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Erik kept an eye on the world while he waited for Harry to finish his training. It broke his heart to see Catherine suffer and he felt bad about not being able to sent her a message. Ginny was worse. She locked herself in for several weeks, not caring about the world around her. Molly tried to get in several times, but after getting severe burns everyone left her alone. Only Catherine, who could get past the door, offered condolence. For Erik the problem was that Umbridge exposed Ginny far too soon when the girl wasn't ready. He closed the pensive and set his plan into motion.

Harry trained a lot, since he knew he would come back to the realm of living and would need the power. He practiced a lot, since his bond with Ginny would enable her to learn it too, even faster if he was proficient in it. It had been a shocking revelation to see that Morgana and Merlin were another soul couple which was something not mentioned in the history books. But like with him, the books were written by people who weren't even there. With Merlin even worse, as no one who lived back then was still alive and everything was open to interpretation.

Like him, he learned dark and light spells. The pair insisted on wandless and non-verbal magic. Often dismissed as "accidental" magic, it was a great way to fight, even if one seemed defenseless. One of the more "dark" rituals enabled him to tap into his soul-mate's magical core. Which wasn't really a problem as Ginny had a practically endless core. Only not the coils to use that energy efficiently. He promised himself to help her with that problem. He lost all feeling for time, but as Lord Time explained on one of his visits, it didn't matter as they would send him back.

It wasn't until in one fight, that he managed to disarm Morgana and Merlin in a two-on-one fight They declared him ready. However, when he was sent back, there would be a drawback: He would keep his memories, but his body wouldn't be used to the new strain. He would have to train to get back to his current physic. They recommended for him to join the Lieutenant in his morning training. Talking of the devil in this moment Erik entered their room. "Harry, there are two people for you in the front room." Hesitantly, Harry walked past the soldier. On the other side in the waiting room were...

"Isn't that my small baby?" "He has grown a lot since the last time we saw him." "You know what I mean, James." "Yes, Lily." Harry couldn't believe his eyes. "Mum? Dad?" He launched himself into their arms.

Erik, Merlin and Morgana watched from the door. "It wasn't planned to have him meet his parents. Only two can be freed temporarily for one who is supposed to go back." Erik looked at them. "Well, two are here, which means four can come."

Merlin looked at him. "Didn't you want to meet someone?" The Lieutenant shook his head. "I didn't really know my birth parents, and they didn't really know me. The person who raised me was my Teammate 7-2 who revealed herself as the same person who is the Chief-in-Command of Task Force Cobra, who is in fact Lady Fate and has been giving my life a nudge then and there, beginning with being a nurse at my birth and a lab assistant in the experiment that changed me. Again, later it was her who freed me from the cyro pod I was in and placed me with the family she was in as 7-2. As I already met her and talked with her, my two choices are still free. As you two were for Harry, I decided to forsake mine for his parents."

"We are so proud of you. Right the Marauder you are, just like your dad." James laughed. Lily smacked him on his head. "And still good marks, which means he takes after me. It's the flying and the love for red-heads he gets from you." Their chat went on for far longer until Lord Rime came to tell them that the portal was ready.

"I will send you back to the middle of your fifth year. Lady Fate has meddled a bit so don't rely on your foreknowledge. Some things might be the same, but try to make it better this time."

The bright light engulfed them. When Harry opened his eyes again he stared directly into the brown, beautiful eyes of his girlfriend. Magically already his wife, but not in the eyes of the law.

"I remember. I don't know why, but I remember." Ginny muttered before tears began to flow. "Oh, Harry!" On the other side of the castle Erik was engaged in a heated argument with his wife. Catherine was less than pleased. ~What the hell did you do again?~ ~I did what I had to do. It's not like you didn't do it.~ Catherine was embarrassed. She remembered quite clearly when she meddled with time to save him. [See my Naruto Fanfic Chap 29-31]

They entered a meditation where they could meet in a plane of their minds. It was similar to the Room of Requirement. Catherine thought of a bed and pulled Erik onto it, snogging him eagerly.

Harry and Ginny were engaged in an identical activity. Waves of magic were released as they joined.

Far away, a snake like man was winding on the ground, his followers unsure what to do. An elder man in his office had to shield his eyes as his silver instruments monitoring a certain student began to explode, as they reached the upper limits of their display capability. In a dungeon, a man dressed like a bat felt truly happy for the first time of his life and finally felt ready to confess his love to a witch. He threw a handful of Floo into the fireplace. "Sparks Armory."

Fawkes flew circles around the Gryffindor tower. The last time the phoenix had felt such pure magic was nearly seven hundred years ago. And this time it was even stronger.

In a room painted in pink with cat decorations, a woman winded on the floor, not being able to bear the magic saturating the castle.

Minerva watched with worry as the walls of her tower began to crack. With a quick motion she repaired it but more cracks appeared. She started disbelievingly at the door across hers. While she could not hear anything, she was worried about the well-being of two of her students. She couldn't get the door open, regardless which spell she used.

In a flame Dumbledore and Fawkes appeared next to her. "Albus, what is going on?" Dumbledore shook his head. "I don't know. One second everything was fine, the next the monitoring devices overloaded." He decided to ward the room to keep the castle save. "It's the best I can do for now."

The very next morning was confusing for Harry. The show Erik made with Umbridge during his lesson was hilarious, as last time. They launched into the ways of negotiation, clinging to the ministry guidelines, overstepping them occasionally when the toad wasn't present.

Again like the last time they watched Draco getting a change of heart courtesy of Astoria. Also, like before, the DA was founded, but this time, it was called Defense Association instead of Dumbledore's Army. Still, they planted the idea in Umbridge's head.

Erik kept watch of the surroundings as he entered the Room of Requirement. Harry and Ginny were already waiting. "Is it ready?" The soldier nodded. "It's time to get rid of the toad permanently."

After the escape of Dumbledore, Harry and Ginny were called to Umbridge's new office. It would be fun to watch Fred and George making her life hell all over again.

Again they trained their Animagi forms to near perfection. Erik researched how he had been able to kill the dementor. It wasn't until he started into the fire he realized it. "Heureka! I've got it!"

He ran over to his table and cleared the notes. Harry and Ginny looked up to him. "Fire, it's simple as that!" Looking into the stares he explained: "Remember the attack? I shot it. Well classified reports say that regular bullets have a low effect, as the body is ghostly, unless you score a head shot. However, I just fired. But my weapons are experimental, I fire laser bolts from them. Laser, as you know is a concentrated form of light" he added the last part when the teens' eyebrows went up.

"Anyway, the phoenix you cast at the end was made of fire, too. That's why it drove the dementors away that fast." He left to "make a call and ask a few friends to help".

The next morning the prank marathon for Umbridge began. It was even worse than they remembered. The fireworks really did a number to her. Again she blamed Filch who didn't see past his permit to punish students to see her arrogance. Ginny and Harry even went that far to charm the armors to make annoyed noises to them. However, like the last time, it was the portable swamp that drove Umbridge over the edge. Due to the renewed friendship with Draco and the Greengrass sisters it had taken longer than the last time, but still the Weasley twins made their spectacular break-out. But this time also other things changed. For instance, it was Cho who decided to betray the DA because Harry and Ginny spent a lot more time displaying public affection.

This time Harry and Ginny chose a more aggressive approach with their snake and wolf form.

Draco and Daphne only saw Umbridge walking proudly into the room until they heard a screech and she bowled them all over, a snake and a wolf in hot pursuit. The followed to see if they could "help". Umbridge ordered them to help her. The Squad fired different stunners and other animal repelling charms. In the end the snake wrapped itself around the wolf and they ran off into the corridors. In the next corridor, they were gone, although it was one of those that were straight, with closed doors.

Erik paced in the forbidden forest, sniper rifle ready. The M82 was loaded with regular bullets. Hollow-pointed ammunition to ensure an instant painless death. He wasn't like a death eater, enjoying the winding victim. If he had to kill, it would be fast and painless. This mission was not stealth but to make a statement. Firenze had told him that there was something threatening the centaurs. The herd was normally a close society and even if one didn't have the same view he wasn't expelled for that. He heard a sound but his finger went off the trigger as soon as he saw the unicorns grazing peacefully. He stood up to change locations when he spotted it. A pack of werewolves got close to the centaurs. It was time to live up to his name. There, but gone before he was spotted. An Echo in the darkness.

Umbridge was sitting in her office. Her cats were hissing at her which was unusual. She tried to recover from the shock when she was attacked. She knew that both were magical animals. Her first idea was that an animagus was behind this, but she remembered how it was impossible for witches and wizards to turn into magical creatures. A wicked smile crept up her face as knew Hogwarts was now under her reign. She would help her Corny to keep his post and terminate all threats to his and her power. The Lieutenant was one problem, however she would begin with the more easy things. The gamekeeper was a half-breed she would get rid of soon, followed by the near-human animal and the stupid wanna-be-seer. Then she would get rid of all the mudbloods. She cackled as she revised her evil plan. Her line of thought was interrupted when she heard loud cracks. Out of her window she heard them originating from the forbidden forest.

Roman was surprised. A pack of werewolves had come to bully them and get them to "expel" Firenze for him to spy on the castle. The centaur got in, but didn't report back out. Now the Dark Lord had sent another pack to kill them, but someone had been faster to kill the bullies. Looking from the bodies, the herd saw a man walking out of the shadows. It was the soldier they had seen regularly on the grounds. "Human." Bane said angrily. "You only bring problems to the herd." He stomped his hoof. The soldier obviously felt threatened as he lifted his rifle. "I could have let them keep hurting you but I chose not to." Roman pushed Bane back and bowed slightly. "And for that we thank you."

Erik lowered his weapon and bowed back. "Everyone is free to live his or her life peacefully and independently." He bowed again and retreated into the darkness. Roman followed him with his eyes but soon lost the figure. "We are in your debt."

Harry and Ginny were in their own room laughing. Umbridge's face had been priceless. Christmas came and the two found a large pile of presents in the lounge. The first the opened was Ron's: A collection of the best sweets Honeydukes had to offer. Hermione, as expected, had sent them books. Ginny's was about chaser moves while Harry had the seeker-counterpart. Fred and George informed them about the share the two now had in WWW and had added a package with their products. "For the toad." was the only comment. Sirius, being the Marauder he was, sent them a second Marauder Map he made with Lupin for Ginny. Harry received a "Firebolt Potter Special Edition." which was on par with Ginny's mark two. "If you count all birthdays I missed, you will find the firebolt a minor present compared to all the ones I could have given you." was the note. They blushed as they saw the stamped heart which had H+G in it. Mrs Weasley had sent them the traditional jumpers, while Percy sent a small statue of liberty from his latest job in New York. Going through the presents they found two more from Erik and Catherine. Latter sent them a book about vampire history in Romania while the first gave them enchanted pens which never ran dry. "With a little help from Armanda."

Few had stayed over the holidays. Apart from the two, Malfoy and Astoria had stayed. Daphne was on a visit at the Longbottoms' while the other Weasleys went home. Ginny had stayed with the reason that she had a good blood supply at Hogwarts, courtesy of Erik. Molly still despised the idea of her daughter drinking blood. But it was either that or fresh from the source, and Ginny didn't want to hurt her family. She still hid her nature at school, but with Harry's help they managed. Currently they were enjoying themselves in top of the Astronomy Tower. With her hair on fire she kept both of them warm while Harry was enchanted by the sight. Ginny tapped his hand as she turned around to kiss him. "You, Harry?" "Hm?" She thought of how close Erik and Catherine were. ~You want to?~ She nodded. Harry kissed her on the cheek and crooked his head, exposing his neck. "You know I love you." He got no answer as she latched onto him. Surprisingly there was no pain. He became light headed and feared to loose too much blood. Through their bond Ginny felt his distress and stopped. "Sorry. I got carried away." She blushed. Harry stroke her flaming hair. ~I know. I felt your pleasure at my taste.~ Small fires covered her face as she blushed even more.

The new year meal was one of the funniest things they saw, as Erik played a prank.

As soon as the soldier finished breakfast and waited for them to finish, he began to work on a small package. He connected a few wires and a countdown appeared. "What are you doing, Mr Winston?" Minerva asked. "Just checking my gear." He pulled a manual out. The titel: Bomb building and defusing.

"Shouldn't be a problem. The worse that could happen is if I enter the code wrong three times. Now was the combination green-red-green or was it red-red-green?" Umbridge paled. Erik shrugged and tapped in a complete different combination: Red-Green-Red. A red light began to flash as a countdown appeared. Calmly, Erik pressed a button on his wrist and on the bomb. The light faded and he packed the device away.

As during the holidays there was no dress code, Harry sported his muggle clothes again. Ginny's adequate choice of clothes consisted of a tank top and hot pants. Close to indecency, but still enough to be clothed decently. Again, Harry found it hard not to jump her then and there. And he wasn't the only one. Other boys lusted after Ginny just as some girls like Cho lusted after him. He didn't know why she suddenly broke up with Cedric, but he had gotten a letter from the now Auror-trainee that warned him about Cho trailing after boys with fame or money. While Cedric only had the latter, Harry had both. "Under Dumbledore's watch she couldn't make a move, however, as a pureblood she might have Umbridge's backing." Cedric warned his friend. When they finally got back into their rooms, both couldn't await it. For the remaining night waves of magic expulsed from the Gryffindor tower.

The first evening after the return everyone was in the great hall. Erik was again in full gear. He sat down at the table when something appeared on his HuD. He quickly assessed the threat and dropped his fork to have a reason to dive under the table. A loud screech told him that it was safe to resurface. The whole table was covered in red paint.

Harry looked at the teachers' table. Their prank had hit like the bomb it was. Thanks to Dobby and Winky they had smuggled a paint bomb into the pudding. All the house elves hated Umbridge, as she interfered with really everything. However, as she was the headmistress, only Dobby and Winky as loaned from the Potter household could do something and not be punished.

Umbridge stared at every student. All were laughing, only those on her squad were not or were at least containing their laughter. She sat down, just for the chair to vanish and be replaced by a donkey which promptly threw her off. Fuming, she stood up when an idea formed in her head. "Fifty points from the house the student who did this belongs to." Her smirk vanished when the hour glasses of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin all lost fifty points.

Harry sighed in relief. ~Good thing she didn't ask for students specifically.~ ~She's dumb. What did you expect?~

The Marauders Reloaded would strike again and again until Umbridge would go mental.