Hey guys!

How are you all? I hope you liked the story so far.

So without further babbling about some nonsense, here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 25

Two weeks later Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were comfortably sitting in the Gryffindor common room. Many of the students had been surprised to see the three ex-Gryffindors there, but didn't comment on it, because it was okay for them.

It was just the four of them at the moment. Draco had blatantly refused to set foot into a room that was full of red and gold. So he was hanging out with Blaise instead. Harry smiled. The Phoenix common room may be more luxurious, but he had to admit, that he had missed the homey feeling of the Gryffindor Tower.

It was Sunday afternoon and Harry was sitting on his favorite sofa in front of the fireplace, Hermione leaning against his side, reading a book, while Ron and Neville were busy with Homework and trying to ignore the gleeful shouts drifting up from the grounds outside, where students were enjoying themselves skating on the frozen lake, tobogganing and, worst of all, bewitching snowballs to zoom up to Gryffindor Tower and rap hard on the windows.

"Oy!" bellowed Ron, finally losing patience and sticking his head out of the window, "I am a prefect and if one more snowball hits this window -OUCH!"

He withdrew his head sharply, his face covered in snow. "It's Fred and George," he said bitterly, slamming the window behind him. "Gits…"

Harry just yawned and when he wanted to concentrate on his Occlumency shields – which he still wasn't able to rise up – the portrait-hole opened and McGonagall stepped inside. Her eyebrows rose in surprise when she saw them sitting there and they all groaned even before she opened her mouth.

"We're on our way. Where to this time, Professor?" asked Ron and Hermione threw him a disapproving look.

McGonagall showed the same reaction and then shook her head. "Well, at least I don't have to look for all of you separately. Please join the other prefects with their patrol trough the corridors. The first years are rather… exited today."

They nodded and soon each of them went into a separate direction of the different corridors. Harry sighed. 'That really is the downside of being a prefect.'

Their duties had become more and more onerous in the last week, because it was nearly Christmas. They were called upon to supervise the decoration of the castle ("You try putting up tinsel when Peeves has got the other end and is trying to strangle you with it," said Draco), to watch over first- and second-years spending their break-times inside because of the bitter cold ("And they're cheeky little snot-rags, you know, we definitely weren't that rude when we were in first year," so Ron and Harry had to agree)

And of course to patrol the corridors in shifts with Argus Filch, who suspected that the holiday spirit might show itself in an outbreak of wizard duels ("He's got dung for brains, that one," was Neville's annoyed and surprising comment). Harry had just smirked. Ron was definitely rubbing off on the once very shy boy.

The most interesting thing however, was the H. A. meeting on Friday evening before the holidays.

******

Harry stood in front of the assembled students that were looking at him confused, because he had stopped them in the middle of various duels.

"You all know that this is the last meeting before the holidays," he began. "And I have to say, that you all really improved a lot over the last month" he smirked at their proud faces and shook his head. "However… what you've been doing up until now was childsplay!"

"What do you mean?!" asked Dean Thomas slightly angry while most of the others had their mouths agape. "We surely can hold our own in a real duel."

"Yeah!" nodded Michael Corner. "Definitely!"

Draco, who was standing next to the Weasley-Twins and Lee Jordan snorted. "But can you last against Death Eaters? Beat them? Or possibly… even kill them to safe the lives of loved ones?"

That shut all protests up and they all looked back at Harry. The same question shining in each of their eyes. He meanwhile looked around and saw Ron, Neville and Hermione casting a few secrecy-spells from behind the group. He nodded at them.

"After the holidays," Harry said while transforming a galleon into a mouse, "we'll start with the real stuff. You all just learned what everybody should be able to do to defend himself at least a little bit. We'll start with the things that are necessary to survive against Voldemort's lackeys. And because..." He put the mouse down on the floor and it immediately started to run around. "in order to do that, you have to know what you're up against."

He exhaled sharply and looked darkly at the wildly running mouse before aiming his wand at it. "Crucio!"

The mouse gave a high squeak that grew louder and louder in volume and started writhing on the floor beneath him. Harry didn't let the curse last long, because he felt his control slipping, but it earned him a collective gasp from the others. The mouse disappeared with a flick of his wand and he slowly looked at the shocked faces of the students.

"This is one of the things you'll have to face," he stated lowly. "This curse hurts. It's as if thousand of needles – burning needles and daggers are being rammed into your body. And believe me, I speak out of experience," the students gulped and Harry continued. "It's difficult, but it's possible to lessen the effects of the curse with training. And when fighting against Death Eaters you can only survive, if you know what's needed in order to cast a spell like the Cruciatus. Because then you can maybe counter it."

"Dark magic!" shouted Lavender horrified when realization seemed to hit them all and took some steps back. "You just used dark magic!"

She was not the only one taking a step back and Harry sighed tiredly. "Yes, I did. And Moody did too, last year. So?"

"B- but… it's dark!" sputtered Ernie helpfully. "And Moody was a teacher!"

"It's evil!" was Parvati's shaky comment. "And forbidden!"

"Firstly, you all decided that I am your teacher for our meetings," replied Harry and gave Ernie a pointed look. "And secondly: The Dark Arts are forbidden. But… are they really evil?"

"How can't they be evil?" wanted Terry to know and eyed him suspiciously. "Because of the Dark Arts hundreds of people were killed by You-Know-Who!"

"That's true." Harry put his wand back into his holster while looking him straight in the eye. "But so were people by the Spanish Flu. And? Is someone at fault for this? It's not the magic that's evil. The caster of a spell decides what he wishes to do with the magic. The Dark Arts are highly dangerous, yes, but that's because with our beliefs it's easy to become evil and get addicted to them."

Some of them gave disbelieving snorts and Harry raised his eyebrows. "Oh, you don't believe me?" Nobody answered and he nodded. "Thought so. Let me give you an example. What would you do, if someone wanted to jump off a cliff in attempted suicide?"

Padma was the first to answer. "Maybe call the Aurors or St. Mungos…"

"They'll most likely be too late," responded Harry pleasantly and she nodded after a short while. "But it would be a possibility. Other suggestions?"

His eyes fell on Theodore Nott, who was shuffling slightly while fumbling with the sleeve of his cloak. "Yes? You seem to have an idea?"

He looked around a bit warily and took a deep breath. "I most likely would use the Imperious curse – when I'm able to - on that person. So I could direct it away from the cliff and then call for other help."

"Wicked!" chorused the Weasley-Twins when Harry nodded with a smile. "He's right!"

"We've never-"

"…even thought-"

"…about it that way!"

"I see some of you already understand. Let me give you another example," he waited a short moment until everybody was listening to him again. "When someone is in a comatose state or needs CPR you can use the Cruciatus-Curse. The sudden pain it inflicts on the nerves will wake you up or make the heart beat again - in most cases."

"Yeah… but still…" said Susan Bones with a little doubt in her voice. "They're still dark curses… I mean… you can kill or torture someone with them."

Harry flicked his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Ron gave a surprised yelp when he suddenly rose high in the air, but relaxed immediately and seemed to enjoy it then. Harry swung his wand again and now the redhead floated nearly forty feet high in the air. He would have let the redhead fly higher, just for Ron's amusement, but the enchanted room didn't allow that.

He looked at the students. "What was that for a spell? Light or dark?"

"Light, of course!" they all chorused.

"We learned that in our first year!" said Dean and rolled his eyes.

Harry smirked at them and they once again became wary. He shortly stared up at Ron who was hanging in the air cross-legged and then back to the others. "What if I drop him now?"

"Oy!" yelled Ron from above. "Don't you dare!"

"Are you nuts!" cried Anthony Goldstein. "He'll die!"

"Yes…" you heard Daphne say loudly enough for all to hear and looked at Harry. "I understand what you want to tell us. You could easily kill a person with a light spell. It's the same with a simple Diffindo aimed at the neck…"

He nodded and gently lowered Ron to his feet. "Exactly." He once more looked at all of them. "I want all of you to think about what you just witnessed. If you think yourself ready to accept that the Dark Arts are only called that, because they're not so pretty then I'll see you after the holidays. If somebody of you decides to drop out, said person will loose all of his or her memories of our meetings."

"But before that… let me tell you, that we won't be teaching you the Dark Arts directly. We'll teach you how to fight against them and just some… I repeat some dark curses you can use to throw your enemy off guard."

"So… no Unforgivables?" asked Blaise casually.

Harry shook his head. "Maybe the Cruciatus, but that's really far away. If ever."

Some of them nodded and Harry turned around and went to the door. He grinned at his friends and left the room, not really caring if the students would wake up from their still lasting stupor.

******

Harry shifted around in his bed. Albeit he knew he was asleep, he realized that something wasn't right when his dream about flying around in his Phoenix form suddenly changed into something else.

His body felt smooth, powerful and flexible. He was gliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold stone… he was flat against the floor, sliding along on his belly… it was dark, yet he could see objects around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colors… he was turning his head… at first glance the corridor was empty… but no… a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin drooping on to his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark…

Harry put out his tongue… he tasted the man's scent on the air… he was alive but drowsy… sitting in front of a door at the end of the corridor…

He scrunched his face up in disgust. He was…

Harry longed to bite the man… but he must master the impulse… he had more important work to do…

There was no doubt in Harry's mind. He was really that damn, disgusting…

But the man was stirring… a silver cloak fell from his legs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt… he had no choice… he reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man's flesh, feeling his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood…

The man was yelling in pain… then he fell silent… he slumped backwards against the wall… blood was splattering on to the floor…

He was a damn snake. Not any snake. Nagini!

Harry sat straight up in his bed and groaned when he realized that his scar hurt like hell. He noticed his bed covers tangled around his legs and suddenly a light blinded him.

"What the hell, Potter? What was that? Are you okay?"

Harry tried to clear his thoughts and looked up at the worried face of Blaise, who was standing in front of his bed with the tip of his wand alight. He felt slightly nauseous and shook his head while standing up. He noticed with distaste that his whole body was slightly shaking. "I'm fine Zabini. Go back to bed," he mumbled and went over to the door.

"That must've been a real bad nightmare for you to react like that," replied Blaise softly.

Harry said nothing and closed the door of the dorm behind him.

Then he broke out into a run. He cursed himself for losing his composure like that, but he frankly had other worries at the moment. He knew that it would only be a matter of time until Voldemort discovered that his Occlumency shields were down at the moment, but that Harry himself would be able to witness what Voldemort did while possessing his own snake…

He hurried along the dimly lit corridors and was thoughtful enough to conjure a cloak, when he passed a window and saw his reflection. He was only wearing some light jogging-trousers and his chest was bare. He hadn't even noticed the cold biting on his skin until now.

At the next moment he was in front of the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office and hoped that it would be nice again and let him trough without a password. Harry couldn't suppress a quiet chuckle when he heard several voices while standing in front of the headmaster's office.

But the voices immediately died when he knocked at the door.

"Oh what is- Harry? What… are you doing here?"

Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair behind his desk; he leaned forward into the pool of candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before him. He was wearing a magnificently embroidered purple and gold dressing gown over a snowy white nightshirt, but seemed wide awake, his penetrating light blue eyes fixed intently upon Harry.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this late hour, Sir, but…" he sighed irritated when Dumbledore refused to look him in the eyes. It irked him even though he knew the reason. "Arthur Weasley was attacked. He was attacked by Nagini while guarding the entrance to the Department of Mysteries."

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly in alarm. "How did you see this?"

Harry didn't need to think twice to comprehend what Dumbledore wanted to know and drove a hand trough his hair. "I was Nagini. I… was Voldemort while he possessed his pet-snake. So please don't even tell me. I know that my mind could very well not be my own at the moment."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "It is as I feared after your reaction to the dragon-blood your shields really are completely down. Is Arthur seriously injured?"

Harry shrugged helplessly. "I believe so. Nagini's fangs are pretty large and she must've some kind of venom too."

Harry now asked himself, if he had disturbed the headmaster a little too late, because Dumbledore was staring at his hands with a blank face. But then he stood up, so quickly it made Harry jump, and addressed one of the old portraits hanging very near the ceiling. "Everard?" he said sharply. "And you too, Dilys!"

A sallow-faced wizard with a short black bangs and an elderly witch with long silver ringlets in the frame beside him, both of whom seemed to have been in the deepest of sleeps, opened their eyes immediately.

"You were listening?" said Dumbledore and Harry titled his head.

The wizard nodded; the witch said, "Naturally."

"The man has red hair and glasses," said Dumbledore. "Everard, you will need to raise the alarm, make sure he is found by the right people -"

Both nodded and moved sideways out of their frames, but instead of emerging in neighboring pictures neither reappeared. One frame now contained nothing but a backdrop of dark curtain, the other a handsome leather armchair. Harry noticed that many of the other headmasters and mistresses on the walls, though snoring and drooling most convincingly, kept sneaking peeks at him from under their eyelids, and mentally shook his head.

"Everard and Dilys were two of Hogwarts's most celebrated Heads," Dumbledore said, now sweeping around Harry, to Fawkes, who was sleeping on his perch beside the door. "Their renown is such that both have portraits hanging in other important wizarding institutions. One of them is the Ministry."

Harry just nodded and conjured a chair for himself before Dumbledore could even make the offer. He knew that they'd be waiting for now. He sat down, watching Dumbledore over his shoulder. The headmaster was now stroking Fawkes's plumed golden head with one finger. The phoenix awoke immediately. He stretched his beautiful head high and observed Dumbledore through bright, dark eyes.

"We will need," Dumbledore said very quietly to the bird, "a distraction"

There was a flash of fire and the phoenix had gone.

Dumbledore now swooped down upon one of the fragile silver instruments whose function Harry had never known, carried it over to his desk, sat down facing him again and tapped it gently with the tip of his wand.

The instrument tinkled into life at once with rhythmic clinking noises. Tiny puffs of pale green smoke issued from the minuscule silver tube at the top. Dumbledore watched the smoke closely, his brow furrowed. After a few seconds, the tiny puffs became a steady stream of smoke that thickened and coiled in the air… a serpent's head grew out of the end of it, opening its mouth wide. Harry wondered whether the instrument was confirming his story or being for another purpose.

"Naturally, naturally," murmured Dumbledore apparently to himself, still observing the stream of smoke without the slightest sign of surprise. "But in essence divided?"

Harry's body stiffened and his eyes narrowed at that. He himself didn't know why he suddenly was so tense, but he didn't really like the sound of what Dumbledore had just said.

The smoke serpent now split itself instantly into two snakes, both coiling and undulating in the dark air. With a look of grim satisfaction, Dumbledore gave the instrument another gentle tap with his wand: the clinking noise slowed and died and the smoke serpents grew faint, became a formless haze and vanished.

Dumbledore replaced the instrument on its spindly little table. Harry saw many of the old headmasters in the portraits follow him with their eyes, then, realizing that Harry was watching them, hastily pretend to be sleeping again. Harry once again shook his head.

"Dumbledore!"

"What news?" said Dumbledore at once.

"I yelled until someone came running," said the wizard, who was mopping his brow on the curtain behind him, "said I'd heard something moving downstairs - they weren't sure whether to believe me but went down to check - you know there are no portraits down there to watch from. Anyway, they carried him up a few minutes later. He doesn't look good, he's covered in blood. I ran along to Elfrida Cragg's portrait to get a good view as they left -"

"Good," said Dumbledore. "I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive, then -"

And moments later, the silver-ringleted witch had reappeared in her picture, too; she sank, coughing, into her armchair and said, "Yes, they've taken him to St. Mungo's, Dumbledore… they carried him past my portrait… he looks bad…"

"Thank you," replied Dumbledore and went over to the fireplace. He threw some floo-powder into it and stuck his head into the flames. Harry knew that he was talking to somebody, but it was so low, that he didn't understand him.

After a short time Dumbledore straightened again and readjusted his robes. He came around his desk and stopped in front of Harry with his arm outstretched. "Please take my arm."

Harry stood up. "But the wards…?"

He saw the faintest ghost of a smile on Dumbledore's face. "Being me has its advantages."

With a chuckle Harry grabbed the headmasters arm and immediately the office around him disappeared, just like the ground. A second later Harry once again felt the ground under his feet and blinked.

They were standing in the gloomy kitchen of Grimmauld Place. The only source of light was the fire which was illuminating half of the room. Sirius, who had been sitting on a chair near the fire jumped up with his wand drawn and stared at them wide-eyed.

"Harry? Albus? What are you doing here?" he asked worriedly and lowered his wand.

"There was an emergency and I saw it fit to let Harry leave the school a little earlier," explained Dumbledore calmly. "The Weasley children and young Mr. Black will probably come on the earliest opportunity tomorrow morning, I think. Harry, Mrs. Weasley will inform you about the situation as soon as possible."

Harry nodded.

"Um… okay?" was all Sirius could say before Dumbledore vanished.

He stared at the place where the headmaster had last stood and shook his head. With a look at

Harry he went over to the cabinet over the stove and took two bottles out of it. He threw one at Harry, who raised his eyebrows.

"Firewhisky?"

Sirius shrugged and sat down on the chair near the fire once again. "You look like you need it."

With a shake of his head Harry took another chair and went over to his godfather. "I don't think I can drink anything now." He sighed and drove a hand trough his hair. It really was a habit he had picked up over time and couldn't get rid of now.

Harry looked at Sirius. He still appeared to be no older than twenty-five and apparently his trips all around England did him good. He looked even happier than in the summer holidays, but Harry didn't think he imagined the slight sadness in his eyes.

"Do you want to tell me, why you're here, with nothing but a cloak and some pants on? Or do I have to guess?" asked Sirius and grinned slightly at him. "Looks like you were interrupted with something. Did it have to do with a certain girlfriend of yours?"

Harry couldn't suppress the slight blush on his face and threw his godfather a nasty look. "No, it was nothing like that! I always sleep like that. But… you could say my dream was interrupted."

Sirius took a large gulp of his Firewhisky. "Care to elaborate?"

Harry nodded and shortly told him why he was sitting in front of his godfather now and not lying in bed like he should.

When he finished and looked up at Sirius he saw that the face of the older man was really pale now. Sirius took another gulp out of the bottle and leaned back in his chair. "I hope Arthur's okay… I knew it wasn't a good idea to let someone guard the entrance to the Department. There are more dangers than Voldemort and his lackeys…"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you've been there before."

Sirius grimaced. "Yeah… when I was an Auror, before James and Lily went into hiding, your father and I caught a group of four Death Eaters that were torturing countless children of a muggle orphanage. You know Harry… not everyone is send to Azkaban for their crimes."

The grimace on his face disappeared and he shook his head with disgust. "Some are executed immediately and that's one of the dangers lurking in the Department of Mysteries. James and I had the unfortunate honor to accompany those four we'd caught to death."

"What was done to them?" asked Harry uncomfortably.

Sirius didn't answer at first and Harry thought he didn't want to. But then: "They went through a veil."

"Okay…" Harry didn't even try to ask what exactly his godfather meant and eyed the bottle in his hand.

"Harry?" Sirius asked then and he had a frown on his face. "I know why your Occlumency shields are down, Dumbledore told me about your little 'allergy', but what was his reaction to you banging in his office and telling him you saw Arthur's attack?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't really know. I guess he was worried, but somewhat understanding. Then he sent two of his portraits to investigate and looked at one of his strange instruments. He didn't really tell me what he thought."

Sirius nodded and Harry sighed. He looked around the kitchen, trying to decide what exactly was going on in his head. His scar was still throbbing slightly and he felt like he had eaten something bad. With another sigh he looked at his strangely silent godfather.

"Sirius? Do you think I'm evil?" he asked all of sudden.

Sirius spat out some Firewhisky and stared at him as if he had grown a second head. "What the hell? Harry, why do you ask something like that?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck and stared up at the ceiling. "The question just crossed my mind. I mean… I'm learning the Dark Arts, read stuff that shouldn't even have been written down. And I didn't feel remorse when the Dursleys died…"

Sirius shook his head and stood up. He kneeled down in front of Harry's chair, who suddenly felt as if he was a small kid. "Listen to me. I may've been a bad guardian to you and didn't fulfill my duties as your godfather, but I know that you're not evil. You're far from it. But… it's only logical for you to think like that. You are a person who witnessed evil things. No one can endure something like that without carrying at least one scar. And I don't mean the one on your forehead."

With a grateful nod Harry finally opened his Firewhisky and took a gulp.

******

'BANG!'

Harry jumped to his feet, wide awake, his wand drawn and his brain half asleep, but his senses on high alert. He was standing in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, on an improvised bed in front of the fireplace. Sirius had suggested it, because it was impossible to sleep in the rooms upstairs at the moment. A herd of doxys from the basement was having fun there.

"Wazza matter?" came Sirius drowsy voice from the floor.

"HARRY!" Before Harry could even register what was going on he found himself engulfed into a bone-crushing hug. "I don't know what would have happened if it hadn't been for you, Harry," said a familiar muffled voice. "They might not have found Arthur for hours, and then it would have been too late, but thanks to you he's alive and Dumbledore's been able to think up a good cover story for Arthur being where he was, you've no idea what trouble he would have been in otherwise."

When Harry was released from the hug he blinked rapidly and a small smile formed on his lips. "I'm glad to hear that Mrs. Weasley. How's Mr. Weasley?"

"The healers said Arthur is out of danger, but a wound on his arm is still bleeding and they're trying to stop it. Dumbledore told us he was bitten by a snake… so maybe it's some kind of venom," Mrs. Weasley answered and gave him another hug.

Harry, who was peeking over her shoulder, chocked slightly when he saw the empty bottles of Firewhisky on the floor in front of the fireplace. He threw a slightly panicked look at his godfather who was yawning widely and then frowning at him.

"Mrs. Weasley?" asked Harry when Sirius realized what Harry was so worried about. "Where are Ron and the others? Dumbledore said they would arrive here today."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "My dear, try to wake up Ronald and the Twins at half past six in the morning." Harry just grimaced at that. "The headmaster and I agreed after we knew that Arthur's condition is steady to let the children sleep. They'll come with the Hogwarts express in the afternoon."

With a nod Harry saw with relief that Sirius had managed to let the empty bottles disappear without Mrs. Weasley noticing.

Suddenly the kitchen door opened again and Harry's small smile widened when a woman entered. "Narcissa!" he rushed over to her and gave her a gentle hug. "How've you been?"

The blond witch looked at him slightly surprised, but then returned the hug softly. "Why Harry? I've been well. It's nice to see you. Don't mind me asking, but what are you doing here this early?"

Harry sighed and once again repeated what he had seen.

After he had finished he looked at Narcissa. She was biting her lip softly and not looking at Harry, but at Sirius, who was standing next to him. 'They're not telling me something here…' thought Harry slightly annoyed and a little worried.

"Harry, dear? Would you like to give me a hand?" asked Mrs. Weasley who was busy with making breakfast.

He just gaped at the amount of food she was making and shook his head. "Mrs. Weasley… how many people are eating breakfast?"

She waved her wand and some eggs started to jump into the pan when she turned around to face him. She frowned. "Let me see… Remus, Nymphadora, Bill, Fleur, Sirius, Narcissa you and I. Yes, that should be all then."

"Fleur? She's here?" asked Harry and happily started to set the table with some flicks of his wand, while looking trough the cupboards for some flour and sugar to put into the pancake batter he decided to make. "And what's Bill doing here?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Bill and Fleur work in the same department at Gringotts now and after I told him of Arthur's attack we decided that we would stay here for the time being, because it's closer to St. Mungos. Bill's still at the burrow, though."

Sirius appeared between them and quickly duck down when a bag of sugar flew over from the other side of the room after Harry got tired of searching for it. "Does this mean you'll stay over Christmas, Molly? When did you decide to ask me?"

She gasped softly. "Oh, I'm sorry Sirius. I don't want to force them upon you. I understand if you want to spent Christmas alone…" she turned around and once more worked on the scrambled eggs.

Sirius smacked his head. "Are you crazy? The more the merrier! Of course you can stay here!"

Harry shook his head when his godfather beamed at him after receiving a grateful smile from Mrs. Weasley and dashed out of the room, mumbling things like: "I have to get rid of those damn doxys…"

Harry carefully opened the bag of sugar and poured some into the bowl. "Narcissa? When the floors above are contaminated by doxys… where did you sleep then? And Remus, Fleur and Tonks?"

Narcissa sat down on the table and slowly sipped on a cup of coffee. "The doxys only cause havoc since yesterday evening. Fleur and I slept in the living-room; we were quick enough to shut the doors before they entered. Remus and Tonks didn't sleep here. They both have their own homes."

Harry nodded and dived out of Mrs. Weasley's way when she bustled over to the cabinet to get another pan. Just when he wanted to pour the batter into the pan he heard a loud crash and something that sounded like crackling of electricity.

"Merde!" came the angry cry of a familiar voice and Harry ducked his head to hide his mirth when the kitchen door burst open and a very flustered part-veela stepped into the kitchen.

Harry chuckled softly. Fleur looked like she came straight out of a tornado. Her hair was all over the place and her comfortable pale blue trainings suit was a little crumbled.

"Cette petite…" she growled and tried to arrange her hair while looking right trough him. "Je pourrais ..." She blinked when Harry waved at her with a smirk on his face and her grimace was replaced by a smile. "Oh, 'Arry!"

She rushed over to him and gave him a tight hug. He chuckled when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Beautiful. What got you all riled up?"

She huffed angrily. "Zhe Doxys. Zhey are ruining my 'air. It looks like I 'aven't brushed it in ages." She released him from the hug and looked around the kitchen. "What are you doing 'ere? Is Draco 'ere too?"

"He's coming later that afternoon. I'm just here because of an… unfortunate accident," replied Harry, getting tired of repeating the story over and over again.

"You didn't blow anyzhing up, did you?" asked Fleur and went over to Narcissa

Harry flicked his wand and the pancakes behind him started to make itself when he sat down across from them. He crossed his arms and pouted. "That's not fair. Why does everybody think everything that happens is my fault?"

"Maybe because it usually is," replied a new voice from behind Harry. "Good morning by the way, ladies."

He didn't even bother to turn around. "Moony… that's not helping!"

He heard some footsteps and then a hand ruffled his hair when Remus sat down next to him while slipping out of his cloak. "Easy there cub. It's the truth. I can't recall a single year of Hogwarts where you weren't in any kind of trouble."

"Don't touch my hair!" snapped Harry and drove his own hand trough the raven mob on his head, making it messier than it already was. He looked at Remus "I'm not responsible for Voldemort always trying to kill me. The only year where he didn't decide to show up was my third. I got you, Padfoot and that damn rat instead."

"You wound me!" answered Remus in a bored voice. "And I thought I was your favorite Professor."

Harry smiled while noticing that Remus held himself differently than usual. He sat more straight, not in his trademark slightly crouched position and his hair didn't have as many grey streaks in them like when Harry had last seen him four months ago. Yes, he was definitely happier than Harry had ever seen him.

"How are you doing, Moony?" he asked then when Mrs. Weasley started to maneuver the food onto the table.

Remus shrugged and cracked his neck. "Can't complain. I had little sleep last night, because I took over for Arthur at three o'clock, shortly after all the commotion down there stopped. It was a nasty feeling, I tell you. To keep guard when that snake could still have been roaming around there."

"What do you have me for?" replied Harry sarcastically. "I'm sure I would've seen your attack as well if Nagini had still been there."

Remus frowned behind his cup of coffee. "That's what worries me the most. That Voldemort could gain access to your mind."

Harry shook his head. "Now that you mention it… I guess it was more like me accessing Voldemort's mind unintentionally. I saw trough his eyes, not he trough mine. And it's only temporally. It's just a matter of time until my shields are fully active again… It's been more than two weeks; I don't think it'll take much longer for me to have then under control again"

"You're probably right, cub. For how-"

"NOT AGAIN! YOU CLUMSY LITTLE PIECE OF FILTH! HOW DARE YOU -"

Harry and all the other occupants of the room winced when Sirius came down into the kitchen with his hands over his ears and a grimace on his face. He quickly shut the door behind him and sighed at the inquisitive looks they were giving him.

He shrugged. "Nymphy's here," he just said as if it explained it all.

Harry raised his eyebrows when said metamorphmagus stumbled down the stairs and grabbed the door handle to regain her balance. She looked different. She had wavy black hair, reaching her waist and slightly sharper facial features than Harry remembered. He looked over to his godfather, who was loading his plate with scrambled eggs and then back at her.

He smiled. So he finally was able to see how she really looked. 'Yes,' he thought seeing the same haughty Black good looks in her features, 'she's definitely a Black, alright. I still can't believe it though… she's clumsy as hell…'

"Come on, Nymphadora. Breakfast's ready," said Mrs. Weasley and sat down herself. "After that we've got much to do. We have to get rid of those Doxys before the children arrive."

Harry just groaned and decided to take as much time as he could with his breakfast.

I hope you liked it! Give me a review and tell me what you think. And I'm still open for suggestions about the names for the different squads in the H.A.

Dark Phoenix of Slytherin