Harry was fuming; he'd gone through everything he owned. Twice. And he still couldn't find anything suitable to wear. He sighed; he knew Cho would probably have something expensive and fashionable to wear today considering the amount of money her family owned; but Cho could wear anything and make it look good, he however, was a completely different story.

"I would suggest that blue v-collar shirt, then go with the dragonskin vest, and those black jeans you have sticking out of your trunk." Said Merlin simply.

Harry took Merlin's suggestion and tried on the clothes he had pointed out. To his surprise, he looked extremely presentable. He admired Merlin's clothing choice before slipping his wand into its holster on his waist. With Voldemort returned, it wasn't safe or wise to wander without a weapon.

"How the hell are you so good with clothes? I thought that was a girl thing?" asked Harry.

"Harry. Please. I would've thought you better than that. Gendered notions of masculinity and femininity are unfit for an intellectual. Wisdom, without prejudice. Remember it." Chastised Merlin as Harry felt a twinge of guilt. "Nevertheless, I can understand why you would have those preconceived notions. Take any and all opportunities to learn Harry. Bravery and courage without the wisdom to apply them are simply suicide."

Harry just smiled and shook his head and smiled. He wouldn't deny it, Merlin was an excellent person to have around, not just for the magic, but the advice as well. His lessons had been going rather well but he knew he had a long way to go before he would be able to fight Voldemort on equal footing. After many private conversations with Merlin, it became clear that Merlin was grooming him to kill the Dark Lord. What concerned him wasn't that he would commit murder, but rather that he relished the idea.

Harry walked down into the Entrance Hall, scanning the Hall for any sign of Cho. As he was looking around, he knew that he was attracting the attention of more than one giggling girl. He just smiled quietly.

"Harry! Over here." Said a voice from the opposite side of the Hall. Harry looked up to see Cho Chang wriggling her fingers in a wave at him. As he saw what she was wearing his knees quiet literally failed him, he stumbled before he caught himself and walked over to her. Cho was wearing a sky blue sports jacket along with a shirt that hugged her body. She was wearing a pair of navy blue jeans that seemed to hug her like a second skin. Harry just gaped at her with his mouth open. Cho giggled and said, "You don't look two bad yourself."

The pair set off for Hogsmeade talking animatedly. Harry couldn't help but admire the way her hair caught the light. He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, she giggled as he did. Harry was grinning madly by the time the two of them had reached Hogsmeade. Cho shook her head and stifled a laugh as Harry seemed to be bouncing along.

"Where d'you want to go first?" asked Harry. He should've felt nervous but yesterday had confirmed that what he felt for Cho was most assuredly mutual. He felt a smug sense of pride that he hand manage to 'land' the most attractive girl at Hogwarts but knew better than to let it go to his head.

"Hmm… How about going to Zonko's? I need a couple of items." Said Cho sweetly.

"I'm probably going to regret this later, but alright." Said Harry they walked off in the direction Zonko's. Without either of them noticing a cloaked figured followed them from a distance.

Inside Zonko's Harry and Cho were loading up on items. Cho had gotten Rivelo's Semi-permanent Hair Dye, Martin's Exploding Gobstones, a deck of cards that seemed normal until they proceeded to create realistic illusions of the illustrations on the cards, and a fake wand that; if used, would produce bubbles.

As they left Zonko's the pair decided that a trip to Honeyduke's was definitely in order. They both had a sweet tooth for chocolate. Inside, the two pulled the weirdest sweets off of the wall, daring the other to eat them until Harry finally admitted defeat as he wearily eyed an acid pop. Half an hour later the two emerged from the depths of shop, Harry staggering under the combined weight of both his and Cho's shopping. He grinned to himself, "She's got me wrapped around her finger. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Thanks Harry." Said Cho as she kissed him on the cheek.

"I was thinking, maybe a trip up to the Shrieking Shack? Then we could grab a couple butterbeers at The Three Broomsticks." Said Harry, privately hoping to have a snog session up at the Shack in privacy. Cho saw right through him.

"Harry, you just want us to go so you can snog." Said Cho rolling her eyes. "But I'm not complaining." Whispered Cho with a laugh as she ran, forcing Harry to power walk to keep up.

As they reached the top of the hill that contained the Shrieking Shack, Harry had the distinct feeling that something was out of place. He couldn't place his fingers on it, but there was something very wrong.

"Harry…"

"I know. I feel it too."

"Cho, can you come help me with these bags?" said Harry trying to stay calm. As Cho was about to grab on the bags he whispered into her ear. "Something's wrong, I need you to act normal and if something happens stay on the ground."

As Harry pretended to put their shopping on the ground he reached into his vest and gripped his wand. Whipping around with his wand in his hand Harry shouted, "Verus Os!" Instantly ten hooded figures in black appeared, they were all wearing silver masks to hide their faces. Harry swallowed hard. Death Eaters.

"Stay calm, take Thor's Hammer, you are better than them, the hard part will be protecting Cho."

Harry settled down into Thor's Hammer with his wand arm raised high as the Death Eaters drew their wands in a single motion. Time seemed to slow down as Harry swung his arm down at the Death Eater In front of, casting a stunner, unsurprising the figure already had a shield charm up, without think Harry spun around and fired off another stunner, acting on reflex alone he raised a shield charm just in time to block half a dozen spells. He reacted by firing off a couple spells of his own. The firefight had begun.

Lights and sounds were exploding everywhere, Harry was doing very well and holding his ground as best he could. Realizing that the Death Eater's were quickly adapting to Thor's Hammer, he sunk into the Lion's Crouch and quickly disarmed and stunned two Death Eaters. It was now eight to one. Even though Harry was doing extremely well Merlin knew that Harry's concentration was rapidly diminishing. Harry had little to no experience as a dueler and he was only in his fourth year, realizing the situation was quickly going sour Merlin shouted, "Use Dragon's Peak! You're going to be overwhelmed soon if you don't!"

"Cho get out of here!" roared Harry, as he rose into the Dragon's Peak stance. He had remembered what Merlin had told him about the Dragon's Peak.

"Merlin, I was wondering why Professor Dumbledore used the Dragon's Peak against the Dementors. Wouldn't any other stance have been fine? After all Dementors can't use magic."

"No, Dragon's Peak was this best stance he could have chosen, The Dragon's Peak was originally designed in order for a more skilled wizard to defeat a multitude of less skilled foes. When utilizing the Dragon's Peak you must remember to stay calm. The Dragon's Peak stance is akin to a storm, you will be smiting your foes furiously but above all else, you the center of the storm must remain calm. If the storm loses its center, it disappears."

Harry grimly thanked Merlin for that piece of information as he quickly brought down most of his remaining foes. Then Harry realized that he was enjoying this. Here he was, at the Shrieking Shack, fighting for his life, with the girl he cared about most right behind him and he was laughing.

"Is that all you have? Pathetic! Voldemort would be ashamed!" shouted Harry as he spun around arcing his wand before slamming the man with a confringo spell. The remaining Death Eaters, incensed at Harry's taunting started concentrating their attacks on cornering him.

Harry was… disappointed that even being outnumbered 10 to 1, this was all they could come up with. Concentrate on taking away his mobility before attempting to stun or kill him. A first year could've come up with this plan. "Sive Mucro!" shouted Harry as he poured much of his energy and willpower into the spell. The Death Eaters stopped, their eyes widening in fear as Harry conjured hundreds if not thousands of swords of all different shapes and sizes. With a flick of his wrist the swords turned in unison forming a sphere with the Death Eaters in the center. They were trapped.

"I don't remember teaching you this spell Harry." Said Merlin privately impressed that he could conjure so many swords. A talented mage could conjure a few hundred but Harry's casting had far exceeded that number. He may not have been that powerful yet but Merlin knew that Harry's latent talent was starting to emerge.

Cho gasped as she saw Harry conjure an uncountable number of swords before trapping the Death Eaters inside a sphere with them. While he had told her of his fight with Voldemort and she had heard of his exploits in the years since he had arrived at Hogwarts, it was another thing entirely to see him in action. Perhaps the stories weren't exaggeration after all…

"It's over. Throw me your wands or die. Your choice." Said Harry without emotion a cruel smirk slowly working its way onto his face.

"For the Dark Lord!" shouted one of the Death Eaters as a flash of green light blasted through one of the swords narrowly missing Cho by inches. Cho yelped and ducked low carefully surveying the sphere for any more telling flashes of green. Harry's eyes hardened as he spoke, "Very well. Blood and death."

"Harry – "started Merlin but before he could speak another word, Harry raised his free hand and slowly closed it into a fist. As he did the swords that made up the sphere slowly shrunk inwards as the Death Eaters inside screamed in terror, realizing that they were about to be sliced into ribbons.

"Wait! Wait please! Potter I surrender!" shouted one of the Death Eaters in a panic as he tossed his wand through the sphere towards Harry. Several of the Death Eaters followed suit as wands were tossed to the ground at Harry's feet.

A storm of emotions raged within Harry as he debated their fates. On one hand they had almost killed Cho, completely unacceptable. They should die for their insolence. On the other hand, they had surrendered and common rules of war indicated that they should be spared. With cold fury in his eyes Harry slowly opened his hands, the sphere of blades stopped inches from the Death Eaters.

"Why should I spare you? You refused my offer of surrender. You almost killed an innocent bystander. Your lives are forfeit. I would be well within my rights to execute the lot of you right here, right now." Said Harry imperiously, a steely edge to his voice.

"Don't Harry. You're better than that. Don't stoop to their level." Said Cho in a soft voice as she gently pulled at his free hand, trying to save the men kneeling in submission.

"Cho… They would have killed us given the chance. They would have killed you." Said Harry although Cho could tell his eyes were softening.

"But they didn't. If you kill them that's the end. There's no chance for redemption. Perhaps they can be saved. Who knows what drove each of them to the Dark Arts? The blame doesn't lie just with them." Cautioned Cho as she locked eyes with Harry. After a heavy pause Harry nodded.

"If Cho had not been here, all of you would have been dead. You have your lives because of someone you tried to murder. Reflect on that." Said Harry as the swords floated backwards, enlarging the circle but still near enough in case one of them was foolish enough to try anything.

Cho let out a sigh she didn't realize she had been holding in. Harry had transformed so suddenly. One moment he had been lighthearted even in the heat of battle and in the next he was considering the execution of then men. While she understood his reasons, it unnerved her that he could so easily consider killing them. Harry turned to face her, smiling sadly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Cho." Apologized Harry. He turned and shot red sparks into the air, a sign for the teachers to come and investigate. He sat down with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. As the adrenaline died down he just felt so tired. It disillusioned him even more when he realized that this would become the norm, at least until Voldemort was no more.

"Harry?" asked Cho apprehensively as she sat down next to him.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering… could you teach me how to duel like that?"

"Of course, Cho. I'd love to. In fact we could get a whole bunch of people together, training so that we'd be able to fight when we got out of school. We'd be completely prepared for Voldemort!" said Harry as he had a golden vision of hundreds of Hogwarts students overrunning Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Harry was jerked back to reality when he saw Cho's face fall. "Cho? What's wrong?"

"Nothing… It's just… I wanted this to be just between the two of us, y'know?" said Cho in a small voice as she averted his gaze.

"Cho, if that's what you want, then that's what we'll do. I'll teach you everything I know. It'll just be the two of us alright? I promise." Said Harry firmly as he moved to look directly into Cho's chocolate eyes.

"Thanks." Whispered Cho as she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Come on, we better tie up these guys and wait for Dumbledore." Said Harry as he motioned at the Death Eaters. After they made sure the Death Eaters were securely bound and gagged Harry had made sure to pick up all of their wands, he didn't need any of them to attempt an escape.

"Listen Cho… I'm sorry about this. I ruined your day, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." Said Harry in a pained voice as he stared into Cho's brilliant eyes, he felt horrible for ruining an otherwise good trip to Hogsmeade.

"Harry don't say that, I really lo- I really like you, being in mortal danger more than most people comes with the package." Said Cho as she gave him a kiss. "Besides, we're alright. We have to hold onto the positives in life."

"You sure?" Cho nodded.

"Alright, let's wait for the teachers. They can't be that far off. Cho… I'll make this up to you later."

"I'll hold you to that promise." Said Cho as her eyes twinkled.

Barely ten minutes had passed with Harry and Cho making small talk as the Death Eaters nervously eyed the sphere of swords slowly circling them before Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Moody appeared, wands at the ready.

"We had reports of dueling at the Shrieking Shack. Was that you Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yeah. These Death Eaters attacked me and Cho, it was self-defense." Said Harry as he motioned to the bound Death Eaters.

"Potter, are you expecting us to believe the two of you took out ten Death Eaters?" asked Professor McGonagall in surprise.

"Not the two of us, just Harry." Said a beaming Cho with a touch of pride colouring her voice.

"You took out ten Death Eaters by yourself?" growled Moody his eyes widening.

"I didn't have much choice… It was us or them, and there isn't a chance in hell I was going to let them touch Cho." Said Harry with a tired but determined tone.

"Harry was amazing. I recognized some conjuration magic and even Dragon's Peak." Explained Cho to the professors.

"You used Dragon's Peak?" murmured Snape with surprise and even a tint of respect.

"So?"

"Potter that is a style of dueling that even expert duelists have trouble using, the few that are able to utilize it proficiently are considered masters at the art of dueling." Said Professor McGonagall.

"Well… It's not like I figured it out on my own… I had help from… Him Professor Dumbledore." Said Harry. Understanding flooded Snape, Moody, and Dumbledore. They realized that Harry must have been receiving dueling lessons from Merlin.

"Who is this person Potter?" questioned McGonagall.

"I am sorry Minerva, but I have forbidden Harry and Cho from speaking about him. I shall explain it to you back in my office. Mad-Eye, Severus, could you please dispose of the Death Eaters and inform the Ministry of the attack?" said Dumbledore as he motioned for McGonagall to follow him. Harry relinquished control of the Death Eaters to Moody and Snape, soon Cho and Harry were alone again.

"Well Cho, I said I would make it up to you. I'm a man of my word. What do you want me to do?" asked Harry as he put his wand back inside his dragonskin vest.

"Well for starters, how about you give me a piggyback ride to my classes for the next week?" asked Cho with a glint Harry knew all too well in her eyes.

"Alright alright! I figured I'd regret it but I'm a man of my word." Said Harry with a sigh and a small smile.

"I was kidding Harry! But let's see what we can do to make this day better." Said Cho with a smile as she dragged Harry into some very thick bushes. Harry smirked as he let Cho take the lead.