I would like to thank all my readers, reviewers, and yes, even my critics.

Nearly at the end of Part Three now. Just one more chapter after this. I realized when a lot of you commented something to the effect, that I never actually wrote out a scene to show Molly and family's reaction to Ginny's pregnancy. At the time I was writting this chapter, and the next, I had become immpatient to finish the HP plot, and felt there was no place for it. When I edited, I couldn't find a place to fit the scene in fluidly, so there isn't one. This is one thing that I'm afraid will have to be left up to your imaginations.

Unless, of course, any of you want to play a bit of a game?

I was thinking about it the other day, how some of my favorite stories have little Omakes added to the ends of the chapters like author's notes, and I had an idea. Any of you want to write an Omake or two for this story?

I figure, we can start with the scene of Molly and the Weasleys finding out about Ginny's pregnancy, and Harry being there to witness it. If enough of you write out a scene (preferably something funny, since my difficulties with writing humor mean this story doesn't have enough of it), and send them to me through PM, I can pick the one I think is best, and add it as an Omake to the end of one of the chapters.

Assuming enough of you like this idea, I'll come up with other scenes I think would be wonderful to include, but don't have time to write, or a place in which they would fit.

It's up to you all of course, but moving on.

This chapter is a little bit shorter than the usual, but since the last chapter of Part Three will be posted on Saturday, none of you can really complain.

So then, Enjoy.

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It should not have been possible. The wards on Bogdon were powerful. There were quite a number designed to intercept owl post, and being how far they were from the United Kingdom, the vast expanse of empty landscape and snow should have made it impossible for any bird to reach them from that far anyways.

But the bird sitting in front of him seemed entirely unconcerned with his incredulity, and more concerned with eating all the fish on his plate, being that he sat in the dining hall at the moment. Several people watched him and the bird curiously, but more just shook it off and went back to their own lunches and chatting.

It was a great big black thing, as large as an eagle. It looked mostly like a raven, though the beak was too short for that, and the talons too thick. It had arrived and dropped a letter on him, and then begun eating his lunch. He stared at it for several moments before looking at the envelope in his hands. He could feel no magic on it, and squeezing it could feel paper and something long within, so, cautiously, he opened it. No one sat close enough to him today to see it, so he felt safe taking a look.

He recognized the writing instantly, and his heart nearly stopped.

Keep this safe. The Dark Lord must not get hold of it.

There was nothing else, not even a signature, but he knew it was from Severus. He could recognize that scrawl anywhere. The only other item within the envelope was a wand. It was a dark wood, and had several bumps in it, as though the wood had dripped like water and the drips had all been fused together. It was one of the most unique wands he had ever seen, and he recognized it.

It had been Dumbledore's wand. He would have questioned why Severus was so concerned with keeping it from Voldemort, but then he touched it, and he didn't have to wonder any more. Power flowed from the wand like ooze. It wasn't light or dark, kind or malevolent. It was just power. Harry had never once heard of a wand with power of its' own. Wands, as focusses, were meant to work off the power of the witch or wizard, but they didn't have their own power. This wand though... This wand did. Harry swallowed. Was this how Dumbledore had been so powerful? This strange wand?

He didn't know, but he locked it away with the ring that had once been a horcrux, since it was the only one that was left after Lucius' fiendfyre had utterly dissolved the others. He placed hundreds of protection runes on the cabinet, because even he knew how bad it would be for them if that wand came anywhere near the Dark Lord, and though it might have given him a leg up, he couldn't use wands anymore himself and so had no use for it.

Regardless of all the questions suddenly filling his mind, and the presence of the strange black bird that seemed to be staying, Harry was pleased.

He knew for certain now that his trust had not been misplaced after all.

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He worried for several days after the arrival of the letter and the wand, and rather than take the black bird to the small owlery they had (for the owls of his guests, though no one could actually send letters outside the castle so it was just a place to keep them), he had brought the bird to his quarters. Hedwig was surprisingly accommodating, and so long as it had its' own food and water and perch, she didn't mind the other bird living in the same room. He was glad to have such a mild-mannered owl.

He watched the papers carefully over the next few days, and, one day, he found that Voldemort had fully taken over the Ministry and the papers printed out several bounties. There was one for him of course, and Ginny, Ron and Hermione (they were still missing somewhere), and Severus. The rest of the Weasley family was there, twins included, the Malfoy family, and several members of the Order. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, it was a bad thing that Voldemort had gained so much power, and the bounties would mean having more people after them, but it let him know who of the people that weren't here with him were still alive.

The Weasley's and Order members would be fine at Grimmauld place, because they were still protected by fidelis. But Snape was another story altogether. The bounty on him would not mean they would look twice at what he had done, so he wasn't with the Order, and judging on how close his galleon number was to Harry's, he knew Voldemort wasn't likely to stop at much to find him. So Harry needed to do so first, and make sure he was okay, and then get him here, because he and the others had only come up with so many plans, and the potion master was the best damned strategist he knew.

So, remembering how they had found and properly contacted Lucius when told he was locked up, Harry called on Kreacher.

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Harry brought the scimitar up with a grunt, just as the other blade would have slashed painfully into his shoulder. He pushed, and superior strength had the other sword flying back. He pressed his advantage, making a move that would have impaled the blonde's side had Lucius not dodged it. He had left an opening with his attack, and the broadsword swept towards his own side. Speed and an instinctual twisting motion kept it just out of reach, though it was close enough to cut through the cloth of his shirt. He swung hard, knowing the other would have to block it. He did, and Harry pushed harder. A grunt came from the other, and he pushed his weight into the blade. The sudden strength made Harry lose focus, and the two blades slid against one another. They both twisted out of the other's way, and Harry took a few steps back, scimitar up and at the ready.

"I believe that is enough for the day." He nodded, and let his arm and sword fall to his side. "You did well. You are improving." Lucius offered him a pleased smile that still seemed superior to him, and he smiled back more genuinely. Lucius did not offer praise often. Mahdi had always told him the things he did wrong and needed to improve, and then complimented him on what he did well after every lesson. When Lucius had something to say about their spars, it was often more to berate him for his mistakes, so those few instances of praise meant a lot to him. "You are quite strong. Another thing to attribute?" He gestured at Harry's glamourless form, as, now that the blonde knew, he felt little need to hide before him when he was sure no one would bother them.

"Yea. I got a bit stronger and faster afterwards." He hadn't really offered the details, but, like Moody, he was sure Lucius had already figured out exactly what he had done.

"Any other advantages you're aware of?"

"Stamina." It was the first thing that came to mind. His ability to fight long after Muhammad or Draco or Blaise were panting and exhausted, and how he could run for hours and only need to stop for a couple minutes proved this much. "I still need regular sleep, but it takes a lot to actually tire me out." He pointed to the fake glasses he still wore. "I don't actually need glasses anymore, these are fakes. I can smell better, and my hearing is a lot stronger than it was before."

"Can you track?"

"Track?"

"Pardon. Can you recognize individual scents? Based on the person?" Harry thought about it.

"When they're close, but I can't track anyone. My nose isn't that good, and usually if they're close enough for my nose to pick them out then they're close enough for me to see. I think I could maybe track in my animagus form, but I've never had reason to." Lucius nodded, sliding his broadsword back into his sheath, and Harry copied the action with his own blade.

"What of your tail? Does it serve you any purpose in this form?" Harry smiled.

"I have better balance because of it, and if I let it lie on the ground it gives me a good sense of vibrations."

"Is it prehensile?"

"Pre-what?" Lucius sighed in an exasperated way. This was not the first time he had been frustrated by Harry having a smaller vocabulary than himself.

"Can you grab things with it? Like a monkey?" His words were slower, and condescending like he was speaking to a child or someone with low intelligence. When he was younger, it would have angered him, but his time around Severus had long since made such a thing seem normal enough that it wasn't any cause for irritation, and so Harry only shook his head.

"I don't think I can bend it enough for something like that." Lucius nodded and eyed his tail.

"May I?" Harry shifted uncomfortably, but nodded. He was very tense when the blonde came over and grasped his tail, pulling a length of it upwards to get a better look. He was gentle, and though Harry was instinctively prone to discomfort regarding someone touching his tail, he allowed it. The blonde studied the scales, and bent it this way and that, stopping in any direction when it was clear he had begun to cause discomfort.

Harry watched, having never actually felt the need to study his own tail despite the novelty of having one. He was surprised when the blonde showed he could bend it quite sharply when bending it inwards, rather than to the sides, and hardly at all upwards. If he bent it down, he might actually be able to grasp something with it since it looked as though he could bend it tightly into a coil that way. But then there was the fin. It was much larger in his animagus form, and Lucius ran a curious finger along the edge of it. The tip frayed as he did so and settled back, not unlike a feather, but Harry knew it had a more leathery texture. He hummed and let Harry's tail go.

"Your tail behaves similarly to a snake, though the range of motion is a bit smaller." Harry nodded, not at all surprised by that. The books said that Mishipeshu had a close association to snakes after all, so they must have something more in common than scales. "I imagine with practice you might learn to grasp something with it, or perhaps we could craft something to attach to it. Preferably something that would change with size and not get in the way of your fin?" Harry cocked his head to the side.

"You mean like a weapon?"

"Yes. Imagine, you would be able to come at your opponents with three limbs rather than just two. I would recommend though, that you learn how to wield a dagger in one hand while your sword is in the other first. as for you tail, you will need to practice that on your own to begin with. I would not devote too much time to it right now, however, as you will not be able to perfect such a thing before we must face the Dark Lord. It is something that is worth looking to later though. It could come in handy." Harry blinked.

"We?"

"Did you think I would only help with the planning? My son has made it very clear to me that he intends to stand side by side with you when you go out to face the Dark Lord. I will not allow my heir to be killed, and as I cannot convince him to stay, my only other option is to go with him and ensure he does not get himself killed." Harry smiled, and the Lord Malfoy smiled back. Both of them knew it was more than that. He and Lucius were related, through his mother. Harry had reasoned it out once, that Lucius was his great Uncle. Regardless of all else, family, blood family, meant a great deal to Lucius, and there was little he would not do for the sake of it. It was a strange thing to Harry, who felt blood meant very little, but he accepted that the other's views were different than his own.

Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Petunia, Dudley, Tonks, and Tonk's mother were the only one's alive who were related to him by blood. Or rather, given how interrelated most of the families were, they were the only ones related closely enough to him by blood to be of note. But blood had very little meaning to him. He accepted Petunia and Dudley as family because they had changed their ways, and Vernon too, but he wasn't close enough to Narcissa or Tonks to consider them such. He hadn't even met Tonk's mother. But Lucius and Draco... Harry was willing to accept them in the roles they had. A great uncle and a first cousin once removed. Not a very close relation, but still family of a sorts.

Harry's family was large, and contained some very different people, and none of them really had any blood connection to him. But to Lucius, blood was everything, and while Harry had still not asked his true personal views on the matter of blood purity, he knew that blood was important enough to him that he considered Harry to be family, even though they did not know each other very well, and despite their meetings and conversations were not all that close. Harry considered the man to be some place between a friend and acquaintance, but that was negligible.

"I'm glad to know you'll have our backs." He offered in response to the proclamation that Lucius would fight with him, and it was all that needed to be said. They began to leave the empty room that Harry and everyone used to duel and fight and whathaveyou, but were interrupted by a loud pop. They both turned around, and stared in shock. Harry had asked Kreacher to bring a message to Severus, not to bring him here, though he hardly recognized the man that stood before them.

The man was pale. Paler than Harry had ever seen him, as though all the color had been leached from his body. He was thinner than the teen recalled; the cheekbones on his face standing sharply out and the hands he could see looking bony. There were deep circles beneath his eyes, and his hair, usually straight even with the grease from potions was messy and flung out in every direction. There was stubble on his chin and jaw, and the dark cloak he wore was torn and frayed and dirty. Harry might have thought it was a different man entirely, if not for the eyes. Those sharp black eyes stared firmly at him; boring into his very soul as easily as they always had.

"Severus." He breathed, and came forward. The man stood still and let him, and though he had never done so before, and never once believed it would be welcome, he found his arms wrapped around the man in a hug. He had not realized how worried he was about him until he had him here in front of him. His instinct to hug the potion master, to prove to himself that he was real and here and safe surprised even himself. But it was nothing compared to the shock of having the other hug him back just as desperately. For all the weight Severus seemed to have lost, it didn't seem to have impacted his strength at all; though Harry didn't really have anything to compare to.

"Harry." There was a pause, and the arms around him began to slacken. "Lucius." Harry let go, and took a step to the side, turning so he could look at both men. Lucius dipped his head to Severus.

"it is good to see you well, Severus." The potion master inclined his head in response, and though the blonde looked as though there were more he wanted to say, he only nodded and left the room, seeming patient enough to wait to speak with the other man. Harry turned his attention back, and found those dark eyes as they moved from the closed door back to himself.

"What happened to you?" Harry whispered, and the hard lines of Severus' face softened. He put a hand on Harry's head and rustled his hair. It was a strangely endearing action.

"Don't worry about that."

"Master?" Harry blinked. He had forgotten Kreacher was there. "Should I prepare a room?"

"Near me and Muhammad." He said at once. He wanted the man close. "Prepare some food and bring it down to my quarters." He glanced at the thin man, for once understanding Mum's obsession with making people eat to put weight on them. Severus' gauntness alarmed him greatly. "Come on." He barely heard Kreacher's 'yes master' as he dragged Severus off by the hand. The man let him, an air of amusement about him.

They were lucky the empty room was on the ground floor, and on the side of the castle closer to the dungeons than the dining hall. It was a combination of those things that made them lucky enough to not run into anyone along the way. At least until they were in the dungeons themselves, and Harry found Muhammad standing outside his door with a newly lit cigarette in his hand. The young Arab took one look at him and Severus and gave the cancer stick to him. He took a pull of it with a grateful look, and pulled Severus past him and into the room. There was a table in his living area that was already stacked with food, and he set Severus down in front of it with a look that said the man had best eat. Severus chuckled, and obediently began to fill up a plate.

"I'll be right back Father." He didn't realize what he had said, and turned around to go out of the room and speak with Muhammad. He didn't notice Severus freeze and stare at him in wonder. He closed the door behind him once he was out, and took a long drag off the cigarette. Muhammad had already lit up another for himself. "Merlin." He breathed, leaning back against the door. The other hummed but didn't ask.

"You need anything?" He glanced at Muhammad. His moments of not acting like an ass didn't come all that often, but he knew the young man well enough to know that he cared even without those moments.

"Just let me finish my cigarette in peace." Muhammad nodded, and let him do just that. They smoked together in silence, as they had done so many times before, and Harry sighed to himself as the familiarity calmed him. He felt more content now, in the knowledge that Severus was safe. He still needed answers. He needed to know why the man had killed Dumbledore, for certain, regardless of his suspicions, and he needed to know what had happened to him since he had left Hogwarts, but it was alright. He would need to keep him hidden also, at least until he could find some way to make people excuse what he had done, or at least make them think he hadn't done it at all. But that could wait.

"Muhammad."

"Yea?"

"Thanks." The young man chuckled at him.

"For doing nothing?"

"Yup." Harry grinned at him and Muhammad smacked his arm.

"Idiot." He turned away to head back to his own room. "We'll talk later!" He called over his shoulder. Harry watched the smoke curl around his face one last time before he put out his cigarette and went back to his room. He was pleased to note that a good portion of food was gone, and Severus was just finishing up. He had eaten more than Harry actually thought he would, and that was good. With any luck he would get some meat back on Severus' bones. He sat down across from him with a sigh, and Severus sipped at his tea before turning his attention to Harry.

"Who was that?" Harry blinked. It was rare of him to ask questions out of curiosity.

"Muhammad. He's a friend I made in the Middle East." Severus raised an eyebrow.

"The Middle East?" Harry shrugged.

"I'll tell my story if you tell yours." Severus eyed him, but inevitably sighed and looked down at his tea.

"Albus knew the Dark Lord planned to take the castle. We had been planning for it. Then that damned horcrux infected him, and he was dying. We had to change our plans. Albus asked that I continue to infiltrate the ranks, do what I could from that side. When the Dark Lord stormed the school, and the teachers began to fight to defend them, I found myself against Albus himself..." He closed his eyes in pain.

"He told you to." Harry stared at him in horror as Severus nodded. He had suspected it, of course, but to have it confirmed...

"We had prepared for this. Albus told me his wand was special, that I needed to keep it safe. So before this we got a wand from Ollivander; a normal one. When I killed him, I switched out the wands and hid Albus' in my robes. The Dark Lord didn't suspect me, not at first. I started... I was as subtle as I could be. I tried to determine who was loyal and who was not. Those I felt I could trust... We started sabotaging what we could. It was dangerous, but he never found out about that... When he realized I was looking into loyalties, I told him I was trying to weed out the traitors, and at first he believed me..."

"What happened?" Severus' face turned dark.

"I trusted the wrong person. I was nearly killed, but I managed to escape." He gave a dark smile and Harry shivered slightly at the thoughts of what he must have done to escape successfully. "I managed to destroy some things before getting away, but after that I had nowhere to go. I stayed on the move, and not all the places I was able to stay had the base necessities." He frowned to himself, and Harry took that to mean that he was forced to starve more often that not. "They almost caught me several times. I sent Blake to you with the wand because I was running out of places to hide and they were finding me more often than not. I wanted it to be safe in case I was captured. You always seemed certain of your security, so I thought..." Harry nodded.

"How did that bird get past the wards anyways?" Severus chuckled.

"He is a rather unique breed. It was difficult to get a hold of him, and more so while on the run. Most wards are designed to specifically stop owls, and other commonly used mail birds. Because he is not a common breed, there are few wards designed to stop him."

"Like house elves." Severus nodded.

"Speaking of, yours seemed determined to bring me here. When I sent the letter, I did not know you would send him to fetch me." Harry blinked at him.

"I... I didn't." Severus looked surprised. "I sent him to talk to you, and find out if you were safe or not." The man chuckled and Harry scrunched his nose. "That damned elf is so confusing..." He sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter. You're here now, and you'll be safe here." He shifted in his seat. "I... There are a lot of people in the castle though. I don't think Lucius will do anything, and neither will Draco or Muhammad, but it would be better if no one else saw you. You'll have to stay down here in the dungeons." Severus smiled at him.

"That'll be just fine Harry. I'd rather like some rest anyways." Harry nodded. "Now, the Middle East?"

Harry laughed, and proceeded to tell the man all that had happened since the last time they saw each other.

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Harry, in his animagus form, walked along the bottom of the flooded bottom floor, not bothered at all by the ice cold water, that was not frozen over only by the power of magic. It was nice here. Not the same as the lake, but it reminded him of the rune room at Hogwarts. There were several underwater plants here, and some underwater hermit crabs that scurried away when he came close, but no fish. He wondered if he could have the elves get some live ones to breed here, just so that he could catch and eat them when he was in the mood for it. He regretted not having a forest to hunt properly in anymore.

Mitera sent him visions of trees, and he chuckled. The action making his massive shoulders shake and a trail of bubbles go upwards. An odd, deep sound touched his ears through the water, and he wondered at what a Mishipeshu's laugh sounded like above water. He had needed to go into the water; needed the calm and comfort of it. For all that she grounded him, controlled his temper, and taught him, Mitera was still not enough to sooth his stressed mind for long. He needed the water in some form, and while showers helped wonders, there was nothing like being fully submerged in his animagus form.

He was glad to have Severus back. He had not recognized how badly he missed the man, with his biting words, dark humor, and potion laced teas, until the ex-professor was within arm's reach again. And now that he had the man here, and safe, he was not letting him go again. Severus was as much a part of his family as any of the Weasley's, but unlike them, he would never be safe. The Ministry, even outside Voldemort's influence, would never listen to a word they had to say. When the Dark Lord was taken care of, and the war was done and over with, Severus would still be considered a criminal; both in the eyes of the Ministry, and the eyes of the public. Likely even the Weasleys (except, perhaps, for the twins) would consider him a fiend. They were too Gryffindor in nature to willingly accept Severus' reasons for his actions as being acceptable.

So if anyone were to find the man, it would mean life in Azkaban at best, and the Kiss at worst. No matter what the law said, Harry would not allow that to happen. Even if that meant he and Severus would be on the run for the rest of their lives, he wouldn't allow it.

Which of course, meant that when the time came to fight, Severus would also have to stay behind. Harry could not risk something happening to him, and he was certain the potion master would not be happy with his conclusion and subsequent decisions. But if he had to chain the man to a chair with every one of his house elves standing guard, he would keep him safe.

Hopefully Severus wouldn't put up too much of a fuss.

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In the end, his worries about how the man would react to the news that Harry intended for him to remain at Bogdon ended up being for nothing. Severus was very much aware of the situation, and of Harry's nature, and, more than that, he was well aware of his own abilities and weaknesses.

"I am hardly suited for frontline battle, as we are suggesting. My skills lie in strategy, and subterfuge. I have skill in fighting, but hardly on this scale. Besides that, I am fucking tired." Had been his response when, after getting him involved in the planning, Seamus had asked why he wasn't including himself in the battle plans. It had startled a laugh out of Harry, who had never once heard the man cuss, and even Lucius had chuckled. All the same, Harry was glad he wouldn't have to fight Severus on it.

Aside from that, Severus showed them all how damned brilliant he was as he came up with plan after plan on the fly; all of which made the few plans they had attempted coming up with look like child's play in comparison. He wasn't even really trying. He drilled scenarios into their heads and made it clear that all these plans were liquid and prone to change the moment they managed to get in touch with the Order (without alerting them of Severus' presence, of course). He kept Harry, the two Slytherins, Lucius, Sarah, Seamus, and the few others they could trust, and bind to silence on Severus' presence, locked up in that room for hours, and by the end of it all, Harry was ready to tear his hair out.

After they were done, he slipped out of the room as quickly as he could and dug around in his pockets for a cigarette. He grumbled to himself when he realized he was out, and headed down to the dungeons. Muhammad was sure to have some. The damned bastard who'd gotten him addicted in the first place never seemed to run out, and Harry had a theory that he grew tobacco plants in the castle with magic specifically so that he wouldn't. He had never proved it of course, or seen any evidence of said plants, but it was either that or Muhammad just pulled them out of hammerspace by the bucketful, and only one of those theories sounded sane and plausible.

He knocked on the young Arab's door when he got there, and waited. There was no answer, and after several seconds of nothing, he knocked again. Still nothing, and with a grumble, he opened the door on his own. Maybe it was rude, but Muhammad hardly cared about being rude, and they had been force to share a tiny little building with only one room in the middle of a sandstorm once. The awkwardness of doing your business in a bucket in the corner while the other's back was turned, and both of you firmly pretending it wasn't happening, made any expectations of privacy afterwards essentially null and void.

Muhammad's quarters, like Harry's consisted of only a main room, a separate bedroom, and a bathroom connected to the bedroom. Even that had been a bit much for Muhammad, who was perfectly comfortable in a single tiny hotel room with a bathroom you could barely turn around in, and where you had to put your feet in the bathtub when you used the toilet because there wasn't enough space between the two for your legs. Harry was of a similar opinion. He hardly had any need for space, which was why, no matter how easily he called and considered Bogdon home, he felt no reservations about leaving it behind to travel once the war was over.

Muhammad's living room hadn't changed since he had offered it to him, with its' dull brown furniture and floral patterned rug. The only thing the young man seemed to have done with it all was push some of the furniture into different places to make a bit of open space on the floor; presumably for physical exercise. The room had a distinct lack of young Arab men in it however, so Harry turned his eyes on the bedroom door. It was partially open, and Harry could hear a slight shuffling noise within, proving it was occupied. He gave the door a bland look. He marched over and opened it, calling out in mild annoyance.

"You're home and you couldn't even be bothered to answer the-" The sentence died in his throat, and even as Muhammad's entirely unbothered brown eyes met his, not an ounce of embarrassment or worry in them, his own green orbs flew wide and filled with shock. He stared. He and Muhammad had done just about everything with each other; it was a consequence of travelling, and then living in such close quarters on Mahdi's farm, but they had never changed in front of each other. There had simply been no reason for it.

So Harry had never seen this before.

The scar covered nearly all of his back, twisting jaggedly down from one shoulder to the hip on the other side. The center of it was a reddish tone, and Harry might have thought it a sword wound, but for the rest of it, arcing little twists coming from all sides of it, like branches from a tree. This was a magical wound of some sort.

"Like what you see?" Muhammad turned around to face him and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, smirk on his face. Harry growled at him.

"Oh please." He turned up his nose in an exaggerated way. "As if I could ever be attracted to a commoner such as yourself." Muhammad snorted, and when Harry looked again he found him slipping pants on; something for which he was thankful. Comfortable though he might be in his own skin, and around others, given his time in a dorm, that didn't mean he enjoyed being around people while they were nude.

"How did you get that?"

"You mean this beautiful body? Unfortunately for you, it's the product of fine genetics which you seem to be lacking." Harry snorted.

"I meant the scar actually." He shrugged, and Harry sighed, knowing that was as good an answer as he was going to get right now. Much as it sometimes bothered him, Muhammad was the sort to keep any sort of information, even his name (though why he bothered when it was literally the most common name in the world), as close to his chest as possible. He would share only when he was good and ready to, so there was no point trying to press it.

"Whatever. You got any cigarettes? I'm out."

"Sure." That he handed them over without any kind of fight didn't go unnoticed, and Harry wondered if he had actually found something the young man was uncomfortable talking about.

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A week or so after the incident with Muhammad, Harry finally managed to get in touch with the Order, using the Goblins as a third party. It cost him a substantial fee, but for now, they were willing to act as the go-between. It was nice to hear some word from them after all this time, and the letters he received seemed equally pleased at his own safety, and at Ginny's also, when he noted that she was with him, and perfectly safe. He learned that Hermione and Ron were still missing, as they asked him if they were there too, and he told them they were not. These days, the Order had managed to survive because of Moody. Initially, Professor McGonagall had been in charge, but she couldn't take it anymore after that first incident with the werewolves. After that, Moody had taken over, and his extreme paranoia had kept everyone else alive since then

Harry was glad for that. He wasn't sure he could handle the thought of anymore deaths of people he knew, especially any of the Weasley's. Charlie and Percy were gone, Ron was missing, and, until now, they hadn't known if Ginny was safe or not. Harry could only imagine what sort of hell Mum was going through right now. He was sure she was a wreck, and he imagined, that if she hadn't broken already, then losing anymore of her children would be the last straw.

He arranged to meet Moody and maybe a couple other Order members at Gringotts, and while Severus wouldn't be there, Harry had successfully memorized a handful of the man's best plans. It didn't matter much, since the plans would all change, because, henceforth, they would be collaborating with the Order.

Grimrok offered him a professional nod when he arrived, and didn't tease him like he might have done under other circumstances. Even the goblin was aware of the seriousness of the current situation, and though he might have appreciated some comment from the other to help him wind down, now wasn't the time for it. He was led to the usual room he met the goblins in to discuss his accounts or whatever else, and nearly as soon as he was through the door, he found himself constricted in a pair of very strong arms.

His hand twitched towards the scimitar at his hip instinctively, but the smell hit him before he had grasped it, and he relaxed. Trees, smoke, and wet dog. He hugged Remus back. He felt a little guilty, because he had not thought of the man much these past few months, but he pushed the feeling away. It hardly mattered. Right now he was just happy to see him, and even if he hadn't thought of him much, he had still thought of him.

"Harry." His name was said by the other in a scratchy whisper, and there was so much emotion in it that it was like a prayer. Harry clung to him, and let the werewolf cling back. He had learned a bit about werewolves since the last time they saw each other, and he understood the man's desperation. Werewolves always did best in packs of other werewolves, but they inevitably made their own packs, even if they were made up of people who were still very much human. Remus, cut off from others of his kind by choice, had likely found his pack in the Marauders.

From the stories, James and Sirius had been the main troublemakers of the group, so one of them had likely been 'alpha'. Peter, the tagalong, would have been the 'omega'. Between the deaths of the two former, and the betrayal of the latter, the only pack the man would have had left would be himself, as the child of a pack member. To go so long apart, to know that his only pack was gone, and not knowing if he would come back...

He very much pitied Remus just then.

The werewolf let him go and looked down at him, and his usually brown eyes were entirely amber. Harry started at that a little, and wondered at it, knowing it as a sign of Moony being near the surface, but let it slide for now. Remus smiled warmly at him, and he let a broad grin overtake his own face. The moment was broken as Moody cut in.

"Not that I ain't glad ta' see ye m'self, but we got business ta' get ta' at the moment." They both turned to look at the old Auror. Harry noticed a new scar across his face, sharp and jagged, because it was still red. Likely it would fade to mix in with the others in time. "Ye said ye had somethin' ta plan?" He nodded.

"I think it's high time we end this war, and we can start by taking back Hogwarts."

"Ye realize that'd likely mean goin' against Voldemort himself?"

"I can take care of that. I just need your help for the rest." Moody stared carefully at him, as though trying to see for himself that Harry was ready for this. He wore his usual glamour, the one that only served to make him look human, but Moody could see through it, and his magical eye roved Harry's form alongside the normal one. Remus looked as though he wanted to interrupt, but was biting his tongue, and the only other person there was Shacklebolt, who simply waited for Moody to make his assessment.

"What did ye have in mind?" The old Auror finally asked, and Harry grinned in a way that showed just a few too many teeth.

Voldemort wouldn't know what hit him.

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I actually added that last sentence during editing. I just couldn't resist.

See you all in a couple days!

Oh! By the way, do any of you think I should distinguish my Author notes from the chapter a little bit, like putting them in bold or italics, or do you think it's fine the way it is?

Sincerely,

Mr. Hate