The Time of Destiny

Abraxan

Story Summary:
Complete. Sequel to "The Refiner's Fire." Harry's Seventh Year, complete with adventure, training, snogging, hospital visits, etc. Watch for ficlets to be added from time to time to fill in missing scenes in the epilogue. Canon-based through OotP. HP/GW, RW/HG, RL/NT

Chapter 15

Chapter Summary:
Neville’s grandparents try to work out their differences. Ginny makes some progress on something she’s been working on. A mysterious attack sends Harry, Ron and Remus to the hospital wing. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny help the Flying Squad with a practice session.
Posted:
10/14/2005
Hits:
7,258
Author's Note:
I mention below a certain chemical in an animal’s saliva. This idea is based on reality – there’s a certain type of frog that has a similar chemical on the surface of its skin, so don’t go around licking any frogs you might find! Many thanks to my brilliant Brit-picker, Kelpie, and my betas, Blakevich, Starfox, Iris and Asad.


Chapter 15 - Racing the Moon

"You look loads better," Ginny said when she saw Harry at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall the next morning. He was busy shovelling eggs onto his plate when she plopped down beside him.

"I feel fine now," he said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "You look pretty this morning. But you always look pretty. However do you manage it?" he said, grinning crookedly at her. He was determined that his vision of Voldemort's latest horrors was not going to ruin his day.

"You're silly," she said, resting her head on his shoulder a moment. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"Never better!" he said airily, passing her the bacon. "Neville! You look knackered. Everything all right?"

"Gran and my granddad fought all night and I was afraid to leave," he moaned as he sat down with his friends. "I don't really want him to be a turned into a toad again. Dumbledore took Gran's wand away so she'd talk instead of hexing him as soon as she saw him. That's what she was threatening to do. They seemed to have it all worked out in the end, but it was exhausting and loud and horrible before they got to that point."

"Aw, Neville, I'm so sorry it was difficult," Ginny said, "but at least they worked it out, right?" He nodded, looking exhausted and sad.

"How did they work it out?" Hermione asked as she passed him the porridge.

"I think they simply got tired. And then I pretended to fall asleep and they finally stopped yelling. They talked for hours and hours," he said, rubbing his weary eyes with his hands. "He says he still loves her. Can you believe that?"

"After what she did to him? No way!" Ron said, astonished.

"Love can last through all kinds of things," Hermione said wisely.

"How do you know?" Ron asked, perplexed.

"I'm the smartest witch in our year, remember?" she teased saucily.

"Oh. Well. . .yeah, I guess you're right, then," he said, completely nonplussed.

Hermione buttered a scone and shoved it playfully into his mouth. "Here, love. I'm sorry."

"Mumph-kumf," he mumbled through his mouthful of scone.

"Harry, I heard you got hurt?" Neville asked, tearing his eyes away from the spectacle of Ron trying to chew an entire scone all at once.

"I hadn't seen Madam Pomfrey in a while, you know," Harry said playfully. "I missed her."

"Seriously, are you OK? What happened?" Neville asked, his face furrowed with concern.

"I'm fine," Harry said with a shrug. "Had a bang on the head and a bleeding great headache, but that's all over now. Looks to be a beautiful day, eh?" he said, looking at the celestial ceiling. Light, puffy clouds scudded across a sky of heartbreaking blue. "Good flying weather. Tough luck we have class."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Care of Magical Creatures this morning." He loaded his fork again and was about to stuff it in his mouth when a thought hit him and he paused. "Neville?"

"Yeah?"

"When we studied thestrals, you said you could see them because you saw your grandfather die," Ron said, his face puzzled.

"That was my mum's dad," Neville explained. "Rupert's my dad's father. Gran told me Rupert died long before I was born."

"Oh, OK," Ron said. "So how do you like him, your granddad?"

"He's funny. He really likes me," Neville said with a smile. "He's not as strict as my gran. I'd like to have more time with him, but he's leaving tomorrow. Professor Dumbledore has set him up with a flat near my gran's so they can be close but not actually together. He thinks they need time to get to know each other again, and having flats near each other will make that easier. He seems to think they can sort out their differences."

"Do you think they can?" Hermione asked.

"Dunno," he said with a shrug. "It would be nice if they could."

* * * * *

As the Gryffindors trudged wearily back to the castle after following Hagrid on a long trek through the forest to study the habitats of several creatures, they were shocked by a strange sight in the rose garden. Seated under a trellis covered in late-blooming roses were Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. . .kissing. Neville's mouth fell open. Ron started to laugh, but Hermione stood on his foot. Harry looked from the Longbottoms to Neville and grinned.

"Looks like they're sorting things out," he said quietly. Neville's eyes were wide, but he grinned and nodded. They managed to keep their classmates quiet as they passed, but the Slytherins had no such consideration.

"OW! My eyes, my eyes!" Blaise Zabini cried dramatically.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Daphne said, looking concerned.

"I've been blinded by those dirty old people snogging!" he said, then joined his house mates in shouts of laughter.

Harry watched this scene with growing uneasiness. He glanced from the Slytherins to the Longbottoms and saw the blushes on the old couple's faces, blushes that were quickly suffused by the red of fury.

"What the devil do you think you're playing at?" Mr. Longbottom snarled. "How dare you insult my wife!"

Mrs. Longbottom looked up at him in astonishment. The man was rolling up his sleeves and digging in his pocket for a non-existent wand, obviously ready to fight to defend her honour.

"Rupert, dear, that's all right. Some people don't teach their children any manners these days," Mrs. Longbottom said, her serene expression only maintained with a tremendous effort.

"Zabini, that's a detention for insulting guests at Hogwarts," Hermione snapped.

"You can't do that!" he snarled.

"I'm Head Girl, or did you forget?" Hermione said, striding toward him threateningly.

Zabini's eyes slid upward from Hermione's furious face. Ron was directly behind her, his wand pointed at Zabini's heart. "And I'm Head Boy," Ron reminded him, his voice dangerously quiet. "Get inside and be grateful we don't give you a week's detention."

Zabini and his friends moved off, grumbling under their breaths.

"I heard that, Zabini," Ron snapped. "A week's detention with Hagrid."

"You can't do that," Zabini snarled, turning suddenly toward Ron with his wand in his hand.

"I just did," Ron said sternly, his wand still pointed at Zabini's heart. "Go to your dormitory. Now! Before I make it two weeks!" Zabini slowly lowered his wand, then shoved it into his pocket with an impatient gesture. The Slytherins slunk away silently, throwing dirty looks over their shoulders at the Gryffindors clustered protectively around Neville and his family.

Hermione had moved to stand in front of the Longbottoms. "I'm so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. Some people. . ."

"Have no manners at all," Mrs. Longbottom interrupted. "It wasn't your fault, dear. Thank you for dealing with it."

"I'm glad we could help," Hermione said politely.

Harry was standing with Neville, watching wildly varied emotions chase each other across the other boy's open face. "You can put your wand away now, Neville," Harry said quietly, looking warily at the wand held tightly in his friend's shaking hand. "It's over now. Put it away."

"I should have. . .I could have. . .I knew . . ." Neville sputtered.

"Zabini isn't worth you getting a detention over," Harry said reasonably. "If you'd tried to take care of things, you'd be in trouble. Ron and Hermione can do this kind of thing and get away with it. Isn't it great they're our friends?" He smiled at Neville, trying to cheer him out of his anger.

Neville glared at Harry. "I should have. . ."

"No, you shouldn't. You did the right thing just now," Harry assured him.

"You would have done something!" Neville growled.

"And I spend a lot of time in detention, or hadn't you noticed?" Harry replied bracingly. "C'mon, mate, it's over. Your grandparents seem to be getting on well now, don't they?"

Neville looked at his grandparents, his expression going from fury to surprise. They were smiling and holding hands as they chatted with Hermione. "I don't believe it."

"We all saw them kissing," Harry reminded him. "You didn't imagine it."

Neville turned to Harry, a slow smile spreading across his face. "D'you suppose they'll get back together?"

"It's possible. Your granddad seems to be quite the charmer," Harry said, nodding at Rupert, who was busy charming Hermione now.

"Bloody hell," Neville snapped. "That's how he got in trouble with Gran before!" He strode purposefully over to his grandparents. "Hi, Gran! Are you enjoying the nice weather?" he said nervously, hoping his gran didn't notice his granddad twinkling at a girl young enough to be his granddaughter.

"Neville, dear, have you just come from a class?" his gran asked him as she smacked her husband firmly on the knee. "Rupert, behave yourself."

"Yes, dear," he said quietly, winking at Hermione before subsiding into respectful silence.

"Come and talk to us for a while, Neville," his gran invited sweetly.

"Uh. . .I need to go and do my homework," Neville said uneasily, torn between wanting to stay with his family and the need to keep up with his school work.

"We're leaving in the morning. You can take a little while to chat before we go, can't you?" she said a bit more insistently.

"Uh. . .OK," he agreed finally, looking nervously at his friends.

"We'll catch you up later, Neville," Harry said, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Yeah, Neville, see you," Ron said, taking Hermione's hand and pulling her away from the Longbottoms.

As they entered the castle, Ron looked over his shoulder at the Longbottoms, who were talking earnestly with Neville and ignoring the scattered students still passing them. "What the bloody hell was that?" he asked, looking down at Hermione.

"What?" she said in surprise.

"That dirty old man was flirting with you!" Ron said, appalled.

"No, he wasn't!" she said, surprised at his attitude. "He was just being nice."

"No, Hermione, that was definitely flirting," Harry said. "Even Neville noticed."

"But. . .," she said in surprise.

"Neville said that's how Rupert got in trouble with his gran in the first place," Harry told her, smiling a bit as they climbed the stairs. "It looks like being a toad for forty years didn't really change him."

"I wonder how much trouble she'll get into if she changes him back again," Ron mused. "He'd certainly deserve it."

"He was sweet!" Hermione insisted. "He wasn't flirting, he was just thanking me for helping!"

"You might have noticed that he didn't thank me the same way," Ron said cheekily.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione," Harry assured her. "He was flirting with his wife as soon as she got his attention away from you. Maybe he just can't help himself."

"Especially with such a pretty girl standing right in front of him," Ron teased gently, mollifying her.

"Oh, you two!" Hermione said in exasperation.

"What?" Harry said innocently, acting wounded. He glanced at Ron and each of them slid an arm around Hermione's waist, lifting her off the ground and carrying her toward the Great Hall, their laughter echoing off the stone walls.

* * * * *

"They're getting back together!" Neville said, his face shining with joy, as he entered their room late that evening. "They've made up. She's going to give him a chance. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, Neville, that's wonderful!" Harry agreed, genuinely happy for his friend.

"Cool!" Ron enthused. "I hope they're happy together! I guess it will be really different during your holidays now, having a granddad there as well as your gran."

"Yeah," Neville said with a happy smile. "He's a really interesting person. And he likes me."

"So do we," Harry murmured as he patted his friend on the back. "I'm happy for you, mate."

"Thanks."

* * * * *

"Harry!" Ginny cried, running across the Common Room to the table where he was working with Ron and Hermione a few evenings later. "Look! Look at this!" She held out her left hand, which was now a cat's paw.

"Good for you!" he said bracingly. Ron and Hermione exclaimed over it, as well. "So you're starting the Animagus transformation, are you?" Harry continued.

"I've been trying ever since I watched you show Hermione how, but this is the first time I've really managed it," she said happily.

"Can you change it back?" he said with a smile.

"Uh. . .I haven't tried. I was just happy I did it!" she said, a bit nervously.

"You can do it, sweetheart, and the sooner you try, the sooner you'll get it. Go on, have a go," he encouraged her.


Ginny sat on the edge of the worktable and stared at her cat's paw, stroking the fur a moment. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Trust you to do a ginger cat," Harry said with a grin. "Yes, it's pretty."

"Well. . .ginger seemed easier than black," she said with a shrug. The cat's paw was only a few shades lighter in colour than her hair. "I suppose I need to try to change it back, huh?" she said, looking at Harry. He nodded, smiling at her warmly.

"You can do it. Go on."

Ginny cast the reversal charm but nothing happened. "Oh no," she said nervously.

"Soft focus. Deep breaths. See the image in your mind of what you want to do. Let your magic flow like water," Harry murmured.


Ginny nodded and tried again. "Nothing!" she cried in frustration.

"Breathe slowly," Harry advised. "Follow me. In," he said, breathing in slowly, "out. In. . .out. Good, now you're more relaxed. Keep breathing like that, and remember--"

"Soft focus, flow like water, yeah, I know," she said impatiently.

"Breathe, Ginny," Harry reminded her quietly. He watched as she concentrated, breathed deeply, her eyes softening as she stared at the paw and suddenly. . .

"I did it! It's gone!" she cried excitedly.

"Great! Now bring it back," Harry said, a proud grin on his face.

"Slave driver!"

"Somebody's got to whip you into shape," he teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him, then stared at her hand again, barely hearing Harry's murmured "Soft focus" as she made the ginger cat's paw reappear. "Cool!"

"That's it, Gin! Keep working on it. Try doing other parts - the back feet, the tail, both hands, a whole arm. Eventually, Crookshanks will have a little ginger cat to play with!" Harry beamed.

"Erm. . .no," Ginny said, thinking of the incident when Ron and Hermione were both baboons. "I don't want to be a ginger cat."

"What do you want to be then?" Harry asked curiously. "A horse?"

"No, something smaller. Maybe a fox," Ginny said. "Then I could run under the moon with you, Ron and Remus."

"That would be brilliant!" Harry enthused. "Get to work on it, then!"

"Thanks for the help!" she said, leaving them to their homework and going back to the Sixth Year table.

Hermione sighed. "You lot are going to be out having fun as various kinds of canines and I'm going to be stuck at home."

"We can turn you into a dog so you can join us, Hermione," Harry reminded her. "No problem."

"I just wish I could do it myself," she moaned.

"Keep working on it. You'll get it yet," Harry said supportively.

Hermione sighed again. "Oh well. If this is the only way being Muggle-born handicaps me as a witch, it isn't so bad," she said philosophically. "But I will keep trying."

"There you go," Ron said, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "That's my chocolate poodle."

"Ginny's going to be a fox. She's going to get this, I know she is," Hermione mused. "And I'll be a froufrou chocolate poodle. That's just not fair somehow."

"Ron's a froufrou rough collie," Harry reminded her, his eyes sparkling, waiting for Ron to explode.

"Collies are cool, not froufrou!" Ron said right on cue. Harry snorted with laughter and Ron blushed, knowing Harry was teasing him. "I'll get you back for that one, Potter," he threatened, his eyes mischievous.

"I'm shaking," Harry said, pretending to be quivering horribly.

"All right, boys, playtime's over," Hermione said. "Back to work."

"Slave driver," Ron said.

"No, that's Harry," Hermione said, smiling prettily at her boyfriend. "I'm more of a . . . motivator."

"Whatever you say, sweetie," Ron said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head and getting back to work as she'd instructed.

* * * * *

Under the full moon, a handsome sable collie and a huge black wolf ran alongside an eerie grey werewolf. They raced across Hogwarts' grounds, around the greenhouses, through Hagrid's vegetable patch and along the far side of the lake, skirting the front edge of the forest. They gambolled and frolicked, sometimes tumbling each other over in rough play, the collie barking joyfully, the wolf's tongue hanging out, giving it a laughing expression, the werewolf's eyes remarkably cheerful. They stopped to lap water from a cold mountain stream that was one of the tributaries of the lake. While the collie finished drinking, the wolf and werewolf sat on their haunches, tongues lolling out in happy dog-like grins. Something caught the collie's attention and it took off at a run. The wolf and werewolf followed, with no idea what they were chasing, only knowing that such games were part of the magic of racing the moon.

A huge dark form leaped out of the forest, landing on the collie's back. The collie went down with yelps of pain, fighting to turn around and bite its attacker. The wolf and werewolf put on bursts of speed, racing to help their friend. Black and grey bodies flew through the air and landed on the struggling pair on the ground. Patches of colour that looked black in the moonlight bloomed on the collie's white ruff and red-gold coat as it bled from numerous wounds. Snarls of rage and anguished whines ripped the quiet of the night as the animals fought. Finally overwhelmed, the attacker fled, the werewolf hot on its heels. The green-eyed wolf sniffed the collie, which lay panting in pain. Ignoring its own wounds, the wolf became a phoenix and lifted the collie in its talons, then disappeared in a flash of light.

A fireburst lit up the darkened hospital wing as the phoenix arrived with its burden. It placed the collie gently on an empty bed, then changed into Harry Potter.

"Madam Pomfrey! Help!" Harry called as he pelted down the aisle toward her office.

"What's wrong? Who is it?" she cried as she emerged from her quarters, her hair up in wrappers, a dressing gown thrown hastily over her nightgown, her feet carelessly shoved into carpet slippers.

"It's Ron. He's been hurt," Harry said, wishing she'd move faster.

"What happened to you, Mr. Potter? You're covered with blood," she asked as she followed him to the bed where a wounded collie lay whining and panting in pain.

"Most of it's Ron's. He's hurt a lot worse than I am. We were running outside and something attacked him," Harry explained. He pulled out his wand and tapped the collie's body three times, revealing a badly injured Ron Weasley where the collie had been.

"Where did this happen? What was it that attacked him?"

"By the forest on the far side of the lake. Remus chased it, whatever it was. It looked like a huge dog, but it's at least twice as big as Fang. It was a dull dark grey colour and had yellow eyes and a wide, square head. Big yellow teeth. I need to see if Remus is all right," Harry said, torn between staying with Ron and helping his godfather.

"Contact Professor Dumbledore, Potter," Madam Pomfrey said urgently. "He needs to know."

"I will," he promised. "I'll let Hermione and Ginny know he's hurt, as well. Take good care of him."

"You know I will," she said, giving him an admonishing look.

He gave her a small smile. "I know. Thanks." With that, he turned back into a phoenix and flashed to the headmaster's office. He stood in front of the gargoyle guarding the door. "Fizzing Whizbee," he said firmly. The gargoyle leaped aside, and Harry raced up the moving spiral staircase, and was soon standing outside the office door, pounding on it as hard as he could. "Professor, please! Wake up!"

"I'm awake, Harry. What seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore said as he opened the door. He was wearing a purple dressing gown richly embroidered with moons, stars and comets and fuzzy purple bunny slippers whose ears twitched toward Harry when they saw him.

Harry told him what had happened.

"I'll be right there," Dumbledore said. "Come sit down a moment and catch your breath. I'll send Fawkes to the hospital wing to help Madam Pomfrey."

Harry paced anxiously while Dumbledore checked several of his delicate silver instruments. While he paced, he sent the girls each an Adfero telling them Ron was hurt and to go to the hospital wing. As he finished sending the messages, Dumbledore came striding toward him.

"Let's go," he said. "You're bleeding rather badly. Are you sure you're strong enough to go back?"

"Most of this is Ron's blood," Harry snapped impatiently. They'd already delayed long enough. He was very worried about Remus and wanted to get back out there and find him. "I'm fine."

"Then, since you know where we need to go, can you flash me there? That would be fastest."

"Yes," Harry said, turning swiftly into a phoenix, fastening his talons in the old wizard's robes and flashing them to the edge of the forest where he'd last seen Remus.

Harry changed into himself swiftly and began pacing nervously as he studied the area, trying to find the way his godfather and the beast had gone. "This is where Ron was attacked. We fought from here to there," he said, indicating flattened spots in the long grass. "Then the beast took off and Remus went after it - that way."

As they started following Remus's trail, Dumbledore responded to the tension in the young man's voice. "You did the right thing bringing Mr. Weasley to the hospital before going after Remus. From what you and Madam Pomfrey have told me, he needed immediate attention, and the werewolf can take care of itself very well. We need to be animals to be safe here." Dumbledore smiled as Harry instantly became a tremendous stag with a huge rack of antlers. "Well done!" the old wizard said approvingly, then himself turned into a phoenix and flew alongside the stag as it raced through the forest in great leaps.

They moved deep into the forest, so deep that no moonlight pierced the gloom. The stag stopped and froze in place, its ears pricked as it heard a slight sound at a distance. It leaped forward, jumping over fallen trees with ease, crashing through whatever undergrowth it couldn't clear, now following the phoenix which had surged ahead of it. The stag skidded to a stop at the top of a small cliff, staring into a clearing fifteen feet below. The monstrous beast had the werewolf down and was savaging it, but the werewolf was still fighting valiantly. The phoenix flew down quickly, landing in a tree nearby, where it changed back into Dumbledore. As he was changing, the old wizard saw the stag make a mighty leap and land right on the combatants. The beast turned toward the stag and raked it with its claws and teeth, leaving huge gashes in its side. The beast then threw the stag aside as if it weighed nothing. The stag jumped to its feet, lowered its antlers and charged, lifting the monster and tossing it away from the werewolf. The stag stood over the werewolf protectively as Dumbledore cast a Stunning Spell at the monster, which had opened its slathering jaws with a horrifying snarl and rushed to attack the stag and werewolf. The stag stepped in front of the werewolf's still form, lowering its head and pawing the ground, ready to do combat again, but the monster dissolved into mist when Dumbledore's Stunning Spell hit it.

"Interesting," Dumbledore mused, looking at the spot where the monster had been. He glanced at the bloodied stag, which was nosing the barely moving form of the werewolf sadly. "Harry, are you badly hurt?" No response. "Harry, listen to me. I'm going to turn into a phoenix and take you to the hospital wing. Then I'll take Remus to the dungeons. Madam Pomfrey will see to him in the morning. She wouldn't be safe with him now. Most of his wounds will heal on their own, but Fawkes and I will do what we can for him in the meantime."

The wounded stag stepped back from the werewolf's body and gazed at the phoenix now hovering in front of him. The phoenix flew toward him, but the stag hobbled away, then stared at the werewolf again. The phoenix came toward him once more, but the stag leaped out of the clearing and stood gazing at the phoenix, then at the werewolf. When the phoenix approached the stag the third time, the huge stag lowered its head threateningly, shook its rack and snorted while pawing the ground impatiently. The phoenix finally turned away from the stag and grabbed the werewolf's fur in its talons, then disappeared in a flash of light.

The stag stood staring at the spot where they'd been and dropped its head, blowing out a long, sad breath. It began moving back toward the school, leaping obstacles at first, then slowing to a walk as it weakened. When it reached the edge of the forest, it turned into Harry, who collapsed at the base of a tree to rest. He put pressure on the worst of his injuries, but there seemed to be some kind of anti-coagulant in the monster's saliva, because he couldn't stop the bleeding. "Merlin," he called quietly. "I need help."

Two phoenixes flashed above him at the same time. Merlin began pouring tears into Harry's wounds as the other phoenix turned into Dumbledore.

Harry looked up at his headmaster as Merlin tended his wounds. "Why didn't you tell me you were a phoenix Animagus?" he asked wearily.

"There are a great many things I haven't told you yet, Harry," Dumbledore replied quietly. "There's so much I need to teach you, and our time together is always so full, there just hasn't been an opportunity. I will tell you everything I can when we have the time."

"When will that be?"

"We'll both know, I promise," Dumbledore said solemnly.

Harry sighed and nodded, knowing he wasn't going to get more information out of him just then.

Merlin was working hard on Harry's wounds, but they weren't closing up as quickly as wounds normally did when treated with phoenix tears.

"There must be something in the beast's saliva that keeps wounds from healing," Dumbledore observed as he watched Merlin work. He noticed the sudden worry in Harry's eyes. "Not to worry, dear boy. Once we get you to the hospital wing, you'll be healed quickly. I think Merlin's done about as much as he can for now." Dumbledore inspected Harry's wounds, then turned to the phoenix. "Thank you, Merlin. Could you take him to the hospital wing now? I'll be right there."

After Merlin had flashed Harry away from the forest, Dumbledore knelt and examined the blood-soaked ground. He pulled out several tiny glass vials and took samples of blood and saliva here and there, careful to not get any on his skin. Putting stoppers in each, he put them in his pocket and turned into a phoenix, then flashed to the hospital wing, arriving soon after Merlin and Harry.

* * * * *

In the hospital wing, Ginny was torn between watching her brother struggle through his pain and staring through the window, hoping to see Harry returning from the forest. Hermione held Ron's hand, twining her fingers in his hair, murmuring endearments to him as he hovered between consciousness and semi-consciousness. He'd lost a lot of blood.

"The Blood-Restoring Potion will have you sorted soon," Hermione said when Ron's eyes fluttered open once more.

"Harry? Remus?" Ron rasped weakly, a frown creasing his forehead.

"I don't know, sweetie. Harry seemed to be fine when he let us know you were hurt. I don't know what happened to Remus," she said anxiously.

A flash of light in the other end of the hospital wing caught their attention. "That's phoenix light. It must be Harry," Ginny said eagerly.

"He wouldn't bring Remus in here, would he? Remus is still a werewolf!" Hermione said, her voice shaking with nerves.

"I don't know. He says Remus is safe when he's taken his potion," Ginny said uneasily.

"Yes, but the boys always make sure they're animals around him, even when he's had the potion," Hermione replied, growing more uneasy as they waited to hear who'd arrived.

"Miss Weasley," Madam Pomfrey called just as a second flash of light brightened the room. "You're needed down here."

"That must be Harry, then!" Ginny cried, racing down the aisle to the bed where her unconscious boyfriend was now sprawled untidily. She gulped back the tears that sprang suddenly to her eyes and asked, "What happened?"

"He attacked the beast while it had Remus down," Dumbledore said sadly, having just changed back into himself from his phoenix form. "I couldn't get a spell off to protect him because he and the beast were fighting so closely."

"What kind of beast was it, Albus?" Madam Pomfrey said as she gave him a quick examination. "It must have something on its fangs that keeps blood from clotting. Fawkes had a very difficult time healing Mr. Weasley's wounds. The blood simply wouldn't clot for the longest time. I had to give him several doses of Blood Restoring Potion before Fawkes finally managed to heal enough of the wounds to give the potion a chance to work." She undressed Harry so Merlin could get to the rest of the boy's wounds more easily. The young man's face was ghostly pale, his black eyelashes startling against his white skin.

"It may have been some form of hellhound, but it only had one head," Dumbledore replied quietly. "I'll have to do some research to be certain. But, Poppy - it was a conjured beast, not a real one. When I hit it with a Stunning Spell, it vanished."

She looked at him in shock. "A conjured beast? Who would set such a thing loose in the forest?"

"Who, indeed," Dumbledore said, his face uncharacteristically grim. "We're just lucky the people it attacked could protect themselves as well as these three." He sighed. "How is Mr. Weasley doing?"

"He's doing well now. He just needs rest. He should be fine in a day or two. He lost a lot of blood, and the injury on his back was rather serious. That's what's going to take a day or two to heal. He's lost some tissue there. I'm working on restoring it."

"Does he need to go to St. Mungo's?" the headmaster asked in concern.

"No, he'll be fine," she assured him. "He just needs rest and more potion."

"What about Mr. Potter?" he murmured.

"His injuries aren't too serious," she said. "Those gashes in his side look nasty, but they aren't deep. The phoenix has them closing already. Those injuries must have been made with the beast's claws instead of its teeth. They're responding to the phoenix tears much better than the bites on Mr. Weasley's back and Mr. Potter's arms. Thank goodness we have phoenixes here. They make my job so much easier." She smiled in satisfaction at Merlin as he continued to work on Harry. "Once Potter gets enough Blood-Restoring Potion in him, he'll be much better. Give the phoenix tears some time to work, and then you can begin cleaning his wounds, Miss Weasley. The bleeding should be stopped as quickly as possible, and phoenix tears have some cleansing powers in wounds anyway."

"OK," Ginny replied. She sat quietly watching Merlin work, moving Harry's body a bit when Merlin had trouble reaching some injuries. She'd just taken Harry's hand and lifted his arm so the phoenix could get to the bites on it more easily when her boyfriend moaned softly and began stirring. "Harry? How are you feeling?" she said quietly.

"Oh, brilliant," he said tartly, moaning again when he tried to squeeze her hand. "Bloody damned beast anyway."

Ginny smiled sympathetically, then chuckled. "That sounds like my Harry. Welcome back!"

"Thanks. How's Ron? How's Remus?" He struggled, trying to sit up.

"Relax, baby, you have some healing to do. Ron's doing fine. I haven't heard about Remus yet."

Dumbledore moved into Harry's line of sight. "Remus is doing as well as can be expected. Fawkes is tending to him now. Merlin can take a bottle of Blood-Restoring Potion to him as soon as he's finished attending you. Madam Pomfrey will check on Remus in the morning."

"What was that thing?" Harry asked his headmaster.

"I'm not certain," Dumbledore replied. "I need to do some research. We've never had anything quite like that around here before."

"Why did it disappear?" Harry asked, his memory coming back to him.

"I did a Stunning Spell on it, and it vanished. That means it was a conjured beast, not a real one."

"What was the beast like?" Ginny asked. "Who would conjure it? And why?"

"Two or three times as big as Fang. Dark grey coat, broad head like Fang's. Yellow eyes," Harry snarled. "Ugly beast. And vicious."

"Exactly," Dumbledore agreed. "And as for who would conjure it. . ."

"Voldemort," Harry said with an angry sigh.

"Possibly. It would take quite a powerful wizard to conjure such a beast, because they are genuinely unruly and could turn on the wizard who created it. And this one was conjured with a control on it to make it vanish if any magic was used on it. Harry, did anyone know you three were going out running as animals tonight?"

"Just the girls," Harry said, nodding toward Ginny. "Why?"

"I think someone may have noticed you three running during the full moon, perhaps in past months. Mr. Weasley's collie is most distinctive, and his white ruff would gleam in the moonlight, so it would be easiest to spot him. It's possible they decided to set a trap for you. But this is all speculation. There may be more such beasts out there, so I'll cancel the Care of Magical Creatures classes until Hagrid can set things up closer to the castle. I'll send for Aurors to help Hagrid search the forest in case there are more of those beasts out there. That's all we can do for the moment."

A shriek of terror from Ron's bed sent the nurse and headmaster racing to see what was wrong. Hermione was doing her best to keep Ron in the bed. His hands were struggling with something unseen in front of his face. His eyes were wild with fear and loathing. High-pitched screams burst from him as he fought to get away.

"Ron, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, trying desperately to grab his wrists and hold him still.

"Sp. . .spiders! Spiders, everywhere! HELP!" he cried, fighting frantically to push himself up and out of the bed.

"Finite Incantatum," Dumbledore intoned, but nothing happened. He tried several other spells and finally did a Stunning Spell, which worked just long enough for Madam Pomfrey to get a dose of the Draught of Peace into Ron, which calmed him a bit.

"What happened?" Hermione said, her face white with shock.

"What's wrong with him?" Ginny called anxiously from Harry's bedside.

"Hallucinations," Madam Pomfrey said, her face furrowed in concern. "I should have swabbed those wounds to test them for potions or chemicals."

Dumbledore looked at her sharply. "Harry hasn't been cleaned up much yet, has he? Or Remus?"

"Neither," the nurse replied distractedly. "They've had phoenix tear healing, that's all." She thought a moment longer, then sighed. "Well, no one can deal with Remus in his present form. Potter will have to do. Could you get Severus up here, please?"

* * * * *


A short time later, Professor Snape and the nurse had collected samples from Harry's wounds. "I know what to test for," Snape said. "I'll let you know as soon as I find something."

"Severus, I took samples from the site of the attack - blood and something clear, as well," Dumbledore said, carefully pulling the small flasks from his pocket. "I don't whose blood it is, but most of it is probably Ron's. It's from the place where they were first attacked."

"Thank you, Headmaster. These should be some help," Snape replied, pocketing the vials. With that, he swept from the room.

"GINNY! NO!" Harry screamed suddenly. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO. . .EXPECT. . .EX. . .GINNY!"

"I'm here, Harry," Ginny soothed, stroking his cheek and his hair repeatedly. "I'm fine. I'm right here. There are no Dementors here, baby. Everything's fine! Wake up!"

Harry's eyes were fixed on some point beyond her left shoulder. He raised his hand and cried, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" again, and a thin silvery mist came out of his fingers. "GINNY!" He began writhing uncontrollably on the bed, flailing his arms and pushing with his legs as if fighting with several invisible enemies. Ginny tried to hold his hand, pin his arms down, anything to calm him, but was having no luck.


Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey quickly restrained Harry and got a dose of the Draught of Peace in him, as well. They looked at each other over his still-writhing form, their faces sad and concerned.

"I'll take Harry to my office and care for him there. We can't leave him where he could hurt someone in his delirium," Dumbledore told the nurse. "Can you handle Mr. Weasley?"

"Not in here. I need to keep the hospital wing open as much as possible so I can take care of the other students when they need me," Madam Pomfrey said, obviously frustrated. "Perhaps we should send them to St. Mungo's."

"I'd rather keep them here at Hogwarts if we can manage them," Dumbledore said quietly.

Meanwhile, Harry was desperately muttering, "No! No, not Ginny! Take me! Not Ginny! Expecto. . .expect. . .EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Silvery mist flew from his fingers again despite his arms being tied down.

Ginny stood next to him in tears. She'd been talking to him constantly, touching him, kissing his forehead where he wasn't injured, and nothing had got through to him. "I'll go with you," she told her headmaster. "I can help."

"I know you're very capable, but this time, I think you'd better stay away from him," Dumbledore said kindly. "He is out of control, and far too powerful a wizard even without a wand for anyone to be around. I'll take good care of him, I promise. And you and Miss Granger will need to stay away from Mr. Weasley, as well, at least until we learn how to deal with these hallucinations. We don't want you girls to get hurt. I know the boys would agree with me on this."

A short time later, Ron was settled into a locked room with Professor McGonagall watching over him. Harry was in Dumbledore's quarters, Remus, who would be in werewolf form until dawn, in a locked dungeon. All of them were firmly restrained by magical bonds, because they'd begun attacking anyone who came near them. And so it went for two very long days and nights. All of them hallucinated nearly continuously, neither eating nor drinking, with extremely rare breaks when they were lucid. On those few occasions, they asked what was going on and where their friends were, but before they could hear the answer, they were lost in horrible hallucinations again.

"How's he doing?" Madam Pomfrey asked when she came to Dumbledore's office to check on Harry the second night.

"He's weakening. I haven't been able to get any food into him at all. When he's lucid, I give him his potions, but those periods are so far apart," he said sadly. "He's been asking about Remus and Ron. How are they?"

"Remus is doing better. The phoenixes helped him heal his wounds. His hallucinations are wearing him down, too."

"Have his hallucinations changed at all?"

"He still thinks it's the full moon and, in his hallucination, he keeps fighting the werewolf change. But he's not really changing, since the full moon is past. Mostly, he's just exhausting himself. The worst times are when he thinks he's attacking Harry or Tonks as a werewolf. Minerva has her hands full with him."

Professor McGonagall had moved from watching Ron to caring for Remus when it became apparent that Remus was also going through the hallucinations, and thinking he was a werewolf. When she was a cat, he wouldn't try to attack her, and she could change forms quickly enough to give him his potions during his rare lucid moments. Professor Flitwick was now watching over Ron, taking turns with Professor Sprout.

The nurse shook her head sadly. "Mr. Weasley is exhausting himself, just like Mr. Potter. If we don't find a way to stop these hallucinations. . . ."

"I know. It seems as though I can actually see Harry growing weaker. He's worn out and getting no rest at all. Has Severus made any progress with his tests?"

Madam Pomfrey sat next to Harry, who was momentarily calm, and smoothed the hair off his sweaty forehead. "He says there's a powerful hallucinogenic in the beast's saliva. He believes that's what caused the problem. It took a while to get into their bloodstreams and become active. He's created several antidotes and is testing them on mice now."

"How long before it can be used on our patients?" Dumbledore asked, excited that a cure was in sight.

"I don't know. All the mice he's tested it on have died so far," she said sadly.

* * * * *

Hours later, Harry was fighting Dementors in his hallucinations again. Dumbledore's office was filled with stag Patronuses looking for something to attack. Suddenly, Harry screamed differently than he had before, a sound of heartbreak, anguish, total despair. "GINNY! NO!" He broke off in sobs, struggling against his bonds, his body writhing in total devastation. "No. Not her. No," he moaned, tears streaming down his face.

Dumbledore looked sadly at the exhausted boy before him and made a decision. "Fawkes! Come here, please. Take this to Miss Weasley," he said as he scribbled a note on some parchment. "Bring her here at once." With a flash, the phoenix was gone, Dumbledore's note held in its beak.

Ginny was in Charms class, trying to concentrate but heartsick with worry about Harry, Ron and Remus. She and Hermione and Tonks hadn't been allowed to see any of them since they'd been put in isolation. They'd heard from Madam Pomfrey that the boys and Remus were holding their own, and that Professor Snape was nearing success on an antidote, but they all felt she was hiding the truth from them somehow. Tonks was staying in the castle to be close to Remus, but hadn't left his quarters since her arrival.


A flash of light burst over Ginny's head and Fawkes landed in the middle of her desk, spilling her ink bottle and pushing her book to the floor.

"What is it, Fawkes?" she asked nervously as she took the note from the bird's beak. "Oh," she said quietly as she read the note. She turned and handed it to Colin Creevy, who sat next to her in class. "Give this to Professor Flitwick, will you?" she said, then grasped the phoenix's tail in her hand and disappeared in a flash of light.

When she arrived in Dumbledore's quarters, she looked toward Harry's still form and burst into tears. He was pale, his hair plastered to his head with sweat, bright red feverish patches that looked like burns on his cheeks, his breathing rapid and shallow. His wrists and ankles were tied to the frame of his bed. Every so often he struggled feebly against them, obviously weakening. Dumbledore moved to her quickly, laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"He's resting for the moment, but he needs you," Dumbledore said quietly. "He believes the Dementors have finally succeeded in Kissing you."

"Oh, no!" Ginny said. "What can I do for him?"

"Convince him you're alive," Dumbledore said gravely. "He's not asleep - he's more what you might call 'semi-conscious,' but that's not exactly the right term either. I can't always get through to him when he's in this state, and there's no telling when he'll hallucinate again. The hallucinations became quite violent, but he's weakening. He still fills my office with stags whenever he can, but there are fewer each time, and they're much less substantial."

"He has his wand?" Ginny asked, astonished.

"No, he's doing them wandlessly."

"I didn't think that was possible!" she said, her eyes wide. She moved to stand beside Harry's bed, her hands gliding over his cheeks and forehead, wiping tears and sweat away, hoping to soothe him somehow.

"Nor did I. He kept trying to cast Patronus Charms, but they were merely mist for quite a while. At some point, they became misty, abstract stags, but the stags he cast later were more defined and stronger. None of them have been like Harry's normal stags, but they got quite close before he became too weak to cast them anymore. It's remarkable he could cast anything at all, between being magically restrained and not having his wand." He shook his head, amazed as always by his student's extraordinary powers.

"What should I do?" she asked, sitting on the side of the bed.

"Whatever you can," Dumbledore said sadly. "Professor Snape still doesn't have a proper antidote and I. . .I honestly don't know how much more time he has."

Ginny blanched. That was the kind of news she didn't want to hear. She swallowed hard, determined to help Harry. She could have hysterics some other time. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. "Have you called Hermione for Ron? Or Tonks for Remus?" Ginny asked after a long moment, still gently stroking Harry's face, which was grey with exhaustion and illness.

"Harry seems to believe you've been Kissed now, so he has stopped fighting. I don't believe he's dangerous anymore. Your brother is still violently battling spiders, and I don't imagine the presence of Miss Granger would help him with that, but I will send Fawkes to fetch her if you think it would comfort him in any way." Ginny nodded. "And Remus still is quite dangerous. Tonks wouldn't be safe with him." He sighed heavily. "They all need an antidote, and quickly."

"I'll do what I can," Ginny vowed. "Can you remove his restraints? I don't think he's going to hurt me."

"He's more likely to hurt himself, but he's so weak now. . .," Dumbledore said, his eyes glittering with unshed tears. Harry wasn't merely his favourite student; he had worked his way into the headmaster's heart. The old wizard shook his head sadly, then removed the restraints with a wave of his wand.

"Thanks. You look exhausted, Professor. Why don't you get some rest while I'm here? I'll look after Harry."


"Thank you, I believe I will lie down for a little while. This whole experience has been quite draining," he said, patting her absently on the shoulder as he slowly passed her. "Call me if you need me, for anything at all. All right?"

"Yes, Professor," Ginny said, then turned back to Harry. She lifted a flannel from a bowl of cool water by the bed and wrung it out, then wiped his face and neck, pushing his hair away from his forehead. His scar was livid, so red it looked as if it would be hot to touch. He moaned, rocking his head back and forth as she worked on him, then sighed as the cool flannel passed over his scar. Ginny held it there and began talking to him.

"Hi, baby. I've missed you so much," she began. "You need to wake up now. It's a beautiful day outside. I want to go walk down by the lake and sit under the beech tree with you. Can you wake up so we can go outside? C'mon, sweetheart, wake up."

Harry became agitated, his unrestrained arms flying up as he tried to cast his Patronus Charm over and over, his voice hoarse and whispery. Silvery mist that was vaguely stag-shaped emerged from his fingers, one after the other, until a whole herd of malformed misty stags galloped pointlessly around the headmaster's office. Harry tried to scream, calling Ginny's name out despairingly, but his voice was nearly gone, he'd screamed so much already. He groaned and tears streamed down his face as he called Ginny's name in a broken-hearted whisper. He dropped his arms and the stags all dissolved.

"I'm here, sweetheart, right here!" Ginny said in a strong voice. "Harry, I'm here! I'm fine! We're in Dumbledore's office. I've been in class. Nothing's wrong, sweetie, you've just been a bit sick. I'm fine, though. Come on, wake up!"

He didn't seem to hear her, but went on keening over the loss of his love.

Ginny rinsed out the flannel and wrung it out again, washing his face and letting the cool cloth rest on his scar. He was still thrashing about in the bed, but weakly. She put her hands on either side of his face and held his head still, then bent down and kissed him soundly. "I'm here! Wake up and kiss me back! Come on, baby, wake up!" She kissed him again and he quietened for a moment. "That's it, calm down. I'm fine! Wake up and look at me." She leaned down and kissed him once more, nibbling on his lip a bit as she often did while teasing him. When she straightened up, he was looking at her, his eyes puzzled, but aware.

"Ginny?" he croaked, a frown of confusion on his face.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "It's good to see you awake! How do you feel?"

"Tired. . .hungry. . .," he said, still looking at her as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He lifted a hand and touched her arm, then twined his fingers in the ends of her hair. "Ginny?" he said, disbelieving. "Ginny?"

"I'm here. I'm fine, baby. You've been having horrible dreams."

"Dreams?" He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again, staring at her avidly. "Dreams! Oh, Ginny!" he cried at last, and pulled her down into his arms. "I thought. . .I. . ." He couldn't speak anymore. He held on to her desperately, both arms wrapped around her as tightly as he could manage. Harry gasped, doing his best not to cry, but failing. "I thought you. . .were gone," he finally choked out. He brushed his lips over her forehead and the top of her head repeatedly.

"I know, baby. It was just a really awful dream," she assured him, snuggling into his shoulder and kissing the side of his neck. With her arms around him, she could feel how thin he'd become. "No wonder you're hungry. It's been days since you've eaten properly."

She sat up, planning to send for some food for him, but when she straightened, she saw his eyes were unfocused and the look of horror was on his face again. He was beginning another hallucination. She did her best to help him through it.

As he tired and the stags began to fade again, there was a knock on the door. Ginny ran to it and let Snape in.

"This should work," he said briskly as he bent over Harry's bed. "Open up, Potter."

"What's your password, Professor?" Ginny asked, putting her hand over his to stop him from giving Harry the potion.

"His father saved my life once. Happy?" Snape snarled, then bent over Harry again, forcing his mouth open just as Harry came to awareness after his hallucination.

"AAAAAAH!" Harry cried, scrambling to escape the man above him.

"It's OK, Harry, I've got his password," Ginny said comfortingly. "He has a potion for you that will make you well. Let him give it to you."

Harry still looked frightened, but nodded, keeping his eyes firmly on Ginny's as he grimaced at the taste and then swallowed the potion. "Ugh."

"Sorry, but I didn't have time to make it tasty," Snape sneered. "I thought you'd prefer that I save your life rather than making the potion sweet."

Harry flicked his eyes toward Snape. "Yeah, you're right," he said, his voice still whispery. "Thanks."

"What's wrong with your voice?" Snape asked, his head tilted.

"I imagine it's because he's been screaming for three days," Ginny said, a bit more tartly than she'd intended.

"Indeed. Open your mouth, Potter," Snape drawled, then lit his wand and gazed inside Harry's mouth. "Say 'ah.'" Harry complied. "Yes. You need to drink a lot of water, Potter, but I also have something that should help. Open again." He held out a green bottle he'd pulled from his pocket and pointed its squirt top at Harry's mouth. "It will soothe your throat." He squeezed the squirt top twice, dispensing two large sprays of some green liquid into Harry's throat.

"What is it?" Harry asked after he swallowed, amazed that his throat already felt a little better, and his voice even sounded a bit stronger.

"A Muggle potion for sore throats. Quite useful, actually," Snape said as he put the bottle away. He saw their raised eyebrows. "Why should I go to the trouble of making a potion for such things when a simple, inexpensive Muggle remedy exists?" he said loftily, then turned to go.

"Professor? How are Ron and Remus?" Ginny asked as he reached for the door handle.

"I've already treated them. They're doing well. They were both as hoarse as Potter. That's why I had this Muggle potion with me. I'd heard all of them were quite hoarse from yelling, and thought it would help. Potter will sleep for a while, then wake up feeling much better, and with no more hallucinations. Try to get him to eat and drink something then. When he falls asleep, leave him alone and let him wake up when he's ready. He won't need any other potions for a while."

"All right. Thanks, Professor," Ginny said, a relieved smile on her face. Snape swept out of the room, and Ginny turned back to Harry, who was already asleep, looking peaceful for the first time in days.

* * * * *

It was evening, and Ginny was eating her dinner by Harry's bedside while trying to study. He'd been sleeping soundly for hours, snoring softly on occasion, but finally getting some much-needed rest. Dumbledore had taken advantage of Harry's rest to go and check on Ron and Remus, then attend the weekly staff meeting.

As Ginny lifted a forkful of shepherd's pie to her mouth, she heard a soft sound. She lowered her fork and lifted her eyes to see Harry's brilliant green eyes twinkling at her.

"Hi, beautiful," he said with a loving smile. "It's so good to see you."

"Oh, Harry!" Ginny cried, leaning over to kiss his forehead. "I'm so glad you're awake!"

He lifted his face expecting a kiss on the lips, but she sat back down. A puzzled expression crossed his face.

"I'm sorry, but you had the antidote potion not that long ago, and I don't imagine it would be a good idea for me to kiss you right now. It could make me ill," she said reasonably. "I love you."

"I love you, too, and I'm glad you didn't kiss me if it might make you ill," he said, reaching out to take her hand.

"How do you feel?"

"Hungry! Is that shepherd's pie?" he said eagerly, inhaling deeply and savouring the fragrance of the food.

"Yes," Ginny replied, her eyes amused.

"And baked apples!" he moaned, his face rapturous. "Can I have some? Please?"

"Harry, it's been three days since you've eaten. You should have soup," she said righteously, but her heart was already softening. When he looked at her that way, his big green eyes begging, that crooked smile on his face, she couldn't deny him anything.

"Pretty please?" he whinged. He reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair. "I'll have to eat this instead, then," he said with a shrug. "I've heard there's protein in hair. It might hold me up for a while. . . ." He pulled the silky tendril toward his mouth but didn't bite, just giving her a cheeky look over the wad of bright red hair in his hand.

Ginny was laughing by this time. "All right, but if you chuck. . ."

"I won't, I promise!" He let go of her hair and held his mouth open expectantly, gazing avidly at her fork.

"Nope, not until you sit up a bit," she chided him. "I don't want you choking!" She helped him sit up and fluffed the pillows behind him, then slowly, tantalizingly filled her fork and waved it around out of his reach.

"I'm STARVING here!" Harry cried, finally reaching out to grab the fork himself.

She pulled it just out of his reach. "Ah-ah-ah!" she teased. "Sit still and behave yourself and then I'll feed you."

He sat with his hands in his lap, his fingers determinedly laced together and his mouth open expectantly, his eyes bright and teasing. Charmed by his determinedly angelic expression, Ginny put his glasses on his face then started feeding him, causing a lot of laughter in the process.

"Ah, that sounds wonderful!" Dumbledore said with a broad grin as he entered his office. "Feeling better now, Harry?"

"Yeah, loads!" Harry agreed cheerfully. "How are Ron and Remus?"

"Much the same as you, awake, hungry and cheerful," Dumbledore replied.

"I'm sorry to be so much trouble, Professor," Harry said sincerely. "I mean, I'm in your office and all. . . ."

"And you've entertained me royally by casting Patronus Charms while magically restrained AND without a wand!" Dumbledore said with a fond chuckle. "We will have to sort out how you managed that."

"What? I . . . wandless?"

"Yes, dear boy, and restrained as well. A remarkable achievement! Now if you can manage it without being desperately ill, that will be quite something!"

Dumbledore ordered food to be brought up for himself and Ginny, then watched her feed Harry the rest of her original dinner. Harry finished every bite, including the baked apples, and looked quite pleased with himself as he finally rested against his pillows and patted his bulging stomach.

"Ah, that's better!" he said happily. He grinned at Ginny and Dumbledore, who were finishing their own dinners.

"You sound exactly like Ron," Ginny said with a laugh. "It seems he can never get enough food to satisfy him."

"I suspect he sounds exactly like me right now," Harry retorted teasingly. "You don't starve growing boys!"

"You were the ones who were starving yourselves," Ginny chided him gently.

"I'll never do that again!" Harry vowed, laughing at his own silliness.

"Why are you so giddy?" Ginny asked him. "I thought you'd be tired and grumpy and . . ."

"I imagine it's something in the potion," Dumbledore said wisely. "Harry, Ron and Remus all went through crushing depression and anxiety while they were ill. I asked Professor Snape to take that into consideration, if possible, when he created the antidote. I believe he added something that would help them recover more quickly by being cheerful rather than depressed."

"Sort of a Cheering Charm in a bottle?" Ginny said with a smile.

"Something like that, yes," Dumbledore agreed.

Harry was sitting with his arms crossed over his bulging tummy, a silly grin on his face. "Well, I'm glad for whatever he put in there. I feel GREAT!" He leered at Ginny. "Wanna dance?"

Ginny burst out laughing. "Not right now, silly. You've been sick!"

"I'm not sick now. . .only sick of being in bed!" he said, then burst out of the bed and onto his feet. He wobbled a bit and then grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. "Shall we dance, m'lady?"

"No, we shall not, good sir! You need to rest!" she said, laughing as he tried to spin her around. She wound up having to support him as he nearly fell over, but he was laughing in spite of his weakness.

"I think Professor Snape overdid the cheering part of the potion," Ginny chuckled as she pushed Harry down on the bed.

"Maybe," Harry agreed, grinning up at her. "But it's better than whatever's in second place!"

"What does that mean?" Ginny asked as she tucked him in.

"I have no idea!" Harry said gleefully. He slid down in the bed, suddenly sleepy. A jaw-cracking yawn escaped him, making him laugh. "I'm sleepy again."

"Then go to sleep, silly," Ginny said, stroking his cheek affectionately.

"Get a good night's rest, Harry," Dumbledore said with a fond smile. "By morning, you may be ready to go back to your dormitory and classes."

"Yay!" Ginny said.

"Classes?" Harry said, suddenly serious and more awake. "How many days have I missed? With N.E.W.T.s coming up. . . ."

"You've only missed one day," Dumbledore assured him. "You three got hurt on Friday evening, remember? Today is Monday. You won't have any problem making up one day's work."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and settled back in his bed. "That's good."

"Go to sleep," Ginny insisted.

"Will you be here when I wake up?" he asked her suddenly. She looked questioningly at Dumbledore.

"I think Miss Weasley should go back to her dormitory so she can finish her homework and rest before tomorrow's classes," Dumbledore said. "I'll stay with you tonight, and then Miss Weasley can come for you in the morning and go with you to breakfast. How's that?"

"All right. Thanks, Professor." Harry turned to Ginny again. "'Night," he said, pulling her hand to his lips and kissing it softly. "Thanks."

"Thanks for getting well!" she said brightly, then leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Your scar doesn't look hot and painful anymore. It looked awful while you were sick."

"It hurt," he said quietly. "It's fine now."

"Good! See you in the morning," she said, picking up her bag and waving as she left the office.

* * * * *

"So what kind of beast was it that attacked you lot?" Neville asked at breakfast the next day.

"Dunno," Ron said. "Dumbledore said it was conjured. He said it seemed like a hellhound, but smaller, and it only had one head, instead of three."

"One head was plenty!" Harry said with sincerity. "Did they find any more of those things?"

"No, they said the Aurors who searched the forest didn't find any signs of such animals. The Centaurs were even asked about them," Hermione replied. "They said it didn't appear until just before it attacked Ron." She shuddered at the thought.

Ron covered her trembling hands with his, his big hand totally engulfing both of her small ones. "We're OK now, 'Mione," he assured her.

"Please tell me you lot won't go running like that again," she whispered nervously. "I don't know that I can take it."

"Not until they find out who did it and lock him up," Ron promised.

"Professor Dumbledore said it had to be a powerful wizard to conjure that kind of a beast," Ginny said, worry flitting across her face.

"Gee, I wonder who it could be," Harry said acerbically.

"But if it was Voldemort, why wouldn't he attack directly, if he was that close to you?" Hermione said logically.

"Dunno. But if he didn't do it, he probably told someone else how to do it," Ron muttered.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "That beast even smelled like Voldemort, come to think of it." He sat quietly thinking about the animal, trying to remember every sensation, every scent, all the visual details he could think of. "It vanished when Dumbledore Stunned it, so it couldn't be a real animal Voldemort possessed," he mused.

"Dumbledore said it was conjured. He should know how to recognize a conjured animal, shouldn't he?" Neville said, a bit confused.

"Yeah, he should," Harry agreed. "But he didn't smell it. I did. And I've smelled Voldemort, too. I was a wolf when it attacked Ron, and the wolf has a really keen sense of smell. If that wasn't Voldemort, he certainly had a lot to do in the creation of it. This is going to require some thinking to work out."

"And some research," Hermione said with determination. "Let's meet in the library after class today and start working on it."

* * * * *

Many hours of research later, they were no closer to a solution than they'd been when they started.

"I'm knackered," Ron said, stretching until the bones in his back cracked loudly. "Ouch!"

"That sounded painful," Hermione said, looking at him in concern.

"Growing boys, you know," he said, grinning. "I'm all right."

"If you grow any more, your head will hit the doorways," Ginny teased.

"Yeah, and you'll always be short stuff," Ron teased right back, reaching over to ruffle her hair.

"Hey! It took me a while to reach this level of perfection!" she protested, laughing as she tried to undo the mess he'd made.

"No worries," Harry said merrily as he straightened out her hair for her. "I'll take any excuse to play with your hair." He grinned cheekily at Ron. "Thanks, mate!"

"Anytime," Ron replied airily.

"You two are still a bit giddy from that potion, aren't you?" Hermione said, looking from one boy to the other.

"Giddy?" Ron protested. "I'm not giddy, I'm just cheerful!"

"Quite a bit more cheerful than normal," Hermione said darkly. "Perhaps you should speak to Madam Pomfrey, get checked over again."

"For being cheerful?" Harry said in amazement.

"Well. . .unusually so," she said in a small voice, a bit nervous in the face of both boys' annoyance. She straightened her back with determination and continued. "Anything out of the ordinary should be looked into, don't you think? I mean, you two and Remus were attacked by a conjured beast that made you have hallucinations for days! Who knows what else it might have put in your systems when it bit you?"

"Well, that's a cheery thought," Ron said darkly. "Thanks for killing off my good mood!"

"She's right, though," Ginny said quietly. "We don't know what else that thing might have done to you. If you feel odd or different in some way, you probably should see the nurse."

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Been feeling a bit off, mate?" Ron asked.

"Nah. I'm fine. You?"

"Fine."

Both boys looked at the girls. "Do we seem to be 'off' to you?" Ron asked seriously.

"A bit," Hermione said. Ginny nodded.

"All right then. Take us to the nurse if you must," Ron conceded.

A short time later, Madam Pomfrey looked at the girls and said, "What did you think was wrong with them?"

"They were both so cheerful and it seemed rather unnatural," Hermione said uneasily.

"Professor Snape's antidote included a strong Cheering Charm type of ingredient. You both were aware of that," the nurse reminded them.

"Yes, but something just doesn't seem right about them," Ginny said, glancing uneasily at the boys who were sitting quietly on the side of a bed.

"I know you girls know them best, so I'm not discounting that something seems odd to you, but I can't find anything right now. Just keep an eye on them and let me know if there's any change, all right?" Madam Pomfrey turned to the boys. "You aren't hiding anything, are you? You're both feeling all right?"

"I'm fine," Harry said. Ron nodded.

"Right, then. Off with you. Come and see me when you actually have something wrong with you," she said with a smile, shooing them toward the door.

* * * * *

It was Harry's and Ron's first D.A. meeting since being attacked. The school had been informed of the attack, but Dumbledore had told the students to leave the victims alone, that they'd talk about it when they were ready to. As the D.A. members sorted themselves into their practice groups, Colin said, "Harry, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Harry said absentmindedly as he passed out cushions for the students to land on when they practiced various spells.

"Did you really cast a Patronus Charm wandless?"

"What?" Harry said, startled. The rest of the group stilled instantly, every one of them waiting eagerly for Harry's response.

"I heard Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall talking," Colin explained. "He said you kept casting Patronus Charms over and over, and you didn't have your wand, and you were tied up with magical bonds. How is it possible to do that?"

"I honestly don't know," Harry replied. "I was sick. I don't know how I did it."

"Why were you trying to cast Patronus Charms wandlessly?" a young student asked.

Harry sighed. Answering the questions was the fastest way out of the problem, he knew that. But still. . . . "Erm. . .well, I was having hallucinations. You lot were told about that, right?" They nodded. "I was hallucinating about Dementors." His eyes caught Ginny's for a moment. "They were. . .they were attacking Ginny, over and over," he said, his voice growing softer, his eyes unfocused, looking inward and seeing horrors they couldn't even imagine. "I was trying to protect her. That's why I was casting the Patronuses."

"Did they work?" someone asked.

"No," Harry murmured. He shook himself and focused on the group again. "No, they didn't chase the Dementors away, because the Dementors were in my mind. The stags filled Dumbledore's office, but they didn't do anything, because there were no real Dementors around."

"Have you tried doing them wandless since then?" Ernie McMillan asked.

"No."

"Why not?" Ernie pressed. "That's a pretty amazing skill, to be able to cast such a spell wandlessly. I would think you'd want to perfect it."

"I haven't really wanted to think about Dementors since then," Harry said, doing his best to suppress a shudder of revulsion.

"Can't you do it without thinking about Dementors?" a young Hufflepuff girl with curly blond hair piped up. "We don't think about Dementors when we try to do the Patronus Charm - we just hold on to our happy thought. That's what you told us to do."

Harry sighed. "You're right. That's how you do it. All right, I'll have a go." He sighed again as he put his wand in his pocket. He held his hand out in front of him, trying to think of his happy thought, but the memories of Dementors kept getting in the way. Finally, his eyes found Ginny. She smiled at him encouragingly, and his heart lifted. "Expecto Patronum!" he cried, and a silvery mist came out of his fingertips - mist, but no stag. He chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. If he could do this when he was sick, surely he could do it when he was well, right? The challenge of it appealed to his competitive nature and he chose an even happier thought. He glanced at Ginny and winked. Her "Weasley Plot," when she and Harry had first made love, was the happiest of all possible happy thoughts. Straightening his shoulders, he held his hand out strongly and cried, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A misty but misshapen stag emerged and trotted around, looking confused. The D.A. members cheered when the stag appeared and continued until it vanished. Harry shrugged. "I guess I need to work on it a bit." Everyone laughed.

"You lot need to understand that wandless magic is very difficult to do, and not everyone can do it," Hermione said. She'd been researching everything she could find about it and asking Harry endless questions, but she wasn't having much success with wandless magic herself yet. "If you have accidentally done wandless magic in the past, you have a better chance of learning how to do it properly. I've seen Harry Summon his wand and light his wand at a distance without thinking about what he was doing, and that was before he started learning how to do wandless magic. His being able to do those things showed he had an aptitude for it. I can do a few tiny things wandless when I don't think about it too much, but I'm still struggling with trying to cast real spells without a wand. My lack of real success so far doesn't mean I'll stop trying, anymore than I'll stop trying to do the Animagus transformation. We all need to work on perfecting the spells we've been working on with wands. Trying to learn how to do wandless magic is 'extra' stuff you can do outside of these meetings. But it is inspirational to watch Harry do such things, and give us goals to shoot for." With that, she got the group started on that day's spells.

When they were all busily practicing, Harry walked up behind Hermione and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Thanks."

She turned around and smiled up at him. "For what?"

"For drawing their attention away from me so neatly," he said. "I was getting a bit uncomfortable. Some of them were looking at me as if I'm a freak."

"You're no freak - you're just an extremely talented wizard and they're jealous! I am, too, for that matter," she said calmly. "But that doesn't mean we can't try to do the things you do. We just need to concentrate on the important spells, and leave the fancy stuff for outside practice, I think."

"Yeah," he said, draping his arm around her shoulders and giving her an affectionate squeeze. "I mean it. Thanks."

"No problem, Harry. You were beginning to look a bit uncomfortable, and I thought you'd been on the spot long enough." She smiled at him again, then turned away to help some younger students whose wand work was not nearly as good as it should be.

* * * * *

A few weeks later, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny went to the Flying Squad's training session at Madam Hooch's request. The Squad used the Quidditch pitch as their practice area.

"Right, then, you lot! Pay attention!" Madam Hooch called as her squad hovered in formation in front of her. "Your leaders are here, and I want them to be impressed with what you've learned so far." In moments, the squad was flying in formation doing various aerobatic manoeuvres. When they finished, they landed and stood watching Madam Hooch expectantly, grins on their faces.

"Well done, well done!" she said encouragingly. "What do you think?" she asked Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"They look great!" Harry said happily. "Good flying, all of you!" He grinned at Euan Abercrombie, who had jumped at the chance to be in the Flying Squad and improve his flying skills.

"We'd like you to help us with something," Madam Hooch said, a twinkle in her hawk-like eyes.

"Sure, what?" Harry replied.

"Squad - load up!" she said, and the squad members ran over to several boxes sitting on the edge of the pitch, loading pouches attached to their brooms with small brown objects.

"What do you want us to do?" Ron said, watching the squad's activities warily.

"I want you to attack the squad with some harmless spell - a Stinging Hex, perhaps - so they can practice flying while under attack. They will drop their bombs while you're attacking them," Madam Hooch said confidently. "We want to see how accurate they can be while under attack."

"Accurate? As in hitting us with something?" Hermione said with concern.

"Yes, of course! With their bombs!" Madam Hooch said briskly. She turned to her squad. "Mount up!"

"Uh. . .what's in the bombs?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Powdered sugar," she replied. "I had the house elves make them. It won't hurt you, but it will mark where the bombs land quite nicely. Just don't use any shield charms, all right? They do need to see how accurate they are with the bombs."

"Sugar? Oh, OK then," Ron said with a grin, thinking this might not be too bad after all.


Before long, a royal battle was raging in the Quidditch pitch, amid shouts of laughter, catcalls, and squeals of pain. The four on the ground had started defending themselves gently, not wanting to hurt or scare the Flying Squad, but the Flying Squad was having entirely too much fun pelting them with sugar bombs. Harry's hair was solidly grey now from all the bombs that had hit his head despite his best efforts to dodge them. He was a favourite target of the Squad members - cheers erupted whenever they managed to tag him with a bomb. Ron, Hermione and Ginny weren't faring much better, but they were giving as good as they got now, and the Flying Squad was gaining battle experience without actually being wounded in any way. They'd squawk when the Stinging Hexes hit them, but then would come back with renewed determination to bomb whoever had stung them. It was a fun and very useful practice session. Madam Hooch finally called a halt when they ran out of sugar bombs. Harry and Ron were both solidly white now. Hermione and Ginny stood giggling as they watched the boys scrub at their faces, then lick sugar off of their hands, grinning hugely.

"That was brilliant!" Harry enthused as Madam Hooch landed beside him.

"And you lot gave us excellent practical experience," she said. "Thank you so much!"

"I think they're going to do quite well," Ron said, looking the Squad over proudly. "You guys were fantastic. Keep up the good work!" He turned to his sister and held his arms out at his sides. "A little help, please?"

"Scourgify," Ginny said, then repeated the charm on Harry and Hermione, and finally herself. "That got most of it," she said with satisfaction as she ruffled Harry's hair, sending a shower of sugar down on his black robes. "Looks as if you have dandruff, sweetie."

"Oh, lovely," he said, rubbing the sugar off of his shoulders with his hands, which only smeared it and rubbed it in. "I thought you were going to help me?" he said, giving Ginny a pained look. She did another Cleaning Charm on him and he was finally relatively tidy.

"Good work, everyone!" Madam Hooch called to the Squad. "You're dismissed."

"They're awesome," Ron told the flying instructor. "What a great idea. When are Fred and George coming to see how they're doing?"

"Next week, and they'll be bringing us some sample bombs to work with, as well. We need to practice in a wide variety of weather conditions - rain, wind, and so on - so they've made sample bombs that stay intact when they're dropped, but are the same size and weight as the real ones. That way, we can use them over and over. They'll be flying with us then," she said as she walked toward the castle with Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny. "I wanted to ask you, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter - will the twins be the Squad Leaders, or do you want me to do it?"

"I'll have to talk with Fred and George and see what they think will work best," Ron said immediately. "I expect they'll want you to do it, so they can keep everyone supplied with more bombs. We'll get it all sorted out soon. Great work, Madam Hooch, really."

"Yeah, they've come a long way," Harry said. "And all this practice is improving the ones who play Quidditch, as well. Thanks for this idea, Madam Hooch. It's brilliant. I can see they'll be a huge help in battle."

"I hope so. If what we do can end the battle more quickly and save some lives, it will be well worth the effort," Madam Hooch said with conviction.

"Absolutely," Harry agreed whole-heartedly.

* * * * *

Author's Afterword: The green Muggle remedy Snape sprayed in Harry's mouth was Chloreseptic (I hope I spelled that correctly). I used to use it for sore throats when I was a young singer and experienced occasional hoarseness or sore throats. The soothing to the throat is instantaneous, but don't try to sing with its effects in your throat unless you are a professionally trained singer and know how to prevent injuries. It REALLY numbs your throat, and you can hurt yourself if you try to sing while using it (no, I didn't hurt myself with it, but it freaked my voice teacher when he saw me use it once, and he warned me not to sing while using it).