Choices and Consequences

Harry woke up very early again the next morning; it was starting to become something of a habit and he had ambivalent feelings about getting used to such a situation - on the positive side, it gave him time to loosen his muscles and do some exercises before the day's serious activity started, but on the other hand it left him tired rather early in the evening. He wasn't sure it was a routine he'd be able to work to when he got back to Hogwarts, either. He enjoyed the long, lazy evenings spent in front of the fire with his friends, even if they often involved inventing new ways for him to die for his Divination homework.

He sighed and stretched, gasping at the way his muscles protested vehemently at such sudden usage as he attempted to lift himself out of bed. It seemed that the muscles that he used while duelling with John were completely different to those that he had been working on from the keep-fit book and with Tonks, or at least some of them must have been, since his body ached in places where he hadn't even realised he had muscles.

He decided to grab breakfast before starting his exercises today, knowing that Tonks would be turning up in a while and they would no doubt spend quite a while going through some of them anyhow, especially when he told her which muscles it was that ached. He was sure that his aches and pains would amuse Tonks, but the Aurors were bound to have some sort of training programme that dealt with building muscles that you'd use when duelling since, in theory at least, they might well need those muscles.

As he returned to his room to dress, having eaten a bowl of cereal to sate his early morning hunger, he noticed Hedwig trying to attract his attention. Harry was a little surprised that the snowy owl hadn't returned the previous evening, though given how tired he'd been he wasn't sure that he'd've noticed her return anyway if she had. As it happened, the Weasleys must have kept her overnight, probably while Ron or Ginny composed a letter.

Hedwig was carrying two missives, and Harry swiftly unburdened her and allowed her to settle on her perch, where she fell asleep almost instantly, despite Harry's efforts to tempt her with some owl treats.

The first letter was from Ron, who was still wildly enthusiastic about going to Hermione's house later that week. "A real Muggle house," he'd written, "Dad would be so impressed'.

Privately, Harry thought that it was likely that Mr Weasley would spend the whole time asking how the appliances worked, and for an explanation of how the gas and electricity got to the house, but he was sure that Ron was in for a few surprises when he found out for himself the extent to which Muggles coped without magic. As Hermione had once explained to Neville in Harry's hearing, 'we've developed technological replacements for a lot of things that wizards use magic to do'.

Ron's letter also noted that Mr Weasley intended to leave work early and take Ron and Ginny over to the Granger's in a Ministry car so that they would have the appropriate security, rather in contrast to Harry's own travel plans, and that the Weasleys would likely be there before Harry arrived. They were planning their arrival for around three o'clock so that Ron and Ginny could meet Mr and Mrs Granger formally before they left for the weekend.

Harry supposed that Mrs Weasley had suggested this, so that her two youngest children had an incentive to behave themselves, at least psychologically, by meeting the Grangers first. He was sure that if Aunt Petunia had been allowing Dudley to go to a friend's for the night and the parents were going to be away that Dudley would have been forced to make a good impression on them, too.

Harry chuckled to himself as he recalled the incident before his second year when the Dursleys had entertained an important purchaser, Mr Mason, and his wife, and the ridiculous charade that they performed to kow-tow to the Masons. Such a shame that the dessert that Aunt Petunia had slaved over that afternoon had ended up splattered all over Harry, who had to admit he hated sugared violets anyhow.

Harry finished reading Ron's letter and turned to the second one, which he soon discovered wasn't from Ginny as he'd supposed.

Dear Partner,

Great to see you the other day (yesterday, Fred) along with your 'friend'. Hope you didn't mind us making you part of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, but you were vital to our initial success and even if you don't need the money, we'd rather you took some form of remuneration for your investment (he means payment, Harry, don't let the long word fool you).

Can we offer you a paid position as test subject? Ron already turned us down (though he's still going to end up doing it for free if we keep Ginny stocked up with our latest prototypes).

Had to kidnap Hedwig when we popped into The Burrow last night (earlier today), just to check out what you and our favourite metamorphmagus are up to together. You do know she's old enough to be your Mother? (Don't exaggerate Fred, I'm sure I've told you a thousand times.) Well okay, but you know what these older, 'experienced' women are like, Harry, so please heed our words carefully: Way to go, mate!

Seriously, (since when?) if you two are an item then please take our best wishes (please? please? you know you want to), though I (we, Fred) can't help feeling that you're winding us up! Anyway, we want to know.

Feel free to drop into the shop whenever you're able, and any products you want to take to try out on that heffalump of a cousin of yours are your with no questions asked (though we want a report on the results).

Happy holidays,

Fred (and George)

P.S. Well done on the OWLs - you got as many as we did (combined).

It took a short while to decipher, given the mess the twins had made of it, but Harry figured out that Fred had written the letter, then George had editorialised. Whether that was simply for comic effect, Harry wasn't sure, but it was certainly odd to see a letter that argued with itself. If he hadn't known it was from the twins it would have been even weirder.

With Hedwig asleep there wasn't any rush to write replies to the Weasleys, so instead, Harry finished his shopping list from the previous evening, and wandered out to the back garden, where he found Tonks already awaiting him.

"I wondered if you'd elected to sleep in this morning," she greeted him. "You've been up well before this the last few days."

"Been up ages today, too," he retorted. "Just needed to get a few things done before I started working the kinks out of these muscles from yesterday."

Tonks enquired as to which muscles it was that were bothering him, and he recounted his efforts with John the previous day. Tonks nodded in sympathy as he described his aches, and promised that they would put together some routines that the Aurors used for developing muscles that were strained in combat situations.

However, that morning they stuck to the routines that they had already planned on using, and although Harry found it hard going, he knew that with practice he'd get used to it. Tonks explained that the Aurors did a lot of drills that involved hex-dodging, and stamina-sapping duelling practice and she'd introduce him to the delights of them. The gleam in her eye as she described them suggested to Harry that he wasn't going to find them particularly easy.

They stopped after around three-quarters of an hour, and Harry asked her about his shopping list, and whether he would be allowed into town to shop. Tonks wasn't sure he was supposed to be out and about unsupervised, so she agreed to take his list and bring the items he needed the next day, but fixed him with a warning about any expectations he might have of her doing his domestic chores for him.

Harry was amused by this, and responded to the effect that he could cope with them fine on his own. He'd seen the previous summer how much 'help' she was likely to be in the kitchen.

"Speaking of domestics," he said somewhat hesitantly, "how do we stand after out little 'date' in Diagon Alley?"

Tonks gave him a crooked little smile. "Don't worry, Harry, I'm not expecting anything of you," she reassured him. "I enjoyed our little game, but I'm not looking to get involved with you, and I'm not trying to lead you on. I just want you to have a bit of fun and think about the sort of things you would like in terms of a girlfriend, because, bluntly, you could do with one."

Harry snorted at Tonks's straightforward assessment. "So I'm safe with you?" he asked.

Tonks nodded. "Yes, you are. Just like you're safe for me to be friends with, and have no romantic attachment. You're not bad company when you're in a decent mood, you know."

Harry agreed that he'd enjoyed himself the other morning, and admitted that it had made him realise that there was more to having a girlfriend than going to valentine-festooned tea shops and kissing under potentially Nargle-infested mistletoe.

"Did you see we made the paper?" she asked him, slyly.

Harry looked aghast at the thought of yet another intrusion into his private life from the media, and took the copy of the Daily Prophet that Tonks held out to him with trepidation, wondering what the sneaks and snoops on the Prophet's staff had dug out about him this time.

To Harry's relief, he hadn't made the front page, but a couple of pages in he found the article, somewhat hidden amongst the society columns and celebrity tittle-tattle.

"BOY-WHO-LIVED THE BOY-WHO-LOVED?" the headline read, making Harry cringe at the thought of what the reporter might have said. A photo of Harry and Tonks exiting Madam Malkin's shop and hugging accompanied the article.

Harry smiled at Tonks at the memory. "Well at least the picture's not too bad," he joked.

"Read the article, Harry. It's a hoot."

Harry turned back to the Prophet and carried on reading.

Teenage Harry Potter, defeater of You-Know-Who and winner of the Tri-wizard tournament held last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was spotted in Diagon Alley on a quiet Sunday morning in the company of an unknown blonde. The young lady in question, whose identity has so far eluded elite Daily Prophet newshounds was captured on film (see photo above) embracing Mr Potter intimately after emerging from Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions.

The boy-who-lived, whose previous relationships with Muggle-born Hermione Granger and Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang, fellow students at Hogwarts, have been rather short-lived, appears to have found himself a more mature partner with whom to be associated. His latest flame would appear to be several years his senior, raising questions about whether he is being led astray.

The woman has not been seen in public with Harry Potter previously, nor is she among those known to be closest to him, who include Albus Dumbledore, the Weasley family and werewolf (and former Hogwarts Defence against the Dark Arts Professor) Remus Lupin.

Rumours of Mr Potter's personal wealth have been circulating for many years, and speculation abounds as to whether the mystery woman is genuinely attracted to the young hero, or whether she is simply courting the riches it is speculated a tie with the Potter family would bring.

A source within Madam Malkin's establishment confirmed to this reporter that Mr Potter signed for his purchases with a Gringott's quill, a method of payment normally associated with those who intend to spend significant amounts of money and do not want to carry that amount of gold with them. The source also noted that Mr Potter's order "must have exceeded 500 galleons, given what he bought."

Harry broke off at this last titbit of information and broke out in a coughing fit. "Blimey, they'll tell the press what I bought and how much it cost?" he said, surprised. "What on earth does anyone care about that?" he asked Tonks.

"You're a public figure, Harry, people like to know what public figures are up to as they feel like they be held to higher standards that themselves."

"Well that's rich!" Harry retorted. "If they actually took the time to get to know me before writing this rubbish, maybe they'd have a reason to hold me to a higher standard. Bloody hypocrites! What business if there's is it anyway?"

"Well, in this case, it might show your, or my, motivation. Oh yeah, and it makes good gossip, too, and that sells papers," she replied. "Read the rest of it."

It was also confirmed that a significant part of the purchase was for dress robes that Mr Potter insisted the unknown girlfriend order, and for which he selected one of the finest materials in the shop.

"They looked like they were having so much fun together," our source told us, "and they made such a nice couple. They seemed very much at ease in each others company, and flirted terribly."

As well as Madam Malkin's, the couple also shopped at Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, recently established as a competitor to joke shop stores Zonko's and Gambol & Japes and whose proprietors are known to be good friends of Mr Potter, and at Flourish and Blotts.

Although it's rumoured that Harry Potter is soon to be awarded the Order of Merlin, this reporter has to ask whether he is being misled by a woman whose intentions are dishonourable, and who is merely looking to line her pockets with Potter gold.

Should the Boy-who-Lived be courting a woman much older than him, who might strip him of his innocence?

A small reward is on offer for any additional information that the public can provide to the Daily Prophet that helps to identify this mystery woman.

"So, what do you think?" Tonks asked, as Harry looked up from reading the article.

"To be honest, I'm a bit pissed off," he responded. "Even though a lot of what they've written is factually correct, the tone of it, and the whole editorial slant is pretty obnoxious. Don't they have anything better to write about?"

"It could be worse though: they could have snapped us snogging in Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes," Tonks suggested with a snigger. "Though I'm sure that the twins will be pleased that they were named in the article."

"What right do they have anyway to say who I should and shouldn't be associating with?" Harry complained. "Hell, they probably think that Lucius Malfoy's an honest and upright citizen, and how soon do you think he'd be leading me astray?"

Tanks made a face at Harry's suggestion.

"I'm fed up with them prying into my private life to sell their newspapers. This time last year the Prophet was ridiculing me as an attention-seeking, lying fool, and now they pretend to be concerned about my welfare? It's just so ... so ..."

"Hypocritical?" Tonks asked.

"That about sums it up. I'm tempted to write to Madam Malkin herself and complain about the lack of privacy that her customers are given. I can't believe they'd tell the Prophet what I bought and how much I spent there!"

"Actually, you probably should, Harry." Tonks suggested. "It might make them a little more careful about the people they employ. I'm sure that Gringott's wouldn't tolerate employees blabbing details of customer accounts to the press. That's one way that goblins differ so significantly from wizards - they have much stronger controls on the information they hold. Gringott's wouldn't survive without such a level of confidentiality."

Harry considered this. "What do you think I should say?"

"You could threaten to take your business elsewhere, and to persuade your friends not to shop there, given the report in the paper. When you are prepared to make purchases of ... what was it, 500 galleons, the Prophet said?" she teased, "... then your business is quite important to them. You could threaten to take all your requirements to Gladrags instead."

Harry thought this was a good idea, and decided to go ahead with it. He'd write a letter to the proprietor as soon as he got a chance, and see if it achieved anything.

Meanwhile, the mention of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes reminded Harry of the letter he'd received from the twins that morning. He asked Tonks whether she thought they should continue to string them along about their supposed relationship, especially since the Daily Prophet article would only add fuel to that fire. Tonks suggested he be evasive about it, and try and keep them guessing. No doubt he'd also get the interrogation treatment from Hermione and Ron as well, once they read what was in the Prophet.

Seeing that Harry was coping well with the situation without too much embarrassment, Tonks tried to turn up the heat a little bit, and pressed Harry once again for details of who he really fancied.

"So, come on then, Harry, who would you like as a girlfriend? Hermione? Ginny? What about those two other girls in Gryffindor, Lavender and Parvati, isn't it?"

Harry waved Tonks's question away.

"Let me see if I can do their faces, and I'll se what your reaction's like," she offered, but Harry demurred with a grimace, not really fancying the idea of Tonks looking like Hermione or like Lavender - it would just be weird.

"Really, I haven't given it much thought. I mean, I only know a few girls who even talk to me civilly, let alone as potential girlfriends."

"Well how do those girls fit in with the criteria that we discussed the other day? What was it? They had to be self-sufficient, able to look after themselves, but be prepared to let you take the lead in defending them? How do the girls you know meet those criteria?"

Harry thought about the girls that he actually ever talked to, and reckoned that probably Katie Bell, Luna, Cho, Ginny and Hermione would meet the first two criteria, but he'd be surprised if they'd allow him to defend them. On the other hand, the other girls he knew, like Lavender or Parvati, he wouldn't want to rely on in a magical fight, despite their inclusion in the DA. He supposed it might be difficult to find someone who met all three criteria, but then, this time last year he wouldn't have believed he would have had a date with Cho, so you never knew how things would turn out.

"I'll take it under consideration," he promised the young Auror. "I'll even think about how I like them, 'physically, as women'," he added with a smirk.

Tonks nodded in acknowledgement of his point, then added "Best get back to these exercises then, so all the girls can see your toned, muscled body, rather than the skinny one you've been working on."

Harry ignored the comment, but went back to the exercises they'd been doing before they'd taken a break, which kept them going until it was time for Tonks to go.

With all the morning's effort, Harry elected to take a shower and have a quick lunch before he started on his promised potion work with John. When he hauled his cauldron and ingredients into the garden that afternoon, John had already arrived and conjured a fire for him on the patio outside the kitchen door.

"Afternoon, Harry," John greeted him. "While you were getting yourself sorted out I set up the privacy charms, so we shouldn't have any problems with over-curious neighbours while we're working.

"Okay, what we're going to do today is brew a very simple potion, so that I can see what sort of things you already know, and what needs to be worked on. Dumbledore suggested that you might need a bit of help with potions, and it would help to get a handle on where your weaknesses are.

Harry nodded, and John continued.

"Just place your cauldron over the fire please, and add a pint of water. While we wait for it to simmer, I'd like you to look at the ingredients I've got here."

Harry set up his cauldron and started the water heating, whilst John opened a pouch he had at his hip and pulled out a number of small items.

"First of all, do you recognise the ingredients?"

Harry nodded. The dried nettles and stewed horned slugs were obvious and he could tell that one of the other packages contained porcupine quills. The final item looked as though it might be some sort of snake fang, but Harry wasn't totally sure. He detailed the items to John and was rewarded with a smile as acknowledgement.

"Good. Now tell me what the potion we're going to brew is."

Harry hesitated. This was the tricky part. He had a feeling he'd brewed a potion with these ingredients before, but it seemed like a long time ago. John had said it was a simple potion, so it was probably one from first year. Harry couldn't remember what the potion was though, and had to apologise to John for not knowing.

John was taken aback at Harry's lack of understanding, and asked if he'd used the ingredients before.

"Yes, but I can't remember what potion I was making when I did," Harry replied despondently.

"Okay," John accepted, "what can you tell me about the ingredients we've got?" he asked.

Again, Harry struggled to answer.

"Haven't you been taught these things in potions, Harry?"

"Not like this," he responded. "Snape just writes the recipe up on the board and expects us to follow it. We only research into properties of ingredients when we're given specific essays to complete on the subject."

John looked angry. "How on earth are you expected to brew potions if you've not been taught what the ingredients do, and what their combinations create," he asked rhetorically, and held up a hand when Harry was going to attempt to answer. "No, don't explain. I can see that Professor Snape's dubious teaching methods don't only extend to Occlumency. He's not done you any favours in Potions class, either.

"Now I understand why Dumbledore was keen for me to teach you potion making as well as Occlumency. I'm slightly surprised that you're the only one that I'm teaching," he sighed in resignation.

Harry didn't need to make any comments about his need to special tuition to defeat Voldemort. Instead he explained the potions primer he'd bought in Diagon Alley, and how he thought it covered all sorts of things that Snape had never taught them in class.

"Okay, well what we've got here are the ingredients for a potion that will cure boils and other similar afflictions." John explained, to Harry's frustration, since Harry could now remember brewing the very same potion back in his first year.

The two of them spent the next hour brewing the boil-curing potion, while John explained to Harry why the ingredients they were using acted the way that they did, and how they could be used in other potions that required similar effects

In this particular case, John was careful to explain that the formic acid contained in the nettles, which was what caused them to create a stinging effect, would react with the bodies of the horned slugs to create an antidote to the bacteria that created the boils. The crushed snake fangs acted as a method of absorbing the potion through the skin, whilst the porcupine quills provided stability to the potion, and made sure that the ingredients didn't react too quickly when the potion came into contact with the skin. The only problem was that the quills had to be added once the mixture had cooled a little, and not whilst it was still simmering, otherwise the stabilising effect wouldn't work, and the potion tended to have the reverse of the intended effect.

If Harry recalled correctly, this was what had happened to Neville in their Potions class when they'd brewed this particular concoction, and the results had been pretty much as described, only even worse, since Neville's potion had melted the bottom of his cauldron as well. Harry idly thought about Percy's report on cauldron-bottom thickness, and whether this was what he had been referring to, but turned his attention back to the potion as John asked him a question about what he'd learned.

"So what other potions do you think these ingredients might be used in?"

Harry thought for a moment about what they'd discussed in relation to the properties of the ingredients.

"The nettles and slugs could be used for any potion where you're trying to counteract bacterial growths?" Harry half-asked and half-answered.

"Good, Harry. You're right they could, but you'd need a stabiliser appropriate to the surface being treated, since although porcupine quills are fine for human skin, something a little more potent might be required for other situations. What about the crushed snake fangs?"

"I suppose you could use them in medicines that need to be absorbed through the skin, so various things like muscle relaxants?" Harry suggested.

John nodded, pleased that Harry could think laterally about the sort of uses that the ingredients might have, once he'd studied their properties. As John had thought, Harry didn't have any problem absorbing and making use of important information, it was just that it hadn't been imparted to him in the first place, or at least not in a manner that had enabled him to understand it.

"Excellent. Since we're looking at basic ingredient properties here, it's important to add that although in some cases ingredients are only there to act as filler or a medium in which the active ingredients can be mixed, like the water in the potion you've just brewed, sometimes the same ingredient may be a critical part of the potion itself, simply because of the additional factors it brings to the brew.

"For example, the oxygen in water is sometimes required to help ingredients in a potion 'breathe' or fulfil their potential, and omitting the water can render the potion useless, or worse, dangerous. In other potions it is merely there to aid addition of ingredients and the ability to stir the mixture by reducing the viscosity."

Harry nodded as he took in John's words. It seemed as though Snape had expected them to know stuff like this without being told, since it was never explained in the instructions he wrote on the board.

For the rest of the afternoon, John spent some time talking to Harry about the different properties of various common ingredients, particularly those he carried in his potions kit, so that he was aware of what the most common things contributed towards a potion's characteristics.

The boil-curing potion they'd brewed seemed to turn out fine, though John commented that, since it was a basic first-year potion, it was more down to Harry concentrating on his potion and following the instructions carefully than any evidence of innate potion-making skill, and he hoped that once Harry had gotten to grips with the finer details of the art, he would be in a position where he could work out how to brew potions of his own to meet specific needs, rather than just ones where the recipe was already specified.

In parting, John asked Harry to study the primer ahead of their next potions lesson, which he said would be on Friday morning, since he'd promised Harry they would work on Occlumency the next day and he intended to continue his duelling practice as well. He specifically asked him to find out all he could about the use of blood in potions, and they would discuss it as part of Harry's ongoing tuition in learning how to use the ingredients that might be available to him.

Not having anything else planned for the evening, and somewhat curious as to the sorts of things that he really should have been learning in Potions lessons all these years, Harry barely took the time to have a quick snack for his tea before delving into his studying. As much as he enjoyed working on practical stuff with Tonks and John, he realised that if he was going to learn anything from studying books, he was best placed to do it now, while there were no significant distractions like he found at Hogwarts.

He'd spent many an evening in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, playing wizarding chess or exploding snap with Ron when he really should have been studying or doing homework. Here at Privet Drive he didn't have Ron to distract him and, although the prospect of watching the television all evening was a small temptation, there wasn't anything that he particularly wanted to watch.

Flicking through his primer in search of properties of blood, he came across numerous potions items that he was very familiar with but had never understood exactly why they were used in potions. Armadillo bile, for example, which Harry recalled they'd used in a wit-sharpening potion, was used because it stimulated the brain cells and released chemicals in the brain that made you feel like you were enjoying studying. Harry had heard that something similar occurred with chocolate, which was no doubt why people affected by Dementors were prescribed it.

Hellebore, Harry remembered, was one of the ingredients in the Draft of Peace even though it was poisonous. Reading the primer, Harry discovered that the reason why it worked to create such a strong calming effect was that the poison actually shut down the parts of the brain that dealt with fear and nerves. This also explained Professor Snape's insistence that they be careful with it, since in too large a quantity it would apparently shut down the brain completely. The same potion utilised Moonstone, which Harry vaguely remembered doing an essay on at some point. The only problem was that he'd known so little about the ingredient that, even though he'd been able to copy one part of Hermione's research, he'd never understood that it acted as a mood stabiliser.

After browsing the book for quite a while, Harry finally turned to the section on blood. Apparently human blood was very rarely used in normal potion making, since it created potions that were strongly tied to the supplier of the blood. This apparently made it an exception ingredient for a lot of dark magic though. Harry recalled clearly his own blood being taken in Voldemort's re-birth ceremony, and the triumph that the newly reborn Dark Lord had expressed at being able to use Harry's blood in the potion.

The more Harry read about the use of blood in potions, the less he enjoyed it. Despite not being particularly queasy about such things, a lot of the descriptions were fairly graphic, which surprised Harry a little, since the primer was ostensibly aimed at children just starting to learn potions.

The differences between the properties of the blood of different creatures was quite intriguing to Harry, who'd already heard about the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and it's particularly important magic nature. Giant's blood was largely used to strengthen potions so that their effects were enhanced to the point where they were suitable for humans to use, whilst troll's blood tended to be used for particularly strong or intense versions of the same potion, often either increasing the duration or potency of such potions multiple times, even in comparison with the giant's blood version.

On the other hand, readers were warned to be careful to avoid using werewolf's blood in potions, since it was poisonous to humans if ingested. Harry idly wondered whether Remus Lupin was aware that his own blood was a poison, but then chided himself. Of course he'd know - it was part of Lupin's character to know that sort of thing.

As the late evening summer sun set, Harry got to the point where he felt he ought to be sleeping rather than studying. He was looking forward to tomorrow's promised Occlumency lesson and, although he had another session with Tonks beforehand, wanted to be as fresh as possible to try and get a grip on the nuances of John's mental probing.