Once in a Blue Moon

Disclaimer: Not mine

AN: Will be coming back to edit, and will continue to write soon! Promise. Just a reminder, this fic will get very distrubing.

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Early that morning Harry snuck out of the Dungeons and made his way nervously up to Dumbledore’s office, as he

had been told to. Severus had assured him that everything would be all right, and had even offered to come with him, but Harry

thought he needed to do this on his own. Reaching the two stone gargoyles Harry realised he did not know the Headmaster’s

current password.

“Um, blood-lollies? Cockroach Clusters?…Jube-Jubes?” To his surprise, the creatures stepped aside at his third try. Shrugging,

he made his way up the spiral staircase and knocked gingerly on the door.

“Enter.” Came the Headmaster’s voice from within. Taking a deep breath Harry stepped inside, and took his usual seat across

from Dumbledore.

“Professor.” He said, not meeting his eye.

“Good Morning, Harry.” The old man smiled, his demeanour calm, and welcoming. “I trust you slept well?”

Harry flushed slightly. “Yes, sir.:” Smiling knowingly, Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled, and Harry shrunk down in his seat, uneasy.

“Now, to business then I suppose.” The older man stood, walking across the room and pausing in front of a locked cabinet.

“I was thinking it might be easier for you if we used a pensive. Would that be acceptable for you?” He asked. Harry considered

this a moment. Using the pensive would mean he wouldn’t have to relive the memories for his mentor, but on the other hand, it

would let the Headmaster actually witness the lowest points in his life. After a few minutes he nodded,

“Yes, I think that would be best.” Dumbledore nodded, and took out the large stone basin from the cabinet and brought it over

to the desk. “Now, to extract the memories you simply need to fix your mind on a certain event, and then draw it from your head

with your wand.” Harry nodded. “I’ll leave you to extract them.” The old man said, politely going into an adjoining room. Harry

took a deep breath, trying to keep calm and placed his wand beside his head.

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When Dumbledore returned to the room Harry was finished, although he looked decidedlypale, and shaken.

“Thank you, Harry. I will review them and talk to you tonight. You may go down to breakfast.”

Harry nodded, and hurried down stairs, calming down almost immediately. He entered the Great Hall, which was just starting

to fill up. Sitting down next to Ron ,Harry felt like he was finally back at home, and smiled, reaching across the table for some

toast. Hermione, who was sitting across from him, noticed the boy’s cheerful appearance, and decided against pressing the

matter from last night, instead asking Harry what classes he had today. Harry pulled out his timetable, which Professor

McGonagal had given to the Gryffindors at supper last night.

“Um… History of Magic , Potions, and then D.A.D.A.”

Hermione looked confused.

“You’re still taking regular D.A.D.A.? I thought you were taking Advanced Defence this year?”

Harry nodded, swallowing a mouthful of egg.

“I am. But I figured what’s the harm in learning lots of Defence? I mean, I’m going to need it aren’t I?”

The bushy haired girl looked pleased. “That’s actually quite clever ,Harry.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “ He just didn’t want to take Care of Magical Creatures again, and needed an excuse Hagrid would buy.

He can’t be mad at Harry if he’s learning how to save the world.” Harry glowered, elbowing Ron in the ribs, but smiling

sheepishly. Hermione sighed heavily, trying to look disappointed, and shook her head.

“I’m quite looking forward to see Tonk’s teaching approach.” She said, trying to change the subject.

Ron grinned evilly. “Yeah. This is gonna be the easiest class ever.”

“Ron!” Hermione admonished.

“Well it is. We’re her friends, and nearly Order members to boot, she has to go easy on us.”

“That’s not how teaching works, Ronald.”

Harry laughed. “I think Tonk’ll be a great teacher. We’ll actually learn something in History of Magic for once.”

“Thank Merlin for that.” Hermione muttered bitterly. “’Cause I’m not lending you two my notes anymore.”

Ron looked horrified, and spat out his pumpkin juice. “You’re WHAT!”

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“Hello class. My name is Professor,” here Tonk’s face drew into a proud smile, “Nymphadora Tonks, but you can

all just call me Tonks, alright?” With a wide grin, she surveyed the class who were all looking at her expectedly.

“So, today I thought we’d talk about the vampire rebellion is 1614.” A mischievous sparkle appeared in her eye, and Ron and Harry

looked at each other excitedly.

By the end of the lesson, it was quite clear that Tonks had a very different teaching method then anyone else at Hogwarts.

The class was hanging on her every word, as she re-enacted the rebellion, using her Metamorphagus skills to add to the drama. She

wasn’t corny, like Lockhart’s feeble attempts at “dramatic” re-enactments had been, and Harry was quite surprised to find he was

remembering everything she had taught them. What was even better, were her highly entertaining comments, as she read aloud from

the textbook.

“And then, from the shadows, emerged the most feared vampire of them all, Count Ralphducko.” She paused, re-reading

the line in disbelief. “Ralphducko? These morons were afraid of someone named Ralphducko?” She laughed, shaking her head.

“I mean honestly, that’s no Darth Vader.” The few muggleborns and half-bloods who knew what she was talking about laughed,

while the rest of the class looked confused. Continuing, Tonks continually referred to the Count as “Count Rubber Ducky”, and

surprisingly, when they had a small quiz at the end of class, Harry remembered this jest, and then recalled his true name.

Hermione on the other hand seemed slightly put off.

“She’s making a joke of History.” She said, as the three made there way down to Potions.

“I thought she did quite well.” Harry said. “I actually learned stuff.”

“Yeah.” Ron agreed. “Without Tonks we wouldn’t know anything about Count Rubber Ducky.”

Hermione groaned, “Honestly.” She huffed, and hurried off ahead of them. The two boys looked at each other, sharing a moment

of male solitude, and chuckled.

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The sixth year N.E.W.T.S. potions class was much smaller than Harry was used to, populated manly by slytherins. The other

houses contained the few scattered people who possessed some talent for potions, along with the backbone to deal with Snape. Harry,

Ron, Hermione and Dean were the only Gryffindors, and the four sat together, eying the slytherins cautiously. They too, were

considerably lessened in numbers. Draco, Blaise and Pansy were huddled up together, the blonde snatching up the two, since Crabbe

and Goyle obviously were obviously not cut out for this class. Several other members of their house were seated nearby to their

‘slytherin prince’, though not near enough to earn a glare from him. Harry didn’t know any of the other students by name, and in total,

there were only about sixteen students.

“Silence everyone.” Severus said, as he entered the room, walking briskly to the front of the room, cloak billowing out behind him.

Harry assumed this was merely for effect, as no one had dared to talk since entering the room.

“Welcome to N.E.W.T. level potions making. Those of you privileged enough to make it this far should count yourselves lucky.

Nevertheless, keep this in mind. This class is far above the Ordinary Wizarding Level. The potions you make here are extremely

dangerous in the best of times, and should it become apparent that letting into the course was a mistake, you will be dropped from this

class. There will be no negotiating, as your continued attendance could jeopardise the lives of your schoolmates. This is not some petty

rule on my part, but a measure put in place to protect you.”

Glancing over at his schoolmate Harry could tell Ron was far from convinced. Harry however quite agreed with him, picturing

in his minds eye all the damage Nevillve had done, and what kind of consequences a mistake would have now that the potions they

were brewing were more dangerous.

“Now, everyone please open your textbooks to page 12. For the first week or so we will only be studying principles, before we begin

to learn how to apply them practically.”

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“Bonjour Mon petite enfant!” Monsieur Lenny said in a rather condescending voice, as the sixth year Slytherin and

Gryffindors filed in. Ron and Harry suppressed snickers, as they took in his outrageous outfit, which today consisted of a

chequered suit, and matching fedora. It seemed that Dumbledore had managed to convince him that he could not smoke his

cigar inside the school though, which the students were grateful for.

“I am Monsieur Lenny. I am very pleased to meet you all.” The students rolled their eyes as he went on to thank them all,

as though he were receiving an award, as opposed to a teaching position.

“I thank you so much for welcoming me into your school; it is an ‘onour, I assure you. As you know, this is Defence Against

the Dark Arts.” He wrote the title on the board, and then as an afterthought, wrote his name underneath.

“Now, this is a subject I know a great deal about…” He paused, blushing, and hurriedly corrected himself.

“Not that I have committed any crimes, dear children. No, no, no. I would never. Well, there was this one time, but-”

Ron shook his head, laughing silently, and jabbed Harry in the ribs, pointing out how the nervous man was adding a

flourish to his name on the chalk board as he rambled.

“-And of course, it was really all my brother’s fault, you see? I would never have done it on purpose.”

He cleared his throat nervously, and adjusted his tie.

“So, er…today, we shall be starting with counter curses, as you we need to know them when we start to get into proper

duels in a few weeks time.” All of the old members of Dumbledore’s Army beamed at this news.

“This guys a real nut job, but I like him.” Ron said, chuckling as he and Harry paired off. The Boy Who Lived grinned,

pulling out his wand.

“Maybe he’ll even last more than one year.”

The redhead laughed.

‘Riiight. Fat chance of that happening.

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Harry nearly forgot about his meeting with Dumbledore that evening, and had to double back halfway up to Gryffindor

Tower. He took a deep breath as he knocked on the door. His Headmaster had been absent from dinner, and Harry feared it might

be because of him. To his surprise, Dumbledore opened to the door personally, unlike his usual greeting of ‘Enter.’. Dumbledore

looked very grave, and put a hand of Harry’s shoulder.

“My dear boy…I’m so sorry. If I had known…”

Harry felt his checks flush, and he avoided his gaze.

Oh Merlin, now he pities me. Harry thought despairingly.

“Of course, I have alerted the proper authorities, and your Uncle with soon stand trial. You’ll never have to go back.” Dumbledore

continued, in a reassuring voice. Harry however was far from reassured, and pulled out of his grasp, looking out raged.

“…You what!” He stammered, in disbelief.

“I just wanted to help Harry. I know this all seems scary, but -”

“I can’t believe you would do that.” Harry muttered quietly, mostly to himself, and then glared up at his Professor.

“I can’t believe you would do that!”

Dumbledore looked hurt and confused.

“Harry, this man needs to be put to justice. He broke the law.’

“You had no right.” Harry said, breathing heavily, and trying not to cry.

“You didn’t even ask me. You had no right to do that.” Harry took a step back, wanting to run away. How could Dumbledore

have done this? He trusted him.

“Harry, everything will be fine. I know you’re upset, and I can just imagine how you feel right now-”

“You could NEVER imagine how I feel right now. You just had to watch it. I had to live through it. How dare you tell me you

know how I feel! How dare you tell me everything will be okay, when you put me there, with that monster!” Tears slipped

down his face, and he ran, ignoring Dumbledore’s calls after him. He was going by instinct now, running with out knowing where

he was going. He found himself a short while latter in front of the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, sobbing and pounding at the door.

The portrait eased open, and a concerned Severus gently helped him to his feet, leading him inside.

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Several hours latter, after Severus had finally managed to calm Harry down, a very irate Severus Snape marched up to

Dumbledore’s office. The man did not seem surprised by Severus’ appearance, drew him into his study.

“Albus, how could you do that to the boy, after all he’s been through.” The dark haired man asked, exasperated. He knew what

his mentor had been trying to do, but honestly. This was supposed to be the most ingenious wizard alive?

“I just wanted to help him, Severus. And you know as well as I do that this man needs to be put away.”

“Of course I know that. He deserves a lot worse, but couldn’t you have involved Harry in the decision…or bring it up a tad more

tactfully, instead of just forcing it on him?” The younger man grasped the bridge of his nose trying to will away he impending migraine.

“I thought that it would be good news, that hearing it would cheer him up, give him hope.” Dumbledore sighed, seeing the error in

his earlier attempt. “I may not have done this is the best way, but that act is it has been done. Do you think you can convince Harry

to testify? Given time of course.” Severus thought a moment. It would be a lot to ask of Harry, and if he did not want to there was no

way Severus would force it upon him.

“I will discuss it with him, but if he does not want to be a part of this you can not make him Albus. Promise me, if he says no, you will

not pressure him.”

“I promise you Severus, but without Harry’s involvement it is unlikely that justice will be done.”

Dumbledore said gently.

“I know.” Snape said softly. He sighed loudly. ‘Just, give him some time to come around.”

Dumbledore nodded.

“I think I may not be the person best suited to this Severus.”

“No one ever is.” The Head of Slytherin got to his feet and excused himself.

Dumbledore watched him go sadly.

“I just didn’t want to fail him like I did you, Severus.” He muttered quietly, after the retreating form.

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