For those of you in our facebook group - Bubbleybear & Pienuniek's Story Nook - this news will come as no surprise. But I recently lost a very dear friend to cancer who was also an unofficial Pre-Reader for the Under Her Spell Series. Leonie Price, I miss you, so very much but I hope that you are free from pain, wherever you are.

In her honour, I am dedicating this entire book to her. Her enthusiasm helped me continue to write on many days where I felt ... lost. In fact, one of the last emails she sent me was that she wished that these books had been on the big screen; that they were better than the originals. I know it will never happen, but the thought was enough to encourage me. Please keep her in your thoughts as we continue with this story. Cheers.

I'm so glad that I can finally give you the next in the series. Just know I've already read Book Six and have taken my notes. Now ... I can say that I've started to write!

Thanks must go out to my team. My pre-reader Pienuniek and my Beta Alice's White Rabbit. I would be lost without the pair of you, truly.

I don't own Twilight, or Harry Potter, I'd be a richer person if I did. But I do so love to create my own places for them out in the world. No copyright infringement is intended.

See you at the bottom ...

Chapter Twenty – Connecting with Nagini

"Are you sure you guys want to finish at the end of next year?" Opi asked when we stepped through the door to his classroom.

Bella tilted her head at him as she began to pull textbooks, notebooks, and pens from her bag. "Yeah, why? Isn't that what you've been helping us with?"

"It is, but you've even passed my expectations. If we really knuckle down, we could probably have you finishing up this year."

Bella and I shook our heads, but I was the one who answered him. "No. We haven't told our friends yet, and we want one last year with them."

"That's not all though." Bella sighed. "We just want to help Harry."

"Protect him, you mean?" Opi asked.

"No … yes … maybe." I shrugged. "He's going to need it. Voldemort has taken a shot at him every single year at Hogwarts. It may only get worse."

Bella giggled. "At least, Voldemort waits until the end of the year before he attacks. Guess he respects Harry's need for an education."

I snorted at Bella's revelation before chuckling because she was right. I'd never really paid that much attention.

Even Opi snorted. "I don't think Voldemort thinks like that. He just takes all year to gather his forces and convince them to do his bidding." Opi looked over at the two of us. "Will you be in sixth year, next year, or will you go up to seventh?"

I looked at Bella, who nodded. "We've talked about it. This year we're just going to take the fifth-year exams, but next year, we may need you to teach us the seventh-year classes, and we'll have to organize with Dumbledore to take both the sixth- and seventh-year exams."

"I'll organize that, don't worry. We're done for today. As for homework, there's not much, just keep up with your spell work." Opi smiled. "You'll be able to do the work for sixth year, no worries, and I suppose I'll have to figure out what to teach you for seventh."

"Thanks, Opi," Bella and I said together as we packed up our stuff and headed out the door.

We walked together in silence as I thought about what had happened since Bella's detention and our date. We'd had more time alone, but Bella still hadn't moved past being able to give me a hand job, and that was fine. It was more than fine; Bella's hand felt better than anything I had ever imagined.

As things had progressed between us, so had time at Hogwarts. We had kept up with the tradition of Mom asking Kreacher—and now Dobby—to create a Thanksgiving feast for us, with Jasper and Emmett bringing Alice and Rose, as well as Carlisle. But that feast now also included Hermione and Harry, Fleur and Gabrielle, as well as Neville and Luna. We had to have the classroom made bigger just so we could accommodate the size of the table we needed.

But now time had marched on once more, and we'd made it to December. That meant more responsibilities for our prefects. They weren't only keeping an eye on the first and second years during their breaks between classes, but they had also been called on to decorate the school for Christmas. And this was all on top of the mountains of homework the teachers were giving them. It seemed there would be no rest for those with responsibility.

There was a bonus to the prefects helping out though. At night, they were patrolling the corridors with Filch, and that made getting into—and out of—our DA meetings that much easier.

Last meeting tonight. Bella's internal thoughts matched mine. It didn't surprise me anymore when we were on the same wavelength. It seemed the older she got, the more we thought alike. I smirked to myself most of the time.

"I know. Think we can get in and out undetected again?"

Bella snickered. I have no doubt about it. This time Bella sighed. I can't wait to play quidditch.

"Me either. Think Umbridge will blow a gasket?" I chuckled.

Bella shrugged. Maybe. Though, she could have a stroke for all I care. We might get rid of her then.

I nodded. "But we could get someone worse, too."

~*~UHS~*~

The prefects had managed to keep Filch, and anyone not associated with the DA, away from the upper corridors long enough that just about every member was present and accounted for. The only ones missing were the prefects, who were patrolling. But they had assured me they would be here by the end.

"Welcome, everyone, to the last DA meeting for this year!" Harry called the group to attention. "I'm really proud of how far everyone has come so far, but we're going to take this meeting a little bit easier tonight as Bella and Hermione have organized with some of the house elves to have a small party here afterward."

Cheers and thank yous were called out before Harry placed his hands in the air for silence once more. "On that note, let's get started. We're going to review Impedimenta, the impediment jinx, and Stupefy, the stunning curse. We'll spend a half an hour on each before having our own Christmas celebration."

Over the course of the last few months, we'd found our preferred partners to work with. Bella and I worked together of course—that was a given, considering our spells were the only ones to work on each other. Hermione worked best with Neville while Harry usually worked with Luna. So, after Harry had finished speaking, we split up into our pairs.

Bella and I spent a few minutes practicing the spells out loud for everyone to hear before we moved on to practicing silent spell casting. It was something we knew would come in handy, whether in the upcoming war or once we became aurors. We hadn't perfected it … yet … but we were getting closer and closer to being able to. In fact, about eighty-five percent of our spell casting was now silent, and that number was growing with each practice session.

"Hey!" I growled at Bella when she silently flung a spell at me. "That was not a stunning spell or impediment jinx, Bella!" I shouted as I quickly dodged another one. "What the hell are you firing at me?"

Bella giggled as she let loose a barrage more. I was barely able to throw up a shield to deflect them because she had fired them so fast. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked me sweetly. "Are you fast enough to find out?"

The whole room had come to a standstill, watching our apparent battle, as Bella flung another silent spell at me. She had learned so many over the last weeks that trying to figure out which one it was was nearly impossible. Besides the fact that she'd shut that part of her mind off to me.

Eventually, those watching were unable to help themselves. Many started cheering us on while Fred and George began placing bets on who was going to connect with the first spell to who was going to win the battle. There wasn't one part of the fight that they weren't placing bets on. I honestly thought that …

"They're worse than Emmett and Jasper," Bella murmured, dodging a spell—with some sort of pirouette-type move—that I had managed to send her direction.

"Reading my mind now, are you?" I snickered, ducking to dodge the spell that came flying at my head.

Bella laughed. "No! But if I could, I would have hit you already!"

I snorted. "That's what you think!"

Our dueling continued on for a few minutes, both of us falling silent, except for the occasional spell we couldn't get to work without talking. The cheering and betting were still continuing, but both of us—determined not to lose—began to concentrate on what we were doing. I was concentrating so hard on my spells that it took me longer to realize that Bella wasn't so much as practicing her spells, but she was starting to anticipate my movements. In fact, it didn't hit me that was what she was doing until I dodged one spell, only to be hit with one as soon as I landed.

"Wha …?" I began to ask only to break off into a groan when, all by themselves, my legs and feet began to dance. "You didn't?" I glared in Bella's direction as our army mates broke out into laughs and snickers.

"I totally did!" Bella positively guffawed. When she stopped laughing, she tilted her head, watching as I waltzed around the room. "Although, it's not working the way I've seen it."

Harry stepped forward. "You hit him with Tarantallegra? The dancing legs spell?" he clarified when some of the others looked confused.

Bella nodded. "But he's controlling it. Look at those waltz steps."

I snorted. "That's because I'm a vampire. I can control some of what happens to me, even through a spell. Even you know that, Bella." And because I can think of more than one thing at a time, I started to send spells back at my girl. Or really one spell.

With a shriek, she managed to dodge a few, but eventually, I caught her with the same spell she had hit me with. I snickered because, at first, it seemed like the spell was going to control her. But slowly, she figured out how to control the spell. Once she'd done that, I swooped in next to her and led her on a rather intricate and intimate dance around the Room of Requirement.

"You know," I murmured close to her ear, "if you wanted to dance, all you had to do was ask."

Bella sighed, leaning her head on my chest. "Yeah, but this was so much more fun."

There were groans as well as good natured ribbing as money was exchanged from all the bets placed. It seems that Ginny, Hermione, and Luna won the bet on who was going to land the first hit, but Neville and Gabrielle won because they said that I'd turn it into something romantic.

"All right, all right, that's enough!" Harry called an end to the bickering over winners but even he couldn't help but chuckle. He looked over at the two of us and shook his head as he flicked his wand from the brace on his arm. "Finite Incantatem." Bella and I released a breath when our legs stopped moving, and we were able to stop dancing. "Are you two quite finished now?"

"Maybe," Bella and I answered together, cracking each other up before Bella continued. "While I quite like dancing with you, Edward, I'd rather do it on my own terms."

"Being forced to dance is never fun."

Bella snickered. "Speaking from experience?"

"No." I snorted. I pointed around at all the guilty expressions on the boys. "I quite liked learning to dance. In my time, it was one of the only ways to court a girl and hold her close … especially in public." There were several awws from the girls around the room, which I found funny. "I don't understand why today's generation doesn't like dancing, to be honest. Not that I'd call what happens in the muggle world dancing."

Gabrielle, Fleur, Bella, Hermione, and Luna all nodded. They had seen on TV what muggles called dancing. All that grinding together. Although, there was something to be said for the way they danced in the eighties. Dirty dancing was sensual, erotic, and I very much looked forward to teaching Bella how to dance like that.

What? Why are you looking at me like that? Bella had glanced over at me, only to notice the hungry gleam I was no doubt sporting. What are you thinking that makes you look that way?

One side of my mouth curled up. Something Bella had told me previously made me look both dangerous and sexy. "Dirty dancing," was all I said in reply but Bella's thoughts dropped completely into the gutter. Her thoughts had been surprisingly similar when we watched the movie the last time, but the smile she gave me made me want to leave here right now and practice those moves sans clothing.

I think a re-watch is in order, don't you? Maybe we can give it a go?

I nodded to Bella's thoughts only to be brought back to the room by a couple of house elves popping in to bring us food. It seemed Bella and I had zoned out on the rest of Harry's well-done speech, only for him to pause as Kreacher and Dobby set up the food.

"I want to thank everyone for keeping up with the craziness that has been this year so far. Everything from Umbridge, to Fudge, to starting this group. We've had to keep this secret, which is hard enough with just a few of us, but with a group this size, it's even harder." Harry paused to look around at all of us. "You've all worked really hard to get to where we have, and I have no doubt—none what-so-ever—that we'll all have a patronus by the end of the year." Here Harry seemed to heave a massive breath before letting it out on a sigh. "And I personally want to thank you for believing me. Believing that Voldemort has come back is a huge undertaking. Some days, I don't even want to believe it. But here you are, all of you, willing to do what we must to stop this man from ever gaining the power he seems hell bent on getting … by any means necessary."

"We're here for you, Harry!" many of our friends shouted, even as Seamus piped up with, "No matter what our parents think."

"And that's just it!" Harry pointed at Seamus. "Many of you could … could … believe as your parents do, what the Prophet is spouting as gospel, but you're here, you're learning from me, and you support me."

Susan Bones stepped forward. "Harry, we were there last year throughout the tournament. We know what the Ministry is capable of doing. How they lie to get what they need or want. How they run The Prophet. We know that The Truth tells us what's happening, and it's an unbiased report." I couldn't help but snort, and it was kinda loud, causing Susan to laugh softly. "Okay, for the most part it's an unbiased account." She looked Harry dead in the eye and smiled. "Besides, seeing Edward's memories of your time in the graveyard certainly put a whole new spin on things."

Harry took in a deep breath. He had been close to hyperventilating. "Thank you. Just thank you. Okay …" He clapped his hands. "This is the last meeting of the DA this year. Enjoy the last hour or so here, enjoy the food, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" everyone shouted before turning to the veritable feast that the house elves had prepared for us.

~*~UHS~*~

I was enjoying the peace and quiet of the last few days before we headed home for Christmas. Homework, while still hard for some of the others, had slowed considerably. Even though we had some to do over the break, and the teachers had loosened up just a little.

Bella and I were lying in my room, in my trunk. We'd had a wonderfully long make-out session that had gone no further than kissing and light touching. Just a reconnecting of minds and souls before talking until she couldn't stay awake any longer. I'd thought about doing some of my homework, but I just couldn't seem to pull myself from her side. It had been happening more and more as of late, and I wondered whether her scent change had anything to do with that. I shrugged the shoulder that Bella wasn't lying on. I really couldn't find it in myself to care.

But it wasn't just our days that had been relatively quiet. Even the students of Hogwarts dreams had been Christmas themed. Some remembered Christmases past while others seemed to make lists of things they would like while they slept. Bella was easy to please; she just wanted the whole family—all extended members included—together for one meal. Although, I had in mind something else for my girl for Christmas.

Harry's dreams had been decidedly tame as of late too. I reached out for his mind only to find that he was remembering kissing Hermione for the first time. I decided to skip out of Harry's dream as he had a right to remember it any way he pleased. I was glad, however, that he had let his feelings out and had started a relationship with Hermione. They were well matched, and he deserved something good in his life.

I drifted through dreams for a short while before pulling back and looking down at Bella as she shifted. Lately, her dreams had become a wonderful array of erotica. She had a vivid imagination, especially since she'd seen me naked, and her dreams were filled with a vivid list of things I wanted to do with her … and to her. At the present though, Bella was having a rather childlike dream of Christmas. She was remembering Christmases past as well as wondering what she was going to be getting this year. It was wonderful to see that Bella could still feel the wonder of Christmas from a childlike perspective. I couldn't wait to share another Christmas with her, and I couldn't wait to see if she would still have that wonder when our children were looking forward to celebrating Christmas.

I drifted for a while, just enjoying the peace and quiet, when something caught my attention. The motion of a dream, a sense that I had seen something like that before. The flashes of grays, blues, and blacks were what caught my attention. It didn't take me long to hone in on where the dream was coming from, and I wasn't all that surprised that it was Harry.

It seemed that Nagini—Voldemort's snake—was making an appearance once more. She was slithering low to the ground, her tongue darting out, tasting the air. As her tongue would pop in and out of her mouth, the world around her kept dropping in and out of focus. I remembered this from the last time, and that was why it had caught my attention now.

"Bella," I whispered softly. "I need you to wake up."

Hmm, Bella murmured. What, Edward?

"Harry's dreaming."

Bella sat up quickly and looked up at me. "Dreaming?"

I nodded as I watched Nagini cut through hallways and doors, corridors and archways. Bella kept me grounded in this reality while I watched as Nagini cut a path through what I now recognized as the lower corridors of The Ministry of Magic. If I was correct, Voldemort had sent her to find out what was in there.

Nagini wound her way around and through chairs legs, table legs, always searching, always looking. While her world was an array of blues, grays, and blacks, which limited her eyesight, her hearing was as good as ever. Nagini paused as she felt as well as heard movement from the corner up ahead. Her tongue darting out to taste the flavor in the air, the flavor of the person ahead of her. Both Harry and I could sense through Nagini that this wasn't someone she had met before.

"What's happening?" Bella whispered.

"He's connected with Nagini again. Voldemort is making a move into the Department of Mysteries with her."

"No!"

"Yes." I quietened once more as Nagini moved off from her hiding place. She was quiet, slow, and deliberate as she approached the corner ahead. The footsteps she was hearing grew louder as she carefully reached the corner. But it was who was around that corner that made me sit up and start scrambling to get out of the trunk. "Bella, we have to go … now. Go wake Ginny, then run and get Professor McGonagall."

"Why?" she asked even as she started pulling on a robe.

"No time." I scooped her up in my arms before leaping out of the top of the trunk. "Just go. Trust me."

"Always do," Bella replied as she dashed off and up the stairs.

I followed her to the stairs, bounding up them as Nagini stood on her tail. The person in front of her hadn't even heard her approach and, as such, didn't know she was readying to attack from behind. I stepped into Fred and George's dormitory as Nagini launched her first strike at their father, Arthur. But she didn't stop at just one attack—which could have invariably killed him, albeit in a long and painful way—no, she continued to launch attacks even as Arthur fell to the floor and tried to block what was happening with his arms.

"Fred! George! Wake up. Wake up now!" I very nearly shouted as I shook them—none too gently—which caused them to nearly fall out of bed. "You need to get up!" I growled when it looked like they were going to lie back down and go back to sleep.

"Wha …?" Fred attempted to ask, all bleary-eyed. "Edward?"

"Get up. Go get your brother and meet me in the common room. We need to get to Dumbledore."

George grunted out a "Why?" but started to get up anyway.

"I'll answer all of your questions later. Go!" I bolted back out of their doorway just as Harry spasmed in pain. His body locked down from fright right before the scar on his forehead started to burn. I cringed. I could feel the pain he was experiencing, and I likened it to the pain of transformation from when I turned from human to vampire.

It was because of that pain that Harry was able to wake up. He shot straight up in bed and screamed. If I didn't know what he was screaming about, I would have thought he was being murdered in his sleep. A fact that many of his dormmates thought when he woke them all up.

I burst through the door, nearly taking the damn thing off its hinges, and raced over to Harry's bed.

"Edward …" He panted when he caught sight of me. "Did you see? Was it real?"

I grabbed Harry's robe and handed it to him as I nodded. "We need to get you to Dumbledore. At the very least, he should hear this, and then decide whether to check to see if it's real. Leave it at his feet. Though if he doesn't, I'll order it done."

"Okay … okay …" Harry continued to pant as he came down from his emotional high. He carefully climbed out of bed, shaky as a newborn foal, and tried to walk to the door. He was too emotionally wrought to make the trip on his own, so I looped his arm over my shoulder and began helping him out the door and down to the common room.

I could already hear Ron complaining about being woken up at this ungodly hour, but he shut up when Harry and I stepped into view. Even Ron, as dense as he could be, knew that something was very, very wrong. Instead of asking any questions, the three boys, George stepping up to help Harry from the other side, followed us out of the portrait of The Fat Lady and all the way to the corridor leading to Dumbledore's office.

"Merlin, what happened?" Professor McGonagall rushed over to us when we stepped into her line of sight.

Harry's head lolled back. The pain that had radiated out from his scar had made him woozy. It had drained him of any energy he may have stored from sleeping.

"He had a dream, Professor." I gave her a pointed look so she would understand what I meant.

"We're here for a dream?" Ron snorted from behind us. We all spun to face him, causing him to take a step back.

"Yeah." Harry grunted, lifting his head. "One where your dad was attacked, mate. Is that a good enough reason?"

Professor McGonagall reached out and cradled Harry's head, turning him to face her. She wanted to gauge the sincerity of his words. "Right then, let's get up to see Professor Dumbledore." Professor McGonagall turned to the gargoyle. "Fizzing Whizbees."

As always, with the pronunciation of the password, the gargoyle stepped to the side as the stairs began to rise. Professor McGonagall stepped up first with Bella and Ginny following her. George and I stepped onto the rising staircase, with Harry still being supported by us, next only for Fred and Ron to step on last. There was little talking as we rode the staircase all the way to the top.

About halfway up, noises from Dumbledore's office caught my attention. There was a conversation happening, but I couldn't pick up any thoughts from the participants. Dumbledore had his thoughts closed to me—not that that was unusual—but usually, I could hear the thoughts of the other people with him. It seemed strange that for as many voices as I could hear, there were as many people's thoughts I couldn't.

Professor McGonagall didn't wait for the stairs to continue their revolution to the top. Instead, she took the final step and knocked rapidly on the door. The very second the first knock echoed, the talking on the other side stopped. We didn't have to wait very long for the door to Professor Dumbledore's office to swing open.

"What have we here?" Dumbledore asked as Professor McGonagall strode right in, followed hesitantly by Ginny.

Bella looked back at me. I have no idea how he's going to handle this, Edward. But I fear it won't be good.

I nodded in agreement but started to help Harry forward, causing Bella to step into the room. I trusted my girl's intuition. She had been right over the years more often than not.

Professor McGonagall didn't wait for any more invitation. "We have an issue, Professor Dumbledore. It seems that Arthur has been attacked this night."

A swift look of shock crossed Dumbledore's face before he swung around to face the wall of paintings behind his desk. "How do you know that?"

"I dreamt it," Harry said tiredly from between George and me. "It's not the first time I've dreamt like that."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Dumbledore asked, still facing his wall of paintings. Although, I could see that they were paying a lot of attention to what was being said.

Everyone in that room listened intently as Harry described what both he and I had seen in Harry's dream. At first, the Weasleys were fascinated by the fact that Harry could see through Nagini—a fact that wasn't lost on Bella. Her eyebrows rose a little in surprise before frowning—and listening intently.

Bella locked eyes with me as Harry described the attack on Arthur. Is he connecting with Nagini because she's connected to Voldemort or because we suspect that they both are horcruxes?

My eyebrows shot up at that question. But Bella could be right. Perhaps … "Maybe both. Because if they are both horcruxes then they would both be connected to Voldemort," I whispered back at vampire pitch.

"Fawkes." Dumbledore's voice brought me back to the conversation at hand. "Go. Be my lookout." The beautiful phoenix of Dumbledore's flew from his perch and out through the window. I had connected briefly with his mind, and all he had said was "expect trouble". "Everard, please head to the ministry and find Arthur. Dilys, go and make sure the right people find him. Edward." Dumbledore spun to face me, surprising me because he had yet to look in our direction after he had spun around. "Contact your mother at home, tell her what has happened as briefly as possible, and send her to Molly. Go … use the fireplace."

I nodded and passed Harry off to Fred, who had stepped up to help Harry stand. Bella's eyes followed me, even as she was helping Ginny into a chair. Ginny was beside herself at what had happened to her father. I scooped up some parchment and one of Dumbledore's quills from his desk as I made my way to the fireplace.

Mom,

Arthur attacked at Ministry.

Get to Molly for support. Then head over to Potter Manse.

Will probably be sending the Weasley kids soon.

Love,

Edward.

I kept it as brief as possible. It had the pertinent details, so it only had what Esme needed to know.

By the time I made it over to where Bella was consoling Ginny, Everard and Dilys had returned. It looked like they almost sprinted into their frames.

"What's the word?" Dumbledore asked. He hadn't looked back at us since he had turned around.

"Not good," Everard answered promptly with no emotion. "Whatever attacked him certainly held nothing back. He was in bad shape when I found him."

Dilys nodded. "He has been found by our people though, and he is being taken to St. Mungo's hospital for treatment. It would do them the world of good to know what attacked him."

Dumbledore frowned before looking at me. He knew, but I wondered whether he was going to tell. He stared my way for a moment, causing me to attempt to read his thoughts—they were unsurprisingly, but totally frustratingly blocked, as per usual, before he turned back to Dilys. "Head to St. Mungo's and let them know he's been attacked by a Maledictus."

What's a Maledictus? Bella thought, glancing my way. I've never heard of it.

I shrugged and shook my head. I hadn't either. In all the research we'd done into dark creatures, that was one we'd never seen.

The room stayed silent, mostly out of shock. Even Professor McGonagall's thoughts were silent. I knew she knew what a Maledictus was, but even she wasn't thinking on it.

"Merlin," several portraits breathed out in shock, but Dilys was quick to act. She flew from her portrait, presumably to St. Mungo's, to relay the news.

"This is your fault!" Ron shouted just as I caught the thoughts coming from him. He hadn't even let them form completely before he'd said them out loud. He stormed across the room with his finger pointed at Harry. "You were the snake. You said so yourself. Why couldn't you just stop before he got injured?" he shouted over my shoulder as I streaked across the room to catch him.

"It wasn't like that!" Harry argued weakly, making it sound like he was lying to Ron. Even to my ears, it sounded like he didn't believe his own argument.

Ron reached over my shoulder, still pointing at Harry, and trying to make his point heard and believed. "Like bloody hell, it wasn't! You said you were the snake, that you were in its head. You should have been able to control it, to stop my father from being hurt."

"Ronald, enough," Dumbledore spoke, causing all arguments to stop and Ron to stop fighting me. "Harry is right; it isn't like that. His dreams are memories playing out. He may be in the snake, but he had no control over it. He was merely a passenger. No more, no less." Dumbledore spun back around to another portrait who looked vaguely familiar. It wasn't until I looked down at the name plate, Phineas Black, did I realize why. He was a relative of Sirius. "I need you to go to Sirius. Tell him that I'm sending Molly, Esme, Harry, and the Weasley children his way. Tell him what's going on."

"Got it," Phineas replied and darted out of his frame.

"He should have tried," Ron grumbled, the wind having been pulled from his sails. He thought he was correct and wanted to make Harry feel as bad as he was right now. What Ron didn't know was that Harry was feeling guilty. He thought he should have been able to stop the attack from happening, even though he knew otherwise. Guilt does funny things to people, and right now, Harry felt like he was under a mountain of it.

"You have nothing to feel guilty for, Harry," I said when I had released Ron, and he had sauntered back into his corner. "You can't stop that which you cannot control. And even if you could have controlled it, I'm not sure you could have stopped what happened. That snake was determined, almost like she was already being controlled. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. Yes, Edward," he urged when he could see I wasn't sure that I believed him.

"Good."

With a large sigh, Dumbledore turned to face the rest of the room. Our conversation had been relatively quiet, letting Dumbledore run the room as he saw fit. But I could feel the anger building in Bella—and myself, if I were to be honest—at the fact that Dumbledore wasn't including us, let alone the fact that he wasn't looking at us unless he had to.

Professor McGonagall was the first to speak. "Headmaster, what's going on?"

Dumbledore's mouth opened, as if to answer her, but just as he was about to speak, a feather of Fawkes's appeared on the desk in front of him before it burst into flames. "No time now, Minerva. I need you to go and head off Professor Umbridge before she gets up here to spy."

Professor McGonagall nodded, then left the room with a swoosh of her nightrobes. Once she was gone, Dumbledore turned back to his rows of shelves and silently cast Accio to bring him an old shoe.

Just as I was about to ask what was going to happen next, Phineas returned to his frame. "Sirius will meet them at the family home before helping them to the next location, Albus. He thought it best not to be too direct in case the walls have ears and eyes."

"Smart plan. I should have thought of it." Dumbledore placed the shoe down on the table in front of us. McGonagall swept back into the room as Dumbledore said, "Right, all of you, place your hands on the portkey when it glows blue. You're all leaving tonight."

"All of us?" we questioned as one. We were all surprised because Bella and I hadn't been mentioned earlier.

"Yes," Dumbledore said in return at the same time that Professor McGonagall said, "I think Miss Swan and Mr. Masen should stay here."

Dumbledore looked, well, dumbfounded that someone was disagreeing with him. "What?"

Professor McGonagall held her hands clasped together in front of her as she spoke. Her calm demeanor belying her thoughts that she'd never disagreed with Dumbledore before. "I think it's going to be suspicious enough to Umbridge with Mr. Potter leaving with the Weasley children. Could you imagine the uproar, the fight we'd have on our hands, should Mr. Masen and Miss Swan leave too?" Here she paused for effect and to give Dumbledore time to think on it. Then she really laid it on thick, with a bad impression of Umbridge to boot. "'They're not family,' Umbridge would argue. 'They should not have left the school. It's bad enough that you let Mr. Potter leave. Why did Miss Swan and Mr. Masen need to go too?'"

There were several snickers around the room and even a slight smile from Dumbledore before he nodded in her direction. "Fair point, Minerva. Bella and Edward will stay. The rest, however, place your fingertips on the boot."

Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Harry all placed a finger on the portkey. Just before they were to disappear, Ginny looked up at me meaningfully. I'll make sure Harry knows it's not his fault. Just bring Hermione to him as soon as you can.

With a nod from me to let her know I understood, they disappeared. Bella walked over to me as Professor McGonagall bid Dumbledore good night. She indicated to me that Bella and I should follow her as she walked past. Without a word, we started to follow her out of Dumbledore's office.

"Edward, a word before your go, please?" Dumbledore asked from where he stood behind his desk.

"Sure, Professor." I turned to see that Bella and Professor McGonagall were waiting at the door. "Go. I'll follow when I'm done." They both nodded before leaving and heading down the stairs. I turned back to Dumbledore. "What can I do for you, Professor?"

"Harry needs to learn Occlumency. I want him to learn from Professor Snape when he returns to school."

I snorted at the command. "Sir, I am neither your soldier nor your errand boy, and I'd thank you to stop talking to me as if I were."

Dumbledore looked up at me in surprise. He'd been looking down at the files on his desk as he had issued his command. "I didn't. I wasn't."

"You were," I spoke bluntly. I wanted to get my point across. "And he won't take private lessons from Professor Snape, sir. I'm surprised that you would even suggest such a thing, considering the animosity between the two of them. To place them in a room alone is asking for trouble."

"He still needs to learn, and Severus is the best," Dumbledore argued. He was a little flustered that I was arguing the point with him.

Shaking my head, I argued back. "And had you been paying attention to any of us this year, but Harry especially, you'd know that Jasper and I have been teaching him that very thing. As well as yoga and meditation to calm his emotions before he goes to bed." I sighed at the stunned look that crossed Dumbledore's face. "We worked out during the summer that Harry has a connection to Voldemort, and that when he's emotionally overwhelmed, he can tap into what Voldemort sees or what he feels—or for some reason—what Nagini sees and feels. So, we began teaching him then, and until tonight, it had been working. He hadn't been inside either of their heads."

"What changed?"

I smiled. I couldn't help it. "Harry's made some significant changes to the way he thinks over the last weeks, and tonight, he was remembering something that made him extremely happy; let's leave it at that. And those emotions helped to let the vision in." I made to leave Dumbledore's office, but I couldn't leave without saying something about what happened there tonight. "The way you spoke around us tonight wasn't acceptable, professor. We are not your underlings, nor are we your soldiers. If you have enquiries of us, we'd like it if you would at least give us your attention. Otherwise, we may look elsewhere for leadership, and I'm not just talking about the students here at school."

With those parting words, I left Dumbledore alone in his office. I'd kept an eye on where Professor McGonagall and Bella had gone, finding them in Professor McGonagall's office, not talking, just waiting. I used my speed to get there faster, not wanting to keep them waiting.

"Umbridge wasn't the only reason I wanted to keep you both here," Professor McGonagall stated as I crossed the threshold of her office and firmly shut the door. "I believe that you two are part of a small group defying Professor Umbridge's rules?"

Bella and I smiled. Hers was a little angelic while mine was rather devilish. "Not sure what you're talking about, professor," Bella and I said together.

"Mmhmm, that's what I thought." Professor McGonagall sighed, giving us an indulgent smile. "You need to keep them abreast of what is happening in the castle. Harry needs to be protected from that vile woman, and you two are key to that. Besides, Professor Dumbledore did not handle that meeting well at all. He's excluding the people he should be including and sticking to patterns that may have worked well in the past but don't any longer."

"You're talking about his relationship with Professor Snape, aren't you?" Bella blurted out suddenly. The question must have taken her by surprise as well because she blushed. She hadn't done that in a long time.

I couldn't help but chuckle a little at her embarrassment.

It seemed neither could Professor McGonagall. "That is one example, yes. But he's not confiding in us. He had been open in the past—sometimes—but this year, it seems he's reverted. He's not sharing much at Potter mansion when the Order comes together, and he's not sharing with the two of you, who are in the thick of it. But to ignore all of you like that in that meeting." Professor McGonagall shook her head. "It was disrespectful. Has Harry been practicing Occlumency?" The change of topic startled both Bella and me.

I hadn't heard the thought cross her mind before she asked but nodded to her question anyway. "He had a dream over the summer. Between Jasper and me, we worked out that when Harry is emotionally overwhelmed, these visions from Voldemort, or those he is really connected with, slip through."

"Good. That's good. Did Professor Dumbledore ask you about that?"

I nodded. "Well, not so much as asked but demanded that I get Harry to have occlumency lessons with Snape when he returns from the holidays." This time, I shook my head. "I respectfully reminded him that I was not his soldier, or do-boy, and that Harry was already learning how to stop the intrusion into his mind. He didn't seem to appreciate the sentiment."

"I can imagine he did not. Was he surprised at your defiance?"

"Just a smidge." I held up my hand with my thumb and finger an inch or so apart. "I think he was more surprised that I called him out on it, to be honest. It's like he expects us to follow him blindly, regardless of the consequences."

Professor McGonagall paced a little behind her desk, thinking about what I'd said. "I'm sure that's exactly what he expects. Professor Dumbledore has always been one for doing things his own way. He has always expected others to follow him because he feels he's trustworthy."

"I'm not sure he's shown that lately," Bella murmured from next to me.

"I don't believe he has," Professor McGonagall agreed. "That's why I want you to keep the others informed; well, there is that, but I also wanted to give you time to search through the restricted section of the library. I believe you have some research to do."

Bella and I smiled as Professor McGonagall handed us a pass to access all parts of the restricted section. I wondered how far back this information might be hiding for us to give us unrestricted access. "Thank you, Professor. I'm sure whatever information we find will be helpful."

~*~ UHS~*~

We were both quiet as we made our way back to Gryffindor Tower. Mostly because I was keeping an ear out for Umbridge, who was stalking about the corridors—none too happy about being waylaid by Professor McGonagall and because Bella was still wondering what we would find in the restricted section of the library.

What else would we find? she wondered, looking at me. I thought we'd been in pretty far the last time. How much more was there behind that?

"I don't know," I whispered as I led her behind one of the tapestries on the fifth floor, which led to a secret passage up to the seventh. "But I can't wait to find out."

After Christmas, Bella thought back at me. I don't want to do any research before then. I want to enjoy as much of our break as we possibly can with Arthur in the hospital.

I'd opened my mouth to argue but snapped it closed when she posed her argument. She was right. Arthur was in the hospital. And we had to be there to support our extended family. "Okay. After Christmas."

We made it back to the tower with only one close call with Snape. He had his mind closed, and I had been paying more attention to Umbridge, and I nearly missed his approach.

The Fat Lady swung open almost without us whispering the password to her. She'd heard the commotion, and no doubt the paintings had been talking while we were gone. "Tell Molly that all the paintings are thinking of her, Arthur, and the kids during this time."

Bella nodded as she answered. "We will."

Without another word, both of us clambered into my trunk and into the bed together, almost letting out simultaneous sighs of relief.

"All that's left is to tell the others what happened. I think we should meet in the Room of Requirement," Bella said through a yawn.

"I'll send Athan and Saffy out with letters in a little while. Sleep, Bella; get some rest. It's been a hell of a night."

All I got in return was a hum. It seemed my girl had fallen asleep halfway through. Tonight was one of those nights where I wished I could enter the dream world with her. If only to get a few hours of respite.

~*~UHS~*~

I leaned back on the bed I shared with Bella at Swan Manor and tried to rest my mind while Bella was in the shower. I couldn't wait until she was in bed with me so I could turn on the bubble lamp to get some peace and quiet. To say that the last couple days had been trying would be a complete understatement.

Umbridge had been on an absolute tear once she found out that not only had the Weasley children gone home—due to Arthur's "accident"—but Harry had gone with them. "Why?" she had asked our headmaster. She had been so loud in the Great Hall that it seemed she'd almost shouted it. And all Dumbledore would say was, "Harry had to go. He was in a complete panic and would disturb the rest of the students." Umbridge didn't buy the shit he was peddling, and neither did our small group of friends.

Even without sending the letters—because I'd been too drained mentally, and Bella had clung to me in her sleep thanks to some rather disturbing dreams of my head coming off, I'd stayed in bed with her—our friends all agreed to get to the Room of Requirement as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, Umbridge must have had Filch working for her because we all got waylaid by something or another trying to get there. In fact, it was Umbridge herself who got in our way. She still wasn't happy that we weren't abiding by her stupid guidelines about being eight inches apart, added to the fact that we were there that night and privy to what had happened, just made her that much more furious. How she knew, I couldn't figure out, but I was going to work it out as soon as we got back. So, she was the one trying to stop Bella and me from leaving the Great Hall.

Umbridge had accosted us as we'd stood up from the breakfast table and flat out demanded that we go with her.

"Why?" Bella had asked. "We've done nothing wrong."

Instead of answering, Umbridge had glared down her nose—as much as she could because we were taller than she was—and walked away, expecting us to follow her. We did. More out of curiosity than anything else. Only for her to lead us to the room the champions of the Triwizard Tournament had gathered in the year before. There, Umbridge forced her fat, podgy finger in our faces and told us she wanted to know what we knew in no uncertain terms or she was revoking our pass for the restricted section.

I'd snorted at her, causing her ire to be directed at me. "You can't do that. Once the pass has been issued, the only ones able to revoke it would be the person who had given it, the librarian, or the library itself. Please don't think we're dumb enough to not know otherwise."

In the face of her shock, Bella and I simply turned and strode toward the door.

"Don't turn your backs on me!" Umbridge had shouted. "You'll regret it!"

Instead of engaging with her, we just kept walking. It was a well-known fact that her magic just wasn't strong enough to do anything to us.

We found all of our friends coming from different ways when we reached the Room of Requirement. Neville was waiting in the doorway. To say they were flabbergasted, appalled, and disgusted at what Voldemort had done with Nagini was an understatement.

"What is a Maledictus? I've never heard of it." Hermione had asked, turning to Luna.

Luna had just shaken her head. "Grandpa has told me a lot of things, about a lot of animals, but not even he has mentioned one. I'll definitely ask when I get home. Any information could be helpful."

Draco had nodded. "And I'll keep my ear to the ground at home too. See if I can hear something. Although, I'm sure 'Daddy' will expect me to spend a lot of my summer spying on the Weasleys and their associates. Telling him tidbits about Mr. Weasley won't be much of a stretch."

"I'm sure we could even make up a few things." Bella giggled out loud, only causing the rest to laugh as well. I had no doubt we would be leading Lucius Malfoy and his merry band of assholes on all sorts of adventures all over England.

So, it was no surprise that we were all packed and ready to go on the first carriage to Hogsmeade on Christmas Eve morning. Not that it mattered because we had to wait for everyone going home to board before we could leave anyway.

And that brought me to now. Lying here as I waited for Bella to be finished with her shower and desperately trying not to let my imagination get away from me.

I closed my eyes and thought about the gift I had gotten for Bella. She knew I had my mother's engagement ring hidden somewhere in this house, and she was eagerly anticipating the day that I would give it to her. I knew I would do that soon, but it wasn't going to be now, or even this Christmas period. But what I had gotten her was a gift from my heritage, my Irish heritage. I had bought her a Claddagh promise ring. Something that would announce to the world she was mine, even if we had made that point already. I knew, however, that Bella would love the symbolism behind it. More so the fact that it was something I would have done if we had both been living in my time.

I heard the bathroom door open but kept my eyes closed as Bella padded across the floor to the bed. "Sleepy?" she whispered with a giggle as she ran her fingers through my hair.

"It would be nice to sleep. Just to forget everything for a while." I sighed as I let myself relax further into the bed. Bella reached over and switched on the bubble lamp before extinguishing the lanterns with her wand. "Ready to sleep, my girl?"

Bella giggled and snuggled closer. "Not yet," she whispered. "I want to try something."

"What do you want to try?"

"You."

My eyes popped open at the suggestive way Bella said that one word. "What?"

"We've been working up to this, Edward. I've built it up in my head, probably making it out to be more than it should be. I want to do this. I want to taste you."

"If that's what you truly want, I'm not going to stop you." I smirked at her as I rolled and wrapped my arm around her. My hand started at the curve of her ass, but I snaked it up the back of her shirt. "I wanna spend some time enjoying you, too."

"Mmm." Bella hummed as she pressed up against me, kissing my softly. "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

For the next several moments, Bella and I made out like the teens we are. Both of her arms curled around my head so she could plant her hands in my hair. I rolled onto my back, pulling her with me, so I could feel her body with my hands unencumbered. The one that was up the back of her shirt stayed there, my hand spread wide to feel as much of her as I could. My other hand ended up inside her shorts and panties, cupping that beautiful bottom of hers. Her ass was like a magnet for my hands. I'd never thought myself an ass man, I thought I would be attracted to the whole package—not that Bella wasn't stunning, and all of her drew me in—but then I'd never seen an ass as stunning as Bella's.

Bella giggled as I pulled her closer by her ass. Squeezing and kneading. She peered over her shoulder to where my hand was still placed. "You have a thing for that particular part of my anatomy, don't you?"

"I have a thing for all of your anatomy," I said, squeezing once more. "But this I seem to enjoy."

"Mmm." Bella moaned as my fingers slipped around farther. "I enjoy your preoccupation with it, too."

"That's a very good thing," I whispered as I pulled my hands free of her underwear. But instead of slowing things down, I began to undress her. Bella didn't take long to catch up. I had only inched her top up to under her breasts before she was starting to undo the buttons on my shirt.

For the next few moments, Bella and I were almost quiet. Between kisses and moans, we slowly undressed each other. Teasing, tasting, and exploring the flesh we exposed. No words were said as I kissed down her neck from her mouth. Bella's back arched as my hands and mouth latched on to her nipples. Pulling and tugging, flicking and sucking. I had discovered one day that Bella's breasts were so sensitive that if I played them just right, I could bring her to orgasm without touching her anywhere else. But that wasn't my goal for today.

I continued kissing down her stunning body. It had changed so much over the last few years, filled out in places I didn't know would entice me so much, but I knew there was still more small changes to come. I couldn't imagine what those changes would do to me. I dipped my tongue into her belly button when I reached it—causing her to let out this adorable giggle-moan—before I nuzzled the area just above her curls.

"Edward, don't tease." Bella breathed as she flopped back onto the bed.

"I wasn't gonna," I answered her, right before I leaned down and licked her from one entrance to the other, groaning out loud. "Merlin, Bella, you taste better every time we do this."

Instead of answering me, Bella let out a loud moan because I licked her once more before sucking on her clit. I continued teasing her for several minutes before I gave her what we both wanted. We had discovered that if I growled while suckling on her clit, it led her to an intense orgasm.

I felt Bella's hands pulling on my hair after a while. "Stop, Edward, please? Too sensitive."

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not," I said as I kissed up her body.

"I don't want you to be sorry." Bella kissed me back. "Now, roll over." I laughed as I did what she demanded. "It's my turn to explore you."

Bella curled into my side, her lips at my ear. I was so glad that she didn't climb on top of me because there were things we wanted to save for our wedding night, and had she done that, it would have been all over. Instead, she curled her top leg over one of mine, pressing as tight as she could into my side. "Mmm, Edward." She breathed before sucking on my earlobe. Who would have thought that was an erogenous zone on men? "Where should I begin? Or should I just try every …" There was a kiss to my collarbone "… single …" A lick and a nip to my nipple causing me to jump "… inch …" Bella's fingers scratched through my happy trail while her tongue dipped into my belly button "… of you?"

"Ugh," I groaned. "You just keep doing … ugh … exactly what you're doing."

Bella snickered in her thoughts. Her confidence about being with me had grown by leaps and bounds since I stopped seeing Bella as my ten-year-old mate and started seeing her as the beautiful young woman she had become.

The hand that had been running through my happy trail started migrating downward. She didn't even pause anymore as she wrapped her hand around me. I could feel her hair as it tickled the skin of my stomach and my legs. I could feel her breath as she followed the hair on my stomach down until it fanned over my cock. I couldn't help but moan at the sensation. It was the closest her mouth had been to that part of my body.

I didn't want to look down because I knew if I did this wouldn't last as long as I wanted it to. But with the lengthy pause Bella was holding, I couldn't help it. I looked down and locked eyes with dark, sexy, and smirking. "Bella," I whispered, reaching out to touch her gloriously stunning face. "Please, don't … ugh." I groaned loud and long when Bella suddenly leaned forward and took me into her mouth.

Mmm, yummy, Bella thought as she pulled back up, sucking as she went. I really wished I had done this sooner.

Considering this was Bella's first time giving me head, I couldn't imagine how she could get any better at it. Between moans, I was able to answer her thoughts. "Ohhh … don't be sorry … you weren't ready … before now."

My head had fallen backward at the sudden onslaught of feelings when Bella had taken me in her mouth, but I knew I didn't want to miss out on seeing what I was feeling.

Still … not sure how you'll get me off of you now.

"Oh god," I groaned as Bella added her teeth on the upstroke. She couldn't say things to me like that. I wouldn't last much lon … "Bella, move!"

Uh uh. You are going to come down my throat. I want to taste all of you.

On the next upstroke, Bella twisted her hand, giving me something entirely new to feel, as well as the feeling of her teeth and tongue, and I was done. Simply done. I thought I'd been loud before, but the growl, moan, groan combo that I let loose as I came would have told the whole house what we were doing had Bella not turned on the bubble lamp.

My growl tapered off into a rumbling purr as Bella released my cock from her mouth and crawled up the bed like a satisfied lioness to curl into my side. The smirk on her face said it all. She knew she had pleased me, and pleased me well. I relaxed back into the bed, turning on my side and tucking her against my chest.

Bella's thoughts were smug. She'd been nervous that I might not like what she was going to do to me, but considering how long I didn't last, and the fact that I was now purring; she knew I'd enjoyed it.

"You know, Bella. You get any better at that and you may just find a way to kill me."

Bella snickered tiredly. Then maybe I should only let you have one on special occasions. Birthdays and such.

I growled at her menacingly this time. "Uh, no. You enjoyed it as much as I did. That'll never happen."

Hmm, maybe.

It wasn't long until Bella started to fall asleep, so I pulled the sheets and blankets up over us. Both of us still completely naked and enjoying the closeness of nothing between us. I wondered if Bella would be willing to sleep like this every night once we got back to Hogwarts.

~*~UHS~*~

Phew ... well then ... Is it hot in here?

Let me know what you think! See you in a fortnight!