Harry Potter 1. How It Always Begins

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything Harry Potter related but all OC's, invented spells, new objects and AU circumstances are my own...please do not steal them.

**Summery:** Dedicated to all those in this world who feel they have nothing left to hold on to. This is for friendship, the build up of feelings that can result after a tragic single moment…the sacrifices people must make to insure that good can come out as the superior at all times. Unsure of slash situations…mostly focuses on friendship and moralistic issues. Set in Harry's seventh year…and beyond.

**Warnings: **Angst, drama, slight romance but it is mostly what many hope to be future canon. There are also adult themes in the future and violence. Please do not read if you feel you are too sensitive…please…the reasons why will be revealed possible in the next chapter.

**Author's Note:** I never dared to write a Harry potter fic before…I usually focus on Lord of the Rings but this is actually stemming from an original short story of mine…but here, it will be extended. I felt like I needed to share this in a Harry Potter format, because the issues focussed on here are aiming for the teenage age groups mostly, but can be read by adults too. I have placed it under pg-13 for now…but as situations become more serious and the more adult things come forward, it will be upped to R.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Star who has leukaemia…who WILL read this and tell me what she thinks of it for a long time to come. May her strength and struggle in the face of her dreadful disease be an inspiration to all…her cell count was down yesterday, miracles are rampant *smiles* She is amazing.

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**"The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does." (Ian Stewart, ****Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos****, pg. 141)******

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Chapter One: _How It Always Starts_

"IT'S ALMOST OVER!!" Ron's whoop of, as of yet unmatched, joy nearly deafened anyone within a mile radius as he practically pranced across the grounds the meet up with his friends, swinging his bag energetically from one arm and grinning like a Cheshire cat. Harry took a large step backwards.

"Nice to see you t…" he managed, before he was engulfed by a flurry of black robes and bright red hair, tumbling them both down to the ground with a distinct snickering heard in the background. "Oh shut up, Mione…_you_ gave him the Fizzing Whizzbees as a so called snack." He called, muffled under layers of over-energized Weasley. The snickering simply grew louder.

Finally Ron crawled off him and stood up, offering his hand and hoisting the smaller boy up so fast he was nearly put into orbit.

"Hey steady there mate, don't want you flying without a broom now would we?"

Harry gaped at him as the three started walking across the courtyard of Hogwarts, Hermione trailing behind a bit as she searched through her bulging backpack for something or another.

"You telling _me_ to be steady? Mate, you're higher than a kite. We still have our Potions and Charms exams to do and you're acting like the sky has turned purple and its raining Gum Drops."

"Gum…drops?"

"Muggle sweets…and I think you would have failed Muggle Studies if you didn't already know that."

"That and the fact you've been to Professor Dumbledore's office often enough, Ron." Hermione popped up between them again, gripping her large and bulky notebook to her chest (and that was for only one subject mind you).

He shrugged. "Yeah well, it's not like they're that important anyway unless the Prof changes the password quicker than he does. And the fact I don't even _take_ Muggle Studies…now Orange Fuzzballs, there's something worth thinking about." Ron grunted a bit as he forced his feet to resume their earthly tread.

"And that's only because you helped invent them, my dear friend." Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron's feet, which wouldn't quite touch the ground, and muttered. "Gravidus." Almost immediately the redhead was staggering under what seemed to be a heavy weight and he glared at his friend.

"Stop showing off, you overdid it."

The dark headed boy merely shrugged and grinned, walking ahead quickly to avoid being cuffed by the still struggling Ron whose whole body had been weighted down to counteract the effects of Hermione's sweets. 

He and Hermione and Harry had already finished their Transfiguration, DADA, History of Magic (that Harry found exhausting and was a little miffed that Hermione did not do it) and Astronomy (which he actually found dead easy) exams for their NEWTS over the last few days. All the two boys had left were Charms and Potions for today, but Hermione had yet to complete Arithmancy and Ancient Runes on top of those and would do so over the next two days…hence the numerous books she always lugged around with her and left outside the exam rooms each time they entered.

None of them were looking forward to Potions, though Harry felt quite confident he could do well in Charms. His marks in that subject had been soaring lately and Professor Flitwick had been known to get rather bouncy when his students were doing well…last time Harry heard, three teachers had to pry him from the ceiling since he had accidentally charmed himself to stick there and was too excited to remember how to get down. The image in his mind made him smile and he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he was quite taken by surprise when he thumped heavily into another body and he went down for the second time that morning, knocking the back of his head in the ground and seeing stars.

"Erg, Potter! You're _still_ a blind bat with glasses!" 

The sneering drawl brought him back to his senses abruptly and he groaned. So much for a good and happy start to the day.

"You must be just as blind then, Malfoy, or you wouldn't have hit him then would you."

"Oh go and harvest your hair, Weasel."

"Still sore about the taste test…"

"Shut up!"

Harry saw a blur of black robes then with a flash of blond slicked hair and an all too familiar sneer whip past him before the cheeky face of Ron popped into his vision and he felt a poke in his side.

"You ok there, mate?"

He groaned and lifted his head. "Yeah, but I think everything I know about Potions just went flying. Do you think I can skip it?"

"No, not unless you want to skip being an Auror too." Hermione commented, as she watched Ron help Harry up from the floor, the latter rubbing the back of his head gingerly.

"He'll never forgive you for those sweets, Ron." Said Harry, as he picked up his backpack and the three continued their way.

"What? He didn't like being a Weasley for a day? For shame." Ron's grin lit up his face once more and Harry simply smiled in return. Gone were the days when Malfoy's provoking would usually get a rise from Ron as he defended his family's honour or his friends. Now he had simply taken a page from his twin brothers', Fred and George, book and had turned his retaliation into amusing teasing of his own. 

The last act of revenge had been sneaking the Orange Fuzzballs, he had helped his brothers make, into Malfoy's usual bag of sweets (Harry had a suspicion he had nicked his invisibility cloak for that) and had watched gleefully as the blond boy had sprouted a thick woolly coat of bright orange hair all over his face and hands…in front of the whole school no less…and had sent him screaming from the Great Hall while the rest of the students laughed.

Even Hermione had been amused, though she tried to hide it behind a stern reprisal at her boyfriend's immaturity. He had simply kissed her full on the mouth and she shut up about it completely.

Ah the charm of a Weasley.

They were now approaching the exam room and Hermione was muttering notes to herself as she read them, narrowly avoiding other students with her nose so firmly stuck in the notebook Harry was almost afraid she had accidentally glued it. But he was thankful that she had chosen to remove herself from it at least when they were still a few steps from the classroom, otherwise he would have had to stop Ron from shutting it on said nose just so he could give her his customary 'good luck' kiss. This was now being achieved and the green-eyed boy turned politely away, blushing a bit at the small sounds of affection behind him and waited near the door, looking around at the other students gathering and wondering how he would do in this particular exam.

Potions. Never his favourite subject yet needed for his chosen career as an Auror. He had quite an uphill battle to fight for this one and had been fighting the same battle for the last two years since he found out what was needed to gain qualifications. High NEWTS for Transfiguration, Charms and Potions at least…then came the three years of extra training and a clear criminal record. He was barely passing on the record factor and Potions was simply a continuous nightmare with his least favourite teacher, Professor Snape. But he had tried and studied and persevered…now all he hoped was for all that perseverance to pay off and let him become the first person in three years to gain entrance in Auror training, and after that…the first in eight years to actually qualify.

A totally uphill battle and one he was definitely going to fight and no greasy git Snape or slimy Malfoy was going to stop him. And speaking of Malfoys…

"Ah, so the blind bat of the Potter clan can actually see past his own nose to make it. And…oh ew get a room! We don't need orange rabbits around here anymore than we need to." Malfoy's drawl turned sneer of disgust in seconds snapped Harry from his thoughts for a second time, making him look quickly over to the blond boy as he regarded the still making out couple who were purposefully ignoring him and his two gorilla cronies behind him. Harry smiled and winked at Malfoy, who simply glared back.

"What you looking at, Pothead?"

Harry smirked. "The fact you are jealous Ron's getting something you're not?"

"_Harry_!" Hermione's shock-laden voice forced them both to turn and stare at her and Ron, though the boy holding her didn't seem the least bit perturbed at her mortified expression, merely kissing her cheek and grinning at the blond.

"I don't think I'm the one who should be worrying about orange objects here, mate." He said, tilting his head and giving another cheeky grin, infuriating the other boy even more but before he could make a retort, he was bumped from behind, only slightly, but enough to make him whirl around and blow his building temper on the poor unfortunate who had dared touch him.

"_WATCH WHERE YOU'RE BLOODY GOING!!!_"

The small girl leapt back and crashed into a group of 7th year Ravenclaws, forcing them to push her back in order to stay upright and making her tumble directly into Draco's arms and toppling them to the ground. Was it just Harry, or was there a lot of falling going around today?

"_Get…OFF_!!" The Slytherin's shrill voice of fury now had the girl in tears as she quickly scrambled away and cowered against the opposite wall, shivering as the blond boy advanced with Crabbe and Goyle stuck to his sides like proverbial gluesticks. His face softened into a predatory smile and he stopped, placing both hands on his hips and tilting his head at her. "Well well, if it isn't little Bottle-eye Peep who lost her sheep."

"Baa." Mimicked someone from the gathering crowd and several people tittered. The ones who weren't laughing were simply looking either too scared to cross the irate blond and his cronies, or were simply looking in confusion. The latter were actually only three people; the trio of friends who had stopped their teasing and were wondering what this was all about.

"I…I didn't mean it." She stuttered, rubbing at her eyes under the glasses that seemed to be made of double-layered glass, almost like bottle bottoms.

Harry was starting to get an idea where half the cruel nickname came from.

"Fleecy here didn't mean it…aww what a shame." Malfoy looked around and smirked, getting more snickers from the other Slytherins and some nervous smiles from other houses. Only the Trio dared to openly disapprove.

"Now see here Malfoy. You shouldn't be treating someone obviously younger than you like that…it's simply not…"

"Proper? My dear Granger…who said I was ever proper?" He sneered at her and turned back to the small girl, her bushy brown hair reminding Harry of Hermione when she was younger, before she perfected the Hair Straightening spell.

"As a prefect I must insist…"

"Did I ask for your opinion?" He drawled, eyes still boring holes into the shaking girl in front of him. The rhetorical question was met with silence and he nodded. "Thought not. Now…Fleecy…I would like to know _why_ you decided to bump me while I was in the middle of a very important discussion?"

"Closer to a yelling match." Ron muttered under his breath and Harry silently agreed. Keeping the attention away from themselves while Hermione went to grab a professor was their main priority right now…the girl never liked hallway confrontations, she almost always lost them. Snitching to an adult was a certain way they could get the offender caught in the act without them knowing till it was too late.

"I…I didn't meant it, I said." The girl, who appeared to be a fellow Slytherin, squeaked after a lengthy silence. Malfoy's eye started twitching.

"You_already_said_that!" He ground out, all semblance of control seeming to slip from his grasp.

Harry really didn't know what to do. Almost all students attending this exam had shown up but no one was going inside, all eyes riveted to the uncharacteristic open malevolence of the blond. He knew when it started though, about two years prior when his actions in the Ministry caused the exposure of Malfoy's father as being a Deatheater and consequentially getting him thrown into Azkaban. Even after he escaped, Malfoy Junior still had changed and his temper was ever being flared…his self-control…lost.

It was a feeling of mixed emotions when a low voice spoke quietly over the din of mutterings, ceasing them almost as affectively as if someone had screamed 'shut up'. Hermoine resumed her place next to Ron and for Harry…it was relief when Malfoy suddenly composed himself and relaxed his fisted hands, backing away from the girl almost nonchalantly to face the owner of the voice. Then came the inward groan when his suspicions were proven correct by the sight of long greasy black hair and a hooked nose peering down at most of them (he came eye-to-eye with Ron now), and a sneer quirking the corner of his sour mouth.

"Are there any problems, Mr Malfoy?" his voice was low and dangerous, but placed in a quiet calm he reserved only for his own house.

"No, Professor…no problems at all." The blond shot a glare at the girl and she bit her lip hard, possibly to stop herself getting into more trouble with a big mouth.

Harry wondered where he had seen her before, an apparent Fourth year or less, he couldn't tell due to her small stature. It was clear she was Slytherin…but apparently not a very popular one.

"I see," Snape drawled before shooting a glare at the rest of the students. "Well? What are you waiting for? Inside!!" The sharp voice snapped them all to attention and Harry trudged in slowly, peering back at 'Fleecy' as she stood still against the wall with Snape leaning over her, apparently asking her something. He saw her shake her head hurriedly, chancing a quick glance into the exam room before saying something to Snape that he couldn't hear before scurrying off after a nod from her professor.

The boy caught a look on the older man's face then…almost like he was…sad. But it was wiped clean and his usual sneer was plastered back as soon as he turned back into the room, forcing Harry to find a place quickly and sit down before he was targeted and lost more points for tardiness.

But the expression lingered in Harry's mind for a long while afterwards…almost causing him to fail the course miserably due to lack of attention. The scare wiped it from his mind for now under the professor's glare and he got down to work, trying to keep calm. 

His future was at stake.

Tbc…

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AN: Please review…to get feedback will prompt me to write faster. I hope to get another chapter out in a few days if not less…I have a free day from work tomorrow so we shall see. I am one not to reveal what is to happen in the future…the only way you'll find out is if you are patient and read them. This should be worth your time…a few things in here I myself went through so I do know what I am talking about. I watched the rest…it's no laughing matter…what will happen in this fic that pertains to the real world does happen every day…and the results always make the news.

Be well. Vana E


	2. The Important Things

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything Harry Potter related but all OC's, invented spells, new objects and AU circumstances are my own...please do not steal them.

**Summery:** Dedicated to all those in this world who feel they have nothing left to hold on to. This is for friendship, the build up of feelings that can result after a tragic single moment…the sacrifices people must make to insure that good can come out as the superior at all times. Unsure of slash situations…mostly focuses on friendship and moralistic issues. Set in Harry's seventh year…and beyond.

**Warnings: **Angst, drama, slight romance but it is mostly what many hope to be future canon. There are also adult themes in the future and violence. 

**Author's Note:** I never dared to write a Harry potter fic before…I usually focus on Lord of the Rings but this is actually stemming from an original short story of mine…but here, it will be extended. I felt like I needed to share this in a Harry Potter format, because the issues focussed on here are aiming for the teenage age groups mostly, but can be read by adults too. I have placed it under pg-13 for now…but as situations become more serious and the more adult things come forward, it will be upped to R.

This chapter is dedicated to my best friend Amny. She has pulled through with so much grief in her life that it just goes far beyond the norm…and yet she always manages to give me a good proverbial kick in the backside whenever I get moody and down. Just this week she gave me some advice on how to be positive…and mean it…it forced me to write this chapter faster (That day off last week turned out to be a working day anyway…they had called me) and get it to you now. Thank her for this.

Also I have given the first chapter some extra bits…like the quote at the top. It is advisable to go read that now for it is practically the basis of this whole story…you will see as it evolves.

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**"****One of the important innovations that created modern science around the year 1500 A.D. was the idea that the laws of the material universe could be understood meaningfully only by expressing physical properties as quantified measurements, that is, in numerical terms and not just in words." (****_Dr. Matthew A. Trump, 'What is Chaos?'_****)**

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Chapter 2: _The Important Things_

They sat dully in the common room. Harry was dumbly picking at a small hole in a large armchair that simply got bigger at ever pick he made. Ron was quietly petting Scabbers II (the new rat the boy had found in his closet at home one Christmas and had made his father cast numerous spells on it to ensure it wasn't an Animagus, before getting his twin brothers to do the same as an extra caution and therefore inadvertently turning the poor rat a permanent nuclear vermilion yellow), while staring blankly into the fire. Hermione was sitting on the same couch as Ron and, for once, wasn't even touching her books, simply contenting herself to knitting some bright purple socks for Dobby and Winky (the latter having finally conceded to accepting gifts) as a goodbye present of sorts seeing graduation was coming up…or so she said.

The real reason they were all still sitting up at midnight, long after the rest of the house had gone to bed, was that they were plain and utter sulking and trying not to show it.

Hermione was privately incensed, the continuous clicking of her needles being the only sound to come from her apart from a harsh wheezing emanating from her mouth. She was hissing through her clenched teeth, as a form of breathing it was really a danger sign.

Ron had petted Scabbers so much now that the poor rat was starting to squirm in his grip, his bright colour increasing in luminescence the more distressed he became. If one looked closely they would be able to see a bald patch forming along his back…poor rat. Ron himself though, looked a cross between nervous and confused…more the latter than anything.

And Harry…well…he was really not thinking much at that moment. He stared at the hole he was picking blindly, mulling over nothing and everything and really just wanting to sleep. But he wasn't tired.

Click went the needles.

Pet went the continuous stroking of the rat.

Pick went the finger at the hole.

Click click.

Pet pet.

Pick pick.

The individual sounds continued and even started to escalate, soon sounding ten times as loud as they should..

Pick, click, pet, scrape…Harry had snagged a nail on a loose thread.

Pet pet pet, click click, pick p…

"I can't TAKE this anymore!!" Hermione threw down her knitting in a huff and drew her legs up, sitting cross-legged on the couch with her chin in her hands. She looked mad and neither of the other boys could disagree with her on this one. "Cheating!" She continued. "Cheating he says…I do NOT cheat! If anyone would cheat it was be that damned insufferable little blond bast…"

"Mione…calma." Ron reached over the settee and grasped her hand. "Snape's got nothing on us…he only speculates and doesn't have any proof…"

"Except a cheat sheet he found on the floor and now will hold all seventh years to ransom with." Harry finished. "According to Snape…that's all he needs. And it will work too."

"Yeah but not on any Slytherins."

"And what if it _was_ a Slytherin…we all fail then or have to take the exams all over again!" The girl started to look panicked. "We'll never get into anything with that on our records." She looked defeated and Harry gave her a small smile.

"Sure we will…we'll just have to…er…find loopholes?"

Hermione snorted at the lame try at comfort but smiled back anyway, shaking her head and sighing.

"At least we got through Charms before he raised the alarm. And I wonder how the cheater was able to smuggle that sheet in past the wards? Must have been pretty stealthy-like."

"Yeah." The two other boys breathed simultaneously, all going quiet while they mulled over their current situation in their minds, eyes often drifting to the ironically cheerful fire for some sort of answer to their dilemma.

This had to be one of the worst things to happen to them that didn't involve Voldemort…next to Filch's latest prowl obsession since the final retirement his cat, Mrs Norris. He seemed to like faulting people for breathing wrong; it was one thing the trio knew they wouldn't miss.

After a while, Harry broke the silence with a quiet question.

"What was up with that thing this morning between Malfoy and that girl…Fleecy?"

"Felicity," Hermione corrected him, curling up in the couch with Ron surreptitiously edging closer. "Felicity Field to be exact. She's a fourth year Slytherin, very smart, has a slight stutter problem and is muggleborn. Not a typical Slytherin stereotype at all…one could almost call her quiet and unobtrusive. A nice person if she got her confidence up."

"How do you know all that?" Ron looked at her in disbelief and she raised a brow at him. He took the hint and raised his hands in defeat. "Forget I even asked."

"Mmm." She seemed to mull over this before giving him a smile and their hands started playing little games with each other, just poking at the other's fingers and playing a strange romantic twist to Thumb Wars.

"Ahem." Harry still wanted more information and the cough broke the two apart and they stared at him. "Why'd Malfoy go and call her Fleecy then?" he looked confused. "I got the Bottle-eye bit, but not the sheep."

"Harry, how long have you been thinking about this?" Hermione asked.

"Since it happened," he shrugged. "I dunno, just something Snape did after kind of bothered me I guess. It's been playing on my mind all day.

"I'm surprised you even managed not to blow up the classroom." She muttered, but Harry didn't comment. He was wondering about that himself actually.

"Apparently it's Professor Binns' fault all the way back when she was a first year." She continued, and studiously ignored Harry's growing smirk at the way her and Ron's hands just couldn't stop fiddling around with the other's, even as she was talking. "You know how slow he can talk." Harry and Ron nodded. "Well, he was especially slow on her first class and he was doing roll call. And when he called out her name it came out like 'Fleeecithy'." She tried not to spit too much when she said that. "Anyway, it spread around and soon people adapted it.  That with her last name being Field and all somehow turned it into a type of agricultural slur of sorts…poor girl."

"And Malfoy became a smart-alec and played around with it even more then I suppose." Ron started drawing circles with his fingers in Hermione's palm. "Must be the Mudblood grudge…no offence of course." He looked up at his girlfriend at this point and she just smiled and shrugged.

"Got over that a long time ago."

If sweetness and fluff were solid matter and floated in the air as flowering coloured particles of loveliness, Harry would has been smothered a long time before and choked to death. He often wondered how long it would be before his two best friends got out of the mushy stage of their relationship and moved onto something more realistic…like not French kissing every three minutes. Like now.

"Okay, get a room, innocent eyes here."

The two detached themselves and chuckled at the discomfort of their friend.

"It's too bad your stairs become a slippery dip when males are present so we can 'get a room', as Harry put it." Ron grinned at the girl and she blushed.

"But yours' doesn't."

"Yeah, but we have Dean and Seamus."

"Good point."

"Then there's the R.O.R." Harry muttered, while trying to hide his reddening face in one of Hermione's books.

Ron grinned even wider. "Harry, you're brilliant! Can we borrow…"

"It's in my trunk where you last put it, haven't touched the bloody cloak since." The blushing dark-headed boy waved his hand up the stairs while trying to keep his eyes glued to the page in front of him.

'_…With the Character, Heart, and Social numbers in mind (4, 2, 7) it is now possible to sketch out a portrait…_'

"So we'll…see you later then?" Ron had practically gone into blur mode and was already holding the invisibility cloak, readying it around Hermione's and his own shoulders.

"Uh huh." Harry muttered and squinted his eyes at the words.

'_The Pythagoreans considered three to be the first "complete" number because, like three pebbles laid out in a row, it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Three indicates talent…_'

"Seeya, Harry."

"Mmm…bye, Mione."

'_The Pythagoreans regarded six as the perfect number because it was divisible by two and three, and was the sum as well as the product of the first three digits (1 + 2 + 3 = 6, 1 x 2 x 3 = 6)_…'

The swishing noise of the cloak being draped over his friends and the creak as the portrait opened and they let themselves out finally reached his ears and he lowered the book, blinking hard.__

He had read the words, trying to cram his head with enough unknown Hermione brainpower to feed a muggle power plant to drown out the borderline sickening sweetness of his friends…and he still didn't understand a damn thing.

I bet it's something advanced. Like a minor subject within a subject…not necessarily known by all. He thought to himself. It was something that would place her in high ranks within the Ministry and therefore would be too complex for his grounded mind. He smiled at the logic that prevailed over the disturbing images still crowding his mind at the thought of those two in the Room of Requirement…with anything they may need at their complete disposal.

He shuddered and turned the book over and read the title, blinking once more.

'Arithmancy For Beginners'

Tbc…

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**AN:** Kind of sweet and fluffy I know…but the title of this chapter is important, as is the content. This all leads up to something much bigger…trust me. I know I said the sensitive issues would be outlined in this chapter…but I guess I was being unrealistic. I have a strange and eerie feeling that this is to be a very long fic. I know the issues will be addressed in the next chapter…it's where Chaos diverts and begins (taken from the actual study of the Chaos Theory and many essays on the subject).

Review Replies: 

Silvercross: Harry/Draco? I am glad you like the story so far but I don't think there is to be any in depth slash within this story and I'm afraid none between those two. Any slash that is mentioned will be probably based on the prejudice I am explaining throughout the story…oops! Was that a spoiler? *winks*

Lady V: First…I got commented on by Lady V? Is that a self-esteem booster or what!? Anyway…APTA is currently under construction…physical construction. I really do need to find someone who can build sites better than my lousy beginner status as I have finally figured out logos that I can copyright and be made to use for the site itself as guiding signs. It's a fiction, essay, fanart and discussion site…and Minka doesn't mind you being there. And you taking an interest in this story is wonderful…thankyou for the time it took to read and review…mucho appreciated. And yes…my name needed to be shortened as it was too Suey back then. And Fleecy? Well…it hadn't even been mentioned how she got it in the last chapter but if you missed it in this one…I would be quite worried.

Elvish Fairy: Thankyou for enjoying the story so far…and may you continue to enjoy it in time to come. And yes, I had my first ever Thanksgiving with some American friends as I am an Auzzie living in Holland…so it's a totally non-practiced tradition in both countries. Thought the cranberry sauce was raspberry jello…I don't like cranberries now.


	3. Chaos

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything Harry Potter related but all OC's, invented spells, new objects and AU circumstances are my own...please do not steal them.

**Summery:** Dedicated to all those in this world who feel they have nothing left to hold on to. This is for friendship, the build up of feelings that can result after a tragic single moment…the sacrifices people must make to insure that good can come out as the superior at all times. Unsure of slash situations…mostly focuses on friendship and moralistic issues. Set in Harry's seventh year…and beyond.

**Warnings: **Angst, drama, slight romance but it is mostly what many hope to be future canon. There are also adult themes in the future and violence. 

**Author's Note:** I have upped this to R as it may not be noticeable now, but adult themes WILL be addressed soon and I figured it would be safer to just up it while I can. I am very sorry for the lateness of this chapter…I actually had to put all my writing on hiatus as work and life just got too difficult for me. This chapter was also very hard for me to write, emotionally as well as physically. I didn't experience the events that happen in here, but I sure did experience what led up to them.

This chapter is dedicated to all students of Columbine highschool in USA. The reasons you will see by the end of this chapter.

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**"Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit. A single flap of a butterfly's wings can change the course of the weather forever."  
**** (****_Henry Adams_****)**

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Chapter 3: _Chaos_

"You really don't have to do this."

"Yes we do…its called friendship…"

"And protection…"

"From anyone who wants you to fail and sneak another…"

"Cheat sheet in." Ron finished and both boys grinned as Hermione switched her vision from one side to the other as they flanked her. Finally she gave up trying to think and just shook her head.

"I swear you two are mind readers."

Harry grinned. "Well, I am…sorta…OW!" He rubbed his arm from where the girl had punched him. "What'd you do that for?"

She gave him a glare and punched him again, resulting in a yelp of pain and forcing him to scuttle a few steps away.

"You know exactly what I mean!" She hissed for fear of anyone overhearing. "If anyone finds out about your abilities and they fall into the wrong hands, we could…"

"All be in great danger." Both Ron and Harry mimicked then went quiet, watching her silent and gaping face with growing amusement before she snapped her mouth closed and stalked away.

"Think we overdid it?"

"Nah," Ron shook his head and grinned at his girlfriend's retreating figure. "She'll get over it over breakfast, then we'll all be best mates again." His smile turned wistful. "Man, she looks gorgeous when mad."

When the two boys had reached the great hall, Hermione had already chosen a place deliberately between Neville and Ginny. The two looked decidedly uncomfortable with the obvious ire radiating from the girl and the relief shone on their faces when they caught sight of Harry and Ron.

"Well I'm full, guess I'll be off to the library then." Ginny quickly stood up and gave a rather strained smile to Neville. "Coming?"

"Yes!" No hesitation on the boy's part as he literally fled his still full plate with Ginny, and left a gaping Hermione with two others who took the moment to nick the vacant seats.

"Soo…" Ron began, walking his fingers around the tabletop.

"So what?" Hermione snapped, still obviously irritated with them. Harry just smiled and watched.

"Is that bacon?"

"I…huh?" Hermione gaped again as Ron snatched the piece of crispy bacon from her plate and promptly started chewing. He made it look as though it were the most normal thing in the world to be doing and Harry had to desperately hide his snickers.

"Yummy, hot, smooth and delicious…just like you." He licked his lips as he swallowed and stared at her, all trace of amusement gone and Harry could see the pulse in Hermoine's throat beating hard.

Ron you wry dog you, he thought as the boy leaned over and kissed his girl, claiming their love all over again and the poncy little disagreement over Harry knowing Occlumency and his subsequent mental connection with the Dark Lord being known by more than just their little group of friends, was forgotten.

Finally, after having enough of the verbal and visual banter going on between the two lovebirds and having enough of the over exaggerated gagging noises coming from Dean Thomas on the other side of the table, Harry vocally cleared his throat and elbowed Hermoine in the ribs.

"Ouch!" She glared at him.

"I'm trying to eat here." Harry pointed at his own bacon and eggs and mock-scowled. "I really could do without you two sucking each other's lungs out."

Another gag from Dean and Harry stared at him while the dark boy grabbed some orange juice and swallowed it quickly before he answered the unspoken question.

"Sorry mate, but you just gave me the mental picture of two Dementors kissing." Dean shuddered and took another gulp from his goblet while Harry stared, blinked, then gagged in turn and decided a full jug of Orange juice would be the only way to rid him of the bile that had come up at the thought.

Of course Ron detached himself just in time to see the last drops from the jug drip down into Harry's mouth. Of course he chose that exact moment to nudge him in the ribs and of course, Harry's mouth was still full and the table in front was soon a bright orange.

He could hear the loud cackling from the Slytherin table and he scowled at Malfoy's imitation of him by spitting out any piece of food he tried to eat which was rather disgusting, but it still got the laughs.

Life was just so wonderful, Harry could cry.

As he was wiping up the drops of juice and tried to ignore the laughter from his friends and other tables, he chanced a quick glance at the Slytherins once more. What he saw though was not what he expected.

Placed down near the end, not even mingling with those of her own year and also being quite ignored by those ones younger than her as they sensed her being an outsider, he saw Flee…Felicity sitting quietly, not eating but writing in a book. Even as he watched her glasses slipped down her nose a bit and she habitually pushed them back up…without even using her hands. An unconscious magical action he knew well as he had been told he did the same when he was concentrating hard.

He finished mopping up the excess and then bared the brunt of more laughter when the stain simply vanished anyway and the jug was refilled in one go. This forced Harry to stare somewhere else once more and his whole attention was focussed on the girl. What was with this kid? Why did he keep on getting the impression that there was something more about her than met the eye? It was not like he was attracted to her or anything, she was too small, mouse-like and far to shy for his liking. He preferred bold and rule breaker any day. But the point being was that he sensed something…off about her. The way Malfoy and his cronies seemed to relish and enjoy their taunts and ridicule against an almost unknown figure within the school, even one that probably gained their house more points than most, seemed decidedly unnerving. He would find it normal if she had some bite and/or if there was some kind of underlying reason Felicity was an enemy to those who's fathers were Deatheaters, but this definitely didn't look like the case. Too small, too shy, and no bite whatsoever. Never mind the fact Snape obviously cared about this student more than most if that strange expression that had weirded him out the day before was anything to go by, then she was definitely not dangerous material and more than likely being picked on for merely her looks.

Was it just him, or did all Slytherins in general have something against brains and glasses going together? It was 'tease if you have one and not the other' or 'tease if you have both'…Harry shook his head and rubbed his temples. Logic like that was something that should only be reserved for the demented and evil…oh yeah, Malfoy.

Suddenly the Owl post came in and the entire hall was swamped by countless night birds, ranging from the very large to the very small if that spot of grey blur zooming past his nose was to say anything. The following exclamations of shock and outrage from Ron were drowned out by the squawking chaos that reigned for a few moments and his eyes were drawn as if by fate back to the Slytherin girl.

She was patting a grey tawny absentmindedly as she read a small piece of paper. A smallish parcel was in front of her wrapped in brown nondescript paper and tied with…was that plastic cords?

Harry frowned and squinted as he studied her. A silver feather fluttered down in front of him and he brushed it away, before it was replaced by another, and another until he growled and snapped his eyes up to Ron who was grinning like mad. He had a handful of silver feathers and was chewing on the end of one like it was a treat. Harry picked up one of those that his friend had been teasing him with, and sniffed it…sugary, it smelt sugary and sparkly.

"Ron, what's this?"

"Tickle-Scribes," he answered with another grin that was accompanied by a giggle "similar to the Edible Quills and all but much better. You can chew on them for ages and they don't go down, but they feel like fireworks on your tongue and make you all…hehe…high. Want one? The Twin's sent me their latest gag, they taste sour if you are being mean at that moment too…pretty good spy material huh?"

"Er, no thanks." Harry politely declined the offer from his bouncy friend. Really, sugar should be banned from that boy before he caused permanent injury.

The parcel.

Harry quickly search for Felicity again and frowned once more as he caught her staring at her package. She then wrote something quickly in her notebook before snatching everything up and hurrying from the Hall.

As the last owls flitted out the upper windows, he thought deeply about this new occurrence which really shouldn't be possible seeing as the two could never combine like this. But what he saw, plastic cords around a box that had muggle postage stamps over it with more plastic sheeting, delivered by an owl…was that combination even possible?

They left the Hall soon after and he was still deep on thought, totally oblivious to Dean's consistent gagging at the mush of his other two friends and thinking deeply.

"I'm dead serious! " he heard Hermione exclaim. "Ron asked for 'a place for us two to have fun' and we ended up playing some hockey then twister."

"Ew, I think that room has a messed up mind of it's own!" Seamus made a disgusted face.

The girl laughed.

"No, no you got it all wrong. We were given 'table-hockey' and Twister with the mat and circles…and you have no idea what I'm talking about." She finished while glancing at the blank faces of all but Ron and Harry (Dudley had a torn twister mat stuffed in the bottom of the wardrobe in Harry's room. He personally used the arrow as a pointer for his study books). She sighed. "Muggle games."

"Oh…right." Dean and Seamus nodded, still blank and Harry simply shook his head and went back to his thoughts as they walked.

What on Earth had been in that package?

* * * *

Ron scuffed his shoes against the wall in boredom and scratched at his head before kicking again and slumping against it. He then sighed, kicked the wall and started pacing before stopping and slumping against that wall and sighing again, then he got up and…

"Ron. Stop it or I will!"

Harry glowered heatedly at his friend before returning to read that damned book of Hermione's, it had become addictive, as well as the fact he hated not understanding it. Arithmancy…ugh, how could she stand it?

"It's not my fault you know, they've been in there for hours. How long does it take to answer a bunch of crummy numbers anyway?" Ron muttered in his boredom and starting kicking the wall again.

"This is why, dear friend." Harry held the book up in front of his nose and the red head went cross-eyed.

"But that's just stupid nonsense. How could _anyone_ understand…"Harry closed the book with the title facing him. "Oh."

"Yeah and we're just too dumb to even think about it." He sighed and started reading the book again while Ron continued to fidget.

Many long minutes past in the silent hallway outside the exam room, ghosts drifted past and they both waved to Nick as the dejected spirit floated down the hall and didn't even notice them. 

Yet another rejection from some Headless Hunt or something similar no doubt. 

A cheery maiden picking flowers in a painting nearly directly across from them simply smiled whenever Harry tried to initiate conversation, then she would just continue picking darned pansies. After what seemed a long while, a small tapping could be heard. The dark haired boy looked up and noticed a small figure making their way down the hall, their shoes tapping lightly against the flagstones. He squinted. It was a she, the hair gave it away. Then a cloud moved aside outside and the sunlight streaming through the high arched windows glinted off her glasses.

It was Felicity, and Harry thought her to be looking decidedly focussed, even more so than that morning before they escorted Hermione to her last exam.

"Hello" She greeted them quietly as she leaned against the opposite wall, just beneath the flower-picking mute.

"Hi." The two boys answered simultaneously and Ron fidgeted some more. Harry just kept reading the book…or the same sentence over and over while trying not to look like he was trying not to look at the girl standing in front of them, staring at the door of the exam room.

A shiver ran down his spine…something was off about this whole situation. But Harry didn't get much time to dwell on it any longer, for it seemed that the girl had timed her visit perfectly when the exam doors were suddenly flung open and students came pouring out in chattering glee. The exams were now officially over.

He had studied the bushy haired, bottle-eyed Peep for close to two days now. But for some reason, he almost felt like it was all building up to something greater and a final climax that would change his views upon the shy mouse forever.

"So, you ready to stop fretting?" Ron had snatched Hermione from the crowd before too much chaos had formed and the poor girl looked like she'd been through the wars as she shook her head in despair.

"No. I swear I got the third question on Numerical Balance completely backwards and…" Ron placed a hand over her mouth and gave her a warning look.

"Exams are over so shut up and relax."

She shut up, and Draco made his exit from the room in his typical and predictable whiny fashion.

"They do this on purpose!" He threw up his hands as he brushed carelessly past the trio. "The questions and next to impossible to answer, Vector just _had_ to be a busy-body and check _my_ paper every single chance she could get and the charts were so badly described I'd be surprised if I even got the answer in the correct box. Argh!" He rolled his eyes in exaggeration to his plight and Pansy giggled while gripping his arm.

"But really, Draco, it's all to be expected in a school like this." She was so sugary sweet, Harry could have gagged if he had been concentrating more on the couple and not on a certain be-speckled little girl approaching the blond with a glint in her eyes that scared him. "Just think, you'll never have to do it again now. It's all over."

"Yes, it's definitely all over." A small but steady voice, completely void of stutter sounded just to the right of Pansy and Draco and the older girl sneered down her nose.

"And what are you doing here?"

The smaller girl smiled without it quite reaching her eyes, the look alarming Harry to the point he was already bracing himself to dash forward.

"I just wanted to say…" she started, crossing her arms and letting her eyes drift to Draco who was openly sneering, "that you are fouled by the evils and must be cleansed. You need to be cleansed for us all to survive." She reached into her robes and Draco's smirk suddenly wavered. For Harry, time momentarily stood still as he distantly felt Ron stiffen by his side and a gasp escape Hermione's mouth.

"What is going…" Professor Vector's stern voice was suddenly silenced by one small voice.

"Ego venire, ego purgare, tibi habere novusnatio." Said smiling Felicity before she quickly and smoothly draw out a small black object from her robes, aimed it without a blink and sent Draco hurtling into the opposite wall with a bang that sent Harry's senses reeling and almost all of the students screaming in a panic.

Pansy screamed in horror and Harry only managed to get enough sense of mind to dash at her and pull her to the ground when another blast went off and all hell broke loose.

The Professor hadn't had time to even reach to grab her own wand before she too was knocked back by the weapon in Felicity's grasp which Harry now recognized to be a gun. The shot meant for Pansy had hit the poor witch and she moaned piteously from her prone position by the classroom door. The horror of the situation only intensified when he realised the girl had simply lost her mind, the crazed look in her eyes and blank smile frightened him terribly and he quickly scrambled up to grab the gun from her hands if need be. But he never got the chance, only having time for his eyes to widen in shock as the weapon was aimed for himself and fired and the world erupted in white light and pain so intense he crumple to the floor, writhing in agony. 

His face was on fire, his head felt like someone had smashed it with a cudgel and all that was left was shards of shattered glass becoming imbedded more and more into his very mind. Dimly he recognised Ron yelling for everyone to just get away, trying to organise something from the panic before another blast…and the voice fell silent.

He tried so very hard to open his eyes, and managed barely with one, blinking through the blood coating his vision to try to make sense of the confusion before him. He saw Padma wrestling with Felicity, trying to wrench the gun from her grasp and he wondered dimly why the Head Girl was having such trouble with it and why she didn't just use her wand. He knew Pansy was over somewhere to his right, he could hear a distinct panicked shrieking of Draco's name repeatedly even over the din of complete mindless panic of the other students as they ran from the carnage. Another blast went off and another voice screamed in pain before one thundering voice broke through all the others.

"ACCIO…"

Harry felt his consciousness fading as he was dragged unwillingly into darkness, but he managed to reach out and grasp the hem of the dark-haired professor's robes and tug them weakly.

"Gun," he whispered. "It's a gun."

Somehow he knew the man had heard him as he called out again.

"Accio gun!!"

The black object of murder flew through the air and into Professor Snape's hands, leaving Felicity standing slightly blank in the strong grasp of Padma. But then one more shot rang out, the small girl's eyes widened and Harry saw her fall to the ground in the older girl's arms before his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and the world went black.

Tbc…

****~*~*~*~****

**AN:** And so…the butterfly's wings cause a storm. I leave it at that. Latin translations are deliberately not explained till later.

Thankyou for the reviews…I shall answer them more personally when my head wakes up. It is currently 2am and I have to work in 4 hours. Smart.


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