The War of Shades

Chapter 44 War Games

March is reputed to come in like a lion, and so it did, with a driving sleety rain to greet the students for their morning run. Many students grumbled as they stepped out into it, but Harry and Ginny met it with the hearts of Gryffindor lions. They set a hard pace to keep up with and laughed that the faster everyone ran, the sooner they could be in warm showers. From Harry's viewpoint, the weather also had the salutary effect of suppressing the outbreaks of discord between the students: they all just kept their heads down and ran in a long line. All, that is, except Harry and Ginny, who ran side-by-side smiling the whole way, splashing through the ice cold muddy puddles without hesitation. They were well into their morning training session before most of the others even finished their run.

After a quick shower, Harry and Ginny went to breakfast together, still feeling giddy. They sat very close to each other, exchanging glances frequently - as well as the sunglasses would allow - and small surreptitious touches. They had for some time shared little jokes, born of the private training sessions they had shared, but now it was more pronounced and the jokes tickled them more.

"What is UP with you two?" asked Ron, peevishly. "Did you have an accident with Cheering Charms?"

"Oh, you were out of it last night, weren't you, Ron?" said Hermione, with a very superior and smug smile. "They woke us up to tell us they're a couple now."

"Is that how we ended up down in the Common Room? But why were we ..."

"Shhhh" hushed Hermione sharply, as Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and suppressed laughter, causing Hermione to eye them suspiciously. "Yes, apparently they decided we should be left in the chair."

"Well, how'm I supposed to remember? A guy needs his rest, you know. Okay, then, congratulations!" he said happily.

"You aren't going to threaten me now, Ron?" teased Harry.

"Why?" said Ron, raising an eyebrow. "Has something happened I should threaten you over?"

"Like what?" said Ginny, challenging him to suggest something.

"Never mind," mumbled Ron.

"Do any of you know how Melony and Dobby are?" asked Harry.

"Why?" asked Hermione.

Harry rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Do you even remember the awful fight they had before the lecture?"

Hermione tapped her lip as she looked off, trying to remember. "No, not really. Dobby was there before the lecture, wasn't he? But he didn't stay - I think he had to be someplace else."

"Okay, Hermione," said Harry, his voice showing tension, "let me put this in a way where I can get the information I want. Have you seen them together since the lecture?"

"Oh, sure," said Hermione. "They took a moonlight stroll and were all lovey-dovey. She's due in a month, you know."

"I know. Let's just hope they both make it that long," grumbled Harry. Then he turned to Ron. "Talk of a birth reminds me: Happy Birthday, mate."

Ron grinned, "Thanks, Harry."

"It's not his birthday" sniffed Hermione.

"It most certainly is - the day after February 28," said Ginny.

"Nope - his birthday's the day before March," said Hermione.

"Oh, yeah?" said Ron. "Then why didncha do anything for me yesterday."

"Ron, I thought I had," said Hermione under her breath, "Don't you even remember last night at all?"

Ron blushed and all those who heard giggled.

Harry said, "Ah, well, maybe it's me - as Hermione's surrogate brother - who ought to be threatening you. Weasley: what, exactly, ARE your intentions with our Hermione?"

"Shut up, Harry."

"No, Ron, I'd like to know," said Hermione. "What are your intentions with me?"

Ron got a devilish grin and leaned over to whisper in her ear. Hermione giggled. "Ooh, that's good for the short term. We'll talk more later."

There was some time between breakfast and the quidditch game for some library time. Before that, Harry called Professor Dumbledore on the mirror and explained his new observations about the curse. He also explained his new relationship with Ginny and asked to have her added to the Restricted Section permission. Dumbledore beamed with pleasure as Harry told him about Ginny and encouraged persistence with both endeavours: research and romance.

At the game, which promised to be a long affair due to the difficult visibility and winds, Harry and Ginny found themselves boxed in by Ron, Hermione and Ernie McMillan. At first they chatted nicely about quidditch, but then it occurred to Harry that during a Hufflepuff game Ernie ought normally be with his house.

"Ernie, I enjoy the talk, but aren't you supposed to be with your house's section cheering on your team?"

"Well, yeah, I'll get over there. We just, ah, needed to square some things away with you."

"And this is the best opportunity to talk?"

"Yeah, it's harder for you to get away," said Ernie, glancing over toward Ron and Hermione, "Harry, it's about the Spring Skirmish."

Harry tensed up. There had been no talk of repeating last spring's training game, in which the DA's teams had been divided into opposing armies and staged a battle.

"I didn't think the DA would want to do it again this year."

"Oh, but Harry, it was great practice. Remember how well we were prepared for the Battle of Gringott's last year? We learned a lot about placement and discipline and avoiding each other's spells."

"Yeah, Harry," added Ron, "there's been a lot of talk about doing it again. Everybody's looking forward to it."

"Not EVERYbody!" said Harry. "I'm a bit frustrated with unhexing so many of you. And if there's been so much talk about it, why haven't I heard about it until now." Then he turned to Ginny, "You must have known about this, too."

Ginny smiled coquettishly. "Haven't we had other things to talk about, Harry?"

Harry grinned. "Okay, that works for you, Ginny. What about the rest of you?"

"There are reasons. For one thing," said Ernie, "Spring Skirmish is an opportunity to work on strategy and tactics. You've been kept out of those matters because of your ... connection."

"Yeah, go ahead and say it - Voldemort," said Harry.

"Also, Harry," added Ron, "we figured you'd get upset because of this weird notion you have about us not being able to get along together."

"WEIRD NOTION!?" Harry shouted and then caught himself. "It's no weird notion! I wish a muggle camcorder would work around Hogwarts so I could show you what's been going on."

"Ron, it's real," said Ginny. "I see some of it too. It's like some sort of spell on the school or something that keeps you from seeing what you're doing."

"Sure, she'd say it now!" said Ernie sarcastically. "Supporting her boyfriend."

Ginny rose in her place into a battle stance, turned toward Ernie, and put her hand toward her wand. "Head Boy or not," she snarled, "I'll duel you if you don't take that back. I'm my own person no matter who I'm with!"

Ernie seemed to be sizing up his chances before Hermione intervened. "Ernie, your apology shouldn't be based on whether you can duel her - you were wrong. She's been saying there's something to it for months."

Ernie rose as well and reached toward his wand pocket, but held off withdrawing it. "Maybe she has, but it's beyond the words now. I'm not taking guff off of the likes of her."

The stands around them cleared as the students saw a battle shaping up. Only Hermione, Ron and Harry stayed put, and while Hermione and Ron looked concerned, Harry calmly returned to watching the quidditch game. Hagrid stepped over the seats from the top of the stands and stepped between them.

"Do we have a problem here?" Hagrid asked pointedly.

Ernie and Ginny glared a few more seconds at each other and then turned their heads up toward Hagrid, relaxing their stances.

"Oh, hello, Hagrid," said Ginny. "Come to sit with the students for the game?"

Hagrid's eyebrows shifted from their stern inwardly slanted posture to a questioning upward slant. He turned to Harry, who shrugged in response.

"Let's just enjoy the game, then," he said, "And keep those wands where they b'long."

"Right-o, Hagrid!" called Ernie. "Thanks for stopping by!"

"That was unpleasant," said Hermione, as the students began returning to their places uneasily.

"What was?" said Harry.

"Harry, were you not even going to step in to protect Ginny?" asked Hermione.

"From what?"

"Ooh!" gasped Hermione exasperatedly. "Were you not even aware that she almost got into a duel with Ernie!?"

"Hmm. Did something happen?"

"Don't you care!? Didn't you even notice?"

Harry looked her in the eye. "Now you get an idea how frustrating it is to have people dent what I can so easily see. Of course I was aware. I would have blocked any dangerous spells, but I can't intervene in every fight, not even Ginny's."

"Well, I like that!" exclaimed Ginny.

Harry explained matter-of-factly. "I can't be around all the time, Ginny. If you're going to get into fights, you'll have to settle them. If you were just trying to enlist me as a second for dueling, count me out."

She looked at him, measuring his words, and then she snuggled close to him. "You would have at least stopped dangerous spells?"

He smiled and nodded. "Or disfiguring ones. Now how about the game - there've been two goals scored since you stopped watching it."

"Oh, yeah?" said Ernie, as if nothing had happened. "Hufflepuff?"

"So what about the Spring Skirmish, Harry?" asked Ron.

"What about it? You have plans already, don't you? You don't need my blessing. I'm just the coach, not the boss."

"Now, Harry," said Hermione soothingly, "you say it's okay but your tone betrays annoyance."

"I suppose I am," said Harry. "It's really not that I'm out of the loop - I've gotten used to so much training being out of my ken. This is just a bigger version of what you do out of my sight at DA meetings. What really gets to me is the enormous opportunity this presents for you people to injure each other. We had dozens of injuries last year that couldn't be fixed on the field, and that was when you weren't under a spell making you hurt each other. But now you are, you only seem to get along when I'm around, and I'm the one person you cannot allow to be around! Of course, that doesn't seem to do much good anymore. This has disaster written all over it."

"Okay, Harry," said Ernie, "even IF this spell-thing you talk about exists ..."

Harry glared at him so fiercely he quailed. "Okay, okay, even WITH this spell affecting us, we have to do our best to be prepared. You say his forces are preparing to attack. We need to do what we can to prepare to respond - even if there are a few risks."

"There'll be casualties," said Harry.

"Everyone knows that, Harry. There were last year, too. Sometimes people get hurt when they are forced to defend themselves." Then Ernie's voice took on a quieter, darker tone. "Personally, I've seen what happens to those who aren't ready to fight. I'll take my chances fighting back rather than waiting to die."

Harry looked long at Ernie, remembering how intensely his mother getting the dementor's kiss had affected him and his father.

"Right then. You'll have your Skirmish and I'll keep out of the way. But YOU," he said turning and pointing to Hermione, "are going to assemble the best team of referees and de-hexers that can be spared."

Hermione smiled sweetly, "That's already in the works, Harry."

"Have fun, then - knock yourselves out. I just wish that was only a figure of speech."

Ron watched the progression of the quaffle for a few seconds, before adding in an attempt at sounding casual, "So where will you go then, Harry?"

"I don't know, right off. The library, I guess. Maybe the chapel and the dorm part of the time."

"Erm ..."

"What?"

"Well, part of the plan is defending the castle itself. We were hoping you would leave Hogwarts for the week altogether."

"NO, nothing doing! I need that time for research and I was going to double up on counseling sessions with Cameron - I can't afford to be away that whole week! Forget it!"

"But, Harry, we..."

Hermione interrupted Ron, "No, Ron, we've already pushed Harry to go along with a lot. We can work around this. We'll just have to set boundaries and let Harry know what they are. Will that work for you, Harry?"

"I reckon, so long as I can go to the library and the dorm. Cameron can meet me at one of those."

"Then it's settled."

Ernie returned to the Hufflepuff section and they enjoyed another three and a half hours watching quidditch in the sleet and rain and wind. Only a true fan can explain how such miserable conditions actually enhance the experience, but that's generally true of outdoor winter sports, like American football, hockey (on outdoor rinks) and quidditch. Of course, it helps if you are with your new girlfriend and can regularly duck under the stands with her and get warmed up. This presented a grueling dilemma, as neither Ginny nor Harry were keen on missing too much of the game, but getting warmed up was very nice as well.

The next Friday the weather had brightened up and gotten more pleasant. The run was still quite cold, but that just kept anyone from overheating. At breakfast Harry and his friends were talking about how NEWTS would be administered when the owl delivery came.

Ginny pointed up, "Ron, cover, it's Errol!"

They both spread their arms and protected their breakfast plates from the ever-errant Errol. Harry was used to Errol making his awkward approaches and flopping in front of Ron or Ginny, so he watched calmly as Errol dove down to the table and then instead plopped hard into Harry's breakfast, splattering him with eggs, juice and porridge.

Harry groaned and sighed, as he wiped himself. "Ron, when are your parents ever going to get another bird and give this one a rest? Your father's appointment to Minister of Magic is to be made official in a little over two months: they could afford an owl, for goodness sake."

"Don't you prefer a thrifty Minister?" said Hermione. "From what I've read in the Daily Prophet, he's cut lots of expenses of the Ministry to provide the additional security services needed for the war."

"I reckon, but that won't stop me from giving him an owl as a congratulatory present when he gets appointed. Let's see: it's your mother's handwriting. I wonder which of you the letter's for," said Harry.

After Harry detached the letter from Errol's leg, Hermione scooped up the flaccid Errol and began cleaning the breakfast from his feathers. Harry wiped the egg yolk off the parchment before checking the addressee.

"What!? That's odd, it's for me."

"Well, I like that!" said Ron, as Harry opened and scanned the letter. "You take up with Ginny and she forgets her own children!"

"Laugh all you want, Ron; I could do without this letter. She and your Dad are inviting Ginny and me to spend Spring Break with them at Grimmauld Place."

"Well, if you don't want to go," said Hermione, "just write them back and say so. I'm sure they'll be very understanding."

Harry glanced over at Ginny, who had her arms crossed and was scowling intensely.

"Yeah, I know, Ginny," he said, "that really is not one of the options. This is an invite in form only. There's not much chance of me being able to wriggle out of this."

"Oh, Harry, what's the problem?" said Ginny, her glower brightening. "You like my parents just fine."

"Oh, it's not that, by any means. They're two of my favorite people. In fact, if we're ever all past this war, I'd kind of like to call them Mum and Dad. I've always wanted to be able to call somebody that, and mean it, and nobody feels more like that to me than they do. Do you think that would be okay?"

"More than okay, mate. They'd love it," said Ron. "They've said for a long time they consider you one of their own."

"I know. It's more soothing than murtlap. But don't say anything to them. I'll ask them when the time's right for me, alright?" replied Harry. "No, the problem isn't being with them in the abstract. It's the timing. So soon after Ginny and I have started dating - it's got to be their way of checking up on us and giving us a bit of a warning about controlling ourselves."

"Like those two should complain," laughed Ginny. "I've heard some stories from our older cousins about how they were when they were at Hogwarts."

"Maybe that's why they're worried," said Hermione.

Harry nodded. "Hm. But also I really wanted the library time."

"Maybe you don't really have to give that up though, Harry," said Hermione, "Hogwarts' library isn't the only one in the wizarding world. The Blacks had a very extensive Dark Arts library. I believe Mrs. Weasley kept the books, just in case there was a need for such research. We were only disposing of dangerous objects, not the books - they didn't have such dangerous enchantments on them they couldn't be kept or the enchantments disabled. And I think they had some volumes that even Hogwarts doesn't have."

"Well, a house with Dark Arts books known to Bellatrix may be just the place to look for what we need. What about it, Ginny, up for some library time in London?"

"Here, there, wherever - as long as we're working on it together," she said with a sweet smile while giving his arm a squeeze.

Behind her back, Neville pantomimed sticking a finger down his throat and gagging. Harry laughed and hit him with a lump of Stilton.

"Right then, that's settled. We're going."

Harry took out a quill and started jotting down an acceptance for Errol to take back.

"Hey, mate, put down that Hermione and I are coming, too," said Ron.

"Uh-uh. You're not invited and she makes clear that she wants you two to stay here and prepare for NEWTs. Besides, aren't you going to be leading part of the troops in the Spring Screw-up?"

"That's 'Skirmish', Harry" said Ron, as Harry shrugged, "but you're right. I wonder why she doesn't care about your NEWTs."

"She knows I'm using Voldemort's learning and just adding the recent developments. It's a good thing, too, or I wouldn't have a chance to research the spell."

"Harry," said Hermione thoughtfully, "doesn't Voldemort at least know who among his people is doing it?"

"Uh-uh! In fact he's avoiding face time with them deliberately. He doesn't want to accidentally allow his use of legilemency to let me see into their thoughts to see how to beat it. And he learned the lesson from Kreacher's treachery two years ago, that it may be the most seemingly-innocuous facts that let the other side know a vulnerability, so he's taking no chances on being around any of them. Anyone who visits him stays behind a curtain so I can't find out anything. It's pretty much like with you people wearing the shades. He's thrilled with what's going on, but he has no idea who's doing it, or how, or anything else about it. He figures somebody among the Death Eaters got the bright idea, and he's not going to mess it up by letting me see them through him."

"That's funny," said Neville. "Both you and he are kind of isolated from your supporters by the fact that you can look through each other's minds. I'll bet that freaks him out to not be in control."

"Yeah, it's hard on him, even more than me. I could do without control, if I could just beat this spell - that and look you all in the eyes. It's like being in a prison and only talking to people through those thick glass barriers. Oh, well."