"Harry?"

He sat bolt upright so fast, the owner of the voice quickly backed away, tripped over the leg of a table and hit her head on the edge of a nearby chair.

"Ginny, are you all right?" Harry asked as he shoved his glasses on his face.

"I think so," Ginny answered rubbing a spot on the back of her head.

Harry gently took her arms and helped her to stand. When she was standing, Harry still held onto her. Their fingers entwined and he bent his head down to hers and said, "Good morning."

Ginny moved her head at the last moment and their lips only brushed together for a short moment. Harry looked at her. She had a mischievous twinkle in her eye that Harry generally only saw in Fred or George.

"More like good afternoon, Mr. Potter." Her voice was mockingly stern.

Harry glanced at the clock on the mantel. It was nearly two o'clock and bright sunshine flooded the common room.

"Well, I...uh...didn't sleep too well," Harry said weakly.

"You didn't sleep too well?" Ginny asked, still teasing. "Mum woke me up at two in the morning screaming at Ron and Hermione. Speaking of which, is Hermione around anywhere?"

Harry gave up trying to get a kiss. "She was in the girls' dormitory last night, or this morning, or whenever it was," he answered.

Ginny started toward the stairs and Harry let go of her hands. He was quite surprised when she turned back around and kissed him full on the mouth. "Good morning," she whispered in his ear.

Harry stared at Ginny as she raced up the stairs to the dormitories. He decided Ron was right; girls were mental, wonderful, but completely mental. He took the stairs to the boys dormitory two at a time. He quickly stripped off his pajamas and grabbed the first pair of jeans he could find in the pile of clothes next to his bed. He had barely had time to pull them on and button them when the door flew open.

"Ginny, what are you--"

"Hermione's not in the dormitory," she told him. "I'm not sure if her bed has been slept in."

Harry's eyes widened. Had Hermione gone to Australia without them? "The bag? Did you see her beaded bag?" he asked desperately.

Ginny shook her head.

"C'mon, we've got to find her before she does something stupid," Harry said as he rushed out the door.

"Harry," Ginny called after him, "while I really don't mind, I don't think you should wander around the castle without your shirt on."

Harry flushed and he saw the glimmer in Ginny's eye he figured he was going to have to get used to. He pulled the first t-shirt to come to hand over his head. He then took Ginny by the hand and ran toward the portrait hole.

"Harry, calm down," Ginny told him a few moments later. "We should start in the library. She's probably just studying."

Harry stopped and looked at her. "Ginny, she was talking about going to Australia alone last night," he told her quite loudly.

"Did she promise you she'd stay?" Ginny asked.

"Yes."

"Then she hasn't left," Ginny reasoned. "Hermione keeps her word, Harry. I know you've gotten used to fear, but that's no reason to give into it."

Harry took a deep breath. "You're right, she's probably in the library."

They set off for the library at a far more leisurely pace. Harry took controlled, deep breaths as Ginny squeezed his hand. His head swam with a dozen different thoughts. He suddenly realized he had no idea what he was going to do after they got back from Australia. The idea of being an Auror still attracted him, but that didn't seem like the safest thing for the master of the Elder Wand to be doing. Writing a book seemed like a good idea, but he would definitely need Hermione's help to do it.

"Luna! When did you get here?"

Ginny's voice broke Harry's silent reverie. Luna Lovegood was indeed standing right in front of them. Harry wondered to himself how Luna had managed to find a dress covered in plaid polka-dots. He had seen her briefly at Fred's funeral, but they hadn't really spoken since the end of the battle.

"I came with Ron about half an hour past," Luna answered in her usual airy tone.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Yes," Luna answered. "She and Ron went off together. I don't know what they're doing, but I doubt they're hunting crumple-horned snorkacks."

Ginny giggled, but Harry stared at Luna in surprise. "Luna, did you just make a joke?" he asked.

"I did," she answered, smiling. "Was it any good?"

"Brilliant," Harry answered.

"I told you Hermione was okay," Ginny said, poking Harry in the ribs with her elbow.

"Are you really going to Australia?" Luna asked Harry.

"You're going to Australia?" Ginny asked. "I thought you said Hermione was going to Australia."

Harry suddenly felt like a cornered animal. "Well," he began, "we're going to Australia."

"Who is we?"

Harry hoped the flash of red in Ginny's eyes was just a reflection from her hair. "We're just going to find Hermione's parents," he explained weakly. "I don't think we'll be gone very long."

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Ginny asked angrily.

"Well-I-" Harry suddenly wished the teachers hadn't restored the protections keeping people from apparating off the Hogwarts grounds.

"What happened to never wanting to be parted from me?"

"Ginny, I just want to help my friend!"

"Can I go with you?"

Harry and Ginny had forgotten Luna was there. She was staring at them, her eyes wider than usual and her mouth curled into a little smile.

"What?" Harry asked, unsure of what he'd heard.

"Can I go with you?" Luna repeated.

"Where?" he asked.

"To Australia, of course."

"Well, it's not entirely my decision," Harry answered, feeling cornered once again.

"Of course you can come with us, Luna," Ginny said.

"Ginny, you-" Harry started.

"I'm coming with you, Harry Potter."

Harry marveled at how much Ginny looked like her mother at that moment, and decided it would be in his best interest not to disagree with her.

"What are you three just standing around for?" a familiar voice asked from above them.

They looked up and saw Neville Longbottom leaning over the railing from the next floor up. His face was still quite bruised from the battle and the evil encounters he had had his last year in school, but he was wearing a wide grin that almost completely diminished his haggard appearance.

"We're all cleaning up the battlements on the outer walls," he told them. "Hermione sent me to find you. She thought you might be worried about her."

The news quite surprised Harry. "Ron and Hermione are helping you clean up the battlements?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Neville answered.

"How disappointing," Ginny said, echoing Harry's thoughts. Neville's forehead furrowed in confusion.

"I'll be right up, Neville," Luna said, skipping toward the stairs. Harry and Ginny quickly followed.

"Follow me," Neville said as they approached him. "I know some shortcuts."

Neville led them into what was apparently a broom cupboard and then opened a hatch in the ceiling. A ladder came down and Neville motioned for the rest of them to follow him up. The tunnels Neville was leading them into were so small they had to crawl through them. Harry had never even been aware of them, and apparently so had very few others. The place had obviously been the home of rats and crows for the last few centuries.

"How on earth did you find these things?" Harry asked after a minute or so.

"Well, the Army had to find a way to sneak around the castle, and I discovered these tunnels one day when I was running away from the Carrows," Neville explained. "They shorten a lot of distances, which is convenient, if you don't mind crawling."

Harry squinted at the bright sunlight when they finally emerged from the tunnels. His eyes shot wide open, however, when he heard a woman screaming. The four of them were soon standing on the battlements, wands at the ready. Harry gaped at what he saw; Ron was holding Hermione by the waist and was attempting to force her over the side of the wall. Hermione was desperately kicking and shoving against him.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed when she saw them. "Harry, he's been Imperiused! He doesn't know what he's doing!" Her shoes were slipping on the stone as she struggled against Ron.

Harry immediately found the source of the Imperious Curse; it was Draco Malfoy, and he was sneering evilly at them. Before Harry could stop her, Ginny sent a Stunning Spell at Malfoy. Malfoy collapsed and the Imperious Curse broke, but Ron fell backward in a daze and Hermione slipped over the edge of the wall. The world slowed to a snail's pace. Ginny screamed in horror. Harry reached for Hermione, but her fingers only brushed against his.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Hermione stopped falling. She was floating gracefully back toward the top of the battlements thanks to Luna's levitation spell. Hermione threw her arms around Luna once she was standing on solid ground again. "Thank you! Thank you!" she said fervently.

"It's all right," Luna answered calmly. "Levitation is one of the wizard's most rudimentary skills."

"Wha-What happened?" Ron asked trying to stand.

Hermione pulled him up and said, "You were Imperiused."

"What?!"

Neville had hoisted Malfoy up by the collar. Harry had his wand pointed directly under Draco's chin. Draco was giggling maniacally at them and muttering about Mudbloods.

"He's drunk," Harry announced after taking a short whiff.

"That's not an excuse for trying to drop people off the sides of buildings," Ginny said angrily. "He didn't even have the courage to do it himself."

Draco lunged at Ginny, but Neville hit him with the full-body-bind. Harry grabbed him before he fell and said, "Why are you doing this, Malfoy? You've lost. There's no point in fighting anymore."

"Both of his parents were sentenced to a year in Azkaban," Hermione told them. "It was on the front page of The Daily Prophet this morning."

They all looked at Draco pitifully. Neville released the full-body-bind and Draco fell to his knees, blubbering. Everyone moved away from him except Harry, who knelt down in front of Draco and looked him in the eye.

"You know," Harry began slowly, "Fred Weasley isn't coming back. Colin Creevey isn't coming back. Dumbledore, Snape; they're gone. Teddy Lupin's parents are never coming home to him. My parents are never coming back. Your parents are coming back, Malfoy! You've got nothing to cry about!" Harry's voice had raised to a shout.

"What is going on here?" McGonagoll's voice cut the air like a knife.

Professors Flitwick and Sprout were quick on McGonagoll's heels. "Mr. Malfoy!" McGonogall exclaimed when she reached the scene. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Draco didn't answer, he just muttered incoherently.

"I think he's had a few too many nips at the firewhisky, Minerva," Professor Sprout said.

"Well, take him down to dungeons," McGonagoll said. "Perhaps Horace can get him dried out."

Harry stood up and got out of the way as Professor Sprout grabbed the back of Draco's shirt and pulled him up. Professor Flitwick followed them back to the castle, his wand out and ready for anything. Professor McGonagoll looked at the rest of them and said, "And just what has Mr. Malfoy been up to?"

"Nothing," Ron answered quickly.

Everyone stared at him.

"Look, he's just gone a bit balmy. I'd be the same way if I'd just lost everything I had in the world," Ron said defensively. "Besides, I just don't think it's a good idea to have all the Malfoys in the same place at the same time. They might organize a mass breakout or something."

Hermione looked at Ron as though he'd just hung the moon. McGonagoll, however, was obviously not convinced.

"Ron's right." Harry said it more for the benefit of his friends than for McGonagoll. "Maybe you can get the Ministry to put him under house arrest for a while, but I don't think he deserves to go to Azkaban for being a gormless idiot."

"Alright, Potter," McGonagoll said reluctantly, "if that's the way you want it."

"Thanks," Ron said.

"Well, I think the rest of you should continue cleaning up," she told them. "I need to speak to you privately, Potter."

Harry shoved his wand in his back pocket and followed McGonogall away from the group. When they were sufficiently out of earshot, McGonagoll said, "You need to be careful, Potter."

Harry felt quite confused. "What do you mean, Professor?"

"I understand you are planning a trip to Australia to find Miss Granger's parents," McGonagoll continued.

"Word travels fast," Harry said with the slightest trace of annoyance.

"I would advise you against it, Mr. Potter," McGonagoll told him. "Voldemort still has many supporters at large abroad. You would be putting yourself and your companions in grave danger if you were to leave the security of Hogwarts so soon."

"No offense, Professor, but I think Malfoy just proved that Hogwarts isn't exactly a fortress anymore," Harry answered.

"Watch your tone, Potter."

"I'm not in school anymore, Professsor," Harry protested. "I've spent the whole last year looking for cursed pieces of Voldemort's soul. Finding Hermione's parents should be a picnic after that. I'm not a child anymore, Professor, and I'm going."

McGonagoll looked as though she might explode for a moment until she heaved a great sigh. "All right, Potter," she relented. "Whatever you do, do it fast, and avoid the press at all costs, oh, and the Death Eaters. Voldemort had quite a following in Australia. And study. And make sure you're back here in time to take your N.E.W.T.S."

"But, Professor, I wasn't-"

"Be back here in time, Potter," McGonagoll ordered sternly.

"Yes, Professor," Harry answered.

"Well, get on with it, Potter!" McGonagoll shouted as she walked away.

Smiling, Harry turned back toward his friends. "Oi, Neville, have you got anything to do this summer?"

"Well, I've got to take my N.E.W.T.S," Neville answered.

"That's not 'til August," Harry pointed out. "Would your Gran let you go to Australia?"

"Australia?!"

"We're going to look for my parents," Hermione explained.

"I-I-I guess I maybe could," Neville answered uncertainly.

"Brilliant," Harry said. "Hermione, we've got a search to plan."