A/N: Thanks so much for the positive response for the last chapter - I worried over it, unsure if the flow was working or it was too much exposition, on and on… trying to weave in the important bits from Book 6 without rehashing all JKR's original text. There's only a couple more chapters where that will be an issue because our plotline will be making a full departure soon. I'm writing this in true serial fashion with only a few fleshed-out scenes scattered across a rough outline that exists only in my head, publishing each chapter as it's completed. Call me crazy, but that's often how I write.

This cut from The Other Side of Life was a unique collaboration between the late Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge, better known for his spoken compositions, and Patrick Moraz, who was never given full band member status despite having spent fifteen years as Mike Pinder's replacement on keyboards.

Ch 13 in which Harry celebrates and pontificates…

– 13 –

The Spirit

I can heal you
It's not a matter of slight
Only of sound

Let me feel for you
Then you can feel for yourself
The love all around

I can lead you
Is your soul afraid?
Afraid of what you've made?

Do you know the way the spirit goes?

- The Moody Blues

o o
o

"Try again, Potter, and make it bigger this time."

Harry took a deep breath and aimed the Elder Wand, still disguised as his own, focusing on the conjuration he was attempting. A solid brick wall, a dozen feet square, appeared before them.

"Now blast it apart," barked Mad-Eye Moody, intent on going beyond standard Auror practices with the promising young lad. He was pleased that Harry seemed more focused this session.

Harry complied with a powerful curse he'd learned the month before, and they were both forced to cast shields against the hailstorm of sharp-edged masonry rubble and dust that filled the Room of Requirement.

"What did that tell you?"

"No blasting brick up close?" coughed Harry.

"Which means what?"

"That a brick wall may not be the best material to hide behind?"

"That's it," the grizzled Auror grinned. "Can you think of an alternative?"

Harry tried a reinforced concrete wall, which held up much better.

"Now, can you levitate it?"

"What? Why would I need to do that?"

"Suppose you're on a broom and being chased by several enemies all intent on cursing you out of the sky. You can't defend against all of them at once."

"But wouldn't they just go around it?"

"They would," mused Mad-Eye, "if they could see it."

"Could we make it invisible?"

"Yeah, but then you might forget where it is and crash into it yourself. Something like glass would work, if it weren't so damn fragile…"

Harry paused, thinking about one time when his cousin had deliberately knocked the framed pictures off the mantel so he could blame it on Harry. Some shattered into tiny pieces, but others suffered no damage at all.

"Have you ever heard of perspex?"

o o o

Buoyed by Ginny's confidence in him, Harry moved through the autumn more determined than ever to achieve a goal he once thought impossible - not only defeating Voldemort but actually living, and participating in the vision of love and family that she had held before him.

Training with Mad-Eye Moody was still productive and quidditch practices were going well. Even when Ron struggled at times the team gathered in support, but Harry suspected that Hermione was giving him the same kind of "inspirational talk" that Ginny had provided for himself. He really didn't need to know, as long as the results played out on the pitch.

And they did, as the Lions soundly defeated the Slytherin team in their first game of the season. The Gryffindor common room was replete with butterbeer and snacks during the after-match party.

Harry slapped his keeper on the shoulder. "Congratulations, mate! I knew you could block their shots with just a little confidence."

Hermione snuggled against his other side and kissed his cheek. "Yes, Ron, you did really well."

Ron blushed at the praise. "All I could do was keep the score even. Thank Merlin the girls were on their game today." They looked over to where the three chasers were performing some kind of victory chant to a cheering audience. "If you hadn't caught the snitch - hey, how did you manage that? I was sure Harper had you beat."

"He did," Harry replied to the others' amazement. "But I was thinking about why he was out there today, so I hollered out something about how much Malfoy paid to replace him, and the git fumbled the catch!"

They all laughed until their sides ached. Harry was proud of his team and their success today, but he was most proud of Ginny. An annoying Hufflepuff named Zacharias Smith had been making disparaging comments about the Gryffindor team throughout the match, almost as if he favored the Slytherins. After her traumatic first year under the thrall of Tom Riddle's diary, she had become a force of nature and could not leave effrontery like that unchallenged.

When Harry caught the snitch, she sailed past him into the announcer's booth causing it to collapse, leaving a dazed and aching Smith floundering in the rubble.

To Harry, her fierce spirit only enhanced her beauty.

o o o

"You know, I'm becoming addicted to your kisses."

Ginny gave him an impish grin. "I thought you already were."

"You're probably right - I suffer withdrawal whenever I can't be with you like this."

"Speaking of which - Slughorn's Christmas party is coming up and you need a date."

Harry groaned. "You really think that's necessary?"

"Quit whinging. Luna would love the opportunity to attend and she already knows about us. All you have to do is ask. Besides, I've overheard Romilda Vane and her lot plotting out some nefarious way to have you ask one of them. They should back off when they know you're spoken for."

"What about you? Are you going with Colin Creevey?" Harry hadn't liked Ginny's yearmate much when he was younger and fascinated with the "Boy Who Lived," but Colin had grown into a more serious and capable fighter in the DA last year.

"No, he's fixated on Demelza right now. I've already been asked, and I know you won't like it, but I think it can work out well for us in the long run."

She was spot on, Harry thought gloomily, but as she laid out her plans he saw how brilliant, even Marauder-worthy they were and chuckled at how much fun this might turn out to be after all.

o o o

"Harry, thank you for coming this evening. Alastor tells me that your training sessions are going very well."

"Yes, Professor, although he has a bit of a sadistic streak. The more vicious and destructive the spell, the happier he gets."

Dumbledore shook his head in amusement. "A byproduct of many long years in the Auror Corps, I'm afraid."

For a moment, he stared at his desk, gathering his thoughts. "I also wanted to thank you for providing your memory of that terrible Halloween - I offer my condolences for all you lost that night, but we need to celebrate the bravery of your parents, particularly your mother. For in reviewing that memory, I understand much more about what happened and why you are still here today, even after several dramatic encounters with Voldemort."

Harry blinked several times; he had forgotten this would be a topic tonight. "Yes, sir."

"To begin with, you made some rather astounding conclusions in this office the night you confronted Professor Snape. Since that is not my story to tell, I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of your conclusions." He gave a sly smile and a wink.

"All that is to say that Lord Voldemort did not arrive at your home with the intent to murder your mother; he was willing to leave her alive as a grotesque reward for one in his service as long as it suited his overall goals. As you are aware, intent is a critical component of magic and we will see how this one fact may have saved your life.

"Your father, despite being a pureblood heir, was an opponent to be dispatched and merely in the way. Caught unprepared, his death on the stair was mercifully quick, leaving you alone with your mother, who is now your sole surviving parent. This is to become an important contributing factor. Do you understand so far?"

Harry had no idea where the headmaster was going, but he grasped the two points well enough. "Yes, sir."

"Very well. Now, the next moments will be difficult for you emotionally, Harry, but I want you to try and focus on what is being said as Lord Voldemort invades your nursery room, while keeping in mind their individual motivations. With what little knowledge Voldemort has, he is determined to cause your death. Lily's motivation is the pure selfless love of a mother - she will protect her son at all costs.

"As Lord Voldemort is dealing with Lily's barricade at the door, your mother places you in the crib, then turns defensively to face the enemy with arms wide, yet without her wand, illustrating both her desperation and determination. She repeatedly pleads for your life - 'Please, not Harry!'

"If Lord Voldemort was thinking clearly and not about the promise he made to a follower, he would have killed her immediately. Yet he makes a curious reply - 'Stand aside, you silly girl . . . stand aside, now.' So you see that his intent was to let her live.

"Your mother returns with a statement that could be considered foolishly brave, but it turns out to be incredibly insightful and fortuitous - 'Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -'"

Eyes screwed shut, Harry sat quietly, trying to listen dispassionately and understand, imagining the scene as a detached observer, yet it took every ounce of willpower he could muster not to break out screaming at the injustice of it all.

"Breathe, Harry," Dumbledore urged. "For I believe we have reached the moment where your fate makes a sharp turn in direction."

Harry looked up. "Sir?"

"Magic is a wonderful, vastly powerful, and still mostly unknown force, Harry. Some will even say that it has sentience - a mind of its own. When your mother said 'Not Harry, kill me instead,' it is possible that magic responded, given the heightened emotions and the seriousness of the stakes, by accepting her offer as the opening of a negotiation: 'Accept my life in exchange for my son's.' Remember that her position as your sole surviving parent gives her authority to bargain on your behalf.

"Of course, Lord Voldemort does not accept Lily's terms, not initially, instead repeating his insistence that she step aside. She only repeats her offer and pleads for mercy.

"But then, Lord Voldemort unwittingly accepts the terms of the offer by taking your mother's life, and magic responds in the form of a contract between himself and you, sealed in Lily's blood, that he has willingly exchanged her life for yours.

"In essence, he has created a magical vow to not take your life, by killing her instead. Therefore, when he attempts to kill you, he is in violation of the vow he just created! Magic responds by returning his curse upon himself, which destroys his physical body and half the room around you. You remain alive but scarred from a curse that usually leaves no mark - and not just any scar, but it is in the shape of sowilo, the sun rune, the light of the world, shield and destroyer of ice!"

"So, my scar was created by magic," wondered Harry, subconsciously rubbing his forehead, "as a byproduct of Voldemort violating the vow?"

"I am convinced this is the case. When we brought you to your relatives, I could tell there was powerful magic present on you, and it was based in Lily's blood. I could only assume it was a primal form of ancient magic, and I was not wrong about that. Sometimes the simplest answers are the ones that are hardest to discern." He chuckled at his own hubris.

"Then he really can't kill me? Even though he used my blood in the ritual to bring himself back?"

"No, he cannot. If anything, he foolishly reinforced the vow. However, you need to remember that this protection is only from Lord Voldemort; you are still vulnerable to his followers. I would not share that fact."

"Yeah, good idea," said Harry, deep in thought.

"Now that we have that unpleasantness sorted, it is time to delve into other aspects of Tom's past. Several of these memories were obtained with great difficulty, and I would like to know that my efforts had some merit after all.

"Are you ready for another dip into the pensieve, Harry?"

o o o

Harry's last class of the term was an entertaining lesson on human transfiguration. They all had a good laugh with Ron, who somehow managed an impressive handlebar mustache, despite that their goal was changing eyebrow color.

Then it was evening and time to go to Slughorn's Christmas party. Harry feebly attempted to tame his hair, donned his best dress robes, and sauntered down to the entrance hall and his date for the evening.

Luna dressed almost conservatively in a set of interesting spangled silver robes that attracted giggles from some of the unusually large gaggle of girls gathered there, the same girls who alternately glared at him for not choosing them as a date.

Harry ignored them and stepped up to the blonde Ravenclaw. "Good evening, milady," he said with a bow. "You look quite fetching tonight."

Luna curtseyed, playing along. "The same to you, good sir."

As Harry took her hand and led her to the stairs, she leaned in and whispered, "Do we get to be pretend royalty all evening?"

Harry grinned. "Sure, if it pleases milady. By the way, I heard they invited a vampire to the party."

"Oh, it is Rufus Scrimgeour?"

Harry guffawed. "The Minister of Magic is a vampire?"

"Oh, yes," Luna replied, completely serious. "Father wrote all about it when Scrimgeour took over from Fudge, but the Ministry wouldn't let him publish it - they're always trying to cover up the truth about things they don't want people to know."

Harry never could tell if Luna believed her father's tales or not, but it was always good entertainment. "Remind him that I'll be happy to give another interview if he wants. I'll be at the Burrow over Christmas break."

"Thank you, good sir. Oh, hello, Hermione, Ronald, how are you this fine evening?"

Harry's friends were coming down the staircase. "We are doing very well, Luna," Hermione said, returning her curtsy. "You and Harry look quite nice."

"Yeah," agreed Ron, head tilted quizzically. "Harry, no offense Luna, but I thought you might be going with Ginny tonight."

Harry shrugged. "She already had a date, so I was lucky that Luna agreed to go with me."

Luna played her part perfectly, beaming and squeezing Harry's arm.

"Ginny has a date?" Ron frowned as he looked up and down the stairs. "Who is it?"

Hermione tugged him toward Slughorn's office. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Let's get to the party."

Luna whispered eagerly in Harry's ear, "Do you think we'll see a fight?"

"I don't know if it will come to that, but it should be exciting to watch."

They were bathed in the sounds of music and laughter upon squeezing into Slughorn's office, which was crowded and stuffy despite having been magically enlarged. Draped in emerald, crimson and gold hangings, it had been converted to a Christmas fairyland, complete with real fairies illuminating an ornate gold chandelier overhead.

They were sliding through the haze of some pipe-smoking warlocks when Ron came to an abrupt halt. "You came with him?"

Ginny stood before him, head raised imperiously. "I've told you before, Ron, who I date is none of your business."

"But, but he's -"

"Hi, Harry. Luna, you may not know my escort this evening, this is Cormac McLaggen. Cormac, this is my dear friend Luna Lovegood. I believe you know Harry, Hermione, and my brother Ron."

"Yeah, nice to see you all," the lanky Gryffindor replied. "As you can see, Ginny respects talent when she sees it."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes, that was exactly it."

While Ron stared at them, stunned speechless, Harry sidled up to Ginny's date.

"Just a reminder, McLaggen," Harry muttered, "Ginny has six brothers, and if there's anything left after they're done, you'll have me to deal with if you hurt her."

He glanced at Harry with annoyance. "Whatever you say, Captain."

Harry winked at Ginny before leading Luna away. "That's assuming she leaves anything for her brothers after she's done with him."

Luna was about to respond when Horace Slughorn himself clamped onto him.

"Harry, m'boy! I'm so glad you could make it! Let me introduce you around, eh?"

Harry clung to Luna's hand as a lifeline as the potions professor steered them first to a odd pair of gentlemen - a short stout wizard was the author Eldred Worple, who would like nothing better than to pen the biography of the Boy Who Lived, and his friend Sanguini, the vampire who had been a previous subject of a Worple book. In contrast to the author, Sanguini was tall and unhealthily thin, and cast an unhealthily hungry eye at nearby gaggling girls.

Harry was not interested in Worple's entreaties and Sanguini creeped him out, so he made excuses and pulled Luna off to another area of the room where they found themselves stuck with Professor Trelawney, who was moaning about the existence of the centaur Firenze who was still in the castle teaching her subject even after she was allowed to return to the classroom herself.

She listed several convoluted reasons that Harry should return to Divination when Slughorn dropped by to drag him somewhere else. Harry desperately contemplated some valid reason to decline, but he was saved by a commotion behind him.

Cormac McLaggen rushed by, flailing at the bats erupting from his nostrils and clawing at his face. "Augghh! She's a bloody menace! Get them off me! Get OFF!"

His screams of anguish lessened in volume as he disappeared, presumably to the hospital wing.

Slughorn laughed. "That curse looks familiar! Miss Weasley, I presume?"

Ginny approached, flustered and angry. "Yes, I cursed him, professor. He tried to give me this drink."

Slughorn took the offered goblet and sniffed. "My word, that has hints of… dare I say… a lust potion mixed in the mead?"

"I'll kill him with my bare hands," growled Ron, who had arrived with Hermione.

"No, Ron, he was my date, he's my problem. You don't need to be sentenced to Azkaban for that worthless git."

"No, no, certainly not," Slughorn said in a thoughtful voice. "Some detentions would certainly be appropriate…" He wobbled away, apparently forgetting his purpose for being there.

Ron wanted to grumble more, but Hermione steered him off to calm him down, probably under some mistletoe, thought Harry.

"You sure you got this?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yeah, thanks Harry," Ginny said, deliberately fingering her birthday locket. Harry noticed, then looked up for confirmation. Her nod said it all. Harry's birthday present had warned her of the tainted mead.

"I need your invisibility cloak so I can sneak into his dorm. Some of the twins' itching powder in his shorts and he won't be able to sit for a month."

Harry laughed as he handed her the cloak. "Remind me not to get on your bad side, Gin."

Luna stared at them, wide-eyed. "When this gets out, no one will dare ask you for a date."

Ginny grinned evilly. "That's a consequence I'm willing to accept."

Harry shook his head. "The twins will adore you, assuming we can ever tell them about this."

"This is all so exciting!" Luna giggled. "Thank you so much for letting me be part of your nefarious plots."

"We couldn't have done it without you, Luna."

o

A/N: For those wondering why Ron and Hermione aren't trying to outdo each other with jealous teenage drama, a reminder that Ginny's angry retort "Hermione's snogged Victor Krum!" while defending herself with Dean Thomas never happened in this story.