The Refiner's Fire

Chapter 15 - The Raven and The Thestral

Harry kept his transformations secret from all but Ron. He wanted to surprise Hermione and Ginny, and there was no point in telling the rest of his classmates about them. He would choose one form to register, and the rest would remain his secret. He'd added a dog to his repertoire, and was researching several other things. The next weekend was their first at Hogsmeade for the year. As Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron left the castle for the village, Ron looked over at Harry and grinned.

"It's a nice day for flying," Ron said in as casual a voice as he could muster.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, suppressed laughter colouring his voice.

"What are you two on about? It's Hogsmeade today, not Quidditch," Hermione said curiously.

"Well, honestly, we do need to get Ginny up on a broom, and Madam Pomfrey has finally approved me flying again," Harry replied, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he glanced at Ron. "When we get back from Hogsmeade, we can do some flying, all right?"

"Sure!" Ron agreed.

"OK," Ginny agreed in a more subdued voice. She had avoided Quidditch practice by saying she was still sore from her fall, but Harry was worried that she might have lost some of her nerve. He thought he had a good idea how to get it back for her.

Hogsmeade was crowded. The two couples wandered through various shops, ending up at the Three Broomsticks. As they drank their butterbeer, they laughed and chatted to other friends who passed by. Eventually, the two couples parted and wandered separately through the village.

"D'you want to go to the Shrieking Shack?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Why?" she asked nervously.

Harry had heard from Hermione that Ron had had much the same reaction the first time she'd suggested going there. "It's not haunted," he assured her. "It was built for Remus. I thought you knew that."

"After hearing about it being haunted for a lifetime, it's hard to adjust, if you see what I mean," she said with a small smile. "OK, fine, let's go."

They walked up to the Shrieking Shack and stood holding hands at the edge of the trees on the hill opposite the dilapidated building. "It's pretty up here," he commented, looking at the rolling hills surrounding them.

"Yeah. And the shack looks as if it might have been an attractive house at one time," she replied.

"They built it that way to start with. Amazing, isn't it? And the villagers never noticed that a ramshackle old house just appeared like that, and hadn't been there forever."

"Who built it?" she asked.

"Dumbledore had the house elves build it. He needed them to keep the secret, you see, and house elves can do all kinds of things other than cook and clean." He turned toward Ginny and wrapped his arms around her. "I've wanted to get you alone for weeks, but our timetables just haven't matched up."

"I know, and you had so much homework to catch up with," she agreed, leaning back against his arms and looking up at him. "You're up to date now, aren't you?"

"Yes, thanks to Hermione. I don't know how I'd get through school without her help," he chuckled. "But enough about me. How have you been?"

"I've actually missed our time in the hospital wing. Isn't that silly?"

"I've missed it too. Having all that time with you so close by. . ." he murmured, then leaned in to kiss her. Several lovely snogging minutes later, they broke apart, breathless. "Erm," Harry mumbled, his face scarlet, "you're. . .I'm . . .um. . .let's walk." He took her hand and started walking away from the Shrieking Shack.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny teased, walking quickly to keep up with him, but with a happy bounce in her step.

"Nothing," he muttered, walking even faster.

She ran in front of him and put her hands on his chest, stopping him. "Not nothing," she said with a grin.

"Yes, nothing. That's all," he insisted, putting his hands over hers and prying them off of him. He was breathing hard, as if he'd been running.

Her face fell. "What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

He kept his distance from her. He had a pained expression as he said, "No, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Then what is it?"

He blushed furiously. "You did everything too right. I had to stop."

She blushed in return. "Had. . . to stop?"

"Yeah, or I would've taken things too far. We're not ready for that. This was just too much, too soon, I think." He hung his head, looking guilty.

She walked a step closer to him, and ducked her head to look into his eyes below the fringe of hair obscuring them. "It wasn't too much too soon for me, Harry," she said quietly.

He looked up at her quickly. "It wasn't?"

"No. We were just kissing. I wouldn't have minded. . .well. . .a little more than that." She blushed an even deeper red.

Harry's whole body sagged in relief. "I thought I was. . .I mean, we've just started going out, this is our first real date, and here I am trying to suck your tonsils out."

Ginny's laughter pealed like bells echoing through the hills around them. "Is that what you were doing?"

Harry chuckled as he blushed and hung his head again. "I guess." He looked up at her shyly through his fringe. "I was afraid I'd frightened you."

"We can go slower if you want, but you didn't frighten me. I think maybe you frightened yourself," she said wisely.

He straightened up and nodded. "Yeah, that too." He put his arms around her and kissed her softly again. "I'm sorry."

"No problem," she said, returning his kiss with one of her own. "I'll let you know when you get too pushy, Mr. Potter," she added with a throaty laugh.

"Thank you. It's always good to be informed," he teased, kissing her and allowing it to go on to the point where alarm bells were going off in his head again. "OK, Miss Weasley, you're the one getting pushy now," he murmured as he kissed her neck. "Time to go."

She laughed and slid her arm around his waist as he put his around her shoulders and they walked happily back to the village.

In Hogsmeade, they found Ron and Hermione sitting on a bench outside the Three Broomsticks, holding hands and looking just as happy as Ginny and Harry felt. "Ready to go back?" Harry asked. "We still have enough time to get some flying in."

"Yeah, let's go," Ron agreed. He and Hermione got up and started walking with Harry and Ginny, the girls in the middle of their foursome.

As they walked down the path between the village and school, the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up. "Protego," he murmured, with a small wave of his hand hidden from view down by his side.

"What's up, Harry?" Ron said, a worried frown on his face as they all quickly pulled out their wands, looking around warily. He didn't have to wait for an answer. A spell hit the shield Harry had put behind the four of them and bounced back on the sender. Draco Malfoy rolled on the ground cursing as boils popped up all over his face and hands. The four friends moved to stand over the writhing boy on the ground.

"Problem, Malfoy?" Harry asked cheekily as he looked down at the other boy.

"Shut up, Potter!" the blond boy snarled, his pointed face twisted in hatred. He glared at Ron who was standing by Harry's shoulder with his wand pointed quite seriously at Malfoy's heart. "You Weasleys are pureblood traitors," Malfoy spat, "and tainting yourselves more hanging around with that filthy little Mudblood and with Potter."

"You need to learn some manners, Malfoy," Ron said hotly. Every time he saw the silvery-haired Slytherin, he had a mental image of his baby sister falling through the sky. Ron was just looking for an excuse to tear Malfoy limb from limb. Harry put his hand on his friend's arm to keep him from attacking the fallen boy.

"You loathsome git," Hermione began, then controlled her temper with a tremendous effort. "That's a detention with Professor McGonagall for your unprovoked attack on fellow students," she snapped at Malfoy. She pulled on Ron's arm. "Come on, he's already been punished, and I've given him detention. That's enough." She turned and started back toward school.

Harry had been as worried about his friends' tempers as his own. He understood completely how angry and frustrated his friend felt - he felt the same way himself. Harry mastered his temper and blew out a calming breath. "All right there, Ron?" he said as he, Ron and Ginny still stood over Malfoy.

"Yeah, I guess," Ron replied grumpily as he turned away from Malfoy.

"How about you?" Harry asked Ginny, who'd shivered, wordlessly, but with her wand held determinedly in her hand, next to him throughout the entire incident. "Are you OK?"

She gulped. "Fine," she said shortly.

Harry turned and looked at her seriously. "You're not fine."

"No, I'm mad as hell," she snarled, her eyes furious but her lower lip trembling, her lashes sparkling with unshed tears.

"Me, too. Come on, let's go," he said, putting a reassuring arm around her and turning to follow Ron and Hermione. Harry leaned down to kiss the top of her head tenderly. "He's not going to hurt you, baby. I won't let him," he promised her, meaning every word of it.

"You've not heard the last of this!" Malfoy roared, finally managing to get to his feet.

"Protego," Harry said again, casually waving his hand close to his side again so Malfoy didn't see he was doing wandless magic.

Another spell hit the shield and bounced back at Malfoy, causing him to yelp in pain. Harry, wand in hand, turned around and said, "Impedimenta." He studied the results with satisfaction. "That will slow him down for a while." Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron continued on their way to school, their discussion of the problems Malfoy had brought on himself eventually evolving into chuckles.

Some time later, as they reached an area where there was a small glen alongside the path, Harry turned aside and went over by the trees, saying to the girls as he led them there, "I want to show you something."

"What?" Ginny asked.

"Watch," Harry said, a twinkle in his eye. The blackness of Harry's hair seemed to spread over his whole body in an instant, and he was shrinking quickly in size. Suddenly there was a raven where Harry had stood. It flew up and sat on Ginny's shoulder, nuzzling her neck and making her giggle.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's brilliant!"

"Shhh," Ron warned her. "He's keeping this a secret. He's been doing this for over a week now. McGonagall and Dumbledore don't want anyone but us and Remus to know about it."

The raven flew off and disappeared, coming back with a pretty red leaf in its beak, which it presented to a laughing Ginny.

"The cool thing is," Ron went on, "ravens can learn to talk. He's been working on that, too."

"Gi-ny" the raven croaked. "My-ne." It ruffled its feathers and then turned its head sharply, looking back up the path. It took off quickly and disappeared, cawing as it went. Malfoy had his gang with him now, and they were striding up the path toward Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

"So where's Potter? Gone to take a pee in the trees?" Malfoy sneered. "Don't have your protector now, do you, you filthy Mudblood?" His laughter had an evil sound to it. He threw a curse at Hermione, which was blocked by Hermione, Ginny and Ron together. Soon there was a full-fledged duel going, with curses, jinxes and hexes flying back and forth. Suddenly, a huge flock of black birds darkened the sky, streaming down toward Malfoy and his gang. The birds pecked and flew in the faces of the boys, then circled overhead and covered them in droppings. As Malfoy and his cronies raced away followed the by massive flock of birds, the lead raven broke off and disappeared in the woods.

"Who's filthy now, Malfoy?" Ron called after them. He and the girls were laughing hard at the horrified expressions on the Slytherins' faces as they were pelted with bird droppings just before they ran off.

A moment later, Harry came striding out, wand in hand, a smug look on his face. "D'you suppose Malfoy has learned his lesson yet?" he said with a laugh.

"Harry, that was really dangerous! What if he'd noticed?" Hermione said, her brow furrowed with worry.

"Dangerous or not, that was bloody brilliant!" Ron exulted.

"You communicated with the other ravens?" Hermione asked in sudden realization.

"Yeah," Harry said offhandedly. "They don't have a lot to say, but if you give them something to do, they love it," he finished with a cheeky grin.

Ginny said, "Why did you come out with your wand in hand?"

"In case they came back," he said, immediately turning serious. "And they may try to ambush us from the trees, so we should get going." Matching action to words, the four friends hurried up the path to Hogwarts and safety. "Are you guys all right?" Harry asked, looking at his friends in concern.

"Yeah, Malfoy and his gang couldn't hit a haystack," Ginny said with a laugh.

"But you three obviously can!" Harry complimented them with a grin. "You actually improved Crabbe and Goyle's appearance with those leaves coming out of their ears. And the rainbow-coloured boils. Who did those?"

Hermione raised her hand, smiling brightly. "Those were mine."

"I thought so. You'll have to show that one to D.A.," Harry said, lifting his hand off Ginny's shoulder to pat Hermione on the back. "Well done, Hermione. All of you did your blocking spells perfectly, too. Well done, all around, you lot."

"Those D.A. lessons have been paying off," Hermione said happily. "And the jinxes in the books in the Room of Requirement are amazing! What a great library!"

"Wish we could've taken points from that lot," Ron growled, still a bit angry. "Now that we've been attacked twice, we could take, say, twenty points from each of those boys for each of us they attacked. Let's see, the four of us were together for the first attack, so that's four times twenty for Malfoy attacking us, that's eighty, and then the four of them attacked the three of us, that's twelve, twelve times twenty is 240 plus the eighty from Malfoy's attack, that's 320 - that's a LOT of points!" He was clearly impressed.

"They deserve to lose that many. And there are three Prefects here, so we could back each other up," Hermione said heatedly, her temper rising again over the unprovoked attacks. "Too bad we can only take points from people in our own house."

"Imagine. Ginny and I could take points off them for the same thing!" Ron said, his expression blissful. "Three times that many points is a LOAD of points!"

"Ron, you know we can't do that," Hermione said, calming down and smiling in the face of his glee. "But it is a nice thought, isn't it?"

"Bloody brilliant!" Ron agreed, giving her hand a squeeze.

"I will turn them in for detention and ask McGonagall about taking all those points you mentioned, though, and Malfoy will be reported for both incidents!" Hermione said with a steely glint in her eye.

"Wicked!" Ron chortled. "I hope McGonagall finds something really disgusting for them to do." He thought a moment. "No, wait! Maybe we should give them detention with Hagrid, instead! He'd make them do something awful if we asked him to." The group laughed and discussed the various horrible things Hagrid might do as detention for the Slytherins all the way back to Hogwarts' entrance gates.

Once they were back on the school grounds, Harry said, "Let's go around the lake to the edge of the woods."

"Why? I thought you wanted to fly?" Ron asked, looking at Harry in surprise.

Harry winked at him over the girls' heads. "I do. I want to go over there first, though."

"Oh, OK," Ron agreed readily, his grinning face lit with understanding.

"What's over there you want to see?" Ginny asked.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," Harry teased.

Ginny's eyes lit up. "You have a surprise for us?"

"Yeah," Harry said with a grin. "For you, in particular, Gin. I think you'll enjoy it."

"Cool," Ginny said, skipping in her excitement.

When they got to the edge of the woods, Harry led them inside to a secluded glade where Hagrid took the Care of Magical Creatures class from time to time to see various animals. "Ron, you keep a lookout, OK?" Harry said.

"'K" Ron agreed.

"Look out for what?" Hermione asked.

"Other people," Harry replied. "OK, Ginny," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and gazing into her eyes seriously. "You need to start flying again. I think I can help you. I hope I can, anyway. Stand just there."

"I don't see any brooms," Ginny began uncertainly.

"That's OK," Harry assured her. He took a step back from her then stood still, looking thoughtful for a moment. The blackness of his hair seemed to grow and cover him in something shiny, and his shape was changing rapidly - and then he disappeared!

"Harry! Harry, where are you?" Ginny cried, alarmed.

"He's just there, don't worry," Ron assured her.

"Just where? Can you see him?"

"No, but I know he won't be far away," Ron replied.

Ginny felt a bump against her shoulder. It was a gentle bump, but whatever was behind it was huge. "What's that?" she said, alarmed.

"It's Harry. He's a thestral," Ron replied quietly. "Keep your voice down, we don't want to be overheard."

"A thestral?" Ginny squeaked, astonished. The invisible winged horse breathed softly against Ginny's face, then nuzzled her neck with its lips, reminding her quite distinctly of Harry. She giggled at the tickling sensation, then reached out to touch its head, amazed by its silky skin.

"He's doing a magical creature as well as a raven?" Hermione whispered intensely. "McGonagall said. . ."

"McGonagall knows all about it, don't worry," Ron assured her.

Meanwhile, the thestral had rubbed its head against Ginny several times, then brushed her with its wing. She trailed her hand down its neck to its shoulder, then felt it go down on its knees. "Oh! He's . . .bowing or something."

"He's probably kneeling so you can get on," Ron told her. "He told me he'd do that. Climb on. It's not as if you haven't ridden a thestral before."

Ginny ran her hands over the thestral's back and found the wing joint, then stepped there to get on its back. "Oh, he's big! He's bigger than the one I rode last year! Taller, and broader, too." She stifled a yelp as he stood up, then she sat still, wondering what would happen next. Harry started walking slowly around the glade, then trotted a few steps, making Ginny squeal involuntarily as she bounced along tensely on his back. She laced her fingers in his long, silky mane and hung on. He cantered, and when he felt her relax into the rhythm of his stride, he spread his wings and took off, spiralling up over the glade, careful to stay below the tops of the trees so an apparently unsupported Ginny wouldn't be seen by anyone. She tensed when he took off and tightened her fingers in his mane, but eventually she calmed down and began to take pleasure in the ride as he flew carefully under her. "This is amazing!" she said, grinning madly at the joy of riding the invisible horse. Slowly, Harry spiralled down to the clearing again, landing smooth as silk in a slow canter, then kneeling to make it easier for Ginny to dismount. As soon as she dismounted, he turned back into Harry and fell spread-eagled on his back in the grass.

"Whew, that's hard work!" Harry said as he lay there sweaty and panting, a mischievous grin creasing his face. "All right, Ginny?"

Ginny sat in the grass next to him. "Better than all right, Harry," she murmured, leaning down to kiss him. "Thank you." She brushed his damp hair away from his forehead. "I hope I didn't hurt you pulling your mane like that."

"It did twinge a bit," he admitted, "but you had to hold on to something." He glanced up at Hermione. "Well?" he said expectantly.

"Oh, Harry, it's incredible that you can change into a thestral. I wish I could've. . .I mean, I wanted to. . ." Hermione began, then blushed.

"What?" Ron asked, surprised at her reaction.

"It just sounds so rude," she replied quickly, ducking her head to hide her embarrassment behind the fall of her hair.

"What?" Harry said cheekily, rolling over to sit up. "What did you want?"

"I, erm, I wanted to. . .erm. . . touch. . . the thestral, since I couldn't see it," she said, blushing again. She shrugged and continued offhandedly. "I guess it feels like other thestrals. I did ride one last year."

"You thought I'd be offended that you wanted to touch me as a thestral?" Harry said, laughing hard now as he stood up and reached out to her. "Come here, Hermione."

"No, you're tired now, that's all right," she said, putting her hands up as if pushing away the offer. But it was too late, Harry had already disappeared and she was being bumped by an invisible, slick, reptilian horse-shaped head. "Oh, Harry! That's . . .that's just. . . ." Hermione, so rarely at a loss for words, clearly had no way of expressing whatever it was she was feeling. She ran her hands over his head and neck, felt the wings, chest and back of the horse, her hands sliding down the back to its skeletal rump and tail, where she jerked her hand away as if she'd been burned. "Oh! Sorry!" she said, blushing furiously.

Harry was himself again, rolling on the grass laughing. "It's OK, Hermione," he said. "That actually felt rather nice," he added with a leering look and a wiggle of his eyebrows at her. "Want to do it again?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, blushing even more. "Stop laughing at me!" She soon joined the hilarity of her friends.

"I'm tired or I'd give you a ride, too," Harry offered as he got to his feet, stretching and rolling his shoulders as he did so. "Flying is hard work, and I was a doing a lot of flying as a raven a little while ago. I'm knackered."

Ginny reached up and massaged his shoulders for him. "My goodness, Harry, you're developing huge muscles here! Have you been flying a lot?"

"I've done some every day since I could transform," he replied. "I'm building up my strength."

"How long have you been able to transform?" Hermione asked.

"Since about a week and a half after the first lesson," he replied as Ginny worked the knots out of his muscles. He grabbed Ginny's hands and kissed each palm, then put them back on his shoulders. "That's wonderful. Thanks!"

"A week and a half. And you can already do two forms," Hermione said in wonder.

"Six," Harry corrected.

"What?" Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Six," Ron agreed.

Hermione rounded on Ron. "Have you seen them?"

"Yeah, all but the thestral. I can't see those."

"And you didn't tell me?" Hermione was incensed.

"Or me?" Ginny was upset too. She stopped massaging Harry's shoulders and moved in front of him, glaring from Harry to her brother and back again.

"Harry wanted to surprise you!" Ron said, backing up defensively. It didn't pay to have either of these witches angry with you and suddenly both of them were livid.

"I didn't want to tell you until I could show you. I've had to do the transformations in our room, or here in the woods, to keep it secret," Harry assured them. "Ron's had to keep a lookout for me so I could have the privacy to practice. If you're going to be cross with someone, it should be me, not Ron, because I made him swear not to tell."

Both girls deflated.

"Forgive us?" Harry asked with his charmingly crooked grin.

"For what?" Hermione smiled as she shrugged off her anger. She couldn't be mad at Harry for long when he smiled at her that way. "What other animals can you do?" she asked, but Harry couldn't answer because Ginny was busy 'forgiving' him.

"Oy, get a room!" Ron teased. Then he remembered who Harry was so busily kissing. "Wait a sec, that's my sister you're snogging!" he protested half-heartedly.

Harry glanced up at Ron and winked at him, then went back to paying complete attention to Ginny. When she let him come up for air, he hugged her and replied with laughter in his voice, "I know. And your point is?"

Ron looked flummoxed and finally gave up on trying to think of a reply. Hermione grinned at Ron, amused by his abnormal speechlessness, then took his hand and led him out of the glade, followed a moment later by Harry and Ginny.

"So Harry, as I was asking, what others can you do?" Hermione asked as they got to the path by the lake where they could walk four abreast and be certain no one else was nearby.

"A black cat, a raven, a black dog - kind of like a Labrador, I think - a dragonfly, a thestral and a phoenix," Harry replied proudly. "The dragonfly is so cool. It's iridescent green, kind of a neon colour, and its wings are solid black. It's a very small dragonfly - it could be a damselfly, I don't know. I saw one once down here by the lake and thought that would be a good insect to try. All the animals have green eyes and a zigzag marking in their colouring above the right eye, like my scar. I'll probably register the cat or dog, and keep the others secret. They should come in handy when I'm an Auror!"

"And have any of these given you any trouble?" Hermione asked.

Ron snorted with laughter. "The phoenix did at first."

"What do you mean?"

"I got up one morning and Harry seemed to have slept in. When I opened the curtains round his bed, there was a green-eyed phoenix lying there!" He and Harry told the girls the rest of the story on the way to the castle.

"If it's so hard to do this kind of transformation, why are you able to do it so easily?" Hermione asked in frustration. "I still can't even turn my hand into a paw!"

"Dumbledore says it's partly the fact that my dad was an Animagus, which means it could be easier for me, but the main thing is the Refiner's Fire. He says he and Merlin - you know they're the only two who survived it before me, right?" They all nodded. "He and Merlin were both multiple Animagi. Merlin could do more than twenty forms. Dumbledore refuses to say how many he can do," Harry concluded with a grin.

"Oh," Hermione said in a small voice.

"So don't let it bother you that you can't do it yet," Harry said bracingly. "I have an unfair advantage. We'll work on it. We'll all get it soon enough."

"Well," Hermione said after a moment, "you're welcome to your unfair advantage, Harry. You earned it. We'll just have to work harder!"

"That's the spirit!" he said with a grin as they mounted the castle steps. When they got to their rooms, Harry changed out of his sweaty clothes and the boys and Ginny grabbed their brooms. The four of them went to the Quidditch pitch, where Hermione stood guard while the others prepared to fly.

"Are you ready for this?" Harry asked Ginny as they walked to the centre of the pitch.

Ginny was obviously nervous. "I guess. . ."

"Come on, then," he encouraged as he got on his Firebolt. "Ron and I will be right beside you." Ron mounted his Cleansweep and stood on the other side of Ginny, ready to take off. Ginny hesitated, crouched as if to kick off and then stopped.

"What's wrong?" Harry and Ron both said, coming closer to her.

"I just can't. It's one thing to fly on a thestral who's really your boyfriend, knowing he'll take care of you. It's quite another to fly on a broom with only yourself to depend on." She was visibly trembling.

"Your fall wasn't your fault. Hermione is watching out to make sure nobody bothers us," Harry assured her.

"Ginny, you're a great flyer!" Ron added bracingly.

"I'm scared, Ron, can't you understand?" Ginny snapped, on the verge of tears.

The boys looked at each other, perplexed. Harry scratched his head, thinking hard. "OK, sweetheart. You trusted me when I was a thestral. Trust me now. Get on my broom with me. We'll get you used to flying again that way."

She looked at him a long moment before giving him a tiny nod. Her face was white and tense, her hands trembling, as she dropped her broom and got on Harry's behind him. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face in the back of his shirt.

"Ready?" Harry asked, uncertain now that he was doing the right thing. She was shaking so hard, she was making the Firebolt vibrate. He felt her nod against his back. "Ron's going to be right next to us. You're as safe as you can be," he assured her. "OK, we're kicking off now," he said, "flying low and slow at first. Help me kick off." He felt her push off with her legs, an instinctive movement after so many years of flying, from nicking brooms from her brothers to fly long before she was allowed to, to being Seeker on the Gryffindor team last year. They took off slowly, just cruising gently along, making lazy sweeps of the Quidditch pitch. She continued to hold Harry's waist in a death grip, hiding her face, trembling so hard he could feel the broom still vibrating in response. "Ginny? You need to look around now," he said gently. "Go on, look round. See how high we are." He felt her tense up more, but she did as he'd asked and moved her face away from his back. They were only a few feet off the ground, her dangling toes nearly brushing the grass. A startled laugh escaped her when she saw how low they were.

"I thought. . ." she began shakily.

"You thought we two mad fliers were going to take you up high and go fast and scare you more, didn't you?" Ron teased gently. "We're trying to take good care of you, Gin."

She smiled tremulously at her brother, who was flying knee to knee with Harry. Ron's big hand was just behind her back, and apparently had been the whole time. If she'd leaned back at all, she would have felt it. They were doing their best to look after and help her. The knot in her stomach released a bit and she said, "Thanks, both of you. OK, Harry, let's do some actual flying." She sounded braver than she felt, but it was time to act like a Gryffindor, after all.

"Are you certain?" he asked, glancing back toward her.

"Yes," she responded, leaning forward to look around his shoulder and see where they were going. Her grip on his waist was still tight, but she wasn't trembling as badly anymore.

Harry sped up a little and began spiralling upward, gaining altitude a little at a time. As he felt her relax, he increased the speed and began doing some turns then made them tighter and more daring, making Ginny squeal, but with delight now, not fear.

Ron started having trouble matching Harry's quick turns. "Oy, mate, maybe it's time for her to try on her own," he called.

"Yeah, maybe so," Harry agreed. "Ready?" he asked her.

"I suppose so," she replied. They landed and she got on her broom, her brother on one side of her and Harry on the other. She flew nervously at first, then with more confidence, finally beginning to show the nerve and skill that had always marked her flying. When they finally landed, Ginny had a big grin on her face, which was matched by Harry's and Ron's.

"All right now?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, both of you. I mean it. I love to fly. I just got scared."

"With good reason," Harry agreed.

She looked at Harry's broom wistfully. "Thanks for the ride, Harry. I wish this old broom was smooth like that. This stupid thing jerks if you try to turn quickly."

"You can use my broom if you want," Ron offered quickly.

"No, you need to use it as Keeper." She saw her boyfriend opening his mouth, his broom held out in front of him. "And before you offer, Harry - I'd much rather you were the one on that Firebolt so you can catch me if I fall again. I won't use your broom. Thanks anyway."

"Where'd you get that broom, anyway?" Harry asked.

"It was Charlie's old broom when he was at Hogwarts," she replied. "I thought using it would bring me luck, but I think it's just worn out."

"You're a great flyer, Ginny, no matter what broom you're riding," Harry replied, giving her a one-armed hug. "Well done!"

"That was fantastic, Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed as she joined them. "I wouldn't have the nerve to do that."

Harry laughed. "You should've heard Hermione when we were on Buckbeak! Screamed like a banshee!" he teased, ducking as she aimed a playful punch at his heavily muscled shoulder. "Ow! Don't hurt me, I've been in the hospital wing enough this year!"

"I did just fine on the thestral last year," Hermione said with a 'so there' in her attitude.

"Yeah, you did," Harry agreed, ruffling her curly hair a bit, "but on Buckbeak. . . ." He chuckled, enjoying teasing her.

Hermione blushed prettily, doing her best to regain her dignity. "Well, I was younger then," she said dismissively. Her friends all simply smiled, knowing she still hated flying.

As they walked back to the castle, Harry said, "Our game with Slytherin is next week. I'm going to schedule extra practices to get Ginny and me back in form."

"That's a good idea," Ron agreed.

Harry draped his arm around Ginny's shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "And if you want any extra flying sessions, just let me know, OK?" he said, chuckling.

"Special treatment by the team captain?" Ginny teased. "Cool!"

* * * * *

"NO! NO!" Harry screamed. "STOP! NO!" The youngest boy in the family, a toddler, was being spun about in mid-air. Then he was hurled against the stone wall of the house. As his small body fell limply to the ground, Harry could see brain matter and blood splattered across the stone wall. The boy's horrified parents and older brother and sister were in full body binds, incapable of moving anything but their eyes, and could do nothing. The boy who looked nearly old enough for Hogwarts was released from his body bind, then slowly ripped to pieces before Harry's horrified eyes, the Death Eaters tearing chunks off of his body with casual flicks of their wands. When he died and his body was too torn up to provide much more entertainment, the girl, who looked about thirteen years old, was suspended upside down in the centre of the circle of hooded and robed men, her pyjama top falling around her head revealing her small, delicate breasts. The Death Eaters laughed as one of their group reached out and squeezed the shrieking, squirming girl's breasts hard enough to leave dark red marks. They sent her spinning through midair from Death Eater to Death Eater. They were beating her, pinching her breasts, and slapping her buttocks and face as she was thrown from one to the other. When they became bored with their sport, they casually impaled her on the iron fence around the garden and left her to die a slow, painful death. The father was torn limb from limb and then disembowelled. Then the mother was hit with Cruciatus after Cruciatus. Harry screamed until his throat was raw.

"Harry! Harry, wake up!" Ron called, trying to disentangle his friend from the snarled bedclothes. Harry was pale and sweaty, his scar livid against the whiteness of his skin. "Harry!" Ron couldn't wake him. "Neville! Go get McGonagall," he called over his shoulder. "Seamus, Dean, help me!"

"What do we do?" Seamus asked as he and Dean ran to Harry's bedside.

"Bring some cold water. Maybe we can wake him that way," Ron suggested, still trying to straighten out the bedclothes so he could free his friend. Harry was struggling so much that he was making things worse, tying himself up in the bedding. Dean grabbed a section of blankets and tried to wrestle it away from Harry. Between him and Ron, they had their friend nearly untangled by the time Seamus returned with a pitcher of cold water.

"Hang on, he's quieting," Ron said, stopping Seamus from pouring the water on the still sleeping boy. Harry lay there exhausted, gasping for breath, sweat pouring off him, then screamed again and renewed the fight with his covers. Dean finally managed to rip the covers completely off the bed as Ron grabbed the pitcher and poured water on Harry's face and chest. All the boys stood back, watching in fear as Harry sputtered and gasped, then finally woke up, only to lean over the side of the bed and vomit violently.

McGonagall arrived just then. "What's wrong?" she said, looking at the boys surrounding Harry's bed. They parted and she saw Harry, his skin tinged green with illness, his hair and clothes soaked with sweat and water, his green eyes glittering hotly in his wan face. She hurried to his side. "What's happened?"

"Scar," he muttered faintly. "Family. . ."

"You boys," McGonagall began, thinking rapidly, "let's see. . . . Mr. Thomas, run to the hospital wing and get Madam Pomfrey. Mr. Finnegan, go get Professor Dumbledore. The password is Mars Bar."

"What can I do?" Ron asked.

"You stay here with him. Mr. Longbottom, go get a bowl of water and a flannel so we can clean him up." She glanced at the sick on the floor, muttered "Evanesco," and it disappeared. When all the boys but Ron were gone, she did a Drying Charm on Harry's pyjamas and bedding, then sat on the edge of the bed. "Tell me," she said to Harry.

"Death Eaters. Tortured a family. Killed the children, horrible, horrible," Harry said, his head rocking back and forth, his voice breaking with grief. "Tortured the mother. Cruciatus, over and over. Ripped the father limb from limb. All dead but the mother. She's in a bad way. They. . .I think they were starting to rape her when Ron woke me up." He shuddered, horrified at the things he'd seen.

McGonagall's eyes flashed as she leaned intently over the boy. "Where? Did you recognize them?"

"No. A stone house, iron fence around the garden. Father's red-headed and balding, mother has dark hair down to her shoulders, two boys and a girl. One boy was a toddler, the other almost old enough for Hogwarts. The girl looked like a young teenager. They abused her before they killed her, pinched her breasts, hit her and threw her around. . . . . I couldn't hear what the Death Eaters said to them beyond calling them 'Mudbloods' and things like that. I think. . ." he hesitated, "I think the Death Eaters were just . . .playing. Lucius Malfoy was there, I recognized his voice, and Crabbe and Goyle. There were several others, but they were hooded and didn't speak, so I don't know who they were." He was panting with the effort of speaking by this time. "I thought they were all in jail. The Ministry. . .last term, Dumbledore captured them and turned them in. Did they get out?"

McGonagall's face softened into regretful lines. She sighed. "Yes, Harry, I'm afraid they did. You rest now, and Professor Dumbledore will explain everything to you soon." Neville showed up with the basin of cool water and Professor McGonagall tenderly bathed the sweat off of Harry's face and chest. He'd ripped up his pyjama top in his desperation to get out of his bedding, scratching himself with his own nails in the process. "Some of these look a bit nasty, Harry. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will be able to fix you up."

He looked aghast. "No! Not the hospital wing! Not again!"

"Calm down, I don't think it's that bad," said McGonagall. She patted his shoulder comfortingly, then wiped his sweaty forehead with the flannel again. He grabbed her hand and held the cloth over his scar. "What is it?" she asked, perplexed by his action.

"It's cool. Feels good on my scar," he muttered miserably.

Dumbledore came striding in, followed closely by Madam Pomfrey and the boys who had been sent after them. While the nurse fussed over Harry, McGonagall filled Dumbledore in on what had happened and what Harry had said. Dumbledore moved to the boy's bedside. McGonagall shooed the other boys out of the dorm to give them privacy, then rejoined them and Ron by Harry's bed.

"Are you feeling better?" Dumbledore asked with concern.

Harry nodded weakly.

"Can you tell me how you saw this happen? From what vantage point?"

"I was Voldemort again," Harry said miserably.

"Did you do your Occlumency before bed?"

"I tried, but I was so excited about how my transformations are going, it was hard to concentrate and empty my mind. I suppose I didn't do it well enough," the boy replied miserably. He stared into Dumbledore's eyes. "Why? Why did I see that? Why are they doing those awful things?"

"They're escalating the war, Harry. It's to be expected. You need to work hard at your Occlumency so you don't see such things again. You cannot allow Voldemort to get into your mind. Did he notice you were there?"

"No, I don't think so," Harry said dismissively. "But if you can find the mother, maybe you can save her!"

"I'm afraid it may be too late for her, but yes, I will send people out to find the family. Can you remember anything else that might help us locate them?"

"Sunflowers. There were tall, dried sunflowers along the garden fence at the back. They caught the light from the house windows. It's a stone house, with a stone wall along the side of the garden. There were sparkly things near the door, like wind chimes, maybe. And bushes, maybe roses by the garden gate. Iron fence with points on top, like spear heads." He grimaced, his face twisting at the memory. "The girl is impaled on that fence. She wasn't dead yet when I woke up, but she was nearly gone, I think." His voice broke as he said it.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that, Harry. Your description is a good one and should be quite helpful. I'll send messages out, try to find out who it was. Do you think the mother is still alive?"

"She was when I woke up."

"She's most likely out of her mind between the horrors she's seen and multiple Cruciatus curses," McGonagall said darkly.

"Professor," Harry asked Dumbledore, "how did they get out of Azkaban?"

Dumbledore sighed, the wrinkles in his ancient face deepened by his sadness. "The Dementors who were guarding the prison left to join Voldemort, as you know, Harry. The Ministry has had Aurors guarding Azkaban since then. Voldemort and the Death Eaters he had left attacked recently and released the imprisoned Death Eaters. The Ministry lost several people in that battle. Voldemort has been keeping quiet, gathering his forces and making plans. Now that he has all his remaining Death Eaters at his side, things will start getting messy."

Harry's eyes had widened in horror the longer Dumbledore spoke. "Then. . .then is it time. . .for me to. . .?"

Dumbledore laid a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. "No, dear boy, it's not time for you to face him yet. You are not ready. He knows more magic than any living wizard, and you must be fully prepared before you do full-fledged battle with him. We are doing everything we can to protect you while we train you in what you need to know."

Harry's heart constricted. It was kill or be killed, he knew that. He knew he wasn't ready. He didn't know how to prepare for such a battle. How could he possibly defeat Voldemort?

Dumbledore looked at the boy kindly. "You still have time, Harry. Try not to worry too much. The caution and restraint you've been showing this year are exemplary. I could not be prouder of you."

Madam Pomfrey bustled back into the room with a flagon of potion in her hand. "Drink this, Mr. Potter. It's Dreamless Sleep potion."

"Password?" he asked before accepting the flagon.

"Scar on your bum," she whispered in his ear, a smile on her face. "You will have to tell me that story sometime, Mr. Potter."

"Yeah, sometime," he grumbled, then downed the potion in one gulp, already asleep as he fell back on his pillow.