AN: Thanks for the support and reviews. They make me feel like I'm contributing to our FF world again instead of just reading all the time.

This chapter is less war-like and more fluffiness (for lack of a better term) where Harry starts to allow himself to feel emotions other than anger and hateful feelings. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 7

Susan was sitting with her parents in the family room telling them about the attack and her finally seeing Harry. When her father left the room for a few minutes, Susan proceeded to tell her mother of her reaction to Harry's appearance and how things went from there. Her face was bright red but Janice Bones knew her daughter well and knew she wouldn't have done that for just any guy. When her father came back in the room, the conversation turned back to the attack and hoping that Amelia was alright as it seemed she had more to deal with that night than a mere attack.

Her father was already thinking of what they could do for the two men who saved their precious daughter and aunt from the dregs of society who seemed to be able to run unchecked. They didn't blame Amelia for the problems of the day even though she was over law enforcement as they knew very well that budget cuts were devastating to their Auror force over the years and they were unprepared to fight a war.

Just as it began to quiet down again, a soft pop occurred beside Susan. "Master Harry sends yous a message Missy Susan."

At first she was startled but then heard what Dobby said. "Is Harry okay?"

"Master Harry bes very tired Missy Susan. As Dobby left, Master Harry was going to take shower and then go to bed."

She took the note and quickly opened it. A smile formed on her face as she read and then she clutched it to her chest as she started laughing and held the ring in her hand.

Susan,

As directed, Madam Bones was delivered to the Ministry and remained that way until I left her in the care of Master Auror Moody. By now, I would assume they are back at her estate taking care of things.

Enclosed you will find a ring that, when tapped with your wand, will let me know if you are in trouble and need my assistance. With that in mind, please only use it for that purpose as I will be coming to you prepared for battle.

On another note, I would like the opportunity to continue our discussion from earlier this evening. If that is acceptable to you, please let Dobby know and I will plan on coming by to pick you up around 7 this Friday evening. If that is inconvenient, we can reschedule for another time.

Unfortunately, my life is not my own at the moment so things have a way of happening that Moody and I feel we must respond to as no one else will. I know it seems like I am taking too much on my shoulders but I feel it is necessary for all of us to have a future worth living. It is a future that you made much brighter for myself earlier this evening.

Please remember that I am dead and for me to move freely at this time, I need to remain so. I'm sure you've informed your parents of the events of this evening so please ask them to keep it to themselves for now. The time is fast approaching that my life will be my own once again and it is my hope that you will be around to help me celebrate that day.

Harry

PS: Please excuse me sounding like a pure-blood ponce. I've only been around adults these last few years and it kinda changes a guy but I knew I couldn't write like Moody talks. I mean...could you really figure out. Grunt. "You" "Me" "Date" "Dinner" "Snog" Grunt...weird eye rolling all over the place until it lands on you and makes you think its studying your underwear.

Janice looked at her and said "Well"

Susan held up her hand at her mother asking her to hold on and turned to Dobby. She gave him a grin. "Paper?"

Dobby snapped his fingers and a piece of parchment appeared. She began to open her mouth again as he held out a quill to her and gave her a smirk. She did a double take. Did elves smirk? Well he is Harry's.

She began scribbling something down after thinking for a minute and then once she was finished, she had a smirk of her own showing on her face.

She handed it to Dobby and told him 'thank you' before he popped away.

Janice smiled sweetly. "You know...a young man giving you a ring is tantamount to asking you for your hand."

Susan rolled her eyes. "Really mum. We only snogged that once. It's not like he's going to ask me to marry him already. (Her eyes cut over to her father and she smirked.) I'm sure I'll have to take him to bed at least before I get a proposal."

Her father choked on the tea he was drinking and both ladies started laughing. "It's only a friendship ring...kind of. He said that if I'm ever in trouble again, to tap it with my wand and he'll come running with wands blazing."

"Oh my...a protector then. And you say you only snogged him?"

"Yes mother but he asked for a repeat Friday night."

"I don't see why not."

Hiram Bones stood from his chair and with the mutter of 'evil women' he began to make his way to the door. Before he stepped out Susan called out. "Daddy?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"Harry Potter is dead and he asked that he remain so at this time."

Hiram nodded. "Of course. It's the least we could do for what he did tonight. We can swear an oath to Amelia if he feels it's necessary."

"Thank you Daddy."

"You're welcome Sweetie. I'll just go polish my wand. I think it'll need to be right shiny before Friday night."

Janice snorted. "The young man just stood up to you-know-who and fights beside Mad-Eye Moody. I love you darling but I don't think he'll feel very threatened plus...how do you expect to kill a dead man?"

**ALM**

At Moody's house, Harry was just climbing into bed when Dobby appeared and handed him a note.

Junior,

Grunt

Me

You

Dinner

Snog

Friday

If fight

Try again

XXX

PS: Me thinks one of those crazy eyes might be a good idea so I can see what you're hiding underneath those combat clothes. You've grown into a rather nice looking man. Not that you weren't cute before.

Harry chuckled before laying down. His thoughts were on the rather heated kiss Susan gave him and how nice it had been. The pain in his heart from the broken bond lessened just a little bit. Maybe...just maybe...the pain from the bond he had carried ever since Hermione broke it would finally begin to fade away. For the first time in two years, his dreams finally began to change and it was no longer Hermione who starred in them but a beautiful red-headed young lady who showed him that she cared.

**ALM**

Harry woke the next morning to find a letter lying on his night stand. It confused him for a minute but after he put on his glasses, he recognized the hand writing as something he read just last night.

Dear Harry,

I'm writing this as I'm laying in bed so that you'll have a real letter in the morning. I'll have my elf Daisy give it to Dobby for you. While the first part of the note was very eloquent compared to what I remember through fourth year, your post script really did things to me.

First off, thank you again for tonight. Not only for saving me but Aunt Amelia too. She is very dear to me.

Secondly, thank you for escorting her to the Ministry. Judging by the way she was reacting, there were Death Eaters there too. I know you protected her so thank you again for that.

The ring was a very thoughtful gift and I will use it appropriately as I know you cannot show yourself at this time. Speaking of that, how will we go out if you cannot be seen. Hmm...I'll leave the logistics up to you but it is definitely a yes. I understand that something may come up and you may have to cancel or run out on me at the last minute and I will try to not let it bother me as I do understand that your life is not your own at this time. I do however look forward to celebrating with you when it is.

On another note, my mother made an innuendo concerning the ring. You do know that men give rings to ladies when they are proposing marriage? Anyway, that question might even get a yes depending on how well you do Friday night.

On to more serious stuff again. I'm sorry for what all you went through at Hogwarts and I'm sorry Hermione didn't turn out to be the friend to me and more to you that we thought she was. I'm also very sorry that I did not stand with you as I should have. I feel as if I have also played my part by not helping you during the events and against the people who forced you into your current situation. I hope one day you will trust me enough to tell me the full story as I'm sure what I've heard and seen do not even scratch the surface.

I hope you know that I am here if you need to talk to someone your own age. Maybe we can start by me telling you about life at Hogwarts since you've been gone unless that would be rude as you would consider it me rubbing it in your face since I'm able to be there. Well, you can tell me your thoughts on it and we'll go from there.

Last but not least, before retiring for the night, I told my parents that Harry Potter was dead and needed to remain that way for now. They agreed and my father said it was the least we could do after what you and Moody did for our family last night. If it needs to be taken further, they said they would be willing to swear an oath to Aunt Amelia about the subject. I'll leave it up to you but I can say my family already feels we owe you a debt and the Bones family always repays their debts.

Yours,

Susan

Harry lay back and thought about all she wrote. It sounded like a good idea. Not only maybe dating her but writing on a regular basis. He loved his life now compared to before but he missed being with people his own age. And Susan was gorgeous. He always thought so but he was with Hermione at that time. Still, would it be a mistake to go from one serious or semi-committed relationship to another. Should he date others when he finally had a life again before settling down? They were questions that he couldn't answer right now and he surely couldn't talk to pops about it. Maybe when Poppy came by again he could bring it up. She seemed to have a caring side when he wasn't a patient.

**ALM**

Things were quiet for the next few weeks. It was evident to Amelia, Moody, and Harry that Tom took a royal beating that night and was probably trying to figure out what to do next. The loss of half of his inner circle along with three of his spies within the Aurors would put a serious dent in his plans for quite a while. Harry thought a little differently, since he knew how Tom thought, and that was that good old Tom was scared.

In either war, he didn't face many opponents who could stand toe to toe with him and still walk away. Harry also thought that after he recovered, he would go check on his Horcruxes. The only one he couldn't get to at the moment was the one at Hogwarts because without Snape and the junior DE's, he would have to rely on new and unreliable assets not that Draco and his gang were ever very reliable. Harry was pretty sure that Tom now knew that his horcruxes were gone. If he knew, then he would know he was mortal once again and his fear of death would force him to remain hidden. Harry was still kicking himself for not getting a head shot in and ending this once and for all.

Minerva and Poppy came to visit before they had to start getting ready for the new school year and were a wealth of information. For some unknown reason to them, quite a few of the death eater children withdrew from school. Moody caught Harry's eye and they both snorted leading to an explanation of the true situation. Both ladies were both horrified and overjoyed at the same time as they knew their school year just got that much easier.

Another tidbit of information was that Albus was going spare over the loss of Severus. All his plans revolved around the information on DE activity he got from Snape. Moody had to laugh at that because most of the information they received from the so-called spy was too little too late. They also revealed that they were the reason Snape was no longer around as he got caught in the battle at Amelia's house. Harry proved true to his words and took the hateful man down. It was only Harry's words that maybe Hogwarts would start producing potion masters again which lead to him revealing that his research showed that ever since Severus began teaching, the number of students who continued potions was a mere ten percent of what it once was. He also told them that the Aurors and St. Mungos should be happy that they don't have to take time out of normal training to teach potions any longer. If that wasn't enough, then the students should be much happier without the greasy bat around.

Once the conversation died down, Moody and Minerva went off to 'discuss' something which left Harry with Poppy. He turned to her. "I have some questions I need answers to. I...I can't really talk to Pops about it or Nana for that matter. But I'm kinda confused and don't know what to do?"

"You can ask me anything Harry. I'm always here for you."

"Well...that whole bond thing with Hermione. Well...I didn't tell you guys everything. You see, when I took the pain of the bond...well...it kinda stayed with me this whole time. I've read about bonds and from what I've seen, the person who breaks it is the one to suffer...but I took it all because I wanted her to be happy."

"Why didn't you tell us this?"

"Didn't want you guys worrying about that on top of everything else. And it wasn't like I couldn't handle it."

"Oh Harry. That's horrible. Are you...capable of love? I know that can be a side effect sometimes."

"I think so. You see...Susan Bones and I have been talking and going out some. She's kissed me and I really liked it but...is it too soon after the bond thing? I mean...to me...that bond thing was still as fresh as the day it happened."

"Was? Has it changed?"

"Well yeah...the pain seems to be getting less. I'm thinking more often about Susie and she's in my dreams now where it used to be Hermione."

Poppy smiled. "I'm not trying to embarrass you but are they romantic or sexual dreams?"

Harry blushed. "I...I think more romantic. I mean we've kissed and I dream of doing more of that but...not much else."

Poppy shook her head. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Susan allowed you to see there is a possibility of falling in love again. Even if you are 'just talking' right now, I would encourage you to continue seeing her as I think it's helping you heal your broken heart. Susan's a sweet girl and you couldn't do much better."

Harry nodded. "I do like her and enjoy the time we spend together and the letters we share but...should I limit my choices? I mean...Susan's the first girl I've been interested in since Granger and I mean...should I look around more and not jump at the first pretty girl who shows me interest?"

She leaned back in her chair and looked closely at him. "Well...you could do that but it would depend on what you feel for Susan."

"I like her...a lot. But...she sometimes talks as if this is already a long term relationship. I'm only sixteen now so should I even be thinking about that?"

"I'm sorry but you did with Hermione."

Harry sighed. "I know...maybe that's the problem. I'm scared of getting close again and this is the first girl I've liked since Hermione. I don't want Susan to be a rebound cause I really like her but the whole thing is just so confusing. Then there's the whole Voldemort problem that has to be resolved before I can really have a life. Of course then I'll have to deal the Dumbass and I really don't want to have to take him down too so that I can have a bit of peace. "

Poppy chuckled. "Okay...first off, you've spent some of your very important teen years only in the company of adults and training to fight a war. Your social and emotional health may be a little off because of that. You are a lot more mature than most of your peers. Especially the boys. The girls will like it since they mature faster than boys. As far as Susan, all I can tell you is to follow your heart. If you enjoy time with her, then continue to do so. If it's wrong for you to be together, then you'll both know it. There's no rule saying you have to date a whole bunch of girls to find the one. Your godfather dated half the school while your father always had his eyes on Lily and never dated anyone else until they got together. Your parents were very happy together and had a good life in the time they had together. Your godfather was still single when everything happened."

"So..."

She smiled. "So you do what feels right for Harry Potter. If that's trying to build a committed relationship with Susan then that is what you should do. If it's not then your heart will lead you where it needs to be."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "You now what I wish for more than anything?"

"No what?"

"Being able to go to Hogwarts for my seventh year and having the Tom problem behind me."

She hugged him. "We'd love to have you back. Your grandfather has hogged you these last two years and we want equal time. So...all you have to do is figure out a way to deal with Tom. You've done harder things. Figure it out."

"I will. I've got some ideas and are working through them now."

**ALM**

During the first few weeks following the attack on Amelia's house. Harry and Susan wrote letters every day as they tried to get to know one another. It made Hedwig happy to be able to go out once again since no one could use her to send post while they maintained that Harry was dead. By the first of August, these letters turned into notes as they made plans for what to do the next day. They had to compromise as Harry still needed to train but they began doing things every other day. Moody grumbled that it was interrupting their training but Poppy put her foot down and dragged him off to his study. Once behind the silencing charms, she gave him both barrels and reminded Alastor of Harry's age and how much he missed being locked away from the world these last two years.

After Poppy's little talk, Harry spent almost every day with Susan in one way or another. They spent many days just walking and talking in the gardens at Bones Manor between training session or studies. Some days, they'd do something in the muggle world like a movie, trips to the mall, or taking some of the bus tours in downtown London. It went a long way to easing the emotional pain Harry was carrying these last few years. Poppy and eventually Minerva helped him understand that spending time with a pretty girl was not fully committing to a relationship with her. It was the more normal act of dating without outside pressures forcing your decision that most teens experienced and both Harry and Susan completely enjoyed their time together. They weren't heirs and heiresses, or the niece of the most powerful woman at the Ministry, or the hero of the wizarding world. They were Harry and Susan, a couple of teens enjoying dating and snogging when they could get away with it.

They talked often about going to visit the Potter Manor and estate but as Harry was still not of age, he was denied access. So they continued to do as they had the previous weeks and find ways to see each other away from the world of magic. It did cause problems at times when she'd be invited out by her friends and he would have to refuse. He knew she just wanted everyone to see why she was so busy and happy these days but doing that would not only put a bigger target on her family but draw attention to him as well. Luckily, those moments were fleeting as her easy going nature and happiness at just being able to spend time together made things much easier and allowed them to continue to grow closer even if it was in secret.

The sad part about August was that it seemed to speed by and September 1st was looming larger on the horizon everyday. They did their best to make use of the time they had remaining but it was always in the back if their minds.

**ALM**

On September first, Harry appeared at Bones Manor for breakfast and to wish Susan a good year at Hogwarts. Hiram, Janice, and even Amelia left the teens alone in the entrance hall for several minutes to allow them to say goodbye. By the time Harry left, Susan had puffy and bruised lips from the intense snogging they were engaged in along with tear tracks down her face. Janice took her daughter into her arms and led her back to the master bath to help Susan clean up since all of Susan's toiletries and such were already packed. As she was doing this, Janice was whispering to Susan that it was only temporary and she would see Harry again soon.

Harry left Bones Manor quite shaken up by Susan's tears and apparated to the cave where Sirius once hid. It was a place he used to go and think and where he could be on his own. Being with Moody was great and had removed him from his former life but there were times when Moody acted on both ends of the spectrum. At some times, Moody was quite distant and would disappear leaving Harry on his own. The other times Moody was hovering over him and either trying to push even more information into his brain or questioning him relentlessly about what their next moves would be. As an act of thanks, Amelia secretly had Harry tested and licensed for apparation and it was that which Harry used to move around most of the time now.

He appeared in the makeshift camp and sat on the log he knew Sirius used while in hiding here. It could have the effect of bringing up the bad memories of once again losing a parental figure in Sirius but that faded quickly since they hardly knew each other. Truthfully, he didn't know any of his parental figures, but he felt they could now rest a little easier knowing Snape had paid for his crimes against their family. It was yet another thing he held against Dumbledore as he was almost positive that Albus was responsible for Sirius' time in Azkaban and had to be somehow behind the events that led to Sirius' death.

He sat and looked out over Hogsmeade as his mind swirled with all these thoughts. The memories of Sirius finally faded as the reason he was here came back to the forefront of his thoughts. He was never good with emotional stuff anyway but it was her reaction that helped him understand that what they meant to each other was way more than dating. The pain he'd felt for years due to Hermione was now replaced by the pain of knowing he and Susan would be separated for several months and would only have letters to hold them over until they could see each other again.

His anger at the situation of his life flared up inside him with nothing to vent on. A wand dropped into his right hand and a bolt of light shot out and connected with one of the rocks lying on the ground. The rock blew into dust as Harry released some of his frustration. Feeling slightly better and maybe a little angry at himself for losing some of his control. He plopped back down on the log and began thinking once again.

Things had been very quiet for the last month and neither Tom or his minions made any incursions into the world at large to create havoc and sow chaos. The Greengrass family was still safe and even the probing of their wards stopped altogether. Harry figured out it was because of the wards and Tom didn't have the manpower to spare to assault an ancient house under war wards.

He knew that was part of it but there had to be more. It all came back to what he thought before. Tom was scared. The Horcruxes that he could access were checked for their safety. Harry knew this for a fact since he and Moody went to a couple of the sites and saw the devastation after Tom threw a temper. Tom wouldn't know the fate of the ones out of his reach but had to assume they were gone too.

Tom may have been a brilliant and ruthless wizard once upon a time but now he was just twisted and evil. Harry studied soul magic intensively after Lefty gave him some books on the subject. Fortunately they came from overseas as anything that could be found in England were prejudiced and downright wrong. These books were written by Native Americans and a Voo Doo priestess that came from cultures that practiced soul magic and understood the intricacies of it. One thing he did learn was that tampering with the soul did irreparable harm to oneself. It reduced ones intelligence, sanity, humanity, and emotional health creating more of a monster than anything else. In other words, the perfect definition of Tom.

He never could make a clear decision about whether or not magical power was reduced so Harry could only assume that he had to face an incredibly powered insane Dark Turd with aspirations to take over the world. At least he knew that Tom no longer commanded the manpower to accomplish his goals and according to Amelia, he no longer had the support of many of the dark creatures or dark wizards for that matter. His defeats caused a complete downturn in recruitment as many family elders now refused their heirs to join since they had to carry on the family name. News of Draco and his cronies spread far and fast among the dark families and they could see Moody and partner were intent on wiping them out by any means possible.

Another positive result of the attack on Amelia's house was that Fenrir Greyback was no more. It seems that being transfigured into an ice statue and then shattered was a new way to take a werewolf down. Greyback had his fiercest fighters with him and that one curse effectively took out the werewolf leadership in England. The lower level werewolves were only there because Fenrir and his enforcers forced them to be. As soon as word came back about their deaths, the remaining weres left England in order to decide on a new leader of the pack. It was easily accomplished since they were camped away from Tom' headquarters as only Greyback spent any time around the dark lord. It was well known the alpha male was decided by combat and Harry hoped the strongest would kill each other and they would be done with Tom by the time it was settled. Little did he know that the remains of the pack were much like Remus and only wanted to live out their lives in peace.

All in all, Tom's forces were not the threat they were a few months ago. He probably had at most one hundred followers, a couple of giants, maybe a half dozen trolls that Gringotts were working on poaching and being put to work for them, and the dementors. In all, Harry thought the dementors were the biggest threat and they needed to find a way to destroy them or get them back under control. Neither task would be an easy one.

**ALM**

It was getting close to dinner time and Moody was beginning to get a little concerned. He knew Harry could take care of himself and even expected him to go sulk for a while due to his girlfriend returning to school. He hated that Harry was isolated with him and couldn't live a normal teen aged life but those were the breaks and England needed Harry fighting the dark and not hiding in the Hogwarts broom closets with Susan. He hoped they could wrap this up and allow Harry to return for his seventh year but with the way Tom was hiding, it was looking doubtful at the moment.

He knew if Tom was holding his forces back then something would have to happen for him to commit his forces. He would have to be building up for a major battle or he would have to eventually relent and let his forces out to play again. Moody hoped for the second so that the first wouldn't be so major.

He finally sighed and produced a message patronus and sent it to Harry.

It arrived minutes later as Harry was noticing that the sun was beginning to go down. The doberman appeared and looked up at Harry. In Moody's voice it asked. "You okay?"

Harry chuckled as the patronus faded after doing its job. He conjured his own patronus and sent a reply back. He didn't fear doing magic and being tracked as Ralph's wands were untraceable and since he hadn't stepped back into Hogwarts, the trackers were not reapplied by the castle magic. He stood and watched as he saw the train approach in the distance. He snorted to himself fortunately sitting here all day thinking, feeling sorry for himself, and what else could be said.

A stag appeared in front of Moody. In Harry's voice it said. "Fine, Just been thinking and trying to plan. Thank Merlin I wasn't lying in a ditch somewhere and you just now thought to check on me. What would Nana and Poppy say? Anyway, I'll be home soon. I wanna see something."

Moody chuckled at the response. In truth, Moody knew where he was the whole day as he had his own trackers on the lad. He was pretty sure Harry knew but they never spoke about it as Harry would know it was not a way to control him but to keep track of him if they were ever separated. Unknown to him, Harry had his own attached to Moody. Anyway, Moody knew from where Harry was that he was watching the Hogwarts Express pull into the station.

**ALM**

Susan's day started out brilliantly as Harry came to see her off. Then the actual reality set in and she knew she would only have his letters from this point for a while. The heartache she felt over this lasted pretty much the whole day. Her family managed to get her to Kings Cross and into a compartment on the train. Janice never left her until Hannah came along tugging Neville with her. Seeing her friend so upset had Hannah at her side instantly and after a kiss to the forehead, Janice left her daughter in good hands.

The day was spent in quiet conversation. Hannah knew Susan had a boyfriend and knew she was deliriously happy this past month but still didn't know who he was. All she could really get from Susan was that they said goodbye this morning and it was breaking her heart. Hannah asked if they broke up and got a 'no' but couldn't get much more out of her. It was almost as if Susan thought she'd never see her boyfriend again and in that case, she was right. Susan did her best to hide it but she was scared that Harry would be killed while continuing the fight against the dark turd as he called him and now once she was away from him for at least four months, her fears came out. It was so much easier to be confident in him when he was right beside her larger than life.

The compartment remained depressingly gloomy for most of the trip. Several other girls from Hufflepuff came in to try and console the distraught witch but were unsuccessful. It was only as she passed the compartment and felt Susan's pain that Luna Lovegood opened the door and stepped in. She walked right in front of Susan and knelt on the floor as took Susan's hands. She leaned forward and whispered in Susan's ear.

"You will see him again so be strong. You are the bright spot in his life and he hurts just as much as you right now but it will all be better soon. You will soon feel his love watching over you so take comfort in that."

Luna leaned back a little and then kissed Susan's forehead before she rose and started for the door. Susan watched for a second as the girl began to leave. "Luna...thank you. You are welcome to stay with us for the rest of the journey."

Luna gave Susan a sweet and loving smile. "I know and I thank you for it but...I'm needed elsewhere."

Once Luna left, Megan Jones decided to comment. "Loony is so weird"

Susan bristled. "Don't call her that. If any of you would take the time to get to know her, you'd know she's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. She is my friend and will always be welcome where ever I am."

Neville nodded along with Susan's admonishment. Once she was done, he said "She's also more brilliant that we thought Granger was. I won't hear anything bad about her either. She was one of the brains behind our study group once we left the DA."

"Sorry, we didn't know."

There was a beaming smile on Luna's face as she walked down the main aisle of the train. Her visions showed a brighter future now than in the past four years and all because Susan Bones reached out and began healing the broken heart of Harry Potter. Until that happened, the future of the wizarding world was still in peril. She saw Harry destroying Tom Riddle as that outcome was assured. What would have happened after was clouded in mystery and seemed rather murky. She could see a reckoning coming to the magical world with Harry right in the middle of it. No longer would the light and dark families lead the world as the more moderate families took the lead and it was all because Harry Potter was allowing his heart to heal.

Her thoughts then turned to her neighbors the Weasleys. The things they did were as dark as Voldemort yet they still spouted off about how light they were. Yes, there was a reckoning coming. Snape had already paid for his treachery but Dumbledore and some of the Weasleys were ignorant about what was ahead of them. Luna figured there were several at the Ministry who would fall about the same time. Her thoughts then turned the to other victim in all this. Hermione Granger needed to be saved but the options to do this were very limited. As she walked down the center aisle of the train, she knew she had time to research how to bring about Hermione's redemption but also knew it needed to be ready in the not to distant future.

**ALM**

When Susan stepped off the train and moved towards the carriages, she stopped cold as she felt eyes upon her. She began turning and looking around, much to the confusion of her friends, but then a feeling of warmth and love wrapped around her and the first smile since she parted from Harry formed on her lips. She wrapped her arms around her torso to try and trap the warmth inside her. It felt just like when Harry held her and she knew in that moment that he was there and watching her. She sent her own feelings of love out and hoped they connected to him as his had to her. All of a sudden, the feeling was gone and she knew he was watching to make sure she was safe and when he was assured of that, he went back home.

As they were riding to the castle, she hoped the opening feast wouldn't take too long as she had a letter that had to go out tonight.