Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or Harry Potter

Summery: On Harry's 16th birthday, something happens to him. He has changed. But not only in his body but also in his attitude. He will find out who his real friends are and who are not. Harry will have to fight to fur fill the prophecy but what will Voldemort do in order to stop Harry? And who is actually is fighting with Harry? (No slash)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

C

H

A

P

T

E

R

S

I

X

Last Time:

Coming to the entrance of the dungeons, Snape waited for Adrien to catch up. "Follow me closely boy," he said. Adrien bristled on the inside.

"My name is not boy," he said to Snape. Snape raised an eyebrow at the tone.

"Well, seeing as you have been impolite as to not give me your name, I will continue to call you boy."

"My name is Adrien. Adrien Stygius Ciaran."

"Well Mr. Ciaran, now that that is clarified, stay close or you will get lost. And I will not come to find you." Again, Snape turned on his heel and made his way into the dungeons.

As he followed, Adrien thought, why did Saeya say I had to apprentice under him? Looking at Snape's stiff back and hearing his firm steps he also thought, this is going to be a long year.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

It was early morning that Albus Dumbledore sat in his chair at his desk. The faint rays of sunshine could be seen rising in the east. The clear sky and bright sun promised a beautiful day but the Headmaster couldn't help but feel a little troubled.

It was here that Harry and him had spoken so many times. It was here that he was told of so many problems. It was here that so many people expected him to answer their problems. To fix everything. To do the impossible.

But why? Why should he be the one? But wait, he wasn't, was he? He wasn't the one who had to save them all; Harry all. But Harry was gone for a year now. And he had driven him away.

He had tried to protect Harry, to keep him safe but in the end, Harry always seemed to get hurt. And only more sadness would come into Harry's life. Oh yes, Dumbledore knew Harry was alive somewhere, probably training for what he thought he had to do. What no one else would do. He was taking care of himself; he was doing what Dumbledore did not do for him.

Though he was just a child. He didn't need to know how to fight when he was young. If he had waited, then Dumbledore would have trained him eventually.

But he didn't wait. He went on, by himself to try and fight. And what could he learn being so young? Teenagers didn't want to go all the hard work; they just wanted to be able to do it right away.

But Harry was never like that. He would practice and practice to be as good as he could be. He would try over and over to get something right.

But then why-

A sweet, light trill brought Dumbledore out of his thoughts. He looked to where the noise came form and saw Fawkes sitting on the windowsill with the suns' rays behind him. Seeing the beautiful scene and hearing the peaceful music, Dumbledore momentarily forgot about the turmoil in his mind

He wasn't sure for how long he sat there listening to Fawkes, but when the phoenix finished, the sun was up and the sky only had the faintest tinge of pink left. Dumbledore sighed and Fawkes flew over to his perch beside the desk.

"Thank you Fawkes. I really needed that," he said when the phoenix had settled.

Fawkes trilled an answer as though saying, you need not thank me. I'm glad to help you, my friend.

"I don't know what to do Fawkes. So much has happened lately. And with Harry still gone, there is just too much. Voldemort may not hold out much longer. He's been getting restless, from what Severus has told me. And of course now a stranger shows up asking for an apprenticeship. He reminded me of someone too. But I can't place who."

Another trill came form Fawkes. Do not fret about it. I'm sure you will remember when the time is right.

"Yes, you are probably right Fawkes. You always are." Standing up, Dumbledore looked at one of the many clocks in his office. "Thank you my friend but I must be getting to breakfast. Maybe I will learn more about Mr. Ciaran. I wonder how his and Severus' night was?" With his twinkle full blast in his eyes, Dumbledore turned to Fawkes.

"You may want to see this, old friend." Then he turned and left, humming, towards the Great Hall.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Adrien opened his eyes in the late morning. It had been nice to sleep at Hogwarts again, and not have to worry about getting up early for Saeya's training. Adrien lay in the bed he had been given for a while longer. After coming to Snape's quarters in the dungeons, he had shown Adrien where he would be staying for now and, if he completed Snape's test, for the rest of his stay. It was a plain room, not much unlike the one he had had at the Dursley's house.

Walking in, Adrien had noticed the bookshelf first. It was floor to ceiling height and covered the entire right wall. And it was all basically empty. There were a few books, but the looked rather old. In the left corner of the room, was the bed. It was pushed against the left wall and had a sheet, pillow and a duvet on it. There were no hangings around the bed as there was no need to have the privacy seeing as no one else was staying in the room. There was also a closet opposite the bed which, when Adrien opened, looked to be able to hold all of his clothes. There were even some portable drawers that had been put in the closet so Adrien could fold up his pants and put them in there if he wanted to. The last thing in the room was a desk. It was to the left of the door and was made for one person. There was one chair in front of the desk and a candle in a holder on top of it.

All in all, Adrien had liked the room and once Snape had left, he immediately took his trunk out of his pocket and unshrunk it, along with Hedwig's cage. He placed the cage on the desk and then put his trunk at the bottom of his bed. Unlocking it and opening it, Adrien pulled out his pajamas from his trunk.

Once changed, Adrien had immediately went to the bed and got in. He had been too tired to care about what Snape may want him to do for his 'test' or that he would see his old friends tomorrow.

With a sigh, Adrien decided it was time to get out of bed. He had been lying there for quite a while and he didn't want to be late for breakfast. Slowly he got out of bed and then he realized that he had no idea where the bathroom was. Scratching the back of his head, Adrien opened his door and looked down the hall. No one. He looked across the hall and saw a door. He could either be lucky and have found the bathroom or he could be very unlucky and have found Snape's bedroom. He decided to chance it and went across the hall and opened the door.

He was lucky. It was a bathroom. And it looked like it was his. There were fresh towels in the room and facecloths and also new soap waiting to be opened from packaging. It reminded Adrien very much of a hotel.

Looking around the bathroom, Adrien spotted a piece of parchment stuck onto the mirror. Going over to it, he realized it was addressed to him.

Ciaran,

This will be your bathroom for however long you are staying here, which I doubt will be long so don't mess it up.

I have already gone down to the Great Hall and I expect your presence at 7:45 sharp. Do not be late.

Professor Snape

PS: By giving you use of this bathroom, I expect you to use it and show up on time looking respectful and clean.

Adrien snorted at the note. Only Snape could be blunt and still be able to leave hints about severe consequences. He could almost see the or else that Snape implied at the end of the note.

Adrien decided that for now he would follow Snape's wishes, that and he wanted to get clean as well. He got out of his clothes and turned on the shower and stepped in. He was normally used to being rushed through the mornings when Saeya was around since she wanted to start early in the morning, so for once, Adrien took his time in the shower and let the hot water flow over his body.

Looking around in the shower, he found some shampoo and washed his hair. The only thing he hated about having longer hair is that it was so annoying to wash. But he also had grown out his hair for his disguise. He didn't look much like the small sixteen year old when he had last been at Hogwarts. He now stood taller then most of his old friends (though he was now two years older but that little fact was just never mentioned) though he knew he would never be as tall as someone like Ron. He also had an almost permanent tan from training outside all the time and he had lean but strong muscles from his training too.

Turning off the shower and stepping out, Adrien grabbed one of the towels and dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist. He used his hand to clean off the steam that had been on the mirror and realized that his face had changed too. It was no longer the face of a child. It was a strong but graceful face that at the moment was surrounded by his dripping hair. His hair, which had once been black as ink now was the deepest red possible. It actually didn't even look red but still black. It was only when his hair was caught in the sun that it seemed to have highlights of dark red.

Yet Adrien still noticed that his eyes stuck out. His eyes, which had once been a bright emerald green, had changed drastically. The colour around the pupil was a just noticeable dark red that faded into a dark green. But the entire iris was outlined in black circulating the green and making his eyes stand out more.

Adrien sighed for the second time that morning. He was reminding himself of a young teenage girl, looking in the mirror and seeing if their face had any flaws in it. Well not all girls did that, but he had met a lot who always had a mirror on them and were checking their face every five minutes.

Deciding he should get dressed quickly and get to the Great Hall on time, Adrien left the bathroom and walked across the hall back into his room. Entering the room, he noticed that someone had placed out clothes for him to wear. Probably the House Elves, he thought. He wondered how they were able to get into his trunk to get the clothes but then again, their magic was quite powerful.

Shrugging, Adrien dressed in the pants and shirt that had been laid out and put on black robes over top. He then got his wand from the bedside table where he had placed it last night. He quickly located some socks, and then started to search for his boots. He found them in his trunk, which meant that the House Elves must have put them there since last night he had just thrown them off somewhere when entering the room. They were a pair of worn black, high boots that went up halfway along his calves. When he had first seen them, he remembered refusing to wear them.

"Adrien, come 'ere a minute. I wan' ye to try somet'ing on."

"Saeya, I don't need any more clothes. You've given me enough to last my entire life."

"Dese ain't clothes, dey're boots."

"Those count as clothes."

"Just get over 'ere ye ungrateful brat."

"Alright, alright. I'm here. Now why do I need boots?"

"Because, dese boots will never completely wear out and dey also are very comfortable and ye can cross over any type of ground wit'out ever 'urting yer feet. 'Ere, dese are dem."

"Saeya, you're joking right? I mean they look like the type of boots men wore in medieval times."

"Stop yer complainin'! I've 'ad enough of it. Now yer gonna wear de boots, and if I ever see ye without dem, yer in fer a wallopin'!"

"Alright, I'll wear the boots! Just don't hit me with that broom of yours."

"Good, I knew ye would understand."

"Just pass the boots over."

Ever since then, Adrien had worn them and found them really comfortable, though he would never let Saeya know that.

Now that he was fully dressed, Adrien walked back over across the hall to bathroom and used his brush to run through his hair. After that, he pulled his hair into a braid that ended just around his shoulder blades.

Adrien spent a few more minutes in the bathroom cleaning up before leaving to go down into the common room in Snape's quarters. Looking around, he tried to spot a clock or something that would tell him the time but he couldn't see anything. Hoping that he wasn't late for breakfast, he left Snape's quarters and started out of the dungeons.

It took a few tries to actually get out of the dungeons. He had never been in this area of Hogwarts before and he relied only on what he saw last night when Snape brought him down. But eventually, Adrien came to a part that he remembered, and he continued to the Great Hall from there.

He was outside the doors to the Hall when Adrien remembered there was a clock just near the main staircase. He decided it probably would be better if he did actually know the time before he went into the Great Hall. So Adrien quickly hurried over to the stairs and looked around for the clock.

Adrien found the clock and quickly looked at the time.

He was dead.

No, it would be worse than dead.

He didn't know how, but whatever Snape would do to him would be worse than death.

No, scratch that, what ever Saeya did to him if he blew this than that would be worse than death.

In other words, Adrien was late. Not by much but it was about five minutes past eight. Snape had told him to be there at 7:45. Twenty minutes late. This wasn't starting out good.

Adrien walked slowly and straightly back to the doors. To an onlooker, it seemed like he was walking to his death. I may just be, he thought.

The doors were open since someone else had gone through when Adrien was looking for the clock and had left the door open. Adrien looked around the door; about half of the Hall was filled with students and all of the teachers were there. There was only one place left empty which was beside Snape. That's probably supposed to be for me, Adrien thought. Scanning the rest of the table, he noticed that everyone was still there form his fifth year. He looked for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He didn't see anyone different, he'd seen everyone at the table at least once before so –

Then he saw him. It was Professor Lupin. Adrien pulled his head back quick. What was he doing back here? If anyone could recognize him, it would be Remus. This could be a problem. But I thought that he was only here for the night at Hogwarts. Just helping with the small battle last night. So what now? If he's a teacher here then I'll just have to act differently. Act like how I never would have before. This would probably be the plan that would work the easiest. Adrien sighed. Nothing ever went according to plan.

Adrien finally decided that he really should go into the Hall now or he would be in even more trouble with Snape. This really was going to be a bad morning.

Finally, Adrien stepped around the door and entered the Hall. No one noticed him at first and Adrien was fine with that. It would be better if he didn't draw attention to himself. Slowly he made his way up to the Head Table and he walked behind it and reached where Snape was sitting, on the left of the Headmaster. By now, most of the students had noticed him and were whispering to their neighbor about the sudden appearance of this new person.

For a while, Adrien just stood behind Snape while he continued to eat his breakfast in silence or answer something that a staff member had asked him. Five minutes past and it would soon be ten, but Adrien still remained standing behind Snape. All the students had given up on trying to figure out what the new person was doing and had gone back to their breakfasts.

"You may sit Ciaran."

It was said curtly and to the point but it did not have the normal venom in it that Adrien was used to whenever Snape spoke.

Adrien nodded his head and sat down beside Snape. As soon as he sat down, food appeared on his plate and he picked up his fork and started to eat. It continued like that for a while, Adrien eating his breakfast and Snape drinking from his goblet. Finally when Adrien had finished and his plate was cleared, Snape spoke, though not looking at him.

"I thought I told you to be here at 7:45 sharp." It was not a question.

"You did, sir."

"Then why were you not here at that time?"

"Because I woke up late, sir."

"Woke up late?"

"Yes sir." Adrien knew there was no point to try and say anything else. It would all be thrown back at him and he would probably have been kicked out of trying for an apprenticeship. No, with Snape, it was better to say what he wanted to hear.

"And tell me, is this a regular occurrence of is it–"

"Good Morning everyone!" Snape was cut off abruptly as Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students and staff. Snape glared at the Headmaster from where he was sitting but didn't continue to talk to Adrien. Adrien smirked; he would have to thanks Dumbledore for this.

"Now, your attention please. As you may have noticed, we have a new guest sitting at the Head Table with us today. This is Adrien Ciaran who will be apprenticing under our own Professor Snape. Please welcome him and treat him like the other professors here at Hogwarts."

Most of the students started to clap here though many were not sure what they were supposed to do. When they did start clapping though, Adrien just looked up and gave a hesitant wave before looking back down at his plate. The clapping didn't last long after that.

"Yes it is great to have him here. But now all of your classes are going to start soon so let's start this year off good and get to class on time." Then Dumbledore sat down and continued to talk to Professor McGonagall for a few minutes while the students started to leave the hall.

Adrien got up to leave as well, but waited for Snape to get out of his chair before he left. Once Snape did stand up though, Adrien followed behind and only looked up when Snape spoke to him.

"Don't think that our conversation is over. We will continue this later in the privacy of my quarters." Then he continued walking.

Adrien just looked at Snape's retreating back. That man will always confuse me. With a slight shake of his head, Adrien continued walking but not before noticing a lone redhead looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Earlier That Morning

Ginny was again sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. But this time she had brought her Potions text with her to read while she ate. She had that class last today and that was the one she needed to study in the most. She had passed the O.W.L. but just barely. And she needed to pass this class.

She continued to eat and read for most of breakfast and even once she had finished eating, she still sat at the table to read. Most everyone left her alone so she was not interrupted, well that was until everything went a little quieter and people started to whisper excitedly around her. Some even ignored her and leaned right over her to talk to one of their friends.

Ginny soon gave up trying to read in peace and closed her book shut quite loudly and the people around her looked at her, then decided it was safest to just moved somewhere else.

Looking around, Ginny tried to figure out what everyone was whispering about. She didn't see anything unusual until she looked up at the Head Table. There was a man standing behind Snape at the table. And he just stood there, not doing anything. But Ginny noticed something else too. Snape was getting frustrated. Sure it wasn't that noticeable but one could always tell by he would look directly away from the source of his frustration.

But the man causing the whispers was different too. He was dressed in plain black robes that went to his knees, from what she could tell. It looked like he was wearing boots as well though. She couldn't tell what type but Ginny did notice they looked somewhat worn out. Moving up, Ginny noticed that his build was that of an athlete. Though he didn't look that strong. His face was what struck out at her though.

His hair was long, quite long for a guy actually, though he had it tied back in a braid at the base of his neck. It still looked like it was a little wet. His face was tanned from, what Ginny guessed, long days outside. Then his eyes. They were astonishing. She couldn't make out what colour they were but when she looked at this man, she was immediately drawn to his eyes.

Finally Ginny gave up looking at the new man and Snape. The new man had finally sat down and started to eat. Ginny went back to her book then and didn't look up until Dumbledore started to speak.

"Good Morning everyone! Now, your attention please. As you may have noticed, we have a new guest sitting at the Head Table with us today. This is Adrien Ciaran who will be apprenticing under our own Professor Snape. Please welcome him and treat him like the other professors here at Hogwarts."

Ginny glanced up as she clapped. The man, Adrien just looked up and gave a small wave before looking away again. She stopped clapping after that and everyone else soon followed.

"Yes it is great to have him here. But now all of your classes are going to start soon so let's start this year off good and get to class on time."

After that, Dumbledore sat down and turned to talk to Professor McGonagall. Ginny sighed and got up as well. Her first class was Transfiguration and she needed to go get her book for that class.

She waited for some people to go ahead of her but when no one gave the inclination that they would let her get to the door, she sighed and pushed through. And she almost made it to the doors as well. But then she was pushed back out of the group and she had to wait for another opening to get out.

That was when she noticed Snape and Ciaran walking down toward the doors as well. Hoping to get a better look at the new man, Ginny slowly started to walk. She saw Snape talking to Ciaran before he continued on, but Ciaran stayed still. Then he just shook his head and started to walk on again.

Then she saw him look at her. She gave a small gasp before continuing to walk and look at him only through the corner of her eye. She hoped he hadn't noticed. But he continued on and she let out a long sigh. Well she would see what this man was like soon, she had her last class with him and Snape at the end of the day.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Adrien looked at Snape from where he sat in the corner. When he had gotten to the classroom, Snape had told him to sit in the corner and be quiet for that day. He wasn't to touch anything or say anything since Snape still hadn't officially accepted him as his apprentice.

Adrien grinned. Snape almost had no choice in the matter of letting him stay or not anyway. Not since Dumbledore already said he was Snape's apprentice. But then, Dumbledore had also done that so Adrien would stay and he could keep a good eye on him.

Oh well, it's part of my plan to stay and I have to do so no matter what.

Looking away from Snape, Adrien glanced at the door where students were coming through.

His eyes widened. You have to be kidding me.

Coming through the door was the seventh year Potion's classes' students.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Author's Note: sorry, sorry, sorry. This took forever to get out but I had major writer's block and then I was away for a month after getting the last chapter out and I wasn't able to think of or write anything down. And then four days after I got back, school started. I went to the first day of school without knowing where my new locker was or where my classes were. And then, I got sick. And then better and then sick. In fact I'm still sick. And I have tones more of excuses and I can list them for you if you would like, which I highly doubt.

So I'll leave with thanks to all of the reviewers of this story. Sorry I can't name you all but I don't have the time. Sorry. Also please review and any ideas are welcome. Also any criticism.

Thanks everyone, and I hope to update in January. A quicker update than normal. Yay!