Sunday 17 December, 1995:

Harry knew that Voldemort had not been possessing him when he had watched the snake's attack on Mr Weasley. It was like the first half of the summer holidays: his mind had been inside Voldemort's, which somehow had been inside Nagini's. But this knowledge hadn't stopped panic spreading through Harry when he'd heard Moody saying it at St. Mungo's, because for just one moment back in Dumbledore's office, Harry hadn't felt in control of himself.

Sirius had brushed aside his concerns immediately, but as much as Harry loved his godfather, it wasn't really his opinion on the matter that he needed. The problem was that the person who he really wanted to speak to about it wasn't even in the same country as him at the moment, and nobody had given him any idea of when she would be back.

Of course, there was one other person who might have been able to give him some answers, but since his hearing, Dumbledore had made it clear that for whatever reason, he wanted as little contact with Harry as possible – and considering in that one moment where he'd lost control it had been the Headmaster who he'd wanted to kill, Harry was beginning to wonder whether Dumbledore had the right idea.

In fact, as they had left St. Mungo's yesterday, Harry had decided it would be best if he limited his interaction with others as much as he could. He had been sorely tempted to just leave 12 Grimmauld Place, and despite the message from Dumbledore to stay where he was, even now as he sat in Buckbeak's room, watching the Hippogriff, the idea still played on his mind.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door, followed by a voice Harry had been longing to hear.

"Harry, I'm coming in, whether you like it or not."

Before he could make any response, the door swung open and there stood Lena. She was wearing a thick, woollen white jumper and dark jeans that were tucked into black, knee-high boots. Her hair was divided into two plaits, although the top of her head was in slight disarray, as though she had just taken off a hat.

She tilted her head as she looked down at Harry, whose back was against the wall and his knees drawn up to his chest. "So," she said, her tone frank, "sounds like you've had a rotten start to the holidays."

Harry turned his gaze back to Buckbeak, who was eyeing Lena carefully. "That's an understatement," he muttered.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lena incline her head to Buckbeak in acknowledgement. The Hippogriff returned the favour, and resumed preening his wings.

Lena came over and plonked herself down beside Harry. "Ron told me what you guys overheard Moody saying at the hospital yesterday," she said, and started to pull off her boots. "You do realise he basically has no idea what he's talking about. None of them do."

"Well," said Harry quietly, "that's funny, because I think he might be onto something."

Lena paused, having just finished removing her boots, and Harry could feel her looking at him intently. "Then," she said finally, "I'm guessing Ron doesn't have all the facts." She placed her boots beside her, and asked, "What don't I know, Harry?"

He took a deep breath, then shifted so he was facing her, and explained what had happened in Dumbledore's office. As he spoke, he watched Lena's face closely, attempting to decipher whatever expression he could find in her smooth mask. But whatever her thoughts were on this new information, she kept them well-guarded.

"Yes," she remarked, "I can see why you would find that so disturbing."

Starting to feel frustrated with her, Harry scowled. "Seriously? That doesn't worry you?"

"Of course it worries me," replied Lena. "But it's not exactly a new worry."

A chill ran down Harry's spine. "Are you saying..." he swallowed, as fear gave way to anger, "that you were, what, expecting this?" He almost spat the last couple of words.

Lena sighed. "Before you start yelling at me, Harry, there's a few things I should clarify. Firstly, this connection between Voldemort and you – it's unprecedented. We can theorise to our hearts' content, but at the end of the day, there aren't many certainties. Now, when you told me last summer about your unintentional forays into Voldemort's mind while you were sleeping, I naturally wondered if this ability worked in reverse – could Voldemort potentially access your memories, your thoughts?"

"And you didn't think of mentioning this to me?" said Harry, his teeth gritted. He couldn't believe that Lena would hide something so important from him.

"No, because that was the last thing you needed at the time," said Lena simply. "You were already on the verge of a complete mental breakdown last summer. If you'd thought that Voldemort might start possessing you at any moment, Merlin knows what stupid thing you might have done."

Harry pursed his lips. It was aggravating, but he could see sense in what she was saying. And now, something else occurred to him.

"The Occlumency lessons," he said slowly. "You didn't agree to them just because of the dreams – it was a precaution too."

"It was certainly something I – and Dumbledore – took into consideration," admitted Lena. "But honestly, Harry, we didn't really think there was any immediate threat. After all, you were having visions of him for an entire year before his return, and there was no indication that he was having ones of you. And whilst you inherited the ability to speak Parseltongue from him, he hasn't appeared to gain any qualities from you."

"All right," said Harry, "but now that he has possessed me, even if it was only for a few seconds–"

"Ah," interrupted Lena, "but here's the thing: what you experienced wasn't possession. If it was, you wouldn't have been able to remember it as clearly as you do."

Harry frowned. "Then what was it?" he questioned. "I wasn't, erm..." He struggled to find the right way to phrase what he meant.

"Thinking your own thoughts?" suggested Lena. "And feeling your own feelings?" She began twirling the end of one of her plaits around her forefinger. "As I said before, I can only give you my theory, and not any concrete evidence–"

"I don't care," said Harry quickly. "Just tell me what you think happened."

"Very well. I believe that when you witnessed the attack on Arthur, your distress was so great that for the first time, Voldemort felt your presence in his mind. Then you woke up, breaking the link. Voldemort immediately tried to reforge it, but he couldn't properly find your mind until he sensed an emotion strongly and clearly enough."

"My anger at Dumbledore," Harry realised aloud. "Because he wouldn't even look at me."

Lena nodded. "That gave him an opportunity to break through into your mind. Now, as we established during our Occlumency lessons, your mind isn't as... organised as his or mine, so at first, he wouldn't have been able to see things with as much clarity as you see his thoughts. He wouldn't have really understood what was going on. At least, not until you gave him one clear, defined image."

"Looking into Dumbledore's eyes."

"Exactly. And that elicited a strong emotional response from Voldemort – such a fervent hatred that, for a moment, it overpowered your own thoughts and feelings. He wasn't taking control of you. It's just that your frustration with Dumbledore isn't greater than Voldemort's fear and hatred of him."

Lena had planted a seed of relief inside Harry, but he wasn't quite ready yet to let it grow. "But could he still do it?" he persisted. "Can he use our connection to control me?"

"I can't give you a definitive response," replied Lena carefully, "but I suspect not. At least, not when the two of you are so far apart. I'd say a greater concern should be that now he is aware of the connection, how he might exploit it in order to manipulate you. Which is why we're going to work even harder in your Occlumency lessons during this school break." She gave him a reproving look. "You know, you really should have spoken to Ginny if you were concerned about being possessed, seeing as she's actually experienced it – and by Voldemort's hand too."

Harry immediately felt very silly. How could he have forgotten that Ginny had spent almost an entire year being controlled by Riddle's diary?

"In hindsight," he mumbled, "yeah, I should have done that. But in my defence, I've been kind of worried that Voldemort might make me kill anyone I talk to."

Lena arched an eyebrow. "Yes," she said wryly, "because the best way to combat the possibility of someone taking control of your mind is to completely isolate yourself from all the people who care about you. Brilliant move, Harry."

Harry rolled his eyes, but didn't respond. He deserved the withering remark.

"But now that I've answered your questions," continued Lena, her expression becoming more sincere, "there's one you have to answer for me."

"What's that?"

"Why didn't you put your Occlumency seal in place before you fell asleep?" Her eyes bored into his. "Because I don't believe for a second that you just 'forgot'."

Harry felt his mouth go very dry. He had been so preoccupied with the snake attack and possibility of possession that he hadn't thought about the kiss with Cho and his bizarre reaction even once.

"Oh," he said uncomfortably, fidgeting with the material of his jeans. "Erm, a... a thing happened."

Lena snorted. "As they are wont to do."

"Yeah. I... I kissed Cho."

Despite how unsettled he was by what had happened, Harry couldn't help but feel some small amount of glee at the stunned expression on Lena's face. He probably could have counted the amount of times he'd managed to surprise her on one hand.

"The Ravenclaw girl you've have a crush on for ages?" said Lena, blinking a few times. "You kissed her?"

"Well, I guess it was more that she kissed me. In the Room of Requirement, after our final meeting of the term."

Lena smirked slightly. "And it was that good you completely forgot about Occlumency?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair, his stomach twisting. "Actually, it was kind of the opposite."

Lena's expression became bemused. "What, she's a terrible kisser?"

He shook his head. "No, I mean, I... I– shit," he rubbed his face, "I don't know how to explain it. Look, right up until the moment we kissed, I fancied Cho. Really fancied her. But as soon as it happened, it just felt wrong. It was like... it was like I was empty inside, like a void. And then I heard your voice in my head."

Lena furrowed her brow. "My voice?" she repeated, sounding perplexed.

"Yes. Remember the day of my hearing, when I asked you what it was like to be so in love with someone? And your reply, you told me it was a Shakespearean quote. Well, I heard that in my head, as clear as if you were right there in the room."

She stared at him, looking absolutely baffled. Then a realisation must have struck, because her eyes widened slightly, and she said, "Ah. Fuck."

"What?" asked Harry, alarmed.

Lena bit her lip. "Our Occlumency lesson that afternoon. We were inside your mind, encoding and categorising your memories from the day, moving them from short-term to long-term. We were up to our conversation in Trafalgar Square when Walburga's portrait started screeching, creating a ruckus and breaking your concentration."

"I remember," said Harry slowly. "You told me that because of the disruption, I'd probably screwed up the storing of a couple of bits of the memory."

"Yeah," said Lena, and blew out a long breath. "I think one of the bits was that quote."

Harry frowned. "But I can remember it very clearly."

"You have the memory of me saying it, yes. But I think something might have went wrong with your memory of whatever was your emotional response to it."

He stared at her. "When you say went wrong–"

"I think that you somehow accidently put it in your sensory processing rather than your long-term memory," rushed Lena. "So when Cho kissed you, your brain reacted badly to that, because, well..." she trailed off.

But Harry understood. "Because I might have had a crush on her, but I wasn't in love with her," he said softly. A strange feeling began to spread through his chest. "Can you fix it?"

Lena looked doubtful. "I'd rather not go messing about with your sensory processing. If something else went wrong, that could seriously screw you up."

"So, what," said Harry, dismayed, "I'm just going to be incapable of physically–" He broke off as he felt his face grow warm with a blush. He and Lena could talk about nearly everything, but they had always stayed clear of anything sex-related. It would be too weird; to Harry, Lena was his sister in all but blood. Sure, he'd told her about his crush on Cho, and Lena would occasionally make joking crass comments about Remus, but nothing more than that.

In any case, he didn't need to finish his sentence, because Lena knew where he'd been going with it. "No, I suspect you won't have the same, erm, physical urges as most other people," she said delicately. "Unless you do fall head-over-heels in love, of course."

Harry shut his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall. "Because I really needed one more thing to make me different from other teenagers," he grumbled.

There was a short silence, before Lena's voice broke it. "Look on the bright side – you're going to have loads of spare time now that you don't need to do all the wanking most teenage boys do."

"Lena!" yelped Harry in a strangled voice, his eyes flying open.

She was grinning at him, but her mirth quickly faded. "I am sorry, Harry," she told him earnestly. "I know it's my fault, and–"

"No, it's not," said Harry firmly. "I asked you to teach me Occlumency, and people make mistakes when they learn new things. Yeah, this whole situation is going to be weird, but now that we know Voldemort is aware of the connection, it's also more important than ever that you keep teaching me, no matter how many other things we screw up." He took one of her hands in his, and squeezed it.

Lena gave him a small smile. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you've become a responsible and mature young adult," she teased.

Harry chuckled. "Don't tell Sirius, or he might disown me."

Letting go of his hand, Lena ruffled Harry's hair. He pretended to be annoyed by it, but the truth was he didn't mind it one bit.

"Well, maybe," she said, her eyes twinkling, "to balance out all that responsibility and maturity, we should do something incredibly irresponsible and immature."

"Such as?" asked Harry, raising his eyebrows.

"Sneaking out of here and not telling anyone where we're going."

Harry stared at her. "Dumbledore literally ordered me not to leave Grimmauld Place."

"Yeah, but that was under the assumption that you'd be going alone," countered Lena with a shrug. "He won't mind if you're with me."

"Then why are we sneaking out and not telling anybody?" Harry pointed out, folding his arms.

"Because Molly definitely would mind," responded Lena, putting her boots back on. "And I can't be bothered arguing with her. Now, go to your room and get your Invisibility Cloak. I'll meet you at the front door."

Lena told everybody else – who were in the drawing room, putting up Christmas decorations – that she was off to do some shopping. Remus was in Scotland on an Order mission, so she didn't have to worry about feeling bad for lying to him. No one questioned her announcement, so she and Harry had no difficulty in exiting the house.

"Right," she said to Harry, closing the front door behind them, "take off the Cloak, and grab my forearm."

"Why?" he asked, but removed the Cloak.

"Because," she told him as he handed her the Cloak, "I'm going to Side-Along Apparate you." She stuffed the garment into her bag, then held her arm out for him.

Harry blinked a few times. "Side-Along?"

"Yep. All you need to do is hold on tight, and you'll come with me."

"I didn't realise that was something people could do," said Harry, gripping her arm. "Do wizards commonly do it?"

"Not really," replied Lena, checking her bag's shoulder-strap was in place so that it wouldn't fly off when she spun around.

"Why not?"

"Because it can feel particularly unpleasant for the passenger," said Lena. "And also because it's very difficult, and can go disastrously wrong. All right, off we go!"

"Wait, wha–"

Everything went black, and Lena felt the familiar constricting sensation of Apparition, as well as Harry's grip on her arm tightening. Then light filled her vision and she could breathe again as she arrived at their destination, an alleyway connecting to Haymarket.

Harry released her arm and stumbled back, gasping for air. When he straightened, Lena clapped him on the shoulder.

"You good?" she inquired cheerfully.

"That was horrible," he answered hoarsely, rubbing his chest.

"It is the first few times," she admitted, "but you get used to it."

"Where are we?" asked Harry, surveying his surroundings.

"Just off Haymarket, in Westminster. There are quite a few restaurants nearby, and I figured that since you haven't eaten since yesterday, you're probably pretty hungry. So, what are you in the mood for?"

Five minutes later, they were seated inside a café, Harry tucking into a very large bacon sandwich while Lena blew on her hot pumpkin soup to cool it. As she did, she surreptitiously studied the boy sitting opposite her.

Dumbledore had sent a message to her not long after Harry had alerted them to the attack on Arthur, telling her what had happened, but as she had been in the middle of an artefact-retrieval job in Iceland, she hadn't been able to get back to Grimmauld Place until an hour ago, where she'd been greeted by the news that Harry had been keeping his distance from everyone else after what Moody had said at St. Mungo's. She had been a little surprised by that, as she had assumed that the vision hadn't been much different from the ones he'd had the previous year. However, the news that Voldemort was finally aware of his mental connection with Harry certainly was troubling, even though she had tried to downplay her concern to Harry. It wasn't so much that she was afraid that Voldemort would try to exploit their link – no, it was that he would discover what Harry didn't know: that they were connected because Harry was his Horcrux.

But the news of what had happened with Cho had been completely unexpected. Lena had always known that magically exploring the mind could potentially be very dangerous, so she had tried to be very careful when inside Harry's. After they'd been interrupted during that lesson, she had thoroughly examined his short and long-term memories to make sure everything was fine, but she had only briefly checked his sensory processing, and so this bizarre accident had totally slipped past her.

'Poor kid,' she thought. 'He's almost as fucked up as me.'

Although, to be honest, Lena was actually in a relatively good place, mentally-speaking. Sure, she was fighting an underground war against the man she had once loved as a father, and there had been that worrying incident a few weeks ago when Mortimer had apparently sensed the Nekrosía inside of her. But her relationship with Remus was as strong as ever, she had become great friends with one of the few decent members of her mother's family, her services as a procurer and dealer of artefacts and information were in constant demand, she hadn't encountered Theodora in months, and as long as she kept making Moramortis, she could use magic without killing herself. All in all, the positives seemed to be outweighing the negatives – an extremely rare situation for Lena.

"So," said Harry, taking a break from scoffing his sandwich, "what have you been up to? That you can tell me, I mean," he added hastily.

Lena smiled. "Well, the job I was just doing in Iceland wasn't Order business – except for getting a general sense of whether there's any potential Death Eater activity or not – so I can talk about that."

"What kind of job was it?" asked Harry eagerly.

"Locating and obtaining a magical artefact for someone."

He cocked his head. "What sort of artefact?"

Lena swallowed a spoonful of soup. "The kind that requires a great deal of historical context to fully understand."

Ever so slightly, Harry's face fell. "Oh well," he said hurriedly, "in that case, you don't need–"

But there was no way that Lena was going to pass up the opportunity to give Harry a lecture on fifteenth century Icelandic Wizarding history. "The year," she began, drowning out his feeble protestations, "was 1406. The Black Death had just wiped out over half of the country's population..."

They left the café half an hour later, their stomachs full, and Harry significantly more knowledgeable of the fascinating history of Wizarding society in Iceland. They spent the next couple of hours wandering through the streets of inner London, unbothered by the light snowfall as they inspected the newly installed Christmas displays in shop windows – occasionally stopping to buy something – and checking out the landmarks Harry had never properly seen before. The sun had already been set for an hour-and-a-half by the time they found a quiet, deserted alleyway to use to Disapparate. Instead of returning to Grimmauld Place, however, Lena took Harry to Maggie's, much to her friend's surprise when they turned up on her doorstep. Lena had thought it would do Harry some good to spend a bit of time in a house that wasn't being used as the headquarters of a secret organisation, or that for centuries had been the home of an incredibly Dark Wizarding family.

Maggie took the unexpected visitors in her stride, and invited them inside. "I am heading out in an hour to see Oliver," she warned them as they hung their coats on the rack by the door. "He's been sleeping all day because last night's match didn't finish until five o'clock this morning."

"Wow, that's a hell of a long game," commented Harry. "Did they at least win?"

"Yes, but only just. The Harpies' seeker caught the Snitch, but Puddlemere scored just before she got it," explained Maggie. "So it ended up being 610 to 600."

Harry nodded as he and Lena followed Maggie to the couch in front of the fireplace. "Sounds like an exciting match," he said, but Lena could detect a trace of glumness in his voice – and evidently, Maggie could too, because she looked at Lena questioningly.

"Harry's been banned from playing Quidditch," Lena told her, "because Dolores Umbridge is a twat of the highest order."

"Oh." Maggie looked at Harry sympathetically. "I'm sorry, that really sucks."

"Here's hoping the Defence teacher's curse bumps her off," said Lena, flopping back into the couch. She looked up at Maggie, smiling sweetly – which was really more unnerving than sweet. "I don't suppose a cup of tea is on offer?"

Grumbling good-naturedly as she did it, Maggie fixed them all a cup of tea, and then listened intently as Harry detailed how things had changed at school under the Hogwarts High Inquisitor. She was particularly intrigued by Dumbledore's Army.

"You know, that's kind of similar to what Lena did in our Sixth Year, when Lockhart was in the Defence teacher's position," she said to Harry. "Of course, that was with only a third of the size, and we were all in the same year level, so it sounds like your job is a lot more difficult than Lena's was."

Lena shrugged. "Yeah, but I got our entire class to improve their grades at NEWT level, which was pretty much unheard of." She smiled fondly. "Remus told me he could hardly believe it when he looked through our academic records. Of course, it didn't take him long to figure out it was because I'd been teaching everyone."

"And now your pupil is teaching other kids," said Maggie, grinning. "What does that make you, a grand-teacher?"

Lena laughed. "It is nice to hear that Tiffany and the others are part of the group," she said, glancing at Harry. "How did everyone else take it when a couple of Slytherins joined?"

Harry shrugged. "What you'd expect, I guess: initially they were wary, but once they realised they weren't the spawn of the devil, they were accepted." He drained his mug, then wiped his mouth and looked at Maggie. "Is there any left in the kettle?"

She nodded. "Help yourself."

He got up and disappeared into the small kitchen.

"Is he spending the whole holidays with you?" asked Maggie quietly.

"Sort of," replied Lena. "It's... complicated." She rubbed her neck. "Technically, he's not really supposed to be out and about."

Maggie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean he's not 'supposed' to? Please don't tell me you're dragging me into some kind of shit where I might be on the receiving end of Dumbledore's wrath."

Lena waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. I'll get him back before seven, and they probably won't even notice he was ever gone."

Maggie opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Harry calling out from the kitchen.

"Hey, Maggie, what are these black berries? I don't recognise them."

Distractedly, she called back, "Aduna berries. They're very sweet – have a few, if you like." To Lena, she whispered, "Who's 'they', and exactly how mad are they going to be if they do realise he's missing?"

"Well, technically the Weasleys are his guardians for the holidays," said Lena, "but even if they do find out I've taken him, once they see he's perfectly fine and there was no harm done, they'll have nothing to complain about."

Maggie sighed and shook her head. "One day, Lena, your luck's going to run out and you're going to get yourself into serious trouble." She jerked her head towards the kitchen. "I just hope you don't get the kid caught up in it. He's already been through enough crap in his life."

Lena arched an eyebrow. "You're talking as if I haven't already been in serious trouble. May I remind you that this time two years ago I was dying because of my own stupidity?"

"Which is all the more reason to be careful now," Maggie pointed out.

"I am careful, Maggie," said Lena. "But I also don't believe in locking him up for the entire holidays in the name of his own supposed protection. He needed to get out and do something normal. After all, that's what we're fighting for – so he and the others the Death Eaters want to see dead can live their lives without fear and in peace."

"People like me, you mean," said Maggie softly, after a short pause.

Lena gazed at her for a few seconds, then reached across the couch and took her hand. "You know that whatever happens, I'll take care of you," she told her earnestly. "I won't let–"

"I know," interrupted Maggie, squeezing her hand. "You don't have to say it – you've already proved it."

The memory of seeing Maggie after she was struck by the Blood Boiling Curse, and Lena's subsequent punishment of the culprits, flashed through her mind. "The difference is that from now on, you won't get hurt in the first place."

Maggie gave her a small smile. "God, I'd hate to be someone you didn't like."

Lena chuckled, then glanced towards the kitchen. Harry was taking an inordinately long time to pour himself a cup of tea. "You all right, Harry?" she called out to him. "We should probably be heading back home soon."

There was no response. Lena and Maggie exchanged a quick, anxious look, and then hurried into the kitchen.

Harry was standing by the kettle, staring at the back of his hand, his fingers splayed out on the countertop.

Lena released a long breath, relieved. "Oh, thank Merlin, you're all–" She trailed off when Harry let out a small gasp as he tapped his fingers along the countertop, one after the other.

She cleared her throat. "Erm, Harry?"

Finally, he looked up at her, an excited expression upon his face. "Lena! Look, when I do this–" he held up his hand and waggled his fingers, "–I can see the bones in my hand move! Bones?" He scrutinised the back of his hand again. "Are they bones? Or are they... tendons? Is that the word I mean?"

Lena stared at him blankly, unable to comprehend what was happening. Until–

"Oh my god," said Maggie suddenly, quickly walking over to Harry and grabbing an open jar – that was full of tiny, round, black things – off the counter near him. "Harry, please tell me you haven't eaten any of these."

Harry looked at her and blinked a few times. "Yeah, I had a few." He cocked his head. "You said I could."

Maggie pointed at a large bowl full of various fruits in the corner of the kitchen. "I said you could have some aduna berries," she emphasised. "These aren't berries, these are–" She was cut off by Harry loudly saying, "Ooh!" and trotting over to the fruit bowl. He picked up a banana and showed it to them.

"A banana," he announced impressively.

Lena turned to Maggie. "What is in that jar?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

Maggie swallowed audibly. "Trosgynnol poppy seeds."

That was bad. That was very, very bad.

"Why," hissed Lena, "do you have a jar of psychoactive seeds in your kitchen?"

"Because I grow the poppies to use the petals for healing draughts as alternatives to more difficult to source ingredients," explained Maggie quickly. "And I don't want to waste the seeds. But I don't use them, you know, recreationally."

Lena looked back at Harry, who had begun to rotate the banana in his hands, and was repeatedly whispering, "Yellow, yellow, yellow," under his breath.

"Harry, dear," she inquired in the most pleasant voice she could, "how many of the, erm, berries did you eat?"

He paused. "Three," he answered, after a moment's deliberation. Then: "No, four. Yes, four."

"Well, that's not so many that it's dangerous," said Maggie, in what Lena assumed she thought was a comforting tone.

"Yes," said Lena through gritted teeth, "but how long is he going to be off his face?"

Maggie screwed up her eyes in thought. "Um... probably about seven or eight hours."

"Hey, Lena," said Harry, putting the banana back in the bowl and looking up and around with an awestruck expression, "are we inside your mind right now?" He reached his hands out, as if trying to grab something. "Because I think I can see the colours... there's one!"

Before Lena could even begin to formulate a response, a silver light suddenly appeared in front of her.

"What the–" Maggie began to yelp, probably wondering if she had unknowingly also consumed some of the seeds.

After a couple of seconds, the light shaped itself into the form of a large, shaggy dog.

"Snuffles!" yelled Harry delightedly.

"Lena," said Sirius' voice, sounding panicked, "we can't find Harry anywhere, he must have snuck out using the Invisibility Cloak. He's left the rest of his stuff here, so he must have been planning on returning, but we have no idea how long he's been gone, or where he might have been heading. If you can think of anywhere he might have gone, check it out and let us know as soon as you can."

The silver dog vanished with a pop, accompanied by Harry saying in a small voice, "No, come back!" He tottered towards the spot the Patronus had vanished, then fell over, landing on his bottom with an, "Oomf."

"Shit," muttered Lena, "I'm going to be in so much trouble."

"All right," whispered Lena, leading Harry through the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place, "tell me again: what are the rules of our little game?"

Harry responded in a stage whisper, "If I can go for the rest of the night without talking to anyone else, you'll get me a present." He frowned. "But what kind of present?"

"It's a surprise," replied Lena, shutting the door as gently as she could.

"Oh," said Harry eagerly, "like a birthday cake?"

"No, it's not your birthday for another seven months," Lena told him patiently as they crept down the entrance hall.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I know that. I said like a birthday cake – because all my birthday cakes have been surprises. My first one was from Hagrid– do you think Hagrid's going to be here?"

"That seems unlikely," replied Lena distractedly. "Now, let's head up these steps–"

But at that precise moment, Ron, Ginny and Hermione – who must have arrived while they were out – appeared on the first landing.

"Merlin's pants, Harry," said Ron, relief flooding his expression, "where the bloody hell have you been? Mum and Sirius have been going nuts!" He cleared his throat and started down the staircase, followed by the girls, who looked equally relieved. "Mum, Sirius!" he began to yell.

"No," said Lena hurriedly, "Ron, don't–"

But he didn't hear her. "Lena's found Harry and brought him back!"

There was a shriek of, "Oh, thank goodness!" from down in the kitchen, and the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Of course, it was right then that Harry had to notice Hermione's presence.

"Hermione!" he said loudly, and practically bounded up to her. "You're here!"

'Well, so much for the game,' thought Lena ruefully, as a surprised-looking Hermione replied, "Yes, I arrived half an hour or so ago–" before being cut off by Harry enveloping her in a bear-hug, turning her surprise into utter astonishment.

"I'm glad you're here, Hermione," said Harry, his voice muffled as his face was buried in her voluminous hair. "Because you're amazing, even if some people think you're no fun and a killjoy. But I know you're cool, even though you actually like homework, and that's a bit weird. And you have really bouncy hair." He drew back and looked into her eyes. "Have I ever told you that you have really bouncy hair?"

Hermione stared back at him, apparently lost for words. Ron and Ginny were staring at him like he'd lost his mind. Lena glanced behind her. Molly and Sirius were there, also watching the scene before them with expressions of utter confusion.

"Uh, Harry?" said Ron cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Releasing Hermione, Harry turned to Ron and took a firm hold of his shoulders, making his friend flinch. "Ron," said Harry seriously, "you're my best mate. My brother. My brethren. And if I'm ever a bit of a dick to you, I'm sorry." He lightly clapped his cheek. "I love you, mate."

Ron's eyes were wider than Lena had even seen them, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"Dear lord," whispered Molly, gazing at Harry in horror, "what's happened to him? Where did you find him?"

Inwardly, Lena winced. "Well," she began hesitantly, "here's the thing–"

Meanwhile, Harry had moved onto the youngest Weasley.

"Ginny," he said, smiling, "you're pretty awesome." He patted her on the head. "Well done."

"Is he drunk?" Sirius asked Lena, sounding more interested than concerned.

"No, not drunk," said Lena carefully. "But he, er, did unwittingly consume a... substance that has somewhat affected him."

"WHAT?" screeched Molly. "HE'S BEEN DRUGGED?"

Lena cringed as Harry turned around, finally noticing Molly and Sirius. "Hi, Mrs Weasley," he said brightly. "Maggie gave me some berries, and I feel great!" He looked around with a dazed smile. "And everything just looks so beautiful."

"Maggie?" repeated Sirius, looking at Lena. "As in your friend?"

"Well, yes," said Lena, "but technically–"

"Your friend," interrupted Molly, her eyes narrowed and her voice low, but still quite menacing, "is a drug dealer?"

"No!" replied Lena hastily. "I mean, she grows stuff, but she's not–"

"Hang on," said Hermione, who had been listening to the exchange – unlike Ron and Ginny, who were trying to stop Harry from investigating Walburga's covered up portrait. "Why was Harry with Maggie? How did he know how to get there?"

Lena took a deep breath. "Because he was with me," she admitted. "He's been with me the entire afternoon."

"What?" snarled Molly, while Sirius frowned at her. "Are you telling me you took him out with you, after Dumbledore made it very clear he was not to leave Grimmauld Place?"

"Yes," said Lena simply.

Molly drew herself up to her full height – which was more than a head shorter than Lena – and shrieked, "HOW DARE YOU?!" At once, the curtains covering Walburga flew open, sending Harry, Ron and Ginny diving for cover. But Molly paid the screeching former mistress of the house no heed as she continued her own rant at Lena.

It took nearly thirty seconds for Molly to reach a point where she paused to draw breath, allowing Lena to interject, "He was perfectly safe with me! I didn't allow him out of my sight the whole time!"

"Then how," shouted Molly, her nostrils flared, "did he end up drugged? Or was that your idea?"

"Who's been drugged?" came Fred's voice, as he and George ran down the stairs.

"Never mind," said George, spotting Harry rolling through the hallway towards the front door, Ron and Ginny chasing after him. "I think we can figure it out."

"A little help here!" called out Sirius, who with Hermione was attempting to shut the curtains over his mother.

As the twins went over to join them, Lena attempted to explain herself to Molly. "It wasn't my fault, or Maggie's! Harry mixed up trosgynnol poppy seeds with aduna berries when he was in her kitchen and we were outside talking. Then Sirius' Patronus arrived, and I brought him straight back."

They had just managed to close Walburga's curtains as Molly angrily replied, "But you never should have taken him out of the house, and especially without telling any of us! Did you even stop to think for one moment how terrifying it would be for us when we realised he wasn't here? Anything could have happened!"

Harry, who had been brought back to the foot of the staircase by Ron and Ginny, said airily, "Anything can happen, Mrs Weasley. We live in a world of magic, where the impossible is made possible." He threw his hands in the air. "We can do anything, be anything!"

Lena heard Fred whisper to George, "This is the greatest thing I have ever seen."

Molly gave Harry a strained smile. "Yes, dear," she said through gritted voice. "Now, why don't you come down to the kitchen with me, and we'll find something that might make you feel a little better?"

Harry looked at her, perplexed. "But I feel fantastic."

"There isn't anything you can give him to counter the effects of trosgynnol," Lena muttered to Molly. "He's just going to have to, erm... ride it out."

Molly glared at her. "And how long is that going to take?"

Lena bit her lip. "Probably another seven hours or so."

Everyone's eyes turned to Harry, but he didn't appear to notice that he was the centre of attention. He was looking around the grim, aged house with an expression of sheer delight. At last, his gaze fell upon Lena, and he beamed.

"Can I have my present now?"

Monday 18 December, 1995:

Remus didn't want to laugh. He wanted to scowl at her, and tell her how reckless she had been. But he couldn't help himself – Lena's plan had backfired so spectacularly that all he could do was laugh uproariously. Of course, not in front of Molly, who was still shooting death glares at Lena every time she saw her. So, he had waited until they were alone in their bedroom to collapse onto their bed in mirth.

He had just gotten back from his mission for the Order in Scotland, and as he had his dinner in the kitchen – everyone else had eaten two hours beforehand – Sirius and Lena had filled him in on the events of yesterday afternoon and evening. It sounded like it had been quite an entertaining night.

"I'm so glad that I and my misfortunes could provide you with some amusement," said Lena with a sniff, as she sat down beside him on the bed.

Remus, who was lying on his back, looked up at her with a grin. "Oh, come on," he said, "you rarely ever screw up – or at least, with consequences that are just funny, rather than awful. Of course I'm going to take some small pleasure in this."

"Wow, you're such a supportive partner."

Sitting up, Remus snaked his arms around her waist. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry if you feel unsupported right now," he murmured into her ear. "Is there anything I can do to correct that?"

Lena sighed dramatically. "I suppose you could make love to me," she said carelessly. "I might then be a little less inclined to be cross with you."

Remus' fingers found the hem of her jumper and ever so slowly began to pull it up. "Are you very cross with me, then?"

She turned her head to him. "I am rather put out," she told him, her index finger finding the collar of his own jumper.

"Well," said Remus, tugging her jumper up further, "I really should do whatever I can to remedy that."

Lena briefly released her hold of his collar to allow him to fully remove her jumper. As soon as he had done it, she returned the favour, and immediately set to work unbuttoning his shirt. As she did, he leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss. Continuing to shed clothes, their mouth parted and their tongues delved further inside. Once clad only in their underwear, Lena pushed him back so he was lying across the bed, and she moved forward so she was straddling his hips.

"I've missed you something awful this week," he said, his hands lightly running up and down her sides. "How was Iceland?"

She shrugged. "Quite beautiful, I suspect."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "You suspect?"

Half-smiling, she traced the old scar that ran down the left side of his abdomen. "Well, I was so miserable without you that I wouldn't have noticed if it was."

It had been eighteen months since he'd first found out she loved him, but it still made Remus' heart flutter whenever she told him something like that.

"Then we'll have to return one day," he said softly, "and find out together."

"I'd like that," murmured Lena, reaching behind her and unhooking her bra. And with that, all thoughts of Iceland vanished from Remus' mind.

Saturday 23 December, 1995:

"Merlin," said Rolf, rubbing his arms as he shivered slightly, "I can't believe I'd forgotten how cold it can get here during winter."

Both Lena and Maggie only made non-committal noises in reply as they continued to stare at their friend who they hadn't seen in eighteen months.

A lot can change in eighteen months.

They were sitting at a table in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron. Rolf had only just arrived, and the girls were yet to manage to say a whole sentence to him.

"Well," said Rolf, settling into his chair properly, "we've got a lot to catch up on, don't we?"

Lena and Maggie exchanged a brief look, then the former cleared her throat.

"Yes," said Lena, still not entirely sure where to look. "Yes, we do."

"Brazil seems to have... agreed with you," said Maggie, her tone unusually polite.

Rolf regarded them both with a look that suggested he thought they were acting oddly, but replied, "Yeah, it's great. My job, the people I'm working with, the climate – well, once I got used to it–"

Maggie, unable to ignore the elephant in the room any longer, abruptly cut in. "Rolf, you're jacked."

He was. It had been glaringly noticeable since the moment he'd removed his overcoat, his shoulder and arm muscles straining against his woolly jumper. He was also at least two inches taller than when they'd last seen him, tanner, and his face completely lacking the pimples that had blemished it during their school years. His hair was also longer, tied back in a short ponytail, ending just above the base of his neck, and the style really suited him.

The unavoidable truth was that Rolf was now gorgeous, and it was making Lena very uncomfortable.

"Oh," said Rolf, looking faintly embarrassed. "Right. Well, it's, uh, quite a physical lifestyle, magizoology."

"What are you doing, wrestling leopards?" said Maggie incredulously.

"No, but–"

They were interrupted by the waitress arriving at their table. She was about their age – a short, busty, blonde young woman– but Lena didn't recognise her from Hogwarts. This lack of familiarity was clarified when she spoke, for her accent was something Eastern European.

"And what can I get for you today?"

The question was addressed to all three of them, but her eyes were firmly fixed on Rolf, and in a most appreciative manner. They requested their drinks and she jotted them down in a little notepad, but her gaze never left the male member of the table until she turned to leave – at which point she flashed Rolf a very flirtatious smile, which he returned obliviously.

"Oh, that's just not right," muttered Lena as the waitress walked away.

"So weird," agreed Maggie under her breath.

Rolf gave them a puzzled look. "What's weird?"

"All of us finally being back together," Lena lied smoothly. "It's been such a long time."

"Oh, yeah." Rolf grinned. "It really is great to see you guys again, I've missed you a lot."

His genuine joy at being reunited made Lena's discomfort fade away. "We've missed you too, you big softie," she told him, fondly patting his hand.

"Yeah, there's been times where we've had to be sickeningly sentimental just to make up for your absence," added Maggie. She smirked slightly. "It's been hell."

Rolf waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I bet the two of you have barely noticed I'm not here, now that you've got your super serious relationships." He looked at them curiously. "I don't suppose I'll be getting invited back here anytime soon to attend a wedding, will I?"

Maggie held up her hands hastily. "Whoa, hold up. I haven't even been with Oliver for two years yet."

"And I've been with Remus for even less," put in Lena. "And the subject of marriage has literally never been discussed."

"But you two are, like, soul-mates or whatever," said Rolf.

Lena stared at him, bemused. "You've never even seen us together since we became a couple."

"You told him all about the Orb and your illness when you barely knew him," countered Rolf, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And then you followed him when he was a werewolf into the Forbidden Forest to protect him from the mere possibility of an Acromantula attack." He spread his hands out in a 'you-do-the-maths' gesture.

Beside her, Maggie murmured, "He's not wrong."

Lena glanced at her. "What, you think there's such things as soul-mates?" she said derisively.

"No," replied Maggie calmly, "I'm saying that you and Remus are so in love with each other that it verges on insanity."

Although she kept her expression neutral, Lena shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Not wanting to continue following this line of conversation, she steered the subject back to Rolf. "Well, what about you?" she asked, almost accusingly. "You got a girl back in Brazil that you've been hiding from us?"

He shrugged. "I've been on a few dates, but nothing serious." He smiled wryly. "Unlike you, I haven't met anyone crazy enough to fall in love with me."

Lena snorted. 'I suppose that's all anyone can ever really hope for,' she thought. 'Someone mad enough not to care that you're even madder than them." And it was only at that moment Lena understood.

Love really was the dumbest and most beautiful thing.

If there are any readers out there who wouldn't mind doing me a favour, I have a few questions for you guys, and your answers (either by reviews or PM) would really help me out. The thing is, I know how this story is going to end; I've known pretty much since I started writing it. Naturally, that means there are certain scenes that will have to happen. The problem is that there are sometimes different paths I could take between these points, and I'm struggling to decide upon which to use. So, if I can get a general idea of what you guys are enjoying or not enjoying about the story, it might help me make those decisions. Thus, I humbly ask:

1. What moments/scenes/sections of this story have you liked the most?

2. What moments/scenes/sections of this story have you found the least interesting?

3. Which canon characters would you want to see more of?

4. Apart from Lena, which original character have you liked the most?

5. Are there any ideas/concepts that I've introduced that haven't been explained clearly enough?

And of course, if you have any other thoughts, theories, questions etc., I would love to hear them :)