The Power of the Press
Chapter 6 - Year Six Continued

By Bobmin

Previous Chapter 1 - The Goblet of Fire Chapter 2 - Year Four Continued Chapter 3 - Year Five Chapter 4 - Year Five Continued Chapter 5 - Year Six Chapter 6 - Year Six Continued Chapter 7 - Year Seven Summer Chapter 8 - Year Seven Fall Chapter 9 - Year Seven Spring Next

Standard Disclaimer:

Alyx peeked her head out of her office and stared at Bob who was sprinkling gray ashes on the stage.

"Watcha doing?" she asked, chewing her bubble gum.

"Disposing of the evidence," replied Bob. He peered around to make sure no one was looking.

"Evidence?"

"Uh huh, this used to be one of our readers, power214063. He left a review saying to 'Update Soon.'"

Alyx scowled and reached for a shotgun and her favorite cleaver.

"What are you doing?" asked Bob warily. He didn't want to be around her when she was playing with her toys.

"I'm going to go find power214063's family."

Bob shivered and wondered if he should just tell people they don't own Harry Potter and get on with the chapter.

"Um... have fun?" he said.

She turned and eyed him with a hungry look. "Don't go no where, you know how horny I get after I use my cleaver. I don't want to hunt you down."

He gulped nervously and nodded in reply. Some times it was safer to say nothing.

"And now, on with the story!" Bob said meekly, then he turned and ran from the stage.

From the other side of the stage came the sound of screams and a shout. "Merry Effing Christmas! BONZAI!"

---

---

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Private Entry), Jan 2nd 1997, Waivunu Fiji...

I know it's unusual for me to write in this when I'm with Harry, but I've gotten into the habit of writing about things to better order my thoughts and feelings. Writing in this book has been a great help in my search to understand what I'm feeling and going through.

The past holiday has been wonderful, despite Harry studying so hard. I'm very proud of what he's doing and what he's managed to accomplish. I shouldn't gloat, but I was right. Back in our first year I knew he was going to be a great wizard and I can see that now.

Something changed before we came to Fiji, something deep inside me, and I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. I clearly remember when it happened; it was at the Christmas party. I looked at Harry and, for a brief moment, thought I saw two of him. One appeared as the world will come to see him; a powerful and great wizard who believes in doing what's right. The other was the Harry I know; confused, some times scared, and looking at the world with a wonder he should have grown out of years ago. There is a wonder about him and an infinite capacity to love. I know that now.

That's the real Harry Potter and he loves me. ME! I can't believe it and I still have trouble believing it. Three days ago he finally said my Occlumency exercises had brought me to the level of practitioner and that I'd be able to keep out most intrusions. So he taught me the wanded Legilimency spell and gave me permission to try it on him.

I saw me. Or rather, I saw me as Harry sees me. I didn't see myself as I do, with small breasts and a fat bum. I didn't see the wild, out of control hair or the ugly birthmark on my shoulder. No, what I saw was how Harry perceives me and there wasn't a single imperfection in that image.

I dropped my wand and burst into tears. A second later he held me in his strong arms and he tried to calm me. He didn't understand what I saw and I couldn't explain it. His feelings for me occupy a central point in his life. I saw what he gets from me and what he wants to give me. It was dizzying and electric, as I never expected what I saw. It was like he showed me pure love and it touched me. Am I really the Hermione that he sees? I want to be. That Hermione is strong and smart and so sure of herself.

After I calmed, I needed to get away and think, so Mum and I went for a walk on the beach. Little did I know Mum had decided it was time for another one of those excruciating mother/daughter conversations that she loves so much.

"So, how are you getting on with Harry?" she asked.

"We're doing good, Mum," I replied, hoping she would drop it.

We walked for a bit, moving past the village. The beach around us was deserted. She motioned to a large piece of driftwood and sat on it. I joined her a moment later.

"Have you been intimate yet?"

I remember feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment as I looked at her, aghast. When she smiled, I looked at my feet, wishing I could just ignore the question. "No."

"I'm not trying to pry or rush you, dear. I'm just trying to understand," she said softly.

I nodded, but didn't look at her. Squirming uncomfortably, I finally blurted, "He wants to wait and he loves me."

"Of course he does. I was sure of that after our first summer with him."

My blush only deepened.

I could feel her staring at me, enjoying my discomfort as she interrogated me.

"Well? Will you wait?"

"I don't know."

Hearing her sigh, I looked at her. She was staring out at the water, a slight frown crinkling her brow.

"I've watched you two grow up. You spent a summer holding hands and sharing brief kisses where other teens would have been sneaking away to get into trouble. At first I thought it was because of the Wizarding world. I mean, it seems pretty backwards compared to ours. But neither of you were raised in that world.

"We're lucky women, Hermione. The men who love us are our best friends and they put that in front of everything. Not everyone can say that."

"What do you think I should do, Mum?"

She'd moved closer and placed an arm around me. "You'll do what your heart tells you to do. Harry wants to wait for now. But keep in mind, that's that's how he feels today. Tomorrow he may change his mind. What matters is that you're both happy with your decisions. I'm not trying to push you into something, dear. Your father and I had a wonderful courtship and romance. We still do. Nothing would make me happier than to know you had something similar."

That's when I broke down and explained what I had seen in Harry's mind. Then, to make matters worse, I explained the journals and about bookspace and what the limits were. Strangely, she had seemed rather impressed and pleased by the books. She'd known about our being able to write back and forth, but she'd been worried by the long times between visits.

It wasn't until we got back to the beach house and I was alone in my room that I realized that, by explaining the limits of bookspace in such clinical detail, I had managed to give my mother a very accurate picture of my love life, or lack of, for most of the year.

I was mortified! I was beyond mortified! And what's worse, she knew exactly what I was saying and didn't comment one way or the other. It's nice to be trusted by my parents like this, but I still feel like she tricked me into telling her about it.

Mums are sneaky. I only hope I can be half as good as my mum is when it's my turn.

---

Waivunu Fiji, Jan 2nd 1997...

Hermione stuck her head out of her door to what would have been an unusual sight, if it had been someone else's house. However, with Sirius, Remus and Harry living there, and Cindy living there part time, the sight was quite common.

Harry was in his pajamas at one end of the corridor, hurling spells towards the far end of the corridor where Sirius was busy dodging and trying to deal with a wand that had been expanded until it was nearly six feet long.

Harry had bunny ears, and whiskers, and Sirius was being attacked by a flock of ducks biting at his bare feet. Remus was laughing in hysterics and stuck to the ceiling; Cindy sat on the floor laughing and watching Sirius; obviously the result of a tickling charm.

Dan and Emma took one look at the prank battle underway and dashed back into their room. This time they were prepared. Dan leapt into the corridor holding a metal trash can cover as a shield in one hand, and a can of Silly String in the other. He immediately assaulted Sirius.

Emma had a water pistol and her own trash can cover.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stepped over to Harry's side. She tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned to look at her, she reached up and kissed him. While she was kissing him, she put him in a full body bind, then she pivoted and sent a spell hurtling down the corridor at Sirius.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he shouted. "I surrender! And call off the ducks!"

"Yes!" Dan exclaimed. "The Grangers win the day!"

Harry looked at Hermione and his whiskers twitched. "That was cheating," he murmured.

"All is fair in love and war," she replied primly.

He leaned closer to her and she had to grab him to keep him from falling. He was tightly bound and his head rested on her shoulder.

Emma turned in time to see Harry whisper something to Hermione that caused her to blush deeply. "I don't think the war's entirely over with those two," she told the others

Hermione clutched Harry for a moment longer before releasing him from the binding. He turned and banished the ducks and the tickling charm on Cindy. Closing his eyes and concentrating, he then slowly vanished the ears and whiskers.

"Aw, I liked them," Hermione teased.

"Does someone want to free Remus from the ceiling?" asked Dan.

Hermione waited until Remus was safely on the floor before she asked, "Who started it this time and why?"

"It's Harry's fault!" proclaimed Sirius. "He was studying again and being too serious!"

"I can't be serious, you're Sirius!" Harry shot back.

Remus groaned and ducked as Sirius grinned and shot a paint hex down the corridor. The hex missed Harry entirely and hit Hermione square in the chest.

Dan examined his daughter carefully. She'd turned orange with blue polka dots and green mushrooms. "She looks like some sort of demented kids cereal," he announced with a grin.

"Uh oh," Harry said warily as he backed away. It was true that he had a lot more power than she did, but when mad, Hermione could scare any sane person.

"Oops! Sorry Hermione," Sirius called sheepishly.

Dan began to laugh, but was silenced by Emma's glare.

Hermione smirked and her fingers twitched slightly. Harry had been working extensively with her about getting over her need to move her fingers when casting with her ring. Like Remus and Sirius, she was intimately tied to her wand. He despaired of ever breaking her of the habit. She had mastered the idea of casting without an incantation, but she still needed to gesture, even if it was something minimal.

Unlike Sirius and Remus, she had mastered the idea of commanding magic directly, so she was capable of casting without using a known spell.

He winced, watching her hand twitch, then glanced up the corridor at Sirius. His head flattened and his ears grew to enormous proportions, then they started flapping vigorously. He made a squawking sound and grabbed onto Cindy. Then his head lifted the rest of his body off the ground, his grip pulling Cindy up into the air with him.

"Hermione!" Emma exclaimed.

"Not until he changes me back! I am not going to stand around looking like an advertisement for Ronald Weasley's favorite Quidditch team!" she shot back.

Remus stopped laughing at Sirius' predicament. He turned to look at Hermione and, with a negligent wave of his wand, she returned to normal color.

Checking herself thoroughly, she nodded to Remus, then looked at Sirius. He was still squawking indignantly as his head bounced gently against the ceiling. He still held Cindy, who was laughing so hard, she hung limply in his arms.

Hermione's hand twitched again and Sirius' ears returned to normal. Harry caught Cindy with a cushioning charm, while Sirius bounced, hard, on the polished wood floor.

"Hey!" he whined. "Why didn't anyone catch me?"

"We wanted to know if you'd bounce," replied Emma with a straight face.

That was the last straw. As everyone else began to laugh, Sirius glared at them all, hoping they'd burst into flames... or at least shut up!

---

The same night, several hours later...

The house had slipped into silence, the prank war forgotten when everyone finally retired for the night. Dan and Emma in their room, Sirius and Cindy in theirs. Only Remus, Harry and Hermione were alone in their rooms and Harry wasn't sleeping, he was immersed in Transfiguration books again.

He was jolted from his study when someone cried out Sirius' name. Drawing his wand, he bolted toward the bedroom door. Professor Murphy had started him on a technique that involved using both his wand and ring to cast. It was difficult, as he was using his wand in his left hand, but it was a useful skill to learn.

He careened into the corridor and skidded to a halt. Tonks stood in the hall, her Auror's uniform disheveled and scorched looking. She was standing in front of Sirius' door, shouting his name.

Seeing her condition, Harry dropped the silencing charms on Sirius' room, then banged loudly on the door.

A moment later Sirius opened the door wearing only his boxers. Behind him, Cindy was putting on her dressing gown.

Tonks pushed past Harry. "Thank Merlin!"

"Tonks?" Sirius asked, confused.

"There's been another attack by the Cult of Voldemort, a bad one."

Sirius scowled. "All right. Give me five minutes and I'll meet you in the kitchen. Harry, put something strong on to drink, please, and make sure Remus is getting up."

"I'm up," Remus said from his doorway. Like Sirius, he was dressed only in his boxers.

Tonks blushed, seeing his muscular chest. She dropped her eyes for a moment and her blush deepened as she quickly looked back up and into his eyes.

Harry looked away from the pair, embarrassed for them. Remus and Tonks had been taking their growing relationship slowly, just as he and Hermione had. Seeing the Grangers awake and concerned, he walked toward the kitchen, Hermione hot on his heels.

"How come you're still dressed, Harry?" she asked

He sighed, knowing he was about to get into trouble. "I was up late, studying. There's an alternative Transfiguration for inanimate to animate that I wanted to master."

He turned and filled a pot with water and heated it with a quick charm, then he pulled out the tea they normally drank and a number of mugs.

"Harry," Hermione chided.

His shoulders slumped and he nodded. "Yeah, I know I'm over doing it, but the first exam is less than a month away."

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Promise me you'll try to take it easier? You don't want to work yourself into an illness like last year."

He nodded and guided her to the table as the others filed in. Remus kept trying to make sure Tonks was all right and she kept trying to smack him away.

"Honestly, Remus, I'm fine. I'm just a little singed," she protested. His obvious concern was enough to cause her hair color to cycle wildly. The pair had been skirting the edges of forming a relationship for a while now and still hadn't made up their minds about what they were doing.

Once everyone was seated, Tonks took a deep breath and began.

"Earlier today I was in the DMLE headquarters when someone floo'd the office with an announcement that the Mark of Voldemort was spotted in two locations."

"They're casting the Dark Mark again?" gasped Sirius.

Tonks shook her head. "No, not the Dark Mark. This is different. We now believe that the Cult of Voldemort doesn't have any of the original Death Eaters as members. If there are, they're keeping that information to themselves. The Mark of Voldemort is a V shaped snake made from smoke. It doesn't have nearly the lifespan of the old Dark Mark, which lasted for hours."

"So where were these marks?" asked Hermione.

"The first was in the Soho section of London," Tonks said, then turned to Sirius. "I knew your home was there, so I went to check on it immediately. I'm sorry, Sirius, but they torched the entire block of homes at Grimmauld Place, hoping to burn yours in the process. And when I heard about the other mark, I knew it was an attack on you."

"And the other mark?" pressed Sirius in a strangled tone. The destruction of his home didn't bother him much, but he owned the surrounding homes and there were people, whole families, living in them.

Tonks looked at the table refusing to meet anyone's eye. "The second mark was in Oxford, over Paradise Square."

Cindy gasped and clutched at Sirius. "No. Oh, no," she murmured. She lived in an apartment building at Paradise Square in Oxford!

"Was anyone hurt?" asked Hermione quietly. She had been to Cindy's place many times, even sleeping over there. It was a home away from home.

Harry stood and walked over to the potions cabinet. He pulled out a small pink bottle and walked back to the table. He poured a drink into a shot glass and slid it over to Cindy. She stared at the drink for a long moment.

"Most of the people got out of their homes at Grimmauld. I wasn't sure if Cindy was home, or exactly where her apartment was, so I ending up blowing down doors to about twenty apartments in the building before the fire got too intense. There were a great many killed or injured in the fire," Tonks said softly.

Cindy grabbed the glass and slammed the potion down. Then she turned into Sirius' chest and began to weep as his arms wrapped around her tightly.

"This is a calming potion. Does anyone else need?" Harry asked softly as he held up the bottle.

He looked at Dan, who glanced at Emma and Hermione, then nodded. Harry conjured two more glasses and poured, then passed one to Dan. He took the other glass and handed it to Hermione. Her eyes met his and he could see the grief in them. At his urging, she drank the potion, then he slid his chair close to hers and wrapped his arms around her, holding her like Sirius was holding Cindy.

The Grangers knew a number of families in the apartment complex and the odds were some of them were now dead.

"Are we safe here, Sirius? We could return to Britain and hole up at Potter Manor. It's unplottable," Harry offered.

Sirius shook his head. "No, we're secure here and you need to finish your schooling here. My mother's home is probably untouched by the fire. The house had anti-fire charms all over it, plus Dobby was there. Tomorrow, however, Cindy and I will go home. I'll help her salvage anything she can, then move her into Grimmauld. I'm also going to contract a goblin warding team to go over the Granger's house."

"How about a Fidelius on the beach house?" asked Harry.

"It's not needed, Harry," replied Remus. "We have a ward up that's rather unique. It's a repelling charm that convinces people that the one they seek doesn't live here. Doesn't matter who they're looking for, all they know is that the person they seek isn't in this house. And there are additional, more active defensive wards if they get closer."

Sirius turned slightly, pulling Cindy deeper into his embrace. She had stopped crying and was huddled against him, as if seeking his protection.

"Dobby," Remus called.

"He can't hear you, mate. It's too far away," Sirius said. "Besides, he's not bound to you. Harry might be able to call him, though. The little blighter is bound to him, after all."

Harry winced as he felt Hermione's eyes boring into his shoulder. "It's not what you think," he whispered. "I'll explain later, just trust me."

She nodded and relaxed in his embrace again.

Remus stood. "Sitting around here will accomplish nothing. Sirius, you should put Cindy to bed and stay with her. I'll go with Tonks back through the portal and we'll check on the properties."

Tonks nodded and stood to join Remus. Sirius looked grateful as he helped Cindy stand. He led her from the room, followed a moment later by Dan and Emma.

Remus looked at Harry and Hermione with an arched eyebrow. Harry got the implied message and he stood, pulling Hermione to her feet.

Satisfied that everyone was going to bed again, Remus and Tonks passed through the portal back to Britain.

The corridor was empty by the time Harry and Hermione got to their rooms. Hermione paused and placed a hand on her door, looking undecided.

Harry turned, sure that she would go into her room. He opened the door to his room and stared at the desk with his lamp still on and the pile of books laying about.

"Harry?"

He turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway. She was fingering the belt on her robe nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"Can... Can I say with you tonight? Just to sleep?"

He glanced at the pile of books then turned back to her. "I think I'd like that," he replied softly. "I'd like that very much."

She nodded and entered the room, shutting the door behind her. She cast several spells on the door to warn them if someone tried to enter. When she was finished, she walked over to the bed and quickly shed her robe, revealing a pair of boxers and a long t-shirt, then she slid under the covers of his bed.

Harry stood for a long moment, feeling as if his feet were glued to the floor. With a shake of his head, he walked to the bed and pulled off his shirt. Sitting down, he kicked off his slippers and was about to lay down next to her when her voice stopped him.

"Harry, I know you don't sleep in your jeans," she said softly.

"I was just..."

"I know what you were trying to do, but I want you to be comfortable enough to sleep."

He nodded and pushed his jeans off, leaving only his boxers, then he slid under the blankets. With a wave of a his hand, he extinguished the lights. When Hermione rolled so that she was spooning up behind him, he froze for a moment, then relaxed again.

He was acutely aware of her soft warm body pressing against his back. How am I going to be able to sleep with her doing this? he thought.

It was the last conscious thought he had before falling asleep.

---

Waivunu Fiji, Jan 3rd 1997...

The soft pinging noise didn't wake Harry. Neither did the vibration of the bed. He was just too comfortable. What woke him was the sound of someone coughing gently in his room. He opened one eye slightly, unsure what to expect.

There was a bushy haired brown mass sleeping on his shoulder, with her arm thrown across his stomach. His arm was wrapped around her with his hand lightly touched her bum.

The person coughed again.

"Yes, Mum, I hear you," Hermione answered sleepily.

"Dear, due to the problems back home, we're going to leave early. I had thought to let you stay two more days, but now I'm not so sure I should."

When Harry flinched, Hermione sighed and lifted her head to peer at her mother. "Honestly, Mum, nothing happened. I didn't want to be alone last night. All we did is sleep. As it was, I had to convince Harry not to sleep in his jeans."

He winced again and wondered if he should say something.

Hermione knew he was awake. She had tightened her grip on him and one hand was caressing his stomach lightly under the blankets.

Emma sighed. She really couldn't blame her daughter; she had needed Dan desperately last night, too. "What do you think I should do, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head, causing her hair to brush against Harry's chest, tracing an erotic trail that both tickled and started his blood boiling, despite her mother being in the room.

"I think you should trust us, Mum. We've talked about this and you yourself pointed out that I'm of age, as far as British law is concerned, and we're both of age as far as the Pacific Rim Ministry is concerned. Besides, I told you, we're not doing that yet. It was just sleeping and if I decide to share his bed, that's probably all it will be for now."

Emma stared at her daughter, undecided. She had been waiting for months for Hermione to tell her she and Harry had been intimate. But now, being confronted with the possible reality of it, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Harry had kept his eyes closed through the exchange, but now he opened them. "We didn't do anything wrong, Mrs. Granger," he told her softly. "But if you must be angry, be angry at me. Hermione isn't at fault in this."

Harry's words were enough to push Emma into her decision. She had been vacillating until he spoke. It was so like Harry to try to divert her anger away from Hermione. "Very well. I'll explain it to your father. But for both your sakes, I hope you two act responsibly. I'm not ready to be a grandmother."

With those final words, Emma turned and walked from the room, leaving Harry and Hermione blushing heavily.

Harry closed his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Are you angry?" Hermione asked. She was leaning against his chest with her chin resting on him, watching him closely.

He smiled at her without opening his eyes and touched her hair. "Angry? How can I be angry? All my life I've wanted to have someone to hold me through the night. After we became good friends, you became the person I wanted to hold me. I'm sorry that your Mum is upset, but I'm not angry, nor do I regret sleeping with you last night. It was brilliant. The best nights sleep I've ever had."

His arm tightened around her for a moment and she laid her head back down on his chest. He chuckled and squirmed under her. She lifted her head and looked at him curiously.

"Your hair," he explained. "It tickles."

She grinned at him and turned her head, dragging massive amounts of hair across his skin and he writhed under her for a moment before pulling her up and kissing her. She gasped around his lips, then opened her mouth, entangling her tongue with his.

They kissed for several minutes before the need for oxygen became critical. They broke apart, panting, and stared at each other. She could feel his arousal brushing her thigh through his boxers. A part of her yearned to reach for it and fulfill the need that seemed to pulse between them.

Harry calmed and looked at her, his eyes turning almost black. "We should get up if everyone is returning to Britain today."

Except you, he thought, trying desperately to fight the urge to drag her down and kiss her senseless.

"You're probably right. Besides, Mum will talk to Dad, but I don't need to drive him insane today," she admitted with a slight grin.

"You are going to stay with me?" he asked in a whisper.

She blinked and smiled at him. "What exactly are you asking, Mr. Potter?"

"Will you sleep with me?"

She grinned. Yes! she shouted to herself. And perhaps I can help move you off that fence a little. She dropped her gaze. "If you want," she replied shyly.

---

The Granger Residence, Oxford England, Jan 4th 1997...

They arrived in England and settled into the Granger's guest bedroom with a dose of sleeping potion. When they awoke the next morning, Dan and Emma accompanied Sirius and Cindy to her apartment on Paradise Square in the hopes that they would be able to find something salvageable. Tonks' description implied the building was still standing, but it was only after they arrived that they came to understand that Tonks had not stayed around to witness the fire in it's entirety.

The building was a charred ruin; a collapsed shell with only pieces of walls still standing. Yellow police tape cordoned off the area and several constables sat in a police car staying warm in the frigid temperatures.

Sirius and Cindy got out of the car to stare at the rubble. Dan and Emma remained in the car to allow the other couple their privacy.

"Sirius, it's all gone." Cindy said. "There's nothing here to save."

He placed his arm around her shoulders. "I see it, love," he replied tightly. He had checked in with Dobby and discovered that 12 Grimmauld Place had been untouched by the fire, but the other fourteen homes on the block were a total loss. Had Grimmauld Place burned down, he wouldn't have cared. He could go to Black Manor in Kent, or even use Potter Manor up in Wales, but that wasn't what bothered him. What bothered him was the fact that Cindy and so many others had had their lives thrown into turmoil, all because of some outdated bigotry.

She turned to him and her lower lip trembled. "What will I do?" she whispered. All of her important documents, her clothes, her books, the last ten years of accumulated life were part of the rubble behind her.

He cupped her face in his hands. "We rebuild, my sweet. That's what we're going to do. We were planning on getting married in a few months and building a life together. So we just started earlier than we thought. Your important papers we'll replace, like your diploma and medical license. Your books and clothing are just things. We can get more of the same, starting today."

He turned her and led her back to the car. There was nothing they could do or salvage from the ashes.

Dan pulled the car into the road and headed east towards the A40 and London. "So, what now?" he asked carefully.

Cindy wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened in the seat. "Sirius is right. It's time to start over."

"You're welcome to stay with us, Cindy," Emma offered.

Cindy shook her head. "Thanks, Em, but Sirius has asked me to move into his London home. I'm going to give my notice at the clinic and pass off my patients to Dr. Schultz. I'm not sure if I'll look for something in London or if I'll open up something on Fiji. We haven't decided exactly what will happen, but with Sirius having his Wizengamot duties, I expect we'll be spending more time back in London than Fiji."

"That's right. Besides, I need to spend more time at home, now. The block of buildings surrounding my London home is owned by myself and James Potter. I suppose that goes to Harry now. We never got around to dealing that particular aspect.

"When my family kicked me out, Charles bought the surrounding land and gave half to me and half to James. He wanted us to use it to make our fortunes and he thought it would be amusing to own all the buildings and land around my family's property."

"Yes, erm... About Harry..."

"Dan! You promised!" snapped Emma.

Dan scowled and glared at the road in front of him.

Sirius glanced at Cindy, who shrugged. She didn't know what was going on either.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked carefully.

Dan looked over at Emma, who ignored him. She turned in her seat so she could see the rear easier. "I caught Hermione and Harry in bed together. They were just sleeping, or so they claim. Dan is rather upset about it. Hermione, however, clearly reminded me that they are both of age according to the Pacific Rim Ministry and she's of age according to British law, Muggle and magical. I think it was her polite way of telling me to butt out."

Sirius nodded and looked to Dan. "And your opinion, Dan?"

Dan sighed and he gripped the wheel tightly. "I have been told in no uncertain terms that I need to recognize that my little girl has grown up and made her choice known. I've also been reminded that I was two years younger than they are now when I was first intimate. I've also had it explained to me until I was sick of hearing it, that they only slept, nothing more. It doesn't help that the boy that spent the night with my daughter is capable of vaporizing me if I so much as yell at my daughter. So I can't exactly scare him off."

He relaxed a little and his voice dropped. "What my mind knows and what my heart says are two very different things. Logically, I know I can't stop her and I know she's too smart to get herself mixed up with anyone who would hurt her. But my heart says she's my little girl and she's too young. And Harry's too young, plus he doesn't have a job, so how can he support her when his trust runs out?"

Emma reached out and placed her hand on Dan's shoulder comfortingly.

"Reasonable concerns, I'll agree. Now would you like to know a few things that will help relieve your fears?" Sirius asked.

Dan nodded, tight lipped.

"First off, I'm not worried. Both of them are very responsible. Perhaps too responsible. Harry's been so focused on his studies because they mean his freedom from Voldemort and his life beyond. And Hermione's always been a serious girl. Right now, I don't think they'll do anything to make you ashamed of them.

"And as for his trust, it won't run out, ever. The trust is only a small vault of fifty thousand galleons, but it's refilled on the first of January every year from the main family vaults. I don't know the full amount off the top of my head, but there is close to fifteen million galleons in Harry's family vaults and another four million in properties, stocks and securities. How much is in that vault in terms of antiques and rarities is unknown, but I'd guess another couple million. Harry could spend his entire trust in a year and come January, it would refill without digging into the principal in the family vaults.

"We've hinted to Harry that he has a lot more coming to him when he turns seventeen, but we haven't sat him down and gone over it to the last knut. He's been working on the assumption that his trust is what he has to work with, plus a bit more once he's of age. He could spend his entire life doing nothing and never run out of money, Dan. He'll be able to take care of himself and Hermione, and any children they have."

Dan winced and scowled at that last part.

"Look, forget his wealth, forget his fame and all that for a moment. He loves her, and from what I can see, she feels the same way about him. If you try to break them up, you'll fail and she'll hate you for it. Do you really want to do that to her and yourself?" Sirius asked bluntly.

"Sirius is right, Dan," Cindy added. "She is your daughter, through and through. She can be as stubborn as you and you know how unhappy you'd make her if you didn't approve of their relationship."

He nodded slowly and his shoulders slumped in acceptance.

Emma smiled softly at him. "I think someone didn't want to let their baby grow up."

"And you did?" he countered.

"No, I suppose I didn't. But I knew it was inevitable," she replied. "It happens to every parent and, honestly, Harry really cares for her. It could have been so much worse."

"Yeah, I know..."

"It's not the end of the world," Emma added.

"Look at it this way. In a few years time, you'll have some green eyed bushy haired grandchildren to play with," Sirius offered.

The silence that followed his statement was broken by Cindy's sudden laughter.

"What's so funny?" Sirius asked.

"Imagining Harry and Hermione's children. I can just see it. Those poor kids will never have a decent head of hair."

The car filled with laughter as they drove towards London, the somber mood replaced by a much lighter one.

---

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Private Entry), Jan 5th 1997, Oxford, England...

As I write this I'm back in my room in England. It's late, nearly eleven and I should be in bed. The problem is I don't want to sleep alone. For the last three nights, Harry and I shared a bed and while for the most part, we slept, it was an experience that was both romantic and spiritually uplifting.

The second night I woke up in the middle of the night to feel Harry trembling next to me. He may have been having a nightmare, I'm not sure, but I reached out and touched him and the tremors ceased. In his sleep he rolled and embraced me in a way that would have embarrassed him had he been awake. And despite that, I felt safe and at peace in his arms.

I learned a lot about Harry and myself during the last three days and I think that the one thing I learn that meant the most to me was the realization that I belonged in his arms. It's where I want to be, now, and when we make love, it's where I want to be when I take my last breath. It's where I belong.

This morning I woke around three in the morning. Harry was holding me and stroking my hair. He was awake and had been for hours, laying next to me and just holding me while I slept. We talked for a bit about nothing important and his stroking put me back to sleep. How can I get that at Hogwarts? Or here?

I can't.

On the plus side, my Dad came into my room tonight and spoke to me about my sleeping with Harry. It seems my Mum, and others, spoke to him about it. He wasn't happy about it at all. He came into the room and said he wanted to ask me a question.

"Go ahead," I told him.

"If I tried to stop you from seeing Harry, you'd refuse and see him anyway, wouldn't you? And hate me for it?" he asked.

I stared at him for a moment in shock, then I nodded. I felt an irrational surge of anger and a distinct urge to remind my father that I was the one with lethal capabilities, while he was just a Muggle. Fortunately, I held my tongue and my anger.

Daddy looked at me for a moment, then he nodded. "Come this summer when Harry is here, I'll not say anything, but I expect you both to be responsible for your actions. And I will appreciate if you don't rub my face in your nocturnal activities. Let me at least pretend my daughter hasn't grown up already."

I stood and walked over to him and hugged him. It's been a long time since I really hugged my Daddy, and I knew I was half a minute from a good cry. It was a major concession on his behalf. He wrapped his arms around me and I was stuck by how alike and unlike it was from Harry's hugs. Dad is strong like Harry and you can feel the love in his hugs, but there was something missing from Daddy's hug. Something only Harry can provide. I feel safe in my Dad's arms, and loved, but it's a different kind of love.

On the other hand, sitting here now, several hours later and my face hurts from the size of my grin. My father has given me permission to sleep with my boyfriend. I am a most dutiful daughter and will try very hard to obey him.

So tonight, and for the next six months, I have to sleep alone and I don't like it. But there is nothing I can do about it. I will admit that, before I left Fiji, I briefly considered staying with Harry and basically dropping out of Hogwarts. I could have taken my NEWTS in the Pac Rim, but I couldn't do that. Not to my parents or to myself.

It's not forever. Harry told me when we talked in bed that, next year, after I returned to Hogwarts, he'd ask for permission from my parents to marry me. That plan hasn't changed in the least. So, someday soon he and I will be together forever. I can wait for that, especially since we'll have the summer to look forward to.

Mrs. Hermione Potter. It has a nice, sweet ring to it, I think.

---

Daily Prophet Headline Article Jan 6th 1997...

Wizengamot Member Targeted in Attack.
Ministry admits to existence of extremist cult!

Sirius Orion Black, Wizengamot member and leading advocate for non-human species rights, was the victim of a vicious attack by the Cult of Voldemort, a new extremist group which the Ministry has acknowledged as now operating in the U.K.

Mr. Black is known for being the Godfather of the Boy Who Lived, as well as being the only person to escape from the island of Azkaban. Black, age 38, is one of the leaders of the moderates in the Wizengamot and a big supporter of the current Minister. He also recently announced his betrothal to a Muggle woman last month.

One Ministry employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that he believes Mr. Black's decision to marry a Muggle and his political activism has made him a target for these attacks.

Black denied the possibility, when asked. "I fail to see how my decision to marry the woman I love has any affect on anyone. It is the business of my family, myself and Ms. Adams. The cowards who tried to hurt me missed their target entirely and instead burned out more than forty Muggle families, whose lives have been totally disrupted."

The Ministry acknowledged that the attacks were carried out by an extremist group that calls themselves the Cult of Voldemort. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Senior Auror and lead investigator into this mysterious group, called them a bizarre anomaly. "The Cult clearly claims to adhere to the philosophies espoused by Voldemort. The problem is that Voldemort, were he alive today, would be a powerless Muggle.

"Additionally, we've found that his parentage was not that of a pureblood, like so many believed. Voldemort himself was a half blood, the product of a witch raping a Muggle man through the use of love potions. Why the Cult would exist at all is a mystery to us. Wizards, worshiping a powerless half blood? It doesn't make any sense, but we'll track them down and bring them to justice."

Ministry spokesman Perky Weatherbee said "We are endeavoring to locate and Obliviate all the involved Muggles so that our world remains secure. In the meantime, there is no cause for alarm or panic. The DMLE is hunting these criminals down even now, and their ultimate goal of bringing back Voldemort will fail, thanks to the noble sacrifice of the great Harry Potter."

---

From the Journal of Harry Potter (Private Entry), Jan 6th 1997, Waivunu Fiji...

She slept in my bed!

In my bed!!

I wanted to sit down and write this. I wanted to put into words what I felt, but I can't. Words fail me. I was never very good with words in the first place, not like Hermione. But I can't even begin to describe what it felt like to wake with her head laying on my chest. Even the small bit of drool didn't bother me!

For the first time in my life I felt... wanted? Needed? Special? Important? Damn, I don't know. I felt great. I wanted to shout how I felt from the roof. I wanted to jump on the bed and whoop like a kid.

This is so much more than just sex. Sure, it felt fantastic to feel her breasts pressed against me, and it took all of my willpower to keep my hands to myself. But this was more, much more.

And then she told me not to be embarrassed by my erection. Really! How could I not be embarrassed by it? The bloody thing had a mind of its own these past few days. I swear, if it could have, it would have tried whistling for her attention.

Hey! Maybe I can come up with a spell to do that and try it on Sirius? I bet it would freak Cindy out. Maybe something for their honeymoon? I'll think about it.

I spent a lot of time in the shower, taking care of business. Not that it helped. And it didn't help that she knew why I was spending so much time in the shower. She walked around for those last two days with a mysterious smile on her face that she wouldn't explain.

Our last night together she whispered a secret to me when we spoke in the middle of the night. She said, "My arousal might not be as visible as yours, but it's there, just the same."

Here I was sure I was coming off as some kind of constantly horny pervert and then she admitted she felt the same way.

I really hope we can do this again this summer and maybe more. I know what we agreed, but I'm beginning to wonder if that was a good idea. When I'm holding her in the middle of the night with nothing more than a t-shirt and boxers between me and heaven, it's hard to say that waiting is a good idea.

Sirius popped over for a short time today to talk about the damage around Grimmauld Place. I didn't know it, but apparently he and I are co-owners of the block! He said he was going to hire an architect to design a modern Muggle building for the block and he'd show me the design when it was ready. I agreed and told him to go ahead with the project.

I know I'm going to have to start managing my finances soon. The problem is, no one has really explained what I have. I had thought my Estate Management class would be a perfect place for that, but they didn't. We worked off a phony set of accounts. The week I paid for the Grangers to visit was the one time I did any of that sort of thing, and it all came from my trust fund. I need to speak with Sirius or Remus about it. I can't ignore it just because I have to deal with Voldemort. My dad didn't ignore it and I won't either. I'm going to need to know what I have, so Hermione and I can make our plans.

I'm basically alone here for the next week. Hermione is going back to Hogwarts tomorrow and my tutors start arriving again the day after, but no one will be here when they're gone. I have the whole house to myself. I guess it's a good thing my NEWTS are coming. Studying will keep me out of trouble.

Remus is supposed to be back here by the middle of the month.

I know I can't spend all day thinking of Hermione. If I did, she'd be happy right up until I got my grades.

If all goes well, I'll be done with school at least up to NEWT level soon. And then I can go about reclaiming my life.

---

Quibbler Headline Article Jan 25th 1997...

Harry Potter Wins Tour De France!

Capitalizing on his being a well toned and extremely athletic wizard posing as a Muggle, Harry Potter led his team to victory in the famed Muggle race, the Tour De France, and in doing so created an upset of unprecedented proportions. Potter, age 16, led the powerhouse team from Botswana to an upset victory yesterday and while doing so, distributed leaflets proclaiming the plight of the stunted spotted Yetis of Pango Pango.

Outraged by the incident, Frenchmen in the French province of Quebec rioted for thirty minutes before they were calmed by an offer of wine and cheese by the government. Local sources admitted that the wine came from California and the cheese was from Wisconsin, but that didn't stop the agonized locals from consuming huge quantities of the stuff.

Bookmakers across the continent were in turmoil over the upset victory, especially since only one person bet on him. Harry Potter bet on himself at 25,000 to 1 odds. He then turned around and donated his winnings to a home for Unwed Mothers whose name started with the letter "8".

Botswana declared a holiday and as soon as they can find their national airplane, which is a Muggle device for moving people, much like a catapult, they will bring home their winning team and they will hold a parade throughout the country. Several have suggested the hugely popular pop single "Muggle Me Mama!", sung by Harry Potter, to be the new Botswana national anthem.

Potter refused comment, except to issue a warning to Monaco to release the Fried Fritz Bellies they hold in captivity, then he donned his patented bat suit and swooped away. We were unable to confirm the rumor that he had managed to impregnate a colony of French Veelas while competing in the race. But one Veela did come forward to say "He iz a God!"

Meanwhile, Botswana, bolstered by this win, announced plans to either start their own space program or an attempt to circumnavigate the world, thus proving the world is not flat. We promise to watch this carefully.

---

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Transmitted Entry), Jan 27th 1997, Hogwarts...

Dear Harry,

Well it's official. I have been declared crazy in Gryffindor house since I've started revising for my NEWTS already. Some, like Neville and Ron, have joined in half-heartedly. No, I can't believe it, either. Ron is studying, but he's still doing what he can to impress Hannah. Ginny studies with us also, but she's not working on her NEWTS, she's studying for her OWLS, which are this year for her.

Lavender and I have had some heated words. I can't believe how angry and vicious she's become! She is so mad about Evan. For some strange reason, she seems to think that my dating Evan is an affront to her ability with men. Parvati explained that I was competing with her, until I pointed out that Evan doesn't attend Hogwarts, therefore I am not touching the pool of available boys in the school in any way. That shut Parvati up, but it hasn't stopped Lavender. Honestly, I think she sees it as some great cosmic insult to her womanhood that I am able to have a boyfriend that she can't wrap around her finger.

Ginny's basically explained that Evan wasn't interested in her in any way, and that he was extremely attentive to me. That's better than most of the boys here at school, who have to think about it before choosing between their girlfriends and Quidditch. I won't go into how many times Hannah's smacked Ron because he's ignored her in favor of food.

I think Lavender is behind the attempts to get into my trunk. I actually pity her if she succeeds. The wards I've learned will ruin the looks she's worked so hard to obtain. And even if she did get in, your photo and the book are protected by so many spells, she'd end up spending a month in the hospital wing reversing the damage.

Do you remember that crystal? The one you created from the napkin on the night of the Christmas party? I showed it to Professor Flitwick and he ran a bunch of tests on it. He's not entirely sure about it because I can't really tell him how I came about to have it, but he can't identify the material. It's some kind of crystal and he believes it would act as a focus. Now, here's the really strange thing. I've been able to use it a little as a focus, but I think it's a blood focus, Harry, like our rings. It is very sharp and it was mixed with your blood.

I don't know what good it can do, really. It's a strange oddity, but I'll hang onto it. Perhaps over the summer we'll think of a use for it. I just find it fascinating that you created it from a napkin.

I really miss you, Harry. If I stop and think about you, which I do many times every day, it feels like a piece of me is missing. I miss being able to cuddle up with you in the bed and I miss the feel of your hands on me. I miss being able to rest my head on your chest, lulled to sleep listening to your heart beat. I can't wait until the summer, but it seems so far away now. Bookspace is nice, but it's not the same. I want to relax with you in the bed next to me. I want to hold you and be held and we cant do that in the hour we have in bookspace.

When I returned to Britain this last time, I left behind the one real thing I had to give you. I left you my heart. I'm yours. I hope you know that by now.

Love,
Hermione.

---

From the Journal of Harry Potter (Transmitted Entry), Jan 28th 1997, Waivunu Fiji...

Sweetheart,

You left your heart here, and took mine with you. Without you I am lost and without any direction or purpose.

I agree that bookspace is nice, but it's lacking in substance. There is a certain undefinable quality to having you in my arms and feel you softly breathing while you sleep. You gave me a wonderful gift and then circumstances took it away. Like you, I miss it terribly.

The only consolation I have is that this summer we will have time for each other and I will help you as best as I can with your NEWT studying. After the summer, unless I really mess up in my NEWTS, I will be at every Hogsmeade weekend you get. I will be there for you as much as I can.

Hopefully this will all be done by your graduation. I'd like to think that particular milestone would be the point where I can finally start to live my life the way I want to, and with the people I want by my side.

I received my portkey to the testing center in Wellington, New Zealand. That's trip of more than 1,500 miles, via portkey, so I've been told to expect to arrive a day early so that I can recover from the trip. If it's anything like that first portkey I took from Fiji to Oxford, I'll need the time to stop my stomach from threatening. I think I may be developing a resistance to the potion they use for the really long distance portkeys. They don't seem to do me any good at all.

Merlin, I am coming to hate portkeys!

Remus has been by a few times but he hasn't stayed around for long. Neither has Sirius. He's been involved in helping Cindy replace most of what she lost in the fire. It's not too bad, but the nights get a little lonely.

Remus thinks he has a lead on the missing brooch. A consignment of Scottish Medieval Jewelry was sent to a museum in Calgary, Canada. According to Remus, there is a photograph of what looks like the brooch in the catalog. The problem is, the item appears to have been altered somewhat, so he won't know until he can get close enough to cast a detection spell.

The last I saw him, he was packing his bags and getting ready to head to Canada. That was four days ago.

Sirius dropped by last night to talk to me. Did I tell you that he and I both own the block of homes on Grimmauld Place? According to Sirius, my Granddad bought the land and homes from the Blacks, using the goblins as intermediaries. So the Blacks never knew who was buying the block. Anyway, Granddad did this after Sirius came to live with them.

It was thought that Sirius would be denied any of the Black money, so Granddad thought it would be interesting if my father and Sirius owned all the land around the London home of the Blacks. They were equal partners. My Granddad did it to help Sirius, plus he thought it would be amusing for the Blacks to discover the disowned son owned the block.

Well, you know what happened. Their plans never came to fruition and Voldemort sidetracked everything. Now, nearly seventeen years later, Sirius is looking to build a Muggle apartment building on the block. Only thing is, the top floor will be split into two penthouse apartments, one for Sirius and one for me.

Sirius also told me about my family fortune. I knew the Potters were well off, but I never knew how well off. Let's just say that if you want to spend your life going to University, you could. Once we're married, you'll never have to pick a career based on what it pays. You'll be able to do whatever you want and I'll be there supporting your decision every step of the way.

I still think it would be fun for us to do something where we could work together if we wanted to.

It's getting late here and I need to get to sleep. Classes start early these days.

Love,
Harry.

P.S. Sorry this isn't a more romantic letter. I've tried writing them but they keep coming out sounding lame and dumb.

---

Calgary, Canada, Feb 1st 1997...

Remus collapsed back on the bed. He was mentally exhausted, yet strangely exhilarated.

Sometime during the last century, a jeweler had taken considerable energy to convert the brooch he was looking for into a pendant. That was why he'd had so much trouble locating it. It was classified as both a medieval object of Scottish origin, and as a work of art designed by a prominent turn of the century jeweler/artist.

It was a clever piece of work, really. The artist had carefully crafted it so that the brooch slipped into place and unless you knew it was a separate piece, it looked like one item.

Tonight had been harrowing. He had slipped past the Muggle security cameras and guards, making his way to the guest exhibition area of the Glenbow Museum. Once there, he had to duplicate the pendant using some gold and gems Sirius had supplied for the project. He was unable to conjure noble metals, like gold and gems; few wizards were. Instead, he'd had to transfigure existing gold and gems to achieve a believable replacement.

After he made the duplicate, he carefully switched it with the original, avoiding the pressure sensitive alarm. Then, despite his invisibility cloak, he had to slowly backtrack, re-enabling the cameras and other alarms that he had disabled. All in all, it took him nearly three intense hours to get into the museum and get out again with his mission accomplished.

"So, that's it, eh?"

Remus sprang from his bed, and promptly tripped over the shoes he had kicked off his feet only a few minutes before. Flailing wildly, he pulled the small lamp from the bedside table and it smashed into the floor next to him, breaking into hundreds of pieces.

"You do that almost as well as I do," Tonks said with a smirk.

He peered up at her from the floor. "Tonks? What are you doing here?"

"I had to come over to this side of the pond for a prisoner transfer. It went sour - some sort of paperwork foul up - and I hopped over here from Quebec," she said with a satisfied grin.

He climbed to his feet and stared at her. No one used a portkey for nearly four thousand kilometers and walked away without hours of vertigo! "You did not just portkey here. How long have you been here?" he asked, looking around for an invisibility cloak.

"Remus, Remus," she said shaking her head and grinning. "I'm immune to portkey vertigo. When I take a long distance portkey, I change my ears to remove the inner ear canal. Presto, chango! No vertigo."

"Doesn't that mean you arrive to your location deaf?" he asked incredulously.

"What did you say?" she asked, straight faced. Seeing his expression, she began to laugh.

He tried to glare at her, but felt his lips twitch into a grin and knew he couldn't hold it. She walked over and poked him in the shoulder, which started him laughing.

Chuckling to herself, she turned to sit in a chair and promptly tripped over the same shoe he had tripped over.

He darted forward and caught her inches from the floor. She was cradled in his arms, looking up at him in surprise.

"Well, isn't this cozy?" she asked softly.

Remus blushed heavily. She had been actively pursuing him for months now and he had managed to fend her off, despite the fact that he clearly liked her. Her eyes seemed to glow in the low light of the room and his heart began to race.

She reached up and slid her hand around the back of his neck, pulling him down into a kiss. Remus seemed stunned, like a rabbit staring down a snake. His hands were frozen in place and if he removed them, she would fall to the floor. Pulling her upright only had the effect of pulling her closer.

She kissed him and in doing so, sealed his fate forever. Instinctively, he pulled her deeper into his embrace and responded to her kiss. He gasped and pulled back slightly when she grasped his butt with both hands and squeezed. She grinned sheepishly at him and he smiled back, then let her go.

"I think we need to talk," he said softly.

She looked at him warily for a moment, then nodded reluctantly.

He motioned for her to sit at the table and moved to sit across from her. Between them lay Ravenclaw's brooch, a valuable artifact of the founders and a Horcrux of one of the worst Dark Lords in history.

He sat for a moment and tiredly rubbed his temples with his fingers. The moon was less than a week away and he was starting to feel the affects of his curse.

He sighed and grinned ruefully at her. "I'm not sure where to begin."

"Why don't you tell me what you're feeling, then?"

He nodded and looked down for a moment. "All right. I'm confused. Why me, Tonks? You've been chasing me for a while now and I don't understand it. I'm a lethal monster every month. According to our government, I'm not allowed to hold any job, except for the most degrading of positions. If it weren't for Sirius and Harry, I'd be destitute and living in a hovel. Why would a woman as beautiful as you want me? What can I possibly offer you?"

She reached across the table and took his hand in her own. "An honest heart, Remus. That's what you can offer. I've watched you at work and at play. I've seen how you care and I've seen you sneaking looks at me. I know you care about me."

"I do, but..."

"But?"

"I'm afraid," he replied in a whisper.

"Of me?" she asked incredulously.

He shook his head. "Not exactly, but what we could have and lose. Despite the strides made by the government, there still is a large anti-werewolf sentiment in the Ministry and in our society. If you marry me outside of Britain, you could lose your job. If we have a relationship and a family, the Ministry could take away our children. All I can offer you is misery."

"So, you're afraid of what can happen if we were together?"

"Aren't you worried about it?"

She shrugged. "No, not really. Look, I like you a lot. I think it would be very easy to fall in love with you, if I haven't already. So what happens if we do fall in love? First, we could leave England. I'm an Auror and I could find work in my field almost anywhere. I also hold a Mastery in Transfiguration thanks to the Auror academy and for other obvious reasons. Second, we could stay and tough it out, trying to hide what we have from the Ministry, but sooner or later they will catch onto it."

As she spoke, she ticked off points on her fingers.

"Third, you're an expert in Magical Creatures and you have a qualified teacher's certificate from the Pacific Rim Ministry. What you're doing for Harry now, you could do for others. Wasn't it you telling me about that school they plan on building on Fiji?"

He nodded uncertainly. "Doesn't it bother you that you want to be with a monster?"

She scowled at him fiercely. "Do you want to go out and infect other people?"

"Merlin, no! Why do you think I lock myself up in a concrete bunker every full moon?" he retorted.

"Then stop calling yourself a monster! You aren't!" she snapped. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly and her pink hair faded to a soft buttery blond and shortened into a pageboy cut.

"Look, Remus, tell me you're not interested in me and I'll back off. Tell me that you don't care and I'll leave you alone. But don't use your curse as an excuse. You walk around suffering nobly and denying yourself any sort of happiness when your curse isn't causing that. Your curse isn't an obstacle, it's a challenge. We don't control who we fall in love with, and I can't help that I find you highly attractive, despite your curse. So, tell me to back off and I will. Otherwise, drop the excuses."

He looked down at the table for a moment then looked her in the eye. "I may be cursed, but I'm not stupid. I can't tell you to back off, as much as I think I'm unsafe. I don't want to be alone anymore," he replied in a whisper.

Tonk nodded to herself and stood. She walked around the table and gently sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around him. "So you won't be alone," she answered huskily, then she kissed him.

The kiss seared through Remus and his inner wolf howled in approval. Without a thought, he easily lifted her in his arms and took her over to the bed, where he laid her. She lifted up her arms to him and he fell into her embrace.

Two hours later, a much happier Tonks and Remus sat around the little table drinking coffee that room service had sent up.

She poked at the brooch with a finger. "Doesn't look like much," she commented.

He reached out and gently pulled her hand away from it. "Don't touch it unless you absolutely have to. The diary possessed Ginny Weasley in her first year and every one of these things we've found has had influences on people."

"Influences?"

He nodded unhappily. "I hate touching them. When I do, I can feel the wolf screaming in anger. It's very unsettling. Sirius said it was like holding pure hatred. Harry knew instinctively not to handle it and wouldn't let Hermione touch it."

Tonks nodded slowly, then she reached for her wand and cast a standard detection spell on the brooch. For a moment nothing happened, then it started to glow a deep red-black and it buzzed angrily. Tonks' expression changed and she shifted back in her chair, away from the Horcrux.

"Frightening, isn't it?"

She nodded and tore her eyes away from the dark object. "What will you do with it?"

"Tomorrow I'll contact Sirius' American friend, Samantha. Then I'll hop on a Muggle plane to Pittsburgh, where I'll meet up with her. From there, we'll go to an industrial blast furnace to melt the Horcrux down."

"Would you like some company?"

He blinked and slowly smiled. "I think I would like that very much."

She glanced at the clock next to the bed. "I guess we should get some sleep then."

He grinned and stood, then he walked around the table and took her by the hand. "Or we could just wait a day since we probably need to use the bed again to err... sleep."

She stood and let the bathrobe she was wearing slip to the floor. "That's an even better idea," she murmured, reaching for him.

---

12 Grimmauld Place, Feb 3rd 1997...

Cindy walked into the foyer of the old home and entered the spacious sitting room. She sat tiredly in one of the chairs and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rough day?"

She smiled and opened her eyes. "You wouldn't believe the hoops you have to jump through to get copies of your licenses and diplomas. And if you think that stuff is hard, try getting copies of more basic stuff. My birth certificate for example. You have to provide at least two valid photo ID's to get your birth certificate, and then they won't give you a new master unless you can bring in the ruined old one, but that's ash in Oxford, so all I can get is a copy. I learned that after standing in line for two hours and arguing with a bureaucrat for another hour."

Sirius walked over and sat down on a small footstool. He picked up her feet and peeled her shoes and socks off, then he started to massage her feet.

Cindy's eyes fluttered closed and her head dropped back against the chair. "Ohhhh."

Dobby popped in with a tray. He placed a small glass of wine by her chair and then popped away again. A moment later he reappeared, removing Cindy's shoes and socks and leaving her favorite slippers behind.

"You know, you have to marry me now, Sirius Black. You've been spoiling me something awful since we came back from Fiji. And your foot rubs are something to die for. I could make a fortune renting you out."

Sirius smirked at her. "Sorry, love, but I only give foot rubs to you."

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Pity, that. But that just means more for me, I guess. Honestly though, you have magic in your hands. Is this something all wizards do or did I just get lucky?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "You got lucky. Master Kwang taught Harry, Remus and myself how to give massages. Harry needed them when he first started out training and he wanted to learn because it helped Remus after his transformations," he paused and his expression grew sly. "I wonder if he's demonstrated his ability to Hermione yet? Remus swears he's much better at it than I am."

She looked at him sternly. "Siri, let Harry and Hermione find their own way. The last thing we need to do is push them along. As it stands, Dan is barely accepting the changes. Let them grow in their own way."

Sirius shook his head. "It's a shame he's having problems with it. I warned them both over two years ago that this was going to happen."

"Let's see how you react when your daughter is with a boy," she teased.

He stopped rubbing her feet and looked at her in astonishment.

"What?" she asked.

"You know," he said in a wondering tone. "it just occurred to me that having a daughter, or a son of my own, is a real possibility now. I never believed it would happen."

He looked away from her, suddenly emotionally choked up.

She sat forward and reach out to touch him. "Siri, don't look away."

He turned back and she smiled gently, seeing his eyes moist with unshed tears. She reached up to cup his cheek. "You might have lost some of your life in prison, but you got out in time. It's still possible to have what you thought you missed out on."

"A family of our own?"

She nodded. She had come to realize that Sirius was an incredibly complex person with many facets to his personality and she loved them all. "I'd like that very much," she whispered.

Smiling, he stood up and offered her his hand. When she looked at him suspiciously, he sighed. "Come on. I have something I want to show you. You've had a rough day, but I've finally finished one of my projects."

"Oh?"

He nodded and looked like a ten year old wanting to show off his new puppy. With a laugh, she stuck her feet into her slippers and let him pull her to her feet and out of the sitting room, towards the back of the house.

He stopped at a curtain and turned to her. "My cousin knows an Unspeakable. He helped me track down some obscure spells."

"And?"

He pulled back the curtain revealing a bronze plaque next to a door. The plaque read "Doctor Cindy Black".

She turned to him, arching an eyebrow. "Getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren't we?"

"Well, maybe a little," he admitted sheepishly, then to her surprise he handed her his wand. "Hold that."

He pushed the door open and motioned for her to enter the darkened room

She stepped into a room that was nearly pitch black. "Lights!" she called.

Nothing happened.

The sound of the light switch clicking was quite loud and the overhead electric lights flooded the room with a cool blue-white fluorescence.

She turned back to Sirius, who was standing with his hand still on the switch. He was looking inordinately smug about having figured out how to make the lights work.

She looked around. The room seemed normal, until she realized that she was staring at a projection screen television and a state of the art stereo with multidisc CD changer. There was even a cordless phone!

"Siri?" she said softly.

"This isn't just one room, either. There are five of them; a bath, a kitchen, a sitting room, a study and a library, although you need to buy the books for it. The rooms contain all the usual Muggle stuff. The sitting room has a telly and a wireless, the study has a computer, the kitchen has all the usual appliances."

He paused and grinned at her. "The bath has something called a hot tub in it that sounds like a lot of fun."

She nodded slowly, taking it all in. "Why did you give me your wand?"

"So I couldn't ruin anything in here. The room is warded to prevent magic from outside coming in here. Even Dobby can't come in to this suite. He's been given specific instructions not to enter these rooms.

"My friend helped me figure out how to power everything and protect it from outside magic. At first I thought I'd do one room for you and it sort of grew from there. I almost put in a bedroom, but I didn't want you sleeping in here without me. Besides, it's only for a year or two. Once Grimmauld Apartments are constructed, we'll move into the penthouse and I'll redo the setup in the penthouse with your help."

She turned to him, her eyes glistening. "Why? Why go through all the effort?"

He walked over to her and touched her cheek gently. "Because I asked you to share my world, not to give up your own," he replied softly.

She choked back a sob and flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He smiled and rested his head against hers. Her lousy day was forgotten in the wonder of her feelings for the wizard who had changed her world view so radically.

---

Waivunu, Fiji, Feb 6th 1997...

Tonks opened the door and stepped into the living room, then stopped and stared. Harry was levitating himself, while sitting in a lotus position. She had seen him do that before, but this time he was upside down and reading a book.

Remus stopped behind her, then coughed lightly to catch Harry's attention. He looked up from his book and slowly rotated along one axis until he was right side up again, then he floated down to the floor.

"Welcome back," he said with a smile.

"What were you doing?" exclaimed Tonks.

"Studying," Harry replied firmly.

Remus glanced at his watch, concerned.

"Don't worry, Moony," Harry said. "I spent some time fixing up your bunker. You have fresh water, food, even a change of clothes. I've also refreshed the heating charm, since it seemed to be weakening. It gets down to sixty degrees at night around here."

Remus nodded at him gratefully. They had rushed as best as they could, but it had taken them too long to make it home. Tonight was a full moon and he was running very late.

"Thanks, Harry," he mumbled, then he turned to Tonks. "Harry will show you to my room. You can sleep there tonight."

When she nodded unhappily, he walked out of the living room, heading for his bunker.

"Don't worry, Tonks, he'll be all right. It's only one night," Harry offered.

She crossed her arms and nodded absently.

"So you and Remus, eh?" he prodded, smiling.

She glanced over at him. "What of it?" she asked warily. She had seen how the three of them behaved and knew to expect teasing of monumental proportions.

"Oh, I think it's brilliant. He needs someone that can see beyond the wolf."

She looked at him intently. "What would you know about that?"

"Hello? Boy-Who-Lived, remember? Hermione is the only girl I know who's interested in me, Harry, not some made up legend or the fact that I'm rich. I could understand it if I had actually done something, but I have no recollection of Voldemort's attack. I was fifteen bloody months old. For all I know, I threw a teddy bear at the blighter," he retorted somewhat bitterly.

She nodded thoughtfully and sat down on the couch. "I've been in the same boat. One of the things I like about Remus is that he isn't interested in me pretending to be someone else. He is fascinated with the ability, but he's never asked me to use it. I can't tell you how many boys, in school and then in Auror academy, had requests. They seemed to equate metamorph with some kind of versatile Veela sexpot."

"Even the Veela reputation is over done. They usually find one mate and stick with him, rather than sleeping around. But we are a strange group, even by wizard standards. Werewolf, exonerated convict, and me," he said in agreement. "I take it you're spending the night?"

She grinned. "Why? Want me to change into Hermione for you?"

He smirked. "No, but if you're interested in Remus, I'll make sure you have what you need to help him tomorrow. Do you know how to give a massage? He often needs help the next day from muscles that have been over stressed."

She frowned. "It's that bad?"

He nodded. "It can be. It would be easier if we had a steady supply of Wolfsbane. Cindy said she was going to try to brew it, but that plan was hosed when the homes were burned. She'll probably have it ready for next full moon though."

Tonks made a face. "My potion skills aren't good enough for that. I got into Auror academy well enough, but..."

A clock in the room began to chime softly. Before it had finished, a howl came from outside. Tonks started and shivered involuntarily. "He's all alone," she whispered.

Harry nodded unhappily. "But he knows that family is nearby. I had hoped I could be an animagus like my Dad so I could be with him when he transforms."

"Yeah, but Metamorphs have more fun," Tonks said with a grin. She was trying to latch onto any topic to distract her from what was happening in the bunker. "Your talent is slowly improving. At the rate you're going, you'll be able to change most of your features in a year or two. You can do most of your body parts now, so it's just a matter of practice and putting it all together. Considering how late you started, you're really doing well with it," she praised after tearing her eyes from the darkened windows that faced the bunker.

Harry stood. "I hope you don't mind, but I wasn't planning on company tonight, so dinner is going to be fairly simple."

She smiled wanly, trying hard to ignore the noises coming from outside. "I don't mind. Can I help any?"

"Sure, another set of hands won't hurt," he said over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen.

Tonks followed and he motioned to the cabinets with the dishes.

"You're starting your NEWTS this year, right?"

Harry grinned. "Yup. I received my portkey to the testing facility in Wellington, New Zealand today. My first test is in three days, but I go a day early to recover from the portkey sickness."

Tonks shook her head. Harry's skills were very good, but he hadn't studied human anatomy that well to make major changes like she did. The best he had accomplished was mimicking the effects of Gillyweed and other body altering potions and he still took nearly a minute to make the changes. He could make some internal changes, thanks to her coaxing, but there was still things he couldn't do, like removing the inner ear.

"What's your first exam, then?"

"Transfiguration."

"Worried?"

"No, not really. I'm more worried about going to New Zealand than I am about taking the test. I figure I should pull an Exceeds Expectations at a minimum for Runes, Potions and Languages. I pulled O's in Defense, Charms and Transfiguration," Harry replied.

He popped open the oven and placed a pre-made platter inside.

Tonks watched him curiously. "So what are we having?"

"Its a staple of the island; baked fish and plantains with a coconut sauce."

He closed the oven and turned around.

She sat at the table frowning. "Plantain? Isn't that a banana?"

He grinned. "Sort of. You'll like it. It's tasty."

"Great, now show me your twelve basic transfigurations and then show me the alternate castings. And use your wand, not that ring thing of yours," she said.

The focus ring fascinated her and Remus had talked about taking her to get one, but she hadn't gotten it yet. Harry's ring was a little different, being hidden behind a charm so it really looked like he was doing things wandlessly. The first time she saw him cast with it, she had been totally floored by the idea that he was casting wandlessly.

Harry grinned, not minding her impromptu quiz. Tonks held a Mastery in Transfiguration and had helped him several times on the topic. He also knew she was trying to find reasons not to pay attention to what was happening in the bunker. Besides, it would pass the time until dinner was ready.

---

Bookspace February 13th 1997...

As soon as the disorientation ended, she looked around and spotted Harry. She rushed into his arms, fighting back tears. Harry, for his part, was caught entirely by surprise. He held her until the storm had passed, softly stroking her hair and whispering words of comfort in her ear.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

She sniffled and then smiled when he handed her a conjured tissue. She took a moment to compose herself.

"Lavender is at it again," she replied softly.

"Why are you letting her get to you? Or has this gone beyond rumor and innuendo now?"

She shivered and he tightened his grip on her. "She's spreading some really nasty rumors, but I heard from Padma that she's also tricking several boys into doing whatever they can to make me break up with you."

"Break up with me?" he repeated dumbly. He couldn't see how that could happen.

She nodded against his chest. "Padma warned me about it. She heard about the plan from Parvati. Later that same day I was approached by Ernie McMillan, who asked me out. I told him no, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I finally had to pull my wand on him."

Harry scowled. "What else?"

"I had to hex Lavender after she tried to break into my trunk. I think she's after my journal in the hope that it contains some juicy gossip. I nearly lost my prefect status over it. Professor Lawton wanted to remove me, but McGonagall wouldn't let her. Lavender ended up in detention and Lawton now hates me."

He nodded and conjured another tissue, then he cupped her cheek and lifted her head to wipe away the tears. "The only way we could possibly break up is if you told me you didn't want to be with me anymore because you didn't love me."

She nodded uncertainly again and he smiled, then he poked at her cheeks. "Show me that smile," he said softly.

She gave him a tentative smile.

"Lavender is an annoyance, sweetheart. You are so much smarter and better than she is. But if you want, I think I can find ways to occupy her time so that she leaves you alone."

She looked at him worriedly.

"No, I won't be coming to the castle either," he replied to her unasked question.

"I don't know."

He kissed her forehead and leaned his head against hers. "Just say the word and we'll tie her up in knots and they'll never be able to trace it back to you."

She remained quiet for a few moments, weighing her options. "No, I think I will take care of it. I guess deep down I just needed to hear you say nothing she did would affect us."

"You know it wouldn't. I'll let you deal with her, but if you need my help, tell me what you want done. You know I'd do anything for you," he replied softly.

She smiled and her heart melted, then she reached up to caress his cheek.

He smiled and sat down. Ever since last Halloween they almost always ended up sitting in the same position, Harry would sit with his legs open and she'd sit, leaning up against his chest with his arms wrapped around her.

She sat and cuddled back against him. Now that they could perform magic in bookspace they were able to conjure objects and items to make them more comfortable. Harry conjured a soft cushion to lean against and she conjured a blanket to cover them both.

"How did you do on your NEWT?"

"The preliminary grade is an Outstanding, possibly with distinction, but there was a problem at the test and it might cost me my grade," he said, sounding unhappy.

She sucked in her breath. "What happened?"

"You remember when I said I was testing as myself?"

She nodded.

"Well, that was wrong. Actually, I am testing as student X, still disguised as Evan. My grades were to be assigned, when all the tests were complete, to a new file in the name of Harry Potter. In the meantime, I'm taking the test anonymously."

She nodded again. It seemed like a reasonable way of doing it.

"At first, everything seemed alright..."

Harry walked into the room, his paper work clutched in his hand. He had just finished a grueling four hour written examination and the next six hours were dedicated to his practical, which was worth more than half his score.

"This is examination room thirty one?" he asked from the door way. The signs on the door had been mixed up earlier, so a lot of students were having difficulty locating the room they were supposed to be in.

Inside the room, the three judges looked up from the table they sat at. "Yes, come in, come in," said the man sitting in the center. "I'm examiner Wentworthy. This is examiner Trent and examiner Mobius." He gestured to his companions, then he glanced down at his paperwork and frowned. "You're... student X?"

"There is a special memo attached to his file from the office of the Minister, as well as Magical Law enforcement, that this student is to remain anonymous for legal reasons," offered Trent.

"Damn unusual," muttered Mobius.

"Ah, I see it," Wentworthy replied, shuffling his papers. He paused and read for a moment before nodding to himself, satisfied that all was in order.

Wentworthy glanced to his companions, then motioned Harry in. He stepped up to the table and handed the senior examiner his paperwork, which also identified him as student X.

Harry stood nervously in front of them, his attention fixed on the senior examiner. He was unprepared for the attack when it came, but his defenses kicked in before he even knew what was happening.

He anchored the probe and sent a powerful blast back down the tendril of magic to its source.

Harry staggered back a step, then pulled his wand. His other hand flared with magic around the hidden ring and he turned to face Mobius, who was slumped over in his chair, convulsing. The man, in an attempt to learn his identity, had tried to use Legilimency on Harry. He had not anticipated that Harry was capable of defending himself or that his active defenses would strike back viciously when attacked.

The other two examiners leapt from their seats in astonishment and stared at Harry.

Hermione gasped. "What happened?"

"It was a mess for a while. I think I spoke to twenty Aurors and ended up sharing a pensieve memory, plus I had to let a master Occlumens examine my shielding technique. It meant I started my practical three hours late and nearly exhausted. As it stands, I was examined by two examiners, not three.

"Normally, the grade granted is an average taken by adding up the examiners grades. I just hope they remember to divide by two and not three."

She shook her head. "Oh, Harry," she murmured. "Only you would find a nosy examiner and end up knocking him out. Will he be all right?"

"He'll be fine, once the headache passes. But they said they were going to charge him with using Legilimency on a student. That's a fifteen hundred galleon fine and the Pacific Rim DMLE is planning on investigating why he never registered as a Legilimencer."

She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. "I don't remember us registering when you taught me the spells. And you never mentioned Eton registering you."

Harry grinned. "Oh, we're registered via the Ministry in Dubai. Apparently, they have very loose registration requirements. Besides, the British Ministry doesn't require registration for Legilimency. Although there is the Mind Arts Council, membership in that group is purely voluntary."

"So do you think your scores will be affected?"

He sighed and rested his chin atop her head. "I hope not. Examiner Wentworthy said it wouldn't be held against me, but this is a government we're talking about. You know how they work."

She nodded and shifted slightly in his arms. This was the time she enjoyed the most. They'd sit like this, talking for most of their hour and then he'd start kissing her neck and shoulders. It amazed her how they could go from a serious topic to making out so quickly.

He traced a trail of soft kisses from the top of her head to the back of her neck. She turned in his arms and pushed him down so she could straddle him. Her hair cascaded down to encase them in a curtain, blocking out most of the light and she leaned down to kiss him.

For now, life was good.

---

The Beach House, Waivunu, Fiji February 16th 1997...

Harry walked out of his room, heading towards the kitchen. Under his arm was his Japanese language textbook and he was muttering to himself in a mix of English, Japanese and Arabic.

"What's got you so worked up this morning? Your test?"

He stopped and spotted Tonks, sipping tea at the table. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat

down across from her. "No, I think I'll do alright on the test. I'm trying to solve a problem of Hermione's and all I can come up with result in dismemberment and bloodshed."

Tonks blinked and leaned forward. "What's the problem?"

He shifted his cup a few times in his hands. "She's being harassed by Lavender Brown, one of the girls that's in her house, same year. She's been trying to break into her trunk to get at her journal and trying to trick Hermione into compromising positions in the hopes of her breaking up with me."

Tonks scowled. "Why would this girl care who Hermione dates?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't understand it. She seems to take the fact that Hermione is dating Evan as a mortal insult."

"Jealousy," Tonks said sagely.

Harry stared at her in astonishment. "Jealously? Of what?"

"You and Hermione," she replied, then she waved a hand. "You're not looking at this from a girl's point of view, Harry."

"That's because only girls can understand that. If I understood that point of view, I'd write a book and become very popular."

She glared at him. "Are you done being a wise ass and are willing to listen?"

He flushed. "Sorry," he muttered. "Please continue."

"She's jealous, Hermione has become a beautiful young woman and she's been working out with you enough for it to show. And you? You are a walking dream. I love Remus, but you are seriously hot, Harry. If you didn't have Hermione, you'd have witches all over you like a heat rash. This Brown girl has problems with that. I bet she can't stand the fact that Hermione has one fine looking hunk of wizard for a boyfriend."

Harry nodded slowly. "Makes sense, I guess, but that still doesn't help me figure out how to stop it without going to Hogwarts and tearing into her. I had several ideas, but..."

"What is Hermione going to do?"

"I don't know. Last year I sent a letter that was read aloud in the Great Hall that had her backing off. She said she'd take care of it, but I worry about her," he admitted.

"If you want my advice, do nothing unless Hermione asks. You helped her once, but it's really her fight. She needs to stand up for herself and your helping her won't teach her that."

He frowned at the idea.

"You don't like that because you think it's your job to protect her, right?"

Reluctantly, he nodded.

"You can't be there for every fight, Harry. You've given her a set of tools. Give her the emotional support she needs, but let her fight her own battles. You can protect her whenever possible, but it's not always possible. This is one of those times."

"I guess," he replied dubiously.

She grinned. "Growing up is so much fun, isn't it?"

He glared at her hotly, but she refused to burst into flames.

---

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Transmitted Entry), Feb 17th 1997, Hogwarts...

Dear Harry,

I know this is a little difficult to read, my hand is still shaking. Every time I think about it, my blood boils. Two days ago I finally had the opportunity I wanted to deal with Lavender and I did it!

I want to thank you for your offer of help. But I needed to do this myself. I needed to know I was capable of standing up to her bullying and disgusting comments. Ginny helped a little, by arranging for a crowd. She messed with the moving staircases, causing a huge crowd of students to form while they waited for the stairs to move properly. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

It all began two days ago in sixth year Charms. Professor Flitwick was late for class, and Lavender picked up on a theme she had been harping on all week. She was especially mad because she had earned another week of detention for trying to break into my trunk again. This time I caught her and hit her with a fifty point deduction and a week's detention, something which I had already cleared with McGonagall, should the occasion arise.

"Hey Granger, I bet your south Pacific boyfriend is probably getting it on with someone right now," Lavender called from across the class.

Several of the girls in the class snickered, but I held my tongue. I had put up with her all week and I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she was bothering me.

"At least he'll know what to do if you ever decide you want to know why the rest of us humans enjoy sex so much," she quipped.

I said nothing, I just stared down at my books and remembered how much you desired me. That you find me attractive in that way makes me feel so loved. Anyway, I continued to ignore her and a moment later Flitwick entered and began the class, to my great relief.

I hoped that would be that, but I was wrong. After class, she started up again. I was one of the last to file out of the room, only to find my path blocked by Lavender, Parvati, Mandy Brocklehurst, several Slytherin girls and a few others that were probably just observing.

"You must be using a potion to keep that boy of yours, Granger," Lavender said snidely. "He couldn't want to shag you, that's for certain."

I ignored her and tried to push my way past them. Little did I know that Ginny had messed with the staircases, causing a major backlog of students. The crowd behind the girls continued to grow. Lavender, gaining courage from the crowd of laughing girls, pushed me.

Once.

When she tried a second time, I used that hold that you and Master Kwang taught me. I spun on my heel after grabbing her hand and she went flying against the wall. Not even a second later, I had my wand out to cover the fact that I had stuck her to the wall with my ring.

Lavender wailed in pain. I might have broken her wrist a little, but it was an accident. Really!

I am ashamed to say I had reached my limit. I put up with her all week and this was enough. I walked up to her calmly and she stared at me fearfully, unable to move from the wall.

"Unlike you, Lavender Brown, I do not have to be a slut to keep my boyfriend," I said in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the hall. "My boyfriend loves me. He's my friend first and foremost. And we're still virgins, a condition, which if rumors are true, you left behind two years ago.

"My boyfriend has told me he intends to marry me. Can you say the same about any of your many boyfriends, Lavender?" I asked.

Lavender's eyes flared with anger, and then she did something that she now probably deeply regrets. "Figures!" she spat. "You wouldn't know what to do with a cock if you saw one. I bet your boyfriend is really small. Why else would he hang around with a pathetic bookworm like you when there are women like me really who know how to please a man?"

"Miss Granger, you will release Miss Brown from the wall and go to my office. Miss Brown, you will go to Madam Pomfrey about your wrist, then come to my office when she releases you," Professor McGonagall said coldly from the doorway of the classroom. She stood there with Professor Flitwick and both looked incredibly angry.

I gasped, seeing the Headmistress and immediately released Lavender. Suddenly I was terribly ashamed of myself. I turned and pushed my way through the crowd, heading towards McGonagall's office. I was sure I was going to be expelled.

So there I was, Harry, in McGonagall's office, waiting for her to come and pronounce my doom. I was sure I was about to be expelled and have my wand snapped. My mind was racing furiously, and I was thinking, "I can go to Fiji and finish out my schooling there using my ring, since I won't have my wand."

And then McGonagall entered the room. She sat down and looked at me with that look of hers that makes you want to crawl under a chair and whimper for Mummy.

"Miss Granger, I had been wondering when you were going to put that harpy in her place," she said.

I blinked. "Er... excuse me, Professor?" I said meekly.

McGonagall tutted for a moment and pinned me with her murderous gaze. "Come now, Miss Granger. I am well aware of the problems you have been having, and I have spent the past week shadowing you in my animagus form. I knew sooner or later you would snap. I am grateful that you managed to do it and only break one bone."

All right, now I am confused, I thought. Is this really Professor McGonagall?

McGonagall shook her head. "Really, girl, she's been provoking you all week since you caught her trying to break into your trunk again. Your response was rather mild. I remember one time Lily Evans put a boy into the infirmary for a week because of his misplaced hands. While they could never prove that she was responsible, he was incapable of having children after that point --- although James might have had something to do with that."

"So, I'm not going to be expelled?" I asked in a squeaky voice. Merlin, I hate how I sound sometimes!

McGonagall leaned closer. "No, you're not going to be punished at all. But I will warn you, I will not tolerate fighting at all in my school, especially Muggle fighting. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Professor!" I said, squeaking again.

"Excellent. Dismissed, Miss Granger."

I got out of there faster than you can reach for the snitch Harry! And I would swear that I heard McGonagall laughing behind her door, but that couldn't be, could it?

I ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower, where Ginny met up with me in the Common Room. She confessed that she had blocked the stairs in the hope that I'd stand up to the harpy. Both Ron and Neville congratulated me on standing up to her, and then they congratulated me on getting married!

It was only then that I realized I had basically proclaimed to the entire school that my boyfriend wanted to marry me. I was mortified!

Don't get me wrong, Harry. I love you with all my heart and I want us to be together forever. But I expected to announce that sort of thing to my family and friends in a more controlled setting, not in a pique of anger at a jealous cow!

Yesterday, Lavender's parents were called to the school. Her father is a Muggle and apparently a strict Catholic who doesn't like the fact that she's a witch. He ran into her in the hall in front of the Great Hall and he laid into her, calling her a harlot and threatening to enroll her into a convent. Everyone heard him shouting at her. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

I don't know who is more embarrassed at this point; me or Lavender. Everyone now knows my boyfriend wants to marry me, and Lavender was called some really horrible things by her own father before McGonagall could usher them all up to her office.

The end result of this is that Lavender's cost Gryffindor one hundred points and probably the House Cup. Last night, she tentatively apologized to me. She's been keeping to herself pretty much. Poor Parvati seems lost without her Lav Lav to keep her occupied. The other good result is that the sixth years seem to be studying more now that Lavender's been reined in.

Oh, good grief! I've spent the whole letter telling you about Lavender and I haven't said anything else!

I'll write another entry in a day or two after you've digested this venting mess. I'm sorry I laid this on your shoulders, but I just had to tell this or I'd burst.

How's the studying for your next exam going? Languages, right?

I miss you.

Love,
Hermione.

---

From the Journal of Harry Potter (Transmitted Entry), Feb 18th 1997, Hogwarts...

Dear Hermione,

I'm impressed! I had been worried about you and what was going on, but it sounds like you managed to put her in her place without bloodshed. I know this will sound silly, but I'm proud of you love, very proud of you. And I have to confess I had thought of things I could do to Lavender, but all of them resulted in bloodshed and much screaming and shrieking on her part.

While it made for a pleasant little fantasy, Tonks helped me see that I couldn't protect you all the time. And you proved that point marvelously. BUT! I will say this. I'm a dumb male, I can't help feel protective about you. I won't fight your fights, but if I can stop you from getting hurt, I will.

Your letter gives me hope that you won't be bothered by Lavender anymore. As much as I love holding you in bookspace, I'd rather be holding you and caressing you out of love than consoling you when you're upset.

My next NEWT is in Languages. Well, really it was Languages OWL last year, this year it's really Oriental Cultures NEWT, but I just call it Languages because I opted to center it around Japan.

I have to go to Japan to take it on the 23rd, so I'll be leaving on the night of the 21st, then I'll take a day to recover from the blasted portkey vertigo. I am so tempted to apparate the distance. Merlin, I hate international Portkeys!

After this exam, I have Charms and Potions/Alchemy, back in New Zealand, which isn't as exciting as going to Japan. Frankly, I'm not worried about most of my exams, but I am worried about the Defense exam. Last year I injured one of the examiners. He recovered, but now that they know what to expect, I think I'll be facing a lot harder test than last year.

Remus and Sirius are at the beach house only a day or two a week now, so living here has suddenly gotten rather lonely. I don't know what I'd do if we didn't have bookspace and these journal entries.

Another thing that helps is the fact that Cindy comes by several times a week when Sirius isn't here. She's really into astronomy and she loves the fact that she can hop over to your parents and switch from day to night almost instantly. Sirius gave her a permanent portkey, so it's like a three second trip from London to Oxford. I understand he's given one to your Mum so she can visit Cindy at the London house as well.

You should see the telescope that she set up here. It's huge! It's funny, she won't let Sirius touch it unless she's watching him carefully. If she treats their kids like she treats that telescope, they will be eighteen before Sirius is even allowed to look at them. She's been teaching me Muggle astronomy, which isn't the same as what they taught at Hogwarts. The zodiac isn't nearly as important for one thing. She could be a wonderful teacher. She loves the subject and she's managed to pull me in with stories of black holes and comets.

In a way, she's a lot like your mum, and she really cares about what I'm doing and how we're doing. Did you talk to her about bookspace? She called it the backseat with no consequences. I didn't understand that reference.

Well, time to go for now. I still have some writing to do. I'm trying to get better at reading and writing Japanese, so I've been translating one of my defense notebooks into Japanese. If you think my handwriting is bad, you ought to see that! It looks like someone dipped Hedwig's feet in ink and then had her walk across the paper while drunk!

Until next bookspace, I wish you were here.

Love,
Harry

---

Mitsumi Magical Academy, Kyoto, Japan, February 23rd 1997...

Harry looked down at the slip of paper in his hand, then up at the sign hanging from the building. He was on his way from his hotel to the testing location for his languages course. Ostensibly, the building appeared to be a slaughter house and was therefore in the seedier part of town. To the Muggles, it was a nondescript building that housed a business that few were interested in. To a wizard, it was home to one of the premiere magical schools in Japan.

He doubled checked the sign against his slip of paper. Speaking the language was fairly easy for him, reading it was an art that he knew would take him years to master.

Nervously, he pushed open the door.

Inside was a clean office with a receptionist perusing a magazine at her desk.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," he said, approaching her.

"Good morning to you, as well," she replied in Japanese. "Are you here for the testing?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am," he replied.

"Your name please?"

Harry handed over his paperwork. The woman took his papers and quickly looked through them. Her eyebrows rose, reading the note from the Pacific Rim DMLE.

"Yes, we were told to expect you, sir," she said, smiling brightly at him. "If you would enter that door and proceed down the corridor to the waiting room, someone will call you shortly."

"Thank you," he replied with a nod of his head, then he turned and walked through the door and down a long corridor. The corridor emptied out into a room with several rows of bench seats. Inside the room were two men and a woman. He moved over to an empty bench and sat down.

The room was nondescript and bland with bare walls. With a glance at his watch he reached down into his bag and pulled out a book on Advanced Transfiguration theory. But before he could open it, one of the people in the room interrupted him.

"Excuse me," said one man in Japanese. "But the examiners are running late today. They told us to tell anyone that in that they would be delayed."

Harry smiled at the man. "Domo, domo arigato."

The man's eyes lit up with pleasure. "You speak Japanese?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I'm here for the test... the examination?" he replied in Japanese.

"You have an unusual accent," the woman commented.

He smiled at her. "It's not easy to forget one's milk language. I'm British."

The woman nodded knowingly. "Yes, getting the idiom and vocalization right is never easy."

"Why did you chose Japanese to study? Surely there were easier languages for you to learn?" asked the third man. "French, Spanish or even German, and much closer to home, at that."

Harry shrugged. "I have a talent for languages. For my OWLS, I covered Japanese and Arabic. But I'm fluent in French already. The truth is, the Japanese culture intrigues me and their magic is very different from that in the west, so I continued my studies into Japan after my OWLS."

The man nodded. "Still, despite the accent, your Japanese is quite passable. Have you traveled much in Japan?"

He shook his head. "Regretfully, not as much as I'd like. I spent time in hospital in Tokyo and I did manage to tour that city a bit. The Imperial Palace is very beautiful."

"You have nothing like that in your country?" asked the woman.

"We do, but it's different. English Royalty seem to like large imposing structures. We have the quiet gardens, beautiful ponds and carefully sculpted landscapes, but the Imperial Palace had a soft, almost ethereal quality to it. I suppose it's a matter of what you grow up with," he replied.

"That is true," said the first man. "I recall visiting Washington DC many years ago and I was struck by the monuments and buildings. I found it all rather intimidating. It was not what I was used to."

"And what of Japanese Magic? Do you find that different as well?"

Harry grinned. "That is one of the best parts. I find it hard to believe that there were Samurai Wizards who were capable of casting using special swords. The Wakizashu?"

He frowned as he mangled that last word, then repeated it properly. "The Wakizashi."

The three people nodded approvingly. "Yes, they were a force to be reckoned with. But what of modern magical Japan?"

Harry launched in a long explanation about the Japanese shields he had studied. Some of the more powerful shields could be tied to an object, like a ward. And Japan was one of the few countries who boasted knowledge of shields capable of stopping kinetic projectiles, like bullets.

"You seem uncommonly interested in defense related topics," commented the woman.

Harry shrugged helplessly. "It is a necessity in my life. As much as I would like to spend time studying the transfiguration spells for Japanese gardens, at this point in my life, defense is more important. Perhaps in the future I'll be able to study other things that interest me."

Harry glanced at his watch and was surprised to discover he had spent the last two hours conversing in Japanese to these people.

"Perhaps someday you will come back and learn what it means to be a wizard in Japan," the first man said.

"Yes, immerse yourself in the culture. That is the way to truly learn what it means," offered the second man.

The woman stood and looked to her two companions, then she face Harry. "You have passed your exam, student X, and as headmistress of the Mitsumi Academy, I would invite you to return someday. Perhaps you could spend a term doing independent study on those transfiguration spells you are interested in."

"This was the exam?" Harry stammered in English. He was so shocked he had reverted back to English.

The older man grinned at him. "Quite right, old bean," he replied in a flawless English that would have sounded at home in Cambridge. "We find it's often better to just converse with the student instead of holding a formal, ritualized examination. I don't know what my fellow examiners think, but I think you did an outstanding job today. You could easily make your way through any prefecture in the country with little difficulty."

"His pronunciation was a little off," said the second examiner.

"And yet his knowledge of our past and our culture is excellent. And not muddied by the revisionist dung the government is trying to force down our throats. No, I think his performance was one of the best I've seen, considering he is a Westerner," countered the woman. "Outstanding, in my opinion."

The second man grudgingly acknowledged the point with a shrug. "Yes, but I still think he should work on his accent," he muttered.

"I will work on it," Harry promised. He wasn't sure if it were alright for him to speak at this point, but he couldn't help it. Especially if they were going to argue his grade in English right in front of him.

The woman smiled and turned to Harry. "There you have it. Your language OWL was an Exceeds Expectations, and you have surpassed that. You will receive formal notification of your grade when you complete the testing cycle. You have heard the judgment of the examiners, and their thoughts on how you can improve. This concludes your NEWT examination for your languages requirement."

---

From the Journal of Harry Potter (Private Entry), March 1st 1997, Waivunu Fiji...

Well it's official. Everyone is mad at me now.

After the test I decided to take an day or two in Japan. I had enough money and quite frankly, the thought of taking that portkey back to Fiji made me ill even without actually taking it.

I hate wizarding transportation! I'm sure I could apparate the distance, but Sirius and Remus are worried I'll splinch myself. Have they no sense of adventure?

So I take those disgusting potions that are supposed to help reduce portkey vertigo, but don't, and then I'm off for several hours of spinning like a top.

No one has explained it right, so I looked it up. The history of the portkey was fairly straightforward to locate. It was created in 1762 by a Frenchman who wanted to travel from Paris to his Chateau in Normandy. Apparently, he was incapable of apparating without splinching himself, so he sought other means of magical transport and came up with the torturous portkey.

Portkey facts:
Top speed is limited by the magical core of the person using it.
Average Speed: 820mph
Maximum Safe distance to travel without Portkey vertigo: 350miles
RPM: 10-30

Are you seeing the picture here? Everyone walks around telling me how powerful I am, then they hand me a spell which is powered by my own core. The trip from Waivunu to Kyoto, distance of approximately 4,500 miles, still takes me three and a half hours!

Let me repeat that.

THREE AND A HALF HOURS OF SPINNING LIKE A DERVISH!

Is it any wonder that I broke my word and apparated? I mean, it was bad enough going to Wellington, New Zealand for my Transfiguration NEWT. That particular trip is a lot shorter and it was still over an hour at that.

I would have gotten away with it, except that I discovered something that no one else has discovered before. When you are apparating that far, you need to take into account the curvature of the Earth. So off I went, apparating some 4,500 miles and I came out several thousand feet above my destination.

Fortunately, I've fallen before and heights don't scare me. I apparated again, but this time I got sloppy. All right, I was kind of in a rush. After all, the ground was approaching very quickly!

So I arrived in the living room of the beach house (which had been empty when I left it), to discover that Remus, Tonks, Sirius and Cindy were sitting around trying to figure out where I was. Oh, and I guess I should mention that my arrival was accompanied by a clap of thunder so loud it broke every window, glass and plate in the house.

Sirius was seriously pissed. It took several hours of much yelling and screaming while I'm walking around repairing stuff before he calmed down enough for me to explain the portkey problem.

On the plus side, we've proven I can apparate intercontinental distances, now that I've figured out how to add an altitude component to the coordinates, and from here on I'll take a Muggle airplane to Wellington for the rest of my NEWTS. Thank Merlin. If I have to take one more portkey, I'm going to hurl and never stop.

I think once he got over the shock, he was actually pleased that I was willing to do something and get in trouble for it. Or as he said, "Good! I'm glad to see you're still enough of a kid to do something stupid."

Should I feel good about that or not?

Did I mention that Hermione is mad at me, too? Cindy told her mother, who sent Hermione an owl explaining what I did. I wasn't going to mention it at all, but when I went into bookspace, there she was, scolding me for doing something so rash. Merlin, she's beautiful when she's angry! Still, by the time she was done she made me feel three inches tall. How was I to know that apparating that distance would hurt her feelings? I swear I'll never understand girls!

Thankfully, none of them know about my little slip in my first apparate. By my calculations, I arrived at 7,400 feet above sea level. Pretty cool, eh?

You know, maybe I won't show this book to Hermione when we're older. There's some things in here I don't know if I really want her to see.

---

Office of the Headmistress, Hogwarts, April 4th, 1997...

Minerva opened the door and stepped to one side to allow Sirius to enter. He nodded congenially and took a seat in front of her desk. As she walked back to her desk, a house elf appeared with a tray of tea and biscuits.

"You are looking well Minerva," Sirius said with a disarming smile.

She scowled at him as she sat down behind her desk. "Don't give me that smile, Sirius Black. I know you're here because you want something."

He nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, well, it's like this, Minerva. You know what we're doing in relation to the person we've been helping."

Her eyes widened slightly and she nodded. "Yes. Not the details, but enough to understand it's importance, and why we need to keep it secret."

"We have reason to believe the final piece of the puzzle is heading in this direction on the mistaken idea that it might find an ally to aid its cause. It won't find any ally of course, but we want to take certain precautions. We can't stop it from entering the school, nor can we prevent it from leaving. What we can do is erect a ward to warn us if that happens. And that brings me to the reason for my visit. I'd like your permission, and your assistance in placing such a ward on the school. As the Head, you are the only one capable of warding the school."

Minerva's frown deepened. If what she believed was true, then her charges were once again about to be put into extreme danger.

She flicked her wand several times, placing privacy and anti-eavesdropping charms on the office.

Sirius sat back and watched with a slight grin. He knew she would want more information.

Once she was done, she turned back to Sirius. "Now, why don't you explain exactly what you mean by this moving puzzle piece you spoke of."

He launched into a description of the Horcruxes and how they had destroyed every one that Dumbledore had identified. He then explained what they thought had happened to Voldemort with the destruction of the first Horcrux after Harry left the school.

She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "So, Riddle is a spirit again, but he's possessing the snake?"

"Not quite. We don't think it's a true possession. We think that the presence of the Horcrux within the snake has locked Voldemort's spirit up in that object. The Horcrux is a powerful talisman in it's own right, but Nagini lacks the ability to activate it. And his spirit, being locked away while still magically powerful, has no way of focusing that magic enough to invoke any spells. At best, he controls a snake, but he can't cast magic."

"What about the students? Won't this place them in danger?"

Sirius sighed. "Honestly, Minerva, it will. But the fact is we know how to detect a Horcrux. Destroying one is rather difficult. Harry might be able to do it, but I lack the power, as do most wizards and witches. And like it or not, we're certain it's heading in your direction.

"The snake is dangerous and highly venomous. We have reason to suspect that it's been traveling north since the summer following the tournament, but it's progress is slow. Scotland is not conducive to a snake of that size. It's too cold, even in the middle of the summer. Our last reported sighting was sixty miles south of here in a Muggle town. We think it will take her most of next summer to cover the remaining distance."

When she frowned again he leaned forward in his chair. "If you think it would help, I could talk to the Board about bringing Remus back as DADA Professor next year and Harry wouldn't be far away."

"Remus would be a big help. I'm beginning to think Albus was right about one thing. The DADA position is cursed."

She paused and her expression tightened. "So Mr. Potter will be scouring the countryside looking for a snake? Alone?"

Sirius shrugged apologetically. "Mostly. We don't have anyone who can accompany him, and he is the only person we know who can talk to snakes. He hopes to enlist their aid in the search."

"Are you sure that's wise? Can't you accompany him?" she asked. Harry wasn't her student anymore, but she still felt a measure of responsibility for him.

"As much as I'd like to, I'll only be able to be with him a small part of the time. I'm getting married early in the summer and my duties in the Wizengamot are increasing, as the Minister has started to rely more and more on my help," he replied. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but by the time he begins his search, he will be an adult wizard and fully accredited by the Pacific Rim Ministry."

She nodded unhappily. "Please tell him that he will be welcome in the castle, should he need anything; a hot meal, a warm bed or such. I understand the need, even if I do not like what he will be doing. He continues to sacrifice himself for our world."

Sirius shook his head. "No, he's doing it for Hermione and his family. He's not trying to save the world. He can't do that. But he can save Hermione and her family --- his family. That's what he's focusing on. And despite all that, he's still enough of a kid to do dumb things on occasion."

"Oh?"

Sirius leaned back comfortably on his chair and grinned broadly. "Let me tell you about his Languages N.E.W.T. and his hatred of intercontinental portkeys."

---

Tuvutha, Fiji, June 5th 1997...

Harry limped towards the clearing and paused just inside the jungle that surrounded the small fishing village. One arm was in a makeshift sling. His shirt was torn, most of its cloth gone, donated to make a bandage that wrapped around his forehead. A burn on his left knee resulted in a slight limp.

He straightened up and surveyed the small village carefully. This was his goal, to reach the village. He was going to get some answers, or he was going to start collecting scalps.

He winced and wished once again that he had taken that course in field medicine. He knew a little, but not enough to heal the compound fracture in his arm. Fortunately, that had been the last injury he had received during the last six hours. Had it been one of the first injuries, the test would have ended as quickly as it began.

He shivered in the bright humid heat. His injuries were giving him considerable difficulties and he wasn't sure, but he thought he might be going into shock from his arm. The only thing keeping him going was a massive pain numbing charm that he cast every few hours - and anger - intense and highly focused anger over what he had endured so far.

He faded back into the shadows of the jungle and carefully moved around the outskirts of the village. Few people were visible anywhere, not that he was really concerned about it. The village was for show; no one really lived on this island. Tuvutha was a volcanic rock that jutted some three hundred feet above the ocean, covered in jungle.

Three and a half miles long by a mile and a half wide, it was used by the Aurors in this part of Oceania. Of course, the Muggles thought it was that size. The Aurors had increased its size until it was more than thirty miles long and fifteen miles wide.

He grumbled and for the millionth time in the past forty hours, wished he had not agreed to this special test. Why had taking a hit wizard exam sound so cool at the time? he grumbled to himself.

I have to be insane. Yes, that's it. I'm nuts. If I get out of this, I'm going to kill Remus for suggesting it. No, wait, I'll lock him in his werewolf form and sell him to a zoo! The thought warmed him somewhat.

He crouched down in the shadows and surveyed the scene, trying to decide what to do.

It began nearly a week ago, on June 1st,when Remus and Professor Murphy spoke to him about the possibility of taking the Hit Wizard exam.

"So, what's it entail?" Harry asked.

"It's no walk in the park," Remus cautioned. "If you take this test, you could end up seriously injured, or worse."

"On the other hand, if you pass, and I think you will, you would jump from earning a NEWT to earning a Defense Mastery," countered Murphy. "I wouldn't suggest it, except that your examiner from your OWL exam suggested it to me and it sounded like a good idea. If anyone can pull it off, you can."

Harry looked at his instructor for a moment. The man was absolutely brilliant when it came to teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. "What do I have to do?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," replied Murphy. "The exam changes every year, so no one knows what it's all about. When I took it, I, along with four others, had to go subdue a family of giants that had moved into central Asia."

Harry nodded absently, Murphy's Mastery hadn't come from the Pacific Rim Ministry, so he wouldn't know about their testing methods at all.

"If I fail?"

Murphy frowned. He hated when Harry doubted his own abilities. "If you fail, you take the regular NEWT a little later than expected. If you pass, you make it beyond NEWT level in a single shot."

He thought about it for a moment, then he grinned. "Why not?"

Murphy leapt to his feet. "That's the spirit!"

Remus nodded and looked uncomfortable.

Two days ago he had been taken to a dock and placed on a boat with several other men. He had been told that the test had begun and to not ask questions. He would be told what he needed to know, when he needed to know it. Then they put a hood over his head and someone snapped a bracelet on him.

They explained the bracelet was an anti-apparation bracelet. He nodded uneasily under the hood. He was starting to get the feeling that he was in over his head. Around him various men made crude jokes and comments about the rookie kid who thought he was good enough to take the Hit Wizard exam. Several men laid bets as to the outcomes, most of which included dismembering or death, usually in a grisly manner.

The boat traveled for several hours, then the motor was cut. He perked up, trying to get a feel for what was going on. They hadn't docked and he didn't hear surf hitting the shore.

Someone jerked him to his feet.

"You have your wand on you, kid?" hissed a voice.

He nodded. The Aurors of the Pacific Rim expected him as a westerner to rely on his wand and not his ring. Only islanders native to Fiji and the other Pacific islands used the rings.

The man pushed him and he stumbled. Someone caught him, hauling him upright roughly.

"Due south of us is the island of Tuvutha. Other than wizards, no one lives on it. There is a small village on the south western shore, which is operated by us. Between you and that village are obstacles. Your job is to get to that village. Don't let anyone or anything stand in your way."

"I understand," Harry replied, somewhat nervously.

"Good," the voice said. "You start now by swimming."

And with that, he was unceremoniously pushed over the side of the boat. The motor gunned and it pulled away, while he struggled with the hood. When he got it off, he could see the boat moving away at a good clip. It was dark; dawn was still hours away. In the distance, a mile or more away was a low dark hump on the horizon.

Cursing his luck, he concentrated, calling on his metamorphagus abilities. No one except his family knew of his talent, and while he could not transform as fast as Tonks could, he could transform nearly every part of his body. His feet elongated into flippers and he grew webbing between his fingers. Finally, he grew gills in his neck, emulating the effect of Gillyweed perfectly. The gills were the most difficult part, but Tonks had drilled him extensively about making changes like this.

He summoned a small orb of light and fixed it so it always moved towards the island in the distance, then he slipped below the waves. If they wanted to play games, he could do the same. Without giving it any consideration, the bracelet snapped open and dropped from his wrist.

Rules, he thought, were made to be broken.

An hour later, he slowly surfaced near the shore and examined it carefully. His eyes and ears were barely above the surface of the water. On the beach were two men who were staring out to sea and looking anxious.

"Any sign of him?" asked one man.

"Nothing," complained his companion. "I don't get it. Why are we testing a kid?"

"Because the boss said we are. Just remember we're to stop him anyway possible, but not kill him. So keep your curses to something that won't kill right away. I found a new bone crushing hex I can't wait to try out."

"I still don't like it. Since when are we supposed to test children?"

Harry had heard enough. He used his ring to summon two coconuts, hitting both men within a second of each other. They fell to the sand without a sound. He closed his eyes and returned his body to normal, then he sprinted towards the fallen pair.

If they were talking about using magic that wouldn't kill him outright, he'd have to be equally brutal. He stopped at the pair and stunned both, then he dragged them up into the tree line using his ring. There he searched each and stripped them of several knives, wands, focus rings, portkeys and everything else he could find.

He cast an anti-apparation ward on their belts and removed their shoes, banishing them into the ocean. The island was a mix coral and volcanic rock with a sand beach. Walking barefoot would be a humbling experience for these two trained wizards. The razor sharp rock would teach these burly wizards a lesson in humility and it would set the stage for every 'obstacle' he ran into from that point on.

Finally, he stunned them again, and buried them under some loose palm fronds so they wouldn't be seen.

It would be hours before they woke up and when they did, they would consider themselves two of the luckier members of the team assigned to stop this student. After all, they got out with all their limbs attached.

He shook his head. He was exhausted, hungry, thirsty and in considerable pain. It had taken him thirty six hours to cover a distance of nearly thirty miles to this village. In doing so, he had engaged four hit wizards in three running battles, had run into a colony of South Pacific Horned Acromantulas and had subdued another six wizards by taking them in ambush.

For his efforts, he had a broken arm, a cut on his scalp that burned and throbbed, a flash burn on his knee and he was sure he had sprained, or broke his big toe on his right leg. He walked with a limp but between the pain in his left leg and the pain in his right, the limp sort of balanced itself out.

Circling the village, he could see it was clearly guarded by Aurors and they were not happy about their current assignment. He looked around and started collecting coconuts. He was going to need to time this precisely.

Eight Aurors were visible, and another two he could detect were standing in front of one building, and disillusioned.

He moved slowly, banishing coconuts at any Auror that isolated himself from the others, then summoning the Auror to him. Then he'd remove their wands and rings and any other toys before placing them in a full body bind and silencing them.

One by one, the Aurors fell to his flying nuts until only four remained, two of them still disillusioned. Then things changed suddenly. One man stepped from the building the two disillusioned Aurors were guarding and placed something to his face.

Uh oh, Harry thought. Those are Muggle infrared goggles. Cindy told me about them when we watched that movie.

The man turned and stopped, looking in Harry's direction.

"Damn! Busted," he hissed to himself, then he gestured, sending his pile of coconuts hurtling at the small group of Aurors.

Five Aurors, including the one using Muggle technology, versus twenty coconuts. Not good for the Aurors. Harry winced as he heard the crunching of bones and screams. His coconuts hadn't been well aimed, and in his haste, sent with a little too much force.

Harry sprinted for the building, stepping over one downed Auror who was gripping his crotch and moaning loudly.

"Sorry," Harry muttered. He hit the door at a run and stepped inside. Once inside, he cast a cannon blast charm with his ring and a solarium with his wand. The combination had the same effect as a flash bang grenade, in that it stunned everyone inside. Before anyone else could move, he had them covered at wand point.

"No one move," he said, letting his anger loose. His aura flared and wrapped around him like a loving embrace and his eyes glowed, lighting the interior of the building.

Four men sat at a table staring at him. On the table before him was a map of the island. Remus stood to one corner, a grin slowly forming on his face as it dawned on him what was happening.

"Harry!" he exclaimed.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed a distinctly American voice.

"Indeed," said another, this one Australian.

A gray haired man stood and walked over to Harry. "Send for a healer," he snapped after taking in his condition. "You managed to surprise us, Mr. Potter."

Harry glanced at Remus questioningly.

"It's alright, Harry. Mr. Smith is the head of the Pacific Rim DMLE. He's known about your identity since last year."

Harry lowered his wand and looked around warily. "Does this mean the test is over?"

Everyone chuckled at that and Smith motioned for him to take a seat.

"Yes, the test was over when you reached the edge of the village. None of us expected you to attack the Aurors who were looking out for you."

Harry flinched slightly and the door opened, allowing a woman dressed in healer green to enter. From outside, someone shouted for more healers.

"Er, about that... I'm sorry?"

Smith grinned and ran a hand through his graying hair. "No worries, Mr. Potter. If you can sneak up on my Aurors, then they needed the object lesson. Now then, you wouldn't by any chance know where my team of people are that were supposed to stop you?"

Harry let the healer help him into the chair and hissed when she pulled off the bandage that he had around his head. With his free hand, he started to pull rings and wands from his pocket, dropping them on the table.

Remus took one look and turned away, trying hard not to laugh.

Murphy, who had been sitting silently at the table, barked out a laugh and pointed a finger at Smith. "What did I tell you? I told you he'd do it," he all but chortled at the head of the Pacific Rim DMLE.

Harry winced when the healer carefully examined his arm. "I sort of left them all over the island, although I did leave one surrounded by acromantulas," he said softly. Seeing their alarmed looks, he rushed to explain. "He's safe. They can't get to him, but he can't get out of the hole I put him in."

That set Murphy off on another round of laughter and this time Remus joined in.

The healer straightened up and turned to Smith. "Begging your pardon, Director, but my patient needs to go to the infirmary. His left arm is badly broken and he's got the start of a nasty infection. He'll be fine in a day or two, but I need to treat him."

Smith nodded and looked sourly at Murphy.

The healer turned back to Harry. "Can you walk? Never mind, you shouldn't walk with that broken toe and the burn."

She conjured a stretched and floated Harry onto it, then she handed him a potion. "Drink it all," she commanded.

Harry nodded and drank down the foul tasting brew. Almost immediately his eyelids started to droop. His last recollection would be of Remus bending over him, patting him on the shoulder, and saying he'd be nearby.

Murphy, Remus and Smith watched the healer walk Harry out of the building, then Remus turned to them. "He should have been told that getting to the village was enough. Don't hold him responsible for any damage he did once he got here."

Smith waved Remus silent. "Don't worry, Mr. Lupin. I wasn't lying when I said that if he could sneak up on my Aurors and subdue them, they deserved it. I have no intention of doing anything except offering your charge a job. Most candidates never make it to the village. Those that do are in worse shape than he was in. He took on a team of six Aurors and four hit wizards and made it through. His time could have been better, but he's young and inexperienced. With a little training, he could be the best there is."

"Not to mention, once he arrived at the village, he attacked it," added Murphy gleefully.

Smith shot him a sour look. It was one thing for his Aurors to be caught flat footed, but he didn't need this crazy American rubbing his nose in it. He shook his head and reached for a folder he had nearby. He opened it and he pulled out some parchment. "His OWL scores were excellent, and his NEWTS are even more impressive."

"You have his final scores?" exclaimed Remus.

"I was going to share them with Mr. Potter when he arrived, but I had not expected he would arrive here injured like he was."

He reached for a quill and added a quick addition to the parchment, then passed it to Murphy.

Murphy scanned the grades and grinned broadly, then handed it to Remus.

Defense M
Transfiguration O+
Charms O
Potions/Alchemy E
Runes/Enchanting O
Estate Management E
Languages (with Oriental Cultures sub) O
Apparation certificate assigned.
Portkey creation certificate assigned.

A Mastery in Defense awarded, automatically conferred an outstanding NEWT.

Remus' expression broke into a wide smile.

Seeing it, Murphy laughed. "I told you, Remus. The boy's a natural."

"Do you think he'd be interested in a job offering, Mr. Lupin?" asked Smith, trying to hide his eagerness.

Remus shook his head. "Not immediately. You know his history, Mr. Smith. He has unfinished business that he needs to attend to back in Britain."

Smith nodded. "Yes, I can understand that. But I think we might be able to help, especially if he'd be willing to accept a reserve position."

Remus leaned forward, looking interested. "A reserve position?"

"Tell him the whole story, Frank," Murphy said seriously.

Smith leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar. "It's like this, Mr. Lupin. For nearly fifty years now the British Ministry has been a growing problem on the world stage. It's changed in recent years, what with Minister Bones taking the helm, and Mr. Black has been a big help. But the international community is worried. We all know that one slip and we could be back into something as bad as the Scrimgeour Administration or worse. We also know that your Dark Lord problem isn't going away anytime soon. Frankly, the internationals are worried. If something isn't done, our world could be in danger if your war spills into the Muggle world."

"You, Mr. Black and Mr. Potter are at the heart of that problem and we've done all we can do on the sly to help you."

Remus' eyebrows rose. "I thought it seemed strange that the Americans had been so willing to help us destroy those dark objects."

Smith grinned. "Now what you don't know is that we've been watching and helping where we could. My head of the Auror academy in Japan sat in on Harry's language exam and came away very impressed. He feels that he would make an excellent field agent or investigator. We understand that Mr. Potter is well off and doesn't need the job, but if he accepted a position with us, he'd have our protection, even in Britain, should conditions change in the government. Not to mention access to resources he wouldn't normally have."

Remus stared at him for a moment, then turned to Murphy with a suspicious look. "You're not really a free lance Defense instructor, are you?"

Julius Caesar Murphy smiled benignly, but refused to answer the question. The original Defense tutor that James and Lily had contracted had died in the intervening years. Murphy had approached them when they put out the word they were looking for an independent tutor. He had been the only one to reply to their request for a tutor.

---

Daily Prophet Headline, June 6th 1997...

DMLE Conducts Raid Against Doomsday Cult.
Four perish in the raid.

Ministry spokesperson Perky Weatherbee announced that the DMLE conducted a raid last night against the Cult Of Voldemort, in which four people were killed and two DMLE officers were injured.

In the past year, the cult has been responsible for one attempted robbery of Gringotts, which failed spectacularly, and several attacks against prominent members of the community, including Wizengamot member and Ambassador candidate, Sirius Black.

Last night's raid came after a tip was received that cult members would attempt a ritual that, if successful, might have brought Voldemort back to life. A researcher for the Department of Mysteries, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "there was very little chance of success in this ritual and it would have killed the participants to perform it. However, had they brought back Voldemort, they would have achieved one of two things. Either they would have brought him back, magic and all, which would have returned all magic to Harry Potter, our hero, or they would have brought him back as a Muggle, forcing Harry Potter, at some point in his life, to fight the Muggle Voldemort."

DMLE experts agree with that assessment, but hastened to add that, "This increases the risk and threat of the cult to our way of life. They are obviously searching desperately for a way to bring back their fallen Master. We will continue to work to suppressing this dangerous sect wherever it turns up.

"Last night, two teams of Aurors stormed a building in Hogsmeade that the cult was using, interrupting a foul ritual. In the process, four cult members perished and many others escaped. Six Aurors were injured, but only two seriously enough to require an overnight stay at St. Mungo's. Also freed in the raid were four Muggle teenage girls who were being drained of their blood for the ritual. The girls were taken to St. Mungo's, treated and obliviated before being handed over to Muggle authorities."

It is estimated that at least sixteen cult members escaped before anti-apparation/anti-portkey wards could be put in place.

Minister Bones and Wizengamot member Sirius Black toured the building after the raid. Black has been asked to represent the British Ministry at an upcoming Paris conference. For the conference, the Ministry and the Wizengamot have opted to confer Black with Ambassador status.

Black has been a target of the cult at least once, although there is a rumor that another attack occurred while he was overseas. The most recent attack came this past January, when the buildings owned by Black and his muggle fiancée were burned to the ground.

Both Black and the Minister declined to comment, sending our reporters to the Ministry Department of Public Relations instead.

Celestina Warbeck denies pregnancy by former boyfriend, page 2
Severus Snape Parole denied again, page 3
List of Cult dead and DMLE injured, Page 17a.

---

Quibbler Headline, June 6th 1997...

The Lost Continent of Atlantis Rises from the Ocean, Then Sinks Again!
Harry Potter blamed!

In a bizarre turn of events yesterday, Atlantis, the mythical continent that sank under the waves eons ago, rose to the surface yesterday, surprising Muggle merchant shipping and people everywhere.

Reporters flocked to the scene only to discover an ongoing party being hosted by none other than Harry Potter, who had recently returned from his broom trip to the moon. His trip makes Potter, age 16, the first teenager to walk on the moon. We were unable to confirm if he planted a flag made from a pair of panties and claimed the orbiting orb for Botswana.

We feel this once and for all time proves that Harry Potter is not a Muggle, like so many believe. Instead, we've come to suspect he's been hiding behind the pretense of having magic and he's really from the planet Crypton, like another famous supposed Muggle.

Potter was at the head of a huge conga line consisting mainly of Mermaids and Centaurs. When the reporters arrived, he declared the party over and left after donning his patented bat swooping suit. He stated that Atlantis was far too muddy to hold a party, and swooped away leaving the astounded newsman standing there. The Mermaids and Centaurs vanished seconds later.

Fourteen Muggle news crews and a reporter from the Daily Prophet were killed when the continent slipped beneath the waves again.

When this paper asked the Ministry about the reappearance and disappearance of Atlantis, the Ministry spokesman, Perky Weatherbee, had this to say. "What? Are you insane? Why don't you leave me alone already? Are you following me? I'll call an Auror! Stop following me! I'll scream! I'm warning you!"

Clearly the Ministry's effect to pacify the population is not working with the Ministry spokesman. We urge Minister Bones to publicly admit they are putting dynamite, a dangerous Muggle chemical, into our butterbeer supply.

Coming Next week: An expose of King Tut Tut's Tomb and the Potter Walk, the dance craze that's sweeping the Muggle world, and why it involves sheep.

---

The Granger Home, June 10th 1997, Oxford England...

The train pulled to a stop with a lurch and a squeal of metal on metal, then everyone stood, reaching for their various packages. Hermione opened the cat carrier and placed an unhappy Crookshanks inside. Fortunately, Crookshanks knew he was on the way home and wouldn't be caged for too long. Outside, hundreds of anxious parents milled around, while Hogwarts house elves unloaded trunks from the baggage cars.

"What kind of plans do you have for the summer, Hermione?" asked Hannah Abbott. She stood next to Ron, holding his hand. It had taken a while before she was accepted in their little Gryffindor group, but Hermione had welcomed her with open arms. She admired the red haired witch for her ability to get Ron to grow up, something which he had fought her tooth and nail over.

"I won't be going to Fiji, as Evan is coming here. I expect we'll spend the summer enjoying the weather and doing some studying. He promised to help me start studying for our NEWTS."

"What about his NEWTS?" asked Neville, now looking at her with interest.

She shrugged. "He took his NEWTS a year early, but he hasn't shared his grades with me yet," she replied with a bit of a pout.

Ron frowned and shook his head. He didn't want to think about studying for exams that were a year away. He opened his mouth, then closed it immediately after seeing the warning look from Hannah.

Hannah enjoyed having fun like Ron, but she had patiently explained to him that the better educated people were capable of having more fun than those who let their education slack off. Then she proceeded to entice him into studying and kept him going until he developed decent homework habits.

Hermione held Crookshanks' carrier and she peered around it, trying to see the steep stairs on the train. A hand reached up and pulled the carrier from her grasp, then another hand gently took hers, helping her down the stairs.

She looked up and gasped when she spotted Evan staring at her with a goofy grin on his face.

She squeaked and hurled into his arms. Crookshanks complained loudly when he flailed for a moment, trying to maintain his balance.

She held Evan tightly for a moment, just reveling in the feel of his body pressed against her. She smiled to herself, feeling him inhale deeply, his face buried in her hair. She loved when he did that!

She finally pulled back enough to look at him. Her eyes darted to the bandage attached to his head and she could feel something bulky under the shirt on his arm. "Harr... mmmpfh!"

He dived in and kissed her, hard, muffling her before she could finish saying his name. He was in his Evan persona and she had nearly ruined it by calling him by his real name. For her part, she instantly realized her mistake, but she apologized by holding him tightly and kissing him for all she was worth.

When they broke apart, he leaned his forehead against hers, but still managed to avoid the bandage. "I've missed you," he whispered.

She gazed into his eyes intently and everything seemed to fade into the background. It was just them and no one else. They were alone in the world. "I've missed you too," she replied.

A cough behind them distracted her and she looked around, suddenly realizing where she was and what she was doing. She saw her father coughing uncomfortably and her friends standing nearby, grinning madly at her. She colored from her toes to the tips of her ears and she stepped away from Harry, latching onto his hand.

"Ron, Ginny, you remember Evan?" she asked, then she turned to Neville and Hannah. "This is Evan Black, my boyfriend."

Hannah and Neville's eyes lit up at the idea of meeting the mysterious boy from the South Pacific. Hannah ran an eye over him. He was as tall as Ron, but broader and more muscular in the shoulder. The bandage on his head gave him a very rakish air.

"G'day," Harry said, offering his hand to Neville.

"Merlin, what Hippogriff ran over you, Evan?" asked Ginny with a smirk. Despite his obvious bandages, she thought he still looked hot.

Harry shrugged. "Left overs from my Defense exam. If you think I look bad, you should see my examiners," he replied with a satisfied smile.

Hermione peered at him, her expression turning to one of worry. "Wasn't your exam four days ago?"

"It was, but I only got out of the infirmary two days ago," he replied.

"Did you pass, at least?" asked Neville. He had become a lot more confident, with Ginny's help, but the idea of an exam that landed him in hospital for two days boggled his mind.

Harry gave another satisfied grin. "You could say that."

"Hermione says you two will be spending the entire summer in England?" asked Hannah.

Harry nodded. "That's right. I'm done with school for the moment. I'm hoping that between my helping Hermione with her studying, we'll be able to see some of the sights around Britain."

"Hey, why don't we all meet up in Diagon Alley later in the summer? We could get our books and school supplies then," Ginny said, a bit awkwardly. She was firmly interested in Neville, but she had to admit there was something about Evan that pulled on her; something she couldn't put her finger on.

Harry glanced over to Hermione, who nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. Right now though I best release her hand and let her say hello to her parents."

Hermione blinked and suddenly looked ashamed. She had been ignoring her parents! She turned and stammered a hello. Her mother came up to hug her and Harry released her hand. He stepped back and Dan gave him a knowing smile.

Ginny, Ron, Neville and Hannah moved off in search of their own families.

Harry looked around until his eye fell on Lavender, who stood, head down, next to a stern looking man. This was a far cry from the Lavender he used to know. He almost felt sorry for her.

He walked over to the pile of trunks and quickly located Hermione's. With a swish of a fake wand, he removed it from the pile and placed it on a trolley.

Looking up, he spotted Tonks smirking at him from her position further up the platform. He grinned and nodded to her, then started to push the trolley towards the spot where the Grangers stood.

He stopped a few feet away and picked up Crookshanks, placing him atop the trunk on the trolley, then he waited for Hermione and her parents to finish.

Ten minutes later they were all in the Granger's car, heading for Grimmauld Place.

"We're not going straight home?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Harry shrugged and pointed towards her parents. "Ask them, they have plans that are a secret."

Emma smiled knowingly and Hermione gave a shudder. "Hang onto your hat, Harry. Whatever they have planned, it's a doozy. When Mum looks like that, we're in trouble."

Dan and Emma laughed, but neither offered to shed any light on their plans.

Hermione turned to Harry. "All right, what's wrong with your arm and your head?"

Harry sighed and launched into an explanation about his Defense exam and how he had been injured. In the case of his arm and his head, the open wounds had picked up a tough infection that he needed to smear with a salve twice a day. The wounds were healing, but slowly and both would leave scars.

"So you spent a day and a half battling with ten adult wizards and a colony of tropical acromantulas to reach a village and in the process you got hurt. Not just a little hurt mind you, but badly injured. That arm fracture was nothing to sneeze at. I hope they gave you an outstanding for your effort."

He grimaced. "Actually, I didn't get an O for the exam."

He grinned and handed her his official results. She took the parchment with a glare, then her forehead wrinkled and she nibbled on her lower lip for a moment while she tried to figure out what it was saying.

"You've been awarded a Mastery?" she whispered, looking up from the parchment.

He nodded, grinning broadly at her. Only her seatbelt prevented her from hurtling into his arms again. She leaned as far as the belt would allow and he leaned close enough for their heads to touch. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered to him.

For Harry, this was a defining moment unlike any other. His eyes grew shiny and he ducked his head. "Thank you," he replied in a whisper.

She knew instantly what was happening and she caressed his face with one hand. Her approval meant everything to him, and to know he had made her proud of him moved him deeply. She knew that this was tied to his upbringing. He wanted her approval and even though she had been giving it freely for the last six years, saying that touched him deeply.

"That's nothing, pumpkin. Harry, tell her about the offer they made you," Dan said from the driver seat.

Harry nodded and looked away while wiping at his face. She reached out and took his hand in hers, squeezing hard for support.

"I've been given a reserve position in the Pacific Rim Auror force. Subject to my completing an accelerated run through their academy, the position will switch to full time Auror. I'm not sure I want to be an Auror and they know that, but they urged me to accept the position. so I did. It will give me access to resources I wouldn't have otherwise."

"If you don't want to be an Auror, what do you want to be?" Emma asked from the front seat.

"I'm not sure yet. I do know that I have several opportunities open to me. I've even been invited to spend a year at the Mitsumi Magical Academy in Kyoto. That's one of Japan's finest schools. I want to keep my options open for now. The Mastery is nice, but it shouldn't be much of a surprise. I've been training for that for three years now. In fact, the last three years I've managed to cram nearly six years of schooling in, add that to Hogwarts time and I've had almost nine years of material in six years. My Transfiguration and Charm scores are more useful for career choices and I think Languages might help also."

He paused and smiled at Emma, then he held up Hermione's hand clasped in his. "Besides, once Voldemort is out of the picture, I think I'd like to do something that lets me keep my best friend close by."

Doctor Emma Granger, dentist, glanced at her husband, Doctor Daniel Granger, dentist and nodded. "Absolutely," she said in agreement.

It wasn't until nearly three in the morning before Harry was able to crawl into bed. Sirius, Cindy and Hermione's parents took Harry and Hermione out for a night of dinner and dancing to celebrate his wonderful scores and her return from Hogwarts.

He was fussing with the bandage on his arm when Hermione slipped into his room. Surprised, he looked up at her, the bandage falling from his fingers. "Hermione?"

"It looks like you could use a hand with that," she said in a calmer tone than she felt.

He glanced down at the fallen bandage and grimaced. "Its not easy to do and every time I use magic on it, it goes on too tight."

She walked over and picked up the bandage. "Well, let's get this on you and then get into bed. It's been a longer day than I like."

"B-b-but, your parents?" he stammered.

"Will understand and expect us to be cautious. Mum and Dad do not want to be grandparents just yet," she replied firmly.

He blushed and his mouth opened and closed a few times while she grinned at him. His mind was having difficulty putting thoughts together. It had been a long time since they'd been together like this.

A few moments later, she finished tying off the bandage. She didn't comment about what was sure to be an nasty scar where the bone had broken through.

He stood and nervously pulled back the sheets, then she climbed into his bed. The situation astounded him. Her parents were asleep on the other side of the wall! He climbed into the bed and she rolled into his arms.

"I have missed this so much," she whispered, already beginning to fall asleep.

He held her tightly and raised his head so he could kiss the top of hers. "Me too," he replied. "Me too."

---

Authors Notes:

Bob's letting me do the notes this time around. He took my toys away though, so I can't torture or maim any of you. He's taking all of the joy out of it for me.

Yes, Harry was a Horcrux...right up until he refused to participate in the tournament (first chapter). When his magic fled, the Horcrux (and any tracking charms, etc) had nothing to sustain it and was destroyed.

Nope, Harry will not be teaching at Hogwarts.

Cut the journal entries out? Um, no. This story is character driven. It's going to be slow paced, as we've mentioned before. If that's not something you're interested in, there are other stories available for your enjoyment. Go find one.

The saving roll on a Nuclear bomb? Easy. It's 22 on a 1d20!

~Intercepts all the donuts sent our way and beats Bob off with a bat (that doesn't sound right, does it?).~ What are you people thinking? He hasn't had sugar in almost a year and you're going to pump him full of the stuff? He'll be bouncing off the walls for hours! And if my ass gets any bigger, I'll be walking through doors sideways. Bastards!

How are the journals able to tell the exact age of the users? Magic! The exact enchantment? It's called The Ages Tellus charm! (Our new motto is 'We excel at being snide'. We were going to go with 'Smart ass is our middle name', but were afraid people would take us seriously.)

Odd little disclaimer world? I hate to break this to you (actually, I don't) but that world is our reality. That should tell you everything you need to know about us...and probably quite a bit you didn't need to know at all. Welcome to our rabbit hole. Please fasten your seat belts and keep the screaming to a minimum.

As for lurking readers, we don't mind them. In fact, some of them are quite tasty with a bit of mustard and mayo. There's no need to identify yourselves. The scent of fear is obvious and pinpoints your location nicely. You will be harvested on our next grocery shopping trip. Resistance is a waste of time, so please don't struggle.

I bet you're all longing for the days when Authors Notes actually answered your questions, aren't you? Bob never should have let me do this...though he isn't any better. ~Cackles~

Erm...right. Back to the program.

Can Harry eventually transfigure a motorcycle? Possibly, but he'd have to know a lot more about engines and design before trying it. In any event, he won't be doing it in this story.

Someone's waiting for the snogging to get serious. I'm not sure how serious you're talking here, but we don't write explicit sex scenes. We're more the fade-to-black types. The best you're going to get in this story is us killing the lights before you see anything and turning that back on in time for the "What the hell did we just do and when can we do it again" awkwardness that sometimes follows. Sorry, no wank material here.

Yes, the Death Eaters appeared in Fiji, but if you read it again, you'll see they were after Sirius, not Evan/Harry. He was just a convenient target, nothing more.

Let's see. In TpotP, Nagini is large, extremely venomous and magical. She also has a Horcrux inside her, Voldemort screaming at her, and she's intelligent. What does all this add up to? Several dead farm dogs. We're not talking about a rattlesnake or a cobra here. We're talking about a large, magically enhanced reptile in a FICTIONAL environment. She wins. Sorry.

Don't worry, Donald. I never chase after our generic readers; I set traps. Lace up those runners if you wish, but watch your step! ~Evil Grin~

For those wishing to see a bit more Japanese, here ya go. Aren't we generous? And the fact that it was in the outline to include the bit with Harry's Language NEWT has nothing to do with how generous we are. Really. ~Nods~

And coming soon! A Harry Potter, Japanese anime crossover called Elven Cried: The Sad Tale of Dobby Gone Bad. (Kidding Ask for it and we'll mock you!)

Cindy's potion brewing skills: She's had 12 years of medical training with an emphasis on biological research. She's also a decent cook. What does that add up to? She can follow a recipe and brew a potion. Hermione could also do it, except that she's not around often enough. Harry doesn't like potions. He could probably do it, but he's just a tad busy at the moment.

We've always envisioned potions as a rather simple thing (disregarding Snape). Follow the recipe in the book exactly and you'll succeed. Even a Muggle would be able to do it. It's the ingredients that are magical, not the person stirring the pot. Now, that may not be canon, but... Well, you all know how we feel about canon, right?

Will there be an epilogue for this story? Yes, it will read something like this: Seventeen Years Later...

I'm kidding! Put down the torches and back away! Yeesh, you people are so violent...

Kittycatgirl: Yes, you can keep the story, but only on one condition. You must name it George.

Compiling all of our disclaimers and AN's into one story? What a truly frightening thought!

No, the Anti-Cruciatus potion is not canon as far as we know.

James: Wait. Wait. You pissed on your cat? You actually laughed so hard you urinated on your cat? I don't know where to take this, as I have so many places I can go with it. And I can only imagine the expression your cat was wearing as it tried to clean itself! Oh, and leave us your girlfriend's email address, would you? We'd really love to explain to her just why the cat is so angry with you!

I really didn't think this was necessary, but what the hell... Warning: Do not read a chapter until after you've emptied your bladder or put on a diaper. You'll save yourself animal abuse charges and having to deal with homicidal felines in the future.

Crabbe? As the brains of Slytherin House? There's a plot bunny in there. ~Glares~ Sorry, Infin1x, we have to kill you now. Don't struggle, it will only hurt more... Bob! Fire up the barbecue, please. We have another vict...volunteer!

~Bob poke Infin1x with a fork~ Is it tasty? Will we's like it?

Damnit, Bob, we are not doing a Harry Potter/LotR crossover and you are NOT Gollum!

~Watches Bob pull out a Darth Vader mask~

That's it for the AN's folks. I'm sure Bob will be back to write them next time.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go hurt my husband.

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