A/N: I apologise for taking this long to upload the latest chapter, but university work has been a nightmare. But finally, I have some time to upload this and I will try to write some more chapters whenever I can. I will definitely be able to at Christmas time though. Anyway, enjoy the newest addition to the story.

Chapter 24: Training Begins

Harry woke up early and went downstairs to prepare breakfast. He had been plagued by nightmares and the memory of his encounter with his darker self all night, so he was unable to have a good night's sleep. Shade came downstairs too after sensing Harry's distress and attempted to find out what had his master so worked up.

"What is troubling you, Harry?" Shade asked.

"Shade? I didn't hear you come down," Harry responded in mild shock.

"I sensed your distress and came down as quietly as possible so that your mate was not awakened. Now tell me, what happened last night?" Shade replied.

"Something is wrong...I'm wrong..." Harry answered, sighing in defeat.

"What on earth are you talking about, Harry? What are you wrong about?" Shade questioned in confusion.

"About myself...When the Dursleys confronted us yesterday, I nearly killed Dudley and Marge! All it would take would be one swift slash with my sword and they would be dead! I only just managed to hold myself back then, but what if I can't the next time?! What if my inner darkness becomes too powerful and takes control?! I don't want to go back to being that cold-hearted person...Not even Ginny will be safe then..." Harry explained, horrified at his own thoughts.

"Has the darkness taken control yet?" Shade asked.

"Well no, but-," Harry attempted to answer before he was cut off.

"Then you are stronger than you think you are to keep it at bay. My advice would be to confess your fear to your mate. You need her, and she will help you to get through this. She will provide you with the strength and answers that you need," Shade advised before going back upstairs to talk to Hedwig.

Harry remained downstairs as he finished making breakfast. As he ate, he thought over Shade's advice and wondered how he could tell Ginny what happened yesterday.

'What if she becomes afraid of me or hates me for having a monster like him inside of me? I don't know what would happen if she left...Damn it! Why can't I just have a normal life?! Why do I have to be cursed by fate?!' Harry thought angrily.

"Maybe because you are the only person who can handle it?" came Ginny's answer, invading his dark thoughts.

Harry looked toward the stairs and saw Ginny waking down them in her nightgown. It was the very same one that she wore when he first went to the Burrow and realised just how attractive she was for the first time. He watched entranced as she walked-no, glided-down the stairs to stop just a few metres in front of him.

"Ginny? What are you doing up this early?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

"I could ask you the same question, but I know why. What happened last night...it upset you...and you've been having nightmares, haven't you?" Ginny responded.

"How did you know? I made sure that I didn't wake you before getting up. You were fast asleep," Harry stated.

"I'm a good actress. You have to be to be able to prank your older brothers and play the innocent little girl card on your parents to get out of being punished. Now, what's bothering you?" Ginny explained.

"It was a dream...or at least, kind of like a dream..." Harry answered with a sigh of defeat.

"What do you mean?" Ginny enquired.

"Well...it was in my head and it felt real...It was real..." Harry tried to explain, but he couldn't find the right words to say.

"Harry, you're not making any sense. What do you mean it was real?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"When I dozed off yesterday, I entered my mindscape. I found myself in a darker area that I'd never explored before. Somehow, it had been sealed off up until now. Maybe it was something to do with Tom's horcrux, but I'm not sure. I found...a darker version of myself there. He wanted to take control, destroy Tom, Dumbledore, everything standing in his way. He sensitised by feelings toward the Dursleys yesterday so that I got angered and lashed out. He wanted me to get rid of Dudley for looking at you. I had nightmares last night of him taking control and killing everyone...I couldn't stop him...He was too strong..." Harry confessed.

"Harry...He won't-" Ginny tried to say before Harry cut her off with the rest of his confession.

"What if I'm not strong enough in real life to control him?! What if he takes over and does all of those things?! He won't just kill death eaters, but anything that gets in his way or looks at you, even if the victims are innocent! I don't want to become a killer! And what if he hurts you too?! I feel so helpless! How am I supposed to protect you if I can't control my own mind and actions?!" Harry ranted, progressively getting more hysterical as he went on.

Ginny slapped Harry, finally stopped his hysterical rant and forcing him to look into her now tearful eyes. Just staring into her warm, chocolate-brown depths eased the pain and doubt in his heart.

"Don't say it like you've already given up! That's not the Harry I know and love! That's not my Harry! You are the strongest person I know! You can control, yourself! You said that he tried to make you kill Dudley, but did you?! No! You were able to restrain yourself, which he can't do! That's why you're in control and why fate gives everything to you! To prove your worth! You started out as a hardened, cold-hearted soul, but I still loved you anyway! Do you know why?! Because I could see through that exterior and see the real Harry underneath! The Harry that will always fight for what's right! We will be at war soon, and we will be faced with 'kill or be killed' situations! How can you put a death eater's life, that's been filled with causing pain and suffering to others, before your own! If you kill them, that's one less evil person in the world and a hundred more innocent lives spared! I don't care if you kill every last death eater on earth, because I know that you would've had no other choice and you had to do what you had to do to protect the innocent people in this world who don't deserve to die! Don't become too noble or self-righteous that you lose sight of doing the right thing, alright? Remember that you're going to have to kill Tom eventually. You've been destined to be the only one to do this. If you can't end the life of a dark soul that's beyond salvation, then how are you going to survive? I don't want to lose you...I love you, Harry...and I always will, even if you kill every last stinking death eater. Do you understand now?" Ginny ranted, sobbing every now and again due to the volume of tears that she was producing.

Harry was silent as he watched Ginny catch her breath after her long rant. He realised that she was right. They were going to end up in a war and they would have to kill to survive. He wouldn't become a cruel murderer, but just a normal man protecting those who couldn't protect themselves from the real monsters in this world. It would be a last resort, but he couldn't just ponder about the act any longer. He would have to be prepared to do what was necessary to defeat the evil trying to corrupt the world. He had Ginny now; the light in his world, and he would not allow anything to ruin their relationship, not even his darker self.

"Oh Ginny...Thank you...I needed that..." Harry sighed, rubbing his cheek where Ginny had slapped him.

"Just remember that I'm always here for you when you need me. It was what I was made to do...To help you..." Ginny responded.

Ginny finally took the last few steps into Harry's now open arms and kissed him full on the lips. She poured all of her love into the kiss as Harry could almost feel her pouring her loving soul into his body, purging all of the dark thoughts in his mind, clearing it at last as he reaffirmed his last declaration. He heard a distant echo in the back of his mind that almost sounded like someone screaming, but he quickly shrugged it off as he focused on Ginny; the taste and feel of her lips on his to the softness of her skin and silkiness of her hair...

"This is all that matters to me now..." Harry stated.

"And what is that?" Ginny enquired.

"You..." Harry answered bluntly, showing just how truthful his answer was.

"And you have me and my love...Always..." Ginny replied without hesitation.

Soon, the couple broke their kiss as Ginny's stomach growled. Harry gave her something to eat to get her ready as today would be the start of their new training regime.

Harry spent the first couple of hours of the day continuing Ginny's Occlumency training and decided that she should be finished by the end of the week as even with his impressive Legilimency skills, he still struggled to get through her strengthening shields. The time came when he decided to read up about the different types of magic that he would be able to perform with training.

Today, Harry focused on pure light magic and pure dark magic. The book stated;

"What most people would consider as 'light', 'neutral' or 'dark' magic could only be labelled as such depending on the intent of the caster. For example, the killing curse is widely considered to be 'dark' due to the nature of what it does. However, there have been cases of good, 'light' wizards using said curse to end the reign of tyrannical, 'dark' wizards to restore peace to the Wizarding World.

The same can be said for apparent 'light' magic. A spell such as the disarming spell, used to defeat a foe without resulting in violence, so would be considered as either 'neutral' or 'light' in nature. However, many past 'dark' wizards would use the disarming spell to render their victims vulnerable, then murder them in both magical and physical ways, making the disarming spell the onset to death and 'dark' magic in this case.

However, there are certain spells that would be classed as pure light magic or pure dark magic. These spells cannot waver between the two alignments of magic as they have set light or dark natures.

For example, certain healing spells are pure light magic as they require a caring person to perform the spell and any ulterior motive, like bringing someone from the brink of death only to torture them more, will make the spell fail due to the purity of the light magic involved. Other pure light spells include the Perfect Shield charm that creates an impenetrable shield that can be used to protect a loved one from danger of any kind and similar spells that remove any danger from a person that the caster cares about.

As for pure dark magic, spells that require sadistic attitudes or cause immense torture to an individual come under this list. Such pure dark spells include the Cruciatus curse due to the pure hatred needed for the spell to work and the torturous nature of the spell itself, a variation of the dismemberment spell that involves slowly and painfully removing all of the limbs from the victim's body, all while the victim slowly bleeds to death and other spells of a sadistic nature. Please read chapter 2 for more information about pure light spells and read chapter 3 for more information about pure dark spells."

Harry closed the book here as he went over what the book had said in his mind. The concept of wavering alignments due to context made perfect sense to him. He always believed that spell alignment was down to the intent of the caster, but the book had further credited his thoughts on the matter. However, he would definitely need to research these pure alignment spells, especially the Perfect Shield charm if it could protect his family against anything.

Strangely, he was also interested in the dismemberment charm from what he had read. He may not be interested in the specific pure dark version as much, but it might be useful to find a way to permanently disarm death eaters and possibly Riddle by maybe dismembering their hands or arms if a duel became a stalemate and needed to end soon.

While Harry knew that there were spells to create artificial limbs, the recipient's magic wouldn't be able to flow through the limb due to it not being organic. This would be a big help, especially against Dumbledore who sometimes used wandless magic, and limit the power of his enemies.

As Harry finished going through the new information, Ginny came into the study and took him upstairs to get changed into his swimwear as she wanted to use the swimming pool for them to relax. While she went into the bathroom to change, he stayed in the bedroom and removed his casual clothes, replacing them with his swimming trunks. When he went to knock on the bathroom door to see whether she was ready yet, he was shocked by the sight that greeted him as the door opened.

In the doorframe, Harry saw Ginny in her bathing suit and his mouth hung open in shock and awe. Her bathing suit was dark green that made her vibrant red hair stand out even more than usual and, while it did cover up most of her body, it accentuated her budding breasts and womanly curves. He also noticed her smooth, pale legs that, for once, weren't covered by a long skirt or trousers.

"I guess that I'm going to need to get shorter skirts from now on if that's the reaction I'll get to showing my legs off," Ginny stated cheekily.

"You could always just wear this all day. I won't complain," Harry replied, still entranced by seeing so much of his bond mate.

"Unfortunately, not everyone will outside of this Manor, Harry, and we will have to leave again for school. Tell you what...we can purchase a set of shorter skirts for next year, ok? They're more expensive, but I'm sure that they'll be worth it," Ginny teased.

"Oh, they'll certainly be worth it," Harry responded with a grin.

"Come on, lover boy. We've got some swimming to do," Ginny said, dragging Harry to the swimming pool, not that he was complaining.

For the next couple of hours, Harry and Ginny played in the pool to work off the strain of the day and everything that had happened in the last few days. Once they were finally satisfied after he won many races, the couple went back into the Manor, dried off, and had their dinner before going to bed. They had a long few months before Hogwarts started back up again.

A/N: I hope that it was worth the wait. It may seem a little bit like a filler-type chapter, but it's more of an introduction to Harry training in the pure magic types. The next chapter will either be finishing up the summer training or going straight to going back to the Weasleys to end the summer and go to Hogwarts to start the Third Year. Let me know which you'd all prefer in the reviews and then I can try to work on it before the Christmas holidays if I can. Bye everyone.