A Return to Arms

Hogwarts, Scotland

On their way up to the meeting place Harry passed several other groups of past-DA members heading up to the room by another direction. He nodded at them and kept on going upwards. He was a more than a little nervous about this meeting because of two things: he hadn’t gotten permission from Dumbledore, and two, he wasn’t sure if the other members would like the new system Harry and the others had been working on.
There was a small crowd gathering in front of the Room of Requirement. Apparently no one else knew exactly how to operate it so they were waiting on Harry to arrive.
As he had done countless times he stood in front of the door, closed his eyes and thought to himself about what he needed. I need a place that we can study in, a place that we can keep secret but big enough to fit a large group of people and have sparring competitions. Harry opened his eyes, and sure enough a large door stood where there used to just be a stone wall.
The doors were different from what it looked like last year, although it looked sturdy enough it didn’t have the same bank vault look that it did last time. The doors were made of heavy, ancient, wood and were at least twelve feet high. Each one had a large brass ring as handles. Harry pulled on both and the two doors swung open easily.
There was a general intake of breath from all the assembled members at the sheer enormity of the room that they were now facing. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were the first to enter, followed closely by Neville, Emma, and Luna. As they stepped through the doorway, torches ignited all around him shedding light on the dark room.
It had massively high ceilings, and resembled a miniature version of the Great Hall, with the exception of the enchanted ceiling. There were dozens of chairs around small lamp lit table near the left wall. The whole wall was covered in bookshelves, containing massive tomes, and rolls of parchment. Hermione gave a small gasp of delight, grabbed Ron’s arm, and ran over to scour the books. On the other side of the room, the other wall was draped in elaborate tapestries that looked ancient even when they were surrounded by the dusty books and old chairs.
Each tapestry was depicting a different scene, each one showing different points in what appeared to be a massive battle. They vaguely reminded Harry of the picture books he’d read in Muggle elementary school, pictures depicting epic tales and myths of ancient times. Emma tugged on Harry’s robe, “Hey Harry, what’s that thing over there?” she pointed over to the large platform that was in the far back of the massive room.
Harry smiled when he saw it, “I thought we could use one of these. It’s a professional duelling pitch; it even has special wards around it to stop stops from hitting spectators. It should be a good way to train for Kingsley and Mad-Eye’s course, and it’ll be a good way to watch our skills improve and see where we can do better.” Harry turned around and saw that there were now at least fifty students of all years inside listening to Harry’s conversation. Many were smiling chatting excitedly while others were nodding in approval.
“I guess we should start Harry, it looks like most everyone’s here.” Ginny whispered. Harry nodded, taking strength from her firm grip of his hand, and then called for everyone’s attention. Once the noise had settled down and everyone was looking at where Harry and the others were standing he started to speak.
“I wasn’t expecting this many people. Umm, well this is the DA, short for Dumbledore’s Army, and if you don’t know me I’m Harry Potter.” He stammered, he still wasn’t used to talking in front of such large groups.
“Everyone in the world knows who you are!” someone shouted from the group, people laughed.
Harry pushed on, “I guess I should introduce the others, this is Ginny Weasley, next to her is Hermione Granger, and next to her is Ron Weasley. Hopefully the reason why you’re sitting here right now is because you want to learn. We’re going to do our best to help every one of you learn how to protect yourself and fight and win. We spent a good chunk of the summer redesigning the way the DA is going to be run this year as well as finding hundreds of new spells to try out. Last year we were just trying to pass our O.W.L.’s but now it is much more serious. I know Dumbledore has already said this, but no matter what Fudge or the paper tells you there is a war going on! Voldemort has returned and he is as strong as ever, trust me on that. When, not if, he attacks again we need to be ready.
“Also, I noticed how all of you flinched when I said Voldemort. Let me tell you something about that. His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, and he is infact not a pureblood as he says, his dad was actually a Muggle. If you let yourself be afraid of a name, just imagine how you’re going to stand up against a Death Eater. So from now on when we’re at meetings you will call him either Voldemort or Tom, not he-who-must-not-be-named.
“Now I am hoping that the reason you are here is to fight against Voldemort, but I do want to protect everyone therefore we need to do something about secrecy. You all need to sign the piece of parchment that Hermione is passing around before we go any further. It says that you will keep everything you learn here a secret, even when questioned by Professors, if you don’t want to sign it walk out the door.”
“And yes, before you ask, I did charm it with several new jinxes I’ve wanted to try. If you break this contract you will end up wishing you looked like Marietta.” Hermione said, the older students laughed the younger ones looked at each other with hesitancy.
“The reason we’re having people sign this is to protect everyone here. This is still an illegal organisation, Dumbledore does not know about this, nor does any adult for that matter. What we practice and talk about in here will remain secret; no one may discuss what we do outside of this room. You will be informed of further meetings by the coins you already have.” Harry was getting back into the groove of speaking now; people seemed to be hanging on every word that he spoke eager to partake in this illegal organisation. The paper slowly passed through the crowd and every single person in the room signed it without hesitancy, Harry even signed it showing that he too was bound by the contract.
“Great, welcome to the DA then! Now that that’s out of the way the rest of tonight’s meeting is for us to sort out all the logistics of the group because of the big changes. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and I have been working on a new plan based on a lot of research into Muggle combat methods. Now I’m not a battle strategist, but if you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to play chess with Ron you’ll know he is one. So for the next part of this meeting you’ll be listening to Ron.
Ron was obviously more nervous about speaking in front of a group than even Harry was. His face was flushed his usual deep red. “Right, well…hmm. Okay then, were going to…uh…” He glanced nervously over to Harry, looking for help.
“You’re going to tell us about how the groups are divided up, and how the meetings will be run.” Harry prompted his friend.
“Oh yeah, thanks. Right, well I’ve, I mean we’ve, been studying a lot of books and tactics about how to fight in a real battle and what combat is really like. Surprisingly, there was almost nothing helpful about wizarding combat except for a few rules on duelling. It took us a while but we finally did find a good source, turns out the muggles have this whole fighting thing down to a science. Anyways, we took notes on different battles that muggles fought over the years and one thing that kept popping up, even as early as Merlin’s time; it was the idea of a ranking system.” Ron paused, and seemed to gain some strength as he noticed everyone was listening to him.
“Well…for our first change to the DA we’ve created a rank and grouping system for everyone. The main reason for this is to streamline the way we communicate. At the Department of Mysteries last year, it was utter chaos because of the lack of communication.” All of the students broke out in quiet chatter. Everyone had read or heard about Harry and the other’s involvement in the battle at the ministry, yet no one knew more than what was published in the Daily Prophet.
“It was pandemonium down there. No one knew who was good and who the enemy was and the fighting was completely random. We think it would be a good idea for us to be split up into smaller groups of people who could work separately from the larger whole and still be capable to fighting Death Eaters successfully.” Ron said, his anxiety having now completely vanished.
Hermione spoke up, “this division of the DA will not only be for communication but will also help divide up into more specialized groupings. For example, we need a group of healers, or medics as muggles call them, to take care of anyone who is injured in a fight. We will also have
“Right, well there are going to be four groups. There will be medics, like Hermione said. Defence, who are a group of fighters that will cast shields and other charms to ensure everyone is protected during a fight. There will be runners, who will communicate with the leaders and keep the groups working together in unison. The last group will be an offensive magic group, they will be in charge of the actual fighting. “ Ron stopped then looked over at Ginny, jerking his head to tell her to start talking.
“You will train with your group separately once a week in this room. Each group will train individually from the others except for once a month when we will all meet for a bigger practice. The final plan is to have one medic, one runner, two defensive, and two offensive fighters in a group. Hopefully each squad will be self sufficient and be able to fight by themselves if needed.” Ginny stopped, and looked over at Harry to continue the rest of the speech.
“Right, well they couldn’t have said it better. Now for the rest of the meeting we’re first going to split up into the different groups and discuss what our plans are for the rest of the semester. If you want to be a healer go over to the bookshelves over there and wait for Ginny, she’ll be the leader of that group. If you want to be a runner, go over to Hermione by the fireplace. If you want to be a defensive fighter go over by the tapestries to Ron. Anyone who wants to be an offensive fighter come in closer to me, I’ll be your instructor. If you weren’t in the D.A. last year just go to the group that you think you might want to be in, you can change later on.”
The crowd stood and began to disperse into the different groups. Harry had been afraid that they would be somewhat uneven but what he saw surprised him. There were almost a dozen people in both the medical and runner groups. Ron’s group had over two dozen and his own was about the same size with a little over two dozen kids in it, most of them were older students, including Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Harry was pleased to see Emma had joined the medical group and was standing close by Ginny. The individual groups sat down in various parts of the room and began to discuss the role of their positions Harry and the others had created over the summer.
Harry turned to face his own team and pulled out his wand. “Well, this is the offensive fighting group. First let me just say even though I’m called the leader I don’t expect to be treated any differently. I am here to help teach learn not yell at you and give homework. We are all going to have to work together well to fight properly, I can tell you I wouldn’t be able to fight as well with Snape as I would Ron. While the other teams are just as important as the ours we will be the ones who cause the damage. The offensive fighting group is designed solely to be trained for heavy attacks. Although we’ll learn some shields and defensive counter-jinxes the vast majority of the time we’ll spend learning different ways to take the enemy out of the fight.
“Now last year we learned just some basic hexes and a few defensive charms as well, this year we’ll start by reviewing those because of how important they are. Neville and I can both tell you that most of those weren’t too helpful when it came to fighting, but it was surprising how few of the Death Eaters bothered to stop a leg locker curse or a stupefy. Once we get brushed up on those we’ll move onto some more advanced stuff. As I said earlier we did some research over the summer and found loads of curses that aren’t as bad as the Unforgivables but will certainly do a lot of damage. This is a warning; do not use these on another person unless in real combat, many are potentially fatal if used properly. We figured if Death Eaters can use the Killing Curse then we should be able to use something like diffindo, or another spell we found is ignatus which will light anything on fire, no matter what. I don’t want to harm or kill anyone, but I will do anything in my power if there is someone attacking. You will have to learn that fighting the Death Eaters is not like duelling or practice, you will have to make every shot count. If Voldemort continues to gain strength there is a good chance we will go to battle at some point, and during that you may have to kill. I have already done it once…” Harry’s voice was low but filled the space around his group. His confession stunned the group but, saving a few startled looks, everyone remained quiet waiting for Harry to continue.
“It is a horrible feeling, even when it was to protect someone I loved against someone who truly did deserve to die. I can see now why Tom is so depraved, all of this murder has mutilated his soul. If the pain I felt in killing someone who deserved it, then there is no way you could remain human after killing so many countless innocent people.” Harry stopped, then looked over the group. They all seemed to have accepted this horrible truth and acknowledge the fact that this wasn’t the same DA as last year. Neville gave Harry a quick nod, and the others also gave small signs of solidarity. “I know this is a rather dark topic, Merlin knows I’d rather be talking about Quidditch, but it has come to a point where we can’t just let Tom do whatever he wants anymore.” The group was silent for several moments as Harry’s words still echoed around the crowd. At the other parts of the room there was various loud explosions of bangs as the groups started to work on the spells.
“Okay, before I show you the list are there any questions so far?”
“How are we going to get to practice these? Are we going to get to duel?” Dean asked anxiously, there had been talk about duelling in both Light Offensive magic and DADA but Moody had said it wouldn't be until second term.
“As I said many of these are really dangerous, but with the proper set up we should be able to duel with them. In the beginning, while we’re reviewing the basics we will be duelling almost every meeting in some form or another, this way we can not only master the spells but also work on tactics. Being able to move quickly is just as important as being able to fire the right spells.” Harry said.
A third year boy on the edge of the group raised his hand nervously, “is it true? I mean I’ve read it in the Prophet but did you really duel he-who-must…Vold…Vold. Tom?”
Harry sighed, he was expecting at least one question like this, he knew it was inevitable, but it didn’t make that any easier to discuss. “What’s you name?”
“Stirling, Sterling Mortlock. I’m from Ravenclaw, Mr. Potter.” He stuttered. It was apparent that he had never even so much as been in the same class with Harry, therefore he was nervous talking to someone he had been told about in stories by his parents.
“Well Stirling first off, my name is Harry. I’m not a sir or a Mr. or a professor. I’m way too young for that. And yes The Prophet was right for once, I did have to fight Voldemort, although not very well, if Dumbledore hadn’t been there I would have been killed in an instant. That’s exactly why I researched more powerful spells to use, I want to be able to survive a fight on my own.” Harry knew none of them had any idea about the prophecy and the true reason behind their research into more powerful curses. He knew he was going to have to fight him in the end and he wanted to live now, because of Ginny he now had something to look forward to after Voldemort was gone.
“Harry? Are you alright?” Neville asked after Harry had been silent for a long time. Harry shook those depressing thoughts from his mind and brought himself back into the present.
“Sorry, I was just daydreaming there for a moment. Well let’s take a look at the list of spells we have compiled and try and sort out what the rest of the year is going to look like for us.” Harry unrolled a long piece of parchment he, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had come up with. “I know that this looks like a lot of spells but many of these are ones you already know. Today we’ll just start with the very basics, let’s split up into pairs and we’ll begin with disarming and stunning.
The group spread out pairing off leaving Harry to walk around and inspect how everyone was doing. Overall he was pleased, even the few first and second years seemed to already be able to quickly disarm each other, he chalked it up to the work that Moody and Kingsley were doing. Soon they had progressed onto more difficult spells such as banishing and summoning charms. Each partner took turns going over to a set of pads and getting banished or summoned across the room. The other groups were taking a break and watched as Colin fired off a particularly strong banishing charm that sent his brother shooting so quickly across the room that Harry had to slow him down before he hit the wall. Everyone burst into applause.
“Good job Colin, that was a brilliant job, if you do that to a Death Eater they won’t know what hit them,” Harry congratulated Colin, “you alright over there?” He called out to his brother who lay on the pads laughing.”
“Ya, I’m fine, just a bit shell-shocked. Thanks for slowing me down Harry, tht would have been really bad otherwise.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s a good point though, I know that you know we can’t talk about the DA but you should also never use any of the spells we’re learning here in other classes. I doubt any of you would like to explain to Moody how you learned a charm that only Aurors are supposed to know.”
A quiet murmur of fear ran through the group as they imagined facing Moody.
“Okay well it looks like we’re about finished here,” Ron said looking down at his watch, they’d been going at it for over an hour and it was late in the night now, “lets figure out when we’re each going to meet again then head out before Filch goes on patrol.”
The squads split up again and met quickly trying to find a day that would work for all of them. Soon they all departed, careful to keep watch for Miss Norris and Filch as they snuck back to the houses. Everyone went to bed smiling knowing that the DA was becoming a true army.

Hogwarts, Scotland
The corridor was obsidian black, even the light coming from the wand seemed to be devoured by the walls. It was well past curfew at Hogwarts and even most of the teachers had turned in for the night. There were some people still out and about however, one of which who was currently running down a corridor trying to make it to the Gryffindor entrance without being caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris. As the person briskly walked down the stony, dark corridor, they failed to notice the dark shadows that were following stealthily. The stalkers were cloaked entirely in black and moved lithely between hiding spots never allowing themselves to be in the light for more than a second.
As their target rounded a corner both of them acted on some unnoticeable signal. The two hooded assailants jumped the young girl. One grabbed her by the shoulders while the other muttered silencio, effectively muffling her shout of surprise. They dragged her into the nearby empty classroom and threw her to the floor.
As the larger of the two checked the hallway then locked the door, the other assailant walked slowly up to the sobbing girl. His wand was the only light source in the entire room, which consequently gave the boys face an even more pallid complexion. His blonde hair and sunken eyes now gave him the appearance of a ghost. He lowered his wand to the little girl’s tear stained face and smiled cruelly; his face was the picture of pure malice.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the boy chided using the wand to lift the girl’s chin. “First years really shouldn’t be wandering around in the dark all alone, it really isn’t safe. You never know who you could run into.” The other hooded person now approached, his face was barely visible in the light, but the girl could recognize it anywhere.
“Nott, come over here so we can do it together,” Malfoy said never letting his eyes leave the girl.
Nott strode up next to the Slytherin drawing his wand as he did so. “You don’t have Potter here to help you know do you? You’re going to pay mudblood, we’re going to make you an example to the entire school!” The two of them looked at each other and nodded, both then raised their wands simultaneously and shouted CRUCIO!
Harry bolted awake at that very moment his scar burning fiercely and the heir stone was beating furiously against his chest.
It seemed that Ginny too had woken up at the same time, she looked over at Harry, and even in the dark she could see the fear of realization in his eyes. “Emma,” he whispered in horror then grabbed his glasses, wand, and the Marauder’s Map and ran for the door pulling it open so hard the hinges pulled out of the stone wall.
Ginny jumped out of bed and grabbed her wand and was soon right behind Harry as he scoured the map with his wand looking for Emma. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were now glowing brightly, his whole body seemed to be radiating energy.
Harry moved with frantic desperation, murmuring to himself as he scoured the map for Emma. Ginny simply tailed behind, her wand ready. Occasionally she would feel an immense pain fill her and cry out, although Harry did not let it show she knew that he too was feeling the attacks.
Harry finally found the small dot labelled Emmaline Massey in one of the classrooms. It wasn’t moving. Right next to hers were two other dots one labelled Draco Malfoy and the other Theodore Nott. They were on the second floor, almost directly above where Harry and Ginny were right then.
“Gin, come on!” Harry shouted, his tone of voice unsettled Ginny, she’d never heard him this angry before. As he grabbed her hand she felt something like a shock of electricity pass through her. They ran the entire way only slowing when they neared the door. Harry’s eyes were burning deep green, showing the immense power he was controlling. He didn’t even raise his wand as he neared the door yet the whole thing ripped off its hinges and hit the wall on the other side of the room.
Harry strode into classroom, his wand now already aimed at Malfoy and Nott who had been thrown on their backs by the force of the door being opened. Both wore an expression of horror and shock. Malfoy was the first to rebound though, standing up immediately as if it had all been part of his plan.
“Potter! How did I know you’d show up? Oh yeah, that’s right, because you’re the only one who cares about these fucking Mudbloods!” Malfoy spat kicking the little girl on the floor firmly in the ribs as he moved his hand towards his own wand.
Harry didn’t need anymore encouragement; he pointed his wand at Malfoy’s face and without a word from either of them Malfoy simply fell to the floor unconscious; his eyes rolling up into his head as he went completely limp. Harry then turned on his heels ready to confront Nott only to find him hanging upside down from the ceiling bound up; Ginny was already on the ground next to Emma checking to see if she was okay. Harry’s heart was racing as he looked down at Emma. The little girl wasn’t moving, and her entire face seemed to be covered in bruises and blood. She was curled up in the fetal position trying to cover the blows to her face, weeping softly.
Ginny turned up to look at Harry the fire in her eyes was now replaced with tears, “Harry, we have to get her to Dumbledore. She’s really hurt.” While Ginny had done some volunteer work for Madam Pomfrey she’d never learned any spell or charm to deal with this much blunt trauma.
“We can’t carry her, not like this. Maybe I can run up to his office, it isn’t too far from here. Take care of her while I go get help.” Harry said already making for the door.
Ginny just nodded, too afraid to speak.
Suddenly there was a burst of fire and out of nowhere appeared Fawkes hovering in the middle of the room. Harry seemed to immediately know what the phoenix was there for; he ran over to Emma and very gently lifter her up in his arms, then grabbed hold of one of Fawkes’ feathers. Ginny followed suit, grabbing hold of another one of Fawkes’ tail feathers. Immediately he felt the familiar weightlessness and then a burst of light as she Harry and Emma were transported with Fawkes.
A moment later they appeared again in what Harry knew to be the infirmary. The torches were out and the whole ward was deathly, the only light was coming from the corner room that was Madam Pomfrey’s quarters. Ginny ran to rouse Madam Pomfrey while Harry gently set her down on the desk at the front door, not wanting to move her more than he had to. He hadn’t seen her move yet, and her breathing seemed to be very shallow. He remembered learning something in elementary school about helping someone breathe but he all he could recall was that it was called CPR. Waiting there for Madam Pomfrey he took Emma’s small hand and gently rubbed it in circles, willing his power to once again heal. He could feel it flowing out of him and knew that he was repeating what he had done that summer, but when he opened his eyes he was disappointed to note that only a little colour had come back to her hand, none of the cuts or bruises had gone.
There was a commotion from inside the room and out came Madam Pomfrey, dressed in her nightgown and a robe, with Ginny close on her heels. She saw the little girl on the bed and sped up nearly knocking Harry over as she reached Emma.
“Merlin! I thought Miss Weasley was talking about you Potter! What happened to this girl?” She said as she began casting various diagnostic charms over Emma. “How long has she not been breathing? Have you checked her pulse yet?”
Harry was first to reply, “Ginny said her pulse was really weak, and when we got to her she wasn’t really breathing. It was Malfoy and Nott. They were using the cruciatus curse on her and probably some other ones. Malfoy was kicking her also, I think that might have been what knocked her out.”
Madam Pomfrey face showed alarm. She quickly pointed her wand at Emma’s heart and shouted Cardium Renervium! Emma’s whole body spasmed in the bed as she gasped for air then fell back. Madam Pomfrey checked her pulse then her breathing, seemingly satisfied that the girl was at least alive and breathing, she stepped back to face Harry and Ginny. “Very well even though she isn’t conscious she’s at least breathing that was the greatest danger. We can’t move her from here until after we heal some of the fractures in the ribs. If we do, a piece of bone might puncture her lung. Potter go and get the headmaster, he’ll want to know of this attack. The password is peanut brittle; tell him to have Professor Snape bring his best Cruciatus reliever. Also find Professor McGonagall, she’ll want to know that one of their students have been injured.”
Harry turned and ran down the ward heading straight for Dumbledore’s office as fast as he could. He only made a few steps out the door before he ran into something and hit the floor. He grabbed for his glasses and shoved them on, only to see the headmaster on the floor too. “Headmaster! I’m sorry, here let me help you. I was running to go get you.” Harry apologized, holding his hand out to help him up.
“It’s quite alright Harry, I have already heard the news thanks to Fawkes and completely understand why you came bursting out of the doors.” He said taking Harry’s hand and standing up. “How is she Poppy?”
“She wasn’t breathing and her pulse was practically nonexistent headmaster. I used the revival charm a few minutes ago, that’s only the second time I’ve ever had to use it. I’ve just started to do scans but from what I can tell whatever these boys did to this little girl was enough to kill her.”
“Thank you Poppy, Severus and Minerva should be here momentarily. Harry, Ginny, if I could talk to you for a moment in private?” Dumbledore asked the two teens.
Harry and Ginny were both reluctant to leave Emma’s side.
“Emma is going to be alright now that she’s breathing again, we just have to let her get her rest, I’ll call you two over immediately if she awakes.” Madam Pomfrey said trying to reassure them. They both nodded and hesitantly joined Dumbledore.
“Now then, I know a little about what occurred, but phoenixes can only tell me so much. I hope you wouldn’t mind filling me in on what just transpired?” Dumbledore asked softly. Harry was holding Ginny in his arms; both of them were obviously still recovering from the shock of seeing the friend in such a state. “I need to know Harry, that way we can take care of Miss Massey as well as possible.”
Harry nodded, knowing he would have to tell him. But the adrenaline had worn off now and he suddenly realized how close Emma had come to dying, and how lucky it was that they had found her in time. He stood there rock solid, staring off into the distance.
“She’s alright Harry. Madam Pomfrey is working as hard as she can on her; Emma’s the only one here so she doesn’t have to focus on anyone else. We got to her in time Harry.” Ginny said taking his hand in hers.
Harry took a deep breath, steeling himself, then turned to face Dumbledore. “Ginny and I were both woken up when we felt something happen, I can’t really explain it, it happened so fast. I just remember waking up with a really painful headache and the heir stone was beating against my chest. We both just sort of knew that Emma was in trouble. Every once and I while it felt like someone was hitting me in the stomach. I grabbed the map and my wand and we went looking for her.”
“We started on the ground floor and worked our way up, we found them in one of the classrooms on the second floor,” Ginny added.
“Filch won’t be too happy about what I did to the door. It scared the life out of Malfoy and Nott though. They’re still down there. Ginny tied Nott up, and I knocked Malfoy out. They deserve worse.” Harry said without a hint of remorse.
Dumbledore smiled sadly, “Harry I know what you have been through is difficult but rage is definitely not your friend. That’s what makes us different from Tom, our ability to control ourselves. They do deserve worse, but it is not our place to decide. Concerning how you knew that this was going on, the only idea I have is that it is yet another extension of this bond that is not only linking you and Ginny together but perhaps is tying your friends together too.” Dumbledore paused looking deep into Harry’s still glowing eyes, but flicked away from them a second later. Harry had a uncomfortable sense that the headmaster was still not telling him everything. He was about to ask confront him when Snape strode through the ward doors.
“Ah Severus, thank you for arriving so quickly. It would seem that two students have attacked Miss Emmaline, Poppy what do you require?” Dumbledore broke away from Harry and Ginny and rushed over to Snape.
“She will need a Cruciatus reversal potion, as well as a blood restorative potion, perhaps you could mix in some pain relief too.”
“Of course Poppy, I already brought the Cruciatus restorative and I’ll be back shortly with the others. Anything else before I leave Albus?” Snape handed her the potion after pulling it out of the vast confines of his dark robes.
“Two of your students are currently restrained in one of the classrooms on the second level, if you would kindly collect them and escort them to my office I will meet with them shortly.” Dumbledore said calmly.
“Of course,” and, without even acknowledging Harry and Ginny’s presence, he pushed through the double doors of the infirmary his robe billowing behind him.

The Heir Stone

Unknown

Harry wiggled his nose and scrunched his eyes shut as he tried to get rid of the persistent itch. Every time he breathed it would work its way up his nostrils, and every time he exhaled it would rub against he eyes. He was still so tired, but the annoyance was growing, and he wanted to sleep in comfort. Grudgingly he opened his eyes, wincing as the sun hit them, all he could see in the glare was a fuzzy reddish blotch of hair that he pushed out of his face. Reaching out he felt his hand connect with someone else’s.
“What’s going on,” mumbled Ginny turning sideways, “five more minutes, class doesn’t start for another ten.”
Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position on the grass, “come on Gin’ wake up. I don’t know where we are, but I can tell you it’s definitely not Hogwarts.” He took a bit of her own hair and waggled it under her nose making her giggle.
“Fine, fine, I’m up. You’re cruel,” Ginny teased as she sat up also. “Where are we?”
“Actually I think the more important question is, what happened?”
Ginny rubbed her eyes as she scanned the beautiful morning horizon, “I can’t remember a thin, this place does remind me of something though, I just can’t place it.”
“Same here, I just have a really bad headache. I agree with you, I feel like I’ve been here before in my…. Wait!” Harry exclaimed as realization dawned, “we did dream this, this is from our dreams remember? This is the field we had our picnics in.”
“You’re right, that’s why it’s so familiar. Ginny paused, frowning, “that still doesn’t explain why we’re here.”
“I just remember going to bed for the night, maybe we still are in a dream, and maybe this is some weird new part of the bond?”
“Well let’s enjoy it then! Come on lets go down to the river down there, it’s a nice day out for a swim.” Ginny jumped up laughing as she pulled Harry down the hill.
They raced down the hill trying to catch each other until Harry finally grabbed Ginny’s arm and pulled her into the lake with him.
“Ahh” Ginny cried out, “its so cold!” She immediately climbed for the bank Harry hot in pursuit.
Both of them dragged their waterlogged, freezing bodies out of the pond and collapsed in a heap of giggles.
“Well that was fun,” Harry said as he shook his hair dry.
“It honestly looked a lot nicer from up on the hill, who would have thought that the lake would be filled with ice water?”
“Now we’re soaked and cold, what’re we...” Harry stopped mid-sentence as he averted his eyes. Ginny had pulled off her shirt and was ringing it dry.
Ginny laughed, “Harry honestly, we’ve seen each other in pyjamas, what’s the difference?”
“Well there’s a bid difference because you’re not wearing any pyjamas!” Harry exclaimed, blushing slightly but also turning his head back a little.
“Well if Dumbledore’s right about the bond then we’re going to be together for a long time, you’re going to see me like this eventually,” Ginny said matter-of-factly as she stepped out of her trousers and laid them on the rock next to her shirt. Harry finally looked back over at her and felt his stomach turn over. She looked beautiful. He had seen her occasionally in her underwear by accident when they were changing over the summer, but something about her made him feel as if her was in a dream, she was perfect.
Harry laughed a little then smiled, “okay well you win this argument, not like there was much of one.” He pulled off his shirt and, after a moment’s hesitation, his jeans and tossed them both on the rock. He sat down on the ground and pulled his socks off wringing them dry. “So what do you want to do while we dry off?”
“Let’s have a picnic!”
“Sounds good, only problem is that we don’t have any food. I’d conjure some but you can’t, remember it one of only five things you can’t conjure. You can have some of my arm though, if we’re going to be stuck here I am more than willing to sacrifice my fingers for you.” Harry said in an affected, gallant voice that made Ginny giggle.
“I don’t know about the finger but I might take some of an ear,” she said and bent down and tried to nibble his ear.
“But I need those to hear, you won’t get them that easily!” Harry said and started tickling her. After a few minutes Ginny finally called out “truce!” and they collapsed in a laughing exhausting heap in the grass.
Ginny rested her head on Harry’s shoulder as they sat down relaxing in the sun; she played with the black stone that lay on his chest, running her fingers along the small gold inlay. “It’s so beautiful.” Harry murmured in agreement, lost in his own thoughts.
“There’s something more to it, it’s like it’s hiding something. I can actually feel it, not just the stone, but something else…” Ginny continued rubbing her fingers gently along the gold lines, feeling the intricate and unique trail it had. Sighing she sat up, for some reason this question she’d had in the back of her mind for a long time finally came to the surface.
“Harry?”
“Hmm...”
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, I don’t really know why but it’s been bothering me and I just want to ask you. Now before I ask I just want you to know that either way I will still always be there, no matter what.”
Harry sat up now, a worried look falling upon his face, “what’s wrong?”
Ginny took a breath, “well I know that we’re bonded, and I know that were going to be together for a long time…” she paused trying to find the right words, “…I just want to know if it’s because of the bond?”
“Is what because of the bond?”
“This,” she said pointing Harry then herself, “…us. I just want you to know that you don’t have to you know, stay with me. If it’s just so you can beat Tom then I am fine with that.”
“What?”
“Just wait, let me finish,” Ginny said, “Remember what I told you that night Harry, the night you told me about this prophesy? I promised you I would do anything I could to help you beat him; I still mean that Harry.” She said, now struggling to hold back the emotion in her voice and face, it was tearing her apart inside to say it but she knew that she had to. She didn’t want to keep Harry tied up in a forced relationship, especially after everything he’d been through. “But I also want you to be able to marry someone and settle down with them, and have kids.”
Harry now looked right into Ginny’s eyes now sparkling with unshed tears. He was shocked at what he was hearing; she wanted to let him know he didn’t have to stay with her. Something about her words struck Harry, something he hadn’t noticed until she had voiced them.
He had been bonded with her for over three months now, and although they were sleeping in the same bed, and held hands, it wasn’t what Harry thought of as a relationship at Hogwarts. Like Ginny had just said, theirs seemed to be more based out of sheer necessity, and although he knew he cared about her immensely he hadn’t been able to figure out where or how their relationship was really going to work out. The bond was just that a bond, did it mean that you were to marry that person or just be close to them? The question had bothered him ceaselessly but he’d never bothered to bring it up with anyone. But now, the way she was right next to him, every line of her face showing utter compassion and devotion even if it meant him having a relationship with someone else, he realized he really did love Ginny Weasley.
“I love you,” he said quietly, in fact he wasn’t entirely sure she’d heard him.
“What?” Ginny asked, either she really hadn’t heard him or she was startled.
Harry sat up now, and took her hand in his this time he looked into her eyes and again said, “I love you.”
Ginny’s mind stopped for a moment, stunned by Harry’s sudden absolute sincerity. She had been running this discussion through her head for weeks now and every time it had ended with him saying ‘thank Merlin!’ and running off to marry Cho, but now actually hearing those words from the one of the people she cared more for than anything in the world made her heart skip a beat. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn’t seem to find the words. Finally, forgoing words, she grabbed him in an embrace and kissed.
Harry was a little shocked by her sudden movement but as the kiss continued all of his earlier worries were erased, he was kissing the person he loved. Their bodies pressed against each other, the warmth of the sun heating up their backs. After what seemed like a lifetime the two broke apart, both of their faces flushed but smiling from their first true kiss.
Ginny wiped a tear from her face although she was smiling brightly, her eyes now alight with passion and happiness.
“Am I that bad, why is it whenever I kiss a girl they start crying?” Harry said perturbed, excluding one or two kisses from Ginny over the past months his only other kiss had been from Cho, and Harry tried to forget that moment.
Ginny laughed softly, laying back down in the grass smiling even more widely, “No Harry, you’re not a bad kisser at all, in fact your quite good. It’s just I’m happy. I’ve been so worried about what you would say when I asked you that question, I though you were going to say it was just to get the job done. When you said you loved me I knew you weren’t lying, I knew in my heart that it was true. I’ve had a crush on you ever since I met you and even with the Heartbond I still thought there might be a possibility you didn’t love me, but now I know. I love you too, I love you, I love you, I love you!” Ginny grinned and before Harry could say anything she leaned over and kissed him again. This time their passion grew. Harry kissed her ears, her nose, her neck, making her giggle. Being in just their underwear certainly was interesting seeing as nearly everything was exposed although it was just the third time they had truly kissed.
She ran her hands through his hair, rolling on top of him. Harry felt Ginny kiss his neck and groaned in pleasure but at the same time what was left of his restraint kicked in and he broke away. “No more…”
Ginny stopped, sitting on the ground next to him, “what?”
Harry say up and had to adjust himself somewhat to avoid embarrassment seeing as he was only in his boxers. “No more, not right now. I really do love you Ginny, I wouldn’t lie about that, but right now I don’t think we should go further, especially like this.” Harry said pointing out what Ginny was wearing.
She looked down and blushed, “I guess you’re right. Curse your bloody chivalry, I was really enjoying that.”
“Me too, maybe a little too much.” Harry grinned as he grabbed his pants and shirt.
“On the bright side at least we’ll be together a while,” Ginny added as she pulled on her semi-dry jeans. “Whoa, what’s up with your necklace?”
Harry looked down at his chest. The gold filigree in black stone was now glowing a pure white and he could feel heat emanating from it. He grabbed hold of it and although it was warm he did not let go. A soft pulse beat from it a steady cadence in time with his own heartbeat. The light grew in intensity until, even clasped in his hand, light spilled forth. Soon he couldn’t see anything, it was as if he were standing in
“Harry!” Ginny cried out reaching out to where she thought he was. He grabbed his arm and then found his hand and held on as the light continued to grow. She felt a strange beating sensation in her chest. The heat was smothering her as the light grew so bright she had to close her eyes.
The heat increased even more until Harry thought he wouldn’t be able to hold onto the stone for much longer. The pulse coming from it had now reached a pace so frantic it was almost a continuous shake. An instant later the light gave off a huge pulse of green light and dimmed instantly. Although the light was finally gone he could still see it in his closed eyes reminding him horribly of his dreams of Cedric and his parent’s death.
“Harry?” Ginny gasped, keeping her eyes closed. The room was dark but the light from the stone still reflected in her eyes.
Ron nearly fell out of his seat when he heard his sister talk. Hermione jumped up along with the Weasleys and ran over to the beds.
“Ginny!” Molly cried running over to her daughter as she woke up.
Ginny sat up in the bed looking around confused, “what’s going on?”
“Why are we in the infirmary,” Harry added as he too sat up in the bed.
“Whoa, mate. What happened to you!” Ron exclaimed when he saw Harry.
“What do you mean? I feel fine, why are we in the infirmary?”
“You better take a look in the mirror. Blimey, Ginny you have it too!” Ron shouted as he turned to find a mirror. Ginny pulled back from her mom’s embrace and looked over at Harry.
“What are you…” but Ginny gasped mid-sentence, “Harry, your eyes.”
Harry looked up and saw what Ron had been going on about, “woah. Ginny, your eyes…they’re…they’re…red.”
“Yours are green Harry,” Hermione added.
“Here take a look,” Ron handed him a mirror.
Harry took it apprehensively and slowly raised it up to his face. It was very subtle, but a dark green ember of a light shone from Harry’s eyes. If it weren’t for the room being so dark he doubted they would have spotted it so easily. “How’d that happen?” he muttered hand the mirror over to Ginny.
“Hmm, they’re not that bad looking I bet you can’t see them in the daylight. I especially like yours they make you look mysterious. Do you think it could have been the stone?” Ginny asked.
“What stone?” A voice came from the darkness as Dumbledore appeared smiling in his dressing gown. “How good to see both of you awake, I must admit you had us scared for a while. Very nice eyes by the way, they seem to suit you two.”
“I have no idea how we got them, they don’t really seem to do anything. Why are we in the infirmary in the first place? Ginny and I went to bed and that’s all I remember.”
“Nothing more? Well from what we gathered, this morning Lord Voldemort somehow attacked you. No, not physically, Harry, but mentally. When we found you and Ginny were both lying unconscious on the bathroom floor. She had called for help from one of the portraits before going unconscious. The only visible wound we found was that your scar had started to bleed. What was most alarming however was that upon first inspecting both of you, you seemed to be lacking a heartbeat whatsoever. Thankfully, it turned out that it was merely in a state of near hibernation. It has been nearly a day now since you went unconscious.” The headmaster folded his hands gently and then smiled, “I must say I am rather hungry. Would anyone else like something to eat while we talk?” He looked around but everyone remained silent. “Very well,” he shrugged and waved his wand, a house elf appeared carrying a large tray of assorted biscuits and pastries along with a huge pot of tea. “If you would leave this here that would be excellent. Thank you,” the headmaster added and the house elf disappeared.
“So you’re saying that Voldemort somehow got into Harry’s mind? He’s been free from that for a month now, his occlumency is as strong as yours.” Ginny asked as he busied himself about pouring a cup of tea.
“It would appear so, and yes I do know that his occlumency is strong. From what I have managed to gather however it would be the only logical way for Tom to reach out and, shall we say, touch Harry.”
“Why can’t I remember any of this? And why was Ginny affected too?” Harry asked. Knowing that Voldemort could attack him at will, even after having mastered occlumency, scared him. What scared him more was that Ginny was now somehow susceptible too.
“That answer most likely lies in the Heartbond, it acts as a bridge between consciousnesses and therefore when you were attacked she did too. If it was indeed an attack then it was most likely a first attempt, an exploratory one. Because of that he was probably reckless and therefore actually caused a certain amount of amnesia. Do you remember anything after going to bed?”
“Well I thought it was a dream but now that I think about it it was way too realistic.”
“We were on a green hill,” Ginny started now too realizing that what she’d just woken from hadn’t been a dream. Her heart leapt, knowing that Harry’s confession was still true.
“It was actually the same place from the earlier dreams, before we were bonded. We were on the hill and were talking. The end of the dream, right before we woke up was odd though. My necklace lit up, it got really bright and really hot then flashed green,”
“…mine flashed red,” Ginny noted.
“…and then we woke up here, with these eyes.” Harry said.
“I assume that this is this the same necklace from earlier in the summer?” Dumbledore asked.
“Yeah,” Harry said pulling it off his neck and handing it to the Headmaster.
“Well I did do some research on this stone after you showed it to me initially this summer but I am afraid I never got around to telling you,” Dumbledore explained as he rubbed the stone, “as I said this is a very unique stone, one that is undoubtedly somehow linked to your healing abilities and perhaps your change in eye colour. The few books that did discuss this referred to it either as the einrochen or magi’s fingerprint. The design explains the latter, and einrochen is Gaelic for heir stone. From what I could gather the powers of the stone seem to stem from its connection to the family it was created for. These were believed to have all been wiped out centuries ago though, but it appears that somehow your family managed to keep one hidden away.
There is very little written about these stones, almost as little as the Heartbond, it is believed to be a form of deep blood magic. This is not magic you can cast, curse, or produce in any way; this comes from times when magic first manifested itself in this world. These stones are directly linked to the seven original brothers who learned how to harness the power, these acted as their links to the magical world. Harry, I do not know how your family came into possession of this but it is beyond priceless. I am now only guessing but I believe that somehow, even though Voldemort did break into your mind, this stone prevented him from doing any damage.”
Harry took the stone back, feeling the warmth of it in his hand, “that still doesn’t explain the eyes.”
“About the eyes I am not sure, perhaps it was caused by the massive amount of energy Tom and this stone put off in the battle to occupy your mind, perhaps it is related to the Heartbond. Regardless, it is a heartening sign to see such a powerful object in your possession at a time like this. I am just sorry I just have guesses and no definitive answers”
“It’s fine, at least I know I should take better care of this,” Harry said as he put it back around his neck, “are we going to have to stay the night here? No offence Madam Pomfrey but I’d like to be back in my own bed.”
“I think that would be okay Mr. Potter, you too Miss. Weasley. I want you to get me immediately if something happens however, yes Mr. Potter anything.” She added sternly seeing Harry roll his eyes.
“Maybe you should stay the night, just to be sure…” Molly said being her cautious self.
“No mum, I’m fine, just tired,” Ginny said, “thanks for coming though.”
“We would be here in an instant, you know that. I just want to make sure you two are alright, after all you gave us all quite a fright.”
“I do believe they are fine Molly. You need not worry; you and Arthur shall be alerted immediately if that ever does change. Now it is quite late, or rather, very early and I think that all the students need some rest especially Miss Massey. I believe you are well past your bedtime. You all may go, and please sleep in. I will have Professor McGonagall alert your morning teachers that you may be absent.” The headmaster bade as Harry and Ginny crawled out of their infirmary beds and joined Ron and Hermione.
“Thanks for being here, I know it must have been dreadfully boring watching us sleep,” Harry said going up to Lupin while Molly and Arthur said goodbye to their kids.
“What are godfather’s here for? Anyways I’ve always been a bit of a night owl,” Remus teased. “I’m glad you’re okay Harry, it always hurts to see you bear the brunt of such attacks. Remember, I’m just a floo call away.”
Harry hugged his godfather, “thanks, I’ll remember that. Also Hermione’s working on some charms similar to the Order’s so we’ll send you one once we get it set up.”
“That would be great. See you soon.”

Location Unknown, Caucus Mountains, Russia
In a desolate part of the Russian mountainside where seemingly nothing grows a lone rabbit scampered from one lichen-covered stone to the next. The only vegetation on that horrible mountain were a few twisted pine trees whose branches had been all but burned off by lightning strikes.
The hare took a few more steps, looking up from its position when it heard the call of a hawk. Ensured he would not be the bird’s next meal he scampered around a large rock and, smelling food, wriggled its way through a small crack.
“Avada Kedavra,” Lord Voldemort muttered idly, instantly killing the rabbit, “dinner Nagini” he cooed as a massive snake uncoiled from near the hearth and went off in search of its meal.
A knock sounded on the rough-hewn door to his chambers, and in stepped two men who prostrated themselves at his feet.
“Ah, Lucius and Mcnair, how are you two enjoying your newfound freedom?”
“We thank you for granting it, you are truly a benevolent Lord giving us the chance to redeem our failure,” Lucius Malfoy simpered, looking up at the Dark Lord with a mix of fear and admiration.
“Yes, your failure,” his words echoed around the room making both men flinch, “well that must not occur again. You must complete this mission. Leave no loose ends, kill everyone.”
“Of course my Lord,” the both responded.
“We must send a message to Harry Potter and that old fool, they must know that their friends and family will never be safe, they will never be able to sleep at night while I am alive.”
“We will make Potter weep my Lord,” Mcnair said with a malicious enthusiasm.
“Of course you will, or else you shall suffer the consequences.”
“Of course, we will never fail you again.”
“Redeem yourselves,” Voldemort said, “but first, before you leave let me give you a lesson in obedience,” He grinned raising his wand.

Hogwarts, Scotland

During lunch the next day Harry and the others were approached ceaselessly throughout their entire meal, they had just woken and it was their first time in public since the attack. The rumours surrounding their brief stint at the infirmary had spread like everything else did in the school. The range of illnesses and causes for their stay had become so varied that Harry could have sworn some were just made up to confuse everyone. Hermione and Ron were trying to act as buffers for Harry and Ginny but occasionally someone got through.
Hermione was reading trying to read the paper at the same time as she kept a look out but an article had caught her eye and she didn’t see Colin coming until the last second. shook her head, “Sorry Harry, here comes Colin.” Sure enough the small blonde haired boy walked right up to Harry smiling as usual.
“Heya Harry, haven’t seen you around lately. Glad to hear you’re alright, I’ve heard that getting into fights with the centaurs are a bad idea but you don’t look half bad. Dennis and I tried to sneak up to see you lot last night but Snape caught us and sent us back.
“Anyhow, I know that you’re probably really busy, but I’ve been meaning to ask you about the DA. Is it going to happen again? When is the first meeting?” Colin spit out the whole conversation in one breath. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet waiting anxiously.
“Thanks for trying to get up last night, but we weren’t really hurt. I can definitely tell you that Ginny and I did not get into a fight with centaurs, we’d look a lot worse for wear. At least I would,” Harry said winking at Ginny who giggled. “About the D.A., Yes Colin, we will be starting up soon, we’re just getting the last kinks out of our new plan. I promise you’ll know when the first meeting is as soon as we do. Hermione is working on making more coins like last year so everyone will be able to figure out when to meet. Remember though, keep it secret, we don’t want Malfoy or any of the teachers to figure out.” Especially Dumbledore, I can’t imagine what he’d do if he figured out I was running this thing again. He thought to himself.
“Sure thing, Harry. I can’t wait for it to start, is there anything I can do to help out?” The boy asked.
No it’s okay, we have everything figured…” Harry paused suddenly thinking of something, “Actually there is something Colin, but it’s really important that you do it right.”
“Sure, I’ll do anything to help! You name it, I’ll do it.”
“Right, well we need you to quietly spread the word around the school just what I told you, we can’t let anyone get suspicious. Make sure they are members of the DA also, there are probably not going to be many Slytherins asking about our next meeting.” Harry said in a whispered voice.
Colin nodded seriously, just like a soldier receiving an order from his general, “You can count on me Harry! I’ll start right away, and I promise not to tell people who aren’t in the DA.”
“Thanks Colin, that’s a load of help.” Harry said gratefully. Colin could be a pain most of the time but he certainly had faithfulness, Harry wasn’t worried about him spilling their secret.
“Well I better go get started, wait till my brother hears about this, a mission for the DA!” Colin said as he ran off presumably to brag to his younger brother.
Harry turned to face the others and let out a breath of relief. “Well I’m glad we took care of that. Now I can finally eat my lunch, I’m starving. I’m actually excited for classes today, the only one I didn’t miss is D.A.D.A., Dumbledore is finally going to tell us who our assistant teacher is going to be.”
“Maybe it’s Lupin or Tonks,” Ron speculated.
“I don’t think so, we all know Lupin wouldn’t hurt anyone but not everyone else, plus he would have told us last night. I doubt he’s going to be coming back to Hogwarts to teach. And can you honestly see Tonks ordering around students? I mean she’s sometimes a bigger prankster than Fred and George. Remember the time she charmed that jar of potpourri follow Dung around everywhere? She said it was to cover the smell of his awful pipe but I think she just did it because he hates the smell of anything clean.” Hermione said grinning.
“Well I wonder who it’s going to be then. I don’t have D.A.D.A. until Friday so you’ll have to tell me who it is when you figure out.”
“It is Dumbledore we’re talking about, so it could be anyone,” Harry shrugged.
“Well we probably should head down there, lunch is almost over and I want a good seat.” Hermione said as she gathered her books and her bag, the rest soon followed suit bidding Emma and Ginny farewell as they headed out of the Great Hall and to the D.A.D.A. classroom. Harry stopped momentarily and turned around. He walked back over to Ginny and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, “I love you” he muttered feeling his stomach turn over when he said it. Although he knew the time last night was real saying it to her here made him feel as if it were the first.
Ginny looked up, “I love you Harry Potter,” then gave him a silly grin, “see you tonight.”
Harry smiled back and then headed off to catch up to Ron and Hermione.
“What was that all about?” Hermione asked grinning as they took the stairs two at a time up to the classroom.
“What was what all about?” Harry asked innocently.
“You giving Ginny a goodbye kiss, I haven’t seen you two so much as hold hands these past three months and now you kiss her?”
“It was just a kiss,” he evaded the question.
“Spill it Harry, I know it’s been only a few hours but you two have been acting differently since you woke up. I mean besides the eyes.”
Harry sighed, he knew he’d have to tell them something, especially with Hermione’s tireless questioning, “Fine…we just had a discussion and decided that it wasn’t just the bond in our relationship. We really do like each other.” Even at saying just this Harry started to smile.
“Ginny finally talked to you about that? She was so nervous about what you’d say,” Hermione said.
“What was she nervous about?” Ron asked looking up from his D.A.D.A. notes.
“Your sister wanted to know if the bond was just a tool, I told her it wasn’t.” Harry said.
“Well it better not be, if you were just using her I would have to knock you out,” Ron said with a shockingly large amount of sincerity.
“Don’t worry mate, you know I would never do anything to hurt her. If I did I’d take care of the punishment myself. Wow, look how many people there are already,” Harry said as they turned the corner.
There was already a long line of other students who were just as anxious to learn who their assistant teacher would be for the rest of the year. The crowd waited outside the classroom for about five minutes until the door swung open and Dumbledore called. “Let’s start class everyone, come inside quickly. I can assure you we will want all the time that we are allotted.”
Everyone pushed through the entrance and there was a small skirmish over who got the seats closest to the front. Once everyone was settled down Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. “Excellent! Now that we’re all situated I can introduce our new teacher, he will teach whenever I am not available or when there is something that requires a little extra instruction. I daresay he has several hundred years of experience on me.” Dumbledore chuckled, his eye twinkling. Harry hadn’t seen Dumbledore truly smile or laugh in a long time, ever since Voldemort returned that night at the Ministry of Magic he’d become increasingly dour. “Would you please give your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher a warm welcome. Nicholas you can come out now.”
Out from the teacher’s quarters strolled an old man who looked as if he were Father Time himself. Innumerable wrinkles covered his entire face yet it did not hide his large smile and piercing dark blue eyes. He seemed to posses a certain sense of calm and knowledge that reminded Harry of what Merlin might have been like.
“Nicholas Flamel, Professor Flamel to you all, has been a dear friend of mine for countless decades; he and I go back many years. You may recognize him from the Chocolate Frog cards that I know you, just like me, collect religiously. He has been kind enough to offer some of his free time to supplement my teaching with some of his own ideas,” the Headmaster smiled, his eyes were distant however, as if he were recounting some past memory.
“Perhaps you’d like to say something to your new students Nicholas?” The classroom was obviously murmuring with excitement over the announcement of their new teacher. Almost everyone had heard about Nicholas Flamel, who was most well known for his creation of the Philosopher’s Stone. Hermione, Ron, and Harry shared an uncertain look. Dumbledore told them that Nicholas had destroyed the Stone and had only enough elixir to organize his estate. Maybe he still is putting his affairs in order, I mean he has been alive for six-hundred years, Harry reasoned. But he still didn’t completely believe it, it was strange to be so close to the person whose creation he had fought hand to hand with Voldemort to protect.
“Thank you Albus for that flattering introduction, I doubt I will be able to supplement your teaching much however. You seem to have a better knack at it than I do, I daresay I’m more of a tinkerer.” The man let out a baritone laugh that filled the room. His voice was both kind yet assertive, born from the 600 years of his life’s experiences. “Your headmaster asked me to help him because he wants to make sure you are all prepared for the next few years. I am sad to say they are most likely going to be filled with strife and conflict hopefully few others will have to deal with. I owed him a favour and figured it would be nice to return once again to Hogwarts. I hope to be able to help you all learn how to protect yourself and your family. Oh, and one other thing, I’m not much on titles so you can just call me Nicholas or Nick in class, no professor. I feel old enough already. Seeing as I am a teacher now I think that is okay Albus?” Nick smiled at his old friend as the class burst out I laughter
“Of course Nicholas, whatever you see fit. What do you say we start our class then, we have a double period so hopefully we can cover a decent part of the more mundane literature and still have ample time for demonstrations,” Dumbledore waved his wand and a black board appeared along with notes on how to check and set simple wards around a house.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other students listened for an hour as Nick and Dumbledore covered everything there was on the blackboard. Usually lectures had a soporific effect on the students yet everyone in this room was wide awake, scribbling furiously at their notebooks. Having Dumbledore as a teacher was one thing, but having both Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel, two legends of their times, teaching was another thing completely.
Harry couldn’t help but compare this class to one of Umbridge’s. Her’s involved a completely silent room where the only noises was the occasional turn of the page or a muffled cough. This new class was loud and filled with energetic discussion. Dumbledore and Nick fed off each other each other, adding onto the other’s arguments or ideas. If someone had a question they barely had to raise their hand before the question was answered.
By the time they had gotten through the whole blackboard Harry realized he probably had learned more in that one hour than all of last year. And when it was time for the practical section of the class almost everyone was able to cast a ward strong enough to repel an intruder if he or she touched it. Harry had never seen Neville cast anything in class that hadn’t taken him at least half –a-dozen tries, yet today he was casting each ward with little difficulty.
“Alright everyone, superb job today! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be teaching such an enthusiastic class. Judging by the way things went today we’ll be finished with the scheduled curriculum by mid December!” Nicholas said clapping his hands happily.
“Homework for tonight is to review your notes from class and be prepared to be tested on them in this class or Professor Moody and Shaklebolt’s. Be forewarned, anything taught in this class or theirs is fair game on a test. If there aren’t any questions you are dismissed.” Dumbledore said waving his and making the door swing open. The students filed out the door each stopping to shake Nicholas’ hand and thank both of their teachers. “Harry, do you have a moment?” Dumbledore asked as he was walking to towards the door.
“Sure,” Harry stalled as the other students left the room, he told Ron and Hermione he’d see them for later, and then headed over to Dumbledore and Nicholas.
“So you’re Harry Potter. The saviour of my stone, ‘the?” Nick said as he shook Harry’s hand.
“I didn’t really do anything sir, Professor Dumbledore’s mirror just gave it to me.” Harry said modestly.
“Nonsense! Albus told me the whole story, you and your two friends managed to get by the traps and puzzles of every teacher here. I think I owe you a thank you, you prevented Tom from getting his greasy hands on it.” Nicholas said.
“Er, your welcome, but I couldn’t have done it without my friends.” Harry said blushing slightly under his praise.
“Of course, that’s that friends are for! Albus has helped me out countless times when it got a little sticky. I still owe you for getting me out that spot of trouble with the Ministry. You know, the one with the barrel of leeches and a box of that Muggle dynamite?” He nudged Dumbledore, tipping his head in thanks.
“How could I forget Nicholas, they were forced to write up a new bill after I used that loophole,” Dumbledore smiled softly. “Harry I noticed your confusion when Nicholas walked in, I assume that is because of my last mention of him a few years ago?”
“Umm, yes sir, I mean you said he’d destroyed the stone didn’t you?”
“Well I guess you don’t know much about the Philosopher’s Stone, there isn’t much information out there anyhow, Merlin knows, he wrote all of it. Well even if you stop taking the elixir the potion will last in your bloodstream for a certain amount of time. This increases exponentially the longer you consume it, so for Nicholas here he still has it in his blood for…oh, you’ll have to help me Flamel, I don’t have the same mind as you do when it comes to the math.”
“My wife and I ran out of elixir about two years ago which means I have about a decade left before it is completely out of my system. So I’m afraid I’ll be around for just a bit longer.” Flamel said jovially.
“Quite so, and I am really glad that you agreed to teaching,” Dumbledore said.
“Well I was pleasantly surprised today; you and the others have quite a work ethic!”
“You have Harry to thank for that too, last year he started and ran a defence club outside of school when he realized our last teacher wasn’t exactly teaching them what they needed. The club members all scored over outstanding on their O.W.L.s this summer which is quite a feat.” Dumbledore looked proudly at Harry.
“Excellent, well I shan’t keep you any longer my dear boy, I just wanted to meet your personally so I could thank you. I’ll be quite interested to talk to you some more though, I’m sure that we might be able to pick each other’s brains for some useful information.”
“Nice to meet you. See you Headmaster,” Harry said shaking Nicholas’ hand once again and heading upstairs to Offensive Light Magic.

The DA Reinstated

Hogwarts, Scotland

The first week of school passed uneventfully. Although, like Dumbledore’s speech stated, this year was not going to be like years past everything about it so far seemed to be almost identical to his past five. Harry had already been to at least one of all his classes, and was pleased to see that none of the classes would be impossible to keep up with, even in Snape’s class. His first N.E.W.T. level potions class went by surprisingly well all things considered. Snape either had been told to back off by Dumbledore, or he was too upset to even speak to Harry and Ron, as he didn’t even once look at the pair even though they were seated dead centre. It was a small class; Ron, Harry, three Ravenclaws, a seventh year Hufflepuff, Draco and Nott were the only students enrolled. Although Harry had run into Draco in the hallway there hadn’t been the usual trading of insults or threats, instead Draco walked passed Harry as he whispered to Nott in a secretive voice. It was a rather odd turn in personality and Harry reminded himself to never turn his back on the two Slytherins.
Considering it was a N.E.W.T. level potions class Harry and Ron left their first class with boosted confidence. They had managed to successfully brew a shockingly difficult restorative potion without much mishap. Snape followed his new course of action and didn’t even look up when Harry placed the potion on his desk at the end of class.
Defence Against the Dark Arts had become the talk of the school. Compared to last year the new Defence Against the Dark Arts had quickly become almost everyone’s favourite class to date. The N.E.W.T. level class consisted mainly of all old DA members and several Slytherins, all the other students who hadn’t decided to continue with Defence Against the Dark Arts were deeply disappointed with Dumbledore’s announcement. Dumbledore taught with a gusto that belied his age he seemed much more animated when he taught. It also appeared that Dumbledore didn’t believe that heavily in homework, his only assignment so far was to practice the new defensive spells with a friend.
The other popular class this year was Offensive Light Magic. It turned out that the Aurors Dumbledore said would be teaching the class were none other than Kingsley Shaklebolt and Mad-Eye. The other unusual thing about the class was that it wasn’t a class with just one year in it, instead there were students from every house and every year in the class.
As Harry and the others lined up outside waiting for the bell to ring and the door to open the hall was filled with anxious discussion about what they would be doing. None of them knew what to expect that first class and when the doors opened Harry was hit with an eerie sense of deja-vu when the classroom they walked into was a perfect replica of a place only Harry and a few others knew of; the Department of Mysteries.
Tentatively the students stepped one by one into the dark room. When then the last one came through the door, it slammed shut and the whole room was thrown into darkness. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, were the first to light their wands, quietly murmuring lumos. The rest of the class followed suit and soon the whole class had their wands lit, partially illuminating the room. They were in what Harry knew to be the entrance hall to the Department of Mysteries, the same hall he had visited countless times in his dreams.
Harry’s heart was beating heavily; horrible memories of this place came rushing back to him. He jumped when he felt something touch his hand, but smiled when he saw that Ginny had taken hold of his hand. She, Ron and Hermione seemed to feel the same way about the room; all three of them wore a look of grim nostalgia.
As Harry paced the dark hallway his mind kept flashing back to the memories he’d tried so hard to keep down; the ones of his friends and the Order members fighting each other, of Dumbledore and Voldemort’s duel, of Sirius dying. The flashes of the crosses in the spinning room blurred into a line of light, he heard cackling then screaming, then Voldemort’s voice. Sirius fell in slow motion through the veil, Bellatrix was laughing ruthlessly at his attempt at the Cruciatus charm. Harry heard a crack of door opening, a deep voice said something he couldn’t make out as he spun around instinctively pushing Ginny behind him as he shouted “Apringanor!”
A huge burst of red light came blasting out of Harry’s wand scorching both sides of the hall as it hurled down the hallway towards the door he had heard open.
“Finite Incantatum!” a familiar voice bellowed and the red light dissipated until it was completely gone. Out from the doorway came Kingsley closely followed by Moody whose wood leg echoed in the confined space.
“That was an excellent reaction Potter, although we never said there was supposed to be a reaction at all. It would be wise not to use such a powerful spell when were a merely reviewing,” Kingsley said as he stopped in front of the class of awestruck students.
“Sorry,” he mumbled flexing his fingers and hand experimentally. He could still feel the power from the spell he had cast and the heat seemed to be warming his entire body. He hadn’t meant to cast such a strong spell but he had been so caught up in the memory it had been impossible to discern what was real from what was past.
“…class is about teaching you how to do what Potter here just did.” Harry heard Moody say as he came back to reality, “You always want to be aware, always be PREPARED!” he shouted, making some of the younger students jump, he grinned the torch light casting an ugly shadow across his mottled face. “This will be your classroom for the first half of the year, you will train, fight, and study with this group. We are going to teach you how to fight back not just retreat. The second term we will change the room to another setting, but first, does anyone know what this place is supposed to be?” Moody asked both his eyes surveying the students. In the back Neville slowly put his hand up. “Ah, Mr. Longbottom, you would know what this place is.”
“It’s the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic,” Neville said.
“That’s right, ten points to Gryffindor. This is an almost exact replica of the Department of Mysteries, minus some places that you don’t need to see. Can anyone tell me why we are going to be training here?” Moody asked.
This time Hermione’s hand shot into the air, Kingsley nodded at her, “So we can all learn the best ways to use offensive magic in an actual setting, one which has already been tested in battle?”
“I couldn’t have put it better myself, take ten points Miss Granger,” Kingsley said smiling. “She is correct. As many of you know several of the students in this class were involved in a full on battle with Voldemort’s Death Eaters.” All of the student’s attention fell on Harry and the other D.A. members. Kingsley continued, “The reason we chose this location is because the students performed so admirably, and the setting was so adverse to both sides. This will hopefully teach you all how to think on your feet and show you which spells are beneficial in which areas of combat.”
“This is NOT Defence Against the Dark Arts, this is Offensive Light magic, Offensive. We will be learning spells, jinxes, and hexes which if used correctly will help you win a fight not just protect yourself,” Moody said with an empirical look on his face. “There will not be any homework other than assignments for you to find useful spells for the situations we are working on. Your tests will simply be to see how well you fare in the simulations that we hold. Kingsley and I will be magically controlling up to twenty mock fighters and sometimes we may have other Aurors come any train with you lot.”
Harry raised his hand now, Moody just smiled and nodded. “Uh, professor, you said that we’d be training in this for the first half of the year, what about the other half?”
“Good catch Potter, well let’s just say we’ll be working in something with a little larger scale. Hopefully it will prepare all of you for the upcoming war. Now if there aren’t any more questions lets start the class.” Kingsley said smiling approvingly.
“We’re going to practice entering an insecure location such as this one where you do not know if there are hostiles inside. We’re going to try it once without any hints or instruction and see how you do to get a feel for where everyone is. Everyone line up, when the lights go out the first person can step through this door and face us, once the light goes on again the next can come in. Remember, CONSTANT VIGILLANCE!” Mad Eye barked, making everyone jump again, before he and Kingsley walked into the adjoining room.
The rest of the class period was passed facing off against different groupings of Death Eaters, all of which appeared to look strikingly like Lucius Malfoy much to Harry and the other’s chagrin. Overall their class seemed to be doing fairly well. The D.A. members were certainly performing the best, everyone from the group managed to take out the three targets without being hit. At the end of class Moody and Kingsley congratulated everyone on a good start. “Tomorrow we have a double period, we’ll start off with another practical so line up outside and wait until the door opens, then you may enter. You are dismissed.” Kingsley said to the departing students.

The rest of the week the house tables were buzzing with discussion over both Dumbledore and O.L.M. many students were up at the teacher’s table discussing possible course changes with their heads of house so they too could have Dumbledore as a teacher. There were also rumours circulating over who his assistant teacher would be; some even went so far as to claim Harry was going to be.
While Harry was confident that he wouldn’t be suddenly asked to become an assistant teacher his mind was still weighted down with the worries of both the D.A. and the Quidditch Captainship which he’d been given just the day before by a very happy McGonagall. The Quidditch Captainship was a small irritation at the moment, both Ron and Katie Bell were constantly asking when tryouts were going to be and if he’d gotten the pitch reserved; although that had lessened slightly after he finally announced next week would be the tryouts for the empty positions.
The D.A. however was not as small a problem. Everyday people were coming up to him and asking whether or not they would be holding the club or not, and every time he just told them he wasn’t sure and he’d tell them when he figured out. He finally had had enough and decided to ask his friends that Saturday as they sat in their bedroom drinking butterbeer Dobby had nicked from the stores.
Hermione of course was first to respond. “I think we’re nearly ready, most of the spells we’ve come up with seem to work. Plus I think the sooner the better. Did you decide yet about whether or not it should be secret still?”
The last time they had talked about the D.A. was when they were trying to decide about how to institute the group this year, he’d been skirting the issue all summer but had subconsciously weighed the pros and cons of both sides. “Well I agree about starting it soon. I’ve been thinking it over and I still think it may be a good idea to keep it secret, even from Dumbledore. I have a feeling that it may be useful to keep our actions quiet for at least right now, first and foremost to keep Malfoy and the others from reporting back to Voldemort. I don’t want him going after kids’ parents because they are part of the D.A. The last thing I want is for more people to get killed because of me.”
“Harry, how many times do we have to tell you it isn’t your fault people have been getting killed by Voldemort,” Ginny said comfortingly, squeezing his hand. Harry was still getting used to having someone who he could tell everything to but he had been slowly letting loose small bits of his worries. It was amazing how much good it did for him also, he could feel the pain dissolve away as he told her about parts of his abusive childhood, “Guess you just have to pound it into my thick skull, too many hits by the bludger.” He stuck his tongue out at her cheekily.
“Ginny’s right Harry, it isn’t. I do agree with you on the secrecy though, I think we should keep it as quiet as possible. What we’re doing could put loads of people in danger, if you-know… oh alright, Voldemort, figured out what we’re doing.” Ron said supportively.
“Good. There’s something else I’ve been thinking about. I think we need to set up a better system for the D.A. as a whole, maybe grouping us so we can figure out who’s who and what each group has study so for?”
“Yeah that makes sense,” Ron said then paused for a second, “Remember what Moody said about the Auror divisions and how they’re divided into expertise maybe we could do something similar? You know, break it down into smaller groups who each have a leader.” Ron said offhandedly, he’d been studying a lot of old Auror handbooks over the summer and the idea of smaller groups had stuck with him.
“Great minds think alike mate,” Harry said, “that’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Brilliant, I’ll start working on it right away. ’Mione will you help me look for books in the library tomorrow? We don’t have that much homework so we can probably spend some time on it.” Ron asked rather timidly, as if he was afraid she might reject him.
“Anything that would make you want to go to the library is ok in my books, lets do it after lunch. Harry how do you plan on keeping it a secret still if half the school wants to join?” Hermione asked her eyes kept flicking back to Ron who was smiling triumphantly.
“Well that’s why I want it in groups so each will meet once a week, and then the group leaders will meet up to keep the groups connected and updated on what’s going on. That way we’ll also keep the information controlled. Only a few people will know how many kids there really are in the DA, and those people will be the ones we really trust.” Harry said.
“Reminds me of a Muggle book I read about the Russian KGB, they’re like the Aurors except much less ethical,” she added seeing Ginny and Ron’s confused faces. “They always compartmentalized everything, not even the generals really knew what was going on, that way they could keep the full scope of what they were doing secret.”
“Exactly. I don’t want Dumbledore figuring out because if he knew what we were planning on doing we’d definitely be shut down, I guarantee you he doesn’t want kids fighting in a war.”
“Well I’ll go find the coins from last year and set the date, we’ll use the original DA to get the word out quietly around the school for meeting times.” Hermione said leaving the room to search her trunk.

The word that the DA had been reinstated spread like wild fire throughout the entire school, a very quite wildfire however. Harry was pleased when not a single teacher had yet approached him about the club. It appeared that the student’s one year under Umbridge’s tyrannical rule taught them something about operational security.
The planning had been kicked into overdrive now, with Harry and the others finalizing the groups and spells to be used. Ron, much to Hermione’s delight, had taken to reading piles of Muggle books about war and strategy; although there were several written by wizards, Muggles seemed to be much further advanced when it came to battle strategy. Ron’s chess mind allowed him to absorb the moves from famous battles just like the one’s he’d learned for the chessboard. It appeared to Harry that Ron had finally found his calling; he was spending almost all his free time now either in the library or playing with a little piece of parchment Hermione had charmed for him. It was able to simulate battle sequences that Ron had created so he could see if his strategies would work or not against a simulated opponent. It had become difficult not to find Ron’s nose buried in the parchment, poking the various squadrons to battle against the spell’s foe.
With the other’s help he slowly but surely designed a plan for how the D.A. would be run. Late at night in Harry and Ginny’s room he laid it out for them for the first time.
“Okay, well ‘Mione and I have been reading a lot on Muggle warfare. We would’ve used wizard but there isn’t any strategy to it really. It was all just a bunch of spells flying everywhere, even when Dumbledore fought Grindlewald; there just wasn’t a real attack. The only reason Grindlewald’s army was defeated was because they didn’t have a rank system so they just argued about who’d do what. That’s the first thing I think we should do… create a ranking system.”
Seeing Harry cringe slightly at the idea of dividing an already divided school Hermione interjected, “It wouldn’t be to show who was better and who is worse. It would just be so we can have a chain of command so people would know what to do if they need to.”
Ron gave her a smile then continued, “Right. So we’d have a general then commanders, then division groupings. Each commander would be in charge of one of the groups that you talked about Harry. And each group would be divided into divisions; each one of those would be have the same training as the rest of the group but would be able to work by itself if it was necessary. Each group would also have a colour or a symbol to show who was who and keep it a little more organized. This strategy has been used by almost every Muggle war in the past two-thousand years so I figure it should work for us.” Ron shrugged, his face showing immense confidence in the plan.
Harry shuffled through the reams of information Ron had compiled, it really was an amazing system, every little detail had been thought out thoroughly. “Brilliant work mate! I knew if I left it up to you you’d come up with something. It sounds like a great idea so we’ll use it, hopefully it’ll keep us safer than if we just ran it like last year.” Harry said excitedly. The new DA was coming together. “Hey Hermione, could we make more of the coins? We’ll probably need a hundred or so from what I’ve heard from different students who want to join. I really don’t want anyone to figure out about what we’re doing. I know that if Malfoy figures out what’s going on he’ll run and tell Snape, or worse his father all about what we’re doing. I think the coins, or something like it will be one way to keep it secret.”
“I’ve already started working on them, only, they’re a little difficult to make. I have only 23 so far. I could definitely use some help making them.” Hermione said.
“I’ll help ‘Mione! I’ll help!” Emma said jumping out of her seat excitedly. She had been listening to everything they’d been doing the past week, but hadn’t been able to help them with anything so far.
Hermione and Emma had grown to be really good friends and she was a little sorry that the little girl hadn’t been able to help them out in anything. She looked over at Harry and Ron, they both smiled. “Alright Emma, you can help me. I’ll have to teach you a couple of spells but from what I’ve heard from Professor Flitwick you shouldn’t have any problems.”
“Wicked! When can we start? Can we start now? I don’t have any homework; come one ‘Mione!” Emma said tugging at the older witch’s robes.
“Well… if you don’t have any work I guess we could start now, we have a lot of coins to make. Let’s go to the library so people won’t see what we’re doing.” Hermione stood up taking Emma’s hand and walked out of the portal to the library.
Harry and Ginny both noticed Ron’s silly grin as he watched Hermione walk out and gave each other a knowing look. Harry spoke up first, “So Ronald, when are you going to ask Hermione out on a date?”
Ron spun around in chair, nearly tipping it over with the force, his face already turning red, “What do you mean? Why would I ask her on a date?”
Ginny shook her head, “Ron, you’d have to be blind and deaf not to notice that you fancy her. She fancies you too, did you know that?”
Ron’s face lost a little of its red hue, “She’s like my sister; she wouldn’t go out with me. Besides what if something happened? It would ruin our friendship.”
“Why wouldn’t she Ron? Hermione has asked me a hundred bloody times if you like her. Every time I tell her that you do but just don’t realize it yet. You both like each other so just do something about it.” Ginny said sagely.
“Or we will…” Harry said teasingly, grinning at his friend.
“Don’t you dare!” Ron threatened, “Well, what should I do? I mean…how should I do it. If you haven’t noticed there aren’t exactly a load of date opportunities here,” Ron asked a little embarrassed. It was the first time he’d admitted his crush to anyone, let alone Harry and his sister.
“Not quite sure you want to take advice from me, I’ve only gone on one real date, and that was with Cho. Don’t forget I made her cry within ten minutes of the trip. Ginny and I haven’t really gone on any dates because we didn’t need to, we just sort of hang out.” Harry said shrugging, “You can always use the invisibility cloak to sneak out to Honeyduke’s with her or something.”
Ron smiled, “That’s a good idea, doubt she’d go for it though, her being a Prefect and all. Maybe Dobby can help me work something out.”
“He’d probably carve an ice sculpture for her if you asked him,” Harry joked. But Ron didn’t seem to hear him; he was already too wrapped up in thinking for what to do
“Well I’m tired, I think I’m going to head up to my bed,” Ron said absently, his mind having switched from military strategy to finding a way to ask Hermione out.
“Night Ronald, have a good night patrolling the hallways with ‘Mione,” Ginny called out over her shoulder. Surprisingly Ron didn’t even respond and just continued out of the room.
Once the portrait close the couple broke into hysterics, both of them laughing until their sides hurt.
“I can’t believe this. I’ve been waiting for three whole years to get them to admit they like each other, and all it took us was one question to get the ball rolling.” Harry said sitting up on the floor after he finally stopped laughing.
“Yeah, I guess Fred and George don’t need to send us any of their Blabbing Bubblegum, shame.” Ginny said.
“We could always use it on Malfoy, I’m sure he’s got some embarrassing secrets he’d tell everyone in the Great Hall.” Harry hinted mischievously.
“Wow I like the way you think. My brothers really are starting to rub off on you aren’t they? Let’s wake up early tomorrow, maybe Dobby could help us.” Ginny said as she curled up next to Harry in front of the crackling fire.
“If he isn’t too busy carving a life-sized ice sculpture of Hermione,” said Harry, and they both broke into laughter once again.

Harry woke up early the next day. Usually it took him several minutes and a hot shower to wake up but today he was instantly alert. As he grabbed his glasses he felt his scar prickle uncomfortably. Harry crawled out of bed, careful not to wake up Ginny, and headed to the bathroom rubbing the irritated scar.
In the mirror Harry saw that the scar was inflamed, a dark red colour was very visible against this pale skin. He turned the water on and splashed it on his face, hoping the cold would snap him out of it. Another flash of pain hit him and he grabbed hold of the counter, his knuckles going white with the effort it took to hold himself up. He clamped his eyes shut, the light from the torch felt as if it were burning right through his eyes.
It pulsed again, this time Harry felt his muscles involuntarily spasm and a flash of an image flitted through his mind. He dropped to the floor, his legs no longer willing to support him. He heartbeat was drowned out by the pulse coming form his scar. It felt as if his skin was being torn open at that point, and as he withdrew his hand from his forehead he saw blood.
A flicker of an image shot through his mind. Harry doubled over in nausea, vomiting on the floor. As the blood started to run into his eyes the world started to get darker. A white noise filled his ears as the world melted away into nothingness.

Ginny woke up as the sunlight snuck in through the break in the curtains, yawning then stretching out. She opened her eyes when she didn’t feel Harry in the bed. Looking around she saw the light on in the bathroom and heard the water running. She just curled up back in bed and waited for him to be finished in the bathroom. After a few minutes she started to worry, something didn’t feel right. Why would Harry be washing his hands for five minutes straight? She asked herself, throwing a robe on and walking over to the bathroom. “Harry, if you keep washing your hands there won’t be anything left to catch the snitch with!” She teased, rapping on the door several times.
Silence
“Come on Harry, hurry up so we can get breakfast before classes start.”
Silence.
Now Ginny panicked, she pulled out her wand and called again, “Harry, honestly I take less time to get ready than you are taking.” She twisted the knob and opened the door slowly so not to accidentally open it if he were taking a shower or something. It hit against something after just a few inches and Ginny pushed against it, trying to open it further. She now knew something was wrong and fear filled her. She pushed once more and it opened just enough so she could see Harry’s body propped up against the side of the door.
“Evanesco!” She waved her wand and the door disappeared off its hinges. Harry rolled back onto the floor, still unconscious.
“Harry!” Ginny shouted, dropping to the floor. Harry’s eyes were closed and he seemed to be unconscious, his scar still burned a bright red. She felt his chest rising and dropping very quickly, his heart seemed to be making an almost constant beat now. Ginny fumbled with her wand, waving it over and over again, trying to focus enough to cast a spell, but her panic overrode her concentration. Frustrated she tossed her wand down and picked Harry up off the ground and leaned him up against the wall. “I have to leave for a second Harry to get help, I promise Ill be back.” She looked down at him once again, feeling a chill run down her spine at his appearance. Fearing to wait any longer she got up and bolted for the door.
“WAIT!” she heard an unfamiliar voice from behind and spun around.
“WAIT, come over here quickly, what has happened?” Ginny located the small portrait of a blonde haired young man who was urging her over with such ferocity.
“Harry’s unconscious, he’s bleeding and his heart seems to be beating a million times a second. I need to go find a professor…” Ginny said out of breath, she could feel herself breaking out into a cold sweat, she turned and ran again for the door.
“No!” The portrait shouted again, “go stay with Mr. Potter, I shall alert the Headmaster.” The man disappeared from his frame as Ginny rushed back over to Harry’s side.
“Come on Harry, wake up!” She could feel his breathing getting shallower and shallower and his skin was cold to the touch. “Please, don’t do this Harry, please…” Ginny begged. She felt light headed as she watched Harry’s life slowly slip drain away, her eyes that were filled with tears began to sag and her vision narrowed. She bent down and kissed him on the forehead, uttering a silent prayer that he would wake back up. As the world around her twisted into a multitude of colours she dropped her head onto Harry’s chest and closed her eyes.

“In here, quick!” The portrait called out, leading the headmaster and McGonagall down the hall over to his position on the wall, “they’re in the bathroom headmaster.”
Dumbledore rushed down the passage into the main room and spotted Ginny and Harry lying there unconscious. “Minerva please floo Poppy, tell her to come here as soon as possible. Also find Moody and tell him to collect Ron and Hermione, they are most likely in the Great Hall right now, have them meet us in the infimary.” Dumbledore asked as he muttered an arcane spell over the two teens. A blue light started to form around them until it seemed that they had been wrapped in thin blue gauze. That same moment Madam Pomfrey came out of the fireplace carrying a medical supply case looking rather harried, “Merlin! What happened professor?”
“Poppy, over here quickly. I have cast a preservative charm but I cannot hold it much longer without risking damage. From my initial diagnosis it seems as if both their hearts have effectively stopped beating for some reason.”
She ran over to the bathroom, knelt down, and began running diagnostic spells to see just what exactly was wrong. After a few tense minutes of her switching quickly through every spell she headed over to the medical case she’d brought and pulled out various potions, “Their hearts haven’t stopped completely but they are beating so slowly that its nearly impossible to register it. From the best that I can tell they are in some form of advanced coma, the only true physical injury I can locate seems to be Mr. Potter’s scar that is bleeding. If you want you can drop your charm they are in no real harm unless their pulse completely stops.”
“Thank you Poppy, would you help me move them up to the infirmary please?”
The two teachers levitated Ginny and Harry onto stretchers Dumbledore had conjured and slowly led them down a complex series of hallways that avoided all of the main thoroughfares. As they pushed through the infirmary’s doors Ron and Hermione ran to the stretchers.
“Bloody hell! What happened? Are….are they dead?” Ron cursed, his face blanching at the sight of his little sister and his best mate lying there unmoving. Hermione just stood there speechless, gripping onto Ron’s arm for support.
“They are very much alive Ron, although at the moment they are in a coma. We’re not entirely sure what has happened, but we felt it best to move them up here before we do anything else. Hermione would you kindly stand watch with Ron out front while Madam Pomfrey looks over them? I daresay the rumour mill would go into overtime if any of the students saw Harry and Miss Weasley in this condition.”
Ron and Hermione looked hesitantly over at Madam Pomfrey working frantically on their friends and family but finally agreed and headed to the front of the infirmary to make sure no one walked in accidentally.

Other than Harry’s scar, which took nearly an hour to stop bleeding, there was little that Dumbledore or Madam Pomfrey could do to help Harry and Ginny. They lay in adjacent beds their breathing still as shallow as ever. Molly and Arthur had arrived by floo a few minutes after they were taken upstairs and were now sitting nervously by the beds with Lupin and Ron and Hermione who had been excused from classes for the day. The headmaster had left a while ago, saying he had to get to his class but should be alerted if anything whatsoever happened. No one talked much, and when the house elves delivered a lunch it was barely touched, even by Ron.
Another two hours passed without so much as a movement from either of them. The group was still sitting quietly around the beds; Hermione, Ron and Emma, who had come up a little while earlier, were all studying for various classes, while Molly, Lupin and Arthur talked quietly.
As night began to set on campus the first signs of life came from Ginny who moved ever so slightly. She had reached out across her bed and placed her hand on top of Harry’s. Everyone stood watching on bated breath, hoping to see more movement, but nothing else happened. Dumbledore showed up later that night after dinner to check on everyone. He offered to put Mr. and Mrs. Weasley up in the guest rooms but they declined and instead just asked for a cot to stay in the infirmary.
That night the group fell into uneasy sleep, occasionally jerking out of slumber to reassure themselves that Harry and Ginny were still breathing. They could do nothing but wait.