******

Chapter 2

Festive Hallows

Disclaimer: J K Rowling, Scholastic, and lots of other people own this wonderful creation. I'm just playing around a bit and I promise to return them in their original condition. (Not Seamus, though. I'm keeping him.^_^) If you don't recognize the name, it was my idea.

Warnings: Angst

AN: From what I gathered, both in the books and what others are saying, Voldemort attacked the Potters on Halloween, and every holiday at Hogwarts that Harry's been there is the start of the next adventure. So I thought it deserved the attention it's always had.

******

Halloween approached fast as Harry forgot all about looking for the mystery of Marty. Nothing had been seen of the child, as even Draco seemed to forget he had ever seen the boy. Quidditch had started practice, and he had had to look for a new Chaser. Rob Williams had been a good team member, but he had left Hogwarts at the end of last year at the end of his seventh year. Only he and Ron, as keeper, were the oldest on the team. All the other players were fifth and sixth years. It wasn't until the night before the holiday that he remembered his search for information on the little boy.

Harry was walking back after a long practice, lagging behind the rest of the team. He didn't notice that he was soon left behind until the total absence of noise broke his thoughts. His glasses glinted in the faint moonlight that shone through the heavily clouded night sky as he searched the field for his friends. Realizing that he had been too slow for them, he hurried his walk and had almost reached the castle when he heard a sound off to his left.

A frown crossed his face when he heard a soft sort of noise, the sound very faint in the still of the night. The moon was not yet full, so it couldn't be a werewolf, and he was sure that Remus was back in the house he was keeping for Sirius and himself. The sound came again and he set off towards it, even though he knew that his curiosity had gotten him into more trouble than it was worth.

Clouds shrouded the moon once more, but he knew the ground as it sloped back towards the Quidditch pitch. His feet were silent on the dewy grass while the hem of his robes grew wet. As he reached the far side of the pitch he stopped, listening for the singing. His ears heard nothing except for the soft breeze that rustled the last of the leaves in the trees in the Forest. Harry stood there for another minute before shaking his head. He must be more tired than he thought if he heard singing at this time of night. At least it wasn't anything in Parseltongue. He didn't need another incident like his second year.

Finally reaching the dorm, he quickly changed to meet Ron and Hermione in the library for some studying. Hermione was pushing the studying, as they had the NEWTS this year to think about, and she was in a flutter about them. Because of this, either Ron or Harry had to be next to her while she studied to make sure that she didn't burn out. She was also trying to make up for not becoming a Prefect two years ago, although she, indeed all three of them, had been nominated for the office.

Harry knew why Ron had refused - his brother, Percy. Even though his oldest brother, Bill, had been a Prefect, Ron hadn't wanted to turn into Percy. Harry was inclined to agree when Ron went into a snit because of something Percy had done, at least in regards to what was happening at the Ministry of Magic. He knew a lot more of the story than Ron did, though, with what had happened in the last year, and much of what had happened to Percy in the two years since the Triwizard tournament that had been held their fourth year at Hogwarts. Percy had been forced to grow up faster than he should have, making Harry worry about him. Even though he could remember the stiff behavior of Percy, he had always felt it was a mask and that deep inside he had to be like that in order to get noticed.

Harry had seen that with Ron as well. The youngest of six brothers, Harry believed that Ron had to compete with the rest of them, to feel like he could accomplish something as well. A sigh escaped him when he thought of all that Ron had gone through last year, when he had believed that he had to do something. Harry had been terrified when he had learned of it, and angry as well. He couldn't ever forget the powerful feeling he had felt when the news that Ron was missing. His best friend could not be found anywhere, and Harry would never forgive himself for letting Ron think that he had to go and search out some of Voldemort's followers in order to help. If Harry'd had his choice, he would have throttled the red head the moment he had returned. Lucky for Ron he'd been battling with those same Death Eaters Ron had been chasing in the first place. By the time he had gotten back to Hogwarts he had been too exhausted to do anything but give a hard glare and ignore him the rest of the night.

Hermione, on the other hand, had not even told him or Ron why she had turned down being a Prefect. The entire school had been buzzing about it once it had been known, but she hadn't said anything about it, and Harry wasn't about to let anything happen to her because of it.

Slowly walking down the shadowed halls towards the library, Harry reflected that his life would be even busier than it was if he had accepted being a Prefect. Between Quidditch and his studies, he wouldn't have been left with much time for his friends, and he valued them more than he did being a Prefect or even Head Boy if he had followed through with being a Prefect last year. Over that summer there had been countless times that he had received an owl in the dead of the night from the rest of the soon-to-be fifth-year Gryffindors asking why he hadn't become a Prefect. Harry had always written back that he was too busy with being captain of the Quidditch team to bother. Of course, that was always a poor excuse when his father had held both at the same time, but he hadn't had to go up against Voldemort either.

******

The next day found the entire school buzzing with excitement. Harry was looking forward to enjoying the Halloween feast that would happen later in the night. Part of him, though, was on the lookout for strange happenings. It always seemed as if the start of something happened on Halloween, and he had begun to dread the day. Some small part of him wanted to skip this day of all the rest in the year, just so nothing could happen. His first year had been the troll; the second had been the first appearance of the basilisk, and so on and so on. Last year had been the appearance of a strange bird, the Turgate, long since thought extinct. The bird's song had been known to drive all that heard it insane, and it had sung that tune in the corridors that hadn't been used for many years. Harry, Ron and Hermione had stumbled upon it by accident when they had been detoured by Peeves on the way to class that day. That had been the beginning of another wild ride through the school year, ending with Harry having to face some of Voldemort's Death Eaters by himself. He just wondered what would be happening this year, or would he finally get a reprieve from the darkness this year. There would probably not be one. It hadn't happened the last six years. At least he had only been forced to meet Voldemort four times in those six years.

Harry felt he could handle most of his classes, with the exception of Potions. Snape seemed to be even more vitriolic in his remarks and snipes about everything that Harry had made in class. The only good part about it was that Malfoy hadn't seemed as superior this year. That might have something to do with the detention he had been given by Professor Steele. The entire school had learned that he had had to clean the stands of the Quidditch field. That hadn't been done in twenty years, and he had to do all of it without the use of magic.

He was just glad that he hadn't gotten detention from the DADA teacher, since she gave out intense lessons in humility and while most of them had been given out to Slytherins, none of the houses had been immune. There was one thing about the detentions that Harry was puzzled about, since the Professor was right there beside whichever student was being punished. The tall woman joined into the activity, even though she was technically making the student do such work. However, she had been given extra lessons to Harry, at Dumbledore's request, for more advanced training for the upcoming battle the old man felt was coming soon.

"Mr. Potter."

Professor Steele's voice broke into his thoughts as he made his way to the Quidditch field to practice. He wondered if she knew that he had been thinking about her, or if it was just chance that had made her come this way.

"Would you please stop by my office before you go to the feast tonight? Professor Dumbledore will meet you there." Her eyes were gold upon him as she spoke, along with some spark Harry wasn't sure of.

He nodded his head, curious as to the reason that the Headmaster would be at her office rather than his own. Still, one never knew what Professor Dumbledore was up to until you were in the thick of it. The old man had played a large part in gathering a large group of people to help fight against the darkness that was growing under Voldemort. He was also helping the older students to realize just what was going on outside of the school, adding more security as well as keeping the weekends at Hogsmeade quieter than usual.

Two hours later he stood in front of Professor Steele's door, which was slightly ajar. Inside, he could hear a deep voice, which he recognized as Dumbledore's, and a high, wispy one that he didn't know. It seemed familiar to him, though, and he would find out in a moment. Knocking, he pushed the door open with the pressure of his hand on the thick oak planks.

"Ah, Harry!" Dumbledore rose from his seat, setting the young child Harry had seen at the start of the school year down on the floor. "Just in time to join us to go to the feast!"

Harry's green eyes must have showed their confusion, even as Marty ran over to him to tug on his hand. "Why me?" he asked Dumbledore.

The old man shook his head. "I'm forgetting my manners as well as some other information." He shook his head again. "Harry Potter, meet Marty, or should I say Martina Hufflepuff."

Harry's eyes grew wide as he looked at the child again. "Who? I thought Marty was a boy...."

"That is her name," Professor Steele's voice answered as she came out of the inner room of her office. A small part of his mind noted that she had on even more elaborate robes than she usually wore, and that she had a jewel in the middle of the headband she always had on. "She is to be protected at all costs, Mr. Potter."

Dumbledore looked especially grave, his eyes suddenly seeming much older to Harry. "Still, she is entitled to join the feast, and that is why we asked you to come here. We have need of your cloak, Harry."

Something in his mind clicked, and he understood what the two teachers were asking of him. He nodded slightly as he fully grasped Marty's small hand. His green eyes shone with a knowledge that he shouldn't have to wear at such a young age. Still, he had the feeling that this child was as hunted as he was. "Will you tell me about her later?" he asked. Dumbledore and Steele nodded, but not before Harry noticed the worry in the woman's eyes and the ancient grief in the old man's.

He should have known that something like this was going to happen. It never failed.

"Did you get lost, Harry?" Seamus laughed as he finally joined the Gryffindors at the long table.

He looked up with startled green eyes, hoping that nobody would notice the shuffling of feet directly behind him. It had taken him longer than he thought it would to get his cloak, and longer still to get the little girl calm enough where she would be able to be quiet in the Great Hall. Harry looked up and saw Dumbledore wink slyly at him before he scanned the rest of the table in the front of the room. Steele nodded casually, but Harry noticed that Snape wore a darker scowl than usual. The Potions master also seemed to know that something was afoot, but wasn't sure what exactly was happening, though he had the look about him that told he knew Harry was in the thick of it.

******

"What is that?" Ron asked as soon as they got back to the dorm. One of his slender fingers was pointing towards Marty, who was peeking out of the cloak.

Harry sighed and went over to the little girl and pulled the cloak back before pushing him towards the dorm Ron and he shared with the rest of the sixth year boys. Marty started making odd little noises, inviting stares from the rest of those in the common room. Harry gave another push, a little harder than he previously had before the girl followed the unspoken request. He gave a look to Ron as the other boy followed the two up the stairs.

"Ron." Harry's whisper brought the red head's questions to a halt when they arrived in their room. "You can't tell anyone else about him," he said, indicating the squirming little girl who was trying to get untangled from the cloak. "This is something big, and it wouldn't be good if anybody knew about her." He sighed as a hurt expression crossed Ron's face. "I didn't mean it like that, Ron."

The other boy's face became stony before he gave a stiff nod. "I understand."

Harry shook his head. "No you don't, because even I don't understand what's going on." He turned to his bed where Marty was currently giggling as she found Harry's stash of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "Marty," he hissed in the girl's direction.

"This is that kid, isn't it?" Ron's voice was a little stilted, but Harry could tell he was far more interested in the answer to his question than remaining in a sulking fit.

"Yes, and I need to see Dumbledore and Professor Steele about her story." A sigh escaped him as Martin refused to give up the box of sugared treats. Harry tried to pry the box out of grubby little hands, wondering how this girl could even be hungry after eating everything that he had been able to slip to Marty.

"No!" Marty's high voice echoed around the room and Harry was glad that it was just the three of them in it. Neville, Seamus and Dean would be coming soon, though, and he knew that there would be more questions. Besides, he had to get Marty back to Professor Steele's office soon, but he had to wait until the noise became so loud that nobody would notice his leaving.

Ron came over and got the box away from Marty. The little girl looked ready to cry when the red head shoved something in her hands. Harry watched with amazement when the sobs turned to soft giggles as the child tried to hold onto the squirming bit of feathers that Pig had grown to be. "Hold onto him," Ron muttered under his breath. He stood and faced Harry. "I'm coming with you," he said. His tone brooked no argument, and Harry wasn't about to give his best friend one. Instead, he gave a quick nod and hurried to put the cloak back on Marty.

"Hermione should know, too," Harry said as he finally got Marty to follow him down the stairs. He stopped at the bottom, searching for his friend as the Gryffindors continued the Halloween celebration.

"What should I do?" Hermione asked when they asked quietly if she could follow them. "I have some studying to do."

"Hermione," Ron began, exasperatedly.

"Hermione," Harry cut him off. "You should hear this, but we have to leave before anybody notices we're gone."

She studied them for a moment before she reluctantly nodded.

******

The four of them stood silently in front of Professor Steele's door, not sure if they should knock. Crashes were coming from inside, as well as some serious shouting.

Harry raised a hand to knock as Dumbledore came around a corner.

"Harry, do you think Marty enjoyed herself?"

He nodded as the little girl escaped from him and ran towards the old man.

Dumbledore patted Marty's small hand before he opened to the door. "Don't be too worried. Severus and Sirius are having a little tiff."

All three pairs of eyes grew round as they saw the damage the two men had wrought. Harry looked past them and found McGonagall shaking her head as Steele watched calmly. How come this wasn't affecting her and it was her office?

"Glad you could make it, Harry," a voice from behind him called. He turned and found Remus and Arabella entering behind them. The older man sighed when he caught sight of the two in the middle of the room before he stiffened at the sight of Professor Steele. Harry's green eyes narrowed in thought at this.

"This will be all for tonight," Dumbledore was saying as he led Marty over to where the two women sat before walking over to break up the fight between Professor Snape and Sirius was taking place. "Gentlemen, please."

Harry sat down, a little confused that Dumbledore had allowed the fight to take place in the first place. Well, it was Halloween after all, so something had to be different. Ron and Hermione were whispering softly beside him as Sirius slowly made his way to the empty seat on his other side. All the while the two men glared at each other.

"What was all that?" Harry asked in a soft whisper.

Sirius looked at him, his black eyes still glinting with something Harry was glad wasn't directed at him. "I'll tell you later," was the panted reply.

"I'm glad that all of you were able to have some kind of celebration tonight, because I'm afraid that it will be the last we have for a while," Dumbledore began. A hush fell over the room as each of them digested his words. Harry saw alarm cross several faces, even as his attention was pulled back to the man in the center of the room. "I thought that we would be able to do some of what I have already started to do before I would have to tell you all, but it has come to my attention that the more eyes the better."

He stopped in front of Marty, whose huge blue eyes had been following Dumbledore as he had crossed the room. The little girl's mouth hung slightly open as she pulled a finger from her lips before the old man lifted her from the chair.

"Albus," McGonagall started.

Dumbledore stopped her. "I would like all of you to meet somebody that Voldemort -"

Harry felt Ron shudder next to him as Dumbledore said this.

"- would like to join his camp. I'm afraid I will not let this happen." Dumbledore's old, blue eyes impaled each of them with a question, and Harry didn't know how he could answer it when they rested on him. "Please meet Martina Hufflepuff."

Snape shot out of his seat. "What?!"

Harry could tell that Sirius was restless, even though he didn't rise from his chair.

"She is the last remaining heir of Helga Hufflepuff," Steele's voice answered, toneless like always.

All eyes slid towards her, even as Marty squirmed from Dumbledore's grasp to run over to where Harry sat.

"How do you know this?" Sirius asked the question that Harry was too shocked to ask.

"Moody found her," Dumbledore replied. "From what Alastor can gather, her mother was killed by Voldemort in August, but didn't realize that a child had been left behind. Several Aurors had been sent to see if any clues had been left when they found Marty in an old shed in the back of the yard.

"So far, only Minerva, Ella and I knew this, and have tried to take care of her." Dumbledore chuckled, startling all those in the room. "Professor Steele is the only one who can make her take a bath, but her care will come down to much more than that, I'm afraid."

Harry found himself hard pressed to follow Professor Dumbledore's words as Marty wiggled her way onto his lap. Finally, he grabbed the little girl and held her with both arms, even as a squeak emitted from her.

"What can we do?" Remus asked, his long hair shading his eyes as they looked around the room.

"Martina trusts too easily," McGonagall said. "We must shelter her from even those in the school, though by now most of the students know she is here."

"And that is where you will be needed," Dumbledore stated. "We need someone to watch over her while classes are in session during the day. The three of us will look after Marty at night, but it has become hard to juggle watching Marty and attend to classes."

Professor McGonagall stood up. "There is an old corridor that we have set aside, but we cannot keep Marty there all the time. She is too young to understand."

Harry looked down at the girl in his arms. She seemed to have fallen asleep with all the excitement. It was just as well he did, for the conversation trailed deep into the night. The only consolation Harry found was that there were no classes the following day, as it was Saturday.

******

Harry sat up suddenly, the dream he was in the middle of abruptly torn from him.

"Harry Potter, sir," a squeaky voice from the foot of his bed called.

Reaching for his glasses, he was greeted with the sight of Dobby standing on the footboard, his hands worrying each other. Harry wondered if all freed house elves were like this when they tried to dress themselves.

Dobby was wearing a baby bonnet, which was pink, and an odd assortment of rags stitched into a shirt of some sort. He noted that the house elf wasn't wearing a matched pair of socks on his feet, as one of them was much longer than the other, and they were different colors.

"What is it Dobby?" he whispered to the house elf. Harry was pretty sure it was quite early in the morning, and his roommates would not like to be woken in such a manner.

"Dobby was sent to get you. Harry Potter is needed downstairs in the Professor's office."

Harry cringed as Dobby's voice echoed around the room, even though his curtains had been drawn tight around the bed. The cringe turned to a shudder as he recognized movement coming from the others' beds.

"Harry?" Ron's question seemed very loud in the stillness of the room.

"Harry Potter's Wheezy!" Dobby's voice echoed in the room, followed by Harry's low groan.

"What's that?" Dean's voice was raised in question from the door leading to the bathroom.

Harry sighed and rested his head in his hands for a second before Seamus pulled the draperies back. "What is that thing?" he asked, his voice tinged with angered sleep.

"Dobby gets to meet Harry Potter's friends?" The high-pitched voice grew excited as Dobby looked at the new faces surrounding Harry's bed.

"Is there something you wanted to tell us, Harry?" Seamus asked, an impish look growing on his face as Neville and Dean made their way to Harry's bed.

Harry shook his head and wished he hadn't woken up.

******

He finally managed to make it to where Dobby had been sent to him to come in the first place. It had taken ten minutes to explain Dobby to the other three as Ron was asking Dobby why he had come up to the dorm in the first place. A huge yawn threatened to crack his jaw as he raised a hand to knock on the door.

"Harry!"

Marty's voice was faint through the thick door, but it grew louder as he approached the door and the little girl tried to open it up.

"Marty." This time Harry could hear Professor Steele's voice at the door. "You are not to open the door without knowing who is on the other side." The door opened to reveal the DADA teacher as she usually was. The only difference that Harry could make out was that her brow was slightly furrowed.

"Mr. Potter, please, come in."

The mess from the night before was no longer there as he stepped into the room. As soon as the door was shut he found himself with an armful of giggling little girl. Harry looked up at Professor Steele and found a warm look to her eyes, even though there was no trace of emotion on her face or in her bearing. A small spark of an idea came to him, but he would have to think of it later as Marty pulled him to the other side of the room.

On the floor lay various toys, some of them Muggle-made. As the little girl sat down, pulling Harry to his knees, Professor Steele came over. He looked up as she knelt on the floor beside him, and he noticed that the markings on this robe resembled a map he had once seen in a book.

"I apologize for the short notice, Mr. Potter, but Professor Dumbledore has requested a short meetings with all the teachers," she began. "It will only be for a short time until one of the others can come get her."

Harry nodded, still a little unsure why she had picked him of the three. He turned to look at Marty and heard the great door shut again. Well, that kind of answered the question he had wanted to ask.

******

Half an hour later, Professor Steele arrived with Professor McGonagall. The Transfiguration teacher was speaking in hushed, rapid tones that were too low for Harry to hear. It was obvious that she didn't want to be heard when she stopped talking as soon as she spotted him.

"Mr. Potter," she began. "Professor Steele and I can take it from here. Breakfast is being served in the Great Hall."

Harry eyed her for a quick second before nodding.

"No! I wants Harry to play wif me!" He heard Marty's little voice as he closed the door, followed by a soft sobbing sound. He was only a couple of steps away when he heard a soft singing, much like he had heard those few nights ago. Harry couldn't quite tell what was being sung, just that it soothed his hurt. It was a strange feeling, as even his worries lessened a little bit - just enough for him to think of other things he had put off.

The farther he got from the office, the more the effects began to wear off. Harry thought that it must be the reason the Professor Steele could get Marty to take baths. He certainly wouldn't mind being serenaded by that warming voice - but not in the bath. No, he wouldn't let his seventeen-year-old mind go down that direction. Food. That was better for his thoughts to flow towards. Yes, food.

He made his way to the Gryffindor table, but was the first of the seventh years to arrive. For once he was earlier than Hermione, who followed him by only a minute. She stopped at the sight of him, his hair mussed from a tussle he'd had with Marty, as he calmly poured syrup over his pancakes.

"Harry?"

Bottle green eyes shot upwards as she took the seat directly across from him.

"I had to see someone," he answered her unspoken question.

"Dobby gets to meet Harry Potter's friends," came a squeaky voice that was definitely not the house elf's. He turned to find Seamus snickering as he and the other seventh year boys strode into the Great Hall. "Dobby thinks Harry Potter the greatest, sir," the Irish boy continued in his normal voice, even as a blush spread across Harry's cheeks.

Hermione brightened at this. "You saw Dobby, Harry?"

Ron laughed. "Yup. He was a little too early for the rest of us, though."

"You sure, Harry Potter's Wheezy?"

The red head smacked Seamus as the two sat down. "Shut up, pipsqueak!"

"Dean!" Seamus whined.

The others looked at Dean expectantly, and he upheld his end of the bargain. "I agree with the short one here," he pointed to Ron, "that you are definitely a pipsqueak."

Both boys looked downcast as the rest laughed, Lavender and Parvati joining them.

******

They weren't as joyful on Monday, when they had to go to Potions. Snape was in a terrible mood, and only Harry, Ron, and Hermione had any clue why he was staring at a small toy at the edge of his desk. Draco had commented on it, and he had raised the wrath of the tall teacher, startling the whole class. In all their seven years had he never turned so on a Slytherin.

Harry guessed that Snape had been forced to look after the child, but he wasn't sure who of the two had been more affected - the man or the girl. He guessed that it was the teacher, since he didn't think that Marty would let it get to her too much. Not for a three year old at least.

"What are you smirking at, Potter?" Snape's voice was dangerously quiet.

"Nothing, sir," he managed to get out in a perfectly normal voice. "I wasn't aware I was smirking."

Harry saw Snape open his mouth to remark about that comment when the Potions teacher paled. He turned his eyes in the same direction and his jaw fell slack when he noticed an arm come out of nowhere to grab the toy off Snape's desk. A very little arm at that. A gulp stuck in his throat and he hoped that nobody would notice Marty as he pulled the toy off the edge.

The rest of the room grew quiet as when they saw where Snape's attention was directed. Harry was relieved to see that only the toy could be seen, but it looked like it was now floating through mid air, and not a spell in sight. Next to him he could feel something coming from Snape, and he knew it was anger. Well, at least it wasn't at him.

As nonchalantly as he could, he put in the last ingredient needed in his potion and began to stir it. Ron took his cue and bundled up the extras they had. Bit by bit the rest of the classroom forgot what had just happened, but Harry noticed that Malfoy's eyes had narrowed with a sharp glint to them.

"You got off lightly, Potter," Snape growled under his breath.

Harry held his sigh until Snape was on the other side of the room.

"That was close," Ron whispered.

Harry nodded and looked over at Snape, whose pale face was now a colorful red as he looked at Neville's cauldron.

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