Disclaimer: oookay, this'll be a bigger chapter, since I have to…ah, you'll find out. The fic's now rated M, mostly for the next chapter, though, but I want to make sure all of my readers can get it from now on. Also, I'd like to point out that for all those who got this fanfiction under the "Action/Adventure" category, please note that this is also a romance fic, so expect some angst and fluff along the way…hint, hint

A/N: dodges fruits wait…there's so few of them…why is that? Oh, I know…it's because I have so few readers! cries True, I have been rather late, so I'm not surprised by the lack of interest, but still! Well, this should make you review, I hope.

Harry Potter and the Daughter of War

By Ashura

Chapter 03: OWLs and Ginny

"I lost." Those two words kept popping up inside of his head. He knew he shouldn't be beating himself up over this. This was Ginny, after all. He had always heard how good and talented she was at dueling, and he finally got to see just how good she was first hand.

And she won.

He punched the cushion at that thought. He just couldn't get that out of his head. Why? Because when it came down to it, if he couldn't beat Ginny, how was he supposed to defeat Voldemort? Maybe he wasn't serious enough. Maybe he wanted her to win. Maybe…

No! Those were just excuses. The fact was he wasn't as good at dueling as he thought he was. And Ginny just happened to be better. Somehow, someway, he had to get stronger. And the first thing he was going to do was learn Occlumency. After all, Snape did make a point. Knowing tons of spells was worthless if his opponent could just read his mind. And now he not only had to worry about Voldemort and Snape, but that mysterious stranger he met in the forest.

But who could teach him? Who did he know could perform occlumency? He thought of asking Lupin, or even Moody, but they were always so busy with work for the Order that it wasn't worth it. Now that he mentioned it, the only people that were constantly around him were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. And he doubted Mr. Weasley knew anything about occlumency. The only person he knew of that could even possibly be teach him was that mysterious stranger.

As risky as it was, Harry knew he just had to learn occlumency, and if this man could teach him, he might as well give it a shot. But, try as he might each day, he could not seem to locate the shadowy figure he saw in the woods.

"Maybe you should give up Harry," Hermione told him one day when he returned from his searches, "it's very risky, anyways."

"And if I don't find someone to teach me occlumency, I'll die by Voldemort or Snape anyways, right?" he shot back.

She sighed in defeat, not really having an answer this time (they had been over this several times) and went back to her book.

"What have you been reading there, anyways?" questioned Ron, practicing hexes on various cushions, "Some trashy romance novel?"

"NO! How dare you, Ron! Insinuating that I, of all people would…"

"Are you?"

"NO! Of course not!" she shouted at him, "I'm researching items belonging to the Four Founders, for your information!"

"anything good?" Harry asked, attempting to break up their short feud. Thank god it worked.

"It's pretty difficult. Information about that stuff isn't public knowledge, you know. It's not like Muggles having everything in a Meuseum. Wizards keep treasures like this between their own families. Heirlooms, for example."

"So," said Ron, "You haven't found anything…"

"I said nothing good Ron," she answered, "I didn't say I didn't find anything. What I did find is—"

Just then Ginny burst through the room and sat down on the sofa next to Harry. "Hi Ginny," he greeted her, getting a nice, "Hi Harry" in return. But as soon as she landed next to him, he felt a slight shaking to the sofa, and noticed that Ginny's hands and feet were shaking.

"Ginny," he asked her, "are you cold or something?"

"Um, no. Just nervous," she said, and when Harry raised a curious eyebrow, she continued, "My O.W.L. results are supposed to arrive today."

"In August? Isn't it a bit late to be getting your results?" said Ron, having to transfigure another feather into a cushion so he could practice some more (Hermione made sure he practiced that first).

"Well, yes, but I guess with all that's been going on, they're bound to show up late. McGonagall was here the other day and told me," she said to her brother, "Not that the extra time mattered, much. My grades won't have changed."

"But Ginny," said Hermione, "I thought you did study—"

"Oh, don't worry, Hermione, I studied as much as I needed to," she laughed, seeing as how Hermione was giving Harry a dirty look, "But I don't do so well on the written exams. It's practical exams I can handle."

"What's wrong with written exams?" said Ron, "at least in the written exams if you mess up, you can just scratch it out!"

"Yeah, I know, but I just choke up on those kinds! It doesn't feel as natural to me. It's like—"

But Harry didn't get to hear her finish, as one large brown owl landed right on the table in front of them, carrying a familiar large square envelope. Ginny hesitantly took it from the owl's raised leg and slowly opened it and read out her results. She held it to herself, so not even Harry could see it until she had. Everyone held their breath in silence, waiting for a hint of her results.

"Phew," she gasped happily, "That's a relief. I guess my written exams didn't turn out as bad as I thought. Here, Harry. Have a look," and she handed her results for Harry to see.

Ordinary Wizarding Level Results

Pass Grades

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

Ginerva Virginia Weasley has achieved:

AstronomyE

Care of Magical CreaturesO

CharmsO

Defense Against the Dark ArtsO

DivinationE

HerbologyO

History of MagicA

Muggle StudiesO

PotionsO

TransfigurationO

Harry could not believe his eyes as he went through Ginny's O.W.L.s. To his amazement, and soon Ron's, Ginny had not failed a single subject.

"BLOODY HELL!" he shouted as he read them, "How did you get these? I thought you said you did terrible!"

"On the written, I said. I guess it was better than I thought it was."

"I think your written exams didn't matter that much," said Hermione, "The examiners this year were more focused on the practical exams, I bet. After what has happened lately, I think they figured that was more important than the written."

"That makes sense," nodded Ginny, "The exams did seem a little different. For the practical in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they set us up in pairs and we had to duel each other."

"What? Since when did they do that?" Ron questioned at once.

"I don't know, but that was just for starters. Then we had to face stuff they thought the Death Eaters would throw at us. Inferi, Dementors…"

"They used dementors on you?" questioned Harry. Not that he was worried. He taught all of the DA members how to cast patronuses, but he never had the chance to see Ginny's and was worried on how any of the DA members would fare when pitted up against the real thing.

"Of course not. They were all illusions and such, but I know I passed those! It was the written exams I thought I failed," Ginny told him, and added with a thought, "But I knew I passed Defense Against the Dark Arts, that was no question," she said, and winked at Harry, remembering the DA practices.

"Oh Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley squealed, hugging Ginny tightly when she saw her results, "Ten O.W.L.s, I don't believe it! Only Percy and Bill scored that high!"

"Mom," chocked Ginny, trying to push her mother away, "I can't breathe!" Mrs. Weasley apologized and let Ginny catch her breath while congratulating her some more.

"Hold on," Ron said curiously when he looked at Ginny's results again, "You take Muggle Studies? I didn't know that!"

"Dad wanted me to take it," she said after she sat down and could breathe normally again, "But it is very interesting," then with a smirk she said, "At least someone in the family knows how to use a telephone properly!"

Everyone laughed. Harry and Ron especially remembered when Ron had tried to call him and ended up shouting in Mr. Vernon's ear.

Harry couldn't help but feel proud of Ginny doing so well on her O.W.L.s. He had always feared that she wouldn't do as well as she should have, because he tried to spend so much time with her last year.

But while he was thinking these thoughts, he noticed Ginny smirking at him the whole time while Ron and Hermione asked her questions about her exams. He got the message. She was trying once again to show him that she could face Voldemort with him. It wasn't working. Nothing would make him change his mind.

A day after Ginny had gotten her results, she found Harry up at two a.m. reading in the living room chair.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked him, plopping herself down on the arm of the chair next to him.

"Bad dreams," he said, rubbing his forehead. Instantly, Ginny figured the worst, that his scar was hurting again.

"Is it your—"

"No," he told her, taking his hand away, "I've been having dreams where I'm facing Voldemort in the end, and I don't exactly win all the time."

"Well," she laughed, "You're not a seer, so don't take them to seriously."

"Still, everything's reminding me that I have to prepare for it. Dumbledore's death, these dreams, everything!"

"So you are the chosen one?" she asked him. Harry looked at her curiously. He mentally kicked himself then. He forgot that he had not yet told Ginny what he had told Ron and Hermione. They hadn't exactly hung out all the time. But now, after what they had been through, she deserved to know as much as anyone.

"Yeah, I am."

"But the prophecy was—"

"Made to Dumbledore, so he was able to show it to me," he told her, and waited for the inevitable, "what'd it say?" so he told her, trying word for word this time. On "one must die at the hand of the other," Ginny gasped, but then nodded.

"That explains your dreams," she said, "But I didn't think the prophecy said that there was a change you'd die. I always figured it just said that—"

"Yeah, I wish it didn't say that. But it does, and I've got to make sure that I'm not the one who winds up dead."

"But how are you going to do it?" she wondered aloud, "I mean, I don't think you're going to use Avada Kedavra on him, right?"

Harry shook his head. He had thought about it, but although he had used an unforgivable curse in the past, using the Killing Curse was something he didn't think he was up for.

Ginny sighed and slid down the chair, and Harry realized she was now sitting comfortably on his lap, and instinctively held her close. "But it's not only Voldemort that I have to deal with," he told her, before he even knew he said it.

"What?" she said, surprised, "What exactly—"

And then he told her. About the Horcruxes, and how Voldemort had split himself into 7 different pieces, and how the diary was one of them, and Dumbledore destroyed another. All the while, Ginny sat there, amazed and yet, her thoughts drifted elsewhere, back to the diary, when Riddle was bragging about his quest to immortality.

"That makes sense. Riddle was always bragging about how he knew things most wizards didn't," she told him, "How he alone could 'break the boundaries of life itself.' I thought he was so full of himself, the prat."

"Too bad he didn't make the diary last," said Harry, "He could have told you where the others were."

"Yeah, I know. I can hardly remember everything he told me either," she laughed, and clutched Harry's pajamas tightly, "so I'd be of no use even if he did."

"It's okay Ginny, I'll find them," he said, running his fingers through her hair, "I even know where one might be."

"You mean that locket with R.A.B. on it?"

"Yeah, I just have to find him. Hermione's looking for—"

"Regulus…Augu…"

"Huh?" said, Harry, wondering just what Ginny was mumbling about. But she only half heard him, and continued to whisper to herself.

"Hey, that's it!" she exclaimed, almost toppling off Harry's lap if he didn't pull her back.

"What's it?"

"I know who has the locket!" she exclaimed, but then her face fell and she shook her head, "No, no he's dead, so it doesn't matter."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Regulus, Sirius's brother. His name fits, doesn't it? Regulus Black?"

Harry nodded, and thought for a moment about this. The name partially fit, but they didn't know his middle name, which would have been helpful. But then a thought struck him. A thought that made perfect sense…

"Ginny, you're a genius!" he shouted, and before he knew what he was doing, had pulled her close to him and was kissing her. But before he could realize what he was doing and pull away, Ginny had latched her arms around his neck and was kissing him back with added fervor. Harry closed his eyes and sank into the kiss, relishing in feeling her soft lips on his again.

"Wow," she said when they last parted, "You haven't kissed me like that since that Quidditch match we won."

Harry laughed and shook his head clear. He didn't know what had come over him just now, but whatever it was, he was glad it did. No one was around to see it, luckily, and he had wanted to kiss Ginny since he got here.

"Now, tell me again why I'm a genius," she giggled, still trying to get over her 'I just kissed Harry Potter again' high.

"I just remembered that when we were cleaning the Black house, there was this locket that we couldn't open," Harry told her, talking quickly in his excitement so Ginny had to ask him to repeat it a few times, "That's the third horcrux Dumbledore and I were trying to get! It's in the Black House somewhere!"

"Yeah!" she said after she finally got him to slow down, "I remember that! Kinda felt odd, too. Made the room quite chilly, remember?"

"How can I forget? You were clutching my arm because of that," he laughed, "Not that I minded."

"Mmmm yeah, and you're still warm, too," Ginny laughed with him, and snuggled close to Harry, and Harry did the same. It was still early in the morning, and a bit chilly at that.

"Harry?" Ginny said after a while.

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me again," she pleaded, looking up into his green eyes. Harry knew he ought to have resisted; he was supposed to not be with her anymore, so she wouldn't be a target. But with her being so close, in his arms, and the reminder of that last kiss…

Harry drew her to him, and her lips eagerly met his in a fiery kiss he could tell she had wanted to give him for a long time, and he eagerly kissed her back, clutching her as tightly as he could in the one moment.

He gasped slightly when he felt Ginny's tongue on his lips, and the sudden surprised allowed her to slip it inside to join Harry's. Soon Harry found he liked this new change and closed his eyes and joined her. Soon their tongues were dancing in mild passion, and Harry could not remember a time when he was happier.

Ginny could not tell how long she sat there kissing Harry and being kissed back, and she didn't care. This was what she wanted. It was what she had always wanted. Sure, she had snogged Dean to kingdom come, but it wasn't like this. This was different, this was…she didn't even know what it was, exactly, but she loved it. She didn't even care if Voldemort himself walked in on them right now and casted Avada Kedavra. She would die the happiest girl alive anyways. And the way his hands were caressing her…

"OI!" came a very familiar shout.

Harry and Ginny reluctantly broke apart and Ginny turned to see probably what Harry thought as someone worse than Voldemort: Ron.

"B-But you said…!" he glared angrily at Harry, and from how he was pointing his finger at him, Harry guessed Ron would really like a wand right now, "It was over you said! I had nothing to worry about!"

"What's with all the noise?" Harry heard Hermione yawn from behind Ron, "I noticed Ginny wasn't in my bed, so I came downstairs to—"

"Well, I found her!" shouted Ron, "and she was…"

"Shhhh!" Ginny pointed her finger to her lips, "We don't want anyone else finding out, do we?"

"Oh, they'll find out, all right. Wait until Fred and George hear about this!" he said, and sprinted past Hermione up the steps.

Or, at least he tried. Harry tried the only thing he could think of and shouted in his head, pointing his wand that he had left on the table, thought, Levis Corpus!

Ron was instantly hoisted upwards and the ceiling, and Harry saw him swear a few words, but could not hear him say anything.

"Silencing Charm," Hermione explained, "I've come to like using nonerbal spells, these days."

Harry nodded, and said in his head, Liberacorpus, and Hermione caught Ron when he fell, who had now calmed down enough to notice that he was going to be hexed unless he heard Harry and Ginny out.

"Look, Ron," Ginny told him once they all sat down, "Harry and I broke up so Voldemort wouldn't use me to get to him, but we know we still love each other."

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Harry explained, "We were just talking and things got a little out of hand."

"A little?" Ron said under his breath.

"Okay, so we got carried away," said Ginny, "but that was my fault, not Harry's, and I still can't see why you are so mad!"

"I just didn't expect it, that's all," he told her, "Harry told me you two broke up, so I didn't expect to come downstairs and see you two snogging."

"Well, don't," said Harry, looking at Ginny and hoping she wouldn't take this the wrong way, "It won't happen again. If someone other than you two saw us…"

"Yeah, maybe inside of the closet or…"

"Ginny!" Harry stared at her warningly.

"I was just joking Harry, come on!" she laughed, poking him at his sides. Ron shook his head at them, muttering something under his breath that earned him a slap from Hermione.

But all of the excitement of the morning's activities was doused by two things. The first was the recent bit of information Ginny and Harry had thought up before they had gotten "carried away."

"Wow, nice work Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed when Ginny told her about her theory, "Why didn't I think of Regulus?"

"It's because you're so used to looking stuff up in books," Ron told her, making her glare at him angrily at this thought, "Not everything's found in books, Hermione."

Ginny thought that Ron had definitely earned pillow bash to his head, though she thought Hermione only did it playfully, "Well what exactly did you do to help, Mr. Know-It-All!"

"I was just saying…"

Harry and Ginny shook their heads. "Just like a married couple, huh Harry?" Harry nodded, thinking roughly the same thing.

The second thing that was brought to their attention was their booklists and letters from Hogwarts.

"Wonder why these are so late?" Ron wondered as he opened his, "Usually we get them in the beginning of August."

"It's because of the choosing of Headmaster and a few changes at Hogwarts," said Hermione, "There's a note from McGonagall at the bottom."

"Hey, what's up with our booklists?" Ginny questioned. Harry curiously looked over his list, and saw at the end of it what Ginny was talking about.

Students may also choose to buy one of the following books:

Advanced Dueling Tatics by Saera Goth and Ashura Atsu

Potion Mastery By Shantani Felidus

Seeing Through the Skull By Gregory Auntem

Ancient Spells of Lore By Andrew Clarkson

Spells for Everyday Living By Amelia Burntheart

Several other books were listed as well, and he soon found himself chatting with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny on what books, if any, they would want to buy.

"Well, they are optional, aren't they?" said Ron, "doesn't look as though I'll be getting any now, will I?"

"Oh, hush," said Ginny, "I'm sure Fred and George wouldn't mind giving us a small bit of gold for those. Especially if you tell them you're going to get that 1o1 Practical Jokes Worty of Detention book."

"Wouldn't mind that one, actually," he chuckled, "But can't use it on Malfoy anymore, can I? oh well," and he smirked at Harry, "I'll just have to use it on you in case you 'get carried away' again."

Harry laughed and silently looked forward to it if it meant Ron wouldn't get mad at him anymore for being with Ginny. Personally, he was wondering about Seeing Through the Skull. He wondered if it was a book on Occlumency and if he would actually be learning any of these subjects on the list.

"It is rather odd, isn't it?" said Hermione, "I wonder if these are all for one class."

"How can these be all for one class?" questioned Ginny, "With this many books, they must be for several different classes. But who's teaching?"

"Beats me," said Ron, and looked at Harry and knew why he didn't care one bit. He, Ron and Hermione knew that they had planned not to go to Hogwarts this year. But if there was a class for Occlumency, it might not be a waste of time after all.

A/N: whew! I wrote myself into a corner on that one! Of course you can't see it because I deleted the small scene. You didn't miss much, just a little bit of Ginny vs. Ron humor, but it stopped me writing for 1 ½ weeks! Anyways, Happy New Year! Sorry it took so long, and to make up for it, you're getting a bonus chapter that I worked on while I was at my little brick wall of a story. So enjoy! Read/Review please, or else I'll just keep these chapters to myself for a while…

Also, since I have a much better vision for this fanfic, but I don't think those of you with weak stomachs can handle, this story will also be on at (adultfanfiction . net) under my user name of (Ashura) starting at the next chapter. On it will be scenes in more ahem detail, more violence in future chapters, lemon scenes (if you don't know what that is yet, then don't even dare go there yet), added scenes, and a whole bunch of other stuff that normal people under 18 just aren't ready for.

Oh, and if you do go there, don't check out the other HP stuff there. Trust me, you wouldn't want to. They have the most weirdest fanfiction…shudders Anyways, enjoy the fic.