- Kayli -

As long as I keep telling myself that Harry's a good kid, I will not start to resent the fact that he does not listen. At least not to me. Maybe he listens to Dumbledore, or to Ron's mother, but he most certainly does not listen to me.

I am currently resisting the urge to strangle him. Hermione has yet to lift her nose from the book. Ron, on the other hand, looks petrified.

I crack my neck, give my blades a little twirl, and contemplate when the hell I got so soft-hearted.

"Harry" a sharp, hoarse, male voice calls suddenly from off to the left. I'm around and with my blades up almost instantly.

It's not that I'm paranoid or anything. No. Not at all. It has mostly to do with an incredible lack of sleep. I was up until like five o'clock in the morning with that Neville kid. Hey, I learned a lot about constellations.

Standing at the edge of our little practice-clearing is a man, about thirty-five, with gray hair, patched clothes, strange, amber-colored eyes and some REALLY funky vibes. Legolas has an arrow in his bow before I can blink, and Harry says "Remus!" in a startled voice.

I relax, a little. Legolas doesn't. And you thought -I- was paranoid.

This Remus guy stalks towards me - seriously, there's no other word for it - and glares at me. I peer at him curiously. Those are some FUNKY eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hisses at me.

I turn and look at Ron. "I thought your mom was the scary one."

Ron clears his throat a little nervously. "Um...I thought so too."

Remus grabs me by the arm. "What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?"

I look at him, mustering the coldest glare I can. "I'm teaching him how to fight with bladed weapons. What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?"

Behind me, I hear Legolas sigh. Well, I'm sorry, sweetheart, but my diplomacy sucks when somebody grabs my arm and GETS IN MY FACE.

The dude growls at me, actually, like, wild-animal growls. I lean forward slightly and look him in the eye. "You might not wanna look so much like you're threatening me," I tell him in a conspiratorial voice. "Goldilocks over there has an itchy trigger finger."

He just kind of blinks at me for a moment, looks back and forth between me and Harry, and then rakes both his hands through his hair and starts fishing through his pockets. Legolas levels his bow again, just in case the dude is looking for a wand. Instead, he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and a Bic. Ah, a smoker. "Do I even want to know why" he asks in a dead, resigned voice, like he knows it can't be good.

I gesture to Harry. "Your show, kid," I tell him.

He sighs. "It's...sort of a long story," he mutters.

Remus lights a cigarette and takes a drag before folding his arms over his chest. "I've got time."

Remus stares at him. Harry stares at his shoes. Legolas stares at the carvings on his bow. Hermione stares at her book, not like that's a change. Ron stares at the leaves overhead.

"So," I say, very loudly, because tension makes me uncomfortable, even tension between other people. "Why don't the FOUR OF US head back up to the castle, yeah?"

Ron nods as fast as he can without his head falling off. Hermione still doesn't look up, but stands up in the way of someone who agrees very much but doesn't want to see the scene. She hasn't turned a page since Remus showed up, and that girl reads fast.

Harry and his friend are in an intense, whispered discussion, and we sneak quietly out of the clearing.

Hermione breathes a sigh of relief and puts her book away. "Well, THAT was uncomfortable."

Legolas keeps glancing back over his shoulder. I think that dude made him nervous. Believe me when I say he isn't the only one.

- Remus -

I can't believe this. Whatever gods there are, they are cruel bastards. First they take James and Lily, then they take Sirius, and then, to top it all off, they put Harry, really the only thing I have left, in terrible, mortal danger.

It's beautiful. If Harry wasn't standing right there, I'd curse them.

Not that it would do me any bloody good, but it might make me feel just a little bit better.

Probably not.

" - And really, wouldn't it be a good idea for me to have something to fall back on, in case I lose my wand or something? It's not like he'll expect me to come at him with a bloody great butcher knife," Harry finishes earnestly.

I sigh and finish my cigarette. Sometimes, Harry is so much like James it scares me. Other times, he reminds me of Sirius. This time, however, he reminds me of them both, when they were caught doing something wrong and trying to explain it away to MacGonagall. "All right," I mutter. "Just...Harry, it scared the hell out of me to see you fighting like that. Could you let me know, next time you're planning on learning something illegal? I thought she was trying to kill you."

Harry looks deeply ashamed. "I'm sorry, I just ..." he trails off and shrugs. "I don't know what to do," he says suddenly, his voice desperate. "That prophecy, Remus, that prophecy says that I have to become a MURDERER or Voldemort will have the wizarding world, and I don't WANT to kill him, I don't, but I HAVE to, and it's HORRIBLE!"

I stare at him for a moment, stunned. "So that's what it said," I murmur. I wrap my arms around him and pull him towards me. "I'm sorry, Harry. I wish i could do it for you."

Harry shakes his head against my shoulder. "I WANT to kill him, Remus," he says. "He killed my parents, he killed Sirius, he took Neville's parents away from him, he killed Cedric..." He sighs and pulls away, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "I know I have to do, most of the time I WANT to do it, but I don't know...I don't know if I can."

I stroke his hair and listen to him breathe roughly. His shoulders are shaking and his tears are soaking my shirt. I stroke his hair and think about the fact that he's almost as tall as I am.

He stands up straight and sniffles. He rubs his eyes feircely "I'm sorry, Remus," he whispers.

I ruffle his hair and try to smile. The smiles aren't coming as easy as they were. As easy as they did before the Department of Mysteries. I push those thoughts to the back of my mind, because thinking of Sirius leads to nothing but pain. "You're right" I tell him after a while. "You should learn. If you think it will help you, then learn. Learn all you can."

He beams at me, red nose and bloodshot eyes and everything. "Thank you, Remus," he says, and hugs me.

I could get used to this parenting stuff, I think.

- Hermione -

An owl arrives at breakfast for me, which almost never happens at Hogwarts. It's carrying a rather large parcel. I rip it open Inside, in a neat little row, are my Lord of the Rings books.I give a little girly squeal that I'm automatically ashamed of, and yank them out. Ron and Harry immediately crowd around me, knowing what they are. Ron grabs 'Return of the King' right out of my hand and flips to the appendices.

He swallows a bite of pancakes - at least I can see that I've finally taught him to hold the books AWAY from his plate while he eats - and says "How come she's not mentioned in here?"

I frown over that. "I don't know. Well, apparently, she was just sent there a little while ago, and these books were written AGES ago."

Harry shakes his head. "She wasn't supposed to be there," he says simply.

Ron and I turn to stare at him. "What gives you that idea?" Ron asks. At least, I think that's what he says. At least he's not spraying pancake bits all over my book.

"She told me so," he answers absently, paging through 'The Two Towers.' "It was sort of a...magical accident, I guess." He sets the book down and picks up his pumpkin juice. "She's always going on about how relieved she is that she found a family there, because she wasn't sure if she'd have been able to get back to her world."

Ron swallows and snickers. "Doesn't look like she's wanting to get home now," he says, and nods towards the door.

Kayli and Legolas are just entering, hand in hand, Legolas's head ducked so he can listen to her as she talks. She's very animated, gesturing with both hands, even the one holding his. He seems more amused by this than anything else.

"No, Harry says slowly, and smiles. "I don't reckon she'd want to. She has a good life, after all."

"And a family," Ron says. Naturally. His family is the most important thing in his life, no matter of Percy or how the twins annoy him.

"And love," I say, and am immediatley ashamed of how girly I sound. But it's true, isn't it? Just LOOK at them...they're so CUTE.

I shake my head in disgust and snap open my Arithmancy text. Really, I have better things to think about than romance, because thinking about romance leads to thinking about Ron, and that way leads to disaster. Honestly, with his parents fertility, we'd have whole bunch of red-headed, buck-toothed sprogs running around and I'd NEVER get a decent career.

Oh, where do these thoughts come from? I don't WANT to have a bunch of red-headed, buck-toothed sprogs with Ronald Weasley.

Do I?

I am so very grateful when Kayli plops down in the seat next to me and starts eating off Harry's plate. Harry tried to pull it away and she just follows it with her fork. "If you wanted breakfast," Harry says firmly, now holding his plate on his other side, "you should have been here earlier."

At this, Kayli promptly blushes to the roots of her hair. I didn't know it was possible to turn that red. Not even RON turns that red. Not that I understand WHAT she is blushing about - oh. OH.

I see.

I grab my book and bury my nose in it. She's not the only one blushing now. Kayli mutters something under her breath and starts eating off my plate instead. After a second, I just hand it to her, and she starts scarfing all the leftovers. Ron frowns at her. "Why are you so hungry?"

She blushes and ducks her head.

Harry suddenly turns equally red. Ron still looks baffled, obviously wondering why Harry is paying such close attention to his sausages.

"Where's Legolas?" he asks. He's obviously trying to keep the conversation going and figure out why Harry's food is suddenly so interesting and why I aboslutely refuse to look up from my book, even though I haven't been turning pages. And Kayli is still resolutely staring at her plate - MY plate - and stuffing her face.

Kayli mutters something around a mouthful of bacon and makes a vague gesture towards the staff table. Legolas is leaning over, deep in conversation with Dumbledore. There's a whole line of girls queuing up to look at his arse. It's ridiculous, really, and he looks rather annoyed. Kayli glances up and starts sending a glare of death at the group of giggly Ravenclaws behind her husband. At least she swallows before she speaks.

"One more giggle, and I am not going to be responsible for my own actions," she mutters.

I laugh slightly. I can't help it. "Well, you have to admit..." I trail off for a moment and turn to look at him, thoughtfully. "He is VERY attractive."

Ron looks like I just kicked him. Harry chokes on his bacon.

Kayli, however, rolls her eyes. "Oh, honey, you have NO idea."

We look at each other and promptly collapse into giggles.

Kayli plucks 'Return of the King' from next to Ron's plate and pages through. "You know, I just don't think I could bring myself to read these again. Not after I'd lived through it."

Ron perks up at this. "But you're not in it."

She shrugs and hands it back to him. "I know. I wasn't suppose to be there."

Harry smiles at her. "Didn't turn out all that bad for you, did it?"

She turns, glancing up at the staff table, something in her eyes I can't quite identify. "No," she says after a while. "I'd have to say it didn't turn out to bad at all."

TBC...