Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. If I did I would be a far richer man. And I'd be a woman. I also don't own Star Trek.

Reviews are appreciated but certainly not required.

AN: This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I decided where it ends now was a better stopping point than my original plan. So sorry for the slightly shorter-than-normal length, but expect next chapter to be a nice bit longer. It's currently planned to cover most of the events of winter break.


Chapter 4: Dropping the Ball

"Halloween," Dora murmured as she slipped on her shirt and looked into the mirror with a grimace. "I used to think of this day as a celebration…" She shut her eyes for a brief moment and when she opened them again her hair was a jet black and fashioned into a shoulder length bob. "I was such an idiot."

Sighing, Dora grabbed her bag and headed down to the Common Room. It only took a quick glance to see that Harry and Hermione were long gone – just like she'd been warned by the brunette. "This isn't the anniversary of Voldemort's first downfall for him. This is the day his parents were murdered." Forcing down her remorse at being so unknowingly insensitive in the previous timeline, Dora squared her shoulders and set her features. This was a new life and the mistakes of her past – future? – didn't need to define her. She might not be able to promise Harry a decent day on this particular event but, she would at least be able to make it bearable.

That resolve lasted until she reached the threshold of the Great Hall and saw said young man hunched over eating his breakfast. The strain around his eyes and the white knuckles on his fork stood out in stark contrast to the smile on his lips and the flippant way he was laughing with his friends. A lance of regret spiked straight through her core as Dora recognized the mask Harry was wearing. She should recognize it – she'd worn it herself for over two months now. Shaking her head to clear it of the feelings welling up, Dora stalked over to the Gryffindors and plopped down beside her young friend with an easy grin. "Morning."

"Good morning, Dora. Happy Halloween," Harry replied. As he turned his false smile on her and his gaze played across her hair the mask dropped ever so slightly and she saw the lingering fear and pain reflected behind his green eyes. "Sorry for leaving early. We wanted to grab some food before the masses arrive." A momentary pause saw him continuing in a far quieter voice that she had to strain to hear, "Thanks for the gesture, Theodora."

"They deserve to be remembered by more than just you and Hermione," she responded matching his tone. With a reassuring smile she patted his leg and said louder, "I get it by the way. I imagine you probably don't want to be around people for too long today." Dora's comment immediately had Hermione's head twisting around with narrowed eyes to glare at her. Harry however just shrugged and gave a small sigh the metamorph more felt than heard.

"It could be worse. At least people stopped trying to congratulate me after First Year."

"We take our wins where we can get them," she agreed sagely.

Hermione's silent warning ebbed away at the easy reaction of the two friends and she sighed, reaching over to pat Harry's arm. "That's good advice. It doesn't do to dwell on the defeats of the past when we can take our victories and use them to march forward."

Across the table from them Neville cocked his head to the side and chuckled. "Um, I don't think that's quite what Dora said, Hermione."

"Yet, the sentiment remains intact. Or at least that's what the Jimmers show," Luna replied with a shrug. Dora figured the blonde had opted to sit with their group this morning since most of the Ravenclaws hadn't made it downstairs yet. At the odd comment several heads turned to stare quizzically at Luna.

Dora just rolled her eyes and held a piece of bacon out like a pointer. "So, Luna, what do the Jimmers show?"

"Why do you encourage this talk of creatures that in all likelihood do not exist?" Hermione groaned.

"They might not all be made-up," Dora replied with a grin as she nudged Harry. The amused lifting of his lips was enough for her.

Luna waited politely for the ribbing to end before she nodded to Dora. "To answer your question, Dora. The Jimmers float on the emotional strings of conversation. They particularly like to congregate on the waves between participants who share the same meaning if not the same words. Paying attention to Jimmers has greatly helped me with learning new languages."

"Really?" Harry asked. "What languages do you know, Luna?"

"I can converse in Spanish, Gaelic, French, German, Bulgarian, and Gobbledegook. I can also understand Mermish after last year, but I cannot speak in it. It hurts my throat," the blonde said grimacing.

Everyone within earshot gave appreciative nods and Neville let out a low whistle. "Wow. That's really impressive, Luna."

"Thank you, Neville. I find languages to be fun puzzles to solve. I hope to one day determine if more magical species have their own languages and learn those as well." She tapped the table and shrugged. "Perhaps I will contact the Scamanders to see if they have a good place to start down that path…"

Anything anyone was going to say in reply was lost in the flap of wings from the rafters. The morning post had arrived. Cold fingers of dread took hold inside Dora's chest as she listened to the feathered messengers bearing their burdens. She'd done everything she could to prevent what she knew was coming today, but…time had seemed to have a way of coming back around and forcing things back onto the train tracks no matter how many switchbacks she threw up in front of it.

Hedwig dropped the Daily Prophet into Harry's hand and settled onto his shoulder nuzzling him softly before she turned and barked sorrowfully towards Dora. She felt the color drain from her face. That owl was far too smart for the message to be lost in translation. "Hell," Harry cursed. "He attacked Azkaban. Got most of them out."

Tossing the paper onto the table Harry scowled and glared as if hoping the parchment would catch fire. Hermione didn't give mental combustion a chance to occur as her hand shot out and scooped it up. Dora's mouth was dry and she was forced to lay her head in her hands in order to focus on her hair enough to keep it from flashing through color after color. "Damn you, Fudge!" she murmured. "Damn you! Moody and Amelia would've been able to stop him if you hadn't blocked them!"

It was the only logical explanation. Every claim was investigated when there were certain key phrases that popped up. It was procedure. Dora had made certain her two letters had included every single one. The Azkaban warning should have sent up enough red flags that the additional required guards on the island could've repelled Voldemort's small numbers with ease. The only way to circumvent the increase would have been through direct Ministerial veto. Fudge would be directly responsible for all of those deaths that came about from the freedom of Adolphus, Rookwood, Dolohov, Bellatrix –

Bellatrix was FREE!

Dora would see that bowler hat tossed through the Veil for this.

A growl and slamming fist cut through her thoughts. "Not this time!" Dora's head jerked up and she stared with wide eyes at Neville Longbottom. The shy, reserved Gryffindor she'd come to know had completely vanished. In his place was a snarling, white knuckled demon of rage. Neville's muscles were quivering and his wand was sparking. The paper in front of him whipped around in a sudden gust of wind doing nothing to calm the young man across the table. The change was so complete and so abrupt that if she didn't know better she'd be questioning whether Neville was possessed. "Dora, Hermione, Harry," he said suddenly turning his eyes to lock on each of them. "Regular studying isn't enough. Teach me to fight! Use the Defense Association group and teach me how to destroy them!"

Hermione bit her lip as she set the Prophet onto the table. "That wasn't originally why I started getting us together…but you may be right. Harry, Dora, how do you both feel about expanding our studying goals from learning the theory and practicals to genuine attempts at combat related defense? Harry you'd probably be our best teacher for the moment unless I can find a professor willing to help…"

Harry paused for a moment. He looked at Neville with a calculating gaze and then turned to Dora. When she noticed him staring at her images of Bellatrix sending that black streak of death towards him rose unbidden and flooded her view. She lost full control of her hair and had to scowl for several seconds as she forced her Occlumency to the limits and brought it back under heel. "I'll do it," Harry said his voice tight. He had turned back to Hermione but his left hand snaked out and squeezed Dora's thigh under the table. "We need to know how to defend ourselves and simply practicing the spells in Moony's books aren't enough anymore. Not with so many Death Eaters free. Neville, meeting tonight, make sure everyone knows. Hermione, ensure we're fully expanded into the other Houses. I didn't see any Ravenclaws beyond Luna last week so talk to them and also ask Daphne Greengrass to spread the word among the Slytherins. They're going to – "

"You can't invite the Snakes to the DA, Harry!" Ron hissed glancing around to make sure their conversation hadn't carried.

Rule 40: Never discount a potential ally. If you don't act like a villain turncoats will be more loyal than your own men.

Dora took a deep breath and spread her hands as she turned to Ron. This was getting cut off at the head. "Ron, the Cannons got Marcus Gregory on their team last season right?"

"What the bloody hell does that have to do with anything?!"

"What team was Gregory on before that?"

Ron rolled his eyes and replied with a wave of his hand. "The Falmouth Falcons. Everyone knows that! It caused a huge stink that he switched like that!"

"Right," Dora said nodding. "His family had always supported the Falcons. He'd flown with the Falcons. It was easier than going against his family and friends. But when the Cannons lost a member and needed a new Chaser what did he do? He immediately dropped his contract with the Falcons and went to help the team he always preferred. Don't you think there might be some Slytherins just going through the motions right now? Sticking with their House on the outside so as to avoid becoming targets or ridiculed or bullied? Now that sides are going to have to be drawn though…what if we have some Marcus Gregorys among the Slytherin Snakes?"

Ron's mouth opened and closed several times though no sound came out as the red slowly drained out of his face. Finally, he huffed and crossed his arms slouching back down into his seat. "I'm still going to watch them. Not every Falcon is Gregory and not every Snake is a Lion."

"Of course not," Dora replied. "Just give them a chance to prove where their loyalties lie, that's all I'm saying."

"I…I can do that," Ron said heaving a sigh. Luna smiled and patted his arm as she leaned over to whisper in his ear. Ron's face went red again though this time his expression made it obvious it wasn't due to anger.

Hermione looked at her friend with confusion writ across her features before shrugging and turning back to Harry. "So it's decided then. I'll get us together for tonight. When we get dragged into this fight we are going to be prepared."


The stress of her insane aunt once again being free to torture, maim and kill or just generally spread her insanity around the world was severely distracting. Dora felt like a weight had settled across her shoulders and Halloween passed in a daze as she went through the motions in class. She'd been able to make minor changes with relative impunity but everything major was still progressing towards the inevitable. Harry was still somewhat somber, Umbridge was still wreaking havoc, the Order was still useless, Malfoy was still in favor, Fudge was still Minister…Bellatrix was still free.

"RIBBIT." A load croak from the front of the room served to pull Dora out of her circling thoughts. She risked a glance up and her lips curled upwards ever so slightly at the sight of Umbridge. Their latest round of warfare had been engaged earlier in the week and it was working out rather spectacularly. The horrible woman was croaking or ribbitting every few words. To make matters even better – or worse though only Umbridge would take that view – each ribbit had her tongue shooting out about a foot to catch one of the flies buzzing around the room. Dora really had to thank Neville for that suggestion. Hermione's idea of adjusting the Ton Tongue Toffee had been brilliant, but it only ended up becoming practical once Neville suggesting bringing their own flies to class. Peeves had agreed to set up a collection of the insects inside an unused classroom and they were grabbing a few prior to every Umbridge sighting now.

The results were highly satisfying. Dora wasn't above admitting that this 'prank' was likely crossing several lines and had most certainly made the leap from 'annoying' to 'downright mean-spirited' but she wasn't going to stop. She also wasn't remotely near the bottom of her list of ideas and if Umbridge didn't crack soon then Dora would have to pull out the big guns and start using strategies that the actual teenagers would probably be better left out of. Plausible deniability and all that of course.

"Miss Bulstrode! Detention! Mocking my ribbit is entirely unacceptable and downright ribbit!" Umbridge scowled at the end of her shout slamming a fist into the desk. "When I find who ribbit I will ensure they are expelled and RIBBIT!" The upside to the war's new level of severity was that not even the Slytherins felt like getting between Dora's team and Umbridge. The open secret of the perpetrators was acknowledged by the students then firmly ignored in order to avoid drawing the gaze of the demons onto themselves.

Dora calmly raised her hand before asking, "Professor Umbridge? What page did you say to stop on before? I couldn't quite understand it originally and I want to make sure I can finish the entire required segment."

"Page ribbit. Page ribbit! PAGE RIBBIT!" Umbridge let out a frustrated scream and shot her wand into the air drawing out three numbers on the board behind her. Her hand was clenched tight enough that for a moment Dora thought she might get to see the poor abused wand snap. Sadly the gleeful triumph of that potential opportunity seemed to pass by. Dora just sighed and nodded to the toad-woman before turning back to her book and pretending to read.

Umbridge stalked back to the front of the room and began to pass out the papers that would be required for their homework. Dora and Harry both took one and immediately stuffed them into their bags to be forgotten. Neither of them – not even Hermione! – had done any of the homework required for the class. All three knew they would end up failing the course no matter what their work showed so there was no point wasting their time. They'd prove how well they actually performed during the O.W.L.s.

Thinking of the O.W.L.s made Dora pause as the class wrapped up. She had yet to decide just what she would be doing on those tests. She'd probably still fail History, maybe Astronomy too. However…she could probably get O's on most of the rest…Should she though? Was that fair to do that? Did she even care if it was fair? She'd need to get a good job so she could support Ha- Dora froze completely as her thoughts ground to a halt.

"Hey! Watch it!" Pansy Parkinson barked just barely avoiding slamming into Dora's back. Shaking her head, Dora mumbled an apology and started walking again.

What the hell was that? She thought scowling at herself and her hormones. This is temporary! I am not going to be watching over that guy for the rest of his bloody life! And even if I was he'd be making just as much money as me! If not more! Though Harry would probably be a good househusband and – NO, BAD DORA, BAD! No fantasizing about the Boy Who Makes You Feel Warm And Fuz – BAD DORA! Scowling deeper and now with a slight blush coloring her cheeks, the metamorph dropped off her bag in the dorms before proceeding back to the Room of Requirement.

The Room of Freaking Requirement…Merlin if she had known about that thing when she had gone to Hogwarts originally…Dora's blush deepened and she walked past to set the Room to a slightly modified configuration from the study group's norm. She had to do it twice since the first time there was a bed off to the corner. Finally, she succeeded in getting their practice arena prepared she grabbed a random book off the shelf to see what would be best to start with. Paring down her Auror training to 'believably advanced' school levels was probably going to be difficult and she welcomed any help that the Room would be willing to provide.

Flipping open the book, Dora's fanciful thoughts were wiped from her mind as the text settled onto a page containing a perfect picture of the curse that started this entire thing. That black jagged line of lighting speared from the end of the wand in the display with the text 'Chest Crushing Curse' underneath. Swallowing on a suddenly very dry throat, Dora leaned on the wall and started to read.

The CCC is a piece of Dark Magic that has generally fallen out of favor. This curse is designed to slowly crush the heart, lungs and stomach. It was a primary means of tortuous death for many years as it prolongs the agony of the victim for several minutes. Their heart is compressed forcing it to beat faster and harder; their lungs are squeezed enough to collapse one and enforce permanent shortness of breath; finally the stomach ruptures spilling its deadly contents into the chest cavity around the heart. The victim ends up dying as their own acid eats away their heart. Usage of this particular curse has diminished as many Dark Wizards choose instead to focus on more efficient methods of torture and death such as the Cruciatus and Avada Kedavra. Effective defenses of the CCC are minimal as counter-curses tend to be largely ineffective. The best defense is to avoid being struck. If the subject is hit, the primary recommendation is sedation and comfort to ease the passing.

"Dora? You okay?" The voice shot through her focus and Dora rocketed off the wall quick enough that her feet flew out from under her. Pinwheeling forward, Dora heard a grunt of pain just before she impacted with a set of soft, strong arms. The arms didn't succeed in halting her fall, though they did end up cushioning it. Another grunt of pain escaped the boy under her as Dora landed square on his stomach groaning slightly.

"Ow…sorry, Harry…"

"Let me breathe and I'll forgive you," he mumbled with an amused lilt in his voice. "I should know better than to surprise you by this point." Dora shifted enough that her elbow left his stomach though she paused for a half second before moving further. Harry's arms just felt so…so…safe. It didn't help her motivation to stand up when he tightened his hold around her. "You okay? You looked pretty pale when I walked in. Usually you're a lot more observant than that too."

Dora succumbed to the temptation and leant her forehead on his chest with a soft sigh. "Found a really disturbing spell in one of the books. It just upset me a bit. I'll be fine. Thanks for catching my fall."

"It's only fair since you wouldn't have been falling if I hadn't startled you," he murmured. One hand left her back and reached up to softly stroke her hair. "I know how scary these things can get, Dora, but I promise I'm going to teach you and everyone else everything I know. I'm not an expert by any means…but I've survived three direct confrontations with Voldemort. Four if you count one where I was saved by a passing centaur. I had a ton of luck, but I have some ideas on how to get us able to survive long enough for help to arrive."

She fought the urge to whimper as his hand brushed her ear and her hands curled into his shirt. This wasn't right. She was supposed to comfort him. "That's not what has me worried, Harry. It's…complicated."

"Well, I say you two should just kiss and get it over with. That takes a lot of the complication out of the picture," an amused feminine voice commented from above them. Dora twisted her head and glared up at the blonde's remark before she carefully stood and helped pull Harry to his feet after her.

Turning, Dora crossed her arms and glared at Daphne Greengrass. Tracey Davis stood next to the Slytherin grinning from ear to ear and a small gaggle of Gryffindors watched from further back with smirks and raised eyebrows. Neville was chuckling along with Luna and Ron and the Weasley twins were admirable in their restraint – grins aside, the lack of teasing comments were appreciated. The only one different from the norm was Hermione. The brunette's expression was basically unreadable though Dora swore she saw a flicker of sorrow flash across her face as she glanced back and forth between Harry and Dora with her arms crossed. It was a problem for another day.

"You should try taking your own advice, Greengrass," Dora said arching an eyebrow. "From what I hear, there would be far fewer issues between you and Davis if you'd just throw her into a broom closet every now and then."

Daphne smirked wider and waved away Dora's comment. "Your sources are outdated. Tracey is officially mine as of last week."

The Slytherin in question raised her eyebrows and coughed, blushing profusely. "Uh, Daph? Thought we were going to keep that quiet?"

Daphne shrugged and threw her arm out to indicate the rest of the room where a few more people were filing in. "We are in an illegal gathering of an illegal 'study club' working to learn illegal spells and techniques…illegally. They can't exactly tell anyone what they hear in here and a gesture of trust is warranted considering the mix of attendees."

"Technically the spells are not illegal," Hermione said primly stepping forward and picking up the book Dora had accidentally lobbed at Harry's head and placing it back on the shelf, her expression once more unreadable.

"Yeah, we're just not allowed to actually learn them in Hogwarts anymore thanks to that ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng [frog-humping son of a bitch]," Su Li commented settling against a suit of armor on the wall. "By the way, whoever came up with that tongue thing; it was brilliant work."

Hannah Abbott nodded. "I agree, though I would say the people behind it are starting to cut it a bit close now. If you're caught there might be repercussions beyond the school at this point."

Susan Bones shook her head and snorted. "Not likely. Not after the Azkaban breakout. Aunt Amelia was livid when the Minister halted most of her security measures. Fudge can try to push through whatever charges he wants on us, but she has enough support against him now that she'd be able to avoid actually punishing anyone for going against the idiot or his local crony."

The mention of Azkaban threw yet more cold water onto her thoughts and Dora scowled. "Did we manage to stop any of them from getting away?"

Susan's smile took on a predatory cant and Neville's answering grin mirrored it. "The brothers Lestrange were badly hurt. Moody tagged one and Auror Shacklebolt hit the other," the red-head said. "They also definitely managed to kill Travers." Dora's mouth twisted into a perfect reflection of the other two students. She may not have stopped the majority of the Death Eaters, but her warning had been able to make some difference.

"Excellent. Better some than none," Dora said nodding. "Alright, enough gossip. We're here to learn to fight right? Harry you want to get this thing started and I'll walk around and help people where it's needed?"

Harry shrugged and stepped to the center of the room. "Sure. Okay everyone, you all know why we're doing this. Umbridge and Fudge might as well be wearing Voldemort badges for all the help they're giving the monster." He paused as the occupants shivered at his use of the name. Only Hermione and Dora didn't react. Harry's eyes narrowed when he continued, "Voldemort. Voldemort. VOLDEMORT! You all need to stop being afraid of his stupid name! That's lesson one. If you start shaking and quivering every time he's standing in front of you then you might as well hold your throat out for him and his people to slit right now. Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. He's the son of a witch and a Muggle."

"How do you know that?" Ernie Macmillian asked raising his hand. His tone was incredulous, but surprisingly not accusatory. Dora nodded in appreciation – the boy was seeking facts without coming to a decision prior. She'd have to keep an eye on him.

"Two primary means. One, the basilisk from our Second Year was controlled by a diary that Voldemort left behind when he was a teenager." Gasps sounded around the room and even Dora's head whipped around at that – hard enough she felt some of her vertebrae squeal in protest. This was completely new information. That Harry, Ron and Hermione were so cavalier about it must mean that they had known all along…so Dumbledore knew too! And the old man hadn't bothered to tell the Order. Artifacts that could think…she'd never come across something like that before. This was…there was something deeper going on with that book than a simple enchantment.

Dora's expression darkened. Dumbledore should never have kept that information to himself. If Voldemort had access to magic that could imbue artifacts with representations of the Dark Lord himself that was something they needed to know. At minimum they needed to watch out for them. At best, they could figure out how the man had done it, track any others down and destroy them before there was more collateral damage. It would've been something they could do – something more than simply tracking movements and trying to quietly speak to potential allies.

Harry had continued speaking while she mused. Shaking her head, Dora focused back into the conversation. "The names rearranged into 'I am Lord Voldemort'. He chose it himself. He told me about his parentage last year in the graveyard after he killed Cedric. He was too busy gloating about rising above his origins and marveling at how similar we started off that it didn't even seem to register that Pettigrew was there to hear everything too. He's probably lucky that the traitor is too much of a coward to risk telling any of the other Death Eaters. They'd all leave him for being a hypocrite."

"He's not a hypocrite, Harry," Hermione commented with a sigh. "That would imply he actually believes his own rhetoric. He's more than likely just using the purebloods as a means to an end. Voldemort's history repeatedly shows him as a power-hungry individual who cares little for anything beyond his own gain. I think it's fairly clear that he latched onto the group most suited to propel him to his end-goal. I'm sure he hates Muggles thanks to his father, but if he actually cares about differences in blood he would have been far more careful about wiping out pureblood families in the last war."

Harry shrugged. "Doesn't matter in the long run. The point is Voldemort is just a wizard like you or me. He's scary powerful, but he's not invincible and he makes mistakes too. In order to find those holes and either attack or run away though you need to be paying attention and not quaking just from looking at him or hearing his name." Harry smiled and Dora felt a burst of pride at how he was taking charge of this. She had no idea whether anything like this had happened the first time around, but she liked to think that she'd at least been able to give him this confidence. "So today you're all going to practice stunning each other and shielding. Hermione and Dora will help you with aim and spellwork. I'll be going around and whispering 'Voldemort' behind you just before you cast. We are going to keep this up until each and every one of you can cast your spells without flinching."

Dora chuckled. Harry was a mini Moody. This might actually turn out to be a bit of fun.


The DA meetings continued on in that vein for the remaining weeks of the term. Harry had managed to break most of the members from their flinching after just two sessions. She knew it helped that his continued breathing was living proof of Voldemort's fallibility. Once the basic stunning, reviving and disarming spells had been perfected they'd moved onto bigger and better things. Dora hadn't been able to use some of the harsher spells she'd been taught, but she had been able to pass off some of the more effective area of effect spells as 'I was taught a bit different in the Coven.'

She'd also been able to surreptitiously direct Hermione towards several items that were a bit higher level. Passing herself off as a 'quick study' was surprisingly easy once she started to embrace her clumsy nature and allowed herself to trip and fall while 'practicing'. It helped that Harry tended to hover close by while she was attempting those types of spells. She still refused to allow herself to examine her conflicting emotions around the Boy-Who-Lived, but she wasn't above letting him catch her when she fell.

Umbridge had upped the ante in her efforts to track down her tormentors. She'd taken to issuing Educational Decrees forbidding students from being within 6 inches of each other or gathering in groups of three or more. It was rather entertaining actually. Hermione had taken to getting her ruler out in class and with Neville's help they shifted all of the desks in every room to accommodate the new rules in addition to marking off specific seating sections during meals. Dora had submitted a complaint that she could no longer study in the library because the desks for reviewing the material were out of compliance and couldn't be adjusted to seat just two people at a time. Ron went to McGonagall with questions about how he was supposed to stay in the Common Room when there were already two students on the couch.

Needless to say, both decrees were forcibly rescinded upon numerous Howlers reaching the ears of the school board – and supposedly Fudge himself. Dora's only regret was not getting to personally see or hear those letters…

Things were close to coming to a head. Dora saw the cracks spreading in the Toad. It was only a matter of time now. Every step she took to contain the attacks on herself and the school caused the resistance against her to grow. Dora was fairly certain that most of the staff was now aware of just who was responsible, but with Peeves' help they'd been able to avoid ever being in the area when the 'pranks' triggered. Soon, Dora could get the woman to hit her limit…soon…then at least one problem would be taken care of permanently.

"You guys go ahead," Dora panted as she wiped her brow. DA practice had taken a lot out of her today. It never used to be this hard to produce a Patronus…she'd also never heard of a Patronus changing before yet now hers was apparently a lioness. She had no idea when or how that had happened! It didn't help that it'd taken her until the last five minutes of the session to get the darn thing to become corporeal. Even Tracey and Hannah had been able to get their Patroni before she did. That was…well that was just incredibly frustrating.

Harry paused halfway to the door and looked back. "You sure? I can wait around for a few and…"

"You go, Harry," Luna commented lightly. She smiled at him and started pushing him towards the door out. "Women problems. Hermione can explain. Or I can. Later though. Not right now. Bye!" A thoroughly confused Harry Potter was summarily pushed out of the door to the Room and it sealed behind him. Luna twirled to face Dora and put her small hands on her hips quirking her mouth into an expression somewhere between amusement and concern. "So, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Dora blinked a few times trying to figure out how Luna Lovegood had just manhandled Harry and what her goal was.

"The room is empty. It's just you and me. As I set the Room for today's practice I can change the parameters; I've ensured that it cannot be entered by anyone else nor can any listening charms pierce through the enchantments." She paused and cocked her head before shrugging. "There are some Largos floating in the corners as well which I've found tend to only congregate in areas that have active avoidance wards. That's an interesting coincidence now that I think of it…I'll have to do some research on that later…" Shaking her head Luna seemed to refocus on Dora and marched forward to sit down in front of the metamorph with her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. "Tell me what you were having trouble with this afternoon?"

The doe-eyed look that Luna directed up to her was simply adorable and yet again Dora found herself cursing Luna's ability to get what she wanted from those who liked her. "Fine. I…ugh, I couldn't make the Patronus work."

"Many of us had that problem. You certainly weren't alone."

"Yeah, but you guys are all teenagers trying to do a spell beyond N.E.W.T. level. I'm an ex-Auror doing a spell that I've done for years! It shouldn't have been so hard!"

Luna nodded and patted the ground beside her. "And yet it was. Why was that?"

Dora scowled. "If I knew that I wouldn't have had problems."

"I think you understand perfectly why you had issues. A Patronus requires a happy memory, yes?"

"Of course. That's the entire basis of the spell!"

"And what were you thinking when you first started trying to cast it today?"

Dora's scowl deepened and she collapsed down next to Luna staring resolutely at one of the practice dummies with long black hair. "I was seeing Bella cast that blasted curse at him. Again and again, every single damn time. And when I finally managed to get that particular image out of my head I saw Hermione laying on the ground or my cousin getting knocked through the bloody Veil or Ginny stuck inside a group of those monsters…That last one didn't even happen for all I know!"

Luna patted Dora's knee and smiled at her. "It sounds like you were trying to cast an Anti-Patronus. That would create some difficulties I imagine. You must have switched to trying for the regular version at some point though. What did you think of when you got the lioness?"

Dora flushed and let her hair switch to a neutral pink. "Um…it's kind of embarrassing. And really bad…"

"Well we are girls. We're supposed to gossip right?"

The innocent tone had Dora almost involuntarily chuckling. "I guess we are huh? I was remembering how it felt when Harry caught me after I fell that first real meeting. It was…it was nice."

"A very good choice. He seems to have strong arms and safe hands. I wonder if Ronald would feel that good too…" Luna shrugged and smiled. "Well that's a question for another day. We're talking about your future lover now!"

"Future lover! No! No, no, no, no, no!" Dora scowled and crossed her arms. "I can't! He's fifteen!"

"And how old are you?"

"I'm sixte- I'm twenty three!"

Luna's smile widened. "You sounded a little confused there for a moment. The hufflepinks have nearly all left you. I think you might be more sixteen than you are twenty three now."

"Arg! I don't need this right now!" Dora threw her hands into the air and collapsed back onto the floor. "I have far too much to worry about. The holidays are coming up too and I just know there is something major that I am forgetting. I don't need this sort of drama!"

"It's not drama if it's important," Luna commented softly. She stood up and started to head for the door. "Don't get so focused on your mission that you forget to live your life, Dora Kirk. You have a second chance. Not many of us get that opportunity. Don't forget that. Have a pleasant evening."

The door shut behind her leaving Dora to her thoughts. Scowling she pushed up from the floor. Harry could wait. She had to figure out what had happened during the winter hols before she missed her chance to stop it.


AN: Much thanks to RhysThornbery for his beta assistance on this.

I rather dislike that JKR made the official Goblin language Gobbledegook. Every time I read it I cringe; it just strikes me as simultaneously, cliché and horrifically demeaning to the Goblins. So don't expect that to pop up again in this story. Okay, I'm off my high horse now.

I do think Ron can be a good, decent guy if he thinks before talking/acting. I like to think that my method of improving this angle of his character is somewhat realistic. Thoughts?

I apologize if I butchered the Chinese insult. I did my best to get something sort of related to frogs/toads. It really says something about the popularity of Firefly when half the first page of results for Chinese swears are related to that show.

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Mad-Eye's Rules For Successfully Reaching Retirement:

Rule 40: Never discount a potential ally. If you don't act like a villain turncoats will be more loyal than your own men.

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Fic Recommendation: "Constants and Variables" by Azmodai. This is a crossover with Bioshock Infinite (with uncertain pairings for the future). In this story Harry stumbles across a comatose/trapped Elizabeth while running from Dudley just before getting his letter. McGonagall and (a young!) Babbling stumble across them leading to Harry accidentally freeing Elizabeth and receiving a measure of her ability in the process. She resolves to stay by him in an effort to help him and also see just what the Lutece twins are cryptically referring to regarding Harry being a constant. It's just recently finished First Year and is very good with only minor spelling/grammar errors that don't detract from the story. One comment for those familiar with Bioshock Infinite, this Elizabeth is from after the Burial at Sea DLC though how exactly she's still around hasn't been truly addressed yet. (Or at least it hasn't as of Chapter 10 which is where I am at.)