The Prince-Who-Lived

Chapter Fifty-one

Harry stumbled out of the floo with a grimace and wished the timing were better. He'd been determined to go to the get-together at Zabini's, but last night … had been a rough one, to say the least. Nightmares came and went in severity, though they were always present. His throat was still sore despite the potions, and when Nanna came through she sent a glare his direction as well. None of his family really thought he should be attending, but Harry had Gryffindor stubbornness in spades.

However, that had not gotten him through the floo in as timely a manner as he would have liked. The gathering was already fairly full, and, in an interesting slide in etiquette, Blaise was standing at the floo with a ready smile, the rest of the group already gathered on the couches to the left. Usually, there would be another member of the household waiting to show them to an inner room – not the host of the gathering himself waiting. Harry smiled as he shook hands with Blaise, and asked the question with his eyes. After taking a moment to greet Nanna, Blaise then relaxed minutely and rolled his eyes.

"Ulyssa had been greeting everyone, but when Susan and Hannah came through, she had a conniption and refused to greet anyone else, particularly when I mentioned that there would also be Weasleys coming. She cannot stand muggleborns, much less blood traitors. Hell, she has a problem with the Potters and Longbottoms too."

"How can she have a problem with the Potters?" Harry asked curious. "The Longbottoms, I can see that. They're new blood, but we're neither blood traitors nor impure – the Potters can trace the line centuries back."

"You're close enough to the former for her taste, and James shouldn't have married a mudblood." Blaise quipped. "Either way. You're the last one to come through; we're waiting on Theodore and Raina, who are expected to be late."

The small scold made Harry wince, but Blaise's face surprisingly softened. "It's fine, Harry. Alan told me there might be some difficulty. C'mon, the floo sounds before anyone comes through, and Susan and Daphne look hungry."

Harry blinked and then paled. 'Ah, Hell.' He mouthed. Blaise grinned wickedly.

After a moment to close his eyes, Harry turned and shot a smile at the gathered friends, striding over happily. He was glad to see them; the numbers just made him feel faintly nauseous. Unexpectedly, Susan jumped out of her chair and ran over, beaming. Harry smiled until he realized she intended to hug him – moments before she did so.

He almost thought it would be all right – Alan and Neville were tense in their seats, and Nanna and Melanie were watching with similar feelings, but nothing was happening – until several moments passed and his skin burst into flame. Harry hissed in pain, and Susan let go immediately, clapping her hands over her mouth in horror. Harry didn't see, collapsing to the ground and panting, trying to wait the pain out, trying to stop his eyesight from going black – he didn't need this, this was such a mess, everything was going wrong, everything.

Harry panted for breath, his chest tightening, heart pounding. Nobody was touching him, but he knew they were just out of reach, waiting, waiting for him to let his guard down, for the signal to start. He whined, curling up in a ball and tucking his head between his knees. He couldn't breathe

Several moments later, Harry could breathe again and his eyesight cleared. As he waited for his frantic thoughts to calm, he tried to remember where he was, what he was doing, and how many people would be staring this time around. He was leaning against an upholstered chair, probably brocade, and there a was stilted murmur of conversation going on around him. They were at Blaise's house, he knew, and most everyone had already arrived. Susan's hug had started that particular panic attack, one of the few he'd had in lieu of a flashback that, for him, weren't altogether different. He didn't like either of them. .

"How many minutes was I out of it, Neville?" Harry murmured.

"Less than five. It wasn't that terrible, no matter how hard Susan's crying." Neville sounded clipped; Harry supposed he knew why. He didn't usually have such a bad reaction, and Neville had been adamant about protecting him. They'd always taken care of each other. Glancing up, however, Harry got a very good idea of why he was so peeved this particular time. Daphne was smirking; Susan was puffy and looking highly apologetic beside a very pale Hannah. The group had split upon Susan's overzealous mistake, that much was clear, and it was also abundantly clear that the majority favoured Daphne's smugness. Harry straightened and walked over to crouch down in front of Susan. Harry put his hand on her knee and smiled weakly at her.

"I'm glad you were so happy to see me. I gather everyone hadn't gotten around to the particulars of what happened?"

Susan sniffed again, but Daphne snapped, "She shouldn't have done anything until we heard more of what lingered. That curse is a classic in torture, alongside the blood-letting curse."

"Not everyone knows so much about torture, Daphne!" Susan snapped. Apparently she wasn't so upset as to still her tongue. "I didn't know there were curses that could do that, much less that they didn't have counters!"

"Neither of you should be arguing!" Harry cut in. "Daphne, even you couldn't know what particular spells were used, and Susan shouldn't be expected to as a Light family. Your family is better informed, and I should also point out that you made no effort before I arrived to enlighten her, when you should have known she was out of the loop and when none of my friends who did know shared. Should I be angry with them for holding back as well? Should I be angry with you? Should I be angry with Susan for her ignorance? I didn't know those curses existed until I suffered them. Now stop arguing about it!" Harry glanced back up at Susan. "Please keep your enthusiasm separate from contact. I'm usually fine if I initiate small contact, but larger contact, particularly if I'm startled, or contact on more sensitive zones, typically has a bad reaction." Harry smiled warmly. "The enthusiasm is appreciated, though." Harry straightened and then gave Daphne a small smile as well. "As is your defence." Harry wandered around to stand behind Neville, next to Tracey who gave him a flirtatious wink. Harry blinked at her and shook his head, looking down at Neville and raising his eyebrow. Neville chuckled.

"Tracey and Theodore parted ways. Tracey's been flirting with everyone since she arrived."

"Is everyone here? I don't see Salvador." Harry asked quietly. Blaise, cuddling Ginny behind Alan and Luna's chair, shook his head.

"Salvador and Lucille retired to one of the small rooms nearby. They said they had something important they needed to discuss. Lucille looked very torn."

"Salvador looked like he was walking to his death." Jonas drawled. "But then again, I know why he's been so worried. And it's his business."

"Remarkable." Dillan commented. "Jonas minding his own business."

"Shut it, tramp, and mind your own lady." Jonas returned, his voice holding only mock heat. It was the most pleasant Harry had ever seen him, and it looked odd. Stephanie and her friends started chuckling, as the floo rang. Blaise quickly stalked over, followed by a smiling Ginny, and he greeted Theodore and Raina as they came through. Both were clearly stressed. Raina was shivering and rubbing her arms fitfully, while Theodore was stiff in a way Harry knew very well – it was the stubbornness he was currently sporting, to continue going in spite of everything. Their curt acceptances were overrun by Salvador poking his head back inside the room.

"Jonas, could I speak to you out here, please?"

Jonas shot him a curious look but stood up and strode over. Harry turned back to the room and sighed as he looked around. Alan frowned, and, when Theodore and Raina came over, shot them a bright smile Harry doubted anyone present believed for a second. The room was fraught with varying levels of tension. The only relaxation was in the hands touching lovers. The thought brought Harry to frown, so he quickly distracted himself with Theodore's answer to Alan's basic question.

"-Only chance she had to come, honestly."

Raina frowned at him, and Harry quickly searched his mind. Raina … Raina Kozumplik. Her family was dark and rumoured to be Death Eaters. It wasn't a large surprise. Stephanie and all her friends were very dark, although only Raina had such prevalent rumours of joining the Dark Lord. Theodore's father was an outright Death Eater, no questions asked, but the man was old and feeble. Theodore probably had no difficulty deceiving him.

"I'm glad you could make it, Raina." Alan returned, his smile looking vaguely more sincere. "It'll be good just to catch up with everyone."

Raina nodded stiffly, and then Lucille and Salvador came back in, followed by a smirking Jonas who eyed the two speculatively. When they sat down, Lucille took Salvador's lap once more. Alan grinned at them, curious.

"And what has finally cleared up for you two? You were at each other's throats June. Mind; I'm sure quite a few things have changed, but really."

"I was just afraid I was pregnant." Lucille answered lightly. "My parents would have had a conniption, but apparently I'm not so no worries."

Harry caught the faintest flinch in her. As everyone else laughed, Harry thought he might have imagined it until he found Neville and Theodore eyeing her with the same speculation. So he likely wasn't wrong. However, it wasn't something he was going to pry at, not for that subject.

"What's changed for the rest of you? I'm sorry, we left before we could hear much of the conversation." Salvador raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Honestly, I'm surprised he's not tackled to a couch."

"I'm sure the girls would be ecstatic for the chance, but it's not a good idea with the lingering curses I'm dealing with." Harry answered lightly.

Salvador and Lucille both winced. "Oh, that's Hellish." Salvador said with feeling. Harry wondered exactly how his estrangement had gone, that he reacted so. Lucille looked mildly ill. "I hope you'll be recovering soon."

"The hypersensitivity should last two months more or something. The blood letting –haemophilia – should be finished before school starts." Harry shrugged. "It's no biggie."

"Curses don't leave as much a mark as trauma." Theodore offered quietly, his face solemn.

Harry shrugged. "And I'm flattered to be such a lovely topic, but really isn't there anything else to discuss, like why my little sister is sitting so close to a boy two years older?"

Nanna straightened and stuck her tongue out at Harry. "You can't tell me who to date!"

"Nanna, you're dating at thirteen?" Harry asked incredulously. He couldn't tell her not to, but he was at least going to learn about it. "And when did you decide you were dating? I haven't seen you two together much at all." He'd known Dillan was pursuing her, but not that she reciprocated.

Nanna sniffed; Harry was aware of Jonas and Dillan both watching him with intense interest, but he doubted they'd do anything. He wasn't forbidding her, just asking questions… "We met up after you all went to the Ministry and got back. He wanted to make sure I was okay."

"So that's where you got off to!" Tracey exclaimed. "I was wondering."

Dillan coloured faintly, and then turned to look Harry in the eye. "Do you have a problem with me dating your sister?"

Harry smirked with little humour. "I don't, provided she still likes you. You'd better run if you break up on bad terms or if you ever hurt her, though. Nah, the problem will probably be our parents. Mum will just be over-protective, but since my dad still doesn't seem to quite like my friends, you've got your work cut out for you, much less that he's an Auror…" Harry fought down his frustration. He hadn't found the time in the week since the dinner to get his dad to talk to him about anything. Lily hadn't known too much about the Hodges, although she'd certainly known enough to be frustrated about it and advise him to ask Sirius or James for more detail … it was driving him mad, not knowing about what was so spectacular about the Hodges and asking Jonas himself was out of the question. Harry already owed him one favour; he did not need any more.

Frustrated without any real reason, Harry tightened his fists. He hated secrets. Hated not knowing. Hated this war, hated Death Eaters, hated Fenrir Greyback

Harry choked on his scream again, his chest pressed against smooth wood, slick with blood and the strap landed against his back again, but he was nearly numb to the pain, too tired to think, too scared to feel, too worn to react beyond stifling the screams he would not release. And then his tormentor growled and someone else was hit with the strap. Curiosity woke him up, and someone growled behind him.

"Can't share? Can't I have a little fun? You're hogging this morsel all to yourself …" The unctuous tones didn't disguise the raw desire.

"I earned my reward, Greyback, back out! The Dark Lord gave him to me, I won't have your filthy paws ruining it."

"What is going on?"

Harry shivered at the cold voice, unwilling to remember who it was, and the debate continued. He'd nearly slipped back into his detachment when a calloused hand pressed down on his back and fetid breath drifted over his face where it was turned aside.

"You're a pretty boy, aren't you?" A snort flared. "And your smell … it's familiar. Do you know Remus Lupin?" Harry couldn't suppress a flinch. "Ah – that will make this all the sweeter, to play with his little pup."

Fingers slipped down his back, and a new pain came, pain he wasn't ready for, hadn't anticipated, and yet dreaded. He gasped, and Fenrir laughed …

"Harry!"

Harry gasped and stumbled; someone caught him as he fell and his skin flared. He began to hyperventilate as he was laid on the floor, but Neville's voice called his attention and he slowly woke enough to hear him, distantly addressing someone else.

"No, no, back off. You can't crowd him; listen to me already! Harry, wake up." The tone changed, Harry knew, and finally he raised his head groggily, trying to remember where he was. Hadn't this already happened? No, that was a panic attack … he wasn't sure which had been worse…

"That's it, Nanna, go find Remus."

Harry stiffened at that, and apparently Neville was paying more attention than he thought.

"Scratch that." Neville called after her. "Sirius! Get Sirius, Nanna!"

Nanna shouted back an affirmative, and Neville brazenly hauled Harry up by his shoulders. Knowing who was touching him drove the burning pain down to a tolerable ache, like sunburn. Harry finally reacted and buried his head against Neville's chest.

"I don't like being an invalid, Neville." Harry groused.

"You're not."

"Then why are you sending me home like one?"

"Would you like to stay here and see what your other reactions might be? We can see how many of these you can go through in a day, you know." Neville lightly offered.

"… No."

"Thought so. We'll try again, all right? You just need to go home."

Harry tried to think of an argument and failed. When Sirius arrived several minutes later from upstairs – he'd been sent alongside Remus as a mandatory escort in case of such a reaction, as well as to be there in case the other Order children needed them - Harry bid the rest of the group goodbye and left sullenly for Potter mansion. Distantly, he heard Nanna sigh.

"It's gonna be Hell to go home with him pouting, but he wouldn't like to remain either. He hasn't had episodes that close in weeks, this was just so stressful…"

She was right. Harry felt that only feed his desire to pout. This was going to be miserable.

IIII

After the bad job at Blaise's, Harry was surprised to be feeling much better when the end of the month came around and the Order threw a half-hearted party at the Potter mansion. The people didn't bother him, and while he couldn't invite his extended group of friends, it was nice to hang out with Ron, Ginny, and Hermione rather than just Neville and Alan. Fred and George also made it, when they'd missed Blaise's event due to managing their store.

The only really surprising guest was Green, who seemed to have come to bring Alan, Harry and Neville several gifts – Harry's from Eli and Luce, Neville's from Andrew, and Alan's from several friends. Harry was curious to note that Neville got a communications mirror – Harry's gift was simply a light-hearted card and some candy he'd never found in Britain. Most of his gifts were along the same vein, but his father had included a dragon-hide vest.

Most interesting, however, was when Dumbledore arrived with a warm smile and gave Alan a small square package. Dumbledore rarely gave gifts, and Alan blinked at him a long moment before opening it. Harry had walked over and when Alan's gift abruptly snapped open and darted up, Harry snatched it out of the air without thinking. Alan pulled it from his hand and stared at it a long moment, waiting for Dumbledore to explain the snitch he held. Dumbledore was, surprisingly, smiling at Harry before he turned back to address Alan.

"It's my gift to you, to remind you of what I see to be a pleasurable pastime of yours. There is far too little joy in these days to forget what matters most."

"And what is that sir?" Alan asked quietly. "I greatly doubt its Quidditch."

Dumbledore smiled and turned to look up at Harry again. "Your friends, Alan." He answered gravely. "I'm sure Harry will be more than willing to steal that from you repeatedly. I simply wanted to give you something to enjoy, as I was sure such a game would delight you."

Alan smiled wryly, and Harry had to agree. Dumbledore was right about that, but he still didn't like the way he kept smiling while looking between them. Finally, Alan shrugged and let the snitch go again. Harry coyly caught it before it got far, and Alan frowned at him and then threw his hands in the air with a smile.

"I'll retrieve that before the evening is out, Harry!" Alan threatened.

Unaffected, Harry laughed and released the snitch again, waiting for it to dance to the edge of his reach and catching it again. He had to admit, it was fun. He'd never bothered to nick the snitch before, more than satisfied to play with it during the game and practice, but standing on two feet and going for it was just as much fun as racing after it on his broom, and currently the latter option was denied him. He only put it away when he nearly ran into somebody. He still wouldn't have if Alan hadn't snagged it when he released it; distracted by ensuring no one else was too close. Alan deactivated it and pocketed it, and bowed Harry into the main room again.

"Cake, birthday boy. C'mon, your mother isn't letting us have any until you're in there."

"Aww can't deny you your cake, now can I?" Harry laughed back and strolled in, slipping into the seat he'd been saved near the head of the table. By habit, he took the one a step down, letting Alan sit nearest the head. James shot the display a strange look, as did Dumbledore, but both were quickly distracted. Harry suspected Sirius had kicked James, but Dumbledore gave Luna a deeply thoughtful look as the Ravenclaw was tucked her wand behind her ear, a wide smile on her face.

Harry just shook his head and blew out the candles on his cake, alongside Alan and Neville. He immediately glared at Sirius – on each cake, one candle had remained lit. On Harry's, there were two. He wasn't buying the innocent looks he was getting. Neville and Alan both just laughed.

Hah, funny. They didn't have two girls vying for their attention. The catfights were bloody scary.

IIII

Alan played with the snitch later that evening as he glanced idly at the clock. They'd all retired, but Alan hadn't gone home – Severus had somewhere to be, and he asked Alan to stay in a guest room at Potter manor, along with Green who had claimed to have business in the area. Alan suspected Geoffrey had asked him to be there as security. Amaranth and Louis had probably decided he needed to be away his lab to get the fumes out of his brains, and Alan couldn't disagree. Green needed a detox on occasion. He was also very good with fast, broad protective charms that could stop everything short of a charging rhino or an unforgivable.

Yes, they had tested it with a rhino.

However, he was staying up because he was curious for when his actual birthday came around. Luna had vaguely told him to expect a surprise as the party wound down, and she'd giggled, pulled her wand from behind her ear and held it to her lips before dancing off. Alan had been most bemused, particularly since she had to know he was staying at the mansion, but he'd been planning on staying awake anyways, as he always did. It had long amused him that Regulus remember exactly when he'd been born, so it had become ritual to wait until one in the morning. Currently, he had fifteen minutes to go.

The snitch was entertaining, glinting in his lamplight and darting around the room. Alan couldn't help but wonder what on earth it was for. It had reacted to neither of them, despite he, Harry, and Neville spending a half hour before they had to sleep trying to hex it into reacting. As far as any of them could tell, it was just an ordinary snitch. While mildly disappointing, it didn't change that it was a fun toy to play with and Harry and Alan had most avidly enjoyed the game of keep away.

Remembering, Alan frowned. While Harry and he had been chasing each other around the house, Alan had caught sight, several times, of James watching them play with a strangely conflicted expression. Alan doubted James could like him any less, but he certainly didn't want to make it worse. Still, though, it might have been something else … he just couldn't think what.

Someone knocked at his door, and Alan glanced at the clock. Seven to. Quickly, he rolled out of bed and opened it, finding Luna beaming up at him, her hair tied back loosely with a ribbon and a small cookie lit with a single candle. Alan couldn't help but smile.

"Luna, thank you." Alan reached for the cookie, but Luna pulled it out of reach and smiled that lovely smile again.

"May I come in?"

There was nobody to complain. Alan stepped aside and let her in, contemplating leaving the door open but shrugging it off. What, like he wasn't old enough to know better? He'd suffered through the talk when he was thirteen. It had been horribly embarrassing: Geoffrey had been awkward at first, but then Fenris and Amos joined in… It had kinda spiralled out of control until Mellisande and Autumn had kicked them out and had their own say. Luna noticed his awkward look when he turned around.

"Yes, Alan?" She queried.

"Nothing Luna. Just thinking."

"You're sixteen." She pointed out. Automatically, Alan glanced at the clock. Five minutes.

"Not yet."

"Oh." Luna glanced over. "Right at one?"

"Well, that's when I always wait up to." Alan shrugged. "Regulus remembers it that way. I doubt it's exact."

Luna glanced back over at him, and then placed the cookie and candle on his bedside table. "Then we've got a bit of time, hm?"

"Yeah." Alan sat down next to her and ran his hand over her knee. Luna pressed back, and Alan grinned before capturing her mouth.

It was their typical snogging until Alan abruptly realized he was touching skin. He wasn't entirely shocked, until his hands slipped up and found the fabric of Luna's bra at about the same moment he noticed Luna's hands slipping beneath the elastic of his boxers. Alan pulled back and opened his eyes to really take a look. Of course, Luna was smiling brilliantly, looking quite pleased with herself at the moment. She happily squeezed his ass and while Alan didn't mind, per se, it was uncomfortable in the most pleasant of ways. Luna must have noticed.

"Where did your shirt go?" Alan managed.

"I took it off."

"Mhmm. And why'd you take it off? Not that I'm complaining, that bra is lovely," it was lime green with darker green lace, "but, well …" Luna leaned over backwards, giving Alan a long look at her thin torso and the underside of the bra. Oh, that's just dirty pool.

"It's past one." Luna purred. She leaned back and snagged the clearly magical candle, and held it out. "Blow."

Alan smiled crookedly. Did she always avoid difficult topics like this? But he obediently blew and the candle, surprisingly, went out. Luna immediately set the cookie aside before he could grab it, and Alan pouted. Luna just smiled back at him and slid his pyjama shirt off his shoulders. Alan considered whining. Blaise had been the one to steal every single shirt he owned, pyjamas included, and replace them with button-up shirts. Blaise had acted all innocent about it, but when he'd gotten the mass of shirts for Christmas third year and every shirt he'd brought had vanished… He didn't mind too much, but it'd have at least slowed Luna down and stopped her from nuzzling his chest and the small wisps of hair there. Luna, of course, proceeded to lick them. Alan swallowed and tapped her chin, lifting her head up to face him. Luna gave him big, innocent grey eyes and he struggled not to smile.

"Luna. What are you doing?"

"You smell nice." Luna purred.

Alan blushed deeply and sighed. Luna just giggled and slid his boxers further down his hips.

"Luna!"

"What?" She asked, eyes wide.

Alan opened his mouth but couldn't think of what to say. What was she thinking? And, well, if she was thinking what he was thinking then, well…

Alan couldn't remember being more uncomfortable and conflicted in his life. This conflict had not been covered in The Talk. He'd thought they'd gone over everything, but apparently not.

Luna finally lost her dreamy look and grabbed Alan's head to pull him into a searing kiss. She fell back and pulled Alan with her, before rolling over to get on top of him. Alan was too startled to register this until he found himself staring flat out at Luna's now bare chest, her bra joining her shirt – wherever that had gone – whilst he was lost in dreamland. He was surprised he still had his boxers on. His face felt flushed, and Luna was straddling his thighs, leaning forward to plant her elbows on his collarbones. Alan gave her a frustrated look. Luna absently stroked his forehead.

"Alan, I know you know contraceptive charms, right?"

"Of-of course." Alan stammered out, trying to think. Was this right? Was there any rule saying he couldn't? But… "But Luna, are you really sure-"

Luna covered his mouth and pouted slightly. "Alan, Alan, Alan." She pecked a cheek on his lips. "Yes. Because you're my boy-friend." She drew the word out with a smile, savouring the sound of it. "And because you're really attached to me, too, right?"

"Yeah …" Alan managed, softly. "Yeah, Luna I …" God, that's so corny but so true. "Luna, I wouldn't mind, really … but I'm just not sure … the timing is, is awkward."

Luna sat up a bit and tilted her head to the side. "Why? Because you might die or because it's midnight in a house where we might be interrupted?"

"I hope to Merlin we're not walked in on, but more so the first." Alan answered hotly.

Luna tilted her head again. "I'm not sleeping with a dead man, Alan. You're very much alive. Don't you think it's a good thing to celebrate that?"

"Well, I'll give you that." Alan offered awkwardly.

"Then celebrate."

"Luna, um," Alan bit his lip. "Happily, but I really don't know … what … I'm … doing."

Luna grinned at him. "What do you think I'll be doing?"

Alan felt mildly bewildered a moment, but hesitantly, happily, he smiled.

IIII

The next morning, the Hogwarts booklists arrived. When he went down to the breakfast table, Nanna bounced to her feet and began to, literally, run circles around him. Harry supposed this was an alternative to hugging him till he couldn't breathe, but it left him mildly nauseous. He quickly grabbed her shoulder, ignoring the flinching pain in his hand and demanded,

"Girl, calm down! What's got you wound up so tight?"

Nanna beamed at him and dangled a letter in front of his face. Honed seeker reflexes caught the letter out of her hand and he smiled when he saw his name. However, the envelope was far too heavy. Harry sat down and quickly pulled it open, ignoring his parents' smiles and Nanna bouncing on her toes beside him. The badge it had been hiding was Quidditch captain. Harry blinked at it, and cautiously eyed his parents.

"I'm still not supposed to fly." Harry offered quietly. "How can I be Quidditch captain?"

"You should be better by the first match." James pointed out. "And 'not supposed to' hasn't stopped you yet."

Harry grinned sheepishly remembering when he'd stubbornly gone out and been grounded after five minutes, the wind impact nearly blinding him with pain. He'd have run into a tree if James hadn't found him missing and flown out after him. However, he'd been really cautious and hadn't gone out since – mostly because of the fear of where he'd land, unable to see, than the fear of pain.

"Cool." Harry answered, and flipped open the booklist. Seeing nothing particularly different and noting the books that looked like Defence tomes, Harry waved the parchment at his parents. "When are we going?"

"We'll all be heading out with the Longbottoms, Weasleys, and Alan once everyone is together – Alan went ahead to Grimmauld to meet his father. I believe Luna is joining us as well." Lily smiled, a bit wryly at something. "Your father is back in to work this weekend."

Harry nodded. James had gotten three weeks free due to Harry's condition, and had only been back to work that week. James had asked to have the day Harry got his letter off, and had been immediately granted. Apparently they'd already called in and checked, gotten the go ahead.

"What time are we heading out?"

"Finish breakfast and we'll meet up at Grimmauld before driving down."

IIII

The trip was pretty straightforward. Harry finally needed new robes, as did Ron, Alan, Nanna, Connor and Catrin. Madam Malkin was somewhere between bothered and pleased that she had so much custom at once. Everyone was hustled through with something resembling finesse, and soon they were out and wandering to the next shop amid the unfriendly figures and street vendors hawking untrustworthy wares.

Everyone had something to get, and Harry questioned his sanity about taking so many classes as he had to grab a pile of books. His only comfort was seeing Neville, Hermione, and Alan similarly laden down. Connor and Catrin were grinning and racing around the shop eagerly, exclaiming over their books. Harry couldn't help but smile bitterly at their innocence. Purposefully, he looked aside and frowned again. He hadn't missed Alan's grin earlier – James hadn't liked it as soon as he'd seen it, but Harry had gotten used to Alan's insufferable look. However, usually he had a reason for it. Harry hadn't sussed this one out yet.

After Flourish and Blotts, they ran the rest of the gambit, including Ollivander's. The only bad point was that the ice cream shop was running slowly, for grief. There had been an attack recently, foiled only by very alert aurors, one of which had been James. While Fortesque, unfortunately, had perished, his sister had been talked into taking up his shop and continuing to maintain the employees.

After they had all the necessary items, including a gift of a cat tree for Arachne from Lily for Ginny's prefect appointment, they became an excited group heading further into the Alley looking for one store in particular…

The group halted as soon as they found it. Harry blinked several times and wondered if he was passing out again: he was feeling light-headed, but he'd be damned if it happened in public. After a moment he realized it was only the brilliantly flashing storefront – beside him, Neville looked faint as well, and was honestly squinting at the display. Lily murmured the words of the purple poster, shockingly emblazoned with flashing yellow letters 'U-NO-POO', mocking the ministry announcements about 'You-Know-Who'. Harry jumped as his father had a near miss with putting his hand on his shoulder, apparently only remembering at the last minute that he really shouldn't. James recovered admirably, instead taking a bow, his face split in a wide grin,

"I believe we must enter, if only to congratulate the twins on such a shockingly delightful store."

Harry snorted and followed Neville in, blinking against the overwhelmingly brilliant colours. The store was packed, the shelves barricaded by fascinated customers. Their group hardly fit within, and Harry got bumped and budged often enough to be panting faintly, pain flaring in his arms despite his stubborn insistence on ignoring it. He was ready to give up and yell for help when suddenly his robes were grabbed and he was hauled behind the till. He glanced up at one of the twins, a concerned expression gazing down at him.

"Harry, mate, you all right? You're looking peaky."

"Fine." Harry panted. "I just need a –moment." He leaned against the far wall and waited, eyes closed as the pins and needles faded, replaced with a feeling of being stifled. This was far too many people – he'd been so eager to see the store, he hadn't thought it through.

"Harry! Harry, are you okay?"

Harry blinked up at his worried mother and found himself smiling despite his earlier episode. The sight of her chased away the stifled feeling, and Harry stood up straight and leaned against the counter, unaware of how badly the nearest cashier was blushing.

"I'm fine, mum, really. How's everyone else?"

"Fascinated, although Alan was worried about where you'd ended up for a while. Neville reassured him he'd seen one of the twins rescue you. Honestly, Harry, why did you come in if you thought you'd react that badly?"

"I didn't think, mum." Harry shook his head. "I didn't think about it, and I'm sorry. I was too excited."

Lily pursed her lips. "Alright. Stick with one of the twins, please. I think they said something about showing Alan their back room, and he thought you might want to see it too."

Behind him, the twin perked. "That sounds marvellous. Harry, c'mon I'll take you back there to meet them. Keep up the good work, ladies!"

Harry noticed all the cashiers were women, one of whom actually looked faintly familiar with black hair and a Cheshire grin. She turned back to her work quickly, though, and Harry followed in Fred's wake – at least, the nametag said it was Fred and Harry felt that was a fair judge to go by. They disappeared into a back room, and Fred waved to George, standing and watching Alan inspect the shelves.

"Thought I'd give our initial investor a look at the specialty products we've made." George nodded. "Giving our dear Slythindor a break from the overwhelming mob?"

"Caught him looking ready to pass out." Fred scolded. Harry coloured, but didn't argue. Fred was right. Alan glanced up from inspecting the squirming black thing in his hands and frowned at Harry.

"Harry, you had me worried. I was about to hex someone when Neville told me Fred had run off with you. Didn't you think?"

"I already told my mother this, Alan." Harry griped. "I'm sorry, I didn't think. I'm fine now, alright? It wasn't that bad."

"Wasn't that bad – Harry." Alan huffed and sighed. "Fine. Sorry. Keep it in mind, you fool, or I'll hex you."

"Yes sir." Harry snorted. "What are you looking at?"

"Decoy Detonator." George announced proudly. "Set it down and it'll run off and make a noise around the corner. Excellent diversion."

"We have a large number of Defence products." Fred grinned. "We're getting big money from it, especially since the Ministry found an interest in our shield hats. We'd thought them a laugh – dare your friend to hex you, and have him gape as it bounces right off –"

"But we ended up with an order of five hundred from the Ministry for its support staff!" George finished. "And aside from that," George lowered his voice to a casual volume, but he was grinning mildly awkwardly, "we're getting a large number of orders and ideas from the Hodges. They have major ideas, and some uses for a few products we thought a lot more innocuous than they proved."

"Made revising them a big priority to try and prevent it with the stuff we're putting up to the public, but those we send to the Hodges aren't corrected at all." Fred finished, shrugging.

Alan fixed them both with a firm look. "I warned you about it," he cautioned. "Keep in mind you may not be getting out."

Fred and George both grinned. "They aren't getting it for free, and we've made it plenty clear where we draw the line. Got into a bit of a fight with the young man they had making that particular order –"

"Wanted us to brew some poison, he did." George added offhand, still grinning.

"Sent him home with an extra pair of ears and a blue set of balls for that one,"

"Not to mention the tentacles."

"Haven't had them be so pushy since."

A new voice piped in, "That's because even Howard couldn't undo the last few hexes."

Harry glanced up to find the black-haired woman he'd half-recognized leaning against the doorframe just inside the curtain. A second look showed him what he'd missed. She had the same face shape as Jonas, but her eyes were far warmer, and she was smiling lightly, without malice. In the steadier light of the back room, her hair proved to not be black, but a dark dark brown – so dark it made little difference, but it was there.

"Ah, Carmine, darling." Fred beamed. "So delightful of you to join us."

"Harry, Alan," George nodded to each of them in turn, "meet Carmine Hodges, Jonas' cousin. She works here as both a bit of security,"

"And for the money." She finished. "Even if part of it comes from my family. And that little hexing?" She addressed the boys. "It's finally starting to wear off now."

All four men flinched. Harry didn't know what exactly they'd hexed him with, but … well, any sexual punishment couldn't be good.

She grinned. "Personally, I found it funny. His wife got tired of him whining about the ache he couldn't get rid of and dragged him off. I don't think he got feeling too satisfied, but I'm willing to bet he got to learn a lot about what satisfied his wife. Howard just thought it was hilarious."

George frowned. "We weren't going for hilarious."

"Powerful then?" She raised her eyebrow once more. "It's been six weeks. No one's managed to uncurse him – the spells just wearing off, and slowly at that." Carmine snickered. "Again, my brother's wife has been quite pleased, although she's also just as excited about him being able to ejaculate again. Said something about being dead certain she'll be pregnant again."

"I'll assume this is a good thing." Alan drawled awkwardly.

Carmine smiled. She looked normal for a young woman, with a brilliant clear face and happy eyes. The smile destroyed most of her resemblance to the dangerous Jonas. "Oh, very good. Jemima has wanted another child since she started potty-training her little boy, so having another one will make her more than pleased. And Fred, George, you have a very happy auror who has mentioned he wants to congratulate you and check on his son. Something about you two running off with the boy?"

"Ah, that'd be Mr. Potter." Fred nodded. "Yeah, we just kidnapped Harry here."

Carmine eyed him curiously. "I heard young Mr. Potter got himself in a mite of trouble a month ago. You look quite well despite it."

"Thank you." Harry cautiously offered. Carmine smiled at him again, and Harry finally had to ask, "You don't seem much like your cousin."

"I was Gryffindor." She answered bluntly. "Our family can't always be Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Someone's gonna slip into Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Don't have a Hufflepuff this generation, but I made it into Gryffindor. My father was a very scary Hufflepuff. Of course, I just about hexed my dorm mates into oblivion they were so vapid. Gotta regret arguing with that damn hat. I was a silly eleven-year-old and wanted to avoid my cousins. Ah well."

Harry smiled faintly at her. "Yeah, I know what that's like, wanting a different house."

"Huh." She grunted. "What house were you supposed to be in, chickadee?"

Harry glanced at Alan. "Slytherin."

Carmine grinned back. "Me too. Guess the line's a little thinner than you might think, hm? Must be why they argue so much."

"Quite." Harry agreed. "But we need to get back out there."

Carmine saluted them and returned to the counter while Fred and George flanked Harry.

"Well, time to be off!"

They both marched him into the main room, their presence and Alan's keeping the shoppers from crowding up against him again. He hated the necessity, but submitted to it and found a faint smile for James as he praised the twins' skill, ingenuity, and initiative. Harry slipped off from where he was, Alan tagging along quickly and slipped over to the brilliantly pink shelves where all the girls were talking quietly. As they came upon them, Melanie eagerly asked,

"Oh, Luna, was it really-?"

Luna glanced up to answer and turned faintly pink upon seeing Harry and Alan approach. Harry glanced at Alan and was surprised to find him similarly pink. He immediately turned to eye the products but didn't have any luck – he was tall enough to be eye-to-eye with a very personal WonderWitch product that only made his blush worse. Harry coyly stood on tiptoe and slipped it off the shelf, reading the label quietly.

"WonderWitch's personal lubricant – get that delightful shine and a tingling warmth, perfectly ready to share with that significant other."

"Very cute, Harry." Alan groused. "Real cute."

Harry put it back up – he didn't want to be caught with that in hand – and turned to give Alan a wry grin. "So … can I assume the obvious about that smug grin you've had all day that drove my dad nuts?"

"Nonsense." Alan waved it off. "That was entirely calculated."

"Including pissing off Ron, Hermione, Nanna, and the Apothecary clerk?" Harry drawled. "When you were trying to have a perfectly casual shopping trip?"

"Okay, fine." Alan broke down with a smile. "Yes. Yes, you can probably guess exactly why."

Harry blinked several moments. "Wow. Um, I can't imagine you having gone for that."

"Well," Alan grinned again, "Luna's very convincing."

"I'll bet she is." Harry grinned back.

Alan only laughed.

Abruptly, Harry and Alan heard Fred begin to explain some patented Daydream charms, and the Pygmy Puffs. Alan apparently did not want to be overheard – his candour with Harry was something only for his best friend – and they slipped back into the group, but Harry noticed now that Luna, while looking mostly unaffected by the late night interlude, was smiling wider than she usually did and sometimes looked a little pink as her eyes drifted out of focus. Harry had to hand it to her; she could really hide her reminiscing well. Nobody who wasn't sure of what to look for would know what she was thinking about. Although…

Harry wasn't about to try his little Legilimency on Luna, but Alan and he had agreed long since that they had perfect rights to try and slip in against the other. Harry glanced around and waited while they wandered the areas of the store and finally, when they were slipping out the front door and waiting for James to finish off his last minute advice, Harry noticed Alan glance at Luna with a wry grin. He immediately scanned away from her, but it didn't fool Harry. When Alan glanced his way, Harry slipped inside his eyes and found himself in Alan's immediate thoughts.

"Luna, would you stop poking that?"

Luna's brilliant blue eyes glanced at him from where she lay, completely relaxed over his legs, her hand pointing at his length. Abruptly, she grinned and grasped it in both hands-

Alan pushed him out with a blush and gave him a half-hearted glare. His face was brilliant red, and Neville immediately noticed. However, when he glanced between Alan and Harry he realized something was going on – Harry was confident his face was bright red as well. Neville quickly stepped in.

"Say, what were you two going on about back there? Fred and George never let us back there, was it sex? There seemed enough of it on the top shelves, honestly."

Harry frowned, and Alan's face relaxed back to smugness. "Really, Neville, so jealous. Feeling left out?"

"Not in the least." Neville blithely answered. "They had some fascinating magic on their items. I was very interested in the daydreams myself." He grinned, and Harry and Alan laughed. Both of them knew Neville's habit of using an Auror level glamour to zone out in class. Nobody else seemed to have noticed their discomfort; Harry felt a little bad about intruding, but it was something important as well – a reminder to Alan to keep his wits about it. Had Harry been someone else, had the thought been something else … he'd have been in big trouble.

After a moment, Harry noticed his train of thought and felt lead in his stomach. This wasn't what he should be thinking. He should be teasing Alan about getting laid, flirting with Daphne and Susan to figure out which he preferred. Neville never should have broken up with Hermione, never should have slept with Lavender. Never should have been raped.

He himself shouldn't have been tortured.

Harry felt someone approach and only glanced up only long enough to note that it was Alan. Alan cautiously placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. Nothing flared, so Harry leaned into it and shrugged lightly.

"Sad thoughts?"

"I want this war over." Harry softly added. "I don't want anyone else hurt."

Harry glanced up to find Alan's dark eyes heavy, his lips pressed tight. He nodded shortly.

Harry sighed again and brushed him off, plastering on a smile as James came back out and the group woke up again. However, a few nearby had heard, and few had missed Harry's abrupt change in attitude. While the reason wasn't exactly clear, it seemed to remind everyone of what had happened. For once, Harry didn't feel depressed about it. He felt it should mean something, something to remind them.

This war needed to end.


A/N: They're growing up, a bit more intrigue, a bit more information than you probably need... But hey, story! Lookee! Preetty!
I think I had a little too much chocolate.
Up next! Rats, wands, and Hogwarts! Followed by school rivalries, intrigue, and maybe even more sex ... who knows? Let me know what you think.

Fire & Napalm