Author's Note at end of chapter
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Far to the south, along the edge of the dimmed horizon in the dead of night, six small pinpricks of light stood out like sapphires in a patch of midnight... six rays of hope for a world fraught with danger.
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Chapter One: Luna's Summer
Elves are some of the strangest creatures I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, Luna Lovegood thought to herself as she chewed quietly on a small twig from a yellow birch that one of the elven children had given her earlier in the day. I have never heard of anything being so dependent on habit that they insist constantly on change...
She paused midthought and spit out the chewed end of the twig before sticking the rest back in between her teeth. As she looked around from her sitting position at the base of an old tree, the strange colours and twists that made up her current form of vision came to her easily. It had taken a bit of work, but now things appeared more or less natural to her. Even if she couldn't actually see people or things, she could see the magical quality of the same, leading her to further believe her Professor's words from the previous year she had spent at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Magic on its own cannot possibly exist, not with everyone having a unique magical signature, making them as easy to identify - if not moreso - than if she could actually see their faces. She was told by another in the elven village that even twins (though such a concept does not exist for elves) look completely different according to their magical trail.
An odd sound caught her attention suddenly, and she pulled herself to her feet using the walking stick given to her by her teacher within the village - the one teaching her how to see once more through a completely different set of eyes. Although she couldn't describe the noise, she knew what it meant, given how she had heard it twice already during the summer.
"Hey, Luna!" She turned quickly at the sound of her name being called, and marvelled for a brief second at what her long dirty blonde hair looked like through a magical trail before focussing on the matter at hand once again. "Are you coming?"
"Of course, Mel," she said in her dreamy voice. "It would be hard not to hear it, and I am sure that the healers will be calling for me soon anyway."
"I just wish you could teach what you do to our healers!" the young elfgirl said, bouncing around the taller girl, causing a whirlwind of colours to flash before Luna's eyes. It was difficult to get used to seeing people move quickly, but she was become adept at it anyway. With good teachers, it made such things simplistic. "Even if it is too late for my Mom!"
Luna smiled to herself and looked up to the treetops. Slowly, the form of a house came to her mind through the colours, and she knew that it was the one she was looking for. Holding out a hand towards the trunk of the old tree, a ladder descended for her, magics given birth by the elves long ago hard at work.
"If it was something I could teach, I would," she said easily as she started up the ladder, keeping a firm grip on her staff at the same time. "But no one else sees things the same way I do."
"I know," came the reply from beneath her as the ladder shook with the added weight.
"But I understand why you want me to teach it," Luna added serenely as she stepped onto the porch of the elven house and brushed aside the reed-woven door to enter. Several healers were surrounding an elfwoman who was apparently in the middle of labour. Even though she couldn't see in the traditional sense, she could see magics mixing and being born, even if she couldn't see the flesh being born itself.
When an odd discolouration flashed across the scene before her, she reached out hesitantly - just as she had the first time - and grasped at the darkness before pulling it away from the procedure. She had learned after the first time that most elfwomen had an extremely hard time with giving birth - so hard, in fact, that it was extremely rare for families to have more than one child, as the very ability to give birth was often stripped from mothers during the process.
Whatever it was she had done seemed to ease the tension instantly, and the sound of everything going smoothly met her ears, and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. A colour changed, and she knew one of the healers had just looked up to her. She nodded and turned away to return to the forest floor once more without a word, not wanting to interrupt any further.
"Another birthing?"
She whirled around quickly once on the forest floor and held her walking stick up in front of her like a staff. When the swirl of colours came into her vision, she sighed and lowered it once again to the ground. "You move with less noise than a Japanese flidim, Tempest," she said softly, forcing her heartbeat to slow down once again. Even since the kidnapping last year, even the littlest of surprises was enough to send her into a near panic.
At least if Ron was around she could maintain her calm, but she knew deep down that this time in the elven forest would be good for her. For them.
"I don't believe I have ever met one of those before, Luna."
"Why does that not surprise me?" She smiled up to the taller figure and followed him as he started to walk away. He was one of two beings in the forest who had similar magical auras surrounding them... him and a female named Ali.
He stopped her once they had reached a small clearing, at which point she raised her stick once again. Without any warning, the magical coating on it vanished from her sight, revealing the true colours of the wood as less of a flimsy stick and more of a strong staff. A staff the being before her was training her to use as a weapon.
As he turned back to her, he took a step away slowly. "You asked me after the last birthing why I had never stepped in to do what you have done three times now." Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew he expected some sort of response to this statement, but she decided to hold her tongue for a minute as he suddenly blurred forward.
Apparently, his idea of training her how to see with her new vision involved training her how to fight with a staff. His explanation was simple - if she could see well enough to fight, seeing in normal situations would be simple. Her own staff met his charge (she had never had a problem blocking his first attack, truth be told, but then it was often slower and she hadn't had a chance to get distracted or confused.
Forcing her mind to stay in the battle, she brought her left hand up to hold her staff as well and pushed away from his attack, using his staff as leverage for the movement and leaping backwards, landing several feet away and crouching low to the ground as she held her weapon in front of her in one hand again and caught her balance with her other. His voice suddenly sounded again in the middle of their training, and she barely caught his words at all, not having any chance to think about them. "I can not disrupt the natural order of things... though humans are quite adept at it."
And then he was moving again, and she rolled to the side and pushed off the ground with her staff to spin around and come after him from behind. Certainly a fair bit better than the first few times she had fought with him, when after the first attack, he managed to completely disarm her and pin her to the ground without any effort.
Rather than block the attack, instead he vanished from view entirely, the colours and energy that made up his form disappearing from her line of sight. She faltered at the sudden move and tried to listen carefully for any sign of him approaching from another direction, even if she knew she'd never hear it coming. Besides, her line of sight was broader now than it had been when she could see like everyone else... it shouldn't have been possible to hide completely like that!
With a suddenness that was almost feral, all of the energy that made up his being reappeared in front of her and shot towards her stunned form. There was no chance for her to defend herself that time, although she tried valiantly enough, bringing her staff to bear and trying to pull her body back, away from the danger.
The small clearing echoed with a resounding crack as her weapon couldn't handle the strain and snapped clean in half. Refusing to give up anyway, she spun the two ends of her staff around in either hand and brought them forward to try and form some semblance of a defense... which failed. A sharp pain in her stomach and a feeling of weightlessness later found her landing hard on the ground, staring up at the tree canopy above.
"Quite the disadvantage he's got you at, Luna," a cheery voice called from behind her. Luna tilted her head back for a brief glance before pushing herself to her feet and bring her broken weapon to a sort of ready position again. "Sure you should be pushed this hard, Tempest?"
"Morning Kai!" Luna called over her shoulder to the young half elf - and the only other being in the forest who attended Hogwarts. Kailyn - called Kai by her closer friends - was a second year student this year, while Luna would be going into her sixth year herself.
"Something you needed, Kailyn?" Tempest asked, pausing for a moment to look to the young halfling before returning his attention quickly to Luna again. Even though he knew Kailyn quite well, he wasn't the sort to ever use a nickname, even if she did ask it of him directly - a fact proven since she had asked him directly more times than she could count.
"Nope!" she called. "Just wanted to watch, that's all."
Luna could see - and actually understood that that was what she was seeing now - her teacher nod before looking back to her again. Deciding that the momentary distraction was probably all she was going to get, Luna leapt forward, knowing that it was the last thing he would expect of the usually held back form, especially with her broken weapon.
Colours spun to the side and she found herself tripping over her own feet (thanks mainly to his staff finding one of them and keeping it firmly in place as she tried to move) and landing hard on the ground again. As she did, however, the dagger at her side came dislodged and fell to the forest floor.
Instantly, all form of sight vanished, and the sensation caused Luna to gasp and start breathing harder than she had been. Dropping her weapon, she started feeling around the forest floor for the precious dagger, the gift that Hermione had given her at the end of last year than allowed her her sight.
A cold, harsh feeling surrounded her almost as soon as she had began looking, and she found herself completely unable to move. "If I was an enemy, I would not have hesitated in ending it right then, Luna." She tried to respond to that statement, but found that even her mouth was frozen. "No matter what, you can never show your enemy your greatest weakness. There is never an excuse for such a thing!"
When the feeling finally was lifted from around her, she gasped for a deep breath before sitting upright again. "But I can't see without it!" she pointed out, her voice weak even in her own mind. "Please, the darkness..." The darkness that was surrounding her only served as a prison from which there was no escape... even if she couldn't see normally, any sight allowed her mind to be free from the horrors she had undergone at the hands of Death Eaters a few short months ago.
A cold metal was pressed into one of her hands, and her sight returned in a rush, allowing her to start breathing again normally. She looked to her side to find Kailyn kneeled next to her, one hand still holding her dagger, the other reaching out to touch her shoulder, to reassure her. Rather than actually say anything to her, though, the halfing looked up to her teacher quickly. "Was that really necessary, Tempest? You know what she's been through... forcing her to survive in darkness now is just..."
"I am sorry," Tempest said in a firm voice, not sounding sorry at all. "But I am simply trying to train her so she will never find herself in a similar situation again." With that, Luna watched him turn away from them and walk to the edge of the clearing. "I never promised it would be easy, Luna."
"I know," she whispered, wishing the ethereal quality of her voice would return again. Whenever her fears grip her, her memories reminding her of the torture she had faced - torture beyond her own imagination, even now - and the horrors Ron had faced at the same time... her voice was cold and small. "I'm sorry I'll never be anywhere close to being able to match you."
Tempest made no response to that comment save to nod slightly, still facing the woods beyond them. At Kailyn's reassuring squeeze, she looked back to the halfing. "Don't worry about it," she whispered. "After all, he's the forest's last line of defense, even after Granddad. If you could beat him after only a little less than a moon of training, I'd be worried about both of you."
"He's..."
"He's different, that's all," Kailyn said softly, an odd tinge in her voice that Luna picked up on right away. "He's not elven, you know that, right? Or even half elf like me." She picked up the flicker of colour that told her the halfing was smiling, if only slightly, and that brought a small warmth to Luna's chest, too. "You've never really seen him except for his magical aura, right?"
Luna shook her head. "I've only seen a really small part of the village as I'm used to... but I didn't think it a good idea to try again," she admitted. Even though she had lost her vision a few months ago thanks to the Draught of Stability that had saved her life, she could still see in her magical, her animagus form. Her heliopath form - a form of flames. In the forest, freely burning fire was a dangerous thing, and she couldn't help but shudder at the brief memory of changing forms shortly after arrival to look around, and the chaos that that act had caused.
Thankfully, Kailyn and Talisien - her Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts last year - had managed to calm things down before anyone had tried to harm her, and she hadn't risked it a second time.
"Go ahead," Kailyn whispered in her ear. "He and I are the only ones around, and no one would worry since Tempest is here anyway."
Luna looked up to her friend for a moment, her once pale grey eyes now glowing a soft green white. "Thanks," she whispered as she returned her dagger to her belt. She then pulled into herself, and with a soft pop, everything about her world changed instantly.
In the place of the small almost sixteen year old sat a ball of soft, warm flames that crackled merrily. Luna couldn't help but hum the tune to `Weasley is Our King,' to herself while in that form... it sounded so odd to her ears since she didn't actually have a mouth anymore.
Shaking herself, she looked around the clearing instead. It was about as big as she had figured, and was surrounded by oak trees - something she had guessed at thanks to the aura of the trees, but had never been positive above before. Finally, she let her vision fall on her teacher's back.
He was about as tall as the Wanderer - Talisien - but unlike the elf, Tempest wasn't shrouded in any cloak. He wore black pants and an odd green shirt that looked to be almost alive, but beyond that, he looked powerful and confident, even with his back turned. His hair was a pure white, and to her surprise, he didn't have anything on his feet at all. She finally knew how he moved so quietly, though - he was floating an inch or so off the ground!
As though sensing the sudden scrutiny, the being turned around slowly to look to the bundle of fire and nodded, keeping a steady gaze on her. This was somewhat unnerving, she decided, since his eyes were a brilliant crimson, reminding her of the colour of freshly spilt blood beyond anything else. She pulled into herself a little more at that thought - she had seen far too much of Ron's and her own blood spilt recently - before looking away from his eyes.
His ears were pointed much like the elves, but not as prominently. Instead, they reminded her more of Kailyn's ears than anything else. The truly strange thing, however, was the markings he had on his face. On his forehead was a small outline of a triangle, pointing up, in the same blood red. On both cheeks, just ahead of his ears were two more triangles - three markings in all - which were also outlines, though these were pointing forward at his mouth.
"No one ever told you about him, did they?" Kailyn asked softly, a note of reverence in her voice. "Tempest isn't an elf or human, or anything in between," she explained. "That's why he's our last line of defense... he's an Ancient. One of the beings who brought all other beings into existence before any record of time began." Apparently, something about Luna's form made it obvious that she had a question, and Kailyn guessed at what that was. "No, he's not nearly that old. In fact, if you can believe it, I'm actually a day older than he is!"
"Ancients grow differently than any other race... you know that, Kailyn."
"Yeah, but Luna didn't," Kailyn pointed out. "So I was just explaining it to her." She then looked back to the heliopath next to her again. "You should probably change back, though. It's getting late, you know... Grandma is going to be looking for us soon."
"Possibly sooner than you think, child," Tempest said kindly, looking beyond the two. Luna instantly looked behind them - not really turning around, just shifting her line of vision... it was hard to explain to anyone else, so she had never tried, but given how heliopath's don't exactly have eyes but can still see... - but saw no one there.
"I am not a child!" Kailyn shouted suddenly, causing Luna to start just as quickly. Unfortunately for the halfing, who was actually touching the warm flames - warm, but not capable of burning most of the time - that meant that the fire was excited, and could burn. She leapt back in surprise quickly and held her burnt hand in her other hand to heal it unconsciously as she glared at Tempest. "And you know that! Why would you..." Apparently whatever she was saying was too difficult for the halfing to actually put to words, and before Luna could react, she had turned and flitted out of sight, vanishing from view to leave the area using elven techniques.
Luna popped back into her human form again and pulled herself to her feet. "I hate it when I do that," Tempest muttered under his breath and he motioned back the way they had come earlier. "I don't mean to call her a child, but I call almost everyone that sometimes... I'll have to make it up to her later." He then looked back down to the smaller girl with long dirty blonde hair. "And we'll have to find you another staff... one that won't go breaking on you."
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Talisien smiled to himself and he pulled away from the clearing, keeping himself hidden in the forest he had grown up in, had called his home for more time than most alive could understand. Well, most humans, anyway. To the elves, that was another story entirely.
He had just returned to the forest, actually, from London, where he was training Harry Potter - often known as the Boy-Who-Lived - in Defense Against the Dark Arts privately. So far the lessons were not going as he had hoped, and he needed the night in the forest to think of a new plan. Sure, the young man was easily grasping the concepts of disguise, something that he had been searching for for a long time, apparently, so that came as no surprise to the elf at all... but he wasn't any more capable of the odd acts of wandless magics now than he had been at the beginning of the summer.
Something had to change, and Talisien had to figure out how to unlock that talent. The boy had shown incredible aptitude with it for simple spells that would make everyday life easier, but nothing that could help in a dangerous situation just yet.
As much as he hated to admit it, this was a puzzle he didn't think he could solve on his own. He would need the insight from his wife, his friend Ali, and probably a word or two with Tempest as well.
Thoughts of Ali brought a grim smile to his face as he made his way swiftly and silently through the woods to return to the large elven village - the village where the ruler of the forest always lived, the village of Vlaine. His home, even before he was made king with Fey Rowan at his side as queen.
There was a time nearly a millennia ago now... if not longer... that he had travelled with a few close friends to battle his own Dark Lord - Ali and his wife among those with him. It was not hard to draw similarities between his own troubles and that of Harry Potter, but they could not be said to be the same, either. While Talisien had gone actively looking for evils and dangers to destroy, Harry wanted nothing more than to live in peace without worrying about `some nutter chasing after him.'
Coming out into the village, he paused for a breath and looked to the night sky. The southern horizon was blocked by the canopy of the forest, and he sighed and shook his head. "At least he has his friends with him." Harry was truly fortunate to have such strong friends, too.
Hermione Granger, a brilliant witch who could uncover the mystery behind almost anything and understand how things worked with apparently little effort, a guiding force if he had every seen one. She was also his confidant, his closest friend, his mate - though not in the physical sense just yet, as far as he could understand.
Ronald Weasley, a redhead wizard with a mind for plans and a heart to lighten any mood. Despite being kidnapped and tortured with his mate - again, not physical mate to his understanding - he could still be lighthearted and make light of most situations, just to bring a smile to the faces of those around him. Such was a powerful ability indeed.
Luna Lovegood, the witch currently staying within the forest of Noyadin, within Vlaine, with his own family. With a hidden thirst to prove herself worthy of the person she picked as her life partner - Ron - she was almost always looked at as quite strange. In fact, he knew several students at Hogwarts had called her Loony Lovegood instead of Luna. Still, with her newfound sense of sight, she would be better able to understand magics than many others. With proper training, that ability would only grow.
Neville Longbottom, a larger boy who, at first glance, appeared to be no one of any importance in anything. It was obvious he was nervous and didn't like standing out... at first. But he had found a sense of confidence within the group thanks to the encouragement he received, and his own animagus form - a dogbear - gave him more strength to stand up to those in their way than ever before.
And finally, Ginerva - Ginny - Weasley, Ron's younger sister, and also a redhead, her fiery temper reminded him strongly of another... someone much closer to him than any other. The witch had the courage and conviction to follow any path set before her to the end, and was loyal almost to a fault - but cross her and you would be sorry. She fully believed in hashing out problems in the open (loudly more often than not).
He hated comparing things to his own life, but it was hard not to see the similarities when he looked at it from the right point of view. Although certainly the relationships in Harry's group was quite different from his own - he was mated with the one from his group with a fiery temper, not the guiding one - but it was still remarkable. Ron to Sciroth... Neville to Khat Siea... Ginny to Fey... Luna to Ali... Hermione to Greensleeves...
And Harry to himself.
"And so again six people, brought together by their choices and bound together by their hearts, will take a stand against destiny, and prove the worth of the world - of good over evil," Talisien muttered to himself. "Still... it is somehow fitting that it would once again come to this."
"Interesting how Luna is training under an Ancient, isn't it?"
Talisien smiled to himself and turned slowly as he held out an arm towards his mate. Fey Rowan reappeared from the trees next to him and entered his embrace fully, leaning against him with a contented sigh. "I'm not here for long, love," he said softly. "Just tonight. Then I return to London to continue Harry's training... I was just hoping to discover a method here to draw out his full potential quickly."
"The world is often cruel and harsh," Fey said softly. "But he'll learn when he has to. He's much like you in that regard - when you have to do something, even if you can't do it, you still manage somehow."
"I haven't done anything like that in years," he said out quickly. At her pointed gaze, he sighed and leaned back into her, supporting each other. "Alright... moons." At her continued look, he shrugged. "Maybe a few sevendays?"
"That sounds more likely," Fey agreed with a smile. "Now come on... Kailyn will be glad to see you again, and I think Ali wanted to have a few words."
"But tonight I'm all yours."
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Once one of the darkest and gloomiest houses in the world - and designed that way, too! - Number 12 Grimmauld Place had taken many changes over a few short years, that was for sure. As Harry Potter eased his tired muscles and sore body into a chair in the kitchen late at night in the early summer, he sighed and looked around the kitchen.
His kitchen.
"It's good to be home again," he whispered to himself with a small smile. Home. He had never really thought he would have a real home while he was growing up... but then, he had never counted on a lot of things happening, either.
Oddly enough, being a wizard wasn't the largest surprise...
"Accio goblet and pitcher," he muttered, waving a hand in the general direction of the cold box and counter from the table. The objects in question lifted into the air at his command and floated over to him, gently setting themselves down before him. As he was pouring himself a drink, he heard a noise on the staircase just beyond the kitchen, and forced himself to turn quickly to face whoever was coming down the stairs.
As the dark hallway was flooded with light, he could only see the silhouette in the doorway, but it was enough to tell him who was standing there. "Drink?" he asked in a hushed voice, holding up the goblet towards her.
"You've looked better," Hermione Granger said with a grin as she took the goblet he was offering and sat down next to him - so close that their shoulders were touching. "Talisien work you hard today?"
"Hmm?" he asked, having turning and waved for another goblet. He caught it in one hand without a spoken word and turned back to her. "Yeah, it was rough," he said. "But I'm getting the hang of some things, anyway."
"He kept you later today than usual, didn't he?"
Harry shrugged and downed his glass in one gulp, sighing as the cool liquid poured down this throat, soothing it. "He left this afternoon, said something about going home for the night," he explained. "I've just been working on a few things, that's all."
"For six hours?" Hermione demanded, standing up quite suddenly, causing Harry to lurch towards her chair, given how he was leaning against her. She helped him sit up again when she saw how tired he was and smiled to him, shaking her head. "You could have at least stopped for something to eat, you know."
"But then I wouldn't have gotten back to it today," he pointed out. "I'm just so close, you know? I can feel it, right beneath the surface, but it refuses to break free."
"I could help if you'd tell me what you were working on," Hermione said as she started towards the cold box herself. "Let me get you something to eat first, and then you can tell me all about it."
Harry grinned to himself and leaned back in his chair. "You know I can't tell you all of it, Mia," he said, using one of his several pet names for her. "But I can tell you some of it, at least. I managed to convince Talisien of that."
Hermione whirled around so fast at that that she actually threw several rolls out of the bag she was holding, and watched as they sailed through the air and landed cleanly in the fireplace. The flames made short work of them, and she looked back to Harry quickly to see him stifling a laugh. "Something funny, Harry?"
*Nothing, Mione, nothing,* he purred to her quickly, speaking in kneazle because he was afraid that if he opened his mouth to speak normally then he might just be unable to keep from laughing.
She raised an eyebrow at him, but otherwise said nothing right away before turning back to making him up a plate of what Mrs. Weasley had served for supper earlier. She placed it on the stove for a second - which cast an instant warming charm over the meal - and then walked back over to sit next to Harry again.
"So what's he teaching you that you can talk about?"
She had waited until the exact moment he had bitten into a large piece of steak to ask, and couldn't help but grin at her success as he tried to chew it quickly so he could answer. Once he swallowed, she was the perfect picture of calmness again, and ignored his glare entirely. Of course, thus far over the summer they often seemed to enjoy themselves by laughing, so she had no complaint about that.
"He's teaching me how to hide from people," Harry explained. "You know, while standing right in front of them, have no one know who I am. I can just blend in with a crowd and be normal with some of the spells he's taught me. The best thing is that some of it's like our animagus work, and I can just shift into other forms without spells or anything once I've got it down pat."
"Really?" Hermione asked, surprised. "Doesn't that sound an awful lot like someone else we know?" Harry looked confused for a minute before she sighed and pointed to the fireplace.
On the mantel, Harry had placed several wizarding photographs of the people who lived in the household. The first and largest was of himself and Hermione with her parents, but just beyond that was one of Remus Lupin - once professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, now Harry's godfather after Sirius... though still a werewolf - and Nymphadora Tonks - now Auror `on special assignment' as she wanted to spend all her time working with the Order and that wasn't possible with an active role in the Ministry. She was also a metamorphagus.
"You think I'm morphing like Tonks?" Harry asked.
Hermione frowned and looked thoughtful as she shook her head. "Not exactly," she said slowly. "Because you can't learn to be a metamorphagus... you just are or you aren't, and you would know by now, trust me," she said. As she was explaining this, she caught his eye, and had to stop speaking suddenly at the intense look she found there. Of course he trusts her... beyond anything else.
As her voice trailed off, Harry leaned towards her and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, pulling back and returning to his meal before she could reply. "I love you, Willow."
She couldn't keep the smile from her face and she nodded. "I know, Tor," she replied, using his animagus name just like he had used hers. After a brief pause, she sat up a little straighter. "Of course, you could be using wordless, wandless magics to do it, too. It's really hard to do, but you know you can do some wandless stuff, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Harry said in between bites. "But I'm not sure what I'm doing, either. I can't really get my wandless magics to work like he wants me to..." He trailed off suddenly, and then looked a little sheepish. She didn't have to say anything to realise that that was one of the things he wasn't supposed to mention, so she decided not to press him on it. "But I can get a couple of basic transformations down, anyway."
"Can I see one?" Hermione asked, leaning forward excitedly. "You said they're complete?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, even my clothes change with me. I guess I could show you one, but the other one's supposed to be a complete secret from everyone - even me, really. I've never even seen myself in the mirror after that one."
"Talisien's a little odd," Hermione muttered to herself, though certainly loudly enough for him to pick up her words.
"You've noticed, huh?" Harry asked wryly. "I suspect being alive for over fifteen hundred years could do that to a person." He then pushed himself away from the table and started to stand, letting out a little groan as he did so.
"What could you have been doing that tired you out like this?"
He shrugged and stood up at last. "This and that. Some work with my dagger," he admitted, patting the Oakrium at his side that shielded his mind from any and all intrusions - save those from Hermione, which he welcomed. "And a few other things. You'll see later, don't worry."
They both stopped instantly at the sound of movement coming from upstairs, and Hermione hissed the word *later* to him. He nodded and sat back down again to keep eating. "Oh, and don't worry," she added after a few seconds or so of silence. "I love you too."
She was rewarded with a large smile from Harry that sent a warm feeling coursing through her. She only looked away from him when the door to the kitchen opened again and Mrs. Weasley walked in, obviously having gotten ready for bed earlier. She was wearing a large pink bathrobe that was tied shut, and looked up in surprise to find both Harry and Hermione in the room.
"Are you two still awake?" she asked kindly. "Having trouble sleeping, Harry dear?"
He waved off her concern and smiled to her. "Nah, don't worry," he reassured her. "I just finished with my training today and came down to get something to eat. Mione here's just keeping me company before we head up for bed."
Harry and Hermione caught each other's eye for a brief second as Mrs. Weasley - Molly - looked away and nodded. She still had no idea that Hermione slept in the same room... the same bed as Harry yet, and they had been in the house for a couple of weeks already. It wasn't always easy, but they were aided by both Ron and Ginny, not to mention Hermione's parents, Remus, and Tonks. Actually, only she and Arthur Weasley didn't know...
"That elf is actually training you this late, and not even letting you stop to eat anything?" Molly asked in surprise. "I'm going to have to..."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said quickly, cutting off her train of thought. "Talisien actually left almost..." He paused and looked at the clock in the room. "Seven hours ago. I was just working on a few things myself."
She seemed shocked that he would do such a thing before sighing and sitting down at the table as well. "It really is unfair that you have been thrust so fully into this war, Harry," she said softly. "I just wish he would tell anyone why you're the one he's training, and not anyone else..."
"I've asked a few times if at least Hermione could join me, actually," Harry admitted, startling said girl, who leaned into him and put an arm around him to show that she appreciated the gesture, even if it wasn't successful. "But he's dead set in his ways. Makes sense, really, he's had all the time in the world for that to happen."
"I think Albus should talk to him again," Molly said with a sniff. "It's not right, not right at all."
"There are probably a lot of things that aren't right these days," Hermione said before Harry could reply. She caught his eyes and saw right away that he wasn't pleased with the Weasley matriarch's comments, and she pulled that anger out of him and into herself using her Legilimency and the cooperation of his dagger before going on. "But little we could... or would... change."
Molly sighed and picked up the pitcher of pumpkin juice Harry had summoned over earlier, standing to put it away again. "I know, Hermione dear, don't worry. But I can't help but wish... well, at least you, Ron, and Ginny aren't being subjected to such things," she said in the end. "At least you three can relax still, at least a little bit."
Hermione nodded easily at the blatant lie - Molly really didn't need to know that she was taking the time during Harry's lessons to teach her youngest children how to fight with bladed weapons. Harry had been trained by Kailyn, and then trained her... and now she was training Ron and Ginny. They didn't actually use daggers in her lessons - just fake wands from the twins' joke shop, in truth - but they were just as effective for learning the basics.
Harry, having finished his meal by now, stood up fluently, ignoring his aching muscles and tired body in front of Mrs. Weasley... he really didn't want her to mother him right them - he'd much rather just get into bed. "Oh, Harry, have you seen your kneazle Willow around recently?" she asked just as Hermione was standing up as well. "I was looking for her earlier so I could give her a bath, but I couldn't find her..."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Harry admitted. "She's probably closer than you think," he added as he turned towards the door - which effectively hid the grin on his face. Hermione was that kneazle, after all, in her animagus form. "But if you can't find her, she's probably in my room."
"I do wish you'd let me in there to at least clean up a little," Mrs. Weasley said. "It's just that..."
"It's fine," Harry said firmly, having had this conversation a few times with her already. "This is my house, and that happens to be my room, and one of the few places where I can just do whatever I'd like and now worry about bothering anyone else. I keep it clean myself." Without necessarily waiting for her to add anything else, he made his way out of the kitchen and started up the stairs.
Molly sighed as Hermione started out as well. "I'm just trying to help," she said softly.
"I know you are," Hermione replied quickly. "And he knows that, don't worry. But it's like he said - he needs a space to call his own, away from everyone else. Harry's a pretty private person, you know that."
Molly smiled her thanks and went over to the cabinet to grab a goblet for a glass of water. "Don't worry about me, Hermione," she said easily. "I understand that. But Harry is like a son to me, and I like to keep tabs on my children's rooms, at least for my own peace of mind."
Hermione just shrugged, knowing there was no way Harry would budge on this matter. Besides, if he did, then Mrs. Weasley would know that the two of them shared a bed... and that was one headache they didn't need right then. Or ever.
Without another word, she pushed the door open silently and entered the darkened hallway. She could tell from the way Molly was sitting that she wouldn't be moving right away. With a small smile on her face, Hermione pulled in on herself as she leapt towards the steps leading upstairs to the floor with the bedrooms.
She landed on all fours on the third step and continued to bound upwards in her kneazle form. While it wasn't that she was in a particular rush, it did feel good to let go as an animal every now and again. Reaching the second floor, she made her way down the corridor and stopped in front of what was once Sirius's study, but was now Harry's room.
Well... their room.
The kneazle Willow scratched at the door to their room with one paw, and was rewarded with a soft glow surrounding the bottom of the door, revealing a kittie door for her to enter. It was one of their better ideas in regards to their living arrangements, since no one but Harry could open the door to their room, but Hermione had another way in anyway.
A complicated bit of magics, but it had been performed by Talisien on one of his first days there during the summer at their request.
Once inside, Hermione paused for a second before leaping up onto the bed and changing back into herself. Harry was already sitting on the bed, with his head leaning back against the wall and his eyes closed. At the shifting of the mattress, he cracked one eye open and smiled to her.
"Mrs. Weasley say anything new this time?"
"No," she admitted. "Just the same thing as every other time. I wish she'd get the idea, it's getting harder and harder for me to keep putting her off like that."
"You should see her when she thinks she's got me cornered."
They both smiled and then Hermione reached up and undid the clasp on her dark green cloak - the cloak that was a Christmas present from Talisien last year, which Harry had also received. Once the soft fabric had folded itself onto the floor, she pulled her feet up onto the bed and crossed her legs. "Are you really tired right now, or..."
"I did tell you I'd show you downstairs, didn't I?" Harry asked with a grin. "Getting impatient, are you?"
"Well it's the first I've heard about what you've been doing!" she pointed out. "It's getting really hard not to ask more than that, you know!"
The joking manner on Harry's face vanished in an instant and he sat up again, all signs of fatigue disappearing with the motion. "Mione... I'm sorry, I..."
She waved off his apology and smiled to him reassuringly. "It's okay Harry," she whispered. "I understand... besides, it's not like he hasn't taken some time to show me some more things this summer, too." She left out the fact that she had already told him all about each of those lessons where her healing abilities were improved from their already heightened position. Talisien had given her a book on elven potions, too, which she had taken to reading almost daily.
"I'll show you one of my disguises now... but you've got to promise not to laugh, okay?"
"Why would I laugh?"
"Well... I look a little younger, that's all."
She shifted on the bed until she was leaning against their headboard and motioned him to climb over her. He pushed himself upright and then crawled over her, pausing briefly with one hand on her leg, just revelling in her warmth before leaning down and giving her a feather light kiss and climbing off the rest of the way.
He was still dressed in his school robes - he had taken to wearing them almost all the time, since they had always been his, and they weren't hand-me-downs from the Dursleys. She had to admit that the look suited him better than she would have thought otherwise, and the dark green cloak only added to that.
Before she could keep that train of thought going - or shut it down, she hadn't really decided which just yet - he held out a hand in front of him and closed his eyes. Almost instantly, the green cloak shrunk down and changed to a rich red overcoat. It still clasped below his neck like a cloak, but was much fuller suddenly, even reaching down to cover his previously bare arms.
His black robes were changing as well, into a white shirt and red shorts - she assumed that the shirt was short sleeved, but couldn't be certain with the jacket in the way. His legs weren't bare, though... a black material was spreading across his skin as though he was wearing a pair of thin pants beneath his shorts. Long white socks materialised as well, fitting into a pair of dark brown shoes.
He was also shorter than he had been before, and his hair had taken on a slight purple tinge to it, though it was almost completely black nonetheless. It was a little longer than normal, but with the complete change, she though he looked about thirteen or fourteen, not almost seventeen. When he opened his eyes again, the familiar and warm ocean green had faded into a dark brown - reminding her of her own, really.
When he lowered his hand again, it became clear that the transformation was complete. He lifted up his other hand then and pressed it against his forehead. "Ah, bloody hell..." he muttered more to himself than to her. "Still there." When he pulled his hand away and reached into one of the pockets of the cloak, she could see the lightning bolt scar on his forehead still, clear as day despite the darker room.
He pulled a red strip of fabric of out his pocket and tied it around his head like a bandana, and then looked to her at last. He looked a little nervous, and even though there was nothing of him that looked the same as she was used to, she could still see his question before he said anything, still see his mind clearly in hers.
She stood up without a word and circled around him, looking him over carefully before putting a hand on both shoulders and pulling him closer to her in a full embrace. "I know you're still in there, don't worry. How long did you say it took you to perfect that?"
"Oh, it's still not quite done," he admitted, his voice sounding a touch younger than she was used to as well. "I'm supposed to be able to change faster, and my scar isn't supposed to stick around, either."
"It's amazing, though!"
He smiled to her and took a step back. The change back to his normal self took less time than it did for her to blink, and he sighed as he leaned forward a little, slouching his shoulders as he undid the clasp to his cloak. "Changing's a little tiring still, too."
"Thanks," she whispered to him, putting her arms around him again. "It..."
He silenced her words with a gentle kiss, and pulled away again with a slight tug at her lower lip with his teeth. *Don't worry about that,* he purred into her ear. *I trust you with more than my own life... this is nothing.*
She kissed him again before releasing him and turning away. "Well, I know you're tired, and I'm getting that way too, actually..." She didn't have to turn to know that he had turned away from her and had his eyes closed. No matter what they had done together in the physical sense, he still insisted on giving her the privacy to change into her pyjamas.
There was no real point in trying to argue with him - it hadn't worked any other time, and it was rather sweet of him anyway - so she slipped off her shirt and pants before picking up her light blue camisole and pink silk bottoms and setting them on the bed in front of her. Her bra and knickers fell to the ground next as she pulled on her favourite - and Harry's, too - pyjamas and then picked up her clothes, tossing them to the hamper in the corner.
He was already in his boxers when she turned around, and she held out her arms to give him one more hug before he crawled into bed. *Thanks, Mia,* he purred as she pulled the blankets up around them again and she settled herself next to him, resting her head on his chest to hear the soothing sound of his heartbeat. *Sleep well...*
*How could I not?* she purred back. *I love you.*
*I know.* There was a slight pause, and she could practically feel the pull at his lips as he smiled down to her when he wrapped his arms around her at last. *I love you too.*
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Author's Note:
Well, I've got a few things to say down here, so please bear with me for a moment of two. First of all, I will apologise for taking so long to get this started - but hopefully from here on in there will be regular weekly updates - I'm thinking Wednesday's this time, but we'll see.
I will partially explain why it has taken so long, but first I just want to say something quickly. Pity is something I do not want, and sympathy is something I do not need - a kind word is worth more than either of those things, I believe.
Many of you are aware that my wedding was scheduled for the middle of August. I also intended on dropping an email to wish a friend on mine on this site a happy birthday. Neither fact happened. The wedding was called off at the last minute, and I am still grasping for the reasons why - it was sudden and harsh, and left me more confused than I thought possible. For weeks afterwards I was completely unable to write a single thing - not even a word - for fear of letting my mind wander and think about what had happened. My world was torn out from under me, and I have still not completely recovered from such a thing... indeed, I do not think it is possible to do so.
After that jarring moment, I found myself living alone again, something I have not done in a very long time - nor had planned on ever really doing again. And no, my cat doesn't count as company, no matter how much I tried to think otherwise. My littlest brother, on the other hand, has since moved in with me - a slightly awkward fact at first, but he has been a great help to me overall. So for that, this chapter and several others are actually for him (as the original story was intended for him as well).
As for not sending birthday wishes, I apologise, but like I said, my mind was elsewhere. I will send them now, though belatedly. I'm not sure if you'd appreciate it done so publicly, so I will simply say Happy Belated Birthday, and perhaps send an email later on, but we'll see. I'm sure you know who you are.
On another note entirely, I believe that Half-Blood Prince was a mockery of the world JK Rowling had created... in a sense. And yes, I know how contradictory that statement is. Still, I think she did what a lot of authors end up doing - she saw one scene that she wanted done in a later book very early on, and ignored the fact that her story had evolved away from that possibility. I also feel that she killed off Hermione's character entirely - I can't think of a single instance where she was the Hermione we have all known and grown to love from the first five books, and the major death in the book left me with less a sense of loss and more a sense of `well duh, who couldn't see that coming?' And besides, after destroying Hermione, why not get rid of Harry's only other source of wisdom and knowledge? Harsh? Yes, but that was my initial thoughts. It may change on a second reading, but we'll see.
And don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to the wonderful writing that JK has provided for us over the years - this is simply an example of harsh criticism delivered in a short segment for a large work. On that note, I thought the concepts of Horacruxes was magnificent, and I thoroughly hope to see wonderful things in book seven. Incidentally, for the unveiling of book seven, I intend to dress up - as Voldemort.
Finally - yes, long Author's Note, but some things needed saying, and others needed explaining - this is the beginning of Beyond the Shadows. Some parts will be confusing for a time, and some wil probably leave you with a question of `why would he bother with that?' Trust me when I tell you that everything will be important and make sense as time goes on - and you'll be seeing more of the Ancient language in a few chapters.
I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. As always, please review and let me know what you think, and I will be replying to reviews as well - though I appear to have a bit of a backlog which I'll be dealing with over the next couple of days.
Until the sun sets upon a broken world, I will be watching from within...
The Shadows
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