Chapter 10

Picking Up The Pieces

It was still raining by the time Harry reached the entrance of Hogwarts. The long walk from the village up to the castle had gotten him thoroughly soaked, though he didn't pay much attention to it. His mind was filled with so many other thoughts swirling around that he was quite startled to look up and see the large, oak doors right in front of him.

Harry didn't know how long he had been on the ground, thinking, before he started hearing the sounds of people Apparating into the village all around him. He knew it was the Ministry, coming to clean up the damage. He didn't want to be around when they started and quickly decided to leave.

Before going, he had had to repair his leg and then fix his broken nose and busted lip. His face had felt much better, but his leg was still aching. He had healed it fine, but it would take some time for the stiffness to subside. He figured it must have something to do with the unknown curse he had been hit with. Each step on the long path back to Hogwarts had been painful and he ended up limping most of the way. It had made his trip quite interesting when Harry tried navigating up the muddy trail. Thankfully, he had managed not to slip and fall.

Now at the front doors, he opened them and stepped into the Entrance Hall and out of the rain. He immediately waved his wand over his clothes, drying them and warming himself up. He took a second to catch his breath and then strode across the Entrance Hall and pushed open the doors to the Great Hall.

The scene he revealed looked like something out of a Muggle history book on World War I. Harry remembered seeing pictures of a makeshift hospital set up in an abandoned church, and what was before him looked eerily similar. The Great Hall was full of injured people: on the benches, on the floor, even on the tables. Harry was surprised they weren't stacked on top of each other. Between them were a handful of witches and wizards running about, trying to attend to as many injuries as possible.

As soon as Harry opened the door, and people realised who had just entered, every single head turned to him. He did his best to ignore them and started limping toward the staff table. Most of them followed his progress, and Harry heard a buzz of whispers and gasps, which he ignored as well.

It seemed most of the injured people were residents of Hogsmeade. It made sense for them to have come here. St. Mungo's was too far away, and it likely wouldn't hold so many patients. Harry noticed that the rest present were students, and a lot of them looked to be pretty badly hurt. He felt anger begin to rise up as he wondered who had led them down to the village. Even those that had been in the D.A. weren't prepared to fight Death Eater's, and it showed.

As Harry walked along, he saw Ron among the injured, sitting up on one of the tables clutching his leg. Ginny, Neville, and Luna were standing around him and trying to calm him down, but Ron was practically hysterical. He was screaming and moaning from his injury, which, from Harry's view, didn't look bad at all. It was probably a broken bone, and Harry saw it was bleeding slightly, but wasn't too serious.

Upon seeing him, Ginny and Neville made to rush over to him, but Harry stopped them. He held his palm towards them and then nodded to the group at the staff table, indicating for them to stay while he talked to McGonagall and the others. They looked disappointed and went back to trying to console Ron.

Not far from them, Harry saw Hermione, her hair slightly damp from the rain. She was wrapping a bandage around her head while talking to someone from the Ministry. Harry froze when he saw the person next to her; he didn't know what they were talking about, but he didn't want anyone else to know what had happened with Dolohov. Especially not someone from the Ministry. Despite his intentions, he had still cast an Unforgivable on someone, which would earn him a life sentence in Azkaban.

He managed to catch Hermione's eye and shook his head quickly. He wanted to make sure she didn't say anything. Even though she was still hurting from what he had done back in the summer, Harry hoped she wouldn't reveal anything that would get him in trouble. Hermione's eyes flicked over to the Ministry official and then back to Harry, understanding what she meant. Her face remained expressionless but she nodded her head a fraction of an inch, telling him she would keep his secret.

Harry mentally sighed in relief and continued over to the staff. While he was ashamed and appalled at what he had done earlier, in the back of his mind, Harry couldn't help but hope that he might be able to start patching things up with Hermione.

He eventually reached McGonagall, who was talking with Flitwick, Kingsley, and Tonks. The four of them looked rather disheveled from the battle, each showing cuts and scrapes or burns on their robes.

"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks said in her regular greeting, though it was much more subdued than normal. Her electric blue hair, which was longer than usual, was tied up with a hair band. She had also changed her eyes to match, scaring Harry at first. She noticed his reaction and grinned, adjusting them to a pale blue.

The four of them were talking about the severity of the attack, so Harry jumped into the conversation. "The Ministry was arriving just as I left. Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I guess. The rain put out most of the fires, and they took care of the rest."

"That's good," McGonagall said. "Do you know the extent of the damage?"

"Not really," said Harry, shaking his head. "The fires reached High Street by the time I had finished with Dolohov so it could have been that whole half of the village. I had ran into Hermione earlier and told her to get help and start putting them out. Don't know if she was able to though."

"So it's less than half… all things considered, it could have been much worse," McGonagall thought out loud. She then looked at Harry and asked, "Dolohov, did you say? That's who you were fighting?"

Harry nodded, mentally kicking himself for letting it slip. Flitwick gasped at this, and Tonks looked on at him, quite awed.

"Wow, Harry… you beat Dolohov?" she asked in admiration. "He's said to be one of You-Know-Who's best. I'm assuming you did beat him. I mean, you wouldn't be here otherwise right?"

Harry took a deep breath and said, "He's… dead."

All for of them looked stunned and Kingsley asked, "You… you killed him?"

Harry averted their eyes and quickly made up a lie. "No, not me. One of his own. Apparated behind me and took a shot. I dodged it, but Dolohov was right in its path."

Harry looked up and saw them all visibly relax at this information, though McGonagall held her eyes on him for several more moments. Harry didn't glance over at her, not wanting to run the risk of revealing that he was lying.

Thankfully, Tonks broke the silence. "But still, Harry, you were gone for a while… you must have been too much for him," she said, nudging him playfully in the side.

Harry managed a weak smile and said, "I held my own."

"Yeah, but he seems to have gotten the better of you a few times," Kingsley said. Harry looked at him quizzically and he explained, "I saw you limping on your way over here. And you've got a pretty good black eye forming there."

Flitwick conjured a mirror in front of Harry and he looked in surprise at a dark ring of blue and black had already formed around one of his eyes. "Oh… yeah, that," he said, "Dolohov Bludgeoned me when my guard was down. You should have seen me before I fixed myself up."

"You should hang on to that, Harry," Tonks told him, motioning to his eye. "The girls will be all over you. Well, more than they already are," she added with a wink.

Harry felt his face warm and a blush creeping up, and was saved by McGonagall. "Mr. Potter's heroism aside," she said, trying to get them back on track. "We're still missing some of our people."

"Sturgis should be here soon," Harry told her. She looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "I ran into him right before I found you. I helped him out as best I could, but he was too weak to come along. So I pointed the Ministry in his direction before I left."

"Well, that's fortunate," McGonagall said, clearly relieved. "I'm sure he'll have some words for Moody when he returns," she said with a trace of humor.

"He certainly didn't make it very far," Harry replied with a faint smile. He then turned to Kingsley and asked, "When did the Aurors turn up? I didn't see any when I was there."

Kingsley sighed and said, "We arrived before the Order, shortly after the attack started. Problem was, the cowards scattered and spread themselves out over the entire village. We had to split up and chase them down." He shook his head gravely and added, "Half of us have yet to check in."

"Don't worry Kingsley," Tonks told him, patting his broad shoulder, "they can take care of themselves. They put us through all that training for a reason. Chances are they're still out there, helping the rest of the Department."

They all stood there in silence for a moment. Harry didn't know if Kingsley had led the group of Aurors, but if he had, then he would be understandably upset if any of his colleagues were killed or captured. Their silence was short-lived though, their attention being drawn away by Ron's painful screams sounding over the rest of the noise in the Great Hall.

"Gah! Don't press so hard!" he shouted at Neville, who looked to be trying to help. Neville quickly backed away and Ron clutched his leg and shouting, "Is anyone going to bother helping me!?"

"Mr. Weasley, will you be quiet!" Harry heard Madam Pomfrey shout harshly from across the room. She was helping someone else and seemed fed up with Ron's complaining. "I guarantee you won't die in the next thirty minutes, so just be patient."

Harry rolled his eyes at this. He dropped his hand to his side and discreetly waved it in Ron's direction. The bone immediately mended and all the surrounding cuts healed, much to Ron's surprise. He jumped slightly in shock when he felt his leg back to normal and Ginny quickly looked it over, asking him how it had happened.

Ron's hands were still on his leg and Harry could hear him answer over the din of the rest of the room, "I… I guess I did it. I don't know… accidental magic or something."

Ginny and Neville looked awed and Harry smirked at this. McGonagall, however, eyed Harry curiously for a moment, and Harry quickly looked away from her. The rest of them were continuing their conversation about the attack. Harry had another question to ask, though he didn't really want to know the answer.

He was saved from asking it when the doors to the Great Hall opened and another Auror entered. He strode purposefully toward the staff table and immediately started talking when he reached Kingsley.

"I hope you have some good news for me," Kingsley told him.

"The rest of the department is still cleaning up, but I have the final counts," the new Auror said.

"How many of ours?" asked Kingsley.

The new arrival sighed and said, "We lost two Aurors. Wilcox and Carson." Kingsley bowed his head at this information. The Auror went on, "Two Death Eaters were killed, and we managed to capture seven."

"Where were they taken, Darren?" McGonagall asked

The one called Darren answered, "They're being detained at the Ministry for questioning."

Harry decided to speak up. "How many villagers were killed?"

The Auror Darren looked over at him, and did a double take when he realised who Harry was. "Oh—uh, only thirty-six. We were quite lucky."

"That few?" Tonks asked. "How is that possible? There are far too many people in Hogsmeade for so many to have survived."

"I expect it's because of the state of things," McGonagall explained. "Everyone is much more alert. At the first sign of trouble, most of them probably Apparated away to someplace safe."

"It's still too many," Harry muttered darkly.

"Well, when they get back, they'll be in for a shock," Darren said. "Almost half the village is ashes. It'll take a while to rebuild. We're being overworked as it is."

"I need to get back to London," Kingsley finally said. "Robards will be expecting me, and I have some letters to write. Minerva, contact me if anything new comes up."

McGonagall nodded her head and Kingsley departed with the other Auror in tow. Harry watched them leave, and also saw Ginny and Neville walking over to him. They had obviously been waiting impatiently to come talk to him, and saw Kingsley's departure as an opportunity to make their move.

Ginny arrived first, jumping into him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Harry grabbed her waist before she could fall and hugged her tightly. He hadn't realised how much he had missed her and how relieved he was to see her all right.

"I was so worried when they revived me and told me you were still out there," Ginny said into his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're back."

Harry rubbed her back soothingly and whispered, "It's all right Ginny, I'm fine now."

She pulled back and looked up at him. "Are you going to stay at Hogwarts now?" she asked, eyes wide with hope.

"Maybe," Harry said noncommittally. "I'll have to figure some things out first, but I might." He honestly hadn't thought about coming back to Hogwarts, but it might be a good idea. Neville had reached him patted him on the back in a brotherly fashion.

"That reminds me," Harry said, letting go of Ginny and turning to McGonagall. "Were you the ones that allowed the students to enter the village tonight?"

"Hey!" Ginny said in protest to Harry's question, and McGonagall shook her head. "No, I believe we have the Head Boy and Girl to thank for that," she said, looking out over the Great Hall.

"We can take care of ourselves, you know," Ginny said, leveling an icy glare at Harry. Harry didn't really want to make Ginny mad, as he had just seen her for the first time since the summer. But he was still furious that so many of his friends had left the school and almost gotten themselves killed.

"Cleary you can't," Harry said simply, causing Ginny to huff in indignation. She could argue all she liked, but she was brought down tonight just as easily as the others.

"This is our war too," she said angrily. "If we're not supposed to fight, then what was the point of the D.A.?"

Harry turned to face her. "We formed the D.A. to teach people how to defend themselves, should the battle come to them," he explained. "Not train them to rush headlong into an unknown situation and attack Death Eaters, or possibly Voldemort."

"We've fought Death Eaters before," Ginny replied quickly. "And we didn't do too badly."

"At the Ministry? That was different," said Harry.

"How?"

Harry hoped she would have understood more easily. He sighed and explained, "Because of the Prophecy. They had to hold back because they couldn't risk destroying it. If it hadn't been for that, I doubt we would have survived." He then added, "And if I remember correctly, Neville was the only one still standing at the end."

Ginny didn't look anywhere near conceding. "You know what," she raised her voice and jabbed a finger in his chest, "I knew this was going to happen. Going off on your own, you were gonna push everyone else out of your life and rely totally on your self. You've forgotten that we're your friends and we're going to help you no matter what you think." With an aggravated growl, she turned and stormed back to Ron and Luna. Harry watched her go, wondering how long it would take to smooth things out with her.

"I'd hate to be you right now, Harry," Neville said from behind him.

"Just like Molly, that one is," he heard Flitwick mutter.

"She's worse," Harry replied. He turned back and smiled ruefully, saying, "I need to learn to just roll over when she starts getting worked up."

"Well Potter, it seems like you have your work cut out for you," McGonagall said, a ghost of a smile on her face.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Not now. What about Hogsmeade? They'll be able to rebuild it, right?"

"Yes, but, like you heard Darren say, the Ministry is overworked as it is. There's no telling how long it will take," answered McGonagall.

Another question came to Harry's mind, but Neville voiced it first. "What about all these people? Where will they go?"

McGonagall looked unsure, but Harry asked, "There's plenty of room here isn't there?"

She seemed to consider his words for a few moments. "Yes, I expect that won't be a problem. Those who don't have friends or family to stay with, or can't afford to rent a room elsewhere, are welcome to stay here," she said. "We should be able to make accommodations for them."

Their conversation was interrupted again by the doors to the Great Hall swinging open. This time, a rather disheveled figure Harry recognised vaguely dashed towards them. He wasn't from the Ministry, but judging by the urgency in his strides, Harry assumed he was here because of what had taken place tonight.

He reached the staff table and nearly collapsed from exhaustion, but McGonagall grabbed him firmly by the shoulders. "Dedalus, what is it? What has happened?"

"Headmistress…" he gasped, "You-Know-Who…he attacked…"

"If your talking about Hogsmeade, we're well aware," Tonks said from behind Harry.

Dedalus began to catch his breath and explained, "No, more attacks… all over the country. Half a dozen of them. All Muggleborns or open supporters of Dumbledore."

All of them were stunned by this. "They must have used the attack on Hogsmeade to keep us occupied," McGonagall said, thinking furiously. "Do you know who was attacked or if there were any survivors?" Dedalus shook his head. "Very well. Filius, will you please go to the Ministry in my place and find out as much as you can? My priority is tending to the students and villagers."

"Of course, Headmistress," the tiny wizards squeaked and quickly left.

Harry was panicking at the new information. What if the Burrow had been attacked? Everyone knew the Weasleys were loyal to Dumbledore, almost fanatically so. And, even though they were Purebloods, they weren't prejudice towards Muggleborns or Muggles. 'Blood traitors', as they were called. In fact, Arthur Weasley's fondness of Muggles was legendary.

Even if the Burrow was safe, there were still more that died. More people that supported their cause. Tonks, as if sensing his distress, placed her hands on his shoulders, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure the Weasley's are fine, Harry," she whispered to him. "And besides… I don't think You-Know-Who has enough men to bring down Molly when she's angry."

Harry relaxed slightly at this. Perhaps Tonks wasn't as shallow as she acted. He muttered a thanks to her while he listened to the rest of Dedalus' report.

"We expect the attack here was to draw the Ministry far enough away," the short wizard said, still breathing heavily.

"Undoubtedly," McGonagall concurred. "What else can you tell us?"

"Not much more, Headmistress," Dedalus said, shaking his head. "All I know is they all showed up not long after the Aurors got here. Very well executed. You-Know-Who must have been planning this for a while."

"WHAT!?"

Harry, who had been momentarily pacified by Tonks, immediately tensed up. Tonks jumped back when he had shouted, sensing the anger in more than just his voice.

"I-I-I said that i-it was well planned," Dedalus stammered. He was backing away from Harry like Tonks had, not understanding his reason for such an outburst.

Harry was visibly seething. Anger was radiating from him, causing several near him to cower. They all expected him to shout again, and were surprised when he spoke in a forcedly calm tone. "Oh, I am going to KILL him," he said through gritted teeth. Dedalus jumped at the emphasis he put on the word 'kill'.

Before anyone could question him on why he was so angry, or who he was going to kill, Harry turned and headed for the door. "…must have been planning it for a while…" Those words rang through his head over and over again. If it had been planned out, then surely Snape knew about it. And he had said nothing.

I just saw him today, Harry thought, and the bastard said nothing. Since learning Occlumency, Harry didn't often let his emotions get away from him. This was an exception. He was absolutely livid about his new 'ally'. More people had died because of him. Sure, he couldn't save everyone, but these attacks could have been prevented.

Harry had reached the doors to the Great Hall, with ever intention of finding Snape and ripping him limb from limb, when someone finally broke the silence.

"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall called out. Harry stopped and looked at her, one hand still on the open door. "Perhaps you could save your vendetta for later and give us a hand here?" she asked, waving a hand toward all the injured people through out the room.

Harry glanced at all of them, looking at him with fearful expressions, unsure of what he might do next. As much as he wanted to 'talk' with Snape, these people were more important. I guess he's off the hook for now, Harry thought. He slammed the door closed in frustration, causing half the room to jump or back away from him.

He sighed and forced himself to relax. Using his Occlumency training, he forced all his emotions down, calming himself. After a few seconds, Harry opened his eyes. Everyone was still watching him, but they looked visibly relieved that he had composed himself. Harry ignored them and made his way over to the closest person that needed attention.

The one nearest him was a small girl, cradling her arm in one hand. Harry guessed she was around five. She had soot on her face and clothes, which showed several burn marks.

Harry kneeled down in front of her and tried to be as comforting as possible. "Hi, I'm Harry," he told her, and her small eyes lit up.

"I know!" she squealed in delight. "I've read all about you. And I've always wanted to meet you. A bunch of the grownups say you're a bad person, but they're wrong. You're a hero," she said rapidly.

"Thanks," Harry chuckled. "It's nice to have a fan. What's you're name?"

"Lissa," she told him, eyes shining brightly at the fact that Harry was talking to her.

"Ok Lissa, where does it hurt?"

"It's my arm," she told him, moving her hand away and showing Harry. There was an obvious lump on forearm. The bone was clearly broken, but it didn't look too serious.

"I'm afraid your arm is broken," Harry told her as he looked it over. "But don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle. There is a problem though."

Her eyes widened slightly, and Harry explained, "I going to have to pull the bone back in place before I can fix it. It's going to hurt, but it's the only way. Can you be brave for me?"

Lissa's eyes were still wide with fear, but she nodded slightly. Harry tried to think of a way comfort her so she wouldn't be as scared. "I'll try to make it as quick as possible. Tell you what, I want you to grab on to my hair, and if I hurt you too much, I want you to just pull as hard as you can."

She seemed to relax a little and Harry started. He grabbed her arm and she grabbed a handful of his messy hair. Going slowly, he gently pulled on her arm, ignoring her whimpers and the pain on his head. It took half a minute before he felt the bone slide back into place.

"All done," Harry said as he let go. She was smiling now and let go of his hair. Her eyes were sparkling slightly but kept from crying. "I wish I hadn't made that deal with you," Harry said, rubbing his head. "I didn't know you were so strong."

Lissa smiled at him and Harry tapped his wand to her arm, thinking, "Episkey." A white glow surrounded the area for a few seconds before fading. Lissa stretched her arm out and moved it around.

"It's good as new!" she said brightly, grinning up at Harry. "You're the best, Harry!"

"Don't mention it. Now, let's just—" Harry said and waved his wand again, cleaning all the soot off her. "There. You're much prettier without all that dirt on you."

She giggled and blushed at Harry's comment. Harry couldn't help but smile at her innocence. "So where are your parents?" he asked.

She shook her head and said, "I don't know. I lost them a long time ago."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find them," Harry said, hoping he could believe his own words. He didn't want to think of what would happen if her parents were among those killed. "I need to help more of these people, but why don't you come along with me. We're bound to come across them if we look around. They're probably worried sick that they can't find you."

Harry moved on to help the next person, with Lissa right behind him. She seemed oblivious to what her parents' absence could mean. Harry was glad she didn't understand the situation and wasn't panicking, but also wary that her parents might not show up. He started working his way around the Great Hall, like Madam Pomfrey and the others, helping as many people as he could, as best he could.

Fortunately, they eventually stumbled upon Lissa's parents. They were both sporting serious injuries and Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let them up. The strict Healer was adamant about checking and rechecking them, despite their protests over their missing daughter. When Lissa spotted her parents and rushed over, Harry followed, wanting to make sure they were going to be alright. Lissa's mother thanked him profusely for taking care of her daughter, while her father, who was still dizzy from a loss of blood, managed a small wave. It was a heartwarming scene that Harry wished he could watch, never having known his own parents, but he still had more work to do.

Harry set off to help the rest, his neck still smarting from the force of the hug Lissa had given him, but happy to have something to take his mind off what had happened back in the village. The next person Harry came to was another girl, this one only slightly younger than him. Her long, dirty-blonde hair was matted with dirt and blood and her Hogwarts robes were dirty and burned, but she was smiling nonetheless.

"Hello, Harry Potter," she said as he approached. Even though he was famous, both at Hogwarts and in the rest of the wizarding world, it was still unnerving when someone he had never talked to or had never seen before greeted him in such a way.

As it so happened, Harry had seen this girl around school a few times in the past, but she been one of those students that just blended in with the rest of the crowd. "I'm afraid I don't know your name," Harry said apologetically.

"Oh, don't worry about it," she said, flashing him a brilliant smile, "I don't think I'm quite as well-known as you." Harry grinned at her remark, and she introduced herself. "Chelsea Fletcher. Fifth year," she said, stretching out her hand to shake his.

Harry took it politely, but stopped grinning the next second. He turned her hand over and noticed the numerous scratches etched all over it, some of which were still bleeding. "Oh, that…" she said, "Yeah, that's why I'm here. Madam Pomfrey won't let me leave until someone checks me out. It's practically nothing…"

Harry pushed up her sleeve to reveal more long cuts and large burns all over her arm. "And these?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Well…" she said, grinning ruefully, "I guess I forgot about those. I'm sure they'll heal fine on their own."

"You know, I don't know nearly as much about Healing as Madam Pomfrey," Harry told her, "but if she won't let you go, there's probably a good reason. Is there anything else?"

She sighed and admitted, "Yeah, my other arm too." Harry looked into her light brown eyes and grazed her thoughts to make sure she wasn't lying. She then rolled up her sleeves all the way and let Harry patch her up.

"So how did you end up in Hogsmeade tonight?" Harry asked, tracing his wand over one of the many cuts on his patient's arm.

"Some of my housemates and I were on our way back from the library when we heard the commotion," Chelsea told him as she looked around the room, surprisingly cheerful despite her situation. "We saw the staff leave and head down to the village so we followed after them. We managed to bring down a Death Eater between the three of us," she said proudly.

"Well, I don't want to lecture you, but that wasn't very safe," Harry told her as he moved on to one of the larger patches of burned skin.

"Yeah, but I didn't want them to come up to the school and harm my friends," she defended herself.

Harry sighed. "I know what you mean," he muttered. "And how did you pick these up?" he asked, indicating to her arms.

She shifted in her seat and answered, "These came later. I ran into Hermione Granger and some others and went with her to help put out the fires. Some of the houses collapsed near us and we got sprayed with the embers."

"Well, you were lucky to leave with just some scrapes and burns," he told her.

"Unlike you," Chelsea said, smiling. "Apparently I can take better care of myself than you."

"What, this?" Harry asked, touching his black eye. "Hang on, let me get rid of it."

"No, leave it," Chelsea stopped him. "It's rather dashing. Makes you look dangerous."

Curse you, Tonks, Harry thought. "I didn't think I needed something like that for people to know my life was dangerous," he muttered, causing Chelsea to laugh.

Harry went to work on her other arm and she took another look around the Great Hall. "Something wrong?" he asked, not looking up.

"It's just, I haven't seen my housemates since I got back. We got split up earlier."

"I'm sure they're fine," Harry said consolingly. "What house are you in?"

"Slytherin."

Harry wasn't expecting that. "And… and you were out fighting the Death Eaters?" he asked tentatively.

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. "Ugh… you Gryffindors are all the same. Just because the only Slytherins you've talked to are Death Eaters in the making, you think we're all evil."

"Well, you know Malfoy and his group. Can you blame me?" Harry asked, still in disbelief that this girl was a Slytherin.

"You need to be more open-minded," she told him, slightly put off at his biased opinion of her house. "You know, everyone doesn't show the exact traits of the founders. I'm ambitious, but my friends mean a lot to me. I wouldn't sacrifice them to save myself. I would have fit in well with the Hufflepuffs, but the Hat thought I would do best in Slytherin."

"I guess you're right. I'm sorry," he apologised, remembering that the Hat had tried putting him in Slytherin. "It's just, Malfoy was one of the first wizards I met and the first Slytherin I knew. I guess he gave me a bad impression of the house. And Voldemort doesn't really help the matter either."

She flinched at Voldemort's name, but nodded in understanding. "Perhaps you need to meet more of us," she said, smiling at him again.

"Yeah, I think I should," Harry agreed. "I guess, from the way Malfoy acted, I figured the lot of you hated me. And my constantly beating you guys in Quidditch probably didn't help," Harry added, making both of them laugh slightly.

Trying to keep the conversation going, Harry asked, "What do your parents do?"

"Well, my mum works at the Ministry, in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. She's an Obliviator. And Dad is an attorney in London."

"So he's a Muggle?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

"Yeah… Mum was so happy when I got my Hogwarts letter. I hadn't shown any magic before then. Dad thinks magic is great, and desperately wishes he was a wizard," she explained.

"Must be nice," said Harry. "The Muggles I grew up with detested magic. They tried to 'stamp it out of me' for ten years."

"That's awful," she gasped. "I know some Muggles have trouble understanding magic or believing that it exists… but I've never heard something like that."

"Well, I turned out all right in the end."

They both fell silent for a while as Harry continued to work. He had lost count of how many scrapes he had healed. He almost felt glad that he ended up relatively unscathed after the night's events.

Chelsea finally spoke up when Harry was almost finished. "So Harry, where have you been hiding all this time?"

"Someplace safe," Harry answered vaguely.

"A lot of people here have been saying you're afraid of You-Know-Who… calling you a coward," she said, and added, "But I don't believe them."

"Thanks," Harry said, looking up at her. "I've had a lot of important work to do and classes would have taken up too much time. Though… since I'm here, I may stick around for a while. I certainly have missed this place."

"Well, I hope you do decide to stay," she told him. "Without you and your friends stirring up your usual amount of trouble, it's been rather dull around here."

She laughed at his reaction, and Harry merely shook his head at her as he vanished the last cut on her arm. "There. All done… finally."

She looked up and down both her arms before rolling down her sleeves, and Harry said, "It's been nice talking to you, but I should get started on the others."

"Thank you for your help, Harry Potter," she said politely. "I hope to see you around."

"Likewise," Harry said as she got up and headed back to the dungeons.

Harry went on to the next person, still not believing she was a Slytherin. He was relieved to see that the group that needed attention was growing smaller and smaller.

.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.

It was nearly an hour later before Harry finally stopped. He was physically and mentally exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed at Number 12 and fall asleep. Unfortunately, he still had several things to do.

The Great Hall still had a number of people in it. McGonagall and Flitwick were going around, talking to the villagers and making accommodations for them to stay at Hogwarts temporarily. Everyone from the Ministry and all the students had cleared out already. Only two students had remained, waiting for him: Neville and Ginny.

Harry had told Neville to get Ginny and wait for him as he had wanted to talk to them both. Now that he was finished, he walked over to them and led them out into the Entrance Hall. He figured he should say something to Ginny first.

"Look, Ginny, I'm sorry," he told her before they could say anything. "I know you can take care of yourself, and I know this is your fight too. I'm sorry if I seem overprotective… you get enough of that from your brothers. It's just… too many people have died trying to protect me. And yet people continue stand in front of me. I just don't want to lose you as well."

Ginny's face softened at this and she ran up and hugged him. "Oh Harry," she whispered into his ear, "no matter what you say, I'm always going to stand with you. Not in front of you, but beside you. Because I don't want to lose you."

"Me too, Harry," Neville added. "No matter what."

"I guess I can't stop you then," Harry said once Ginny let go of him. Merlin knows I'm gonna try though. "Well, now that that's sorted out…" Harry walked out the doors of the castle and took a seat on the steps leading down to the grounds. Neville and Ginny were right behind him and followed suit. Harry leaned back and closed his eyes, enjoying the cool breeze that had picked up and thankful it had stopped raining.

"So what's been going on around here?" he asked, not looking up.

"Not much," he heard Neville answer. "It's actually been really quiet without you here."

"We didn't get the D.A. back together like you had suggested," Ginny added. "I told Hermione and Ron about it but they didn't want to. We were all still kinda mad that no one had showed up to help last June."

"That's understandable," Harry told her. "I think you should give it another try though. It's needed now more than ever. By the way, how are the happy couple?" he asked tonelessly.

"Who, Ron and Hermione? The broke up, didn't you know?" Neville told him.

This piece of information got Harry to sit up. "How would I have known? I've been cut off from everyone," he said. "When did it happen? Do you know why?"

"Oh, it was only a week or so ago," Ginny told him. "It should have happened sooner," she muttered in an afterthought.

"Yeah, they fought a lot," Neville said.

"How is that any different than normal?" asked Harry.

"They argued before, but not like this," Ginny explained. "It was all the time. Seriously, they were constantly at each other's throats. In the end, they realised they weren't happy. They figured out they weren't right for each other."

"So they went back to being friends," Neville added.

"Just like that?" Harry asked.

"Pretty much. They don't bring up the relationship, and they seem to get on fine now," Neville said.

Harry didn't really know what to make of this. He paused for several moments, and then asked softly, "So do they still hate me?"

Ginny turned and looked at him. "Harry, they don't hate you," she said soothingly. "Hermione is upset, and it'll take some time, but she'll get through it. And Ron… he was never really mad in the first place."

Harry arched his eyebrow at her, so Ginny continued, "He told me the next day. He kind of overreacted. He was angry that Hermione was so upset and took it out on you. But he didn't mean what he said. You know how temperamental he can be."

That was definitely something Harry would have liked to know. All this time he thought he had lost his two best friends. "How come you didn't tell me?"

"Cause, Harry, that's something he needs to talk to you about himself. He's wanted to, but you're not easy to find," Ginny said.

Harry leaned back again and closed his eyes while Ginny said, "Go find him soon and talk to him about it." Harry nodded in response and then rested his head on the cool stone of one of the steps.

"I ran into her tonight," Harry told them. "Out there. She didn't say anything to me. Didn't look happy to see me either."

Ginny sighed next to him. "Just give her time. She'll work it out."

This eased Harry slightly. It fell silent between the three of them for a while. Harry listened to the soft wind blowing by and the faint splashes from the lake off in the distance.

Neville was the one that eventually broke the silence. "So Harry, you think you'll stay here at Hogwarts now? Or did you still have too much work to do?"

Harry thought for a second. "I don't know. I have made a lot of progress. But I've still got a lot to do. I'll have to think about it." In the back of his mind, he believed he already had the decision made up. He needed to talk to someone else first, though.

Sharp clicks on the stone indicated that someone was approaching. Harry sensed Neville and Ginny turn around as the footsteps stopped right above Harry's head.

A person clearing their throat prompted him to open his eyes and he saw McGonagall standing over him, upside-down from his perspective.

"Potter, I was wondering if I could speak with you," she said.

"Of course, Headmistress," Harry replied and stood up. He brushed of his jacket and turned to his friends. "I'll come find you when I'm done."

They waved to him as he followed McGonagall up to her office. When they reached the gargoyle, Harry noted that the password had not changed. He stepped onto the stairs behind his old professor and the rode them up to the top.

When they entered the office, Harry's eyes immediately flicked up to Dumbledore's portrait above the desk. He was disappointed to see that the former Headmaster was absent from his frame. McGonagall made her way around the desk and said, "Please, have a seat," while gesturing to the chairs in front. Harry sat down, interested in what she had to say.

"First of all," she began after seating herself, "I would like to thank you for your help tonight. No doubt your timely arrival is what has us all in as good of shape as we are in."

"Don't mention it," Harry said. "How's Remus?"

"He's doing much better," McGonagall answered. "His injuries were the most serious, but he is recovering well. He is extraordinarily resilient."

She went on, "I would also like to thank you for your help in the Great Hall tonight. As you saw, we have very few on hand that are sufficient at Healing. Without your assistance, we would likely still be down there."

"It was the least I could do."

"By the way, that was quite an impressive bit of wandless magic you performed on Mr. Weasley," she told him, smiling lightly.

"Thanks," Harry said, smiling as well. "That's pretty much all I can do though. Once I learned the basics, the first thing I worked on was Healing. I didn't want to get stuck and die from an injury just because I didn't have a wand."

"Still, for a seventeen-year-old, that is quite a remarkable feat," she went on. "But I digress… the main reason I wished to speak with you was that I was hoping you would consider returning to Hogwarts."

"And why is that?"

"Your protection, for one. I also wish to see you take your N.E.W.T.'s and I don't believe you can adequately prepare for all of them on your own," McGonagall said.

Harry leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. "After what happened earlier, I've actually been considering coming back," he said. "Seems I've pretty much exhausted the Black library, and still have research to do."

Harry paused again to think, while McGonagall waited patiently. "I would need some special accommodations though," Harry said after a few minutes.

"I'm sure we can make arrangements for you. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I'd need my own room, outside of Gryffindor tower." When McGonagall looked at him questioningly, he explained, "See, the, uhhh, 'project' that I'm working on, I'll have a lot of dangerous information lying around. I wouldn't want anyone stumbling upon it."

McGonagall merely nodded her head in understanding. "If it's important enough to keep from me, then I would assume it's not something the students should see," she told him with a trace of humor. "That shouldn't be a problem. In fact, we have a private room not in use that I believe would suit your needs. It's down on the sixth floor, guarded by the statue of Circe."

"All right. I'll also need access to the Restricted Section in the library," Harry went on.

"Again, not a problem. I trust you not to abuse any of the information in there."

"I'm also going to have to leave the castle from time to time, and I may have to leave or be in the library after hours," Harry said, hoping she would allow this.

McGonagall considered it for a minute, but agreed. "Very well. I shall inform the staff and Head Boy and Girl of your 'nighttime wanderings'."

"I think that's all for now."

"Is there any way I could persuade you to rejoin the Quidditch team?" she asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.

Harry smiled but shook his head. "Sorry… as much as I'd love to, it would take up too much of my time. And it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the team that's already been playing together."

"Oh well. If that was all," she said, standing up, "shall we go down and check on your room?"

.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.

It was much later that night that Harry was walking down the first floor corridor, thankful that he had permission to be out this late. Though he had been in the halls of Hogwarts in the dead of night before, he never really had a chance to enjoy it. He stepped in and out of the patches of soft moonlight that filtered in through gaps in the clouds, and then through the many windows that lined the corridor.

Harry yawned widely as he crossed the Entrance Hall to the other side of the castle. Though he was quite tired, and had been quite eager to fall asleep, he was unable. As soon as he closed his eyes, the night's events started replaying in his mind. It was as if he was watching it on television, broadcasted to the insides of his eyelids.

No matter what he did, he couldn't escape the vivid images from coming. Hermione petrified in fear… Dolohov bearing down on her, eyes alight with anticipation and malice… himself saying those words, casting that spell.

In the end, he realised he likely wouldn't be getting any sleep for a while. He decided to roam around the halls of Hogwarts, hoping to find some comfort in the only place that had ever felt like home to him. It had been three months since he was last inside the castle, and he hadn't realised how much he had missed it.

Things hadn't changed much, he noticed. Of course, as old as the building was, Harry figured things didn't change often. There were some added security measures in certain areas which Harry had to circumvent. He would have expected as much, but other than that, it was just like Harry had remembered it from last June.

Harry continued his walk, well aware that he was now being followed. He had a pretty good idea who it was too. After turning a corner, he quickly jumped behind a suit of armor and waited for his stalker to come by.

A few seconds later, a female figure in a dark, hooded cloak came around the corner and began looking around, moving somewhat less than stealthily. Harry stepped out from his hiding place right next to the figure and cleared his throat loudly.

The one in the cloak gasped and whipped around in surprise, stepping back and reaching for her wand, but tripping over her feet and falling to the ground. She landed hard on her rear with a soft, "Oof!"

"Wotcher, Tonks. You weren't trying to sneak up on me, were you?" Harry asked impishly.

"Ow, Harry," he heard a familiar female voice say from under the hood. "I think I broke my bum. How'd you know it was me?"

"Lucky guess," Harry said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up to her feet.

She pulled off her hood to reveal the same Tonks Harry had seen early in the Great Hall. Her vivid blue hair was let down and resting gently on her shoulders.

"I was planning on giving you a good scare, but you ruined it," she pouted, rubbing her backside.

"Sorry to ruin your fun," Harry told her wryly. "How come you're still here?"

"Oh, McGonagall," she answered with a dismissive wave. "She wanted some extra security for tonight. Not like they're coming back though," she added.

"I should hope not."

"Yeah… so naturally I volunteered," Tonks went on. "I sure do miss this place."

"I know what you mean," Harry told her.

"Maybe the Department will want an Auror stationed here for the rest of the year. Oh, that would be great!" she said, her eyes gleaming.

Harry merely grinned at her and shook his head. "What?" she said, "I'm just a kid at heart."

Harry laughed and started walking in the direction he had been previously. Tonks followed along beside him.

"It's really good to see you back to your old self again," Harry told her.

"Yeah, sorry I was such a bore last year," Tonks said.

"I take it Remus has come around finally?"

"Not quite, but he's getting there," Tonks said with a smirk. "He's rather stubborn when he wants to be. But I've made him take me on a few dates."

"Maybe he'll see more clearly once this is all over." Harry didn't need to explain what 'this' was referring to, and Tonks nodded her head.

"It's odd, though," she said. "Last time people were rushing to get married or have kids, 'cause they didn't know if they would make it."

"Well, he's been doing a lot of dangerous work for the Order. Maybe he just doesn't want you to get hurt if you get too attached and lose him," Harry conjectured.

Tonks merely sighed. They talked for almost an hour before Tonks decided she needed to go back to her normal patrolling. Harry walked with her back to the Entrance Hall so she could walk around the grounds.

"One more thing," Harry said before she could go. He withdrew a small, sealed envelope bearing her name on the front and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked, looking it over. She was about to break the seal, but Harry stopped her.

"Not yet. Only open it if Voldemort takes over the Ministry, or Hogwarts, and you have nowhere else to go. Trust me," he added at the look of skepticism on her face. "It's charmed so that only you can read it. Just don't lose it."

She still looked clueless, but said, "All right, Harry. If you say so. I'll see you around."

Harry watched her go and returned the wave she gave him as she opened the doors to exit the castle. He then made his way up to his new room. Dobby had been quick to ferry all his possessions from Grimmauld Place over to Hogwarts, which had saved Harry a lot of trouble. The house elf returned to work in the kitchens, but made it very clear for Harry to call on him should he ever need something.

By the time Harry reached the sixth floor, he was thoroughly worn out. He felt more exhausted than he could ever remember being. Fortunately, this time when he got in bed, he fell asleep as soon as he lied down. Now all he had to do was cope with his dreams.

.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.

A/N- So there's chapter 10. There was a lot of talking… hope it wasn't too boring. I appreciate the reviews I got, especially the ones from Random MAn and taure. Also, if anyone out there wants to do me a really, really big favor and maybe make a list of all the characters that aren't afraid to say 'voldemort'… that would really help me out. I just noticed Ginny started saying it at the end of HBP and I had to go back and change some of my earlier chapters. Anyway… I was glad that I could work Tonks into this chapter. She's one of my favorite characters… I just hope I won't have to kill her off…