Disclaimer: All I own is this fanfic, everything else goes to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!

Chapter Eleven

Harry finished packing up his stuff and left Gryffindor Tower to make his journey to the Hogwarts Express. He spotted Cho dragging her trunk behind her as she descended from the stairs leading up to Ravenclaw Tower. Harry felt his stomach doing flip-flops and his heart beating with nervousness, knowing what he needed to do. Taking a deep breath, Harry walked towards Cho.

"Hey Cho!" Harry called to her.

The asian Ravenclaw girl turned around, smiled at Harry as he caught up to her. Then she greeted him back. "Hi Harry!"

"I'm sorry about our fight near the end of last year!" Harry apologized.

"I'm sorry, too," said Cho sincerely. "I had no idea the sneak had been drugging me with loyalty potions to make me defend her without second thoughts."

"I found out about that from Ron last night after he and Lavender returned to Gryffindor Tower," Harry began explaining, as he and Cho began heading down to the Hogsmeade train station. "He even told me about how not only the sneak was bragging about drugging you, but that Ginevra and Zacharias had been helping her brewing up them to ensure that we would stay away from each other."

"I do have a feeling that it's also to make sure Ginevra gets her hands on you," said Cho, her voice cracking in uneasiness. "Since our fellow students know that she keeps going on and on about how she would marry you in the future at all costs. I wouldn't be surprised the crazy Weasley girl is planning to drug you with the strongest love potion, also known as Amortentia."

"Oh my!" Harry replied as he put a hand over his mouth with his eyes widening in shock, his stomach twisting in disgust. "She always acted like the sweetest girl ever imaginable. But her behaviour at Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party and the way she treated Dean is undeniable proof that she is a manipulator. She even manipulated me into thinking she was a good role model and really sweet, but now I know that it's far from the truth."

"She's been that way for who knows how long," stated Cho. "Ever since she started her education here, she throws regular tantrums whenever you aren't around her, because you won't pay any attention to her. I was one of those countless students to witness her throwing one of those numerous tantrums. No wonder many people can't stand to be around her."

"And toying with others' feelings just makes it worse." said Harry.

"No kidding." said Cho in agreement. Then she changed the subject and asked Harry. "What are your plans for the Christmas Holidays?"

"That was why I was looking for you, Cho," stated Harry. "But I invited Astoria Greengrass to be my date for Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party, though she goes by Tori. She appears to be smitten with me and she even invited me to her family manor. After finding out about you being drugged with loyalty potions, I had to talk to you and see how you would feel about me spending Christmas with the Greengrass family."

"I don't have a problem with that, Harry," assured Cho. "While we did make amends, I'm not ready for another relationship yet, especially after having found that Marietta had been manipulating me all along. You also did say that Tori was smitten with you. There were some occasions for ministry formals. That's how I know the Greengrass family. Tori's dad works for the Wizengamot, and my mum's job at the ministry is working for the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Like I said, you and Tori can be in the relationship."

"Are you serious, Cho?" asked Harry. "You're supporting the potential Tori and I have for a relationship??"

"Yes, Harry," Cho assured again, with a smile. "I need some time to recover from what had been happening to me. We can still be friends, Harry."

"Okay. It's best that it stay that way anyway," Harry replied, as he breathed a sigh of relief inwardly Then he began offering. "If you'd like, I can give you protection under House Potter to prevent you from getting drugged and/or manipulated again."

"Thank you, Harry!" said Cho gratefully, with another smile.

"You're welcome, Cho." Harry replied. "Maybe we should find Tori, since she'll probably want to hear it from you that you support our potential relationship."

"You're right, Harry." Cho agreed.

The two continued heading to the Hogwarts Express. As usual, Harry chose the last compartment in the last car of the train. Once he and Cho were on the platform of the Hogsmeade train station, Harry spotted the blonde hair belonging to Tori (since she had her back turned to Harry and Cho without realizing it).

"Tori!" Harry called out to her.

"Oh, hi Harry!" said Tori when she stopped in her tracks and turned around to give him a smile. When she spotted Cho, Tori's smile turned into a sad frown before apologizing. "I'm sorry for getting in between you and Harry, Cho!"

"You didn't get in the way, Tori," assured Cho in a soft voice. "I don't have any issues with you being with Harry. I'm not ready for another relationship because of the sneak having drugged me with loyalty potions to keep on manipulating me without my knowledge."

"Is this for real, Cho?" asked Tori, her frown returning to the smile.

"It is." assured Cho once more, nodding her head to confirm it.

Tori was so grateful that she gave Cho a hug as a way of saying thank you. Cho returned the hug, which made Harry smile. Then Harry and Tori said goodbye to Cho before heading for the last compartment of the rear car. Neville and Hermione were waiting in the compartment and when they heard the door slide open, they looked at Harry and Tori entering.

"Did you get the issue with Cho taken care of?" asked Hermione.

"Yes," stated Harry. "She was supportive of me and Tori being together."

"When she even proved it to me, I couldn't help but give her a hug in return," said Tori. "I was worried at first that I got in the way, but Cho assured me that I didn't."

"That's wonderful." Hermione replied. "What will become of Cho now?"

"She already knows about the sneak having drugged her with loyalty potions," Harry explained. "I even offered to put her under the protection of House Potter once I get my inheritance taken care of."

"Hermione, what do you plan to do for Christmas?" asked Tori.

"Well, my parents and I will be going skiing," stated Hermione. "We had to cancel that plan last year because I chose to help Harry out with his PTSD because of watching Cedric getting murdered before his eyes."

"Diggory's death was a definite accident," said a familiar voice unexpectedly. "Because Potter was too stupid and cowardly to get himself and Diggory out in time. He allowed the murder to happen, so Potter is responsible for…!"

Tori angrily spun around and sucker-punched Draco in the nose (making him see stars dancing through his vision), just as Harry, Neville, and Hermione drew their wands out. Then Tori grabbed the Malfoy scion up by the front of his shirt and forcefully shoved him against the window behind him, shattering the glass in the process.

"Don't go blaming Harry for what happened to Cedric," Tori growled in Draco's face. "They were simply showing some fairness there since it would've still counted as a Hogwarts victory. You're insulting Cedric's memory by passing his death off as a tragic accident."

"I can press charges against you for assault and battery for bashing me in the nose." Draco replied in a nervous voice.

"That's nothing compared to kidnapping me!!" Tori growled in a much more dangerous voice.

"I just had you escorted…!" Draco whined.

"It was still kidnapping, ferret boy!!" Tori growled dangerously again, giving Draco a paralyzing glare. "You had me taken to your room against my will, so it still counts as kidnapping. It's a very serious crime, you should've known that by now. You're already in enough trouble now, since your mum confronted you for your outrageous behaviour. Unless you want me to find Pansy and have the both of us give you more spankings with a belt, I suggest you walk away and prepare yourself for your mum giving you a proper punishment."

With Harry, Neville and Hermione pointing their wands at him, Draco knew he would be biting off more than he could chew if he tried pulling any more stunts. So the Malfoy scion reluctantly staggered away as he pinched his blood-dripping nose shut. Seeing the shattered window, Tori whipped her wand out and cast the charm to repair the glass. Harry carefully aimed his wand at Draco's feet and cast a charm that would make duck quacking sounds every time the Malfoy scion's feet touched the ground. Draco had to endure his soon-to-be former students laughing at him for the duck sounds as he continued strolling the train cars looking for a compartment. Back in their compartment, Harry, Neville, Tori and Hermione sat down and attempted to resume their conversation when Luna and Pansy strolled by, with Luna knocking on the open door to let Harry, Neville, Tori and Hermione know they had visitors.

"Hi Luna!" greeted Harry, Neville, Hermione and Tori at once.

"Hello, you four!" Luna greeted back. Then she asked. "Are you all busy?"

"Not at all!" Harry confirmed.

Then Luna and Pansy walked into the compartment, with Harry closing the door, closing the window blinds and locking the door once they were in. Harry, Neville, Tori and Hermione looked at Pansy (who had a remorseful expression on her face) and nodded their heads to signal to her to go ahead and say what she had to say.

"I know we haven't gotten along since shortly after we started our first year," said Pansy as she gave Harry, Neville, and Hermione eye contact, feeling ashamed of herself. "I was foolish to be hanging around with Malfoy and his kind while thinking that I would have protection around them. I don't deserve forgiveness, but I still want to say that… that I'm sorry for being so mean and ruthless to you in the past."

"Well, you're coming clean to your past behaviour and admitting your mistakes," Harry explained to Pansy. "Something Malfoy refuses to do. He just wants to be a bigoted bully. You're proving to be a better person."

"Anything I can do to prove how sorry I am?" asked Pansy.

"Just genuinely wanting to be our friend," stated Harry, with Neville, Tori and Hermione nodding their heads to confirm it. "And proving it in ways such as defending our honour, offering to help solve our problems, or perform any other good deed."

Pansy nodded her head in acknowledgement, then she and Luna got up to leave (knowing Harry, Tori, Neville and Hermione wanted some alone time). They got three compartments past the one Harry was in when Luna peeked in one and saw Cho with her feet up on the seat, her knees brought up to her chest, her arms resting on her knees, and her face buried in her arm. Realizing that Cho was crying due to her frequent gasping, Luna and Pansy walked in to try and help.

"Cho?" Luna responded.

"Oh, hey Luna," Cho replied with a sniffle, turning her attention to the petite blonde-haired girl. "What may… may I do for you?"

"Perhaps talk to me and Pansy," suggested Luna in a soft voice, sitting down across from the distraught asian girl. "As to why you're all upset."

"It just hurts that Marietta had been manipulating me with loyalty potions the whole time," Cho cried, wiping away excess tears. "I never did anything to her to deserve such treatment!"

"I've been there before, Cho," Luna reminded her. "All those times when some of our fellow students would just call me loony, and how they'd steal my stuff and rip up my assignments just to have me face the potential of repeating a year."

"And I found out the hard way that Malfoy was a bully who doesn't hesitate to attack a lady who dares to oppose him, and what happens when you associate yourself with the wrong people," Pansy informed Cho. "Luna has been helping me out in becoming a better person. I admitted my mistakes to Harry, Neville and Hermione just a couple minutes ago."

"Why not hang around with us, Cho?" Luna offered, with Pansy nodding her head in approval. "It's better to be friends with the right people instead of one-hundred friends who may very well be double-crossing you without your knowledge."

"Thank you! This means alot to me!" said Cho gratefully, with a smile. Then she asked Pansy. "Did you ever get to get back at Malfoy?"

"I helped Tori in giving him spankings with a belt, since he did that to me and her," said Pansy. "She had to deal with that more than me. Malfoy kept begging for mercy, but Tori and I ignored it because he was always merciless."

"I'd like to give Marietta a similar punishment myself," said Cho as she started giggling. "She deserves it for drugging me not only with loyalty potions keyed to her, but also with hate potions keyed to Harry. If there was any real evidence of the crimes she, Ginevra and Zacharias committed, I'd hand it to my mum."

"Is this what you're talking about, Cho?" asked Luna as she pulled out a piece of folded-up parchment and handed it to her.

"No way!" Cho exclaimed as she opened it and looked it over. "All the evidence of the crimes the sneak, the delusional redhead, and the blonde moron committed especially against Harry, including brewing up those illegal potions. Where'd you find it?"

"It was tucked beneath the cushions of one of the couches in our common room," Luna told Cho. "I sat there to read a book and I heard the sound of parchment getting crumbled. So I reached in between the cushions and pulled it out."

"The sneak isn't so Ravenclaw smart after all," said Cho in an amused voice. "I'll make sure that mum gets this. I even realize that I was right in thinking that the crazy Weasley girl was even planning to drug Harry with Amortentia. Thanks for finding it, Luna."

"You're welcome, Cho." said Luna with a smile.

As soon as the time struck 10:00 AM, the train began departing from Hogsmeade Station. Luna, Pansy and Cho began bonding with one another in their compartment. Meanwhile, three hooded figures had just arrived at Gringotts. They pulled their hoods back once they were in the lobby, revealed to be Ginny, Marietta (who had reddish-blonde curly hair) and Zacharias. They walked up to a free goblin (who's name was Griphook, as shown on his name tag) at the counter.

"What may I do for you?" asked Griphook neutrally.

"To make a withdrawal from vault 687." stated Marietta.

"That's Lord Potter's trust vault." Griphook told the three, rather firmly.

"Maybe this'll clear things up a bit." Ginny told Griphook as she held up Harry's vault key. Then she started lying. "He gave us permission to withdraw as much money as we want to."

"Seriously," Zacharias bluffed, nodding his head to falsely confirm it. "He said it was on him."

Griphook eyed them suspiciously, but shrugged his shoulders and showed them to Harry's trust vault (since there was no proof that the whole thing was a bluff). Once they were done at Gringotts, the three truant Hogwarts students put their hoods back on before leaving the bank. Then they returned to a remote alley to meet up with a fourth hooded figure (who side-apparated Ginny over to a safehouse). Marietta side-apparated Zacharias to the same location. The fourth hooded figure pulled the hood off as the others did the same. The fourth member was a messy-brown haired boy, and he began snogging Marietta enthusiastically. Zacharias also did the same with Ginny.

"Ooh, you're so handsome, Miles Bletchley!" Marietta told him in a flirtatious voice, followed by a purr.

"And you're so pretty, my sweet Marie!" Miles replied in a lustful voice (which Marietta chose to ignore). Then Miles continued on with contempt in his voice. "Potter will pay for cheating in every quidditch match Gryffindor played against my house, just so they'd win and humiliate us."

"He won't be walking free anymore," said Ginny with false assurance. "Once I marry him, we can get more money from him. I'll have access to the Potter family vault, so then I can just withdraw modest amounts of money. I'll even empty the vault of all the heirlooms, give them to you in fair shares, and we can just sell them for more moolah. I'll make sure he is given doormat potions so he can do all the chores of us without hesitation, regardless if it's safe or not."

"Potter's reign of terror is nearing it's end," said Zacharias, pounding a fist into his palm. "That glory hound needs to learn that being an egomaniac is terrible."

The four evil wizarding youths began laughing wickedly, assuming that their plan was a foolproof one. They had no idea that somebody got ahold of evidence that they were on a crime spree, and that it was only a matter of time before they get caught and arrested.

To be continued!

Author's note: I decided to have Cho be happy for Harry and Tori's potential relationship, as well as encouraging it. I also realized that Cho was going to need some time to recover emotionally after a few users pointed it out, but I still had Cho be friends with Harry and Tori. The possibility of an eventual threesome will still be open and I might go with it if the right idea comes along.

Also, I'd like to give a shoutout to the user 'Aurora Nightstar' for giving me the idea of Tori fiercely reminding Draco that he organized the plot to kidnap her, and Tori also reminding Draco what kidnapping really is, not what he thinks it was.