Harry felt conflicted as he prepared himself for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. On one hand, today would be his first official date with Fleur since they began dating over the summer and he was understandably a nervous wreck.

On the other hand, today was the day that they were meeting other students to set up some kind of underground tutoring group. He was more than a little apprehensive about the whole thing, most people nowadays chose to ridicule him and he found it hard to believe that any decent number of students would want to learn from him.

Rushing downstairs to the common room, he was met by Ron and Hermione who were already sitting down in their usual spots. Seeing that Fleur had yet to come down from her dormitory, he decided to sit with them until his girlfriend made her way down.

"What are you guys doing today," Harry asked as he gave Fleur a quick kiss on her cheek. Since the two of them planned to have their date before the meeting later they were going to spend most of the trip by together, leaving Ron and Hermione to spend time with themselves.

"Well," Hermione began, a slight blush crossing her features, "we figured we'd spend our time walking around the shops, maybe grab a bite at the Three Broomsticks or Madame Puddifoot's."

Harry's brows shot up to his hairline at this unexpected turn of events. The thought that his two best friends could be interested in each other was news to him.

"That's great! You two deserve to have a little fun." He genuinely meant what he said. He felt happy for the two of them, specifically for Hermione. He felt bad since he'd been spending more time with Fleur, even though he had been trying to spend more time with his two best friends.

Despite all this, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. Hermione was one of the most important people in his life and that no none would be good enough for her. He mentally paused at this, confused by his own thoughts.

'She's like family to me so of course I would feel defensive towards anyone she dates.'

Not seeing any faults in this logic, he wrapped his arms around his girlfriends' waist, the four of them making for the carriages.

-HP-

As she made her way through Hogsmeade with Ron in tow, Hermione couldn't deny that she was enjoying herself. Ron had somewhat surprisingly been on his best behavior for the entire trip. Not once did he complain when she requested to go into a bookstore located in town, even going as far as to graciously carry her books for her.

She could tell that the redhead was extremely nervous, if his extra fidgety demeanor was anything to go by. He would jump slightly whenever he remembered that he should hold the door for her and would scramble to make it their before she did. She found this and all the other little quirks endearing.

She even enjoyed their trips into the other shops, including Zonko's and Honeyduke's which even surprised her. Today was one of the most fun trips to the village that she had ever had, the whole day reminded her of her first trip into Hogsmeade two years prior, a day that was also just her and Ron.

They stopped at the Three Broomsticks to meet up with Harry and Fleur before heading to the Hogshead. Upon entering the tavern, they managed to find a table and order a few Butterbeers while they waited for their friends.

As they drank, Hermione's mind wandered to her two best friends. Her mind and emotions were in a jumbled mess due to her apparent attraction to her and Ron's other best friend. She still didn't quite believe that what she felt for Harry was anywhere near romantic feelings, she did believe that whatever they were, she needed to get over them because Fleur was now the most important girl in his life, despite his repeated assurances.

Which was why she had put forth the idea that her and Ron go to Hogsmeade as a date. She liked Ron well enough, and she could see herself eventually falling fr him, but it was a little early to say.

"I had a great time today," she began a little timidly. This was the first time since she initiated the idea that the fact that they were in fact, on a date, came up and she felt nervous about broaching the topic.

"I had a good time too." Ron's smile was infectious and instantly made her feel a lot better. Maybe this whole thing would work out after all. The silence turned from uncomfortable to their usual companionable one, until Harry and Fleur showed up.

After recounting their exploits for today, both couples had apparently had amazing dates, the four of them finished their drinks before heading out to start their meeting.

-HP-

Following the meeting at the Hogshead, Harry was surprisingly optimistic about leading a study an illegal study group. Of the 30 or so students who showed up to the meeting, only a few of them showed up just to find out about the end of the previous year.

Their incessant questions on whether or not he was fit to lead this group and whether or not he was lying about the Dark Lord's return nearly caused him to take his ball and walk away, the only thing preventing him was the support of Hermione, Ron, and Fleur who went on to recount everything that Harry had been through up until that point, effectively shutting all the naysayers mouths.

After all was said and done, the meeting had actually turned out to be a success. It seemed that besides one person who walked due to his refusal to open up, everyone else was there to learn at least on some level. With everyone signing a sheet that enforced their confidentiality, all they needed was to find a place to hold their meetings.

That was how Harry, Fleur, Ron, and Hermione found themselves standing outside of a 7th floor corridor waiting for Dobby's arrival. After many such places as unused classrooms, the Shrieking Shack, and the Forbidden Forest were all deemed unusable, Harry had off-handedly asked Dobby if he knew of any potential meeting places.

A loud 'Pop!' signaled Dobby's arrival in front of them.

"This is the place Harry Potter sir!" He motioned to the blank wall behind them as if the answer to all their problems were there. Glancing at his other companions, Harry saw their faces in many phases of disbelief and exasperation.

"Uhh Dobby…there's nothing here."

Dobby's smile didn't let up, as the elf hobbled his way up to the wall, shut his eyes, and muttered something as he walked back and forth in front of the wall. Once he'd completed his third walk passed, a door magically appeared on the previously blank wall startling the quartet.

Ron found his voice first uttering a quick, "Where did that come from?" voicing the question that was on all their minds.

Harry took the first step forward and opened the door, revealing a room that was filled with aisles upon aisles of items.

"The other elves call this the Room of Lost Things," said Dobby as he followed the group into the room. Hermione gasped as realization washed over her.

"This is the Room of Requirement," she stated excitedly. The other three looked at her confusedly, not completely understanding what she was talking about. "It's also called the Come and Go Room. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History. I thought it was only a rumor."

"That's interesting and all Hermione but what exactly does that all mean?" Hermione leveled Ron with a stern look before beginning her explanation.

"This room is designed to provide a person with exactly what they need. Since most students want to find a way to get rid of illicit items quickly, this version of the room is where all those items are kept."

"Wicked! It's like Hogwarts wants us to fight back." The possibilities were running through Harry's head endlessly. "So we could use this room as a place where we could meet up and not be caught by Umbridge."

"Yes Harry Potter sir! All yous needing to do is be leaving the room and then ask for what yous need."

Harry turned to exit the room to do just that, but he was stopped briefly by Fleur.

"We should check out the rest of this room "Arry." She turned to look at the many piles and aisles in the room. "There could be somezing in here that could be useful."

Harry couldn't fault her logic, so they split up into two groups, Harry and Fleur, and Ron and Hermione. Harry and Fleur began to investigate the right side of the room. Most of the items that they stumbled upon were old textbooks, brooms, and a few cloaks that were doxy infested but it seemed that most of the items that they came across would be of little use in their endeavors.

They turned to leave and began heading back the way they came before Harry stopped in his tracks. Fleur turned around to ask what was wrong and was met by a glowing-eyed Harry. He was staring towards the middle of the room, completely statue-like except for the measured rise and fall of his chest.

Slowly he began to make his way towards the center of the room, with Fleur following cautiously behind him.

After about a minute of walking, Fleur noticed him moving towards a bust that appeared to be wearing a tiara. She watched as he slowly extended his hand, which she now noticed were sporting his elongated claws, and reach for the tiara. She quickly strode forward and stopped his hand at the wrist.

"'Arry!"

This seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. He shook his head briefly and looked around trying to determine where he was. Once he got his bearings, his eyes fell upon the tiara, his hand still outstretched towards it but held in place by Fleur.

His hand quickly recoiled back to his side as he looked worriedly at the object in front of him.

"We need to tell Dumbledore about this."

"What do you mean 'Arry?"

His gaze finally left the crown and settled on his girlfriend, his eyes allowing even more insight into the turmoil within him.

"I think we found another Horcrux."

-HP-

Fleur and Harry walked back from the Headmaster's office in silence, their heads trying to wrap around everything that was juts revealed to them in there.

Harry turned out to be right. The tiara, or diadem as Dumbledore called it, was not only a Horcrux, but also the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw. After providing the description of it to the house elf that Dumbledore summoned, the elf popped away and returned promptly with the object in question. The elf had a grimace on its face when it returned, whether it was because the diadem was causing it physical harm or because it could somehow sense the evil within they never found out. Once it handed the relic over, it popped back to kitchens before it could be questioned.

After assuring them that there was nothing they could do to save Ravenclaw's artifact and that Harry would not be needed in order to get rid of this one, the pair began to head back to Gryffindor Tower.

As they passed through one of the corridors on the ground floor, Harry stopped for a second and looked towards the sky. The full moon was still a day or two off, but Harry was already beginning to feel the pull of it.

The mere sight of it was somehow both agitating and soothing at the same time. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to right himself internally, he kept himself grounded until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You can feel it already can't you?" Fleur's unwavering gaze touched him deeply. Even though she didn't quite understand his hatred of his nonhuman side, she at least understood that the promise of the next moon hung heavily on his mind each month. She tried to reassure him by giving him a quick kiss, before they continued on their way.

A few corridors later, the pair heard voices coming from up in front of them, and panicked when they realized that they were technically out after curfew and they had neglected to bring Harry's cloak. Thinking quickly, Harry pulled Fleur into a nearby broom closet and decided that they should wait until whoever it was passed by. The force of their quick movement causing them to lose their balance and their wands clattered into the darkness of the closet.

He pressed one of his ears to the door, listening for the sound of footsteps to eventually disappear. The sound got increasingly closer before they appeared to stop right in front of the door. Both he and Fleur held their breath as they waited for the person to either open the door or for them to continue on their way. Instead, Harry heard the sound of the latch on the outside being closed.

Panicking, Harry began to beat on the door in an attempt to open it but it was no use. He reached into his robes looking for his wand and quickly realized that they had dropped them. Before either he or Fleur began to search for their wands, they heard a voice outside the door.

'Collorprtus!'

'Impervius!'

"Malfoy! Let us out!"

"I don't think so Scar-head. People like you two should be locked away like the freaks that you are." The sound of footsteps returned, this time they faded into the distance as the Slytherin simply walked away.

Fleur swore at their predicament before she began to fumble around for her wand. This proved much difficult than she had realized because she couldn't see where she was looking due to the lack of light in the closet and ended up searching the same area repeatedly by accident. She was about to let out an exaggerated huff of annoyance before she became aware of a few other sounds in the closet.

When she stopped moving, she realized that Harry was still banging on the door and was breathing heavily. He was also muttering something among the lines of, "I'm not a freak. Please let me out. I'll be good I swear."

"'Arry!" Fleur tried to reach him but Harry wasn't even there as he began to hyperventilate further. The rattling became more frantic as Harry began to pound on the door as if his life depended on it.

"'Arry, listen to me." She put her hand on his shoulder, on an attempt to comfort him as she did earlier. The second she made contact, Harry turned towards her, his fangs were on showcase as his eyes glowed brightly. Realizing that Harry no longer had control of himself, she began to scream as he began to approach her.

She frantically tried to keep him away from her, her distress so great, she didn't hear a voice uttering a spell from outside the door. The door flew open grabbing Harry's attention, before a flash of red light hit him in the face and he fell to the floor unconscious.

Hermione and Ron were standing at the door, the former's wand raised and trained on her unconscious boyfriend. Once they were sure that Harry was unconscious, they quickly moved them both out of the closet before reviving Harry.

"What happened?" the last thing he remembered was

Malfoy locked us into a closet. You started to freak out and then you turn."

Harr eyes widened as he realized how close he had come to seriously hurting his girlfriend. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off before he could begin speaking.

"No Harry it wasn't your fault. Malfoy's the one who locked us in there." She didn't understand why he reacted the way he did. "What happened Harry?"

He looked down in shame. Once they explained what happened, he knew why he reacted the way he did. He hadn't told many people the true extent of his treatment at the Dursley's, let alone that they locked him in a cupboard under the stairs for much of his life. The experience has left him with a fear of small spaces and it appears that Malfoy had used that against him, whether he was aware of it had yet to be scene.

"Nothing. It's all in the past."

"You two could've seriously gotten hurt in there." Hermione was genuinely worried for her best friend. She suspected that what he had told her about his early life wasn't the complete story but she had little reason to believe that it had affected him this much.

"I know. Things are getting more serious around here. The way things are going someone's going to get hurt," his apologetic expression turned into a hardened one, "We start practices next week."