other guests that had entered the dancefloor, quickly spotting Percy and his girlfriend who looked extremely content in one another's arms. Fred and George had somehow managed to convince a pair of Fleur's Veela cousins to dance with them, making the girls laugh loudly as like with the Hogwarts School Anthem, danced to a different, bawdier tune than the music was playing. In the corner of the room he saw Ron and Harry in his disguise chatting with Sirius, and the main thing that sprung to mind was it all seemed so… normal.

But it wasn't normal, as Leo stared over at Harry and Ron he began to think. Tomorrow the pair along with Hermione would depart on their hunt for the remaining Horcruxes, and Leo would be stuck between home and The Burrow for the next month, hoping for any sliver of information that he would be able to find about Harry, Ron and Hermione. He sighed, leaning into her even more, praying that this night would never end.

Three or four songs passed, Leo had lost count after a while, and Hermione moved from her comfortable position to look up at him. Her eyes were slightly reddened and he could see that they had both been thinking the same thing and Hermione hadn't been able to hold the tears completely. "We'll be fine." He said softly, so that only she could hear. Hermione only nodded, but she went to leave the dancefloor then, dragging Leo's hand as she went. He began to eye up a particular glass of champagne when surprisingly, Hermione pulled him straight passed the bar table, and out of the tent altogether. "What are we…"

"Shh." Hermione said, her voice sounding determined. "Just follow me."

They walked for a while, passed the Burrow and the chicken coops, through the next field and into the local woods until they were in a secluded clearing, the glow of sunset barely breaking through the trees, and with no sounds but the light rustling of leaves in the summer breeze. "Hermione…" Leo began, but she pressed a finger to his lips.

"Let me finish first." She said, a tiny note of fear creeping out in her voice. "I know you were thinking it too. That tomorrow I'll be going, and we don't know when… or if… we'll see each other again." He was about to reassure her but she pressed firmer on his lips. "Please, Leo, let me talk." He nodded, and Hermione took a deep breath. "I have faith that we will both make it through this… but faith is never guaranteed and we both know how quickly things can change. So I want to remember tonight for the rest of my life. I want to be here, with you, completely."

Leo was taken aback, and he could see the intense vulnerability in her eyes as she stared up at him, almost pleading with him. "We will be together again." He insisted, moving her hand and gripping it tightly in his. "I don't want you to feel like you're rushing into this because of what we're about to do, Hermione. I love you, and I will carry on loving you no matter what."

"I'm not rushing." Hermione said, her hands reaching up to gently hold Leo's head. "I want this wholeheartedly. I want you… but tonight is the last night of normality. I don't know where I will be tomorrow, and I want to take this memory with me, I want to take you with me wherever I go. And I don't want to wait until later tonight… hoping that we can sneak around again. I want you, Leo."

No more words were needed after her declaration. At the sight of her eyes pleading up at him, Leo leaned down, capturing Hermione's lips in a kiss that held all of their unspoken desperation in that one act. The intensity of their need for one another poured into every movement as her hands slid down his back, her nails raking lightly as she anchored him in place. Their kiss was unlike any before, deeper and more urgent, as though they were trying to bridge every gap between them. Hermione gently pushed him backwards, guiding him down to lie on the soft grass, the fading colours of dusk painting the sky above. Once he was completely prone she stood over him, lowering to straddle him once again before crashing her lips to his once more, their breaths mingling as their connection deepened and their hands began to roam wilder, tugging at the few items of clothing that they needed to loosen. Every touch, every kiss spoke the words they couldn't, their bodies becoming the language of all they longed to express.

By the time they finally managed to calm themselves down from their throes of passion and managed to recover their breaths night had completely fallen, and from their secluded spot they both stared up at the stars, neither wanting to move from their spot in the clearing, desperate to remain in that moment forever. "You see that group of stars there." Hermione pointed up at a small cluster, one that Leo knew very well indeed. "Every time I look up and see the stars now I find myself gravitating towards those in particular. They're rather comforting, I find."

He chuckled, pulling her closer into his body with the arm that was wrapped around her shoulders and kissing her on the forehead. "Leo, the lion constellation." His Astronomy lessons during Hogwarts had come in handy as he recognised them immediately.

"Leo the Gryffindor." Hermione giggled, before her face relaxed and she grew serious again. "I think we'll be camping a lot this year, so I'm going to look up at those stars every night. That way, I'll know that you are with me wherever I go."

"I am always with you." He nodded, wincing at himself as his eyes caught sight of the time on his watch. "I don't want to move." He admitted.

Hermione shifted in his arms and looked over at his watch too, sighing when she saw it herself. "It's 20 to 10; people will be wondering where we've gotten to." They stayed deathly still for a few minutes longer, not saying a word to disturb the small bubble of peace that they had found, but eventually Hermione pushed herself to sit upright, hiking the hem of her dress back down into place to try and hide any evidence of what they had just shared with one another. "Where are my…" She began, before grinning at the sight of Leo's pocket, the memory of kicking her underwear towards him as she took them off returning to her in an instant. She paused, her face showing that she was having an idea that she would normally never dare entertain, though the thrill of the evening seemed to be getting to her. "I want them at some point."

Leo shrugged, smirking as their recent development had lowered any last boundary that they had had between one another. "At some point?" He raised an eyebrow daringly. Hermione just giggled and pushed herself to her feet, flattening her dress again and helping Leo up to his feet, grabbing her beaded bag as he tucked his shirt back into his trousers and tightened his belt. "We'll be heading to bed soon; you can get them back then." He teased, seeing the blush appear on her face, though one he knew to be excitement rather than embarrassment. Once he was redressed he took a deep breath as he stared around the clearing, their clearing now, he surmised, the memory of what they had just done imprinting itself forever. "How did you find this place?" He asked, taking her hand in his as they began the walk back towards The Burrow.

"It's still within the wards of The Burrow; Ginny's been coming here for ages apparently." Hermione explained, her free hand shifting her dress so that it wouldn't ride up. "She told me about it a few years ago. We had a pretty heavy conversation about Harry here, actually. She wanted him to notice her, so I gave her some advice."

"Well, that worked whatever it was." Leo said, allowing Hermione to swing their arms as the tent grew into view. They stopped as they neared the exit of the final field next to The Burrow, and Leo moved to face Hermione. "I love you." He repeated.

Hermione smiled up at him, bringing his face down for another kiss. "Come on." She said, dropping his hand as they returned back to the tent.

Despite their worry, they didn't seem to have been missed at all. Everybody was still dancing, drinking, and having a wonderful time by all accounts. They spotted Harry, still disguised, sat at a table with Ron's Great Aunt Muriel and so grabbed a couple of drinks and veered over towards him, only catching the end of her words. "…that's what I just said!"

"Barney." Hermione greeted cheerfully. "You promised me a dance!"

Harry looked up at her blankly, before blinking a few times and nodding. "Er… yes." He muttered. "Yeah I did. Thanks, Aunt Muriel…"

He was very eager to get away from her, Leo noticed, and so they quickly engineered their way to the drinks table, with Harry almost downing a glass of champagne. "What was that about?" Hermione asked.

"I have…" Harry gasped as he caught his breath after the drink. "So much to tell you…"

Whatever it was that Harry needed to say would have to wait however, as at that moment a silver lynx came falling through the canopy and hovered over the dance floor. The music stopped as everybody inside the tent froze, staring at the Patronus as it opened its mouth wide, and the slow, deep voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt sounded.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Leo immediately reached for his wand, looking around as panic started to set into the wedding guests. He tightened his grip on Hermione, who was frantically searching around for Ron, finally finding him as people began to Disapparate, scaring Leo even more as it told him that the wards had fallen. "RON!" Hermione called out, waving him over from his spot next to Luna and Xenophilius Lovegood. Ron came racing towards them, leaving Hermione just enough time to turn to Leo and force her lips upon his. It was a frantic kiss, the complete opposite of the many they had shared in the clearing, and Leo knew it. This one meant goodbye.

Once they parted, Hermione's eyes remained locked to his as she dropped his hand and grabbed hold of Harry. "I love you." She mouthed at Leo as Ron gripped her arm, and then in an instant both Harry and Ron seemed to contract towards Hermione's centre, and with a loud crack, they disappeared.

As soon as she had gone Leo's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene properly. There were far fewer guests now, but a number of people in black robes had the tent surrounded. Leo ducked under a colourful jet of light and fired a stunning spell back in the wielder's direction, desperately trying to find someone, anyone.

He managed to find a furious Ginny being dragged away by a worried Percy, who also had a terrified Audrey clinging to his arm. Rushing towards her he was forced to roll to the floor to avoid another curse, wincing as he slammed his chest on the ground, breaking through the numbing of the potion from earlier. Without a word of warning he was then forced upwards, his wand clattering to the ground as Leo rose off the ground, unable to move a muscle, spotting the one Death Eater that he was desperate to cross wands with walking over to him.

"I remember you…" He snarled, his high pitched voice grating on Leo's ears before he began to cackle. "How's mummy…"

"Remember this you bastard!" A loud voice came, and a crunching sound followed as Avery flew backwards to the floor, having just received a powerful fist belonging to Sirius Black directly to his nose.

"He's not here!" An even louder voice sounded, and one by one in clouds of black smoke, the Death Eaters fled into the skies and Leo dropped to the floor with a painful thud.

Almost instantly however he was hoisted onto his back by his Dad, who looked down at him with sheer panic. "Are you alright?" Sirius asked, frantic. "Did they hurt you, did they…"

"I'm fine." Leo wheezed. "Just… knocked the stuffing out of me." He hauled himself so he was sat upright, looking around as the once beautiful tent had been reduced to small fires burning and broken furniture everywhere. It was a mess.

Sirius helped him to his feet before pulling him into a tight embrace, which Leo was too tired to do anything but enjoy, melting into his Father as he worried on Hermione, hoping desperately that she got to safety.

"Leo." A small voice came from nearby, and he pulled away from Sirius to see Ginny, finally free of Percy. "Did he…"

"They got away before the Death Eaters got here." Leo confirmed, and Ginny's features melted into relief.

"I didn't get to say…" She wiped away a tear, a sight that Leo had very rarely seen. "We stayed apart today, knowing we'd have tomorrow…"

Sirius was the one to wrap an arm around her. "Come on, let's get you inside. I think you could all use a strong drink after that." Leo looked at him warningly, but Sirius shrugged. "I said you could, not me."

He was too tired and his chest too in pain to even argue, as a glass of Firewhisky sounded perfect right then, and he trudged slowly into The Burrow, letting Mrs Weasley fawn all over him once she had all but squeezed Ginny into a pulp through her hugs and forcing a large glass of the burning liquid down before making his way up the stairs to his bed. On the first floor, however, Crookshanks was sat down by the door to Ginny's room, analysing the scene in search for one person in particular.

"She's not here, Crooks." Leo said, his voice hoarse from everything that had happened that night. Crookshanks meowed sadly. "Aye, I miss her too." He muttered, kneeling down and letting the large ginger feline nuzzle at him, clearly smelling Hermione on him. "Come on." He nodded up to the next floor where he had been sleeping, with the cat quickly trotting up the stairs and pushing its way into Fred and George's room, jumping up onto the bed that Hermione had slept in the night before. It took a while for Leo to get himself ready for bed, but eventually he pulled the covers over him, moving a hand over to pet Crookshanks. "Looks like it's just you and me now." Leo added softly, before a thought came to him. Grabbing his mirror, he stared into it for a moment, grimacing at how tired he looked. Shaking his head, he spoke into the mirror. "Hermione Granger."

The mirror went dark and shadowy, but no hand came to grab it, nor were there any sound to indicate that she had realised he was trying to contact. Sighing, he shut the connection down and placed it back where it came from before turning to the circular window, the constellation of Leo clearly visible in the centre of the pane, shining bright in the nights sky.

Chapter Text

The sound of heavy traffic was a relief to Hermione as after the sensation of Apparation, she opened her eyes to the sight of a dark alleyway. She took one second to make sure that nobody could see or hear them before pulling both of the boys towards a wall to take cover behind a large metal skip, with Hermione wobbling slightly on her heels as her legs were still recovering from the quick escape. The chaos of the wedding still buzzed in her ears, but at least they'd made it out. They were alive. For now.

"Where are we?" Ron asked her frantically, looking around for any signs he could recognise, and Hermione saw the frustration in his eyes when he couldn't.

"Tottenham Court Road." Hermione panted, looking back out to the busy main road at the end of the alleyway that was filled with Muggles and cars. "In the centre of London. It was the first thought that came to mind… we need to blend into a large crowd and get somewhere safe."

"Blend in?" Ron asked incredulously, gesturing to his dress robes, singed slightly at the hem from their escape. "We look like we've just been kicked out of a fancy dress party."

Hermione didn't bother responding to the Weasley. She instead pulled her beaded bag from her shoulder, yanking it open roughly and sunk her arm deep inside it, rummaging around until she pulled out a bundle of Muggle clothes. "Change into these. Quickly. We don't have time to waste." she ordered as she slipped out of her heels, tossing a t-shirt and jeans to Ron and a hoodie and jeans to Harry, thinking that if anybody needed the extra layer to hide themselves, it would be him.

Harry, much to Hermione's appreciation, quickly began stripping out of his robes as he listened to her, but Ron hesitated. "Uh, Hermione." he said, eyeing her red dress. "Your dress looks nice don't get me wrong… but you won't exactly blend in if we both dress down while you…" He trailed off, his eyes gesturing to her dress.

Hermione froze at his words, her hand clutching the hem of her dress that fell just above her knees as she glanced into the bag at the comfortable outfit she'd set aside for herself, admonishing herself for being so stupid and playful less than an hour earlier. "I'm getting changed." she said quickly, then added. "But you first, and then make sure we aren't being watched!"

"What? Why?" Ron asked, bewildered. "You said we don't have time for this..."

"Just turn around, Ron!" she snapped, her voice an octave higher than usual.

Harry, already half-dressed, shrugged and turned around without complaint. Ron however was confused at the conflicting orders coming out of her mouth, but years of experience with Hermione's glare had taught him enough and so he did the same.

Hermione let out a shaky breath, her cheeks burning. She stared at her dress and then at the leggings and jumper she needed to put on. 'This is ridiculous', she thought. But as she reached for a clean pair of underwear to put on before removing her dress, her blush deepened, the memory of that night still fresh in her mind…

"Are you getting dressed or what?" Ron asked impatiently over his shoulder. "You were the one that said…"

"Turn around properly, Ronald!" Hermione barked, snapping back into her current reality, her tone being sharp enough to make him flinch.

The red-head frowned at her tone, but he once again turned to face the wall. "What's the big deal? We've shared living spaces so many times before, you've never been shy before…" Ron muttered as he turned around slightly, catching Hermione with a comfortable pair of knickers in her hand halfway out of the bag. Then, as if a lightbulb went off, he snorted, his face morphing to a wide and amused grin. "Wait a second… Hermione, were you at the wedding commando!"

Harry barked out a laugh, but quickly caught himself as he tried badly to disguise it with a cough, not wanting to earn any more of Hermione's ire as he faced the main road protectively.

That ire, however, was focused on the Weasley. "I was not!" Hermione snapped, her face now as red as her dress, before she froze, her voice now barely more than a whisper. "Leo has them."

"Leo?" Ron echoed, frowning, and Hermione was once again reminded that Ron had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer and hadn't worked it out. "Why does Leo have your…" His eyes widened in sudden realisation. "Oh my God. You two… at the wedding… you didn't… did you?!"

Hermione's jaw dropped, mortified at how they had suddenly gone from fleeing Death Eaters to talking about her private life. "Ron! Now really isn't the time..."

Ron turned fully around however, his face a mixture of disbelief and smugness as he began to piece things together. "You did! I can't believe it! While everyone else was dancing and having cake, you two were off… disrobing!"

"Honestly Ronald!" Hermione exploded, her voice echoing down the street, to which Harry quickly had his wand out, waving it slightly. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as her anger began to take over. "We're out here on the run from Voldemort and his followers, not knowing where to go, who to trust, or even who back at the Burrow is even still alive! We had to abandon your family because of what we have to do going forward to try and win a war! And all you can focus on is… is… is my bloody knickers!"

The sheer force of her words made both boys freeze, their expressions a mix of guilt and alarm. For a moment, the only sound around them was the faint hum of the city around them as pedestrians, thankfully, were completely oblivious to them, a product of whatever spell Harry had cast, Hermione presumed as she nervously played at her hem.

"Alright." Harry said finally, his voice quiet. "We're sorry. Let's just… get changed and figure out where to go next."

Ron nodded sheepishly, turning back around. "Yeah, sorry, Hermione." Hermione didn't respond to either of them however, instead grabbing her knickers and a pair of leggings, quickly slipping them on before pulling her dress over her head and replacing it with a baggy jumper, her face still flushed with anger and embarrassment. As the boys moved towards the main road she pulled on a pair of trainers, magically tying them as a faint but unmistakable crack echoed somewhere in their vicinity, and Hermione froze.

Another crack followed, louder this time, and the three of them turned slowly, their faces white with dread. "They've found us." Harry whispered, being the one to voice their fears as he pulled his wand slowly out of his pocket. "We have to go. Now."

Ron and Hermione had done the same, pointing their wands at the source of the noise. "Where?" Ron asked.

"Grimmauld Place." Harry whispered sharply. "Nobody would go there… not after the fire. We start there and figure something out." Then without any warning he grabbed Hermione's arm and yanked her down, saving her from a flying bolt of purple light by mere inches. "Now!"

Ron Disapparated first with a deafening crack, and with one final look at Harry who was now solely focused on the source of the spell, Hermione pictured herself travelling to Number 12, that familiar feeling of being sucked through a tube following immediately afterwards.

Hermione felt a large sense of trepidation as they Apparated onto the dark and dismal street, realising the full extent of the damage that the Fiendfyre and the Horcrux had caused. Somehow, Number 12 was still mostly intact with just a few windows blown out and major charring to the paintwork. The spaces that should have shown the houses either side however were completely empty, a few fences with the names of Muggle construction companies attached to them as it became clear that the few weeks since the explosion had been focused on clearing out the rubble.

"Come on." Harry said urging them on, having appeared behind her with a trail of blood dribbling down his cheek. "We can't stay here."

Hermione nodded as she focused on their safety, her wand frantically waving as she tried to decipher as much of the magic as she possibly could that was still there. From her basic tests she could sense that the Fidelius was still in place, though with the death of Professor Dumbledore that meant little if Snape had spilled the secret, but it did mean that for the most part, they would be safe from the Muggles around them and it also explained why Number 12 was the last burned house standing, given nobody knew that the building was even there.

Once they were inside, the true damage to the house could be seen. The once-dark, foreboding structure was now even more sinister, charred beams hanging precariously overhead, the walls scorched black from Fiendfyre. Ash and soot coated every surface, the air thick with the stench of burnt wood and something far darker that made Hermione's eyes water. "Blimey." Ron muttered, stepping over a collapsed beam. His voice echoed hollowly in the silence. "Sirius really didn't hold back, didn't he?"

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand as she spotted the splintered frame that once housed the portrait of Leo's grandmother Walburga, before stepping over that, her eyes scanning the damage to try and work out if being there was a mistake. The house looked like it had been through a war, but even amidst the destruction, she could see areas where the structure still held firm. The ceilings were holding at the very least, though Hermione was hesitant to put too much weight on them by actually going upstairs. "There's enough here to give us shelter for the night." she said, her voice quiet but steady. "We'll be safe for a few hours while we figure out where to start tomorrow."

Harry nodded; his jaw set as he spotted a metallic object lying beneath the melted Troll foot coat stand. Hermione watched as he leant down and picked up a locket, half hanging off of its hinges, but the faint remains of an S could be seen on the outside. "Slytherin's Locket." Harry explained. "Leo was right… it's gone."

They stayed still in silence at the ramifications. On paper, their job seemed easier with one less item to find, but Hermione knew that they had an advantage with the Locket that they didn't have with any other Horcrux. Ron eventually broke the silence. "I'll put up some protection spells." He said as he pulled his wand out of his pocket. Hermione frowned, repeating his words in her head as she registered them, though her look only caused Ron to smirk at her. "What? No need to act surprised, I've been learning basic safety charms from Bill. It's not just you who can throw up wards, you know."

Hermione gave him a faint smile, though the adrenaline within her system was starting to fade as she realised how tired she was. Ron started toward the entrance, muttering incantations under his breath. Just before he left the room however, he glanced back at her and said with a cheeky grin. "Though talking of surprises, we need to talk more about you Hermione… sneaking off with Leo at the wedding and coming back pants-less."

Hermione's face burned with anger once again at the fact that Ron was still banging on about her situation despite everything that had happened that night. She opened her mouth to retort, but he was already gone into the next room, muttering a vast number of protective spells.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked gently, catching her attention again. She stared at him, seeing that he was tightly holding the locket in his hands, almost as if to keep himself reminded that it had actually been destroyed.

Hermione sighed and sank onto the edge of the broken staircase, brushing soot from the hem of her jumper. "No." she admitted, her voice trembling slightly as she finally released the pent up emotions she had been suppressing since leaving the wedding. "I'm not. I've been worried sick about everyone… I can't stop thinking about if my parents are safe in Australia now that we're finally on the run… my house is definitely about to be raided and I just hope they aren't there. I'm worried about everyone we've left behind at The Burrow and now Ron keeps…" She trailed off, her gaze distant. Harry sat down beside her, grabbing both of her hands with his free one comfortingly, waiting patiently as she collected her thoughts. It took a moment for her to feel like her voice wouldn't break with any more words, and she could finally continue. "It's just…" Hermione began, her voice barely above a whisper. "What happened with Leo… it wasn't just some careless thing like Ron is making it out to be. I didn't just trip into bed with him by accident… It was about… fear, and love, and… not knowing if we'd see each other again." She noticed Harry's eyes widen at the love comment, and she wondered if he had ever even contemplated the depth of feeling she was keeping bottled within her. "We knew we'd be separated, and everything right now is so uncertain. It felt like all we had was that one moment, and…" She wiped at her eyes quickly as the tears started to freely fall, the image of Leo's face as she disapparated still burned into the back of her eyelids. "And now I don't know if he's safe, or if I'll ever see him again."

Harry nodded slowly, his own face etched with worry as he let go of her hands and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling Hermione close. "I get it. I've been thinking about Ginny non-stop since we left. Wondering if she's okay… if she's safe back at the Burrow or if they…" He swallowed hard, unable to finish the thought that Hermione knew she was fearing too. "It's terrifying, not knowing."

Hermione glanced at him, her expression softening. "It is." she agreed quietly.

Before they could say anymore, Ron reappeared, his footsteps crunching on the ash-covered floor. He hesitated when he saw their faces, his earlier grin replaced by one wracked with guilt.

"I, uh… I heard." he said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "About what you said, Hermione. I wasn't trying to be mean earlier. I was just… trying to lighten things up, you know? Distract us from all this." He gestured around the ruined house. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

Hermione gave him a small, grateful smile. "Thank you, Ron. I appreciate it."

Ron lowered himself down onto the ground across from them, his face uncharacteristically serious. "I'm worried too. About everyone. And you're right… we've got no idea what's coming next. I just…" He trailed away, before offering them a shrug of his shoulders. "Making jokes is easier than thinking about it all sometimes. A lot of the time."

"We know." Harry said, his voice steady. "We all deal with it in different ways."

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their situation settling over them like the ash that blanketed the house. But in the quiet, there was also a sense of understanding, of solidarity. They were all scared, but at the very least, despite their worry about some of the people they loved most in this world, they would always have each other.

Their quiet moment of contemplation was broken as through the wall a silver jackal came bounding, running around the three of them before stopping in front of Ron, speaking clearly in the voice of Bill Weasley. "Everyone Safe. Do not reply. We are being watched."

The breath of relief that escaped from all three of them was uniform, and though none of them said another word, it wasn't long before they moved into the kitchen, setting out their sleeping bags to try and get a few hours of rest before they began their long, arduous hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes.

The pain in his chest was as bad as it had been since Leo had splinched himself when he woke up the morning after the wedding, though in his early morning haze the 17-year-old wasn't sure if that was due to the strenuous previous day, or the large ginger cat that had somehow decided that the best place to sleep was directly on top of him. He shifted gently so he didn't frighten the animal, but the urge to get out of bed just wasn't there. He kept replaying the events of the night before in his mind, the sight of Hermione Disapparating, the helplessness he felt as he was caught by Avery…

He scowled at the thought of that man, the murderer of his Mother, getting away once again, and it was that anger that forced him to swing his legs over the side of the bed and pull on some shorts and a sleeveless shirt, before slipping into a pair of shoes and making his way downstairs as he gently tried to massage the pain out of his chest, with a now fully awoken Crookshanks slaloming between his legs. "Careful." Leo muttered, almost tripping down the stairs over the cat.

The kitchen table was shrouded in a solemn atmosphere. Ginny was there already pushing around some porridge in her bowl and staring over at the famous Weasley clock, presumably at Ron's hand which was currently locked in at Mortal Peril. Mrs Weasley was over by the sink, washing up the dozens of drinks glasses from the night before.

"Morning Leo." Ginny muttered, not shifting from her position.

That grabbed Mrs Weasley's attention however, and the Matriarch swivelled around, her eyes red and puffy, but still smiling as she saw him. "Leo, dear. Sit, sit down and I'll get you some breakfast."

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley." Leo muttered, his left hand still not moving from his chest. "And some of that pain potion from yesterday wouldn't go amiss if you have any left?" He asked hopefully.

She tutted. "Not today. Over reliance on those will lead you down more trouble than it's worth. Make sure you eat, and then you take it easy for the day, the pain will ease."

"I don't want to be a burden." Leo complained, hauling himself down into the chair opposite Ginny.

"Nonsense!" Mrs Weasley said, a bit too brightly. "You are always welcome here my dear. Just hang on a minute and I'll go and fetch some eggs from the chicken coop." She patted him on the cheek before hurrying through the doorway outside.

"She likes the company, I think." Ginny said, her eyes still trained on the clock. "Bill and Fleur have gone to their new place, the twins live in London, as does Percy when he wants to have his girlfriend round. It's just us and Charlie here now, though where Charlie's got to…" Her eyes flickered across. "Mortal Peril, figures." She scoffed.

"I'm here." The second eldest Weasley sibling yawned from the stairs. Leo turned, noticing that even with his new, shortened haircut being scruffy after sleep, the Dragon Tamer still looked undeniably cool. "Is this us?"

"For now." Ginny nodded, returning her gaze to Ron's clock hand. "Percy said he'd be back this afternoon to help tidy up, but the twins want to stay in Diagon Alley for the time being to keep an eye on the shop… that's what set Mum off this morning, she's worried." Charlie nodded, sitting down beside his sister and grabbing her bowl. "Oi!" Ginny exclaimed, finally looking away from the clock in time to see Charlie stick a finger into her porridge and eat it.

"We'll hear if something happens to Ron." Charlie explained, pushing the bowl back. "Trust me, they'll be fine. They have somewhat smart heads on their shoulders after all."

Ginny nodded, but her face remained downcast as she stared down at her bowl, returning to just pushing the porridge around instead of managing to eat it. Leo instead tried to feel as if he was doing something proactive and asked Charlie. "What's the plan then, what do we do?"

Charlie sighed. "There's not a lot we can do if I'm honest. With the Ministry fallen… we'll all be put on watch lists so I don't even know if the Order can meet safely. They certainly can't here anymore with the protections gone." He put his arm around Ginny protectively. "I'm going to stay for a bit though… at least until you go back to Hogwarts."

"But your job?" Ginny asked. "Romania?"

"Can wait." Charlie stated bluntly. "I'm needed here, Gin. The guys in Romania… they have family that lived through Grindelwald, they understand."

"Will they help?" Leo asked quickly, barely thinking his thought through. "If we can gather allies abroad…"

Shaking his head, Charlie doused the flames of that idea quicker than it had formed. "Grindelwald's revolution… that part of Europe still hasn't fully recovered from it, his name is still feared there. They don't want to get involved in what they consider to be a British problem."

It didn't sit right with Leo as he mulled it over. "We should still get the word out… France, Germany… none of our neighbours should be watching us now and thinking that this is acceptable."

"There isn't enough of us to fight the fight here and gather international support." Charlie shrugged. "We'll do our best, but…" He paused, stretching back to look outside. "Shit… she's crying again." And without another word Charlie bolted out of the kitchen and out of the back door. Leo could hear the faint sounds of him comforting Mrs Weasley, but felt awkward and out of place in the middle of their kitchen, sat like an invalid.

"Where do you think they'll start?" Ginny asked, making the most of the room being emptied.

Leo wished he knew, as the temptation to just abandon everything to go and join them… go and join her, was getting to be too much. "I don't know." He admitted, hating the fact. "I just hope they make contact soon."

The afternoon after the wedding was Leo's first back inside the house at Goblin Coombe in what felt like ages. His room felt different, although nothing had been moved other than a handful of his books, while the grounds around the house somehow seemed bleaker, though that might have had something to do with the almost torrential rain that seemed to hammer down in the immediate aftermath of the wedding.

The following day, more change came. With all of the working Weasley's independently announcing that they noticed that they had been followed throughout the day, the decision had been made to send Ginny to join Sirius and Leo in the lesser known and by now, far more protected location. Officially the Weasley's had all independently announced Ron's spattergroit to whoever they could tell and Ginny was at her Aunt Muriel's, but unofficially, Harry's room in the house now had an occupant.

The first evening that Ginny had spent in the house was a quiet one, with all of the occupants worrying about the three teenagers now presumably roaming the countryside looking for any of the Horcruxes that they could find. As they thought amongst themselves the radio was sounding in the background, with a news bulletin asking for sightings of Harry Potter grabbing all of their attentions until Sirius clapped his hands together, causing the other two to turn their attention away from the radio. "We should be productive instead of moping around." Sirius exclaimed. "Come on, let's see how much you've learned."

He waved his wand and a trio of cushions moved onto the carpeted floor of the living room, indicating where they should each sit. Leo did as he was asked, crossing his legs and taking a deep breath, focusing on everything that he had learned about Occlumency so far. Once he felt calm, he pictured the locked door of the Restricted Section, checking the dozen locks to make sure they were all tightly fastened. "Ready." He said.

"Legilimens." Sirius called out, and Leo immediately felt the locks begin to rattle and shake as an ache in his head appeared. He held firm though despite four locks snapping open in quick succession, eventually manage to replace two of them before the pressure in his head lifted and he felt comfortable enough to open his eyes to see a widely grinning Sirius. "Very good! You're almost there. Once you can replace those locks as quickly as your opponent can break them, then you will be ready." He grinned, his widest grin since… well, he didn't want to think about that while Sirius and Ginny were practicing breaking into one other's minds. Sirius then turned to Ginny. "How are you getting on?"

The red-head huffed. "I can't get a good enough barrier. Leo kept breaking through at home. I tried things that meant a lot to me… my room, the Common Room, the Quidditch changing rooms…" She trailed off. "Leo saw it all." The morning after the wedding Ginny had seen Leo trying to clear his mind and asked him to help her learn too, but the Weasley so far had struggled, and Leo had seen far too much of Harry Potter's tongue than he ever had wanted too…

The image on his face must have been projecting his thoughts as Sirius barked out a laugh. "That's the best form of motivation." He told Ginny kindly. "Don't worry, I won't go poking through your innermost secrets, just try and think of something strong, a memory that represents utter secrecy to you."

"What's yours?" Ginny asked as a silvery swan soared gracefully into the living room.

"Now."

Sirius froze for a second before he leapt to his feet. "Andi." He whispered. "I have to go… stay inside, both of you." He urged before rushing towards the door, pausing as he grabbed the handle, not looking over at Ginny as he answered the question. "Azkaban. My barrier is Azkaban." And with that he shot off.

The room felt colder at the mention of the prison, and Leo looked over at the Weasley woman who seemed to have had a dark realisation. He gave her some time, going to the kitchen to get two butterbeer bottles before sitting back down, Ginny's expression having since turned defiant. "Are you ready?" He asked softly.

She merely nodded, turning to face him as her eyes remained firmly shut. Leo raised his wand slowly and whispered. "Legilimens."

He was pulled into the Seventh Floor Corridor, with the portrait of George von Rheticus having swung open as Harry and Ginny were kissing. It was a sweet scene, Leo thought, until from behind him he heard. "OI!" They broke apart and Leo jumped out of the way to see a very red eared Ron Weasley glaring towards his best friend and sister. "What the bloody hell… WHAT IS GOING ON!"

Leo had no interest in hearing this argument again and so gently removed himself from the memory, opening his eyes once again to see Ginny looking frustratedly at the floor. "Why can't I do it." She grumbled.

"Occlumency is an advanced magic, Ginny." Leo explained. "Harry struggles a lot with it… and you're 15."

"16 in a week." She grumbled.

"But still underage." Leo insisted, handing her the butterbeer bottle. "We have time, we'll keep at it, I promise."

The red-head sighed, nodding slightly. "I just… Harry's told me a lot. I don't want to betray him…" She went silent, staring over at the still switched on radio that was now explaining about a dementor attack over in Stoke-on-Trent. "I'm going to go to bed… see if I can clear my mind." Ginny mumbled. Without a word Leo let her go, wondering as she shut the door behind her how he was going to help her before they were due to go back to Hogwarts.

The Chamber was very dimly lit, so much so that Leo had to squint in order to see anything in front of him. Either side of the narrow stone walkway stood stone pillars, carved serpents having snaked around them in order to hold up the ceiling… wherever that was in the darkness up above. In the distance in front of him stood a large statue carved into the wall of the chamber. He moved towards it, his footsteps echoing in the damp, dark cavern.

He recognised Salazar Slytherin from the portraits dotted around the school and the sketching's in many of the history books. He was tall and thin, with a balding head and a long beard that would even have put Professor Dumbledore's to shame reaching near his feet. At the foot of the statue he saw a small, red-headed girl holding a black book.

"Ginny…" He whispered, walking quicker to reach her. As he neared however, the most horrible hissing sound escaped her mouth and the mouth of the statue started to open…

Before he saw anything slither out of the Founder's mouth, a feeling like a rope tightened around his midriff and Leo was launched backwards, flying through the air as he weaved neatly through the long forgotten passageways and out through a thick, bronze circular door, being thrown against the rocky walls as the door slammed itself shut, and the 15-year-old Ginny in her muggle clothes stood defiantly before him.

"No." She said firmly, holding her wand out towards him as the scene around them melted, and instead of the cold and dark chamber, they were standing out in the cloudy open, the garden of his house spreading all around them. He could see the sweat of exertion on her face as she was breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath.

"That was fantastic!" Leo exclaimed. "Well done."

Ginny, however, did not look happy. Her brown eyes exuding nothing but anger. "I don't even remember that! How did you…" She closed her eyes tightly, stamping her leg on the grass. "Did you go looking?"

It would be a lie if Leo said he hadn't, and so he walked closer to his friend as he spoke softly. "I figured that seeing you and Harry together, or you and Corner, just wasn't bringing out the right emotions within you to be able to get the hang of it. Occlumency works best through calmness it's true, but you need to have a building block to work from. Getting you to the Chamber… your worst memory so to speak, I hoped that would bring what you needed out." He then tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder. "And it did… you threw me out of there quickly."

She opened her eyes, the angry blaze somewhat dimming. "You should have warned me." She muttered.

"If he had done that." Sirius' voice sounded from the bluebell patch he was tending too, and the two teenagers looked over towards him. "Then the result wouldn't have been as strong." He placed the watering can on the ground and moved closer. "I take it you've taken a step forwards?" Ginny nodded. "Then let me try, Leo is getting there with Legilimancy, but he's still not refined enough." He then grinned slightly at Ginny's worried face. "I'll be gentle, I promise."

Eventually, she nodded, and Leo watched as she stood defiantly, her eyes shut tightly once more as Sirius cast the spell, dropping his wand around ten seconds later with a pleased grin on his face. "That is brilliant." He encouraged her. "That door… is that?"

"The entrance to the Chamber." Ginny whispered. "I never wanted to see it again."

"I never wanted to see Azkaban again." Sirius shrugged. "But there's nothing quite like a wizarding prison surrounded by Dementors to keep out unwanted guests." He patted her on the shoulder. "Nice job, seriously, but I think that's enough for today." Leo could only agree, feeling drained as he thought more on the Chamber of Secrets, a horrible, historical based fascination to go down there and see what it was actually like.

After a hearty dinner from Kreacher and a final lesson from Sirius on their Patronus charms, with the adult now trying to get the two students to get them talking as the Order could, Leo moved up to bed ready for a long nights sleep. He got himself undressed, the heat outside making his usual pyjamas almost unnecessary as he tucked himself in. Sighing, he picked up the mirror as he did every night, looking at himself for a moment before he said. "Hermione Granger."

Once again the image began to cloud and darken, and Leo was ready to place it back down on his bedside table, when all of a sudden the darkness shifted, and the image showed the other mirror being pulled out of a bag, and Hermione Granger's face could be seen. "Leo!" She cried out happily. "I've tried you three times today!"

Laughing, Leo felt his eyes well up at the sight of her. She looked rough, her hair was a mess and she had bags under her eyes, but despite all that Leo couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful he thought she was. "I must have been downstairs." He laughed. "I've tried you nightly for a week! I'm glad you're alright. What in Merlin's name happened to you?"

She sighed. "What hasn't happened." She muttered, before she launched into an explanation of what happened immediately after the wedding, of travelling to Tottenham Court Road and being found instantly, something which worried Leo most of all and he insisted he would have the Order look into it, and then she explained about their night at Grimmauld Place before apparating to the countryside. "I won't say where though." She said softly, her eyes darting around her tent. "We've been extremely careful with what we've been saying out loud since the first night. It's been a bit awkward really, not really knowing what we should be saying…"

He nodded, wondering what she must have thought of him as being the reason Grimmauld Place was the way it was. "Was there anything… salvageable?" He asked, more in hope than expectation.

Hermione shook her head. "The entire building was a husk… I'm sorry, Leo. The muggles are rebuilding though, and nobody was hurt, we overheard one of the residents talking to the builders just before we left."

He was more annoyed about the library than the house itself being destroyed, but he was grateful that she had news of the locals. "It's been quiet here really." He began to talk on his own week. "Ginny is here… we figure it's safer than The Burrow with everyone being watched. We've just been learning Occlumency." And he rushed into an explanation then of how his mind barrier worked and his progress, before adding. "Perhaps Harry needs to think of that approach… picture something secure that means something strong to him, good or bad."

"I'll let him know." Hermione told him, looking over to one side to what he assumed was the area the boys were sleeping in. "We overheard the news about Hogwarts today…"

While the announcement of Professor Dumbledore's replacement hadn't officially been announced yet, the news of the morning had been that attendance was now compulsory for all magical children between the ages of 11 and 17, something that had never been the case before. "Yeah, we're preparing. Diagon Alley will be a struggle though." He admitted, knowing that half of the Order expected a blood bath whenever known Order sympathisers took their families. "Sirius has been trying to get me to transfigure his fur in Animagus form to try and disguise himself."

"Please be careful." Hermione insisted. "Not just for your own safety… but Ron said this morning that he has a really bad feeling about Hogwarts this year… we need people like you there to help the students and protect them."

"I have a plan." Leo said honestly. "It makes me feel sick inside… but I need to use my blood status to my advantage." Hermione looked confused. "That was later in the article, blood status will need to be stated and shown, meaning I get to prance around the bloody place showing off the fact I'm Pureblood…"

"Merlin…" Hermione whispered, horrified. "What do you think they'll do to the Muggleborns?"

Honestly, Leo didn't even want to imagine it. "Nothing good." He stated morbidly. "We've only heard bits from the Order… nobody wants to gather in one place while everyone is being watched, but there's changes being made at the Ministry. Percy is still Junior Assistant to the Minister, though Dad thinks that's just to keep a Weasley close by in case of anyone causing trouble."

"Is he…" Hermione trailed off, the worry in her eyes telling Leo everything about her fears.

"He's not a part of the Order, no, we don't want to put him under any further risk than he's already in." Leo shook his head. "To be honest I'm not really sure if there is a proper Order at the moment, we need to try and work out who will lead us now Moody… that will come, I'm sure. We're just all trying to survive."

It was a sentiment they both agreed with, and the following silence as they both mulled over the current state of things was interrupted by a loud hooting of an owl coming from the mirror. "It's late, we should get some rest. We're off again tomorrow." She explained, seemingly wanting to share more, but stopping herself at the last minute. "I'll try and contact you tomorrow at the same time."

Smiling, Leo nodded. "Please do, we're all worried about you." He expressed softly. She returned the smile, though her lip had started to quiver. "Go, get some sleep." He then insisted.

Chuckling weakly, Hermione nodded. "I love you." She told him.

"And I love you." Leo returned the feeling, waiting until Hermione had cancelled the connection to put the mirror back down, gazing up at his ceiling once he had glad at finally knowing that she was alright.

Chapter Text

Thankfully, Leo's trip to Diagon Alley had gone rather well. Despite nearly everybody's arguments he had persuaded the Order that he was best off going without Sirius being there, and so with just Leta Lestrange following behind with an invisibility cloak Leo managed to Apparate into the Leaky Cauldron, where there were a pair of Death Eaters that he recognised from the Astronomy Tower trying to keep a low profile that he managed to avoid the attention of, and got his banking and school shopping done within an hour.

By the time August was at its end, he was happy with both his and Ginny's Occlumency skills, with the Weasley managing to keep the Chamber door locked against both Leo and Sirius by the time she needed to go back to The Burrow to avoid suspicions. This led to the morning of September 1st being a quiet one, as Leo awoke early and slowly made his way down to the kitchen where Kreacher was coming to the end of cooking a full English. "Master Leo must sit." Kreacher explained. "Kreacher has retrieved the paper already, and breakfast will be soon."

"Thank you, Kreacher." He made sure to thank the House Elf, who had actually been quite pleasant to him ever since the destruction of the Horcrux. He noticed the paper immediately, rolled up in a brown paper sleeve as was the custom in the Godric's Hollow Post Office to keep the muggle residents from spotting any moving images. He faltered slightly as he did every morning at the name of the subscription, Mary Evans written on the brown paper, but unfurled the paper quickly as a hot plate full of bacon, sausages, eggs, hash browns, beans, fried tomatoes and a slice of black pudding floated over towards him. He took a bite of the accompanying toast before his eyes widened at the image on the front of the paper, followed by the headline.

SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER

"You must be JOKING!" Leo exclaimed loudly, frightening the poor elf who had begun to dish out a second plate. He continued reading the article, learning that Muggle Studies had a new teacher in Alecto Carrow, while her brother Amycus took over in Defence Against the Dark Arts. The irony of a Death Eater teaching that subject wasn't lost on him, but he stabbed into his sausage angrily as he read through the paper, coming to the end just in time to hear loud footsteps running down the stairs and barging into the kitchen.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, frantically. Leo handed him the paper as he ate his breakfast with anger at the new developments, mopping up his beans by the time Sirius had finished. "Well, that settles it then. You aren't going."

Scoffing, Leo shook his head. "I have to, it's compulsory now." He rolled his eyes.

"Bugger that." Sirius growled. "If they even know where this place is… let them try and come for you. There's more offensive protections here than you'll see anywhere outside of Gringotts. One sniff of a Dark Mark and even the Muggles will know something's going on. You're safe here…"

"I'll be safe, but what about the other students?" Leo asked, his thoughts turning back to his first mirror conversation with Hermione. "I can't sit here while three Death Eaters try and reap havoc amongst the students, Dad. That's not right."

"It might not be right, but it's safe." Sirius countered, his own breakfast floating towards the table. "I can't lose you too…"

"I'll be fine, they won't harm me." He shrugged. There was a lot about the upcoming year that Leo didn't know what was coming, but one thing he was sure about was that. "My blood is too pure for them to risk me."

"Don't think that will save you if you cause too much trouble." Sirius told him. "Which, I presume you're going to do?" Without saying a word, Leo polished off the last of his breakfast with a grin towards his father. "Good lad." The adult barked a laugh.

"I need to see what it's like first." Leo explained. "But I don't plan on lying down and letting the Carrow's and Snape have it all their own way." He noticed the clock on the wall was now showing 9:30. "I best get ready."

Sirius wolfed down the last of his breakfast. "Me too."

"No." Leo said firmly. "You're too well known, Dad. Once the train is gone…"

"I'll leave immediately." He shrugged. "I'm not letting you go there on your own…"

"I won't be on my own." Leo insisted. "My classmates will be there, Molly and Bill… Leta's even said she's going to go with her sister to drop off Sullivan." He moved back to the table to place a comforting hand on Sirius' shoulder. "The platform is guarded; I'll be fine."

Sirius grumbled, but then looked over to the House Elf that was currently humming an old, pure blood tune as he scrubbed up the pans in the sink. "Kreacher." Sirius barked.

"Yes Master." The House Elf croaked.

"Make sure that Leo gets on the train alright. Don't come back until he is sat in the Great Hall at Hogwarts."

Leo frowned. "I don't need a babysitter."

"Yes, you do." Sirius stated firmly. "And I need to know you're safe." He stood up then, and the pair were mere inches from one another. "I will not lose you too if I can do anything to help it."

It felt like a stand-off as both dark eyed men tried to get the other to back down through a stare, but eventually Leo relented, sighing as he dropped his gaze to the Daily Prophet on the table and saw Snape's beady eyes looking over at them. "Kreacher, you'll remain hidden, yes?" He asked the House Elf.

"Kreacher will be unseen by all as he protects young Master." The House Elf bowed.

Still unhappy, but slightly persuaded by the presence of the House Elf behind him, the student finally nodded. "Then fine."

Sirius grinned at his small victory, clapping Leo on the back as he said. "Go on then, go and get your trunk!"

Grumbling under his breath about around half a dozen curses he would have liked to use there and then, Leo did eventually make his way up the stairs to do his final checks that his trunk was fully packed and ready, including the pair of mirrors he knew he would need this year more than any other.

Leo managed to Apparate into a nearby alleyway half an hour before the train was due to depart. Without Cosmo he was able to place both featherweight and shrinking charms on his trunk so that it would fit in his pocket and he had free range of movement in case anything happened. He quickly made his way through the station and through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, and he noticed that Platform 9 seemed more muted than he'd ever known it. He immediately spotted Leta Scamander nearby, the 50-year-old woman keeping a close eye on things as she stood near her sister and nephew, the 6th year Hufflepuff Sullivan Fawley, but Leo tried not to make it obvious that he knew her as he walked down the platform.

Around halfway down, he spotted a familiar face and he finally let out a large sigh of relief as he jogged towards Anna and her Father. She spotted him quickly, turning with a bright smile and exclaimed. "Leo!" before wrapping him tightly in her arms.

"Anna, I'm glad you're safe." He said softly, using the hug as an excuse to check out the surroundings, happy that there seemed to be no Death Eaters lurking as he pulled away. "I did wonder if you'd make it…"

Her father, Patrick, shook Leo's hand firmly in greeting. "Melissa wanted us to flee, but this one." He nodded towards his daughter. "Is rather convincing when she wants to be."

"I'm not running away, Dad." Anna stated firmly, her arms crossing in annoyance. "I told you this at the funeral."

Patrick Bailey nodded. "I'll be joining your Mother after I hear you are back at school safely, she's moved back to Canada early you see, this is all too much." He told Leo before turning back to his daughter. "And you know to let us know if you need us to come and get you…"

"I'll be fine." Anna said, giving her Dad a crushing hug. "I love you, go and look after Mum."

Patrick sniffed, and Leo saw a tear drop down his cheek. "You're our baby, Anna, our only one. Please, please be careful." He then turned to Leo. "And you too. Your mother wouldn't want you to die in her name…"

"Dad!" Anna scolded.

"It's alright, Anna." Leo said, turning to Patrick then. "I won't be stupid, sir, but I won't sit there and accept what is happening to the world, that really would be going against all Mum stood for then." In the distance he saw Bill and Ginny arriving, and Ginny immediately made her way over to greet Luna, Neville, and Lavender Brown. A quick glance at his watch showed that they had 10 minutes to go. "We best get on." Leo noted. "I'll make sure Anna is safe, Mr Bailey, you have my word."

He could instantly tell that Patrick Bailey thought that he was in way over his head, but the reassurance must have done something as he nodded his head and held out his hand for Leo to shake once more. "I believe you, son." He then hugged Anna once more. "Remember…"

"I'll send an owl as soon as I can with our words so you know I'm safe." Anna told him. "Look after Mum!"

Leo let them have their moment before departure as he stepped onto the train, moving towards a larger carriage where he quickly spotted his classmates and friends. He greeted Luna, Parvati, Lavander and Seamus before sitting down on the same table as Neville and Ginny, with Anna joining him soon afterwards just as the train began to move. Once they had rounded the corner and the train was speeding up, the group felt comfortable to talk properly as Neville waved his wand around and cast. "Muffliato."

"I didn't expect to see Dean or Hermione, but I also haven't seen Harry, thank Merlin." Parvati was the first to say. "But I am worried that I haven't seen Fay…"

"Fay's safe." Leo and Anna both said at the same time, though Leo continued for the benefit of their friends. "Her mum's Muggleborn… so they've gone into hiding to protect her."

"What about Ron?" Seamus asked. "I thought he'd be here…"

Ginny and Leo avoided eye contact as much as possible, both clearly thinking on where the trio actually were at that moment. "Spattergroit." Ginny lied with ease. "Nasty case, I had to go and stay with my Great Aunt Muriel for most of the summer."

They settled into a contemplative silence as the train trundled along, though it was Seamus who spoke next, saying the thing that they were all thinking. "This year is going to be different."

It took two hours for the first sign of the new Hogwarts regime to show itself, as just like in Leo's third year the train began to slow down as it raced through the Lincolnshire countryside. Leo reached into his pocket where his wand was kept and withdrew it, placing it on the table in front of him carefully, noticing as a number of the other students around him did exactly the same.

"What's going on?" Lavender asked, her fear showing in her voice.

"Just stay calm." Neville told her as he uncast the Muffliato charm. "They're searching for Undesirables now that we are clear of the platform."

They were waiting for a while, but eventually the door to the carriage opened and in stepped two tall men in dark robes, slowly stalking their way through the carriage looking at each individual student. By the time they got to the 7th Year Gryffindor's, the Death Eater immediately noted the wands on the tables.

"He's not here." Neville stated firmly.

"We'll be the judge of that." The first Death Eater growled, looking around at them all. "When did you last see Harry Potter?" His eyes were trained on Leo.

Keeping as calm as he possibly could, Leo mustered up his bravest, nonchalant voice. "Not since the funeral."

The second Death Eater huffed in disbelief, but Leo kept his posture strong and his face plain, waiting for the first Death Eater to turn. Eventually he did, staring at a defiant Ginny for a second longer than he should before carrying on through the train. "Blimey…" Seamus began, but Leo shushed him harshly, glaring at the Irishman to keep quiet.

It was only when the train began to move again that Leo felt comfortable enough to speak, recasting the Muffliato charm. "They were all over Diagon Alley this year, keeping hidden enough, but they were there."

"Who were they?" Parvati asked.

Ginny simply scoffed. "Really? They were Death Eaters."

"At the school?" Lavender squeaked.

Neville glowered. "The Carrow's are Death Eaters, Lav. The school will be crawling with them." He turned to Leo. "I saw Malfoy before we boarded, his mother was rushing him on, but I caught her saying 'Head Boy', so we know that one of them is at the top." He looked around at the rest of the Gryffindors. "Look, we don't have Harry this year, nor do we have Ron or Hermione. Students will be looking at us to help them, and we need to do exactly that. We can't sit at the back of the class and do nothing, playing nice with the Death Eaters. We need to show them that we won't back down, we won't accept their ways…"

"Hear hear." Seamus called, and the three 7th year girls followed suit.

Neville was looking at Leo then. "Agree?" He asked.

Leo admired his friend there, it was inspiring to see how far Neville had come since their first year, and though Leo knew that they needed some subtlety in their actions, he agreed with the sentiment and nodded. "If we sit around and do nothing, we're as bad as them." He said calmly. "But we need to be smart about it, have plans."

"What are you thinking?" Ginny asked.

Smirking, he looked around at the group, all of them seemingly eager to do their part. "Never let them get comfortable." He told them all. "If we can keep them distracted, they'll never get to settle down and poison the place like Umbridge tried to."

It was clear that more people could actively see the Thestrals this year by the time Leo had made his way over to the carriages, the queue of students seemed a lot greater than normal, with many confused faces staring up at the large, winged beasts. It took a little bit of persuading from the few Prefects in the vicinity, but eventually the queues moved along and together with his fellow Gryffindor 7th years, they rode along towards the castle. The cold was apparent quickly, and he noticed Lavender and Anna's faces especially as they spotted the Dementors hovering around the boundary of the castle.

Upon entry they were subject to even more scrutiny from Filch who prodded and poked them with secrecy sensors before allowing them entry into the castle, where the two new teachers stood looking down on all of the arrivals. Leo kept his mental shields up as he passed through the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall, finding his seat quickly on the Gryffindor Table with his back to the wall beside Anna, with Seamus slotting in on his other side. Looking up to the Teacher's table, Leo could only frown at the sight of Professor Snape in the Headmaster's chair, the Carrow's now joining him and taking their own seats.

"It looks wrong." Neville muttered from across the table. Leo could only agree, nodding as he spotted all the other returning students from the other houses were also staring up at the new Headmaster. Their attention was diverted to the other side of the large room when the doors opened and silence fell, with Professor McGonagall leading a line of very nervous 11 year olds down in between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, letting them gather in front of the teachers table before retrieving the famous stool and Sorting Hat, stepping back as the brim of the hat opened up, and began to sing.

"In times of peace, I sort with cheer,
To place you where you'll persevere.
But dark days loom, a shadow grows,
And where you stand, the Sorting shows.

Four founders built this school of old,
With wisdom, bravery, cunning, and gold.
They sought to teach, to guide, to grow,
But division reaps what we did sow.

Gryffindor's bold and daring might,
Shall fight the dark with fiercest light.
Hufflepuff's loyal hearts, steadfast and true,
Will stand together to see us through.

Ravenclaw's keen and thoughtful mind,
Will seek the path that none can find.
Slytherin's cunning, sharp and sly,
Might turn the tide or let us die.

But listen well to what I say,
These walls are strong but may decay.
Divided we're weak, united we're strong,
Stand together, right the wrong!

For enemies within do plot and scheme,
And tear apart the founders' dream.
A choice is yours, now take a stand,
The fate of Hogwarts, in your hand."

Like the previous year the applause was muted, and nobody dared say a word as the words were digested around the entire room. Leo's eyes were focused on the new Headmaster, who's face remained stoic as if he hadn't even heard the song. The Carrow's looked dangerous however, and Professor McGonagall thankfully stepped forwards to begin the Sorting before they could say anything.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." The Professor announced. "Jessica Alderton."

A small brunette with a short bob looked like she was shaking with fear as she moved up to the stool, her eyes being covered by the Sorting Hat as it was placed upon her head for less than a minute before the Sorting Hat called out. "RAVENCLAW!"

With a sigh of relief the girl jumped off of the stool and went running towards the Ravenclaw table, where she was welcomed by Padma Patil. Edward Bellchant was called next and was sorted into Hufflepuff, before the first new Gryffindor was then sorted as Francis Birch joined them. It was a full year group, with over 40 new students that Leo pitied with each time the Sorting Hat called out their respective houses, with the final student, Andrew Whittle, making his way over to the Hufflepuff table. With the Sorting finished, Professor McGonagall went to store the Sorting Hat and stool away, and Professor Snape stood up, with every student in their second year or higher holding their breath to see what the man would say.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The dark haired man drawled. "As your new Headmaster, I am committed to ensuring that Hogwarts remains a place of discipline, structure, and excellence. This year, more than ever, the values of obedience and respect for authority will be paramount. Those who fail to meet these expectations will find that there are... consequences." He then gestured towards the Carrow's. "I have appointed two new Professors to join our esteemed staff. Professor Amycus Carrow will assume responsibility for Defence Against the Dark Arts, while Professor Alecto Carrow will oversee the study of Muggle Studies after the resignation of Professor Burbage. Muggle Studies is also now a required course for all students, with your timetables tomorrow morning adapted to show this."

He took a breath, letting that settle into the students before he continued again, his eyes looking towards the Gryffindor table as he continued. "The days of coddling and half-measures are over. This is a school for witches and wizards of strength and ambition, not for fools or weaklings. Those who cannot rise to these standards will find themselves quickly left behind." Whispers grew again, and Leo found himself scowling at the implications of what being left behind would entail, though Professor Snape continued again. "And yet, despite what some of you may whisper in dark corners…" He looked again to the Gryffindor's. "Hogwarts remains a place of learning. Let me remind you that this castle stands as it always has. Unshaken, unbroken, and a beacon of the magic that binds us all. To those who would thrive, who would prove their worth, you will find opportunity here. To those who would resist... you will find no refuge. I trust you will make the appropriate choices."

He held his silence for a lengthy pause as once again the students discussed the speech, before Professor Snape clapped his hands a singular time and the tables were suddenly inundated with food. His belly rumbling, Leo stacked his plate with a hearty helping, polishing it off quickly without a word as he was just eager to get back to the Gryffindor Common Room. He was interrupted by an arriving Professor McGonagall though, who had stopped nearby at Ginny's place.

"Miss Weasley. I do not see your brother here." She stated.

Ginny shrugged. "He's got Spattergroit, Professor, I barely saw anybody this summer as he was so ill, I stayed with my Aunt Muriel. Mum or Bill should have sent a letter."

"Your Mother did, I just wanted to hear the truth from you." The Professor explained, before she looked towards the 7th years. "With Miss Granger also not being among you, I find myself two prefects down." Suddenly in her hands she held two prefect badges, each being a crimson colour with the golden Gryffindor Lion in the centre, a large P superimposed in its torso. "Miss Patil, here." She handed the wide eyed Parvati the first badge, before the Professor's eyes found Leo's. "Mr MacDonald." She then handed him the second one. "If the pair of you could come to my office after the feast, I shall go through your new duties with you."

"Thank you, Professor." Leo said, being unable to hide his surprise and awe as the Professor nodded her head curtly and returned to the teachers table. Leo placed his badge on the table in front of him, staring at the lion.

"Put it on!" Anna encouraged, and Leo did just that, pinning the badge to his robes.

"I thought…" He looked over at Neville, for some reason having expected him to get the badge instead.

Neville however laughed loudly. "You're better in classes; it should always have been you."

"Hear hear." Seamus called. "At least we can get our own back this year now. Especially with Malfoy as Head Boy."

Leo laughed along with his friends, the crimson and gold badge feeling rather heavy on his robes and the colour catching his eye. In the distance he saw Professor Snape staring over at him, the adult's face impossible to read, though Leo hoped that in the new Headmaster's head a number of imaginative curse words were being thought at the new Prefect appointment.

The last time Leo had been in Professor McGonagall's office had been for his Career Advice talk, and though he still felt like he should be in trouble when he and Parvati sat down at her desk, the cosy room was somewhat heartwarming. The Professor was sat on the other side of the desk once again shuffling through papers, letting them sit for a moment before she began to speak.

"Now that we are in private, I want to once again ask about Mr Weasley." Professor McGonagall stated. "Mr MacDonald, I know you were with the Weasley family for a period over summer…"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know what to say, Professor, the last I saw of Ron was at his brother's wedding. Ginny said he caught a nasty case of Spattergroit."

He could see that she didn't believe him, and presumed that this line of questioning was a farce for the both of them. "Miss Dunbar also hasn't been seen." Professor McGonagall noted.

"Again, I've not seen her in weeks." Leo insisted. "Though I am worried about her… Mrs Dunbar is Muggleborn, see."

"I remember Miss Dowson… now Mrs Dunbar, well enough from her time as a student." Professor McGonagall told him. "A Hufflepuff, and a timid thing until she met Mr Dunbar. Both Barry and Fay thankfully took after him in their personality, and it's likely a good thing they did." She paused as she flicked through her notes. "We were expecting the two youngest to attend Hogwarts this term. As a result, I am sure a message has already made its way to the Ministry to seek their arrest. I hope you are positive about their safety." She looked over her glasses towards Leo, who nodded firmly. "Good. Now, as already mentioned with Mr Weasley and Miss Granger currently absent, the duty of Prefect has fallen to the pair of you. This is both a privilege and a responsibility that I expect you to appreciate and take seriously. As Seventh Years you will be expected to be leaders within Gryffindor House and should set the examples that we expect everybody wearing the lion on their robes to show." She paused for a moment, looking at Leo cautiously. "Though you will be expected to report directly to Professors Carrow and Carrow…" She said the word Professor with a level of disdain that Leo had rarely heard from the Head of House. "I would advise you to be very sure that teacher interference is needed. You are Seventh Years and adults as such, as the more mature members of Gryffindor and even amongst your classmates I expect you to show that maturity when it comes to handing our punishments. As a reminder, Prefects can give out detentions to those breaking any school rules, while points deductions still remain as being limited to the Head Boy and Girl, along of course with staff."

"Malfoy and Parkinson can take points away?" Parvati asked, horrified.

"Yes, Miss Patil, and I advise you to remind your friends and classmates about that fact succinctly." Professor McGonagall added. "This year will be one full of changes and trials, I would garner. In addition to your usual duties, I cannot stress the importance of being a support system for Gryffindor House. I keep saying this, but it is paramount that you understand, you both are our leaders within the student body, and that will be extremely important as the year progresses." She then looked once again at Leo. "You have already been recognised from the end of last term, Mr MacDonald, and so to you I urge this even more so than to Miss Patil. Be a leader, not a martyr." Leo nodded firmly, understanding completely. "Very well, if there are no further questions, then here are the passwords you will need." She told them both the passwords to the Gryffindor Common Room, the Prefects Bathroom and other areas that they would have access to, eventually having explained everything that she needed and dismissed the pair.

Parvati was quick to leave the room, but the question that Leo had in the back of his head since being handed the badge was gnawing too greatly at him, and so before he reached the door Leo turned back to the Professor and asked. "Why was I not chosen in 5th year, Professor?"

Professor McGonagall looked over her glasses once again at him, studying him for a moment. "I initially chose Mr Potter." Professor McGonagall explained. "I thought his leadership would be vital within Gryffindor, yet I was overruled by the Headmaster. The choice between Mr Weasley and yourself was a challenging one, but I decreed that Mr Weasley would benefit more for having the added responsibilities given his closeness to Mr Potter, whilst also being more assertive when the need arose. You had all the grades and were rule abiding and would have made a good Prefect I am sure, but until part way through your 5th year, you were lacking in the leadership skills that you are now showing in great abundance." She paused again. "I believe my choice to be the correct one, seeing you standing here now despite all you have endured."

It made sense now that it had been spelled out for him, and Leo would have to agree with the assessment. "I've had to grow up quickly." He said softly.

"As have you all, a fact that pains me so." Professor McGonagall admitted, before nodding towards the door. "Please, Mr MacDonald, if there is anything else you need, my door is open. But for now, get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a day you will want to be fully rested for."

Leo nodded, hearing the dismissal loud and clear and so he ducked out of the room to where Parvati was waiting for him, the pair of new Prefects travelling the short distance to the Fat Lady's portrait in contemplative silence.

"Password." The portrait said, looking down at them expectantly.

"Semper Fortis." Leo announced, and with a smile the Fat Lady moved her hand and swung open to reveal the Gryffindor Common Room, where Leo's bed was loudly calling to him. He didn't dawdle long in the Common Room before making his way up, noticing that Seamus' bed curtains were already drawn shut while Neville was unpacking his trunk neatly. The rest of the room felt empty however, as Leo looked over at the three unused beds.

"We have to be strong for them." Neville said quietly, catching Leo's attention. "Wherever they are… we have to make sure that the school doesn't lose its spirit."

It was a nice sentiment to end the day on, Leo thought, as he changed into his pyjamas and hoisted himself into bed. He thought about calling Hermione on the mirror, but sleep came to him fast as he shut his eyes, Professor McGonagall's words about being well rested springing to mind as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

All of the Gryffindor 7th Years made sure that they were in the Great Hall for breakfast bright and early on their first day of classes, filling themselves on the Hogwarts cooking as Professor McGonagall handed them their timetables for the year. Being 7th Years, their timetables largely remained the same as the year before, but the noticeable changes with the addition of Muggle Studies as a core subject rankled greatly with him when the first day of term would no longer include History of Magic, and Leo's return to Hogwarts was going to be spent with only the Carrow's as teachers.

Thankfully, the timetable being similar to last year's meant that he could take his time with finishing his breakfast with a free period first thing on Mondays, and as he was on his way back to the Common Room he noticed a pair of Gryffindor 1st years that had run afoul of Peeves, who was giving terrible directions to the Herbology Greenhouses.

"That's enough, Peeves!" Leo called out, catching the attention of the poltergeist. "Go and annoy Filch or something." Peeves blew a raspberry towards Leo as he zoomed down the Grand Staircase with a cackle, leaving Leo alone with the 1st years. "Never listen to what Peeves is telling you." He explained. "Come on, I'll show you to the Greenhouses this time."

"Thank you!" A short, blonde boy exclaimed. "The rest of the year ran off without us."

"Only because you had third helpings!" The girl beside him retorted.

"I was hungry!" The boy complained.

Leo chuckled. "Well come on, instead of arguing let's make sure that you aren't late and Professor Sprout doesn't take points away."

He took them through the castle, explaining some handy tips and pointers for them when they passed trick stairs or fake doors, and they managed to arrive at Greenhouse One with a minute to spare, much to the thanks of the two First Years and Professor Sprout. Deciding to walk around the school a bit more for the first hour of the school day, he eventually made his way up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom for his own first lesson, getting there before everyone else. When the students were let into the classroom, his first impression of the room was one of horror. The dark and heavy curtains were drawn while the torches on the walls flickered dimly, suppressing any natural light, while along the walls were dark pictures of all manner of dark creatures and tortured victims.

Professor Carrow was stood on the small spiral staircase leading to his office, leering down at everyone as they took their seats. Leo sat beside Anna as they got their books out and placed them on the desk. "Welcome, students, to the Dark Arts." Professor Carrow held out his hands, gesturing to the pictures on the walls. "Gone are the days of pretending that Hinkypunks or Grindylow's are the epitome of danger, this year we will come to understand that the best defence against those that seek to destroy you, is a good offence. In this class you will come to understand that true strength, the strength passed down into each of you through generations of able bodied wizards, is power." He strode down the steps slowly, his cloak being so long that he seemed to glide. "And as such, we will be learning all about the Blasting Curse today. Who can tell me what the Blasting Curse is?" There was a lack of hands raised, and the glare on Carrow's face wasn't well hidden, and so Leo stuck his hand up in the air slowly, trying to keep a cold, uncaring expression on his face. "You." Carrow pointed his wand towards Leo.

"It's a powerful spell that explodes the target in some way." Leo explained. "The Blasting Curse was made popular in duelling tournaments."

Carrow grinned, an ugly sight, Leo thought. "Very good. CONFRINGO!" He pointed his wand over the classes heads and everybody spun around in their seats just in time to see a practice dummy explode in a ball of fire, a shield in place to protect the students from the debris. "A well-cast Blasting Curse will leave no challengers. Now, everyone pull out your wands and gather in a line." Once everybody was out of their seats Amycus Carrow waved his own wand again and all the desks moved to the side of the rooms, and with one more wave a line of training dummies lined up opposite the students. "This is a powerful spell, and only the most powerful among us will be able to cast it perfectly." He began walking across, looking down at each of the students. "The weak, and feeble among you will struggle." He looked at Neville and Hannah Abbott who were standing next to one another, before moving down the line and glaring at Ernie Macmillan, , Sally Smith and Susan Bones before his eyes rested on Leo's. "Blood Traitors tend to struggle to bring forth the necessary power."

Leo didn't rise to the bait, and simply held his ebony wand towards the dummy and silently cast the Blasting Curse. The dummy exploded with a loud boom, shaking the room and shocking the rest of the class, causing them to jolt backwards in fright. Carrow however looked surprised, looking between the dummy and Leo a couple of times.

"I don't know what you mean by Blood Traitors, Professor." Leo retorted coolly. "I have Black blood running through my veins. No matter where it came from, that blood is powerful."

Carrow smirked. "Anybody can get lucky, MacDonald." He sneered. "Yes, I know who you are. You may be a Black by blood, but from what I hear, you're nothing like a true Black in spirit."

Leo looked over at the dummies again. "Perhaps you should decide with your eyes, rather than your ears." He stated, pointing at the next dummy and casting the spell silently again, a similar reaction happening.

"Perhaps I should." Carrow grinned once the debris settled. "A point to Gryffindor for your spell work, Black. The rest of you, follow suit. Points to anybody that can get close to Mr Black's level of destruction."

Grimacing at being misnamed, Leo made sure to bite his tongue to keep from reacting as the room soon became an echo chamber for destruction with the vast majority of students looking scared as they tried to avoid Leo's eyesight, though the look he was receiving from Neville was different… almost accusatory.

By the time that the lunch bell rang, Leo was already tired despite only having the one lesson, and he threw himself onto the bench at the Gryffindor table and immediately began to pile sandwiches onto his plate, trying to replenish the strength that the Blasting Curse had sapped from him. Beside him the majority of Gryffindor's were gossiping about their first morning back, with Lavender and Seamus especially warning a small group of 6th years about Professor Carrow. Neville was unusually muted when Ginny Weasley eventually joined them, sitting on the opposite side of the table to Leo as she picked out her own food.

"Professor McGonagall spent most of the morning warning us about the Carrow's." She said in hushed tones. "She's really shaken; you can tell."

"She has every right to be." Leo said solemnly, before delving into a quick explanation of the lesson they had had, after which he added. "Be prepared to be picked on."

Ginny nodded, her eyes narrowing defiantly. "My shields are strong; he won't get to me." They focused on their lunch then, with Leo demolishing a pair of ham sandwiches as he simply listened in to the conversations about his classmates final year, and how nervous Professor Trelawney apparently had been in Divination that morning, when once again Ginny got his attention, kicking him from under the table as her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Have you heard from him?"

He shook his head. "I was too tired last night… but I'll try again today."

"Try what, Mr MacDonald?" A low, drawling voice sounded from Leo's left, and he looked up to see Professor Snape standing there, his arms folded into his black sleeves as he peered down his hooked nose towards him.

Leo thought of the Restricted Section immediately. "Nothing, Professor. I just… forgot the password to the Prefects Bathroom last night, this is all new to me." He flexed his shoulder to show off the Prefects badge pinned to his robes. "I was going to speak to Parvati later." He then nodded back to his fellow Prefect, who's face had drained of colour as she stared over at Professor Snape wide eyed.

There was a short stand-off of silence, though Leo was happy that to his knowledge at least his mental shields weren't even being tested. "I shouldn't be surprised. Forgetfulness was a trait your Father was well known for." Professor Snape stated coldly. "I did warn Professor McGonagall that you might take too much after him to be worthy of such a role."

"I'll do better, Professor." Leo said through gritted teeth.

More silence followed as Leo unflinchingly stared back into Professor Snape's black eyes. "See to it." He said slowly, before he swished his cloak as he turned back to the teachers table, skulking off.

"Bloody hell." Anna swore beside Leo. "I thought he was going to strip you of your badge then and there!"

Leo kept his eyes on the Headmaster as he made his way towards the owl lectern. "He was restrained." He muttered. Ever since he found out the truth he's always had some dig about Dad, but that was tamer than normal…"

They fell silent then however as Professor Snape cleared his throat, his voice magnified as he stood behind the owl lectern. "May I remind all students, that the Ministry of Magic has decreed Harry Potter as an Undesirable, and as such is wanted for questioning and considered a dangerous fugitive. If any of you hear even a whisper of his whereabouts, it is your obligation to inform either myself, or Professors Carrow and Carrow."

"Fat chance." Seamus muttered, quiet enough that Professor Snape shouldn't have been able to hear, and yet the Headmaster turned to face the Gryffindors with a cold look in his eyes.

"Failure to do so." Snape continued, his voice slow and menacing as he stared in their direction. "And upon discovery that any of you have withheld information, will lead to severe consequences."

With that, Professor Snape moved around to his seat and the chatter of students began to grow again. Most of those around Leo seemed worried or nervous, but Ginny was the opposite, taking a large bite of her own sandwich and looking at Leo with a grin on her face. Once she had finished her mouthful, she answered his questioning look. "They're desperate, and they have no idea where he is." She took a sip of her drink before grabbing her bag. "Long may that continue." She finished, swivelling around on the bench as she flicked her hair in a flourish. "See you later!" She called out to everyone.

"How she has that confidence, I will never know." Anna retorted quietly, watching the back of Ginny Weasley as she left the Great Hall.

"It's not confidence, it's trust." Leo corrected, feeling similar as Ginny's words sunk in. He knew that the trio would remain hidden for as long as was necessary, and he could only hope that they were at least making some progress on the Horcruxes.

The 7th years first lesson after Lunch was the other newly deemed core subject of the year in Muggle Studies, this time shared only with the House Leo would have least wanted to share what would inevitably be a lesson of prejudice and fear mongering with in Slytherin. As they arrived at the classroom Leo noticed that as tended to happen with new teachers, the classroom décor had been completely changed. Professor Burbage had preferred posters of muggle inventions and buildings, along with important figures throughout history. Professor Carrow, it seemed, shared the sadistic nature of her brother and had swapped all of those out for images of Muggle weapons, and paintings of events such as the Salem Witch Trials and a rather fetching portrait of Nearly Headless Nick before his execution.

"Your seats have been allocated." A high pitched, wheezy voice sounded from the edge of the classroom. "Find your names and settle down quickly."

Groaning, Leo walked to the board with Anna, noticing that due to being outnumbered nearly two to one, every Gryffindor had been allocated a seat beside a Slytherin. Seamus and Anna had borne the brunt of it being half-bloods, being sat next to Crabbe and Goyle respectively, while Leo was placed next to Daphne Greengrass, who was already sat in her seat, her arms folded and her face glued to the front haughtily. Sighing, he gave Anna an apologetic look before finding his seat.

"It's not just you being punished." Greengrass said quietly, her voice low and cold. "Those of us that are… less easily swayed to their way of thinking have been placed beside Gryffindor's while those that subscribe get to sit with their friends. It's just Crabbe and Goyle that aren't, they actually volunteered to sit next to the half-bloods."

Sure enough as Leo looked around he could see Lavender was placed beside Milicent Bulstrode, while Neville had been placed beside the large and intimidating looking Alfie Runcorn and Parvati was beside an equally unhappy looking Blaise Zabini. Meanwhile Alice Rosier and Tracey Davis were having an amicable conversation in the corner near a table where Theodore Nott sat alone, and the Head Boy and Girl were also sat beside one another at the back of the class.

"Subtle." Leo rolled his eyes. Daphne simply huffed, folding her arms and looking as if she couldn't wait for the lesson to be over.

Professor Carrow cleared her throat to settle the unhappy class down, before waving her wand at the blackboard to erase the seating plan. "Now then, it seems that those of you that have previously taken Muggle Studies have been exceedingly misled in this class throughout your years at Hogwarts, and those that have not taken the subject previously should be thankful that your heads haven't been filled with such rubbish. My predecessor believed that Muggles are our equals." She spit that last word out with disgust. "That what they lack in magic, they make up for in other aspects of life. This. Is. A. Lie. This year, we will come to learn the truth of these parasitic beings together, understanding their wish for wanton destruction, their hatred for one another, and most of all, their hatred of us."

"That's rubbish!" Neville called out, earning a glare from the Professor.

"Is it, Longbottom?" Carrow screeched. She waved her wand and a poster shot towards her, enlarging in mid-air so that all of the class could see the image of a destroyed city. "This is Dresden, a city in Germany. This particular picture was taken 50 years ago and shows how in only three days the Muggles destroyed it! An entire city wiped out in three days because of one of their petty wars based on hatred of one another!" She waved her wand again and the poster returned to normal size and zoomed back to the wall. "Muggle crimes against muggles are one thing, but to start with this year, we shall learn about Muggle crimes against Wizardkind…"

"Only because wizards took advantage of them!" Neville scoffed. "That's the whole point of Babbity Rabbity… she…"

"ENOUGH!" Carrow screeched, and with a slash of her wand Neville's head was slammed down into the desk with a thud. The Gryffindors were all outraged, but a widely cast silencing charm stopped them from complaining. "I expected this… indoctrination, but I shall not have you spouting your blood traitor lies in my classroom, Longbottom. Detention with me, tonight." Neville raised his head and Leo could see a small cut above his eyebrow that was slowly leaking blood. The silencing charm remained however, and so Carrow took a breath and straightened her robes. "Now then, please turn your books to Chapter 1, and read in silence for the time being while I prepare our first task."

The book itself was bad enough, titled The Lies of Coexistence: Why Muggles Are a Danger to Wizards. Grimacing, Leo turned the page, not eager to read the bigoted nonsense in the slightest. He could see that even a few of the Slytherin's seemed uneasy too, with Greengrass beside him muttering inaudibly, but as Leo read the first few words of the book the reality of just how long and tiresome this year would be started to truly settle in.

It was a massive relief when Leo could sink into one of the sofa's in the Gryffindor Common Room that evening and close his eyes for a moment, trying to settle himself after such a horrid Monday. After lessons the 7th year Gryffindor's had all converged and agreed that they would need to try and encourage the rest of their House to look after and properly instruct the new First Years, while after dinner he and Parvati had each been taken to one side by Pansy Parkinson and told that they would need to learn how their patrols would be handled that night, with Leo being accompanied by Hufflepuff Prefect Hannah Abbott.

"You look drained." Anna said from beside him, and Leo opened his eyes to see that she was halfway through the homework set in Defence Against the Dark Arts on the Blasting Curse. "That bad?"

Leo shook his head. "Patrol will be fine; I'm just trying to digest the whole day." He admitted to her. "That silent Confringo casting took a lot out of me, and then Muggle Studies…"

"Oh don't." Lavender exclaimed from the next sofa, where she and Seamus were also doing the same homework. "That was awful! I hope Neville is ok."

Seamus snorted. "He'll be fine. Standing up to that woman… nothin' will faze that lad now."

"He was very brave." Anna remarked.

"He'll have a target on his back now though." Leo said, causing all of the heads to swing towards him. "He should have waited… seen what we were up against before…"

"Before standing up for what was right?" Neville's voice sounded from behind him, and Leo turned to see the Gryffindor drop his bag down and move to a lone armchair. "I won't apologise for that."

"How was it?" Lavender asked quickly. "What did she make you do?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Clean out some cages without magic. It was fine, gave me plenty of time to think about what I needed to say." Neville turned to Leo again. "What was that about this morning? In Dark Arts?"

Leo was taken aback at being singled out. "What was what?" He asked.

"You. Acting all… cold and talking blood purity and all that bollocks." Neville replied coldly. "Sounding like one of them. Is that what you meant on the train yesterday? When you said never let them settle, did you want us to completely abandon our beliefs!" He was raising his voice now.

"I'm gauging the atmosphere, Neville." Leo bit back. "I know next to nothing about the Carrow's other than they were there on the Tower back in June. Until I know more about them, I don't know how to act. So yes, I acted coldly, I mentioned my blood, I pandered to what Carrow wanted to hear so I can start working out how to undermine him."

"We shouldn't be simply undermining." Neville scoffed, his eyes glaring with anger as he rose to his feet. "You heard what that bitch said… parasitic beings! Teaching us to hate and despise! You really expect us to listen to that rubbish? To sit there like good students and just accept that this is our lives now?"

"I expect." Leo said, rising to his own feet as he met the challenge. "To do whatever it takes to survive this year, to learn how to manoeuvre around the new regime in order to help the resistance in the best way I know how. I can't do that by shouting my mouth off and getting detentions! We can fight them from within, from under their noses…"

"By hiding." Neville shook his head. "Not me, I won't grovel and hope that they go easy on me just because I'm a Pureblood! I fought at the Ministry; I fought last term… I'll fight again now!"

"Then expect more nights like tonight, scrubbing up whatever they can find… until they get bored of that and start using other forms of punishment." Leo scoffed. "We need to work together…"

"I can't work like you." Neville interrupted. "It's… it's cowardly."

"Neville!" Anna gasped.

But the Longbottom refused to back down. "No, Anna, it's how I see it! If we act like them… pretend to fit in with their ideals… we're no better than they are."

He didn't wait for a response, grabbing his bag again and storming up the stairs to the boys dormitory. Leo was scowling, folding his arms as he sat back down in the sofa with a huff. "I'm no coward." He muttered.

"It was a shock, that's all." Seamus shrugged. "You don't talk like that usually, mate."

"My mum was KILLED!" Leo countered angrily, causing most around him to flinch at the outburst. "I want nothing more than to fight them! But we can't just stage a fucking coup in the castle when we don't know what we're up against!"

Not in the mood to carry on conversing, he also grabbed his bag and stormed upstairs, thankful that the curtains on Neville's four poster bed were shut as he walked in. Quickly getting ready for bed he cast Muffliato before pulling the mirror out of his drawer, hoping that Hermione would answer.

Thankfully, she did, and she looked a lot healthier and cleaner than the last time he had spoken to her. "Thank Merlin you're ok." He said in relief.

"Me?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "It's you we've been worried about… we saw the news about Snape and the Carrows in the Prophet… how was that?"

Leo scowled. "They're foul. We had them both today… Defence was all about using our natural power as the latest in long lines of wizards to overpower our enemies, while Muggle Studies… we aren't learning anything but how dangerous they are. It's just blatant propaganda."

Hermione's face fell into one of horror. "Those poor first years…" She whispered. "They'll think this is normal."

"We're doing our best with the Gryffindors to teach them properly." Leo admitted. "I'll have Magical Law tomorrow; I can try and talk to Terry into doing the same with the Ravenclaws and I think…" He paused for a minute, his thoughts wandering to the argument he had been having moments later. "Anna will do the same with the Hufflepuff's in Herbology."

Hermione noticed the pause. "Something's happened." She said quizzically. "Don't deny it… I know you."

He had been about to deny it, but he sighed in resignation. "Just… a difference in approach with Neville. He blew up at me just now, that's all. We'll be fine. How are you guys?"

Hermione didn't respond immediately, but accepted his subject change to Leo's relief. "We've been to a couple of places over the last few days… mainly in London for the most part… Borgin and Burke's had nothing; the orphanage he used to live at is now a block of flats… we even tried his father's house but again… nothing." She sighed. "I just wish Professor Dumbledore gave us more to go off. I've been thinking about him a lot recently… and why he gave me this." She held up the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "It has to mean something; I just can't work out what. Are you sure it's nothing special?"

Leo shook his head. "Honestly, it's a book we all hear about before we can read. They're kids tales, meant to teach us basic lessons. Babbity Rabbity about our relationship with Muggles, the Tale of the Three Brothers about greed, the Fountain of Fair Fortune about magic not always being the answer and so on."

"Then why would Professor Dumbledore single me out and give me this?" She asked, frustrated. "It can't just be whimsy… can it?"

Leo chuckled, glad of the distraction from his day. "He was a whimsical man, Hermione. It could honestly just be that." He heard Seamus entering the dorm then and looked over at his watch to see it was almost 10pm. "I better go… It's likely going to be another long day tomorrow."

Hermione nodded. "Same here." She paused, before adding. "Stay safe… and make up with Neville. You both have your hearts in the right place, I'm sure you'll work something out."

"I hope so." Leo admitted. "And you stay safe too… I hate not knowing where you are, or what you're facing."

Hermione nodded once again, this time slowly and sadly. "It's for the best though. Hopefully we'll find something sooner rather than later and end this… then we'll be together again."

"I'll drink something strong to that." Leo smiled. "Night, Hermione."

"Goodnight." Hermione repeated, pressing a kiss to her hand and waving at him before the mirror connection closed, and Leo's face was staring back at him. He placed it beside his pillow, pretending for a moment that it could have actually been her there lying next to him as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The benefit that a good night's sleep and a clear head brought the following morning was the clarity that it would often give Leo. As he woke up and walked down to breakfast the next morning, helping a different pair of first years as he went, an idea popped into his head, and so as if nothing had happened the night before he parked himself on the bench beside Neville.

"I'm sorry about last night." Leo began, ignoring the questioning look that appeared on Neville's face. "I have an idea… can we talk?"

Neville nodded, finishing his spoonful of porridge as he and Leo made their way over towards the side of the room, with Neville subtly putting the Muffliato charm up around them. "Look… Leo…" Neville began. "I didn't mean to call you a coward last night. I'm sorry too."

"Water under the bridge." Leo waved away. "But you are right, we can't be the same… and I don't think we should be."

"How do you mean?" Neville asked.

Glancing up at the teachers table, he noticed it mostly empty other than for the two Carrow siblings who were greedily wolfing down whatever they could fit into their mouths. "There's a way that we can do this without you compromising your values, but without things turning into an absolute bloodbath unnecessarily. If we can combine two different approaches… get some people acting up and challenging them while others knuckle down and try and get them to largely ignore us… we could do more damage to whatever they have planned for us. You mentioned cages last night… I don't think they're going to be for Hagrid's Skrewts…"

Neville's eyes widened as he immediately caught Leo's meaning. "Students?"

"I don't know, I'm only guessing." Leo said quietly. "But if you think you can handle detentions… even if they ramp them up Umbridge style, keep their eyes on you instead of everything else that goes on around them…"

There was next to no hesitation as Neville nodded vigorously. "I can handle it." He stated defiantly. "It's something I felt when Harry was fighting against Umbridge, you know, the hope. Others won't be able to stand the Carrow's for long… I know Hannah's said that even the Hufflepuff's are talking a little rebelliously…"

It felt a little like throwing a sacrificial piece forwards in chess, but the eagerness to which Neville was now looking up at the Carrow's and grinning at the prospect of defying them was actually quite inspiring. Leo clapped Neville on the shoulder before walking back to the table for his breakfast, he had a busy day ahead of him with classes, but in his head he was only thinking about finding other ways to fight back against the Carrow's.

Things didn't happen quite as quickly as Leo had hoped however, and as tended to happen life at Hogwarts settled into a routine, one where his most enjoyable moments tended to be in the evenings in the Gryffindor Common Rooms teaching the First Years. It was a nice change of pace to reminisce over their own first years, and the unity that these impromptu lessons were giving the House was exactly what Leo felt was needed.

Before he knew it however, two weeks had passed by. Ginny had very quickly moved to replenish the Quidditch team after Harry, Ron, Katie and Dean's departure from school by hosting trials on the second weekend of term, and had come away from it feeling less confident than usual, but happy enough with her team. 5th year Susan Hawksworth had come in as the new keeper, she was a younger cousin of one of the England players, and despite not showing an international level of talent had done well to keep out a couple of Ginny and Demelza's shots. The last chaser position had gone to a 3rd year, Damian Pickering, while the main position to fill was the one that everybody at the school currently had only ever known to be Harry's. Rebecca MacDuff, another 3rd year, was the best of the bunch at Seeker and took the spot, leading Ginny to feel cautiously optimistic about their chances that year.

"We'll take some time to get used to each other." Ginny explained as she walked with Leo, the latter of whom was on his way to Dark Arts. "But we'll get there. I've gotten too used to winning the cup with Harry as Seeker, I don't want to let him down now…"

"You won't." Leo insisted, waving goodbye as they split their paths, with Ginny returning to the Common Room for a free period as Leo himself steeled himself for another horrid lesson. His nerves were on edge as he sat down in the expanded room, and he could feel the protective charms humming around.

"Wands away!" Carrow called out. "Today you will be learning about one of the most dangerous spells that is possible to cast… a spell so dangerous that the slightest of concentration lapses could prove disastrous for both you as the caster, and everybody else in your vicinity. As such, only those that I choose will be casting today, the rest of you will be observing and making notes."

He moved to the blackboard and waved his wand, and Leo watched in horror as the chalk began to write out the word FIENDFYRE.

"You can't!" Neville cried out angrily, as Leo saw the explosion of Grimmauld Place erupt in his mind once again, fighting to keep it from showing on his face. "That spell will kill us all!"

He wasn't alone, as Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil and Seamus Finnigan all cried out their own objections, only for Carrow to slash his wand in an arc, silencing them all. "DETENTIONS!" He roared. "And a clear observation that as usual, you Gryffindor's are far too impertinent to be able to handle a spell of this magnitude. His eyes settled on Leo then, as they narrowed questioningly. "To which we shall see now. MacDonald, stand." Leo kept his cool expression as he slowly rose out of his chair, standing tall as he refused to flinch at the gaze he was being given. "You mastered the Blasting Curse with little trouble, let us see if the Sorting Hat was indeed incorrect about where you belong. Step forwards." He gestured to an area at the front of the class that had been specifically set up for Fiendfyre. Leo slowly walked over, before he was halted in his place before stepping through the protective spells. "Wait there." Carrow grinned. "Now, Fiendfyre is a spell that requires focus, and anger. It's power is decided by your state of mind during the casting. If cast correctly, it is one of the most destructive properties we have in the world." He pointed his wand to a dummy within the barriers and cast. "Malignis!" It was different to how it had looked in the summer, as a spurt of black flames leapt out of the Carrow's wand towards the dummy, engulfing it in an instant. The wooden object was turned to ash in seconds, and with a slash of his wand, Carrow somehow managed to extinguish the flames. "Now, you'll only be taught the counter curse once you are successful in the casting, but if you are found to be casting this spell in the halls… then Professor Snape has given me permission to deal with you as I see fit… and I promise that you won't enjoy what I have in store for troublemakers." Carrow grinned. "Come forward, MacDonald. You enjoyed fire before, let us see how you do with cursed flames."

A new Dummy was brought to stand in the ashes of the old one, and Leo was shoved inside the protective barriers magically. He looked around at the faces of his classmates. Most of the Slytherin's looked uninterested, but what unnerved Leo most of all were the eager expressions of both Crabbe and Goyle, while the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff's all looked terrified for him. Steeling his mind he took a deep breath, and slowly lifted his ebony wand out to face the dummy. In his mind he saw the flash of green light striking the red jumper, and Avery's face cackling with laughter… "Malignis." Leo spat out.

It was nothing like the stream of fire that had burned Grimmauld Place, but it still made no issue of striking the dummy and erupting upwards, with the flames almost reaching the ceiling. Even with Leo's concentration he could feel the spell attempting to spread, to burn everything within its grasp, and he could feel a spot of sweat form on his forehead as he gripped the wand tighter, trying to control it.

With another wave of Carrow's wand, the spell broke, and Leo stumbled forwards, gasping for a breath he didn't know he had held. "It's a start." Carrow sneered. "Sit back down."

Leo did just that gratefully, and watched with the rest of the Gryffindor's as the lesson became a stream of Slytherin's all attempting to cast Fiendfyre. Tracey Davis and Alfie Runcorn both failed completely, while most Slytherin's managed a similar attempt to Leo. It was Crabbe however that showed the most promise, barely looking tired at all after his flames were vanished.

"Good." Carrow said as the bell was moments away from ringing. "Keep working on the theory, next time we'll carry on in the same manner, but soon I won't be the one to remove the flames, and your own lives will depend on paying attention…"

While the initial thought of burning a room filled with Carrow and the Slytherin's was tempting, Leo was relieved once they were allowed to leave the room and he could drop his cold expression, barely even able to focus on the horrified conversations of the Gryffindor's as he kept seeing the explosion of his ancestral home replay over and over again in his mind.

Muggle Studies reminded Leo a lot of Defence Against the Dark Arts under Umbridge with half of the lessons being spent buried inside books, all of which were detailing either how evil or inferior Muggles were, with the other half of the lessons spent either writing essays or debating that day's chapter. Still recovering from the previous day's experience with Fiendfyre, a chapter about the burning of Margery Jourdemayne wasn't exactly welcomed by the Gryffindor, as he barely skimmed through it, something that got noticed by his desk mate.

"It will be you next if you don't actually read." Daphne Greengrass muttered quietly. Leo looked over at the Slytherin, surprised at her both speaking during their reading time, and showing what could have been mistaken for concern on her face. "Don't look at me like that, I don't care, I'd just rather not have to sit within range of whatever hex she will use if your essay isn't up to her ridiculous standards."

"It's a Thursday, so a discussion day today." Leo muttered unhappily. "And I'd rather not pretend that a burning of a known muggle over 550 years ago will bring the end of wizardkind as we know it today."

Daphne raised an eyebrow, closing her book shut gently. "A muggle with a skill for brewing Amortentia and other love potions?" She questioned.

Leo chuckled lightly. "Yes, a muggle, one with either a friend or relation in our world perhaps, but a proven muggle." He looked at the book disgustedly. "Although this author clearly went for sensationalism instead of research…"

A loud bang sounded from across the room and Leo turned quickly to see Neville had slammed his book on the desk in outrage. "This is RUBBISH!" The Gryffindor exclaimed.

"Silence!" Carrow shrieked, converging on Neville again.

Daphne huffed impatiently, opening her book once more. "And here we go again, a true Gryffindor protest." She looked at Leo. "Thank Merlin you're calmer than most of your classmates or else I'd have you moved."

"You would?" Leo asked with a smirk, trying to ignore the arguments starting between Neville and Alecto Carrow.

The Slytherin's face betrayed no hint of amusement if she felt it. "It's dull, having to witness these displays from your classmates, as a Prefect you should really be stamping this out."

Scoffing, Leo looked back over at Neville who was now having to deal with a bloody nose. "If you work out a way to do that, then feel free to let me know." He muttered.

"Right!" Carrow screeched as she made her way back to the front of the classroom. "As a result of Longbottom's… interruption, I want you all to bring me a foot on why Jourdemayne's idiocy in trading with Muggles led to her eventual murder by them."

Leo, however, barely registered the given homework, as he kept glancing between Neville and Daphne, her words ringing in his mind, along with a phrase from the day before about Fiendfyre.

True Gryffindor.

One of the most destructive properties we have in the world.

Then another conversation came to mind, one with Harry that had been heavy with talk of Horcruxes, what they were and how they were destroyed… "The sword…" He whispered in realisation, his eyes wide. "Basilisk venom…"

"Excuse me?" Daphne asked impatiently.

Leo managed to lie with ease. "One of the ingredients the muggle used, basilisk venom. It's there on page 151." He shrugged, stuffing his books back into his bag as the bell began to ring for their lunch hour. "See you tomorrow." He said quickly, not hesitating in the slightest as he rushed off towards the library to try and fit his thoughts into a coherent idea as out of the corner of his eye, he laughed as he saw Daphne flicking through the book quickly.

The confirmation that Leo found in The Runes of Ragnuk: The Lost Secrets of Goblin Smithing after his Magical Law lesson that same day, the confirmation that Goblin Silver only took in those substances that made it stronger felt like a switch had been triggered within Leo's mind, and he rushed back to his dormitory at lightning speed, rifling through his trunk to pull out the mirror and called out Hermione's name, though the reflective surface simply turned black. Growling in frustration after a couple of minutes of waiting, Leo returned the mirror to the trunk and the Seventh Year began to pace around the room, trying desperately to think.

He had an idea ten minutes later, and as he descended back down the stairs to the Common Room he spotted Ginny and Neville sat together talking quietly. He moved over towards them, catching the end of the conversation.

"First years, Neville… they're just first years…"

"I know." Neville sighed. "But without descending into open warfare within the castle, what can we do?" He then noticed Leo, shifting over to allow space on the sofa. "Oh, hi Leo, you rushed off from Muggle Studies in a hurry."

"I know how we can help Harry." He said quickly. "In a way that also sticks it to Snape and the Carrows." That grabbed their attention as both leaned in closer. "Professor Dumbledore's will was read this summer. Before he died, Scrimgeour took Harry, Ron and Hermione away to receive their items." Ginny already knew this, but Neville was sitting there in awe at the fact Dumbledore left them anything. "What Dumbledore tried to do but failed however, is give Harry the Sword of Gryffindor."

"Woah." Neville whispered. "Why couldn't Harry get that?"

"It's supposedly not Dumbledore's to give." Ginny explained. "He was a bit put out after that, but he had the snitch to occupy him."

Leo saw her cheeks redden as he presumed that Harry had more than just one of the Quidditch balls to occupy himself with, but enough practice of Occlumency over the summer had given him enough first-hand experience about Harry and Ginny's intimacy and so he quickly shook that thought away, instead turning to Neville to explain. "Something both of the Carrow's said in their last lessons triggered something in me. In Dark Arts we learned that Fiendfyre is among the most dangerous substances in the known world, with nothing able to resist it's destructive capabilities." He looked at Ginny pointedly, trying to get the Weasley to understand his point without needing to tell Neville about the Horcruxes. "Then something Daphne Greengrass said today made it all clear, about you actually Neville." He looked at his classmate. "She called you a True Gryffindor."

Neville's shoulders rose with pride at the statement, but Ginny was more confused. "And what does this have to do with the sword?"

"Only true Gryffindor's are said to be able to summon the sword in their moments of need." Leo explained. "Wiglaf the Warrior, Connal the Brave, Eleanor Fitzroy… there are these stories of brave Gryffindor's dotted throughout the centuries that could be interpreted to show the Sword being summoned… but there's one that we know for certain to be true."

"Harry." Ginny whispered, her face beginning to pale.

"Harry." Leo confirmed. "Who stabbed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets with the Sword of Gryffindor, a sword made from Goblin Silver, and enchanted to only take in substances that would make it stronger…"

Ginny's eyes widened as the realisation came to her in an instant. "It took in Basilisk venom." She said.

Neville's eyes widened at that too. "That sword would be really dangerous if it could wield Basilisk venom… and Dumbledore wanted Harry to have it? Why?"

There was a silent conversation going on between Leo and Ginny as Neville spoke. One of realising that the sword was used to break open the ring, and Basilisk venom had already destroyed a Horcrux in the Diary. Ginny styled off Neville's question perfectly however. "Well, how better to kill You-Know-Who then with a sword poisoned with Basilisk venom."

Neville fell back in the sofa's cushions, his mind reeling over all this information. "Killing You-Know-Who with a sword… is it that simple?"

"No." Leo stated quickly. "But the Sword of Gryffindor? Well, at least he won't be expecting that."

"So where is the sword?" Ginny asked quickly, trying to throw Neville off of the Horcrux scent. "I presume you're not just telling us all this as a bed time story…"

Laughing, Leo shook his head. "No… the sword should still be where it's been for the past four and a half years…" He looked out of the window and stared over at the largest tower of Hogwarts, and the trio of protruding, smaller towers near the top. "The Headmaster's office."

The three Gryffindor's all stared over at the towers in question, the candlelight within Snape's new office illuminating a number of the windows. They stayed silent for a few minutes, each thinking about ways to get the sword from the tower before Neville was the one to break the quiet. "I think it's time to start up Dumbledore's Army again."

It wasn't a surprise, as Leo had been expecting Neville to suggest an official reformation for a while now, but it was an idea that he wholeheartedly agreed with too, something he quickly voiced. "Seconded." He said firmly. "A number of people will be willing to join back up, and I know that Anna won't be the only new blood willing to join either."

Ginny nodded. "There's whispers in my own dorm about how horrible the Carrow's are, and we were talking about their punishments on the First Years before you came down, Leo, I don't think many outside of Slytherin will stand for that for long."

"Then let's do it." Leo nodded. "We can start by talking quietly to the others and tell them to keep an eye on their coins. For the next couple of weeks we'll keep an eye out for others that we feel would be an asset in the fight while we come up with a strong plan to steal the Sword ourselves."

"Deal." Neville nodded assertively.

Ginny nodded firmly too. "Are you ready to adapt the coins then, Leo?" She asked.

"I am." He stated confidently. "Once we have the Sword and arrange a first meeting, it won't take me long to modify the others, and I can make some more as and when we need them for new members."

Neville was grinning. "Is this happening? Are we really fighting back?"

"I still want to try and slip under the radar." Leo insisted. "There's definitely something to be gained by that… but yes. Harry needs the sword, and that gives us the perfect opportunity for us to start resisting the Carrow's."

Chapter Text

It took a couple of weeks of planning; with the Gryffindor's all gathered around their preferred table in the Common Room going over numerous ideas until they were all happy with a plan that came to fruition during the first week of October. Leo found himself with Hannah Abbott walking slowly on the Second Floor as they took their regular Prefect Patrols. The Hufflepuff was chattering on about her House's chances in the first round of Quidditch fixtures, something that Leo was more than happy to let her carry on with as he waited impatiently with his hand in his pocket clasped tightly over the DA Galleon, waiting for it to heat up.

"… got a settled team again this year, which is more than can be said for Gryffindor, so maybe we have a chance!" Hannah exclaimed jovially as they turned a corner. "Even Zacharias says… oh, hello Professor."

Leo looked up and saw that Professor Snape was skulking towards them, the headmaster's eyes narrowed dangerously towards Leo for a moment, before breaking the awkward stare by saying. "You two, with me."

"Professor?" Hannah asked, confused, as Leo made sure to picture the Restricted Section clearly in his mind, keeping his barriers strong.

Without another word Professor Snape swept passed them, leaving Hannah and Leo to need to jog to catch up, rising up one flight of stairs onto the Third Floor where they arrived to see a group of people facing off against the others. Ginny Weasley was stood in the middle of the corridor; her hair was out of place and messy while her face was red through exertion. She was holding her wand out firmly towards a pair of Slytherin 5th years that Leo recognised as this year's new Prefects. The girl was dancing uncontrollably while weeping, while the boy was flapping around trying to rid himself of the ugliest, slimy green bats that Leo had ever seen. Surrounding them was smashed torches and askew portraits, all of which were shouting loudly over one another.

With a wave of Snape's wand, both of the Slytherin's afflictions ceased. With slow steps, Snape moved closer to the trouble. "Miss Belby, Mr Yaxley, please go and retrieve Professor McGonagall from the Great Hall." He drawled, and the 5th years didn't waste any time into sprinting away from the scene. "Miss Weasley."

"They attacked me!" Ginny started, angrily. "I was just walking here minding my own…"

"Minding your own business?" Snape asked, disbelievingly. "Not defacing centuries old portraits with…" His head shifted to the right, and Leo followed the Headmaster's gaze, fighting the urge to grin at what he saw. It was Harry's Undesirable Number One wanted poster, but the image had been changed slightly. Harry was more muscular than Leo had ever seen him, with hair that actually seemed to stand still and evident stubble forming on his chin. The portrait was wearing a buttoned shirt, conveniently unbuttoned and showing just the hint of a dragon tattoo. Surrounding the portrait were lipstick stains of various colours dotted around Harry, while the headline read DESIRABLE Number One. "10 Points from Gryffindor for the posters, Miss Weasley."

"Me?" Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "I wouldn't ruin Harry like this." She scoffed. "You want to look at that Romilda Vane instead, Professor, she's been lusting after Harry for years like a scarlet woman..."

"Miss Vane is currently in the Great Hall droning on about something I care very little for, whereas you, Miss Weasley, were caught red handed by a pair of Prefects." He nodded towards a portrait that hung close to the Staircase. Leo recognised it immediately as that of Professor Viridian, former Headmaster in the early 18th century. "You will also lose a further 20 points from Gryffindor for attacking Miss Belby and Mr Yaxley. Attacking Prefects is against the rules, something that I know you are aware of." Ginny simply scowled, folding her arms unhappily as Snape turned to Leo. "Mr MacDonald, please escort Miss Weasley back to your Common Room…"

He trailed off, looking behind Leo to the wall for a moment. "What is it, Oswin?"

Leo turned to see a 13th century Wizard hunched over, panting and out of breath within the portrait of an offended 17th century witch. "Spells being cast two floors up, Headmaster!" The man managed to spit out. "It was Longbottom… I've been keeping an eye on him like you asked!"

From the other direction a shrill voice sounded. "Professor Snape! There you are!" Leo spotted a Witch in Georgian clothing waving a handkerchief around to gain attention. "A pair of Ravenclaws have been sticking up these… abominations over innocent portraits on the Seventh Floor!"

Snape growled, and looked to Leo quickly who made sure to think about nothing but the Restricted Section before he turned over to Ginny, who looked at him defiantly once more. "Very well, whatever plan you have concocted, Miss Weasley, it ends now. Miss Abbott, take Miss Weasley up to my office and have her stay there. Mr MacDonald, given Professor Carrow's surprising… approval of your capabilities in his lessons, I trust that you can deal with a pair of unruly Ravenclaws?"

"Of course, Professor." Leo nodded, surprised for a moment that Carrow had actually seemed to be praising him, while at the same time also being somewhat horrified at that fact.

"Then bring them to my office too, the password is our former Headmaster, as it is every time a new Headmaster takes up the role. I shall deal with Longbottom myself." Snape growled. "See to it." And with a swish of his cloak, Snape stormed away. Giving it until they could no longer see the Headmaster, Leo turned to Ginny with a grin and a thumbs up, walking away from an extremely confused Hannah as he made his way up the stairs towards the Seventh Floor, sticking his hand into his pocket to fiddle slightly with the Galleon.

When he arrived he was impressed to see that it looked like every seventh portrait had been covered by a different picture of Harry. Some were similar to the highly exaggerated poster that he had seen downstairs, but there were also DESIRABLE Number One posters depicting Harry on his broomstick holding up the Snitch, of him sitting with a more fashionable pair of glasses reading a heavy book, another of him standing over a cauldron with a smug look on his face as he held a vial up, and one that really impressed Leo through the delicate magic used to create it was of Harry standing in front of a blackboard teaching, sleeves rolled up and a pair of unusually muscular arms waving in the air as if he was explaining something technical.

Knowing that the portraits were no doubt spying on everything, Leo, careful to not say anything that would raise suspicions, raised his wand and cast "Homenum Revelio." When a pair of pulsating lights appeared down the corridor, Leo grinned. "I know you're there."

Out of the darkness stepped Luna Lovegood and Sue Li, the pair of Ravenclaw girls had sheepish grins on their faces. "Hi Leo." Luna greeted, her voice sounding wistful and far away. "What are you doing here?"

"You know what I'm doing here, Luna." Leo smirked as the blonde simply tilted her head curiously. "I've been sent by Professor Snape, he wants to see whoever did this, in his office." He pointed to the posters with his wand.

Shrugging, Sue Li waved her own wand and the remainder of the pile of posters all flew out and stuck themselves to the portraits all through the corridor, much to the occupants audible displeasure. "Very well." The 7th Year Ravenclaw stated, undeterred by being caught. "Lead the way."

The Gryffindor was very glad for the posters eyes to be covered as he patted the girls congratulatorily on the shoulders, before leading them back to the staircase for an inevitably grim conversation with the Headmaster.

They were the last to arrive inside the Headmaster's office, and Leo quickly escorted the two Ravenclaw's to their conjured seats that were waiting beside both Ginny and Neville in front of Professor Snape's desk, with the Headmaster standing with his back to all of them. He sidled beside Hannah Abbott, a brief silent conversation passing between them that showed Hannah had no idea what was going on, nor why she was still there. Once he had found his place he looked around the room, having never actually stepped foot inside it before.

The room was filled with a large number of magical items that were whirring away, while in the corner he noticed that an open cabinet held the famous Hogwarts Pensieve. Filling up the walls however were some of the most interesting items in the room, the portraits of the former Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts. He recognised a number of them, Professors Sakndenberg, Fronsac, Trimble and Aragon had all authored books that Leo had read in his life, while he recognised the faces of Professors Fortescue, Mole, Derwent and Dippet too. The largest portrait was that of Professor Dumbledore, the figure within seemingly still being asleep despite the number of living people stood within the room, while the most eye catching to him was a portrait which Leo never thought he'd see again in his ancestor, Professor Phineas Nigellus Black, who had kept his eyes trained on Leo ever since he had arrived within the office, needling him with a cold, piercing look.

Thankfully, the portraits attention was mostly grabbed as the silence in the room was broken by Professor Snape. "The four of you." He said coldly. "Have conspired this evening to incite criminality within the walls of this school. You are fully aware that Potter is a dangerous and wanted fugitive from the Ministry of Magic, and yet you have decided to… glorify him." He turned around and stared at them all with his cold, black eyes. "Miss Weasley, Mr Longbottom… even Miss Lovegood I would expect this from, I understand you are misguided in your loyalties to a former Housemate and friend. But Miss Li… your involvement in this does surprise me."

"What involvement?" Sue Li asked calmly. "I just saw Luna in the 7th Floor Corridor and we were talking about her Charms coursework, Professor."

"Don't." Snape snapped. "Lie, to me."

Luna sighed dreamily. "I asked Sue Li about non-verbal spells and she was explaining her process to me." She explained. "I seem to be struggling… I think the Nargles are clouding my mind." Snape's eyes were dangerously narrow. "Then the posters began to dance."

"That's what happened downstairs too, Professor." Ginny pushed in to add her voice. "They just… appeared. Then those idiots Belby and Yaxley cornered me…"

"And you duelled them." Snape countered.

"They duelled me! I defended myself!" Ginny's voice was raised now and her cheeks were reddening.

"Poppycock!" A snide voice from the walls sounded, and Leo grimaced as his ancestor interjected himself on the conversation. "Lying to the Headmaster… a grievous offence! Why in my day…"

"That will be all, Phineas." Professor Snape interrupted coldly, not moving his eyes from Ginny. He moved around to the side of the desk, leaving the space behind him visible, and Leo's eyes widened as he saw their eventual target lying within a glass casing… the Sword of Gryffindor. "I know, Miss Weasley, of your relationship with Mr Potter. Test my patience further, and I shall be forced to inform Professors Carrow and Carrow of your… infatuation." Leo knew Ginny well enough by now to know that she was glaring at the headmaster, likely imagining the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk within swallowing the Professor whole. Thankfully though, she kept her mouth shut. "Tell me where Potter is, and I shall restore the points I took earlier and you shall go without further punishment."

"I don't know." Ginny said, bitterly. "You're an idiot if you think he told me anything. I've not heard from him since last term."

The lie was so smooth that Leo might have believed it if he hadn't known better. Snape seemed to be trying his hardest to break into her mind, though the Headmaster quickly blinked and took a step back. "Very well. 10 more points from Gryffindor for lying to me." He then turned to the others. "And you two… 10 points will be taken each for your display this evening, and Longbottom… a further 20 for duelling in the corridors." He swept his robes around as he walked back to his spot so his back was facing them again. "MacDonald, Abbott, please escort these troublemakers to their dorms."

"Yes Professor." Hannah was the one to say quickly, eager to get out of there as soon as she could, waiting until they were close to the Grand Staircase before letting out a loud breath. "Merlin's beard… what was all that about?"

"Brilliant." Leo said quietly, making sure they weren't being overheard by the portraits in the distance. "We know where it is."

"And the passwords." Neville added. "The portraits might be trouble though…"

"We can brush up on our Disillusionment Charms." Ginny said, before giving Luna a hug. "Well done you two, you were great."

Luna smiled brightly. "Just doing our part."

Hannah, meanwhile, still looked perplexed. "What's going on?"

It was Neville who took charge then, putting his arm around the Hufflepuff, pulling her closely towards him as Leo noticed a slight blush forming on Hannah's cheeks. "Let's go to the Greenhouses and check on how the Fancy is growing; I'll explain it all when we're there."

With a grin and a thumbs up, Neville led the Hufflepuff away from the rest of the group, much to the surprise of Leo who just stared between their backs and Ginny with utter perplexion. "Are they?..." He trailed.

Ginny shrugged. "No idea… but hopefully? Having an easy route inside Hufflepuff can only help…" She turned to Luna again. "Thanks again for agreeing."

"Ravenclaw is with you." Sue Li said. "There would have been more of us with more notice. All of us hate the Carrow's, so anything to undermine them, we'll do."

"Brilliant." Leo grinned. "Keep an eye on your coins… we'll talk soon."

As the Ravenclaw's also said goodbye, heading to their own Common Room, it left Leo feeling positive about what was to come. Now they knew the layout of the office and their way inside, all that was left was to get Snape out for a short period and the sword would be theirs…

That opportunity came just a few days later. With the added help from the former DA members in both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and the improvements made to their DA coins it was possible to keep an eye on Professor Snape nearly everywhere he went, including during the final period on a Thursday when the Headmaster was reported as leaving through the front gates, quickly leading to Neville and Ginny, both on free periods, putting their heist into action. Leo wasn't as lucky to have a free however as Professor Marchbanks led a Magical Law lesson on the current set up of the Wizengamot and the difference between hereditary and elected seats. Wishing instead that he could be involved in the plan, it was all that Leo could do to stop staring at the coin he had placed on his desk, waiting for it to reveal a message of success.

"Who can tell me which Chief Warlock was responsible for the restructuring of the Wizengamot?" Professor Marchbanks asked the four students, with Terry Boot immediately sticking his hand in the air. "Mr Boot."

"Cantankerus Nott." Terry answered. "He resided on the Wizengamot in a hereditary seat during the 1900's and 1910's but was heavily opposed by Henry Potter. When he was elected as Chief Warlock he shifted the balance of hereditary seats so that only his so called Sacred 28 would be able to claim them, expecting that the Pure Blood's would side with him no matter what."

Marchbanks nodded. "Indeed, a move that backfired spectacularly when it appeared that not every Pure Blood believed in his ideals." She then looked around the room. "All of you here have ancestors that have been directly involved in Wizarding Law in one way or another, with members of your families being Chief Warlock's in their time. What I would like you to do for next time is to bring me a foot detailing one act they were responsible for." She finished speaking as the bell began to ring. "Remember, One foot of parchment! I want detailed discussions on the impact of your ancestors laws, both good and bad! Be descriptive, and be critical!"

Leo gathered his things up and pulled his bag over his shoulder before pocketing his coin, stepping into stride beside Terry as they both made their way to the Grand Staircase, keeping out of earshot of the two Slytherin girls before they began to speak in hushed tones. "Have you heard anything?" Terry asked.

Leo shook his head. "No." He admitted, worried. "They should be back by now… hopefully they're just keeping a low profile in the Common Room."

Agreeing, Terry stopped just before the stairs, the Ravenclaw needing going down in order to reach his common room. "Keep us informed, Leo. A win against Snape is exactly what we could all do with right now." He sighed dramatically, raising his voice louder in case of any eavesdropping portraits. "And I suppose I need to go and research my ancestor Albert now."

Leo smirked at the change of topic to their homework. "I need to find me a MacDonald, or else I'll have to make you all suffer hearing about Licorus Black and trust me, nobody wants that." He waved farewell to the Ravenclaw at that and ascended to the 7th floor and made his way through to the Fat Lady's portrait. "Cor Leonis." He stated as he reached the entrance to the Common Room.

"Quite." The Fat Lady spoke, and the portrait swung around.

Immediately once he straightened up again after passing through the portrait hole his eyes went searching for Neville and Ginny. He quickly saw Lavender and Parvati sat in the corner working on their Divination homework, while Vicky Frobisher was talking with Demelza Robins, the 6th year still looking pale and worried having presumably also not heard from Fay since Leo's friend's escape.

Sighing, he took his time heading up to the dormitory and changing out of his robes, bringing his books on the Wizengamot out in order to make a start on his Magical Law homework he sat down with Lavender and Parvati, rifling through the list of past Chief Warlock's until he had settled on Alasdair MacDonald who was in the role in the 15th Century, and was seemingly the Chief Warlock at the time of the creation of the Order of Merlin. Figuring this was an excellent point to write about, Leo started scribbling down his notes, though every time the portrait opened he looked over eagerly, waiting for Neville and Ginny to appear.

They didn't do that until after the sun had set, and Leo's initial excitement at seeing them was crushed almost instantly at their dejected faces. Snapping his book shut he made his way towards them. "Well?" He asked.

"He was testing us." Ginny muttered bitterly. "He left the castle but must have had a way to return quickly to his office… by the time we had opened the case and Neville had a hand on the sword, we were caught."

Neville had a dark look in his eyes. "Detentions with Hagrid for a fortnight, and a warning." Neville looked at Leo. "He says that we need to be more careful as to who we let into our minds… that secrets shared become secrets spilled." He sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, Leo, he said he pulled our plan right out of my mind, and that we wouldn't get the chance again as the Sword will be moved securely."

His first glance was to Ginny, who looked to have the same realisation on her own face. "We need to start DA lessons again." He explained. "But focusing on Occlumency… to keep our minds closed."

"I'll let people know." Neville said defiantly. "I'm sorry again…"

"It isn't your fault, Neville." Leo stated firmly, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Snape is an expert legilimens, but he shouldn't be using that on students." He said the last bit with a growl. Knowing that Neville would still be feeling down, he then added. "We'll go over the basics tonight to get you started."

The sandy-haired Gryffindor actually grinned at that, nodding vigorously in agreement. "Yes, please. I don't want that… that greasy haired git in my head again." He stated with as much venom as he could muster, with Leo and Ginny both grinning back at the insult, though Leo's first priority was to try and relay everything he could over to Hermione.

"I'll be back down in a bit for dinner." Leo explained, turning to the Dormitory stairs and running up them two at a time, jumping onto his bed and spelling the curtains shut with a swift movement of his wand. Once the Muffliato charm was up, Leo felt able to try Hermione on the mirror again.

She answered quickly, though Leo noticed that she had a small cut above her eyebrow and her hair was even more of a mess than usual. Despite all that, Leo immediately softened when he saw her, a wide grin appearing on his face. "You are a sight for sore eyes." He told her, capturing her every essence as his eyes roamed her face.

Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes, though her cheeks grew pinker. "Stop it." She insisted. "I look awful, I know."

"What's happened?" He asked.

Hermione chuckled. "What hasn't happened, honestly. We've spent the last few weeks trying to research magical sights of immense power that perhaps You-Know-Who would desire. Cheddar Gorge, Puzzlewood, Mermaid's Pool… those sort of spots. I got this…" She pointed to the cut above her eye. "From an extremely unfriendly Mermaid." After seeing how angry they could be at the Second Triwizard Tournament task, Leo was glad that the small blemish was all that Hermione came away with. "Next we're off to Goblin Combe." Hermione continued. "Given its location… it could have been a site that You-Know-Who hid something within before going to Godric's Hollow."

Leo grinned at the thought of them being that close to Sirius, before worry overcame him. "Be careful." He warned. "Sirius may be being watched… we don't know." Hermione simply nodded at the advice. "I have some news too, though it isn't good news."

"Oh?" Hermione asked, worry in her own face now.

"Well… some of it could be good, I know why Dumbledore left Harry the sword." Leo explained. "Basilisk venom is imbued within."

The look on her face was priceless as her mouth formed a perfect O as she begun to put the pieces together. "Of course… goblin metal only takes in that which makes it stronger!" She began to scribble that down in a notebook with a muggle pen. "I presume the bad news is that you can't get to it?"

"We tried." Leo admitted. "But Snape caught Ginny and Neville today and is going to move it, giving them detentions with Hagrid." A thought came to his head. "It may be worth looking more into Snape you know… if Voldemort trusted Lucius Malfoy with a Horcrux, perhaps he trusted others… and we all know Snape is one of his most loyal followers…"

It definitely spawned an intense thought in Hermione as she clicked her pen constantly, the cogs in her brain clearly whirring at light speed. "That's an interesting thought…" She finally left off with. "I'll bring it to the guys when we speak..."

She stopped talking as the door opened to the Dormitory, and Neville's voice sounded. "Leo? We're heading down to dinner."

He dropped the Muffliato charm for just a second. "I'll be down in a moment!" He called, before replacing the charm. "I better go."

"Keep safe." Hermione insisted. "I love you."

"And I love you." Leo replied. "Say hi to the guys for me, and take care of yourself… don't go offending any more mermaids."

She scoffed at him as she shook her head, but their gazes lingered on the other for a few extra seconds before Leo was the one to close the connection, waiting for just a moment longer before he rejoined Neville and the others as they went down for their dinner, his thoughts focused solely on Severus Snape and the potential for a Horcrux to be in the Headmaster's possession.

Chapter Text

Hermione watched as the mirror's surface changed from Leo's face back to her own and she scoffed again, knowing that Leo was surely just being kind when he praised her look. Her hair was getting even more unruly and tangled than usual and the shine had gone, while she had bags under her eyes and her face was pale. The cut above her eye was a sharp red colour and as she gingerly brushed it with her index finger, she hissed as the pain stung. Reminding herself to put some salve on the wound before sleeping Hermione put the mirror back in her bag, the information that Leo had shared with her now doing the rounds inside her head.

Harry's voice sounded loudly from the main tent area. "Hermione, food's ready."

Sighing, she hauled herself off of her bed and pushed through the dividing canvas that separated her room from the large living space. Ron was lounging on the old armchair, messing with his necklace from Professor Dumbledore carefully. Harry meanwhile had put three plastic plates onto the table, the steam rising invitingly as the smell of baked beans on toast wafted through the tent. She sat down and took a mouthful, the now usual flavour filling her taste buds.

"How is he?" Ron asked as he too came to join them.

Hermione nodded, swallowing her mouthful before speaking. "Fine. He said we need to be careful tomorrow though; Sirius might be being watched so we should try and avoid him when we arrive within the forest." She saw Harry's face subtly show his disappointment, but it was gone in a flash. "He also told us that he's figured out why Professor Dumbledore tried to leave you Gryffindor's Sword, Harry."

That comment gained their intrigue as both Harry and Ron sat more rigidly in their seats. "I haven't even thought about it since the wedding." Harry admitted.

"Well, it's actually down to you as to why the sword is important to us, Harry." Hermione explained, another mouthful following. "You killed the Basilisk with it in our second year… and it is made from Goblin Silver." She looked around at the blank look the boys were giving her and her frustrations grew. "Honestly, you two have to pick up a book sometime."

"Why, when you're our encyclopaedia." Ron grinned, causing Hermione to throw a bean at him.

"Goblin Silver only takes in that which makes it stronger." She explained further. "It won't get dirty or rusty, blood won't cling to it if used in battle, but Basilisk venom?"

She waited for the realisation to drop, and thankfully, it did with Harry who's jaw dropped at his understanding. "That's why Dumbledore could destroy the Ring…" He trailed off. "The sword has venom within it."

"So it can destroy the Horcruxes." Hermione finished. "And it is a lot safer to wield than Fiendfyre."

Ron however was the one to bring the mood down slightly. "Yet we can't get hold of the sword."

"No." Hermione agreed. "And that is what Leo also told me… they tried to get it." That caught their attention again. "Leo, Ginny and Neville together with Luna and some other Ravenclaws, came up with a plan to try to steal the sword, but they were caught."

Ron's eyes widened in horror. "Ginny… is she?"

"She's fine, Leo said." Hermione eased his worries, seeing Harry breathe easier too. "Her and Neville have detentions with Hagrid. But we should look more into Snape, Harry. If he moves the Sword, he would move it somewhere he can trust."

Harry nodded, his eyes flashing a dangerous dark green. "We'll head to Cokeworth in a few days then." He said authoritatively. Hermione wanted to interject, they still had more sites to tick off after all, but Harry stopped her in her tracks. "We've learnt nothing from any of these sites, Hermione, and I don't think that any of these interested Vol…" Ron coughed, glaring dangerously. "Oh for the love of… You-Know-Who as much as you hoped. We're already here so let us get this one out of the way, and then I want to travel to Godric's Hollow."

"Godric's Hollow? Are you mad?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"We've been through this Harry." Hermione added. "He will expect you to go there…"

Harry frowned, folding his arms. "I'm not coming all the way over here, spending days where we are barely 15 miles away from my parent's home, and not visiting when in two days it's Halloween."

It was a powerful statement and Hermione's heart wanted to break at the thought, but everything within her head was screaming at her to refuse. "Harry… it's such a dangerous idea…"

"I know, but I don't really care how dangerous it is, Hermione." Harry told her. "I have to go."

Realising that she wasn't going to change his mind there and then, Hermione simply nodded the once, before she mopped up the rest of her beans with an extra slice of bread and levitated the dirty plates to the sink, charming them to wash themselves as she often did when they didn't need the distraction. She quickly joined the boys in the living area, sitting down as she opened up The Tales of Beedle the Bard again alongside her copy of Spellman's Syllabary and began to translate the Ancient Runes written within as Ron switched the Radio on, closing his eyes in the armchair as he fiddled with the pendant again. She barely got three pages done before looking up and seeing Harry lying on his front in the middle of the room, the Marauders Map unfurled in front of him as he twirled his wand around in his hand.

"Where are they?" She asked him, hoping that he had calmed down slightly since their dinner.

"Great Hall." Harry replied monotonously.

"And…" She paused for a moment, wondering if she should ask. Deciding to do so, she continued. "Snape?"

Harry froze, but after a moment he tapped the map with his wand. He chuckled lightly. "Dad wants to know why we're searching for that Greasy Git." He mumbled, before tapping the map again, when the pages began folding around one another showing a new place in the castle. "Dumbledore's office." Harry answered her question.

"So he's still not done anything with the sword." Ron muttered unhappily.

"Or he's gone and come back again." Harry shrugged, sighing as he tapped it again and the map returned to its prior state, where Harry was inevitably watching Ginny's dot.

Leaving him to his thoughts before her own threatened to overcome her as Ron walked to her bag and summoned a map of Britain, she went back to her translations, distracting herself with Professor Dumbledore's numerous notes on The Fountain of Fair Fortune. The next time she looked up was when Ron had arrived with a mug of tea, placing it down beside her as he too went over to look at the map. "Look, Luna's got friends." The red-head pointed out, placing Harry's drink down too.

Hermione smirked knowingly, wondering if Ron himself had realised the truth yet or not. Deciding not, she decided to add some fuel to the fire. "Leo has said that she's been a big help to him and the DA so far this year. So much so that the first time somebody tried to steal her things, she had a group of people there to protect and help her." She watched Ron's smile grow, and she hid her silent chuckle behind her book.

"The DA are back then?" Harry asked.

Hermione simply shrugged. "Leo told me that he's keeping his nose down in public and trying to almost seduce the Carrow's into trusting him, but Neville and Ginny are the public faces of dissent. I think it's only a matter of time before they start something more organised, especially after the Sword."

"They need to be careful." Harry muttered, his left fist flexing what Hermione knew to be the scar of the words Umbridge had forced him to write. "If the Carrow's have Volde…" Ron kicked him in the side. "Ouch! You-Know-Who's backing." He rubbed his side to try and lessen the pain. "Then there's no limits they won't cross."

It was a morbid thought, and Hermione suddenly had the image of Leo being held in the air by the Cruciatus Curse in the middle of the Great Hall. A tear fell from her eye at the thought, and she quickly wiped it away and sniffed, snapping her book shut. "I'm going to bed; we have a long hike tomorrow." She explained. "We'll leave at dawn."

Without waiting for a response, she picked up her mug and retreated to her bunk, making sure that the canvas was in the way before she changed into her pyjamas, finishing her tea before brushing her teeth, and then getting a brush into her hair. She used Leo's mirror to try and make herself look more presentable, wondering what he would say if he could see her there and then. The thought of calling him again occurred to her more than once, but without saying a word Hermione got under the covers and closed her eyes picturing the Library at Hogwarts, with Leo sitting opposite her, his dark hair falling just over his eyes as he was scratching away at some parchment before he looked up at her with those dark blue eyes, a sly smirk on his face as he carried on with whatever homework it was. It was a dream of a typically, mundane day at Hogwarts, something she longed for more than anything.

By the time they had woken, eaten, changed and then packed the tent up it was 8am when they finally put one foot in front of the other and began to walk from their campsite near Cheddar Gorge. Thankfully despite the cold air, the skies were a clear blue so their route across Mendip Hills was dry, and it being a Wednesday there were a minimal amount of Muggle dog walkers that came anywhere near. By half past 10 they had crossed 2 main roads, and by 11 they reached a small Muggle village called Wrington, where Harry thankfully paid for them all to have a filling lunch at a café on the outskirts, before continuing on.

By the time they finally reached the treeline of Goblin Combe it had passed midday, and Hermione quickly retrieved Shadows and Spellbound Secrets from her beaded bag and flicked to a page in the middle of the book. "The Muggles believe that Goblin Combe gets its name from the rock formations." She began to explain as she searched. "But, predictably going by the name, this was once the site of a Goblin colony. Together with Fairies it is rumoured that they protected an artifact of great power, but as the years went by and tensions began to grow, the Goblins and Fairies began to disagree and fight over it."

"Fairies fighting Goblins?" Ron scoffed. "Come off it, they'd stand no chance."

"These aren't your Cornish Pixies or your Christmas Fairies, Ronald." Hermione said with a huff. "If Silvanus Fearnleigh is to be believed then these fairies were dangerous, they can create dangerous illusions to protect themselves, and some are even rumoured to sing a powerful spell that can send you to sleep. Permanently."

Harry grimaced, reaching for his wand. "Then we better be on our guard." He muttered, taking the first steps within the forested area. Hermione followed suit, keeping her own wand tucked up her sleeve as the trio carefully made their way through the trees, searching for any traces of what they were looking for.

"So why do we think You-Know-Who hid something here?" Ron asked after a few minutes.

"If the myths are to be believed this is a major historical site." Hermione said quietly. "While he may not care for the creatures, Arthurian legends would have been something that he grew up with, so discovering these actually have some facts behind them could have led to him seeking these sites out." She then looked at Harry sadly. "And let's face it, this is close enough to Godric's Hollow that he could have hidden something here before going to… you know."

"Kill my parents." Harry muttered darkly.

Ron frowned. "But then that wouldn't be a… you know what."

"Not at the time." Hermione explained. "But there's been plenty of time since for him to return and make a new one. Even if there is nothing hidden here, it's not impossible that we find clues to push us forwards." Neither of them looked overly convinced, but they trudged on anyway, passing by dozens upon dozens of trees as Hermione kept looking over towards Harry, worried about his determination to go to Godric's Hollow after their task here was done. "Harry…" She began, wanting to try and persuade him, but it was Ron who held his hand up to stop them, his wand in his other hand pointed to a specific spot in the nearby shrubbery.

"I saw eyes." He muttered, and quickly all three had their wands trained on the same spot. Hermione's breath quickened as she prepared herself for a fight as she heard the snapping of twigs on the ground come from that same area. As her adrenaline rose, she saw a dark silhouette approach, and a large, black dog came into view.

"Sirius…" Harry breathed out in relief, dropping his wand arm as the dog shifted, transforming back into a man that all three of them were extremely relieved to see.

Sirius stepped closer, almost charging at Harry before collecting him in a tight hug. "Harry Potter." He said into Harry's shoulder, pulling away slightly but still keeping Harry within his grip. He looked over at the other two warmly too. "Ron, Hermione." He greeted, before his eyes narrowed darkly as he returned his gaze to Harry, and he stated in a scolding tone. "What the bloody hell are you three doing here?"

"Fairies." Sirius retorted dryly as the three of them were sat around the table in the kitchen of Sirius' house, Kreacher standing nearby washing up the mugs that they had just drunk from. "You think there could be a Horcrux with the Fairies?"

Hermione was the one to respond, shrugging. "This is a magically powerful area full of myths and legends that would have been appealing, so there's always a chance."

"Dumbledore left us with basically nothing to go off of, it feels like." Ron added. "We got lucky that the locket was in Grimmauld Place, but the cup? No clue."

Sirius frowned as he looked out of the windows towards the forest. "I'll take you to them of course, we need to wait until nightfall for that, but I think you're barking up the wrong tree, myself."

"Nightfall?" Harry asked, impatiently. "Why?"

"Because that's when they'll be at their most visible." Sirius explained. "These aren't your decorative fairies that are more than content to just sit on your Christmas tree and look pretty, Harry, these won't hesitate to kill you if they feel in any way threatened."

Ron snorted. "Just our luck then."

Sirius nodded. "Look, you guys look like you haven't seen civilisation in weeks. Make yourself at home, go and get yourself showered and changed. These Fairies are still as vain as anything so you'll want to make a good impression." He looked over at Harry first. "Your room is upstairs. Right side, right door, you and Ron take that one." He then turned to Hermione, a smirk appearing on the man's face. "Right side, left door."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but a hot shower sounded wonderful. "Thank you, Sirius." She said, before she became the first to depart the room, the boys clearly letting her go first. Once she reached the top of the stairs it was clear which room she had been given, the golden plaque with Leo David MacDonald engraved on it giving it away instantly. Grinning, she pushed open the door and took in the sight of the room. It was painted red with silver and gold stripes, with a double bed taking up the bulk of the room that she placed her beaded bag down on, before running her hands along the duvet. There were pictures dotted around the room where Hermione recognised Mary with a pre-Hogwarts Leo, along with whom she presumed was Magnus MacDonald. Other pictures were plastered around the room too, with images of Leo, Fay and Anna at Hogwarts, including one of them at the Yule Ball as Hermione was reminded of Leo's tartan dress robes. She admired that for a moment, watching the youthful smile on Leo's lips as he had one arm around Fay and the other around Anna, before her eyes then moved to a photograph that Hermione didn't even know had been taken, one of the pair of them at Professor Slughorn's Christmas party almost a year earlier. She smiled at the sight, before following the room around to the heavy bookcase and desk, where an open owl cage indicated that Cosmo was out hunting. Feeling inquisitive, she opened some of the drawers, finding a large, crimson Wigtown Wanderers hoodie that he hadn't taken to Hogwarts for some reason. Hermione brought it out and held it tightly to her face, imagining him inside the jumper when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. In the drawer, buried deep enough to not be suspicious, were a familiar pair of black lace underwear that she had last seen on the night of Bill and Fleur's wedding. Grinning as she remembered that night, she picked them up too, noticing that Leo had even washed them for her.

A sharp crack startled her as she jumped and turned around, only to see Kreacher there holding a golden towel. "Master wanted Miss Granger to have this." Kreacher croaked, shoving the towel into Hermione's hands before disappearing again with a crack.

"Thank you?" She muttered, surprised at the lack of insults that usually came from the old House Elf's mouth, but the towel focused her again as she placed her underwear in her beaded bag and began to strip off in preparation for her shower.

She took her time under the hot water, and by the time she was dried off completely and redressed into clean clothes, including Leo's hoody, it was close to 3pm. Ron had already showered in the meantime and was downstairs with Sirius when she emerged from Leo's room and descended the stairs, walking in on a conversation about Ron's family.

"… been a great help, actually." Sirius was saying, and judging by Ron's face as Hermione grew closer, that was a shock.

"Percy's been a great help?" He scoffed. "Blimey, the world really has gone mental."

"Is he a part of the Order?" Hermione asked, announcing her presence to the pair.

Sirius shook his head. "He's still involved at the Ministry and too close to people we really don't want to leak information to. He's been useful though, shares information from within the Muggleborn Registration Commission itself."

"The what?" Ron asked. Hermione was also perplexed, hating the sound of whatever that was.

Sirius looked between the pair, surprised. "You don't know? Merlin's beard, you have been off the grid. Muggleborns are being rounded up and told that they stole magic or some nonsense, and so have to register themselves to the Ministry for it to be determined how they got their magic. It's headed up by your old friend, Umbridge."

Hermione felt her skin itch in repulsion. "That… that foul woman is in charge of Muggleborns?" She gulped.

Sirius nodded glumly. "Half of our job now in the Order is to ferry whoever we can to safety. Percy provides us with names when he can, and we do our best." He scowled at that though, and looked away from Hermione. "There's so few of us though…" He trailed off, grief hitting him so clearly that Hermione could almost feel the thoughts of Mary radiating from him.

Thankfully, that was when Harry came down the stairs. He looked at the scene cautiously, sensing that something wasn't right. "What's happened?"

Sirius repeated the news and Harry quickly turned pale. "That's evil." He growled.

"We're handling it." Sirius tried to calm things down, but the silence that followed as everybody thought on the world that they were currently living in was deafening. Sirius, trying to keep everyone's spirits up, turned back to Ron. "Oh, and Ginny! She was living here for a bit during the summer."

Ron's ears went a shade of red that Hermione hadn't seen in a long time, while Harry nervously turned away from them all and ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah." Harry said. "We realised. Thanks for the room, by the way."

Sirius moved over and placed an arm around his Godson. "I promised you, didn't I. I realise I'm 3 and a half years late on that promise, but you will always have a place to stay with me." Sirius then paused, looking unsure for a moment before continuing. "I'm also… I'm going to go up to Godric's Hollow tomorrow. I did last year too, but given the date…" He trailed away. "Once you're done with the Fairies you can come back here and get a decent nights kip, and then maybe…"

Hermione frowned, but Harry leapt at the chance, turning back and nodding. "Yes. I want to go." He said firmly.

"Harry…" Hermione began, but Harry shut her down with a glare.

Sirius seemed to catch her meaning though. "He has the cloak, and he'll be with me." He explained. "You two if you would prefer can go Polyjuiced, I have some somewhere, but Harry… it wouldn't feel right to go and see them not as yourself. We can work something out this afternoon, we have an hour and a half or so until dusk."

Realising that there would be no persuading him, Hermione simply huffed. "Fine, we'll discuss it properly later." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'm going to gather my things and read up some more on what we will be walking into, I'll see you at nightfall."

And with that she walked out of the room back towards Leo's bedroom, eager to be surrounded by the comfort of his belongings for as long as she possibly could.

Making their way through the forest was a lot easier with a guide, Hermione thought. In just over ten minutes since leaving the house, they had arrived into an area that was simply brimming with magic. Even Ron and Harry could sense that something was nearby as Sirius stopped in front of an ancient old oak tree. He took a breath before he tapped his wand on the bark three times.

It took a few seconds, but suddenly the ground beneath their feet began to rumble as the oak tree seemed to split in two at its centre, a gap forming between the two halves and widening until it was a perfect oval large enough to fit a person through. Hermione could only stare at it in awe, though Sirius wasted no time in stepping through the hole, closely followed by Harry, and then Ron. Finally, Hermione joined them, and her love of magic grew tenfold as she stepped out into a wide clearing.

It looked like a rounded room, but as Hermione looked up and saw the shine of the stars gently peeking through the tree leaves, she realised that the trees were simply folding over themselves to create a protected barrier that stretched for as far as the eye could see. In front of her was a large, glistening lake with small lights buzzing over the surface, while surrounding the lake were small mounds with windows that must have been houses. In the centre of the lake was an island, shrouded in mist.

"Put your wands away." Sirius said slowly, sheathing his own wand in his jacket. "They don't take kindly to Wizards, especially armed ones." He waited for them to do as he had said. "And… be patient. The language barrier is… difficult."

Harry ignored that comment. "Ron." Was all he said, and the tall red-head sighed, stepping forwards.

He reached back into his pocket and pulled out the pendant that Professor Dumbledore had left him in his will, placing it around his neck and twisting it clockwise. Hermione watched as the pendant lit up a bright purple at the exact moment three of the buzzing lights darted for them, their lights shining brighter and brighter as they grew closer, and a song growing louder that made Hermione want to yawn. "Fight it." Sirius muttered, shaking his own head to keep himself awake.

Soon the light was so bright that Hermione had to hold her arm up in order to shield her eyes, but peering through her fingers she heard a sort of high pitched buzzing, before a lower pitched buzzing followed, and the light dimmed. There instead of the lights were three pink winged fairies the size of Hermione's forearm, all conversing in that same high pitched buzz. The low pitched, she soon realised, was Ron. The pendant once again working its charm in allowing him to understand and speak all types of different magical languages, and had saved her life when they had that unfortunate run in with the Merpeople a few weeks earlier.

"Brilliant…" Sirius whispered, staring at Ron in awe.

"They ask us what it is we seek." Ron said in English after a back and forth. "They don't know the meaning of Horcrux."

Harry thought for a moment. "A dark object, something that would have been hidden against their will."

More buzzes followed as Ron relayed the message, and more Fairies began to appear. Hermione could only count them in awed silence as dozens upon dozens of Fairies appeared with all different shades of wing colours. Green, blue, purple and yellow winged creatures floated around them, with a small one even landing on Sirius' shoulder, holding their arm out expectantly. Sirius laughed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a cherry and handing it over. "Nothing." Ron said finally. "They've had no intruders other than Sirius in living memory."

"They only live a few years." Hermione retorted derisively. "That doesn't help us at all."

The Fairies around Hermione all turned to face her, anger showing on their small faces. Ron was buzzing frantically, before turning to Hermione. "They have memories older than their bodies." He explained. "Apologise, please."

Hermione had no clue how that was possible, but despite the urge to retort, she could hear a song growing louder and the urge to sleep was growing. "Ok, I'm sorry." She said, honestly. "I didn't mean to offend." She heard high pitched scoffs and buzzes as the Fairies began to mock her, she realised, but she held her tongue all the same, knowing that they were going to leave empty handed anyway.

"Ask them if they know of any dark wizards nearby." Harry began. "Especially 16 years ago… ask them about Vol…"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Sirius roared.

"…demort." Harry finished, looking over at Sirius alarmed.

The Fairies didn't appreciate the exclamation either, as they all seemed to hum louder, their little arms folding angrily as they turned towards Sirius, who was looking back at the entrance to the clearing with a worried expression. "Ron, apologise for me." Sirius said slowly. "But that word… fuck, I should have told you before but I thought you knew. It's had a Taboo placed on it."

Hermione's eyes widened as she thought back to the day of the wedding, when she had been trying to focus Ron away from her dress situation…

"Honestly Ronald! We're out here on the run from Voldemort and his followers, not knowing where to go, who to trust, or even who back at the Burrow is even still alive. We had to abandon your family because of what we have to do! And all you can focus on is… is… is my bloody knickers!"

She had said it… she had brought the Death Eaters to them…

And then she thought on again, to the moments they wondered how somebody had gotten close enough to their tent, to every time they had praised one another for their protective spells… she felt the colour drain from her cheeks as she realised just how closely and how often they had come to being caught over the last three months…

"Here." A snarl was heard from the entrance, and in stepped a ragged figure wearing a leather jacket and a red armband. He was followed by half a dozen more each wearing similar clothing. Hermione very quickly had her wand out alongside Harry and Ron, and they all pointed towards the intruders as half of the Fairies scattered, while the other half gathered together defensively, an angry song starting to fill the air. "Well well, what do we have here." The lead figure said. "Shouldn't you three be at school?"

"Leave now." Sirius said warningly. "You don't want to do this here."

A round of laughs followed. "Daddy should have warned you not to go saying words you shouldn't." The lead figure said. "Come on, snatch 'em."

"STUPEFY!" Sirius roared, firing a jolt of red light towards the Snatcher who batted it away with relative ease, but that one spell broke the silence, and very quickly spells were being thrown from all angles. It took all of Hermione's concentration to stick with Harry, grabbing his jacket in her free hand tightly as she fired off hexes and jinxes, catching one of the Snatchers with a nasty stinging hex. She then noticed that the Fairies who had stayed were all weaving in and out of one another as their lights began to shine brighter, before the roots and branches of the trees began to reach out, grabbing the Snatchers. Sirius fired off a blue spell before gripping Harry tightly by the collar. "Get out of here! They're after you!"

"Not without you!" Harry roared, but Hermione and Ron both had the same idea, grabbing Harry tightly as they forced him over to the entrance. "No! Let me go!"

"CONFRINGO!" A voice sounded, and Hermione was shoved to the ground just in time to see a ball of flames miss them by inches, igniting one of the nearby trees. Mass panic sounded amongst the Fairies as the fog began to spread from the island.

"GO! THAT FOG WILL KEEP US HERE!" Sirius roared, and Ron didn't need telling twice, hauling the pair of Harry and Hermione up again and shoving them roughly out of the Fairy colony.

"SIRIUS!" Harry roared. "STOP! WE NEED TO HELP HIM!"

But Ron gripped Harry firmly by the scruff of the neck, and Hermione roughly by her arm, and before she knew it, she was Disapparating.

Chapter Text

As Halloween arrived at Hogwarts, the usual fanfare about the final day of October's evening feast was extremely muted as Leo arrived with Anna into the Great Hall for breakfast, with eyes of students of all ages being drawn towards him. Confused, Leo sat down beside Seamus and grabbed a few slices of toast and some porridge, hearing whispers around 'Sirius Black'.

"What's going on?" He asked his fellow 7th years.

Lavender Brown was the one to answer from opposite, handing him a copy of the days Daily Prophet. On the front page was a picture of his Dad's mug shot from his prior incarceration, and Leo immediately understood the looks. He had sort of known before that he looked similar to his Father had when Sirius had been younger, there were enough pictures now that the truth had been revealed that his Mother had originally kept hidden away, but the scars of Azkaban had shadowed their similarities enough as they had gotten to know one another. Here though, as Leo stared back at a just turned 22-year-old Sirius Black, there was a distinct similarity to himself that was far more apparent now that he was 17, instead of back when he had initially broken out of Azkaban when Leo was 13. His own eyes were bluer and he had his mum's nose and chin, but the resemblance was clear as day.

"I guess if people didn't already know, they will now." He muttered, looking around at the numerous heads that were currently trying to hide the fact that they had just been staring at him. "What does it say?"

"Read it." Parvati urged, and so Leo did just that, opening to page 4 and reading the article.

BLACK WANTED FOR QUESTIONING

The Ministry of Magic has issued an urgent request for information regarding the whereabouts of Sirius Black, the notorious ex-convict, following reports that he may be aiding Undesirable Number One, Harry Potter.

Sources within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement have confirmed that Black, once accused of betraying James and Lily Potter and murdering his former friend Peter Pettigrew along with 12 muggles, was pardoned of these crimes by former Minister Cornelius Fudge last summer. However, new allegations have surfaced linking him to a recent incident involving Ministry Officials, in which Black is believed to have facilitated the escape of wanted fugitive and Undesirable Number One, Harry Potter.

Eyewitness reports suggest that a skirmish took place in a remote forested area late last night, where Officials attempting to apprehend Potter and his associates were allegedly thwarted by an unknown magical interference. The Officials, who remain unnamed due to Ministry policy, claim they were "outnumbered and outmatched" by a wizard matching Black's description, allowing the fugitives to vanish without a trace.

Under the administration of Minister Pius Thicknesse, the Ministry has reiterated that anyone found assisting Potter will be deemed a traitor and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. "We urge all upstanding witches and wizards to report any sighting of Sirius Black immediately," stated a Ministry spokesperson this morning. "Harbouring Undesirable Number One is a crime. If Black is found guilty of such offences, his pardon will be revoked, and he will face Azkaban once more."

In the wake of these troubling developments, the Ministry urges all law-abiding citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity. Black is considered armed and highly dangerous.

Further updates to follow.

It was a lot to take in, but his first thoughts were of relief that Hermione, Harry and Ron had managed to escape. He scoffed as he shook his head, handing the paper back. "He'll not be caught." He said confidently, tucking into his breakfast as a Friday filled with lessons awaited him.

But the article managed to stick with him all day as throughout the corridors whispers and eyes continued to follow him, and by the time lunch came and despite Luna Lovegood showing off the latest edition of the Quibbler, once again claiming Sirius to secretly be a member of the Hobgoblins along with a declaration of support from the publication for Harry Potter, Leo rushed up to his Common Room and picked out his first communication mirror. "Sirius Black." He whispered, hoping that there would be an answer quickly.

Thankfully, there was, and Sirius' face came into view. There was the evidence of a wide cut across his cheek, but other than that he looked relatively healthy. "Leo, is everything…"

"What the bloody hell happened?" Leo demanded. "The whole school is looking at me like I'm harbouring a fugitive in my trunk!"

Sirius snorted in amusement. "Oh, the Prophet article. A load of shite, mate, honestly. The Quibbler is genuinely more accurate. I play a mean guitar…"

"Don't do that. Don't play it down, I can see there's a cut that won't heal properly on your face." Leo frowned.

Sighing, Sirius nodded. "Alright. I've basically warded the entire forest to be fully aware whenever anybody with a wand steps foot nearby, and I got alerted to three people stumbling in at around noon. When I went to check it out…" Leo frowned again, and Sirius laughed. "As Snuffles mate, I'm not that daft. I went to check it out and it was Harry. They filled me in on what they were doing and why, and so I took them to the Fairy colony in the woods. Well, Harry didn't know there was a taboo in place…"

"A what?" Leo asked quickly.

"A Taboo." Sirius explained. "I presume you'll be alright at the school, they've got their eyes on you enough there and they can't go arresting students in the middle of Potions, but there's a taboo on You-Know-Who's name. Bloody smart to be honest, as the only ones that actually use it are the Order… but Harry didn't know either and I couldn't stop him from saying it, so we got cornered by Snatchers."

"Snatchers?" Leo asked again.

Sirius sighed. "Blimey you are in the dark up there. The Death Eaters have outsourced their kidnappings to Snatchers, dark wizards and witches wanting to earn a few bob for bringing in dissenters. Those 'Ministry Officials' mentioned in that bleeding article were just a bunch of idiots looking for a quick cash grab. I fought them off well enough but one of them…" He pointed up to his cheek. "Well, not even Molly could heal it quickly when I escaped to The Burrow afterwards." Thankful that nobody else seemingly got hurt, Leo prodded Sirius to continue. "Well Harry, Ron and Hermione got away quickly… I don't know where too, but I was left to deal with the Snatchers. The bastards set the place ablaze, those poor fairies… those that survived at least…" He sighed sadly. "Well, anyway, the house is now forcefully under the Fidelius and once again I'm cooped up here like a prisoner. Tonks and Remus have moved in at least… he's Secret Keeper. Which reminds me…" He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a scrap of parchment. "Here."

The Black/MacDonald family Residence is located on the outskirts of Goblin Combe, Bristol.

Suddenly the memories that Leo didn't realise had been blocked returned, as he pictured his room again, and the grounds of the house. "Thanks." Leo muttered. "But please, just be safe."

"I should say that to you, I can't bloody go anywhere." Sirius muttered.

"Promise me." Leo added, urgently.

Thankfully, his tone was noticed and Sirius nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, I'm not getting into trouble. I promise. But you need to do the same, we heard about Neville and Ginny's little trip with Hagrid and I know you well enough by now to know that you had your hands all over that. Be careful, the word from the Ministry is that the Carrow's will soon be able to crack down on problem students, don't become one."

Leo could only smirk, not saying anything about that and instead just beginning his goodbye. "I'll see you in a couple of months."

Sirius laughed knowingly. "Very well… make sure that I do!"

Waving, Leo broke the connection and set the mirror down, thankful that everyone he cared about seemed to still be safe as he was also trying to process the amount of information that he had just received.

His first lesson after lunch was unfortunately Muggle Studies. Settling himself in for another lesson on the terror and violence that Muggles cause, Leo dropped his bag by his desk and began to pull his chair out, only for Professor Carrow to call out to him. "Black, you are wanted in my office."

"My name's MacDonald, Professor." He corrected for the thousandth time, but he stayed standing and after a shrug towards a quizzical Daphne Greengrass, he walked towards the door in the back of the classroom. Opening it, he was surprised to see the dark outline of Professor Snape standing with his back towards Leo. "Headmaster." Leo greeted.

"MacDonald." Snape said slowly. "I know you are aware of the Prophet's reporting this morning, and I need you to tell me. Where is Sirius Black?"

The Headmaster turned to face Leo, his cold, black eyes staring directly into Leo's own. His walls immediately came up as the lock on the gate of the Restricted Section began to rattle, as Leo closed down every thought relating to Sirius other than the one of their duel in the summer. "I don't know, Professor. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms." He kept quick and simple. "Perhaps he died when his house exploded."

"We both know that is not true." Snape stated icily. "Do not lie to me, MacDonald."

"I'm not." Leo said defiantly. "The man is a drunk and I haven't seen him in months. I honestly couldn't tell you where he is."

Snape remained in place for a few seconds more, with Leo keeping his Occlumency walls in place as firmly as he could, until the Headmaster nodded the once. "Very well. If you do hear from him, remember it is your duty as Prefect and as a citizen of this land to report it to the relevant authorities. Get back to your class."

"Professor." Leo nodded, making sure to keep his walls up just in case as he turned and reached for the door knob.

"Oh, and MacDonald." Snape added on. "Do be sure to give some pointers to Potter, if he had but a fraction of your skill, I would not have needed to waste my time on his private lessons two years ago."

"I've not heard from Harry Potter since Professor Dumbledore's funeral, Professor." Leo retorted.

"As you say." Snape countered, and Leo didn't want to respond to that, instead going to strengthen his mind as he left the office and returned to his seat, slumping into it quickly and being sure not to look the departing Snape in the eyes.

He finally settled down as the door shut and Professor Carrow began to excitedly drone on about yet another instance of Muggle's being awful. Trying to zone out and refocus his mind, Leo closed his eyes and focused more on his breathing, only managing a couple of minutes before a sharp elbow jab brought him back into the room. He turned to face Daphne Greengrass, who gestured to the board where Professor Carrow was writing out their task for the lesson.

"What did Professor Snape want?" She asked.

Leo raised his eyebrow at her amusedly. "Nosey." He muttered, causing the Slytherin blonde to glare at him. "He's just scrutinising me for the whereabouts of my Father, who I haven't seen in months." He tried to come across as callous as he could, and it seemed to work as Daphne softened slightly.

"I understand." She told him. "There are a lot of comments in the Slytherin common room about your paternal family. Draco was one of the more furious when the truth came to light, he thought he would inherit the Black titles and fortune. And Alice Rosier is always mentioning your family history after your Law lessons."

"It's nice to see how popular I am in Slytherin." Leo muttered dryly.

"More that we can't work you out." Daphne admitted. "You're a Pure Blood, a Black, but you hail from the disowned Blood Traitor and the House of MacDonald, which quite frankly haven't been relevant in certain Slytherin circles for generations… no don't look at me like that, I'm simply explaining." She caught his offended look. "Despite you coming across as very respectable to all of us, there's a stain on your name that a certain breed of Slytherin's will never be able to overcome."

"And what sort of breed are you?" Leo asked coldly. "Am I just another Blood Traitor to you?"

"No." Daphne said curtly. "Because I don't follow the Dark Lord's ideals. I respect tradition, but I would never seek to eradicate it's opposite, merely educate. My main focus is on…" She trailed away, a far off look in her eye. "Surviving." She finally added, though Leo could detect a hint of deflection in that word. He could also sense that the conversation had run its course, and so didn't bother the Slytherin again for the rest of the lesson. When the bell finally rang and he gathered his things up, he went to gather his things quietly and sneak off, only to be stopped as Daphne spoke again. "Keep annoying Crabbe and Goyle, if that is you. They are becoming insufferable this year, and I'm thoroughly enjoying you putting them through hell.

"I have no idea what you mean." Leo said, though his smirk gave it away, and for what seemed like the first time a smile appeared on Daphne's face.

"I'm sure." Daphne retorted as she placed her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you on Monday."

And with that she walked over towards Tracey Davis, leaving Leo standing there replaying that entire lesson back through his mind, the enigma of Daphne actually managing to distract him from the looks and the whispers that continued to follow him around.

Thankfully, with Halloween on a Friday it allowed Leo the chance to keep to himself over the weekend, and when Monday rolled around again it seemed like the revived news of Sirius Black being on the run had faded into the conversations, with the weekend's Quidditch game between Puddlemere and Falmouth taking over, shifting towards the upcoming Hogwarts match between Gryffindor and Slytherin taking place on the coming Saturday. Relieved, Leo managed to go to his Dark Arts lesson with more of a spring in his step, taking his seat beside Anna and noticing that the class had been split, with a duelling mat being placed in the middle of the class.

"Today, we will be advancing our study." Amycus Carrow instructed them. "Crowd control is a very important aspect of alleviating dissent, and with the recent issues from students within these castle walls that require our attention as teachers, Minister Thicknesse has today pronounced a decree that will allow for an enhanced form of punishment that ties into this lesson rather nicely." The professor grinned, a sight that worked to unnerve Leo greatly. "Who can tell me what the best form of crowd control is?" Crabbe's hand shot up faster than Leo had ever seen the overweight boy move without the assistance of a broomstick. "Mr Crabbe." Carrow called out.

"Showing strength." Crabbe explained. "If the crowd fear you, they'll obey you."

Carrow grinned again. "Exactly, ten points to Slytherin. Fear keeps order, and the world needs order if it is to proceed. How best would we show this fear?"

Leo felt ill, but his face remained stoic as Crabbe's hand once again shot up into the air alone, and he answered in a single word. "Power."

"Ten points again." Carrow nodded. "By showing the power you hold over the masses, yes. You have all been shown the power of the previously named Unforgivable Curses."

"What do you mean previously?" Neville called out from the back of the room.

This only spurred Carrow on. "Excellent question Longbottom, though ten points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn." He grinned again. "The Minister for Magic has as of yesterday agreed that all spells have their place in our world, and that to criminalise them is oppressive and immoral."

"That's barbaric!" Susan Bones, uncharacteristically, was the one to raise her voice at that, but once again that only seemed to encourage the Professor.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff, and a thank you for volunteering." Carrow snarled, waving his wand and knocking Susan's chair back from her desk and forcing her to her feet. "In the middle of the duelling mat, please. You too, Mr Crabbe." Susan tried to fight it, but she was quickly stood in the centre of the room facing Crabbe shivering in terror. Before Carrow could say another word the classroom erupted as Neville, Anna and Seamus led a chorus of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students all roared their horror at the unfolding situation. It took every bit of Leo's self-control to stay in his seat and keep quiet, only able to witness as Carrow slashed his wand across angrily as silence fell over the room. "Enough!" Carrow roared. "Some of you are the very reason this has been deemed necessary. Sit down, and listen." He then turned to Crabbe and Susan. "Miss Bones, you will begin. How would you deem it necessary to assert control over a crowd?"

Susan reached for her wand shakily, holding it out at Crabbe and whispering. "Immobulus." The spell was cast perfectly, as Crabbe frozen in place, unable to move any part of his body.

"Pitiful." Carrow sneered, waving his wand to release Crabbe. "Once unfrozen, the crowd will resort once more to their actions. Mr Crabbe, your turn."

Carrow held his wand out threateningly towards the rest of the class as Crabbe grinned maniacally, holding his own wand out to a now crying Susan Bones. "Crucio."

The screams were abhorrent from the moment the blood red light struck the Hufflepuff girl and she collapsed to the ground in an instant, writhing in agony as her fingers clawing at the duelling mat. It was too much for Leo to take, and to stop himself from crying out in outrage he simply clamped his eyes shut and clenched his fists together as the roars of his classmates dissent barely drowned out the unrelenting agony that was flowing through Susan at that moment. Loud bangs were heard as chairs were thrown around the room, until finally with a magically enhanced voice Carrow called out. "Enough." Leo opened his eyes to see that he had snapped his quill in his hand, and that the classroom looked a state with people thrown immobilised in the air and their chairs and desks scattered all over the place. "That is all for today's lesson. Somebody clean this mess up." He nodded down towards a sobbing Susan Bones, before a final few slashes around the air with his wand, and the Slytherin's had a protected pathway out of the room. Hannah Abbott, once she had been dumped unceremoniously back onto the ground, immediately rushed to Susan, holding her in her arms tightly and trying to soothe the sobbing girl.

Once the Slytherin's had gone the barriers preventing the rest of the class from leaving dropped. Neville immediately rushed towards the teachers office, only to be thrown backwards as another protective barrier had been put in place. "COWARD!" Neville roared. "COME OUT AND FACE US!"

"Neville!" Parvati called out. "That's enough! Come on!"

The Hufflepuffs were crowding Susan now, helping her up as a House as both Hannah and Sally Smith held her upright as they walked, with Ernie carrying her bag, a dark expression on his face. "Come on." Hannah soothed. "Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey."

"Barbaric." Terry Boot said, moving to beside Leo as they allowed the Hufflepuff's past, each of them protecting Susan like a Roman Tortoise.

Leo waited until they had all escaped the classroom before he said a word. "This is only going to get worse…" He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as they too left the room. "Can we continue to count on you guys?" He asked quietly.

"You know you can." Terry nodded firmly. "More and more of the younger years have had enough of the Carrow's already… we are ready to fight back." Terry then looked at the Hufflepuff's. "And I'm sure you'd have extra support from Hufflepuff after today."

Leo agreed, thinking that the Carrow's had swung things against themselves in their bid to control. "Keep an eye on your coins, and keep your ears open to anybody else who want to fight back. The time is coming."

Terry clapped Leo on the back, nodding enthusiastically. "Hear hear." He said, before waving goodbye and joining his own Housemates.

Dark Arts being in the morning meant that there were a number of other lessons, including another horrible Muggle Studies one, before the Gryffindor's could all gather in the Common Room, where it became evident as soon as Leo stepped through the Portrait with Anna that the entire Common Room was outraged at what had happened to Susan.

Neville was especially incensed, and as he saw Leo arrive he strode over towards the Prefect. "Hannah says she's shaken, but thankfully she'll be alright." He explained. "But Hannah is livid, all of Hufflepuff want their revenge on the Carrow's… and Crabbe."

"And they'll get it." Leo said firmly, loud enough that any conversation that was also going on inside the Common Room died out quickly. "What happened today was evil, and the Carrow's will use this to worsen punishments to a level that even Umbridge never delved to, and we won't stand for that." The Common Room occupants all nodded their approval. Leo turned to Neville then, talking directly to his friend, though speaking for all to hear. "We've watched, we've learned, and we've been a minor nuisance in classrooms, but the time has come for more."

Neville grinned. "Yes, it's time we started fighting back." He launched his fist into the air, holding it high. "Dumbledore's Army!"

Leo nodded. "Dumbledore's Army." He repeated, and the pair of 7th years high fived one another.

"Dumbledore's Army." Ginny Weasley called from her spot in the corner, and the call went up throughout the previous members of the group, and even some others that hadn't been a part of it a couple of years earlier. Even some of the portraits were cheering and calling out, with Leo noticing that the portrait of Professor McGonagall in her youth was applauding vigorously.

As the noise levels grew, Leo moved in to talk to Ginny and Neville more privately. "Ravenclaw are in too, I spoke with Terry after class, told him to keep an eye on their coins."

"We need to do something for tomorrow." Neville said. "Quickly, to let Susan know we won't take this lightly… and to let the others know we're ready for a fight."

In true Weasley fashion, the thought of how to cause trouble had come to Ginny immediately, and she began to grin. Looking between the two boys, all she needed to say was four words, but those four words they all knew was the start of something bigger than all of them. "Here's what we do…"

Chapter Text

With his first lesson the following day being Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, Leo made sure that he was up bright and early in order to be at breakfast in plenty of time, an action that it seemed like all of Gryffindor Tower had taken, and so the entire house it seemed like left the Common Room as one, all arriving to an even larger gathering as they reached the Entrance Hall. There, hanging above the House Point Hourglasses was a large banner with the image of Professor Dumbledore on the side, his right eye twinkling every now and again as the words across the banner flashed in shades of blue, green, red and yellow.

DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY: NOW RECRUITING

It looked even better than Leo had imagined it, and he was grateful that Dean Thomas had left the majority of his supplies at Hogwarts so that they had been able to pull this off. Even better than the banner however was Filch standing atop his amusingly large stepladder trying to yank down the banner, though whatever charms had been used to stick it up seemed to be doing their trick as it just wasn't budging.

"Move it!" Pansy Parkinson's voice called from somewhere within the crowd, as the Head Girl began to escort the students away and into the Great Hall, though none seemed to want to move until Crabbe and Goyle started shoving a group of second years roughly.

It took all of Leo's self-control to not just burst into laughter at the sight of the few Slytherin's trying to rally the entire school, but he held it in as he fiddled with the DA coin in his pocket. "Move along!" He then called out, showing off his Prefect badge openly. "Unless you all want detentions for being late to your first lessons!" He heard a large number of groans and complaints, but thankfully the crowd began to thin as more prefects continued the call to move the crowd along, though every new comment on how brilliant the banner was only had the impact of making Leo walk all the more proudly. He sat down in his usual space between Anna as the 7th Years were all having a regular conversation about the schedule for their day, with no hint of any rule breaking coming from anybody. Leo also made sure that he didn't so much as glance over at the teachers table, not wanting to give Snape the satisfaction of knowing anything was amiss.

Once he had eaten a hearty meal, Leo quickly began to gather his things and head over to the Transfiguration classroom when the entire Great Hall fell silent, and Leo saw everybody looking towards the teachers table. Shifting his body so that he could see, he watched on as Professor Snape stood up in front of the school, his hands gripping the owl lectern tightly. "It seems." The Headmaster began, each syllable of his words were carefully measured and spoken slowly as usual. "That some of you sitting here in this very room have forgotten that Hogwarts is a place of learning, and of education. Not, a staging ground for mindless, unamusing, childish rebellion." He looked over towards the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff side of the room, his cold eyes glaring into the souls of each student. "You are all aware that politics, are to be kept outside of the castle walls, and that the use of Professor Dumbledore's name in such a callous and insensitive manner is strictly against a number of school rules." He took a moment to let that settle over the students before continuing in his usual, drawn out manner. "This will be your final, warning. Those students responsible for the pathetic stunt in the Entrance Hall will be found, and will be punished accordingly. Any attempt to repeat this behaviour and the punishments shall escalate." His eyes moved across to the edge of the room and settled firmly on the Gryffindor's. "That is all. Get to your classes." He said coldly, swishing his cloak as he turned around and moved to sit in the Headmaster's seat again.

Leo grabbed his bag quickly as the chatter around the Great Hall slowly increased, as all voices were talking about the banner and questioning who the culprits were. He knew eyes would be on him and his friends, and so he made sure to stride out of the room without so much as a word to anybody, trying not to show any sign of involvement even as he passed Filch still struggling to remove the banner.

The banner remained in place as lunch came and went, and it was still the talk of the school as Leo made his way up to the 6th floor for another Magical Law lesson. Some of the rumours flying around were wild, with Peeves, Hogwarts itself, and even the unseen ghost of Professor Dumbledore taking the brunt of the blame. The most amusing to Leo however was as he passed by a group of 4th year Gryffindor boys on the staircase that seemed convinced that the Weasley Twins had snuck into the castle in the dead of night and erected it.

It was Terry Boot that was the first to actually accuse him though, as the pair stood outside of the classroom waiting for Professor Marchbanks to arrive, and away from the hearing of the Slytherin girls. "Nice job." The Ravenclaw said quietly. "What did you use?"

Grinning as he saw the old Professor walking towards them quickly, Leo simply pulled his DA Galleon out of his pocket and flicked it in the air, catching it neatly. "I don't know what you mean." He stated, flicking the coin again and catching it similarly as the small group filed into the classroom and found their seats.

"Alright, there's been enough excitement here for one day, so I have heard, let us get straight to the lesson instead of needlessly gossiping." Professor Marchbanks called out as Leo dropped into his seat. "We've been delving deeply into the current makeup of the Wizengamot recently, but on a broader note. Now, for your own benefit rather than mine, we will start to look more personally, given that you all would not be here if you did not have an interest in involving yourself within the Wizengamot in some way." She looked around the room. "Miss Bulstrode, Miss Rosier, Mr MacDonald, you each have hereditary seats available within your families while Mr Boot, unfortunately you will need to take the longer path of election."

"How does one get elected, Professor?" Alice Rosier asked. "Daddy's never really spoken about those members."

Professor Marchbanks narrowed her eyes. "No… I don't suppose he has." She murmured. "The Wizengamot, similarly to the Muggle Parliament, is made up of two subsections. We have our elected members. These serve a similar term to our Minister for Magic, how long, Miss Bulstrode?" She tested the other Slytherin.

"Seven years." Milicent answered.

"Good. And after every Seven years, each position is opened up again. Most of the time those that wish to be re-elected manage to do so, but every application is reviewed by a small group of people that include the Minister themselves, the Chief Warlock and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This process is open to everybody, though it is more useful to have some form of experience within the Ministry before applying." Professor Marchbanks explained, a handy diagram of the process magically appearing on the blackboard. "The difference with the Muggles however, is that these two branches of the Wizengamot sit in the same chambers and debate amongst themselves, and not separately." She then tapped the Blackboard where it had 'Hereditary' written down. "As for these seats, well, all Pure Blood families have held a seat at some point in history, but due to our old friend Cantankerus Nott in the early 20th century, these were streamlined to only the so called Sacred Twenty Eight."

"But some of those families refused." Alice Rosier chirped up.

Professor Marchbanks nodded. "They did. Namely, those that disagreed with Mr Nott's way of thinking. A majority did accept however, hence why Miss Bulstrode and Miss Rosier, your grandfather's currently sit on the Wizengamot as we speak."

She then turned to Leo, and eyed him up curiously. "Your seat however, Mr MacDonald, has come under scrutiny in recent times. Minister Fudge wanted it dissolving during my own time on the Wizengamot while others sought to use their tenuous connections to the House of Black in order to claim it as their own. With there being a living male member of the family however, this was impossible under the Legacy Succession Act of 1924, even if he was incarcerated in Azkaban at the time."

Leo's mouth was dry. He of course knew that they had had a hereditary seat, one that had rarely been used since the 19th Century. His research on his ancestors had shown that for the most part, his family only took the seat when major votes were being called and their voice was supposedly needed. Licorus Black was the last full time member before his death in the 1870's, though he had recorded instances when Phineas Nigellus, his son Sirius, and even Leo's own Great-Grandfather Arcturus Black had sat in the seat, presiding over debates the two great Muggle Wars, Grindelwald, and in the latter's case, the end of the First Wizarding War. Clearing his throat before he asked the first question that sprung to mind, Leo eventually spoke up, careful to keep to his story. "How would I go about claiming it? I doubt that Sirius Black would care for the seat if he hasn't claimed it already."

All eyes were on him, and Leo fought the urge to shrink. Professor Marchbanks considered him with a half-smile. "Well, you are of age so it's possible for you to sit on the Wizengamot once you finish school, though be aware that many of the current members will look down on a young person acting as their equal. You do, however, have the misfortune of not being the current head of the Black Family. Without a magically binding agreement from the recognised head of the family, in this case your currently outlawed Father, then you will be unable to claim the seat until his death, I'm afraid."

Leo nodded his understanding, settling back into his seat comfortably as he thought on what that all meant. Sirius would easily give up his rights, and so while the Slytherin girls would both have to wait, that Wizengamot seat that had simply been gathering dust for years was firmly within his grasp, and for the rest of the lesson he had the strong image of himself wearing those plum coloured robes, affecting the changes in the world that he knew it desperately needed.

That evening it was once again Leo's turn to patrol the school in his role as a Prefect, and again he had been paired with Hufflepuff Hannah Abbott. This time around however, Hannah was less chatty than usual, focusing more on getting through the patrol it seemed.

"Is everything ok?" Leo asked her as they walked from the dungeons towards the Grand Staircase. "You seem… quiet."

Hannah shrugged. "I just… I keep thinking about my Mum. She was killed last year too." She paused, looking over at Leo for a moment with a look he knew all too well, pity. "I guess you know how that feels."

"I do." He said quietly. "I'm sorry to hear that though."

"Dad wanted to pull me out of school, but I couldn't… I couldn't just stay home and wallow." She explained. "Then everything happened with Dumbledore… he was really trying to convince me right up until the mandatory attendance law." She sighed loudly. "And now Neville keeps getting in to trouble and I worry that he's going to end up like my Mum…"

"Neville is tough, he knows what he's doing." Leo tried to soothe, opening the doors for her as they stepped onto the staircase.

"He was called out of Herbology today by Carrow." Hannah retorted. "When he came back he was angry… nothing I said helped."

It was a feeling Leo understood well enough just living in the same dorm as Neville. "He'll open up when he's ready." Leo said. "He talks about you a lot, so whatever you're doing is working."

He noticed her cheeks grow slightly rosier and laughed, causing her to smack him on the arm as her blush deepened. "Stop teasing me." She muttered as they stepped through to the corridor leading to the Entrance Hall.

Leo was about to retort when raised voices could be heard closer to the Great Hall doors. He grabbed Hannah's arm and held her in place by , pressing a finger to his lips to quiet her as he listened in. The first voice he heard was Amycus Carrow. "Things could go poorly indeed for you if you don't tell us, Minerva."

Professor McGonagall sounded exasperated in her reply. "For the fifth time, Amycus. I do not know anything about this so called club. Whatever knowledge the staff had died with Professor Dumbledore. It was, as you say, his army after all."

"Shit." Leo whispered.

"You were there!" Alecto screeched. "You saw the list! We know it!"

McGonagall scoffed. "Your source is mistaken. I'm afraid I cannot help you. Now if you will excuse me, I have duties to perform." Leo heard the loud footsteps echoing throughout the castle grow louder, until Professor McGonagall was within sight. Her eyes widened at the pair of them and she closed the gap swiftly, her voice however was barely a whisper. "Get out of here, the pair of you."

Hannah nodded, dragging Leo down the smaller spiral staircase and into a cosy lit area filled with portraits and barrels. She paused for a second as she looked at the large barrels on the far wall before shaking her head and turning to a portrait of a fruit bowl that Leo recognised instantly. "Here, the Kitchens will hide us for now." Hannah explained, tickling the pear and waiting for the picture frame to swing open.

Whereas before the House Elves had been saddened by the death of Professor Dumbledore but still had that happiness within them, the mood within the kitchens was dark. The Elves moved around more sluggishly than he remembered, and their bright, smiley faces just weren't there anymore.

"What's happened to them?" Leo asked, horrified.

Hannah shrugged as she moved to one of the long tables, sitting down at the Hufflepuff preparation table. "Things are different this year." Was all she said to him, before turning towards an approaching House Elf that was wearing the usual uniform of a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts Crest tied like a toga. "Ah, Paddle. How are you?" Hannah asked.

"Paddle is happy to see young miss." The House Elf bowed politely, before snapping his fingers and a silver tray appeared balancing a steaming teapot, two mugs, milk, a small bowl of sugar and large assortment of biscuits. "Paddle has made tea, just how miss likes it."

Hannah grinned, taking the tray from the House Elf and beginning to serve them both tea, somehow managing to make it how Leo liked it perfectly without words. "Excellent as always, Paddle. Thank the others for me, will you?"

"Paddle will!" Paddle exclaimed, though his ears drooped slightly after the initial excitement.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked. His thoughts were brought back to their 4th year at the interaction, and a younger, bossier Hermione storming around the Common Room asking for sign-ups to S.P.E.W.

Paddle sighed dramatically. "It is Winky, sir, Winky is punishing herself, Paddle thinks." The House Elf explained. "Winky drinks more Butterbeer and the food Winky serves is fit only for the…" He paused, his tennis ball sized eyes wide in horror.

"It's ok Paddle. We won't tell." Hannah said, snapping a rich tea biscuit in half to dunk.

Paddle gulped. "Winky's food goes to the Carrow's." And without warning Paddle dropped prone on the table and started slamming his head on the wooden surface, and it took Leo two tries to hoist the House Elf up again. After a moment longer of trying to calm the House Elf down, Paddle continued. "Winky thinks that Professor Dumbledore's death is because of Winky. Paddle says that is nonsense, but Winky thinks it anyway."

"How can a House Elf be blamed?" Hannah asked, but Leo felt the colour in his face drain as he realised what Winky believed.

"Winky was the Crouch's elf." He explained. "She helped conceal Barty Crouch Jr from the world… and he got loose on her watch. She thinks that because of that, everything that has happened is down to her." He turned to Paddle. "Can I see Winky?"

Paddle shook his head vigorously. "Winky has been having too much Butterbeer tonight, sir. Winky is in no state to talk."

He could hear Hermione's voice loudly in his head, telling him that he had to look after the poor elf, and honestly he agreed with that voice. "I'll come back another day and see her then." Leo explained. "And the rest of you too, this isn't the same as I remember."

Paddle seemed upset at the thought, but nodded his agreement. "Us House Elves are sad, sir. Professor Dumbledore was kind to us." He seemed to want to say more, but refused.

Hannah had no qualms about saying more though. "And Snape isn't, nor is the Carrow's." She explained. "We have our Common Room next door so we often sneak through here after hours if we need anything, and we hear enough." She told Leo. "The Carrow's are cruel."

"Well, it's a good job you aren't bound to the Carrow's then." Leo explained. "The school, sure, but the Carrow's go against everything that the school stands for." Paddle's eyes were wide still as he seemed to mull over Leo's words. "Just remember, Paddle, that there are still some of us that are fighting for Professor Dumbledore and what he believed in. That includes you all here."

He held out his hand, waiting for Paddle to shake it. It took a while however as the House Elf stared at the offered hand, not knowing what to do with it. Eventually though, Paddle shook Leo's hand and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Paddle will see if sir can get back to his Common Room." The House Elf announced. "Is sir wanting to take more food?"

Shaking his head, Leo refused. "You've done plenty, thank you Paddle." And with that Paddle disappeared with a crack. Leo finished his tea with a large gulp, pausing as he went to place the mug back on the table at the look that Hannah was giving him. "What?"

"The way you talked to Paddle… you don't see that often." Hannah explained.

Leo just shrugged. "I had Hermione Granger in my Common Room… surely you remember S.P.E.W?" Hannah nodded. "Well, that and a really impressive House Elf at home… you can learn a lot."

"Do you think they'd help us?" Hannah asked him then. "Help so that… so that Neville doesn't need to take so many risks?" Leo looked around at the House Elves that were just finishing up the days washing up, noticing a number of perked up ears, maybe listening to their conversation.

"I think that it's not just ourselves that we are fighting for." Leo answered. "Some of the things going on right now… I think there will be many a sentient creature that will be persecuted under the current regime. If we can help them, encourage them to fight back alongside us… then the better off we'll be."

He expected a quieter Wednesday compared to the previous few nights, a thought that was helped by his usual free afternoons with not taking Potions and Herbology as N.E.W.T.s, and though he ended up with a productive afternoon getting Magical Law, Charms and Transfiguration homework completed, by the time he brought out his Dark Arts homework after dinner to half arse his way through it, Ginny and Neville stood over him, with the Weasley's arms folded and Neville's in his pockets.

"Evening." Leo greeted them.

"We want to show you something." Ginny explained. "Come on."

Grabbing Leo's hand, he barely had time to pick up his back and shove his things back inside it before he was dragged outside of the Common Room and marched over to where the Room of Requirement was. Neville closed his eyes for a moment and paced the corridor, making a large door appear. "What's going on?" Leo asked.

"Just… come on." Ginny urged, pushing him through the doors.

It was the same room that they used to practice in back in 5th year, but Leo immediately noticed that it was larger, now more the size of the Quidditch Pitch, which was definitely needed considering the number of students within. As Leo looked around he saw familiar faces that had been in the DA last time, but there were a lot of new ones too. Anna gave him a wave from beside Parvati and Lavender, but as Leo looked around he figured that the majority of the 5th, 6th and 7th Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were crammed within.

"What…" Leo began, but he was too caught up in the scene in front of him to speak properly.

Luna was the one to step forwards. "The Carrow's haven't just tortured 7th years, they've used that same lesson on us too."

"And us." The Gryffindor 5th year Prefect, Jasper Aarons called out.

"And we want to fight back." Susan Bones said, a true steel to her voice as Leo could feel the anger emanating from her eyes.

The agreement from everybody was loud, louder than Leo expected it to be. Neville was the next one to step forwards, though stood beside Leo and facing the crowd. "Now, it won't be the same as before. We don't have Harry here to teach us, but this year is far more important than a couple of years ago, and we need to work together. The Carrow's aren't here to teach us, they're here to break us, to have us bend to their wills and follow Voldemort." The gasps in the room made Leo grin. "Yeah, I said the name. Get used to it. Because we aren't scared of him, and we aren't scared of them. The only power that the Carrow's have, is what we give them."

Leo nodded. "Instead of fear, our job is to spread hope. Hope that we will come through this stronger than before, hope that this is just temporary, that the light will win at the end of the day, and hope that our descendants will never have to live like we do right now."

"And we do this for Harry." Ginny said defiantly. "Harry, who has always stood up against evil, who is out there somewhere right now taking the fight to Voldemort." More gasps followed, but less than before which was an encouraging sign. "For Harry, and for Dumbledore."

"So what are we actually here to do?" Zacharias Smith asked. "We saw the banner, that was fine, but it's hardly an annoyance for them, is it?"

"Shut up Zach." His elder sister, Sally, hissed.

"No, Zach has a point." Leo told them. "That was simply the start. Since the beginning of the year we've been watching, learning, thinking of ways that we can hurt the Carrow's without risking greater threats descending on the castle. Neville has led the way by fighting against their blatant propaganda in classes…"

"As has Ginny." Luna spoke up.

Leo looked at the Red Head who was staring at the floor in front of her angrily. "As have a number of others, I am sure." He corrected himself. "And that's what has emboldened all of you to be in this room, at this very moment, is it not? You can see that the Carrow's are there to be defied, you know that their teachings are wrong." He looked between Neville, Ginny, and Luna. "These three were there a couple of years ago, fighting Death Eaters right in the heart of the Ministry of Magic. I was there last year in the Astronomy Tower, as were a number of you." He gestured to the 7th year Ravenclaw's. "Now I don't know where, and I don't know when, but some day we will be needed again, and the more of us there are standing up to the dark, the better our chances."

"But not just for that." Ginny countered. "Fighting against Voldemort and his Death Eaters is all well and good, but think of the First Years that have come to school and believe this is normality… we have to band together for them, to teach them that the Wizarding World is joyous, that it isn't just cruelty after cruelty." Her voice was thick with conviction and anger, her eyes blazing with righteous fury. Leo looked around the room to see that every student within were nodding their heads, their own expressions determined and angry.

"Exactly that. For those that go to bed in tears because of what they have suffered, but let us set one thing straight… we aren't here to start battles in the corridors. We need to be clever about this. We need to out think the Carrow's…"

"That won't be difficult." Padma Patil muttered, causing the entire room to laugh out loud.

Leo was among them, agreeing with a wide grin. "Exactly, between us we have some of the greatest minds Hogwarts has… we can rise up in a manner that keeps them looking over their shoulders at what could come next, to make them be afraid for once instead of us, to give them a taste of their own medicine…" He looked around at Neville, Luna and Ginny, each nodding their agreement. "They may try and punish us, but we need to take that on the chin, and realise it's better us than those who didn't sign up for any of this."

"There's enough of us here." Neville added. "They can try and blame it on one of us, but if somebody else steps forwards…"

Seamus laughed aloud. "No, I am Spartacus." That comment threw Leo as he looked at his dormmate blankly, but a number of those in front of him burst into laughter and repeated the phrase one after the other. Seamus saw the confused looks from many of the Pure Bloods and explained. "A Muggle film from 30 odd years ago, basically we all claim it was us to protect one another."

"Perfect." Ginny grinned widely. "And we stay a nuisance to them… disrupt their lessons, flaunt wrong uniform…"

"Blow up inkpots behind their backs…"

"Vanish the stairs they step on!"

"Lock the doors!"

The ideas kept coming, and by the time Leo held his arm up to stop the chatter, they had a list of dozens of minor nuisances to carry on with. "Precisely." He said to them all. "And once we work out some form of schedule to limit numbers each night so we aren't all caught, we can meet here and practice like we did a few years back… make sure that we are all capable when the need arises."

"We use this room for everything." Neville nodded. "Yeah we can practice here like before, but it can be our base… where we get supplies if needed, or if we need to hide…"

Al of the students were nodding, each of them seeming to come up with their own ideas on how to proceed. He saw some nerves from the younger students, but most of the 6th and 7th years, and a decent number of the 5th years were fired up, ready to do their bit. "So how do we start?" Susan Bones asked, and the room fell deathly quiet.

Leo, oddly enough, hadn't expected that question, and he looked around at his fellow Gryffindor's. Neville shook his head, unsure, but it was Ginny who had the knowing smirk on her face. "Saturday is the first Quidditch match of the year. Given that the Carrow's first suspicions will be on Gryffindor's, the perfect time to act is when the majority of the school will be out at the Quidditch Pitch…"

The murmurs began again as the students all agreed and plans were born. Leo nodded his own agreement at Ginny, his own ideas forming. Checking his watch and realising they still had plenty of time before curfew, Leo turned to Neville first, and then looked between Ginny and Luna. "Well then." He began, the corner of his mouth turning into a grin. "Let's get to work."

The Gryffindor's were all stood in the stands early on the Saturday for the first match of the school season as nervous anticipation filled the cold November air. Leo, Neville and Seamus were leading the chants from the Gryffindor section, trying to make as much noise as they possibly could in the build up to the game. "GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" The chant repeated on and on, as a group of 4th years held up a large banner between them depicting a lion biting the head off of a snake.

They were only silenced when from the teachers stand on the centre line a loud voice filled the air. "Welcome everybody to the start of the 1998 Hogwarts Quidditch season!" A girls voice that Leo didn't recognise called out. "I am Lyla Chambers, and I will be your commentator for this year!"

"They got rid of that prat from Hufflepuff then." Anna snorted from beside Leo, her hands tightly folded as she tried to warm up.

"And Luna." Neville remarked. "A shame, I liked her commentary."

"Who is this girl?" Leo asked as Lyla Chambers began to rattle off the usual start of season announcements.

Most people shrugged, but it was Vicky Frobisher from nearby that answered. "A Ravenclaw 4th year. She tried out for the team but didn't get in. Loves Quidditch though so McGonagall gave her a chance."

Happy to understand, Leo zoned back in to the commentary. "… put your hands together for our two teams, Gryffindor and Slytherin!"

"GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor's all chanted loudly.

"For the Lions… a somewhat different team to the one that has been so dominant… Please welcome Hawkworth, Peakes, Coote, captain Weasley, Robins, Pickering and MacDuff!" Leo whistled his enthusiasm loudly as the crimson cloaked team soared out onto the pitch doing a lap of the stands before all but Ginny began to settle into their starting positions, with the Weasley flying around to the team giving out last minute instructions. "And for the Snakes… Bletchley, Crabbe, Goyle, captain Urquhart, Vaisey, Zabini and Hanley!"

This time it was green cloaks that dominated the pitch as the Slytherin's entered. The loud boos that followed from not just the Gryffindor's but the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sections made Leo smirk slightly, though he tried to keep his face as neutral as he could. Finally entering the pitch was Madam Hooch, who walked into the centre circle with the box of balls, whistling to summon the two captains. Ginny was about a full foot shorter than the stocky Slytherin 6th Year, but when the two were called to shake hands it was Urquhart that jolted backwards, shaking his hand painfully. Gryffindor students laughed and jeered the Slytherin captain at the sight, and Leo could see the wide grin on Ginny's face as she mounted her broom again and the whistle blew to start the game.

Almost immediately the game plan of the Slytherin's became obvious as the chasers all charged not at the Quaffle, but at the Gryffindor players. Ginny managed to barrel roll out of the way of the incoming Urquhart but 3rd year chaser Damian Pickering wasn't so lucky as he took the full force of Vaisey, barely managing to stay on his broom.

"FOUL!" Leo roared out, and thankfully Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Gryffindor were awarded a penalty, which was quickly dispatched by Ginny to the loud cheers of her House mates.

The game continued in that fashion however, and as the half hour mark grew closer the score was 90-70 to Gryffindor, though the Slytherin team looked the sharper and more physical. Once the first hour had gone, it was 160-130. One more Slytherin goal flew in when two blurred streaks of colour flew past their section of the stands and the crowd grew excited, with both seekers fighting to be the first to grab the snitch. Leo began muttering under his breath, willing the other 3rd year newcomer to the team, Rebecca MacDuff, onwards.

It was Hanley, however, who wheeled away with his fist held firmly in the air and the Slytherin students erupted in cheers. Leo groaned as Anna buried her head in his arm. Neville was leading a small percentage of the Gryffindor's by screaming all kinds of obscenities towards the Slytherin players when all of a sudden a loud, high pitched sort of screaming sound was heard. "Look!" A First Year cried out, pointing to behind the Slytherin section where Leo quickly saw a stream of silver light whizzing in a spiral up into the air, only to explode with a heart stopping boom.

The same thing happened from the other side of the pitch, and then from either sides too. The sparks that followed then began to fall down and merge together, until a bright, firework version of Harry Potter in his Gryffindor Quidditch Robes holding up the Sword of Gryffindor proudly. Leo could only watch on as the majority of the stadium roared with approval. Neville was the first to begin chanting, and Leo watched on in surprise as soon the majority of the school was singing Harry's name.

"Please make your way out of the stands and back towards the castle." Lyla Chambers' voice sounded, though whereas during the match she had been confident, her voice sounded nervous here.

The chants didn't die down as they reached the ground, nor did they as they walked closer to the castle, only stopping in the viaduct courtyard as the student body stopped moving. Leo and Anna together managed to push their way to the front with Neville close behind them, and Leo simply gasped at the sight. In the Entrance Hall scorched into the stone floors were the words DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY: STILL RECRUITING once again.

"What is the meaning of this?" A shrill voice sounded from behind, and the two Carrow Professors stormed through the crowd of students, shoving them away unceremoniously. They paused in front of the burned writing, their backs to Leo so he couldn't see their faces until they turned around, scanning the crowds. "YOU!" Alecto Carrow pointed her wand at Neville and all of a sudden he went jolting towards them, hovering in the air unable to move. "How dare you!"

"Professor Carrow!" A stern, Scottish voice followed, and Professor McGonagall led the rest of the teachers into the Entrance Hall. "Put Mr Longbottom back down this instance!"

Alecto scoffed. "Not this time, Minerva." She sneered. "Mr Longbottom here needs to be taught a lesson in obedience!"

"Mr Longbottom could not possibly have done…" She peered down at the writing in the stone floor. "This." She then finished. "He walked down to the pitches before us, as you will recall from your comments at the staff table this morning. This vandalism must have occurred later on."

Amycus Carrow simply snarled, as his sister scowled fiercely at Professor McGonagall. "I should have known you would defend this, Minerva, a Dumbledore loyalist as you are." She dropped Neville with a thud, as Leo knelt quickly to check on his friend, though Neville seemed unhurt and more interested in what was evolving between the teachers. Alecto Carrow looked around at the students staring at her intently. "Let me be clear. Professor Dumbledore is now considered a traitor to Wizarding Britain, and this army of his is nothing more than a law breaking band of criminals!"

"Professor Dumbledore." Professor McGonagall began, her teeth clenched together angrily. "Only ever did what was best for his school, and the students within his care. He was no traitor."

"Careful, Minerva." Amycus began, twirling his wand in his hand. "Or you will find yourself in even more trouble…"

McGonagall stood rigidly, ready to pounce at a moments notice when the doors above opened, and there stood Professor Snape. The entire area was silent other than the Headmaster's footsteps descending the stairs and joining them. "Amycus, Alecto, I will take it from here." He waved his wand sharply and the writing began to fade slowly, leaving unblemished stone in its place. "Now then, everybody back to your Common Rooms, before I start handing out detentions."

Not wasting a moment, Leo hauled Neville to his feet and shoved him along, hoping to avoid any further fights with so many eyes on them. He didn't relax until the Fat Lady's portrait had closed behind them and they sunk into the comfy seats within.

"Bloody hell." Anna exclaimed. "I thought McGonagall was going to fight them there and then."

"I think she was about to." Neville grinned. "You see? We have them rattled… they came straight for me and were about to torture me in front of everyone! This is good!"

The coin in Leo's pocket began to heat up and Leo quickly took it out, seeing the small scratchings within the gold.

"Should have been permanent. Sorry. TB." He read out to the room.

Neville scoffed. "He did brilliantly. As did Hannah and the Hufflepuffs. Those fireworks were brilliant!"

Leo nodded, responding back to Terry that exact message through the coins. "It's a start, but we need to keep going. The Carrow's will break, we just need to push them over the edge." He told them.

"Then let's get to work on the next thing." Anna grinned widely, as the Gryffindor's once again began to plan out their next actions.

Chapter Text

The snow was continuing to fall heavily as Leo and Anna ducked out of The Three Broomsticks, each holding a cup of hot chocolate to warm themselves as they wandered the cobbled paths of Hogsmeade. It was quieter than usual for the last trip into the wizarding village before Christmas, with Professor Snape attempting to clamp down on the trouble that the DA were silently causing by adding in some brand new decrees. No music was to be played during study hours, nor could students practice spells outside of their classrooms, and the Quibbler had finally been banned again, something that Leo had expected to happen weeks earlier than it had.

Leo spotted a pair of Hufflepuff 6th years hurrying past with their scarves pulled high over their faces, each casting nervous glances at a nearby group of Slytherin's, the only House with a full complement of students in the nearby village. One thing that the resurgent DA had achieved was that a certain faction of Slytherin's had begun to snitch on students they disliked to the Carrow's, and so Slytherin was once again a House to avoid for three quarters of the school.

Anna leaned into Leo's side, drawing warmth from him as she tried to bring his attention back to Hogsmeade. "You've been quiet since we got here." She muttered.

Leo shrugged, his eyes scanning the village. "Just thinking. There's too many whispers. Too much watching." He hesitated as he also looked over at the Slytherin's before adding. "Feels like we're not the only ones sneaking around anymore."

"Difficult to sneak around." Anna muttered. "When Snape's decrees read like a shopping list from Umbridge's bedside drawer."

Leo huffed out a laugh, his breath clearly visible in the frosty air. "Have you seen the new ones this morning?"

"No more than three people in a group at any time. Hogsmeade visits now require written approval from a Head of House. And… oh yes, Ginny's banned entirely." Anna rolled her eyes dramatically. "Seems like 'allegedly' vandalising the hourglasses is now equivalent to treason."

"She carved a lightning bolt hole into the Slytherin hourglass. Took out the entirety of their House Points." Leo smirked. "Carrow was beside herself trying to hold them all in."

"She's a menace." Anna grinned.

"She's a Weasley." Leo corrected with a small chuckle. "Subtlety is not one of their strong points. She needs to be more careful."

Anna scoffed. "Lighten up, MacDonald." She nudged him again. They had reached the outskirts of the village, where the houses thinned and the Shrieking Shack stood alone in the distance. They had walked there for a bit of peace and quiet, and to avoid the wandering eyes that often followed wherever they went nowadays, though other than Ginny, none of the DA had ever been caught thanks to the assistance from the House Elves. Hogwarts had turned into a small scale prank war against the Slytherin's, with those loyal to Snape floundering around from one minor inconvenience to the next. He thought about the latest incident in Dark Arts. Neville had been picked on by Professor Carrow as usual to be the practice dummy for the Slytherin's to try out a number of vile curses, but by the time it got to Crabbe's turn, the Slytherin's wand suddenly turned into a plastic chicken. Seamus had been the one to swap the wands out, but the hilarity that had ensued at the thought of a missing Pure Blood's wand had entertained Gryffindor Tower for a night.

It was as he thought about the bright red, bulging face of the Slytherin that Leo stopped suddenly. In the near distance, bounding over towards them from the Shrieking Shack was a dog. Large, blonde and shaggy. Too tall and lean to be a stray mutt. Its grey-flecked fur swayed with the breeze, and its amber eyes were locked onto Leo as it approached, acting peculiarly unlike a regular canine as it grew closer.

"What…?" Anna whispered, looking up at Leo in a panic.

"It's an Irish Wolfhound." Leo explained to her. "My Patronus, remember?" Anna nodded, as the dog leapt over the fencing and stopped in front of them. "But this one…" He studied the face of the dog, confirmation setting in quickly. "You bloody moron." Leo swore in a hiss, his accent growing stronger in his anger. "What are you doing here?"

The wolfhound let out a soft chuff, then turned and trotted off toward the overgrown path that led past the Shrieking Shack Without needing to say a word, Leo followed, with Anna trailing confusedly behind. They trudged uphill in silence, the dog's form always just a few steps ahead, never checking back but never disappearing from view. The Shrieking Shack loomed larger as they grew closer, its windows still shattered, the doors chained from the outside. Leo waved his wand sharply and the chains dropped to the floor, as Anna cast an illusion around them, hiding them from any unlikely passers-by as they stepped inside.

Once the doors slammed shut behind them and they moved into the main room the dog darted through a side door for a moment, and the figure that stepped back through wasn't a dog at all. "Hello, son." Sirius grinned.

Leo didn't hesitate. He crossed the space between them in two quick steps and pulled Sirius into a fierce hug. "You idiot." Leo whispered. "You absolute, bloody idiot."

Sirius huffed into his shoulder. "Nice to see you too."

When Leo pulled back, he swatted Sirius across the arm with some force. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? You're a bloody fugitive; this is beyond stupid!"

Sirius smirked as he rubbed the spot Leo had smacked. "If they were that close to catching me, then I wouldn't be here."

"Reckless doesn't even cover it, not even a dye job will save you if someone like Snape were to spot you. Why are you here?" Leo asked demandingly

Sirius nodded toward the window, where in the far distance Hogwarts Castle loomed imposingly. "Some things are better said away from prying ears." Anna was already casting silencing and notice-me-not charms as Sirius transfigured a couple of comfortable sofas. Sitting down beside his classmate, Leo glared once again at Sirius, still furious at the stupidity of coming to Hogsmeade. "I needed to see you," Sirius began, his voice rough but steady. "Too much is happening. I've got information. And supplies."

Leo raised his brow. "Supplies?"

"Don't think you've been going unnoticed outside of Hogwarts." Sirius grinned, reaching into his coat and pulling out a bundle of parchment bound tightly with twine. "Here, very prank I could remember from school. Charms, tricks, hexes, trapdoor routines… and a little something from Fred and George. They passed it along through a contact."

Anna whistled low as Leo accepted the bundle.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to get this into the castle…" Leo muttered, flicking through the pages and grinning despite himself at some of the handiwork of the Marauders.

Sirius's grin widened. "Good thing I know a way."

Leo eyed him warily. "You're not smuggling yourself into the castle again, are you?"

"No," Sirius laughed. "I've already done the dog act once. But Kreacher can come and go as he pleases, and despite still being a little rat… he's been better and still listens to me.

Anna nodded slowly. "We've teamed up with the House Elves." She explained. "They're helping us move around the castle quickly and silently, and some have even helped out in the pranks themselves. They're brilliant!"

Sirius grinned at the idea, but his smile quickly faded as he turned seriously towards Leo. "How are things at the castle? We only hear about the odd prank through third or fourth hand information at the Ministry, but nothing substantial. Thicknesse is keeping news about the school on lockdown."

Leo's jaw tensed. "Bad. Worse than we expected. The Carrows aren't just spreading propaganda now, they're using Unforgivable Curses in lessons. They pick out a student they don't like and they become the training dummy for the lesson."

Sirius swore viciously.

"We've retaliated. " Anna added. "Banners in the Great Hall. Quidditch match fireworks. The DA's back. Bigger than ever."

"And the elves?" Sirius asked carefully. "You're sure they aren't double bluffing you? Their loyalty should be to the Headmaster after all."

Leo nodded. "They're on our side as Anna said. Especially after what the Carrows have done, they treat the elves like dirt under their shoe, it's disgusting. There's still fear, but they're helping. Hermione would be proud of how they're standing with us."

Sirius let out a long breath, his eyes shining. "Good. You're doing more than I could've hoped for."

"I hate that I'm using the Black name with the Carrow's." Leo admitted. "Daphne said I'm a walking contradiction. Half-legacy, half-traitor."

"Daphne?" Sirius asked.

Leo nodded. "Greengrass. We share lessons together." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "She's clever, but guarded, with too many opinions about what I may or may not be up to." He chuckled at his last words, though his smirk dropped quickly at his Dad's concerned look.

"I know the Greengrass family. They're old blood, old money, but tend to keep to the shadows." Sirius explained. "I think Regulus…" He paused for a moment, the thought of his brother still raw. "I think he was mates with one of them back when we were at school. They were all ambitious, Leo, all of them, so be careful around her. And remember, you are not a contradiction. You may be named MacDonald but you have Black blood, and you're actually doing something worthwhile with that."

Leo met his father's eyes. "It doesn't feel like that sometimes."

"You'll always carry the weight of things, it's who you are deep within your heart. You get that from your Mum." Sirius said softly, pressing his hand over Leo's heart. "But always remember you don't have to carry it alone. Share with your friends, they will help you more than you realise." There was silence then, save the creak of the Shack in the wind and the quiet fall of snow outside. Sirius rose after a time, brushing the frost from his shoulders. "I need to move again soon. They know about Goblin Combe but thankfully the protections are still keeping them out, but the eyes on the area mean it's no longer safe even with the Fidelius… and they ransacked Remus' two nights ago as well in search of me, thankfully he was with Tonks..." He sighed. "Things are bad out there, maybe worse than inside Hogwarts."

"The Order?" Anna asked, brow furrowed.

"Thin. Tired. Moody's dead and so there's nobody really to lead us as efficiently. Kingsley's holding the line politically, but it's all slipping. They're picking us off one by one. They got Doge last week."

Leo gulped, remembering the old man from Bill and Fleur's wedding. "So it's down to us."

"No," Sirius said firmly. "It's never just down to you. You're children…"

"No, we're soldiers now," Leo cut in forcibly, causing Sirius to flinch slightly. "We didn't choose it. But we're in this, Hogwarts is but one battle ground fighting for the next generation, and if we fall..." He paused for a moment. "We won't fall."

There was a beat of silence before Sirius smiled, pride and sorrow tangled in his features. "Then you'll like the second package I gave Kreacher, it'll be in your trunk tonight."

Leo nodded, some ideas forming already as he handed the bundle back to Sirius, a pause in the air as they stood closely together, before Leo stepped forward and hugged Sirius once more.

"Be safe Dad." He whispered.

Sirius pulled back, hand firm on Leo's shoulder. "You too, son. You are making us all proud, your mum… well she'd hate what you're having to go through, but she'd be delighted at how you're standing up for what's right."

The thought of Mary made Leo choke up, but he nodded. "I do this for her, for everyone that didn't make it, and everyone that will because I fight."

"Spoken like a true Gryffindor." Sirius grinned, not leaving this time as he transformed back into his transfigured Animagus form, fur erupting in a blur of magic, and in a matter of moments the wolfhound vanished into the falling snow.

Anna exhaled beside him. "Well." she said dryly. "That was eventful."

Leo nodded, still staring into the direction that Sirius had gone. "Aye. We need to head back; I want to study those notes as much as I possibly can before bringing them to the group."

The Common Room was unusually subdued when Leo stepped through the Portrait after his Hogsmeade trip, with Anna directly behind him. He gave the auburn haired girl a knowing glance before rushing up to the dormitory. The cold from outside clung to his cloak as he tossed it onto the bed as he began to change into some more comfortable clothes for the evening in the Common Room. He had barely taken his first shoe off however when a pair of loud crack's sounded, and Leo jumped around, his wand quickly in his hand, only to see a pair of House Elves squabbling over a wrapped up package.

"Kreacher should not be here!" Winky was arguing. "Kreacher is a bad elf!"

"Kreacher is following his orders." The elder elf grumbled. "Kreacher follows the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black! Kreacher is still bound to his family!"

"Enough!" Leo raised his voice, thankful that Winky also seemed to obey, while Kreacher was forced to. "What is this?"

"Winky felt Kreacher enter the castle." Winky explained. "Winky knows that Kreacher is bound to…" She paused, looking around nervously. "Sirius Black. And Winky has been told by Professor Snape to look out for him."

Leo gulped. "And are you going to tell Professor Snape that you saw Kreacher?"

Winky shook her head vigorously. "Winky wishes she was still with Mr Crouch… but Winky is now a free elf." She seemed sad at the thought, and the snorted laughter from Kreacher didn't help as Winky began to well up. "But Winky could! Winky could tell on Kreacher!"

"Kreacher will be gone in a moment, I promise." Leo said firmly. "Have you got something for me?"

Kreacher nodded. "Master has a package for young master." He bowed, his hands outstretched as he held out the package.

"Thank you, Kreacher." Leo said, taking it from the House Elf. "Now you best get back before you're caught."

There was no hesitation, as another crack sounded and Kreacher disappeared. Winky closed her eyes tightly for a moment before opening them slowly. "You should not trust Kreacher. Kreacher is a bad elf, a strange elf."

"Kreacher is bonded to my family, Winky." Leo explained, sitting down on the floor so he was level with her. "He cannot betray me."

"Kreacher is bonded to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, 'tis true." Winky nodded fiercely. "To all of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. All who took that name."

The implication was clear, and Leo was reminded of the end of his 5th Year for a moment. "What are you saying?"

"Kreacher is not bound to you. Not to anyone. That is dangerous. House Elves are magic-bound by ancient law. But house-binding? It means Kreacher follows orders from the oldest tradition… even if they are whispered from the shadows."

Leo looked at her sharply. "You think someone could use that bond against him?" But he already knew the answer, it had already been done back in his fifth year. Winky saw that recognition in his eyes and bowed her head. "You are being good to us House Elves, Winky would hate for Kreacher to forget… to listen to…" She shivered. "Bad Masters."

Bellatrix Lestrange's laughter filled his mind. "There are definitely those in my family." He muttered. "Thank you, Winky, I will be careful, I promise."

Winky smiled weakly, and she quickly disapparated with another crack, leaving Leo alone with only one shoe, and a package in his arms he was desperate to rip into. Quickly he got changed, and by the time Leo reached the Common Room the rest of his year group were there waiting expectantly, the fireplace crackling loudly behind them. Anna waved him over with a grin.

"Took you long enough." She said, scooting over so that he could sit beside her. "I've explained what happened in Hogsmeade.

"Sorry." Leo muttered, tossing the package onto the centre table. "I had a pair of small visitors."

Neville was the first to reach towards the package, tearing it open as two separate bundles fell out. One was a box, clearly labelled WW DANGER: EXPLOSIVE while the other was more of a leather notebook

"Is that…?" Neville leaned forwards, grabbing the notebook.

"A gift from my Dad." Leo confirmed. "And at a guess… some specially crafted Weasley fireworks."

Seamus whistled as he immediately reached for the box. "Feck me, this is like Christmas come early."

Everyone else however immediately crowded around Neville as he flicked through the pages, only for a number of frowns to follow. "It's empty." Lavender complained.

Grinning, Leo pulled out his wand, gesturing for Neville to lay the notebook on the table. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He muttered, tapping the leather with his wand, and instantly writing began to scratch itself into the cover.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs present: A Most Unofficial Record of Student Excellence

"Not shy, were they." Anna scoffed. Leo just grinned, settling back as he let the others flick through the pages in awe at some of the ideas that were written inside.

"A charm to make books scream at you if you try and read it." Parvati read aloud. "Forging official ministry documents… that's brilliant!"

"Invisible walls, confounding the staircases…" Neville continued. "A hiccup jinx?"

"We can use that on Carrow." Lavender and Anna said at the same time, causing the girls to laugh.

"Oh this… this is clever." Parvati then added. "A delayed trigger charm. You cast it on an object, and then cast whatever you want it to do, and it activates later on. We could set something during a lesson and it wouldn't go off until dinner."

More and more minor inconveniences and funny charms and jinxes followed, enough that they had enough material to keep them frustrating the Carrow's in new ways for months. Neville by the end of it was thoroughly impressed. "This is fantastic." He grinned.

Leo smiled faintly. "It's Dad's way of helping the fight along when he's stuck in hiding. But also, his way of sticking things to Snape. He will know where these all came from, but will have no proof of anything." He took the book back and tapped his wand again. "Mischief managed."

"What's actually in the other box then?" Lavender asked as the notebook returned to its empty form. "What's so dangerous?"

All eyes turned to the other package as Seamus handed it over, and Leo opened it carefully. Inside were half a dozen small spheres, each about the size of a bludger, with shimmering, unstable cores that pulsed like tiny stars. One had a note pinned to it in Fred's handwriting.

"Don't use this unless you're very sure you want to see what happens. Good luck. DA."

Neville let out a low whistle. "Blimey."

Parvati leaned forward, her voice almost reverent. "We could tear this place to the ground."

Leo met her gaze. "We're not trying to destroy Hogwarts. We're trying to save it."

"But…" Seamus grinned. "If we happen to scare the Carrows out of their robes while we're at it…"

Leo couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. "Then that's just a bonus."

Anna then stuck a roll of parchment down on the table, followed by a pair of quills. "Christmas break is only a couple of weeks away. We need to think about how we want to see it in."

And so for the next few hours, all of the 7th Years began to put a plan together, using the Marauders ideas, and by the time they were done, each one of them were grinning from ear to ear at the havoc they would cause to the Carrow's, and even Professor Snape himself.

That extremely productive evening began a series of days where the teachers themselves were left perplexed at the strange happenings around the school. During a Third Year Dark Arts lesson, Professor Amycus Carrow's writing would only come out in pink chalk, with cursive hearts refusing to be removed throughout his writing, and after this carried on throughout the day the 6th Years had come barrelling into the Common Room laughing about the whoopee cushion that had been permanently stuck to his chair and charmed to refill itself. The portraits had also only got one topic to gossip about, the teachers dating lives, leaving the Dark Arts teacher to get so wound up that he actually blasted a hole through a corridor wall when the portrait of Thaddeus Niblock decided to ask forthright whether it was true that he had had an illicit affair with Professor Trelawney. His sister hadn't gotten off lightly either, with every mirror in the school charmed to speak out her name, and scream loudly at the moment she looked at her reflection.

To make things fair, it had been decided that more harmless pranks should be played on other teachers too. Professor McGonagall's classroom now had a box of cat toys that would at one point every lesson spring itself open and shower the students with its contents, while Professor Sprout was boasting one evening about an enjoyable lesson with the second years, with a tray of Mandrakes that instead of screaming, sung a beautiful rendition of the School Song.

Other incidents occurred throughout the days away from the teachers. Slytherin's often found themselves stuck on the Grand Staircase just in time for Peeves to come whizzing by with a handful of Dungbombs, and a rogue image of the old Inquisitorial Squad being hauled away by Centaurs would often fly through the portraits.

As a result of all of this, the school was full of both amused, but also cautious students wondering when the next incident was coming. The DA left things small for a week after receiving the notebook, but together with the help of the House Elves, one inconspicuous Thursday evening had turned into a messy warzone, as for some strange reason, a Slytherin fourth year decided to throw his cottage pie across the room, coating a Ravenclaw in beef, vegetables and gravy and started a student-wide brawl that only ended when Professor Snape immobilised everybody, docking 100 points from all Houses.

That food fight was the talk of the entire school all throughout the following day, and by the time Leo settled into his Muggle Studies seat, he had a smug smile that he couldn't get rid of.

"You know." Daphne Greengrass muttered quietly from beside him, her voice low but for perhaps the first time since they had shared a desk her amusement was clear to see. "I have to admit, I'm impressed."

Leo turned to her, feigning his ignorance. "I have no idea what you mean, I've spent all of my spare time in the Library for my N.E.W.T.s, obviously."

"I'm sure you have." Daphne retorted, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of her lips as her green eyes briefly met his before they returned to her side of the desk. "You Gryffindors are the talk of the Slytherin Common Room. Everyone is paranoid that they will be next on the receiving end of your schemes. The Carrow's are practically frothing at the mouth, they're determined to catch one of you in the act and make an example out of you."

"Why are you saying all this?" Leo asked, his brow raising in suspicion but he couldn't help but smile at her words, the thought that the plan was working was like a cheering charm had been cast on him. "You don't exactly strike me as the type to help out a Gryffindor."

Daphne's eyes sparkled with amusement, despite keeping her face as neutral as she could. "There's a lot you don't know about me, MacDonald." She retorted smoothly.

"That's putting it mildly." Leo chuckled.

Daphne's lips twitched, possibly from amusement, but possibly from annoyance, Leo couldn't tell. "I am relatively simple, MacDonald. My family are Pure Bloods, yes, but we do not care for the Dark Lords… methods. None of my family are stupid enough to swear ourselves to him but we are left largely alone because of our status... for now at least."

Leo smirked, teasing the blonde. "Progressive Pure Bloods then?"

"If only." Daphne said, her smile once again mixed in with something unreadable as she once again looked him in the eye. "Let's just say that despite still practicing some… unfortunate archaic traditions, my family would much rather things returned to how they were before the Dark Lord's return than see a world ruled by him. If someone like a Carrow were to take an unexpected tumble down the Grand Staircase for example, then I wouldn't shed a single tear."

There was a pause, a linger that held for just a moment too long as they looked at one another in silence and something passed between them. Leo could see something that he never expected from a Slytherin passing between them… honesty. They had a shared understanding, he realised.

"I doubt that very much." Leo muttered eventually, shifting his gaze as he brought out his book for the lesson, barely noticing the amusement on her face at his obvious discomfort.

The moment shattered as the door creaked open and a loud, ridiculous squeaking filled the room as Professor Carrow walked inside, her shoes charmed to loudly announce every footstep. A few students tried and failed to stifle their laughter, to which the usually foul tempered teacher became even more angry as she began her lesson at too high a pitch.

As she screeched on, Leo found his gaze wandering briefly toward the girl beside him. She looked straight ahead, perfectly composed, but there was still a hint of a smile still playing at her lips. He wasn't sure if he believed everything she'd just said… but he was beginning to think she might be more than just another Slytherin. And if that was the case, then perhaps she could be an ally in their fight.

The remainder of the term largely followed those same patterns. Teachers were being ambushed with pranks, some minor while the ones aimed at the Carrow's were often more aggressive in nature, intended to both frustrate the Carrow's and bring some joy back to the students, while Leo himself spent more and more time in the library going through some ancient texts on magical creatures and their links to wizards. His conversation with Winky had sparked an idea in him, but it took until the final day of lessons before term ended to find and research a solution properly, with numerous conversations with Hagrid as the resident Magical Creatures expert in the middle of all of the research.

He ventured down to the kitchens after the Christmas Feast, tickling the pear and stepping through the portrait to see an army of elves dealing with the washing up. He felt awkward, like he'd imposed himself on them when Paddle spotted him, snapping himself over to him in an instant. "Master Leo! Is your meal not enough? Can Paddle get some biscuits or some cakes?"

"No, I'm full thank you Paddle, that meal was excellent." Leo said. "I just wanted to thank you all for all of your help this term. We couldn't have done half of what we have managed without your help."

Paddle grinned widely. "We is enjoying it, Master Leo. All us elves are glad to…" He giggled, but his eyes widened as she looked around. "Stick it to Carrow."

Leo chuckled loudly. "Well, rest up if you can over the break, there's more of that to come, a lot more." He paused then, scanning the room for the familiar ears he had come to see. "Is Winky around?"

Paddle's own ears drooped down. "Winky is… Winky is sad." He explained. "Winky has been crying over her bad Masters again, not even Dobby has cheered Winky up."

Hoping that he could at least try, he was glad as Paddle led him towards the barrel structure at the side of the room, before pausing awkwardly. "Master should wait here… this be the House Elves homes." Not needing to be told twice, Leo accepted and sat down on the nearest table, the Slytherin one he realised after a moment, and waited for Paddle to emerge again with Winky behind him looking a sorry state. "Paddle must help the other elves." He explained.

Nodding, Leo waited for the House Elf to go before he opened his mouth. "Merry Christmas, Winky."

Her blue hat looked even dirtier than it had a few weeks back, and her blouse had an extra couple of stains along the hem, clearly Butterbeer. "Master Leo should be with his friends." She slurred.

"I will be, but I had an idea." Leo tried to push his upbeat mood towards the House Elf. "A Christmas Present if you will."

Winky looked alarmed. "No presents! No more clothes!" She shrieked before bursting out into tears.

"No clothes!" Leo exclaimed, trying to comfort the Elf. "There's no need to cry, Winky, I think you'll like this one!"

She sniffed as she quietened down, her wet eyes looking at him curiously. "Winky does not need presents. Winky only wishes for her family back. Master Barty loved Christmas"

"As do I." Leo explained, once again moving so that he was level with Winky's eyeline. "And I know you miss your family, and so I've been looking at something that I think might help you there…" He reached into his bag and pulled out an old tome. "There are more ways than one for House Elves to bond with Wizards, the Ministry's way is simply easier, and their way has nothing to stop the Wizard from mistreating the House Elf." Winky kept looking up at Leo, though she was more intrigued now as Leo continued. "So, I found a magical oath that we can both swear, that gives you that link to a family that you feel that you need, while also, hopefully, allaying any fears that we both might have about Kreacher. It's ancient and quite troublesome if the oath is broken for both of us, but if you agree, I'll do it for you."

"Master Leo would do that for Winky?" Winky asked. "But… Master Leo is a part of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and they already have a House Elf…"

"I am a MacDonald, and have been long before I was a Black." Leo explained. "So the Ministry can complain all they like if they find out and we have an excuse."

"Winky is to become the MacDonald House Elf?" She asked.

"My branch only, if that's allowed." Leo hoped that it was. "I have a couple of second cousins that left Hogwarts before I even started but I don't think I've seen them since I was a baby."

Thankfully, Winky nodded fiercely. "Winky will bond with the House of MacDonald."

Grinning, Leo opened up the book and flicked to the marked page. "Then, we need to say this oath together, as we both hold my wand." Winky's eyes looked aghast. "This is partly why it is unpopular, Winky, you have been brought up believing that a Wizard's wand is a forbidden item, but this sets us more as a partnership than a subservient relationship."

He held out his wand, waiting for Winky to react. She was slow and cautious, but eventually her hands moved up to the ebony wood and clasped it gently, an action that was followed by the loud gasps of the other House Elves in the Kitchens. Leo quickly clasped his spare hand over Winky's to stop her from reacting, and began to say the ancient oath.

"By name and blood, I call forth the bond. Not of command, but of kin. Let my House be your haven, and my family your charge. I offer legacy, not leash. I offer protection in return for loyalty. Should I bring dishonour to my name or my oath, let this bond turn against me, as fire upon my wand. Will you, Winky, bind yourself to the name I bear, by your own will?"

Leo's wand began to illuminate a warm, golden glow as a strand of light slowly released from the tip of the wand and began to wrap itself around both Leo and Winky. As the magic touched the House Elf, she seemed to know exactly what to say, staring up at Leo as she spoke her own words, though they were sharper than normal and as if she was stuck in a trance. "By hand and heart, I answer the call. I bind myself to the name and hearth you keep. I serve not out of duty, but out of honour. Let your family be mine, and its safety my vow. Should I falter in my vow, through cowardice, neglect or failure to protect those which I have bound myself to then let me be marked among my kin as an oathbreaker, that I may carry the weight of my failure in the eyes of my own. So speaks Winky, free in choice, bound in purpose."

The golden light melted within both of their bodies and almost instantly Winky stood taller and prouder, with the House Elf looking up at him wide eyed, with a wider smile. "Master Leo has given Winky the best present." She explained, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. He patted her gently on the back before they parted.

"You'll still be on the same deal as Dobby is here." Leo explained, knowing that Winky would never accept what he wanted to give the Elf. "One Galleon a week and one day off a month." Winky frowned. "No arguments!" She grumbled and folded her arms, but nodded all the same. "Excellent."

"What would Master Leo like Winky to do?" Winky asked.

"Well firstly, keep an eye on Kreacher. If he is conspiring with any of the more… unsavoury members of my family then I need to know." Leo explained, watching Winky nod enthusiastically. "Secondly, I have a cottage, near Loch Ryan. You should be able to get there now that we are linked. My Dad should be there, and I'll be staying there for Christmas but it's been a bit uncared for since the summer…"

"Winky will make sure it is spotless!" She said excitedly, and with a loud crack, the House Elf disapparated, leaving Leo to hope that he had done the right thing, though he dreaded the thought of telling Hermione that he had bonded with a House Elf…

There was nothing planned to disrupt the morning before the train journey back to King's Cross intentionally, with nobody wanting to risk the Carrow's keeping them behind as everybody was looking forward to the breather away from Hogwarts. As Leo tucked into his black pudding he took a moment to stare around the Great Hall. Seamus was sat with Lavender and Parvati at one side of the Gryffindor table, while Ginny had separated herself with Vicky Frobisher, Demelza Robins and even Luna Lovegood had come over to join the sixth years. Neville meanwhile had disappeared over to the Hufflepuff table and was sat closely with Hannah Abbott. He also spotted the blonde hair of Daphne Greengrass, seemingly scolding her younger sister for something across the room, but got distracted when Anna spoke up.

"I must be the only person not looking forward to Christmas." She muttered from beside him. Leo looked over at her worriedly. "I'll be travelling to Canada no doubt, and Mum will fight all break to keep me from coming back."

That comment brought up a new thought to Leo as he looked around the room again. While Hogwarts was now considered mandatory, he wondered how many parents would simply up and run once their kids were back home and within their grasp. Removals hadn't been unheard of over the last couple of years after all, and so as he looked around the room again he wondered who would risk not returning.

As breakfast finished up and the time came for them to make their way down to Hogsmeade the Gryffindor's and Luna bunched up again, leaving the castle together and passing the Carrow's as they did so, the Death Eaters standing on top of something to try and cower the students as they passed. The heaviest sigh of relief was let out by nearly all of them as they passed the gates, and conversations began to start up properly, without the fear of being overheard.

"So… next term." Neville began.

Leo grinned. "I'll speak with Dad and Remus, see if there's anything that they have thought of that didn't make the book."

"Luna!" A voice called out from behind them, and everybody turned around to see an out of breath Lauren Blackwood, the 6th Year Ravenclaw Prefect, running towards them. "Luna! Professor Flitwick wanted to catch you, you've forgotten your necklace!"

The Ravenclaw's hands darted to her chest and her eyes widened. "I could have sworn…" She muttered, but shrugged nonchalantly, turning to Ginny. "I'll catch you up."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Ginny asked, but Luna shook her head and simply skipped away. Rolling her eyes at her friend, Ginny then found herself beside Leo and Anna, her face growing more serious. "Have you heard from… him?"

He shook his head. "The last time we spoke was around a month ago, they were heading to some chapel in Ireland that was rumoured to have links to Slytherin himself in their search for literally anything relating to the Founders." He said, slightly more bitter a tone than he had intended. Taking a breath to calm himself, he placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder and said. "I'm sure they're fine, we'd have heard if not." She didn't look overly convinced however as they all reached the Hogsmeade platform, finding a compartment quickly and once again setting their wands out for easy access in case of any unwanted guests, while also getting some cards for a game of Exploding Snap, as the Gryffindor's tried to capitalise on their buoyant moods.

Those moods, however lasted only as long as the train was stationary. As soon as they began to move, and the train sped up as it left Hogsmeade and began to roll through Cairngorms National Park, Neville was the first to get agitated, looking around worriedly and asking the question that terrified them all, and made each and every one of them realise that their pranking and frustrating of the Carrow's had maybe had some unforeseen consequences, and that Hogwarts was definitely not as safe as they had once thought.

"Has anyone seen Luna?"