START

It was bad.

Harry sat in the room that the Weasleys had lent him, and flipped through a book. He wasn't certain what it was about, because he couldn't concentrate on it. The screaming had stopped, for now. Now was the deadly silence, as nobody in the house said anything. Earlier, Ron had tiptoed down the hall to go to the bathroom.

Nobody wanted to draw Molly's attention. She had already adequately demonstrated that she had more than enough yelling in her to share it among any who came into her line of sight, and that she didn't feel any need to save it up for just the twins. 'Thank god the twins never joined the DA. otherwise Mrs Weasley would find some way to blame me for them dropping out.'

'Two days until Adam Loew has the seminar. Maybe I should floo him and have it at Neville's? Or maybe HE can do something about Mrs. Weasley' Harry mused. Merlin only knows Arthur was powerless in the face of his wife's anger.

'Hermione's on vacation with her family until next week. So I can't get together with her…' Harry got up and tiptoed over to Ron's room. "Hey Ron - is there anyplace to hang out around here? Like a mall or something?"

Ron looked up from the quidditch magazine that he had been reading. "Nothing really in walking distance. Ottery St. Catchpole is pretty rural. If you want to go into town, you have to floo."

"Uh, I'd have to ask your mother for the floo powder, right?"

Ron nodded glumly.

Harry sat down next to him on the bed. "How long do you think it will be before she calms down?"

"I don't know - it's already been two days. The twins are taking it surprisingly well - when this happened with Percy, he took off that same afternoon, and he hasn't visited since."

"Mmm." both boys sat quietly, trying to come up with a plausible excuse to leave the house. One that didn't involve having Molly rain fire and brimstone on them.

"We could say that we need more Potions ingredients." Harry volunteered.

Ron paled "Oh, Merlin, no. Then we would get the lecture on thrift."

"How about…" Harry rubbed his chin, 'What if we tell her that we need to take some air?" Sometimes, honesty actually worked. Weird but true.

"Could work, but we have to phrase it as 'taking a constitutional'. Mum is big on constitutionals. Says walking is good for your health."

With a plan in hand, the two boys made it out of the Burrow unscathed. Molly even nodded approvingly, and muttered something about 'growing boys'. They power walked until they were out of sight of the Burrow before slowing down to an amble.

"So, you want to see the town center? I'm going to warn you, it's all of three buildings and a library." Ron asked, adjusting his scarf in the brisk winter breeze.

"Yeah. A library is as good a destination as any."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You Ravenclaws." They walked in companionable silence for some time and looked at the cows. "Sorry for being a bit of a git this year." Ron said out of the blue. "I didn't mean to blow you off, but you know…"

"It's ok. Nev told me you didn't mean anything by it. He's really good with people." Harry had never understood why some of his peers got so upset when they were ignored. Being ignored was often much, MUCH better than some alternatives. He actually kind of liked it. "Sides, I was spending most of my time with Hermione."

"Yeah, girlfriends will suck up all your time. Lee started dating Alicia, and that was the end of him. He never hangs out with Seamus and Dean and me anymore."

"Well, you could get yourself a girlfriend too."

"Yeah, you don't think I haven't tried?" Ron replied scathingly, "But I don't know how to talk to girls. They are into clothes and makeup and girly stuff. I guess I could fake an interest in that."

"No, don't go there." Harry quickly stopped that disastrous idea. He remembered Parvati, "How about you find a girl who is interested in the same stuff as you are?"

"Like what? Quidditch and Martial Arts? Most of those are about as feminine as.. I don't know, Bulstrode." Harry didn't know how to reply to that. He knew he wasn't a great authority on dating. So they continued on for a while in silence.

"Whoa - who lives there?" Harry pointed a house that looked like a lopsided tower. Many of the houses they had passed were somewhat fanciful, but this one was… ominous. The way it was leaning, it had to be supported by magic, but that wasn't the problem. The lack of windows except for one token pair over the front entryway made it look like an evil magician's lair. Or a witches hat.

"Actual, odd that you asked. That's the Lovegood house."

"As in Luna?" Ron nodded. Harry paused and leaned on the the split rail fence bordering the road. "Growing up in that would certainly make anybody a little odd." Harry continued to gaze at the building.

"Um. We should go." Ron jerked his head down the road. "You know, it's weird to be standing there staring at your ex's house like that. Stalker-ish weird."

Harry nodded. With one last glance at the house, they continued down the road.

"Um, mind if I ask you a question?" Ron asked a few minutes later, "How come you and Luna broke up?"

"I have NO idea. The whole thing was her idea. One day she decided that we were going out, and then, we come back from summer break and she's acting like she doesn't know who I am. Literally!" Harry made an abrupt gesture with his hand, as if to knock the whole topic away.

"Did something happen over the summer? Did you talk to her or something?" Ron was checked out on saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. He had a real talent for, so he knew how that could really tick girls off. Now if only he could figure out WHY what he said made them frown at him like that..

"No, we didn't talk… Well, she called once, but my muggle relatives were there, and I didn't want them to know anything about Luna, so I didn't really talk to her. That would have been a disaster - they already think I am a freak."

Ron nodded and sagely held his tongue. On rare occasions, Ron showed flashes of wisdom.

*Meta*Meta*

Things at the Burrow finally improved the next day, when Fred informed the family that that he and George had gotten a commission from Zonko's for 200 Canary Creams and a sampler of Skiving Snackboxes.

Things got even better when Adam Loew arrived that Wednesday. He spent the next three days going over new material with Harry, Ron and Neville in the mornings, and sparring in the afternoons, mostly with Harry.

"Harry, you have improved dramatically. One thing you should consider is integrating your magic into your fighting style." Rumbled Adam, readjusting his bandana. Harry was getting a drink of water as they took a break from sparring. Both were dressed in traditional Gis, except Adam wore a bandana. He usually had something on his head. Harry figured he was self conscious of the tattoo on his forehead - he had a word in what was probably Hebrew written there.

"Is that allowed?"

"Harry, I am teaching you to defend yourself. There is not 'allowed' or 'not allowed' There is only 'works' or 'doesn't work'. And one technique that magic wielding martial artists use with great success is to wear runes that increase their speed and strength. They usually inscribe them on bracelets or necklace. The more spread out over their body the runes are, the better."

"Or they can tattoo them on their body" Harry glanced up at Adam's bandana.

Adam rumbled a laugh. "No, that is something different. Runes have to be inscribed onto a hard object to be effective. Though some might say that my head qualifies" Adam's teeth looked like tombstones as he smiled. "There are some South American wizards that can use tattoos for magic, but I do not know that art. It involves pictures, not words.

"Where would I get these rune stones?" Harry was already planning on how to scrimp on his school supplies so that he could buy a set. No doubt they would be expensive.

"For the runes to work for you, you have to carve them yourself. I will give you a book. Another trick is to write wards onto your robes. Usually wind based wards, to help deflect attacks and to keep your robes from tangling you or getting in your way. That I can help you with after training. But for now, I will attack you and you will counter. With takedowns."

Harry sighed. As much as he enjoyed sparring, getting a takedown to work on Adam was almost impossible. He was large, heavy, and he was always set over his center of balance. The only way to get him off of his feet was to guide his attack and pull his balance forward, and then use a series of locks and attacks to knock him down. All without a pause. Because if Adam stopped, he became rooted like a mountain - he wasn't going anywhere he didn't want to.

They were training outside, in a section of the Weasley's back yard that had been specially warded against snow. Bill and Charlie Weasley (who Harry had just met for the first time) were home for Christmas, and they, along with the twins, spent some time watching the sessions, but Molly and Arthur were too busy cooking and preparing for the holiday.

As the light started to fade to dusk, Adam called it a day.

"What did I hear you telling Harry about Runes?" asked Bill. "I am a Curse Breaker, so I can give him a hand with those."

"That would be appreciated, " Adam pulled out a small, slightly rumpled leather-bound book from a pocket in his Gi that wasn't there (or hadn't been, a moment ago). "These are runes schemes that I usually have my students use, but most of the material in here assumes a good understanding of basic runes. This will be Harry's Christmas present from me"

Bill looked through the book, quirking an eye, "I don't think I have seen most of these combinations before. Some of them look Chinese.. whoa!" He stopped dead as he got pulled into the material, "Don't you think it's risky doing this linkage between spirit and wind in Hebrew?"

Adam smiled, "It is very powerful, no? I agree that you have to take care carving it, but as long as you have a partner watching you, ready to counter any effects if your hand slips, it is not particularly dangerous."

Charlie and Harry leaned over, trying to get a glimpse. Harry, being the shortest, couldn't see anything, but he figured that he would have the book in his hands soon enough, so he could wait. "What sort of stuff could happen if your hand slips?"

"Oh, you might not be able to get enough air, stuff like that. And it's very hard to cast a counterspell if you can't breath." Bill replied, handing the book to Harry. "Are you going to be staying for dinner, Adam?"

"I am sorry, no. I have already made arrangements for my meals."

"It would be no problem - mom loves feeding people." Charlie countered.

"Yes, but I keep kosher, which her kitchen is not set up for."

"Oh." Bill paused, as he tried to kop what that meant, "In that case, we probably shouldn't invite you for Christmas."

Adam smiled, "no. And I have appointments I must meet next week. I have to go to Argentina on Sunday."

*Meta*Meta*

Harry sat in his room and stared at list of instructions listed in the first chapter of Adams rune book.. It was the day after Christmas, so there was finally enough calm for Harry to take a good look at the the basic designs that Adam had left. The presents had been presented and opened, and dinner had been eaten. Harry had also gotten a set of robes warded not to tangle around his arms and legs when he did martial arts (or anythi8ng else active) from Adam, a bag of candy from Ron, a book on the history of dragons from Charlie, and a sweater from the rest of the Weasleys.

"Hey, Bill?" Harry poked his head out of his room, "You said that you could give me a hand with these?"

Bill pulled up a chair and sat down next to Harry at the desk. "I'll walk you through how to do this set, but it will take you several days to carve, and I have to go back to work tomorrow - the goblins aren't really big on holiday cheer. So you'll have to make these on your own."

"That's ok. Prof. Loew said I would have to carve them myself." All of a sudden, Harry's eyes got big, "Um, are these safe to carve without somebody watching me?"

"Yeah - all of chapter one and two look like they're ok. It's chapter four and five that get really scary." Bill had managed to skim the book before christmas dinner. He had used it as an excuse to avoid the chores that his mother had assigned to everybody else in the house, Harry included. "Chapter one just helps with alertness and will help prevent you from twisting your ankle or pulling a muscle. I've never seen these rune sets, but I've heard of them - they are pretty common among Chinese wizards. Every year or two some quidditch player gets caught using them. They are illegal for professional sports." Bill pointed out the important parts of the procedure, and Harry rook notes. "So, I here you have a girlfriend?"" He asked

"Yeah - Hermione Granger. She's really brilliant - she's already graduated from Beauxbatons, even though she's less than a year older than me. We're going to get together for New Years."

Bill nodded, and was silent for a few moments, "You know about Ginny, right? Well, apparently she was a Harry Potter groupie. When she was ten, she was convinced that she had a crush on you."

"But I hadn't even met her then!" Harry was stunned to learn that he had 'groupies' and for what? He hadn't done anything. The whole 'Boy-Who-Lived' thing was something that just happened to happen to him.

"Who knows the minds of ten year old girls? I barely understand my own thinking from back when I was that age. But she spent hours playing house with her best friend, pretending that she was married to you. She even named a Teddy bear 'Bear-y Potter'"

"Oh my god" Harry dropped his face into his hands in mortification. "Dare I ask where this bear is now?"

"I'm not certain. I think Luna ended up with it."

"Luna?" Harry's stomach gave a sudden lurch.

"Yeah. Luna Lovegood - the Lovegoods live just down the lane. She was Ginny's best friend." Bill patted Harry's back as he got up to leave, "I'm just telling you, so that you know that having you stay here is a bittersweet experience for Mom and Dad."

*Meta*Meta*

He was gliding through a corridor. It was an unfamiliar place, but very orderly. The doors on either side of the corridor had nameplates, and large brass doorknobs.

There - in front of him was the door that he required. Only.. there was a man standing in front of it. It was dark, and he blended into the wall, so that the man's eyes couldn't see him, but he could feel the man's heat. He coiled in and sprang forward. The man yelled and wave his wand. something tore through his side, but he managed to wrap around the man and bite him. He gurgled as he fell.

Harry started awake, panting. 'That man was Arthur!' Harry thought about what Hermione had said, that the dreams were all a product of his imaginations. But it had been so realistic – not like his dreams of Cedric. His heart was still pounding from the adrenaline. And he had no reason to dream Arthur getting injured. He quickly got up and pulled on his cloths.

"Hey, Ron!" he knocked on the neighboring bedroom door. "Ron! I got to ask you a question."

"Do you know what time it is, young man?" Molly asked, coming up the stairs from the living room.

"Mrs. Weasley - is Mr Weasley at home?" Harry felt silly asking - it was almost midnight, so where else would he be?

"No, he had to work late this evening, to make up for lost time over Christmas."

"I think… I think something happened to him!" Harry blurted out.

Molly froze for a moment before bustling quickly down the stairs and into the kitchen. Harry followed, confused.

"Oh, no!" She gasped. She stood before the Weasley clock. Arthur's hand was pointing at 'Mortal Peril'.

*Meta*Meta*

The Weasleys and Harry sat in a waiting room at St. Mungos. Bill comforted his mother as the other boys sat looking morose.

"How is he?" Dumbledore swept in the door.

Molly straightened up "The doctors think they got the antivenin into him in time, but they still don't know much damage he suffered. They aren't certain when he will wake up."

"I am sorry this happened, Molly."

The Weasley matriarch glanced at Dumbledore, "Me too. But we knew the risks. The fact that he was attacked shows that his being there wasn't just a waste of time."

"What are you talking about?" Ron demanded.

"Ronald, your father was working for me when he was attacked. He was standing guard over.. an important piece of magic that Voldemort would dearly like to get his hands on."

"Is that what you've been doing all year? Fighting Voldemort?" Harry asked.

"My actions have been… somewhat constrained this fall. I am doing what I can, both to guard against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and to restore my position at Hogwarts. I know what Ms. Umbridge has been doing at Hogwarts, and it is unconscionable."

Harry nodded, feeling lighter. At least somebody was DOING something. "I'd like to help" Harry surprised himself by saying.

Albus smiled, "You will help most by continuing your studies, Harry. There will still still be plenty of work to be done once you have graduated. The poison that Voldemort and his ilk have spread will take a long time to leach from the Wizarding world. But I do want to learn more about your dreams. This is not the first time you have dreamed an attack by Voldemort, is it?"

"No, sir,"

"Hmm. It might be that the two of you share some connection though your curse scar. I will have an associate of mine come by and talk to you about it. There may be something we can do to sever the connection, so that you can sleep undisturbed.."

"Thank you!"

The door to the surgery opened, and a mediwitch came out. "We have finished neutralizing the poison. And it looks like there was no permanent harm. But Mr Weasley will have to rest for the next several days. He is sleeping now, so you can come it for just a moment, but please do not disturb him."

As the Weasleys stepped into the surgery to reassure themselves that their father / husband was alright, Dumbledore took Harry's shoulder ,"Harry. I have heard rumors that you are running a Defense study group for all houses. I think that is a wonderful idea, but you might need more space. There is a room on the seventh floor in the left corridor of the Hogwarts castle, opposite the tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach trolls ballet. It is called the Room of Requirements. The entrance is hidden: to find it, you will need to to walk past the tapestry three times thinking about what you need, and the door will appear."

*Meta*Meta*

It was several days before Arthur was up and about. The day that he was able to walk with a cane, Molly made a special dinner, cooking all of his favorites. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the antics of the twins, most of which involved pranking Ron (or Ron's sometimes violent retaliation).

"Guys, ease up" Harry interrupted Fred (or possibly George) as he was about to lace Ron's food with something, "If you keep this up, Ron is going to get really pissed. We're supposed to be having a good time here."

"Yeah, I guess," Fred deflated. "It was just so serious here the last couple of days. it felt… unnatural."

"Stifling," threw in other-Fred - Harry had stopped trying to figure out which twin was which. He called them both Fred. Or sometimes Thing 1 and Thing 2. Luckily for him, Dr. Seuss was not popular in wizarding families..

Fred nodded, "The return to normality has taken a huge pressure off of us."

"Speaking of pressure, do you mind dropping by our lab at Hogwarts and retrieving our equipment? We spent a fair bit of money on it. Especially the reaction vessels, and it would be good to have them home."

"There's no rush - we don't need them for our current commission."

"But do it soon. I miss Norbert"

The other twin nodded and patted his back, "And I imagine Norbert misses his papa."

"Norbert?" asked Harry.

"Norbert is our dragon-flame proof high pressure reaction vessel. We had to special order it from Scandinavia."

"Ok. I'll see what I can do" Harry nodded, 'maybe I should charge them money for the service? Nah. They'll just charge me right back. That's not a game I can win'.

"Great! We'll get you an Ever-Expanding sack to hold all the stuff!"

Harry nodded, "How about one of those Luna-tacks as well."

"Oh, no, that won't work on Norbert. Or any of the other equipment either" Fred 1 shook his head.

"Besides, how would you get the goose into the sack?" added Fred 2.

"No, I just want a Luna-tack. It's a cool piece of magic, and I figure I should get some payment for my hard work."

Fred put his arm around Harry's shoulders, "Ah, spoken like a true entrepreneur!"

"Talk to us after you graduate - we might have a position for you, in the business side of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." finished alter-Fred.

*Meta*Meta*

"Harry!" Hermione ran up and enveloped Harry in a hug, "I have great news - I have an internship at the Ministry of Magic for the spring semester!" The two teens were in Diagon Alley for their date. The Alley was crowded with witches and wizards looking at the animated ice sculptures and window shopping. All in all, it was a very party-like atmosphere as everybody waited for midnight and the New year.

"Oh." Harry didn't like the sound of that, "Does that mean that you aren't going to be at Hogwarts?"

"No, silly" Hermione grabbed Harry's hand, "I'll still be taking the two classes and the OWL prep, but I'll be flooing out to London right before lunch three days a week. It's an internship, not a full time job."

"Oh, good. I was worried that I wouldn't see you."

"That's sweet." Hermione almost glowed with joy. "Lets go get some ice cream and then we can walk around to the library - I hear that the Cornwall Jazz Quartet will be playing there."

"Ice cream? Hermione, It's winter!"

"So? That's what warming charms are for."

As the couple made their way to Fortescue's, Harry asked, "What are you going to doing for your internship?"

"I"m not certain - I think it's mostly secretarial work. The witch that interviewed me said something about cataloguing prophecies. It seems that their old cataloguing system wore out, so they have to re-enter everything into the new one from old ledgers. When I described it to my dad, he said it was like restoring a computer database from hard copy back up. Except the cataloguing charm predated computers - they had been using it since the early 1800's."

"And nobody thought about the fact that it might give out at some point?"

"I guess not. Magic can last an awful long time. Or may be they did think of it, but the best they could do was to make paper backups. You know how magical constructs develop a personality as they get older, and don't always do as they are told to."

Harry stopped in front of a shop. "Hey, you mind if we go in here?"

Hermione glanced at the name 'Albrins's Charms'. It was a magical jewelry store, specializing in more functional rather than aesthetic jewelry. "Sure. And I can pick up something as well. Oh!" Her eyes got big, "I completely forgot - I got you a present" she pulled out a small wrapped parcel, "It's a wand holster that automatically holsters your wand if you drop it. See?"

Harry unrolled the item - there was no actual slot to slip the wand into. Instead, the holster was a strip of fringed leather, and when Harry dropped his wand near it, the wand zipped over to it, until it was close enough for the fringes to grab hold. "Wow. That's pretty cool." He paused and looked embarrassed, "I was going to get you a book, I haven't had a chance yet."

"Well, how about you buy me something here?" Hermione pointed at the jewelry store. Harry gulped, "o-okay" 'I hope she doesn't pick anything too expensive'.

Harry quickly found a leather bracelet and and a blank pendant that he could inscribe with the runes from Prof. Loew's book, as well as a box of blank 'practice stones'. These were flat stones, 1" in diameter. The sales witch had insisted that practicing on regular rocks could produce unexpected results, and that you needed high quality, magically neutral practice stones to try out your runes on. They looked just like the sort of stones that the first years skipped on the pond at Hogwarts. Harry figured he was being fleeced, but he didn't want to take any risks - he absolutely wanted to get these runes working as soon as possible.

Ten minutes later, Harry was standing with his parcel under his arm as Hermione asked to try on yet ANOTHER necklace. "Do you think this one picks up my eyes?"

"I think so." Harry smiled and nodded. 'why is she channeling Parvati? Does going into a store do this to all women?'. Forty five minutes later, they escaped. Hermione had ended up having him purchase a small brooch. It had been the first one that she had looked at, when they had first entered the store.

Harry's annoyance didn't die down until the very end of the date, as they stood together watching the fireworks. Wizarding fireworks were nothing like the muggle kind. When they exploded, flaming shapes appeared. Fiery dragons swooped, a clutch of glowing bluebirds spiraled up around each other, and much more. Harry stood with Hermione leaning against him. He had had his arms wrapped around her, and her head leaned against his shoulder as they watched, enraptured.

*Meta*Meta*

"Potter. Your potions are inadequate, and well below what you can achieve with some effort, but they do show quantifiable improvement from fourth year." Snape handed Harry back the finale project from last term - a potion and Harry's description of the procedure he had used to brew it. "If you continue making this level of improvement, you will be an average potion brewer by the time you graduate. Pass." Snape turned to the next student, holding up a another potion and a lengthy scroll rolled into a tight tube. "Bones. You continue to put in an truly impressive level of effort into potions. If you had a modicum talent, your potions would be equally impressive. Fail. Patil…"

It was the first day of the spring term, and the annual midterm ritual in potions continued. Those students who had not yet received their project back sat in tense silence, waiting to be excoriated

'With Hermione doing the internship, I guess I'll have to take over running the DA.' Now that Harry had his grade, he was able to relax and think about the rest of the semester, and it was looking… ok. Umbridge and her DADA was still a nightmare, but otherwise, it wasn't too bad. 'I should go check out that Room that Dumbledore recommended.

"Would you care to demonstrate, Potter?"

"What?" Harry sat up straighter.

"5 points from Ravenclaw for sleeping in class"

"I wasn't.." Harry automatically responded before he remembered where he was.

"And another 5 points for talking back. I had asked you to demonstrate the proper way to gut the Vilerous grubs for their ink sacs." Harry groaned. The ink was an irritant, and if you gutted the grub wrong, your hands would itch for hours. "Dealing with small irritating creatures is an important life skill, Potter. One you should cultivate, as I have." Harry frowned as he picked up the grub, and then continues with a shrug.

*Meta*Meta*

"What I can't figure" Said Harry around a mouth full of mashed potatoes, "Is whether Snape was insulting me or trying to create some weird camaraderie"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Harry, It's gross" Hermione replied as she daintily sliced off a piece of her chicken.

"Sorry. I missed lunch - I was up in the Room of Requirements."

Hermione shook her head in bemusement, "From what you describe, I think Snape honestly likes you, in his bitter, dysfunctional fashion. That said, I am really, REALLY glad I don't have to take potions with him." Hermione shuddered as she remembered the horrors of her abortive first year at Hogwarts.

"Well, if that's how he acts with people he likes, I don't want to know how he is with people he hates."

"Oh, I could tell you about it." Neville sat down opposite the happy couple. "So, are we going to try holding the DA in the new room?"

Harry nodded and chewed faster, holding a napkin in front of his mouth in case his efforts didn't meet Hermione high standards, "Yeah, I checked it out. It really is very cool. We can set it up however we want for our training. I already have some ideas," Harry was just getting on a roll when an owl flapped down in front of him.

"Um, hello." Harry looked up in surprise. He had never gotten an owl before.

When nothing happened, the creature cocked it's head and stuck out it's leg in Harry direction.

"Oh, right." He untied the capsule and unrolled a parchment that was much too large to fit into it. "Huh. This says that Remus Lupin - I'm guessing that's Prof. Lupin from third year - is going to be dropping by on sunday to ask me a few questions about my visions of Voldemort."

Hermione grew thin lipped. She didn't like being wrong. But what she didn't like even more was the toxic evil that was Voldemort having some sort of psychic connection with her boyfriend. "Make sure to ask him if there is any way to block You-Know-Who."

"I know, I know" Harry rolled his eyes and patted Hermione's arm to calm her down. "But that's for Sunday. Right now, lets focus on tonight's DA meeting."

"I feel really bad that I can't lead it." Hermione moaned.

"Tomorrow is your first day at the internship - you have a valid excuse for being too stressed to deal with the DA." Harry reassured Hermione, "Besides, I got it covered. Terry will teach basics to the younger students - he's smart and easy going. Ron will do the same with the fifth years and the advanced fourth years - he's a little too hard core for the younger students. I will continue teaching applications, and Neville will spot check people" Harry glanced over to see if Neville was still good with this plan, "Nev is really good at understanding what's going on in people's heads, so I want him working one on one with students that just aren't getting something. Speaking of - who do you think are the best duelers in the DA, if we had to put together a team?"

Neville thought for a moment, "Well, Ron is tops for raw power, but power isn't everything. Terry, and Hermione and I are probably the most skilled, but again, that doesn't always count - you are just plain evil." Neville grinned at Harry

"Hey, what's this about evil?" Hermione mock scowled at Neville.

"You've dueled Harry - you know more spells than he does, and you're no slouch for power, but who usually wins your duals?"

"Harry. But that's because he good at predicting what spell I'm going to cast next."

"And because he gets the most effect out of the spells that he knows. And because his reaction speed is insane, and because if he gets close enough, he'll punch you. Like I said, he's evil!" Crowed Neville as Harry smiled, pleased but a little embarrassed at the attention. "Speaking of evil, if Luna ever manages to get her act together, she will also be a phenomenal dualist - she's fast, she knows a ton of spells, and she uses them in ways that no sane person would - there is NO way to predict what she's casting. Her only problem is that her concentration is horrid, and her power fades in and out like a Firstie in Binn's History of Goblin Invasions"

Harry snorted, "Yeah, by second year most students just sleep straight through HoM. Speaking of - hey, Luna - are you coming to DA this evening?" Harry asked as the blond walked up.

"I am sorry, no. That is what I was coming to say: I have Charms tutoring this evening."

Harry started. It felt weird not to have to have tutoring. 'Maybe I'll ask Prof Flitwick for some advanced tutoring. Or maybe one of the seventh years...' "I miss tutoring" Harry smiled.

Luna blinked and cocked her head like an owl. At the same time, this rather innocuous statement drew a glare from Hermione.

*Meta*Meta*

"Today, I'd like to go over an application of spell chains. I was messing around with them, and and I realized that spell chains are a lot like attack combinations in Martial Arts." Harry was talking to the DA, sans Hermione. They had already spent a good fifteen minutes doing warm up drills, so he figured that they were starting to get bored. "Ron has volunteered to help me demonstrate."

"I did?" Ron looked up, surprised. The other DA members tittered.

"Clear a space. Ron, go to the other end of the room." Once they were 30 feet apart, Harry added, "On Neville's mark, attack."

Both boys took fighting stances, knees slightly bent, their bodies turned a little to the side to make them a smaller target but still allow for easy movement. Wands were held at the ready.

"NOW!"

"Protego," Ron called out. He knew Harry was faster, so he started with a good defense.

"Stupify" Harry's spell splashed on Ron's shield, but before Ron could cast his next spell, Harry cast a weak "Lumos", dazzling his opponent.

"Stupi.." began Ron

"Expelleriamus" Harry got out just in time, it barely penetrated Ron's fading Protego, but it was enough to yank his elbow out of alignment, ruining his spell. Ron was starting to panic, as he was getting hit with spells left and right. They were all weak, but they were messing with his plans, forcing him to come up with alternatives. And while Ron was the most powerful wizard in his year, quick thinking was never his strength.

"Expell..." He began.

"Reducto" And a powerful attack spell like that caused him to panic. He dove to the side as he abandoned his disarming charm and cast another Protego. The shield came out wobbly, but the reducto missed – it was aimed at the wall behind him, where it sent pebble sized rocks spraying into Ron's back.

Ron was just recovering when Harry's next stupify managed to leak through his sloppy shield. Ron staggered, blinking, as his arm went tingly.

"Stupify"

And Ron went down.

"Terry, please revive Ron." Harry turned to the rest of the class. "Ron is a more powerful wizard than me, but he wasn't able to defend against a good spellchain. I was able to cast spells faster, and the spells didn't just hammer at his protego. I chose spells that would exploit weaknesses in his defenses. A Protego can't stop a Lumos, or a Reducto that's not aimed at him (but at the wall behind him). And as Ron got more and more flustered, his spells got weaker and weaker, until I could get in a pair of stunners."

"Lets split off into pairs and work on Stupify-Lumos-Stupify chains."

*Meta*Meta*

"Professor? Harry walked up to Filius. Charms had just let out, and Harry had hung back until all the other students had filed out. "Would it be possible for me to get some tutoring?"

The diminutive professor smiled, "I am very happy to say that you are performing at grade level, if not slightly above, so I don't think you need any tutoring. I am very proud of your accomplishment. It took a lot of hard work, but it paid off in the end!"

"Uhm. thanks." Harry smiled. He wasn't used to praise, except the sort that Snape specialized in (which involved Snape informing you that you were slightly less stupid than he had expected). "But I was hoping to get maybe advanced tutoring? If that would be possible?"

Flitwick beamed with pride, "Why, your thirst for learning does you proud! There is no official 'advanced tutoring' program at Hogwarts, but I would not at all be surprised if some of the older students wouldn't be willing to do so. Though they might charge a fee. You could try Eddie Carmichael - he's a year ahead of you, and he enjoys helping other students."

"Hmm" Harry nodded his thanks "I'll think about it - I'm not certain I can afford to spend that much". He knew Eddie - it was not that he enjoyed helping others, it was that he liked showing off. 'Maybe I can ask Hermione… no, that would be weird.'

"If you have any questions about the material that we are learning in class, or want to discuss advanced applications of some of the spells, come to my office hours." offered Flitwick.

Harry's eyes lit up, "Yeah, that would be great!" and he almost bounced on his way out of class.

*Meta*Meta*

"How was the the internship?" Harry asked, sliding into Ravenclaw table next to Hermione at dinner.

"Actually, it was a mix of exciting and boring. It is really cool that I will actually be working in the Department of Mysteries, but what I will be doing is really not so exciting - mostly transcribing old records into the new system." Hermione sighed, "I guess I'm making good contacts for when I apply for an actual job."

"Wait - you're working in the Department of Mysteries? Did you get to see any cool super secret research? Like the Firebolt 2100?" Terry asked, leaning across Harry and a third year.

"Yes, I am working in DOM" Hermione sighed in exasperation, "And no, I didn't see anything secret - I'm just doing secretarial work." she took a sip of her pumpkin juice and smiled, "and if I DID see something 'super secret', I wouldn't be able to tell you about it, now would I?"

Harry paused with his fork halfway to his mouth and gave his girlfriend a searching look.

"What? I told you, I didn't see anything."

"Right." Harry finished taking his bite.

*Meta*Meta*

"Hello, Harry. It's been a while. You are looking well" Lupin held out his hand for Harry to shake. "Can we go talk out by the lake? It's a nice day, and that will give us some privacy."

"Sure." Harry was meeting with Remus on sunday, as planned. "So what do you want to know?" Even with a warming charm, the area around the lake was chilly, and the only other students outside were a team of Hufflepuffs noisily building a giant snowman. Remus had an odd idea of 'nice day'.

"First off, I would like to know what you have seen in your visions, and how often they happen. We will then take it from there."

"Ok." Harry sat down on a rock facing the lake while Remus leaned against a nearby tree. It was easier to talk about this when not looking at anybody. "The first one happened over the summer…" he recounted the visions. All of them involved murders, some rather gruesome ones, and it took Harry a while to force himself to recall what he had seen.

"In all these visions, you are seeing the world through Voldemort's eyes, or the eyes of his snake, correct?" Lupin jotted it down, "I am trying to to see if there is a common theme to the visions, or at least something that triggers them, so that we can block them out."

"Yeah, it's always You-know.. Voldemort's point of view. And he's always hurting somebody. Though for all I know, he spends all his days doing that."

"Can you tell how he feels during these episodes?" Remus asked gently.

"Yeah, he's happy. He enjoys hurting people." Harry kicked a chunk of ice with his foot. He didn't really question why he got stuck with visions of a mass murderer going through his head. Harry was used to get the shit-end of the stick in the muggle world. Why should the wizarding world be any different?

"I think I know something that can help. It is a skill called occlumency, and it helps block off your mind from outside influences. I can teach it to you. It is a tricky discipline, but I think you have the right mindset to master it. We can start the lessons next week, if that is ok with you?"

"Yeah, ok." Harry wasn't thrilled with learning another skill, but if it worked to keep the nightmares away, it was worth it.

Remus put a hand on Harry's back. "I actually have something else that I want to talk to you about" Harry looked up as remus paused, "Do you know who Sirius Black is?"

"Yeah - he was the guy who escaped from Azkaban a few years ago. The ministry in its infinite wisdom stationed dementors around Hogwarts to to keep the students safe. Because Dementors had done such a great job of keeping him IN Azkaban in the first place."

Remus nodded "The reason I bring him up is because of WHY he was in Azkaban - he had been convicted of murdering Peter Pettigrew and a dozen muggle witnesses, as well as selling out your parents to Voldemort. But last spring, I received a letter from him, claiming that he was innocent of the charges, and that Peter had actually murdered the muggles and framed him before going into hiding for ten years. Now, on the face of it, this was a rather ludicrous statement, but in Sirius' letter, he claimed to have found Peter." Remus scowled. "Unfortunately, he claimed to have promptly killed Peter in revenge."

Harry looked puzzled, "I don't see what this has to do with my visions of Voldemort."

"Nothing - It has to do with you. But let me finish. So I spent last year verifying Sirius' claims - I found the body that he claimed was Peter and paid to have it identified. It was indeed Peter, and I was even able to trace where he had been hiding for the past decade. Unfortunately, with Peter dead, there is no way to prove Sirius' claims to the level required by a court of law."

"Why this is relevant to you is that Sirius is your godfather, and he and I were both friends with your father in school."

"WHAT? How come you never mentioned this before? Like when you were teaching here?"

Remus leaned back, looking worn and threadbare, "As a teacher, I did not want there to be accusations of favoritism. And otherwise… I did not think that you would be interested in hearing an old man's ramblings."

Harry looked critically at Remus: he looked rather unimpressive, almost grey, but he was by no means an old man. Remus sighed, "also, there are.. other reason's I have kept my distance"

"Like the fact that you're a werewolf?" Harry remembered the rumors that had swirled around school at the end of third year.

"Yes, like that. And trying to prevent my inner wolf from taking over is part of why I had to learn occlumency in the first place.. But now… If Sirius' claims are true, and I am pretty well convinced that they are, there is no reason for you not to make contact with Sirius, and he very much would like to meet you."

"Oookay." Harry replied slowly, thinking the it over. Remus had just turned much of his world on its ear. "I… I would like to have a few days to think about it, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Remus stood up "I will drop by next sunday, and we can talk some more about Sirius after we finish with the lessons" and with a nod he walked off.

Remus was halfway to Hogwarts when Harry changed his mind. "Prof. Lupin?" Harry called out, "I would like to meet Sirius."

"Great. I will arrange a meeting. I 'll let you know when and where at our first occlumency lesson."

*Meta*Meta*

"What I don't understand is why Prof. Lupin never mentioned any of this third year!" Harry was sitting with Hermione on the astronomy tower, 'star gazing'. Sort of. They were cuddled together under a blanket that had been charmed for warmth, and it was very cozy.

Hermione leaned her head on Harry's shoulder. "We studied Werewolves in DADA third year. Apparently, even in human form, they get some wolf traits. While wolves are very loyal to the pack they grew up with, they are wild animals, and they can't really make new friends as adults. I imagine that Mr Lupin is not very good at being social. Especially if he is trying to repress his wolfish nature." She slapped away a hand that was getting too adventurous.

"Huh." Harry mulled that over, "Poor guy. There are some very nice aspects to being social." Harry turned to kiss his girlfriend.

"Harry.." Hermione said ambivalently, pulling away slightly - "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but… I was cataloguing the the prophecies at the DoM, and I cam across one with your name on it." Hermione bit her lip.

"Oh. okay" Harry was bemused , "So what does it say?"

"I don't know - I haven't seen the actual prophecy. I don't even know where they store them. I just saw a reference to it."

"Do you think the Unspeakable would let me see it if I asked? Since it's about me?"

"I..don't think that's a good idea, Harry. I'm not supposed to have told you about it, or anything else that I see in the Department of Mysteries."

"I can claim I heard about it from somebody else?"

"Who? Dumbledore maybe or Trelawney? The Unspeakable aren't stupid. I'll get fired or worse!"

"Ok, ok, don't get all worked up. I won't ask." Hermione relaxed at Harry's assurances, "But if you have the chance, see if you can see what it says. Obviously it's not that big a deal - I've lived my whole life not even knowing that it existed, but it would be cool to know what's written in there."