A/N

Some deep stuff here. Warning – some spiritual explanations etc. I'm catholic, get over it.

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Harry sat back in his chair, hands loosely at his sides.

"We…in m-…'n huh?!"

Dumbledore peered over the tops of his spectacles, chuckling lightly. "Very good, Harry. After you've mastered vowel sounds, your class will be starting on sentence structure."

Harry shook his head, still too shocked to fully register the gentle dig from the Headmaster.  "But Professor, do we really have to? I mean, Hogwarts is the safest place to be…"

Albus Dumbledore placed his fingertips together to form a steeple. He glanced idly at a sculpture sitting on one of his many bookshelves, noting absently that it was watching the conversation and making various gestures of approval whenever Harry spoke. Clearly, the little witch sculpture was smitten with the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Harry, my dear boy," Dumbledore began. "Hogwarts is the safest place for anyone to be. However, my reasons have nothing to do with safety. You may have noted that the last term has passed quite quickly."

Harry nodded. In the corner, the witch sculpture nodded vigorously as well.

He continued. "The Christmas Break is coming up hard and fast, and as much as I would love all of you staying with us over the Yule Holiday, I have decided that it would be best for the eight of you to leave the school for a time. Mr and Miss Weasley, Mr and Miss Malfoy, Mr Black, Miss Granger, your sister and yourself: the eight of you have been through an extraordinary amount this year. It has been most trying. I think it would be best if you had your holiday away from school."

Harry was still surprised, and confused. "But sir, where are we all supposed to go? Only half of us have homes - Lindsey's house has been sold, and the Malfoys can't go back home…"

Dumbledore nodded sagely. "I have already taken this into account, Harry. Now, about the Prophecy."

Harry looked up wearily. The word 'prophecy' just didn't do anything for him anymore. After what happened last year in the Department of Mysteries…Harry swallowed hard. "Yes, Professor Dumbeldore?"

The wizened man sensed his discomfort but went on.  "It has been established that this particular prophecy involves the eight of you, and this is part of why I thought it best for you to get away. You need a break from what has been happening. Also, over the last term, an extraordinary level of magical energy and magnetism has been reached at the school, mostly because of the goings on of you eight."

Harry coloured. "Oh, sorry, sir. We didn't mean to make the levels, uh, rise…" He struggled to find something that seemed contrite, but was coming up empty. What was he supposed to say?

Dumbeldore chortled. "It's quite alright, Harry. I was merely saying that you have been in contact with a lot of magic, and that it would be best to get away from the energy fields at the school for a while. Get away from anything with magic, really, so you eight can rebuild your internal resources. Also, in light of the Prophecy, I have my reasons for wanting you to all stay together. Wherever you go, I will send you together. My reasons."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. He remembered quickly that this would mean spending his holiday with Draco Malfoy, and it took all his discipline not to snort distastefully in front of the Headmaster  "Okay, Professor. If I may ask - where are you planning to send us all?"

Harry went over all the places in his head. "It'd cost too much to go to a hotel or anything -" he had a brainwave. "Are we going to the Weasleys?"

He felt his heart jump up and down frantically when he came to that. Imagine - spending Christmas with the Weasleys! It would be fantastic. The big, family feasts, the presents, the fun, the laughter…he sighed inwardly. It would be a dream. Having his birthday was at the Burrow was extraordinary; it was better than he could ever have imagined. But Christmas…

"Not quite, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. Harry dropped back to reality with a thud.

"Oh," he said simply in reply. Scratch that idea.

Still, he remembered, it would be fantastic. Dumbledore was a great guy; he'd send them somewhere fun for sure. And, not to forget - Harry got to spend his first Christmas with his sister!

He gasped when he remembered with a jolt that he hadn't even considered presents. Christmas was close…Harry mentally did some counting and felt like someone had punched him in the stomach when he realized how near it was. He only had a few days left of school, actually. Wait till he told Aurora…

AURORA! He felt his mouth go dry. Harry still hadn't taken Aurora out. He had asked her, she said yes; he just hadn't got around to it yet. And Christmas? Boy, what to get the most beautiful girl in the world for a present…a mirror?

Dumbledore was watching him, amused. "Harry," he asked after a while. As entertaining as it was watching the boy's face move in response to whatever thoughts he was having at the time, there were important things to discuss.

Harry jerked up and grinned goofily. "Sorry, sir. Off with those Cornish pixies again."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I can imagine. Now, Christmas is in four weeks. I plan on having a Yule Ball at Christmas again this year, and I will allow for you and your group to return to Hogwarts three days before, and no more."

Harry nodded, doing the math quickly. "So we spend about three weeks away?"

"Yes. This will give time for you all to go shopping for the Yule Ball and such, while satisfying me by spending an appropriate amount of time away from the magic."

Harry frowned in thought. "So, you still haven't told me where we're going. Somewhere with no magic…is it London?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I'll make it a surprise."

Harry looked doubtful. "Alright," he said uneasily. It wasn't that he didn't trust Dumbeldore; it's just…. this was Dumbledore. He didn't think like regular people.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aurora hummed as she shuffled her deck of cards. It was a weird experience. To think, when her fellow housemates and Lucius Malfoy accosted her, she had been intending to do a Tarot reading.

They were all in Rose's room, as per usual. Lindsey and Ginny were lounging about together in a corner, whispering to each other and giggling (or chuckling manly in Lindsey's case). They attempted to smile innocently whenever someone looked over in their direction, but the innocent looks weren't fooling anyone. Ron and Hermione were sitting opposite each other on some soft, spongy couches.

"Mione, I really don't see the problem," Ron was saying heatedly, his ears colouring deeply.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course you don't," she replied snappishly. "Just because you told Seamus and Dean about Miss Simply Marvellous doesn't mean there's a problem."

The room was plunged into silence, broken by Draco. "Forgive me, but I think I've been absent for too long," he said incredulously, a smirk beginning to form on his pale face as he anticipated the ridicule he was going to have to inflict. "What happened?"

Hermione opened and shut her mouth quickly, looking for all the world like a goldfish. She couldn't find the right words to use, and settled for turning pink.

Harry tried desperately not to laugh from his position on Rose's bed, but he snorted loudly. His attempt to cover it up with a cough didn't work as intended.

Ginny shook her head mournfully from the corner. "Miss Simply Marvellous is her doll. Her cherished childhood toy."

"Ginny!" Hermione screeched, outraged. "Shut up! You aren't helping."

The redhead smiled tauntingly. "A rag doll, with hair made out of wool and a pale pink frilly dress with a white lace pinafore and little pink booties! Ron found out about it and let it slip to Seamus and Dean. Seamus got Lavender to go into the girls' dorm and steal the doll from Mione's bed."

Hermione was looking really pissed now. "Yeah. No problem," she hissed sarcastically at Rom, folding her arms and glaring.

Lindsey snorted, giving Ginny a kiss on the cheek. "That's not all. Over the last week, they've been taking photos of Miss Simply Marvellous in all these weird poses with costumes and- a-and-" he broke off, laughing too hard to continue. Harry did the rest.

"Every day for the last week they've sent a letter to Hermione via owl-post, with a different photo each day and a ransom note, and the whole time she's had no idea who it was!"

Harry was now laughing full out, as was everyone else save Hermione. She glared darkly at Ron, who was holding his breath, trying to compose himself.

Draco's cheeks were tinted pink as he chuckled. "That's so classic!" he gulped down some oxygen. "Come on, tell – what poses were there?"

At this, Ginny started to cry she was cackling so much. "Oh, they were so good!" she gasped. Rose nodded fervently from her position next to Aurora on some beanbags.

"They were ingenious! In one, Miss Simply Marvellous was on some skis in a snow background; in another, she was in a bikini on a beach – in one she was tied up in a chair in a dark room with a lamp trained on her and a blindfold on!"

Draco was trying really hard not to start crying with laughter, and if he had been anyone else he would have. Rose stared in amazement as he fell off her bed and landed with a thump on the hard floor, doubled up in a fit of mirth.

Hermione was glaring daggers at Ron, who was paling by the minute. He seemed to realize that he didn't have much longer before Hermione's wrath was unleashed upon him.

"As en-en- " he broke off, hiccoughing, "-entertaning as this is, can we please move on and get started on the Tarot reading?" Ron looked towards Aurora pleadingly.

The blonde wiped tears from her eyes, still breathless from her own giggling fit, and cleared her throat. She took a calming breath. "Okay. Here we go. Can everyone please put their left hand on the deck please?"

They all complied. Draco shrugged and put his hand on the pile of cards offered by his cousin. He blinked when another hand touched his. The hand was cool and silky smooth. He looked down and saw milky white skin, long, tapering fingers. He followed the hand up the arm to its owner and found himself staring into Rose's eyes.

He jerked inwardly, but didn't let his surprise show. He stared into her eyes, a thrill working its way up his spine. He felt his mouth dry up a bit. He began to feel a tad too warm.

God, not again, he groaned inwardly. I hate her! I wish she wasn't so…so…

A thousand words rushed through his mind of how to describe Rose. Pretty? Understatement of the year. And there's so much more to her than looks.. She was vivacious, but he couldn't be sure if that was a good thing. Fun, passionate, intelligent, witty…there were endless words, but he could only settle for one.

Enthralling. That's it; everything fits into one phrase. Everything about her is so intense, so Rose. She's enthralling. A fiery goddess. My fiery goddess.

He realized that he was staring and looked away casually, breaking their eye contact so he wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable.

Rose was aware of his staring. To her disappointment, however, she had no idea what he was thinking. She never did.

He was such a mystery! A drop-dead gorgeous, incredibly toned and muscular mystery. She felt her stomach do a flip when she reviewed what she had been thinking.

NO WAY! Oh, no. Draco Malfoy is in no way attractive, Annabelle Rose Potter, she told herself sternly. He's calculating and devious and evil…

…and God he's hot. And he's dashing and brave and suave and handsome and charming when he wants to be and devastatingly…NO!   Aw, I did it again. She tutted to herself, glad that Harry couldn't hear all her thoughts.

Aurora was kneeling right in between them while the silent conversations were going on. She smiled to herself calculatingly much like a Cheshire cat would. Hmm, she thought amusedly. This is going to be interesting.

Presently, Aurora smiled and took back her deck. "Can we all make a circle now please?" she asked gently. After some shuffling, they were all seated.

Aurora, to her delight, found that she was seated in between the two males she cared about most. On her left was Draco; on her right was Harry. On Harry's other side was Ginny, then Ron, then Lindsey. Lindsey had wisely decided to sit in between Ron and Hermione, who was sitting crossly on his other side. Then came Rose, and next to her was Draco.

Rose and Draco both noticed the seating arrangements. They glanced at each other, but quickly looked away. Neither said anything.

Aurora, pleased with the arrangements, began to lay the cards. "What I'm going to do it lay one card in front of you. Usually, you can determine who you are without any trouble. However, this time, I'm going to let the cards decide who we are."

She dealt everyone a card, face down in front of them. "Your card represents you in the eyes of the Powers that Be. It often coincides with personality or birth date. These cards are Court cards from the Minor Arcana. That's one of the two decks." She turned over her own card, and smiled. She held it up.

They all gazed wonderingly at the Tarot card Aurora held up. It was a picture of a woman, dressed all in white and pale blue, seated on a throne. "The Queen of Cups is my card," Aurora said with a hint of smugness. "Cups generally is a water suit. It's about the emotional side of a person. In case you haven't noticed, I kind of have a water theme going on."

Draco snorted next to her, and she reached over and flipped his card. Draco's card was  a man in white, sitting on a throne with a golden crown on and holding a gleaming sword aloft. Draco nodded.

"Same as last time we did a reading. King of Swords. It's an air sign – Swords is a thinking sign."

"Huh, so how'd you get to be a King of thinking?" Ron said casually. "Oh, did you say air sign? Ha! Always said you were a blonde airhead!"

Draco glared.

Aurora glared too, pursing her lips. "You have a problem with blondes?" she asked, her tone dangerous. Ron gulped, quickly deciding a subtle topic change would be safest.

"So, anyone else see the Sussex Tigers play the Cannons last Friday? They said it was a fantastic game, Mimbley is a great Chaser…"

"My turn!" Rose called out excitedly. She flipped over her own card, revealing a woman sitting on a throne dressed in a long golden robe. She was wearing a shining coronet and in her right hand held a long wooden…

"She's holding a tree branch," Rose said flatly. "A big, stinking tree branch. Oh, yeah. That represents me. By the way, that's sarcasm."

Aurora looked affronted. "Rose, it's the Queen of Wands. Some respect, please. It's a fire sign, fire is the intuitive side of a person."

Fire, is it? Draco thought to himself. Ah-ha! I was right. Queen of Wands? She really is a fire goddess.

Rose wrinkled her nose. "Queen of Wands? How on earth can that be me? I don't even use a wand! Wands don't like me much, actually. They tend to turn themselves off when I pick them up."

Hermione looked perplexed. "You must be mistaken. Even if a witch or wizard uses a wand that's not their own, you can still get some result out of it, even if it's just a fizzle."

Rose shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Not for me. Oh, and that card – is it even a wand the woman's holding? I mean, look at it! The 'wand' the Queen is holding is, like, twice her height and thick as her arm! It even has leaves and twigs on it."

Her mouth lifted on one side crookedly as she shrugged dismissively. "I don't see it, sorry."

Aurora looked at her witheringly. "Rose, hon, don't diss the cards." She held up a hand as Rose tried to speak. "No! no more. You think what you want to think about my cards. I'll think what's right." She peered over at the strawberry blonde regally. "But I'm going to warn you now: don't come crying to me when God smotes you down."

Hermione looked like she was going to say something, but stopped herself. She tried again, starting to open and shut her mouth like a fish again.

Aurora sensed her unease and turned to her. "What's wrong?"

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "How can you say that about God and still believe in Him and stuff, but be a witch and believe in the Powers that Be? It's in the Bible that witchcraft is, like, worshipping Satan."

Aurora blinked. "I believe, and so it is."

Ron scratched his head. "Got me there," he muttered, turning to say something to Lindsey.

Aurora elaborated. "From where I stand, something exists if I believe it. I believe in God, and therefore He exists for me. I am also a witch."

Hermione shook her head. "Sorry, I still don't get it."

Aurora took a breath. "Well," she said slowly, "I guess I believe in God really strongly. I believe He made everything, and He made us. Since I believe that, I also believe that God made witches and wizards and gave us the power to perform small miracles. It's up to us how we interpret the power. Do you think that the men who wrote the Bible were wizards? Of course not. And the Church in the middle ages during the Witch burnings; they weren't witches and wizards either. It's not a mistake in the Bible, and we're not sacrilegious and I'm s\certainly not a worshipper of Satan. It's just really old discrimination"

Hermione nodded, understanding dawning on her face. "I see. But, what about some of the spells you do? You seem to appeal to other deities. And how come you think using Tarot is okay in your religion?"

"Ahh…okay, that's a tough one," Aurora laughed uncertainly. "Well, basically, I believe that God endorses using Tarot on at least some level, or else he wouldn't allow Divine secrets to be divulged at all suing them. And just because I 'appeal' to other deities doesn't mean I believe in them. I just…I believe in other people's beliefs in them, so I use that to borrow power from someone else's faith."

She wrinkled her nose. "If that makes sense." She shrugged, turning over Hermione's representative card. "Anyway, here you are."

It was a boy. A boy holding a sword. Hermione slumped, looking moody. "No way. Uh-uh. That's so mean, Rory."

Draco and Ron both had to turn away very, very quickly and cover their mouths. There was no doubt what they were ding from how much they were shaking.

Aurora looked apologetic. "It's not that bad – Page of Swords. Thinking sign, air. Really, it's not an indication of boy or girl that matters. The position you hold in the Minor Arcana comes down to other stuff."

"Power," Harry put in helpfully. Aurora flashed him a smile, earning a goofy grin back from him.

Hermione was unimpressed. "You mean that I'm a Page, so I'm all unpowerful?" she rolled her eyes. "Ouch. I wish I were a Queen."

"Hey, I'm the King of Swords. Sorry, Granger, but you're not going to be my Queen." Draco said sarcastically.

Rose snorted. "Brighten up, Hermione, at least you aren't holding a tree trunk."

"Wand!" came Aurora.

"Whatever," finished Rose.

Lindsey's card was flipped over. "Knight of Cups. Water sign, emotional traits." Ron's card turned out to be the Knight of Pentacles, and Ginny was the Page of Pentacles.

"Pentacles is the Earth sign, it's the trait of sensation."

Ginny giggled, snuggling into Lindsey's arms. "I said that you were sensational, Gin," the dark-haired youth murmured in her ear, pressing a firm kiss to her jaw.

Hermione quirked an eyebrow at Ron. "My knight in shining armour," she said wryly. Ron gulped, still thinking about Miss Simply Marvellous. Hermione didn't appreciate the last photo, of the doll chained up in the dungeons on a stretching-rack.

Aurora smiled. "Last card," she said cheerfully. She reached forward to take up Harry's card, and her fingers brushed with his. She licked her suddenly dry lips, her heart missing a beat…or two…as she gazed up into his emerald green eyes.

He smiled at her, making his eyes crinkle around the edges and sparkle even more than usual. She smiled back, flipping over the card. She prayed silently that her hands wouldn't start shaking, as they had a habit of doing.

She felt everyone's gaze upon her as she looked at the image on the front of the card. A man, sitting on a throne wearing an orange robe and a gold coat over the top. He had a gold corwn adorning his head, and his throne was emblazoned with a lion. He was holding a shaft of wood with leaves and twigs on it, just like Rose's.

"The King of Wands," Aurora breathed. She felt warm, whenever she was finishing a reading. "Fire sign. Intuitive. See the lion on his throne?"

The others nodded dumbly. Aurora was excited. "It all fits, you see? The lion…Harry, you're not just in Gryffindor, but your star sign is Leo! Everything works out."

Draco was looking pensive. Rose noticed, and caught his eye. "What's up?" she asked lightly.

Draco frowned in concentration. "You know the Prophecy?" he said slowly. "That links in too. Calling the he-Potter 'Sun' and saying he's got fire inside him. And – hey – Dumbledore told us that you two- " he indicated Harry and Aurora, "-are Elementals. Fire and Water. Anyone else seeing a pattern?"

Hermione nodded, a smile forming on her lips. "See? You aren't an air sign for nothing."

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Harry James Potter had been through many trying times in his life. He had seen a lot, been through a lot. This was one of those times when he really, truly hated his life.

The sixteen-year-old King of Wands stood on the doorstep, horrified. The door had a big, gaudy wreath of mistletoe and holly, and it was sprinkled with snow. It looked perfectly charming, and Harry was devastated. He was really staying here for three weeks? Ouch.

"NO. No, please, oh please oh God no, this is a joke, right? Please, this is a joke…anyone? Joking?"

There was silence. Standing around him almost unrecognizable under piles of luggage were the other seven – Ron, Hermione, Lindsey, Ginny, Draco, Rose and Aurora. They all looked at him questioningly.

Professor Dumbledore shook his white-haired head with finality. "No, Harry. I said you would be staying somewhere without magic, and here you are."

The door creaked open, and for a brief moment, Harry hated Dumbledore.

Petunia and Vernon Dursley opened the door. They noticed Dumbledore standing there, and Petunia cleared her throat.

"Well?" she said sharply. "Are you all going to stand there, or come inside?"

&*&*&

A/N

Hey wow I know, I actually updated. Hmm. So here we are! The Dursleys. Ooooh, I can't wait for you guys to hear what I have planned next….you're going to be surprised, that's all I'm saying.

Lotsa love to Perry, Aleana, star estrella and Gina. You guys rock!

Everyone else, review please? Feedback is sooooo good. Makes me WANT to write.

Oh, did you know? Holidays are coming up. Finally, I'm done with exams and can write some more.

PS does anyone know of a good quality, longish Roswell/Buffy crossover? I'm considering starting to write one, and I want to read some more to get into character. Help me out please!

MANY thanks, RoseRiddle