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Secrets of the Past

Harry and his friends spent the next week and a half going through the contents of the boxes from the vault whenever they weren't training in the War Room. They revisited the contents of the small trunk from the Dursleys' house as well, looking for clues on how to open the trunk.

"There has to be some way to open it." Harry paced back and forth in front of the stubborn trunk. He closed his eyes, visualizing the latch opening, trying the Room of Requirement method. He opened his eyes and kicked the still-locked trunk.

"I've tried blood, sweat and tears," he grumbled. "What else is there? Chocolate?"

Lupin chuckled. "Your mum always was a stubborn one. This is just how James used to get when he was trying to get her to go out with him. I think he broke a toe on his trunk once."

The piles of documents and parchments had not yielded anything particularly useful. The trunk from the Dursleys' contained Muggle papers: James and Lily's marriage license, Harry's birth certificate, some photographs and personal correspondence. It was all interesting, but not terribly helpful, as far as Harry could tell.

The boxes from the Potters' vault had similar results. Besides various legal documents, genealogy information, old homework assignments and newspaper clippings, Harry found a diary of his mother's, and a packet of letters that seemed to be notes and cards from his parents to each other. He hadn't wanted to read those things; they seemed too personal. When the rest of the papers in the boxes did not reveal any method of opening the trunk, he reluctantly began reading the diary.

His nose had wrinkled in distaste when he read his mother's accounts of working with 'Severus' in Advanced Potions their sixth year. She had gotten along well with Snape, writing about him as if he was a good friend. She was sad for him, knowing how he struggled being a half-blood Slytherin, keeping his parentage a secret. She even knew that Severus taunted James. She overheard him once, sneering at James's inability to get a date with her. Snape had boasted of his extra study sessions with her with a particular stress on the word study, insinuating something more interesting than Potions might be occupying them.

"I didn't bother correcting him. Maybe that'll take Potter down a peg or two," Harry could almost feel the irritation through his mother's handwriting. "Remus told The Git he was only succeeding in helping Severus earn my sympathies by tormenting him. Severus doesn't need my sympathies. He can handle himself. If I thought I could save him from the Dark Arts path he's following by dating him, I might consider it, but he's a Slytherin and I'm Muggle-born. He wouldn't date me for all the Galleons in Gringotts. He's a good friend, though. I wish I could help him. Too bad he wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw. His life could have been so much different..."

Many months of entries later, Lily's tone shifted a little regarding James. Apparently he had changed over the summer holidays:

"Potter asked me out again today. I should have kept count. He must think when he hits some magic number, I'll finally say yes. Maybe on April Fools' Day if he asks I'll accept, just to see the shock on his face. (Note to self: carry camera on 1 April). Actually, he seems a bit better this year. Maybe what he needed all along was responsibility. He's been doing well with his Head Boy duties..."

"James must finally be growing up. He gave Sirius detention for something he did to Severus. He's even stopped pestering me for a date. I can't believe how many girls try to come on to him to 'cure' him of his fixation with me! Right in front of me! Like it's some kind of illness they can fix by being slags..."
"Okay, today I hexed a Ravenclaw girl. I shouldn't have, but she was so annoying! She told James to give up on 'the ice princess' and meet her on the Astronomy tower for a warmer reception. 'Ice princess?'! She deserved that sweating hex, and I don't care if James did see me do it. Warmer reception, indeed. She'll be TOO warm for a good, long time..."
"It's only appropriate for the Head Boy and Girl to present a unified front, I suppose. When James asked if we should go together to present the jack 'o' lantern carving prizes, I'm sure he didn't mean 'together' as a couple. I agreed, but only because it's not like it's a date or anything. We'll just be handing out prizes..."
"The Halloween feast was fun. I realized I've never really spent time with James without his annoying friends around. Well, Remus isn't annoying, but the other two are. Especially Pettigrew. Merlin, he's creepy. I don't know if this is James' real personality, or if he took some kind of emotional maturity potion, but he was just…nice. Maybe that cocky arrogance he used to have so much of was just an act he put on for his friends..."
"I think Remus is finally wearing off on James. I saw him reading a BOOK! An Arithmancy book, no less! After the shock wore off, my respect for him may have gone up a notch..."
"James is turning into a regular bookworm. I'm amazed by his persistence with that Arithmancy book. He is utterly intrigued. He seemed a little embarrassed when I asked him about it, though. Maybe he was ashamed to be caught studying. One of the things that always irritated me about him was how he took his education for granted. A lot of pure-bloods do, I've noticed. Muggle-borns have to work harder to succeed and prove themselves. I suppose that's just a bit of jealousy on my part. James hardly seems to need to put any effort into his classwork, but I study like mad to get my marks.

I wonder if he was self-conscious because he needs some help with Arithmancy. It is one of my favorite subjects. I suppose I could offer..."

"James seemed delighted when I offered to help him study. I don't know what he was having trouble with exactly, as he seemed to catch on to everything very quickly. He wants to take me to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer next weekend to thank me. It's not a date, though..."
"We had fun today! James can be really sweet when he wants to be. I wish…I don't know. I wish he didn't have such a playboy reputation, I guess. If I dated him, it'd look like he finally got what he wanted. And then I'd just be his next conquest. Just another statistic. I'm not going to be a notch on a bedpost..."
Remus assures me that James respects me for who I am. He seems to think that after almost 6 1/2 years, James would have given up if he was only looking for a casual physical relationship. It is true he could easily have that from more than half the girls in our year, not to mention the 6th years. Now there's a bunch of loose morals if I've ever seen them..."
"This is almost funny. Now that I might accept if James invited me out, he's stopped asking! I'm certainly not going to ask him. I'm not that kind of a girl..."
"Ha, Remus to the rescue again. Thank goodness he's a bit more perceptive than his mates. I think I got the point across. Now he just has to pass the hint along to James…"
"What was I saying about Remus being perceptive? SCRATCH THAT! I think the berk thought I was coming on to him. I swear, all I said was I was glad to see that his friends finally seemed to be following his good example, and they hadn't been nearly as annoying lately. Now, wouldn't you think he'd pass along that information to his mates? Particularly the one who has nearly driven me insane for the past 6 1/2 years asking me out on a daily basis? But no, now I seem to have acquired a 'moony' admirer. This was not what I had in mind..."
"Boys! I'd ask for a book to help understand them, but I don't think I want to! Turns out Remus was stalking me on James' orders. After I confronted Remus, asking why he kept following me, he confessed and apologized. One of my idiot friends was spreading the rumor that I was interested in someone, so James wanted Remus to find out. I think I rolled my eyes so hard they may have stuck. Anyway, I ended up asking Remus why James stopped asking me out. Remus said he had told James to stop, because I thought it was annoying, and I would never say yes to someone who annoyed me constantly. Now Remus has some kind of plan… Am I crazy?"
"Well, luckily the plan didn't involve me telling James the giant squid was unavailable to escort me to the Yule Ball. Remus' plan was pretty simple. He told James that I had lost a bet and had to accept the next guy who asked me. Who knew James could find a way to get up the girls' staircase, and so fast! That alone should make me suspicious. And how did he know exactly where to find me? It's like he has a map! But now I'm nervous. I don't know if the ball is the best way to get to know each other. I really don't want to quadruple date, and I'm sure that's their plan. Oh well, I guess we'll see what happens. I can always make some excuse and leave early..."
"I am reeling. James was wonderful. He was a perfect gentleman, and he dances like a dream. I thought we'd end up sitting at a big table with his friends and their dates, and the boys would be drinking and getting stupider by the minute. I don't know if he was coached or I just underestimated him, but he really pulled out all the stops. He was so sweet and seemed so sincere. I could almost, almost trust him.

He asked me if he could see me over the holidays, and I said yes. I hope I don't regret it..."

"James picked me up at my house for our first 'real' date. He was very nice to mum and dad. They really seemed to like him. We went to dinner and a movie. He kept bumping my hand in the popcorn, and it's so cliché, but it made me feel all tingly. When he walked me home, he offered me his arm. I could feel the muscles. At the door, he gave me a hug, and thanked me for letting him visit. I was a bit surprised, I must say. Usually guys go straight for the lips, and before you know it, they're trying to play tonsil hockey and reaching under your jumper. He didn't though. After I admitted having fun, and thanked him for the nice evening, he asked permission. 'May I?' he whispered. The look in his eyes, I couldn't have said no, even if I wanted to. Oh Merlin, those eyes. Hazel, with green and gold flecks... I can honestly say I've never been kissed like that before. My toes curled. I thought that only happened in stupid paperback romance novels. For some reason, my brain seems to have been Stupefied. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. We're going out again before we go back to Hogwarts..."
"This is moving too fast. James gave me a ring. On our second date! He asked if we could date each other exclusively. He said he's never felt like this before, and he knows he doesn't want to date other people. I know he went out with a lot of girls in the past, but he's never gone on a second date with the same one, and he's certainly never given one a ring before. I asked. He apologized for rushing things, but he said this way, if I want to be discreet, I don't need to tell anyone where the ring came from, I can just say I got it for Christmas, and it'll be our little secret. He said he didn't want anyone to think he'd Imperiused me to bring about my change of heart. 'I do have honourable intentions, after all,' he said. Either he has truly changed, or I completely missed this side of him. I can't believe this is the same James Potter who used to drive me crazy. Though I get the feeling this one could drive me crazy in a whole new way…"
Harry shut the book quietly. He and Ginny had been sitting on the couch together, and she had got sleepy. She was lying down, using his thigh as a pillow. He glanced at his watch. Midnight. Ginny was now officially sixteen. He carefully levitated her, just a bit, so he could move. He gently settled her back down and tucked a light blanket over her. He took his mum's diary and stepped into the Floo. "Number three, Godric's Hollow," he said quietly as the flames flared around him.

Harry wandered around his parents' house. "MY house," he corrected himself. He had visited the house often late at night when he couldn't sleep. Molly and Arthur's frequent presence at Headquarters ensured that Ginny stayed in her own room most nights. Harry had lovingly fixed more of the walls and ceilings each time he came. He repaired furniture and moved things around. He experimented with color charms, painting the walls and covering scorch marks. The work was cleansing and freeing. He had never had the power to make decisions to affect his own environment or had anything to make his own. He had gone through the house, top to bottom, sometimes using magic, other times using Muggle methods to clean and restore. He carefully put his mother's diary on a bookshelf in the Potions room. Hermione had bound many of the documents they'd found into book form, and this particular shelf was full of his parents' saved homework assignments and old schoolbooks. Another shelf was filled with photo albums, personal letters and cards the girls had organized. The legal documents he had sent back to Gringotts with Bill.

"Winky?" he said.

Pop.

"Yes, Master?"

"I wondered if you would be able to find me here. It's under a concealment charm."

"Winky does not need to know the place, Winky is bound to her master. She can find him anywhere," the little elf said adoringly.

"Brilliant." Harry smiled. "Could you stock the cooling cabinet and do whatever else you feel this house needs? I won't be living here, but I will be dropping in occasionally."

"Oh Master! Winky will have two houses to take care of?" she asked delightedly. "Oh thank you, Master! Thank you!"

"Could you whip up a quick snack?" Harry asked. "Today is Ginny's birthday, and I think I'll go get her. I was going to wait until later, but I'll wake her and ask if she wants to see the house now."

Winky nodded excitedly as Harry stepped back into the fireplace to Floo back to Headquarters. He had set up a direct Floo connection with Moody's help. It was not regulated by the Ministry, therefore quite private. It still wasn't his favorite method of travel, however.

"Ginny?" Harry nudged her. "Happy birthday, Gin, Want to see my latest project?"

"Mmmpffffff," she groaned, turning away from him.

"I'm going to have to do this the hard way, aren't I?" he sighed.

He scooped her up and carried her to the Floo. "Okay Gin, we're going to Number three, Godric's Hollow." He wondered how it would work to Floo a sleeping person to an address under a Fidelius Charm. He carefully positioned her so he wouldn't bang her head on anything, then threw the Floo powder.

"Home," he announced when they arrived and he stepped out of the Floo, Ginny still in his arms. "Yeah, I think this is what the feeling of being 'home' must be like. It's different than the 'at home' feeling of Hogwarts, or even the Burrow. This is…mine." He smiled at Ginny's sleeping form, realizing he was talking to himself.

"Master could cast a Rennervate spell to wake Miss Ginny," Winky suggested.

"Yeah, I know. I just like watching her sleep, knowing she's safe. Um, right, could you pop back to Headquarters with a note? Just in case someone notices we're gone." He quickly scribbled a note that Winky delivered.

Harry dropped to his knees next to the couch, leaning over her. "Gin, wake up, I don't want to Rennervate you, but I will if I have to." He frowned at her lack of response. "Or I could try another method…" He lightly kissed her temple. His tongue traced her ear and she squirmed in her sleep. He trailed kisses down her neck while his fingers danced across the smooth skin of her stomach, causing more involuntary squirming. She twitched, reaching for him as her eyes blinked groggily open. She froze, not recognizing her surroundings.

"Harry?" she asked hesitantly. "Is that you? You're not a Death Eater in disguise that kidnapped me, are you?"

"That wouldn't be much of a birthday surprise, now, would it? Not a pleasant one, at any rate."

She sat up and stretched. "Okay, I'm awake." She yawned and stood. "Are we at your house?"

"Yeah." Harry shrugged. "It was in pretty bad shape, ceilings and walls falling down all over, but I've been fixing it up nights, when I couldn't sleep."

"Give me a tour!"

Harry led her through the house, guiding her through each room, save one. She gestured at the last door upstairs. "Was that the nursery?"

He nodded. He hadn't done anything to that room. It was still a little weird being in there, knowing of the horrors that had transpired, yet feeling the vestiges of his mother's peace and love spells.

Ginny gave him a questioning look before reaching for the knob. He nodded, following her. She stopped in the middle of the room, closing her eyes with her head tilted back slightly. "Wow, you can feel that, can't you? I know mums put spells on cots, but it feels like your mum put it on the whole room. It's so peaceful."

She looked at him curiously then. "Will it be weird for you to live here, knowing what happened?"

"No, I don't remember it. I can feel that charm in here, and after being here several times, fixing things, I just get the feeling that I'm home, finally." As they left the room, Harry shut the door tightly behind him.

"Winky made us a little midnight birthday snack." Harry gestured down the stairs. "Shall we?"

In the kitchen, they found the small table set for two. The candles gave off a soft glow, making the simple fare of tea and biscuits seem special.

Harry put a narrow box with a bow on the table. Ginny's eyes sparkled with glee as she tore off the paper. She pulled off the lid and her forehead furrowed with confusion and she looked up to meet Harry's gaze.

"It was my mum's wand," he explained. "I want you to have it. Either carry it as a spare, or see how successful Neville's experiment is and have it fused to the bone in your arm. I hope it works for you."

Ginny stared at it in awe, touching it hesitantly. "This wand took down Voldemor once," she whispered.

Harry's brow creased in a frown. "I never thought of it that way."

"It was her, you know," Ginny said. "She used his vicious ambition and cruelty against him."

"The price was too high." Harry said, hoping Ginny had no illusions of sacrificing herself for him as his mother had.

"She wouldn't have done that ancient protective magic beforehand if she hadn't considered the possibility. I don't think it's that much of a reach for her to have considered what could happen that night. She had to know that Voldemort would find them, and when he did, they would stand and fight to protect you. She found and used ancient magic that allowed for your protection in the event she gave her life for yours. She stood her ground instead of running. She knew the spell would rebound on the caster."

Harry's nostrils flared as he stood to pace the kitchen. His fists clenched at his sides and his voice was icy. "I wished so many times I'd never been born. They wouldn't have had to die. Why on earth would they have even wanted to bring a child into a world so full of evil? And knowing the dangers makes it even worse. They knew they could die…and leave me. And she chose…to go… They just…left me…alone." Harry turned away angrily, stalking to the den.

Harry stood silently, facing a window, glaring at his own reflection. He used the churning emotions within, harnessing the confusion and anger, the fear and despair, pushing them together into a roiling black ball in his mind before releasing it as a projection of pure energy, an image of his reflection as he saw it in the glass.

In the back of his mind he thought he heard the echo of a high-pitched shriek as his scar twinged. Exhausted, he absentmindedly rubbed his scar and focused on breathing. He closed his eyes and slumped down on the couch.

Ginny moved to sit next to him, tucking her legs underneath her. She reached for him, pulling his head to her heart. She rocked him, making soothing noises, rubbing his back softly.

"You know," she said slowly. "There's a saying, 'Making the decision to have a child is to forever have your heart walking around outside your body.' Isn't that funny? It's like a love Horcrux. There's only one way to expand your soul, and that's through love. The only way to create a soul is through love; creating new life. Children are hope for the future. Hope that one of them will find the answer to fixing all the problems out there. If we have no hope, we have no future. I think your parents made that choice, the same as mine."

Harry sighed. "They died fighting for what they believed in. And you're right, they probably made their own happiness by choosing to live their lives without letting Voldemort dictate their decisions. I just wish things had been different. But then I would be a different person, and you'd probably hate my hair and call me an arrogant git."

"I would not," she denied, ruffling the back of his head.

Harry glanced at his watch. "We'd better get back to Headquarters before everyone thinks we've run off together."

"That's a fun idea."

Sunshine streamed weakly through the spell-dimmed windows of Harry and Ron's room the next morning.

The alarms on their watches sounded at the same time Mrs. Weasley poked her head through their door. "Rise and shine boys! Pancakes! And it's Ginny's birthday, Ron, so remember to wish her a happy day."

Ron groaned and pulled the pillow over his head.

"Why are you so tired?" Harry asked. "You and Hermione both went to bed early last night…" Harry stopped, blinking. "Yeah, anyway, breakfast." He dressed quickly and descended the stairs.

He'd spent several days thinking of a gift for Ginny. He didn't really count his mum's wand as a gift. He briefly considered jewelry, like a necklace or something, but he'd given her a ring recently, and he didn't want her to think that was the best his imagination could come up with. He had been informed that candy would not be the best choice either, as it wasn't very personal. He thought about getting her another pygmy puff to keep Arnold company, but in the end, he'd decided to get something she'd never seen before. He got Tonks to take him to Muggle London, where he'd purchased an electronic game system and some games to plug into the television. He had the twins enchant it to work on magic and asked them to bring it to the party following the Order meeting.

"We'll have much to discuss at the meeting tonight," Lupin said as Harry walked into the kitchen.

"Have Moody and McGonagall tracked down all Riddle's ancestors' graves?" Harry asked, after the usual 'good morning' greetings were exchanged.

"I assume that will be in their report," Lupin said.

"What about the dementors?" Harry looked to Hermione.

"Well, without having one to run tests on, we're rather limited to conjecture."

"Save it for the meeting." Tonks waved her hand through the conversation as though clearing smoke from the room. "Today is for fun."

Harry grinned. "Does that mean you're leading training today?"

"Yes, actually." She gave him a scheming look. "We'll be doing something exciting today."

"Bring it on," Harry taunted. "You're no match for Hermione's new spells. Is Uncle Moony going to join in?"

"No, I'm working with Fred and George today, sorry." Lupin turned a page in his Prophet.

Harry shrugged and turned his concentration back to his breakfast, pouring syrup over his pancakes.

Ginny walked in, sleep-rumpled and adorable. She smiled at the chorus of birthday greetings, and gave her mum a quick hug as she grabbed a plate from the counter. She neatly stacked two pancakes on her plate with a fried egg between before moving to the chair next to Harry. Surreptitiously, she licked syrup from her fingertip and traced a damp trail across the back of Harry's neck, making him squirm.

Ron meandered in, followed by Neville, Hannah and Luna, all wishing Ginny a happy birthday. Hermione's parents generally took their breakfast later, when the influx of teenagers had cleared out.

Harry put his plate and utensils in the sink and leaned back against the counter, waiting for the rest to finish.

Hermione joined him. "I have some new spells, but I don't know how to test them," she said. "Hypothetically, they should work against Voldemort."

"They're dangerous then, you're saying?" Ron queried, looking up from his plate.

"Well, one of them is a desiccation spell. I've researched the chemical composition of the things he used to regenerate his body, and one thing they all have in common is water. At first, I thought of a water purification spell, something that'd work like reverse osmosis, filtering all the components out of the water. That seemed a little backwards though, it'd be easier to simply extract the pure water."

"So, theoretically, he'd turn to powder?" Harry asked. "That still leaves his soul to escape."

"The twins are working on that part of the problem," Hermione sighed. "They watched Ghostbusters last week and that ghost capture thing has them intrigued. The problem again is, no way to test it."

"How about the Hogwarts ghosts? They might volunteer to help," Harry suggested. "Or a boggart? There's one in a chest in the War Room. Or wait…could it be used on the Horcruxes? Testing and destruction all in one go?"

"Oh! Good idea! Why didn't I think of that?" she exclaimed excitedly.

"You all up for a trip to Godric's Hollow this afternoon?" Harry asked his friends. They all made sounds of agreement in various levels of anticipation, except Hermione, who frowned.

"I was going to work with the twins this afternoon," she said, disappointed.

"Lupin is going there this morning, just go with him," Harry suggested. "You can skip training for one day. It'll just be me hexing Tonks and Moody anyway."

"You sound like your father in his pre-Lily days," Lupin commented dryly.

Abashed, Harry flushed. "I was just…. I didn't mean…."

Tonks smacked Lupin's shoulder. "Let the boy have some self-confidence. If he's cocky, at least I'd have half a shot at beating him."

"Constant vigilance." Lupin raised his brows.

Tonks sniggered, "Moody won't go up against him alone anymore. He mentioned bringing Kingsley along this morning, too."

"Well, Moody's hardly a fair fight." Harry said. "He's good and all, but I have kind of an advantage, y'know, having both legs and eyes. I don't want to hurt him too badly."

Tonks left the group to get ready, and a few minutes later the group made their way to the War Room.

Harry had his wand in his hand, luckily, and threw a Shield as soon as he saw the flash of Spellfire. He whirled to face his attacker. The sallow, gaunt face of Bellatrix LeStrange grinned at him, black eyes glowing with malice. Ice seemed to have formed in the pit of stomach, but Harry threw a Stunner, which she blocked with a bark of laughter, throwing several hexes in rapid succession. Harry blocked and dodged the jets of light, but his heart sank when he saw Lucius Malfoy and another Death Eater approaching from either side. He whirled, uttering the incantation to create the dome shield to trap all three Death Eaters in with him.

"Calx!" he muttered, dropping behind the stone shield. "Protego!" He was already behind his own shield when Bellatrix shattered the stone, which exploded, hailing the three Death Eaters with shrapnel.

"Stupefy," he hissed. "Petrificus Totalus." He saw a jet of light coming from his left and instinctively threw his hand out, "Protego,Tarantallegra, Diffindo." He managed to hit Lucius with the cutting hex in the shoulder, effectively disabling his wand arm. "Stupefy, Accio wand." Harry's left hand was still maintaining a Shield charm, blocking curses from the other Death Eater. A "Levicorpus!" had the man dangling upside down. "Expelliarmus, Stupefy!"

Bellatrix had been trying to sneak behind him, Disillusioned. "Aguamenti!" He sprayed water until he saw the displacement that gave her position away. Rage bubbled through him. "Contrisssssssto," he hissed the depression-inducing, energy draining spell in Parseltongue. "Transfero." He tried the new curse that should funnel her magical energy into one of the pieces of rubble on the floor. Bellatrix shot a few more hexes at him, but the color faded with each attempt. "Expelliarmus," he said coldly, catching her wand while pointing his own at her chest. He froze then, noticing her hair had gone from lank, black strands to mousy-brown waves. "Shit! Tonks, what the hell were you thinking?" He handed her wand back. "Transfero!" He drained the energy from the stone back into her through her wand. "And I suppose these two are Kingsley and Moody on Polyjuice?" He worriedly dispelled his domed shield and lowered the dangling, purple-faced "Death Eater" to the ground.

"Sodding gits," Harry growled. "Episkey," he said over and over, doing his best to heal the worst of the cuts. "Tergeo," cleaned away some of the blood. "Somebody fetch Madam Pomfrey!" he yelled, worriedly checking pulses.

"Are you sure they aren't Death Eaters?" Ron looked suspiciously at the two men, who had yet to awaken from the Stunners Harry had hit them with.

"How would Death Eaters have gotten in? If they had, there'd have been more than three, and they'd have tried to hit me with worse than Stunners. I'm sure they thought they'd teach us a lesson, the bloody bastards." He swore some more under his breath, anxiously waiting for Madam Pomfrey to appear. "I imagine they got hair from Lucius and this bloke in Azkaban."

"Maybe we should bind them, just in case." Ron frowned. "Incarcerous."

"Harry, how did you do magic with both hands?" Neville asked. "You worked a Shield charm with your left hand while using your wand with your right."

Harry just blinked at him in surprise, "I don't know, I've never done that before. I guess it just happened." He tried again, but it didn't work. "Guess it isn't something I should depend on. Must have been the extra adrenalin."

Ginny returned with Madam Pomfrey on the run, who checked a very groggy Tonks.

"Lupin's going to hex me into next week," Harry worried. "Why didn't I realize it was her in disguise? And why the bloody hell would she pick that disguise? She's lucky Neville didn't get hold of her."

Ginny was furious. "What the hell did you think you were doing with that dome, keeping us out so we couldn't help you?" she snapped. "That damned saving people thing of yours is going to get you killed. And if you pull that stunt again, I'll…I don't even know, but you'll regret it." She took a shuddery breath.

Harry glanced at her, noticing her red-rimmed eyes and hastily dried cheeks. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, cringing inwardly at having infuriated her, on her birthday no less.

Madam Pomfrey finished her work, administering healing spells where necessary. "They're all fine." she looked at the students disapprovingly. "However, in the future, I want to be informed when you plan these dangerous training sessions." She glared once again at Tonks, who was too exhausted to argue.

"Blimey, Harry," Tonks said weakly after Madam Pomfrey had gone. "I guess it's been awhile since I dueled with you." Tonks had primarily worked with the girls during their training sessions.

"Are you alright?" he asked anxiously. "And are these two really Kingsley and Moody?"

"Yeah, but don't you dare untie them," she gave a half-hearted grin. "Too bad we can't make this place look like Azkaban, with a dementor or two, just for kicks."

"What's the spell to conjure a cell?" Harry asked, relieved to hear her trying to make a joke. "There's a boggart in that chest over there. He'll make a spiffy dementor."

"Ginny had a good point. What were you thinking, Harry?" Neville asked, scowling. Hannah's hand reached for his. He and the others had been frantic watching Harry battle the two men, seeing Bellatrix Disillusion herself to sneak behind him. "Harry, if those were real Death Eaters, they would have been using Unforgiveables. You cannot use that dome thing like that and leave us all out here, making us watch. That was horrible."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again." Harry sighed. "Everything happened so fast, I wasn't really thinking."

"We are capable of helping," Ron said quietly. "That is why we're in here training with you, you know."

"I know, it was really stupid," Harry hung his head. "It was just sort of an instinctive reaction. Good thing they did it, though, so I know better than to do that in a real situation."

"Good." Ron nodded.

Suddenly his eyes sparkled and he grinned. "Holy Hecate, Harry, do you realize you just beat the bogies out of three Ministry Aurors?"