Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor

Six New Members

At dinner that evening Harry and Ginny once again sat across from Ron and Hermione. "Er . . . Ginny," Harry asked hesitently, "how does this plate thing work again?"

"All you have to do is tap the center of your plate with the tip of you wand and say, 'This is Harry Potter's plate,' and either Dobby or Winky will take your order," she explained gently.

Harry looked into her eyes and smiled a thank you then glanced over at Ron who shrugged his shoulders. Hermione was watching him expectantly so Harry took out his wand and hesitantly tapped the center of his plate and, somewhat uncomfortably, said, "This is Harry Potter's plate."

Moments later a reflection of Dobby's face appeared in his plate. "Dobby is pleased to see you, Harry. How was your day?" Dobby squeaked.

Harry smiled down at his friend and said, "It was actually pretty enjoyable, Dobby. Thank you. How has your day been going?"

Dobby smiled back and then looked quickly to his side. "Dobby is having a wonderful day, Harry! Winky and Dobby has been helping the other house elves and making sure Harry and Ginny's things are in order. Dobby and Winky is hoping you like what we did to the last two chambers of Harry's trunk."

Dobby was suddenly pushed out of the way as Winky's face appeared as a reflection in his plate. "With Harry's permission," the tiny house elf squeaked, "Winky would like to prepare Harry's dinner."

Harry couldn't help himself as a broad grin spread across his face. "Hello, Winky," he said. "How are you doing?"

Winky smiled up at Harry then briefly scowled off to the side before looking back and smiling pleasantly. "Winky is doing fine, Harry," she said. "Dobby is being a bad house elf but Winky is doing fine. What would Harry like for dinner?"

"Er, . . . like I told Dobby at lunch today, I really don't know what I want to eat yet. You two already know more about this diet than I do so why don't you surprise me." Winky smiled at this and was about to step away to begin preparing Harry's dinner when he stopped her. "Er, Winky," he said, "Dobby and I are having a little meeting about this diet tomorrow afternoon. Would you like to join us?"

Winky smiled broadly and Harry could swear he saw tears of joy beginning to form in her eyes. "Oh, yes, Harry!" Winky exclaimed. "Winky would like to join you very much!"

Harry smiled down at the second house elf he hoped to call friend and said, "Good. That's settled then. You can fix whatever you think I might like for dinner and I will see both of you in the seventh chamber of my trunk tomorrow afternoon."

Winky nodded happily, her ears flapping wildly, told Harry that his dinner would be ready in a few minutes and disappeared.

Half an hour later, as he placed a bowl of vegetables inside an empty soup bowl, he noticed that Ron and Hermione seemed to be getting along quite well. True, he thought, they might just be honoring their truce. But somehow this seemed different. There wasn't the usual tension in the air that seemed to follow them around everywhere they went. Something was different. He couldn't put his finger on it but somehow something seemed different.

After dinner, as they were walking up towards the Gryffindor Common Room, Ginny stopped. "Oh!" she gasped. "We've got a meeting with Professor Dumbledore tonight!"

The others stopped and looked at her then, as realization dawned, they all turned and began running through the castle, towards the headmaster's office.

"There's no reason to run," Remus chuckled as they skidded to a halt in front of the gargoyle entrance to the Headmaster's Office. "The meeting doesn't start for another five minutes."

The four young Gryffindors looked sheepishly at their friend and professor whose amber eyes twinkled with an impish mirth that more accurately reflected his age than his prematurely greying hair and haggard look. Chuckling to himself, Remus muttered the password and the stone gargoyle sprung aside revealing the slowly rising spiral staircase behind. The five friends mounted the stairs and let them carry them to the landing just outside the Headmaster's office. "Now, there's one thing you must understand," Remus said, reaching for the doorknob, "In these meetings everyone is on a first name basis. It may be uncomfortable at first but you'll get used to it."

Opening the door, Remus led the way into the entry to the Headmaster's office. He walked over to a large, contoured bookcase and ran his finger up the spine of the third book in from the right, on the fourth shelf up of the center section. "This one isn't on the map," he murmured, stepping back as the center section of shelves slid back and up into the wall revealing a large, circular room lined with bookshelves filled with books. A large fireplace interrupted the continuity of shelving on the far wall. Two tall wing-backed chairs stood before the crackling fire and it looked to Harry as though both were occupied.

A large, circular, wooden table that looked to be made of oak stood in the center of the room and several people were seated around it in various postures of repose. As they entered the library, the bookcase slid shut behind them and the room brightened considerably. Glancing around quickly Harry noticed that the sorting hat stood on a small table to his right and a tall, framed object mounted on a wooden base stood near one of the bookcases, shrouded in secrecy, hidden beneath a loosely draped brown dust cove. The room itself was warm and inviting but Harry felt a certain, indescribable, emotional uneasiness emanating from the people seated within.

As they stepped forward, approaching the five vacant seats on the near side of the table the Headmaster stood up from one of the wing-backed chairs and approached the single vacant seat on the far side. "I believe we all know one another," he said calmly, smiling across at the new arrivals, his blue eyes twinkling as he gazed intently over his half-moon glasses, "so I do not think any introductions are necessary. However," he said taking his seat, "one of the ground rules of these meetings and this room is that we are to address one another by first names only. The hoped for goal of this requirement is that this will help to mold us all into a strong, cohesive, working unit." Harry looked around at the other participants and saw that besides himself, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Remus Tonks, Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagal, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were also in attendance. "I am no exception to this rule," the Headmaster continued, looking into each of the students' eyes in turn. "From now on, while we are either in these meetings or in this room, you will call me 'Albus.'" Tonks cleared her throat and Dumbledore grinned. "The only possible exception to this rule might be Nymphadora who prefers to go by her last name, 'Tonks.'"

the Headmaster touched the tips of his fingers together and gazed contemplatively over the steeple they formed at the new arrivals for several seconds before opening the meeting. Then, with a slight nod of his head, his flowing white hair and beard reflecting a pale blue in the room's light, he said, "Welcome to the Order of The Phoenix."

Ginny and Hermione gasped with delight, Ron sighed with relief, letting out a breath he had apparently been holding, and Harry, unsure of what to think, sat quietly studying the Headmaster's face while Neville looked on in confusion and Luna sat calmly gazing around the room.

"You have been chosen to join the Order, as its youngest members, because this is as much your war as it is ours. You have been chosen, Ron, because of your planning and strategic abilities as well as your bravery, courage and loyalty to your friends and your dedication to our cause. You have been chosen, Hermione, because of your willingness to stand up and fight for what is right, for your organizational abilities, your courage, bravery, loyalty, dedication, drive and determination. You have been given unrestricted access to the whole of Hogwarts main library and I am giving you access to my personal library - this library - so that you can conduct your research with minimal restriction. I will suggest, however, that you study muggle as well as wizarding texts because we want to be able - as you, Harry and Remus have done - to exploit Voldamort's weaknesses.

"You have been chosen, Neville, for your bravery, courage, dedication to the cause of defeating Tom Riddle and his followers, your loyalty to your friends and, believe it or not, for your potions abilities." Neville's mouth fell open and his eyes threatened to bulge from their sockets as he looked around the table. When his eyes came to rest briefly on Professor Snape the Potions Master smiled grimly and nodded his head. "Luna," the Headmaster said hoping to gain her attention and succeeding, "you have been chosen for your courage, loyalty, intellect and your bedside manner. You will all be learning basic first aide and a few basic healing charms but you, Luna, will be spending a great deal of time with Madam Pomfrey, learning many of the more advanced healing charms you will need in emergency situations. I am basing this decision on your natural aptitude towards the healing arts and sciences. I have made arrangements with our School Nurse for you to do your homework in the hospital wing if you wish and to spend as much of your leisure time as you desire studying, with her as your mentor and guide."

Luna looked up as a broad smile spread across her face. After what she had told him about how her 'friends' hid all of her stuff from her Harry was glad that Dumbledore was affording her this opportunity.

"You have been chosen, Ginevra, "the Headmaster said, turning to Ginny, "for your purity of heart, your dedication to your friends and to the cause, your substantial magical abilities and your compassion for beings most consider to be less ... valuable than humans. And you, Harry," he said turning at last to face Harry, "have been chosen for many reason, not the least of which are your leadership abilities. As you know, the final battle, when it comes, will be a duel between yourself and Tom Riddle." Several people gasped at this news and looked quickly from the headmaster to Harry and back to Dumbledore for confirmation but Harry just held the headmaster's gaze, seeing but not seeing, thinking and remembering, calculating and figuring, for several seconds before quietly nodding his head. "We need you, Harry. The rest of us are little more than soldiers and generals in this army but we can only do so much. You are our Commander-in-chief."

Harry looked gravely into Dumbledore's eyes as the final pieces of the puzzle in his head fell into place and once again nodded, this time with determination and resolve. "I accept," he said.

The Headmaster smiled as the sparkle returned to his eyes. "However," Harry continued, "you built the Order and you are its rightful leader. I would like you to stay on as its commander at least until this war is over; and even then I would like you to stay on as its honorary chair."

Several people seated around the table cast startled glances at Harry as if questioning his authority and shocked at his impudence in telling the Headmaster what to do. The Headmaster, however, just nodded his head in return. "I, too, accept."

The others seemed to be in shock and could not understand why the most powerful wizard in the world would take orders from a sixteen-year-old boy.

An uneasy silence hung in the air for several seconds until Dumbledor cleared his throat and said, almost airily, "Well, now that that has been taken care of I think we should get down to the business at hand."

There was an almost audible sigh of relief as the tension in the room dissipated by several degrees. "Harry," Professor Dumbledore began again, "I need you to tell me, tell all of us, what you experienced during your Maturo Auctus."

Harry relaxed into his chair and closed his eyes as he recalled the aftermath of the battle on Privet Drive. Over the course of the next hour he told those present about meeting Sirius, his parents, Godric Gryffindor, Merlin, Helga Hulffelpuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salizar Slytherin and all of his many other teachers and guides and about all of the lessons he had learned. He carefully avoided talking about his children and the time he had spent with his family because he wanted to keep some things to himself. When he was finished he opened his eyes and looked across the table at a broadly smiling Albus Dumbledore. He then turned to Professor Snape and said, "Severus, I have a message for you from my father and Sirius. They told me to tell you that they are sorry. They didn't know where you were coming from as a child and ask that you please try to forgive them for their ignorance. I know this may sound somewhat trite given what they put you through here at Hogwarts but they would like you to please try to understand that they were just doing what they thought had to be done in defense of those less fortunate than themselves. They also asked me to tell you that they are trying to mend their ways."

Snape stared at Harry for several seconds, his face and eyes expressionless, as he seemed to be struggling with an internal conflict. Finally, as the light returned to his eyes, he seemed to come to a conclusion and muttered, "Apology accepted, . . . Harry."

"Thank you," Harry said.

"You're welcome."

A moment later Albus pointed his wand at the center of the table and said, "Finite Incantatum." As the sparks flew from his wand and struck the surface of the table at its center a shielding charm was removed and the sword Harry had pulled from the sorting hat a little more than three years previous appeared, lying sedately on a red and gold velvet textile. The body of the cloth was a deep, royal, scarlet-red with a golden lion, the symbol of Gryffindor, emblazoned within. The edges were fringed with gold with golden tassels at the corners.

"This is yours, Harry," Dumbledore said. "You are, after all, the Heir of Gryffindor."

"I don't think so, Albus," Harry said softly. "I haven't done anything to deserve it yet."

Dumbledore chuckled to himself. "Be that as it may, Harry, it is a part of your inheritance."

Harry looked up at the aging headmaster with a glimmer of fierce determination in his eyes. "I will accept it on your word, Albus. But I will not claim it until after I have defeated Voldamort. Until then I suggest we leave it here and look upon it as a symbol of what we are fighting for."

Dumbledore nodded. "Well said, Harry." Then, turning his attention to the others, said, "I believe the time has come for us to revisit one of my least favorite subjects.

"You all know how I feel about the subject of Divination." Hermione and Professor McGonagall both sniffed disdainfully. "While it is one of the most widely practiced . . . arts it is also one of the least understood and perhaps, by sad consequence, one of the most widely abused. However, as experience has shown, even some of the fruitiest of these flies can sometimes get lucky. Even our dear Sybil has been right twice." He paused. And as he did so Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Hermione?" he said, smiling at her politeness.

"If you think so little if Divination, Pro. . . er . . . Albus, why are you letting Ron, Harry and Neville take Divination again this year?"

"I believe Firenze will be teaching these three something a bit more useful than simple ... divination this year," Albus said calmly. "Besides, they are free to choose their classes. I am no dictator and I will not tell anyone either what or how to think. "Anyway," he continued, "back to my story.

"One of my duties as headmaster is to keep a daily journal of the events, both major and minor, that take place both in and around Hogwarts. This tradition was started by the first headmaster. As something of a bookworm," he said as he winked and a smiled at Hermione, "I have spent many long hours reading and studying these manuscripts, searching for patterns and possible answers to a variety of questions. It would seem that shortly after Salizar Slytherin's departure a reputable seeres by the name of Ezmirelda Tanglefoot was visiting the school and while here had a vision. The headmaster at the time, Godric Gryffindor, felt it significant enough to summarize it in his journal. The prophesy went something like this: 'There shall be relative peace for a millennia. Then the two titans shall clash again and the outcome of this battle shall decide the fate of the wizarding world.'"

The room fell silent as its occupants strove to digest this information. Harry knew, and he knew Professor Dumbledore knew, what it meant but he didn't want to be the one to break the silence so after briefly making eye contact with the man seated directly across from him he let his eyes wander and studied the faces of the other people seated around the table. At one point he thought he saw the flicker of a shadow moving in one of the wing-backed chairs in front of the fireplace but when he looked again it was gone so he ignored it.

After almost a minute Severus cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "I don't see what relevance a thousand year old prophesy has in our current situation," the Potions Master said.

"You don't?" Professor Dumbledore asked. "My dear Severus, it has everything to do with our current situation. We all know that Tom Riddle is the Heir of Slytherin. And with what Harry has just told us we now know that he is the Heir of Gryffindor. This school has, indeed, had almost a thousand years of relative peace and now it would seem that the stage has been set for the second clash of the titans and the fate of the wizarding world, if not the entire world as we know it, rests in our hands and how we ally ourselves with these two combatants."

He let this sink in for a few moments before continuing. "I trust," he said, looking around at the people seated around the table, "that we are all agreed that it is better to be afforded an opportunity to learn and grow based upon our desires than to have those opportunities taken away simply because we are unable to live up to someone else's standards of excellence."

There was a general murmur of assent around the table. "Very well then," Dumbledore said, moving on to the next order of business. "Harry, Professor Flitwick tells me that you put on an impressive demonstration of your new charm this morning. Is this true?"

Harry felt a blush coming on as he bowed his head and stared down at the table in front of him. "I don't know how impressive it was, Albus, but, yes, I did give a demonstration of its power this morning."

"Impressive, nothing!" Ron blurted out. "It was bloody brilliant! You should have seen it, sir . . . er . . . Albus. He stood in the center of the room and had eight of us hurl curses at him. None of them were serious of course because he had told us that we would be on the receiving end of them. But all the same, every one of our curses was rebounded back at the person who cast it."

Hermione and Neville both nodded vigorously and the others, save Remus who simply nodded his head knowingly, looked over at Harry with expressions communicating a mixture of curiosity and admiration on their faces. "That must be some charm," Moody growled. "I'd like to learn that one some time."

"Yeah," Tonks agreed. "When can you start teaching us, Harry?"

Albus chuckled to himself. "Yes, yes. Filius seems to think the documentation should be completed by the end of this week. Do you think you could start teaching us to use it by ... oh ... next Tuesday?"

Harry's head shot up. "Next Tuesday?" he asked, incredulously. Then, as he thought about it, decided that this week's D.A. meeting would be dedicated to reviewing the spells they had learned last year and that the second would be dedicated to teaching the charm to his friends and new family - people he was comfortable with - in familiar surroundings "Alright," he said after finalizing these plans in his head. "I'll start teaching it next Tuesday evening in D.A. If at all possible, I would like everyone from last year's group as well as all of the Weasleys to attend that session." Then, glancing around at his fellow Defence Against the Dark Arts instructors and the other members of the Order of the Phoenix, added, "Of course you are all welcome to attend as well, if you want to that is."

Albus smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "I think you can count on all of us attending your first class, Harry.

"Minerva tells me you have begun to develop some rather extraordinary abilities, Harry. With your permission I would like to help you fine-tune those abilities. It would seem that you are developing at a much faster pace than I had anticipated and I do not wish to let this opportunity pass us by."

Harry glanced over at Professor McGonagall for confirmation then, noting her slight nod, looked into Albus' eyes and, finding a form of comforting reassurance he new he could trust, said, "Alright."

"And with what you have told us of Your Maturo Auctus I would like to begin helping you harness your new abilities as soon as possible. That is why you have that special class with me on Thursday evenings. You and I both know our roles in the present situation and I would like your permission to begin fulfilling the requirements of my second major task."

Everyone in the room except for Harry and Ginny - who had been present when Harry and Albus had been discussing it the night before - looked curiously at the aging headmaster but Harry just smiled and nodded his head. "Alright, Albus. I will be here and ready to learn Thursday evening."

The Headmaster then pushed himself back from the table and stood up. "I believe," he said, walking calmly over to the sorting hat, "That the time has come for you to try this hat on yet again, Harry. Oh, don't worry, you are not going to be resorted; but if the journals are to be believed then I have a very strong suspicion that it may have something for you."

The headmaster lifted the hat from its pedestal and carried it around the table. When he was standing behind Harry he said, "Are you ready?"

"Yes,"

As the sorting hat was lowered over Harry's head it came to rest on his ears and sank low over his forehead. It was still a bit large but it was a better fit than it had been six years previous. As he felt Dumbledore release his grip on the hat the hat's thin, gravely voice sounded in his head. "Hello, Potter," it said.

"Hello," Harry thought back.

"Still here I see," the hat mused. "But wait, there's more. Ah, yes, much more. You have changed and yet you are still the same."

Harry waited.

"Of course you are the heir, young Potter. But are you ready?"

"I don't know," Harry thought. "I guess we'll find out."

Almost as if on cue Harry felt a light thunk as something fell from inside the hat and landed on his head. "Use it well, young Potter, and we shall indeed see if you are ready," the hat said before falling silent.

Lifting the sorting hat carefully off of his head Harry, placed it on the table in front of him and reached up, placing both of his hands on the top of his head, to retrieve whatever it was that the hat had dropped. He felt something round nested in his unruly hair. Grasping it firmly between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand he brought it down to look at it. It was a simple gold ring. As he inspected it, holding it at different angles in the room's light, he noticed some writing on its inner surface. Upon closer inspection he was able to read "Godric Gryffindor" followed by "ab sentio quantum indolentia."

Harry looked curiously over at the Headmaster. "Well, go ahead, Harry," Dumbledore said encouragingly, "put it on."

Harry looked back down at the ring he was holding and stared at it for several seconds before cautiously slipping it on the ring finger of his left hand. As he slipped the ring on his finger he felt a sudden surge of energy as his entire body began to tingle and grow warm. Looking around he noticed that everyone else at the table was looking at him with funny expressions of hesitation in their faces; and as he looked back down at his hands he noticed a soft aura of white light. He knew that it was emanating from somewhere deep within his soul but that it was also externalizing itself through the pores of his skin. When he looked at the ring again he noticed that it was fitting itself to his finger. And as he watched, it disappeared into his skin. Looking up again he looked questioningly into Albus' eyes and said, "What just happened?"

"Apparently," Albus began with a satisfied smile on his face, "when Godric Gryffindor was very old and moving into his final days he transferred all of his magical power and ability into that ring and placed it in the sorting hat. The only person who would be able to retrieve the ring would be his one true heir and even then he would only be able to retrieve it when he was ready. He did this because he feared for the future of his school, Hogwarts - a school he had dedicated his life to building. He did not want Salizar Slytherin's heir coming back and destroying his dream, a place of learning for all members of the magical community. This additional surge of power should prove both useful and beneficial to you as you begin fulfilling your roles in the magical community and accomplish those tasks set before you.

"And now," Albus said, moving on to the next order of business, "I believe the time has come for you to take another look into the Mirror of Erised, Harry. Your initial desire has, if I am not mistaken, been at least temporarily satisfied by your Maturo Auctus. And so the time has come for you to take another look into the deepest and most meaningful desires of your heart."

The Headmaster walked over to the sheet-draped structure and, flicking his wand, caused the sheet to fall off and tumble to the floor. Harry hesitantly stood up and walked over to stand in front of the mirror as he had in his first year. When he looked into the mirror this time, however, he saw himself standing on the front steps of Hogwarts, with Ginny at his side and two small children - James and Lily - at their feet, welcoming the students back from a summer's holiday. Something about the quality of the image told him that Voldemort had fallen and that all of his Death Eaters defeated.

"Well, Harry?" Remus asked, "what did you see?"

"I . . . I saw Hogwarts," Harry edited, "after the fall of Voldemort and the defeat of the Death Eaters."

"Ah," Albus said, knowingly, "You have truly made the transition, Harry. And you are the true Heir of Gryffindor for this, in a manner of speaking, was Godric's heart's desire as well. One of the last entries in his journal was his wish that Salizar Slytherin's threats of retaliation - for there were many - should be defeated and that Hogwarts should continue in its service to the magical community.

"Now," Albus said, moving on to the next order of business, "if I remember correctly, Hermione, you used your relationship with Miss Skeeter to your advantage last year and successfully distributed Harry's story to the wizarding world through Luna's father's paper. I would like this relationship to continue. However, now that the Ministry of Magic has recognized Voldemort's return, the Order has chosen to expand upon your idea and has engaged the services of a media consultant to handle any and/or all press releases made by the Order. I want the four of you, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginevra, to understand that he has come to us with a history. He is young and he is still learning but he has come to us because he truly and honestly wants to help."

Harry wasn't really paying all that much attention when it happened but suddenly, as the occupant of the second wing-backed chair stood up, he could feel the tension in Ginny's body mount and heard her begin to growl fiercely as Ron grabbed the edge of the table, the knuckles of both hands going white as his entire body began to shake with rage, and snarled, "Git!"

Harry looked up and recognized the familiar horn-rimmed glasses and curly red hair of Percy Weasley. The young man's face and expression reminded him a of the haunted look on Sirius' face at their first meeting in the Shrieking Shack in his third year.

Harry could tell that Percy was sorry for his behavior the previous year and that it haunted him to know that he had been wrong. And yet he could understand the reactions of the people on either side of him at seeing their brother whom they obviously considered to be a traitor to family loyalty. Not knowing what to do or how to react, Harry smiled briefly, tilted his head slightly to one side and softly acknowledged Percy's presence. "Hello, Percy," he said softly.

Obviously shaking from the fear of retribution by his youngest brother and sister and from not knowing how their friends would react, Percy hesitantly approached the table and stood quavering between Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. "I'm really sorry," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "I don't know what else to say, Ron, Ginny. I screwed up. All I can do now is hope and pray that you will be able to find some way to forgive me."

"FORGIVE YOU?" Ron exploded out of his chair. "YOU TRAITOR! HOW CAN WE FORGIVE YOU AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO MUM AND DAD? IT'S BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE US AND TURNED YOUR BACK ON THE FAMILY. BUT THEN YOU HAD THE NERVE TO RETURN MUM'S CHRISTMAS PREASENT UNOPENED AND THEN YOU SLAMED THE DOOR IN HER FACE WHEN SHE TRIED TO TALK TO YOU. HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AND ASK FOR FORGIVENESS..."

Harry stood up and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Ron, please," he said softly.

Ron turned fiercely, brushing Harry's hand off of his shoulder and glared into Harry's eyes. "WHAT?" he screamed.

"Sit Down!" Harry said in a commanding voice that, while not a shout, did fill the room and echoed off its walls.

The blood drained from Ron's face as he seemed to realize that Harry was not going to take no for an answer. He closed his mouth and shakily resumed his seat all the while glaring at Percy. "He should apologize to you more than anyone else," Ron growled under his breath. "He wasn't there. He has no idea what you have been going through. And then he chose to believe Fudge because he values his precious job more than family or friends."

Ginny was still growling so Harry reached over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him as he looked down into her eyes and gave her a reassuring smile. "I realize how bad this looks, Ron, Ginny. But as Albus said, he is still young and he his still learning. Under the circumstances, granted he was working with partial and incomplete information, Percy did what he thought was right. He did what he thought he had to do to get by. It may not have been nice and it may have hurt a lot of people, which I don't doubt. But he has recognized the error of his ways and has come here begging your forgiveness. I know it won't be easy - in fact, it may be one of the most difficult decisions you will ever make - but I don't want you to make the same mistake Severus made," at this Harry smiled apologetically at Snape, "and let someone else's actions ruin your life. It is your life, Ron, Ginny. I want you to think about it long and hard before you condemn both yourselves and Percy to a life of misery."

Harry sat down and Professor Snape, apparently stunned by the depth of Harry's compassion and understanding, spoke up. Strangely, his voice was neither as harsh nor as cold as usual. "He's right you know. It's your choice. You can choose to either forgive your brother for his mistakes or hold onto your bitterness and let it eat away at you for the rest of your lives. My only wish, if I could go back and change anything in my life, is that I had chosen to forgive Black and Potter . . . and a few others. Maybe then my life would have been different and . . ." he trailed off.

A stunned, almost deafening silence filled the room for several seconds as everyone felt the impact of the Potions Master's words. Ron and Ginny looked at each other with their mouths hanging slightly open and Harry hoped that the professor's words had had the desired affect. As Harry looked across at Severus he caught his eye and mouthed, "Thank you." Severus smiled ever so slightly and curtly nodded his head.

"Er. . ." Albus hesitated, at a temporary loss for words, "Yes. Well said, Severus." He paused briefly to let the tension in the room dissipate enough so that he could continue. When it had he said, "I believe there is just one more order of business today and that is the matter of your timetables. The six of you have an additional class on your timetables called 'Military Tactics and Strategies' which meets every Friday evening after dinner." The six students nodded. "That class will meet in this room.

"Now, are there any questions?" he asked lightly

Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Hermione?"

"If you don't mind me asking, Albus, how did you convince Mrs. Weasley to let us join the Order?"

"Albus can be very persuasive when he needs to be," Moody chuckled. Tonks and Kingsley chuckled as well but Professor McGonagall pressed her lips tightly together and shot icy glares at the three aurors, quickly silencing their mirth.

"Let's just say Molly can be a very stubborn woman," Albus said. This time Ron and Ginny snorted laughs which earned them glares from Percy. "I had to do a lot of explaining but in the end she understood and consented."

Several minutes later, as the six students were walking through the halls - on their way to the Ravenclaw Common Room, where they would drop Luna off before heading back to the Gryffindor Tower - deep in thought. Hermione cleared her throat. "Erm, . . . Harry?"

Harry's head snapped up as the sound of Hermione's voice yanked him out of his musings. "Yes?" he said, almost dropping his wand in the process.

"Erm . . . there's something Ron and I have been meaning to tell you."

Harry stopped in mid stride and turned to look into his friend's eyes. He could tell she was nervous about something but he couldn't tell what. He waited for her to summon the courage to face her fears but when she didn't seem to be able to he reached out and took hold of one of her hands. "It's alright," he said. "I'm not going to bite you."

Hermione glanced nervously over at Ron who took a step forward. "Well you see, Harry. It's like this. . ." he began.

"We've gotten to know each pother pretty well over the years and Ron and I are going together!" The words spilled out of Hermione's mouth in a rush and when she realized what she had said she clapped her hands over her mouth, her whole head blushing crimson in the process.

"We just thought you should know," Ron added, the tips of his ears burning bright red.

At first Harry's mouth fell open in shock and surprise. Then, as he realized how nervous his friends were, a genuine smile spread across his face and he laughed out loud. "Well it's about time!" he laughed, pulling his friends into a group hug. "I've been wondering when you guys would stop fighting long enough to realize that you actually like each other."

"We all have," Neville and Luna agreed.

"How long has this been going on?" Harry asked.

"Oh, a couple of months," Ron said noncommittally.

"What sealed it, though," Hermione said, "was that Death Eater attack."

"Yeah," Ron said, his voice quavering slightly. "When we didn't know if you were going to live or die we finally realized how much we really needed each other."

"And how much we meant to each other," Hermione added.

Ron blushed again. "Yeah, that too."

Hermione scowled up at her boyfriend and then just smiled and shook her head.

"If it's been going on so long why didn't you tell me?" Ginny asked accusingly.

Ron flinched. "Well, we kind of wanted Harry to be the first to know," he said apologetically.

"We would have told you if Harry hadn't lived," Hermione added comfortingly, "but so long as there was a chance we wanted to wait. Can you forgive us?"

Ginny smiled up at Harry and, seeing the glow of happiness in his face, smiled and said, "Yes. I can forgive you."

"Good," Ron sighed with relief. "After what you did to Malfoy last year I didn't want to be your next victim."

At this Ginny tilted her head back and laughed out loud, her merriment filling and echoing throughout all of the hallways and corridors in the castle.

Turning to Neville and Luna, Harry asked, "So what about you two? It would seem that the four of us are spoken for so what are the possibilities of you two getting together?"

Neville looked nervously over at Luna who seemed to be sizing him up. "Well," he said hesitantly, "it's kind of up to her. I mean I'd really kind of like to get to know you, Luna, but . . . I . . . um . . . I don't know if you would like to get to know me."

Luna smiled warmly at Neville and said, "I'd like that, Neville. I can tell you've changed a lot over the summer and I would like to get to know the new Neville Longbottom."

Neville smiled shyly back. "Somehow I get the feeling you have changed quite a bit too, Luna, and I would like to get to know the new you too."

Gently slipping her hand into one of Neville's Luna led him away towards the Ravenclaw Common Room. "He'll see you guys back in your common room!" Luna called over her shoulder as she led Neville away.

As the four remaining Gryffindors made their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione holding hands, Harry got the uncomfortable feeling that the occupants of the portraits were watching him with a renewed sense of awe and urgency. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady she glanced up from her reading and said, "Password" then, looking again, immediately dropped her book, got to her feet and curtsied. The four teenagers looked at each other and then back at the Fat Lady. "mi Lord," she said, bowing to Harry.

The others turned to stare at him. Harry looked at his friends with a blank expression on his face then shrugged his shoulders, remembering that he was the Heir of Gryffindor. "Comes with the territory I guess."

"Must be nice," Ron smirked.

Harry scowled at Ron then looked at the Fat Lady. "Madam," he said patiently, "I am going to ask you to help me with something."

"Anything, my liege," she said only too happy to serve.

"While I am the Heir of Gryffindor I am still little more than a student. I wonder if you could pass the word along to the others that until further notice I do not want any special treatment from anyone above and beyond what is absolutely necessary while I am attending classes."

"Yes, mi Lord," she said as her portrait door swung open.

Harry scowled again. "And that includes passwords," he said in frustration. "Yes, mi Lord," the Fat Lady blushed.

"And would you please stop calling me that!" Harry cried out in exasperation.

"Yes, sir," the Fat Lady said almost as if snapping to attention.

"Argh!" Harry cried as he stepped through the portrait hole, Ron, Hermione and Ginny snickering at his predicament.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Dean Thomas called over from across the room.

"Stupid portrait," Harry scowled darkly. "Remind me to have her replaced."

Ron, Ginny and Hermione burst out laughing. "I'll tell you what, Harry," Ron laughed, "I'll remind you the day you can beat me at a game of chess."

Still scowling, Harry looked over at his friend who was holding his chess set with a hopeful expression on his face. "Yeah, sure," Harry said letting the tension fall away. Then pulling out his wand, more out of habit than necessity, looked up the stairs to the boy's dormitory and said, "Accio, chess set."

"I think I'll get started on my Potions essay," Hermione said offhandedly as Ron rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"I keep trying to get her to relax and have a little fun but nothing seems to work."

"She's scared, Ron," Ginny said as she watched her best girlfriend disappear up into the girl's dormitory.

"What's she got to be afraid of?" Ron asked with an honestly innocent and confused expression on his face.

"Think, Ron. Think," Ginny scolded. "What is Hermione's heritage; and what is this whole thing with Voldemort all about?"

"Oh," Ron said, as the realization of his girlfriend's situation seemed to materialize within his mind. "I forgot. I guess I always took it for granted that no one would question her abilities."

"Her abilities, no," Ginny explained. "But there are those who would question her right to study magic because she is muggle-born. She is afraid for her life and for her parent's lives because there are those who - like Salizar Slytherin and Tom Riddle - don't think she should be allowed. She wants to fight but she knows that the only way she can fight is by learning as much as she can before facing her enemies. That's why she studies so much. She wants to feel like she is doing something and, if at all possible, she wants to find a way to protect her parents from this bigotry."

"Oh," Ron said again as he looked guiltily down at the chess set in his hands. Then, looking over at Harry, said, "I'm sorry, mate. I never realized how important this was to her. So if you don't mind I think I'll skiv off on this game until I get my homework done."

Harry nodded knowingly at Ron then smiled at Ginny. "Alright, then. We'll meet you down here in a few with our books, Ginny. Like I said, we'll help you if we can."

"Alright then," Ginny smiled and dashed up the stairs to her room.