-0-

Harry wasn't sure whether he was awake or asleep but what he was experiencing was so vivid, he felt he could feel the walls closing in around him. There were voices, whispers, tormenting him, and then in a jumble of confusion, Dementors swept down and sucked out his soul, making him scream for Minerva.

"HARRY!"

He shot up, narrowly avoiding colliding with Minerva's chin in the process as he woke.

"Shit," she said, pulling her head out of the way. "I've got you."

He was doused in sweat and breathing heavily, but Minerva's arms around him caused his heart to slow a little as he took comfort in her protection.

"It's alright, na biodh sgàth ort [don't be afraid]. I am here leanabh [baby], I am here."

"I don't," he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, "I couldn't -"

"Shh, it doesn't matter," she whispered. "it's just a dream. It's gone now."

"Why can't I be normal?" Harry mumbled, letting his head rest on her shoulder.

"Because if you were, life would be boring," Minerva smiled, making Harry grin a little. "Are you alright now?"

"Yeah, it wasn't really anything, it just frightened me."

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the temerity to stand up to those fears," Minerva quoted, making Harry grin, even as he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks Máthair," he said taking a deep breath. "I think I'm okay now."

"Good. Let's go home then. I think Kenna said something about chocolate pudding."

-0-

Life at home with Minerva was good, better than good if you asked Harry. He'd had the whole manor to himself for weeks, but when Minerva was there to share it with him, he felt far more inclined to wander, knowing she'd be around to fetch him if he needed her.

"Harry! We need to leave now!" Minerva called, disrupting his thoughts of the last couple of days.

"Coming Máthair [Mother]."

He grabbed his shoes and headed down the staircase, smiling as he met Minerva at the bottom.

"You are excited," she said redundantly. "Harry, I don't want to ruin that, but you know that I'm going to be busier these next few weeks. Not just because of the Order, but because we all have to go back to school in less than a month, and that means a lot of paperwork."

"I know," Harry said with a sad shrug. "But Hermione and Ron will be there, and we'll have some fun, I suppose. And we have to go shopping and get our supplies of course - oh."

"Oh? Oh, what?" Minerva said, standing when she caught sight of Harry's face. "What is it?"

"I just remembered I have that hearing," he whispered. "You won't be able to come with me, will you?"

Harry watched as Minerva's face contorted into pain for a moment before shaking her head. He accepted it with a nod, but Minerva pulled him into her arms anyway.

"I'm going to be there the whole time," she said quietly. "Every minute with you, right here."

She pressed her hand over the scar on his chest, and he smiled when he felt all the love and care and devotion she had for him wrap him up and make him feel safe.

"Okay."

"Arthur will probably have to take you," Minerva explained gently, swaying them a little. "Albus will meet you there I think. He has a governor's meeting in the morning." Harry felt the white-hot rush of anger pierce his heart, but he said nothing. It was probably best if he just went along with it. "He won't let them expel you, no matter what the current Ministry opinion of Albus is."

"What do you mean?"

Minerva sighed.

"Fudge is doing his damndest to get you and Albus discredited for suggesting that Voldemort is back. You do not know, but the Daily Prophet is putting out quite the smear campaign. But it doesn't matter Harry, those that need to know - they know, they believe you."

"Yeah," Harry muttered, already thinking of going back to school under so much scrutiny. "Right."

"It's going to be alright Harry. I promise you."

With that in mind, Harry took a deep breath and nodded, letting Minerva grab her bag, filled with Harry's trunk, her trunk and so many other things before taking her hand.

"Will Sirius be there?" Harry asked as they set off down the path.

"He is, although he is roaming through the house like a bear with a bad paw. Albus," Minerva sighed once more, "Albus is not doing a very good job of keeping him busy. Sirius is a man of action, and right now he is sitting at home in a house he hates. I can only imagine what he's thinking."

"Why can't he just leave us all alone?" Harry growled, causing Minerva to stop and look at him. "He does nothing but hurt us. Why do you love him?"

"Harry, love is," she sighed, kissing his face gently. "Love is complicated. And even with all his faults, and beside me loving him," she looked into his eyes. "Which I do, Albus is our best defence against Voldemort. Albus is the only one he is afraid of. We need him."

Harry shrugged, but chose not to comment. His anger frightened him a little and he thought perhaps he should say something. No doubt Hermione would insist, but luckily for him, Hermione wasn't here. He stood beside Minerva as she opened the gates, stepping out into the country lane and closing them behind her with a arc of her wand.

"Now, hold tight," she said, waiting until he gripped her sleeve before he felt himself being forced through a tight rubber tube and the hard impact beneath his feet. "Don't step back," Minerva said cautiously, grabbing his jacket and pulling him in. "We're under the wards on the top step but not on the second. Muggles won't be able to see us here."

Harry looked at her, immeasurably impressed with her skills in Apparition.

"You're pretty cool Máthair [mother]," he said somewhat respectfully.

Minerva laughed, as she had done in the days they had spent together, getting to know one another again; talking, listening, laughing. It made Harry smile, and he only hoped that despite the tumultuous start to the summer holidays, it would continue on through the days to come.

-0-

"Harry!"

It didn't take them long to notice him, and when they did Hermione sprinted to his side, flinging her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea you weren't with Min, otherwise I would have written to you."

"It's okay," Harry shrugged as he and Ron shook hands. "Máthair [Mother] explained it to me, it's not your fault."

"Still, we should have, you know. I mean, Fred and George brought a flying car to get you from the Dursley's, I probably could have scrawled you a letter and sent it with Pig or something."

"I'm here now, for a whole month before school."

"Hi Min," Hermione said, accepting the kiss on her cheek from her favourite teacher, and standing back as Minerva did the same for Ron.

"Hello, you two. Keep him out of trouble, will you?" she said, cupping Harry's cheek before turning to go into the kitchen.

"Máthair [Mother]? Where are you going?"

"I have an Order meeting now, love," Minerva said, as Molly bustled through the door.

"Oh Harry love, good to see you. Everyone else is upstairs, off you go."

"But, why can't I come in?" Harry asked, looking for confirmation from Minerva. Unfortunately, she was busy talking to Remus.

"It's an adults-only meeting, my dears. Go on now."

"I for one think he should come in."

Harry beamed as he saw Sirius appear at the door, pushing past Molly to sweep him up in a bear hug.

"Hiya Harry," he grinned. "How's your summer?"

"Getting better by the minute," Harry replied, making them all chuckle.

"Sirius, he's just a boy, he is not allowed in Order meetings."

"He is the one who has faced Voldemort more times than any of us," Sirius said, a hard tone creeping into his voice. "He should be present."

"Sirius, I am afraid I have to agree with Molly. Harry, a linbhin [my child], go upstairs please," Minerva said, pushing him towards the staircase. "I promise, if there is anything I think you need to know, I will tell you. Alright?"

Harry stared at Minerva for a moment, before looking to Sirius, and then Molly, who looked like she'd swallowed a lemon. Resisting the urge to poke his tongue out at her, he looked back at his mother.

"You promise?" he whispered.

"I do," she smiled. "I swear it."

He sighed, and trudged upstairs, waving off Ron's apologetic looks until they assembled in the room that would be his and Ron's.

"I think Min has a room somewhere, but I don't know which one it is. There's been quite a few of them coming and going, we just don't know where everyone goes." She looked at him carefully. "Are you very angry we didn't write?" Hermione asked.

Harry sighed, thinking about his answer before he gave it.

"I am angry," he said quietly. "But I know it's not your fault. Máthair explained and told me how Albus stopped you from writing. I just can't believe you didn't do it anyway," he said helplessly. "You know I had to watch Cedric die, right?"

"Oh Harry."

Harry shied away from her sympathetic hugs and was about to continue when Fred and George poked their heads around the door.

"Don't suppose you want to come and have a listen, do you?" they asked.

"Yeah," Ron said, pulling Harry with him. "They've developed these awesome extendable ears. They let you hear everything that's being said downstairs, even from the balcony up here."

Harry's interest was piqued as he joined Ginny and the twins on the balcony overlooking the kitchen door. He watched as Fred unrolled the item, dropping it over the balcony so the 'ear' swung outside the door.

"Now we listen."

Disappointingly, there was not much being talked about. They came in halfway through a conversation about him joining in the meeting.

"He should be here," Sirius growled.

"He should not be," Molly squeaked. "He is a child."

"He's faced Voldemort twice as many times as any of us, and survived."

"Three times," Harry heard Minerva mutter. "Three times he has lived."

"See!" Sirius yelled, making them all pull back at the sudden volume change. "He should be here."

"He is not allowed in here, none of them are."

"Molly," Sirius growled.

"Sirius -" Minerva snapped, and Harry could imagine her pinching the bridge of her nose. "Molly, while I do not doubt your experience and your heart -" Minerva's voice came booming over the top of the bickering, "As far as we are all concerned, Harry is my son. I believe I can work out what's best for him, don't you?"

Everyone's eyes went wide as they heard Minerva scolding Molly.

"Whoa," Ginny said with a giggle. "That told Mum."

"She's been insufferable," George explained. "She's got eyes on us all the time and I don't know what we're going to do when she -" He trailed off and looked over the balcony. "Oi! Crookshanks, leave it!"

Harry leaned over as well, just in time to see Crookshanks leap up and take the ear into his mouth, dragging it off to parts unknown and leaving them all slightly dejected.

"I guess that's it then," Fred said with a shrug. "Hermione, you really need to control that cat of yours."

Harry smirked as Hermione bristled. Knowing her, she didn't think the cat had done anything wrong, no doubt because they were breaking the rules, but Harry thought that perhaps Hermione didn't mind breaking the rules every now and then.

"Come on," Hermione said, pulling them back into the bedroom.

Harry didn't really care what they did for the rest of the afternoon. Minerva was downstairs, and Hermione and Ron were here with him and he wasn't alone. He was in a creepy, 'Dark' wizarding house, and he could tell from the atmosphere there was probably things here that would rival perhaps even the Malfoy's collection, but he was content knowing he was not alone. He felt a little tingle through his chest and he knew that his Máthair had somehow heard his thoughts or feelings and was doing her best to reassure him, even when she couldn't be there in person.

He would not be alone anymore. He was here with Ron and Hermione, the twins and Ginny and Minerva would be with him, even if she wasn't physically present.

"Oi, what are you grinning like a loon for? Let's play chess," Ron suggested, nudging Harry out of his daydreaming. He went along with his best mate, even though he knew he'd lose, because he was happy just to be with him and Hermione again. He hoped the month didn't go too fast. He wasn't looking forward to going to the Ministry for his hearing, but he was looking forward to hanging out with both of them. No school and no stupid rules to get in the way. He took the first move, smiling as Ron made the second, already winding up to decimate Harry's forces.

-0-

-0-

-0-

A/N: Oh. Em. Gee. Here we are, an update. This can't be happening, I hear you all say. This is ridiculous. I honestly thought she had died or something. Well, happily, I didn't die, or stop writing, I just stopped writing quickly… and yeah okay I stopped writing for a while. Thing is, it was so difficult to have a life that involved a long distance relationship and write at the same time as worry about that and money and the like that I just couldn't do it.

But here we are.

And here Spin is too, cos you all know that I cannot do this alone! Thanks be to the marvelous Spin who makes sure that all my words are actually words and not alien communicae's through my otherwise odd brain.
I'm going to let you read on now. I love you all, thank you for sticking by me.