Chapter Nine: Aftermath

He drifted through a blue light, being pulled towards some item in the distance. It sat on a pedestal, a golden cage surrounding it. As he got closer, it became a book. He could almost read the letters when...

Harry's eyes snapped open, suddenly and clearly. Well, clearly wasn't exactly right, because his glasses weren't on. He could see enough, however, to know that he was in the hospital wing. Sitting up, he found his glasses on the table and put them on, looking around for anyone to call. He saw the book sitting in his lap, and it all came back to him. Godric Gryffindor was his ancestor. It really made sense when he thought about it. His thoughts were interrupted by Madame Pomfrey.

"Mr. Potter! What are you doing? Lay back down immediately." He chuckled to himself at her tone, marveling that she could sound so irritated and concerned at the same time.

"Really, I feel fine. I was just tired." He was a little startled to realize that this was the truth. He felt like he could play a whole round of Quidditch without fail. He gave her a charming smile, causing her to falter, before he heard a sound at the door. Whirling quickly, he pointed his wand at the people standing there. The healer glanced at the bedside table, where the wand had been a second ago. She hadn't seen him grab it.

"Really, Harry, are you going to hex us?" Ron sounded uncertain, as he didn't want to be hit by one of his curses. Harry smiled sheepishly, lowering his wand. Hermione made her way over to him, followed closely by Ron, Luna, and Neville. They all grabbed chairs and surrounded him, but not before there were many hugs exchanged. All of them started talking at once, and there seemed to be two main topics. What had he done in the village, and whether he was feeling all right.

"Seriously, I'm fine. As for explanations, I think it would be best if we waited for a certain Headmaster so I don't have to repeat myself. Ah, here he comes." The others turned to the door, but it was a good minute before Albus Dumbledore stepped through. Hermione sent him a curious glance, but she didn't say anything.

"My boy, I'm glad to see you looking so well. Though you are a little paler than I like." Harry gave a chuckle, then straitened with a blank look on his face.

"Well, defeating the forces of darkness single handedly is quite taxing." Everyone looked at him with some surprise, then burst out laughing. He continued. "Honestly, I'm glad you're here. I've been bombarded with questions, and I don't think I could have held out much longer. First though, I think some privacy is in order." The Headmaster looked a little shocked.

"Well, Harry, Poppy is in her office, and I assume you want your friends here for this. Who else could we possibly hide this from?" He drew a breath when the laughter disappeared from Harry's face and was replaced with a coldness.

"I believe we have discussed this issue, Headmaster." Albus tried not to wince when he heard the tone Harry put on his title. Even his friends seemed unsure about what they were talking about, but Albus could see disappointment and even sadness in the eyes of his favorite student. Without another word, his eyes never leaving the Headmaster's, Harry lifted his wand and pointed it at a corner of the room. "Invisus Visus." A stream of golden lights poured from his wand to cover what seemed to be a man-sized shape standing there. "Accio." A silvery cloth flew to his waiting hand, leaving an uncovered Mad-Eye Moody. He looked a little disgruntled, but left when Dumbledore nodded. Harry waved his wand in a circular motion above him, whispering what seemed to be quite a long spell. When he brought it down sharply, the air seemed to shimmer for a second, then settled. The Headmaster seemed to be having trouble forming words, but thankfully Hermione was more than able. With wide eyes, she posed her question.

"Was that the Illusion Shield? But what was the rest of it?" She inched closer to him, obviously eager for the answer, while everyone else except the Headmaster looked slightly confused.

"Yeah. It seemed like the best idea right now." Seeing the confused faces, he explained what they were talking about. "Anyone who sees us over here will think we're talking about some boring class assignment, except for Ron, of course. He'll be pestering us about Quidditch." Ron gave a start at this, and Harry laughed. "Well, it wouldn't be believable if you were calmly talking about homework, would it? As for the rest: a notice me not so that they won't notice the Headmaster sitting in on this discussion, and a small repelling charm so they feel inclined not to interrupt us." He seemed not to notice the dropped jaws seated around him, as he was busy cleaning his glasses. Putting them back on his face, he started his tale.

"It all started over the summer, when I pretty much frightened the Dursleys into submission, seeing as how things tended to explode when they upset me." The others gave him a look at this, but he ignored it. "Anyway, I was in the park one day, and I met a boy by the name of Mark Evans, and saved him from the ministrations of my cousin. That's when Bellatrix and a cadre of Death Eaters showed up. Seeing as how she loved me so, she felt a round of the Cruciatus was in order. When I didn't scream enough for her satisfaction, they thought Mark would be more fun to play with." There were gasps all around, and even Luna looked less dazed than usual. "Indeed. I, however, felt that Mark would not appreciate her skills, so I ...covered him." He blushed here, most likely at the look of awe on Ron's and Neville's faces. "Anyway, they burned up, I was somehow subjected to a seriously mean spell...well that's not important. What is what happened while I was under." Hermione snapped at his casual tone.

"What do you mean it's not important that you were under the influence of the most evil spell in creation? Honestly, Harry, you will be the death of me!" He gave a chuckle at her statement.

"Well Hermione, I'll try to do better. So, while I was under, I saw things." They saw a shadow in his eyes as he said this, and he stopped talking for a couple of minutes, staring into space. "I'll only tell you the really important parts. After a little bit, Voldemort," nobody flinched, and a smile came back to his face, "decided to pay me a visit. There was the usual, I'm gonna kill you, when I rule the world, blah, blah, blah." Here he grinned with a mischievous air. "Would you believe he called himself the Lord of Eternal Darkness? Anyway, I made some comments, called him Tommy, said he was acting like a baby, and then we dueled." The students around the bed stared at him with horror. It was Hermione that spoke.

"You called that insane dark lord a baby? What were you thinking?" He rubbed his ears and looked towards the Headmaster, who was relieved to note that the coldness had disappeared.

"I learned it from a certain personage. So we dueled, our wands connected...although I suppose it was the idea of our wands, since they weren't really there with us." He trailed off again, this time looking thoughtful. Hermione seemed surprised at his words, while Ron, Neville, and Ginny looked confused. Luna, however, looked just as thoughtful as he. "So, instead of the regular Priori Incantatem, where the spells performed simply repeat, I somehow ended up in his mind." There were gasps, and the Headmaster looked slightly worried. Hermione, of course, looked sympathetic, but unsurprised. "Well, I think when I won the battle, I got information from him. There were a couple of spells that I do not want to think about." Here he shuddered, remembering the glimpses of darkness he had gotten. "On the plus side, I did find some really fascinating things. The spell I just performed is one of them. He found it in an ancient copy of Nylard's Tome of Attacks." He saw the Headmaster and Hermione both open their mouths to protest, and cut them off. "Yes, I know it's not in the copy the library holds. Apparently, it was edited out of the book about a hundred years ago, and Voldemort found an old copy." He looked around at the others, and sighed at their slightly awed, confused faces. Hopping off of the edge of the bed he was sitting on, he addressed the Headmaster. "I need to head back up to your office, I left my things there. I'll see you guys later." He headed off towards the office, Dumbledore not far behind. When they entered, Harry bowed to the Sorting Hat.

"All went well, as I'm sure you know. Thank you for everything...do you have a name? I feel odd calling you 'Hat'."

"I was called Taslan by Godric, though no one has called me that since." Albus stared at the Hat in shock. He was ashamed to think that he had never even tried to discover if it had a name. With a final bow, Harry picked up his pack and left. The three occupants sat there in silence, each thinking to themselves, though Fawkes hummed slightly. Then the silence was broken. "I'm glad I don't have to sort him again. I'm afraid I'd have an even harder time." Albus looked at him with some amusement.

"You mean that he is no longer split between two houses?" The hat-Taslan- shook it's tip back and forth.

"His ambition is even greater now than it was in his second year, and I sense some slyness lurking close to the top. His bravery burns bright in his center, though it has recently taken a rather harsh blow." He bowed his head at this remark, knowing Harry still felt uncertain about his actions concerning Sirius. "His willingness to work hard and his loyalty to those he cares for are unsurpassed. I even sense some thirst for knowledge in him, though it is limited to one or two fields. Yes, I'm glad he is safely placed." The ancient Headmaster sat in his chair, thinking about the many things he had learned today. Most of all, he recalled the horror he had felt when Harry was under the Mal Dumier. It had made older, less pleasant memories surface, ones he had kept locked away for over fifty years. Finally, he spoke into the silence.

"I miss you."

A week later, Harry sat in his common room, glad that classes had been cancelled for the day. Not only could he avoid all of the questions, he finally had a chance to rest. When he wasn't doing make-up practical work for his classes, he was practicing with some of his abilities in the Room of Requirement. Both Mage Sense and Spell Sight were ones that were best not to use in Hogwarts. He had tried training both of them twice each, and had come away with a headache from all of the spells and wards around the grounds. He was mostly concentrating on his empathic touch for now, hoping to train it to maximum capacity.

He was in the middle of his meditation right now, with his back towards the fireplace. By concentrating on a certain event, with a single touch he could transfer the emotions evoked by that memory to anyone he touched. It was like something the muggle psychologists were always talking about, and he was about ready to test his advancement.

What made things hard was the nature of the ability. There was no turning it on, so to speak. It was always on, and all of his struggle was to attempt to either confine the transfer to one point on his body or dampen all parts completely. Then, if he needed to use it, he could simply stop holding back. This made it more dangerous than other abilities, because if he lost control and touched someone, he could easily destroy their mind.

He was fairly certain, however, that he had progressed far enough to nullify that danger. And even if he hadn't, there was his backup plan. What he needed now, however, was the person to share with. He had settled on the feeling of flying on a broomstick, the freedom that came with being suspended in midair. He needed someone that didn't fly, so that their own feelings wouldn't taint the experiment. He had managed to restrict the contact points to his hands, because any less would result in a pounding headache. He had just opened his eyes when someone shook his shoulder.

"Hey, Hermione. I was just thinking some things over." She looked at him with her eyes curious, and he decided to let her in on the experiment. Her eyes widened with wonder as he started talking, shaking her head at some intervals. "So, what do you think?"

Hermione was stunned, to say the least. She had known that Harry was keeping secrets, but something on this level was disturbing. No wonder he looked so tired all of the time. Ron had told her that he rarely came to the dorm before one in the morning, and was always gone before the others awoke. When they met down at breakfast, he was fully awake, and looked as he had been for a while. She decided to try for some information in a roundabout way. While Harry had been much more open since his ordeal, there were still times when he closed off if pressured.

"So...if it's so dangerous, how are you certain that the person you 'share' with won't be hurt? I mean, you only been training a couple of days." He looked unfocused, and he let something slip that she was sure he hadn't meant to.

"Don't worry so much, I've trained this ability for over thirty hours..." He trailed off when he realized what he had said, but it was too late.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" He winced, and tried to shush her. Everyone in the dorms would have heard her. She took a deep breath and continued in a somewhat strained but calmer voice. "Where did you find that kind of time in the six days since Hogsmeade? You haven't skipped classes, and you haven't disappeared on us for long time periods, so that leaves only nighttime." He nodded to her, and decided that withholding more would lead to unpleasantness.

"And early morning. It's really the best time to get almost anything done." He gave her a winning smile, but she wasn't buying into it.

"But when do you get sleep? You must be running around exhausted all of the time."

"I sleep at night, like everyone else. I just settle for a shorter time, that's all." Her face took on a dangerous look, and he concentrated on his memory of flying, hoping that it would help him control his emotions.

"Exactly how long in 'shorter'?"

"Well, I usually get four hours of really good rest, and then I'm up again." As he had feared, she exploded. Luckily, he had erected a silencing charm to prevent unwanted eavesdropping.

"THAT IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TIME FOR PROPER REST, HARRY POTTER!" He winced as the charm echoed her words back at him.

"Actually, that's better then I've had in a long while. I used to be lucky to get two hours before I kicked what's his face out of my head. Now, without him, and with my nightmares finally taking a back seat, I can enjoy quiet up here." He tapped his head, and gave her another grin, holding on to his memory as hard as he could when the thoughts of Voldemort and his nightmares tried to break his control. "Of course, I'm not used to all that much sleep, so my body wakes up after a certain period of time. Since I'm up anyway, I decided to put that spare time to good use." He saw the tears in her eyes, and wished fervently that she wasn't about to cry. I made him feel so useless when girls cried, as if all the training in the world wasn't good enough to handle this situation. That's when she reached for his hands. He tried to stop her, but it was far too late. She made contact.

He could tell exactly when the feelings started transferring, because the look on her face started changing. He tried to jerk his hands away, but she held on tightly, a lost, awed look in her eyes. He didn't want to hurt her hands, so he concentrated on just the memory, and making sure that it didn't flow into her too quickly. After about five minutes, she finally let go, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't come close to losing control, but he had still been worried about it.

"What was that?" Her words came out in a breathy whisper, and he used the smile she hadn't seen since Umbridge had banned him from flying.

"That is what I feel when I'm flying. Total freedom, no worries, and a thrill like nothing else." He glanced around her to the boy's staircase. "Don't tell Ron, but I could really care less for Quidditch." There was a shocked look on her face, and he gave her another grin. "Sure, it's fun, and I'm rather competitive, but that's just a bonus. I really like it so much be cause it gives me the perfect excuse to be in the air. I have reason-and even encouragement- to fly as high as I want, at mind-bending speeds." He rolled his eyes with joy, and she grinned back at him, not knowing it was a perfect copy of his previous one. He gave a chuckle at her stood up, offering her a hand. "Well, I'd better wake the Captain up, otherwise there won't be time for him to warm up the team. I may not be able to play, but Gryffindor should definitely still win." Hermione smiled at him. He had spent so much time with the new seeker, Dennis Creevy, that she admired him sacrificing himself to the awed boys, as his brother always joined them. Since he still wasn't allowed to be on the Quidditch pitch, they spent most sessions in the stands, going over seeker plays and strategies. He had recently added three-dimensional simulations.

Hermione watched him climb the stairs to his room, whistling a jaunty tune. She had never heard him whistle before, and decided she should talk to him more about what he enjoyed. She had never been fond of brooms, because there wasn't really a way to learn about it from books. Combine that with the fact that she felt uncomfortable at large heights, and you did not have an avid flyer. With this new insight, though, she might give it another try. She would need a tutor, and the only person that came to mind was Harry. She had seen his patience with the students in the DA, and she knew it would extend to teaching flying. Hopefully, she could overcome her uncertainty, because what she had felt today was definitely worth a little effort.

They sat together in the Gryffindor stands, cheering on their team. Hermione clutched at the seat, watching Ron deflect another score attempt just in time to dodge a bludger. She may not have admitted it, but the games were sometimes exciting, and she had started looking forward to seeing them play. Her concentration was so intense, she was startled when Harry stood up. She gave him a curious glance.

"I want to go see Professor McGonagall. Maybe if I work hard enough, she'll let me train with the team at their next practice. I'm not going to steal Dennis's spot, but I can help him learn the ropes." She gave him a nod, and stood up to go along. The game was close, and she was getting to involved. If she wasn't distracted now, she was surely going to end up yelling her lungs out. They walked down the steps, and headed over to the teachers stand to see if they would be allowed to talk to their Head of House. They might as well have not wasted their time, because Snape was sitting near the entrance, and absolutely refused to let them by.

"Unless there is an emergency," and the sneer on his face made them doubt he would relent even in such circumstances, "students are not allowed on the staff areas." They turned around to walk back to their seats, Hermione scowling darkly and Harry smirking.

"What are you so pleased about? He just blew us off without even letting us speak." His grin widened, and she felt a little better about the situation,

"Just think about it Hermione. He took so much pleasure in foiling out 'grand plan', and it was pretty worthless. We just have to wait until the game is over, and we'll be able to talk to her. He's so childish and petty, how can you not laugh?" And he did just that, laughing his head off, staggering every couple of steps. She joined him with a quiet chuckle, and they stopped to keep from falling over.

"AND HE HAS DONE IT, FOLKS." The magnified voice of Dean Thomas rang out over the crowd. "NEW GRYFFINDOR SEEKER DENNIS CREEVY CATCHES THE SNITCH, LEAVING THE TOTAL AT 250 TO 130 GRYFFINDOR!" They clapped with everyone else, but their joy was short lived. With a creek, the Gryffindor stands wobbled for a few seconds-and then collapsed.

There were students screaming all over the place, teachers shouting commands, and general chaos all about, but that wasn't what interested Harry. No, what he was concerned about was that fact that seconds after the collapse, Hermione had grabbed at her head, yelled out, and then fainted.