Chapter 5

A/N: Hey Everyone, Got another chapter here for you guys. First I wanted to let you all know that I went back and made a few changes to the first chapter so it fits better with where I'm going. You can go back and reread it if you want, but it's probably not necessary. I added a few more details but the most major thing is I got rid of my stupid idea with the 'original contracts' thing. I made it more that Harry unintentionally performs a blood-magic based marriage ritual while summoning Rias on her regular contract. I also made the distinction that devils have problems with magic users from specific areas of the world based on things that happened in the past. One of those places is specifically Britain. This will allow for their canon interaction with magicians in Japan to not conflict with what I was writing. Other than that I just added a little bit more dialogue but not much.

Other than that, I wanted to thank everyone for their support on this story. Like I said last update, it was because of all of you that I got inspired again to come back to this story. I was also blown away by all the reviews I got. I think it was over 60 on this past chapter! That's crazy to me! I've never gotten that many on a single chapter! Keep it up, I love hearing from you all. Thanks. Please enjoy! :)

Shout Out: Before the chapter, I also wanted to add a quick shoutout. Several people have sent me a private messages that really helped me come back to this story and write that last chapter. Those people are PNorth, fluffy-fanfic-lover, humo146, and FuZzvKiNgZz. Of course, there is also everyone who posted lots of reviews on my story. You all helped inspire me again. One of the main people I wanted to mentions is KizaruBoss1 who has helped me work out a lot of my plot going forward. Thanks again to all of them and all of you who are reading. I really appreciate it!

Also big thanks to my beta for this chapter, Thunderbird29. They helped improve this a lot!

Harry walked up the long laneway toward the burrow feeling nauseous. Whatever amazing powers becoming the Master of Death had given him, they hadn't managed to take away his discomfort while using most magical forms of travel. He didn't feel as bad about it as he usually would have though since even Rias had looked mildly uncomfortable after Dumbledore had side-along apparated them.

He was walking just ahead of them, whistling a jaunty tune as if unconcerned about anything else going on around him. Harry hadn't been sure how to feel about his Headmaster before all of this and now he was just feeling even more confused. He was still positive that he wasn't necessarily a bad person, however the growing list of personal grievances between them was starting to colour his perception. He was doing his best not react yet, he just needed some alone time to sort through everything that he had learned.

As they reached about halfway up the lane, Dumbledore fell back in step with the two teenagers. "Your own affairs are now completely under your control Harry, but if I may offer some advice, I would be careful to whom the both of you reveal Ms Gremory's true heritage, and I think it goes without saying to do the same with the Deathly Hallows. Contracting a devil is not considered one of the more socially acceptable things to do in this part of the world, and while Molly, as well as the rest of the Weasley's, are good people, they are not immune to prejudice themselves."

Harry's eyes widened as he looked up at Dumbledore, "I hadn't thought of that, sir."

He glanced over to Rias in concern but she just gave him a half smile, "Don't worry about it Harry. I know the stigma my kind carries. It would probably be best if we did not broadcast that fact."

"Right, I guess that is for the best, at least for now." Harry nodded. His mind getting lost to all the things he had to deal with now. He hadn't even thought about what he wanted to tell Ron and Hermione.

"Very well. Another concern would be your unorthodox marriage." Dumbledore added. "While not unheard of, you are both still quite young to be married. It might raise unwanted questions about your situation, especially since your friends will never have heard about Ms. Gremory until now. Like I said before, it is your choice, but I would recommend you simply introduce her as, how do the young ones call them nowadays, oh yes, as your girlfriend."

Harry found himself looking over at Rias again and blushing. He didn't know how he kept forgetting about his new relationship with her. She was absolutely gorgeous and he felt extremely plain in comparison. From what he could tell, she was a very kind person with a protective streak a mile-wide… not unlike himself. He wanted to get to know her better and was hoping he'd have a chance to soon.

"Again, that is probably for the best." Rias said. Harry knew that she didn't like Dumbledore that much but he was surprised that she was able to be so diplomatic. If it had been him working with someone he disliked *coughSnapecoughMalfoycough* Harry was sure they would have killed each other already.

Finally, reaching their destination, the old wizard once again stepped forward and was the one to knock on the door. A muffled hollar could be heard through the door and the sudden loud crashing of pots and pans. Then all fell silent a moment later and after a few seconds the door was opened a crack, a wand pointed out threateningly.

The one holding the wand was a familiar looking middle aged woman with red hair. There were a few more streaks of grey compared to what he remembered from last time seeing her, and despite her determined expression she looked tired. Harry hadn't realized how much the stress of Voldemort's return was affecting other people. He knew Voldemort was after him but it didn't mean that he was not affecting life of people besides himself.

"Good afternoon Molly."

Her expression brightened immediately. It looked like she'd de-aged several years in the span of a few moments. "Oh Albus, it's you."

She opened the door the rest of the way and lowered her wand. "Not going to ask me my security question?" He comment, a hint of reprimand in his tone.

Her face flushed ever so slightly, "Oh posh, no one could imitate you. They'd have to get the drop on you first."

"I appreciate your confidence, but I assure you I am not as infallible as you all seem to believe."

Molly waved him off as she spotted Harry behind the Hogwarts Headmaster. "Oh Harry dear! It's so good to see you," she pulled him into her signature rib cracking hug. To his own surprise, he didn't feel like he was going to suffocate during the exchange. She pulled back eyeing him critically, "It seems like you've got some meat on your bones this time. Did your relatives feed you properly for once?"

Feeling somewhat awkward with her comments, Harry wasn't really sure what to say to that. He never liked drawing any kind of attention towards the neglect he'd suffered at his Aunt and Uncle's hands.

Floundering under her continued scrutiny, Rias stepped in to save him, "Mrs. Weasley I presume? My name is Rias Gremory. Professor Dumbledore said you were ok with me staying here for the time being."

Her attention officially diverted, Harry resisted the urge to bow down before her.

"Oh. It's nice to meet you Rias. Yes, I was happy to help out when Albus asked me," she smiled.

Harry stepped in before Rias could say anything else, "Thank you Mrs. Weasley. Rias here is my… girlfriend… and had nowhere else to stay here in Britain. She usually lives in... "

Harry paused, starting to sweat internally. As a devil she was from the underworld right?

"Japan. I spend most my time in Japan but I'll be back and forth a lot more often now." Rias gave one of her disarming smiles that made Harry's breath catch in his throat, but he forced himself to turn back to Mrs. Weasley.

The woman in question was looking back in forth between the two of them in shock though she was quick to mask it with a smile. If you were to ask Harry, he would say it looked a bit strained and he thought he saw a hint of disappointment on her face.

"Oh how nice." She paused for a second before seeming to gather herself. "Any friend of Harry's is a friend of ours."

Internally sighing that the awkward bit seemed to be over, Harry gave a thankful nod.

"Why don't you all come in," the Weasley matriarch said, getting out of the way. The two teens entered, but Harry stopped just inside as he heard Dumbledore's answer.

"Thank you Molly, but I must be going."

"Are sure you won't come in for a cup tea Albus?"

"I'm afraid not, I'll need to take a rain check on that. I shouldn't be away from Hogwarts for too long."

"Oh, of course. I understand."

"On the subject of Mr. Potter and his companion, because of several tasks they must accomplish this summer, they have my permission to come and go as they please. You can alway pen me a short note if they do depart and it makes you feel better, but don't worry about it overmuch."

"But Albus, they're only children!" Rias, who had been looking around the room while listening, snapped her head towards the door, a slightly annoyed look on her face. "With You-Know-Who back, they won't be safe on their own. You would really allow them to do whatever they want? Shouldn't we at least organize an Order member to go with them."

Harry heard a sigh, "I've had to say this to a few people lately, but I've long underestimated Harry and I think it's done him more harm than good. I have every confidence that he and Rias can take care of themselves."

"B-b-but Albus? Surely-"

"I really must be off now Molly. Thank you for your help." There was a loud crack that signalled the Headmaster's disapparition and then silence. A few moments later, she entered the house muttering something under her breath.

Worrying that she'd confront him about all of that next, he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone called his name, "HARRY!"

Spinning around in place, Harry spotted one of his best friends barrelling towards him. Anticipating himself about to be on the receiving end of one of Hermione's usual hugs, he shifted, keeping his eyes on her current position, and managed to snag her before she slammed into him with her full body, essentially softening the blow. For the first ever, he didn't stumble back when she decided to give him a hug.

Allowing her a moment to adjust, Harry's mind focused in on how he'd been able to do that. As a Seeker, he'd always been good at judging distance of things and their trajectory like that and acting quickly upon it, but that had been almost otherworldly. As soon as thought passed through his mind, an answer presented itself. He still wasn't sure of everything it had done, but the Deathly Hallows had changed him.

He didn't know the full extend of his powers and it made him nervous. He was worried that he might hurt his friends and his girlfriend slash wife slash savior if he lost control because of his temper. Dumbledore's office was proof of that fact.

"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you. How are you? Are you alright? When I heard about-"

"Bloody hell!" She was cut off by another familiar voice. Releasing Hermione, he looked up to see Ron who had stopped midway coming down the stairs. His eyes were glued to Rias, his mouth hanging half open in disbelief.

"Language Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley scolded from around the corner. Ron didn't even flinch.

Hermione, who had been looking at Rias herself, looked shocked as if she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed this stranger before. It took a second but she quickly noticed why Ron had been reprimanded, and the look she gave him made even Harry back up a step. He was pretty sure, even at her angriest, Harry had never seen Hermione's nose flare like that. "RONALD!"

Finally snapped out of his stupor, he looked around, "What?"

Harry cleared his throat gathering both their attentions, "It's good to see you both. Ron. Hermione. This is my girlfriend Rias." He motioned towards each of them as he called their names.

Both their mouths fell open, and Harry was starting to wonder if people really thought he was that hopeless when it came to girls.

"Blimey Harry! How'd you pick up a bird like THAT?" Harry felt a flicker of annoyance towards his best mate. He knew that Ron wasn't always the smoothest, but that was a bit much even from him.

"Ronald Weasley, how could you be so rude!" Hermione went off again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw an annoyed look on Rias' face as well. Despite his own irritation, that look made him nervous. Hermione could get worked up and go on a tirade for a while, but he imagined an upset Rias could do a lot worse.

Looking back at Ron, he saw his eyes widen in realization of what he'd said. That was the Ron he knew. He was a good guy but sometimes just seemed to lack a filter between his brain and mouth.

"I… well… what I meant… Harry… I-" he stammered as his face visibly pinkened, before he ducked his head to look down at his feet.

Glancing back at Rias, he saw her annoyance transform into a more amused expression. A second later, it turned into a smirk. "You must be Harry's friends Ron and Hermione. To answer your question Ron, let's just say that your friend knows how to please a lady. He's very skilled."

Harry nearly had a heart attack right then and there. If the wide eyed look on Ron's face, the choking sounds coming from Hermione, and the loud crash of a dropped pot from the kitchen were any indication. Everyone had heard and understood what she was implying. Rias sent him a playful wink, and that's when Harry knew she was doing this on purpose. He was going to get back at her for this later. His pride as a marauder's son and another's godson demanded nothing less.

"Yes… well I… erm…" Hermione was the first one to break out of her shock. Striding forward she held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you Rias."

Rias shook her hand in obvious amusement. Harry knew Hermione could fall back on her tendency to be quite formal when nervous or thrust into a new situation. Harry had noticed that Ron seemed to be giving him a look of awed respect since Rias' announcement, which he felt was a bit ridiculous, but now that it was his time to introduce himself, he snapped out of it.

He paused as if trying to figure out what to say. "Hey… I'm Ron," he finally decided on. It was somewhat lacklustre but it worked. He held Rias' gaze for a moment before breaking off and looking away, a hint of pink creeping up his neck once again.

"It's nice to meet you," she replied politely. "Harry has spoken both about you and Hermione a lot."

That wasn't really a lie, Harry mused. He had spoken about them often when explaining his past to Rias, and since they'd really only known each other for barely a day, he technically had talked about them a lot of the time they'd known each other.

Before he could follow that train of thought any further, the fact that he'd only summoned Rias about twenty-four hours earlier hit him hard. How was that possible? He already felt quite comfortable with her and found himself trusting her almost unconditionally. That wasn't normal for him… did it have something to do with their bond? Could it really affect his mind? It bore some thinking about later.

Ron looked back at Harry, "How about we all head upstairs?"

After a round of affirmatives, the quartet started began trudging up the stairs. Just like he remembered, the staircase twisted and turned through the different layers of the house. It truly looked like each subsequent renovation over the years had given it a new layer.

The group came to a halt, Harry and Rias almost running into the two in front of them, when Ginny exited, what he assumed to be, her bedroom and accidentally cut them off.

"Oh sorry guys. I didn't see y-" Ginny paused as her eyes met Harry's. "Harry! I didn't know you were here. When did- oh?" She stopped again when she saw Rias, her brow crinkling in confusion.

Ron shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot, "Ginny, this is Rias, Harry's girlfriend. I think she's staying with us for a little while."

Ginny had frozen at the revelation of who Rias was as if she couldn't believe it.

"It's nice to meet you Ginny," Rias offered with a smile.

She didn't say a word until Ron nudged her and hissed, "Ginny!"

Snapping out of her stupor, a variety of emotions passed over her face, including a flash of frustration, hurt, and a bit of longing as she glanced at Harry. "Likewise Rias. I'm sure we'll get along well." The whole thing sounded as obviously forced as the smile on her face was.

Harry knew Ginny had used to harbor a major crush on him but he had been pretty sure that was gone. She'd been dating Michael Corner last year for Merlin's sake, but if her reaction was any indication she wasn't as over it as he thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Before, when she couldn't even speak around him it had been a nuisance, however he had to admit to at least himself that he'd been somewhat interested in her recently which just sort of made it awkward now. Despite the strange circumstances, he was now married to Rias and he felt good about their chances of having a successful relationship going forward. He hoped, them all being under the same roof would be ok.

From the sudden predatory look in Rias' eye, it looked like she had caught on to Ginny as well. He hadn't known her long enough to be able to predict how she would act in a situation like this, but he had a feeling that she could be very territorial. For all her charms, she was still a devil. "I'm sure we will."

The two continued to look each other in the eye for a couple of seconds longer than necessary that had Harry shifting uncomfortably where he stood.

"Weren't you going somewhere Ginny?" To Harry's surprise it was Ron again that broke up the momentary tension with a second nudge.

She shot him a scathing look. "Of course. I'm just going down to see mum." Squeezing down the tight stairwell, she forced them all even closer together. The fact that it forced Harry's back to press up against two very large and soft assets of Rias' was enough that he almost missed Ginny's parting comment, "It's good to see you Harry."

With the youngest Weasley out of sight, the group started to continue their way up once more. Before Ron had turned away, Harry had seen a touch of concern on his face. Hermione herself just looked annoyed and he could just make out her muttering something about being ignored. Lastly, as he glanced over at Rias, he saw her self-satisfied smile. He assumed she felt she had won that little bout with Ginny.

Finally, a minute later, the group of four reached the top of the stairs and Ron opened his bedroom door. Familiar with the room after being there so many times, Harry walked in unhampered, only to look back and see the two girls. Rias was eyeing the bright orange walls with some amusement while Hermione was trying and failing to keep a neutral look on her face. If Harry had to describe it, he'd say that Hermione looked almost offended at Ron's chosen colour.

"Sounds like you had a crazy night then?" Ron broke the silence.

Almost immediately, Harry could see Hermione's mood switch as she forgot about whatever criticisms she held on her friends interior decorating choices and remembered her questions from earlier.

"That's right! I can't believe I almost forgot. Are you alright Harry? I can't believe You-Know-Who was able to attack you. Do you know how he got through the wards? I thought Professor Dumbledore said you were safe with your relatives. Were you hurt at all? What happened exactly? How'd you get away? The Order was looking for you, where did you go?" She was forced to take a breath. Harry was pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to follow her ramble, if he hadn't known her for the past five years. "What about Rias? How did you meet her? You've never mentioned her before? Are you sure she's trustwor-"

Hermione trailed off at the end, blushing furiously as she realized what she'd just asked with Rias still in the room. "I… well… I…" She stuttered looking between Ron, Rias, and himself.

Harry only chuckled in amusement. Some found it annoying, but Hermione's habits were so quintessentially her that he couldn't help but find them somewhat endearing. "I'm fine Hermione. Make sure you take a breath. I wouldn't want you passing out from lack of oxygen on me." His teasing didn't go unnoticed if her mock scowl was any indication.

"So what happened then? All we heard was that your relatives house was attacked? Where did you go? The ord-" Hermione broke off once again, glancing at Rias. "Professor Dumbledore was looking for you."

Both of his friends remained silent after that, shooting not so subtle glances between him and Rias. Harry sighed, "Anything you want to talk about to me can be said in front of Rias too."

Hermione's cheeks reddened and Ron looked out his single window awkwardly. "I didn't… we weren't…"

"You were and it's fine, she knows about the Order too."

"Oh…"

They descended into silence again. This was not how Harry had hoped this would all go. "So you wanted to know what happened last night?" They both nodded vigorously.

"Well… there's not really much to say. We don't know how the wards went down, but they did." Harry already decided that he didn't want to deal with telling them the truth of that just yet. He wanted to get used to the whole idea of marriage first. "Voldemort and his Death Eaters came storming in, and we had to fight them off until we could escape."

Ron was looking at Rias again in awe and it was only after he had spoken that Harry realized how it must have sounded when he said the two of them had fought them all off. Before he could try and downplay what he friend was obviously thinking, Hermione interrupted with another question, "Rias was with you?"

"I was," Rias answered so Harry turned back to Ron.

"Your Aunt and Uncle let you have a guest over?"

Harry froze as he realized how hard that would be to explain. He really didn't want to go into the whole summoning a devil details until he knew more himself, that way he could head off any possible negative reactions his friends might have ahead of time.

"They were out?" He offered almost questioningly, already knowing it wasn't a good enough excuse. Hermione obviously agreed based on the slightly disapproving expression on her face. Panicking as he felt his story start to fall apart, Harry sought to change the subject back to the actual fight itself as soon as soon as he could. "Anyway, the fight wasn't as impressive as you might think. There were lots of them, and we were lucky getting out of there."

"They managed to surprise me, but wizards of their calibur wouldn't have posed that much of a threat," Rias interjected idly as if commenting on the weather.

Everyone turned towards the devil at her statement, Ron and Hermione gaping. Harry himself was a bit shocked. He knew devil's were powerful, but was she really that confident? She had blown Voldemort backwards with her power... and taken out most of the Death Eaters herself… but how had they surprised her? He had warned her something was happening.

"What are talking surprising you?" He asked. "I saw the wards falling and I warned you something was happening."

Rias' eyes actually narrowed challengingly, "Being knocked out of bed by an exploding wall was not my idea of an ideal way for us to wake up."

"B-b-bed?" Hermione spluttered reminding him once again where they were. Shit! He was starting to wonder if Rias had worded it that way on purpose to give them the wrong idea again. Either she was a bit of a pervert herself, something supported my common mythos surrounding devils that he wasn't sure was true or not, or she just really enjoyed trying to get a rise out of him. He wasn't sure what he would rather.

Hermione's face seemed to be a permanently stained red now as she tried to order her thoughts. Ron was once again grinning at him making Harry want to facepalm.

"So how did you two meet?" Hermione asked with much more intensity than the question warranted, watching both their faces closely.

Despite knowing this would be a major question ahead of time, Harry froze. He'd never actually bothered to talk to Rias to set up a cover story. "I… well… we-"

"I spend most of my time in Japan but will be coming to here now as well. It's actually my first time in here in England and after literally running into Harry near his house, he offered to show me around," she smiled charmingly. "We hit it off from there."

"Japan?" Hermione looked shocked. "But you don't even have an accent."

"My parents thought it would be a good idea for me to learn as many languages as I can, so I've known english ever since I was young. My tutor was British himself, so his manner of speaking must have rubbed off on me." She shrugged.

Ron seemed to buy the explanations right away but Harry was sure Hermione was a bit suspicious. Luckily for him, the possibility of learning about the magical culture in Japan won over instead. That's when Harry knew he was in for a long night.

"Here you go Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said, opening the door in front of them. "Fred and George still haven't gotten over that idea for that foolish shop. They are staying in a flat in Diagon Alley. I don't know how they've been able to afford it, but since they're not here you can take their room for now. I don't want to make to make it too cramped for you by making you stay with Ron."

Their conversation from earlier had gone on for a while, and Harry was still at a loss for how it had quickly shifted from the magical world in Japan to Japanese culture in general. Rias had seemed surprisingly enthusiastic to talk about all of that and something called anime and manga.

His Uncle not being a fan of anything 'foreign,' he didn't know what she was talking about, and Ron didn't seem to be any more knowledgeable. Hermione as usual seemed to know what she was saying, though she had been more interested on what Rias could tell her about Japanese history.

After that, they had all been called down for dinner. Mr. Weasley had returned home and had been extremely happy to see Harry safe and meet Rias for the first time. Fred and George were still at their new place, and Percy, despite Voldemort being publicly outed, had still not contacted his family. Harry knew Charlie was still in Romania and he wasn't sure where Bill food, as usual, had been spectacular. Overall, he was happy to be back among the Weasley's, though the occasional dirty looks Ginny was sending Rias had made him a bit uncomfortable.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," Harry crossed into the room, looking at the numerous cardboard boxes stacked along the walls.

"I'd be careful around the boxes though," she scowled slightly. "They've left all kinds of their little trinkets around, and merlin knows what they all do."

Harry smiled, "I'll be careful." Her expression softened.

Rias wandered in behind him looking around the room before plopping down on the end of one of the beds. "This will do nicely."

The Weasley matriarch's eyes widened. "Oh no dear, I can't have you staying in here."

Rias got back to her feet, "Wha-"

"It just wouldn't be proper," she fretted before smiling kindly. "Don't worry, I've got a place all set up for you in Ginny's room with her and Hermione. I'm sure you'll be more comfortable with the girls."

Mrs. Weasley steered Rias out of the room and if the look she shot him over her shoulder was any indication, she wasn't very happy about it, though she didn't resist.

"Goodnight Harry," Mrs. Weasley called shutting the door behind her.

Harry shook his head. Cramming Rias and Ginny in close quarters didn't seem like a good idea to him. He was actually more worried the youngest Weasley would make the mistake of antagonizing his new wife. Merlin, a wife! That thought still was weird.

"It sure as hell will take some time getting used to," he muttered to himself tiredly and plopped on the bed.

Not sure what to do, Harry spotted his trunk a moment later. He wasn't sure how exactly it had gotten there but figured someone in the order must have grabbed it for him from Privet Drive at some point. It was looking a lot more beat up than the last time he'd seen it. There was a big crack running down the lid, numerous scratches all over and it was still covered in dust. Harry was pretty sure that his bedroom walls had fallen on it. There was even a scorch mark on one side that he was sure came from a stray spell.

Pulling out his new wand, Harry studied it. It was longer than the Holly and Phoenix feather he was used to, and it had little knots in the wood every inch or so. It felt powerful in his hand, much more so than his original, but at the same time it felt somewhat foreign. He was not sure how to feel about it.

Looking back at his trunk, Harry hesitated in what he was about to do. Dumbledore and Rias didn't think the Ministry could track him anymore, but did he really want to risk it? Looking around quickly despite knowing that he was alone in the room, Harry moved forward.

"Reparo," tracing the wand in a circular motion, Harry watched as the damage to his trunk seemed to undo itself before him. Surprisingly, even the spell damage faded away. He was pretty sure that Professor Flitwick had once mentioned how specialized charms needed to be used when fixing some spell-damaged items. Harry glanced down at the Elder Wand again in contemplation. Once the trunk was back in pristine condition, a quick "Scourgify" vanished all manner of dust, dirt, and grime.

Opening the lid, Harry rooted around inside. All his school books were there, even the ones he'd hidden under the loose floorboard in his room. Someone had been thorough in their search. At least his hiding place seemed to actually protect them from any damage. The rest was a mesh of Dudley's old cast offs and school robes that were now too small. Unfortunately it seemed that a few of his old ink bottles had gotten smashed and his clothes were covered in the mostly dry ink.

Sighing, Harry continued to look down into his trunk, wondering what he would wear now. It was only as he looked down at the clothes he was currently in and began assessing them for sleep-ability that he remembered what exactly they were.

He didn't know how exactly it worked, but Harry tried it anyway, focusing intently on what he desired, the clothes he'd been wearing blurred around him before reforming into a simple tshirt and boxers. The whole process was very convenient and Harry wondered if he'd ever have to change again, though that thought left him as soon as it came. It was gross to think about.

Closing his trunk, Harry walked over and flopped down the bed closest to the window. Lying in undignified heap, he continued to contemplate his day, every confrontation and his reaction was reviewed and many mistakes were acknowledged.

He had started doing it after Sirius' death, he was trying to curb his impulsiveness and rash behavior in favor of more logical and planned approach. He was not sure how much he was succeeding in it but he was willing to work on it if it meant that he wouldn't have to lose another one of his loved ones. He didn't fight sleep when it tried taking hold of him and quickly succumbed to Morpheus' realm.