Author's Note: Warning - this chapter contains grim scenes that some may find depressing. Harry and the rest of the DA hold a small service for their fallen friends.
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Chapter Twenty Five: The Return to Hogwarts
Ever since his very first train ride a little more than six years ago, Harry had always loved it. He couldn't really explain why if anyone had bothered to ask him about it - it was a combination of the relaxing atmosphere, coupled by the good friends that seemed to surround him. The fact that Hermione had practically fallen asleep in his lap hadn't hurt matters either, all told.
This particular journey was a little harder than oftentimes, unfortunately. True, his first trip was uncomfortable for about five minutes, until he and Ron had hit it off right away, but this was a different matter entirely. Although it was nice of Cho to offer the Head Boy and Girl compartment to him for the ride, it was made difficult due to the fact that this larger space meant the entire DA could fit within it comfortably now.
Of course, the fact that the Head Boy wasn't there didn't help matters very much - he had been one of those killed over the course of the holidays, and made pointedly clear the full reason everyone had gathered like they had.
It was far from comfortable, as many of them sat in silence or stared out the windows, unable to say the words that were obviously on many of their minds. It didn't take any effort in legilimency to figure out that they all wanted to hear his opinion on the attacks over the holidays, but it wasn't something he felt he could cover just yet. He wanted to do it in the Room of Requirement - their home. It wouldn't be right to do it on the Hogwarts Express, when the DA had never officially met there before.
Deciding not to face those he considered his friends just yet, Harry had closed his eyes and focused on relaxing. Ron - and Harry had to remember to thank him for it later - had told people that Harry wasn't feeling well thanks to something he would explain to them all later, and he needed to concentrate without interruptions. That had meant no one had tried to speak to Harry again for the rest of the trip - though Ron was accosted more than he wanted to admit, as were any of the others who had stayed at Grimmauld Place once it came to light that they had spent some of the holidays together.
With all this weighing on his mind, Harry found it very difficult to even start trying to relax. Minerva had given him a direct order, and had asked him to practice his relaxation whenever he had a chance - she had even provided a note that he could give to teachers if he accidentally fell asleep. This was a fact he was planning on exploiting in a couple of classes before he caught Hermione's glance, and decided against it.
He had not actually finished his animagi training just yet. Oh, he could transform into his lyra form almost at will now - though it did take a good deal of effort - but it was always accompanied by a bright white glow, and never lasted for very long. The only thing that remained was calming his mind enough to be able to pull it off, but he couldn't seem to manage it. There were too many things going on all at once, and even on the train ride (which he had always enjoyed before), such a thing was not possible, despite Hermione's closeness and scent wafting into his nostrils from her honey brown curls.
The welcoming feast later on had not been much better in his opinion. He had expected Dumbledore to do something to honour those lost, for certain, but had not quite expected to hear the records and wishes of the families from each of the lost students. In the end, Hogwarts had lost eight students, including the Head Boy Jonathan Bradley, a seventh year Ravenclaw who had served alongside Cho until the holidays had passed.
Dumbledore had gone on to warn everyone that dark times were indeed upon all of them, and to be wary of those uncertain. Harry couldn't help but notice how half the population of the school had looked over to the Slytherin table at that precise moment, declaring as one that they knew perfectly well who to watch out for.
Splitting the students into houses... dividing to allow conquest... The words from the Sorting Hat's... well... speech, had come back to him at that exact moment, and sent shivers down his spine which he had been unable to explain. Surely if there had been anyone from Slytherin to be trusted, they would have come forward by now, right?
The thought that he had done nothing to help them lingered in the back of his mind with all the other worries that he couldn't seem to shake. He was going to have to do something soon, or he would burst.
"Hey Harry, any word on your broom yet?" Kirke's excited voice interrupted his musings and caused him to look away from the dancing flames that had attracted his vision in the first place. With both Hermione and Ron away at a prefect's meeting, he had found himself lost again.
"Not yet, Kirke," Harry sighed. Another thing that he had almost forgotten about to cloud his mind. "McGonagall spoke to me about it when we got back, and told me to sit tight. They will get to the bottom of it... and I'm hoping before our next game."
"You aren't alone in that!" Sloper said with a grin as he pulled his ally away from Harry again to play a game of Exploding Snaps. "We need the best seeker back on his broom."
"Yeah," Harry muttered to himself as they left him alone once more. In his robe pockets, he fingered the wooden box that held the teleportation stone again. He was sure that the corners would be worn smooth before too long. "Yeah," he repeated. His mind wasn't on Quidditch anymore, if it ever was even when they had talked to him. In the same pocket, he found his mirror and a small package that held several badges. He had split them up between himself, Ron, and Hermione, and he had another pack on his other pocket to give to Dean later.
He had scheduled the first meeting back for tomorrow night, which wasn't early enough, but far too soon for his liking anyway. It had been hard enough telling Neville about his parents - telling the entire DA that he had failed them wasn't going to be much easier.
He looked up as a lithe hand touched his shoulder, and found himself looking into Ginny's green eyes. "It's alright, Harry," she said softly. He wasn't sure how she knew what was bothering him - or even if she did - but he appreciated the effort nonetheless. "We know that this is a war."
"I can't get their faces out of my mind, Gin," he whispered. "I just keep seeing them... looking at me... waiting for me to tell them how they can survive, make it out safely."
"You are only one man, Harry."
He nodded and brushed a strand of her red hair out of his face. She was leaning a little too close for his comfort suddenly, but he knew she meant nothing by it. Colin was sitting in a chair close by, and he didn't seem concerned by the attention she was giving Harry either. "I know."
He stood quite abruptly when the portal to the common room opened, and Ginny backed up again, sitting on the arm of Colin's chair and leaning down to whisper into his ear. Harry nodded to both Ron and Hermione as they came back in, and held a hand out to Hermione.
"Dumbledore's finally chosen the prefects for the year... but there won't be another Head Boy. He said that we need to honour Jon's memory by leaving the position blank for the rest of the year. Means more work for Cho, but she'll manage. The prefects will be announced tomorrow morning, but Cho'll be in for a rough time ahead, I'd imagine."
"Yeah, she will be," Harry replied, smiling softly at the sight of her, though it came out more as a grimace than anything. "I'm going up to bed, `Mione. I'm getting pretty tired."
"Alright Harry," she said as she pulled him into a hug. *I'll be up later,* she purred softly into his ear - so softly that no one else would have picked it up. "I love you," she added in a normal whisper.
"I know," he replied with another tired smile before turning to go upstairs. He was glad that she was willing to break the rules for their sake, and he really needed to hold her right then. He hadn't expected the wave of guilt to strike him the moment he stepped onto the Hogwarts' grounds again.
Once upstairs, he took off his green cloak that had gotten more than enough questions already and hung it at the foot of his bed. Although he was sure he didn't need it at all times, for some reason, it's presence seemed to bring him a touch of comfort when he wanted to hide from the world. He then shucked his robes and climbed into bed in his boxers, closing his eyes to try and relax again.
It was just as worthless as before. He needed Hermione to even try to relax.
To Harry, it seemed like a very long time before he heard any movement at all - that being Dean on his trip over to his bed. It didn't sound like he changed at all before flopping down on his bed. Seamus came up almost at the same time, but seemed to take a moment to do something before joining Dean in flopping down on his own bed.
Neville and Ron came up a good deal of time later, talking in low whispers. They stopped as they started to change as though something had interrupted them, and Harry had to stifle a groan as a large object suddenly landed on his stomach. By the purrs, he knew that Willow had finally joined him, and he smiled to himself. With a barely perceivably motion, he lifted one hand and pulled his curtains closed instantly, casting a silencing charm as soon as he had done so. As soon as that was done, Willow changed back into Hermione and curled up next to him. He couldn't help but notice she was wearing her silk bottoms and light blue camisole again, and he kissed her lightly on the nose when she looked up to him.
"You okay, Harry? You went to bed awfully early..."
"I am now," he promised her, half believing himself. "I think I just needed to be able to relax and hold you in my arms, away from everyone else again."
"We slept together just last night, Harry," she said with a sigh, and then, realising just what she had said, tried to backpedal. "I mean, we slept in the same bed, not slept together - of course, we did that, but not in that way..."
She stopped when Harry kissed her, and she melted against him again, losing the tenseness that had gripped her after her words. "Sorry," she whispered. "I get worked up sometimes..."
"I hadn't noticed," Harry replied with a straight face, making her giggle.
"Alright you. If you were so tired earlier... get to sleep," she said. "Because you are not skivving your classes just to sleep!"
"Yes, `Mione," he said automatically. He then grinned and closed his eyes as he felt his body starting to relax again. "You sleep too, alright?"
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
He waited just a moment before squeezing her just a little closer to him. "I know."
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"It's true, Harry," Ron said with a firm nod, clapping his friend on the shoulder as he took a seat on the large wooden desk in the Room of Requirement the following night. "It really did happen that way."
Harry looked up from the chair he had sat down in by the fireplace of the small, cozy space that the Room had provided for them this time. It was a drastic change from the normally large space given for training... but then, Harry knew that they weren't going to be doing much - if any - training today.
"He's right, Harry," Hermione offered softly from right beside him. "I skipped a few classes myself, even Arithmancy."
"And I skivved off Divination," Lavender offered.
"I missed two classes of Herbology," Neville added. "And Professor Sprout - while she might not have been happy it happened - commended my reasons."
"Grandfather allowed us all to skip Defense Against the Dark Arts," Kailyn said with a shrug, looking around the room. If was only the select few who were a part of the Defense Association that knew of her lineage and relation to the strange, mysterious professor. "So we were actually allowed then."
"You all skipped classes to try and find out where I had run off to?" Harry asked in disbelief again, standing up from his chair finally. McGonagall - Minerva as he had almost gotten used to calling her - had scolded his entire Transfiguration class for so many people skivving off in mid November... the exact time he had tried to hide from the world. "To try and help?"
"I believe that letter would have been easier to write - and sounded better, too - if you had used the Griffin quill that I had given you," Luna said in a dreamy whisper as she stared into the flames. "As it was, it didn't tell us to leave you alone, but was a plea for help. And we weren't about to leave you on your own."
"I actually gave points to students who offered to help," Cho said with a grin from her chair. "And you all know me - I don't give House Points to anyone but other Ravenclaws... but this was different." As Head Girl, she actually could give out or take away House Points, but rarely ended up doing so, though no one was sure why.
The Patil twins were both practically pacing at the back of the room, but when Cho fell silent and the only sound in the room was that of crackling wood, Pavarti looked up again. "We couldn't leave you, Harry. Not only do most of us consider you a friend... you are also our leader. What kind of group would we be if we didn't care about our own."
"So you all..."
"Whoever didn't skive off a class, please step outside now," Ron said in a loud, booming voice, startling the entire group. Dean and Susan looked up in surprise, and Terry and Julia both stopped in the middle of their near silent conversation to look to Ron. No one, however, made any motion of moving. "Right, see that, Harry?"
"Thank you," Harry said in a whisper. After the fuss they had all made upon his return, he had known that they had cared, but it hadn't really clued in until his transfiguration professor had actually scolded the class for skipping such important lectures.
"It's like Pavarti said, Harry," Neville offered, standing up to stand next to Ron. "You are our leader. If it had been any of us, we all know what you would have done - so why would we do any less for you."
Harry couldn't help but smile at that. He knew he wouldn't have slept, let alone ate, if there was something he could do to help any of those in the room. Over the course of teaching them how to defend themselves, the group had become quite close - some more than others.
"I failed as a leader," he whispered, sitting back down. Ron and Hermione both turned to him in surprise, and Luna actually started to stand away from the fire to turn to him before he waved off their objections, keeping the room silent save for his soft voice. "You can deny it later if you want. But I'm going to stick to what I said - I failed you. Because I didn't prepare everyone here for the dangers that were to come over the holidays, we are missing four of our own."
"Bugger to hell with that, Harry!" Dean said angrily. "That wasn't your fault, and you know it."
"I do," Harry admitted with a grin to both Hermione and Ron. "I know what happened wasn't my fault, but the fact remains that I didn't warn everyone of the dangers. Four members of the DA lost their lives over the holidays - times that are supposed to be revelled and lived in happiness with loved ones... not mourning the dead."
He stood again slowly from the desk, closing off his eyes so he couldn't see anyone for a moment, only hear the sound of their breathing. It seemed that most of them were holding their breaths, waiting to hear just what he had to say to them. It was a topic that, although still very recent, was begging to be covered.
"Yes, I'll say it, but I'm not happy about it. We lost four of our members - but we aren't all who lost people over the Christmas holidays." He stopped for a moment and looked around the room. Everyone was looking at him, and he once again felt like he was some sort of general, trying to boost morale in his troops. This time, however, it wasn't a task he shied away from. "Anthony Goldstein. He was a fifth year Ravenclaw student - I'm sure a couple of you even had a few classes with him."
"He was in our Charms class," Colin admitted, including both Ginny and himself in his statement. "He was usually fairly quiet, though."
"He was amazing in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Terry said softly. "He knew his counter curses like the back of his hand - you really taught him well, Harry."
"Before I saw him in action, to be truthful, I thought this group was sort of a joke," Julia said with a shrug. "I mean, I knew Terry could do charms before he started sneaking off one night a week, and I knew he was going to the same club he had gone to for half of last year. But Anthony... he excelled when given motivation."
"Anthony Goldstein, a fifth year Ravenclaw student within these halls, a member of our original white team, and a bloody good shot with a counter curse. With his death, he managed to capture four Death Eaters," Harry said solemnly. Ron held out a piece of parchment with Anthony's name on it, and with a flourish, signed it with the Golden Gryffin quill that Harry handed to him. Once the quill and parchment had been passed around the room, Harry took it and drew a jagged lightning bolt on the bottom and set it on the desk beside him.
He started slightly when he felt Hermione's hand on his arm, and he turned and took her into a gentle hug as he looked around the room. The entire group were on their feet now, and he was almost surprised to see tears in many of their eyes before he felt his own on his cheeks. Furiously, he wiped them away and looked over to Neville. Meeting the other boy's eye, he nodded firmly, and Neville smiled sadly to him.
"He gave his life for a cause he believes in."
"Ernie MacMillian," Harry said after a moment and once Hermione had calmed down enough for him to let go of her and step forward again. "A sixth year Hufflepuff student. He once thought... in second year... that I was something to be feared. Later, he told me he was wrong, but late last year, he admitted to me that he was dead wrong - I wasn't to be feared. Lord Voldemort is to be feared."
"Many of us shared classes with him," Dean offered. "He was one of a kind - stood out in herbology like dear Nev here, really."
"Made a great study partner," Neville admitted, closing his eyes firmly. "Asked me for help, he did. Not the other way around, even."
"He was good, too," Terry said. Only a few of those in the group weren't a part of the advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and that was a slight concern of his. Only one of those killed had been in it... which didn't bode well for those who remained out of it still. "A real wizz with counter curses, too. I never once saw him look anything up about them - I guess he really paid attention to you Harry."
Susan was crying harder than before now, but managed to get her word in anyway. "He thanked me... just before we left for the holidays," she stuttered. "Thanked me for convincing him to come to the original DA. Said it gave him a purpose, a meaning in life aside from just following in his father's footsteps."
Harry tried to speak to that, but found his own throat constricted, making such a thing impossible. Ron took over for him, and he flashed his best mate a thankful smile - even if it was a little forced. "Ernie MacMillian, a sixth year Hufflepuff student at Hogwarts, a member of our original green team, another great shot with a counter curse. He took down six Death Eaters as he fought back - two of which will never walk again thanks to the power of his bludgeoning spells."
Ron held up another piece of parchment now, this one with Ernie's name scrawled across it in impressive script. Kailyn vaguely recognized the writing as that of her grandfather, but said nothing. Even if she wasn't as close to everyone else as they all seemed to be, she was a part of the group, and touched deeply by their show of respect for the dead.
Once Harry had placed the lightning bolt seal on the bottom and returned it to the desk, he closed his eyes again before standing at his full height to continue. "Hannah Abbot," he said in a tight voice as his emotions threatened to spill out again. He had vowed to Neville earlier about crying, and he didn't intend on breaking that vow so early. "She was a sixth year student too, and another member of Hufflepuff house."
"I had a touch of a crush on her in third year," Ron said, surprising everyone and actually causing a couple of chuckles - especially at his indignant expression. "What? A bloke tends to notice a girl who's as kind as she was! I think if I had my hand bitten off by a hippogryff - or God forbid, a flaubberworm! - she would have offered her own to replace it, despite the fact that Madam Pomphrey is perfectly capable of regrowing limps... and bones, eh Harry?"
"True," Harry said with a small grin at the reminder. Trust Ron to always bring a touch of light to such a difficult topic. "She was one of a kind. We all are, really. She wanted to fight against the Death Eaters so badly... she almost kissed me when I helped her cast her Patronus properly last year." The mention of the mystical white protective creature caused a hanging silence in the air that startled him. "It was a dove... a bird of purity."
"The dorm room is so empty now," Susan whispered. "My house was hardest hit by the attacks - we lost three who were a part of this group, but seven others as well. Now, there's only myself and two others in the sixth year girl's dorm."
"Move in with the fifth or seventh years," Harry said instantly. At her startled expression, he continued with a determined voice. "You shouldn't feel alone in this great castle with so many others around you. Convince your dorm mates to move, and talk to the other years to work it out. Tell them I'm asking for a favour if they don't agree right away."
"You'd use your name for this?" she asked in surprise.
"I'm not planning on using it for an extra scoop of ice cream in Diagon Alley, if that's what you mean," he said, shaking his head and winking at Hermione. She was one of the few that knew the ice cream sundaes he had gotten during the summer between second and third year had been mostly for free.
"Thanks."
Harry nodded and Ron picked up the next piece of parchment, knowing that it was time. He didn't need Harry to tell him - he hadn't been his best friend for six years without being able to read him at least a little bit. He knew that Hermione could read him better... and he actually understood that now, thanks to Luna. He'd have to thank her again later...
"Hannah Abbot, a sixth year Hufflepuff student at Hogwarts, a member of our original red team, and one of the very few I would ever trust to cast healing spells on me - there's only really one other person outside of this room that I would say that about, trust me," Harry said slowly. "With her quick thinking and talents with other spells, she managed to subdue two Death Eaters, and make sure they could be brought to justice."
Again, Ron passed out the parchment to everyone. When Harry got it back, he wasn't surprised to find a couple of tear stains on it, and wished that someone would go to comfort Susan - Hannah had been a close friend of hers, and he knew it. Ever since he had met her aunt at the beginning of last year, he had started to realise just how strong Susan could be, but no one should go through a time like this alone. He smiled to himself when both Lavender and Ginny appeared beside her suddenly to give her quick - though somehow lingering - hugs before letting her on her own again.
As the crackling of the fire started to overpower his senses again, Harry cleared his throat. "One more of our ranks fell over the holidays. Justin Finch-Fletchley... another sixth year Hufflepuff student." He paused for a moment before looking straight at Susan, seeing the look of hurt he knew he would find there. He had no doubt that they all knew who had died before he had said a single word - Dumbledore had made that fact very clear during the speech after all - but giving a small memorial to each of them in their own way somehow made it more final.
He found himself wishing as he searched for something to say that someone had thought to hold something like this for Sirius.
"Justin was a character, all right," Ron offered after a moment of silence. "Strong as an ox, really, but he was rather kind most of the time. He could get into the rumour mill a little too strongly, as we found out in second year, but he's not the only one guilty of that."
"There are only three people in this room who aren't guilty of believing rumours," Luna said softly, cutting Ron off without warning. "Harry is often the target of the rumours, and so he wouldn't believe them anyway, and Hermione has never wavered from him in all the time she has known him."
"Who's the third?" Lavender asked, surprised by how astute the odd Looney... er... Luna Lovegood could be sometimes.
"I barely heard the rumours, so I never believed them," she admitted. "But can anyone else say the same?"
Harry spoke up before the silence became uncomfortable. "I don't blame anyone here for that," he said in a whispered voice. "Before last year... before the end of my fourth year and Cedric's death, none of you had any idea who I really was... the real me. Now, more of you know, and more of you question what you hear. Most of you came last year when everyone else thought I was barmy, right?"
"Justin had enough power that he managed to stun Professor Talisien for a good five seconds in one of our classes," Julia said after a second or two had past. "He could never pull it off again, but we could all tell that the Professor was impressed."
"He... he made a stand in the Hufflepuff common room for you, Harry," Susan managed to say, though it was obviously difficult for her. "At the beginning of last year, he said that anyone who had a problem with you had a problem with him, too. He actually challenged several younger students and two seventh years on your behalf."
Not sure what to say to that, Harry closed his eyes and thought of what he could of the large, strong, kind Hufflepuff student. He had no idea he had such a defender in another house...
"Justin Finch-Fletchley," Ron said solemnly, holding up the last piece of parchment. "He was a sixth year student in the noble house of Hufflepuff at this school, a member of the original red team, and could curse anyone and anything blindfolded. He helped in the capture of six Death Eaters before succumbing... and he paid for it with his life."
Harry closed his eyes as he sighed the parchment after it had gone around the room. Each of the pieces of parchment had several tear stains on them, he noticed as he put the last with them. Each also had small messages to the person in question from each of the members of the DA in the room. He took longer to put the lightning bolt seal of the bottom of this parchment, and closed his eyes, setting the magnificent quill Luna had given him down on the table.
"We are fighting a war," he said softly, instantly aware of having everyone's attention. This was the part of the speech he had rehearsed that he had been dreading for quite some time. "A terrible war where you often can't tell ally from enemy. Everyone within these walls, I would trust with my life. I can't promise you that everyone here will live to see the end of the war... I can't even promise you that you'll live to see tomorrow. Voldemort is strong and powerful... but he will fall. All I can promise you is this - if I could die in your places, I would be willing to die a thousand deaths for each of you. I intend to see the end of this war. I can only pray that you will all see it with me."
"We'll be there, mate," Ron promised, holding a hand to his heart.
"Even if he kills us... when he falls in the end, we will be with you, Harry. We will be right behind you," Dean promised as well, holding his hand up to his heart much like Ron had done. Looking around the room, Harry saw that everyone was standing in a similar fashion - a hand covering their hearts.
Closing his eyes so he couldn't see them, he raised his own hand to cover her heart, and felt Hermione's other hand on his shoulder. He reached out blindly for her and caught her around the waist, pulling her to him. "To the end of the war," he whispered.
His toast was repeated by everyone there, even if they couldn't drink to it.
The silence this time was broken by a very unexpected source - a terrible whining sound was coming from the fireplace, as though something was about to explode. Everyone turned in surprise just as loud, booming words in Fred and George's distinct voice echoed through the room.
"Umbridge is a git!"
"A slimy cow!"
"Come on, that's mean to cows!"
The entire group - save Kailyn who really had no idea what that was all about - burst into laughter, and Harry turned to Ron, clapping him on the shoulder. "Nice one, mate. I think we all needed a good laugh after all that..."
"I'm not their brother for nothing, you know," Ron said with a grin. "I can pull a prank or two myself - though apparently I've got nothing on you, given how nicely you popped it to Snape on Halloween."
"That was you?" Cho asked in surprise. "He was after Jon and I for weeks to hunt down the culprit, and he was convinced it was you, but we all saw you sitting at your place at the table!"
"Quite the stun, wasn't it?" Harry asked with a grin.
"I always preferred a nice sapping, myself," Kailyn piped up. At the confused looks cast her way, she giggled - a sound that they hadn't actually heard from her before. "I'll show you some other time... you'll know when it happens! I've got nothing on my grandmother, though. She's got deadly aim with the stuff... never been caught, either."
Harry's mind instantly turned back to the incident in Diagon Alley before school had started with Malfoy, but shook it off as he focused on matters at hand. Reaching into his nearly empty pocket, he pulled out the package of black badges and tossed them to Dean. Taking their cue from his motion, Ron and Neville both withdrew their packs as well at the same time that Harry pulled out the white one.
It was actually Ron who started speaking first. "Most of you probably noticed that I was a bit of a git at the end of last term..."
"A bit?"
He glared around the room, but wasn't sure who had spoken, so he couldn't reply properly. Instead, he ran a hand through his red hair slowly and laughed at himself before going on. "Yeah, alright, maybe more than just a bit. Anyway, my point is that I could give my opinion on the teams that our magnificent leader..."
"Ron..." Harry warned, causing a few of them to crack grins.
"Yes, our very own Harry Potter, overlooked a couple of key strategic points when he randomly assigned the teams. And, given our recent... losses..." All laughter drained from his voice as he paused on that word before going on with as much enthusiasm as before. "We redesigned the teams a bit. There are no only four teams, and we're leaving it at that."
"Over the holidays, Dumbledore sent me a package of badges to pass out to the members of the club - I'm not sure if he wants to boost morale for us or be able to tell who each of us are, but that's besides the point. Although we are sort of operating outside of the school rules... in a sense, given how all the teachers know about us anyway... we will not get in trouble for being marked like this. I think it's a great idea myself."
"So who are the new teams?" Cho asked. "And I assume those with the badges right now are the leaders?"
"Yup, and you are a second," Harry told her.
She nodded and looked to the fireplace. She looked a little more haunted than she had earlier in the year. "That makes sense. I couldn't lead right now anyway..."
"Right... Gin, you, Kailyn, and Colin are with me," Ron said, turning to his sister. "I'm putting you in second... just in case something happens to me, got it? Just don't get any ideas about testing out our brothers' products to get rid of me, alright?"
"Wouldn't dream of it, Ron..." Ginny said with a grin and a sparkle in her eye that betrayed her actual thoughts on the matter. Both laughed as Ron tossed the badges to the appropriate people.
"We're the green team," he explained to both Kailyn and Colin as they came a little closer to him. "The badges give your part of the team, and are obviously in colour..."
"That is rather obvious," Kailyn said dryly, holding up the green badge as she took a close look at it. It looked to her almost like a leaf of some sort, though it was rather stylized, which made it a little harder to identify. All she could guess at was an oak leaf, and thought it made sense - given the strength of oaks in the forests. She pinned her badge that had the word Protection written on it to her green forest blouse - she hadn't pulled on her robes that evening before slipping out for the meeting.
"You're my second, Cho," Dean offered. "Susan and Pavarti are with us as well," he added as he tossed the badges to the appropriate people. "We're the black team."
"Fine with me," Susan said, clipping her badge to her robes. Because of the colour of the school robes, the black was a bit hard to see, save for the fact that it shone when light touched it. The black badge was a perfect circle, and had a faded circle drawn in the centre of it. Her's had Counter Curse written on it, and she could plainly see the Second/Charm written on Cho's without looking too hard.
"Right," Neville said once silence had fallen in the room again. "I've got the big team of five... guess that means we'll have the tough stuff to handle when it comes down to it. Luna, you're my second on the blue team. Lavender, I need you for your healing and protection spells, and Julia, Terry," he said, looking to both of them. "You're both with me too. Julia's on charms... Terry, we're giving you a mix to work with. Harry felt you were up to it, if you were willing."
"I wouldn't let the team down," Terry said as he gravely accepted the badge. It was a medium blue - it reminded him almost of a dark sapphire - and was in the shape of a drop of water. There was a slight shine to the badge, and he could plainly see Any written on his. It was short and to the point. He pinned it to his robes as well, glad to be a part of it all. He felt Julia squeeze his shoulder, thanking him for trusting her enough to have her join as well. He was just happy having her close by - he didn't really want her to go anywhere to fight, but if it had to happen, she might as well be well trained for it...
"Denis, Padma..." Harry said, looking to both of them as he passed the Second/Protection badge to Hermione. "You're with Hermione and I on the white team. I'll be leading you."
Denis seemed almost in awe as he took his badge, but Padma was a little more down to earth about it. "Thanks, Harry. You too, Hermione. I won't let you down... and neither will this twerp," she added, swatting Denis in the back of the head to bring him back to the real world. "Don't go acting like you and your brother used to now..."
"I just didn't think I was good enough to be on your team, Harry..."
"I said it earlier, and I'll say it again. I would trust anyone in this room with my life."
Hermione could only smile as she watched Harry actually accept his role as the leader of the group. He had accepted to teacher them before... it was only now that he was actually agreeing to lead them. The lightning bolt shape of the white badge made perfect sense to her, and she was glad that it stood out so vividly against both the black of the school robes and the green of the elven cloak.
Before anything else could be said in the room, a small chime went off from the desk, and Harry looked to it in surprise. "I didn't think we had been in here for that long already..." he said mostly to himself. With a shrug, he turned back to everyone else. "That's time for this evening. Any later, and we'll be risking a lot of trouble with teachers and Filch." He then smiled to them. "I'm glad everyone here managed to make it back... and I hope our service helped those who didn't rest in the peace they deserve."
To his surprise, Hermione took Ron and Luna by either arm before he could move to say anything to her. At his questioning look, she motioned to Kailyn, who had taken a step back and drawn both of her short swords.
"Right... I'll catch up with you later, alright `Mione?" he asked with a grin, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek - ignoring Ron's pretend vomiting - and turning back to the half elf standing before him. "Take care everyone... you'll know when the next meeting it. Watch the coins."
"As always," came the reply as the door opened and everyone filed out. Once it was only himself and Kailyn in the room, Harry pushed back his cloak to reveal his wands and dagger. In a fluent motion, he pulled out his dagger and leapt forward to attack, watching her collarbone as he remembered her driving into his mind before the Christmas holiday.
She met his attack easily and spun out of the way, but didn't attack his exposed back. Instead, she practically danced backwards, working on mostly her toes - though half the time it didn't look like her feet were touching the ground at all when she moved.
Harry turned and raised his dagger into a move defensive position as Kailyn finally started to attack. He blocked the first sword easily - it was a direct attack, and simple enough to knock aside - but the second one was a little harder. He had to push off with his legs hard to leap out of the way, was the tearing sound of his robes where she managed to catch him told him he wasn't quite fast enough. Although he wasn't injured, it had been a close call.
This changed things. She had never tried to hurt him in lessons before.
Rather than allow another attack to come which could leave him injured, he decided to try and force his hand again. He came is fast and low, catching the sword in her left hand on purpose to try and force her off balance. Like the earlier time, she flitted out of reach almost instant, and then stopped.
The fact that she almost never stopped in the middle of a lesson meant this caught him off guard. The half elf didn't attack, however. Instead, she lifted one foot up and tapped the bottom of it with the flat of one of her swords. She then repeated the process for the other one. As soon as both feet were on the ground again, she lifted off it in another attack.
Knowing that he really had little chance of blocking both swords with her moving so quickly, he darted closer to her, parrying one of the two weapons aside with his dagger and twisting it around to continue his counter attack. The other blade continued in, but Harry caught her arm with his own forearm, stopping the descent a bit sooner than she appeared to have expected. It didn't faze her by much, though. Instead, she flitted backwards again and did the same thing - tapping the bottoms of both feet before attacking again.
The third time this happened, Harry actually started to think about what she was trying to tell him. They had had silent lessons before where she only taught by example... so what was it about the bottom of his feet that needed changing? He watched carefully as she came in, actually taking his eyes off her collar to look further down, trailing down to her feet quickly to find that she was moving on the balls of her feet - on her toes. She wasn't flat footed like he was (he had assumed it provided a firmer stance and better balance), but was almost on her toes.
He tried it experimentally at first. He was a bit less balanced, but he could move a lot faster than he could have hoped for before. When he started moving more naturally up on his toes like she had wanted him to, she smiled and backed away as she sheathed her swords with a small bow.
Harry returned the bow as he sheathed his dagger, and then reached into his cloak to pull out a small box, only to find that Kailyn had done the same thing. "I knew that these holidays were special to most humans," she said with a grin to him. "Grandfather told me so. You often exchange gifts, right?"
"Yeah, among other things. Spending time together is something else that the holidays are good for..."
"Could I give you my gift to you, then?"
Harry smiled and nodded as he held out his box to her at the same time. "Only it you'll accept this," he said as they traded parcels. "My gift to you, that's all," he explained needlessly.
They both unwrapped the boxes at the same time to find that they had similar ideas - Kailyn had picked up some elven candies for Harry, and he had gotten her some wizarding ones for her (a few boxes of chocolate frogs, some ice mice, a couple of bags of Every Flavour Beans...).
"I guess you told everyone on your birthday that I gave you candy then, right?" she asked with a laugh as one of her ice mice squeaked when she popped it into her mouth and shivered. "Now you'll at least be able to try some. I'd be careful of the red ones, though. They're great for warming you up on a cold day... but not so great if you are already nice and warm. Tends to lead to some... well, let's just say you don't want to imitate a dragon, right?"
"Thanks, Kailyn," Harry said with a laugh of his own. "I'll enjoy them... but I'll be careful of those ones."
"You could just call me Kai you know..." she said as they left the room together. "Most of my friends back home did, anyway."
"Do you miss it? The forest, I mean..."
"Sometimes," she admitted. "It's hard not living there not after being surrounded by nature for so many years. Remember, I may look eleven, but I've been around for a fair bit longer than that."
"How long is that, anyway?"
"You'll have to come to my birthday party over the summer to find out," she said with a grin. "Now c'mon... I'll race you to the common room!"
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"Ya know, I should hit you for doing that to Hermione," Ron said casually as Harry entered the dorm room after getting back from his lesson. Willow was right at his heels, and Ron looked down to the cat with a grin as he waited for his words to sink in.
"Doing what?"
"Spending all that time with another girl," Ron said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You know... Kailyn?"
"Oh, that," Harry said dismissively as he striped off his robes and sat on the bed. Once Willow was in his lap, he started stroking her back - pretending that she was an actual animal and not his girlfriend sneaking in. "She knows about the lessons, don't worry."
"Does she like it when you do that?" Ron asked, motioning to Willow.
Harry frowned and looked down. He had never asked Hermione about it, but she seemed content to sit in his lap and be stroked at the two talked. "I guess. I never asked her."
"You should. I can't see Hermione being too pleased with you if you don't." The bottom dropped out of Harry's stomach before Ron had a chance to go on, still grinning madly. "She's partial to her Crookshanks, isn't she? I reckon she'd be upset if you were mistreating Willow. Speaking of which, how does that orange ball of fur feel about all this?"
"Crookshanks is happy, actually," Harry said instantly. He had spoken to the half kneazle about it while still at Grimmauld place, so that he knew without question. Even when he ended up sleeping alone, he was alright - he never really was alone at Hogwarts anyway with all the other girls in the dorm room. "Why?"
"Don't reckon he's jealous or anything?"
"He said he was fine."
"Alright, alright, no need to blast me or anything," Ron said defensively. "Night Harry. Say goodnight to Hermione for me if you see her later." He then poked the curtain around Neville's bed, causing it to ripple. Given that they had all taken to using silencing charms around their beds, it was one of the only ways for them to get each other's attention once the curtains were drawn.
"Yeah?"
"Thought I'd let you know Harry's back," he said, motioning over to them. It was probably the fact that Harry was tired, but he would have sworn that the two were laughing at him about something.
Unable to figure it out, he shook his head as he pulled the curtains back around both him and Hermione - and she changed into herself almost instantly. To Harry's great surprise, rather than just cuddle up like she had the night before, this time she launched herself at him, capturing his lips with her own and pressing herself right up against him.
Once he found himself flat on his back with her on top of him - her hands roaming up and down his bare chest, driving him more than a little crazy in the process, she finally relinquished his lips for a brief moment.
*You had your hands all over me a minute ago...* she breathed heavily into his ear. *And now I really want to return the favour...*
*Fine by me,* he purred back into her own ear before turning her head to capture her lips on his own this time. Whatever had been bothering him earlier was barely a memory now.
He had no recollection of when they fell asleep, but he really didn't care, either. All he knew was that he was happy, and so was his `Mione. Very happy, despite the difficult evening that they had faced earlier.
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Well, I did warn you that it would be a touch darker than usual - I hope everyone liked it anyway. It was quite necessary, after all. There won't be another service like this until possibly the end of the book, if even then, so don't worry. The next chapter, Harry gets some words of advice from the Wanderer, and the DA is put on edge with some rather disturbing news.
There are a few happy times in the future... sadly, none of them will last for long. Sorry.
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Until the sun sets upon a broken world, I'll be here - watching from within…
The Shadows
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