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Chapter Text

Harry watched England get smaller and smaller as they ascended and sighed. She had been so close.

If only her father hadn't caught her nicking that Polyjuice, she would be on her way to Hogwarts right now. But after his suspicions had been awakened, it had been impossible to pull off the switch. So now she was on her way to AIM with it's mediocre Potions department and Archie on the Hogwarts Express.

She closed her eyes. Her father had said they would do what they could to give her more possibilities to study Potions. At the time he seemed sincere, but, even if her being out of sight didn't make his dislike for the art return with a vengeance, nothing her father could come up with could compare to studying under Severus Snape.

Archie had promised to be the most attentive student he could be in his Potion classes, but she wasn't kidding herself. Archie would have the same disadvantages in being Sirius' son she would have faced had the switch worked. Convincing Master Snape of her worth as a student would have always been difficult. Archie was good, but he wasn't her.

The only thing that made her feel a little better about the situation was something their parents had given them. A pair of mirrors, one for her and one for Archie, that they could use to talk to each other like a portable floo. It would at least make the separation from Archie a little easier.

Archie was heartbroken as well. Secretly, she was still hoping they could convince Sirius to let him transfer at a later point.

His father was all that stood between Archie and his dream - because Sirius wanted his son close.

Harry had a whole society dead-set against her. All they wanted was that she stay away.

Her fists clenched on the armrest. She would show them. She wouldn't go to Hogwarts. So what? She would make so much noise they would hear her all the way across the Atlantic.

"Are you okay? Are you scared of flying?"

Harry startled and turned towards the voice. She was met with inquisitive brown eyes and a kind smile.

"Ah, no. I'm fine," Harry said. She unclenched her hands and reached one out for a shake. "I'm Harry."

The girl's smile got brighter and shyer. "Hermione. Are you excited for school?"

Harry knew her smile grew a bit fixed at the question and Hermione probably noticed.

"Yeah, sure. Do you know what tract you will be in?" Harry asked to keep the attention away from herself.

"I was thinking of Healing. My parents are doctors and I think that's something they will understand and value regardless of whether I am doing it with magic."

Harry cocked her head. "I understand that. You're muggleborn?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "I suppose that's the term for it. Are you?"

"No. My mum is, though."

"What about you? What are you interested in?"

Harry's heart hurt. "Potions."

"Oh, really? They can be used for Healing, can't they? Like medicine?"

Harry nodded. "Some have medicinal purposes. Healing Potions are a huge field in themselves. But Potions… you can do really anything with them. The applications are endless."

They managed to lose themselves in the topic for a while. Hermione was sharp, that was obvious. She can't have been very familiar with the field if she had only known about magic for a short while but she was immediately able to make inferences and draw comparisons.

Harry found she actually enjoyed their discussion and was glad to have ended sitting beside a girl willing to talk sense.

Hermione meanwhile was convinced Harry wouldn't use her for help with her homework.

They spend the plane ride talking. First about Potions and then more generally about their life. Hermione spoke about her parents and her school and Harry told her about her family including her uncles. And Archie, always Archie.

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When they landed, because of the time difference, it was nearly the same time as when they started. Harry was tired but they were told it would be better to wait at least a while before they slept so they wouldn't be up in the middle of the night.

Archie and her had agreed that he would call her, since from what their parents had told them, the Hogwarts Welcoming Feast took longer than the brunch AIM threw for the new students.

While she waited for him, Harry busied herself unpacking and inspecting her new dorm room. At AIM, dorms were assigned by gender, age and tract. There were an uneven number of female first-years in the Potions tract, so instead of a classmate she was rooming with an older girl.

Jasmine, a year older and inclined to fill awkward silences with chatter, told her about classes, their teachers, the grounds, the library and everything else she could think of. Harry listened and nodded.

"What about the labs?" she asked when Jasmine seemed to wind down.

"Oh, that's where we have our practicals. Older students can use them for independent study."

Harry's head jerked up. "What about younger students?"

"Younger students aren't allowed to book them for their own use until after they apply for a permit in third year. It's a safety thing."

"Third year?!"

Her distress at the idea of two years with no supplemental Potion brewing must have been obvious, because Jasmine was out of bed and at her side in an instant.

"You're white as a sheet! Come here, sit down." As luck would have it, that was the moment Archie's voice sounded out of her bag.

"Harry! Harry! Harry, are you there?"

With trembling hands, Harry fished the mirror out. The moment she looked straight into it, Archie's face appeared, startling Jasmine.

His smile dropped off his face. "Harry, what's going on?"

"I can't book a lab for independent study for another two years!" she reported tonelessly.

To his credit, Archie understood the gravity of the situation immediately.

"That might not be a hard rule."

"It's pretty much set in stone," Jasmine piped up.

"Who is that?"

Harry tilted the mirror so Jasmine was included in the picture.

"Archie, this is Jasmine, my roommate. Jasmine, this is my cousin, Archie."

Jasmine waved.

Archie smiled at her. "Jasmine, it's wonderful to meet you, truly. Could you maybe let me talk with my dear cousin alone?"

"Ah, sure, I'll be in the next room over."

Archie waited until she had left to start speaking again.

"Harry, listen to me, they don't know you yet. When your teachers get to know you, they will see that you should be exempted. James was talking about contacting AIM, right, about getting you in higher classes? Trust me, you will be brewing again in no time."

Harry breathed deeply a few times. Archie was right, everything was not lost yet. She reminded herself that even at Hogwarts, first years probably didn't get free reigns of the labs. Together with the oxygen, more awareness returned. She finally saw the background of Archie's picture.

"That's a lot of blue in your room," Harry remarked.

Archie half turned around to look behind himself, before grinning at her. Behind that light-hearted expression was a strain of worry.

"Yes, I was sorted into Ravenclaw. Think Dad will mind?"

"The question is will the Ravenclaws mind?" she teased him.

As they talked about other things Harry could feel how she regained her equilibrium. Archie was such a huge part of her normal routine, it instantly calmed her.

She did her best to soothe his worries about his sorting and he did his best to do the same for her. Once their plans for the switch had been smashed to pieces by her inability to stay undetected, Archie had been heartbroken. He had rallied only after he saw her reaction. Harry felt their roles had been somewhat reversed, it always used to be her looking after him. But now Archie had been forced to ignore his disappointment in order to care for her.

Harry felt bad about it, but couldn't make herself snap out of it entirely. She had poured all her hopes and dreams into the ruse, put all her eggs in one basket, and now that it hadn't worked out, she felt as if she had fallen through the mirror into someone else's life.

Intellectually she knew that it wasn't all over. But it was hard to have seen the path before her grow so much longer and more arduous than it had seemed in her dreams.

Archie told her of the people he had already met, on the train and at the Feast, and about the dormitory. Ravenclaws were expected to solve a riddle every time they entered the dormitory and Archie was sceptical about it.

Harry had planned to do all she could to get sorted into Slytherin. Everything to get closer to Master Snape and earn his trust. Since that wasn't the dormitory she had ever expected to share, it didn't hurt so much to talk about it. She had to get used to it, anyway.

They had sworn to each other they would share their lives as much as possible.

Harry in turn talked about the plane ride and Hermione. Archie encouraged her to make friends with her and Jasmine. Harry could manage little enthusiasm for it, but shrugged and said she would try.

When Archie had migrated into his bed and could barely keep his eyes open and Harry was also growing increasingly tired despite it still being light out, they said their goodbyes.

Harry flopped on her bed. She would have to get up in a minute, get something to eat, before she fell asleep and woke in the middle of the night hungry, but she wanted to close her eyes for just a moment.

She was asleep before she knew it.

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Life, against all odds, fell into something of a routine. For the first time in her life, Harry started measuring time not in Potions brewed but in time spent with friends. She reconnected with Hermione during their Lunch hours and introduced Archie to her. Harry had taken to carrying her mirror around and her lunch hour fell into his after classes - pre dinner period. Archie managed to be extremely charming even through a mirror and he and Hermione became fast friends despite the many miles between them.

After the first week Archie and Hermione had decided they would all study together on Saturdays. Harry let herself be swept along. Predictably, the study sessions focused primarily on Healing. Archie was determined to learn as much as he could even from Hogwarts and was busy on his end trying to charm Madame Pomphrey into letting him help - with mixed success so far. The other hiccup on his side was Madam Pince's - the librarian at Hogwarts - nonsense insistence that Archie would burn down the library. Archie had to get help from Professor Flitwick - his Head of House - to get that sorted out.

Harry was game to learn Healing with them. She had little else better to do.

Her classes continued to disappoint. For now, they were almost entirely comprised of theory. She hadn't touched a knife except the one she used to spread butter on her toast in the morning in three weeks and the closest she came to a cauldron was when she "lost her way" in the basement and glimpsed into the advanced classes. When she was caught, the Look made them believe it had been an accident and she was kindly guided upstairs again. It was maddening.

In the theoretical Potion classes her insights were noticed, but the teachers hesitated to call on her after a while. One of them pulled her aside and told her apologetically that the other students would be hesitant to take part in lessons if they noticed the large discrepancy between their knowledge bases.

Harry grew more and more silent in class. She was too good for Potions and the rest barely interested her.

The only academic bright spot those first few weeks were Flying classes. No one told her she was too good or too fast and the sky was her limit. Professor Marsh taught both Flying and Physical Activity and after seeing Harry on a broom for the first time, took her under her wing. She let her help other students or left her largely to her own devices. Physical Activity was taught on the ground and came less naturally. But Professor Marsh was insistent that talent only took you so far and pushed Harry to get fitter all around.

Harry, wanting sometimes to get away from it all, took to running like a fish to water.

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A few weeks in, a lot happened in quick succession. During her first class of the day a young woman in a sensible outfit stuck her head through the door and murmured with her Professor.

"Harriet Potter? Could you come with me, please?"

Surprised, she packed up her stuff and followed her out.

"Did something happen?" she asked once the door had closed behind them.

The woman gestured to follow her. "Nothing bad, Master Tallum just has time to see you today."

Harry nearly stumbled. Master Tallum was the head potioneer at AIM. He mostly taught the older years, so she hadn't had him in class yet. Harry didn't think much of him as a Potion Master, he was by all accounts mediocre, but you didn't need to be a genius to know that he was the one who could change her education for the better.

Was this what her parents had tried to arrange? She briefly debated with herself if she should be opposed to receiving preferential treatment in that case, before immediately rejecting that notion.

Soon later she found herself in Master Tallum's office. He waved her to sit.

"So, Miss Potter, good to meet you. I have heard a lot about you. Your parents wrote me quite eloquent letters on how your education should be handled. Do you know why that is?"

Under Tallum's jovial attitude Harry detected a condescending strain. She kept her eyes impassive when she answered.

"I want to be a Potion Mistress."

"Hm," he made. "Regardless, here English aristocracy doesn't receive special treatment. And parents are very likely to overestimate a child's competence, especially if it would concur with their ambitions for the child."

Harry had to stop herself from laughing. Her parents overestimating her abilities because they just wanted her to be a Potion Mistress so very much - it was ludicrous.

Tallum must not have noticed her brief veer into hilarity because he continued:

"As it is, I did get multiple reports from my teachers that you have an aptitude for the art. If you want, I will give you the opportunity now to show me what you are able to do. If you are truly so capable, we will discuss alternate education models for you. Maybe let you sit in on higher classes. But, young lady, you do have a choice. I don't want your parent's ambitions for you to get in the way of your life."

Harry didn't have to think about it. Anything was better than being force fed tiny morsels of knowledge that she had already tasted and digested years ago.

"I will do it. Please."

"Hm," he made again. "Your choice, like I said. You will have 90 minutes to complete this written test. You may sit at any of these tables. Please, do not feel discouraged if there are parts you can't answer. You do not have to know all of this to be considered above the level of a first year. If you have any questions, I will be here. After that, I will ask you to brew something for me. You will have safety equipment available as well as a standard Potion kit."

"I have my Potion kit with me," Harry assured him absentmindedly, head already bent over the test. She could already see that this test would be easy. It almost seemed too easy. Better check for trick questions…

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Three hours later, Harry felt better than she had in a long while. Brewing again had revived her. She was sure she hadn't made any mistake.

Master Tallum had seemed reluctant to give her special treatment. When they had finished he had looked slightly dismayed, but she didn't let that ruin her good mood. She had done all she could do. Now she had do await the verdict.

"Astonishing! Astonishing, I say, have you seen a result like this before?"

"No, I have not. There is just one-"

"Ha! That will show the old sourpuss!"

"Master Tallum, there is just one problem."

"Poppycock, what do you mean?"

Harry was glowing when she came to lunch. She had missed all of her morning classes but she would have either known it all already or she wouldn't have been interested. Hermione greeted her with a smile.

"You won't believe what- wait, Archie-" She fumbled the mirror out of her pocket.

As soon as they connected, it burst out of her.

"I saw Master Tallum today and he tested me for placement in Potion lessons in higher classes!"

Hermione and Archie both cheered for her. Harry's good mood got a dent when she took a closer look at Archie. He was pale and in bed, his surroundings suspiciously white.

"Archie, where are you?" she asked.

"The Hospital Wing! It was amazing, I got to see Madame Pomphrey heal a broken wrist."

Harry closed her eyes. "Were you attached to the broken wrist when she healed it?"

"Yes! It was wicked! I felt the bones shifting!"

"Archie!" Hermione groaned. Harry just put her head in her hands. "How did you break your wrist? I thought you said Flying lessons weren't until next week?"

Finally, Archie showed some discomfort.

"So, don't freak out, but someone might have pushed me down some stairs."

Harry grew cold at those words. Hermione started asking question after question, which Archie struggled to answer. There had been a trip jinx when he had been at the top of some stairs. He hadn't seen who cast it, he thought he had been alone. No, it couldn't have been a retaliatory prank.

"I have been keeping the pranking on the down low," he explained. "Snape is already not a fan of me."

Hermione huffed. "Pushing someone down the stairs wouldn't have been a good prank anyway. Hurting someone like that - how could anyone believe that's funny?"

"No, it wouldn't have been," Harry agreed tonelessly. Her mind was whirring. "But that only leaves explanations that are even less innocuous."

Archie must have seen something in her expression because he gentled his tone.

"Harry, it was probably just a one-off. We don't even know they wanted to hit me. Or maybe they didn't think they would actually hurt me. They probably got spooked themselves."

"I don't like betting your well-being on the good sense of someone who tripped you on the top of a staircase!" she hissed. "What are the teachers doing to keep you safe?"

"I am supposed to stay with friends," Archie grumbled. He looked away. "I don't really have any friends, though."

"Archie…" Harry said. Hermione looked mournful, too.

"I mean," Archie hurried to reassure them. "the other Ravenclaws are really nice! They are great to study with. I just don't hang around with any on them. It's fine, I will just stay in the Tower a lot. And there are always Ravenclaws to go to the library with!"

Harry decided to change the subject. "All right. Keep the mirror near too! And don't get yourself anymore hurt just to get into the Hospital Wing!"

"Aye aye, captain!" Archie saluted.

When they disconnected, Harry heaved a sigh and continued to stare at the mirror as if it had any more answers. She hated that he was alone in Hogwarts and she couldn't help him.

Unhappy, Hermione bit her lip before switching gears.

"Come on, Harry, eat something before lunch ends." She reached for one of the bowls on the table. "I think you will like this. And then you can tell me more about the test. What were the questions like?"

Harry let herself show some enthusiasm for the food and some of the excitement of the morning bled through again. But it was also marred with the realisation that she wasn't in a position to protect her cousin anymore.

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Archie continued to check in at the usual times, which soothed the part of Harry that fretted over him. The part that fretted over the results of her tests was sadly left unattended.

She suffered the uncertainty in silence until the same young woman that had picked her up from her classes caught her on the way back from lunch.

"Miss Potter, good to see you again." She smiled at her, as she waited in front of her classroom.

Harry jogged the last few paces.

"Hello! Is there news?"

The woman smiled more. "Master Tallum and Professor Merriweather would like to see you after your classes today back in the same room. Can you find it on your own?"

Harry had never heard of Merriweather but nodded nonetheless.

After classes, which Harry spent nearly vibrating out of her seat, Harry knocked on the door to the small classroom she had met Master Tallum at before.

Behind the door waited Master Tallum as well as an older tall and willowy woman with a white bob haircut and a friendly smile.

Harry greeted them cautiously.

"Well, Miss Potter, do sit down," Master Tallum invited her genially.

When she had done so, he continued: "You will be happy to know, you scored high above your year level. Very high, in fact. As such, we want to offer you an advanced curriculum for your Potions study."

Harry could feel the smile overtaking her features.

"Thank you!" Despite her relief at that pronouncement, she had to wonder as to why the woman had joined them. When Harry's eyes darted over to her, she smiled.

"Harry, let me introduce myself. I am Hillary Merriweather, I am a Professor here for the Mind Healing module as well as a counsellor. I'm here to talk with you about how we can balance your advanced studies with the rest of your mandatory education. While your record in anything Potion related is beyond exemplary, your other teachers noticed a certain reluctance or disinterest towards other subjects. Is this something you noticed yourself?"

Harry squirmed uneasily. Admittedly, she had been outright ignoring anything not related to Potions and Physical Activity. Professor Merriweather's smile set her slightly more at ease again.

"I don't really care about learning anything else but Potions." After a small pause she added: "And maybe Healing."

Professor Merriweather blinked once, but otherwise didn't show her surprise.

"Master Tallum will be able to tell you, that while Potions in the beginning relies on the innate magic in the ingredients, it will quickly become apparent that you need truly exacting magical control to advance to the later stages of your studies."

This made her perk up, as Harry expected the Professor knew it would.

"And the best way to hone those skills is a well-rounded education," Professor Merriweather concluded her pitch.

Harry could see the wisdom in this even if her enthusiasm for the other subjects was still lacking.

She agreed to try and the rest of the hour was spent hammering out a schedule.

It would see her separated from the other students in her year for all Potions lessons and directly joining students in their third or fourth year. She wouldn't often join the same people in the same classes as she could only attend the classes the rest of her schedule allowed. It meant her days would be longer, but would sometimes have gaps. At least two hours every week of those, she would spent in one-one-one instruction with Master Tallum, filling any holes there might still be in her understanding. Another hour every two weeks was to be dedicated to a meeting with Professor Merriweather ensuring the pace and amount of hours didn't grow to be too hard on her.

Harry, who was used to working hard, sincerely doubted that.

Her favourite change to come out of the meeting was her ability to book a Potion lab for herself. Master Tallum made it clear it was to be for academic use only (but he also winked at her when he said it, which Harry took to mean that academic in this instance was to be interpreted broadly).

In the end, all the brewing she did could be used to hone her skills. But she supposed she would hold off on Pranking Potions, for now.

When she got out of the meeting, she was buzzing to tell someone about it. She could try to find Hermione or go back to her room and talk to Jasmine, but who she really wanted to tell was Archie. It was late enough that he would probably be asleep already. Debating it, Harry settled on whispering in the mirror.

"Archie?"

"Harry, not the best timing right now," came back. Archie's face filled the mirror for a second before the picture changed fast. She could see stone and moonlight cutting through darkness.

"What, Puppy, do you have someone in your pocket?" a strange voice asked.

She heard Archie laugh while panting. "Yes, and I will introduce you once we're safe in the kitchens."

They must be breaking curfew, Harry concluded. With nothing better to do and no way to help, she found somewhere unobtrusive to sit and waited for them to reach their destination, which they did before long.

When Archie finally tilted the mirror to the side, she thought she was seeing double for a moment.

"What is this, a mirror that shows a prettier version of yourself?" one of the red-headed boys said.

"Don't forget funnier," Harry said. Her eyes were busy cataloguing the very slight differences between the two boys.

"This is my more charming and much cleverer cousin, Harry Potter. Harry, these are the Weasley Twins, Fred and George. They are the resident pranksters and were just showing me the way to the kitchens."

Harry bobbed her head in greeting. Of course, Archie would have had no trouble finding the kitchens with the Map, but considering that Harry had kept the Cloak, having someone more experienced keep him from getting caught was just as well.

The Twins took the time to prop up the mirror and bow deep before it. Dipping a little deeper whenever one noticed their brother's head was closer to the ground, until both their heads were below their knees.

Harry clapped politely while Archie laughed uproariously. Once everyone had sat down again and while the Twins and Archie were being plied with food by a virtual army of house-elves, Archie asked: "You don't usually use the mirror this late. What's up?"

Growing excited again, Harry told him about the results of her meeting.

"I will have to make more of an effort with the other subjects. They didn't directly say they'd be revoking my privileges if I didn't, but better not risk it," she ended her explanation.

She considered it a small price to pay for the riches that had been offered to her today. Her mind blinked to what she thought had been hers for the taking just a few weeks ago, before she forcibly directed it. That door was closed.

She was taking the scenic route to her destination, but she would arrive nonetheless. And if she had to climb every mountain and find ways to bridge canyons, she would do that too.

"That's amazing!" Archie cheered for her. "I knew it!"

The twins toasted her with their goblets of pumpkin juice, but looked a bit dubious.

"So you like Potions?" one of them asked.

"Yes," Harry answered, rock solid in her conviction.

"Harry is going to be the best Potion Mistress there ever was," Archie bragged.

"And Archie is going to be the best Healer," Harry continued without missing a beat.

"That leaves us to be the best Pranksters!" the Twins chorused.

"Well, that's awkward, that's our dads," Harry deadpanned.

"Not for long!"

After eating, they had to get back to their respective dormitories, and now that she had a reason to care, Harry was intent on getting to her homework.

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The next wrench was thrown in the works just a week later, when Harry had to perform her first spell and it just absolutely didn't work.

Not even a twitch in her feather.

The next day she was supposed to transfigure a pine needle into a matchstick. That endeavour was met with the same level of success.

Harry told herself not to panic.

Even though she felt the eyes of her teachers like a physical thing. Even though she had only just been allowed to brew again. Even though it just promised to get better.

Don't panic, she told herself. Just, please, please, work.

She felt like a stopper was removed and there was a brief rush, like a gale going through her.

The pine needle was a match stick. She blinked down at it in relief, the magic gone like it had never been there.

It was a second later that she became aware of confused voices around her. Every pine needle in the room had turned into match stick at the same time.

The teacher calmed them. "Alright, who ever that was, remember your calculations and and try to regulate your output. I will put everything back the way it was and we can continue." He waved his wand. Nothing happened.

Murmurs started up again.

"Hm," he made. He picked one of the match sticks from his desk. He looked at it for a long time and they saw it slowly morph back into a pine needle.

Once again, the teacher waved his wand. The other objects in the room returned to their original form.

Harry's match stick stayed a match stick. She didn't say anything.

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Professor Merriweather greeted her with a warm smile that looked very at home on her face.

Harry smiled back, trying to project confidence. She shook the Professor's hand firmly and kept her shoulders back and away from her ears.

"How are you going on, Miss Potter?"

Harry recounted her last few weeks with an upbeat tone.

Professor Merriweather nodded intermittently.

"There is something your teachers noticed about your spell work. Do you know what I am talking about?"

Harry let herself have one blink to think about her answer.

"Oh, yes, I supposed I am not a natural with a wand." She waved it off. Her voice didn't waver.

"I would like to see if we can suss out why that is," Professor Merriweather said.

"I am trying," Harry insisted.

Professor Merriweather caught her eye. "Miss Potter, I am not doubting that, at all. And Master Tallum assures me also, that you are very adept at incorporating magic into your Potions, which leads me to believe there to be the aforementioned deeper reason. How is your wand?"

A little thrown, Harry patted for it. "Fine, I thought? It never made anything explode."

"That… is not the primary qualification for a wand."

Harry shrugged. "It is when that's what happens whenever you touch one."

Professor Merriweather made a note on her pad.

"Well, let's see if we can sort that out."

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Her parents were notified. Harry would have been happy to visit a local wand maker, but her father insisted on picking her up by international floo and bringing her to Ollivander's. For a brief time, she was on British soil again.

"Sorry you had to come get me," she said. Smiling, James shook his head.

"No worries. One of us should really have come with you from the beginning to get your wand. Here we are now." He opened the door for them.

Ollivander's greeted her with enthusiasm, when he realised he would have another chance to match her with a wand.

She had to bleed for it, but at the end she held a new wand in her hand that sang for her.

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Her new wand was brilliant. Spells came almost too easily now. In fact, so easily that her wand sometimes sneaked in a few more than were asked of it. But things were moving and her teachers were largely indulgent of it.

After what happened the last time, Harry was even considering asking Professor Merriweather for advice at their next appointment.

Before she had the opportunity, Halloween was upon them.

Chapter Text

Archie didn't want to go to Hogwarts.

Even before his passion for Healing and before he knew Hogwarts wasn't the best school for it, Hogwarts had been the place where Harry couldn't follow him, where he could only go alone.

Growing up, he had to watch Harry's disappointment about being denied her school of choice. Not that many would even see Harry's disappointment - she played things close to her chest, she did - but Archie had always been able to see a bit more of her than others.

Consequently, he had done his very best to find all of Hogwarts' bad points - the outdated curriculum, the ever-changing Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, the never-changing History of Magic teacher and so on.

When the time of their going away to school came closer, he was dead set against going and was trying his hardest to get out of it. Going to AIM promised to fulfil all his academic dreams.

First he thought they could swing going there together. Then when his father proved truly unreasonable on that account, he thought he would be going instead of Harry, them taking each others places. They still wouldn't be going to the same place, but both where they were meant to.

When Harry had pushed into his room wide-eyed just a few days before they were due to leave and called the whole plan off, he had been devastated.

He couldn't blame Harry because she was maybe more heartbroken than he was. He couldn't blame Uncle James who seemed to have shaken awake to some uncomfortable truths. When not at work or writing letters and taking floo calls pushing his weight around, he was with Harry actually talking to her, asking question about her and potions and her plans.

For the first time in Archie's memory, potions as a topic wasn't merely tolerated during dinner but actively encouraged. Uncle James still knew nothing about potions but when he discovered this, Archie heard him muttering about having to read up, maybe asking the Potions Master that supplied the Auror department for help.

Harry was flustered and spooked, the attention leaving her tentatively happy when she wasn't in misery over their failed plan.

Archie was happy for her, he truly was, but James' awakening left him without a target for his ire - not to mention that it had never been James standing in the way of his going to AIM.

When his dad wanted to gossip to him about the marked difference in his best friend, saying nice, they are finally catching up with us, Archie found himself growing short and snappish with his dad.

Archie knew why his dad wanted him to go to Hogwarts so badly. When he thought he wasn't actually going to go, he had been able to look at it very objectively and understanding had been so much easier.

That was gone now and while he managed to avoid another full-on shouting match, Archie boarded the Hogwarts train feeling like he was sent to the gallows and leaving a strained relationship with his father behind.

The compartment he was in was only half full. The other students in it were older and ignored him.

Archie spent the ride looking out into the country side and wrestling his more dramatic tendencies under control.

It was tempting to while his time at Hogwarts away in a perpetual sulk, but that would hardly help him or Harry. For all that he had tried so hard to find all its bad points, Hogwarts wasn't truly a bad school. It was old-fashioned, sure, but there was something to be said about the library and a number of teachers that were truly one of the best of their field. Archie knew everything he could ever want to about Professor Snape after years of Harry telling him about every advancement he had made to the potions field. But there were other teachers, McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, who by all accounts were incredibly capable.

Hogwarts good reputation wasn't entirely due to tradition - Archie was still ready to believe that a good chunk of it was - and he would better be ready to appreciate it's advantages.

He split his time between trying to remember every fun story their uncles had ever told him about Hogwarts, worrying about how Harry was faring and wondering about his sorting.

That first thing made him feel very mature, trying to make the best of it.

The second thing was a bit uncomfortable because it was no secret that it had always been Harry taking care of him, as if the two days she was older than him made her his older sister or something. (He didn't linger on the fact that this new dynamic had only developed after his mother had fallen ill.)

The last thing was just silly. He didn't actually care, he told himself and neither would his dad.

It occurred to him only belatedly, after the Hat had already shouted "RAVENCLAW!" for all to hear and he settled down with his new housemates, that it would serve his Dad right if he had been sorted into Slytherin.

Too late now. And anyway, blue was his colour.

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The mirrors their parents had given them meant Archie spent the start of term with half a mind in America. He was glad for it because he could never have kept as close an eye on Harry via letters. He also appreciated the distraction. Hogwarts was okay but felt sometimes like more trouble than it was worth.

The dormitory was beautiful and his dorm mates nice, but it's happened once or twice that he couldn't solve the riddle - especially when he had to try and solve it after a long day in the library.

Speaking of the library, Madam Pince had decided he was an arsonist in the making and initially forbid him from using it. Not even the blue accents on his robe could convince her otherwise.

(It was actually pretty hurtful to be accused of a crime against books. Archie would never.)

Archie'd had to inform Flitwick to finally get access, but even now his interactions with the librarian were stilted. Archie planned a charm offensive, soon as he heard back from his dad and knew more about what he had done.

Archie had promised Harry to be the most attentive potions student that had ever existed and while he truly made an effort, it was a bust.

Professor Snape behaved as if Archie wasn't even in the room during lessons. From what he heard, Gryffindors were treated even more antagonistically, but after a few lessons, Archie would be glad for any affirmation of his existence at all.

He debated making a mistake during his brewing, but decided against it. Harry had made clear how dangerous a misbrewed potion was and Archie didn't fancy dying in a regrettable accident.

Another thing Archie hadn't calculated into what troubles to expect at Hogwarts, even though he really should have, was how to dodge his distant relations in Slytherin. Every shared lesson was made more difficult by having to be polite but not too friendly with Draco Malfoy, who had taken their relation as an excuse to make small talk with him.

Malfoy wasn't doing anything really except acknowledge Archie's existence and ask him after his opinion on innocuous things like the soup served at dinner the night before and what Quidditch team he supported.

Archie didn't want to make enemies in his first few months of school but at the same time he really didn't want to make friends with Lucius Malfoy's son.

After a week of being at the end of these careful questions, Archie had taken to giving long and rambling answers all of which referred to Harry at some point. As soon as Malfoy understood who his 'cousin' was and his mind no doubt instantly supplied who her parents and grandparents were, his expression froze until he got himself under control again.

To his credit, Malfoy still didn't stop talking to him, but Archie imagined he didn't like hearing about Archie's halfblood cousin. Archie relished in waxing rhapsodically about her at every opportunity. He wondered if he should feel bad that he had weaponized his cousin like that, but in the end decided that Malfoy and Harry were unlikely to ever meet. And really, Malfoy could stand to hear about his awesome cousin if he really insisted on making small talk with him. No one was forcing him to, after all.

This tactic served him well when Archie decided to check in on his only friend at Hogwarts one day at lunch. Marcus was a Fifth Year and the Quidditch Captain, and so probably hadn't had time to seek Archie out yet.

"Hullo Marcus," Archie greeted. Marcus slowly turned to him while everyone around him stared at Archie as if he were a tap dancing hippogriff. Those stares transferred to Marcus when he said: "Hi Arch. Bole, move. Come sit down."

"Thanks!" Archie chirped and slid onto the bench beside Marcus.

"How is Fifth Year treating you?"

"Worse than the first time around," Marcus grunted and changed the subject. "Your dad ready to string you up by the ankles for being sorted into Ravenclaw?"

"Nah," Archie said. "But apparently he's been trying to find an eagle to handle the post. He hasn't found one yet, so for now we only have an eagle owl."

"He is the same fairy tale dad as always then, huh?"

Archie shrugged, always slightly uncomfortable when Marcus hinted at how much better Sirius was than his own father.

Of course, the whole Hogwarts vs. AIM matter aside, Archie would put decent odds on his dad being better than almost any dad, but from what he could glean Marcus' was truly abysmal.

That thought was interrupted when Malfoy's voice came from above: "Are you kidding me? How do you know each other?" His expression was aghast and immediately, Archie beamed at him.

"Oh, what, Marcus and I? Oh we are both big Quidditch fans. Speaking of Quidditch, Marcus, did I mention to you, how good a Beater Harry is by now? I sure am glad that it isn't me she is aiming those Bludgers at!"

Malfoy, apparently finally enraged past the point of politeness, threw his hands in the air and stormed off. Archie smirked. 1-0 to Archie.

To Marcus' amused grin he just said, "Oh, don't ask."

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After he had just gotten used to Hogwarts, it was an unwelcome surprise to be tripped down a stair case.

He blacked out and when he came to, he laid on the bottom of the stairs, his wrist was in absolute agony and a red-headed no-nonsense Prefect was carefully transferring him to a conjured stretcher while simultaneously directing traffic around him.

On the way to the Hospital Wing, Archie tried to keep his wrist as immobile as possible, because any jarring made waves of pain crash through his body.

"What happened?" Archie asked. "Who tripped me?"

The prefect jerked around to him. "You were tripped by someone? You didn't just fall?"

Archie thought back. Among the last things he remembered was the distinct feeling of a Trip Jinx.

"I am pretty sure it was a Trip Jinx. I grew up in a pranking household, I know the feeling."

The prefect looked troubled but only said, "You and me both."

They reached the Hospital Wing before long and Archie was left to the tender mercies of Madame Pomphrey. The prefect disappeared somewhere.

Archie managed a bright "Good morning, Madame Pomphrey" before wincing in pain.

"Mr. Black," she greeted him. She hurried over. "I do hope you haven't resorted to more drastic measures to gain access to the Hospital Wing."

Archie had taken to lingering around the Hospital Wing and asking if there was anything he could help with. For now, Madame Pomphrey hadn't taken him up on his offer, but he would persevere.

He shook his head and explained what happened.

Pomphrey quickly gave him something for the pain and then he could concentrate fully on watching her heal. His bones shifting against each other was a peculiar feeling, but one that he would remember whenever he had to visualize wrist bones.

"Poppy, may I come in?" someone asked. Archie thought he recognized the voice of Professor Flitwick. Madame Pomphrey gave Archie a questioning look and he nodded.

When he came into view around the privacy screens, the professors expression was more grave than he had seen it before.

"Ah, Mr. Black. Mr. Weasley told me what happened." The prefect had probably been Mr. Weasley. His hair had been very red. "Nonetheless, could you tell me once more from your perspective?"

When Archie was done with his recount, Professor Flitwick's expression wasn't much less grave.

"Well, we don't know that it wasn't an accident. But it may be best for now if you stay with friends when you traverse the castle."

Harry called while he was still resting. For her he presented a carefree front, not wanting to ruin her good mood completely, but the thought of his attacker did worry him a little.

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2/10 points at best, seriously. And those points Archie only awarded because the dung bomb landed somewhere close to him where the stench could really permeate his person.

Otherwise, mean-spirited, lazy, uninspired. Archie really hoped this person - if it was just one - was no indicator for the general pranking culture in Hogwarts. Otherwise, it had really gone downhill since their parents' day.

He was conveniently ignoring that he hadn't taken anybody along on his way to the library and instead critiquing and cursing the perpetrator's pranking technique while heaving himself out of the trick chair. Out loud apparently, because when he had managed it, there was applause from the bottom of the stairs.

"Quite right, young eagle!"

"Couldn't have said it better ourselves!

"A connoisseur!"

"A sommelier of pranking!"

"Marvellous!" said the pair of redheaded twins in unison.

"Let me shake your hand," said one while hurrying towards him. While shaking Archie's hand, he also helped him to his feet. The other one had snuck up behind them and scoured Archie and the air around him with a spell before Archie could react.

The twin that still had Archie's hand in his just kept on shaking it. "Gred Weasley, nice to meet you!" the first one introduced himself.

The second one grabbed his other hand so that Archie arms were now crossed. "Forge Weasley, a pleasure!"

Archie, for the first time in weeks in the company of true pranksters, felt his spirits lift.

"Well, what is there we should talk about? Have the first years settled in alright? Any problems we should be aware of?" Albus opened the floor for their Start of Term Meeting.

Filius hummed. "I had a peculiar case. Mr. Black had been denied access to the library!"

Severus sneered. Typical. "What had he done?"

"Nothing by his own admission or according to Madam Pince. It was apparently a preemptive measure - we all know how the boy's father was a bit of a prankster."

Severus repressed a derisive snort. A bit of a prankster? A pretty euphemism for relentless bully.

Filius continued. "Mr. Black sought me out for assistance and we could square the issue away. I do hope no other members of faculty will let their interactions with the boy be coloured by his family…" Filius threw a look in Severus' direction.

Severus hid his thinning lips behind his tea cup. He couldn't help thinking that Madam Pince had been on the right track. He was always sure to keep the boy in his periphery in his potion lessons. Until now Black had demonstrated a kind of boring competence while brewing, but that only promised that potions would be an instrument in his reign of terror later on.

"Of course, the far more important problem is that Mr Black has been attacked last week."

Severus' eyebrows rose. He hadn't heard about that. Filius described the situation.

"It's worrying - especially so soon into the term. I've asked him to stay with friends for now but from what I've seen in lessons he doesn't seem to have made close friends yet."

Minerva narrowed her eyes. "I hadn't noticed this myself. Do you think he is disliked by the other students?"

"Oh, not at all!" Filius shook his head. "No, he seems a very agreeable fellow and he has no problem integrating into the group in a class setting. As it sometimes happens, he just isn't very intimate friends with anybody yet."

Severus debated saying something but ultimately decided it wouldn't help the matter at hand.

"Actually…" Pomona threw in instead. All turned to face her. "Mr. Black chose to sit at the Slytherin table recently with Mr. Flint. And in my classes I have seen him speak with Mr. Malfoy who is his cousin, isn't he?"

Silence reigned for a moment. Severus knew for a fact that there was no preexisting relationship between Draco and the Black boy aside from the familial. The Split had seen to that. He in fact had been treated to more than one rant by his godson how Black was refusing to become friends with him and instead repeatedly ignored all conversational clues to very loudly proclaim about the wonder that was his "cousin" Harry Potter. It infuriated Draco no end to be rebuffed like this.

Severus knew that Lucius had asked Draco to keep an eye on Black. He didn't think his plans included Draco forcing his friendship on the boy. But after thinking on it a moment longer and how Black was obviously trying to keep his distance from Draco, Severus adopted a thoughtful expression.

"I can speak with Mr. Malfoy and ask him to keep an eye on Mr. Black. That in addition to staying with his housemates on other occasions should be enough for now until we can be more sure of the threat. Flint is hardly able to stay with a First Year in another House for any appreciable amount of time." Unsaid went that Severus wasn't at all convinced there was a real threat to protect the child from. Mr. Black might not have wanted to admit that he simply stumbled. Or he might have mistaken the feeling for something else.

Filius nodded. "I will speak to Mr. Black about it. I do hope we are worrying more than is warranted. The alternative would be an unprovoked attack on a First Year that could have had much worse consequences than it had."

Everyone but Severus nodded solemnly at that.

"I truly enjoy class discussions with Mr. Black. I can see where his parents influenced him," Minerva said, sighing.

Severus could just imagine that Minerva had thought the Black Heir would be in her House. He admitted that had also been his prediction. He supposed that everything was better than Black's son in Slytherin. He suppressed a shudder. What a thing to imagine.

Albus closed the topic with: "We will all be vigilant."

Pomona threw in: "On the topic of students that are a delight to have in class, Mr. Longbottom…"

Severus tuned her out. There was nothing that anyone could say about the menace that was Neville Longbottom that could convince him he was a good student. Potion class with him required more oversight of him than the most persnickety brew if he didn't want to endanger not just the other students but the structural integrity of the castle.

He returned his attention to the conversation when Marcus Flint again became the topic. Apparently, the others had also noticed the shifting tone of his assignments. It was obvious that there were multiple people completing them and Severus would be very surprised indeed if even one of them was Flint himself.

Archie had just sat down to eat when Malfoy appeared before him, a blonde girl a step behind them. Archie was almost sure her name was Parkinson. Good manners left him no choice but to acknowledge them.

"Malfoy." He nodded.

"Black, have you met Miss Parkinson before? Pansy, this is Arcturus Black. Black, Pansy Parkinson."

Archie automatically stood and bowed to the appropriate degree.

"I see, an angel has descended from the heavens to dine with us." Not his best, but it would do.

Parkinson laughed delightedly. "I thank you."

"I thought we you could eat with you today," Malfoy broke in.

"Ah," Archie said and didn't move. Malfoy had gotten very brazen. Until now he had kept his friendship salvos to neutral territory. Now Archie had to decide if he wanted to draw a line here and potentially offend not just Malfoy but Parkinson too. Before he had quite decided, Malfoy continued:

"Yes, after the attack on you the other day, Professor Snape thought it would be a good idea if we spent more time together so you aren't alone as often."

Malfoy wore a serious expression but Archie could just tell he was gleeful for the opportunity. Malfoy almost certainly didn't know what he was doing invoking Professor Snape. A glance to the Head Table confirmed the dark eyes of their Professor were on them.

Archie grit his teeth and invited them to sit with them. Draw, 1-1.

As soon as they sat down, Anthony, one of his dorm mates, leaned closer. "What is this about an attack, Arch?"

Archie sighed. "A Trip Jinx on the stairs."

Anthony squinted and turned to his other side to whisper. Archie suppressed a second sigh and instead twisted to beard the dragon in his den. When he caught sight of Parkinson he got a better idea.

"Miss Parkinson, can I get you anything?" Archie turned on the charm of his smile, leaning a fraction closer. She asked if he could reach the pumpkin juice and he gallantly poured her a drink.

They spend the meal having a very polite discussion, Archie sprinkling in a few compliments now and then and effectively ignoring Malfoy. He had clearly brought her as a shield, let him see what that did.

Pansy - as she offered to let him call her - was a good friend, because she repeatedly brought Malfoy back into the conversation. Archie skirted the very edges of politeness by always bringing the topic back around to Pansy. He could have been more subtle but that would have been a lot less funny.

At the tail end of the meal time, Pansy rose with an excuse about wanting to talk with some of her friends she had just spotted.

He bowed deeply over the hand she extended towards him.

"Lovely Pansy, I hope to be blessed again by your presence very soon." She bid them good-bye with a serene smile.

Malfoy had stubbornly stayed seated and was still eating, itty-bitty bite after itty-bitty bite. Archie knew that the Malfoy coat of arms had snakes on it but it was clearly missing a mule.

Before he had to decide how to deal with him, Anthony demanded his attention.

"I asked around, no other Ravenclaws have something similar happen to them. So no one seems to be targeting Ravenclaws in general."

Archie blinked. He hadn't even wondered if it might not just be him.

"So now that we know," here Anthony threw him a look, " we will all keep an eye on you."

Archie was torn between feeling reprimanded, touched and irritated. He really ought to mention the incident with the dung bomb but he didn't relish Malfoy knowing about that. He resolved telling Anthony and the others later in the dorm.

"I will also help," Malfoy piped up.

Archie settled on irritated.

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Archie was called to a talk with Professor Flitwick who confirmed Malfoy's story. Archie knew the professors were trying their best so he smiled and didn't accuse them of throwing Malfoy in his way.

Malfoy followed through on his threat and Archie found him dogging his steps all the time. Thank Merlin they were in different Houses or he would never have any reprieve. As it was, Malfoy had gotten his schedule somehow and seemingly delighted in turning up outside class rooms and escort him to the next class or lunch. Since he was with his House mates during all of these times, the excuse of protecting him from future attacks was really wearing thin.

Archie suspected that he made a mistake in riling Malfoy up. Malfoy seemed now happy for any opportunity to annoy him. Through his incessant prattle, Archie had found out that Professor Snape was Malfoy's godfather which put paid to the idea of open hostility as a means of getting rid of him or even some pranks to annoy him away.

Nonetheless, on a day where Malfoy just happened to be hanging out near the library and offered to accompany him back to the dormitory, things came to a head.

In the middle of Malfoy bragging that his father had gotten him his new broom for his birthday even though it only came out days later, Archie snapped.

"You know what, Malfoy, you want to shove your acquaintance down my throat, fine. But keep your paeans of praise about your father to yourself."

Archie, his gaze straight ahead, kept walking even as Malfoy's steps petered off. He had nearly reached the next staircase when he heard him hurrying after.

"That's really rich coming from you! I can't ever talk to you without you telling me about your cousin and how great she is! The second coming of Merlin, the way you tell it!"

"Yes!" Archie shouted. "And why do you think that is!?"

"I don't know!"

"Because you would hate it! Because the difference between my cousin and your dad is that your dad doesn't want my cousin to exist!"

Malfoy spluttered. "That's not true!"

Archie threw his hands up. "Of course it is! Your dad is the head lackey of Riddle who did his very best to push half bloods and muggleborns out of everywhere. Out of school, out of jobs, out of Britain!"

Archie talked right over Malfoy's indignant "Lackey?!".

"Your dad is so scared that a half blood could show him up, he'd rather deport them out of the country!"

"That's not true! Father knows it's better for everyone this way," Malfoy insisted.

"Everyone?! It's not even better for pure bloods! If you knew Harry or Hermione or Aunt Lily and Uncle Remus-… You don't even know what you're missing!"

Malfoy had lost all his high society manners when he growl-screeched like an angry kneazle.

"None of that is my fault!"

"But you agree with it!"

"You don't know that! And anyway, I just wanted to be friends!" burst out of Malfoy.

In the silence following that statement, Archie noticed for the first time how heavy his breathing had gotten.

"You know what, I don't think I can be friends with someone who wants Harry to be banished across the Atlantic."

Archie held up his hand to forestall Malfoy. "But I can try if you think, really think about your own opinion on what we talked about and! If you get Professor Snape to give me a bit of his time."

Archie figured that even though Malfoy was unlikely to acquiesce to his request, it was too late for subtlety, anyway. It was now or never.

Malfoy blinked at him, probably surprised at the mention of his godfather.

With a final "Think about it", Archie strode off. As he turned the corner, he nearly collided with a Gryffindor student with dreadlocks, but he just apologized and kept walking.

Thankfully, he reached the dorm without incident. When he talked with Harry that day, he thought about mentioning the altercation to her and Hermione but decided against it. Harry shouldn't have to know that people didn't want her here. (At least not more than she was already aware of.) Most likely nothing would come of it and Malfoy would just huff about having to examine his own prejudices and finally leave him alone.

If a miracle happened and Archie had an opportunity to get Snape's attention then he would tell her.

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His prediction seemed to come true as Archie didn't see hide nor hair of Malfoy.

Archie took care to stay with his house mates, even though he felt like a charity case whenever he had to ask someone to accompany him to the library. He even managed to join the others in a pick-up game of Quidditch a few times.

It was nice to play again especially when a few told him he should have tried out for the House team.

He had thought about it, but something about playing officially on a team without Harry being there to watch his back had been especially grating, more so than many of the other things he had no choice but do alone. Maybe next year, he would be ready to try.

(He secretly hated the thought of moving past his reluctance. But that was neither here nor there.)

The other change to his routine were the Weasley twins.

They were a breath of fresh air just for how much they reminded him of home.

He accompanied them on a kitchen raid when suddenly Harry called to tell him the good news. AIM had finally decided that she could take potion lessons with the higher classes. Archie was happy for her, especially because it soothed a bit of his guilty conscience over very likely destroying any chance of convincing Professor Snape to give him the time of day, now that he had gone off on his godson.

He hadn't yet noticed any change in potion lessons but as the climate between them had already been below freezing, Archie didn't know how it could have gotten worse.

He spent the rest of his time like he had before, in classes and after classes he spoke to Harry and Hermione in the mirrow. Then homework and dinner. Sometimes he joined the others in a game of Snap or chess.

Saturday was his favourite. He slept in as late as he wanted, went to lunch and then the rest of the day he was glued to the mirror, soaking in every bit of Healing knowledge he could. Hermione was a goddess, a queen, a saint for sharing what she learned with him.

Right now, they learned about First Aid, everything they could do to save someone until they could get them to a fully qualified Healer.

Broken bones, blood loss, poison, animal bites, head trauma - and everything they shouldn't do like in the case of a spinal injury. Archie loved it.

Sometimes, on Saturdays, his yearning for what could have been was stronger than ever, just for how close he came to it - just on the other side of the mirror and an ocean away.

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"Professor Snape will see you tomorrow during first period," Malfoy announced suddenly. He didn't say anything else before returning to his own table.

Stunned, Archie looked after him. That had been unexpected. He wondered if that meant Draco had also thought about things, but decided he would care about it when he had to.

Anthony, still tired, murmured: "I don't think I really understand your relationship with him."

"Yeah, neither do I," Archie said, but his mind was already on what he would say tomorrow. Maybe Malfoy had lied and Professor Snape didn't even know or maybe he would just take the opportunity to tell him off in private, but Archie had to try.

He felt it was a bad omen that the talk would be on Halloween. Halloween was never a good day. Normally, Harry caught the brunt of it, and if he messed up tomorrow, it was Harry who would suffer.

When Archie came back from Astronomy that night, he could barely keep his eyes open, but he took the time to call Harry one last time while it wasn't Halloween yet.

When Harry manifested on the other side, she was breathing heavily and her furrowed brow was sweaty. She had told him she liked running now, but this was the first time he had seen the evidence of it.

He didn't let himself get distracted by it and instead very seriously instructed her to be careful and to stay back from cliff sides, hovering grand pianos and old abandoned towers.

She drolly declared him to be delirious and wished him a good night.

Archie was asleep almost before he could hear it. In his dreams Snape pushed him off the Astronomy Tower over and over again and he woke up hardly less tired than he started out.

Archie had to get up earlier than he wanted to catch Snape during the first period. Outside his office door, Archie psyched himself up. Professor Snape was a teacher. Archie wanted to be taught. How bad could it be?

When he knocked, it took long enough that Archie thought about knocking again before he heard "Enter."

He pushed the door open. The professor sat behind a large desk, head bent over what looked like grading. On shelves behind him stood a selection of truly gruesome specimens. He didn't look up as Archie placed himself square before the desk. He waited to be acknowledged but it took a long time before Professor Snape very deliberately put down his quill and turned his dark gaze on Archie.

Archie bravely didn't quail and locked eyes with him.

"Mr. Black. What is it that you wanted to discuss so urgently that you felt the need to blackmail another student for the opportunity? Especially as you could have always used my office hours."

Archie didn't explain that Professor Snapes attitude towards him had always been so glacial that he didn't think he would actually listen if he tried. Instead he answered the question.

"I would like additional tutelage in potions."

The professor's eyebrows crept up his forehead.

"You have an interest in the art?"

"No," Archie blurted out before he could think better of it. He had decided not to lie, but that had really been more blunt than he intended.

"That is," he quickly added, "I am of course interested. Potions have so many applications. In Healing especially, the whole field can hardly be imagined without them."

Professor Snape was like stone. Archie was surprised when his lips opened.

"Mr. Black, I don't know what you wish to accomplish by wasting my time. If this is a means of distracting me for your co-conspirators you should know that the wards over my classroom and private quarters are nigh impossible to penetrate."

Archie caught himself gaping. "No! I am serious about wanting to know more about potions." He shook his head. "Look, yes, for my own sake, I would not ask for it. But it isn't for my sake. It is for Harry."

"… Harriett Potter?"

"She is your biggest fan," Archie hurried on. "She thinks you're the greatest Potions Master of all time. It was her dream to come here and learn from you. And she couldn't because the SOW Party is intimidated by eleven year olds." He bit his lip. He hadn't meant to say that. Professor Snape himself was a member of the party, though how he could square that with himself being a halfblood, he couldn't say.

"Anyway, I am asking you, please, teach me, so I can teach Harry."

Professor Snape just stared at him for a moment, his eyes glittering and a muscle in his jaw twitching. Archie's heart sank before he ever opened his mouth.

"Mr. Black, I am teaching you. I am teaching you the way I am required to teach any student in this school according to their Year and ability. I am fulfilling this duty towards you as is. Miss Potter," a sneer crossed his face as if her name in his mouth left a bad taste, "on the other hand is not one of my students and therefore not my responsibility. I will thank you now to leave and not waste my time anymore with your presumptuous demands."

Archie's spine stiffened and he nodded jerkily. Just before he crossed the threshold, he turned back. "According to Harry, you may be the greatest Potions Master, but I know, I know, that she will surpass you before long. You can be the one to get her there or you can be left in the dust."

Professor Snape turned white with anger. "Out!" he demanded.

Archie went.

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Archie made it barely around the next corner before hot tears burned in his eyes and he stumbled to a stop.

He had been so stupid and ruined everything. He had meant it, Harry would make it with or without Snape's help, but there would be no convincing Harry that she could not have made it further with the help of her idol.

He felt a sob crawling out his throat, his face already a hot-cheeked, wet mess. His nose was probably running. He hurried headlong deeper into the dungeons, trying to find a spot to be properly miserable.

He couldn't even talk to Harry about it. He had messed up and she should probably know that he had made this whole shitty situation even shittier. But just now he couldn't.

Eventually he stumbled to a halt and and leant on a wall, sliding down until he sat on the floor. It was cold but he probably deserved it.

He cried.

With the tears his misery left him little by little, leaving him slightly numb. He tried to take a deep breath and failed. His breaths shuddered out of him and with every new breath there was less oxygen in the air.

He wondered if he was having a panic attack. His blinks got slower. Something wasn't right. His mind was telling him something, it was telling him what to do, but nothing could be done.

Between one blink and the next, he thought he saw someone standing in the corner. Another blink and they were coming closer. He tried to lift his head but was too weak.

Another blink - it got harder and harder to open them again - the person was right there, stuffing something in his pocket. Their breathing sounded weird, overly loud and muffled at the same time.

Archie tried to move, he tried so hard, but only succeeded in falling down. The person moved off and left him.

Darkness encroached him on all sides until he didn't know anymore if his eyes were open or not. He fell asleep to silence.

…

..

.

⚕.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚕

Archie came to feeling like someone was literally trying to expel the breath from his lungs. Or maybe the lungs from his body altogether.

"Stay still, Mr. Black, I have to purge your lungs as much as possible." He recognized Madame Pomphrey's voice and his eyes could finally make sense of what they were seeing. He was in the Hospital Wing.

The sensation lessened and he could take a new full breath in an age. Hovering above her wand tip was a murky cloud of whatever the Healer had expelled from his lungs. A second smaller cloud joined it and the Healer forced it all together inside a bottle and stoppered it.

Archie's head lolled to the side where the second cloud had come from. Beside him, Snape had just finished giving Malfoy the same treatment. Malfoy was already sitting up again, a hand at his throat. When their eyes met, Malfoy quickly looked away.

On his other side, Madame Pomphrey's was casting diagnostic after diagnostic until her spell work built an interlocking dome above him. Maybe he was still loopy, but Archie didn't think he had ever seen anything more beautiful except his mother's eyes.

Thinking of something, he concentrated until he could sink his hand into his pocket. A piece of paper was crinkling there. He pulled it out. The letters on it took a long time to make sense.

The dome above him was dispelled. "Mr. Black, I have to extend the treatment to the rest of your body. Please stay still again. What do you have there?"

"I don't know it," he told her and gave it to her. "It's not mine. He put it there."

He was still very tired. Madame Pomphrey would take care of him.

He slept again.

⚕.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚕

The second time he woke up, he felt more like himself. It was darker now and still.

"Madame Pomphrey?" he asked.

"She stepped out to give a report to Dumbledore," answered another voice. Malfoy was still there. "We missed the Feast."

Archie shrugged. "Stolen cake tastes sweeter anyway." And he knew where the kitchens were.

He rolled to the side, until he could comfortably look at Malfoy.

"What happened?"

Malfoy was even paler than he normally was. "When you left Severus' office, I followed you. I wanted to- anyway, I thought I would wait until you weren't so-… upset. I waited until I couldn't hear anything anymore - you were just lying there." Malfoy voice wobbled over lying. "I tried to wake you, but the longer I was there, the weaker I felt."

"It was airborne," Archie whispered. His mind tried to ignore the fact that Malfoy had listened to him crying his eyes out. He might not be here if he hadn't.

Malfoy nodded. "That's what Uncle Severus said, when I got him. I don't remember everything afterwards, but he brought us here."

"Do they know what it was?"

Malfoy shook his head. "Not yet. At least they don't have a name for it. But they are pretty sure they got all of it."

Archie nodded. "Did they inform our parents?"

Malfoy nodded.

"If they still don't know who it was, maybe Dad will pull me out of Hogwarts," Archie said, optimistically.

"They do know, or they probably will soon."

"What?"

"I saw a Gryffindor leaving the scene. I couldn't see their face, they had something big and clunky over it, but Severus thinks with that and the weird cloud-mist they pulled out of us and collected in the corridor, they might be able to find them."

They stopped talking for a while and Archie took the time to think. Would his dad still want him at Hogwarts if his attacker was found? And if he did, would Archie be able to convince him otherwise? Would he be able to play at being scared? Would that even be a lie?

(He thought of the strength leaving him, of not being sure whether there would be a new breath, of a shadow above him and of hands riffling through his pockets-)

"The paper," Archie remembered.

It had been a letter he had never seen before, addressed to him, instructing him to meet the sender in the dungeons. It had been signed Draco Malfoy.

"Were they… were they trying to pin the attack on you?"

In the silence, Archie could hear Malfoy swallow. "Madame Pomphrey said, if you stayed in there much longer, it would have killed you. They wanted to pin your murder on me."

Malfoy sounded a little wobbly.

"Oh," said Archie, stunned. The word murder rolled around his head. Why would anyone want to murder him? He was eleven.

"Why were you crying?" asked Malfoy.

And here Archie was hoping they wouldn't talk about that. On the other hand, at least he could think about something else than murder, murder, murder.

"Your godfather is a dick."

"No, he isn't."

"He is to me."

"… Should I talk to him?"

"No. Involving you made everything worse the last time. It wasn't your fault, I was just dumb. … Why were you following me?" Archie asked.

"What?"

"You said you wanted something from me. What was it?"

"I was thinking. Like you asked me to."

"So?"

"And my father isn't- he is trying to do the best for the Wizarding World. I have to believe that."

Archie wondered why he was even surprised. But he kept listening.

"But I understand why you don't think that. I understand why your cousin doesn't think that. So can't we just keep talking? One of us is wrong and we won't both get it right unless we talk."

Archie took a minute to think about it. It wasn't friendship Malfoy was suggesting and there was no danger of Malfoy convincing him that half bloods and muggleborns deserved to be treated like they were. He supposed he could sacrifice a spare minute from time to time. And Malfoy had just saved his life.

"Alright," he acquiesced.

"And you call me Draco. We can't talk when you only think of me as my father's son."

"Deal." He stretched his hand across the divide between them, Draco followed suit and they shook on it.

Chapter Text

Harry woke when the day wasn't even three hours old. She could hear Jasmine sleeping breaths. Otherwise the night was dark and silent.

She silently asked her wand for just the slightest bit of light and it complied with a shimmer that was enough to make out the contours of the room.

She couldn't figure out what had woken her, but a ball of worry was lodged in her stomach regardless of reason. A few hours ago, it had been easy to dispel Archie's fears about this holiday. Suddenly, it didn't seem so silly anymore.

She struggled to fall asleep again and only found rest for the remainder of the night in fits and starts.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅

Severus concentrated fully on the complicated bit of magic he was weaving around the ominous cloud.

A little experimentation proved that the particles it was made out of had a natural inclination to cluster together. Taking a step back and seeing through the lens of the would-be-assassin, it made sense. The corridors would otherwise have been too open to properly contain an aerosolized attack.

Severus had first assumed a temporary ward had been set up to trap the child and the murder weapon together. That would have taken time to set up and dismanlte - the clustering was likely to have been enough.

This facet of the chosen weapon might be what would enable them to catch the culprit. Pomphrey and he worked together to safely contain what they had pulled out of the boys while still letting it strain to it's source. If the culprit had kept some back, it could prove his undoing.

Minerva would join them soon. Here was hoping that she would accept the charge against one of her precious lions. Severus' lips pulled back.

Minerva could be defensive but she didn't normally cross over in the territory of unreasonable. They counted on her help to search the Gryffindors before the culprit could dispose of the evidence.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅

Sirius' stared at James incredulously. "You want Arch to do what?"

James shook his head. "Don't make it sound worse than it is. I think it's important to use all the avenues of attack we have."

"My son isn't an avenue of attack!" Sirius shot back.

"No, I know, I'm sorry. Too much Auror talk." His best friend pulled a hand through his hair in aggravation. "I wasn't trying to imply— Sirius, I would never like to put Archie in danger. But Sirius, Harry, she- it's not fair. Archie would like to help and you know it."

Sirius breathed deeply, trying to dispel his suspicious anger. He knew his tendency towards defensiveness around Archie. But this was his best friend, Archie's godfather, and they were talking about how to help Harry, his beloved goddaughter.

"Explain it to me again," he demanded, purposely relaxing his shoulders and leaning back in his seat.

Before James could follow through, his floo pinged.

Surprised, Sirius stood up. He didn't get a lot of calls anymore. Lily was at work, James was here. He expected Remus to appear in the flames, though he couldn't think why he would call and not just come over, but it was instead Flitwick's voice that filtered through.

Sirius felt his heart falling through his rib cage and he threw himself in front of the Floo.

What he heard made no sense. Hogwarts was supposed to be safe.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅

Sirius ran through the halls of Hogwarts, ignoring Flitwick's calls that Archie was safe. He couldn't believe it until he saw it for himself.

Student's eyes went wide and they dodged to the side as he sprinted past. He was breathing hard by the time he slid into the Hospital Wing, causing Poppy to come out of the back to scold the errant student. She subsided when she caught sight of him.

He in turn stared at Archie who sat cross-legged on a rumpled hospital bed, still in his pyjamas and playing cards with a boy that had to be Lucius Malfoy's son. Before he could take in much else, Archie had already scrambled off the bed and thrown himself into his arms.

"Dad!"

"Archie!" Sirius pulled him off his feet, heedless of the fact that Archie really was too big for it. Barefoot and pyjama-clad he looked even younger than he was, much younger than when he had been in his school robes and Sirius had seen him off on the Hogwarts Express.

Sirius sat him back down to really look at him. He didn't look injured, but Sirius still found his hands roaming his son's face, arms and back.

"Merlin, Arch, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Dad. Madame Pomphrey took good care of me." After a beat of hesitance, he continued. "Draco and Professor Snape too."

Sirius couldn't bring himself to let go of Archie, but he half-turned towards Poppy who had watched the display slightly misty-eyed.

"Poppy, thank you." He poured his gratitude in to his words. Poppy squeezed the hand he reached out towards her and patted it.

"Not at all." Sirius felt the debt he owed Poppy since his own school days grow heavier in his breast.

"Dad, Madame Pomphrey was so cool!" exulted Archie, looking up at him with wonder in his eyes.

"Told you, didn't I?" Sirius said before his attention was pulled towards the last occupant in the room.

Both Archie and the boy noticed. The heir of the House Malfoy lost his expression of a startled puppy and shot up from the bed while also smoothing his hair from his face. His attempt to pull a dignified air around him was hampered by the fact that, like Archie, he was barefoot.

Archie pressed his lips together in a way that Sirius knew was him suppressing a smile. He dusted himself off and took a step back. With a straight back and somber voice as if they were in a formal ballroom and not in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, Archie introduced them.

"Draco, this is my father, Sirius Black. Dad, this is Draco Malfoy."

Malfoy moved first. He bowed to the appropriate degree. "Lord Black. It is good to meet you."

Sirius abruptly remembered that this was Cissy's boy, too, not just Malfoy's. He let real warmth creep into his voice when he offered the boy a hand to shake.

"Heir Malfoy. I hear I have you to thank that my son came through the ordeal unscathed."

Malfoy blinked up at him. "Thank you, Lord Black. It's Professor Snape and Madame Pomphrey you have to thank, though. I could barely help."

Sirius' hand twitched and he stopped himself from ruffling Malfoy's hair. "Nonetheless, I am glad you were there."

He resolved to thank Snape as well. Though it might be wiser to do so by owl. Any face to face meeting with Snape bore the danger of devolving into nasty name calling which was something he wanted to avoid in this instance.

He turned his attention back to his son, confirming once more that he really was well before demanding to hear the full story of what happened to him and what was being done to apprehend the culprit.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅

Lee Jordan. Lee Jordan was the one to torment and nearly kill another student, a First Year no less. And the explanation he gave was no less bewildering.

Minerva was truly speechless. She had seen nothing like it coming and another student, two students since Mr. Malfoy had gotten involved, had to pay for her oversight.

She tried to think back on the three years since Jordan had become a student, trying to find any evidence of either his good heart or wickedness, but drew a blank. He only stood out in her mind for his connection to the Weasley Twins, whose horror had been palpable when they had confronted Lee.

Minerva's stomach churned unpleasantly. Had Jordan shown no signs of what he might do or had she not seen them? If there had been something she could have done to avoid this, she would never know.

She wished she could have spared the children an ordeal and the father of one of them the knowledge that it had all happened because Jordan thought of the other boy as a rival for a Prank line.

Sirius had paled alarmingly when they told him this, while the young Mr. Black just shook his head uncomprehendingly.

"But I want to be a Healer!" Mr. Black announced as if it were a fact of life. Sirius got himself together enough to squeeze his son tightly. He hadn't fully let go of him since he had arrived.

Mr. Black, by now back in his school robes, looked very much like his father, now that she saw them side by side. It was obvious they adored each other.

After reassuring Sirius that Mr. Jordan had already been removed from the premises, Filius and she had to ask him to leave - as much as it hurt her to divide a father and son so devoted to each other.

⚕.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚕

His dad pulled him into a last bone-breaking hug.

"I am so sorry that happened," he whispered into Archie's hair. When he pulled back, Archie had no choice but to grab his dad's face to make him look him in the eyes.

"Dad, this wasn't your fault. Jordan was just crazy."

Dad still looked very sorrowful.

"And you didn't even want to come to Hogwarts."

Archie's heart pinched, but he beamed at his dad without restraint.

"Are you kidding, Dad? Hogwarts is awesome! This was nothing. Jordan is gone and the rest of the year is going to be super fun."

His dad nodded and hugged him one last time before finally saying good bye.

When he disappeared into the flame, Archie's shoulders slumped.

There went his chance to transfer to AIM. He didn't have the stomach for this.

Madame Pomphrey had said he was good to go to his dormitory. For lack of anything else, Archie decided to enjoy being able to traverse Hogwarts without an escort.

On the first landing, the Weasley Twins stood, looking anxious. The reason for their anxiety was easy to guess. Lee Jordan had been in their dorm and their friend

Archie had just been reminded about the healing powers of a hug and therefore just kept walking until he could wrap his arms around them.

It only took a second before both started to enthusiastically ruffle his hair.

Archie heard the apology loud and clear, even if it was unnecessary.

They escorted him all the way up to Ravenclaw Tower. Archie was ready to invite them inside but they declined.

"Your year mates worried about you as well. Better reassure them that you are still in one piece."

Archie didn't have time to protest more. It wasn't just the other Ravenclaws he had to reassure. Harry needed to hear about what had happened from him and the later it got, the higher the chance the news could reach her from elsewhere.

He managed to solve the riddle in record time and hurried into his dormitory. The Common Room was only moderately filled this time of day and his dormitory was empty.

He debated changing clothes first, but then decided it was more urgent to contact Harry.

The time between his first call and Harry's face filling the mirror seemed unusually short for the time of day. When he saw the bags under her eyes, he feared the worst.

"Merlin, what happened to you?" he yelped.

"I couldn't sleep. I had a bad feeling," Harry explained. "Why didn't you answer yesterday?" Her question was tense with anticipation, as if she already knew she wouldn't like the answer.

"First off, I am fine now." Harry closed her eyes, wary already.

♨.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚱

When Archie finished telling her everything that had happened, Harry was debating if she couldn't just crawl through the mirror. Just to check for herself that her cousin was okay.

"This shouldn't have happened to you," Harry said, unhappy. She was the one attracting bad luck on this day. It felt as if she had burdened Archie with something that was hers to endure.

Archie sighed. "I won't argue with you, if you mean that nobody should have that happen to them." The emphasis on the word nobody was clear.

Harry said nothing for a moment.

"Harry, I have to tell you something else," Archie said. Harry had no problem reading the guilt in his expression. She knew she wouldn't like to hear this either.

Harry fought to control her expression when Archie haltingly told her about how he confronted Master Snape. He repeated every word that was spoken even when his voice started to tremble.

Harry was usually a better liar but she knew Archie could tell that she was as devastated as he feared she would be.

She swallowed and shook off her initial reaction. They had known that Master Snape had had a tumultuous relationship with their parents. It wouldn't have mattered if it had been her before him, he would have had the same reaction. Maybe it even was the connection to her that had soured the interaction like that.

If only Archie had asked for himself with the genuine interest to back it up… but that was more than she would have liked to demand from her cousin. She already knew he was forcing himself to be a lesser, blander version of himself.

Well, that would stop now.

"Archie, leave Master Snape to me," she announced, her voice so firm and confident, she even surprised herself. "Just be yourself."

"What?"

"This whole time we assumed being one of Master Snape's students at Hogwarts was the only way to learn from him. That's silly. Potion Masters are even discouraged to take their own students as apprentices."

That's something she had recently heard from Master Tallum. He was an adequate Potion Master if devoid of creativity. He was better at teaching than at brewing or inventing.

He also had a habit of thinking out loud when his hands were busy.

More often than not her presence made him ruminate on his distaste for the English Potion Guild and how necessary it would be to interact with them in a few years to find her an apprenticeship.

Through all his grumbling, it was obvious he wanted to help her which made her like him quite a bit more.

She wasn't alone. She had her teachers, she had her family, she had Archie.

She was Harry Potter, she knew she would be the best Potion Master there ever was, irreverent of her gender or her blood status.

They wanted her invisible and unteachable and unemployable. She would make it so no one could overlook her, she would take every opportunity to learn there was and if no one wanted her to work for them, she would work for the world.

The spring of hope that one day she would learn from Master Snape hadn't run dry yet - but she would need to explore other avenues first. Begging wouldn't help their case.

Conviction burned in her. She felt the bed hangings rustling in a nonexistent wind and the windows rattled in their frames.

"Archie, don't live your life at Hogwarts trying to be me. Just be yourself. Show them who you are. Master Snape isn't going to like you more if you are half yourself. If we are both stuck where we are, we might as well have fun."

Archie's eyes shined. "Harry, I really miss you."

Harry was right there but she knew what he meant.

"Yeah, me too."

⚕.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚕

Archie was still a little emotionally raw from his talk with Harry when he joined the Ravenclaw table for lunch.

A prefect asked him if he was alright. Padma and Anthony waved him over to sit between them. The plate had already some of his favourite foods on it. Micheal and Terry both clapped him on the shoulder as they come up behind him and settle on Anthony's other side.

When he sat down, Lisa, who was across from him, nudged a piece of cake over to him. Beside his plate was a sheaf of notes in Anthony's handwriting from yesterday's classes.

All at once, Archie realized that they must have really been worried. It's not that he thought the Twins had been lying, but he may have underestimated the severity of the situation.

To distract himself from the warmth pooling in his chest and making him all maudlin again, he asked: "How did you find out?"

"All we know is that yesterday morning, Professor Snape was seen hauling arse, pardon my language, and floating two unconscious students who looked a lot like you and Malfoy to the Hospital Wing. Both of you had bubble head charms on. Later, Snape and McGonagall followed a giant cloud into Gryffindor Tower and came out with Lee Jordan at wand point. The Aurors arrived and took Lee Jordan away. Today, a man that we are pretty sure was Sirius Black, your father, ran like a madman through the castle towards the Hospital Wing."

"We weren't sure you had even survived until Professor Flitwick came into class and told us that you would be fine," Padma continued. She didn't look up from where she was daintily cutting up her food, but her voice gave away how troubled she was.

"I'm sorry if I worried you. I am fine now. Madame Pomphrey did a great job."

"She did a great job fixing what?" Terry chimed in.

Archie decided that after yesterday, he was perfectly in his rights to eat dessert first and pulled the piece of cake towards him.

"The cloud you mentioned? I breathed it in."

The reaction to that was part dismay and part curiosity. Before long, they were discussing the cloud of misery and it's properties amongst them.

Archie would have thought recounting his experience in the corridor would upset him. But oddly, looking at it from an academic perspective helped him keep a bit of distance.

The last day had been truly horrifying. The feeling of helplessness that he experienced today, the panic, his utter inability to do anything to save himself - that would follow him into his nightmares for a long time.

But today had also proven to him that there were many people who cared about him. Even his fellow Ravenclaws, who he had given little opportunity to get to know him, cared enough to be worried.

Right now, he wasn't learning how to help others. Not in the way he really wanted to.

But there were other ways. He would concentrate on being a better friend. He had a lot of practice at that.

♨.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚱

When Archie cut the connection Harry ended up staring at herself in the mirror for a long minute. Her blank expression didn't give away how troubled she really felt.

If she didn't want to break out of AIM, find a way to cross the ocean and then break into Hogwarts, she couldn't do what she really wanted to do - go and see Archie. She nonetheless gave herself some time to contemplate the possibility.

AIM wouldn't be hard to get out of. The Knight Bus didn't service the American Continent but surely there would be an equivalent. An Aging Potion and her allowance would leave her free to book some kind of transport across the Atlantic Ocean. The Knight Bus or Floo to Hogsmeade and then she knew of several secret entrances into the castle from the Map.

She judged it entirely possible if maybe slightly over the top at this point.

Her ruminations soothed something in her and she could try and concentrate on the unwitting promise she just made herself.

She checked the time. If she hurried, she would still find Hermione at breakfast. Her friend was fantastic at making plans and she would understand the ambition that burned under Harry's skin right now.

She would go and ask for her help.

♨.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚱

"What?" Hermione cried out when Harry told her about Archie. She had gone pale with fright.

"He will call again when he has time. I made him promise." Hermione nodded shakily and grabbed Harry's hand.

Her friends true worry and affection for her cousin warmed Harry all the way through.

"You should really come over during the Winter Holidays, meet Archie personally and our parents."

That forced a smile on Hermione's face. "I would like that."

"In the mean time, there is something I could use your help with."

Hermione's gaze sharpened immediately, her eyes roaming over Harry's form as if checking her over for injuries.

"Not that kind of help…" She explained her resolution. Trying to articulate why there was so much urgency right now was difficult, but Hermione nodded as if that was the only logical conclusion to come to.

"Of course, we will make a list of our objectives and then the steps to reach them. I am sure there is plenty of stuff you can do right now. It's like if you want to be a ballerina - you have to start young!"

Harry had only a vague idea what a ballerina was, but nodded along as Hermione pulled her along into the study hall, seemingly glad for something to do.

Together they brainstormed what it was she needed to do. From her conversations with Master Tallum, Harry now knew much more about the requirements than she used to.

The politics of it were still distasteful to her, but she knew there were some hoops she needed to jump through.

They couldn't get her an apprenticeship or an internship today or the next week or even the next year. But there were things she could improve and practice and perfect.

"Professor Merriweather said something about magical control being important for Potions." Harry thought of her troubles with her wand, she had wanted to bring that up with the Professor anyway. Maybe there were exercises. Something in her mind shied away from the thought of exercising her magic. She had seen it lash out too many times, the memories were still ingrained in her mind.

It had fought to get free today during her talk with Archie - she had had trouble keeping her magic from leaking out and wreaking havoc.

Accidental magic wasn't something that was still supposed to happen to her, that's what the books said. Was there something wrong with her?

She shut that thought down hard.

Maybe Professor Merriweather would know what to do.

Getting her magic under control would be the first thing she would do.

♨.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚱

When Archie called them later that day, Hermione and Harry sat close together on her bed so both their faces fit in the mirror. Archie was looking better when he appeared. Harry felt Hermione relax beside her.

Hermione instantly let out a volley of questions, all relating to Archie's health. It soon got too technical for Harry to keep up.

Instead she noticed a boy in the background of Archie's picture, just visible over his shoulder. Archie was obviously in his dormitory and due to the hour, he wasn't alone.

Archie, noticing Harry noticing the boy, brightened.

"Oh, yeah, you should meet my dorm mates! Guys, meet my cousin!"

"There's someone in there? Oh, good, Arch, I thought you might have lost your marbles when you started talking to your own reflection," a voice said.

Three boys their age crowded over Archie's shoulder.

"Guys, my cousin Harry and our friend Hermione. Harry, Hermione, these are my dorm mates: Anthony, Micheal and Terry."

They nodded or waved in turn as their names were mentioned.

"Your cousin looks more like your brother," Terry said guilelessly. Archie burst into laughter.

Anthony pinched the bridge of his nose. "Terry, Archie's cousin is Harriet Potter. Heiress Harriet Potter."

"Oh, oops. Sorry, the lighting is terrible."

A rueful smile twitched at Harry's lips. "It's fine," she said. "It's nice to meet you all."

It truly didn't bother her to be confused with a boy. After all, that had been her intention all along behind her haircut. But she had to admit she missed the long hair. It had grown out a bit now in the months since school started, but without the weight and length that made it just slightly more tameable it just made her look shaggy. She imagined in combination with Hermione most of the mirror's surface must be filled out by their hair.

They couldn't talk long because Archie had made plans to play Exploding Snap with the other boys, but it was long enough to assure Harry and Hermione that he really was well again.

♨.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅⚱

"Magical control, you say?" Professor Merriweather said at their next meeting. She didn't seem surprised at the question, just pleased. " I am glad that you are interested. There are some generic things you can do like meditation and we can work on getting you more accustomed with your magic with some beginner lessons in Occlumency. I will speak to Master Tallum, as well."

Harry blinked. That was easy. As if to disprove that thought, Professor Merriweather caught Harry's eyes with hers.

"Of course, none of that will be enough to entirely overcome your troubles unless we know the source of them."

Feeling watched, Harry shrugged uncomfortably.

"It's been this way as long as I can remember." Into the silence afterwards, she mumbled. "The new wand really helps. Thank you for arranging it."

Professor Merriweather smiled. "I was happy to help. I wouldn't worry about your magic. Occlumency has a way of making you learn more about yourself. For now, I will lead you through a meditation today. I would like you to get in the habit of meditating every night before bed. In our next meeting, I will have a better idea how to help you going forward. Sound good?"

Harry nodded. As she followed the Professor's instructions and closed her eyes, she caught herself thinking how glad Harry was that she had someone she could ask for help.

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Draco judged it was finally time to continue his talks with Black. Considering that the last few months, it was him who had made the overtures of friendship, this time Black should really come to them. Draco was looking forward to having a talk with his cousin that didn't inevitably revolve around the Potter chit.

Pansy had explained that Black was making a point of confronting Draco with Potter because he thought it would make him uncomfortable and all he needed to do was not react to it. It was the same thing Black had basically admitted himself.

He resolved to follow her advice but there was nothing stopping him from mentioning it in the Common Room outside Black's hearing.

Even if his friends were rolling their eyes at him.

"Why are you spending so much time on Black, anyway?" Theo asked.

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Black's my cousin. And the House of Black has worked long enough against the goals it should support. If Black is just less irrationally opposed to everything the SOW party proposes, that's already a good thing."

Draco left it unsaid that when he had proposed his deal with Black, he had left open who would find out they were wrong. It would be Black, of course. Draco wasn't wrong, his father wasn't wrong.

Theo didn't look convinced. "I don't think your parents expect you to single handedly pull Black and his House to our side."

"It's called showing initiative, Nott, you might want to look it up."

"Hm." Blaise made a disbelieving sound. Draco narrowed his eyes at him, but he didn't say anything more, just smirked knowingly. Draco had only shared a room with Blaise for a few months, but he already knew the boy could be infuriating. He huffed and ignored the boy.

"Anyway, I need all of you to be polite and as inoffensive to his blood traitor sensibilities as possible, at least the first time around."

Pansy assured him they would be consummate hosts and he believed her at least. The rest of them would comply or else.

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"Arcturus!" Draco called Black when he finally saw him enter the Great Hall.

Black caught his eye in a dead-eyed stare. "Please, for the love of Merlin, don't call me Arcturus."

"Ah." Draco faltered. Well, if he wanted to be called by an infantile version of his name, that was his look-out. "Well, Archie, it's been a few weeks. I wanted to ask you to sit at the Slytherin table today."

"Uh…"

"You promised," Draco reminded him.

Black hesitated for a moment longer but then shrugged and waved to the other Ravenclaws. Draco would have been indignant if somehow a bunch of First Years scared Black off while he was all buddy-buddy with Marcus Flint. "I'll see you later."

Before they could leave, Goldstein stepped forward. "Would it be okay if I joined you?"

Draco wasn't particularly enthused by the idea but Black agreed before Draco could articulate his displeasure. Seriously, it was just the other side of the hall, he wasn't abducting Black to formally induct him into Dark Magic.

Draco led them over to the end of the table closest to the Head table. Archie greeted Pansy with the necessary aplomb before being introduced to the rest of the First Years. Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis both giggled when he bowed over their hands, Millicent Bulstrode just showed the faintest blush.

The boys were greeted with firm hand shakes.

You could say what you wanted about Lord Black, he obviously had taken care that his son received the right education. Goldstein made an admirable attempt. His stoic silence and intelligent eyes did the bulk of the work for him.

When they were sitting down, Pansy - he was damn lucky to have her - made the first conversational volley.

She asked them about their classes, probably a safe topic for two Ravenclaws, making sure to include Anthony in her enquiry.

Everything was going remarkably well until Goldstein, after being asked about the potion essay, mentioned offhand: "Oh, Harry helped us. She is really quite brilliant."

Theo snort-coughed out a laugh. Blaise jostled Theo in reprimand, but couldn't stop his own smile. Draco could feel his face pull into a pout.

"Does Potter in addition to her many virtues also have a supernaturally fast owl? We only received the assignment yesterday!"

Black shook his head. "No, Draco, Harry and I have faster ways of communicating." And he apparently planned to leave it at that. The smug grin he was sporting just showed he was enjoying having another secret to hold over Draco's head.

Is that what blood traitors learned from their parents? How to drive Slytherins up the wall?

Draco gnashed his teeth and manfully. Did. Not. Ask.

Ravenclaws be thanked, he didn't have to. Goldstein gave him the answer.

"The Two-way-mirrors are a marvel. Floo travel and calls are just as fast, I know, but the mirrors are both portable and more comfortable. Though, I suppose, since they are only connected to each other, they couldn't really supplant Floo…" Goldstein muttered to himself.

Draco's eyebrows crept up his forehead. He had heard of Two-way-mirrors. They required a complicated bit of magic and considerable power to set up, but once they were charmed the connection between them was basically impossible to break. And Black and Potter had a pair? No wonder he was so obstinate in his defence of his "cousin". She was still exerting her influence over him.

The conversation had moved on without him and turned to other topics, Pansy not missing a beat.

Draco smirked.

He had found out something new about Black. Talking had already proved useful, so whatever Blaise or anyone else thought, it wasn't just an excuse to become friends with Black.

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Draco probably thought he was subtle, but Archie could see what was going on plain as day. In the last few weeks, Draco had slowly shortened the distance between them.

Archie was asked to sit at the Slytherin table several more times and Draco (sometimes with Pansy, sometimes without her) had sit at the Ravenclaw table as often. They had gone flying and to the Library and worked together in class.

Archie absolutely knew what was going on, but he had to admit that it was working. He wasn't about to change his political stance of course, but his cousin was easy to like once you knew him better. It was also obvious that Draco wanted to be liked.

No real "talks" of anything substantial had as of yet commenced, maybe because neither of them really knew how to start.

Archie felt both anxious and guilty about it. Learning from his mistakes, he had told Harry about Draco's attempts at rapprochement and she at least wasn't worried. Maybe because Draco was partly responsible for saving Archie's life.

"He is a kid, just like us," she'd said, very reasonably. "If it had been Lucius Malfoy who invited you 'round for tea…" She trailed off meaningfully.

So it was fine, mostly. But it had all culminated into this: An invitation to the Slytherin Common Room.

Archie was curious to see it, of course, and he didn't think it was strictly dangerous, but it was stepping over a boundary. In a way, it could even be interpreted as a show of trust. Traditionally, students didn't even know where exactly the Common Rooms of other Houses were, or at least weren't supposed to. Archie knew of course, thanks to the Map, but they weren't aware of that.

In the end, Archie couldn't really find a way to refuse, though he made sure to schedule the visit after his daily talk with Harry.

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Draco picked him up from the Great Hall and they wandered into the dungeons. Like every time, Archie's been down here since Halloween, he ignored the bit of corridor where he had been caught and trapped in by Lee. He was glad they didn't have to cross it.

Archie had to be careful not to show he already knew where the Common Room was. Once he nearly turned into the right corridor without waiting for Draco. Though he internally snickered at the scowl Draco was likely to pull if Archie were to reveal that he knew the password. He resisted the temptation once they came to a blank bit of wall.

"Parseltongue" intoned Draco with all the gravitas a eleven-year-old could muster. The wall pulled apart and revealed the Common Room behind.

Archie's first impression was that it was a bit pretentious. Seeing out into the lake was wicked, sure, but the furniture way very much on the elegant side, for all that a bunch of kids and teenagers were supposed to use it.

He tried his best not to show his thoughts and instead exclaimed over the entire wall that had been replaced by glass.

Draco took the praise as Slytherin's due and then led him over to the couches. All the First Years were there as well as two upper class men Archie didn't know.

Draco introduced them as Aldon Rosier and Edmund Rookwood. He recognized both their surnames as belonging to high ranking members of the SOW Party. Archie suppressed a sigh and tried not to feel ganged up on.

Thankfully, the furniture at least was much more comfortable than it looked and he gratefully sank into it.

They started doing their homework together as had been the plan, the two upper class men talking quietly amongst themselves. Archie would have begun to think their presence entirely coincidence if he didn't catch Draco watching them with narrowed eyes from time to time.

They hadn't been working for more than half an hour, when the slighter of the two upper class men pointed his unsettling golden eyes Archie's way.

"Let's hear the raven's opinion. What do you think, Black?"

Archie blinked at him. "About what?"

"Do you think lesser blooded individuals are already sufficiently cowed or would their complete removal from society require additional measures?"

"Aldon!" gasped Pansy. Draco had apparently lost all words, but his face was red with fury.

Archie finally became aware his mouth stood open. He closed it and swallowed.

"I think you can guess what I think."

Rosier grinned wolfishly. "Indulge me."

Archie gripped his quill tighter. It was that or pulling his wand.

"No one deserves to be excluded from society on the basis of their blood status. It makes no difference, not in their magical power, their intelligence or their worth. Since we know magic has existed, it has found muggle-borns. Wizards and muggles have always mingled blood-lines. There is nothing anyone can do to completely eradicate Muggle's influence and nobody should try."

Archie stood up. "I should leave. Draco, see you whenever."

He grabbed his stuff and turned to go, but Rosier's expression drew his eye. It had been full of anticipatory glee before, but was now calm and serious. Archie narrowed his eyes, but in the end just left.

During dinner, Draco had tried to catch his attention but Archie had just waved him off, still puzzling over the whole encounter. Was it just two older boys that didn't like the younger Slytherins cavorting with a Blood Traitor? Everyone had been so careful not to upset him that this was a clear deviation.

He was so distracted he let the other boys get too far ahead of him on the way back from dinner. Next thing he knew, someone yanked him into the shadows. A hand was pressed over his mouth. "Shh!"

Archie struggled like wild to get free. His heart pumped so hard, it threatened to leave his rib cage.

"Calm down, little Raven," a deep voice murmured. "We mean you no harm."

Archie finally got free and rushed to the other side of the alcove. Rosier and Rookwood were blocking the entrance.

Both watched him as he fumblingly looked for his wand.

"That was maybe not our brightest idea," Rosier commented, wincing.

"It wasn't", Archie told him, raising his wand.

"Peace, little Raven," Rookwood raised his hands.

"I'll give you peace!" Archie snarled. "Get out of my way!"

"We will," Rosier assured him. "Just as soon as we tell you a secret."

"I don't care about your secret!"

"I think you care about your cousin - and what the SOW party has in store for her."

Archie hesitated. He hesitated long enough for Rosier to elaborate. He told him of the SOW party's plan to get a Marriage Law on the books, aimed specifically at half-bloods like Harry.

Rosier shrugged. "Our warning might be needless. In the last few months the Potter Head has become extremely active and he pulled others along. He created quite a momentum for himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew something. But just in case."

Rosier shrugged.

"Why are you telling me this? And that thing in your Common Room today-"

"We were testing you," Rosier admitted without shame. "And showing you something."

"And what would that be?" Archie ground out.

"None of the others in that circle would have answered our questions like you did. They can't afford to. Don't miss the fact that for all they are cute at that age they are still snakes and they will bite whoever their parents tell them to."

Archie rolled his eyes. "And you won't?"

"We, as opposed to those little snakelets, don't think much of our parents to start with. Do something with the information we gave you or don't, just don't tell anyone at Hogwarts where you got it from."

Rosier checked the corridor in both direction before he and Rookwood left, leaving Archie alone and confused in the alcove.