Chapter 30 ~ The New Order


"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."

~ Helen Keller


ECOTS


"Harry?"

It took him a full three seconds of staring to comprehend what he was seeing. Hermione. In the common room. Alive. Not with Voldemort. But right there, standing in front of him.

It didn't take him more than another second to have grabbed her, pinning her hard against the fireplace, his wand digging into her midsection subtly to avoid the prying eyes of the rest of the common room. "Tell me," he practically growled, "ten things only Hermione would know. Now."

"Mate! Bloody hell, it's her!"

Someone, Ron, had grabbed at his shoulder, but he shrugged them off. "I need," he half growled, "to check." His attention on Hermione never wavered, the witch that might be one of his best friends not once having tried to move. She did, however, wince.

The real Hermione had had her ribs broken recently. That was reassuring. Barely.

"Harry," Ron protested sounding annoyed, "Professor McGonagall already did."

For a moment Harry almost released her. Almost. "Since when," he stated coldly, words aimed backwards towards Ron, "have we started trusting the Professors on everything? Or have you forgotten about Crouch?" A cold reality, but true.

Hermione huffed a breath of impatience. "Ron, it's fine. If Harry needs to check…"

"See? It's fine," Harry clipped backwards, as if holding a wand menacingly on her was a totally normal part of their daily routine. "Now ten things, Hermione. Now." He'd seen it with his own eyes earlier that very day. Voldemort had Tonks' blood. He'd adopted at least some of her ability to morph forms. During the battle his eyes had changed.

And that was without even considering how easily he could have stolen some of Hermione's hair while she was held captive, using the Polyjuice potion to impersonate her. Crouch had managed to fool them with that tricky maneuver for nearly a year. He'd fooled both Dumbledore and McGonagall.

Harry found himself in an unforgiving mood, totally unwilling to take chances.

"Bloody hell…." Ron grumbled. It was like he could hear Ron hesitating.

Harry didn't give a damn.

"Harry, velease her," commanded a heavily accented voice. Harry recognized it, shooting a look towards where Viktor Krum stood. For some unknown reason the Bulgarian Seeker was also in the Gryffindor common room.

"Don't you belong in the dungeons?" Harry snapped caustically, turning back to Hermione. Bulgaria had stayed with Slytherins the last time. They had not stayed with Gryffindor. Krum shouldn't even know where their common room was.

Krum growled, the sound followed by a swift thud and a clatter. The sounds of a scuffle quickly followed, complete with a truncated grunt from Ron. "Sorry about this, Krum," he heard Ron say, his best mate not sounding sorry at all.

Harry didn't have time for any of that though.

His voice vibrated with something hard. "Ten things, Hermione, or I swear to Godric…" .

Hermione, to her credit, lifted her chin and winced. "Missed you too, Harry." She'd known him long enough to recognize how utterly serious he was, thankfully. It still didn't stop her from shooting him a look. "Privacy charm? In case we have to do this again."

He'd been so angry thinking that Voldemort had sent an imposter, that it hadn't even occurred to him that if Hermione spilled out all the things that only she knew about, that half the common room would also know too.

Harry shot a look of his own back at Ron. "A little help?" His own wand was busy, and they were starting to get looks from others in the common room.

Ron gaped at him, his hair a ruddy mess. "For Merlin's sake…" A flash of light, a privacy spell being cast around he and Hermione was heard. He'd thank Ron later.

Harry didn't take his steely gaze off the familiar brown one in front of him. "Tick, tock."

Her lips parted, as if considering something and then… "In Moaning Myrtles bathroom first year…I was crying. That's why I was really in there," she said matter-of-factly.

Harry forced a grim smile. "That's one."

Hermione, despite the uncomfortable grip he guaranteed he had on her, sighed in exasperation. "Rita Skeeter's an animagus." Her eyes flickered to look over his shoulder, as if seeing who could possibly be reading her lips. "That's how she kept getting all those stories on Viktor and I during the Triwizard Tournament. So I trapped her in a jar."

Harry reckoned that could count as two and three. He still didn't move. Hermione swallowed, her eyes looking almost steely. "After the ball Ronald and I got into an argument in the stairwell. Just the three of us were there, and I told him he knew what the solution was the next time: ask me out before someone else does." She actually hissed a breath and shot a slightly irritated look over his shoulder. "Assuming the git doesn't forget that I'm a girl until right before the next one or whenever Viktor's around again."

Harry actually snorted at that. Four and five.

Hermione's chocolate gaze flipped back to his. His grip loosened, slightly.

"First year, when we got caught in that bunch of Devil's Snare, I told you and Ron to shut it so I could think on how to kill it. It took me a second. I didn't remember instantly."

He did remember that. Ron had been freaking out, as had he. Just…less vocally. Her exact words had been I'm trying to remember how to kill it! "That's six," he said levelly, waiting.

Hermione simply inclined a well sculpted eyebrow at him. "When we first met Sirius, in the Shrieking Shack I started shouting at Professor Lupin that I'd kept his secret all year, and accused him of helping Sirius break into Hogwarts, of trying to help kill you, and of being a werewolf. He told me that wasn't nearly up to my usual standards as I'd only gotten one out of three."

Sirius. Harry swallowed. He swallowed hard.

"Then," Hermione continued, the world around them seeming to have gone almost mute from whatever spells had been thrown up around them, "when Professor Lupin turned, when we were by the lake all alone and the dementors were coming…I-" she broke off. "I couldn't do it, Harry. I couldn't make a Patronus. You told me to think of something happy, but instead I just passed out. You did too." Harry waited, that not good enough.

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh. "Merlin, Harry. We used my time turner to go back to try to save him. You wound up casting the Patronus from the other side of the-"

He didn't let her finish. Harry had heard enough.

He'd lowered the wand from her midsection and grabbed her in one swift motion, actually hugging her. She actually squeaked. "How in the hell," he hoarsely ground, "did you get away?" He dropped her back on her feet to avoid suffocating her accidentally, or breaking her ribs again, staring at her intensely. "Seriously Hermione, I was about to go to the library to start looking up tracking spells."

A truncated laugh escaped her, before her eyes darted past him. She quickly lowered her head, Harry dropping his, matching her movements. "Viktor. He…I talked to Professor McGonagall," she whispered. "I think he's on our side." She said all of this so quietly that he could barely hear her, let alone someone outside of a privacy charm.

It took him a second to process all of that, but the second it did his head whipped around.

The sight that met him was one for the record books.

Outside the blue-tinted veil of the privacy charm was Viktor Krum being held down on the ground by Ron. Ron's foot was on Viktor's chest, and his best mate was casually inspecting his nails as if this was a totally normal day for him.

Hermione made an aggravated sound. "Those two have been at it ever since he got here. McGonagall at least took Viktor's wand and placed some kind of tracing and masking charm on him…" Harry glanced at her with question, but Hermione was already supplying it. "So his…groupies," she actually half growled that, "don't know who he is and don't swarm him."

Somehow that didn't seem like enough of a precaution to him.

"So he's the-"

Hermione cut him off before he could finish. "Yes," she hissed. "Not exactly the time to talk about it now."

Yeah, she was probably right. It still didn't stop him from outright growling. "How come I can tell it's him then?" he finally asked bluntly, repressing the urge to lunge at the seeker to throttle him.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Think about it Harry, what do you, Ron, and I have in common?"

The Order.

Merlin he'd almost forgotten that Dumbledore had agreed to admit all of them. He'd admitted them, Luna, Kaylens, even Ginny. Those who had stood by him at the Department of Mysteries…

Hermione quickly muttered a spell, the privacy charm dropping. Harry looked between Ron and Viktor, probably gaping. Ron, on the other hand, merely grinned. "Heya Harry. Gotta say, I'd be lying if I wasn't enjoying this whole 'extra strength' thing ole Moony gave me."

Well, Harry thought, that answered the whole question of how Ron had just overpowered the older, Bulgarian Seeker.

Hermione just tutted disapprovingly.

With that Ron lifted his foot off Viktor Krum, Quidditch star extraordinaire, releasing him. "See," he griped down at Krum, the seeker begrudgingly getting to his feet and going towards Hermione, "she's fine."

Ron then turned his attention towards Harry. "Speaking of extra strength…"

Ron's fist swung out and decked him. He decked him hard.


ECOTS


Remus was pretty certain that Tonks was trying to kill him. In fact, even unconscious and injured he was fairly certain that she'd somehow formed a connection with her cousin for the sole purpose of torturing him.

After Harry and Kalliandra had flashed out of existence, port keying back to Hogwarts, he and Regulus had begun strengthening the wards on the House of Black. Regulus' never-ending commentary though had him deeply understanding why James and Sirius had both always been hex first and ask questions later kind of men.

"I fail to grasp why you insist of remaining here to…lend assistance," Regulus drawled, as if the mere concept of help was a foreign one to him. "We both know that your mind is clearly not up to the task at hand." Aiming his wand at a crack in the wall and beginning to patch it, he added, "Distracted as you are by that cousin of mine, you're bound to do more damage trying to fix my home than the Death Eaters did trying to blow it up."

Remus grunted, shooting Regulus a look as he vanished shards of glass from the front foyer. The one they'd all gathered in, waiting for the signal to begin their counterattack just hours prior.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place still stood, but it had taken a beating.

Morbid chandeliers lay shattered haphazardly across the ground, cracks snaking their ways up the walls, while macabre, dust-covered portraits lay at the base of nearly every wall, having fallen from where they hung during the thunderous shaking of the battle. Their occupants now made angry sounds of protest about their new locations on the floor.

It was a wonder it was still standing.

"Again, I repeat," drawled Regulus, stopping in mid-stride, "why don't you go see that cousin of mine so you can stop moping. Really Lupin, it's undignifying and bringing the mood way down." The sarcasm practically bled from the air itself.

Remus shot Regulus yet another look, to which the last remaining Black smirked, twirling his glass of chardonnay in one hand, his wand in the other, clearly waiting.

Remus made a disgruntled sound. "Going to see her is not going to keep headquarters standing."

"And neither is your poor spell-work at present. Besides, you're not a Black. The house won't respond to your requests for it to keep standing anyway." Regulus paused, then seemed to consider something else. "You're not a dullard are you? I am attempting to be….nice and provide you with proper excuse to leave the repairs to myself. Besides," he added, "I'm far more competent so-"

Remus groaned audibly this time. "Fine, I'm going!" A second later he'd used his own port key to Hogwarts, storming towards the hospital wing to see how Tonks was fairing.

Back at Number 12 Grimmauld Place Regulus Black rolled his eyes, polishing off the rest of his glass of fine vino. "Salazar I thought he'dnever leave."


ECOTS


Ron had decked him.

Ron had decked him hard.

The crack of his nose, first against Ron's fist and then against the wall that he smashed into, somehow felt like the lesser of the beatings he'd taken the past few days. Cruciatus and all.

Harry did not get the chance to try to deck his ass back though. Ron had grabbed him in a fiercebear hug, thudding him hard on the back before he could so much as groan. "Good to see you, Harry." It took Harry a second of indecision, but he pounded Ron on the back too, utterly confounded and questioning whether or not he had just suffered a concussion.

Releasing each other they both stepped back, somewhat awkwardly. Ron shook his fist out as if he had a muscle cramp. "Man, no offense Harry, but I've been wanting to do that all week."

The anger he'd had, thinking Voldemort had sent an imposter of Hermione back to Hogwarts, had drained right out of him. Now Harry just felt drained and exhausted.

Rubbing at his nose, he guaranteed it was broken judging by his next words. "Pheah well, phan't say I phame you." He'd been shoving Ron and Hermione away for the better part of a fortnight by then. He'd intentionally been an ass when Hermione's parents were taken, thinking that would drive them away.

Apparently not.

Groaning slightly, he eyed Ron with some skepticism. Ron had been pissed at him, for good reason. Now he was acting normal.

"Just," Ron told, sounding suddenly awkward, "don't let it happen again."

Harry didn't have to ask what he meant by that. Pushing them away. Acting like an ass. Holding his nose and wincing, he already knew. He'd realized that much while off with Kaylens. She'd pushed people away, and when she'd admitted to what she'd been doing it'd sounded insane to him.

Unfortunately he'd drawn the connection between her behavior and his own with Ron and Hermione.

"You are both complete idiots"

Ron made a disgruntled sound at her. "Don't get sappy, 'Mione."

Viktor frowned. "What is…sappy?" Harry suddenly remembered that the Seeker's English wasn't always the best.

Hermione's mouth fell open, as if at a loss on how to explain that, but Harry had turned to be face-to-face with her, saving her from bothering. He swallowed nervously. "Hermiphone I uh-" Riffling a hand through his messy hair, he muttered, "I'm phorry. Aphout-"

Hell, he wasn't sure how to apologize. How exactly did one go about apologizing for trying to push his friend away, when she was terrified that her parents would be murdered by Voldemort? Particularly when they'd only been abducted by Voldemort because of her friendship with him? His truncated, messed up speech from his nose would have been funny if it weren't so damn serious.

Hermione looked somewhat…he didn't know. "I know, Harry. Just…don't do it again, please?"

"Yeah mate, don't get me wrong, know you're going through a lot, but that whole acting like a prat and shoving us away thing is getting a bit old, don't ya think?" Ron grinned deviantly. "Besides, Fred and George gave me a whole bunch of their new toys and there's nothing stopping me from testing it out on ya."

Harry actually snorted.

Then immediately winced.

Nodding was the wrong move with a broken nose.

Hermione tutted. "Hold still, Harry." He did as instructed. "Episkey."

The acute pain that shot through him as the cartilage snapped back into place elicited a pained groan. Blinking, eyes watering from that lovely experience, he rubbed his nose experimentally. "Thanks."

She smiled slightly. "Don't mention it." Her attention turned back to Viktor for a moment, Harry still eyeing the seeker suspiciously.

Ron didn't even bother with suspicion. He outright glared. "I really," he muttered, "can't wait until McGonagall comes back. She's taking him with her somewhere. Then I can stop playing keeper."

Harry shot Ron a look. "You are the Keeper." In Quidditch at least.

Ron guffawed. "Yeah, and that's a whole lot more fun than watching him try to hit on Hermione after everything he did."

Harry opened his mouth to ask why Ron had been tasked with keeping an eye on Krum at all, but then remembered where they were at. He turned that question over in his mind for a second, realizing that if Ron could overpower Krum now so easily, and if the Seeker was truly wandless…

Well, that made a weird amount of sense.

A moment passed. Then another. Merlin, this was awkward. Harry shifted on his feet, not knowing what to say. Finally-

"So, things back to normal then, or am I gonna have to deck ya for being a prat again?" This time it was Ron who spoke, sending Harry an inquisitive look.

"Here I thought you were decking me because I was threatening Hermione."

Ron smirked. "Yeah, that was a bit of it too."

Ron dropped back down onto the couch, smugly crossing his arms behind his head. "Huh, so, Lupin was right."

Still rubbing his nose, Harry grimaced, "Right about what?"

Ron gestured in the general direction of Harry's face. "You know, all fights get resolved by just decking one another."

Harry stopped rubbing his nose and balked for a second.

Then he laughed. Actually laughed. "Guess he's been giving out all kinds of advice lately." Like his and Tonks comments about he and Kaylens.

Kaylens.

He instantly found himself searching for her in the crowded common room, finally getting a good look at it for the first time since entering. There couldn't have been even three dozen students there. Kaylens, though, wasn't among them.

And neither was Dean.

Ignoring the twist in his gut at that thought, he did notice that everyone else was looking at where he, Hermione, Ron, and the disguised Krum stood though. Apparently he wasn't the only one to notice.

Ron had already jumped up on the top of the couch, clapping his hands. "Oi! We have a staring problem here? Never seen a bloke deck his best mate? Mind your own, will ya?!"

Immediately the enveloping silence of the room ended, everyone beginning to talk at once in their own conversations. Eyeing all of them, he realized that the students were from at least three of the houses. He didn't see any Slytherins though. He shot Hermione and Ron a questioning look.

As if reading his mind she shrugged in reply. "McGonagall wanted all the houses together. Most of the students have already gone home given…the situation." Hogwarts no longer being overseen by the Ministry of Magic, possibly losing its credentials, the attacks on the students' families… "She's going to move everyone back later, soon as the professors are back."

Harry grimaced, looking around at who was left. Neville was the only one from Gryffindor he recognized, but-

"Ginny?" he asked suddenly, a dagger of worry shooting through him.

Ron's expression told him all he needed to know. He actually winced. "She's uh…she's been better mate. Been holed up in her room ever since." Ron didn't have to specify what he meant by 'ever since.' He'd been filled in already by Dumbledore. She'd been imperioused, and had killed her own boyfriend while under the curse's terrible influence.

Swallowing, he nodded. "Dean? Neville? Luna?"

"Right here, Harry," came a somewhat dreamy reply, Luna quite literally pulling herself out of the fireplace, a cloud of soot puffing around her.

Coughing, he and Hermione both stepped away from the hearth, staring at her. Luna started combing out her long blonde hair with her fingertips, shaking dust and black ash out of it. "I was looking for fire wigmonts," she explained, as if it were the most natural explanation in the world. "Ravenclaw's chimney doesn't have any, but I thought Gryffindor's might."

A sputtering sound came from Ron, who was currently staring at Luna as if she were the maddest creation in all of existence.

Luna seemed utterly oblivious. "You're very quiet, Viktor," she instead observed, Harry having almost forgotten about his presence. "Is it because you're afraid Harry might be mad?"

"Luna," Hermione instantly hissed. "We can't talk about that here."

Harry's head actually started throbbing from a non-Voldemort induced headache. Hermione had said Viktor had freed her. And there'd been that letter Hermione had sent while in captivity…

A Death Eater, one that she'd said might be on their side, had helped her to send it…

Harry might have already put two and two together, and he got that now wasn't the time, but he still practically snarled. He twisted around to find Viktor Krum leaning against the wall nearest Hermione, as if he belonged there.

This time Harry did actually snarl.

Before he could so much as take a single step towards the traitorous snake, Hermione intercepted him, hand on his arm. "Harry, again, now's not the time."

Ron had hopped up from the couch to grin maniacally, cracking his knuckles. "Seriously, we got an eye on him, mate. McGonagall thinks he's good for now and is coming to get him in a bit. Gotta keep everything very much on the," he paused, glancing at Hermione, "what's that Muggle phrase she used again?"

Hermione sighed loudly. "Down low."

Ron grinned, turning back to him. "Right. Gotta keep it all on the down low amongst," gesturing at the other student occupants, who were now engrossed in their own conversations again, "all of them. Don't make a scene. Would hate to have to deck ya again."

And at that Ron, shielding his hand from the rest of the common room, suddenly grew claws on one of his hands.

A second later the claw was gone.

Harry stared at Ron as if he'd just grown a third head, while Ron just waggled his eyebrows. "Ron," he stated very, very slowly, "you have claws."

Ron glanced at his now totally normal looking hands, as if proudly inspecting a new Quidditch broom. "Yeah, neat huh?" he mused aloud. "Nice little present from Lupin. Makes me useful. I'm thinking of calling myself the enforcer. Whatcha think?"

Hermione made a seriously displeased sound, while Luna simply said, "I think that's a nice name, Ronald."

Harry really felt like his head was about to explode. "I was gone," he stated slowly, succinctly, trying to wrap his head around things, "for two days…"

"Yeah, Professor Lupin already warned us that you might show up a little unhinged."

It was Harry's turn to gape again.

"Harry, what…exactly happened while you were away?" Hermione said softly, glancing at him.

Harry could only shake his head in response. Here…wasn't the time nor place to talk about it. Not even with a privacy charm. So far they'd all been speaking cryptically, but there was no way he could explain everything they'd missed that way. They needed privacy, and more than a privacy shield. They also needed to make sure a Death Eater wasn't standing right by them.

Speaking of, why were none of them seeming even remotely concerned about that small fact?

"I'm not," he finally settled on saying, "unhinged." Glancing between Ron and Hermione, Luna having sauntered up to Viktor Krum to inspect his shoes, he added, "We have to talk. Later."

They both nodded, then Ron looked around curiously. "Speaking of, where's Kaylens? Lupin and McGonagall told us she was with you."

Kaylens.

Godric he was such an ass.

For a second Harry was torn. He wanted to stay, make things right with Ron and Hermione. Make sure Luna was okay. That Ginny and Neville were okay. To find out what the hell had happened to Hermione, so he could pick the proper degree of hexing for Krum and yet…

He also had to make things right with Kaylens. She really hadn't gotten it. At all.

Glancing at his two best friends, Hermione tilted her head every-so-slightly, eyeing him shrewdly. Harry could practically see her brilliant mind working. "We'll be fine, Harry." Nodding, he was already bolting off into the common room, Luna's dreamy voice following after him.

"Harry, your girl went to the boys' dorms with Dean, right after you both came in."

Harry barely had time to wave a sign of thanks to Luna, let alone to hear the sputtering sound Ron had started to make.

"His what?!"


ECOTS


Kaylens was having a seriously rough week, just like everyone else. The difference was, that while everyone else was down in the common room acting normal,she was up here with Dean after having had what she could only describe as a small breakdown.

If she hadn't been so upset, she would have been irritated with herself.

For the thousandth time since they'd gotten up there, Dean gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, his arm draped lazily around them. She drew in a shaky breath. She hadn't told him what was wrong. She hadn't said a solitary sodding word. She just…

Something in her had nearly broken as they walked into the common room. Everything, absolutely everything overwhelming her all at once. She'd been trying to hold herself together for far too long. So many were dead, and the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade…

She'd killed them, just like they had her family. Just like they had countless others. She didn't regret it. She didn't. But the knowledge that they had all been right, that she was a killer, had settled in on her hard and fast.

It made her as bad as the Death Eaters.

Then there were the sounds within her mind, unicorns. It was almost laughable when she thought about it. And yet, every so often she'd suddenly hear them. It was like having horses on surround sound, with the strangest, most musical of neighings that anyone had ever, ever heard.

Seamus was dead. All those people near Grimmauld, they too were dead. And here she was…useless.

Whatever wall Potter had constructed inside her mind, to save her, was also having the effect of forcing her to remember her family more acutely than she'd like. Given that they were all dead, partly because of her, that wasn't exactly fun.

Potter basically telling her to sod off and not say anything also hadn't helped.

It explained why her eyes had suddenly become so wet when Dean had hugged her. He'd been so happy to see her alive.

Instead, she was a sodding mess.

Dean's hand was running through her hair now. "Come on now Kal, it's okay. You're safe. We're all..." his voice faltered, Kally well aware that he knew he was lying. They were sitting on his bed, which was right next to Seamus' empty one. "We're all safe."

Swallowing, the dim candlelight in the otherwise unoccupied dorms flickering in an unseen breeze, Kally shook her head. "I'm sorry, Dean. I just…Merlin, I don't even know." Looking up, her eyes still glistening, she concentrated on breathing. Just breathing.

It was strained, but Dean cracked a lopsided grin at her, his hand giving her ear a tweak. "It's okay to be sad, Kal. Should of seen me the past few days." His dark gaze swiveled towards Seamus' empty bed once more, his eyes darkening with pain, before redirecting back onto her. "Should of seen, Ginny. We're all a mess. Just, ya know, we're taking turns on whose turn it is to be a mess."

Her brow creased at him, gaze flickering over his dark skin gratefully. Still, she managed to incline a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Well we can't all be a mess at the same time now can we?" he clarified for her, without being asked. "If we did that, who would go on the butterbeer run to try to con some extra booze out of the house elves?"

She couldn't help it.

She laughed.

An infinitesimal laugh escaped from between her lips. "You…are you saying you and Ginny got drunk?"

Looking only a little sad, Dean waggled his eyebrows at her. "I admit," he told, "to nothing." Tweaking her ear again, "Besides, butterbeer is not quite strong enough. That being said, I'm thinking another butterbeer run is in the works. I've got it on good authority the house elves keep a stash. What do you think?"

Kally parted her lips to respond, her hand raising to wipe the wetness away from her eyes, only to hear the creak of the already open door opening slightly wider, Potter standing there, his expression…unreadable. The wizard she'd been with the past 48 hours, the one that had shunted her aside at his first chance, was hovering there like some unwanted ghost.

The worst part was that it had actually hurt. Not that she'd expected anything but…she hadn't expected that.

Dean spared her from saying anything. "Hey Harry, glad to see you both made it back." Dean hadn't asked her anything, not one thing, about what had happened while she'd been gone. She hadn't asked him either.

The past few days hadn't exactly been fun topics to relive.

Potter took a moment to respond, his malachite gaze moving between she and Dean, a furrow creasing his brow. "If I'm interrupting…" he started, sounding off.

"About to go pinch some butterbeer from the house elves actually," Dean supplied, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Wanna come?"

Kally said not a word, her gaze resting on Potter for that long, long moment. His looked right back, holding hers. "Actually, I was hoping to talk to Kaylens." The hard part of his throat rose and fell in a rough swallow. "In private, if that's…"

He didn't finish. Instead he just let that linger. His gaze remained on hers in the shadowy dorm, as if asking for permission.

Dean just raised both his eyebrows at once, glancing at her with the blatant question. "Yeah," was all she got out quietly, taking another steadying breath. She did not want Potter of all people to realize she had been crying.

"Well alright then," Dean said, a bit of forced joviality in his voice as he squeezed her shoulder, before standing up. The dark skinned Gryffindor glanced between the two of them, looking like he was thinking better of leaving them alone. It was a fair concern. Last time he'd seen them together she'd thrown a butterbeer in Potter's face.

"Try not to yank each other's hair out again, eh?" he finally said, shooting Harry a wink as he walked to the door. He stopped only long enough to add, "Be right back with that butterbeer, Kal."

Her lips twitched into a wane smile. "Thanks, Dean."

The door creaked behind him, not closing completely. The light from the brightly lit common room spilled into the dimly lit dorm, casting shadows across the floor and Potter's face. His mask was still unreadable as he looked back towards where Dean had just departed, "You get in one little brawl..." he muttered after him, finally turning to look back at her.

For the life of her she had no idea why he was up there.

What she did know was that she had finally broke. Dean had witnessed it, but she didn't want Potter to. Not one little bit.

Sucking in a quick breath, rifling her hands through her long hair to try to fix it, she broke the crushing silence. "Hardly little. I'm still losing hair from that one."

Raising his eyebrows now, Potter cracked a slight grimace. "You admitting I won?"

Her eyes simply narrowed in a half-hearted glare. "Two against one. Hardly seemed fair." It had been he and Weasley against her. She had definitely lost that one.

"Fair enough."

Still, Potter stood there, Kally finding that to be the most insufferable part about this exchange. Hoping to something dark that he couldn't tell that she'd just been losing it over everything since she'd joined the wizarding world, she let her hand fall from her hair, her palm now resting on the soft top quilt of Dean's bed. "What are you doing here, Potter?"

He'd quite literally just told her he didn't want her to say anything, to anyone, about what they'd been doing. That'd been maybe twenty minutes ago. She couldn't imagine he'd have anything pressing to discuss in that short amount of time since then.

"You ran off," he said simply, his voice roughened. "I never got to finish what I was saying."

Kally stared at him, aghast. It seriously took her a moment to respond. "You were pretty clear, Potter. Don't worry abou-"

"No. No, I wasn't," he interrupted, the unreadable quality of his voice instantly changing. His foot kicking the door the rest of the way shut, the creaking hinges somehow louder than before.

Closing her eyes as the door thudded close, sealing them in, not bothering to repress her groan of annoyance, she ran her hands over her face, considering tearing her own hair out. She didn't say a word. Not one word.

Apparently he took it as invitation to continue talking. "I said that," he continued, this time more bluntly, "because I don't think we should say anything." Harry had paused, looking at her intently. "I never said I didn't want to, Kaylens."

Dropping her hands into her lap, still sitting on Dean's bed – between Seamus and Harry's – she silently watched him for a long moment. "What," she softly murmured, "am I even supposed to do with that?" She truly wanted to know. She wanted to know because something in her stomach was twisting.

She suddenly really wished she had went with Dean instead of staying here.

Potter's green gaze practically cut through her, but he made no move from where he stood by the door. "Whatever you want to do with it, Kaylens. Not exactly my choice to make now, is it?"

Something in his jaw had gone stiff, his mouth opening, then closing abruptly, as if he had just rethought saying something else.

Then he thought better of questioning it, and decided to say it anyway.

"Look, you saw what happened at Grimmauld, Kaylens. And you know that they took Hermione. They took her, just because she's friends with me. They took her parents. They're probably going to be killed." His words stretched into the dark room, empty except for the two of them.

Kally could only look at him, slight pain in her gaze that she just couldn't hide. This was war. What did he expect out of a war?

"That's a pretty self-absorbed, bleak view to blame that all on yourself, Potter."

"Yeah well, it's my specialty."

A second later Potter had his wand out, muttering a charm at the door, the lock sliding loudly into place. Another spell, and a third immediately followed, the door glowing an odd blue for a moment, before his attention turned back to her. He looked considerably more agitated, stressed, Kally immediately abandoning Dean's bed to stand, looking between him and the door in question.

Her lips parted to demand an explanation, seeing as how she sure as hell didn't recognize what the charms did, but he beat her to it, already knowing she didn't know.

"Locking and privacy charms. I don't want anyone else to hear this."

Kally actually felt like she was trembling. "Hear what, Potter?" she more forcefully managed, her voice finally rising above a whisper. "You telling me to not tell anyone we'd started snogging recently?" Dragging her hand back through her hair, she continued, not even bothering to mask the upset in her voice, "Don't worry. I got your point already. I won't."

The candlelight in the dorm illuminated his bewildered expression. "That's not-that's not what I'm trying to do, Kaylens. It's just," he made an annoyed sound and started pacing past the rows of empty beds, "if the Death Eaters did that to someone who was just my friend can you imagine what they'd do to someone that I actually-"

His voice cut off abruptly, Kally staring at him. Her chest had jerked at that. Like someone was twisting her insides. She wasn't sure what she felt at that moment, but it was a mixture of annoyance, anger, upset, and-

She didn't want to think about what that last feeling was.

"Shouldn't you have thought of that," she finally murmured, watching every muscle in his body tense as he abruptly stopped pacing in front of one of the windows, "before deciding to snog me in front of half the Ministry of Magic?"

He looked somewhat stricken for a second, his expression growing harder, but she wasn't done.

"Seriously Potter," she persisted more strongly, "why were you totally fine snogging me utterly senseless in front of a bunch of Ministry Officials, when there might have still been Death Eaters in disguise hanging around? And why," taking a step towards him, starting to feel mad, "were you totally fine doing the same thing in the forest, when more Death Eaters could have decided to hang around to see what your next move was? Or why were you totally fine in front of half the Ord-" She cut herself off, taking a deep breath. "But now, all of a sudden, you're worried they might find out?"

Shaking her head, long locks of tangled golden hair falling around her shoulders, she snapped, "Call me dumb, Potter, but I'd wager they already have." Kinglsey, Tonks, Regulus, Remus, even that Angelina Death Eater and Snape had to have figured it out. Potter hadn't exactly been subtlefrom what it'd sounded like.

If someone had hexed Potter into a frozen statue she'd not have been shocked, given how still he'd gotten. The set of his jaw, how tense he looked…

She wasn't done though. She was actually upset. "Seriously Potter, if you didn't want to do that again you should have just said so. Don't make up a random excuse to spare me, got it?"

"That's not what I'm doing," he reiterated, practically growling down at her, sounding eerily similar to how he had when talking to Snape.

At some point she'd gotten a lot closer to him, close enough to see the tension rippling through him. She took a long breath,"Then what exactly are you doing, Potter? Because-"

"Damn't Kaylens! I'm trying to ask you out! Alright?!"

His strong, loud voice had her instantly go still. Sucking in a shaken breath she blinked in shock. "You're-you're what?"

"I'm trying," he muttered darkly, taking a step closer, "to ask you out." One of the larger candles illuminating the room crackled loudly, the scent of hot wax lingering in the air. "If," he persisted, "you're okay with having more of a target on your back then you already do. Not my choice to make. Thought you ought to get facts before I posed the question, since we do barely know each other."

It felt like her skin was literally on fire for a brief, swift moment. The space between them was mingling with anger had been running through her before, only now…she stared at him, lips parting in total and complete confusion.

Potter's malachite gaze stared right back. The set of his jaw, the clenching of his fist, the set of his shoulders…

Practically trembling she quietly breathed, "That's what you were driving at by the Fat Lady's portrait?"

So quiet was her whisper, she barely heard it herself. Fortunately, Potter did. "Yes."

Hazel gaze flickering over his, she tremulously murmured, "You…you are really bad at this."

Potter didn't so much as blink. "Never claimed not to be."

Nodding, gnawing on her lower lip, she seriously considered if he had gone insane. The words came, unbidden from her lips, just as they had in the clearing 48 hours ago. "You've gone insane."

"Clearly," he countered, not missing a beat. "Question remains. I'll understand if you'd rather not." His gaze never wavered.

She could barely move, let alone say anything. "You're completely insane..." she finally breathed, the candlelight flickering in his green gaze.

His chest rose with a roughly indrawn breath, a shadow crossing his features. "Understood," he said gravely, starting to move away-

Her fingertips snared his sleeve, clutching it for a moment, her eyes dropping closed. "Potter," she entreated, feeling his retreat halt. Steadying herself, she finally looked back up at him. She found him still there, silently watching her, something…confused in his features.

Merlin…Kally swallowed, nervously. "Do you seriously think I'm in the habit of doing…what we've been, if I didn't-" Whispered words halting, she plead, "Please don't make me say it."

For several seconds they both remained there, rooted to where they stood in the darkened dormitory in utter silence before a slow, slight smirk touched Potter's lips. "Far be it for me to torture you with that," he ground.

Hissing slightly, her hazel orbs narrowed. "I repeat, you are really bad at this."

His smirk only grew. "That a yes?"

"You're an idiot."

"Fair enough," he agreed, his hand rising, hesitating, before it finally fell to rest along her upper arm. The calluses and scars on his palm, from the cuts he'd sustained in Hogsmeade, from so many glass shards in battle, drug slowly up her skin, her breathing slowing, eyes almost closing in enjoyment.

Quiet, unable to say anything for a long, long moment, she finally murmured, "Finally, we agree on something."

Gaze meeting his, she found his far more serious gaze, something conflicted in it, calmly observing her. "You sure about this?" he questioned quietly, the feel of his hand on her distracting. "You saw what he's capable of."

Chest rising, not sure if she should kick him for being so dense, she managed a nod. "Potter," she spoke, "I saw everything. I saw-" Pausing, a slight furrow touching her expression, she murmured, "I saw you. I saw people dead." She'd saw how Voldemort had outright targeted him. How the Death Eaters paid extra attention to him. How he'd fought back. How many of them had been hit with hexes. How many of them, including herself, had almost died beneath a fiery fire engine flipping through the air… Swallowing, she whispered, "I had a pretty good view too. Right from under that fire truck and that…floating bubble you made. I'm pretty sure I'm qualified to make a choice on that."

A strange sound emanated from his chest. "You were under the truck?"

She shrugged lightly, her torn and battered sweater slipping over her shoulder, falling over his fingers still gripping her. "Yeah."

Potter's other roughly calloused hand rose to tangle within her hair, Kally leaning her face into his palm. "You," he muttered gutturally, "are going to make me insane." And with that…

She felt more than saw him move, his fingers tangling in her hair, her own rising, grazing his chest through the torn holes in his sweater. Werewolf claws…his skin should be torn to shreds beneath, yet was not. Merlin…she was unable to think. His mouth was already pressing to hers, the feel of his lips like an electric shock moving through her.

An unbidden, appreciative sound escaped her lips, a slightly amused sound coming from his as she felt him moving her, her spine suddenly pressing against one of the bed posts, Harry's hand moving just under the bottom of her own torn sweater, grazing her skin. Deepening the contact, her mouth moving over his, she felt him pressing closer.

It didn't take long for her to be breathless against his lips, Potter catching his as well. "Potter," she murmured, each uttered word causing her mouth to graze his lips, "at some point…we should probably…" Only he had reclaimed her mouth for another long, long moment, breaking away only to finish her words for her.

"Talk. We should talk." He sounded half strained even trying to converse.

"Mhmm," she murmured, content to not for now.

The sound he made confirmed his agreement with her unvoiced desire. A second later she was lost, his hand in her hair, her own sliding up his chest, the bed post creaking as he pressed her harder against it-

"What the hell, Harry?!"

Ron sounded somewhat horrified.


ECOTS


Harry didn't move. He had zero intention of doing so. Just as he had in Grimmauld, caught as they were by Tonks and Kingsley, he barely lifted his mouth from Kaylens, and only enough to glance at the ones interrupting them.

Apparently they'd been so engrossed that neither had heard Hermione breaking his locking or privacy charms on the doorway.

He probably should have known better. Hermione always was better at those than he. She'd known where he was going to, so she'd of course be concerned to find the door locked. He'd add it to his list of things to practice, to improve at, but later. Instead his eyes locked onto Kaylens golden ones, his mouth twitching into a slight smirk to mirror hers. "Yes?" he questioned, as if he was found snogging Kaylens against bedposts every day.

The sputtering sound from the doorway made it very, very clear that the casual response wasn't being accepted well.

"You know," Dean mused aloud, "I told them to not rip each other's hair out." The Gryffindor thudded his shoulder against the doorframe, casually gesturing towards them with one of the many butterbeers he was holding. "Does this actually count, or did they fail that directive?"

Ron just sputtered. "Harry that's my bed!"

Harry lifted his head away from Kaylens, looking over her shoulder to idly observe the bed. It was. "Indeed," he replied, sliding an arm around Kaylen's waist, turning to thud her back against his bed post. He now looked directly at Ron, a smirk on his face. "Better?"

Dean outright laughed. Ron, to his credit, attempted to form words of some kind, but instead just made odd sounds and hand gestures.

Hermione, her wand still in hand, shot a shrewd look in his direction. Then she gave Ron a subtle kick to the shin.

"Ow!"

Hermione looked on innocently, while Luna sauntered right into the room, dropping herself down onto Ron's bed, and tilted her head. "Is snogging better if it's against the bed post?" she asked, as if for all the world that was a totally normal question.

Kally's lips parted in a somewhat taken-aback 'o.' Harry just smirked. "I'll let ya know, Luna." Glancing back at Kaylens, he added dryly, "Unless you're not up for the challenge?"

Kylens shot him another one of those half-hearted glares, her fingers pointedly drumming along his chest. "You," she stated very clearly, "are an idiot." Tilting her head ever-so-slightly towards where Luna was seated, she waited pointedly.

Ah, she wanted released. Harry did have her trapped in on both sides with his arms. Instead of moving, he simply met her gaze, matching her one raised eyebrow with his and then raising the other.

She promptly stomped on his foot.

Now it was Harry's turn to yelp. He shot her a wounded look, to which she rolled her eyes, squirming out of his grip, dropping to sit next to Luna on Ron's bed.

Ron continued to make strangled sounds. "Why is everyone on my bed?"

Dean ignored this, sauntering in and tossing a butterbeer his way. Harry caught it deftly, twisting the top and taking a long swig. "I mentioned," he told Ron, swallowing, "that it was an interesting two days we were away, right?"

The hiss of a second, third and fourth butterbeer being opened was heard, Luna, Kally and Dean effectively taking over Ron's entire bed.

"Again," Ron repeated in a slightly strangled voice, "why is everyone on my bed?"

Hermione made a harrumphing sound, walking into the room and slapping him upside the head, dropping down onto Harry's bed, right across from the others. Harry just leaned against his bed post, shooting Kaylens a look.

She just shook her head at him, a wane smile on her lips.

And that was when Neville walked in. "Hey guys." He glanced over at Ron, who had apparently gone catatonic in the doorway. Hooking a thumb at him, he added, "What's the matter with him?"

Ron made a sound akin to a dying hippogriff, stomping over and flopping down on Harry's bed next to Hermione. He let out a loud groan. "I'm dreaming. Yes. Dreaming."

Harry tilted his butterbeer towards him, his ridiculous good mood unrestrained. "No, sorry mate. I was actually snogging Kaylens."

Kaylens merely eyed Ron as he groaned louder, tilting her head slightly. "He looks a little green."

Hermione leaned back to appraise him, sounding unconcerned. "Nah, he always looks like that."

Neville snorted from the doorway. "So that's why he looks green?" Catching a butterbeer that Dean tossed his way, he suggested, "Ron find someone to snog for yourself. You'll be feeling better in no time I bet."

Ron was now holding a pillow over his own face, as if trying to suffocate himself. Hermione shrugged, adding salt to the wound. "I volunteered once but he just turned red and-"

Ron shot up like a lightning bolt. "You what?"

Hermione snickered in a very un-Hermione-like fashion, taking the offered butterbeer from Dean. Sipping it in a lady like fashion she didn't even reply.

The pillow in Ron's hands slowly started getting shredded to bits as his hands slowly turned to claws. Dean was the only one to actually react to it. "Weasley," he stated, as if talking to a viper, "I'm fairly certain you're turning into a cat."

"Werewolf," he quipped back.

Dean actually jerked back, looking startled.

"He'll be fine, Dean," Hermione assured him. The look he shot her was responded to with a simple, "He's just gotten really," her brown gaze now flickered towards Ron, shooting him a glare, "good at human transfiguration."

Ron managed to regain enough of his mental facilities back to revert his hands back to normal. Had Harry not known he actually was a werewolf now he would have thought it really was some form of joke.

Instead he shot Hermione a look that clearly said, we need to talk later. Hermione merely widened her own eyes back, sighing in exasperation at Ron.

Harry had clearly missed something while he was away.

Looking around the dimly lit dorm, taking a long, slow swig of his frothy Hogsmeade beverage, he knew that they'd all missed a lot. None of them had been together. He…he had been with Kaylens, Hermione had been held captive, Ron had been with Luna, Dean presumably in the hospital wing, and Neville on his own. And then there was Ginny…he had no idea who, if anyone, she had been with.

None of them fully knew what the others had been that…

Was sobering.

Hermione and Ron always had at least an idea of what he'd gone through, given one or both of them were usually with him.

Not this time though.

It was a disturbing thought.

Hermione had been a prisoner of war. Ron…contending with the bite of a werewolf. Luna and Neville he had no idea on, but Luna couldn't have been far off from a bite herself if she had been with Ron. Neville…probably not far off from having been held prisoner himself. He had been with Hermione and Dean.

Childhood definitely felt like a long, long time ago.

The fact that they were all still alive was something, for not all of them had made it. Seamus' empty bed a cold reminder, even as they all sat there, clearly doing anything they could tonot talk about the darkness they had all so recently been entangled in. Laughing, snogging, trying to be normal.

It was the way it always was though, wasn't it? War took lives, but the living…had to continue. There was no time to waste when the next battle could be tomorrow. And still…

Harry tilted the rim of his beverage towards Thomas. "How's your head, Dean?" Observing him, Dean's somewhat forced joviality faltered for a second. His dormmate stopped mid-laugh, going very still.

"It's fine," he said, studying his own butterbeer. Dean looked up, glancing around the suddenly silent room, for even Ron had stopped brutalizing his pillow. It was like watching someone's naked thought process, such was the expression on Dean's face. It looked like his dormmate was reading his own thoughts.

A second later Dean had gotten up from where he'd sat between Luna and Kaylens, standing on Ron's bed, lifting his butterbeer high. Every line of his face etched with solemn regret.

"To fallen friends."

Standing as he was, shoulder against the bed post, Harry felt a coldly familiar numbness, one that he had already spent so much time living, in creeping up. Too many had died in this war, one the Ministry didn't even recognize as one yet. Numbness…it was the only way for one to survive sometimes.

"To Seamus," Neville responded, his glass raised. And one-by-one…their glasses all followed.

It remained silent in the dorm for a very, very long time.

It was Dean who finally broke the silence, sounding somewhat broken. "I'm…I'm going to go check on, Ginny."

Before Harry even had a chance to ask how,given she was in her dorm and the stairs would turn into a slide, Dean had already grabbed his broom and headed out, pausing only briefly in the doorway to look back. "I'm really glad," he told the room, "that all of you are alright."

And with that the dormitory door swung, empty.

Just like Seamus' bed.


ECOTS


Kally's eyes followed Dean every step of the way, her lower lip indrawn between her teeth.

Hermione was starting to stand, clearly intending to follow. "Maybe I should check on Ginny again too…"

Eyes flickering to her, Kally just shook her head. "They're close." Supplying the words did little to soften the truth. She didn't know Ginny well, but she doubted just anyone would help her right now. Seeing the question in Hermione's gaze, she could only smile wanely.

Ron had sat up, looking intently after Dean as well. "Maybe we should get our brooms and just-"

Tipping her butterbeer back to her lips, she paused, not yet imbibing. "When Ginny's upset, is she the type that likes to talk?" she questioned, watching both Ron and Hermione glance back her way.

Ron's gaze narrowed, thinking heavily. "No. More the type to break something."

Kally swallowed a lump in her throat. "Then let her grieve." Finally taking that swig, she was surprised to see Weasley eyeing her, an eyebrow raised over the scattered mess of the pillow he'd torn apart.

"Care to elaborate?"

Meeting his blue gaze, she softly said, "Sometimes you just need someone to be there, not be overwhelmed, and have no one ask you questions about how you're doing." Feeling momentarily hollow, she took another slow sip of her butterbeer. "Dean's perfect for that."

Harry simply remained where he stood, leaning against the bed post, observing.

Ron still looked somewhat skeptical. "No offense, but how would you know that?" It wasn't accusing or harsh. Instead, it was an honest sounding question. Eyes flickering over Weasley's face, she realized everything really had changed.

Whether he liked her or not didn't matter, he'd still stood by all of them in Hogsmeade. He'd even tried to apologize for what he'd done under the Imperious curse.

And all the others within the room…they'd defended her, and now fought in the same war effort that she had so recently said yes to. They deserved the truth.

So Kally parted her lips and spoke an honest answer. "My entire family was killed a few weeks before I showed up here at Hogwarts." Pausing, her gaze remaining levelly on his, she continued, "It was my fault they died, or at least…I feel that way." Sucking in a breath, taking a quick swig of butterbeer, she swallowed.

The next time she spoke, there was a harder edge to her intonations. "I can relate." Ginny had killed Seamus whilst under the Imperious curse. They'd found out at Number 12 Grimmauld. She had, in a moment of haphazard, unbidden magic, killed her own brother. He had already been near death, but that the strange magic infused in her veins had naturally reached out and pushed him the rest of the way, stealing what was left of his life to preserve her own…

She certainly felt like that was her fault, whether she had realized or not.

Ron merely looked at her for a long time. Then finally…

He sat back down, giving her a firm nod.

It was progress.

Hermione was just staring at her, looking stricken. "Kally…you can't really think it was your fault."

Shaking her head, hair spilling over her shoulders, she scarcely noticed Harry turn towards the door frame, a wandless motion of his hand sending it closed. They may be amongst other Order members, but that meant nothing for those outside. The far quieter click of it shutting this time didn't even draw her gaze.

Her eyes were still fixed on Hermione. "Harry," she questioned quietly, the lack of his surname not lost on her, "is there a way to…" prevent others from hearing.

"Yeah," came his suddenly familiar sounding voice. "Hermione?" This time her gaze did flicker from Hermione to him, only to see him shrug. "She's better at them."

Hermione had already twisted around on the bed, a look of the utmost concentration on her features, a string of Latin filling the air as blue mist left her wand, slowly enveloping the door.

Luna Lovegoood stood up, abruptly. Watching her make her way to the door Hermione had just placed the protective charm on, Luna paused before it, looking thoughtful.

Then she took a towel, rolled it up, and shoved it underneath the microscopic-sized crack between where the door ended and the floor began.

"There," she proclaimed, as if that solved everything. Catching the odd looks everyone but Harry was shooting her, she looked truly confused. "What? Now the bloggerwarts can't crawl in. I don't know how trustworthy they are."

At that Neville frowned, walking towards the entrance to the boy's showers. Glancing back at her, nodding, Potter got up to join him. Private showers for each dorm, but it was still another room. Another few spells and a full check of the stalls, and the two wizards appeared back in the dorm. Kally's gaze flickered over Potter's face, the King of Idiocy nodding to her.

"We're secure. Secure as we'll ever be, anyway."

"Thanks," she said, a small sliver of gratitude sneaking into her voice. She turned back to Hermione. "It was my fault," she told her honestly. "Voldemort isn't content with just getting rid of Muggleborns anymore. He wants to get rid of all Muggles to. And to do that, well…" she smiled grimly, "he's trying to make a master race. One that's 'all powerful'," making air quotes with her free hand, "with the powers of the whole magical realm." Eyes flickering from her face to Ron's, she quietly added, "But I'm sure you both already knew that."

They were Potter's friends after all. They had to of.

Swallowing, she shook her head, hair still a tangled mess as Luna, Neville, Harry, Ron and Hermione just let her talk.

She still wasn't sure how she felt about that. Regardless…Remus would be proud.

"Apparently," she macabrely continued, "the Death Eaters had started doing screening of a few magical…variants, like mine, to see if they could find them. Use their blood for…research. Because you know, that's all that the part-veelas, part-leprechauns, squibs, giants, werewolves, vampires, and half-witches like me are to them. Experiments."

Ignoring that she was talking, actually talking, she pressed, "So they came to my house once, when I was barely thirteen. They tried to get a reaction, to show if one of us was a Reach." Closing her eyes, she added dryly, "I'm pretty sure they thought it was my older brother, Josh, at the time, given they hurt me, then tried to kill him right away, to see if he would…" Swallowing again, her mouth very dry, she pressed, "If he would suck my life energy out to save his own."

Something hard glinted in her gaze, something barely watering there with it. "He didn't."

Hermione made no move, no sound, but chewed her lower lip. Too bad Kally wasn't done.

"I did though, when they came back, years later. That time, they just decided to off my whole family and the few friends we had over." She actually snorted, anger still there. "Sleepover indeed." That said…

She looked pointedly at Weasley. "I don't expect any of you to like me, Ron. I just have every reason to want those…those creatures dead as much as the rest of you. If we can work together though, I'd like that. Assuming you can understand why I wanted to keep anyone who seemed even remotely nice far, far away for as long as possibly, until I got a handle on this…" She didn't even finish, just gestured at herself, making a half-disgusted noise.

There she sat, surrounded by actual witches and wizards.

She couldn't cast a single spell, not even if her life depended on it.

She could only mess with energy, but not in the constructive way the rest of the full mutations could. That said, she blinked to clear her eyes, glancing around, "Yeah so…new topic. Please." She wanted to leave, very, very badly. But yet…

She had no idea where she'd even go if she did go anywhere.

The sudden plopping of Luna back on the bed, right next to her actually startled her.

"The kogas wanted me to tell you that was very brave of you to share. They like when people get things off their chest. Relieves the earthly plane's tension just a little bit, so we're less and less likely to be thrown off the Earth's current planetary orbit, which would be rather bad." She paused, looking contemplative. "I rather think they're right. Don't you, Kally?"

Kally turned to blink at her, rather startled.

Luna just frowned back. "Or should I call you, Kaylens? It seems like everyone does call you that. Though…" The girl's protuberant blue eyes glanced between her and Potter, "Harry calls you that, so maybe you prefer that just be your special pet name with him?"

Ron made a choking sound.

Hermione simply frowned, as if she contested everything that had just come out of Luna's mouth.

Kally couldn't help it. The sudden tension running through her like a current snapped, a broken laugh escaping her. "You," she commented, staring at the blonde Ravenclaw, "are…awesome."

A shadow blocked the candlelight for a moment, Potter having moved to stand near them, looking at her. Inclining his head, as if requesting permission to sit after she'd allowed him to snog her senseless yet again…another out of place laugh almost escaped. "Please," she invited.

A moment later he was sitting on the other side of her, a half awkward, half concerned look shot her way. She simply cast him a wane smile.

"Kaylens."

Both her and Harry's heads jerked towards the sound of Ron's oddly serious sounding voice. He, Hermione and Neville sitting directly across from them on Harry's bed, practically knee to knee with them. Ron scrubbed a hand over his face, croaking, "Going to pretend she didn't just say pet names, but…" He grimaced, jaw moving oddly, as if trying to formulate what he wanted to say next. It almost looked painful.

Finally, the red head settled on something. "What you said?" He paused, clarifying, "You, not Luna. Makes sense. Know someone else prone to distancing themselves, actually." Weasley's gaze moved from her to Potter, a trace of a smirk on his face. "From time to time, at any rate."

Kally's gaze flickered between the two of them, obviously missing something, only for Weasley to continue. "Dumbledore trusts you. And Harry…has obviously gotten sick of drowning himself in the shower over girls." An irritated sound arose next to her, but she ignored him, keeping her attention on Ron.

"You're one of us now. Phoenixes. So…that counts for something."

It took her a long moment of staring, not sure she actually believed what she was hearing. Weasley…was okay with her in the Order.

And he was okay with working with her, when they needed to.

She managed a small smile. "Thank you."

"See Harry," came Luna's dreamy voice, "Ronald was fine with you snogging her. You didn't need to be so unhappy at the Three Broomsticks after all."

Kally frowned for a second. The Three Broomsticks? They hated each other then. They hadn't yet-

Kally, Harry, and Ron all simultaneously blurted, "What?!"


ECOTS


Harry groaned as both Ron and Kally looked at him. Ron was looking slightly aghast, while Kally had merely arched a golden eyebrow. "What?" he said, fully aware that Luna was more perceptive than she let on. "I was attracted to you, alright?"

He watched Kally's brow crease, the tiniest of smiles teasing the corners of her lips. A second later a small laugh escaped. "I-you're something else, Potter."

"Yeah, Potter," Ron echoed from the opposite bed, "something else." He paused, then sounded wounded. "How come you didn't tell even me?"

Harry just shrugged. "Seeing as how I was trying to get you to stay as far away as possible, didn't seem the opportune time for a heart-to-heart, especially with that nice little thing called denial." Obviously. It explained why he'd felt so sick every time she'd been hurt. Regardless…

Neville was the one to bring sanity back to the conversation. "Interesting as all of that is," he said, "we've got protective charms on. We probably need to," he glanced around, like he was searching for the word or for someone else to finish it for him, "convene, or something, on what we learned before Dean gets back."

Dean. He was the only one that had been there not in the Order. Neville was right.

Hermione started, "Well I got abducted, held hostage, Crucio-ed a few times, had my mind invaded by Bellatrix Lestrange who, by the way, isn't dead, only for my ex-boyfriend to break me out." Harry's eyes about bulged out of his skull, Hermione catching his look instantly. "McGonagalls got Viktor now, and Snape is probably helping interrogate him. So…" drumming her fingers on her knee as if this was some kind of ordinary class lecture, she asked, "Who is next?"

Harry about groaned.

Luna, however, was on board. "Well after Ronald and I got into the Forbidden Forest the strangest thing happened. A lot of werewolves showed up, mid-day and tried to chase us down." Grinning, as if she were talking about a pleasant stroll in the park, she continued, "Ron got bit and a tree spirit led me to safety." She then turned her relaxed smile on Neville. "Harry?"

Harry about balked, wondering if Luna really was capable of seeing creatures that the rest of them could not.

Neville opened his mouth to speak, only for Luna to make an exclamation, clapping her hands and rounding on Kalliandra. "Oh Kally! I ran into your thestral. He was looking for you. Apparently he was upset about a lack of ferrets, because he's having species identification issues and thinks he's a hippogriff."

His mouth actually twitched at Kaylen's expression. She was actually sputtering. Giving her a moment, he finally forced a strained expression. "This," he ground truthfully, "might be awhile."

And then Harry Potter told the Order what had happened. Everything. Right down to killing. Right down to Kaylens nearly dying. Right down to Fawks. To the unicorn blood. To Angelina being a Death Eater. To the battle of Grimmauld. To Voldermort. To Dumbledore and Tonks near deaths. To what was known of Voldemort's plan to spread a plague across the world, leaving only wizards alive.

It was why the Death Eaters had attacked so many wizarding locations and families from Hogwarts at once. To trap them where they wanted them, so that the antidote to the plague they were planning to spread could be given to them, magically.

Apparently some complex spellwork was required over a group for it to actually work.

And he, Kaylens, Luna and Ron hadn't been within Hogsmeade to receive it when it was done. They were not immune.

Finally finishing, Kaylens eerily quiet the entire time, he grimaced. The entire mood of the room had changed. It was long since past midnight, past curfew, the candles having nearly run down the lengths of their wicks. Any noise from the common room from the other houses was long since gone, the sixth year Gryffindor boys' dormitory barely illuminated.

Everyone was quiet, almost too quiet. Every muscle within him was stiff, unyielding. He felt sick.

It was Neville who broke the silence. "Damn Harry." The Gryffindor looked around. "So…am I the only one without a story?" He shook his head, as if amused. "I got my ass knocked out probably seconds before they took Hermione."

The apologetic look Neville cast Hermione's way said it all, his best friend looking bewildered. "Neville, you jumped in front of me and said 'Bring it on, Cloakie!' That was pretty awesome."

Neville half smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

Waiting, watching, he heard Kaylens quiet breaths next to him. Which reminded him…

Forcing a lighter tone, his mouth twitched just slightly. "Oh yeah," he told, as if remembering something from the story he'd been telling, "I also snogged Kaylens."

Ron threw a pillow at him, the tension instantly broken.

"Damn't Harry! Get off my bed!"

There was a war. There would be casualties. But that night, for the first time, the youngest members of this generation of the Order of the Phoenix met.

And then they tried to remember that they were alive.

At some point Harry had wound up with his back against his own bed frame, Ron having bodily shoved him off his, but his arm remained wrapped around Kaylens' waist like a vice. He'd hauled her up there with him, her hair tickling his nose as the others talked even later into the night.

At some point, his face dipping into her hair, still shocked that she'd agreed at all, he fell asleep.

So did Kaylens.

And so did the others.

None ever actually left the room. Luna on Dean's bed, stretched out a like a contented cat, Hermione on Ron's, both on opposite sides of it, staring straight up at the ceiling like deer in headlights. Neville in his own, snickering at all of them.

Across Gryffindor Tower Ginny also slept, Dean Thomas having passed out with her during a distracting game of wizarding chess, the pieces scattered across the girl's dormitory floor.

Their childhood innocence had been lost, their petty grudges pushed aside. The desire to live, the desire to win beating strong within all of them.

They were the new Order of the Phoenix.

And Voldemort didn't stand a chance.