Unofficial Portkey Archive

This is a rather long prologue, and contains very little description at all, and no dialogue. It is almost purely just events that have already occurred - if you wish to read the full details, then I would suggest reading the prequel to this piece, which is what this prologue covers anyway.

I am aware that the prequel isn't finished yet. This means that the ending of this prologue will be spoilers for the ending of that fic, just so everyone is aware of that. If you'd rather not read them now, I would completely understand, but it is there in brief event description for now, in case you waned to know where I was taking things. This won't be updated immediately - I have to finish the prequel first, and then plan on taking at least a week off before starting this up again - but for now, it's just a teaser, I suppose. Promise of more to come.

I guess I should also mention two more things - I finished writing this Prologue about two hours ago, and haven't put it to the grind wheel yet for mistakes - I'm just hoping there are few for now until I update it later. Secondly... there are spoilers here. I know I said that already, but I thought I'd mention it again. This does contain the full story of Harry Potter and the Wanderer, surprisingly reducing the 600+ pages down to a mere 49... and so will be useful later on as a reminder as to just what took place in Harry's sixth year.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or his world... I'm just borrowing it for a while, that's all. I do own a few concepts, though - such as Talisien, time wolves, Kailyn, and a few other things that I'll mention as they crop up.

Enjoy!

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Last year started oddly enough for Harry Potter, and things only got stranger. The first thing that was different was the appearance of a strange creature in his room called a Time Wolf. Actually, it's name was Rozan, and it was a time wolf, but no matter. This magical creature worked with Harry, forcing him to take action again, rather than wallow in his own feelings of self-deprecation. He strengthened his mind against Voldemort's attacks, and also called Hermione a couple of times over the phone - the Dursley's had been leaving him entirely alone all summer for once. Not only that, but he had received a package from his Headmaster, though he refused to open it, not wanting to trust the kind old man just yet for his so-called mistake. Things were actually looking up for the famous/infamous Boy-Who-Lived. (Chapter One: A Visitor).

Scantly a week later, far away from the Dursley Residence, Hermione was trying to convince Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, to take Harry out of his prison early for once. She was convinced the last thing he needed was to be left alone in a house that he scarcely considered his own.

This fear proved far more accurate than anyone had suspected when she received a frantic phone call from Harry, telling her that Death Eaters were inside his house, trying to kill him! Dumbledore left almost instantly to try and help, but for some reason, he couldn't apparate directly to Number Four Private Drive. Maybe ten minutes later, a young Auror named Nymphadora Tonks apparated into Hermione's front hall to take her to Harry's house, but she came with a warning - it didn't look good.

For his part, Harry was trying his best to survive, and Rozan had just left to go get help, or so he claimed. Just when things looked their worst for the young soon-to-be sixteen year old wizard, a tall man in a dark green cloak suddenly appeared, killing three Death Eaters without so much as batting an eye before turning to Harry and calmly telling him to pack his things that he would need for school. The man then grabbed hold of Harry's shoulder and they vanished.

When Harry came to a couple of days later, he was told that he was in the forest of the elves, called Noyadin. He had been rescued by one Rozan had told him about called the Wanderer. This elf was also to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts for the coming year. While in the forest, he met a young half elf named Kailyn who was starting at Hogwarts in the coming year. Once he had recovered from his shock, Harry found himself enjoying his time with the elves - though he was concerned about what his friends were thinking, giving that he suspected they knew about the attacks by now! And, no matter what else, his mind kept going back to Hermione...

On the young witch's end, things were looking quite bad. The Dursley residence was completely destroyed, though no one questioned where the owners actually were, they were more concerned with Harry's whereabouts. Just when things were looking their darkest and almost all hope was lost, an elf appeared at Hermione's shoulder to tell her what had happened to Harry. Surrounded by the rest of their friends by now, this was the best news any of them could have hoped for. (Chapter Two: Family Protections).

It was only a couple of days before Harry's birthday that he found himself in Diagon Alley again, back amongst other wizards and not the elves. He was brought there by the Queen of Noyadin, Fey Rowan, who was also the wife of the new professor that he had hardly met even still. After she brought him to an odd store he had never seen before, he found that she was planning on repairing both his two way mirror and extending his invisibility cloak - which was just as well, given how he had grown over the past few years.

Meeting up with Fred and George outside their joke shop was the next thing Harry really thought about, but before he could introduce them to Fey, she had vanished without a trace. After telling the Weasley twins about what had happened to him, they wished him the best of luck reaching Flourish and Blott's bookstore, where his other friends were currently picking up their books for the new year.

Apparently, he was a sought after wizard now, and everyone wanted to meet him, shake his hand, or even more than that! He was quite thankful that he knew how to run, and made it inside without incident - only to be engulfed in a massive hug from Hermione without any warning!

She wasn't alone, either. Ron and Ginny Weasley, and - surprisingly - Luna Lovegood were there as well, and he found out his OWL scores pretty quickly. He also found out that Ron and Luna had done quite well as well, and Hermione had excelled as he knew she would. Of course, he had known that beforehand thanks to Rozan, but hadn't told anyone exactly what he had known... He knew questioned the fact that Luna, a fifth year student this coming year, had written the OWLs last year...

Upon leaving the bookstore, the company was accosted by Draco Malfoy and his cronies. Practically ignoring them seemed like the best idea at the time, but when he turned his back on them, the three tried to curse Harry. He immediately cast a shielding charm - Protego! - but there wasn't any need... somehow, the three Slytherin students had been plastered to the wall with tree sap.

Once picking up the rest of his books with Hermione - actually, it was an excuse to talk to her alone to find out what the others knew about the phone conversations they had had - he found out, to his dread, that they were all to head back to the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix - Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. His late godfather's house... (Chapter Three: Chance Meetings).

Arriving at Grimmauld Place brought mixed feelings to Harry, though only Hermione seemed to really notice. Although originally, he had intended on telling the rest of his friends - at least, those who were staying under the same roof, namely Ron, Ginny, and Luna, as Hermione already knew - about what had happened to him immediately, the sound of growling coming from Sirius's old study caused him to falter and flee.

Upstairs, Harry and Hermione - who had run with him - found Rozan waiting for them. While Harry spoke to him about the elven forest, Rozan spoke into Hermione's mind, asking her to help keep Harry calm in the coming year, as it was important.

When the others made it upstairs as well, the time wolf was gone, and he set about explaining just what had happened to him. With the story finished, Hermione asked him about elven culture, effectively clearing the room of all but each other, as was her intention. She wanted to know why he had continued to apologise as the last thing he had done over the phone to her in each conversation.

Harry snapped, and yelled at her about how stupid he had been, how he had almost gotten her killed, and how much he missed Sirius. When she tried to comfort him, he laughed bitterly, telling her that she couldn't possibly understand. Before either had a chance to register what had just happened, Harry heard some movement downstairs, and they raced to the top of the stairs to get the first real look at their new professor, who startled Hermione by telling them the reason for no books being listed for the class - each student would pick their own.

After everyone else was in bed sleeping - or so he thought - Harry found Remus Lupin, his old professor and the last of the true Marauders, sitting in Sirius's study, writing out a letter to the wizarding bank of Gringotts. Apparently, Sirius had left the house they were in to Harry, and had asked Lupin to become Harry's new godfather - a rather unusual practice, changing godparents, as it was usually only parents who could appoint them, but with his own parents dead, Sirius had taken it upon himself to make sure Harry was taken care of.

Harry and Remus had a short talk before the werewolf retired to bed, and then Harry laid down in the middle of the room, trying not to let his emotions overflow. It was only in that moment that he really registered the fact that Sirius was gone, though he still didn't take proper time to grieve for him.

Opening his eyes a short time later, Harry found Luna standing over him. Both remembered the short talk they had about losing loved ones at the end of the previous years, and the odd Ravenclaw reminded Harry that he wasn't alone, and encouraged him to keep moving forward. From the doorway, Hermione saw Luna give Harry the first real hug she had ever given to one not of her family - a fact they don't find out about until the end of the year.

Crushed by what she had seen, Hermione fled back to her room, and found it empty. She had half expected to find Ginny in bed still, but such was the facts. On her desk, however, she found a green letter with a rune stamped on the back, and her name written across the front in flowing letters. On the inside, it just told her not to worry, but gave no more information.

It was then that Harry came to her door to apologise for yelling at her earlier. When Hermione brushed off the apology and said that she was glad Luna could help, Harry hugged her close to him - the first hug he had ever really initiated between them - and thanked her for almost being there for him.

From the time she had entered her room to the time Harry had left, Hermione had come to a very real, very powerful realisation. She was in love with Harry Potter. (Chapter Four: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place).

A few das later, Harry was woken early in the morning by noises from downstairs. Upon investigation, he heard a lot of people in the kitchen, and it sounded distinctly like they were in the middle of decorating. Decorating for a surprise birthday party for him! Before he could leave so as not to ruin the surprise, Mad-Eye Moody commented that he was no longer in his bed, and Hermione burst from the room to find him sitting on the bottom of the stairs, looking more than a little guilty.

As the first birthday party he had ever been given, to say he was taken aback or in shock would have been an understatement. The pile of gifts, as Ron put it, rivaled piles of dragon dung. Only a few really stood out in his mind, however - a promise of the truth from Dumbledore, the fact that he was no longer banned from Quidditch, and expensive Golden Gryffin Quill from Luna were, surprisingly, near the bottom of that list. The teleportation stone from his new Professor, the self activating portkey from Tonks, the set of rings and explanation of an elven custom from Kailyn would all prove to be important later on, but the gift he treasured the most was from Hermione - an ancient book that was thought lost was the gift everyone knew about, but the golden bracelet she gave him in private later meant so much more.

The bracelet was the first part of the elven customs that he had decided on adopting. After explaining the customs to Hermione, involving bracelets for commitment and protection, necklaces for family, and rings for eternal love, he put on her bracelet and kissed her gently, hesitantly. When he stood to leave, she gave him a kiss of her own, and then he left to his room - Sirius's old study - without a word.

Laying in bed that night, Harry pulled out the old two-way mirror and tried to speak to Sirius through it. Even though his dead godfather's face didn't appear, he continued to talk, telling him about the day. Little did he know that Dumbledore had given Hermione the other mirror of the set, and as he had said her name near the beginning of the conversation, she heard almost everything he said.

Including his fears about loving her thanks to the prophecy that hung over his head. (Chapter Five: Birthday Party).

The next morning, Hermione subtly asked him if he regretted anything from the day before. He denied the fact that he might, but said that it was the rest of life he didn't favour especially strongly. She seemed to get the message, but said nothing else. For the rest of the summer, Harry spent almost all his time working on lesson plans for the DA in the new year - Dumbledore had given him permission to keep it going, after all, even if it was to be in private. Hermione helped him on occasion, but it was only during these times that Harry left after a few minutes to take a bit of a fly on his broomstick in the backyard.

He always left, simply because Hermione made him want to stay, and that fact scared him.

Before leaving to Hogwarts, Harry made some mention about Grimmauld Place now being more like a home to him, even moreso than Hogwarts. It was then that Hermione put two and two together, and realised just why the protections around Number Four, Private Drive had failed - he no longer looked at it as a home. While the blood protection was the stronger part of the magic (or magics, as Harry now thought of them), the fact that he detested the place and had at least one true home away from the house he had grown up had caused the protections to fail.

The trip to Hogwarts was enlightening, too. Ron and Hermione were still prefects, and apparently Dumbledore had forgotten to appoint the new fifth year prefects for the year, meaning the sixth and seventh years were going to be a bit tighter stretched this time. When they left, Hermione slipped a bit of parchment into Harry's pocket, which he left to the loo to read in private, leaving Ginny and Luna alone in the compartment.

The note had told Harry that Hermione was aware of the dangers of the two of them being together, but she didn't care. She felt something strong for him, and wanted to try and be closer to him than ever before - in other words, she was asking him to be her boyfriend. The fact that she was asking him and not the other way around went right over Harry's head as he sat there and cried for himself and for Hermione... and for the fact that someone out there actually cared for him as more than just Harry Potter.

Harry returned to the compartment to find Ron and Hermione had returned, and Ron had apparently ordered almost the entire trolly worth of snacks. When Malfoy appeared to insult them, Harry - for once - did his best to ignore the git. Unfortunately, Crookshanks took that time to let his feelings for the Slytherin be clearly known when he leapt on him. Harry rescued the half cat, half kneazle, only to find Malfoy and both his goons now had their wands trained on him.

When Crabbe and Goyle both dropped thanks to quick spellwork from Luna - saying that their smell was getting to her - Malfoy sneered at Harry and Hermione, and said he was glad that he didn't actually kiss the mudblood...

He had no idea what happened next, exactly, save for the fact that Malfoy had been blasted to the other side of the train and crashed into the wall, and was now laying unmoving on the ground. Harry had his wand in his hand, too, something he didn't remember drawing. It took the combined efforts of his friends to calm him down again, but only when he met Hermione's eyes did he really start to relax again.

Kailyn's appearance and asking about the term mudbloods helped further that state as he told her about the insulting term, and she asked about terms for half-breeds, admitting that she was half elven, half human, and the granddaughter of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Once arriving at Hogwarts, most of the school was shocked by the refusal of the Sorting Hat to sing this year - instead, he simply spoke his warning about uniting or falling, and then began the sorting. Halfway through the sorting, however, Rozan the time wolf made his appearance, followed by the introduction of Talisien, the new Professor. No one had any idea how he suddenly appeared in his seat at the staff table, though both Ron and Harry quoted Hermione before she had a chance to make her comment about apparation being impossible. (Chapter Six: Hogwart's Express).

After the feast, Harry was accosted by Ginny and the two beaters from last year, Kirke and Sloper. The two believed Harry was the captain for the year, and Harry had the distinct impression that they had been told as such by the blushing (blushing?) redhead in front of him. He put them out of his mind, however, as he found Hermione waiting for him outside the common room entrance. The two talked briefly, and Harry asked if she minded waiting for him to sort things out first. She agreed - though she wasn't exactly happy about it, she could understand - and told him that she had made up her mind quite some time ago now, even if it was only subconsciously for some time.

Despite everything else, Harry found it amusing that Hermione had set the new password to get into Gryffindor as Voldemort, and vaguely wondered how many of the students would be able to get into their own dorm rooms...

Potions the next day - double potions, in fact - did not go well at all, as was expected. After Harry failed to answer a question about the complex Draught of Stability, he looked to Hermione for help, and could then answer the next question about it, involving the same potion. At the end of class, Snape accused him of using Legilimency against her to get the answers.

To their surprise, Luna was sitting next to Ron at the Gryffindor table when they went to lunch after a rather simple Charms class. They told him about Potions, which sent Ron into a long rant about 'the greasy git,' before Defense Against the Dark Arts could start. It was to be held in the Great Hall, with all students in fifth year and above in the afternoon. Apparently, first through fourth years had it Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Talisien's appearance - and he apparently preferred either Talisien or Professor - caught most off guard, and even sent Ron stumbling to the ground. What was especially intriguing, however, was the fact that he appeared behind Draco Malfoy after being insulted, and took points from his house and insulted the young Slytherin's seeker skills...

After an interesting class involving his plans to split them into skill groups and talking about the difference between magic and magics, the elven teacher apparently vanished, at which point Hermione spoke up about how interesting the class was going to be. Malfoy couldn't help but comment that only a mudblood would enjoy a lecture from an elf - both freaks of nature anyway.

Talisien appeared behind him again, only this time was holding the boy off the ground by his collar, and spoke in a dangerous tone, warning everyone about using the term mudblood, and that it was 25 points from any house who used it in the future that he found out about.

All in all, it was an excellent first day, despite Snape. (Chapter Seven: The Wanderer).

The next morning, Harry took the opportunity to sleep in, as he didn't have class until the afternoon. Neither did Ron, who was waiting for him in the common room for a game of chess - a game that Harry turned down, claiming he didn't like being humiliated in the mornings except by Snape.

The two spoke about Quidditch, where Ron admitted that his dreams from first year had changed, and he no longer really had to be the captain, though he wouldn't mind. Harry warned him that Ginny might have plans to make Harry the captain, but Ron shrugged it off. He also asked Harry when he was planning on starting the DA again, but Harry didn't give a full answer there.

Before they could leave to go to lunch, Lavender caught a glimpse of Harry's two-way mirror, and admitted that she had seen Hermione with a similar one earlier in the year - in fact, she always left it sitting on her night stand. Harry asked if he could see it, and she made some comment about him letting the papers get to his head (sarcasm on her part, as she knew he wouldn't do that), and then went to get the mirror. This proved to Harry that Hermione did, in fact, have the other half of the set, and his mind started wondering just what she had heard thus far...

Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid was that afternoon, and after meeting up with Hermione and getting lunch, the three went down to his cabin early, only to find the half giant missing. Instead, they spoke with Rozan briefly, and the time wolf invited Hermione to pet him, so she could feel what his fur felt like.

Hagrid's appearance, along with the rest of the class, went practically unnoticed by her, until Hagrid said that he was impressed that she was being allowed to do such a thing - time wolves don't let anyone touch them unless they trust the person with something they hold dear. Rozan told her in his mind that he did look after Harry for a bit of the summer...

In the class, however, they learned about elves from Talisien, who had been invited down to talk to them all. He wanted to make sure they knew that elves and house elves were different, and a few key things about elves in general - including their regenerative capabilities and the length of their lives. (Chapter Eight: Care of Magical Creatures).

The first weekend of the year found Harry appointed captain of the Quidditch team by none other than Ronald Weasley! To say he was shocked would be an understatement, but he took it upon himself to do the best he could anyway. After announcing the tryouts for Saturday, he sat with Hermione at the table that had always been claimed as hers - even the first years knew that, at it was only the first week! - to work on his potions' homework.

When Hermione congratulated him a few minutes later, he voiced his main concern - he didn't know if he'd have the time for everything that year. She then pulled out a large piece of parchment that had her own schedule on it, and offered to add his to the list so he would have time for everything he wanted to do. She didn't have to wait for an answer, and he was mildly impressed that she knew all his classes (despite the fact that she shared them all with him, and just had a couple of extras herself...). His sleeping in had come to an end, though.

After staying up until two working on homework, he finally bid Hermione a good night and dragged himself to bed. He was first up the next morning anyway, and on the pitch before breakfast had started so he could get some good, carefree flying in. He must have been up longer than he thought, however, when he saw both Hermione and Kailyn in the stands. He hadn't expected to see Hermione there - she always came to his games, but a tryout? - and he knew Kailyn knew nothing about the sport... it would be interesting to hear Hermione explain it to the half elf, he was sure. It almost made him wish he wasn't taking part... almost, anyway.

His first act as Quidditch Captain was to ask Ginny to lead the Chaser exercises, and then he spoke to Kirke and Sloper, telling them how to train at all times using rocks and quills for practice. Ron was back on as Keeper, and he was there as seeker.

After the tryouts - which lasted well passed lunchtime, he noticed, thanks to his lack of breakfast as well - they had made their decisions. Colin and Denis Creevy had made the team, as well as - to everyone's surprise - Lavender. One of the three would be the reserve player, but just who would be left up to the individual games.

He landed next to Hermione and Kailyn to tell them the news, and Hermione left quickly to get to the library - she was supposed to be working on an arithmancy assignment, apparently, but wasn't going to miss supporting him as his first day as captain. That left Harry to walk back with the talkative and fun loving Kailyn.

To his great surprise, the first thing she asked him about was his mate! When he asked her to clarify, she pointed out that she could see the bracelet on his wrist, and was assuming that he wasn't wearing his rings because they were waiting a while until that first. Finally catching on that the term 'mate' was simply girlfriend. (or, close enough, anyway), he told her that it was a bit complicated.

Her response was to give him a wooden box that held an elven made bracelet on the inside - a bracelet with promises of protection for whoever wore it. She then said that Hermione would like it, to which he agreed right away before catching himself. Kailyn simply laughed and shot off to the library as well - she had a study group that afternoon after lunch, and it was already almost supper time! (Chapter Nine: Quidditch Tryouts).

Later on, in the next Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry was quite pleased to notice that the only students left in the advanced class were also those who took part in the DA last year. Admittedly, not everyone had made it into the advanced class, but everyone who was there had been taught by him last year...

The class had barely started, however, when Hermione asked Talisien if she could see the Quintali. While this question made absolutely no sense to anyone there - not even Luna, who said that she knew what Quintons were, but not Quintalis - Talisien seemed to understand perfectly well what she meant.

For the very first time that any of them knew above, the elven professor removed the hood to his cloak, showing them his face at last. He had thick, messy brown hair and brown eyes - the eyes they had known about before, as they shone out from the shadows of the hood - but what caught them off guard were the three long, deep scars that ran the length of his left cheek.

When Harry asked about the scars, Talisien countered by asking about the Unforgivable Curses. After discussing them for a time, he explained that it was a class, after all, and then admitted that he had received the scars in a battle long ago, and if he had been human, he would have died from the wounds. Being elven meant he regenerated quickly, but he was left with the scars just the same.

Of course, this meant that Hermione knew who Talisien was, given that she knew about the Quintali - something that still hadn't ben explained to anyone else. That fact meant that she had just earned Gryffindor 150 points!

Harry slipped away from the party that night after wishing Hermione a good night's sleep, and then lay in his bed fingering the bracelet Kailyn had given him for Hermione. Unable to sleep even after the noise had faded to nothing but snores from his dorm mates, Harry decided to take a late night stroll, and found himself at the head of the Great Hall, watching Kailyn and Talisien attacking each other with swords!

When Kailyn was forced to drop both her short swords after an injury to her arm - an injury she healed almost instantly with magics Harry had never even dreamed of before - Talisien sheathed his longsword and turned to take Harry back to the dorm, as though he had known the sixth year had been there all along.

Talisien told him that he was the first full human to see the Quintali for five hundred years, and then told him a bit about his own history involving a fight against a different Dark Lord, and his near fatal mistake of pushing away his mate in thoughts of protecting her. He simply asked Harry to let her make her own decision, and then he left his at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, saying that Harry reminded him of himself when he was younger - millennia ago, now. (Chapter Ten: Exposed).

A couple of weeks later found the first Quidditch match of the season upon them, as well as Hermione's birthday. Harry managed to get Hermione to the side before the match and gave her the bracelet that Kailyn had said could protect her. Hermione took this exactly as Harry had meant it - he wanted to try and be with her in a more romantic, physical sense than they had been before. In other words, he wanted her to be his girlfriend. Although there was no kiss involved this time, it wasn't for lack of want - Harry was about to be late for his first ever game as Quidditch captain!

Before that, however, Harry witnessed a rather touching scene between Ron and one Luna Lovegood. Apparently, the two had been dating in secret for the passed couple of weeks, as Ron was worried about how Harry would take it, for whatever reason. This revealed his change of dreams, as Harry so aptly ribbed him about.

Anyway, the match itself was rather spectacular in the end, with Harry literally leaping from his broom to catch the snitch some fifty feet in the air, given that his broom suddenly froze in the air just out of reach. While it ended the game with a score of 270-40 for Gryffindor, Harry was then left to plummet to the ground. Thankfully, Talisien somehow made it into the air to catch him, but the elf took the impact of the ground himself! Kailyn assured them all that he'd be fine in a week, if that long, but no one else was quite as optimistic as that.

Before going to bed that night, Harry asked Hermione if they could spend the next day together on a date, to celebrate her birthday. (Chapter Eleven: Ravenclaw Versus Gryffindor).

The following day started very early for both Harry and Hermione. Harry woke in early dawn and after a bout of fear at not being able to find his wand, performed a wandless summoning spell to retrieve it. For her part, Hermione simply couldn't get back to sleep, and decided to head down to the common room as well.

Finding each other was a bit of a surprise to both of them, but they decided - after a bit of ribbing from both of them - to head to the kitchens for something to eat, and then the Astronomy Tower, an infamous location for late-night snoggers (or other high end, physical and sexual activity...). While there, Harry finally asked the question he had been dying to for quite some time - Why?

Hermione didn't really find the question fair, but answered to the best of her abilities anyway - and for her, that's saying something! Although she desperately wanted to ask him the same question, she had to get something else out of the way first... a rather large confession about her possession of a two-way mirror...

To say she was shocked that he already seemed to know would have been an understatement, but she ended up admitting that she knew about the prophecy as well, though she hadn't heard the words. During this time, Harry also managed to grieve a bit for his lost godfather, something that had been a long time in the coming, and wasn't nearly over just yet. Their date ended with the question about the condition of the Wanderer, and Hermione decided that she didn't want to discuss depressing things.

Instead, she convinced Harry to start up the DA again that night, and he agreed. Once he found the golden galleon that served as the lead so he could summon the others, he activated it and was almost instantly accosted by several of the other Gryffindors in the common room.

It was then that the news of Harry and Hermione's developing relationship was discovered by another person - Lavender Brown. Although both had thought her to be a rather large gossip, she was starting to prove herself that year, both by her position on the Quidditch team and by her stunningly accurate prediction of disaster during the first match.

They met up with the rest of the DA still in school that night, and found nineteen people in all. While a good number, they decided to find one more to round out the score, and then called it a night. (Chapter Twelve: The Tower and the Resurrection of the DA).

The following Monday found those in the advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts more than a little concerned - they found out at lunch that their replacement professor while Talisien recovered would be the head of the Slytherin household. To Harry's surprise, everyone in the class literally surrounded him as they sat down at the desks in the room, showing their unwavering support of him. It was only this that allowed him to keep his cool for the class.

Hermione wasn't quite so fortunate, however. When she questioned Snape's overruling decision on the textbook issue, she was assigned a detention and lost house points. Before Snape could tell her just where and when the detention was to be served, though, the door to the classroom banged open, revealing the injured Talisien leaning heavily against the frame. The detention was to be served with him instead, and Snape took his leave of the class rather forcibly.

While Harry wanted to pay Snape back in some fashion, thanks to a promise he had given to Hermione, he was forced to bide his time instead. Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Lavender were bound by no such means, but none could figure out an appropriate punishment.

The detention itself was not quite what she had expected by any means. Talisien's office was empty when she arrived, but a few minutes later she was joined by an elven woman who introduced herself as Fey - Hermione knew her to be Talisien's mate, given her knowledge of the elves and the fact that she had apparently cast a sleeping spell on their professor for his own good, and she doubted any other elf would be willing to consider such as action.

After promptly being told that she should have had to serve the detention in the first place, Hermione then learned a bit more about the differences between the magics that they were taught using wands and those of the elves. This was really the turning point in Hermione's carrier as a student - it was an eye-opener as to just what magics were truly capable of, but until she attempted it for herself, she'd never quite understand it fully. She just knew as she left that there were at least two types of magics - with a wand, and without.

She later found out that there were three, with a fourth being counted on occasion as well - with wands, without wands, inner magics (which was what Fey was really teaching her about) and core magics...

Halloween was apparently the night that Harry had been waiting for, as Hermione found out in the middle of the feast when Harry directed her to look to the staff table. Almost as soon as she laid her eyes on the Potions' Master, he suddenly grew into a large yellow canary with purple dots and flaming tail feathers!

Harry, naturally, denied that he had anything to do with it. (Chapter Thirteen: Halloween and Hermione's Detention).

The very next day, all traces of laughter vanished rather quickly during the first lesson of the day that Harry and Hermione shared - double Potions. Aside from starting to work on the complex Draught of Stability, Harry was assaulted with a sharp pain in his forehead, which was the first indication he had that Voldemort was trying to break through his defenses.

Both were excused to see the Headmaster after several snide remarks from Snape that Harry just barely kept his cool under, but Hermione seemed to know just what the problem was, and didn't ask about it at all until Harry had explained himself to Dumbledore.

After skipping Charms with Dumbledore's permission, Harry and Hermione both found themselves at the end of a lot of questions at lunch concerning what had happened. Luna was the calmest of the bunch, and had assumed that what she had heard was entirely accurate - that Harry had yelled at Snape after the head of Slytherin had accused him of using the Imperius Curse to control Hermione. Not one to normally believe in rumours, for some reason this one she had clung to - evidentially, she had a good sense of fact and fiction at times...

It was during the questioning that Harry finally lost his temper and yelled at his friends before storming off to the classroom early. While Dean seemed pleased - making some comment about Harry not being himself if he doesn't lose his cool once and a while - Ginny was less than impressed, and suggested that she go after him to make sure he's alright. Hermione said she'd go too, raising Ginny's ire, and inwardly she groaned - it appeared that the youngest Weasley was still harbouring some sort of feelings for Harry...

In class, they learned about a shielding charm to protect them from Dark Arts called the Scutulatus contego. Unfortunately for Harry, he didn't even have the chance to practice it before being sucked out of his mind to watch Voldemort enter the Ministry of Magic.

He was forced to watch as he killed dozens of witches and wizards, ending with Cornelius Fudge in the end, and then heard Voldemort issue him a warning - his friends would die over Christmas, and then he was coming for him personally.

Meanwhile, in the classroom itself, Harry had started to scream in pain, and Talisien took matters into his own hands to try and help. While forcing everyone back, he attempted a spell no one had ever heard before - in an entirely new language - and then cursed when it failed. Out of other options, he withdrew a long dagger and held it over his head, speaking in louder tones this time. Before anyone could stop him, he had plunged the dagger downwards. (Chapter Fourteen: Tragedy at the Ministry).

Talisien hadn't struck Harry with the dagger, however. He had struck the ground next to him, and the resulting shield that had sprung up almost instantly had forced even the elven Professor backwards and had burned the impression of Harry into the stone floor. The nick in the ground was the only other evidence that anything odd had occurred a week later when Harry woke up, though he didn't know it at the time.

No, Harry, being who he was and, as Hermione and Ron have both said a few times, being a little thick as well, decided to take it upon himself to try and protect all his friends. The only way that he could see to do that, given the threat issued against him, was to hide from the world to make Voldemort believe that he had no friends at all.

He did leave a note for the DA to find in the Room of Requirement, but other that that, he had appeared to disappear without a trace. Hermione nearly broke down herself upon the discovery of the note, and Ron took control of the situation quickly, only to have control wrenched back by her when he suggested telling McGonagall and Dumbledore.

Sending out everyone in the DA to scour the castle for him, she asked Ron to find the Marauder's Map, while Luna took it upon herself to do something else, something she claimed didn't work when she returned a few minutes later. When Kailyn came back with Talisien in tow, she was assured that Harry was still on school grounds, but disheartened by the fact that the elf wouldn't help them find him. He did, however, give her the dagger to give to Harry, saying that it had chosen him and would protect him from mental intrusion so long as he had it close to him.

He did give her an idea, however, and she set off with a couple of others to find the time wolf Rozan, who, unfortunately, wouldn't tell them much either, save that Harry was in a place that was now safe, implying it hadn't always been as such.

After a sleepless night and a couple of skivved classes later, they were no closer to finding Harry, and Hermione finally relented and went to speak with the Headmaster. She wasn't the first, as she then found out, but Dumbledore didn't seem angry that she hadn't come to him right away - he seemed to know all about it ny then anyway. He told her that he was in a place that stood the test of time, and then asked her if she loved him. Unable to give a clear answer, she was excused and returned to lunch to find everyone looking to her for more direction.

She finally retired to her room to at least fake sleeping after lunch. When she got there, though, her mirror went off almost at once, and Harry's image appeared in it. He apologised to her, but wouldn't tell her where he was. He also said that his heart belonged to her, and then vanished from the mirror, and she couldn't get him to come up in it again.

Heading downstairs, she found Neville and Lavender sitting close together, their hands on each other, as they whispered quietly about their next steps in trying to help. Hermione apologised to both of them for snapping, but Neville waved it off, saying that he believed they would find him, just like she believed it. He apparently also knew about their secret relationship, but wouldn't say a word about it to anyone, and she trusted that fact.

It hit her very suddenly where he was hiding, though. She raced through the halls to end up in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, where she asked the ghost if she had seen Harry. Of course, this set the spirit off crying and wailing, but it did tell her what she needed to know - Harry was in the Chamber of Secrets now, alone.

Talisien told her from the doorway that she had the skills to open the door, despite not being able to speak parseltongue. When she clued into the fact that this meant the inner magics lesson she had received from Fey, she knew Talisien probably could have opened the door for her, but hadn't for one reason or another.

Focussing all her will into what she was trying to do, she managed to destroy the lock on the entrance, making the skin slide out of the way, giving her access. She was immediately hit with the exact reason why few witches or wizards ever used such abilities when they were widely know - spellash, a gut wrenching sensation that felt like she was practically being torn in half!

Once that was over, she slid down the pipes and made her way to the large double doors, only to find them sealed as well. Hermione knew she didn't have a chance at breaking that entry, too, given her current state, but that didn't keep her from kicking it as hard as she could and then sitting back against the wall to think with her eyes closed.

She opened them again as she threw her arms around Harry's neck, pulling him down to her when he had come out to investigate the source of the noise. Ending up inside the main chamber with him a few minutes later, she found herself at the receiving end of one of his more vicious rants that she had ever witnessed, ended when he shouted that she couldn't help him, and she slapped him!

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, apparently, as he had clung to her and sobbed until he had almost nothing left. She rocked back and forth with him, only vaguely aware that they were sitting on the stone cold, slimy floor, and then gave him the dagger, which he seemed to hold like it was his first born son, it meant that much to him. She then told him that they were leaving, but he refused anyway.

Pulling out all the stops, as she knew she had no choice in this situation, she told him that they were leaving whether he wanted to or not. He had given her his heart, and so she was taking it with her when he left - meaning he was coming too. After telling him exactly how they would help get him back to being himself, she finally found what she had seen was missing the entire time.

Harry Potter had hope again. (Chapter Fifteen: Against His Nature).

A couple of days later, Harry managed to slip out of the surveillance set up by the rest of the DA to ensure that he was alright. It was something he had agreed to, though Hermione had not, as she trusted his promise to her not to run away from them all again. He had slipped away, however, as he felt like he was being smothered by them all, and needed his space.

Not entirely sure how, he found himself in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom for the first time since being mentally attacked by Voldemort. Talisien and Kailyn entered minutes later, and Harry found himself at the receiving end of an attack from Kailyn and her two swords without any warning. It was much slower than he knew she could move, given that he had seen her practicing just that very thing with Talisien earlier in the year, but still fast enough to be a concern.

Drawing his dagger, he found most of his concerns washing away as he worked at defending himself, and learning how to use the weapon he know carried at his side at all times. Kailyn was a good teacher, too, not saying a word, but making him realise where he had to improve nonetheless.

She stopped upon hearing someone approach, and didn't give Harry a chance to thank her before Hermione came into the room, having been looking for Harry with the aide of the Map that he had finally relinquished to her. McGonagall was looking for him.

Finding the Transfiguration Professor's classroom with Hermione wasn't a problem at all, and by the fact that Hermione helped herself to a biscuit from the tin told him that she was perfectly comfortable being in the Head of Gryffindor House's presence, something he was still working on.

Minerva McGonagall had two requests to make of Harry. The first was simple, while at the same time one of the most daring things he had ever heard her consider. She was planning on staying at Grimmauld Place over the Christmas holidays, and wanted to teach both Hermione and himself how to become animagus. No one else was to know of it, and given that no one else was staying with them aside from Remus Lupin, that wouldn't be hard. Lupin, of course, would be permitted to know...

Harry didn't accept right away, much to the shock of both Hermione and McGonagall. Instead, he countered with a request of his own - something that he was perfectly aware was out of line, but felt it necessary to do anyway. He wanted her to keep him up to date on Order activity, something that she agreed to do after a few minutes of thought. He thanked her then for her offer, and accepted for both himself and Hermione.

Her second request was a bit harder for Harry to stomach. She wanted him to lead the Gryffindor students into the ball that was being held in November to bolster spirits - the ball aptly named the November Ball. He refused point blank at first until she gave her reason behind asking him this time - Malfoy was the Slytherin chosen, and she suspected he might try something at the dance involving attacking others. This was simply a way to keep a close eye on him, using the best Gryffindor student they had. He argued this point, too, but she countered by saying that he was the best when it came to dueling.

A chance to duel Malfoy without getting in trouble... if was too much to pass up, even if he had to go through embarrassment again. McGonagall pointed out that he would need a date again this year, though she doubted he would have any trouble finding someone... and she glanced at Hermione as she said this. Harry shrugged, but said nothing in the silence that followed until finally standing and suggesting to Hermione that they leave.

Halfway back to the Gryffindor Tower, he pulled her into an empty classroom and asked her a serious question - she almost said yes before it sunk in just what he was asking. He wanted her to convince her parents to move to Grimmauld Place to stay safe. Hermione agreed that that would be for the best, and then they continued on their way when it was obvious Harry had nothing else to ask just then.

As she left to go on Prefect rounds with Ron, he wished her good night, and asked her to sleep lightly. She was confused by this request until she heard him calling her through the two-way mirrors later that night when everyone else was asleep. It was then that he finally asked her to the Ball, a fact that upset her as she thought he was too embarrassed about their relationship to have done so in front of other people. He denying that fact, but reminded her that they had promised each other to keep it a secret to protect her from the potential danger of being Harry Potter's girlfriend.

After thanking her for coming after him in the Chamber of Secrets and reassuring each other that they both knew the risks of what was going to happen, but Harry just had to accept that they were hers to take, he asked her a second time. She didn't even consider refusing, or even breathing, before answering with a yes. (Chapter Sixteen: Odd Requests).

The next morning brought the announcement of the Ball, as well as Ron walking over to the Ravenclaw table and asking Luna to go with him in front of the entire school. She accepted right away, and Ron told Harry that it truly was a simple matter, when one put their mind to it.

Of course, Ron almost choked on his breakfast when he heard that Harry had accepted the role of the lead of Gryffindor after what had happened the last time he had lead a dance... but then pointed out how easy it would be for him to get a date this time, pointing to half a dozen girls without even trying. He also suggested that he take Ginny.

Harry told him that he only saw Ginny as a sister, but that didn't seem to make a difference to Ron. They went their separate ways to go to class, but after Potions, Harry and Hermione had been accosted by a couple of people each, asking them to go to the Ball with them. Harry told Hermione that he was thinking of taking Kirke's beater club to take out anyone who asked her, but she countered that she should have Sloper's to do the same for him...

Once they entered the Gryffindor Common room, however, Harry almost ran into Ginny right away, who asked him point blank to go to the Ball with her. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, he desperately searched for a way to get out of it, and Lavender apparently saw this, and managed to get Colin to interrupt, giving Harry a chance at escape.

No one from the DA asked Hermione to the dance after Harry drove it home to them without saying a word on the matter what would happen to the next one who asked, after watching Dean ask her out just beforehand, and then demonstrating a particularly powerful bludgeoning spell on him.

Shaking Ginny off was a harder feat to accomplish, but he seemed to be able to do it with a combination of bad (or good, in Harry's mind) timing on Ron's part, and the ability to simply avoid her completely for the most part anyway. Going to Hogsmeade for their dress robes was the hardest part, though, as Harry and Hermione ended up going separately to throw off suspicion. After being stopped by at least a dozen girls he barely recognised, he didn't even want to think about how many had approached Hermione.

The night before the Ball, Harry sought out Kailyn to get another lesson to take his mind off things. It wasn't as successful as before, but the half elf first year managed to give him some good advice anyway - Hermione's surely aware of the risks... to take away her choice wouldn't be fair. She also said that so long as they stayed inside, they would be well protected during the Ball.

After getting dressed the night of the Ball, Harry met up with Terry before meeting Hermione, who said that he should have known better than to believe the denials coming from both of them. Harry could only shrug, and then warned the Ravenclaws to be on guard that night, and told him about McGonagall's warning to him. He promised to watch out, and then met up with his date - Julia Carmicheal - as Harry finally found Hermione, and was promptly robbed of the ability to speak at all.

After the opening dance - and several following - Harry and Hermione were practically dragged from the dance floor by Terry, to tell him what they had found out. Terry, Julia, Neville, Lavender, Dean, and Susan were all waiting for him. When Harry pointed out that he felt bad at making them waste the dance on keeping watch, they shrugged him off - spying on Slytherins is a lot of fun, apparently. Julia asked then if she could join the DA, though she didn't know what it was called, and Harry and Hermione agreed, but said they'd talk later.

Just before they stepped outside - Harry wanted to talk to Hermione in private - they finally ran into a very livid Ginny Weasley, followed shortly by Ron, who was equally as upset. Before much could come of the shouting, however, Ginny suddenly keeled over, only to be caught by her date, Colin Creevy, who admitted to slipping a sleeping potion into her drink just before she decided to approach the couple.

Ron took Harry to the side and the two spoke in low, angry tones to each other. Ron was upset that he had hurt his sister, and also that he had been kept in the dark, and Harry was upset that Ron was apparently still pining after Hermione, despite being with Luna! After exchanging 'big brother' talks, as Ron felt Hermione was like a sister - if he was honest with himself - and Harry felt Luna was the same thanks to her talks with him to help him get over Sirius's death, Harry and Ron split ways, leaving Harry free to take Hermione outside.

Once there, he became almost instantly nervous, but Hermione managed to calm him down after a minute or so. It ended up that he had been in contact with both Fred and George, as well as Remus Lupin, and had convinced all three to swear wizard's oaths to protect her if anything happened to him. In other words, they were his family that were represented in the necklace that he was giving to Hermione right then and there!

After giving her a chaste kiss on the lips, they were finally interrupted by Malfoy, something both ahd been expecting for quite some time now. After he insulted both of them, Harry received Hermione's permission to settle things with magics, and stood to defend both of them.

After Malfoy used a Dark Art's spell and Harry successfully summoned the silver mirror shield charm that Talisien had taught them, he struck the Slytherin with a bludgeoning spell that he had no prior knowledge of, and then with a stunner as well as a full body bind, and the duel was over.

Malfoy lost 25 points for using the term 'Mudblood,' while Harry gained 25 for successfully summoning the shield without prior attempts. (Chapter Seventeen: The November Ball).

The next day, Harry found Julia waiting for him outside the Great Hall, and he welcomed her to the DA by giving her a coin after she said she could handle Charms - he had divided the DA into like minded people earlier on, and they were short one person in the Charms group.

That afternoon, when the DA met again, Harry divided them up again, this time putting one person from each group together into new groups - tactically speaking, this made better sense for training purposes, as well as anything they ended up doing later on. Ron and Ginny were still quite angry with him, but kept their tempers in check and supported him regardless in the DA anyway.

The rest of the term went by fairly quickly, but the last day of classes was a bit different, as Defense Against the Dark Arts was cancelled, and no one had seen Kailyn all day either. His curiousity getting the better of him, and wanting another lesson with Kailyn, Harry told Hermione that he was going to find them. He then told her about his lessons, and she asked if he'd mind if she watched them. He promised to ask Kailyn about it when he found them. She decided to stay in the common room, despite the tense atmosphere thanks to Ron and Ginny on the other side of the room.

When Harry found Kailyn, she wasn't alone. She was in Talisien's office with their professor, as well as with Fey, Talisien's mate, and a woman he had never seen before named Ali. It was Ali who explained what was going on - it was Talisien's birthday, and he had spent every birthday with his family for over fifteen hundred years, so school wasn't about to interrupt that tradition now.

He spent a little longer with them than he had intended, as he found out that they actually spoke a long forgotten language called Ancient - convenient, given that Ali apparently was an Ancient in the first place. More commonly, the language was called elven, but that was only because the elves were the only ones left alive who still could use it fluently. By the time he had left, Kailyn had said that it wasn't a problem to have Hermione watch, and he had learned a few phrases that he thought might come in handy later - including a good swear!

Meeting up with a rather worried Hermione, Harry reassured her that everything was fine, despite the amount of time he had been gone, and then told her the results of the lengthy conversation. She suggested they go back - she wanted a chance to learn the language in depth, and wanted to talk to Talisien about it - but when they returned, they only found Ali still around.

The Ancient gave them rather cryptic advice, telling Harry how important the dagger at his side - apparently named the Oakrium - really could be. They also found out that she had lost a loved one a long time ago, and that it had been her words that had brought Kailyn comfort during the summer when Harry had left the elves - It is never so much as goodbye, as a simple farewell. It is not as though you will never see each other again. (Chapter Eighteen: A Birthday and the Last Day of Class).

The first night back at Grimmauld Place was not a good one for Harry. It started off with a nightmare about searching a dark castle for Ron and Luna with the rest of the DA backing him up. While they succeeded in finding them, neither were in good shape. Before he could tell just what was going on, since it felt so real, everything shifted suddenly.

He then found himself standing with Hermione alone in a muddy field as it rained all around them. He could see the dead bodies of both Dean and Cho nearby, as well as at least one Death Eater... a Death Eater with a silver hand called Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail.

He also, unfortunately, found himself face to face with Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, and Bellatrix LeStrange. Before he could react, someone had stolen his wand from behind with an Expelliarmus, and then Malfoy had cast the Killing Curse on Hermione, causing her to crumple instantly.

He woke screaming, and rushed to the hall, only to find Ron had hung himself from the rafters with a thick cord, still hanging limply as he swung slightly. He slammed the door closed again, determined that he must have still been dreamed, and then looked down, only to find his dagger sticking out of his chest and feeling immense pain - pain beyond anything he had ever remembered feeling before. As he passed out, he woke up again quickly, to find himself in perfect health.

Rushing outside his room again, he found Hermione returning from the bathroom, and crushed her to him in a desperate, passion filled kiss, trying to reassure himself that he was awake and that she was fine. Unable to get back to sleep, he took her up on the offer to head downstairs to start breakfast.

After joking around for a few minutes, the atmosphere took a dive when Harry admitted that the only good thing he had gotten from living at the Dursley's had been his cooking skills. Again, neither questioned the fate of his only living relatives, but this time, they really didn't have a chance before McGonagall stumbled into the kitchen, holding a copy of the Daily Prophet and looking like she had just come from a battlefield.

Given the headlines, she probably just had. Harry knew that these was the attacks that Voldemort had promised, and he yelled at everyone there, and ended with Hermione, saying how she had broken her promise to him that nothing bad was going to happen over the holidays before locking himself in his room.

He was interrupted by a teary Hermione giving him a dreamless sleeping potion a few minutes later, and heard her burst into tears once she had stepped out into the hall and closed his door. Deciding that he couldn't handle it anymore, he downed the goblet quickly and consciousness left him almost instantly.

Harry awoke to the sound of someone turning a page in the newspaper, and sat up quickly to find Hermione's father, Mike Granger, sitting in the corner watching him as he read the paper. He asked Harry if he knew why his only daughter was in her room crying her eyes out all day, and after Harry failed to guess the real reason twice, he told him a bit more about the situation, letting Harry finally stumble on the real reason as the patriarch of the Granger household left him alone.

It took him a while, but finally he summoned the courage to use the two-way mirrors to ask Hermione to come to his room so they could talk. He apologised almost at once to her, and they both broke down with each other before getting things back on track. Harry reminded her of his promise to her by lifting the sleeves of his robes to reveal his golden bracelet. He then asked her if they were alright, and she responded with a slow, passionate kiss that left both of them reeling from the aftermath.

She slept next to him in bed that night, and Harry had the first good dream he could ever remember having, involving a little girl he called 'Babe,' five years to the day after he killed Voldemort. She was his daughter... (Chapter Nineteen: The Worst Nightmare and Best Dream).

The next morning, Harry and Hermione woke up together to find that someone had found them last night and covered them in a soft blue blanket. That fact woke Hermione up quickly, though she decided to get a shower before heading downstairs. Harry, on the other hand, decided to go down right away to face the music of yesterday, and hopefully get things cleared up before she joined him.

He found Hermione's father sitting at the table, reading the paper, though he wasn't alone. He was the first to notice Harry's presence, and asked quite calmly if he and Hermione had had a good talk by then. Harry admitted that they had, and then was subjected to hearing a couple of Hermione's nicknames that her father used - one of which being 'Babe.'

He read over the papers from the day before with Hermione once she joined them, and then the left to speak with Dumbledore after breakfast was over. He was the one who had found them, apparently, but he hadn't said a word to anyone else on the matter. They found out that the Burrow had been completely destroyed, though all the Weasley's were fine and accounted for. They also found that several of Harry's friends would be brought to Grimmauld Place on New Year's Day - including Ron and Ginny, who had both asked to come personally. They took that as a good sign.

Their animagus lessons were next, and started with mind relaxation techniques - apparently the most important part of the entire lessons. McGonagall - or Minerva, as she wished to be called over the holidays - was quite upset when she found out how Harry didn't know any mind relaxation techniques, and promised retribution on Snape when she next saw him...

They found out that one common misconception of animagi was that people chose their animal - that wasn't true. They chose their size, and then their animal chose them. The lesson ended as Talisien knocked on the door - a fact that startled Hermione and Harry, but Minerva seemed to have been expecting it. Apparently, he wanted to talk to Hermione about something, and told Harry to speak with his mate in the kitchen.

Although not know what it was all about, Harry found Fey easy to talk to, just like he remembered. She also told him a bit more about Ali and her love - her female love. Harry personally didn't have a problem with this, and he agreed completely with what Fey told him - love is as love is.

She had wanted to talk to him, apparently, because she had a gift for Hermione that he could give her. A dagger, as old as anything he could imagine, that had once belonged to Ali's love, Greensleeves.

That night, Hermione approached Harry this time, and asked if he would mind if she stayed with him again that night - it had been the best sleep she had gotten in months, and knew it had been the best for him as well. Harry had no desire to refuse, of course, and showed her that through physical actions, stopping after a few less-than-chaste kisses, but allowing for nothing more, even though Hermione said she was willing to go further.

The next morning was a disaster, as Harry found himself being dragged downstairs by Lupin before he was even fully awake, and being yelled at for sleeping with Hermione in the same bed. Apparently it was all an act to get Hermione's parents to go easier on her, but Harry didn't buy it anyway. He told Remus up front that he didn't want a Sirius response... he wanted a Remus one. What he ended up with was a combination of both - a few new locking and silencing charms thanks to Sirius, and some sage advice from Remus, though no punishment from either.

Hermione, on the other hand, was stuck talking to her mother, who had always been the more understanding of her parents - which was really saying something! It was then that Hermione finally told her mother more about her time at Hogwarts - about the dangers she had faced time and again, and how Harry always seemed to be there to protect her, and she wanted to be there to protect him, too. When her mother asked why she should allow her daughter to continue sharing his bed - even if nothing like that had happened, Hermione replied with a simple answer, one that just came to her like it was the most natural thing in the world.

That was probably because it was. She loved him. (Chapter Twenty: Padfoot, Moony, and Prongs would be Proud).

Harry and Hermione had several lessons with Minerva over the next day or so. Eventually, Harry decided that he wanted a larger form, much like his father and Sirius before him, while Hermione wanted something more like their Professor had - as a tribute to her, in fact. Once they had determined this fact, both worked on changing their physical size to match roughly what they were attempting after several long relaxation techniques led by Minerva.

At lunch, Harry summoned food and drink to the two of them without a wand, making Hermione start quite suddenly, only to be cut off by a tired Harry asking her to wait on explaining or jumping to anything just then. She accepted this, but only because she wanted to know the result of the shouting match she and her mother had heard earlier. She had suspected that Remus was just being hard on Harry - or rather, just pretending to be hard on him - but she didn't know the final outcome.

Remus's end suggestion really boosted him in her eyes - apparently, his advice was to always listen to her requests, especially when they were alone.

That afternoon, both managed to concentrate enough to allow their animagus forms to appear before them. It was no easy task, but it was certainly confusing, as Harry could see both his form and Hermione's clearly, despite the fact that they had just been told that only the witch or wizard summoning the image could see it. Later, he found out that Hermione could see his form, too.

Harry was going to become a lyra, though he wasn't entirely sure what that meant just then. He was basically a leopard, but had large vibrant blue wings... Hermione was becoming a kneazle, something that he thought suited her to a T.

The next morning being Christmas day, Harry awoke expecting to find Hermione snuggled up next to him still. He was quite disappointed to find that she was already up and gone, and he couldn't find her until most of the morning was gone already. When he did find her, it was only after running into Talisien first and receiving two curious parcels - one for himself, and one for Hermione.

Retiring back to their room, Hermione presented him with a necklace of his own, matching his commitment to her through her own family's promise to him. After making it quite obvious just how much he appreciated it, he then presented her with the dagger Fey had given him for her. Drawing it from the sheath, she was startled to be able to see the magical energy in the air around her, just like she could when focussing with her eyes closed on inner magics. The fact that Harry didn't know anything about the dagger, though, convinced her to keep quite about that power.

The parcels from Talisien were two green cloaks that were elven make, and they had been told by their professor that the Ancient Ali had said he was to give them to him, so he recommended wearing them as much as possible.

When Minerva fetched them - wearing a Santa Claus hat that nearly made Harry burst a seam in quite laughter - they started their lessons again. This time, however, they started with a question or two from Harry involving magical creatures. They learned that one of her closest friends was a magical animagi who could turn into a lethifold, something that shocked them both. He was unregistered as well, to add to that surprise.

After getting over that, they both were permitted to attempt to change into their animal forms for the first time. Though tiring, they both managed it nonetheless, and Hermione actually did it a couple of times before stopping. When she went down to the kitchens to get ready for dinner, he went upstairs to visit with Buckbeak.

It was there that he first started speaking in a language not his own - hippogryff, in this case. When Crookshanks came in, he found he could talk to the half cat, half kneazle, as well. When he mentioned the possibility to Hermione, she was surprised, but had no answer.

Neither realised that they were talking kneazle for the entire conversation.

Snape's appearance the next day threw everything off course. While normally the sight of Hogwart's Potions' Master made Harry's skin crawl, he felt particularly bad about seeing him then. When he leaned down to whisper something to Hermione as he was leaving, Harry heard something else entirely... something that set his blood boiling and all his energy rushing passed his ears.

Breaking every glass near him and bending the chairs out of shape was the least of what happened, though certainly among the most startling. The fire in the fireplace shooting out of control was on that list as well, not to mention the fact that the table was being pushed backwards while Snape was plastered to the wall, unable to move, and barely able to breath at all.

When Harry threw him from the house in the end, he looked to Hermione to help calm himself down, as he had been doing all year to that point. This time, however, something changed, and he was sucked into her memories without knowing how it was happening. After seeing the latest memory - involving a talk between Hermione and her mother - he managed to pull free before collapsing on the ground and knowing nothing else. (Chapter Twenty One: Wandless Magics - Core Magics).

After putting Harry to bed, Hermione then had a good heart-to-heart with her father, who reassured her that everything would work out fine in the end, given that she trusted Harry with everything. Meanwhile, Harry was speaking with Rozan, having just woken up and finding the time wolf sitting in his room quite unexpectantly. He learned that what he had heard were Snape's thoughts, rather than what he actually said, and that his reading of Hermione's memories were a defensive mechanism of the Oakrium acting of its own accord.

When Hermione came in, he confessed everything that he saw, and they talked about what had happened. After extracting a promise from Harry to apologise to Snape the next time he saw him, Harry showed Hermione a few of his own memories, to help explain to her why he couldn't tell her how much she meant to him - despite the fact that she had said the words to him this time.

Afterwards, both decided to examine things in the morning and think more then. When they woke up, Hermione had a bit of a confession to make, however - she had been performing basic legilimency on Harry most of the term, taking away his anger and focussing it into her essays. (some of which were over three times the required length!) as well as giving Harry the answers on that first day of Potions...

The next lesson with Minerva, Harry and Hermione both asked her about magical transference - when the abilities of the animal form of an animagi transfer to the human counterpart. Apparently, non-magical creatures transferred very little - Minerva, for example, could move quietly, but that was all she had gained - but magical creatures transferred quite a bit more than that...

Remus was the first to hear Harry and Hermione talking kneazle later on, however, when he was telling them a bit about Harry's mother. They all decided to try and keep this quite, though, given that Hermione wasn't supposed to be getting the extra training, while everyone really expected it of Harry. (Chapter Twenty Two: Road to Recovery).

The next morning, when they both woke up, Hermione decided to try to transform for real for the first time. When she succeeded, she insisted on going downstairs as a kneazle to show their transfiguration Professor, and Harry laughed and followed after her once he was dressed.

Both stopped when they stepped into the kitchen, finding it a little more full than they had expected. Ron, Ginny, Luna, Colin, Neville, and Lavender were all there, and leapt up to greet Harry. Having been spotted, Hermione was forced to pretend to be a real kneazle, that Harry named Willow. Minerva came in just then and apologised for letting her get away from her - the kneazle was a gift from her to Harry for Christmas...

Being pulled aside by Ron and Ginny made it difficult for Harry to help Hermione slip out right then and there, but he figured she wouldn't mind, given the fact that both apologised to him about what had happened. He took some of the blame as well, and they all went back to being friends. Once he had let Hermione escape and she joined them as herself, they all went back to relaxing over a good breakfast. Hermione ended up telling the other girls about the elven vows that Harry had suggested they follow, and all three of them found it quite interesting and more than a little romantic, though Luna seemed a touch lost in her own thinking, as usual.

Remus gave everyone a tour of the house then, and Harry and Hermione managed to slip off to the library that Harry hadn't even known existed beforehand. Hermione, of course, had visited it more than once those holidays already... While there, they looked into lyras a bit, and found that they could understand any language - animal or human or otherwise - and Harry proceeded to prove this by reading from several texts in various languages.

Hermione's talent was picking up lies and having a better sense of hearing than normal - both useful abilities, they decided. Harry was a bit upset at not being able to surprise her anymore, but she figured he'd still be able to pull it off on occasion with the right kind of planning.

That night was the first time they slept in their pyjamas instead of their day clothes, and both were quite surprised and pleased with how it worked. They also showed each other just how much they appreciated the other's body, though they didn't take things too far this time, either. Both fell asleep content anyway. (Chapter Twenty Three: Willow).

Harry thought the next morning was a touch humourous, given that they were woken up by banging on the door from Ginny, saying Hermione was missing. While this might have been cause for concern for most people, the fact that the witch in question was currently in his arms made Harry laugh to himself before settling the problem - he told Ginny that she was probably in the library or something, while Hermione had changed back into Willow again, looking as innocent as any cat could pull off.

The morning changed, however, when the two made their way downstairs to find everyone waiting for them again - or more appropriately, Minerva waiting for Harry. She took him aside and told him the full details of the night of the attacks led by Voldemort. Aside from those dead that he knew about - including four DA members - half of St. Mungo's had been blown apart.

Harry broke the news to Neville personally, who met the information with more courage than harry had thought possible. Neville then learned of the prophecy - or at least, some of it - and vowed not to shed another tear until Voldemort had been killed. He also promised to stand behind Harry no matter what.

He then had a bit of a talk with Ron, who seemed concerned that Harry would try to blame the attacks on himself. Harry just laughed that off, saying that Hermione had managed to drive home the fact that it wasn't his fault, and Ron didn't have to worry about it. Satisfied, Ron left Harry and Willow alone.

New Year's Day was the day that they had decided to pass out presents this year. Everyone got a personalised photo album from Colin, and everyone ended up with a wand holster from various different people. Harry ended up with a belt that could hold a wand and a dagger, and neither could be taken from him without his permission.

Of special note in the gifts, however, were several items. Luna had given both Hermione and Harry quintons - remains of fairies - that Harry later learned could be used to communicate with others through their use. Apparently, Luna and Ron already had one each. Also, Harry received a new wand from Hermione - a wand with a whisker from a time wolf inside as the magical core. He sheathed both wands in the slots provided, and attached his dagger to the side of the belt, something that would later prove costly.

Luna also received something that she felt was worth more than anything - Hermione's trust. Hermione had given her a book on mythological creatures, with suggestions from various people as to where to look for them. She had also gotten a promise ring from Ron, which she wore on a toe instead of her finger.

For the DA, Harry received a large tome on history of magical battles, which he handed over to Ron and Colin to read, as well as sets of badges for the different groups, which he'd hand out at the next meeting. Later on, he and Ron sat down together to rearrange the groups according to who had died, as well as who would work well together. To Harry, it felt quite good to be able to work so easily alongside his friend again after more than a month of stony silence earlier.

Everyone as a group decided that they should look at Patronuses again, given that it was likely that the Dementors of Azkaban would leave to Voldemort at any time, and they had to be read. They could only hope that Azkaban would hold, but they all knew that there wasn't a chance of that.... (Chapter Twenty Four: New Year's Day).

Although Harry hadn't master his animagi form by the time they returned to Hogwarts, it wasn't the only thing on his mind, either. The DA had to get together to pay homage to those they had lost over the holidays. Hogwarts itself had lost eight students - seven of them from Hufflepuff, including the Head Boy.

Anthony Goldstein, a fifth year Hufflepuff student had been taken from the DA. Ernie MacMillian, a sixth year Hufflepuff student was the next they paid tribute to. Then came Hannah Abbot, and a bit of relief from the tense atmosphere when Ron admitted to the fact that he had once had a crush on the kindly sixth year Hufflepuff - though that had faded, he was quick to point out to Luna, who didn't seem to mind either way, though they were sure she was glad to hear it anyway. Justin Finch-Fletchley, yet another sixth year Hufflepuff student was taken from them as well.

It was then that Harry told Susan Bones, one of the few Hufflepuffs left in the group, to move in with other dorm mates, given that she had lost all of hers thanks to the attacks. He also added that if anyone had a problem with it, to say that he had suggested it. She was surprised that he would be willing to use his name for such a cause, but he had simply shrugged. It wasn't like he'd use it for anything but something worthwhile, right?

The meeting ended with Ron lightening the mood again, and then the passing out of the badges and breaking up into the proper groups in the end. The meeting ended with Harry staying behind with Kailyn to get another lesson alone before including Hermione in the next set.

Returning to the dorm, Harry found Hermione - as Willow - waiting for him, but was first confronted with Ron, who seemed rather put out at how poorly Harry was treating Hermione, going on with Kailyn like he was. It ended up that he was just joking, and Harry knew it, but he wasn't sure why Ron had insisted on letting Neville know that harry had returned. Both boy shad shared a knowing look before cracking up in laughter, but Harry just ignored them and swung his curtains shut, sealing them with the appropriate charms before Hermione turned back into herself.

He'd have to remember later that petting Hermione - or rather, stroking Willow like he had been - ended up being rather arousing for her... not that he was about to complain about that.... (Chapter Twenty Five: The Return to Hogwarts).

A few days later, what they had been fearing came to pass - the Dementors of Azkaban had defected to the side of Voldemort, meaning the previous incarcerated Death Eaters were now free again. Before this really had the chance to sink into their minds, Harry was taken aside by Talisien for a few words.

In the classroom, the Professor warned Harry about the taking of a life. It had been something he had been worried about, given that the prophecy did say that he would have to kill at some stage - well, that or be killed, and he knew which end of the stick he wanted to be on, thank you very much!

It had come as quite the surprise to Harry - even though it probably shouldn't have - that Talisien had killed before. That was really an understatement, though, given that Talisien had literally killed thousands of individuals in his lifetime, under many different roles - from in battle to an executioner as Lord of Noyadin. (the elven forests). He then asked Harry a simple question that he found didn't have a good answer: Would he be killing Voldemort for himself, or for those around him?

The only answer he had was both, and apparently, that put him on the same level as those in the passed, faced with the same type of decisions - Talisien included.

Aside from that talk that he had been needing, even though he didn't realise it, Harry also learned a bit about Talisien's lineage, and in particular, Talisien's grandfather, who was a savage, willing to kill anyone and anything that got in his way. He led a war, too, for the side of good. The bad thing was that he died in the end, died because of his power and because of the fear he had instilled in those around him. Although Harry wasn't entirely sure why he had been told such a story, he took it to heart anyway.

It's not like he was planning on killing all the Death Eaters in order to get to Voldemort anyway, right?

After the talk, Harry was feeling a little overwhelmed, so he opted to head for the Gryffindor Common Room, given that it was one of his morning's off. He figured that Hermione was probably in class by now, and he needed some peace from everyone who was waiting in the Great Hall.

What he found wasn't peace, however. What he found was Ginny Weasley in the arms of Colin Creevy, madly going at each other in the throes of passion... well, not quite that far, but he thought that it might have been taken to that level if he hadn't suddenly interrupted them. It ended up that they were celebrating - not for the escaped Death Eaters, of course, but for the fact that they had both been appointed as the fifth year Prefects for Gryffindor. Apparently Dumbledore had announced it the night before, or that morning, or something. Harry wasn't exactly paying that close attention, truth be told.

That afternoon, he made his way with the others to their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where they found a massive spider in a glass cage waiting for them behind a cloud of brilliant green light. When people snickered at Ron's phobia of the spider, Talisien calmly and quietly spoke the name of Voldemort.

Dead silence met the name, and so he asked them just what fear was. When a select few people were willing to repeat the name - Harry first amongst them, followed by Hermione, Neville, then Ron. No one else was given the chance to repeat it, however, before Talisien drove home the point of fearing something unworthy of fear - a name is just a name.

The class was one of the most important ones of the year, especially for Luna Lovegood - though no one knew that just then. They were examining the Killing Curse, and Talisien pointed out that without the raw hatred behind it, the curse would just cause enough instant pain that few held the willpower to survive. This was only a theory, though, as no one had managed to dissuade the hatred of one casting the curse before it was too late. He proved that it was true, however, by letting the spider make it's way into the light, at which point a terrifying scream of power tore through the room as the spider collapsed, twitching in pain.

Before he could go further into the explanation, a falcon flew into the window and landed on the elf's shoulder. After a brief exchange involving a couple of chirps from the bird, Talisien cried out in horror and anger and vanished in a wall of flames, leaving behind a small marker. Ron picked it up, claiming that it was the same type of thing they had found at Harry's house over the summer that Dumbledore said meant he was still safe. (Chapter Twenty Six: Forgiveness and the Unforgiven).

That night, while Ron and Hermione had prefect duties, Luna and Harry went for a walk down by the lake. Why? Well, Luna had asked, and Harry hadn't wanted to refuse the odd girl. Although they would have seemed a bit close for two people who weren't dating, the fact that Harry looked at her as a younger sister, and she apparently saw him as either a big brother or a source of warmth in the cold - Harry couldn't really tell which all the time - it wasn't an issue for either of them.

On Luna's mind, however, was Ron and his feelings for her. She was worried that she was changing him ahead of his time, and that he might resent her for it. Harry reassured her about this, however, telling her that to Ron, she was his world.

Luna again surprised him that evening by asking him how his animagi form was coming along, and just what abilities of a lyra had transferred to his human side. He had already halfway answered before he realised how strange the question was - how did she know? Apparently, she was working on becoming an animagi herself, and was a heliopath. She had known that fact since her mother had died, which made sense that she had died in the experiment to ensure that Luna would have an interesting animagi form. It was the first time Harry had heard just how Luna's mother had come to pass away.

Meanwhile in the castle, Ron and Hermione were having an eerily similar conversation, only it was about Harry's feelings for Hermione. She was concerned - and most would argue she had a right to be - that she had told Harry that she loved him, but he had never returned the words of his own right. He always simply answered her with a simple 'I know.'

Ron, being the younger sibling of Fred and George, answered the only way he knew how, that being as himself. After finally making her laugh, she came to the conclusion as to what was holding Harry back from saying the three special words to her - he was afraid that by admitting to it, she would be taken from him, just like Sirius had been before, and his parents before that.

Returning to the dorm, Ron discovered that Harry was missing, and found both Harry and Luna curled up by the lake on the Marauder's Map! To say he was mildly upset wouldn't be nearly right, but Hermione managed to make him see a bit of reason by explaining the oath Harry had sworn to her earlier - a wizard's oath to always stick by her and never think about another girl the way he thought about her.

When they came upon the two of them, they found Luna asleep and Harry sitting there as though he had been waiting for them. Once he had cast a simple Lumos spell, Ron was satisfied and they all returned to the castle, only waking Luna when they arrived at the Ravenclaw portrait entrance.

Back in the Gryffindor Common Room, Hermione changed to Willow before Ron was even upstairs, giving Harry a fright when he thought his best friend might have seen her changing and put two and two together. Apparently, he hadn't noticed anything unusual, and didn't comment at all, so the worry was for naught. It wasn't until much later that Harry finally figured out why that was... (Chapter Twenty Seven: The Moon's Reflection).

A few days later brought about the first Potions class of the new term. Snape had been out for the first two, which only increased the dread Harry felt. He knew that he had to apologise for what had happened... he just knew it wasn't going to be easy, though. And he was right, too.

After apologising, and losing fifty points of Gryffindor's for doing so, he said something rather demeaning about Snape's life, and in doing so, so enraged the Professor that he attacked him with a bludgeoning spell almost instantly.

Rather that ruin the valuable Draught of Stability that was being brewed in the classroom, Harry made a run for it. They ended in a standoff at a set of staircases, and Snape took the upper hand by levitating Harry. When a mistake was made, however, that could easily have cost Harry his life, Snape corrected it before finishing the duel with a powerful Expelliarmus, striping Harry of his normal wand.

Not to be outdone, however, Harry pulled out his other wand, his untested wand that Hermione had had made for him, and cast the same spell on his Professor. This time, the spell shattered Snape's Protego shield, knocking them both down.

The duel ended with Dumbledore's appearance, and Snape ended up having to vial every potion himself, and Harry had to spend the night in the hospital wing for an injury to his leg. Alone. Despite the fact that Harry could have had Snape suspended from teaching right then if he had said what really happened, Harry had taken half the blame for it himself.

That left Hermione unable to sleep, given that she had taken to sleeping next to Harry, and his absence made it impossible for her... it also meant she was the one who got to explain what had happened - what had really happened, anyway, as opposed to the rumours that were rapidly spreading around - to Ron, who got the full story, but not all the answers he would have liked. (Chapter Twenty Eight: Duel in the Halls of Hogwarts).

By the time the next Quidditch match had rolled around mid January, Harry was really missing his broom - though no one had figured out what was wrong with it yet. That meant that Ginny was subbing in for him as Seeker, and all three new recruits would be Chasing for the game against Hufflepuff.

Hermione reminded Harry about the more important things in life before the match started, making Harry wish that they had more time to... er... go over a few of the finer details. She also convinced him that he wanted her worrying about him - she said she would be worrying about him until the day she died, so he didn't ever want her to stop. She also had come up with a nickname for the animal form, but wouldn't tell him until he had perfected the change.

It was a difficult thing to do for Harry, watching from the sidelines despite being on the team. It was only even harder when Ginny was suddenly knocked out of the game by a rogue bludger - a third bludger that seemed to have marked her. Zacharias Smith, one of the few who had left the DA at the beginning of the year, was the one who managed to catch her before she crashed into the ground, and Harry took her from him to take to Madame Pomfrey, who was already on her way down.

They lost the match in the end by ten points when Smith caught the snitch, making the end score 160 Hufflepuff, 150 Gryffindor.

The best thing of the day, however, was running into Hagrid after Smith had given the snitch to Harry - he felt bad about winning, and decided to give it to the captain of the other team, since Ginny was still out of it. He'd have to return it to Hogwarts later, but the timing was perfect. They ran into Hagrid as they were leaving the Hospital Wing...

Long story short, someone had wrapped a manticore whisker around the snitch, binding it in place with a simple bonding charm, which wasn't picked up due to the large amount of binding charms already on it. There was another in Harry's broom, and they must have been from two different male manticores, which explained why Harry's broom and the snitch couldn't get within ten years of each other. With that problem solved, Harry had no problem celebrating with Hermione in an empty classroom on the way back to the common room. (Chapter Twenty Nine: Gryffindor Versus Hufflepuff).

Later on in the term, in Care of Magical Creatures, they met their first wood fairy. Ariasal of Feyrith - meaning she was bound to someone other than her colony - told them a bit about fairy culture, as well as talking about quintons. This last topic was something that Harry and Hermione later would wish they had paid closer attention to. Quintons would allow people to communicate with one another across vast distances - sort of like a muggle telephone, only much more advanced and simple at the same time.

They also learned a bit about heliopaths and sorenaitans - fire and water creatures respectively - that worked together in nature to survive. It was the ultimate of unlikely alliances, but because the two very different creatures could coexist, they managed to stay alive, too. An important lesson for everyone to learn, really.

As Harry and Hermione were heading to the Great Hall to meet with Ron and Ginny later on - they finally wanted to talk about the Burrow, and felt surrounded by food was a good idea... alright, so Ron thought it was a good idea, and Ginny couldn't have cared less where it happened, so long as it did - Harry received some strange advice about his Protego from Snape, of all people.

Rather than harp on what this meant, they went to speak with Ron and Ginny anyway, during which time Harry promised - with Hermione - to get an account set up for Ginny at Flourish and Blott's for her to get a new diary whenever she wanted one, and Harry promised Ron that he would buy two full crates of Chocolate Frogs the next time they were in Hogsmeade, just to help rebuild Ron's card collection. Those were the smaller things that could be replaced that they had lost, but couldn't really complain about to anyone but their closest friends.

Harry then offered to let the Weasley's stay at Grimmauld Place until the war was over, or they found another equally protected area of land. Ron accepted on behalf of them all, though he did ask Ginny to say that Harry had to beat him into accepting before he agreed...

That night, after a particularly enjoyable bit of exercise both Harry and Hermione equally enjoyed, Hermione asked Harry about his dreams for the future. This was a bit of a heartbreaking moment for her, as he admitted that he couldn't even think about anything beyond Voldemort - he didn't want to get his hopes too high. At his request, however, she admitted her dream - living a life with him, and having a lot of kids together. How many was a lot? Apparently ten - one for each year of her life that she didn't know Harry...

He promised her that if he survived the war, then he'd accept that dream as his own as well. (Chapter Thirty: Quintons).

Over the rest of January, Hermione started her training with her dagger alongside Harry. In fact, he was the one who ended up teaching her most of the techniques, something he found more difficult than anything he had ever been asked to do (he had something against attacking Hermione for a rather obvious reason...).

One of these lessons ended up being witnessed by most of the advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The lesson switch modes when Kailyn accused Harry of staring at Hermione's chest, and she was suddenly training him again, instead of Harry training Hermione.

It was obvious how much was being held back almost at once, but the lesson was ended abruptly when Harry finally broke through Kailyn's defenses and caught her in the shoulder. When she healed her wound almost instantly, the class was surprised, despite being trapped out in the hall and unable to enter.

When Harry balked to one knee and tore off his cloak, revealing a long wound up his right arm, Hermione was sent into a near panic, demanding that Kailyn run to fetch Madame Pomfrey right away. Talisien intervened, however, and took control of the situation easily. He started by asking Harry if it hurt - in Harry's mind, a rather stupid question if he had ever heard one. Then he asked Hermione if she wanted to take that pain away, and she understood almost instantly what he was asking her to do. He wanted her to use her inner magics to heal the injury.

When the white light surrounded Harry's arm and knit the skin back together, barely anyway could believe it at all. Harry knew she could do it - she had asked him to trust her after all - and so he wasn't that surprised, even though she was. Harry sat that class out - lack of blood was making him a little weak - and Hermione spent the full lesson talking with Talisien in a voice so quiet Harry couldn't hear them, despite the fact that they were sitting right next to them.

That evening, Harry brought the entire group that had gone to the Ministry last June to the Room of Requirement, having decided that it was time for him to tell them about the prophecy, fully expecting at least one person to freak out at the idea and leave immediately.

After explaining about his time at Hogwarts in full so everyone was aware of it - no one was completely aware up to that point, given how no one knew that the Sorting Hat had considered him for Slytherin, nor that he had attempted to cast a Crucio on LeStrange last June - he finally revealed the prophecy in its entirely, looking right into Hermione's eyes the full time.

They all supported him without question or fail, responding to his accusation of being unable to duck with them behind him with the obvious fact that with them behind him, he wouldn't have to. Hermione also vowed to always be there with him. He wouldn't have to lead alone. The others agreed, though as Ron aptly put it, they weren't about to kiss him as well.

That night wasn't nearly as pleasant, however. Hermione asked about the lesson that he had had with Kailyn earlier, having heard the half elf's comments to him. She was worried too - he hadn't dissuaded her from the idea that he was willing to die, so long as Voldemort went down with him. When she affronted Harry with that very point, he didn't deny it then, either, which only sent her further over the edge. She didn't leave, but only - as she put it - because she doubted she could sleep alone anymore, but she certainly wasn't happy about it.

Harry couldn't say anything in response, but he couldn't get to sleep right away in any case. When he noticed that Hermione had finally nodded off, he looked over to her again, only to have found she had literally cried herself to sleep. Feeling his heart crack at the sight of his Hermione with tearstained cheeks made him change his mind - he'd make sure he lived through the war, lived passed killing Voldemort, if only for the witch lying next to him.

He then did as she had done, and cried himself to sleep. He felt cold, alone, and empty - and for once, felt like he deserved it for making Hermione cry like he had. (Chapter Thirty One: Liberty).

The next morning started with Hermione apologising to Harry, but him refusing to accept it, saying that he should be the one to apologise to her. In the end, they both accepted that they could have handled last night better, and left it at that. It was only after that conclusion that Hermione admitted to letting them sleep in - right through Care of Magical Creatures!

Harry found a note left by Ron as he got up once Hermione had gone to change, saying that he had taken care of something. Unsure as to what that meant, he asked Hermione, only to have her brush off the question as unimportant, and not even guess as to the meaning. That set alarum bells off in Harry's head, but he let it drop once they arrived at Transfiguration.

The last day of January, Harry had a rather confusing day that he could only explain a day or so later, and even then only with careful thought. He saw Lavender singing to Neville, Ron and Luna curled up taking a nap with Rozan in the pumpkin patch, and ran into Ginny and Colin, who had just pulled a prank on the entire Slytherin house!

Harry didn't asked Hermione about it, as he was looking for her so they could get a joint lesson from Kailyn on tracking and avoiding being followed. The ensuring dagger fight was intense and difficult, but the two managed to work in near perfect tandeum and locked Kailyn in a classroom to end the lesson without injury.

As she was leaving them, Malfoy came up and insulted Harry and Hermione, saying how Harry was training first years as a replacement for the mudblood when she died. When he again threatened Hermione with a more specific time and warning directly from his escaped father, Harry snapped and attacked him, drawing his wand only as an after thought of blasting him backwards - much like he had done on the train.

Talisien arrived within seconds of the event, and gave Harry a detention for magics in the hall. When Malfoy claimed that that wasn't nearly enough, Talisien gave him a detention with Hagrid for trying to start a duel, using the term he wouldn't allow (took the 25 points away, too), and for lying to a professor.

For the detention, Harry found out that the only thing he had done to warrant it, apparently, was to insult Malfoy. Apparently, elves took insulting others as a serious offence! After the brief - though painful - punishment, the two talked about Harry's dagger, as well as his unusual knack of wandless magics, and something else that Talisien couldn't identify that later, Harry would know was called core magics.

Harry agreed to meet with the Professor after hours twice a week to learn from him - both about his magics and about his dagger, for he wanted to know more. He also wanted to know how he could safely look into Hermione's eyes without letting the dagger spin out of control again, and he told him that he just had to let Hermione hold it briefly, and then it would be fine.

The detention ended with Talisien mentioning - almost in passing - that the forest was an excellent spot to come to relax fully, and that as a friend, he would definitely recommend it, though as a teacher he would have to do otherwise. He also hoped that Harry could perfect his lyra form soon. (Chapter Thirty Two: Gravity).

Two days later, he followed Talisien's advice and went to the forest alone to relax. Hermione was busy with prefect duties, or so she had said, anyway, and he figured it was as good a time as any. Inside the forest, he met up with a little nightingale, who sang to him. The music finished what he had started - by telling the others about the prophecy, that weight had been lifted from him, and by letting Hermione hold his dagger, he no longer had to fear meeting her eyes again, so it was much easier to relax.

The music gave him the final push, and he finally perfected his animagi form. Thanking the nightingale - whom he had been speaking with fluently in... er... nightingaleish? - he left the forest at top speed to find Hermione.

He almost bowled her over just outside the forest as he turned back into himself, and found that she was waiting for him as a kneazle. Apparently, his nickname was after Talisien's grandfather's dragon - he had been a dragonrider, after all - and was Tor. When Harry mentioned what he knew about the elf called Noyad of Oak, she asked if he wanted to change, but he decided against it... he liked Tor, and was going to stick with it.

After taking Hermione for a brief flight around the lake (many more times than she had accepted, but she was enjoying herself anyway...), he met up with Luna in her heliopath form on the ground. It was then that everything started making sense - well, when the nightingale flew out of the woods and ended up being Ginny's animagi form, anyway, everything made sense.

Hermione had been training the other four of the Ministry Six to be animagus - Ginny was a nightingale called Gem, Luna was a heliopath called Heat, Neville was a cross between a bear and a dog called Prince, and Ron was a red tailed falcon called Talon. This also meant that Ron and Neville had both known about Hermione sleeping in the same bed as Harry, which explained the laughing glances they had sent Harry's way whenever he was open about 'Willow' sleeping with him that night...

The night wasn't all laughter, though. Before they could go inside the castle again, Snape came out to meet someone along the edge of the forest. Ginny flew over as Gem to investigate while the others either turned into their animal forms to hide, or hid under the invisibility cloak that Hermione had brought with her.

Something big was planned for the near future... two weeks away, during the Hogsmeade weekend when Dumbledore would be away from the castle on Wizengamot business. Something that they knew they'd have to prepare for. Something that the DA would have to be ready for.

Something that they failed to be ready for, as future events proved. (Chapter Thirty Three: Willow and Tor).

Two weeks passed much faster than anyone could have hoped for, and Valentine's Day was upon them. That morning, long before dawn, actually, Harry finally told Dumbledore what was going on. Apparently, he had known all along, but was pleased that Harry had told him in the end anyway.

When morning actually started, Harry and Hermione were awakened by a disgruntled Ron - he hadn't slept in, but apparently both of them had! He was giving them ten minutes to be ready before he blew the whistle on their game - he was as nervous as anyone else, and just wanted to go down and be with Luna before things started.

The long and the short of the events was that this morning was the first time that Harry and Hermione saw each other completely nude. Although they did nothing about it, it was still... well... an eye-opener for both of them. Once they had composed themselves, they met Ron downstairs completely ready and joined the rest of the DA for Harry's final briefing before things started.

The mission was supposed to be simple. Keep their eyes open for anyone who looked suspicious. The DA was divided into two groups, as they weren't sure where the event - the trap - was supposed to happen. It was either from the Forbidden Forest, or in Hogsmeade.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Luna went to Hogsmeade, along with Dean and Cho, and Terry and Julia. The two groups split up to look as natural as possible, and Harry and his friends made their way through the small wizarding town with relative ease. They stopped in at almost all the stores, most noticeably Gladrags Wizardwear, as Luna needed a new set of dress robes...

While inside, Harry also purchases two pairs of elven gloves - straight from the forest of Noyadin, hand delivered by Talisien not five minutes previous! - as well as two pairs of dragonhide boots and Luna's purchases. The gloves would prevent both Hermione and himself from losing their grip on anything - thanks to the runes embedded around the wrists on the inside - which meant they'd do a lot better with their daggers later on, if push came to shove.

Unfortunately, they didn't get a chance to prove that. While visiting the Shrieking Shack, Luna loss her robes down the steep embankment, down the cliff. Harry climbed down to get them - as summoning clothes didn't actually work - but when he was only halfway up, everything started going wrong. Unable to find his leading DA gold galleon, he summoned his green cloak to him (surprising himself, given how he had literally just been told that summoning clothes was impossible) and activated the galleon before leaping from the cliff and transforming to his lyra form to fly up.

Upon reaching the surface, he found Hermione being put under a Crucio and Ron and Luna were already bound and gagged, unconscious from a variety of spells, he was sure. He stunned two Death Eaters out of eight that had suddenly appeared, but that was all he was able to do before being thrown over the cliff and stunned as he fell, unable to help any more.

Hermione had managed to save him from the deadly fall, but then was stuck with a stunner of her own from Malfoy senior, who had put her under Crucio twice already. The stunner, however, simply lifted her up and let her float down the cliff for reasons only explained later on.

Neither knew until later that Talisien had shown up seconds after Hermione had been thrown from the cliff. Neither knew that he had managed to kill six of the eight in mere seconds after his arrival, nor did they know that he had caught Malfoy's cloak and cut Bellatrix LeStrange's arm before they had disapparated with Ron and Luna to points unknown.

It wasn't until they woke up that they learned those facts. They awoke in the Hospital Wing in the same bed - surprisingly - surrounded by members of the staff, of the DA, and of the Order of the Phoenix. It was Talisien, however, who explained just what had happened in Hogsmeade.

Ron and Luna had been kidnapped - Snape said because they needed two underaged purebloods - and six Death Eaters killed. When Harry tried to take the blame for the attacks as the fact that they were his friends, many of those in the room refuted the claim immediately, and he was forced to accept the fact that this time, it truly wasn't his fault - Voldemort just wanted two underaged purebloods, that was it. They just so happened to be two of his friends...

As everyone was leaving, Hermione took the time to apologise to Ginny for failing to protect her brother. Ginny berated her this time, saying it was no more her fault than it was Harry's. She seemed to accept this, but once Ginny had left, leaving the two alone save for Madame Pomfrey, Harry and Hermione cried themselves to sleep over their failures, and over Ron and Luna's kidnapping. (Chapter Thirty Four: Valentine's Day in Hogsmeade).

Two more weeks seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye with very little word on anything about Ron and Luna, when an Order meeting was called, and both Harry and Hermione were invited to it. While there, they found that not everything was as stable as they might have otherwise believed, and everyone present at the meeting was required to take a touch of veritaserum to verify that they were, in fact, telling the truth for the entire duration.

They were disappointed to hear that no one had any leads as to where they were, or why they had been taken, save that they were still alive. Or, at least Ron was still alive, and they had to assume that Luna was as well - they had Ron on the Weasley Clock, and he was just in Mortal Peril, not Deceased.

The entire meeting was nearly disrupted when an argument between Molly Weasley and the Wanderer broke out. It ended with Talisien vanishing from the room after declaring that he hoped that she never find out what it was like to lose a child to a war - he had lost his daughter to a war decades ago, and it still wasn't any easier...

Once the meeting was starting to wind down, Harry left with Remus for a word in the kitchen, while Hermione took the time to visit with her parents. It was then that Harry learned the fate of the house elf called Kreacher... though after he heard just what Lupin as a werewolf had done, he wasn't so sure he wanted to know after all. Remus then ordered him not to take a stupid risk and try to rescue Ron and Luna. Harry refused to listen, saying that if he was to try and rescue them this time, he would have it carefully thought out first!

When he went upstairs to join Hermione and her parents, he found out that they had been having a similar discussion with her - only they had said that they hoped this time she would be smart and lucky, rather than just lucky like last year. They then asked to see Harry's animagi form, and Harry found himself thanking silently whoever would listen for such wonderful parents for Hermione... who accepted magics and everything about them so readily, and accepted him for their daughter, as well.

Before leaving Grimmauld Place, Harry overheard a conversation between Snape and Talisien - who had apparently never left - about Snape's duties as a spy. He stepped in after Talisien had left to tell Snape calmly and rationally that he would act on any information that he was given by Snape regarding Ron and Luna's whereabouts, but he wouldn't do it rashly or without thought. Not waiting for an answer, he returned to Hogwarts through the floo to Dumbledore's office with Hermione.

Neither could sleep that night, either, and took some Liquid Sleep, given to them by Madame Pomfrey at the request of the Headmaster.

That day - which had really just blurred with the previous one for both Harry and Hermione - found Hermione trying in vain to study, and Harry talking with Dean's group and Ginny's group of the DA. He tried to convince them all to leave the DA, but all had valid reasons to join, and he couldn't refuse them. He did, however, warn them that the time would come when he was going to go rescue Ron and Luna, and he hoped that anyone still in the DA by then would join. All of them looked at him as though that was the most obvious thing in the world.

A few days later, Harry and Hermione made their way out to Hagrid's hut, hoping for a place to try and escape from everything that was going on. After talking to Hagrid for a bit - and finding out that Malfoy had practically wet himself in his detention when he had met Grawp - they decided to have a bit of a lie down in the pumpkin patch in their animagus forms. When they were later joined by a bear dog and a nightingale, Hagrid couldn't help the tears that leaked from his eyes, and had to find a handkerchief. (Chapter Thirty Five: Do Memories Remain?).

Over the next couple of weeks, Harry and Hermione routinely stayed up long passed curfew taking secret lessons with Talisien - on topics from inner magics healing (Hermione's main subject of learning) to wandless magics and core magics training (Harry's main subject of learning). Both learned more about moving stealthily, and how to avoid getting detected, which was especially useful in getting back to the common room unnoticed, as he would not let them bring the invisibility cloak with them.

They took part in these lessons just so they would be tired enough to fall asleep at night without the aide of potions or anything else. It wasn't long, however... perhaps only a couple of weeks more, when Hermione received an odd owl post in the morning before the owls normally arrived. It was from Rita Skeeter, of all people, whom they had seen at the Order meeting. She was writing to warn them about the article involving the two of them - Harry and Hermione - and their advancing to boyfriend/girlfriend stage. She had only written it to avoid suspicion from the higher ups, but had also done the cover story on Ron and Luna's disappearance and the investigation following it.

In the aftermath of the Prophet's arrival, both forgot entirely about the second page news after reading the information on the kidnapping, and the detailed reports on both Ron and Luna. Neither were especially encouraging on the hopes for finding the two alive, and although they both knew that Skeeter wasn't trying to be harsh, she had to write with a certain flair or risk being exposed.

The DA meeting that day was the day Harry took the time to talk to Neville's group about quitting. He wasn't successful with them, either. This day was a little odd for the DA anyway, though, given that ever since the kidnapping, the meetings had been either learning new spells or actual dueling experience, pitting several teams at once against each other in all out combat. The Room would keep them from dying, but the spells were harmful enough that, when one was hit, the healers of each group certainly got a good workout.

Harry and Hermione were alone on their own team now, and were calling their white team Destiny's Force. Dean, Cho, Susan, and Parvati's group were calling themselves the Dark Warriors, given that their colour was black. Neville's group had take on Denis in place on Luna's absence, and together with Lavender, Terry, and Julia, made up the blue team of the Garamonde Brigade. The last group was now headed by Ginny after taking on Padma, and were called the Oaken Shield - at Kailyn's suggestion.

They also discovered an excellent tactic to sneak around a place - it was a cheap elven prank youngsters used that was essentially a sap bomb. Once it had gone off, if one tried to Scourgify it, it would harden to near stone, making it even better. After revealed to everyone how to get away with sneaking it in front of someone, they decided that it would make an excellent addition to their arsenal.

It was in this meeting that Harry also voiced a growing concern of his - everyone in the DA seemed to be willing to follow him blindly, despite the fact that he could and did make mistakes. Those listening weren't sure how to respond, exactly, but took the hint nonetheless.

Terry and Julia approached Harry and Hermione at the end of the meeting to make an adjustment to their badges - attach the Protean Charm of Hermione's to them, as well as a Crotan Charm, which was a side spell to augment the Protean Charm. It would let linked items find each other, which was an invaluable ability in combat and sneaky tasks - tasks, like, say... sneaking into a keep to rescue a couple of people without knowing exactly where they were being kept...

Later on that day, during the evening dinner, the tables had been rearranged into a rough circle surrounding one point in the middle of the Great Hall. It was from this point that Talisien sat and regaled the group with a song in his own tongue, with Fey appearing outside the circle to translate. The song was about a battle between light and darkness, and how a hero can overcome it.

Harry was sucked into Talisien's memories - he assumed thanks to the dagger at his side - during the song, and passed out before the ending could be sung, cutting Talisien off in the panic that followed. He awoke hours later in the Hospital Wing with Hermione asleep right next to him.

He found Madame Pomfrey as she came in to check on him, and the two actually talked for a while - a first, really, if he stopped to think about it. She was letting Hermione stay in the same bed for two reasons - the Headmaster's approval was one of them, but the other was that he seemed to heal faster with her close by, and she wasn't about to object to that! They spoke a bit about the song before Harry finally succumbed to his lack of sleep. (Chapter Thirty Six: The Oaken Shield).

It was the next day that both Hermione and Harry were reminded about the Daily Prophet article, thanks to a gloating Malfoy quoting from it, following them around to do so. Neither rose to the occasion, but they did take the time to laugh when he read the part about their secret club called the DA - or the Dirty Antics - and Skeeter questioned just what type of antics they could be getting up to. When she asked why Harry would allow himself to be used by a scarlet woman who wouldn't even keep to just pleasing him, they cracked up completely, despite knowing what the next day would bring for Hermione at her place at the breakfast table...

Malfoy also makes a crack about the DA badges, but is forced to stop when Harry activates his to call the other DA members, and Malfoy suddenly found himself surrounded by a group of angry students, their wands all trained on him...

To Harry's great amazement, the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match isn't put off after all, and they are forced to take to the skies to defend the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. Just before the match, however, Harry walked passed a classroom, only to overhear two angry voices on the inside.

Checking into it, he found Talisien threatening Snape rather forcibly. He was making a demand of the Potion's Master - help your students, or leave the school for good. There was no compromise available, and if he didn't do the right thing, then Talisien himself would hunt him to the ends of the earth, if that's what it took. He assured the Head of Slytherin that it wouldn't take him nearly that long.

Snape responded by asking how anyone would know if he sent students to the right place or the wrong place, or for the wrong reason. Couldn't he just as easily send them straight into the waiting hands of the Dark Lord, claiming that it must have been a mistake, and he had thought they would be able to rescue their friends? Talisien's response was to cut the sleeve off Snape's robes, and actually cut into his arm as well, just about the Dark Mark.

With his blade stained with Snape's blood, he vowed that if such a thing happened, he'd finish the job next time, and then flitted out of sight as was gone, leaving Snape to heal himself and make his way to the Quidditch pitch himself. It was only then that Harry started to run down to the pitch - he couldn't be late for the game no matter what!

Before the game starts, there is an announcement about the extra bludger, but no one to accuse just yet. It is assumed that the same person who released the extra bludger cursed Harry's broom, though no one was saying how that had happened even now, despite the fact that Harry was just taking to the skies again.

He met Malfoy mid pitch, and was told by the sneering Slytherin that Ron probably won't survive much longer, but he hoped that the slut did - she was quite the looker, if one could ignore how she screamed...

Harry directed Kirke and Sloper to take Malfoy out of the game, and was quite pleased when they succeeded by hitting him with both bludgers almost right away, and then hitting his falling body three more times before it landed in the sand pit beneath them. Although Gryffindor took a penalty shot for malicious beating, Harry really couldn't care less at that point. He just knew that Malfoy knew something, and that really unhinged his focus.

Without a Seeker on their team, the Slytherins were forced to try and score enough points to win. With Denis in as Keeper in place of Ron, they wouldn't have had that hard a time, either, save for the excellent Chasers on the Gryffindor side, coupled with the Beaters. When Harry caught the snitch about an hour later, the end score was a massive 330 to 70.

Without bothering with the party, Harry immediately sought out Hermione to tell her his suspicion about Malfoy knowing something, and then muttered something about wishing that they could get in contact with Ron and Luna to try and find out where they were. Something in Hermione's mind must have suddenly clicked, because she was telling Harry to find his butterbeer necklace that Luna had given him for his birthday - the necklace that he had added the quinton to over Christmas - as she went to find her own quinton that Luna had given her... (Chapter Thirty Seven: Gryffindor Versus Slytherin).

Following Hermione's realisation about the abilities of quintons, they both try to use them to contact Ron and Luna. Harry managed to get through to a very weak Ron, and finds out that they are being held in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor - basically in plain sight, save for some charm keeping them hidden. He's been subjected to a lot of curses, and at least one potion that he's sure is a slow acting poison, but he doesn't care about that.

It's Luna he's worried about. She keeps getting dragged out of the room by the senior Malfoy, and when she's thrown back in, she can't talk and can barely move. He suspects he knows what's happening to her, but all she'll admit to is that she refuses to betray Harry's secrets.

In the background, all Harry can hear is something akin to a chant, spoken in heliopath. *They are going to come for us.* After hearing it for the fifth time while focussing on it, Ron suddenly cried out in surprise and the connection is lost. Knowing full well what that meant, Harry threw down his own quinton in anger, shattering the remains of the fairy it had once been, reducing it to dust.

After telling Hermione where they were being held, he stormed to Dumbledore's office to demand to know the truth - all of it this time. Dumbledore doesn't know where they are being held, but apparently something has gone missing from the Time Room... a blue crystal slightly larger than a crystal ball. He will not tell Harry what it is used for, just that it does not bode well for Ron and Luna.

In his disgust at the fact that the Headmaster seemed to be taking the route of the 'Greater Good' over the welfare of two of his students, Harry stormed out of the office after yelling about just where they were being held. As he raced down the steps to leave the office, he pulled out his DA coin and set a meeting for that evening.

Over the course of the year, and thanks to handy reminders from several people, Harry knew better than to rush off right away, despite his instincts telling him to do just that. Instead, they decided as a group to find blueprints for the Manor - Hermione immediately thought of Dobby for that - and plan things out carefully. They decided to put their plans into action in exactly one week - giving them all just enough time to prepare enough sap bombs and strategies to allow for the best results possible given the circumstances.

The next Monday, Harry received a detention from Snape for showing up to class, something that made him flee the class in anger before he did something he'd later regret. In Charms, however, Hermione encouraged him to go to the detention - he might be able to get some information out of Snape that could help...

Little did either of them realise just how right she was. The whole detention was a front in the first place - Snape had taken Talisien's words to heart (surprisingly) and was doing something that he knew would expose his cover as a spy once and for all. Dumbledore had told the Order that Harry had discovered where the two were hiding, but hadn't admitted to just where it was to anyone else.

Snape threw two wizarding photographs down on the desk between the two of them, pictures of a large bright blue crystal. He explained in terse terms that it was called the Crystal of Guidance, but went into little extra detail, claiming Hermione could explain it to him later. He did say that if Ron and Luna weren't rescued by the time of the next Full Moon, then they would be killed and the Crystal activated.

The next full moon was that Wednesday!

To Harry's surprise, Snape then handed him two vials of potion - two different vials of the Draught of Stability. One, in the red bottle, was made by Snape himself, while the one in the blue bottle was made by Harry and Hermione. He apparently expected that either Ron or Luna might need a dose when they were found if they were to be kept alive.

He then told Harry that, upon his return, he would be serving a detention for trying to poison a teacher. This was immediately followed by him drinking a large goblet of juice that had apparently been laced with a heavy sleeping draught.

Harry took this as his queue to exit, and raced through the halls of Hogwarts, not caring about anything in his path, as he activated the DA coin and his badge so often that it felt like the coin was going to burn into his palm and the badge was going to set fire to his cloak and robes.

He was met just outside the Room of Requirement by several of the members, but said nothing until he had made the room appear - it was a war room on the inside, ideal for planning strategy and outfitting people before leaving on a dangerous task.

Inside the room, he told everyone what he had learned from Snape, and Hermione spoke up right away saying that they would leave in the morning - give everyone enough time to gather anything they had ready as well as get a touch of sleep before leaving.

Although Harry wanted to argue this point, he had to admit that it made sense. Kailyn left right away to arrange transportation from within the forest, but didn't say just what her plans were, save for the warning that getting home would be significantly more difficult.

Nothing they could say would convince Dobby to go with them, given how terrified he was even still of his former masters. He hadn't had the time to put together the blueprints, but he did sit down and talk hurriedly with Harry, Dean, Neville, and Ginny, telling them all he could before they broke off again to get ready.

Left alone in the room, Harry and Hermione take the time to wish each other luck, though neither would accept tears of fear. Harry gave Hermione the ring he had been holding onto, making sure she understood the significance, and then gave him the other ring of the set, for her to give to him when she was ready. She surprised him by giving it to him immediately, and then kissing him quite soundly.

He still didn't tell her he loved her - looking right into her eyes, he explained that doing so now would render it meaningless, as it would be controlled by Voldemort's plans, and not of his own time.

None of the Ministry Crew that were still around said a word when the DA met at the edge of the Forbidden Forest to find Kailyn had gathered the Thestrals as the transportation. Harry checked one last time before mounting, making sure he had both his wands, his dagger, the wooden box that held the teleportation stone, as well as his portkey to Hogsmeade.

The trip to Malfoy Manor was made in silence, and took until the early evening to arrive. It had taken a couple of stops with good heating charms to keep them all going until they had made it, but once they were there, heat was the last thing on their minds.

Neville and his group were elected to try and go in the front door to cause as big a distraction as possible. The plan was to let everyone else get in, find Ron and Luna, and get out again, and then providing the cover needed to get the Garamonde Brigade out as well.

The fact that the door was being guarded by a large mountain troll made it a little difficult, but Neville solved that quickly by turning into Prince and attacking viciously. Once he had dealt enough damage to the beast, it apparently decided that it wasn't worth guarding the doors after all, and took off away from the manor. They had made it inside.

Ginny's group was going for a bit more subtle an approach, and she ended up using her nightingale form to fly in an open window to unlock the door from the inside. It was a bit of a surprise to find such heavy duty muggle locks on the doors, but they didn't concern themselves with it at the time. Once inside, Kailyn had the sudden inspiration to try and provide some outside confusion by summoning a storm. Before any of them could ask just what she meant, she had cast the spell and practically collapsed with fatigue as the first crack of lightning disrupted their thoughts.

Dean's group went with Harry and Hermione to start off with, and both slipped in a side door that was left slightly ajar just as the storm started with a sudden intensity that caught them all off guard. This was also the first any of them had seen of any other person, as four Death Eaters were waiting practically just inside the door!

It was the bludgeoning spell that Harry used on the ceiling that allowed them to gain the upperhand, at which point all four were stunned and bound with heavy ropes that were transfigured from pieces of thread that Parvati had brought with her.

Splitting up on the inside, they came to a crossroads, only to find Neville's team to one side and Ginny's across the hall. Unfortunately, the last block had three more Death Eaters waiting, one of whom was Bellatrix LeStrange. With an inhumane roar, Neville changed again to attack her at once, causing more confusion than many of them could handle. During the commotion that drew more Death Eaters into the mix, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Colin, Terry, and Julia managed to slip away down the corridor none of them had attempted just yet.

This was the beginning of when Harry started to recognise things around them from his dream. When Hermione hissed to him that they should check to the right while Terry and Julia checked left, he knew right away what was coming, and pointed behind them for Ginny and Colin to provide their cover.

Coming across Ron and Luna was probably the hardest thing Harry had ever had to do. Ron was in really bad shape, having been beaten physically and had Crucio cast on him more than a few times, he was sure, but Luna was even worse. She barely had clothes anymore, and had large red welts and cuts all over her body from where she had been attacked. She also apparently had a broken rib or two, given the difficulty of her breathing. Harry then made the decision to pull out the vials containing the Draught of Stability - Hermione couldn't heal that much, not with what little time he was sure they had.

Looking to Hermione, she nodded and he gave Luna the potion from the red vial - Snape's potion, not their own. It wasn't a conscious decision on his part, just the one he was drawn to first. She immediately relaxed and then went rigid all at once, and Hermione levitated her up from the ground to take her out. Harry helped Ron get to his feet, and the four left the dungeon they were in, only to find nearly the entire DA outside the room waiting for them. A few were sending stunners down the halls in both directions, though it was more as a precaution than anything else at that stage.

Kailyn, however, was no where to be seen.

Handing Ron over to Ginny and Hermione giving Luna over to Lavender, Harry told Neville and Ginny's team to get out of the building to wait for them at a safe distance. The Dark Warriors and Harry and Hermione then left to find the Crystal, and destroy it.

The blue crystal was several floors down, but they managed to get to it through use of the sap bombs that Dean's team had with them, and a few skillful charms from Hermione to hide them from view. Finding the crystal was actually relatively easy, all things considered.

Crossing into the room told them that they were being hasty, however, as loud alarms started ringing throughout the manor. Shattering the crystal in an instant with the Oakrium, Harry turned and urged everyone to run. It was then that they felt the foundation shake, as though to collapse on them at any moment.

Outside the room, they found Kailyn finally. She was frantic, and pulled Harry and Hermione with her down the hall to a lone room. Harry insisted to Dean and the others to get out quickly, and that they would join them soon, and then they found out what kailyn was so worried about.

There was a young girl... maybe ten... in a small bedroom. She was terrified, and knew that the house was collapsing, but refused to leave the 'safety' of her room anyway. With no other options, Harry finally waved his hand in disgust, and a bubble charm erupted around the room, keeping it supported despite everything else that was going on.

Knowing the girl was then safe, Kailyn suggested that it was time for them to get out, too. That was the easy part, thanks to a few Reducto curses and more than a couple of bludgeoning spells or varying intensities. Once outside, they rushed to the rest of the group and Harry pulled out the teleportation stone. Just as he set it into Ron's hands, however, Dean looked up and cursed loudly, taking off towards the manor. Cho followed almost right away, and then it was Harry's turn to curse. He wasn't going to leave anyone behind, not if he could help it.

He ran after them, only vaguely aware that Hermione had joined him just as the teleportation took effect, rescuing everyone else. They then stopped quite suddenly as they found themselves witnessing an intense duel between Dean and Wormtail - who was apparently much better than he had been, perhaps because of that silver hand of his...

When Dean was struck from the side by a Killing Curse sent by another Death Eater that none of them had even noticed, Cho screamed in anger and finally managed a sufficiently powerful Kotes spell... sufficient enough, anyway, to turn all the bones in Wormtail's torso to dust on impact.

Just before the curse struck him, however, he managed to get a single other spell off - and Cho dropped to the ground, completely lifeless.

In the mud and rain that now surrounded them, Harry couldn't help the sense of dread that was picking up around him. This was the exact sense from his dream months earlier... the dream where Hermione had been killed...

Whirling in an instant, he sent four stunners and two disarming spells behind them, and successfully managed to hit someone who had been hiding in the shadows, causing them to drop to the ground.

He turned back at the sound of clapping, and was surprised to see Hermione stepping in front of him, as though to protect him. He was horrified to see Malfoy, LeStrange - who was in no where near as good shape as he was sure she would have liked - and Voldemort standing there, their wands all drawn.

After a verbal exchange of pleasantries - that is to say, insults rather inappropriate to explain at this time - Voldemort ordered Malfoy forward. Harry immediately sent a banishing charm at Hermione to knock her out of the way of the killing curse, only to be struck from behind with a Crucio, cast by the Death Eater Dolohov.

When Hermione stunned Dolohov - stunned this time, rather than silenced - rapid popping all around told Harry that help had arrived, and both he and Hermione were safe. Unfortunately for him, that was premature, as the apparating was not done by Order members, but by other Death Eaters.

Nothing he could do could protect Hermione from the dozen Killing Curses sent her way, and he felt his knees buckle as he watched her lifeless body drop to the ground next to him. He barely reacted at all as Voldemort walked up to him with a laugh and took his dagger from his side.

He didn't react to the sudden pain in his hand when his wand exploded, sending splitters through it.

He didn't react to the dagger being passed to Malfoy, who then stepped forward and drove it straight into Harry's chest. He had no choice but to feel the pain, and that was what snapped him suddenly forward. He could feel energy coming to life all around him, and he focused that energy forward with all the feeling that he could muster at the time.

The end result of the magics around him was Malfoy's body turning to dust, and Voldemort losing his wand arm entirely before managing to disapparate away from the danger.

Harry managed to drag himself over to hover above Hermione for a moment, his own blood dripping down the hilt of his dagger and over her lifeless body. He kissed her cold lips then, crying freely despite the battle going on around him - he had no idea that the Order had finally arrived and was fighting - and then whispered to her just how much he loved her before collapsing next to her, managing to roll onto his back rather than his side and finding Hermione's hand with his own before he knew no more. (Chapter Thirty Eight: Did You Find Freedom?).

When Harry later awoke, it was with a great gut wrenching pain, and he turned almost immediately to throw up. After what had happened on the field where Malfoy Manor had once stood, he hadn't actually wanted to wake up, and wasn't sure just how he was anyway, given how serious his injury had been.

All things considered, he wasn't even sure that he was really waking up, considering that Hermione was lying next to him in the Hospital bed, looking for all the world asleep. In fact, if he watched carefully, he could almost see the rise and fall of her chest, telling that she was breathing still...

The sounds of movement and a hushed conversation from a few beds over caused Harry to look away from Hermione, still not sure what was going on. Ron was sitting up in his bed, talking with Luna who was still lying down in hers. That only made sense to Harry, given that she had been in worse condition than he had been overall.

When he heard the words 'blind' and 'side effect,' he sat up quickly, much to the shock of both of them. To his own shock, however, was Hermione waking up and squealing in surprise at the fact that he was finally awake.

It took a lot of hushed whispers to get the full story out in the middle of the night. Ron and Luna's story was a little easier, though still difficult for Harry to hear - both had recovered completely now, though Luna had only survived thanks to the Draught of Stability. Unfortunately, she had been robbed of her sight as a side effect of the potion. Both had been cured of the poison running through their veins, and Harry had learned that the poisoning was due to the Crystal of Guidance - it had been leeching their strength ever since Voldemort had taken possession of it, which was before Ron's birthday - to it, he was still underaged, since he was when the leeching had started.

Voldemort had wanted to use the power of the Crystal to augment his own to such a level that he could decimate the wards around Hogwarts and destroy both Dumbledore and Harry in one foul swoop.

One revelation came up though, that none of them expected. Luna had survived a Killing Curse - she had used Talisien's words of advice, and diffused the hatred before the spell was finished, and so was just wracked with pain instead. She admitted that the pain made her think she was dead, but it turned out she was just in very serious condition...

Hermione being alive was actually a mystery to all of them. One minute, she distinctly knew nothing at all, save for the fact that she had been struck by the curses, but the next, she felt something warm, wet, and sticky pooling on her stomach, and then felt cold tears splashing down her face from Harry as he kissed her.

When he had collapsed, she finally had the energy to sit up, and found how injured he really was. Thanks to all the practice she had with inner magics and healing, she managed to remove the dagger and heal the wound before she passed out again, only to wake up in the Hospital bed they were now sitting in.

The four are then interrupted by a large crowd of people filing in to check on them, only to find that all four are already awake! In the middle of all the chaos that ensued, Harry and Hermione held a private conversation in kneazle, in which Harry finally told Hermione to her face that he loved her.

With a grin, she replied with his own answer. 'I know.' However, she quickly added that she loved him too, and that was the end of that conversation.

Later on, once they are all finally released from the Wing by Madame Pomfrey - whom Harry promises to speak to in private at a later date - Harry manages to find Luna and tries to apologise for making her go blind. She has none of it, though, saying that he saved her life. Being blind is a far sight better than being dead. She had also been quick to point out the advantages - basilisks and medusas no longer held as much power over her.

When Hermione joins them, Harry is just repeating the Wanderer's words of advice from earlier on in the year, about those who are blind still seeing. Hermione knew at once what he was talking about, and handed over the Sutadin to Luna, who could then see... in a manner of speaking, anyway.

Harry then tries to apologise to Ron for taking so long, but Ron has nothing of that, either. He's just glad to be back and safe, and the fact that Luna's alright helps, too. Even with her blind, he still loves her dearly.

Apparently, she can still see in her heliopath form anyway, though Harry never asked when they had a chance to test that little theory. He does ask why they didn't try to escape using their animagus abilities, only to be told point blank that Voldemort had prepared a cell that prevented all magics used on the inside. He was actually quite surprised that the Quinton worked...

Just before exams start - Ron's even more bitter about having to write them than usual, claiming that he had missed half the material by then - Talisien took Harry aside for a brief talk about being a leader. He also mentioned that he intended on having Harry write the theory and practical Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT that year rather than next.

Harry set the next date for a DA meeting to be immediately after the last exam, which sets a sombre mood over all of them. They are all aware that they lost two more members during the rescue mission...

Speaking of which, Dumbledore pulled Harry aside just after he finished his NEWT level exam, and asked to speak with him in his office. He was not happy at all - it was actually the closest Harry had ever seen to him being mad. When he made the accusation that Harry was playing with everyone else's life, Harry simply responded with the comment that he finally knew what it was like to be the Headmaster.

The two reached an accord after that, at which point Dumbledore asked Harry about the package he had sent him in July. Harry had actually forgotten about it, so the Headmaster explained just what it was about - he had truthfully asked for Harry's opinion on who would make good fifth year prefects, and had patiently waited for a reply until January, and then really had to pick for himself. He had been trying to include Harry in the process as an apology for leaving him out the year before. (Chapter Thirty Nine: Or Did You Break Free?).

Once exams were over, and the entire DA assembled in the Room of Requirement, Harry found out that Hermione had done something else behind his back - she had spoken to the entire DA about their potential future, and possible deaths in the war, and each had written up a will of sorts, in case the worst came to pass for them.

She then brought out the parchments stamped with Dean and Cho's names, and handed them to Harry. In turn, he pulled out their wands, which their parents had sent to him for reasons he previously hadn't understood. Reading the wills out loud brought that understanding - they had all written their parents early in the morning on the day of the rescue attempt, to tell them what they were about to do, and had asked that if anything happened to them, to send their wands to Harry and to thank him for his services to the school and in the war to stop Voldemort.

He couldn't bring himself to read the second letter, this one from Cho, so Ron did in his place. She spoke about what she hoped they would have accomplished, and her hatred towards the Death Eaters who had taken Cedric away from her two years earlier. She also said that she had lied to him about her reasons for staying in the DA - she had wanted revenge, pure and simple. Just as he had guessed. She also made a request - if she died, she wanted Harry to make sure he took out the Death Eater that had ended up killing Cedric in the first place.

Harry couldn't help but find the irony in that statement, given how her last act had been to do just that herself.

In a large chest that the room provided, both wands were placed inside, along with the large parchment with their names upon them, signed by every member there. The last four parchments were also added to the trunk, and then it was sealed again. Although no one said it, it was surely thought by everyone present - it wouldn't be the last time it was opened during the war.

During the farewell feast - in which it is discovered that Gryffindor again had won the Quidditch cup, thanks mostly to the efforts of Hermione and her 150 points in one sitting, and the deficit of Malfoy and his ability to lose points around Talisien - Dumbledore revealed to the school the cause of the Quidditch mishaps: A Slytherin by the name of Malcom Baddock (Who? Not a well known Slytherin, but he was their reserve, and really wanted to win the Quidditch Cup. His parents also own a farm for rare and dangerous creatures...). That aided in Gryffindor's victory as well, given how the Slytherins might have had ten points between them at the end...

For once, getting onto the Hogwarts Express didn't cause Harry any regret - he wasn't going back to the Dursley's, after all, but was going back home to Grimmauld Place, and Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were coming with him! He almost missed the train as he said goodbye to Talisien, but he wasn't a Quidditch player for nothing, and knew how to run! (Chapter Fourty: Finality and the Trip Home).

Stepping foot into his home, Harry's first thoughts were not of a peaceful summer vaction spent with his girlfriend, nor were they of school itself. Unfortunately, his first thoughts were of the previous owner of the house, and the fact that he had now been dead for just over a year...

Up next: Chapter One: Luna's Summer

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Until the sun sets upon a broken world...
The Shadows