The Refiner's Fire

Chapter 6 - Rita Skeeter Bites Again

"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said as the boys started up the hill to the Quidditch pitch, getting ready for their game, "why don't you go out and play too? They're short of a player."

"No, I'm going to stay here," Ginny said, sitting on her bed with a book in her lap. "I don't feel like playing today."

"Do you feel all right, dear?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Ginny replied grumpily. "I just don't want to play Quidditch today."

"You're not happy Harry brought that girl over, are you?" her mother said wisely.

"What . . .why. . ."

"You still fancy him, don't you," her mother said kindly as she sat on the bed by her daughter.

Ginny dropped her eyes and didn't answer, but the flush on her face said all that was needed.

"She makes him happy, Ginny. Harry has had a very hard life, and he still has so much to deal with. Please don't begrudge him this happiness," Mrs. Weasley asked, taking her daughter's hand.

"But what about my happiness?" Ginny burst out. "Nobody seems to care about that!"

"Ginny! Of course we do! But Harry's not ready for you yet."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You've gone out with lots of boys since you started Hogwarts," Mrs. Weasley reasoned. "Casey came into Harry's life when he needed someone to care about him, what with Sirius's death and all. She's helped him get past that. They suit each other well. You've had several chances to explore relationships. It's Harry's turn. She's his first real girlfriend, isn't she?"

"Yes," Ginny snapped grumpily.

Molly rubbed her daughter's arm comfortingly. "Give him time. Be glad for him, Ginny. I believe this is the happiest I've ever seen him. He deserves some joy in his life. Stay friends with him, and if you and he are meant to be together, it will happen at the right time."

Ginny searched her mother's face, hoping she was right. "You honestly think so?"

"I know it."

Ginny sighed. "OK, then," she said as she put her book aside. "Do you need help with anything?"

Molly thought a moment. Giving Ginny a job to do would be a way of covering for her staying away from the others for so long. "Certainly, dear. Why don't you go and set the dishes out? I could do with some help with the potatoes, as well."

"OK," Ginny agreed, then followed her mum down the stairs.

* * * * *

Ginny carried dishes outside to set the table, but as often happened when they ate outside, her brothers had the tables flying in mid-air fighting each other. One table beat the other with a leg, the second table spun around and bashed the first with the four lion's feet of its pedestal base. They crashed together repeatedly until the pedestal fell off the second table and the first table, which was down to one leg, zoomed around the garden in a victory lap. Everyone cheered the victorious table, amid much laughter.

Seeing Ginny with her arms full of dishes, the boys repaired the tables and set them where they knew their mum wanted them. Arthur Weasley, who had been as much a part of the table warfare as his boys, headed for the kitchen to help his wife. Remus, Harry, Bill and Charlie went to help Ginny with the dishes. Hermione and Casey had seated themselves a bit away from the table fight and were deep in conversation again. Ron was hovering around Hermione, wanting to sit next to her but embarrassed to do so.

"It's good to see you, Ginny," Harry said with a warm smile as he took a pile of plates from her.

Ginny blushed, cursing herself inwardly for still blushing whenever Harry Potter looked at her or spoke to her. "Nice to see you, too. Sorry I'm late coming out. I was busy."

"No problem," Harry assured her.

Hermione and Casey helped the rest of the family set the table, then the girls started toward the house to see if Molly needed any more help. "That's OK, we can manage," Ginny told Hermione, then ran back into the house without speaking to Casey. Casey noticed, and glanced at Hermione who was watching Ginny with an odd look on her face.

"Is she. . .angry with someone?" Casey asked.

Hermione hesitated. She didn't want to upset Casey, nor to reveal Ginny's feelings. "Oh, you know redheads," she said with a smile. "They have short fuses. Even a little thing can set them off sometimes. She'll be all right."

As everyone sat down to eat, Ginny and Molly carried the last load of food out to the table. The only place left for Ginny to sit was right opposite Casey, who was next to Harry.

The conversation flowed easily around the table, except for a noticeable cold zone between Ginny and Casey. Ron and Hermione, who were next to Ginny, tried to get Ginny involved in conversation, but she was stubbornly silent. Harry noticed the problem, but hadn't a clue how to improve things.

Charlie was regaling the family with stories of the dragons he'd been working with. He finally told one funny enough to get Ginny laughing, and after that, she relaxed a bit.

Casey was quiet, only speaking when someone asked her a direct question, trying hard to absorb all she could from the conversations flowing around her.

Harry squeezed her hand under the table. "Are you having a good time?" he asked softly.

"Wonderful!" she said with a warm smile, squeezing his hand in return. Their eyes caught and they gazed at each other hungrily for a moment.

Ginny's face flushed, and her eyes showed her hurt. Bloody hell! she thought, he really does care for her. Tears stung her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. Her nose reddened with the effort to keep from crying.

Casey glanced at Ginny, noticing her discomfort. "Are you all right, Ginny?" she asked with real concern.

"I'm fine," Ginny snapped.

Casey decided to try another stab at conversation. "You're a year behind Harry, Ron and Hermione, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you like Hogwarts?"

"Yes."

Casey sighed. Ginny wasn't making this easy. "What are your plans after you finish school?"

Ginny wanted to shout, I plan to marry Harry, but managed to keep her mouth shut until the urge passed. "I don't know yet. We get our career counselling next term."

"What kind of jobs are there? Harry's told me about Aurors. What else do wizards do as careers?"

Ginny bit her tongue, trying to avoid a rude response. What do Muggles do as careers? Don't you think wizards require the same kinds of services? Medical people, teachers, law enforcement, researchers, all that? She took a deep breath. "There are lots of careers available. I rather like taking care of people. I might like to be a healer."

"Is that like a nurse? Or a doctor? I'm confused."

I'll just bet you are, blondie! Ginny fumed. "A doctor."

"How many more years of schooling does that require after Hogwarts?" Casey asked, genuinely interested. "I want to be a vet, and that takes eight more years of study after I finish school. I enjoy chemistry and biology, and I love taking care of animals. I suppose chemistry is similar to your Potions course?"

"I guess," Ginny replied, a grudging respect starting to rear its ugly head in her heart. This girl had similar interests to Ginny's, was serious about schooling, and wanted to help animals the way Ginny wanted to help people. She wasn't all bad. And Harry truly cared about her, which meant she had to be a nice person, as well. Blimey! That's not the way I want to feel about her! she grumbled inwardly.

The conversation flowed a bit more easily after that. Ginny had thawed somewhat toward Casey, and Casey was so delighted with everything she was learning about Harry's world, and his wonderful, loving friends, that she was easily able to ignore Ginny's bad tempered moments.

As the group started to leave the table, Casey turned to Hermione. "May I speak to you for a minute?"

"Certainly." They walked away from the group, curly brown hair and long straight golden hair nearly mingling as they had their heads together talking.

"Ginny," Casey began hesitantly. "Um. She fancies Harry, doesn't she?"

Hermione wasn't certain how to answer. "Why do you ask?"

"It shows every time she looks at him. And she looks daggers at me."

"She's fancied him since before she met him," Hermione agreed.

"How is that possible?"

"You do know Harry is 'The Boy Who Lived' and has been famous all his life, right?" Casey nodded. "Like most children from wizarding families, Ginny grew up hearing Harry Potter stories and created this image of Harry in her mind before she met him. When she did meet him, he was all she'd thought he would be and more. And he saved her life her first year at Hogwarts. Harry's a true hero, even more so to Ginny. He has 'fans,' like film stars do, all over Hogwarts, well, all over the wizarding world, really. Drives him mad. Ginny's not a 'fan' like the others, but her fancying him so long before he was interested in girls bothered him."

"Have they ever. . .gone out?"

"No. Harry was embarrassed by her crush on him. He's nice to her in a brotherly way, but stays away from her otherwise. He's never had a real girlfriend before, nor has Ron. I think their attitudes about many things are starting to change."

"Ron seems to be quite interested in you," Casey observed.

"He's just beginning to show it," Hermione agreed, her cheeks turning pink.

"I see. And do I also see that you're happy about his interest?" Casey replied with a grin.

"Well. . .yes, you could say that!" Hermione said, her face shining with pleasure. "He is a bit thick about some things, but I've cared about Ron for years. It's about time he woke up!" Both girls laughed.

"What are you two laughing about?" Harry said as he came up behind Casey and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hermione said with a teasing twinkle in her eye.

Harry looked at her and grinned. "Let's see now. You're blushing, Hermione, so I'm guessing it's about Ron?"

She smacked his arm playfully. "Harry!"

He laughed. "I know you too well, don't I?" he said with a cheeky grin.

She just blushed brighter red, then startled when Ron came up behind her and gingerly put his hands on her shoulders. She and Casey exchanged a look, then giggled.

"What'd I miss?" Ron asked, his ears pink as he saw Harry looking pointedly at his hands on Hermione and grinning. Ron swallowed hard but stood his ground, holding Hermione's shoulders in a more determined grip.

"Erm. . .nothing," Hermione answered, enjoying his awkward attention. "Just girl talk, you know." As she expected, that stopped Ron's line of questioning.

"Oh, uh. OK," he muttered. He started to remove his hands, then was shocked when Hermione put her hands over his and kept them in place, leaning back against him a little. He grinned in surprised pleasure at Harry over her head. This girlfriend stuff was easier than he thought it would be!

"Ron, have you ever been to a film?" Casey asked, snuggling back into Harry's arms.

"What's a film?"

"Moving pictures, kind of like wizarding pictures, but with a story," Hermione explained.

"No, never heard of 'em," Ron replied.

"Since Hermione lives in the Muggle world, I thought you might have," said Casey. "Why don't we all plan to go to one together? It would be loads of fun!" She winked at Hermione, whose face was astonished and delighted at the same time.

"What a lovely idea!" Hermione said hopefully. "Ron?"

Ron looked down at Hermione's shining face, glanced up at Harry and saw him nod. Nervous but determined, Ron answered, "Yeah! That sounds like fun."

Harry leaned down and nuzzled Casey's cheek affectionately. In one afternoon, she'd managed what he hadn't been able to sort out how to do for years. Ron and Hermione were going out together, and both of them seemed happy about it. Amazing!

Hermione held one of Ron's hands in place on her shoulder and moved back until she had his arm around her shoulders, then she slipped her arm around his waist. Both of them were blushing furiously. Harry and Casey each put an arm around the other and walked with Ron and Hermione for a while, talking about the movies that were coming out soon, trying to work out which one would appeal the most to all four of them. It was a lovely end to a wonderful afternoon.

* * * * *

Early Monday morning, Harry got an Adfero message from Dumbledore. "Come to Grimmauld Place right away," it said.

"OK," Harry sent back, then hurried down the stairs, grabbed a piece of toast and ran over to Mrs. Figg's.

"Harry, dear, you're up early," Mrs. Figg said in a sleepy voice, pushing her curler cap out of her eyes and tightening her house coat. He'd had to pound on the door for quite a time - she must have been asleep.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Mrs. Figg," he began, "but Professor Dumbledore wants me at headquarters right away."

"Do come in," she invited.

"You haven't heard anything?" he asked.

"No, dear. One of my cats was sick most of the night and I didn't get much sleep. If they tried to send me a message, I just slept right through it. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he asd her kindly as he picked up the blue floo powder canister. "I do hope your cat's feeling better."

"She'll be fine. Massive hairballs, you know," Mrs. Figg began.

Harry knew where that conversation would go if he wasn't careful, so he stepped into the fireplace and tossed down the floo powder. "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place," he said in a determined voice. Soon he was stepping dizzily out of the fireplace in the kitchen at Order of the Phoenix headquarters. "Good morning, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said with a nervous smile. "Good morning, Professor Snape, Remus," he added, seeing them also at the table.

"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore greeted. "Have you eaten?" He offered tea and a plate of fresh toast.

"Thanks. What's up?" Harry asked as he buttered a piece of toast and smeared it with marmalade.

Snape sneered in disgust as he shoved a newspaper at Harry. "This is 'what's up.' He's found you." On the cover of the Daily Prophet were several large pictures of Harry as he walked down a street, Harry at work in the tile shop, and Harry and Casey in swimsuits. All were taken with a telephoto lens, from the look of them.

"What. . .who. . .?" Harry stammered as he looked at the photos and glanced at the headline. "Harry Potter's Summer Holiday by Rita Skeeter," he read. His face fell as he skimmed the article. "Rita Skeeter? How did she find me?"

"That's what we'd like to know, Mr. Potter," Snape hissed. "After all we've gone through to protect you. . ."

"Severus, leave him alone. The photos show he wasn't aware he was being spied on," Remus chided Snape. He put a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder. "What do you know about this, Harry?"

"I. . .I . . .I dunno." Harry screwed his face up in concentration, and then realization hit him. "That reporter. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn." With each "damn," he pounded his head on the table.

"Stop! You'll hurt yourself!" Remus said as he grabbed his godson's shoulders and pulled him upright. "Tell us what happened. What reporter?"

Harry angrily shrugged off Remus's hands and slammed his forehead into the table again, grabbing his hair with both hands and grumbling furiously to himself a while before lifting his head and answering. He told them about Doug's being contacted by a reporter who was interested in Harry's mosaics, and that Harry had refused to be interviewed, asked Mr. Asher to protect his privacy, and even left the shop for the time when the reporter was there. "It must have been Rita Skeeter. She said her name was Ruth Spectre. Somehow she must have figured out it was me. Maybe she was stalking me or something."

"How could she have known it was you doing those mosaics, Harry?" Dumbledore said with concern.

"I just don't know, Professor," Harry replied miserably.

"What do your designs look like?" asked Remus, who still hadn't seen them. "Maybe something about them points to you. Or. . .do you sign them?"

"They're geometric or abstract patterns, mostly. I just put a small 'H.P.' on them. You'd think those were fairly common initials." Harry thought a moment more, then slammed his fist on the table.

"What?"

"I had nearly completed a Gryffindor lion just before she came to do the interview. I thought it looked enough like a medieval lion that nobody would notice. I didn't think any wizards were going to buy tables from Mr. Asher. Bloody hell!"

"Language, Potter!" Snape growled.

Harry glared at him, then glanced up at Dumbledore. "Erm. . .sorry, Professor," he murmured.

"I cannot blame you for venting your frustration, dear boy. You had no idea this Skeeter person was working for the Muggle press, and you did everything you could to avoid being interviewed. You're correct in thinking the Gryffindor lion is very like the medieval lions portrayed in art. I sincerely doubt there would have been a problem if no one from the wizarding world had seen them," Dumbledore assured him.

"Why were you making wizarding designs?" Remus said.

"I honestly didn't think it was dangerous," he began.

"'Didn't think' is the operative term here," Snape snarled derisively.

"Severus," Dumbledore said in a warning tone. He turned back to Harry. "Do go on."

"Casey and I went to see a film about Merlin, and I saw things in the film that looked a lot like wizarding designs - the lion, unicorns, dragons, on tapestries, banners, that sort of thing − so I thought it would be safe to do them," he explained. "I was making the lion as a Christmas present for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I worked on it after hours." He was quiet a moment. "I'm making some others as presents, as well. There's a dragon - that's for Hagrid - and erm. . .well, if I tell you, I'll spoil Christmas for some of you," he said, glancing around with a crooked smile. "I thought I was being clever, making Christmas presents. . . . Mr. Asher likes those designs and has orders for a couple of them already. Damn!" He glanced at Dumbledore and muttered, "Sorry, Professor."

Harry sat staring miserably at the front page of the newspaper a few more minutes, then sighed and looked at each of the men facing him in turn. "OK. So what do you want me to do now? Stay in the Dursleys' house and not go out anymore? Stay here? What? "

Dumbledore watched Harry's face as the boy stoically resigned himself to whatever restrictions were about to be put on him. "I think not," the old wizard mused.

All three of the others were surprised. "Not what?" Harry asked, mystified.

"I don't think restricting you to the Dursleys' or here will be a benefit. You are very much like both your father and Sirius. You will not suffer that kind of confinement well. At some point, you will probably try to get at least a little more freedom. The manner in which you do so could be more harmful than just letting you continue your summer as it has been so far, but with more care."

Harry felt a tiny shimmer of hope bubbling up in his chest. "You're not going to lock me away somewhere?"

Dumbledore reached across the table and patted Harry's hand. "No, dear boy, I don't want to lock you away. You are having such a lovely holiday. You're enjoying your work, your play, your new friends," Dumbledore tilted his head, his blue eyes twinkling at Harry from above his half-moon spectacles, "particularly one young lady. I don't want to take that away from you."

"Thank you, sir," Harry breathed with great sincerity. After a moment, he asked "But why didn't the wards and instruments you added protect me from Rita Skeeter?"

"She isn't a Dark witch, Harry," Remus replied. "She's a horrible, unscrupulous person, but she's not Dark, so the wards and instruments didn't detect her."

"That was my fault, Harry," Dumbledore replied sadly. "I thought that by now, the Skeeter woman was under control where you're concerned, but I can see she's still a threat. You will need to be more cautious. I will put some new wards in place to help protect you, and we will have Order members watch over you. And we'll send some people out to deal with this woman. She has no right to stalk you."

"Order members following me around? That means no more privacy," Harry said miserably.

"Better that than being kept inside the Dursleys' or here for the rest of the holidays, right?" Remus consoled him, squeezing his shoulder companionably.

Harry took a deep breath and blew it out. "OK, then, if that's how it has to be. Thanks, Professor."

* * * * *

"Oh, no!" Arthur Weasley groaned over his breakfast that morning.

"What's wrong, dear?" Molly said calmly, used to Arthur's grumbles over newspaper stories.

"It's Harry," he said ominously.

"What about Harry?" "What's wrong?" "What's happened?" "Is he all right?" the entire family clamoured, some of them glancing to the family clock to see where his hand was pointing. It saying he was "at home" wasn't much help, but at least he wasn't in immediate "mortal peril."

"It's that horrible Skeeter woman. She's been stalking him. Harry Potter's Summer Holiday by Rita Skeeter," he read. "'How does the Boy-Who-Lived spend his sixteenth summer, you may ask? He spends it frolicking in the sun at a water park, doing manual labour in a Muggle shop, and − *gasp* − dating a Muggle girl! What kind of girl appeals to the boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? She's a smallish girl, not much to look at, long dirty blond hair, greenish eyes, and she can't seem to keep her hands off him. Apparently, Harry Potter enjoys snogging quite a bit. At his age, that's not so unusual, but with a Muggle? I ask you. The hero of the wizarding world has stooped to such depths of degradation, it's appalling. . . ." Arthur stopped reading, wiping his face with his napkin. "It just gets worse from there," he added. "And there are photos, lots of them. It's continued inside, too."

"That's awful!" Molly replied. The rest of the family burst into spirited conversation about things they'd like to do to Rita Skeeter - Fred and George had some particularly creative suggestions − and what in the world was Harry going to do now?

Errol arrived just then and flopped in exhaustion on the table. "Here's your Witch Weekly, Mum," Ginny said, untying the package from the elderly owl's leg and handing it to Molly.

"Thank you, dear! They're supposed to have a new recipe in here for. . .oh no!" she gasped as she unrolled the magazine and saw the cover. "Harry's on the cover! With Casey! In swimsuits!"

The children all rushed behind their mother to see the photos, all for very different reasons. Fred, George and Ron goggled at Casey, while Ginny studied every muscle in Harry's body, then glared at Casey's picture. Unfortunately, it showed her coming off the slide with her swim suit top flying off. Her bare breasts had been 'fogged' by the magazine editors, but every detail was still there in living, moving colour, including the delight as well as horror on Harry's face as he watched the mishap.

"Oh, dear. The article is titled, 'How to Win the Heart of The Boy Who Lived.'" Molly said, then opened the magazine to the article itself. "'The top ten ways to win the heart of The Boy Who Lived: Number 10, Wear clothes that self-destruct on a moment's notice. Number 9, Expose as much of your body as possible when you're around him. Number 8, Save him from drowning.' What's that about, I wonder," Molly mused. "Number 7, Explore his tonsils with your tongue at every opportunity. Number 6, Rub him. . ." Molly blanched. "Oh dear, this is awful!"

Fred said, "Rub him what, Mum? Don't leave us in suspense!"

Molly bopped him on the head with the rolled up magazine. "This is a piece of filth. It just gets worse and worse."

"We're adults now! We want to hear it! At least let us read it!" the twins fussed.

"No. Go on with you," Molly told them. "I'm chucking this in the fire!" She tossed the magazine in the fireplace, shooting a flame at it from her wand, frowning as it caught. The flames surrounded Harry's smiling face on the cover, giving Molly and Ginny shivers as they watched. After the picture was charred beyond recognition, Molly murmured, "Poor dear Harry! And Casey as well - what an awful thing to have happen, much less to have it captured in pictures." She exchanged a look with Arthur. "What do you think Dumbledore will do about this?"

"I don't know, Molly," Arthur answered. "This is pretty serious. Harry is going to be so embarrassed, not to mention in danger of You-Know-Who finding him with all the information in this article. The newspaper gives the actual address of the business where Harry works!"

Moments later, Arthur's head appeared in the kitchen fireplace at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. "Ah, Albus, Remus, Severus - and Harry! I'm so glad I caught you together," he began.

"Good morning, Arthur," Dumbledore said warmly. "Everything all right at The Burrow?"

"Yes, we're all fine, but Albus, this morning's Daily Prophet. . ."

"Yes, yes, that's why we have young Harry here," Dumbledore replied.

"Did you know there's a similar, but nastier, piece in Witch Weekly?" Arthur said, his indignation showing. "I imagine they'll have the same kind of thing in The Tattler and The Quibbler very soon."

Harry moaned, banging his head on the table again and pulling at his hair.

Remus put his arm around Harry, squeezing his shoulders and trying to stop Harry from abusing himself any more. "Come on, Harry, it's not as if you haven't had bad press before."

"But they've involved Casey," he moaned. "Mr. Weasley, are there photos of Casey in the other article?"

Arthur turned beet red. "I'm afraid so, Harry. Molly didn't let any of us look. She was so distressed, she burned the magazine straight away."

Harry did his best to bang his head again, but Remus hugged the boy to him. There was no fighting werewolf strength when Remus chose to use it. Harry subsided and rested his head on his godfather's shoulder. "Why can't I have a break?" he groaned. "I didn't ask to be The Boy-Who-Lived. I want to be Harry, just Harry. Why can't I just be Harry?" Nobody had an answer for him.

Dumbledore turned back to Arthur. "Thank you, Arthur, for letting us know as soon as possible. We're working on what to do about it now."

"Harry can stay with us, if that would be any help," Arthur offered.

"Thank you, Arthur, and please give our thanks to Molly, too," Dumbledore said with a smile. "We're working on ways for Harry to continue with his life with as little disruption as possible. If we cannot manage it, having him stay with you would probably please him better than staying here or at the Dursleys." He turned to Harry. "Am I right, Harry?"

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied. "Thank you, Mr. Weasley." He tried to smile at his friend, but was just too miserable to manage it.

"You're welcome, Harry. You know you're like part of the family. We'll be glad to have you," Arthur replied kindly. "Well, that's all the news I needed to share, so I'll let you get back to your meeting. Good to see all of you. Take care."

"Thanks again, Mr. Weasley," Harry responded.

"Yes, Arthur, thank you. And give our best to Molly and the children, will you?" Albus said with a warm smile.

"I'll do that. Bye." Arthur's head spun quickly out of sight.

There was silence in the kitchen as the gathered men considered the best course of action. Harry finally relaxed as he leaned against Remus's shoulder, amazed at how quickly he and Remus had become family to each other. He closed his eyes and savoured the peaceful moment in the midst of all this misery, then sighed and straightened up. "So what do we do now? I suppose I should have known better than to think I could have a job over the holidays, a girlfriend, go out and have fun. . . ." He shook his head in resignation. "I'm sorry I've caused more trouble. I didn't think. . ."

Snape reacted sharply again. "That's right, Potter, you didn't think!"

"Severus!" Dumbledore snapped in a rare show of temper. "Harry has every right to lead a normal life. He needs to explore his world like any other growing child." He turned to Harry. "You've done nothing wrong. You kept me informed of what you were doing. You asked permission to tell the young lady you're a wizard. If I had wanted you to stay away from her and her family, I would have told you that. Since I did not tell you to stay away from them, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine. You have done nothing wrong," he insisted, his blue eyes boring into Harry's emerald green ones.

Harry gazed back uncertainly, but grateful for what Dumbledore was saying. He didn't know how he could anticipate the bad things that happened to him, so he could prevent them. He'd been as careful as he could manage, and still. . . .

Dumbledore was speaking again. "Harry, you cannot go to work again until I get new wards completed and arrange for Order members to keep track of you."

"I'll need to tell Mr. Asher I need some time off," Harry replied. "How much time should I ask for?"

"A day or so should suffice. You and Remus can go to the Dursleys, and you can contact Mr. Asher from there. Stay there until I send word to you, all right? Remus can watch over you there," the old wizard said.

Harry and Remus flooed to Mrs. Figg's, then walked over to the Dursleys'. Harry called the tile shop.

"Asher Tiles," the secretary answered.

"Hello, Mrs. Gable, it's Harry Potter. I needed to let Mr. Asher know that I can't come in to work today."

"Hi, Harry! Are you OK?"

"Yes, but I need to take a day off."

"OK, I'll let him know."

"Thanks," Harry replied, and they rung off. "Well, you're stuck here with me. What do you want to do?" he asked Remus.

"How about some chess?"

"Cool," Harry said with a grin. "Maybe I can actually win a game!"

"Are you saying I'm not a good chess player?" Remus teased.

"I'm saying I never win against Ron, at least not if he's paying attention. It would be nice to at least have a chance of winning once in a while," Harry said with a grin. They started up the stairs to Harry's room.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Vernon Dursley roared as he came in from the kitchen and saw them going up the stairs. "What are you doing here?" he demanded of Remus, "And why aren't you at work?" he sneered at Harry.

"I'm taking a day off," Harry replied with as much dignity as he could muster. "And my godfather is spending the day with me."

Vernon's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment as his face reddened. "I will not have more of your kind under this roof!"

"Mr. Dursley," Remus replied mildly, "I can arrange for the roof to be removed, if that would be any help to you." Harry chuckled at that, and they turned to go upstairs. Before they'd taken two more steps, an owl zoomed in the open sitting room window and dropped a red envelope at Harry's feet.

"Oh no," Harry groaned, knowing it was a Howler. He bent to pick it up, and a dozen owls in quick succession flew in and dropped similar envelopes all around him. Harry was frozen in place, the first Howler in his hand, looking helplessly at Remus as more and more owls arrived with Howlers.

"BLOODY OWLS! I WILL NOT HAVE ANY MORE OWLS IN THIS HOUSE!" Vernon howled, as more owls flew past his rapidly purpling face on their way to where Harry stood on the stairs, transfixed by the growing mound of Howlers around him.

Harry muttered, "Sorry, Uncle Vernon," and with great resignation tore open the first Howler. "HOW DARE YOU CAVORT WITH MUGGLES! NOT ONLY A MUGGLE, BUT ONE WHO CAN'T KEEP HER CLOTHES ON, OR HER HANDS OFF YOU! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? STICK TO YOUR OWN KIND! 'BOY-WHO-LIVED,' INDEED! A *FINE* EXAMPLE YOU'RE SETTING FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LOOK UP TO YOU! *SHAME* ON YOU!" Harry's face was white, with bright red spots of anger on his cheeks. "Remus, is there any way to get rid of these?"

"Not really," Remus said, shaking his head sadly. "You'd better open them so they don't explode."

With a huge sigh, Harry leaned down and gathered more Howlers in his hands, opening several at once to try to get things over with more quickly. Opening so many at once resulted in a loud series of BANGS, then multiple voices were shouting, cursing Harry, cursing Casey, making threats against Harry, and saying other things Harry couldn't make out because by that time, he'd covered both ears with his hands and closed his eyes, hoping it would all go away soon. He realized Vernon's voice was being added to the cacophony of noise from the Howlers, many of which were exploding with loud bangs and bursting into flames briefly, because Harry wasn't opening them quickly enough. Remus was using his wand to keep the Howlers away from Harry as much as possible, and to dowse any flames that got too energetic. In a momentary lull, Harry heard someone pounding on the door.

"Harry! HARRY! Are you all right in there? HARRY!" a voice called from outside the front door.

Harry raced downstairs and opened the door so quickly, Casey stumbled into his arms. "Hi, Casey. I'm fine."

"Why did you stay home from work?"

"My godfather's here and I wanted to spend the day with him. That's all," Harry said with what he hoped was a convincing smile.

"What's all that noise?"

"Oh." He sighed. "Those are Howlers. Come in," he replied, glad she knew already that he was a wizard. He took her into the sitting room, which was slightly quieter for the moment, and explained what Howlers were, and why he was receiving them. He was careful to leave out any mention of the photos of her that had appeared in the articles. Casey was horrified at the news, yet fascinated at the wide variety of owls still coming in through the windows Vernon had not managed to close. When he got the last one closed, Howlers came shooting down the chimney, flying into the room as Harry's first Hogwarts letter had done years ago.

"You know," Casey shouted over the noise of the exploding and screaming Howlers, "this is almost funny!"

"Funny?" Harry was shocked. How could she think it was funny? He was horrified.

"All these people thinking they can tell you what to do just because you're famous. It's like you're a rock star or something - or Prince Harry instead of Harry Potter. It is kind of funny if you look at it that way," she said with a smile, gently trying to smooth down his hair as it tossed in the wind of the flying Howlers. "I mean, really - screaming letters that explode if you don't open them, and it's just people giving you their unasked-for advice and opinions. What's so bad about that? Just ignore them!"

"If you ignore them, they explode," Harry said seriously, shaking his head.

Casey just laughed as more Howlers zoomed around the room, settling all over poor Harry until he was nearly buried in a sea of red envelopes. He tossed them away from him and Casey as quickly as possible so they wouldn't explode against their skin, which wouldn't really injure them, but would sting (not to mention how hard all the noise was on their hearing). He and Remus used their wands to keep the Howlers at a distance as much as possible. His hair was still blowing around in the blasts from the dozens of explosions all around him. Casey had pulled her long hair into a knot so it wasn't flying around so badly anymore. Casey thought Harry looked very silly, tossing Howlers away that zoomed right back at him like boomerangs just before detonating. Her laughter finally made Harry see the humour in the situation.

Vernon was jumping around like a madman, trying to close every opening in the house, resulting in the house becoming very hot and Vernon having sweat running down his face in rivers. Petunia just stood and wrung her hands, after giving up on sweeping the envelopes up and tossing them into the bin, whose lid blew off when Howlers exploded inside it. Dudley cowered in a corner, afraid that the huge amount of magic in the house might end up giving him another pig's tail. Remus was trying a variety of spells to quiet the Howlers, to no avail.

Actually, Harry realized, it was pretty funny if you didn't take it seriously. Who were these people, anyway? Who cared what they thought? He grabbed Casey and gave her a big kiss, then started tossing Howlers in the air, watching them explode. Before long, nobody in the house could hear anything from all the deafening noise they'd suffered, but Harry and Casey were still laughing.

Remus finally gave up on his efforts and joined the laughter. He came and sat next to Casey and told her, "You could be a witch - you have the right sense of humour for it."

Finally, the Howlers came to an end, but not before the sitting room was knee deep in red envelopes. When the house was finally quiet, Remus looked around at the mess, a smile tickling the corners of his lips. "Are you quite finished with your mail, Harry?"

"Oh, yes, quite finished," Harry replied with a wry grin.

"Evanesco," Remus said with a small wave of his wand, and all the evidence of the Howlers disappeared, with the exception of the ringing in everyone's ears.

Vernon was angrier than Harry had ever seen him. "You . . .you. . .you. . ." he sputtered. He took a deep breath and tried again. "POTTER! What is the meaning of this?"

Harry did his best to answer calmly. "Those were Howlers, Uncle Vernon. You've seen them before."

"I bloody well know what they are! Why did you get so many of them?"

"I guess a lot of people wanted to. . .express themselves today," Harry answered carefully, a snort escaping him as he tried to stifle the laugh threatening to burst out of him. Casey and Remus grinned.

Uncle Vernon was not amused. "Go to your room," he ordered.

"OK," Harry agreed quietly, taking Casey's hand and heading upstairs to his room, with Remus following close behind.

"You will go to your room ALONE! There'll be no hanky-panky in this house!"

Harry looked at Casey and blushed, but then he heard Remus sniggering behind him and smiled. "Uncle Vernon? What's hanky-panky?" Harry asked as innocently as possible, willing to live dangerously for once.

"POTTER!" Uncle Vernon had veins standing out all over his fat face, he was so enraged.

Harry laughed and ran upstairs, Casey and Remus following close behind him. When they got to his room, all three of them collapsed on his bed in giggles. "I never thought I'd find Uncle Vernon funny, or Howlers, either!" Harry said when he caught his breath. "I'm glad you two were here when all this happened!"

When their laughter died down, Harry got under his bed and removed his food supplies from under the loose floorboard. "Tea, anyone? Well, I don't really have tea, but I do have some snacks. As a good host, I must offer you some refreshments," he said with a cheeky grin. As they made their choices and settled down, all three of them sobered.

"Now what are you going to do?" Remus wondered. "Your uncle is sure to punish you for all this. There has to be a way to get you out of it. None of it was your fault." He paused for a moment. "Well, except for that 'hanky-panky' comment," he added with a chuckle.

Harry sighed. "I don't know. I guess I'm stuck here for a while." He turned to Casey and explained that he had to wait for Dumbledore to get some precautions set up before he could go back to his normal routine.

"Why?" she asked. "What's wrong with a newspaper article about you? Other than those wizards being mad at you for dating a Muggle, that is."

"Do you remember the man I said was after me?" Harry said. "His followers can tell him where I am now."

Casey's eyes were wide with shock. "Oh no! You're in danger! What are you going to do?"

"Professor Dumbledore says I'll be safe here for a while. He's adding some more protections that should hide me from Lord Voldemort."

Casey's jaw dropped and she shook her head in disbelief. "There was so much going on when you told me about your being a wizard, this little detail escaped me. This evil wizard is a lord?"

Harry laughed. "Hardly. He made an anagram of his name and came up with 'Lord Voldemort.' His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. But most of the wizarding world calls him 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.' His followers call him 'the Dark Lord.' Dumbledore calls him 'Tom.' He taught Riddle at school."

Remus walked to the window and looked out. The owls that had delivered the Howlers had finally left Privet Drive and everything was quiet outside.

Harry watched Remus standing by the window, admiring the man's ability to be calm under all kinds of circumstances. Harry wished he had the even temper of his godfather. Even now, he was getting angry at being confined in his room, and his godfather and girlfriend being confined in a way, as well. "You two don't have to stay up here with me. I know you both have better things to do," he offered. "Although I'm sure it's annoying Uncle Vernon to death to think I have company up here," he added with a brief smile.

"Actually, I do have to do some errands for Mum this morning," Casey said. "I'd stay otherwise. I just came to see if you were all right when Dad said you were taking the day off."

"I'm going to stay with you at least for today, Harry," said Remus. "Once Dumbledore says it's safe to leave you unguarded again, I'll go. I do have some business to take care of, but it can wait. Besides, it will be much more fun to play Exploding Snap or chess with you."

"I'm afraid it will have to be chess," Harry said. "Uncle Vernon will have a fit if he hears us playing Exploding Snap up here."

"As if he hasn't had enough fits already," Remus said with a grin.

The three of them left Harry's room, Remus waiting on the landing while Harry walked Casey to the door. "I'll call you later," Casey said as she opened the door.

"They won't let me have phone calls," Harry replied with a shrug. "Don't worry about me, I'll be OK. I should be able to come back to work tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" she asked, worry furrowing her brow.

"This is my life. I'll get through it. I've done it before," Harry said with his lopsided grin. He held her close, kissed her forehead and whispered, "I love you. Thanks for coming to see how I was."

She looked up at him and whispered back, "I love you too. Take care of yourself." With another kiss, she was gone.