Disclaimer: JKR could start a 12-step program for those of us who admit we have a problem.
Advances in Science
"What am I going to do about my name when we're married?" Tonks fretted, filling out the Muggle paperwork that went along with impending nuptials.
Lupin, who had just returned after several hours working with the twins, was evidently feeling bold. "You'll have to let everyone call you Nymphadora, I suppose."
Her nostrils flared as she fixed him with a steely glare. "Over my dead body. Actually, no, that name will not be displayed over my dead body. Make a note of that. And anymore of that cheek and I'll ground you from those twins."
Remus chuckled. "You can just hyphenate your name, you know. Or keep your own, I hear that's a new trend." His voice was carefully neutral. "Then you wouldn't be subject to the automatic prejudices of my name."
She gave him a reproving look. "You know I don't care about that. I'm a rather traditional girl at heart. I'm marrying you, and I will take your name. Well, your last name, anyway. I'd offer to trade first names, but you don't look much like a Nymphadora either." She chewed her Muggle Biro. "What would you think if I made Tonks my middle name?" she asked. "Then I could still use it."
Lupin smiled. "That sounds like a perfect compromise."
"Oh, bloody hell! I'll have to find a Muggle dress." Tonks looked properly horrified.
She glared at the contemplative expression on his face before rolling her eyes and tossing her list down on the desk. "So what feats of brilliance did you, Hermione and the dynamic duo accomplish today?"
Lupin cleared his throat. "Hmm, Hermione's Muggle background truly gives her some amazing ideas. She even has an idea for making Wolfsbane easier to take."
"How?"
"Well, Muggles call potions 'medicine,' and they take them in the form of little things that look like small buttons, called 'pills' or 'capsules,' that they swallow."
Tonks nodded. "But how would that work for Wolfsbane? You couldn't fit a dose of that in a capsule."
"Well, that's one of the things we're working on. It wasn't ready to test this moon, but perhaps by next. I wouldn't risk testing it now, at any rate. Especially when you refuse to divulge your plans for us over the full moon." Tonks had been uncommonly secretive. Wherever they were going seemed to require a lot of planning. She had been spending a lot of extra time at her flat, using the Floo.
"I'm an Auror." She scowled. "I am taking care of everything and you will just have to trust me!"
Ron and Harry were discussing the destruction of Horcruxes, idly watching Ginny playing StarFox on her Nintendo64.
"Oh, good shot!" Ron commented. He turned to Harry. "So, anyway, you think we could just stab those Horcruxes with your Basilisk fang collection?"
"Dunno if they'd work on all of them. What if they're protected with different curses? I don't fancy losing a hand--or any other part of my anatomy." Harry winced.
"Damn it!" Ginny huffed in annoyance. "I almost beat McGonagall's score that time." She handed the controller to Ron and scooted closer to Harry on the couch. "Have you asked Bill about the Horcruxes? He is a curse-breaker, you know. Riddle didn't invent Horcruxes. Maybe Bill has run across them in the pyramids."
Harry stared at her for a moment, then reached for her face with both hands, kissing her fervently until they toppled over on the couch. "You…are…without a doubt…the most brilliant…" he whispered, punctuating his words with kisses, until Ron happened to turn and catch them.
"YEEURGH!" With a dirty look, he used his wand to extract a tiny strand of memory, casting it to the floor and stomping on it.
Ginny giggled, pulling Harry back for an encore. Ron stalked out of the room without a backwards glance.
Ron wandered upstairs to check on the owls. Pig was crazed with excitement at the sight of him, and nearly aspirated his owl treat. Hedwig elegantly nibbled her treat from his fingers, ruffling her feathers at her excitable companion. "Say..." Ron looked at her appraisingly. "Do owls catch bats?"
Hedwig blinked at him.
"Well, you don't have to eat 'em, mind, but if you see any suspicious looking bat-like characters around here or at Hogwarts, go ahead and catch them. I suppose if you can bring them in alive to McGonagall for identification, that'd be the best," he said grudgingly. "But if you accidentally snap the beasties' necks, don't beat yourself up over it. I don't know if you can tell regular bats from Animagus bats, but the one we're after is Snape, understand?"
Hedwig hooted, which Ron took as an affirmative answer.
"Next stop, Hogwarts library." Ron said, a devious little smile playing about his lips.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione scolded. "Why do you keep digging at those books?" she asked, exasperated.
Ron stealthily crept up behind her. He quickly snared her around the waist and began dropping kisses along the nape of her neck.
"Fred! Stop doing that!" Hermione swatted his thigh.
Ron's eyes were like saucers as she spun around, mischief in her eyes. "Gotcha!"
Ron sulked. "Every time I kiss you, I'm going to wonder if you're imagining one of my brothers."
"Ah, what does it matter?" Hermione stood on tiptoe, her arms around his neck. "All you redheads look alike anyway." She giggled, reassuring him with her lips.
Crookshanks heaved a sigh. Humans. They were far too easily distracted by the opposite gender; especially at this age. He leaped up to the table to stretch out on an open book, absorbing the knowledge within through some form of fur osmosis. He patted Hermione's notes with his paw, then paged through the heavy tome until he found the information she needed. He'd helped her with her homework this way many times.
He glanced up at the couple still connected at the face. Staring contests he could understand. Friendly grooming he enjoyed. The things they were doing with their tongues right then, he simply couldn't grasp. He stared intently at the red-haired boy's head, willing him to receive the telepathic message he was sending. His human--Bast love her--was a lovely girl, but she just didn't operate on the right wavelength most of the time. He'd had more luck with her redheaded friends. The young female was his favorite, but even she acted as though she'd had too much catnip when her green-eyed tom was about.
Having no luck transmitting his message, Crookshanks demonstrated the patience of his kind, settling into his human's knapsack for what promised to be a long wait.
Neville and Hannah were tending the plants in Neville's greenhouse. He had developed a tropical water plant section and was experimenting with varieties of Gillyweed.
"What are these for?" Hannah inquired, poking the grayish green slimy rat-tailed plants with her finger.
Neville glanced over his shoulder at her. "Oh, that's gillyweed. Professor Lupin wants it for something, so I told him I'd have a go at growing it."
"What's he going to do with it?"
Neville shrugged. "Not positive, but I think he's working on something with the twins. I haven't asked any questions, because it's probably better if I don't know, but I've got the impression they're plotting to give someone webbed feet on a semi-permanent basis."
Hannah laughed. "And you have no idea who they would want to turn into a toad-like creature?"
Neville widened his eyes innocently. "I'm sure I wouldn't know, but they'll cross that, um…bridge, when they come to it."
"You are so punny."
"Thank you," he said seriously, plucking a yellow blossom from one of the plants. He tucked it in her hair and kissed her quickly, flushing slightly pink.
Hannah's arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.
Ginny's watch chimed and she groaned. "My mother and her impeccable timing."
"Hmmm?" Harry queried, lips against her neck.
"Mum is here," Ginny clarified. "I had Hermione put in an alarm charm to tell me when my parents came within a hundred meters."
Harry sighed regretfully, but sat up, straightened his clothes and tossed her one of the game controllers. "How about a game of Goldeneye 007? I'll be Bond... James Bond, on a mission to eliminate hostile forces. Here, scan my retina." He closed one eye and put his nose to hers.
Ginny snickered, returning his Eskimo kiss. "No retinal scans in the game. That was in the film, Never Say Never Again, remember? But let's make the game more interesting."
"Mmm." Harry eyed her appraisingly. "What'd you have in mind?"
"Friendly wager."
"Terms?"
Ginny adopted a pose of contemplative thought. "If you win, we go flying. If I win, we go to your house for a picnic."
"Or...we can do both of those things and skip the game," Harry offered. "Maybe you and your considerable lock-picking skills can help me open that blasted trunk."
"Okay." She grinned. "I'll find Winky and have her pack us a basket. Want me to have her take the trunk, too?"
"It's too awkward for her to carry," Harry protested.
"She's an elf, remember? She can just pop it over. How'd you think your trunk gets from the train to your dorm every year?"
"Ah, right, carry on, then." He watched her go for a moment before gingerly touching the scar on his forehead. It had been twinging more often lately. Probably from not practicing his Occlumency enough. He'd use a few moments to do just that, he decided.
It took him some time to center himself and concentrate. He sat back down on the couch and searched for an image he could use. He never dared use an image of Ginny's face, because anyone near him would see her, coloured by his perception, and it was too private to share. His glance fell on the game system and he immediately envisioned a flashing "Game Over" sign. He even added the annoying giggling dog from his cousin's old Duck Hunt game. Thinking of his cousin dredged up bothersome emotions that Harry fed to the vision, adding fuel to the fire.
The tingling in his scar grew worse rather than better. He struggled to focus and concentrate. Suddenly he felt a soft mental snap, and his mind was flooded with images that did not belong to him. It was like the time he'd accidentally invaded Snape's mind. He heard an angry scream of pain and rage in the distance, but paid no heed, overwhelmed as he was by the horrible atrocities tumbling and spilling around his mind.
Muggles, spinning like rag dolls high in the air. People screaming, eyes rolled back in their heads as their bodies arched in agony. Flashes of green light, high-pitched laughter and scenes of empty, sightless eyes came from all directions. He saw a giant snake with an oddly-shaped, lumpy body disappear into an hourglass. When he saw an image of a familiar red-haired woman, he gasped and his heart lurched painfully. He heard another enraged scream and the torrent of images suddenly went black as pitch.
"Harry! Harry! MUM! Help! Harry, no, I need you, Harry, please..." Ginny's frantic sobs invaded his consciousness, but he couldn't seem to move.
"Ginny! What happened?" Mrs. Weasley's voice was faint.
"I don't know, Mum, I thought Ron put him in a body bind curse or something, he was all rigid, but he wasn't breathing, and then I noticed his scar…"
Harry convulsed then, gasping for breath and fighting rolling waves of nausea. "Mum," he whispered in anguish, and Mrs. Weasley pulled him firmly into her arms.
Mrs. Weasley instantly conjured a bin. "Here you are, Harry, be sick if you need to, it's alright. Ginny, fetch some ginger and willowbark tea and a blanket."
Breathing deeply through flared nostrils, Harry finally managed to control his roiling stomach and shuddering. He groaned, leaning forward with his head in his hands. His whole body ached as though he'd taken a thorough trouncing.
Mrs. Weasley rubbed his back. The unused bin sat between his feet. He tentatively touched his scar, wincing in pain.
Ginny rushed back into the room with a blanket, which she draped over his shoulders. "Winky's bringing the tea." She shifted nervously. "Should I fetch Madam Pomfrey?"
"Yes, please," Mrs. Weasley answered, still rubbing his back. "His breathing and heart rate are quite high, but I don't see any injuries."
Ginny darted for the Floo, making the call quickly.
"I'm okay," Harry muttered. "Just a bad headache. Tired."
Winky popped in with the tea tray, rattling with the speed of her hurried steps. "Oh Master Harry! You gave Winky such a turn, you did! You was in two places at once, and a bad place one was!" she scolded.
Harry mustered a weak smile. "Sorry Winky, it was an accident. I'll try not to do it again." A tremor shook him.
"Where did you go?" Ginny sank down on the couch next to him, reaching for his hand.
"I was just practicing my Occlumency, and all of a sudden I felt something snap, and then it was like I was in someone else's head. I saw a bunch of stuff that made no sense. Bad stuff."
"I'm going to get Arthur." Mrs. Weasley said.
"I think you'd better get Professor McGonagall, too," Ginny met her mother's gaze worriedly. "I'll send for Hermione, Ron and Lupin." She turned to her watch, already sending notes.
Harry had taken a few sips of tea under Winky's watchful gaze, then slumped back on the couch. His eyes drifted closed. Ginny moved to the end of the couch, then levitated and turned him so he could lie down. Winky draped the blanket over him, tucking him in securely. She smiled at Ginny and popped back to the kitchen.
Ginny finger-combed the hair away his forehead, examining the scar closely. It looked normal now, but it had glowed with sickly green light for a few moments before he'd awakened.
Ron and Hermione burst through the door, red-faced and gasping for breath.
"What happened?" Hermione asked frantically, rushing to Harry's side, dropping her knapsack on the floor. She checked his pulse and scanned him with her wand. "He seems to be sleeping now."
Hearing approaching footsteps, Ginny motioned the other two to follow her to the corner, where she described the incident in low tones.
"You think he broke into Voldemort's head?" Ron shook his head. "Shite, no wonder he looks like he took a beating."
Hermione stared at Harry thoughtfully. "Is he stronger? Or is Voldemort weaker?" she mused.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "He's been breaking into Voldemort's head since Fifth year."
"Until Voldemort realized what he was doing and blocked him out," Hermione said pointedly.
"You think he broke through Voldemort's mental shields?" Ginny looked horrified.
"You know his projection Occlumency power has gotten stronger," Hermione theorized. "What if Voldemort was sleeping or something, and Harry broke through his shields using that mental connection from the scar?"
"Well, if he got in, I hope he had time to look for information on the Horcruxes while he was there." Ron anxiously ran his hand through his hair. "But what if Voldemort did this on purpose, like the false visions from the Ministry? What if he's trying to trap Harry's mind somewhere?"
Ginny watched Madam Pomfrey check Harry's vital signs while her mother explained what had happened. She saw Crookshanks emerge from Hermione's knapsack where she'd dropped it near the couch. He immediately met her gaze and sought her lap. As she mechanically stroked his fur, his purring soothed her.
"I need a cat," she murmured. "If Harry is going to pull this kind of stunt very often, I definitely need something to hold. If my hands are occupied, I can't strangle him for scaring the life out of me."
"Oi!" she blinked into focus suddenly. "Crookshanks! You're supposed to be at Hogwarts. Herms, I'll take him back for you, okay? Summon me if anything changes here. I'll be right back." She bit her lip, glancing at Harry.
Without waiting for an answer, she stood and hoisted the heavy cat to her shoulder. She went through the cabinet and into the War Room, where she paused at the shelves of books, stroking the cat as he nuzzled her ear. She glanced at her watch, noting Harry's hand still pointed to "Sleeping." She sighed, striding out of the room, heading for the library. When she entered, Crookshanks leapt to the floor. "I need a book on mental links," she announced to the room. A light appeared over a set of shelves and she hurried towards it, selecting a few promising-looking volumes.
"Meowwrrr."
She nearly tripped over Crookshanks on her way to a reading table, and spared him a scowl as he darted to a shelf where he pawed wildly at a book. She knelt on the floor near the cat, pulling the book off the shelf. "Something in here you're after, old boy?"
Crookshanks scratched at the cover until she opened it for him. He raked the pages open and gazed expectantly at her with intense yellow eyes.
Ginny bent studiously over the ancient mythology volume, glancing up when she heard Crookshanks' greeting noise.
"Prrrrrowl?"
Ginny heard a soft answering chirp. "Awww, aren't you a little beauty?" she crooned, reaching for the petite tuxedo cat. Her fur was glossy black and her paws and belly pristine white. "Are you Crookshanks' little lady friend? I wish I could bring you back to Headquarters, but I'm sure someone would go spare on me. Security and all. I wonder whose kitty you are…. Show me where you live." She set the little cat down, absently added the book on Mythology to her other selections and followed.
Several minutes later, Ginny and the cats stood in the dungeons at the entrance to the Slytherin common room. It opened automatically for the cat, who darted inside, but Ginny paused, glancing at Crookshanks. "You wouldn't let her lead me into a trap, would you?"
Crookshanks rubbed against her leg reassuringly before following his friend. Ginny listened carefully. "No one is here for the summer," she reasoned. "And I can call Dobby if I need to." She used a sticking charm to hold the door open. "No way I'm getting trapped in with no password to get out."
She stepped inside. The Slytherin common room was not unlike the Gryffindors' for accommodations or size. The colors of the furnishings were silver and green, of course, and the dim lighting made it seem less welcoming, but not as sinister as she'd imagined. She followed the cats down a corridor. She poked her head into the nearest loo. "Girls' side of the dorm, that's good."
They arrived at the last room at the end of the hall; the door was ajar, and both cats slipped inside. Ginny followed cautiously. The room was completely devoid of any personal effects. "Ah, perhaps your mistress finished school and left you behind?" Ginny guessed hopefully. "I've an idea. Let's look through the boys' side. I can take a gander through Malfoy's stuff if it's still here, and be able to guess what year this girl is in, based on his room position."
Malfoy's room corresponded with the girls' room she'd been in on the opposite side. "So you belong to someone in the same year as Malfoy…. I'll have to ask Hermione who that could be. I know of Parkinson, Bullstrode and Greengrass…. Hard to imagine Bullstrode with such a pretty little kitten, but I know she had a cat." She checked her watch again. "Well, let's see what Mr. Malfoy left for us while we wait for Harry to wake up." Employing her talents, she popped his trunk open without difficulty and began rummaging through the contents. She found a few strands of white-blond hair on a comb and conjured a phial to keep them in. She didn't find anything else of use, so she repacked the trunk exactly as she'd found it. As an afterthought, she reopened it and added a tracking charm to the stack of boxers. Satisfied, she locked the trunk and gathered her things. "Well, my feline companions, I must take my leave. It smells just a little too Slytherin in here."
As she hurriedly made her way back to the War Room, she pondered the conspicuous absence of Filch and Mrs. Norris. Madam Pince had not been seen in the library either. Perhaps they were all on holiday together. Ginny snickered. "I can just imagine Pince and Filch off on a beach in bathing costumes together with Mrs. Norris."
"Goodbye Crookshanks, I need to get back to Harry. Give your little friend a kiss for me."
Harry awakened that evening in time for the weekly Order meeting. He listened groggily through Mr. Weasley's reports on the dementor experiments.
The nitrous oxide had neutralized the dementors' powers quite effectively, and the after-effects led to the dementors destruction of each other. Dementors were fast becoming an endangered species. The twins wanted to capture a few and study them. They hoped to design some kind of soul vacuum using a real dementor, trapped inside something--like a genie in a bottle--to be called out at will.
McGonagall disagreed. "Voldemort has dementors working for him. Dementors don't want his soul. It's too corrupt."
Mr. Weasley also discussed the Ministry's plans to implement some of the suggestions in Harry's letter.
"Public outcry has demanded the rules of wartime be applied," Mr. Weasley said. "Underage use of magic is no longer being targeted for punishment, and Apparition can be taught and practiced from age fourteen." Ginny and Luna had learned to Apparate over the summer, having disregarded the former law.
"Good suggestion of Harry's, using those detection spells to watch for Unforgiveables and dispatch Aurors and Hitwizard teams." Moody nodded approvingly. "Scores of Death Eater raids on Muggles and Muggleborns have been interrupted or prevented."
Lupin gave a report on the progress of the teenagers in training. "They'll be ready for NEWTs soon. They've been working diligently. Hermione has created several new spells, and uncovered some very old ones, that should give Harry an advantage."
"What was that spell Harry used on me?" Tonks asked. "Took days to fully recover my morphing ability."
"It was a depression spell," Hermione smiled apologetically. "Severe emotional upheaval affects magical abilities due to serotonin receptors in the brain. This spell does the same thing, changing the body chemistry so fast that it almost leaves a wizard incapable of using his magic. An affected wizard's spells get weaker and weaker until completely ineffective. This particular spell is only effective for Harry to use, because it's done in Parseltongue. Therefore, the only counter is also in Parseltongue."
"We definitely don't want Voldemort hearing about that one."
Madam Pomfrey spoke on the success of the wand experiments. She suggested anyone with a spare wand consider it, as it strengthened their spell-casting abilities. Tonks and Kingsley had both undergone the procedure, but hadn't made it known in the ranks of Aurors, for fear spies would leak the idea to Voldemort. Ollivander had not been found, so the difficulty of obtaining spare wands made it prohibitive for most anyway. McGonagall urged everyone to go through their family vaults to look for old wands, and promised to contact other wand-makers for a supply.
Neville reported the success of the methadone for reducing the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. "You can still feel it, but it is not incapacitating. The twins designed a robe clasp with a built-in needle that, when hit physically or by hard curses, breaks and releases methadone directly into the bloodstream. It can also be worn as a brooch, necklace, watch or bracelet."
Ginny gave Lupin the hair recovered from Malfoy's trunk. She hoped it could be used for tracking, as could his trunk itself when it was removed from Hogwarts.
"Potter." McGonagall's voice snapped irritably.
"Yes, Professor?" Harry answered, mid-yawn.
"Would you care enlighten me as to why your owl brought me a nearly dead bat earlier this evening?"
"Sorry Professor, I've no idea,"
Ron sniggered and Harry glanced at him in suspicion. He suddenly had a very good idea who might've given his owl instructions for bat hunting. He'd have a talk to Hedwig later. Much as he wanted Snape captured, he didn't want Hedwig to get hurt.
Harry found it difficult to concentrate on the rest of the meeting with the onset of a dull, throbbing headache. The reports were all things he'd heard already, anyway.
Madam Pomfrey politely interrupted the meeting to send him off to bed.
He rose gratefully, pausing to whisper to Lupin, who nodded, cutting his eyes at Bill.
Ginny, in Luna's room for the duration of the meeting, skimmed through her book while they chatted.
"So how on earth did you convince my idiot brother to get involved in a serious physical relationship within two weeks of meeting him? Have you got siren blood or something?"
"We have a lot of common interests. Once he got past his initial inhibitions with the age difference, we got to know each other very quickly."
Ginny gave her a narrow-eyed look. "That doesn't explain the rush into a physical relationship without a serious commitment. My brothers weren't raised like that."
"I told him I didn't want my first time to be at the hands of a Death Eater," Luna shrugged. "I've heard pure-blood virgin witches are at a premium. It wasn't difficult to convince him when he thought it was for my own protection. And gave me a ring, see?" Luna pulled at the thin chain around her neck, displaying a gold band dangling at the bottom. "I haven't decided, so I won't wear it on my finger. I'm nearly seventeen. I won't consider it until then." She shrugged and dropped the ring back down the front of her robes.
"I suppose Charlie is prone to making fast decisions." Ginny's mused. "Guess he has to, working with dragons. Anyway, congratulations!" She grinned, leaning over to hug her friend. "Welcome to the family."
"Thank you." Luna glanced down at her watch. "Oh, Harry's back in his room, but the others are still in the meeting."
"I better go check on him," Ginny bounced up from the bed. "I heard Pomfrey tell Mum she'd send him out if he looked ill."
"Can I borrow your library book?" Luna asked.
"Sure," Ginny called over her shoulder, already halfway out the door.
She found Harry laying face-down on his bed. He'd managed to take his shirt off before collapsing. "Poor baby," she murmured, massaging his scalp and back, eliciting a soft moan and what sounded like mumbles of eternal love and gratitude.
"Promises, promises," she sighed. "Now if I could just get you to promise not to do anything stupidly noble…"
Remus John and N. Tonks Lupin were joined in the bonds of matrimony in a nondescript Muggle church. Tonks' few trusted family members were in attendance, along with members of the Order. Hagrid was conspicuous by his absence, as he felt he ought to stay at Hogwarts. He did send a wedding gift: an enormous yellow knitted afghan that Harry thought looked remarkably like a circus tent.
The ceremony was brief, and Tonks looked lovely in a simple off-the-shoulder Muggle gown. It wasn't a typical wedding dress, but it suited her, and Lupin looked captivated. She'd chosen a glossy chestnut shade for her hair, so as not to offend the Muggle minister. Remus looked quite dashing sporting a new suit and freshly-trimmed hair. His eyes sparkled with life and love.
Harry wondered what improvements Hermione had made to the Wolfsbane potion, as Lupin looked better than he had since his days at Hogwarts, even with the full moon so close. Harry thought of the times he'd seen Lupin in the Pensieve, and even as a teenager, he'd looked worn and prematurely aged.
Afterward the celebrations, everyone congratulated the happy couple and wished them well on their honeymoon. Tonks was still adamantly refusing to tell Lupin where they were going; only that she would Side-Along Apparate him. He sighed, seemingly resigned to his fate.
Harry signed over the deed to Grimmauld Place to them as a wedding present. Tonks was a Black, and Lupin had been Sirius' best friend, so Harry felt it was only appropriate. Someday, he hoped, the newlyweds would be able to strip all the wards down and start from scratch, redoing the house to suit their own preferences.
Hermione sidled up to Harry, asking how he felt. "I'm fine, Hermione," Harry rolled his eyes. "I was just tired. It's been days. I'm fully recovered." He looked askance at her. "Lupin's looking rather young these days," he commented.
"Well, those monthly transformations are hard on people. That's what prematurely ages werewolves and shortens their life spans. I found that adding a drop of anti-aging potion helps reverse the effect. A little Euphoria Potion strengthens his mental resistance to the werewolf tendencies as well." She glanced up at Harry. "You've contributed to his anti-aging more than I have, however."
"How so?"
"Well, you know how the Contristo spell works," she said. "Mental depression weakens powers. Up until this spring, he never believed he had a chance for a normal future. No career prospects, no hope of average things like marriage or family. He isn't really the type to complain; he just tries to accept it and make the best of it." Hermione turned to watch the happy couple getting ready to leave. "Now he has a partnership in a successful business, patents on his inventions, and people who love him. He has something to live for, and you can tell in his work. He has an absolutely brilliant mind, and is far more powerful than most would expect."
"He definitely looks like he has a new lease on life," Harry grinned. "So where is she taking him on the honeymoon, anyway?""Around the world, backwards."
"What?"
"He won't transform at all this month, because he'll never be anywhere with a full moon. Tonks called on Aurors worldwide to set up the Portkeys and Apparition points. It took her awhile, but now that it's done, he could do this every month and never transform again. In fact, Tonks is looking for properties to set up safehouses on this trip. They can capitalize on this venture too, arranging werewolf world tours, so others can avoid transformation as well. This could mean a world of difference."
"Isn't that much magical travel as bad as a night of transformation with Wolfsbane?" Harry asked.
"It's magically exhausting, but not physically painful," Hermione shrugged. "And they'll probably still take the Wolfsbane as a precaution. We're working on getting it into a capsule form so they can just swallow a tablet instead of drinking that awful stuff. Mum's pretty smart with Muggle medicine, and the twins have been shrinking potions into sweets for ages, so together they make a good team. Mum thinks we can develop an extended release potion that would enter the bloodstream at a measured rate throughout the day, rather than a whole cup of potion hitting all at once. It should help the aggression levels stabilize and make the potion more effective."
"Brilliant," Harry marveled. "Next thing, you'll be announcing a cure."
"That will be a project for after the war," Hermione said. "And some curses can't be cured. But in the meantime, we have something attractive to offer werewolves that Voldemort would never give them."
The familiar jerk behind their navels finally took them back to Hogwarts. From the War Room, they went through the cabinet and dispersed throughout the house. The Weasleys had moved in to help the Grangers chaperon while the Lupins traveled. Harry knew Lupin hoped they'd stay on after Hogwarts opened.
Days earlier, Lupin had encouraged the twins to take rooms in the huge house, offering to set up their own private Floo and en suite bathroom, so they'd have the privacy they'd grown accustomed to. He'd made the same offer to Charlie, telling them all it was important for the Order that they be nearby. Should a problem arise at the school, they could go through the cabinet at a moment's notice. Everyone had agreed, knowing another attack on the school was probably inevitable.
They also planned to make use of the War Room for training sessions whenever their schedules allowed. McGonagall offered one of the unused classrooms at Hogwarts for Lupin and the twins to use as a workshop, to better conceal their activities. Their shop on Diagon Alley was heavily warded, but still a public place.
Hogwarts letters finally arrived with booklists for the year. Due to inadequate numbers of students, there would be no Quidditch, but the D.A. was declared an official student organization, led by Harry and Neville. Ginny and Luna were awarded prefect status. Hermione complimented McGonagall's strategy at allowing them more freedom than the average student without making it look like favoritism.
First through Third year students were to have combined classes. Fourth and Fifth years would be together, taking classes aimed at OWLs, and Sixth and Seventh years would be combined for NEWT preparation. Independent study would be highly encouraged, as would mentoring of younger students by older ones. House affiliations would have much less emphasis, and two of the unused classrooms near the library had been combined to form an all-school common room.
The new curriculum focused on the events at hand. Defense classes would be longer and more rigorous, officially taught by William and Fleur Weasley.
Hermione gasped. "They did take the job! I knew they were considering it, but needed to work out the details with the goblins at Gringotts. Oh how wonderful! And Bill will be Gryffindor Head of House as well!"
Mrs. Weasley accompanied the teens to Diagon Alley for their school supplies. Afterwards, they went to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. The four girls selected a table and sat down, waiting for the boys and Mrs. Weasley to place the orders.
"Ginny, have you an unusual affinity for cats?" Luna asked.
"I like cats, if that's what you mean."
"Crookshanks adores her," Hermione noted.
"Ginny got a book from the library about mythology and ancient magics," Luna explained. "Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess, was associated with Artemis, the maiden huntress. Artemis was known as a soul hunter and shape shifter. She was accompanied by a stag. Some say it was a silver stag. She had a silver bow and a magic quiver of arrows that refilled automatically. She specified in healing, especially mental healing."
"What does that have to do with me?" Ginny looked skeptical.
"I don't know." Luna shrugged and smiled. "It just reminded me of you. Especially after you told me about Crookshanks picking this book out for you before his little friend led you down to the Slytherin dorms."
Hermione's eyes were wide. "You followed that cat to Malfoy's room? It could have been a trap!"
"No, no!" Ginny glanced around worriedly. "It wasn't like that! Well, okay, it'll probably sound stupid, but cats do seem to listen to me. I asked Crookshanks' friend where she lived, and followed her to the Slytherin dorms. Crookshanks trusted her, so I stuck the door open and checked for any signs of life. There was no one there, so I followed the cats. She has been living in the Seventh year girls' dorm."
"That could have been a trap, Ginny," Hermione hissed. "I can't believe you went into the Slytherin dorms alone. Harry would go spare if he found out. Not to mention your mum's reaction."
"Oh please," Ginny scowled. "Harry has written a will and created a dome that will keep Voldemort trapped at the expense of his own life. He has no room to criticize me for taking a calculated risk by following a completely trustworthy cat in an empty dorm. And how is that any worse than you, as Second years, brewing an illegal potion to get into the Slytherin common room? At least when I went in, I made sure it was deserted!"
Hermione's mouth formed a thin line. "I'm just afraid that other cat means trouble. What if a Death Eater put her there, waiting for one of us to take her in. She's probably got a tracking charm on her."
"I got the impression she'd been left behind, actually. I don't imagine we'll have many Slytherins back."
Hannah, who had been listening quietly to the exchanges, cleared her throat then, her eyes fixed on the approaching group. The girls moved over to make room, reaching for glasses of pumpkin juice, pasties and desserts from the trays, joining in the mundane chatter about the weather and broomstick models.
As Harry settled next to Ginny, he spoke in a low undertone. "I haven't forgotten, I still owe you an afternoon of flying, picnicking and devious lock-picking, trunk-opening adventure."
"I was just wondering how to fill these last long, lazy days of summer," she said, chuckling.