Author's Note: I am no longer writing and posting without having my beta read it over. Thank you, Arnel, for all your hard work. MNF

Chapter 28:

Bonds

Monday 11 December 1995

"Boys, this is higher magic than either of you have attempted," Maia said to Harry and Neville after their morning lesson with her. They still had thirty minutes before lunch to convince her to let them attempt the spell.

"But we've done so much growth work together before," Harry argued. "How is this different?" Maia considered them before giving her answer.

"The work you've done with seeds and young plants you were doing in tandem, but each of you had control over your own magic and your own spell. To do what you're talking about is combining your magic. You will join each other on a different plane, which can be very…intimate. While I appreciate the friendship you share, I doubt that you've considered what changes such closeness can wrought."

"I, we, understand," Harry said. "Remus talked us through the magical theory of what we want to attempt, and he said it will change our relationship. The reality is that had it not been for my parents' murders, I would have grown up with Neville as a best friend or a cousin. His mum and my dad were related, and they were close. Only Dumbledore's stupid interference kept me from knowing Nev my whole life. We want to do this now that we know about each other and our relationship."

"Let me think on it," Maia said. "Harry, if you suggested this with Hermione, I'd feel more comfortable. But unfortunately, Hermione lacks the skill to perform such magic. May I ask why you want to do such a powerful spell?"

"There is so much that has been destroyed during the wand-out," Neville said. "We want to help." Maia couldn't fault their reasoning, but it didn't mean she wasn't worried about the potential for failure or further damage.

"I'll consider what you're asking and give you an answer on Wednesday. Go on, you don't want to miss your noontime meal," the hedge witch said gently.

"Come to the main house to eat with us," Harry suggested. "We'd love to have you join us."

"Not today, boys. I need to be off to visit an expectant mother. So, I'm just going to have a quick lunch here so I can be off. I will come on another day, I promise." Harry and Neville nodded and left the cottage. It was only when he was sure they were gone that Remus emerged from the kitchen. "You were right; they were exploring tandem magic."

"They're not ready, are they?" Remus asked as he cleared the table so the couple could share their lunch.

"I wouldn't say that," Maia answered, "but I doubt they're fully aware of howit will feel after allowing their magic to blend. They're going to carry a bit of each other in their soul. Since neither has fully bonded with another, it could confuse romantic relationships. I just don't want to see either of them hurt or, well…I worry."

"You sounded like Lily when James and Sirius attempted to do something similar, although theirs was a destructive magical spell rather than a reconstructive spell," Remus told her.

"That's my other worry," Maia said. "While I understand what they want to accomplish and laud them for it, I don't want them set up to fail. Regeneration isn't magic to play around with, even if it's just in plant life and wood."

"I don't know if your worries will be enough to convince them they're incapable of it. The two are magnanimous to a fault, especially to people they feel have cared for them." Remus took a spoonful of soup, proud of what he had been able to do with just the meagre findings in Maia's garden. She'd need to start coming to the house for hot house vegetables, as there was little growing in her plots. Even if Sirius had been manipulating the weather within his wards, it was December.

"I know. Then again, one of the purposes of youth is to learn where your limitations lie. You then use your life living within them or learning how to exceed them," she said softly. "Enough discussion on this topic; tell me, how are you doing with your wolf wand?"

"Well, when I could forget that the wand was powered by my hair and saliva – which when I think about it, I feel disgusted – I've found I like the wand. My magic is far more instinctual, unlike when I'm doing wandless fire magic, but instead like my magic is an extension of me."

"Excellent," Maia said with a bright smile. "You've only ever felt the beastly properties of your wolf; now you're seeing there are benefits. Your magic is more volatile than the average wizard, but that makes it more you. Should you ever find yourself in a duel with that wand, give yourself over to it. You're a master in Defence, but with your wolf wand, you will be a master with the instinct of a creature. Animals do not consider the moral implications of death; they simply know 'kill or be killed.' There is something still out there, Remus; I cannot see it clearly, but I can feel the ill will growing, and I worry that Harry and, by extension, you and Sirius are going to be at the centre of it."

"He's our pup, my cub; there's no other way it would be," Remus said as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. Then, they returned to their lunch in companionable silence, considering the weighty topics of the morning.

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"So, how does Harry kiss?" Hannah asked her as the four young witches lounged in the pool room. They'd been swimming for exercise but now were sunbathing in the overheated room.

"Are you going to feel weird about me talking about Harry?" Hermione asked Ginny out of friendly kindness.

"No, not really. Sure, I had a crush on him, but it wasn't really him I liked; it was a version of him that my story books had created and then Dumbledore fed into. I don't know why my dating Harry was so important to the old coot, but he reminded me of it every time we spoke. If you want to know the truth, the old guy was just a bit creepy. So, go ahead and talk about Harry; it's the closest to dating anyone I can get right now."

"You know Seamus likes you," Susan said.

"Sure, and we'd be kissing, and he'd get excited and blow us up, no thank you," Ginny said with a giggle. "He's completely not my sort."

"If you could date someone, who would it be?" Hannah asked.

"Dean Thomas," Ginny said. "But from what Neville said, it's unlikely he will even come back to the wizarding world. Instead, he's happy to be at a Muggle school and feels like it's where he belongs."

"Harry had a letter from him, asking if he could have tutors over the summer to keep up with a few of his magical classes, so he could keep his wand. You need OWLs to keep your wand. Sirius said he'd arrange for any class he'd like, but it did need to be wand based, so he had reason to keep it," Hermione explained. "He's leaning toward Defence and Charms, and then also continue with Arithmancy. Sirius decided that he and Remus could handle the first two, and he'd find a tutor for the third. Dean will be over a bit during the Christmas hols to set things up."

"That's really kind of Sirius," Ginny said. "I think I'll be spending more of my hols here too."

"So, back to you and Harry snogging," Hannah said. "Is it amazing?" Hermione turned bright red, tipped her head down, so her hair became a shroud and nodded. The quartet broke out in peals of laughter.

ITWAU ITWAU ITWAU

Alastor Moody liked to be alone. Recovery from his year in the box was slow, not only because potion supplies were low. He was feeling his age, which no one outside his healer knew. The reality was his century mark was closer than his birth year, and his body had suffered greatly over the years. Moody liked that he had his privacy to gain his strength back. He consulted with Amy and Kingsley and planned to keep his working life constrained to this small responsibility. Perhaps he'd help Remus teach Harry and his close friends. Perhaps. Right now, he just wanted the quiet, some good books, decent grub and time to heal.

He'd come to enjoy Remus's cottage quite a bit and appreciated that you could see if anyone was approaching on three sides for kilometres. The only drawback was the side that butted up against the forest, but with Hagrid's help, he'd also covered that. There was now a small, well-contained family of Acromantula living just inside the forest line. They couldn't leave the area, but it was large enough that they caught the small forest animals who ambled in, and there was a Muggle-Repelling Charm to keep any hikers who might stumble upon the area out.

Elsewhere, Moody had added to the already impressive charms and hexes Remus had put up, and then Sirius added. Anyone who attempted to jump Moody would be in for a nasty surprise.

This afternoon, Alastor was sitting on the front porch, reading a fascinating book on defence that Remus had picked up during his time in Japan. He'd forgotten that after everything on Halloween of eighty-one, Remus had left Great Britain, travelled the world and gained his masters. His library was fascinating, and Alastor was enjoying it.

It was odd to see anyone coming near the property lines. Sure, he'd accidentally tied up a pair of hikers who had lost their way to the Avebury stones a few weeks ago, but a simple memory charm putting them on the right trail had solved that problem. This was different.

He wasn't sure why magicals didn't take lessons in stealth and concealment like Muggle military units were trained in, or even the more advanced magical ones his Auror-trainees had to pass. In all his years as a Master Auror, he'd only had two trainees who could successfully master concealment – Alice Longbottom, although she was Alice Parker at the time and Tonks. The latter could only do it as she changed her appearance at will. As herself, dear Tonks tripped over anything and everything, but when in 'disguise', she could be as graceful as a ballerina.

The pair attempting to attack Alastor was dressed in elaborate wizarding robes with trim made from a reflective, metallic thread as it glistened in the sunlight of the clear afternoon. Alastor had a good guffaw as they hit the first of the enchantments, something Sirius had added, and it appeared to those trapped in it that Dementors were attacking. Reality was there was nothing there, so no number of charms would make the Dementors go away. Alastor withdrew a mirror, a silly pink compact that Black had charmed for him, and flipped it open and said the chap's name into it.

"Moody, everything alright?"

"I have two wankers attempting to come up to the house," the former Auror growled. "Think they might be up to no good. Perhaps you could send someone over to detain them? Amy might like to have a word."

"Oh, I can do that. Remus and I will be right over. Can you open the Floo to us?"

"Certainly, see you soon." With that, he snapped the compact closed and waited for his reinforcements.

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"Sirius, why are you calling my mirror?" Amy asked while seated at her desk, only thirty-four minutes after she'd been home to have lunch. She'd implored her fiancé to let her work straight through the afternoon without interruptions.

"Because Alastor has some uninvited guests attempting to sneak up on him. He's asked for a couple of Aurors to come to intercept them," Sirius explained. "His spells are either underpowered and somewhat useless or overpowered, and he's not out to kill them."

"King and Tonks are sitting here, complaining they have nothing to do. Why don't I send you the pair of them?"

"Sounds perfect. Maybe they'll stay for dinner. I'd like to quiz my cousin about the gent she'd dating. Have you met him?" Tonks's hair flashed red at the mention of Gilford. She wasn't dating the guy; she was just having fun with him.

"Sirius, your cousin doesn't want you in her love life. Tonight is not the night to invite friends over; we need to sit down with Harry and Susan and talk about our wedding. I'll see you tonight. Good luck at Moody's." She clicked the compact shut and looked at the Aurors bothering her and keeping her from her work.

"Get going, you two," Amy said to her two most intelligent Aurors. "Figure out who they are and why they're sneaking up on Moody, please."

"Yes, Ma'am," Kingsley said, while Tonks shot her an exaggerated salute. Amy rolled her eyes, let out an audible sigh and pointed at the door.

ITWAU ITWAU ITWAU

"Why are Dementors protecting this place?" the male figure asked the female. She stopped and considered the pair of floating black-clad monsters.

"Why are there Dementors here?" she said with emphasis. "Because they aren't Dementors! This is all a spell meant to keep us far away from the house. How the hell does a werewolf do something like that?"

"Well, he is a wizard too," the first figure answered. "He taught Defence at Hogwarts a bit back; my niece said he was the best Defence teacher they'd had."

"Still, magical enchantments are advanced magic. He's a creature, not a man," the woman replied. "That's what Delores said."

"I'm not sure dear old Delores was correct on that count. Her brother was bit by one when they were small," the man said. "He ripped himself apart on his first moon, or so the story goes."

"Brutal," the woman replied. "Come on, let's break this enchantment."

They began throwing curses at it, and while plenty of spells could have broken the enchantment, they just weren't strong enough to do it. So, they continued to exhaust themselves.

On the porch was now a trio of wizards, finding the situation highly amusing. "Come on, let me take it down so they can walk into the next one," Sirius pleaded.

"Fine, Padfoot, but Kingsley and Tonks are going to be here soon," Remus said, loving his friend's unbridled passion for pranks. Sirius flicked his wand, and the Dementor enchantment fell.

The pair congratulated each other, not realizing they were being watched and moved on. The next hex level was set up by Sirius, and while Remus and Harry thought it was a bit childish, the watchers laughed heartily when the two approaching were suddenly hanging in the air by their ankles. To their misfortune, they dressed in traditional wizarding robes in the conventional wizarding way, which meant their undergarments were on display. It was unfortunate that the man was wearing a pair of Babbity Rabbit boxers. The woman's bright red lace knickers were a surprise as well.

Tonks and Kingsley, who had always been keyed into the wards as they were among the few people Alastor liked, arrived just in time to see the predicament the pair were in and laugh about it.

"No grown man should wear those boxers," Kingsley said. "Honestly," he said, trying not to laugh.

"I have Superman ones," Sirius announced.

"At least you're wearing pants now," Remus said. "I remember your fourth through seventh years."

"Quick access," Sirius said.

"Yes, I remember that too. But, thank Merlin, you're wearing pants and trousers nowadays."

"Yuck," Tonks said. "I don't want to know these things about you."

"It was a long time ago, and I was sowing my wild oats," Sirius said unapologetically.

"How you didn't end up sowing more than oats, I don't know," Remus said. "Have you ever run a paternity test at Gringotts to ensure you don't have other heirs running around?"

"I did, and I don't. That was a charm I mastered in the third year."

"Again, I don't want to know this about you, cousin!" Tonks said rather briskly. Sirius looked at her, grinned madly and laughed. "Amy thinks we're immature, but she's marrying you. Do you think we should find out who they are and why they're here?" Tonks asked.

"You could, or I could pull down that enchantment and let them bump into the next one, which is one that Moody created," Sirius suggested.

"Will it kill them?" Kingsley asked. Clearly, a voice of reason was needed here.

"Naw," Moody replied. "Might singe their hair a bit, perhaps maim a little, but it won't kill them." He withdrew his wand and cancelled Sirius's charm, and the pair fell to the ground. They stood up, brushed themselves off and only made it a few more inches before they walked into Moody's stinging hex. However, the curse wasn't like the one they used when practising duelling. This one was more like being hit by lightning. He'd figured out how to create an electrical charge, and then once contact was made and a path was created, it would strike again. The more the person caught in the hex moved, the more they were attacked.

After about two minutes of watching the pair get 'buzzed' by the hex, Moody cancelled it. Tonks and Kingsley were close and quickly had the couple disarmed and subdued. They were looking for Remus, as he was "an abomination and he shouldn't be around good wizarding folk." Tonks wanted to knee the man, but King reminded her they couldn't intentionally hurt someone in custody. So, the four Disapparated to the Ministry, leaving Sirius, Remus and Moody to contemplate what this group was after. Firewhisky was the appropriate beverage to consider their motivations.