Harry Potter 1. Prologue

_A/N: This is the Sequel to Connections. You **definitely** need to read that first.  
This is our final trip back to 1981.  
We will be back to the present in the first chapter which will be posted within a week._

**October 31st 1981**  
**Godric's Hollow**

Peter saw two green flashes from Harry's bedroom window. Shortly after, he felt a cold wind across his fur. It filled him with terror. The wind seemed to swirl around him for a time and then vanish as suddenly as it came.

Peter sniffed the air uneasily. The master still hadn't come out of the house. Peter was divided. Should he go inside to investigate and risk incurring his master's wrath or should he simply wait?

Eventually Peter came to a decision; he would go into the house. Dumbledore would certainly have been alerted by now that something had happened to the Potters. Peter needed to find out what had happened to his master. Voldemort was his only hope now. Sirius and Remus would kill him for what he had done.

Peter, still in his rat form, entered the house. When he entered the living room, he saw James' body lying on the floor. He felt a pang of regret when he looked at his friend's eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. _Still, survival is more important than friendship,_ thought Peter. He had only done what he had to do to survive.

Then Peter heard it, a wailing sound coming from upstairs. _Harry! _Peter rapidly climbed the stairs and entered Harry's room.

Harry was sitting up in his cot crying. He was clutching the bars and his tear-stained face was pressed between two of them as if he was trying to figure out what was going on. Peter wondered idly if he could see his mother lying dead on the floor in front of the cot.

On the other side of the room there was a discarded black robe. _The Master's_! Peter transformed back into a human. As he did so he heard Harry emit a squeak of surprise and began crying more intensely. The child had never taken a liking to him.

Peter examined the robes. They were empty. It was as if the master had simply vanished. Within the robes, he found the Master's wand. He pocketed it, knowing he would be rewarded for returning it.

_What happened here?_ The master was gone, James and Lily were dead but Harry was still alive. _What should he do now?_

Coming to decision, Peter decided that he would finish the Master's work. He raised his wand and pointed it towards Harry.

Peter couldn't do it. He couldn't kill Harry.....the Master had made it clear only _he_ was allowed to touch the boy. Peter grabbed Harry roughly out of his cot. He wrapped him in the small blanket that the child was clutching and ran back down the stairs of the house. Realising that he had to hide the fact he had taken Harry; Peter ran back outside into the garden and fired the most damaging spell he knew at the outside wall of the house, near where Harry's room had been.

The entire side of the house exploded, sending bricks and debris flying across the garden. Peter watched as the side of the house began to collapse along with the chimney. Peter smiled. It would be difficult for Dumbledore to determine what had happened now.

Taking one last look around, Peter, still clutching Harry tightly, Disapparated.

**November 1st 1981**  
**Milverton**

When Peter woke the next morning he got up and began making preparations to put his plan into effect. He couldn't stay here long; when he had returned to his home the previous night he had found evidence that someone had been in the house.

Sirius knew that he was the secret keeper and he would come for him soon. Peter had tried and failed to contact the Master using his mark and even more worryingly the mark had faded from black to a dark grey colour. Something was obviously wrong.

Peter went downstairs. The boy was still on the chair where he had been left last night. The child had not stopped crying since they left the Potter's house. Peter had solved that problem with a Silencing charm.

Peter removed the Silencing spell and the boy's cries once again filled his house.

"Shut up!" Peter shouted.

The boy ignored him.

Peter had decided that he needed to hide the boy, at least for a time. It wouldn't do for him to be identified as Harry Potter. Once the Dark Lord returned from wherever he had gone, he would reveal the boy to him and reap the rewards. The other Death Eaters would only try to take the credit for themselves. Peter had spent time the previous evening researching the spells that would be needed.

Peter pointed his wand at the boy and cast three spells. Slowly, like paint running down a canvas, the boy's features began to change. Black hair became light brown and the distinctive green eyes became grey. The final spell, if it worked, should ensure he would never be found by Dumbledore.

Peter was admiring his work when he heard a noise from the front of his house. He ran to the window and peered out. There was a large black dog outside. Panicked, Peter quickly checked that the Master's wand was safe in its hiding place, grabbed the boy and left through the back door.

He raced through the village, trying to put as much distance between him and the house as possible. He had to make liberal use of the Obliviation charm when some Muggles took an unnecessary interest in the obviously extremely distressed child that he was carrying. He knew that Sirius would never stop chasing him, but Peter had a plan to deal with him. It was critical that Harry should not be seen. Especially the now disguised Harry.

He needed to find somewhere to hide the boy until he had dealt with Sirius. Peter dashed into the nearby public park and examined his surroundings. He needed somewhere that would not be busy. He spotted a small pond at the far end of the park. It was a quiet place, and not at all perfect for what he had in mind, but it was too risky to be out in public with Harry right now. Pulling back the branches on a nearby bush, he shoved Harry deep inside. With a wave of his wand, the branches that he had bent out of shape repaired themselves leaving no trace that he had been here.

He would return for Harry later, once Sirius had been dealt with.


	2. Chapter 1

**Adam  
July 10th 1994**

Adam had heard several strange noises around The Burrow over the last few hours. He thought he'd heard people moving up and down the stairs. He had even thought he'd heard Ginny get up, but looking at his watch he realised it was only just gone six. Ginny _never_ got up before eight during the holidays.

Adam, deciding he must have been hearing things, tried to see if he could go back to sleep for another few hours. He was traditionally an early riser, but six was a bit ridiculous, even for him.

Adam finally gave it up as a lost cause just after seven. He got out of bed and started down the stairs. The house was completely silent. _Strange_, normally Mrs Weasley at least was up by this time.

When he reached the living room, he saw that the door to the kitchen was closed. Adam pushed open the door and walked in.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" voices shouted as he entered the room.

Adam jumped back violently.

"W-W-W-What?" Adam asked. _What was going on?_

"It's a surprise, Adam!" Ginny said, beaming at him from the other side of the kitchen.

Adam looked around the kitchen. Someone had put streamers up around the room and there was a pile of presents on the table. All of the Weasleys that Adam knew were there, _even Percy_.

Ginny came around the table and grabbing his arm, ushered Adam to the place of honour at the head of the table.

"There's some presents for you, dear," Mrs Weasley said warmly. "And this evening I'll make you a special birthday dinner."

Adam just sat there completely speechless. "T-T-Thanks!" he eventually managed to stutter as Mrs Weasley placed the pile of presents in front of him.

Adam stared at them for a minute, unable to get the grin off his face.

"Go on, Adam," said Mr Weasley. "They're all for you."

Adam hesitated slightly, savouring the moment, before he started eagerly ripping the paper off the first present.

_Best birthday ever!_

**August 12th 1994**

"Hogwarts letters!!!" Fred shouted as he burst into the living room with a pile of letters in his hand.

Adam's attention quickly shifted from his game of chess with Ron. His summer, so far, had been quiet, apart from his amazing birthday party. He seemed to have had, strangely, less homework than he remembered from last year. Most importantly, this summer there had been no drama, no dramatic escapes or late night Knight Bus trips. Adam had savoured the quiet time. He had no real worries. He had simply been able to relax. He had been able to fly, play chess, spend time with Ginny and he had even helped out with the chores. Life was good right now.

"Here you go, Ron," said Fred. "And you Ginny," he continued throwing Ginny's envelope to where she was sitting on a sofa. "And Mr. No Name!" he said winking as he passed Adam his letter.

"I can't believe Professor Dumbledore hasn't sorted that out yet," said Ron.

"I don't think he even knows why it happens," replied Adam.

"Adam!" Ginny chirped excitedly from where she was sitting. She had a wide smile on her face. "Forms for us to get signed so we can go to Hogsmeade!"

Adam opened his envelope in a rush; it contained two sheets of parchment. One was the normal Hogwarts letter. The second was a form asking for a signature to allow him to go to Hogsmeade at the arranged visit days during the year. Adam's face fell, he needed a signature from a parent or guardian, he didn't have either of those.

"I need a signature from a parent or guardian, I don't have either of those," said Adam glumly.

Ginny sprung to her feet, bounded across the room, and sat down next to Adam.

"Maybe Mum or Dad can sign it? Or Professor Dumbledore? I'm sure you'll be able to go!" said Ginny with a smile.

That perked Adam up. "I'll go and ask your mum, see what she says," he said.

Adam stood up and walked over to the kitchen, where Mrs Weasley was currently working on making lunch.

"Mrs Weasley," said Adam, trying to attract her attention.

"Oh hello, Adam, dear," she said with a smile. "Do you need anything?"

"Um, I just wondered who would sign my Hogsmeade form?" asked Adam.

Mrs Weasley paused for a second. "Oh, I don't think Arthur or I can sign it, but I can certainly ask Professor Dumbledore."

Adam grinned. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."

Maybe he would get to go to Hogsmeade after all.

**Ginny  
August 17th 1994**

Ginny sat down at the table ready for dinner. She was sitting at her usual place with Adam on her right and the empty place for her father on her left. He was late home from work, _again_. Percy managed to get home from his new ministry job on time. _Why couldn't dad?_

The fireplace burst to life suddenly and her dad stepped through. As he emerged from the flames, she saw that he had a massive grin on his face.

"Hello, Weasleys!" he called out. "I've got fantastic news!"

Ginny saw the entire table turn to face her dad.

"I have managed to get everyone plus Bill and Charlie tickets for the Quidditch World Cup in a few days!"

Ginny jumped out of her seat and hugged her Dad. The Quidditch World Cup! It would be so incredibly awesome! She saw Adam was sporting a massive grin and she heard Ron whoop with joy.

"Thanks, Dad!" she squealed excitedly.

"Ginny, come sit down. Arthur, come and eat your dinner before it gets cold," Mrs Weasley called interrupting the celebrations.

Dad sat down at the table and began eating his dinner.

"Dad, can Hermione come? She's coming to stay tomorrow," asked Ron.

"Yes, I remembered she was coming to stay for the summer," said Dad between mouthfuls of food.

While the dessert was being served, Mr Weasley announced their travel plans. "I'll be taking those of you that are too young to Apparate. We will need to leave early on the 25th and I mean early."

"What about those who can Apparate?" Percy asked.

"You can Apparate over later in the morning, so you get a lie in," replied Mr Weasley.

"Mr. Weasley," said Adam, blushing slightly. "I guess I should know this; but what is Apparition?"

"It's a method of moving instantly from one place to another. You will learn how to do it in your sixth year, you need to be seventeen and pass the test."

Adam nodded and said. "Thanks, Mr. Weasley"

As she tucked into her desert Ginny chatted to Adam excitedly about the World Cup. She couldn't wait. She had never dreamed she would actually be able to go and see the cup final live!

**Adam  
August 22nd 1994**

Mrs Weasley awakened Adam by gently shaking his shoulder. "Up you get, dear," she said. "Nearly time to go."

Adam got out of bed, dressed in some jeans and his treasured Weasley jumper. Once dressed, he grabbed his bag and dashed downstairs for breakfast.

"Adam, you're probably the expert on this," Mr Weasley said, standing up from where he was sitting at the kitchen table. "Do I look Muggle?"

Adam glanced at Mr Weasley's clothes. He was wearing a jumper and a pair of jeans.

"Yes, you're fine, Mr. Weasley," Adam replied.

Ginny and Hermione soon trooped into the kitchen. Ginny looked sleepy and her hair was ruffled.

"I hate early mornings," she complained through a yawn.

Once they had all eaten a quick breakfast they grabbed their packs and put on their coats.

"Wait!" Mrs Weasley called.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at her. Mrs Weasley raised her wand and pointed it at Fred and George. Suddenly a selection of sweets and other small packaged items flew out of the twins' pockets.

"Mum!" they cried. "We spent six months making them!"

"That would be why you didn't get more OWLs then!" she snapped. "You need to forget those silly plans of yours and start working towards a proper career!"

The group left the slightly unfriendly atmosphere and set off walking through the garden of The Burrow.

"Are we walking?" Ginny asked her dad.

"We're taking a Portkey, we just need to walk to the Portkey site," replied Mr Weasley.

Adam didn't know what a Portkey was. The Wizarding world, even after two years living in it, seemed to still be able to surprise him.

"What's a Portkey?" Adam asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"They are objects that can move large groups from one point to another at a pre-arranged time. All the wizards that can't or don't want to Apparate to the World Cup will use Portkeys. Ours is up on Stoatshead Hill."

Adam felt a tap on his back and glancing over his shoulder he saw Ginny had caught up to him. She was grinning excitedly.

"Got over the early start?" Adam asked winking.

"No!" Ginny replied with a fake pout. She giggled. "Did you see those things Mum took off the twins?"

Adam nodded.

"They were the pranking sweets they have been developing. They call them Ton-Tongue-Toffees."

"What do they do?" asked Adam.

"They make your tongue swell up to a massive size!" Ginny said.

Adam laughed in response, but he didn't fancy having a massive tongue. His was quite big enough as it was.

"The twins are planning on making an entire range of joke products. Maybe one day they will even open their own shop," Ginny continued.

"Keep an eye out for the Portkey!" Mr Weasley exclaimed as they now seemed to be reaching the top of the hill.

Adam glanced around, pretending to be searching for a Portkey. He didn't mention to Mr Weasley that he didn't actually know what a Portkey looked like.

"Arthur! Over here I have it!" a voice called from the other side of the hilltop, attracting everyone's attention.

As they got closer, Adam saw that there were two people standing near an old boot. Adam recognised one of the two as Cedric Diggory. Ginny had beaten him to the Snitch in the first Quidditch match of last year.

"Amos!" Mr Weasley called as they approached the two.

"Hello! Are these all yours?" The man called Amos asked.

"Just the red heads. This is Hermione, a friend of Ron's, and that's Adam, a friend of Ginny's. Everyone, this is Amos Diggory, he works with me at the Ministry, and his son Cedric."

The two groups exchanged greetings. Adam noticed Ginny looking slightly smug as the twins mentioned that she had beaten Cedric to the Snitch last year.

"The Portkey will be leaving soon, everyone hold on!" Mr Weasley announced.

Adam quickly moved to stand next to Ginny and he placed his hand on the boot. Suddenly he felt a pulling sensation from his belly button and abruptly he was flying off his feet. He felt himself bang into Ginny and the two of them spun around. Adam felt dizzy. Suddenly, his feet hit the ground hard and he fell to the floor. He felt something that was strangely soft crash into his chest.

Raising his head, Adam discovered that Ginny was sprawled across his body. Blushing, she quickly got to her feet and then helped Adam up.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice in the background.

Adam glanced around trying to locate the source of the voice. A grumpy pair of wizards, both of whom were dressed very oddly, in Adam's opinion, were standing nearby. Adam guessed one of these had been source of the voice.

Adam saw Mr Weasley already talking with the wizards and realized that he had been, somehow, able to land on his feet after the Portkey trip.

"Come on, let's head to our campsite!" Mr Weasley called excitedly.

They trudged across what appeared to be a stretch of moorland but they soon reached their pitch, with only a brief encounter with the Muggle that ran the campsite.

"Right. Adam, you know how to put up a tent, right?" Mr Weasley said with a hopeful look on his face.

"Um, no sorry," Adam replied.

"Oh," Mr Weasley said looking disappointed. "Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head.

They all chipped in to get the tents up and between Adam and Hermione they were able figure it out, with only a limited amount of raised voices and banged up fingers. Adam decided that he wasn't going to let Mr. Weasley anywhere near a mallet again...ever.

Adam stood back and admired the two two-man tents they had put up.

"Mr. Weasley, how are we all going to fit in the tents?" Adam asked.

"Go inside!" Mr Weasley said smugly. "Girls in the left one, boys and me in the right."

Adam crawled into his tent on his hands and knees. When he got inside; he looked around and felt his jaw drop. The tent had a living room and three bedrooms!

"Impressive, eh?" Mr Weasley commented as he crawled in behind Adam. "I borrowed it off a friend from work."

Ginny and Hermione soon joined them in the tent.

"We need to get ourselves some wood and water!" Mr Weasley said, with his eyes shining. "We're going to cook like real Muggles! Adam and Ginny, you two pop off and get the water, the rest of you fetch some wood," Mr Weasley ordered.

Doing as they were told, Adam and Ginny trudged off towards where the campsite map told them the water was. As they walked through the campsite, Adam took in the sights with great curiosity. He hadn't been at a large gathering of wizards before. They passed through a group of Irish tents, which were decorated all in green. When they passed through the Bulgarian tents, Ginny pointed out the posters of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker.

"He's the best Seeker in the world right now," she commented as they walked past one of the moving posters. "He always seems to look grumpy though."

When Adam and Ginny returned to their tents, Adam saw Mr Weasley, unsuccessfully, trying to light a fire.

"Do you want a hand, Mr. Weasley?" Adam asked.

Adam took the matches from Mr Weasley and lit the fire.

"Well done!" Mr Weasley exclaimed.

Adam began to laugh, but when he noticed Mr Weasley's strange expression he said. "All these magical things are amazing to me, but so many simple Muggle things are amazing to you!"

Adam saw Mr Weasley smile in return. "It does seem that way sometimes," he replied.

Once the tea was made, Adam and Ginny retreated inside the tent where they sat down in the living room and both soon fell asleep.

"Time to go kids!" Mr Weasley called as he stuck his head inside the door.

Adam walked with the Weasleys and Hermione towards the stadium, meeting up with Bill, Charlie and Percy as they walked. The path to the stadium followed a lamp-lit trail through the woods. As they got closer to the stadium, the crowds grew and they began to encounter large numbers of saleswizards selling souvenirs to fans of both teams. Adam spotted Ginny trotting over to a one that was selling giant hats in Irish colours. Adam ignored the saleswizard, he had no money.

Adam was walking along when suddenly everything went black. He reached up to feel his eyes frantically. He encountered a soft material covering them. Pulling the material up he realised that a large Irish hat had been placed on his head.

Ginny was standing in front of him and she stuck her tongue out. "I bought you a hat!" she said excitedly.

"Thanks! But, Ginny, you didn't have to!" Adam exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I've been saving pocket money for this!" she replied. "I wanted you to have something to remember the match with."

Adam smiled self-consciously. "Thanks, Ginny," he said in a quiet tone.

When they reached the stadium, they were directed to the top box by a witch who exclaimed that they had prime seats. Adam wondered how Mr Weasley had managed to get such good tickets. After climbing for what felt like an hour they finally reached the top box and Adam saw about twenty richly decorated seats all facing the pitch. He and Ginny ran straight to the front of the box, which was currently empty, and peered over the edge.

"Wow..." Adam said, his breath taken away. The stadium was by far the biggest thing he had ever seen. The pitch seemed far, far below him and opposite where Adam was sitting; there was a large notice board. From time to time, it flashed advertisements for various wizarding products. The entire stadium seemed to be bathed in light.

Over the next half-hour the box slowly filled with people. Adam even spotted the Minister of Magic, one of the few people in the box he recognised. Adam and Ginny, however, stayed in one corner of the box, almost hanging over the edge in eagerness to see everything that happened and so were largely ignored.

Suddenly Adam felt Ginny tense by his side.

"Lucius Malfoy!" she whispered looking firmly in front of her towards the advertising board that was on the opposite side of the stadium to her. "Just ignore him!"

"Slimy gits," Ron said, as he approached them with Hermione. "They were looking at Hermione as if she wasn't good enough to be in this box!"

"The Malfoys?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," replied Ron.

"Just ignore them," Ginny repeated.

Ron and Hermione joined Adam and Ginny standing at the front of the box, presumably, so they had a good view of the game. Adam saw Scabbers peeking out from Ron's trouser pocket.

"Why did you bring Scabbers, Ron?" Ginny asked, obviously having seen the rat as well.

"He might like to see the World Cup," Ron replied and he encouraged Scabbers to come out of his pocket.

Adam laughed as Ginny rolled her eyes.

Soon the Minister of Magic began the proceedings. As he was speaking, Adam was nearly blinded by the flashing of camera bulbs and he guessed the press were frantic to take pictures of the Minister and the other occupants of the top box.

Soon the Bulgarian team entered the stadium and with them came their mascots, a group of women, incredibly beautiful women. Something about them was just so enticing to Adam.

Suddenly, Adam felt a tug on his back and he found himself lying flat on his back on the floor below his seat. Adam shook his head trying to clear the haziness from it. He looked up to see Ginny standing over him.

"They must have been really pretty for you to want to climb out of the box to get them!" Ginny exclaimed with an evil smirk on her face.

"They're called Veela, Adam, and they have that effect on all men and boys that aren't ready for it," she said smiling kindly.

Adam looked over and was relieved to see that Ron was caught in an equally silly position. Hermione was looking at him disapprovingly, clutching Scabbers in her hands.

"I thought Scabbers was going to jump as well!" she exclaimed.

Ginny laughed. "Maybe it works on boy rats as well!"

The Veela left, to Adam's relief, as the Irish team and their mascots entered the stadium. The Irish mascots zoomed over the stands in an intricate display that formed a giant shamrock hovering over the pitch. Soon a golden rain began to fall from it and Adam realised that it was actually raining gold coins.

"Don't bother, the gold will disappear after a few hours. Bill told me." Ginny whispered to Adam.

Adam giggled as he saw Ron frantically gathering up as much of the gold as he could.

"We're not telling Ron, then?" Adam asked.

Ginny shook her head and put her finger to her lips.

With the preliminaries over the game began. Adam and Ginny, coming to an unspoken agreement that they were supporting Ireland, cheered frantically when Ireland won the initial possession as the referee released the Quaffle.

**Ginny  
August 23rd 1994**

"Ginny! Hermione! Up! Now!" Dad's voice called from the flap of their tent.

Ginny reluctantly opened her eyes. They hadn't gotten to sleep until late. The game had run on late into the night until Krum had finally caught the Snitch, but Ireland had still won, their Chasers were simply too good.

"Ginny, put some clothes on then meet me outside! Right now!"

From the tone of her dad's voice, she knew he was serious so she leapt out of bed and slipped on a pair of jeans and a jacket while Hermione did the same. Then they dashed outside the tent.

On the far side of the campsite a group of wizards in dark robes were marching across the field, blasting tents apart and hooting joyfully as they caused chaos. Ginny squinted as she saw several objects floating above the group of wizards. Suddenly as the group passed a burning tent, Ginny recognised the things floating above the wizards. It was the Muggle campsite owner and presumably his family.

"That's, sick," Ron commented. "That is really sick."

"We're going to help the Ministry officials. Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Adam and Ginny get into the woods and hide!" Mr Weasley ordered as he dashed across the field with Bill, Charlie and Percy.

Ginny followed the others as they ran into the woods. She stuck close to Adam not wanting to be separated. Once they entered the woods, she realised the lanterns that had been lit the previous day were now extinguished, so they blundered through the wood in the darkness. There were crowds of people attempting to hide in the forest and Ginny felt herself being buffeted from side to side as they rushed passed her. She continued walking but the buffeting had turned her around and she realised with horror that she could no longer see any of her brothers or Adam.

"Hello?" she called into the darkness.

"Ginny?" Adam's voice called in return.

Ginny was relieved when she saw him push his way through a group of wizards towards her.

"I think the others went this way," he said, pointing in the direction that he had come from.

Ginny clasped Adam's hand and let him lead her through the darkness. They walked for several minutes.

"Where are they?" Adam said to no one in particular.

Suddenly a loud bang sounded nearby. Ginny and Adam jumped violently.

"Let's carry on," said Ginny.

They walked slowly through the woods, unsure of the direction they were going in. They hoped that they would soon reach something familiar. Ginny could still hear the sound's of spells and the noises of people moving through the woods, so they couldn't be that far away from the others.

"Who were those wizards?" Adam asked.

"I don't know," said Ginny. "I've never seen anything like that before."

Ginny heard the crunch of footsteps from behind her and she spun around, taking Adam by surprise.

"Who's there?" she asked.

There was no reply.

"_MORSMORDRE!_" a voice shouted.

Suddenly the forest was bathed in a sickly green light.

"A skull!" Adam exclaimed.

Ginny looked up and shuddered as she saw a giant skull with a snake emerging from its mouth. It lit up the sky.

"What is that?" Adam asked.

"I don't know, but I don't think its good, let's get out of here."

Ginny and Adam ran, pounding through the trees. They didn't particularly care what direction; they just wanted to get away from the eerie green mark in the sky. Suddenly the forest around them was filled with the pops of Apparition. Ginny looked around and realised they were now running towards a large group of wizards all with their wand's out.

"_STUPEFY_"

"Down!" Adam shouted and Ginny felt herself being pulled down onto the ground, narrowly avoiding a bright red ball of light that sailed through the spot she had been standing only a second earlier.

"Stop! That's my daughter!" she heard her Dad's voice echo through the forest.

"Ginny, Adam," she heard him call. "Are you alright?"

Ginny got to her feet shakily and approached her father who pulled her into a hug.

Suddenly a man that Ginny didn't recognise pushed her dad away and rounded on herself and Adam.

"Which of you did it?" he said in a cold voice.

"Barty," whispered a nearby witch. "They're kids they couldn't conjure the mark."

"Where did the mark come from, Ginny?" Dad questioned.

Ginny pointed in the direction from where she and Adam had just run.

"We heard a voice and then saw the skull in the sky. I didn't know what it was so we ran away," Adam added.

"Search that area, then! Our stunners went right through there! We probably got them," said Amos Diggory excitedly.

Ginny watched as the wizards searched the area.

"Got something!" one of them called, as he came running back towards the man named Barty.

"Aha! We have their wand!" Barty said, holding the wand in his hand.

_Oh No!_ Ginny recognised the wand. It was Adam's. She looked over at Adam and saw he had gone pale.

"Sir," Adam said in a quiet voice. "That's my wand. I must have dropped it."

"We will have to check it out anyway," said Barty. "There are ways to tell what the last spell a wand has cast."

"_Priori Incantato_!" said Barty pointing his wand at Adams.

Suddenly from Adam's wand, a giant green skull emerged. Ginny heard everyone gasp.

"No!" Adam shouted. "I didn't!"

Ginny watched as Adam turned to her father with a pleading look.

"Mr. Weasley! I didn't...I don't even know what that skull is!"

"Dad! He didn't do it. He was with me the entire time!" Ginny shrieked.

"SILENCE!" Barty roared. "That is all the evidence I need, he shall be taken in for questioning."

"Barty! He's just a boy and Muggle-born at that! He couldn't have cast the Mark; he doesn't even know what it means for Merlin's sake!" Mr Weasley yelled.

"He will come into custody, _Arthur_, and there we will determine the truth of the matter."

Adam looked as if he was about to be sick. Ginny felt as if she was about to cry.

"Dad..." she said, trying to plead with him to help Adam.

"Adam, go with him for now. I'll be coming with you. I believe that you're innocent. I'm going to call Professor Dumbledore so he can help me sort this out."

As they trooped back out of the woods, two of the wizards who had tried to Stun them earlier walked on either side of Adam so that neither her nor her father were allowed anywhere near him. He looked incredibly miserable. Eventually the group reached the path that ran through the forest and they followed it until they reached the campsite. Ginny couldn't believe these people actually thought Adam could have done this. She didn't fully understand what was so bad about the skull in the sky.

Ginny saw the rest of her brothers and Hermione waiting for them as they emerged from the forest. Her father pulled Ginny over to them.

"Bill, I have to go to the Ministry. You're in charge. Pack up the tents and then get the others all back to The Burrow. The Portkeys are leaving within the hour to take everyone home." instructed Dad.

"What about Adam?" Ron asked.

"Long story, but I need to go with him to the Ministry. Ginny can explain when you get home. I need to go. I don't want to let Adam out of my sight."

Ginny watched as her Dad dashed off, back towards the crowd of Ministry wizards. She felt Bill take her hand obviously picking up on her distressed state.

"Let's get you home, Ginny," he said kindly as they began to make their way back towards the tents.


	3. Chapter 2

**Ginny  
August 23th 1994**

As they entered through the gate, Ginny spotted her mother waiting at the door to The Burrow. She was obviously waiting anxiously for their return.

"Oh, thank Merlin you're alright!" she exclaimed when she saw them trudging up the path.

"Where's your father? And where's Adam?" Mum questioned rapidly as the group approached the house. "Ginny? You look pale, are you alright?"

"Mum, I think we should talk about it inside," Bill said gently.

Once they were all sitting in the living room Bill began to tell the story of the attack by the Death Eaters.

"We thought it was all over and then someone conjured the Dark Mark in the forest," Bill concluded. "The next thing we know Ginny, Dad and Adam come out of the forest with a load of Ministry wizards and Aurors."

"Bill, was the Dark Mark that big skull in the sky?" Ginny asked hesitantly. "What is it?"

"Yes. It's the symbol for You-Know-Who," Bill replied.

Ginny sobbed. How could they think that Adam would conjure the symbol for You-Know-Who?

"Ginny, do you know something?" Mum asked gently.

"Y-Y-Yes, Adam and I got separated from the others, we were near where the skull appeared in the sky and we ran away from it. The Ministry wizards nearly Stunned us. Adam dropped his wand and they found it in the forest and said it was the wand that made the Mark."

Ginny looked up with tears in her eyes, and saw the shocked faces of everyone in the room. "But he didn't do it! I was with him the entire time! They took him away and Dad went with him," Ginny sobbed, wanting desperately to defend her friend.

Ginny suddenly felt her mum envelope her in a hug.

"Oh, Ginny! I'm sure they will let him go! As you say there's no way he could have done it!" said Mum, her voice turning to anger. "I can't believe the Ministry! Accusing a young boy of such a serious crime!"

"Dad will get him out, Ginny," Ron added confidently.

Ginny looked up and saw Hermione also smiling encouragingly.

"Right, you all look tired, I guess you didn't get much sleep before the attack. So off to bed all of you!" Mum ordered, seeing the tired looks on their faces.

**Adam  
August 23th 1994**

Adam was miserable. He was sitting on a small bench in a tiny room with no windows. The only way in and out was a door that was currently locked. The only other feature in the room was the small toilet in one corner. Adam estimated he had been in here several hours now.

He felt angry and betrayed by the Ministry. How could they think that he had conjured the Dark Mark? Mr Weasley had explained exactly what he had been accused of as he had been pushed through the throng of reporters and flashing cameras at the entrance to the Ministry.

Once past the press, Adam had been taken to the department for Magical Law Enforcement, searched and then put in this room. He knew Mr Weasley was outside somewhere trying to get him out, but that was of little comfort. All Adam wanted to do was go home to The Burrow and sleep. He was exhausted and hungry. The bench in the room was hard and uncomfortable. The Ministry hadn't even given him anything to eat or drink since he arrived.

Adam heard the click of the lock opening and his head snapped around to look at the doorway. The door opened and Professor Dumbledore strode in, his robes billowing behind him. Adam leapt to his feet.

"Professor, I didn't do it!" he exclaimed.

"I know, Adam, I know," said Professor Dumbledore sympathetically. "I have spoken to the Head of the Department and she has agreed to release you. She now believes there is no way you would conjure the Mark."

"Thanks, Professor," Adam replied tiredly and allowed himself to be led out of the cell by Professor Dumbledore. Once outside he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Looking up he saw Mr Weasley. "Let's get you back to The Burrow, son," he said as he began to guide Adam out of the Ministry.

As Adam stumbled out of the fireplace of The Burrow a short time later, he was immediately wrapped in a hug by Mrs Weasley. "Oh, Welcome back! I can't believe the Ministry!" she exclaimed.

Adam smiled tiredly. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley. Um could I have something to eat and drink. They didn't give me anything."

"What?" Mr Weasley exclaimed in an alarmed voice. "You were there over four hours and they never even gave you a drink of water?"

Adam shook his head.

"Disgraceful! I hope you will report this, Arthur?" Mrs Weasley exclaimed.

"I most definitely will," Mr Weasley replied angrily.

Mrs Weasley pulled out a chair for Adam in the kitchen and bustled around, placing a sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice in front of him. Adam ate them greedily.

"All the others are in bed and you look exhausted, so go upstairs and try and get some sleep," Mrs Weasley ordered kindly as Adam finished the last of the sandwich.

Adam trudged upstairs. Tiredly passing Bill on the stairs, he slipped into his room, undressed and sank exhausted into bed.

Adam was just feeling his eyes flutter closed when he was jerked back to wakefulness by the sound of his door sliding open. Suddenly he felt he bed shake as something jumped onto it.

"You're back!" Ginny's voice came from the darkness.

As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, he saw Ginny kneeling at the end of his bed, she was wearing her usual blue nightgown. Without warning, she leapt forward and hugged him.

"I couldn't believe it when they took you!" said Ginny in a shaky voice. It surprised Adam how much this had effected her.

"Professor Dumbledore sorted it out and they let me go," Adam replied.

Ginny seemed to have collected herself by now. "Good! I hope he kicks their butts for arresting you!" she said smiling. "Well, I better get back to bed. Mum would freak if she caught me in a _boy's_ room at night," she said with a wink and then leapt agilely off the bed and slipped out of the door.

**Ginny  
August 23th 1994**

When Ginny slipped out of Adam's room she decided to head downstairs to get a drink. As she approached the kitchen, she heard raised voices from inside.

"Who exactly is he?" she heard Bill ask.

Ginny froze, pressing her back to the wall outside the kitchen. She listened. The fact that Bill had waited until he thought they were all in bed told her this was a conversation he didn't want her to hear, this made her all the more keen to eavesdrop.

"He's Ginny friend," she heard her mum respond. "What's brought on all these questions?"

Ginny felt herself flush with anger, they were talking about Adam! She fought the urge to storm into the kitchen.

"The Aurors made some pretty serious allegations against him," Bill said softly.

"Son, those allegations were completely untrue," replied her Dad.

"It was cast using his wand!"

"And it could have been cast with your wand; it wouldn't mean you did it!" replied her father sharply. "Do you honestly believe a thirteen year old boy could call the Dark Mark?"

Ginny felt a surge of gratitude for her dad. He was sticking up for Adam.

"What about the trouble he's gotten Ginny in both years she's been in school?" Bill interjected.

"Bill! Adam saved her life in her first year! And last year, well, I suspect that was as much Ginny's doing as Adam's. You know she's always had a knack for getting into trouble," said Mum. Ginny could hear a touch of anger in her voice now.

"But Mum, don't you feel it's odd that Ginny is so close to a boy? Shouldn't she be friends with girls her own age?" questioned Bill.

_How dare they say who I can and can't be friends with! _Ginny fumed.

Ginny heard her mother sigh. "That's what comes from growing up in a house full of brothers; Adam is a good boy and neither I nor your father has a problem with him being here."

"But why is he always here?" Bill demanded. "Charlie and I are sharing with Ron and Percy, and he has my room."

"William! You are here for two nights; Adam is staying with us all summer. It's unfair to turf him out just because you're here for a short time. If you were moving back here, then yes we would have to look at moving him in with Ron..." replied her father. He was sounding exasperated now.

"That's my point. Why is he here all summer? Taking advantage of your hospitality," Bill replied hotly.

"The doors of this house are open to any friends of our children!" Mum said in a harsh tone.

"Bill," her father's voice was soft now. "Adam is here simply because he has nowhere else to go. The boy has no family, no-one to look out for him. The Ministry seems incapable of providing for him correctly and it was us he came to for help. We're just the family of his friend, but we were the _only_ people that felt he could turn to."

There was silence in the kitchen. Ginny hoped that her brother was looking suitably ashamed now.

"Your mother and I are quite happy with the way things are. Adam and Ginny are good friends," Dad replied.

"But..." Bill attempted to interrupt weakly. "What if...what if they..."

"Bill, I know what you're trying say, but Ginny is too young to be dating. If her relationship with Adam changes then we will deal with it," Dad continued.

"But..." Bill sputtered again.

"This discussion is over," her father stated.

Ginny blushed deeply at her dad's words. She had never thought about Adam in that way before. Suddenly realising that her brother and parents may well be coming out of the kitchen, Ginny darted behind the sofa. She was extremely tempted to stand there and give her brother a piece of her mind, but that would mean admitting she had been eavesdropping. She was furious that they didn't trust her choice of friends.

Eventually Bill left the kitchen and stomped up the stairs. Ginny waited to ensure that her parents weren't following him; then she slipped back up the stairs and into her room. She decided that she wouldn't tell Adam what she had heard tonight. He'd had enough on his plate the last few days and was still sensitive about people not trusting him from their first year.

**Adam  
August 24th 1994**

As usual, on the first full day after the incident at the Quidditch World Cup, Adam was the first awake. He stumbled down the stairs half awake, his hair in its usual messy state. Looking at himself in the mirror Adam decided he needed to try to get it cut.

When he arrived in the kitchen, only Mrs Weasley was there stirring something in a big bowl.

"Morning, dear," she said brightly. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"Morning, Mrs. Weasley," Adam replied.

He sat down in his usual seat to wait for breakfast. On the table was a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ with a massive picture of the Dark Mark on the front cover. Adam pulled the paper over to his place.

**Scenes of Terror at Quidditch World Cup  
By Rita Skeeter**

The Quidditch World Cup was the scene of a terrorist attack by dark wizards targeting the local Muggle population and visiting wizards. The Dark Mark was sighted above the area during the attacks. The security put in place by the Ministry of Magic was unable to disrupt these attacks for quite some time. One Ministry source stated:

"This attack was obviously caused by hooligans seeking to insight panic and cause chaos. They placed a symbol in the sky that bore a striking similarity to that used by You-Know-Who. They obviously intended to create further panic among the visiting wizarding population."

The Ministry only made a single arrest; a Hogwarts student named Adam Winters. He was held under suspicion of placing the Dark Mark look-alike but was released several hours later. So the question remains, was Adam Winters a victim of the Ministry's incompetence or was he involved in this sinister plot? (Continued on Page 2)

Adam turned to the second page of the paper and discovered that two photographs dominated the page. The first was a photograph of the occupants top box; Adam could clearly spot himself, Ginny, Hermione and Ron, with Scabbers, standing near the front of the stand. The second photo was of himself being led away after he was arrested.

Adam closed the paper with disgust He hated that he had been singled out in the paper; he didn't want to be _different._

"What's the matter, dear?" Mrs Weasley asked obviously picking up on his annoyance.

"There's photos of me in paper," Adam replied quietly.

Mrs Weasley grabbed the paper and quickly read the story. She promptly threw it back down on the table.

"Don't worry about it, Adam. That Rita Skeeter is always exaggerating all her stories. No one believes anything she says. It will all be forgotten in a few weeks," Mrs Weasley reassured him as she busied herself again at the stove.

Adam was just starting his breakfast when Ginny entered the room. As usual, she seemed only half-awake.

"Morning," Ginny mumbled.

"I'm in the paper," Adam stated sullenly.

Ginny looked up, surprised. "Huh?"

Adam grabbed the paper off the table and passed it to Ginny. "Have a read," he said.

Ginny began reading the paper. "So, Adam, were you involved in this sinister plot?" She said laughing.

Adam snorted in response and continued to eat his breakfast, his spirits lightened slightly. A short time later Bill and Charlie entered the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Morning," they both said, greeting the family as they sat down for breakfast.

Adam finished up his breakfast and watched the Weasleys interact, he wondered if Mrs Weasley somehow magically enlarged the kitchen; no matter how many people were in the room it always seemed cosy and never cramped. He glanced over the table to see if Ginny had finished her breakfast. Adam fancied a bit of Quidditch or a game of Snap, anything to take his mind off the previous day or his pictures in the paper. Ginny however was only half way through her breakfast. She was slowly eating the last of her sausages, shooting Bill a death glare. Adam wondered what had upset her. Obviously, he had done something to annoy her; Adam decided to ask her about it later.  
**  
August 30th 1994**

After the drama of the Quidditch world cup, Adam's summer had settled into a regular pattern and he had enjoyed his time of relaxation. Tomorrow was the day he and the Weasley family were going to collect their Hogwarts supplies and the day after it was time to go back to school. All his homework was completed so Adam was determined to enjoy this last day with nothing to do.

The day was hot so he and Ginny were sitting outside enjoying the sun and playing a game of Exploding Snap.

"Adam! Ginny! Come inside, please," Mrs Weasleys voice called from the back door of the Burrow.

They made their way back inside. When they reached the living room, Adam was surprised to see that the twins and Ron were already sitting there. Adam took a seat on one of the free chairs.

"I've just had a message from your father at the Ministry and he wanted me to warn all of you," said Mrs Weasley. Adam noticed that she had a sheet of parchment in her hand.

Mrs Weasley held up a photograph, it was of a very scruffy looking man with very long hair, he had a crazy looking grin on his face and he almost looked as if he was laughing.

"This is Sirius Black. He escaped from Azkaban this morning," said Mrs Weasley.

The four Weasleys gasped, Adam was confused_; who was this man_?

"Now, I don't think I need to say that this man is very dangerous and if any of you kids see him you need to keep away from him and get help immediately," continued Mrs Weasley.

Adam nodded along with the others. "Mrs. Weasley, what exactly did he do?" Asked Adam, voicing his confusion.

"Oh, well of course you wouldn't know, dear, would you?" replied Mrs Weasley. She sat down on one of the chairs and continued. "Do you know how the war against You-Know-Who ended?"

"Yeah, didn't he die when he attacked the Potters?" Adam replied, slightly uncertainly.

"Exactly. Well, the Potters were hiding from You-Know-Who. Sirius Black was the one who told You-Know-Who where they were," Mrs Weasley looked suddenly sad. "Such a shame, he was supposed to be their friend..." Mrs Weasley sighed. "Anyway, he told him where the Potter's were hiding; afterwards he was tracked down by one of the Potter's friends. Black killed him along with twelve Muggles. Eventually the Aurors caught him and he was sent to Azkaban."

Adam absorbed this information carefully. He was always interested in the history of the wizarding world. He still couldn't believe that the wizarding world was able to hide itself so completely from the Muggle world.

"So you see why he is so dangerous; he killed thirteen people! With one spell they say," Mrs Weasley said. "I don't think he will come anywhere near Hogwarts, but we will need to be on our guard in Diagon Alley tomorrow."

"He wouldn't attack Diagon Alley would he?" Ron asked looking slightly concerned.

"Your father says the Ministry is putting extra security there, but you can never be too careful," replied Mrs Weasley. "But don't worry about it. I just wanted to warn you kids in case you do see anything. Now go back to whatever you were doing and don't let it worry you," she continued with a smile.

_Well, at least this will get my picture out of the Daily Prophet_, though Adam.

Mrs Weasley stood up and left the room, once she had gone Fred and George chanted in unison. "Quidditch!"

Adam grinned as the four Weasleys jumped up. He eagerly followed them out to the orchard. This would probably their last chance to play before they went back to school.

**Remus  
September 1st 1994**

Remus heard two voices that attempted to penetrate the fog in his mind like gnats. Couldn't they see he needed his sleep? Remus was exhausted. Albus had contacted him late last night asking him to travel to school on the train. That meant he had to be up at a ridiculous hour in order to be at the station on time and it had forced him to stay up late packing. Remus would have much preferred to spend today packing and then Apparate to the school in time for the evening feast, but Albus was his boss now so he had to do as he wished.

Remus was not fully awake yet and only bits and pieces of the conversation in the compartment penetrated his sleepy brain.

"...who is this?" One voice said.

"...new professor...," said another voice, this one was higher pitched; probably female.

"...should we leave?" enquired the first voice.

"Adam! This is the only compartment!" said the female.

Hearing that name caused Remus to jolt fully into wakefulness. He carefully kept his eyes closed not wanting to let the occupants of the compartment know he was awake. Remus hoped there was more than one student named Adam in the school and coincidence hadn't landed him in a compartment with Harry. The one person in the school that he hadn't been able to mentally prepare himself to meet.

"What do you reckon he will be teaching?" the slightly deeper voice asked, he guessed this was Harry.

"I don't know. I didn't realise any of the Professors had left," he heard a giggle. "Let's hope Snape has left!"

Remus eavesdropped on the two children's chatter. He was relieved to hear that Harry appeared to be interacting with his fellow students relatively normally. Remus, having spent the previous year investigating the history of the boy, had feared that he may have problems, _I guess this proves just how resilient children are._

A short time later, the train drew to a jarring halt.

"We're not there yet!" The girl exclaimed. "Why have we stopped?"

Remus realised that if the train had stopped and they were not yet at Hogwarts, then something must be wrong. He opened his eyes and scanned the compartment. He spotted the girl first; she was short and had red hair. Remus then turned to look at Harry. He struggled to keep his surprise from showing on his face; the boy was obviously older than the photograph Remus had seen. He had very light brown hair and grey eyes, and if Remus looked carefully, he could make out similarities in his facial structure between him and James. Although, the different hair and eyes completely overpowered any other similarities if you didn't know what you were looking for.

"Sir?" Harry asked. "Do you know why we have stopped?"

Remus was temporarily speechless. James and Lily's son was sitting in front of him! Talking to him! Remus attempted to get his self-control back, the boy didn't know about his past; he had promised Albus.

"Professor?" Harry asked again.

"Um, I don't know. I'll go and check," Remus replied, doing his best not to stammer.

Remus stood up and strode to the door of their compartment. Harry and the red haired girl followed him.

"Stay here," Remus ordered.

Remus stepped out into the corridor and looked either way; the corridor was deserted. Suddenly all the lights on the train went out. Remus dashed back through the compartment and glanced out of the window. He couldn't see anything. It was pitch black, unnaturally dark for that time of day.

"What's happening?" asked the girl.

"Quiet," he ordered.

Remus felt what was causing the darkness, before he could see it. He gradually felt a sense of despair building inside him. Remus focused his mind and watched as cloaked figure became visible in the doorway. A Dementor. Remus felt his body begin to shake as the creature extended a skeletal, decayed hand and began to pull itself into the compartment.

Coming to his senses, Remus realised he needed to clear the Dementor out of the compartment; it could hurt the children. Remus raised his wand and cast his Patronus towards the creature; the bright white ball flew towards the creature forcing it out of the compartment and back down the compartment. As it fled, Remus felt the sense of despair fading and his racing pulse began to calm.

Shortly after, the lights in the train came back on. Remus glanced around the compartment and saw Harry and the girl were slumped unconscious on the compartment seats. _The Dementor must have had a bad effect on them_, he realised. Remus approached Harry and shook him on the shoulder, he didn't respond. Remus gave him a soft slap on the face. Harry opened his eyes, which darted around the compartment as if in panic.

"Ginny!" he exclaimed and he rapidly slid across the seat to reach the girl and shook her.

Eventually, the girl came around looking just as dazed as Harry had.

"Eat this," Remus instructed as he passed chocolate out to both of the children who took it eagerly.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Did you scream, Ginny?"

"I don't know," Ginny replied uncertainly. "I don't think I screamed."

Remus felt the train shudder slightly as it got underway. "When did you hear someone scream?" Remus asked.

"When the _thing_ came into the door, I thought I heard someone scream and saw a bright flash of green light," Harry responded. "Do you have any idea what that was?"

"The thing was a Dementor, but I didn't hear anyone scream," Remus replied.

"You think I'm hearing things?" Harry asked defensively.

"I don't know," Remus lied. He had a very good idea what Harry had just seen. He just didn't want to tell the boy that, no child should have memories like that. Plus, Albus wanted him kept unaware of his past.

"I need to go and talk to the driver," Remus stated suddenly.

Remus stood and rapidly left the compartment. He needed to make sure the driver didn't allow the train to stop for any reason. The Dementors should never have been allowed on the train. He would have to have a word with Albus about this.


	4. Chapter 3

**Adam****  
September 1st 1994**

Adam was sitting on the edge of a bed in the hospital wing, feeling very annoyed. As soon as he and Ginny had disembarked from the carriages and entered the castle, they had been immediately sent to the hospital wing. The professor from the train had obviously told Madam Pomfrey that they had passed out.

Adam liked chocolate, but after the amount Madam Pomfrey had given him and the chunk that the professor had given him on the train, he was full. He still hadn't puzzled out what had happened on the train, he was sure that he had heard a woman screaming and seen lots of green light. He definitely hadn't imagined it.

"You definitely didn't hear anyone scream, Ginny?" Adam asked when Madam Pomfrey had bustled over to the other side of the hospital wing.

"No," Ginny replied, she still looked tired and drawn from the encounter earlier. "b-but I did hear something else."

"What?"

"I-I c-could hear T-Tom from the diary; he was calling me a stupid girl and saying he was going to kill you," Ginny said, her lips trembling slightly.

"Oh, Ginny! That's terrible!" Adam exclaimed, and instinctively hugged her.

"Thanks," Ginny said with a watery smile, when Adam released her.

"Right, you two are cleared to go. You need to get to the Great Hall before the feast begins!" Madam Pomfrey announced when she returned a short time later.

After leaving the hospital wing, Adam and Ginny made their way back down to the Great Hall. As they slipped in the door they could hear Professor Dumbledore speaking.

"Welcome to another year!" his voice boomed across the hall. "I have one very important announcement, you will have noticed, after their search of the train, that the school is currently playing host to the Dementors of Azkaban. These creatures are stationed at each entrance and exit to the school. They are not kind creatures, so give them no reason to harm you. I look to my prefects and Head Boy and Girl to enforce this. Secondly, it is my duty to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students."

Adam was sure he felt Professor Dumbledore's eyes on him as he slipped into his seat at the Gryffindor table.

Professor Dumbledore continued. "Mr. Filch has also asked me to remind you that there is to be no magic in the halls and the list of forbidden items is posted outside the door to his office," Professor Dumbledore paused. "I must also introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Art's Professor Remus Lupin; unfortunately Professor Jones has had to step down, due to her mother's ill health."

The hall erupted in applause for Professor Lupin.

"I have one final announcement to make," Professor Dumbledore announced and the hall grew silent again. "It is my painful duty to announce that the inter-house Quidditch cup will not be taking place this year."

The room was filled with the sound of startled gasps and a few cries of outrage. Adam felt incredibly disappointed. He had really enjoyed being part of the team last year, even if it was only as a reserve. The feeling when he caught the Snitch in the one game he had played, had been one of the best he had ever felt. He looked around at the reactions of the others sitting near him; Ginny's mouth was hanging open in shock and the twins looked completely appalled.

"This is due to an event," Professor Dumbledore continued. "That will be taking place during the school year, starting in October. This event will take much of the teachers' time and energy. I am sure, however, that you will all enjoy it immensely," he paused and the hall was very silent in anticipation. "So it gives me great pleasure to announce that Hogwarts will this year be hosting the Triwizard Tournament!"

There were some gasps of surprise throughout the hall and Adam noticed that Ginny was suddenly looking very excited. Adam himself, was mystified as to what this tournament actually was.

"The Triwizard tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. Unfortunately, the tournament was discontinued as the death toll mounted. There have been several attempts to reinstate the tournament, although none have been successful until this year and so our very own Departments of International Magical Co-operation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt."

Spontaneous applause filled the hall.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween."

"I'm going for it!" Fred exclaimed to the Gryffindor table as the entire school broke out in excited whispering.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," Professor Dumbledore continued as the whispering died down. "The Heads of the Schools have decided to impose an age restriction on contenders. Only students who are of age, that is to say, seventeen years or older, will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration."

Adam saw Fred and George's faces both fall immediately and he laughed as he watched them both began whispering to each other.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"The twins are up to something," Adam replied with a wink.

"They're always up to something, I bet they're trying to find a way to enter despite being too young," Ginny replied with a grin.

"It is now late and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. So it is time for bed! Chop, Chop!" Professor Dumbledore finished.

Along with the rest of the students, Adam and Ginny stood up and left the Great Hall to head back to Gryffindor tower.  
**  
****Remus****  
September 1st 1994**

Remus followed Albus back to his office after the Welcoming Feast. He didn't speak, however, until he was safely in the Headmaster's office, with the door closed.

"Harry encountered a Dementor on the train," he stated flatly, sitting down in front of Albus' desk.

"Yes, Poppy mentioned he was in the hospital wing. Remus, you must get used to using the name Adam. It would be most undesirable for you to slip up in class," replied Albus.

Remus growled. "That is not his _real_ name."

"Remus, please. Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be. My mind is made up about this."

Remus sighed. He wasn't going to win this battle. He either needed to accept not telling the boy or leave the school. If he left Albus would never let him near Harry again. Remus needed to be part of his life, _for James_.

"I'm guessing, Remus, that you are here because the boy saw something when the Dementor approached?"

"He saw Lily's death," Remus stated, attempting to keep any emotion out of his voice.

Remus was pleased to see Albus pale slightly at this revelation.

"He doesn't understand what he saw. He says he heard a woman screaming and saw a lot of green light," said Remus. "Unless he has seen any other women killed by the Killing Curse, I can't see what else he could be seeing."

"It is a big assumption, Remus. We don't even know how Lily died. He could, for instance, be hearing Lily screaming when James was killed."

Remus swallowed the lump in his throat at the mention of the death of his best friend.

"However, your assumption is a fair one," continued Albus. "Regardless, we must limit the boy's contact with the Dementors. It would be unwise for him relieve any other memories of that night, for his sake and ours."

"How?" Remus asked.

"He will not be allowed out of the grounds. I will instruct Minerva that he is not allowed to Hogsmeade and I will ensure the Dementors do not enter the grounds."

"What about going home for Christmas and the end of year?" asked Remus.

"I think, that this year we will have very few students going home for Christmas," Albus sighed. "And I fear that the situation with Sirius will come to a head much before the end of the year."

"What do you mean?" questioned Remus. "Surely Sirius will be in hiding now he has finally escaped?"

"He had been heard muttering; 'He's at Hogwarts' in the days before his escape. When the Aurors searched his cell they found the news article with a picture of Adam on it, the one from the World Cup."

Remus was silent. Sirius was the only person that knew about Adam's real identity other than himself and Albus.

"So Sirius is after Harry?"

"We believe so."

"He's coming here?"

Albus nodded gravely.

"That's why you caved so easily to the Minister's request to have the Dementors positioned at the school."

"Yes, Sirius must be caught before he reaches Adam. To reach him he must get past the Dementors, the castle wards and the staff. Adam's safety must be our top priority now."

Remus nodded in agreement, his stomach churned at the possibility of coming face to face with his old friend. Remus knew with certainty that if Sirius ever did cross his path, he would kill him for what he had done to James and Lily.  
**  
****Ginny****  
September 1st 1994**

When Ginny arrived in the common room she immediately dashed up to her room to make sure all her things had arrived safely. She'd never had anything go missing, but it never hurt to check.

Even though Professor Dumbledore had sent them up to bed, the older students wouldn't actually go to sleep for some time yet. They would stay up and talk in the common room; catching up with friends that they may not have seen since the previous school year.

When Ginny returned to the common room she saw that Adam had sat himself down on one of the sofas and a small crowd had gathered around him.

"So did you do it?" one of the first years said.

"My Dad says he couldn't. If he did he wouldn't have been allowed back in school," a second boy added.

"What?" Adam only just seemed to have caught on to what was going on around him.

"Did you cast the Dark Mark at the World Cup?" The first boy asked.

"No!" Adam said, raising his voice. "Now Leave. Me. Alone!"

"But you were there? What happened?" The first boy said excitedly.

"GO!" Adam roared.

The first years scarpered quickly at the sight of an angry Adam and Adam sank down into the chair in relief.

"Very fearsome," Ginny commented casually as she sat down next to him.

"Shut it!" Adam said with a smile. "You know I hate the attention, I just want to sort-of blend in, ya 'know?"

"Sometimes a bit of attention is good?" Ginny asked. She wasn't quite sure why Adam felt this bad about all the attention.

"Not for me," Adam replied adamantly. "I've told you about what it was like at the homes right?" Ginny nodded. "When I was there I was always different because I did magic, although I didn't know what it was then. Now I'm here and magic is normal, but somehow I'm still different. I don't want to be different!"

"I guess it's a bit different for me," Ginny commented. "Growing up as one of seven we had to battle for Mum and Dad's attention, so I like standing out a bit."

"Yeah," Adam replied with a strange expression on his face. "I can understand that," he paused. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night, Ginny!"

Adam got up off the sofa and disappeared up the stairs to his room. Ginny watched him go, feeling slightly bemused by the conversation they had just shared.  
**  
September 2nd 1994**

Ginny skipped with excitement as she and Adam walked down from the castle to their first Care of Magical Creatures class. When Ginny and Adam reached Hagrid's hut they gingerly pulled out their books and patiently waited for the class to begin. Neither Adam nor Ginny had the courage or the time to try and open the book. Which looked decidedly suspicious, plus, Ginny was sure she had seen it wriggling in her bag.

"Did you see the notice up in the common room about Hogsmeade?" Adam asked her while they waited.

"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed. She couldn't wait until they could go to Hogsmeade. "I can't wait!"

"Um, what exactly is in Hogsmeade?" Adam asked.

"There's the pub, the Three Broomsticks! Zonko's joke shop and Honeydukes which sells sweets!"

"Cool!" replied Adam. "Lots of shops then?"

"Yep, I've been saving my pocket money for it," replied Ginny with a grin.

"It'll be nice to get out of the school grounds. I bet there's lots to explore," Adam mused.

Ginny laughed, "You'll have to ask the twins. They'll probably know most about it," her voice lowered to a whisper as Hagrid emerged from his hut to begin the lesson.

"Ron and Hermione always say what a good teacher Hagrid is. I hope these lessons are good!" Adam said.

"Right class," Hagrid's accented voice boomed across the assembled students. "Today I'm going to show you how to open your books safely and then we are going to look at some Flobberworms!"

Ginny groaned.

"What?" Adam whispered.

"Flobberworms are really boring! They just sit there and do nothing."

"Well, I guess we have to start somewhere," Adam replied weakly.

Ginny shrugged, maybe, just maybe, Ron had exaggerated how cool these classes were.  
**  
****Adam****  
September 8th 1994**

Adam waited eagerly for his first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Yet again they had a new Professor. Adam was keen to see what Professor Lupin would teach them because he had certainly dealt with the Dementor on the train well enough.

Professor Lupin entered the room and strode to the front of the class. Adam was surprised that he was still wearing the same scruffy robes that he had worn on the train. His light brown hair also seemed continually scruffy, a problem Adam knew all too well.

"Good afternoon," Professor Lupin said. "Now all put down your bags, take out your wands and follow me."

Adam followed as Professor Lupin led the class out of the classroom. This was probably the most interesting start to a lesson, _ever_. The class walked through the now deserted corridors of Hogwarts until they reached the staff room and the class filed in. The room was filled with a collection of mismatched chairs, all of which were currently empty. At the far end of the room a large wardrobe stood and when Professor Lupin moved nearer to it, it began to wobble backwards and forwards as if there was some creature inside trying to escape.

"This wardrobe contains a Boggart," said Professor Lupin. "A Boggart likes dark enclosed spaces; Wardrobes, beneath beds and cupboards under stairs. You get the idea. This one moved in yesterday and I asked the Headmaster if it could be left to give the third years some practice. So can anyone tell me what a Boggart is?"

No one in the class raised their hands.

"Anyone?" asked Professor Lupin. When he did not get a reply he continued. "A Boggart is a shape-shifter; it takes the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us the most."

Adam listened as Professor Lupin taught the class the Riddikulus spell, wondering what the Boggart would turn into for him.

"But saying the spell alone isn't good enough. Anyone care to tell me what they are most afraid of?"

A host of hands shot up in the room. Professor Lupin pointed to one of the Gryffindor girls, one of Ginny's roommates. Adam thought her name was Demelza. Professor Lupin waved her to the front of the class.

"What are you afraid of, Miss Robins?"

"Spiders," she replied with a giggle.

"So visualise the largest spider you can image, and then do something silly with it. Dress it as a clown or put it in a frilly pink dress. This is what you must visualise when the Boggart comes out."

With a flick of his wand Professor Lupin opened the wardrobe and a giant spider leapt out. Adam shuddered; it reminded him of the spiders he and Ginny had found in the forest the previous year. Demelza screamed when she saw the spider.

"Remember the spell!" shouted Professor Lupin.

"R-R-Riddikulus!" she called.

A loud crack sounded in the room and suddenly the spider was wearing a frilly pink dress. It had a clown hat on its head and its legs had been transfigured into wheels. It skidded around the front of the staff room comically and the entire class burst out in laughter.

"Creevey, next!" shouted Professor Lupin.

Colin Creevey stepped in front of the spider. Its form changed into a Basilisk. The sight of the Basilisk caused Adam to jump backwards violently. He also heard Ginny emit a terrified squeak and suddenly felt her hand gripping his.

"Riddikulus!" Colin shouted.

_Crack!_ The basilisk changed. The long muscular body was now gone and the Basilisks disembodied head bobbed up and down attached to a large spring. Just like a jack-in-the-box.

"Next!" Professor Lupin called.

As the next student took their turn with the Boggart, Adam turned to look at Ginny who was still gripping his hand, _hard_.

"You okay?" Adam asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, it just surprised me," Ginny replied softly. "I'm okay."

"Um, Ginny," Adam said awkwardly as he looked at his hand.

"Oh," Ginny blushed. "Sorry," she said, quickly releasing his hand and turning to look towards the front of the room.

They watched as Professor Lupin gave each of the class a turn with the Boggart. As Adam and Ginny had backed away from the Basilisk they were near the back of the class so the last to go.

"Right that's it for today! Well done, all! Head back to the classroom, pick up your books and I will see you next lesson," Professor Lupin announced and with a wave of his wand sealed the Boggart back in the wardrobe.

Adam and Ginny looked at each other bemused.

"Why didn't he let us have a go?" Adam asked.

"Maybe it's because he saw us collapse on the train. He probably thinks we're useless," Ginny replied, she was looking moderately annoyed. She turned on the spot and ran out of the room calling. "Professor Lupin!" as she went.

Adam chased Ginny down the corridor, eventually catching up with her.

"Why didn't you let me and Adam tackle the Boggart, sir?" she asked.

Professor Lupin was staring blankly at Adam.

"Sir?" Adam asked, wondering why he was being stared at.

Professor Lupin blinked at Adam. "Oh…" He hesitated. "Professor Dumbledore warned me about the incident in your first year. He was worried that Tom Riddle might appear in the classroom and I didn't think you would have wanted to explain that."

"But Tom isn't my greatest fear," replied Adam.

"Oh, sorry, then, but I must go now. I've got a class to teach. Goodbye, Miss. Weasley and you, too," Professor Lupin finished and nodded at Adam. The professor then turned around and walked down the corridor away from them.

"I wish he'd let us have a go," said Ginny, summing up Adam's thoughts as they walked towards the Great Hall.

"Well, maybe he will let us have a go in the next lesson," said Adam, as they walked in through the large entrance doors.

They walked together towards the Gryffindor table and Adam sat down next to Ron.

"Hi, guys," said Adam.

"Hi," said Ginny as she sat down next to Adam.

"Hello," replied Hermione, looking up from her meal.

Ron grunted.

"What's up with him?" asked Ginny.

"Oh, Scabbers is ill and Ronald is convinced that Crookshanks is responsible," stated Hermione, with an angry glare at Ron.

"What else would affect a rat AND it started just after you arrived at the Burrow! That cat has never liked Scabbers anyway," Ron said looking up.

"That doesn't mean that Crookshanks is responsible!" Hermione snapped in return. "He could have picked something up at the World Cup!"

Ron's only response was a grunt.

The answer seemed obvious to Adam. "Has anyone taken him to Madam Pomfrey, she could probably tell what's wrong with him," he asked.

"Madam Pomfrey won't treat pets," said Ron.

"What about Hagrid?" asked Ginny.

Adam watched as Hermione stared at Ginny in shock.

"Why didn't I think of that!?" Hermione exclaimed.

Hermione stood up from her chair and grabbed Ron by the collar of his robes. Pulling him to his feet she said. "Come on, Ron, we'll go to Hagrid now and he will tell you that it wasn't Crookshanks!"

Adam turned around and grinned as he watched Hermione dragging Ron towards the staff table where Hagrid was currently sitting.


	5. Chapter 4

**Ginny****  
October 20th 1994**

As the lesson began, Ginny sat down at her usual desk at the back of the Defence classroom.

Defence Against the Dark Arts had rapidly become her favourite lesson, which was amazing considering how mediocre the lessons had been last year and even worse the year before. Ginny was pretty sure that her opinion was shared by the majority of others in their year. She knew that Adam's favourite class was definitely now Defence Against the Dark Arts too.

Ginny wished that the rest of her classes were as good as Professor Lupin's. Charms and Transfiguration were always fun, but always hard work. Unfortunately, Care of Magical Creatures was still fairly boring, with Hagrid still reluctant to show them any exciting creatures. Arithmancy was interesting, but Ginny still hadn't quite wrapped her head around it yet. She was sure it was only a matter of time though, before it all made sense.

The class had now been sitting at their desks for several minutes and Professor Lupin still had not arrived. Ginny glanced over at Adam who was looking equally bemused. As the rest of the class began to realise that Professor Lupin was late, the volume in the classroom began to increase as everyone took advantage of this unexpected break.

"Silence. Take your seats, let's get this lesson started."

Ginny turned to see Professor Snape at the back of the classroom. He swept to the front of the room, his black robes billowing behind him.

"Professor Lupin is ill, so I will be taking this class. However, he did not leave any plans for today's lesson, so we will cover..." Professor Snape paused. "...a relevant topic."

The classroom broke out in whispers. The rest of the class seemed equally disappointed that Snape was teaching it. Ginny saw Adam staring at Professor Snape with a look of disappointment on his face. They both disliked Snape and by extension his potion lessons. Now he was here teaching their favourite subject! It just wasn't fair.

"Silence!" Snape snarled. "All of you turn to page three hundred and ninety four of your books. Today we will be covering Werewolves."

The classroom was filled with the rustling of paper as everyone rushed to find the correct page in their books.

"Now, who can tell me the difference between a Werewolf and a true wolf?" He asked.

The classroom was silent, Ginny guessed that, like her, the rest of the class had no idea of the answer. _Professor Lupin hasn't even covered Werewolves yet!_ she thought in exasperation.

"Anyone?" asked Snape. "Are you telling me that no-one knows the difference? Professor Lupin must be slipping if he cannot even impress upon you the basic difference between the two."

The class sat in silence.

"I shall have to inform Professor Dumbledore, a third year class that would not know a Werewolf if they saw one. It shows a distinct lack in teaching that you are all so far behind."

Ginny had now had enough of Snape. "Sir!" She exclaimed. "We haven't even covered Werewolves yet!"

"Silence!" snapped Snape. "I did not ask for your input, Weasley."

"It's the truth, Professor!" Adam spoke up in her defence.

"Winters, ten points from Gryffindor. I did not ask for input from anyone in the class!"

Ginny gripped the desk, trying to keep her temper in check before she lost more points. Adam slumped in his seat looking angry and upset.

"It looks like it will fall to me to rectify this; the entire class will make notes from your books on Werewolves," Snape announced.

While the class worked, Professor Snape continued to be a git. He prowled the classroom criticising their work and Professor Lupin's teaching. To Ginny's relief he didn't pay much attention to her and Adam, who were sitting near the back of the class. She was still angry that he had taken points off Adam and if he had come to rub her nose in it she would probably have ended up loosing more points or even getting a detention.

Finally the bell rang for the end of the class and Ginny rapidly packed up her things. She wanted to be out of the classroom as soon as possible.

"Wait," Snape announced to the class. "By next lesson you will all write an essay on ways to recognise and kill Werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment. This class obviously needs some remedial attention."

Ginny didn't think she had ever been so relieved to get out of that classroom. At least in the first year Lockhart had just been incompetent, not rude, mean and a bully.  
**  
October 30th 1994**

Ginny and Adam followed Professor McGonagall as she led the Gryffindor's through the castle towards the main entrance. Arriving at the entrance, she arranged the students into year order.

"Attention all," Professor McGonagall announced to the Gryffindor's once they had reached the entrance hall. "Today we greet the Headmasters and students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. I expect you all to be on your best behaviour. You are not only representing your house and school but all of Wizarding Britain."

Professor McGonagall and the other heads of houses arranged their houses into lines. Ginny scanned the grounds looking for any sign of the visiting schools. There was nothing yet.

"There!" A shout went up from one of the students just behind her.

Ginny scanned the area until she spotted a speck that seemed to be hovering over the forest.

"It's a dragon!" cried one of the first years.

"Don't be stupid! It's a flying house," shouted Colin Creevey's brother; Dennis.

As the spec grew closer, Ginny could begin to make out what it was. Dennis' guess was actually very close. The approaching object was a giant powder blue carriage the size of a large house. It was pulled through the air by twelve giant flying horses. The carriage swooped low as it soared towards the assembled crowd of Hogwarts staff and students. Some of the first years in the front jumped back as the giant carriage came to a jarring halt in front of them.

Once the carriage had come to a complete stop, a young man dressed all in blue emerged and lowered a set of gold steps. The main door of the carriage opened and the largest woman Ginny had ever seen emerged. The only person who compared to her size was Hagrid. She walked with a regal dignity towards the assembled Hogwarts students.

"My dear, Madame Maxime," said Professor Dumbledore. "Welcome to Hogwarts!"

"Dumbly-dorr," replied Madame Maxine in a deep voice. She gestured towards the carriage. "My pupils."

From the carriage emerged a line of boys and girls, Ginny thought there were about a dozen of them. They were all wearing blue robes which seemed to shimmer slightly in the early evening sunlight.

"The robes look nice," Adam commented. "But they can't be very warm, they're all shivering!"

Ginny looked back towards the entrance of the grounds while the Beauxbatons headmistress chatted with Professor Dumbledore. Suddenly an eerie silence fell across the gathered Hogwarts students; in the distance they could hear a faint rumbling and sucking sound.

"The lake!" yelled someone from the crowd. "Look at the lake!"

Ginny turned and looked towards the lake. The surface was no longer smooth as she was normally used to seeing it. There were now large bubbles on the surface. Then suddenly the bubbles became a whirlpool and from the centre of the whirlpool there emerged a mast. Durmstrang School had arrived on a giant ship! Ginny had never seen anything quite like it. The ship came to a stop, a gangplank was thrown down from the side of it and people began disembarking.

When the Durmstrang students neared the school, Ginny saw they were all wearing identical fur coats. The lead figure, however, was wearing a different coat.

"Dumbledore!" he called as he approached the school.

"Greetings, Professor Karkaroff," Professor Dumbledore replied as the man approached him and they shook hands.

Ginny watched with interest as the Durmstrang students passed her on their way into the school. One of them caught Ginny's and the other Hogwarts students' attention and a low murmur of recognition began rumbling through the gathered students.

"It's Viktor Krum!" she exclaimed loudly.

"The Quidditch star?" Adam asked. "He's still at school?"

"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down.

Ginny's eyes followed Viktor Krum until he entered the buildings.

"Gryffindors!" Professor McGonagall called, once all the visitors had entered the castle. "Make your way inside to the Great Hall."

"Do you know what happens now?" Adam asked as they began to make their way inside.

She shrugged. "No idea, I guess they choose the champions," she responded. "I bet Krum will get chosen!"

Adam laughed and Ginny turned to look at him.

"I think someone _like_s Krum!" he teased.

_How dare he!_

Ginny snorted and gave Adam a playful push as revenge. She lengthened her strides and strode off ahead of him, grinning to herself as she heard Adam jogging to catch up.  
**  
****Adam****  
October 31st 1994**

Adam tucked into his meal, the Halloween feast this year was as delicious as it was every year. However, it seemed to Adam that all the occupants of the Great Hall were tense, waiting in anticipation for the Goblet of Fire to choose the three champions. To Adam, The Goblet of Fire was yet another example showing that nothing in the Wizarding world was ever done the simple way; the headmasters of the three schools couldn't simply pick their best students. No, they needed a giant magical cup to pick for them.

To prevent anyone under seventeen from entering the tournament, Professor Dumbledore had drawn an age line around the goblet. Adam suspected that the Weasley twins had attempted to get past it, but he hadn't seen them try anything. Part of him hoped that they didn't succeed. He could imagine Mrs Weasley's fury if they actually ended up in the tournament! Although, if one of them did become champion, it was sure to be a laugh.

"The Goblet is now ready to make its decision," Professor Dumbledore announced once all the plates in the Great Hall were finally empty.

With a wave of the Headmaster's wand, the lights in the hall immediately dimmed, causing several gasps from around the room. The only light now came from the little candles in the floating pumpkins that were hung over the tables.

Suddenly the room was bathed in a red glow as the colour of the goblet changed and sparks began to fly from it. Then a flame roared into the air and with it a small piece of parchment flew out of the goblet. The room gasped and all the Professors and visitors on the staff table looked on intently.

"The first Champion," called Professor Dumbledore, as he deftly caught the fluttering piece of parchment. "Viktor Krum!"

The Great Hall erupted in applause and Adam found himself clapping. Viktor Krum stood and made his way to the small door that led into the next chamber. The rousing applause for Viktor Krum was cut short as the goblet once again erupted in red flame and another piece of parchment emerged.

"Fleur Delacour!"

Once again applause swept the chamber. Although this time, Adam noticed that some of the girls from Beauxbatons who had not been selected had burst into tears. He felt his eyes drawn to Fleur as she made her way between the house tables to the staff table. The Goblet didn't waste any time and, before Fleur had even left the hall, the final parchment emerged.

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!"

The Hufflepuff table went crazy as Cedric's housemates began jumping around and screaming with joy. The rest of Hogwarts was applauding politely, though Adam guessed each house was disappointed, like he was, that someone from their house hadn't been made champion. Adam knew that Angelina Johnson had entered from Gryffindor, but he wasn't sure who else had.

The light in the hall dropped as the fire in the goblet slowly died away.

"We now have our three champions! They will each compete in three dangerous tasks. These tasks will test their courage, magical skill and physical fitness. The students from each school will be present at the tasks to support their chosen champion. The first task will be held on November 24th and will be unlike anything you have seen before." Professor Dumbledore concluded and with a wave of his wand the lights in the room returned to their normal level.  
**  
November 19th 1994**

The first Hogsmeade weekend brought a buzz of excitement to the school. Adam couldn't wait, he had heard the twins, Ron, Hermione and Neville talk about the village but now he and Ginny were old enough to go!

"I want to try to visit all the shops today, but I definitely want to check out Zonko's, Honeydukes and then maybe we can pop into the Three Broomsticks!" Ginny chattered excitedly as they ate their breakfasts.

Once they had both finished, Adam and Ginny eagerly made their way out of the castle. Even though it was a bright sunny day it was still cold, so Adam had decided to wear his prized Weasley jumper.

"You wear that jumper so often it's going to get worn out," commented Ginny as they made their way towards the main gate.

"It's my favourite," Adam said, moving his hands over the jumper's thick wool.

Once they reached the main gate, they saw a line in front of the school caretaker Argus Filch. He was checking all the students who were leaving for Hogsmeade against a list.

"He must be making sure no one who isn't allowed gets out," Adam commented.

Adam and Ginny joined the queue and excitedly waited for their turn. Filch seemed to be incredibly slow at checking each student out of the gates, but eventually Adam and Ginny were only a few people from the front.

"Mr. Winters!" A voice called from behind them.

Adam spun around and saw Professor McGonagall walking rapidly towards him from the direction of the school.

"Adam!" she called. "Step out of the line please."

"I'll catch up with you," Adam said to Ginny, as he stepped aside to talk to Professor McGonagall.

"Adam, I am very sorry to tell you that you will not be able to go to Hogsmeade today," said Professor McGonagall.

"What?" Adam replied disbelievingly. It must be some mistake.

"There was a problem with your consent form. Apparently Mr. Weasley isn't allowed to sign it for you."

"B-b-but, you said it would be alright!" Adam accused, his face crumpling in disappointment.

"I know, I am sorry, but Professor Dumbledore told me only this morning that it isn't. Apparently it must be signed by a parent or guardian."

"I don't have either of those!" Adam snapped.

"I know. I wish Professor Dumbledore had told me earlier; then we could have sorted something out. He is adamant that you need to stay inside the school grounds."

Adam couldn't believe that this was happening! He had been looking forward to going to Hogsmeade all year, and now he couldn't go, all because of Professor Dumbledore!

"It's not fair!" said Adam angrily and he kicked a nearby stone in frustration.

"I am sorry, Adam, I did try for you," Professor McGonagall said sadly.

"It's not your fault Professor, I'm just really disappointed."

Adam felt Professor McGonagall pat his shoulder as she turned and began walking back towards the school. Adam looked around trying to spot where Ginny had gotten to; she was standing just outside the gates waiting for him. Adam's expression fell as he saw her wave excitedly. Tiredly waving back, he sprinted up to the fence and beckoned Ginny over to him.

"I'm not allowed to go!"

"What?" Ginny responded.

"Professor Dumbledore said I can't go because your dad signed my form and it needs to be a parent or guardian."

"But, you..." Ginny trailed off and her face fell in disappointment as the news sank in.

"I know," replied Adam.

"It's not fair!" Ginny cried angrily.

"It bloody sucks!" Adam snapped.

"I'll come back inside then," said Ginny, sighing.

Adam was torn. He didn't want Ginny to miss out on this just because of him, but he really enjoyed spending time with Ginny and wanted to spend the day with her. However, he would feel guilty all day if he stopped her going.

"No! Don't spoil your day because of me!" said Adam, coming to a decision.

"Adam...." Ginny said weakly. "I don't mind staying with you."

"Ginny, you've been excited about this for weeks. Go! Please."

Adam and Ginny stared at each other for a few seconds. Ginny seemed torn between staying and going. Adam didn't wait to see what she would do; instead, he turned around and stormed back up to the school, angry and disappointed that he hadn't been allowed to go.  
**  
****Ginny****  
November 19th 1994**

Ginny watched as Adam stormed back towards the school. She stood still for a few seconds debating whether she should go to Hogsmeade or go back with Adam. She couldn't believe that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let Adam go and that he hadn't told him until today.

Eventually, Ginny turned and began walking towards Hogsmeade village. As she walked down the path towards the village, she suddenly felt a chill beginning to come over her. _Dementors! _The Dementors must be nearby, watching the gate to the school. She quickened her pace, until she was nearly running. Eventually, as she put distance between herself and the school gates, the feeling faded.

Hogsmeade village was a cluster of houses and cottages, some had old-fashioned thatched roofs and some were more modern looking. There was only a single major street running through the centre of the village, with several minor streets branching off at intervals to the right and left. Entering the village she felt strangely lonely as she walked down the high street.

As she walked, Ginny looked around and saw the shops that her brothers had told her about. Crowds of Hogwarts students moved from shop to shop or stood about in groups chattering noisily.

Ginny decided her first visit should be Honeydukes. She wanted to try their sweets and had been saving her pocket money to buy some. She excitedly browsed the shelves, selecting some Sugar Quills, Ice Mice, Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands and portioning them out into two bags.

After leaving Honeydukes, Ginny wandered along the high street taking in the sights. Hogsmeade really was a magical village. On her way down the street she spotted Ron, Hermione and Neville walking towards her.

"Hi, Ginny!" Hermione said, waving when she saw her.

"Hi," responded Ginny.

"Where's Adam?" Ron asked.

"Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let him come, there was a problem with his consent form."

"He never gets any luck does he," Ron commented.

"Nope," replied Ginny glumly.

"Do you want to come and join us in the Three Broomsticks?" Neville asked suddenly.

"No thanks. I'm just going to look around the rest of the shops and then head back," she replied, somehow without Adam the thought of spending the entire day in the village was less appealing to her.

Ginny visited the rest of the shops in Hogsmeade. She spent a while in Zonko's but didn't buy anything. By lunchtime Ginny had finished her shopping, so she left Hogsmeade and walked back up to the school.

When she arrived back in the Gryffindor common room, it was largely empty. Nearly all the third years and above were at Hogsmeade and the younger students were out enjoying the sunshine. As soon as she stepped into the common room, she spotted Adam sitting facing away from her on a sofa near the window. Being extra careful to keep quiet, Ginny moved to behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

Adam leapt up in surprise and Ginny couldn't help but laugh at her friend.

"Got you!" She giggled.

"Hey, your back already," Adam beamed at her. "I was really bored here."

Adam shifted to one side of the sofa and Ginny sat down next to him.

"So what was it like?" he questioned.

"The shops were awesome!"

"Did you go in the Three Broomsticks?" Adam asked.

"No, I didn't particularly fancy going in there on my own," Ginny lied. She didn't feel comfortable revealing that she had turned down an invitation from Ron, Hermione and Neville to come back see him.

"Ah," Adam said nodding.

Suddenly remembering her purchases from the afternoon, Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out her two bags of sweets.

"I got us some sweets from Honeydukes," she said brightly.

"Oh, Ginny you didn't have to!" Adam exclaimed.

"Hush and eat," Ginny ordered with a smile as she began to tuck into her sweets.

Adam snorted. "Yes, boss."

**Adam****  
November 24th 1994**

The entirety of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry had assembled in the rapidly constructed stadium that would hold the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Even though Professor Dumbledore had claimed at the welcoming feast that the tournament would take up lots of school time, it hadn't seemed that way to Adam, at least not so far. Apart from the obvious visitors from the other schools, the tournament hadn't seemed to affect the lives of the third years since Halloween. Adam had heard from the twins that there had apparently been a ceremony to do with the champion's wands but only the champions and judges had been allowed to attend that. The tournament didn't seem worth cancelling Quidditch for, at least not yet.

The stadium that had been erected for the first task was very similar to the Hogwarts Quidditch stadium, except that it overlooked a much smaller area. The site of the task was a small rocky field between the stands, forming a sort of arena. There were two gates into this rocky area at either end of the stadium, presumably for the champions to enter and exit. Professor Dumbledore had told all the Hogwarts students that to ensure the task was a surprise for the champions no one other than the judges would know what it was before it began. So Adam was desperately trying to figure out what they could do with a rocky area and boulders that would be challenging for the champions.

"Welcome to the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" an announcer called and the crowd erupted into cheers. "I am Ludo Bagman, the representative from the Department of Magical Sports and Games! In their First Task our champions are going to have to challenge Dragons!"

As he finished talking, the gates at one end of the arena swung open and a group of handlers brought in a dragon with bright scarlet scales. Adam had never seen anything like it before, the dragon was huge. Adam was suddenly very glad that he wasn't a champion in this tournament.

"It's Charlie!" Ginny cried out suddenly pointing towards a red headed man who was currently attempting to calm the dragon.

"Did you know he was here?" Adam asked.

"No! I can't believe he didn't tell me!"

"I guess it may have given away that there were dragons, if he had told anyone he was here," Adam mused.

The handlers had at last gotten the dragon into position and one of them signalled to Mr Bagman.

"A golden egg has been placed in the dragon's nest. Our champions must retrieve the egg and they will be scored on how well they do," he announced to the crowd.

Adam noticed for the first time a glint of gold coming from a pile of sticks behind the dragon.

"Please welcome our first champion, Viktor Krum!"

When Viktor Krum emerged, he charged straight towards the dragon firing off a spell that Adam didn't recognise. The dragon immediately began thrashing around madly, as if trying to swat an annoying fly that it couldn't see. Krum ran towards the dragon, deftly avoiding its wild thrashing, snuck past it and retrieved the egg.

The Durmstrang students burst out in applause.

"He blinded the dragon!" Ginny exclaimed.

Before Adam could figure out exactly what Viktor Krum had done, Mr Bagman called over the noise of the stadium. "Viktor Krum receives forty five points from the judges!"

The dragon handlers were back in the arena, wrestling the one dragon out of the way, while a second group brought in a second dragon. This one was green instead of red. Adam hadn't realised that dragons came in different colours and he watched eagerly as Charlie and the other dragon handlers escorted the red dragon out of the arena.

"And now our next champion Fleur Delacour!" announced Mr Bagman and once again the arena filled with applause.

Fleur took a completely different tactic, she cast a spell and the dragon seemed to become drowsy and eventually fell asleep. Once the dragon was sleeping soundly, Fleur attempted to sneak past. However, as she passed the dragon it let out a mighty snore that echoed around the stadium. With the snore came a burst of flame, setting Fleur's skirt alight.

"Ouch!" Adam exclaimed as he watched Fleur attempt to extinguish her flaming skirt.

Adam was pleased to see that Fleur soon managed to extinguish her fiery skirt and retrieve the egg.

"Well done, Miss Delacour!" called Bagman. "But are the judges going to penalise her for that slight mishap...." Mr Bagman paused while the judge's scores were totalled. "Yes, they are! It's thirty five points to Fleur Delacour!"

The Beauxbatons students applauded wildly and Adam joined in enthusiastically with their applause.

"Now Ladies and Gentlemen let's welcome our final champion Cedric Diggory!" announced Mr Bagman.

A third dragon was brought into the arena. This one was a light blue color.

Adam applauded excitedly along with the rest of Hogwarts. Cedric may not be in his house, but he was the champion for the whole school. Cedric had yet another unique tactic to use against the dragon. He transfigured a rock into a dog, which ran around the arena and managed to distract the dragon. Once the dragon was distracted, Cedric agilely ran past and before Adam could see exactly what was happening, he appeared on the other side of the dragon with an egg in his hand.

The crowd erupted into joyful celebration, Cedric had done it!

"The judges have awarded Cedric Diggory forty-five points! Diggory and Krum are in joint first place!" shouted Mr Bagman over the applause of the assembled crowd of Hogwarts students.

The cheering of the Hogwarts students intensified and the parts of the stadium that the Hufflepuffs occupied seemed to be leaping about wildly in celebration.

The cheering began to die off as the sky became suddenly dark. The wind grew cold and Adam shivered. The cold continued to intensify and Adam despaired; he looked over the stadium and saw a host of black shapes approaching. He began to shiver violently, his legs felt like jelly and he was finding it incredibly difficult to stay on his feet. As darkness began to cloud his vision, he lent to one side, attempting to find Ginny to support him. He couldn't find her, and with a grunt of pain he felt his legs give way as the darkness finally closed around him.

_He was looking up a woman with red hair, and a man in a dark black cloak and hood._

"This is my last warning," the man said as he towered over him.

"Not my son! No! Please no, take me, kill me instead," the woman cried as she moved to stand between the man and him.

"Stand aside, girl!" the man said.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The room was filled with a green light and the woman dropped to the floor.


	6. Chapter 5

**Ginny****  
****November 24th 1994**

"_You stupid girl ..... it's all your fault,_" At the sound of Tom's voice, Ginny realised that the Dementors were coming. However, she was ready for the voice this time.

Doing her best to ignore the taunting voice in her head, she looked around the stadium. The other students were screaming. Some were cowering where they had been standing and some were running for the exits. Adam was standing next to her staring into space and trembling slightly.

Suddenly, Adam grunted and Ginny watched with horror as he crumpled to the floor like a rag doll. As he fell, he toppled forwards and landed on his front, in a heap, amongst the group of terrified first years in the row in front.

Ginny leapt to Adam's side, pushing the first years out of the way. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Wake up! Wake up!" she called to him as she rolled him onto his back.

Adam's eyes were wide open and he was starting straight ahead.

"Adam!" she cried desperately.

Adam did not respond, but his body began to twitch.

"Arghhhh!" Adam screamed, raising his hands to cover his face. "ARGHHH!"

Adam tensed and then slumped motionless onto the floor.

"What's wrong with him?" one of the first years asked.

"I don't know! I don't know!" Ginny cried. "Adam! Please wake up!"

Ginny felt herself begin to cry as Adam still did not respond.

"Ginny!" she heard a voice call.

Ginny looked up and saw Professor Lupin racing through the crowds of students towards her.

"He won't respond! Help him!" Ginny pleaded.

Professor Lupin reached Adam and waved his wand over him.

"I need to get him to the Hospital Wing," said Professor Lupin. He picked up Adam and began pushing his way through the crowds towards the castle.

Ginny got to her feet and ran after Professor Lupin, she needed to make sure Adam was alright. As she ran, she noticed the Dementors were now all gone. Her panic and desperation to help Adam had driven Tom's voice from her mind, so she hadn't noticed when they had been driven off.

When they reached the Hospital Wing, Professor Lupin placed Adam on a bed and shouted for Madam Pomfrey. The nurse soon arrived and quickly ushered her and Professor Lupin out of the cubicle so she could treat her patient.

"You can go back to Gryffindor tower now, Ginny," said Professor Lupin. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I'm staying," replied Ginny stubbornly. She was ready to argue with the Professor over this.

"Okay," Professor Lupin replied simply.

Ginny turned to look at Professor Lupin, surprised that he had let her stay without an argument. "Why do Dementors affect him so badly?" she asked.

Professor Lupin paused and looked at her. "It's probably because he has some bad memories in his past," he said. "That's what Dementors do. They make you re-live your worst memories. The worse the memory the stronger the reaction."

Ginny didn't want to think about what Adam's worst memory must be if Tom Riddle only made her feel queasy.

A few minutes later, the sound of curtains moving behind her made Ginny jump. "He's awake," Madam Pomfrey announced, appearing through the curtains.

Ginny leapt to her feet and dashed into the cubicle. When she reached Adam's bed she saw he was now sitting up, propped up by pillows and looking very pale. Ginny was relieved to see him smile when she approached his bed.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," replied Ginny. She sat down on the edge of the bed, allowing Professor Lupin to take the only chair.

"Madam Pomfrey says you'll be alright in a couple of hours. You did hit your head on the way down, so she wants to monitor you for a bit," said Professor Lupin.

Adam nodded.

"What happened?" Ginny asked. Adam had not reacted this badly to the Dementor on the train.

"Take your time," Professor Lupin added. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"I-I," Adam hesitated. "I think I saw my mum."

"How?" Ginny asked softly. _How could he have seen his mum?_

"I don't know. It was all sort of blurry, but I could make her out. She had red hair, kind-of like yours Ginny, but darker and I heard her voice!" he replied excitedly.

"Are you sure it was your mother?" Professor Lupin asked intently.

"Yes! She called me her _son_!" Adam said, looking almost excited. Then his face screwed up in concentration. "I think she was trying to protect me from something. There was a man in a cloak and she was standing between me and him."

"What happened then?" Ginny asked, leaning forward slightly.

"The man shouted something and then there was lots of green light. Mum fell to the floor and then I woke up here."

"What did he shout?" Ginny asked curiously.

"I think it was spell," Adam frowned. "I can't remember the words... it's all kind-of fuzzy."

"Professor, do you know any spells that make a green light?" asked Ginny, turning to Professor Lupin. She noticed that Professor Lupin was suddenly looking very pale. "Is everything alright, sir?"

"Yeah," Professor Lupin sighed. "There is only one spell that's green. The Killing Curse."

Ginny gasped in horror. _The Dementors make Adam see his mum being killed!_

"So," Adam said impassively. "I saw my mum being killed?"

"Yes," replied Professor Lupin shakily. He was still very pale.

Ginny didn't know what to say. She was amazed that Adam didn't seem that upset; he had just seen his mother being killed!

"I'm sorry, I need to go," said Professor Lupin suddenly and without another word, he dashed out of the room.

"Are you okay?" asked Ginny, taking Adam's hand, once Professor Lupin had left.

"Yeah, got a bit of a headache, but other than that I'm good," said Adam with a smile. "I think my story upset Professor Lupin more than me."

"You do seem awfully calm about your mother," Ginny commented, then, despite everything, she giggled. "It did seem to bother Professor Lupin more than you!"

"It's strange, it's actually nice to know that I wasn't abandoned because she didn't want me," Adam laughed. "That is so messed up."

"Do you not have any other memories of your parents?" asked Ginny.

"None," replied Adam. "So it's kinda nice, in that way, knowing a bit about what she looked like."

"So bad memories are better than no memories at all?" asked Ginny curiously.

"Yeah," Adam replied hesitantly, looking as if he was still trying to figure it out himself.

They sat there in silence. Ginny still didn't know what to say.

"I'll go and see if Madam Pomfrey will let you out," Ginny said finally, and she stood up and left in search of the nurse.  
**  
****Remus****  
November 24th 1994**

"Why the hell were the Dementors in the school grounds?" snarled Remus as he barged into Albus' office.

"They were attracted by the intensity of emotions in the stadium and decided to ignore their orders," Albus replied angrily. "I have called the Minister about it. I have told him that if he cannot control the Dementors then they must be removed," Albus' expression softened. "How is Mr. Winters? Did he see anything?"

"He's fine," Remus paused and swallowed the lump that threatened to appear in his throat. "From what he described he remembered Lily being killed."

"Has he realised what that means?" Albus asked intently.

Remus sighed sadly. "He seemed simply pleased to now have some memories of his mother. He realised she must have been killed by a wizard but hasn't made any connections beyond that."

Remus watched as Albus visibly relaxed; his precious secret now safe.

"We have had a very narrow escape here, Remus. I am regretting now agreeing to allow the Dementors here and if I can't get the Minister to agree to remove them, then we will need to teach Adam how to repel them. We can't have him recalling anything else from that night."

"He's only fourteen! There's no way he could perform the Patronus charm!" Remus exclaimed. "We don't even teach it at NEWT level!"

"I think you'll find Adam is a very capable wizard."

Remus felt a surge of pride. "Well, he would be, wouldn't he."

"Give me some time to approach to Minister about removing the Dementors. If I am unsuccessful then I want you to teach Adam the Patronus charm," Albus instructed.

"What if he asks why he's being taught this?" asked Remus.

"Simply tell him it is because he has a strong reaction to Dementors."

Remus sighed heavily. "Very well. I need to head back to the Hospital wing to check on Harry," he said. "Good day, Headmaster."

**Ginny****  
December 9th 1994**

Ginny scribbled furiously at the sheet of parchment in front of her. Pausing for a second, she glared up at Professor Snape who was sitting at his desk.

"It will do no good glaring at me, Weasley. Finish your lines," he said smugly.

Ginny grumbled under her breath and continued with her lines. In her opinion she had been well justified in what she had done. Draco Malfoy had been taunting Adam for fainting during the First Task. They had ignored him for well over a week until it had finally gotten too much. Adam had flipped and nearly punched Malfoy, but she had gotten there first with an extremely well placed Stinging Hex to his bits.

Apart from Draco Malfoy, life for Ginny had returned to normal since the drama of the First Task. The Triwizard tournament had taken a back seat to everyday life at Hogwarts, with the second task still being some months away.

Once Ginny had finally finished her lines, she left Snape's classroom and began climbing the large number of stairs back to Gryffindor tower. Having decided to stop to use the loo on the way back, Ginny was washing her hands in the sink when Hermione burst in through the door.

"Hi, Ginny!" she exclaimed when she saw her. "What are you doing here at this time of night?"

"Just had detention with Snape," Ginny replied grimly.

"I've just been to the library," Hermione commented. "Oh!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Did you hear about the ball?"

"No! What ball?"

"They're having a Yule Ball on Christmas eve for all the fourth years and above!"

"How does that involve me?" Ginny asked. She was only a third year. She wouldn't be able to go.

"If someone in the fourth year asks you, you can go!" Hermione replied excitedly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come on, Hermione! Who would want to ask me?"

"Oh Ginny! You're really pretty. Someone will definitely ask you!" Hermione said with a smile on her face.

Ginny wasn't so sure.

"Hermione, what's up with you? You seem so bubbly," Ginny asked. She had never seen Hermione get so excited for something as girly as getting a date for the ball.

Hermione looked around as if checking they were alone in the bathroom.

"Okay, but you must promise not to tell anyone, not even Adam?" she asked.

"Okay..." Ginny replied hesitantly.

"I was in the library and _Viktor Krum_ just asked me to go to the Ball with him!" Hermione replied, practically bouncing up and down.

Ginny gasped, speechless.

"I know! I was so shocked! He asked me! ME!"

"Hermione! If you don't want anyone to know you need to calm down!" Ginny exclaimed. "Anyway," Ginny continued carefully. "Did you not think about going with my brother?"

Hermione snorted. "Ron? He won't go with me. He spent the whole day after Professor McGonagall told us asking me for advice on who he could ask!" replied Hermione.

Ginny thought that Hermione looked slightly sad as she said this, but she wasn't sure.

Once Hermione had finally calmed down, the two girls made their way back up to the Gryffindor common room. They walked through the portrait hole and Ginny spotted Adam sitting on one of the chairs pouring over some piece of homework. She groaned, they had so much homework these days.

Ginny sat down on the chair next to Adam causing him to jump slightly.

"Hi," he said with a grin.

"Thank Merlin that's over with!" she exclaimed.

"You didn't have to get in detention for me," Adam replied. "I'd have punched him myself."

"Hush, it's fine!" Ginny admonished. "Did you hear about the Ball?"

"What?"

"There's a Yule Ball for the fourth years and above," said Ginny.

"So we can't go, then?" Adam asked.

"We can if someone asks us to go with them," Ginny said.

"So we can only go if someone asks us?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Ginny said. "But no one's going to ask me!"

"Sure they will!" Adam replied. "I'd ask you!"

Ginny turned to look at Adam who had suddenly blushed bright red when he realised what he had just said.

"N-N-Not that it would get us anywhere, I mean," Adam stammered.

Ginny sighed. It was a pity she and Adam couldn't simply go to the Yule ball together.

"We'll just have to wait and see, I guess. Maybe both of us will find someone to go with," said Ginny trying to sound positive.  
**  
December 17th 1994**

"So a Cheering Charm, if overdone causes the subject to go into a fit of hysterical laughter. This means that it is important to be able to correctly judge the strength required," said Adam.

"Yep, that sounds good," Ginny replied.

Ginny sighed and glanced down at her essay. The way she had written it in hers didn't sound anywhere near as good as Adam's, but she couldn't change it now. She would get accused of copying Adam.

"Ginny?" said a voice from behind her.

Ginny turned from where she was sitting and saw Neville standing behind the sofa.

"Hi, Neville," she said.

Ginny watched as Neville fidgeted uncomfortably on the spot, he was glancing around the room furtively as well. Ginny wondered what he was up to.

"Um, Ginny," Neville blushed. "Would you," he paused. "Gototheballwithme," he finally rattled off very quickly in a nearly inaudible mumble.

_He asked me to go to the ball!_

Ginny was elated, someone had asked her to go to the ball!

"Oh, yes, Neville, of course I will!" she exclaimed happily.

Neville's face broke out into a massive grin.

"Thanks, Ginny!" he replied beaming.

Neville left and as he walked back over to the other side of the common room, Ginny was pleased to see he had a spring in his step. She turned back to Adam excited to tell him the good news, but he was staring intently at the parchment in front of him.

"Did you hear that?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Yep," Adam replied, still looking straight ahead. "So you get to go, then!"

Adam turned to look at her with a strange expression on his face. "So... Neville."

"Yes! I get to go to the ball! And Neville is a sweet boy," Ginny replied.

"Yeah, brilliant," said Adam flatly.

"Adam? What's the matter?" Ginny asked, puzzled. "I thought you would be happy for me."

"I am!" Adam said loudly, glaring at her.

Ginny glared back at him, deciding that if he wanted to glare at her, she would glare at him too.

"I need to go," Adam said in a huff. He stood up and charged up the boys' staircase.

Ginny watched, slightly bemused, as he went. _What was up with him?_ Suddenly it hit her. Adam was jealous; no one in the fourth year seemed to want to go with him, so in all likeliness he wouldn't be able to go.

Ginny hoped Adam would be able to find someone to go with. It wouldn't be the same without him there.  
**  
December 24th 1994**

Ginny looked at her appearance in the mirror for what felt like the hundredth time. At last when she looked at her reflection, she felt moderately satisfied. She was wearing a long black and white dress that her mum had bought her. The dress was black from the top down to the waist and then it swirled in a mixed black and white pattern down to the floor. There were floral patterns embroidered onto the material. She wasn't sure where he mum had gotten it, but she was very pleased with how it looked.

Her mother had seemed ridiculously excited at the prospect of her going to the Ball. Ginny, meanwhile, was decidedly nervous. She had never worn a dress as fine as this one. Part of her was sure she wouldn't do it justice. She preferred to spend her time in jeans and a t-shirt. She only ever wore dresses for special events.

Ginny had spent ages on her hair, carefully clipping it back so that it at all hung neatly along the back of her head and over her shoulders. She didn't want it hanging over her ears, getting in way and obscuring her vision the way it normally did. She spun around on the spot enjoying the way the dress seemed to billow out around her. Glancing at the clock in her dormitory she saw she only had five minutes until she had to be downstairs, so she moved to the doorway and poked her head out.

She was just about to go downstairs to the common room, when one of the seventh year girls bustled past her wearing a sleek, form-fitting evening dress. Ginny shrank back inside her room shyly. She looked rubbish compared to that girl!

_Come on, Ginny! You aren't shy!_

She forced herself to step gingerly onto the staircase and made her way down to the common room. When she reached the common room, she saw there were several boys waiting around in their dress robes. Some of the girls were already here mingling with their dates. Ginny spotted Adam sitting on one of the sofas wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She was really disappointed that he hadn't been able to find a date for the ball.

She saw Adam's eyes meet hers and his expression changed into a massive grin. He stood up and made his way over to her.

"Wow, Ginny! You look awesome!" said Adam with a blush.

Ginny felt a surge of pleasure at the compliment; she knew that Adam was very disappointed that he couldn't go to the Yule Ball.

"Neville is lucky," Adam continued and he pointed over her shoulder. "Go on."

Ginny turned around and saw Neville waiting timidly in the corner, she walked over to him and he held out his arm for her to take.

"Ginny, you look very nice," he said shyly.

Ginny smiled. "Thanks, Neville. Shall we go?"

Neville nodded. As they left the common room Ginny looked over her shoulder and saw Adam sitting on his own on a sofa looking rather lonely. Ginny waved brightly at him as she stepped out of the portrait hole.

**Adam****  
December 25th 1994**

Adam dozed in his chair in the Gryffindor common room. He didn't quite know why he had stayed in the common room all evening. The common room had been strangely empty all night with only the first, second and a smattering of third years still in Gryffindor tower. Most of these had made their way to bed reasonably early, leaving Adam alone.

He hoped that Ginny was having a good time at the ball, he honestly did. He was very aware that he had been an arse to her at times about it, but he was very envious that she got to go and he didn't. It was a very selfish thing, he reflected, that he had felt so jealous when Neville had asked Ginny. _Lucky her for getting to go to the ball_...

The sound of the portrait hole opening behind him disturbed Adam and he peered over the back of the seat watching as two seventh year's stumbled into the common room, both of them giggling. For the previous hour or so there had been a steady stream of people returning from the ball but Ginny had not returned yet.

Eventually the portrait hole opened and Ginny and Neville stepped through. They appeared absorbed in conversation. Ginny was smiling, still looking as nice as she had when she left for the ball many hours earlier. Adam watched as Neville slowly dipped his head and kissed Ginny on the lips.

Adam was aware, as he watched them, that he was intruding on a private moment, but he couldn't look away. He felt a strange flush of anger. He gripped the sofa he was sitting in harder, his hands sinking deep into the fabric of the cushions as he resisted the urge to leap out of his seat and charge over to Ginny.

When he saw Ginny pull back from the kiss Adam ducked down out of sight below the back of the seat. It wouldn't go down well if Ginny saw him spying on her. No, that would not be good.

Adam waited for Ginny and Neville to leave the room, busily trying to suppress the intense feeling of jealousy he had felt when Neville kissed Ginny. He had to figure out what had made him feel that way.

Yawing hugely, he glanced around the room, hoping that Ginny had left the room and hadn't heard him. Luckily she had already gone upstairs.

Finally, tired and slightly confused, Adam decided to make his way up to bed.


	7. Chapter 6

**Adam  
January 5th 1995**

Adam packed up his books at the end of their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year. Yet again it had been another very interesting lesson. Today they had begun covering Grindylows, which were creatures that lived underwater. Professor Lupin had even captured a sample for the class to look at. They didn't look particularly fearsome to Adam...just very ugly.

Adam and Ginny walked side by side as they filed out of the classroom. He hadn't mentioned to Ginny that he had seen her kiss Neville. Equally, much to Adam's delight, Ginny hadn't treated Neville any differently since then. So everything proceeded as if nothing had happened.

Ginny had told Adam all about the Yule Ball and while he was still a touch jealous that he hadn't been able to go, he was happy that Ginny had enjoyed herself... even if his feelings were still confused on the matter.

"Stay after class please, Adam," Professor Lupin called as they approached the door.

Once the rest of the class had left, only Professor Lupin, Adam and Ginny, who was waiting near the door, were left in the classroom. Professor Lupin sat down on one of the front desks and motioned for Adam to follow him.

"Is everything okay, Professor?" Adam asked curiously.

Professor Lupin sighed. "The Headmaster has asked me to teach you a spell to drive away the Dementors, as you have such a severe reaction to them," he stated, looking straight at Adam. "It's called the Patronus Charm and is a very advanced spell."

"Brilliant!" Adam exclaimed. He always loved learning new spells.

"This will require hard work on your part," Professor Lupin said, almost winking at him. "However, I'm sure you're up to it!"

"Yes, sir!" Adam replied enthusiastically.

"Very good! How about Wednesday evenings after dinner? I expect the lessons will take up most of the evening."

Adam turned to look at Ginny. While he had been talking to Professor Lupin she had stepped slowly towards the back of the class as if she felt she was intruding on something private.

"That's fine, sir," said Adam. He then added, not wanting Ginny to be left out, "Ginny has problems with Dementors, too. Can she come?"

"That's fine. In fact, I half expected it," Professor Lupin answered with a smile. "I'll see you both next Wednesday then."

Ginny walked back towards the front of the classroom, smiling widely at the prospect of learning a new spell.

"Thanks, Professor!" she said brightly.

Once she had thanked the Professor, Ginny began making her way out of the classroom, but Adam hesitated, remaining where he was.

"Adam?" Professor Lupin asked. "Was there something else?"

Adam paused. Over the last few weeks, he had found his thoughts returning to his the vision he'd had of his mother. Neither himself or Ginny had been able to work out how he could use the new information to find anything about her. He'd been hesitant to ask for help, Professor Dumbledore had already done a blood test which had revealed nothing, but if Professor Lupin was prepared to teach him extra spells, maybe he could help him with this too.

"I..." Adam hesitated. "In my first year Professor Dumbledore took a blood sample from me to try to find out who my parents were."

"A blood sample?" Professor Lupin asked, staring at him suddenly.

"Yeah," Adam continued, feeling slightly more confident now. "I was wondering. I mean, I've been thinking about it and I can't see how, but maybe," he paused. "Could we use what I saw when the Dementor came near me to find out anything more?"

"What were the results of the blood test?" Professor Lupin asked, making Adam feeling uncomfortable by staring straight at him again.

"Professor Dumbledore said it didn't tell us anything," Adam answered.

"Oh," Professor Lupin said, his face falling slightly. "I..." Professor Lupin shook his head. "Sorry, I think you need to ask Professor Dumbledore, Adam, but I don't think he will be able to help you."

"Oh," Adam said, feeling slightly silly now. He'd half expected this answer. "Thanks, sir." Then hoisting his bag onto his shoulder, he walked towards the door.

Ginny was waiting for him outside the classroom.

"Thanks, for inviting me to your lessons!" she said brightly, hugging him.

"Don't worry about it!" Adam replied, feeling better now. "You don't like Dementors any more than I do. And we do everything together, so it would be odd without you here."

Ginny laughed. "That's true," she paused. "So Professor Lupin can't help with anymore research?"

Adam shook his head. "No," he said. "I knew it would be a long shot, I mean, all I know is that she had red hair! I mean, lots of people have red hair. Like all of your family."

Ginny nodded in response. "Is finding out more about your mum what's been bothering you since Christmas?"

"Nothings been bothering me," Adam lied.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay..." Adam hesitated. "I think it was mainly that I was a bit of jealousy that I couldn't go to the ball."

"That makes sense," Ginny responded simply. "Shall we head to the Great Hall?"

They began walking down the corridor and then down the staircase towards the Great Hall.

"So will you ask Dumbledore?" Ginny blurted suddenly as they descended the stairs.

Adam hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "I don't think so."

"Why?" Ginny exclaimed.

"I don't really know anything more, do I? All he'll do is offer me a lemon drop or something and tell me all about the blood test again!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Adam replied hesitantly. He could just imagine Dumbledore brushing him off, "and I'm fine about it."

"What about Professor McGonagall?" Ginny asked.

Adam paused. "I could ask her," he said hesitantly. "Okay...I'll ask her, but I don't think she'll be able to tell us anything."

"Well," Ginny replied. "At least then you'll know you've done as much as you can."

Adam shrugged. "Okay," he hesitated. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course!" Ginny replied with a smile. "Now let's get to lunch, I'm hungry." ****

**January 7th 1995**

They eventually decided to go and see Professor McGonagall on Saturday. So after breakfast, Adam and Ginny stood outside the door to her office waiting to be let inside.

"Adam! Ginny!" Professor McGonagall said as she opened the door. "Do come in. What can I do for you today?"

The two of them entered the room and took a seat on two of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Well," Adam began. "Did you hear what happened with the Dementor?"

"Yes, I did," Professor McGonagall replied. "I was so angry with the Ministry for letting them get out of control," then her expression softened. "I was sorry to hear how they affected you, but you were in safe hands with Professor Lupin."

Adam couldn't help but smile.

"Erm..." Adam continued haltingly. "When the Dementor came nearby I saw a memory."

"Go on, Adam," Professor McGonagall prompted kindly.

"I saw my mum," Adam hesitated. "And I think she was killed by a wizard."

"Oh my!" Professor McGonagall cried, rapidly standing up from her seat.

Adam thought for a second that she was going to hug him, but she only came up to him and put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm okay!" Adam told the professor firmly. "But I was curious. I don't really want to approach Professor Dumbledore, but could we use that information to find out any information about her?"

Professor McGonagall paused and then answered. "Do you know anything about your mother, Adam?"

"No," Adam replied sadly. "Just that she had red hair."

Professor McGonagall returned to her desk and then sat down in silence, seemingly deep in thought, for several minutes.

"When," Professor McGonagall began. "When I first found you, while you were recovering in the hospital wing, the first thing I did was check the Ministry records for anyone with the same surname as you and, as I think you probably suspect, you are the only known Winters in the wizarding world."

Adam nodded.

"The Ministry," Professor McGonagall continued, slightly bitterly, "did not deem it worthwhile to record the names of Muggle's killed by You-Know-Who's followers during the war."

"Why?" Ginny asked, speaking for the first time.

"They believed it was not their responsibility."

"So," Adam added. "I'm Muggle-Born?"

Professor McGonagall nodded. "As you don't have any wizarding family we must assume that, yes."

"So, if my mum was a Muggle and killed by a Death Eater–" Adam began.

"–then the Ministry wouldn't have recorded her death," Ginny finished sadly.

Professor McGonagall nodded. "I am very sorry, Adam. I wish I could give you some closure on this."

"Don't worry, Professor," Adam responded, smiling slightly. "I didn't think you would be able to tell me anything else and I think....." he paused. "After the blood test came back and this dead end... maybe I'm not meant to know. I'm okay with it."

Amazingly, Adam realised he was fine about it. If more information came to light then maybe he could try to find out about his parents again, but for now, he was happy.

"That is very mature of you, Adam," Professor McGonagall responded. "Incidentally, I will have another talk with Professor Dumbledore about your Hogsmeade trips. I can't promise anything, but hopefully I can get him to see reason."

"Thanks!" Adam exclaimed brightly. "Thank you for trying, Professor."

"It is no trouble, Adam," she replied. "Now is there anything else? I dare say you have homework to be on with."

"No, thanks," Adam replied, with a grin."Thank you again, Professor."

With their meeting concluded, Adam and Ginny left Professor McGonagall's office. As they walked back to the common room, Adam realised he felt happier now. He was still feeling slightly confused at his feelings regarding the events surrounding the Yule Ball, but now that his and Ginny's routines, had returned largely to normal the strange feelings of jealous had subsided.

He was also beginning to get excited about the lessons with Professor Lupin. Learning new spells was always fun, but more importantly, it would give him a way to prevent a repeat of what happened at the First Task. He _really_ disliked Dementors. It wasn't that he didn't like having memories of his mother, but seeing her being killed was downright creepy. Plus, the collapsing and fainting was likely to get him seriously hurt at some point. Adam shuddered when he imagined what could have happened if he had been on a broom at the time. ****

**January 11th 1995**

Even though Adam knew it was important that he be able to repel Dementors, he didn't quite understand why Professor Lupin and Professor Dumbledore were so concerned about him. Truthfully he was secretly thrilled that he would be learning a spell that no-one else was being taught. Adam had, with Ginny's help, done some research and had discovered the Patronus Charm wasn't even taught at Hogwarts.

Adam and Ginny reached Professor Lupin's classroom at precisely six o'clock. Ginny knocked on the door and they waited for Professor Lupin to let them in.

"Ah, good. Come on in you two," he said as he opened the door.

They entered the classroom and discovered that Professor Lupin had cleared all the desks away, leaving a large space at the front of the room.

"Okay, first I'm going to explain a bit about the Patronus Charm," he began. "The charm will create either a white mist or, in the case of a very strong charm, a full Patronus in the shape of an animal." Professor Lupin paused. "There are three parts to casting the spell: the incantation; _Expecto Patronum_, the wand movement and a happy memory. The stronger the memory the more powerful Patronus that you will create."

Professor Lupin demonstrated the wand movement, which Adam and Ginny were able to copy easily.

"Now pick a happy memory and we will practice. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come up with any way of practicing with a Dementor without getting a real one. Which would obviously be bad," Professor Lupin finished with a chuckle.

Adam thought hard for a suitable happy memory. He considered using the first time he met Ginny on the Hogwarts Express and the first time he flew a broom. After a period of thought Adam eventually settled on the moment when he caught the Snitch in his first Quidditch game last year.

"What shape will a Patronus take?" Ginny asked.

"It's unique to each wizard or witch, but it's usually an animal," replied Professor Lupin. "Now who wants to go first?"

Ginny stepped forward saying. "I will."

Adam watched as Ginny held out her wand her face scrunched up in concentration and she shouted. "_Expecto Patronum_!"

From her wand emerged thin sliver of white mist, which coiled around and then dissipated.

Ginny jumped up and down excitedly. "It worked! It worked!"

"Well done, Ginny!" Professor Lupin said brightly. "That's excellent. It normally takes several tries to even get that far!"

"Okay, now your turn," said Professor Lupin, turning to Adam.

Adam stepped forward. He concentrated hard on the memory of himself catching the Snitch and the reaction of the Gryffindors. He felt a bubbling feeling of satisfaction at the happy memory.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" Adam shouted.

A surge of white mist shot out of his wand; shooting forward a few feet before dissipating.

"Well done!" Ginny cried.

Adam looked over and saw Ginny smiling. Professor Lupin also looked pleased.

"Very well done, both of you! Very few wizards would be able to do this much on their first go," Professor Lupin paused. "Unfortunately, mist will do little more than slightly inconvenience a Dementor. You need to spend time and decide upon a stronger memory to use. Now let's have another go."

Adam and Ginny both practiced the spell several more times, however neither was able to produce anything more than the white mist. After several more tries Adam began feeling unexpectedly tired.

"Let's leave it there for tonight," said Professor Lupin, picking up on their tiredness. "Learning new spells is always tiring."

"Thanks for teaching us, Professor," said Adam.

"Thanks," echoed Ginny.

"Uh, no problem," said Professor Lupin. "See you next week."

Once they had thanked the professor, Adam and Ginny left the classroom and began making their way back up to Gryffindor tower.

"What did you use as your memory?" Adam asked Ginny.

"Um," Ginny hesitated. "I used my first Quidditch game," Ginny replied.

Adam grinned. "Me too."

"Why would you use my first Quidditch game as your happiest memory?" said Ginny smirking.

"Oi!" Adam exclaimed giving Ginny a playful shove.

Ginny shoved Adam back and she set of at a run towards the common room. Laughing Adam chased after her up the corridor.  
**  
January 14th 1995**

Adam felt his spirits drop as soon as he, in his sleepy state, realised that today was a Hogsmeade day. He had tried to plead with Professor McGonagall to allow him to go, even though Professor Dumbledore had said no. She was very sympathetic but firm that he could not go until Professor Dumbledore allowed it.

Adam was gutted.

Reluctantly, he made his way down to the common room. When he arrived he saw the bustle of students busily getting ready for their day in the village. Adam was surprised to find Ginny waiting for him in the common room.

"Hi," she said, looking strangely excited. "Want to grab some breakfast?"

They made their way down to the Great Hall, sat down and began to eat.

"I'm going to go into Hogsmeade for a bit today," Ginny blurted suddenly, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Okay," Adam replied, he wasn't going to be jealous that Ginny got to go to Hogsmeade. "Have you got anything planned?"

Ginny blushed red. "Yeah, Um," she hesitated. "Michael Corner asked me if I would go with him."

Adam stared at Ginny in shock, feeling an irrational surge of anger towards Michael Corner. _Who was he anyway?_

"Adam?"

"Oh, erm. I hope you have a good day," Adam said trying to sound upbeat.

"Thanks!" Ginny replied smiling, then her expression fell. "You don't mind do you?"

Adam felt like he wanted to melt into the floor. "Of course not," he exclaimed, forcing a smile onto his face.

He turned his attention to rapidly finishing his breakfast, he didn't want to see Ginny going into Hogsmeade with someone else.

"I'm going to head off," Adam said bluntly, once he had finished. He then stood up from the table and left the Great Hall.

Adam stormed back up the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower. Once he reached the common room he sat in on one of the chairs in a huff.

"Adam?" A voice disturbed him from his sulking some time later.

Adam looked up to see the twins standing in front of him, dressed in coats, obviously ready for their day in Hogsmeade.

"Hi, guys?" Adam asked, curious as to what they wanted.

They both sat down on either side of him.

"We've noticed that by a cruel twist of fate you've been unable to visit Hogsmeade," said Fred.

Adam nodded.

"Well, this leaves us concerned that our sister is wandering around without her constant companion. So we've decided to help you," said George.

George pulled out a blank piece of parchment which he laid on Adam's lap. Adam watched as Fred checked that there was no one sitting near them who might be eavesdropping.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," George said and he pointed his wand at the parchment.

Adam watched in amazement as ink spread across the sheet of parchment as if an invisible hand was writing on it.

**Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs**  
** Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers**  
** are proud to present**  
** THE MARAUDERS MAP**

As rapidly as it appeared the message vanished to be replaced by a map. Adam stared at it for several seconds before he realised what it was. It was a map of Hogwarts!

"This is a map that shows the location of everyone inside Hogwarts," said George. "But more importantly... see this passage here, it leads right into Hogsmeade, into Honeydukes cellar to be precise."

Adam looked at the map. He could see footsteps, with Fred and George's names on sitting in the common room. Suddenly he laughed.

"Look, even the map can't figure out who I am! They have footsteps for me but no name!" he exclaimed.

Fred and George leaned over the map.

"You're a right mystery man then, eh?"

"So I can use this passage to get into Hogsmeade?" Adam asked.

"Yes, just use this one and this one only," said Fred pointing at one. "All the others are either caved in, known by Filch or rather dangerous."

"Thanks guys!" Adam exclaimed shaking both their hands.

Adam got to his feet, ready to dash into Hogsmeade. If he was quick maybe he could catch up with Ginny.

"Adam! Keep that map, we know all the passages. I think you and Ginny could make better use of it than us," said George, winking at him.

"Remember, always clear it by saying 'Mischief Managed'," continued Fred.

Adam pointed his wand at the map and cleared it before folding it and shoving in into his pocket.

"Thanks, guys!" Adam called to the twins as he dashed out of the common room.

When Adam reached the point the twins had shown him on the map he found a statue of a one eyed witch. Adam pulled out the map again and examining it saw a set of footprints standing near the start of the passageway. Suddenly a speech bubble emerged from the nameless footprints which said "Dissendium."

"Dissendium!" Adam said.

The statue split apart and Adam squeezed inside headfirst. He slid down what felt like a small slide. When he reached the bottom, Adam put away the map and, lighting his wand, began navigating the dark tunnel that would hopefully lead him to Honeydukes.

At the far end of the tunnel Adam encountered a large set of stone steps. Climbing to the top he pulled himself up through a trapdoor and looked around the room. Adam realised he was in what appeared to be a large stockroom. The room had a stone floor and there were a large number of wooden crates piled around it. The only exit appeared to be a single door. He would have to find a way to sneak out.

Adam hid behind one of the crates nearest the door. After what felt like an eternity the door opened and someone entered.

"Just getting another box of Jelly Slugs," the man called.

When the man was a distance from the doorway, on the other side of the stock room, Adam slipped out and dashed up the flight of stairs onto the shop floor. The shop was extremely full, with a large crowd of Hogwarts students bustling around. So Adam slipped through the crowd and out of the door onto the main street of Hogsmeade.

Once outside, Adam took in the sights of the village. He had never seen anywhere so full of old fashioned buildings. Having spent most of his childhood in big cities, Adam had never seen anything quite like Hogsmeade. It was almost as if it was straight from a fairytale.

Adam was torn as to what to do next; part of him wanted to explore the village, the other part of him wanted to go straight away and track down Ginny. Eventually Adam decided to explore the village while keeping a look out for Ginny, so he wandered down the high street taking in the sights around him.

It didn't take Adam long to run into Ginny. As he was approaching the pub he saw her walking next to a tall boy with black hair; presumably Michael Corner. As they approached the pub, Adam watched as he held the door open and with a grand gesture ushered Ginny inside. _That won't go down well_, Adam thought.

Adam felt another surge of envy. He should be the one spending the day with Ginny in Hogsmeade, not this Michael guy. He began to follow the couple into the pub when he stopped, he didn't really want to be caught following them around. That would definitely make Ginny mad.

Deciding to try to make the best of his day in Hogsmeade, Adam browsed through some of the shops in the village. He had no money to buy anything but he could still look. Adam had an enjoyable several hours browsing through Hogsmeade with only a single close call when he nearly bumped into Hermione, Neville and Ron. They were some of the few students who knew he was not allowed in Hogsmeade. So when he saw them Adam ducked out of sight in the doorway of a nearby house.

Once he had looked around all the shops that interested him, he made his way back down the high street towards Honeydukes. As he was walking down the street he spotted Ginny and Michael. Adam felt another wave of jealousy as he saw Michael put his hands on Ginny's shoulders and pull her towards him.

Then, Ginny raised her arms and pushed Michael firmly on the chest. He went flying to the floor in shock and Ginny turned and ran off down the street. Adam stood frozen in shock for a second, then he charged off down the street after her. He had to see if she was alright.

Adam eventually found Ginny sitting on the ground at the end of a quiet side street. Her head was in her hands and she appeared to be crying.

"Ginny?" Adam said quietly.

Ginny raised her head, her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks flushed.

"Adam?" she whimpered.

They both seemed to stare at each other for several seconds, before Ginny, still sniffling, jumped to her feet and flung herself into Adam's arms. Adam, slightly awkwardly, returned the hug.

"I'm sorry!" Ginny said softly still clinging onto Adam. "I should have stayed in school with you!"

"What happened?" he asked.

"I've ruined everything! Michael was a prat, but I shouldn't have pushed him over!" Ginny sniffed. "He was fine until we got to the Three Broomsticks, then he started on about Quidditch. He said he was surprised how good I was considering I was a girl. He then wanted to kiss me and I said no. Then he got annoyed and said it was a waste of a day for him if we didn't kiss!"

Adam noticed that Ginny seemed to be more angry than upset now.

"Oh," Adam said, searching for something to say that would comfort her. "Well, he's just an arse then. Why do you need to kiss to have a good day!?"

Adam realised suddenly that Ginny was still clinging on to him. He began to draw back when he noticed she was staring at him. Their eyes locked and he saw that she was now smiling. Adam still had his hands on Ginny's shoulders, as the two of them stared at each other.

Suddenly, Adam didn't quite know how it happened, but he felt his lips meet hers and he felt a tingling sensation spread over his body. It was unlike any feeling he had ever felt before. It felt strange, scary and good all at the same time.

Adam drew back a few seconds later and looked down at Ginny who had a shocked smile on her face.

_I just kissed Ginny! _He screamed silently to himself. For some reason that thought was incredibly scary.

_Oh no,_ Adam realised. _Now I've ruined everything!_  
**  
Ginny  
January 14th 1995**

_Adam just kissed me!_

Ginny felt a bubbly feeling inside her at the thought. She thought it should feel weird to kiss her best friend, but somehow it wasn't. She looked at Adam with a grin on her face, noticing that his eyes were wide and he looked terrified at what had just happened.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then Adam, without warning, bolted back around the corner. Ginny stood still for a second, not quite believing that he had actually run away.

She dashed around the corner. She needed to follow Adam; he probably thought he'd done something wrong. When she reached the main street of Hogsmeade she looked up and down the street... no sign of him. _Where had he gone? And why was he even in Hogsmeade in the first place?_

Ginny decided that the only way she would track Adam down would be to beat him back to the school. She dashed back out of Hogsmeade towards the school, pushing past the steady stream of students making their way back after a day in the village.

Eventually Ginny burst into the common room, panting from her long run. She glanced frantically around the room, but Adam wasn't there. Seeing no one in the common that she knew, she charged up the stairs to Adam's room, hoping that none of his room-mates were in there.

She entered his room, which at first glance it appeared to be empty. However, one of the beds had its curtains drawn around it. Taking a risk Ginny approached the bed and pulled back the curtains. Adam was there sitting on his pillow with his back against the headboard, his knees drawn up.

"Oh...Ginny..." he said weakly.

"Why did you run?" she asked.

"I'm sorry!" Adam exclaimed. "I don't know what came over me!"

Ginny paused. Was he sorry that he kissed her? "What?" she squeaked.

Adam laughed bitterly. "I'm an idiot. You're standing there saying that you didn't want to be kissed and then I go and kiss you! You don't want to be my friend anymore, do you?" Adam finished in a small voice.

Ginny sighed. It was like she was talking to the Adam of two years ago again. Deciding that she needed to take charge, she sat down on the bed next to him, leaned over and brushed her lips gently over his. Ginny stared at Adam with a smile on her face. Slowly Adam's mouth pulled upwards into a grin as well.

"Um...." he stuttered.

"I didn't want to kiss Michael, but I don't mind you kissing me," Ginny said softly.

Adam was now grinning back at her. Ginny moved closer to him. Adam, as if gathering his confidence, slowly leaned in and kissed her... properly. He leaned in and their lips met; she felt a tingling sensation, until suddenly their foreheads bumped and Adam pulled back sharply. They stared at each other for a few second before both of them dissolved into laughter.

"Um, that was nice," Adam stuttered, blushing furiously.

Ginny smiled in response. "I think I've wanted to do that for a while,"

"Me, too," Adam said blushing. "I was so jealous when you went to the ball with Neville and then today with Corner was even worse!"

Ginny couldn't stop smiling. She'd thought that something was wrong with her when she was at the Yule Ball with Neville, it just didn't feel right and then today in Hogsmeade she'd had an unshakable feeling that something was missing. _Well, mystery solved._

"Erm, so what does this mean?" Adam asked.

Ginny blushed. "Erm, I'm not quite sure,"

Adam was silent.

"Are we like... boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Adam asked, hesitantly.

"Yes!" Ginny replied with a smile. That felt right!

Suddenly the memory of the conversation she had overhead in the kitchen during the summer ran through her mind. "Can we keep it a secret," she said hesitantly. "Just for now, I don't think my parents or brothers want me to have a boyfriend yet."

Ginny noticed that Adam was now looking worried.

"It's not you," she continued, wanting to reassure him. "I just don't think they want me dating anyone yet,"

"Okay," Adam replied. "Are you sure? Your Mum and Dad are so kind to me. I don't want to sneak around behind their backs."

"I'm sure," said Ginny. "It'll be fine, don't worry!"

They both sat there in silence for several minutes.

Then, Adam suddenly blushed and Ginny giggled in response.

"What?" she asked.

"Umm...," he said hesitantly. "What now?"

"I think," Ginny said, feeling her cheeks heating. "We should kiss again."

The grin on Adam's face told her that he thoroughly approved of that idea.


	8. Chapter 7

**Ginny  
February 24th 1995**

Ginny wished she'd been told what exactly the Second Task was before she came outside. If she'd known they were going to be standing in a makeshift stand, near the lake, in a freezing cold wind; she would have worn warmer clothes. Worse, Hermione was somehow involved in the task, so she was unable to be in the stands. This meant that Ron and Neville had gravitated to her and Adam, which prevented them from having any privacy.

Ginny had been walking on air for the first few weeks after the previous Hogsmeade weekend. She and Adam had made good use of the limited free time they had. It seemed, much to Ginny's delight, that he enjoyed kissing just as much as her.

However, once February had begun, their homework began to pile up and the time they had to disappear together began to decrease. Of course, they still had all their classes together, but they couldn't exactly kiss in the middle of potions.

"Where are they?" Ron blurted suddenly.

"I don't know!" Ginny exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

She smiled as Adam quickly clasped and then released her hand affectionately. They had all been waiting patiently in the stands for nearly an hour now. The three champions had been sent underwater a little under an hour ago, searching for something precious to them. Hermione was apparently precious to Viktor Krum and Ron wasn't happy about it.

Ginny scanned the water looking for any signs of the returning champions. Suddenly a shout from the other end of the stands attracted her attention.

"Ginny, over there!" Adam said excitedly.

She looked over towards the lake and saw a small blue-clad figure struggling back to the side.

"Fleur Delacour has returned without her hostage!" The announcer's voice echoed across the stands.

Ginny watched and waited intently. Eventually, Cedric Diggory returned with his hostage, Cho Chang, and then, finally, Viktor Krum returned with Hermione. The crowd was strangely silent during these proceedings, being unable to see the majority of what was happening.

"The judges have scored each champion and their scores have been totalled. Fleur Delacour scores twenty five points!" There was enthusiastic applause from the Beauxbatons group. "Viktor Krum scores forty points!" The Durmstrang students applauded. "And Cedric Diggory scores forty seven points!" The Hogwarts students applauded madly, their larger numbers ensuring that they were by far the loudest.

Ginny joined in enthusiastically, but she couldn't help glancing around the sky hoping there were no Dementors nearby. Looking over at Adam she noticed he was doing exactly the same thing.

Fortunately no Dementors appeared, so Adam and Ginny walked with the rest of the students back towards the school. As they left the stands, Ron and Neville left them to try to catch up to Hermione, who was walking ahead of them with a towel still wrapped around her.

Once inside, Ginny and Adam headed for the stairs and began to climb towards Gryffindor tower but, before they could reach the Fat Lady, they were blocked by a large crowd.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked one of the nearby students.

The younger boy simply shrugged his shoulders. A moment later, Ginny felt herself being pushed aside as the assembled group of students parted to allow Professor Dumbledore to charge towards the entrance to the common room.

Ginny strained her ears to try and make out the conversation that was taking place. She heard Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and she thought she even heard Peeves, the castle poltergeist.

"If all the Gryffindors would turn around and head down to the Great Hall," Professor Dumbledore's amplified voice echoed through the corridor.

The mass of Gryffindors were abuzz with speculation as they made their way towards the Great Hall. Apparently, the people near the portrait had heard the name Sirius Black mentioned.

"Why would Sirius Black want to get into Gryffindor tower?" Adam asked.

"No idea," she replied with a shrug.

Ginny, Adam and the rest of the Gryffindors piled into the Great Hall. They were joined a short time later by the rest of the school.

"We currently believe that there is an intruder inside the school," Professor Dumbledore announced, once the entire school was assembled. "All students will remain in the Great Hall until the teachers have conducted a search of the school. The head boy and girl are in charge."

After stopping briefly to talk to the head boy and girl, Professor Dumbledore, along with the rest of the staff, left the hall and sealed the door behind them. Once he was gone, the entire hall broke into frantic whispering that seemed to range in tone from excited to scared.

The excitement in the Great Hall soon dissolved into boredom as the hours wore on. When the time came for dinner, it was served in the usual way.

It was late evening by the time Professor Dumbledore returned to the hall.

"Attention, students!" his voice rang out through the Great Hall. "We have searched the castle and determined that it is safe for you to return to your houses," cheers erupted at this news. "Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff return to your houses and get straight to bed! I must ask that the Gryffindors wait here."

Ginny waited patiently until the rest of the houses had left and only Gryffindor remained.

"Unfortunately, until I can either find the fat lady or get another guardian for Gryffindor tower, I can't allow you to return there. So you will need to spend the night here in the Great Hall," announced Professor Dumbledore. He waved his wand and the long tables flew to the sides of the room. Seconds later, a row of sleeping bags appeared on the floor. "The Gryffindor Prefects are in charge. I am going to attempt to locate the Fat Lady," finished Professor Dumbledore.

The Gryffindors all dispersed to their sleeping bags. Ginny and Adam grabbed two next to each other and Ginny glanced around, wondering if anyone was going to stop them. However, none of the prefects seemed bothered about separating the girls and boys.

Once she had settled down in her sleeping bag, Ginny tried and tried to drift off to sleep, but on the uncomfortable floor she simply could not fall asleep. In frustration she rolled over towards where Adam was sleeping, hoping they could whisper to each other without the prefects noticing. However, Adam seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. _Lucky him, _she thought_._ Obviously he had no problems falling asleep on a hard floor. Ginny felt herself flush with embarrassment when she remembered where Adam had presumably learned how to fall asleep in uncomfortable places. Not wanting to wake him, Ginny rolled onto her back, closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep.

The sound of footsteps disturbed Ginny sometime later. _I must have dozed off after all_, she thought, looking about. She was lying on her side facing towards Adam, who was snoring softly. The footsteps continued to approach. Not wanting whoever was patrolling to know she was awake she lay still and kept her eyes closed.

"Albus," said a silky voice that could only belong to Snape. "The castle still remains secure."

"Very good, Severus," replied Professor Dumbledore's voice.

"Do you have any clues as to how Black entered the castle, or why he was here?"

"Clues, no. Theories, many," replied Professor Dumbledore. "However, all of them seem unlikely."

"It seems to me that Black could not have entered without assistance. Have you questioned...."

"I am aware of your theories, but I trust Remus Lupin."

Ginny nearly gasped. Snape thought that Professor Lupin had let Sirius Black in. Ginny was confident Professor Lupin wouldn't do that. He was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor they'd ever had.

"Do you know who or what he is after in the castle?" Snape questioned.

"Alas," Professor Dumbledore replied after a pause. "If I knew that, Severus, all our lives would be easier, but come, we shouldn't have these conversation's where students could overhear."

Neither of them spoke again and the sound of footsteps soon announced that the two Professors had left. Once they had gone, Ginny tried to go back to sleep but she only succeeded in tossing and turning for what felt like hours before, finally, she drifted off.

**Adam  
March 2nd 1995**

Adam and Ginny approached Professor Lupin's classroom for their weekly lesson on the Patronus charm. After Ginny had told him about the conversation she had overheard, they had planned to subtlety question Professor Lupin in today's lesson.

Adam didn't believe that Professor Lupin would have helped Sirius Black, but he was extremely curious as to why the convict had broken into Hogwarts and attempted to get into Gryffindor tower.

"Hi, Professor," Adam called as he stuck his head into the classroom.

"Come in," replied Professor Lupin replied brightly.

Adam entered the room with Ginny following just behind him.

"Okay, let's get on with it," Professor Lupin said, getting straight down to business.

Adam, focusing on the memory of his first Quidditch match, concentrated with all his might.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" He shouted.

Adam's shoulders slumped when he saw all that emerged from his wand was the usual white mist. The mist had gotten brighter and lasted much longer than it had when they first started practicing, but he still hadn't managed to produce a Patronus.

"Well done, Adam!" said Professor Lupin. "Your turn, Ginny."

Adam watched as Ginny scrunched up her face in concentration.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" she called.

At first, nothing happened and then suddenly, a bright white ball emerged from the end of her wand. It floated for a few seconds in the room before it began to fade and then vanish. Ginny was staring where the while ball had been. She seemed to be in shock but was also blushing furiously.

"Well done, Ginny!" exclaimed Professor Lupin. "That's very close to a full Patronus!"

"Well done!" Adam exclaimed excitedly.

"Did you use a more powerful memory?" Professor Lupin questioned.

Ginny flushed bright red again and mumbled. "Yeah," under her breath.

"Okay, I'm guessing from your response you won't share that memory with us," Professor Lupin paused. "So lets take a break and then we can have another go."

The three of them walked to the Professor's office, where they sat down. Professor Lupin took some butterbeer from one of his cupboards and passed one to both of them.

"This really is excellent progress," Professor Lupin commented as he sipped on his butterbeer. "You are both doing so well at a very advanced spell!"

Adam felt himself flush a little at the praise.

"Professor," said Ginny. "We were wondering if you knew anything about why Sirius Black broke into the school last week?"

"Ginny," Adam said in a low voice. _So much for being subtle!_

"Don't worry guys, it's only natural to be curious," replied Professor Lupin, seemingly unfazed by Ginny's question. "But I can't really tell you anything."

Silence fell in the room.

"Professor Snape suspects that you had something to do with it," Ginny blurted suddenly.

"Did he tell you that?" Professor Lupin asked, his voice suddenly cold.

"N-no, we-we overheard," Ginny said hesitantly. She must have been surprised by Professor Lupin's sudden coldness.

There was another uncomfortable silence.

Eventually, the Professor sighed. "I suspect the reason Professor Snape said that is because I was in Gryffindor at the same time as Sirius Black. Severus Snape was in Slytherin in the same year. To his mind because we were both Gryffindors, we must be conspiring."

"Sirius Black was a Gryffindor?" exclaimed Ginny.

Professor Lupin sighed again. "Yes, I shared a room with him," he paused and seemed stared into space. "I also shared a room with James Potter, and Lily Potter was in our year as well. They were Head Boy and Head Girl," he turned to face Adam. "Both were great people," he paused again and turned to face Ginny. "So you see, there weren't just bad people in my year."

Adam looked at Ginny uncertainly, he saw an expression of confusion on her face, one that mirrored his. She obviously didn't understand Professor Lupin's strange trip into the past anymore than he did.

"Do you know what he was after?" asked Adam hesitantly.

"What?"

"Sirius Black," Ginny added.

"I've no idea. He may just be out to cause chaos. So we all need to be careful, I think," he said, glancing at his watch. "Look at the time!" Professor Lupin exclaimed. "You'd better be off."

Professor Lupin hustled Adam and Ginny out of the classroom. It didn't seem any later than they normally finished, but Adam didn't say anything. If the professor wanted them to go, then they would have to go.

Once they were outside in the corridor, they both looked at each other.

"What was all that about?" Adam asked.

"I don't know. I wonder if he was friends was Sirius Black in school, I don't know why he told us all that stuff about the Potters though," Ginny replied with a shrug.

"Maybe he was friends with them, too, and is sad that they're dead," Adam suggested.

Ginny shrugged again.

They began walking back to the common room together. There were no other students around at this time of evening; most having gone back to their common rooms.

"We're alone," Ginny commented, blushing slightly.

Adam, after glancing around, took Ginny's hand and, pulling her into a hug, they kissed.

When they broke apart Ginny giggled slightly. "It was the memory of our first kiss that I used to make that glowing ball."

Adam laughed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because I'm smarter than you?" Ginny teased.

"Yes, that must be it!" Adam laughed. "Let's head back to the common room."  
**  
March 4th 1995  
**  
"It's dark in here."

"_Lumos_."

Adam grinned at Ginny through the darkness of the tunnel. "We need to wait for the crowd to get to the village. We won't be able to sneak through Zonko's when it's empty."

Adam led Ginny through the tunnel into Hogsmeade and, after only a short delay, they were able to sneak through the sweet shop without being detected. After purchasing sweets at Honeydukes, they roamed the village, munching on their sweets and enjoying the sights.

At lunchtime Adam and Ginny paused outside the Three Broomsticks.

"We should probably avoid this place," Ginny suggested.

"Yeah," Adam nodded. "Someone might tell Professor McGonagall that I'm here," Adam hated deceiving Professor McGonagall, but it wasn't as if he was in any danger in Hogsmeade.

They stood there in silence for a second before Ginny reached out and grabbed Adam's hand. They walked back down the high street and, diving down one of the side streets, they walked towards the outskirts of the village.

Eventually they emerged at the edge of the houses into what appeared to be open countryside. There were several trees and a nearby stone wall seemed to signify the start of a field. In the field there was a run down house.

"Should we be out this far?" Adam asked.

"Should you even be in Hogsmeade?" Ginny retorted.

Adam laughed. "True."

They sat down next to each other under a nearby tree. Adam felt Ginny snuggle up against him and he, slightly awkwardly, put his arm around her shoulders.

"Do you know what that building up there is?" Adam asked, pointing up at the house in the field.

"Oh," Ginny paused. "I think it's called the Shrieking Shack; the twins told me about it." Ginny rolled her eyes. "Apparently it's haunted."

They sat together, under the tree, in comfortable silence eating the remains of their sweets. Adam sighed happily. It had taken him a long time to get used to it, but now he had, cuddling with Ginny just felt so _brilliant_. When they had finished their sweets Ginny started to wiggle against his side and giggled.

"What?" Adam asked with a laugh.

"We're out here all on our own and you haven't kissed me yet," Ginny stated, with a quirk of her eyebrow, as she leaned against him.

"Oh, I didn't..." Adam stumbled. "Know if y'know. If you wanted to," he finished lamely.

Ginny's only response was to move herself closer so they could kiss.

**Remus  
March 8th 1995**

Remus waited patiently for Harry, no Adam, and Ginny to arrive for their lesson on the Patronus Charm. Remus was glad that Albus hadn't found out about what he had said to the boy during their lesson last week. Once Harry, no Adam, had asked about Sirius Black, he had suddenly found the information about James and Lily simply spilling out of him. Once Sirius was recaptured, Remus swore he would find some way to tell Harry, no Adam, the truth about his heritage; even if he had to do it behind Albus' back. The boy deserved to know the truth.

"James..." he muttered to himself. "This isn't how you would have wanted it to happen!"

"Professor?"

Remus spun around and looked towards the door. Harry and Ginny were standing there.

"Come in," he said. "Let's get started."

Keeping things all business was the best way to get through this.

"Okay. Ginny, as you had the best Patronus last time, you go first," Remus gestured towards her. "Remember to focus on the memory."

Remus watched as Ginny concentrated. She raised her wand and moved it in the correct motion.

_"Expecto Patronum!"_

The silvery white ball emerged from the end of her wand. It was very similar to the part-corporeal Patronus she conjured the previous week, although it was slightly brighter.

"Well done!" he encouraged.

Ginny smiled in response, but Remus could tell that she was disappointed not to have made any progress.

"Okay, now you," Remus said, gesturing to Adam.

Harry had his turn at practicing the spell; Remus watched as he sagged in disappointment as all that emerged from his wand was a white mist.

"Never mind!" Remus said trying to encourage him. "Try.."

"Adam!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly, interrupting him. "Remember what I told you after the last lesson?"

Adam looked momentarily confused but Ginny trotted over to him and whispered something in his ear; he immediately blushed bright red.

"Professor? Can I have another go?" he asked timidly.

Remus nodded in reply.

_"Expecto Patronum!"_ Harry roared.

Suddenly the room was filled with a bright light and standing in the centre of the room was a majestic stag, a fully corporeal Patronus!

Remus felt himself go weak at the knees at the sight of the stag. He hadn't seen anything like it since James had died. He sank down into a nearby chair, that had been pulled out from behind a desk, as he struggled to control his emotions.

"_Prongs_," he muttered half in awe, half in grief as the Patronus faded.

Remus realised he had messed up when Adam and Ginny both turned from gazing awestruck at where the Patronus had been to stare at him.

"Prongs?" Harry questioned.

"You know about Prongs?" Ginny continued.

_What? How did they know about Prongs, what did they know about Prongs?_

"What do you know about Prongs?" questioned Remus in reply.

"Um, we just heard the name mentioned," Adam replied evasively, shuffling his feet slightly.

If he knew about Prongs then he may know far more than Albus or anyone knew. He needed to find out exactly what the boy knew.

"Where did you hear about Prongs!" Remus said sternly.

Harry and Ginny seemed to shrink backwards away from him. Remus watched as they looked at each other uncertainly.

"Tell me," he ordered.

Adam ran to his school bag and pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Remus. Remus recognised it instantly_. Our map, how did Harry get it_?

"This is a map isn't it?"

Adam nodded.

"And you've been using it."

Harry nodded.

"What for?"

Adam was silent. He had presumably been using the map to sneak around, possibly even outside the school. _Did he have any idea how dangerous that was with Sirius Black around._

"Do you have any idea how dangerous using this is!?" Remus exclaimed.

Harry looked at him, bemused.

_Oh, no, of course, he doesn't know._

"Professor? What's so dangerous about it?" Ginny questioned.

"The makers of this map," Remus said carefully, keen to back-pedal. "Would have wanted to lure its users into trouble. Now pass it to me."

Adam reluctantly handed the map to Remus.

"Now," Remus said as he pocketed the map. "Back to your common room."

Remus watched as Harry and Ginny started to leave the classroom, their shoulders slumped. Even though he was angry that Adam had been putting himself at risk by sneaking around using the map, he had performed a remarkable feat in producing a fully corporeal Patronus.

"Guys," he said and they turned to face him. "That really was one of the most spectacular Patronuses I have ever seen. Well done!"

**Ginny  
March 8th 1995**

"I can't believe he took the map!" Ginny ranted, once they had left the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"I know," Adam said morosely. "Hopefully, he'll give it back soon." Adam paused. "But the Patronus was kinda cool."

"Adam! Your Patronus! It was _beautiful_!" Ginny squealed excitedly and she wrapped him in a hug.

Ginny could feel Adam grinning into her shoulder at her enthusiasm.

"But I don't think I'll ever be able to get more than that silver ball," Ginny mumbled.

"Sure you will!" Adam exclaimed as they broke apart. "What do you reckon yours will look like?"

"I've no idea, but I bet you never expected yours to look like a deer," Ginny replied.

"Hmm, I wonder why Professor Lupin called it Prongs."

"Well, it does sort of make sense," said Ginny.

"Huh?" Adam questioned.

"Well, it does sort of have those spiky things on its head," she replied.

"True. So do you reckon their Patronuses were how the guys that made the map got their nicknames?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Ginny sighed. "We were kinda stupid though, giving ourselves away like that."

"I know," said Adam with a sigh as they walked back towards Gryffindor tower.

"You, boy! You will tilt with me!" Sir Cadogan announced as they approached his portrait that now guarded the entrance to Gryffindor tower.

"What?" Adam replied. "No."

"A duel boy! Are you so craven that you will not defend your lady's honour?" ****

"Just let us in!" Ginny exclaimed, despite the fact she felt herself blushing.

Sir Cadogan lowered his sword. "Very well, password?"

Adam gave the password and the knight's portrait swung open.

"At least he didn't change it since we left," Adam commented as they stepped into the common room.

It was still early evening, and, as they had made a hasty retreat from Professor Lupin, they where back much earlier than usual. So the common room was still reasonably full of students.

"You want to have a bash at the Arithmancy essay?" Adam asked. "As we're back early."

"Yeah, let's get it out of the way," Ginny commented. The amount of school work over the last month had really begun to pile up; she had begun to understand how her brother and Hermione had gotten so stressed last year.

They sat down and began to work on the essay.

"Ginny!"

Ginny looked up to see her brother standing over her, he was holding a scrunched up bed sheet.

"What?" she snapped back.

"You need to go up and get Hermione!" Ron demanded. He looked angry.

"Why?"

"Please, Ginny, just go up and get her," said Ron.

"Okay," Ginny huffed, getting up off her seat.

She stomped across the common room and up the girls' staircase.

"Hermione!" Ginny called through the door, once she reached Hermione's room.

A few seconds the door opened and Hermione poked her head through. "Oh, hi, Ginny," she said.

"Ron wants you for some reason," Ginny said. "I will warn you...he's got a bed sheet with him."

"Oh, that's strange. Okay, I'll be right down," Hermione replied, looking confused.

When Ginny got back to the common room, Ron was standing right at the bottom of the girls' staircase. He still looked furious.

When Hermione emerged from the staircase, Ron violently shook out the bed sheets and bellowed "LOOK!"

"What?" Hermione questioned, as she looked at the sheet he held.

"SCABBERS! LOOK SCABBERS!"

Ginny squinted to look at the sheet; she could see a bloodstain on it.

"BLOOD ON MY BED SHEET AND SCABBERS IS GONE!" Ron roared.

People in the common room were beginning to stare now. Ginny noticed that Adam had stood up from where they were sitting previously and had come to stand next to her. He was squinting intently, trying to see what was on the bed sheet that Ron was waving furiously around.

"LOOK AT WHAT I FOUND ON THE BED," Ron continued and he held out one of his hands which held long ginger cat hairs.

"No," Hermione said softly.

"Crookshanks has had him!" Ron continued still shouting. "He's been sniffing around him all year and now he's gone and eaten him."

"N-no Crookshanks wouldn't....." Hermione finished weakly.

Ron turned, stormed out of the common room and up the boys' staircase.

As Ginny moved to comfort Hermione, who was now crying, she wondering how those two had survived being friends for four years without killing each other.


	9. Chapter 8

A:N This is the penultimate chapter for Revelation, many thanks to all reviewers, I do read them all.

* * *

**Ginny**  
**May 13th 1995**

A strangled yell echoing through Gryffindor tower woke Ginny in the early hours of the morning.

She sat up in bed, her heart pounding. She glanced around her room and noticed that her room mates had been woken as well. Fearing that something was wrong, Ginny leapt out of bed, still in her nightclothes, and charged down the stairs to the common room. As she pounded down the steps she noticed several other girls had also been woken up and had come to investigate.

Ginny wasn't the first girl in the common room, but she wasn't far behind.

"What's going on?" Hermione questioned as she arrived behind Ginny.

"No idea."

Suddenly, a few of the boys piled down the stairs; Ginny recognised her brother, Neville and their room mates.

"Sirius Black! In our room!" Ron was ranting. "With a knife!"

Fearful muttering began to spread in the common room.

"What's going on? Back to bed! Now!" Professor McGonagall snapped, charging in suddenly through the portrait hole.

"Professor!" Ron exclaimed. "I saw Sirius Black. He was standing above my bed. He slashed my curtains!"

"How would he even get in?" Hermione asked loudly.

Ginny flinched at the glare that Ron shot towards Hermione. They obviously still weren't getting on.

"Ask him!" Ron shouted back, pointing at Sir Cadogan.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man in here?" said Professor McGonagall, stepping back outside to question the portrait.

"Certainly, good lady!" he exclaimed.

"You did?" said Professor McGonagall. "Did you not ask for a password?"

"He had them all!" the knight replied. "All written on a sheet of paper."

Professor McGonagall stormed back into the room.

"Which person," she said, her voice deadly quiet. "Which abysmally foolish person, wrote down the passwords and then left them lying around?"

There was utter silence, until Neville let out a terrified squeak and raised his trembling hand.

"Mr. Longbottom, wait here. Everyone else to bed. Now!"

Everyone, including Ginny, piled back up the stairs towards their beds. Ginny slipped into her bed and tried to go back to sleep, but she simply couldn't. Her mind was buzzing with what had just happened.

_Why was Sirius Black in her brother's room?_

Why was he even still at Hogwarts?

How did he keep getting past the Dementors?

In an attempt to relax, Ginny let her mind drift to other subjects. She counted off the number of essays she currently had to complete._ Seven, Eurgh_. The amount of work her year were being given had grown to monstrous proportions; enough to even push the Triwizard Tournament to the back of her mind.

_An event that dominates the school year, my arse._

She also remembered that she needed to go and see Professor Lupin after their class tomorrow. To her annoyance, he had cancelled all except one of their Patronus lessons since Adam had managed to successfully summon his stag and Ginny still hadn't been able to produce more than large silver ball. _Is it suddenly less important or something now that Adam can do it? _Ginny thought bitterly. She needed to get him to agree to help her more with it. She always achieved anything she set out to do. Plus she wanted to see what animal her Patronus would be...

The next thing Ginny knew was the sound of her room mates getting out of bed and the sight of the early morning sunshine streaming in through the windows of her room.

**Adam  
June 14th 1995**

The school year rolled on, and Hogwarts soon became abuzz with anticipation for the final task of the Triwizard Tournament, but, when it finally came, it left Adam completely baffled. The judges had invited many visitors to watch the task and the majority of them had come, despite all the security measures in place to stop Sirius Black. With all these visitors expected, Adam couldn't believe that the Third Task, which supposedly showcased the champion's mastery of all fields of magic, was being held inside a maze. No one could see the champions inside a maze!

Cedric Diggory, who was in the lead, had been the first to enter the maze. Viktor Krum had entered shortly after and Fleur Delacour had entered considerably later. According to Professor Dumbledore, the next they would hear or see would be when someone found the Triwizard cup or when one of the champions dropped out.

With the absence of any visible action from the maze, the crowds, who were in the stands normally used for the school's Quidditch matches, soon became restless.

Adam, Ginny and Ron were standing high up in the stands, watching the entrance to the maze. Since Ron's falling out with Hermione, he had taken to tagging along with Adam and Ginny—which was, to be honest, very annoying and vastly reduced the amount of privacy they were able to get.

Adam hoped that Ron and Hermione made up soon.

"Hey guys, fancy getting a snack?" Ron questioned as he pointed down towards the stand's entrance. A man was standing there and he appeared to be selling sweets. "I'm getting bored."

Adam looked at Ginny and she shrugged in response.

"Alright," Adam said.

The trio walked down the stairs to the bottom of the stand and then out of the exit towards the vendor. When they reached the man, Adam realised that they were now standing almost directly below where their seats were.

Adam and Ginny waited patiently, while Ron went and purchased a large parcel of sweets from the man.

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed when she saw how much he was buying. "How much do you eat?!"

Ron only grunted in response. Once he was finished, the three of them began making their way back towards their seats.

Suddenly Ron stopped and, pushing Ginny out of the way, he ran past them along the outside wall of the stadium.

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed. "Let's go after him!" she cried, turning towards Adam.

Adam and Ginny charged after Ron. He continued down the outside wall of stand, before suddenly changing direction and charging off into the school grounds.

"Ron!" Adam called out, as he and Ginny finally caught up to him.

"I saw him!" Ron exclaimed when he heard them approach.

"What are you on about?" Ginny demanded, once she had caught her breath.

"Scabbers! I saw him! He's around here somewhere!" Ron said loudly as he began searching frantically in the grass around him.

"So he's not dead?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"No! Come on! Help me find him."

"Ron, you better apologise to Hermione once we find that bloody rat!" Ginny said coldly.

"This way!" Ron yelled suddenly, just as Adam had begun searching the grass at his feet.

Ron leapt to his feet, and the three of them began running back towards the school. Now he knew what he was looking for, Adam could just about make out Scabbers scurrying along in front of him. As they closed the distance with the rat, Ron dived forward and just, barely, managed to grab hold of the rat who wriggled frantically against his hold.

"I don't know what's gotten into him," Ron commented as he began to get to his feet. "It's as if he's terrified of something. I bet that cat is somewhere nearby!"

Adam noticed that Ron was keeping a very firm grip on the rat who was still struggling wildly to escape.

"Shall we head back to the stadium?" Adam suggested, not wanting to miss the end of the task.

"Alright," Ron replied, as he stuffed Scabbers, who was still wriggling frantically, securely into his pocket and closed it.

They turned around to walk back and froze. Standing stock still in front of them was a large, jet-black dog. The dog growled and a long thread of drool fell from its barred teeth.

They tried to avoid the dog, but it moved with them blocking any attempt at moving back towards the stadium.

"Wands?" Adam suggested as he reached for his wand.

As soon as his hand moved towards his pocket the dog leapt at him. Adam was thrown to the floor, winded. Once he was down, the dog leapt off him and sent Ginny, who was moving to help him, flying with a kick of its powerful back legs.

"Leave them alone!" Ron shouted, pointing his wand at the dog.

The dog charged at Ron and head-butted him in the stomach. Ron fell down, gasping for breath. Before he could recover the dog leapt onto him and its ferocious jaws closed around his arm and it began dragging him away.

Adam recovered first and scrambled to his feet; he ran over to Ginny and helped her up. They paused for a second then, coming to a silent decision, they both charged off in the direction that the dog had gone.

The dog had left a fairly noticeable trail through the grass where it had been dragging Ron. So they followed this trail, which eventually led them to the large willow tree. It was by far the largest tree in the grounds and the students had always been told to keep away from it.

As they approached the tree, Adam spotted Ron, who was still struggling violently, disappearing, as the dog dragged him beneath the roots of the tree.

"Let's go!" Adam called and ran forward. Without warning, something hit him in his side, sending him flying.

He lay there for a second, trying to figure out what had hit him. Then Ginny appeared in his peripheral vision, crawling across the ground towards him.

"The tree hit my face," Ginny grumbled grimly as she helped him to his feet. There was blood trickling down the right side of her face, smeared where she had wiped it out of her eyes.

Adam stared at the writhing branches of the willow tree.

"We need to get past!" Ginny said desperately. "That thing could kill him!"

Adam nodded and darted forward again, determined to get past the flailing branches of the tree. He ducked under one branch and jumped over the next. The third one struck him on his shoulder, sending him crashing to the floor. He lay flat on his stomach hoping nothing further would hit him until he regained his bearings.

Ginny appeared to have had better luck getting through the branches; she was several metres closer to the roots of the tree, crouched on her haunches. Adam watched as she deftly rolled out of the way of an oncoming branch.

Adam crawled along the ground towards the tree trunk. Luckily, he managed, for the most part, to avoid the notice of the tree. Seeing an opening he jumped to his feet and charged forward, sidestepping one branch and then, with a running dive, he dived through the hole in the roots of the tree. Ginny scrambled into the hole just behind him.

"You're awesome, Ginny," Adam said lamely as he felt Ginny land next to him in the dark tunnel.

"My mum made me do ballet when I was little," Ginny said, with a touch of distaste.

Despite the seriousness of the situation Adam couldn't help but laugh.

"Shhh!" Ginny whispered. "It'll hear us! We need to keep moving."

"_Lumos_," Adam whispered.

By the light of his wand, Adam could see they were standing in a low earthen tunnel with the roots of the tree all around them.

They advanced, hunched over, down the tunnel. Eventually, the tunnel began to rise and Adam could see a small patch of light on the wall ahead of them. The light was coming from a small hole in the tunnel, which seemed to lead into a small room. Adam squeezed through the hole and looked around the room.

"This place is a dump!" Ginny exclaimed, as she squeezed through the hole and saw the dilapidated state of the room.

Adam peered out of one of the boarded up windows, trying to see what was outside.

"I think this is the Shrieking Shack," Ginny said as she also peered out of a nearby window.

A creaking noise sounded from upstairs. They both tensed and Adam felt his heart begin pounding in his chest.

"They're upstairs!" Ginny whispered excitedly.

They began moving as silently as possible towards the only door in the room.

"There's a staircase and another room out here," Adam whispered. "Ready?"

"Let's go!" Ginny whispered back.

Adam and Ginny crept up the stairs and towards the one open door. Peering in, they saw Ron lying sprawled on a dilapidated four poster bed. A dirty, grubby man with torn clothes and a mass of matted dirty hair that hung right down to his elbows was standing over him. The man appeared to be searching Ron, scrabbling around in his pockets and shaking their unconscious friend.

"GET OFF MY BROTHER!" Ginny roared, taking Adam completely by surprise.

A flash of yellow light left her wand and hit the man in the back of the head. He screamed and his hands flew to his face. He spun around and clawed at his sunken, drawn skin as large bats began crawl and take flight from the end of his now bulging nose.

"Arghh!" the man yelled, but, before long, the bats seemed to become only an annoyance to him. He raised a wand, which Adam recognised as Ron's, and shouted. "_Expelliarmus_!"

With a tug, Adam's wand went sailing out of his hand and straight into the man's. A gasp from Ginny told Adam that she too had been disarmed.

Ginny's response was to charge forward towards the man but, as she ran, he waved Ron's wand and a ball of red slight struck Ginny on the chest. The force of the impact sent her flying across the room, where she landed in the heap against one wall, unmoving.

"Ginny!" Adam cried and dashed across to his girlfriend. He heaved a sigh of relief as he checked her. She was still breathing and looked unhurt.

"Why?!" Adam cried as the man stared at him. "Who are you?" he demanded, positioning himself between Ginny and the man.

"I must have revenge!" the man croaked.

"Y-Y-You're Sirius Black, aren't you?" Adam guessed, his voice trembling with rage and fright. "What has Ron ever done to you?"

"Who the hell's Ron?" Black replied hoarsely. "For that matter, who the hell are you? I'm after Peter. But I don't really want any witnesses," he finished and raised his wand.

_He's going to kill me!_ Adam realised with horror.

The door they had entered through flew shut and locked with a click.

As Black's wand turned towards Adam, he charged forward. Even though he didn't have his wand, he still had his fists. He had to do something! This man would kill him, Ginny and Ron.

Adam leapt at Black, taking him by surprise and managing to tackle him to the ground. As they landed with a crunch, Adam felt several sharp objects penetrate his back. Gasping with pain, Adam looked around and spotted Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, who had joined the fight... apparently on the side of Sirius Black. _What the hell was the cat up to?_

Adam swatted the cat away with his right arm. It hissed and went skidding across the floor. Black took advantage of Adam's momentary distraction and was able to flip Adam over and press his full weight onto Adam's arms and legs, holding him immobilised.

Black raised his wand to Adam's throat.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone else!" he croaked. "You leave me no choice!"

Adam struggled frantically, but was unable to escape Black's grasp.

Suddenly, with a mighty crash and a hail of sparks, the door to the room burst open. With lightening quick reflexes, Black grabbed Adam and hauled himself to his feet. He restrained Adam with one arm across his throat and Ron's wand pressed into his cheek.

"Sirius!" Professor Lupin's raised voice came through the doorway. "Stop!"

"Stay back, Remus!" ordered Black. Adam felt the wand being pressed harder against his cheek.

"Sirius, I know why you're here," said Professor Lupin, pleading with the man.

Black laughed hollowly. "Nice try. You think I betrayed them!"

"No! Sirius! I know why you're here. I want to help you."

Adam struggled wildly. Snape had been right. Professor Lupin was somehow working with Sirius Black. In response to Adam's struggles, Black closed his arm around Adam's throat, practically cutting off his air supply. Adam felt his body sag as his energy began to fade.

"Sirius! Don't hurt him, that's Ha... Don't hurt the boy!"

"If you know why I'm here, go and get him." Black said, removing his wand from Adam's cheek and pointing it towards Professor Lupin.

Professor Lupin walked carefully over to where Ron was sprawled and, opening one of Ron's pockets, he pulled out the frantically struggling Scabbers. At the sight of the rat, Black seemed to relax.

"Thank god, Remus!" he said and released Adam who collapsed to the floor, gasping. "But how?"

Professor Lupin turned towards Black and smiled slightly. "Sirius," he began. "I'm sorry for doubting you, when I saw Peter on the map..."

Suddenly, without warning, Black lunged for the rat. Professor Lupin tried to pull it out of his reach and both men began to struggle, each trying to get hold of Scabbers.

Seeing both men's distraction and spotting his and Ginny's wands sticking out from Sirius' pocket; Adam joined the fray, sending the three of them crashing to the floor. The two men and Adam wrestled on the floor; Adam was hit across the face by a flailing arm, but eventually his fingers closed around the two wands.

With his wand now in his hand Adam stood up and roared, "STOP!"

"Let me kill him, boy!" Black hissed, becoming suddenly still now he was held at wand point.

"No!" cried Professor Lupin. "Having him alive is the only way to clear your name!"

"I don't care!" cried Black. "There's nothing for me to live for! I failed them and now they're all dead!"

Adam was barely following the conversation. _Who had Black failed?_

Even though Adam was pointing his wand at him, Black made another grab for the rat. This time he was able to dislodge Professor Lupin's grip on the creature and it leapt out of his hand and began to skitter towards the door.

"Stop him!" Professor Lupin cried.

Out of nowhere Crookshanks appeared and sank one of his claws into the top of the rat's tail, pinning it to the floor.

"Let me kill him!" Black shouted again.

"No!" Professor Lupin shouted. "If you kill him they'll send you back to Azkaban!"

"I told you I don't care anymore! All I want is him dead!"

"Sirius," Professor Lupin said softly. "They're not all dead, Harry's still alive!"

"Don't tell lies about _that_!" Sirius practically sobbed. "I saw the house, I saw Lily's body! There was no..." Black choked back a sob. "...No way he could have survived that!"

Adam, who had been busy trying to make sense of the men's conversation, was shocked to find that Black somehow had his wand back in his hand. Black levelled the wand at the rat and shot a spell at it.

Immediately, the rat began growing and stretching, and then there was a short man standing in front of them. He had thin, colourless hair and was so short that he was only just taller than Adam. Black immediately charged forward towards the man and pushed him against the wall, holding the wand to his throat.

"My friends," the balding man stuttered. "My old friends,"

Black simply snarled at the man.

"Remus! Stop him, he's going to kill me!" the man pleaded.

"Sirius!" Professor Lupin pleaded. "Don't!"

"Sirius!" The balding man gasped. "Harry's alive!"

"Liar!"

Professor Lupin lowered his head. "Even though I hate to agree with him, it's true."

"He's right here in this room," said the balding man, with what could only be described as a smirk on his face.

Adam looked around the room, but he couldn't see anyone else. _What was going on? Was this man trying to trick Black? If so then why was Professor Lupin agreeing with him?_

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, his wand faltering.

The little man took advantage of this and, slipping out of Black's grasp, began running towards the door.

Professor Lupin and Black seemed frozen in shock, but Adam, who'd had his wand pointing in that general direction, reacted instinctively.

"_Stupefy_!"

The ball of red light lanced out from his wand and struck near the doorway. Splinters of wood flew everywhere and the man fell to the floor.

Black immediately spun to face Adam. "How...?" he said softly, as he stared at Adam, making him feel decidedly uncomfortable.

"We're not quite sure," replied Professor Lupin.

"What's going on?" Adam demanded.

"...._Harry_..." Sirius whispered in awe, his eyes still fixed upon Adam.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Adam shouted. He was very unnerved by the conversation the two men were having; if he didn't know better, he would have thought these men believed he was Harry.

"He doesn't know?!" Black exclaimed. "Remus, how could you?!"

"Sirius... I .." said Professor Lupin weakly.

Adam looked around the room, frantically trying to figure out what was happening between the men but then, the man he had just Stunned caught his eye. Something wasn't quite right. The rat-man's body seemed to be shrinking right before his eyes.

"He's transforming!" Adam yelled, realising what was happening.

Black and Professor Lupin's gazes shot towards where the man had been and they both charged out of the room after the rat that was just about to skitter out of sight.

Adam was about to follow them, when he paused. He was torn for a second; he badly wanted to pursue the rat-man. He'd understood enough to realise that the man had somehow managed to frame Sirius Black for his crimes; he needed to be caught. However, Adam didn't want to leave Ginny or Ron, but he knew they'd understand if he did.

He quickly checked on Ginny; she was still sprawled unconscious where she had fallen but didn't appear hurt, other than the slight injury she had sustained from the willow tree. He shook her gently on her shoulder and her head lolled limply from side to side, but she didn't wake. Adam realised that even though he knew how to Stun people, he didn't know how to reverse the effect, or even if it could be reversed before the spell wore off.

Adam slipped Ginny's wand into her limp hand; if she came around she would need it. He then checked on Ron, his condition was identical to Ginny's. Although Adam was amazed to find that even though the dog had been gripping Ron's arm with its teeth his friend didn't appeared badly injured.

Adam weighed up his options; he couldn't wake Ginny or Ron and he certainly doubted he would be able to get either of their unconscious bodies through the tunnel and past the willow tree. So he decided he would follow Professor Lupin and Sirius Black to try to get help.

He left the Shrieking Shack and charged back down the tunnel. Upon reaching the entrance below the roots of the willow tree he clambered back up to the surface. Once outside, he instantly threw himself to the ground in anticipation of an assault by the branches above him, but no such assault came. Taking advantage of the fact that the tree hadn't seemed to have noticed him, Adam ran forward. He spotted two figures ahead of him, barely visible in the dark, and ran towards them.

"Did you catch him?" Adam called as he recognised the figures as Black and Professor Lupin.

"Peter's gone," Black replied, now looking completely defeated.

"We need to go back and help Ginny and Ron!" Adam attempted to instruct the men.

Neither men answered him.

Professor Lupin turned, his face now illuminated as the moon slid out from behind a cloud. He became very still. Then his arms and legs began to shake and fur began to sprout all over his body, his face contorted and stretched and an eerie howl echoed across the field.

"RUN!" Black roared, but Adam was frozen to the spot in terror as the wolf lunged towards him.

Then Black was no longer by his side and the large dog that he had become once again charged. It dived towards Professor Lupin who, by all appearances, had now fully transformed into a werewolf. The dog tackled the wolf and, gripping it firmly around the neck, began to drag it away from Adam who still stood transfixed by the battle raging between the two great creatures.

The wolf fought back furiously against the dog and eventually was able to pry itself free. It slashed with its claws and Adam heard the dog howl in pain as it was sent flying across the grass. Once again, the dog charged at the wolf, managing to get a grip on its neck and the two began to wrestle once more.

Eventually, amongst the sounds of howling and snarling, the two animals, still fighting furiously, faded into the darkness.

Adam stood there in silence for several minutes, realising that Sirius Black had just saved his life by preventing the wolf from attacking him. Then, from the darkness, Adam heard a high-pitched yelping sound; it sounded awfully like an injured dog. He hesitated, he really needed to go and help Ginny and Ron, but if Black was injured Adam needed to help him. Sirius had just saved his life, he couldn't just leave him to be caught by the wolf... or the Dementors.

Adam ran through the dark, following the sound of the yelping. As he pelted through the gloom he was aware that the direction of his run should be taking him towards the lake.

Reaching the lake Adam saw Black lying on his knees by the shore. He was holding his hands to his head.

"Noooooo," he wailed. His entire body seemed to be trembling.

Adam began to feel very cold and his body began to tremble. Looking around, Adam saw a large group of Dementors gliding towards them. He ran towards Black, intending to help him, but the Dementors were moving too quickly and soon they had both of them surrounded.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Adam cried, focusing strongly on his memory of himself and Ginny in Hogsmeade. His vision was beginning to darken now and he could vaguely hear screaming as a phantom green light played across his vision.

He fought to control his fear and desperation as his Patronus appeared. The silver stag leapt out of the end of his wand and charged towards the closest Dementor, driving it back. However, Adam noticed it was far dimmer and less defined than it had been in Professor Lupin's classroom. When it attempted to charge a larger pack of Dementors that were attempting to close in on Black, it flickered and faded.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Adam gasped again; as he said it, he felt himself, completely involuntarily, fall to the floor.

Once more the stag emerged from his wand and attempted to drive away the Dementors, but there were too many of them and his Patronus alone could not hold them all back.

The last thing Adam saw as he lost consciousness was another bright shape galloping towards him through the sky.


	10. Chapter 9

_A:N _

_This is the final chapter of Revelation, Enjoy!_  
_ The posting of the fourth book will begin within a week or so. _  
_ Big thanks to my Beta Arnel and all reviewers who have reviewed at some point during this book._

* * *

**Ginny  
June 14th 1995**

When Ginny came around her entire body was tingling. She found herself slumped in one corner of the room in the Shrieking Shack. Glancing around the room, she saw that Adam and the strange dirty man were gone, but her brother was still lying unmoving on the on the bed.

"Ohhh," Ginny groaned as she stood up slowly and slightly painfully. She was amazed to find that her wand was in her hand. _Hadn't she been disarmed?_

She went over to check on her brother; he was out cold. She shook him; he didn't respond. She needed to find a way to wake him up.

"_Rennervate," _she said suddenly, pointing her wand at her brother.

Ron's eyes opened and he immediately sat up.

"How's your arm?" Ginny asked.

Ron stretched and wiggled the arm that the dog had bitten.

"It seems fine," he said, sounding a little bit amazed. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I got Stunned somehow. I just woke up. Adam and the man that had you are gone."

"The man!" Ron exclaimed. "He's Sirius Black!"

"What!?"

Ron was now scrabbling frantically in his pockets. "Scabbers is gone!" he said.

"Don't worry about the rat! We need to get out of here! We need to see if we can find Adam or get some help!" Ginny suggested.

She jumped suddenly as she felt something rubbing against her leg. Whipping out her wand she looked down to see Crookshanks. The cat mewed at her and then proceeded to walk towards the door, before meowing again.

"You know, I think it wants us to follow it," Ron said incredulously.

"Let's go, then!"

"Wait!" Ron called. "I haven't got my wand!"

They spent several minutes scrabbling around looking for his wand. At length, Ginny said, "It's not here! Let's just go!"

"Okay!" Ron responded. "I bet Black took it!"

They followed Crookshanks down the stairs and back down the secret tunnel. Once they neared the entrance Crookshanks charged ahead.

"As soon as we get up there lie flat," Ginny instructed as she and Ron climbed back up towards the willow tree.

They reached the end of the tunnel and poked their heads out of the hole, conscious of the fact that they might have to duck lest an errant branch decide to take a swipe at them. The tree was completely still, so they took advantage of this and sprinted clear of the branches as quickly as they could.

"Where are they?" Ron questioned, looking around.

Ginny peered into the gloom. The school grounds seemed deserted; she wondered if the Third Task had finished yet. With a mewl, Crookshanks clawed at her jeans and then ran off across the grounds.

"Let's go!" Ginny called and they followed the cat across the grounds.

Seconds later, Ginny heard Adam's voice echo quietly in front of her. "_Expecto Patronum!_"

They kept running.

"What the..." Ron gasped in shock.

Down by the lake, Adam was standing over the prone body of Sirius Black. Dementors were closing in on him from all sides. Adam's, bright glowing, stag was charging between the Dementors, but it didn't seem as vibrant as it had in Professor Lupin's classroom.

"Ron! Go get help!" Ginny said frantically.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Ron, I need to help Adam. You don't have a wand! Please, go and get help!"

"Ginny, no!" Ron protested.

"Ron, I swear to Merlin if you don't go and get help now I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" Ginny shouted as Adam fell to his knees.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ he called, flopped to the floor.

Ginny ran forward, not bothering to check if Ron had actually gone for help. She focused all her might on a happy memory, letting the memory fill her entire mind and crying out, "_Expecto Patronum!_"

A large shining white horse leapt out of the end of her wand. Ginny felt joy bubble up inside her as the shining white Patronus leapt to the aid of Adam's stag.

The presence of her horse seemed to strengthen the stag. It seemed to glow brighter than it had previously, she could see Adam beginning to get his energy back; he even managed to pull himself up onto his elbows.

Together the Stag and Horse managed to drive the Dementors back. The Patronuses only faded from view when the sky was free of the dark creatures.

Ginny ran forward towards Adam.

"Adam!" she cried as she reached him.

"Ginny..." he breathed weakly. "We did it."

Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Ginny!" a shout echoed. "Ginny!"

"Over here!" she called back.

A few minutes later, Ron, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape charged down to the side of the lake.

Professor Dumbledore stood there for a second taking in the scene.

"Black!" Snape snarled. "Let's get him to the Dementors."

"Wait, Severus, I think there is more here than there seems," Dumbledore paused. "Can anyone tell me what happened?"

Ginny looked at Adam helplessly; she didn't really know what had happened. She helped him sit up. He looked as if he might collapse at any moment.

"Sirius is innocent," said Adam, looking pale and exhausted. "Scabbers, Ron's rat was really a man called Peter."

"What?" exclaimed Ron.

"Quiet, Weasley," snapped Snape.

"Professor Lupin and Sirius tried to capture him but he escaped," Adam continued.

"Headmaster!" exclaimed Snape. "I told you Lupin was in league with him!"

"Now, Severus, let us hear the full story," replied Professor Dumbledore.

"Sirius grabbed Ron, to get to Scabbers." Adam began to explain. "Sirius wanted to kill Scabbers, but Professor Lupin stopped him. They made Scabbers turn back into a man."

"What did the man look like?" questioned Professor Dumbledore.

"He was short, just a bit taller than me, he had very thin hair. He called Professor Lupin and Sirius his old friends."

"What was his name?"

"They called him Peter."

"Pettigrew," muttered Professor Dumbledore.

"Where is Professor Lupin?" questioned Snape with a gleam in his eye.

"He-he...," Adam paused. "He turned into a wolf."

Ginny gasped, _Professor Lupin was a werewolf!_

"Let's not waste time with these fabrications. Send for the Dementors," repeated Snape.

"Severus. The children's accounts warrant investigation, something the Ministry will not facilitate. I am going to remove Sirius Black to a secure location until I can investigate. Be assured that if he is guilty then he shall be handed over."

"Professor! He's innocent!" Adam exclaimed.

"However, if this evidence clears him, I will arrange for him to be kept in safety until it can be proven to the Ministry," Professor Dumbledore continued.

"Headmaster! You can't mean to..." Snape blurted.

"Severus! You will get these three students to the hospital wing. I need to secure Mr. Black and then return to the tournament before I am missed."

Professor Dumbledore withdrew a small object from his pocket and placed Black's limp hand on it. He touched his wand to it and he and Sirius Black vanished, leaving Ginny, Adam, Ron and Professor Snape alone.

"Hospital Wing, then," Snape sneered dryly.

**Remus** **  
June 15th 1995**

The next morning, Remus, with the Marauders map in his hand, hobbled down the corridor towards the room where the dot representing Sirius was currently residing.

Albus had obviously secured him in a guest suite and, even though his entire body was screaming at him to lie down and rest, he just had to see him. He could look after his tormented body later, some things were far more important. He had to talk to Sirius.

Remus had decided that the fact Sirius was in a guest room and not the dungeons, meant that Albus had obviously decided he was innocent, but he still needed to talk to him.

Remus approached the door to the room and listened. He could vaguely hear movement on the other side. He knocked on the door. Immediately the noise on the other side ceased.

"It's Moony," he whispered through the door. "It's all clear."

Nothing happened for several seconds, then suddenly the door clicked open. Remus pushed open the door and stepped inside.

He glanced around the room. Then he saw him, Sirius was lurking in the shadows.

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed desperately. "Thank Merlin! I haven't seen him, but is Harry alright? I didn't hurt him did I?"

"Remus," Sirius replied, slightly coldly. Then his voice softened. "Harry is fine. I got you away from him pretty quickly."

Remus felt some of the tension drain out of him, and his body sagged.

"Sit down, Remus," Sirius instructed and motioned him towards a nearby chair. "You need to rest."

Once he was seated, Remus looked Sirius up and down. He looked much better than he had last night; he had a set of clean clothes on and had obviously showered and washed his hair.

"Albus..." Remus began.

"Has decided to believe me," Sirius answered. "He examined my memories and then dashed away to try to track down Wormtail."

Remus felt a surge of guilt. _How could he ever have believed that Sirius had betrayed James and Lily?_

"Remus," Sirius continued, a touch of anger in his voice. "You have some explaining to do. I want to know why Harry, who everyone thinks is dead, is in Hogwarts, covered with glamour spells and with no idea who he is."

"It was Peter," Remus explained with a deep sigh. "We all thought he was dead, Peter took him from the house and hid him."

"So why is he still covered in disguises?"

Remus hesitated. "Peter put them on him. Albus thought it would be best if he were kept anonymous. He fears the remaining Death Eaters would try to target him."

"Albus thought!" Sirius ranted, raising his voice suddenly. "Why didn't you think? Is this what James would have wanted? His only son wandering looking nothing like him! Not knowing who his parents are!"

"Sirius..." Remus protested weekly.

"He has to be told." Sirius stated blankly. "He deserved to be told as soon as you knew," he hesitated, fixing Remus with a stare. "How long have you known?"

Remus was silent. Finally he said hesitantly, "I, I've know for a year, Albus for longer, I think."

"A YEAR!" Sirius exploded angrily, taking a step closer to Remus. Then his voice quietened and he continued. "And you thought I did this to him?"

Remus could only nod numbly. He felt like a traitor.

"And you didn't even tell him when you thought I was after him," Sirius mused. "Well, now he really is in danger if Pettigrew gets away."

"You think Peter will go to the Death Eaters?"

"Wormtail will run and hide like he always does," Sirius replied. "But the fact that he knows about Harry puts him in danger."

"Albus will take that as confirmation that his plan was correct."

"Then we will fight it!" Sirius exclaimed, starting to pace the room. "Harry deserves to know who is parents are! It will be hard for him, the two of you have seen to that, but he deserves to know." Sirius shook his head. "If he was a young child I could sort of understand it, but he's what?" Sirius paused for a split second. "Fourteen now? He'll be of age in three years and from what I saw in the shack he's pretty capable in a tight spot. He needs to know he's in danger so he can defend himself if trouble comes looking for him."

"I know," Remus replied. "It's been so hard this year to keep it from him."

"You should have taken that as a sign it was wrong!" Sirius replied hotly.

"I know," Remus said again. "But..."

"Albus convinced you."

Remus nodded.

"Well, then we'll just have to convince Albus. We both know, plus by now Harry must suspect something is up after what happened in the shack. Once he processes it, he'll begin to figure it out," Sirius paused. "We give Albus a choice, either he tells him or we will and he looses the control of the situation. The secret is out now and short of Obliviating everyone involved he can't keep it from Harry anymore," Sirius now stared at Remus. "I need your backing, Moony. We're the last of the Marauders. On my own I'm in a vulnerable position, but together we can give him no choice but to come clean."

Remus hesitated for a second, visions of him and Sirius confronting Albus playing through his mind.

"I'm in," Remus replied. "Albus may be misguided and controlling, but he's not a bad person. He'll do the right thing."

"Good," Sirius replied. "Now let's sit down. We need to plan and you need to fill me in on my godson's life."

**Ginny**  
**June 15th 1995**

Ginny was less than impressed when she woke up the next morning in the hospital wing. _Mum's going to kill me for ending up in here again,_ she thought. She looked around the room, spotting Adam still asleep in the bed to her right. Ron was sitting up in the one to her left.

"Morning," he said brightly.

"How are you?" she asked grumpily. Ron was far too cheerful.

"I'm alright," Ron replied. Then a few seconds later he continued. "Do you believe Adam? That Scabbers was actually a man?"

"Yeah," said Ginny. "If he said that's what happened, then I believe him."

"I can't believe it," said Ron. "How did he manage to keep himself hidden for so many years?"

"I don't know. I guess we will have to wait for Professor Dumbledore to investigate, like he said he would."

"I saw it with my own eyes; he turned from a rat into a man and then back again," Adam stated suddenly from his bed.

"Did anything else happen when we were out of it?" Ginny asked after she bid him good-morning.

Adam shrugged. "Not really. Professor Lupin and Black had some crazy conversation which I didn't really follow."

The three of them were confined to the Hospital Wing for the entire morning. Once they dressed, Ginny grew restless very quickly. They rehashed the events of the previous evening many times between the three of them; what had happened once she had been Stunned was still somewhat of a mystery, as Adam was stubbornly refusing to talk about it in any detail.

It was mid-morning before the boredom was broken when Hermione and Neville entered the room.

"Hi, guys," Hermione and Neville said together.

"Hi," the three patients replied.

Ginny, who was sitting near her brother, nudged Ron violently and hissed, "Apologise to her."

"Hi, Hermione," said Ron, now looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry for what I said about Crookshanks. I know he had nothing to do with Scabbers going missing."

"Thanks, Ron," said Hermione looking a little confused. "What happened to you guys?" she asked. "Was it something to do with Professor Lupin?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny questioned.

"Professor Snape said at breakfast that he's a werewolf!"

"It wasn't Professor Lupin," said Ginny with a sigh. She couldn't believe that Snape had told everyone about Professor Lupin.

Ginny told Hermione and Neville the story of their adventure, with Adam and Ron adding bits when necessary. She noticed Adam still didn't say much about what had happened while she and Ron were unconscious. Something was definitely troubling him.

"So Professor Dumbledore has Sirius Black locked up? And the Ministry doesn't know?" asked Neville.

"Yes, but you mustn't tell anyone! He's definitely innocent! The Ministry will send him back to jail if the story gets out!" said Adam.

"Or worse," Ginny muttered. She remembered Professor Snape wanting to give him to the Dementors.

"Why are you so keen to save Mr. Black from jail?" Hermione asked.

"He's innocent and," Adam paused, looking down at the floor. "He sort of saved my life; Professor Lupin, as a wolf, would have attacked me if Sirius hadn't transformed into a dog, tackled him and dragged him off."

The five Gryffindors talked for some time. Hermione told them that the school was in uproar over the revelation about Professor Lupin. Also, all Defence Against the Dark Arts classes had been cancelled for the next few days.

What felt like hours later, the sound of the hospital wing doors opening caused their conversation to come to a halt as Professor Dumbledore strode in.

"Good morning," he said brightly.

"Morning, sir," replied Ginny.

"Professor, any news?" Adam asked intently.

"Not here, Adam," replied Professor Dumbledore. "Now unless Madam Pomfrey has any objections, you are all free to go."

Ginny looked behind her and saw Madam Pomfrey watching the group; she gave a small nod to Professor Dumbledore. Ginny and the others got to their feet and eagerly began to make their way out of the hospital wing.

"Mr. Winters, would you wait behind a moment," said Professor Dumbledore.

Ginny saw Adam stop. She went and stood by him.

"I need you to come to my office for a meeting," said Professor Dumbledore, suddenly looking tired. He then looked over at Ginny. "I'm afraid, Miss Weasley, that this meeting is for Adam and only Adam."

Ginny shoulders slumped. Adam shot her an apologetic look.

"I'll fill you in later," he said.

Ginny watched as Adam followed Professor Dumbledore to his office. Once they had gone out of sight, Ginny made her way back up to Gryffindor Tower.

**Adam  
June 15th 1995**

Adam was apprehensive as he followed Professor Dumbledore in silence through the corridors of Hogwarts. He was still incredibly troubled by the conversation he had witnessed between Sirius Black and Professor Lupin. It was completely ludicrous and Adam knew that something else must be going on here, something he must have been caught in the middle of. Even so, he had a sinking feeling that something important was being kept from him.

Professor Dumbledore spoke a password to the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to his office.

"Let no one else in, regardless of whether they have the password or not, until I tell you otherwise," he instructed the statue.

When they entered the office, Adam was surprised to see Sirius Black and Professor Lupin sitting in chairs in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. Professor Lupin looked incredibly tired, but Sirius Black looked far better than he had the previous evening; he was now clean and had clean clothes on. There was a third chair in the room, presumably for him. Professor Dumbledore, meanwhile, took a seat behind his desk. Adam was now feeling incredibly uneasy.

"Adam, do take a seat," said Professor Dumbledore.

Adam sat down in the chair.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I want to first apologise for nearly attacking you last night," Professor Lupin began.

"Don't worry," Adam forced a laugh. "If I understand correctly, then it wasn't really you but the wolf."

Professor Lupin looked relieved. "Thank you! If only everyone else was so open-minded. Since Severus let slip about my problem, it looks like I will have to resign. Many parents won't let their children be taught by a werewolf."

"You shouldn't have to do that!" Adam exclaimed. "You're the best Defence professor we've ever had!"

"I know I shouldn't have to leave, but if I tried to stay–" he paused. "Well, the Ministry would never allow it."

"Remus..." said Professor Dumbledore.

"Don't, Albus. My decision is made," replied Professor Lupin. "Anyway, this isn't what we came here to discuss."

"No," said Professor Dumbledore. He sighed. "Adam, I understand you may have heard a conversation last night which included things that may need explaining."

"You think I'm this Harry guy," Adam said bluntly.

Professor Dumbledore sighed and the room was silent.

"Tell him, or I will," said Sirius, with a trace of anger in his voice.

"Adam, you are Harry Potter," said Professor Dumbledore softly.

Adam laughed. "You can't be serious?" He paused. "You really think I'm him?"

The room was silent.

"He's dead!" Adam exclaimed. "You said so yourself! Ginny told me there's even a monument in the Ministry with his name on it!"

"Adam you are him. We are quite certain," said Professor Dumbledore.

Adam was dumbfounded. How could he persuade these people when they were being so stupid?

"If I was him, surely someone would have recognised me!"

"Your appearance has been modified," Sirius interrupted. "Your eyes should be green and your hair black. But those of us who knew James, your dad, have recognised you. You have the same facial structure. It's not easy to see, but if you know what to look for..." Sirius trailed off.

"What? Changed my appearance?" Adam said. He felt sick.

"Adam," Professor Dumbledore said, "we are certain."

He withdrew a sheet of parchment from a pile on his desk, which he handed to Adam.

"Albus..." Sirius began.

Adam grabbed the parchment and examined it; at its head was a large logo for an organisation called Gringotts.

"That is from Gringotts the Wizarding bank," clarified Professor Dumbledore.

Adam began to read the letter.  
**  
_Professor Dumbledore._**

We reply in regard to your request to compare the provided blood sample to our extensive records. We have done so and are pleased to confirm that it matches to one: **_Harry James Potter_**

As we are sure you can appreciate, this information is of a highly sensitive nature and, as a friend of the Goblin nation, we are pleased to be able to guarantee the non-disclosure of this to any non-Goblin organisations or individuals.

Regards,  
Ragnok  
Branch President

"W-W-What is this?" Adam stuttered.

"You remember the blood sample I took from you in your first year?"

Adam nodded, but felt a surge of anger within himself that he tried to squash down. _If this was from the blood test then Dumbledore had known for nearly two years._

"I sent it to the Goblins. They can identify many individuals by blood because nearly all Wizarding families provide a blood sample from their children, allowing them future access to trust funds and family vaults. I did not believe it myself when I received it the summer after you pulled Ginny Weasley out of the Chamber of Secrets. Before that I truly believed that you were dead."

"Professor Dumbledore came to me last year and asked me to investigate further," continued Professor Lupin. "I did and uncovered some interesting information. How much do you know about your early past, Adam?"

"I know I was abandoned in a park or something," Adam said haltingly.

Professor Lupin nodded. "Do you know how you came to be known by your current name?"

Adam shook his head, unsure what Professor Lupin meant. At this Professor Dumbledore produced another piece of parchment and passed it to Adam.

Adam, with shaking hands, took the parchment and read it.  
**_  
Name: Child N_**

Date of Birth: Unknown

Admitted: November 1st 1981  
-Police contact: PC James Taylor (NO: 76751)

Discharged: November 20th 1981  
- Into the care of St Mary's Children's Home, Bristol.

Notes:  
-Unidentified Child.  
-Suffering from dehydration and hypothermia.  
-Child seems traumatised. Believed to have suffered recent traumatic event.  
-Child named by hospital staff, pending confirmation of identity: Adam Winters.  
  
Adam let out a strangled cough, as he attempted to relieve some of the pressure that he felt building inside of him.

"I-I-I remember St Mary's," he spluttered, blinking rapidly to stop his eyes from stinging. "It was nice there."

"November the first was only one day after Voldemort attacked your parents. Somehow even though Lord Voldemort killed your parents, you lived!" said Professor Dumbledore. "I believe that Peter Pettigrew took you from your parents' house, changed your appearance and then left you. You were abandoned less than half a mile from where Sirius confronted him."

"Stop! Stop!" Adam shouted. His anger beginning to win through. "I believe you! You've convinced me! My whole life has been a lie!"

Professor Dumbledore smiled at him. "It is not that your life has been a lie. We just want you to be aware of your true identity as Harry Potter."

Something inside Adam snapped. "So being Harry Potter is more important than being Adam?"

"It is not that, we just wanted you to be aware..."

"THAT DIDN'T STOP YOU FOR HIDING THIS FROM ME FOR TWO YEARS!" Adam roared as he shot to his feet.

"Adam, I thought it would keep you safe," Professor Dumbledore said gently. "I thought it would help you. Harry Potter would be a celebrity, hounded by the press and the Ministry, so I decided–" He sighed. "This is not how I wanted you to find out."

"ITS MY LIFE. SURELY I HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!" Adam raged. He stormed up to Professor Dumbledore's desk and placing his hands on it leaned forward. "IF THIS ISN'T HOW YOU WANTED ME TO FIND OUT WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME?!" All the items on Professor Dumbledore's desk flew off and clattered to the floor as uncontrolled magic escaped from Adam in his fury.

"Adam," Professor Dumbledore tried to talk.

Adam took a step back from the desk and felt his shoulders slump in defeat. "GO ON THEN!" He shouted despairingly. "TURN ME BACK TO HOW I SHOULD BE! THEN YOU CAN HAVE YOUR HARRY POTTER!" .

"No. You need the anonymity that your identity as Adam Winters provides."

"SO THAT'S ALL I AM TO YOU? AN IDENTITY TO KEEP HARRY POTTER SAFE?" Adam shouted, fully aware he was making little sense now.

Finally, he'd had enough. Adam stormed over to the door and pulled on it. It didn't open.

"LET ME OUT!" Adam practically screamed, and things in the room vibrated.

"Adam, calm down!" Professor Dumbledore's voice echoed commandingly through the room. "You need to keep your true identity hidden," he urged. "If you don't, you will be a target!"

"Don't you worry. I'm not going to be telling anyone _this_," Adam spat through gritted teeth. "How would you like it if someone told you your entire life had been a lie? Now let me out."

Professor Dumbledore sighed and Adam heard the door click open.

"Don't you worry. I'll keep Harry Potter safe," he spat.

"Harry..." Professor Lupin said feebly rising from his seat.

"My. Name. Is. _ADAM!_" he shouted back. Then turning on the spot, he stomped down the staircase and into the corridor below.

Adam stormed like a thunder cloud back through the school towards the common room. His eyes were puffy and red, but blazing with anger.

Storming through the portrait hole, he entered the common room.

"What happened? What did Professor Dumbledore want?" Ginny questioned trotting towards him.

Adam stared at her for a second.

"Are you alright?"

"Leave me alone," Adam replied harshly and walked straight past her, up the stairs, into his room and slammed the door behind him. He jumped onto his bed, drew the curtains around it and pressed his face into his pillow. Feeling tears beginning to form in his eyes, he gave a cry of fury as he tried to scream away the feelings of anger and betrayal that burned within him.

**Remus  
June 15th 1995**

"That went well," Sirius commented dryly. "Real smooth, gentlemen."

"It was always going to upset him," Remus commented.

"You guaranteed that, Albus, the moment you chose not to tell him once you knew for certain," said Sirius. "I can't believe you two! He's James and Lily's son! He deserved to know!"

"I was doing what was best for him," stated Albus defensively.

"The boy has just had his entire world turned upside down, in a very not-so-subtle manner. You basically told him the identity he has grown up with isn't worth as much as this new identity you have just tried to force upon him," Sirius sighed. "Is there anything else you are not telling him?" questioned Sirius.

Albus hesitated before replying. "No."

Sirius scowled, but didn't say anything for a moment. "Do you think he's in any danger? Where has he been living?" he finally questioned.

Albus stroked his beard briefly. "I do not think so, at least not yet. The only other person to be aware of Adam's identity is Peter. I doubt he will be able to rally any support from the former Death Eaters to come after him."

"And he is too much of a coward to come after him himself," finished Remus. "At least on his own."

Albus nodded in reply. "He is safe at the Weasleys for now. I've been strengthening the wards there since Harry took up residence."

"I don't think we need to worry about Adam telling anyone. He doesn't even want to believe it himself at this point," mused Sirius.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he tells Ginny," said Remus. "They're pretty much inseparable."

They sat in silence.

Albus broke the silence by saying. "We will need to work with him. There will be a time, I fear, when Harry Potter will need to make an appearance."

Sirius sighed. "That will be a long process. You two alienated him by not telling him sooner. When did you plan on telling him, Albus?"

"When I had more information about Voldemort," Albus sighed. "I thought..." he hesitated. "I honestly thought keeping him anonymous was his best defence. I thought you were the only person who knew, Sirius, and you were..."

"Safe in Azkaban and probably insane," Sirius replied. "Well, I'm his godfather and was not involved in hiding it from him. I may have more luck with him."

"Sirius, you can't be seen in public," stated Albus.

"I know, but maybe I can visit him... in secret."

"Hmm," mused Albus. "Arthur Weasley is a strong supporter of mine, but it would place him in a very awkward position. One of his sons, Percy, works for the Ministry and I am not convinced he can be trusted with such a secret."

"Well, once I'm set he can come and visit me," Sirius reasoned.

"That could work," Albus replied. "I'll see what I can arrange, but for now let's agree to give the boy some space."  
**  
Adam  
June 18th 1995**

Adam paced back and forward in front of Professor Lupin's office door. He didn't know why he had come. Well, truthfully, he did know why he was here; he needed answers. Ever since his meeting with Professor Dumbledore he had laid on his bed, his emotions swinging back and forward between confusion and anger.

If the name he had been born with was indeed Harry Potter then it raised so many questions in his mind. It wasn't as if he was unhappy about knowing about his past, in fact a part of him was thrilled, but being told he was someone who was _dead, _well, that was unexpected. What made him so angry was that Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin had not told him, despite having known for over two years. Professor Dumbledore had even lied to him when he had asked if there were any results from the blood test, all the way back in his first year. Professor Dumbledore had also had the cheek to imply that being Harry Potter was more important than being Adam.

He had spent a long time thinking about his identity. Who was he? If he had been named Harry Potter by his parents, did it mean that was who he was? He had been called Adam for as long as he could remember. Did it actually matter? Adam wasn't sure and thinking too hard about it had given him a headache.

Deciding he had wasted enough time pacing in front of Professor Lupin's door Adam let himself into the office. Professor Lupin was in the room crouched over an open trunk, with his back to Adam. He seemed to be packing his belongings into the trunk. He didn't appear to have heard Adam.

"Professor," Adam said quietly.

Professor Lupin jumped, leapt to his feet and spun around to face Adam. When he saw him he relaxed.

"Har– " he paused. "Sorry, Adam."

"I wanted to ask you some questions," said Adam coldly.

Professor Lupin sat himself down on the edge of his desk.

"Go ahead."

"Do you believe I'm Harry Potter?" Adam asked.

"Yes. I know it's been a shock to you, but I'm absolutely certain," replied Professor Lupin softly.

Adam nodded jerkily.

Professor Lupin smiled. "I'm sorry, you know. I should have told you."

"You should have," Adam replied.

"I know."

Adam stood there, trying to vocalise the thoughts swirling through his mind. "Everything is all so confusing," he finally admitted, raising his hands in frustration.

"Adam," Professor Lupin replied. "I can never apologise enough. If you need anything, I'm here."

Adam finally found his voice. "Did you... Did you know my parents?" he asked haltingly. "Can you tell me anything about then?"

"I did know them. They were wonderful people," replied Professor Lupin. "If you like I can talk to Sirius and see if we can get some photos together."

"Please!" Adam exclaimed. "I-I've never had anything of my parents'. I've no idea what my dad looks like and I've only ever seen my mum in that vision."

Professor Lupin jumped up, rummaged in his desk draw and withdrew a familiar piece of parchment.

"Here. You can have this back," he said, handing it to Adam.

"The map!" Adam exclaimed in surprise. "I never thought I'd get it back!"

"You, if anyone, deserves to have it," said Professor Lupin.

"What?" Adam asked, confused.

Professor Lupin grinned. "You know the map was made by four Hogwarts students. Their nicknames were Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."

Adam nodded, he knew this.

"Prongs was your Dad, Padfoot is Sirius and I'm Moony."

Adam turned the map over in his hands, feeling a new sense of reverence for it. He felt awed that he was actually holding something that his dad had helped make.

"Wow..."

"I think he would have wanted you to have it," said Professor Lupin.

"T-T-Thanks," said Adam shakily.

Suddenly, it was all too much for Adam. He had come to see Professor Lupin hoping it would settle his mind but it hadn't. What would his parents think of him? Would they feel let down that he wasn't using the name they had given him? Would they feel betrayed by the fact, that even though he now knew about his past, he couldn't stomach even thinking about going by a name that felt completely and utterly alien to him? It was the name of a dead boy, after all.

"I-I-I've got to go," Adam stammered and he dashed out of Professor Lupin's office. He needed to be alone.

**Ginny  
June 19th 1995**

Ginny was very surprised to find Adam waiting for her in the common room when she came down for breakfast. She had hardly seen him the previous two days because he had hidden in his room, only coming out for meals. Ginny was convinced he had also timed his meals to avoid her. She was worried about him, and what had caused this behaviour, but also very angry that he hadn't thought to share his problems or even talk to her. In short she was conflicted, feeling both worry and anger at the same time.

What worried Ginny even further was that she had a strong suspicion that she knew what was wrong with Adam. From the story Adam had told her, he had been the only one, other than Sirius, who was present when Professor Lupin had transformed. _Had he been bitten?_ Adam might not have realised the significance if he had been, or he may have downplayed the injury. She hadn't seen any visible sign of a bite that night, but it had been dark. Ginny couldn't think of any other explanation. _Oh please don't let it have happened to you, Adam!_

Ginny realised she was staring at Adam; he was looking decidedly uncomfortable at this attention.

"Hi," he said lamely.

"Alright?" she questioned.

"Yeah."

Adam stood there awkwardly as if he didn't know what to say. Ginny felt a surge of sympathy for him because he looked completely lost. She hadn't seen him like this since the very start of their first year.

"Shall we go and get breakfast?" she asked with a smile.

Adam smiled back. "Yeah."

They ate breakfast together in awkward silence. Conversation in the Great Hall, like it had been the past several days, was firmly settled on two subjects: Cedric winning the Triwizard Tournament and Professor Lupin being a werewolf. Cedric was practically being hailed as a school hero with members of all four houses, even some Slytherins, fawning over him. The one fortunate thing about all the attention that Cedric had been receiving, was that her, Adam and Ron's disappearance during the Third Task had practically gone unnoticed.

Once they finished their breakfast, as it was a Monday, they had classes to go to; Ginny deliberately tried not talk to Adam about anything beyond ordinary school subjects. Slowly and surely during the day Adam seemed to come back to himself; he talked more easily and even cracked a joke. Ginny was proud of the self control she showed. She badly wanted to know what was troubling Adam and wanted to help him if she could. But she could tell that Adam didn't want to talk about it and she didn't want to pry.

"Shall we go for a walk before dinner?" Ginny suggested, after their classes where finished.

Adam nodded and together they walked out into the grounds. When they reached a secluded spot Ginny sat down on the ground and gestured for Adam to join her. He sat down next to her, and they sat there in silence for several minutes. Ginny eventually took hold of Adam's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Ginny... I," he said as he turned to look at her.

Ginny decided to simply stare at him, looking into his grey eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, eventually breaking eye contact. "I've been a right arse to you these last few days; you didn't deserve that."

"We all have our bad times," she said encouragingly. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"I... ah... I," he replied, looking distressed.

"It's okay," she said gently.

Ginny saw his body tense. "Ginny I-I-I... can't talk about it right now," he said.

Ginny's frustration got the better of her. "Did Professor Lupin bite you?" she blurted.

Adam stared at her for a few seconds, before bursting out in laughter.

"Oi!" she exclaimed, swatting him on the head. "This is serious!"

"Oh, Ginny! No! I'm not a werewolf!" he answered.

Adam then put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Ginny rested her head on Adam's shoulder and she sighed with happiness.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you," Adam said, and he turned his head and planted a kiss on the top of her hair.

"I wouldn't have minded if you were... you know..." Ginny blurted.

"It's just that..." Adam continued hesitantly. "Well, Professor Dumbledore told me some... things about my past and well... I need to sort it all out in my own head before I tell anyone," he sighed. "Do you understand?"

Ginny couldn't understand what Professor Dumbledore could have told him about his past that could be this major, but she could understand Adam wanting time to sort it out before he talked about it. She remembered the time after her first year, she hadn't wanted to talk to about the diary or the Chamber either.

"Of course," she replied and, turning her body so that she was facing Adam, she lent in and kissed him.

When they parted Adam was smiling. "I will tell you," he said emphatically. "Soon."

Ginny giggled. "We've got all summer together."

Adam grinned back. "That we have."

They sat there together for several minutes before Ginny spoke again. "Come on," she said. "If we're not careful we'll miss dinner."  
**  
July 1st 1995**

Ginny and Adam were sitting in a compartment with Ron, Hermione and Neville for the journey back to Kings Cross. Much to her annoyance and Adam's amusement she'd had a nightmare getting everything packed to go home. So by the time they reached the Hogwarts Express, they were unable to find a compartment for themselves.

_Well,_ Ginny thought. _Now that Ron and Hermione are friends again sitting with them isn't too bad._

Over the last couple of weeks of school, Adam had still been quieter than normal. He made a very good attempt at acting normal and it had fooled most people, but not Ginny. She knew that something was still bothering him.

As the countryside rolled past the window, Ginny watched those in the compartment with her. Hermione was reading a book, Ron and Neville were playing chess and Adam... Adam was sitting at the window staring at his reflection. She'd caught him doing that several times over recent days.

She scooted across the seat towards him and whispered in his ear. "I know its lovely, but you don't have to stare at it all day."

Adam jumped and immediately turned around to face her.

"What?"

"You keep looking at your reflection," she stated.

"You noticed?" Adam said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah," Ginny replied and then she winked. "If I don't keep an eye on you, you'll get in trouble."

Adam snorted. "From what I remember, every time I've been in trouble you've been there."

"True," Ginny giggled in response. "So why were you looking at yourself?"

Adam hesitated. "I..." he paused. "I was wondering what I'd look like with different colour hair."

Ginny didn't quite know what to say in response to that.

"I like your hair how it is, Adam!" Ginny exclaimed. She noticed a strange expression come across Adam's face as she said it. So deciding to lighten the mood she continued. "Anyway, we'll be home soon and I for one can't wait to get back on broom. I've really missed Quidditch this year."

Adam grinned. "Yeah, we'll need to practice if Gryffindor is going to win the cup next year!"

They spent the rest of the journey discussing Quidditch, and analysing Gryffindor's chances next season. When the countryside eventually gave way to buildings, Ginny knew that they were nearly back in London. She felt a surge of excitement, that she would see her mum and dad again soon.

Ginny loved Hogwarts, but right now, she couldn't wait to get home.


End file.

Harry Potter, Drama