Chapter 8

'Accio chair' Tracey incanted, summoning a nearby chair across the path of her opponent's disarming spell. Just as the chair was in position, Tracey fired a stunner. As the disarming spell hit the chair and knocked it away, Tracey's stunner then flew through the spot where the chair had been. Her opponent only had enough time to widen her eyes before the spell struck her dead center, sending her crumpling to the ground.

"Winner, Tracey Davis." Harry called out, giving her a bright smile filled with pride. This was the last meeting of the DA before the Christmas break and Harry had told them they would be using everything they learned so far in duels with opponents chosen at random. Tracey had drawn Hermione and the duel between the two had been the longest of the night so far.

Tracey walked forward towards her fallen foe and revived her.

"Oh bollocks." Hermione said, waking up and realizing she'd lost.

"Language Granger." Tracey gave the girl a smirk and offered a hand to help her up. Hermione hesitated a moment before taking it.

"In all seriousness, well fought Granger." Extending her hand once again for a polite handshake.

Hermione shook it, not quite meeting Tracey's eyes as she did. "You as well." She replied.

Tracey began to return to her seat but was stopped as Hermione called out.

"Davis." She said and Tracey looked back at her. "Please call me Hermione, I hope that any friend of Harry's can be a friend of mine too."

Tracey was shocked at the offer but replied "I hope so as well Hermione and please call me Tracey."

Hermione nodded and returned to her seat next to Ron while Tracey sat down next to Ginny.

"Impressive duel Davis, I bet that caught Harry's attention." Ginny said with a mischievous grin.

Tracey blushed, this girl just wouldn't let this go. "Harry's a very good teacher." she replied simply.

"Yes, I bet he's very pleased he's successfully taught you to handle a wand so proficiently." Tracey nearly choked and turned bright red at the innuendo. Ginny was giggling madly at her reaction.

"I will get you back for this you know, I've seen Corner making eyes at you." Tracey retorted.

"Has he, I hadn't noticed." Ginny said with an evil grin which Tracey swore she would have wiped off her face.

"Winner, Luna Lovegood." The girls heard Harry call out and turned to see Colin Creevey lying stiff as a board while the petite, platinum blonde stood wand out with a blank expression. Luna revived her opponent as Tracey had done and began walking towards Ginny and Tracey.

"Hello Ginny. Hello Tracey Potter." She said completely straight faced which caused Tracey to have another coughing fit while Ginny covered her face to prevent laughter from escaping.

"Excuse me?" Tracey yelped out.

"Oh dear me, I'm many years too early aren't I. Hello Tracey Davis." Luna said with her typical airy tone and blank expression.

"Did Ginny put you up to this?" She said while shooting Ginny a dirty look.

"Oh no, Ginny said I should introduce myself to you………. Oh my I haven't followed her instructions have I? Hello future Tracey Potter, I'm Luna Lovegood." At this point Ginny couldn't contain her laughter as Tracey just stared open mouthed at Luna. Luna held her blank expression for several moments before the right side of her mouth twisted slightly into a half smirk. Tracey caught the expression and shot a stinging hex at Ginny.

"I can't believe you pranked me. Some friend you are." She said sarcastically.

"Well it would make sense. She grew up near a Ragged Ordfeen pair which are well known for pranking." Luna added as if it were obvious.

Tracey had no idea how to respond to that and was just staring at Luna in confusion while Ginny was giggling. She had heard that Luna believed in odd creatures but had never actually spoken to her or heard any of their names before. While Tracey was trying to process what she was hearing, Ginny chimed in through her laughter.

"Tell us Luna, what is a Ragged Ordfeen." Ginny's eyes were tearing up at this point.

"Oh they're quite rare, they were only discovered a little less than18 years ago. They're known to operate in pairs and are distinguishable by their bright red fur coloring." Luna answered.

Tracey was so confused until she thought about what Luna was saying and it hit her.

"Wait a minute, you….. are you….. pranking everyone? With all your creatures?" Tracey asked gobsmacked.

"Nothing could be further from the truth, eventually Tracey Potter, all the creatures daddy and I talk about in the Quibbler are real if you know where to look." Luna replied, her tone still airy and her expression still blank until Tracey looked, really looked in her eyes and saw the mischievous glint in them. All of it clicked at once and Tracey just burst out laughing. How this girl wasn't in Slytherin she'd never know.

Extending Luna her hand Tracey officially introduced herself. "Tracey Davis, nice to meet you, I think we shall be good friends."

Finally Luna let go of her blank expression and smirked. "Yes I believe we shall." She replied and shook Tracey's hand.

"Winner, Justin Finch-Fletchley." Harry called out as Justin had Neville's wand in hand. Neville looked forlorn as he had barely put up a fight, he took his wand back from Justin and made to join Ginny, Tracey, and Luna. His shoulders were sagged as he sat down.

"I just can't get it, I'm so useless at this." He groaned.

Luna placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It'll be ok Neville, you'll get it once you finally get a wand." she said seriously.

Tracey and Ginny looked at each other, confused, while Neville looked a bit offended. "What are you talking about, I have a wand right here."

"You're holding a wand, but it isn't your wand." Luna said.

Tracey took a glance at Neville's wand and noticed that the wand looked aged, too aged to have only been purchased five years ago in Diagon Alley. Seeing now what Luna was saying she chimed in.

"Longbottom, I think Luna is trying to say that the wand you're using was owned previously. Do you know who previously owned it?" She asked.

"It was my dad's wand." Neville replied shortly.

Seeing this was a touchy subject for him Tracey treaded carefully. "Ok, can you tell us what happened the first time you held it in your hand?"

Neville thought about it for a second, shrugged, and answered. "Not a lot, I felt a small spark run through my arm but nothing other than that."

Tracey, Ginny, and Luna all shared a look and it was Ginny who answered this time. "Neville, forgive us but it sounds like you haven't fully bonded with that wand. You have to pick a wand that connects to your magic otherwise it won't work correctly."

Neville looked stunned at this. "But my Gran always said that my dad's wand was powerful and it would make me powerful too."

"I'm sure it is Neville but that wand is the one that connected to your father's magic. I've no doubt he was a great wizard but he's not you." Ginny said softly

Neville looked down at his feet trying to process what they were telling him before Ginny chimed in.

"Why not go speak with Professor McGonagall tomorrow before the train leaves, I'm sure she'd be happy to speak to your Gran." Ginny gently suggested.

Neville just nodded thoughtfully.

"Winner, Susan Bones." Harry called out as Susan stunned Padma. As with the other duels, Susan revived Padma. Harry then called for everyone to gather round as that had been the final match of the night.

"Alright, everyone, well done tonight, you're all doing really well. For those able to practice spells over the holidays, keep it up. All others try to keep focusing on your wand movements. First meeting when we get back will be the usual time and we'll start working on the patronus spell." The group applauded and began to disperse, making their way back to the common rooms.

Eventually, only Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Tracey remained.

"Would you two mind if I met you back in the common room? I'd like to talk to Tracey for a bit." Harry said to Ron and Hermione.

Ron was about to make a comment until Hermione stopped him with a look. He frowned but then turned back.

"Yeah, see you in a bit, mate." Ron said before he and Hermione left, leaving Harry and Tracey alone.

"A fine lesson as always, Professor." Tracey teased.

Harry rolled his eyes and muttered 'cheeky witch' under his breath.

"You needed to talk to me about something?" She asked.

Harry smiled sheepishly and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, I…… I got you something. Since we're not going to see each other over the holidays I got you an early present." he said nervously.

Tracey was surprised but smiled at him. "You didn't have to Harry, I didn't think to get you anything."

"That's alright, if anything this is kind of a gift for both of us." Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box and handed it to her.

Tracey opened the gift and found a small ornate pocket mirror. It was silver with gold inlay and inscribed with runes and Tracey thought it was incredible.

"It's beautiful Harry, thank you." She said, touched by the gesture.

Saying nothing else, Harry pulled a matching one from his pocket, opened it and said her name. Immediately she felt hers warm up in the palm of her hand and opened her own. When she did she saw Harry's face looking back at her through the other end.

"I asked my godfather to make them for us, I thought you'd like this given how much I know you like runes and…. well….. I thought we could use this to talk more over the holidays if you wanted."

Tracey felt overwhelmed and wasn't really sure what to say as she looked up at him and looked into his eyes. They really were a brilliant color, the green was so vibrant and warm, and his smile lit up the world for her. She caught her own thoughts and came to the realization that Ginny was right, she did like him and didn't want to just be his friend. Was it worth the risk though? Joining the DA was one thing but actually being with Harry? She'd be a target as long as the war lasted and then some.

'In for a knut, in for a galleon' she thought to herself before pulling Harry to her and kissing him passionately. Harry was shocked at first but returned the kiss with just as much passion. It probably only lasted a minute but the rush they both felt made it feel so much longer. When they separated Tracey wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his shoulder while Harry held her, both were wearing enormous grins.

"So you liked the present then." Harry lightly teased.

"Prat." She said as she nuzzled in closer and Harry laughed.

"Should we talk about what we are and who we tell?" Harry asked. He was nervous of ruining the moment but knew it needed to happen before they left the room that night.

"Well the first half is easy, you're my boyfriend. I don't do half measures, I want to try and make a real relationship work no matter the challenges that come with that." Harry kissed her again as she said that. He felt the same way and hearing it set his heart aflutter.

After they separated Tracey gently swatted his chest.

"Don't interrupt me if I'm answering your question." She joked.

Harry just smiled and shook his head as she continued.

"For the rest, I am definitely going to tell my brother, I also think Ron and Hermione should be told, it's taken them this long to get used to us being friends, I can't imagine they'd take it well if we kept it from them." She said.

Harry nodded in agreement, the two had warmed to Tracey a considerable amount but still weren't fully accustomed to the new normal. They were making progress, so Harry was giving them time, he just hoped they wouldn't regress with this news.

"I would also like to tell Ginny, aside from you, she's the DA member I'm closest with." She continued.

"It would probably be difficult to hide it from her if Ron knows since the Weasleys are staying in the same place I am. Fred and George will probably learn as well." He added.

"Yes, Luna was talking about them earlier." She replied

"Sirius already put two and two together when I asked him to make these mirrors. Anyone else."

Tracey started to think and her mind immediately went to Daphne. Ahead couldn't even imagine how poorly she'd react to this but it didn't matter, Daphne didn't get to make decisions for her and until she changed her attitude she wasn't entitled to learn about this.

"Perhaps Luna once I get to know her better but for now, no." She finally replied.

"I guess that's that then." Harry smiled at her.

"I guess it is." She replied and pulled him in for another kiss.