Harry left the Headmistress' office absolutely livid. The nerve of Dumbledore trying to tell him that he stole all that money to make his life more comfortable. He found himself in front of the Room of Requirement, pacing back and forth. He needed to get that potions text that he placed in there and he really needed to vent some anger and frustration before he hurt someone.
An hour later Harry emerged, flushed, but under better control, and with the potions text. He also grabbed the blue tiara, thinking that it might be needed, on an impulse. Those impulses were hardly ever wrong. He made a quick stop at his room to drop off his stuff, and to pick up his books for the rest of the day. He barely made it to DADA.
Class time was spent in review and the new professor didn't seem to have much confidence in herself or any of the students, for that matter. Again, Harry sat with Hermione and avoided Ron. The whole school now knew that there was some sort of fight that had taken place with at least two members of the Golden Trio, even if Ron denied it. Hermione said nothing, which fueled the gossip more. Looking at Harry, Hermione noticed that a fine layer of dust covered him all over.
"What are you covered in?"
"Dust."
"Dust?, From where?"
"The meeting place."
It took her only a moment to understand that sentence. "What were you doing in there?"
"Getting rid of some anger and frustration by using a cricket bat and several pieces of china that the room provided."
Hermione stared at him with her mouth hanging open. She had never remembered, in the entire time she had known him, where he had gotten so mad that he needed to vent his anger in such a way. Usually he went flying. Whatever had set him off must have been extreme. Curiosity was killing her, but she refused to ask about it. Harry seeing her face and the looks of curiosity, worry, and love, muttered, "I'll tell you later, alright?"
Hermione nodded yes and returned her attention back to class. In her opinion this woman was almost as bad as Umbridge, only they were allowed to actually do the spells. Professor Sheffield seemed to be afraid of her own shadow. Hermione thought that maybe she could talk to Harry about starting up the DA again, just so that they could be prepared for their NEWTS. But then again she didn't know if Harry would. He had changed so much. She had nothing to lose by asking. She looked across the aisle and saw that Ron was sleeping. "He'll probably want to borrow my notes and thinks that he can sweet talk me into it", she thought. But Ronald Weasley was in for a few surprises this term. One, she wasn't going to help him with his homework any more. He needed to be able to stand on his own two feet in the real world. He seemed to only want to play Quidditch, which was all well and good, but in her opinion didn't make for a very strong career. Two, she wasn't going to 'date' him, as everyone assumed that they would. They had one kiss and that was enough for her to know that he wasn't 'the one'. But of course he thought she had enjoyed it and had been pestering her all summer about 'going out'. He had really stepped it up when they returned to school. She didn't want to hurt his feelings but she was going to have to tell him face to face, since he didn't seem to understand her hints or didn't want to. Three, she thought that Harry was being serious about not playing Quidditch. Again Ron refused to believe that someone didn't have the same drive for the game like he did. She knew that Harry loved the game and loved flying but, something was making him cautious. It was like he was protecting someone. A lightbulb went off in her head. "That's it! He's protecting someone. He only acts like this when he's protecting someone that he loves. Now the question was who?" Her mind kept going over people, trying to find the one that he was protecting. No one sprang to mind except for maybe Ginny and that seemed unlikely, since she thought that if Harry were protecting her he would play Quidditch, just to be near her in case of trouble.
Class ended and Harry told Hermione that he would meet her in one of the empty classrooms an hour before their patrol that night. He decided to tell her about Dumbledore and the Weasleys since she was the smartest and the most level headed person he knew. She was also not on the list of betrayers and he really needed to talk to someone about this, other that a portrait.
Harry spent an hour, before dinner, doing what little homework that he needed to do and playing with Michael. His scamp of a son was trying to catch an enchanted snitch. Winky had made it for him to chase around his nursery, by crawling and hopefully by walking. His antics made Harry laugh as the baby tried talking the snitch into coming to him. Kissing and hugging Michael goodbye, Harry left to go down for dinner. He had arrived before Hermione and Ron, but had barely sat down next to Neville when they arrived. Hermione took the spot next to Harry, leaving Ron to sit across from them. All through dinner, Ron talked nothing but Quidditch and tactics that he wanted to use during the games. Harry ignored him. Before leaving the table Harry told Ron, once again, that he was not playing for the house team and that a new seeker was going to be needed. It went in one ear and out the other. The redhead refused to listen to Harry's refusal to play. Harry wasn't going to tell him again.
Hermione finished as fast as she could so that she and Harry had plenty of time to talk. Five minutes after Harry left, Hermione was walking into the classroom that they had agreed to meet in. Harry placed several wards up to insure their privacy. He didn't want anyone else to know about this yet. He conjured up some comfortable chairs and called Dobby to bring them some tea. Once seated with the tea that Dobby had brought, Harry told her everything about the missing money and about Dumbledore still being alive. For a full ten minutes Hermione said nothing, mouth open, as she tried to process what she had been told. But when Harry showed her the documents, proving what he said, she could deny it no longer. They had truly betrayed Harry.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Honestly? I don't know. There are too many people involved. If I sue, the entire Ministry would fall, leaving it open for Voldemort to take over, not to mention Hogwarts. But I have cut off the supply, as it were. Dumbledore actually tried to convince me to let him continue to use my money for 'my comfort', as he called it."
"I hope you told him off! I still can't believe that Ron and Ginny, not to mention Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were getting paid to be nice to you. Do you think that the other Weasleys are involved?"
"I think that it's safe to say no, that they are not, but I intend to be more careful around them from now on. I honestly don't think that the twins would. Bill or Charlie haven't been around a lot so I'm fairly certain that they too are not involved. Percy probably wouldn't stoop so low as to do so but he is highly ambitious so is a possibility. But the list only shows Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny specifically. The others aren't named. They aren't aware, yet, that I know, unless Dumbledore has told them by now."
"Is this why you quit Quidditch? Because of Ron and Ginny?"
"I would like to say that it was, but no I had another reason for not playing long before I found out about this. I'll tell you that reason another time. I'm not ready to reveal that one yet, so don't push. You will be the first to know when I am ready." He knew her to well. That was what she had planned to do.
"Will this change things between you and Ron" he asked her, concerned. Hermione was surprised by the question and knew the real reason why it was asked.
"There is nothing going on between Ronald and I except what is in his imagination and there will defiantly be nothing going on now." The look on Harry's face seemed hopeful to her so she continued. "We kissed once and that was enough for me to know that he wasn't 'the one'. Truthfully, it was one of the worst I have ever had. He seems to think that there is more there than there is, but honestly there's not. I happen to love someone else, that's all."
Now Harry was surprised. He had heard Ron talking about everything that he and Hermione had 'done' to the other boys in their dorm. It really didn't surprise him to learn that the git was lying, but it did surprise him about Hermione's declaration that she was in love with someone else. He wondered who had finally caught her eye. She wasn't like most girls, mooning over a boy. She kept things to herself. After all she had kept the fact that Viktor Krum had asked her to the Yule Ball. He would have to keep his eyes open and maybe do a little teasing as well. A part of him hoped that it was him that she loved, but who ever he was had better take care of her or they would be answering to him. Still he had to ask, knowing that she wouldn't tell.
"Who is it? Do I know him?"
Hermione grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Yes, you do know him. Very well in fact but you are going to have to figure this one out on your own."
Harry grinned at the challenge. "Fair enough."
"I do have something to ask you though", said Hermione.
"What?"
"Would you consider restarting the DA?, I really don't think that Professor Sheffield is going to help us pass our NEWTS."
"I'll think about it."
"Fair enough", said Hermione, copying his answer. Harry grinned at her and held out his hand to help her up. After returning the room to the way it was and dropping his additional wards, Harry led Hermione on their patrol, using the map, catching students out of bounds. They sent them on their way with a warning that points would be taken they next time that they were caught, even from Gryffindor.
The rest of the week Harry attended classes, did what homework he needed to in order to remain Head Boy, and investigated Helga Hufflepuff's and Salazar Slytherin's respective rooms, using the plaque in his former quarters. Dobby helped him pack everything that he could, before he sealed the rooms shut with the spell that Godric had taught him. Their portraits, however, could not be brought, since they weren't in them. Harry had no idea if there were other copies of them or not and he didn't think that Godric wanted the portrait of the man that stole his wife in the same room as him anyway. He did find their family tapestries in their rooms and brought them with him, but didn't unpack them yet.
All in all he had been quite busy with all that and taking care of Michael, so that Saturday snuck up on him. Ron, all week, continued to remind him of the tryouts at least three to four times a day. Harry no longer told him that he wasn't playing, just shook his head at the stubbornness of his former friend. So Saturday, Harry stayed close to his rooms, spending quality time with Michael and reading one of Slytherin's personal journals. He didn't read them out loud like he did with Helga Hufflepuff's to Godric, but he did find them fascinating, especially about the early years that they spent together before Eleanor Malfoy came between them. He was so involved with reading that, at first, he didn't hear the alarm go off, telling him that there was someone at his former room. He quickly ran down the secret passage and into his former common room. As soon as he saw that the passage door was closed, he opened the portrait door. Outside the doorway stood Ron and Ginny, both looking furious. Several members of their house were behind them, including Hermione, who had a smirk on her face. She knew that they were in for a huge wake up call.
"Harry, I told you that tryouts for the team were today and that I needed everyone there. As seeker you should have been there, best mate to the captain or not", yelled a red faced Ron.
Harry sighed, "Ron, I've told you several times that I was no longer playing for the team. You simply refused to listen so this is your own fault."
Ron got redder and redder. "I thought that you were joking. You know to throw the other house teams off and surprise them. I didn't think that you were actually serious. You love Quidditch too much to quit. You can't quit. I refuse to let you. Now get dressed and get out onto the pitch."
Harry stood straighter then he ever had. Ron was ordering him to do what hewanted him to do like he was some kind of child. The redhead was lucky that Harry wasn't going to hex him into next week for that.
"I do and can quit Ronald. McGonagall already knows, since I turned down that badge that you love so well. Find another seeker and leave me alone. You're lucky that there are witnesses here or your parents would have a hard time finding your pieces. Don't EVER order me around again. This friendship is over."