It was almost time for dinner, but Skyler was no where near hungry. In fact, since her first official date with Draco the brunette had eaten very little, if at all. She was thankful no one seemed to notice so far, but then again she was rarely making appearances in the great hall these days, and so it was likely most thought she were taking her meals elsewhere. But the truth was she hardly thought about food, or being hungry. To Skyler, it wasn't a priority in the list of things she now needed to do and/or deal with. Sleep seemed to be another one that had lost it's place among priorities, except that one was starting to show I'm the form of dark circles around her eyes.

That was why the teen could be seen fleeing through the great oak front doors of the castle she had originally been so mesmerized by. Now she ran from it like one would a prison. Because that's what it had become. A prison for her thoughts and troubles. She no longer cared to search it for secrets she didn't know, or to wander its halls simply to try and get lost. Because now everywhere she went in the castle she was met with rumors of her own life, and judge mental stares of people who knew next to nothing about her except that she shared her surname with the Dark Lord and that her family had apparently been slaughtered by him. Which apparently was not the truth.

This was the part where Skyler grew frustrated, cursing the day lights out of whatever deity she could think of. Surprisingly enough she knew of a few. The brunette had reflected a million times on the fact that she had come to Hogwarts expecting fun and excitement, even if she were a bit homesick in the beginning. What she had come to find was judgement, stereotypes, deceit, and murder. It she were only in her second week!

The teen had made her peace somewhat with being judged, considering she knew that no matter how old one got or where one went there would always be judgement so pricks. And the rumors more often than not made her laugh until she drooled on herself, they were so outrageous. Yet some of them weren't so far from the actual truth. And her everywhere she turned there was a new lie to uncover, and to top it off she had somehow landed herself in the middle of a war zone to which her family had become victims to and where she had people she cared about on both sides of the line. Meanwhile it seemed she herself were teetering dangerously while balancing on the line.

Her life had quickly become a living nightmare, and though she had a handful of friends and a great boyfriend, Skyler had never felt so alone. It had only taken a few days for her to realize there was no real place for her in this castle. The brunette didn't feel like she for into just one particular house, but shared traits from each one. She was willing to bet every other student did as well. The difference between them and her was that they seemed perfectly happy to fit the stereotypes of whatever house they were sorted in that they would go the extra mile to fit them. Even in her own house Sky didn't fit in, but that could have a lot to do with the escalating war between herself and their long time leader Pansy Parkinson, another thing she needed to worry about. Either way, Skyler wasn't about to change herself to fit some stereotype just to have friends.

All in all, the lonely Slytherin was having a bad week. All those problems and it didn't even include the menial things like homework and studying. Skyler couldn't even remember hearing a word her charms professor said in class that day. The brunette knew it was rapidly becoming time to spill her guts to someone, yet she couldn't bring herself to do it. At the stubborn rate she were going, she was likely to spontaneously combust at some point from everything she were holding in. The teen just couldn't bring herself to become that vulnerable to anyone.

Throughout all this reflection, the brunette had allowed her feet to steer her course, letting them lead her to wherever. It was when she were face to face with a sturdy looking tree that Skyler's frustration and emotional turmoil got the better of her and she kicked the tree trunk in her anger, immediately regretting it when a sharp pain shot through her foot and up her leg. She let a few colorful words slip from her mouth, and when the pain served as a reminder of her meeting with a certain Dark Lord, Skyler swore again in a colorful arrange of curse words. The harsh realities that made up her life came flooding back and the loss of her parents finally sunk in since the first time the headmaster had thrust the newspaper telling of their demise under her nose.

Skyler sank to her knees and silent tears trickled down her face, until she felt too ashamed at being so weak. The teen wiped the tears from her eyes and face and pulled herself to her feet. Looking up, she searched for the nearest branch that she could both reach and which looked strong enough to support her weight, and gripping it with both hands, pulled herself up into the tree. But she didn't stop there. Skyler continued to climb up into the thick branches until she was somewhere near the middle of the tree, sitting atop an especially thick branch with her back against the tree trunk, a leg dangling over each side of the branch. The brunette knew no one would spot her here, and a sigh of relief escaped her. For the time being, she could look every bit dazed and confused as she felt.

But Skyler wasn't one to be idle for too long, and she pulled her wand from it's place behind her ear and waved it lazily, creating a stream of bubbles. It was impossible for her to tell why she had a gas imitation with bubbles, but she always had. Watching them float along in midair, an idea struck her and she waved her wand speaking the incantation to the charm that would harden the object at a particular large bubble. She wasn't sure it would work, but the sudden dropping of the now marble hard bubble was the only assurance she needed. The brinette's hand flashed out to catch the bubble in the palm of her hand almost unconsciously, like it were second nature. And thus her game began. The teen continued to create bubbles and harden them at random, hand flashing out to catch them when they fell. It was no snitch, but it kept her hands occupied while her mind reeled from the past week.

Someone really needed to talk Harry out of this plan. The problem was, it was now so entrenched in his head that he would do it anyway. Besides, it might be the only real chance of success that he had right now, so he needed to push forward until something better presented itself. Harry couldn't sit by and do nothing any longer.

That meant that he needed to hunt a few more people down before he could set things in motion. One of those people seemed to be the only person who avoided the castle more than he did, so he found himself pushing open the heavy front doors once again, this time with an actual goal in mind before he set off.

The only problem was that he had no real idea where he was going, just who he was looking for. He had already stuffed his robes into his bag, and as he walked he took off his tie, shoving it into the pocket of his slacks. He was wandering around aimlessly, trying to think of good places she might hide out, when something bounced off the top of his head, bringing him to a stop.

He looked down at the ground below and picked up what seemed to be a Snitch-sized ball made of a hardened bubble. Then he looked up and saw that the person who had dropped, or maybe missed, the ball was probably who he was looking for, though it was hard to tell through the branches. He chuckled, walked around the tree looking for a low branch, then decided he didn't feel like climbing much. He thought about summoning his broom, but decided she would come down to talk when she realized it was him, unless she really didn't want to talk.

"I usually just use muggle golf balls to practice," he called up to her. "I never thought about using magic to make my own practice balls. Then again, charms that don't include shields or fire aren't my strong suit." He thought about leaving it at that, but felt he owed her more, considering how they had last parted and all that had happened since. "It's hard when the whole school is whispering about you, isn't it?"

Skyler wasn't exactly startled by the recognizable voice, but more irritated that someone had actually found her. It wasn't necessarily his fault she supposed, but it was annoying that in a place so big it was impossible to hide completely. The brunette sighed softly, continuing on with her little game as she replied loud enough for Harry to hear her from below. "You're missing out then. And not exactly a smart move for the Chosen One." Sky purposefully used the newspapers' most common title for the boy she had considered a friend for the most part, letting him know she had learned his not so little secret.

The fifth year gave up her game in favor of climbing down from her perch up in the tree, until she was at a safe height to drop and land on both feet lithely in front of the Gryffindor, at which point she looked at him through guarded purple eyes. Her last few interactions with the boy had not made anything more clear between them, and had only served to complicate things further. Skyler had not forgotten why she was less than happy with him however, and let it show as she crossed her arms over her chest and quirked a brow at him. "Is that why you're here?" She questioned, placing her wand behind her right ear as per usual and cocking her head at him. "To give me advice on how to best handle the whispering masses? After all, the savior of the wizarding world would have to know all about that."

The brunette's words had taken on a slightly bitter and mocking tone, and for once there was no grin on her face. She was angry with him for the last time they had really spoken, in which he found it necessary to put her down on her choice of boyfriend, and she was also hurt by it, as well as by the fact that she had had to learn about his role in all the things she had just gotten herself mixed up in through the Hogwart's rumor mill and the newspapers instead of from him. "Or maybe you're here to comment on my love life again?" There was no mistaking the challenge in her voice when she said it, or the look in her violet eyes that dared him to question her as a person because of Draco.

Harry was startled for a moment, but only for that long. Having grown up with Hermione, he was used to having a witch mad at him and not being entirely sure why. Plus, he was fairly certain that he deserved at least most of the venom she was throwing down at him, even if he wished she would at least drop down to the ground and talk to him face to face. He really didn’t want to fly up to talk to her, and the more he thought about it, the worse of an idea that seemed to be. If she was mad enough to continue having to shout to be heard, it was probably a bad idea to be confined in the small space of a tree branch with the Slytherin.

“Your love life is your call, Skyler,” he said loudly and honestly. He would have to make a note in the future that she didn’t find him as clever as he found himself. Perhaps he was spending too much time around Ron. Besides, Malfoy was never going to be likely to approach Harry willingly. If he really had changed sides and seen the good in the world it would be a good thing for the two of them to have a go between to smooth things out.

“My advice on the whispers and everything else your saying and not saying is the same,” Harry shouted up, before having to pause for a moment to collect himself. He was used to shouting when he was angry, but shouting up so that Sky could hear him in the tree was something entirely different and it was tiring him out already. “Don’t believe everything you hear, but remember all of it. If it’s lies or misinformation, cast it out and pretend it never happened. If it’s true, file it in your mind with the information you already had, decide how it changes things, and react.”

He had to stop again, this time really breathing heavily. Harry was in great shape from his time on the pitch, but this conversation was really too much. He didn’t know how long he could keep this going if Sky didn’t forgive him and either join him on the ground or tell him to come up there away from the eyes of anyone who came by.

“If you have questions about my past, my future, or any of the rest of it, just ask me. I don’t have anything to hide from you. You heard my rules this summer and I trust you, whether I’ve shown it lately or not. Don’t hold what’s at best propaganda and at worst hurtful lies against me without checking for my side, though.” He hoped that last bit wasn’t too aggressive, but he knew no other way to say it. Skyler might be mad at him, but the Prophet had never been fair with Harry at any point in his life, and he was frankly sick of everything to do with the paper. Hopefully his friend wouldn’t hold his harsh words again him. Hopefully the younger girl was still his friend at all.

All of his yelling made the teen roll her eyes, but she couldn't deny that a small part of her was amused by it, especially when he seemed to get frustrated with it himself. This seemed to be enough to entice the brunette to make her way swiftly and easily down the tree until she was at a safe distance to drop to the ground, landing feline-like on her feet in front of him. "Merlin Harry, you don't have to yell. I think we both have enough rumors going on about us without adding in a perceived lovers' spat, don't you?"

Now that she was face to face with him, Skyler found it hard to keep a grip on her anger and to keep the grin off her face. Thus, her tone was somewhere between annoyed and amused. But really looking at him, the Slytherin found all her anger dissipitate. It was clear Harry was going to be one of those people it was impossible to stay mad at, especially when he looked like a lost puppy as he did then. And  it just wasn't possible to stay angry with a puppy.

Sighing, purple eyes met emerald and Sky offered him a genuine smile. "A simple 'I'm sorry' would have sufficed you know." She advised cheekily, playfully reaching up and ruffling his hair to show that there were no hard feelings. Skyler let her hand fall back to her side, a half smirk, half grin replacing her smile as she mock scoffed at him. "I never believe everything I read or hear, and I always remember it all." She told him mock arrogantly, eyes lit with amusement now. "Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I made up my mind before hearing your side of the story?"She asked half seriously, half rhetorically, failing to remember that was exactly what he had done to her.

Feeling she somehow owed him more than that because he had seemed really peeved by the fact that she may believe the things she read, Skyler clasped her hands behind her back, and toed at the ground absently as she responded softly, eyes trained on his and showing her sincerity. "For what it's worth, I don't believe any of it. Or perhaps most of it, at any rate. " The brunette began, looking away for a moment to gather her thoughts before resuming her sincere stare at him.

"I'll trust and believe what you choose to tell me, and I'll trust and believe you have a reason for not telling me whatever you choose not to." The teen sighed, moving so that she were leaning with her back against the tree trunk, her eyes gazing watchfully over the grounds. "It mind seem foolish since I hardly know you, but I trust you Harry."

The brunette brought her gaze back the boy, shrugging carelessly, as if she didn't care if it were stupid or foolish or any other number of synonyms. "I can't rightly say why though. The best I can do for a reason is that maybe it's because you look as lost as I feel. Or because you seem to be searching for truth just as much I am." Her tone was knowing, as if there was no disputing they were both in the same predicament, and yet resigned, as if she had accepted the situation she now found herself in.

Despite her somewhat downcast mood, the teen couldn't fight the tugging at the corners of her mouth that had a grin blooming on her face. "Or perhaps it's because we're both orphans, with extraordinary eyes, who are somewhat outcasts even in a place we should totally fit in. You know, kindred spirits and all that jazz." She added on playfully, batting her eyelashes at him in jest. Belatedly, Skyler realized it probably wasn't the best choice of words. After all, she didn't know if he would take offense to being called an orphan, even if she was playing around. She hoped not, because she really didn't want to be at odds with him again, and really, she was only drawing the obvious parallels between them.

Harry smiled as his friend hit the ground in front of him and had to laugh a little at the idea of a lover’s spat between them. That was the last thing he needed the tabloid rag properly known as the Daily Prophet to get ahold of, but as long as they didn’t the idea was amusing. That and the fact that Skyler was comfortable enough to play with his hair when she had just finished being mad at him for a fairly extended period made him feel very good about himself and this friendship.

Harry’s face quickly shifted to serious as Skyler talked more. They really were in the same boat, far more than any of Harry’s other friends had been with him. She would understand a lot of the things that Hermione and Ron had always pretend to, but would never really be able to get. Kind of like having a Hagrid, except not 50 years old, half-giant and obsessed with various dangerous monsters that mostly wanted Harry dead. It would be nice to have someone who actually understood.

Of course, for her to understand she would have to know what happened better than she did now. “So, I guess I should decide what to tell you, so that your information isn’t coming from history books or the paper, huh, kindred spirit?” He plopped down on the grass, falling back onto his hands with his legs out in front of him. “You might want to sit down, this could take a while depending on how much detail spills out once I start talking.”

When he had given her a minute to get comfortable if she wanted to, he started talking again. “Voldemort didn’t just kill my parents by accident, or because he liked killing people. He was apparently after them to the point that they had shifted from fighting actively in the war to living in hiding. Apparently I am the reason they had to go into hiding and I may or may not be the key to winning this war, depending on who and what you believe.”

He realized what he had just admitted to and took a deep, steadying breath. “So that’s why people around me have a habit of turning up dead before their time. If you want to bail on me for your own safety, especially considering how easy it would be for Voldemort to get to you, I understand.”

He had to pause again, as he realized he had just said a second thing in a row that really sucked. “That said, I would really love to have you on my side, Skyler. And I’ll help you with the orphan thing as much as I can. I know how much it sucks.” With that he shut up and looked at the Slytherin with pleading eyes. He really needed her to still be his friend, even if he would never say that out loud and put pressure on her. He didn’t know if he would actually survive the blow that losing her would cause.

Skyler followed Harry's lead easily, taking his advice and choosing to plop down on the ground next to him, mirroring his position. The exception was that she faced him, so that she actually sat next to his feet, and he sat next to hers. Crossing her legs at the ankles, without a word she turned her gaze to the emerald eyed boy, giving him her full attention. The brunette wasn't sure what she might expect to hear, but she knew one thing was for sure. Whatever it was would be the truth.

The teen kept her eyes on his face, never looking away, never giving any indication that anything he said made her the slightest bit awkward. And if she were surprised, she hid it well. There were no tears in her eyes, even if she was saddened about his parents' murder. Sky hadn't even spared one tear for her own parents yet, and that wound was still fresh. It wasn't that she felt nothing about it, it was just crying did no good. It changed nothing, and she hadn't reduced herself to it in years. There was also no pity anywhere on her face either. The teen herself hated anyone looking at her with pity, and felt Harry might too. From her little experience, Gryffindors and Slytherins were very different in many ways, but what they had in common was they all had much too much pride. Skyler didn't consider herself an exception from this.

What did show on her face and in her eyes was understanding, pure and simple understanding. Running through everything he had said in her mind, the brunette looked away from his pleading gaze, brow furrowing as she considered the uncanny likeness between their stories. Pushing that aside for the time being, Skyler met his eyes with hers and, because the girl found it impossible to be completely serious for very long, rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically. "Well I don't know Harry. It might just be a terrible inconvenience for me.." Sarcasm so good it could've passed for seriousness, but her playful smirk and dancing purple eyes gave away her joke.

"Did you really think a little danger would keep me from torturing you with my company everyday? Because if so, you've got another thing coming my friend. I laugh in the face of danger. Mwahahaha." The brunette added on humorously quoting a famous line from a muggle movie called The Lion King. Dropping the playful attitude for a moment, Skyker spoke in all seriousness. "You can't possibly make things any more dangerous for me than they already are Harry. But.."

She trailed off, deciding on a new course of action at the drop of a dime, an idea popping into her head at the last second. "I will stick by your side through thick and thin on one condition. You quit blaming yourself for other people dying." Skyler leveled him with her most serious look, continuing on before he could open his mouth to argue. "It's not your fault unless you're the one who did it. If you don't believe me, then just remove yourself from the equation. If you weren't involved in any which way, would those same people still have died? Maybe? Would they still have been in danger of dying? You have to realize, Harry, that in war, people fight knowing it could cost them their lives, and they fight anyways because they believe what they're fighting for is worth it. Blaming yourself does them no justice because you're taking away the courage and nobleness of their death."

Her tone had been soft, yet surprisingly strong, and with every word it was easy to tell she really believed in what she said. And expected him to believe it too, though deep down the brunette was prepared to have to work on it with him. He wasn't doing himself any favors by blaming him for things that were out of his control. And it was easy to see that this weighed heavily on him.

After a moment, the teen sat up, folding her legs Indian style beneath her and clapping her hands together with a grin. "So, my trusty little lion, I suppose this means it's my turn to spill the proverbial beans?" With a knowing smirk, she added on, "Though you already know the worst of it I think."

At that point, the brunette sighed, following up by taking a breath to help steady the nerves she felt. It seemed like the time to tell him about her impromptu meeting with the man most commonly referred to as the Dark Lord, but boy was she nervous about it. Deciding it was best to just get it over with, the teen just sort of blurted out, "He wants an alliance." Violet eyes widening, Skyler looked anywhere but at the boy in front of her. Now this was awkward.

Harry was a little surprised that Skyler wasn’t related to the Weasleys in any way the more he got to know her. No, that wasn’t quite right, because she managed to joke about things that even Ron and Ginny wouldn’t dare to. If this was how she responded to danger of this sort, the Slytherin and the redhead might really be a more dangerous but adequate replacement for the jester twins that the castle had lost last term. He only hoped that like the twins she knew precisely when to turn things around and get serious.

Harry almost wished she had failed this particular test, especially since she immediately honed in on his guilty conscience. Part of him knew that she was right, and that none of the people who died in the war did so technically against the will. He was also fully aware that been directly responsible for some of those deaths, willing or not, and that there was no way all of them would be dead if he hadn’t been in the picture. Still, he clearly had no control of Voldemort’s actions. Dumbledore had taken great lengths to show that at the end of the battle last year. Maybe he would have to try and give himself a break on that going forward.

For now, he turned his attention to the rest of what his friend was saying. On its surface, her one sentence statement made very little sense. Harry wished it didn’t make perfect sense to him. Unfortunately, there was only one him the Slytherin could be referring to, since Dumbledore had made it fairly clear that he didn’t like the girl. Harry wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Voldemort had approached Skyler and she wasn’t dead. That probably made them the only two non-Death Eaters besides Dumbledore who could say that.

“I suppose that makes sense,” he said carefully. “You’re the only family he has as far as I know. Though the rumor mill always said he had no family at all until you moved over here this year.” He took a deep breath, entirely sure of how to continue. “I don’t know if you want help deciding how to deal with him, but I’ll give one piece of advice even if you don’t want any. However careful you think you are capable of being, be at least two steps more careful than that.” If Harry himself had been able to follow that advice, things might be going better now.

Skyler blinked. And blinked again. She was sure she looked rather stupid, staring blankly at him and all, but she couldn't help it. "Oh!!" Was all she could say when she realized her mistake, a hesitant laugh escaping her lips. Harry thought she meant the dark lord wanted an alliance with her. She had meant him, but she could see where he had gotten the wrong idea from. Not that he was far off. The brunette had already bargained her deal. Perhaps she ought to mention that as well?

The teen rubbed the back of her neck in nervousness, a habit she had developed over the years. She really didn't want to have to explain all this, but then, she didn't have much of a choice did she? Sighing heavily and dropping her hand back down to her side, Skyler cocked her head at her friend, thinking of his words. They were helpful, even if she had come to that conclusion herself already. The problem was, how did one stay two steps of someone who always seemed to be ten steps ahead of you?

"Careful is not really my thing." She advised Harry, with a sheepish grin. "I mean, I'm capable of being careful. It's just, well, my temper and independence mixed together don't allow for it for very long." The brunette explained, using her recent meeting with the dark wizard in question as an example. "Like when I had to meet, you know, him? Draco warned me to be cautious and careful and all that, but once I was there I couldn't hold my tongue for the life of me." The teen stated with an angry look, clearly upset with herself for allowing that to happen. "I can still feel those crucios if I think about it for too long." The brunette omitted softly, looking down at her hands.

Skyler sighed, running a shaking hand through her raven locks and only when she was sure her voice wouldn't break or shake did she speak again. "He wants an alliance with you Harry. Not me. I already struck my deal with him." The brunette glanced around to make sure they were still alone, before she hurriedly explained before Harry could get the wrong idea. "He's going after Dumbledore. Atleast, that's the impression I got. He said the two of you have a common enemy, and that his goal isn't to kill you, but to become allies with you. And his deal with me was that in exchange for leaving my friends alone and not hurting them, I would have to train with him. Become a protégé, so to speak."

The Slytherin tried to remember everything that had been said at that meeting, not wanting to leave anything out, lest it be important. It was odd to her that it didn't feel awkward to be laying all this in front of him, but she supposed if anyone aside from herself had a right to know it was Harry. He had been fighting this for far longer than she had, and she couldn't very well lie to him anyways. Things just started spilling from her mouth when he was around. "The only problem I really had was blaming him for killing my parents, and being threatened with mind manipulation if I don't break things off with Draco." That and the crucios, but she didn't really want to put much emphasis on those. Even if the dark wizard was ten times more advanced than she, it didn't sit well with Skyler ever that someone got the best of her.

Harry had to simply smile and nod at first. He was exactly the same way. No matter how much he planned and thought and listened to what Hermione said, once the action got going he lived and died by his instinct alone. The smile faded when he realized how far down a bad road that instinct had taken them both, even if they had both survived every time. He too had tasted Voldemort’s crucios as a result of something he said at their first meeting after the evil master could hold a wand again.

The news about Voldemort’s deals, both proposed and already consummated, along with the news about the general plan, hit Harry like a ton of bricks. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, though in truth he had absolutely no idea what he would say, even if he could make the words come. Slowly he calmed down enough that he could think. There was nothing that could be done about the past. That was a lot of what he had been saying since this summer, and a lot of what Skyler had just finished saying to him about his past. All they could do was move forward and put themselves in the best position possible to face the future.

“Okay, I need to know everything that you know about your situation, my situation, Draco’s situation, the plan, all of it. The only way we’re going to get through this okay is if we actually think everything through before we make any other moves, no matter how hard that is for the two of us.”

Harry wanted to keep going, but he clammed up instead. If he babbled on endlessly, Skyler would only get confused and that wouldn’t help anything. Once he had all the information, he could figure out what to do next. It was promising that Voldemort was after Dumbledore and not him, but he wasn’t sure he could ever trust the man who had hunted and killed his parents, and he certainly didn’t want Skyler to lose Draco after she had lost basically everyone else since she moved here. He would do anything he could to give her a little bit of normal and happy and hope in her life. He just needed to figure out how.

Skyler smiled in a relieved way, letting out a breath she had been holding. He wasn't dropping her as a friend!! She launched herself at him and hugged the boy tightly, thanking him for not running in the opposite direction. The brunette was sure most people would, but Harry was proving quite often that he wasn't most people. But just the fact that he was going to still be her friend and try to help her deal with all of this was something the teen couldn't ever thank him enough for.

Releasing her hold on him and realizing their compromising position, Sky immediately took her recently vacated spot on the grass, a light pink hue on her cheeks now. Thinking over his words, she bit her bottom lip as she began to tell him her own thoughts, some of which she had yet to share with even Draco. "Well what I know about your situation is basically what you've told me so far. What I know about my situation is, if you can believe it, even less. But from what I've gathered, Dumbledore is behind a whole lot more than people would peg him being behind. Like my parents deaths. It was frame job. And I think it was to make me so angry with.." The teen's brows furrowed, obviously frustrated. "Damn it!! Doesn't he have a damn regular name? I won't continue calling him him, it makes it seem like I'm afraid of him. Which I am not!! And I refuse to use something as ridiculous as Moldyshorts, or whatever the hell he calls himself."

Blowing the stray strands of hair out of her face, the brunette truly looked like an angry kitten. Sighing, the anger dissipated and she continued on as if her little outburst had never happened. "Anyways, I think it was a frame job to convince me to Dumbledore's side. But I don't know why. And when I made my deal with the older Riddle, I managed to add in a few demands. One was he leave my friends alone and well, another was that since I'm agreeing to be trained I have the right to not learn something if I don't like it. And the last was that I was not a follower and I now to no one. I would be an equal of sorts or there would be no deal. His demands was that I be his protégé and a sort of messenger between you two."

Sky took a breath, looking at Harry to make sure he were following before she continued. "Draco's situation is a bit more complicated, because he's already seen as a follower I think. The old Riddle gave him and his cousin a task. Getting him into the castle or something. He also warned me against Draco, and said to keep my distance from him or he'll rearrange my memory for me. So we've come up with a plan to fake a break up and Draco is going to fake date Parkinson, who won't know it's fake, for obvious reasons. But him and his cousin are still no closer to finding a way for the old Riddle to get in the castle. I've also been considering an idea that might get us all out of immediate hot water, but it's fuckin insane." Skyler left off, nodding her head to reinforce that idea. She wouldn't lie, it was insane. But it might just be the best shot they all had.

Harry caught Skyler instinctually as the Slytherin launched herself at him and patted her back in a friendly manner. Apparently she had been at least as worried about scaring him off as he was with her. Just one more thing they had in common. Then she was suddenly blushing and sitting on the ground again. Apparently some part of that had been inappropriate, though Harry wasn’t sure why.

He laid back, his hands between his head in the grass, and his mind and body apparently at ease. In reality his mind was running a hundred miles an hour and this was the only way to keep himself still as he took in Skyler’s information. If he allowed himself to, he would be pacing frantically and, based on last year, probably shouting and scaring the crap out of his friend.

When Skyler finished speaking, he sat up, though he took a minute to think things over before he said anything. It really should have surprised him more and hit him harder that Dumbledore was apparently not only capable of, but also more than willing to, at least order murders if not commit them himself. If you had told Harry this a year ago, he wouldn’t have believed it and he might have jinxed the messenger for their lies. Then again, everything that happened in the last year seemed to have been leading him to this point, and right now it made perfect sense. It also made the Headmaster even more dangerous than Harry had figured. They would have to be as careful with and around him as they were with Voldemort.

The rest of it made enough sense, Harry guessed. “His name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, though I’m going to have trouble dropping the Voldemort thing myself,” he said, beginning things by answering her question. “You seem like you’ve gotten yourself into the best position you could, so good job.” He gave her a smile.

“Draco is a bigger problem. We need to keep him safe, and Silas too, I guess, but if Voldemort makes it into the school, that’s a problem. So if we could stop them from making any progress at all without getting them into trouble that would be great.” What others called Harry’s saving people thing kicked in at that point. “Of course, if he has to get into the castle to keep them safe, we’ll just have to deal with him here. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

That left only the dating thing, which Harry really didn’t want to think about, and him communicating with Voldemort, which he wanted to think about even less. Maybe the girl’s crazy idea would fix one of those two things so that Harry didn’t have to deal with either one of them. The less knowledge he had of Malfoy’s dating life and the less contact he had with the Dark Lord, the better he would feel. “I tend to like a little crazy in my ideas,” he said, his smile taking on some of the danger he had always seen on his godfather’s face. “Lay it on me.”

Skyler nodded along to his words, happy that again, he wasn't running full force in the opposite direction. She returned his smile with her own slightly unhinged smirk. Well that's good, because most of my plans are usually completely nuts." She advised in all honesty. The brunette conveniently forgot to mention the fact that a lot of her plans usually ended up creating more madness and mayhem than when she had started out, but she thought the ratio was a pretty good one on that fact.

"So my plan is we present a united front to Tom. He already knows we're friendly, thanks to Draco's reports back to him. It was one reason he called the meeting with me. I'm the only one who's close enough to you to relay his messages to you. Anyways, we present a united front to him, effectively becoming a third side in this war. He seems to know you're not all warm and fuzzy with the headmaster now, so it's not too far from the truth. Since he's already struck his deal with me, you and I becoming partners would effectively shield you from any harm from either him or his followers, whereas I will also be too strategically placed for him to really kill me.

Pausing to take a breath, the teen wondered if this made as much sense to him as it did to her in her head. She sure hoped so, because it was the product of many sleepless nights. "The only way to protect Draco and his cousin for now is to keep them at a distance, that way Tom's backlash can't hit them when I get in the way of their plans to get him in the castle. He can't know that Draco told me what the mission was, or Draco would be in even deeper trouble. But Tom told me himself he had given him a mission. So I will threaten him to go to Dumbledore and tell him what I know. Draco will have to report it back to Tom. He will be pissed, but at me and not Draco or Silas. After all, it's not their fault Tom told me about their mission."

Again the brunette paused, the plan coming together again in her mind. Maybe it was because it was the first time actually saying it out loud, but her plan didn't sound that crazy now that she thought about it. Or maybe it was so crazy that it might actually work. "So I'm pretty sure that will end in another face to face meeting between me and him, and I'll tell him that I refuse to help or stay out of the way without known all the details first, hopefully forcing him to reveal his plans. It may be a long shot but it could work. And hopefully the break up between me and Draco and Draco dating someone else will shift all suspicion from him and his cousin when all of this goes down, and if I'm the one threatening to out them to Dumbledore, you can't be pulled into the confrontation. It's a win/win for everyone if it works."

Purple eyes bore into emerald ones and Skyler looked decided. She would probably follow through with this plan regardless of whether he helped her or not. It wasn't like there was much room in the plan for Harry to ruin it anyways. But there were a lot of what ifs and holes that could bring it all crashing around their heads. Which was why the Slytherin was only too happy to carry the full weight of it. If things went wrong, she would be the one to blame. She hoped that at the least though, her friend would point out any major flaws or weaknesses in her plan, because Sky had been running it through her head so much searching for such things that she was sure she had missed something.

Harry tried to listen to the Hermione that lived in his head as he listened to Skyler’s plan. After all, if she was going to be the crazy one it was up to him to be the voice of reason if it really was too crazy. Not that it would matter if she was really as like him as she seemed to be. Harry had a terrible habit of executing his plan no matter how crazy everyone else seemed to think it was. That tended to lead to most of his detentions and a few occasions where his bushy headed friend had probably managed to save his life because he was too stupid to save it himself.

When she stopped talking, though, he didn’t really feel the need to be all that reasonable with her. Either it was a better plan than the Slytherin realized or he was just as crazy as she was. “That plan seems pretty solid, actually,” he said thoughtfully. “The only really risky part is Dumbledore using his creepy knowing too much thing and figuring out that we’re both working together and actively against him. So far I think I have him convinced that I’m still his number one supporter and working on winning you over to the good side. He does seem to think you’re a lost cause, though.” If they could keep him thinking those same things and only that, the plan would be a win there.

“There’s only one part of the plan that really bothers me,” he continued honestly. “I don’t really like the idea of you continuing to face Voldemort on your own, and it sounds kind of like that is exactly what you intend to do.” He paused for a moment to let her argue against this if she wanted to, even though he was going to continue on exactly the same way no matter what she said.

“I feel like I’m getting to know you well enough that I know you’re going to try this your way and want my blessing more than my ideas on everything you have going on.” This time he didn’t even really stop. He knew he was right because he recognized the look on her face now from psyching himself up last year before he did stupid crap involving his wanted godfather. “Just promise me one thing,” he said, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper and taking on an extremely serious tone. “At the first sign of trouble you’ll let me step in and help you, before things get far to be helped.”

He stopped, but then realized that family or not, he probably knew Voldemort a lot better than she did, and he certainly knew Dumbledore far better, even if he was still learning loads every time he met with both of them. “And remember, things can get too far really quickly with the opponents we’re signing up to battle against.”