Chapter 21: Lessons
When they arrived at Grimauld Place Hermione noticed that many of the windows on the first floor had been cleaned. Harry had been thinking hard since they left the joke shop. He wouldn't let go of her, not that she minded that. It was as though he was afraid she would disappear. He also kept giving her concerned looks, his brows furrowing in thought. The statements today about her being willing to sacrifice herself for him had disturbed him greatly. They would be talking about that again once they were alone she was sure. Hopefully he will have reasoned out his own behavior and recognized the fact that he was willing to sacrifice himself for almost anyone. He could have died coming to her rescue in first year, or rescuing Ginny in their second. She wondered briefly if Tom Riddle had taken Pansy Parkinson into the Chamber of Secrets would Harry have gone after her. She was in Slytherin but yes, Harry would have fought just as hard to rescue her as he did Ginny. It was the right thing to do and Harry always did the right thing.
Winky opened the front door as they approached, the entrance hall seemed bigger than before. Probably because both of the double doors to either side were open, sunlight poured into the foyer from them as well as the skylight three floors up. "Welcome Home Master and Misses." She bowed deeply as they walked inside.
Harry seemed to snap out of his brooding to show how impressed he was. "Amazing Winky, it hardly seems like the same house."
Winky looked down, blushing.
Hermione looked around, also astonished "Very much improved Winky."
Winkys' ears turned red.
"Amazing things you can do in such a short time." Emma added.
Winky positively radiated heat.
Hermione looked through the doors to the right that must be the parlor that she had flooded by summoning Harry into the bathtub lastnight. It seemed a comfortable room with many plush couches and chairs arranged in small groups. Several display cases held curious looking objects. To the left was the formal dining room, an immense table attesting to that fact. She quickly guessed that there were over a dozen chairs at the intricately carved table. The rooms both had dark wood paneling which now gleamed with a freshly applied polish. Harry walked into the parlor, pulling Hermione along behind him. Gauzy curtains softened the bright sunlight pouring in through the freshly cleaned windows. A large bay window was along the front of the house, and there was another pair of closed double doors at the back of the parlor.
Emma called out to them as she and Dan went up the stairs. "We'll be upstairs for a little while, call if you want us for anything dear."
"Alright mum, thanks for taking us."
Harry went to one of the couches in the back of the parlor and pulled Hermione onto it with him.
Winky appeared before them just after they sat down and asked. "Would Master and Misses wish any refreshments or snacks?"
"Chilled pumpkin juice please Winky, two glasses."
"Yes Misses Hermione." With a quick wave the requested drinks appeared on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Just call, if you wish anything else." Winky bowed deeply and disappeared again.
Before Harry could get the first word out she quickly planted a firm kiss on his lips. She pushed him back into the couch and snuggled into his lap, still kissing him forcefully. His arms automatically went around her waist. She pulled back and looked at him square in the eyes "Now don't you dare be mad at me for what I said earlier. You know it's the truth and you would do the same for me if it came down to that." She had knocked his glasses askew when she assaulted him so she straightened them while waiting for him to reply.
With a deep sigh he finally spoke up. "No, I'm not mad at you. As usual I'm mad at Voldemort and the absolute injustice of my life." He hugged her gently. "Having you with me makes me complete but the danger we are in keeps me from really enjoying our time together. I can't wait for the day he is no more and we can live in peace."
She sighed "I try to enjoy these moments because I'm a realist Harry, we may not get any more than this time together." The familiar pained look crossed his face again but she continued anyway. "Face it Harry, we would both be shattered without the other in our life. Once you face that fear it will have no power over you. We have spent a lot of time together over the years. I treasure each joke we shared that no one else seemed to understand, the times we have held an entire conversation with partial sentences or spoken with just our eyes. This is my life, being with you, everything I do is focused on you, keeping you safe so you can do what you need to do." She grinned mischievously at him "When it's all over, then I will give Molly a run, see how big we can make the next Potter generation, maybe fill all the rooms in this house with little Potters."
Harry, looking red, said. "Well the thing I always wanted is a family, right now you, and your parents, are my family. Facing the thought of being a parent seems more daunting than facing Voldemort. The responsibility of it all is hard to comprehend. With you though, I will gladly face a horde of little Potters. Don't you want to have a career though? Invent some new spell to do something amazing? Teach at Hogwarts maybe? Just what did you pick in your career counseling with McGonagall?"
"Guess!" She answered defiantly.
Without hesitating to think he told her "Auror?"
She looked quite surprised. "How did you guess that in one go?"
"Simple, you know that's what I want to do so you figured to be my partner and watch my back. Right?"
"Well I'm glad you are finally realizing what is going on under your nose." She kissed him quickly on the tip of his nose. "Now we have about an hour before Professor Dumbledore shows up, what do you want to do?"
"Spend some quality time with you of course. Tomorrow is going to be all scheduled out isn't it?" When she nodded he forged ahead, "alright let's look around the house some more. All the rooms on this floor were kept locked when we were here before." He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her on the chin, then she turned her head and their lips met again. They lingered there for a few minutes before she slowly stood and pulled him to his feet. She picked up her glass of juice and drank about a third of it. Harry did the same pulling out his wand he faced the closed doors at the back of the room. She also took out her wand and grinned at him. They walked between several lounge chairs to get to the doors, "Alohamora" Hermione cast, they heard a clicking noise, and he pushed open the doors.
The room was dark; they could see a long room with many cabinets along the right hand wall. The windows were dark as night. "Lumos" they both cast in unison and stepped into the room, side-by-side. Thick cobwebs covered everything like great gauzy sheets. They heard some scuttling around in the far corner of the room but chose to open the next door and see what lay beyond. There was another double door to their left they walked across the room towards it. The cabinets were full of musical instruments, most unrecognizable to Harry. Another alohamora, followed by the click and Harry was again pushing open the doors. This room was clearly the largest they had seen yet. The ceiling appeared to be over twenty feet high; several chandeliers hung around the room. Cobwebs moved lazily in the breeze they had made by opening the doors. The floor was inlaid marble. There were chairs and small tables arranged around the walls, also coated in dust and cobwebs, while the center of the room was completely empty.
"This must be the ball room, and the one we just came through would be the music room. Those are traditional rooms in a mansion like this. No wonder these look so abandoned, I can't imagine Sirius's parents holding formal balls and music recitals. They probably have not been opened in sixty years or more."
Harry had to chuckle at the images that flashed into his head at her statement. Mrs. Black, drooling onto an elegant dress waltzing around the room… He shuddered then brought himself back to the present. Hermione was looking at a pair of doors immediately to their left; another set of double doors was just beyond them. They heard a loud crash behind them; they whirled, wands raised, to see a dusty stack of knitted hats bobbing towards them.
Dobbys squeaky voice came out of the dark. "Got him at last, thank you for distracting him Master and Misses." Dobby walked into their light, covered in dust and strands of cobwebs. He was carrying a struggling niffler. "This should be the last of em, been all over the house they have sir. Well I'll just pop this one into the back yard, anything I can do for yous?"
Hermione was the first to find her tongue. "No Dobby we're fine, just looking around. Any other creatures lurking about the house we need to know about?"
"Bunch o doxys upstairs, Kappas in the pond out back, that's all I knows about misses." With a quick smile Dobby disappeared, presumably into the back yard with the niffler.
"Kappas might be hard to get out of the pond; I'm surprised there are not a lot of other creatures lurking around."
"Guess Dobby has been busy removing them while Winky did most of the cleaning. Otherwise yes there should certainly be more in this house. I suppose we didn't manage to get all of the doxys out of that tapestry upstairs last summer either. Hmm wonder if that got knocked off the wall when Mrs. Black was umm removed."
She thought for a moment "Well it certainly could have been, we should go check at some point." She waved her blazing wand over the doors near them. "Let's see what's behind these doors shall we?"
Harry moved in front of the first one and pushed it open, it was a toilet. The next door over was another, slightly larger toilet. The double doors were locked but opened after Hermione's Alohamora to reveal the formal dining room. "Oh guess we have come full circle then." They looked around the dining room for a minute. They found a dumbwaiter that surely ended up in the kitchen below and a small empty closet. "We should relock those doors until Winky and Dobby open them." She nodded at that and walked quickly to the door to the ballroom where he met her. He closed the doors and she sealed them with a colloportus charm. They closed the door in the parlor that lead to the music room and canceled their light from their wands as the doorbell clanged. "We need to get that changed; how a knocker can clang I just don't understand." Hermione giggled as they walked towards the front door to see who was here.
Winky had appeared in the hallway and was opening the door as they walked into the foyer from the parlor. Wands at their sides they looked to see who had arrived. Professor Dumbledore was standing there and next to him was Remus Lupin, his worn overcoat threadbare as usual.
"Remus!" Harry quickly put away his wand and, stepping outside, shaking Remus' hand enthusiastically.
"Hi there Harry, Hermione, wow is this the same house?"
Harry looked serious for a moment "House? I hereby grant Remus J. Lupin permission to enter and leave at will. Ok come in. Am I doing that right? Or is there an easier way to do it?" Dan and Emma had come down to see who was at the door they both waved at Remus and Albus who smiled in return.
Remus came in and Professor Dumbledore followed him, Hermione quickly stepped up "Remus I need to talk to you for a minute." He nodded and she pulled him away from the door Harry shrugged his shoulders as Remus looked to him for an explanation. She almost dragged him into the parlor, where she started speaking to him intently. Her parents drifted into the parlor and they soon joined the conversation.
Winky closed the door after Albus stepped inside. "Winky sir can do that for yous, but yous be needin to tell me whos you wants allowed."
Harry knelt to talk to Winky "Oh, well I suppose we need to allow the members of the Order, but I'm not sure who that all is really."
"I can provide her a complete list if you would like Harry."
A rather relieved Harry answered "Yes please Professor."
"Not at all, and I hope you don't mind me bringing Remus along today, I want him to help demonstrate some more advanced spells."
Harry stood "Of course not, Remus is welcome here sir." Harry glanced over where Hermione, Remus, Dan, and Emma were still talking intently; she was obviously trying to convince him of something. Remus was nodding his head, paying careful attention to her.
"Did umm, Alisa talk to you about Mage training for us? We ran into Michael Rawl in Gringotts today and Hermione asked him about helping us train for combat."
"Actually I had the pleasure of her company for lunch today. She was rather excited about the prospect of being able to work with you and Miss Granger. I had thought of asking her but was unsure if you were up to the challenge on top of all your current burdens." He trailed off as Hermione and Remus shook hands, with a broad grin on her face she walked back into the foyer; Remus, Dan, and Emma trailed behind her, all smiling.
She was grinning broadly at him "Harry, may I introduce our newest employee Remus Lupin."
Harry was not sure what he had expected but this was definitely not it. His mouth hung open and all he managed was a faint "huh?"
She crossed her arms and glared at him like he was Gregory Goyle. "Really Harry" She tapped her foot impatiently before continuing. "I have just hired Remus to help us. His duties include guarding and guiding my parents while they are stuck in the wizarding world. He is to assist us and advise us in our training. In return he gets free room and board, an allowance for expenses, plus pay. We have agreed on thirty galleons a month as pay and five galleons a week for expenses."
Harry had recovered while she was talking. "Oh, Hermione you're a wonder. I hope you never stop amazing me. That's a wonderful idea!"
She beamed at his compliments "Thanks Harry."
Harry shook Remus's hand, "Welcome aboard, pick a room you like on the second floor, Dan and Emma are in the first one, Hermione and I are in the second. We can have Winky and Dobby clean out any of the others you choose."
"Alright Harry, I suppose I will just settle into the one I was in before, end of the hallway on the left."
Winky bowed and disappeared, presumably to finish that room.
"Shall we adjourn to the Room of Requirement for your first training lesson?"
"Of course sir," Harry started up the stairs taking Hermione's hand as he passed her, their fingers interlocked automatically. They went up to the landing on the third floor and towards the room Buckbeak had been in. "Where is it Professor?"
"Right in front of you Harry let me create it please."
Harry quickly stepped out of the way to give Professor Dumbledore room to pace. "So what is this anyway?" Remus asked quietly as they stood off to the side together.
Hermione whispered "well you walk back and forth in just the right spot and concentrate on something you need a room for, when the door appears it's always just what you required. We used it last year for the D.A.D.A. club Harry and I started."
"Oh sounds fascinating." Just then the familiar door appeared in the wall. Professor Dumbledore stepped up and opened it wide. The room was immense and clearly divided into three distinct areas; a classroom, a maze, and an arena. They walked inside and closed the door behind them. Professor Dumbledore walked over to the classroom looking section, he motioned for them to sit, Harry, Remus, and Hermione all took seats.
"I am going to speak of Arithmancy for a few minutes." Harry and Remus groaned, exchanging sympathetic glances, Hermione sat up excitedly. "My beads please Miss Granger" she pulled them out of her pocket and handed them to him.
"Give me a protego please Remus" Remus's wand appeared in his hand and he quickly slashed it down he seemed to mutter the spell under his breath because Harry who was sitting three feet away did not understand just what he had said. The familiar shimmering shield appeared just as it should have though. "Thank you" Albus walked up and touched one of the beads to the shield. The second bead he placed just before the shield in the air.
"Miss Granger, come here please." He walked a dozen feet away. She quickly got up and followed him pulling out her wand as she did. "Hit that bead with a reducto curse please. Don't worry you will not harm it." She nodded her understanding and took careful aim before casting "Reducto" she nailed the bead but the spell simply vanished. "Excellent" Hermione looked quite pleased with herself. Professor Dumbledore walked over and took the second bead. He placed them together and the shimmering aura's appeared.
Professor Dumbledore waved his wand over the auras and they grew considerably larger. "Here we can see the signature of these two spells, the Protego is in blue while the Reducto is in red. Notice how similar they are in all aspects. "Here," and he waved his wand again, the aura's were replaced with the numerical gibberish Harry remembered from lastnight. "Now Miss Granger this is nothing new for you so please allow me to simplify it for Harry and Remus, otherwise I fear they may drift off." With a twinkle in his eye he waved his wand again, the equation became much more intelligible to Harry. The long strings of numbers had been replaced with very small sets of numbers.
The numbers were slightly larger on the blue side of the equals sign. "This is, in essence the Protego spell" he pointed to the blue numbers with the tip of his wand. "These numbers, especially the last one up above, represent its power. The Reducto's numbers are all slightly lower, yet the power is equivalent. This means that the Protego is up to the task of countering the Reducto but only just. He took the blue bead out of the air, its numbers disappeared. "Remus shield please." Remus repeated the downward slash of the Protego but this time a large milk white shield appeared instead. "This is a much more advanced shield than the Protego" he placed the bead on it and then put it back with its partner. Two quick waves of his wand and the blue numbers were now more than five times greater than they were. "This shield can withstand five Reducto's before it is destroyed. Its power is considerable while its numbers remain well above the simple Reducto."
He paused a minute, Hermione's hand was raised. "Yes Miss Granger?"
"I have been wondering for ages why no one can block the killing curse, Professor Vector would not explain it, and could you please?"
"Of course Miss Granger." He took the bead that reducto had been captured in and tossed it away from them all. It hovered in the air about thirty feet away. He pulled out his wand and spoke very forcefully "Avada Kedavra" An intense beam of green energy streaked over the bead. Harry had expected it to be absorbed like the Reducto earlier; instead it seemed to pass over the bead and slammed into a large block of stone in the maze beyond it. The stone shattered and fell over. "Accio Bead" The bead whizzed into his hand, he repeated his earlier actions and soon the numbers for the killing curse stood against Remus's shield spell.
"Do you see the problem now Miss Granger?" Now it was Hermione's turn to be dumbstruck.
She managed to whisper "Those numbers just can't be real sir? Can they?"
Professor Dumbledore frowned and looked quite sad. "Alas, they are that is why no one can block it. Its numbers simply just cannot be matched. Remus what is the strongest shield you know?"
"The Shield Ward Sir." Remus stood to cast this one; he concentrated before once again slashing his wand downwards. "Skield Wardus" There was a loud noise like two huge blocks of granite had been slammed together and a very solid looking gray wall appeared before Remus, it was five feet wide and over a foot thick it stood just over seven feet tall.
Harry was quite impressed by this. Professor Dumbledore took the shield bead and touched the Ward. When its numbers were brought up against the killing curse however they did not come close to equaling it and its power was only a third that of the killing curse.
"The Shield Ward will stand up to anything short of the killing curse; it would take a score of Reducto's before failing. You see the dilemma Miss Granger."
"Sir, just what does the killing curse do to umm, kill? Once you know that it should be simple Arithmancy to determine a method of blocking it."
Professor Dumbledore paced a moment in thought before replying to Hermione's query. "It does just one thing; it severs the connection between the body and soul. Such a complex spell for that one task, I know but that is precisely how it kills. There has, however, been invented a spell which does have the numbers that match the killing curse but alas its power is just greater than the Shield Ward, still far short of what is required to stop the killing curse."
Remus asked "What is that sir?"
"I just call it the greater shield, here Maxus Skeldum" silently a sheet of what appeared to be solid diamond materialized, it was nearly ten feet tall and wide. Once again Professor Dumbledore repeated his gathering of the statistics of the greater shield. This time the numbers of the shield were in fact equal to those of the killing curse but the power was just above that of the shield ward. "Here we have a spell that has the potential to block the killing curse, but it does not contain enough raw magical energy to stand up to it."
Harry decided to ask the stupid question because it seemed too obvious. "Umm, can't you just put more power into it?"
Both Hermione and Professor Dumbledore immediately said "NO!"
"Ok forget I asked, I'll just sit here and let you two debate it."
Remus looked just as lost as Harry felt on the whole Arithmancy thing and they exchanged another sympathetic look.
Harry suddenly remembered something Professor Dumbledore had said yesterday. "Professor Dumbledore you said that Godric's sword would enhance the power of a spell, could it increase that shield enough?"
"Godric's sword increases a spell by a factor of fifty percent." A quick wave changed the number in the power of the shield by that, it was now significantly higher but still just over half that of the killing curse.
"Professor Dumbledore what if two people cast the same spell through the same focus."
That brought a curious expression to Professor Dumbledore's face. "And you believe there is a way to do this Miss Granger?"
She glanced at Harry nervously then nodded her head slowly.
"Then yes that would double the power of the spell as it would actually be cast twice but have a single affect through the single focus. I assume you mean through Godric's sword?" When she once again nodded Professor Dumbledore actually looked hopeful for a change. "Might I have a demonstration of this technique? Nothing as difficult as this," He gestured at the diamond wall. "needs to be attempted. It is well beyond either of your abilities, a simple Protego will suffice to get a measurement of the potential."
Hermione and Harry had kept their eyes locked together, discussing, Harry finally nodded and they both stood. "We kind of ran across this accidentally but it has worked well on several occasions so far. Including an attack on Voldemort the other day in which Harry had been unable to overcome his shields but together we crushed them."
"Ahh yes I did receive an interesting report about that. We will discuss that later, please continue."
Hermione took out her wand and Harry pulled out Godric's sword. They grasped each other's left hand and Hermione cast "Legilimens." Her eyes glazed over, instantly she was inside his head. Hello my love - Hello - we need to do this more - yes. He immediately began feeding her energy so she would not grow tired. She turned her body so she was inside his arms, he held her tight with his left hand. She put away her wand and held Godric's sword with him. Will this work? - Of course it will silly, just think together. Count 1, 2, 3 go! They moved their arms down together and spoke through Harry's mouth "Protego." A blinding shield appeared before them. Professor Dumbledore quickly took a reading of the shield and brought the numbers up. Harry had once seen the same look on his face, at the end of fourth year when he had finished telling Professor Dumbledore how Voldemort had used some of Harry's blood to resurrect himself. It was a brief look of triumph; Professor Dumbledore soon masked the expression. Remus was standing looking carefully at the shield they had produced.
"This spell is three times as powerful as it should be; everything else is unchanged, just more power in it." Professor Dumbledore then asked "Explain what you are doing please."
Hermione spoke through Harry's mouth. "Well it first happened when Voldemort attacked Moody, Harry collapsed and I wanted to see what was going on in his head. Instead of thinking about a certain thought I concentrated on being inside his mind." Harry took over his own mouth to add his view. "Instantly she was there, a welcome and calming presence, together we reached out to the scar and could see through Voldemort's eyes."
"How long can you maintain the connection?"
"We don't know, we have done close to forty five minutes before. Harry is feeding me strength to maintain the link and not get tired. The first time he did not and I slept for four hours after only a ten minute session. He has immense magical strength, I can feel it, what he provides me is merely a trickle."
"Can you duel like this? Is moving hard?"
"Its disorienting, I am seeing my body from Harry's view and need to think about which body I want to move, mine or Harry's. I am not possessing Harry, just sharing his brain, he is here with me, we work together, and he is allowing me to speak through him."
"So let Harry move his body and you concentrate on moving your own. Only when you cast would you need to move together."
"Simple to think, hard to do."
"Well then let's practice a bit shall we? Harry?"
"Yes Professor Dumbledore?"
"How long can you do this?"
"I don't know, I have never reached my limit."
"Alright, duel Remus with your wand Harry, not Godric's sword. Remus you will need considerably stronger shields alright?"
Remus nodded and walked off into the arena part of the room. They started walking slowly; she switched to holding his left hand with her right. Harry wanted to carry her to the arena but she stopped him so she could concentrate on her walking. Can you cast any of those stronger shields - never tried them - what about the reflecto - can you show me how to cast it? - sure here - he was reliving her practicing the spell - the pronunciation the feel of the word as she cast it - suddenly he felt he could cast it as well. Can you cast through me without having to move your arm with mine? - Not sure Harry, we need to test it.
Remus was standing in a white circle; another was about one hundred feet away, they moved into that one. "I will defend at first, you may attack when ready alright Harry, Hermione?"
They answered him together "Alright Remus." Albus had moved to the middle and off to the side he was watching Harry and Hermione intently. He tossed one of his beads in front of Remus; it hovered about five feet in front of him. What should we start with Mione? - Stupify then Expellarimus; be ready to dodge our own spell on the rebound. - What about blocking it - second let me think of the numbers alright if we cast together we should be able to block our own spells with Reflecto, Protego is not strong enough. She once again moved into his arms and held the base of his wand, under his hand.
Ok on three - 1 2 3 "Stupify" The spell streaked towards Remus who quickly brought the milky white shield into existence. When the spell had passed through Professor Dumbledore's bead he summoned it to him. The spell hit the white shield and came soaring back at them; Remus' shield was not destroyed by the Stupify as a Protego would normally have been. Harry quickly summoned the knowledge Hermione had given him and together they cast "Reflecto." The blinding shield appeared. They saw Remus dive onto the ground covering his eyes. Their shield vanished but once again the Stupify flew back at Remus' shield. Which once again withstood the impact, it was looking a little transparent but Remus was no longer behind it. The Stupify dissipated about half way back to Harry and Hermione, its strength spent. Remus knelt and was about to cast. Instead he held himself and slowly stood, waiting for their next attack.
They wasted no time "Expellarimus" The solid gray wall appeared before Remus. The Expellarimus took a small chunk out of the middle of it, spells did not apparently reflect back from this wall.
They clearly heard Remus' voice "I am attacking now, defend yourselves" Remus stepped out from behind his wall and suddenly a small ball of fire was streaking towards them.
What is that - Fireball? - too small - MOVE - OH. Harry pulled her down and the fireball flew over their heads, they felt the heat as it passed over them. Just as they looked up a second, nearly double in size was coming at them, this time lower to the ground. Harry scooped up Hermione and ran to the side. Hermione pulled out her own wand and tried to cast a Reflecto but the spell failed to form properly. Desperately she stuck her wand into Harry's shirt and locked her hands behind his neck. Give me your right arm, I will defend us. Harry shifted her weight into his left arm and tried to forget that he had a right one for now. Instantly she seized control of it and brought his wand up. Harry could now concentrate on moving them out of the way of Remus' stream of fireballs. "Reflecto, Reflecto, Reflecto, Reflecto" four shields appeared before them, two to a side. He knelt between them and she started sending a stream of curses at Remus. They saw him roll behind his wall. He felt her searching for something inside his mind. Harry I need your strength to knock down that wall. Instantly he locked his thoughts to hers they poured energy out through his wand and into Remus' wall. That wall shattered to reveal another behind it; they burst through that one to find still another.
Professor Dumbledore's voice rang out in the chamber "STOP!"
They put his arm down, Hermione had long since sat on the floor, his left arm still holding her tightly. We did it, we fought a duel together - wow - we still need to get more mobile though - broomstick - what? - We can ride on a broomstick together, it would make dodging very easy - oh good idea - let's try that later.
Remus poked his head out from behind the mountain of rubble that was all that remained of his walls. Chuckling he called out to them. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
Hermione started to retreat back into her own mind but Harry held onto her. We are supposed to test our limits, stay, I'm not too tired yet. - Alright. .
Professor Dumbledore stood before them. "Well that was a most interesting display. How is your strength Harry for maintaining the connection?"
"I'm doing ok, more tired from carrying her while I ran around than anything else."
"Alright separate and walk apart."
They did so and found that if Harry could not see her he had to concentrate exclusively on keeping the link, otherwise distance really didn't seem to matter much.
"That is quite excellent. Tired yet Harry?"
"A bit, but not at my limit yet, though that certainly pushed it."
"That will be enough for today I think. Tomorrow I will bring Alisa to begin your Mage training. Now please relax and explain to me your technique for attacking Tom." He gestured behind them where Remus was already sitting in a lounge chair drinking a tall glass of Pumpkin juice.
Oh no - this is going to be embarrassing - well it was your idea - ok, ok - I Love You - And I Love You. He gave her a mental kiss as she retreated into her own mind. They both looked away from Professor Dumbledore and blushed. They delayed bringing up their answer by sitting and sipping the juice for a few minutes first.
"I take it this was a bit more ah personal a technique than what I just witnessed." Their deepening blushes explained a lot to him. "Well what can you tell me?"
Hermione spoke in a detached clinical voice "Harry discovered that our umm" she bit her lower lip for a moment before continuing. Remus sat up, suddenly intrigued. "Pleasure can be used to cause Voldemort pain. Just like when he is angry Harry feels it as intense pain. We have reversed it and sent our OH MERLIN, this is hard." Her calm resolve broke down and she looked away blushing furiously.
"Bet that wasn't the only thing hard Eh Harry?" Remus grinned broadly and sat back in his chair as Harry stammered. Remus raised his glass of juice and spoke into the air. "Sirius your little boy is now a man, you would be proud." He drank half the glass in one gulp and continued to grin at Harry. "Congratulations, you beat James and Lily by well over a year. I believe, they would be happy for you both as well."
Professor Dumbledore was slowly walking around the room thinking. "A most intriguing method, quite logical actually when one thinks about it. Harry, I assume you have discussed the prophecy with Miss Granger?"
"Yes sir"
"Very well, Remus listen close to this. Here is the prophecy that Tom was after.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches
Born to those who have thrice defied him, Born as the seventh moon dies
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not
And either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies"
(JK Rowling, OOTP)
Remus sat thinking, "Power the Dark Lord knows not must surely be love right?"
"That is my assumption, though until now I was at a loss as to just how one could defeat a Dark Lord with love. The possibility is quite intriguing is it not? The last report I received was the night of Sirius's memorial. Apparently Tom was reduced to a near vegetative state I have not heard of his recovery and judging by the lack of Dementor attacks I would say he has not yet recovered his faculties."
"Oh yes I was wondering why those had stopped after that night." Remus stood and walked over to where Harry and Hermione sat, trying to ignore the conversation going on about them. He knelt before them; they looked at him as he spoke. "You should never be ashamed of your love for one another. The fact that it is so pure and unwavering certainly will add to its affect on Voldemort." He stood and suddenly was once again their Defense Professor as he lectured them. "Just like with the Patronus charm the thoughts and feelings that go behind magic are critical for the final outcome of the spell. Like your parents Harry, I believe the two of you love each other unconditionally. Though at first Lily wasn't sure about how sincere James was. He had to convince her, I don't think you have had the same issues. Purity in anything is rare; your love could easily be the force strong enough to stand against or even defeat Voldemort."
"I believe we are done here for today. Remus I am sure you would like to fetch your belongings from Aberforth's house." Professor Dumbledore started walking towards the door.
Remus looked at them intently for a minute longer. "Believe in yourselves, trust in each other. I will be back in an hour or so, see you then." Grinning he strode after Albus, they left them alone in the Room of Requirement.
Harry kissed the back of Hermione's neck. She twisted around grinning at him. Now that he had her attention he asked. "Well what should we do this evening my dear? Do you want to find a place for all of your books and get that organized? We are going to need a room to study in tomorrow aren't we?"
"Yes actually, that sounds like a very good idea. Let's take a look at that library up here, see if we can make it big enough for all those books from Flourish and Blotts." When she tried to stand he pulled her into his lap and kissed her tenderly before letting her up. They walked out of the Room of Requirement and walked to the left, past the door to the master suite where Buckbeak was kept last year. The next door was the library, they had not been allowed inside before.
"Dobby?" Harry asked into thin air.
Instantly he appeared just before them, slightly dusty still, a few cobwebs dangled from his stack of hats. "Yes Harry Potter?"
"This is the library correct?"
"Yes Harry Potter sir."
"Bring up Hermione's books so we can add them to the library and I guess we will need to clean the room up so we can use it to study tomorrow."
Dobby nodded his head and disappeared. In his place appeared Winky. "Yous be needin this room cleaned now Master and Misses?"
"Yes please Winky, we are going to have to study starting tomorrow and a library is my favorite place to do that."
The tiny house-elf bowed deeply. "Yes Misses Hermione."
Winky turned and the door to the library opened. It was immediately obvious that it was severely overcrowded already. Winky walked in and disappeared into a blur, the room brightened visibly behind her as she removed decades of accumulated filth. They peered inside but the room appeared to be wall to wall books, clearly not enough room for Hermione's books, forget the collection from Flourish and Blotts. "What are we going to do Harry?"
"I guess you get an expanded library, Dobby!"
Dobby appeared, looking worried that he had disappointed Harry; one trunk full of books accompanied him. "Harry Potter sir, I am here with the books."
"Thank you Dobby, we need to expand the library apparently. What are the rooms on either side and could you rearrange them to accommodate all of these books and make room for a lot more?"
Dobby began wringing his hands painfully. He looked quickly at the door at the end of the hallway nearest them. Unable to face Harry he looked at his own feet while he talked. "That was Mister Sirius's room Harry Potter sir, Kreacher made a horrible mess in there sir, we have cleaned it but Kreacher destroyed most of Mister Sirius's possessions. We didn't know what to do with them sir, so we left them for you to decide."
Winky had appeared beside Dobby, her head also bowed. "Kreacher was a wicked elf Master, you did rightly you did sir."
Hermione felt Harry stiffen beside her; she put her arm around him and hugged him tightly. "Come on Harry, we can do this." She urged him towards the door and he slowly walked there, as though a man condemned. She smiled at Winky and Dobby to reassure them, motioning towards the library, they both disappeared into it quietly.
When they reached the door she pushed it open. Just like the rooms downstairs that had been cleaned this one was spotless. There were great gouges in the furniture and walls. As though some beast had clawed and gnawed on everything repeatedly. The mattress was gone, as were all the draperies for the large four poster. The closet and dresser stood open and empty. Everything that Kreacher had not totally destroyed the house-elves had neatly placed on the desk. There were only a few things, miraculously the mate of Harry's mirror was there, untouched, or repaired most likely. A long lock of braided red hair was coiled next to it, tied at both ends with a piece of green ribbon. A gold necklace lay there with three charms on it, the silhouettes of a stag, wolf, and dog. Harry picked them all up and turned to walk from the room. Hermione stopped him; he looked up at her, tears streaking down his face. He struggled for a moment to speak "Have them add this to the library Mione, then come to our room, I can't watch."
She wiped his face quickly and hugged him before nodding and letting him walk out of the room. She sadly followed him to the library where she brushed his back with her hand as she walked in to speak with Dobby and Winky. For once in her life the sight of so many unread books did not brighten her mood. Instantly the two blurs stopped their cleaning and appeared before her, both downcast, she quickly sat on the ground to face them. "What was it really like in there before you cleaned it?"
Dobby sighed and Winky burst into quiet tears. "Oh Misses Hermione, it was a sight, everything had been shredded, torn into tiny bits and strewn about the room. If it was in there it was destroyed. We did fix that mirror, Master Harry has one just likes it so we thought it important." She sighed and looked down. Dobby, again wringing his hands painfully continued. "We found the necklace and bit of hair under the bed, maybe they got missed by Kreacher." Surprising both of them she pulled them into a hug.
"Thank you." She released them and wiped her eyes dry from the sudden tears. She glanced around the library, it was quite a large room but bookshelves had repeatedly been crammed inside and more books heaped on top. Several aisles were completely blocked by stacks of books, as though someone had given up and just piled them where there was space. "Can you two make Sirius's room and bathroom a part of this one? Maybe eliminate the hallway outside between them."
"Yes we can do that well enough, it will be done as quickly as we can."
"I know Dobby, thank you again." She stood up, "I need to go cheer Harry up now." She waved at them as she headed downstairs.
She saw her mother about to knock on her and Harry's door; she saw Hermione coming down though and hesitated. She met Hermione in the hallway, well away from their room. "What happened dear? Your father said Harry was a fright when he came down. Since you weren't with him he thought maybe you two had argued or something."
"What? Oh, mum, if he and I were to argue the whole house will know it. No we went into Sirius's old room, though it had been cleaned it was still a sight, Harry took it hard."
Her mother looked very sympathetic when she spoke again. "They asked us what they should do with it; we told them it would be better if it was cleaned. Since Kreacher is dead it would only serve to make him more upset than he is over Sirius's death."
Hermione quickly hugged her mum. "Thanks, I need to go talk to him about it now, then we will join you for dinner."
Emma whispered as Hermione was almost to the door, "Your father went to cook, something special, I will be down helping him, see you both in a bit?"
Hermione nodded then quietly opened the door and entered their bedroom. He looked up at her from the bench by the window. He had out the lock of hair and his old photo album Hagrid had given him. She quickly came over and sat behind him, wrapping her arms around him to peer over his shoulder.
"I think its my mum's hair, see I cleaned it and now it looks a lot like the color in these pictures." She nodded her agreement into his shoulder, hugging him a bit tighter.
"Yep, it sure does. What about the necklace?"
"Only that the backs of each charm had Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs inscribed on them. Apparently Wormtail went missing at some point. I want to look through my parents' jewelry and see if there is a matching necklace in there."
"Makes sense." She kissed him on the cheek before pulling away to walk across the room. She quickly came back to the seat with the carved jewelry box.
Harry had turned to watch her, now they sat side by side. Placing the jewelry box in her lap she opened it. The watches immediately caught her eye. "Look at these Harry, they already have our names on them?" The two watches were like the Weasley's clock, one was small, for a woman and the other a bit larger. Each had two hands, one said Harry the other said Hermione, all four hands pointed at home currently.
"How did they know?"
"How do these know where we are or how did our names get on them?"
Startled he clarified "Sorry, I meant how did my parents know to put your name on the watches?"
"I don't think they did that Harry. These seem to be some kind of special enchantment. I think the watches picked up that we were their new owners and adjusted accordingly. Ginny told me that their clock used to have hands on it for her gran and gramps but they disappeared when they both died. I assume that new hands will appear as we have children." She started looking around the box and soon found another necklace like Sirius's. This one had Wormtail on it still. She held it up, letting the charms dangle.
"Wonder if Remus has his still?"
"There is so much I want to know. Where did these come from?"
"Well Harry, you had better sit down with Remus and start asking."
He looked at her sheepishly. "Yes Mione, I have resolved to do just that, not tonight, but soon."
She put the necklace back inside the box. Harry put the hair and other necklace inside before she closed it. She placed it on the bench beside her and stood holding her hands out to Harry. He took them and she pulled him up. They hugged tightly, she started swaying slowly. They began to slow-dance to a tune no one could hear. She rested her head on his shoulder and he did the same to her. "So Mr. Potter, you can dance after all? I was wondering why you avoided the ballroom floor so much at school." She quietly teased him.
He chuckled softly before replying. "Am I dancing? Hmm must be you, I wouldn't be caught dead on the dance floor with anyone else."
"Good because I am tired of being avoided at the school dances, you are going to dance with me at all of the balls this year."
"Why were you avoided?"
"Well to hear Lavender, everyone was terrified they would get you mad at them if they dared to dance with me, Mr. Over-protective husband to be." She grinned and kissed his cheek.
"Oh, sorry."
"It's alright, Lavender may have been teasing but Neville admitted it was true when I got the nerve to question him on the subject. He said 'Have you see the way Harry looks at us if we so much as talk privately with you? Oh No, look at him now!' You were positively scowling at dear Neville, when I looked back at him he had run off and hid somewhere."
He had turned red in embarrassment. "Wa was I that obvious?"
"Apparently to the other boys in school yes, after that I started seeing it to. Like when we would walk down the halls, you were forever making sure you were between me and any Slytherin we passed. I hardly ever saw Draco directly, only over your shoulder, last year you were always between us. Thank you Harry, for being my protector."
"Always Mione, always." He hugged her tightly then they continued slow-dancing quietly, just enjoying each other's company, until his stomach growled.
"Let's go see how father is doing on dinner shall we? Remus should be back by now too."
He took a deep breath then slowly let it out. He met her at the door and they headed downstairs, their hands meeting and fingers interlocking automatically once again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That night somewhere in the mountains of Switzerland…
"Ronald it's time to get up." The huge man picked Ron up out of the bunk bed as though he was a small child. Groggily Ron stood there a minute swaying on his feet as Mr. Lovegood walked out of the room.
Luna called from the other room. "Dinner is ready Ronald, come eat!"
Food! That got him awake. He hurried into the kitchen. Luna started cackling loudly when she saw how quickly he appeared. "I told you father, food works every time." Mr. Lovegood sat in front of a huge plate of food and grinned at her for a moment before he started into his food with an appetite that put Ron to shame.
Still laughing a bit too loudly Luna brought two more plates to the table. Another heaping one for Ron and two slices of white bread for her, a bit of parsley between them. She used her knife and fork on the parsley sandwich as though it was a steak. Completely baffled Ron went to work on his plate of food. When they were done eating the sun was just about to set.
"Ok here is the plan, I will Disillusion you both so you can hide better. Hopefully a Snorkack will wander by you, use your Omnioculars and try to get a picture of them. If you get into trouble send up wand sparks, that's the only thing you can do without getting into trouble with the Ministry." He glanced quickly around the tent, as though he expected someone else to be in there with them, then leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "Trust me they have spies everywhere, I have interviewed many of them. It's all a plot to keep the Minister in power. Now Ronald I know your Father works for the Ministry, and he's a good sort. There are a lot of bad people in the Ministry; I bet they are all working for Moldymort himself." He sat back and returned to a normal voice. "I will apparate around where we have been flying and see if I can surprise one. I won't be back for you for at least two hours. Try and sit still and keep quiet."
"Yes father" She went to the bedroom and came back with a large backpack of supplies. Ron and Mr. Lovegood both stood and got their backpacks on before they all headed outside where they mounted their brooms. Flying in the dark was slow, after about twenty minutes they landed in a small clearing. It was now almost completely dark, only a sliver of a moon provided light. The temperature was dropping fast now that the sun was down.
They were on a small trail through a large collection of bushes. They dismounted and Luna quietly scurried inside one of the bushes next to the trail. "Its quite large in here we should be fine." She re-emerged without her backpack, and quickly took Ron's from him and disappeared again under the shrubbery.
"Ok Ronald here is your Disillusion." He tapped Ron hard on the top of his head with his wand, Ron felt like an egg had just been broken over him. He looked down at himself and saw that he had blended into the bushes around them.
"Wicked"
Just then Luna came back out of the shrub and stood, she couldn't see where Ron was so she stood up right into him. He was nearly knocked over but managed to keep his balance.
"Oy, be careful!"
"Sorry Ronald." She picked her wand back up and stuck it back behind her ear. Mr. Lovegood slid the three brooms inside the bush then turned to Luna.
"Your turn dear." He tapped her head with his wand and she disappeared into the background, head first. "Ok be careful, I will be back at midnight or so, that's about four hours. Try and stay awake."
"Alright Father"
He pulled out his Omnioculars and with a soft pop he was gone.
Ron moved to climb under the bush but ran straight into Luna. They teetered for a minute, nearly falling over. Ron desperately grabbed for her blindly, trying to plant his feet and stop her from falling at the same time. Somehow he managed, once they stopped Luna spoke very quietly. "Oh Ronald, is that how you want to stay awake for the next four hours?" He suddenly realized his right hand was against her bare skin, he couldn't see her but he definitely felt what part of her was literally in his hand. Somehow when he had grabbed her to keep her from falling his hand had slipped under her jacket and shirt then finally found a grip on one of her breasts. He couldn't even just let go or she would fall to the ground. He did the only thing he could think of, he helped her stand up shifting his hand as soon as he felt her take her own weight again.
"I'm terribly sorry Luna that was an accident I swear."
"Oh Ronald, I don't mind. I should tell father though he would be rather proud that I got groped."
Ron whispered in a pained voice "No please don't tell him, he'll kill me."
He heard her moving under the shrub, "Convince me…."
Ron swallowed the lump in his throat and went onto his hands and knees to crawl under the bush. Luna had already gotten out several blankets, two were spread on the ground and a thick one was piled up on the side. Her boots and jacket appeared near her backpack. "Get comfortable Ronald. We are going to have to snuggle to stay warm, I'm getting cold already."
He crawled closer to her voice, being under a disillusion made this very difficult, he bumped his face into her and stopped. "Sorry, I don't want to know what I hit that time." He sat down and took off his boots they joined his bag, his jacket soon followed.
"Ronald, we are going to have to go by touch since we have no chance of seeing each other. I won't complain to either your father or mine if I like the way you treat me."
Ron who was now terrified of getting into trouble for his earlier mistake whispered. "How do you want me to treat you Luna?"
"It's simple Ronald. I like you, and I think you like me. Hold me and keep me warm, don't be embarrassed by me around your friends. I am never embarrassed about me so why should you be? I know I may not make much sense to most folk but Albus Dumbledore and I have had some very lengthy conversations and we make perfect sense to one another. Now find me, I'm freezing!"
Ron nodded to himself and reached out to find Luna, he touched her arm, and thankfully it was definitely her arm. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found her shoulder. He crawled to where she was sitting and wrapped himself around her. Then he grabbed the thick blanket and pulled it around his back and tried to cover all of her except her face. "Can you still see Luna?" He put his arms along hers, holding her hands with his.
She snuggled back contentedly into his embrace. "Yes Ronald, I'm fine now. Thank you."
They sat there for several minutes, slowly warming up. Ron was struck with the impression he was holding Ginny and he chuckled silently. "What Ronald?"
"Oh sorry I just felt for a moment like you were Ginny." She stiffened against him. "Well you are the same age and about the same size and all…"
"I am six months older than Ginny and to get your mind thinking about me as someone else I think I will have to distract you. Would Ginny do this?" She leaned forward and pulled off her shirt. It joined her jacket in the corner. She leaned back into him again and placed one of his hands on each breast. "Well am I still your sister?"
"N-no" He was frozen in place; he didn't dare move or say anything else. He kept thinking about her father finding them like this. All resemblance to Ginny was forever erased from his mind.
"Good, now I think you are supposed to squeeze gently and rub them. I think I would like that Ronald."
"Oh…" He slowly did what she asked, after a few minutes he began to get comfortable. This was actually very pleasant; he would need a very cold shower later but for now it was worth it. They were both under the Disillusion after all no one could see them anyway right? An odd thought suddenly struck him. "Why don't you wear a bra?"
"The bra was invented by a man, they are meant to make women conform to some standard. I rebel against any standard as a rule, I tried bras, and they are uncomfortable and confining. Besides I don't think I really need one yet."
"Oh…" Luna was now slowly rubbing her bare back against his chest while he continued to gently caress her breasts under the blanket. Weren't they supposed to be looking for something? Ron couldn't quite remember just what they were supposed to be doing.
In the tree directly over their heads the Snorkack went back to nibbling on the delicious leaves.
* * * * * * * * *
A/N Sorry it took so long to produce this chapter. I am in the process of selling my house, helping my mother move out, fixing up her house and moving my family into that house. Makes for few hours to dedicate to this project. Rest assured I am still quite dedicated to producing the best chapter I can; I will not put up a chapter for Summer until I am happy with its contents. I have enjoyed receiving email from many of you, those are most welcome as they, along with your reviews, provide me insight as to how my story is perceived by others. Sorry I didn't get the next chapter for Secret up yet, I finally got an angle to write about the ball though and have about half of the chapter written now. It will be up soon as well. Thank you all for your support. As always this was a pleasure to write, I hope you enjoy reading it.
Gol