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The Time of Destiny
By Abraxan

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Category: Post-OotP, Buried Gems
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Fluff, General
Warnings: Death, Sexual Situations, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 503
Summary: Sequel to "The Refiner's Fire." Harry Potter returns to Privet Drive for the last time, prior to his Seventh Year at Hogwarts. Much to the Dursley's surprise, Remus is going to stay with him due to a head injury Harry received on the train. The Dursleys are not happy with this situation, as you can well-imagine. This fic covers both the summer before Harry's seventh year, and his entire last year at school. Canon-based with some OC. Ships, for those who care: H/G, R/H, R/T
Hitcount: Story Total: 508217; Chapter Total: 15247
Awards: View Trophy Room






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DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author notes: Many thanks to Kelpie, my brilliant Brit-picker, and to Blakevich, Starfox Iris and Asad for beta reading! The Effrondrement Curse is mentioned in “The Refiner’s Fire” chapter 37. The detailed information on phoenixes comes from Newt Scamander’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” one of “Harry’s school books” that JKR wrote to benefit a charity. If the info is inaccurate, blame JKR and Scamander, not me! :-D Thanks also to Iris, Pam, Dave Mackey, Murdrax, Asad, Sherman, Dorothy, Anna, Hilary, and Andrew for giving me loads of fun suggestions for things to do to a character in this chapter. That was a fun thread on my Yahoo group!

You can join the Yahoo! Group for this fic at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPRefi nersFire



Chapter 23 - Merlin’s Solution



“Harry? Harry!” Ron called, looking out of the window, hoping to see the two phoenixes flying there. “Harry?” he said in confusion. “What the bloody hell are you up to now?” He stomach clenched in fear for his friend, Ron sat down and thought hard a moment, then pulled out the Famous Wizard Card and tapped it sharply with his finger. “Wake up, you.”

“Whassup?” the sleepy image of Harry in his Quidditch robes said from the face of the card.

“I need you to take a message to Professor Dumbledore and Remus Lupin for me,” Ron said, then told the small version of Harry what had happened. “I’ll wait for a reply.”

“Right!” the picture of Harry said, and flew out of the side of his frame.


* * * * *


In the Girls’ Dormitory, Ginny was fast asleep when a flash of light awakened her.

“What. . .?” she said muzzily as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What happened? Who. . . .” Her voice trailed off as she saw the red phoenix feather lying on top of her covers. “Merlin? Harry?” she whispered with a puzzled smile, looking up at the curtain rail, thinking he must be sitting up there in phoenix form. “Where are you?” she said, then parted her curtain and looked out into the room. No phoenixes or handsome young men were there. Her roommates were all sleeping soundly. However this feather had landed on her bed, it hadn’t disturbed anyone else.

What’s going on? she wondered. She considered calling Harry on her ring, but the sound of their voices might wake her roommates. Ginny got up, put on her dressing gown and slippers and started down the stairs to the Common Room to see if Harry was waiting for her there. If he wasn’t, she’d call him on her ring.

As the sleepiness cleared from her mind, she realized if Merlin had been the one who’d flashed over her bed, it would have been to take her somewhere to meet Harry. In that case, Merlin would have latched on to her with his talons and flashed her to wherever Harry wanted her to be. But he wouldn’t do that without sending a note saying why he was having Merlin take her somewhere. So it probably wasn’t Merlin. If that was true, it must have been Harry who had flashed momentarily over her bed and left her the scarlet feather. But why? Why would he do that? He’d never done anything like this before.

Ginny shook her head, thoroughly confused now. She looked at the feather in her hand, then stroked her cheek with its soft tip. It was real. She hadn’t dreamed it. She shook her head, trusting Harry to have some good explanation for waking her and getting her so confused in the middle of the night. She continued down the stairs, certain that Harry would be waiting for her in the Common Room with some logical, or at least funny, explanation for his actions.

As she reached the foot of the stairs, she peeped around the doorway into the room. “Harry?”

“He’s not here,” Ron said quietly. He’d gone to the Common Room to wait for a reply from Dumbledore. “Why did you think he’d be here?”

She held up the red feather and smiled. “A flash of light woke me up, and then I found this on my bed,” she said, her eyes sparkling in anticipation of some kind of fun. Harry was so inventive sometimes. She couldn’t imagine what he was up to this time. “Where is he? What’s he up to?” Ron turned a bit and firelight fell across his face, revealing the worry there. Ginny’s stomach knotted in sudden fear. “What’s wrong? Where is he?”

“He’s with Merlin somewhere. I don’t know where,” Ron said with a heavy sigh. “I’m waiting for a message from– hang on,” he said as his Famous Wizard card vibrated.

“Dumbledore wants you to go to his office and tell him everything in person,” the picture of Harry said. “Bring Ginny and Hermione. Remus will be there.”

“Did he say anything else?” Ron asked anxiously.

“Nope.”

“OK. Thanks,” Ron said with a sigh as he slid the card back into his pocket. He glanced up at his sister. “Would you mind going up and getting Hermione?”

“What’s going on, Ron?” she said anxiously. “Is he all right?”

“Just get Hermione and we’ll all go see Dumbledore and sort it out then, OK?” he said wearily.

“I’ll go get Hermione,” Ginny said, her eyes wide and frightened, “but you will tell me everything when I get back! You won’t wait until we’re with Dumbledore! Do you hear me?” He nodded resignedly, and she raced up the stairs to wake her best friend.


* * * * *


“He said he felt . . . brittle?” Dumbledore asked as Ron finished his tale.

“Yes,” Ron replied. “He looked shaky. He was pale, nervous, not like himself at all. Not really ill, but not right, either.”

“And you have no idea where they went?” Remus asked, his face furrowed in concern.

“No,” Ron replied.

Both girls sat wide-eyed and frightened, Ginny clutching the red feather tightly. Tears sparkled in her lashes. She’d cried on the way to the headmaster’s office once the initial shock had worn off, but she was determined to stay calm now. She forced herself to focus. She knew she needed to understand and remember everything that was said so she could do whatever was necessary to help find her missing boyfriend.

“Is there anything else we should know?” Dumbledore prompted.

“Ginny?” Ron said, nudging his sister, who had slipped from being focused to being numb again, as she had many times in the last half hour.

“Huh? Oh! I was asleep, and then a flash of light woke me, and I found this feather on my covers,” she said, holding the feather up but keeping it close to her. She didn’t want it taken away from her even for examination.

“Hmm,” Dumbledore said, turning to his silver instruments. He soon had several of them whirring or tinkling or pouring out streams of smoke, but the concern on his face didn’t clear. “Still nothing. That’s odd.”

“What is?” Hermione said.

“I can’t find him. I tried as soon as Mr. Weasley sent word that Harry was gone, and couldn’t find him then, either. Miss Weasley, have you tried your ring?”

“Yes, and he’s not answering it,” she said. She’d tried it while waiting for Hermione to get her dressing gown on, as well as several times on the way to Dumbledore’s office. Now she sat twisting the dainty promise ring around her finger anxiously and rubbing the letters spelling out Harry’s name over and over, as if that would bring him back.

“Try it again,” Dumbledore suggested.

“OK.” She pressed on the ruby and said, “Harry Potter,” then waited to see his face appear over her ring — but nothing happened. “That’s never happened before. He told me when he gave it to me that we could talk to each other no matter where we were!”

“Yes, I’m familiar with that spell. It will work anywhere in the world, no matter the distance,” Dumbledore said quietly.

Hermione understood instantly. “Then where is he?” she said with far more anxiety than she’d shown before.

“Huh?” Ron said, confused.

“If Ginny’s ring will work anywhere in the world,” Hermione explained patiently, “then if Harry’s not answering, he’s either unconscious or —” She shut her mouth with a snap, unwilling to allow what she’d been about to say to come out of her mouth.

“Or he’s not on this earth,” Dumbledore said, nodding approvingly as if that had been what she’d planned to say. “That’s right, Miss Granger.”

“Not on this earth?” Ginny squeaked, appalled. “Then where is he?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Dumbledore said. “My instruments should show him even if he’s unconscious or in other kinds of trouble. So wherever he is, it’s not on this earth.”

“What exactly do you mean, ‘not on this earth’?” Ron asked seriously.

“Merlin may have taken him someplace phoenixes go. I suspected something like this when you said he was going with Merlin, rather than Merlin going with him,” Dumbledore replied.

“Could he be someplace Unplottable?” Hermione said anxiously.

“This instrument,” Dumbledore said, indicating a tiny confection of silver filigree that spun and whistled merrily before him, “would show him even if he were someplace Unplottable — it would register his life force, even if it couldn’t tell me where he was.”

“Is he safe?” Ginny demanded. “Wherever Merlin took him, is it safe?”

“I believe so. Merlin cares deeply for Harry. He would never deliberately put him in harm’s way. I think we’re going to have to trust Merlin to take care of Harry for now.”

“Professor,” Hermione said, “can’t you ask Fawkes to take you there?”

“I don’t know where they’ve gone, nor does Fawkes. I did ask him that,” Dumbledore said sadly. “He seems to have no idea.” The old wizard looked at Harry’s friends with sympathy. “I know this is painful for all of you. It is for me, as well. I think I’ve been pushing him too hard. He’s so resilient, so strong, and so eager to learn, I just kept on going with each lesson. I should have let him have more breaks.” He shook his head dejectedly. “I’m very sorry to have done this to him. I will be more careful in the future.”

“It’s not your fault, Albus,” Remus said miserably, “it’s mine. He was upset by the photos O’Connell gave him, so I showed him some of my memories of his family in his Pensieve. I chose only happy memories, trying to help him, but the last two hit him wrong anyway. He was very despondent when he left me, and he wouldn’t let Tonks or me help him.”

“What were the last two memories?” Dumbledore asked curiously.

“His six month birthday party and his year birthday party. I didn’t realize the number of people at the six month party who were dead by the time of his first birthday. It hurt him terribly. He blames himself for so much of it, especially his parents’ deaths.”

“Those memories shouldn’t have caused him so much pain,” Dumbledore said, looking puzzled. “What else has been going on with him lately?”

“He was fine until he got those pictures,” Ginny said darkly.

“The ones Mr. O’Connell gave him?” Dumbledore asked.

“Yes.”

“Bring them to me, will you? I’d like to see them for myself,” Dumbledore said. “And give me a few minutes to check the Seeing Glass. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He disappeared into Gryffindor’s Chamber as Ron headed for the office door.

“Be right back,” Ron said as he left the office.

Hermione, Ginny and Remus sat in strained silence, waiting for Dumbledore and Ron to return. Dumbledore returned first.

“I can’t find him with the Seeing Glass either,” he said with a sigh. “What was in those pictures that bothered him, do you know?”

“We didn’t see anything awful in them, Professor,” Hermione said. “Do you think there’s some kind of Dark spell on them?”

“I would trust Albert O’Connell with my life — and have done so in the past,” Dumbledore assured her. “He’s a good man, and was a friend of Harry’s parents. He has the greatest respect for Harry and is eager to have him in Auror School. No, I don’t think he put any kind of spell on the photographs, and certainly no Dark spells. I suspect Harry’s emotions have simply been overwhelmed, between the photographs, Remus’s memories, and the stress he’s been under with all the work I’ve been having him do. And Voldemort is still collecting body parts for his potions, which troubles Harry greatly.” He thought quietly for a moment. “Actually, Harry’s been through so much, I’m surprised he hasn’t had a breakdown before this.”

“You think he’s had a nervous breakdown or something like that?” Hermione said, aghast.

“Something like that — but I don’t think he’s had it yet. I think he feels it coming on. That may be why he told Mr. Weasley he felt as if he might break, that he felt brittle. Because he was nearing the end of his rope.”

“What —” Ginny began, then had to clear her throat and start over. “What happens to someone who reaches the end of his rope?” she asked in a small, nervous voice.

“They either wind up in St. Mungo’s for a long rest or they have a complete mental breakdown, or they kill themselves,” Hermione said darkly.

“Hermione! How can you say that?” Ginny said, leaning away from her best friend and looking at her in horror.

“She’s not wrong, Ginny,” Remus said, his voice low and sad. “But Harry’s strong, he knows he has good friends, and he knows he’s loved,” he continued, looking seriously at the girl. “All of those things will help him through this.”

Ron returned, gasping from the long run, and handed the photos to Dumbledore. “Here.”

“Thank you, Mr. Weasley,” Dumbledore said, then opened the package and began going through the photos. After looking at several, he spread them out on his desk and passed his wand over them. “Nothing. No spells of any kind are on these photographs.” He sighed. “If there are no Dark spells on them, then it truly must be his own mind that’s causing his trouble.” He looked at the sad faces across from him. “Now, then. You must all be very brave during this time. I know you can manage, I’ve seen your courage before. We will keep this a secret among ourselves, all right? That way, when Harry returns, he won’t face a lot of uncomfortable questions. We will say he’s staying up here with me again, doing more intensive study.” Everyone nodded.

“Professor?” Ron said after a moment.

“Yes?”

“What if he’s gone long enough to miss Quidditch practice, or the D.A. meeting?”

“Use the story I just gave you, Mr. Weasley. I will do my best to stay up here the vast majority of the time, and I promise you, I will back up your story. As far as anyone knows, Harry is up here, staying in my guest quarters, working very hard on learning new spells. I’ll have some of his things moved here to add credence to the story. All right?” He waited until they all nodded again. “Now then. Miss Weasley, would you like a Cheering Charm?”

“Yes, please,” she said, her eyes huge and sad.

“Me, too,” Hermione added, wiping tears from her eyes.

“All right. Here you go,” he said kindly, doing the charm on them. “Better?”

“Yes, thanks,” both girls said, looking more bright-eyed but still not cheerful.

“I didn’t do a very strong one. It would be natural for you two to be sad when Harry’s away from you for so long,” Dumbledore explained. “If any of you hear from him in any manner at all, I want you to let me know right away, all right? And I’ll tell you if I hear from him, as well.” He sighed and got to his feet. “Now go back to your rooms and try to get some sleep. Hopefully, we’ll hear from Harry quickly and this will all be just a bad memory.”


* * * * *


A long, difficult week passed with absolutely no word or sign of Harry. On Saturday, the morning of the eighth day, Ron, Hermione and Ginny sat quietly doing their homework in the deserted Common Room. All the older students had gone to Hogsmeade, while the younger ones played outside. Ron, Hermione and Ginny didn’t have the heart to play, nor to visit Hogsmeade while worrying about where Harry might be.

Ginny heard a tapping on the window and went to open it. She’d sent Hedwig, Pigwidgeon and Barney out with letters for Harry, one owl each day for three days. Pig had come back the day after he’d gone out, the letter still tied to his leg. Barney had come back after two days without having delivered the letter, and promptly been sent out again. When he returned again the next day without delivering the letter, he was allowed to stay at Hogwarts and rest while Pig was sent out again. Barney and Pig alternated days of travel after that, but Hedwig had never returned at all. The tapping on the window now was Hedwig, looking exhausted, hungry and grumpy after so many fruitless days of looking for her master, the letter for Harry still tied to her leg.

“No luck, girl?” Ginny sighed as she let the owl in. “You must be exhausted. Thanks for trying so hard. Come have something to eat.” She untied the letter from Hedwig’s leg and gave her a handful of owl treats and a drink of water from her own cup. Hedwig hooted mournfully as she ate, looking accusingly at each person in turn, as if it was their fault she couldn’t find Harry.

Ginny sat gazing at the beautiful owl for a few minutes, then dropped her face in her hands, the very picture of misery. Hermione reached over and rubbed her back comfortingly and Ron patted her hand, something both of them had done frequently over the last week.

Hedwig sat watching them imperiously for a while, then suddenly lifted off and flew up the stairs to the Boys’ Dormitory, leaving Ginny, Ron and Hermione looking sadly after her.

“I guess she’s going to sit on his chair,” Ron commented. “She misses him.”

“As do we all,” Hermione said quietly. She looked sadly at Ginny, who still sat with her head bowed, her face in her hands, her shoulders sagging, her hair a dark red curtain hiding her face.

Suddenly, Ginny sat up and turned toward the boys’ stairs, her eyes wide and startled. Without a word, she got to her feet and ran lightly over to the stairs and listened hard. Ron and Hermione watched her, wondering what was going on. When she ran up the stairs, they rose and followed her.

At the door of the Seventh Year boys’ dormitory, they heard laughter and hooting coming from inside the room. Ginny pushed the door open carefully, not certain if Neville and Dean had gone to Hogsmeade or might still be in their room. Standing in front of his open trunk with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in his hands and laughing at the joyfully hooting Hedwig zooming around him, was Harry, still wearing the pyjamas he’d left in. Merlin was sitting on his perch, preening himself complacently.

“Harry!” Ginny cried, racing across the room and throwing herself into his arms. “Where’ve you been? Are you all right?”

Harry lifted her off her feet and whirled her around before stopping and kissing her soundly. “It’s good to be back! I was worried! I thought I might be too late!”

“Too late for what?” she asked when she could speak again. Between her excitement at his return and the kiss he’d given her, she was quite breathless.

“I lost all track of time, and suddenly, I was afraid it was the end of your seventh year. I’d promised to come back for you, and I needed to be here when you finished Hogwarts,” he said, smiling at her tenderly. “So I came back as fast as I could. I was glad to find my things here, so I knew I wasn’t too late.”

“You. . .you thought a whole year had passed?” Ginny gasped, her eyes wide in shock.

“Where the bloody hell were you?” Ron asked impatiently. “Welcome back, by the way!”

“None of Dumbledore’s instruments could find you, the Seeing Glass couldn’t find you, our Famous Wizard Cards couldn’t find you, Ginny’s ring couldn’t find you — where were you?” Hermione said anxiously. “You look loads better, though. What happened to you?”

“Dumbledore’s instruments couldn’t find me?” Harry said, looking surprised. “Huh. I suppose I need to talk to him.”

“Yeah, I just sent a message to him and Remus to let them know you’re back,” Ron said, waving his Famous Wizard Card, whose picture was presently empty. The small image of Harry flew back into the frame just then.

“He wants all of you in his office right now!” the little Harry on the card said urgently.

“Thanks, mate,” Ron said, pocketing his card. “Ready to go?” he said, looking at Harry expectantly.

“Yeah, in a minute” Harry replied. He let go of Ginny and hugged Hermione, then punched Ron gently in the shoulder. “Sorry to worry you lot,” he said gruffly. They all looked strained and tired. “How long have I been gone?”

“Today’s the eighth day,” Hermione said, “or the ninth, depending on how you count, I suppose. You left on a Friday, and now it’s Saturday, a week later.”

“Only eight or nine days?” he mused. “I had no idea.”

“Only eight or nine days?” Ginny shrieked in rage, her voice cracking with emotion. “It was FOREVER!” Hermione nodded her agreement. Ron just sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Ginny’s famous Weasley temper had overwhelmed the relief she’d felt at his return. She stood glaring at Harry for a moment, then smacked him hard on the shoulder. “How could you just take off like that without a word? Do you have any idea what you put us through?”

“Ow! I suppose I deserved that,” he said mildly as he rubbed his shoulder where she’d hit him. “I’m sorry, baby,” he told Ginny sincerely. “I really am. It just couldn’t be helped.”

“Don’t you ever leave like that again without telling me — not just Ron, me directly! — where you’re going, do you hear me?” Ginny said, her face flushed with anger. After a moment, she smacked his other shoulder for good measure.

“But I didn’t tell Ron either,” he protested, taking a literal step back in the face of her fury. He sighed and shook his head in frustration, then tried to soothe her. “Ginny, I’m sorry. I really am. I just couldn’t talk to anyone then. I don’t know how to make you understand. I’m so sorry.” He reached out a gentle hand and tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. “I love you. I never meant to hurt you or upset you.” He looked up at Ron and Hermione. “You, either. I’m sorry. I simply didn’t know what else to do. And I didn’t know exactly where Merlin was taking me, quite honestly.” He stood with his head cocked to one side, studying his girlfriend’s face, where rage, worry and relief were warring with each other. “Can you forgive me? I did come back, after all.”

Ginny glared at him for another long moment, still livid that he’d frightened her so. His penitent expression got through to her. She felt as if her heart would burst with her love for him, and her relief that he was safe and back at school where he belonged. “I . . . I was s-s-so s-scared!” she sobbed as tears began to stream down her face.

Harry drew her into a warm embrace, kissing the top of her head and letting her get her emotions under control in her own time. He glanced up at his two best friends, glad to see they weren’t nearly as angry as his girlfriend was. He gave them a rueful smile, then bent to kiss Ginny’s hair, her temple, her cheek, rubbing her back all the while. When she finally relaxed, he pushed her back enough to look her in the face. “Are you all right now?”

“I’m fine,” she said shakily.

Harry smiled. “That’s usually my line. Are we all right now?”

Ginny studied his face. He’d looked so haunted, so miserable, and now there was a huge difference. His eyes were . . . serene. That was the only word she could think of to describe them. They weren’t playful or teasing or simply happy — there was a tranquillity there that she’d never seen in him before. She thought about this for a long moment. Whatever had happened to him, wherever he’d gone, he was the better for it. She sighed, accepting the fact that it was time to stop scolding him and move on. “We’ll be fine after I hear everything that happened.”

“I will tell you everything, I promise.”

“Every single thing,” she demanded, not entirely willing to let him think he was forgiven yet.

“Absolutely. Can it wait until we get to Dumbledore’s office so I don’t have to tell everyone twice? It’s a long story.”

“OK,” she agreed after a moment’s thought.

“Great,” he said, smiling as he bent to kiss her. “Now let me change my clothes, OK?”

Ron herded the girls toward the door, but Ginny stopped in the doorway, looking back at Harry uneasily. “You will stay here now, right?”

“Yes, I promise. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“OK,” she said in a small voice, then followed Hermione down the stairs.

Ron stood with his arms crossed, keeping a wary eye on Harry as he changed into the jeans and t-shirt he’d been holding. “Are you all right now?” Ron asked cautiously.

Harry glanced up at his friend and grinned. “Except for that scolding from Ginny, I’ve never been better!” he replied cheerfully. “Let’s go.” Harry hesitated in the doorway. “Merlin?” he called. “He’ll want to talk to you, too.” The phoenix flew to Harry’s shoulder and perched there, riding serenely as the two boys bounded down the spiral staircase.

The girls were waiting in the Common Room, Ginny staring up the stairs as if she could make Harry appear by sheer force of will. She sagged with relief when he descended the stairs, put his arm around her and headed for the portrait hole.

“Why won’t you tell us where you were?” Hermione asked as they walked to the Headmaster’s office.

“Because there are some things I don’t want to talk about in the corridor,” Harry said quietly, “and this is one of them. I’ll explain everything when we’re all together, all right?”

“OK,” she said, subsiding into a tense silence as she walked between him and Ron down the hall, with Ginny on Harry’s other side.

When the four friends neared the office, they saw Remus giving the password and the gargoyle jumping aside to reveal the moving spiral staircase.

“Harry!” Remus cried when he saw him. He moved toward his godson with open arms. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” Harry said, giving his godfather a hug as Merlin hopped over to Ron’s broad shoulder. “Sorry I worried you.”

Remus pulled back from the embrace and studied his godson’s face seriously. “You look so much better. What happened?”

“I thought it might be best if I tell it to everyone at once,” Harry replied. “It’s a long story.”

“Right then. Let’s go,” Remus said, letting the girls get on the staircase first, Ron, Harry and Remus following, Merlin still on Ron’s shoulder.

When they entered the headmaster’s office, Harry was shocked at the change in Dumbledore. He knew the man was old, but he’d aged visibly in the time Harry had been gone. “Professor? Are you all right?” he said in concern as he rushed across the room.

“I am now,” Dumbledore said with a brilliant smile as he clasped the young man’s broad shoulders. “I cannot tell you how delighted I am to see you again. And you look wonderful! Wherever you went, the rest did you good.”

“It wasn’t just rest,” Harry said with a sly grin.

“Sit down and tell us everything,” Dumbledore invited, gesturing toward six comfy chairs arranged in a circle. A small table in the centre held a tea tray filled with scones and biscuits. “Tea?”

”Yeah, thanks! I’m starved,” Harry said, grabbing a scone and taking a huge bite out of it. As he ate, he looked around at his friends. “I really am sorry I scared you lot. I didn’t mean to, but I just couldn’t help it.”

“Tell us what happened, Harry. Why did you leave? Where did you go?” Dumbledore prompted.

“Well. . .I was. . .erm. . .I felt. . .um,” he began haltingly. He took a deep breath and blew it out hard as he tried to organize his thoughts. “I’ve been in the land of the phoenixes.”

“What?” Hermione said, shocked. “There’s no such place! They nest on mountaintops in Egypt, India and China. It says so in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander.”

“Yes, there is such a place,” he insisted. “Yes, many phoenixes nest on mountaintops in those countries, but there’s this other place, as well. I don’t know why there’s a different place, I can’t explain it. I only know that I was there. You lot said you couldn’t track me with instruments, the Seeing Glass, Ginny’s ring, or the Famous Wizard cards. If you couldn’t find me, then how could I be on a mountain peak in a well-known country? There’s another place, a beautiful place,” he said, his face glowing with an inner light, “where phoenixes live. Merlin took me there.”

“Why?” Ginny asked quietly. “Why did he take you away? Why did you go with him?”

Harry looked at her seriously. “I don’t know if any of you understood what I was going through. Since I had that vision with the green-eyed children–” his voice broke for a moment, “I had nightmares about that over and over. I wasn’t sleeping. I haven’t felt much like eating.”

“We noticed, mate,” Ron said supportively. They’d all commented on how much weight Harry had lost, but had given up on trying to talk him into eating more. They’d hoped he’d work through his problem soon and regain his weight on his own.

Harry smiled at his best mate briefly, then turned to his mentor. “The time here with you, Professor, was a tremendous help, especially the time in the Chamber. But talking with the portrait of my dad — it was wonderful, but it was so sad, as well. I wanted to know him as my father, not as a friend, but that’s all I had and I tried to make the best of it. I do like talking with him, but there’s something missing when we talk that. . .that just hurts. It wasn’t his fault, it was me. I was expecting too much or something. And then O’Connell gave me those pictures. I wanted to enjoy them!” He shook his head, his frustration obvious. “I was so excited to have more pictures of my parents, but I simply couldn’t enjoy them. They broke my heart. So many people died. From one picture to the next, more people were missing because they’d died. And then Remus showed me his memories of my parents, trying to cheer me up, and that was so wonderful, Remus, honestly.” He looked at his godfather with his heart in his eyes. “But there again, so many people died between memories of my parents as adults. And all because I was born.”

His friends, Remus and Dumbledore all chorused variations on, “No! It wasn’t your fault! That’s not true!”

Harry raised his hands to quieten them. “I know that now,” he said calmly. “But at the time, it was the last straw. I couldn’t bear it, I couldn’t stand the thought that so many people had died, that I was leading more people to their deaths by training the D.A., that all those people, especially the children, suffered the loss of their eyes. Most of those died, as well, because I scratched out Voldemort’s eyes, and then he planned to go after more eyes and some people’s spleens. Where’s he going to stop? And I caused that! Do you see?” he said, looking at each of them hopefully. “Can you see what I was feeling? The absolute worst of it was that I was at the centre of everything that happened! Not Voldemort, ME! Or at least, that’s how I felt.” He paused, his face pale and tense as he looked off in the distance, seeing appalling images they couldn’t imagine.

“When I told Ron I felt brittle, that I thought I was going to break, I was telling the truth. Before he came to talk to me, Merlin had been trying to talk sense to me, but I wasn’t able to hear it. I just couldn’t, I was in too much pain. I felt that I had a choice — keep on as I was until I broke and ended up in St. Mungo’s mental ward for the rest of my life, or throw myself out of the window and end the pain forever.” He looked sadly at the girls when he heard them gasp at his statement. “It really was that bad. I couldn’t see any other way to get away from the horrors in my head. Merlin offered me the alternative of going to the land of the phoenixes, but I couldn’t see how that would help. Going out of the window was looking pretty good until Ron got up and interrupted my thoughts.”

“Why didn’t you come to me for help, lad?” Remus said, his voice breaking with emotion.

“You’re surrounded by people who love you, Harry,” Dumbledore said sadly. “When I asked you what was troubling you, you said it was nothing, every time, but I knew better. Why wouldn’t you let me help?”

“Or us?” Ron said, his voice breaking with anguish. Harry had given him no inkling that things were so bad for him. Ron shivered to think how he’d nearly stayed in bed that night. He’d nearly left Harry alone to sort out his problems himself, as he usually wanted to do. Ron had no idea what had forced him to get out of bed and see what was wrong with his friend. If he hadn’t got up then, would Harry really have thrown himself out of the window? Would Merlin have allowed Harry to die that way? He shivered again, horrified at the thought.

Ginny sat silently as Harry spoke, her lashes sparkling with tears, unable to do anything more than listen to the sound of his voice. She barely understood what he was saying, it was so horrifying. Her daze was broken when Harry reached over to take her trembling hand. She clasped his tightly, finally holding his hand with both of hers, as if she’d never let him go again.

By the time Harry had finished his explanation, Hermione had both hands over her mouth in shock, completely speechless for once in her life. Her brain was frozen in horror at the thought of what her best friend had suffered without ever telling anyone and what he’d nearly done to himself.

Harry looked around at his friends, hoping he could make them understand somehow. He sighed, then tried desperately to explain. “It’s my burden, not yours. I couldn’t see any way out of it. I’m not afraid of Voldemort, and I did want to fight him — I still do — but I couldn’t live with the pictures in my mind anymore, do you see?”

“If you’d told me your burdens were becoming unbearable, I could have Memory Charmed you to rid you of those thoughts,” Dumbledore said with regret. “You didn’t have to suffer so, dear boy.”

“I thought of that, actually. I almost did one on myself. But I don’t want to remove the memories of my parents, and to remove the painful things, I’d have to delete those memories as well,” Harry replied. His whole body slumped as he said this, his expression forlorn and sad for a long moment. Merlin hopped from his perch on the back of Harry’s chair into his lap, sang one liquid drop of music and the young wizard’s face cleared, his posture straightened and he smiled beautifully. “But in the land of the phoenixes, I was healed! I don’t know what they did, but the dark places inside me are gone, or at least diminished. If I do get sad, Merlin can cheer me up with one note now.”

His eyes took on a distant look, and the glow that had been on his face when his friends first found him returned. “It’s such a beautiful place, and the air is filled with phoenix song from hundreds of phoenixes! There’s no day or night there — the sky always has that pink and gold, ‘nearly dawn’ look. It’s just amazing. Humans aren’t allowed in the land of the phoenixes, or I’d take you there,” he said, glancing around at his friends. “Merlin and I are the only humans who have ever been there. His phoenix took him there when he decided to become a phoenix rather than dying. He was old and in bad health at the time and needed to be filled with phoenix song — just like me.” He looked at Dumbledore and smiled. “You should go, professor. Merlin or Fawkes could take you. It would be so good for you! Those aches and pains you talk about would be gone. They healed everything that was wrong with me. Besides the depression, the stiffness that remained in my left arm from Voldemort’s whip is completely gone.”

“That’s wonderful, Harry,” Dumbledore said with a warm smile. “It does sound amazing.”

“It’s fantastic! The only living beings there are phoenixes and huge butterflies as big as both my hands together.” He put his long, slender hands side by side to illustrate. “The butterflies are the most incredible colours, but it’s hard for me to describe, because phoenixes see colours differently than we do.” He smiled at the memory, his face lit with an inner joy. “Merlin settled me in a nest in a huge tree. He sat with me and sang to me, and told me stories. Some of the other phoenixes told me stories as well, about so many amazing things. Hermione,” he said, looking at her with a warm smile, “you’d love to hear their stories. Some of them have been with some of the most powerful wizards in history. One of them was with one of the pharaohs of Egypt. Another was with Alexander the Great — I didn’t know he was a wizard, did you?” he said, glancing at his headmaster, who shook his head. “One of them was with Jules Verne — he helped Verne with his stories, many of which really happened instead of being fiction,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t know he was a wizard, either.” He chuckled. “One was Merlin’s phoenix, and did he have stories to tell about Merlin!” He looked at his phoenix, his eyes dancing with laughter. Merlin ruffled his feathers irritably and turned his back on Harry for a moment, then tilted his head and gave the young man an imperious look before turning around and settling down again. “He was a bit annoyed with that phoenix for telling tales out of school,” Harry said, stroking the beautiful bird comfortingly. “Don’t worry, I won’t share the worst ones, Merlin.” The bird crooned one exquisite note and looked serene again.

“The songs and stories filled me up,” Harry said softly, getting back on track. “I had no concept of time at all. They sang constantly, told stories constantly, and I felt all the bad things inside me just. . .just float away. I don’t know how else to describe it. Near the end of my time there, I began to sing myself.”

“What do you mean?” Dumbledore said, leaning in attentively.

“Phoenix song. I’d never sung it before. Have you?”

“No, never,” Dumbledore replied. “I can communicate as a phoenix, but singing is one thing I’ve never managed.”

“Merlin said it took him a long time to learn to sing. When I learned how to sing, I felt whole and full and complete and . . . and happy in a way I never have before,” Harry said, his face radiant, his eyes seeing things the rest of them couldn’t. “Then I suddenly realized some time had passed and that I had to get back here quickly.”

“He said he thought it was the end of my seventh year,” Ginny murmured. “That’s why he came back.”

“Why were you worried about the end of Ginny’s seventh year?” Remus asked, totally confused.

Harry looked at Ginny, his heart in his eyes. “When I left, I asked Ron to tell her I’d be back for her.” He raised his eyes to his godfather’s. “I had to come back for her. I’d promised I would. And if this was the end of her seventh year, as I thought it must be because it felt as if so much time had passed, then I needed to be here to marry her.”

“Marry her?” Remus said in surprise, smiling at the young man. “When did you two get engaged?”

“We aren’t. I haven’t asked her parents permission, and I won’t ask her until I’ve done that. The time isn’t right yet.” He smiled warmly at Ginny. “I’ll know when it is. But whether they agree or not, at the end of her seventh year, we’ll be together.” His eyes locked with Ginny’s. “I promised I’d be back for you.”

“And so you are,” she said softly, lacing her fingers through his.

“Why would you think a year passed?” Hermione said, trying to understand. “You said there was no day or night, and you didn’t feel time passing.”

He looked at her and said, “That’s right. But when I was completely filled up with phoenix song, I felt as if a long time had passed, and that worried me, so I came back as quickly as I could.”

“Why did you leave this red feather for me?” Ginny asked quietly, pulling out the now well-worn feather she’d kept with her constantly since he’d left. She’d so often caressed its silky softness, wishing it was Harry’s hair sliding through her fingers instead, it looked quite shabby now.

“It was my promise. That feather came from my chest, over my heart,” he said seriously. “I didn’t have time to explain. I’m sorry.” She smiled at him, a tear caught in her lashes.

“Don’t cry,” Harry said, touching the tear gently and smoothing his fingers down her soft cheek. “I’m fine now.”

“I’m glad,” she said simply.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, breaking the moment. “Harry, may I examine you? I’d like to see if I can tell what the phoenixes did.”

“Of course,” Harry agreed instantly. “What do you want me to do?”

“Stand up.” Harry stood and Dumbledore waved his wand, muttering an incantation. A golden grid emerged from the young man’s body, wrapping completely around him. The lines of the grid glittered brightly.

“What’s that?” Hermione said, as always, intrigued by new spells.

“This grid shows spells that have been cast on Harry,” Dumbledore replied. “But this is odd.”

“What’s odd?” Harry said from inside the grid.

“There should be hundreds of spells showing by now, after nearly seven full years of school, but I don’t see any. Hmmm.”

“Does everyone have a golden grid like that?” Hermione said as she stood up to get a closer look at Harry’s grid.

Dumbledore was concentrating on Harry, so Remus answered. “Harry’s is a particularly pure gold,” he commented as he watched the headmaster work. “Everyone has their own colour to some extent. It’s what draws phoenixes to people like Harry and Professor Dumbledore. If you have a pure, selfless heart, phoenixes are drawn to you. Harry’s heart makes his grid this golden colour. When he and Dumbledore took the Black Widow Curse off of you, Hermione, a golden web formed around you which became like a bell jar. The gold was coming from Harry’s and Dumbledore’s magic, from their hearts. I imagine if we did this same spell to Professor Dumbledore, his colour would also be golden.”

“That’s right,” Dumbledore said, glancing up at Remus.

“What’s your colour, Remus?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Mine is milky white, like the full moon, I suspect because of my lycanthropy,” he replied.

“Mr. Weasley, stand up, please,” Dumbledore said, turning to Ron.

“Why?” he said as he obediently got to his feet.

“You and Harry have been partnered in class for years. The spells on your grid should show on his. I simply want to make a comparison, if you don’t mind,” Dumbledore explained.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Ron agreed.

Ron’s grid was a rich cobalt blue. It pulsed with a tremendous number of varicoloured spots, blotches and spatters.

“What’s all that? And why is his blue?” Hermione asked, leaning closer to Ron’s grid to study it.

“Mr. Weasley’s strongest attribute is his loyalty,” Dumbledore said, “followed closely by courage and intelligence. The combination of those attributes makes his grid this lovely deep blue. The coloured spots are the spells I’m looking for. You can see what a large number of spells Mr. Weasley has had cast on him. Harry has had a great many more, between my private training sessions with him and his battles with Voldemort. Yet nothing is showing on his grid,” he said curiously, removing Ron’s grid and turning back to Harry’s. “Ah, there’s something,” he muttered, then poked his wand into the grid in front of Harry’s face, prodding something that was a mere shadow in the background.

“What is it?” Harry said from inside the grid, his face and body completely hidden behind the golden lines.

“This is a Killing Curse, and it’s rather new — it must be the one you took for Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore said. “The green colour shows very faintly.” He moved to another layer of the grid. “Ah. . .here’s the one that gave you the original scar. It’s embedded much deeper in the grid than the other one, which shows this spell hit you many years before the other one did. It’s odd that those are the only two spells showing,” he said, his face puzzled.

“I told you the phoenixes filled me with song. Maybe they erased all of those spells or something,” Harry offered.

“It’s possible, yes,” Dumbledore said thoughtfully. He finally straightened up from his examination of Harry’s grid and waved his wand, removing the charm. “You may very well be right. There’s no way to know, I suppose. I doubt they’ve done that for any other wizard, have they?”

“Merlin told me they did it for him, but he can never be human again, so this grid thing wouldn’t show up, would it?” Harry said curiously. “Or do phoenixes have them too?”

“Phoenixes don’t, but Merlin might,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “Merlin, would you allow me to check yours?” The phoenix blinked, then crooned one soft note. “Thank you.” Dumbledore did the charm again, and a golden grid like Harry’s appeared, with no blotches of colour on it anywhere. “It seems Merlin’s history of spells was completely removed. Merlin, can you explain this to me?” Dumbledore said, removing the grid from the phoenix. He performed the spell to make it possible for him to understand Merlin’s voice, then listened as the phoenix crooned for several minutes. “Ah, I see,” Dumbledore said finally. “Thank you.”

“What did he say?” Hermione asked eagerly.

“He said he was never the victim of a Killing Curse — if he had been, he would have died, he’s sure of it. The phoenix song cleansed him of all the spells he’d experienced, and no others have been put on his grid because he’s been a phoenix ever since. He says no other wizard has been through this phoenix song treatment — I suppose you can call it that — so he doesn’t know what will happen when Harry experiences other spells. He thinks the Killing Curse spells show on Harry’s grid because they affected him so deeply. Fascinating!” He sat back in his chair, a huge smile on his face. “I just love learning new things,” he said in delight. “Thank you, Merlin, and Harry, as well. What fun!”

“So why not do a spell on Harry and see if it shows up on his grid?” Ron suggested.

“Yes, why not?” Dumbledore agreed. “Mr. Potter, if you please, stand up again.” Dumbledore and Harry both got to their feet. “What spell shall we use?” the professor mused.

“Something that isn’t painful!” Harry said with a cheeky grin.

“As you wish. Now, don’t block it, Harry. Let’s see what happens,” Dumbledore said, then cast a Wiggling Ears Hex on the young wizard.

Harry clapped his hands over his ears, trying to still them, while joining the others in laughing at his plight. “Thanks a lot, professor!”

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?” Dumbledore teased him. “All you said was to do something that wasn’t painful!” He waved his wand, removing the hex, the cast the grid spell again. “Ah, look, there it is!” he said in satisfaction, pointing to a lavender spot on the golden grid. “So your body — and your grid — will respond normally to spells. Apparently, the phoenix song performed a sort of Memory Charm on you, along with a massive Cheering Charm.”

“It’s a lot more than just a Memory Charm and a Cheering Charm,” Harry said. “I feel . . . peaceful now, really for the first time in my life. Serene. I know I have awful things in my past, as well as in my future, but I also know I can deal with them. The guilt’s been taken away for all those things I blamed myself for. I can’t tell you how. . .how liberating that is! It’s incredible.”

“I believe you,” Dumbledore said, smiling at his protégé. “What an amazing experience you’ve had, Harry! I’m delighted to hear about it.”

“I am sorry I worried all of you,” Harry said sincerely. “But I’m not sorry I went.”

“I don’t blame you, lad,” Remus said, smiling at the relaxed, cheerful young man. What a change! Harry’s eyes no longer looked haunted, as they had ever since Remus had known him.

A small silver instrument whistled sweetly. “Someone’s coming,” Dumbledore said, getting up to check the instrument. “It’s Severus.”

“We can go down to the Chamber if you don’t want us here,” Harry offered. “I’d honestly like to keep where I’ve been a secret from most people, if possible.”

“I quite understand. Yes, go to the Chamber. Keep an eye on the mirrors so you’ll know when to come back,” Dumbledore said with a smile.

Harry lifted Gryffindor’s sword out of its case and used it to open the hidden door in the wall. Ron, Hermione and Ginny stepped through and Harry followed them, with Merlin on his shoulder, after replacing the sword in its case. “See you in a bit,” he said, waving cheerfully at his godfather and headmaster as the door swung shut.

After the four of them rode the slide to the bottom, Harry quickly hit the griffin button that converted the slide into a lift, then said, “Let’s go to the Seeing Glass and find out what Snape wants.” Merlin flew off of Harry’s shoulder and they all grabbed his tail, flashing instantly to the room with the Seeing Glass. Harry activated it and was soon watching Dumbledore and Remus comfortably drinking tea while waiting for Snape to reach the top of the spiral staircase.

“Too bad we can’t hear them,” Ron said, watching Harry study the glass.

“Yeah, there’s no audio. I wish. . .wait. Ginny, do you have any Extendable Ears with you?” Harry said, not taking his eyes off the glass.

“Yes.” She pulled one out of her pocket and put it in his hand. “Here you go.”

“Merlin, I want you to take this end to the office door and try to get it under the edge if you can. I’ll need you to hold it in place so it doesn’t spring back,” Harry said, handing one end to the phoenix, who held it delicately in his beak. “Don’t go yet, I need to put a spell on it.”

“Harry, it won’t reach,” Hermione pointed out.

“Hang on,” he muttered, then straightened up and looked at the Extendable Ear lying in his hand. He pulled out his wand and tapped the long flesh-coloured string of the Ear as his lips moved silently in an incantation. The Ear looked no different, but Harry glanced at Hermione with a twinkle in his eye as he told his phoenix, “OK, Merlin. Go!” Harry held on to the Ear as the phoenix flew down the Chamber and up the spiralling path to the office door. The amount of string in Harry’s hand didn’t change at all, but the bit that had hung over his hand and gone to Merlin’s beak grew longer and longer and longer. Finally, the string lay on the floor of the Chamber, with that same initial amount of string still in Harry’s hand. He grinned impertinently at Hermione as he stuffed the end in his ear and concentrated on the Seeing Glass again.

“How did you do that?” she gasped, her eyes wide.

“Wicked!” Ron said gleefully. “Wait’ll the twins hear about this! Maybe they could build that spell into the Ears.” Ginny giggled at Hermione’s flummoxed expression.

“Maybe,” Harry said quietly. “And Hermione — I’ll teach you lot that spell soon. Let me listen now — Snape just came into the office.”


* * * * *


Dumbledore and Remus sat chatting idly, enjoying their tea as they waited for Snape to arrive. Finally, they heard a knock on the door.

“Enter,” Dumbledore said in a cheerful voice. “Good day, Severus! How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you, Headmaster,” the Potions Master said sourly.

“Come sit down and have some tea. Biscuit? Scone?” Dumbledore said, offering the tray of snacks as his guest seated himself.

“No, thank you. I need to speak with you,” Snape said, glancing at Remus.

“You can speak freely in front of Remus,” Dumbledore assured him.

“I’d prefer not to, if you don’t mind,” Snape said stiffly.

“I can come back later,” Remus offered, rising from his chair politely.

“Wait, Remus,” Dumbledore said. He turned back to Snape. “Will this take long?”

“No.”

“Then, Remus, why don’t you wait in Harry’s study,” Dumbledore suggested. “You and I weren’t finished with our chat, and you can be comfortable in there. If you don’t mind waiting, that is. I’m sure Harry won’t mind your being there.”

“All right,” Remus agreed, and entered the guest room Harry now used as a study, or slept in when staying with Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.


* * * * *


Down in the Chamber, Harry frowned.

“What is it?” Ron said, wishing they could see whatever Harry was seeing.

“Snape wanted Remus to leave. Dumbledore told Remus to wait in my room. I wish he had an Extendable Ear with him. We’ll just have to fill him in later,” Harry said quietly, concentrating hard on what he was seeing and hearing.


* * * * *


“What do you need to tell me, Severus?” Dumbledore said, steepling his fingers under his chin, his elbows resting comfortably on the arms of his cosy chair.

“Where’s Potter?” Snape snapped.

“He’s out on an errand for me at the moment,” Dumbledore lied smoothly. “Why? Do you need to see him?”

Snape seemed to be considering what he needed to say next.


* * * * *


Harry took a deep breath and made a decision. “Hermione, think about Professor Dumbledore and look into the Seeing Glass. Put the Extendable Ear in your ear. Keep track of their conversation.”

“I’m not the Heir of Gryffindor! It won’t work for me! And why do you want me to do that?” she said, her eyes wide in surprise

“I’m the Heir. Anyone I give permission can look into the Seeing Glass when I’m not using it. I give you permission to use it right now. Once you break eye contact, you won’t be able to see into it again unless I give you permission again. Please, Hermione. You’re the only one of us who remembers everything she hears word for word.” He held the Extendable Ear out to her again, trying very hard not to be impatient with her questions.

“OK,” she replied as she put the Ear into her ear. “What’s going on?”

“Dumbledore just told Snape that he sent me on an errand. I’m going to go do one for him and show up at the office,” Harry said decisively. “Can you see him in there? And hear them?”

Hermione concentrated on Professor Dumbledore and looked into the Glass, her eyes widening when she saw the office clearly. “Yes! It’s as if I’m in the room with them!”

“Great,” Harry said in relief. “You keep track of what’s going on in there for me, all right? I’ll be gone for a bit, then I’ll show up. Hopefully, I won’t miss Snape. You’ll be able to get out of here whenever you need to — the lift is down. Just check the mirrors to see who’s in the office and who’s approaching it before you come up. Or I’ll open the door and call down to you when the coast is clear. Merlin’s still here if you need to get somewhere quickly, as well. Gotta go,” he said, then kissed Ginny, changed into a phoenix and flashed out of sight.

“What’s going on?” Ginny said in confusion.

“Dunno,” Ron said, “but there must be some good reason Remus was sent out of the room and Snape’s asking where Harry is.” He looked at Hermione, who was gazing fiercely at the Seeing Glass, her brow furrowed in concentration. “What’s going on in there, Hermione?”

“Just general chat — Snape isn’t getting to the point, and Dumbledore seems to be a bit annoyed about it,” she replied.

Ginny was keeping an eye on the mirrors. A few minutes later, she said, “Look! Harry’s outside Dumbledore’s office, and has a bag with him.”

Ron laughed. “It’s a Honeydukes bag. He bought Dumbledore some sweets!”

“Dumbledore will like that — and it’s a good cover for Harry being gone. Some ‘errand’ Dumbledore sent him on, huh?” Ginny said, grinning.


* * * * *


“Enter,” Dumbledore called when he heard the knock on the door. He smiled benignly, turned to Snape, who was scowling, and said, “It seems to be my day for company, doesn’t it?”

“Apparently,” Snape sneered.

“Here you go, Professor,” Harry said breezily as he stepped into the office. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.”

“Come sit down, Harry,” Dumbledore invited, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “Did you get what I asked for?”

“Fizzing Whizbees, sugar quills, liquorice wands, and chocolate frogs,” Harry said, handing him the bag. “That was everything, right?” He sat in the chair on the headmaster’s right.

Dumbledore beamed at him. “Perfect! Thank you so much!” He reached in the bag and pulled out a Sugar Quill and began sucking on it. “Sweet, Severus?” he said politely, offering the bag to the other man.

“No,” Snape snarled. “I need to talk to you,” he insisted.

“Go right ahead! Sweet, Harry?” Dumbledore said, offering the bag to the young man. Harry pulled out a liquorice wand, bit off a hunk of it and began chewing it slowly while watching the two men with great interest.

“Headmaster,” Snape said impatiently, “I do need to speak with you. Privately.”

“I have no secrets from Harry, Severus. He’s my apprentice. He needs to learn everything I know, and as quickly as possible. You know this — we’ve discussed it,” Dumbledore said, still smiling but with a bit of steel in his voice.

Snape sighed. “If you insist.”

“I do,” Dumbledore said with a benign smile. “Harry, I do believe Mr. Honeyduke has changed the recipe for the sugar quills. Do I detect a bit of honey and. . .erm. . .almond, perhaps? Taste one and tell me what you think,” he said, offering the bag again.

Harry took a sugar quill and sucked on it for a few minutes, actually taking pleasure in the growing rage on Snape’s face as the headmaster pointedly ignored him in favour of discussing sweets with his apprentice. What was Dumbledore up to? Whatever it was, Harry was enjoying himself immensely. “I think you’re right, sir. Almond and honey. Delicious!” he said, saluting his mentor with the remains of the quill.

“Excellent!” Dumbledore declared as he finished the quill and dug another sweet out of the bag. “Severus, you were saying?”

Snape sighed dramatically. “Where have you been, Potter? Nobody’s seen you all week.”

“I’ve been right here, except when I went to Hogsmeade a bit ago. Professor Dumbledore is teaching me some complex things and it’s easier if I just stay here with him,” he lied, dropping his eyes to look in the bag Dumbledore had offered him at exactly the right moment for Harry to avoid Snape’s all-too-discerning gaze.

“Very. . .convenient. . .for you, Potter, to be able to miss class whenever you wish,” Snape sneered.

“I explained all that to the staff when Harry became my apprentice,” Dumbledore said firmly. “What is the problem, Severus? You interrupted a meeting I was having with Remus, yet you haven’t shared any information at all.”

“Potter’s here,” Snape said by way of explanation.

“And I’ve already told you, I have no secrets from him,” Dumbledore said, sounding a bit impatient now. “Even if he weren’t with us, I would tell him what you said once we were together again. So just get on with it. Remus doesn’t need to stay in Harry’s study all day.”

“Why’s Remus in my study?” Harry asked innocently.

“Because Professor Snape said he didn’t want Remus to overhear whatever he has to tell us,” Dumbledore explained.

“So get on with it,” Harry prompted. “I don’t mean to be rude, Professor Snape, but Remus needs to get home to his wife soon, and he had things to discuss with Professor Dumbledore and me.”

Snape didn’t take well to having Harry instruct him on manners. His lip curled as if he smelled something disgusting before he finally spoke. “As you wish. The Dark Lord is seeking more information about Potter. He wants to know particular things about him. I don’t honestly know why, but we have enough former students in the Death Eaters that he’s getting a lot of information on Potter’s habits, likes and dislikes, and so on.”

Harry snorted with laughter. “Nobody who would want to be a Death Eater actually knows my likes and dislikes and so on.”

“You like animals. You’re openly friendly toward people from other houses. You seem to enjoy running around the lake early in the morning,” Snape said succinctly. “You have a vicious temper and things explode, or at least rattle, when you get angry.”

“Anyone could know those things,” Harry said, shrugging as if this whole conversation meant nothing, “and those aren’t such unusual things to like.” He willed himself to stay calm and not react to anything the Potions master was saying. He would not give Snape any more ammunition than he already had.

“But they give the Dark Lord clues to your character, possible ways to get to you, Potter,” Snape said silkily.

“How are those things going to give him ways to get to me?” Harry asked curiously.

“I’m not privy to that information. I’m just passing along what I’ve learned,” Snape replied.

“Is there anything else, Severus?” Dumbledore said, peering at the man over his half-moon spectacles.

“No. That’s it. Keep an eye on Potter, Headmaster. There’s something afoot, and I haven’t yet learned what it is,” Snape said, getting to his feet. “When I know more, I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you, Severus,” Dumbledore said, rising politely from his seat. Harry followed suit. “Have a nice afternoon.”

Snape turned and glared at the two of them before silently leaving the office, closing the door softly behind him.

Dumbledore put his finger in front of his mouth and stepped lightly to one of his silver instruments. After waiting a few moments, he said, “He’s gone. Go ask Remus and your friends to join us, would you, Harry? And I must say, I enjoyed your ruse to join us in this meeting.”

“I was watching on the Seeing Glass and heard you say you’d sent me on an errand,” Harry replied as he went to the door to his room and opened it, inviting Remus to join them in the office.

“You heard me? How is that possible?” Dumbledore said in confusion.

“Look at this,” Harry said, lifting down Gryffindor’s sword and opening the doorway. Merlin still sat on the end of the Extendable Ear.

“What have you done?” Dumbledore said with interest.

“I gave the Seeing Glass sound!” Harry said, grinning. “I did the Stretching Charm on an Extendable Ear and had Merlin hold this end. The other end should still be in Hermione’s ear.” Harry looked down at the end of the Ear in Merlin’s talons. “You lot can come up now,” he said with a grin. A few moments later, they could hear the lift bringing Harry’s friends back to the office from the Chamber below.

“So you heard everything?” Harry asked Hermione.

“Yes, but I don’t know what to think about it,” she replied, looking puzzled. “I told Ron and Ginny about it on the way up. The Ear worked perfectly, by the way!” She handed him the Ear, its string coiled up like a very long rope.

“That’s great! We’ll have to work out how to fix one in place or something, now that we know it works,” Harry said, shrinking the string down to its normal size and handing it to Ginny.

“But what was he talking about?” Ginny said in concern. “They’re studying Harry’s habits for some reason?”

“It would appear so. You’ll just have to be on your guard, Harry,” Dumbledore said.

“As if I’m not already,” the young wizard replied, shaking his head in disgust. He glanced at his friends, then at his mentor, then sighed. “Well, this has been fun and all that, but I suppose I should go to my room. I have a lot of studying to catch up on since I was gone so long.”

Dumbledore studied his apprentice’s resigned face for a moment. “Why don’t you take the weekend to spend time with your friends?” he suggested. “We can get back to work on Monday.”

“Are you certain?” Harry said hesitantly. “I’ve been gone so long–”

“That your friends need to spend some time with you. Go on, have some fun,” Dumbledore urged him.

“That’s great, thanks!” Harry said happily. He draped his arm around Ginny’s shoulders and started for the door, Ron and Hermione trailing after them.

“If you don’t need me any longer, Albus,” Remus said, “Harry was right, earlier. I do have a wife to go home to, and things to do.”

“See you later, then, Remus,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “Please give Tonks my best.”

“I will.” Remus followed the young people down the spiral staircase.

When they reached the corridor, Harry turned to Remus. “Please tell Tonks I’m sorry for all this,” he said earnestly.

“Tell her yourself,” Remus said with a grin. “She takes this ‘godmother thing’ very seriously, you know.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Harry said with a laugh. He looked at his friends. “It’s a Hogsmeade weekend, right? I saw other students in the village.” They nodded. “Then what are we doing here?” he said with a laugh. “I’ll flash us to Remus’s house to get Remus home quickly and apologize to Tonks, and then we can do what we want in Hogsmeade. OK?”

“Harry, you don’t have to take me home,” Remus protested.

“How did you get here?” Harry asked.

“On my broom.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to go back by phoenix?” Harry said reasonably. “I can carry all of you.”

“All right, then, let’s go,” Remus said, grinning at Harry’s eagerness.

“OK with you lot?” Harry said, looking at his friends, who all nodded. “Merlin, you can have the day off. I can handle this.” Merlin flashed away as Harry changed into a phoenix. They grabbed his tail and flashed to Remus’s house in Hogsmeade.

Remus opened the door. “Tonks? I’m home! Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione are with me.”

Tonks came running from the back of the small house. “Harry’s back? Harry! Where the bloody hell have you been?” she said as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. “You’re giving me grey hairs!”

“Not that I can tell,” Harry teased, poking about in her spiky purple hair.

Tonks pulled back but held on to him, looking him over thoroughly. “You look better than I’ve ever seen you!” she said, amazed.

“You won’t believe where he’s been,” Ron said with a grin.

“I want to hear everything!” Tonks said, taking Harry’s hand and drawing him into the kitchen, his friends and Remus all trailing behind them, sharing amused glances. “I was just making an attempt at lunch. Tell me what happened and I’ll feed you — or if it’s a better bribe, I won’t feed you!” She laughed and pulled him into a tight hug again. This time she held on longer and whispered in his ear, “You had both of us scared to death. I’m barely getting the hang of this godmother thing and you go and disappear on me!” She pulled back and gazed seriously into his eyes. “Don’t EVER do that again!” Then she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek before looking dazedly around her small kitchen, trying to work out how to feed six people quickly.

“You don’t have to feed us, Tonks,” Harry said with a fond smile. “We just came to deliver Remus to you and say ‘hi.’”

“And to tell me where the bloody hell you’ve been! Sit down, Harry, and start talking! Don’t make me hex you!” she said, trying, and failing spectacularly, to look threatening.

“OK, we’ll stay long enough for that,” he said, sitting at the table. His friends pulled out chairs and sat at the table as well.

“Tea?” Tonks said brightly as Remus moved to the cupboard to get out cups and saucers.

“Sure, that would be great,” Harry replied. Tonks managed to pour out tea and serve biscuits with it without too many mishaps — her spilling the sugar was the closest thing to her normal clumsiness in the kitchen.

Harry told Tonks the story and answered her questions willingly. When he was finished and they’d all eaten the sandwiches Remus and Tonks had prepared as lunch, Harry and his friends got up to leave.

“Don’t you ever let things get that bad for you again,” Tonks insisted. “You can come and stay with us if things are too difficult for you at school.”

“Really?” Harry said, touched by the invitation. “That’s sweet of you, Tonks.”

“We mean it, Harry,” Remus said. “If you ever need a break, come to us. We’re your family, after all.”

Harry beamed. “You are, aren’t you?” He gave each of them a warm hug, kissing Tonks on both cheeks for good measure. “Thanks. See you later.”

“Have fun, you lot!” Tonks said, waving cheerily as the four friends walked away. Remus had his arm around her and was also waving, but soon dropped his eyes to his bride and pulled her inside.

Harry and his friends grinned at each other, having seen the light in Remus’s face as he gazed at his wife while closing the door.

“I see a bit of snogging in their future,” Ron quipped in his best Trelawney voice.

Harry snorted. “I see a bit more than snogging in their future,” he replied with a grin.

“What about our future, huh?” Ginny said, tugging on his hand. “It seems to me you have some making up to do with your girlfriend.”

“Making up, huh?” Harry said, smiling tenderly at her. “So I’ve wronged you in some way?”

“I’d say so, yeah,” she said, her eyes playful as she looked up at him.

“Right,” Harry replied, sounding stoic. “Harry’s been a bad boy. I suppose I must take my punishment.” He sighed dramatically, then looked at Ron and Hermione. “Would you excuse us? It seems I have some penance to do.”

Ron laughed out loud. “Yeah, mate, you do! Have fun, you two.”

“You, too,” Harry said. “Ready, m’lady?” Ginny nodded. Harry glanced up and down the street and, seeing no one watching, changed into the phoenix. The two of them disappeared in a flash of light.

“I guess they have custody of the Shack today,” Ron said, wrapping his arm around Hermione’s shoulders. “What would you like to do?”

“I need a new quill and more parchment,” the ever-practical Hermione replied. “Shopping first, snogging later.”

“Right,” Ron replied cheerfully, giving her a squeeze.


* * * * *


In the Shrieking Shack, Harry was tenderly kissing Ginny, who moaned in response. Clothes were quickly dispensed with and they were soon a tangle of arms and legs, hands and mouths wandering eagerly over each other’s bodies. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the boards over the windows, the dust motes gleaming dully as they passed through the light. Harry nibbled his way from the sweet, soft spot behind Ginny’s ear, down her neck to her throat, down her sternum to her breasts.

“Hmm, decisions, decisions,” he muttered playfully as he kissed first one breast, then the other. “I don’t know. Which flavour do I want today, hmm?” He rubbed his barely-scratchy cheek gently along the side of her breast, then nipped and suckled each lovely mound.

Ginny moaned in pleasure, her hands tangled in his hair. “Baby, please. . . .” she murmured, “please. . . .”

“Please what?” he said impertinently, then blew a raspberry on her tummy.

“Harry!” she squealed, giggling as she gently smacked his shoulder. “That’s not nice!”

“But it’s fun!” he teased, blowing another raspberry, then getting back to the serious business of loving every square inch of her.


* * * * *


“I love you, I love you, I love you,” Harry murmured later as he buried his face in the rich red hair lying across the pillow and kissed the tender spot where her neck joined her shoulder.

“Mmmmm, I love you too,” she said, holding him close. “Don’t ever move.”

“Never again,” he said, a soft chuckle in his voice.

“Never, ever again,” she agreed with a sigh.

“I’ll squish you if I stay here much longer,” he warned her, raising up just far enough to lick the tip of her nose playfully before burrowing into her neck again. “You smell so good.”

“You’re sweet — and no, you’re not squishing me,” she said, her voice warm and sleepy.

“Good,” he said, moving down her body far enough that he could rest his head on her shoulder.

“I love this,” Ginny said contentedly, her fingers raking through his hair, then stroking the satiny skin on his back. She did her best to not follow the faint tracery of scars from Voldemort’s whip that criss-crossed his back, knowing he didn’t need any reminders of that aspect of his life.

“You love my head being too big for your shoulder?” he teased. “You’re such a bit of a thing.”

“I’m just the right size, thank you very much!” she said tartly. “My feet reach the ground, and if anything’s too high to reach, I have you to deal with it!”

“Yes, you do. You have all contingencies covered,” he said with a contented sigh as he relaxed against her.

“Remember that, sir,” she said imperiously.

He raised up to look at her quite seriously. “You are perfect in every way. I will never forget that.”

“I love you,” she said, pulling him down for a warm, languid kiss.

“Mmmm,” he murmured as he traced a line of kisses along the edge of her jaw, working his way back to his resting place on her shoulder. “You make me so happy.”

“Ditto,” she said. “Oof, now you’re squishing me,” she grunted as he slipped into sleep and his full weight fell on her.

“Mmm? Sorry,” he said, sliding off of her, nestling his head into her shoulder contentedly and dozing off again.

“Don’t you dare ever leave me again,” Ginny murmured to her sleeping love. “I thought I was going to die worrying about you. You stay right here next to me. Forever. OK?”

“K,” he muttered, rousing slightly at the sound of her voice, then drifting off into a peaceful sleep once more.


* * * * *


In his next Potions class, Harry was working hard to get his potion correct. He was smiling and humming a bit as he worked, completely content and focused on his task.

“Mr. Potter,” Snape snarled as he stalked by. “What is that on your face?”

Harry looked up sharply. “Sorry?” He glanced at Ron and Hermione in confusion. “Where is it?” he said, rubbing his hands over his cheeks and chin. “Did I splash something on myself? I didn’t notice.” His friends both shook their heads, looking bewildered, when he looked at them.

“I said, what is that on your face?” Snape said silkily. “And what is that infernal noise?”

“What noise?” Harry said in confusion, looking at his cauldron. It wasn’t whistling or anything. It was sitting there looking like a perfectly made potion, no sparks coming out, no weird smell, its colour matched Hermione’s. What could be wrong?

“You were making a noise,” Snape said. “Stop it.” He moved on, his usual sneer firmly in place.

Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, completely flummoxed. “What noise?”

“You were humming a bit under your breath, that’s all,” Hermione said with a shrug.

“And you were smiling,” Ron said. “That’s all that was on your face that I could see, mate.”

Harry frowned. “He doesn’t want me smiling or humming?” He shook his head in amazement. “OK, I’ll try harder to be less cheerful.”

Ron snorted in laughter. “You do that, mate,” he said encouragingly, which only made Harry laugh out loud.

“Mr. Potter!” Snape called from across the room. “Are you being disruptive again?”

“Erm. . .no, sir,” Harry replied, forcing a frown on his face. That seemed to satisfy Snape, who turned away to annoy some other student.

Harry, Ron and Hermione worked in silence for a while, but then Hermione sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Ron said, leaning over to peek past the fall of her long bushy hair.

“Harry’s being reprimanded for being happy in a class where he’s never been happy,” she said with a disgusted shake of her head. “That’s so unfair.”

Harry leaned over so only his two friends could hear him. “Who ever said Snape was fair?” All three giggled, then quickly stifled their laughter before they got in more trouble. A smile lingered on Harry’s face. He couldn’t help himself. Since the phoenixes had filled him with song, his heart had been lighter than ever before in his life. He found many reasons to be happy these days, and often smiled for no reason at all.

“Potter. What’s wrong with you?” Snape demanded, getting right in his face.

“Sorry?” Harry said, shocked at the man’s vehemence.

“Detention, Potter. I won’t tolerate such cheek!” Snape snarled, then strode off to the next work table.

Harry’s mouth was open in shock. “What did I do?” he asked his friends.

“Nothing,” Ron replied darkly. “That’s not on. That’s not on at all.”

“Maybe he needs to see you again,” Hermione said, leaning close to Harry to whisper in his ear.

Harry looked at her quickly. “Maybe that’s it,” he said with a shrug and then went back to work, doing his best to avoid smiling or laughing. When he turned in his potion, which was, amazingly enough, exactly like Hermione’s, Snape glared up at him and dropped the flagon.

“Oops. Zero points again, Potter,” he sneered.

“That’s all right, Professor. I made an extra one just in case,” Harry said quietly as he handed over another sample. He’d actually made several extras before turning in the first one, expecting Snape to do exactly as he’d done.

Snape sighed and put the flagon in the testing tray with the others. “At least you’re thinking ahead these days, Potter,” he said grudgingly.

“Thank you, sir,” Harry replied, then quickly turned and went back to his work table before there were any more problems.

“Good thing you made extras, mate,” Ron commended him as they began to clear away their things.

“I still have several in my pocket in case mine goes missing,” Harry said grimly, his good mood erased by Snape’s unfair actions.

As the three of them picked up their bags to leave the room, Snape called, “Potter! Come here.”

“Yes, Professor?” Harry said politely when he reached the man’s desk. He kept a resolutely straight face, determined to not give the man any more reasons to reprimand him.

“You will be here at five o’clock to serve your detention,” Snape said, shoving his greasy black hair out of his face as he glared at Harry.

“May I ask what I did to earn this detention?” Harry said politely. “I didn’t mean to cheek you, sir. I was just happy today.”

“And now you’re not,” Snape said sharply. “You’re dismissed.”

Harry sighed. “Yes, sir.” He followed Ron and Hermione out of the room, shaking his head in response to their questioning gazes.

They found a shady spot to sit in the courtyard for their break between classes. After they were comfortably seated, Hermione said, “What was that all about?”

“He seemed to want to make me unhappy,” Harry said with a shrug, then told them exactly what had been said.

“That’s so unfair,” Hermione said, frowning in disapproval. “You should tell Dumbledore.”

“No, I’ll just serve the detention,” Harry said with a shrug. “At least he’s not Umbridge. He doesn’t usually try to do me bodily harm, he just annoys me.” He grinned at his own comment, then laughed out loud.

“What are you laughing at, mate?” Ron said, laughing along with him.

“Dunno. I’m just happy,” Harry said, grinning broadly at his friends. “Even Snape can’t keep me down for long.”

“Try to control that while you’re with him,” Hermione said darkly.

“I will.”


* * * * *


“Here, Potter. Grade these homework papers for me,” Snape said, handing Harry a stack of parchments. “The answer key is on the top, as before.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said, sitting down, setting out his ink bottle and quill and getting to work. He’d only been working a short time when Snape spoke again.

“Why are you smiling, Potter?” He sounded genuinely curious this time.

“Erm. . .I was just. . .um. . . .” Harry forced his face into a blank expression. “Sorry, sir.”

“No, really. Why were you smiling?”

“Um. . .I was wondering if my answers were as funny as some of these First Years when I was a kid,” Harry said creatively. He hoped that would be enough to satisfy the man.

“I can assure you, your answers were so pathetic that they made these look truly profound,” Snape said archly.

Harry just nodded and got back to work. Buried in the stack of parchment was a note from Snape.

As before, the note said, mark an occasional thing wrong as you read this. The Death Eaters among the students have some definite plan in place now, but I don’t know what it is. Be on your guard. Harry marked an X next to this statement, glancing at the answer key to add authenticity. I have no idea what the plan is or who’s involved, but the Dark Lord is pleased with it. I do know that Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and some of their friends escaped from Azkaban recently. They may be involved in this plot. I would honestly like to know why you’re so happy these days. Something’s changed. What? You can write a response here and I’ll erase it when I read it.

Harry thought a moment. Nope, I’m not going to write what happened to me, he decided. Dipping his quill in the ink bottle, he wrote, “Ask Professor Dumbledore. He can tell you.” He went back to grading homework, stifling giggles when something was particularly bad or ridiculous. Bat entrails are good for warts? What was this kid thinking? Harry thought as he marked an X by that answer.

When he finished, he carried the parchments to Snape’s desk. “All finished,” he said, glancing significantly at the bit of parchment sticking out crookedly from behind the answer key. That was Snape’s note. He didn’t want it to be mixed in with the homework parchments.

“Thank you, Potter. You’re dismissed,” Snape said as he took the parchments from Harry. “Do try to control yourself in class. You’re old enough now to know not to cheek your teachers.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said as humbly as he could manage, then picked up his things and left, forcing himself to ignore the eyeballs in the jar by the door that followed his every movement.


* * * * *


“He said to be on your guard? But you’re always on your guard!” Ron said huffily. “What’s he on about?”

“He’s worried about whatever it is,” Harry said with a shrug. “He’s doing what he can, I suppose. Since he only knows bits and pieces of information, he didn’t have any real clues to give me.”

“That’s not much help,” Hermione grumbled huffily. “‘Be on your guard,’ indeed! That’s the second time he’s told you that recently! Does he think you’ve forgotten? Or that you’re more careless now than before? I don’t understand this at all.”

“Me either. Can you imagine Malfoy and his bunch all escaping from jail again? I wonder why it wasn’t in the paper?” Harry mused, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Maybe the Ministry got tired of people thinking there’s a revolving door in Azkaban,” Hermione said darkly.

“Revolving door?” Ron said, confused.

“Like the one in that shop we visited in Surrey?” she reminded him. “Four doors attached together that go round?”

“Oh,” Ron said, cottoning on. “In Azkaban?” he added, obviously still confused on the finer points.

“It’s an expression, Ronald,” Hermione said patiently.

“Ginny’s going to have kittens when she finds out Malfoy’s free again,” Ron said uneasily.

“Then we won’t tell her,” Hermione replied.

“You think it’s smart to keep it from her?” Harry said, shocked.

“Why should she worry any more than she has to? She’s not going anywhere alone where she would be in danger,” Hermione reasoned.

“Still. . .,” Harry frowned, uncertain if Hermione was right or completely wrong. He’d have to think about that a bit.

“They’ll catch them soon,” Hermione assured him. “There has to be a huge manhunt going on now.”

“A ferret hunt would be better,” Ron snorted. “We should have killed all of them when we had them trussed up in the hen house after they attacked Ginny.”

“Yeah, I was afraid not doing that was going to come back and bite us in the arse,” Harry grumbled.

“What absolutely horrible things can we think of to do to Malfoy when we find him?” Ron said with a dreamy look in his eyes. “Moody’s bouncing ferret was brilliant, but surely we can come up with some other interesting solutions to the Malfoy problem.”

“I heard Ginny mumbling to herself one time about him,” Harry said, smiling a bit at the memory. “She said she’d like to find a spell that pulled every single hair off of every part of his body, one hair at a time, s-l-o-w-l-y. Or cursing his wobbly bits off so he pees like a girl for the rest of his life. Or, preferably, both.”

Ron grinned. “That Ginny, such a creative mind! What else? Maybe we’ll come up with something actually doable!”

“It would be poetic justice to turn him into a squib or a Muggle, wouldn’t it?” Harry said, a grin tickling his mouth. “Can’t you just see the frustration?” He chuckled darkly. “Too bad we can’t manage that one.”

“I’d like to find out how to do that Effrondrement Curse properly and let him see how it feels to have your organs decomposing inside you while you’re alive!” Hermione growled. Malfoy had cast that spell on her in the battle on the Astronomy Tower the previous spring. If he hadn’t cast it badly, Hermione would have died a very painful death. As it was, she was in the hospital for several days recovering from it.

“Oh, that’s my bloodthirsty girl!” Ron said approvingly.

“Dobby’s pretty good at dealing with bad guys,” Harry mused. “I mean, look what he did to Kreacher! We could turn him loose on Malfoy and his gang. He’d take care of the matter and probably even clean up after himself.” He snickered at the thought.

“At the very least, taking Malfoy’s wand away and hanging a ‘hex me’ sign on his back, then turning him loose in the middle of a D.A. meeting would be a lot of fun — and good practice for the D.A. members, too,” Ron said with a grin. Their ideas were getting sillier, but the very outrageousness of some of them was lightening their moods considerably.

“How about transfiguring him into a mouse and letting Hedwig catch him?” Harry suggested. “No, that would probably give Hedwig indigestion. Forget I said that.” By this time, all three of them were grinning. Coming up with horrors they’d like to inflict on Malfoy if they had the chance was a fun pastime.

They went back to working on their homework quietly for a while, then Ron asked, “So did Snape say anything else?”

“No, but I should probably try to avoid smiling in class, as well,” Harry said as a grin tickled the corners of his mouth. “I don’t think he can stand to be around happy people.”

“Snape probably doesn’t know what it feels like to smile,” Ron sneered. “Git.”

“Prat,” Harry agreed cheerfully.


* * * * *


“Mr. Potter?” Professor McGonagall said at dinner that evening. “Could you come to my office when you’ve finished eating?”

“Sure,” Harry replied. “What’s up?”

“We can talk about it then,” she said mysteriously. Her eyes were twinkling, so Harry knew he wasn’t in trouble.

“What’s that all about?” Ron asked, his face puzzled.

“Dunno. I guess I’ll find out in a little while,” Harry said, picking up another chicken leg and biting into it with relish.

When he arrived at McGonagall’s office, she was sitting at her desk grading papers.

“Thank you for coming, Harry. Please, sit down,” she invited with a smile. “Biscuit?”

“Uh, OK. Thanks,” he said, taking a ginger newt from her tartan tin of biscuits. He nibbled on the biscuit as he waited for her to begin.

“I had a most interesting visit from Merlin recently,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “He is such a joy to talk to.”

“Yeah, he’s an interesting guy, isn’t he?” Harry agreed with a grin.

“He told me where you were when you were gone,” she said, studying him seriously. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Nor had Professor Dumbledore.”

“Right. I was wondering if you could write some of the stories you heard from the phoenixes. They would be fascinating reading,” she said eagerly.

“Especially Merlin’s,” Harry said, grinning broadly. “He was a bit of a rascal. He makes Fred and George seem tame by comparison.”

“Really? Well, from what I’ve learned talking to him, I can imagine he had quite some adventures.” She smiled, the eager young girl she had been decades ago shining through her eyes. “He’s fascinating.”

Harry waited to see what else she wanted. He could feel more questions simmering behind her eyes.

“What was it like? Can you tell me?”

“What?”

“Being with all of those phoenixes. Hearing their stories, their songs. Would you mind telling me? I’ll keep it secret, but he told me just enough for me to want to know more.”

Harry smiled. “I told Professor Dumbledore he should get Merlin or Fawkes to take him there. It would do him a world of good, I think. It’s too bad you have to be a phoenix to go there. It’s such a beautiful place. I wish I could share it with my friends. You’d love it, Professor!” He launched into the tale of his time with the phoenixes and found his professor a rapt audience. When he finished, she sighed deeply, a smile on her face.

“How fortunate you were to go there,” she said simply. “I have noticed the marked change in you, Harry. You seem to be smiling all the time. After what you’ve been through, it’s so good to see you relaxed and happy like this.”

“Feels good, too,” Harry agreed with a grin.

“Well, I’ve taken enough of your time. Thank you so much for sharing this with me.”

“No problem,” Harry said with an easy smile.

As he rose to leave, she added, “Do consider writing down the stories they told you when you have time, Potter. They could be published as fiction, perhaps. I, for one, would love to read them.”

“When I have time, Professor,” Harry said with a smile.


* * * * *


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