Teeth

by hathanhate

Harry messes up the animagus process and begins a new journey. New friends and old share his discovery of life. What is in store for The-Boy-Who-Lived? What dangers will he face? Find out inside! WARNINGS: Begins entirely in HP world, crossover starts later. Harry is bisexual. Rated M to be safe.

25. Part Three, Chapter Seven

Thank you to all my readers, and reviewers!

Someone pointed out to me, that when I said Draco and Harry were second cousins, I was wrong. They're actually first cousins once removed. Family relations can be a bit confusing.

Aside from that, here's the next chapter, as promised. There are two more chapters to Part Three, though, if my editing changes as much as I think it will, that might very well change. But, if we assume it will stay two more chapters, then we'll be done with Part Three just at the end of November, then I'll be taking a break so I can work on Part Four like I want to.

For those of you who are wondering, Part Four won't automatically begin with the Avengers, but rather, we'll be going over some instances of Harry's travels, before he eventually ends up in New York. The bulk of the Avengers movie plot will take place in Part Five.

Now then, onto the chapter.

Enjoy.

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Harry's training sessions with Moody may not have gone on for very long, but he had learned a great deal from them. The grizzled old Auror had been a wellspring of knowledge; offering him a plethora of offensive and defensive spells and beaten it into his head how to trust his instincts. Yes, his instincts sometimes led him in odd directions, like his tendency to claw his way up the walls when dueling the man, but those instincts were good. They had led to him avoiding spells he wouldn't have been able to if he had listened to his head alone. More often than not, his mind and his instincts had led him in separate directions, and he had garnered more success when following his instincts rather than his mind.

Swordfighting with Mahdi had only compounded on this. The Arab man was fast; very fast. Often times his blows and strikes came far too quickly for Harry to really think about his responses to them. Rather than considering the question, should he duck or block, he had simply been forced to do one or the other automatically. That meant, once again, that he had to rely on instinct. Maybe that system wasn't the best. Certainly there were people out there whose minds ran at a fast enough pace to be able to mentally weigh their options, but Harry wasn't one of them. Oh, he was smart, but not smart enough to be considered a genius by any definition.

Still, being that he was more creature than human these days, he was an emotional and instinctive beast by nature, so he succeeded more often when he followed his gut than when he tried to make extensive plans. Plans came in handy, of course, but you couldn't plan for everything. His gut had led him to surviving most of the crap that Voldemort had thrown his way in his younger years. His gut had led to him trusting Sirius that night in the shrieking shack. His gut had led him to Mahdi, and to helping Bruce. And right now, his gut was telling him to get his sister out of Hogwarts.

Maybe he should have rounded up the D.A. members in the castle, or even grabbed Lucius and asked for his help. But Harry felt better following his gut than not, and so he wound up travelling to the castle alone. It hadn't been hard to use his usual portkey to get to Gringotts, or even for them to make one that brought him to King's Cross. As the sun set over the horizon, the armor-clad form of a bounding Mishipeshu, the glittering gems of Mahdi's band on one paw, leapt from the platform and began following the train tracks. Those tracks were only ever used by one train, and so served only a single purpose; to lead to Hogwarts.

So Harry followed them.

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In his animal form, Harry was fast. Oh he was fast as a 'human' too, but much more so as a beast. The Hogwarts Express could reach speeds of up to one hundred and fifteen miles per hour when pressed to do so, but typically ran at eighty miles per hour. It left the Station every September the first at eleven in the morning, and arrived at the school somewhere between four and five in the evening. The boat and carriage rides took another ten minutes, with another ten minutes spent ensuring that everything was ready for the sorting feast to take place. Thus, it took the train about five to six hours to arrive. It took Harry about an hour or so less. The sun had gone down around seven thirty, and he made it into the forest and in sight of the castle at about one in the morning.

Then he changed back, and found his way to a familiar clearing to rest for a couple hours, before putting his rescue mission into practice. If everything went well enough, he would be in and out of the castle with no one but Ginny knowing he had been there. He didn't know if Voldemort was in the school on this night, but he had long since made his mental walls strong enough that the Dark Lord would not be able to sense his presence unless they were a foot away from each other, and if Voldemort got that close then he would already know the teen was there anyways.

He hoped it wouldn't come to that, but he was prepared for it all the same.

"You have returned." He had smelled the centaur coming, and wasn't surprised when the voice cut through his thoughts. It was Bane again, rather than Firenze. Had something happened to the other being? The darker centaur walked leisurely into the field, and looked carefully at him before laying down by his side.

"I'm here to get my sister." Bane nodded, the being not seeming to be surprised that he wouldn't be staying.

"You have changed." Harry dipped his head in acknowledgment of this, but didn't elaborate on it. The centaur seemed to accept his silence on the matter, and turned his eyes to the sky. There were a few clouds hindering his star gazing, but he kept his eyes up all the same.

"How are things with your people?"

"Unchanged. The happenings in your world have not altered the forest." The war had yet to affect them then. Harry hummed. That was a good thing, for them at least.

"It might start to. Soon."

"Yes. This is likely."

"If a battle were to take place here," And it probably would, given that this was the only place Harry knew the Dark Lord would be for certain. "would you and your people take part?" Bane glanced at him.

"Only if you are fighting as well. And only from the trees. I will not risk death for my people." Harry nodded.

"Thank you." It was as much help as he could hope for in the coming days. He knew there would be a battle. He could feel it in his bones as surely as Mitera's dirt flesh beneath his feet. It was what he was preparing for. He could use his magic now, and he had learned enough from Moody that he mostly just needed practice. There were a handful of spells among the keeper's books he wanted to learn, and then he would need to get the old D.A. members and whatever was left of the Order together, and anyone else he could find, and get them ready to fight. They would need a plan, and every little thing would help them. If the centaurs could offer support from the trees, likely with arrows, then it would just be one more thing in their favor.

And they needed all they could get, especially now that Voldemort had done whatever he had to change the werewolves in his service. They would have to face them, and Harry knew that as things were now, that wouldn't end well.

"I will be here, when you return again."

"Then I'll see you then." And that was the end of it.

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He hadn't really thought it would work, but Harry had tried to open the secret passage into the keeper's tunnels anyways. To his great surprise, the tree had opened up at his touch, and he was able to slip inside. Had he been wrong about how it worked? Why had it been closed to him before when he had been gone long but not now? Had he accidentally done something to weaken the protections? Even in the tunnels and out of sight, he still slipped his cloak on over his armor, and cast a spell Moody had taught him to silence his footfalls. The tension in him eased when he made it up into the tower, for it held nothing but good memories for him.

But then he was outside of it, slipping silently and invisibly through the halls. It was eerie, even to him to hear no sound when his feet touched the stone, but he moved on. The seventh floor was entirely empty, and he slipped over to the staircases easily. This area was not so empty. There were a small handful of death eaters on a couple of the moving staircases; presumably all on their ways to various areas. He only needed to go one floor down however, and it wasn't hard to slip by them.

The Fat Lady wasn't in her portrait. In fact, there was a door there instead, with a great lock on it, and a single death eater standing guard outside of it. Harry cast a powerful stupify at the masked man before he even knew what had hit him, and it was thankfully enough to knock him out. After hunting through the unconscious man's pockets, Harry managed to find a key.

Then he stopped.

He eyed the death eater. Should he just leave him here? Should he hide him? Take him prisoner? Kill him? He swallowed. Killing him would mean one less person he would have to face in the future, but he had no way of knowing for certain if the man was a willing servant of the Dark Lord or not. He could take him prisoner, but then Voldemort might think the man had helped with getting Ginny out, and if he was an unwilling follower and had a family... In the end Harry tucked him into an alcove, and cast an incarcerous at him. For good measure, he gagged him also. He would be found, but hopefully not until after Harry and his sister were long gone.

He unlocked the door as quietly as he could. The chain on it made a small clatter as it fell loose, but after a tense moment of silence and held breath it seemed no one had heard the commotion. The common room looked the same as it ever had, and was empty. He had to claw his way up the wall of the girl's stairway so he could get up; since the stairs would turn to a slide if he was on them, but he was able to make it inside, and find the right door.

Ginny shared a dorm with two other girls, and Harry checked the beds carefully. Hers was the one farthest from the door, and he was thankful neither of the others had woken up. He cast a strong silencing spell around her bed, and then shook her shoulder.

He promptly found himself with a wand at his throat, the tip glowing a frightening shade of orange, and put his hands up in a placating way. Ginny looked him up and down, eyeing his glamourless form under the light of her wand, and Harry realized she was among those who didn't know. He had, quite stupidly on his part, forgotten that.

"How did we meet?" She hissed at him.

"We met at the station. I asked Mum to help me through the barrier, and when she introduced you, you blushed and hid behind her." The wand came down and he was wrapped up in a hug.

"Oh Merlin! Harry!" She pulled away a bit. "What happened to you? What are you doing here?" He smiled gently at her.

"I'm here to get you out, Gin. I'll explain everything once we're safe." She bit her lip in a way that made her look like Mum, and nodded. He pulled away and she clambered out from beneath the covers. He watched her, and his wide eyes fell on her midsection. He bit back a snarl as a spike of hot protective anger hit him, and put the matter aside as he helped her gather a pack quietly. He understood the reason for the hospital wing trips now, and was glad he had come for her, and not just because of the death eaters.

Harry planned to kill whoever had gotten his little sister pregnant.

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Slipping through the halls with Ginny under the cloak with him along with a bag of her things was easy enough, though much more slow going than his own travels through. The death eater in charge of guarding Gryffindor tower was still out when they came down from the dorm, and they didn't run into anyone else until the stairs. Just as before, there was a few of the Dark Lord's masked followers travelling from place to place; though fewer of them than before. He heard Ginny's breath catch as they reached the moving staircases and she saw them, but he only tightened his arm around her shoulders and led her silently. They just needed to go up one floor and slip through to the keeper's tower. It took a few minutes before a stairway came forward that Harry felt safe using, sure by the patterns of movement that they wouldn't bump into any of the death eaters while on it, and they went up.

He was glad he had come for her. Ginny's belly was swollen enough for her state to be obvious, and though he didn't know how far along she was, even he was aware that a birth was close enough that having her out of her was the best option. Having a baby, here in Hogwarts with Voldemort and his followers in control was the worst fate that could befall such a child. Then there was still the question of the unborn infant's father. Harry remembered all those months, more than a year ago even, when he had overheard his sister and someone talking about having sex.

As troubling and embarrassing as the thought was, the idea of her being pregnant as a result of some relationship with another student was the better option. Especially when the alternative... Harry's vision flashed red as they slipped onto the seventh floor. If one of the death eaters had stooped so low... If Ginny had been forced in any way...

Harry would have to amend his original plan of killing Voldemort and capturing his followers to slaughtering every last one of them.

As they made their way carefully to the keeper's tower, Harry pushed aside such dark thoughts. It was going to be troublesome if he ever needed to get back into the castle for any reason after this. As soon as they discovered she was gone, security would tighten. Hopefully the remaining D.A. members would not panic so much, and would realize that she had gotten away, and he hoped for their safety after this. He felt guilty at the thought that any of them might suffer this imprisonment more because of his actions, but even that would not be enough to stop him from having done this, especially now that he knew the reasons for his sister's common trips to the infirmary.

He breathed a sigh of relief once they were in the tower, but still led Ginny along in silence to the tunnels. He was taking no chances. He went down the ladder first, and was ready at the bottom as Ginny came down carefully and hesitantly, using only one hand and keeping the other on her stomach, in case he needed to catch her. The possibility of rape went down in his mind with her actions. No matter how kind hearted his sister was, he did not think she would feel so protective of her unborn child if it had been the product of force. That eased him some, and he helped her off the ladder with gentle hands, and slipped the cloak back over their heads once she was on firm ground.

She followed his lead in silence, and he led her through the tunnels in equal silence, knowing from her frequent glances that he would have to explain later, and he would, but for right now his only focus was in getting her out of the castle and to the safety of Bogdon's huge stone walls. They stopped twice along the winding tunnels for her to rest, as he could see the small travel taking a toll on her. She was far enough along that this was taxing on her. Near the end, before they slipped into the forest, he picked her up in his arms and began to carry her. She seemed to feel ashamed that he needed to, but she didn't argue; either because her feet hurt too much to, or because she realized the need to get away quickly.

She was only a bit heavier than one of Mahdi's large goats, and he jogged through the forest with ease, his tail serving to help keep him balanced. They had not gone far when an alarm of sorts went off from the direction of the castle,sounding like an old air-raid siren, and Harry moved more quickly. Ginny's arms tightened around his neck, and he could see the fear when he glanced at her face. But then they felt the wards pass over them, and Harry activated his portkey, hoping both that he would land on his feet and that the travel wouldn't hurt his unborn niece or nephew.

Huh. He was going to be an Uncle, wasn't he?

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Being pregnant and in the snow was not a good thing, especially when the woman wasn't dressed for it, so when they arrived (Harry thankfully landing on his feet and managing not to drop Ginny), he rushed his sister inside as quickly as he could and immediately headed upwards. He wanted to talk to her alone, but he wanted to make sure she (and her baby) were okay first, and out the few witches with children who currently lived in Bogdon, he only really knew one personally. It was late, and he knew it was sort of rude, but he found himself pounding on the Malfoy's door all the same, being very careful not to set Ginny down or drop her.

Lucius Malfoy opened the door only a few moments later, his hair a bit mussed, and his face set in furious lines. Sharp grey eyes fell on Harry, then the girl in his arms with surprise. They flew back to the teens face, and something there must have shown whatever Harry was feeling at that moment, (Fear? Nervousness? Protective rage?) because Lucius stood aside without a word and Harry carried Ginny in quickly. He had just set her down on one of the couches when a door opened. He looked up to see Mrs. Malfoy, hair up in a messy bun and wrapped up in a thick robe. She took one look at him and then Ginny, and immediately rushed over, her wand suddenly in her hand and her face twisting from irritation at being woken to concern.

Harry was pushed out of the way, and a flurry of spells were cast, some he recognized, some he didn't; but he knew they were harmless. He blinked, sprawled on the floor, and then settled into a legs-crossed position and calmed, content to let the Lady Malfoy do what she was doing, and glad he hadn't had to beg on hands and knees for her help.

"Harry?" He looked up at the sound of the sleepy voice, and smiled weakly at Draco. But the blonde's eyes had already moved off of him and onto his mother and Ginny. His grey eyes were wide as dinner plates, his gaze frozen on her stomach as his mouth dropped slightly open. "Wha?"

"Draco." The blonde shook himself and looked at his father. "Perhaps you can fetch something to eat and drink for young miss Weasley."

"I, uh, Y-yes father." Draco ran off to do as told, not arguing or bothering to point out that they could just as easily have summoned a house-elf to do it. Harry would have questioned that, except that he noticed a bit of tenseness in Ginny's shoulders ease.

"Come along sweetie. I need to get a closer look." Mrs. Malfoy helped Ginny off of the couch and over to the room she had come out of. Harry would have asked what she needed to do if not for the blush on Ginny's face. He turned red himself as the implications of a 'closer look' sunk in. His sister glanced over Mrs. Malfoy's arm on her shoulder to look back at him nervously. He smiled and gave her a small nod, trying to tell her with his eyes that it was alright. Her nerves didn't really seem to ease, but she smiled weakly back at him. Then her and the Lady Malfoy disappeared past the door that shut firmly behind them.

"Would you like a drink?" He looked back up at Lucius at the question, and while normally he would have said no, this time he gave a firm nod, and pulled himself off the floor and into a chair. Lucius disappeared into one of the other rooms, presumably to get some alcohol, and Harry found himself alone with his thoughts for a few moments.

It finally hit him, that he had successfully rescued Ginny from Hogwarts. He had gotten in, and gotten her out, without confrontation. Yes, he had been forced to knock out a guard, and some kind of alarm had gone off before they were entirely away, but he had still done it. Before, he might have called that good luck, and while yes, part of it was sheer luck, there was more to it than that. His knowledge of spells had let him make himself silent, and his enhanced senses, good observation, and paranoid care had ensured neither he alone nor he and Ginny together had encountered anyone and been discovered. It had been more than luck, and that made him smiled victoriously for just a moment, before thoughts of Ginny's swollen belly came back to the forefront of his mind and he frowned.

He wasn't given chance to brood for long though, because then Lucius was back, and handing him one of the two glasses in his hand. The other hand held a rotund bottle of amber liquid. Harry sniffed at it, because it looked rather a lot like firewhiskey. It didn't smell the same though, but it did smell strong, so rather than nurse it he tossed it back quickly. The taste was sharp and not very pleasant, but that was fine, because he was more after loosening his muscles and calming himself than he was tasting something nice. It was magical alcohol of course, taking effect as quickly as a potion, and he felt warmth blossom in his stomach and cheeks before he had even fully set the glass down.

Lucius gave him a look and pulled the bottle out of his reach. That was good. He didn't think he would mind getting drunk at the moment, now that it had fully hit him that Ginny, his sister, who was only sixteen, was pregnant. Pregnant enough to have a rounded belly and trouble walking long periods. He groaned and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his forehead to try and fight off the fast approaching headache that had nothing to do with the alcohol. He put his hand down and looked up, meeting Lucius' eyes. It occurred to him now, as it had not when he had headed up here, or before he had left, that he was still not wearing his glamour band.

But Lord Malfoy didn't look oddly at him beyond a glance across his person, and neither had his wife in that small period of time before she had led Ginny off to privacy. Harry found he didn't really care much anyways. He trusted the Malfoys, strange as that though might have been just a few months ago, and it seemed like more and more people were learning the truth anyways. It seemed like whatever initial plan he had possessed to keep absolutely no one from finding out had long since been shot to hell.

The twins knew. Moody knew. Severus knew. Mahdi. Muhammad. Bruce. Blaise. Draco. Daphne. Vincent. Gregory. Now Mrs. and Mr. Malfoy and Ginny. There were too many people, and at the same time, he really wasn't all that worried about it. Most of those people were bound to silence, and the ones that weren't, weren't likely to tell anyone. He sighed wearily all the same. It was just becoming harder and harder to keep this a secret. Or maybe he was just getting more and more reckless with it.

Still, it would hardly matter once he managed to kill Voldemort. Even he wasn't so stupid that he didn't realize the political implications that would be set in place once he defeated the Dark Lord. Dumbledore had been politically untouchable, even when his defeat of Grindelwald had been so far back. Yes, that political invulnerability had faded as the years had gone by, but if he revealed the truth soon after killing the man...

No one would dare try to arrest him. Not only would it be political suicide, but people would outright mutiny if their saviour was arrested. He sneered at the thought. It was a dirty trick, one he found disgusting, but he had long since realized the truth of it, and at this point, he was very much tired of keeping so many secrets.

He shook his head. His thoughts had run off topic. Was he that bothered by what was currently happening that much or was the alcohol even stronger than he had thought?

"I assume, her being here has something to do with some sort of reckless action on your part?" Lucius asked.

"It wasn't reckless." He defended. Lucius simply looked at him. "I knew what I was doing, and it would have been too risky to bring anyone else." The man continued to stare. "I was careful. No one saw us and we got out without incident." Lucius took a sip of his drink in silence and Harry sighed. "Okay so maybe it was a little reckless. But it worked." Lord Malfoy smirked.

"That it did." Harry blinked. He hadn't actually expected such an agreement. The man's grey eyes flashed with amusement that showed he knew that. "I would also assume that her... State, is not your doing?" Harry's eyes darkened, and that must have been answer enough because the blonde man nodded. "I see... Do you think she may have...?" The cut off question hung in the air and Harry shook his head.

"No. I think... I think it was a," He waved a hand. "Boyfriend." He spit the word out like a curse, something that seemed to amuse Lucius even more.

"It is better than the other possibility." Harry swallowed, and nodded.

"I wasn't sure death eaters did that sort of thing. I had hoped not, but I considered it." He eyed Lucius carefully.

"We don't. Or rather, most don't. It is something that even the Dark Lord found reprehensible." That surprised Harry a bit. So even Voldemort had lines he wouldn't cross? "But there are evil men everywhere. I remember times during the first war, when men would go to attack muggle families, and one would be left the job of cleaning up; killing the muggles or disposing of the bodies. There were some..." He paused, looking faintly green. "There were some who took a bit longer than others, and who seemed a bit too pleased afterwards." Harry felt a spike of nausea. "Sometimes, the Dark Lord caught them..." His eyes darkened. "They suffered fates that were well deserved."

"Good." Harry said it without thought, not considering anything beyond his personal feelings on the matter. Lucius said nothing, and Harry knew he agreed. Perhaps that was cruel, and it certainly didn't qualify as justice, but it was what he felt. In Harry's mind, a rapist was more deserving of death than a killer. At least a man who killed might possibly have a good reason for it. His talk with Firenze regarding killing for the sake of defense had shown him that. But rape...

There was no possible situation, in which that could be excused.

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Ginny wound up staying in that room, and though Mrs. Malfoy appeared to fetch the food from Draco upon his return, saying that his sister was in the bath, Harry did not actually see her again that night. The blonde woman had told him quite firmly, that Ginny would be in good hands for the night, and he didn't need a deeper explanation to know that this was non-negotiable. So with the explanation that Ginny would take Draco's room for the night, he and the other teen found themselves suddenly pushed outside the Malfoy quarters by a rather protective Lady Malfoy, and the large wooden doors shut firmly in their faces.

Harry blinked at the doors, and then at Draco, whose expression was as much a mix of confusion and concern and perhaps slight irritation as his own likely was. Those grey eyes landed on him and they both stared, and then sighed in unison.

"Mind if I crash with you for the night?" Harry shrugged and they both turned to walk through the halls. It was late enough that Harry doubted anyone else would be up, and he didn't really feel like putting the glamour back on anyways. Their footsteps echoed soundly off the stone walls, and Harry's thoughts had just begun to drift again when Draco spoke once more. "So you rescued her then?"

"Yea."

"Run into any trouble?"

"Nope."

"Good." Harry stopped, and Draco stopped also, looking at him curiously.

"You don't mind that I left the castle to do this?" The blonde stared at him for several seconds, his expression moving quickly from curious to unreadable.

"I have faith in you." Just five words and they held so much meaning. Harry found himself at a loss.

"...Why?" Draco looked away.

"You're different. I don't know where you went, or what happened, but you changed. I would have almost thought you were a different person, but you're still you." Harry was confused. Had he changed so much? He hadn't thought so, but often people had more insight into others than into themselves. "I can tell that you're stronger now, and I think..." The blonde swallowed. "Even though the odds are stacked against you, I believe that you can win. I believe that you can kill him, so if you go off to do something that isn't as dangerous as that, I have faith that you'll do fine."

"I see." He didn't really, since he couldn't understand from where this faith of Draco's had come, but the blonde looked rather uncomfortable at the admittance, so he decided not to press the issue. Maybe some other day he would.

They didn't speak again after that, and when they arrived in the dungeons, and Harry's quarters, he pointed to the bedroom, and offered up his bed to Draco, so long as the blonde didn't mind sharing with Metis. He didn't, something that made Harry wonder if he and Blaise had perhaps switched which of his pets they were responsible for at any point. He would have to remember to ask his strange snake later. He himself settled onto the couch of the living room, which was really quite comfortable, and shut his eyes.

Thoughts of Ginny, and her pregnancy arose immediately, but he pushed them down, and with Mitera's help, drifted into dreams of the sea.

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He awoke to a small weight on his chest, and found Oddball sleeping peacefully there when he blinked his eyes open, moving slightly as the little creature breathed, and tiny snores coming from it. He smiled, and was careful not to wake the little one when he sat up. He got off the couch, setting Oddball down on one of the cushions, and stretched. His back popped and he hummed contentedly, then sat down to meditate.

He touched upon Mitera's presence, and the Earth happily sucked him in. It was not so disorienting these days as it had been in the beginning. Back then, Mitera had tried to show him too much at once, and it hadn't ended well for his mind, but these days she offered simple, singular things. Today he found himself lost in the workings of a tree.

A bird flew overhead, and a seed fell to the ground. It lay in the dirt, and time passed, more dirt covered it slowly, and leaves from other trees, and then finally, blessed rain, and the seed cracked open; a tiny seedling making it's way out. It grew until it had breached the dirt and leaves, and finally grew the first leaf of it's own, taking in wondrous sunlight for the first time.

Harry watched it grow and change, and birds nested in its' branches, and someone took wood from it, apologizing in words to the tree for allowing this, even though the tree could not understand the meaning of those words. But the trees were alive, and the feeling was there, the knowledge of apology and gratitude, and the hungry lone cougar nearby had chosen to move on rather than take the human, because of his respect for the tree. Later the cougar would die, and rot, and fertilize the soil for more trees to be grown, and for smaller animals to pick off it and live another day before it was completely rotten.

The inner workings of the Earth were complicated, and sometimes seemingly cruel, but they were simple too. Things were born, then they died, and new things were born. That was all. Harry didn't need to be told or ask Mitera to understand how insignificant he really was. The happenings in the United Kingdom meant nothing to her beyond her anger over the black magicks Voldemort had used. She could care less about regimes and governments and individual people. Or rather, she cared about the individuals, but not in the way that humans did. She loved all living beings on her equally. There was no difference between her love for a human or magical being and her love for a single blade of grass, because to her, regardless of form and capability, there was no difference between the two at all.

Harry opened his eyes, and though unsure of how long had passed, he found Oddball very much awake and sitting in his lap. He scratched its' back and thought. Mitera would ground him. His connection to her helped him to know and understand things, and made it possible to control his magic. He would still be able to use his magic even without that connection, because the knowledge it had brought him would not pass, but without it his understandings of the world's workings would not be the same.

He could not look at things the same way that Mitera did. To him, a human had more value than grass, but he would respect her love. He had no plans to become one of those monks that had people sweep the streets before they came so that they would not so much as step on a bug, and he would not change his plans to kill Voldemort. People lived and died, but they were of meaning to Mitera either way, because all things returned to her in death. She did not care if he killed plants while he walked over them, or animals for food, or other humans for justice. Death meant nothing to her beyond its' necessity and how it helped for other life to go on.

Harry stood and sat Oddball on his head, and out his glamour back on again, conscious now that the people living in his home were likely to be awake now. Then he lit a cigarette, and smoked on his way up to the top floor. There were a handful of people in the halls, though no one he was close to, and while a few people gave the cancer stick dirty looks, they still smiled and waved at him as he passed them. A few people glanced at the scimitar at his hip, but they had grown used to seeing it there during the few days he had been back from the Middle East.

He had finished his smoke before he came to the door of the Malfoy's quarters, and he put the bud in a pocket to dispose of later. Lucius answered when he knocked, the pureblood back to his fully unruffled state now that it was a decent hour. He was ushered in without a word, and found Mrs. Malfoy and Ginny sitting together on one of the couches and speaking in low voices. They looked up when he came closer, and his sister beamed.

"Harry!"

"Hey Gin." He sat down across from her and she continued to smile at him. She looked wonderful now, in the daylight. She was glowing. He had heard of that before, of pregnant women having a 'glow' about them. In this case it seemed to be true. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine. 'Cissa's been taking good care of me." 'Cissa? Harry held back a chuckle. The Lady Malfoy didn't seem to mind the familiarity though. Who knew a Weasley and a Malfoy could actually get along? Actually, a sly voice in his head cut in; technically Mrs. Malfoy was really a Black.

"That's good. How's," He paused, and pushed down the tiny spark of anger that began to return. His temper was much better now that he had meditated. "the baby?"

"Everything's fine." It was Mrs. Malfoy who answered him. He looked at her. He had never spoken to the woman much. She tended to keep to herself or spend time with Mrs. Zabini. "I imagine you brought her here by portkey?" He nodded. "In the future, don't do that again. She isn't far enough along for that to cause damage, but in just another few weeks she will be. It could be dangerous for the baby."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." The woman smiled at him, and though Ginny looked as though she wanted to say something, she continued speaking.

"I know. That is why I am not angry with you. Besides, there was no damage done. The girl is growing well and there are no complications." A girl? So he was to have a niece then.

"About that..." He looked at Ginny, and his eyes hardened slightly. His temper might be better, but it was not gone. "How did this happen?" Ginny fidgeted nervously. "Ginny?" She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I was dating Dean." Harry froze. Dean? Dean Thomas? "We were always careful. We used the spells any everything... But... I think we must have forgotten to once, or something..." Her face was as red as her hair and she wouldn't meet his eyes. Unbidden, a memory of his foolish attempt to save Sirius came to his mind. Dean had awoken then too, and Harry recalled how he had been certain the teen was not alone in bed, but had chosen not to ask. Had Dean snuck Ginny into the dorm? Slept with her right there with he and Ron in the very same room? He growled. The sound startled the women and Mrs. Malfoy sat straighter while Ginny flinched back. Harry took deep breaths.

"I see." He continued to breathe, counting in his head until he had calmed some. Dean was a friend. Because of that, he wouldn't kill him outright. At least not until he had spoken to him. But if the Gryffindor didn't plan to put a ring on his sister's fingers then he would wish Harry had.

"Don't be mad at him Harry. It was my fault." He eyed her. "He wanted to take things slower. He wanted to wait but I-" She cut herself off and looked back down. Harry remembered that time in the tunnels. Had that been Dean then too? He hadn't tried to match the voice then, but the boy she'd been speaking to had sounded so uncertain.

"It's alright Ginny. We can worry about it all later." She looked back up at him. "Right now, you're here, and you're safe, and that's all that matters." She smiled weakly, and he saw Mrs. Malfoy give him a look of approval. It seemed he had taken things well enough (at least as far as they knew, since they had no insight into his mind). Then Ginny's face turned a bit more confident.

"So, what was with the weird scales and stuff?" Harry groaned, and settled himself down for the explanation. He paused only once, about halfway through, when a thought came to him about Ginny's unborn daughter.

How were they going to tell Mum about this?

Fuck.

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After that, Ginny was given the room directly across from the Malfoys. It was a small set of quarters, with a very small living space and only the one bedroom and bathroom, but Ginny, who had grown up in the Burrow, was very happy with it, and it put her close to the Malfoys, so that Mrs. Malfoy could check up on her and the baby quickly, and would be close by in case of emergencies. Somehow, without Harry having ever been given the chance to ask for her help verbally, the woman had taken Ginny and her baby as being her responsibility. Perhaps it was some sort of Mother's instinct? All the same, whatever hate had existed between the family of redheads and the family of blondes seemed like it wasn't going to last much longer. The twins had never bought into it, he knew that, though Ron certainly had; But whatever animosity was between Lucius and Arthur wouldn't be there long once the readhead learned all that the Lady Malfoy was doing for his only daughter.

Harry got a bit of hell from the few D.A. members in the castle, but upon learning about Ginny's pregnancy they shut up quickly about it. Seamus though, looked furious. He was well fit to murder Dean for this, and Harry wondered a bit at that. Seamus was hardly close enough to Ginny to have many feelings of brotherly protectiveness towards her, so was it just righteous indignation at the situation itself? All the same, things went back to 'normal' for a while.

Harry trained, practicing his usage of the stone bracelet (his wrists were looking a bit crowded these days, between that and the glamour band, and the protection band from the twins that he couldn't actually remove) until he was as comfortable with it as he had once been with a wand, if not more so. Sometimes he worked alone, and sometimes he dueled Draco or Blaise, or even Muhammad.

As he had thought, the young Arab was well proficient in the art of magical fighting. He had learned that he used a rather unique focus in the form of a pendant he wore under his clothes, and a design of Arabian runes along his arms and hands that were invisible when he wasn't using them. The effect was that it appeared he wasn't using a focus at all. And he was fast. Faster than Mahdi with a sword even. Harry found himself the victim of a few nasty curses because he had been surprised at the young man's speed. But Muhammad wasn't very magically powerful, so while he was quick and could cast many spells in succession of each other, he couldn't cast anything that required a great deal of magic, and he didn't have nearly as much stamina as Harry. The duels that didn't end with him managing to hit Harry tended to end because he ran out of energy.

He was good with a blade too, though he used a long dagger rather than a sword, and that gave Harry a way to learn how to use the dagger Draco had given him all those months ago, since Mahdi had never gotten around to teaching him that. As for swordplay, Lucius of all people was proficient with it, though he used a thin English broadsword rather than a scimitar, and his manner of fighting was vastly different than Mahdi's. Still, it helped him learn, especially how to block and dodge well, because the blonde didn't use that spell Mahdi had to make his blade dull, and if Harry wasn't careful he ended up getting cut.

He began to make plans, often with Lucius and the small-not-D.A.-anymore's help. Some plans were good, some were not, and they worked on them endlessly. Harry would let his instincts guide him through any unexpected situations, but he wanted a good plan for the rest. They sent messages to the others in the castle through the coins, hoping to high heaven that those coins had yet to be compromised, and then worked about a way to meet with the Order. All was going well enough, and then Harry received a letter.

From Severus.

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I suppose, in hindsight, I made it pretty obvious what was going on with Ginny. A few of you guessed what it was before it happened. Anyways, I'll see you all the day after tomorrow.

Also, I just noticed that the reviews for this story had broken the thousand mark. That's really kind of awesome. Thank you all so much. :D

Sincerely,

Mr. Hate