In the living room of Grimmauld Place, sat one Ron Weasley, playing a match of chess. A look of concentration was on the young man's face as he tried to come up with his next move; his opponent had stumped him, requiring him to use every ounce of his chess knowledge to get to a better position.
'I'm down a pawn, so sacrificing pieces is a no go. Maybe try and trap his rook? But that would mean making my king more vulnerable than it already was.'
At last, he finally saw the move that would take him out of the horrible position he was in. He reached out and moved his piece.
"Hah! Beat that one!" Ron confidently let out to his opponent.
The empty chair across from him did not budge or move to his words.
Ron slumped over, he had been playing chess alone for over an hour and the boredom was finally getting to him.
When his family was first called to come to Sirius' ancestral home for the summer, he thought that it was awesome; being at the base of the Order of The Phoenix would make anyone think that they'd be doing something more than just waiting around. Not to mention, the dreariness and melancholy feeling of the house didn't help much in his stay, nor did the screaming portrait right down the hall, or the contempt-filled house elf…
Yeah, this place sucked.
He got up and walked over to a window, showing the street outside and the lone bench beside the small park. There he saw Tonks sitting next to a black dog.
'Imagine having to be stuck here for the foreseeable future.' Ron mentally sighed, he didn't want to know how Sirius was handling his boredom; at least he had Hogwarts to look forward to, Sirius was stuck here regardless. And seeing Tonks got him thinking about Harry.
He wondered how his best friend was doing, probably better than he was.
All of a sudden, he felt the familiar sensation of heat in his pocket and he took out the coin, and inscribed within it was the message:
"Returning now. Keep watch on Floo."
Ron smiled, 'Speak of the devil.'
He quickly made his way to the library to tell his girlfriend of their friend's return.
Harry stood in front of the floo at the offices of The Moon's Eye, waiting for the signal from Ron and Hermione.
"Don't be a stranger, alright Harry? You're always welcome here and at our home." Lilian gave him a big hug and he returned it with a soft squeeze of his own. Afterwards, Gordon went up to him and patted him in the back.
"Yep, you are now an honorary Moon!" He closed the distance and whispered in his ear, "And it better not be official until I'm long dead and gone-"
Gordon let out a yelp as Lilian pulled by the ear, "We'll leave you two for a moment. Come on Gordon, maybe you need a lesson in accepting the independence of your child."
The whines of Gordon and the click of Lilian's heels became inaudible as they left the two teenagers alone.
"Sometimes, I don't know whether your dad is joking or not." Harry eyed Lilith worriedly.
"Yeah, I don't either." Lilith's agreement did not lessen Harry's worries at all.
She turned to him and he faced her as well. An unusual silence descended upon them.
Lilith let out a snort at their behaviour, "This isn't like us, huh?"
Harry smiled, and yet the smile had a hint of melancholy as he realised that this would be the longest time they wouldn't be able to see each other.
"It won't be forever you know." Lilith gave him a surprised look, before her features softened and she gave him a hug.
"I know, doesn't mean it'd be any less boring without you."
He relished in the hug and the words she had said, never before had he felt this sense of love and comfort, and so he tried his best to return that same feeling to her.
Finally, the heating of his pocket told Harry that the coast was clear and he let go of Lilith, she gave a small, sad smile…
Before quickly giving him a kiss.
Harry, now madly blushing, gave Lilith one last grin, "See you."
He entered the floo and bellowed out, "Number Twelve Grimmauld Place!"
As Lilith watched the flames envelope Harry and whisked him away, she turned back around.
To make eye contact with both of her parents.
"You guys couldn't just leave us alone for one minute, could you?" Lilian gave a small laugh and Gordon put his hand up to ruffle Lilith's hair, which she quickly dodged.
Gordon didn't let that deter him and he gave a big thumbs up, "Of course! Who knows what would have happened if we had left you two to your own devices. I mean, this building isn't exactly explosive proof, ya know?"
His wife rolled her eyes but didn't bother to make a comment on Gordon's actual worries, "And we can't help it. You're so cute when you're in love!"
Lilian's comment made Gordon grimace for a nanosecond, whilst Lilith blushed heavily. Lilith quickly went to another topic to save her from this embarrassing situation.
"So, what should Harry and I do during the rest of the year in Hogwarts?" Her question made her parents look at one another, before Gordon answered her.
"We'll handle Tassler, now that we know he has some sort of entrance to Hogwarts grounds it'd be easier to locate it and keep surveillance on it, and hopefully see another one of their transactions if possible. You will need to keep watch on Umbridge for us, since you've got more of an easier access to keep watch on her." He put his hand on her head, this time Lilith letting him, "You'll do great, I'm sure. You are my daughter after all."
Lilith's heart soared at his comment and she let out a gigantic smile.
"Now, how's about we get ready for Christmas? I'm thinking we should cut down a tree ourselves and set it up in the living room."
That comment made Lilith jump for joy.
"Ohh, that's a great idea dad! Can we mom, can we?"
And as much As Lilian wanted to say "No, absolutely not." Her daughter's puppy dog eyes were just too powerful.
Lilian gave a slight, tired sigh, "Fine, but not too big, okay?"
The father and daughter duo gave a big whoop of delight, and Lilian couldn't help but give a smile to their antics.
"Ohh, how about we ride a sleigh while we hunt for a tree?"
"Don't push it, Gordon."
Harry appeared and landed softly on his buttocks, dust particles flowing off of him. He was helped up by two hands on each side of his body and he looked up to see the faces of his two best friends.
"Unique entrance as always." Ron joked. Harry let out a laugh and he pulled them in for a hug.
Identical looks of surprise were on Ron and Hermione's faces, before they reciprocated the hug.
"Thanks a bunch you two, for helping me." Harry said with a smile.
"Ahem, shouldn't you be thanking somebody else?"
Harry's eyes bugged out as he then saw himself… standing right across from him.
"Err… Should I be worried?" Ron gave a big grin and Hermione rolled her eyes at his worried-filled voice. The copycat neared him and he finally realised who it was when his twin's hair transformed into a mohawk with rainbow spikes.
"Wotcher, Harry. Don't worry, you won't die from seeing me."
Ron's confused look matched Harry's, but Harry nonetheless gave Tonks a smile, "I'm guessing you helped as well?"
Tonks gave a derisive snort, "More like coerced to. Sirius convinced me to give you guys a helping hand; now I never said anything about any compensation, but I want to know why I had to do this, and a little birdie told me that you went out to see a girl~"
At Harry's bashful smile, she gave a shark-teeth grin, "I want you to spill everything about her. Maybe I can even help you in your little quest for love."
Harry sweated a bit at her statement, but regardless gave her a nod, "It's the least I can do. It doesn't seem very fun, having to be stuck in a form that's not your original and having to act like me."
"Eh, better than what I usually do around this time of year. And I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun flustering Ginny by flirting with her constantly." Tonks gave a shrug. Harry gave a gobsmacked expression at her words and glanced towards Ron.
"You what?!" Ron's outburst caused Tonks to give a mischievous grin towards him and she made a beeline towards the stairs. Ron gave chase, leaving Harry and Hermione in the living room.
Hermione gave a sigh at her boyfriend's action and he gave Harry an apologetic look, "Looks like you might have to explain things a bit to Ginny, if you don't want to make anything awkward between the two of you."
A surrendering sigh escaped Harry's lips as he made his way to have a conversation with Ginny.
After a brief explanation of why Tonks was disguised as Harry and where Harry was even at, Ginny started to talk to him more normally than before. Seeing as she virtually had no chance of being with him caused her to see him more as a brother rather than a love interest, but the slight hero worship was still evident however, but he could live with that.
Before he realised it, Christmas had come to pass, and it found him sitting near the room where Mr. Weasley was in, still recovering from his injuries. He and Hermione and Ron had explored a bit before, and they came across many things they hadn't seen before, least of all Neville's parents. That caused him to strive to make more of an effort to be a friend to Neville. He couldn't imagine having to see your parents live like that.
And now he waited, as it was now Ron's turn to speak to his dad and Hermione came with him for moral support. Finding nothing else better to do, he hopped up to his feet and took a stroll around the hospital. His wandering around found him entering the floor where they saw Gilderoy Lockhart once again, but this time it seemed like he was nowhere to be found, and who laid in his bed was a completely different person. His curiosity led him to checking the clipboard stuck on the front of the bed: "Kyle Sheal, Loss of all senses due to cursed locket." It read.
"Ah, who might you be?"
Harry quickly turned around, and he was face to face with a wizard doctor. The man's eyes glanced towards his scar and his eyes widened a fraction of a bit.
"My, never would I have believed I would meet the Boy-who-lived in this ward. Oh, where are my manners; Dr. Terius Barney, the head doctor of this floor." He stuck out his hand and Harry shook it.
The doctor then took the clipboard from the man's bed and gave it a cursory look, "Ah, Mr. Kyle Sheal, he's been a part of this ward for a couple of months now. Seems like he purchased a locket that made his looks more agreeable to the opposite sex, he didn't realise the repurcussions however and soon he was left with no sense of taste, smell, sight, hearing, or touch."
Harry gave a pitying look at the man, who laid with a sullen look on his face, he seemed to not even register their presence. He turned to the doctor and asked, "Has anyone come to visit him?"
"A couple people have come and gone. But nowadays only the nurses come to give him the nutrients he needs and fix up his bed. And I stroll around occasionally, to make sure he hasn't shut down." Harry gave a shiver at the doctor's calm and collected manner of speaking, which caused Terius to look at him, "Now, the question is, why are you here? Do you happen to know this man?"
At Dr. Terius' odd question, Harry once again took a look at the patient's face. He began to immediately give a negative response, but something at the back of his mind was niggling him that his face did look familiar. The slight hesitation was met with an unnoticed cold stare from Dr. Terius, before Harry finally said, "No, I don't think I've seen him before."
As Harry turned to look at Dr. Terius, the man's face transformed to a serene smile, "Ah, a shame. He doesn't get many visitors."
A soft sound of a bell being struck resounded across the room, causing Dr. Terius to look at the clock, "Hm, looks like it's time for today's luncheon. Best you move along now, Mr. Potter. We don't want to give the nurses any trouble."
Harry gave a nod and made his way out of the room, planning to return back to the room Mr. Weasley was in. As he left, Dr. Terius gave a look at the man on the bed once more.
"Hmm, best get this information out. This would at least be interesting news to him."
He left the room, constructing the letter he would send later in his mind.
A/N: Don't worry, the OCs won't take too much of the plot, they're just a way for the story to move along. Next chapter will see the gang finally meet with Lilith and the starting stages of the downfall of Umbridge! Leave a review! It might cause me to actually be productive for once!