Returning to Hogwarts after the break brought changes. Among them was the fact that Pansy Parkinson tried to take over Draco's role as the de facto leader of her year, with Crabbe and Goyle recruited as bodyguards once more, but she ran into the solid wall of the Slytherin 'Ice Queen' and her disdain.
"You're a fool, Parkinson," Daphne said. "There is no way on this earth that you could ever match up to, say, Bellatrix LeStrange, nor are you close to cunning enough to match most of that circle. You do understand that the best position most purebloods offer a woman is on her back, don't you? I for one have greater ambition than to be some fool's baby-maker." Pointing across the Great Hall, Daphne indicated the feline couple. "Do you see Granger over there? Look at her, really look at her. You see, what she is isn't because she's a newblood, halfblood or pureblood. Certainly she's not human any more, but that wasn't something she chose. The young man beside her chose to not leave her alone, he chose to be right there with her, feeling as she felt. Over Christmas break, they chose each other, again, with a pledge that shone gold." There were gasps from the listeners who understood exactly what that meant, and the Ice Queen continued. "That is what I want, Parkinson, someone who completes me, not someone who belittles me. Someone who, if I told them I wanted to reshape the world, would roll up their sleeves and grab a shovel to help, rather than list the reasons it can't be done. I plan to be Minister of Magic someday, and that's not going to happen if all I can do is grovel at someone else's feet."
"Like Potter's?" Pansy sneered, desperate to strike a blow, to turn this sudden rout around. She was the centre of attention at the Slytherin table now, but it didn't seem as good as she'd imagined. Rather than admiration, she was attracting... pity.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Daphne mused aloud. "The very fact that he doesn't demand we follow him is why we do. He isn't out for power, and he really doesn't want it... but that's why he's the one I'd trust with it. Tell me, if Draco had the kind of following Harry has attracted, what would he do with it. If it had been youpetrified or in the chamber last year, what would your precious boyfriend have done?" She didn't leave time for Pansy to answer, which was just as well, as the whole house already knew how that one would've ended. "Well, let me tell you, Harry faced a basilisk down there. Over sixty feet of pure death, if you go by everything normal wizards and witches know. He did that because it hurt his friend's little sister. It still almost killed her. It tried to hurt Hermione. They both saw it, both faced it. What would Draco have done? Because those two over there faced it, fought it and killed it. The girl you call 'mudblood' is the highest ranked in all her classes, and her boyfriend's not far behind her, yet instead of being in Ravenclaw where all the smart people go, they're in Gryffindor, which says they have more bravery than brains, and that's a scary thought right there. Do you get it yet? No? Maybe you should think about it somewhere quiet." With those words, Daphne left the table and headed for the first class of the day. If she could just get them thinking, maybe she could save Slytherin House...
Divination could definitely use a better teacher, Ron was certain. With the new outlook on life he'd picked up thanks to his best friends, he'd begun applying himself harder in all his classes, and although he was nowhere near as clever as they, he was managing steady 'E's. There were only two exceptions, Potions, where he struggled to stay in the higher 'A' grade, and this class. Carefully reading Unfogging the Future hadn't helped much, and Trelawney's explanations only served to further muddle the matter. She kept going on about the 'Sight' and the 'Gift', and Ron realized if you didn't have one or the other, the best you could get from this class was an hour's kip. Still, if he heard her bemoaning his best friends' doom, as she interpreted any omen as directed at the Boy-who-lived, regardless that he wasn't even taking the class, then he might very well get Fred and George to spike her sherry.
As he clambered up the ladder that led to her classroom, he pondered the sudden impulse that had him stopping by the Hospital Wing beforehand to ask for a basic first-aid kit, with a dose or two of calming draughts and pain-relief potions thrown in. It was as he was setting his bag down by his chair that the true impact of what he'd done would make itself known. Tracy Davis from Slytherin was off to one side, concentrating on her book, when Lavender Brown walked in with Parvati Patil, gesturing wildly as she spoke, not looking around. Her hand crunched loudly as it came into contact with one of the many crystal balls around the room, and her yelp of pain cut off whatever conversation she'd been carrying on as she pulled her hand in close. The crystal ball, supplied with enough of a nudge, rocked back, and then forwards, out of its cradle.
It was later agreed by all that there was no way for Ron to have seen what the large orb of smoky crystal was about to do from where he had been. Nevertheless, as the ball rolled completely off its stand and began descending towards Tracy's head, as Daphne entered the room, they saw Ron almost leap across the room, pulling the Slytherin girl from her chair, but as she wasn't aware of why he was doing this, she struggled, and Ron fell into her place, twisting as he landed with his leg directly under the descending ball of glass.
The loud crack as his leg snapped had everyone's attention, and Ron fumbled out the first-aid kit, downing the first pain-relief potion and tossing the other to Parvati for Lavender. Then he passed out.
Waking in the Hospital Wing was no fun. "Mental note, apologise to Harry for teasing him about extra kips in these beds," he mused, the dull ache in his leg distracting him. A quick look around showed his friends nearby. Harry and Hermione were in a chair on his left, snuggled and purring, a comforting sound that he had to admit felt right. On the bedside table was a familiar-looking Wizard's Chess set, and a scrawled note in Luna's hand that proclaimed it to be his move. On his right was a certain Slytherin Chaotic, who even as he watched, opened her eyes. Glancing over at the kitty couple, he noted they were asleep.
"Thank you, Ron," Daphne said, totally confusing him. He had no idea why she'd be thanking him, and when she rose and hugged him, all thought just shut down.
"B-b-buh," he mumbled eloquently, "froo-fah-wah-sah-gong?" He didn't struggle, Daphne was a very pretty girl, after all, but he did try to convey his total lack of understanding. Somehow, he got the point across.
Daphne released him from the embrace, an odd smile on her usually frozen face. "Tracy has been my best friend for years, Firefetch, and if you hadn't saved her, that globe would have landed on her head. On top of that you had that first aid kit, which reminds me... everyone, including Madam Pomfrey, wants to know why you asked for it. No-one's angry or anything, but they... including me... are wondering why you wanted it today of all days. Well?"
Ron thought hard. "I don't know," he answered quietly after a time. "It was an impulse. I mean, there's all these little things that added up to it, I can see the... path? I can see it all laid out now. Lavender's been going off all day about Harry and Hermione being out of the dorms so often lately, and you know how Trelawney's got her room set up, very good atmosphere, lousy safety precautions. I thought it was a 'just-in-case' thing at the time, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe I am in the right class..." His voice drifted off.
"When you figure it out, let me know, okay?" Daphne's smile, he realized, was quite warm, and he idly wondered how anyone could possibly think her cold enough to be ice, as she continued. "Your brothers are a little upset at the moment, too."
That caught his attention. "What? Why?"
"They don't think they can top the Headmaster announcing that Divination classes are cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances."
Ron's stay in Madam Pomfrey's care was short, lasting only the night, so he still needed to go to classes the next day. The days rolled by, there were half-hearted attempts from the Slytherins who still hated Harry, mostly spear-headed by Pansy, and Theodore Nott. It was the next day, first day of February, that Harry actually did something about it. Waiting until the right time was essential, but as Nott stood and approached with Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, he decided that was now. It would have been even better in the Great Hall, but just after Charms would have to do.
"Well, Potter, Granger, why are two abominations still in the halls?" Nott asked in a voice that carried very well indeed.
Harry pretended to think for a moment. "I don't know," he mused aloud, and turned to the two bulkier Slytherins. No-one, not even his friends, with the possible exception of his mate, expected the next words out of his mouth. "Vincent, Gregory, why are Parkinson and Nott still in the halls?"
At the puzzled looks on the faces of Crabbe and Goyle, as well as the rage building on the faces of Pansy and Theodore, the students around them had trouble keeping their laughter on the inside, a battle they all lost at Crabbe's hesitant reply. "Because they have to wear a steak suit and ketchup in a dragon's lair?" Large as they were, it was now obvious that Crabbe at least, was cunning enough to see a winning side, and apparently to hide his own intelligence. Then things began to go wrong.
Theodore Nott was the Scion and Heir of his House. He'd been spoiled, but also taught strictly, a horrible combination for any child, but even worse for the son of a Death Eater. He now had a towering sense of self-importance, and an equally immense horror of failing. That was all he could see as the people around him laughed at him. He didn't see that his fellow Slytherins weren't laughing, and neither were the feline couple. He couldn't tell what had gone wrong. "How did Draco do this, day in, day out?" he wondered as the anger pushed all thought aside.
His wand was in his hand and he was screaming something he didn't understand as he lashed his wand towards the first target that presented itself. Nothing would hurt Potter as much as hurting his girlfriend, and so that was where the rage-addled boy directed his curse and hatred, not thinking clearly enough to realise the consequences of his actions. "CRUCIO!"
Harry saw the sickly yellow light of the Unforgivable as it moved towards Hermione, and moved, much as she herself had begun to do. Even with their unearthly reflexes, she would not have made it had he not taken her place, planting his own body squarely between her and the spell. As it struck, he continued in motion, slashing his claws across Nott's chest even as Hermione grabbed his wand, causing the Slytherin to collapse screaming with agony. Even as the pain finally made its presence known and Harry began blacking out, having been screaming himself and not noticing it, he saw the anger filled face of his beloved mate as she turned to the fallen Slytherin, and gasped out a handful of words as the darkness of unconsciousness beckoned.
"He's... never... worth... it... m'love..." With that, the blackness rose up and took him.