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Not As It Seems	By : SailorSol Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 4953 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Not As It Seems

Chapter 8

Two weeks before school was due to start, Remus took Harry to Diagon Alley. At the manor, the werewolf had robes that were intact, or so neatly patched that it was nearly unnoticeable. For this trip, though, he wore the same kind of shabby robes that Harry had first seen him in. It was two days after the full moon, but due to Snape�s Wolfsbane potion and several restorative potions that Snape and Aquila had developed together, he looked much better than Harry could ever remember.

They stopped in Flourish and Blotts for Harry�s schoolbooks, and Harry had a note from Aquila that he was to get some extra Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Charms books. Thanks to the assistance of several manor residents during the summer, Harry�s Potions work was comparable to what was expected of him.

Harry indulged in several books he had never dared buy before. He piled them with his schoolbooks, and then carried the entire stack to the counter, with Remus� help.

Outside, Remus looked over the books Harry had chosen.

�You certainly are going to be well-prepared with reading materials, Harry,� Remus said. �How are you going to get away from young Mr. Weasley to read them?�

�I�m going to be moody and foul-tempered,� Harry said. �I�m going to be brooding over Sirius� death, and I�m going to bury my nose in books to learn what I need to so that I can defeat Voldemort. Dumbledore won�t know any better. Malfoy, Snape, and Aquila spent the summer teaching me Occlumency. Dumbledore will see what I want him to see.�

�You seem to have thought of everything,� Remus said. �I�m going to do something that would get me in a great deal of trouble if the Order ever found out.�

�What do you mean?� Harry asked.

�I�m about to take you into Knockturn Alley,� Remus said. �There�s a book vendor in there that will have information you won�t find from Flourish and Blotts. If Dumbledore ever found out that I was going to take you there, he would have me hunted down.�

�I need to be ready, Remus,� Harry said. �I have an idea. Where is the book vendor?�

�On the other side of Bourgin and Burkes,� Lupin said.

�Fine,� Harry said. He shrank his books, using a spell that Voldemort had taught him personally. He put the shrunken books in his pocket, and then turned and strode quickly into Knockturn Alley.

Lupin caught on quickly to what Harry was thinking, and he hurried after him, calling out loudly.

�Harry, stop! It�s too dangerous in there!�

***** *****

September 1 arrived more quickly than Harry thought possible. He packed his trunk with everything he would need, and then went downstairs with the rest of the Hogwarts students.

Aquila had taken Ginny to Muggle London and had her hair dyed. It was now a similar shade to Aquila�s own, and along with a tan from spending quite a while outdoors with the rest of the teenagers, Ginny looked very little like the girl Harry had met when he was eleven. She carried herself differently, thanks to lessons in posture and deportment from the older witches at the manor. Lessons in makeup from Aquila and Bellatrix had completed the transformation.

Ginny had left two days before, by portkey, with Bernadette. Bernadette�s mother would make sure that Ginny had everything she needed for school in France.

Downstairs, Harry watched sorrowfully as Draco flooed away from the manor with his father. They would meet again on the train, but losing sight of the other wizard sent an ache through Harry that had nothing to do with their friendship. It felt much deeper than that.

Lupin laid a hand on Harry�s shoulder, and handed him a packet of floo powder.

�We�ll go to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry,� Remus said. �I�m going to tell Dumbledore and the others that I was concerned for your safety, so I arranged for you to spend the summer on an old Black estate. None of that is a lie. I just won�t tell them who I made the arrangements with.�

�Whose estate is this, then, Remus?� Harry asked.

�I think you already know that answer,� Lupin said, leading Harry to the fireplace. �The estate belongs to Aquila Lestrange. She convinced the Ministry that she knew nothing of her parents� affairs when they were arrested, and in fact she didn�t. They let her keep her accounts and estates, as well as those that were rightfully hers as Rudolphus� heir, on the proviso that she drop the Lestrange name. Publicly, she�s Aquila Black, but she wasn�t part of the succession for the other Black estates, so this is the only one she has. As far as anyone knows, she�s a social butterfly with no husband, and no plans for one.�

Harry nodded, seeing the wisdom of this. Aquila kept her distance, publicly, from the Death Eaters, and privately kept a safe house for her father�s supporters.

~*~*~*~*~

The trip on the train was dull. Harry kept his nose in his books, and Ron either spoke inanities about Quidditch, or moping over his sister�s death.

It seemed that Ginny�s death had torn the family apart. Bill and Fleur were living in a flat off of Diagon Alley. The twins were living over their shop. Charlie and his friend had gone to Hogwarts, where Charlie was going to be Care of Magical Creatures teacher, with Hagrid assisting. Percy and Penelope were living in Hogsmeade.

None of the parts of the family were speaking to one another. Percy, Bill, and the twins had been vocal in their disappointment that the Order had not protected their family well enough to save their sister. Charlie had publicly sided with Dumbledore and his parents, which had led Dumbledore to offer him the teaching position. Charlie had accepted, hiding his medallion, and Voldemort was ecstatic to have yet another spy at Hogwarts.

Harry didn�t see Hermione until they arrived at Hogsmeade. She was waiting on the platform, and she was a pale shadow of her usual self. She beckoned both boys to come with her, and they climbed into a carriage alone. Harry watched wistfully as Draco strutted to another carriage and made a show of helping Castor and Pollux into it.

�Just stick with me,� Draco said loudly. �I can tell you which Wizarding families are worth associating with. I can also tell you who the Mudbloods are in the school.�

One of the twins seemed to ignore him and approached the carriage Harry was in. He smiled at Hermione with all of the devastating charm that Harry remembered from the sixteen year-old Tom Riddle.

�I am Pollux Von der Lippe,� he said in barely accented English. �My brother and I have just transferred from Durmstrang. Might such a lovely young lady give me the gift of her name?�

Hermione responded to the charm in the only way she could: she seemed to cheer up a bit, and she smiled at Pollux.

�I�m Hermione Granger,� she said, extending her hand to him. �I�m a Gryffindor Prefect.�

�I am enchanted, Miss Granger,� Pollux said. He took her hand, turned it palm side down, and kissed it gently, but with a lingering brush of his lips on her knuckles.

�I hope to see you again, soon,� he said.

�Hey!� Draco called out. �Don�t bother with her! Granger�s a Mudblood!�

�I see nothing wrong with her,� Pollux said. �Pay him no attention, liebchen. He is an uneducated snob, and he would not know true beauty if it were in front of him. You are more than worthy of any wizard�s attention.�

Behind them, in clear view of Hermione and Ron, Castor pulled his wand out, grabbed Draco by the collar, and appeared to mutter a threat to the Slytherin, gesturing with the wand to punctuate his words. Draco swallowed and nodded, apparently intimidated by the older student.

�Might I request the honor of your company on the first Hogsmeade weekend?� Pollux continued, ignoring what his twin was doing.

Hermione bit at her lower lip, indecisive for a moment. After some thought, she nodded.

�Yes,� she said. �I�ll go with you to Hogsmeade.�

�You have my eternal gratitude, liebchen,� he said, bowing to her. �I will meet you at the main entrance on the first Hogsmeade weekend.�

Their carriage started with a jolt, and Pollux released Hermione�s hand. He stood there, watching, as they pulled away. Hermione looked out the window until she couldn�t see him in the darkness any longer.

�Hermione, what happened?� Ron asked. �Why were you already here?�

�I�ve been here for about three weeks,� Hermione said. �Death Eaters attacked my house. My parents are alright, but they decided to leave the country. They gave Professor McGonagall custody of me until they come back, or until I�m seventeen.�

�You must be in heaven,� Harry said. �You�ve got access to the library whenever you want it.�

�More than you know, Harry,� Hermione said. �The usual rules don�t apply when school�s not in session. I could roam the castle whenever I wanted, even in the middle of the night. There�s not just the regular library. There�s another library near the Gryffindor common room, it�s just that hardly anyone knows it�s there. There�s a library near each of the common rooms, and then there�s the Professor�s library. McGonagall let me in there. I�m not allowed in without a staff member with me, but I am allowed in for now.�

�You should have owled me, Hermione,� Ron said. �I would have come to keep you company.�

�No, Ronald,� Hermione said. �McGonagall told me about Ginny. Your family needed you this summer. You�re the last child now. Your mother would have been devastated if you�d left her.�

�I guess you�re right,� Ron said, sighing. �Hey, this ought to make you smile. Hagrid�s not teaching Care of Magical Creatures anymore. My brother Charlie is going to be teaching it, along with some Japanese wizard that was helping him in Romania. There�s something funny about them. They act more like Bill and Fleur than two blokes.�

�Ronald Weasley,� Hermione snapped at him. �Don�t you dare tell me you�re homophobic!�

�I absolutely am not!� Ron said indignantly. �I would never shag a bloke!�

Hermione stared at him in outrage, and then she realized that he had not completely understood what she had said. Her mouth curled up in a smile as she realized what his mistake was.

Harry couldn�t help it. He chuckled.

The chuckle was Hermione�s undoing. She burst into laughter, laughing so hard that she ended up bent forward with her forehead on Harry�s knees.

~*~*~*~*~

The Welcoming Feast was as entertaining as ever. Actually, with his newfound detachment and cynicism, Harry found the antics of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs ridiculous. He thought the Ravenclaws were uptight. He found some of the Slytherins slimy. He thought Dumbledore was pompous, McGonagall fussy, and Hagrid oafish. The thought about Hagrid made him a little sad. He wondered if Hagrid had been ordered to be kind to him.

When McGonagall brought the first years in, Harry was a bit surprised to see how many of them there were. There seemed to be about three times as many as there had been in his year, or last year. Following the first years were Castor and Pollux, seventh year transfers from Durmstrang.

The Sorting Hat�s song was lost on Harry. He was too busy watching the first years, and then watching Castor and Pollux sizing up the other students. Their fire lizards were perched on their shoulders, looking around curiously.

One by one, the first years were sorted. Seventeen went to Hufflepuff, nineteen to Ravenclaw, twenty-three to Gryffindor, and nineteen to Slytherin. Harry found himself wondering what would happen to this generation. He found himself determined to make their lives more pleasant than his own had been.

When the first years were sorted, it was the turn of Castor and Pollux. Since they were so alike, and so much like their sister and father, Harry thought that they would be sorted into Slytherin. He was surprised, then, when Castor was indeed sorted into Slytherin, but Pollux was sorted into Ravenclaw. The twins shook hands, and then separated and made their way to their respective House tables.

The moment that Castor reached the Slytherin table, Draco moved over for him, and everything that he could possibly want was placed within easy reach. Pansy Parkinson deliberately moved around to sit across from him and began batting her eyelashes and flirting with him, to which he responded with a positively frigid attitude.

Pollux charmed his way into the first seat on the Ravenclaw table, and turned his lethal smile onto the others, immediately gaining their undivided attention.

Harry sat back, smiling. The sixth and seventh years would never know what hit them.

TBC
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Not As It Seems