Hey folks, once again I apologize for the extremely long wait in-between chapters. School has been horrible, but I'm done in a month, which means I can go back to updating regularly! I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

And since I've had so many questions about it, the title of my story does come from one of the best ever Buffy episodes, Once More With Feeling.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Becoming

Over the next week, Harry's time was split between Grimmauld Place and St. Mungo's. Ron was well on his way to a full recovery, and was not showing any ill effects from the sacrificial spell he and Hermione had performed on him. Harry had a feeling the Healer put in charge of Ron knew that some sort of healing spell had been used on him previous to his arrival at the wizarding hospital but no one had confirmed that.

Moody had stopped asking questions and Harry did not understand why, until Lupin asked to speak with him. He and Ron had been engaged in a game of chess, one which Harry was inevitably going to lose when Lupin walked in.

"How are you feeling, Ron?" Their old professor asked him.

"Bored out of my bloody mind," he said with a scowl. "I don't know how much more I can take of those Healers poking their noses around me every few hours. They're supposed to come around soon to let me know if I can get out of here today."

Lupin chuckled. "With that attitude, I don't think they'll disappoint you." Then, his expression becoming much more somber he said, "Harry, can I see you for a moment?"

Harry, who was silently surprised that Lupin had even spoken to him, nodded his head. He had not seen much of Lupin since their encounter on his first day back. Even when he was around, they did not speak much.

"I bet you planned this," said Ron as Harry stood up. "You didn't want to suffer another humiliating loss to me."

Harry shot him a conspirator grin, even though he had nothing to do with Lupin dropping by. "I'll beat you when I come back."

Ron gave a dramatic roll of his eyes, and Harry followed Lupin out of the room.

"What's going on?" Harry asked him when they were in the hallway.

"Let's walk," said Lupin.

Extremely curious now, Harry fell in to step beside Lupin and they walked in silence. Whatever it was, it sounded serious. He wondered if it was possible to be in more trouble then he already was. Maybe Lupin was here to tell him he had been expelled. Though how that could have happened when he and Hermione hadn't even hadn't even had their hearing yet made it unlikely.

He realized after a bit that Lupin was leading him towards the same garden area he had walked with Ginny some days ago. It wasn't a real garden. It was created inside the hospital to resemble one. All the plants and insects were real, but the atmosphere and dome were created entirely by magic. The weather would vary slightly, often resembling a bright sunny day or some light cloud coverage. Today, there were a few scattered clouds and a light, cool breeze. The less critical patients were down there with their visitors, or simply enjoying on their own the closest thing the hospital offered to fresh air.

Lupin indicated to an empty bench and they sat down at it.

"Moody's been very interested in how you escaped from the Malfoy mansion," he began. "Dumbledore thinks maybe it's a good idea to test you for any sort of telekinetic or other mind powers."

"Whatever happened was a fluke," Harry insisted. "I hadn't done anything before that and I haven't done anything since then."

"Harry, I've been doing some reading on the subject, mind you there's not a lot on being able to move or do things simply with the power of one's mind. There's only been three telekinetic wizards in the last hundred years. In the two cases I've read about, the gift is inherent almost right from birth."

"Well then that's not me," said Harry instantly.

"It's different with you Harry. The other two wizards didn't battle a dark wizard when they were just a baby."

"Hang on, you said there were three."

"The third one has somewhat limited abilities. It's Voldemort, Harry," Lupin said, watching the expression on the young man's face change. "I know Dumbledore's told you before that Voldemort must have transferred some of his powers to you when you were a baby. That could explain why it's taken this long to show up in you. Your powers may even be even be extremely limited. It took a situation of extreme peril and danger just to bring them out. As you already know, Voldemort is quite skilled at Legilimency. There have also been accounts of him extracting thoughts from his followers at will or projecting his own thoughts into their minds to make them suffer when they have failed him. You, yourself saw Sirius in danger because Voldemort projected that situation into your mind. He's not exactly a telepath Harry, but he can tell when someone is lying and possibly read a mind when it is at its most vulnerable. Those were all reasons Dumbledore had you start Occlumency in the first place, but you may be well beyond that now."

"What if that one time was just an accident?"

"That's still a possibility," Lupin conceded. "There are witches and wizards who have done some extraordinary things under similar circumstances. But I do not believe that is the case with you. Have you been having headaches?"

Harry wasn't sure what he was getting at, but he nodded his head.

"It's being caused by the over activity in your brain. If it were a one-time occurrence you wouldn't have the headaches. Now that you've uncovered this hidden potential, your brain is changing ever so slightly to allow for it to happen again, and then eventually on a continual basis."

Harry wasn't even sure why any of this was coming as a surprise to him. He had already inherited Voldemort's ability to talk to snakes, so why should this be any different?

"What's this test you want me to take?"

"It's a simple procedure. They can do it right here at St. Mungo's. They have special techniques for determining if a person possesses any sort of mind powers beyond the norm. I know this is a lot to take in, but the sooner we find out the extent of your abilities the sooner you can begin training to help stop them from interfering with your normal every day life."

Harry didn't think the word 'normal' accurately described his life, but Lupin seemed to think this was the best way to handle what was happening to him.

"All right," he said after a moment's consideration. "I'll do it."

"I know some of the Healers here personally. I'll talk to them about getting this done as soon as possible." He clasped Harry on the shoulder before standing up. "I know I was quite hard on you and Hermione about the sacrificial spell, and part of the reason was because I was a day away from a full moon. I sometimes have trouble controlling my emotions so close to one. But partly it was because you needed to understand the seriousness of what you'd done. I know how close you, Ron, and Hermione are, but there are limits, Harry."

Then he left Harry there, alone in the garden and with his thoughts.

When Ginny volunteered to find Harry, she did it more than anything to get away from her brother. She loved Ron, but he was really starting to drive her mad. She was amazed at how Hermione could put up with him most of the time. She didn't fancy St. Mungo's anymore than he did, and she figured the Healers had probably already had more than enough of him and that was why they were at last releasing him.

She did not have a whole lot of time to look for Harry either. He could be on any one of the five floors and she might not find him before it came time for her to leave.

Strangely enough, it didn't take that long. She spotted him at the other end of the hall heading in her direction. She had a feeling he was distracted because he didn't take notice of her until their paths finally crossed.

"Where have you been?" She asked.

"Around. I must have lost track of the time."

She was certain now that he was distracted. He looked to be in some discomfort as well. He was rubbing his forehead and squinting.

"Are you okay? You don't look too good," she observed.

"I'm fine. It's just a headache," he told her.

She didn't mention the fact that he seemed to be having headaches all the time now. "The Healers said Ron could go home. Mum's just signing the release forms and then he can leave."

A genuine smile formed on his face and he stopped rubbing his forehead. "That's great news."

"Yeah, it is," she said. "Well, I should probably say good bye," she said after a moment. When Harry gave her a confused look, she said, "Professor McGonagall has already let me stay longer then she should have. If I miss any more lessons Fred and George combined will have more OWLs than me."

"You'll be fine," he said confidently.

"I think I'm going to hold you to that."

She didn't know why it was so awkward to say good-bye to him. They hadn't spoken about what had happened out on the Quidditch pitch before the Death Eaters had attacked, and she had quickly realized it was for the best. Harry already had far too much going on in his life and she was with Dean. There was no point in letting something what was so obviously a mistake ruin a perfectly good friendship. A friendship that had taken five long years to build. That's what she was thinking as she leaned forward to hug him good-bye.

"In case I didn't say so before," she said, still in the embrace, "I'm glad you're okay." She let go of him. "I'll see you back at Hogwarts."

After she was gone, Harry didn't waste any time before heading to Ron's room. He was feeling quite rattled and uncomfortable after coming out of the testing room he had been in for the last hour. Lupin had not been lying when he said he knew some of the Healers there. They had been more than willing to fit him in right away since there were no other appointments scheduled until late in the afternoon. He had been forced to drink a variety of different potions, but not once had they asked him to move something with his mind. He had felt fine going into the testing but his head was positively throbbing now. He had felt slightly better upon seeing Ginny, but his headache had returned in full force again once she had left.

When he reached Ron's room, the door was open and there were a handful of people inside. Lupin, and Moody stood on one side of the bed, while Hermione and Tonks were on the other. Ron was fully dressed and sitting on the unmade bed.

Ron noticed him enter the room first. "Mate, where have you been? Did Ginny find you?"

"Yeah, she told me you were being released."

"About bloody time too."

Mrs. Weasley walked in to the room after Ron's last comment, looking happier then Harry had seen her in quite some time. "All the forms have been taken care of. We can be on our way as soon as you're ready," she told her son.

In his excitement, Ron leapt from the bed and immediately winced in pain.

"You're supposed to take it easy," Mrs. Weasley scolded, coming around to see if he was all right. "The Healers said it will take some time for the injury to heal completely."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Ron, hoping she would stop mothering him in front of a roomful of people. "Can we go now?"

Mrs. Weasley shared a look with Lupin. "First we need to discuss temporary living arrangements until you go back to Hogwarts."

Lupin took that as his cue to speak. "If Lucius Malfoy knew there was an Order of the Phoenix, then Voldemort may know more than we think he does. Until we find out how much he knows about the Order, Phoenix headquarters may not be not be as safe as it once was."

"So where are we going to stay in the meantime?" Hermione asked.

"My parents had a summer home out in the country," began Lupin. "It was very well-protected to keep out any unwanted visitors. We used it to get away from our gawking neighbours in the summertime."

"Your stuff is already there," Tonks spoke up. "Mad-Eye even set up a few extra defense charms around the house."

Harry, who was not really that fond of Number 12 Grimmauld Place to begin with, liked the idea that he would be able to spend the remainder of his days away from Hogwarts, no matter how few they might be, at Lupin's old summer home. That meant Lupin would likely be around a lot more, and would be able to help him work through whatever these changes were that were happening in his head – unless the test results said otherwise.

"We're leaving here in two groups," Moody said, dragging Harry away from his thoughts. "I'll go with these three," he said, indicating to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We'll follow the map Lupin gave me and meet you there."

The three teenagers exchanged knowing looks. Moody wanted to keep a close eye on them, that much was obvious. What kind of trouble he thought they would get up to between St. Mungo's and the Lupin family summer home, was beyond Harry.

Moody left the room first and the trio followed after him, all too aware of the fact that his magical eye would swivel around every once in a while to make sure they were still behind him.