Harry sat up with a gasp. His heart thundered in his chest as his soul repossessed his body. He blinked and tried to process the alien sensations, made even more strange by the fact that they were alien at all. These were his eyes, catching light and transmitting the information to his brain, where it was reconstructed within his mind. These were his ears, cells dancing and converting the vibrations into electrochemical impulses. This was nothing new but…

He closed his eyes and tried to work through the strange and uncomfortable dysphoria. He tried his best to process the deeply unsettling feeling that he was not himself. He mostly succeeded.

Apparently, there were consequences to existing as a soul without a body. Good to know.

He felt a light touch as a hand ran through his messy hair.

He opened his eyes to look up at his Ice Queen. Hermione looked down at him with a soft smile, looking tired and unsure but also happy. He smiled back at her as he took her hand and slowly stood up.

"Thank you for saving me, Hermione. I'll admit that I'm not used to being on this side of the saving. I'm not sure if I like it or not."

She grinned at him as tears welled in her eyes.

"I did say last year that next time, I was going to be the one mastering the godly trinket and going on an adventure while you were stuck in bed. I guess I just didn't think it would be like this."

"Maybe you should stop making jokes like that."

She let out a watery chuckle. "I think I will."

He hugged her tightly and let their magic sing together, swirling around them in the now familiar hospital wing.

"I can still feel the sword," Harry said, a bit confused.

"I can too. It's a bit weird, it's like…"

Harry pulled back from the hug as his eyes widened. "I can still feel your soul!"

Hermione looked back at him with a shocked expression before-

Can you hear me, Death Walker?

Her voice rang in his soul.

Holy shit. Yup, how's it going over there, Ice Queen?

Hermione laughed freely and smiled at him. "It's going pretty fantastically. I think I like having direct access to your soul."

"My soul is yours to command, my Queen," Harry said in a mock serious voice.

"Of course. It was really quite inconvenient that you decided to take a vacation, my Knight. No more sick days for you."

"Luna, we need to organize a union."

"Ooooh yay! Daddy taught me lots about the strength of collective bargaining."

"Doesn't he own his own company, and isn't he the only employee?"

"He bargains and strikes against himself on a regular basis. He is quite enthusiastic about it."

"Of course he is."

While the four of them collapsed into laughter, the hospital wing doors flew open.

"-just cannot imagine how he managed it!"

"I have only theories, minister. He may have had a hidden wand on his person that we missed, or he is capable of wandless magic we were not aware of. We never did find out how he escaped from Azkaban. We may never know for certain."

"And after Mr. Potter… GALLOPING GARGOYLES!"

"Good evening. It's nice to meet you, minister."

Throwing people off their rhythm and messing with their understanding of the world never got old.

"Ah. Welcome back, Harry. It's good to see that you've returned from your sabbatical. I take it that the accommodations within the Dementors were not to your liking?"

Apparently, Dumbledore agreed.

"But… but… you were… I…" Fudge stammered incoherently.

"It's a bit of a long story, minister. For now, the important part is that I am pretty dang powerful. Albus might be able to take me, but Dementors? No problem. I let them borrow my soul so that they would let Hermione go, but it wasn't like they could hold me. Thanks for keeping an eye on my body in the meantime!"

The minister managed to recover. "Mr. Potter… that is a good thing, I suppose. But I do not appreciate being toyed with."

"Of course not, minister. However, I'm sure that you do appreciate the fact that I'm on your side. I've always been a big proponent of rightful law and order."

Fudge looked like he couldn't decide whether to lecture Harry or not.

"Well. I must apologize for my quick departure, but I have quite a lot to do. We have to keep a lid on this whole situation before it leaks to the press. If Rita ever finds out about this…"

"Of course, minister. You are clearly a very busy man. I will see you to the gates. Have a good evening, everyone." Dumbledore winked at them from behind Fudge's back before he escorted the shorter man from the room.

Madam Pomfrey bustled in after them.

"Now, I know that it's been a trying evening and- GOOD HEAVENS!"

It really never got old.

…

"Come in, Harry."

Harry paused, his hand raised and about to knock on Professor Lupin's office door. He shrugged and went inside.

The room was halfway through the process of being disassembled as Lupin packed several large trunks.

"It's time, then?"

"Yes. After the debacle last night, I certainly won't be welcome among the students for long. Better to leave now before tempers can run high. I believe even now, Severus is informing his students in Slytherin of my condition and a selective version of the events last night."

"Albus told me about the plan. Do you think that last night was part of the curse?"

Lupin nodded solemnly. "I have never once forgotten my potion before. My condition weighs heavily on my mind, and the idea of forgetting it, even in a panic, is laughable."

"How did you know where to find us?"

Lupin tapped the large, worn piece of parchment on the desk. He had been holding it when he showed up the night before.

"The Marauder's Map, a magical tool created by James, Sirius, Peter, and myself while in school. We may not have been powerful mages of your and Miss Granger's caliber, but we were skilled wizards in our own right. We manually mapped every inch of the castle that we could find, and magically connected the representation to the soul of the castle. It took years and lots of nighttime excursions under your excellent cloak, but we managed it."

Harry peered at the artifact between them with interest. It shone with hundreds, thousands of overlapping charms, and seemed to show the real time location of everyone in the castle.

"Yesterday, after exams, I confiscated this map from two Mr's Weasley while they attempted a celebratory prank. I cannot know if the curse was in play there as well. Once I made it back here, I activated the map to check for Sirius Black. Instead, I saw a name that should not have been possible. But the map does not lie."

"Pettigrew."

"Yes. I also saw him in the same room as you and Hermione, and I rushed to help. In my panic, I forgot my potion. I suppose that we will never know for sure if the curse was at work, but I think so. There were too many circumstances that aligned against you too perfectly for there not to be some kind of manipulation at work."

Harry nodded. That made him feel a bit better; he had also been gnashing his teeth at the sheer improbability of last night's events.

"And now you have to leave."

"Yes. The headmaster told me the truth about Sirius this morning, so I will work on getting in touch with him. Once, if, Voldemort returns to corporeal form and restarts his bid for control of the world, I will pretend to be angry and disenfranchised with the ministry and Dumbledore due to my dismissal. I will join Voldemort's werewolf pack as a spy for you and Albus. I may not be able to fly or call down torrents of lightning, but I will do my part to stop the Dark Lord."

Harry reached out and shook Lupin's hand, bolstering his battered soul with power.

"You were the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that I've had so far, by a mile. Although, you're competing against Lockhart and Voldemort so… interesting company."

"Well, seeing as I am no longer your teacher, I think that it is only fair that the map passes on to you. You're the most able to put it to good use, and I'm confident that it is what James would have wanted. To activate it, just say 'I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good' and say, 'mischief managed' to clear it."

Harry picked up the old parchment and said, "Mischief managed!"

The spidery lines of ink covering the map cleared, and he folded and stowed the artifact in his pocket. "And so, my omniscience grows. I could have used this earlier in the year, but better late than never," Harry said.

Lupin laughed warmly, "I'm sure next year will be just as interesting. The curse definitely keeps Albus on his toes."

"Maybe next year we can weaponize it and hire a Death Eater or something."

…

"BLOODY HELL!"

Harry looked up from his cozy armchair by the fire at the yell from the other side of the common room. Ron Weasley was looking from the note in his hand to the small owl perched in the back of the chair next to him, and back at the note, over and over.

Harry couldn't help himself. "What's up, Ron?"

"I don't… um… Sirius Black got me an owl?"

Harry tried really hard not to laugh.

"He says that he feels 'partially responsible' for Scabbers' 'untimely demise' and wants to make it right. He says that while he 'feels no remorse for his multitude of supposed crimes', he feels bad for 'depriving me of a loyal pet'?"

Harry lost his battle to repress his cackling. He thought that he and Sirius were going to get along swimmingly.

…

"My grandmother got us tickets for the World Cup this summer!"

Harry, Hermione, and Luna looked up at Neville in surprise. They sat in their usual spot in the Great Hall, eating breakfast before the train left.

"She said something about it being an 'excellent bonding experience'. Do you all think that you'll be able to come?"

Luna beamed. "Daddy was already talking about going, but we would have needed to arrive weeks in advance. Thanks Augusta!"

"You know that she's not actually here right now, right?"

"I'm sure she'll understand. It's the thought that counts, after all."

"Right. What about you, Harry? Hermione?"

"I'll have to ask my parents, but I'm sure that they'll be thrilled that I'm spending supervised time with friends. I think that they were impressed with your grandmother."

Harry chuckled. "Augusta is definitely a bit intimidating. I'm in, Neville. I'm going to be cooped up in this drafty castle all summer, so something fun to do will be a welcome change of pace."

Hermione threw a piece of bacon at him "You have access to the whole library, and can fly over the grounds, and can do whatever you want all the time with no grown-ups, and did I mention that you can FLY? You can go anywhere in the world that you want. No complaining allowed, Death Wanderer."

"I kind of like Death Wanderer."

"Well, next time you decide to wander, take a map. I'm not fishing you out of the Dark again."

"Speaking of which, I recently acquired a massive privacy violation in the form of a map. And sure you wouldn't, Ice Queen."

…

"I gave back the time turner."

Harry looked over at his best friend as they stood on the edge of the Astronomy tower.

"Probably for the best. I'm sorry that I missed the bit with multiple Lunas, but it doesn't sound like something we want to risk very often. How are you solving your scheduling conflicts?"

"I'm dropping muggle studies. It's mainly frustrating and sad anyway. They really don't know much about the world outside of their magical borders."

"Something to work on later, once we take over the world."

"Don't even joke about that, Death Walker. We can make the world a better place without crushing it underfoot."

"Right you are, my Queen."

She smiled brightly at him and blushed lightly.

"Are you ready then, my Knight?"

Their powers were essentially public now, and they both decided to give in to the temptation to have a bit of fun.

"For you? Always."

They leapt from the parapet together, magic expanding and singing as they soared out over the castle. Harry smiled at the joy on Hermione's face as they corkscrewed and dove in tandem, spiraling around each other in a wild tornado of blue and green power while they flew over the ancient school.

As they rocketed over the courtyard, he could hear the gasps and screaming from the students walking towards the carriages, heading down to the train. Part of him was still unsure, but overall, he felt triumphant. He would hide no longer, glorious and resplendent with his Ice Queen by his side as they twirled and danced together through the open sky.

They circled the castle, diving between and around the towers before heading out over the lawns. He could see the line of carriages below as they made their way towards the station. He reached out and took Hermione's hand while they flew, reveling in the wind rushing around and between them as they closed in on the scarlet train engine.

…