Of Butterflies in a Hurricane

*

"Erm, hello, Professor," Harry said awkwardly, feeling slightly embarrassed at his entrance. He took his wand from his pocket and cleaned the remaining soot off. Beside him, Ron did as well while blushing furiously. Hermione merely rolled her eyes at their manners but said nothing.

Professor McGonagall looked down at them sternly, seeming much like herself. "Well, Potter, I hadn't expected to see you so soon, but Ms. Granger said you needed to come here."

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied. He felt a little uneasy. McGonagall didn't know about the Horcruxes so he couldn't exactly tell her why he was there.

"I don't suppose you know how long you're staying?" McGonagall, it seemed, knew what Harry was thinking and was avoiding the subject of his visit.

"Not really," Harry said. He had no idea how long it might take to find a Horcrux, or if one was even at the school. It was just a hunch at best.

"In that case, I'd recommend you take lodging in your old dormitories while you are here. As you are not students, you will not attend classes, but it would be best to stay safely together at all times and try not to wander about. Though the rules don't technically apply to you," at this, her mouth thinned as though it shouldn't matter whether or not they were students, "the curfew is still ten o'clock for the older students. If Mr. Filch catches you out past then, he may choose to punish you."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged a glance at that. They didn't look forward to meeting Filch in the dead of night.

"Of course, Professor," Hermione replied swiftly when Ron and Harry said nothing.

While Hermione was talking, Harry's eyes wandered around the so familiar circular room. The portraits on the walls were wide awake today, all listening interestedly. Harry looked at the very last picture.

Dumbledore sat in his comfortable arm chair, his eyes twinkling as always as he watched the room. He saw Harry looking at him and gave him a small smile. Harry stared at him, a feeling of irrepressible sadness coming over him. Dumbledore seemed to know what was happening. He just smiled warmly, his blue eyes twinkling as he looked at Harry. It seemed to tell Harry that it wasn't as bad as he thought.

Finally, Harry forced himself to look away from the portrait. He realized that the conversation was coming to a close so he tuned in quickly.

"... Doing fine in Quidditch. It's just been difficult to practice with all these confounded Ministry officials swarming the castle." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips together in a manner that clearly stated she thought it was unnecessary.

Hermione smiled warmly. After all, she was the only one who had seemed to connect with McGonagall. Soon, though, they were leaving the Head's office, going down the spiral staircase and out the doors guarded by gargoyle.

They looked at each other for a second, knowing what they were getting into by going back to school. Harry had thought that he might never have to see the school again; the place that held so many memories, both good and bad.

Harry gave a resolute sigh and turned around, leading the familiar path to the Gryffindor dormitories. They climbed up the marble staircase and to the seventh floor.

Harry stopped as he neared the portrait of the fat lady, realizing that he had no clue what the password was.

The fat lady gave a loud squawk as she caught sight of them. "Why, you three!" she exclaimed. "I thought you weren't coming back!"

"Well..." Harry started to say, not knowing how to explain it.

"Actually, we're just here for a visit," Hermione supplied. "Twiddlebottom."

"What?" Harry asked, completely confused. His question was answered as the portrait swung forward to admit them.

They walked cautiously into the room, fearing what, or who, might await them. To their relief, the common room was entirely empty. It seemed that everyone was in class. Harry felt incredibly relieved as they went into the room.

It looked the same as always, not like Harry had expected it to change or something. The walls were hung with red and gold panels and the Gryffindor lion stood proudly on the flag hanging over the mantle.

Harry and Ron split from Hermione and went up the staircase to the boys' dormitory. Harry pushed open the door, expecting to find it completely empty but was scared out of his skin as a yell met his ears.

"Harry! Ron! You're back!"

Harry jumped in the air. He had been getting jumpier lately, always frightened at sudden noises. It must have been over-sensitivity from always being on his guard. He looked up to see Dean standing by his bed and grinning at them.

"Dean!" Ron said, surprised. "Are you the only one here?"

"Well, Neville's here somewhere, but other than that, yeah. Seamus' mum wouldn't let him come back." Dean looked a bit depressed at that piece of news. Harry knew they had been close during school.

"Oh," Harry said, having nothing else to say. There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"So..." Dean said finally. "Are you guys staying? McGonagall said you weren't coming back to school."

"We're staying for a little while. We, uh, have some things to do."

"Oh," Dean said, sounding disappointed once more. "So you're not going to school?"

"No," Harry replied. "We're just... visiting."

"Well, it'll be nice to have someone else here beside Neville for a little while at least."

Harry gave him a fleeting smile and moved over to his bed, pushing back the heavy curtains that were hanging around it. He caught sight of the bed, the dark red covers sitting perfectly made up.

:FLASH:

"Come on, Harry," Draco teased, lying on his back on the bed, his pale skin contrasting sharply with the dark red color.

Harry paused a second, noticing the color contrast. Draco finally just rolled his eyes and reached up, pulling Harry's head down and pressing his lips against Harry's. He pushed his tongue inside Harry's mouth, lapping at the hot cavern within. Harry groaned quietly and reached over, fumbling for the hangings and wrenching them shut, shutting out the room.

:FLASH:

Harry jerked back as Ron clapped a hand on his back. He hadn't realized he had spaced out while Ron and Dean had been having a conversation. He quickly deposited his bag on the bed and shut the hangings, setting a Locking Charm on the curtains.

He turned back to Ron and Dean, who were arguing, for the millionth time, about Dean's poster of the West Ham soccer team.

"But they don't even move!" Ron exclaimed, gesturing at the motionless players.

Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed. "They're not supposed to!"

Ron decided not to comment, but he continued to give the poster a suspicious look. He had never quite believed that Muggle pictures weren't supposed to move.

They spent the next half hour catching up, though Ron and Harry kept certain things to themselves. It turned out that Dean wasn't upset that Harry and Ginny had dated. He was even sympathetic of their break-up, something Harry wondered about.

At one point, Ron left the room and Dean leaned in to Harry, looking around carefully. "There's actually another reason I'm glad Ginny and I broke up and you took her. See, I'm gay, but hardly anyone knows."

Harry simply stared at him for a moment. It had never occurred to him that Dean might be gay. He and Ginny had seemed to be happy when they had been together. Then again, so had he and Ginny and all that had been a lie, for the most part anyway.

"Oh, well, I guess it was a good thing," Harry said awkwardly.

Dean shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, just don't tell Ron, okay? I'm not sure he would like to know that I broke up with his sister because I liked blokes better."

Harry nodded, trying to ignore the knot that had formed in his stomach at Dean's words. He knew he would someday have to tell Ron about his relationship with Draco, especially if he actually managed to find Draco and save him. He was sure Ron wouldn't just accept him into the fold, not without an amazing explanation.

Ron reentered the room and the conversation turned to lighter matters, allowing Harry to think about what he was going to do.

Now that he was at Hogwarts, he needed to concentrate on his theory of the hidden Horcrux. He knew he couldn't just wander around the school looking for clues in order to find it. He had a hunch that it might be in the Room of Requirement, but the room tended to be very temperamental. He wondered if he could even manipulate the room to give him what he wanted.

Not to mention the fact that he didn't know which Horcrux might be concealed there. What if it wasn't the cup? What if it was something he hadn't discovered yet? How would he differentiate it from anything else in the room?

Harry knew that he had gotten himself into an endless battle of questions without answers by taking on this task. He knew, though, that it was something that had to be done. He was determined to find something within the castle, anything.

Just before dinner, Neville came into the room and let out a shriek. He ran to Harry and grabbed him 'round the middle in a tight hug. Harry was taken by shock and so did nothing to stop him.

Neville let go quickly, blushing furiously. "Harry! You're back! And you're alive!"

"Yes, I'm alive," Harry said carefully. "What did you think?"

"Well," Neville said, tracing a nervous circle on the ground with his toe, "there have just been a lot of attacks lately, people dying. I'm just glad you haven't died."

"Don't worry, Neville," Harry said consolingly. "I'm not doing any fighting at the moment, so I'm kind of safe." He knew he wasn't really safe, but Neville needed some reassurance at the moment. Harry knew it had to be hard, being stuck in the castle with no news save what the Daily Prophet printed.

After that, they all went down to the common room where they met Hermione. It turned out she was the only one in her dorm. Neither Parvati nor Lavender had returned.

They all went down to dinner, discussing light subjects, no one going near the subject of why the trio had returned so suddenly.

Dinner was what Harry had expected. All the house tables stared and gawked at them as they walked by, sitting down quickly at the Gryffindor table and doing their best to ignore it.

They ate quickly, having no desire to stay where they were being regarded like freaks in a circus. Even Ron didn't seem as excited as usual by the food. They merely finished their meals quickly and left the Hall amidst whispers and pointing fingers.

They said nothing on the way back up to Gryffindor tower. Harry felt weird walking back to his dormitory. It was like he had never left. But this time, he had no comforting thought that Draco would slip in to visit him in the middle of the night.

Harry left Ron and went to take a shower after dinner, still feeling dirty from his trip in the fire. He grabbed a towel and shower supplies then went into the adjoining bathroom.

He kept his head bowed as he walked into the bathroom. He reached into the shower and turned on the water before stripping off his clothes and stepping under the stream of hot water.

He turned around in the shower, bowing his head back into the water. It flowed over his body, soaking his hair and glistening on his tanned body.

He kept his eyes closed as he simply stood under the hot water. He could feel it washing away his tension and soothing his body. He felt better already.

He opened his eyes and was met with the shocking white of the shower tile glaring in his face.

:FLASH:

"Fuck, Draco, please move--" Harry panted. He was pressed up against the cool shower tiles as Draco stood behind him, his cock fully sheathed inside Harry's tight ass.

Draco leaned in, his lips brushing against the shell of Harry's ear. "You really want me to?" he whispered seductively.

"Please," Harry whined, his breath coming in sharp gasps as Draco shifted, his cock sliding out slightly and back in. Harry was so close already; it was excruciating.

"You beg so prettily," Draco mocked, flicking his tongue over Harry's ear and tugging the earlobe into his mouth using his teeth.

Harry moaned wantonly. Draco's words combined with the pressure of his unfulfilled cock were driving him insane. He could tell Draco wanted to tease him, but he couldn't take much more of it.

"Draco--" he gasped. "I-I love you, please."

Draco pressed a hot kiss to Harry's neck and placed his hands on Harry's hips, using them to steady himself as he slid his cock out of the slicked entrance, only to slam back in with an incredible force, ripping a cry from Harry's throat.

:FLASH:

Harry's eyes shot open. They had drifted closed during that little memory but were now wide open and still staring at the white tile. He shook his head, willing himself to think about something else. It wouldn't do well to dwell on Draco while he ought to be concentrating on Horcruxes.

Harry forced himself to stop thinking about Draco and hastily finished his shower. He redressed quickly and went back into the dormitory. He found that Ron, Dean, and Neville were sitting on their respective beds, talking about school.

"My gran wanted me to come back," Neville said plainly. "She reckons it's as safe as anywhere now that Dumbledore..." He trailed off as he noticed Harry in the room.

"It's okay, Neville," he said quietly. He went over to his bed and threw his clothes in his bag then turned to them. "You can say it."

Neville did nothing of the sort. There was silence for a moment until Dean piped up. "My parents don't know much, but they think it's probably safer here too, you know, with lots of wizards and witches around. Safer than they could keep me, they guess."

"That's probably true," Ron agreed, glad that Harry hadn't been too upset by the mention of Dumbledore.

Harry didn't join in on the conversation, choosing to sit silently on his bed while it continued. Finally, he grew tired and announced that he was going to bed. The rest of them followed suit and climbed into their beds, pulling the curtains shut and falling asleep.

Harry didn't fall asleep. Instead, he sat cross-legged on his bed, debating what he wanted to do. The overwhelming urge to pull out the Pensieve came over him as it always did and he reached into his bag, taking it out and unshrinking it. He placed it in front of him on the bed, watching as its contents swirled as always.

He prodded the top like he always did and waited for the silvery liquid to stop spinning. He looked down at the top of it and saw the same scene he had seen for many weeks. It was the same room with the singular student writing something at a desk while a teacher looked on.

Harry sighed, sitting back, disappointed. He had seen that room several times since he had gotten the Pensieve. He didn't know why the basin insisted on showing it to him. He looked back in the basin, as if hoping the image might have changed.

The boy was still there. Harry wished the Pensieve would stop showing him that same image. He sat back, listening to Neville's quiet snores fill the room beyond. He looked at his watch and realized that it was kind of early for going to bed.

He was tired but not incredibly so. The day had been long and stressful. Harry was eager to get a move on. He was glad to be back at the castle but also felt like it was a step backward.

Harry looked back into the basin, hoping it might explain something to him. After looking thoughtfully at the room inside the Pensieve for a few minutes, Harry came to a sudden decision.

He listened closely for a moment, as if to make sure everyone was indeed asleep, before taking a deep breath and plunging headfirst into the Pensieve, falling through nothing until his feet hit solid ground and he looked up.


~~**~~


A/N: Yay another chapter before the actual book comes out! Please review :)