Training and Confrontations

Chapter L

"Where are we going?" Ron asked.

"At the moment, to the Room of Requirement," Harry said. "After that, well, that's what we need to discuss."

The Room provided a comfortable inglenook, with seven roomy chairs set in a circle. Harry sat, and the others sat around him (Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Tracy, Ron, Luna). Harry asked Hermione to sum up what had happened in Tibet.

When Hermione had finished, Tracy asked, "So, since you don't have to decide for at least thirteen years, and you can't go after Riddle for one year, what do we have to decide today?"

Ginny, Neville, and Ron gaped at her. "What?" Tracy said. "Those are issues Harry has to think about. I'm sure we'll be talking with him about these things many times over the years. Harry, you seem to want to discuss something, or some issues. What do we need to talk about?"

"Hermione left out one thing," Harry said. "In addition to that, we need to talk about the next month or so, first."

"In what way?" Neville asked.

"First of all, Hermione, Luna, and I are going to be spending most of that time together. We would like to spend it with all of you. If so, there is an island in the Adriatic we can go to. We've all been there, except for you, Tracy."

"Is that where the gateway to that other wizarding world is?" Tracy asked.

"Yes, although we won't be going through it over the next month," Harry answered. "We all have to be back for Bill and Fleur's wedding on the Second, and again for Remus and Dora's wedding on the Twenty-Third. I talked with Mister and Mrs. Weasley, and then with Madam Longbottom. You all have permission, except for Tracy. I could talk with your parents, if you wish."

"And what would we be doing there?" Tracy asked.

"Three things," Harry answered. "First, our summer has been pretty well interrupted. We need to get our summer school work out of the way. Second, bonding. We'll be building our bonds, both as two pairs and a trio, and as a group."

"And what sort of group bonds do you mean?" Tracy demanded.

"Well, if you're worried about anything like the physical pair-bonding you and Ron may have done, I certainly don't mean that," Harry teased. "Still, that brings us to the third point. I can restore the magical bonds some of us formed last year, on a higher, and more reciprocal level."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning right now, I don't just have those bonds with Luna, Hermione, and Ginny, they have those bonds with me and with each other. We can share power, and to some degree feelings."

Tracy thought about that. "Tell me, if you were made immortal, would that carry us along through those bonds? For that matter, if one of the bondmates were to die, how would that affect the others?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted, and a glance at Hermione and Luna showed they did not know either.

Finally, Hermione said, "The original power-sharing didn't have any implications along those lines. These bonds seem to be a higher order of the same type. Still, we must verify that. Titus Sergius can likely help us."

"Can you be certain these bonds won't form spontaneously?" Tracy asked.

"No," Luna answered.

Tracy looked at Ron. "I think it would be best we not go, then, unless they can talk with this Sergius first."

Hermione stood. "Let me see if I can find him," she said. She walked out of the room.

"What are you going to do?" Neville asked Ginny.

"The bonds have already formed for me in Tibet," Ginny answered. "You have choices. I don't. I'm not making your coming along a condition, Neville, but I'm going. I'm hoping you want to come, too."

Neville looked torn, to say the least.

The wait for Hermione became rather uncomfortable.

Twenty minutes after she left, Hermione returned with Titus Sergius. "Right," he said, jumping right in. "Hermione has filled me in. I don't have a great deal of time, so forgive my being brief. One, the bonds can form spontaneously, but only with Harry acting as a catalyst, and with all persons' consent, although that might be unconscious consent. Two, if Harry accepts the immortality rituals, that will not make any of you immortal. It would make certain life-extending rituals easier for you to undergo and survive, but that seems unlikely at the moment. Three, when one partner within the bonds dies, there will be a fair amount of physical discomfort. Considering the type of emotional bond that is required for these magical bonds to form, the physical discomfort would be nothing compared to the emotion distress you'd feel in any event. Does that sum up what you need to know for now?"

They all nodded. "Great," he said, and left the room.

"Not one for chit-chat, is he?" Ginny commented.

"Why did he come all the way up here?" Neville asked.

"I would imagine so there could be no doubt about the message," Tracy said. She turned to Ron. "Do you want to go?"

Ron hesitated, but then said, "Yes, I would."

"Would you like me to go?"

"Yes," Ron said sincerely, "I would."

"What about you, Harry?"

"Please, come with us," Harry said.

"Does anyone have any objections to my coming along?" Everyone shook their heads. "Alight. I"m not certain I'd like this sort of bonding, but we'll see how it goes. Speak with my parents, Harry."

"I'll ask McGonagall to arrange the meeting," Harry said. He turned to Neville. "How about you, Nev?"

Neville looked around, and saw acceptance from everyone. "I wouldn't miss it!"

"Then go to the library or someplace," Harry said. "Meet me back here at Eight tonight, and we'll see where we stand." Harry strode from the room.

Ron instantly turned on the trio of girls who had been with Harry. "How did Harry get his full powers back?" he demanded angrily.

Hermione and Ginny actually recoiled. Luna, however, merely stated, "He hasn't gotten his full powers back."

"Then he got some of them back," Ron stated. "I know Harry as well as any of you. We all saw how upset he was after he lost some of those special powers. I've never seen Harry with the attitude of . . . 'I'm-in-charge' power like he has right now."

"Harry was upset at losing that power," Luna agreed. "However, he was much more upset and even depressed because he had thought the confrontation with Riddle would be over. He knew he might lose some of those powers, so it really bothered him that he had lost those powers and Riddle was still around."

"Harry's whole life has revolved around having to deal with Riddle and the effects of Riddle," Hermione agreed. "Even when he had all his powers, there was a little tiny bit of doubt that it would be enough. Oh, I know he acted at times as if he knew he would triumph, but he wasn't totally certain. Now, he really does know that unless he makes a serious error, he should win. He just wants it over."

"But he has gotten some of his powers back," Ron stated.

"Somehow, the bonding with the three of us opened that power back up," Ginny agreed, with a worried look at Neville.

"I could feel it, although none of us have said much about it," Hermione agreed.

"Magical power does not primarily reside inside us," Luna reminded the group. "The power is all around us. The question is, how much of that power can we draw through ourselves and direct? Riddle was more powerful as Voldemort, because those transformations didn't just increase his life span and tie his soul closer to this world, they also enabled that body to draw and use power at a higher level."

"Harry has the natural ability to draw that power as well. In addition, the curse-link to Voldemort forced those conduits to become even larger. When the link was mostly destroyed, the conduits collapsed a bit. These new bonds are not just allowing us to draw on that bit of residual magic inside of us, they are also re-expanding Harry's power connections as well. Therefore, Harry is all the more confident."

Ron frowned.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.

It was Tracy who asked. "I'd be much more worried if this weren't Harry we were talking about. He's proved himself many times over. Still, we have to wonder, how might this greater power affect him?"

"Mentally, you mean?" Hermione asked. Tracy nodded. Ron was just glad he had not had to ask the question.

"Harry cannot be turned to Darkness, if that is what you are asking," Luna said, slightly coldly.

"Harry can never become another Voldemort," Tracy agreed, "or another Grindelwald. Have you ever considered Harry with that level of power, sustained over time? Dumbledore isn't quite as powerful, and he was content with working behind the scenes most of the time, not to mention that he was about a hundred when his greatest fame came. Harry is our age. How is he going to handle being everyone's hero? What will he do when they come and beg him for a miracle? Or at least to fight against some wrong, real or perceived? He won't be able to say, 'I don't have the power to help,' because he likely will at least have the power to affect outcomes."

"What are you trying to say?" Hermione demanded.

"I am saying, if Harry had stayed even at the level of power he was at after Voldemort was reduced to Riddle, his going to these Lords of Magic might be the best thing, both for him and for the world."

"What!" Hermione, Luna, and Ginny all screamed.

"Why do we stay away from Muggles? In part, because our powers frighten them. In part, because they outnumber us, and would likely try to either kill us or force us to use our powers under their controls. And, in truth, so we aren't tempted to take them over, from evil or good intent." Tracy stared the three girls down. All of them had learned these basics back in their first term at Hogwarts, before they had started to sleep in the History of Magic.

"Substitute wizards for Muggles, and Harry for wizards," Tracy said. "Understand."

The three teens looked both confused and angry. "I understand how you feel, I think," Tracy said. "Harry is not an abstraction, he's Harry. He's a cute, wonderful, lovable boy. I'm in love with Ron, but I understand why you two are madly in love with Harry. You three love him as a friend, and so do I. We want him in our lives. We have to face the possibility, and it's only a possibility, that we might have to lose Harry to fate."

There was silence for a moment, and then Neville said, "That sucks."

The group met again that evening. Harry came bouncing into the room last. "It's all arranged. We leave tonight, and we all go the France the morning of my birthday, where we'll stay through Bill and Fleur's wedding. We go home for a few days, and leave again until just before Remus and Dora's wedding, and we stay at home until we all go back to Hogwarts. Dobby and Winky will be bringing our stuff. Is that alright?"

"I suppose," Tracy said, speaking first. "How do we get there?"

Harry actually grinned and gestured to the door. Tracy frowned and stood up. Going over to the door, she blinked. "Wow."

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"It's . . . beautiful."

"Come on," Harry urged them.

"How did we get here?" Hermione asked as she stepped through. "This isn't part of the room of Requirement, is it?"

"Nope. I asked for an exit on the island. You can't there from here, but you can get here from there."

That made the group pause as each thought that convoluted thought out. Then they all shrugged.

After all, they all believed in magic.

"You look beautiful," Ron said. They were in a small suite of rooms in the residence wing of Harry's villa. There was a small sitting room with a walk-in closet just off the main entrance area to the suites. Beyond that was a slightly larger bedroom (since the suites formed three-quarters of a circle, the outside rooms would be slightly larger than the inside) and a bathroom. Tracy was standing in the doorway to the bath, only wearing a short fleecy dressing gown, drying her hair.

"Thanks. You look pretty yummy yourself."

"And we have over a week here," Ron said. "Even if we have to do some homework, we can spend some fun time on the beach."

"I haven't done much swimming," Tracy admitted. "Have you?"

"Some. We have a pond at home that's deep enough and wide enough to do a bit more than paddling."

"Was Harry serious about the beach attire?"

"'Clothing optional'? Actually, I think he was." Ron shrugged.

"Oh," Tracy teased, "you're not shy?"

Ron flushed a little, but admitted, "Look, Ginny and I bathed together until we were nine or so, and we always skinny-dipped in the pond unless there were guests. I've seen you, and to be honest, I've seen Hermione partly naked. I don't think I'll be too shy here."

"We'll see."

At that point, they were distracted by Ginny's loud laughter from the common area. Curious, Ron and Tracy went out to see what was going on.

Ginny was laying on a sofa, still laughing, while Neville stood nearby, shaking his head in wonderment. "What's so funny?" Ron asked.

"It isn't funny, just . . . odd," Neville said.

"What isn't funny?" Ron persisted.

"We were going to go skinny-dipping in the sea," Ginny said, recovering her breath. "The other three made it to the beach first, but they weren't swimming."

"And?" Ron thought about it. "Oh. . . ."

"I mean, I know it's snooping, but we've all wondered how the three of them, you know . . . do it," Ginny said.

"True," Tracy admitted. "I mean, do they do things as a trio, or, well . . . you know. . . ."

"Well, tonight they doing things as a trio, things that required flexibility charms at the very least," Ginny said. "It was a little erotic to watch, but it was funny-looking in retrospect."

"Well," Neville said firmly, "let's leave them a little privacy."

"Good idea," Tracy said, pulling Ron back towards their own rooms. "Good night, and have some fun private time!"

"We will," Ginny promised, "and you two have the same!"

Ten minutes later, the trio lay entwined in each other's arms on blankets near the pebbly beach. "This was wonderful," Hermione said.

"We should do this more often," Luna agreed.

"I don't know if we could do everything we've done tonight too often," Harry admitted.

"Did either of you feel some sort of magical power surge towards the end?" Hermione asked.

"That was Neville making love with Ginny," Luna said. "That completed his bonding to the group."

"I thought I'd have to do something?" Harry said.

"They saw us," Luna said, "and we accepted them, and they us. That was all it took, since we are all so close in any event."

"How do we bring Ron and Tracy in?" Hermione asked. "Hopefully not through sex!"

"No. After all, we didn't need that with Ginny," Luna pointed out. "We will likely need trust, openness, a willingness to share power, and physical, affectionate, touch, but not sex."

"That's good. I'm sure it would never work if that were the case," Hermione said.

Harry suddenly sat up, making the two girls hit the ground.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"It's Riddle," Harry said. "He's back in Albania, at that same location he had Ginny when we first came back." Harry started to stand.

Hermione and Luna pulled him down. "You are not going to go running after Riddle in the middle of night, with your willie waving in the wind," Luna stated firmly.

"Riddle is likely still a creature of the night," Hermione said. "First thing in the morning, we'll see if we can bond with Ron and Tracy. If we can, the six of us can hold anti-apparation and portkey wards, and you now have the power to confront him and end this. If we go now, just the three of us, or even the five of us with Neville and Ginny, it probably wouldn't work."

Harry thought about what his companions had advised him. He did not like the advice one bit, especially because they were right. "I suppose we have to wait, then. I'll tell Dobby to get us up early."

"Ron'll love that," Hermione pointed out.

"He'll forgive us," Harry assured her.

"This had better be bloody good," Ron groused. He glared at a clock. "Six-ten? In the bloody morning?"

"Yes," Harry snapped. "Right now, if you and Tracy are willing to open yourselves up to the power-bonding, we have a chance to catch and destroy Riddle today. He's 183 miles away."

"He's at the lair he took me to, isn't he?" Ginny asked.

"He is," Harry affirmed.

"What about me?" Neville asked.

"Ginny bonded with us in Tibet," Hermione reminded Neville, "and you bonded with her last night. That connects you with us."

"Oh. . . ?" Ron growled a little at Neville.

"What would we have to do?" Tracy asked, suspicious.

"You have to give up control and express physical affection to one of us, other than to Ron," Luna said. "Expressing it with Harry would make the strongest bonds, then with Hermione or myself, then Ginny, then Neville."

"I'll do it," Ron said. He looked at Harry and Hermione, confused. They smiled, and drew Ron into a group hug.

"Think of all our adventures, and how much we care for each other," Hermione suggested. A wave of power swept over all the group except for Tracy.

Tracy frowned, but then made her decision. She held out a hand to Luna and the other to Ron as soon as Ron had let go of Harry and Hermione. Another wave swept over the group, and when this one ended, they found themselves formed into a group embrace.

Tracy spoke for them all when she said, "I don't know what we did, but whatever it was, it worked."

"Let's get ready to go," Harry said. "It's time to finish this, once and for all."

Fifteen minutes later, Albus Dumbledore was shocked when Professor Trelawney burst into his bed chamber.

The Bearer of the Prophecy Goes to Crush the Bad Seed. The Champion, with six partners, Restores some balance to the World.

Now seven companions face the Darkness. Seven friends, three sets of lovers, May restore Light and hope to all; Yet the Bearer must shoulder the burden.

In the end, this balance may not be enough; The worlds may be out of sync. Light magic may be too strong With seven champions of stout heart.

Trelawney shook her head and looked around. "Oh, dear. Have I done it again?"