A/N: I heartily apologize for the length of your wait for this chapter. I fell ill for a time, and upon recovery, found myself held hostage by my own Muses, who forced me to work on stories that will eventually be posted on ffnet. I do not plan on abandoning this, so fear not! And I promise to post much quicker. -Zenn

Chapter Fifteen- Handling

Never turning from the prostrate figure, Harry . . . disapparated from the scene of so many slaughters.

Reappearing in the bedroom of Grimmauld Place, Harry felt a wave of surrealism wash over him. The stark interior of the room was played over with macabre images that continued to flash across his mind. Harry had dealt with battlefields and scenes as disturbing in the years he'd been away, but the emotions still roiled within him. He wasn't sure if it was the absence of allies along side him, that he'd been made to watch and could do nothing against it, or the mere fact that it had occurred in this realm instead of the one he'd been trapped in, that made this so much harder to swallow.

The boy in the square- Harry didn't even know his name- had wrenched down the walls he kept up to maintain his composure. Whether it was sympathy or empathy, Harry felt overwhelmed. The memory of his own experiences interlaced with the boy's, remembered pain lancing through him even as the boy's agony was put to rest.

Gripping the wooden bedpost, Harry forced away everything in his mind, until he only knew the physical sensation of being in the room and the numbness of a lack of thought. He breathed deeply, focussing on oblivion, losing himself to Occlusion.

Once sure he had his emotions under control, Harry opened his eyes, gazing unseeingly around the room. With a sigh, he glanced down, waving a hand to clean the evidence of his little jaunt off his cloak and robes. Shrugging the former off his shoulders to puddle in the middle of the floor, Harry sat on the bed, running both of his hands through his hair in a distracted motion.

Occlumency worked well enough to cover what he felt, but couldn't take it away, as well he knew. The one who had taught him, in the other realm, found it a most difficult task just to have Harry learn that. The teacher was from the Academy, and like all the Commanders, as they were known, was not human, and therefore had little patience for the myriad emotions of one. He hadn't liked Harry in the least and wasn't afraid to show it, but as Harry was rather used to that type of treatment, he found it manageable.

The hard part was the subject itself; Harry was certain that even if the tutoring hadn't been brutal, it would have been such. It had taken the better part of a year to learn enough of it to force others out of his mind when they attacked, nearly another to keep them from entering in the first place. Harry now knew that he had a firm grasp of it, and used it often, to his advantage.

That Riddle had found a way past Harry's barriers was overly frustrating. He knew that the evil wizard would not hesitate to press his edge, dragging Harry into his twisted schemes as many times as possible. Harry would have to find a way to fight it off, but he had little idea of how to do that. His training beyond Occlumency was in physical warfare and theory, he had no basis for understanding other planes of consciousness or what one was capable of in them. And Riddle had plenty of experience in all of that.

With another deep sigh, Harry rose back to his feet, walking to the door. He found the wards undisturbed, which saved him having to explain anything, and quickly dispelled them. Guessing that his godfather and Remus had most likely been contacted by Dumbledore, he wasn't surprised to find a note attached to his door.

Harry,

We've been called to some Order business. Left this so if you woke up, you wouldn't worry. 'Course you wouldn't be reading this if you hadn't woken up, so that sentence was probably unnecessary, but anyway. All right, we have to go, don't worry, everything is fine. We'll be back as soon as we can, which I'm sure will be really quick.

Sirius

Raising an eyebrow at his godfather's rambling, Harry shook his head in amusement. He walked back into the bedroom, placing the parchment on the table near the door. Not bothering to change his clothes, he lay upon the bed, though he kept his gaze fixed upon the material draped over it, rather than close his eyes. The clock sounded across the room, the steady noise mirroring Harry's breathing as he once more drifted in the dark of his mind.

A sudden crash downstairs jerked Harry out of his reverie, and he let out a small groan as thoughts pushed back into his mind. Sitting up and stretching his neck, he steeled himself to go see the others.

As he walked through the labyrinth of the house, Harry focussed on the furnishings of the hallways, vaguely cataloguing the various artifacts and paintings. Though the hint of darkness remained as a layer upon everything, most that he noticed were innocuous. Wonder if the Order even realizes the aura around here is still so dark, Harry thought as he neared the kitchen.

Voices from beyond the hall echoed hollowly around him; Harry stilled before the doorway to listen for a moment. His godfather's voice was rather quiet, making it difficult to distinguish words, but Harry could tell that the tone was dark. Knowing that Remus, if he was in the kitchen, would be able to sense him, Harry made to move forward, then stopped when a distinct growling voice spoke.

Harry remembered that voice, though it was almost from another lifetime. Of course the man he had known as Professor Moody had turned out to be an imposter and a Death Eater bent on killing him, but Harry would recognize even the real man. Knowing him as a friend of Dumbledore's, Harry hoped that Moody had been told of his return, lest the infamously paranoid retired Auror attempt to subdue him.

Realizing that he could delay no longer, and with his face studiously neutral, Harry stepped into the kitchen. The quiet conversation instantly halted as the room's occupants turned him. Remus was farthest from the door, which had probably lent to Harry's not having been noticed before, fully dressed and holding his travelling cloak over one arm. The older man turned a smile on him, though Harry could see the haggard edge underneath, beyond that which his lycanthropy bestowed upon him usually.

Turning towards the other two in the room, Harry noticed that his godfather also held an uncommonly solemn expression, though it lightened as Harry looked at him. Nodding a greeting, Harry walked over to the table where Sirius sat, noticing the discarded travel cloaks over the bench. As he walked over, he looked upon the other man sitting across from the Animagus.

Moody had a faintly suspicious look in his one real eye as he looked Harry up and down. His magical eye darted around the room, then fixed fully on the younger wizard. He raised an eyebrow, which twisted his scarred visage strangely.

"Well, now, Potter," Mad-Eye growled, standing heavily. "Heard you'd come back. Dumbledore's sure your no threat, so that's something. Now, I remember you from your, what, fourth year Leaving Feast, yeah, that's it." He moved closer and Harry was hard pressed to stay still. When he did so, Moody looked grudgingly approving. "You were quite the little whelp, then, weren't you?"

Startled, Harry's lips quirked slightly. Remus choked a bit, clearly muffling a chuckle. Harry met his eye briefly, noting that the werewolf's eyes appeared to be less dark, then turned back to Mad-Eye Moody. Sirius meanwhile had stood with a sharp glare at the man.

"Moody. No need to be insulting. That was a hard time for everyone," Sirius said in clipped tones.

Moody went on as though he hadn't heard. "Now, I've been told that you've been busy these last years." He narrowed his eyes at Harry. "Not heard too much else, though. As to what you've been up to, at any rate." With a last look, Moody finally backed off. "Well, you do look a right state better than you did, that's certain."

"So do you, Mr Moody," Harry replied flippantly, garnering a harsh laugh from the man.

"Quite right, quite right." Moody smiled, a turn of his lips twisting his features once more.

Mad-Eye sat back down, taking a swig from the flask in his hand. Figuring that it most definitely was not butterbeer, Harry chuckled lightly to himself and moved to sit as well. Remus lay his cloak to the side and joined them. Silence reigned briefly, as Harry watched both Sirius and Remus stifle yawns. Harry almost felt sorry for them.

"So, what was the Order business you wrote about, Sirius?" Harry asked, amused when the man startled.

"Oh, yeah. Well, nothing much, you know how it is," the Animagus answered easily, though he didn't look Harry in the eye. "Just a disturbance in a village near the coast."

"I see. Nothing much at all," Harry said softly. His godfather relaxed at this, clearly missing the negative inflection in Harry's voice.

After another quiet moment, Remus spoke up. "Well, Harry, you have to go to Hogwarts in a few. Would you like some breakfast?"

Harry shook his head quickly. "I'm not really hungry, Remus. Thanks."

The werewolf dropped the subject, for which Harry was grateful. He couldn't imagine eating at the moment, and would not have liked to lie about the reason had the man pushed it. Harry found himself glad that Remus and Sirius were too tired to act overprotective, and fleetingly wondered if he'd have to wear them out all of the time just to get them to lay off.

Harry mentally shook his head at his inane thoughts, but did realize them to be a coping method. Thinking about nothing in particular was certainly easier than focussing on the things pushed to the back of his mind. Especially around present company. Noticing Moody watching him, Harry turned to the older wizard and raised an inquiring eyebrow.

Moody quirked his strange smile once more. "Well, boy, Dumbledore tells me you are to take exams to place you back in your year."

"Yeah," Harry responded, then grinned wryly. "I took my Potions test yesterday."

Mad-Eye snorted. "And how was that?"

"Delightful," replied Harry dryly.

Smirking, Moody polished off the last of his drink. Harry glanced at the others and noticed Remus looking at him with an amused expression. Harry shrugged and levelled a grin at him, then turned to his godfather. Sirius had his head in his hands and his eyes closed, appearing to be very near falling asleep. With a half-smile gracing his lips, Harry looked back at Moody when the man spoke.

"Well, let's be off, Potter, and leave these two to get to bed."

Harry blinked at him. "Er, where to, sir?"

"Hogwarts, of course. Where else?" Moody said, giving him an odd look.

When Harry just raised his eyebrows, Remus chuckled. "I take it Professor Dumbledore didn't mention who has been teaching Defence for the last year, and while Sirius and I have been away."

Harry looked at him sharply as he shook his head. "No, didn't cross his mind, I suppose." Harry turned to Moody. "So, I guess I should call you Professor."

Moody growled a laugh. "I finally did get around to some teaching."

"Why are you quitting, if I may ask?"

Turning both eyes on Harry, Moody answered after a moment. "I realized it was easier be an Auror at the height of Dark activity than to teach teenagers anything." Moody laughed again as he stood. "Not to mention, they were making me paranoid."

Harry choked slightly as he covered his own laughter and followed the man to the Floo as he got up. With a wave at Remus who was currently trying to wake Sirius, Harry disappeared in a burst of flame.

Stepping easily out of the grate in the private room of the headmaster's office, Harry saw that Moody had already gone through the door. Harry walked into the office, stroking Fawkes as he passed the bird.

"Good morning, Harry," Dumbledore greeted cheerfully enough, though Harry detected something under the tone.

"Morning, Headmaster." Harry moved over and sat in a chair before the desk at Dumbledore's gesture.

Albus turned to Moody. "Alastor, you said you had complied Mr Potter's exam?" At the man's affirmative, Dumbledore nodded. "Excellent. Then, why don't I send Harry down in a few minutes? He would most likely be done by breakfast, don't you think?"

"He should be," Moody growled lightly. "Whether or not he passes."

Harry held back a smirk as he met the headmaster's eye. Dumbledore twinkled at him, even as he answered Mad-Eye. "Well, then, why don't you go on ahead, Alastor, and I'll send Harry along shortly. I have a couple of things to discuss with him."

Moody nodded and headed out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Once alone, Dumbledore offered Harry tea and one of his lemon drops. With a chuckle, Harry accepted both.

"Now, I don't suppose I have need to ask if you know of the occurrences of last night," Albus began, gazing at the younger man.

"No, I know all too well," Harry answered, letting some of his sorrow show through his tight mask.

"Yes, I am sorry for that, my boy." Dumbledore paused as he took a sip of his tea, then placed the cup back in its saucer. "Your letter was quite clear as to how you saw everything. Do you have any idea how Voldemort managed to pull you in despite your defences?"

Harry sighed. "According to him, though it may be untrue, when I forced us out of the mental plane, I strengthened our connection. Apparently it was enough to override my Occlumency. I can't see any other way that Tom could have done it."

"I see," Albus murmured thoughtfully. "Now, other than seeing through his eyes, was there anything else? Did you feel anything?"

"Nothing, other than a vague sense of not being physical," Harry told him easily, twisting the truth without the bat of an eye.

"Well, then," the headmaster stated in an equally simple tone, though his gaze was intense, "I suppose that other than finding a way to circumvent his abilities, there isn't anything else we can do at the moment."

Harry nodded in agreement, then taking a drink he waited to see what else the man had to say. Dumbledore didn't disappoint him.

"Now, I heard a strange accounting from an Auror that reported to the attacked village last night."

Harry raised an eyebrow, but kept silent. He finished the last of his tea, flipping the cup on its saucer to dry and placing it upon the desk. Having an idea of where the man was going, Harry waited once again.

"Yes," Dumbledore continued. "It seems that upon arrival, this Auror saw a cloaked figure Disapparate from the middle of the town square. The official word is that it was a last Death Eater leaving the scene. But I find that to be a little too . . . easy of an explanation."

"Well," said Harry, "they say the simplest interpretation is often the correct one."

"True, but there is also always the exception to the rule," Albus replied. "See, the circumstances were rather suspicious."

"Really? How so?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance, though he knew Dumbledore clearly had an idea of what had happened.

The headmaster raised an eyebrow. "The place where the figure was, the Ministry found a body."

"That would indicate a Death Eater, then, would it not?" Harry asked, eyes glinting sharply.

"Perhaps, except for the manner of death. It seems that this boy was killed with a knife of some kind. The only person found to have died in such a way." Albus gazed at Harry, who watched him back, unblinking. "And, it was found that the child was suffering from a poison that would have killed him after a short time." Turning away from Harry's emerald stare, Dumbledore looked out the window at the sun which had barely broken the horizon. "It is not typical that a follower of Voldemort would put a person out of their misery."

Harry followed the headmaster's gaze out the window, then looked back to the man as he sighed. The office was silent for a moment as the occupants sat across from one another.

Finally, Albus broke the quiet. "Now, had it not been a Death Eater, and had it been someone with good intentions, I would hope they realize just how dangerous a scene like that is. Had they been caught by either Voldemort or the Ministry, the consequences would have been ghastly. And there is always the question of just how they would handle seeing and doing such as they had to."

Harry watched the headmaster, who still hadn't turned back to him. His profile was solemn and the twinkle was overpowered by the blaze of sunlight that flowed across his face. After a moment, Harry responded quietly.

"I'm certain that the individual is quite aware of the risks, Headmaster." Harry glanced downwards, then back to the older wizard. "As well, I believe they would be well versed in such things, and would know how to deal with something as that."

Dumbledore slowly turned and once more pinned Harry with his sharp blue eyes. "Do you think so?"

Harry murmured, "Yes."

Dumbledore nodded, still watching his student. "All right, well, I am sure we have kept Alastor waiting quite long enough, my boy."

Harry smiled softly at the dismissal, and took his leave of the headmaster. As he rode the spiral staircase down from the office, he wondered if he was handling it. Battle he'd known now for two years; this . . . this was something different.

With a sigh, Harry stepped off of the stairs and turned down the hall. Though he knew he was most likely too early to meet anyone on the way, he kept alert for others. He wasn't much in the mood for reunions, finding himself less social than even yesterday and after his confrontation with Ron.

He shook his head as he realized that if his old friend knew of Harry's activities, he'd never understand and never forgive him. Things had certainly changed, even as so much stayed the same, Harry thought as he looked at the familiar path he took to the Defence classroom a floor below him. Harry was the one playing his cards close to his chest, hiding things from even Dumbledore. He had his reasons, though, however hard it was.

Harry stopped walking suddenly as he felt a tingle of magic. Scanning along the vacant hallway, he felt both ways with his senses. His eyes narrowed as he detected the boundary of a ward directly behind him.

A flash of light caught his eye just as he drew his wand. Turning, Harry saw a curse heading straight at his chest, streaking through the hall.

A/N: A major 'Thank You!' to all of my readers and reviewers! I appreciate all of you.

On a plot note - The story shall speed up, leading to the part that I am most looking forward to writing.

If you would like a hint regarding what is upcoming, tell me in a review, and I shall post a bit about it in an Author Note at the bottom of the next chapter.

Please let me know that you are out there; the reviews make writing very rewarding!

Zenn

BTW - My chapter titles are in Latin, with the closest translation of what I wish to say at the beginning of each chapter.