Shines A Light
Chapter Three: A Lesson Worth Teaching
The knowledge that he would soon see his friends again was pretty much all that kept Harry going through the rest of that week. His days were dreadful, a continual round of back exercises, specially designed to improve his back, and the occasional walk around the neighbourhood, which was ruined by the fact that Dudley's old gang was apparently trying to haunt him.
The moment he walked out of his house, they were near by, watching, sneering and making threatening gestures. However, Neko noticed this immediately, and either she or Tatsu now seemed to always come with Harry when he decided to go out on walks, and the group of obnoxious teenagers seemed to decide that it wasn't worth it.
"You alright?" Neko asked on the morning that they were due to leave to Grimmauld Place. "You look a little tired."
Harry hadn't been able to sleep the night before, though he wasn't sure why ... he had been tired, definitely, but unable to sleep. He and Grypis had stayed up the whole night talking of this and that.
"I didn't sleep well," he replied. He was annoyed about that, because he was becoming ever more aware that the nights he spent with Sirius were ever more numbered. He enjoyed the night time talks he had with Sirius, and he did not look forward to the time when they would cease – much as he enjoyed spending time with Tatsu, the other man would never be able to take Sirius's place in Harry's life, and Harry didn't think that Tatsu would ever knowingly try.
Neko simply nodded slightly. "Ready to go?" she asked him.
"I think I am," Harry replied.
"Good, because we'll have to leave fairly soon," Tatsu said, bounding into the room with more energy than Harry was prepared to think about at present. Tatsu had evidently been out for a morning run, something Harry rarely did these days, because running made his back hurt, and he didn't want to overstrain himself until he was fully recovered.
"I'll go and pack enough clothes to last a few days, just in case we end up staying for longer than we expect," Harry said.
"A wise idea," Tatsu agreed. "I would suggest that you also bring your Katana, which you may wish to have with you."
Harry nodded. If Tatsu said he might need something, odds were he would. He wasn't sure why he would need the Katana though – it sounded as if Neko would be restarting her lessons with him in regard to its use, though with his back hurting, he wasn't sure how he well he would do in those lessons.
Going upstairs, Harry found a bag and magically charmed his clothes within it, folding them neatly and using the space in the best way possible. Shoes, clothes, training clothes and Katana all found their way within his bag, and he was soon ready to go.
Grypis, now in cat form and so much smaller than his real form, stretched languidly on the bed, then jumped to the floor and followed Harry back downstairs.
"I wish that I could keep to my true form," Grypis remarked darkly. "I have come to enjoy spending time in it, and now we have to go where there are other people, and I will have to remain in this form most of the time."
"Not necessarily," Harry consoled his friend, "You can keep to my room, if you wish, and keep your real form there ... besides, a lot of the Order members know you for what you are."
"Yes, but they will expect things of me, and they will probably spend most of their time staring me, should I be in my real form," Grypis grumbled in reply. "I may leave you, for a time, and seek out others of my kind in the wild ... I do not yet know."
Harry nodded. He was not Grypis's keeper, and would not try to keep the other with him, though he would not pretend that, should Grypis stay true to his word and leave, he would not miss the creature.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"No," Grypis replied, "Let's go." Harry smiled faintly, and the pair of them left the room and went downstairs to find Tatsu and Neko ready and waiting for them in the kitchen.
"You'll have to do your exercises later," Tatsu told Harry, "You still have to do them, for however long it is that we are at Grimmauld Place, so don't think you get a break."
"I know," Harry replied, "I have to keep doing my exercises until I'm fit again, and then it won't hurt so much anyway."
Tatsu nodded. "Let's go then," he said. "You use your ring, we've been given a Portkey."
Harry nodded. "Take me to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," he said clearly, holding tightly to his trunk as Grypis dug his cat-claws into Harry's shoulder.
A moment later, Harry was standing in front of the door to Grimmauld Place – he realised that he hadn't asked to be inside the house, and stored that information away in his mind so he would remember it the next time he used the ring.
He pushed the front door open and walked inside, dragging his trunk along with him. "Harry!" Ron and Hermione saw him and bounded over to greet him. They had been waiting in the hall because they weren't sure where Harry would be arriving.
Harry held up a hand to stop Hermione before she could hug him. "My back still hurts," he told her, so she gripped his hand in greeting instead, and Ron followed suit.
"How's your summer been?" Ron asked him.
Harry shrugged. "Alright," he replied. "Tatsu's making me do loads of exercises, and most of them hurt a lot ... but it's good for me, so I don't mind too much. Dudley's old gang is trying to make my life hell, so I hardly ever to outside these days, and if I do, Neko or Tatsu comes with me to make sure I don't get hurt."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Hermione asked.
"It's a far cry from last year, when I knew that I could go wherever I wanted and never be in any danger, even if I was alone," Harry replied. "I miss the knowledge of my own strength."
"It'll come back," Neko came out of the kitchen with Tatsu and smiled gently at Harry. "Don't worry about that."
"I'm not worried, exactly," Harry replied, "I know it will come back, but right now I just miss it."
Neko just smiled. "Why don't you three go and catch up?" she suggested. "Tatsu is going to introduce me to everyone I don't know already, and I'm sure you don't particularly want to keep us company."
Happy enough to spend some time together, Harry, Ron, and Hermione wandered upstairs, Harry asking Ron and Hermione for details on everything that had happened to them over the summer.
"Have you heard from Lily yet?" Harry asked.
"No, not yet," Hermione replied, "But then, maybe she can't get to an owl or something."
Harry nodded slightly in agreement. "It's a pity she won't be with us at school next year," he remarked, "She was a great friend last year, that was for sure."
"Yeah," Hermione agreed, and Ron nodded. "But she's gone now, back to her own home ... I guess we'll just have to go on with just the three of us again."
"Guess so," Harry agreed, "Bit of a pity really, I'd gotten used to having other people around... but we were friends first, and it'll also be nice to be getting back to just us."
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "So ..."
Harry sighed. This was uncomfortable, meeting up with his friends again, even after only a couple of weeks, but so much had changed recently, it was hard to know what to talk about. They'd hardly had a chance to talk after Harry had hurt his back, that was for sure. "Well, what about you guys? How's your summer been?"
"Alright," Hermione replied, blandly. "The Order has been meeting a lot, but, as usual, they haven't been telling us anything about what goes on. Fred and George have been sworn to secrecy, using spells, to make sure they don't say anything."
"It's really annoying," Ron put in, "Knowing that there must be loads of really important decisions being made down there, and us stuck up here without knowing what's going on, at all!"
"Sounds like it," Harry agreed sympathetically. He knew that if anything important happened, Tatsu would tell him about it. So far, with the Order meetings this summer, Tatsu had told him that they were mainly considering how to block the Dark Lord's attacks, with limited success. It was also easier not being present while those meetings were being held. "Hows Ginny been holding up?"
"Oh, she's doing alright," Ron replied. "She's a bit upset though, it turns out she was dating one of the boys from Beauxbatons, and now he's gone back to France, so she won't see him again for ages. And she never even told me!"
"Her love life is her own concern," Harry told his friend, smiling slightly. All of the Weasley children were more than a little overprotective of their younger sister, the only girl in the family.
"Still!" Ron huffed.
Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes at one another – typical Ron, not seeing the reasoning behind his sister's movements. Obviously if Ginny had told Ron that she was dating someone from another school, Ron would have blown his top off, and tried to forbid Ginny from seeing the boy, or maybe go and try to hurt the boy in question.
"Hermione, how's the homework been going?" He asked, diverting from the last topic that he'd brought up, since it didn't seem to be the most appropriate one, what with Ron looking like he was going to blow up at any moment.
"Oh, alright," Hermione replied. "I've got a really exciting assignment from Professor Vector in Ancient Runes, so I'm doing all sorts of back-ground research to find out more about it! It's really enjoyable!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "I've been spending most of my time flying with Ginny, and Fred and George when they aren't in their shop," he put in. "We have plenty of time to do our homework, after all."
Hermione sighed, "That's what you say every summer, Ron," she told him, "And in the last two weeks you end up in a frantic rush to get everything done on time. How about you Harry, have you done much of your homework?"
"No, I've been trying to get my back in order again," Harry replied. "I've hardly had time to do much else other than exercise and sleep. My back hurts a lot after exercises, so I usually go to sleep it off, or go for a walk and sleep when I come back, to make sure I don't get all stiff."
Hermione's features softened, and she didn't even look like she was considering giving him a lecture on not doing his homework – then again, unlike Ron, Harry actually had a good reason for not doing anything yet.
"Hey, maybe I should break my back and see if that gets me out of doing homework for the summer," Ron remarked, a slightly hopeful expression on his face.
"Trust me Ron, you'd rather do your homework than be stuck with a recovering back," Harry told his friend, "Just think, you wouldn't be able to fly all summer, and possibly not next year either. I don't know when I'll be able to fly again, though I hope that it's soon enough."
Ron blanched at the thought of not being able to fly, then looked at Harry apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of that," he said quietly, and Harry shrugged.
"It's ok," he replied. "I don't mind too much. It's not like I've ever been able to fly in the summer that much before now anyway. I should be able to fly by Christmas though."
"But that means-"
"That I won't be able to play Quidditch this year," Harry finished for him. "Yeah, it does. But that's ok. I should be spending as much time as possible concentrating on recovering and on studies. Quidditch can wait until after school, I guess. I'll let someone else have a chance in the spotlight."
Ron's mouth worked, obviously completely amazed that Harry was accepting this all so easily – Quidditch had been Ron's life, even before he made the team, and it had been an escape for Harry through whatever else was going on, and now Harry was giving it up.
In truth, however, Harry had spent a lot of time thinking about it, and though he had shed a few tears at the prospect of not feeling the wind sweeping through his hair and the thrill of catching the Snitch and ending the game, he realised that Quidditch wasn't quite as important to him as it once had been. Voldemort was still out there, and Harry wanted to focus on learning enough to defeat the Dark Lord in battle.
Besides, Grypis had told him that once they returned to Hogwarts, he would take Harry flying on his own back, when Harry wouldn't be in any danger at all. Having ridden a hippogriff on a couple of occasions, Harry knew it to be very different from flying a broom, but at least he'd still be able to get up into the open air.
"Anyway, can we get away from topics that involve my back and the stuff that I can't do any more?" Harry asked quietly, getting sick of the looks of pity on his friend's faces. "I don't mind you talking about flying, Ron, but I'd like to spend our first day together this summer talking about stuff that isn't depressing."
Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement, and then started casting around to try and find something that wouldn't classify as depressing. Soon enough, they settled on discussing the changes that the new Minister of Magic had been making in the Magical world, and what impact they'd been having.
They did occasionally have to bring up Voldemort in these discussions, but in these times, that was, really, unavoidable. Finally the meeting downstairs ended, and Molly Weasley summoned them down for lunch.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly found Ginny at the kitchen table and sat down with her. She looked like she was moping, and Harry immediately deduced that she'd really felt something for the French boy she'd been dating.
"How's your summer been?" He asked her, more for politenesses sake than anything else – that, and because he wanted to get the depressed expression off her face.
Ginny shrugged, "Not too good. You?" she replied.
"Well, it's getting better now," Harry replied. "Seeing all of you guys again, and my back exercises aren't so painful any more."
Ginny started, obviously having forgotten that Harry was going through troubles this holiday as well. She smiled tremulously at him – "Sorry, I'd forgotten about your back. I'm just a little heart-sick. I'll get over it soon enough."
Harry nodded. "It'll pass," he agreed calmly, "I'm sure you'll find someone new, but in the meantime, try to dwell on the good times, not the fact that you might never see him again."
"At least we can still write to each other," Ginny said. "Phillipe has a really beautiful horned owl, so we've been using it to communicate since I don't have an owl yet ... it's working out alright," she added quickly, to show that she wasn't bitter about it, "But I think that Belle is getting tired – flying all the way to France and then back again can hardly be an easy journey."
Harry nodded in agreement. "I can only imagine. I'm glad I'm not an owl," he replied, as they all loaded their plates with food and settled down to eat. While they were eating, they didn't talk much, because they were all pretty hungry.
When they finished, however, they headed upstairs again, this time with Ginny in tow, and talked for a couple of hours more, on just about everything. Harry was glad to see that his friends were relaxing around him again, and not shooting him sympathetic glances when they thought he wasn't looking.
That night, once Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had all gone to bed, Harry went to Tatsu's room to do his exercises under Tatsu's watchful eye. Harry wasn't supposed to do any of the more strenuous exercises unless Tatsu was there to watch over him, just in case something went wrong.
Once he was finished with the exercises, he and Tatsu went out into the backyard of Grimmauld Place, which was as dingy as the house was, though finally beginning to grow some tracings of green and pretty flowers, under Molly Weasley's expert care.
"Anything of interest happen in the meeting?" Harry asked as they wondered in circles around small garden, enjoying the night air.
"Yes, actually. Something you'll be happy to hear about. Neko and I will be at Hogwarts all year next year," Tatsu replied.
"Really?" Harry asked, delighted. "That's great – but why all year? You got bored last year, not having anything to do. I wouldn't want you to get bored again, if you were just doing this to keep me company."
Tatsu laughed, "No, we aren't only coming to keep you company, though it's probably the main reason that we chose to accept Minerva's kind invitation. If you weren't going to be around, we wouldn't really want to consider it."
"And what was the invitation?" Harry asked, a little impatiently.
"Minerva has requested that I teach all the third year and up students, as an optional course, hand-to-hand combat, while Neko teaches the sixth and seventh year students how to use a Katana," Tatsu replied, smiling. "You can do both courses, if you want, though."
Harry gave a delighted, but quiet, whoop, mindful of those people who would already be asleep inside, and embraced Tatsu carefully, mindful that if he hugged Tatsu too strongly, he'd end up hurting himself.
"I thought you'd be happy," Tatsu smiled at his ward. "You are, of course, welcome to extra lessons out of ordinary classes."
Harry smiled. "This is great! Now loads of people will be able to fight without their wands. It's been one of my major concerns for some time now – what would happen when people got separated from their wands. For most people, these days, you may as well stand still and let your enemies kill you!"
Tatsu nodded, "Exactly," he replied. "So, at least you won't miss us next year."
Harry laughed, quietly. "No, I won't be missing you at all!" he agreed. "Well, as exciting as all this is," he yawned, "I'm really tired, so I think I'll head up to bed ... Can I tell Ron, Hermione, and Ginny tomorrow?"
"Of course," Tatsu replied. "No reason why you shouldn't, is there?"
"I was just making sure it wasn't one of the exclusive 'Order' secrets," Harry replied.
Well, there's chapter three done! And that's the second chapter that's been around at the three thousand words mark! I'm hoping to keep them all about this length, and have more happen in a chapter than I did last story – this isn't going to be another 91 chapter monster! Hopefully this year will pass in about half that many chapters ... although I haven't got anything much planned for the story so far – just that Voldemort will, obviously, have to die at the end of it. Thanks to Charmed88 for being a great beta and finding all of my mistakes! (There are many)
Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far. Since I just want to get this chapter uploaded, I'm not going to do a thanks section, but rest assured, all of your reviewss are appreciated!
WolfMoon