A somewhat morbid authors note …

On this day, eight years past, my grandmother passed from life into Death. On this day, eight years later, we scattered her ashes to the four elements. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Let her find peace and joy eternal in the life beyond Death.

I believe that she would have wanted to see me come into my own as a writer, and in her honour, I upload this chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it, as I am sure she would have, should she have lived to see this day.

Shines A Light

Chapter Eight: Flying

The days began to pass rather quickly after the first one, falling into a numbing routine of classes, homework, study for exams, eating and sleeping … and for Harry, finding time to do his back exercises several times a day, and attend Tatsu and Neko's two evening classes in self defence. He was getting better at moving, though still far from where he wanted to be.

September passed into October, and Ron called the Quidditch trials. He invited Harry to attend and help him chose the candidates for the team, but Harry denied. He didn't want to watch other people fly when he couldn't himself. It was depressing.

"I will take you flying if you wish it, brother," Grypis offered as Ron shook his head and walked away, not appearing to understand Harry in the least. Harry didn't mind too much about Ron, but he was still feeling left out.

"Thank you. I would enjoy that," Harry replied.

"Come with me then, we'd better go out onto the roof if I am to take off with the additional weight, and we would not want anyone to see. Griffins are rare, and it would be a shame to have the Ministry crawling all over Hogwarts searching for one," Grypis told Harry, who nodded calmly, and they left the common room together, finding a place where they could get onto a roof easily.

Harry cast illusion charms on the both of them and Grypis changed into his true form so that no one who saw them would know what they were seeing, and then Harry scrambled up onto Grypis's back, settling a little uncomfortably just behind Grypis's wings.

"You are not comfortable now, but you will soon yet used to it," Grypis assured him, "You will simply need to ride fairly often for awhile, and it will feel as natural as flying on a broom to you."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind. Riding Buckbeak wasn't too bad, four years back, I'm sure I can get used to riding you."

Suddenly, almost without warning, Grypis bounded forward off the edge of the roof and into open air, huge wings catching the air and sweeping down to send them aloft. Harry clung tightly to Grypis as they flew, circling over the Forbidden Forest.

Harry glanced down at the Quidditch pitch for a moment, seeing that there were several people there, flying around. He didn't care about them any more – he was flying with Grypis, and it was amazing.

"Enjoying yourself?" Grypis asked.

"Yes!" Harry replied.

"Good," Grypis said, and Harry could hear the smile in his voice. They flew on for a little while, and then Grypis turned back toward the castle. "I have enjoyed flying," the griffin told Harry, "But I am unaccustomed to the extra weight, as we fly more, I will be able to fly for longer."

"That's ok," Harry replied calmly as they landed. He slipped from Grypis's back and the griffin changed into a cat.

"Now you get to carry me," Grypis informed Harry, who laughed and picked him up, carrying him back up to the Gryffindor common room to do the homework that Tonks had assigned, which was to research one of the curses that she'd taught them since school returned. Over the course of the previous year, Tonks had slowly gotten used to the idea of giving the students homework, and although she was still one of the more easy-going teachers – she never gave them a minimum amount of parchment, for example – she was getting worse, in the students eyes.

Hermione was there as well, seemingly waiting for Harry, "Where have you been?" Hermione asked.

"Around, looking for Grypis," Harry replied, setting the griffin-turned-cat on the ground and sitting beside Hermione.

"Ron's out on the Quidditch pitch, trying to pick the new team," Hermione remarked.

"I know, he asked if I wanted to go and help," Harry replied, "I declined the invitation."

Hermione nodded. She was unsure as to how Harry felt when it came to flying and his inability to do so. She knew that he wanted to fly, but she wasn't sure if he was angry when Ron rubbed it in his face that he could fly when Harry couldn't. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure that Ron was aware of what he was doing. It would be just like him.

"Have you done the homework for Tonks?" Harry asked.

"I was just about to get started," Hermione replied, "I saw the Defence Against the Dark Arts book that you've been reading – can I borrow it when you're done? The library doesn't have it yet."

"Sure," Harry replied, "I've read through it already, but now I'm going through again and selecting what I want to teach to the DA."

Hermione nodded, "I can wait," she replied calmly, "But it does look interesting."

"It is," Harry assured her, "There are some pretty interesting new spells that I haven't heard of before in it … I'm thinking of taking those to Tonks and seeing what she thinks of them before I go so far as to try them myself."

"Good idea," Hermione replied, "You'd want to know exactly what could go wrong with them, because most people do get spells wrong when they first try them."

Together they settled down to do their homework, while Grypis settled on Harry's lap, purring contentedly. Ron came in hours later, along with the group of hopefuls who'd gone to try out for the Quidditch team.

"Well, we have a team," Ron said, sitting down next to Harry happily. "Ginny took over Seeker again, because she was the only one who was remotely good at it, and we filled the rest of the places as well."

"Good to hear," Harry said, trying to sound enthusiastic for Ron's benefit, but not sure if he even came close to pulling it off. This was almost as bad as fifth year, when he'd been banned from Quidditch – but at least then he'd known he had the ability to fly. Now the only thing that was standing in the way of him and flying was his own injury.

"That homework for Tonks needs to be done," Hermione remarked to Ron.

"It's not due in for another week," Ron protested. Tonks had only given them the homework that morning.

"So?" Hermione demanded calmly, "You've got other assignments that you have to do, and now that the Quidditch team will be practicing, and you're going to two of Tatsu's classes and one of Neko's, you don't have much time. The teachers are giving us more and more work, and you'll get swamped down if you don't get things done as soon as you can."

"But," Ron protested.

"She's right Ron. You still have that Charms assignment too, and that was given to you nearly a week ago," Harry pointed out, "It's due in the day after tomorrow."

"Dammit!" Ron cried, "I'd forgotten all about that!"

"Go and get it," Hermione instructed him, a dangerous note to her voice, she was getting rather annoyed at Ron's less than enthusiastic response to his class work. In her opinion, it had been going alright until the Twins got to him over summer and pretty much destroyed all the work that Hermione had done to get Ron into the habit of studying over the course of their sixth year.

Ron hurried to do so – with the assignment due in so soon, he had no choice, really. When he came back down, Harry was already nearly finished his own assignment, and Hermione had completed hers and was reading through it.

She stood over Ron while the other boy got his things out and got to work. "You aren't going to dinner until you've finished that thing, and if it isn't done well, you aren't going to bed until I'm happy with it," she warned Ron, who grumbled.

"I'm going to go and find Tatsu and Neko," Harry said, and Hermione nodded absently. Harry took his assignment and the Defence book with him, figuring that since Tonks' office was near to Tatsu and Neko's, he might as well visit her, drop off the assignment and ask her advice at the same time.

"Wotcha Harry," Tonks greeted him when Harry knocked on the door and pocked his head inside. "Come on in."

Harry pushed the door fully open and came inside. Tonks' office was the epitome of disaster, papers scattered all over the floor, some personal belongings stacked haphazardly on shelves that were groaning under the weight of dusty volumes.

Tonks was standing in the middle of the room, looking around with a bemused expression on her face. "What's wrong?" Harry asked her, picking his way delicately across the room to stand beside her, trying not to step on the papers all over the floor.

"I was trying a new a spell and the bloody thing went and sent all of the paper work over the floor," she replied, "Now I'm trying to find all of the assignments that I was marking for my third years – they're around here somewhere."

Harry sighed, "Want a hand reorganising things?" he asked.

Tonks gave him a look, "Who said they were organised in the first place?" she asked.

"OK, would you like help in organising things?" Harry smiled.

"That would be appreciated," Tonks replied. "You know what I'm like when it comes to organization."

"All too well," Harry replied with a smile. "Accio parchment," he said, waving his wand. All of the parchment leapt off the floor and onto Tonks' desk, all of it was neatly piled in a single towering stack in the middle of the desk.

Tonks eyed it nervously.

"It's not organised yet, but at least it's all in one place," Harry remarked to Tonks, "Now we can break the piles into smaller ones and get to organising them."

Tonks brightened at that, "You'll help with that too?" she asked.

"Yes," Harry assured her. "You know, there are drawer in this desk for a reason, Tonks," he added, walking behind the desk. Tonks followed him.

"Oh yeah, I know," she said brightly, "I just haven't gotten around to putting things in them yet. I'll get there."

Harry sighed. "Why don't we name the seven drawers down this side of the desk 'First year through to seventh year?" he suggested. "Then you can put the assignments they give you in the drawers, and you'll know where they are."

"There's an idea," Tonks muttered thoughtfully, "You know Harry, I just might do that!"

Harry laughed, and together they used spells to magically write the words on the front of the drawer, so that Tonks could find them easily. Then they started going through the stack of papers on the desk. Some of them were letters, which Tonks put in the drawers on the other side of her desk.

It had long since gone dark by the time that Harry finished there, and Tonks thanked him profusely, because the desk was now completely organised, and she was back to marking her essays. Harry left his own with her, but took the Defence book with him again, figuring that he could come back and ask her for help later on, when she was in a bit of a better state of mind and organisation.

Harry walked around a corner and pushed open the door to Tatsu and Neko's office without knocking. Over the weeks since school had returned, they had all become used to Harry's comings and goings.

Inside was a third year boy, chubby and lazy looking, in Harry's estimation. He was talking with Tatsu and looking rather angry, though Tatsu remained calm and collected. The boy stopped talking when Harry walked into the room, and it took Harry a moment to place him.

The boy had joined DA for a little while at the beginning of the previous year, but had dropped out almost immediately, not having the stamina nor the inclination to keep up with the work. Harry had heard him telling his friends that he already knew most of what Harry had to teach him. He was a braggart, and someone who was attracted to fighting, but without the self control to learn properly.

"Am I interrupting?" Harry enquired politely of Tatsu, ignoring the boy. Tatsu's student visitors were no business of his. "I can come back later."

"Neko is in the kitchen making green tea," Tatsu replied, "Join her, if you wish. I will be done in a little while and will join you then."

Harry nodded, and walked past Tatsu to push open the door set in the side wall. Behind that door were the living quarters of the two professors. They had demanded to have a room with a kitchen, meaning no offence to the house elves, but Neko enjoyed cooking, and she preferred to make her own green tea.

"He is still talking to the boy?" Neko asked when she saw Harry.

Harry nodded, "Is he in Tatsu's class?" he asked.

"Yes," Neko said, "Why, do you not know him?"

"Only a little. He joined DA for a time, but left soon after, lacking the self discipline to continue and learn properly," Harry replied. He knew that, as a teacher, Neko would want to know exactly what Harry knew of the boy, even if it wasn't particularly polite.

Neko merely inclined her head, "That certainly rings true with what I know of him," she remarked. "Which is very little, Tatsu knows more, and does not like what he knows."

"Is he in Tatsu's third year class?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately," Tatsu said, pushing the door open, with a very weary look on his face. "He has been trying to tell me that my teaching is flawed, because he is not learning anything from me. I felt obliged to inform him that everyone else is learning perfectly well, and suggested that perhaps the problem lay with him."

"I take it he didn't like that," Harry remarked, smiling a little.

"He did not like it at all. Told me he would get his father to talk to the school on his behalf. I told him he could speak with his father all he wanted, it would come to nothing," Tatsu said, sounding rather disgusted.

Harry outright laughed, "Quite right," he said, "McGonagall isn't about to fire you on the recommendation of one third year boy's parents, and the Minister of Magic herself knows who you are and approves of your teaching methods. If it comes to court, which it shouldn't, I'll give evidence."

Tatsu smiled, "My thanks for the offer," he replied, "As you said, it should not be necessary, but it is good to know I have your support, just in case."

"Green tea?" Neko enquired, offering Tatsu a cup, which he accepted with an expression of such thankfulness that both Harry and Neko had to smile. Harry accepted his own cup, for a little while they were all silent while they drank their tea.

"Do you want to run through your exercises? I think I may have some more for you to do now," Tatsu offered.

Harry nodded. He was in the process of modifying his entire routine of exercises to make them more challenging to try and push his body to the limits, and from there get better.

When he returned to the Gryffindor tower far later that night, Harry was completely exhausted, and his back hurt a lot, but he wore a smile on his face. He was improving, slowly yes, but steadily also.

"Where have you been? I was getting worried," Hermione said when Harry came through the portrait hole.

"Tonks tried a new spell and it blew her papers all over the office floor," Harry replied, "I helped her tidy up, and then went to visit Tatsu and Neko to go over my routine of exercises and change them to make them more challenging."

"Do you really want them more challenging?" Hermione asked doubtfully, "They hurt, don't they?"

"You've been going to Tatsu's classes for over a month, Hermione," Harry pointed out, "You should know by now that you have to push yourself to the very limits, continuously, if you are going to make any great improvements. I'm determined to overcome my disabilities as quickly as possible so that I can get back to my normal life."

Hermione nodded with a sigh, "I just hate to you in pain," she told him. "You've been through a lot, and it's not fair that you have to go through even more."

Harry shrugged, "Life isn't fair. I've learned to live with that," he replied, "It's something I've accepted, and now I have to make the best of what I have. Did Ron finish his homework?"

"He finished the Charms, but it still needs more work," Hermione replied, "He disappeared after dinner, rather than come back here where he knew I'd make him go over it again."

"If he doesn't want to do his homework, you shouldn't make him, Hermione," Harry told her, "He needs to learn it on his own."

"But he could fail his NEWTs," Hermione said, "I couldn't let him do that!"

"He has to learn on his own to find a balance," Harry replied. "Let him go for a couple of weeks and let him learn to do his own work. If he doesn't pick it up, then start nagging him again."

Hermione hesitated, then nodded. "I suppose you're right," she admitted. "I just don't want to see him fail."

"Neither do I. But it won't help him in later life he doesn't do anything unless he's nagged to do it," Harry told her calmly, "It's hard, but sometimes you just have to step back and let things run their course."

Hermione nodded. "Right," she said.

"I'm going up to bed, my back hurts like hell," Harry said, rubbing the small of his back with a grimace. "But at least if it's hurting, I know something is happening. When it stops hurting, I've become complacent."

Hermione gave him a worried glance, "Well, you take care. You don't want to make it worse."

"I know," Harry replied. "I'll see you in the morning."

Thanks to:

JeanieBeanie, Ezmerelda, shadowmonk, Emma Barrows, TuxedoMac, uNoeWho, FreedomStar, Kordolin, Dumbeldave, lyss33, hpfanchrissy1502, Katesari, cantfindagoodname, murdrax.

WolfMoon