Harry Potter Beyond the Shadows

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

Author's Note at end of chapter

----

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.

----

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.”

-----------------------

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.”

----------------------------

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.*

-------------------------

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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Chapter Two: Recovery and the Plan

Ron moaned in his sleep and sat bolt upright all of a sudden, just as the sun's morning beams were starting to fall across the floor in his room. After Harry had invited his family to stay in Grimmauld Place when the Burrow was decimated, Ron had moved to a new room, one with a window. He had said he wanted the fresh air... but the truth was he couldn't stand the confinement.

He could finally understand just what Sirius had meant.

He put a hand across his face to wipe the cold sweat that had gripped him after his latest nightmare, and then frowned to himself. All he ever seemed to see these days when he slept was Luna's battered form during their torture... he could practically feel his own pain still, but seeing her like that was even worse.

Even though he was known for sleeping in, he hadn't managed it even once since leaving Hogwarts for the summer. He got up quietly enough and pulled on a fresh set of robes before settling himself on his bed again with a long, drawn out sigh. Reaching over to his night stand, he picked up both a picture frame and a piece of parchment.

In the off-silver frame (as Harry had actually gone around the entire house and gotten rid of anything that was actually silver for Remus's sake) was a picture of him and Luna, taken midway through the previous year... before they had been kidnapped. She was leaning into him and was rolling her eyes at something, and he was laughing.

The parchment was actually a letter she had sent him from the elven forest. He wasn't sure how she could still read and write when she couldn't exactly see - he knew she could see something, but not the same way - but he decided not to look a gift hippogryff in the mouth.

There was one of those in the attic if he had any desire anyway.

Just as he was starting to read over the letter detailing her time in the forest - for the fourth time since receiving it the previous night - a strangled cry came from further down the hall. He was out of bed in an instant, his wand in hand and out the door before he could even think about it, and then paused just outside the bathroom door as the cry came again.

It was Ginny... and it wasn't a terrified cry or anything of the sort... but more of a moan of anguish, like something was terribly wrong. “Gin?” he called softly, knocking on the door as quietly as possible, hoping to avoid anyone else hearing him. “You in there?”

There was a sniffling on the other side of the door, and he heard some movement before it cracked open just enough for him to see inside, but not enough for him to see his little sister. “What are you doing up so early?” she asked in a startled voice.

He shrugged and gave a wry grin. “Couldn't sleep. It's hard to recently... you know...”

The door was pulled open then and she grabbed him and yanked him inside before slamming it behind him again. “Why didn't you say anything?” she demanded, all trace of sadness gone from her voice again. “I mean, someone in the house could have easily made up a dreamless sleep potion, you know that!”

“Look, I'm fine, okay? I'll get through this, no problem, so just butt out.”

“Put your claws away, Talon, this is serious,” she replied angrily, using the nickname given to him for his animagus form. His was a red-tailed hawk, while she was a nightingale. “If you can't sleep, then...”

He sighed and looked away from her for a deep breath before looking back. “This is something I have to get over, Gem. I can't just push it down and pretend it didn't happen.” Even if he wasn't aware of using her nickname, she caught it and gave a little grin despite the situation. “It'll be better once Luna and I are together again.”

His sister gave him a pointed look, and then huffed as she turned around. “Fine then, but don't say I didn't offer.”

“Speaking of offering, any chance you're gonna tell me why you were crying earlier?”

Ginny looked back to him quickly, her hand that had been plying through her long red hair halted midway. “You... heard that, did you?”

“I'm surprised the house didn't hear it, actually.” He then paused and chuckled to himself. “Well, at least Willow. Her hearing's uncanny, you know that.”

“I suspect Willow might be a little preoccupied this morning with Tor, you know that,” Ginny replied with a grin of her own. It was an unspoken agreement between the two siblings that when they were talking about Harry and Hermione with either of the two not around, they would use their nicknames in case anyone else was listening in. She then sobered up again and fished into the pockets of her nightrobe to pull out a piece of parchment. “You sure you wanna know?”

“Look, you're my sister... I'm not just gonna let you hole yourself up in the bathroom and cry over...” he paused as he scanned over the letter, and was surprised at the hard ball of anger that suddenly bubbled up inside his chest. “Is this for real?”

She snatched it back from him and leapt up onto the counter, sitting next to the sink as she slouched her shoulders. “Yeah.”

“And it's actually from Colin? Creevey, the guy with the camera?”

“And the guy I've been snogging most of the year? Yeah, that's him.”

“More than I needed to hear, Gin.” He then paused and looked back to the letter, even though it was in her hands again. “This sounds almost like an ultimatum.”

She nodded and looked away from her brother to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes at any minute. “He wants me to come visit him this summer, and come clean about last year.” She paused for a second and looked back to Ron significantly, ignoring the fact that her tears were now making streams down her cheeks. “All of it. He knows about... about Gem...”

Ron took a deep breath to keep himself from tearing the parchment in half and going off half cocked in anger. “And?”

“Well clearly I can't do that!”

“I know that!” Ron snapped back. “That's not what I meant!”

“Well what did you mean?”

“Just... you know... tell him you can't!”

Ginny bit back a sob and looked away from Ron again. “It's not that easy, Ron! If I tell him I can't, then he'll...”

He hesitated for only a second or two before stepping forward to offer a light embrace to his sister. It was such an unusual thing for him to do that it unlocked all of the dams that she had erected, and she collapsed against him. “Want me to tear him a new one?” he asked.

“Ron!”

“Kidding, don't worry,” he said quickly as she tensed up. “Look, I'm not much at writing letters or anything like that... well, except to Luna, but she seems to understand me even when I don't understand me, but then that's Luna for you. Still, I'll help if you want, but I think Hermione would be a better bet. She might even have thought about it already, who knows.”

“Why would she have thought about it?”

“She's Hermione,” Ron said as though that answered the question. When she looked up to him with a confused glance, he shrugged. “What can I say? Mental, that one.”

“You're doing really well in our lessons with her, though,” Ginny pointed out. “She thinks you're something of a natural.”

“You aren't bad yourself, Gin,” he admitted with a grin. “But really, did you ever think you'd be practicing fighting with daggers?”

She shook her head as she pulled away from him and sighed when she leaned against the counter again. “No, but I doubt she thought about either herself or Harry training with a dagger, either. And I know she didn't expect you to take two short swords like Kailyn... even if we are using fake wands right now instead.”

“Why take one sword when you can have two?”

“That's the reason you took two?”

“If one sword's powerful, two's twice that, right?”

“You're hopeless.”

“Maybe, but at least I got you smiling again.”

-------------------------

The sound of a scratching quill against a dry piece of parchment was all that could be heard in the kitchen later on in the day as noon approached. Ginny was sitting across the table from Hermione watching her friend write quickly, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she worked.

“I bet Harry finds that endearing...”

“Trying to distract me from helping you?” Hermione asked in a grin as she looked up. That didn't quite hide the faint blush that had formed on her cheeks, and Ginny giggled to herself as she looked away.

“Sorry.”

When Hermione set her quill down on the table again, she picked up the parchment and scanned it from top to bottom. A simple letter was what Ginny had asked for, but she rarely - if ever - kept things simple when writing anything. “That should about do it. Are you sure this is what you want?”

Ginny shook her head and refused to meet Hermione's eyes. “No,” she whispered. “But there's not much choice in the matter, is there?” She bit her lip for a second and then finally looked to the older girl again. “Don't tell Harry, okay?”

“Why not?” she asked, surprised by the odd request. Both of the Weasley children who lived in Grimmauld Place knew that the two shared everything - well, everything shy of Harry's training, anyway.

“I don't want him to think my breaking up with Colin is his fault,” she whispered. “He doesn't deserve that.”

*Thanks, Gem,* Hermione purred to herself as she passed the letter across for Ginny to read. Even if the youngest Weasley couldn't understand kneazle, she did apparently get the meaning behind the words.

The door to the kitchen was pulled open suddenly, showing both Ron and Harry standing there. “Lunch ready yet?” Ron asked with a grin as he entered first. Looking beyond him to Harry, the reason for the smile became obvious - the two must have been playing exploding snap, and Harry's eyebrows were still quite singed.

“Honestly, you two...” Hermione said with a grin of her own as she stood up to intercept Harry. As she placed a cool hand on his forehead and willed her own magics to work in healing him, she noticed Ginny stuffing the letter into her pocket out of the corner of her eye. “There...”

When she made to pull away her hand again, he caught her wrist and pulled her closer to him in a brief hug before releasing her again. “Thanks, Mione.”

“How much longer till school starts again?” Ron asked in a rough voice as he pulled up a spot at the table next to Ginny. Both Harry and Hermione whirled on him in surprise, and he shrugged. “What can I say, mate? I'm not gonna see Luna again until school starts, so...”

Hermione just shook her head as she smiled and leaned into Harry again before releasing him from his spontaneous contact. It had taken quite a while for him to become comfortable with her touch - he had never liked any kind of physical touch at all for such a long part of his life thanks to his aunt and uncle - so she revelled every time he did anything like that.

“You may see her before that, Ron,” Harry said, looking back to the door as it started to pull open again. “Won't say anymore just yet, but don't go packing your school things just yet, alright?”

“Indeed, Ronald,” a soft voice said from the doorway as a green cloak became visible. “I have another letter for you from Luna, by the way,” the elf added as he held out a hand. Ron was up from the table in an instant and caught the message as it floated over to him. “And she sends her warmest regards as well.”

“That was a fast trip, Talisien,” Harry said, turning back to the elf in question. “I thought Noyadin was a lot further away than that.”

“It is further than words can describe,” Talisien admitted. “But with the right spells and magics, distance is never an obstacle.” He then shook his head and pulled back. “On another note, I have come up with an idea to further your training in the fastest possible methods. What we have been doing thus far hasn't been working, would that be fair to say?”

“Indeed sir,” Harry said with a sigh. At the elf's pointed look, Harry rolled his eyes. “Sorry... Talisien.” The elf hated formalities more than anyone Harry had ever heard of, even when such a thing was of respect.

“We'll talk in this afternoon's lesson. For now, I would suggest you get your cloak... it is rare that I see you without it, and it is a part of the lessons and your protection.”

Harry looked to Ron pointedly, and the redhead just shrugged. “You didn't have to listen to me, mate.”

“I put it in my room before playing a game,” Harry explained when it became clear that Talisien was waiting for an explanation. “I'll go get it.”

“I'll get it,” Hermione offered, picking up her inkpot and quills. “I've got to return these to our room so I don't lose them anyway.”

“I'll get some lunch started, then,” Harry offered, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze as he passed her in the kitchen to head for the coldbox and the stove. He stopped after two steps, however, and turned around slowly, as though he had just noticed something. Talisien was gone from the room again - but that was no real surprise, since he came and went literally at will - but that wasn't it. There was something else, something nagging him in the back of his mind...

Finally putting a finger on it, he lifted a hand and pushed towards the door, putting his intent behind the magics like Talisien had taught him. It wasn't a terribly useful spell by any means, but it did open the door, spilling light into the darker hallway. It also revealed a Mrs. Weasley who looked to be in some sort of shock, but the door opening was apparently the release she needed.

“You... and him...” she started, obviously not sure of just what she was trying to say. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing from those simple words and the way she was looking from Hermione to him and back again exactly what was going through her mind.

“Yes,” he said with a calm he didn't really feel. “Hermione can get into my room through a means unavailable to anyone else in this house,” he explained, walking back and putting an arm around the elder female Gryffindor in the room. “Her parents are already well aware of the situation and give their full blessing.”

“But it's shameful!” she finally managed, her voice taking on a higher pitch than either of the two non-Weasleys were used to. Ron and Ginny exchanged quick glances and stood up from the table quickly.

“Mum, calm down,” Ron said urgently. “You really want to think before you talk right now, okay?”

“Don't give me that rubbish Ronald Weasley!” she snapped. “I suppose you already knew about it, didn't you? Both you and Ginerva, hiding this from me? How could you let this happen? How could...”

Harry held up his hand again and closed his eyes once again. “Silencio,” he said in a clear voice. He certainly didn't yell it, but the effects were the same, given how everyone in the room fell silent instantly, Mrs. Weasley because the spell had struck her, the others out of shock that Harry had cast such a charm on her. “There,” he said simply. “Now, I believe you were about to go saying something that simply isn't true, and I won't have any of it here. If you'll excuse me, I have to go get ready for my afternoon lesson with Talisien.” He looked away from Molly and down to Hermione for a second before leaning in and giving her a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. “Save something from lunch for me... I don't think I'll be as long as usual today.”

She nodded to him and met his eyes before letting him turn. He was surpressing a lot of anger, and she knew it, so before she would let him go to his lesson, she pulled most of it out of him through her Legilimency connection - she was the only person in the world who could actually get into Harry's mind thanks to the magical dagger at his side.

Harry walked passed the shocked Mrs. Weasley and paused at the door. “If you start to yell again, then I am sure Ron would be willing to cast another silencing spell on my behalf, given how he's of age now and using his wand is permitted, Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said in a soft voice. “But for now... finite.” With a wave of his hand, the spell was cancelled and the door shut behind him, leaving three Weasleys and Hermione standing in the kitchen alone.

“I'm going to go and speak with your parents,” Mrs. Weasley said forcefully, looking directly at Hermione. “I assume they're in the library reading, like they usually are at this time of day? Or were you too busy sharing a bed before marriage to even know that?”

Hermione didn't get a chance to say anything before Molly have left the kitchen in a huff, and then she slowly sank back to her chair. She looked up to Ron and Ginny and smiled weakly to them. Ron grinned back and sat down on the table, reaching out and grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit that was sitting at the end.

“Well, that went about as well as could be expected, didn't it?”

----------------------------

The door closed to the study on the main hall silently, and Harry looked around quickly in the empty hallway for some sign of anyone. The lesson hadn't really happened just yet... but he understood what was supposed to happen, at the very least. To say he was nervous about the plans the elf had in store for him would be fairly accurate, though.

“Alright Remus... where are you?” he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes. The hood was up on his dark green cloak, shrouding him in the shadows of the ill-lit hallway. Several people in the house had offered to improve the lighting from time to time, but he had requested that the front hall, at least, remain darker.

He lifted up a hand to grasp at the golden necklace that had come lose from his robes and tucked it back inside after holding it for a brief second. His necklace meant a lot to him, as did his bracelet and ring - all gifts from Hermione, all gifts following the elven traditions of romance.

“Well, the house seems quiet enough. I guess that means Mrs. Weasley probably isn't here right now,” he said with a small chuckle. “Hope the others weren't burnt by her shouts for too long.”

He shifted suddenly down into his feline form, the form of a mighty grey leopard with black splotches and sniffed at the air. He had learned that everything had a distinct scent - something he had known before, but never really understood - and found himself climbing the stairs towards the library to find the werewolf.

His blue translucent/transparent wings shimmered briefly before he climbed up into his human form again and turned the latch to let himself into the library on the third floor. Remus Lupin looked up from his reading on the other side of the massive room and closed his book upon seeing Harry.

“Lesson done already, is it?”

“Not really,” Harry admitted. “Actually, I'm up here to ask you something about them.”

“Are you going to be as vague as ever about them?” Remus asked as he stood up. “You know, you're starting to sound a lot like Dumbledore when this training is mentioned.”

“Perish the thought, Moony!” Harry said with a smile of his own as he pushed the hood to his cloak down again. “You know how much I hate keeping this from everyone. Can you imagine having to keep something from Tonks?”

“That's hardly the same thing and you know it.”

“Not from what Hermione tells me,” Harry explained. “Or perhaps she was just making sure your mouth had healed properly... Rom.”

“Rom?”

“Rom Fenyir, recently hired Auror for the Ministry of Magic,” Harry said in a near perfect monotone. “Little is known about his past, but he has sworn to help however he can in the war against Voldemort.”

Remus shook his head and looked away from his godson. “You know the Ministry laws on hiring my kind.”

“Hmm,” Harry admitted. “But Mione had a good point... Rom being close to Rome - the legend of Romulus being raised by wolves - and Fenyir is so close to the name of the legendary wolf Fenrir...”

“I knew I should have picked a better name,” Remus muttered under his breath, which only caused Harry to laugh. “No one can know about this, you know that, right?”

“I'm pretty sure that Tonks knows already, doesn't she? And you know that Hermione and I know, too.” He held up a hand before Remus could say anything else and shook his head. “Don't worry, secret's safe with us. I think it's great anyway.”

Remus sighed and sat back down in his chair, motioning to the chair across from him for Harry. “Quite the commotion this morning, you know.”

“It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“She came up here to speak with Hermione's parents. They spoke to me afterwards.”

“Still won't change anything.”

Harry looked up as Remus held a hand out to him. “You know I'll help if I can, right?”

He smiled and nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” He paused for a second and then took a deep breath. “But that's not why I came looking for you right now. Talisien's got this idea for my training...”

“Right, the training. That's how we got onto my secret identity, isn't it?”

“We've been working on my wandless magics, among other things, but it's not coming along properly. He wants me to rely on instincts to use them, and to be able to cast things more powerful than simple accio charms.”

Four fingers drummed along the edge of the wooden table, and then stopped as Remus looked up again. “You have any idea how many wizards would give an arm for even that?”

“Doesn't matter,” Harry replied easily. “Comes with the job territory, I guess. If they'd rather kill Voldemort themselves, more power to them. Anyway, he wants... well...”

“Is it dangerous?”

“No,” Harry said quickly. “Not really, anyway. But he does want me to leave the house alone everyday.” When Remus didn't say anything right away, Harry continued in a bit of a rush. “There's a park nearby that kids go to play in all the time. He thinks if I were to go play with some kids - you know, stuff I couldn't really do when I was a kid myself - that that might be some sort of key to unlocking the door... as it stands.”

“How far away is the park?”

Harry drew himself upright at that. He had expected Remus to refuse outright, quoting Dumbledore's orders or something similar... “A couple of blocks, maybe a little more. I can get back here without being seen easily enough - he started training both Mione and me that way while at Hogwarts still.”

Remus nodded slowly and motioned for him to stand up. Once the young man had done so, the werewolf sighed. “I think it makes sense, but there is one problem. Actually, it's great, but for this it's a problem.” At his confused look, he shrugged. “You cut a fairly impressive figure these days, Harry. You've finally grown, and stand as tall as most adults, taller than many. You look strong, and you've got this aura of confidence about you... I don't think many little kids will be willing to just run over and invite you to play with them.”

“It's okay otherwise though?” Harry asked in amazement. “Really?”

“Well, we almost never tried to keep you locked inside when you were at the Dursleys, did we?” Remus pointed out. “You could still walk around outside, so long as you slept at the house, right?”

Harry smiled brightly and nodded at that. “Thank you Remus, that tells me all I needed to know.”

“What about looking like an adult, Harry?”

“Oh, that?” Harry asked, looking back over his shoulder. “I wouldn't worry too much about that. Ask Mione sometime... or you might just be smart enough to catch me coming home at some stage to see it. But don't worry... even if Dumbledore asks, Harry Potter will not be leaving the house regularly this summer. But James Lupin will be.”

“Lupin?”

“You don't mind, do you? I needed a name, so I took my dad's as my first name, and I figured that yours would work well as my last name...”

“But what about Sirius?”

Harry sighed deeply and closed his eyes again, trying to hide himself from his feelings. “Sirius was a great man who had much of his life stolen from him by prison and then died far too young. My hidden identity's middle name happens to be Black, though.” He paused at the door and looked back to his godfather. “Thanks, Moony.”

“Anytime Tor.”

As he pushed the door open to leave the library, he found it lighter than he had expected and actually tumbled out onto the landing in heap. Looking up, he found Hermione holding the door open and looking down at him, a broad smile on her face as though she was trying desperately hard not to laugh at him.

*Hey, Mione... how about giving me a hand?* he mewed to her in as plaintive a tone as he could possibly manage. *I seem to have fallen down...*

*I'd say so,* she purred back, reaching down to haul him to his feet again. When she caught his hand, however, he yanked hard, pulling her down to fall on top of him. In an instant, he had rolled the two of them over so she was pinned to the ground looking up at him, and now he was the one holding back laughter.

He wanted to say something witty to her, but as he looked down to her large warm brown eyes, he found words failing him, so instead, he just leaned down and pressed his lips to hers gently. He released her arms at the same time and felt them come up to hold him, pulling him down closer to her at the same time as she opened her lips to grant him access to the inside of her mouth with his tongue.

As the kiss deepened and all other thoughts flowed out of them, a creaking floor didn't seem loud enough to warrant their attention. The cold spray of water that doused them a few seconds later was not so forgiving, and they pulled apart spluttering, looking up quickly to find the one responsible.

“I believe you two have a room for that sort of thing, don't you?” Remus asked with a chuckle as he stood over them. “Really, in the middle of the hall... I don't think that would do it for me.”

“Don't knock it until you try,” Harry said before his brain could stop him. Fortunately, Remus just laughed at that, and Hermione gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as the two got up from the ground again. “You could always tackle Tonks and find out.”

“You really aren't going to leave me alone about that, are you?”

“Not until we actually see it, no,” Hermione answered for Harry. “It is true though, isn't it?”

Remus sighed and nodded to her. “I did always say you were the brightest witch of your age, Hermione. Perhaps that wasn't strong enough, though...”

“Actually,” she said, turning away from their old Professor and looking back to Harry. “Are you going back to your lesson or are you free for the afternoon?”

“I've gotta go talk to Talisien, sorry,” he admitted. “Remus gave the plan a go ahead, so we've got to work out the details. If you need something first, though, I'm sure he wouldn't mind waiting another few minutes.”

She smiled to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before pushing him towards the stairs and shutting the door to the library behind her, leaving a rather confused Harry standing in the hall. Shaking her head at how easy it had been, she turned away from the door to find Remus still standing there, looking a little confused himself.

“Well, he has to get back to his lesson, and I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.”

“This wouldn't by any chance have anything to do with the loud voices even the dead could have heard earlier today?”

Hermione groaned and sat down in her chair. It was one of the larger chairs in the library, covered with a rich red velvet and placed in front of a round oak table that had been around for ages. Several of her books were still sitting open, waiting for her to return to them, but she didn't pay any attention to the runes that needed translating or anything else just then. “You heard that, did you?”

“I was telling Tonks just yesterday that when the eruption came, it would be loud and messy,” he said softly. He then chuckled and turned away from her. “I won't tell you what she said in response to that.” He chanced a glance back to the young witch and saw that she was very carefully not looking at him. “I expect we haven't heard the last of Molly's complaints, have we?”

“She spoke to my parents in this very room, Remus!” she said. “You'd think she was my mother the way she's carrying on, except my parents have known about this since last year! And they don't have any complaints!”

“We'll deal with it tonight, okay?” Remus suggested, smiling to himself at the fact that she had finally taken to calling him by his first name and not as `Professor.' “Tonks and I will both be around for supper, and I'm sure Molly will do us the favour of bringing it up. We'll even distract her for you if you'd like.”

She looked up to him in surprise, but then shook her head. “No, that would just be putting it off, and I'd really rather not have to deal with her tonight once we're wrapped up in bed.”

“Is that what they're calling it now?” He held up a hand before she could object and smiled broadly to her. “I know, I know, don't worry. One step at a time for Harry, right? Don't forget... he spoke to me last November about the two of you.”

Hermione brought her hand up to pull out her golden necklace, and laid out the four pieced jewel in her hand. The warmth that was flooding through her had nothing to do with the fireplace that had crackled to life in the corner and everything to do with the emotions attached to the jewellery. “I know. I never thanked you for that, either.”

“You didn't have to.” There was a loud silence, and then Remus moved a seat from another one of the tables over to join her at her table. Although there was another chair already there, it clearly belonged to Harry, and he wasn't about to sit in it without asking first. “What did you want to talk about, though?”

“I... I wanted to ask you about Harry's aunt and uncle,” Hermione said after a moment. “I know they were horrible people, but what happened to them after last year? Their house was destroyed while they were away, but with Harry missing I never gave them another thought.”

“I doubt Harry's given them much thought since either, Hermione,” Remus said gently. “So don't worry too much about it.”

“But he has!” she objected. “We've spoken about them a few times now, actually. I think... was something done about their house?”

Remus took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he wracked his brain. Like most of those who had ever had the... distinction... of meeting the Dursleys, he was happy enough to simply forget the entire experience. “Everything was restored by the Ministry's Accidental Magic Reversal Squads,” he said finally. “It took them the better part of three days after we left, but they pulled it off and altered the Dursleys' memories so they thought they had just been away from a couple of extra days.”

“So, everything's back the way it was before Harry left?”

“Harry... he's got a big heart,” Remus said, sensing where she was going suddenly. “Sometimes, I think a little too big, but I would never fault him for it. Dumbledore has said it before, and I agree with him... love is a powerful thing, and despite never having any growing up, Harry is more capable of it than perhaps anyone I've ever met.”

“He wants to make sure they're alright, and he wants... he wants to say goodbye.”

“Knowing him, he probably wants to thank them for giving him a roof for the first eleven years of his life, too.” Hermione nodded and Remus ran a hand through his grey hair slowly. “I'll talk to Dumbledore about it the next time I see him,” he promised. “But I can't make any guarantees. Going outside in the afternoons is a far cry different from leaving London and heading for Surrey.”

“Outside?”

“I imagine Harry will tell you all about it later today,” Remus said kindly. “But he did tell me that you could explain something to me.” At her attentive look, he went on. “Well, I'll leave the details for him to explain, but what I'm wondering is how he's going to fit in with a bunch of kids in a park. He said he had that covered, and you knew how that would work.”

Hermione looked away from him and turned towards the books on the table again, knowing that she'd be reading through more of them once she was done talking with Harry's godfather. “I'm surprised you're not just asking Tonks.”

“I know Harry's not a metamorphagus.”

She lifted a hand and held it out towards one of the books that was just out of reach. “Accio book,” she said firmly, despite the fact that she held no wand. When nothing happened, she looked up to the werewolf again. “Harry's always been a little different, though, hasn't he? I don't quite understand it either, but I'm hoping to find an answer in one of these books that Talisien left for me,” she explained. “But essentially, he can shift into a couple of different forms using wandless magics - transfiguration as far as I can tell.”

“Self transfiguration as a disguise?” Remus asked in surprise. “That's nearly impossible magic! And you're saying he's got two disguises already figured out?”

“Although he doesn't know what one of them looks like at all - which is another thing I've got to work out for myself, since to do transfiguration you have to know your target change - but yes. I've seen one of them, actually. He looks about thirteen, has different clothes entirely, and his voice even sounds younger. I can tell its him because of our connection, but if I didn't have that, then I'd have no idea!” She paused for a second, and then shook her head. “Well, once he's got his bandana on to cover his scar, anyway. He can't seem to get that to disappear no matter how hard he tries.”

“Connection?”

“I can't say it's just our feelings, because then you'd obviously know what I was talking about, but it's more on a mental state. Despite the protection Harry has around his mind since he never goes anywhere without the dagger that Talisien gave him, I can still enter the outskirts of his mind to take his anger away. But because of that, I feel like I can always sense him, even if he doesn't look like himself, you know?”

There was a soft knock at the door that interrupted whatever it was Remus was going to say in response to that, and when they both looked up, the door opened just enough for Tonks to squeeze inside. She was wearing a set of purple Auror robes, and her hair was set to match - a rich purple braid ran down her back. She was a little shorter than Hermione was used to seeing her, but she knew better than to say anything.

“Wotcher, Hermione. How's it hanging?” Before Hermione could even think about answering, Remus groaned loudly and laid his head in his hands. “Oh, lay off, wolfie. I'll use whatever terms I feel like and you know it.”

“I wouldn't have it any other way, Tonks,” Remus said warmly. “But I was just afraid that she was actually going to answer...”

“That's right, she might be able to, at that. Well, about Harry, anyway. A question for another time, I suppose.” She paused for a second and scrunched up her face. With a soft pop, her hair turned a light brown and shortened to her shoulders as she grew almost a full foot in height. Her purple robes lengthened as needed and then shifted to a rich black and red as they pulled in around her, fitting closer to her form than most robes normally could. “Ah, that's better,” she said with a sigh. “I'm guessing our little Hermione here knows, eh?”

“Harry too,” Remus admitted. “But before we get into that...”

Hermione cleared her throat to try and get a word in between the two of them, and they both stopped and looked to her in surprise. “Sorry, I won't be long, and then I'll leave the two of you in peace. I've got to go speak with my parents about supper tonight anyway. You'll speak to Dumbledore for us, right Remus?”

“Of course,” he said with a glance to Tonks that just screamed of `I'll tell you later, don't worry.' “And we'll both be there at supper to back the two of you up, alright?”

“Thanks,” Hermione said gratefully as she gathered a couple of the older elven books up from the table, as well as her translation notes that Harry had written for her earlier. Having a boyfriend who could read/write/speak any language ever known - or unknown - was a definite bonus. With her books in hand, she smiled to both Remus and Tonks and then slipped out of the library to head for the second floor, and her parents room. She knew they'd either be there or in the backyard, inside the protective field that kept the house hidden to all who weren't in on the secret.

---------------------------

Harry found Hermione in the library with her parents an hour or so later, once he had finished going over the plans for his continued lessons with Talisien. As he had half expected, Hermione was sitting at her table pouring over one of the elven texts with his translation chart - while it wasn't enough to actually give all the words, it would give her a basic understanding at least - while her father was sitting near the window reading through the Daily Prophet. Her mother, on the other hand, seemed to be going over a few letters that she had brought in with her.

As he eased the door closed quietly behind him, Jane happened to look up from her letters - presumably to say something to her husband - but caught sight of him instead. “Harry, lesson over already?”

“For today,” he replied, taking his place at Hermione's table and resting a hand on her leg after she smiled to him and turned back to her reading. “Actually, he seems to think that we're approaching the limit of what he can safely teach me while I can't use my wand,” he added.

“I seem to recall that being underage meant not being able to legally drink... guess it has more meaning in the wizarding world, eh?” Mike asked, peering over the top of his paper to Harry. “Looking forward to your birthday this year?”

“I'm in my own home, surrounded by friends and those I consider family. What more could I ask for?” Harry replied seriously, meeting the elder Granger's gaze steadily. “Hermione is by my side, and my friends back me up. Beyond that...”

Hermione then closed her book - after sticking in a marker to hold her place - and smiled weakly to him. “Almost supper time, isn't it?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, looking down to her and moving his hand so he could pull her closer to him. “But don't worry. Mrs. Weasley can't stay mad forever. I assume she spoke to you two earlier?” he added, looking up to Hermione's parents again.

“Before today, I had always thought she was a rather charming woman,” Mike said with a shrug as he put the paper aside and stood up. “But now I think she's trying to put her foot in where it doesn't belong.”

“Too right, there.”

“You know where we stand on the issue, Harry,” Jane said in a calm voice. “Hermione told you before, and I'll tell you now - we trust our girl to make the proper choices. And we trust you to keep her safe.”

Harry looked away at that comment and took a deep breath. “I trust her more than anything else,” he said softly, meeting Hermione's gaze as he spoke. “But I can't promise you that I will keep her out of danger. All I can say is that I will protect her with everything I have... even if she doesn't need it.”

“Lucky you added that part, Harry,” Hermione said with a small laugh as she pulled away from him and started towards the door. “You know full well that I can take care of myself.”

“Ah, but that's not the point, is it?” Mike asked as he helped his wife to her feet. “Even knowing a loved one can take care of themselves, being willing to protect them is all part of the game too. If you can call it a game, anyway.” He then looked back to the two younger people and smiled. “Now buck up. I believe we're about to go face a witch on a rampage who's trying to standing between you, happiness, and food.”

“Well, heaven forbid she delayed supper for this!” Jane said, rolling her eyes at her husband. “I suspect she'll be wanting words first anyway, so your appetite will have to wait dear.”

“No worries,” he said as the group of four started downstairs. “I believe we're about to see a bit of Harry is action - protecting something he believes in. Isn't that what drew our little Hermione to him in the first place?”

Harry didn't bother responding to that, though he did notice Hermione carefully looking away from him when he chanced a glance. Pausing in front of the door to his own kitchen, he took a deep breath and pulled it open, walking in quickly before his nerves fled - like he had half a mind to do, too.

The kitchen was less crowded than often times during the dinner hour at Grimmauld Place. While often several members of the Order would stay, it seemed that most had begged off that night... perhaps sensing the overwhelming amount of tension that had built in the room recently.

Dumbledore was not there, but then Harry hadn't really expected him to be, either. Ron and Ginny were already sitting at the far end of the table, while their mother was sitting closest to the door instead. Remus was sitting right in front of the fireplace, his hands folded before him on the table, looking for all the world like he was about to referee a duel of some sort.

It was then that Harry started. Mrs. Weasley wasn't actually cooking supper - but she was glaring daggers at the one who was. On the other side of the kitchen, Harry recognised the shoulder lengthed brown hair that Tonks had taken to wearing more often than not while in the house. He cocked an eyebrow and looked to Ron and Ginny, both of whom shrugged but said nothing.

He stepped aside of the doorway then and motioned for Hermione and her parents to go in ahead of him. Once they had taken their seats at the table - Hermione next to Ron and Ginny, leaving a single space free between Mrs. Weasley and herself for Harry, and her parents next to Remus on the other side of the table.

“Well, I must say, this is a surprise, Tonks. I had no idea that you knew how to cook,” Harry said in a cheerful voice, even if that cheer didn't actually reach his face. “I half expected you to be a bit clumsy in the kitchen, too, and that usually spells bad things for food.”

“Wotcher, Harry, bout time you got here,” came the reply as she looked over her shoulder. “Actually, my wolf over there's had to save a few plates so far, but nothing too bad. I'm told you're something of a wizard with food, though - any chance you could offer a hand?”

“Point of fact, I'm not just something of a wizard in the kitchen,” Harry said with a chuckle as he quickly crossed the room and took the skillet from her hands deftly, shaking it to keep the meat from burning. “I'm a wizard all the time... or so I've been lead to believe, anyway.”

“Alright, alright, point for you then,” she said with a smile. “How have I done so far?” He looked away from the small cubes that she had cut the chicken into and at the array of vegetables and both sauces she had prepared before looking up to her. He was surprised when he saw her to find that she was mouthing words to him. `Air's getting thick in here, but I'm trying to lighten it a little...'

`Don't worry,' he mouthed back before leaning over the stove to take a wiff of the smells originating there. “Smells good, which is half the battle,” he explained. “I'm surprised you managed so many things at once though.”

“Hey now, just cause I'm your friend and I'm bunking with your godfather doesn't give you the right to sass me that much,” she said with a grin. “I am an Auror, you know. I'm sure I've got a couple of interesting curses I could use on you. Attached to your ears, are you?”

Harry stepped away from the stove and reached up to one ear, giving it a slight tug. “It appears so,” he replied. “I'll give, don't worry.”

He then turned away from the metamorphagus and found Ron and Ginny staring at her in amazement before looking to Remus, and then back to her again. “I thought we agreed that we'd break the news in a better time, Tonks,” Remus said softly.

“Oh, sorry Remus, love, didn't mean to,” Tonks replied, turning away from the cooking as well. Harry rolled his eyes and gently pushed her aside to take over, and she smiled to him and took her seat next to the werewolf. “Just slipped out - I knew that Harry knew already, and I sort of forgot that everyone else was still here.”

“Another thing Harry's been keeping from us?”

“It would hardly have been his place to say anything on this matter, Molly,” Remus said quickly, coming to Harry's defense before anyone else had the chance to. “This was between Tonks and myself.”

“I suppose you already knew about Harry and Hermione sharing a bed, then?” Molly replied, standing up from the table to glare at him. “I would have expected such encouragement from Sirius, but I always thought you were more levelheaded than that!”

Whatever anyone else was going to say in regards to that was cut off by the sudden roar of flames from the fireplace. Hermione was on her feet in an instant, and had taken two steps towards Harry before they had fanned down again. “No matter what is going on with anything else,” Harry said in a soft but cold voice. “This was and remains the most Noble and Ancient House of Black. Do not insult his memory in my presence, Molly Weasley.”

“I... I'm sorry, Harry, that didn't come out as intended,” she said quickly. “You know that I think Sirius was a great man...”

“If a little irresponsible?” Harry finished for her, turning away from the cooking once more. He walked across the room then and took a seat next to Hermione as she sat down again. “The food is set with a warming charm from the stove,” he explained at everyone's looks. “However, I had to live with eating meals for eleven years at tables filled with anger... I have no intention of eating another meal in the same regards.” He paused for a breath, and then looked up from the old wood to Mrs. Weasley. “I am sure you've had plenty of time today to calm down and think through what you intend to say. I'm sure you would rather Arthur was here as well - though I am not sure if he would back you up on this or would beg impartiality. As it stands, it is obvious that you have something to say.”

She looked taken aback by this direct approach, the strange air of calmness that was surrounding the young man talking to her. All of her own children had rather small fuses that burned like explosives - talking things through rationally wasn't something she had a lot of experience with when dealing with children. “Alright,” she said slowly, sitting down again. “And you're right... I do have some things to say. I think it is...”

“Sorry, can I say something first?” Tonks asked, leaning forward and cutting Molly off. “Look, I might not have known these two,” she said, motioning to Harry and Hermione. “For as long as you have, but I can tell you anyway that they are pretty special. I may not be like a mother to them, but I can tell you that I've heard Harry waking up after a nightmare screaming. I've heard him whimpering in fear, crying out in the dead of night for reasons not his own fault.”

“Tonks, really...” Harry started, but she shook her head and pressed on anyway.

“The only time I've ever really seen any calmness and rational brought into his life is when this young witch is around him,” she explained, pointing fully at Hermione. “And to that, I say more power to you and... well, even if it isn't my place, I thank you, Hermione. He stands taller and looks stronger when you're around... and if my own experiences say anything, then I know that it's not just appearances.”

“I'm not saying that Harry and Hermione don't go well together, Nym... Tonks,” Molly said, correcting herself at the sudden glare the Auror sent her way. “It's just that...”

“She gives him a comfort that has been denied him his whole life, and now you want to take that away.”

Profound silence followed the Auror's words as she leaned back. Remus put a hand on her shoulder as encouragement and gave her a soft smile, but said nothing.

Finally Molly sat forward again, apparently determined to have her say at last. “I just don't think it's proper for a boy and a girl to share a bedroom if they aren't siblings or engaged for wedlock. And given how young they both are...”

“In case you've forgotten,” Harry said in a soft but firm voice. “We are both still in the room.”

She suddenly turned towards both Harry and Hermione and smiled to them. “Harry, dear, and you too, Hermione... I'm not saying anything against you specifically, but you have to admit that under such circumstances, sharing a bed isn't right!”

“I understand what you're saying,” Harry said, his voice still surprisingly calm as he turned towards Hermione. “Would you care to respond to that, or shall I?”

“Well, this is your house, Harry.”

“No,” he said quickly, before she could go on any further. “It is not just my house, and you know it.”

“Just go on, mate,” Ron said with a grin. “You say what you wanna say, and Hermione here will just correct you if you miss anything, just like normal, okay?”

Ginny smacked him in the arm and frowned at him when he glared at her. “You're not helping, Ron.”

“It's just that...”

“I have... three things to say,” Harry said calmly as he stood up from the table again. As he took a deep breath, he paused for a second, though, and then smiled. “Well, four, I suppose. I would appreciate it, Mrs. Weasley, if you tried not to interrupt until I was at least finished with a single point... okay?” When she nodded, he smiled warmly to her. “Thank you. First of all, the most basic information. I could just leave it here, too, but I respect and care about you too much to do that. This is not your house, and neither I nor Hermione are you children. In that regard, you have no say one way or the other about our sleeping arrangements. Understand?”

“Now see here, Harry, that's...”

“The truth,” he said firmly, cutting her off. “I know that my parents happen to be dead. There's no changing that, no matter how hard you may wish it - believe me. I also know that my first guardian who mattered is dead. Another fact that we aren't getting into just yet,” he added with a warning glance at all those gathered around the table. His closest friends knew that he had yet to actually talk to anyone about the loss of Sirius for more than a minute or two, but they all knew better than to say anything now. “But Remus here is my godfather, and even though I do not believe I require his permission, it is something I am happy to say that I have anyway.”

Molly looked affronted at this news, and turned away from Harry to look to the werewolf quickly. “You knew? How long has this been going on? From the sounds of things...”

He held up a hand to stop her and smiled softly, shaking his head before looking away from her again. “Molly, the length of time at this stage is immaterial... just know that he is telling the truth in this matter - as I believe he has always done, more or less.” Harry knew instantly what the `more or less ` comment was about... he did tell the truth, unless it was about his own welfare, but he often ended up leaving out parts of a story at the same time.

“Secondly,” Harry went on as though that entire conversation had not just happened. “Although it was after the initial fact, we do have permission from Hermione's parents to share a bedroom - and yes, even a bed. They trust her judgement, her instincts, and her heart just as I do - in fact, I trust her with everything, more than my own life.”

“Don't forget, Harry, that we trust you, too,” Mike pointed out when he looked over to the two sitting next to Remus. “Trusting Hermione is part of being a parent - we have to assume she will try and make the best decisions possible for herself... but trusting you was simple too. You intentions and heart are so easy to read, how could we not trust you?”

“Thank you,” he whispered, touched beyond what he was willing to show by their kind words. He knew he had their support before, but their trust was another matter entirely - he had never openly asked about such a thing, after all, given how hard that would have been to do. “So, aside from this being my house and my rules, so to speak, we also have permission from both my guardian and Hermione's parents... so again, your complaint can't stand.”

“Harry, I am just trying to look out for your best interests, I'm sure you know that. Yours and Hermione's.”

“I am aware of that,” he admitted with a shrug as he stepped away from the table and started to pace up and down the kitchen slowly. “But I hope you are also aware that, although your concern is appreciated, we are not your children, no matter how much you may wish it. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but this is something that I will fight for if I have to - and believe me, I'd rather not have to use more than words, but if you force my hand, I will. I will not lose the love of my life by my side,” he said with a smile, pausing in his pacing to look directly at Hermione, who's eyes were bright with unshed tears at his words.

When he again fell silent, Ron spoke up after a minute or two. “So, would that be two points or three? I sort of lost count...”

“I'm counting it as two, you can count it how you want.” Harry then stopped his pacing directly next to Mrs. Weasley's chair. “Your last point, I believe, was about engagement or marriage, right? At least, ignoring that age comment, given how no one here is a child anymore, no matter how much any of us may wish it to be.”

“If you can table arguments for later, so can I,” Mrs. Weasley said firmly. “And the age issue is one of those points, I suppose.”

“Very well,” Harry said with a curt nod. “But on the topic of engagement... did anyone ever tell you about the jewellery both Hermione and I wear? Or did you ask anyone?”

“I... no, not really,” she admitted. “I barely knew you wore any - with you wearing that cloak all the time, it is often difficult to tell at all.”

In an instant, Harry's dark green cloak fell to a pool of fabric of the floor as he stood tall once again. Unbidden and uncovered, the golden bracelet on his wrist sparkled in the firelight of the kitchen, the ring he wore was clear as ever, and the necklace he had about his neck was obvious as he pulled it out from the folds of his robe.

“Are you familiar with elven traditions?” he asked in a soft voice that was not unlike a child's asking about Santa Claus. Knowing the answer before he had even asked, he simply went on. “The bracelet we both wear represents a vow of commitment to one another, to cherish one another, to protect one another however we can.”

“A vow?”

“Yes, spoken from the heart,” he said simply. “Our necklaces are a little more complicated, in that they represent family. Hermione had a bit of an easier time than I did, I suspect...”

“Says you...” she muttered under her breath just loudly enough so everyone could hear her. She smiled to her parents, who understood, but no one else knew what she meant just yet.

“What they mean is that family is involved in our relationship... if something were to happen to Hermione, her parents would do everything within their power to help me survive the loss. In my case, however, I have no blood family... so I improvised. First, I spoke to Remus on the matter, and then I sought out two people you know quite well who, despite their often childish behaviour, can be more serious than almost anyone I have ever met when the need arises. All three swore wizarding oaths to me that if anything were to happen to me, that they would do everything in their power to help Hermione.”

“My Fred and George swore wizarding oaths for you, just because you asked?” Molly asked in disbelief. “They know how serious such a thing is, surely, and yet...”

It was Hermione who interrupted her this time, simply by leaning forward. “I think that is part of the point,” she said softly. “They know how important such a thing is, but when Harry asked them to help, they refused to back down. They told me later that it was the least they could do for the black-haired Weasley.”

“They said that?” Harry asked in surprise before Molly could say anything.

“Mate, you've always known that that's how we all see you,” Ron said firmly. “So why should that come as a surprise at all?”

“Well, I knew it was how you saw me, but...”

“Ever since you saved my life in the Chamber of Secrets, you've been one of the best big brothers I could ever ask for,” Ginny said softly. “Even if I never did say so.” The fact that Ginny actually mentioned part of her first year really drove home to both Harry and Mrs. Weasley just how important such a thing was to her.

“So... what are your rings for, then?” Mrs. Weasley finally asked after a long pause. She saw that they both wore them on the ring finger of their left hand, but wasn't sure if that meant anything or not.

“We've already covered a vow of commitment and a vow of family,” Harry explained. “What else do you suppose there is?”

She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, not sure what to think of all the sudden information Harry was giving her to support why he and Hermione should share a room despite her arguments. “A vow of love?”

Harry knew he didn't really have to answer that... he could tell by the sound of her voice that she knew she was right. “Of course,” he said softly anyway. “What else would it be?” He paused, and then picked up his cloak once again, clasping it shut around his shoulders before sitting next to Hermione easily. “To the elves, that means there is only one step left before being bound together for eternity... to us, it simply means... well... I'm sure I don't have to explain to you what that means, Molly. Just think of what Arthur means to you, and you'll understand.”

“I do,” she whispered, not meeting his blazing green eyes suddenly as she looked away, towards the fireplace, as though hoping Arthur was going to pop out of it through floo at any minute - despite the fact that the flooing fireplaces were elsewhere in the house. “And even though I don't necessarily agree with you two sharing a room - much less a bed - just yet... I won't say any more on it. I'm sorry.”

“Worrying simply means you care, Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione said quickly. “So we understand. And since you aren't going to try and force us apart at this stage, we'll leave it be, too.”

“Thank you,” Harry said softly, though whether he was talking to Hermione or Mrs. Weasley, no one could say for certain. “I love this witch more than anything else in life,” he added softly. “I have fought through hell to protect her, fought to the end of my own life to keep her with us, to keep her alive. She is my everything.” As he spoke his last words, no one was really sure, given how his head was bent down, if he was saying them to anyone in particular, or even if he meant to say the words out loud.

Following the silence his words left behind, eventually Ginny leaned forward onto the table and smiled. “Guess you won't be needing that fourth point then, eh Harry?”

“Of course I will!” Harry said, seemingly surprised at the very notion.

“No,” Mrs. Weasley said firmly. “You've made your point, and we've made our peace, remember?”

“Well, yeah...” Harry admitted, sounding a little confused suddenly. “But my fourth point was that Tonks spent a lot of time and energy to make us dinner, and I, for one, am starving, so I was going to suggest we eat!”

--------------------

As soon as Harry and Hermione were in their room that night, Harry just walked over to their bed and collapsed onto his back, not even bothering to change. He lay there, staring at the ceiling as Hermione said nothing. She could tell he was thinking about something - something important - and she didn't want to interrupt. It was as good a time as any, however, for her to change into her pyjamas.

Just as she had pulled her shirt off after tossing her cloak over the foot of their bed, Harry let out a soft sigh. “What a day...” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” she agreed, snapping her bra off and tossing it, along with her shirt, into the hamper in the corner. “I knew she'd find out eventually, but I didn't think it would be so soon. And I really didn't think it would be such a big deal, either!”

“With Mrs. Weasley, everything's a big deal sometimes,” Harry said with a grin, still staring at the ceiling, completely unaware of Hermione's state of undress. “But that's not exactly what I was talking about... though I suppose that was a big thing, too.”

“What is it, then?” she asked as she pulled her pants down, rolled them up, and tossed them into the hamper as well. She then went over to their dresser and started rummaging about... she wanted her nightgown that night. After Harry's little speech at dinner, there was only one thing she really wanted to do, but the opportunity hadn't quite seemed right with everyone else around the table too...

“Can I tell you about my lessons?”

“What?” she asked in surprise, abandoning her search and turning to face him. “Your private lessons with Talisien that you said you couldn't tell me about?”

“Yeah, those,” he said with a grin. He looked away from the ceiling then and opened his mouth to say something else, but whatever words were on his lips faded away at the sight of Hermione standing on the other side of their room in just her knickers. A low growl escaped his throat before he looked back up to the ceiling. “Uh... s... sorry...”

So it wasn't exactly how she planned on stunning him that night - the white nightgown that was practically see-through had been her idea - but it did the trick anyway. *For what?* she purred back to him as she started towards the bed. Information on his lessons would wait a few minutes, she was sure. She paused at the edge of the bed and set a hand gently on his shoulder.

It was all the invitation he seemed to need before turning back to her in an instant. Before she could understand just what was going on, he had reached up and caught both of her arms just below the shoulders. In a sudden twisting motion, she found herself lying on her back on the bed, with Harry straddling her nearly naked body, his hands now resting on the bed above her shoulders as he leaned over her.

*For that,* he growled back before dipping down and pressing his lips against hers. She wasted no time in opening up to invite his tongue into her mouth as hers darted into his, tasting each other in a nearly frantic exploration, despite having done so many times before.

Her arms seemed to reach up of their own accord and caught the clasp to his cloak, undoing it in a simple motion and flinging it from his back. His robes were next, though the sash he had been using to tie them shut would need repairs in the morning. Once the rich black fabric was pushed away from his upper body, her hands found his back and pulled him closer to her, his arms collapsing as she invited his weight down upon her.

Even though she knew he weighed more than she did, and by all rights such a thing should hurt, at least, scientifically speaking, it was pure bliss feeling so much of them together. Flesh against flesh, the sensation sent a shiver down her spine as their lips pulled apart suddenly, a mewl erupting from her throat that was a mix between a sigh and a squeak.

Harry's arms were on her shoulders then, and with her arms on his back, the two found themselves rolling over, switching positions so she was on top of him, straddling him instead. His hands found their way off her shoulders in their new position, and she pressed herself down on him with a low growl of pleasure as his hands started their magic on her breasts.

She rolled a little with the movement, and Harry let out a growl of his own, something that encouraged her to simply roll a second time, a little more force applied this time. His hands seemed to pause as he gasped for breath at the sensation before renewing their work, one hand caressing her breast fully while the other had almost released her, only to pull at her harden nipple, sending another shiver down her entire body that pooled below her stomach in a great warmth.

Her eyes met his as she rolled down on him again, and the emotions screamed so loudly that they were almost deafening. Still, it was impossible to miss the quiet purr as Harry's lips moved while keeping his eyes fixed on hers. *I love you...*

Even though she had thought she was a long way away from peaking, a lot of petting, rolling, and caressing away from the waves of pleasure that he sometimes managed to send through her during their... er... explorations - they often stopped themselves before going that long - the dam seemed to burst at his words. Her mouth was already open as she was practically panting with the energy that was already pooling within, but her open mouth was now a conduit for her release. Although the intense sensations washed over her started where it almost felt like she was on fire (in the most pleasant of ways, of course), the screams that tore from her throat told of her intense feelings.

As always when she reached her peak, Harry's hands stopped moving instantly. Somewhere in the back of her mind (most of her mind taken up with something else entirely), she remembered the first time he had brought her over the edge, and how frightened he had been that he had hurt her. This time, though, as every other time that had followed, he seemed to simply marvel in her feelings, as though trying to absorb them himself.

After all, she had never sent him over the edge - it was both an unspoken and a spoken agreement between them that they would wait with a good deal of things still.

She opened her eyes as her orgasm started to come down again, her pulse slowly starting to return to normal, and locked her gaze with Harry's again. This only seemed to intensify the feelings that were still moving through her, and she thought that it was almost happening a second time without either of them doing anything extra.

One of his hands was now on her shoulder, steadying her and keeping her from collapsing, while the other was at her side, his thumb rubbing gently against her stomach. Even if she couldn't actually enter his mind, the feelings in his eyes were plain as day and impossible to miss.

Once the second wave started to ebb and her body started to relax again from its incredible high, she lowered herself towards him again, meeting his lips for a more sensual visit. The rush that had been present had faded, though the emotions were still clearly behind it.

When they pulled away this time, she shifted herself down a little - the feeling of her centre pressed against his as both their hearts were beating heavily was almost too much for her to want to calm down again. As she shifted, she realised that she did, in fact, feel both her own pulse as well as his there, which meant just how excited he had been, too. She let out a slow, shaky breath as she rested her head against his shoulder, still turned towards him so she could see him.

*I love you too.*

He smiled to her and kissed her nose before pulling back to look to her eyes again. His hands felt warm on her bare back, and he smiled at that thought as well. *Are we going to spend the night like this, or do you want to hear about my lessons?*

*Why can't we do both?* she purred back.

*Think you could concentrate with me almost naked lying on top of you?*

*Hmm,* she purred, her lips finding their way to his neck as she did so. She knew he loved the feeling of the purr against his neck, so she did it as often as possible when they were in such positions. *We've never tried that, have we?*

He chuckled, the feeling shaking both of them as the laughter came from his chest. *Listen, Mia... we will sometime. Later, okay?*

*I'll hold you to that.*

* I count on it.*

A little more than just reluctantly, Hermione pulled herself into a sitting position. When she noticed him watching her very carefully out of the corner of her eye, she slowed her movement down again, causing him to actually start to purr like the large feline he could become.

Once she was standing, she felt a little trickle of warm, sticky liquid on the inside of her thighs, and she looked down quickly to find the centre of her knickers to be nearly see through and more of her inner juices having spilled out beyond that. She turned slightly so he wouldn't see - it wasn't that it was embarrassing for her, but she though he might appreciate that a bit more.

She looked back to him and found that he was staring at the ceiling again and trying to start breathing normally. His wand and dagger were both on their night stand - she hadn't noticed them earlier there, but then, she hadn't been paying attention to that fact, either. However, since he wasn't watching her - pointedly not watching, really - she striped her knickers off and pulled out her silk bottoms to pull on in their place. She then pulled her blue camisole over her head and stuck her arms through the straps that made the sleeves before pulling it down over her breasts and walking back over to him.

*Better?* she asked with a mew.

*No,* he purred back, grinning up to her. *But I'll be more coherent this way...* She just smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed as he shucked his robes, leaving him in just his boxers, before she laid down next to him. The covers were already pulled to the side - they might have pushed them earlier, but again, she had her thoughts elsewhere at the time.

*Prat,* she replied, knowing full well that he did, in fact, like her silk bottoms and thin camisole almost as much - if not more - than she did. *So, your lessons. Talisien said you could tell me?*

*Finally, yeah,* Harry mewed with a grin. *I've been asking every day for the past two weeks of training.*

*Harry, it's only been thirteen days.*

*Fine,* he corrected, rolling his eyes. *For the past thirteen days of training, I've asked if I could tell you. Today, he said yes.* He paused for a moment, and then shrugged, which was a little interesting, given how Hermione's head was on his shoulder now that they were lying down again. *Mind you, that could be because he's going back to the forest tomorrow - probably for good. He's not sure if any of us will actually see him again unless we go to the forest ourselves.*

*What?* she asked in surprise, actually sitting up to look down at him. *He's giving you two weeks of training, and that's it? I thought he was...*

*Mione, he's taught me everything he can, really. I can't learn elven magics, but he did teach me how to disguise myself,* he reminded her. *And he's done all he can for my wandless magics, but again, he can't do a lot except explain how it should work for me. He does have an interesting theory given what happened to my last wand, but I'll get to that,* he added after a second's pause.

*So he's been teaching you about wandless magics?*

He smiled up to her and invited her back down to lie on his shoulder again, but she shook her head. If they were going to have a long conversation, it would be easier if at least one of them was sitting up. *Among a few other things, but mostly, yeah. Only he calls the ones I use for casting spells - like the summoning I can do - wandless, and the other odd stuff, like what I did to Snape last Christmas as core magics.*

*Like the part of us that shifts shape with us for animagus work?*

*I think so,* Harry said, though he clearly wasn't sure. *But the point is, he's done all he can - I have to figure out the rest on my own. So my training's not done for the summer - it's just changed, that's all.*

*So you're going to be locking yourself in the study for all hours of the day to try and teach yourself?* Hermione growled. *That's...*

*Nonsense,* Harry purred, cutting her off gently. *And no. Actually, I think I'd prefer that, though. He... well, I'm leaving the house, I guess, while I'm training.*

*You'll be gone all summer?* Hermione asked surprised and more than a little hurt by that thought. She had expected them to spend the summer together - the first one they could do so from start to finish.

*No,* he said quickly, reassuring her the best he could. *No, just in the afternoons,* he explained. *He wants me to go to a muggle park a few blocks over. Said something about releasing the locks on my own past.*

Hermione looked confused for about half a breath before something clicked in her mind. *A muggle park?* she purred in thought. *Well, that makes sense, I suppose, though I can't see how it would help directly with wandless magics. It certainly would give you the chance to see what a childhood should have been like for you, though.*

*Yeah,* he admitted. *I figured that's what he wanted, too, but he never said. Still, if it'll help, then I'm going to go through with it. I need to - anything to give me some sort of edge of Voldemort.*

*Need I remind you that he's only got one arm right now? Isn't that a kind of edge, too?*

*I'm sure he's got a new one by now,* Harry replied in an almost accepting tone. *He's got the power to give Wormtail a new hand - why not himself a new arm?* When Hermione didn't reply, he took that as she meant it - good point. *You remember the disguise I showed you yesterday?*

*The one where you look younger and more innocent?*

*So, what, I'm old and corrupt now?* he asked with a grin.

She smiled back and leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the nose. *Well, you did manage to convince me that breaking rules for the sake of doing the right thing - or sometimes just for fun - isn't that bad a thing, so corrupt... maybe.*

He didn't reply right away, and she could see the uneasiness in his eyes without him saying anything. He had never been around normal kids, he had never had a chance to understand what kids usually did for fun. She knew, though, that she couldn't help him with this unless he asked - he had to do it on his own for now.

*My name in that form's gonna be James Lupin, by the way.*

*Really?* she asked, shocked by that revelation. *Not Black?*

To her surprise, Harry chuckled at that statement. *You know, Remus said the exact same thing,* he admitted. *Middle name's Black, though. I didn't want to use Black because there's a chance someone around here might remember a Black living around here before - and I doubt it would be a good memory.*

She had to admit that that was probably true, given how dark most of the Blacks had been in the past - Sirius being the `black' sheep of the mix. Even Tonks was related to the Blacks, but she was probably one of four or five on the family tree in hundreds of years that couldn't be considered dark. *So, are the kids gonna call you Jamie or Jimmy?*

*Think I need a nickname, do I?*

*Kids like that kind of thing,* she purred softly. *At least, all the kids in my neighbour did. I didn't care for them much, though.*

*With the names they gave you, Mia, I'm not surprised,* he purred back gently, reaching up to hold her cheek in his warm hand. *But I think you like the one's you've got now, right?* She replied to that with a kiss before settling down to lie with him again, her head resting gently on his shoulder as usual.

*You could use Tor.*

*Think they'd like Tor?*

*I've never met any of the kids around here, so I wouldn't know,* she replied honestly. *But if you tell them you've got a cat named Tor, and everyone just started calling you the same thing, they'd probably like it.*

*Funny story makes it better?*

She just sighed and nestled in a little closer to him, pulling up the blanket to cover both of them as he yawned suddenly. *I guess so...*

*Tell you about my old wand in the morning, okay?* he purred softly in her ear just as she was starting to drift off to sleep. She nodded and closed her eyes again, listening closely until she could hear the sound of his heart beating again as it lulled her to sleep.

Harry was awake for another hour, thinking about what the next day would bring, before finding sleep's hold for himself.

--------------------------

When Harry opened the door to his room the next morning, Hermione shot out in her kneazle form, dashed down the hall and into the bathroom just before he managed to make it there himself. He knew she had been planning it, though, so he just smiled at her morning behaviour and turned back to their room.

On the ground in front of the door was a sealed letter. The wax was a rich blue in colour, and shaped like a drop of water. The letter itself was addressed oddly as well - HPHG, DF. Frowning in thought, he then couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he clued in.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, Destiny's Force. The name of their team within the DA, the name of the team that had held two members for such a long time. Now, technically speaking Ron and Luna were both also a part of their team, but apparently the letter wasn't meant for them.

He knew that Hermione wouldn't mind him opening it - so long as he did so carefully and preserved the wax seal the best he could so she could see it later. Once the envelop was open, he slid out the stiff parchment within to find the back stamped with the same dark blue drop of water insignia.

Dear Harry and Hermione,

Like the seal and the mark? Well, they are the symbol for my team, so I thought it only appropriate. I'm guessing you both figured out just what I meant by the address, too!

Harry smiled to himself as he recognised the neat handwriting (neater than Ron's, anyway, but nowhere near Hermione's level) of Neville Longbottom, the leader of the blue group called the Garamonde Brigade, as well as fellow soon-to-be seventh year Gryffindor student at Hogwarts.

I wish I was simply writing to show you both this, but if that was the case, I would have included Ron and Ginny, too, since you said they were staying with you. And no, you didn't come right out and say that you two were going to be together over the summer, but after this last year, there's no doubt in my mind.

`No doubt in your mind, eh Neville?' Harry thought to himself with a smile. `You've come a long way from the nervous first year who couldn't remember anything or even hold onto a toad...'

I wanted to let you know that Lavender asked me about my animagus form. Although I told her about the form itself, I refused point blank to tell her where I learned to become one, who else I knew was an animagus, and then refused to explain why. Hermione, you were very clear on how careful we had to be with this secret - and it's not that I don't trust her, but I don't trust her enough to risk any of the rest of us who are aware. I'm not sure I can explain it better than that... but I thought I should let you both know that she's asked, and I don't doubt that she'll be asking again before too long.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes as he tried to simply focus on the air escaping his lungs. There was a touch of pain in the centre of his chest from breathing in so deeply - there always had been ever since the mortal injury he had taken in the rescue of Ron and Luna last year - but that wasn't what he was focusing on. It was more that Neville was once again standing up for what he believed in, no matter who was trying to crack his senses. He distinctly remembered Hermione freezing him in their first year when he tried to stop them... but somehow thought that he wouldn't have taken the same tactics against Lavender in this case.

Still, Neville was never one to count out, and Harry was proud to be able to count him as one of his best friends. The letter might have been a bit upsetting - Lavender's pushing for answers, anyway - but he had other concerns for the day, really.

Once Hermione was out of the loo, he handed her the letter, smiled softly to her, and then went in himself. When he was done in the bathroom, he got dressed and joined everyone else downstairs for a quiet breakfast. He didn't even have to look up for once at the silence that told of Talisien's arrival in the large room, but he did give Hermione a quick kiss on the cheek before rising to follow his private teacher into the large study area they always used for his lessons.

--------------------------

Author's Note

Well, there's another chapter come and gone - hope everyone enjoyed it! I'm sure there are more questions cropping up now... and trust me when I tell you that even if you think you know where something's going just yet, I suspect you'll be in for a surprise.

Incidentally, I've updated my profile to show some of the upcoming chapter titles, in case anyone's curious.

Also, if anyone has the time/urge, I would always appreciate hearing from you at my yahoo group - link is in my profile - about either this story or my novels that are posted there. I am especially interested in hearing opinions/suggestions for the War of the Ancients.

Sorry I haven't replied to reviews just yet - though I will over this coming week. Thanksgiving just passed (Canadian, eh?) which meant a time surrounded by family and friends... unfortunately made quite difficult for me. Still, you can all expect replies very soon.

Thanks, and please feel free to let me know what you think of this so far, too!

.

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

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Chapter Three: Goodbye, Merlin, and an Orphanage

As the door to the study closed, Hermione sighed and pushed her way into a standing position at the table. Whenever he had morning practices, she would either train with Ron and Ginny - or rather, teach them what she knew about bladed combat - or go to the library to read. Given how both Ginny and Ron seemed to be involved in some sort of odd staring contest involving a bowl of sweets that had appeared with Tonks that morning, she decided it would be better to go to the library.

Nestling into her favourite chair, she pushed the elven texts to the side and pulled forward a book that looked older than any other one that could have been found in the library with the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. The covers were both worn with age, but nothing was damaged that she had discovered. Since the book belonged to Harry - it was her birthday present to him last year, as well as the golden bracelet he now wore around his wrist - she treated it with even more care than she did her own books, which was saying something. The title was faded, but had been written in golden lettering.

`The Source of Magic and the Power of Charms, Curses, and Jinxes.'

She had also read it through a couple of times, but as with many old magical books, things seemed to change on occasion. Something was calling to her from within the book suddenly, and so she pulled open the worn covers, letting the pages flip themselves as she had seen them do a few times in the past.

The book settled down with the pages split down the middle, though both open pages were practically blank. Only a few lines on one side marked them as special in the slightest, or even worth bothering with.

Life and death, love and hate, light and dark, good and evil.

From the mouths of children, innocence to transcend all barriers is found,

Only to be striped away as their purity is lost.

Strength of magics... a gift beyond all gifts without knowledge or intent.

As soon as she had read the words, they started to fade again as the book started flipping through itself, finally closing the covers and sealing the wisdom within once more. Hermione quickly pulled a piece of parchment over to her and scribbled out what had been written, but found the words becoming more and more impossible to write, even though she could remember them. It was as though the book itself was keeping her from making a record of what she had read, keeping her from letting the thoughts stay fresh in her mind for a later date.

When she looked away from the ancient tome and back to the parchment where she had been writing, she was surprised to find that she had written something completely different, foreign... in the ancient language itself. She pulled over the translations Harry had left for her quickly and matched up the six words she had scribbled out. “Flames, courage, blood, fear, power, and love?” she muttered to herself as she double checked her work. It didn't seem to make a lot of sense, but she promised herself that she'd be doing some research in the near future about it.

Just as she was tucking the parchment into one of the elven books that she was planning on looking at later, the door to the library opened slowly, almost hesitantly, and Ginny stuck her head through to look around.

“Oh thank Merlin,” she breathed, quickly slipping inside and closing the door behind her. “Mum hasn't been up here yet, has she?”

“It's just been me in here since Harry left for his lesson this morning,” Hermione admitted. “Why? What's wrong?” Her first thought was that Ginny's mother was going on about the sleep arrangements again, and that put her on edge without even realising it.

“Since her telling off yesterday, she's been trying harder and harder to control every part of Ron and my lives!” Ginny said, throwing her hands up in the air. “Its like she's lost one battle but refuses to back down about anything else!”

Hermione groaned softly and stood up. “I'm sorry, Gin,” she said quickly. “That's not what we were trying to do at all. Do you think it would help if...”

“I wanna go to the backyard,” Ginny said firmly, cutting off the seventh year Gryffindor. “I just wanna let go and not think about all this, please?”

“Well, sure, why ask me?” Hermione said. “Just go and fly.” She knew what the youngest Weasley meant by letting go - she wanted to sing as a nightingale and forget everything else. “You don't need me there, too, do you?”

Ginny shook her head quickly and put a hand on both Hermione's shoulders. “You don't understand!” she said urgently. “Every time I go out to sing, Mum's there before I can even notice, and then she just talks to me, complaining about anything that comes to mind! I know she doesn't know it's me she's talking to, but she's always had this weird thing for talking to birds, even at...” she trailed off suddenly as her face paled slightly. It was obvious that she was about to mention the Burrow, which had been blown apart last year.

“And you don't see her coming out if I'm there, is that it?” Hermione asked with a fake grin. “She's pretty upset with me, isn't she?”

“Yeah, but she'll get over it,” Ginny admitted. “But can I please take advantage of it for now?”

Hermione smiled to the younger girl and nodded. “Sure,” she said. “Besides, your singing it pretty relaxing you know. It'll help me take my mind off... things.” She didn't need to tell Ginny what that meant - she was still wondering about what secrets Harry was being forced to keep.

With a soft popping sound as air filled in the space she had just been standing, Ginny became her animagus form - the small brown and grey bird known for it's song. She flew up and gently landed on Hermione's shoulder, sidestepping quickly to be right next to her head. Hermione just chuckled to herself as she flipped her hair back and over, hiding the small bird from view.

It was odd how when people had once called her hair so bushy that it could be a bird's nest she had thought it an insult. Now, however, being able to hide Ginny in her hair as the two snuck outside brought a smile to her face.

She picked up one of the old elven books - the book on potions, oddly enough - and then left the library. Pausing at the kitchen door, she called to whoever was inside that she was just stepping into the backyard for a bit of light reading. When her father called back, she let out the small breath she had been holding in case it was Molly inside before turning and going down the hall.

It was a few minutes later that the soft trills of song filled the yard that no one not in on the secret could even see. Hermione was sitting against the house with her book propped open in her lap, but she had her head back and eyes closed as she listened to the soothing melody coming from the nightingale Ginny.

“Amazing as always, Gem,” she whispered in the short lull between songs. Ginny chirped up to her and almost hopped along the ground before spreading her wings to land on Hermione's knee. Then she started another song, softer and more peaceful than the last.

The fluttering of wings made Hermione open her eyes again quickly, given how Gem was still singing on her knee. Looking up to the sky to find the source of the noise, her gasp caused Ginny to fall silent and look up as well. With a quick pop, she fell to the ground next to Hermione in her human form in her surprise.

There were dozens of owls in the sky overhead, all circling the house as they started their descent. Obviously they saw the two in the backyard as they all settled on the ground before them. The door opened quickly as Remus, Tonks, Molly, and Arthur all rushed outside to find out what was going on.

Hermione stood quickly before any of the adults could move and took a step towards the closest owl. It lifted its foot and let her take the letter that had been tied there. She unfurled it to find out who it was addressed to.

“Harry Potter, Leader of the DA.” The bird didn't wait for her to offer it any treats before taking off to the sky again, letting the next one come forward. “Harry Potter, Leader of the DA,” she read again. Ginny came up beside her to help, and quickly the two made short work of all the owls in front of them.

In the end, there were seven letters addressed solely to Harry - one of which had come from a Ministry Owl - and eight letters addressed to “Leaders of the DA.” There was also a single letter for Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger, all from Ministry Owls as well.

“So what's all this about, then?” Tonks asked, speaking up before any of the other adults could. “Fan mail, perhaps?”

“I doubt it,” Arthur said softly. “Not with those Ministry Owls.” He looked to his wife quickly and smiled to her. “I think we should find Ron and see about getting Harry out of his lesson a little early this morning.”

“What do you know, Arthur?” Molly asked, suddenly suspicious of the grin on her husband's face. “What's going on?”

“You'll find out in due time, dear,” he said quickly. “Let's just say Amelia spoke with me a couple of days ago when these four owls were returned, unable to find any of the kids. I told her how to address the letters instead - just the names would do the trick - and here they are. As for the others...”

The door to the house banged open suddenly and Ron appeared in the doorway. “Hey, what's going on out here?” he asked. Hermione immediately handed him the letter with his name on it, and he glanced down at it quickly. Seeing the Ministry seal on the back, he looked up to his parents again. “I didn't do anything wrong, honest!”

“Guilty conscience, brother?” Ginny asked with a giggle. “Don't worry, Hermione and I got one too. And we've got one for Harry, and then a whole pile of letters from members of the DA.”

“Could I request we take this inside?” Remus suggested. “Some of us aren't as young as we once were, and would find this easier siting down.” The fact that the full moon was only a couple of days away was probably closer to the truth, but no one mentioned that fact.

“What, tired out this morning, wolfie?” Tonks asked with a grin. “Seems to me you didn't complain last night when...”

“Tonks!” Molly practically screamed at the young Auror, who's hair flashed from light brown to a shocking pink in surprise. “There are children present! And we don't need to hear about...”

“No one's been able to fix my mouth in years, Molly,” Tonks said with a grin. “Sorry, I'll try to watch it in the future,” she added, turning away. Once Remus saw her wink, and he was barely able to keep himself from groaning at that.

On the way, Hermione discretely slit the seal on the letter to her and pulled out the parchment, pausing for a second or two to scan it before moving to catch up. Her squeal of shock brought that fact to everyone's attention as they turned to face her. “Second Class?” she read out loud. “Second?” she repeated.

Taking her cue, Ron ripped open his letter in the hall too and pulled out his own parchment. In an official sounding voice - sounding mockingly like Percy - he started to read. “Mr. Ronald Weasley. First, we wish to offer our condolences to your experiences at the beginning of this current year involving your kidnapping by You-Know-Who.” He paused for a second and looked away from the parchment. “They actually wrote You-Know-Who, can you believe it?” He didn't wait for a reply before looking back. “Thanks to your firm commitment and loyalty, You-Know-Who failed to break your resolve or spirit - for that, you have my personal thanks. For persevering through such difficult times and coming back for all intents and purposes stronger than when you left, you will be awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class!”

“What?” Molly shrieked in surprise, looking quickly to Arthur, who had a large smile on his face. “You knew about this for how long?”

“Just a couple of days, Molly,” he reassured her. “Don't worry.”

“Signed Amelia Bones, acting Minister of Magic, Second Chair of the Wizengamot...” Ron looked up from his letter in shock and looked around. He saw Ginny pulling out her own letter to scan it before sitting down hard on the ground. “What it is?”

“Second Class...” she muttered to herself. “For being a leader of a group of students who had the bravery and skills to attack You-Know-Who's fortress and doing everything possible to ensure the best results...”

“That's not all,” Hermione said in a quiet voice that was almost a whisper. “But every member of the DA is getting an Order of Merlin... leaders of groups are getting Second Class, followers Third Class... and Cho and Dean are both getting First Class for willingly giving their lives in the fight against the Dark Arts.”

Tonks caught Hermione's arm before she could fall - it was looking dangerously close that she was going to collapse in shock - and led the girl to the kitchen for a seat. Everyone else followed quickly and also took seats, too shocked to do otherwise. “Why would they tell you all that, Hermione?” Tonks asked once they were sitting.

“It says that they spoke to a few other members of the DA - members that they could find, anyway - who said that Harry is the leader of the DA, but I'm second in command. Apparently they thought I should know that the rest of the group is being honoured as well,” Hermione explained. She looked up as the door opened again, revealing an extremely tired looking Harry.

The fact that there was a bloodstain on the sleeve to his robes caught her attention first, and she pulled herself to her feet to rush over to him, only to find him rushing towards her as well. She didn't have a chance to inspect the injury before finding herself enveloped in his warm embrace.

“What's wrong?” he asked softly, his voice carrying through the entire room. The others had barely even noticed the tears on Hermione's face, but apparently Harry had noticed them immediately.

She shook her head as she tried to find her voice, but only managed to let out a long, shuddered breath instead. “Nothing's wrong, Harry,” Arthur said for her in a firm voice. “But we are a bit shocked. This should explain everything,” he added, pulling out the letter from the Ministry from Harry.

Harry nodded to the table, and Arthur set the letter down in front of an empty chair. Hermione then pulled a bit away from Harry and put a hand against his arm where he had obviously been injured earlier. The fact that he winced did not go unnoticed by her, and she immediately pulled aside the sleeve to his robe, revealing a long gash on his arm and the fact that the blood was actually running down the length of his skin and now dripping off his hand to the ground. It had pooled slightly at his elbow when he was holding her, keeping the blood off her clothes, but she didn't care.

Ignoring the cries of surprise and worry from those behind her, Hermione placed her bare hand against the injury without any prompting from Harry. He smiled down lightly to her as a warm white glow surrounded the torn skin and it knit itself back together.

“Thanks, Mione,” he whispered. “Talisien was going to fix it, but then I...”

“Then Harry decided to leave training early to find out what was going on,” Talisien's calm voice said from the doorway. “I apologise... normally he's healed and cleaned up before a lesson's complete.”

“You've been injuring him?” Molly screamed in surprise at the elf. “Just what do you think...”

Harry's hand being raised in the air was all the warning she had before finding her voice stripped from her again. “Please do not yell at my Professor for this, Molly,” he said softly. “I do not have any complaints, and like he said, I am always healed and clean before leaving a lesson. I was in a hurry to find out what was happening this time, though,” he explained before lowering his hand and muttering something under his breath.

The silencing charm broken, it looked almost like Molly was about to say something else before Hermione turned around and picked up Harry's letter, handing it back to him so he could look at it. He smiled to her and gave her a quick kiss before turning back to Talisien.

“It is quite alright, Harry,” Talisien said, cutting him off. “We were just about done your last lesson with me anyway. I will be leaving today after lunch. It has been a pleasure to teach you what I can.”

“Thank you sir,” Harry said firmly, meeting the elf's brown eyes with his own vibrant green ones as though daring him to say anything about the formal title. When Talisien sighed, Harry smiled. “I mean it. Talisien, few would have taken the effort that you have, so thanks.”

The elf nodded once before disappearing from view. When he did not reappear right away, Harry looked back to everyone else before returning his attention once more to the letter in his hands. He pulled the parchment out of the envelop and scanned the contents quickly.

In an action almost too fast to follow, he held up the letter and tore it in half before turning away from everyone else. “I refuse,” he said in a hard, almost cold voice. “Though I encourage the rest of you to accept.”

The effects his actions and words had on those gathered was pure chaos. Shouts and cries of surprise and concern echoed through the kitchen before he turned back to them again. “Harry...” Remus said softly as silence fell. “You should really think about this first.”

“I have,” Harry said firmly. “I thought it was a possibility at the end of last year,” he explained. “And I already knew then that I couldn't accept this.”

“You can't just refuse an honour like this, mate!” Ron said quickly. “I mean, well, I guess you could, but why would you?”

“He has a good reason,” Tonks said softly, looking to him in a calculating manner. “Don't you, Harry?”

Hermione stepped towards him and put a hand on his arm again, gently drawing his gaze away from everyone else in the room and back to her. “This is about Dean and Cho, isn't it?”

“I've never wanted fame or riches,” Harry replied in a whisper that carried. “And the only time I get it is when people I care about die.”

“In that case, I'm turning it down too,” Ginny said firmly, moving to pick up her letter. Ron nodded solemnly and picked up his letter as well.

“No,” Harry said, halting them before they, too, could tear the parchment in half. “You all should accept. You weren't leading them.”

“But Harry,” Ron started, only to stop when the cloaked Gryffindor shook his head.

“Please.”

After a short staring contest between the two, Ron finally sat down again and sighed before nodding. When Harry turned to Ginny next, she looked defiant for a second or two before she, too, sat down and nodded slowly. “You do realise, Harry, that this will make you even more famous than if you accepted it?” Arthur asked quietly. At Harry's sudden gaze, he went on quickly. “No one has ever refused an Order of Merlin before.”

“I don't care,” Harry said firmly. “I can't accept it... not when I failed.”

“You brought Ron and Luna back!” Molly pointed out. “You can't call that a complete failure!”

“I traded a life for a life,” Harry said in return. “And although I'm beyond glad that Ron and Luna are both back with us, safe and sound... there's a part of me that hates me for that! I'm putting more value on one life than another!”

“But that's what makes you human,” Hermione said softly. “Every life has value, but to each person, that value is different. Even though you try to hold everyone as valuable, there's no helping that.”

“Besides,” Ginny said quickly before Harry could reply to Hermione. “You didn't trade a life for a life - you saved three people, and you destroyed the Crystal of Guidance. Yeah, I'd be happier if none of us had died, too, but you can't change the past.”

Harry sighed and pulled the hood up on his cloak, an action that was extremely rare in the house. “Sometimes, I think you can't change the future, either,” he said softly. He held up a hand quickly and shook his head. “I'm sorry... I just need a bit of time to think. I'll join you all for lunch in a bit,” he offered before turning and leaving through the door.

When Hermione moved to follow him, she found the hallway deserted.

---------------------------

Although Hermione even used her kneazle senses to try and find him, Harry remained on his own until the first plate of sandwiches were placed on the table in the kitchen. Ron and Ginny had both helped her look for him, but in the deceptively large house, he seemed to be able to hide better than anyone had thought possible.

To Molly's surprise, Talisien had let himself into the kitchen while she was speaking with Arthur, Remus, and Tonks about the Order of Merlins, and had started to prepare a luncheon for everyone present. Although the food looked familiar, in that there were plates and plates of sandwiches, the bread had an odd blackish green tinge to it, and the meat was obviously from an unknown animal.

He had also provided drinks in large ornate glass pitchers that she had never seen before. On the side of each, etched in a rich gold, was an oak leaf with a crown above. Although Hermione explained that it was the symbol of the family of Oak in the elven world - Talisien's family - it really went without saying. The pitchers were all filled with a pink liquid that was both sweet and tangy, but didn't leave the mouth with the usual sugary feel to it. He even assured both Mike and Jane Granger - knowing they were both dentists - that the sugars were all natural and it was actually quite good for the teeth.

It was only by the wind of the opening door that Hermione looked up in the end. She hadn't heard it open or heard footsteps in the hall, but she did feel the wind on her back, and she turned quickly to find Harry letting himself into the kitchen to join everyone. The hood to his cloak was down again, and he gave a small apologetic smile to her before standing in front of a seat next to her.

“I am sorry about my disappearance,” he said softly, though everyone present was listening closely. “I needed time to think about a few things. However, my decision from earlier stands. Please don't ask me about it now, though,” he added quickly when Molly made to stand. “As he mentioned earlier, this is Talisien's last meal here.”

“Is that why you decided to cook?” Molly asked, looking to him quickly, her first thoughts about questioning Harry put on the back burner for the time being. “I would have made you a going away lunch if you had wanted!”

He smiled to her, though it was more of a shadow of a smile than anything else. The three long scars on his cheek that were only visible when he had his hood down - as it had been the entire time he had been within Grimmauld Place thus far in the summer - stretched with the action, making it look almost like a grimace. “I am aware of that, Mrs. Weasley. However, my elven blood takes precedence in this case.”

“Elves see themselves off,” Hermione muttered when both Ron and Ginny looked to her for an explanation. By the fact that Harry hadn't looked to her told her that he already knew that, which made sense given how closely he had been working with the elf for the pas couple of weeks.

“I do have a request of you, however, Mrs. Weasley. I must ask you to think about it over the meal and say nothing about it until the food has been cleared away. Then I would hear your opinion and comments, if that is alright,” he said softly, looking directly at her with his brown eyes that seemed to almost leak warmth from them when he allowed it.

“Why do I not like the sound of that?” she asked, speaking more to herself than to anyone else in the room.

He smiled gently and then looked around the room. “My request goes for everyone else, as well. Not a word of it until the food has been cleared.” When everyone nodded, he looked back to Mrs. Weasley again. “I wish to take your son with me back to the forest. He would join...” He paused for a breath, and Hermione saw Harry hiding a smile. “Miss Luna Lovegood for some aide with his rehabilitation. I think it would do both of them good.” He paused again, looking to Ron now who had dropped the glass he had been using. With a wave of his hand, Talisien repaired the ancient goblet, and then went on. “If not for the sake of your son, then for the sake of Miss Lovegood, who needs the time to adjust to her new form of sight.”

As soon as Talisien's voice had died down, it became obvious that Molly wanted to reply immediately, and unfortunately with a negative response. However, just as she was about to stand, Arthur put a hand on hers, keeping her in her seat, and Talisien held up a hand to remind her of the request she had already accepted.

*Did you know about this?* Hermione purred softly to Harry as Ron asked in a louder voice than normal if someone could pass the juice.

*I had no idea,* Harry admitted. *That, I would have told you about, even if he had asked me not to.*

The meal progressed from there, though it started out with a bit of a strain as many of those gathered obviously wanted to say something about Talisien's request, but none were willing to break the word they had given earlier. After helping himself to his third sandwich, Harry stood from his seat and raised his glass towards Talisien.

“To the second best Professor we've ever had,” Ron said quickly, interrupting Harry with a toast of his own as he stood as well. At the startled look, he shrugged. “Well, personally I liked Remus here better,” he admitted in a mumble, looking away from everyone else.

“To a true ally,” Remus said gravely, standing to join in the toast.

“To one who's willing to tell off Snape!” Ginny exclaimed in a loud voice, standing up quickly as she lifted her own glass towards Talisien. That got a collection of laughs, as well as a frown from Molly before it cracked into a grin as well.

“To the best healer I've ever seen,” Hermione said softly, standing and raising her own glass as well. When Talisien looked to her, she smiled and nodded, trying hard to ignore the blush that had somehow found its way onto her cheeks.

“To someone who's great fun to laugh with, at, or have laugh at you!” Tonks said cheerily, pulling herself to her feet as well. Harry made a mental note to ask her about that at some later stage.

Mike and Jane had also stood and raised their glasses, but had said nothing right away. After silence fell and all eyes looked back to Harry, Arthur quickly stood, sensing he should say something before Harry's final toast. “To one of the few I would trust the lives of my own children with!”

Molly looked up to him in surprise before sighing and standing as well. She lifted her glass and obviously was thinking of something to say before smiling sadly. “To lost childhoods,” she said softly. Talisien caught her eye at once and understood - it was a comment in response to his actions at the Order of the Phoenix meeting last year when he had mentioned losing his own child to a war. He nodded to her, and she smiled again before looking to Harry as well.

Harry couldn't help but grin and then looked to Talisien after scanning the room. “Well, I was going to say a bit, but I guess a simple toast will have to do. To Talisien - a mentor, a teacher, and a great friend.”

Talisien nodded solemnly and Harry lifted his glass to his lips to drink, noticing everyone else following his lead quickly. As he sat down again, Talisien stood slowly, picking up his glass at the same time. “To all of you,” he said softly. “And your continued efforts and success in the war.”

Everyone stood again quickly and drank to that before settling down once again. In almost no time at all, the food was gone and everything had been cleaned up. Talisien then made his way to the doorway before turning and looking back to everyone gathered there. “I believe your end of the bargain has come to an end, Molly,” he said calmly. “You have heard my request... now I simply await your decision.”

Molly turned away from the sink where she had set the dishes that weren't Talisien's to washing themselves - his dishes had apparently vanished entirely when the meal was over - and looked to him quickly. She then took a deep breath and looked away from him to Ron, who seemed to be holding his breath in anticipation.

“What do you think, Ron?” she asked in as calm a voice as she could manage, though it did come out a little higher than normal.

Ron looked to her in surprise before looking to both Ginny and then his father as though making sure he had heard things properly. He then stood up slowly and looked back to his mother. “Luna needs me,” he said in a soft voice. “There's nothing else I need to think about.”

Molly turned to Arthur as though seeking his advice one last time before looking back to Talisien slowly. Just as she was about to say something, though, she looked over to Ginny quickly. “And what do you think, Ginny?”

“Me?” she asked, startled at being asked, even moreso than her brother had been. “It's not really up to me, is it? It's either your decision or Ron's - I'm not affected by it, right?”

“Well, aside from not having your brother around,” she pointed out. “It would be the first summer you'll ever be the only Weasley child in the house.”

Ginny looked surprised at that comment, and then turned to Ron. He shrugged to her, and she smiled back. “Well brother... have fun and stay safe. I'll miss not being able to make fun of you for the rest of the summer. See you in September?”

“I do have one request of you first, Talisien,” Molly said, interrupting Ginny's words. When he looked back to her, she went on quickly. “Please ensure that they sleep in separate bedrooms. While I may not have control of that here,” she said with a quick glance to Harry and Hermione. “My own children are another matter entirely.”

Talisien nodded, a small grin on his lips at the request. “I will see to it personally,” he promised. He then looked over to Ron. “We leave in three minutes. I'd suggest you gather your things quickly!”

“Three minutes?”

“Would ten be better? That's as long as I wish to wait, though.”

Ron gave his sister's shoulder a quick squeeze - apparently as affectionate as he was willing to be with her in front of everyone else, and then gave his mother a hug and his father a clap on the arm before turning to leave the kitchen in a rush, only to run headlong into Harry's outstretched arm.

“Forgetting someone, aren't you?” he asked with a grin as he helped his friend up from the ground.

“Oh, right,” Ron mumbled, looking to Hermione. “Keep an eye on this one,” he suggested. “A lot of people seem to think he's a bit crazy sometimes.”

“Thanks, mate,” Harry said, rolling his eyes as Hermione pulled Ron into a quick hug.

“Be sure to learn lots, Ron!” Hermione said in a rush. “The elven culture is immense and there's bound to be loads you can study if you're willing to...”

“Mental, this one,” Ron said as he broke away from he and looked to Harry. “Better keep an eye on her.”

“I intend on it,” Harry said with a grin as he clapped Ron on the back in an odd, awkward hug before the youngest Weasley son pulled away again. “Oh, and give this to Luna when you see her,” he added, handing her a letter sealed with an odd symbol that matched the one on the white badge he wore on his cloak - the Destiny's Force symbol, sign of his group within the DA. Ron pocketed the letter without a word and then tore off through the door that Talisien had opened for him.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a flash of silver and the sharp ping of metal colliding with wood. As one, everyone turned towards the table, where a dagger with a foot long blade was stuck into the wood, quivering slightly. As it came to a stop again, a leather sheath appeared next to it.

“Those would be for you, Hermione,” Talisien said softly. “To replace those you willingly gave to a friend in need. Although there's no magics within, I'm sure you'll find it useful at some stage.” He didn't wait for a response or a reaction before he vanished completely.

It was a sure sign that Molly was thinking more about Ron than anything else that she didn't comment on the blade as Hermione pulled it free and picked up the sheath as well. By the time Mrs. Weasley had turned away from Arthur again, she had sheathed the blade and tucked both into a pocket of her own dark green cloak, hiding it away until she had the chance to attach it to her belt.

-----------------------------

Most of those within Grimmauld Place had been surprised when Harry had shown very little emotion over Talisien's leaving. They knew he had grown rather close to the elf - given how he had claimed him as a friend in the toast - so it did strike them as odd. Well, at least until he looked to the first who voiced such thoughts with a sad smile. “It is never so much a goodbye, as a simple farewell. I is not as though we will never see each other again.”

Hermione was the only one who recognised the words as those he had spoken on several occasions in the past, and knew them to be elven parting words.

While Ginny had her hands full keeping her mother occupied - almost as soon as Ron had left she had started questioning her decision - Hermione slipped out of the large study where everyone had congregated to find Harry sitting on the steps leading up into the higher parts of the house.

She sat down next to him without a word and was a bit surprised to find him fumbling for her hand. When his fingers laced with hers, she felt that he was shaking, and she looked to him carefully. His ocean green eyes met her rich brown ones, and she took a deep breath at the odd look of fear found there.

“I'm scared, Mione.”

“Of what?” Hermione asked. She could think of half a dozen different things he could have been scared about, given how their lives seemed to work, but she had never really heard him admit to any of them.

“This afternoon,” he whispered, his voice actually too quiet for normal ears to hear. Thankfully, her animagus form of a kneazle seemed to have granted her powerful hearing in human form, too.

“You're just going to a park, Harry,” she said softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “There's nothing to be afraid of, you know that.”

“I know, I know,” he said, breathing out slowly. “I mean, it's not like my life's in danger or anything, right?”

“Oh? I thought you would've been used to that by now,” she said with a smile.

He shot her a wry grin and shook his head. “I somehow think I'd have an easier time if it was,” he mumbled, looking away from her to hide his eyes. “Like you said, I'm used to that. I've... I've never been to a park and been able to just relax, to play. Back on Privet Drive, everyone was afraid of me, because speaking to me would get them beat up by Dudley. And then there's Dudley himself! I've just...”

“Just relax,” she said, cutting him off. “Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be fine out there - just remember that the whole point is for you to play with the kids. I'm sure they'll be younger than you, so play to that, okay?”

“But what if I mess it up?” He finally looked up again and she caught his gaze. There was such warmth and love spreading from his eyes that it caused her to take a deep breath to steady herself before saying anything. While she could usually understand where he was coming from right away, this wasn't something she had been expecting at all.

“You won't,” she said calmly, fighting against the instinct to launch herself at him and cover him with kisses. “There's no question - once you're out there, you'll be great with kids. I know you, Harry... you'll be great with them, and one day in our future... you'll be great with ours, too. Even if you don't believe it.”

He sighed before leaning into her, resting his head against hers and taking a deep breath again. “If you think I can do this, then I'm sure it'll be fine,” he whispered. “And since you do... I should get going before Molly comes out of the study. She might try to hold me up. I'm sure Remus will explain everything later, but now, I should just go to take a look at the place first.”

She turned to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Good luck. I'll be thinking of you.”

“I know,” he said, standing up quickly, causing his dark green cloak to billow out behind him, part of it covering Hermione's shoulder. “I love you - hope you know that.”

“Of course I do,” she said, pulling herself to her feet as well and giving him a hug. She was only barely conscious of the fact that his cloak was practically shielding her from view before he had released her again and turned towards the door. “Don't worry - I love you too.”

Harry didn't reply to her words as he pulled open the door silently and slipped outside. Once the large wooden door had closed again, he closed his eyes and willed the transformation to take place as he had been practicing with Talisien.

When he opened his eyes again, he looked down to find the red jacket that reached down past his knees, and buttoned across his chest just slightly lower than his cloak would have, and he knew it had been a success. Deftly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the strip of red fabric, tying it around his black hair that suddenly had a tinge of purple found within it. He knew without even checking that his scar hadn't vanished.

Before taking a step away from the hidden house, he reached around just behind his back and felt at the black belt he was now wearing. Hidden from view by magics, he found both the wand that Hermione had given him - his only wand now, since his phoenix and holly wand had been destroyed - as well as the dagger that protected his mind from mental intrusions.

Confident that he was as ready as he was going to be, he stepped away from the house and quickly stepped onto the sidewalk. For the first day, he had no real worries about being seen coming out of nowhere - his mind was on other things, after all.

The park was two blocks down the street, and then three more blocks after turning, but otherwise was just as Talisien had said. It was a large open clearing with a few trees right in the middle, as well as several small benches scattered throughout. There was a couple of large swingsets off to one side, which he frowned at when he noticed that - like the park near Privet Drive - they had all been broken.

On the other side of the park was a large sandy area that had a bunch of odd looking tools strewn about everywhere, though from the distance he couldn't tell if they were broken as well or not. As for people, it seemed relatively empty, which made sense, as Talisien had told him that the kids usually arrived around 2, and it was only 1:30 still.

As he entered the park, however, he heard low voices talking from the other side of the trees, and decided to walk past as though going clean through the park to find out who was there. There was a group of five boys, all about as old as he was - in his real form, anyway, so they looked several years older than he did just then. He didn't need to take a second look at them... the way they were talking reminded him perfectly of Dudley's gang back on Privet Drive.

Bullies.

He doubled back without being seen by them and sat down beneath one of the trees in the shade to wait for someone else to arrive. It didn't take long at all for that to happen, either - the kids must have been early, or his sense of time was way off. He looked up from under the tree quickly and saw a young woman walking with a group of kids, all of whom looked quite young. He was sure there wasn't a child among them over ten, which brought a small smile to his face.

Maybe Hermione was right... maybe it was going to be easier than he had thought.

As the group got a little closer, he started wondering just why there was only one woman with them to watch the six children. Obviously she wasn't their mother - she was far too young to have children even of that age, and on top of that, not all of the children were of the same nationality.

It was a mixed group of four girls and two boys. One of the boys had darker skin than any of the others, and one of the girls was of obvious Asian background as opposed to English, but the kids didn't seem to care - another fact that brought a smile to his face. He could still remember far too easily his Uncle's rants about... quickly, he pushed such thoughts from his mind so he could focus on what was going on in front of him.

One of the girls had long red hair, and was carrying a blue ball held tightly in her arms. She was a bit bigger than the other girls, so he guessed that she was probably the oldest of them. One of the boys was trailing just a little behind her that was about her size, and there was no doubt in his mind that they were the same age.

Another of the girls also had long red hair, but she looked a bit younger and was holding the woman's hand tightly, as though she was scared to be coming to the park at all. All of a sudden, the woman must have said something, because the kids were off in all directions, running around as though they had thought about what they were going to do before arriving. The little girl who had been holding the woman's hand was still right by her, though, and still holding on just as tightly as before. He watched them closely and saw them move over to a bench and sit down, the girl climbing into the woman's lap before settling down again.

Harry stood up slowly, his red jacket and shorts standing out against the rich green tree, as did his white shirt and socks. He was instantly aware of being watched by one of the boys - the oldest of the boys, who had been walking behind the older redhead girl, unless he was mistaken. The boy had messy black hair not unlike his own usually was, and Harry couldn't surpress the grin at that thought.

He was just about to walk over towards the boy - who hadn't really moved since Harry had stood up - when he heard laughter which was definitely not pleasant. It was the laughter of bullies, and was swiftly followed by a scream and then cries. He turned quickly and saw the older redhead shoot past the trees, holding the remains of the ball she had been carrying earlier.

“What happened?” he asked quickly as she ran passed him. His voice sounded quite young in his ears, even though he had spoken in his current form before. He watched as the girl slowed to a stop before looking back to him in surprise. “Is everything alright?”

“They... they busted my ball!” she said through her tears, holding out the shrivelled remains of rubber towards him.

“That's horrible!” Harry said quickly, taking a step towards her. “Meanies. Can I see it?”

Almost at once, she pulled the rubber back towards her and shook her head quickly. “Nu-uh,” she said, shaking her head again. “It's my ball, even if it is busted.”

“Okay,” he said calmly, not wanting her to run away from him suddenly at the odd request. “They bug you often?”

“Those meanies are always here!” she said firmly, her lower lip quivering as though she were about to cry again. “But I didn't think they'd...”

Harry smiled to her and sat down on the ground in front of her, bringing himself closer to her own level - in fact, she was now taller than he was, and had to look down to him. “How about we do something different then, okay?” he suggested, his mind working furiously to come up with something.

“Like what?” she asked, obviously curious about his offer.

“I bet you have a great imagination, don't you?” She nodded slowly and he smiled to her. “Come on, sit down,” he suggested, motioning to the ground in front of her. “How about we imagine that you had a new ball, would that work?”

“Nu-uh,” she said firmly, shaking her head, though she had sat down. “It don't work like that - you can't just imagine you have something, and then have it! I know, cause then Lily'd just hafta imagine all the bad things to go away.”

Harry's heart skipped a beat at the name of Lily, but he decided to try and ignore it for the time being. “Well, this isn't anything nearly as big as that, though, is it?” he pointed out, even though he didn't know what the bad things the girl had mentioned were. “This is just so we can play with a ball, right?”

She seemed to take a minute or two to think about that before nodding several times to him. “Okay, but you hafta do it wif me, too!”

He smiled to her again and held out his hands towards her. “Alright, let's both close our eyes, then,” he said softly as she held out her hands as well. He knew what he was going to do... hopefully he could pass it off as just her powerful imagination, and she wouldn't say anything else.

Once she had her blue eyes closed as well, he concentrated hard on forming a ball between them. His wandless magics hadn't ever really worked like that when he needed them to - he needed spells to go with them - but this was more like shaping the magics he had inside of him than anything else, and he knew if he pushed with his will hard enough that he should be able to do something.

He was barely aware of the fact that he had closed his eyes before an excited squeal caused him to open them again. He hadn't felt anything change at all, but on the ground between them was a shimmering ball of... well, it was white, and rather bright, but it was dimming again slowly until it looked much like a normal rubber ball, only a pure white. The girl in front of him was already picking it up and looking at it as though she had never seen such a thing before.

“See?” he said softly. “That's how strong your imagination is,” he explained, though his thoughts were going faster than he could ever remember. He hadn't felt anything changing, so had she really done it on her own? Did that mean she was a witch who hadn't been contacted yet because she wasn't old enough for schooling? “And don't worry - if they try to steal that or break it, it won't work - it'll just disappear, and you can bring it back again later,” he said, deciding to trust his thoughts this time.

“I tink that was your imagination,” she said, almost sounding like she was accusing him of lying to her. “Cause I ain't never done anything like that before!” Before he could reply to that, she had leapt to her feet again, clutching the new white ball to her chest like she had been holding the blue ball earlier. “I ain't seen you here before... what's your name?”

“James,” Harry said quickly. “But everyone always calls me Tor.”

“Tor? That's a weird name.”

“Yeah,” he said with a grin, thinking of Hermione's explanation. “I've got a cat named Tor, and every time anyone calls for him, they said I'd come to, so they started calling us both Tor instead.”

“Well I'm Thistle!” she said proudly. She then pointed over to the bench where the young woman was sitting with the youngest girl. “That's my youngest sister Lilac, she's four,” she explained. “Sitting with Lily. And my other sister's name is Rosie, and she's...” she paused for a second and looked around. “Trying to play in the sandbox!” she pointed out. Before Harry could reply to that at all, she had grabbed his hand and was pulling him over to where Lily and Lilac were sitting. “You've gotta try your imagination on my sister, too!”

“Why?” Harry asked before he could stop himself. “What's wrong with her?”

Thistle suddenly stopped when they were halfway there and looked back up to him slowly. “She don't talk no more,” she said softly. “She used to... Mummy and Daddy couldn't get her to stop sometimes... but she hasn't spoken in two years. She don't even cry anymore, neither.”

“Two years?” Harry repeated, looking back to the young girl who he had thought looked scared earlier. “That sure is a long time not to speak.”

“She hasn't spoken since Mummy and Daddy went away,” Thistle said, a sad note to her voice suddenly. Harry looked down to her quickly and was surprised to see tears running down her cheek. “I keep saying that they're gonna come back, but no one listens to me anymore!”

Harry knelt next to her on pure instinct, and was shocked when she threw herself on him sobbing. “They left two years ago?” he asked in a whisper as he rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

“Some bad men came and took them away. Ever since, we've been living with Lily at our new home.”

That explains it, Harry thought to himself. Lily's some sort of leader at an Orphanage... but she seems a bit young even for that sort of thing. I doubt she's even out of school herself!

“What'd you do to Thistle?” Harry turned, pulling himself out of his mussing, and found the dark skinned boy standing behind him, looking for all intents and purposes like he might jump him at any second. “Why's she crying? And why are you holding her?”

“It's okay, Starling,” Thistle sniffed, pulling away from Harry again. “I was just telling Tor about my parents leavin, that's all.”

“Mine left too,” the boy replied, looking to Harry with all the hostility gone suddenly. “About two years ago,” he said. “Been living with Lily ever since, too. Just like Thistle and her sisters.”

“You all live in an orphanage?” Harry asked in a whisper. They had looked so happy when they had first come to the park, but now that joy seemed to have deflated somewhat. Although already he had thought that the two kids he had talked with had seemed too mature at one second, and regular kids the next, he hadn't counted on that.

“I guess,” Starling said with a shrug. “It's Lily's house, though. Well, Lily and Raven's, really - their parents left a couple of years ago, too, and she offered to take us all in. Raven's over there,” he added, pointing over his shoulder to the boy that had been watching Harry earlier.

“Like my ball?” Thistle said suddenly, thrusting it out at Starling as she pulled completely away from Harry, all signs of tears gone without a trace. “Tor and I made it from our imaginations!”

“You did not!”

“Did too!” Thistle practically screamed back at him, finishing with sticking her tongue out at him. “And just for that, I'm not gonna let you play with it!” With that, Thistle shot off towards the sandbox where her sister with blonde hair - Rosie, if Harry's memory served - and Starling gave chase at once.

Slowly, he stood up from the ground again and looked back over to the woman named Lily who was still holding the youngest girl Lilac. Both were now watching him closely, and he could tell that Lily was almost worried about what he had been doing. With a smile and a wave, he walked over to them quickly, forcing down the apprehension he was suddenly feeling.

She shifted a bit on the bench, making room for him to sit down, and so he took her up on the offer, taking a quick moment to look at her, committing her to memory so he could describe her to Hermione later. She had long black hair and tired green eyes that had a hardened edge to them. He didn't need magics to tell him that she was having a hard time with a lot of things - and given what Thistle and Starling had told him, he had no question about why.

In his mind, Thistle's words suddenly clicked about Lily not being about to imagine the bad things away.

“You're pretty good with kids, aren't you?” Lily asked, her voice deeper than he expected, though it was definitely still feminine. “Not many kids your age would have been able to calm Thistle down like that.”

“No?” Harry asked, his heart suddenly beating faster than he had been expecting. He had figured himself to be a failure earlier... it looked like Hermione was right again. “It wasn't that bad. You must be Lily, right?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking slightly surprised that he knew that. “And who are you?”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, pulling himself to his feet and holding out a hand to her. “My name's James Lupin,” he offered politely, forcing down the nausea that was his memories of his Aunt and Uncle drilling such things into his brain. “But everyone just calls me Tor.”

She smiled at that as she shook his hand, and then he sat down again. “I'm sure there's a great story there somewhere,” she said, looking away from him and back out to the park again. He caught her eyes darting to each of the children quickly before she looked back to him again. “I guess your parents taught you to be polite to strangers, huh?”

“My... parents?” Harry asked, stumbling over his words. “No,” he said in a soft voice that didn't need to be forced at all. “I never knew my parents.”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” she said, and he knew she wasn't just saying that like a lot of people would have. “You aren't alone, though. All these kids are orphans, too, and so am I... though I guess I'm the head orphan, if you will.”

“I'm not sure I follow,” Harry said with a frown. “I thought Thistle said her parents just left for a while.”

“She fully expects to see them again one day, Tor. I just hope it won't be for a long time,” she added, pointing straight up at the clouds. He knew that she meant a meeting in Heaven, and he sighed. “And Lilac here hasn't said one word since it all happened,” she said in a whisper as she ran her fingers through the long red hair.

“It happened two years ago?” Harry asked in a quiet voice, trying to speak so Lilac couldn't hear him.

“About two full summer's past, yeah,” Lily admitted. “Oh, I'm sorry, after your great introduction, I never even told you my name. It's Lillian Woodridge, though everyone just calls me Lily. Seems to be a bit of a pattern with the rest of the kids.” At Harry's confused look, she laughed. “Well, Lilac, Rosie, Thistle, and Chameli,” she explained, pointing to each of the girls in turn - the last being the Asian girl Harry had spotted earlier but hadn't learned her name. “And me as Lily makes all flowers... roughly speaking, anyway. And Raven and Starling are both birds... I think someone up there's laughing at us, to tell you the truth,” she added with a sad smile, looking back to Harry again.

“Sorry,” Harry said, and like she had done before him, he meant it. “You from around here?”

“Not originally, though I think I should be the one asking you, kid,” she said with a grin. “Been coming here every day of the summer for the past couple of years, and I've never seen you before.”

“Yeah, I just moved here with my godfather - you may meet him sometime, his name's Remus Lupin.”

She shook her head after a second or two and shrugged. “Can't say I've met him. But after seeing you playing with Thistle and Starling, I must say I'm glad you're around. Planning on coming here often?”

“Just everyday of the summer... until I have to leave for school,” he added after a second or two. “Boarding school, up north.” He left the explanation at that, and thankfully she didn't ask any further.

“Then I'm sure the kids'll get to know you pretty well. You don't mind playing with them, do you?” she added almost as an afterthought. “I mean, I can ask them to stay away from you if you want the privacy...”

“Nah, it's okay,” Harry said easily. It was one of the first times someone in authority - and he could easily see Lily taking charge of the kids even after such a brief conversation - had asked him such a thing first. “I'd like that, actually. Never really had much of a chance to just play around before.”

“Great!” she said brightly. “I'll talk to them tonight and make sure they know you're okay. They're not supposed to talk to strangers, strictly speaking.”

Harry smiled at that, remembering a time long ago when the Dursleys were yelling - the only time in memory, really - at Dudley for taking candy from a stranger. “Still, better than taking candy, right?” He paused as he looked down to the bright-eyed Lilac, who had blue eyes just like her oldest sister, and froze instantly. It was as though her eyes were talking to him, yelling into his mind. All he could see suddenly was green, so bright that it flared into his vision and blinded him of everything else.

It took a moment, but he was suddenly aware of sitting on the ground next to the bench, with Lily looking down to him in surprise. “You alright there, Tor?”

“Yeah... yeah, I'm fine,” Harry said, though he didn't really feel fine at all. That green light had filled his nightmares for years during his own childhood, and he was more aware of it recently than ever before. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, and then raised a hand to point towards the little Lilac before he could think otherwise. “Finite,” he muttered so quietly that there was no chance Lily would possibly hear him.

He could tell from his position on the ground that Lilac had been startled by his falling off the bench, and he could see the tears running down her cheeks, but it had been just as Thistle had said - not a peep out of her. At his muttered word, however, the spell had been broken and a soft sobbing sound was suddenly audible. Lily looked down in surprise at Lilac, and to his surprise, she broke out into tears herself as she pulled the little girl close to her.

“Can you get Thistle and Rosie for me?” she whispered over the sobbing child to Harry before looking back down. “Shh, it's okay, Lilac, don't worry. Everything's gonna be alright.”

“I want Isle and Rose!”

Harry scrambled to his feet quickly and raced across the park to find the two young girls playing with the white ball, tossing it over Starling's head, keeping him from playing with it, just as Thistle had promised. “You were right, Tor!” Thistle cried when she spotted him. “They tried ta take my ball, but it just disappeared until they left! And now it's back again! If we put our imagination together again, do you think we could make another so everyone could play with a ball?”

“I'm sure we could try it,” Harry said, though inwardly he wasn't sure it the little girl was capable of doing it or not. “Or we could just play a game so everyone had a chance.”

“Well, yeah, we could, but...”

“Look, I think you should go over to Lily,” Harry said, cutting her off and looking to both Thistle and Rosie. “She's asking for you.”

“What's she want?” Thistle asked, catching the ball and hugging it to her again. “Cause it ain't time ta go home yet!”

“Remember how you said I should try to use my imagination again?” Harry asked quietly, kneeling down in front of Thistle. She nodded, looking at him with wide eyes, and he smiled. “Lilac's over there crying.”

“What?”

“And she's asking for both Isle and Rose...”

He didn't have a chance to say anything else before both girls tore out of the sandbox towards the bench again, Thistle even dropping her ball on the ground as she went. Harry watched it for a second or two before the girls were far enough away, and then it suddenly vanished again.

“You imagined she could talk, and it happened?” Starling asked, drawing his attention back to the fact that he wasn't alone just yet. “That sounds like magic to me! Do you know any cool spells?”

“It... it wasn't magic,” Harry said quickly, being careful not to say magics like he had gotten used to. “I just fell off the bench, and she started to cry. I just told Thistle that because I wanted to see her reaction, that's all.”

Starling looked over to the bench with his own eyes wide at that statement, and a smile spread across his face. “Well, I've been looking after those three for a while now, cause I'm the strongest of all of us,” he said firmly. “So I wanna go talk to Lilac, too!”

Harry didn't try to stop him from going, and stood up only as the boy left the sandbox area. He watched as the other boy and girl also ran over to the group, and he could hear even from as far away as he was how excited everyone was.

So that only left him with two questions in his mind - why were Lilac's memories filled with green light, and who had placed the silencing charm on her?

---------------------------------

Author's Note

Well, there is another chapter of Beyond the Shadows - I hope everyone enjoyed it. I would like to send out a large thank you to the few who reviewed the previous chapter - every review means a lot to me, so thanks.

I am still working on replying to a lot of the older reviews, but all of them for the last chapter and a good chunk for chapter one have been replied to already.

Oh, and I don't own Harry Potter - in case it needs to be said - but I do own a lot of the ideas found in this fic and the prequel. I also don't own Chrno Crusade, incidentally. Oddly enough, that does need to be said, since Harry's innocent, childlike form is meant to ressemble the innocent, childlike form of Chrno - a devil.

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

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Chapter Four: Innocence of Youth...

“So, it wasn't nearly as bad as you thought it would be, was it?” Hermione asked Harry as they sat down in the study after a filling dinner. A large number of Order members had attended - as well as everyone who was living in the house - which made it difficult to talk about things Harry wanted to be kept mostly to himself.

“Yeah, was there any point to it yet?” Ginny added, plopping herself down in the large chair next to the fireplace. There was a small fire burning softly, but it wasn't giving out any heat - given that it was quite warm in the middle of the summer, that was probably just as well. Hermione had told Ginny - after Harry had said she could - about his new `training,' though the youngest Weasley hadn't quite understood the concept as Hermione had. “Aside from getting to goof off?”

Harry chuckled to himself as he shook his head and looked about the room for a place to sit as well. Hermione scooted over in her chair to make room for him to cuddle up next to her, and he sat into her embrace willingly, shifting around a little once they were both down so she was sitting on him instead of the other way around.

“I'm certainly not expecting results immediately, Gem,” Harry replied with a shrug. “But it wasn't too bad, really. In fact, I was told that I seemed to know exactly what I was doing around kids...”

“Who said that?” Hermione asked with a smile of her own. She could tell without him saying anymore that he had enjoyed himself despite his previous worries. “One of the mother's?”

She caught the quick darkening of his green eyes before they returned to normal and he shook his head. “Nope, just the older sister of one of the kids,” he explained. “She was watching them, and when I stepped in to help the oldest of the little kids - I think she's about seven - she seemed to think I must have younger siblings of my own.”

“How many kids were there in the group that Talisien told you about?” Hermione asked.

“Six in all, seven if you count the eldest sister who was watching them,” he explained. “Of the kids, the oldest girl's name is Thistle, with a younger sister named Rosie, and an even younger sister named Lilac. I'd bet that Thistle's around seven... but I'm not sure, I didn't really ask.”

“Was their mother trying to be cruel to them?”

“Why would you say that, Willow?” Ginny asked, looking to the other girl in surprise.

“Well, each of their names is that of a flower, right?”

Harry's chuckle cut off Ginny's reply. “That's nothing,” he said quickly at their looks. “The other girl's name is Chameli, while the oldest sister - the watcher - is named Lillian... but goes by Lily.”

Silence met his words, and he looked to Hermione when he felt her arms tighten a little around him. He smiled sadly to her and shook her head. “I'll admit, that caught me off guard, but at least she doesn't have red hair, too. I think that would have been too much.”

“What do you mean, too?” Ginny asked sharply. “There's nothing wrong with red hair, is there?” At Hermione's pointed look, she caught herself and tried to backpedal. “Oh, sorry... I mean, I didn't really think about...”

“It's alright,” Harry said, trying to keep her from completely embarrassing herself... well, any further than she already had, anyway. “But I said too more because both Thistle and Lilac have red hair.”

“So there's just a bunch of little girls, then?” Hermione asked with a grin.

“Are they going to join your fanclub?” Ginny piped up with a giggle, which was joined - to Harry's surprise - by Hermione. “I'm sure I could get them a name to contact if they were interested.”

Harry groaned as he sank a bit deeper into the chair - and at the same time pulling Hermione a little closer to him - as he shook his head. “Please tell me you're joking...” He held up a hand quickly when it looked like Ginny was about to say something else - fighting through the sudden fit of the giggles to do so. “On second thought, don't tell me either way - I just don't want to think about it.”

This set both girls off on another set of giggles, and Harry found himself wishing without warning that Ron was still at the house so he could have an escape without going somewhere to be alone. “You never answered the question though, Tor,” Hermione pointed out. “Are they all little girls?”

“There's two boys too, as a matter of fact. Lily's younger brother - who looks like he's just old enough for primary schooling - and another boy who might be a little older than that, but not by much. Raven and Starling.”

“So the girls are named after flowers and the boys after birds?”

“Weird, huh?”

It would have been impossible for even the slowest of people to miss the significant look passed between Hermione and Ginny just then, and Harry had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wasn't the only one who was more worried than he had first claimed.

A knock of the door interrupted whatever was about to be said between the three of them, and without any real pause, the wood swung open as Remus and Tonks both slipped into the study and shut the door behind them again.

“Wotcher all,” Tonks said cheerily. “How's it...”

“Going?” Remus said in a louder than usual voice, cutting her off. She only laughed at him as she plopped herself down in one of the other chairs. “Everything went well this afternoon, did it Harry?”

“Of course,” Harry replied easily. “The kids... well, they're really something else. I didn't think anyone could be so full of excitement and life, without letting anything else get them down for long.”

Ginny's snort as she tried to fight down her sudden laughter caused everyone to turn towards her, before following her line of sight back to Tonks. For her part, the metamorph was no longer looking towards anyone - carefully not looking towards anyone, actually - but all that did was reveal her short messy black hair.

“Professor Lupin?”

“How many times do I have to ask you not to call me Professor, Hermione?” Remus replied with a sigh. “I thought we had agreed that...” He paused shortly and looked thoughtful for a second or two as Ginny's giggles managed to fight passed her self control. “Speaking of agreements, Dora dearest... I thought you said you wouldn't mirror my face ever again, remember?”

Despite the fact that the werewolf hadn't even turned towards Tonks to look to her didn't mean he wasn't right. Harry and Hermione both turned quickly away from him to look to her, and suddenly understood why Ginny's giggles had turned to full fledged laughter.

Tonks was changing her face relatively quickly and pretending to hold conversations with herself - taking on the faces of each of those in the room. Her current face had frozen in a near exact copy of Remus, though she looked horrified at that fact suddenly.

With a quick popping sound, her features softened again and the grey hair turned a dark brown and lengthed down her back, returning her face to that which she had taken to wearing around Grimmauld Place most often - the face that everyone assumed was her real one.

“I'm so sorry, Remus,” Tonks said, the usual laughing tone gone from her voice suddenly. “I just got so caught up in the moment that I didn't even stop to think...”

“You rarely do, dear,” Remus replied with a drawn out sigh. “But that's alright... I suppose it's part of why I care so much about you. Still, I can't say I'm not sorry that I didn't see you this time. It is extremely hard to be affectionate with someone who can remind you of yourself from time to time...”

A silence fell over the room at his words before Harry coughed lightly and nudged Hermione, obviously suggesting in a not-so-subtle manner that perhaps they should leave the two adults to their own devices, but Hermione shook her head. “I'm sorry Remus, I only called you that because I have a question for you, and...”

“It's alright, Hermione,” Remus said with a slight grin, stopping her before she could start to ramble on. “What do you what to ask me that I would know and you wouldn't?”

“How are muggleborn wizards and witches identified?” she asked. “I know that accidental magics are the most obvious of methods - when the Ministry detects large bursts of uncontrolled magical talent, they can figure out who the muggleborn is, but is that the only way?”

Remus sat forward in his chair and clasped his hands together, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. “Well, it is an effective way,” he said slowly. “Since all children tend to have an extremely wide range of emotions, making accidental magic all the more common.” He paused for a second and looked up to her. “That said, there is a simple spell that muggles wouldn't even notice being cast on them to determine if there is any magical talent within the target's blood. It is usually used on children in magical families who don't exhibit any traits, however - the parents want to make sure that the children aren't squibs.”

“Do you know the spell?”

“Of course,” Remus replied easily. “I mean, most adults in the wizarding world know it - it really is that important to be able to tell if a child in a wizarding family has magic, you know. But I've used it in dealings with muggles before, when they seemed especially astute or knowledgeable. Sort of as an extra precaution.”

Harry didn't need Hermione's prompting to understand just where she was going with her questions, and was, in fact, glad that she had asked first - it gave him the perfect opening he needed. “Any chance you could come... er... pick me up from the park tomorrow?”

“You suspect one of the children of being a muggleborn?”

“Why don't we just treat it like you said - as an extra precaution,” he suggested. “Besides, then you'd get to see just how I'm fitting in with the kids. You'll just have to do one thing for me if you do come.”

“Actually, I think you're looking for him to do two things, Harry,” Tonks pointed out with a grin, her joyful attitude taking hold once again.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Well, I did say I didn't want anyone following me for this, since it's training for me,” he said. “Still, I think I'm really going to enjoy myself even if it is training. Even though I've only met them all once, I still think it's going to be a great time.”

“So what is it you want me to do, aside from making sure none of them have any magical talent?”

“Just act like you aren't surprised by whatever is said, that's all,” Harry said with a grin. “I'm sure you had lots of practice with that in the past, huh Moony?”

Despite the painful memories such words were bound to have brought to his mind, Remus smiled to his godson anyway. “You have a point there, cub. Alright, I'll come to meet James Lupin at the park tomorrow... around 4? Mind if Tonks comes, too?”

“Actually, I think it'll be much more entertaining if she does, yes,” Harry said solemnly, though his lips were starting to twitch upwards as he fought off a smile. “So of course she's welcome.” He then paused for a second and looked back to the werewolf - having looked away for a moment beforehand. “Cub?”

Never having seen his godfather get embarrassed, Harry wasn't entirely sure what he was seeing when Remus squirmed and looked away from him, an odd tinge appearing along his collar. Without any warning, Tonks put a hand on his shoulder gently, almost reverently - a touch that screamed of the compassion held within the younger metamorph - and the older werewolf calmed down almost at once. “He's finally starting to accept his condition in better graces,” Tonks explained when it became obvious that he wasn't going to answer. “It is a part of him, even if it is something that he'd rather didn't exist, but everyone wants to change something about themselves, I'm sure.”

Harry stood from his comfortable seat as Hermione budged over to let him out, and held a hand out towards Tonks, clapping her on the shoulder and giving her a quick squeeze as he made his way to the door. “Thank you, Tonks,” he said softly. “He's needed someone like you for a very long time, I imagine.”

“Just like you needed Hermione,” Remus said firmly.

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “Not needed... need.” He then groaned and brought a hand up to his forehead. Before anyone could stand or rush towards him - remnants of the days when his scar would flare with pain - he looked back up and over to Remus again. “Speaking of need, do you need company on nights with the full moon? I know I'm no Padfoot or Prongs, but...”

Remus shook his head lightly, though the was a smile on his face. “Thank you for your offer, Harry, but I could never ask that of you.”

“Who's asking who here?” Harry pointed out. “I'm offering!”

“I know, but as I was saying, I don't need any more company than I have.”

“Are you saying that everyone in this room who is capable of it is an animagus?” Ginny asked, even as Hermione opened her mouth to voice the same question.

In response, Tonks released Remus's shoulder and took a step away from everyone. In a blink of an eye, she had shifted down to all fours and a rich grey fur was covering her entire body as her face elongated to that of a wolf.

“I'm impressed,” Harry admitted. “Looks like she got lucky in her form, given the circumstances.”

“Well, contrary to popular belief, it is possible to choose your animagus form,” Tonks said with a pop as she returned to her human form, sitting down on the ground looking up at everyone else. “It just makes the learning process a lot more difficult and the initial attempts excruciatingly painful.” She smiled as she stood and dusted off her robes. “Still, I'd like to think it was worth it.”

“Wait just a second here,” Remus said suddenly, looking away from Tonks and over to Hermione and Ginny. Hermione's training he had known about at the time - and had seen her kneazle form many times since - but Ginny was another story entirely. “And just when...”

Ginny held up her hand quickly and shook her head, cutting him off. “As my dear older brothers have often said, ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies.”

“Might I remind you that my best friends while I was in school were unregistered animagus?”

“Be that as it may, I'm still not telling,” Ginny said stubbornly, a small grin on her face. “Wanna guess what I can change into?”

“Alright, let's have a couple of hints first,” Tonks suggested. “What's your size?”

“She'd fit in the palm of my hand,” Harry said, leaning against the door frame, having decided against leaving just then.

“You aren't a rat, that much is clear,” Remus said, a dark look in his eyes as he looked away from everyone else. “You wouldn't be pleased if you were, after all... but something that small...”

“I'm betting she's got wings.”

“And I'll bet that she can sing, too.” Both Remus and Tonks looked away from each other and over to Ginny at the same time for a confirmation, and she nodded easily to both facts. “Alright, here's another question, then... are you a summer visitor, or could we find you year round and not worry about it?”

Ginny grinned to herself and shrugged. “Well, you'll be able to find me at Hogwarts during the school year, and around here for the summer.”

“I meant your bird form.”

“I know,” Ginny replied with a laugh. “Sorry, couldn't help myself. Let's see... technically speaking, I'm more of a summer visitor in Britain than anything else... though it isn't impossible to find me during the winter months, too, provided good shelter.”

Harry couldn't help but notice how smug Hermione looked given Ginny's knowledge of her form. He remembered clearly Ron telling him how she had made them study and research everything about their animagus form while they were learning the process, even if they didn't really need the information at the time.

“Well, that rules out the jay, doesn't it?” Remus muttered to himself as he looked thoughtful. “And the waxwing... and even the blackbird...”

“How about a touch of colour information, Gin?” Tonks suggested.

“Brown, a touch of grey, and white.”

“Not a warbler, are you?” Remus asked after a minute of silence.

“Come on, now, Remus, you know that the warbler's got black on the wings,” Tonks muttered.

“Ah, right,” he said, falling into thought once again.

“How about a plover?” Tonks suggested finally.

Ginny smiled as she pushed herself out of her chair. “Nope, sorry,” she said. “Both of you are wrong.”

“Though I can't help but say how impressive your knowledge of birds happens to be,” Hermione pointed out. “Being able to list all those off just from memory...”

“Of course, you could probably do much better, right Hermione?” Tonks asked with a wink. “I'm guessing that you already know what she is, don't you?”

Hermione just sat back and smiled.

“Gem actually helped me perfect my own form,” Harry said softly from behind the two adults, who whirled on him in an instant. “Her soothing song helped me relax and forget other, more troubling matters. The fact that my mind was on Hermione at the time had a large part to do with it, too, mind you.” He held out a hand in front of him, and a small bird suddenly landed on his palm with a soft chirp and a flutter of song.

“A nightingale!” Remus said, slapping his knee in disgust at not having come up with it himself. “Pretty rare bird, really - endangered by muggles, I believe.” He then raised an eyebrow and looked away from the bird in Harry's hand to Harry himself. “Gem?”

“Er... we sort of decided to take after certain other unregistered animagi, and gave each other nicknames to go with our animal forms,” Harry explained as Ginny flew out of his hand again and landed in her chair as a human. “And Ginny's name is Gem.”

“As Hermione's is Willow?” Remus asked with a grin. He knew the full story of her first appearance, and even still it never failed to bring a smile to his face. “Do I want to know just how many of you there are?”

“Probably not,” Harry said with a grin of his own. “But I'm surprised you haven't asked for my name yet.”

Remus shot a quick look to Tonks before shrugging. “Given that I've never even seen your animal form, I think asking for your nickname would be getting ahead of ourselves, wouldn't you agree?”

“Really?” Harry asked, thinking quickly. He knew that few people had actually seen his lyra form before - Hermione, her parents, Minerva McGonagall, Ginny, Ron, Luna, and Neville to his knowledge - though he had thought his godfather would have been on the list by then.

In an instant, his world shifted perspectives as he shed his human form, becoming a large feline in the process. He stood at about three and a half feet tall - which for a cat was massive! - and had grey fur covering his body from head to paws, black splotches appearing randomly across his hide.

“A leopard, then?” Remus asked, despite how obvious such a thing appeared. “I must admit that you could probably easily keep me from harming others if I were to become a werewolf and you were around... though I am curious about one thing.”

“And what would that be?” Harry asked in his human tongue - one of the natural abilities of a lyra being able to speak, understand, and read any language - human or beast.

The look of shock on both Remus's and Tonks's faces was priceless, and Harry sneezed several times in rapid succession when he tried to laugh at them. Cats just weren't meant to laugh. “You can talk?”

“That's not all,” Hermione said from behind him as she stood up from her chair and came over next to him. He leaned his head upwards as she started scratching him behind the ears - something he was well aware was a soothing sensation for almost all felines and many canines as well. “And I think this will answer your other question, too, Remus,” she added.

She didn't need to elaborate beyond that for Harry to understand just what she was asking. It took no concentration - in fact, it was almost like letting go more than anything else - and a large set of translucent glowing blue wings sprouted out of his back and unfurled. His wings passed through the chairs closest to him - not to mention passing through Hermione as well, though she couldn't feel anything at all - until his total wingspan was well over ten feet.

“No,” Harry admitted as he sneezed again. “I'm a lyra, and I go by the name of Tor.”

--------------------------

Hermione yawned as she curled up next to Harry and then pulled herself up to lie next to him on their mattress. *You aren't asleep yet, are you?*

His green eyes opened in the darkness at her purr and he turned his head to look into her deep brown eyes. *You could tell, could you?* His sigh immediately following his question told her that he didn't even need an answer to that. Really, when sleeping in the same bed as someone else, it would be nearly impossible not to be able to tell if the other was asleep or not. *Just thinking, sorry Mia.*

*About the kids, right? Do you really think that any of them are magical?*

*Maybe,* he admitted softly. *But that's another thought entirely.*

She leaned towards him and nuzzled in so her nose was pressed against the side of his throat before she purred softly without any words. Pulling back a little, she smiled up to him again. *Are you planning on lying awake all night, or would you rather talk about it?*

*There's something really special about them, Mia... something I didn't even know was possible.*

*From what you said, they sound like normal kids to me,* Hermione replied after a few seconds of silence. *Playing around in the park without any real worries, right?*

*And that's the strange part...* Harry purred. *They... well, they're so innocent, you know? They just push any worries aside and live happily and, like you said, just play around.*

*They're kids,* Hermione mewed. *What worries could they have?*

Harry sighed and pulled himself up so he was sitting against the headrest, leaning his bare skin against the cool leather covering. *More than you might imagine...*

It was impossible to miss the worry that was in his purr, and Hermione pulled herself into a sitting position as well, fixing the thin strap of her thin blue camisole as she waited for him to continue.

*You know how I said Lily was their sitter, right? Well... that's not quite the case. She's more of... er... their mother.*

*I thought you said they were primary school age, but she was just our age...* Hermione replied before trailing off suddenly. When Harry nodded at the look in her eye, she gasped and leaned closer to him. *An orphanage?*

*Thistle told me that her parents left two years ago, around the beginning of the summer. Starling told me his parents left around the same time... I can only assume that Chameli's parents vanished then, too.* He paused and shook his head. *There's just too many coincidences with them all, but Lily said they all lived near each other somewhere else before she brought them all here to live in her grandparents' house... well, the house they used to live in, anyway.*

“Vanished?” It was a sure sign to her confusion that the words slipped out in a quiet whisper instead of in kneazle. “Without any trace?”

Harry nodded and closed his eyes, leaning his head back. *It's been going through my mind all day,* he purred. *But that's not all...*

*There's more?*

*The youngest girl... Lilac... she hadn't made a sound in two years. No words, no tears... I don't even think anyone could hear her breathing, even though she obviously was. I even saw her mouthing words to Lily when they were sitting together on a bench, as though she was trying to speak but nothing could come out.*

*That sounds like a silencing charm,* Hermione pointed out.

“It was,” he whispered, his own voice sounding in the quiet room. “When I looked down to her while I was talking to Lily, I caught her eyes. Apparently my dagger decided it would be a good time to activate as well, since it showed me her last memory before the spell had been cast. Mione... their parents didn't vanish.”

She leaned into him quickly, both to give him support and to hide the fact that there were tears in her eyes at the idea of what he was saying. *Death Eaters?* she purred softly. *But why would they leave the children alive?*

Harry shook his head and sighed. *One of many questions that have been roaming my mind,* he replied, dipping his head down to kiss the top of hers. *It might have been muggle-baiting, or an initiation, or anything. But I can't tell if they used a memory charm on the kids, or if they just blocked out the memories as impossible.*

*It sounds like Lilac remembers something, doesn't it?*

*But not anything I can ask about.* She felt him tensing beneath her, and looked up to him quickly to see a scowl on his face. *I don't want to believe that anyone would be capable of... they're just children, Mione!* There were tears in his own eyes then, but he made no motion to hide or wipe them away. *And they still have so much innocence... But Voldemort doesn't care about any of that!*

“And that's why we'll beat him, Harry,” she whispered, pulling herself up a little bit to lean against his shoulder instead of his chest. “To protect that innocence, and keep him from making any more orphans.”

She watched as an odd shudder went through her boyfriend - who was so much more than just that, too - and knew he was surpressing either a yawn or the urge to let loose with a good cry. There was no doubt that he wasn't planning on crying, even if he did feel like it... she had only really seen him collapse in tears once, he was too strong otherwise to do it again any time soon.

*I'll keep my eyes open from here on out,* Harry promised as he started to scoot back down to their mattress so he was lying down again. Hermione waited until he was comfortable before joining him, draping herself half across his body as she nestled her head just below his shoulder... right where the beating of his heart could be heard the loudest. *Love you.*

*I know,* she purred back. *Feeling any better?*

*I don't know,* he replied honestly. *But I think I can at least get to sleep tonight.*

*We'll talk more later, don't worry,* she said as she closed her eyes. There was a few minutes of silence in the room before she cracked one eye open again. *Harry?*

*Yeah, Mione?*

*I love you too.*

--------------------------

Green eyes looked up from the thin book they were reading through at a scream of laughter, and she couldn't help but smile. Thistle, Rosie, and Chameli had all tackled Tor to the ground and were laughing at his feeble - and obviously fake - attempts at getting away from them.

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye as she watched her children playing with the young boy, and she looked up to the edge of her bench to see an older gentleman with greying hair standing there, dressing in a long brown trenchcoat despite the warm afternoon, also watching the group playing around. Next to the man was a younger woman with long black hair that reached all the way down her back. Unlike the man, she was wearing cooler clothes, including a t-shirt with the strangest logo she had ever seen - involving a music note, a stick, and flames. The text `Weird Sisters,' was printed beneath the logo, telling her that it must have been some sort of music group.

“Mr. Lupin?”

The older man looked down to her quickly as she called his name, and he smiled to her - though even the smile looked slightly tired. “I haven't gone by Mr. Lupin for quite some time, my dear. Please, call me Remus.” He then motioned to the woman next to him, who wrapped an arm around his waist as she stepped forward. “And this lovely woman here is Tonks... but I'm guessing you already knew that, didn't you?”

Lily couldn't help but laugh at that as the man looked back to the children playing, and specifically to Tor. “Tor mentioned that you might swing by before we left today,” she explained. “I'm Lillian Woodridge, by the way, but everyone calls me Lily.”

If she had thought the older man had looked tired before, it was nothing compared to the sudden wave of sadness that seemed to wash over him as he fumbled for space on the bench next to her. “Lily, you say?”

It would have been impossible to miss the reassuring hand that appeared on Remus's shoulder, and she looked up to the young woman to see her watching him carefully. She leaned down and whispered something in his ear, and he shook his head.

“Is something wrong?”

He looked up to her as though he had nearly forgotten she was even sitting next to him still. “No, no, don't worry about it,” he said quickly. “It's just... well, Tor's mother's name was Lily, too. Such a wonderful woman... I miss her still.”

“Well, he never mentioned that...” Lily said softly, looking over to her children again. Tor was on his feet once more, running away from the entire group, who were chasing after him. Three large white balls flew towards him suddenly before bouncing off his back, and she watched as Thistle, Starling, and Chameli scooped them up again to return to the chase. “But I guess he wouldn't have, would he? You were close to them, I assume, since you're his godfather, right?”

“They were some of my best friends,” Remus replied in a soft voice. “Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if they hadn't died.”

“I've asked myself that millions of times in just the past two years,” Lily admitted. “But I have to say, you've done a wonderful job raising Tor. He's quite polite and seems to love playing with the kids. I really appreciate him being here - sometimes it's hard, being the responsible one, you know?”

Remus found suddenly that he couldn't reply to her words and looked away from her, his breath catching in his throat. Tonks, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any such problems, though she was less jubilant than normal. “As kind as your words are, Lily, I'm afraid that they aren't much help. You see, Remus here didn't bring Tor up... in fact, he wasn't even his godfather at first, though he did know his parents quite well - you're right there, anyway. Tor was raised by his aunt and uncle who hated him before moving to live with... with Sirius,” she said softly. “But then he died last year...”

“I guess Tor's had it pretty rough, hasn't he?”

“You have no idea, Lily... no idea,” Remus said in a whisper. The three fell silent then as they just watched the kids play around. It wasn't long before Tor looked up again, looked in their direction, and even from the distance, Remus felt his eyes lock with that of his godson... even if they were eyes he wasn't necessarily used to. In fact, if not for the fact that `Tor' was older than the other children, he wasn't entirely sure he would have been able to pick him out, never having seen the disguise before.

“It's been pretty rough for us, too, I guess.”

“You mentioned something about two years ago before, didn't you?”

Lilly looked startled at that, and looked to each of the other adults briefly before sighing and leaning back. “He didn't tell you, did he?”

“He told us a bit about each of you,” Remus said hesitantly. “And said that you were watching the kids.”

“A watcher, huh?” Lily asked with a wry grin. “I guess that's one way to put it.” She sighed and slouched on the wooden bench, her shoulders hunching forward. “Two years ago my parents vanished - though Raven insists that they were killed. Big men dressed in black - that's what he said. I don't know, though.”

“I... I'm sorry,” Remus said quickly.

“I guess Tor likes to keep some things to himself sometimes, doesn't he?” Tonks said, looking to Remus carefully with a grin on her face. She then looked back to Lily, serious once again. “Sorry about your parents...”

“It... gets worse, unfortunately.”

She trailed off when Remus held up a hand, and then made a sweeping motion towards the park. “All of them?” he asked in a resigned tone. When she nodded and closed her eyes tightly, squeezing out the tears that were trying to leak free, he groaned into his hand. “Oh, Merlin...”

“Merlin?” Lily repeated, looking over to him again.

Remus winced and shook his head. “Sorry, I'm a bit strange sometimes - that's an expression that my family used when I was younger, that's all.”

“I've actually heard it before,” Lily admitted with a frown. “But I can't remember when for the life of me... Anyway, after it all happened, we moved down here and I dropped out of school to take care of them. My grandparents left me a bit of money, and I've been using that the best I can.”

Remus and Tonks looked to each other, and Remus stood up slowly from the bench. Lily couldn't help but hear the protest that his muscles gave at such a motion, which shocked her. She had figured Tor's godfather was a younger man in much better shape - they would have to be to even try to keep up with the young boy. And the way Tonks was hovering over Remus... well, that just didn't seem right, given the obvious age difference.

She watched as he held up a hand towards the children, and saw Tor nod from the other side of the park. It wasn't long before he was making his way over towards them, the rest of the children right behind him. All other concerns vanished from her mind as she saw Lilac laughing with her eldest sister before snatching Tor's hand away from her and pulling closer to him.

Tor looked down to her with a grin on his face, and then reached up and flicked the red strap for his bandana over his shoulder again. Even though they had been playing on the grass and in the sand, his red jacket was still extremely clean - though his white socks were almost brown from the dirt.

“Hey Remus, Tonks... time to go, is it?”

“Not quite, James, but soon,” Remus said with a smile to his young charge - the charge who looked nothing like what he had expected, truth be told. He had warned Tonks earlier that he would look different, but by her stiff reaction suddenly, he knew she was just itching to ask him about it. She prided herself on her own metamorphagus abilities, but having someone else around who could change their appearance would be really good for her, and he knew it. “We thought we'd come by a little earlier than expected to talk with Lily, that's all.”

To his great surprise, the oldest of the kids - Thistle, if Harry's explanation the previous day was accurate - suddenly turned to the boy clothed in red and wrapped her arms around him in an extremely tight hug. “Thanks, Tor!”

“Well, for what, Thistle?” he asked, obviously taken off guard by the hug as much as everyone else. “We just played around today - I enjoyed it, too, you know! You don't have to thank me for that...”

“I'm not!” she said in a huff, releasing him and looking up to him with wide eyes. “But I didn't get the chance ta do it yesterday after you helped my sister!”

“What did Tor do for your sister?” Remus asked, looking quickly to the littlest girl that they were obviously talking about before looking back to Tor, who was looking a bit sheepish at getting called out - or perhaps nervous at the thought, he wasn't sure which.

“Tory fell down after lookin at me!” Lilac said with a giggle, sitting down on Tor's foot and wrapping her arms around his leg. Apparently this was something she had done before, because Harry made a big deal about lifting his leg to look at whatever it was that had attached itself to him before `shaking' her off again. “And ten I could talk `gain!”

Thistle nodded gravely up to Remus, which brought a small grin to his face which he prompt hid carefully. Seeing a little girl trying to look really serious was an amusing sight, though. “Tor said he used his imagination ta help her,” she whispered as though it was some great secret.

“His imagination?” Remus repeated, his voice only a little louder than hers had been, looking carefully to Tor again. For his part, though, Tor stood firm and met his gaze. Unfortunately, whether because of the different eyes looking back to him than he had expected or because of another reason, he could gleam nothing from the boy's mind on the matter. “And just how did that work?”

“Don't know,” Thistle admitted with a shrug. “But I made a ball with my imagination! Wanna see it?” she asked as she held her hands out towards him.

“Per... perhaps another time, alright Thistle?”

“Told ya they wouldn't believe us,” one of the boys muttered under his breath, looking over to Thistle. The boy had dark skin and thick curled black hair - both firm indications that he was the one named Starling. “I don't believe us neither, so why should adults?”

“It's not that I don't believe you,” Remus said quickly. “But we really do have to be getting home before the pets can tear the place apart.”

“He told us bout his cat Tor,” one of the other girls said with a giggle. “Is it true that you can barely separate the two of them?”

Remus hid his own surprise at that statement - he had been wondering just why Harry had gone with the nickname of Tor at the park, given how it was his animal name - and smiled down to her. “Well...”

“Chameli,” Harry provided in a muted tone.

“Well, Chameli,” Remus said with a grin as he knelt before her - ignoring his body's protests as he did so. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the Tor standing behind you and the big cat Tor back home were sometimes the same person, they're that close.”

“We had to give up our pet,” the other boy said softly. Both Remus and Tonks knew that this boy was Raven, Lily's younger brother, both by the fact that he wasn't Starling - the only other boy - and by the fact that he hadn't said anything thus far, which was as Harry had explained earlier. The boy liked to watch people before speaking up. “A little kitten named Prudas.”

Tonks helped Remus back to his feet as he started to stand, and he flashed her a grateful smile as he mentally cursed the fact that that night was a full moon. “That's a wonderful name for a kitten. Maybe Tor here will bring Willow along sometime - she's a smaller cat that wouldn't be a problem outside. Tor's a bit too big for a park, though.”

“You never told us tat!” the girl with long black hair said, putting her hands on her hips to glare at the larger boy. “You just said tat he was a big cat! Is he a lion or sometin?”

“No, he's not a lion, Rosie,” Harry replied with a smile. “But he is a leopard.”

“No way!”

“Pretty wicked, huh?”

“Alright, alright,” Tonks said suddenly, stepping between Tor and the other children. “It's time to be getting home there, Tor,” she said with a wink to him that went unnoticed by the kids. “Dinner won't be too far off, you know.”

He nodded and took a step away from the kids as well. “See you all tomorrow, then,” he offered with a smile.

“You never said where you were from originally,” Remus said quickly as both Tonks and Harry started out of the park. “Just that you weren't from around here before.”

“Yeah, I never told Tor yesterday either - we just switched the topic then as fast as it happened this time, too. We're all from up north - I doubt you've ever heard of the village,” Lily replied with a shrug. “If you could even call it that. Small place called Little Hangleton.”

“Little...” Remus breathed to himself before a shout from both Harry and Tonks brought him back to reality. “I'm sure we'll see each other again later on in the summer, Lily. Take care of yourself and the kids, alright?”

“You too, Mr. Lupin,” Lily offered with a smile. “You'll be in my prayers tonight.” She didn't give him a chance to reply before turning back to the kids as she started to lead them out of the park in the opposite direction.

Once they were out of earshot, Remus turned and began making his way out of the park to join Tonks and Harry again. “Little Hangleton...” he whispered to himself. “I'm going to have to speak with Dumbledore tomorrow.”

“What took you so long, Moony?” Harry asked when he finally caught up to them. It was impossible not to notice the glare that Tonks sent the younger boy's way, and he stepped in quickly before she could say anything in his defense.

“Sorry, Tor,” Remus replied, stressing the nickname. “Just a little dazed at all the information that you neglected to tell us, that's all.”

“Er... yeah, sorry about that,” Harry said with a grin. “But I didn't have much warning either, if you recall. Why should the `responsible adult' get more than that?”

“Heard that from the other side of the park, did you?” Remus asked in surprise as Tonks's expression softened again into a smile.

Harry held out a hand towards Remus, and the older man looked down to see a ball of flesh coloured string rolled up. “They gave them a little tweaking,” Harry explained. “Once one's in your ear, it disappears from view. Now no one will ever know when they're being used.”

“I'm going to have to have a talk with those twins one of these days,” Remus said with a small shake of his head. “Marauder to young trickster.” He stumbled on the curb a few steps later, and Tonks caught his arm immediately, Harry taking up on the other side to help him.

“I told you we should have put off coming until the day after tomorrow,” Tonks muttered quietly to him. “The full moon's tonight, after all!”

“Of that I am all too aware, Dora,” Remus replied lightly, forcing a small grin onto his face. “But remember, you're the one who's trying to convince me to just live my life anyway.”

“Lily's going to think you're an entirely new man the next time she sees you.”

“She won't be all wrong, either,” Remus said. “I always feel like a new man a couple of days after - you should know that.” He then shook his head and looked down to the smaller boy. “Care to explain what we learned back there, by the way?”

“With Lilac?” Harry asked.

“No, with the orphanage,” Tonks replied sarcastically.

Apparently, Harry missed the sarcasm entirely - or more likely, chose to ignore it. “I want to help them out somehow, Remus,” Harry said softly. “You know about my inheritance better than I do... any chance we could use some to help them out?”

“You could probably support a dozen muggle families for their entire lives with what you have, Harry,” Remus said softly, deciding to follow the orphanage angle before moving back to Lilac. “But are you sure this is something you want to do?”

“I don't know how to go about it,” Harry replied. “But I'll let you know, okay?” He then sighed and looked away from both of them. “Did you do the spell on them all, Remus?”

“We both did, Harry,” Tonks replied. “Not a trace of magical energy in any of them, don't worry. Pure, plain muggles. So no distractions for your training, I guess.”

“This is my life,” Harry said with a shrug, looking back to her. “There's always distractions, and you know it. But at least I don't have to worry about that, I suppose.” When Remus opened his mouth to say something, Harry cut him off quickly. “Since you've cleared that up, I guess you probably want to know about Lilac, right?”

“That would be the obvious question, alright.”

“I don't suppose you'd just let it go if I said all I did was fall down in front of her, would you?”

“Trying to hide something, are you?”

“You know about my wandless magics, Remus,” Harry admitted. “And I'm sure Tonks has seen me doing simple stuff here and there - and it wouldn't surprise or upset me in the slightest if you told her more than that, Moony,” he added with a glance to the Auror in question. She smiled at his trust, and he went on quickly. “I'm not sure what did it, but I sensed something wrong with her when I looked into her eyes. After I fell down - yes, that's true, so go ahead and laugh it up - I cast a Finite Incantatum spell on her, just to see what would happen.”

Tonks frowned at that information, and then pulled them both into an alley close to their house. “Are you saying she had a Silencio spell cast on her two years ago?”

“If not even more than that,” Harry said softly. “I wish I knew where they were from originally so I could ask Dumbledore to look into it, but Lily never said yesterday, and I don't want to just go asking again and again - would seem a little off, wouldn't it?”

“I'll talk with Dumbledore in the morning,” Remus offered quietly. “He always comes by to check on things the day after a full moon,” he explained at Harry's questioning glance. “For now, why don't you change back into yourself - it's a bit disconcerting to be talking to you and not seeing at least your green eyes.”

“Wicked magics, huh?” Harry asked as he nodded. He took a step away from them and closed off his brown eyes. In an instant, the red cloth wrapped around his head vanished at the same time as his long red jacket turned a dark green again to become the cloak that could shroud the rest of him. He also grew more than a foot in height - almost two, truth be told - and his hair lost the purple shimmer and shrunk down to its messy state once again. Both Remus and Tonks could only assume that his clothes changed back to his robes as well, since they couldn't see them. Harry reached up and pulled the hood down to his cloak to reveal his grin. “Told you that you'd see it eventually, Remus.”

“That was bloody amazing, Harry!” Tonks said in a rush. “Talisien taught you that, did he? I never thought it could be taught - I was always told you had to be born with it, myself. Can you change...”

“It's not quite like that, Tonks,” Harry said quickly, cutting her off. “I can only change to a couple of other forms, and the change is complete - not like you being able to just change your nose if you felt like it.”

“Still, you've gotta teach me that magic!” she said in a hushed voice. “It could really come in handy some day - and not just for me, but for Remus too, you know?”

Harry shook his head and started out of the alleyway, both Remus and Tonks moving quickly to keep up to him. “I promised Talisien that I wouldn't teach anyone else... besides, unless you can do some minor wandless magics, it wouldn't do you any good for me to explain it anyway. Sorry, Tonks.” He looked over his shoulder and saw her crestfallen expression before sighing. “But I will show you the transformation in slow motion some time, okay?”

“Thanks, Harry!” she said, beaming at him. “Always said you were a great kid!” she added, reaching over and ruffling his messy hair. He actually stood a little taller than she did currently, so she had to reach up to do this.

He batted her hand aside and shook his head with a sigh. “I'm not a kid anymore, Tonks,” he said in a whisper. “Voldemort saw to that.” He then smiled as they started forward again. “And really, do you think you need to help make my hair messy? If you really want to do something weird to it, you'd try to make it lie flat!”

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Author's Note

Well, there's another chapter finished and done with, probably leaving everyone with a few questions. Feel free to ask - I intend on answering most of the questions asked of me in reviews at least partially. And yes, this chapter is meant to be a touch lighter on the mood than often times, despite the rather dark revelation that Remus makes... hope that worked.

I look forward to answering reviews, thanks!

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

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