Hi! I'm back from hibernation! It's been eons, and I'm sorry for that. I felt so guilty that I decided I was going to post a new chapter today, so I typed this whole thing up. It's not very long, I know. You guys just have to pressure me to write more chapters. My aim is to update at least once every two weeks.

I would respond to all of your reviews, but I can't because there are so many, so I'd just like to thank you all for being so kind to me!

Consider this a Valentines Day present! Happy Valentines Day! I love you all!

Chapter 14— Things only get worse

People were still treating Harry badly by Monday. Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and even some Gryffindors gave him disgusted looks, and tried to trip him or pull up his sleeve in the halls.

"There isn't a counter-curse?" Hermione asked, slightly disappointed, slightly worried, as ate breakfast in the Great Hall Monday morning. "I was hoping there would be. I thought I had read somewhere…"

"Hermione, spare us the history lesson," Ron interjected before she could go into explanation. "There are more important things at hand!" He said, casting a side-glance at Harry.

Harry sighed. Half of the time, he was hopeful and optimistic, keeping on a smile and pretending to himself that he was not being accused of a death eater, and this was all a joke. The other half of the time, Harry felt despair. He felt the walls were closing in on him, and all he could do was sit and wait until the grown-ups decided his fate. Every time Malfoy sneered at him, Harry longed to lift up his enemy's sleeve, exposing the dark mark, and yell that Malfoy was the death eater, and Harry was innocent.

But he knew he couldn't do that. All he could do was take Dumbledore's advice and ignore them, which was not as easy a task as Dumbledore made it seem to be.

"Oh, Harry, don't worry about it. Ignore everyone." Neville said wisely.

Harry smiled ironically. "That's just what Dumbledore said. Easier said than done. But I guess I've just got to toughen up and take it. What else can I do?"

Neville smiled encouragingly at him as Ron stuffed himself with eggs and bacon rather disgustingly, and Hermione glared at Ron, about to tell him off for it.

Today was not such a good day on the quartet's schedule. Harry and Hermione's first class was Potions, and Ron and Neville had Divination. These were Harry's two least favorite classes, and he was glad that he dropped out of Divination.

Ron and Neville both told Harry they sympathized with him as he and Hermione made their was down to the dungeons. Harry and Hermione were the first ones there. Snape was moving around in his office, but Harry couldn't tell what he was doing. However, he could just see that Snape kept rubbing his forearm vigorously.

As the rest of the class filed in, Snape leered at them angrily and told them to take their seats. Once everyone had settled, he came up to them and said,

"First, I must speak to you brats about your N.E.W.T.s. You all have achieved an O in Potions to be in this class….whether some of you have the brains," and here he looked proudly at Draco Malfoy, "or not" he sneered at Harry. "Those of you here who did not bribe their way in through fame or fortune," he said quietly, staring at the ceiling pointedly, "will find their N.E.W.T.s easier at the end of your schooling. The rest of you who aren't too intelligent for their own good," and this time Hermione received a look, "will have to study hard and prove their worth in this class."

Snape paused after his little speech, and Hermione and Harry rolled their eyes at each other. After 5 years, they had gotten used to the fact that Snape hated them in particular, and were unfazed by his display of hatred.

"We will be spending most of the term working on potions that restore one's health." Snape continued and all of the classes' attention focused on him. "Today we are to begin a potion designed to restore blood to one's body, called, obviously, the Blood Restoring Potion. The instructions on how to brew are written on the board. Begin." And with that he turned around and went to his desk.

Harry, remembering last year, read the board's instructions carefully and made sure he did not skip any directions. He knew that to be an Auror, he would have to keep his grades up in the class, and he also wanted to prove to Snape that he could do this. Hermione had to remind him that he was putting in too many pints of happlegrass only once, and by the end of the lesson when he fastened the cork on his potion and carried it up to Snape's desk, he felt that he had done, for once, a good job.

When he reached Snape, he locked eyes with him, seeing the burning hatred within him. For a moment, they were still, staring. Then, Snape sneered quietly, "Potter." And Harry answered him, "Professor," spitting out the name. Without another word, Harry walked away.

All in all, Harry reflected as he and Hermione left the dungeons and headed for Transfiguration, the lesson had been one of the better potions lessons he'd had. Throughout the class, Snape had said only one word to him. Harry considered this an improvement, and told Hermione this.

"I suppose your right…maybe Snape is actually becoming nicer." She said, but then her face darkened. "Or maybe he-" Hermione was cut off by someone yelling her and Harry's name.

"Harry, wait up!" Ron and Neville called from behind them. Panting, they ran up to their friends.

"What's up, Neville?" Harry asked, noticing that Ron and Neville seemed to want to speak but couldn't.

When Neville did not answer, Ron caught his breath and said, "Trelawney's taken a liking to you, mate!" Harry was taken aback and did not answer.

"What do you mean?" Asked Hermione curiously.

Neville laughed, finally recovered. "All through the lesson she would say things like, 'And a certain raven haired man will see good fortune in front of him' and we knew she was talking about you."

Ron continued, "And then she started saying things like, 'he's a fragile boy in need of comfort, and he needs someone to guide the way…someone must help him…'"

"…Who will guide this fragile boy that has good fortune bound to come?" Neville said in a misty voice much like the divination teacher's.

"So naturally," Ron said, laughing, "Parvati and Lavender, who would jump off a bridge for Trelawney, volunteered. And so they believe they've got to follow you around and guide you everywhere or something." And as he finished speaking, the two said girls ran up to Harry and grabbed him.

"Oh, you poor, poor thing," Lavender said sympathetically.

"It's ok, Harry, we're here for you." Parvati said, grabbing his hand and guiding him through the halls, Hermione, Ron, and Neville snickering behind them. Harry cast his hysterical friends a glare.

"We'll support you in your time of need, we're always here to help" Lavender reassured him as they rounded the bend and entered the Transfiguration classroom. And with that they led him to his seat, pulled it out for him, plopped him down, and chose seats right next to him so they were sitting on each of his sides.

"Er…really, you don't have to-"

"Of course we do!" Parvati said.

"It's our mission." Lavender added. "You see, Professor Trelawney was telling us that you needed someone to help you this year, and we looked in our crystal balls and saw us helping you."

"So we knew it was our calling" Parvati said impressively as Hermione, Ron, and Neville took seats behind Harry, smirking at him. No one had the chance to say anything more, however, because Professor McGonagall entered the room briskly and stared sternly at them all.

"Welcome to N.E.W.T. Transfiguration." She started, gazing around the classroom. She noticed that Harry was sitting between Lavender and Parvati and raised her eyebrows, but made no comment. "You all should know by now what's expected of you. This year, we will begin conjuring things rather than vanishing them, as in previous years. Today we will start conjuring simple things: paper clips and push-pins." And she instructed them all on how to do it.

By the end of the lesson, Harry was rather annoyed with Parvati and Lavender, who helped Harry with all of his work. Instead of helping, they mostly got in the way of things, and Harry, who was actually better at conjuring things rather than vanishing them, did not get very far. The class was assigned to practice this spell for homework.

On the way to lunch, and almost all throughout lunch, Hermione, Neville, and Ron teased him mercilessly about Lavender and Parvati's sudden infatuation with him, and Harry's mood lowered. Then, when the bell was almost through, Lavender and Parvati came up to him and helped him eat, which lowered his mood even more. People were staring at him, and he resisted the urge to bang his head on the table until it hurt.

The rest of the day continued this way, and Harry didn't know what to do. In the Common Room, when Harry started his homework, Parvati and Lavender insisted on helping him. Harry wanted to have some time alone, so he tried to stay up very late to get them to go to bed so he could talk with Neville, Ron, and Hermione. Finally, they grew tired around midnight, and trudged off to bed, but not before warning him not to do anything unless he consulted them.

The minute they left, Ron and Neville and Hermione burst out laughing, joking him. Harry's ears burned with anger. "Will you stop it!" He screamed finally, catching their attention. Just looking at him, they immediately began to feel guilty for teasing him. His face was red and tired, and he looked annoyed as hell.

"We're sorry, Harry." Hermione apologized.

"It's just so funny, though…" Ron said, silenced by Hermione's glare. Harry closed his eyes. He didn't need any of this.

"Sorry, Harry. We'll stop laughing. It was rude." Neville said, sitting down on the couch next to Harry in the now empty common room.

"It's alright. I just can't stand them following me. You don't know how annoying it is. What can I do?" Harry asked, closing his eyes exhaustedly and falling asleep on the chair immediately. The others, seeing that he had fallen asleep, realized how tired he was and decided to leave him there to rest, and then they went up to bed themselves, each feeling guilty.

Hope you liked it. Pressure me to write more, ok?

Also, if there is anyone out there who can speak Latin, please let me know! I need a Latin name for something later in this story. I tried to use an online translator, but it had so many tenses and I don't know which one is right…so if anyone can help me translate something, please e-mail me at phoenixpadfoot89 and I'll tell you what I need.

Thanks to you all for reading and reviewing! Hint hint!