𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗧

ACT ONE, CHAPTER TEN
after christmas & ron's birthday
. . . that kind of ends on a sour note.

CHRISTMAS BACK IN London was quite a nice break for Venus. She had missed her parents terribly, and Atlas and Mary Black shared the same sentiment as their daughter. They spent practically every waking moment together, doing all of their favorite Christmas traditions. Now, London was no New York City during Christmas time, but Venus still enjoyed it nonetheless. However, there was always a sad feeling in the back of her heart, begging her to go back to the city that had captured her heart.

Venus, with a promise to her parents that she would update them if anything went wrong, returned to Hogwarts a few days after New Years, fully prepared to see her friends and boyfriend again. Hermione and her had met up in the common room, and Hermione had said that her and Charlotte had planned to go see Hagrid. So Venus bundled up, and her, Hermione, Charlotte, and Penelope (who had been invited by Charlotte), went out to go see Hagrid.

After a nice visit, the four of them decided to head back to the Gryffindor common room, Penelope and Charlotte joining them so they could have more of a walk. Conversation about what they did over the holidays flowed easily between them. Once they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, they saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny standing outside, obviously stuck because they didn't know the new password.

Charlotte rolled her eyes at the grin on Venus' face just by looking at Harry and pushed her forwards. Venus stumbled forwards, sending a playful glare to Charlotte over her shoulder, before approaching Harry. Harry held his arms open for his girlfriend, which Venus immediately sunk into. He was warm against her cold body since she had been outside for quite some time, and he held her tightly, making her feel secure. Venus then lifted up her head, looking up to see him already smiling at her. She grinned back before Harry leaned down and kissed her gently.

"Have a good Christmas?" Harry asked, letting her go but still keeping an arm around her waist.

Venus nodded. "Yeah, I loved seeing mom and dad. You?"

"It was nice. Although, Rufus Scrimgeour came to talk to me about Dumbledore."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "You got visited by the Minister? Okay Mr. Celebrity."

"I literally hate you, Charlie," Harry replied.

"Stop lying to yourself. What would you be without me? Bored."

Venus laughed. "True."

"I've got something for you, Harry," Hermione then revealed.

However, that was cut short due to Ron asking Penelope if he had gotten her a gold chain that had MY SWEETHEART on it. With help of Venus and Hermione, it was discovered that Lavender Brown was actually the one who got Ron it for Christmas, not Penelope, and Ron decided that it was time to give her a piece of his mind. That meant they had to enter the common room because Lavender probably wouldn't be anywhere else.

"Oh, hang on — password," Hermione stated. "Abstinence."

"Precisely," the Fat Lady responded weakly.

Venus turned to Charlotte when the portrait hole swung open. "I'll see you and Eli later, yeah?"

"Yes, and we're going back to the kitchens," Charlotte answered. "Don't miss it."

"I won't."

With that, they all started to climb through the portrait hole, except for Penelope and Charlotte, who were going back to the Slytherin common room.

"What's up with her?" Harry questioned.

"You know that picture of the drunk monks in the Charms hallway?" Venus inquired, and Harry nodded. "Well, her and her friend Violet drank their way through all of that wine. Talk about overindulging."

"Anyway . . ." Hermione trailed off, rummaging in her pocket and pulling out a scroll of parchment with Dumbledore's writing on it.

Harry unrolled the parchment. "Great. I've got loads to tell him — and you two. Let's sit down—"

There was then an approach to Ron by Lavender Brown. Venus looked at Ron worryingly as she watched Ron's jaw clench as Lavender got closer. At once, Ron began to yell at her, telling her that she should stop trying to infiltrate in his relationship because she wasn't going to go anywhere. Several onlookers stopped what they were doing, listening to the ongoing argument.

Venus blinked. "Well, we'll leave it to them. Love that he's defending his relationship, though." She then noticed an empty table in the empty common room. "Here, let's sit. You want to come, Ginny?"

"No, thanks, I said I'd meet Dean," Ginny voiced, although she didn't sound particularly enthusiastic about it.

Venus, Harry, and Hermione all sat down at a table. Harry then recounted everything he had heard between Malfoy and Snape that night of the Christmas party — something about Malfoy being suspected of something and an Unbreakable Vow. Venus listened with her eyebrows knit in thought, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed as Harry's arm rested behind her.

"Don't you think—?" Hermione began once the story was done.

"—he was pretending to offer help so that he could trick Malfoy into telling him what he's doing?" Harry finished.

"Well, yes."

"Ron's dad and Lupin think so. But this definitely proves Malfoy's planning something, you can't deny that."

"No, I can't," Hermione said slowly.

"And he's acting on Voldemort's orders, just like I said!" Harry exclaimed.

"Hmm . . . did either of them actually mention Voldemort's name?"

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure . . . Snape definitely said your master, and who else would that be?"

"Could be his father, you did say that Malfoy was under a lot of pressure from him," Venus suggested. "Hey, how's Lupin doing?"

"Not great." Harry then told them about Lupin's mission with the Werewolves and how they were unwilling to trust him, due to them wanting to side with Voldemort. "Have you heard of this Fenrir Greyback?"

"Yes, I have!" Hermione exclaimed, sounding quite startled. "And so have you, Harry!"

"When, History of Magic?" Harry asked. "You know full well I never listened . . ."

Venus rolled her eyes. "No, love, not in History of Magic. Remember, back in Knockturn Alley? Malfoy threatened Borgin by saying that Greyback was an old family friend and that he'd be swinging by to check up on Borgin's progress with whatever needed to be fixed."

"I forgot! But this proves Malfoy's a Death Eater, how else could he be in contact with Greyback and telling him what to do?"

"It is pretty suspicious," Hermione admitted. "Unless . . ."

"Oh, come on, you can't get round this one!" Harry insisted in exasperation.

"Well . . . there is the possibility it was an empty threat."

Harry shook his head. "You're unbelievable, you are. We'll see who's right . . . you'll be eating your words, Hermione, just like the Ministry. Oh yeah, I had a row with Rufus Scrimgeour as well . . ."

Venus looked at him. "Oh, please elaborate."

The rest of the evening then passed with them (Ron had gone up to bed after yelling at Lavender) talking bad about the Minister for Magic. Venus and Hermione agreed that after everything the Ministry put Harry through last year, they didn't deserve the help Scrimgeour had asked of Harry.

With the arrival of a new term the next morning, there had also been the arrival of a pleasant surprise for the sixth years. A large sign had been pinned to the common room notice boards overnight.

APPARITION LESSONS
If you are seventeen years of age, or
will turn seventeen on or before the 31st August next, you are eligible for a twelve-
week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor. Please sign below if you would like to participate. Cost: 12 Galleons.

Venus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all met up in the common room that morning and joined the crowd that was taking turns writing their names on the board. Lavender seemed to be avoiding Ron at all costs, which Venus guessed was good. Finally, once Venus finished writing her name on the sign, the four of them left the common room together.

"So — Apparition," Ron announced. "Should be a laugh, eh?"

"I dunno," Harry replied. "Maybe it's better when you do it yourself, I didn't enjoy it much when Dumbledore took me along for the ride."

"I forgot you'd already done it . . . I'd better pass my test first time." Ron looked anxious. "Fred and George did."

Hermione looked at him. "Didn't Charlie — your brother, I mean, not Charlotte — fail?"

"Yeah, but Charlie's bigger than me—" Ron held his arms out from his body "—so Fred and George didn't go on about it much . . . not to his face anyway . . ."

"When are we able to take the actual test?" Venus questioned. "I mean, I hate Apparition, but it would be cool to do it without mom and dad."

"Soon as we're seventeen," Ron answered. "That's only March for me!"

"Yeah, but you wouldn't be able to Apparate in here, not in the castle . . ." Harry countered.

"Not the point, is it? Everyone would know I could Apparate if I wanted."

Ron was not the only one to be excited about Apparition. The only talk of the day was the upcoming lessons. Apparently, being able to vanish and reappear at will was quite popular.

"How cool will it be when we can just—" Seamus was saying, snapping his fingers to indicate disappearance. "Me cousin Fergus does it just to annoy me, you wait till I can do it back . . . he'll never have another peaceful moment . . ."

While lost in visions of that happy prospect, he flicked his wand a little too enthusiastically. Instead of producing the fountain of pure water that was the object of today's Charms lesson, he produced a hoselike jet that ricocheted off the ceiling and knocked Flitwick flat on his face.

"Harry's already Apparated," Ron revealed after Flitwick scolded Seamus. "Dum — er — someone took him. Side-Along Apparition, you know."

"Woah!" Seamus whispered, and he, Dean, and Neville put their heads a little closer to hear what Apparition felt like.

Venus shook her head and shared a look with Hermione. However, the rest of the day was filled with talks of Apparition and asking people who had done it what it felt like. So Venus was left to explain to the sixth years in the common room every detail of Apparition, taking up Harry's job, who had lef to go to his lesson with Dumbledore.

That next morning, Harry had told Venus, Hermione, Ron, Charlotte, and Elijah (who pretty much always joined them for breakfast now) about the task that Dumbledore sent him. Apparently, Slughorn had a repressed memory telling Tom Riddle (pre-Voldemort) about something called Horcruxes.

Ron seemed to not think that Harry would have any trouble with this. "He loves you. Won't refuse you anything, will he? Not his little Potions Prince. Just hang back after class this afternoon and ask him."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "That wouldn't be the best idea. Ron, think this through."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "He must be determined to hide what really happened if Dumbledore couldn't get it out of him. Horcruxes . . . Horcruxes . . . I've never even heard of them . . ."

"You haven't?" Harry inquired, evidently disappointed. "Eli?"

Elijah shook his head. "Me neither. I can look in some books, though."

Venus shrugged. "Voldemort wouldn't have wanted to know about them if they weren't really advanced dark magic. It'll probably be hard to get the information, so just be careful."

They then returned to their Potions lesson. Their usual Potions table of Venus, Harry, Charlotte, Ron, and Hermione all sat together with their cauldrons and textbooks.

Slughorn called for silence at the front of the room. "Settle down, settle down, please! Quickly, now, lots of work to get through this afternoon! Golpalott's Third Law . . . who can tell me—? But Miss Granger can, of course!"

Hermione started to recite at top speed. "Golpalott's-Third-Law-states-that-the-antidote-for-a-blended-poison-will-be-equal-to-more-than-the-sum-of-the-antidotes-for-each-of-the-separate-components."

Venus blinked. She had not processed a single word.

Slughorn beamed at Hermione. "Precisely! Ten points for Gryffindor! Now, if we accept Golpalott's Third Law as true . . ."

Venus was always good at Potions, but this time, she was just going to accept that Golpalott's Third Law was true because she didn't understand anything Slughorn was saying. Nobody except for Hermione seemed to be following what Slughorn said as well.

". . . which means, of course, that assuming we have achieved correct identification of the potion's ingredients by Scarpin's Revelaspell, our primary aim is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves, but to find that added component that will, by an almost alchemical process, transform these disparate elements—"

Venus now had her chin in the palm of her hand, playing a game of hangman in Charlotte's copy of Advanced Potion-Making. She was trying to guess Charlotte's multiple words, which ended up being what is he saying. The two girls fell into quiet giggles, trying not to bring attention to themselves.

". . . and so, I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"

Venus snapped out of her trance when she noticed Hermione get up from her seat. Her and Charlotte followed after the girl and retrieved their phials from the desk. When they got back to their table, Venus pulled her cauldron closer to her and took a deep breath. This was going to go awfully, she could already tell.

"It's a shame that the Prince won't be able to help you much with this, Harry," Hermione said brightly. "You have to understand the principles involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats! Don't you agree, Venus?"

Venus didn't look at them and continued to pour her phial into her cauldron, lighting a fire underneath it. "Do not drag me into this, Hermione."

Charlotte leaned closer to Venus and lowered her voice. "Harry's still obsessed with that Prince guy? Sounds like he's in love with him."

"Oh no, not more competition."

Truth be told, Venus had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She just went on doing random things with her potions, and she was nowhere even close to an answer when Slughorn said they had two minutes left. Venus looked down hopelessly into her cauldron and then turned to Charlotte. The girl merely shrugged, also at a complete loss for words.

"Time's . . . UP!" Slughorn stated. "Well, let's see how you've done! Blaise . . . what have you got for me?"

Slowly, Slughorn moved around the room, examining the various antidotes to the potions. Literally no one had finished the task. When Slughorn got to Venus, she gave him a helpless smile, knowing that she wasn't going to get praised today. He peered into her cauldron and gave her a slight nod, telling her that she was on the right path but just needed more work.

Slughorn then reached Harry. "And you, Harry. What have you got to show me?"

Harry then held his hand out. Sitting in his palm was something that looked like a stone, making Venus raise an eyebrow. What was her boyfriend going on about?

Slughorn then roared with laughter. "You've got nerve, boy! Oh, you're like your mother . . . well, I can't fault you . . . a bezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all these potions!"

Hermione, with sweat and soot on her face, looked absolutely livid, making Venus and Charlotte share a glance. "And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, Harry?"

"That's the individual spirit a real potion-maker needs!" Slughorn continued happily before Harry could reply. "Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it's undoubtedly from Lily he gets it . . . yes, Harry, yes, if you've got a bezoar to hand, of course that would do the trick . . . although as they don't work on everything, and are pretty rare, it's still worth knowing how to mix antidotes . . ." The bell then rang, and Venus packed up her things. "Time to pack up! And an extra ten points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek!"

Venus waited for a moment as Harry took time packing up his bag. "You staying behind to talk with Slughorn?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "You aren't mad at me for using the Prince's instructions, are you?"

"I still don't trust him fully, but I'll admit, he's clever, and so are you." Venus glanced over to see an annoyed Ron and Hermione leaving the room before turning back to Harry, kissing him on the cheek. "Let us know how it goes. Love you."

"Love you more, Star."

Hermione stared at Venus incredulously as she entered the hallway. "Never will I understand how you're dating him."

Venus let out a dreamy sigh. "He's such a catch."

According to Harry, trying to ask Slughorn for the memory turned out to be quite horrible. Ron and Hermione continued to be irritable towards Harry for the next couple days, which meant that Venus was supplying him with as much love as possible. They hated the way Harry used that bezoar, but Venus didn't really see it as that big of a deal.

The snow melted around the school as February arrived only to be replaced with cold, dreary, wet weather. Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle and there was a constant fall of chilly rain that made the lawns slippery and muddy. The only positive of this was that the first Apparition lesson for the sixth years was upon them. It was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed.

Venus, Harry (who was holding her hand tightly), Ron, Hermione, Charlotte, Neville, and Elijah all arrived in the Great Hall that morning. Lessons were taking place there so they wouldn't have to go out in the rain. All of the House tables were gone. Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them. They assembled in front of the Heads of Houses — McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout — along with a small wizard that Venus guessed was the Apparition instructor from the Ministry. He was oddly colorless and looked like a single gust of wind might blow him away.

"Good morning," the Ministry wizard began, when all of the students had arrived and the Heads of Houses had called for quiet. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time—"

"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" McGonagall ordered.

Venus turned around. Malfoy flushed a dull pink. He looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he seemed to have been having a whispered argument with. Venus shrugged.

"—by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests," Twycross went on like he hadn't just been interrupted. "As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try. I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."

There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space. The Heads of Houses moved among the students, ushering them into position and breaking up arguments. Venus' little group managed to find a spot where they could all stand next to each other. Suddenly, she felt a kiss on her forehead and a hand leave hers. She slightly frowned and looked to see Harry moving through the crowd away from them.

"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione demanded.

Elijah scoffed. "Does anybody know what he's thinking nowadays?"

Venus waved it off. "I'll let him go."

"Quiet!" the Heads of Houses then called at once.

"Thank you," Twycross voiced. "Now then . . ." He waved his wand, making old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appear on the floor in front of every student. "The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D's! Destination, Determination, Deliberation! Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination. In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."

Venus looked into the center of her hoop. She focused solely on the spot of the floor that her hoop circled and attempted to think of nothing else.

"Step two, focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body! Step three, and only when I give the command . . . turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command, now . . . one — two — THREE!"

Venus spun on the spot, but she lost her balance and nearly fell over. She caught herself and looked around. The rest of the Hall also seemed to be staggering. She then heard roaring laugher. Charlotte was standing over Neville, who was flat on his back, holding out her hands to him. Neville, his face flushed red, was telling her to shut up while trying to hold onto her hands to help himself up. However, Charlotte was laughing so hard that she was having trouble holding her own self up. Venus smiled softly at them.

"Never mind, never mind," Twycross reassured them dryly, who didn't seem to have expected anything better. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions . . ."

None of their attempts went any better. The only time something interesting happened was on the fourth attempt. There was a horrible screech of pain and Venus whirled around, terrified, at Susan Bones of Hufflepuff. She was wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away from where she had started. All four Heads of House circled around her. There was a great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared to reveal Susan. She was reunited with her leg, but she was sobbing hysterically and looked utterly terrified.

"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts, occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined," Twycross explained dispassionately. "You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation . . . thus." He stepped forwards, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched, vanished in a swirl of robes, and reappeared at the back of the hall. "Remember the three D's and try again . . . one — two — three—"

Susan's Splinching was still the most interesting thing that had happened an hour later.

Twycross didn't seem discouraged. "Until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation."

With that, he waved his wand to vanish the hoops and walked out of the Hall with McGonagall. Venus let out a deep breath and shared a wide-eyed look with Elijah. Apparition was extremely hard.

February then moved quickly into the month of March, with no change in the weather except that it became more windy. A sign had went up in the common rooms that the Hogsmeade trip had been canceled, which Ron was particularly upset about, because it had been on his birthday. Apparition lessons were also getting harder.

The morning of Ron's birthday, Venus was sitting in the Gryffindor common room with Hermione. They were waiting for Harry and Ron to come down so they could all go to breakfast together. The two of them were currently discussing a Muggle book Hermione had found when Hermione's eyes focused on the stairs. Venus turned around and saw that Harry and Ron were coming down.

Venus slightly smiled. She stood up from her seat and walked to approach the boys. However, when she got closer, she started to see that something was wrong. Ron's eyes were glazed over and he looked pale. Meanwhile, Harry's green eyes were alight with slight rage and his face was flushed.

"Uh, good morning," Venus greeted in confusion. "Happy Birthday, Ron."

Ron let out a dreamy sigh, staring at Venus in adoration. "She's talking to me! She's talking to me, Harry!"

"Yeah, I can tell," Harry mumbled. "I've got to take Ron to Slughorn's office."

Hermione blinked. "Why?"

"Remember those Chocolate Cauldrons Romilda Vane gave me? Well, Ron got into them because they were by his pile of presents. Turns out they're filled with love potion, but not one that makes me love her." He looked towards Venus. "They make a person obsessed with their significant other. The end goal is to make them so obsessed that the couple breaks up."

"So Ron's obsessed with me?" Venus asked, and Harry nodded. Her eyes flickered over to Ron, who was staring at her so lovingly it made her sick. "Oh God."

"I've got to go fix this," Harry stated. "Can't have my best friend be obsessed with my girlfriend."

"Good luck," Venus told him. She decided to play along with Harry's idea. "Hey, Ron, I'll meet you in Slughorn's office!"

Ron nodded enthusiastically.

"Would you let Penelope know?" Harry inquired to her. Venus' eyes widened — she hadn't even thought of that. "I don't want her to get the wrong idea."

Harry then dragged Ron off, who was still looking back at Penelope. Venus shook her head and let out a deep breath, wondering how the hell she was going to tell Penelope.

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oh god I am so tired