Harry was berating himself for letting Ginny go, for breaking up with her just when he needed her most. He'd missed her terribly when she'd been at the Burrow, but couldn't admit it, and now, she didn't want him anymore. He beat a pillow with his fist, trying to hold back his anger. He gave him and punched it so hard that feathers came flying out. Finally, he calmed down, but wondered how he was ever going to concentrate on teaching her defense. When he came downstairs, she was doing dishes, the Weasley way. He watched as soap poured itself into the sink and a sponge happily scrubbed the dishes. With a flick of her wand, a towel jumped out of a drawer and began cleaning the new dishes. He raised an eyebrow, and she caught his eye and laughed. He realized how long it had been since he'd heard laughter. He and Ron and Hermione had been constantly occupied with trying to figure out how to destroy the locket and figuring out ways to defend themselves, while Harry tried to figure out the ultimate answer: how to find the last horcrux and kill Voldemort. "I've been practicing with Mum," she said, breaking into his thoughts. "She's taught me a lot of practical skills, but I still can't defend myself very well. She sent me here so you could help me with that." He registered that she had been sent, and not come of her own accord. He began fingering his wand, figuring to catch her off guard. "Moody's" catch phrase, "constant vigilance" had become a mantra of Harry's life as well, something he felt needed to be passed on to those around him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw what Harry intended. "Expelliarmus!" she cried, and his wand flew out of his hand. She smiled smugly at him, and he grinned back as he bent over to pick up his wand. Her wand was suddenly pointing at him, and he waited, ready to say "protego" as soon as she spoke. But all of a sudden, his hair was in his eyes, and as he reached to push it out of the way, he realized that it was growing by the second, and he couldn't push it out of his eyes fast enough. Ginny flicked her wand, and his hair returned to normal.

"How did you do that," he asked, stunned, staring at the triumphant look in her eyes.

"Something I've been working on independently," she said. "I figured that intent is the biggest part of magic, and since surprise is a valuable asset, it would be better to be able to do spells without speaking." Harry stared at her. "Oh don't look at me like that. I don't know why anyone hasn't thought of it before. Anyways, it's not very good. I can't really do any damage yet." Harry ran his fingers through his now short hair that a moment before had been engulfing him. Ginny was no longer the girl who ran away at the sight of him, or a little girl. She was one of the most powerful witches that he had ever heard of, and no one had seen it coming, least of all him. He couldn't wait to see the look on Ron's face when he found out. He might have been able to see Hermione thinking up a scheme like this, but not Ginny. It was as if she could read the looks passing across his face.

"Look, Harry. I can fight too, and I wish everyone would stop treating me like a child. I know you have to take him down, but he's going to be surrounded by deatheaters, and I want to take down a few myself." She was tougher than she'd ever been, he could see that now. He nodded, slowly.

"What else can you do?" She looked over at a candle sconce on the wall, and all of a sudden, all of the flames lit. Suddenly he remembered a time in third year when Dumbledore had lit candles simply by passing his hand over them, and what Ginny was doing didn't seem so implausible. She reached out her hand, and his wand left his own hand, which was only holding on loosely, and it flew into her hand. "Looks like you're going to be doing some teaching too," he said.