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Chapter 5: Dora

As he walked down to the Great Hall with Madam Pomfrey, Harry thought about the curious actions of Poppy when he grinned.

He couldn't remember ever grinning like that before in his life, and that is why he was going to go to Remus Lupin to ask about it – even though he had no idea if Remus would know about it or not.

The matron paused as they reached the doors to the Great Hall and turned to face her patient.

"Now, Potter, are you sure you want to come in today, not wait until tomorrow or the next day?" She spoke with great worry and nervousness.

He grinned at her, and at the same time thought, Why do I keep grinning like that?

"Poppy, I feel great! Of course I want to go in today!"

Madam Pomfrey sighed, but stepped forward and threw open the doors.

All conversation stopped at the sound of the doors banging open – nobody ever opened the doors THAT wide unless they were announcing someone as important as the Minister of Magic.

When they saw who it was, muttering started, because by general opinion, Harry Potter should still be in bed in the hospital wing, not making a grand entrance in the Great Hall.

The mutters and whispers stopped however when the Headmaster stood up and walked across the room to stand directly before the young man.

"Mr. Potter," stated Dumbledore, smiling slightly at the boy, "I thought I had told Madam Pomfrey to keep you in bed for the rest of the week."

Poppy cleared her throat. "Well you see, Headmaster, he grinned, in the Potter way." She blushed as she spoke.

Albus smiled in full, "Ah . . . I see . . . Well, where should Mr. Potter sit? Remus? May he sit with you?"

It was only then that Harry noticed that the Great Hall didn't have its regular four House tables and a staff table. Instead, there were quite a few small tables that sat six people.

When Remus nodded, Harry walked over to the table where he was sitting, the matron following him every step of the way.

Remus indicated to Harry to sit down on the chair to his left. Harry sat.

The matron could see that if she was going to say anything, she had better say it before Harry got into a conversation and forgot all about her.

"Harry, dear," she began, waiting for the boy to turn to face her. When he did, she continued, "I want you to watch what you eat - nothing too spicy or sour or tart. Don't eat large volumes either, so you don't need to be up during the night using the washroom. Understand?"

"My dear Poppy," replied Harry amiably "I wouldn't IMAGINE eating very much, or munching on anything that is not mild in flavor! You don't need to worry about me, my dear matron!"

The woman was about to protest, but he flashed her the grin that he now knew had its uses, and she relented.

"That's a girl." Harry cooed "Now go over to a table where you have some friends, and sit down there for the afternoon. Okay Poppy?"

She smiled, completely missing the fact that he was teasing her, and nodded. "Of course, Harry, dear"

With that, the matron ambled over to the table where three of the Professors were seated, and sat down.

- - -

Remus Lupin watched this short exchange with amusement.

When Harry finally turned back to the werewolf, Remus decided to voice his question.

"Harry, how on earth are you able to tell Poppy what to do? James was able to do it too, and he would say, 'It's all in the grin,' but no matter how much we would grin at her, we couldn't do it"

The young wizard laughed. "Professor Lupin, it IS in the grin. I don't know if you heard Poppy or not, but she even explained it to Dumbledore as 'He grinned, in the Potter way'"

The werewolf chuckled. "Call me Remus, and I won't believe it if I don't see it, so grin, in the Potter way."

Excitement appeared in Harry's emerald eyes.

"I'll show it to you, but only when I have reason to. Give me a moment. I need to get a girl over here so my smile can do what it does to Poppy." He laughed again. "It's quite funny, actually. Who should I use it on?"

"Would Tonks work?"

"Sure. How should I get her over here? Can you think of anything I could talk to her about?"

A sly smile crept over Remus' slightly haggard face. "You can thank her for flying you to Headquarters. A 'Thank You' always requires a smile."

"Good idea, Remus" Harry stood up. "Watch, and you'll see what Poppy calls the Potter Grin" He winked at the man as he started walking towards Tonks' table, which was about twenty feet away from where Remus was sitting.

Harry drew himself up straight and tapped the young auror on the shoulder before shoving his hands in the long pocket across his front.

"Yes?" Nymphadora Tonks turned around in her chair to face Harry. She had plain brown hair today, and it reached down to just past her shoulders. "Oh! It's you, Harry!"

"Would you come over there for a minute?" He indicated a spot where there were no tables by tipping his head towards it. "I need to talk to you"

Harry saw her glance at one of her friends momentarily before standing and following him to the little space – which, even though it went unnoticed by Tonks, was only about five feet from Remus Lupin, and his table.

"Yes Harry?" she questioned as soon as they were out of earshot of her companions.

"Well, I just wanted to thank you for a few things. First, thanks for coming to help me at the Department of Mysteries back before school ended, and for helping me to fight off those Death Eaters. Even though we lost someone that night, it caught us a bunch of Voldemort's supporters."

Tonks blushed at the praise. "I was doing what anybody who is a member of the Order and an auror would do – nothing special."

"But then," continued Harry, "When I was almost killed Dud, you were there to help me get here. And you weren't only part of the guard; you were the one who actually TOOK me. I want to thank you for that, 'cause otherwise, I'd probably be dead right now."

The auror was obviously very embarrassed, and it could be heard when she spoke. "Again – anybody would have done that. I mean . . ." Her voice shook.

Harry decided that now was the best time to smile, so he said, "But it was YOU who did." And grinned his well-known grin at her.

Her knees shook, and she blushed even more. Her eyes rolled back, she sighed, and she fell down in a dead faint.

Harry could hear Remus laughing behind him, but he knelt down next to her and waved his empty hand over her face and mumbled "Wake up!" and she did.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks" she said quietly before walking back to her table.

- - -

Lupin was still chuckling when Harry sat back down at their table, laughing to himself.

"So that is the Potter Grin?" he asked watching as the dark haired boy ordered some lasagna from his plate.

"The one and only!" was the response through a mouthful of food. "Though I was surprised at how well it worked on Dora"

Remus snorted. "Dora?"

Harry grinned at the man. "Why not? I can get away with anything now that I have discovered this 'talent'"

"You act like your father, d'you know?" the werewolf was almost glowing with pride. "He'd be proud"

"Thanks, Rem"

"Any time"