Light at the End of the Tunnel

Harry and Ginny dropped concealed under the invisibility cloak in the rear garden of Malfoy Manor. The half-moon didn't allow much visibility, but it was clear that the garden was huge. The grounds were planted with well-manicured topiary hedges and small trees, but only a few flowers. A large French baroque style building with a mansard roof loomed on the background. Only a few lights were visible through the latticed windows. It was an elegant and beautiful home.

They found the two Death Eaters assigned to perimeter guard duty talking to each other behind an ivy-covered trellis. The young couple mentally agreed on who would take down which Death Eater before firing simultaneous stunners. After disarming the two men, they bound and gagged them just as Ron and Hermione dropped on the Apparating point with their wands drawn.

The group cautiously walked toward the back entrance, with Harry leading the way and Ron bringing up the rear. Ginny and Hermione were ready to start firing stunners and silencing charms when Harry opened the door, but the barrel-vaulted corridor leading to the inside of the house was empty.

They proceeded down the dimly lit corridor until they reached a stairwell. From upstairs they could hear the sound of voices and laughter. It seemed the Death Eaters were having a good time during their master's absence. According to the memory provided by Malfoy, the dungeons where Draco was being kept were down these stairs.

As they had planned, Ron and Hermione stayed in this level protecting their exit while Harry and Ginny donned the invisibility cloak and walked carefully downstairs. At the bottom of the stairwell, sitting under a gas lamp, was a bored looking Death Eater sitting behind a small desk. He was guarding a wooden prison door with an iron-barred vision grate. One of the rungs creaked and the middle-aged wizard looked up the stairs expecting to see someone. He became alarmed when no one appeared, and slowly rose to his feet pulling out his wand.

With impeccable timing, Ginny cast a silencing charm, at the same time that Harry cast a stunner as they both jumped from behind the invisibility cloak. The startled Death Eater sank to the floor with a silent scream of terror and pain. Communicating mentally, the couple broke the wizard's wand and bound him. Harry pulled the dungeon keys from the man's pocket, guessing that the cell doors were probably charmed to open only with them. He peeked through the iron grate.

The dungeon had about a dozen iron barred cells, and Harry noticed that about three of them were occupied. At the far end of the dungeon sat another Death Eater half asleep behind a desk.

"I'll take out and secure the guard while you get Draco and find out who are the other people in here," Harry said to Ginny mentally.

He unlocked the door and gave her the keys. As soon as he walked through the threshold, Harry fired an accurate stunner. The Death Eater never knew what hit him. Ginny lit up her wand and looked for Draco in the cells.

If it weren't for the platinum blonde hair, she wouldn't have recognized him. An emaciated Draco was cowering in a corner of his cell looking terrified. Ginny had to try a couple of keys before finding the right one to open the cell door, but the Slytherin boy hadn't budged from his position in the corner. Ignoring the stink of urine and feces, the redhead walked in and grabbed his arm.

"We're here to rescue you, Draco," Ginny said with a gentle voice while placing a hand on his arm. "Your mother sent us."

Malfoy just stared at her blankly, so Ginny had to forcefully pull him out of the cell.

"Save me. Save me, please!" cried a terrified looking young woman in the next cell, pushing her face through the bars.

She appeared to be in her late teens, with black hair and striking blue eyes. Judging by her physical condition, she couldn't have been here for long.

"Are you a Muggle?" Ginny asked her.

"That's what they've been calling me," she explained bewildered. "Are you … like them?" she asked, taking a terrified step back.

"Not quite," the redhead replied as she tried to find the right key.

"Leave her! Leave the Muggle," Draco whimpered trying to pull Ginny away. "They could be down here at any moment. We have to get out of here!" he added with wild looking eyes.

"If you don't shut up, you're the one who is going to be left behind," Ginny hissed at him.

With the corner of her eye, she saw how Harry stunned the prisoner in the other cell. She looked at her boyfriend inquiringly.

"He had the Dark Mark in his forearm," he explained as he approached.

Draco had a death grip on Ginny's left arm, so Harry led the Muggle girl up the stairs.

"They took my little sister upstairs just a few minutes ago," she said to Harry desperately. "Please save her!"

When they reached the landing where Hermione and Ron had been waiting, the screams of a young woman sounded upstairs. Harry groaned because he knew his plan for a quick getaway had been destroyed. He took a big breath while the others waited for his instructions.

"Ron, Hermione; you will take Draco and this girl to the Apparating point and take them to Grimmauld Place. Ginny and I will try to save her sister."

"It's dangerous," Hermione said half-heartedly, just to provide perspective.

Harry smiled appreciatively at the brunette as she struggled to unhook the Muggle girl clinging to his arm. He then laughed softly when he noticed that Draco was now holding on to Ron for dear life. The redhead boy looked disgusted and was wrinkling his nose.

At that moment the door at the far end of the barrel-vaulted corridor opened.

Four Death Eaters walked in, loudly wondering who was supposed to be on guard duty at the garden. They noticed the group of teenagers at the end of the corridor, and everyone froze for a couple of seconds.

Then the curses started flying.

The teenagers quickly gained the upper hand, but the noise and screams had already alerted the Death Eaters upstairs. When the last of the four late arrivals fell dead to the floor in a bloody pulp, Harry and his friends had to turn around to fight the Death Eaters trying to come down the stairs.

It was quickly evident that these opponents were more capable, and Harry recognized the Slavic accent of Dolohov as he ordered Rabastan Lestrange to summon reinforcements. Unforgivables and very dark curses were raining down the stairs, forcing Ron and Hermione to push Draco and the Muggle girl down the corridor and out of harm's way. Ron hit one the Death Eaters at the top of the stairs with a stunner and he fell down the stairwell, breaking his neck as he crashed right in front of them.

Meanwhile, Draco was slowly backing away from the fight until he stood next to one of the dead Death Eaters in the corridor. He kneeled down and grabbed the wand on the floor. The Muggle girl had an expression of utter incomprehension when Draco raised the wand and pointed it at the four teenagers with their backs turned away from him. He silenced her before she could warn them, and then he sent two quick stunners towards Harry and Ginny, who fell unconscious.

When Hermione and Ron realized what was happening, it was already too late. Hermione fell to another stunner fired by Draco just as she was turning, and although Ron gleefully broke the blonde boy's knees with a spell, he was overwhelmed by the fire coming from the stairs. A bludgeoning curse broke his wand arm, and he was quickly captured.

OoOoO

"Enervate!"

Harry blinked a couple of times before things started to come into focus. He was inside a cell shackled to the floor.

"Ginny?" he called out anxiously within their shared consciousness.

"I'm alright... to your left," she replied.

A couple of cells over, Ginny was shackled to the floor also, as were Ron and Hermione in different cells. The redhead boy looked pale and in pain, but he nodded at him. To his right, the Muggle girl was embracing a half-naked blonde girl who was sobbing uncontrollably.

Directly in front of Harry, Antonin Dolohov and Rabastan Lestrange were looking at him with curious smiles. A half a dozen other Death Eaters were inside the dungeon. To the feet of one of them, lay Malfoy crying in pain. His legs were obviously broken. Harry noticed that their wands and the girl's beaded bags were on top of the guard's table on the far corner.

"The Dark Lord has been notified of your capture, and he will be here shortly," Dolohov said with an evil smile. "How were you able to find this place, and who sent you to rescue Draco?"

Harry doubted that Voldemort would risk coming to a compromised location until he was sure it wasn't a trap set up by Dumbledore. He would probably also change the secret-keeper and the Fidelius charm before coming.

"You know," Harry replied ignoring the question. "I thought we had planned for everything, but none of us planned for Draco Malfoy being stupid enough to turn against the people sent to save him."

"Who sent you?" Dolohov demanded to know.

"Do you see Lucius Malfoy anywhere around here?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"That's a lie!" screamed Draco "My father would never make a deal with a half-blood. I'm a hero. I alone defeated Harry Potter, and the Dark Lord will reward me for it. "

Rabastan Lestrange gave him a contemptuous look. "So how do you explain that your mother and father are missing?"

Draco was left spluttering for an explanation.

"Put him in a cell," Dolohov ordered with a laugh. "The Dark Lord will disembowel him as punishment to his traitorous father."

One of the Death Eaters dragged a screaming Draco by the scruff of his shirt into a cell and locked him inside.

"You interrupted our fun," Rabastan Lestrange hissed at Harry, "so now you will have to watch as we have fun with your girlfriend instead."

All the Death Eaters inside the dungeon laughed loudly.

"I doubt that," Harry replied calmly. "We have no plans for staying. Isn't that right, love?" he added turning to Ginny.

"No. I think it's time for us to leave. These accommodations aren't to my liking."

"Have the two of you gone completely mad?" Dolohov wondered.

The young couple had wanted to keep their Elemental powers secret from their enemies, but events had left them with no other choice. In a matter of seconds, the iron bars of the cells had turned into spears, and they were flying at the Death Eaters. Only Dolohov and Lestrange reacted quickly enough to repel the spears with their wands. The rest fell dead, impaled by multiple iron spears.

Harry kept the spears attacking Dolohov and Lestrange, and soon Bellatrix's husband fell down dead under the barrage, but the eastern European wizard had quick reflexes and a quick wand. Unfortunately for him, he was too busy to notice that above him a mass of white-hot molten copper from the pipes of the building was being assembled.

It was an agonizing and horrible death. The rain of molten copper tore through Dolohov's flesh slowly, and his high-pitched screams made all of the teens wince and shrink back into their cells until it was over.

The noise of fighting above them startled them back into action.

"That must be Neville and Luna," Harry said dissolving the iron shackles.

Hermione ran for her beaded bag and took out a potion to relieve Ron's pain. She then charmed a couple of pieces of wood into a splint. The brunette was about to do the same for Draco, but Ron stopped her.

"No! We'll drag his arse out of here the way he is."

Hermione was ashamed to discover that the idea didn't bother her at all.

"Right..."

They grabbed their wands, and Harry restored the iron bars to the cells.

"Since all of them are dead, we might be able to keep our Elemental power secret," he said to Ginny.

The redhead nodded and willed the copper to reconstitute itself in its former location. She then Obliviated the last ten minutes of Draco's memory.

"Accio, Tizona!" cried Harry.

The charmed sword flew out of Ginny's beaded bag and Harry grabbed it deftly with his hand. The Death Eaters upstairs would have to explain the carnage in the dungeon. It would be convenient to be seen with swords... maybe even use them.

"Accio, Colada!" Ginny cried following suit.

Harry and Ginny took point with their wands on their left hands and swords on their right. Hermione followed, protecting the two Muggle girls behind her, and Ron secured the rear.

Ron had only one usable hand, and he gladly used it to drag the crying and whimpering Draco, broken knees and all.

"The stairs might be a little painful," Ron told him innocently.

The light show at the top of the landing indicated that there was a ferocious battle going on. More Death Eaters had arrived, and it seemed that Neville and Luna were seriously outmanned. Harry and Ginny ran up the stairs.

They charged at the Death Eaters firing curses and slashing indiscriminately. The dark wizards didn't like hand to hand combat, or a fair fight. They were quickly gripped with terror at the sight of the flashing steel. Some ran upstairs and Hermione fired a Reducto curse that collapsed the stairs and blocked the way down.

Those caught in the crossfire inside the barrel-vaulted corridor were doomed. At the far door Luna was down, wounded at the feet of a mightily angry Neville Longbottom. He was being typically reckless and wasn't even attempting to get cover. That prompted Harry and Ginny to redouble their efforts. With a battle cry they finished off the trapped Death Eaters.

Ginny pushed Neville out of the way and closed the gaping gash on Luna's leg. She gave her a dose of blood replenishing potion and held her until her blood pressure started to go up. Luna opened her eyes, and she smiled when she saw Neville and Ginny.

"Carry her," the redhead said to Neville. "She's probably too dizzy to walk. I'll take care of the scar at Grimmauld place."

Ron walked through, carelessly dragging a screaming Draco Malfoy by the scruff of his shirt. He was followed by Harry, who was shielding the black-haired Muggle girl from seeing the carnage by burying her face on his chest. Hermione was doing the same with her half-naked blonde sister.

Ginny fell back to cover their retreat as one by one they Apparated to Grimmauld Place.

OoOoO

Narcissa Malfoy first embraced her injured son and covered him with kisses, then she became outraged by the way her Draco had been dragged and given no relief for his pain.

Ron wasn't sympathetic.

"We agreed to bring your son alive." he said curtly. "We didn't agree to bring him to you in a bed of roses. Now get him out of my sight before I beat him to a pulp!"

Narcissa could tell that the uncouth Weasley boy was serious, so she wisely took him with the help of her husband to the room that had been assigned for them by Remus and Tonks.

The fact that a member in good standing of the most ancient and noble House of Black was going to be staying at Grimmauld Place, had prompted Kreacher to take up his house-elf duties enthusiastically. The home was almost unrecognizable. The grime had been cleaned away, but it still remained a rather sombre place.

They gathered in the drawing room and Tonks and Remus looked at the teens expectantly.

"Before we tell you what happened, we have to take a shower," Harry said tiredly.

Ginny's and Harry's bodies were sprinkled with blood, and they were eager to wash it off. Harry summoned Dobby to bring fresh clothes for everyone, including the Muggle girls. The youngest one was given a bed sheet to cover herself in the meantime.

"What's your name?" Harry asked the black-haired girl who was holding her visibly shaken younger sister.

"I'm Fiona, and this is my sister is Laura," she said full of gratitude. "I'm really thankful for what you did, and I will never be able to repay you for it."

"It was nothing," Harry replied embarrassed. "We were there anyway..."

"Yes, the more people rescued, the merrier," Tonks said amused.

Everyone introduced themselves to the Muggle girls, and they began to relax a little, but they were still a bit apprehensive.

"Who are you people? Are you from another planet or something?" Fiona asked.

They all laughed, but it was clear that she had asked a serious question, and it deserved a serious answer. Harry didn't know what to say and was thankful when Tonks intervened.

"Let Harry and Ginny take a shower first. We'll answer your questions when they return," she said turning to face the couple. "One of you can use the bathroom in this level, and the other the one upstairs."

"That's alright. Someone else can use the upstairs bathroom if they want to. We'll take the one on this level," Ginny said nonchalantly as she took Harry's hand.

"Are the two of you going to take a shower together?" Fiona asked looking shocked.

Ginny realized too late she had made a mistake. "Ehmm... Yes. We're sort of... married," she replied awkwardly.

Luna got up pulling Neville with her hand. "I'm a mess too. We'll take the one upstairs."

The two couples left before Tonks and Remus came out of their amazement and started asking questions.

A half hour later the two couples returned to the drawing room. Fiona and Laura were getting dressed in a room down the corridor.

"What are we going to do about the two Muggle girls?" Harry asked.

"I'll take them somewhere close to their house and Obliviate them," Tonks replied in a resigned tone. "It's the only thing we can do."

"It's probably best for Laura," Harry said pensively.

"Kingsley told me their parents reported them missing to the Muggle authorities only six hours ago. It won't be an extensive wipe," Tonks explained a little more cheerfully.

Dobby had brought some refreshments and food from the Hogwarts kitchen, and the teens were having some cold Butterbeer when Fiona and Laura returned to the drawing room. They shyly took a seat on one of the upholstered sofas.

"What's going to happen to us?" Fiona asked with trepidation.

"I'll take you to your home," Tonks replied evenly.

"You'll take us home and that's it?" Fiona said sounding doubtful. "We'll have to report all of this to the police..."

"That's fine, honey," Tonks answered unconcerned. "We know you have to."

"What are you people?" Fiona asked, narrowing her eyes.

"We're wizards and witches," Hermione intervened. "I know exactly how you feel," she added seeing the incredulous look on Fiona's face. "Until I was eleven years old, I didn't even know I was a witch. It was quite a shock to find out there really are witches and wizards in the world."

Fiona realized that reporting all of this to the police wasn't going to be that easy after all.

"Would you like to try some Butterbeer?" Ginny asked amiably while extending a bottle to Laura. "It's a Wizarding beverage with very little alcohol content. It's really quite refreshing."

Laura hadn't said a word, and still clung to her older sister. She took the bottle a little hesitantly and took a sip. Everyone waited for her verdict, and there was relieved laughter when she smacked her lips approvingly. Ginny offered another bottle to Fiona.

"How can the two of you be married?" the black-haired girl asked Ginny when she took the bottle. "You look as old as my sister, and she's only fifteen."

"Yes, Harry," Tonks chimed in. "How can the two of you be sort of married. The last time I visited Molly she didn't seem to have any idea that her only daughter was now Mrs Potter."

"It was a spiritual wedding, not a legal one," he replied uncomfortably.

Tonks turned to face Ginny with an expression of disappointment. "Did he really convince you to shag him with that load of bollocks? That's a pathetic line. I just hope you're not that gullible."

Ginny blushed and laughed.

"They're telling the truth," Ron said taking Hermione's hand. "We all did it."

Tonks was astonished when she realized they were being serious.

"Let's just say it was a very arcane ritual," Hermione explained nervously. "We rather not discuss it."

"It was a lot of fun, though," Luna added blithely.

"Please don't tell Mum," Ron squeaked.

"Don't worry. I won't tell Molly anything," Tonks reassured them. "You could learn something about commitment from the kids," she said with a hint of bitterness to Remus.

The former DADA professor spluttered and squirmed unable to respond.

"I think we should get back home," Fiona probed nervously. "Our parents must be really worried about us."

"You're right," Tonks said getting up. "Come with me."

Laura visibly shrank back and whispered to her sister.

"We want Harry to take us," Fiona said a bit unsure.

"I'll take you, but before we go, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

Harry didn't want to lie to Fiona and her sister. They had been through too much already, and even though they wouldn't remember it, he wanted to treat them fairly. He told them they would have to be Obliviated.

All present were impressed by the desire of the two Muggle girls to preserve their memories, even if they were traumatic, but Tonks explained the dire consequences that any inadvertent revelation of the Wizarding world could have.

After an extended and emotional farewell of their six rescuers, the two girls left with Harry.

"Fiona has the hots for Harry," Tonks said turning to Ginny. "I'm not sure I would let them out of my sight if I were you."

Ginny chuckled. "Harry is letting me hear their conversation," she explained before shushing her.

"Ohhhh...What's she saying?" Tonks asked leaning forward only to be shushed again.

Ginny laughed and smiled absently a couple of times. The curiosity was killing Hermione.

"What are they talking about?" she asked.

"They want to forget everything that happened in Malfoy Manor and about us being wizards and witches, but they want to remember us as acquaintances. She suggested he could visit them someday. Harry can even bring me along if he has to."

OoOoO

Late Sunday morning, the Six sat around the wooden box with Helga Hufflepuff's cup. They had planned to present the Horcrux to Dumbledore to watch him destroy it, but Professor McGonagall had told them that the headmaster was travelling and wouldn't return for a week or two.

"It obviously has a compulsion charm," Hermione said evenly. "I have a nagging desire to grab it. I could probably undo the compulsion charm, but we have very little knowledge of ancient protective curses."

"Bill would have no problem undoing the curse," Ginny pointed out. "Do you want me to ask him to help us?"

"I want to concentrate on destroying the Horcrux, not on making it safe," Harry answered. "We cannot rely on Dumbledore to destroy the Horcruxes for us. For all we know he may not return from this trip."

"You destroyed a Horcrux before..." Ginny said in a low voice.

"Yes, but by now the basilisk and the venom are probably decomposed," Harry pointed out.

"Actually... that might not be the case," Hermione intervened a little unsure. "During my research I've discovered that magical creatures are pulverized by sunlight when they die, which explains why Muggle scientists haven't run across dragon fossils or unicorn carcasses. However, in the absence of sunlight, magical creatures decompose very slowly."

"Do you think the basilisk might still be there and that the venom is usable?" Harry asked hopefully.

"It's possible," the brunette said sounding more confident. "In the Muggle literature there are reports of a dead basilisk being found in an underground chapel of the Vatican, but the remains disappeared when it was brought up to the surface.

"There was also a famous case in Poland of a basilisk being found in the cellar of an alchemist who was accused of being a wizard. The basilisk killed three people inside the cellar before a man was able to kill it, but the animal disappeared when it was brought outside."

"If the basilisk isn't there, we can always make our own," Luna said with authority. "We just have to get a rooster egg, which are rare because they only lay them in a blue moon; and get a toad to hatch it."

Hermione quickly reviewed the astronomical calendar she always carried with her. "There is no blue moon until 1999," she said sounding disappointed.

Luna smiled brightly. "But there was one last year..."

"You have a rooster egg?" the brunette asked excitedly.

"Yes. My dad and I stayed up all night watching the rooster because they destroy their eggs as soon as they lay them... I guess they're ashamed of them," the blonde added absently.

Harry was amazed to see Hermione's eyes sparkling at the prospect of making their own basilisk. Ginny's eyes, on the contrary, were dark and apprehensive.

"I rather not have to deal with another basilisk," he said forcefully. "We first have to go down to the Chamber of Secrets to see if the basilisk venom is still usable. You can stay behind, Ginny."

"No. I want to go," the redhead said resolutely.

The Six made their way to the second-floor girl's lavatory and slid down the passage under the washbasin, ignoring Moaning Myrtle's pleas for attention. Harry and Ron retraced the steps, narrating to the others the events that had become part of Hogwarts legend. They made their way past the partially cleared cave-in and into the chamber itself, lighting the torches as they walked in.

They smelled the stench before they saw the carcass of the basilisk at the far end. Ginny pulled closer to Harry as they made their way to the remains. Thankfully, Hermione had performed a refreshing charm that made the smell bearable.

The basilisk looked a bit deflated, but it was still basically complete. Most importantly, the head looked to be the best-preserved part of the magical creature. They all stood silently for a moment, remembering or imagining the events of four years ago, and how a twelve-year-old had slain the King of Serpents.

"We should get the venom gland," Hermione said cringing with disgust at the sight of the basilisk. "The venom there is bound to be the freshest."

They had dissected small animals in Potions class to obtain magical ingredients; but this was a dissection on a whole different scale.

"That's disgusting," Ron said. "Besides, who here knows about basilisk anatomy?"

"I do," Luna said brightly.

Without saying anything else, she pulled out a knife from her beaded bag and started cutting into the basilisk's head.

Ron was the first to be sick. He ran to the drainage channel on the side to relieve himself of his breakfast. His retching sounds made Hermione sick, and she joined him a minute later.

"It's fascinating," Neville said evenly and looking unaffected. "Did you know that Luna and her father once dissected an Erumpent? That's a lot more dangerous than this."

Harry and Ginny were turning green, but they looked on. Five minutes later, Luna triumphantly held up the two venom sacs. The sacs yielded about two litres of venom that she drained into a bottle.

"All done," she said with a smile.

Remarkably, the Ravenclaw girl had done the job so precisely and expertly, that only her forearms were soaked with basilisk blood. She hadn't even stained her clothes. Neville performed an Aguamenti charm for her to wash off the blood, and then Luna performed a medical cleaning charm on her own arms.

"Should you try stabbing the cup with the fang to see if it works?" Ginny asked.

Harry hadn't noticed when she had picked it up, but Ginny held up for him the same basilisk fang that had almost killed him four years ago.

Harry placed the wooden box on the floor and opened it. After dipping the fang in the venom, he approached the Horcrux.

"Stand back everybody!"

Only the shared willpower of Ginny and he prevented Harry from succumbing to the psychological tricks of the Horcrux. They relished hearing the dying cries of another piece of Voldemort's soul, and the young couple embraced each other with tears in their eyes after it was destroyed.

For the first time they really started believing that they would survive the war.

OoOoO

The Bloody Baron was not amused to be summoned under strong compulsion by a group made up mostly of Gryffindors students, but any escape was prevented by a magnificent magic fire and an impeccably drawn magic circle.

"I refuse to betray the secrets of a Slytherin alumnus!" protested the ghost.

"You're bound by the power of this coven, and by your duty to protect Hogwarts from those who would destroy it," Luna said solemnly. "Tell us what you know of Tom Riddle. We command you!"

The Bloody Baron told them how Tom had stolen Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, and how he had suggested to Tom to hide it in the Room of Requirement. The Slytherin House ghost protested that he didn't know Tom intended to make a Horcrux with it.

The Grey Lady gave them a description of the diadem, and after three days of combing through the "Room of Hidden Things" of the Room of Requirement, they found the Horcrux and destroyed it.

"That makes five Horcruxes destroyed," Hermione said happily. "If our knowledge is correct, and Voldemort could only make as many Horcruxes as foci in the body, that leaves only two Horcruxes left to destroy."

Harry could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

Dumbledore returned from his mysterious trip saying once more that he was close to finding a Horcrux, but he didn't trust Harry enough to give him more information.

The month of April was almost finished when the teens were gathered after a training session.

"The day after tomorrow is Walpurgis Night. Are you going to fly naked with me?" Ginny asked her boyfriend saucily.

May 1st was a school holiday in the Wizarding world for different reasons than in the Muggle world, so Harry had no excuse not to spend the night flying and dancing naked around a bonfire with his girlfriend.

"I'd love to," he answered suggestively.

"Could Neville and I join you?" Luna asked hopefully. "When my mother was alive, we always observed Walpurgis Night the traditional way. We danced naked and made offerings to the Gods, but my mother never kissed my father's arse, at least not while I was looking," she said blithely.

"Of course," Ginny answered without missing a beat. "The more the merrier. You're welcome to join us as well," she added turning to Ron and Hermione. "We'll have a bonfire at Blockula. I've even arranged for Butterbeer and snacks."

The brunette witch didn't seem too enthusiastic, but Ron never missed an opportunity to fly and eat. "Yes," he answered eagerly for both of them. "We'll come along."

He noticed the doubtful look he was getting from his girlfriend.

"Come on, Mione," he pleaded. "It's an ancient tradition."

"Maybe Ginny and Harry want some privacy..." Hermione started to object.

"There's plenty of room," Ginny interrupted her. "If someone wants a private moment, it shouldn't be a problem. The skies are going to be clear, so it will be ideal for star watching if you happen to be horizontal on your back," she added with a suggestive smile to the brunette.

Star watching naked on the lush grass of Blockula sounded like a brilliant idea to Hermione. Getting horizontal on her back under the starry heavens wasn't a bad idea either.

Alright, then," Hermione relented. "But I'm not kissing your arse, Ron Weasley."

OoOoOoOoO

A/N:* The reports that Hermione mentions about Basilisks are "real".

The recipe to make a Basilisk is also "real". If anyone one wants to try it, let me know how it turns out.