I worked out this week that the upload on the 18th, which is just before Leo's birthday, will be a pretty major one… and it honestly couldn't have worked out any better. So while there are a couple of chapters before we get to that at least that's something to look forward to!

I've also been actually writing a lot of Year 7 as of the last few weeks of uploads, and in that time I've realised that maybe my chapter plans were a little too ambitious in terms of the number of scenes, so a lot will need to be split in two. As of this very moment there are planned to be around 61 chapters in this story but given I'm currently writing Chapter 52, that might increase again…

Admin aside though, it's time to get into this chapter and the aftermath of last time. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

"Ennervate."

Leo's eyes opened slowly, wincing at the light from the candles as he began to take in his surroundings. He was laying down on a sofa in the living room of the Burrow, that was for certain, and among the first things he noticed was that across the room another figure was lying down similarly, dried blood covering half of one of the twins' head. As he looked around the room he saw nearly everybody that had been there at Little Whinging, and he breathed a sigh of relief at that, realising that they hadn't lost any more to the Death Eaters. Bill and Fleur were stood gripping one another's hands tightly in the corner of the room, with Bill whispering to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus was stood to one side with Sirius, both looking nervously in his direction, while Ron and the other twin were standing by their injured brother. Leo shifted slightly trying to sit upright and see more around the room but he felt a sharp pain all across his chest, followed by a delicate hand that pressed gently into his shoulder, stopping him.

"Don't move." Hermione told him softly. She was sat on the arm of the sofa by his head, and even from his awkward angle he could see she had barely stopped crying. "We've fixed your leg, but…"

"But those splinch injuries will take some time." Leta Scamander's voice told him from nearby. "You've ripped open your entire torso and none of us are trained Healers… my specialty is Hippogriff's, not wizards." She added quietly to whoever was beside her.

"What happened?" Harry's voice sounded from another angle, and Leo turned his head to see him leaning against a wall by the stairs, Ginny having wrapped herself around his arm tightly leaning her head into his shoulder, not wanting to let him go. "You mentioned Mad-Eye…"

"Harry." Hermione warned him with a scowl. "That can wait."

Leo shook his head however, thinking it best to just tell his tale now while it was still relatively fresh in his mind. "No… I swear, I did what I could but…" His voice was croaky, and Hermione immediately conjured a cup and said. "Aguamenti." She then slowly poured the cool liquid into his mouth, helping him drink so that he could continue. "We were ambushed immediately; we were fighting them off but… but then he was there." His eyes shot open in panic as one thing popped into his memory. "He can…"

"Fly, yes." Kingsley nodded grimly. "We encountered him too, but only for a moment."

Leo's eyes sought Hermione worriedly, checking her for any visible signs of damage, but she soothingly ran her hand over his shoulder, letting him know that she was alright and he calmed enough to continue. "He killed Mad-Eye… and he was going to kill me too… but he looked inside my mind and saw what we had done with the Polyjuice… it's my fault, he knew the plan."

"Leo, if you hadn't have given him that information, you'd be dead right now." Leta explained as she looked around the other adults in the room, all of whom nodding in their agreement with her. "But that explains what he did afterwards."

Confused, Leo looked around for an explanation, to which Kingsley answered, repeating himself. "After he left you, he came for us."

"Likely going through who he believed to be the strongest protectors." Remus added.

"Until he found me." Harry muttered darkly, and Leo's eyes sought Harry's, but the Boy-Who-Lived was keeping his head down, staring at the floor. "Because I wouldn't kill Stan Shunpike."

It was all starting to get to be too much at once for Leo, scrunching his brow in confusion. "Stan Shunpike?" He asked.

"Harry only disarmed him, the noble git." Ron said with a quiet smirk.

There was a sense that this was an already played out argument, and when nobody looked to rehash it, Leta urged him on with his own tale. "Go on, Leo. What else happened?"

"Once he left, I… I was dazed for a bit. He'd been inside my head and everything felt jumbled. By the time I came round… the Death Eaters had found me and they blasted me off the broom." Another thing to feel guilty about as he looked over at Harry. "I'm sorry…" Harry said nothing, but Leo could see the devastation in his eyes, not saying a word and simply nodding the once. "I landed… painfully." He shifted his leg at that, realising that someone had healed it while he had been passed out. "And I made my way over to Mad-Eye's body… just wanting to get out of there."

"And then you disapparated." Leta surmised. "After having You-Know-Who in your head, with a broken leg and it was Side Along just to add more stress. Merlin's beard, it's a wonder you didn't tear yourself in half."

Leo chuckled painfully. "I think I did." He retorted as the pain in his chest seared up again. He winced and Hermione immediately shifted, holding his hand now as he tried to get comfortable again. Mrs Weasley quickly began rushing around gathering some bits in the kitchen, and Leo was desperate for that to be something to dull the pain he was feeling.

"Where's Mad-Eye's body?" Bill asked grimly, lowering the mood again.

"Bill." Leo heard Molly Weasley scold. "Let the boy rest…"

"Bill is right, Molly." Sirius said, speaking up for the first time. "We need to be the first there." He left the worst case scenario unspoken, but the silence in the room said it all, that they were all thinking the same as Leo had when he had risked everything to save Mad-Eye's body in the first place.

"Outside the Safehouse." Leo answered, the pain in his chest getting more searing with each breath. "I put a Notice-Me-Not charm over it… but I don't know how strong it will be…"

He heard movement as people began to walk to the door. "We'll find it." Sirius was the one to say. "No, Moony, I've done bugger all tonight, I'm not sitting this one out."

"Leo needs you." Remus said scoldingly, and Leo saw that he had a firm arm on Sirius' torso, stopping him from passing.

"Leo, needs rest." Molly countered angrily as she came back into the room holding a vial and a bottle. "Now unless you want to dose him with Veritaserum and get him to spill every single detail, I'm going to give him some Dreamless Sleep." She knelt down by the sofa, running her hand gently through Leo's tangled hair. "You're staying here until you are better, dear, best not to send you anywhere just yet, not until you're healed."

Though all he really wanted was his own bed at that moment, he didn't fight it with the adrenaline leaving his system completely and exhaustion quickly setting in, and so he allowed her to pour the potion into his mouth as Hermione called out concerned for whatever Harry was going through, but before he could turn and face Harry again the potion's effects were strong and Leo drifted off to sleep instantaneously.

When he finally opened his eyes again, Leo had to quickly shield them from the bright glow of light streaming in from the single, circular window that was illuminating the almost golden room so much so that it took a while for Leo's eyes to adjust. By the time they did, he also registered that his left hand was being tightly squeezed. Slowly turning his head he saw a figure sat at his bedside, leant back in a chair with her nose buried in a book. Her pink shirt was darker in patches near her shoulders with the stain of tears, and Leo heard the light sniffling indicating the aftermath of crying. He couldn't make out what Hermione was attempting to read, though realised that she was inevitably trying to distract herself, though he then shifted a bit too obviously and her eyes peered over the top edge of the green tome, red and puffy. She snapped the book shut with her book holding hand and threw it onto the bed beside him, bringing that same hand to rest over her other one that had him grasped tightly. "Leo." She gasped, the sense of relief very clear in her hoarse voice. "You're awake."

He nodded gently, shifting to try and sit more upright, to which Hermione quickly jumped out of her chair and helped him, setting his pillows comfortably and helping him move so he was sat, his back leaning against the pillows and the headboard. He quickly saw the state of his chest, with bandages covering his torso with the odd speck of blood still managing to seep through. Grimacing, he turned back to Hermione who had fresh tears falling from her eyes. He moved his left arm gingerly and wiped them away, only for Hermione to sob even more. "Shh…" He said in an even hoarser voice than hers sounded. "I'm alright."

She chuckled tearfully, shaking her head. "It's not just… last night was just hard." She whispered, before placing a kiss on his forehead tenderly. "Though I am glad you're alive… I've never been so scared, Leo, seeing you like… like that." She winced at the memory.

Leo only squeezed her hands as tightly as he could. "I'm still here, thanks to you." He told her. "You were brilliant."

She smiled weakly, moving to the bedside table and picking up a glass of water and helping Leo take a sip that made him gasp in happiness at his throat being wettened. "I was a mess inside." She admitted, as she placed the cup back and returned to holding his hand. "When you went to sleep I couldn't stop crying…"

"What happened after I took the potion?" Leo asked, desperate for any information he could get.

Thankfully, the retelling allowed Hermione to be distracted from how upset she was as she leapt into the story. "Sirius, Kingsley and Bill all went to Mad-Eye's house, your safehouse. They found the body quickly, Bill said, they could trace the magic given they knew what they were looking for and were easily able to remove it, and they buried him in his garden before stripping the house of anything they thought was useful before Sirius set it aflame."

Leo nodded his agreement with that, knowing he would have done the same had he not been so focused on just reaching the Portkey in time. "Good." He said morosely, wondering what they would do now that Mad-Eye was no longer with them.

"And Harry almost walked out." Hermione then added, causing Leo to scowl. "Don't worry, we all set him straight, Ginny was furious, and well I…" She trailed away, her eyes avoiding his as he realised she was embarrassed. His gaze must have gotten to her quickly as she rolled her eyes and tutted. "Don't look at me like that Leo, I said some rather unkind things, that's all, I was worried about you and may have used your injuries to prove a point…"

Leo gently rubbed his thumb over her hand, trying to convey his appreciation. "It's alright." He told her. "We went through a lot to get him out of there, I would have no doubt been less polite."

"I wasn't exactly polite." She muttered, but the smile was back on her lips, and that was all that mattered to him. "He had a vision too." She said in barely a whisper, before quickly explaining Voldemort's unhappiness at Ollivander.

"He used Lucius Malfoy's wand?" Leo asked, surprised as his mind tried to digest the information he was receiving, thinking back to his numerous near misses with the Killing Curse and wondering if the change in wand had anything to do with Leo being alive then. "And it broke as he duelled Harry?"

Hermione nodded, her brow frowning as she continued her explanations. "Harry believes it was his wand that moved of its own accord, but he was duelling, he doesn't know what happened." She told him. "But yes, Lucius Malfoy's wand was destroyed and now it seems You-Know-Who is seeking out another."

His first thought was of a bed time story when he was young. The Tale of Three Brothers had never been his favourite from Beedle, but a seemingly unbeatable wand in the hands of You-Know-Who sent shivers down his spine. Thankfully however, it was just a children's tale. "So he'll be distracted." Leo muttered eventually. "Good."

"Or, he's using the link with Harry again to try and trick us." Hermione explained. "You've been learning Occlumency… can you…" She looked down at him desperately, the question not needing to be voiced as he knew what she was trying to ask.

"I can try." He whispered weakly, repeating his words from days before. "Once I'm out of bed again."

Initially she beamed, before her eyes widened in alarm. "Oh, I should have thought… I'm sorry." She teared up. Leo chuckled lightly and tightened his grip on her hand to soothe her, but before any further words could be said there were loud footsteps outside of the door and Mrs Weasley pushed her way inside.

"I thought I heard voices!" The Weasley matriarch stated cheerfully. "Welcome back dear, how are you?"

"I feel like I've been stampeded by a herd of Hippogriffs." Leo answered truthfully.

Molly let out a brief snort of amusement as she set down the tray on the bed beside him, to which Leo saw a number of potions and salve's along with a plate with a hearty bacon sandwich sat on it. "At least your humour is with us still." She noted. "Now… I wanted Madam Pomfrey to come and take a look at you really, but she's being watched so could only send brief advice through a Patronus. Splinching on this scale is a nasty business, and you'll be off your feet for a while yet." She turned to Hermione. "Help me get the bandages off, dear."

Hermione's eyes widened again. "I… shouldn't I go…" She stammered, looking between Leo and the door.

Molly rolled her eyes. "You aren't as good at hiding yourselves as you think… not to me. I've had seven children who each think they're better at hiding secrets from me than they actually are." She smiled brightly, though the smile failed to reach her sad eyes. "Don't worry, I won't say anything, but help me here, Leo would feel more comfortable if you applied these than if I did them I am sure."

After a few minutes of being uncomfortably pushed around as his bandages were removed, Leo simply watched the two women's reactions to his injuries, realising their extent by the horrified looks that neither were able hide. More time passed as Mrs Weasley explained which salve and potion was required at which time, before she made one final remark to Leo to eat the sandwich that she had brought up as she left the room.

Hermione nervously unscrewed the lid of the first salve, gently rubbing it over Leo's torn apart chest, causing both a fiery pain and a cool soothing sensation at the same time. No words were spoken between the pair of them, but Leo simply stared into her brown eyes as Hermione treated his wounds. The silence was broken once Hermione handed him the plate cautiously. "This will scar." She said softly, the worry in her voice. "I know all of these… they'll fix you up eventually, but you'll have scars." She then sighed as her lip twitched to a smirk for a brief second. "We'll both have chest scars."

It took all of his willpower not to choke on the bacon sandwich he had just taken a small bite out of as his eyes wandered down to where she was talking about imagining what it looked like underneath… though he snapped out of it just as quickly, hoping that he wasn't too obvious. The laugh that followed however made it clear that he had been however. Swallowing his mouthful, Leo muttered. "Sorry… I shouldn't have."

She leant over and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "It's fine." She breathed as they lingered less than an inch away from the other. She pulled away again as her face fell and she looked saddened. "I honestly thought you were dead last night, Leo."

"I'm fine." He tried to comfort her.

She ignored the obvious lie however and continued. "But it just makes me think… we're going to be apart for I'm not even sure how long… what if…" A tear fell from her left eye. "What if one of us does die and we're apart?"

With his chest now feeling better given the number of salve's and potions in his system, Leo leaned forwards and placed his hand on her cheek, cupping her head as he wiped the tear away. "I don't know what will happen." He told her honestly. "What I do know though, is how I feel. Whatever happens, wherever you end up and whatever you need to get through, I have faith that we will find our way back to one another."

"How can you be sure?" She whispered.

The answer was obvious to him, and as he stared into her eyes and could see the worry, the fear and everything else within, there was no hesitation in his voice as he spoke it out loud. "Because I love you. I've loved you for a long time, Hermione. And I know that no matter how long it takes, even if it means we can't talk to one another or see one another, that this between us is something special and something that will endure. And I know that this love is how we will win this war." He saw the shock in her face turn into adoration as she leaned forwards again and pressed her lips to his with more force than before, his declaration awakening something inside her as their surroundings seemed to disappear, and the only things left in the world were the pair of them locked in a passionate embrace.

They only broke apart when footsteps were heard outside once again, and it was Sirius this time that opened the door to see the pair of teenagers clinging on to one another as if their own lives depended on the other, the adult taking a moment to take in the scene before him before his eyes settled on the half-eaten sandwich. "I owe Molly a Knut, she said you wouldn't be eating." He said teasingly. "You need to eat, Leo."

The injured Gryffindor leant back in the bed and nodded, still somewhat dazed at what had just happened. He barely even registered the quick conversation between his girlfriend and his dad as the plate was pushed back into his hand and his bedside companion changed, with the flushed look on Hermione's face as she looked back at him while stood in the doorway the most important thing in the world to him.

As the door shut gently behind Hermione, Leo forced himself to take another bite of the sandwich as Sirius sat down in the newly vacated seat. The silence was extremely awkward as both of the similar looking men struggled to think of anything to say, with the birds chirping outside along with the calls from Mrs Weasley the only indication of sound as she called out to Ron, who must have been outside.

"Molly seems to think she can get the truth out of Harry and the others." Sirius muttered amusedly, breaking the silence. "She's tried to get me on side, to force it out of them."

"What did you say?" Leo asked, taking another bite.

Sirius shook his head, that smile still etched onto his lips. "No of course, I said Dumbledore left Harry a mission and that if he had wanted us to know, he would have told us." He smirked at the memory. "She rapped me around the head with a cloth and called me a terrible example, but she's not tried again." Leo noted that, expecting that the reason Sirius hadn't been quizzed was because of his own injuries and presumed Mrs Weasley didn't want to add to Sirius' stress, and for the first time he was almost grateful for the Splinching. Sirius noticed his look towards his chest and laughed, patting him gently on the shoulder.

Another moment of silence followed then, as Leo tried to remember the last time that the pair of them had been alone in a room together, realising it must have been their Occlumency lessons just after they had abandoned Grimmauld Place. Sirius also was thinking the same thing, it became clear, when he spoke again. "I've binned the booze." He said somewhat mournfully. "Mad-Eye kept me from helping you because I couldn't be trusted to stay sober, and now…" He trailed off.

"This is not your fault." Leo said as firmly as he could. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine… I should have done more, fought harder…"

Shaking his head, Sirius had a wry smile. "No mate, you're not to blame…" He sighed dramatically. "But I realised I can't sit here and do nothing again, so I'm cleaning up my act. Your Mum would have smacked the living daylights out of me for being in the state I've been in recently and I owe it to her, and to you, to do better."

It meant a lot to hear that for Leo, who agreed on how his Mum would have acted. "I've not exactly been there." Leo admitted. "If it wasn't the DA coin it was the meticulous planning last night…" He stopped briefly before admitting something he had failed to admit to himself for weeks. "And I've been avoiding you… seeing you hurt, it made me think of Mum and her not being here… and that isn't fair. I'm sorry."

If Sirius was hurt by that statement he didn't show it, placing his hand on Leo's shoulder and squeezing gently. "I understand." He said. "And I promise, and I want you to promise too, that we'll both be better. You're all I have left, you and Harry. And we need one another." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a Galleon. "Here." He said, placing it in Leo's hand. "Same password as the map." As soon as those words left Sirius' mouth, Leo understood. It was his DA Galleon. Flipping it around to see an engraving of Dumbledore on the back, Leo couldn't help his grin as Sirius continued explaining. "When it hums, speak the message you want and any coin connected to it will show the message on the tails side. I've written down how to replicate it for when you get back to school." At Leo's amazement, Sirius shrugged. "I had to do something while you were fighting for your lives last night. Honestly the distraction helped a lot."

"Thank you." Leo said softly as he flipped the coin around again. "Seriously Dad… thank you." He whispered, looking up at his father, taking in the man's features for the first time in ages. His hair was less well kept and his eyes looked decades older than they had before, but despite the tired look, Sirius' smile still brightened the room.

"I'm here to help you, son." Sirius insisted. "In any way you need me to. Though I think you have someone else already to play nursemaid." He said teasingly, causing Leo to blush. "But if there is anything, I'm here, and I promise I'm not going anywhere again."

Leo reached up to grab Sirius' hand and squeezed it comfortingly, before an idea struck him. "Actually… there is something, if you don't mind doing me a favour…" Sirius' raised eyebrow was the only response he received, before Leo leapt into his explanation of his request.

Reviews:

SkepticPrinceArthur: If I do ever get around to it, the plans I have for post-canon and the Next Gen era would likely have a lot more of that sort of interaction… I really enjoyed the Polyjuice interactions! Just knowing that the person you love and are attracted to is there, but in someone else's body is prime crack material. I hope you enjoyed Sirius in this chapter then!