A/N: Well, this chapter is certainly rather eventful, especially for their first day back at Hogwarts. Some of the more hardcore Umbridge haters will probably enjoy this chapter, and the many to come. I personally despise the toad, but anyways, this chapter, or perhaps the previous one, starts to show Gia's wolf powers influencing her actions more and more, and causing a bit more mystery and drama. Any questions or concerns can be asked and addressed via pm or review, I hope you enjoy!

~ Belle P.

Previous Chapter:

"Listen," I said seriously, "your mind is perhaps the most personal and private thing in your life. I would advise highly against talking to anyone about your mindscape, even to each other. But if you can grab onto that almost semi-unconscious feeling, you'll be able to control your emotions and facial expressions better."

"Understood," Harry, Ron, and Hermione said in unison.

Chapter Eleven

We left the Room of Requirement, and with the use of stealth and spells, covered our tracks and made our way to our next class. On the way, I sighed deeply. "I feel like it would be best for me to warn you three now, especially you, Harry. Umbridge is a horribly annoying and conniving person, she's evil. She will try to bait you, whether it's about Voldemort, the Prophet, your parents, or Cedric…she will try, and it's extremely important that you give her nothing." I stressed sternly.

Harry squeezed my hand as we reached the Defense classroom. "I understand, Gia. And I'll try my hardest. It's you I'm worried about," he murmured. "You clearly hate her and what with the full moon next week…"

I gave him an exasperated smile. "We really are quite the pair, huh?"

Harry grinned and kissed my forehead. "A loon and a Lycan, as Fred and George put it."

We entered the classroom to find the toad already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan from the night before and a black velvet bow. My nose wrinkled at the excessive use of horrid flowery perfume, and I didn't seem to be the only one suffering so I discreetly cast an air purifying charm, and quickly sucked in the fresh air. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I took seats in the middle, and I forced myself to relax when all I wanted to do was claw the toad's face.

The class was all quiet as sat down; to them, Umbridge was an unknown factor, and they didn't know how strict she'd handle a class. I, on the other hand, slipped my hand into Harry's casually.

"Well, good afternoon!" she said when finally the whole class had sat down.

A few people mumbled, "Good afternoon," in reply, but the trio and I remained silent.

"Tut tut," Umbridge said, shaking her head. "That won't do now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," the class chanted back at her, the trio amongst them – through gritted teeth – as now Umbridge's eyes scanned the class. They landed on me, and my defiant silence.

She slowly walked towards me. "Good afternoon, class." She said pointedly.

The class remained silent this time, knowing who the words were directed at. I simply sat back, crossed one leg over the other, and raised an eyebrow. Umbridge tutted again and shook her head slowly. "Well, we'll just have to fix that, Miss Grey." She said. She stood by my right shoulder and leaned down slightly so that her mouth was beside my ear. "You are a disrespectful little mutt, Grey, and I will break you." She hissed.

I smirked darkly. "I would love to see you try." I replied softly.

Straightening up, Umbridge clapped her stubby hands and walked to the front of the classroom again. Harry tugged my hand but I shook my head shortly. I'd tell him later.

"There now," Umbridge said sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please!"

I heard Hermione huff quietly. "We're not children," she muttered, annoyed.

Many of the class exchanged stony looks; 'wands away' usually equaled a boring lesson. I re-holstered my wand to my right thigh, something Hermione mirrored, while Ron and Harry holstered theirs to their right forearm. As we pulled out our parchment, quills, and ink, Umbridge pulled her own unusually short wand from her handbag, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once: Defense Against the Dark Arts: A Return to Basic Principles.

"Well, now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" Umbridge stated, turning to face us again, her hands clasped neatly in front of her. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum—"

"The Ministry doesn't decide our curriculum." Hermione growled under her breath.

"—has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by:

Course Aims:

Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic

Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used

Placing the use of defensive magic in context for practical use

For a couple of minutes, the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When we'd all copied down the three course aims, she said, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.

"I think we'll try that again," Umbridge said. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room. Once again, I remained silent.

"Good," Umbridge said. "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, Basics for Beginners. There will be no need to talk."

"More like no need to think," Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes.

Harry and Ron opened their books, and I watched on with vague amusement as they simply stared at the page, not really reading it at all. To my surprise, Hermione hadn't even bothered to open her book. She was staring fixedly at Umbridge, her hand in the air. I looked at Umbridge, who was looking resolutely in another direction. After several more minutes passed, I wasn't the only one watching Hermione. Having skimmed the book the previous night, I knew that the chapter was so tedious that it was no surprise more and more people were choosing to watch Hermione's attempt to catch Umbridge's attention rather than to suffer through the reading.

I smirked as I studied both the class and Umbridge, my mind already racing with observations and plans. When more than half the class was staring at Hermione rather than their books, Umbridge finally gave in.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hermione as though she had only just noticed her.

"Not about the chapter, no," Hermione responded coolly.

"Well, we're just reading now." Umbridge said, showing her small pointed teeth. "If you have other queries, we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your class aims." Hermione stated boldly.

Umbridge raised her eyebrows.

"And your name is—?"

"Hermione Granger," Hermione said.

Umbridge's lip curled slightly at the clearly muggleborn surname, and I could see that I wasn't the only one that caught it, as Hermione, Ron, and Harry's expressions all became slightly colder. "Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," Umbridge said in a voice of determined sweetness.

"Well, I don't." Hermione said bluntly. "There's nothing up there about using defensive spells."

"Using defensive spells?" Umbridge repeated with a little laugh that grated on my ears. "Why I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use defensive spells, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked in my class?"

"Yes, actually, I am." I said automatically, sitting up, and leaning forward casually on my desk as all eyes turned to me. "Several past Defense teachers have tried to attack students."

"Students will raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Miss Grey." Umbridge said quickly. With a mocking grin, I raised my hand. Umbridge still smiled more widely, turned her back on me, something I considered very dangerous to her health. Both Harry and Hermione raised their hands now. Umbridge's eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes," Hermione said briskly. "Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational professional, Miss Granger?" Umbridge asked in her falsely sweet voice.

"With the clear lack of intelligence involved, anyone could be," I shot out, my hand still raised. My inner wolf was already pacing, alert, grunting softly. With the full moon in one week, I felt myself getting riled up just listening to the idiotic conversation progress. On my side, I saw Harry clutching his stomach again, his face tight with slight pain, and that worried me.

"The answer is no," Umbridge said loudly and forcefully, choosing not to acknowledge me. "I'm afraid you are just not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and wiser than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning in a secure, risk-free way—"

"What use is that?" Harry asked loudly, tired of having his raised hand ignored. "If we're going to be attacked, then it's not risk free—"

"Hand, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge sang.

Harry pointedly thrust his fist in the air. Umbridge promptly turned away from him again, but now several other people had their hands up too.

"And your name is?" Umbridge asked Dean.

"Dean Thomas."

"Well, Mr. Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" Dean said. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free—"

Umbridge talked over him.

"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," she said, the unwavering smile stretching her wide mouth. I snorted loudly. "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed – not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."

I was on my feet before my brain even registered the action. "Remus Lupin is thrice the wizard you'll ever be, Umbridge." I snapped. My inner wolf howled, and I felt my mouth tingling. My fangs were itching to grow out. I heard Harry hissed beside me, and inhale sharply, but by this point, my anger was too great.

"Take your seat, Miss Grey!" Umbridge commanded with harsh sweetness.

"No," I said angrily. To emphasize my defiance, I came around to the front of my desk, pushed my bag and writing utensils to the side and sat on top of my desk, crossing my legs again.

"Lupin? If you meant Professor Lupin," Dean piped up angrily, "he was the best we ever—"

"Hand, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying – you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially illegal. You have been shown the Unforgivables—"

"Well, some of us have experienced them, all damn three of them, so I don't think inappropriateness really applies here." Harry spat angrily.

"You have been frightened," Umbridge continued even louder, "into believing that you're likely to meet Dark wizards every other day—"

"Constant vigilance!" I barked, startling the entire class, including Umbridge. "isn't that how Alastor Moody survived so long –?"

"Your hand is not up, Miss Grey!"

I raised my hand again, even as I felt the room begin to rapidly heat up. I nearly smiled, but instead grabbed onto the sparking flame I felt in my core. I heard Harry's breathing become the slightest bit faster.

"It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you—"

"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" Ron said hotly, almost sarcastically. "Mind you, we still learned loads—"

"Your hand is not up, Mr. Weasley!" Umbridge interrupted, recognizing the Weasleys' trademark red hair and freckles. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examinations, which is, after all, what school is all about."

"No," I contradicted loudly, "school is about preparing us to survive and flourish on our own in the real world."

"And your name is?" Umbridge said, ignoring me. The room got hotter, and several people pulled at their collars or took off their robes. Harry inhaled sharply as the windows began fogging up.

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense OWL? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter curses and such?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions." Umbridge said dismissively.

"Without ever having practiced them before?" Parvati said incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough—"'

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Harry said loudly, and I heard the pain in his voice, and his face and neck were covered in sheen of sweat. He had one fist in the air, and the other arm wrapped tightly around his stomach. I was worried, obviously Harry was going through something, but I didn't understand what.

"Harry what's—"

"This is school, Mr. Potter." Umbridge said over me. "Not the real world."

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said calmly. I immediately saw what she was doing. She was trying to bait Harry. His face twisted in anger and his mouth opened to retort. Quickly, I cast a silent and wandless charm that caused his mouth to snap shut. On the other hand, however, my own temper was reaching a boiling point, as was the classroom. Everyone in the room was now sweating profusely, and many girls were putting their long hair up into buns and ponytails to stay cooler.

"Oh really?" Ron asked loudly, as Harry struggled to open his mouth. I cast the same spell on Ron.

"Who do you imagine would want to attack children like yourselves?" Umbridge inquired in a horribly honeyed voice.

"Oh, oh," I said with mock-enthusiasm, sitting up straighter on my desk. "I could give you a whole list. Let's see…" I tapped my chin in a thoughtful gesture. "Lucius Malfoy, Nott Sr., Avery, Macnair, Karkaroff, Barty Crouch Jr., Fenrir Greyback, Dolohov…" I listed, getting more and more falsely excited. "Oh! I have a good one. How about Voldemort?"

Someone gasped; Lavender uttered a little scream; Harry and Ron stopped struggling; Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She'd been waiting for Harry to bring him up, but in her eyes, I would do for now. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Grey."

The classroom was utterly silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or me.

"I – Don't – Care." I said slowly. "I can earn it back and more, as soon as tomorrow."

"Fine, detention!" she shouted.

I laughed heartily. "Five galleons says I won't serve it." I taunted.

The class held its breath as Umbridge's face lost all sweetness. "I will have you suspended," she said darkly.

"An early vacation from school, how lovely," I replied with a large smile that seemed to unnerve Umbridge. Perhaps it was the fact that all four of my fangs had grown out completely now.

"Expulsion!" she said triumphantly.

Hermione blanched.

"I could take my NEWTS today in every subject taught at Hogwarts, and some not taught here, and get perfect scores across the board. But humor me, on what grounds?" I asked lightly.

"Disobeying a teacher and spreading nasty lies." She said.

My smile grew until it creepily resembled the Cheshire Cat. "Not good enough," I said uncaringly. I pulled the heat from the room back into my core, and while the class breathed a sigh of relief, I felt the hot power build up, condensing. Finally, I dropped the spell on Ron and Harry.

"Let me make something quite plain," Umbridge leaned toward us, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard had returned from the dead—"

"Technically, he wasn't dead." I interjected brightly.

"Ten more points, Miss Grey!" Umbridge snapped. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This – is – a – lie!"

"It is NOT a lie! I saw him! I fought him!"

"Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge said triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening, five o'clock, my office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means, come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about returned Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly return to your reading."

Harry stood up abruptly, and I was blown away as I made a connection, but I pushed the thought aside, and would discuss it with my friends later. The class stared at Harry; Seamus appeared half-scared, half-fascinated.

"Harry, don't!" Hermione hissed, but Ron pulled her towards him.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice low and dark, his body clearly shaking with rage.

My flame flared, and Harry flinched the slightest bit.

"Cedric—"

For the first time, I felt my fangs become a lot sharper than usual and my lips pulled back, exposing them, just hearing that bitch utter his name.

"Diggory's—"

My eyes were pulsing.

"death—"

My fingernails turned to completely black, sharp claws.

"was a tragic accident."

With a clearly audible snarl that didn't come from my mouth, Umbridge's desk burst into flames and Harry yelled out and dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach. People screamed and everyone stood, backing away as her blackboard went up in flames as well. Umbridge clumsily tried to steady her wand and shoot jets of water at the flames, but as a patch disappeared, even more fire appeared in its place. I smiled darkly, and my amber eyes glowed with a crimson tint as flames rose in the shape of giant wolves and paced in a circle around Umbridge, growling and snapping at her short, fat legs. Umbridge herself was screaming and sweating, utterly trapped in a circle of fiery wolves, as her side of the classroom slowly went up in flames. What a wonderful first day of teaching…

In the back of my mind, I heard a muffled, pained voice calling my name, but I was too wrapped up in seeing Umbridge suffer. I was enjoying it, feeding into it, stoking it…

"Gia, stop! Please!" Harry yelled from the floor, over the screaming. The entire class was crowded at the classroom door, banging on it and screaming, choking on the smoke, trying to get out, but I had subconsciously spelled it shut tight. Harry had a large bloody spot on his shirt over his stomach, and his eyes were watering, whether from the smoke building up in the room or from the pain, I didn't know. But I didn't listen. I urged the wolves to close their circle even tighter around Umbridge, I was transfixed, almost mesmerized at the sight of her terror and hopelessness, and the hem of her skirt and cardigan curling and singeing.

"Gia!" Harry yelled again. This time he reached up, and the second he grabbed my arm, all flames disappeared, along with any trace that there had been a fire in the first place. Umbridge's desk and blackboard were perfectly intact, and Umbridge wasn't even covered in a speck of ash or singed clothing. She was curled up on the floor, shaking violently, her eyes wide with horror.

I was still perched calmly on my desk, my features back to normal, with no hint of anger or any sign that I'd had anything to do with the recent horror scene. "It was murder," I said coldly to Umbridge, who was still shaking and whimpering. "Voldemort killed him and you know it."

The class had not yet moved from the door, but were all wide-eyed and utterly terrified, perhaps a little traumatized as well. With a flick of my wand, I conjured a note. Plucking it from the air, I hopped down from the desk and walked up to Umbridge. "Sign it!" I demanded.

With a trembling hand, she scribbled her signature on the bottom of the note, and I snatched it from her hand. Turning on my heel, I strode back to my desk, grabbing my bag, and packing it with a wave of my wand. As I stormed toward the door, I stooped, slipped my arm around Harry's waist, and pulled him up to his feet in one quick move. He automatically put his arm around my shoulder, and grabbed his bag with his other hand. The entire class parted as we neared the door, and it swung open on its own with a fair bit of force, slamming into the wall, and after we left the class, it slammed shut behind us.

Once we were alone in the corridor, I dropped my bag and smoothly slipped into my Lycan form. I crouched low and nudged Harry's shoulder with my nose. Taking the hint, he shrunk both of our school bags and shoved them into his robe pocket before jumping, and swinging his leg over my body, sitting on my back. I gave him enough time to grab a handful of fur before I took off down the corridor, moving so fast I was a just a huge white blur to the portraits but smoothly enough so that I didn't jostle Harry. I made several sharp turns and leapt clearly down several whole flights of stairs. In the entrance hall, Harry used a quick spell to open the oak front doors and soon, we were outside, and I was sprinting across the wide expansive grounds.

I completely tapped into my every ounce of wolf speed and strength I had for the first time in years, I completely let go. My stride became so fast that I was barely even a blur, I was faster than even that. Harry was holding on for dear life, but his fragmented laughter let me know that he was okay, and suggested that he was enjoying the ride. I noticed that the more I ran, the more I felt my huge paws hit the soft grass, the more wind rushed through my bright white fur, the calmer I felt, and the less pain Harry felt.

And by the time the bell rang, signaling the end of today's lessons, I felt calm and content again. Before the students staring pouring out of their classes, Harry jumped down from my back and I changed back into my human form. I pulled up the front of Harry's shirt and saw the mark from earlier that morning, only now it wasn't burning bright red, it was smooth and black. It had turned into a tattoo, identical to the one I had on my back.

"It's odd," Harry muttered as we ran back up to East Tower. "All of sudden, it was hurting a little bit, but as time went on, it started burning and then it felt like it split open, and then it started bleeding, just as…" he trailed off as we entered the common room.

"Just as that fire started?" I finished for him. "I'll explain what I can later, Harry, I promise, just forget about it for now."

We took a quick, joint hot shower and changed into more casual clothes. I put on my favorite black sweatpants, a plain, tight green t-shirt, and my black ballerina slippers, while Harry put on something similar, his hair even wilder and damp from the shower. Together, we walked down to the Great Hall. To my surprise and annoyance, news of our entire Defense lesson, fire and all, had spread faster than wildfire throughout the school. This was proven when Harry and I walked into the Great Hall and it became stonily silent. Up at the Head Table, Umbridge appeared to be between shaken and furious. As soon as we sat down with Ron and Hermione, the noise started back up again.

The funny thing was that those who were whispering about us seemed to want us to hear. I tried to eat my dinner, but after hearing a loudly pondered question about how Cedric really died for the fifth time, I snapped. Standing up abruptly, all eyes snapped to me. "If any of you idiots have got something to say, how about you bloody well speak up instead of whispering behind your hands like a bunch of cowards?" I snapped loudly. "Otherwise you can all bugger yourselves!"

"Miss Grey!" McGonagall warned.

"Will be finishing her meal somewhere else," I finished icily. "My apologies to the younger years for my word choice."

And with that, I stormed out of the silent Great Hall, quickly followed by Harry. Instead of going up to East Tower, I led the way to the Room of Requirement. Once inside, I looked around, my heart pumping.

"Winky!" I called.

"With a rapid pop, the little elf appeared and curtsied. "What can I do for Mistress Gia?"

"Can you get my school bag and trunk from my room, and bring it to me, and then get some food from the kitchens for Harry and me?" I requested.

"Of course, Mistress Gia." Winky said, and she disappeared.

"Any pain?" I asked Harry.

He quickly caught on as he saw where I was looking. He lifted up his shirt, and I saw that the tattoo was a tad bit brighter. "Just a slight sting at the moment, nothing I can't tolerate." He said, shrugging. "I just wish I knew where it came from and why." He said pointedly.

"I wish I could explain where and why, Harry, but I can't because I don't know." I said tiredly, dropping into a chair as it appeared. "I do know, or at least suspect, that it's tied to me, or at least, my emotions. Haven't you noticed that the angrier, or more riled up I get, the more it hurts?"

Harry paused, and then understanding began dawning in his eyes. "I can't believe…didn't notice… How do we find out what these tattoos mean? I mean, it's identical to the one on your back right? And you don't know where that one came from either."

I hung my head and covered my face with my hands. "I don't know Harry, maybe…I don't know, maybe my Clan will know something about them. I never heard it mentioned, but I was still rather young the last time I was with them."

Harry scooped me up, sat down in the armchair, and then lowered me into his lap, where I automatically curled up and put my face in his neck. Inhaling the caramel scent of his skin, I relaxed somewhat. "So, you're going to write them, then?" Harry asked softly.

"Actually, I was thinking we could go…visit them." I said cautiously. Harry was silent for a moment.

"What?" he said, and I was surprised to hear a bit of panic in his voice.

"Harry…" I sighed. "The thing about my being a Lycan, and you being my…mate, I suppose, is that by the time my coming-of-age birthday comes around, you have to have met and been…approved by my clan. It's sort of like, meeting your significant other's parents."

"Only in this situation, the parents are a clan of Lycan that could kill me in an instant." Harry said sardonically.

"Don't be ridiculous Harry, my clan won't kill you." I said, rolling my eyes lightly.

He raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

I paused and grinned teasingly. "I don't." I said simply. Harry groaned and leaned back, putting a pillow over his face. I laughed and tried to pull it away, but he held onto it. "Oh come on Harry, I met Remus and Sirius, one of them a werewolf and the other an escaped convict." I joked.

Harry peeked around the pillow with a lopsided grin. "You're a Lycan, and so is Remus now, thanks to you. And you know Sirius didn't kill those people."

I sighed dramatically, but became thoughtful. "I wish Sirius didn't have to be on the run. He's a great man, and he shouldn't have to be stuck in that damn house constantly."

"Well love," Harry shrugged, playing with my hair, "if anyone could get him cleared, it would be you."

I snorted. "My family has power Harry, but it hasn't been involved with politics since my father was Head of the family. I don't bother with all of that bullshit."

"Are you saying you can't help him?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows again.

"I'm saying I'd need a lot of help and some time, Harry. It won't happen overnight, and we already have so much going on. I care about Sirius and his freedom too, but…" Harry cut me off with a kiss.

"It'll be okay Gia, calm down. We'll get through this." He said calmly. "And…and if you think visiting your clan will help, with the tattoos or our future together, then…we can do that too."

My face lit up in a bright smile. "Oh really, Harry? You'd do that for me?"

He smiled at seeing how excited I was, and kissed my forehead. "Of course, my love. So, when are we going?"

"Well," I said, thinking, "the only time we can really go for a while before my seventeenth birthday would be the winter hols…"

Harry nodded determinedly. "Then that's what we'll do."

A second later, Winky returned with both my and Harry's school things, along with a floating platter of food. After she left, I asked the room for a potions station, and set about completing my assignment from Snape, as Harry settled at another table to start his own homework. Because of the attention and delicacy required to make these specific healing potions, I used my Occlumency to calm myself and focus.

In silence, time passed quickly and soon, an hour had passed. As I was turning down the flames beneath each cauldron, Ron and Hermione entered the Room with their own school bags. Harry and I looked up briefly before going back to what we were doing. The other couple didn't say anything, but instead settled down at the large round table with Harry, and started on their homework. After the potions were finished, bottled, and labeled carefully, I sat at the table and quickly sped through Binn's essay. When I was done, I sat back and stared into the flames crackling in the fireplace, absently practicing making them move around and, after the episode in Umbridge's class, I focused on making them form shapes.

I asked the Room for a book on shadow magic, and folded up my legs in the armchair I was sitting in, getting comfortable as I read. I found myself drawn into the book quickly as it gave a history of people with shadow magic…people like me. I was then more absorbed as it began detailing the things I could learn to do with my shadow magic, things beyond traveling between places. I began to get excited at the thought of actually teaching myself to do those things and learning those valuable, rare skills. Any advantage I could gain for the coming war…

"Oh honestly," Hermione finally cracked. The boys and I looked up at her. "How can Dumbledore let this happen? How can he let that terrible woman teach us? And in our OWL year, too!"

"Well, we've never had great Defense teachers, have we?" Harry said. "You know what it's like, Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job, they say it's jinxed."

"Yes, but to employ someone who's actually refusing to let us do magic! What's Dumbledore playing at?"

"Mione," I interjected, "we've got training loads each week, that woman isn't going to stop us from passing our Defense OWL. We can study theory in class, and practice outside of it. Besides, you three already know the entire fifth year curriculum spells."

"I suppose," Ron said, "but she's trying to get people to spy for her. Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying Voldemort's back?"

"Of course she's here to spy on us," Hermione agreed, "but most likely, especially on Dumbledore, and perhaps Harry."

"Listen," I said, "it's not too late yet. I want you three to keep constructing your mindscapes and practicing grabbing onto that calm, expressionless feeling. I'll bring you back before curfew so we can get some sleep."

Without my guidance, it took the trio a little while longer to sink into their mindscapes on their own. As they did this, I closed my book and stood up, setting it on the table. I wanted to start practicing a new technique that I'd read about, one that could be incredibly useful. Following the book's instructions, I sat cross-legged on the floor and relaxed, breathing in and out with my eyes closed. The first step to mastering any shadow technique was to first master calling the shadows together, creating shadows where there are none. In my head, I pictured my body and wrapping it in a sort of cloak of shadows. I imagined the shadows building up around me, surrounding me, protecting me.

"Holy shit!" I heard.

My eyes snapped open and I yelped in surprise. The first thing I couldn't help but notice was that I was floating. My entire body, still in a cross-legged sitting position, was floating calmly several feet above the floor. The next thing I noticed was that I was surrounded by a giant black ball that seemed to be made of black swirling wisps. It took me a moment to realize that they were shadows, swirling around me, encasing me in a large translucent sphere.

"Gia, are you ok?" Harry called, panicked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, hold on." I called back. Looking around, I willed the shadows away and when the sphere disappeared, I dropped to the floor on my bum. Ron snorted, and when I shot him a look, he tried to appear sheepish. Harry helped me up, and as I brushed myself off, he scratched his head. "Err love…what was that?"

"Um, just some shadows," I said nonchalantly.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me," Harry replied sarcastically. I sighed and pecked his lips quickly.

"Come on, let's get some sleep and I'll explain tomorrow." I said.

We gathered our things and left, watching the door meld back into a blank stretch of stone. We walked the short journey to the other, hidden side of the seventh floor, and entered East Tower to find Luna and Terry cuddled together, asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Aww," Hermione whispered, huge grins on all of our faces.

Still smiling, I summoned my camera and snapped a few pictures, including some with Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I making funny faces behind the sleeping couple. Reluctantly, we gently shook the two awake. It was adorable watching their eyes open and blink owlishly at us.

"Oh Merlin," Terry said, bolting up. "We – we fell asleep doing homework – damn, it must be after curfew and I have to get back to Ravenclaw Tower. Gia, I'm terribly so—"

"Geez Terry, calm down," I said as we laughed at the flustered boy. "It's fine, you can stay the night here. There's no reason for you to go all the way back to Ravenclaw Tower and risk getting caught." I said easily.

"I'm sorry Gia," Luna said softly. "I wanted to ask you if Terry could come up, but I couldn't find any of you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Terry's always welcome up here, Lu. But thank you for reminding me of something important."

"And what would that be, love?" Harry asked.

I smiled. "The mirrors, of course."

"Mirrors?" Terry asked. I waved my hand.

"You'll see. I'll show you lot tomorrow morning, but it's been a pretty long first day back, considering everything that happened." I said, as a yawn nearly cracked my jaw.

"Alright, I think it's time for bed." Harry said, sliding an arm around my waist.

"Goodnight!" I called as he steered me towards our bedroom.

"Night!" our friends called back.

Having taken a shower less than three hours ago, Harry and I simply stripped down to our underclothes and climbed into bed. We automatically cuddled together, our skin making contact wherever possible.

"Some first day, huh?" Harry whispered as we relaxed.

I hummed in agreement and pulled Harry into a loving kiss. "Certainly," I whispered back, "but as long as we have this, as long as each night I can fall asleep in your arms, and each morning I can wake up in them, we'll make it through this mess."

"I love you, Gia." Harry murmured, smiling softly.

"I love you too, Harry," I breathed quietly, as my eyes fluttered closed, "for forever and a day."