Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's.
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Chapter 68
'It's exam day!' Harry cried sarcastically, gently shaking Katie's shoulders from behind her position on the sofa. He'd originally intended to do this to Neville, but his friend was currently reading their transfiguration textbook, clutching it so tightly his hands were shaking and he couldn't bring himself to sabotage Neville's last minute confidence boost.
The brunette chaser groaned, and turned her head to stare at him with unbridled fury. 'Stop shaking me,' she growled. 'I don't even have exams today.'
'Oh,' Harry blinked, 'that's right, you're in the in between year so you only get pretend tests.'
'Yes,' Katie nodded dangerously, 'so stop.'
Harry prudently let go, and swung himself over the back of the sofa to sit next to her, slumping casually across the other half.
'Aren't you going to do any last minute revision?' Katie asked, pointing at Neville. Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Of course not,' she realised, 'it's Potions, Transfiguration and Defence today, you don't need to revise for any of your exams, let alone the last two.'
'Potions is later in the week,' Harry told her, 'and that's not even close to being true,' Harry disagreed. 'I couldn't confidently take anything except Charms, Transfiguration and Defence without revision, though I might be able to have a stab at Arithmancy and Runes if I was completely unconcerned about my OWLs.'
He wasn't looking forward to having to share a room with Snape again, even if the wizard had been avoiding so much as looking at him since their last encounter. The two-faced Death Eater was too entangled in the web of games between Voldemort and Dumbledore to be easily removed and it was too soon after the revelation for him to even consider vengeance.
'You're not getting into the spirit of things, Harry,' Katie complained. 'I was frantic in my OWL year, not only were you doing your best to die in some stupid tournament but Mad-Eye Moody set our exam. Angelina had to slip me alcohol before our Defence Exam to calm me down.'
'Well there's no tournament this year,' Harry replied evenly, looking down curiously as Katie twisted and stretched out, dropping her feet into his lap, 'and I'm not an alcoholic.'
'Neither am I,' she pouted.
'Angelina, and Alicia if she ever speaks to me again, would disagree.'
Katie's face fell a little and her feet shifted slightly in Harry's lap. 'I'm sorry about her,' she apologised quietly, glancing at Neville, 'she's not happy about how close we are after that article.'
'Does she still think it's true?' Harry asked disbelievingly.
'No,' Katie smiled and shook her head, 'don't worry about it.'
'As long as you're ok with it then I'll let it be,' Harry decided. Alicia was Katie's friend, and he wouldn't interfere if she didn't want him to.
'Thanks,' Katie beamed, looking relieved. 'It would make everything terribly awkward.'
'So what exams do you have?' Harry inquired, looking around the common room curiously. Katie was the only student here not in his year.
'I've already taken most of them, higher years go first,' Katie told him, 'just Transfiguration left and that's my best subject.'
'Sorry,' Harry apologised. He hadn't been around to notice with everything that had been happening.
'That's alright,' Katie told him, stretching and yawning. Her feet pushed over his thigh and knocked the armrest off the sofa onto the floor. 'I know you must have a good reason for being distant, and they went well enough so I didn't need a shoulder to cry on.'
'Like you would have come to cry on me,' Harry smirked.
'I definitely would have,' Katie disagreed cheerfully. 'You wouldn't have known what to do and might have bought me chocolate or even let me keep your broom.'
'So shallow,' Harry sighed playfully. It felt slightly surreal joking about her crying on him, because he could vividly remember what it felt like to have her hot tears soaking into his shoulder.
'Hush,' Katie admonished, lightly kicking her feet against his leg.
'If you don't have exams, and you're clearly not working, why're you up and down here so early on a Saturday?'
'Oh,' Katie looked faintly embarrassed. 'I wanted to wish you luck of course.' She glanced around the room and recovered her composure. 'Just because you forgot to wish me luck doesn't mean I'll forget as well.'
'Well I wish you luck with your Transfiguration exam,' Harry responded dryly.
'I won't need it,' Katie beamed, 'watch.'
She pulled her wand out of her robes and pointed across at the table in the corner where Ron, Dean and Seamus were trying to read through what looked like a year's worth of Hermione's notes in the next few minutes before the exam. Ron looked like he had given up, since he was holding the paper upside down and staring disconsolately at the ceiling.
With an overly elaborate twirl of her wand Katie transfigured the edging of Ron's robes from red and gold to an offensively bright shade of orange.
Instead of getting angry Ron turned and grinned at her, giving her a crooked thumbs up. 'Chudley colours,' he laughed, before turning back to Hermione's notes and resuming his attempt to revise. This time he had the notes the right way up.
'Impressive,' Harry smiled. It wasn't easy to transfigure something so precisely. Charming them or changing the whole robe would have been easy, it was likely more convenient to transfigure and re-imagine the entire robe than achieve the level of precision needed to just change the red and gold border.
'Thanks,' she laughed. 'Ron seems to appreciate it. I was expecting an explosion.'
'He's grown up a bit,' Harry said, 'if you'd done that to Hermione we'd have had a duel on our hands.'
'She's not here,' Katie noted.
'It's probably for the best,' Harry decided. 'She'd be furious if she saw that they'd taken her notes out of their proper order.' Katie just shrugged. She'd never been all that fond of Hermione. Harry assumed it was because she had no interest in quidditch, which was effectively sacrilege to Katie.
'It's almost time for you to go,' she reminded him, 'you don't want to be late, the examiners get quite upset by it, and if you get there early enough for a practical exam they'll let you go first and get it out the way.'
'What about being drunk?' Harry teased. 'Do they mind that?'
'I wouldn't know,' Katie smiled. 'I was only confident.'
'I suppose I'd better go,' Harry realised, staring pointedly at the pair of bare feet still in his lap.
'Oops,' Katie giggled, following his line of sight. 'Sorry. You make a good foot rest.'
'Thanks,' he said dryly, 'I'll bear that in mind.'
There was a short pause as he waited.
'Are you going to move your feet then?' Harry asked.
'Yes,' Katie flushed faintly and quickly retracted her legs to the other side of the sofa so Harry could stand.
'Coming, Nev?' He asked his friend.
'Don't have much choice, do I?' Neville replied from behind his book.
'No,' Harry agreed with a chuckle. 'Not if you want to pass.'
'Have fun,' Katie called from the sofa as they ducked into the passageway. Her shout earned her more than a few looks of disapproval from the surrounding students still studying.
'Feeling confident, Nev?'
'Not really,' his friend answered miserably. 'Transfiguration isn't my best subject.'
'You'll be fine in Defence, though,' Harry reminded him. 'You might even be the second best student in the year.'
'Well we both know who's coming to come top in most of these exams,' Neville smiled, looking a little less nervous.
'Hermione,' they both laughed at the same time, crossing the staircases on the way up to the Transfiguration classroom where their first set of practicals were being held.
'What do you reckon the practical will be on?' Neville asked, a hint of his former anxiety returning.
'Probably a couple of the spells we learned this year,' Harry replied. 'They're the harder ones, but I've heard you can go above and beyond the material to earn extra credit.'
'I think I'll just stick to the spell they suggest,' Neville said.
'I won't hold it against you,' Harry grinned, 'not unless you get the Doubling Charm wrong again and sabotage the whole exam.' Neville swallowed and fingered his wand nervously within his pocket. 'Don't worry about it, Nev,' Harry reassured him, feeling a little guilty for his teasing. 'You'll do fine.'
'Gran has a NEWT level in Transfiguration,' Neville said distantly, 'she'd be awfully disappointed if I didn't at least pass my OWL.'
'You'll pass,' Harry told him confidently, 'besides, you're not your Gran, you've got a much better taste in hats.' Neville laughed despite himself.
He was still chuckling when Harry pushed open the door to the classroom.
'You're early,' a stern looking witch snapped.
'And quite relaxed to be taking such an important examination another,' portly wizard commented more cheerfully. 'You can go first if you like?'
'Why not,' Harry agreed, discreetly nudging Neville forwards.
'Over here then, Mr Potter,' the stern looking witch instructed, gesturing impatiently.
Harry abandoned Neville to the portly wizard with a wave and smile, striding across the floor to his examiner. He imagined Neville was quite happy that he'd got the witch, she rather reminded him of how Neville described his Gran.
'The first thing I would like you to do is vanish this,' the witch said firmly, placing a large block of wood on the desk in front of her.
'Evanesco,' Harry said softly, flicking his wand from its holster to perfectly draw the wand motion for the spell in the air. The wooden block disappeared completely, and the witch nodded approvingly.
'Good.' Her tone relaxed a little. 'Now I would like you to use whatever method you prefer to create another desk such as this one.' She tapped the desk in front of her with one, long-nailed finger.
This time Harry didn't bother with the incantation or a proper wand motion. He needed neither. From the air around him he brought forth a perfect copy of the desk, smiling benevolently at the witch who was no regarding him with something akin to respect. It was only then he realised that it was probably expected he use the Doubling Charm.
'Very good, Mr Potter,' she breathed more kindly. 'Is there anything you'd like to try for extra credit. If you should fail it will have no bearing on the grade you have already obtained at this point.'
'I don't see why not,' Harry shrugged, glancing at his conjured writing desk. A swirl and a flick of his ebony wand and the writing desk shivered into the form of a large, glossy-feathered, raven.
The witch broke into a smile and clapped her hands together, startling Neville who had just conjured a slightly lopsided looking desk of his own. 'Is there any reason you chose to do that particular piece of magic, Mr Potter?'
'They seemed similar to me,' Harry grinned.
'An outstanding piece of transfiguration, especially for an OWL student,' the witch told him, poking the raven with the tip of her wand. The bird hopped onto the desk and cawed loudly and indignantly at the unexpected assault. 'Full marks I think, Mr Potter, and that is all. If you want to wait for your friend please do so outside.'
Somewhere on the other side of the room Neville sighed.
'That wasn't so bad,' Harry smiled, when Neville came out a few minutes later.
'You've ruined the exam for everyone else,' Neville told him resignedly. 'I managed to successfully cast the doubling charm on the desk, and the wizard told me I'd done well, but it wasn't quite a raven.'
'Well it wasn't,' Harry defended, 'but it sounds like you did well.'
'I think I passed,' Neville agreed, 'but my desk had less detail in the grain, and the back legs were a bit shorter than they should have been.'
'Still a pass,' Harry assured him. 'Might not be an outstanding, but at least an acceptable or an exceeds.'
'That's true,' Neville's face brightened up, 'perhaps Gran will be pleased.'
'She won't notice anything after seeing your marks for Herbology and Defence,' Harry grinned. 'The only way you're not ending up the top student for Herbology is if Hannah distracts you midway through the practical.'
'They won't let me do the practical on my own plant,' Neville told Harry absentmindedly.
'Wrong Hannah, Nev,' Harry laughed. 'I meant the pretty blond one that doesn't shoot goo at people when they get too close.'
'Oh,' Neville's face flushed scarlet. 'Do you think we can do our Defence practical early too?' He asked, desperately trying to change the subject.
'Worth a try,' Harry agreed, taking pity on his friend. He had been much worse with Fleur, and Neville had only commented once or twice when he found him sitting on the floor of the Room of Requirement staring at the pictures. He was fairly sure that his friend had just been trying to distract him too.
They were brushed past by Hermione halfway along the corridor. She was bouncing on her heels in excitement, not even noticing them, and clearly rushing to the exam in attempt to be early like they had been.
'Do you think she'll outdo you?' Neville inquired curiously.
'Not in the practical,' Harry mused, considering it, 'but she'll do better in the written part. We won't be able to tell who did best anyway, since it's likely we'll end up with the same grade.'
'Confident much?'
'It's one of my best subjects,' Harry shrugged. 'I'll get an outstanding, just like we both will in Defence.'
They continued along the corridor, fighting against the flow of students trying to get to the Transfiguration exam. He was very grateful Katie had told him that they might let him go first if he was early. The tension and anxiety was palpable in the crowd.
'Did you leave the raven in there?' Neville asked suddenly.
'Yes,' Harry began to chuckle, 'it's not going to disappear anytime soon either.'
'Hermione's going to take it as a challenge,' Neville commented.
'If she wants to,' Harry shrugged, 'I'm more worried about it escaping and flying off with a first year. My reputation is bad enough already.'
'Maybe it will take mini-Creevey,' Neville grinned, as they pushed their way across the crowd and into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. 'I heard he's almost as annoying as his brother.'
'Room's empty,' Harry sighed, taking a seat on one of the desks.
'I guess we won't be taking this one early,' Neville agreed, leaning against the wall across from him and peering curiously into what was left of Umbridge's office.
'Nev,' Harry began, waving his hand to get his friend's attention. 'Do you know why Alicia's not particularly fond of me?'
'No,' Neville raised his arms helplessly, demonstrating how much he wanted to answer that question. 'She's been less than cordial, as my Gran would say, since last Christmas and the Yule Ball, but I know she really wasn't happy about that article Skeeter wrote about you and Katie.'
'Maybe she just holds a grudge longer than Angelina,' Harry mused.
'Or Angelina's better at hiding it,' Neville suggested. 'It's the friendly ones you have to watch out for. You should keep an eye on anyone who's unexpectedly nice to you.'
'Thanks, Nev,' Harry said dryly. 'Nice justification for keeping an eye on Hannah Abbot.'
'Would you stop,' Neville pleaded, flushing brilliantly. 'I don't say anything about Fleur.'
'You do when you have something to say,' Harry countered. 'If you just asked her out everything would be much easier.'
'Says the wizard who spent half a year moping in the Room of Requirement.'
'I wasn't moping,' Harry denied. 'I was training for the tournament. You remember it, it was the life-threatening series of circumstances I found myself in last year.'
'You haven't been in many this year,' Neville remarked.
'Don't jinx it, Nev,' Harry warned. 'One is one too many.'
The door behind them creaked open and a quartet of old, absent-minded looking wizards strolled in, carrying an odd assortment of items. Harry spied eggcups, a whole box of crystal balls, and a rather disgruntled iguana which he pointed out with a discreet nod to Neville, exchanging a smirk with him as they remembered their class with Umbridge.
'I think we're late, Tofty,' the foremost complained.
'We're on time,' the second quavered in a paper thin, wavering voice. 'These young men are simply early.'
'Early? Are they allowed to be early?'
'There's no rules against it,' the youngest of the four, who was not a day under sixty, stated confidently. 'If I help Phoebus unpack, then Tofty can get started with Mr Potter, and you can examine his young friend.'
Neville scowled, but said nothing.
'A splendid idea,' the eldest agreed, adjusting his glasses and lifting the iguana out of the box. 'Come on then, Mr Potter.'
The old examiner led him further back into the room, meandering past a few desks to place the iguana down and take a seat himself. 'I'm Professor Tofty,' he introduced himself, 'and this is Kanoni.' Harry glanced sceptically down at the iguana. 'He's older than two of my colleagues and has overseen just as many exams as I have, not that his judgement will have any impact on your grade.' The old professor chuckled dryly. 'He gets lonely when I leave the office for long periods of time so I have to take him with me or he causes trouble.'
'It's nice to meet you both,' Harry smiled, wondering if there was an age at which all wizards went senile.
'Well then,' Professor Tofty smiled, adjusting his glasses once more, 'we might as well get started.' He rummaged around in the pockets of his robes to retrieve a long list of names. 'Could you name and perform the spell you would use to defeat a boggart, Mr Potter?'
'The Boggart-Banishing spell,' Harry answered confidently.
I prefer to use Fiendfyre or an enhanced version of the Cutting Curse though, he thought, the corner of his lips twitching slightly.
'And to demonstrate?' Tofty twitched excitedly towards the edge of his chair.
'Ridikulus,' Harry intoned, flicking his wand out to flawlessly demonstrate the motion.
'Good,' the examiner quavered, leaning back again to make a few notes on his paper with a bent-feathered quill. 'Now I'd like you to cast the Impedimenta Jinx and its counter for me.' The iguana slowly made its way off the desk and behind Tofty, hiding, it seemed, from Harry.
'He's not going to do it to you, Kanoni,' Tofty sighed. 'I had one student hit him with the levitating charm a few years back, he's been nervous around magic ever since.'
Harry cast both the Impedimenta Jinx and its counter silently, mainly because he was afraid he would laugh at the examiner and his iguana if he opened his mouth to say the incantation.
'Excellent,' Professor Tofty squeaked. 'Non-verbal spells aren't meant to be covered until NEWT level.' There was a moment of furious scratching as he hurriedly scrawled something across the paper. Harry hoped it contained the word outstanding.
'The Shield Charm next,' the examiner instructed kindly, dragging Kanino off the back of the chair behind him and onto the desk so he could lean back again.
Harry didn't need the incantation for this piece of magic either and swiftly summoned a blindingly bright, silver shield that gave off a faint, bell-like shimmer.
'Oh my,' Tofty said, delighted, 'that's quite extraordinary.' The other examiners, except Neville's, were staring across the room at him as well. 'Is there anything you'd like to try for extra credit? It won't harm your grade if you fail.'
'There is,' Harry decided.
He raised his wand, pointed the ebony tip towards a clear part of the classroom, and focused on his happiest memory. There was a surge of warmth from his wand as he remembered the burst of happiness that had accompanied the first time he had kissed Fleur in France, then the Anzu burst from his wand in an eruption of brilliant silver. It hovered in the air, flexing its wings and peering around imperiously at the room's occupants before throwing its head back to give a soft echoing cry and vanished.
'Outstanding,' Tofty cried, clapping his hands together.
'Really?' Harry asked, amused. He was sure the grades weren't meant to be announced so casually.
'Well,' Professor Tofty looked rather flustered, 'I didn't mean it quite like that, but just between us, my boy, it's more than likely.'
'Thank you professor,' Harry smiled.
Behind him Neville's own patronus, a silver scorpion, coalesced from a cloud of mist to click its pincers idly and scuttle about the floor.
'Remarkable,' one of the other examiners exclaimed. 'Two students capable of producing a corporeal patronus at their OWL examinations. I haven't seen anything like it in years.'
'I daresay the two of you will go far,' Professor Tofty enthused, rescuing Kanino the iguana from the intangible threat of the the scorpion patronus.
Further than anyone imagines, Harry agreed, turning to leave. Neville trailed after him, an unseemly wide grin on his face.
'Think it went well?' Harry asked lightly, taking a more circumspect route back towards the main stairs rather than try and fight the flow again.
'No,' Neville mimicked his best glum face, one that Harry had seen less and less of since their fourth year had ended, 'I think it went outstandingly.'
'That was awful,' Harry smirked. Neville just shrugged.
They circled quickly away from the Transfiguration class, but had to slow to avoid a confrontation with Malfoy and his group of Slytherin sycophants. Instead of barging past they lingered behind listening to Pansy Parkinson moan about the exam.
Eventually even Malfoy got sick of pretending to listen to her. 'It wasn't that hard, Pansy,' he sighed, sounding oddly tired. 'I'm sure it didn't help that the giant raven stole your wand at the start,' Harry bit his lip, 'but that's not going to count against you. All the tasks were completed, you've got at least an acceptable.'
'But I didn't manage to do anything for the extra credit,' Pansy whined.
'You don't even want to take the subject for NEWTs,' Malfoy reminded her, leading the group away down towards the dungeons.
'You remembered,' Pansy responded saccharinely, shuffling closer to his arm.
'It was hard not too when I get told every lesson,' the blond groaned.
'You dislike some subjects too,' Pansy sniped, 'I know how you feel about Care for Magical Creatures, you're still scared of Hippogriffs.' Harry had to stifle a laugh at Malfoy's misfortune, then dragged Neville away before he burst out laughing and caused a scene.
The locket flared hot against his chest, and he smiled. Fleur must have finally managed to persuade Gabrielle to leave her studies for a day. Fleur's little sister was quite determined to beat her sister's academic record and had been very reluctant to leave Beauxbatons. Harry shuddered to think what had been promised as a bribe.
A million meringues, perhaps.
'I need to go, Nev,' Harry whispered.
His friend nodded and patted him on the shoulder. Neville knew by now that when he said that he was going to see Fleur for one reason or another.
'I'll tell Katie,' he offered, 'so she doesn't set up camp in the common room waiting for you to tell her how your exams went.'
'Thanks,' Harry grinned. He didn't mind being ambushed by Katie all that much, but it might get inconvenient when he was trying to disappear off to do anything morally questionable.
'See you later, mate,' Neville said with a nod.
Harry waited for him to drift off, then stepped into the nearest empty classroom and cast a silencing ward around him before opening the still pulsing locket.
'Fleur,' he smiled.
Fleur wasn't smiling. She was wearing the same expression of indulgent, strained affection that Gabrielle often provoked from her. 'Gabby's being difficult,' she sighed. 'I've persuaded her to come to Budleigh Babberton, on pain of being dragged there, but she wants to talk to you before she casts the Fidelius Charm for us.'
'Is something wrong?' Harry inquired. 'I thought she already agreed when you started teaching the charm?'
'She did,' Fleur grimaced beautifully, 'but you know Gabrielle, she's changed her mind, and probably not for the first time since then either.'
'I'm coming,' Harry grinned, switching to French. 'I can bring Sirius too.'
'Sirius Black?' There was more than one question within the inflection on his name.
'It is time you met my family,' Harry quipped. 'He can be trusted,' he continued more seriously, 'my godfather has chosen me over Dumbledore, and we need somewhere secret he can meet us to tell us what's happening with the Order of the Phoenix.'
'Bring him,' Fleur smiled.
'If nothing else we can trade him to Gabrielle as a pet in return for performing the charm,' Harry laughed.
'He would never forgive us,' Fleur chuckled throatily, 'now hurry up and come.'
Her face vanished from the mirror, and Harry had to ignore the slight pang he always felt at her disappearance.
Time to get Sirius, he reminded himself, cancelling his ward and leaving the room.
Fetching Sirius meant going to Grimmauld Place again, since Sirius had no idea where their house was, and couldn't apparate himself there.
Sighing at the many-staged journey ahead of him, he'd been hoping just have to apparate their and back, he began to walk in the direction of the Chamber of Secrets.
He disillusioned himself, just in case, but never crossed paths with anyone before reaching the door to the bathroom.
The floor was flooded, like always, and Myrtle hovered anxiously in front of the row of sinks that hid the entrance to the chamber.
'Myrtle,' Harry greeted the ghost quietly, dispelling his charm. 'How have you been?'
'Harry,' the girl floated across into his face, close enough for him to feel the chill of her presence. 'The headmaster was here earlier.'
'He was?' Harry tensed, running his eyes around the bathroom for any visible runes or anything to to indicate wards of any kind.
'He asked if anyone had been in here,' Myrtle fretted. 'I said no, of course, and that seemed to please him.'
'Did he cast any magic while he was here?' Harry asked.
'No,' Myrtle shook her head. 'He just asked me some questions. Is everything ok?'
'Everything's fine, Myrtle,' Harry smiled. 'Don't worry. Dumbledore's just as concerned about anyone going down there as I am, only he can't actually enter like I can so he doesn't know for sure that it's safe.'
Not that it is safe, Harry remembered. Voldemort could apparate in whenever he wants. It's a good thing there's no reason for him to risk coming to Hogwarts yet.
'Oh,' the girl sighed, relieved, 'I was afraid you were in trouble.'
'Not yet, Myrtle,' Harry grinned, opening the entrance now he knew it was safe to do so. 'It's only matter of time, though, you know me.'
'Can I tell the headmaster you come here?' Myrtle asked smiling. 'I don't like lying.'
'I'd rather you didn't,' Harry said slowly, thinking of a way to appeal to the girl. 'I like having somewhere private to be by myself, and he might forbid me coming here if he knows and I'll lose my retreat.'
'I won't tell,' Myrtle promised, flaring a darker shade of silver. 'I won't expose your refuge.'
'Thanks, Myrtle,' Harry smiled, 'you're the best. I knew you'd understand.'
He stepped onto the top of the stairs, avoiding walking through Myrtle as most would, something he considered quite rude.
'Bye Harry,' the ghost called after him.
His steps echoed down the stairs and out into the main chamber, reflecting back from the smooth, black walls of the chamber. Now that he considered it there really was nothing stopping Voldemort coming here except his own lack of desire. Considering this was effectively a secret backdoor into Hogwarts Harry couldn't imagine that it would be ignored forever.
Perhaps there's a way to ward him out, Harry mused, crossing the bridge.
It was something he would have to bring up with Salazar.
'How are your exams going?' Salazar enquired mockingly. 'Are they hard?'
'Hush,' Harry admonished him, 'you know perfectly well that I'm far advanced in the subjects I intend to continue. The others will require some work, but I have plenty of spare time to revise in.' He tapped the time-turner pointedly.
'Don't use it too much too frequently,' Salazar warned. 'I've told you before that it puts great strain on your mind to be awake and active for so many extra hours.'
'It's just a few sessions here and there for the next week or so,' Harry assured him, retrieving Sirius' two way mirror from under a handful of books on Astronomy, the last subject he'd been revising down here using his time-turner.
'Off out?' Slytherin deduced.
'I'm going to get the Fidelius Charm cast on the new house Fleur and I have, and since our secret keeper is normally quite inaccessible it's a good idea to get her to pass on the secret to my godfather now.'
'Sirius,' he murmured. His breath fogged on the cold glass of the mirror.
There was a long silence.
'Maybe he's busy,' Salazar suggested when Harry started to get concerned.
'Maybe.' Harry hoped that Dumbledore hadn't decided that Sirius' part in the Department of Mysteries fiasco meant he should be placed under guard.
'Harry,' his godfather cried delightedly, 'sorry, I was just having a very unusual conversation with my mother's portrait.'
'Has she found you a spouse?' Harry smirked.
'Don't joke,' Sirius warned. 'She was being oddly civil, said something about me associating with some wizards of respectable descent and not being a completely lost cause. Told me I should take my responsibilities to the Black Family more seriously, then proceeded to list every eligible pure-blood of close enough relation and with no allegiance to either Voldemort or Dumbledore as a potential heir to be named.'
'Was it a long list?' Harry asked.
'No,' Sirius grinned, 'there's no middle ground left, and only one name on the list. He wasn't even really a pure-blood, though my mother insists that he must be because she thinks that his father's family had no connection to whatever mysterious family she was so impressed by.'
The sinking feeling that Harry had become so well acquainted with returned in full force.
'Was my name really the only one?'
'Yes,' Sirius laughed. 'First thing my mother and I have agreed on in twenty years.'
'Are you alone?'
'Coming to visit?' His godfather asked.
'No,' Harry smiled. 'I'm coming to pick you up and take you somewhere exciting.'
'It had better not be another department of the Ministry,' Sirius said lightly, 'I've already got a badge.' He shifted the mirror to show off the badge he'd been obtained from the phonebox. Harry wasn't all the surprised he was still wearing it, though he was a little amazed it had survived the Department of Mysteries.
'Can I apparate to you?'
'Actually,' Sirius looked unusually thoughtful, 'you probably can now.'
'Now?'
'You're a recognised member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black as of today,' he grinned, 'you're even on the tapestry which is more than can be said for me.'
'Wonderful,' Harry responded dryly, putting the mirror down on the desk. 'I'm coming over.'
There was a soft snap and he appeared exactly where he had visualised, the foot of the stairs. His godfather was sitting on the bottom step beside one of those suspicious looking dark smears, tucking the mirror back into the pocket of his robes.
When he saw Harry he jumped up and hugged him tightly. Sirius, Harry noted, smelt oddly like tomato soup. Evidently he had already had breakfast.
'So what exciting place are we going to?' His godfather asked.
'My house,' Harry answered vaguely, 'I just bought it.'
'That's how you intend to avoid the Dursleys,' Sirius realised, 'but Dumbledore will never allow you live on your own.'
'You'll see,' Harry promised, offering his arm in preparation to apparate. His godfather took a firm grip on his forearm, an anticipatory gleam in his eyes.
The world wrenched back behind them both and Harry stepped forwards onto the front path of a not inconsiderably sized house. Sirius collapsed face-first onto the grass next to him having let go of his arm a fraction too early to balance.
'Smooth,' Harry chuckled, waiting for his godfather to drag himself to his feet.
'Where are we?' Sirius asked, rubbing his reddening forehead.
'My home,' Harry answered, striding up the path, 'though this is the first time I've come here.'
'It could do with repainting,' Sirius commented lightly.
'You're going to make remarks about the condition of my house?' Harry asked incredulously. 'I had to kill a boggart last time I visited you.'
'Fair enough,' Sirius grinned, 'but it does need repainting.'
'It needs more than that,' Harry retorted good-naturedly. 'Furniture, paint, a new name and some more serious wards.'
He glimpsed a flash of silver hair though the window as the approached the peeling, white-painted door. Fleur and Gabrielle were already here.
'Time for introductions,' Harry chuckled aloud, knocking gently. He was quite looking forward to the expression on Sirius' face.
'Welcome home, Harry,' Fleur greeted him demurely, opening the door. Harry slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close enough to kiss deeply, smiling against her lips at the distinctly disgusted sigh Gabrielle made from behind her.
'Harry?' Sirius inquired hesitantly.
'Oh,' Harry grinned at the utter shock plastered across his godfather's face, 'this is Fleur Delacour, my girlfriend, and hiding somewhere behind her is Gabrielle, her younger sister.'
'I'm not hiding,' Gabrielle disagreed indignantly. She didn't sound as cheerful as she normally was, and Harry was reminded of the time he had spoken with her on the riverbank.
'Nice to meet you?' Sirius tried, blinking a couple of times.
'Come in,' Fleur ushered them both inside, shutting the door firmly after Sirius and dislodging several slivers of paint.
'You weren't joking about furniture,' Sirius said, gazing around the empty house.
'No,' Harry smiled. 'We really did only just buy it.'
They fell silent for a moment, before Sirius' patience ran out. 'Just tell me,' he burst out. 'There's a long story somewhere here.'
'We've been together since the start of the summer,' Harry told him. 'It's quite a short story really.'
'Especially if he leaves out all the embarrassing parts,' Fleur noted.
'Which I am definitely leaving out,' Harry grinned.
'So you're living together now?' Sirius asked carefully. 'That's quite a step.'
'Yes it is,' Gabrielle said bluntly. Fleur shot him an apologetic look and Harry surmised that her little sister would be like this until she got whatever it was off her chest during their coming conversation.
'Shall we go out through to the back?' Harry suggested, looking at Gabrielle. 'I'll leave you to tell Sirius about all the embarrassing details of our relationship, Fleur.'
Fleur laughed, but nodded, shooting her sister a pointed look that Gabrielle completely ignored.
'So why did you want to speak to me?' Harry asked gently, stepping out into the untended meadow the back lawn had become.
'I do not like the idea of my sister living here in England on her own for most of the year,' Gabrielle told him sharply. 'She is safer in France, all her dreams are in France, all of them except you.'
'I won't let anything happen to her, Gabrielle,' Harry promised. 'I'll swear an Unbreakable Oath if you want, but we need the Fidelius Charm to keep us as safe as possible.'
'I will cast the charm,' Gabrielle replied quickly, 'if Fleur must stay in Britain then I want her as safe as possible, but she is only here for you, and once your war starts she will be a target. I love my sister, Harry,' Gabby's bright, blue eyes were pleading, 'she's been there for me all my life. I can't imagine what it would be like if she was not.'
'I know she is safer with your family,' Harry sighed. 'I have suggested she stay in France and everything stay secret.'
'She would not listen,' Gabrielle laughed resignedly. 'Fleur is stubborn, talented, and the proudest person I know, but for all that she is not so powerful as you. I fear she will be hurt or worse fighting here.'
'I will not let anything happen to her,' Harry told her, swallowing the horror that rose at the very idea of her being gone. Without Fleur he would be right back where he had been at the beginning of the fourth year. There were others he needed, but none were so dear and important to him as Fleur, none even came close to how much he needed her.
'If you asked, if you really forced her to, she would come back to France with me,' Gabrielle said softly.
'She would hate me for doing that,' Harry cringed, 'I don't think I could endure it.'
'Not even if it saved her life?'
'Do you think I'm being selfish?' Harry asked, knowing he could never bear to send Fleur away from him when she would never forgive him for it.
Gabrielle reached out one hand and placed it directly over Harry's heart, spreading her fingers across his chest and closing her eyes. He resisted the urge to flinch away, knowing her empathetic gift with magic bared his soul to her, and his soul was far from how pure it had once been.
'I can see you, Harry Potter,' she whispered. 'I can sense the emotions present in your magic, and the better I know you the more I can see. Think about losing her, about asking her to leave you and go home to France,' she pressed, 'consider it seriously.'
He did.
It hurt.
'What do you see?'
'Fear,' Gabrielle began softly, 'fear, hate and fury so cold that I can barely stand to touch it. You do not do things in halves, do you, Harry? You love my sister dearly, and there is nobody I would rather have at her side, she chose you for a reason, but if she dies, if you lose her, I will never forgive you.'
'I would never forgive myself,' Harry's lips twisted bitterly.
Gabrielle's fingers shifted slightly, and she opened her eyes. 'Fleur needs you, she has tied all her dreams to you, and there is nothing she would not do to protect you and them. Are you as dedicated as she is?'
'More,' Harry answered earnestly, covering Gabrielle's hand with his own, willing to her to feel what he felt for her. 'Can you see that?'
'Yes.' She flinched her fingers back, her eyes widening slightly as she realised the depth of his devotion.
'If Fleur is hurt,' she said eventually, 'I do not think I will be able to blame you, not now I know how far you would go for her.'
'Does it scare you?' Harry knew how far he would go for Fleur, there were no lines he would not cross.
'It's both unsettling and comforting,' Gabrielle smiled, a hint of her usual, more cheerful side appearing. 'Now I know I do not need to ask you to promise me you will keep her safe.'
'I promise you I will anyway.'
'Words like that mean little compared to what I can sense in your magic,' Gabby laughed, 'but I appreciate it, Harry.'
'Do you feel better about it now?' He asked.
'I still do not like it,' she shrugged, glancing back into the house, 'but I will no longer worry as much. I know that the risk Fleur's taking for you is truly worth it. Shall we cast the charm?' Gabrielle waved at her sister and Sirius, and they come out to join them on the grass.
'Are you going to cast it?' Fleur asked quietly.
'I am convinced,' Gabrielle chirped, perking up.
'Cast what?' Sirius asked.
'The Fidelius Charm,' Harry grinned, 'Gabby will be our secret keeper, Dumbledore cannot send me to the Dursleys if he cannot find me.'
'I can do it,' Sirius offered, 'wouldn't you rather Voldemort comes after me?'
'Gabrielle will be far out of his reach, he will not even know of my connection to her,' Harry assured him, 'and when Dumbledore comes looking you will be too obvious a choice.'
'The last time words like that were spoken they were mine,' his godfather's face darkened, the shadow of Azkaban spreading from his eyes, 'it was the last thing I ever said to James and Lily.'
'I can do it,' Gabrielle snapped, good humour lost. 'This way I know that Fleur, and Harry, are likely safe so long as my lips are sealed.' Sirius raised his hands in defeat.
'Close your eyes,' Harry instructed him. 'I don't know what would happen if you watched the charm being cast since you are not technically part of it.'
His godfather shut his eyes, and Gabrielle stepped forwards, her wand emitting a bright, white light as she traced complex wand gestures in the air. Harry noted the shape of several runes within the motions, and their forms lingered in the air with a crackle of ozone, overlapping with each other as they slowly faded. A brilliant, translucent bubble spread from the end of Gabrielle's wand, encasing the house, it's garden and brightening until it became too blinding to look at and they all turned away. From the tip of her wand burst a line of blazing, white fire, spiralling around Gabby's forearm, and up past her shoulder to encase her entire body in undulating waves of snow-white flames.
'What is the name of the house?' Gabrielle asked faintly, the strain of the magic obvious in her tone.
'The Meadow,' Fleur answered, putting a finger to her lips to forestall Harry's objections to the name. He supposed it would do. There was a meadow, and it was quite nice, even if he's rather have named it something clever.
'Harry Potter and Fleur Delacour live at the Meadow,' Gabrielle whispered.
There was flash of light so bright even Sirius, whose eyes were still shut, flinched, the white flames tightened, vanishing within Gabrielle, and Fleur's sister dropped to one knee gasping for breath. The smell of ozone persisted.
'Are you ok?' Fleur asked, kneeling down to put an arm around Gabrielle.
'I could do with something to eat,' Gabby grinned, 'do you have anything tasty?'
'In Britain?' Fleur laughed.
'I can probably supply you with a lifetime's worth of sherbet lemons,' Harry offered. 'They're a kind of sweet, Dumbledore has hundreds of them and they're quite tasty, but I'll have to steal them from his office.'
He might actually expel me for taking his sweets given how fond of them he is.
'Stolen sweets do taste better,' Gabby smiled, 'you owe me a sherbet lemon. I want to try one. I've never heard of them before.'
'Where's the house?' Sirius asked, opening his eyes and gazing around in bemusement.
'It worked then,' Gabrielle smiled delightedly. 'Who's the best at charms now, Fleur?'
'You had a good teacher,' Fleur replied deliberately patronisingly, earning a fierce scowl from her younger sibling. 'Tell Sirius where we live please, he must not have heard you when you cast the charm.'
'Harry and Fleur live at the Meadow,' Gabby chirped at his godfather. 'Now take me back to France, Fleur, I need to study, and you both owe me a trip to somewhere nice in Paris as well as a sherbet lemon.'
'Fine,' Fleur smiled indulgently down at her baby sister, still holding her with one arm, reminding Harry of the vision of the green-eyed girl he'd seen in the Mirror of Erised.
'Bye Harry, I hope I see you soon.' Gabby stepped forwards to hug him goodbye, pulling his head down to whisper in his ear. 'Remember the promise I didn't have to hear you make.'
'Always,' Harry murmured fervently.
Fleur took a firm grip on Gabrielle's shoulder and, with a smug wink at Harry, apparated silently away.
'She can apparate silently,' Sirius commented, impressed.
'She does it to rub it in my face,' Harry sighed. 'She knows I can't do it.'
'You're a lucky guy,' Sirius grinned, 'that's one hell of a girl you've got there, Harry. James would be so very proud of you. She's part veela, isn't she?'
'Yes,' Harry smiled proudly. 'Is her aura an issue for you?'
'After Azkaban?' Sirius chuckled hollowly, 'not even a little bit.'
'You're a decent occlumens then,' Harry realised.
'I'm competent enough,' Sirius shrugged, 'most pure-bloods are taught similar exercises and my time in Azkaban only strengthened my resolve.' That reassured Harry. He knew that Sirius would almost certainly be a passable occlumens, but it was comforting to hear it aloud.
'So,' his godfather's eyes glinted suggestively, 'how close have the two of you got?'
'I'm not going to dignify that with a response,' Harry retorted, flushing at the images that leapt unhelpfully into his head at Sirius' remark. It was very very hard to push the memory of Fleur's delicate, pale skin covered by nothing but her the tresses of her flowing silver hair from his head, and he shifted uncomfortably until he mastered himself.
'So you haven't de-fleured her, then?' Sirius teased.
'One more comment like that, especially one that's such a terrible play on words, and I'm telling your mother's portrait that you're secretly amenable to marriage.' He was not having this conversation with Sirius. He wasn't having it with anyone. Ever.
'My lips are sealed,' Sirius promised, paling. 'I'd rather marry Kreacher than whoever she chooses.'
'I don't think Kreacher loves you enough to say yes,' Harry smirked.
'I sure hope so,' his godfather shuddered. 'Can you imagine?'
'I don't want to,' Harry grinned.
'Didn't you have that elf who was utterly devoted to you?' Sirius asked, eyes sparkling again.
'Dobby,' Harry's humour faded immediately. 'He's dead.'
'Sorry,' Sirius gripped his shoulder reassuringly. 'He sounded like a good friend.'
'One of the most loyal,' Harry agreed.
'Speaking of loyalty,' Sirius began, changing tack, 'Amelia Bones is looking likely to take over after Fudge, though Rufus Scrimgeour is another possibility, both are loyal to the Ministry, and Dumbledore seems quite pleased with how everything has turned out. He's assured the whole Order that you're on the right path to defeat Voldemort.'
'He's more right than he realises,' Harry agreed, thinking of the diary, the diadem and himself.
AN: Please read, enjoy, and review! Thanks to everyone who does.
