AN

Chapter 13, in which Remus finally starts to become an important character, Snape and Harry clash, and we get our first word back from the detectives searching for Katherine. I hope you all enjoy it, as once more, I'm just not quite happy with it. Probably because I've never had areal crush before and I have no idea how to write Harry or Ginny's POVs on that. I'm flying blind as it is.

Many thanks once more to JC-S and Yavinbase, who spot things I can't believe I missed. Without them, I'd be in much worse shape.

Hope you all take the time to check out my other, more originalstory, Stockholm Syndrome, of which the next chapter will be up sometime in the next few days.

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 13

Visitors

Remus was waiting for them when they reached the room. Harry surprised both of his guests by immediately pulling his old teacher into a brotherly embrace. When they pulled apart, Remus' eyes were suspiciously bright, and he had to blink rapidly for some reason.

"It's good to see you again, Moony," said Harry.

"You too, Harry," he replied. He glanced at Ginny. "And you, Ginny. I hope you're keeping Harry here in line?"

She smirked. "Of course."

Remus looked around the room and grimaced. "Bit cramped in here."

Harry nodded. "D'you think you could...."

Remus waved his wand a few times and the room morphed dramatically. It expanded to nearly three times the original size, giving them all some breathing room. The beds shifted to opposite corners, and grew into large four-posters reminiscent of the ones found in Gryffindor Tower, scarlet hangings and all. The walls changed from plain, boring white to red and gold, and all Dudley's broken belongings disappeared.

Harry was impressed. "Not bad, Moony. I had no idea you could do something like that."

Remus flushed. "I helped your mum decorate your house," he said quietly.

"Oh." There wasn't anything more to say.

They stood there in awkward silence for a few minutes until Remus decided it was time to get down to business. He conjured a couple of cushioned, wooden chairs and motioned for Harry and Ginny to sit down.

"Harry, before Sirius died, he-" Remus started to say, but Harry cut him off.

"I know all about the plans Padfoot started to put into effect over the last two years, Moony. He told me himself."

Remus blinked. "When?"

Harry smirked. "A little over a month ago."

Remus leaned forward and put his hand on Harry's forehead. "Are you alright, Harry?" he asked. "You know Sirius is dead, and has been for much longer than a month."

Harry's smirk now rivaled Malfoy at his most smug. "Yes, I know that, Moony."

"And yet you say he talked to you since then?"

"Yes."

Remus shook his head, bewildered. "I think you've lost it," he said.

Ginny finally decided to intervene. She smacked Harry on the back of the head. . . hard. "Just tell him, you git."

Harry gave her a glare and rubbed the spot where she'd hit him. "Spoilsport," he muttered. He paled when she raised her hand to hit him again and hastily added, "Alright, alright! I'll tell him! Keep your shirt on!"

They both blushed when they realized what he said, until Remus coughed pointedly. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?" he asked.

Harry fought down the redness in his cheeks enough to tell Remus everything that had happened to him since Sirius' first visit over a month earlier. It took him quite some time to do so, but Remus and Ginny were a good audience. Ginny knew some of what he was saying, but Remus knew almost nothing, so he started from the very beginning.

Remus was, of course, skeptical about Sirius being inside Harry's head, until Harry whispered something Ginny couldn't hear into the older man's ear. He flushed brightly and finally accepted that Sirius, while still dead, was strangely enough partially alive in a way.

After that, Remus confessed that he had managed to get away from Order business to come there only because Dumbledore had sent him to ask Harry a few questions and inform him of some things.

"Before I say this, Harry, I want you to remember that I am only the messenger," Remus stated apprehensively.

Harry's eyes narrowed, but he motioned for his mentor to continue.

"Professor Dumbledore has decided that if Voldemort broke into your mind once, he's likely to do it again, and so he's asked Severus to come and pick up your Occlumency lessons once again."

Harry closed his eyes and drew several deep breaths to calm himself before he replied. "That man will never learn, will he? I told him that my mental shields are now strong enough to defy Voldemort, but does he listen? No, of course not." He sighed. "Occlumency is for amateurs, and it in fact only worsens the problem because I empty my mind. My thoughts and emotions are exactly what keep Voldemort at bay. The shields around my mind far surpass that of any Occlumens on the planet and having Sirius in my mind only enhances that."

Remus frowned. "Come now, Harry. You're powerful, but surely not that powerful?"

Harry shrugged. "Try to break into my mind."

Remus pulled out his wand and muttered, "Legilimens"

He entered Harry's mind and was immediately met with a solid, concrete and steel wall, complete with guard stations and mounted machine guns. On the side of the wall was a gigantic sign that said, Beware of dog, with a picture of Sirius (in human form) underneath.

Remus, seeing that entering farther than the wall would be impossible, exited Harry's mind and collapsed onto the floor in hysterical laughter.

Ginny raised her eyebrows at Harry, who only smiled secretively in reply.

Remus, who was still chuckling to himself every few seconds, wiped the mirthful tears from his cheeks and climbed back into his chair.

Harry shook his head and then suddenly froze. A slow smile spread across his face, as a sudden thought occured to him. "Remus," he said casually. "When is Snape coming to teach me?"

Remus turned his head to the side and gazed at his young friend warily. "Friday, I think. Why?"

Harry gave him his most Marauder-like smile. "Since he can't get into my head, maybe I can have a bit of fun with him."

Remus' face, on which Harry had never seen so much as a slightly smug look, took on a full blown smirk. "I'm going to want to see that," he said. "Maybe you should get a pensieve so I can."

Harry's face took on a thoughtful look. "You know," he said. "That's actually not a bad idea. I probably should get one of those. Do you know where I can find one?"

Remus grimaced. "I don't know, Harry. Those are extremely rare and expensive. I can look if you want and see what I can find."

"Money is no object," said Harry with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'd appreciate if you kept an eye out for one.

"Now, what else did the Professor send you here for?" he asked.

"Well," said Remus. "He didn't exactly get a chance to talk to you about your surviving the Killing Curse before you walked off, so he wanted to say he'll be around to talk about that."

Harry shook his head. "Tell him not to bother. Just say I have no idea how that happened and his guess is as good as mine."

"And is that the truth?" Remus prompted.

"Basically. I honestly don't know how I managed it. The best I can come up with is that I have some sort of natural immunity to the Killing Curse. I mean, after all, that's the second time I've survived it. I'm starting to think it wasn't my mother's sacrifice that saved me the first time, though it has kept me safe here at Privet Drive."

Remus nodded in agreement. "Yes, that would make sense. You and Voldemort are both bound by the prophecy, from what Sirius told me, and you're the only two people to get hit by the curse and not die.

"Although," he added thoughtfully. "This last time you didn't get a scar, and it wasn't deflected back at him, was it?"

"No," Harry replied, his brows furrowing in thought. "I didn't and it didn't. I'm guessing that was caused by the unlocking of my full powers. Instead of deflecting the spell, thus cutting open my forehead and connecting me to the caster, my body absorbed it and bled the magic off into the ground. Unfortunately, it means he didn't get hit by his own curse again, but at least I don't have another scar to add to the collection, not to mention an even stronger connection to Voldemort."

"This brooks further thought," said Remus. "Let me know if you make any progress with figuring out, won't you?"

Harry nodded. "Will do, Moony. What else did our dear headmaster want?"

Remus shrugged. "Nothing specific. I think he wanted me to try and worm the identity of the person training out of you. Now that I know, I'm sure I won't tell him. He'll think you've gone nuts because of Padfoot's death and are making up fantasies in which he's still alive as a result."

"Yeah, I had a feeling he would figure out I was getting training from somewhere."

"So," said Remus. "From the way he was speaking, it seems like you're practically in the Order. What changed since the meeting?"

Harry shrugged. "Not a lot, really. He still isn't going to let me join the Order, I don't think. But he is, supposedly, going to let me in on a lot more that's going on. I doubt he'll trust me completely, but hopefully he's at least going to clue me in a little more."

He glanced at the clock. "How long can you stay, Moony?'

Remus glanced at the clock as well, and stood up. "I'd best be off now, actually. I'll be sure to check in again soon, and I think Professor Dumbledore will come by anyway."

He shook both their hands and headed for the door. He paused when he got there, and turned around. "Harry, you keep calling me Moony. Since you're an animagus, may I assume that you've been inducted?"

Harry nodded proudly. "Yes, you may indeed. I am Mr. Inferno."

Remus grinned. "Then farewell, Inferno." And with that, he was gone.

Harry turned to Ginny and put on his best Hermione voice. "Now, Ginny, you should do some studying. After all, you only have TEN WHOLE MONTHS before your O.W.L.s, and they're very important for your future."

Ginny giggled and gave him a mock salute before opening up her bottomless suitcase and taking out her summer homework. She vaguely wondered why her parents hadn't just sent her trunk along, before she realized she had put so many protective charms on it that only she would be able to open it without getting thrown across the room. That meant nothing in the trunk had been sent along with her. Good thing she'd unpacked, unlike Ron, who was still living out of his trunk.

She sat down at one of the two desks in the room and started working on the nasty essay Snape had set for all the soon-to-be fifth years (or perhaps just the Gryffindors).

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry at the other desk, quill scribbling furiously. She couldn't help but think that he looked really cute when he was concentrating hard on something. He had a funny way of sticking his tongue out slightly as he thought about what he was writing, and he always ran his hand through his hair when he got frustrated.

She shook herself out of her thoughts angrily. She shouldn't be thinking those things, especially not when she had homework to do. She concentrated once more on her parchment, unaware that the object of her thoughts was having a similar problem.

:You know, your essay is supposed to be on household charms, not Ginny, so you can stop doodling her name all over your parchment,: said Sirius, obviously trying to hold back his laughter.

-Shut up, Padfoot. It's not my fault she has to bloody look that good just when she's doing homework.-

His only answer was muffled laughter.

He glanced at Ginny again out of the corner of his eye, once more marveling at the fact that he could have ignored her for so long. He was such a fool. He'd been obsessed with Cho for so long, when the most wonderful girl in Hogwarts was right in front of his nose.

He knew she wasn't exactly what most boys his age would consider good-looking, but that mattered little to him. She wasn't really a curvy girl, her beauty lay elsewhere. It was in her bright smile that lit up the room, it was in her long red hair that shimmered when the light hit it, it was in the way she laughed, the way she cried, the way she yelled at him for being an idiot.

Could she still fancy him? He wouldn't blame her if she was completely fed up with him by now. After all, he had treated her pretty horribly over the years.

He snapped his head back to his parchment and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. It was no good, he couldn't work like this. He jumped up and walked to the trunk his parents left him.

Dropping down inside, he quickly spotted the backpack he'd filled with Dark Arts books from Grimmauld Place. He looked around the small Library curiously. It seemed to be the exact size needed to fit all the books his parents had put in it. Could there be some way for him to add more?

Then he spotted it; a grey panel with one green button and one red button on it. It was right next to the ladder used to climb into the trunk, and he couldn't believe he'd missed it before.

There was a note stuck to it that read,

Harry,

If you wish add some more to your collection, press and hold the green button to expand the room. Press the red button to shrink it.

-Mum and Dad

Harry pressed the green button and held it down for a moment. Looking over his shoulder, he could see the room growing larger, while the bookshelves present shuffled themselves to make room for several more, empty ones. When he thought he had enough room for the hundred-odd books from Sirius' house, he let go of the button and the room froze in place.

"Brilliant," he breathed.

:Yeah:

Soon enough, he had the new bookshelves loaded, and was poking his head out of the trunk again. "Ginny?"

She turned around from her desk. "Yes?"

"Whenever you're done, go ahead and come on down in here. There are a few books you might be interested in, In fact, I think I have one that's solely about the Bat Bogey Hex. My dad must've been responsible for that."

She giggled. "Probably. Alright, I'll be down later."

He nodded, disappearing once again, and was soon immersed in several books about various hexes, curses, and jinxes; both Light and Dark.

That night, Harry was awoken by Ginny once more thrashing about in a nightmare. He was at her side in an instant, holding her shoulders and trying to shake her awake.

"Ginny! Ginny wake up!" he cried urgently.

Her eyes snapped open, and when she spotted Harry kneeling beside her bed, she immediately grabbed him and clung to him like a lifeline, sobbing once more on his shoulder.

"H-he w-wanted me t-to kill you," she sobbed. "I c-couldn't stop m-myself. H-he m-made me do it."

Harry hesitated for a moment, and then climbed into the bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "It was only a dream," he whispered. "He can't control you anymore. I won't let him."

She made no reply, but buried her face in the crook of his neck, still sobbing gently. He ran a hand through her hair soothingly, and this seemed to calm her, for her breathing grew more relaxed. Eventually, she drifted off, and he slid himself gingerly out from under her, careful not to disturb her sleep.

He paced the length of the expanded room agitatedly. They couldn't do this anymore. The Weasleys had placed their trust in him. He was sure they wouldn't approve of him staying in the bed with Ginny. True, it was perfectly innocent in its intentions, but in some ways, Harry was still a normal teenage boy, and being that close to her was eliciting some quite natural reactions.

There was nothing for it. He'd have to find another solution to her nightmares. Tomorrow they would go to Flourish and Blottes and see if they could find any material on relieving her of them.

He sighed, watching her sleep fitfully, and conjured himself an armchair. He prepared to watch her for the rest of the night if necessary.

Tom had a lot to answer for, and it looked like it was up to Harry to be judge, jury, and executioner.

The rest of that week passed in a blur. Harry was pleased to find that he and Ginny were able to spend large amounts of time comfortably together. They continued training in Martial Arts every day at the park, and studied in Harry's library trunk each evening. Ginny, fortunately, had no more nightmares, but Harry was sure they hadn't seen the last of them.

Despite getting dozens of books on dreams at Diagon Alley, they couldn't seem to find something that would alleviate her nightmares. Harry still held out hope that they would eventually be able to come up with a solution though, so they continued to search.

All things considered, it had been a rather enjoyable few days, and before they knew it, it was Friday and time for Snape's Occlumency lesson.

Harry was up before dawn that day, pacing the room nervously and hoping he wouldn't wake up Ginny in the process.

Today was a momentous occasion for him as a Marauder. He was going to get back at Snape.

His father had been wrong all those years ago, but Snape had no right to hate Harry for things he hadn't even known ever happened, much less been responsible for. If Snape was going to hate him anyway, Harry might as well give him a reason to.

He decided that pacing would get him nowhere, and went down into his library, thinking that perhaps some Wandless Magic training would let him work off some of his nervousness.

After a few hours of that, he felt a little more relaxed, and headed up to have breakfast with Ginny.

They decided to skip going to the park that day, as they didn't know when Snape would arrive.

As it turned out, he arrived at Privet Drive in the middle of the morning. Harry answered the door and invited him in politely, receiving only a glare for his trouble.

:Ugly, greasy, worthless...:

-Sirius, if you don't shut it, I'm going to block you out so you can't see what I do to him.-

Sirius was unnaturally quiet after that.

Harry showed the greasy-haired Potions Master upstairs to his room, where they found Ginny propped up on her bed reading.

Snape's scowl deepened when he saw where she was staying, but other than that he pretended she did not exist. He turned to Harry. "Well, Potter," he spat, "The headmaster has convinced me to once again attempt to teach you to guard your mind, despite the fact that it is an obvious waste of time.

"I doubt that you have made any progress on your own. Nevertheless, we will begin with a test of your current defenses."

Harry snorted. "I did try to tell the headmaster, but he wouldn't listen. I doubt you will either, but I'll try anyway. I advise you to not attempt entering my mind. My shields are far more powerful than you could possibly imagine, and I don't think you'll like the results."

"We shall see, Potter," the Order's spy sneered. Quick as a flash, he whipped out his wand and cried, "Legilimens!"

Harry, having expected this, let the spell hit him. He gave Snape enough time just inside the fringes to read the sign placed on his shield, before he pushed back against the intrusion inside his mind.

Snape was literally thrown across the room by the sheer force of the defensive push, and smashed right into the wall, where he slid to the floor.

Harry shook his head sadly. "I did try to warn you," he said mock-mournfully.

Ginny put a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles, and Snape stared at him in shock. "What the hell was that, Potter?" he demanded.

Harry dusted his fingernails off on his shirt and examined them carefully. "Like I said in the Order meeting, my mental shields are now impenetrable. Voldemort cannot enter my mind, and neither can anyone else"

"How?" Snape asked, still in shock, as he struggled to his feet and straightened his robes.

Harry shrugged. "Occlumency is for those who want to block Legilimency. My mental shields are far beyond that. They block any type of mental intrusion, including that of Potions. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I was now immune to Veritaserum, though I can't be sure without testing it."

Snape's expression soured considerably. "That's not possible, Potter. You cannot possibly be that powerful, though I'm not surprised that you would think that. Just like your father, completely arrogant and-"

What else both Harry and James Potter were, nobody found out, because Harry had floored the Potions Master with his fist. The man's nose looked broken, and he appeared to have lost several teeth.

:It looks like Ginny owes you 5 sickles. Told her you could get four in one punch:

Harry's wand was out and pointed right between Snape's eyes. "You can insult me as much as you want, professor, but if you ever insult either of my parents again, I will ensure that you regret it for the rest of your miserable life. Are we clear?"

Snape was so scared by the look in Harry's eyes that he hastily nodded.

"Now, get out of my room," Harry spat. "Go tell Professor Dumbledore that I have no need of instructors from him. He had his chance years ago, and he blew it."

Snape scrambled to his feet once more, and he ran from the room as fast as his feet could carry him, cursing, not for the first time, the day he met Harry Potter.

Later that afternoon, a package arrived for Harry by owl post. When he saw who it was from, he tore it open excitedly, causing Ginny to stare at him in bemusement.

Soon he was holding a small plastic bag full of what looked like plain white tablets.

"What's that?" Ginny asked.

Harry, who had been staring at the bag with something akin to glee, started in surprise. "Wha- oh, these? They're a special early birthday present I asked your twin brothers for. Anti-Dursley pills. Slip one into their tea and they'll spout random things like; 'I'm a muggle,' or 'Magic rocks,' or 'Wizards are the greatest.' "

Ginny's eyes widened. "They made those just for you?"

Harry, who was obviously already planning his prank, shrugged noncomittally. "Yeah. I'm their sole investor, so they told me I can request special products any time. This is the first time I've requested anything"

They were interrupted at that moment by Harry's aunt's shrill voice. "BOY! TELEPHONE FOR YOU! GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

Harry's eyes widened and he shot down the stairs as fast as he could, snatching the phone from his aunt the moment he reached her.

She scowled and muttered, "You have five minutes," before she stalked off into her kitchen, no doubt to make it even more spotless.

"Hello?" Harry said cautiously into the receiver.

"Is this Mr. Potter?" a deep voice inquired.

"This is he."

"This is Martin Perry. I believe you hired me to locate someone?"

"Yes," said Harry excitedly, "Have you found her?"

"I'm afraid I have not, Mr. Potter. Myself and a few of the others you hired went to the address you gave us, but as you predicted, they were long gone. Whoever has this girl you're trying to find is good. Very good. There are false trails left all over the place. I am sorry to say that it could take months, perhaps even years to find her."

Harry sighed. "Very well, keep me informed."

"Will do. Good day, Mr. Potter."

Harry hung up the phone and headed back upstairs, shoulders slumped in defeat. He hardly even noticed that Ginny had followed him when he rushed down, until she put an arm around him and guided him to his bed, where she sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"The muggle detectives I hired to find Katherine. They say it could take years to find her."

"Oh, Harry," Ginny whispered. She put her arms around him and held him close. "I'm sure it won't take that long. They'll find her. You haven't heard back from the wizard detectives have you?"

He shook his head. "No, but I don't think they'll find anything either."

"Don't give up just yet, Harry. You said you hired the best in the business. I'm sure they'll find her before Tom does."

Harry smiled thinly. "I hope you're right, for her sake."

AN

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Review! But be gentle.....

I'm extremely pleased with the large number of reviews I got for chapter 12. Here's hoping we make 200 this time!

Thanks once more to all my reviewers! I'd thank you individually, but then when would I write the next chapter? If you're not mentioned in the following review responses, it's because I have nothing specific to say to you. I want you to know that you have my deepest, heartfelt gratitude for reviewing my story though.

yuiop: It's only slow during the summer, I promise it'll go faster starting September (in the story)

athenakitty: Harry suspects Ginny still has feelings for him, but he isn't sure. And, being a typically thick male (no offense guys, I'm one of you too) he probably won't know for sure until she spells it out for him. Your second question, maybe. third, yes. fourth, no. fifth, I meantthat as a joke. I don't actually plan to write anything like that into the story right now.

marauder23: many thanks, I rather liked using that to bring him around for once instead of Ginny. Glad you liked it. Of course, my brother keeps telling me I'm getting sappy now, so

George: that's alright. Again, I'm happy to receive negative reviews, as long as they're helpful and polite. I may not agree with them, but then again I may change something in the story if a real problem is pointed out to me.

lil-timmy116: Before Christmas. (in the story)

bommor: right now :)

Panda Slippers: Remus starts to become more important in this chapter, and will continue to be a central character throughout the fic. Enjoy!

TuxedoMac: I know, I'm just setting up the H/G stuff mostly right now. The action and all that won't be for a while yet, though I did add some stuff with Snape and Remus in this latest.

john: a little news in this chappie, but nothing good I'm afraid. It'll be a while yet before he finds her.

Christina: I'm afraid not. He can only talk to Sirius because Sirius went through the veil. I'm not sure if I said this earlier, but I'll say it now. Lily and James are in this story, though perhaps not in the way you might think. It could be just a memory of Remus or Sirius, or it could be something more. That's a surprise for much later in the story.

Jessica Jorritsma: uh, actually, I'm a guy.