Chapter 20: Mad-Eye's New Toy

A/N: Harry Potter and all contents belong to the master of the quill, miss J.K. Rowling. I’m only 16, I don’t have a lawyer, I’m not making any money off of this, and I don’t have any money for you to sue me for.

Harry stood up, dusting off the soot from the fireplace. Nobody in the room said a thing, still waiting for what Harry was going to say. None of them had ever seen him this serious before. “You know how when you are traveling using floo you can see into the random fireplaces as you pass by? Well this time the last place I saw before coming out here was a very dark room with several people in it. At first I thought I was seeing things, or maybe I was just confused, but I realized it had to be real. There wasn’t any other way that I had seen what I had seen, and once I saw his hand I knew that it was.” Harry paused, trying to collect his thoughts. At the same time Lupin and Joy appeared in the fireplace, smiling, completely unaware of what was going on.

“Wow, that was by far the oddest feeling I’ve ever had. I could feel the fire on my legs but it wasn’t hot. And the whole fireplace expanded so we could fit in it. Did you like it Emma?” Joy asked, exhilarated by her trip she still hadn’t noticed the tense atmosphere in the room.

“Harry what’s wrong, did something happen?” Lupin asked, finally noticing the boy’s now ashen face.

“I saw him Moony, just sitting by the fire. I think that they might be spying on us, it was the last place I saw before landing here, that means they’re close right?” Harry asked quickly, almost out of breath.

“Slow down there boy, you’ll give yourself a stroke. Breath. Now tell me what happened, who did you see?” Moody said, limping up to the boy, scaring Emma with his magical eye.

“I saw Wormtail, well Peter I guess, and some other death eaters. I think I recognized another, McNair, they were all just sitting in the room discussing something. I think they must be close because they were the last room I saw before getting here. Could they be spying on us? Do they know about headquarters?” Harry said glancing at the fireplace behind him nervously, as if he expected them to come bursting out of it.

Everyone tensed up immediately, the Aurors in the room drew their wands and out of maternal instinct Molly grabbed Ginny, and even though Joy had no idea what was going on she did the same.

“Potter, can you describe the room, what did it look like?” Moody asked, his eye swinging even more out of control.

“I only saw it for a second, but it was just a small dirty looking room. Its curtains were pulled, and there wasn’t really any light. The wallpaper was peeling off also. But that’s about it, I really barely recognized Peter, but then I saw his hand, the silver one. I wish I’d seen more.” Harry said, shrugging.

“That’s better than nothing,” Shaklebolt said, standing up, “Mad-Eye, I think we should head outside and search the surrounding buildings. I don’t know if the room being the last thing he saw means it’s close, but it wouldn’t hurt to be safe.”

“I agree with Kingsley,” Tonks said, “why don’t we let your eye take a little peek at the houses near us. Maybe it can find that filthy little rat.”

Moody laughed harshly, “Let’s get going then, Shaklebolt, Tonks, your coming along. Remus?”

“Yes, I’ll come too, let me just get my cloak,” He made to head out of the kitchen but Harry stopped him.

“Moony, this isn’t about vengeance; I don’t want to loose you too. Just find them and capture them that’s it.” Harry said putting stress on the last words.

Lupin smiled and then hugged the boy tightly, “I promise I won’t do anything stupid, but I do want to go try and get him.” He pulled away and walked out of the room to go with the rest of the Aurors who were waiting at the front door.

“If we aren’t back by nighttime contact Dumbledore, but we should be back soon. I doubt that even the death eaters are stupid enough to hide next door to us,” Moody said letting another harsh laugh out, which in turn woke up Mrs. Black’s portrait. The Aurors went outside and left the others in the hallway with a screaming portrait.

“Harry, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL JUST…hold on a minute…” Ron shouted over the din of Mrs. Black’s screeching to no avail. He turned to face the portrait, grabbed its curtains and yanked them shut bringing silence back once again. Turning once again to face Harry he smiled, “Good to see you mate, now will you tell us what just happened?”

After getting the customary hug from both Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, and introducing Joy and Emma to everyone he led them back to the kitchen and retold the story exactly. When he finished he leaned back and watched everyone’s different expressions.

“And you’re sure it was them? I mean they weren’t just people who looked like them?” Hermione asked.

“I’m positive, Wormtail has a silver hand. I’ll never forget it, I saw Voldemort give it to him for bringing him back to life. And McNair was there two that night, you know, the man who was going to kill Buckbeak,” Harry added, noticing the blank expressions.

“Um, I know I don’t really know anything about this whole war. But why is it bad if you saw these death eaters in the fireplace?” Joy asked, feeling very out of place in this group of wizards.

“It’s not just the fact that he saw them in the fireplace, but also that it was the last thing he saw before arriving here. That means that the place had to be somewhat close to here, and seeing as this place is supposed to be a secret that is not a good thing if they know about it,” Hermione said.

“Let’s just hope that they can find them,” Ginny said.

“Ginny dear, how was your stay with Harry and Remus? Did you learn a lot, Albus said that you two would be learning a lot more defensive spells. Did the Dursley’s treat you well?” Molly said, snapping at once back into her motherly mode bustling around to prepare a Ginny, Harry, Emma, and Joy bowls of porridge for breakfast.

“Yeah, the Dursleys were quiet, we rarely saw them,” Ginny said uncertainly, curious why her mom hadn’t asked about the Heartbond yet, “did Dumbledore tell you what happened to Harry and I?”

“Tell me what?” Molly asked, now eyeing her daughter suspiciously.

“Well, I’m not sure why he didn’t tell you but the reason I had to stay with Harry was because-he-and-I-have-been-Heartbonded,” She spit out quickly, afraid of her mom’s reaction.

At those words, Molly dropped the bowl of porridge she was handing to Harry in shock, “YOUR’E WHAT!” She shouted, but it wasn’t only her, Hermione too had shouted in amazement.

“Uh…Heartbonded,” Ginny said feebly, witling under her mother’s gaze.

“There’s no way that my daughter can be Heartbonded, I mean that’s a child’s story that parents told their kids. I mean even if it was true the story said only Merlin and Godric Gryffindor have been Heartbonded.” Molly thudded down into a nearby chair, rubbing her temples. Joy jumped up and began cleaning the spilt porridge all over the counter top.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Weasley, I don’t know why Dumbledore didn’t tell you, but it is true. That night that she disappeared was on my 16^th birthday, apparently when I turned sixteen we became bonded. It was so strong that it broke through the wards at both your house and mine. The bond is very strong, and if what Dumbledore says is right then it will make us both much stronger too.” Harry said, trying to head off Mrs. Weasley’s temper before it got the chance to really manifest. He’d seen her be mad at both the twins and Ron and it wasn’t a pretty even if you were on the sidelines.

“Oh Harry dear I’m not mad at you, well maybe a little bit at Albus, but I’m just more confused than anything. I don’t know what to say, did he tell you what was going to happen to you two?” Molly said, composing herself once again.

“Well, we’ve already started to be able to do smaller stuff like some wordless or wandless incantations. I can sometimes feel where Harry, or another person is, even if I can’t see them. Oh, and Harry can do some sort of wandless healing on himself,” Ginny said shrugging, “It’s been an interesting few weeks.”

“There haven’t been that many changes…well we do have to sle-“ But Harry was cut short by Ginny stepping on his foot and giving him the, ‘we’ll tell her later’ look, he then tried to cover up his near slip up, “Umm…we do have to get used to the fact that Gin and I are fated for each other. Not in a bad way, but knowing that your soul mates is a little bit too much to digest right away.”

“At first when you told me I didn’t believe it at all, I thought your aunt and uncle were feeding you something bad. But now looking at all the things you have done it seems to make sense. You had a crush on him the moment you met him at the train station your first year, even before you learned his name. Then you saved her life once when she was a first year, and probably saved her again last year at the Ministry of Magic. You might not have even known yourself, but before the Quidditch World Cup I could tell you were starting to realize she wasn’t just Ron’s sister anymore.” Molly said smiling at the two teens who were blushing and smiling awkwardly now.

The rest of the day went by with Harry, Ginny, Emma, and occasionally Joy, telling about their summer and all of the things they had done. Molly and Hermione were most interested by the trip to Harrods, but the twins were ecstatic when they heard about Hamleys, the four level toy store, saying they were planning on going as soon as possible.

The room was not devoid of tension however, everyone would occasionally glance over at the clock, counting down the time until they would call Dumbledore if the Order didn’t return. At around three the fireplace roared up in flames and everyone jumped up expecting Moody, or some other auror, but it was only Mr. Weasley stopping by for a quick late lunch before heading out again. He was pleased to see Harry and Ginny back, and had to sit down for a moment when Mrs. Weasley told him about them being Heartbonded. He rebounded quickly however, and said he was happy for them and he’d be interested to see what other things would happen over the next several months.

Molly decided to not tell her husband about the Order’s expedition right at that moment because she felt he was stressed enough. Apparently with the open announcement of Voldemort’s return a lot more, much nastier, muggle traps were being created. Causing Mr. Weasley to have a lot more work, but because of Fudge’s loathing for anything Dumbledore, even friends of his, it had been difficult for him to even get a temporary replacement when his assistant Perkin’s got viciously mauled by a bad tempered pair of fire tongs.

Arthur left a little later, and Molly decided to start cooking once again to take her mind off of the Order. The rest of the group were sitting in the dusty couches in the library talking about Hogwarts and other news around the wizarding world.

“Did you hear that Malfoy’s dad apparently got out of Azkaban? He was the only one too. Somehow either he, or someone else, managed to stun over a dozen guards and break through the warded gates,” Hermione asked Harry.

“That great git, stun 12 guards, I doubt it. I bet he had help from his cronies Crabbe and Goyle Senior,” Ron guffawed.

“Or Tom,” Harry said solemnly.

“Who?” Ron asked.

“Tom,” Harry said more loudly, then noticing no one knew what he was talking about he continued, “…Marvalo Riddle? Lord Voldemort.”

“Maybe, but do you really think he’d risk it just for Malfoy’s dad? I mean he’s nothing special, is he?” Ron asked.

“He’s got money, and that seems to be the only thing ‘Tom’ can’t really kill to get. The goblins have it all, almost 87 percent of all galleons, and he’s not exactly friendly with them. He killed a whole colony somewhere in Scotland during the last war and they’ve hated him ever since.” Hermione stated, “I read it…”

“in a book!” Ron, Harry, and Ginny all said in unison.
Ignoring the incredulous glare from Hermione Harry turned to Ron, “So has your dad heard anything on the inside. I mean from the papers I’ve read it seems like Fudge is having a hard time staying minister right now.”

“Yeah, my dad says he’s really mad now, after the whole Department of Mysteries thing. Dad hasn’t seen him after that, says he’s mostly up in his office now, fuming. I think he knows his time’s up and he’s now just trying to buy time to get out of it in a way that makes him look good.” Ron said.

Another hour passed until they heard a loud knock on the door and muffled voices. Everyone sprinted down the hallway to get the door and see who it was.

When Molly threw the heavy door open a figure dropped in through the door frame. It was Emmeline Vance, and she seemed to be completely covered in blood, so much so that it was impossible to see the actual cuts.

“They sent me, they’re coming. Got them…some injured. Cutting hexes…something else. Call doctor,” Emmeline panted, she was suffering from massive blood loss.

Molly could mend bruises of cuts not something this drastic so she ran off to go floo Madam Pomfrey for help.

“Harry, try what you did this morning. She doesn’t look too good, and maybe it will help her,” Ginny said.

“Good idea, here Ron help me flip her over so I can get a good look at where her cuts are.” Harry and Ron gently turned her on her back. Hermione tried a cleaning charm to remove some of the blood but it didn’t do much.

Harry got on his knees and began to look for where the hexes had hit. He saw a large gash around her left calf and upon closer inspection saw the huge cut on her leg. “Looks like they got an artery, she’s loosing a lot of blood. I’m going to try and stop the bleeding. Here Hermione do that cleaning charm over here one more time.”

She did it twice more, clearing it a bit so Harry could see the beginning and end of the gash. He placed his thumb on the smaller part of it, closed his eyes, and just began rubbing the area in circles.

“He heard a gasp from Hermione, and Ron said some variation of a curse word, so he opened his eyes. The spot where he’d been rubbing had become completely clear of blood and was healed. He quickly went to work on the rest of the cut, slowly working his way across it, stopping the blood flow. He reached the very end and rubbed the edge of the cut until that too disappeared.

He smiled and stood up, but swayed a little bit and had to grab a hold of Ron to stop from collapsing.

“Whoa, that was weird, that healing must have taken a lot of magic because I’m a little dizzy. Here let me just sit for a second I’ll be alright. Take her to the kitchen and let Madam Pomfrey look at her, I think I hear her.

As Harry was sitting down several more figures appeared in the doorway. They stepped into the house. On the left side was Moody, on the other was Kingsley Shaklebolt, and sandwiched and bound up in-between the two men was Wormtail.

“This little bastard tried to choke me with his silver hand on the way back here, almost took my head off in the process,” Moody growled, indicating the large cut on the side of his face. “Get moving rat!” Moody shouted pushing Wormtail further inside.

Harry looked at Wormtail with the utmost disgust then noticed he was cradling his right hand, “Mad-Eye, what happened to his hand?”

“Oh well I told you, he tried to choke me with it. So I removed it,” He said, with a slight grin on his face, he then pulled the arm out of his cloak pocket and waved it in front of Wormtail’s face teasingly.

“Kingsley, where are the others?” Molly asked, bustling out of the kitchen, looking slightly flustered from all the commotion. Joy was back with Emmeline and Madam Pomfrey trying to patch everything up.

“They’re on their way Molly, no need to worry. Got a couple more of the scum with ‘em. A few managed to escape but we got four of the six, not too bad. How’s Emmeline, she was our only real injury, couple of us got scrapes or burns but that’s about it.” Kingsley said.

Moody pushed Wormtail once again, causing him to fall over, “Get up you rat, and go in there, we’re going to have ourselves a little chat about espionage.” Moody said in his most frightening voice, both his eyes focused intently on the cowering spy.

Chapter 19: To Headquarters

A/N NOT MY WORK, ALL J.K. Rowlings!

Many hours later the three completely exhausted wizards walked out of Harrods carrying handfuls of bags each.

“I had no idea that shopping could be so much work! I feel like I just played a day long Quidditch game right now, not to mention I’m starving.” Harry said, although his voice was muffled by the stack of clothes boxes in front of his face.

“I’m glad that we were able to do that though, I really did need some new clothes and I did what Sirius told me to do. Maybe I’ll ask Tonks on a date sometime now.” Lupin said excitedly. He had bought an entirely new muggle wardrobe, including a very nice watch and several silk ties. “Here why don’t we go down this alley and I’ll shrink all of our stuff so we can fit it in our pockets. We still have a bit of a walk to the Leaky Cauldron.”

Lupin piled up all of the bags and boxes and shrunk them neatly into groups small enough to fit into their pant pockets. They made the long walk to the Leaky Cauldron, once again stopping at Hamleys just to look at the toy trains again, then flooed back to Miss. Figg’s house and snuck into the Dursley’s house as quiet as possible seeing as it was well past eleven at night when they got back. They all emptied their pockets and un-shrunk the packages so they could change into their new pajamas. Because everyone was so tired they changed as quickly as possible then turned in for the night, all of them falling asleep minutes after the light was put out.

The next morning over a late breakfast Lupin received a letter from Fawkes. He read it out-loud to Harry and Ginny. “Remus, I believe that enough time has passed for Harry to be sufficiently protected for the rest of the year. When it is convenient I expect you three, along with the Masseys to head to Grimmauld place to pass what little time remains of the summer. You can also expect Miss Granger and the rest of the Weasleys there. Reply with your date of departure so we can prepare for you. Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore.” Remus finished reading the letter and looked up at the two excited teenagers, “looks like we should start getting packed.”

Harry and Ginny both jumped up off the bed excitedly. It was nice having company, but the Dursleys were still horrible people and you could only be cooped up in one place for so long.

“Tell him were coming tomorrow, I’ll go over to Emma’s today and explain everything. I’m sure she and Joy will be excited.” Harry said quickly, as he threw on a shirt at the same time causing him to fall over, “Oh, and we’ll need new trunks, we have too much new stuff.” He added poking his head out from his shirt.

Ginny and Lupin laughed at his antics, happy to see him in such high spirits. The whole time they’d been here they’d noticed some sort of tension. Lupin put down to a mix of the tension and fear between him and the Dursleys, and the depression over the loss of Sirius. Although he hadn’t seen any outward signs of abuse by his Aunt or Uncle the way Harry acted around them did not escape his notice. Harry was amazingly mature for his age, yet around his relatives he acted like a very nervous five year old. All Lupin knew was that he was glad to be leaving.

“I’ll go to Diagon Alley quickly this afternoon and get some trunks for us to use. Meanwhile, after you talk to Emma, how bout you two try and get as many of your items collected so we can be ready to leave tomorrow.” Lupin said. He dressed quickly, sent off a message with Hedwig, then left to Miss Figg’s house after warning them to be careful and not stray too far when going to Emma’s.

A little while later Harry and Ginny headed over to Emma’s house to tell them the good news.

On the way there Ginny paused momentarily on the side of the street and looked around.

“Are you okay Gin? What’s wrong,” Harry asked immediately noticing the change in her mood.

“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just we have a follower. Tonks, is that you?” Ginny asked, pulling out her wand just in case it wasn’t, “Tonks?”

Harry pulled out his wand too and started walking towards where Ginny was looking at. He couldn’t see anything but continued walking forward until he hit something invisible and tripped, hitting his head on the curb at the same time as he ripped the invisibility cloak off of a crouching Tonks.

“Harry!” Ginny shouted and ran over to where Harry was now sitting on the ground, she rolled him over to reveal a large gash on his forehead which was bleeding badly. He was conscious though and smiled at Ginny, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt. Just one of those things that looks worse than it is.”

Tonks was now hovering over them, with a worried look on her face, “Oh bugger Harry, I’m sorry, that looked like a pretty nasty fall. Here, let me get rid of that for you.” But she stopped at that gaping at what Harry was doing.

He was slowly rubbing his hand around the cut, and somehow this was removing the blood and also looked as if it were healing the cut.

“Harry, how what are you doing?” Ginny, who now also had noticed his actions, asked.

“Just rubbing my head, I think I’m going to have a pretty bad headache later.” He said shrugging.

“No, Harry, your healing yourself! You’re rubbing the cut and it’s completely disappearing.” Tonks said in utter amazement.

“What? I thought you couldn’t do wandless healing? At least that’s what Lupin told me.” Harry said confused as he stared at his own hands, which were now completely blood free.

“It is true, no one I know, not even Madame Pomfrey can do wandless healing. It takes up too much energy to perform even a simple healing charm,” Tonks said.

“Well he’s doing it, so it can’t be impossible.”

“I know, Dumbledore did say that now you two are Heartbonded you both would start to show some…un-common abilities. Maybe this is one of them?” Tonks said with a shrug.

“Probably is, hey Gin’ by the way how did you know that there was someone following us?” Harry asked as he stood still rubbing his disappearing cut.

She shrugged and shook her head, “I honestly don’t know. I just felt that there was someone near us. It was really weird, I didn’t know who or really where they were but I just felt that we were being watched. It was sorta creepy.”

“I think that might be something new too, Dumbledore said we would be getting much more powerful magically. Maybe it’s started already.” Harry said as the three walked up to Emma’s front door. “Remind me to ask him when we get to headquarters tomorrow.”

“Harry! Your shirt,” Ginny said right before he rang the doorbell. It was covered in blood from the fall, and to anyone who didn’t know what had happened would look very frightening; especially an eleven year old.

“Oh, good catch Gin, you always have my back don’t you?” Harry joked as he vanished the blood with his wand, returning the shirt back to its perfectly new state.

“Yes I do, and I always will,” she said, then rang the doorbell.

The door opened to reveal Joy in an apron, apparently right out of the kitchen, “Oh hello Harry, Ginny, how are you? Where’s Remus?”

“Oh, he’s just getting things in order for tomorrow, this is Nymphadora, but you should probably just call her Tonks, she doesn’t like her first name. She’s an auror, you know, one of the police I told you about.” Harry said, winking at Tonks.

“Well any friend of Harry is a friend of ours. Why don’t you come in and I’ll get Emma, she’s upstairs cleaning her room,” Joy said beckoning them inside graciously.

Moments later Emma came running down the stairs and grabbed Harry by the waist hugging him. She then hugged Ginny, who she had become good friends with also, always asking her questions about school and the wizarding world.

Harry introduced Tonks, and then sat down to tell Emma a Joy the news. “So yesterday we got a note from the headmaster saying that I have spent enough time at my aunt and uncle’s house this summer and that we could go to headquarters. He also said that the invitation was open to you two, we only have a little over a week before school starts and you’d be able to go with us to the train platform and we’d be able to get Emma her things for school. Now I know you have your barrister duties Mrs. Massey, but I would really like it if you and Emma could come. You’d be able to meet a lot of other witches and wizards.” Harry finished, smiling at Emma who was now looking pleadingly at her mother.

“What is ‘headquarters’?” Joy asked, fifteen years as a lawyer had tuned her ability to notice the smallest discrepancies.

Harry mentally kicked himself for slipping up like that, he should have known better than that, discussing Order matters in front of non-members; he knew that this secret was the only thing keeping many witches and wizards hidden from Voldemort.

Thankfully Tonks popped in and answered the question for him, saying that it was too sensitive to discuss in the open but if they were coming tomorrow that all would be explained by Dumbledore himself.

Joy asked for a minute to think it through, all the while Emma was quietly begging her mom to let her go. Finally she made up her mind and spoke up, “well work won’t be a problem. We just finished our case this Friday so I am not busy next week, and I know Emma wants to go. I just am nervous about this whole wizarding world war right now that Harry and the headmaster has told me about. And I’ve been around enough liars to know when I’m not being told the whole truth, you will have to promise to tell me everything you can once it is safe.”

“So are we going?” Emma asked excitedly.

Joy smiled at her daughter and nodded, “yes dear. We’re going. You should go get packed.”

Emma jumped out of her seat, kissed her mom on her cheek and asked for Ginny to help her get packed. The two girls took the stairs two at a time running for her room upstairs.

When Lupin got back later that day he too headed for the Massey’s and helped Joy sort out all the smaller details of the trip. They were planning on flooing from Miss Figg’s to headquarters next morning, and then would bring Joy back after she saw Emma off at the train station.

They left late at night after a long enjoyable dinner cooked by Joy and Lupin, who actually enjoyed cooking quite a bit, and whose magic allowed for them to cook many more things at once. Everyone shared funny stories and jokes and ate enormous amounts of food and sweets.

Lupin had the three trunks up in Harry’s room when they arrived and he showed them the features that he was most excited about; including the shrinkable feature which allowed you to shrink the trunk to fit in your pocket, and the second compartment whish was a lot like Moody’s trunk, which would open if you twisted the second knob.

They all packed that night, sticking all of their old and new clothes in the trunks, along with the dozens of spell books and parchment pieces. Finally the room was barren, with only the bookshelves and the furniture remaining they all turned in for bed excited about the next morning’s journey.

Lupin woke up Harry and Ginny at six in the morning so they could collect Emma and Joy before going to Miss Figg’s. They shrunk the trunks down, and removed the requirement spell from the room returning it to its normal proportions. They then headed downstairs, Harry shouted down the hallway to his aunt and uncle that he was leaving for the summer, then headed out the door. But that wasn’t before he and Ginny cast another special spell that they had found.

Walking over to the Massey’s Lupin noticed their conspiratorial glances at each other and asked what they had done. At first they refused to answer but finally Harry broke up laughing and told Lupin that they had placed a jinx on the house called conversio cubiculum which, Ginny said, completely inverted the house for a set amount of time. They had found it in one of the spell books Lupin had brought and thought it would be a good parting gift.

“Well, you two aren’t doing much for Muggle wizard relations, you could seriously scare them,” Lupin said, trying to hide his smile but eventually failing. “Alright, alright, it was good, I’ll admit that. They’ll have no idea what’s hit them. But you cannot tell your mother I said that, she’d skin me alive if I knew I was encouraging you two.” Lupin said pointing at Ginny jokingly.

When they reached Emma’s home the lights were already on and there were two bags sitting on the front step, Emma answered the door excitedly and said she was all ready to go and that she couldn’t wait. Joy gave the three some muffins and tea because they hadn’t had breakfast yet.

A little before seven the group reached Miss Figg’s and rang the bell, once again they heard the screeching of cats and the curses from the squib about turning them all into turnips.

They all bustled in, apologizing for waking her, then lined up at the fire. Lupin explained to Joy and Emma the basics of floo travel. Harry offered to go with Emma to make sure she wouldn’t go somewhere wrong, and Lupin offered to go with Joy.

Ginny went first, throwing her handful of powder into the fire and stepping into the hearth, then shouted “12 Grimmauld Place!” She disappeared and Harry and Emma stepped up next. Harry took a handful threw it in the fire and reassured Emma nothing bad would happen. She then nervously stepped in next to him and gasped as she felt the cold licks of fire on her legs. “It’s okay Em, don’t worry. 12 Grimmauld Place!” Harry shouted and they were spent spinning around catching glimpses of other rooms and buildings as they passed. Usually Harry couldn’t see anything because his glasses kept getting knocked off but this time he’d placed a sticking charm on them so they wouldn’t fall off, and what he saw both shocked and scared him.

The last room he saw into before landing at headquarters was that of a small poorly lit room, and although it was poorly lit the face he saw was easily recognizable. It was that of the traitorous friend Peter Pettigrew. Alongside him were several other obvious Death Eaters including one Harry recognized as McNair.

The scene flashed by so quickly that he wasn’t completely sure that it really was real or if he were imagining it. But once he landed in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place he was sure it had to be real. Emma was standing next to him, looking at him curiously, not sure as to why he looked so nervous.

Around the kitchen were several members of the Weasley clan along with some other Order members. Before any of them could welcome him back or say anything for that matter, he said in an low voice, “We have a problem.”

Chapter 18: A Suit and a Godfather

A/N: Harry Potter and all contents belong to the master of the quill, miss J.K. Rowling. I’m only 16, I don’t have a lawyer, I’m not making any money off of this, and I don’t have any money for you to sue me for.

Once they had well over ten thousand pounds in their pockets the three headed back out of the Leaky Cauldron to go to Harrods. Seeing as they were already in London they decided to walk the several blocks to the department store. As they walked they marveled at the wonders of downtown London, the massive buildings, the bustling people and cars, and the thousands of different stores and shops. More than once they stopped to look in a store that caught their attention, one of their favorites being Hamley’s the four story toy store.

Finally they came to Harrods and stopped dead in their tracks. It was huge five stories and there seemed to be hundreds of people buzzing in and out of its doors every second. Not even Lupin had seen anything like this. The largest store in Diagon Alley was Gringotts, and even that was small compared to this.

“Harry, this place is huge. I’ve never seen a store like this!” Ginny said completely awestruck.

“You took the words right out of my mouth. I haven’t really even been in London ever; I thought it would be a little bigger than Flourish and Blotts, not an entire block!” Harry said.

“It looks like you picked the right place for us to get some new clothes, it looks like we could even buy a home if we wanted too,” Lupin said humorously, then pushing Ginny and Harry forward towards the doors he said, “Come on then, last one in is a rotten flobberworm!” And with that the three wizards stepped into, what was to them, a completely unknown land.

They were immediately submerged in a deluge of perfumes and noises, then stumbled into the grocery store which was almost the entire floor, filled with fresh breads and pie and cakes, and candies that they hadn’t even seen in Honeyduke’s. Lupin managed to locate a store map and discovered that clothes were on the third level, and through a complex maze of escalators, of which Ginny had never seen and was very entertained by, and people, of which there seemed to be thousands everywhere; they finally reached the men’s clothing section of Harrods.

“Wow, I never knew that shopping could be considered to be exercise. I’m exhausted, there are so many people here and they’re all pushing and shoving like they have to get what they want or else they’ll hex you.” Ginny said exasperatedly.

“There’s a desk over there with a lady, maybe she can help us find what we need.” Lupin said pointing out a lady a store uniform who was folding clothes at the counter.

Harry led the way up to the woman, “Hello, I was hoping you might be able to help me and my friends. We’re from a small town and are a bit overwhelmed by this whole experience. If you could just point us in the right direction it would be very helpful.” He said as politely as he could, trying to make it seem as if they were unsettled by the huge city, which wasn’t too difficult seeing as they were.

The woman smiled falsely turning her, what used to be pleasant appearance, into something a little more garish. “If you just go right down that aisle there you’ll be in the suit section, if you need help picking out a suit I’d be more than happy to help,” she said as she pointed one of her jewelry laden hands at the suit section.

They walked over to the wall of suits, there were hundreds in every shade of color and cut. Harry walked up to a dark blue pinstripe one which had immediately caught his attention and made to take it off the rack but the saleslady cut him off by stepping in front of him. “Uh sir, maybe you’d like to look over here, this suit costs more than two-thousand dollars. It’s an Armani silk original.” She said with the same false smile ushering him over to the suits on the sales rack.

Harry’s temper frayed slightly over the fact that she was judging them by their appearances. His eyes seemed to radiate a little when he looked up at the lady, startling her. “I think I’ll look at this suit over here actually, I can afford it I think. Also I think I’ll get this one too.” He said coolly walking back over to the jackets and pulling out the blue one along with another black suit.

The woman was obviously confused over what to do so she just smiled politely once again then asked to be excused for a moment while she went and got her manager. As she hurried off Ginny came up to Harry as he was comparing suits, “You didn’t have to do that, we could have gotten it ourselves. It looked like you really frightened that girl.”

“She should be, I was just fed up with being treated poorly based on what we looked like. I know you’ve dealt with it your whole life, so have I, I just thought that now that I can change that I should. I wanted to make you feel better.” He said quietly, now looking at her with a face of compassion.

Ginny smiled then grabbed him tight and hugged him, “You really are amazing Potter, did you know that? Do you ever worry about yourself?”

“Not any more, because I know I have you to watch my back,” he said kissing her forehead quickly, almost embarrassedly, “here comes the saleswoman looks like she has her manager too.” He said nodding towards the still slightly shaken woman.

“Hello sir, I am the manager of this section, how may I help you?” The older woman said, her smile more genuine than the other’s.

“Well we were just…” Lupin started but Harry cut him off, “I have this Moony.” He said then turned back towards the manager, “Your saleslady here thought it would be a good idea for us to shop at the sales rack, not get one of these suits, just because we aren’t exactly dressed like kings. I don’t want to be rude but I would just like to get some things for me and my family.”

The manager looked the boy up and down appraisingly then nodded, “Of course, I am sorry that you were treated rudely that is not what we train our representatives to do. I would be more than happy to ensure you get what you need today. We actually have a private room we keep open for when people are completely redoing their wardrobe so they have some more privacy, if you’d just follow me I’ll take you to it then we can get to work on getting you three some clothes.” The manager led the way leaving the befuddled sales lady behind in the sales rack section of the suit aisle.

On the way to the private room Lupin caught up with Harry to talk with him, “Harry, why did you call us your family? I don’t believe that made much of a difference with her choosing to help us.”

“Moony, I didn’t say it to get help, I said it because it’s true, you are my family even though it might not be through blood. You’re the last Marauder and you’re by far the closest thing I have to a father. As for Ginny, I couldn’t be happier that we’re fated for each other.” Harry said matter-of-factly smiling at his surrogate family.

Lupin was left momentarily speechless at the revelation of Harry calling him his father figure, he always believed he would never be able to fill the shoes of Sirius. Hearing that from Harry lifted his heart. “Thank you Harry, you have no idea how much that means to me. It lets me know I haven’t let your mother and father down on the promise Sirius and I made them, to take care of you if something happened,” grabbing him into a one handed hug. “Harry, I’ve actually been thinking this over for a while. I know I can’t replace Sirius, or be him, but I’d really like it if you would let me be your godfather. I’ve worked out my little ‘problem’ with Dumbledore and he’s arranged to have me live in Grimmauld place, there’s a basement with a very big lock for when the full moon comes round, and it does need someone to take care of…” but Lupin’s nervous rambling was cut off by Harry hugging him tightly.

“Moony, you can stop blubbering like you got confunded, I was planning on asking you to be my new godfather. Looks like you beat me to the punch though. I would love to have you as my godfather, and I’d like to move into Grimmauld place with you when I get old enough to leave the Dursleys. And don’t worry about the ‘problem’ I’m sure you’ll be fine. Thanks.” Harry said happily as they walked through the door into the private room.

The room was a large room with mirrors on one side and several large armchairs along with a T.V. There were already racks of clothes along the sides and there was a man who seemed to be the tailor. Harry, Ginny, and Lupin were stunned by the elegance of the room and the fact that she had decided to use it on them.

The manager turned to face the three and smiled brightly, “Now who wants to go first?”

Chapter 17: Europe's New Billionaire

A/N: Harry Potter and all contents belong to the master of the quill, miss J.K. Rowling. I’m only 16, I don’t have a lawyer, I’m not making any money off of this, and I don’t have any money for you to sue me for.

That morning they were all woken up to Hedwig landing and hooting shrilly in the dawn air. It was still dark out but the alarm clock read 4:45 in the morning. Harry slowly untangled himself from Ginny and the bed covers and took the letter from Hedwig. He unrolled the small piece of parchment to find the usual neat cursive of the headmaster.

Remus,

I do believe that you three have earned a chance for a day of rest. I also think it is a good idea to let Harry get out of the neighborhood for a while and stretch his legs. If you were going to a less protected area I would suggest taking another Order member with you, but seeing as it is the weekend at Diagon Alley there will already be plenty of protection there. I only ask that you return before sundown and do not venture off to any unprotected areas.

Your’s humbly,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry waved the letter triumphantly. “He’s letting us go, he said we can go, and we don’t need any other protection!” He thrust the letter out towards Lupin for him to read.

“Well we should start getting ready then, we want to have enough time to visit everywhere, including Harrods. I know he said no where unsafe, but I don’t think Voldemort will be expecting us there. I’ll make us a quick breakfast while you two get dressed then we’ll use Arabella’s fire to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Gringotts opens early, five o’ clock every morning.” Lupin was already out of bed and pulling on a new shirt, this trip meant as much as it did to Harry, he hadn’t been truly out in public for a while and was eager to get some new clothes. Although he didn’t want to admit it, Harry and Ginny were correct; he was hoping to impress Tonks.

Only thirty minutes later the group was fed and walking down the street to Miss Figg’s house to use her fireplace. When they rang the door bell they could hear her cursing her many cats as she progressed towards the door. She ushered them in grumpily, still wearing her flannel nightgown and curlers merely pointed at the fireplace before going back to her bedroom.

They each took a large handful of floo powder and lined up. Lupin went first to check the area then Harry and Ginny stepped in side by side. The ride went a lot better than last time for Harry because he was caught from falling by Ginny.

They waved hello to Tom the barman before quickly heading to the back and into Diagon Alley. The roads were almost completely empty, due to the combined effect of Voldemort’s return and the rather early time of day. They hadn’t seen a single other person until they reached Gringotts where there were already dozens of people moving in and out of the large white marble building.

They all entered and Harry walked up to one of the Goblins to get them to take him to his vault. “Hello, I’d like to withdraw some money from my vault.” Harry said, at the same time handing the Goblin his tiny gold key. He took it and examined it then reached under his desk and pulled out an enormous leather bound book and began to thumb trough its pages until he found what he was looking for.

“Mr. Potter, it would appear that you have come into your family’s vaults as of two weeks ago. You are 16 are you not?” The goblin asked leaning over his desk to inspect the boy.

“Um, yes. But what vaults are you talking about. I already have access to my vault.”

“The Potter family vaults. What you had access to was simply your trust fund, that is until you became 16 years old. You now have full and complete access to your family vaults. It also states in our books that you are the sole heir to the Black family assets. Which means you now can access all of their vaults too. We do need you to fill out a few forms just to finalize it and make sure you know of your holdings.” The goblin smiled widely and handed over a small pile of papers and a quill.

Harry looked nervously at the stack of papers, unsure what to do, “You said vaults not vault, just how many are there?”

“Well the Potter family only has two, one for the gold and the other for heirlooms and storage. The Black family vault is much older and therefore has four vaults. Two weeks ago however, when you came into control we took it upon ourselves to combine a few of them into one larger vault. Therefore now you only have three: one for the gold, one for Potter heirlooms, and one for Black heirlooms. I hope that is ok with you Mr. Potter? Once you sign right here I would be happy to take you down to them.”

Harry, Ginny, and Lupin were speechless. None of them had heard of a person having more than one vault, let alone five. The goblin coughed politely reminding Harry that eh still had business to do. Harry quickly scribbled his name on the parchment in the required places, in return he got another larger key.

“That is the key to the entrance room for the vault; the actual safes are locked with blood magic. Much more secure. Now if you would please follow me this way I’ll get an attendant to take you down to your vaults.” The goblin hopped off of his stool and led them to the usual entrance where another goblin was waiting to take them to the vault.

“If you just follow Griphook here he will get you access to your vault.”

“Thank you, I appreciate your help.” Harry said courteously then turning towards Griphook smiled, “How are you? I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“A little over five years actually, step onto the cart please,” Griphook said opening the little carts door and ushering them in.

As soon as all four of them were in the cart started abruptly and they were sent spiraling down into the labyrinths of the Gringotts vault.

After a few adrenaline pumping minutes the cart slowed to a stop and approached a large metal door. Griphook stepped out and asked for the new key that Harry had been given. After another moment’s time passed the goblin got the door open and the cart began to move once again, this time into a small room with three large gold doors in the rough hewn walls.

Harry, Ginny, and Lupin all stepped out and walked up to the first door to examine it. Engraved across its whole front was the Potter Family crest with a large Griffin reared up on its hind legs with a large serpent in its beak. In the background was a phoenix with its wings spread wide.

“I never knew that I had a family crest. It’s amazing; I guess it’s sorta obvious why I got into Gryffindor.” Harry said pointing to the gold door.

“All ancient families have crests, I think that your family has one even Ginny.” Lupin offered.

“Yeah, we have it on some of our fancy plates, I think it’s a lion or something like that with a mountain in the background, and my dad also has a ring he sometimes wears with the seal on it. He only wears it on special events. I like yours a lot though Harry, its very appropriate.” Ginny said, as she ran her hands over the engravings.

“So, how exactly do blood charms work? I hope I don’t have to give it any blood, I’m a little nervous around blades ever since the Triwizard tournament.” He shivered involuntarily at the memory of that night.

“They don’t need blood, all you have to do Harry is place your hand in the right place. There’s usually a spot where you can put it…”Lupin said as he looked the door up and down, “Ah! Here it is, see the hand shaped indent under the phoenix? Just put your hand there and it should open up.”

Harry placed his hand in the spot and the whole door glowed gold momentarily then vanished.

All three of them gasped at what lay in front of them. Ginny grabbed hold of Harry’s arm to keep herself standing upright.

“Harry, um…just how much gold is this?” Lupin said eyeing the stacks of gold which went from bottom to top.

“I…I have no bloody clue. The vault I used to go to was small; it just had a tiny pile of gold.” Harry said, stammering for words, and then he turned to Griphook who was politely standing at the cart. “Griphook, do you know how much there is here?”

“I do, we counted your assets when we consolidated all of your vaults. In the vault your are currently in there is a little over a quarter of a billion galleons in gold.”

Ginny gave a squeak of excitement, Lupin did a double take, and Harry’s eyes widened to three times their normal size.

“Wh…wha…how much?” Harry stuttered.

“There is precisely 280,013,873 galleons in that vault. In the Black family vault there is roughly 650,000,000 galleons; thereby giving you a combined net worth of 910,000,000 galleons. And as of yesterday’s close of bank you are the 7^th richest wizard in Europe.”

This time it was Harry who had to grab a hold of something just to stay standing.

He couldn’t believe his ears, he had never even heard of that much money, let alone stood next to it. He had always been given badly worn second-hand clothes by the Dursleys, now it wouldn’t surprise him if he could by a clothing company. He was still too stunned to speak so Lupin did.

“Thank you Griphook, who is his current financial adviser?”

“That would be one of the bank assigned CPA’s, however if Mr. Potter has someone else we would gladly work with them.”

“He doesn’t yet, but I think it would be a good idea for him to get someone, don’t you Harry?” He asked, gently nudging him to bring him back to reality.

“Er, yeah sure…sorry I just sorta spaced out there. I’ve never seen anything like this.” He said sheepishly.

“I don’t think any of us have, I’ve barely seen 10 galleons together. Three-hundred million sure is a lot more.” Ginny said quietly, ashamed at her family’s lack of finances.

“Well you better get used to it,” Harry said teasingly. Ginny looked at him quizzically. “Well we are Heartbonded aren’t we? That means that we’ll probably be together for a long time. So what I have is yours.”

Ginny hugged him tightly, until Harry managed to gasp for her to ease up a little because she was breaking his ribs. When she pulled away she had tears in her eyes but was smiling. “Thank you Harry. You know I don’t care about the money, but the fact that you’re willing to share it with me means the world. Your really are one of a kind.”

“I’d have to agree with Ginny on that point Harry, you have a knack for being generous.” Lupin said squeezing Harry on the shoulder.

Harry blushed at the praise and just smiled at the two. “Moony, would you like to help… I mean would you help me…would you manage this stuff for me? I’ve never been very good with money or math and with this much of it I’m sure I’d be lost. So like you said I need someone to help and I’d like it to be someone I trust.”

Lupin was taken aback by the boy’s kind words and that he would hold him in such high regard, being a werewolf usually didn’t warrant many compliments. “Yes Harry, I would be honored to help you. I want to make sure you have some money to start a family with when you grow older so that means you can’t blow your whole fortune on broomsticks or candy.”

“Great! Thanks Moony. Now what do you say we get some of this money converted to pounds and go to Harrods. We can look at the other vaults later, right now I feel like getting all new clothes, and maybe even some dress robes if we get a chance. Come one guys, lets hurry up we don’t have all day!” Harry said enthusiastically, excited to finally be able to get some clothes that weren’t second hand.

The three of them ran into the vault, each stopping by a pile and filling decent sized bags full of galleons. Feeling that they may come in handy later, Harry quietly made an extra stop by a small wooden case he’d found and took out several velvet boxes.

Their pockets considerably heavier, and their souls considerably lighter they climbed back into the cart with Griphook and headed up to the ground floor to get the gold exchanged for British pounds for their busy shopping day.

Chapter 16: To Harrods, or is it Harolds?

A/N: Harry Potter and all contents belong to the master of the quill, miss J.K. Rowling. I’m only 16, I don’t have a lawyer, I’m not making any money off of this, and I don’t have any money for you to sue me for.

Once the three got into the room they went about changing it for their needs. They added three large beds on one side, along with cupboards to store their clothes and a large bathroom. On the other side of the now very big bedroom was a large red and gold couch, a book shelf with many defensive books, and a small fireplace. It looked just like a dorm from Hogwarts just scaled differently.

After they had finished all the moving in, Lupin conjured some drinks and they all sat down to discuss what the rest of the summer was going to be like.

“So, it seems like we’re going to have a lot of time to do whatever we want. I suggest we use this free time to practice on some spells.” Lupin said, putting on his teacher tone of voice.

“Actually that’s exactly what I was thinking. Because Fudge finally is letting us do some magic I’ve been practicing some spells, mostly small stuff but I can now cast a lot of it silently.” Harry said.

“Ah, good, silent casting is a very big step towards wandless magic. Most wizards can barely levitate a teacup, but I have a feeling you might be able to do more than that.” Lupin got up and pulled out a stack of books. “Now, how about we start on these books, just look through them and try and find some helpful items. Then this afternoon we can try them out.”

And that is exactly what they did, for the next week Harry, Ginny, Lupin, and even sometimes Emma, would look through books for what they thought would be good spells and bookmarked them. Then, after a large lunch, due to Lupin’s amazing skill in the kitchen, they would clear the furniture and practice the spells until they could cast them fluently. At nights the group would often go for a short walk, or just sit around the fire chatting about life.

While there was plenty of beds to go around that seemed to be the main problem of the entire arrangement. Even though Harry’s bed was right next to Ginny’s, every night they would be woken up by one of them landing on the other. No matter how close they got the beds to each other they would still be transported over to the other bed sometime in the night.

By the eighth night everyone was sleep starved and mad with frustration, so when Harry landed on top of Ginny causing her to yelp and kick him in the arm Lupin simply stood up and without a word, vanished Harry’s bed, and pointed angrily to Ginny’s, he then simply turned around and crawled back into his own. Harry couldn’t find the energy to argue the point, and he probably wouldn’t have in the first place, so he shrugged and crawled into bed with Ginny, who immediately feel asleep with her head on his shoulder.

About two weeks into Lupin’s stay with Harry the state of Harry and Lupin’s clothes were brought up into discussion.

“Harry, I’ve noticed that you don’t seem to have many clothes that actually are in a good state, could I ask why?” Lupin said.

Harry just shrugged, “The Dursleys just give me their old junk, and even though I have money I’ve never had a chance to get anything with it, just some school robes. But I wouldn’t be talking Moony, your clothes aren’t exactly the picture of perfection.” He teased.

“Well those bloody laws the Umbridge lady managed to pass hasn’t really afforded me any luxuries, it’s tough enough worrying about how to pay for the Wolfsbane potion let alone clothes. But now that you mention it Sirius did leave me a large amount of galleons saying I should spoil myself, I was just thinking about food but maybe he meant clothes too.” He stopped there though, noticing the drawn expression on Harry’s face.

It was still painful for him to hear Sirius’ name, but slowly it was growing easier to accept. The part that caught him off guard was the fact that he had a will prepared and he hadn’t been told about it.

“Sirius wrote a will?” Harry asked quietly.

“Of course he wrote a will, almost every adult wizard has one, I do. It makes sense to have your affairs in order incase something happens, especially during these times. He wasn’t expecting to die, just prepared to. His will actually left most of his possessions to you, including the house, but it’s in Dumbledore’s control until you come of age.”

“I don’t care about the house, or the money, I’d give it all back to get him back. He didn’t have to be ready to die!” Harry moaned as he sunk into Ginny’s arms.

“I know he didn’t, and I’d give back everything he gave me to get him back too, but he gave us the things to take care of us, you most importantly. Now you know what, I think that a little outing would be just what would help us. We’ve been pent up in this room for two weeks now, I say we go get you some of your money and get you a whole new outfit, underwear even.” Lupin playfully punched the boys arm.

“Right, but you have to promise to get some new clothes also; maybe you’ll finally be able to get Tonks to notice you. And I want to get you some things too Ginny, you know, so you look more like a muggle and all.”

“Well that sounds like a plan! I’ll owl the headmaster right now to make sure it’s okay but I don’t see why not. We’ll be in well protected areas, and not even Voldemort would attack Gringotts.” Lupin got up and scribbled a quick note to Dumbledore then attached it to Hedwig who seemed eager to deliver the message quickly.

“Well I told him I was hoping to go on the weekend. We can first go to Gringotts and pick up some money, then go to the stores and get clothes.”

“What about muggle clothes, I haven’t seen any stores in Diagon Alley that sells that stuff.” Ginny asked.

“Harrods,” Harry said, almost questioningly to himself.

“Bless you,” Lupin offered.

“No, no, Harrods, or Harolds or something like that,” Harry said waving him off, “the Dursley’s go there when they need to buy stuff. They say ‘they’re going shopping at Harrods, don’t break or blow anything up,’ yeah Harrods. I see their ads sometimes in newspapers and on the television. I’m sure they’ll have clothes there it looks huge!”

“Cool, my first muggle store, I can’t wait to see what’s in it. I wonder if it’s like Diagon Alley.” Ginny said enthusiastically.

“Well that sounds good Harry, I’m sure well probably be able to drop in there. I’ve heard of some people talk about it before, they say it’s massive, but has everything you could possibly need.” Lupin had a bit of a whimsical look on his face, as if he couldn’t believe the stuff his friends had told him.

“Well it’s late and I want to get some sleep tonight now that we finally got he whole bed thing figured out.” Ginny said yawing wide as she walked over to her cupboards to get dressed.

“Good idea, if we get Dumbledore’s approval tomorrow plan on leaving early we have a lot of things to do. About the bed situation though, I know you won’t tell your mother so I won’t, I just ask for a little discretion when it comes to the kissing.” He said teasingly, smiling as both teens blushed deeply.

In just a little the light was ought and all three were drifting off to dreams imagining what they were going to get at the shops.

Chapter 15: A Werewolf's Visit

A/N: Harry Potter and all contents belong to the master of the quill, miss J.K. Rowling. I’m only 16, I don’t have a lawyer, I’m not making any money off of this, and I don’t have any money for you to sue me for.

The next morning the pair woke up surprisingly well rested considering all they had gone through that night. It was a sunny day outside; finally dispelling what seemed like a moth of endless fog and rain. Hedwig had come back from her hunt and was resting in the sunlight happily.

“Morning sleepy,” Harry said as he got out of bed, and quickly put on a pair of jeans.

“Can I just stay in this bed; it’s so comfortable, much better than mine.” She pulled the blankets higher up and puffed up a pillow.

“Come on get up, Lupin’ll be coming soon, and plus we should try and make the room a little better, you two are going to be living here for a while.

Finally Ginny go tout of bed and they had a small breakfast, sneaking downstairs and stealing whatever leftovers there were in the kitchen.

“Did you know that it’s my birthday today?” Harry asked through mouthful of toast, just after he remembered himself.

“Really! I completely forgot that it’s today, I guess last night sorta made me forget.” She said laughing. “So did you get everything you wanted for your birthday?”

“I did, everyone sent me cakes and cards. Again, thank you so much for yours, it really was great,” Harry paused embarrassed, then started reaching for the pillow. “I just remembered something that Emma gave me, it should be under this pillow. There it is!” He pulled the small blue birthday candle out from under the pillow and held it up to examine it, now remembering the wish he made that day after blowing out the candles. “No bloody way that’s possible, how…” Harry stammered out staring at the candle in shock.

Ginny tensed up thinking something was wrong, “Harry what’s wrong, did something happen?”

He shook his head and then just started to laugh out loud; rolling onto the bed clutching his sides. Ginny tried for five minutes in vain to figure out just what he was laughing about and finally just crossed her arms and scowled at the delirious boy. After another moment he finally caught his breath, looking up at Ginny he spoke, “sorry Gin’ it’s just that I remembered what wish I made when I blew out the candle. I wished that I would finally get to see who the girl I was kissing in the dream was. Seems like it came true didn’t it. Maybe whoever’s up there is listening.”

Ginny just smiled back at him then leaned forward and kissed him again. “Happy birthday,” She whispered pulling away after what seemed like a long time.

He just sat there stunned once again, his brain feeling as if their gears had locked in place. As he stammered for a reply salvation came in the form of a doorbell ringing.

“Oh, that must be Lupin, come on we better get down there and head off my Uncle.

The two sprinted down the stairs in hopes of beating Uncle Vernon to the door, as luck would have it though, he was already there holding the door open staring at the disheveled shape of Remus Lupin.

“Oh hello Harry, Ginny,” Lupin said pleasantly upon catching sight of the out of breath teens.

“Uh, hi professor, Uncle Vernon this is Professor Remus Lupin he’s going to be staying here for a while.” Harry said trying to head of his uncle’s anger, unsuccessfully.

“He will not stay here! He is a thing, like you are, and I already have enough to deal with one of them. He will not stay one more bloody….” But that’s when Uncle Vernon stopped talking, he just set his eyes on Ginny and was just staring at the girl in her pajamas, who had she gotten into his house? His face started to turn blood red once again, his tiny eyes sinking farther into his head, giving him the look of a very ugly red toad. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING BOY? WHO IS THIS GIRL, HOW’D YOU GET HER IN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? YOU HAD BETTER NOT HAVE GOTTEN HER PREGNANT OR ELSE I’M GOING…”

“…to do absolutely nothing,” Harry said coolly, raising his wand right into the pudgy face of his uncle. “I have every right to have guest, and that’s why Professor Lupin is here, he’s going to watch over Ginny and I.”

“I will not let any one else in this house, it is mine and I choose who lives here. She cannot stay, and he will not come in. I will call the police.” He said with steaming rage.

Harry just laughed, “Yeah, I’d like to see that. ‘Officer, yes, I’d like to report that there are two wizards attempting to live in my nephew’s room.’ Oh and if they believe that part, they’ll think you’re crazy if you show them my room now. I think you’re forgetting that I can do magic legally now.”

The word ‘magic’ seemed to physically hurt the large man, flinching as if it were a knife wound. The boy had called his bluff, of course he wasn’t going to call the police, but he had to do something!

“Sir, I guarantee we will not get in your way, we will eat upstairs and I will make sure that there are no outward signs of three wizards living here.” This time it was Lupin talking, stepping through the front door into the entrance.

“No, no, no, absolutely not, I will not allow him to come in, and you girl, you better bloody be ready to leave right now.” Vernon pointed viciously at the door.

Harry stepped closer towards his uncle, walking right up to his face, and whispering said, “no, she will not leave, and he will come in. Also, that man that you’re saying can’t come in is a werewolf.” Uncle Vernon scoffed at Harry, “no really, I guarantee it. But if you don’t believe me get on his bad side and see for yourself.”

Harry’s air of certainty seemed to wilt his Uncle’s resistance to the idea of these two strangers staying with them. He stood there completely silent mulling things over in his mind trying to see the upside to the whole situation. Well the werewolf thingy wont kill me. And the he did say they wouldn’t bother us, maybe his freaks will keep him quiet and not make him do any other stupid things.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity his Uncle sighed and shrugged his shoulders in defeat.

“So Uncle Vernon, what do you say, are we going to have to hex you to let them stay?” Harry said, fingering his wand dangerously.

“No you won’t. I have decided to let your little weirdo friends stay here. You have to stay up in your room, and don’t you dare blow anything up or do anything to attract the neighbor’s attention!” Uncle Vernon waggled his finger threateningly at the whole group.

“Whatever,” Harry said walking past his Uncle and up to Lupin, who just seemed amused by the whole situation “nice to see you Professor, sorry ‘bout this, do you need help with your luggage?”

“No I have it all in my pockets,” he pointed his outer cloak pocket, “Harry, I’m not your professor anymore, actually I haven’t been for some time. Why don’t you call me Remus? That goes for you too Ginny.”

“I don’t know, Remus is what the adults call you, couldn’t we call you just Lupin, or…Moony!” Harry said excitedly.

The old marauder’s face brightened much more at the name, “of course, that’s perfect. I miss hearing that name anyways. Moony it is. What do you say to getting all settled then having a cup of tea and opening my present for you?” Lupin said as he placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder and started to walk towards the stairs with Ginny.

“You got me a birthday present?” Harry asked, shocked that the werewolf had remembered, let alone had the money to get him one. His clothes certainly looked more worn than last time he’d seen him, and it appeared that he hadn’t eaten much too.

“Of course I got you a present, marauders don’t forget each other’s birthdays.” Lupin said happily, as the three wizards headed up to their room for the summer.

Chapter 14: A New Room

Dumbledore smiled at the compassion the young girl showed for Harry. It’s just the thing he needs right now, love. He’s lost so much to this war, probably the most out of everyone, and he needs something to focus his mind and allow him to get through the next years of his life unscathed.

After taking a moment to compose herself, Ginny looked up at the headmaster with an expression of determination. “What can we do to stop him?”

“Alas, I do not know. I have studied that very problem for over a decade now and I still cannot find a way to defeat Voldemort. It would appear that whatever steps he has taken to protect himself have so far worked; him coming back from the near dead is proof enough. Whatever it is that will be able to destroy Tom is hidden inside Harry. All we can do is support him as much as possible.”

Harry grimaced as he once again was reminded of how he was no longer just a person, but a weapon. Ginny noticed this reaction too and grabbed one of his hands firmly as she stared into his eyes. “Harry James Potter, you better listen to me, you aren’t only good for killing this lunatic, you need to stay alive. There are people who love you, like my mum and dad, and my brother, and Hermione….and me.” She said the last part softly, almost whispering it.

Harry closed his eyes, fighting off tears, trying not to lose it in front of his headmaster. After giving himself a moment to compose himself he raised his bloodshot eyes to Dumbledore. “Sir, you know how you said that Ginny and I are going to have to stay close together, how are we going to do that? I mean, you said that I would have to stay here for a while so the blood magic still works so I can’t go to headquarters…”

“Ah, yes I can see the problem. Well, while I’m not quite sure you mother will be happy with this. As of right now, unless you have any objections Miss Weasley, I have arranged for you and your old professor Lupin, to stay here.” Dumbledore’s smile broadened as the two tired teenager’s faces lit up with excitement.

“You mean here, at the Dursley’s! That’s bloody brilliant!” Harry shouted, completely forgetting is current company momentarily, “Oops, er… sorry headmaster, just got a little excited.” Harry said apologetically.

“What did you say, you’ll have to speak up, I don’t have the best hearing you know.” He said smiling absently at the book shelf.

“Uh, sir, what about clothes and beds and stuff. I mean this bedroom already small as it is. We probably couldn’t fit much more than a house elf right now.”

At that Dumbledore stood up and vanished his recliner. “I actually have a solution for that problem too. Even since I learned about Dumbledore’s Army, and where it was located, specifically the Room of Requirement, I went about researching ways to make another such room. I had to go through some particularly nasty books to find the right combination of charms to do it. Once I used the wrong set of charms and turned my bedroom into a rainforest, complete with lion.” Dumbledore laughed loudly, and Harry and Ginny joined in too, trying to imagine the headmaster in his nightgown trying to find his bed in a rainforest.

Whipping out his wand he continued, “Well you’ll be happy to know I found the charm. Now if you’ll just step close to me, this will take just a moment. Don’t worry Harry, I guarantee you that your room will not be turned into a rainforest.” He started to wave his wand in a complicated swooping pattern, causing the air around it to glow, “however I cannot say the same for a swamp.”

After another moment’s time the bedroom began to vibrate ever so slightly, then a gold light seemed to seep from every part of the room. Dumbledore, Ginny, and Harry were in one corner, shielding their eyes from the intense light. How the neighbors, let alone the Dursleys, didn’t wake up from what looked liked an entire stadium worth of lights in one little room, completely escaped Harry.

Soon there was a loud grinding noise and a pop and the light dissipated slowly leaving the room exactly the same way it was before.

“Did it work?” Ginny asked, squinting still because of the now sudden darkness.

“Would you like to do the honors Miss Weasley?” The headmaster asked playfully, almost like a child.

Ginny closed her eyes once again and thought of something. Just like in the Room of Requirement after she’d said it to herself three times she felt movement around her and opened her eyes, and gasped.

There was no longer a bed, nor a table, in fact there wasn’t even a floor anymore instead they were now standing on a grassy hill just like the one in both Ginny and Harry’s dreams.

“Well, sure seems like it work, unless this is another dream.” Harry said enthusiastically, “this will certainly make defense practice a little easier, and our housing situation. When will Lupin be coming, I think that I better leave telling my Uncle about these new arrangements to him. I’m just a little small, and I honestly don’t think I know a jinx strong enough to take him down if he gets as mad as I think he might.”

“Point taken, I have arranged for him to come tomorrow morning. He is very eager to do this, I daresay it’s the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time.” Dumbledore pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time, “it would seem that it almost is morning anyways. Well I do need at least two hours of sleep a night and I think that you two could do with some also. I will have your mother pack some things for you tomorrow Miss Weasley, and will have Remus take them over with his belongings. If you have any further quandaries concerning this new bond, feel free to owl me anytime, and remember to always be cautious when taking excursions outside of the house. I hope to see you both soon again. Good morning.” With that the old headmaster tipped his head and vanished with a soft pop.

Ginny turned towards the still blanket covered Harry and grinned. “I think we should try and get a little sleep tonight, don’t you?”

Harry shifted his blanket nervously, trying to cover up as much of himself as possible, while also noticing Ginny didn’t seem to mind his lack of clothing. “Uh, I guess you’re right.” Harry closed his eyes and the room changed to reveal two identical beds next to each other. “Which one do you want?”

Ginny took the one closest to her, and Harry climbed into his, trying to keep his blanket on for as long as possible before slipping under the covers. Soon Harry turned the light out, wished Ginny goodnight. As both of them were started to fall asleep, their minds tried to sort out the complicated mix of emotions that had just recently been stirred up.

Both of them had only been asleep for an hour, dreaming of the usual picnic, now seeing each other instead of a blur. The moment they kissed again however Harry woke up to find himself on top of Ginny’s bed kissing her in real life. Ginny’s eyes sprung open wide in shock. Harry pulled away immediately, falling completely off the bed in surprise.

“Not again!” He said as he rubbed his head for the second time that night.

“Looks like this Heartbond is stronger than we thought it was, seems like we have to be in the same bed for it to be happy.” Ginny said laughing groggily, pulling her covers down and motioning for Harry to get in.

‘What, I can’t sleep in the same bed as you, think what your brother will do.” Harry said, scooting away from the bed in mock horror.

“Listen, I know you won’t do anything, and I won’t tell my brother, but I am tired and you look like it too. Now if you want to get some sleep get over here, if you want to keep hitting your head on the floor go to your own.” She said huffily.

It didn’t take Harry long to realize what he was actually arguing about and nervously crawled into Ginny’s bed, trying to settle himself as far away from her as possible. But she seemed opposed to the idea and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Night Harry,” she whispered as she closed her eyes.

“Good night Gin’,” Harry closed his eyes too and drifted off to deep sleep.