AN

Ok. This took way longer than it should've. I apologize for that. We've been SO busy these last couple weeks (work, eye doctor, dentist, chiropractor, school, karate, guitar, church, etc). Anyway, JC-S and I are trying to co-write a one-shot for a challenge on another site, because the plot bunny bit me in the butt and I haven't been able to concentrate on this story properly since. Hopefully once we get it done I'll be able to write this one again. I hate plot bunnies.

Alrighty then. This chapter we have action again, finally. It starts off slow because, obviously, I have to transition it. I can't just jump straight into the action now can I? This is the first of two chapters that begin the whole 'meaning of the title' thing. You won't fully understand until next chapter, but the beginning of it is in here. Some of you may guess what I'm going to do, some of you may not. Oh yeah, there's a, um, vague reference to something quite evil and horrible that almost happens to Ginny, but rest assured it does not. I simply can't stand to actually write a fic where it happens. Just thought I'd give you a head's up on that.

Thanks to all my reviewers, who've pushed me up over 420 reviews now. And thanks to JC-S and my beta Yavinbase, without whom I would be lost.

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 18

Malfoy

That evening found Harry and Ginny snuggled up on the couch in his personal library, trying to enjoy their last few waking hours alone together before they had to return to Hogwarts.

"Are you ready to go back?" Ginny asked her boyfriend.

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I'd rather we stay here alone for a while longer."

She giggled and said, "Me too, but I think you just don't want to face my brother."

He groaned aloud. "I've been agonizing over that letter for two weeks now. Couldn't he have given some hint as to what he was thinking, instead of just saying 'we have to talk'?"

"Told you he wouldn't like you dating his sister."

"No, I don't think it's that really," Harry said musingly. "I think if he's mad at me, it's because he had to find out about us from that damned article in the paper. He probably expected me to send him a letter telling him about everything. I would've too, if he hadn't found out before I got a chance."

Ginny hid her face in his chest. "That was absolutely mortifying. That headline, 'Harry Potter Finds Love in Best Friend's Sister?' was awful. They couldn't even get my name right, and they had to bring up that 'best friend's little sister' thing I've been trying to get past ever since I met you."

He chuckled lightly and reached a hand behind her head to pull her hair out of its pony tail. "Well you got past it with me."

"Hey!" she protested, reaching a hand up to where her pony tail had been only moments before. "What'd you do that for?"

His only answer was to gently push her hand out of his way and start running his fingers through her long, red tresses. Unconsciously, her eyes half-closed at the soothing contact and she lay back contentedly on his chest.

He chuckled. "Like that do you?"

"Mmm," she murmured sleepily against him, "'S'nice."

"Gin?"

"Mmm?"

"Don't fall asleep, luv, it's too early. We've got a few hours alone together yet."

He pulled his hand away from her hair, and she sat up, blinking rapidly. "Hmmph," she growled irritably. Why'd he have to go and ruin her nice little bit of relaxation? She was just beginning to enjoy herself.

His eyes sparkled with mirth at her irritation. She was turned away from him, but he knew just how to distract her. Only because Sirius told him about how James had used it on Lily, but that made it all the more amusing for Harry.

He leaned over and very softly blew air into her ear, delighting in the shivers his breath caused in her. She turned back towards him, perhaps to reprimand him, but he was ready. Before she could say anything, he pressed his mouth to hers. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, but soon she was too engrossed in returning the kiss to remember her earlier annoyance towards him.

When it became necessary to breathe, they broke apart. As they did so, Harry couldn't help but think, 'Thank Merlin for Sirius and his advice on girls.'

"Harry?" His girlfriend's beautiful voice cut through his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Want to go for one last walk around the neighborhood?"

"Sure, Gin."

Several minutes later, the two of them were taking a quiet stroll down the sidewalk of Privet Drive, hand in hand.

The shadows on the ground were stretching long as they reached the park. A grove of trees was in front of them, and Ginny suddenly stepped up in front of him, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Do you fancy yourself a good Seeker, Mr. Potter?"

Unsure of what she had in mind, and more than a little wary of that grin, Harry nevertheless decided to play along with her little game. "Why, yes, Miss Weasley, I believe I do."

"So you can catch any Snitch you set your mind to?" she continued, still with that secret smile that set off warning bells in Harry's mind. Her resemblance to Fred and George at that moment was so striking that she appeared to be a smaller (Albeit considerably better-looking, in Harry's private opinion) female version of them.

"I most certainly can," he boasted playfully. "No Snitch can escape me."

"Well what about this Snitch?" she asked, pointing a finger at herself. "Bet you can't catch this one."

And with that, she took off towards the trees. Realization dawned on Harry, and he took off after her, determined to win their little game.

The only problem was; his girlfriend was wicked fast and damn near impossible to catch. Her red hair and melodious giggle was all he could see and hear, as she weaved in and out of the tree trunks at an incredible rate.

He followed the distinctive red spot around one particularly large tree, only to find nothing there. He listened closely, but her laughing had disappeared. Where was she?

"Oh, Ginny," he called out. "Come out; come out, where ever you are."

He paused and listened again, but no sound came from the silent trees around him. A sudden sense of foreboding came over him. The shadows had lengthened considerably by this time, and it was almost completely dark among the trees.

"Ginny?" he called out nervously. "This isn't funny any more!"

He whirled in circles several times, searching for something, anything that could indicate where she was. He was growing more and more anxious with each passing second.

"Ginny!" he called out frantically, nearly hysterically. "Ginny, where are you?"

Then, a muffled scream pierced the silence, and his heart nearly stopped. He took off in the direction from which the sound had come. The ground flew beneath his feet, as he sprinted faster than he ever had before.

Adrenaline and fear coursed through him, spiking his magic. The magic lent further speed to his feet, making them blurs as he shot from beneath the cover of the trees to the empty, grassy area beyond.

There she was! She was squirming and kicking frantically against a black figure that was holding her fast. Her attacker looked up at that moment, and for one instant Harry saw the face of his most hated school enemy, Draco Malfoy, before both he and Ginny vanished without a trace.

Harry's speed was so great by this point that he shot straight through the place where they had been standing.

He managed to stop a moment later, letting out a howl of rage and anguish as he did so. The block he'd placed to keep Sirius from his mind while he was with Ginny slipped from its place, and the voice of his godfather filled his mind.

:What's happened:

Silently, Harry shoved the memories of the last twenty or so minutes to the forefront of his mind, allowing his godfather to witness them.

:Damn:

What do I do now, Sirius?-

:I don't know. Wait! Quick, the necklace! It's your only chance:

Harry blinked, as comprehension struck. The necklace he'd bought for Ginny's birthday! Unknown to her, Harry had laced it with tracking charms to enable him to locate her at all times, just in case she was ever in danger. Why hadn't he remembered that immediately?

"Ostendo sum locus Ginny," he whispered, waving his hand in front of his face. A map of the world appeared in mid-air, with a blinking red dot indicating Ginny's position as being in England.

"Amplifico," he said, and the map zoomed in on England, with a red dot just north of London. "Amplifico," he muttered once more, and it zoomed in enough for him to know where he was going.

Just as he was ready to disappear, Sirius' voice stopped him.

:Get the Order first. I believe he's taken her to Malfoy Manor, in which case you need help to save her. That place will be well guarded:

Harry let out a cry of frustration, wanting to just rush immediately to Ginny's rescue, but did as Sirius suggested.

He appeared in a ball of flames in the midst of the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, causing quite the stir once again.

Dumbledore was not there, but Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and Mad-Eye Moody were.

"Harry!" they all clamored at once in surprise. Grins spread over several faces, and most of them rushed forward to greet him, but he held up his hands to stop them.

"Get Dumbledore. Now," he said loudly, and they finally noticed the furious expression on his face.

"What's the matter, Harry?" asked Remus anxiously. Tonks had already moved to the fireplace to do as Harry said.

"Ginny's been kidnapped," he growled. "By Draco Malfoy."

There was a collective gasp, and Mrs. Weasley nearly collapsed into her husband's arms.

At that moment, Dumbledore appeared, a grim look upon his face.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" he demanded.

Harry explained, briefly what had happened in the park. A wave of his hand brought up the map he'd consulted earlier. "This is where she is," he said, indicating the blinking red dot. "I believe it is the location of Malfoy Manor." The professor's eyes widened in surprise, for Malfoy Manor had been Unplottable and hidden since Voldemort's return.

"Gather the Order and meet me there, Professor. You may need the Aurors too." Dumbledore tried to tell him not to leave, but he vanished in a ball of flames.

He reappeared on a small hill overlooking a huge manor home, surrounded by figures in black cloaks with hoods and white masks. Hurriedly, he tried to apparate, but found he could not.

I knew it! Anti-Apparation Wards. The Order won't be able to get in that way. They'll have to apparate outside and try to storm their way in!-

:Can you Flame inside the house:

No, I can't see inside. I could end up inside a wall or a suit of armor. If I get any closer I'll be seen.-

:Well the Order won't be here soon enough, what are you going to do:

Harry thought about it for a second. He couldn't sneak in, as he didn't have his Cloak, and he couldn't just Flame inside. That left only one option . . .

A maniacal grin came over his face.

Full frontal assault it is then.-

Sirius let out a whoop of anticipation. :Give 'em hell from ol' Padfoot, Mr. Inferno:

Harry crouched down onto the ground, then with all his might, leapt into the air. As he did so, he cast double Banishing spells at the ground beneath his feet, propelling him fully fifty feet into the air.

Beginning his descent, he let out a primal scream of rage that suddenly became a Dragon's roar, as he changed into the form he had only used once before.

He slammed into the ground before the main entrance of the Manor with all the force of a small meteor. The tremor created by this knocked all the Death Eaters around him to the ground.

He opened his mouth, spewing a gigantic stream of flame, and the battle began.

Ginny rematerialized in a cold, stone room only Merlin knew where. The shock of their arrival allowed her to finally wrench free of Malfoy's grip, sending her stumbling into a stone wall.

'How the hell did Malfoy get a Portkey?' she thought frantically. She was in full panic mode by now. She had no wand – Malfoy had seen to that immediately – and she was trapped alone in a dungeon with the amazing bouncing ferret. This was bad.

Malfoy was smirking triumphantly at her. "Not so smug now, are you, Weasley? Potter can't save you now."

"What do you want, ferret-face?" she demanded angrily. She had to stall for time. Harry would get the Order and come for her. She just had to keep Malfoy talking.

"What do I want?" he asked in surprise. "This could take a while. Perhaps I'll just explain my goals for the moment. I want revenge."

"Revenge? On who? Me?"

"Don't be so arrogant, Weasley. Of course not on you. I want revenge on Potter, and you are the key to that. For years he's been showing me up, beating me at everything; making me look bad in my father's eyes. And now, he's gotten my father thrown into prison. Well no more." He was pacing now, moving his arms wildly as he ranted and raved in the tiny, windowless room, lit only by a single flickering torch.

"Now I'll show him. The Dark Lord wants you, probably to break Potter. I volunteered to be the one to get you, and in return, I get to hurt Potter by getting to the one thing he holds dearest." His cold eyes narrowed and glinted as he stopped pacing and advanced towards her. "You."

Her eyes opened wide in horror. No. She backed away from him slowly, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Harry will come for me. You'll never get away with this."

"Oh, I think I will, Weasley. Potter will never be able to find you here. No one can save you. Now, are you ready to have a little fun?" he asked, smirking dangerously.

He was getting closer, her back hit the wall, and she pressed herself against it in terror. Malfoy came closer and closer, raising his arms towards her.

But there was one thing about this situation that Draco Malfoy knew nothing about.

Ginny Weasley had been trained for weeks by her boyfriend for just this sort of occasion.

Faster than the eye could see, her hand shot out from her side and knuckle-punched him right on the Adam's Apple. Malfoy fell to his knees in shock and pain, clutching his throat and gagging.

Ginny saw her chance, and made a break for the door. It was unlocked, and she wrenched it open immediately. Malfoy obviously hadn't thought it needed to be kept locked while he was in there to subdue her. Arrogant little-

She found herself at the far end of a long corridor, lined with doors just like the one she had come through. At the opposite end, she could see a winding staircase going upwards.

'Of course it would be all the way down there.'

Just when she reached the first step, there was a tremendous BOOM that shook the entire building down to its foundations – where Ginny was, in other words. The tremor startled her, sending her to the ground as dust fell from the ceiling above her. She stared upwards in shock. What in Merlin's name was that?

Another explosion shook the stonework again, and she decided not to dwell on it. She scrambled to her feet and rushed up the stairs as fast as she could, cursing herself for being short and thus slower than was helpful just then.

She heard footsteps behind her and tried to pick up her pace. Malfoy had obviously recovered, and his legs were much longer than hers. She'd have to move faster.

Another door was at the top of the stairs, and she wrenched it open hastily. Just as she made it through the doorway, she heard the impact of a spell on the wall next to her.

Damn it! She should have taken his wand! She took off down the long, carpeted hallway she found herself in, cursing herself inventively under her breath. In a straight fight, she could probably take Malfoy; but he had a wand and she didn't, and that was another matter altogether.

She raced through room after empty room, noticing as she did that whatever place she was in suited Malfoy. It was cold and dark and full of snobby old family heirlooms such as paintings and jewelry.

The footsteps behind her grew louder, and the curses striking the walls around her grew closer and more frequent. The house was huge, and she had no idea where she was going. Then, a tripping jinx caught her by surprise, sending her sprawling on a rich, Persian rug.

"Thought you'd got away, did you?" Malfoy rasped, one hand pointing his wand at her and the other still clutching his throat. He'd be feeling that one for a while, she thought with grim satisfaction.

"Well let's see how you like this then," he hissed. "Crucio!"

Harry was royally pissed off now. Many of the Death Eaters had been literally cut to ribbons or roasted alive, but he now had to find Ginny while fending off the last few still standing. Without a second thought, he crashed straight through the front doors, taking much of the wall with him.

Some idiot that had been standing guard inside sent a Conjunctivitus Jinx towards him, but luckily he managed to duck in time.

A quick swipe of his gigantic, clawed foot left the unlucky man in two pieces.

The entrance hall to Malfoy Manor was huge, but further on in any direction it was too small for a dragon, especially one of his size. He reverted to his natural form and called up his tracking charm map, zooming it in until he could see Ginny's location in relation to his own.

She was about a hundred yards north of him, so he set off at a dead run in that general direction, passing through room after room.

He finally came into one particularly large dining room to find Ginny sprawled on the floor at the far end, screaming in agony. Malfoy was standing over her with his wand, laughing maniacally.

Harry's blood boiled, and he didn't even stop to think He just took of running towards them. He didn't know it, but if anyone had looked into his eyes at that moment, they would have seen twin pillars of fire in those emerald green pools. His skin started to glow, and sparks erupted from his fingertips.

Malfoy lifted the curse and advanced towards Ginny, a triumphant smirk upon his face as she curled herself into a fetal position on the floor, still whimpering from the aftereffects of the curse.

"Malfoy!"

Harry's voice stopped him, and he turned in shock and anger to find his most hated foe running straight for him.

:Harry, what are you-:

Harry ignored him and drew his wand. "Eat this, ferret! Avada Kedavra!"

Sirius gasped.

Malfoy's eyes registered shock, as the green light streaked towards him and struck him square in the chest. He slumped; dead before he hit the ground.

Harry did not stop to think about what he had just done. Malfoy had been warned, and Harry always kept his word – especially when it concerned Ginny in any way.

He rushed immediately to her side and pulled her into his lap. She was a tiny thing, and she fit very easily on top of him. She was trembling in his arms.

"Easy, we'll get you to Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey will look after you," he said reassuringly.

"I'm okay," she whispered, trying to hide the pain she was in, "Let's just go."

He nodded and tried to stand up, but the movement brought a fresh wave of pain in her body. Though she tried to stifle it, a small moan of agony escaped her.

He paused. "You alright?"

She gritted her teeth against the pain. "Hurts," she whimpered.

"Alright," he said. He looked around him hurriedly, before finally just taking off his shoe. He held it out behind Ginny's back so he could keep his hold on her. Her put his wand back in his pocket and tapped the shoe with his finger. "Portus.

"It was in one of my mum's books," he explained, as he touched it to Ginny's hand. "Activate."

The familiar hooking sensation behind his navel came, and they were hurled through time and space to find themselves in the Hogwarts infirmary.

Madame Pomfrey, already there in anticipation of the students arriving the next day, heard Harry calling out her name.

She rushed from her office to find him holding up Ginny Weasley, who was obviously quite injured.

"Put her there," she ordered hurriedly, motioning to the nearest bed. "Quickly."

She pulled her wand and started muttering numerous incantations over Ginny's body, as Harry complied with her order.

"What happened?" demanded the Hogwarts matron.

"Malfoy kidnapped her. He put the Cruciatus on her."

She summoned a post-Cruciatus potion at once and poured it down the girl's throat. Ginny visibly relaxed, and her hand, which had been wringing Harry's tightly, relaxed its grip.

Madame Pomfrey tried to shoo Harry away at that point, but Ginny demanded that he stay. The nurse swelled up in indignation until Harry politely requested to remain with Ginny. She finally relented at that.

Ginny didn't appear to be injured in any other way, except for a couple bruises on her knees from a fall of some sort, so Pomfrey gave her a Sleeping Draught to let her sleep off the remaining effects of the curse.

When Harry rose from the chair he'd pulled up to the bedside, the nurse was surprised to find that his entire right leg was covered in blood, and there was a huge gash behind his knee.

"Mr. Potter!" she exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me you were injured?"

"Huh?" he said confusedly. He checked himself over and found that the hollow behind his knee was pouring blood. His jaw dropped in shock. To tell the truth, he hadn't even noticed he was injured. He had felt a throbbing sensation, but his pain tolerance was so high after everything he'd endured that he had failed to give it any thought. "What, that? It's nothing. Don't worry about-"

"On the bed, Potter," she snapped, "Now."

He sighed and did as she asked, noticing that he walked with a slight limp.

Harry waited in his bed for fully an hour after the nurse went back to her office, all the while pondering the events of that evening. How did Malfoy get through the wards around Privet Drive? He should've been unable to come near them without Dumbledore's permission. Where had their Order guard been during all this? And how did Malfoy get hold of a Portkey?

There was really only one answer.

Voldemort.-

:Yes, I'm afraid you may be right. No doubt that's how he got the Portkey. The Order guard was probably taken care of relatively quickly, but I don't know about the wards. How could he have broken them:

Well we know that the recipient of the wards, me in this case, can take them down because they're tied into their blood. But how could Voldemort have done it?-

He sat in silence for some time, thinking, when it hit him like a ton of bricks.

:I know exactly what you're thinking, Harry; that night in the graveyard.:

Exactly! He took some of my blood! That would mean the wards are connected to him as well. But if that's true, why hasn't he used it before? And how did Dumbledore not notice?-

:Who knows? Maybe he just hasn't realized he could do it before. Maybe he didn't know where you live. Maybe it took him this long to do it. The point is, he's attacking again. The odd thing is that they went only for Ginny. My guess is he's still not willing to risk a confrontation with you at this point, so he's trying to affect you by hurting her.:

And what about Dumbledore? Doesn't he have some way of knowing when the wards are down?-

:I would think so. I don't have enough of an experience with blood wards to say for sure, but my guess would be that he found some way to make it seem as if they were still active, without them actually being active.:

Just then, there was a huge commotion outside of the hospital wing. Harry climbed quickly out of his bed to see what was going on and try to shut it up quickly. They were going to wake Ginny at this rate.

Just as he limped over to the door, it burst open and a crowd of people came pouring in. Fudge, leading a whole troop of Aurors, was first to arrive, closely followed by Professor Dumbledore. Last in were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who immediately rushed to their daughter's side when they spotted her.

"There he is!" Fudge declared, pointing at Harry. "Arrest him!"

Harry raised an eyebrow as six Aurors surrounded him, wands drawn and demanding that he surrender his own wand.

"My I ask what crime exactly I'm being accused of committing?" Harry asked mildly.

A young man standing next to Fudge, whom Harry recognized as Percy Weasley, stepped forward importantly. "By order of the Minister of Magic," he declared pompously, "Harry James Potter is to be placed under arrest for the murder of Draco Lucius Malfoy, by use of the Unforgivable Killing Curse."

"Well," said Fudge happily, "What do you have to say to that?"

Dumbledore interrupted, "Cornelius, this is nonsense. Harry did no such thing."

"Yes he did!" shouted Fudge. "He did it, he did it! Banks, check his wand."

Harry removed his wand from his pocket and handed it to the Auror named Banks, seemingly unconcerned by what was happening.

"Prior Incantato," said Banks, pointing his wand at Harry's. To the surprise of all gathered there but Fudge and Harry, a ghost-like image of Draco Malfoy appeared and hung in mid-air.

"Deletrius," muttered Banks, and Malfoy disappeared.

"Harry?" asked Dumbledore quietly. A rare thing indeed had happened. The old headmaster was shaken, right down to his very shoes.

Harry's face was emotionless. "Yes, Professor, I did it. I gave him fair warning that if he harmed Ginny, I would kill him. And I did, just as I killed many of those Death Eaters outside the mansion."

"And just how did you do that?" demanded one Auror on his right. "They looked like they were killed by some huge animal, and some of them were burned nearly into ashes."

Harry didn't even blink. "I am an unregistered animagus; with more than one form. I used my Dragon form." They already knew about his Phoenix form because he'd used it in the Alley when it was attacked. No doubt Dumbledore had kept Fudge from kicking up a fuss. He knew it was too late now to try and hide his Dragon form. They'd find out anyway and Fudge was going to bring him in for use of an Unforgivable, even though it was used on a servant of the Dark Lord.

:Harry, do you think it's wise to let him take you in:

We'll see how it goes, Siri. They don't know I don't need a wand yet. And I doubt Dumbledore will let them keep me locked up.-

"What's going on?" a voice from across the room called.

Harry whirled to find Ginny blinking herself out of sleep. Her parents, who had been staring at Harry, horror-stricken, for the last few minutes, turned their attention back to their daughter.

"It's alright, Gin," Harry called out reassuringly. "Just a little mistake. The Minister's going to take me in to the Ministry for a while. Just go back to sleep. I'll be back before you know it."

"I don't think so, Potter," declared Fudge. "I'll see you in Azkaban for this!"

"Harry?" Ginny called out worriedly.

"I'll be fine!" he called over his shoulder, as the Aurors started to lead him away.

She tried to get out of her bed and follow him, but her parents held her back. "Harry!"

A tear escaped her eye. She hoped he'd be okay, but who knew with Fudge? She didn't want him to go to Azkaban. It would kill her to be without him. It wouldn't be so bad for him without the Dementors there any more, but he would still be all by himself out there.

A sigh escaped Dumbledore's lips as he stood by the door. "I am afraid I must follow them. Molly, Arthur, Ginny should probably remain here for her own safety. Taking her back to the Burrow or Grimmauld Place would be most unwise."

And with that, he left.

AN

Review! Even if just to tell me you read it, I don't care (though I like long reviews best) just review please!

Ok, I'm hoping the hide-and-seek thing in the park worked out alright. I originally had a whole alternate plotline where the waitress, Marie, kisses Harry and Ginny goes running off in tears, so Harry can't find her until he hears her scream. Obviously, I didn't want to use this after I already had them have a fight. Plus I didn't want Ginny to be the one who misunderstood again. That would seem like I'm making Harry perfect and incapable of making mistakes in their relationship.

Which we all know can't be true, because us guys are the thick ones. It's usually our fault. Er, strike that. Always our fault.

Also, if you want to know what a knuckle-punch is (as defined by my sensai) it's where you curl the first two joints in your fingers up, but keep the last one (closest to the palm) straight. Kind of a cross between apunch and a spear-hand.

To all those of you complaining about the lack of Sirius, I apologize. I purposely faded him out because Harry likes privacy when he's with Ginny, and he's been with Ginny a lot during the summer. so he blocks Sirius out all the time. Now that the summer's pretty much over, Sirius will make a comeback. Oh, I hope you liked him in this chapter.

Also, a lot of you think the last part with Emily's parents was a little odd and awkward. I'm sorry about that, I honestly hit a brick wall with that and cut it short. Maybe if I think of something more clever to put there I'll fix it some time. Oh, and JKR says only trained, special Ministry officials inform muggle-borns of the Magical World. Maybe Harry will violate the rules, but he certainly won't be the one supposed to go ;)

Yet another thing you lot wanted was for me to put a little about the article in the papers. I did put a bit in this chapter, but not the actual article. This is because I tried to write a newspaper article and failed. I'm sorry, I just can't write that sort of thing. I couldn't even come up with a good headline. Hopefully you at least got a little bit of an idea of people's reactions. I left out Dumbledore and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's reactions because Harry sorta predicted them in the last chapter. He was right, so I'm not going to drag the story on by writing that in there. It's taking me extra chapters as it is.

I'm sorry I can't put more responses, but I'm pressed for time. Hope you understand.

ZergMaster: Killing curse thing . . . ah, mixed thoughts on that. Still not sure I like that I did it, but it is important to the future plot. And I'm shooting for 40 chapters I think. maybe a little less.

NuvaChaos: I agree and . . . as often as I finish chapters.

fwuzzfwuzz: Pillar rocks! so does Sonicflood, Switchfoot, Jeremy Camp, andReliantK. christian artists are awesome.

uNople: thanks so much! I love long, helpful reviews. You know, I think you're the first person who's told me that my way of writing Dumbledore is IC. People have said they liked the way I wrote him, but I don't think anyone said it's true to JK's work. Personally, I'm not quite sure whether I believe he's IC or not. I wrote him as close as I could while sticking to my own plot (I'm bordering on AU because of a couple characters), but I'm not afraid of making him noticeably different. Interesting to note, the cover of the Half-Blood Prince, to me, seems to indicate that Dumbledore and Harry work through their differences and become close once more.

Silver Warrior: Fred and George are my favorite characters. Period. I've been so nervous writing them, not wanting to screw it up after Jo's done so well with them. I nearly cried when JC-S told me he thought they were just as good as Jo's portrayals of them. My brother rocks. Anyway, so yeah. I've always thought of them as being perceptive, but not showing it, so I made them the ones to warn Ginny about that. Plus I'm sick of fics with Weasley big brother talks directed at Harry. Oh, and you have no idea how close you've come with Roswell. I was seriously thinking of doing Area 51. Does that sound cool?

Jack-A-Roe: if you can figure out exactly what it was that was wrong, I'd appreciate the advice. Their relationship is my toughest project in this story, so I need all the help I can get. And whatever happens, I'll finish this story. Hopefully before HBP even comes out, but if it does, despite it.

Lady Smoothie: glad to hear you're reading it even though you don't like Harry/Ginny. That was the way I felt when I read my first H/G fic, and I'm now a firm supporter of the H.M.S. Orange Crush. I don't know if you'll turn out that way, but it's nice just to know you're reading anyway.

theKRITIC: For Dumbledore, join the club. LOL. Loads of people don't like him that way. I just shrug when they say it because I like writing him different ways. In my other fic he's actually quite cool (but I haven't gotten to that part yet, so nobody really knows it). I'm curious as to how you decided you don't like how I've written Petunia, as I've hardly written anything at all about her yet. I'm guessing you wanted me to write her having a change of heart or something? And, I usually am inclined to agree with you about Remus and Tonks, but I heard somewhere that he's eight years older than her, which is really not that much in such an old-fashioned society like the wizarding world. Basically, I was being lazy. I wanted to get Remus with someone, butI didn't want to write another original character (since there are going to be a bunch in America), so I took the easy way out and put him with Tonks. Charlie/Tonks is way better usually.

K,W,G,T,B: I think this chapter should've answered all your questions except the last one, am I right? and the last one isn't necessary since the other brothers learned about the relationship from the paper.

wvchemteach: thanks, and I'll see about getting someone to watch for the British terms. Thing is, so far I've just tried from my own knowledge to make it as realistic as possible. What's basically happened is it's become like me; a hybrid of British and American terms. I'm an American, but I don't get out much, and I read TONS of British books, so now I sorta talk like I'm an American who moved to Britain and started trying to imitate everyone's accent. Sometimes I have to stop myself from saying 'bloody' just because I've read it so many times. It's not like I ever say it, it just comes up because I see it so much. Annoying, really. I need help.

voided: 1) well, I've got bigger plans for him than just sitting in Harry's head, but he won't get his body back, that much I can tell you.2) yep.

arios: I think Harry's going to travel all over the continent. He's got lots to do after all.

Briea: well their troubles are of course far from over. I just didn't want to open their relationship with a huge fight. it doesn't bode well for their future. anyway, the potholes on the relationship road get deeper as we progress.

SeekerTLK: Don't I know it! Just yesterday I was walking to work, and these girls my age started waving . . . right when I was making this stupid litte maneuver with my feet to make fun of this thing we do in karate