Harry quickly descended the stairway and stopped beside the first table in the library. He breathed deeply in an attempt to think more clearly.

What had just happened?

'I'll tell you what just happened,' he answered himself. 'Your best mate wanted to kill you because he thought you were attacking his sister and then…'

"…and then what?" Harry whispered to himself.

He could hear Ginny telling Ron off upstairs but he felt like he was emerging from a dream where his memory of it was becoming blurrier the more he tried to remember it. He had been extremely angry with Ron but for a moment, it seemed like he had not been aware of what he was doing, or that Ron was the one in front of him.

Harry was still wearing nothing but a pair of shorts so he was starting to feel the cold of the room. He debated whether he should stay where he was or go back up to the bedroom to find something warmer to put on, when he heard a sound behind him. The only light in the room was coming from the bedrooms upstairs so when he turned he could just make out the figure of Ron cautiously walking down the stairs, carrying his wand.

When Ron reached the bottom, he whispered, "Lumos."

He jumped in surprise when the light from the tip of his wand illuminated the room and Harry, who was standing not more than a few yards away from him. Harry remained still and kept his arms at his side but Ron raised his wand toward him.

They stared at each other for a moment until Harry said coolly, "Come to finish me off, have you?"

Ron said hesitantly, "No…I…"

"Then what are you pointing your wand at me for?" Harry countered angrily.

Ron kept his eyes trained directly on Harry's face.

"I came down to… I owe you an apology," He replied nervously. "It's just that when I saw you in the bed and Ginny with tears in her eyes asking you not to… well, I thought that you were…um… "

Harry spat, "Going to rape her?"

Ron flinched and lowered his wand. Harry crossed his arms in front of him to ward off the cold more than anything else but at his sudden movement, Ron brought his wand back up quickly.

"Would you stop pointing that at me!" Harry snapped angrily. "You were the one who was trying to kill me up there for no good reason! Was I supposed to let you? And do you honestly believe that I'd ever do something like that to Ginny?"

"No, not really. I mean, I know you wouldn't," Ron said, but Harry noticed he had not lowered his wand.

Making a great effort to get his anger under control, Harry said, "You know I could have disarmed you already without my wand if I had wanted to."

Seeing the look of uncertainty cross Ron's features, Harry slowly turned so that his back was to him.

"Go ahead and get it over with, then," he said over his shoulder. "Hit me with whatever you'd like if that's what you want to do. If you choose a strong enough curse, you can make certain that your sister is safe from me for quite a while."

Half expecting to feel the painful effects of a curse at any moment Harry waited for what seemed like a very long time for Ron to decide what he was going to do.

Finally, Ron walked up beside him and placed his wand on the table in front of Harry causing the light on its tip to go out. Again, the only light in the room was coming from the bedrooms above.

"I'm sorry for losing my head upstairs," Ron said. "I honestly don't think you would ever do something like… well, like that. I guess I was still angry with you for staying with Lina earlier. Ginny tried to hide it from us, but even in the dark, I could tell she was upset. She was crying when we caught up to her on the way back here tonight."

Harry turned to face Ron and still trying to keep his anger under control, said, "This is the last time I plan to have this conversation with you, so you had better listen because our friendship may very well depend on it. I expect a friend to trust me and not automatically jump to the conclusion that I'm doing the worst thing imaginable; no matter how bad it looks or how mad he is at me."

Ron nodded and said guiltily, "I know."

Harry said, "I never intended to hurt Ginny tonight and what happened is between us. We have already talked about it so we don't need you butting in. I do not want to push her completely out of my life again for any reason— including because she is your sister. I most certainly would like to sleep with her but I can promise you, that it is not going to happen unless she is completely willing."

Harry continued, "The reason I stayed behind tonight, and it's the only reason I stayed, is that I thought asking for Lina's help would be a faster way to get in touch with Mohamier."

Ron remained quiet for a moment and then said, "Ginny was furious with me up there and Hermione had to keep her from going for her wand. She said she'd hex some sense into me if I didn't buck up the courage to follow you down here and apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusion. After whatever that was you did up there, I wasn't sure how you were going to react when I came down. I shouldn't have lost it on you like I did."

Ron held out his hand to Harry, who grasped it in his.

Harry said, "No, you shouldn't have. Just don't butt in again if you find me in a bed with your sister and everything will be fine."

"I'll honestly try," Ron said shaking Harry's hand.

Wanting to steer their discussion away from Harry, his sister and beds, Ron asked, "The look on your face made me think you wanted to kill me; but it seemed like you weren't totally with it, either. What happened?"

Harry replied slowly, "To be honest, I'm not sure."

They heard Hermione's voice whisper from behind them, "Ron? Harry? Is everything okay?"

Harry and Ron turned around to see Hermione and Ginny coming slowly down the stairs with their wands lit.

Harry replied, "Over here."

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice and quickly brought her wand around toward him.

She said in a concerned voice, "Where's Ron?"

Ron stepped from behind Harry and said, "I'm right here."

Relief evident in her voice, Hermione asked, "Is everything alright?"

Harry replied, "We haven't tried to kill each other if that's what you're worried about."

Ginny ran past Hermione to wrap her arms around Harry and said, "Are you okay?"

Harry placed his arm around her but he was looking straight at Hermione. "I will be once Hermione stops pointing her wand at me like I'm a dangerous nutter."

"Oh, right, sorry," Hermione said, slightly embarrassed and lowered her wand.

Ginny turned back to Harry and observed, "You're freezing! While I like the idea of you without a lot of clothes, I think we'd better get you upstairs to put on something warmer."

In the light emitting from the girls' wands Harry saw Ginny cast Ron a defiant look, almost daring him to say something about her comment. Ron wisely remained silent.

Ginny led Harry back upstairs where he donned a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. When he turned around, he saw the three of them watching him expectantly.

Harry said, "I have no better an idea of what happened than you do. It just suddenly felt like I could do almost anything, including get Ron off of me."

He did not want to admit to them that whatever had happened had felt good to him.

Hermione asked, "Do you remember feeling anything like that before?"

Harry frowned at her, "Not really…"

Hermione said, "But don't you remember what happened when we woke you up in the hospital?"

She then looked at Ginny and Ron and said, "Did you feel it, too? Harry was pulling energy from us, just like—"

Ron finished, "Just like when we performed the spell on him in Saint Mungos."

Ginny looked at Harry and said, "You connected with us again. The way you were pulling energy from us felt the same and I knew you were really angry; but this time the connection did not let us see into your thoughts like before."

"I connected with you?" Harry asked confused.

Hermione replied, "Didn't you feel yourself pulling energy from us into you? And you performed wandless magic, too. You pushed Ginny and me away from you and you were able to levitate Ron without using your wand."

Harry stared at her looking more astonished; he had performed wandless magic without even thinking about it.

Before Harry could reply, Ginny looked at Hermione and asked, "But how could we have formed a connection without the amulet?"

"I'm not sure…" Hermione said frowning.

Harry said, "But I wasn't trying to do anything like that."

Hermione looked back at Harry and asked, "Would you mind if we tried something? An experiment?"

"Like what?" Harry asked warily.

Hermione reached out her hand toward Harry's arm and said, "Like letting us touch you to see if it if happens again."

Harry held his arm out to her, but when she touched him, nothing happened.

Ginny said, "But I've touched Harry a lot of times and nothing like that has happened before."

Hermione replied, "We performed the spell together so maybe we all have to be touching you at the same time. It happened so fast that I can't be sure, but I don't think the connection started until we were prying Ron off you."

"Okay then, all three of you give it a try," Harry said.

They reached for his arm and Harry braced himself in anticipation of the connection beginning again but nothing happened.

Harry said, "So much for that."

Hermione frowned, thinking for a moment and then she said hesitantly, "That wasn't exactly how it started the last time. Ron, you need to stand behind Harry with your arm around his throat."

"What?" Ron and Harry said in unison and looked at her sharply.

"You aren't going to actually try to choke him again, Ron," Hermione said. "Just hold on firmly. I want to try it with each of us in the same position that we were in when it happened."

Ron looked uncertainly at Harry, who nodded his agreement and turned so Ron could place his arm around his neck.

Hermione said, "Ginny, you and Harry were trying to get Ron's arm off him, so place your hands here…"

She positioned both of their hands on Ron's arm and placed one of Ginny's hands over Harry's. She then placed one of her hands on Ron's arm and the other over Harry's other hand and waited.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," Hermione said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Ron, tighten your hold on him."

They felt Harry stiffen. He did not like the vulnerable feeling of someone placing a chokehold on him even if that person was no longer angry with him.

Finally, he said, "Go ahead."

Ron reluctantly applied more pressure to the point where Harry felt it becoming uncomfortable but none of them felt the same connection or sensation as before.

Hermione finally dropped her hands and said, "Short of getting you two mad at each other again or Ron really trying to choke you, I don't think we're going to be able to simulate the conditions that may have caused it."

They were quiet for a moment and Ginny said suddenly to Harry, "What about the wandless magic? You have been working with Ivan on a few hexes and charms without using your wand. Was levitation one of them?"

Harry replied, "No. Other than the disarming hex, the only things he started training me on are several wandless shielding charms."

Hermione said, "Well, obviously you are able to perform levitation without your wand."

She looked around the room and her eyes landed on a small wooden figurine on the bookcase. She picked it up and held it in the flat of her hand toward Harry.

"Levitate this."

Harry replied slightly exasperated, "But I told you that I don't know how I did it!"

Hermione insisted, "Just try it. This is much lighter than Ron, so if you levitated him, this should be easy."

He cast an impatient glance at her and then looked at the figurine. He mentally attempted to will it to rise out of her hand and come toward him.

When Hermione admonished, "You have to concentrate!" the withering look he gave her along with an extremely irritated retort made her jump; but the figurine remained stubbornly planted in the palm of her hand.

Even attempting both non-verbal and verbal charms such as "Accio" and "Wingardium Leviosa" were not effective.

Finally in frustration, Harry strode over to the dresser and picked up his wand. Immediately, the figurine rose out of Hermione's hand, hovered for several seconds then flew over to him where he easily caught it.

Harry said, "Looks like I'm still going to need my wand."

Ginny walked over to him and placed a soothing hand on his arm, and then turned to Hermione, "Maybe Nadia and Ivan will be able to shed some light on all this in the morning. Didn't you say that they have used the amulet, too? Maybe something like this has happened to them."

Hermione replied, "They never mentioned anything about it to me while they were explaining how to use the amulet or about its effects. But I suppose that's all we can do."

Ron walked with her to the door and Ginny looked compassionately into Harry's eyes.

She said, "Don't worry, we'll figure out what happened. In the meantime, get some rest and I'll see you later."

Harry was pleasantly surprised when she placed her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long, passionate kiss, which he reciprocated whole-heartedly. He had been worried that her meeting with Lina coupled with whatever it was that he had done when Ron tried to choke him would cause her to be afraid of him or, at the least, still angry with him.

After they ended the kiss, Harry continued to hold Ginny around the waist. He rested his forehead on hers and whispered, "Thank you."

Ginny asked, "For what?"

Harry replied, "For still believing in me even after everything that has happened."

Ginny smiled at him and said, "Always."

The following morning Nadia and Ivan sat quietly listening to the events that had occurred during the night, minus several details pertaining to the actual reason Ron and Harry had gotten so angry at each other.

After the story was finished, Nadia said, "The magic yu evoked to restore Harry's energy levels was very powerful; perhaps it is not surprising that a connection was formed again, even unintentionally."

Hermione asked, "But you have never heard of such a thing happening after using the amulet before?"

Ivan replied, "No. However, that does not necessarily mean something similar has not happened in the past."

Ivan looked at Harry and said, "Levitation or repelling others are not the wandless spells I have been working on with you. Have you been attempting these on your own?"

Harry answered, "No."

Ivan asked, "Were you intentionally drawing power from the others last night?"

Harry replied, "All I remember was feeling really angry and wanting to get Ron off of me. It all seems hazy now but whatever happened… it felt good for a moment. Really good, I mean. It made me feel like I could to anything."

Nadia said, "Emotions can intensify magical energy. It would seem your emotions magnified your magical energy and caused a connection to begin again."

Harry asked suddenly, "If the connection hadn't stopped, could I have hurt them?"

He had accidentally killed Bellatrix Lestrange because he had lost control of his magic. What if something similar happened again?

Ginny looked at him and started to say, "Harry, don't—"

"No, listen to me!" Harry interrupted her. "You said I was forcing the energy from all of you at the hospital. I tried to choke you when I woke up! I wanted to hurt what I thought I saw in front of me then. Last night I went after Ron. I wasn't in control at the hospital nor in Diagon Alley and I wasn't in control last night."

Turning slightly red Ron said, "I wasn't exactly thinking straight myself and you had a reason to fight back last night."

Harry looked anxiously at Nadia and said, "But I could have really hurt them."

Nadia replied, "We know there have been occasions when a witch or wizard has used the connection to pull too much energy from the others which resulted in death."

"So I could be a danger to them," Harry stated flatly.

Hermione interjected, "Harry, both times you stopped. Last night you pushed Ginny and me away from you— you broke our physical contact with you."

Ginny added, "So maybe you did control the connection."

Harry eyed both girls skeptically but Ron agreed, "For a moment you were looking at me like you wanted to kill me, but then you—"

"Maybe I would have!" Harry interrupted.

"No, you wouldn't!" Ginny insisted.

Unconvinced, Harry stood up from the table and said heatedly, "But you can't be sure! ...I can't be sure!"

Harry turned abruptly and headed toward the back of the library and out into the garden. He could not understand why the others were not frightened by what had occurred the previous night. He certainly was; especially since they still had no clearer understanding of how or why it had happened even after discussing it with Nadia and Ivan.

He was standing near the vine-covered trellis when he heard someone approaching him. Ron and Hermione were walking toward him with concerned expressions on their faces.

"You okay, mate?" Ron asked tentatively.

"I'm great," Harry replied sarcastically.

Hermione asked, "Why are you so upset?"

Harry looked at her incredulously and countered, "Why aren't you? We don't know what that amulet and spell may have done to me or what its lasting effects could be. Who knows what I may be capable of now because of it."

Ron said, "Well, it's not like this is the first time."

Harry asked crossly, "What's that suppose to mean?"

Hermione answered, "Remember our second year at Hogwarts when people were being petrified and we learned that the Heir of Slytherine had opened the Chamber? Then we found out that you are a Parselmouth; even you thought you might have had something to do with what was happening for a while."

Ron continued, "And in our fifth year when you were able to get into You-Know-Who's mind and you knew what he was feeling and doing? None of us had any idea what was really happening then, either; you were the one who thought you might have attacked Dad until Ginny set you straight."

Harry tried to counter, "That was different—"

"No, Harry, it wasn't," Hermione said and placed her hand on Harry's arm. "The point is, we could have become afraid of you then but we didn't; and we aren't afraid of you now. There turned out to be reasons why those things happened; I'm sure it's the same now."

Ron said, "You've always been a bit scary to be friends with, but that doesn't mean we are scared of you. And we, um… might have a row now and then; but I would never walk away from our friendship for anything in the world."

Hermione stepped closer to give Harry a hug. "You're just going to have to accept the fact that you are not getting rid of us."

He hugged her back and at a loss for anything else to say he replied, "Thanks."

He looked past Ron's shoulder and saw Ginny walking slowly towards them.

Hermione took Ron's hand and said, "We'll see you later, Harry," and they turned to go back into the library.

"Hey," Ginny said looking up at Harry and taking his hand into hers.

"Hey," he replied back. "Ron and Hermione were just trying to convince me they aren't afraid of me."

Ginny frowned and asked, "Why would they be afraid of you?"

"What I did last night didn't scare you either?" Harry asked. "Has everyone forgotten that I have already killed someone unintentionally?"

Ginny replied, "No we haven't forgotten. And after what happened last night I'm not afraid of you either, by the way. There are much scarier things out there than you at the moment."

Ginny still held his hand and they started walking along the path that led to the back of the garden, where they came to a bench and sat down.

Harry stared at the ground and said quietly, "What if something happens to one of you because of me; either because of Voldemort, or his followers or because of something I do…"

Ginny said, "I know that worries you, but we all worry just as much about you. We can't let our worries and fears get in the way of friendship or living today."

She leaned forward and kissed him lightly.

Smiling at him she said, "Maybe I have try to keep your mind off of worrying so much."

Despite himself, Harry felt his tension begin to drain away. As usual, he found just being in Ginny's presence eased his mind and made the future seem less daunting.

Harry said, "But I have so much to worry about. Do you think you'll really be able to do that?"

Ginny replied, "Well, I certainly do plan to try," and to Harry's delight, she kissed him again.