Harry shrugged. "I'll go tell Ron and Hermione."

"I have to stay and 'chit-chat' with Lyse and Heath. You'll be all right?"

"Oh no, I can't find the common room by myself," Harry said sarcastically.

Katie smirked and turned back to Elyse and Heather, just as Harry headed for the stairs. Another conversation in another language broke out just before Harry was out of earshot.

Harry quickly climbed the stairs, racing past the Creevey brothers, who tried to get another snapshot of him. He ran past Pansy Parkinson, who start cursing at him for the wind he was drawing with him, claiming it was disastrous to her hair, if he heard her right. Harry didn't particularly care; he had a smile on his face and was happy. He couldn't wait to learn so much with Ron and Hermione!

"Mapleberry!" Harry said joyously.

"Someone's happy," the Fat Lady commented as she opened for him.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, searching the common room for them.

They were the only people there.

"Harry, what's up?" Ron asked.

"Do you guys have anything planned this summer that you know of?" Harry asked.

Both paused for a moment.

"Can't think of anything," Ron admitted.

"Neither can I," Hermione agreed.

"You do now! If you get permission, you know how Katie invited me to their secret base this summer?"

"Yeah, now slow down, mate," Ron said, sitting Harry down. "You're acting like Pig."

"If you get permission, you can come to!"

There was silence.

"Go to the base with you and them?" Ron asked.

"Harry, you can't be serious," Hermione said.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"With Voldemort out?" Hermione asked. "Harry, you really should be with Ron or your aunt and uncle."

"With them has to be as safe as any other place," Harry contradicted.

"No, it isn't," Hermione said. "They could make a mistake, and you could get hurt. At the Weasley's, you won't."

"Hermione, I've already said I'm going. Whether they make a mistake or not… well, I'll have to face Voldemort again sometime, won't I?" Harry said. "Better if I do it when I've got friends to back me up. So, you wanna come? They're really gonna help us. Katie said that they might be able to teach us to cast spells without an incantation. You can't tell me that doesn't sound exciting!"

Hermione didn't speak.

Ron smiled. "I'll go owl mum now!" In a moment, he was out of sight and up the stairs.

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

Hermione opened her mouth for a moment, then got out, "Well, I'm not letting you go on some silly escapade again without me. I've missed enough as it is."

Harry smiled as she stomped up to the girls' dorm, and he could've sworn he saw a hint of a smile placed on her face as well.

"Does that mean yes?" someone asked from the portrait. "I see that smile."

"They're going to ask," Harry confirmed.

"Good," Katie said, sitting down in a chair and propping her feet up on the footrest. "Please," she said, motioning to the other chairs and couches around her.

Harry laughed softly. "You're crazy."

"Yeah, yeah, so are you," Katie said, smiling. "Now sit!"

Harry raised his eyebrows, but sat nonetheless. "Rather commanding tonight, aren't you?"

"Is tonight different from any other night?" Katie smiled.

"I can think of a few," Harry commented.

Katie rolled her eyes as Ron hurried down.

"I'm going to hurry and send this before Filch gets too mad. The sooner I know, the better. With luck, I'll have an answer in answer two days." And Ron was gone again.

Katie snorted the moment he was out of sight. "He means a howler."

Harry gave her a questioning look. "What d'you mean?"

"Molly," Katie said. "She hates me. She hated so much what I was doing to you, and then when she found out that you'd fallen in love with me…. Wow, I remember that howler well."

"So… Ron won't be able to come?" Harry asked, crestfallen.

"Not by Molly," Katie said. "I simply asked Lyse to redirect Pig so that he goes to Arthur instead."

"Won't they be in the same place?" Harry asked.

"More or less likely," Katie admitted. "But unless Molly reads over his shoulder, he'll be able to reply without notice. Besides…" Katie got a mischievous grin on her face and didn't continue.

"What'd you do?" Harry asked.

"Well… let's just say Grimmauld Place will be busy with her mail alone. Mr. Weasley will get his and open it without her noticing in the least."

"What did you send her?"

Katie grinned mischievously again. "Oh… just… stuff."

"How many?"

"Oh… maybe six hundred. I think. And Lyse and Heath put in a few… so maybe eight hundred."

"A few!" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yeah, just a few, compared to my six hundred," Katie said, smiling. "They all should've been sent out at the same time."

"How many owls will that have taken?" Harry asked.

"Oh, not that many by owl. Heather's taking it in person," Katie corrected.

Harry stared. "You really are crazy."

Katie smiled innocently. "So I've heard. But, ya know, you are too. You go to Malfoy Manor to confront Voldemort, then to--Harry, what's up?"

Harry's scar had just seared painfully across his forehead in coherence with a crunching feeling in his stomach. "Voldemort's… angry. Very angry."

Katie moved and sat on the armrest of his chair. "About what? Can you tell?"

Harry shook his head, but darkness engulfed him before he could open his mouth for help.

"BELLA! SAY IT AGAIN AND YOU SHALL NOT LIVE MUCH LONGER!" Voldemort screamed.

"I am sorry, Master!" Bellatrix said quickly, scared. "I did not mean any harm by--"

"NO HARM! YOU YET REVIVE A TIME IN WHICH YOU FAILED ME! IS THAT AN INTELLIGENT THING, BELLA? BRINGING UP YOUR OWN FAILURES!"

"No, Master, I apologize!"

"CRABBE! GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Bellatrix screamed as Crabbe dragged her away.

"SILENCE, WOMAN! SILENCIO!"

Bellatrix made scared movements with her eyes wide, infuriating Voldemort more.

"NOW, CRABBE! GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT AND DO WHAT YOU MUST TO TEACH THIS WOMAN A LESSON!"

"My Lord, what is it that has put you in such a ferocious mood?" Rookwood asked timidly.

"WHAT! BELLA IS WHAT, YOU FOOL! WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN HER!" Voldemort asked. Then, without a pause, "I THINK YOU WOULD! GOYLE, TEACH ROOKWOOD THE OLD FASHIONED WAY! NOW, YOU INSOLENT GIT! I DON'T WANT HIM IN MY SIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING!"

Goyle dragged Rookwood, who wisely kept his mouth shut.

"DOES ANYONE ELSE FEEL LIKE JOINING THEM? YOU ALL HAVE INFURIATED ME THAT YOU CANNOT CAPTURE A LITTLE BOY! DIANE IS NOW DEAD, SO LEAVES OUR INSIDER! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY WILL CROSS OUR PATH AGAIN? SOMEONE WHO CAN BE WITH POTTER EVERY DAY! WHAT IS THE POSSIBILITY OF THAT? EVEN CRABBE COULD TELL ME THAT!"

Rookwood's screams filled the night.

"AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN CATCH A LITTLE BOY!"

"Neither could you," someone murmured under a cloak.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort yelled.

There was a scream.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Tears fell onto Harry's face.

Harry's eyes slowly flickered open. "W-what…?"

"Oh, Harry!" Katie hugged him, crying.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, racing over to them. "I told everyone else not to worry about it, but they're scared. Someone was screaming and then… Katie? Harry? What's going on?"

Katie closed her eyes. "Harry had a vision, I guess. I couldn't get him out of it. He…" She stopped.

"What?" Hermione pressed. She looked around, and her eyes grew wide. "Oh my gosh… did he…?"

Harry looked over Katie's shoulder to see a rather large hole in the wall of Gryffindor Common Room, the wallpaper charred. It had been burnt there.

Katie nodded. "Harry did it. He… he produced the Killing Curse."

There was a long silence following these words.

"He what?" Hermione asked shakily.

"I what?" Harry asked, in awe.

"I saw it," Katie said. "You… Harry, you almost hit me. I was standing over you while you were screaming what the people said, and then you suddenly yelled the Killing Curse, I guess because Voldemort did. And you really did it. You did the Silencing Charm, too, but that hit the staircase."

There was another silence as Harry took this in. He could kill. He'd produced an illegal curse, for which he could be put in Azkaban. Of course, Azkaban wasn't what it used to be, but he could still land there. He could now really kill Voldemort.

Or was it just because Voldemort had said it? Voldemort certainly could do it, and Harry had been shouting what was said. Maybe he only did it because Voldemort did. Maybe he couldn't do it after all.

"But I couldn't do it again," Harry said, bringing his thoughts into conversation.

Neither Katie nor Hermione spoke.

"I mean, I only did it because Voldemort said it," Harry said.

There was another silence. Harry was about to go on, but Hermione spoke.

"No, Harry," she said quietly. "I've talked with Ron, about all those nightmares, or whatever they were, and he said you'd shout spells with the rest of the conversation going on, but you never actually performed them. This is the first time it's ever happened."

"But he's never said the Killing Curse before!" Harry said pointedly.

"It shouldn't make a difference," Katie said, joining Hermione. "A spell is a spell, no matter which one. If he turned Lucius Malfoy into a slug or killed him, it shouldn't matter. Either you'd perform them all, or none."

Harry paused. "So why am I doing it now?"

Katie sighed. "I don't know."