A/N: Hey everyone! This chapter is short, unbeta-ed and still took me quite a while to write and post! I'm doing three fics right now, so I ask for patience. I could wrap this one up soon, but I won't 'cause the way I would do it would just be lame. So hang in there and I promise to try harder.
The sun light streamed in through the open window, cutting through her very pleasant dreams. Helena stretched and yawned. She looked over in annoyance at the source of her wakening and made a face. Damn, is it morning already?, she thought. She sighed and rolled over to go back to sleep but fell off the bed instead.
She cursed and got up and rubbed her hip where she had fallen and scowled. She really wanted to sleep in today and that was clearly not going to happen.
She suddenly realized that she heard soft laughing and spun around to see him standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. She broke out into a big smile and ran to hug him. "Why didn't you warn me I was on the edge of the bed?"
He shrugged and kissed her chastely. "I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice me. Besides, I didn't know you were going to roll over."
Helena smirked and buried her head in his chest and felt him tense up. She pulled away and noticed he was grimacing. "What? What's wrong?"
He shook his head and forced a smile. "Nothing, dear. I just have a small scratch that you rubbed against." he said trying to sound convincing.
Helena, however, saw right through his little act and put her hands on her hips. "Let me see it." He shook his head and she said it more forcefully. "Let me see it. I can fix you up somewhat but I have to see it."
He held up his hands and stepped back away from her. "I really don't think that's such a good idea. One of your students could walk in at any time and see me with my shirt off, do you know what they would think?"
Helena stepped closer and he noticed her jaw was set stubbornly. "They will think that you are a fool for thinking that you're going to get away with not letting me clean this wound."
He sighed and gave her a small smile. "I can take care of it myself. They're sort of an occupational hazard for me. I really don't want to sit in front of you half-naked, all right?"
Helena grabbed him and pushed him towards the bed and tugged on his shirt. "No, that is not all right! I've seen a man's chest before, love, yours will be no different." She advanced on him as she said this and saw him wince slightly when he thought about how she'd seen another man in any form of undress. She stopped a few feet away from him and practically yelled, "Get out of that shirt, NOW!"
He smiled to himself as he complied and turned to face her. She gasped at the 'small scratch' and bit her lip, making him feel embarrassed and more than a little self-conscious. She immediately got a bottle of a pain-stopping potion and made him lay down in the bed. She handed him the potion and went to get some bandages out of her bathroom for the three-inch gash on his chest.
He laughed softly to himself and called out, "Really, dear, it's not that bad. I've had much worse. I will live."
She returned a minute later with a sheepish smile and nodded. "I know, but I still worry. You could have at least cleaned it, you know."
He laughed at her and watched her walk over to him. She patted his hand and asked, "Hey, I thought you weren't going to get here for another week or two?"
He cocked an eyebrow and a slow smile crept over his face. "How did you know about that? Dumbledore said that he wasn't going to tell anyone."
Helena flashed a smile at him and sat down on the bed. "He told me so that I could plan my lessons accordingly. How would you like to help with a few?"
He sat up, his interest piqued. "What do you have in mind?"
Helena laughed. "I didn't think you'd mind helping. I was thinking of organizing a muggle game of sorts. Have you ever heard of capture the flag?" He shook his head. "Well, it's more or less a war game. We would divide the grounds into two areas, one for each team. Then we divide the fifth, sixth, and seventh year students into two groups. They then go to their area, set up an area for the flag, and defend their flag while trying to capture the other team's flag. Whichever team captures the other team's flag wins. They have to get it back to their base, though."
He thought about it for a second, sorting it all out in his head. "Are you sure about this? The Slytherins can be a pretty nasty group. Not that I don't love the idea, but you still need to take everything into consideration."
Helena shrugged and said, "What good is defense against the dark arts if I don't teach them how to defend themselves. There will be limits set, don't worry, but they need to learn how to do some of this stuff."
He agreed with her, but he wanted a trial run first. "Let's have the order test it out first. I'm sure we could all use the practice and it might be fun."
Helena giggled. "Sounds fun. We can have Moody be the referee because of his eye. Come to think of it, I'm going to ask him to help out with the kids' game, too."
He nodded and broke out into a big smile. "Well, if you're sure. I would pay good money to see him run across Hogwarts waving a flag gleefully in the air."
They soon found themselves out of breath from laughing and Helena stood up suddenly. "I need to brush my hair and put on my clothes for the day. Then we can go to Hogsmeade and have some fun." He blushed and raised an eyebrow, which Helena answered with a smack on the arm. "Not that kind of fun, although... nevermind." She gave him a mischievous smile. "I meant looking in shops, getting a butterbeer, gallivanting through the woods, that kind of fun."
He set a look of disappointment on his face and threw his hands over his eyes dramatically. Helena rolled her eyes and he could hear her laugh as she went into the bathroom.
An hour later, when she had dressed and they had eaten they headed for the little town. Helena suggested that they walk their, as it would be more fun. He readily agreed and they strolled down the little path towards their destination.
They talked of the way their lives were going at the moment, her trials with Harry and his success with his travels and his work around Europe. He had been largely successful in recruiting people for the order, favoring asking werewolves above everyone else because they would welcome a steady income and a place where they wouldn't endure ridicule and resentment. One of the other order members had suggested that to him, something he would have to remember to thank him for later. Very few people had turned him down and he had raised the number of members, in fact he had almost tripled it. He felt very good about himself and his accomplishments, but it felt even better having Helena proud of him. She practically glowed she was so happy, that made him feel better than he had in a while.
Once they got to town Helena almost automatically took him into the tavern for a drink. She made her way through the throngs of people and found them a little table in the back. Rosemerta came over with a big smile on her face and clapped him on the back. "Well, fancy seeing you here! Did you go to Hogwarts to see the boys yet? They don't have a trip to Hogsmeade for a few weeks."
Helena smiled and responded for him. "No, Rosie, he's here to see me."
Rosemerta raised an eyebrow and winked at them. "Well, what will it be for the happy couple, then?"
He ordered two butterbeers and Helena stopped him. "Rosie, we'll have firewhiskey please."
Rosemerta smiled and bustled away, leaving him to stare quizzically at her. "Firewhiskey? Aren't you going to wait until after lunch, at least?"
Helena grinned at him and shook her head, "Nope. We need to celebrate and I don't know a better way to do that. Well, I do, but we should just drink for now."
He grinned back at her and gave her a wink. Helena laughed at him and grabbed their drinks off of the tray Rosemerta was carrying when she passed. "Thanks, Rosie. I'll go pay for these in a sec." She sat down and gulped the whiskey down in one shot, leaving him gaping at her. She shrugged and motioned for him to drink up as she paid and they left.
They walked through the town lazily, stopping here and there for a minute before moving on again to somewhere else. They eventually ended up walking through the forest and talking quietly about their lesson plans for the weeks to come. She laughed softly when he expressed his eagerness to help with the classes and willingness to put up with Malfoy and his friends.
Helena stopped and took his hand in hers. She smiled up at him and said, "You know, I don't think I have ever met anyone as willing as you to deal with that little git and his cronies. I know I shouldn't call them that but he's so mean, you know?"
He smiled to her and nodded. "I know. Poor Harry has to deal with the worst of it. How is he dealing with everything right now? I mean, how is he doing about Sirius?"
Helena found a log and sat down. "I think Sirius might have contacted him. He was suddenly happier one day, although he hid it from everyone else. I've been inside his mind, though, so I know he's a lot more content now."
Damn he thought. Harry may be Sirius's life, but he didn't need to give himself away like that. "There's no telling who has that information now, I don't think what Sirius did was right. He may be missing Harry but he shouldn't have done that. I hope Harry doesn't get his hopes up too high, you and I know what kind of situation Sirius is in right now."
Helena nodded, concern in her eyes. "I know. He'd better come out of this alive or I will personally find some way to bring him back and kill him again. Harry ahs already gone through so much in his life and I don't want any more sorrow to fall on him."
He smiled sadly at her, they both knew that there would be a lot more sorrow for everyone before this war was finished. The only thing to figure out was who's next? It was inevitable that more would die in search of peace for all, but who came next? He hugged her to him and she sighed.
A few hours later, when they had gotten back to the castle and had a very long nap, they decided to play wizard's chess. She won three times before he quit playing, pleading a headache. She didn't buy a minute of it but went along with it anyway and they soon found themselves curled up together in front of the fireplace asleep.
A/N: So, any ideas on whom it is yet? The first person to guess right will get to choose what other games they incorporate into their lessons. Who will be the first to guess? The world will never know if no one does!
Also, thank you to parrisima, she was my only reviewer last chapter. I'm guessing that the rest of you didn't like it or something. The cats and astroglide thing was my beta's idea. I plead innocence. Stop laughing! I'm innocent! Damn, not even I can pretend to believe that one.
Anyway, Thank you again, Parrisima. I can't believe that Ms. Rowling killed him, the evidence points in the other direction. Everyone who met Harry when he got off the train was too happy for him to be dead, you know? He's not dead; he's just resting. (haha)
Again, sorry it's short and all, but the main focus of the story is Harry so I didn't want to spend too much time on this. Well, review review review!