Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter or its associated canon nor, any other already copyrighted material.

(A/N):

Chapter 27

No news is…

As they gathered for their first class of the new year, Harry looked over his classmates. Each now carried the focus in their eyes that he had first seen in Neville when the year began. Even after two weeks the attack on the ministry was still clearly at the forefront of their minds. It would be nearly impossible to forget it anyway, even if the Prophet hadn't been running coverage of it every day.

The paper had actually run a different topic this morning, finally getting the news of Fudge's temporary appointment on the cover. They had been desperately seeking information on any attacks around the islands, but much like the weeks following Dumbledore's murder, Voldemort's forces had fallen silent. For the first time since Halloween, there hadn't been a Dark Mark in the sky for days. The two months of murder, mayhem and destruction that followed the last silence had everyone on edge. Harry had heard more than one group of people whispering about what might happen next and the consensus seemed to be that Hogwarts was the most likely target.

When asked, Harry neither confirmed nor denied these ideas. He simply told them to be ready for whatever might be coming. It was a strange contrast between the adults afraid to leave their children at the school while they went home and the students themselves that felt no place was safer for them. Harry didn't know how much of what the DA had done during the battle had found its way to the ears of the parents, but apparently none had been concerned enough to try removing their children.

The teams within the class had already formed when Professor Keystone arrived, striding quickly through the well packed snow to the gathered students. His lack of a coat over his relatively light shirt continued as it did all winter as did the sunglasses over his eyes. He reached them exactly as the clock struck the hour.

"Good morning class. Welcome back to Hogwarts after Christmas break. Judging by the conversations I've had with many of your parents, and the resulting surprise, a good number of you failed to tell them just how intense your training has been over the last several months. I can't say I blame you." They waited a moment before he continued. "It has however, served you very well. Each of you did an excellent job at the Ministry as did so many of your class mates. But we will speak more on that later. For now, drills and practice. Begin." As one, the class began running their laps around the courtyard.

Just as they were about to finish their ten laps in record time, the professor announced that the required number for the rest of the year would be fifteen. After a surprisingly small amount of groaning, they completed the extra five laps. The effects of all the intense training they had been doing became evident as everyone finished the run only a little more exhausted. The drive each of them felt was also a strong factor in pushing them on. After the short jog back indoors for the rest of the morning, they began their dueling practice.

Instead of simply observing as they practiced, the professor was also sparring. Both Matt and Sarah had appeared shortly after practice began and were taking turns facing him. A momentary glance showed just how good at it they were. Though the class was moving quickly and spells were nearly nonstop, the professor, allowed to cut loose, was far outstripping them in speed and intensity. Despite engaging in the rather fierce duels, he was still maintaining an eye on the students as evidenced by his picking out anyone who let themselves be distracted by his fight. As he dismissed them for their long lunch, he was still undefeated after twenty-eight duels. Being among the last to leave, Harry could just hear Matt behind him as he reached the door.

"Come on Alex, two on one! That would be real close to fair."

"Matt…I had to cast an extra hundred and fifty spells this morning. I can barely lift my arm."

"Really?"

"Well…I could probably do a Killing Curse if I had to."

"Okay, okay. I give."

After changing clothes and getting cleaned up, the four met as usual for lunch. Harry still marveled that Ron, at the speed he wolfed down food, hadn't managed to choke himself yet. He was stripped of his ability to jest at it however when he glanced down and found a completely empty plate in front of him that had been full only a few minutes earlier. Glancing around he found a number of ministry officials and Aurors once again had joined the students for a meal. All were this time gathered at the far end of the tables near the door. They were apparently doing their best not to disturb the students.

Checking around to make sure no one was trying to listen in, Hermione caught his eye.

"What?" She glanced around again.

"I was going to stop by the library after class, see if I can find anything on…you know." Harry's eyes lit up with realization.

"Right. I'll come with you."

"Okay." Ron and Ginny had also picked up on what she was hinting at and immediately volunteered to help. Harry knew both of them, and eventually he, would drop off the hunt leaving Hermione alone, but the gesture would help her get a good start. She probably knew the books in the library better than anyone in the school save Madam Pince, and even then it was neck in neck. The fact she still needed to look anything up after six and a half years was mildly surprising, though he half suspected she just claimed to be doing research to get a little peace and quiet. If so, he could hardly blame her.

Halfway through lunch a small delivery owl soared from the heights of the Hall and swooped down in front of Harry. Offering an envelope, the bird waited patiently for a reply. Tearing open the letter addressed to him in the almost snarky writing of the twins, he quickly read the note. He stared at it for a long moment before Ginny put a hand on his arm.

"What is it?"

"Weasley Wizarding Wheezes is closing its doors for the time being." The others stared at him, shocked. "Fred says the rest of the Alley is shut down and there just isn't enough walk in business right now to make it worth lighting the lamps." Drawing his finger over the last few lines again, he continued. "Mail order is still booming but they don't need to be there for that."

"Does it say what they're going to do?"

"No…but they are looking for a place to run their mail order out of. And a place to live for a little while. The flat above the Alley's become a bit boring…not to mention dangerous." Ginny considered it for a moment.

"What about the Burrow? It's not in use right now and there's plenty of room."

"Maybe…" Grabbing a quill, Harry scratched out a quick note and sent it back to them with the owl.

"What was that?"

"Letting them know we got the message, said hi." In truth part had been approval of their plan. Even as a silent partner in the business, they had still requested his acceptance before moving forward. The other part of the note had been a request to meet them this evening to discuss their plans. Now all he had to do was make sure they could get in through the Floo Network. They were two of the few people he could completely trust and he had an idea for their down time. Ginny seemed to see the wheels turning in his head.

"What are you thinking Potter?"

"Hm? Oh…nothing."

"Right…"

Heading back to class, each of their minds raced wondering how much of the afternoon would be spent in discussion of the events at the Ministry. Entering the classroom they took their seats as the professor took his customary stool. Behind them and to either side, Matt and Sarah had also taken stools and waited, facing him. The bell tolled the hour a few moments after they sat down and he began.

"Welcome back class. As you may have noticed, I've asked a couple of my friends, who you likely remember from the Ministry, to join us this afternoon. They are both teammates of mine in the Club back home. To your left is Matthew Ansen, currently ranked fifteenth in North American Freestyle and particularly adept at shield charms, and to your right is Sarah Montoya, third in Women's Freestyle, second in Traditional and eleventh overall, as well as a gifted potions maker." Each bowed as he introduced them. "Within the club there are a number of teams consisting of six to ten members. Mostly this is for training, though there is a hotly contested team competition at the tournaments and groups of five compete in large free ranging battles on various terrain. Sarah and Matt are part of my team, Sarah being the captain"

"I've asked them to join us because they were present in the attack on the Ministry and fought along far more of you than I did." He rose and set the stool aside, pacing as he often did during lectures and discussions. "From what they tell me of those they fought with, every single one of you did an excellent job and would put half the Dueling Club to shame with how well you worked together." A good number of faces lit up and colored slightly at the praise. Matt and Sarah both nodded in confirmation from the back of the room. "I must say, the teamwork you developed both in this class and within your study group is extraordinary." Harry could see a few others working out what he meant by study group. "Each of you individually has become a formidable duelist, but you've combined your talents in such a way that you can take on an entire battalion of Death Eaters, among the most deadly of opponents, and emerge with barely a scratch." He paused a moment while they basked in his compliments.

"In comparison, the Aurors, a force specifically recruited and trained to face dark wizards and be the Ministry's militant wing, took severe and nearly crippling casualties in the attack. One major difference you'll notice is that every Auror attempted to fight by themselves. There were no teams and cooperation. And so…they were cut down like lambs at slaughter." The metaphor sobered the entire room up in a heartbeat. "You are much stronger united than you will ever be separately. And that strength will serve you well thorough the coming battles as well." Leaving them to think on that, he regained his stool.

"So…now that that's out of the way…questions. Who has one?" He waited a moment but no one raised a hand or spoke up. "Come on; come on, anything's fair game." Finally Seamus raised his hand. "Yes Mr. Finnegan?"

"What's the name of your team?" Keystone smiled at the question.

"A question burning on the minds of people everywhere I'm sure. Well…we decided on The Dragoons. A bit unorthodox, just like us. Next? Yes, Mr. Thomas?"

"Where did you learn to fight?"

"I started here at Hogwarts, much to the chagrin of the professors, and went from there." Neville's hand was up a moment later and the professor chose it. "Mr. Longbottom?"

"How…how did you get so good?" Keystone smirked a little.

"Practice. Years and years of practice to the detriment of nearly everything else." He glanced over the class for a moment. "I've seen the envy in some of your eyes, the thought at how cool it would be to duel at my level. Right?" Several people nodded sheepishly in response. "But to get there means trading away nearly everything else. My dueling skills are, and I say this in all honesty, amongst the best in the world. But I can't cast a cheering charm to save my life. Potions? Not a prayer. Couldn't tell a Mandrake from a geranium with a wand to my head. I can count the number of friends I have on one hand and the number of times I see my family in a year on the other. I have dedicated incredible amounts of myself to becoming what I am and as a result, have become a one trick pony. It happens to be a very useful trick since there is a war on, but it's still about all I've got." Harry glanced around and could see people taken aback by the statements.

Clearly they hadn't realized the dedication the professor had put into his career. Harry himself had only the slightest inkling of what it entailed. They were venturing into more serious territory now and it seemed the time was right for the question that had haunted him for several days. Harry tentatively raised his hand. "Yes…Mr. Potter?" Harry hesitated for a moment before continuing. At the professor's gesture, he began.

"In the ministry, after you…killed those four Death Eaters at the door, you had this look on your face… It was a grin." The Professor nodded, thinking back to that moment. "Why?" A slightly glazed look reminiscent of the one Harry was referring to passed the man's eyes before he answered.

"The thrill of still being alive." At the class's confused looks, he explained. "I should have been killed by four Death Eaters at that range, I could be dead thirty seconds later in another attack, but for that moment, I lived. That's one of the reasons I fight and duel the way I do. Only on the very verge of death, do you feel what it is to live. Some people get there, fear it and never wish to return. Some, like much of the dueling club, enjoy the high they get from it. The adrenaline rush acts like a drug. A very few unfortunate souls like me, become addicted to it, always craving the next chance to get there to the exclusion of all else. You begin to ignore all else chasing that next high." He looked a little lost for a moment before collecting himself and continuing in a lower, more severe, tone.

"Take my advice…if you ever start to like that too much…drop you wand and walk away." After a few moments of reflection he looked back over them. Harry's hand was again tentatively raised. He nodded for the student to continue.

"Sir…before the Ministry… Had you ever…Killed anyone before?" A definite specter of darkness passed over the man's features this time and Harry felt he had overstepped an unstated boundary. "I'm sorry that was…" He wanted to say something but the professor's eyes cut off the words. When he spoke it was in a flat voice apparently designed to guarantee there wouldn't be another follow up in this line of questioning.

"Yes Mr. Potter. Many times." He paused for a second before offering a little bit more. "The Head mistress has been toughly briefed on each occurrence and obviously I've been legally cleared." Giving that a good long minute to sink in and separate his voice rose back up into a normal conversational tone. "Who's next?" The class was eager to move away from the previous answer and swung back to questions about his dueling team in short order.

For the rest of class they asked a variety of questions ranging throughout the battle and the aftermath, Keystone and his friends answering as they could. By the time class let out for the afternoon and the quartet headed for the library nearly every possible topic had been covered. Still deep in thought, they each took a section of the restricted section and started looking.

After dinner Harry left the others with the excuse of meeting with the Headmistress, much to her surprise when he appeared in her office. Though annoyed at his suppositions she none the less consented to him using the room for a few minutes to speak to the Weasley twins.

After the meeting he returned and found his friends dejected at not having found anything remotely like what they wanted. Though they promised to continue looking the next day, it was Harry that had to beg off helping due to his meeting with Keystone.

Harry did manage to help for an hour and half before he had to leave for his appointment with the Defense teacher. Having managed to work out of him that he would be gone a good part of the afternoon, Ginny snuck a good amount of snogging into their search.

Arriving outside the classroom just before two he waited patiently while the fifth years filed out, many of them giving him a respectful nod as they passed their Captain. Once he was sure they had all left, he entered. Keystone was replacing the desks where they belonged and setting his stool off to the side. Glancing up, he nodded as Harry entered and slid the last chair into place. "Afternoon Mr. Potter. I see you remembered our appointment." Harry nodded firmly.

"Yes sir. I wasn't likely to forget."

"I suppose not. Before we begin, I'd like you to know I still think this is a mistake. But…since you seem to be dedicated to it, I'll do my best to instruct you."

"Thank you." The professor nodded slowly and stuck his hand out toward the office. A second later the golden hilted sword flew out through the door and slammed firmly into his waiting grip. Instead of handing it over, he tossed it the fifteen feet to Harry. Seeker reflexes kicked in and he caught it as if it were a snitch, snagging the grip out of mid air. Letting the momentum bring his arm around, he swung it a few times, trying to grow used to the weight. It felt odd that the sword would seem lighter as it moved, but as it swished around a few times cutting clean lines through the air, it felt nearly weightless.

The professor gestured to the dais as his hand shot out again, slowly closing the doors. Harry took his place across the platform from him, unsure what was to come. "You might want to stretch." Keystone took his own advice and stretched a bit. Harry followed him in flexing his legs, arms and back. Also drawing his sword, the professor swept it in wide circles to flex his wrists, tossing it from one hand to the other. As the tip reached supersonic speeds a small tone rose from it that sounded almost like music. Coming to a stop, he reversed his grip and folded the blade against the back of his arm so the tip appeared just over his shoulder.

"Your grip is good for that type of blade, though the handle itself may present problems later, but we'll deal with them when we need to. Normally I'd start you with a practice sword and we'd do basic forms. Unfortunately, we both know you don't have that kind of time. So, much like our magical lessons, we'll dive right in to practical application." He stepped forward and flipped his grip around so the back of the blade rested lightly on is shoulder. Gripping it firmly with both hands, he approached. "To start, just defend yourself. We'll move on from there." A second later the sword lifted and sliced down at Harry's shoulder. Again he flipped the blade down and blocked the strike.

A second, third, fourth strikes also were deflected to the side or blocked cold. Harry parried multiple thrusts as if he had been born with the blade. The pace quickened and the attacks came faster and faster. In only a minute a whirlwind of steel was all Harry could make out coming at him. Still his defense was unbreakable. Keystone struck harder, softer, changed direction mid swing, switched grips multiple times and was unable to find an opening. Harry didn't have to think as his hand and body moved instinctively to block each attack and parry each thrust.

After several minutes though, there was a problem. Slicked with sweat, his hand was having trouble holding onto the gold and ruby handle. As they began to slow, it was getting bad enough he considered charming it to his hand. As a surprise final move, the professor flipped his blade around and caught the tip near Harry's hilt, locking the other tip against his guard. With a flick to the side he tore the weapon from Harry's hand. It spun away from his stunned grasp and whirled through the air for a moment before slowing and retuning to Keystone's hand with a silent accio.

Grabbing hold, he could feel how slick the sweaty grip was. Sheathing his own sword, he examined the gold and inlaid rubies. "This is the problem I was talking about. Got hard to hold didn't it?"

"Yeah…a little."

"Well…let's see if we can't take care of that." His hand slipped into his pocket and returned with a length of tightly woven, flat white cord a little narrower than his thumb. Unrolling it he found the center and looped it over the blade. Pinning the center where the flat of the blade met the hilt, he began winding the cord over the metal. Crisscrossing it as he went quickly concealed nearly all of the gold and all of the rubies. Tying it up at the end of the handle, he double checked the work and handed it back. "There you go."

Harry clenched the handle in one and then both hands. In addition to being much easier to hold on to, it was more comfortable as well. Swinging it around a few times he felt the cord form itself slightly to his hand. "Thanks."

"No problem. No…let's see how you do on the attack." He raised the blade across his chest and waited. "Hit me…however you can." Harry hesitated for a moment before stepping forward. His arms didn't move automatically now, he had to try when he swung across toward Keystone's shoulder. The professor blocked the strike with little effort. The following attempts met with little more success. After a minute of jerky attacks, Harry stepped back. "Not as easy?" Harry shook his head.

"No. When I was blocking…I didn't really have to think about it. Now…that's gone."

"Hmm… Well…when I attack you, you respond by defending yourself. Perhaps you need some sort of emotion driving your attack." After a moment, he snapped. "Got it. Remember when I knocked out Miss Weasley when we were dueling?" Harry nodded firmly, remembering the anger of the moment. "Remember what you felt then…and attack." Harry nodded slowly, recalling the rage he had felt, driven by his desire to protect his girlfriend. Keystone raised his blade again. "Begin."

Harry only waited a moment before dashing in, the sword nearly dragging him to attack. This time the professor was pressed to block. Strikes that mimicked his own for speed and strength came fast and furious. The sound of steel ringing through the room was nearly continuous as they began a dance of attack across the dais. "Okay Harry. That's enough. Harry? Harry! Whoa!" He failed to jump aside fast enough and the sword made a shallow valley in his side, just below his last rib. The blood soaking into his white shirts snapped Harry out of the assault. He dropped the sword, looking terrified at what he had just done. He'd attacked a teacher and drawn blood.

Sheathing his blade, Keystone drew his wand across the cut and sealed it tight. "Went a little crazy there, huh Potter?" His eyes finally rose away from the scar to find Harry staring at him with wide eyes. "What? Oh, that? Don't worry about it. Just try to control yourself next time." Harry slowly regained himself, still not entirely sure he wasn't going to get expelled for what he had done. At the professor's gesture, he bent down and picked up the blood stained weapon. "Well…apparently the sword has gifted you with all the ability you are going to need…but I would still recommend some training in case your emotion fails you." Harry nodded slowly looking down at the blade and the inscription on it.

"Okay. You…you sure you're okay?" Despite the wide swath of blood around the sliced part of his shirt, the professor nodded, unconcerned.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. You're not going to get expelled for doing what I told you to do." He held out his hand and Harry handed the sword over. "I'll get the blood wiped off this. Thursday work for our next session?"

"Oh…uh…yeah."

"Good." He tossed the blade back. "For now though, let's see what you can do in a fight. Try not to lose you mind."

"Right…" They each raised blades and moved to attack.

Dinner was approaching by the time they finished the sparing sessions, Harry growing visibly tired. Taking the sword from his student, Keystone sent it back into the office. "All in all, an excellent session. Now…have some dinner, get some rest. I'll see you Thursday."

"Thank you Professor. For all of this."

"Of course. Now…I'm a little hungry…" He glanced down. "And I need a new shirt." Sweeping his hand out, the doors swung open reveal an empty hall. "Good evening Mr. Potter." Heading down the aisle he headed out, leaving Harry alone in the classroom. Taking a moment to glance around, he followed the professor to the hallway.

With even more to do because of his sword lessons and painfully less time to spend with Ginny, the next few weeks streaked by in an even faster blur than before. Except for a few stolen moments with her here and there, his whole life seemed to be at a dead run. Even weekends became full time study as he tried to attend a couple DA meetings and cram in essays for his classes and what little free time he could to spend with his friends.

Continued silence from Voldemort and his followers had become the Prophet's leading story itself. Everyday was a different person musing aloud about the attacks that had already taken place and why they had stopped. Among the residents of the school, including the Ministry employees, the questioning was much the same. Fudge had asked him a couple times if he had any ideas, but Harry had been unable to provide him any answers.

As predicted, by the second week Hermione was alone in searching the restricted section of the library for information on the spell Neville had recalled. So far nothing had appeared and she was getting frustrated, so much so that for the past two weekends she had gone to Grimmauld to search the library there. She wasn't the only one looking frustrated. After neither hide nor hair of dark wizards for weeks, the Aurors were growing restless. They had cleared the ministry and taken stock of their dead over the break and now they had nothing to do save wait.

Training grew more difficult in Defense and Ginny was pushing them just as hard in DA meetings. Professor Keystone had begun offering one on one duels against either himself or his friends and a good number of students were taking him up on it. That deep and resounding drive hadn't faded in the least from any of them. Perhaps most acutely of everyone, the students could feel the invisible clock ticking away toward the inevitable confrontation with Voldemort's force. The DA had known since the first meeting that Harry intended to face the dark wizard no matter what and they had all decided to stand with him.

As the first week of February waned, Harry and Ginny managed to sneak off on an unusually warm weeknight to walk on the tower wall under the stars. She had been the least surprised he was taking sword lessons form the professor. Of course, she was also the only living person that had seen his previous handy work with a blade. He had barely avoided promising to teach her what he was learning.

Holding her tightly from behind as they watched the last bits of sunlight fade into twilight in the west, his chin rested on her shoulder. It was weird how they could just stand there, holding each other for hours, neither needing to say anything. It was all there in how they stood, how they touched, how they kissed. They had passed the point where they needed to talk about it. Turning his head s little, he began to run light kisses up her neck. Her eyes slid closed as she tried to melt back into him.

"Mmm…I love you."

"Love you too Gin." His breath against her skin was making it hard to think.

"But…you need to stop that."

"Why? Afraid someone's watching?"

"No…but if you keep that up…I'm not going to be able to stop."

"Really? Tempting…" Both their heads popped up as they heard a single note carried lightly on the wind. A moment later another followed, and then more. It sounded like an instrument tuning up. Looking around confusedly, Harry took her hand and slowly began creeping around the tower toward the source of the noise. She was walking just out to his side trying to see around him. Reaching the far side of the tower, they stopped dead, stunned.

Professor Keystone, Matt and Sarah were sitting on three simple chairs in a circle, a torch off to the side. Each of the men had a violin tucked under their chin and were drawing a bow slowly over the strings. Sarah had a slightly larger version of the instrument, whose name Harry tried to pull out of his mind but grasped at nothing. Finishing the tune up, they stared at each other for a minute. With a simultaneous nod they each drew their bows in a simple tune that bounced from one to the other in a slow repetition.

The tune seemed to mesmerize the pair as they watched from the shadows, the slow movements capturing their eyes as the tune caught their ears. As the twilight faded into night, the music seemed to be a farewell to the light and a welcoming of the darkness. After a few minutes the tune faded out and was replaced by something far stronger. While Sarah played a consistent background melody, the violins seemed to duel with one another, slowly increasing in strength and intensity to the point that both men rose from their seats to face each other. Quick, strong strikes fought back and forth across the roof top.

Just as they grew used to this aggressive playing, they faded back to a unified harmony. Fading to silence again they lowered the instruments for a moment, each smiling broadly. After a moment to catch their breath, each head whipped to the side to stare directly at the pair trying to hide against the wall. "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley. Out for a walk in the moonlight?" The pair sheepishly stepped into the light near them.

"Uh…yes sir."

"Hardly blame you, it's a beautiful night." He turned back to the middle of the circle and again raised his violin, picking out a couple notes. "Well…since you're here…would you care to dance?" Harry and Ginny were shocked at the question. Whatever they had expected from snooping on the trio, this wasn't it.

"I…we should probably get back to our tower."

"Of course." He glanced at his watch. "Of course it is after curfew. And finding you out here would surely…annoy the headmistress. Sure you don't want to dance?" Matt and Sarah were smiling a little at each other over the way he was acting. "Please…I insist." Harry glanced at Ginny and found an 'oh what the hell' look in her eyes. Taking it as acceptance he tried desperately to remember his lessons from Neville. "Ah…good."

Only waiting for them to take position the trio began to play and the pair began to dance.

(A/N): If you feel it is warranted feel free to review. I welcome any and all opinions.