Inevitable 68: Dumbledore's Man
Inevitable Sixty-Eight: Dumbledore's Man
by Mhalachai
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. J.K. Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. Only the story is my own.
Note: This chapter is for iamabee_buzz, who is awesome and might need a bit of a pick-me-up this week. Two things are made clear in this chapter to those people who have read Half Blood Prince, even if it's not clear to our protagonists. 7,659 words.
Previous parts here.
~~~~~~~
"He did what?" Harry's appalled words echoed through the library, earning him glares from the surrounding students, but Harry didn't care.
Ron rubbed the back of his neck, not looking at Harry. "Look, Harry--"
"Don't you dare 'look Harry' me!" Harry hissed. "You can't sit there and tell me that Michael Corner told Luna he was going to blackmail her about her diary by making her do things, and not expect me to be a bit upset!"
He sat back in his chair, wishing Corner was there so he could wring the little bastard's neck. He spotted Madame Pince swooping toward them, and quickly grabbed his books off the table. Ron scrambled to his feet at the same time and followed Harry's sprint out of the library.
Madame Pince closed the library doors behind them with a thump. Harry made a rude gesture at the closed door, then continued running down the hall, just in case the librarian could see through solid oak.
Ron dragged Harry down a hidden staircase that opened into the old rose gardens. The enforced walk bled away most of Harry's hot anger, leaving in its place a much more dangerous resolve. According to Ron, Corner had tracked down Luna on the same morning that Dumbledore was hurt, and said horrible things to her.
Isn't it bad enough that he told Ginny about Luna's diary? Harry thought furiously. Ron said that Corner said he would have made Luna do things other than his homework, and he wasn't talking about cleaning his shoes! Even the though of Corner laying a hand on Luna, groping at her, made Harry sick to his stomach.
Ron put his hand on Harry's arm and tried to push him over to a stone bench. "Harry, sit--" Ron broke off abruptly as Harry whirled on him, knocking his hand away. Whatever Ron saw in Harry's face made him take a step back. "Harry, you need to calm down."
Harry dropped his book bag to the ground, kicking it to the side. "I'm not going to fucking calm down, Ron! You told me what Corner was going to do to Luna--"
"Did you hear me when I told you that Luna stood up for herself?" Ron demanded. "She stood up to him! You know how good she is at hexes and stuff, she'd turn Corner into sludge before he could touch her!"
"That's not the fucking point!" Harry shouted. "She shouldn't have to deal with any of this!"
"She told Flitwick, remember?" Ron shoved Harry down on the bench. "I've never seen him so mad, Harry, it was downright scary."
Harry buried his head in his hands. "Damn it, Ron, I need to do something, I can't just let him-- I have to do something! What would you do if it was Hermione?"
Ron took his time in answering, although Harry stared at him expectantly. "I know Hermione would be able to take care of herself," Ron finally said, "But I'd probably hurt him myself."
"So you know what I'm talking about!"
"Yeah." Ron looked out at the rose bushes, a few hardy petals clinging to the dying wood. "Have you told Ginny?"
"You told me she already knows," Harry replied. "Frankly, I'm surprised that she hasn't hung Corner up from the ceiling herself."
"I'm not talking about that."
Harry frowned. "Then what are you talking about?"
Ron's face was getting red. "I mean about you and Luna."
Harry blinked a few times before Ron's meaning sunk in. "What about me and Luna?" he demanded coldly.
Squaring his rather broad shoulders, Ron said, "You're acting like she's your girlfriend, but last week you were acting like Ginny was your girlfriend. I know you're my best friend, but Ginny's my sister and if you do anything to hurt her, I'll... I'll have to..."
Harry's heart sank. How was he going to explain his relationship with Luna and Ginny to Ron, when he didn't understand it himself? "I'm not going to hurt Ginny," he said hesitantly.
"Yes, you are!" Ron exclaimed, springing up off the bench. "You can't change girlfriends like that, like they're interchangeable! People aren't like that!"
"They know, okay?" Harry burst out. "They both know what's going on, so it's not like anyone's keeping secrets!"
Ron gaped at him, rather like a fish. "That's..."
"That's what, Ron?" Harry demanded. He remembered what Luna said about the wizarding world's opinion of girls who liked other girls. If Ron was going to be like that, Harry was going to hit him, friend or not.
As Harry watched, Ron swallowed hard. "That's good, then."
Stomach unclenching, Harry slowly got off the bench. "I'm not sure what's going to happen, but above everything else, Ginny's my friend. Nothing's going to change that."
"Good," Ron said awkwardly. He handed Harry his school bag, not making eye contact. "You're Luna's friend too, right?" Harry gave a stiff nod. "Then that's all right."
Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of that cryptic pronouncement, and to fill the silence he rooted through his bag, looking for something to eat. "So, um, are we going to go back to the library?"
"Do we have to?" Ron pushed his hair back from his face, making it stand up on end. "The girls are in class, and I can't go looking through books for information on horcruxes that's not there any more. And you can't tell me you're having any more luck with Dumbledore's notes."
"I'm not." By common consent, Hermione had made five copies of Dumbledore's notes on the spell to destroy the horcruxes, for everyone to work on in their spare time, and bespelled the parchment to change into an old History of Magic essay if anyone but the five of them looked at the notes. It was an impressive combination of spells, and Harry had noticed Luna looking at Hermione with a great deal of respect after that spell.
"Then let's go see Hagrid," Ron said. "Just forget about the horcruxes for a little while."
They didn't have a little while, and Ron knew that. There had been no word on Dumbledore, Tonks was in the hospital wing recovering from the poisoning, and Harry still had no idea who had tried to kill Dumbledore. Even thinking about it made Harry bone-weary. "Yeah, let's go see Hagrid."
The gate on the rose garden was rusty and squeaked when Ron pushed it open, letting them out onto the Hogwarts lawn. A few students sat on the lawn, taking advantage of the clear but chill weather.
"Hey," Ron said halfway down the slope. "Is that Reece?"
Harry looked where Ron was pointing. "Yeah, it is. Come on." Harry veered toward where the little Hufflepuff werewolf was sitting in the lee of a large oak tree. "Hey, Reece."
Reece looked up for a moment. His eyes were puffy, as if he'd been crying, and his jaw was set stubbornly. "Hi."
"Where are your friends?" Harry wanted to kick himself the moment the words were out of his mouth, as Reece's face threatened to crumple. After a moment, the boy pulled himself back together.
"They had something else to do."
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. "What are you doing?" Ron asked, pointing at the black quill in Reece's lap.
Reece pulled back on himself a little, ducking his head shyly. "You've met my friend Ron, right?" Harry said, sitting on the ground, motioning to Ron to do the same. "You met him on the train."
Reece nodded, glancing sideways at Harry. When Harry smiled encouragingly, Reece's face broke into a huge grin. "I do."
"Good, I'd hate to think I was forgettable," Ron grumbled. Reece grinned wider. "So, did you break your quill?"
Reece shook his head, picking up the quill from his lap. "I wanted to practice the transfiguration spell we got taught in class, but it's not working."
"What are you trying to change it into?" Harry asked, taking the quill from Reece and running his fingers over the feather. It smelled faintly of the sky, and Harry wondered where on earth Reece had found a raven-feather quill.
"A paintbrush."
"Oh, I remember that one!" Ron exclaimed. "Go on, try again, we'll see what you're doing wrong."
As tactless as Ron's comment was, Reece obliged by setting the quill on the ground. His forehead furrowed in concentration, he spoke the incantation and waved his wand. The feather didn't even twitch.
"See?" Reece stabbed his wand at the feather in disgust. "Nothing!"
"You're saying the spell wrong," Ron said. "You're saying the last word like 'lee'. It has to be like 'lay'."
"Why?"
"Because that's the spell."
"But why does that matter?"
"I, uh..." Ron looked lost, so Harry stepped in.
"It's just the way it's done. It's the spell, if you say it a different way, something different will happen."
"But why?" Reece demanded. "The teachers say the magic's in us, that we're the magical ones, and our wands just channel that. What does it matter how I say the spell when my magic's going to be what's important."
Harry closed his mouth. He hadn't ever thought about it that way before. Reece had a point, one that Harry had no idea how to address. "That's just the way it is."
Reece rolled his eyes. "Adults always say that and it just means they don't know," he said scathingly. "The people around here say that lycanthropy is magic, but it's not, it's a preternatural disease and it's got rules. There aren't any rules on magic!"
The boy's soft Welsh accent danced over the large words as if they were nothing, making Harry even more impressed. When he was Reece's age, he hadn't ever heard the word 'preternatural'. But then, if his whole life was centered around being a werewolf, he might have been able to spout off knowledgeably. "There are rules here," Harry said weakly.
"But there shouldn't be," Reece protested.
"Vampires!" Harry exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "They're magic, and their power is constrained by rules."
Reece's eyebrows shot up. "So I can't do this spell because of vampire magic?"
"Stop being daft," Harry said. "You know what? You're going to talk to Hermione, the Head Girl, and she'll explain exactly why you need to say the spell right."
Reece let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine."
"Now try the spell again, and say it right," Harry ordered.
Aiming his wand once more, Reece tried the spell. Even though he said the incantation perfectly, the feather didn't change. "Bugger."
Harry ignored the swearing child, and picked up the feather. "Where did you get this?" he asked, bringing it close to his nose. Under the feather smell lingered a faint familiar smell.
"I borrowed it from a third year in my house," Reece said. "I didn't have any quills at the start of the year, only pens from my mum."
Harry lifted his eyes to meet Ron's puzzled stare, and something clicked in his head. Now he remembered why the smell was familiar. "Hold on." Harry set the quill on the ground and pulled out his own wand. How did that spell go again? Harry pointed his wand at the feather and said, "I'm bored."
In the wink of an eye, the quill expanded outwards and became a whole, live raven. Reece squealed and scrambled back against the tree. "What is that?" he demanded.
"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed. "It's one of the twin's trick quills!"
"Ron's brothers have a joke shop in Diagon Alley," Harry explained to Reece. "They brought out a line of in-class pranks for last Christmas. This," he indicated the puzzled-looking bird, "Was one of them."
"They made live animals into quills?" Reece sounded horrified.
"No, not at all," Harry said. He reached out and carefully picked up the bird around the middle. It looked around, but didn't try to fly off or peck at Harry's hands. "It's just a raven feather, but it's enchanted to be transfigured into a bird and pretend to be alive. It's not alive. Smell it."
Very slowly, Reece crawled toward Harry and the bird, sniffing the air. He smiled, a little shakily. "I guess it's cool."
"You should have seen the pig line," Ron said. "Our mum chased a three-hundred-pound sow out of the kitchen and almost walloped the twins into next year."
Reece giggled as Harry set the raven down and said, "I'm busy." The bird changed back into a feather quill and fluttered to the ground.
"There's your problem right there," Ron told Reece, digging in Harry's bag for another quill. "You can't transfigure something that's already under a transfiguration charm, not at your level. Try this."
Reece tried the transfiguration spell on Harry's quill. It changed into a paintbrush easily, and he clapped. "Thanks!"
"No problem," Harry said. "Hey, want to see Hagrid?"
"He's the gamekeeper, right?" Reece said, jumping to his feet with a werewolf's grace. "Yeah, that'd be really cool."
Ron and Harry stood and the three of them began to walk across the lawn toward Hagrid's hut, Reece chattering in restored good humour. After a minute, he spotted something and darted away.
"Harry?"
"Ron."
"You noticed the kid used the wrong incantation and the wrong hand movement on that spell, right?"
"I noticed."
"Why?"
"Maybe he expected it work like that?"
"Or maybe it's something to do with what he is."
Harry shot Ron a warning glare. "This isn't because he's a werewolf. Remus was a werewolf at this age, and you don't see him doing weird spells."
"But Remus wanted to fit in, didn't he?"
Harry spun around. "What the hell does that mean?"
Ron kept walking. "It means none of his friends, like your dad or Sirius or-- or anyone knew he was a werewolf. If he could do different magic to start with, would he have kept it up?"
"But then how is Reece doing it?"
Ron gestured helplessly with his hands. "Both Reece's folks are muggles, right?"
Technically, his father was a werewolf, but that wasn't really any business of Ron's. "Yes."
"Remus's folks were magical. He grew up seeing how magic works, right? He probably never asked the kind of question Reece did."
Harry wasn't sure what to say at first. Asking Ron when the hell he got so smart seemed a little rude. "Why did you think of that?" he said instead.
Ron shrugged. "Got to thinking about Hermione."
"But Hermione's muggle born and she never wondered about changing magic like that."
"Hermione learned everything about magic out of books," Ron corrected. "If it's in a book, it's real to her. That's the way it goes. Reece is more like you."
Harry stumbled over the grass. "What about me?" he demanded.
"Magic works weird for you," Ron said, going bright red. "You're really good at some things, like Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, but bad at other things."
"You're completely mental!"
"You're missing my point!" Ron shouted. "Would you have been like that if you'd grown up in the wizarding world? Harry, you made a Patronus in third year, that's NEWT level magic!"
"There were Dementors after me! I had to learn it!"
"You shouldn't have been able to! And look at what you did this year with your Animagus!" Ron brought his voice low. "I know you said it was because of what happened in St. Louis, but did you ever think that it just happened because of this?"
Ron had put too much thought into this, and it was making Harry uncomfortable. "Look, doing a few spots of difficult magic has nothing to do with how I was raised," he said firmly. "It also has nothing to do with Reece's messing up that spell so spectacularly. So drop it!"
"Are you talking about me?" Reece asked, popping up at Harry's side. "Why?"
"Because you're so interesting," Harry said.
The boy stuck out his tongue. "I heard that the Auror lady ate some bad eggs at breakfast yesterday and her head swole up and her toes turned green."
"Where did you hear that?" Harry demanded as they started down the steps.
"Around. Is it true?"
"No, it's not true." Then Harry reconsidered. He couldn't very well tell the boy what really happened to Tonks, but he might be able to spread a bit of misinformation to change the rumours. "She ate something that was bad for her, but she's going to be fine."
"Good." Reece hopped along. "Is she going to be in the infirmary for long?"
"Don't know."
"Maybe you should take her flowers," Reece said. "When my mum was in hospital, my da took her flowers and she was happy."
Privately, Harry wondered what Tonks would say if she knew an eleven-year-old werewolf had a crush on her. "Yeah, she might like flowers," he said.
"Good." Reece jumped down the last step. "Are we going to be bothering Mr. Hagrid?"
"Nah, Hagrid likes it when we come by," Ron said. "And if he offers us tea, just nod and smile."
The hut door swung open, and Hagrid lumbered out, carrying a big bucket in his hand. "Hey, you there!" he called, waving. "Come t' see me?"
Harry had barely opened his mouth to respond when Fang tore out of the hut, barking his head off. He raced over the grass, straight for Harry and Reece.
Not thinking, Harry grabbed Reece by the shoulder and pulled the boy behind him. He planted his feet and drew himself up to his full height. "Fang, stop!"
The enormous boarhound pulled himself up a few feet from Harry, growling. Behind him, Harry could feel Reece's beast responding to the threat.
"That's enough!" Harry exclaimed, to both Fang and Reece. He glared at Fang until the dog stopped growling, and ducked his head. Harry squeezed Reece's shoulder, and after a tense moment, the boy relaxed against Harry, gripping Harry's robes hard.
Hagrid bounded up the hill, moving remarkably fast for someone so large. "Fang, what're ye doin'?"
"We're fine, Hagrid," Harry said, watching Fang to make sure the dog's act of submission was genuine. "We just wanted to come down to see you, and brought Reece along."
The boy crept out from behind Harry, watching Fang warily. "I'm sorry, sir," he said awkwardly. "I didn't know you had a dog."
"Why're ye sorry?" Hagrid asked, thumping a large hand against Fang's ribs. "He's usually not so loud. Sorry if he scared ye."
Harry walked over to Fang and held out his hand, hoping the smell of Reece on a familiar person would be enough to calm the dog. Fang sniffed Harry's palm, then licked him wetly. "Come here, Reece."
Looking as if he'd rather eat his quill, Reece edged over to the dog. He made some serious eye contact with the beast, then let the tension slump out of his shoulders. "Hi Fang."
Fang licked Reece's offered hand, then bent down to sniff his trainers.
Hagrid looked relieved. "Don't know what's up with 'im," he rumbled. "He ain't never done that with a student. Well, twice."
Harry really didn't want to know who those students were, and if Remus was one of those instances. The last thing they needed was Hagrid making the mental connection that Reece was a werewolf. "Hagrid, we thought we'd get some flowers for Tonks," he said quickly. "Know where we can look?"
"Flowers?" Hagrid repeated, surprised. "Yeah, there's a bunch o' wild flowers by the pumpkin patch. You going to get some for D--"
Ron coughed loudly, and luckily Hagrid shut up. Reece didn't seem to notice what Hagrid had been saying, he was too busy playing with Fang.
"Just some flowers for Tonks," Harry said. "Reece?"
"I'll get them!" the boy shouted, and ran toward the flowers growing wild against the fence, Fang in hot pursuit.
Once the boy was far enough away, Harry turned to Hagrid. "Have you heard anything about, um, you know?"
Hagrid shook his head. "Ain't heard nothing new. But that's good, right? He can't be gettin' worse."
"Hagrid's right, Harry," Ron said. "Come on, it's-- you know. He'll be fine."
Neither Ron nor Hagrid had seen the large hole in Dumbledore's chest, and Harry couldn't share their optimism. "He has to be," Harry said, half-wishing. No matter if the five of us figure out where to find the horcruxes and how to destroy them, what chance do we stand against Voldemort without Dumbledore?
Reece raced back over, a messy handful of flowers clenched in his fist. "Got them!" he exclaimed. "Let's go!"
"You can't go givin' 'em like that," Hagrid said kindly. "Got to tidy 'em up, make 'em look pretty."
"They are pretty," Reece countered. "I got her a bunch of daisies and some lupins."
"Some what?" Ron demanded.
"Lupins," Reece repeated patiently as he pointed at the alarmingly robust pink flowers. "That's what my mum calls them, and she should know."
"Why would she know?" Harry asked as Hagrid pulled a length of string out of his pocket and helped Reece bundle the flowers into a bouquet.
"She sat botany at Oxford!" Reece said proudly. "I did a project on flowers you can eat, at school last year, and she helped me." He held out his bouquet, and Harry obligingly admired it.
"Now, what's that?" Hagrid said, looking up the hill. "More visitors?"
Harry squinted up the hill, then pulled his glasses down to get a better look. When he finally figured out who was making his way down the hill, he let out a small growl.
"Who is it?" Reece demanded, instantly alert. "Is something wrong?"
Harry shook himself. "Nothing's wrong."
"So who's that?"
"That's the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour." Harry squared his shoulders. Why the hell was Scrimgeour doing at Hogwarts, so soon after Dumbledore had been hurt? Had he heard something was wrong?
"What's that?"
"What's that?" Ron demanded incredulously. "How do you not know what the Ministry of Magic is?"
"He's muggle born, Ron," Harry said, not really paying attention. " Scrimgeour is like the Prime Minister."
"Oh," Reece said, finally sounding awed. "Why is he here?" he asked as he edged closer to Harry
"I don't know."
The Minister of Magic strode down the steps on the slope, his limp barely slowing him down, followed closely by a strange Auror. When he spotted Harry, Scrimgeour gave a wave.
"Look, Reece, why don't you run on up to the hospital wing to see Tonks?" Harry suggested. "Now."
Reece gave him a look. "Okay," he sighed, then bolted up the slope, not bothering with the stairs.
"Ah, I remember being so energetic," Scrimgeour said as he came closer. "Harry Potter, just the boy I was looking for."
Fuck. Harry glanced at Ron, who only shrugged. He didn't know what was going on, either.
"You must be Ronald Weasley," Scrimgeour said, nodding at Ron. "Arthur's youngest boy?"
"Yes, sir, that's me," Ron said.
Scrimgeour turned to Hagrid. "And Rubeus Hagrid. I understand you're a teacher now?"
"Yeah," Hagrid said rather flatly. "Teachin' Care of Magical Creatures."
Scrimgeour nodded. "Well, Mr. Potter, may I have a few minutes of your time?"
Double fuck. Was there any way Harry could avoid this talk? He didn't want to talk to Scrimgeour at all, not with Dumbledore hurt.
However, he didn't seem to have many options. If he left Scrimgeour with Hagrid, the half-giant might let something slip about Dumbledore's injuries, and Harry couldn't think of a reason to have Ron come along for the talk.
"Sure," Harry said with all the joy of having detention.
"Hey, Harry, I'll run your stuff up to the castle," Ron said, holding out his hand. "Meet you at lunch?"
If Ron had been a girl, Harry might have kissed him. "Yeah, thanks," Harry said, handing his bag, which contained his notes on the Horcruxes, to Ron. The tiny metal box with the portkey to the Horcrux cavern was in his trousers pocket, but Harry wasn't letting that out of his sight for anything. "See you then."
Ron nodded sharply, then headed up the steps. Harry watched his friend for a moment, then his eyes slid back to Scrimgeour. "You wanted to talk, sir?"
Scrimgeour raised one bushy eyebrow, and indicated that Harry was to follow him. Hagrid waved goodbye as Harry followed the Minister up the slope.
Once they were on the flat part of the lawn, Scrimgeour waved his Auror away. "So, Harry," he said conversationally, "I hear I have you to thank for saving the life of one of my Aurors yesterday."
Harry bristled, not able to sense the trap, but knowing it was there, ready to snap closed on him. "Tonks really wasn't that bad," Harry lied, trying to remember if they had agreed upon any particular untruth for her injuries. If she was hurt bad enough to have her life in danger, she should have gone to St. Mungo's. She didn't, so I have to pretend it wasn't that bad. "Just food poisoning, I heard."
Scrimgeour's step never faltered. "Is that so?" he asked. "I wasn't aware that the Hogwarts house elves would ever serve bad eggs."
It seemed as if Scrimgeour had been listening to Reece's informant. "You'll have to talk with them."
"What I find interesting, Harry, is how Dumbledore is unavailable for consultation," Scrimgeour continued. Harry tensed. "According to Assistant Headmistress McGonagall, he is in the school but too busy to talk with me. Considering that one of the school's protectors was injured yesterday, I find that... interesting."
Fleetingly, Harry wondered if Scrimgeour was a Legilimens, and decided to slap up his mental Occlumency walls, just in case. "Dumbledore doesn't clear his calendar with me," Harry said, trying to sound politely puzzled. "I'm just a student."
"But you're not just a student, are you?" Scrimgeour asked, turning to face Harry. "Have you given any thought to what you're going to do after you write your NEWTs at the end of this year, Harry?"
Harry desperately wanted Scrimgeour to stop calling him by his first name, it was throwing him off. Which is probably his point. "No."
"No?" Scrimgeour's gaze bored into Harry. "I heard a rumour that you were considering becoming an Auror?"
There it was, Scrimgeour dangling Harry's dream in front of his eyes. But what was the cost? Harry suddenly felt sick, that Scrimgeour thought he could buy Harry's loyalty like this. "I'm not in Potions," Harry said, making every effort to stay calm, in control. His Occlumency was helping, but not enough. "I can't be an Auror without a Potions NEWT."
Scrimgeour inclined his head. "But there are other things you can do at the Ministry, if not as an Auror. Perhaps as a consultant?"
Harry slowly counted to ten in his head. This isn't getting me anywhere! "Why do you want me at the Ministry?" Harry asked. "What does it matter to you what I do at the end of this year?"
The corner of Scrimgeour's eye twitched. He regarded Harry for a long minute. "You're a symbol in our world," Scrimgeour finally said. "In the fight against Voldemort."
"And you want that symbol under your control," Harry said coldly. "It doesn't matter what I can do, or how well I can fight dark wizards."
"You won the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and your OWL results--"
"Cedric Diggory also won the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Harry interrupted. "Before he was murdered by Voldemort."
Scrimgeour clenched his jaw. "I'm offering you a chance to fight Voldemort, from inside the Ministry."
It would be so easy, to just give Scrimgeour the notes on the Horcruxes and let the Ministry deal with it. To have someone else take up the fight against Voldemort, to let Harry had a bit of a life.
It would be easy, but it would be so very wrong. The Ministry would never be able to comprehend the danger the Horcruxes posed, would never be able to mount a force in time to stop Voldemort. If they had, then Harry didn't doubt Dumbledore would already have gone to them.
"No."
Scrimgeour's glare grew hostile. "So you stay at Hogwarts? With Albus Dumbledore?"
"Albus Dumbledore has been fighting Voldemort for years," Harry said. "I'm staying here."
"Dumbledore's man until the end."
In that moment, Harry forgot all the doubts he'd ever had about Dumbledore. "There are worse things I could be," Harry said. He didn't finish the thought.
An air of anger began to gather around Scrimgeour. "Where is Dumbledore, Harry?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do." Scrimgeour leaned a fraction closer. "I think something has happened, and that by not telling the Ministry, both you and Dumbledore are placing everyone in this school, all these children, at risk."
"Dumbledore would never put anyone in this school in danger!" Harry exclaimed.
The unmistakable beginnings of the anger on Scrimgeour's face were wiped away when from across the lawn came the call, "Minister!"
Harry whirled around. It was Dumbledore, and he was walking toward them.
What? How? Harry could only stare. It was Dumbledore all right, standing upright and striding like he hadn't a care in the world. When the man drew near enough, Harry breathed in deeply. There was no smell of polyjuice, nor the girl smell that Tonks hadn't been able to mask. This person smelled like Dumbledore. How could he be better?
"Rufus, I hear you have been looking for me?" Dumbledore asked, stopping beside Harry. He laid one thin hand on Harry's shoulder in warning. "Terribly sorry, I was unavoidably detained."
Scrimgeour narrowed his eyes.
"Harry, will you please excuse us, the Minister and I have much to discuss." Dumbledore said. "I'll speak with you later."
"Okay," Harry muttered, even though it was anything but okay. How the hell was Dumbledore standing upright and looking so merry? Giving Dumbledore one last look, Harry walked away.
~*~
"So he just walked over?" Ron asked, shaking his head. "I knew he'd be up and around in no time!"
"You don't understand, Ron, he was hurt too badly for that!" Harry protested. He bit savagely into his sandwich. "I wasn't supposed to let anyone know he was hurt, because if they knew, then the Ministry might come take over the school! So the Minster of Magic shows up, and all of a sudden Dumbledore's better?"
"If it keeps the Ministry out of Hogwarts, then fine," Ron said with a shudder. "You remember how bad it was with Umbridge here?"
Out of nowhere, Luna appeared and sat on the grass next to Harry. "Why are you talking about her?" she asked, pulling her robe primly over her ankles.
Scrimgeour forgotten, Harry stared at Luna. "Are you all right?" he asked urgently. "You're fine, right?"
Luna looked at him with amusement for a moment, but then the expression changed to worry. "The Minister didn't put a Tannite in your head, did he?"
"A what?"
"A Tannite," Luna repeated. "It's a tiny creature that lives in your ear and controls your thoughts. Are your ears safe?"
Ron cracked up. "She's fine, mate."
Harry punched Ron in the arm. "Shut it." He turned back to Luna. "But you're really all right? And how did you know I was talking to the Minister?"
"Ron told Ginny before lunch, and Ginny told me," Luna explained, unwrapping her lunch of half a sandwich and an apple. "They'd be out here right now, but Ginny wanted to talk to Hermione about something."
"About what?" Ron asked with interest.
"They didn't tell me." Luna took a tiny bite of apple. "They said they would be along shortly."
Harry frowned down at his roast beef sandwich. "This has been a very strange morning."
"With Scrimgeour?" Ron asked through a mouthful.
"Yeah. He knew Tonks had been hurt, and I don't think he bought the food poisoning thing."
"But she was poisoned with food," Luna reminded them. "I spend some time this morning in class thinking about that."
"What about it?"
"We decided yesterday that whoever poisoned Tonks, thinking it was the Headmaster, chose yesterday morning because Professor Snape had left the castle," Luna said.
"Yeah, and we couldn't figure who it was," Ron said.
Luna nodded. "I think it was a Slytherin."
Harry froze mid-chew.
"Students from other houses wouldn't necessarily know he was gone, on a weekend," Luna continued. "And I don't think a teacher or another adult, like an Auror, would try poisoning him in the Great Hall. They could just as easily do it in the staff room, or in his office, or some place where Dumbledore wouldn't be easy to find."
Ron's jaw was hanging open. "Wow," he said weakly. "Better be careful to treat her right, Harry, so she won't poison you in the night."
Harry turned on Ron, ready to yell at him, but Luna stopped him by laughing. "I wouldn't poison anyone," she said.
"You wouldn't?"
Luna shook her head, her face losing its smile. "I can't imagine I would ever be so afraid of someone that I would poison them."
"Afraid? You mean hatred, right?"
"No, I mean afraid," Luna said, looking up as Ginny and Hermione sat down on the grass. "If I hated someone, I would attack them to their face. If I poisoned someone, it would be because I was afraid."
Ginny gave Luna a quick sideways hug. "I can think of someone I'd like to poison," she said darkly.
"I don't want to talk about him," Luna said.
"Of course," Ginny said.
Hermione gave Ron and Harry a questioning look. Ron mouthed something to her, that looked to Harry like 'Corner'. An understanding expression crossed Hermione's face.
"So, um, what Slytherin would try and kill Dumbledore?" Ron asked into the awkward silence. "More importantly, why?"
"Voldemort?" Harry suggested. "Can you think of another reason?"
"How many have of the Slytherins have parents who are Death Eaters?" Ron asked.
"Oh, we can't go by that!" Ginny exclaimed. "It's not an inherited title! Remember Wormtail?"
"Oh, you mean the rat that spent years in our house? Who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort? Yeah, Ginny, I faintly remember him!" Ron shouted, ignoring Hermione as she tried to hold him still.
"Don't get mad at me!" Ginny yelled back. "I'm trying to tell you that it could be any of them!"
The siblings glared at each other.
"Unless we have any more information on who tried to kill Dumbledore, I have something to say about the Horcruxes," Hermione said tentatively
"What's that?" Harry asked, eager to have Ron and Ginny stop fighting.
"I think I know what the fifth Horcrux might be."
Harry stopped breathing for a moment. "You what?" he squeaked.
Hermione pulled a roll of parchment out of her bag. "It's not in the notes on the spell," she said nervously as she unrolled the parchment. Harry could see that it was the original of Dumbledore's notes, not one of the copies Hermione had made. "It's in this mess, here."
Everyone crowded around to look at the tiny scribbles on the edge of the parchment. Words were written in spidery handwriting, some crossed out or written over. "How can you make any of that out?" Ron asked, squinting.
"With this." Hermione pointed her wand at the words and spoke the words to an unfamiliar spell. A few of the words glowed gold, making it easy to read. "I found it in the library to help with the notes I made in preparation for our OWLs."
Harry took off his glasses and knelt in the grass to read the glowing words. "Ravenclaw... cherry and unicorn hair... Ollivander." He frowned. "What does that mean?"
"Don't you see?" Hermione exclaimed. "Cherry wood and unicorn hair are two things you find in a wand! It must have been Rowena Ravenclaw's wand, made of cherry and unicorn hair, and Ollivander must have had it before he vanished!"
"Are you sure that's what that means?" Ron asked. "Dumbledore might have been talking about something else entirely."
Hermione sat back and glared at Ron. "Because you have a better idea of what the fifth Horcrux is?"
"She's right, it's the best thing we have to go on," Harry said quickly, to diffuse a fight between his friends. "But how the hell are we going to find out? Ollivander's been gone for a while now."
"If it was Ravenclaw's wand, Ollivander must have either hidden it or taken it with him," Ginny mused. "Even if it wasn't the Horcrux, the wand of a Hogwarts founder would be a great treasure."
"We need to find out," Harry said.
"How?" Luna asked. "We can't leave Hogwarts, and if we ask anyone else, there is the risk that someone will learn what we are doing."
"So we need someone to look for us." Harry bit his lip. Remus was still undercover with the werewolves, Tonks was out of commission, and asking any of the adults in the Order of the Phoenix would be a bad idea. Unless... "Are the twins still in their Diagon Alley shop?"
Ron looked surprised. "I guess."
"They are," Ginny said. "Mum sent me a letter yesterday with family stuff in it. They're in Diagon Alley all week."
"Do you think we can ask them?" Harry looked expectantly at Ron and Ginny. "They're already in Diagon Alley, no one's going to wonder if they are poking into things, it's what they do. And we can trust them!"
Ron rubbed at his cheek, thinking hard. "Yeah, I say we can," he finally said.
"Exactly," Ginny agreed. "But if you ask them this, you're going to have to tell them it all."
"Fine," Harry said.
"I don't know..." Hermione looked helplessly at Ron. "I'm sorry, but it's the twins!"
"They're wicked smart," Ginny snapped, quick to defend her brothers. "They're sneaky and loyal and they'd help us stop Voldemort in a heartbeat, you know that!"
"They would," Ron said quietly, putting his arm around Hermione. "And Harry's right, they're already in Diagon Alley."
"I'll send them an owl," Harry said, digging in his bag for parchment. "Just ask them to look around."
Hermione, of course, objected to this course of events. After much discussion, Harry wrote the note and Hermione charmed it so only a Weasley could read it.
"That sort of spell borders on blood magic," Luna pointed out as Hermione finished the spell.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Hermione said, her voice high and defensive.
Luna shrugged gracefully. "I don't disagree.”
Harry held the parchment up. "I'll send this to Fred and George, and we'll see what they can find."
"I'm still not sure this is a wise idea," Hermione confessed. "What if someone intercepts the letter and only finds a blank piece of paper?"
They hadn't thought of that. Ginny solved the problem by plucking the paper out of Harry's hand and scrawling a quick note on the surface. "There," she said as she handed it back to Harry.
"What's a Tongue Twister?" Harry asked, taking a quick look before folding the paper up.
"New product," Ron said. "You eat it, and you start talking in rhyme for about an hour. It's right annoying, that is."
"And they taste like strawberry," Ginny added blithely. "Come on, Luna, let's go owl this."
"Shouldn't I--" Harry began.
"No, you shouldn't," Ginny interrupted. She softened the order with a smile. "It'd look rather shifty, you sending a letter from me to my brothers." With a giggle, she ran toward the castle, Luna right behind her.
"Things certainly do move quickly when those two are around," Hermione muttered.
"I have to go find Dumbledore," Harry said abruptly. "Scrimgeour has to be gone by now, and I have to make sure Dumbledore's all right."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head. "I don't even know if he'll see me. You two shouldn't waste your time. I'll be back in a bit."
He was on his feet and about to head off, which something hit him. I'm an idiot, he told himself. "Hey, Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"That was brilliant work, with the Horcruxes and the wand and all that."
Hermione flushed, a grin spreading across her face. "Thank you."
Harry grinned back, then took off across the grass for the castle.
~*~
"Why are you so down?" Ginny asked Harry that night in the Gryffindor common room.
Harry dragged his gaze up from his homework. "Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me see Dumbledore, and all she told me was that he was making progress," he said in a low voice. "And we haven't heard from the twins, and there's a Slytherin in this school who's trying to kill everyone, and I've got this stupid Magical Creatures essay due tomorrow and I'm not anywhere near being done!"
Ginny gave him a sympathetic smile as she reached across the table to pat his hand. The light touch was like a lightening bolt across his skin, and Harry had to shift uncomfortably in his chair.
"You'll be fine," Ginny said. "You usually are."
"But not like this," Harry protested. "Before, there was a point to doing my homework, but now I don't even know if I'll live long enough to take my NEWTs-- Ouch!"
Ginny's grip had tightened painfully on his hand. When he cried out, she let him go. "Don't say that!" she said fiercely. "That is not going to happen!"
"Ginny--"
"Shut up!" She sat back in her chair and glared down at her Potions homework, ignoring Harry.
Harry looked around the common room, to see almost everyone watching their little fight with interest. A good many people hastily tried to look busy as Harry glared at them.
Harry went back to his essay. How the hell was he supposed to know why an Augurey's quills repelled ink?
"Oy, Ginny!" Seamus called across the room. "Ain't that your owl out there?"
Craning his neck around, Harry saw tiny Pigwidgeon, Ron and Ginny's owl, perched on the edge of the windowsill, tapping at the glass with his miniature beak.
Ginny scrambled up and jumped over a few students on the floor, ignoring their protests. Within seconds, she had opened the window and grabbed Pig, then snatched the tiny roll of parchment out of his claw.
"Here," said a nearby second year with a cat on his lap. He held out his hand. "Try this."
"You can't give an owl cat treats!" another kid interrupted.
"It's an owl treat!"
"You're feeding your cat owl treats?"
"I just tell him they're made of real owls, he doesn't know the difference!"
Shaking her head, Ginny tossed Pig back out into the night and shut the window. She tried to be calm as she walked back across the room to Harry, but he could see the tiny vibrations of excitement in her hands.
"Look at this," she murmured as she sat back down and tossed the parchment on Harry's essay.
Harry flattened the note on the table, and began to read.
Dearest sister, of course we would love to deliver to you a sample of Tongue Twisters. In light of your interest, we'll only charge you the employee rate--
Harry looked up. "They charge you for their stuff?" he demanded incredulously.
She nodded. "What do you expect? They're in business."
Grumbling, Harry went back to the note.
-- as well as throw in a complimentary sample of the new Christmas line, but only if you use them at school as advertising.
We would be happy to deliver the package to you in person in Hogsmeade, next Sunday. Don't be late! We'll have so much to tell you.
Love,
Fred and George.
PS: May as well invite Ron alone, elsewise he'll whine.
"Did they get my message?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Of course they did," Ginny said, taking back the note. "They didn't say they 'have' a lot to tell us, they said they 'will' have a lot to say!"
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"And even if they don't, we can get them to buy us tea in Hogsmeade," Ginny continued.
"Are you sure there's a Hogsmeade weekend?" Harry asked. "I haven't heard anything."
"McGonagall told us at dinner on Sunday, when you weren't there." Ginny gave him an odd sideways glance. "We can go like last time."
It took Harry a moment to figure out what she was talking about. "You mean, you and me and Luna?"
Ginny nodded.
Harry tried very hard to sound nonchalant as he asked, "Have you talked to Luna about... you know, stuff?"
"If you mean the diary, then yes," Ginny said, concentrating very hard on her book. "I can't... I mean, I'm not like that. We talked about that."
"Are you two okay?" Harry blurted out, even though he knew it was a silly question. Ginny and Luna had been acting like normal around each other all day.
"Yeah." Ginny gave him another odd look. "We've still got a lot in common, though, so we're going to keep on like this."
Harry desperately wanted to know what Ginny was talking about, what it was that she and Luna had in common, but before he could ask, Jack Sloper came over to ask Harry about Quidditch practices.
When Harry finally got rid of Sloper, Ginny had gone up to bed. Harry stared at her empty seat for a long time.
It's not fair! he railed. I finally find someone who might be my girlfriend... well, two someones, and I've got Voldemort after me on one side and the Ministry on the other! I can't ever be normal!
Well, he'd be as normal as he could. In between working on the Horcruxes and going to class and Quidditch, Harry vowed he'd spend time with Luna and Ginny, doing whatever it was that a boy did with girls.
Only problem was, Harry wasn't sure what the hell that was.
to be continued...
by Mhalachai
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. J.K. Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. Only the story is my own.
Note: This chapter is for iamabee_buzz, who is awesome and might need a bit of a pick-me-up this week. Two things are made clear in this chapter to those people who have read Half Blood Prince, even if it's not clear to our protagonists. 7,659 words.
Previous parts here.
~~~~~~~
"He did what?" Harry's appalled words echoed through the library, earning him glares from the surrounding students, but Harry didn't care.
Ron rubbed the back of his neck, not looking at Harry. "Look, Harry--"
"Don't you dare 'look Harry' me!" Harry hissed. "You can't sit there and tell me that Michael Corner told Luna he was going to blackmail her about her diary by making her do things, and not expect me to be a bit upset!"
He sat back in his chair, wishing Corner was there so he could wring the little bastard's neck. He spotted Madame Pince swooping toward them, and quickly grabbed his books off the table. Ron scrambled to his feet at the same time and followed Harry's sprint out of the library.
Madame Pince closed the library doors behind them with a thump. Harry made a rude gesture at the closed door, then continued running down the hall, just in case the librarian could see through solid oak.
Ron dragged Harry down a hidden staircase that opened into the old rose gardens. The enforced walk bled away most of Harry's hot anger, leaving in its place a much more dangerous resolve. According to Ron, Corner had tracked down Luna on the same morning that Dumbledore was hurt, and said horrible things to her.
Isn't it bad enough that he told Ginny about Luna's diary? Harry thought furiously. Ron said that Corner said he would have made Luna do things other than his homework, and he wasn't talking about cleaning his shoes! Even the though of Corner laying a hand on Luna, groping at her, made Harry sick to his stomach.
Ron put his hand on Harry's arm and tried to push him over to a stone bench. "Harry, sit--" Ron broke off abruptly as Harry whirled on him, knocking his hand away. Whatever Ron saw in Harry's face made him take a step back. "Harry, you need to calm down."
Harry dropped his book bag to the ground, kicking it to the side. "I'm not going to fucking calm down, Ron! You told me what Corner was going to do to Luna--"
"Did you hear me when I told you that Luna stood up for herself?" Ron demanded. "She stood up to him! You know how good she is at hexes and stuff, she'd turn Corner into sludge before he could touch her!"
"That's not the fucking point!" Harry shouted. "She shouldn't have to deal with any of this!"
"She told Flitwick, remember?" Ron shoved Harry down on the bench. "I've never seen him so mad, Harry, it was downright scary."
Harry buried his head in his hands. "Damn it, Ron, I need to do something, I can't just let him-- I have to do something! What would you do if it was Hermione?"
Ron took his time in answering, although Harry stared at him expectantly. "I know Hermione would be able to take care of herself," Ron finally said, "But I'd probably hurt him myself."
"So you know what I'm talking about!"
"Yeah." Ron looked out at the rose bushes, a few hardy petals clinging to the dying wood. "Have you told Ginny?"
"You told me she already knows," Harry replied. "Frankly, I'm surprised that she hasn't hung Corner up from the ceiling herself."
"I'm not talking about that."
Harry frowned. "Then what are you talking about?"
Ron's face was getting red. "I mean about you and Luna."
Harry blinked a few times before Ron's meaning sunk in. "What about me and Luna?" he demanded coldly.
Squaring his rather broad shoulders, Ron said, "You're acting like she's your girlfriend, but last week you were acting like Ginny was your girlfriend. I know you're my best friend, but Ginny's my sister and if you do anything to hurt her, I'll... I'll have to..."
Harry's heart sank. How was he going to explain his relationship with Luna and Ginny to Ron, when he didn't understand it himself? "I'm not going to hurt Ginny," he said hesitantly.
"Yes, you are!" Ron exclaimed, springing up off the bench. "You can't change girlfriends like that, like they're interchangeable! People aren't like that!"
"They know, okay?" Harry burst out. "They both know what's going on, so it's not like anyone's keeping secrets!"
Ron gaped at him, rather like a fish. "That's..."
"That's what, Ron?" Harry demanded. He remembered what Luna said about the wizarding world's opinion of girls who liked other girls. If Ron was going to be like that, Harry was going to hit him, friend or not.
As Harry watched, Ron swallowed hard. "That's good, then."
Stomach unclenching, Harry slowly got off the bench. "I'm not sure what's going to happen, but above everything else, Ginny's my friend. Nothing's going to change that."
"Good," Ron said awkwardly. He handed Harry his school bag, not making eye contact. "You're Luna's friend too, right?" Harry gave a stiff nod. "Then that's all right."
Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of that cryptic pronouncement, and to fill the silence he rooted through his bag, looking for something to eat. "So, um, are we going to go back to the library?"
"Do we have to?" Ron pushed his hair back from his face, making it stand up on end. "The girls are in class, and I can't go looking through books for information on horcruxes that's not there any more. And you can't tell me you're having any more luck with Dumbledore's notes."
"I'm not." By common consent, Hermione had made five copies of Dumbledore's notes on the spell to destroy the horcruxes, for everyone to work on in their spare time, and bespelled the parchment to change into an old History of Magic essay if anyone but the five of them looked at the notes. It was an impressive combination of spells, and Harry had noticed Luna looking at Hermione with a great deal of respect after that spell.
"Then let's go see Hagrid," Ron said. "Just forget about the horcruxes for a little while."
They didn't have a little while, and Ron knew that. There had been no word on Dumbledore, Tonks was in the hospital wing recovering from the poisoning, and Harry still had no idea who had tried to kill Dumbledore. Even thinking about it made Harry bone-weary. "Yeah, let's go see Hagrid."
The gate on the rose garden was rusty and squeaked when Ron pushed it open, letting them out onto the Hogwarts lawn. A few students sat on the lawn, taking advantage of the clear but chill weather.
"Hey," Ron said halfway down the slope. "Is that Reece?"
Harry looked where Ron was pointing. "Yeah, it is. Come on." Harry veered toward where the little Hufflepuff werewolf was sitting in the lee of a large oak tree. "Hey, Reece."
Reece looked up for a moment. His eyes were puffy, as if he'd been crying, and his jaw was set stubbornly. "Hi."
"Where are your friends?" Harry wanted to kick himself the moment the words were out of his mouth, as Reece's face threatened to crumple. After a moment, the boy pulled himself back together.
"They had something else to do."
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. "What are you doing?" Ron asked, pointing at the black quill in Reece's lap.
Reece pulled back on himself a little, ducking his head shyly. "You've met my friend Ron, right?" Harry said, sitting on the ground, motioning to Ron to do the same. "You met him on the train."
Reece nodded, glancing sideways at Harry. When Harry smiled encouragingly, Reece's face broke into a huge grin. "I do."
"Good, I'd hate to think I was forgettable," Ron grumbled. Reece grinned wider. "So, did you break your quill?"
Reece shook his head, picking up the quill from his lap. "I wanted to practice the transfiguration spell we got taught in class, but it's not working."
"What are you trying to change it into?" Harry asked, taking the quill from Reece and running his fingers over the feather. It smelled faintly of the sky, and Harry wondered where on earth Reece had found a raven-feather quill.
"A paintbrush."
"Oh, I remember that one!" Ron exclaimed. "Go on, try again, we'll see what you're doing wrong."
As tactless as Ron's comment was, Reece obliged by setting the quill on the ground. His forehead furrowed in concentration, he spoke the incantation and waved his wand. The feather didn't even twitch.
"See?" Reece stabbed his wand at the feather in disgust. "Nothing!"
"You're saying the spell wrong," Ron said. "You're saying the last word like 'lee'. It has to be like 'lay'."
"Why?"
"Because that's the spell."
"But why does that matter?"
"I, uh..." Ron looked lost, so Harry stepped in.
"It's just the way it's done. It's the spell, if you say it a different way, something different will happen."
"But why?" Reece demanded. "The teachers say the magic's in us, that we're the magical ones, and our wands just channel that. What does it matter how I say the spell when my magic's going to be what's important."
Harry closed his mouth. He hadn't ever thought about it that way before. Reece had a point, one that Harry had no idea how to address. "That's just the way it is."
Reece rolled his eyes. "Adults always say that and it just means they don't know," he said scathingly. "The people around here say that lycanthropy is magic, but it's not, it's a preternatural disease and it's got rules. There aren't any rules on magic!"
The boy's soft Welsh accent danced over the large words as if they were nothing, making Harry even more impressed. When he was Reece's age, he hadn't ever heard the word 'preternatural'. But then, if his whole life was centered around being a werewolf, he might have been able to spout off knowledgeably. "There are rules here," Harry said weakly.
"But there shouldn't be," Reece protested.
"Vampires!" Harry exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "They're magic, and their power is constrained by rules."
Reece's eyebrows shot up. "So I can't do this spell because of vampire magic?"
"Stop being daft," Harry said. "You know what? You're going to talk to Hermione, the Head Girl, and she'll explain exactly why you need to say the spell right."
Reece let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine."
"Now try the spell again, and say it right," Harry ordered.
Aiming his wand once more, Reece tried the spell. Even though he said the incantation perfectly, the feather didn't change. "Bugger."
Harry ignored the swearing child, and picked up the feather. "Where did you get this?" he asked, bringing it close to his nose. Under the feather smell lingered a faint familiar smell.
"I borrowed it from a third year in my house," Reece said. "I didn't have any quills at the start of the year, only pens from my mum."
Harry lifted his eyes to meet Ron's puzzled stare, and something clicked in his head. Now he remembered why the smell was familiar. "Hold on." Harry set the quill on the ground and pulled out his own wand. How did that spell go again? Harry pointed his wand at the feather and said, "I'm bored."
In the wink of an eye, the quill expanded outwards and became a whole, live raven. Reece squealed and scrambled back against the tree. "What is that?" he demanded.
"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed. "It's one of the twin's trick quills!"
"Ron's brothers have a joke shop in Diagon Alley," Harry explained to Reece. "They brought out a line of in-class pranks for last Christmas. This," he indicated the puzzled-looking bird, "Was one of them."
"They made live animals into quills?" Reece sounded horrified.
"No, not at all," Harry said. He reached out and carefully picked up the bird around the middle. It looked around, but didn't try to fly off or peck at Harry's hands. "It's just a raven feather, but it's enchanted to be transfigured into a bird and pretend to be alive. It's not alive. Smell it."
Very slowly, Reece crawled toward Harry and the bird, sniffing the air. He smiled, a little shakily. "I guess it's cool."
"You should have seen the pig line," Ron said. "Our mum chased a three-hundred-pound sow out of the kitchen and almost walloped the twins into next year."
Reece giggled as Harry set the raven down and said, "I'm busy." The bird changed back into a feather quill and fluttered to the ground.
"There's your problem right there," Ron told Reece, digging in Harry's bag for another quill. "You can't transfigure something that's already under a transfiguration charm, not at your level. Try this."
Reece tried the transfiguration spell on Harry's quill. It changed into a paintbrush easily, and he clapped. "Thanks!"
"No problem," Harry said. "Hey, want to see Hagrid?"
"He's the gamekeeper, right?" Reece said, jumping to his feet with a werewolf's grace. "Yeah, that'd be really cool."
Ron and Harry stood and the three of them began to walk across the lawn toward Hagrid's hut, Reece chattering in restored good humour. After a minute, he spotted something and darted away.
"Harry?"
"Ron."
"You noticed the kid used the wrong incantation and the wrong hand movement on that spell, right?"
"I noticed."
"Why?"
"Maybe he expected it work like that?"
"Or maybe it's something to do with what he is."
Harry shot Ron a warning glare. "This isn't because he's a werewolf. Remus was a werewolf at this age, and you don't see him doing weird spells."
"But Remus wanted to fit in, didn't he?"
Harry spun around. "What the hell does that mean?"
Ron kept walking. "It means none of his friends, like your dad or Sirius or-- or anyone knew he was a werewolf. If he could do different magic to start with, would he have kept it up?"
"But then how is Reece doing it?"
Ron gestured helplessly with his hands. "Both Reece's folks are muggles, right?"
Technically, his father was a werewolf, but that wasn't really any business of Ron's. "Yes."
"Remus's folks were magical. He grew up seeing how magic works, right? He probably never asked the kind of question Reece did."
Harry wasn't sure what to say at first. Asking Ron when the hell he got so smart seemed a little rude. "Why did you think of that?" he said instead.
Ron shrugged. "Got to thinking about Hermione."
"But Hermione's muggle born and she never wondered about changing magic like that."
"Hermione learned everything about magic out of books," Ron corrected. "If it's in a book, it's real to her. That's the way it goes. Reece is more like you."
Harry stumbled over the grass. "What about me?" he demanded.
"Magic works weird for you," Ron said, going bright red. "You're really good at some things, like Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, but bad at other things."
"You're completely mental!"
"You're missing my point!" Ron shouted. "Would you have been like that if you'd grown up in the wizarding world? Harry, you made a Patronus in third year, that's NEWT level magic!"
"There were Dementors after me! I had to learn it!"
"You shouldn't have been able to! And look at what you did this year with your Animagus!" Ron brought his voice low. "I know you said it was because of what happened in St. Louis, but did you ever think that it just happened because of this?"
Ron had put too much thought into this, and it was making Harry uncomfortable. "Look, doing a few spots of difficult magic has nothing to do with how I was raised," he said firmly. "It also has nothing to do with Reece's messing up that spell so spectacularly. So drop it!"
"Are you talking about me?" Reece asked, popping up at Harry's side. "Why?"
"Because you're so interesting," Harry said.
The boy stuck out his tongue. "I heard that the Auror lady ate some bad eggs at breakfast yesterday and her head swole up and her toes turned green."
"Where did you hear that?" Harry demanded as they started down the steps.
"Around. Is it true?"
"No, it's not true." Then Harry reconsidered. He couldn't very well tell the boy what really happened to Tonks, but he might be able to spread a bit of misinformation to change the rumours. "She ate something that was bad for her, but she's going to be fine."
"Good." Reece hopped along. "Is she going to be in the infirmary for long?"
"Don't know."
"Maybe you should take her flowers," Reece said. "When my mum was in hospital, my da took her flowers and she was happy."
Privately, Harry wondered what Tonks would say if she knew an eleven-year-old werewolf had a crush on her. "Yeah, she might like flowers," he said.
"Good." Reece jumped down the last step. "Are we going to be bothering Mr. Hagrid?"
"Nah, Hagrid likes it when we come by," Ron said. "And if he offers us tea, just nod and smile."
The hut door swung open, and Hagrid lumbered out, carrying a big bucket in his hand. "Hey, you there!" he called, waving. "Come t' see me?"
Harry had barely opened his mouth to respond when Fang tore out of the hut, barking his head off. He raced over the grass, straight for Harry and Reece.
Not thinking, Harry grabbed Reece by the shoulder and pulled the boy behind him. He planted his feet and drew himself up to his full height. "Fang, stop!"
The enormous boarhound pulled himself up a few feet from Harry, growling. Behind him, Harry could feel Reece's beast responding to the threat.
"That's enough!" Harry exclaimed, to both Fang and Reece. He glared at Fang until the dog stopped growling, and ducked his head. Harry squeezed Reece's shoulder, and after a tense moment, the boy relaxed against Harry, gripping Harry's robes hard.
Hagrid bounded up the hill, moving remarkably fast for someone so large. "Fang, what're ye doin'?"
"We're fine, Hagrid," Harry said, watching Fang to make sure the dog's act of submission was genuine. "We just wanted to come down to see you, and brought Reece along."
The boy crept out from behind Harry, watching Fang warily. "I'm sorry, sir," he said awkwardly. "I didn't know you had a dog."
"Why're ye sorry?" Hagrid asked, thumping a large hand against Fang's ribs. "He's usually not so loud. Sorry if he scared ye."
Harry walked over to Fang and held out his hand, hoping the smell of Reece on a familiar person would be enough to calm the dog. Fang sniffed Harry's palm, then licked him wetly. "Come here, Reece."
Looking as if he'd rather eat his quill, Reece edged over to the dog. He made some serious eye contact with the beast, then let the tension slump out of his shoulders. "Hi Fang."
Fang licked Reece's offered hand, then bent down to sniff his trainers.
Hagrid looked relieved. "Don't know what's up with 'im," he rumbled. "He ain't never done that with a student. Well, twice."
Harry really didn't want to know who those students were, and if Remus was one of those instances. The last thing they needed was Hagrid making the mental connection that Reece was a werewolf. "Hagrid, we thought we'd get some flowers for Tonks," he said quickly. "Know where we can look?"
"Flowers?" Hagrid repeated, surprised. "Yeah, there's a bunch o' wild flowers by the pumpkin patch. You going to get some for D--"
Ron coughed loudly, and luckily Hagrid shut up. Reece didn't seem to notice what Hagrid had been saying, he was too busy playing with Fang.
"Just some flowers for Tonks," Harry said. "Reece?"
"I'll get them!" the boy shouted, and ran toward the flowers growing wild against the fence, Fang in hot pursuit.
Once the boy was far enough away, Harry turned to Hagrid. "Have you heard anything about, um, you know?"
Hagrid shook his head. "Ain't heard nothing new. But that's good, right? He can't be gettin' worse."
"Hagrid's right, Harry," Ron said. "Come on, it's-- you know. He'll be fine."
Neither Ron nor Hagrid had seen the large hole in Dumbledore's chest, and Harry couldn't share their optimism. "He has to be," Harry said, half-wishing. No matter if the five of us figure out where to find the horcruxes and how to destroy them, what chance do we stand against Voldemort without Dumbledore?
Reece raced back over, a messy handful of flowers clenched in his fist. "Got them!" he exclaimed. "Let's go!"
"You can't go givin' 'em like that," Hagrid said kindly. "Got to tidy 'em up, make 'em look pretty."
"They are pretty," Reece countered. "I got her a bunch of daisies and some lupins."
"Some what?" Ron demanded.
"Lupins," Reece repeated patiently as he pointed at the alarmingly robust pink flowers. "That's what my mum calls them, and she should know."
"Why would she know?" Harry asked as Hagrid pulled a length of string out of his pocket and helped Reece bundle the flowers into a bouquet.
"She sat botany at Oxford!" Reece said proudly. "I did a project on flowers you can eat, at school last year, and she helped me." He held out his bouquet, and Harry obligingly admired it.
"Now, what's that?" Hagrid said, looking up the hill. "More visitors?"
Harry squinted up the hill, then pulled his glasses down to get a better look. When he finally figured out who was making his way down the hill, he let out a small growl.
"Who is it?" Reece demanded, instantly alert. "Is something wrong?"
Harry shook himself. "Nothing's wrong."
"So who's that?"
"That's the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour." Harry squared his shoulders. Why the hell was Scrimgeour doing at Hogwarts, so soon after Dumbledore had been hurt? Had he heard something was wrong?
"What's that?"
"What's that?" Ron demanded incredulously. "How do you not know what the Ministry of Magic is?"
"He's muggle born, Ron," Harry said, not really paying attention. " Scrimgeour is like the Prime Minister."
"Oh," Reece said, finally sounding awed. "Why is he here?" he asked as he edged closer to Harry
"I don't know."
The Minister of Magic strode down the steps on the slope, his limp barely slowing him down, followed closely by a strange Auror. When he spotted Harry, Scrimgeour gave a wave.
"Look, Reece, why don't you run on up to the hospital wing to see Tonks?" Harry suggested. "Now."
Reece gave him a look. "Okay," he sighed, then bolted up the slope, not bothering with the stairs.
"Ah, I remember being so energetic," Scrimgeour said as he came closer. "Harry Potter, just the boy I was looking for."
Fuck. Harry glanced at Ron, who only shrugged. He didn't know what was going on, either.
"You must be Ronald Weasley," Scrimgeour said, nodding at Ron. "Arthur's youngest boy?"
"Yes, sir, that's me," Ron said.
Scrimgeour turned to Hagrid. "And Rubeus Hagrid. I understand you're a teacher now?"
"Yeah," Hagrid said rather flatly. "Teachin' Care of Magical Creatures."
Scrimgeour nodded. "Well, Mr. Potter, may I have a few minutes of your time?"
Double fuck. Was there any way Harry could avoid this talk? He didn't want to talk to Scrimgeour at all, not with Dumbledore hurt.
However, he didn't seem to have many options. If he left Scrimgeour with Hagrid, the half-giant might let something slip about Dumbledore's injuries, and Harry couldn't think of a reason to have Ron come along for the talk.
"Sure," Harry said with all the joy of having detention.
"Hey, Harry, I'll run your stuff up to the castle," Ron said, holding out his hand. "Meet you at lunch?"
If Ron had been a girl, Harry might have kissed him. "Yeah, thanks," Harry said, handing his bag, which contained his notes on the Horcruxes, to Ron. The tiny metal box with the portkey to the Horcrux cavern was in his trousers pocket, but Harry wasn't letting that out of his sight for anything. "See you then."
Ron nodded sharply, then headed up the steps. Harry watched his friend for a moment, then his eyes slid back to Scrimgeour. "You wanted to talk, sir?"
Scrimgeour raised one bushy eyebrow, and indicated that Harry was to follow him. Hagrid waved goodbye as Harry followed the Minister up the slope.
Once they were on the flat part of the lawn, Scrimgeour waved his Auror away. "So, Harry," he said conversationally, "I hear I have you to thank for saving the life of one of my Aurors yesterday."
Harry bristled, not able to sense the trap, but knowing it was there, ready to snap closed on him. "Tonks really wasn't that bad," Harry lied, trying to remember if they had agreed upon any particular untruth for her injuries. If she was hurt bad enough to have her life in danger, she should have gone to St. Mungo's. She didn't, so I have to pretend it wasn't that bad. "Just food poisoning, I heard."
Scrimgeour's step never faltered. "Is that so?" he asked. "I wasn't aware that the Hogwarts house elves would ever serve bad eggs."
It seemed as if Scrimgeour had been listening to Reece's informant. "You'll have to talk with them."
"What I find interesting, Harry, is how Dumbledore is unavailable for consultation," Scrimgeour continued. Harry tensed. "According to Assistant Headmistress McGonagall, he is in the school but too busy to talk with me. Considering that one of the school's protectors was injured yesterday, I find that... interesting."
Fleetingly, Harry wondered if Scrimgeour was a Legilimens, and decided to slap up his mental Occlumency walls, just in case. "Dumbledore doesn't clear his calendar with me," Harry said, trying to sound politely puzzled. "I'm just a student."
"But you're not just a student, are you?" Scrimgeour asked, turning to face Harry. "Have you given any thought to what you're going to do after you write your NEWTs at the end of this year, Harry?"
Harry desperately wanted Scrimgeour to stop calling him by his first name, it was throwing him off. Which is probably his point. "No."
"No?" Scrimgeour's gaze bored into Harry. "I heard a rumour that you were considering becoming an Auror?"
There it was, Scrimgeour dangling Harry's dream in front of his eyes. But what was the cost? Harry suddenly felt sick, that Scrimgeour thought he could buy Harry's loyalty like this. "I'm not in Potions," Harry said, making every effort to stay calm, in control. His Occlumency was helping, but not enough. "I can't be an Auror without a Potions NEWT."
Scrimgeour inclined his head. "But there are other things you can do at the Ministry, if not as an Auror. Perhaps as a consultant?"
Harry slowly counted to ten in his head. This isn't getting me anywhere! "Why do you want me at the Ministry?" Harry asked. "What does it matter to you what I do at the end of this year?"
The corner of Scrimgeour's eye twitched. He regarded Harry for a long minute. "You're a symbol in our world," Scrimgeour finally said. "In the fight against Voldemort."
"And you want that symbol under your control," Harry said coldly. "It doesn't matter what I can do, or how well I can fight dark wizards."
"You won the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and your OWL results--"
"Cedric Diggory also won the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Harry interrupted. "Before he was murdered by Voldemort."
Scrimgeour clenched his jaw. "I'm offering you a chance to fight Voldemort, from inside the Ministry."
It would be so easy, to just give Scrimgeour the notes on the Horcruxes and let the Ministry deal with it. To have someone else take up the fight against Voldemort, to let Harry had a bit of a life.
It would be easy, but it would be so very wrong. The Ministry would never be able to comprehend the danger the Horcruxes posed, would never be able to mount a force in time to stop Voldemort. If they had, then Harry didn't doubt Dumbledore would already have gone to them.
"No."
Scrimgeour's glare grew hostile. "So you stay at Hogwarts? With Albus Dumbledore?"
"Albus Dumbledore has been fighting Voldemort for years," Harry said. "I'm staying here."
"Dumbledore's man until the end."
In that moment, Harry forgot all the doubts he'd ever had about Dumbledore. "There are worse things I could be," Harry said. He didn't finish the thought.
An air of anger began to gather around Scrimgeour. "Where is Dumbledore, Harry?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do." Scrimgeour leaned a fraction closer. "I think something has happened, and that by not telling the Ministry, both you and Dumbledore are placing everyone in this school, all these children, at risk."
"Dumbledore would never put anyone in this school in danger!" Harry exclaimed.
The unmistakable beginnings of the anger on Scrimgeour's face were wiped away when from across the lawn came the call, "Minister!"
Harry whirled around. It was Dumbledore, and he was walking toward them.
What? How? Harry could only stare. It was Dumbledore all right, standing upright and striding like he hadn't a care in the world. When the man drew near enough, Harry breathed in deeply. There was no smell of polyjuice, nor the girl smell that Tonks hadn't been able to mask. This person smelled like Dumbledore. How could he be better?
"Rufus, I hear you have been looking for me?" Dumbledore asked, stopping beside Harry. He laid one thin hand on Harry's shoulder in warning. "Terribly sorry, I was unavoidably detained."
Scrimgeour narrowed his eyes.
"Harry, will you please excuse us, the Minister and I have much to discuss." Dumbledore said. "I'll speak with you later."
"Okay," Harry muttered, even though it was anything but okay. How the hell was Dumbledore standing upright and looking so merry? Giving Dumbledore one last look, Harry walked away.
~*~
"So he just walked over?" Ron asked, shaking his head. "I knew he'd be up and around in no time!"
"You don't understand, Ron, he was hurt too badly for that!" Harry protested. He bit savagely into his sandwich. "I wasn't supposed to let anyone know he was hurt, because if they knew, then the Ministry might come take over the school! So the Minster of Magic shows up, and all of a sudden Dumbledore's better?"
"If it keeps the Ministry out of Hogwarts, then fine," Ron said with a shudder. "You remember how bad it was with Umbridge here?"
Out of nowhere, Luna appeared and sat on the grass next to Harry. "Why are you talking about her?" she asked, pulling her robe primly over her ankles.
Scrimgeour forgotten, Harry stared at Luna. "Are you all right?" he asked urgently. "You're fine, right?"
Luna looked at him with amusement for a moment, but then the expression changed to worry. "The Minister didn't put a Tannite in your head, did he?"
"A what?"
"A Tannite," Luna repeated. "It's a tiny creature that lives in your ear and controls your thoughts. Are your ears safe?"
Ron cracked up. "She's fine, mate."
Harry punched Ron in the arm. "Shut it." He turned back to Luna. "But you're really all right? And how did you know I was talking to the Minister?"
"Ron told Ginny before lunch, and Ginny told me," Luna explained, unwrapping her lunch of half a sandwich and an apple. "They'd be out here right now, but Ginny wanted to talk to Hermione about something."
"About what?" Ron asked with interest.
"They didn't tell me." Luna took a tiny bite of apple. "They said they would be along shortly."
Harry frowned down at his roast beef sandwich. "This has been a very strange morning."
"With Scrimgeour?" Ron asked through a mouthful.
"Yeah. He knew Tonks had been hurt, and I don't think he bought the food poisoning thing."
"But she was poisoned with food," Luna reminded them. "I spend some time this morning in class thinking about that."
"What about it?"
"We decided yesterday that whoever poisoned Tonks, thinking it was the Headmaster, chose yesterday morning because Professor Snape had left the castle," Luna said.
"Yeah, and we couldn't figure who it was," Ron said.
Luna nodded. "I think it was a Slytherin."
Harry froze mid-chew.
"Students from other houses wouldn't necessarily know he was gone, on a weekend," Luna continued. "And I don't think a teacher or another adult, like an Auror, would try poisoning him in the Great Hall. They could just as easily do it in the staff room, or in his office, or some place where Dumbledore wouldn't be easy to find."
Ron's jaw was hanging open. "Wow," he said weakly. "Better be careful to treat her right, Harry, so she won't poison you in the night."
Harry turned on Ron, ready to yell at him, but Luna stopped him by laughing. "I wouldn't poison anyone," she said.
"You wouldn't?"
Luna shook her head, her face losing its smile. "I can't imagine I would ever be so afraid of someone that I would poison them."
"Afraid? You mean hatred, right?"
"No, I mean afraid," Luna said, looking up as Ginny and Hermione sat down on the grass. "If I hated someone, I would attack them to their face. If I poisoned someone, it would be because I was afraid."
Ginny gave Luna a quick sideways hug. "I can think of someone I'd like to poison," she said darkly.
"I don't want to talk about him," Luna said.
"Of course," Ginny said.
Hermione gave Ron and Harry a questioning look. Ron mouthed something to her, that looked to Harry like 'Corner'. An understanding expression crossed Hermione's face.
"So, um, what Slytherin would try and kill Dumbledore?" Ron asked into the awkward silence. "More importantly, why?"
"Voldemort?" Harry suggested. "Can you think of another reason?"
"How many have of the Slytherins have parents who are Death Eaters?" Ron asked.
"Oh, we can't go by that!" Ginny exclaimed. "It's not an inherited title! Remember Wormtail?"
"Oh, you mean the rat that spent years in our house? Who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort? Yeah, Ginny, I faintly remember him!" Ron shouted, ignoring Hermione as she tried to hold him still.
"Don't get mad at me!" Ginny yelled back. "I'm trying to tell you that it could be any of them!"
The siblings glared at each other.
"Unless we have any more information on who tried to kill Dumbledore, I have something to say about the Horcruxes," Hermione said tentatively
"What's that?" Harry asked, eager to have Ron and Ginny stop fighting.
"I think I know what the fifth Horcrux might be."
Harry stopped breathing for a moment. "You what?" he squeaked.
Hermione pulled a roll of parchment out of her bag. "It's not in the notes on the spell," she said nervously as she unrolled the parchment. Harry could see that it was the original of Dumbledore's notes, not one of the copies Hermione had made. "It's in this mess, here."
Everyone crowded around to look at the tiny scribbles on the edge of the parchment. Words were written in spidery handwriting, some crossed out or written over. "How can you make any of that out?" Ron asked, squinting.
"With this." Hermione pointed her wand at the words and spoke the words to an unfamiliar spell. A few of the words glowed gold, making it easy to read. "I found it in the library to help with the notes I made in preparation for our OWLs."
Harry took off his glasses and knelt in the grass to read the glowing words. "Ravenclaw... cherry and unicorn hair... Ollivander." He frowned. "What does that mean?"
"Don't you see?" Hermione exclaimed. "Cherry wood and unicorn hair are two things you find in a wand! It must have been Rowena Ravenclaw's wand, made of cherry and unicorn hair, and Ollivander must have had it before he vanished!"
"Are you sure that's what that means?" Ron asked. "Dumbledore might have been talking about something else entirely."
Hermione sat back and glared at Ron. "Because you have a better idea of what the fifth Horcrux is?"
"She's right, it's the best thing we have to go on," Harry said quickly, to diffuse a fight between his friends. "But how the hell are we going to find out? Ollivander's been gone for a while now."
"If it was Ravenclaw's wand, Ollivander must have either hidden it or taken it with him," Ginny mused. "Even if it wasn't the Horcrux, the wand of a Hogwarts founder would be a great treasure."
"We need to find out," Harry said.
"How?" Luna asked. "We can't leave Hogwarts, and if we ask anyone else, there is the risk that someone will learn what we are doing."
"So we need someone to look for us." Harry bit his lip. Remus was still undercover with the werewolves, Tonks was out of commission, and asking any of the adults in the Order of the Phoenix would be a bad idea. Unless... "Are the twins still in their Diagon Alley shop?"
Ron looked surprised. "I guess."
"They are," Ginny said. "Mum sent me a letter yesterday with family stuff in it. They're in Diagon Alley all week."
"Do you think we can ask them?" Harry looked expectantly at Ron and Ginny. "They're already in Diagon Alley, no one's going to wonder if they are poking into things, it's what they do. And we can trust them!"
Ron rubbed at his cheek, thinking hard. "Yeah, I say we can," he finally said.
"Exactly," Ginny agreed. "But if you ask them this, you're going to have to tell them it all."
"Fine," Harry said.
"I don't know..." Hermione looked helplessly at Ron. "I'm sorry, but it's the twins!"
"They're wicked smart," Ginny snapped, quick to defend her brothers. "They're sneaky and loyal and they'd help us stop Voldemort in a heartbeat, you know that!"
"They would," Ron said quietly, putting his arm around Hermione. "And Harry's right, they're already in Diagon Alley."
"I'll send them an owl," Harry said, digging in his bag for parchment. "Just ask them to look around."
Hermione, of course, objected to this course of events. After much discussion, Harry wrote the note and Hermione charmed it so only a Weasley could read it.
"That sort of spell borders on blood magic," Luna pointed out as Hermione finished the spell.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Hermione said, her voice high and defensive.
Luna shrugged gracefully. "I don't disagree.”
Harry held the parchment up. "I'll send this to Fred and George, and we'll see what they can find."
"I'm still not sure this is a wise idea," Hermione confessed. "What if someone intercepts the letter and only finds a blank piece of paper?"
They hadn't thought of that. Ginny solved the problem by plucking the paper out of Harry's hand and scrawling a quick note on the surface. "There," she said as she handed it back to Harry.
"What's a Tongue Twister?" Harry asked, taking a quick look before folding the paper up.
"New product," Ron said. "You eat it, and you start talking in rhyme for about an hour. It's right annoying, that is."
"And they taste like strawberry," Ginny added blithely. "Come on, Luna, let's go owl this."
"Shouldn't I--" Harry began.
"No, you shouldn't," Ginny interrupted. She softened the order with a smile. "It'd look rather shifty, you sending a letter from me to my brothers." With a giggle, she ran toward the castle, Luna right behind her.
"Things certainly do move quickly when those two are around," Hermione muttered.
"I have to go find Dumbledore," Harry said abruptly. "Scrimgeour has to be gone by now, and I have to make sure Dumbledore's all right."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head. "I don't even know if he'll see me. You two shouldn't waste your time. I'll be back in a bit."
He was on his feet and about to head off, which something hit him. I'm an idiot, he told himself. "Hey, Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"That was brilliant work, with the Horcruxes and the wand and all that."
Hermione flushed, a grin spreading across her face. "Thank you."
Harry grinned back, then took off across the grass for the castle.
~*~
"Why are you so down?" Ginny asked Harry that night in the Gryffindor common room.
Harry dragged his gaze up from his homework. "Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me see Dumbledore, and all she told me was that he was making progress," he said in a low voice. "And we haven't heard from the twins, and there's a Slytherin in this school who's trying to kill everyone, and I've got this stupid Magical Creatures essay due tomorrow and I'm not anywhere near being done!"
Ginny gave him a sympathetic smile as she reached across the table to pat his hand. The light touch was like a lightening bolt across his skin, and Harry had to shift uncomfortably in his chair.
"You'll be fine," Ginny said. "You usually are."
"But not like this," Harry protested. "Before, there was a point to doing my homework, but now I don't even know if I'll live long enough to take my NEWTs-- Ouch!"
Ginny's grip had tightened painfully on his hand. When he cried out, she let him go. "Don't say that!" she said fiercely. "That is not going to happen!"
"Ginny--"
"Shut up!" She sat back in her chair and glared down at her Potions homework, ignoring Harry.
Harry looked around the common room, to see almost everyone watching their little fight with interest. A good many people hastily tried to look busy as Harry glared at them.
Harry went back to his essay. How the hell was he supposed to know why an Augurey's quills repelled ink?
"Oy, Ginny!" Seamus called across the room. "Ain't that your owl out there?"
Craning his neck around, Harry saw tiny Pigwidgeon, Ron and Ginny's owl, perched on the edge of the windowsill, tapping at the glass with his miniature beak.
Ginny scrambled up and jumped over a few students on the floor, ignoring their protests. Within seconds, she had opened the window and grabbed Pig, then snatched the tiny roll of parchment out of his claw.
"Here," said a nearby second year with a cat on his lap. He held out his hand. "Try this."
"You can't give an owl cat treats!" another kid interrupted.
"It's an owl treat!"
"You're feeding your cat owl treats?"
"I just tell him they're made of real owls, he doesn't know the difference!"
Shaking her head, Ginny tossed Pig back out into the night and shut the window. She tried to be calm as she walked back across the room to Harry, but he could see the tiny vibrations of excitement in her hands.
"Look at this," she murmured as she sat back down and tossed the parchment on Harry's essay.
Harry flattened the note on the table, and began to read.
Dearest sister, of course we would love to deliver to you a sample of Tongue Twisters. In light of your interest, we'll only charge you the employee rate--
Harry looked up. "They charge you for their stuff?" he demanded incredulously.
She nodded. "What do you expect? They're in business."
Grumbling, Harry went back to the note.
-- as well as throw in a complimentary sample of the new Christmas line, but only if you use them at school as advertising.
We would be happy to deliver the package to you in person in Hogsmeade, next Sunday. Don't be late! We'll have so much to tell you.
Love,
Fred and George.
PS: May as well invite Ron alone, elsewise he'll whine.
"Did they get my message?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Of course they did," Ginny said, taking back the note. "They didn't say they 'have' a lot to tell us, they said they 'will' have a lot to say!"
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"And even if they don't, we can get them to buy us tea in Hogsmeade," Ginny continued.
"Are you sure there's a Hogsmeade weekend?" Harry asked. "I haven't heard anything."
"McGonagall told us at dinner on Sunday, when you weren't there." Ginny gave him an odd sideways glance. "We can go like last time."
It took Harry a moment to figure out what she was talking about. "You mean, you and me and Luna?"
Ginny nodded.
Harry tried very hard to sound nonchalant as he asked, "Have you talked to Luna about... you know, stuff?"
"If you mean the diary, then yes," Ginny said, concentrating very hard on her book. "I can't... I mean, I'm not like that. We talked about that."
"Are you two okay?" Harry blurted out, even though he knew it was a silly question. Ginny and Luna had been acting like normal around each other all day.
"Yeah." Ginny gave him another odd look. "We've still got a lot in common, though, so we're going to keep on like this."
Harry desperately wanted to know what Ginny was talking about, what it was that she and Luna had in common, but before he could ask, Jack Sloper came over to ask Harry about Quidditch practices.
When Harry finally got rid of Sloper, Ginny had gone up to bed. Harry stared at her empty seat for a long time.
It's not fair! he railed. I finally find someone who might be my girlfriend... well, two someones, and I've got Voldemort after me on one side and the Ministry on the other! I can't ever be normal!
Well, he'd be as normal as he could. In between working on the Horcruxes and going to class and Quidditch, Harry vowed he'd spend time with Luna and Ginny, doing whatever it was that a boy did with girls.
Only problem was, Harry wasn't sure what the hell that was.
to be continued...