[Notes, disclaimer and everything in chapter 1 – do read that]
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During dinner, Filius praised Harry, and he encouraged him to follow his instincts. Filius explained to the young Auror why he was such an extraordinary wizard, and why combining spells and charms so easily wasn't a gift that the wizard on the street had.
'You're a powerful and good wizard, Harry,' Filius said.
Harry was about to protest, but Luna placed her small hand on his and said very softly, 'Look at George.'
Harry turned towards his old friend, who was smiling as he chatted with Irma.
Luna leant closer to Harry and added, 'In a moment, he'll remember that his twin is gone, but right now, he's no longer in pain... Thanks to you.'
Harry looked at Luna. She looked serene and self-assured, but Harry knew a part of what she'd gone through recently, and he was quite impressed by her calm.
She gave him one of her odd smiles, squeezed his hand, and then turned her attention back to her plate.
'Make sure that you eat your turnips. The smell makes the zozozz go away,' Luna said.
'All right,' Harry said neutrally.
Poppy whispered something to Filius, who whispered it to Minerva, who wrapped an arm around her young charge's shoulders and said in his ear, 'Eat your turnips; Poppy says that they'll be a good help for the eye treatment you got this morning.'
Harry turned to Minerva and blinked repeatedly.
'Harry?' she said gently.
'I can't believe what happened in just a day. Yesterday, I was fighting Riddle, and now I have you, and I've got a job… The one job I wanted,' Harry said.
Minerva smiled.
'I really want to find Hermione and Severus,' Harry said softly, looking at his plate.
'Then eat your turnips, or you won't be able to locate them,' Minerva said.
Harry chuckled. 'Yes, Min,' he said, as he took the pot of gravy and drowned his turnips in its contents.
The meal was very pleasant.
After dessert, Minerva told Harry that he could go to their quarters to try a few spells. Irma told him that as long as he didn't eat or drink near them, he could borrow as many books as he wanted, and Filius said that he could come see him anytime, night or day, if he needed help.
'Miss Lovegood, Mr Weasley, you can stay with us if you'd like,' Minerva said.
'Thank you; I'll go to my dorm,' Luna said. The student looked as if everything was absolutely normal, and her dining at the High table had been some kind of treat for being a good witch, who fought on the right side.
George looked embarrassed.
'Gred? Do you want to go home?' Harry asked his friend.
'I'd rather not, but Mum is going to send the cavalry if I don't,' George answered.
'I could send a house-elf to warn your family,' Minerva suggested.
George paused, lost in his thoughts for a few seconds. 'Just my dad,' he said.
Minerva nodded.
Harry stood up and said, 'I'll hop by the Library, and then I'll go home.'
'If I don't see you within the half hour, I'll send all the ghosts after you,' Minerva declared.
Harry smiled. He kissed Luna's brow, which made her smile, and he turned to George. 'Come and help me with the books,' Harry said.
George smiled; he wanted to take a muffin, but the dark glare of their beloved librarian convinced him that that wasn't such a good idea.
It didn't take the two young wizards ten minutes to take the "really good books", according to Harry, to Minerva's home away from home.
Both wizards were quite impressed, because they'd never been in their head of house's private quarters in Hogwarts.
Minerva had ordered elves to prepare a working space for Harry, and once they'd put the books there, Minerva showed the boys their rooms. Harry's was a permanent one, but George's had been spelled for the occasion.
'There's something I've got to check in my office. I expect you to go to bed soon,' Minerva told Harry and George.
Once she was out, George asked, 'Doesn't she know how bad we are?'
'She just hopes we won't push ourselves too hard,' Harry said.
'You know that you're going to be a great Auror, don't you?' George said.
'Eh?' Harry said.
'Since we've lost the Snapes, and since the battle, it's as if you see more things. You've changed,' George said.
'I have changed,' Harry said. "I died, and I had to make a few choices," he thought.
George saved him from dark thoughts by asking, 'What do you want to do now?'
'I'll try to locate the Snapes again,' Harry said.
None of his spells worked, because their magic was still gone.
Harry wanted to hope that they were safe, wherever Lihar had sent them, but he knew that they could be dead by now. They'd been abducted almost twenty-four hours ago.
Then, Harry had an idea.
'Can you do something for me, Gred?' Harry asked.
'What?' he wondered.
'I need you to keep compiling the list of spells and charms we've marked. I need to go out retrieve something,' Harry said.
'Can't I go with you?' George asked.
'I really need those spells,' Harry answered honestly.
George felt that it wasn't a trick to keep him in those quarters, and he started to work.
'I'll be back very soon,' Harry promised.
Harry took his father's Cloak from Hermione's bag, which he kept in its purse form in his inner pocket, and he left.
Invisible, Harry left the castle, and walked into the Forbidden Forest. He knew that he wouldn't be able to remember where he'd dropped the ring with the Resurrection stone, and therefore, he summoned it.
The precious item flew to its current owner.
Harry didn't want to use the stone in the forest. It wasn't a question of security; it was just that he didn't want to see his dead friends where he'd almost died himself… and if he were to see Hermione or Severus, he didn't want it to happen somewhere he wouldn't be able to cry as much as he'd like.
Harry headed home, to Hogwarts, to his brand new and permanent room in Minerva's private quarters.
Harry put his Cloak back into Hermione's bag, and spelled it to the size of a purse again. Then, Harry asked George how the cataloguing was going.
'It'd go faster if you helped me now,' George mock-complained. 'It's like the accounting for the shop; it's as exciting.'
'Give me just one moment. I'll be right back,' Harry said.
Then, he went to his room and used the magic of the stone.
Harry was relieved to not see the Snapes, but when he saw his recently fallen friends, that broke his heart, and he started crying.
George came in when he heard Harry. He thought that Harry was just feeling low after everything he'd been through, but he was in for a shock.
Fred begged Harry to let him say goodbye to his twin. Harry caved and explained to George what the Resurrection stone did before lending him the ring.
George didn't care that Harry saw him collapse on the floor, tears rolling steadily down his cheeks. Harry just wrapped an arm around George; he could only imagine what it meant to see his twin again.
From then on, George simply acted as if Harry weren't in the same room; only Fred mattered.
'How can I go on without you?' George asked Fred.
"Silly… I'm right by your side," Fred said.
'But I can't see you, and I miss you. I miss you more than I miss my ear,' George said.
That made Fred laugh heartily, which, in turn, made George chuckle and stop crying.
"I'll always be by your side, George," Fred promised.
George looked at the spirit of his twin and said, 'I don't know if I can live without you.'
Fred felt his twin's feelings, and Harry understood the true nature of the shudder that shook George's entire frame. George was collapsing without his twin; he was as good as truly half-dead.
Harry didn't know what to do or what to say, but Fred did. The spirit just knew that even if his twin didn't collapse for good within the next few days, he'd just live a very sad and somewhat empty life; there was one thing that Fred could try.
"Give Harry the ring, I need to tell him something," Fred ordered.
George took the ring off and said, 'He wants to talk to you.'
George sounded sad that Fred wanted to have a word with Harry. However, when Harry growled at Fred "Are you barmy?", George understood that his brother was on to something that had to be really good.
It seemed that Fred didn't give Harry much choice. The floor trembled, like someone who's suddenly cold and shivers violently, and then the ghost of Fred became visible.
'Bind us together,' Fred told Harry.
Harry seemed to hesitate, but George begged, 'Please.'
Harry remembered a spell he'd read about in the afternoon; it was a spell to glue things together. He remembered Filius's advice about listening to his instinct, as well.
'All right, but if it doesn't work, we'll just keep Fred's ghost here, and you'll become a teacher here, George,' Harry declared.
'May it work!' the twins said in synch.
George and Fred were beaming at each other when Harry cast yet another new combination of spells.
Harry was just done making sure that Fred would be able to go wherever his twin went when Minerva and Arthur Weasley rushed into Harry's room.
'Bit crowded in here!' Fred said with an impudent grin.
Arthur shouted a string of vowels and had to lean against the nearest wall.
Minerva looked at the young men and the ghost and quietly said, 'I do hope your use of High magic was fruitful, Harry. We have enough entertainment around with Peeves.'
Arthur was still unable to add a consonant to his sequences of vowels.
'Will you be okay, Dad?' Fred inquired, floating to his father.
Arthur nodded.
Fred turned to George and said, 'We need to try to leave Hogwarts together.'
'Let's go to the shop!' George said merrily.
'Can you imagine how much fun we can have with our customers?' Fred said, floating towards the fireplace in the parlour.
'Tell me about it!' George said, beaming.
George took a pinch of Floo powder and said, 'Diagon Alley!'
The green flames engulfed live and dead brothers both.
'It works,' Minerva commented calmly.
Harry found himself in Arthur's arms. 'You saved George,' he said, deeply moved.
'I helped a bit,' Harry said.
'You know better,' Arthur said. He turned to Minerva and said, 'I'd better head home, or the boys will drop in unannounced and cause heart attacks.'
Minerva nodded.
In a few seconds, Arthur had left them.
Minerva hugged Harry and whispered, 'Oh, you're such a precious wizard.'
'Because you're glad Fred isn't haunting us here,' Harry joked.
Minerva laughed at that and said, 'Not only.' She paused and said, 'Arthur came to tell me that Dekoo and Lihar's full confessions under Veritaserum have been registered; Dyann finished her new batch and administered it herself. The Ministry will wait to file the charges against them.'
'Abduction, endangerment of Wizarding people and perhaps manslaughter,' Harry said.
'Let's hope that they're not dead,' she said.
'For the moment, they're not,' Harry declared.
'How do you know that?' she wondered.
Harry explained about Albus, the ring and the stone.
'By the way, now that I've retrieved it, could I hide it among your jewellery?' he asked.
'Excellent idea… if I had a jewel box,' she said.
Harry sighed and said, 'I'll keep it with me for the moment, but I'll store it in my vault at Gringotts soon. If Riddle and his friends aren't around, it'll be safe enough until Hermione can give me a better idea.'
'You don't fully trust the Goblins,' Minerva stated.
Harry snorted and said, 'Not really.'
Minerva smiled. 'Maybe some Muggles rescued Severus and Hermione,' she suggested.
Harry nodded and said, 'If they were found by the Police, I think they'll be in some hospital. I hope their magic comes back fast, they'd be easier to locate.'
'I only came back because we felt your spell, but I'll go back to my office now. Go get some rest,' Minerva said.
She hugged Harry and left her quarters.
Harry smiled. He knew that she did have work to do, but he also knew that she was giving him some space to keep working on the spells that might unlock the secrets of Lihar's wand. Harry went back to work.
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[Next part as soon as possible]