Planning Ahead

7th of November, 1997.

Colourful leaves were falling slowly. The air was chilly and mist hung over the ground like a silvery blanket. Golrii was flying around while Yolliz sat on a branch watching. Down on the ground, Draco was sitting with his back against a tree. Harry was standing a couple of meters away. They had been meeting like this for a while for the dragons' sake.

Draco sighed and looked up at the sky through the leaves.

"Wanna talk about it?" Harry asked.

Draco glared at Harry before sighing deeply once more. "I don't know," he said. "This is our last year. Once this is over then what do I do?"

"You are an apprentice, right?" Harry said. "You'll just go with your Master. Do you need to do more than that?"

"Yeah, sure, but then what?"

Harry sighed. "Kato Peverell is known to be a healer who does things no one else can. People ask for him. I know that he turns people down a lot. You could become a healer. You could become renowned as a healer. You know you can do something he can't, right?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Kato doesn't brew potions," Harry said. "If you could learn what he knows and get good with potions then you could be even better than him in that field."

Draco smirked triumphantly. He leaned back again and closed his eyes. He could become a Master Healer. The smirk turned into a smile. Master Healer and Potion Master Draco Malfoy. He kind of liked the sound of that. It was a rough road to walk, but he could do it. "I guess that could work," he said.

"You might want to let cousin Kato know. He could focus you on the things you need to become a healer rather than everything. That might be easier for you in the long run," Harry said.

"You don't think that I can learn all of it?" Draco said defensively.

"I think it might be better for you if you chose not to because it is easier that way. Kato didn't learn all his Masteries at the same time. He took them two and two I think," Harry said with a shrug.

Draco nodded slowly. At least that made sense. He guessed he could think of it that way. At the very least he now had a plan that he was happy with. He would learn and people would idolize him for it. He guessed talking to Harry wasn't so bad. He could see why Theodore and Blaise talked positively about Potter. He had a lot of inside information about Kato as well which was practical. The more he could learn about his Master the better.

They watched their dragons for a bit longer before heading back to the school for breakfast. Harry sat down next to Neville. "Morning," he said.

Neville handed him a letter as he responded, "Mom and Dad have finished packing."

"We'll go over after classes and help them move," Harry said. "Frank needs support if he is going to apparate."

Neville smiled happily. "Great," he said.

Harry looked down at the letter in his hands and chuckled. It was from Gabrielle.

Hi Harry,

School is a lot of fun, but I miss mom

and dad a lot.

All big sister talks about is her wedding which

is nice, but I wish we could talk about something

else. Pierre found a bunch of frogs and stuck

them down Yves and my shirts. They are my

friends by the way Pierre, Yves and Claude. They

are the best. (You know when Pierre isn't getting

into mischief). I'm getting better at controlling

the magic you taught me. I can make balls of light

and play with them.

I can make fire too and ice. I hope you can teach

me more this Christmas. Will you invite everyone?

Can we have a magical Christmas this year?

We had so much fun last time.

Harry read the rest of the letter. He knew he would have to take some time to answer her later. He somehow doubted that Fleur only spoke of her wedding, but maybe Gabrielle felt that way. He would have to keep that in mind he guessed.

Classes went by quickly that day. Soon enough Neville and Harry were headed to Ennerdale so they could help Frank and Alice.

"Oh, you don't need to carry everything," Alice said.

"Yeah, well I'm still going to do it," Neville said. He disapparated and placed the box down. His grandmother smiled happily as she sat in her favourite chair. Her baby was coming home finally. She was hoping that everything would work out now. Harry had looked over the wards and he seemed very happy with them. Only a few people could enter the house now. That should make sure that no one could attack her family again.

Harry and Neville moved back and forth a few times before Neville placed his arm around his mother and brought her over to the house. Harry followed closely behind him with Frank.

"It has been a while," Frank said. "This place hasn't changed much." He hoped that his mother wouldn't mind some changes.

They would figure out what they could do later.

12th of November, 1997.

Ray had gathered all of the Aurors in his group together. They had been doing a lot better with the hints he had given them. Mostly they had needed scenarios to work with. It was time to head out on the street while also increasing their repertoire. Posters of the escaped Death Eaters had been hung up on the wall behind him.

"Are you all familiar with our escapees?" Ray asked. "Bellatrix Lestrange. She was the right-hand woman of the Dark Lord. She is sadistic and highly dangerous. However, she isn't quite right and can be dealt with if you work quickly. Facing her is best done with calculated cool. Her husband and his brother are simply deranged so be careful if you come across them."

"What base do you have for this information?" Barbara asked.

"Mostly information from old reports," Ray said. "You don't have to believe me, but be careful if you don't."

"Why is Pettigrew's picture up there?" Luke asked. "Isn't he dead?"

"There are conflicting reports on that point," Ray said. "Since we don't know for certain whether he is alive or not his picture stays. They only found a finger that day. You don't die from getting a finger cut off."

"Fair enough," Luke said.

"What about Crouch Jr.? He died in Azkaban," Kat said. "Or is that also not correct information?"

"We have reports to the contrary. Our best source is a House-elf so I just want you to be weary," Ray said. "It is better to be safe than sorry. If we are wrong that is fine. You'll be going out there. Keep your eyes open and keep each other safe. You have built up bonds with the people on your teams and with everyone else. Remember what I have shown you and you'll be fine. The people who are not out there will still be meeting me to increase your arsenal of spells."

"You're not coming out there with us?" Dora asked.

Ray smiled as he shook his head. "I'm no Auror," he said. "I don't have the authority you guys do." He drew his wand. "We did this once before. I took you all out that time. Let's try again, shall we? He moved quickly as the first spell came sailing his way. He was firing spells back at them from the get-go. Half a minute in they had him forcing a solid ward shield just to protect himself from their barrage. He could probably have done better than he did, but he didn't want to use that kind of magic as Raiden. He felt them break through the ward and he shielded himself against as much of the onslaught as he could before collapsing on the floor.

When he woke back up Dora was kneeling next to him. "So how did we do?" she asked cheekily. She grabbed his arm and helped him up.

"A lot better," Ray said. He checked the time. "Well, I think that is good for today. We can take shorter days from now on. Give you a chance at some proper rest among other things. I will see most of you next week. Good evening." He headed out of the room and down to the atrium.

Someone grabbed him and he turned around with his hand on his wand. He sighed. "Dora don't do that," he said.

"I would like you to meet my fiancé," Dora said. "Please come eat some pizza with us."

"Isn't that a bit awkward?" Ray asked. "You know considering everything we've been through."

Dora rolled her eyes. "Like that matters. Besides you said you have a boyfriend, right," she said. "I know he can't join us, but it isn't like we're doing anything inappropriate. We just work together."

Ray chuckled as he offered her his arm. He guessed he could go with her.

Maybe he should have just said no. The tension in the air throughout the meal was tangible. He did his best to be as nice as possible, but he could tell that the guy didn't like him, and he couldn't blame him. He wouldn't necessarily appreciate it if Charlie was in close connection with an ex either. He doubted he would be quite so rude about it though.

At least Dora was happy. That was all that really mattered.

22nd of November, 1997.

It was getting too cold for quidditch practice. That very day the wind was blowing a blizzard from the north. The icicles would melt before the end of the day, but no one wanted to go outside.

Harry wasn't at Hogwarts at all. He was looking over Ennerdale. He was hosting a wedding in just over a month. He would need port keys for everyone. The goblins could help him with that. He would have to check in with them and make sure he could get something easy to use for everyone. He checked the time.

It was time to go so he could pick up Fleur at Gringotts. He grabbed a coat before heading outside.

"Good morning Griphook," he said as he headed up the stairs to the bank.

"It could be better," Griphook answered sullenly.

Harry headed past him and to the back. He didn't need to speak to a teller. He needed to speak to the office of travel before Fleur arrived. They could probably help him figure out the best way of doing what he wanted to be done. He left the office with a smile on his face. Sometimes he loved goblins. They had such interesting ideas. He dropped a vial of golden ink in a pocket. Now he could make his own portkeys. All he needed was a list of everyone that was invited. He was hoping Fleur had a finished list by now. The invitations had gone out two months ago and they had asked to know who would be attending. Those who had not responded wouldn't get a portkey. Fleur was standing in the atrium of the bank when Harry returned. He smiled brightly at her as he walked up to her.

"It has been too long," Fleur said as she hugged him. "Thank you so much for hosting."

Harry chuckled. "Anything for you my fair maiden," he said. He offered her his arm and the two of them disapparated. Fleur walked around outside for a while after they arrived. Ennerdale truly was beautiful. She was so glad that Harry had agreed to hold the wedding on his grounds. She could already see the work that was going into the pavilions. Knowing Harry she could have whatever weather she wanted on the day. His control of the wards was absolute. She knew he wanted some things to be a surprise so she wasn't going to snoop around too much.

She could see where the altar would stand and the view of the lake behind them would be dreamy. Happy that everything was working out so far, she headed inside. She smiled brightly at little Leoline as he walked up to Harry with a big stuffed dog and demanded to be picked up.

Harry smiled as he placed Leoline on his hip. He listened intently to the two-year-old blabbing for a while before he pointed out Fleur.

"Ello," Leoline said happily as he waved to Fleur.

"Fleur is going to be staying with you and Remus for a bit," Harry said.

Leoline nodded happily as he studied Fleur. "Ry be too," he said.

Harry chuckled. "Not until after school," he said.

Leoline pouted as Harry put him back down on the floor.

"He is a good kid," Fleur said. She watched Leoline walk out of the living room to find his father before walking up to Harry. She looked out at the garden and smiled. She knew this was going to be just perfect. "Mother will join me on the 8th of December. Bill has been working hard. I'm glad he will finally have time off soon. I think he might show up around the twelfth."

"He'll be bringing Charlie," Harry said.

Fleur raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a good thing?" she asked.

Harry smiled softly. "It is," he said. "I just don't know how we're going to handle things. We don't want to hide our feelings, but he can't really date Kato 'cause that will be weird when I switch over forever."

"So he needs to fall in love with Harry," Fleur said. "That doesn't sound impossible to me."

"The only problem is that Draco knows that Kato and Charlie are a couple. I'll probably have to tell him the truth sooner rather than later. I'm hoping it can wait until summer at least. Then I can control the reveal," Harry said.

Fleur sighed as she watched Harry pace back and forth. She knew he was worried, but she also knew that it would all work out in the end. A small smile played on her lips as she grabbed his arm and dragged him off to the kitchen. She knew he would feel better if he got to do something with his hands.