Harry Potter and the Power the Dark Lord Knows Not

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CHAPTER NINE

A WEASLEY FAMILY CHRISTMAS

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The last day before the Christmas holidays brought a sort of frenzied feeling of holiday anxiousness to the school. Everywhere Harry looked, students were happily packing in preparation to go home. Mrs. Weasley had sent Ron a small note asking him to invite Harry and Hermione to the Burrow over the Christmas break. Harry had been very excited upon hearing this news; he hadn't gotten to go to the Weasley's home since the Quidditch World Cup two and a half years before. Harry was watching Professor Flitwick as he levitated many shining golden Christmas baubles to the top of one of the twelve Christmas trees that were now surrounding the Great Hall when Ginny huffily plopped down beside him. She had just come in from Herbology and her fair skin was flushed pink from the cold and also from what appeared to be temper.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, as Ginny jerked her dragon-hide gloves off and slammed them down on the table.

"Oh... it's just that idiot, Malfoy," Ginny answered angrily, as she threw her hat on top of her gloves.

"Malfoy!" Harry asked vehemently, yanking his head over to glare at the Slytherin table.

"It's all right, Harry," Ginny said, letting out a long exasperated breath, "I took care of it."

"What do you mean 'took care of it'?" Harry asked, hackles raised. "What happened?"

"Oh, Malfoy decided that he was going to be clever to me about... well about us, actually, but I showed him," Ginny said, proudly.

"What did you do?" Harry asked, curiously.

"The Bat-Bogey Hex... again," Ginny answered, smiling somewhat maliciously. Ron and Hermione had just walked up behind them hand in hand as Harry and Ginny burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Ron. Harry was still laughing at the hilarious image of Malfoy's face covered in furry flapping wing-like objects and couldn't answer. Ginny had used that same curse to great effect once before when she escaped from Malfoy last year in Umbridge's office. Harry knew that Crabbe and Goyle probably wouldn't know the counter-curse.

Ginny answered instead. "Oh, just a bit of fun with Malfoy. Where have you two been, anyway?" Ron and Hermione were continuing to hold hands as Ron muttered, "Er... prefect duties," and Hermione said, "Er... studying," at the exact same time.

Harry grinned up at them mischievously. Ron and Hermione both blushed rather spectacularly and then looked away embarrassed. Luckily for them, they were saved from answering any more questions of a delicate nature by Hagrid's arrival in the Hall. As he came bustling up behind them in his huge moleskin overcoat he asked, "All righ', you lot?"

"Hey, Hagrid," Harry greeted him.

Hagrid peered down at the four of them. He was carrying a large festooned Christmas wreath over his huge shoulder. Hagrid's eyes crinkled merrily as he took in Ron and Hermione standing there hand in hand, and Harry and Ginny sitting quite closely together side by side at the table.

"What are you doing for Christmas, Hagrid?" Hermione asked, glad of the distraction.

"Oh, I'll be stayin' here. Got ter be nearby the Fores' - yeh know," he said conspiratorially, as he lumbered away contentedly, the wreath jingling lightly as he went.

Harry gazed over at Ginny's lovely profile as she watched Hagrid make his way up to the front of the Great Hall - he was feeling exceedingly lucky at the moment. Not only was Ginny kind, sweet, and beautiful in Harry's estimation; she was also a very intelligent and powerful witch. Ginny's petite frame disguised just how strong and powerful she really was. Malfoy had found out the hard way, twice now, not to underestimate Ginny Weasley. Harry smiled affectionately at her and said, "You are truly amazing. D'you know that?" Ginny turned to look at him, surprised. As she smiled at Harry with twinkling eyes, Hermione suddenly cleared her throat.

"That's our cue," Hermione said to Ron as she tried to pull him away. Ron continued to grin vacantly at Harry and Ginny's exchange before finally getting the hint.

"Oh yeah, right," Ron replied, a few seconds later. "Better get going."

Harry and Ginny were so focused on one another that they didn't even notice them leave. Although the magnificent Hall around them glimmered and glittered with holiday cheer and the enchanted ceiling continuously sent soft cascades of dry snowflakes down over their heads, Harry was completely oblivious as he seemed to lose himself entirely within the depths of Ginny's warm brown eyes.

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The next day upon reaching King's Cross Station Harry, Ginny, Ron, and

Hermione found not Mr. or Mrs. Weasley waiting for them but Fred and George

instead.

"Hullo, hullo," said Fred, smiling a bit sardonically.

He was leaning against a dark green, distinctly boxy, and specifically nondescript sedan that Harry recognized as being of official Ministry issue. Once again, just like in Harry's third year, a man in a Ministry hat and garb was in the driver's seat. As Harry stepped nearer to the vehicle, however, the man leaned out the window and smiled enthusiastically at them.

"Wotcher, Harry," said a decidedly feminine voice.

Harry's eyes widened in astonishment as he exclaimed, "Tonks!"

"Yeah, it's me," she whispered, continuing to smile up at Harry as Ginny, Ron, and Hermione came closer. Tonks was an Auror with the Ministry as well as being a member of the Order. She was also, incredibly, an animorphmagus, which meant that she could assume any human form that she wanted just by thinking about it hard enough. Swiftly, though, she assumed the stiff demeanor of a Ministry official as a group of Muggle tourists passed by.

"Let's get going then," George said, helping everyone get their trunks and owl cages into the back of the car. The trip from London to Ottery St. Catchpole was fairly uneventful except for the fact that this particular Ministry car hadn't had any Enlargement Charms placed on it. This meant that while Fred and George sat up front with Tonks, Crookshanks possessively nestled in the front floorboard between them; Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were rather crushed together in the back seat, their heavy winter cloaks making it a tight fit. As Harry lifted his arm to make more room, a smiling Ginny grabbed it and wrapped it snugly about her. Ron had his arms around an exceptionally happy looking Hermione as well, so that even though it was quite a long trek by car, Harry found that he didn't mind it at all.

Upon arriving at the Burrow, Harry's heart soared. It had been a long time since he had laid eyes upon the oddly-shaped, ramshackle, and clearly magical Weasley homestead, and he found that he had greatly missed it. Harry watched as Hedwig winged slowly around the house while Pigwidgeon bounced around in the wind like a feathered tennis ball - they had been following just slightly behind the car. Harry smiled even more brightly when he saw the garden gnomes sneaking through the snow-covered grass like a strange bushel of potatoes come to life - it looked like Mr. Weasley was still too kind-hearted to get rid of them. As they all unfolded themselves out of the car, Harry took a deep breath of the fresh, cold country air. As Fred, George, and Tonks bewitched their belongings to float out of the trunk and into the house, Mrs. Weasley abruptly Apparated directly in front of them with a small "crack."

"Oh, I'm sorry I couldn't make it back before now, or I would have met you at the station," Mrs. Weasley said fussily, coming forward toward them.

As Tonks came back out of the house looking like her bubblegum pink-haired self again, she ran up to Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh Molly, you made it back..." Tonks was saying, but then her foot

caught on a spot of ice and she almost fell on top of her. Mrs. Weasley caught her almost automatically; it appeared that she had grown quite accustomed to Tonks' incessant clumsiness.

"Did you have any signs of trouble, dear?" she asked Tonks in a low voice.

"Oh, no. No problems at all. Unless, of course, you count the fact that Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione didn't seem all that anxious to untangle themselves from each other in the back seat once we got here," Tonks answered impishly, her voice at more than regular volume.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were standing side by side nearby. At Tonks' comment, though, each of them blushed profusely and looked in four separate directions. Apparently, Fred and George had already let the cat out of the bag because Mrs. Weasley didn't appear to be surprised, instead she seemed perfectly delighted.

"But I think it's wonderful," she said elatedly, smiling broadly at the four of them. "Goodness knows that Harry and Hermione are as good as family anyway and have been for a long time, now," Mrs. Weasley continued, as she proceeded to pull Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione into a nearly bone-crushing hug.

"MUM!" Ron and Ginny both groaned in unison, turning red once more at their mother's coddling. Harry and Hermione appeared a bit pink in the face as well, but they were both smiling sincerely at Mrs. Weasley just the same. Finally, at Ron's grunted, "Geroff us, Mum!" Mrs. Weasley released the four of them and they began to enter the house.

Although Harry knew that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been busy with the Order, somehow they had still managed with Fred and George's help to find time to decorate the house for Christmas. A gigantic Christmas tree stood gleaming by the hearth, filled with an eclectic assortment of handmade ornaments created, Harry later discovered, by the Weasley children as they were growing up. There were holly garlands lining the large fireplace mantle and staircase railing and lovely glittering holly wreaths on every door in the house, similar but smaller in size to the one that Hagrid had been carrying back at school. They had also placed scented peppermint-stick candles throughout their home that never melted or went out, so that no matter what room you went into, there was always some soft flickering light to see by. Another decoration that Harry had noticed appeared upon first sight to be plush little white snowmen dolls hidden among the ivy in a couple of the wreaths. Upon actually walking by the snowmen, however, one was deluged in a wad of white confetti as the snowmen unexpectedly sprang to life and cried "HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" in a

obnoxiously shrill voice.

The snowmen were obviously Fred and George's idea, because the first time Mrs. Weasley happened to walk by one of them, she shrieked so loudly that everyone in the room almost jumped out of their skins. After recovering slightly

from the fright, Mrs. Weasley turned her furious face towards Fred and George,

who were doubled up laughing nearby. Upon seeing her outraged face, though,

they apparently saw fit to make themselves scarce and with two noisy "cracks," each of them hastily Disapparated from her sight.

On Christmas Eve, the Weasley's along with Harry and Hermione roasted marshmallows in the huge fireplace as liberal amounts of snow fell outside, turning the local countryside into a vast sparkling wonderland. Christmas morning brought, along with presents, a few visitors from the Order who had come to celebrate the holiday with them. Tonks, Lupin, and Shacklebolt had all arrived together, but Shacklebolt, being the new Minister of Magic while also still secretly being a member of the Order of the Phoenix, didn't have as much time as the others and had to leave early. Mrs. Weasley, however, had insisted on loading him down with turkey, dressing, ginger carrots, and a large plum pudding before he could get away empty-handed. She also gave him a scarf and some warm winter gloves she had hand-knitted for Christmas. Harry watched happily as Mrs. Weasley filled Shacklebolt's arms with food and presents; this was one of the many reasons that Harry so enjoyed spending time with the Weasley's - they were the most generous and loving family he had ever known. Shacklebolt had smiled appreciatively and wished everyone a Merry Christmas in his deep resonating voice as he rather reluctantly set off to work again.

Luckily, Lupin and Tonks were able to stay the whole day. Harry had spent the day as near to Ginny as possible. She had just given Harry a very soft, very thick, quilted red and gold throw blanket to go over his bed at Hogwarts. She had knitted it herself and while Harry would never say this within earshot of Hermione, it was obvious that Ginny, unlike his best friend, was a true expert at knitting and needlework. Ginny had embroidered several intricate gold lions into the dense red lining and the throw looked as though it had taken forever to create. When Harry thanked her and told her how beautiful he thought it was, though, Ginny merely shrugged.

"Well, Mum taught me to knit when I was really young. It's the first thing I remember her teaching me."

Hermione had just walked by with Ron, and Ginny trailed off as Ron and Hermione settled across the room from them. Harry and Ginny watched as Hermione then handed a flat rectangular box to Ron. Ron opened it with a smile on his face, but the smile became somewhat fixed as he slowly lifted the gift out of the tissue-lined box. Like Ginny had for Harry, Hermione too had decided to knit a Christmas present for Ron. Unlike Ginny's, however, Hermione's present

(Harry thought that it might possibly be a hat with earflaps) looked to be a blue tangled mass of knotted material with two elongated and quite shapeless sections hanging loosely on either side. It resembled nothing so much as an extremely lumpy and lopsided cloth bowl.

Ginny, upon seeing what Hermione had made her brother, collapsed

against Harry's shoulder to hide her sudden fit of giggles, but Harry continued

to watch his two best friends with the same kind of morbid fascination that causes one to stare at a train wreck in progress. Hermione was gazing at Ron with a kind of intensely hopeful anticipation, and Harry feared that Ron wouldn't be able to resist making his usual and sometimes tactless remarks to her. Somehow though, when Hermione then snatched the hat out of Ron's grasp and stuffed it firmly onto his vivid red head, Ron was still sitting quietly, if stiffly, with the same wooden smile plastered to his face. Hermione, eyes glittering, wrapped her arms around him and planted an excited kiss on his cheek as she asked, "I decided to make it for you this summer - do you like it?"

Harry grimaced, feeling sure that Ron was about to say something unintentionally horrible to Hermione and start an argument. Amazingly, however, Ron merely blinked and said in a surprisingly gentle voice just barely loud enough for Harry to hear, "'Course I do." Ron turned slightly then, giving Hermione a kiss on the cheek as well, and when Harry was able to see his freckled face again, he saw that the smile upon it now was actually anything but wooden. Ron then began to reach into his robes and extract a small slim package, and this reminded Harry that he hadn't given Ginny her gift yet, either. Harry turned to her a little nervously. He had carefully chosen for Ginny a very fine, delicate gold bracelet, small enough for her tiny wrist.

"Harry!" she exclaimed. "It's so gorgeous, thank you. But it looks so expensive," Ginny said as she looked at Harry, a small line of worry gently creasing her forehead. The Weasley's had always been quite poor, financially. It was a fact that Harry knew was continually irksome to them, especially to Ron. But Harry was also well aware that they were too proud and stubborn to accept any monetary help from him, even though he would have been more than willing to provide it.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, leaning closer and whispering in her ear so that only she could hear him. "You deserve it, besides I wanted it to be special. I wanted to show you how much I love you."

Ginny looked away from him and didn't say anything at first, and Harry feared that he had somehow managed to say or do something wrong. Just when he was getting ready to ask her, though, Ginny turned towards him again, her eyes sparkling affectionately in the candlelit room.

"I love it, Harry. And I love you," she whispered, hugging him tightly. She then fastened the bracelet around her wrist and promised, "I'll never take it

off again."

Even though Harry and Ginny had their own secluded corner to themselves for the moment, the Weasley's large living room was full of people. Ron and Hermione were sitting arm in arm by the window watching the snow fall outside. Ron was looking a bit tousle-haired, as Hermione had removed her ill-fitting hat from his head a second before. Bill had arrived midday after spending the first part of the day with his girlfriend, Harry's former Triwizard

opponent, Fleur Delacour. Charlie was continuing to work with dragons in Romania, but he had sent home a colorful basket stuffed full of goodies, anyway. Harry and everyone else carefully avoided the subject of Percy, the Weasley's third son, who hadn't been on speaking terms with the family for some time now. Harry idly wondered what Percy was up to since his boss had essentially been sacked from the Ministry a couple of months ago. Fred and George were nearby having fun trying to trick more unsuspecting people into walking by the confetti-throwing snowmen, while Mr. Weasley, Tonks, and Lupin were discussing Muggles in front of the fireplace.

"Your father's Muggle-born, isn't he, Tonks?" Mr. Weasley asked, the excited expression he always got when discussing Muggles lighting his face. "How on earth do Muggles prepare something as large as a Christmas feast?"

"Oh, well," Tonks answered. "See, my dad's not much of a cook, but my Muggle grandmother told me once that she would spend hours and hours in front of a hot stove preparing everything. Can you imagine? I don't know, though. I guess I'm a bit like Dad. I don't fancy cooking much either, even doing it our way."

Lupin was standing next to Mr. Weasley and Tonks, but he wasn't really participating in their conversation. Harry had seen out of the corner of his eye that Lupin had glanced over to where he and Ginny were; they were still sitting snuggled up together in an overstuffed armchair. Lupin was wearing a faint smile on his tired face, but his eyes looked wistful. Just as Harry had noticed this, Mrs. Weasley's loud voice called from the kitchen.

"I could use some help in here, please. Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione could you come in here for a moment?"

As the four of them headed towards the kitchen, Lupin discreetly followed them. "Harry... Merry Christmas," Lupin said, rather haltingly. He looked like he had wanted to say more, but had decided not to. Harry grinned at him and as Lupin stepped away again, Harry gathered silverware and plates along with Ron and began to set the large scrubbed wooden table. Ginny and Hermione were carefully loading Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking onto her special Christmas serving platters and tureens. Harry knew that that might take a little while due to the sheer volume of food that Mrs. Weasley had prepared, so as soon as Harry had finished setting the table, he walked back over to Lupin. "Are you okay, sir?" he asked, peering anxiously at his former professor. Lupin's hair had gotten even grayer than it had been six months before when Harry had last seen him during the summer. The lines that were gouged into his young face seemed deeper and his eyes had dark shadows beneath them. Lupin's face was full of pain and sorrow. Harry easily recognized that particular look, as he had worn it himself not that long ago.

Lupin seemed wary and distracted, and Harry suggested that they go upstairs for a moment, away from the noise. Once in the upstairs hallway, Harry turned to Lupin again. "What is it?" he asked, sensing that something was wrong.

"Oh, it's nothing really, Harry. It's great to see you again. You look a lot better than when I last saw you," Lupin said quietly, peering around a bit erratically.

"I am better, now," Harry responded. It was the truth. Harry felt that he may never completely get over losing his godfather and the weight of responsibility that he was under wasn't likely to go anywhere soon, but with Ginny's love and support Harry had found a way to deal with it, at least for the time being.

"I'm truly glad, Harry. I was worried about you when I saw you over the summer. I see that you and Ginny are... together, now," Lupin said, sounding a bit strained.

"Yeah," Harry said, with just the slightest bit of color on his cheeks. "She's the reason I'm doing as well as I am, if you want to know the truth."

"I saw you and her sitting there together, and I was reminded so strongly of a long time ago. For a moment I thought I was looking at your parents again," Lupin whispered.

Harry was surprised. He had in his possession many pictures of his parents, but it had never occurred to him that Ginny might actually look a bit like his own mother. Harry paused, considering that piece of information. Now that he thought about how much he resembled his father, Harry could understand why Lupin had been struck by the odd similarity.

"I guess I never really thought about it," Harry answered, honestly. "Though from what I've always heard about my mum, she and Ginny would probably have a lot in common."

"I must tell you something, Harry," Lupin began, but then paused as if thinking hard about what he was going to say. Eventually he said, "You know I knew your parents quite well."

"Yes, sir," Harry said, "I know my dad and Sirius were your best friends." Harry felt a small pang at his own mention of Sirius, but it passed fairly quickly.

"What you don't know is that at one time I was in love with your mother," Lupin said cautiously, looking Harry directly in the face.

Harry gawped at Lupin, absolutely astounded. He didn't know what to

say to that; he had a sudden horrible image of his mother being in this terrible love triangle with two men and began to say something, but Lupin beat him to it.

"She never knew, Harry. Neither did James."

Harry continued to stare at Lupin - he had always revered Lupin as a wonderful teacher and mentor. If it hadn't been for Lupin, Harry never would have learned how to do the Patronus Charm, which had saved his life twice already. Harry had never seen this side of his parent's old friend, and he really wasn't sure of what to make of it. As Harry continued to gawk open-mouthed at

his old professor, Lupin finally spoke again.

"Siri.... Sirius was the only one who knew, Harry, until now, anyway. He

swore he would never tell either of them and as far as I know, he never did. That may have been the reason he thought I was the one, instead of Peter, that was leaking vital information about your parents to Voldemort. I really don't know. I just needed for you to know, that's all. I guess I thought that you deserved to know." Harry remained silent and after a moment, Lupin went on.

"James and Lily Potter, along with Sirius, of course, were the best and closest friends I had ever had, Harry. My life before meeting them was... difficult, to say the least. When I became friends when James and Sirius, I had hope in my life for the very first time. I was still a werewolf, but thankfully that wasn't all I was anymore." A question unexpectedly popped into Harry's mind.

"Sir, no one's ever told me, but did my mother know that my father was an Animagus?" Harry asked.

"She did not know until after they had gotten engaged, but yes, Harry, James eventually told her," Lupin answered.

"Did she know about you and Sirius as well?"

"James invited the three of us over one night to explain the situation to Lily. He had asked us to come and be there because he said he didn't want there to be any secrets between them once they were married."

"How did she take it?" Harry asked, wondering.

"Oh, she was surprised, of course," Lupin paused, then said, "Unfortunately, Harry, what you never got to find out about your mother, was how kind and accepting she was of things. Even after hearing all of these strange things about people that she thought she knew and in your father's case, loved, she still accepted everything without too much difficulty. James was understandably relieved, as you can imagine."

Harry considered this. His father hadn't been entirely honest with his mother until after they were engaged. Harry found himself wondering how Ginny would take vital information like that if he were to keep it secret until the last moment.

"Why did he wait, then?" Harry asked. "If he was already in love with my mum, why did he not tell her everything from the start?"

"James was afraid of losing her, Harry," Lupin explained. "As you may remember from what you saw in Dumbledore's Pensieve that time, it took a couple of years for Lily to even go out with James. Once they finally did, it didn't take long for the sparks to fly, but James hadn't told her about everything for a reason. We'd made a secret pact when all of this started to never tell another living soul. By the time James asked the rest of us about it, they were newly engaged. I think he just wanted to come clean, you might say."

"How did you fall in love with her, then?" Harry asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

"Oh, I promise you, Harry, she never knew. I certainly never told her. It happened by accident while she and your father were first dating. I was having

a hard time in our seventh year and she happened to come across me one time

when I, well... when I was at my worst. She was very kind and comforted me until I could make sense of things again," Lupin said, "I don't know if that really makes any sense, but...."

"Sure it does," Harry interrupted. "I mean... " Harry hesitated, wondering how much he should say about how he had felt over the past several months, thinking about it all was still rather painful. But as Harry then looked over into Lupin's face, he suddenly realized that he could tell him - that Lupin was one of the few who would probably truly understand. "It's just that I know what you're talking about when you say you were at your worst. You see I've, well... I've been there myself, actually."

Lupin gazed at his former pupil appraisingly for a moment and then whispered gently, "Yes, I bet you have, Harry." After a short pause, Lupin went on to say, "Look, I don't really know why I felt so compelled to tell you about this, except to say that I guess I needed to tell you. I know there's a lot of holes in the information that you have about your parents and I just wanted to fill one, I suppose. Both of your parents were amazing people, Harry. Especially when one of them got past being fifteen," Lupin continued, smiling, "and I guess I just wanted you to know that. The James that you saw in the Pensieve was not the man that he turned out to be. Lily had quite a lot to do with that, I think. Women often have a way of mellowing the men they love."

"Can you tell me more about my dad, Professor? I've heard a bit, but you were actually there. I mean, I know you were all in the first Order and everything, but I never really got a chance to ask Sirius like I wanted to," Harry said, his curiosity overwhelming him, and then wished he hadn't. Lupin was looking exceptionally melancholy now.

After a lengthier pause, Lupin sighed, "Your dad was a very powerful wizard. He had started working as an Auror at the Ministry right before he and Lily discovered that you were coming. I remember the look on his face when he told us about you," Lupin said, reminiscently. "Your parents couldn't wait for you to be born - I'm sure that they never dreamt that they wouldn't be here to raise you. Your father loved you and your mother with his whole being, Harry. That's why he was willing to do what he did that night when Voldemort came after you at Godric's Hollow. He was trying to protect those he loved the most..." Lupin trailed off painfully. Eventually he smiled wistfully and spoke again, "I remember seeing them just a couple months after you were born. I can still see the way both of their faces lit up while they were holding you, showing you off, really. I wish they could see you now, Harry. Trust me when I say that they would've been extremely proud of their son."

Harry stood there quietly, focusing on the floor. Lupin had just given him more information about his parents in these few moments than he had ever been given before. Harry felt he needed time to mull it over. When Harry didn't say anything for a while, Lupin spoke up again.

"I know that losing Sirius has been particularly hard - for you more than

anyone else. I'm just glad that you're doing... well, that you seem to have made it okay through the worst of it. I know this has been a difficult time for you, Harry."

"For both of us," Harry replied quietly, peering back up into Lupin's eyes. Lupin glanced over at Harry for a moment, apparently surprised by his insight. Lupin smiled then and clapped Harry on the back.

"Definitely," Lupin said shortly, letting out a sigh as he led the way down the stairs and into the boisterously loud kitchen again.

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Christmas dinner that night was a noisy happy affair. Everyone ate until they were stuffed full and then headed upstairs to bed, feeling pleasantly drowsy. Harry was lying awake in Ron's bright orange Chudley Cannon's decorated bedroom, listening to Ron's snores and thinking about Remus Lupin. Lupin had led a solitary and lonely existence, and Harry couldn't help but feel bad for him. Harry knew that Lupin had had to deal with a lot of loss and suffering in his life, and he respected Lupin's will to carry on despite the pain. At that point Harry's thoughts began to drift towards his mother again, and how wonderful a person she appeared to have been. He wished that he could remember her, that he could have spent a little more time with her before she had been taken away. At least it sounded as though his parents had truly loved one another, Harry thought. And that was important, considering what they'd been facing once he had been born.

Harry then wondered about his father. Lupin had said that he had been an Auror, just like Moody, Tonks, Shacklebolt, and the Longbottom's. It seemed

that he'd been following in his father's footsteps without even knowing it. Harry smiled at that. He had discovered last year that his father had been a bit conceited and even arrogant in his youth and as much as those images had disturbed him, Harry was beginning to realize that that wasn't a complete picture of who his dad had actually been. Harry continued to lay awake for some time thinking about his parents. He wished that he could talk to them, not just because he hadn't gotten to know them; but also because he felt that he could certainly use their guidance about now, especially in regard to the prophecy.

Harry found himself wondering if he and Ginny would be facing a very dark future specifically because of that prophecy, but then decided that he was feeling entirely too peaceful to dwell upon such a negative train of thought. Harry turned over and dropped off to sleep. About an hour later, Harry woke suddenly, not really remembering why. He thought he had just had a dream of

something vaguely frightening, but he couldn't remember what it was. Harry

tried to go back to sleep, but he was feeling much too restless so he decided to go downstairs for a glass of water.

As Harry quietly tiptoed down the stairs in his pajamas, he thought he heard a noise in the kitchen. Harry carefully looked around the corner, peering through the darkness. Harry could hear water running in the sink, and as he reached the last stair he saw that it was Ginny. Apparently, she'd had the same idea that he had. She looked very sweet standing there in her pajamas and pink terrycloth dressing gown.

"Ginny," he whispered, trying not to startle her. Ginny jumped, immediately clapping a hand to her mouth, but luckily didn't cry out.

"Oh, Harry. You about scared me out of my wits," she whispered, trying to calm down.

"Sorry, I just didn't want you to scream and wake up the others," Harry said.

"Are you okay, Harry? What are you doing up?" Ginny asked, her voice sounding anxious.

"I had the same idea you did, I guess. I wanted a glass of water," Harry shrugged. "What are you doing up, anyway?" Harry asked with a grin, jokingly turning the tables on her as he entered the kitchen. Harry stopped teasing, though, when she continued to seem jumpy and upset. Now that he was nearer to her, he could see how pale she was. "I'm sorry, Ginny. What happened - did you have a nightmare or something?"

Ginny glanced over at him surprised, the frightened look was just beginning to slowly ebb from her features. "How did you know?"

"I didn't. I just thought..." Harry recollected what Lupin had told him earlier and decided to be honest with her. "Look, I have them pretty often, okay. You just seemed a little shaky, and I thought that might be what it was."

"Yeah, I did," Ginny finally answered. "Did you?"

"Yeah, but nothing too terrible. I can't remember what it was or anything. I was just feeling restless," Harry looked at her. She still seemed a bit troubled. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I feel fine now. It was just a pretty bad one this time," Ginny said, looking at the floor.

"Do you have them a lot?"

"Sometimes. But I really don't want to bother you with this, Harry," Ginny remained secretive.

"Ginny," Harry said, as he came closer to her. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I wish you would. If anyone understands about bad dreams, it's me."

After a small pause, Ginny decided to speak up. "Well," Ginny said, leaning towards him slightly. "You remember the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Kind of hard to forget it," Harry said, a small grimace on his face.

"Well, sometimes I still have these dreams that I'm in there - that Riddle's

got control of me again," Ginny paused. "It's stupid, I know...."

"No, it's not," Harry interrupted. "I know how horrible they can be, trust me."

"Oh, Harry, I shouldn't have brought this up. It'll just remind you of... before," Ginny said anxiously, looking ashamed.

"Ginny, listen to me. I've pretty much got a handle on stopping... well, on stopping the ones that Voldemort's trying to force on me anyway. It's only the regular ones, now. I just want to be there for you, like you've been there for me," Harry said, reaching for her hand.

"What do you mean by 'regular ones,' Harry? Are you still having nightmares even with Occlumency?" Ginny asked. Harry decided that it might calm her down if he tried to make some of his bad dreams sound more innocuous.

"Well, I still have some about what's happened to me in the past, sometimes they're like yours are - about Riddle or the basilisk. Sometimes they're about dementors or," Harry decided not to go to the graveyard with this, "or sometimes it's about some of the other things I've seen. Those I've pretty much learnt to deal with. I try to remember that they're not real, that they're just a jumble of past memories, really. I try to remember that they can't actually hurt me. Just try to remember that they can't hurt you, either. Mind you, it's not always easy, I know - but you can do it."

Ginny was quiet for a moment as if considering something important. Eventually, she seemed to make up her mind. She finally gazed back up at Harry, trembling slightly in the chill night air.

"Do you remember when that dementor came aboard the Hogwarts

Express that time?" Ginny asked. Harry most definitely did. Harry couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed then; he had passed out right in front of her that night. Harry tried not to cringe and hoped that the darkness around them would hide the flush that had begun to crawl slowly up his face.

"Er, yeah," Harry said, trying to sound normal.

"As soon as that dementor entered our compartment, I started to remember when Riddle possessed me during my first year. It was so terrible, running around and doing all those horrible things, without having any control over what I was doing. He could have made me kill someone, Harry. I certainly made it easier for that basilisk to try to kill people. It was all my fault... I was just too -- too weak..." Ginny had begun to look away from Harry, tears were running down her cheeks soundlessly.

Harry remembered the way he had felt when Cho had come to him with tears in her eyes, and somehow this felt completely different. Cho had seemed to be crying constantly, nearly every time that she and Harry had been together, in fact. But Ginny was another story. Harry knew that Ginny was strong - that

she didn't often break down like she was now. Harry pulled her to him and let her cry into his shoulder. After a moment, the tears came to an end and she seemed to come back to herself again. When she began to apologize, Harry stopped her.

"Don't you dare be sorry, Ginny. You're not weak at all - you're one of the strongest people I know," Harry said, trying to comfort her. "Sometimes, the problem is just, I dunno, bigger than you are. It doesn't mean that you're weak, it just means that you're human."

"I'm so glad that you're here with me right now, Harry. You're the only person I've ever known who really understands about stuff like this," Ginny whispered, sniffing slightly.

"I was just thinking the same thing about you, you know," Harry said earnestly, as he began to push her hair out of her eyes and wipe the tears gently from her face.

Harry stood there holding Ginny for a long time after that. Eventually, they separated and went back to bed. As Harry laid down again, he found that his thoughts remained on Ginny. Harry hoped that no matter what the future held for each of them, that they would be together. With Ginny at his side, Harry felt that he could face almost anything, maybe even what scared him the most - his destiny.

>>>><<<<

The next day, Harry was awakened by an extremely bright beam of

sunlight that was shining through the frozen windowpane of Ron's bedroom, hitting him directly in the face. It was now mid-morning and Ron had already gone downstairs. Harry rushed into a fresh sweatshirt and jeans and then ran back down the stairs to check on Ginny; he wanted to make sure she was okay after her nightmare last night. Harry's mind was focused on Ginny entirely, and he wasn't really looking where he was going. Suddenly, Harry collided very abruptly into two figures standing there together, apparently kissing in the middle of the stairway. All three of them yelled "OW!!" - their arms and legs went everywhere as they then slid in a tangled mass down the last few rough wooden steps of the staircase to stop with a resounding thud on the landing below.

"Bloody hell, Harry! What'd you do that for?" Ron exclaimed angrily, trying to get out from under Harry and Hermione's weight.

"Well, I didn't really expect anyone to be right there," Harry answered with an annoyed scowl as he tried to sit up, rubbing his now bruised left shoulder.

Hermione sat up and groaned faintly, rubbing the back of her head as

she gingerly pulled herself off of Harry and Ron's legs. Harry heard several

pairs of footsteps approaching and looked up to see Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, and George rushing to the foot of the stairs to peer down at the three of them.

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley each seemed rather worried as Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "What's happened? Are you all right?"

"What did you do, fall down the stairs?" Ginny then asked, leaning closer.

Fred and George, however, were taking in Harry, Ron, and Hermione and the jumbled and awkward positions that they were in on the landing. About a second later they were both rolling on the floor, howling with laughter. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all three shot them a nasty look as they continued to try to untangle themselves and stand up again. After a moment, though, Ginny began to giggle and Mrs. Weasley's face began to twitch with suppressed mirth. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally succeeded in getting to their feet again, they glimpsed around at the other four and then at one another. Soon everyone was laughing as raucously as Fred and George were.

Ron and Hermione were glancing at each other a bit sheepishly when Mrs. Weasley then asked, "Just what were you two doing there on the stairs, anyway?"

"Yeah Ron, why don't you tell us?" Fred asked, still sniggering.

"C'mon, the inquiring public wants to know," George put in, a pronounced smirk on his face.

As Harry went to stand next to Ginny, he glanced over at his two best friends, too - he was continuing to rub his sore shoulder. "Er... yeah. Sorry about that guys, I really didn't mean to interrupt," Harry said with a grin, unable to resist.

Ron and Hermione's faces then turned matching colors of scarlet as they quickly turned away and looked anywhere but at one another. Fred and George seemed as though they might try to hatch another attempt to humiliate them further when Mrs. Weasley judiciously stepped in.

"That's enough. Let's get to breakfast before it gets cold," she said, as she gathered everyone in front of her like a mother hen and pushed them towards the kitchen.

"Where's Dad?" Ron asked as they reached the kitchen doorway. He was anxious to get the spotlight off of himself and Hermione.

"Oh, they called your father in a little early this morning," Mrs. Weasley said, attempting to sound nonchalant - her face had suddenly assumed a tightly closed expression. Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and then at Ron and Hermione suspiciously. Ron was still looking embarrassed and was finding himself and Hermione a seat together at the table, but Hermione seemed to have picked up on Mrs. Weasley's peculiar expression just as Harry and Ginny had.

"Is everything okay at the Ministry, Mrs. Weasley?" she asked.

"Oh yes, of course, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, not quite meeting Hermione's eye. Hermione looked unconvinced, but Mrs. Weasley had then turned to the stove reaching for a large skillet full of scrambled eggs. Swiftly,

Mrs. Weasley asked, "Who wants toast, now," and Hermione reluctantly fell quiet. Harry then peered carefully around the table. Fred and George had begun to eat their eggs in an uncharacteristic silence, each of them had their heads down and were seemingly totally engrossed in the task of finishing their breakfasts. Hermione and Ginny were throwing the occasional fretful glance over at him and Ron, and Harry noticed that there seemed to be a nervous tension in the air - it was pervading the entire room. Harry then glimpsed in Mrs. Weasley's direction and was surprised to see that her eyes had been specifically focused on him. Harry raised his eyebrows at her inquiringly, but she simply looked away and reached for a jar already on the table. "You want jelly, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, with an unusual abruptness.

"Er... no thank you," Harry muttered as he stared down at his breakfast plate again - he was beginning to feel as fretful as Ginny and Hermione looked. Mrs. Weasley had been staring at him with the oddest expression just now. Her kind face had been full of apprehension, and the fine lines around her eyes and mouth had looked much deeper and more obvious than usual. After breakfast, Hermione whispered something to Ron and they both beckoned to Harry and Ginny as they left the room.

"Do you think that something is going on at the Ministry?" Hermione asked, nervously pacing back and forth. "Your mum didn't seem too forthcoming."

"I don't know," Ginny answered. "They never seem to want to tell us anything, anymore."

"Like they ever did," Ron said, looking aggravated.

"Do you think it's because I'm here?" Harry asked suddenly, thinking of

the look Mrs. Weasley had just given him. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had gazed over at him quickly; Hermione was still pacing. She shook her head, however, as she answered Harry's question, "Oh, Harry, it's not just you. They never tell anything to any of us." Just as Hermione had said this, Fred and George came into the room, their expressions strangely furtive.

"Something big is going down this morning," George whispered quietly, keeping a cautious eye out for his mother.

"What?" Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione asked rather loudly at the same time.

"Shhhh..." Fred shushed them all. "We don't need Mum to hear, now do we?" he said, as he moved everyone toward the opposite side of the living room.

"We were up early this morning when Shacklebolt's owl arrived from the Ministry," George explained.

"Yeah," Fred went on. "Apparently there's been some new Death Eater activity in a few of the Muggle communities over the holiday. There are a bunch

of different reports on the Muggle News about darkly robed figures moving through neighborhoods starting fires and scaring everyone. One family reported that some of their relatives went missing in one of the neighborhoods where the Death Eaters were sighted. The Muggle Prime Minister is asking

Shacklebolt for assistance from the Ministry."

Harry looked over at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione's horrified expressions. Hermione's face was now as white as the snow falling outside. Her parents, of

course, were Muggles themselves, and she had chosen to accept the Weasley's invitation for Christmas rather than spend the holiday with them. Harry's stomach clenched painfully as he remembered the nightmare he'd had just a few months before involving Ron and Hermione - Harry hoped against hope that Voldemort's interest in him would never extend to his best friends or their families. Guiltily, Hermione turned her extremely worried eyes upon Ron and asked to borrow Pigwidgeon so that she could check on them. Without a word, Ron then ran upstairs and snatched the small gray overexcited fluff-ball that was his owl and brought him downstairs to her. Ron held him still as Hermione shakily attached a short note to his small feathered leg. As Pigwidgeon took off haphazardly, Hermione fell tremulously into Ron's arms.

"What if something has happened to them and I wasn't even there?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes. Ron tightened his arms around her comfortingly as Ginny placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't them, Hermione. It probably wasn't anywhere near them," Ginny said, trying to reassure her friend.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Fred said, confidently. "I'm sure Dad and Shacklebolt will get control of it and sort it all out."

"We didn't tell you this to upset you, but we thought you ought to know.

It drove Fred and me mad last year when the Order wouldn't let us in on things," George added with surprising seriousness and sensitivity, as he glimpsed nervously at Hermione.

"Oh no," Hermione replied, her lip quivering slightly, "I appreciate you telling us - I really do."

Harry and Ron exchanged a dark look. Harry knew that the second war he'd been expecting to happen last year was now beginning to come to fruition. As Harry glanced at Hermione's terrified face once more, he felt strangely helpless. Everyone remained standing as they began to stare out the frosted windows, waiting for Pigwidgeon to return with news. Instead, however, a large gray and very befuddled-looking owl flew out of the fireplace. It was Errol, the Weasley's ancient family owl, and he was carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet is his beak. As Errol landed rather pitifully on the Weasley's living room floor, Harry reached down and unwrapped the parcel quickly before Mrs. Weasley could walk in and see what was going on. Harry scanned the front page slowly, keeping his face as neutral as possible.

MUGGLES SHOCKED BY SIGHTING OF HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED

Today in London, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers were seen by many Wizard and Muggle eyewitnesses as the criminals worked their way through several

Muggle communities, causing extensive damage and mayhem as they went. One Muggle

family was severely injured in an explosion caused by a Death Eater's spell as they were fleeing their burning home. The family was rushed to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical

Maladies and Injuries to receive healing and memory-modification. They are all expected to make a full recovery. In a related side note, one Death Eater was allegedly reported to be the notorious escaped prisoner, Bellatrix Lestrange. Lestrange was said to be shrieking insanely as she ran through the streets in another village near Surrey this same morning. Witnesses say that she appeared to be in a fevered frenzy as she ranted and screamed about the Boy Who Lived. "It was horribly frightening, it was," reported a local witch observer on the scene. "This woman - she was as pale as death with these hooded eyes - she kept laughing this deranged laugh while she ranted on and on about killing Harry Potter! She was barking mad!" Unfortunately, Lestrange was able to Apparate from the scene and has not been seen since. If anyone has further information regarding He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Lestrange, or any other Death Eaters, please contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately.

Luckily, Harry had the presence of mind to hide the paper before anyone else could see it, saying as casually as he could, "Oh, don't worry, Hermione, there's nothing in there about your parents."

Now Harry knew why Mrs. Weasley had been looking at him so mysteriously at breakfast, she must have already known about what Bellatrix Lestrange had been up to. This also explained why Mr. Weasley had had to go

into work early. Thankfully, before Ginny could ask Harry for the Prophet, Pigwidgeon came hurdling in through the chimney, his tiny gray feathers looking slightly soot-covered as he landed in Ron's waiting hand. Hermione's nervous fingers rapidly unwrapped the small return note.

"They're fine," Hermione gasped weakly, her voice full of relief as she leaned against Ron once more. "They said they saw something on the News, but that the sightings weren't in our neighborhood or anything."

Ginny went over to hug Hermione again as Mrs. Weasley came bustling in. Since her arms were filled with clean laundry, Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to notice how unusually everyone was behaving as she advised them to go upstairs and get packed for their return journey to school. Harry took advantage of everyone's momentary inattention and hid the paper in-between the cushions of the overstuffed armchair he and Ginny had snuggled up in on Christmas day. Because everyone was still focused on Hermione, the paper was not mentioned again until they were dragging their school trunks and animal cages back downstairs.

"Harry, where's that copy of the Daily Prophet you had earlier?" Ginny

asked.

"Oh, I dunno, must be around here somewhere," Harry said, not looking at her. "The important thing is that Hermione's parents are all right."

"Yes," said Ginny, sincerely, "I'm so glad, it must be such a relief to her. I

would never want to think about something like that happening to my family, especially if I wasn't even there to help stop it."

Harry kept his expression carefully guarded as they loaded their trunks into the back of the same Ministry car, Tonks once more on driving duty. As Ginny leaned over against Harry again in the back seat, he felt slightly guilty about keeping things from her. Harry realized that eventually his friends would discover the contents of that article, but he wanted to prevent that for as long as possible. Everyone was already anxious enough about current events, and Harry refused to pile more worry on anybody - no matter what Bellatrix Lestrange was screaming about him in the streets.

In the meantime, Harry couldn't wait to get back to school. He wanted to discuss all of this with Dumbledore; Voldemort and Death Eater sightings were likely to start becoming more commonplace now, and Harry knew it was ultimately up to him to do something about it. As Harry contemplated the darkening sky outside, he knew that it was time to begin preparing himself for that final confrontation. Harry knew he was going back to school this time to learn what would be the most important lesson of his life - how to destroy Lord Voldemort.