Origins

The morning of the 19th was quick to roll around. After all that had happened, it was no wonder it felt like it had taken a while to get here. They hadn't even been back at the castle for 3 weeks yet and already they were being faced with things that could normally rival those they faced by the end of the year.

Though it was hardly surprising. Each of them had become a thousand-fold stronger than they had when starting out. And Y/N even further besides.

He found his mind lingering on this that morning, as he waited for Hermione to begin stirring next to him.

Remus, previously a mentor and someone who could easily trounce Y/N, within 3 short years had been placed on par with him. And in raw magical potential output, even inferior.

He could feel it, even now, the ability to tap into this well of latent magical energy had saved his life time and time again. And now he could feel it, faintly, and order it to his side when needed. Within a moment, his spells could amplify.

He turned his eyes back onto his sleeping girlfriend. How would the trio fare if they were ever without Y/N? They'd gotten so used to having him, come to rely on him. What if, one time, he couldn't be there? Like almost at the Ministry...

Hermione began to stir, so pushing those thoughts aside, he made sure to wake her with a cuddle, a rousing round of Happy Birthday, and her present.

As it was still a Wednesday, the two of them could hardly spare time for much more than classes, but Y/N still made sure to do his usual rituals with her, including the broomstick ride around the grounds. And once more Hermione was delighted, having grown fonder of the quieter birthdays with Y/N alongside some well wishes from friends, it was easy for them to simply relish in each other's company.

But of course, the obvious couldn't be ignored. Hermione's trace was now lifted. Not that it made much of a difference whilst within Hogwarts, and she was a little bit too proper to take advantage of it out of school. Unlike Y/N who had grown well accustomed to turning off lights or closing doors with a wave of his hand.

In stark contrast, however, the rest of September and much of early October blazed by. The nose-to-grindstone nature of their sixth year made it so many of their classmates could concentrate on little else, instead spending increasing amounts of hours in the library attempting to keep up with workloads. However, that didn't stop rumours.

Because now, for the third week in a row, there was no sign of Dumbledore.

Whilst this hadn't been a straight time period with no sightings, the sightings were rare. Harry had not been summoned for another meeting with the Headmaster. Y/N had received no correspondence, from him or anyone else in the Order. And each morning, the four of them entered the Great Hall, eyes travelling up to the large seat set into the centre of the Staff table, only to be met with an empty space.

Y/N knew Dumbledore must have his reasons but doing something like that during the times that they were in was risky. Many people looked up to Dumbledore, not being present when all of this was going on painted a rough image. But Y/N hoped that the work he was doing would eventually make the fear a moot point.

However, the other students weren't the only point of concern, Harry too, was becoming fidgety. His eyes normally being the first to flick up towards the Headmaster's chair and travelling over there the most throughout meal times. Y/N could hardly blame him.

Whilst still not knowing the exact contents of the prophecy, the end implication lived rent-free in his head. Harry knowing anything that could potentially help avoid that potentiality was paramount. And besides, people hardly needed to see "The Chosen One" losing his cool or panicking.

All these factors combined meant that when the first Hogsmeade trip rolled around on October 12th, they leapt at the chance to finally get outside and enjoy themselves for the day, and following Lavender falling ill and being unable to make the trip, the quartet decided that they would head in together this time, as normally one or more of them split away.

During that morning, Hermione and Y/N dressed, wrapping themselves up in a few extra layers to pad against the storm and chill that they could already see raging out of their dormitory window, before making their way downstairs.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table, only to be joined by Ron and Harry a few moments later, Ron looking mildly excited, and it didn't take them long to find out why.

After dropping onto the bench opposite, he launched into a story of that morning where Harry had apparently attempted a rogue spell out of his potions book, a non-verbal incantation that had caused Ron to be suspended by the ankle.

This was pretty much where the story ended. He had been held there for a while until Harry could find the reverse jinx and he then removed it, but Ron found this story highly amusing.

Hermione merely politely smiled at this, though Y/N could practically hear the cogs cranking in her brain, trying not to talk about the Prince and his written antics. Y/N, however, was more interested in the spell itself.

Levicorpus and Liberacorpus.

He could see great use for that combination...

Once they'd eaten, the four of them went to stand and head out into the Entrance Hall, so that Filch could tick their names off his list and send them on their way. But as they went to leave, Ginny appeared.

'Hey, Harry, I'm supposed to give you this.'

It was a scroll of parchment with Harry's name written upon it in familiar thin, slanting writing.

'Thanks, Ginny... it's Dumbledore's next lesson!' Harry told them excitedly as he pulled it open and quickly read its contents. 'Monday evening!'

The stress Y/N had seen steadily mounting on his face over the last few weeks vanished almost instantly.

'Want to join us in Hogsmeade, Ginny?' Harry asked.

'I'm going with Dean, might see you there,' she replied, waving at them as she left.

Harry led the way out of the Great Hall, Ron following behind him, but Y/N delayed himself, watching the black-haired boy curiously.

'What's up?' asked Hermione.

'Nothing... yet. Just... a theory,' said Y/N. 'I'll tell you more later.'

He didn't want to say anything till he could absolutely confirm it, but there was something different in the way Harry was looking at and addressing Ginny now, as though he was finally seeing her.

Filch was standing at the oak front doors as usual, checking off the names of people who had permission to go into Hogsmeade.

The process took even longer than normal as Filch was triple checking everybody with his Secrecy Sensor.

'What does it matter if we're smuggling Dark stuff OUT?' demanded Ron, eyeing the long thin Secrecy Sensor with apprehension. 'Surely you ought to be checking what we bring back IN?'

His cheek earned him a few extra jabs with the Sensor, and he was still wincing as they stepped out into the wind and sleet.

The walk into Hogsmeade was not enjoyable. The four of them wrapped their scarves over their lower faces; the exposed part soon felt both raw and numb. Y/N traced his hand through the air as they walked, constantly blasting himself and Hermione with warm air. It wasn't perfect, but it was better.

The road to the village was full of students bent double against the bitter wind. And things did not improve when they finally reached Hogsmeade and saw that Zonko's Joke Shop had been boarded up.

'Hadn't heard about anything happening to Zonko's,' said Y/N through the wind, 'that's a new one.'

Ron pointed, with a thickly gloved hand, toward Honeydukes, which was mercifully open, and the three of them staggered in his wake into the crowded shop.

'Thank God,' shivered Ron as they were enveloped by warm, toffee-scented air. 'Let's stay here all afternoon.'

'Harry, m'boy!' said a booming voice from behind them.

'Oh no,' muttered Harry.

They all turned to see Professor Slughorn, who was wearing an enormous furry hat and an overcoat with a matching fur collar, clutching a large bag of crystalized pineapple, and occupying at least a quarter of the shop.

'Harry, that's three of my little suppers you've missed now!' said Slughorn, poking him genially in the chest. 'It won't do, m'boy, I'm determined to have you! You even keep taking Mr L/N and Miss Granger with you!'

This wasn't untrue. They HAD had Quidditch every time Slughorn had arranged a supper. But this was because Harry was purposefully arranging Quidditch Practice over the top of Slughorn's little meetings. This obviously also took Y/N out of the equation, and Hermione adamantly refused to go if Y/N wasn't present.

'So why don't you come along, Harry?' demanded Slughorn.

'Well, I've had Quidditch practice, Professor.'

'Well, I certainly expect you to win your first match after all this hard work!' said Slughorn. 'But a little recreation never hurt anybody. Now, how about Monday night? You can't possibly want to practice in this weather.'

'I can't, Professor, I've got an appointment with Professor Dumbledore that evening.'

'Unlucky again!' cried Slughorn dramatically. 'Ah, well you can't evade me forever, Harry! However...' he added, his eyes turning onto the couple. 'I dare say you two don't have an appointment with the Headmaster, do you?'

'As a matter of fact, we don't,' said Y/N. 'What time Professor Slughorn?'

Slughorn beamed.

'8 o'clock! My office, and if you get the chance, drag this one with you!' and he pointed over his shoulder at Harry. 'I shall see you both Monday.'

And with a regal wave, he waddled out of the shop, taking as little notice of Ron as though he had been a display of Cockroach Clusters.

'Why did we agree to that...?' asked Hermione weakly.

'Because I couldn't think of a better excuse,' said Y/N. 'And besides, they weren't that bad last time, and Ginny will be there for this one, we can just mess about.'

The three of them began glancing around the shop eagerly, but Ron's mood had already visibly darkened, and by the time Y/N had bought his usual bundle of sweets for Ginny. Ron was doing little else bar staring out the window.

'Where to next?' Y/N asked him. Ron shrugged.

'Let's go to the Three Broomsticks,' said Harry. 'It'll be warm.'

They bundled their scarves back over their faces and left the sweetshop. The bitter wind was like knives on their faces after the sugary warmth of Honeydukes.

The street was not very busy; nobody was lingering to chat, just hurrying toward their destinations.

The exceptions were two men a little ahead of them, standing just outside the Three Broomsticks. One was very tall and thin.

As they drew closer, this figure drew his cloak more tightly around his neck and walked away, leaving the shorter man to fumble with something in his arms.

They were barely feet from him when Harry realized who the man was.

'Mundungus!'

Despite the sheer amount of meetings Y/N had shared with the squat, bandy-legged man with long, straggly, ginger hair, he hadn't recognised him at first courtesy of the sheer amount of stuff he was carrying. Stuff that now promptly cascaded all over the floor as he jumped and dropped an ancient suitcase, which burst open, releasing what looked like the entire contents of a junk shop window.

'Oh, 'ello, 'Arry,' said Mundungus Fletcher, with a most unconvincing stab at airiness. 'Well, don't let me keep ya.'

And he began scrabbling on the ground to retrieve the contents of his suitcase with every appearance of a man eager to be gone.

'Are you selling this stuff?' asked Harry, watching Mundungus grab an assortment of grubby-looking objects from the ground.

'Oh, well, gotta scrape a living,' said Mundungus. 'Gimme that!'

Ron had stooped down and picked up something silver.

'Hang on,' Ron said slowly. 'This looks familiar-'

'Thank you!' said Mundungus, snatching the goblet out of Ron's hand and stuffing it back into the case. 'Well, I'll see you all- OUCH!'

Y/N had been about to raise his hand, he too had just recognised the insignia on the Goblets Mundungus had been packing away. The Black family crest.

Harry had beaten him to it, however.

Pinning Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat and holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand.

'You took that from Sirius's house,' said Harry, who was almost nose to nose with Mundungus. 'That had the Black family crest on it.'

'I- no- what-?' spluttered Mundungus, who was slowly turning purple.

'What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?' snarled Harry.

'I- no-'

'Give it to me!'

Mundungus started to turn blue.

There was a loud bang, and Harry was blasted backwards away from Mundungus. Gasping and spluttering, Mundungus lunged for his fallen case, just as Y/N raised his hand...

Before being stopped, a strong hand wrapped around his wrist and forced his arm upwards, his banishment charm being sent into the sky. He looked across into the face of Tonks, who was holding his arm aloft, and she shook her head very subtly at him.

There was a crack, and Mundungus vanished.

Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot to see where Mundungus had gone.

'COME BACK, YOU THIEVING-!'

'There's no point, Harry.' Tonks released Y/N and stepped forward, her mousy hair wet with sleet. 'Mundungus will probably be in London by now. There's no point yelling.'

'He's nicked Sirius's stuff! Nicked it!'

'Yes, but still,' said Tonks, who seemed perfectly untroubled by this piece of information. 'You should get out of the cold.'

She watched the trio go through the door of the Three Broomsticks, but Y/N remained behind.

'Why did you stop me?' asked Y/N.

'Because he's still a member of the Order, and one of the best sources of information we have,' said Tonks. 'Hardly need you blasting him away or injuring him.'

'He did kind of deserve it though,' said Y/N.

'This isn't a case of who deserves what Y/N, Mundungus is a treasure trove of information, letting him sell stuff gets more of that. It's a harsh truth but one we have to face, and the person he's stolen from is the only one who has any right to do anything about it.'

Y/N understood where she was coming from, though he didn't agree with it.

'Fine, have a good shift Tonks.'

She merely nodded as Y/N followed his friends into the pub.

Her point was fair, Mundungus was useful. But letting him steal from Harry so that he could be more useful? And not just that, but steal the things from his only recently deceased godfather?

Let's just say it was a good thing the roles were the way they were. Because if they'd been reversed, Y/N might have let Tonks cast.

He made his way over to Hermione at the bar and helped carry the drinks over to Harry and Ron. Harry was still fuming when they sat down.

'Can't the Order control Mundungus?' Harry demanded of Y/N. 'Can't they at least stop him stealing everything that's not fixed down when he's at headquarters?'

'If we could do that, he wouldn't have gotten half the stuff that he did,' said Y/N, 'he's good at it, that's the problem. It just doesn't help that this time, it's your stuff.'

Harry gagged on his butterbeer; seemingly having forgotten that he owned number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

'Yeah, it's my stuff!' he said. 'No wonder he wasn't pleased to see me! Well, I'm going to tell Dumbledore what's going on, he's the only one who scares Mundungus.'

'Good idea,' whispered Hermione, clearly pleased that Harry was calming down.

They sat in a fairly quiet stupor. Hermione leant in at one point to confer with Y/N about what he'd spoken to Tonks about, and Y/N relayed his opinion.

Eventually, Harry downed the remainder of his drink, and said, 'Shall we call it a day and go back to school, then?'

The others nodded; it had not been a fun trip and the weather was getting worse the longer they stayed.

Once again, they drew their cloaks tightly around them, rearranged their scarves, pulled on their gloves, and then followed Katie Bell and a friend out of the pub and back up the High Street.

As they moved forward, the sounds of Katie and her friend drifted back on the wind, and what at first had sounded like polite intrigue was quickly becoming a rather heated argument. Struggling to hear through the howling wind, Y/N narrowed his eyes, trying to watch the two figures.

Their voices had become shriller and louder. They seemed to be having an argument about something Katie was holding in her hand.

'It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!' said Katie.

They rounded a corner in the lane, sleet coming thick and fast, blurring Y/N's vision. As he tried to refocus, Leanne made to grab hold of the package Katie was holding; Katie tugged it back and the package fell to the ground.

Y/N let out a bellow of pain, staggering backwards and clutching his head. Whatever had just fallen out of that package was bad. Very bad.

At the same time, Katie rose into the air, almost gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly. Yet there was something wrong, something eerie. Her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed, and her face was quite empty of expression. Harry, Ron, and Leanne had all halted in their tracks, watching, whilst Hermione turned her attention onto Y/N.

Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrible scream.

Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too and seized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground.

That scream. That one scream pushed everything else aside. It didn't matter that he didn't know Katie that well. Didn't matter that his head felt like it was about to split apart. He had to move.

'Grab her!' he bellowed, pointing to Leanne, before sprinting forwards, muttering under his breath, and waving his hands as he approached.

Harry and Ron charged forward, grabbing Leanne, and pulling her away. She fought them kicking and screaming as Y/N sped to a halt next to Katie. As he watched, she made to begin falling but with a quick levitation charm, he held her aloft off the snow.

Now clasping his hands together before holding them outwards, he began muttering under his breath, every counter curse, jinx halting spell, hex stopper he could think of. All the while his mind reached out, wrapping around the necklace.

'Do not touch that!' he bellowed, nodding to the necklace, 'not even with gloves!'

Refocusing his effort on Katie he began muttering again. Now that he knew what it did, he could specialise.

Whatever this thing was, luckily had only brushed Katie. He could tell because she wasn't dead yet, but it was coursing quickly throughout her body, causing vivid and highly realistic hallucinations, almost sending her body into shock as though she was dying. Over and over he muttered and chanted, willing the curse away.

And at first, he worried, worried he couldn't stop it.

'No, not now, not when I can still save her.'

Summoning up every last vestige of the energy within him he let his anger boil, his wordless and quiet mutterings becoming yells as he practically demanded the curse leave. And piece by piece, it began to work.

He wasn't pushing the curse out, but he was locking it down, stopping it from spreading.

'Y/N!'

The voice was Hagrid's. He came running up alongside Y/N, looking to him for confirmation, his arms outstretched.

'Not yet,' grunted Y/N. 'Get ready, once I'm done, she'll drop, and probably fight. And for the love of Merlin, don't touch that necklace.'

Hagrid nodded and waited, watching the girl with a growing look of concern on his face.

He must have only been at this for seconds, though it felt like hours. Y/N was reaching the last of what he could do now, past the point of spells and practically just channelling his magical energy into her body, forcing the curse to slow down. Eventually, with a gasp outward, his arms relaxed and Katie fell into Hagrid's arms.

She whimpered, she squirmed, but she did not scream or fight.

Without another word, Hagrid took off, sprinting towards the castle with Katie in his arms.

Y/N's body relaxed, now panting heavily as he turned back to his friends.

Hermione had an arm around Leanne, comforting her and smiling at Y/N. Ron stood somewhat bemused, looking around. Harry, was crouched by the package, staring at the contents.

'I've seen this before,' said Harry, staring at the opal necklace that was poking out of the paper. 'It was on display in Borgin and Burkes ages ago. The label said it was cursed. Katie must have touched it.'

Y/N looked to Leanne, who had started to shake uncontrollably. 'How did Katie get hold of this?'

'Well, that's why we were arguing. She came back from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding it, said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it. Oh no, oh no, I bet she'd been Imperiused and I didn't realize!'

Leanne shook with renewed sobs. Hermione patted her shoulder gently.

'She didn't say who'd given it to her, Leanne?' asked Ron.

'No, she wouldn't tell me, and I said she was being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she just wouldn't listen and- and then I tried to grab it from her and- and-'

Leanne let out a wail of despair.

'We'd better get up to school,' said Hermione, her arm still around Leanne. 'We'll be able to find out how she is. Come on.'

Y/N waved his hand and the necklace with its paper lifted, the paper wrapped itself tightly around the necklace, leaving no part exposed. And after leaving it hovering and triple checking it, Y/N took it out of the air, holding it gingerly.

'We'll need to show this to Madam Pomfrey,' he said.

They followed Hermione and Leanne up the road. Y/N struggling a little bit, that had taken a lot of energy. They had just entered the grounds when Harry spoke, seemingly unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer.

'Malfoy knows about this necklace. It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!'

Y/N wanted to thump him. Of all the times to bring up something like that?

'I- I dunno, Harry,' said Ron hesitantly. 'Loads of people go to Borgin and Burkes, and didn't that girl say Katie got it in the girls' bathroom?'

'She said she came back from the bathroom with it, she didn't necessarily get it in the bathroom itself-'

'McGonagall!' said Ron warningly.

Sure enough, Professor McGonagall was hurrying down the stone steps through swirling sleet to meet them.

'Hagrid says you five saw what happened to Katie Bell- upstairs to my office at once, please! What's that you're holding, Y/N?'

'It's the thing she touched, the necklace could kill you if you touch it with bare flesh, please be careful,' said Y/N.

'Good lord,' said Professor McGonagall, looking alarmed as she took the necklace from Y/N. 'No, no, Filch, they're with me!' she added hastily, as Filch came shuffling eagerly across the entrance hall holding his Secrecy Sensor aloft. 'Take this necklace to Professor Snape at once, but be sure not to touch it, keep it wrapped in the paper!'

The rest of them followed Professor McGonagall upstairs and into her office. The sleet-spattered windows were rattling in their frames, and the room was chilly despite the fire crackling in the grate.

Professor McGonagall closed the door and swept around her desk to face them all.

'Well?' she said sharply. 'What happened?'

Haltingly, and with many pauses while she attempted to control her crying, Leanne told Professor McGonagall how Katie had gone to the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks and returned holding the unmarked package, how Katie had seemed a little odd, and how they had argued about the advisability of agreeing to deliver unknown objects, the argument culminating in the tussle over the parcel, which tore open.

At this point, Leanne was so overcome, there was no getting another word out of her.

'All right,' said Professor McGonagall, not unkindly, 'go up to the hospital wing, please, Leanne, and get Madam Pomfrey to give you something for shock.'

When she had left the room, Professor McGonagall turned back to the quartet.

'What happened when Katie touched the necklace?'

'She rose up in the air,' said Harry, before any of the others could speak, 'and then began to scream, and collapsed. Professor, can I see Professor Dumbledore, please?'

'The headmaster is away until Monday, Potter,' said Professor McGonagall, looking surprised.

'Away?' Harry repeated angrily.

'Yes, Potter, away!' said Professor McGonagall tartly. 'But anything you have to say about this horrible business can be said to me, I'm sure!'

For a split second, Harry hesitated. And Y/N knew exactly why, he wanted to bring up-

'I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor,' said Harry.

The three others looked away.

'That is a very serious accusation, Potter,' said Professor McGonagall, after a shocked pause. 'Do you have any proof?'

'No,' said Harry, 'but...' and he told her about following Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes and the conversation the trio had overheard between him and Mr. Borgin.

When he had finished speaking, Professor McGonagall looked slightly confused.

'Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes for repair?'

'No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to mend something, he didn't have it with him. But that's not the point, the thing is that he bought something at the same time, and I think it was that necklace-'

'You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?'

'No, Professor, he told Borgin to keep it in the shop for him-'

'But Harry,' Hermione interrupted, 'Borgin asked him if he wanted to take it with him, and Malfoy said no-'

'Because he didn't want to touch it, obviously!' said Harry angrily.

'What he actually said was, "How would I look carrying that down the street?"' said Hermione.

'Well, he would look a bit of a prat carrying a necklace,' interjected Ron.

'Oh, Ron,' said Hermione despairingly, 'it would be all wrapped up, so he wouldn't have to touch it, and quite easy to hide inside a cloak, so nobody would see it! I think whatever he reserved at Borgin and Burkes was noisy or bulky, something he knew would draw attention to him if he carried it down the street, and in any case,' she pressed on loudly, before Harry could interrupt, 'I asked Borgin about the necklace, don't you remember? When I went in to try and find out what Malfoy had asked him to keep, I saw it there. And Borgin just told me the price, he didn't say it was already sold or anything-'

'Well, you were being really obvious, he realized what you were up to within about five seconds, of course, he wasn't going to tell you. anyway, Malfoy could've sent off for it since-'

'That's enough!' said Professor McGonagall, as Hermione opened her mouth to retort, looking furious. 'Potter, I appreciate you telling me this, but we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr Malfoy purely because he visited the shop where this necklace might have been purchased. The same is probably true of hundreds of people-'

'-that's what I said-' muttered Ron.

'-and in any case, we have put stringent security measures in place this year. I do not believe that necklace can possibly have entered this school without our knowledge-'

'But-'

'-and what is more,' said Professor McGonagall, with an air of awful finality, 'Mr. Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today.'

Harry gaped at her, deflating.

'How do you know, Professor?'

'Because he was doing detention with me. He has now failed to complete his Transfiguration homework twice in a row. So, thank you for telling me your suspicions, Potter,'

She turned her attention onto Y/N.

'Hagrid tells me you were doing something before you allowed him to bring Katie in.

Grateful for the conversation about Malfoy to be over, and trying very hard not to laugh at the stunned look on Harry's face, Y/N recounted his attempted halting and overpowering of the curse.

'The work you did may well have saved her life,' said McGonagall once he'd finished. 'She would have been much worse had you not intervened. Fifty points to Gryffindor for the valiant act of saving a fellow student's life.'

'Thank you, Professor,' muttered Y/N sheepishly as Hermione beamed at him and Ron clapped him on the back.

'She is resting now with Madam Pomfrey. She does not know how much she can do. It may be a job for St Mungos, I am going to check on her,' said McGonagall, moving past them now over to her office door, and holding it open. 'Good day to you all.'

The four of them moved past. As Y/N made to leave last, she leant in.

'Amazing work today, I'm proud of you.'

The moment the four of them were out of the office, they began talking.

'So who do you reckon Katie was supposed to give the necklace to?' asked Ron, as they climbed the stairs to the common room.

'Goodness only knows,' said Hermione. 'But whoever it was had a narrow escape. No one could have opened that package without touching the necklace.'

'It could've been meant for loads of people,' said Harry. 'Dumbledore— the Death Eaters would love to get rid of him, he must be one of their top targets. Or Slughorn— Dumbledore reckons Voldemort really wanted him and they can't be pleased that he's sided with Dumbledore. Or-'

'Or you two,' said Hermione, looking between Y/N and Harry.

'Couldn't have been,' said Harry, 'or Katie would've just turned around in the lane and given it to us, wouldn't she? We were behind her all the way out of the Three Broomsticks. It would have made much more sense to deliver the parcel outside Hogwarts, what with Filch searching everyone who goes in and out. I wonder why Malfoy told her to take it into the castle?'

'Harry, Malfoy wasn't in Hogsmeade!' said Hermione, actually stamping her foot in frustration.

'He must have used an accomplice, then,' said Harry. 'Crabbe or Goyle- or, come to think of it, another Death Eater, he'll have loads better cronies than Crabbe and Goyle now he's joined up-'

None of the others decided to say any more on this subject.

'Dilligrout,' said Y/N dully as they reached the Fat Lady.

The portrait swung open to admit them to the common room. It was quite full and smelled of damp clothing; many people seemed to have returned from Hogsmeade early because of the bad weather.

There was no buzz of fear or speculation, however: Clearly, the news of Katie's fate had not yet spread.

'It wasn't a very slick attack, really, when you stop and think about it,' said Ron, taking one of the armchairs by the fire. 'The curse didn't even make it into the castle. Not what you'd call foolproof.'

'You're right,' said Hermione, pushing Y/N onto another one before sprawling out in his lap. 'It wasn't very well thought-out at all. And especially with Y/N stopping most of the damage the moment it started happening.'

'But since when has Malfoy been one of the world's great thinkers?' asked Harry.

None of them answered him.

()()()()()()

Harry's obsession with Malfoy did not waver. On and on for the next day or two he kept throwing prompts, at Y/N more than the other two, no doubt believing that because of his past days of figuring stuff out, he'd be able to pin down exactly how this was Malfoy's fault.

But Y/N just didn't believe it. Nothing so far pointed to Malfoy doing anything more than fixing something. He hadn't even been in Hogsmeade. Whoever had given Katie that necklace couldn't be Malfoy, and assuming he had an accomplice was pointless.

Most of the people who Malfoy would call accomplices in something like this probably also shopped in Borgin and Burkes. It was as likely to be Malfoy as it was to be Colin Creevey. The only thing they could say for certain is that it wasn't intended for Katie, despite her being its eventual target.

After a few days of pestering however, Harry finally abated, seemingly taking his thoughts internal, instead of sharing them with the others.

Hermione especially seemed grateful for this, she was growing tired of Harry's constant vendetta against Malfoy, and Y/N, whilst he could understand it, agreed.

Following his conversation with Malfoy the year prior, he just couldn't see it being anything severe. He had no doubt that the boy was probably doing something for Voldemort. Especially with his father, one of the Dominators, now locked away in Azkaban. But the scope to which Harry was suggesting just seemed ridiculous. And besides, Malfoy wasn't unintelligent, he scored quite well on most of his exams. A plan like the necklace was risky... desperate. And if Malfoy was trying to kill someone in the castle, there were better ways to do it.

No, this seemed more like an attack from someone outside, trying to attack in, finding any way they could to harm someone within the castle walls.

The one thing Y/N did agree on however, was that he and Harry were not the intended targets. He had thought much the same as Harry. If they had been the end goal. Katie could have simply turned around and passed it to them. There was a chance she didn't see them, but it seemed more likely that she was told her target was in the castle.

Much as Professor McGonagall had stated, Katie was moved to St Mungos the very next day, though not before Y/N was summoned to Madam Pomfrey's office and congratulated.

'Her recovery should be much swifter thanks to your work,' she said briskly. 'Professor Snape was able to capitalise on the groundwork you'd already laid. With any luck, it shouldn't take her more than a few months and we don't believe her life is at risk any longer.'

And Y/N rode this high all the way until Monday evening, when Y/N and Hermione made their way to Slughorn's get-together, and Harry made his second trip up to the Headmaster's office, before returning with news of his lesson.

The get together was nothing fancy. Slughorn once more bombarded Y/N with questions about his life, specifically now about the capture of Dracius Potley, desperate to hear about how Y/N managed to defeat someone so famed for being talented.

Y/N told the story and even delighted Slughorn by summoning one of his illusions to move its way around the table, slowly inspecting the people and food as though it were a critic.

'Absolutely marvellous!' said Slughorn happily as the illusion performed a perfect backflip from standing. 'Can it perform spells and the like?'

'Yes, but they don't hurt you,' said Y/N.

Ordering his copy, it raised its wand a shot a stunning spell at McLaggen. McLaggen pushed himself backwards, almost falling off his chair as he tried to get away from it, but the spell soared straight through him

'Great for distractions,' said Y/N, 'but they're quite tough to get right.'

Finally, Slughorn seemed satisfied with bombarding Y/N with questions, and instead turned his attention onto Blaise Zabini, questioning him at length about his family, especially around his mother, who was apparently very beautiful and had married seven times, all to rich husbands who mysteriously died soon after.

Y/N, Ginny, and Hermione spent the entirety of this section muttering dark insults and retorts under their breath, Melinda Bobins even weighing in with one or two when Slughorn was giving a particularly hearty laugh.

Finally, he excused them all, but not before making one last announcement.

'Ah! Just before I forget, I'm having a get together for Christmas!' he said delightedly 'It is a ball type meeting, so please do bring a date. Anyone you'd like, I'm sure I'd be delighted to meet them. It'll be happening on the evening of December 20th, so make sure you're all prepared. And Y/N, pass on the message to Harry, won't you?'

'Of course, Professor,' said Y/N. 'I'll tell him tonight.'

Slughorn beamed.

'Very well, away with you all, you must be getting back.'

'Well, I think it goes without saying who we're bringing then, doesn't it?' said Y/N.

But Hermione paused, her arm was linked with his so it stopped them both, as she placed a finger to her chin as though in deep thought.

'Well... there's Luna... Ginny already has an invite so you can't take her. I suppose you could always take-'

'Are you really going to make me do this? In front of Ginny as well?'

'I have literally seen both of you do worse,' said Ginny flatly. 'This is somewhat cute, I'd rather this than you two making out.'

'Ah yeah because you and Dean weren't in the Charms corridor last night,' retorted Y/N.

'Hey! At least we don't do it in public!'

'Because a classroom corridor isn't "in public".'

'Not in the same way you two do-!'

'I'm waiting...' said Hermione impatiently.

'Fine. Hermione, darling, would you do me the honours of being my date to Slughorn's Christmas party.'

'Yeah? Of course, I will, what are you asking that for? We're dating, I thought it was obvious we'd go together, what a silly question Y/N,' she said, before striding away, throwing a sly wink over her shoulder.

Ginny sighed.

'Look, I get that you like it when she does that, but can you at least save it till I'm not here?'

The three of them returned to the Common Room. Y/N dropped into the armchair alongside Ron, Hermione placing herself in his lap once more, and Ginny moved off towards where Dean sat, head crammed into his Transfiguration book in a corner of the Common Room.

'So how was it?' asked Ron bitterly.

'Bit rubbish to be honest,' said Y/N. 'Slughorn asked me more about myself, then interrogated Blaise for half an hour. His stories did feel quite boring compared to mine, but that was about it.'

'I think most stories people can tell feel boring compared to some of yours,' said Ron with a small laugh.

'Yeah, but also, Blaise is just quite boring in the way that he talks.'

'You just don't like him cause he's a Slytherin,' said Hermione, looking up from Y/N's lap.

'You don't like him either!' said Y/N indignantly.

'Well, yeah? But I'm still going to call you out for it.'

It was quite a peaceful evening, the three of them sitting together by the fire. And Y/N even felt a small burst of generosity and passed Ron his charms essay to copy from, with the usual promise that Ron would change enough to not just make it look like he'd copied.

Then, finally, another hour or two later, Harry reappeared, dropping into one of the now vacant chairs nearby with most of the Common Room having gone up to bed, and began to tell them what had happened in his lesson.

This time, the two of them, Harry and Dumbledore, had delved into the real of memory for Dumbledore, and the day that he'd met Tom Riddle.

They'd followed Dumbledore's course to the orphanage, seen him meet with the leader, a woman known as Mrs Cole. And then, with the help of some liquid courage, persuaded her to let him speak with Tom Riddle, to offer him a place at Hogwarts.

Eventually Mrs Cole had conceded and took Dumbledore to meet the young Tom Riddle. And the story this memory told summed up all that Y/N had suspected.

Even from eleven years of age, Tom had been brilliant, calculating, and dangerous. Having already regularly stolen toys and precious belongings from his fellow kids, led them on dangerous or downright treacherous explorations off of cliff faces, down by raging waves, without seemingly any argument. Or even learning of his extremely unique ability to talk to snakes.

Dumbledore had taken an interest in the boy almost at once. Of course he had, for Tom Riddle seemed down on his luck, desperate for companionship, and wanting to learn more about this world to which he supposedly belonged.

But Dumbledore had also seen through many of these rouses, into the cold and careful boy beneath. Not least of all, because Tom Riddle had already developed some measure of control over his powers, and was using them consciously, with little concern as to what they may be.

Then Harry explained Dumbledore's final messages.

'Firstly, I hope you noticed Riddle's reaction when I mentioned that another shared his first name, "Tom"?'

Harry nodded.

'There he showed his contempt for anything that tied him to other people, anything that made him ordinary. Even then, he wished to be different, separate, and notorious. He shed his name, as you know, within a few short years of that conversation and created the mask of "Lord Voldemort" behind which he has been hidden for so long.'

'I trust that you also noticed that Tom Riddle was already highly self-sufficient, secretive, and, apparently, friendless? He did not want help or companionship on his trip to Diagon Alley. He preferred to operate alone. The adult Voldemort is the same. You will hear many of his Death Eaters claiming that they are in his confidence, that they alone are close to him, even understand him. They are deluded. Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, nor do I believe that he has ever wanted one. The only one who ever came close to an exception was Maria, Y/N's mother.'

'And lastly- I hope you are not too sleepy to pay attention to this, Harry- the young Tom Riddle liked to collect trophies. You saw the box of stolen articles he had hidden in his room. These were taken from victims of his bullying behaviour, souvenirs, if you will, of particularly unpleasant bits of magic. Bear in mind this magpie-like tendency, for this, particularly, will be important later. And now, it really is time for bed.'

Once more, when Harry had finished his story, he excused himself and headed off to bed. This time however, Ron stayed behind too, his eyes on Y/N.

'I can see how Ginny can tell now,' he said, after a few moments. 'You get this look on your face whenever you're thinking about stuff.'

'I do?' asked Y/N.

Hermione nodded.

'You've always been like that, your eyebrows crease in slightly and your eyes go a little out of focus, as though you aren't really seeing. I think it's cute.'

'Well, thanks,' chuckled Y/N. 'Yeah, just... he was dangerous, even when he was that young. But to hear all of that, and him collecting stuff...'

'It is weird to see behind the mask of it all,' said Ron. 'I mean, he's... him you know? Hard to believe he ever was a kid just like us.'

'I don't think he was ever just like us,' said Y/N. 'But yeah, I get your point.'

But this wasn't all that was on Y/N's mind.

"The young Tom Riddle liked to collect trophies."

Could Dumbledore possibly be referring to what Y/N thought he was...?

He and Hermione made their way upstairs a short while later, Y/N's mind still on the events of that evening and what Harry had told them, before his mind moved further forwards...

'Hey, love?'

'Mmmhmm?' said Hermione, turning to look at him.

'Have you still got that Otter bracelet I gave you?'

Hermione nodded and turned towards her wardrobe to begin getting it out of the pocket of the robes she had just hung up, Y/N closed the gap between them as quietly as possible.

'Sammy! Yeah, he's right- oh!'

As she turned to face Y/N, holding out her hand, she let out her small exclamation as she saw how close he'd gotten, and then let out a soft breath as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight against his chest. Her hand fell limp, allowing Sammy to simply begin swimming through the air. their lips found each other.

They stayed like that for a long while before breaking apart, Hermione very pink in the cheeks.

'That was... wow...'

'You aren't the only one who can launch a surprise attack,' said Y/N with a small smirk.

'Well, then Mister tactical genius,' she said as her hands slowly snaked around his waist, a small something beginning to flare up behind her eyes. 'Let's see how well you do in round two.' And with another tug, pulling him in towards her, their lips connected once more.