2/2

Shikamaru quirked up one side of his mouth into a dangerously sharp grin. It wasn't friendly. The surrounding Slytherins leaned away unconsciously. "Shouldn't the house of Snakes be able to lie better?" he asked nonchalantly with an undertone of menace. The Slytherin before him stepped back, and then seemed to catch himself and hastily stepped forward again.

"I can wait here all night," Shikamaru said. "I won't hurt him. I just want a word." Now, what Malfoy did after the aforementioned word to possibly cause consequences was entirely up to him.

"For Salazar's sake," someone Shikamaru vaguely recognized to be Marcus Flint grumbled. "Malfoy! Get your pasty arse out here."

Respect for the nobles indeed. Age probably took priority. Malfoy pushed through the crowd, and his white complexion paled considerably when he saw Shikamaru casually leaning against the stone doorway.

"Nara," he said a little unsurely. Then, remembering that he was surrounded by classmates who would love nothing more than to knock the Malfoy heir down a peg, he straightened up. "What is it?"

Shikamaru let himself remain deliberately loose when he shrugged. Like he couldn't possibly care about all of the tension in the room. "Just a talk about Harry's and Ron's late night activities," he said. Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "Would you prefer to do this here or outside?" Shikamaru asked. It sounded like he was being nice and giving him a choice, but he was really taking control of the situation by only giving him two options to choose between. Malfoy paused, and then jerked his head towards outside the room. Shikamaru led the way and was sure to cast a silencing spell so that no one could eavesdrop on their conversation (1).

"So, Malfoy. About the duel," he said, and then turned to look the younger boy in the eye.

…

"Say, Shikamaru? Why does Malfoy look so skittish around you?"

It was breakfast time the day after Shikamaru introduced himself as a person to be wary of to the entirety of the Slytherin house, and the birds were (probably) singing (he couldn't really hear them from inside the castle), the sun was (mostly) shining, and he was feeling much more content with his lot in life now that he'd fixed a minor problem that could have developed into a much larger one later on. Oh, and Malfoy was now avoiding him as much as possible. A win for both sides (2).

"I just had a talk with him," he said to Ron. The redhead became more interested.

"Really? What about?" Harry asked, looking up from the Daily Prophet.

"Underhanded schemes to get others in trouble. Nothing big."

"Is this a threat? Potter and Weasley almost got in trouble so they sent their guard dog after me?" A pale but sneering face, and he had to give some credit for the sheer levels of condescension in light of clearly being wrong.

"No. A warning. From one heir to another. They can handle themselves, and probably will deserve it when they do get in trouble, but I'm telling you to back off now before you do something else moronic and get them and yourself hurt." He spun gracefully on his heel and prepared to leave. "Just a warning, Malfoy. Heed it or don't. But think about what it would do to your reputation if you actually got caught because you weren't careful enough." Then, he walked away to let the Malfoy scion think about his words.

No harm done. Hopefully he'd just inspired a thinking-before-doing mentality.

"Right." Ron looked positively gleeful with all of the things he was imagining said or done to Malfoy. All of them incorrect, of course.

"Oh, right! For some reason that reminded me," Harry said suddenly. He dove for his bag and dug around while saying, "Ron and I were talking when I remembered this article from the paper." He pulled out a clipping with a picture of what looked like the Gringotts goblins.

"So, when I went to the bank the first time with Hagrid, we went to this vault to get something out of it. The very same day, it gets broken into. Very suspicious, yes? So, we figure that whatever Hagrid took out of the bank, it must be what that dog is guarding," he said excitedly. Shikamaru personally thought that it was a bit of a leap from A to D, but pushed it aside for the more pressing problem.

"Again, does it matter?" he asked. The two gave him startled looks, like they couldn't fathom why it wasn't important. It was times like these that caused him to occasionally entertain the fantasy of what his life would have been like in another house. Like Hufflepuff. They seemed to know when to leave well enough alone. "This should be the sort of thing to leave to the officials and the professors."

"But don't you want to know?" Harry prodded.

"No," Shikamaru said flatly. They startled a little at his tone. He sighed. God save him from the horrors of children. Shikadai had not been this bad. Hell, Naruto hadn't been this bad and he'd chased after Sasuke for how many years? "It's dangerous for one," he continued. He didn't tell them that the only form of attack the Cerberus had intended on doing was one that involved much licking and wagging of its tail.

"Not to mention," he added when they opened their mouths - probably to protest this clear cowardly act as members of the house of the brave, "We would probably get into lots of trouble by butting in. And if we didn't, it would be incredibly dangerous not to mention hubristic of us to think that we could handle it if the staff couldn't."

Harry clearly didn't agree, but didn't say anything to refute it, seeing that Shikamaru wouldn't change his mind. After a rather tense pause, Ron said with the air of randomly casting around for any other topic at all, "So you went to the bank on your birthday? I dunno whether you're lucky or not that it isn't during school. Mine is March first."

"Yeah. I mean, I understand why you would want to have it during the summer, but I think I would actually like to have it during school more. The Dursleys aren't real big on acknowledging it," Harry said thoughtfully, mercifully going with the change of subject. Ron winced and his face darkened.

"Tough luck, mate," he said bracingly. "We'll just have to give you extra good presents to make up for that sorry lot."

Shikamaru murmured an agreement as Harry went pink.

"You don't need to do that," he said weakly. The prospect clearly excited him though. Shikamaru made a mental note to get Hypatia on memorizing Harry's address. She'd sooner peck out some eyes than fail a delivery, so if Mr. Dursley tried to stop her...well, Shikamaru hoped that he had good medical insurance (except not really because that would be just a little bit funny).

"We want to," Ron said firmly. He turned to Shikamaru. "When is yours then?"

Shikamaru shrugged absently, studying the article on the break-in in spite of himself. There was something interesting about it all.

Whether by coincidence or some strange twist of fate, his birthday was the same as it had been in his previous life. "September twenty second."

There was another silence, and when Shikamaru looked up his friends were wearing horrified expressions. Even Harry.

"That's in, like, three days!" Ron said. "What the hell? You didn't say anything."

"Should I have? It isn't a big deal," Shikamaru said, raising an eyebrow. And, compared with Harry who seemed to believe that he wasn't good enough for one or something, it actually wasn't. This was, after all, his second time turning twelve. Not something particularly momentous to celebrate.

"B-but, how can't you like celebrating your own birthday?" Ron protested, scandalized by the very thought.

"It's hard to appreciate a birthday when there are dozens of people around you who don't celebrate theirs either," Shikamaru said dryly. Both Harry and Ron's faces twisted in confusion.

"Dozens? How many siblings do you have?" Ron asked.

"None. I'm an orphan in the overcrowded orphanage, Hope's Wishes for Young Children. Or, the 'Orphanage from Hell', known as such by its younger residents" Shikamaru told them. After a second of the information sinking in, their eyes widened. It was amusing how in sync they were. From expressions to timing on feelings - they could have been brothers. Even Hermione, from a few seats down where she was valiantly trying to pretend that she wasn't eavesdropping, whipped her head up from the spot in her book that she hadn't changed since the beginning of breakfast.

"You're an orphan? So, you're parents are…" Harry trailed off uncomfortably.

"I'm not sure. I don't know if they're dead or not, but they did leave me on the steps of the orphanage," Shikamaru said. Not that he was incredibly beat up about it; his real parents weren't in this universe - one wasn't even alive anymore. He slouched at their aghast faces. "Don't worry about it. I got over it a while ago." Twenty some odd years or so was a while by anyone's standards. Not that he would tell them that part.

It was still a little awkwardly silent on the way to Potions. Shikamaru mildly regretted it but figured he couldn't do anything to help it pass besides perhaps not mentioning anything else about his personal life. Thankfully he was paired with Neville, so he didn't have to deal with both Ron and Harry's (and he'd thought that the latter at least would know better) sympathetic and considering glances. He felt absolutely no pity whatsoever for Ron's apprehensive expression when he was given Hermione for a partner. Maybe it would get him to stop shooting Shikamaru looks when he thought he wasn't looking.

The Forgetfulness Potion that they were assigned wasn't particularly difficult, so Shikamaru focused mostly on helping Neville understand what certain ingredients did when used in certain ways. Neville would never be an expert but this would hopefully help his performance enough to let him pass the class.

"Just don't touch the Lethe River Water," Shikamaru advised him as he poured some of the substance into the potion. Neville tilted his head in confusion. "In Greek mythology, the water was strong enough to wipe the memories of those who touched it, permanently." He had found that Neville did better while being distracted by little bits of trivia, and there was some truth to the myths. It wasn't a complete memory wipe of course, that would happen with some combinations of other memories, but it did cause temporary loss of memories of the past hour or so. Not a particularly desired condition.

In any case, Neville paled a little and eyed the bottle distrustfully. Now he would watch his movements more. Shikamaru was working to get complete stability in the hands by the end of the year. His eyes tracked Snape's movements, narrowing in thought as he snidely interrupted another Gryffindor table. He muttered to Neville, "Get ready in three...two...one…"

Snape swirled over to them. Shikamaru's eyes remained on him but his head bent over the cauldron to check the consistency and color. Correct on all counts, but an actual Potions Master could probably find some faults in it if he was being picky. Neville was tense and clearly frightened, but thankfully his grip on the bottle of Lethe River Water didn't loosen. In order to keep his friend from losing his commendable control, Shikamaru looked up and met the eyes of his Potions teacher. Immediately he felt another mind touch his.

He didn't smirk but it was a near thing. Instead, he slouched even further and pointedly yawned. Snape's eyes narrowed and the probing became more forceful. Because he'd been using the exercises Ino taught him, the assault wasn't as painful as the first time Snape had tried this on him. He could play this game all day. He kept him out with a nice wall of uncaring attitude, and after another few seconds the man moved on with a thoughtful yet annoyed expression. It took skill to display both of those at the same time - Shikamaru commended the emotional mixes the professor could combine.

Well, at least he hadn't taken another cheap shot at Neville. If Shikamaru could engineer it so that the two of them had little to no interactions for about two months, he was sure that Neville would vastly improve in both Potions and confidence. And if he had to garner some attention with his unusual mental fortitude...he had to start act on that resolution some time, right? Besides, it would be good practice.

After class, Ron and Harry accosted him outside of the classroom.

"What was that thing with Snape just now?" Ron asked. Shikamaru gave him a somewhat flat look.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Ron made a noise and gestured with his hands in a way that increased his resemblance to a flailing duck.

"That thing where you two just stared at each other for like, ten minutes straight," he said impatiently. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Bit of an exaggeration. It was more like two, if that," he said. He couldn't help the half smile that curled his lips when Ron glared at him for dancing around the topic.

"Why did he stare at you like that?" Harry interjected, coming into his friend's rescue.

"He was attempting to probe my thoughts via a magical process called Legilimency. I kept him out with a bastardized version of the mental defense, Occlumency. When he couldn't get in, not for lack of trying though I doubt it was full force, he left. You noticed the eye contact? That's how he skims thoughts," Shikamaru told them. They both looked rather horrified at the thought of one of their professors reading their minds.

"Snape's a mind reader?" Harry blurted out, looking deeply uneasy.

"So you said that he looks at the eyes, right? All we have to do is stop from looking him in the eye?" Ron added a little desperately. Shikamaru nodded slowly. In theory it should work, but he didn't know enough about the mental arts to give them a definitive answer and told them so. "Better than nothing. I can't believe that slimy-" Ron cut himself off, looking highly disgruntled. "No wonder he always catches us when we lie."

"No, you're all just terrible at lying," Shikamaru corrected him. "Gryffindor first years are some of the worst liars I've ever seen." And that was something considering that Naruto couldn't lie to save his life. Then, predicting their next train of thought, he said, "And no I won't teach you to lie better. Learn to do it yourselves or just don't lie."

They disguised their pouting as moody scowls, but since they weren't teenagers yet it didn't quite work. Shikamaru just smirked at them and continued on with his day. Ah, the benefits of being a man in a child's body - he couldn't succumb to peer pressure or any form of thereof.

…

"Wake up!"

Shikamaru was torn from his sleep (the one that happened once in a blue moon, there had better be a good reason for this) when something soft smacked him in the face. His eyes opened instantly, and he was holding someone's wrist in a crushing grip before he could think. Then, upon seeing who it actually was, he let go and sank back onto his bed with a groan.

"Ron," he said, voice muffled in the pillow that hadn't been used to wake him up, "why are you hitting people with pillows? Is this a new hobby I should be worried about?"

Someone snorted.

"Sorry. We just wanted to wake you up for your birthday presents. Anyway, here you go," Harry said from somewhere to his right. Shikamaru cracked an eye open in time to catch a present that was tossed in his direction. Shikamaru felt a twinge of gratitude and surprise underneath the rising irritation at having been awoken from an actual REM sleep cycle.

"Any particular reason that he's waking me up like that in the first place?" he asked. He wouldn't talk to Ron for fear of how he would retaliate for this atrocious crime. Harry opened his mouth a little apologetically, but Ron beat him to it.

"You wouldn't wake up when I called you earlier, so pillow time it was!" he said unapologetically, lobbing a wrapped object at the prone figure. "It's seven o'clock anyway."

"Could you all shut up, please?" Seamus growled from behind his bed curtains and at least two pillows.

"Not my fault," Shikamaru muttered. Then, he drew up short as the sentence processed. "Seven?" he clarified. There was absolutely no hint of a whine in his statement at all. Harry shrugged.

"We wanted to do it early. Apparently it's tradition," he said, rolling his eyes. Right. Pretty sure that wasn't how tradition worked.

His brain was taking a bit to kick into gear, but to be fair; this would have been difficult to comprehend on a normal day. He shook his head. "Alright. Let's take this outside so that we don't wake anyone else up."

The two nodded agreeably and left in relative silence. Shikamaru sighed. Really, the things he did for these people. He dressed quickly and was out of the dorm in record time

"So how does this work…" Shikamaru trailed off, looking in some astonishment at the small pile of presents on a table.

"Here, from Hagrid, Fred and George, and me," Harry said cheerfully. Hermione and Neville grinned next to him, each holding their own presents. "Tradition states that you open them now." Well, who was he to break tradition? The peaceful atmosphere was ruined completely by Ron telling him emphatically to hurry it up. He was just breaking all sorts of unspoken rules today, wasn't he?

"Don't be rude. It's his birthday, he can go his own pace," Hermione scolded him. Neville took one look at the impending argument and wisely stepped away.

Shikamaru ended up getting The Standard Book of Spells Grade 3 from Hermione ("Well, I figured it would do since you're always practicing spells I haven't heard of before from other books," she told him with a hint of embarrassment), a truly ridiculously sized box of sweets from Ron that had Neville and Harry gaping in surprise (and he completely blamed the redhead for any and all future cavities he would get), the book Owl Breeds from Harry, an excellent wooden and leather wand holster from Neville that was much nicer than his current second-hand one, another book (interestingly enough) on pranks and tricks from the twins, and a tin of fudge and rock cakes from Hagrid. He'd soften those up by the fire before trying to eat them.

He looked them all in the eye and thanked them one by one with all of the sincerity in the world. Harry and Hermione went pink and muttered replies, Ron just grinned, and Neville (as the only normal one of the lot, really) replied with equal honesty that he was happy to do it. Shikamaru hoped that Neville wouldn't be corrupted by the Idiot Trio's strangeness.

Afterwards they all went and visited the grounds, equally glad that it was Saturday, while Shikamaru worked out when he would thank the twins and Hagrid for their presents. They ended up doing nothing except some chess matches, some cloud watching and some amiable talking. Well, Harry, Neville and Shikamaru were amiable. Hermione and Ron spent a lot of the time sniping at each other, much to everyone else's chagrin. Still, it was a nice day in the scheme of things, and Shikamaru appreciated it for the one of a kind that it was. They would probably be few and far between, so he'd enjoy it while it lasted.

(1): Before anyone asks, no, this is not muffliato. Shikamaru wouldn't know that spell. I imagine that there is more than one spell to prevent people from listening in on conversations.

(2): Shikamaru will, later on, attempt to decrease the gap between the houses, but right now he doesn't really have cause to and therefore won't try that hard.

Guest Reviews (bottom to top)

Guest: Thanks so much! Sorry for the delay! Hope you enjoyed it!

Guest: Er, I didn't know that Hypatia was from the golden age of porn, but I'll take your word for it. I just named the owl that because Hypatia was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher in Egypt. She taught in Alexandria in Rome, and I want Shikamaru's owl to be intelligent so, but sorry? Is this a complaint? Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

Guest: Yes, hello. Sorry for this terribly late reply, but anyway. As you can see, I changed the prank target. Originally it was because Ron made fun of Shikamaru, but anyway. And yes, I'm glad you agree with me on the motivation level. There isn't a real amount of danger right now besides the trio's innate curiosity, so he isn't particularly determined to do more besides be the sole voice of reason. Thank you so much for your review!

A/N: Why hello there. I finally finished this chapter remake. Gosh was it hard. Remember that talk I promised? Plot demanded otherwise, that jerk. Anyway, hope you enjoy, sorry for the wait and such. Please review and tell me if you like the changes.

RECOMMENDATIONS (Yes, I decided to do this now. Recommending Naruto and Harry Potter Stories, including crossovers. If you've already read them, sorry, but next time will have different ones!):

The Unbound Soul – Mrs. InsaneOne: Crossover where Harry was experimented on by Orochimaru along with Yamato for bloodline stuff. Shikaku is in it, if anyone is interested, but it IS rated M (sorry).

Sticks, Stones and Broken Bones – Littleforest: Not a crossover, but an AUish story where Harry is homeless and meets Ron, guess what happens next? It hasn't updated in a year and I'm sad. Rated T.

Changes to the Story in Chapter 2 (forgive me if I miss some details, but I'm focusing on the big stuff for you who care):

Shikamaru has a normal nightmare instead of one induced by that chakra thing that I made up. Yeah, I ditched that because I ended up disliking where it was going - nowhere. Yin chakra just causes some more intense nightmares for now.

Shikamaru is much more snarky and introspective, if that counts as a change to a single chapter.

Shikamaru more or less stops the confrontation between Malfoy and Harry from happening instead of threatening Malfoy, and the two end up racing out of childishness instead of a stolen Remembrall.

Shikamaru asked for a prank on a chosen subject after he gifts the smoke-pellets to Fred and George instead of wishing it on Ron.

Hermione is present when the three boys sneak out at night, and Shikamaru consequently dubs the Golden Trio, the Idiot Trio.

Shikamaru is motivated by the urge to keep them from doing stupid, life-endangering stunts instead of some argument with Malfoy.