A/N: You can blame…er, THANK LothirielofRohan for the new improved Chapter 16 you see before you since she "had issues" with the original version I sent her! Interrupted my "happy dance", she did! Made me go back to work! Cruel, cruel woman!

Anyway, here's the end of it, and in less than 10 days we will see JKR's version of Harry's 6th year. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and your support of my writing.

Chapter 16

"Er…hello," Harry said slowly, looking to Dumbledore for an explanation of Krum's presence.

"Please be seated," Dumbledore directed the new arrivals. Already gathered around the table were Emmaline Vance, Bill Weasley and Professor McGonagall.

Once they had sat down, the Headmaster continued, "For those of you who are not acquainted, this is Viktor Krum, formerly of Durmstrang School of Magic. Circumstances in his homeland have made it necessary for him to flee to a safer location, and I have opened Hogwarts to him. While technically he should have graduated by now, his activities playing Quidditch for the Bulgarian team and a different emphasis on what is taught by Durmstrang, have left him somewhat behind academically. He will, therefore, be joining us at Hogwarts in the fall as a seventh year student. For obvious reasons, he will not be playing Quidditch for whatever House team he is sorted to. In something of a departure, we will do his sorting here and now, and make arrangements for him accordingly. Viktor?"

He waved the young man toward a stool he conjured at the head of the table, and Viktor slouched forward to be seated on it. Professor McGonagall took the sorting hat and placed it on his head. It seemed to take quite awhile deciding, and Harry remembered how all the Durmstrang visitors in their fourth year had chosen to sit with the Slytherins. But then suddenly the hat declared, "Gryffindor!"

Automatically, Harry began to clap, then reddened and stopped when everyone looked at him, though Bill flashed him an understanding grin. As Viktor returned to his seat at the table, Dumbledore resumed, "Viktor will be housed with the seventh year boys. Accommodation will be made to their dorm room for his addition. I will be having Professors McGonagall and Snape come by to test his knowledge of Transfiguration and Potions, to see where he may need help in getting up to speed. I am also asking Professor Watson to do likewise with Defense Against the Dark Arts. I will test him in other areas myself.

"Until the start of term, Viktor will remain here and then make the trip to Hogwarts with Harry, the Weasley children and Miss Granger. I hope you will all try to make Mr. Krum feel welcome and assist him as you can in this change to his life. We have settled him in the room Fred and George Weasley used to occupy here. Are there any questions?"

If there were questions, no one seemed to want to ask them publicly. Harry eyed Viktor curiously, wondering what had made him switch schools, but there would be time enough later to find out. Perhaps Hermione already knew and could tell him.

As the group dismissed and dispersed, Dumbledore signaled Aurelia and Remus to him and they moved away to talk privately. "I would like you to work with Viktor on Defense Arts along with Harry this summer, and any other charms you think appropriate. I cannot give you all the information you would like to have about this unusual situation, but suffice it to say, I trust Mr. Krum completely or I would not have brought him here. He is old enough, as is Harry now, to join us for the Order meetings, and likely they will be involved to a great extent going forward."

He looked closely at Aurelia. "This may be an uneasy alliance for Gryffindor as they competed against him in the Triwizard Championship two years ago, and Krum attacked the Hufflepuff entrant. He was under the Imperius Curse at the time, and therefore not responsible, but since the boy later died, there may be some student hostility all the same."

As it was getting late, Harry, Aurelia and Remus went off to their rooms to settle in. With Viktor in the room she had previously used, Aurelia took up temporary residence in the room Ginny and Hermione usually shared. Remus and Aurelia disappeared, but Harry stood looking down the stairs. Viktor had remained behind to talk with Dumbledore further. He had apparently arrived two days ago and Professor McGonagall had been staying with him until Aurelia and Remus arrived. Harry wasn't certain how he felt about all this. He had thought Krum was okay until he had attacked Cedric, and thought that again when it was discovered he was acting under the Imperius Curse. He rather wondered how it would work out having Krum and Ron in the same dormitory, as Krum had been a sore point for Ron for a long time. Now that Ron and Hermione were together, he wondered if Krum harbored any resentment, or whether he might try to win her back. Hermione had always claimed she only thought of him as a friend, but the whole thing could still prove sticky.

Harry heaved a sigh and moved into his room, which felt rather empty without Ron sharing it. Slowly he changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. He lay there quite awhile, thinking about all the changes that were taking place around him.

xxxxx

By the next morning, Aurelia and Remus were ready to start 'summer school'. Even knowing it was coming, Harry hadn't really expected it to begin his first day at Grimmauld Place, but without Ron, Hermione or Ginny there, he supposed he might as well be working on that since there was little else to do here.

Over breakfast, Aurelia outlined the schedule she had worked out, and Harry was rather amazed by it. "When did you prepare this?" he asked.

When she indicated she had done it while at Privet Drive, he laughed. "I never thought you were being that industrious!"

Professor McGonagall had returned early and took Viktor off to the drawing room to test him, so Aurelia and Harry headed to the library. They spent the morning working on two of the charms she had had him read about in preparation. After lunch, Snape put in appearance and set up shop in the kitchen to test Viktor's potion knowledge, and Harry returned to the library to work on two more charms. As promised, Aurelia sought to make the lessons fun. At one point, when Harry needed to perform a certain charm on an object, they were using pillows, and Aurelia put an image of Snape on it for him to focus his attack on. He had never picked up a charm so quickly as when he got to keep blasting Snape's face into pieces.

The next day, Remus reviewed the charms Harry had been working on the previous day while Aurelia tested Viktor's Defense skills and knowledge. And finally, in the afternoon, they brought the two young men together for lessons. Aurelia set Harry to teaching Viktor the charms he had just learned, as she moved to settle on the sofa with Remus and watch.

"I thought you were going to make these lessons fun?" Harry asked, eyeing her with amusement.

She put an arm around Remus and snuggled close to him. "I am having fun during these lessons!" With that, she gave Remus a kiss on the cheek and Harry couldn't help laughing.

"See! You're laughing! You must be having fun, too! Now get to work!" she told him with a grin.

Harry found that Viktor was an aggressive student, who took his work very seriously. He mastered the four charms even faster than Harry had. They didn't do much talking, but when Professor Watson finally indicated they could stop, satisfied with their progress, she and Remus drifted out together and left the two young men alone.

At first Harry wasn't sure what to say, so he rather lamely came up with, "So you'll be coming to Hogwarts. Bet that will be different for you, though maybe not since I really don't know how things are done at Durmstrang." He paused, then explained, "There are five of us in a dorm room – six with you. You've met Ron Weasley, my red-haired friend. The others are Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom. Professor McGonagall is the Head of our House."

It seemed kind of stupid to stand there talking, so Harry went over and sat in one of the chairs, and Viktor followed him to slouch onto the sofa. "Too bad you can't play Quidditch, though. That would be great to watch – well, sort of – since you're a seeker and I'm the Gryffindor seeker, there might be a problem!" He laughed nervously and to his surprise, Viktor almost grinned.

"You are very good, too," Viktor said. "I remember."

He didn't offer anything more, so Harry prattled on a bit longer talking about Hogwarts and how things were done. Viktor asked about the four Houses and their purpose, so he explained that as best he could though he figured Hermione would do a better job of it later. A couple of times he tried asking questions about Durmstrang, Viktor's home and family, and such, but the answers were always brief and gave him little real information. Harry wasn't sure whether he was being secretive or just not very talkative.

Even so, they managed to while away the time until Remus called them to dinner. Harry still felt like he knew as little as he had before they talked. This wasn't going to be easy.

xxxxx

By the next week, Ron, Hermione and Ginny showed up, and just as Harry had expected, Ron didn't look too happy to find Viktor there. Hermione was effusive in her welcome and seemed to get more information out of him in five minutes than Harry had in several days. Fortunately, she could see the glowers Ron gave her when she spent too much time focused on Viktor and not enough on him, and quickly she would take his hand or arm and make him feel included. Ron was still torn between disliking Viktor for his interest in Hermione, but being a huge fan of him on the Quidditch pitch.

Ginny also had a way of getting Viktor to be more talkative, and if Harry hadn't felt certain of her interest in him, he might have been a bit jealous. But she never failed to show him copious amounts of affection, so he definitely had no reason to complain.

With five of them there, Aurelia and Remus included them all in the classes and were pleased with the progress they made, and the more they worked together on spells and charms, the more Viktor seemed to be included.

Because of the danger, Mrs. Weasley again did their school shopping for them, as well as for Viktor. Tonks went along to help with her load and make sure they didn't overlook anything.

Not until the day before they were to leave to catch the Hogwarts Express did the four find out the reason Viktor was there. Both Harry and Hermione had just claimed their Daily Prophet from the owl delivery, and almost simultaneously opened to the front page. With a gasp from Hermione, their eyes met across the breakfast table, and then they both turned to look at Viktor.

"What's up?" asked Ginny, noting their expressions, and Harry turned his paper so she could read the headline: 'Voldemort Takes Control of Durmstrang'.

"This is why you've come here, isn't it?" Hermione asked quietly. She held the paper out for Viktor to see.

Viktor nodded, scowling. "My parents haf friends who varned us it might be happening, and they sent me avay vhere I vould be safe." He paused a moment, then added, "At Durmstrang they teach much of the Dark Arts, and the students are more easy to…" His sentence trailed off, then he explained, "I remember vhat Dumbledore said and I tell my parents to send me to Hogvarts."

No one quite knew how to respond to this revelation and they all sat in silence, before gathering around to read the article. Realizing they would have to take turns, Hermione volunteered to read it aloud and they all sat in stony silence as she did. When she finished, Aurelia commented quietly, "We know things like this will be happening. There is no getting around that until Voldemort is defeated. Don't lose heart – we haven't lost yet." She glanced sideways at Viktor and added, "And we will continue to gain allies, some from unexpected sources." She gave the young man a reassuring smile and he looked a bit relieved.

xxxxx

Aurelia had officially ended summer school two days ago, leaving the five young people to relax a bit and goof off until the term started.

And there were also selfish reasons involved; she wanted to spend time with Remus since once she was back at Hogwarts there could be little contact between them. Remus had gradually been relaxing and getting used to her displays of affection, and more lately he was apt to initiate a hug or kiss. But he had never expressed any feelings for her beyond friendship, and she was sorry to leave him, not knowing if they had any real chance together.

After the news about Durmstrang, the kids headed off to the library to sit around talking and playing games of Wizard's Chess or Exploding Snap. Aurelia and Remus sat at the kitchen table awhile longer, still finishing their cups of tea, and each lost in their own thoughts.

"Aurelia," Remus began, then paused to consider his words. She eyed him curiously wondering what he had on his mind, and waited for him to continue.

"Life can be gone in an instant, especially with Voldemort around. In war, people die, and war is coming; we both know that." He stopped again and glanced at her, but she gave no response since so far he had said nothing that required one.

"I just…I'm not sure I know what love is, never having allowed myself to…" He hesitated, then pressed firmly on, "I care for you a great deal – maybe what I'm feeling really is love. The truth is, I hope so. I hope I can return your feelings in equal strength to what you have expressed to me. But I can't imagine anyone making me happier than you have, or loving me more than you do. No matter what comes, please be careful. I don't want to lose you before I've even completely found you."

He looked up at her with pleading eyes, hoping she could grasp what he was making such a mess of saying. Slowly she reached across the table and took his hand. "Remus, don't try to make it happen – let it happen. You'll be surprised by the results, I think. And I will be careful, because I don't want to be lost, not while there's any chance of our being together. And you do the same."

In all the romance stories Aurelia had ever heard of, now would be the time for the lovers to clench in a desperate embrace. But they just sat in comfortable silence, holding hands. After nearly twenty years, it looked like she might finally find happiness with the man she had loved for so long, and she intended to make the most of their every moment together, in case tomorrow never came.

The remainder of the day, they spent quietly sitting, wrapped in each other's arms, occasionally talking. The young people seemed to understand that they did not want to be disturbed and gave them wide berth.

xxxxx

As they gathered the next morning in the entrance hall, Harry looked around at a scene he had never envisioned. Ron and Hermione a couple, he and Ginny a couple, Viktor Krum coming to be a student at Hogwarts, and perhaps most surprising of all – for the first time since he had started at Hogwarts, they were going to have the same DADA teacher for the second year in a row. Better yet, a DADA teacher who just might bring some happiness into Remus Lupin's life. Even with Voldemort looming on his horizon, for just an instant, Harry felt very satisfied with life.

THE END

Replies to Reviewers:

angel40689 - (see endnote re Krum) - I realize I didn't completely develop what would happen with Krum in the picture, but more could happen down the road. For the moment, it is up to your imagination. Since I try to stick to canon (my 2 HP stories hypothesized a Book 6, before it was written), I don't know that I would do a sequel to this story. But depending on what is in JKR's Book 6, I may end up doing a hypothesized Year 7 while we wait for the last book.

Elwen of Lorien - I don't think Aunt Petunia is "good" necessarily, but I don't think she is quite so bad as Uncle Vernon. However, you'll notice she did little more than give "lip service" to the idea that she loved her sister - nothing she has done particularly reflected that, hence Aurelia's annoyance with her.

DarkAngelPearl- "YOu updateded too fast!" - you must have missed my note about almost daily updates! And here's another quick one for you, finishing the story. I'm too impatient to delay posting when my stories are complete and ready to go, but since I was still working on this one, I slowed it down slightly to stay ahead. Once it was all written, there was no reason to delay.

EndNote: A word of helpful advice to all you budding authors, don't introduce a new character right before you end a story! Makes it much harder to do! Not sure why Viktor suddenly popped in there except that I was reading Goblet of Fire at the time and musing about the possibility that he was the Half-Blood Prince and next thing I knew he was sitting in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place! I know I didn't do much with him, but the HP books have usually brought in elements that may or may not prove significant later on, so why not. It could be that in "book 7" Viktor would become vitally important (in my version of things), or it could be he's just plain old going to school at Hogwarts because Voldie took over Durmstrang, no big deal. Anyway, I thought it would make an interesting finale! (And I really, really believe he is going to show up again in JKR's version of things too!)