They returned to the Hospital Wing to find everything fixed as if nothing happened. Madame Pomfrey gave them both a long lecture on respecting school property, but once she saw that things were better between the two boys, she settled for taking 20 points each from Gryffindor.

The upcoming weeks were filled with a lot of groveling on Ron's part. First, he had to make amends with his sister, who upon seeing him, kicked him in the shin and began twisting his ear in anger. Next he had to sort out his weeping, yet furious, mother and her equally furious husband. Even Professors Dumbledore and Ryuuzaki were a bit colder to him on their first training session since his reappearance.

Once all the apologies were given and things slowly returned to a sort of normal pace, it was time for Christmas holidays. Everyone was excited. Christmas shopping proved to be difficult for the friends who always seemed to be together, so they'd decided to go in shifts. When one was gone they were not to be followed and no questions asked upon return. Harry and Ron were having the hardest time, given that they shared a room. Harry was doing his best to give the best gifts this year. For Hermione, he bought a huge scroll that magically took dictation and would never run out of space. This way she could easily get down all of her notes for classes. For Ginny, he got what appeared to be a simple bracelet, that when activated allowed the wearer to speak any language of their choice. He even got the rest of the Weasleys gifts that he was sure they'd love and be able to use. He was absolutely sure Ron would adore his gift and that was all Harry could ask for.

The Golden Trio headed down to Hogsmeade to their friends off. Hermione was spending her vacation with her parents, Neville and Luna seemed to be going somewhere together with Neville's grandmother who was dying to meet 'his little girlfriend', Seamus and Dean were headed home as well. Ginny, being to young to Apparate on her own was taking the floo to the Burrow. As they all said their goodbyes and headed off in their own directions, Harry and Ron took each other's hands and made their way to the Burrow as well.

With a distinct 'pop' sound, Harry and Ron arrived in the living room of the Burrow. They were suddenly attacked by an army of redheads, voices full of joy and warmth. Once that was out of the way, the family sat down to a hearty, homecooked feast and shared stories of their lives.

"So Ron, How's your training coming along?" Bill asked.

"Pretty well, Harry and I have come a long way."

"Harry?" Bill asked. "Is he helping you train?"

"I'm an Elemental Mage as well" Harry said, unsure of why he didn't know.

"Really?! Well that's fantastic! We've got two in the family now." He beamed. Harry blushed a bit, he loved it when someone made mention of him being part of the family.

"Yeah, it's brilliant stuff, we can even use our elements to turn into animals. Sort of like Animagi."

Ginny just nodded her head. She'd seen Harry's first hand, but she hadn't seen Ron's.

"Care to demonstrate?" Percy asked, his interest suddenly piqued.

"Sure, let's head outside." Ron cheered, grabbing his boyfriend's hand and dragging him along.

Once everyone had made it outside, Harry and Ron with space between them and began the incantations they'd learned to safely bring out the animals.

Ron jumped into the air and raised his hands, palms up. Flames began to circle around him and formed a pillar. He then emerged as the enormous Onyx Phoenix and let out a massive cry. He flapped his burning wings and looked down towards his family. To say they were stunned would be an understatement. They were completely in awe of the fact that Ron, their Ron, could turn into something so majestic. After a few seconds, he let the transformation slip away and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Oh Ronald! That was magnificent!" his mother gushed as she ran up to hug him and kiss his face.

"Wicked, little bro!" Charlie exclaimed.

Arthur took his wide and surprised eyes off of Ron and pointed them towards Harry. "All right son, your turn." he gently said. Harry nodded and closed his eyes. He began taking deep breaths and mist came from his mouth each time. Suddenly, spikes of ice shot out from the ground and formed a sort of cocoon around Harry. The cocoon was broken and a bright light spilled forth, revealing a mighty White tiger with sky blue stripes and ice shards adorning his shoulders and hind legs. His eyes were the purest white anyone had ever seen and Harry threw his head back and gave a roar, before releasing the transformation.

"Astounding," Arthur whispered. "simply astounding."

Harry and Ron were showered with praise all the way up until bedtime. They'd gotten dressed for bed and were climbing in when Harry suddenly let out an audible gasp.

"What?! What's wrong?" Ron panicked.

"It's gone!" Harry nearly shouted. "The scar's gone!"

Sure enough, when Ron looked at his lover's forehead, there was no lightning bolt scar to be found.