A/N: Well, at least one person thinks Deandra is a total Mary Sue! Fair enough. What about the rest of you? I tried to make her "human" and more of an "instigator" than one who solves the world's problems, but maybe that didn't happen... If not, sorry! I'll try to do better next time, if I write another HP story.

Chapter 14

I turned over and came face to face with Harry. As we were going to bed the night before he had whispered to me to meet him downstairs after Hermione was asleep. We had curled up on the couch and spent the night there, together. The couch was deep, but even so, the arm and leg he had thrown over me likely were to keep him from falling to the floor more than anything else, I thought ruefully.

Just then the portrait hole opened and Professor McGonagall swept in, coming to a disapproving halt at the sight of us entwined there. "Mr. Potter, Miss Alleyan, what do you think you are doing?" she demanded.

Harry barely stirred, so I nudged him hard to wake him, and he groggily opened his eyes. Professor McGonagall continued, "Sit up this instant!"

Not fully awake and aware of what was going on, Harry answered automatically, "Yes, ma'am." But still he didn't move and I couldn't really move until he did.

In exasperation, Professor McGonagall leaned over and smacked his arm sharply. "I said sit up!" she repeated. This time Harry moved to a sitting position and I scrambled to slide over next to him. Harry just sat there blinking at her, like he thought he was in the middle of a very surreal dream, while I struggled hard not to have a fit of the giggles at the whole affair.

McGonagall glared at the two of us and said, "At least pretend to be chagrined at the impropriety of your behavior!" But I would swear I caught a slight twinkle in her eyes. Finally she turned to me and said, "Professor Dumbledore will speak with you now. If you'll just come with me, please."

Harry looked at me, "What does Dumbledore want to see you for?"

"Because I asked to speak with him. You can come if you like."

After a moment, he shook his head. "No, I'll wait here for you." I nodded and rose to leave with McGonagall.

Once we were in the corridor, I felt I should attempt an explanation for Professor McGonagall about what she had seen, "Professor, we really weren't doing anything, even if it maybe looked that way. He hasn't talked about it, yet, but I think Harry is still trying to deal with what happened at Malfoy Manor. He can't seem to sleep unless I'm nearby and he can make physical contact with me. Only then does he relax."

She glanced sideways at me and then uncharacteristically put an arm around my shoulders. She took a breath and then said quietly, "Even so, such arrangements can be inherently dangerous. Do be careful."

We walked in silence down a staircase before I told her, "Maybe someday we can think about marriage and babies and happily-ever-afters, Professor, but right now we have another year and a half of school and Voldemort to contend with. Harry and I both are orphans because of Voldemort. The last thing we want to do is bring a child into this world and then possibly have to leave it to someone else's care." She only nodded in response, but gave my shoulders a squeeze.

We reached the stair entrance that led to Dumbledore's office, where she gave the password (mistletoe) and left me to ascend alone. For the third time I found myself in his office, and he was sitting behind his desk awaiting my arrival. He gave me a warm smile and waved me to a chair opposite him. "Miss Alleyan, what can I do for you today?"

I took a deep breath and plunged in, "There are two things I needed to talk to you about. Draco Malfoy and Remus Lupin."

He nodded, and clearly I had said nothing surprising. "Ah, yes, Mr. Malfoy. Continue."

I hesitated, but felt Draco wouldn't mind me sharing enough of his personal information with the headmaster so that his situation was properly understood. "He can't go home anymore. Not now. If any of the Death Eaters know or suspect what happened that night, he will be a target. His mother is, at best, disinterested. She never protected him from his father's abuse; she isn't going to protect him now."

He nodded sadly, "Your assessment would be accurate, Miss Alleyan. I am well aware of Draco's situation. The only question that ever existed was whether he would follow down his father's destructive path, or be able to choose a better course for himself. Apparently, with your help, he has begun the latter. Do not be concerned about him. If need be, I will make arrangements for him to stay at Hogwarts over the summer. I doubt Narcissa will fight to bring him home. By next year he will be of age and can then determine for himself what he will do."

I think I had hoped for a more concrete solution, but I trusted Dumbledore to make good on his word. I drew a deep breath and said, "That leaves Moon...Remus Lupin."

"What about him?" he asked, studying my face intently.

"Well, he's been living at the headquarters of your secret society. I may not know all the details of it, but I know that much. He won't be able to go back there, and he won't be able to get a job to support himself, and he'll need somewhere to go when he gets out of the hospital."

"And what do you propose," Dumbledore asked, obviously assuming that I had something in mind.

"Well, um...Harry told me about the Whomping Willow and the Shrieking Shack and Remus' history. Your secret society will need a new headquarters so why couldn't the Shrieking Shack be fixed up inside to accommodate that and to give him a home. Plus then he'd be nearby so I could make the Wolfsbane Potion for him when he needs it and he could see Harry regularly."

Dumbledore steepled his fingers and his eyes were lit with amusement. "I suppose," he said, "since you are now so inextricably involved, you should at least know as much as Harry and his friends do about our 'secret society'. But if you do not mind, I will defer that discussion for another time. As to your suggestion about the Shrieking Shack, I had been considering that possibility myself. Have you actually seen the inside of the Shack, Miss Alleyan?"

I shook my head and he continued, "I think you will find that it is barely habitable in its present state. It would take a considerable amount of effort to make it comfortable for someone to live there on an ongoing basis, and to be used for our headquarters." He hadn't asked a question, but I sensed there was one underlying his words.

"Then I'll do whatever I can to accomplish it. I'm sure the others will help. And maybe Professor McGonagall or you could help with the magic that exceeds our ability..."

Apparently I had hit the nail on the head with my answer, and he smiled with pleasure. "I will be happy to assist you in any way needed and see that you have the materials that you require for the task. Perhaps the remainder of the holiday will provide time to work on it."

I grinned, "We'll get right on it! Do we know how soon they will let Mo...Remus come home?"

He shook his head, "Not yet."

"Professor, if I may make one more request, could I perhaps go visit him again? I hate to think of him in the hospital without any visitors," I admitted.

He smiled, "I'll see what I can arrange, though I think perhaps it best if only you go. It would be too dangerous for Harry to accompany you."

I nodded, "I know. I suspected as much." We seemed to be finished so I rose and thanked him for taking the time to talk with me.

As I turned to go, he spoke again, "Miss Alleyan..." I looked back at him, curiously. "I would just like to say that I had some reservations about your coming to Hogwarts, particularly transferring in your final two years. But I must say you have brought far more to our school than I could ever have hoped, or dreamed. I see greater unity among the houses - well, at least the seeds of such have been sown. And you have strengthened and sustained Harry in ways his adult mentors could only hope to do. There are still very dark times ahead for us all, but especially for Harry. I am very glad he will not be facing them alone."

My face had flushed red as he began his comments, and I was left speechless by his words. I finally managed to squeak out, "Thank you, sir." He smiled at me again and bid me good day. I walked away feeling very glad to know we had him leading the way for us in those dark times to come.

When I returned to the common room, Harry was pretty much sitting exactly where I left him, staring blankly into the fire. I snuggled in beside him and told him, "It's almost 8:30. You want to go get something to eat?"

He ran a hand through his hair, messing it further, then fell over on the couch, pulling me with him. A moment later I heard his breathing slow and I knew he had gone back to sleep. Hermione came downstairs a short time later, but when she saw us she just smiled and went on to breakfast alone.

About an hour later, Harry began to stir. Ron came sauntering down the stairs and stopped at the sight of us, "So that's where you are."

As he continued into the room, I sat up and informed him, "Hermione's already gone down to breakfast. We should be down pretty soon."

Harry finally awoke enough to sit up as well and I gave him a good morning kiss. He wrapped his arms around me and just sat there holding me for quite a bit; I wasn't sure if it was due to sleepiness or something else. I kissed him again on the cheek and said, "Come on. Let's get showers and go eat."

Reluctantly he nodded and released me. We headed for the showers and a short time later had gone to join Ron and Hermione. Though they had finished eating, they were still seated, talking. As we entered the Great Hall, I noticed Dumbledore had promoted further house interaction by removing all the tables except for one that was shortened so it only roughly accommodated the number of students there over the holiday. I noted the Slytherins looked slightly more comfortable about the whole thing than they had the night before.

After we served ourselves, I told my three friends I would be needing their help later on a project. They looked at me curiously but I shook my head quickly to dissuade them from asking any questions just then. Suddenly a new thought occurred to me, and seeing that Dumbledore was now entering the Hall, I jumped up and went to intercept him.

"Miss Alleyan?" he asked as I approached.

"Professor, about our discussion earlier regarding Remus...I was just thinking that the present entrance is rather public to be having a lot of people coming and going..." He nodded his understanding and told me, "I'll take care of it. Come see me before you set out to do your part...after lunch." I indicated I understood and returned to my seat.

The other three looked at me quizzically but I merely told them, "Later."

After breakfast, we found a secluded corner of the common room so we could talk freely and I explained about the Shrieking Shack and what I had volunteered us to do. Just then Professor McGonagall entered and came over to us. "Miss Alleyan, the Headmaster has told me you would like to accompany me to visit Remus Lupin. Are you free to go now?" I nodded and stood.

Hermione rose as well and told me, "Give him our love, too." I smiled and indicated I would.

Professor McGonagall told me, "We'll travel by Floo powder so you won't be needing your cloak." I followed her to her office, where we set off for St. Mungo's.

When we arrived, Remus was sitting up in bed, looking much better than the last time I had seen him. He smiled weakly at us and welcomed, "Minerva, how good to see you. And my lovely daughter, too!"

Professor McGonagall started at that and looked at me in confusion. "I'll explain later," I told her with a grin.

Remus was mending well though he was still feeling weak from all the blood he had lost before help arrived. I passed along the get-well messages from the others and we chatted for a bit. I knew he was curious to know what was going on, so when the Healer had left and we had a bit of privacy, I explained briefly what had happened the night he was injured and the arrangements we were making for his new home. He smiled regretfully, "I didn't have many personal belongings but I'm afraid what little I did have remains at Grimmauld Place."

I had forgotten to mention my scavenging pass through the building before coming to see him, and I assured him that I had collected most, if not all, his possessions. Harry had brought them back to school with us when we left the Burrow.

We had a pleasant visit though he visibly tired after about half an hour, which Professor McGonagall noted and determined we should depart. I leaned over and gave him a gentle hug and kiss on the cheek, whispering, "If you're not home in a day or two, I'll try to come again." He smiled his gratitude as he lay back against his pillows and drifted off to sleep.

After my return, the four of us whiled away our time in the common room until lunch. Knowing we would be spending time on the headquarters renovation, we finished up our remaining homework to get it out of the way. Finally it was lunchtime and we headed downstairs.

Draco and Ginny were already seated, and Ron's eyes narrowed as he saw them sitting together. Clearly he wasn't keen on his sister spending time with Draco, but he knew if he tried to stop her it would only start a fight and make her more determined than ever to do it just to spite him.

When lunch was over, Dumbledore approached the four of us and asked us to please get our cloaks and meet him in the entrance hall. We hastened to do so and he led the way down toward Hagrid's hut. At first we thought that was our destination, but once there he continued on past it into the Forbidden Forest. We came to a small clearing not too far into the trees and he told us, "Here is a new entrance to the Shrieking Shack that will be hidden from view. As with the other headquarters we used, you will only be able to find the entrance if I have personally told you its location." Then, winking at me, he added, "And this headquarters will not admit owl post! I will instruct Remus to have his mail sent to me and I will pass it along to him."

He gave us directions on how to find the entrance and a moment later, a door was visible to our eyes. He said, "Let me know what assistance you may need in getting the place habitable. And Professor McGonagall will help as needed also." With that, he turned and left us and the four of us opened the door to the entrance.

There was a rough staircase that led down into the existing tunnel that ran between the Whomping Willow and the shack. We headed for the shack to see what needed doing. Once we arrived, it was obvious that cleaning was the first order of business. Hermione, ever ready for any occasion, produced a piece of parchment, quill and ink and began a list of chores. Ron, Harry and I began repairing broken furniture that looked to still be in decent condition. Hermione did some cleaning spells that took the worst of the dirt off and sealed the ceiling and walls to keep dirt out and heat in. The place immediately felt much warmer.

With Hermione's list, we returned to the school to gather supplies. I was tempted to draft the help of Draco and Ginny, but decided I'd best not provide Draco with any information until I had been given permission to do so. We could let Ginny know later what we were up to and she could help then. Hermione, who had learned how to enchant her knitting needles to knit caps for the house-elves during her efforts to free them, set the needles to work making an afghan for Remus' bed. She had some dark blue yarn on hand already, and we decided to ask for permission to visit Hogsmeade to pick up more.

Over the next few days, the place began to shape up into livable habitation, and we were pleased with our progress. We received news that Moony would be able to come home from the hospital the following day, so we gathered a supply of food for him and took his belongings down to his new room. Dumbledore had arranged for Hagrid's fireplace to be put on the Floo network temporarily so that Moony could Floo into there and not have so far to walk.

He was overwhelmed when we accompanied him into the building that had been so familiar to him but now looked completely different - clean and homey. I would swear I saw a tear in his eye, but he wiped it away surreptiously and I made no comment. Ginny had prepared a large pot of stew for him so he would only have to reheat some rather than fix meals for a few days. We promised to come by daily to check on him until he was completely back on his feet. I think he would have liked to visit with us longer, but getting to Hogwarts and then his new home had sapped all his reserve of energy. I could tell by his pallor that he needed to rest, so I announced our departure and shooed everyone out the door. Before I closed the door to his room, he called softly, "Deandra?" When I looked over at him he smiled his gratitude, "Thank you. You've truly treated me as a daughter would." I gave him a grin and followed my friends out.