A/N: The meaning of today's chapter title is twofold! 1. It fits the events in the chapter. 2. Well…it's also an apology from me for taking so long to update. There were a lot of factors that contributed to the delay. I was studying for/taking my finals, the preparing for graduation, and then I got a job. However, none of those are really excuses, as I still had plenty of time. In all honesty, I simply got a severe case of writer's block and was unsure how I wanted to continue. I'd figured out most of the major plot points, and even wrote portions of future stories in the series, but was thoroughly stuck on where THIS story was going. I finally hit inspiration the other night, though, and am happy to say that the story is back on track! Update's should come a lot quicker, though they may still take a while (You have to consider work and preparing for college, folks!) Thanks for sticking around! -Wooster

Chapter Six: I'm Really Sorry…

Under the head table of the Great Hall, Albus Dumbledore's silver-buckle-boot-covered toe tapped in time to the rather catchy Weird Sister's song that had been topping the WWN charts for weeks and was thoroughly stuck in his head. The song had been lodged there for four days now and while it was very good (though, on the whole, he preferred his chamber music,) he was beginning to wonder if the damned song was enchanted to keep the listener's mind latched to it. The lead singer, Harold Gnosis as he remembered it, had always had a way with charms…

His musical musings, such as they were, were interrupted by the tumultuous fluttering that signaled the arrival of morning owl post. As always, the beautiful snowy familiar of a certain first year drew his eye. He had to admit, he had not expected the boy to get as much mail as he seemed to be getting this year. Mrs. Figg, a delightful squib who was a widow of an old friend of his and watched young Harry for him and the Order, frequently told him that the Dursleys were not fit guardians. It was unlikely they were writing to their nephew. Dumbledore felt a slight twinge of regret as he remembered how Harry had looked when he first entered the school, his roomy school robes barely masking his disturbing thinness. But, as he'd told Hagrid after the half-giant had railed about 'those 'orrible Muggles' after returning from taking Harry his letter, there simply was no other choice. The boy was safer at Number Four, Privet Drive.

The twinkle that had diminished slightly during this thought process returned full force as the scruffy-haired boy's face lit up as he untied the letter from Hedwig's leg. Whoever it was that had been writing to him since November, they had done him a world of good. Barring the wistful, sad look the young wizard had had during the mirror episode, his face since the start of this correspondence had been bright and happy, more as an eleven year old boy's should be. Quidditch practice had been helping, but it was the letters that had done such a world of good in keeping the boy from dwelling on the mirror. He was glad of it. It'd been a calculated risk, sending him that invisibility cloak and then placing a minor attraction charm on the room with the mirror. He wanted Harry exposed subtly to its effects, just in case, but if he'd been sucked into the fantasy Dumbledore wasn't sure what would have happened. Dumbledore whispered a brief thank you to the mysterious writer of the letters, and returned to his toast.

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Dear Ginny,

That last prank we pulled on the twins worked smashingly. I don't know where you get your ideas from, but you are definitely more devious than your brothers. The best part was that the teachers all thought they were yelling everything on purpose and told them if they didn't stop disrupting class and such that they'd request a Howler, (I had to ask Ron what that was…sounds mortifying,) from your Mum and see who could out-shout who. Since they really couldn't stop shouting, they simply didn't talk the rest of the day. It was hysterical! I think they may be going crazy (crazier) trying to figure out who's pranking the unprankable pranksters. You'll be proud to know I heard them saying, "It's almost like Minx is here already!"

We have a problem, though…Snape's refereeing my next Quidditch match! Remember how I told you what he did at the last one? I'm really worried he'll do the same at this match. Ron and Hermione insist that I skip the game, but I can't leave Gryffindor without a seeker, can I?

I wish you were here, at least to watch the game. Ron and Hermione keep looking at me like they're wondering if they'll ever see me alive again after the match. I know, somehow, that you'd agree I have to play and simply threaten to hex him if he tries anything.

Then there's this whole Stone thing. I mean, we know what it is, we know where it is, we know what it does, and we know Snape's after it…but now what? Should we tell someone? They'll want to have proof. Besides, we don't know if it's even possible for him to get it. I mean, Fluffy nearly ate him last time. (Too bad he missed.) If you were here, I bet you'd figure out something. Or at least you could keep me company while your brother and Hermione are busy arguing. Oh well, next year, I guess…

Oh, and Ginny? Thanks for not telling anyone. I know you think I should tell Dumbledore, but I really don't want anyone to know about it. It's really not that big a deal and I would hate for people to look at me weird because of it. But while I won't tell anyone, I do promise to send you an owl if they get bad, ok?

I think I'd like to prank Malfoy next…any suggestions?

As always,

Harry Potter

Ginny heaved a huge sigh as she sat the letter down and tapped her quill worriedly against her cheek. She had told Harry in her first letter to him that friends keep each other's secrets, and she believed that. Her father always said that good friendship was built around trust. And so she hadn't told anyone about the Dursleys.

But the letter he sent her after Christmas still worried her. She couldn't believe how horrible they were, and to Harry as well, who was about the nicest boy she'd ever met! (Certainly nicer than her brothers!) The fact that they were supposed to be his family chilled her to the bone. He didn't deserve to be treated like that, and she felt horrible that he was going to just let it continue and that she wasn't doing something to stop it! Well, if she ever met one of them they'd regret it, that's for sure!

Ginny did her best to shake off her worries and concentrate on a good prank to cheer Harry up. The one on the twins had done wonders, and all she'd needed was some of her Mum's "Madame Din's Sore Throat Potion." The potion tasted like sugar and a very young Ginny had snuck some from the cupboard once when she wasn't sick. Apparently, one of the effects of the potion was to augment the drinker's voice to make it easier to speak while your throat healed. A perplexed Molly and Arthur had to deal with a three-year-old Ginny who cried ten times louder than usual. It had been a simple matter to steal some of the potion and pour it on the sweets her mum had baked to send to the twins. (The only thing Fred and George NEVER checked for a trap was Mum's food.) And because Ron's and Percy's sweets hadn't harmed them, they would never suspect where the prank had come from!

Ginny furrowed her brow in thought and cast her mind about for a good idea. What would be a good prank against that awful Malfoy boy?

"Ah!" she cried. Quickly, she dipped her quill in the ink and scribbled down her instructions, which included a recipe for a permanent hair dye potion and advice on how best to trick Pansy Parkinson into convincing Draco Malfoy to try a new brand of shampoo.

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Watching Malfoy walk around with bright blue hair was fun, (especially because it really washed out his already pale features, giving his face the thin color of skimmed milk,) but Harry soon had something much more important on his mind, namely a rapidly-growing illegal dragon living in his first friend's highly flammable home.

The anxiety of having to smuggle the illegal dragon up to the out-of-bounds astronomy tower well past curfew was tremendously high, so it was almost too much for Harry to bear when he found out that Malfoy knew all about their plans. Despite the fact that Malfoy at least knew nothing about his invisibility cloak, the fact that he would likely be around to get them in trouble was very upsetting. Worst of all, there were only four days left until Saturday, not enough time for Hedwig to make it all the way to Romania and back, no matter how good a flier she was.

So he'd written to Ginny.

Harry,

Don't worry, it's all taken care of. Lucky you sent me that note! I simply waited until Mum was out of the house doing some shopping and "borrowed" some floo powder to call Charlie. I hope she doesn't notice…I had to use quite a bit since it was a long-distance floo-call. I told Charlie Ron had written and asked me to tell him about Malfoy. Charlie says it's no big deal, his friends will just come a day early. Same time and place, just be there Friday instead, ok?

Imagine the look on Malfoy's face when he realizes he didn't catch you after all!

Always happy to help,

Ginny

Friday came around, and thanks to Ginny the whole thing had gone off without a hitch. There was a bad moment when Harry realized that he and Hermione had left the invisibility cloak at the top of the tower, but luckily there were no teachers around and they were able to retrieve it before anyone saw them. Everyone went to bed relieved that night, and Harry amused himself by thinking about Malfoy's face when he realized he'd been tricked.

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The hallway was dark, and the old castle made some seriously spooky noises, but he was determined to complete his mission. He had to stop him! Slowly, he peered around the corner, trying to see if there were any teachers around. As soon as he was certain he was alone, he set off down the hall…

…only to trip on a loose rug and crash into a suit of armor. Even as he desperately tried to detangle himself, he knew he was in trouble. The echo of approaching footsteps confirmed that he'd landed in a big mess.

"Mr. Longbottom!" cried a very shocked, and very angry, Professor McGonagall. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

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Sunday morning, the Gryffindors woke up to find that the lead they'd gained in the last Quidditch match was gone. In fact, they'd lost a full fifty points over-night! They weren't in dead last, but it was a huge loss!

As the day progressed, the story got out. A stupid little first year had been out after curfew. Not only that, he had confessed to pulling a prank on a Slytherin student so that he'd get in trouble! The rumor was that McGonagall had docked the Slytherin student twenty points for being out, but had docked the Gryffindor fifty for tricking him. The Gryffindor students were furious. While it was common practice to pull pranks on Slytherins, it was low to do so just to get them in trouble…it was more something one of the Slytherins would do. Neville Longbottom quickly found himself the target of some serious anger from many of his classmates.

But while he seemed nervous and embarrassed by the glared and dark murmurings, he looked to be more focused on something else. At lunch he cornered Harry and Hermione and asked if he could speak to them privately, (Ron was still in the hospital wing, though he was supposed to get out later that day).

As soon as they were in an abandoned classroom, Neville started talking very fast.

"Are you guys ok? Did you manage to get rid of the dragon??"

Harry and Hermione stared at the round-faced boy. Harry was the first to break the silence.

"Neville…how did you know about that?"

The boy sighed a bit. "I overheard Malfoy talking about how you had a dragon and that you were going to try and get rid of it Saturday at midnight. He was talking about catching you and getting you in trouble, so I went out to try and stop him and got caught by McGonagall."

The two looked at him in shock. "We found out that Malfoy knew, so we went a night early," said Hermione.

Neville nodded, "I see." He continued. "Well, then she dragged me into her office and sat me down for a moment, I think to look for you two because when she got back she explained that she had caught Malfoy and he'd told her the same story I overheard. She was really mad, and wanted to know if I knew anything about this."

Neville took a deep breath. "She hadn't caught you, so I told her that I'd said it to trick Malfoy as revenge for all the times he was mean to me. I figured if I took the blame, she wouldn't keep looking for you and you could get rid of the dragon. You were trying to help Hagrid, right?"

Harry stared in shock at his dorm mate. "You…You did that for us? Neville…"

Hermione sniffed, "That was really sweet, Neville. I did think it was weird what they were saying about last night. It didn't sound like you at all."

"Neville," Harry said, "I'm really sorry that you got blamed for this whole mess. That was a really brave thing you did. Don't worry, I'll go to McGonagall and…"

"No!" Neville said, "I don't mind taking the blame for it. You guys were just trying to help a friend, and Malfoy is a bad character. His whole family is dark…" His voice trailed off, kind of sad. "I'm glad that I could help."

Harry nodded. "Thank you, Neville. You're a great friend." He checked his watch, "Hey, you want to go down and see Hagrid with us? I'm sure he'll want to thank you as well."

Neville smiled. "I'd like that."