Disclaimer: Sadly, I am not J.K. Rowling, therefore nothing in the Harry Potter universe is mine. I only want to play in her little playground for my own (and hopefully your) amusement.

AN: Thank you all for reading, following, favouring and reviewing. You made me smile and keep writing. You all deserve hugs!

This chapter took longer than I planned to write, I would apologize for it, but it was not because of laziness. Real life with all its problems had its way to prioritise my attention. I had a setback period of depression and only two weeks ago my boss told me they had no more finances for the research project I am working on, so from January I have to search for a new job and till then I have to put the last touches to my PhD thesis, submit it and then prepare for my Defence.

But hey, at least then I have time to visit my sister and one of my best friends more often, who both gave birth to sweet baby boys this autumn.

I am very grateful for your patience. I try to get the next chapter out faster, but no promises.

This chapter is beta'ed by the wonderful GeMerope, many many thanks and hugs and kisses to her.

Have fun reading.

On with the story.

Chapter 14: The Ball

Harry was startled out of his thoughts when Slytherin stood and took a step away from the table after another pair of guests had paid their respects to him. The others on the table followed suit and Harry quickly stood himself. The Lord gestured for Harry to stand beside him and then looked in the direction of the doors.

Harry felt a stab of annoyance when he saw the Headmaster walking their way. He would never admit it to anyone, but the previous action had made him queasy. He had seen the expression of Crouch; it had reminded him too much of what he had often seen in Dumbledore's or Moody's faces. Crouch didn't see him as a person, he also was only interested in his magical ability, he even had said as much – at least he had been honest.

He shuddered shortly. The look in the man's eyes was part of his nightmares. He hadn't lied, a vision was a vision regardless how they were initiated, but someone deliberately cutting him for their own selfish reasons and gain was his worst fear.

A warm touch at the small of his back brought him out of his thoughts. Lord Slytherin sent him a short, questioning glance, then he looked ahead and smiled. Harry followed his gaze and blinked twice.

Three people were led to them by Crouch. Two women and a man. The man was rather ordinary: light skin colour; brown, neatly styled hair; ordinary height; ordinary build. His dress robes were in the latest style, as Harry had learned the very same morning from Xerxes while listening to his babbling about cuts, colours, styles… and so much more he never wanted to know. They were dark ocean-blue, buttoned up till they started billowing out around the hips, revealing dark shimmering trousers underneath.

The two women beside him were as extraordinary as he was ordinary. They were obviously mother and daughter, both tall and willowy. Both had waist-length shimmering blond hair. On the older it shone with a golden hue under the candlelight, while the younger one's had more of a silvery shimmer. Their fair complexions were smooth and perfect, red lips, not too thin, not too thick, lifted on both faces to reveal even, white teeth. Mother and daughter had huge deep-blue eyes, nearly the same colour their elegant dress-robes were.

Lord Slytherin greeted both with a kiss on the back of their hands and shook the hand of the man, then he turned to Harry, who finally managed to stop staring.

"Mr Potter, let me introduce you to French Ambassador Delacour and his lovely wife and daughter." Red eyes beckoned him nearer, while Harry saw a flicker of surprise on the families' faces. He wasn't sure what exactly it meant that the Lord had introduced them this way, but it seemed the message was a surprise to them – whatever it was.

"Mr Potter takes up the position of my Court Seer officially starting today," Slytherin stated and Harry saw the flicker of something in the French man's face.

Harry awkwardly shook the Ambassador's hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

Unsure how to greet the Ambassador's wife and daughter and being uncomfortable with kissing the back of their hands, he held his hand out for a handshake. He got another startled look from Mrs Delacour, but when she released his hand after shaking it, his face was suddenly caught in between two manicured hands.

Ms Delacour actually squealed: "'e is magnifique. So young an' takeeng on ze responsibilité of being ze Cour Voyant, 'ow admirable."

He wasn't entirely sure if he understood her correctly, it would take time to get used to her accent. Then, she kissed him on both cheeks, her sweet flowering scent made Harry's nose itch.

"Oui, oui, 'e certainly iz, Fleur. Now, let us seet, you will 'ave more opportunités to fawn over 'im." Her mother patted her on the arm and Harry's face was released.

He sighed. What was with people and not respecting his personal space? He caught the amused gaze of Lord Slytherin and glared back at him, which only made the Lord grin slightly, before his expression morphed again into a polite smile for his guests.

Together they walked back to the table and sat down - Lord Slytherin not only pulling the chair out for Mrs and Ms Delacour but also for Harry again - after Ms Delacour reacted to Draco in not quite the same but similar enough way. Draco took it with stride but couldn't keep the blush entirely off his face. He scowled at Harry when he saw him hiding a smile behind his hand.

Only a short time later, it seemed all the guest had arrived, as the doors to the Hall closed and silence descended over the room. Lord Slytherin stood and waved his hand, effectively brightening the light. He made an imposing figure, standing there in his black and green attire.

"Welcome to you all, friends and invited guests, to our annual New Year's ball. The last year, especially the last weeks of it, brought far-reaching changes for our society, which I hope we all will embracing in the upcoming year. Magic showed us how much more she has in store for us and how little we actually know about her. With the discovery of her gifts beyond what we thought magic could be, our society can only prosper. Wizarding Great Britain still stands as one of the strongest magical counties with the best education that school can provide. I want to thank all of you for your contribution to this."

Harry was mesmerized. He never had really seen how Lord Slytherin enthralled the masses, how much of a speaker and charmer he was. It was fascinating to watch, he could practically see how the magic of his words floated between the people, captivating them. He could see how people sat straighter after he thanked them. How some blushed. How they hung onto every word he was saying.

"We have to strive forward, so our society can grow further. Every one of you can contribute to this. The revelation of the last weeks show how important it is not to disregard someone with even the smallest amount of magical blood. It showed how important it is not the hang on old beliefs if they only hold us back. Magic itself revealed to us that there is more to her than spells and wand waving. If we embrace these discoveries fully, wizarding Great Britain can only emerge stronger. Let us hold to the old traditions that serve us well in this new time, but never let them hold you back."

He made a short pause and let his gaze wander over the people in attendance.

"For this, I installed an old position again. A position of prestige, which disappeared because the required skillset had vanished over the years of dangerous inbreeding of our ancestors. Today I want to introduce the young man to you who made us aware of non-core magic, and I am proud to say that he agreed to take on the position of my Court Seer."

Lord Slytherin turned to him and gestured for Harry to step up to his side, which he did after a gentle nudge from Severus. He was a little disgruntled, it sounded like he had revealed his abilities willingly – yes, well he had in a way – and hadn't been manipulated by the Lord into agreeing. But he put on his best smile and stood beside the Lord, while hundreds of eyes regarded him. He stared somewhere above the crowd, trying to ignore the stares and whispers.

The whole situation felt surreal and the attention made Harry break out in cold sweat, too many eyes were on him.

The Lord placed one hand on his shoulder and addressed the hall again. "I present to you Harry Potter, ward of Potions Master Severus Snape, Potions apprentice and Court Seer."

The crowd clapped and Harry shifted uncomfortably, still not looking at the faces turned in his direction, too afraid to see someone from his past sitting there. He refrained from biting his bottom lip in worry.

Maybe he was simply paranoid. It was Lord Slytherin's ball, the Lord would surely not be lax on the security measurements and knew who was invited.

But still, he didn't like the attention from all those people and relief filled him when the Lord's next words shifted the attention to himself again. "Now, I wish you all a wonderful evening and may Mother Magic be with us in the upcoming year." Everybody clapped and cheered and Harry and Slytherin took their seats at the table again.

Harry sat stiffly, he still felt too many eyes on him, and not even Severus' reassuring presence could calm him completely. He felt like hiding in his room as he did when he had arrived at Hogwarts. He knew Dumbledore would hear about this before the new year would even begin, the man had his ways. And he knew that it would mean he had a target on his back again.

Tension filled him and suddenly he had the feeling that the glances were not simply curious or assessing – no, they felt hostile. He really hoped it was only his panic playing a trick on him.

Harry took a gulp from his water-filled goblet to moisturise his suddenly very dry mouth. Trying to get the slight shaking in his hands under control, he folded them in his lap. Immediately, a familiar warm hand covered them and squeezed them slightly. Looking to his right, he saw the concern in his guardian's eyes and squeezed back.

He would be fine; he only needed a moment to get his panic back under control.

In an attempt to distract himself, Harry looked around the table. Draco was in a deep conversation with the Ambassador's daughter, in French if Harry heard some words correctly, the Ambassador and his wife were talking with the Malfoys and Lord Slytherin.

A quick glance back to Severus showed him eyeing the hall, eyes sharp and assessing. When he looked at Lord Slytherin and Draco's parents again, he saw that their glances also flickered around the room from time to time. When they saw him glancing at them, they all sent him a small reassuring smile. Even Draco – blushing and completely enthralled with the French girl – shortly sent him a questioning glance.

Harry took a deep breath as warmth filled him, there were people looking out for him. He managed a small smile. He would be fine. He was grateful nonetheless that Severus' hand only left his when the food appeared on their plates.

The food was excellent, even if Harry didn't quite remember what everything had been. They had several courses and he was sure at some point he had eaten fish, and another had been one of the tenderest meats he had ever tasted. After came the dessert - some rich chocolate cream or pudding with a fruity undertone and a crisp layer on top of it – which he didn't even try to finish. Harry leaned back in his chair and sighed, he was nearly unpleasantly full.

But he also felt settled. Now that he was - so-to-speak - in the open and his initial panic had disappeared, Harry felt somehow lighter and free. No more hiding. The thought should have frightened him, it had, but now with the knowledge that it couldn't be reversed, the tension and unease he had felt for days was gone.

He felt more like himself again. What was done was done. Slytherin had his big announcement and now Harry could react to whatever was coming like he had done every time there had been a big change in his life.

He hated sitting and waiting. Sometimes his visions demanded for action immediately. That was what Harry was good at, reacting and making decisions in the moment of action. He wasn't good with long plans full of waiting and tension, even if sometimes they had been necessary.

Now all that had to be done today was to see how the wizarding high society would react to his presence and the privilege given to him. Severus had talked with him about it, but they came to the conclusion that they simply couldn't know beforehand.

This was more how Harry was used to doing things.

He knew Slytherin wanted him to be on his best behaviour, dazzling everyone, be charming and well mannered, but that wasn't who Harry was, and even if he hadn't had much contact with people, the knowledge and experience his visions gave him made up for it. They would get a milder version of the real him or nothing at all. Lord Slytherin would learn that Harry was only willing to put up a front to a specific point.

He could handle everything so much better if he didn't have to uphold a polite mask too. And he had no delusions that everything would be fine.

Not everyone would like that he would stand at the Lord's side. Not everyone was happy with the change the discovery of his magic had brought. They wouldn't say it openly, but they would show it. And Harry wasn't one for buttering up other people.

Most of the people present in this hall had already formed their opinion of him, based on what they had heard beforehand and on the last few hours while observing him.

And it didn't matter to him. So, he would be himself and would have fun observing the reactions of the stuck-up wizarding high society to a supposed-Squib who was now in high regards by their Lord and had been raised by Severus Snape, a man well known for being blunt and snarky.

He could already hear the whispers. 'Really, what do they expect with this upbringing.' The thought made him grin.

Looking to the side, he watched with amusement how Lord Slytherin slowly ate the dessert, savouring and clearly enjoying every bite. Harry wouldn't have been surprised if he had licked the spoon and plate clean after he finished his portion.

Red eyes caught his and Harry didn't know what came over him, but he grinned at the man and gestured to his not even half eaten plate.

"You want more?" His grin widened at the expression he got for his question.

"If I wanted more I could simply order more from the kitchen," was the brisk answer.

"But isn't it a shame that this nice portion will be not eaten and will be thrown away?" Harry only barely kept his laughter in, but by the narrowing of the red eyes, the Lord had seen it.

"Tell, Mr Potter, what warrants this reaction."

Harry shrugged. "Never would have guessed you to have that much of a thing for chocolate."

Lord Slytherin bristled. "That, little Seer, is not simply chocolate." He gestured to the chocolate dessert. "That is dark chocolate crème brûlée with a raspberry gelée base made from one of the best chocolates and raspberries you can buy for money." He sounded like he was personally offended.

"Ah, that was the fruit flavour in there." Harry noted, a short glance to the Lord made Harry think that if they weren't in public and if he weren't… well Lord Slytherin - the man would have pouted about Harry not appreciating the quality of the dessert the same as he did.

Harry took a sip from his goblet filled with some red wine. He only had wine once before and hadn't really cared for more, but this one wasn't half bad: full-bodied, fruity with a hint of chocolate – or at least that's what he thought he tasted.

"I hope you like the wine. I chose it personally," Slytherin said next to him.

Harry nodded. "I don't know much about wine and normally don't drink, but this one tastes quite nice." He had to hide his grin behind the goblet when the man's eyes went wide in indignation.

"Nice?! This is a Poluzzi '86 Pinot Noir from one of the best wizarding vineyards across the world –" He clearly wanted to say more, but Severus sighed audibly.

"That would be my fault my Lord. I tried to shield Harry from most of the wizarding world and therefore he hasn't had that much contact with the finer parts of it. You know, I also prefer a cup of tea in front of the fireplace with a good potions book instead of the socialising events Lucius and Narcissa tried to invite me to," he explained.

The man looked from Severus to Harry. "It seems we have to rectify this. I am sure Lucius and Narcissa as well as their son would be more than willing to help."

Narcissa, who had taken notice of their conversation, smiled at Harry, then looked at the Lord. "We would be more than willing to help in this regard, my Lord."

Harry sighed, somehow the opportunity to have a little fun with cracking the controlled shell of the Lord had turned against him.

"I am not sure if I have time between going to school for the first time in my life, accompanying Lord Slytherin to whatever meetings there are, apprenticing under Severus and keeping an eye out for visions. I know enough not to be an embarrassment to anyone, but you wanted me to play Court Seer for my visions and my opinion, not for me to play the perfect little pureblood." His tone was light, but by Severus' grin, the slight shocked widening of Narcissa's eyes and the way Slytherin pressed his lips together, his message came across exactly as he wanted it.

Oh yes, he was the Lord's Seer now. But besides what they had agreed to and what he saw as practical and needed to learn and do, he wouldn't budge. It was still his life and he somehow had the feeling the Lord thought he could just boss him around. It seemed the little scene in his office a few days ago hadn't been enough to teach Slytherin that Harry wasn't one to let someone control him beyond what he was willing to give.

And it was fun to mess around with the Lord. Besides him being the powerful and merciless Dark Lord, Harry knew he was rather safe as long as he didn't overstep some boundaries. And he would have fun behaving however he wanted inside those safe borders.

"But, wouldn't you want to blend in with the aristocrats?" Narcissa asked him.

"Why should I? They know exactly who I am and based on this and my age I have some liberties in my behaviour. And why should I change for other people? Why should I bow to the expectations of people I don't give a damn about?"

"Harry," Severus admonished him, but Harry could see the approval in his guardian's eyes. The man also hadn't bent to satisfy the expectations from other people. Narcissa looked at him in shock.

"What? I only care for the opinion of a very small number of people whom I know don't care if I have manners befitting a pureblood heir or not, they take me as I am. All the other people who think they could place expectations on me, well – they can stuff it were the sun never shines."

Their conversation had drawn the attention of the whole table by now and the reaction to his statement greatly differed from person to person. Narcissa and Mrs Delacour looked completely shocked by his choice of words, while Draco and Ms Delacour tried to hide their snicker behind their napkins. Mr Delacour looked like he hadn't heard or couldn't care less about Harry's style of phrasing. Lucius regarded him with narrowed eyes, he definitely didn't approve of Harry's choice of words. His eyes flickered between him and Lord Slytherin and Harry was sure, would they have been in a more private setting, Harry would have been in for a scolding.

Severus looked unphased and stoic, but Harry knew his guardian well enough to see the mirth in his eyes. Generally, he didn't approve of swearing, but Harry knew Severus was as irritated and annoyed by the situation and in parts by Lord Slytherin, as Harry himself.

Lord Slytherin looked as unphased as Severus, but his red eyes bored into Harry's with an expression too complex for Harry to decipher. A movement of the lips made Harry narrow his eyes. Had that been an attempt to supress a grin?

"Now, Mr Potter, you should really refrain from using such language in an official setting. I understand the value of shock like any other man, but more than often politeness and refined manners help you to reach your goal faster." The tone was smooth and polite.

Harry shrugged, earning a slight glare out of those red eyes. "Maybe, but then nobody keeps me around for being polite." A soft snort from both Severus and Draco made Harry grin. "I don't want to impress them. Why should I waste my energy in trying to change their definitely already formed opinion of me? I don't like most people and I don't see the necessity in getting them to like me."

Now Lord Slytherin sent Severus a glare, clearly blaming him for Harry's point of view. The Potions Master ignored it in favour or drinking the tea he had ordered.

"If you wanted to have a gentle-spoken, refined pureblood companion, you should have negotiated for that, instead you get a Court Seer who will not hide the truth he had seen even if it is uncomfortable. You wanted my honest opinion; you will get it." Harry continued matter-of-factly. "I could either be polite and refined, which would mean I don't say anything at all, which would be fine by me, or you get blunt and honest." He stared at the Lord challengingly.

The only reaction he got for his glare was the raising of an eyebrow. Harry scowled at him and now the bastard smirked, actually smirked!

"I think in this case; I simply have to prepare myself for soothing the ruffled feathers you will surely leave behind," Slytherin stated calmly.

"Oh, there will be more than only a few ruffled feathers. Tell me, my Lord, if it is too much, then I will happily go back to the dungeon to my cauldrons." Harry barely prevented himself from saying the title mockingly, like he would have if they had been alone.

"And deprive the wizarding world of the unique opportunity to make your acquaintance? No, Mr Potter, I simply hope to appeal to you not to leave complete chaos and mayhem behind."

Harry made a show out of tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I will see what I can do."

A discreet cough brought Harry's attention back to the table, where all of the other occupants were observing their interaction more or less openly. He snorted at the many gobsmacked expressions – even Lucius looked mildly surprised despite all the pureblood Malfoy Lord countenance – and settled back into his chair.

So far, the Ball promised to be more fun than Harry had thought, and he was sure he had seen amusement in the Lord's red eyes, too.

The conversation at the table broke into several small ones for a while, before the second part of the event started. The guests started to get up from the seats and mingled. A string quartet and a pianist took their places near the dance floor.

Slytherin stood and bowed before Harry, who looked at him with narrowed eyes. He was fairly sure of what was coming next, which he had been dreading for the whole evening.

"Mr Potter, I hoped you would grant me to honour of dancing with me."

When the man looked up, Harry saw the amusement flicker in those red eyes. They both knew what Harry thought about dancing apparently. He knew he couldn't avoid it, so he rolled his eyes and stood.

"Certainly, my Lord," he said saccharinely, and took the offered hand. He hoped to get it done with as fast as possible.

The moment they took position on the dancefloor, he felt all those eyes on him again. But he didn't have the time to think about it, as the music started and Slytherin led him with practised ease. The height differences should have made it awkward, but Harry had to admit – grudgingly – that Slytherin was a marvellous dancer. Every time Harry missed a step or tried to move in the wrong direction, he was compensated and steered them fluently wherever he wanted.

It annoyed Harry to no end.

He huffed and a 'tsk' brought his attention to the man leading him across the floor.

"Don't look down, you will only stumble." Slytherin's voice was soft and Harry felt the hand holding him tighten. "I will not let us fall, so just trust me to lead, listen to the music and follow it."

Harry scowled at him, he hadn't even realized he had tried to look down.

"My, Mr Potter, it certainly looks like you are not enjoying your dance with me. You could at least smile." The amusement in those red eyes deepened.

"No, I certainly don't. And you are enjoying this way too much." Harry was whirled around till he came face to face with Slytherin again.

"Oh yes, I enjoy it. And why shouldn't I, especially when you are not fighting my lead." The hands pulled him a little closer.

"Not even I am such an asshole that I would try to embarrass you on the dancefloor in front of all those people. Therefore, I don't have much of a choice, don't you think so?" He was now so close that he could feel the body heat of the man and tried to pull back a little, without success.

"That is really courteous of you."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the grin he was receiving.

"Mr Potter, I really must say I like the change in your attitude."

Before he could answer, he was whirled around again and for a moment he only saw the expressions of the people watching them. Most of them looked stunned, some looked thoughtful and calculating, some looked angry and to his annoyance, some looked even horrified. One older woman in sparkling periwinkle dress robes was so pale that Harry feared she would faint every moment. Her eyes followed them over the dance floor, disgust clearly visible in her eyes.

Harry frowned, trying to decipher why someone he didn't know would be so clearly disgusted, but then Slytherin lead them in a series of sharp twist over the floor and Harry had problems catching his breath.

It took a few more moments till he remembered what the man had said.

"What do you mean exactly?"

The red eyes looked down at him, the amusement still present.

"I heard some stories about your temper and certain people commented on how, despite not being his son by blood, you resemble Severus in your character and attitude. Since I have the pleasure to interact with you personally, I only got to see it in a few short instances."

Harry shrugged. "I wasn't quite myself since Yule. But now that everything is out in the open, it feels… liberating."

The expression on Slytherin's face turned contemplative. "I certainly can understand that sentiment. The life you had built in the last years was suddenly turned over."

Harry nodded, but didn't comment further.

They danced silently for a few moments.

"This isn't as horrible as I feared it would be."

Slytherin smirked at Harry's statement. "I take that as a personal compliment to my dancing skills."

Harry grinned at him. "Or it could be because of the music."

"I take it that Miss Parkinson and Mr Malfoy Jr practiced with you?"

"Why do you think so?"

"The comment you made to Miss Parkinson after cutting your finger on the teacup."

"You caught that?" Harry looked sharply at the wizard, before he was spun around and lead into a series of steps where he was facing away from Slytherin.

"Not much happens without me knowing."

The grin on the wizard's face nearly made Harry to stumble over his own feet. It transformed the face of Lord Slytherin, he looked years younger, his face looked softer, not the sharp handsomeness he normally possessed. Harry knew that Slytherin was old, older than Severus, even if he looked nearly the same age. There were rumours how he preserved his youth, there were whispers of dark immortality rituals. Dumbledore had more than once asked Harry after one of his visions if he had seen Slytherin, if he had seen how to defeat him, or how he had made himself immortal.

He never had, not before arriving at Hogwarts. His theory was that his magic needed to at least know the magic of someone to get drawn into a vision, it didn't matter how many people would appear in it, Harry always recognized at least one person. And Hogwarts was immersed in Slytherin's magic, him being a descendent of one of the founders.

He concentrated on the wizard again. "I think the fact that a Blood Seer lived right under your nose for years speaks against it."

He got a scowl in return. "I knew of your existence."

Now Harry couldn't contain the grin. "But you didn't know what I was. I would say Severus and I; we are rather good in keeping secrets, even from you."

The red eyes narrowed. "At one point we have to sit down and talk about the visions you already had, Mr Potter."

"And what entitles you to that knowledge?" He knew already that he would have to tell Slytherin a few things from some of his visions, especially as some of them hadn't happened so far.

"As your L –"

"Don't say it," Harry interrupted him with a glare.

"Or what, you'll scream at me again? For all purpose I am your Lord."

"Yes, yes. I know what you want to say. Give me another reason, a better reason."

Slytherin looked at him with a strange expression for a few moments, then sighed and answered. "I think it would be good for you to tell someone, to share the burden of the knowledge. As I understand, you remember every detail of every vision you ever had, and that is a horrible burden for someone. And I'm sure that there are some incidents you saw which haven't happened so far and you can't do anything about it. But I can, especially because I'm Lord Slytherin."

He was silent for a moment again.

"I'm a rather good judge of character, and therefore I have the impression that you don't even tell Severus everything you see, mostly to spare him I think, because he is one of the few people you actually care about. You don't need to have these sentiments with me. And, not to sound arrogant, but I'm fairly intelligent, perhaps I would come to decipher some hidden meanings in your visions that you haven't."

Harry couldn't prevent the burst of laughter coming out of him and ignored the looks he got because of it. "No, that really didn't sound arrogant at all." He laughed again and somehow the smile he got made him think that perhaps it wasn't so bad to have to work with Slytherin.

He danced one or two more dances with Slytherin before the man wanted to make his rounds around the hall, introducing Harry personally to some people.

Harry didn't even try to remember their names, but he recognized some of them from different visions he had over the years and couldn't contain some snorts and grins as he remembered some of highly embarrassing stuff he knew about these people. It made dealing with their high and mighty attitudes easier.

At one point, Harry excused himself and found his way back to the table to drink something. He stopped dead when he saw who was sitting there. Miss Delacour was in a deep conversation with a man with long red hair. A particular shade of red he shared with their Professor for Arithmancy. He knew who this man was, he remembered playing with him and his siblings in the few weeks at the Rebel camp before he was locked into his room. He remembered seeing him in the summers outside with his brothers and sister while all Harry could do was watch.

He shook himself out of his stupor and approached the table. Miss Delacour was the first to look at him.

"A', Mr Potter, I 'ope, you 'ave an amusant evening." She smiled at him.

"Yes, it is rather… eventful." His gaze was drawn to the man beside her, who was staring at him.

"Mr Potter…"

"Mr Weasley." He knew his tone was brisk and on the edge of being rude, but it took him ages to get used to seeing Percy Weasley at Hogwarts, and even now he was still avoiding the Professor as often as he could, which had been easy so far. Seeing William Weasley here brought back memories Harry didn't want to remember.

The expression on the man's face was too complex for Harry to decipher.

Miss Delacour looked from one to another. "You know Mr Potter, Bill?"

Harry registered the familiarity with which the French witch was addressing the red head.

"Ah, I… yes, from long ago." Something flickered across the man's face. "Could you give us a moment?"

The blond looked again at both of them with a calculating look, then nodded, whispered something in Mr Weasley's ear and vacated the table.

"Mr Potter… Harry…."

Harry slammed his hands on the table and snarled. "You don't have the right to call me that. What do you want?"

The wizard looked shocked for a moment then sighed. "Nothing really. I just…"

Another sigh. "I had to come to terms with everything I thought I knew being turned upside down in the last days, and I just… I just wanted to ask… if you are what Lord Slytherin said you were… why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you here? Why didn't you help Dumbledore?"

Harry snarled again.

"No, no, I don't say that everything he did was right. I learned a lot since I have been here. But… it is hard, you know. It goes against everything I learned as a kid. Everything my family believed in. And I just want to understand. How did you know not to help Dumbledore? How did you know that his way wasn't… wasn't right?" It clearly cost the man to acknowledge that and it cut through the anger Harry felt at the man's audacity to ask.

Taking a deep breath, Harry sat down heavily and looked, actually looked at the wizard before him. He looked anguished and like he hadn't slept enough, but also determined.

"I didn't know, not at first. I was still a kid, longing to belong somewhere. I helped, in the beginning. Willingly had visions. But what I saw… let's say I saw some of the things Dumbledore did or ordered to be done which made me uncomfortable. And when he started to demand more and more, even beyond what I could give… when he forced me…"

A warm, big hand settled on top of his own which fisted the tablecloth in front of him.

"Thank you."

Harry looked up into compassionate blue eyes.

"Thank you for telling me this. I understand. You were just a kid, we all were. I just… I just have problems to understand why I didn't see it earlier. Why my Mum and Dad still believe in him, why I believed in him. But he was careful… careful not to let us see what was really happening in Britain. And what he did to you… you were just a kid." He paused. "We were never really told why you weren't allowed to play with us anymore. We were only told that you are fragile. I think not even most of the adults knew what was happening with you. As I got older, I heard whispers that you had some special magic, but we didn't know…"

Harry felt a burst of respect for the wizard. He had been a victim of Dumbledore's manipulation and indoctrinated since he was a kid, too. But that he could sit here and acknowledge it, and feel about it, even if he wasn't at fault, was worth of respect.

"How could you have? Dumbledore didn't want people to know. Only a select few. You are a victim of his manipulations just as much as I am. But I had the chance to see, my visions helped in that regard. You and your family, you never had the chance."

The anguish in the blue eyes nearly choked Harry.

"I wish I could help them." Weasley whispered.

Now it was Harry who laid his hand on top of the other's once and squeezed slightly.

"You never know what will happen." He certainly didn't tell him about the glimpses he had gotten in different visions, but perhaps it was something he could mention to Slytherin.

"Thank you. And please call me Bill." Then the redhead smiled. "But from January you have to call me Professor Weasley."

They talked a little longer about Bill's new position as the Professor for Warding, but completely avoided anything which was tied to their past or the rebels. Harry knew Bill was curious about his ability, as so many others, but he didn't ask. And Harry left him at the table the moment he saw Miss Delacour look at the table again, for the hundredth time since she left them.

As the night went on, Slytherin got Harry to dance with him again, and prevented anyone else from doing so, even Bellatrix when she made an attempt to grab him. Harry wasn't sure what he should think of it, he was thankful to a point, but then he unsure why the Lord was doing it and the strange looks some people sent their way when they thought they didn't see it confused him, especially when he saw the amusement in Slytherin's eyes because of them. And the smirks he got from Draco, Blaise and Pansy as Slytherin whirled him past them also weren't helpful at all. He certainly needed to have a word or two with his friends.

But at least the Ball hadn't been as horrible as he had feared.

AN: Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

First published: 15th of November 2019