"You didn't see what she did to those Death Eaters," Lupin said, settling himself onto the sofa in Tonks' apartment, "She didn't just fight them, she butchered them like sheep, and Harry…"
"What about Harry?" Tonks asked, dropping beside him.
"He didn't say anything, but at least four of those men were killed by spells."
"But Harry said the girl didn't use magic," Tonks said.
"Exactly, one was thrown into the castle wall, his neck snapped, one ended up in the lake, and two ended up in the Whomping Willow."
"What are you implying Remus?"
"Nothing, we all know Harry's a bit hotheaded, I'd have been shocked if he didn't James and Serious being what they were. We owe this girl a lot, she kept Harry from Voldemort, but in that brief encounter Harry killed four men without any hesitation or remorse," Lupin frowned, "The girl has something to do with it, we need to watch her carefully, if she leads Harry down that path, we may lose him."
"She saved his life, do you really think she wants to hurt him?"
"I don't know, I doubt she wants him dead, but by the time she's finished with him we just might have another Barty Crouch."
Tonks laughed harshly, "Or another Dark Lord."
Lupin nodded, "Exactly, we'll have to watch her closely."
"I'll write Kingsley, he can cover for me at work, but we'll need to be careful Remus. If she's as dangerous as you think, we can't let her know what we're doing."
Harry woke to a soft tapping on the window of Ron's room. He fumbled with his glasses and clambered out of his camp bed. He carefully slipped past the bed, careful not to wake Hermione and Ginny who shared Ron's bed, or Ron himself who slept on the other camp bed. He slowly opened the window, to help his snowy owl Hedwig slip her awkward package through the window. Once free of the bundle, Hedwig hopped onto Harry's shoulder and affectionately nipped his ear.
"Thanks," Harry whispered, "I know it was a long flight, get some sleep." The owl gave a soft hoot, and glided across the room to the perch by her cage. Harry sat on the camp bed and unwrapped the leather-bound package. Lifting the gleaming sword of Gryffindor, and holding it in the moonlight. He sat there, memories flooding through his mind, the basilisk's fang piercing his arm, the blood showering him as the sword buried itself in the snake's skull. Ginny lying on the floor of the chamber, Tom Riddle standing over her. Voldemort rising out of a cauldron, Voldemort and Dumbledore dueling in the Atrium; Dumbledore falling. Ginny leading him away from the body, Ginny fighting the Death Eaters in the corridor, Ginny running at him across the Gryffindor common room.
Harry glanced at the sleeping form on the bed, shoving the memories aside. He carefully rewrapped the sword in the leather package, and leaned it against the doorframe before returning to the bed.
Harry woke his scar burning with pain, he tried to sit up, but something held him down. He tried to struggle, but he couldn't move at all. He finally realized he was bound tightly to the bed by thick cords. The sharp pain hit him again, and he groaned.
"Finally awake?" Harry felt his glasses slide onto his face, and turned to see Rachel standing over him, one of her daggers hovering over his face. His eyes locked on the single drop on blood dangling on its tip.
"What the hell!" Harry yelled.
"Lesson one Harry," Rachel said calmly, "Always keep your weapons within reach." She slowly moved her other hand into view, holding the sword and four wands. She spoke louder, "This lesson was for all of you, the rest are for Harry alone.
"There's a paddock hidden in the trees, meet me there in ten minutes," She brought the dagger down, slashing the cords and dropping the wands and sword on the bed beside him. By the time Harry had gotten to his feet, she was gone. He turned and saw that Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were also bound, and unlike Harry, they were gagged. He quickly untied the others.
"Who the hell does she think she is!" Ginny yelled.
"Ginny, I don't like it anymore than you, but she was trying to make a point," Harry muttered.
"We have to remember, what kind of life she's lived," Hermione said.
"What does that have to do with it," Ginny yelled again.
"She's lived her entire life on the run from Voldemort and his followers," Hermione said calmly, "She's a lot like Mad Eye."
"Yeah," said Ron, "She's a nutter all right."
"Ron," Hermione snapped, "She's not a nutter, lived her entire life knowing one mistake could get her killed. She was trying to teach us that lesson."
"I don't like her," Ginny said, "I think she's dangerous."
"I know she is," Harry said, "But if she can teach me even a fraction of what she knows."
"I agree," Ron said, "She knows what she's doing."
"But we don't," Ginny snapped."
Harry glanced at his watch, "I'd better go, don't want to be late."
"I'm coming too," Ginny said instantly.
"She said only Harry could," Hermione said.
"I'm not letting you go up there alone!" Ginny snapped.
"I'll be fine Ginny," Harry said, slipping his wand into his jeans pocket, and grabbing the sword. "We'll be back for lunch."
He walked out, ignoring Ginny's shouts.
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked.
"We talk to Lupin," Hermione said calmly, "Tell him about our suspicions, and we watch her."
"Should we tell anyone else?" Ginny asked.
"Not mom," Ron said, "She'll worry too much."
"Bill?" Hermione asked.
"They're already gone," Ginny said, "They're visiting her family in France.
"We'll tell Lupin and Tonks," Hermione said, "If they think others should know, then they can say something."
"Do you think Harry's safe with her?" Ron asked.
"She's had plenty of chances to hurt him if she wanted," Hermione said, "I think he'll be fine."
"For now," Ginny added softly.
Rachel watched the sun peeking over the horizon. She cocked her head and listened to the shouted curses drifting through the still open window, and smiled. "They didn't like being tied up, didn't like being helpless. Good, they won't make that stupid mistake again." She turned and ran toward the paddock, careful to avoid the rays of sunlight just beginning light the land. She let herself enjoy the run, leaping easily over obstacles in her path, letting her muscles loosen. She saw the apple tree in the paddock and sprinted at it, releasing her blades when ten feet away, watching them cleanly slice through the branches, throwing her body into a forward roll and grabbing the apples as her daggers thudded into the trunk. Rachel returned the daggers to her back, and began to eat the apples.
When Harry arrived, Rachel was standing beside a pile of golf ball sized stones, she looked at him and smiled, "You're early, that's good."
"Why did you do that this morning?" Harry said, anger filling his voice.
"You needed to know what happens when you let your guard down. Don't worry, I won't do it again." Harry started to speak, but she cut him off, "I've got about five years worth of training to teach you Harry, and I doubt we'll get three weeks before the Dark Lord comes for us." She lifted two stones, "Now I'm going to throw these, I want you to hit as many of them as you can, I don't care what spells you try, I just want to see how good you are."
Before Harry could say anything, the stones were in the air, flying right at his face. He fumbled for his wand, lifting it and yelling, "Reductor!" the stones became dust, but through the cloud, he saw Rachel calmly releasing another pair. Harry dove to the side, instinctively blasting the stones again.
"Not bad," Rachel said, watching Harry climb back to his feet, "Let's see how you do with your left hand…
