A/N: Hey to all of my readers, both on Fanfiction and on Portkey, where I have recently began posting my fic.

Ok. If you are reading this on Portkey, go back to the last chapter. I was checking it over on Valentine's Day, and I realized that I had given you an incomplete version… so there is a version with another two thousand or so word…

Some of my Portkey readers have been complaining about typos. The truth is, if you understand the way I write my fic, you'll understand a bit better. The majority of the time, my writing is done in short snippet, usually in times like between getting out of bed, and hitting the shower, and then hitting the shower to school, In fact, I'm writing this author's note in my gap between finishing studying for my calculus exam, and going to bed. This still doesn't make the errors acceptable, but I hope you will all have a bit more sympathy.

Ok, now onto my newest, and hopefully acceptable, chapter. I realized (thanks to a review from Nurray) that I never really mentioned what happened in the aftermath of the Battle of the Burrow. Hehe… I hope to rectify that error here and now.

By the way, this is where my story takes a little bit of a walk from the normality of the HP universe. Let's Go!

Chapter Ten: New Weapons

Harry spun to his right, covering his head with his arms to avert the hail of splinters and woodchips the covered him. The noise of the blast rang loudly in his ears. He stopped his spin, coming around with his wand level, and snapped off a quick binding curse.

"Got to be faster then that, Potter!" Lupin shouted as his defensive shield got wrapped by the thick cords, which promptly fell away, pooling on the ground. The werewolf raised his wand, and snapped off another hex, which Harry blocked.

This was how it had gone for the past week. The seemingly untiring werewolf had arrived every day for the last seven days since his first visit, and he had worked with them to improve their wandless magic.

Harry had indeed improved. They were still working with the simple exercise of levitating the cookie, and Harry could keep it airborne almost indefinitely. Hermione could as well, and Ron could keep it up for almost a minute. They were even capable of working through Lupin's mild distractions.

And then, after they had their wandless magic training, the merciless ex-professor dragged them into the forest that surrounded the Weasley's quidditch field.

That was where they were now, Harry spinning and dodging as Lupin pressed him hard. He had never yet managed to defeat the man, or anything even close. Harry understood fully why the lycanthrope was emerging as the leader of the post-Dumbledore Order.

As he dodged another spell, he heard Ron and Hermione laughing from their places among the trees.

"I didn't see you guys doing any better!" He roared at them, and the laughter stopped immediately. Indeed the werewolf took turns with the three of them, once even letting them come at him three on one. His spellwork had been incredible. Still, none of them had ever managed to stun or bind the werewolf, at least not permenantly.

"I at least bound him!" Hermione shouted back from the trees, her voice still holding an edge of mirth. The brunette witch was indeed faring the best in their daily trials against the older wizard. She had managed to hit him with a binding curse, but the werewolf had dismissed the ropes with wandless magic, showing them the usefulness of such a skill.

Harry skidded to a stop, launching two stunners in quick succession at the werewolf, and then he found himself leaping away again, as Lupin redirected both of the spells right at the younger wizard. Harry then was forced to dive flat as thick ropes appeared in mid air before him.

Harry scrambled back to his feet, just in time to take a stunner cleanly in the chest. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Hermione, if you wouldn't mind reviving him?" The professor asked. He leaned against a tree, and grinned as he watched the other two teens emerge from the trees. He had fought the two if them first, and each sported their own small injuries and marks. The entire right side of Ron's shirt was covered in small nicks and tears, and Hermione's hair was filled with pieces of grass and wood splinters.

"Renervate!" She whispered, and Harry groaned as he sat up.

"Damn! He got me again." Harry grumbled. It was the seventh time that the werewolf had stunned him. Every time that it happened, Harry felt like he had just been hit in the head by a bludger.

"You have to move quicker Harry. And I don't mean physically. Your spellwork is incredibly slow." Lupin told him.

"I fared fine in the Department of Mysteries, you know." Harry replied. Lupin shrugged.

"Against his Death Eaters. Not against Him, Harry. Anything that they can do, he can do better. Believe me. I think you witnessed him and Dumbledore dueling in the Atrium?" Harry nodded, "Well then, you have some idea of his magical skill. And besides, most of his Death Eaters were still weakened at that point. Prolonged exposure to the dementors of Azkaban takes many months to get over."

Harry nearly shuddered at that. He had been hard pressed at the time to deal with Death Eaters, and sheer luck had saved them on many occasions.

"So, what? We just keep training? Hope that eventually, we will be as skilled as them?" Hermione asked, the frustration evident in her voice, and Lupin shrugged again.

"What other choice is there? You either learn to survive them, or you will die next to the hundreds that have already fallen." Lupin said coldly. He looked around at the faces of the trio, each of them looking determined, but that determination was undercut by fear and apprehension.

"Come!" Lupin said, breaking the moment of silence, "The three of you against me." With that, he turned and sprinted to the trees, disappearing among the foliage. Harry looked at the other two, and they rose as one. They took up a defensive position, with Harry and Ron standing in front of Hermione. She rolled her eyes, and tried to shove her way through.

"No!" Harry ordered, "You are the best caster, so we will manage the shield charms, and you fight back." Hermione thought about it, and then nodded.

"Fine. But if you get a chance strike back." She whispered. Harry nodded, and he and Ron shared a look, that Hermione caught. She smacked the pair of them in the head, and they stopped immediately.

They advanced slowly, and Hermione fired a cursory stunner into the trees. The spell sailed harmlessly until it hit a tree trunk. Harry and Ron looked at each other, and they both fired off stunners as well. These also went sailing harmlessly through the trees.

"We shouldn't go to him. He'll be expecting us to act rashly. Move back against a tree." Harry advised his voice barely above a whisper. The other two nodded, and began to work their way backwards toward the nearest thick tree trunk with small measured steps.

"Do you see--" Ron began, but he was cut off as a spell of silence covered the area. Harry waved his wand, and the sounds returned; the rustling of the leaves and bushed. Seconds later, the sound was killed again, and Harry grumbled and waved his wand to dispel it, but at that exact moment, a stunner shot free of the trees, headed straight for Harry. Harry stopped casting, and went for a block, but Ron had already thrown up a shield, and Hermione had sent a string of stunners back toward the area where the werewolf's spell had originated.

Harry waved his wand, dismissing the magical silence again, and looked around.

"Do either of you see anything?" He asked, and Hermione shook her head, and Ron began to answer, but the silence dropped over them again. Harry realized that Lupin didn't want them discussing anything, so he stopped trying to dispel the magical silence.

Harry motioned for them to spread out a bit, and they all backed up against the tree trunk, shoulder to shoulder. He kept scanning the bushes in front of them, hoping for some sign of the werewolf.

Suddenly, Ron toppled to the ground, struck by a stunner. Harry looked around, and then realized that the ex-professor had scaled the tree they were against, and stunned Ron from behind. Harry grabbed Hermione by the arm, and pulled her close to him, throwing up a shield over the pair of them. Lupin's next attack bounced off the nearly flawless guard.

Hermione and Harry both whirled about as one, launching a pair of stunners into the foliage above where they had been standing. The werewolf leapt from the branched, running down to the ground on the air! Harry and Hermione watch, stunned, as the ex-professor touched down lightly, and were nearly caught off guard by the next stunner. Thankfully, Hermione had the reflexes to throw up a wide shield to block the attack.

They were sticking together, Harry holding the shield up against the werewolf's attacks, and Hermione was fighting back, but Lupin was able to cast, block, and dodge fast enough to keep up with the two teenage casters.

Harry wished that they could go and revive Ron, but even if they weren't stuck in place by Lupin's fierce barrage, the rules of their games forbade reviving a teammate. So, Harry and Hermione held out in their war of attrition, and the werewolf was beginning to slow a little bit now, dodging less, and blocking more. The incoming spells against Harry and Hermione were beginning to thin, to a point where Harry thought he could shoot off a spell.

He timed it a second after Hermione's spell, hoping that the bright light of her stunner would cover his and that the werewolf would drop his shield to counter after Hermione's hit.

But as soon as Harry dropped his shield to fire, Lupin dove to the side, hitting the ground hard, but being rewarded for the effort. His stunner struck Hermione in the chest, and Harry cursed himself for letting the guard down.

I'm going to get an earful for that when she wakes up. Harry thought, wincing slightly. Her rages were never pretty, not even the smallest ones.

With the ex-professor lying on the ground, Harry thought he had the advantage. He leapt forward, pressing the attack. Lupin's shield glowed brightly under the continuing impact of Harry's spells.

But suddenly, the older man forced his feet under him, and leapt up with single spring. Harry tried to follow him for an attack, but he found himself throwing up another shield.

Harry charged forward under his last block, catching the werewolf around the legs as he dove low under the flash from his shield block. They fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Harry pinned Lupin's arms, and they squirmed about as they tried to gain supremacy. Suddenly, Harry was airborne, feeling an intense pressure on his chest. It dimmed a second later, and he crumpled to the ground, his wand several feet away.

He saw Lupin rising up unsteadily, and he scrambled for his wand. It flew away with a little puff of dirt as his fingers scraped it. Harry knew he was defeated, and threw up his hands.

"I yield!" he said loudly, and Lupin nodded. Harry stumbled to his feet, and for the first time, Harry saw that the man was tired. Lupin summoned Harry's wand back, and tossed it to him. He motioned to the other two.

"Revive them." He instructed. Harry did so wordlessly. He knew that Lupin would 'debrief' them once they were all awake.

"You look tired, Remus." Harry said as the other two were shaking off the debilitating effects of the stunners.

"Four fights in a day and one a three on one. Add that to two wandless spells, one pretty damned powerful, and you're in for a full day of effort." Lupin said, smiling somewhat. Suddenly, the mystery of flying through the air was solved.

"You threw me back wandlessly?" Harry asked, stunned. Harry thought levitating a cookie was hard, but Lupin had levitated him and thrown him!

"Yes. I compressed the air and forced it back. It's easier to manipulate something light like air then a person. It conserves your energy." He replied. Harry nodded. He understood, sort of.

"So it's would be easier for me to put a bubble of air under the cookie rather than levitate it?" He asked, and Lupin gave a half-shrug, half-nod. Meanwhile, Hermione and Ron had climbed back to their feet, and where brushing themselves down.

"Thanks a lot, Harry. If you're holding the shield, hold the damn shield!" Hermione growled at him. Harry just laughed at her.

"Maybe you should learn to cast your own shield." He told her, and he dodged a swat aimed at his head.

"Not bad, you guys. This time you at least challenged me." Lupin said, and Harry frowned at the slightly condescending statement. He wasn't frowning at the way it was said, or even at the content, but at the sad truth of it. Harry, Hermione and Ron were all powerful wizards for their age, but they were still nothing against a fully trained and battle tested wizard.

"Still kicked our ass though, didn't you?" Ron grumbled. Clearly, he was as irritated by Harry at loosing once again. A quick glance at Hermione told him that she wasn't any happier.

"You were more of a challenge today then you have been before. You are all learning. Did any of you realize something from our fights today?" He asked that question at the end of each session. They all remained silent for a moment as they mulled over the day's training.

"We last longer as a team." Ron offered, and Lupin grinned, and nodded.

"Precisely what I wanted you all to gather from today's training. You need to work together. When combating a superior foe, it is best to work as a unit rather than as three individuals. Three individuals can be split and destroyed, but a unit must be challenged as a whole." Lupin informed them, and the three of them nodded along.

"I learned that a lot of magic use can tire you out. From you." Harry said to Lupin.

"That's true. Extensive use of your magic will take an extreme toll on your body. Have any of you noticed that you are a little more tired each day when you wake up?" He asked.

"I have. I just thought it was the training everyday." Hermione answered.

"That's a part of it, but a more substantial reason is the fact that each day you are drawing upon a lot of your energy for casting spells and using magic. We as wizards take our powers for granted, and few ever realize that it takes a toll on us. We rarely use enough power on a regular basis to tire ourselves out."

"So, what are you saying… this training is going to weaken us? Why the hell are we doing it then?" Harry asked. Lupin shook his head fervently.

"It doesn't weaken you. It will just make you a little more tired in the short run. If you continually access large amounts of magic for a long period of time, magic will be much harder to reach for each time you try to use it." Lupin said. He looked at each of them, and then yawned.

"I'm going to go. I'm exhausted." He said, and after a few quick goodbyes, he strode off through the forest away form the house. Harry knew that there had been anti-apparation wards set up around the Burrow, in lieu of the Inferi attack.

After the werewolf took his leave, the three of them began to trudge back towards the Burrow. There was a slightly sullen mood about the recently defeated group. They were always a bit surly after they left their training sessions with Lupin.

"Aren't Bill and Fleur due back later today?" Hermione asked, breaking the fragile silence that lingered over them.

"Yeah. They are taking the floo from the Jamaican ministry this evening." Ron replied. In the aftermath of the battle during their wedding, Bill and Fleur had followed through with their honeymoon plans. It had been, in its own way, an act of defiance. They had continued on with their life as it had been planned, not letting Voldemort affect them.

Mrs. Weasley had been furious, when, after all the initial commotion had died down, she realized that the Daily Prophet hadn't run a story on the attack. It seemed as if the Ministry had leaned on the paper not to run the story, so as to keep the public calm.

Also, the Ministry wanted to keep quiet its late arrival to the fight. The Death Eaters had launched a feigned attack on a Muggle community, and that had drawn away most of the Aurors and the Magical Law Enforcement squad. By the time they had arrived to combat the Death Eaters, many Muggles were already dead. The obliviators were having one hell of a time trying to erase the memories of everyone present during the attacks.

According to the Daily Prophet, Muggle news outlets were calling the attack a terrorist attack. Apparently, there had been several such attacks worldwide by dark wizards and Death Eaters rallying to Voldemort's banners.

The wizarding paper had published an article stating that the political tensions in the Muggle world were rising, and were at a high for recent years. None of them knew who was responsible, and there were shockingly no witnesses left to the attacks. The wizarding world governments had been working on overtime, removing traces of their existence.

The Muggles were now all pointing fingers at each other for the attacks, and the chances of war breaking out somewhere were seeming greater everyday. However, as they didn't know who was responsible, no one was sure where to point their guns.

"Good thing they are coming home too. I don't think I could bear another day of mum's constant worrying. 'What if they are attacked?' 'What if they get hurt?' 'What if they are having sex?' Serious, the woman is driving me mad." Ron expounded.

"Yes, Ron, and the massive feast your mum is likely to cook up because they are coming home has nothing to do with your happiness." Harry chirped.

"And seeing Fleur again has nothing to do with it either." Hermione chipped in, and pretended to swoon. Harry laughed, and Ron did his best to look indignant while hiding the blush that was rising in his cheeks.

Harry and Hermione laughed at him all the way back to the burrow, poking fun of the red-head's (understandable) infatuation with the beautiful part-veela girl. Ron said nothing, just blushing deep crimson the whole time.

"Boys! Hermione! Get in here and give me hand please!" Mrs. Weasley shouted as soon as the door creaked open. Just as Harry had foreseen, Mrs. Weasley was busy working in the kitchen, preparing a welcome home dinner.

"Boys, I want you to set up a table in the back yard, just by the door, and Hermione, I want you to make a banner that says 'Welcome Home Bill and Fleur!' Make it special." She implored, and Hermione nodded. She grabbed a potato peeling, and transfigured it into a banner sized piece of paper, which she promptly levitated through the door to the living room. Harry and Ron stood there for a second, and watched her leave.

"Go!" Mrs. Weasley barked, breaking the two from their reverie. They darted out the door.

"And no magic!" she shouted after them, "Your not seventeen yet, Harry." Harry knew that she was just being prickly. It was July thirtieth, and he was turning seventeen tomorrow. Mrs. Weasley wasn't letting Ron use magic to be fair to Harry. Even so, the moment the two crossed the doorway, they both pulled their wands from the pockets.

In a moment, they had summoned and set up a pair of long tables, and Harry had transfigured a rock into table cloth. They threw some chairs around the tables, and were done in a matter of a minute or two. Knowing that Mrs. Weasley would have expected them to take much longer, Harry and Ron were dog fighting with a pair of rocks.

When Harry's rock got bashed out of the air by Ron's, they both called it quits, and went back inside.

"Mum, we're done!" Ron shouted through to her, turning for the stairs.

"No, you aren't!" She replied, and Ron sighed in disgust, and turned for the kitchen. Harry just rolled his eyes before trudging after his best friend.

Several hours later, Bill and Fleur stepped out of the fire grate. The Weasley family, Harry and Hermione all cheered for them once they stepped out. Bill had tanned a deep bronze colour, but Fleur had somehow remained creamy white.

"Welcome home!" Mrs. Weasley cried happily, and she absorbed them both in a deep hug. After that, they filtered out to the table, Bill with his arm tight about Fleur's waist.

Dinner was huge. Harry had only ever been so stuffed during Hogwarts' famous feasts. His stomach boiled with anger as he thought of the school. He was furious that he was being forced to go back. Still, he found the thought of something so routine, so normal in his future calming and reassuring.

After dinner, the Weasley's toasted the couple, and Harry and Ron both drank deeply of the mulled mead that Madam Rosmerta had given to Bill and Fleur for their wedding. The couple had been kind enough to share the three barrels, as Fleur found it too heavy, and Bill said it was more fun to drink with friends.

A dozen toasts later, and Harry was beginning to feel his head spin. It was the first time that he had ever had anything heavier than a butterbeer in large quantities.

"I'm going to bed." Mrs. Weasley announced after the final toast was downed. "You should all go too!" She said, eyeing them sternly.

"Let them stay up Molly. They are all practically adults." Mr. Weasley said, overriding her. Fred and George cheered their dad, and all the guys downed a round of mead in his honor.

Once the adults had departed, Fred, or George, Harry wasn't sure, produced a bottle of firewhiskey. He poured out shots for each of them.

"I don't think we should. I mean isn't this stuff really strong?" Hermione protested, but she was drowned out by a chorus of boos and hoots, and someone launched a handful of peas at her.

"Don't be a spoil sport, Hermione!" Ron chided. He had always had a desire to sample firewhiskey.

With a bit of chiding, Hermione grabbed up her shot, and looked around at everyone else.

"One, two, three!" Fred shouted, and everyone knocked back their glasses. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron, all of whom were new to the burning beverage, hacked a spluttered. The others at the table roared with laugher. By the time they were recovered, the foursome found that their glasses had been refilled. As Fred began to count again, they all grabbed up their glasses.

Just as his head was beginning to droop towards the table, Charlie appeared at his shoulder. It was only the guys left awake, as Hermione and Ginny had both long since crept upstairs to their bed. Harry, still soberish at that point, had thought it a good idea when Hermione had started trying to give him a lap dance. He thought it was a good idea for him too, because Ron was shooting him murderous looks the whole time.

"Alright, Hero, looks like you are a little drunk. Oi, Fred, George! Help me get Harry and Ron here up to their beds." He shouted. The mischievous twins appeared instantly.

"Aww, is Ickle Ronniekins a little drunk?" One of them teased, pinching his cheek and flapping it around. Ron aimed a drunken swing at him, but stumbled past and fell flat to his face, and they all roared with laughter. Ron just lay on the floor. Charlie and Fred hoisted him up by the armpits, and George threw his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"You should thank us for tonight, Harry. But whatever you do, don't thank us for tomorrow." He said amicably. Harry gave him a strange look. At this point, he was much too drunk to really understand the twin's reference to the impending hangover.

It was several minutes before the older boys got Ron and Harry up to Ron's bedroom, and the whole time, Harry was only vaguely aware that someone had laid a silencing charm on the stairwell.

By the time George dumped him on his bed, Ron was already fast asleep, and had been since the final landing. Fred shook his head as he and Charlie dumped the drunken teen in an unceremonious heap on top of his covers. The last thing Harry saw before drifting off to sleep was Ron roll off his bed onto the floor, and emit a loud snore.

Harry woke up to the sunlight of an early sunrise splashing across his bed. He winced when he opened his eyes. His head was pounding, and he couldn't quite remember how exactly he had gotten from the dinner to his bed.

Groaning loudly, he tried to stand, but when he did, his head started spinning, and he toppled back into a sitting position on his bed. He looked over at Ron, and saw him sprawled on the floor, snoring uproariously.

Deciding that he would feel better once he had something eat, Harry struggled to his feet again, and made his way to the door through the waves of pounding headache and nausea.

He walked down the stairs clinging to the banister, and taking each step very slowly. By the time he reached the bottom, his head was spinning and pounding so fast, he thought that he was going to pass out.

He shuffled slowly into the kitchen, and immediately squinted against the bright light that set his head pounding even harder. A series of hoots and clapping broke out, and Harry looked at the table, and saw that both of the twins were laughing at him. He shot them the rudest hand gesture he could think of.

Sliding into a seat at the wooden table, a grumpy looking Mrs. Weasley set a mug of steaming drink in front of him.

"Drink it. All of it." She snapped, sounding none too pleased. Harry picked up the mug, and took a sip. It was scalding hot and it tasted foul. He coughed and spluttered, and he put the mug back down.

"Drink it!" He told him, more forcefully.

"It's easier to down it in one go, mate." Fred counseled, nodding sagely. Harry shot him another dirty look, but he grabbed the mug. Taking a deep breath to brace himself, he lifted the cup to his lips, and he swallowed it all as fast as he could.

He coughed and gagged on the foul taste, but as soon as he recovered, he noticed that his sensitivity to light was receding, and that the pounding in his head was dulling.

"Thank you. What was that stuff?" He asked after a moment, during which time his head had almost completely cleared.

"Hang-over Draught. It'll clear up any hang over almost instantly." Fred told him.

"Ah, the wonders of magic!" George put in wistfully. Harry rolled his eyes. He remembered the firewhiskey and mulled mead from last night, and figured that he had gotten drunk off of it.

"How drunk was I last night?" Harry asked, and the twins laughed.

"Not so drunk as Ron." They answered, both laughing. It was at this moment that the aforementioned Ron chose to make his own staggering entrance into the kitchen.

"Speak of the drunken devil." George said, laughing at his younger brother's antics. Mrs. Weasley grabbed Ron by the shoulder, and all but threw him into a chair, plopping down another mug of potion in front of him.

"Drink!" she scolded, and Ron did so, and he had no spluttering reaction like Harry. He just wrinkled up his face after he was done.

"Disgusting." Ron mumbled, making a face. Harry stared at him, wondering if he had ever taken the potion before. He didn't remember Ron ever bragging about getting drunk, and he was certain that he would have brought it up at least once.

"Taken like a champion, Ron." Fred commended.

"Yeah, most people can't handle that on their first try." George said, confirming Harry's suspicion that Ron had never tried alcohol.

"What was it?" Ron asked, scratching his neck, and letting out a loud, foul smelling belch.

"Hang-over Draught." Harry answered, and Mrs. Weasley harrumphed loudly in the back ground. Fred motioned, and they all leaned in tight.

"Mum's pissed that we got the pair of you drunk last night. She thinks it was irresponsible to let you," here he looked pointedly at Harry, "be potentially vulnerable out in the open." Fred rolled his eyes, and they all laughed, but there was a mild edge of uneasiness.

After the Wedding Battle, the possibility of another attack by Voldemort was all too real. The security around the Burrow had been multiplied ten fold since the attack.

Harry has seen half a dozen Order wizards laying down strengthened shield enchantments and contained apparition zones about the house for a day or two after the attack. He knew from what he had overheard during dinners that there was always at least six or seven wizards from the Order guarding the Burrow.

He knew that the burrow was easily considered as one of the Order's top three secured locations. The attack had startled the Order. They relied on the Burrow as a place of meeting and refuge. With the strengthened wards, Lupin seemed content that nothing like the attack could be repeated.

According to the trio's trainer, the attack had been extremely odd, and very worrying. Firstly, Voldemort had not commited many Death Eaters to the attack, only the three that Ron had captured, and all three of them had been minor Death Eaters. It was clear that they had not animated the corpses themselves, but rather garnered control after they had been brought into undeath.

Secondly, the forces that he had sent were massive. The Order found it disconcerting that Voldemort was willing to sacrifice well over a thousand Inferi soldiers in an attack that he clearly did not foresee as doing any major damage.

Lupin had said that the fact that he had thrown so many of his servants into the battle indicated that he clearly had many more, or at least plans to create many more. The thing was, since Inferi could only be created out of the recently dead, the Order feared that it was the latter that the Dark Lord had in mind.

"Oh well, we had fun, and nothing bad happened, so she can't be that angry." Ron reasoned, and Fred and George gave him incredulous looks. Even Harry was skeptical. Mrs. Weasley was well known for her furious temper.

"Yep, and there is a good chance the sun is rising in the west tomorrow." Fred answered. He checked his watch.

"Well, George, old chap, we should get over to the store. I reckon it's about time we graced our employees with our royal presence, don't you?" Fred asked, rising from his chair.

"I do indeed. Later, ladies!" George said as the twins left the room. Ron and Harry jeered at them as the pair of them left, earning a choice set of hand gestures in return.

"What time is Lupin coming?" Ron asked, stifling a huge yawn.

"About ten thirty, like he has every day for the past week and a bit, you prat." Harry answered, shaking his head. It was marvelous just how unobservant Ron was. Jus then, Mrs. Weasley dropped a plated pile high with toast and bacon in between the two teens.

"Brilliant!" Ron expounded, and he began piling some of the food onto his own plate. Harry laughed at his friend's predictable reaction, and grabbed the rest of the food before the red headed feedbag could eat it all.

Harry and Ron were still plowing through their breakfasts, which now also included sausages and eggs, by the time that Hermione appeared down stairs. Whereas Harry and Ron were still dressed in pajama pants and t-shirts, the teen witch had already dressed in jeans and a tank top, ready for their morning's training.

Harry was uncomfortably aware of how tight the tank top was, and how it managed to show off her breasts and her flat stomach. Harry filed the thoughts away instantly, reminding himself that loose garments were detrimental in a fight.

"Morning, Hermione." Mrs. Weasley greeted, and Ron mumbled something through his mouthful of food, and Hermione's face wrinkled in distaste. Harry thought that she would have gotten used to it through the years, but apparently she hadn't. Harry had stopped noticing when Ron talked through his food ages ago. He was even getting pretty good at figuring out what he was saying.

"Morning" she replied, sitting at the table. Mrs. Weasley dropped a plate full of food in front of her, and Hermione, surprisingly, wasted no time in attacking at fervently as Ron. Harry stared at her in surprise.

"What, I'm hungry. And besides, we need our energy for when Lupin gets here." She justified, seeing Harry's look. Harry just shook his head, and dived back to his own plate. Mrs. Weasley put a second plate on, and Ron found himself combating not only with Harry for more, but with Hermione as well. Ron gave her a reproachful look, and Hermione responded by stealing the last piece of bacon off of his fork.

"Hey!" He protested, but Hermione just smirked and popped the bacon into her mouth. She chewed it slowly, tormenting Ron. Harry restrained his laughter while shoveling down the rest of his bacon, hoping that Ron wouldn't notice that he still had a few pieces.

Ron did notice, however, and an impromptu sword fight broke out with their forks. Just as Harry speared the final piece, Lupin walked into the kitchen. He laughed at the teenage antics.

"Nice to see you guys are prepared to work today." He commented dryly, looking pointedly at the boys' baggy pajama pants and bare feet. Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get dressed, old man." He grumbled, shuffling his way passed the werewolf. As he passed him, Lupin swatted him on the back of the head.

"Old man indeed. You can't even dodge a simple swipe." Lupin teased, and Harry walked away, rubbing the back of his head.

Five minutes or so later when they came back down stairs, Hermione was already at work levitating the cookie. She even looked over to them when they walked in and kept it airborne.

"Hi" She said, and both Harry and Ron stopped dead in their tracks. While what she said was in no way extraordinary, the fact that she could talk and maintain the spell was incredible. They waited for her to say something else, but apparently the small word was all she could handle.

After another minute or so, Hermione set the cookie down on the table gently, unlike so many other times where it had dropped as their power ran out. Harry lifted his hand toward the cookie, but instead of focusing on it, he focused on the air that he knew was there. There was a slight disturbance around the cookie, like looking at the air near a candle, and it rose from the table.

Harry realized that this wasn't nearly as hard as before, and he shifted the air, shunting the cookie sideways. Hermione and Ron both looked at him astounded.

"What?" He said, and he was pleased that the cookie stayed upright. Ron's mouth hung open, and Harry grinned. He turned the cookie around, and sent it flying into Ron's open mouth.

Once Ron was done coughing and spluttering, Lupin congratulated Harry on his improvement, and invited Ron to have a try at a new cookie, which he had produced from a box on the table.

They went at it for an hour or so, taking turns, and Lupin advised them all on what Harry had done by condensing the air. They all suddenly found the task much easier.

"Alright, I think you guy can handle this measly cookie." Lupin told them, standing up. "Alright, lets go." He said, and they all stood up, ready for their duels with him. They were all inspired by their near win in the last session.

However, once they left the kitchen, Lupin didn't turn towards the back door like he normally did, but into the Weasley's living room. The three teens shared a confused look, and then followed Lupin.

Sitting in the middle of the living room was a trunk that looked vaguely familiar to Harry. When Lupin bent and slipped a key into one of the seven locks that adorned the face of the chest.

"That's Moody's!" Harry said, and Lupin nodded, and pulled open a drawer.

"It is, and we are going in here today." Lupin said, and indicated that they should climb into the chest. As they approached it, the realized that open drawer revealed a descending staircase.

Ron climbed in first, and Harry gave Hermione a quick hand up. She smiled at him.

"How gentlemanly, Potter." Lupin said quietly as Harry climbed in. Harry stopped, and turned back to the professor.

"Bite me!" Harry hissed at him, and darted away down the steps. Lupin just shook his head, and stepped in after them, closing the drawer with a wave of his wand.

As he descended the steps, Harry was wondering what exactly they were doing down here, in this dank pit. As he stepped off the stairs, his wonders were answered in a glitter of silver.

The rectangular room was lined, wall to wall, with weapons. Not machine guns, or handguns, but archaic medieval weapons. Ron was already at one of the walls, running his fingers over the gleaming swords and axes, and Hermione was nodding sagely, as if she understood what was going on.

Lupin stood in the doorway, watching them. Harry turned back, looking at him questioningly.

"Pick something." He encouraged, and Harry looked between him and the weapons, still not understanding. Hermione rolled her eyes, and sighed. Grabbing him by the arm, she led him off to the racks on the walls.

"Harry, do you remember Professor Lupin talking about how the constant use of magic is extremely draining on a witch or wizard?" She asked, and Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I can remember yesterday." He answered snappishly. She rolled her eyes again.

"Well then use your head! If magic is extremely draining to use over a long period of time, we would want to have these weapons because…" She left off.

"Because, they won't drain our magical strength." Harry answered, understanding. He looked at the weapons in front of him. He wished he knew more about swords and axes and other weapons in that moment. He looked across at Ron, who was already taking some test swings with a two handed axe. Harry shrugged, and after a shared look with Hermione, hoisted a nearby broadsword off the wall.

They had been working with the weapons for nearly half an hour before Lupin called them back together. When they came, Ron was still holding tightly to his battle axe, Hermione was toying with a saber, still unable to decided, and Harry was sporting a pair of long curved blades; scimitars.

"Well, I take it at least one of you figured out why I brought you guys down here?" Lupin asked, and both Harry and Hermione nodded, but Ron just shrugged.

"You wanted us to choose weapons. We need them for fighting, you think, for when our magic is exhausted." Hermione answered.

'That's right. You have all 'studied' History of Magic. The bloody goblin rebellions were hard fought, with swords, axes, spears and wands. It is true that you will most likely use magic, but if this breaks into a full scale war, you will need to know how to use the weapons you select. Make sure you are comfortable with what you choose." Lupin told them.

"I am happy with this axe." Ron said beaming. He hoisted the heavy weapon, displaying it proudly. It had a long, dark wooden handle. It was double sided, and curves wickedly. There was a foot long blade jutting out from between the tips of the axe.

"And these swords are fine for me." Harry said, thinking that this whole thing was a bit ridiculous. Lupin looked expectantly at Hermione, who shrugged.

"I still don't know." She said, sounding guilty and sorry.

"No problem, just take your time." Lupin told her, smiling gently. She nodded, and stepped back to the wall. She placed the saber back, and pulled down a small axe, which she returned almost immediately.

"Do you want to practice with those Harry?" Lupin asked, and Harry shrugged. Lupin waved his wand, and a padded pole rose from the ground.

"Have a go with them, Harry." Lupin suggested, before he turned around to help Ron, as the enthusiastic red head was already swinging away with his axe. Harry turned to the padded pole, shrugged, and, feeling a bit ridiculous, launched a lazy side arm swipe with both blades. The blades were ripped from his hands almost as soon as he made contact with the pole. The light cut hadn't been enough to tear through the padding, and it had stuck in the fabric. The blades clattered to the floor.

Cursing loudly enough to draw a reproachful gaze from Hermione, Harry scooped up the blades and launched another side arm attack, this time driving the blades across savagely. They sliced cleanly through the padding, which repaired itself magically almost instantly.

He turned with the momentum of his swing, and brought the blades up high, spinning and launching them downward in an overhead double chop. The blades plowed though the top inch of fabric, but were once again ripped from Harry's grasp, only to stand quivering in the wood of the pole top.

As he wrenched the blades out, he heard Hermione laughing at him. He looked at her, his eyes wild with anger.

"Do you find this funny?" He growled, and she shrugged, and then nodded.

"I guess so." She answered cheekily. Harry noticed that she appeared to have decided on her weapons. In her right hand, she clutched a long knife, about a foot long. In her left, she held a saber, slim and curving gently to the tip.

"Go on, I'd like to see you do better!" Harry challenged, gesturing with the blade in his right hand.

"Whatever you want, Harry." She answered sweetly, giving him a broad smile. It gave him a moment's pause. She stepped up to the pole, and held the saber out in front of her. The knife in her right hand was poised low beside her hip.

She leapt forward, and cleaved the air in a downward angled cut, right to left. She left a deep scoring in the fabric, which closed quickly. She brought the saber whipping back across at chest height, scoring another deep wound on the pole. She continued this way, her feet rather static, and never using her right hand. After a few moments, she stopped, breathing a little heavier then normal.

"Much better than you, I presume." She said haughtily. Harry stared at her dubiously.

"I'm in a fencing club during the summers. Well, I was in a fencing club during the summers. One of my Muggle friends, from my school before Hogwarts, joined, so I joined to spend time with her during the summer." Hermione explained. She hefted the saber. Harry stared at her blankly, not understanding how that would have helped her be so good with a sword.

"This is actually quite similar to a fencing foil. Although fencing is more stabbing then slashing, we played around a bit." She said, noticing Harry's blank look. It was a moment before his brain kicked back that fencing was sword fighting, like at the Olympics.

"I guess I never thought about the Muggle stuff that you do over the summer." Harry said guiltily. Hermione brushed off the apology with a wave of her hand.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like I ever brought it up, did I? No, we were all always just happy to be together again at the start of the school year, and there was always more important things to talk about." Hermione told him. Harry nodded. It was true. There were always pressing issues to discuss when the trio had been at Hogwarts. Things like homework, quidditch, who was dating who, Snape's gitdom, the new Defense teacher, not to mention Voldemort always seemed to be the important things.

"I guess." Was all Harry said as an answer. He turned back to the padded pole, already healed from the deep cuts Hermione had scored.

"When you attack, you didn't use your knife at all. And you didn't really move your feet. Shouldn't you be using both hands?" Harry asked. Hermione shrugged.

"Probably, but I'm not used to fighting with two weapons. Nor one, really. The thing is, I have my wand in my right hand, so if I ever have to used this thing, it'll be with the left hand, and without the knife. I only grabbed it to balance out the look and feel really." Hermione answered.

"I suppose." Harry said doubtfully. He figured he would probably only be fighting with one hand too, if it ever came down to it.

"I think that tomorrow we should go to Diagon Alley, and try and find some books on sword fighting and stuff. This'll be easier if we read up on technique first." Hermione told him.

"Only you would reduce bloody fighting to books, wouldn't you Hermione?" Ron said, cutting into the conversation.

"Yes Ron, only me. Oh, and the people who right our defense texts. Oh, and our charms text. And the people who write most spell books with combative spells. And Sun-Tzu, and other military strategists. But of course, it's just me Ron." She said dryly. Lupin restrained the urge to laugh as he stood over Ron's shoulder.

"Hermione; one, Ron; zero." He quipped, earning himself a beaming smile from the brunette, and a glower from the red head.

"I think that we have had enough time down here for today. We'll call it a short lesson." Lupin said.

"But we didn't learn anything." Harry complained. Lupin looked at him in surprise.

"I would have expected that from Hermione. But if you insist, I will teach you something that will be useful in your training with these weapons." He said with a smile. Wasting no time, he plucked the long knife from Hermione's fingers, and raised his wand so that it touched tip to tip with the blade.

"Guardina!" he said, and a bright red film slid down the blade, and then with a final flash, it disappeared. Next he turned to Harry.

"May I?" He asked, raising his wand. Harry nodded uncertainly. Lupin raised his wand, placed it on Harry's head and repeated the same enchantment. Harry saw the film cover his eyes, and then flash brightly. He looked at Lupin, expecting something to happen.

Smiling broadly, Lupin stabbed ahead, straight into Harry's stomach. Harry jerked back, and fell over clutching his stomach. He heard Hermione screaming, and Ron shouting, and Lupin trying to defend himself.

"Look!" he screamed at last, pointing at Harry. Harry was writhing on the ground, in pain. However, there was no blood anywhere, not on his clothes, or on the floor.

"Finite incantatum!" Lupin shouted. Harry instantly stopped moving, and sat up, acting quite normally, looking about perplexed. His hands patted his stomach fervently, and he looked up at Lupin.

"What the hell did you do?" Harry asked, not sounding at all angry, giving that he had realized he was completely unharmed.

"The spell that I used is for training with weapons. It simulates realistic pain from a wound without actually inflicting it. It was invented so that fighting wizards, and at the time of its invention, the knights that they were to be fighting with, wouldn't go into shock from pain when they were wounded. They have already experienced the pain of most wounds." Lupin explained, and they all nodded.

"The knights they were fighting with? You mean Muggles and wizards used to live together?" Ron asked, incredulous.

"Yes, but that is a lesson for another time." Lupin said with a smile. "Now I really must be going, I have…erm… plans for this evening." Lupin said, going faintly red.

"Shagging" Harry coughed, moments before Hermione coughed 'Tonks'. Ron looked at them both, and Lupin flushed a distinctly brighter shade of red.

"Erm, yes, let's go. Out of the trunk." Lupin said, trying to maintain he dignity. He shooed them with him hands.

Ruthlessly teasing the ex-professor, the three youths made their way up the stone staircase and out into the living room. Ginny, who was seated on one of the worn couches, looked up at the site of them stepping from the trunk. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the weapons they were all carrying.

"I will bright some sheaths and straps for you all when I come again tomorrow." Lupin promised once they were all out, and he had shrunk the trunk. "Now I have to go. Good bye." He said, leaving the room as he tucked the reduced trunk into his pocket.

"Oh, damn!" Hermione swore right after they heard the faint 'pop' of his apparation. Both of the boys turned and looked at her. She never swore.

"We were going to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, remember?" She asked Harry, who nodded, remembering that she had mentioned going to Diagon Alley earlier.

"So what, we can still go." Ron said, yawning loudly. "I'm hungry!" He declared loudly.

"We can't go, Ronald, because Remus said he was coming." Hermione explained in an exasperated voice.

"Owl him." Ron suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "Seriously, do you think my mum is making dinner yet?" Hermione rolled her eyes, at him, and grabbed him by the elbow, and led him away toward the kitchen.

"Honestly, do you ever think about anything besides food, Ronald?" She asked, a smile playing on her lips. Ron shrugged.

"Sometimes. But then I'm thinking about how to get food, not the food itself." He joked. Harry laughed, and set off after the pair.

A/N: I'm not going to lie, I am very dissatisfied with this chapter, well the last little bit, but I thought that I should get it up, seeing as how I haven't updated in a while. I have a really heavy course load at the moment, and its bogging me down. That and my downright laziness and this excessive writer's block I have. That's what I get for participating in three text-based RPG's that require creativity. Honestly, they are eating my writing ideas.

Anyways, I would LOVE a decent number of reviews. I have another pole for you guys. Do you think low reviews are a good or a bad thing?

Oh and that editor I was happy about has gone AWOL, so I am afraid you will have to suffer another chapter with some atrocious errors. I read it over, but i'm betting I missed some. SORRY!

Strider: Yeah, that's some classic Yoda! Thanks for reviewing!

Ladylaughalot: I know that there are typos and I'm sorry. I'm working on reducing them. And I know that the Harry and Hermione bit was a bit OOC, but I have seen people make stories with WAY more OOC bits in them. For example, Dramione fics. All authors of fics containing this ship are mentally invalid. Thanks for the review!

Rainbow star: Thank you for your review. I was afraid that the shippy bits I was sticking in were bad. Thank you!

Lunar Kasumi: Luna will be in the story later. I'm really not sure when. But I promise, there will be R/L later.

harry'n'mione4everThe wandless magic thing is a really strong basis from which my sotry is based. I hope I did a good job explaining it. I expanded on it a bit here too.

Imakeeper: I'm not a huge Ron fan either.

Dave a.k.a. Lord Chandler