Well, as a thank you for the overwhelming response I received for the last chapter - the record number of reviews I've received for any chapter at 48! - I decided to post this chapter now. Yes, there will still be an update this coming Thursday as well, but I did want to say thanks. The reviews really do help!
Hopefully everyone will enjoy this chapter... I know I liked writing it. In it, Harry meets a little bird, manages to perfect his animagus form, finds out exactly what that note was all about - as well as all the wierd things he noticed last chapter - and then finds out that Snape is up to something again. Oh, and there's a nice little flight around the lake, too.
I hope you all enjoy, and please let me know what you think!
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Chapter Thirty Three: Willow and Tor
Two days later found Harry walking towards the Forbidden Forest alone and completely silent. Hermione was doing something as a prefect - he hadn't really caught what, but given that she was gone after telling him, he figured it hadn't really mattered. She just had to deal with it, and he understood that.
The grounds were quite warm, considering the day, and a gentle breeze rustled the branches of the trees the deeper he stepped into the woods. A month ago - even three days ago, really - he would have been worried about walking into the forest and making too much noise, being caught by something vicious...
Now, however, he barely made a sound even as he walked over the brittle twigs on the ground. The sun was slowly disappearing through the canopy above, and he felt almost as though his worries were disappearing with it.
The previous night had been a wonderful one, with Hermione cuddling up next to him again and the two just talking to each other... something they hadn't truly done for quite some time, in his mind. Everyone said that they could say more with just a glance than anyone else, but nothing really makes up for full words. She was getting ready to prepare a studying schedule for the two of them, and was going to offer to make Ron's again as usual as well - she wasn't just going to do it, though, out of respect for Luna. Maybe she would convince Ron to actually study properly...
Harry doubted anyone had that much power.
He had also let her hold his dagger, like Talisien had suggested, which had opened their minds to each other again. He didn't have to fear looking her in the eye anymore when he was angry - he knew she would try to take away some of that emotion again now, and it was safe to do so again. He had been especially worried that he might invade her mind again by mistake just by meeting her eyes ever since it had happened over the holidays, so that was a great relief for him.
As he took a seat on the forest floor beneath a large oak tree - so large that he couldn't have wrapped his arms even halfway around it if he tried - he realised that things really were seeming to calm down. He no longer felt as bad about the prophecy dragging him down, now that those who had fought for it last year knew the full truth about it. He had seen all of them relaxing over the past few weeks as well... in fact, if he thought about it, the entire term since they had returned from holidays.
`They must have seen that I was trying to relax, and thought it would help them, too,' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. Talisien really was right - despite the odd sounds every now and then, the forest was rather peaceful. While he did love his friends, a bit of solitude every now and then really helped as well.
*Hello, Harry.* He started suddenly and looked up quickly to find a small brown bird with a white breast sitting on a branch, chirping at him. *Didn't mean to startle you, sorry.*
*You know my name, do you?* he asked, regaining his wits a little. Even though he knew he could talk literally any language on the planet didn't mean he was used to it by any means. *Am I that famous in the woods, too?* he added sarcastically.
*Not really, no,* the small bird replied. It seemed to puff it's wings up a bit before settling down again to look to him once more. *But the Wanderer does mention you from time to time.*
Harry could only nod at that news. He hadn't expected the elf to be able to talk with the animals on quite the same level that he could. *You're a nightingale, aren't you?*
If it were possible for a bird to look startled without actually taking flight, then Harry wouldn't have known before that moment. *How did you know that? You don't learn that type of thing in the school, do you?*
*No,* Harry admitted. *But I guess some things like that just come to me now, given what I can do.*
*What you can do?*
*Yeah,* Harry said with a shrug. *Or did you think all humans could talk with birds?*
*You are the first human I have tried to talk to like this, actually,* the nightingale admitted. *So, point of fact, I didn't consider it.*
*Oh.* It didn't seem like quite the right thing to say, but nothing else really did, either. He had assumed that Hagrid would have at least tried to speak to most of the animals in the Forbidden Forest - though to be honest, Harry suspected that the small bird wasn't dangerous enough to capture his half-giant friend's attention in the slightest. *When you sing, do you sing words, or notes?*
*What makes you think I sing at all, Harry?*
*Don't all nightingale's sing? Isn't that, you know... part of being a nightingale?*
The bird spread her wings and flew down to land on Harry's knee - a bold move from such a normally timid animal if he had ever seen one. *I don't know if I use words or not, actually. Do you want to find out?*
*I wouldn't mind a song right now, truth be told,* Harry said after a moment of thought. The forest was already relatively relaxing, but a song would only increase that.
He pulled his hood down just as the pleasantly warm notes started to sound through the otherwise still evening air. He was sure that the sun was starting to set by now, but he couldn't force himself to care about that as the notes surrounded him, enveloping his hearing, his sight, his mind. While he had suspected that a bird's song would be shrill and irritating - especially up close like he was now - the nightingale's voice was incredible. He wondered if it was magical or not, but again, couldn't force himself to care.
He had felt this way before... Hermione's embrace had a similar effect on him, but he rarely simply accepted it without thought. He was still more apprehensive about physical interactions than he could admit to her, though he suspected she understood that anyway. She understood him so well, he didn't really have to worry about it.
This was different, though. While he knew that he would have preferred Hermione's arms to wrap about him without a care in the world, the music was just about as good, and he felt his mind starting to simply let go.
When the notes finally died down, he had to force his eyes open - he would have been much happier if the small bird had simply started to sing again, but he didn't want to voice that. He was surprised, however, to see that the nightingale was hoping from one tiny little foot to the other and looking at him anxiously.
*That sounded wonderful, little girl,* he said with a smile. Now that the music had stopped, a sudden thought came to him, an idea that he didn't want wasted. *Do you know why I came to the forest this time?*
*You needed to relax, right?*
He looked at the tiny bird in surprise. *Just how much did Talisien tell the forest about me, anyway?* He shook his head before the bird could reply. *Never mind. Anyway, you're right, that's why I came. Being here, coupled with that song, actually helped quite a bit. The fact that I'll be returning to my mate shortly helps, too.*
*Mate?* The small nightingale looked almost shocked at that - and a shocked nightingale was enough to make Harry grin broadly.
*Sorry, that's the term that Talisien and his granddaughter keep using. Hermione, my girlfriend. She's... well, she's not my mate yet, I'll put it that way, but one day...*
*She's very lucky, isn't she?*
*I think I'm the lucky one to have found her, actually.* He then shook his head again, trying to get back to the point he was trying to make earlier. *There's something I want to try, but I don't want to frighten you. Is there any chance that you could...*
*I don't wish to leave just yet, if that's okay,* the nightingale interrupted him, much to his surprise. *But I will return to the tree branch to watch.*
Once the bird had settled again, Harry closed his eyes carefully. With his worries washed away by the song of the nightingale and the fact that he'd be seeing Hermione again very soon, he felt a tremendous calm wash over him as he took a deep breath. Focusing his energy inward, the rush of power caught him completely off guard.
When he opened his eyes again, everything looked different. Well, not so much different, really, but he was seeing everything from a different angle. He lifted a hand to his face, and found instantly that he had a paw rather than a hand.
Where Harry Potter had been sitting moments earlier sat a large, beautiful animal with rich grey fur that was mottled with black splotches. He was actually taller sitting down in his new form than he had been when sitting down as a human - given that sitting down to a cat was essentially just sitting on your haunches, leaving your head and shoulders almost right where they were when standing - and Harry was a big feline.
Testing out muscles that he didn't understand at all allowed an odd blue glow to overtake the small clearing as his wings shimmered into existence and he beat them slowly and powerfully. Even though there wasn't really enough room for his nearly eight foot wingspan, the vibrant blue wings easily passed clear through all obstacles in their paths, letting him lift off the ground by a few feet before he started to slow down again to land.
He landed all in a heap, and he had the distinct impression that the nightingale was laughing at him. Looking up at the small bird, he bared his fangs at her in a growl. *Impressive, Harry,* the bird chirped to him. *It looks like you have your form down pat now.*
Instantly, on a simple thought, Harry returned to his human form. The first thing he did once he was sitting again was to check his side for his wands and dagger. Both were still there without question - a fact that meant a lot to him.
He then grinned. He had perfected his lyra form. He was now officially an full fledged animagi. That could only mean one thing.
Hermione had to tell him his nickname now!
*I'll see you again, little nightingale,* Harry whistled to her as he changed back into the massive feline and started through the forest at an impressively fast rate - much faster than he could have managed normally, anyway. *I've got to go find `Mione!*
The moment he burst free from the Forbidden Forest, he leapt into the air to change back into himself again. He wasn't expecting the momentum, however, and as his feet hit the ground running, he stumbled and flipped over, landing hard on his front.
Groaning, he pushed himself up to find himself eye to eye suddenly with a brown haired kneazle with deep cinnamon earth eyes. *That could have been done with a bit more grace, I imagine,* Hermione purred to him in her laughing tone. It hadn't taken long for him to identify that, although feline creatures couldn't actually laugh - it often sounded more like a sneeze if they tried - the tone in their voices would say alot. *In a hurry, were you?*
*Mione, I was just trying to get back to the castle so I could show you something!* He then paused and sat up, letting Willow jump into his lap - a somewhat common position to find the two of them in from time to time. *First, how were your rounds? You seem to be having a lot more this year than last year, are they doing any good?*
*You could say that,* she purred, snuggling into his warmth. While there wasn't any snow on the ground and the breeze was a gentle, warm one, it was still the beginning of February. *What's your news?*
He grinned and started petting her carefully, enjoying the sensation of her relaxing in his lap because of it. *What nickname are you giving me, Willow?*
*I thought `Willow' told you earlier - I'm not telling you until you have perfected your form...* she trailed off and leapt from his lap in an instant, turning to face him quickly. He had to hand it to her - as a kneazle, she had the behaviour down rather well. *Did you manage it?*
Rather than answer in words, he rolled backwards and changed at the same time, ending up in his lyra form in a crouch, looking as though he was ready to pounce. *Thanks to thoughts of you, some advice from Talisien, and a little nightingale,* he said proudly. *I was starting to think it would never happen.*
To his surprise, Hermione changed back to herself rather than stay in her kneazle form and knelt beside him. The feeling of her arms around his broad feline shoulders was quite different from a normal hug, but he couldn't say it was a bad thing, either. "C'mon," she suggested, standing and starting towards the lake. "I'll tell you your nickname - complete with explanation - on a walk around the lake, alright?"
"Isn't it almost curfew now, though?" Harry asked, surprised at the English passing his new mouth. He had fully expected to answer in kneazle instead, truth be told.
"Just this once, I think we'll be alright. Besides," she added, reaching into a pocket of her robes and withdrawing just a small piece of a shimmering fabric. "I came prepared, just in case."
When Hermione started walking towards the lake, Harry decided to simply trot alongside her in his animal form, rather than change back right away. Now that he had figured it out properly, he wanted to enjoy it for a little while at least before it was time to hide it from the world again.
"I'm quite proud of you, by the way," Hermione started slowly. She then looked down to her feline companion. "I knew you could do it eventually, of course, but I didn't know when. Good job."
"Thanks," Harry said with as much of a grin as he could muster. He'd have to read up on proper lyra behaviour... if such a thing had ever been recorded. Otherwise, he assumed that leopard would be just as good - unless he spread his wings, that's what he looked like after all.
"Anyway, you know that I did some research into the elven histories, right?" she asked. Not giving him a chance to reply, since she knew he did know, she went on quickly. "I looked into Talisien's family line as well, just because I was curious, and found something that's simply amazing - it would make Hagrid weak at the knees, I think."
"What, was there a dragon tamer in the batch?" Harry asked sarcastically. "Or a tamer of something even more dangerous?" He had to turn around and trot back to her when he noticed that she had stopped walking suddenly. "What?"
"How did you know that?"
"I didn't," Harry admitted. "But that's all I could come up with for making Hagrid jealous," he added before sitting in front of her, keeping his head up just a foot and a half below hers. He was being very careful not to look straight ahead, however, given where his head level ended up on her. "What, you mean there was a dragon tamer?"
"Close enough," she replied as she started walking again. "A dragonrider, actually. The last one in history - he could speak with dragons, and was the rider of two separate dragons - one called a green dragon, the other a white one. I can only assume that they didn't have different names for the breeds of dragons back then like we do now. The only problem is that there isn't a breed of white dragon..."
"Let me guess," Harry said as dryly as he could manage. "You read into dragons too, once you found out that bit of information."
"Of course," she said as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "Thing is, there's almost no mention of any breed of dragon that's even close to white. That's not to say there aren't mentions of a legend surrounding such a breed, but none have ever been found to date."
"So what does this have to do with the name you've picked out for me?"
He was forced to stop moving and simply purr into her hand when she started scratching behind his ears. Once she stopped, he found himself longing for her touch again, but forced himself to look around. They had walked about halfway around the lake, and had a perfect view of the castle now.
"I'm getting to that, don't worry," she promised. "Anyway, an elf by the name of Noyad - that's of Oak, by the way, in case that wasn't obvious - was the last dragonrider, like I said. After his first dragon was killed, another dragon offered himself to him - the white dragon."
"And?"
"And... I thought I'd use the name of that dragon. How's Tor sound to you?"
"How was Noyad related to Talisien, anyway?" Harry asked rather than reply to her question right away. "Not his grandfather, by any chance, was he?"
"Actually, yes," Hermione said, surprised again by his guess. "He was a hero of the Ancient War - he lead the resistance to victory. He was a better leader than any could have hoped for, and..."
"Was a psychopath, willing and able to kill any and all who got in his way," Harry finished for her. The look on her face told him that that wasn't what she was going to say at all, and it was his turn for a bit of history. "Honestly, `Mione, you didn't think he was just a nice guy, great leader, did you?"
"That's what it says in the history books that I could find," she objected. "What makes you say something so horrible about him?"
"Talisien told me," he explained with a shrug. Although he had told Hermione about the talk he had had with the Wanderer, he had left out the story about Talisien's grandfather - it wasn't really something that needed to be spread around, all things considered.
He noticed her biting her lower lip in thought, and closed his maw carefully, deciding not to say anything else until she spoke up. He hated interrupting her studying at the best of times - he knew how important it was to her - and she held that same look this time, too. "Do you want a different name, then? I wasn't trying to name you after anything related to..."
"I can stick with Tor," Harry interrupted her. "I know Noyad's story, but that doesn't mean I'm anything like him."
Hermione sat down beside him and leaned against his strong form. Despite the fact that his wings would go right through her, he still lifted one as though to hold her close to him, and was pleased to see her smile in reaction to the movement.
"Have you tried your wings yet, Tor?" she asked with a grin. "Go flying without a broom or anything?"
Harry shook his head, looking directly at her with his ocean green eyes. If it were possible, she figured that they were even more expressive now than when he was himself. "I didn't want to go flying for the first time without you," he explained easily. Before she could pull away, he changed back into himself to wrap an arm around her and pull her closer into an embrace. "I wanted to share that experience with you, `Mione."
"Honestly, Harry, you know I don't like flying..."
"Are you scared of heights?"
"No, it's just that..." When she trailed off, she actually burrowed a little closer to him. Without warning, he was suddenly holding Willow again instead of Hermione. *I don't like not being in control, and brooms and other flying things are so hard to make listen...*
*I wouldn't let you fall, you know. It would just be a quick flight over the lake, and then we'd set down again,* Harry suggested with a soft mew. *Just once?*
*We wouldn't go too high would we?* she mewed back, looking up plaintively at him. He grinned - he knew that she was in the process of agreeing with him - and she purred as she settled into his lap again. *When you transform again, I'll leap onto your back.*
*You want to fly with me as a kneazle?* Harry asked, surprised. He had figured she'd be more comfortable in her normal form.
*I can dig in with claws if I have to...* The purr was almost so soft that he didn't catch the words that went with it.
*For my sake, then, as well as yours, it will be as smooth a trip as I can make it, okay?*
Without waiting for an answer, he set Willow down carefully and changed back to the large lyra known as Tor. *Ready, my Mia?*
*You always do that, don't you?* she asked as she leapt onto his back. In her animal form, he barely felt her weight at all, and knew he'd have to concentrate a lot to make sure he didn't shift her by mistake.
*Do what?*
*Switch between different names you call me...*
*Sorry,* he said with the best shrug he could pull off in current form. *I'll stick to one if that's what you want.*
*So long as you don't start calling me your queen, I don't mind if you switch every now and then, Harry,* she purred, snuggling into his back - much to his surprise. *My Harry.*
*You got that right,* he said with a sneeze. He had meant to chuckle, but he didn't remember Hermione's experience trying to laugh or giggle as a kneazle. He doubted he'd ever really be able to prevent himself from trying to laugh, though. *You ready?*
*As ready as I'll ever be,* she admitted. He felt a slight poke in his shoulder blades suddenly, and suspected that it could have been her claws. If that were the case, then he shouldn't have been worried about them earlier - he barely felt them.
Standing to all fours was the easy part. Harry then closed his eyes and flexed the muscles for his wings carefully, pulling both out from wherever they stayed hidden, bathing the small area in a brilliant blue glow. With a great push from all of his legs, he started flapping his wings, sensing innately where the air currents that he needed were.
It took almost no time at all to be over fourty feet in the air, at which point he felt Hermione's claws dig in a little deeper. Still, there was not much pain involved, which was just as well. He wanted to be able to concentrate on his flying.
*This is high enough, right Harry?* Hermione asked him from his back.
*For now,* he conceded as he started to fly in a lazy circle around the outside of the lake. Once he had flown about halfway, he faltered slightly at the sudden increase of weight on his back.
"This is alright, isn't it?"
He felt Hermione's legs on his sides and felt her hands tugging at the hair at his neck as she pressed herself against him. If he had been on the ground, he might have noticed how incredible such a feeling was, but in the air, he didn't want to suddenly plummet for losing focus...
After the third time around the lake, Hermione was actually enjoying herself enough not to hold on for dear life. He actually heard her cry out in joy at one stage before clamping her hands over her mouth - night was fully upon them now, and he doubted she wanted to draw attention to themselves.
Of course, his bright blue glowing wings couldn't do that on their own, could they?
Just as they started down again, he felt Hermione lean into him again. "Isn't that a heliopath in the field down there?" she called almost directly into his ear. It wasn't that she was trying to deafen him, but she did want to make sure he heard her.
Looking to where she was pointing, Harry sneezed again suddenly and then shook his head. "Actually, I don't think so," he said, trying to keep the smirk out of his voice. "I believe they tend to like sticking together for the most part. However, it wouldn't surprise me if that was Luna," he admitted.
He was pleasantly surprised when he felt her legs tighten their hold on his sides suddenly. "How did you know that Luna's an animagus?"
That had been one of the last things he had expected to hear, truth be told. "Uh... how do you know?" he countered.
"I asked first."
"She told me that evening we went out to the lake. Now your turn."
"Well..."
Harry stepped onto the ground beside the pillar of flames and folded his wings back up almost at once. The sensation of passing the translucent elements of flight through Hermione was one he doubted he could have explained to anyone, even her, but before he had a chance to ask her to dismount so he could change into a human again, he heard a rather familiar chirping from behind him at the same time as Luna crackled a `good morning.'
*It's evening Luna,* he replied with a crackle - one of the oddest sensations of speech he had encountered to date - before turning his head to find the nightingale he had spoken to earlier in the evening in the Forbidden Forest flying straight towards them rapidly.
*You are simply impossible to catch up with, Harry!*
*I wasn't aware I was being followed, actually,* he chirped dryly - if that were even possible, a fact that didn't really bother him at the moment. Instead, he shook his back slightly to suggest to Hermione to get off him, and felt her transform before seeing her land in front of him as Willow. *Care to answer that question now, `Mione?*
*I'd rather not, but seeing as Ginny's here, too, I doubt it will be too long before Ron and Neville show up too, and it's probably best to explain everything before that happens because then I doubt it will even be possible to be heard above all the noise that is sure to be made over this idea that I had in the beginning of the term and...*
Harry surprised even himself when he put a large paw over Hermione's smaller feline maw, effectively silencing her. He sneezed again - much to his discomfort, having wanted to chuckle at her rambling like normal - and sat back on his haunches. *You do need to breath, `Mione.* He then looked to the nightingale more closely. The tiny bird was perched on the a blade of grass in front of him, looking back and forth between Hermione and himself. *Let me guess,* he chirped. *Since Ron and Neville aren't here, you're Ginny, aren't you?*
A soft pop later left all four of them in their human forms in an instant, and Harry looking from Hermione to Luna, back to Hermione, and then to Ginny before repeating the whole process. He already understood about Luna - she had explained it rather well, after all - but this was a bit much.
"Now, before I try to explain, Harry, you have to understand that I wasn't trying to upset you," Hermione began. He gave her a pointed look that was interrupted by Luna putting a hand softly on his arm, making him look to her quickly instead.
"I am glad to see you managed to relax enough, Harry," she said in her dreamy voice. "As you saw earlier, I managed it as well, though I did succeed almost a week ago now. It was the day after our little talk that I became a full animagus."
"I only did today, if that's any help," Ginny offered. "I was the last of the four of us - we figure it's because of my first year, and all the memories that go along with that," she added as an afterthought. "Which also explains why you took so long compared to the rest of us."
"Can any of you just tell me what's going on?" Harry asked one more time, closing his eyes and running a hand through his midnight hair. Evasiveness was never something he had been particularly fond of, and this was pushing his limits already.
"I... er..." Hermione started before looking away from him. That told him all he needed to know without her saying anything else.
"You trained them?" He didn't expect a reply, but she did nod slowly. "Just the four of them?" Another nod. "And now, the six of us who went to the Ministry last year... the six who know the full story are all animagi?" One more nod. "Alright..." he said slowly, trying to process the information. "When did you do it? And how? Even better, why? Minerva told us under no circumstances were we to reveal that you were an animagus, or teach anyone else, remember? I thought..."
"I was trying to help," Hermione said softly. "And Ron actually caught me while we were still in your home..."
" - our home - "
"Fine, our home. Ron caught me changing from Willow to myself in our home over the holidays. I had to put a full body bind on him to keep him from running to tell everyone all at once. Once we talking it over calmly and rationally..."
" - Which means she kept him fully bound until she had told him the full story about your training," Ginny pointed out. Hermione just glared at her, but didn't contradict her and simply continued the story.
"We decided that I would train the other four who went to the Ministry. We thought it would be a good talent for us all to have, that's all."
Harry nodded slowly, closing his eyes again to try and keep calm. "And you all kept this from me... why?"
"We didn't want you to worry about it," Luna said before Hermione could reply, even though the question was obviously just meant for her. "None of us did."
"Did it ever occur to you, to any of you, that the whole secrecy thing might have been part of why I was having trouble relaxing all the way? That I was worried that..." he trailed off suddenly and looked straight at Hermione.
"Yeah, he knew," she said with a small grin. "He might not have been happy about it, but I convinced him we weren't doing anything that his own mother wouldn't approve of."
*I'm not too sure about that entirely,* Harry purred, well aware that she was the only one who would understand what he said. He went on in English before she could reply. "Neville knew too, didn't he?" he asked, remembering a time near the beginning of term when both Ron and Neville had laughed at him for letting Willow into his bed curtains...
"Ron talked to him about it before I could," she admitted. When he continued to simply look at her, she knew instinctively that he wanted more information. "Well, remember the first night of the DA, how you stayed behind with Kailyn - and no, they didn't know why, by the way. Honestly, don't you remember Ron and Ginny's reaction after that time they saw Kailyn stab you?" When he shrugged, she sighed and kept going. "I told the four others then that I intended to do some secret training with only them, but they couldn't mention it to anyone else, not even you. I didn't want you worrying about me getting in trouble for it."
"And you weren't worried?"
"I think you'll find our Hermione's only worried about one thing these days, and it isn't exactly school," Ginny said with a grin. "Well... that too, but there's something higher in her priorities now."
One look to Hermione again told Harry that he didn't have to ask what that was, and that thought actually brought a hint of rose to his cheeks as well. He knew that she was the most important thing in his life, but he didn't know it necessarily went both ways - even though she had said as much to him before.
"After that initial time, I started telling you that I had to do rounds as a prefect - which was technically true, I just didn't do them. Actually, once Colin and Ginny were both made Prefects too, Colin took almost all the Gryffindor shifts at Ginny's request."
"I'll be making it up to him forever, I'm sure," Ginny said with a grin. "Not that I mind..."
"So, Colin knows, too?"
"Nope," Hermione said instantly. Some part of Harry realised that Luna had changed back into a heliopath and was floating lazily around the group, as though trying to get used to her form. He forced himself not to pay attention to the flames that were singing `Weasley is Our King,' and to keep paying attention to both Hermione and Ginny. "Neither does Lavender - it just took some fancy explaining. We told her it was prefect duties - an easy excuse when we started using Colin, too, though why she never asked how Neville was involved is beyond me. We told Colin it was something for you that we couldn't talk about, and he never pressed the issue."
Harry nodded and pulled back the hood to his cloak - he had barely even realised it was up this time. "Anything else being kept from me?" he asked in a whisper. He understood why they had done it the way they did, but that didn't necessarily help completely.
"Only that I love you with my mind, body, and soul," Hermione promised in a whisper at the same time that Ginny shook her head. "But I think you already know that."
He nodded his head in confirmation, and couldn't keep the smile off his face. "You realise you broke more school rules now than anyone has since the time of my father?"
"It was an even more noble cause than theirs," she said with a grin of her own. While she didn't relish at any chance to break rules, she had learned by then that sometimes, they did need bending beyond limits.
"Nobler?"
"Well, helping a werewolf through the difficult transformation at risk of pain to yourself is rather noble, don't you think?" Hermione asked. "And helping you so you will be able to defeat Voldemort - with us next to you, I'll remind you now! - is even better than that."
"So... we got a name for the group of us, or not?" he asked, a full blown smile on his face now, much to the relief of Hermione and Ginny. "For that matter, do the others have nicknames too?" he asked Hermione directly.
"That's right!" Ginny interrupted before his girlfriend could reply. "Did she tell you your name yet, Harry? I've been dying to know ever since she told us that she has one picked out, but she wouldn't tell us either!"
"Yup, she did," he admitted. "But I'm not telling you what it is either until I learn your names. For that matter, I think we've got to get Ron and Neville down here, too."
Hermione looked up sharply suddenly, and then relaxed again. "No need. They're on their way down from the castle to join us now." Harry didn't ask how she knew this, though Ginny did look at her with some surprise.
The unmistakable sound of Ron and Neville broke the silence that fell moments later - well, silence save for the fire crackling the song that Harry was really starting to hate again, anyway. "So," Ron called once they were close enough to be heard. "Judging from the map, I'm guessing Harry knows now, does he?" He had the `spare bit of parchment' out and waved it in front of him. "Saw the lot of you together," he added.
"And when Ron told me, we both decided to come down to join you."
Without warning, Harry transformed into his lyra form and leapt towards the two of them. Ron seemed to vanish from sight almost instantly, but Neville simply leapt backwards and changed himself, meeting Harry's charge head on.
As he leapt backwards, Harry took a good look at the boy that few people would count as important - to their detriment. He was not an animal that Harry recognised. He was actually larger than a lyra, and had brown shaggy fur. While he almost looked like a dog, he knew that there were no dogs anywhere that were anywhere close to that size - he looked like a cross between a dog and a large bear.
Harry looked up on instinct, just in time to see a hawk barrelling down towards him, talons barred. He leapt back again, and this time, spread his wings wide to take flight on his own. With a powerful spin that he barely understood how he pulled off, he caught the hawk fully with his tail, beating it down to the ground, just as the massive dog leapt into the air, taking him down as well.
When all three had turned back into themselves, they were all laughing despite the apparent abuse. "So, both Weasleys can fly, Neville's a beast, and Luna's a heliopath, right?"
"Right," Hermione agreed. "Though beast isn't the actual name, Neville's a..."
"I an amphicyonid," Neville announced proudly. "Er... that's a bear dog," he said at Harry's blank stare. "Not many muggles believe they even exist anymore - I understand from Hermione's books that they think they're wiped out completely, something they call expint or something."
"Extinct, Neville," Hermione said with a groan.
"And I'm a Buteo jamaicensis!" Ron said with a grin. With another blank stare, he sighed. "Fine, but no laughing. I'm a red-tailed hawk."
"At least you aren't a weasel, right?"
"Good point, mate. At least you aren't a snake."
"Ouch, touché."
"So, what's the latin name for lyra, anyway?" Ron asked. When Harry shrugged, he whirled on Hermione. "Hermione? Didn't you say that..."
"I said that it would be helpful for you to know more about your animal, including the latin name," Hermione interrupted. "I never said you had to memorise every fact about them," she added, looking at Ron, Neville, and Ginny pointedly. "Never mind the fact that you did anyway..."
"But you..."
"So, what's the latin name for nightingale, then?" Harry cut Ron off, preventing the beginning of what was surely an ongoing argument between his two closest friends.
Ginny beamed at him and spread her arms, changing into the small brown and white bird instantly. *It's Luscinia megarhynchos,* she chirped in response, settling on his shoulder and starting a soft song without warning. When Hermione held out a hand to her, the small bird leapt off his shoulder, flapped her wings once, and then perched on Hermione's finger instead to continue.
"That song's part of the reason I managed to become a complete animagus," Harry explained calmly. "I won't get into what else helped, though."
Once the soft song had finished, lulling all five of the others into a sense of calmness as well, Ginny changed back to herself again. "So, Harry, what name did Willow pick out for you?"
"Oi, mate, I've got a few stories to tell you about ribbing her with that name," Ron said with a chuckle. "And I guess I've gotta tell you now that I've known for a while that she's sleeping with you these days."
"Sleeping next to him!" Hermione hissed out in correction, not wanting to shout lest they gather unwanted attention from the school after curfew had long since fallen.
"Didn't I tell you, my angel?" Harry asked with a grin. "I know we've been sleeping together for a long time now, but the others just wouldn't understand the connection we have..." At his failed attempt to muffle his laughter, Hermione just rolled her eyes and slapped his arm lightly.
"Honestly..." she muttered, despite the light dancing in her own eyes.
"Anyway, Hermione did tell me my name, but the rest of you need names, too."
"Taken care of," Ron said right away. "Willow here knows nothing about this part, either, by the way. I'm Talon, Nev here's Prince, my sister's called Gem, and the love of my life - yeah, that's you, you little bundle of flame!" he called when the heliopath stopped circling and shot forward to practically bounce on top of him. Hagrid was right - the flames mostly tickled when a heliopath was calm. "Luna's called Heat."
"So... Prince, Gem, Heat, Talon, Willow, and Tor," Harry said with a nod. "Good collection of names... I think the Marauders would be proud!"
Ron lifted a hand to his heart suddenly - the motion catching Harry completely off guard, coming from his friend who usually joked more than anyone else now that his twin brothers were gone. "May our bonds be truer than theirs."
"They always will be." The fact that Neville, Ginny, Luna, and Hermione all said the same thing at the same time told Harry right away that this was something they had discussed before.
"Right," he said firmly, closing his eyes to hold his emotions at bay. What he had learned that night... the dedication of his friends to his cause... taking that cause as their own... he never would have dreamed for it before. "We still need a name for our group overall."
"Uh, we might have trouble..." Hermione whispered suddenly. "The doors just opened again..." No one asked her how she knew - it was enough that she heard them, given that she had heard Ron and Neville earlier.
In an instant, both Ron and Ginny had transformed into their bird counterparts, and Neville had changed to his bear dog form and was already bounding towards the lake to lie along the shore. Hermione pulled out the cloak at the same time that Luna turned into herself again, and the three who were left threw the invisibility cloak over themselves.
*Gem, can you find out who it is and what's going on?* Harry chirped as softly as he could to her. She was small enough as Gem to easily eavesdrop without worrying about being caught for being out of place - a nightingale was perfectly natural along the edge of the forest, after all.
*I'm on it,* she promised as she flew towards the castle, disappearing into the night almost at once.
"Now, we just sit here and wait," Harry whispered, easing all three of them into sitting positions on the ground.
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"Ug," Ginny groaned as she leaned into the door for the Room of Requirement almost four hours later, closing it quietly behind her. "I swear, that git lives to prowl the halls..."
Harry was the only one who was still awake in the room, to her surprise. Hermione was leaning against him in the chair - the Room had provided a small study area this time - and Ron and Luna were both asleep on the couch. Neville was lying in front of the fireplace, as though he had been leaning back while talking before sleep had taken him.
"That git being Snape, right?" Harry asked in a hushed voice.
"Yeah." She walked over to the last empty chair and sunk into it slowly. Flying around as a bird for several hours was certainly more tiring than she had anticipated earlier. "He was the one who came out when Willow heard someone. How'd she hear that, anyway?"
"She's a kneazle animagus," Harry explained easily. "So she has their sense of hearing, as well as the ability to discern truth and lies. And I can talk any language - even those of animals - without even thinking about it."
"Magical animagi inherit more abilities, don't they?" she asked with a grin. "I think all that changed for me is that my singing voice might have improved, but I'll find out tomorrow morning if I end up taking a shower. I won't subject you with it just yet."
"Thanks."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry nudged Hermione to wake her at the same time as he poked Neville with his foot. Ginny woke Ron and Luna easily enough, though they all stayed as quiet as possible, not wanting to attract attention just in case a teacher happened to walk passed the door outside.
"So, what was going on?"
"Nothing good, I'm afraid," Ginny admitted. "Though they didn't notice me at all - one of the reasons I wanted a small form, actually. It worked quite well, but I did have to sing once to make them believe I was a real nightingale."
"They?" Ron picked up. "So Snape wasn't alone, then?"
"He came down from the castle alone, but he met someone - I think his name was Antonin, but Snape only said it once, so I might have gotten that wrong," she said slowly.
Hermione shivered subconsciously and nuzzled a little closer to Harry. "No, I'm sure you didn't get it wrong. Antonin Dolohov, one of Voldemort's Death Eaters."
"Hey, isn't he the one who..." Ron's question was cut off when Luna's fingers were suddenly in his mouth, and he had to pull back to keep from choking. "What's the big idea?" he asked in surprise, looking to her.
"I don't believe your question needed asking, Talon, as it was only going to upset Willow," Luna said with a smile. "And I thought that would be most effective in stopping you."
"You could have just put your hand over my mouth," he mumbled, but everyone else ignored him.
"Well, they were talking about some sort of operation, though it sounded like Snape was trying to get more information out of Dolohov than anything else," Ginny explained, using the Death Eater's last name as they usually did. "Almost as though he doesn't have all the facts about it himself."
"He probably doesn't," Neville pointed out before Harry or Hermione could say anything. "Voldemort wouldn't tell him everything, given how he's right under Dumbledore's nose, would he?"
"So you're saying that Snape was trying to get the information so he could warn the Order about it?"
"Or at least try to stop some of it, yeah."
"That's what it sounded like to me, too," Ginny continued. "Anyway, the only real points that I got were that the plans were already set in motion, and that nothing could stop them with Dumbledore away at the Ministry with his Wizengamot duties. Snape then asked about Talisien - though he just called him the elf. Asked what should be done about him."
"They're trying to overthrow the school?"
"That's what I thought too, but Dolohov's next words countered that. He said to ensure that the elf stayed in the castle during the trip, so he would be unable to intervene," Ginny countered. "Snape then asked if this was to take place during the next Hogsmeade weekend."
"It is, isn't it?" Hermione asked quickly. "According to the Prophet, the Wizengamot's meeting in two weeks' time - the same time as our next Hogsmeade trip. Our Valentine's Day Hogsmeade trip, meaning almost every student who can go will be heading down."
"Dolohov wouldn't answer," Ginny said with a sigh, brushing her long red hair out of her face as she leaned back in her chair. "I thought of Hogsmeade too, but why would they want Talisien kept away from there?"
"Well, he was a Ranger," Harry pointed out. At the confused looks, he looked to Hermione. "Shall you explain, or shall I?"
"Go ahead," she suggested. "I want to hear how Talisien explained it to you."
He nodded and looked back to the others. "A Ranger is basically an elven Auror, though more highly trained. While an Auror's training lasts three years, a Ranger's lasts almost twenty. He didn't say it, but I have no doubt that he was the best the elves have seen in a very long time."
"That's a good enough reason to keep him away from whatever they're planning... but what if it has something to do with the Forbidden Forest?" Neville asked. "That's where Dolohov and Snape met, right? And he is an elf, so..."
"Yeah."
The group fell into silence then before Harry nudged Hermione into standing up so he could do likewise. "Here's my suggestion - we mention this in the next DA meeting, and all be prepared during the Hogsmeade trip. We'll have a couple of teams stay here rather than head down, so they can watch the forest, but the rest of us will be on guard in Hogsmeade."
"We'll have to mix the teams a little, though," Ron said thoughtfully, helping Luna to her feet and then standing himself. "Everyone would expect me to go with Harry and Hermione, and obviously Luna will be with me too."
"The four of us will be one team for the day, then," Luna said firmly before letting out a rather loud yawn. Rather than look abashed by such an action like anyone else would have, she just grinned and shrugged.
"I'll stay here with Lavender," Neville offered. "I'll keep the rest of my team here, actually, and take anyone else who's willing to stay. I doubt Cho will want to stay here, though, so the black team will be going down with you."
"Colin and I'll stay, but it might be a good idea for Terry and Julia to go from your team, Prince," Ginny pointed out. "They would be unlikely not to go down under normal circumstances. I'd like to get down to Hogsmeade, too, but with our homework, I doubt it would be possible anyway. I don't know how you guys managed to stay on top of things will that Umbridge cow around last year," she added, shaking her head in disgust.
"Simple. Umbridge is nothing compared to Willow's nagging," Ron said with a roguish grin, punching Harry lightly in the arm as he passed and opened the door to take Luna back to the Ravenclaw tower. He had just checked the Map before handing it back to Harry. "Oh, and remember, Miss. Prefect - no magic in the halls!" he added as she drew her wand to hex him for the insult, and then he took off, hand in hand with Luna, chuckling quietly.
"Prat," she muttered under her breath as the rest of them headed off to take advantage of what little time remained of the night to sleep.
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And there you have it. The next chapter is entitled Valentine's Day in Hogsmeade, and deals with the plans that they overheard. It is also the chapter where everything starts going wrong, and starts spiralling beyond any of their control.
I hope everyone enjoyed this - like I said before, please let me know what you think!
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Until the sun sets upon a broken world...
The Shadows
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