Harry gave the man one last hug before leaving, hurrying up to the castle the best he could in the snow.
If Dumbledore's manipulations ever cost him his friendship with Hagrid, Harry would obliterate the old headmaster where he stood.
With the news that Rita Skeeter was sneaking around the castle, Harry's paranoia ramped back up to a hundred. He had far too many secrets to risk slipping up with any one of them. If he wasn't in or between classes, he was under his invisibility cloak or enveloped by a privacy ward. He made sure to pass the information on to those who shared his secrets, too, which turned into an impromptu study group on privacy wards and silencing spells.
"I don't know how she's getting around, so she could be anywhere," he told the other heirs in their fortnightly meeting. "Just make sure you're never discussing secrets — mine or your own — without putting some kind of warding up."
"Thanks for the heads up, Harry," Ernie said, looking grim-faced. "I had wondered how she was getting all those quotes from the Slytherins. Obviously they're in the know."
Several heads turned towards the trio of Slytherins in the group, but all of them shook their heads. "I haven't heard anything," Blaise said, "but people know I'm at least civil with Harry now, so they're not likely to tell me. These two, either." After the Yule Ball, it was somewhat established that Harry was on good terms with the three Slytherins, and willing to spend time with others. There were plenty of people — Dumbledore most significantly — who didn't seem thrilled by the Boy-Who-Lived's extended social group, but at this point Harry was past caring. He couldn't hide away forever, especially not if he wanted to be able to make real changes when he came of age.
Harry remembered seeing quotes from Crabbe and Goyle in the article, as well as from Parkinson, and made a mental note to ask Draco about it all. He had to warn his boyfriend to be vigilant as it was; perhaps the blond would be able to get information from his housemates. They still trusted him, they'd surely tell him.
"Okay, well, enough about Skeeter," Harry said eventually. "Who wants to help me with some Arithmancy?" With the holidays over, his self-study was back on track as well, with Snape slipping assignments in with his returned Potions homework at the behest of Remus and Sirius. On any given day there was an inter-house study group meeting in the library now, but no one outside his trusted circle could know that Harry was studying the extra two subjects. That left helping him to this lot, or occasionally Fred.
There were a few groans around the table, before Anthony Goldstein pulled out the empty chair between him and Padma. "Come on, Potter," he said with a grin. "Let's get this over with."
Harry grinned back, shifting around the table to take the chair and reaching into his bag. Hermione had it all wrong, seeing the other students as obstacles to her success.
Hogwarts was so much better with more friends.
.-.-.
Of all of Harry's secrets, the one where he was still in contact with his escaped convict godfather was probably the most inflammatory for him and the people he cared about, so Harry made sure he only ever spoke to Sirius at night, in bed, with the curtains warded with about everything he could think of.
"It's starting to make my head spin, Sirius," Harry admitted late one night, looking into his godfather's sympathetic grey eyes. "I've got so much going on the tournament, the study group, Draco, you, Dumbledore — I'm losing track of who knows what, and trying to keep it all from Skeeter…"
"You've got far more on your shoulders than anyone should at your age, pup," Sirius agreed. "I wish I could help you with it — I wish I wasn't just adding to it."
"You're not," Harry insisted quickly. "I don't know how I'd cope without you and the others."
"It doesn't change that we're just another pile of secrets for you to keep," Sir ius said knowingly. "Look, Harry; just focus on what you can control for now. The tournament — you're working on getting the egg figured out. Ask Remus about it next time he's with Snape, he might have an idea. Everything else is beyond your hands. The study group seems to be mostly taking care of itself. Draco's a smart boy, and he'll understand if you need to ease off a little bit while you're so busy. As for Dumbledore, he's clearly willing to just sit back and see what happens with this whole tournament situation, so I don't think you have much to worry about there. He doesn't suspect anything, does he?" "I don't think so." Harry honestly hadn't seen much of Dumbledore, lately. The man was probably busy dealing with all the behind-the-scenes stuff for the tournament. "He doesn't like that the students are mingling so much these days, but I don't think he can trace it back to me. If anything I think he thinks it's Susan's fault." She was honestly more in charge of the study group than he was, and with her Chief Warlock ambitions all the heirs seemed to gravitate to her anyway.
"She seems very much like her aunt, from what you've told me," Sirius complimented. "I'm sure she can handle it. So there you have it — the only things you really need to worry about right now are the egg and your boyfriend. And from what I've heard, I don't think you even need to worry about your boyfriend. He's pretty keen on you, I'd say." Sirius wiggled his eyebrows, and Harry blushed.
"Snape's been gossiping again, hasn't he?" he groused. He still hadn't forgiven the Potions Master for telling Sirius and Remus about finding Harry at the Yule Ball. Sirius had teased him about it for days.
"Severus? Gossip? Never," Sirius mock-gasped, before laughing. "It's not like he needs to; I can see it all over your face when you talk about your boy. It's very sweet." Sirius laughed harder as Harry squirmed in embarrassment.
"You just wait til you start dating again," Harry muttered. "I'll get you back for all of this."
"You might be waiting a while," Sirius pointed out, the light in his eyes dying a little bit. "Hard to get a date when everyone thinks you're a murdering lunatic."
"It won't be forever. We'll find Pettigrew and get your name cleared," Harry vowed.
"I'm sure you will, pup," Sirius agreed, smiling slightly. "You're a determined little bugger like that." He shook his head in a slightly canine way, then brightened up. "Anyway, tell me about what the twins have been up to — you mentioned something about hexing the Ravenclaw common room guardian?"
Harry grinned, happy to regale Sirius with the tale of Fred and George hexing the Ravenclaw statue to spout gibberish instead of riddles, so they could only get into their common room by responding with utter nonsense. One day, he couldn't wait to introduce his godfather to the twins. Though the rest of them might not be safe once he did.
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