Disclaimer: I make no claim to the rights of any characters that are owned by J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros., and make no money from this venture. This work is purely for entertainment purposes.

—CHAPTER NINE—

Marauders and the Map

"Before we begin our lovely feast, I fear I must implore you to listen to the words of an old man," Dumbledore said, standing to address the students. "I would like you all to join me in welcoming the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, who has graciously agreed to take the post this year." There were loud cheers and applause at that announcement. None of which Luna took part in.

She looked over across the table and saw that Harry wasn't clapping either. Hermione seemed to be doing so rather dubiously. Colin, on the other hand, looked excited about it. Luna made a mental note to tell Colin the truth so that he didn't become overly disillusioned about Lockhart.

Dumbledore then talked for a little while about rules and Mr Filch and Quidditch teams before he finally smiled broadly, a very visible twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Let the feast, begin," Dumbledore said happily and food began to pile up in front of them. Luna immediately went for some mashed potato that was situated nearby as well as some roast beef.

"Are you both happy to be in Gryffindor?" Harry asked, looking to Luna and Colin.

"Yes!" Colin said excitedly. "And I love Hogwarts! It's amazing."

"It really is, isn't it?" Harry commented before looking to Luna. "What about you Luna?"

"I'm pleased to be here, Harry," Luna replied, putting down her fork. "The Hat told me that I could have been in any of the Houses."

"Even Slytherin?" Neville, who had introduced himself when Luna was sorted, asked from next to Harry. He sounded a little worried. Luna simply nodded.

"The Hat said I'd be good in any of the Houses as well," Harry said and Neville eyed Harry strangely. "It was actually tossing up between Slytherin and Gryffindor before I told it to place me here."

"You've never told me this," Hermione said and Harry just shrugged. Luna was happy that there was someone else that could have been in Slytherin out of her friends.

"I can't see you as a Slytherin," Neville said.

"Neither can I," Colin commented. Luna saw Harry look over to the Slytherin table and smile lightly. She followed his gaze and saw Draco.

"They aren't all bad," Harry said after swallowing a mouthful of potatoes. "Neville, you know that. Remember Ethan?"

"Ethan?" Colin asked. Luna felt the same question arise in her head, but she knew that it would get asked and said nothing.

"Ethan Revala," Harry explained and Luna saw Colin's eyes widen. "He shared a carriage with us."

"We met his brother," Colin said quickly. "Garion. He was just sorted into Hufflepuff."

"Strange, that," Neville said. "I can't remember any siblings being in those two Houses."

"Speaking of Hufflepuff," Harry suddenly said. "Ginny was a bit of a surprise."

"Not really," Luna said airily. Everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows. "After what happened with Ronald on the train, I would not be surprised if Ginevra rethought about Gryffindor. Besides, she is very loyal."

"What exactly happened with Ron on the train?" Neville asked. Harry opened his mouth, but Luna found herself answering first.

"Ronald thought that it would be a good thing to say that he saw Harry as the Boy Who Lived," Luna said. "And then Harry showed that not one of us thought of him as that."

"Idiot," Neville muttered, causing Harry and Hermione to laugh. "What?"

"You just didn't sound like you then," Harry said with a smile.

"You are normally very timid," Hermione said with a nod.

"Well he is," Neville said fervently. "I'm not even a close friend of yours, Harry, but I know you hate all that stuff. I thought Ron would know better than that."

"I know," Harry said. There was a silence as they all ate for a while before Colin spoke up.

"This place looks really huge. Bigger than I expected," he said, looking around. "I bet I'll get lost a lot."

"Don't worry too much," Harry said with a knowing smile. "I'm going to have a talk with Fred and George about something tonight. If it works, I'll be able to help you get around easier."

"Harry …" Hermione said warningly.

"What?" Harry asked, innocently. "I know what I'm doing. I'm just going to reclaim what rightfully belongs to the son of Prongs." Luna giggled and Hermione looked at her.

"You know what he's talking about, don't you?" she demanded and Luna nodded with a sly smile.

"Yes, I do. And I completely approve," she replied. "Trust me, his head is completely Wrackspurt free."

"Welcome, new Gryffindors!" a voice suddenly said, causing Luna to jump slightly. Standing behind Colin was a ghost.

"Hi, Nick," Harry said happily. "How were your holidays?"

"Dreadful, if I am being completely honest," the ghost said before turning back to the First Years. "You should all be very proud to be sorted into my old House."

"You're a ghost aren't you?" Colin asked excitedly and loudly, causing a few laughs.

"Yes, I am," the ghost said plainly. "My name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington."

"Wait," one of the other First Year girls said. "Nearly-Headless Nick."

"I much prefer –" he began but was cut off.

"How are you nearly headless?" Colin asked. Nick glared at him lightly before grabbing his ear and pulling, causing his head to seemingly come off his neck. There was a small piece of skin holding the head on, however, proving that he was indeed not truly headless.

"Cool," Colin breathed as Nick plopped his head back on and glided away.

"That's going to happen every year, isn't it, dear brother?" a voice said as he squeezed himself between Harry and Colin. It was Fred. Luna was sure of it.

"It does seem to," the other one said before squeezing in between Harry and Neville. "Someone always asks him."

"Harrykins!" Fred said. "Word has it that you wanted to talk to us."

"Word does travel fast. I'd like to meet that 'word' guy one day," George said. "Get all of his secrets. So what is it?"

"The son of Prongs requires use of the Marauder's Map," Harry said and the twins' eyes widened almost comically.

"If you know about the map, you will know the passwords," Fred said after a moment of being completely goggle-eyed.

"To open and close it," George clarified.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. Mischief managed," Harry said immediately and the twins actually looked winded.

"We are in the presence of royalty," Fred breathed.

"The son of Prongs," George said, with the same tone.

"Wait a minute," Fred said suddenly, as both of the twins looked up.

"If you know who Prongs is," George said.

"Who are the rest?" Fred asked

"Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew," Harry snarled. "Moony is Remus Lupin and Padfoot is Sirius Black."

"We see," the twins said together in a sage-like voice.

"You'll have it tonight," George said.

"But we must ask if we can use it on occasion," Fred said. "We still haven't completely memorised it yet."

"No problem," Harry said with a smile. "Now it might be best if you get moving. Neville looks a bit squashed."

"The Marauder's Map?" Hermione asked as the twins walked away.

"Sirius told me about it a while ago," Harry said. "It's a map of the school that Dad, Sirius, Remus and Pettigrew made. I'll show you later."

"How did you know that they had it?" Colin asked. Bugger, Luna thought as she looked at Harry. It was clear that he hadn't thought of that.

"It's rather clear isn't it?" Luna asked, causing four sets of eyes to go to her. "The twins are notorious for getting in trouble. Sirius told Harry that Filch had it. So either the twins had the Map or they would be able to get a hold of it."

"Exactly," Harry said with a grateful smile directed at Luna which made her feel happy. "And now that I'll have it, I'll just let you two use it to help you get around the school," Harry said happily.

"Thank you Harry," Luna said gratefully.

"Yeah! This'll help loads!" Colin said happily.

August 31st, 2017

"Are you sure about this James?" Albus nervously asked his older brother who scoffed and stopped pacing.

"Of course," James said, truly believing what he was saying. "I wouldn't have planned this out this way if I wasn't sure, Al."

James and Albus were sitting in James' room alone, waiting for a sound. Just one sound. This was two months of planning and James wasn't ready for this to fail. They only had one chance and he wanted this to work more than anything in the whole world. James stopped to stare at a poster of the Falmouth Falcons on the wall next to his bed.

"But what if we get caught?" Albus asked and James looked sharply at him.

"We won't," James said quickly and more sharply than he had intended. "And if we do, there isn't much that Mum and Dad can do. We leave for Hogwarts tomorrow, after all."

"They could stop us going," Albus said in the same worried tone. James stared at him for a minute before breaking out in laughter. Albus did not look amused.

"They wouldn't stop us from going," James said. "You know how Dad feels about Hogwarts and how he always said it's like home to him." His father had indeed said that a lot, though he usually said 'used to be like home' and not 'it is like home' though James saw no reason to add that in there. Albus seemed to pick up on that.

While James would probably never admit it, he was quite proud of his younger brother and how smart he was. He, in some ways, admired it. But he always felt that he wasn't destined to be that type of person, so he tried to be funny. Funny, he was good at.

Albus opened his mouth again but closed it when they heard footsteps coming from down the hall. James waited for a few seconds and he felt joyous when he realised that he hadn't heard a door close.

"You ready?" James asked Albus excitedly. Albus reluctantly nodded as James opened his door, checked to see whether anyone was around and, seeing no one, exited his room with his younger brother in tow.

The brothers moved quickly down the hallway and found the door to their father's study open. It was a triumph, really, because it was normally kept locked with magic. James pushed the door open and it squeaked slightly but he ignored it and pressed on.

The room had a surprising amount of books on shelves and a lot of paperwork strewn over a desk that was, clearly, where their father worked. James looked back to his brother and put a finger to his own lips to show his brother that he was not to say anything. Albus nodded as James swiftly moved behind the desk and began opening drawers.

James rifled through the drawers of his father's desk for a few minutes before he came upon an old piece of parchment with nothing written on it. James reverently picked it up and looked at it. He only came back to reality when Albus hissed, signifying that he had heard a sound.

James quickly closed a drawer and moved out of the room. The minute that they entered James' room, James heard footsteps ascend the stairs near their father's office. The footsteps entered the office and the door closed. James let out a breath and, once again, looked at the parchment.

"Are you sure that's it?" Albus asked, looking at the parchment in James' hand. James nodded.

"This is what Dad described, isn't it?" James asked, handing the parchment to Albus who took it gingerly.

"It is," Albus said happily. "When can we try it out?"

"I wouldn't want to risk it now," James said thoughtfully. "We'll try it as soon as we get to Hogwarts. Okay?"

"Yeah," Albus said with a broad smile which James returned. James was already excited to be going back to Hogwarts, but he thought that the addition of the Marauder's Map would make it even better.

Luna was very nervous once the feast was over, and began to pick at her fingernails as the First Years were led to the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry and Hermione had already left to go there, and there were two Fifth Year prefects that Luna didn't know leading them to where they were going to have to spend their lives at Hogwarts.

"You alright, Luna?" Colin asked, looking at her hands. Luna looked at him and smiled ruefully.

"Oh, I'm okay," Luna said. "I'm just a little anxious about having to sleep in a bed that isn't my own, you see."

"I feel the same way," Colin admitted. "I didn't really get a chance to go to any sleepovers, because I never really had any close friends. I'm used to my bed and I think it'll be hard to get used to another one." Luna smiled at the boy brightly. She didn't think that there would be anyone else that would have the same problem as her.

"How about we both make a promise, then?" Luna asked as the group of First Years and the Fifth Year prefects ascended a flight of stairs.

"What's that?" Colin asked, a little nervously.

"That we'll both get to sleep tonight," Luna replied, smiling. "Maybe it'll help."

"Alright," Colin said with a nod. "I promise."

"I promise as well, then," Luna said happily, just as they reached the portrait of a rather large lady, in all pink. She looked up and saw the group of First Years and a strange smirk came onto her face.

"Password?" she asked formally as she eyed the First Years.

"Sword Stroke," the girl prefect said and the portrait nodded before swinging open, revealing a circular hole that the Prefects walked into, the First Years following. Luna and Colin, being the smallest of the First Years, were helped up by two boys that Luna failed to recognise because of a combination of anxiety and tiredness.

"You should remember that password," the boy prefect said. "It'll change at least once a month. But don't worry, someone will tell you. This is the Gryffindor Common Room. All Gryffindor students will spend a lot of their time here, and we hope that you feel at home." After that he went into a huge speech about curfew times.

"Alright," the girl prefect said with a broad, nice smile. "The girls' dorms are up the stairs and to the left and the boys' dorms are upstairs and to the right. Boys, don't try to go into the girls dorms. You won't like what happens." She smiled evilly at the male prefect who turned slightly red while some of the First Year boys looked a little disgusted at the thought of going into the girls' dorm. Colin was not one of them, Luna noticed. The girl prefect laughed before continuing. "You'll see a plaque above a door that says 'First Year'. That's where you go. Your things are already there."

After that, the Prefects waved off the First Years, most of whom immediately raced up the stairs to see their dorms. Luna looked at Colin with a questioning look as she had expected him to do the same. He simply shrugged before turning to look around the room.

Luna was quite pleased with the look of the room and felt that it was quite homey. She had heard stories from her father about what the Ravenclaw Common Room was like, and she was sure that this one was better. She looked back around to see that Colin had spotted Harry and Hermione standing together watching the proceedings.

Luna didn't bother to go to them straight away as it looked like they were having a nice conversation. Luna was happy to simply stand and watch them. After about a minute, Harry looked over at her and smiled a broad, warm smile that Luna couldn't help but smile back to. Harry said something to Hermione and Colin who both nodded as Harry walked away before continuing what they were talking about.

"Everything okay, Luna?" Harry asked. Luna shrugged.

"Yes," she said truthfully. "I just thought that Colin might like some time to talk to you two alone. I was content to watch." Harry looked at her with a questioning look before smiling.

"That was nice of you," he said. "I did actually want to ask you something."

"What's that?" Luna asked, genuinely interested.

"How do you think you'll sleep tonight?" Harry asked. Luna raised her eyebrows. "On the day that you asked if I could stay at your house, I remember you telling Mrs Weasley that you don't usually sleep well when you aren't in your own bed."

"Oh, I think I'll be fine," Luna said, looking over to Colin who was gaping at Hermione who was chuckling. "I did promise after all."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I don't think that I should say," Luna replied with a smile.

"That's fine," Harry said. "I think you'll be fine. The beds are really very comfy. Anyway, we should go and talk to Hermione and Colin." Luna nodded, but yawned, finally feeling that she was truly very tired. Harry laughed.

"I don't think that it will be a very long talk," Luna commented with a small smile. They walked over to the other two who looked up.

"Are you going to actually show me now?" Hermione asked irritably as she looked at Harry who smirked, pulling out a piece of parchment from his pocket along with his wand. Luna and Colin looked at each other but said nothing.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry said, tapping his wand once on the parchment. All of a sudden, the parchment began to fill with ink blots that slowly formed something comprehensible.

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP

Luna smiled as she read it while Colin breathed in sharply in excitement. Harry just chuckled.

"Fred and George gave it to me not long before you two came in, so this is my first time using it," he said as he unfolded the parchment to reveal what was very clearly a large map of the entire school.

"And those names are where those people actually are?" Hermione asked, pointing to the name 'Albus Dumbledore'. Harry nodded. "So this is basically spying?" she then accused.

"Only if it's used for that," Luna said.

"Exactly," Harry said. "Colin and Luna will use it to get around the school, not spy on Dumbledore."

"This is so cool," Colin said wonderously.

"There was something that Sirius told me to try if I could get my hands on it," Harry said, pointing his wand at the map. "Mischief managed," he said and the ink disappeared immediately. He then passed the parchment to Colin. "Put your wand to it and say 'reveal your secrets'." Colin nodded quickly and pulled out his wand. He tapped it to the parchment.

"Reveal your secrets," he said and the ink appeared again.

Mr Moony presents his compliments to Colin Creevey, and hopes that he realises the enormity of what the spawn of Prongs is allowing him to do.

Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Moony, and would like to add that Colin Creevey must be important to have such a large honour bestowed upon him.

Mr Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that he never had the chance to meet Colin Creevey, as anyone who could befriend the spawn of Prongs must be amazing.

Mr Wormtail bids Colin Creevey good day, and advises him to solemnly swear that he is up to no good before having his mischief managed.

"Wow," Colin said as the ink faded.

"That's what Sirius said would happen if one of my friends used it," Harry said. "If it were anyone that wasn't my friend, they would be insulted."

"Can I try it out?" Colin asked, nearly bouncing in his chair. Harry nodded and Colin immediately tried it out. They proceeded to talk for another fifteen minutes before both Luna and Colin yawned nearly as one. It was then that the four of them decided to actually get some sleep.

Luna bid goodnight to her friends before heading upstairs to her dormitory. She opened the door to find that the other three girls were already in bed and either asleep or very nearly there. Luna found her bed, got her pyjamas and changed. She then proceeded to actually test the bed out.

Harry was right, Luna thought, laying her head on a pillow and putting a sheet over her body. These beds are comfy. But despite that thought, Luna still found it very difficult to actually get to sleep. It had to have taken her more than an hour, but she did eventually fall asleep and dreamed some lovely dreams.

Luna, being used to waking early, was the first of the girls in her dorm to actually wake up. She looked at their sleeping forms before mentally shrugging and leaving them to their fates if they didn't get up on time. Luna quickly got ready for the day and headed down to the Common Room where she found Colin sitting in an armchair.

"Good morning, Colin," Luna said brightly as she sat down near him.

"Morning," he said back to her, just as brightly, if not more so. "So, how'd you sleep?"

"I feel very refreshed," Luna replied. "It did take me a while to actually fall asleep, though."

"Same here," Colin said. "I love the beds though. I think I would have gotten to sleep quicker if the other boys weren't up later than me. They were loud too. I just tried to ignore them. It was hard though."

"I can imagine," Luna said with a smile. "The other girls in my dorm were asleep when I got up there."

They talked for a while longer, waiting for Harry or Hermione to get up. They could have tried to make it to the Great Hall, but thought it was polite to wait. Besides, it was fairly early and people were only just beginning to actually wake up. When Harry and Hermione woke up, the four of them went down to breakfast. Harry gave Luna and Colin the map before they set off for their first lesson of the day which was, unfortunately, Defence Against the Dark Arts with Lockhart.

Luna was pleased to have the Map as it made actually getting to the class a lot easier. In fact, Luna and Colin were the first two there. Lockhart, the bumbling fool that he was, was over ten minutes late to the class. Luna looked at Colin at that point and saw that he still seemed excited. Luna had to stifle a groan that very nearly escaped her mouth.

The idiot of a man then decided to test the class on what was found in his lie-filled books. And the majority of the questions weren't really about his so-called achievements but more about himself. Luna answered each and every question deliberately wrong and insulting.

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour? Greenish-brown.

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? To be the world's most well known fraud.

What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date? Fooling as many people as he has.

And it went on until question number 52.

52. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be? How should I know? And probably a sack of ill-earned gold and maybe a brand new book to bring him a brand new sack of ill-earned gold.

Luna actually laughed out loud when she saw the red colour that Lockhart's face turned upon seeing her answer sheet. Upon hearing this, Lockhart looked up and smiled dazzlingly at her which just made her laugh even more. Either he was trying to charm her or he thought she was just joking. The girls in the class all glared at her with an amazing level of hatred while the boys mostly just looked at her strangely, Colin included.

It was during her last class of the day, Transfiguration, that Luna received a note from an older student.

Miss Lovegood,

I require your presence immediately after the end of your lesson with Professor McGonagall. Padfoot and Moony need to learn new tricks. I absolutely adore sherbet lemons by the way.

Professor Dumbledore

Luna put the note away in her pocket before turning back to help Colin transfigure a matchstick into a needle, having already done so herself. Luna was very happy that Sirius and Remus would find out the truth, but she also wished that she could tell Hermione and Colin. While she knew that she had to keep it from them, it still felt wrong to do so.

August 31st, 2017

Harry was working in his home office the night before his sons were due to go to Hogwarts. The reason he was working so hard was because he wanted to be able to take the morning off in order to see James and Albus off from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. He didn't want to have to say that he couldn't because of work commitments. He already felt that he spent too much time working.

He was very much dreading the day that his beautiful Lily had to go to Hogwarts. He loved all of his children, and he wanted them to have the Hogwarts experience that he did, without all of the danger of course, but not being able to see them as often as he would like hurt him beyond measure. He, not for the first time, wished that Hogwarts wasn't a boarding school.

Harry looked up from his desk and smiled before standing and walking out of the room and down the stairs. When he came down the stairs, he saw Lily playing with her friend Carol, who lived next door, and smiled.

"Are you two having fun?" he asked and they both smiled at him.

"We are, Daddy," Lily said with a dazzling smile. "Thank you for letting Carol come over."

"It's my pleasure, Lil," Harry said before making his way to the kitchen where Ginny was preparing dinner.

"You finished?" she asked before giving him a kiss.

"No, unfortunately not," Harry replied while pouring himself a glass of water. "I just thought it was time." He felt a slight tingle go through his body.

"You're actually letting them take it?" Ginny asked with a slight smirk.

"If I just gave it to them, I think it would mean less," Harry said, smirking back at her. "I'd better go back up there and get back to work. I love you."

"I love you, too," Ginny replied as he kissed her again.

Harry then made his way upstairs and into his office, noticing that the door was open wider than he had left it. He chuckled lightly as he closed the door behind him. He sat in the chair behind his desk and immediately reached for the drawer that had held the Map. Seeing that the Map was gone, Harry smiled and closed the drawer, getting back to his work.

Harry sat down in one of the chairs offered to him by Dumbledore. He looked over and saw Luna do the same. Harry's first classes were actually quite annoying because they were going over things that they had done in First Year that Harry had inconveniently forgotten over the holidays.

"How was your day?" Dumbledore asked kindly to both of them.

"Oh, it was alright," Luna said. "I could have done without Lockhart's ego-quiz, but that cannot be helped."

"I can imagine," Dumbledore said with an almost visible cringe. "I had to agree to him using that quiz."

"So it'll be bad?" Harry asked. He shook his head when Dumbledore and Luna both nodded.

"You can make it fun, though," Luna commented airily.

"How?" Harry asked. He noticed that the Headmaster was even interested.

"Answer all of the questions deliberately wrong and, if possible, insultingly," Luna said causing Harry to laugh. "I think he thought I was joking."

They weren't able to say anything else as the fireplace in the office flared up with green flames and Remus walked out. Almost immediately after him, Sirius stumbled out.

"Bloody Floo takes time to work out," Sirius mumbled, making everyone laugh. Sirius looked up and was surprised to see Harry. "What are you doing here?"

"Great to see you too, Sirius," Harry said as he stood up and gave his godfather a hug.

"Hello, Luna," Sirius said and Luna nodded.

"Hello, Sirius. Remus," Luna said, nodding towards Remus.

"How are you Luna?" Remus asked politely.

"I'm just fine, although I do despise Professor Lockhart," Luna replied. "Talk about a Wrackspurt infestation." Remus looked at her for a moment with an odd look on his face.

"Indeed," he replied before looking to Dumbledore who was watching with a slightly amused look on his face. "What is this about and why do I get the feeling that I won't much like it?" Dumbledore smiled slightly and conjured two more chairs next to Harry.

"I think you should both sit," Dumbledore said, motioning to the chairs. Harry sat between Luna and Sirius while Remus sat next to Sirius. "We are here because of something that Harry and Luna have found out over the holidays."

"What did they find out?" Sirius asked, sounding intrigued. Harry suddenly felt slightly anxious about telling Sirius and Remus everything. It was a very big thing to have to do. He could only hope that they accepted it.

"Before we tell you, you must promise me that you will not reveal this to anyone. At all. This is of the utmost importance," Dumbledore said in a grave voice. Harry saw Sirius and Remus' eyes widen.

"Of course we won't," Sirius said.

"Absolutely not," Remus replied seriously, sitting forward. "But I do have to wonder what could warrant this. What's going on, Albus?" Dumbledore sighed and leaned forward in his chair, his fingers interlaced together.

"Have either of you heard of the potion known as 'In Remembrance'?" he asked. Harry heard a sharp intake of breath come from Sirius' direction and looked immediately at the man who looked surprised.

"You have to be joking!" he exclaimed. Dumbledore shook his head. "Really? Who?"

"Wait," Remus said quickly. "What's this about? What's 'In Remembrance'?" Harry looked over to see Sirius look to his best friend.

"It's a potion that one of my ancestors created," Sirius replied and Harry's eyes widened at that knowledge. "What it does is send back an hour's worth of memories to a certain time in a person's life. It's a very dark potion. There has been only one other documented use which was the very same ancestor that created the potion." Remus looked to Dumbledore, apparently to try and receive confirmation.

"Sirius is correct," Dumbledore said gravely. "Everything he has said is true."

"And who did it?" Remus asked. Dumbledore's eyes went towards Harry and Luna.

"What?" Sirius and Remus shouted together, shifting forwards to the edge of their seats.

"Harry or Luna?" Sirius asked, looking between the two of them.

"Both," Luna replied. Sirius slumped back into his chair while Remus looked on, shocked. Harry was beginning to wonder if telling them was the right idea.

"Why?" Sirius asked as he raised his hands to his face. "What could make you do that? It requires a sacrifice AND for you both to die." Remus paled.

"A sacrifice? A human sacrifice?" Remus asked shakily, looking at Dumbledore who nodded. "There must be a good reason otherwise you wouldn't have listened to them."

"There is," Dumbledore replied gravely.

"Voldemort gained power," Harry said.

"Voldemort's dead," Sirius said quickly.

"Not dead," Harry said with a shake of his head. "He had Horcruxes. Has Horcruxes." Sirius and Remus gasped.

"More than one?" they both immediately asked.

"Ah, good," Dumbledore said. "You already know what they are. That does save some time."

"Yes," Harry said. "We thought there were seven, but it turns out there were eight."

"Eight," Sirius breathed. "Eight. Eight Horcruxes."

"Do you know what they are?" Remus asked. "Where they are?"

"All but one," Luna said. "Lucius Malfoy had a diary, which we have already managed to get. There is a ring in the Gaunt Shack. Slytherin's Locket at Grimmauld Place. Hufflepuff's Cup in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringott's. Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem in the Room of Requirement here at Hogwarts. Nagini, Voldemort's snake, though that isn't a Horcrux until my Third Year. We don't know where or what the last one is."

"Grimmauld Place?" Sirius asked. "My old house? What? Did Voldemort give one to Regulus?"

"Not exactly," Harry said.

"Hold on. That's only seven," Remus pointed out. "What's number eight?"

"Me," Harry said sombrely. Sirius' eyes flew open and went to Harry's scar.

"You?" he asked in a strangled tone. "How?"

"We can only really guess," Dumbledore said. "It is my belief that a piece of Voldemort's soul attached itself to Harry at the moment the scar on Harry's head opened. I also believe that it was Lily's sacrifice which made the Killing Curse rebound on Voldemort which, in turn, tore apart Voldemort's soul, which was how it attached itself to Harry. It likely entered through the open wound on his forehead."

"Merlin," Sirius breathed, grabbing hold of his godson and pulling him into a hug. "But I need to know. Did you get the Horcrux out? In that timeline, I mean."

"Yes," Harry said sadly, remembering the memories.

"How?" Remus asked. It was a question that Harry really didn't want to answer.

"Voldemort killed me," Harry said quietly.

"But he came back," Luna said quickly. "He was given the choice to come back or move on. He chose to come back and he defeated Voldemort, only not really."

"I think, from here, Remus, Sirius and I will view the memories and that will answer any remaining questions," the four nodded and Dumbledore turned to Harry and Luna. "I will require both of your memories, and then you may go. Although, we do need to discuss something first."

"What's that, Professor Dumbledore?" Luna asked.

"I would like you to inform Miss Granger, Mr Longbottom and Mr Creevey that they will have Occlumency lessons with me every Friday when they have no lessons of an afternoon. Starting at four o'clock," Dumbledore replied.

"But what do we tell them about why?" Harry asked.

"Just tell them that there is something that you need to tell them, but you need to be sure that the information won't get out," Dumbledore suggested.

"Are you sure you should be giving students this information, Albus?" Remus asked, sounding worried.

"We trust them," Harry said firmly. "And we will not keep them out of the loop."

"I agree with them, Remus. Their memories say who we should trust, and those were three of the names mentioned. As were both of your names," Dumbledore said. Remus nodded and Dumbledore turned to Harry with his wand in his hand. "I do need your memories now."

After Harry and Luna gave Dumbledore their memories, Harry hugged Sirius and left the Headmaster's Office just as Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus entered the Pensieve.

"When do you think we should tell them?" Harry asked, looking over to Luna who had, subconsciously, grabbed his hand.

"I think we should tell them right away," Luna said and Harry was feeling slightly apprehensive.

"But what if they feel like we're hiding something from them?" Harry asked and Luna shrugged.

"We are," she said simply. "But I think that they will understand. They aren't Ronald. I actually think it will make Colin feel a bit better."

"How so?" Harry asked, looking at the blonde girl who was smiling.

"Having the promise of something so big that it needs protection from others actually revealed to him will make Colin sure that we actually like him," Luna said. Harry was a little hurt.

"Colin doesn't think we like him?" he asked.

"Perhaps you should ask him about all of his Muggle friends," Luna said cryptically.

"I think I will," Harry said.

They soon reached the Gryffindor Common Room where they found Hermione and Colin sitting together. Harry and Luna walked quickly over to them and sat down.

"Where have you two been?" Hermione asked, looking more at Harry than Luna.

"Dumbledore wanted to see us," Harry said.

"Why?" Colin asked.

"We … can't exactly tell you," Harry said.

"That's one of the reasons Dumbledore needed to talk to us," Luna clarified.

"Harry …" Hermione said in a warning tone.

"No, Hermione," Harry said. "There's nothing bad going on. It's just that we can't tell you what it is without … the proper precautions."

"What do you mean precautions?" Hermione asked, obviously intrigued. Harry inwardly smiled, knowing that this was pure Hermione. She couldn't help but be concerned, but when it came down to it, she was always curious as well.

"Have you heard of Occlumency?" Harry asked. Colin shook his head while Hermione quickly nodded hers.

"It's the art of blocking your mind from intruders," Hermione recited. "Why would you know that?"

"In order to tell you what we want to, you'll need to learn Occlumency," Harry said.

"Both of you," Luna clarified. Hermione looked a little put out while Colin looked excited.

"It must be pretty big to have to learn Occlumency just to be told," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Is it bad?"

"Yes and no," Harry replied. "Depends on how you look at it."

"When do we start?" Colin asked in an excited tone. Hermione sighed in resignation.

"Every Friday afternoon at four," Harry said. "Dumbledore's Office. I'll show you where that is later."