Harry Potter and the Veil of Mystery

Chapter 20

Easter

The month of March passed very quickly for Harry, busy as he was with his normal classes as a teacher and a student, his Saturdays with the Aurors, Quidditch practice, and his and Neville's informal teaching of what they learned form the Aurors. It occurred to him that even if he wanted to have a girlfriend, he wouldn't have any time to pay attention to her, so it was just as well. Still, he felt the desire anyway, especially when he saw Hermione and Neville looking so happy when together.

The Apparation Restriction Act was enacted at the end of March, two days after two more attacks by Death Eaters, one on Muggles, one on wizards. Harry had wondered whether there would be any resentment directed towards him from the seventh year Hogwarts students, who'd had little chance to Apparate, and now would not be able to do something which they had long looked forward to. However, no one said anything to him or acted differently; he hoped that that would be the attitude of the population as well. Harry talked to Dentus a few more times to keep informed of what was happening, and in the most recent conversation Dentus reported that while some people grumbled and some businesses complained of higher transportation costs, most people were accepting, or at least resigned.

The Aurors were delighted, and many thanked Harry profusely the first Saturday after the ARA's enaction. "We've been really busy, of course," said Tonks. "A lot of people don't read the Prophet or even talk to other wizards much, and hadn't heard. We've gotten a lot of indignant reactions, people complaining about a police state, saying they just want to be left alone, and so forth. I want to say, 'yes, and thank you for being such an involved and concerned citizen,' but I don't. I just give them the pamphlet we give everyone, tell them that next time there will be consequences, and let them go. People basically get warnings for a week, and after that, it gets more serious. We still have to go in teams of two, on the off chance that it is Death Eaters."

When Easter vacation finally arrived, Harry wanted to spend it at the Burrow, but he didn't because of security considerations. The Aurors were so busy warning ARA violators that it would have been too great a burden for them to also provide security for the Burrow, and Harry easily understood. He contented himself with two dinners, both after Auror training sessions, of which he and Neville had four through the week. Harry now understood how important they considered his training, to make sure it happened even when they were very busy.

On the first Monday after vacation, Harry walked with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville to breakfast. They had waited for him, and planned to stay with him even more than before, now that Malfoy was back, probably with a new supply of Dark Arts items. As they entered the Great Hall and headed towards their normal seats, the others kept their eyes wide open, looking for anything, not being at all subtle about their intent. Harry heard some murmuring and a few chuckles at the sight.

Even as they ate, one was always scanning the area ostentatiously, and the others glanced around the room far more than was normal. Harry wanted to make a comment or joke, but didn't, as he knew how it would be received. He knew they all remembered too well what had happened the first day back from the last vacation.

About halfway through breakfast, Hedrick Flatt and Helen Clark walked up to Harry at the Gryffindor table. "Professor," Helen said without preamble, "Something strange is going on outside the Slytherin area. Professor Dumbledore is outside our portrait hole, and he's saying hello to all the Slytherins as they leave for breakfast."

"He's checking for anyone under the Imperius Curse," said Hermione, as Harry had deduced the same thing. "Good idea, but knowing him, I'm almost surprised he'll even do that."

"I should hope he would," said Neville, as Ron and Ginny agreed. "And it looks like it was a good idea, look." They could now see Malfoy and Pansy taking their seats at the Slytherin table, but not Crabbe. "Crabbe's stuck to Malfoy like glue since Goyle died," Neville continued. "And Crabbe was the next candidate to be put under the Imperius Curse. They'll have been looking for him, and they must have got him."

"Thank goodness," said Hermione, "if that's true. I mean, God only knows what they were going to have him do, blow up the whole Hall just to get Harry? They know we won't let him get anywhere near Harry." Hedrick and Helen nodded approvingly.

"What, did you decide you were going to Stun him if he got within five yards of me?" joked Harry.

Ron answered him, deadly serious. "Fifteen yards is what we decided, Harry, him or Malfoy. Hermione insisted that we had to give him a warning, but then if he doesn't stop, he goes down. I don't care if it looks like he's just going to the bathroom."

Harry was startled. "You can't do that! You're prefects, and-"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Harry's being stupid again," he said, as Hermione added, "Come on, Harry, do you think we care about that right now? Think a little." She turned and said to the Slytherins, "He's really pretty clever, most of the time." They chuckled.

Neville suddenly stood. "Ron, Hermione." He pointed at Malfoy, heading towards their table, still a good distance away. They stood immediately and headed in Malfoy's direction, obviously to cut him off before he got anywhere near Harry. Ron looked over his shoulder, saying, "Ginny, sit on him."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I assume he just meant that you were supposed to make sure I didn't move until they got back?"

She fixed him with a serious look. "Try to move, and you'll find out."

Harry decided not to try, and just watch to see what happened. Hermione, Ron, and Neville, wands out, met Malfoy at the midpoint of the aisle, between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. Malfoy, to Harry's surprise, did not have his wand out, but he did have his usual smugness.

"Out of my way, you three. I was just going to say hello to Professor Potter, ask him if he had a good vacation," he sneered. "Don't worry, no harm will come to your leader's scar. I can't imagine he's scared to talk to me." He rolled up his sleeves halfway and held up his hands. "Look, see, no guns."

The Hall was silent; nobody seemed to think Malfoy's comment was funny. "Go back to your table and sit down, Malfoy," said Ron. "This is your only warning. If you don't think we're serious, try us."

"Is this on your authority as a prefect?" asked Malfoy, amused.

"No," said Neville, calmly, to Harry's surprise. "It's on his authority as one of the three people who's going to send you flying across the Hall if you don't go back and sit down." This was greeted by some cheers and applause from all tables.

"You can't stop me from going anywhere in this Hall I want," said Malfoy with certainty. "Your fearless leader can leave the Hall if he's afraid of me," he added, more loudly.

Harry knew that Malfoy wanted to provoke him into going over there. Ginny tensed a bit next to him. "Don't worry, Ginny, I'm not going for it," he assured her.

"He's not afraid of Voldemort, Malfoy, why should he be afraid of you?" Neville said, in as close to a sneer as Harry had ever heard from him.

As Neville spoke, Harry saw a few people get up. Justin, Ernie, Hannah, Anthony Goldstein, Cho, and Luna were all up, with wands out, and heading over to where Harry's friends had intercepted Malfoy. They took up position behind Ron, Neville, and Hermione.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I don't care how many of you there are, I can walk where I want. Does he really need the whole school to protect him from me?"

This was greeted by a mass of chairs shuffling, and people getting up. About half of the students in the Hall, including many Slytherins, had stood and were starting to head to where the others were standing. Harry was touched, and exchanged a smile with Ginny.

Professor McGonagall got up from the teachers' table-Harry wondered why she had waited this long-and briskly walked over to the rapidly increasing crowd around Malfoy. "Everyone, please take your seats," she said loudly. "Mr. Malfoy, please return to your table," she said to him.

Malfoy looked outraged. "I can get up and walk anywhere I want to! You have no right to tell me-"

"Here is what I am telling you, Mr. Malfoy," she said, in her sternest 'I mean business' tone. "If you say one more word, or are not sitting in your seat at the table in one minute, you will be expelled. You have been warned."

The Hall was quiet as everyone watched Malfoy. He glared at McGonagall for ten seconds, then turned without a word and headed back to his seat. Hermione, Ron, and Neville thanked the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs backing them up, and returned to the table.

"Thanks, everyone," said Harry, as his friends resumed their seats.

"Well, he definitely wasn't under the Imperius Curse," said Hermione. "I'm sure he just wanted to come over and insult you a bit."

"Yes, but the problem is, he probably thinks of it as his last chance while Harry's still alive," pointed out Neville. Ron nodded his agreement.

"I seem pretty safe, if what we just saw was any indication," said Harry. The others looked at him skeptically.

"I wish it was, Harry, but you and we know it's not," said Hermione. "He'll have things that will be very hard to defend against. He probably won't even be near you when whatever he does happens. We'll just have to react quickly and hope for the best."

Ron grinned. "I liked what you said there, Neville."

"Yeah, it was pretty good," agreed Ginny. "It's amazing, Neville, how you can be tough and cute at the same time." The others laughed, especially Hermione, as Neville turned a light shade of red and smiled at Ginny. Harry returned to his breakfast.

The morning owls came pouring through the open windows of the Great Hall, and started dropping their mail. Just then, a loud explosion was heard, and the Hall shook, as if there had been a small earthquake. The frightened owls screeched and flew erratically, a few dropping their packages and letters in the wrong places. McGonagall flew out of her seat, running toward the sound of the explosion. Harry and his friends exchanged looks, silently speculating.

"I think," Ron finally said, "that we have just heard the last of Mr. Victor Crabbe."

"I'm just praying he didn't take anyone with him," said Ginny.

"Good point, Dumbledore would have been the one with him," added Neville.

Ron shook his head. "No bomb is going to kill Albus Dumbledore."

"I really, really hope you're right," said Harry. They looked around, but could not see any evidence of what had happened. A minute later, Dumbledore strode into the Great Hall, and stepped up to the lectern at the teachers' table.

"Your attention, please. The explosion you just heard and felt was, as you have no doubt guessed, the latest attempt on Professor Harry Potter's life by Voldemort. Mr. Victor Crabbe, under the Imperius Curse, smuggled a small but powerful explosive into Hogwarts. His goal was to get as close as possible to Professor Potter and set off the explosive. As I discovered too late, the bomb had a device which would set it off when exposed to magic. Professor Snape, who was assisting me, was able to put up a shield at the last second protecting us from physical damage, saving my life. Obviously, Mr. Crabbe was killed in the explosion."

"Two down, one to go," Ron muttered. Hermione glared at him, her look saying, 'I'm not sorry he's dead either, but don't say things like that.'

"That is all, thank you for your attention," concluded Dumbledore, who walked away.

Hermione was surprised. "They're not canceling classes? They did after Goyle died."

"I think that was because we all saw it with our own eyes," speculated Neville. "This one we just heard, maybe that's the difference."

"But... I mean, think about what would have happened if they hadn't gotten to him," said Hermione. "You felt that... it would have killed a lot of the people in this room."

"What are you thinking, Harry?" asked Ginny. Harry had been listening, with many thoughts competing for attention in his mind.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure... just thinking about what Hermione said. Thank goodness they didn't think of giving Goyle the bomb."

"Look at Pansy and Malfoy," Neville whispered. Harry looked across the Hall, and saw Pansy touching the face of a shaken-looking Malfoy, who was trying not to look shaken. They saw her take his hand and talk to him.

Hermione shook her head. "I respect her so much," she whispered.

"Me, too," said Ginny. "I don't know how she does it. I couldn't." She looked at Harry, who nodded somberly and said, "I hope to God nothing happens to her."

"Look at him," said Ron disdainfully. "He's all upset because he knows that bomb could have taken him with it. Doesn't he know that he's just another slab of meat to Voldemort, that he doesn't matter? Didn't he know what he was signing up for?"

"Probably his father neglected to mention that to him," agreed Harry.

"Looks like he knows it now," said Ron. "He's in it way too deep to back out now, though."

They finished their now-cold breakfast, and headed off to their classes. Harry's first years expressed their vast relief that he had survived, their lack of sadness over Crabbe's death, and their amazement that Dumbledore still allowed Malfoy in the school. Harry decided not to try to explain matters of principle to them, especially since Dumbledore took it to greater lengths than he would, and simply expressed faith that whatever Dumbledore decided would work out.

After morning classes and lunch, Harry went to the staff room, but Hermione and Neville insisted on accompanying him, and that he stay there until before two o'clock, when they could come get him. He nodded and entered the room, and sat down on the sofa next to John. The room was unusually quiet, and Harry wondered if it was because of him. Deciding to be irreverent, he said, "So, what's new?"

A few teachers looked at him strangely, and John chuckled. "The condemned man cheerfully declined the blindfold and cigarette," he said.

"Is that a quote from Muggle literature, John?" asked Sprout. "Or just your sense of humor?"

"It's my comment on Harry's sense of humor," John explained. "You'd think there wasn't another attempt on his life coming at him, clear as day. That doesn't bother you, Harry?"

Harry thought about it. "It probably would if it hadn't happened so many times already. I don't know if you can say I'm used to it, but I do know that it's going to keep happening as long as Voldemort and I are both still alive. It's almost like the status quo, though I know there's one coming up fairly soon. But it might be awhile, too-maybe they want to wait until I'm not so on my guard. So it doesn't have to be in the next day or two."

"Just an ordinary day of danger, if you're Harry Potter," said Flitwick. "And it doesn't bother you that this could all go away if Professor Dumbledore just expelled Malfoy?"

Harry raised his eyebrows and looked around the room; it was very rare to hear even an implied criticism of Dumbledore. Noting his look, Sprout said, "Harry, we all love him, you know that. But that doesn't mean we always agree with him. He's taking a huge risk for the sake of principle."

"And what is the point of having principles," asked McGonagall, "if you abandon them in difficult circumstances?"

Sprout sighed. "We've been through all this, Minerva. I was just explaining to Harry that we don't all agree on this. I'm sure we'd like to know what you think, Harry."

Harry thought about how he should answer, then decided that the truth was best. "Neville asked me, would I expel someone if Hermione was in my position, and I said yes, I would. But that doesn't mean I think that Professor Dumbledore is wrong. I respect his devotion to principle." He went on to say the same thing to them that he had to Dentus about what happened to Hagrid in the second year. "That's what can happen when you decide to take action against people just based on speculation. Now, I know this is a very different situation, but the idea is similar. So if I have to be put at risk so that kind of thing doesn't happen, then I will."

"And your friends, who are in the line of fire as well?" asked Flitwick quietly. "Whatever Malfoy does could miss you and hit them."

Harry nodded. "That bothers me more than anything else. But I just have to trust him. There's nothing else I can do."

Nobody said anything for a moment, then Sprout sat down next to him on the sofa. "That's very admirable, Harry," she said. "Let's hope it goes well. We want you back next year." Harry nodded his thanks and said nothing.

Harry relaxed and talked with the teachers about other topics until a quarter to two, at which time Snape got up to leave. Harry had occasionally walked to Potions with Snape, if only because Snape's leaving reminded him that it was time to go. "Will you be coming to Potions, Professor?" asked Snape, as Harry failed to move from the sofa.

Harry shook his head. "I promised Hermione and Neville I'd stay here until they came to pick me up."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "I believe I can guarantee your safety during the long and treacherous journey from here to the Potions dungeon."

Harry chuckled, as did a few other teachers. "I'm sure you can, but that isn't the point. It'll make them feel better to take me, so I'll wait for them."

"As you wish, Professor," said Snape, turning to leave. "But I shall not look kindly upon your lateness, so be prompt, even if they are not."

As the door closed, Harry said to Sprout, "I wanted to ask him just what he would look kindly on."

She chuckled, as did Flitwick. "Better that you didn't, Harry," he said. "You don't want to tweak him too much. Once a year is enough."

Hermione and Neville showed up at eight minutes to two, and Harry and Hermione walked into the Potions dungeon with a minute to spare. After Potions, it was their custom to meet in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with Ron, Neville, and Ginny, and he and Neville would teach the others some of what they had learned the previous Saturday. As they walked there, Hermione humorously asked, "So, did you thank Snape for saving Dumbledore's life?"

"I would have if I thought it would mean anything to him," Harry replied. "But you know him, he'd just react like I had said something totally irrelevant." He then told her about the conversation in the staff room.

"Well, I'm not surprised they'd feel like that," she said, looking around from time to time, on her guard. "Dumbledore's position on this is a bit extreme, though I grant you, the Hagrid story is very appropriate. That is exactly what can happen. Still, to allow someone you love to be put in that kind of jeopardy..."

They had reached the hallway leading to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom; Harry could see Neville standing outside the door, on guard. He waved, and they walked toward him.

Harry suddenly felt a buzzing in his robes. He stopped walking, took out the Galleon, and showed it to Hermione; it was the emergency signal from Pansy. "Neville!" she shouted. "Get the others, and get over here!" Harry saw Neville shout into the classroom, and then run over to him and Hermione, with Ron and Ginny following a few seconds behind. All had their wands drawn, surrounding Harry. Neville walked up to the next corner and looked around it, but saw nothing. Hermione took out her map.

"Where is she... ah, she's with Malfoy, they're..." she went silent for a moment, then continued, "Ah, they're moving. Nowhere near us. Okay, Harry, you know the drill."

Before vacation had ended, they had all agreed on what would be done in this kind of situation. Pansy's sending of the emergency signal was to be interpreted as a sign that Harry's life was in imminent danger. He was not to move, and was to go immediately to Dumbledore's office by using Fawkes. Fawkes appeared, presenting his tail feathers for Harry to grab. "Be very careful," he urged the others.

Hermione nodded impatiently. "We will, Harry. Now, go!"

Harry grabbed Fawkes's tail, but said nothing; he had discovered that by now, he did not need to tell Fawkes where to go, as Fawkes always knew. They appeared in Dumbledore's office; Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were talking. "She sent the signal," he said. "The others are near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom." He took out his Hogwarts map and opened it up, looking for the purple spot. "Okay, there they are, heading to the Slytherin area. Now, does she just know, or has he had a chance to do anything... show me Malfoy, the last four hours, sixty times normal speed, ten times normal speed when moving."

As they watched, McGonagall let out a low whistle. "I assume Hermione did this?"

Involved in watching the map, Harry nodded. "Ron and Ginny have been keeping an eye on this all day, and it'll go off if he goes anyplace unusual, but apparently he didn't... no, the closest place he comes to me is the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but he didn't stop... still, look at his path, he just seems to have walked around it for no good reason. That has to be it."

"Minerva, please meet Harry's friends where they are now, and escort them to your office, pending further instructions." As she left, Dumbledore addressed Snape. "Severus, please fetch Mr. Malfoy and escort him here." Snape swept out of the office. "Harry, when Mr. Malfoy is almost here, please ask Fawkes to take you to my living quarters, and stay there until I ask him to bring you back here." Agreeing, Harry sat down to wait, keeping an eye on the map. He saw McGonagall approach his friends, and saw them all walk away from the classroom. He saw Snape with Malfoy and Pansy in the Slytherin common room, and then saw Snape and Malfoy walking towards Dumbledore's office. As they approached the gargoyles, Harry prepared to ask Fawkes to take him away.

Suddenly, Malfoy's dot disappeared from the map; it was only Snape near the gargoyles. "Professor!" Harry nearly shouted, pointing to the map. "Malfoy's dot just disappeared." Speaking to the map, he said, "Show Malfoy." The map was blank.

Snape walked in, and seeing the blank map, knew that Harry and Dumbledore knew what had happened. "Of course, he did not Disapparate," said Snape. "He simply vanished, without a sound. He was a step behind me, so I did not see it, but I know he did not run or escape by other means."

Dumbledore nodded. "Please fetch Miss Parkinson, and on your way there, stop by Minerva's office and have her bring Harry's friends here, please." Snape nodded and left.

"How did he do that, sir?" Harry asked Dumbledore.

"There are Dark Arts items which allow the user to perform a few acts of teleportation before being used up," Dumbledore explained.

Harry continued looking at the map. His friends were on the way, and Snape was entering the Slytherin common room. After a minute, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville entered the office, followed by McGonagall. Harry started explaining what had happened with Malfoy. Another minute later, Snape and Pansy entered.

"Pansy, why did you send the signal?" asked Dumbledore.

"I got Malfoy to tell me what he was doing," said Pansy, as Hermione seemed to twitch involuntarily. "He put up some item on the door that's the entrance to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It's been made invisible. Apparently it puts out this field of deadly energy that grows with time. He said it can be set to affect only one person, and of course that person is Harry. No one would have noticed a thing until Harry walked near enough to the door, and then he would have been killed instantly."

"We were about to pass by that door, less than a minute away," said Hermione, looking appalled.

"Thank goodness," said Pansy fervently. "I sent the signal the instant he told me, I'm so glad it was in time. Is he still in danger?" she asked, now addressing Dumbledore.

"We have no information about that, so we must assume he is," replied Dumbledore. "The device Malfoy used to escape has a limited range, I believe, so he may still be in the area; for example, he could be hiding in the Forbidden Forest. Even if he is outside Hogwarts, as this map would seem to suggest, he cannot Apparate away, as that would alert the Aurors. He could take a Portkey, of course, but we should assume he is still a threat."

"We have to have around-the-clock security on Harry," said Ron. "He could use that thing to pop into our dormitory at three in the morning and off him."

"Do not worry, Ron, it will be attended to," said Dumbledore reassuringly. "I believe I know a few people who will volunteer for the job. Severus, will you please go find and deactivate the device?" Snape nodded and was gone.

"Sir," asked Harry, "Will Malfoy know that Pansy told us? Is there any other way he knows of that we could have found out?"

Pansy looked surprised. "What does it matter, Harry? He's gone, and if he comes back, it'll be to finish you off."

"Harry is still concerned for your safety," explained Dumbledore to Pansy, who gave him an annoyed but affectionate look. To Harry, Dumbledore said, "He can speculate, and the timing of events would seem to suggest it, but he cannot know. In addition, she had no opportunity to talk to anyone from the time he told her to the time Professor Snape took him to my office. It is most likely that he will assume he was found out some other way. For the time being, to be prudent, we will not yet reveal Pansy's role to anyone else at Hogwarts. But Pansy is correct, Harry, it is your safety we must focus on.

"The device he is using to teleport not only has a limited number of uses-three, I believe-but a limited life as well. It can only be used for twenty-four hours after it is first used, so after that time, the threat to Harry will have decreased greatly. For now, Harry must not remain unattended, even for so short a time as a trip to the restroom."

Ron grinned. "Well, Neville, looks like taking Harry to the loo is our job, then." Harry rolled his eyes. More seriously, Ron asked, "We have a Quidditch practice tonight. Should we cancel it?"

"Given the nature of Malfoy's teleportation device, I would say Harry is at least as safe on the pitch as anyplace else, perhaps more so. If Hermione and Neville fly their usual patrols, I see no problem. Pansy, you did not get the sense that there are any other traps he has laid for Harry?"

She shook her head. "No, he seemed pretty sure that this one would do it. I think he would have told me if there were others."

"Very well. You should feel free to resume your normal activities, though of course you should go nowhere near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom until Professor Snape confirms that he has removed the device. And Pansy... thank you."

Harry's friends echoed the sentiment, and Hermione threw her arms around Pansy, hugging her fiercely. Pansy was a little startled, but smiled. "All of you... I know you'll watch him carefully. I wish I could do it with you, but I guess Professor Dumbledore's right, I should keep my head down a little while longer. But I can't tell you how glad I am that I'm done dealing with him."

"Boy, can I understand that," agreed Harry. He looked at her, wanting to express how grateful he was, but he couldn't think of any words strong enough to say what he wanted.

She smiled. "Harry, remember what I said a long time ago, that your eyes are very expressive? Well, they are now, too. It's okay, you don't have to think of any words. Your eyes already said it."

He nodded. "They probably said it better than my words could have anyway."

Pansy left Dumbledore's office first; Harry and the others followed a minute later. They walked back to the Gryffindor common room, and had the teaching session they had planned to have in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

The story of what had happened, except for Pansy's involvement, was starting to spread around the school by dinnertime. Several students had seen Snape dismantling the device Malfoy had put up, and asked about it. Harry and his friends could see no reason not to tell them. People expressed relief that Harry was all right, and happiness that Malfoy would no longer be at Hogwarts. Hermione emphasized, though, that Malfoy could yet return, so they still had to be vigilant. When Harry expressed surprise that she would go out of her way to mention that to people, she replied, "I don't want people to let their guard down, I want them to still be looking out for you. You're still in a good deal of danger." Harry didn't argue, but still felt that Pansy was in more danger than he was.

After dinner, they all headed out to the Quidditch pitch, along with the rest of the Gryffindor team. Harry practiced his search patterns and looking for the Snitch as the rest of the team practiced their usual maneuvers. They were mostly practicing standard moves, because Ginny was so fast on the Firebolt that they had to re-learn them taking into account the Firebolt's speed. A few minutes into the practice, Harry noticed that there were more brooms in the air than there should have been. Looking more closely, he saw that four more people-Justin, Ernie, Cho, and Terry-were on brooms, circling the pitch with Neville and Hermione. Harry got the feeling that most of the first years would be there, too, if they were allowed their own brooms.

After the practice, they all set down, and Harry profusely thanked the four for their gesture of support. Terry smiled and said, "Really, it was just a chance to spy on your practice. Ginny, you're really good on that thing. Somehow I have a feeling that Dennis won't be scoring all the goals this time for you guys."

"Thanks, Terry," she said. "But I think it would be hard not to be good on that broom."

"I'm sure Malfoy could manage it," said Ron.

"So, he could still come back?" asked Ernie. "With that thing he used to escape?"

"Yes," Ron answered. "Dumbledore thinks that in forty-eight hours, Harry'll be safe. Well, as safe as he ever is. At least now, Malfoy'll be gone, along with the people who supported him."

"What about that Pansy Parkinson?" asked Cho with distaste. "She's always supported him, being really nasty to people, and she's still here. Isn't she a danger?"

Harry fought to keep his face expressionless. Hermione said, trying to sound dismissive, "She's not the type to risk her own neck, Cho. With Crabbe and Goyle, their fathers were Death Eaters, so they didn't mind sacrificing their sons to Voldemort. Her father isn't, so they won't use her for that. And now that Malfoy's gone, she'll keep her head down. But don't worry, we'll keep our eyes open." Harry could imagine how hard it was for Hermione to say that.

"Well, we will too," said Cho. "I hope you're right, but- what, Harry?"

Harry had stopped walking. "The signal," he said. Pulling out the Galleon, he added, "It's her." Ginny, Neville, and Hermione immediately got out their wands, and Ron got out his map. Harry shouted, "No! This isn't an emergency signal, it's a distress signal! She wouldn't know anything new unless Malfoy was back, and if he is, she's in trouble. Fawkes!"

Fawkes instantly appeared, presenting his tail feathers. The four non-Gryffindors gaped at the unexpected turn of events. "She's in her dormitory, alone," said Ron. "Show Malfoy, fifteen minutes, one hundred twenty times normal speed." The map was blank for four seconds, then showed Malfoy in the Slytherin sixth year girls' dormitory for three, after which he disappeared from the map again.

"Harry, don't!" Hermione almost screamed, pleading. "It could be a trap! He could've made her tell him about the Galleon, sent the signal! Please-"

But Harry had already decided to go. He grabbed Fawkes' tail feathers, felt Fawkes start to lift off. Hermione suddenly jumped onto him, arms around his neck, and the next thing he knew, they were in the Slytherin sixth year girls' dormitory.

Harry looked down, and was chilled to the bone by what he saw. Pansy was on the floor, barely conscious, and there was blood everywhere. Her robes and shirt had been torn open, and her stomach was covered with blood.

"Pansy!" Hermione shrieked, and bent down to look at her. "Oh, my God..."

Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye what looked like an open door in the middle of the room, leading into blackness. He wanted to investigate it, but he knew what he had to do first. Grabbing Fawkes' tail, he was suddenly in the infirmary. "Madam Pomfrey!" he shouted.

She walked towards him. "What-"

"Someone's been stabbed!" he shouted. She grabbed a bag as he said, "Hold on to me!" She put her arms around his chest and shoulders and held tight. Putting one arm around her shoulders, he grabbed hold of Fawkes again, and they were back in the dormitory.

Madam Pomfrey swore and bent over, opening her bag. Hermione was touching Pansy's face, saying "It'll be okay, Pansy, don't worry." Madam Pomfrey waved her wand at Pansy's stomach, and the blood disappeared, making the wound clear. Though it continued bleeding, it was easy to see exactly how Malfoy had cut her. The cut was about nine inches long, and was shaped exactly like the scar on Harry's forehead. Harry winced and shook his head in disbelief. Hermione gasped, looked at Harry sadly, then continued talking to the nearly-unconscious Pansy reassuringly. Pansy mumbled something to Hermione that Harry couldn't hear.

Fawkes fluttered down and landed on Pansy's chest. He leaned over, and a tear fell onto the wound, followed by two more. Even though Fawkes had once saved Harry's life that way, Harry had forgotten that phoenixes did that. He silently thanked Fawkes, then looked at the doorway, which could not have been more obviously meant for him. He almost stepped through it automatically, but forced himself to stop and think. Seeming to know what he was thinking, Hermione said urgently, "Don't go, Harry, there's no reason to-"

They were interrupted by a horrible scream coming from the doorway. Harry was sure that it was from the Cruciatus Curse being used. It was female, but he wasn't sure-

"Ginny," said Hermione, looking terrified. "But how could that be Ginny? She was just with us-"

"I'm not going to sit around and debate it," Harry said firmly. He knew he was going through.

"But, Harry," started Hermione, but one look at his face told her it would be useless. "Focus on love, Harry," she urged him. "Come from the same place you did with Voldemort."

Harry nodded, tried to calm his thoughts as Ginny continued screaming, and stepped through the doorway.

The door seemed to close behind him, and it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness. It was not pitch black, but there was very little light. Ginny continued screaming, much more loudly now that he was in the room. Wand already out, without thinking, Harry summoned up the shield that he had created to protect against the Cruciatus Curse, and pointed his wand at Ginny, lying on the ground fifteen feet in front of him. He saw the silvery shield snap on. Ginny stopped screaming, her body slack. He started to run up to her, but found he couldn't move. Fawkes appeared in the air above him, singing.

"Avada Kedavra!" shouted Malfoy, who Harry still could not see, and the green bolt came at him. As he had at Hogsmeade, Fawkes swooped down and swallowed the curse, bursting into flames. Again, he was now a chick walking around the ground.

Slowly, Harry started to be able to make out his surroundings. Near Ginny was what looked like a glass or plastic wall, six feet high and six feet wide. He could now see Malfoy behind it. He knew that it would repel any magic, and that Malfoy was using it as a shield.

Malfoy looked even more smug than usual, if that was possible. "Knew you couldn't resist coming, Potter, being all heroic as you are. You should thank me, now you know that your spell works on other people, too. Too bad you'll never have a chance to tell anyone about it."

Harry tried again to move, but could not. He remembered Hermione's advice, and focused on love. He could feel it all around him. Don't be baited, he thought. He didn't try to attack Malfoy through the shield, knowing it would be useless, and could even bounce back onto him. Harry looked around, and could now see enough to know that they were in the Chamber of Secrets, and that Ginny was lying very close to where she had four years ago.

Malfoy saw Harry's look of recognition. "Yes, I thought this was a good place for this. The Dark Lord almost finished you off here four years ago, but couldn't quite manage it. And now, I get to finish the job. Oh, I've been looking forward to this."

Harry had no desire to listen to Malfoy gloat, but also had no inclination to say anything. He didn't want to give Malfoy the satisfaction. He focused on love, and on a way out of the situation. He tried to move his feet, and again, he couldn't.

"No, you're staying put," said Malfoy, noticing Harry's movements. "I had to use up half the stuff Father had saved, but this is worth it. That will keep you in place, this," gesturing to the wall, "will keep me safe, and this, which you can't see back here, this brought her here."

Harry still said nothing, but couldn't keep confusion off his face. "Yes, you might never have heard of it, being upstanding and all, and this is a classic Dark Arts item. It takes the person who is most loved by the target person within a mile or so and transports them away. Really amazing, actually." Malfoy looked genuinely pleased. "I was a bit surprised it was her, but I guess since Granger got taken by Longbottom-now there's a couple, they really deserve each other-you had to set your sights even lower. Could be worse, I thought there was a chance it would take her brother," Malfoy snickered. "You love him so much, you got him a Firebolt."

Harry felt there was a lot he could say, but again said nothing. He continued to focus on love. He wondered what he could do. He couldn't move, his wand was useless except to protect Ginny, Fawkes had already taken a Killing Curse, and Malfoy could kill him any time he wanted.

Malfoy seemed to be reading his mind. "Not much you can do, is there? I only sent the first Killing Curse to get rid of the phoenix, can't have him running off and bringing Dumbledore here. No, this is just you and me. This is my reward for putting up with you for six years. Harry Potter, the golden boy." He paused. "You really have nothing to say?"

Harry could see he was getting to him. He raised his eyebrows slightly and shook his head, still silent. Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I Silenced her, Potter, not you. I know you're just trying to annoy me. I'm surprised that you'd bother, given that you're going to die very soon, and the longer you keep me entertained, the longer you stay alive. Well, I'll let her speak now, see what she has to say." He pointed his wand at her. She still couldn't move, but Harry could see her eyes. She stared up at Malfoy, her expression stony.

"Following his example, I see," Malfoy said, more annoyed. "Tell you what, Weasley... your boyfriend here's going to die in a few minutes. If you talk to me, I might let him live."

Harry knew, of course, that that was a lie. Ginny apparently did as well, as she continued her silence.

'All right, then," sighed Malfoy, "here we go... no final words, even? I promise to relay them to the Prophet."

Harry could only think of one thing to try. He had no idea whether it would work, but there was nothing else. He concentrated, and visualized a shield, similar to the one that stopped the Cruciatus Curse, again composed of the energy of love. He saw it in his mind, and noticed that its color was green. I wonder why it's green, he thought. But as he saw it, he suddenly knew that it would work. He wasn't even sure how he knew, but he knew. He focused more deeply on love; he was ready.

"So long, Potter... Avada Kedavra!" Malfoy stuck his arm from behind his shield and fired off a green bolt. A vivid green shield snapped on around Harry, and the Killing Curse hit it, fizzled, and died.

Malfoy gaped, unable to believe what he had just seen. Ginny said nothing, but smiled at Harry, delirious with joy and relief. Harry smiled back, then had a flash of understanding about what he had just done. He realized that this shield and the Cruciatus shield were not just isolated spells he had found, but were related, and that there could be a whole class of spells that could only be done by using the energy of love. He didn't linger on the thought, however, as there was still Malfoy to deal with.

Malfoy tried again, and again, the Killing Curse was absorbed by Harry's shield. Seeming to know it would not work, but needing to try anyway, Malfoy pointed his wand at Ginny and said the words. Even as he said them, the green shield snapped on around Ginny, and the bolt dissipated.

Malfoy looked furious and disbelieving, much as Voldemort had in the fifth dream, when Harry had used the other new spell for the first time. "You're still going to die, Potter, just more slowly and painfully. We're in the Chamber of Secrets, and it's been sealed off. No one knows where you are. You can't Disapparate out, and your phoenix can't get you out. I have a way out, of course, but you two will starve and die. I'd rather have watched it myself, but I guess we can't have everything."

He opened what seemed to be a trap door in the floor, and stepped into it. With only his head showing, he grabbed a few things. The shield disappeared, and Harry could now move. Harry aimed his wand, but Malfoy had already ducked below the ground. He pulled the trap door shut, and the ground was just stone; there was no evidence that anything had ever been there.

Ginny could now move as well, but she couldn't stand up. Harry ran to her, sat next to her, and held her. "Harry... I don't believe it..."

"Yeah, it was kind of a surprise to me, too. Well... no Fawkes, no Diffusion, I guess I had to come up with something myself."

She pulled back to see his face, and shook her head. "Something that no other wizard in history has been able to do... I'm overwhelmed, Harry, I don't know what to say. I feel like... even if he's right and we do starve and die here, at least I got to be with you at the end." She looked at him with powerful emotion, a look that he had seen before...

It all came to him in an instant; he had seen that look as she held him right after the fourth dream, and he hadn't been able to identify it. He could now. She was in love with him. And in that instant he knew he was in love with her as well. He had been for, he wasn't sure how long, but he realized he hadn't even admitted it to himself. He was still very afraid, and what had just happened intensified that fear; Ginny had almost been killed precisely because she was the person he loved most. I can't expose her to this risk, he thought, I just can't. I couldn't bear to lose her, or to have her lose me. After this is over...

All this took less than a second to go through his mind as he looked at her, then he pulled her to him again, holding her. After a few seconds, he said, "That's not going to happen. He has to be wrong."

"What do you think we can do?" she asked.

"Well, of course we can search it, see if we find anything interesting, but it's not likely. I think the thing to do is try to Disapparate."

"But Harry, I can't Disapparate. And you heard him, you know that you can't Apparate or Disapparate into or out of Hogwarts."

"I might be able to take you with me, if I can," Harry said. "The Aurors do it, they did it with you once. But even if I can't take you with me, I could go get help. If I can get out, someone can get in. And I know about the thing about Hogwarts, but this is so far underground, maybe it's not considered part of Hogwarts, maybe you just can't Apparate or Disapparate from the surface. It'd be stupid not to try."

"Okay," she said, struggling to her feet. "Wow, I can barely get up. The Cruciatus Curse, it's so horrible... thank goodness I have a friend who knows how to stop it." She smiled and looked at him proudly.

"I was very glad I could," he said. "Now, how do we do this... okay, I think the best thing is for me to carry you. The only problem is that if I go and you don't, you'll fall. I just don't know if I can do it like they can, with the hands on the shoulders."

"Right now, Harry, it wouldn't surprise me if you were able to get the moon turning around the Earth the other way. But you should do it however you want. Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you," she said, as she saw red creep into Harry's cheeks. "I'm just a bit awestruck for some reason."

"I'll deal with it," he said. He bent over and picked up the baby Fawkes, and put him carefully into a pocket in his robes. "Okay, let me pick you up..." Still holding his wand, he bent down, his left arm around her back, and picked her up. He grunted with the effort.

"Am I too heavy for you?" she asked humorously. Ginny's build was normal, so Harry knew she was teasing him.

"No, just never picked up another person before. Okay, I need to concentrate for a minute..." Again he calmed his mind, focusing on love. Now, though, when he focused on love, he saw her face. He looked at her, he saw how she looked at him. He was still frightened, but what was in her eyes made him feel better than he could recall ever feeling. He summoned a mental image of the Hogwarts gates, the closest place to Hogwarts that he could Apparate. He willed himself and Ginny there...

...and it was dark outside the Hogwarts gates; Harry could only see a little light from the castle and from Hogsmeade. He gently put Ginny down, but was still supporting her, as she was shaken from her ordeal. As he did so, he heard two pops, and Cassandra and Tonks suddenly Apparated a few feet away.

"Harry! Ginny! How... where did you Disapparate from?" asked Cassandra, bewildered.

"We were in the Chamber of Secrets, it's a long story," he said, as their eyebrows went high. "I have to get her inside, she's been through a lot."

Cassandra and Tonks exchanged a glance. "Harry," Tonks asked, "that walk we took in December, what were we doing, and what did I say was most important?"

Harry looked puzzled at the non sequitur, but then realized why she was asking. "You were holding my hand, and you said, 'the girl is always right.'"

Tonks nodded. "Sorry, Harry, you can't be too careful. Let's go." They opened the Hogwarts gates. Tonks helped support Ginny as they made their way up to the castle entrance.

They were greeted by a group of Gryffindor and Slytherin first years. "Professor! You're okay!" A few went running off. "Yes, I'm okay," he said. "But we need to get her to the infirmary."

"I'll be all right, Harry," said Ginny. "I just need to relax a little. I didn't get to be held for as long as I should have been."

"I'm sure someone will help you out," he assured her.

They entered the infirmary a few minutes later. Harry saw Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey standing at one end of the room. Ron, Neville, and Hermione were sitting near Pansy's bed. "Ginny!" Ron shouted, leaping up out of his chair. He ran to her and hugged her. "We were really worried." To Harry, he said, "After you and Hermione left, we three started running back to the castle, and halfway there, Ginny just disappeared. We were scared, because we knew it must have something to do with Malfoy." Hermione and Neville hugged Ginny as Ron talked.

"Let's get you to a bed," said Madam Pomfrey, taking Ginny and steering her to the beds. Ginny saw Pansy, and gasped. "What happened?" she asked.

"She wasn't able to say very much," said Hermione, "she lost a fair amount of blood. Malfoy cut her stomach, and used the Curse on her, is what we know for sure. Fortunately, the cut wasn't that deep, so while it looked bad, there was only minor damage to her internal organs. Madam Pomfrey says she'll be okay in a couple of days. He did the Curse on you, didn't he, Ginny? There was a passage from Pansy's dormitory, we could hear you screaming..."

Ginny sat, nodding. "I'd like to borrow Neville for a few minutes, if you wouldn't mind." Neville sat next to her and held her.

Professor Dumbledore approached, the other two teachers behind him. "Harry, I am very glad that you and Ginny are all right. I would very much like to know what happened."

"It's probably just easier if I let you see it," Harry said. "You'll want to anyway. Tonks and Cassandra should too."

Dumbledore nodded and left to get the Pensieve. Harry approached Pansy's bed, but was stopped by Madam Pomfrey. "Professor, I've been very indulgent in allowing so many people to tromp through the infirmary, but she needs sleep. You must not touch her, or speak too loudly."

Harry nodded, and kept his distance from Pansy's bed, much as he wanted to sit next to it and wait for her to get better. A minute later, Dumbledore returned with the Pensieve, and Harry put his memories into it. "Harry, Ginny," said Hermione. "Do you mind if-"

"No, it's fine," said Harry, as Ginny nodded. "Neville, I'll hold her, I don't need to see it again." Neville patted Ginny one more time and got up, Harry taking his place. The three professors, two Aurors, and three friends of Harry's put their fingers into the Pensieve. Harry and Ginny were alone, except for Madam Pomfrey, who was across the infirmary from them.

As Harry held her, Ginny said, "They're going to come out of that thing looking like I did, like they can't believe it. This is big, Harry. Really, really big." She drew back so she could see his face, and gave him a teasing smile. "You're going to be famous."

Harry laughed, trying to keep it down so as not to anger Madam Pomfrey. "And you know how I've always wanted to be famous." He paused, then said, "I was so proud of you for not saying anything when Malfoy talked to you, at the end there."

She shook her head. "It was so obvious he was lying. He just wanted some satisfaction. I enjoyed how you didn't give him any. Well, as much as you can enjoy anything after suffering that Curse. Oh, it's so horrible. Funny, now Ron's the only one of the six of us who's never had it."

"Let's hope it stays that way," said Harry, to which Ginny nodded fervently. "Poor Pansy," said Ginny, "she didn't have anybody to hold her after she got it. She just got stabbed instead. I feel bad for me, but I feel worse for her."

Harry couldn't think of anything to say to that except to agree, and just continued holding her. After a minute, she said, "The Aurors are going to be desperate to learn that spell, the newest one," she clarified. "We're going to have to give them names. But can you imagine what that would mean to an Auror? How much safer it would make them? I assume that's why you told Tonks and Cassandra to go in."

"Yes, that was why. I don't know if they're going to have any better luck learning this one than the other one, but I hope they can. I wondered if maybe they could see something that would help them."

"I hope so," she said, moving out of the embrace but keeping an arm around him. "I don't know what it would be, but you never know."

A minute later, the eight people in the Pensieve stepped out, and started to approach them. As Ginny had suggested, their faces registered mainly awe.

"Well, Harry, I hardly know where to begin," said Dumbledore with what Harry would have assumed was amusement if the situation had been different. "It is as though we must now take what we understood to be true of what wizards are capable of, throw it out, and start again."

"I just want the Aurors to be able to use it," he said.

"We want to too, Harry," said Cassandra. "But this has staggering implications, even more than the other one."

Looking a little pale, Ron stepped forward. "I don't know about the implications. I'm just glad the both of you are still alive." He sat next to Ginny, and put an arm around her.

Neville nodded. "I thought you were done for, Harry, and this was even knowing that you ended up alive." Harry and his friends chuckled.

"I also liked," added Ron, "how in the face of death, you made sure to annoy Malfoy."

Harry nodded. "Just didn't see any point in indulging him. It's always been a waste of time to talk to him anyway. Especially after what he'd done, I wasn't in the mood to banter." He glanced over at Pansy.

"You kept your temper, I'll say that," said Hermione. "Thank you, Harry," she added, kissing him on the cheek, "for saving two good friends of mine."

"Harry, may the Aurors and I have a word with you?" asked Dumbledore. Harry walked over to the other side of the room, while Hermione, Neville, and Ron talked to Ginny.

Harry stood opposite Dumbledore, with Tonks and Cassandra on either side. "Harry, what is almost as stunning as the newest spell is that you were able to Disapparate out of there," said Dumbledore.

Harry frowned in confusion. "But obviously I was right, that the Chamber of Secrets is underground, and therefore..." He stopped as Dumbledore shook his head.

"The anti-Disapparation field which protects Hogwarts is not only extremely powerful and old, but extends above and below the surface of the ground. The Chamber of Secrets is included in the area from which it should be impossible to Disapparate."

"But that's not possible..." Harry trailed off.

"Neither was stopping a Killing Curse, until tonight," pointed out Cassandra.

"How could I have done that?" asked Harry.

"Harry," said Dumbledore gently, "this is speculation, but it is informed speculation. We have discussed the fact that using the energy of love as a basis for your magic makes you powerful. Without wishing to intrude, it was impossible not to notice, just before you Disapparated, how you were looking at Ginny, and she at you. I strongly suspect that at that moment you were more powerful than Voldemort, more powerful than myself. I have tried to Disapparate from the Hogwarts grounds, and I cannot. You chose to Apparate outside the Hogwarts gate because you thought you could not Apparate inside. I think if you had tried to Apparate into the infirmary, you would have done so."

"I don't know what to say," said Harry. "I'm as surprised as you are."

"Well, we should digest this information, and discuss it tomorrow. Perhaps we should leave the young people alone," Dumbledore said to the others. He headed out, followed by the other two teachers, and one of the Aurors. Tonks stayed behind and moved him over to the other end of the infirmary from his friends.

"Harry, you have to tell her," said Tonks urgently, keeping her voice down.

"Tell who what?" Harry asked, confused.

Tonks sighed. "Ginny. You're in love with her, and she is with you. I don't know if you realized when you let us see that, but it was completely obvious. It had to be one of the most emotional moments of your life, and you didn't care if we saw it. You're really something sometimes. But you have to tell her."

Harry closed his eyes. "I don't know if I can, Tonks."

She nodded. "I know you're scared. I can understand-"

"She almost died just because she's the person I love most! That's exactly what scares me so much!" Harry whispered.

"I know," she said sympathetically. "But like a lot of other things in your life, you're stuck with it. She knows. She may deny it to herself until you tell her, but her heart knows, and every day you don't tell her will be a rejection. The reasons won't matter. The fact is that you're in love with her and she with you. If you want to not hurt her, you have to tell her. I'm really sorry, but it's that simple."

Harry looked down. "I believe you, but... I feel like I can't bear doing either one."

Tonks pulled him closer, her face inches from his. "Harry," she said, gripping his shoulders, "look at what the energy of love did just now. Embrace that energy, Harry. Not just as a concept, but in your life. You deserve it for yourself, and for her. What she said, about even if you starve, it'd at least be together... she meant that, and it meant that she'd rather have a few days of love with you than a lifetime without it. Don't deprive her of that, or yourself." She kissed him on the forehead, and left the infirmary.

Harry stood there alone for a moment, lost in thought. He knew Tonks was right, but it was getting up the courage to do something about it that was the problem. So, there was only one thing to do.

He walked over to Ginny's bed, and gestured to Ron a request that he get up so Harry could sit next to Ginny; Ron did so. Madam Pomfrey seemed to have left the infirmary, so he knew he wouldn't be interrupted. "Have you ever just gone ahead and done something because you didn't think you'd have the courage to do it later?" he asked, looking at Ginny.

Ron didn't seem to notice, because he answered. "Sure, I suppose all of us have, but I don't see what that has to do with-"

"Sssshh, Ron!" whispered Hermione. Ron looked at her quizzically.

Not caring that three other people were watching, Harry plowed ahead. "Ginny, I'm in love with you." He said nothing else; suddenly, nothing was as important as her reaction.

She looked dumbfounded, as did Ron and Neville. Hermione smiled joyously and gave a squeak of pleasure, but kept herself in check otherwise. Finally Ginny said, "I thought that you were scared-"

"I am," he interrupted, his voice heavy with emotion. "I've never been so scared of anything in my life. You saw what almost happened tonight. I didn't even know, consciously, that I felt this way, and even that almost got you killed. But after he'd gone, and I looked at you, I just suddenly realized I felt this way. And I'm afraid if I don't say it now, then I never will, so I'm saying it. I just hope you feel the same way."

"Are you kidding?" she asked incredulously. "Do you know how long I've wanted... hoped for..." Tears came to her eyes, and she reached out to put her hands on his shoulders, her face against his, almost nose to nose. "And this isn't just as a stupid ten-year-old, this is this year, last year... I was happy to be your friend, I just never thought I had a chance. I thought I saw it in your eyes back there, but I was afraid I was wrong, or that you'd be too scared... Harry, I love you, and I've been in love with you for a long time. There's nothing I want more than this, and I'll take any risk there is to do it."

Hermione was now crying freely, and Ron and Neville looked very happy. Harry felt tears of happiness coming on, and reflexively tried to stop them, though he didn't care if the others saw him cry. "Oh, Ginny," he said, "I'm sorry I didn't realize it until now. I mean, I sort of knew, but I think I tried to push it down. It was just... something I felt like I couldn't have. I just... anyway, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Harry. Look at me." He did, and love shone from her eyes in a way that he could never have imagined until he saw it. She gently touched his cheek. "Do I look like you should be apologizing to me, for anything?"

He didn't answer, but looked back at her, hoping his feelings showed in his eyes. Ginny smiled brilliantly, her face already close to his. She leaned in a little more and kissed him gently and quickly on the lips, as if not to startle him. She looked at him, smiling, her eyes asking, 'was that okay?' He smiled in response, and she kissed him again, more firmly, for a few seconds. He hoped he was doing it all right; he had no idea, but she seemed pleased enough. They broke apart, their faces still close, and smiled at each other. "I suddenly feel," he said, "like I'd like to do a lot more of that."

"As soon as you want, I'll show you the places on the map," said Hermione happily.

Harry leaned forward and rested his head on her shoulder, his arms around her. "I'm so happy," he whispered. "Me too," she whispered back. He glanced up to see Hermione happier than he'd ever seen her; he wondered if they hadn't quite whispered quietly enough.

Ginny pulled back enough to look into his eyes. "Harry," she said, "I admire you so much for doing this even though you were really scared. But I want you to try not to be. This is the best feeling in the world, this is what life is all about. We have to dive into it, and not think about what could happen." She smiled. "Besides, now that you're in love, your magic will be even stronger."

"Dumbledore thinks that's what happened, actually," he said. He related the conversation he'd had, and the others shook their heads.

"It's still amazing what you did," said Hermione. "But I saw, I think we all saw, that look you exchanged before you Disapparated. It wouldn't surprise me at all."

"That's true," said Ron. "Even I, who's supposed to be emotionally stunted, could see-"

"Stop saying that, Ron, you'll make me feel bad," Hermione admonished him. "Besides, you're getting better."

Ron grinned, though whether it was at her comment or having annoyed her, Harry couldn't tell. "Anyway, that look after Malfoy left... I couldn't mistake that, either. Oh, Ginny, can you imagine Mum's reaction to this?"

Ginny laughed. "She'll be in heaven. This is what she's always wanted."

"Really?" Harry asked. He hadn't known that.

"She's constantly hinted around about it," said Ginny. "It's not like I needed her encouragement, but she did it anyway. Harry, she doesn't think about the danger, not even after Percy. She loves us both, and what mother doesn't want the best possible man for her daughter? Never mind the accomplishments, but the qualities that got you chosen by Fawkes are ones she's known about for a long time, it's why she loves you so much. She'll be ecstatic. Dad'll be happy too, mind you, but we have to tell her soon. This'll give her something good to think about, you know she's still mourning Percy pretty strongly."

"Too bad vacation just ended," Harry agreed. "When can we tell her?"

"You could tell them, Harry," Hermione pointed out. "You're a teacher, you should be able to come and go as you like."

"I hadn't thought of that," Harry admitted. "But I'd really like to tell them with both of us there. Do you think Dumbledore would give special permission for a quick trip for both of us?"

"Hard to say, he might have security issues," said Ron. "Well, talk to him, anyway, and see what he says. Be sure to mention the cheering-her-up angle."

Harry laughed; the others looked at him inquiringly. "I was just thinking, there were three attempts on my life today, but I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. I knew love was powerful, but..."

Ginny smiled. "If it can do that, I guess we shouldn't be shocked that it can beat the Killing Curse." She reached forward to hug Harry again. "Harry, you have no idea how happy you've made me... this feeling, it's just... Hermione, where were those places again?"

Everyone laughed, Ginny still hugging Harry, as Madam Pomfrey walked into the infirmary. Glancing at them, she said, "I'd say the young lady has had enough recuperation," referring to the hugging. She leaned over to check Pansy.

Ginny whispered to Harry, "You can never have too much recuperation." He giggled, trying not to laugh out loud and further annoy Madam Pomfrey. Not taking her eyes off of Pansy, Madam Pomfrey said, "That was my way of saying that you all should be going now, if you didn't catch my drift."

"We'd really like to stay here and wait with her," said Harry.

"One of you can stay," she conceded. "Not all of you."

"I'll be the one to stay," said Ron. "You two couples go on ahead, look at maps, and stuff."

The others smiled and nodded. Harry stopped by Pansy's bed. "Get better soon, Pansy," he whispered. The others offered similar sentiments as they headed out. Ron pulled up a chair as they left, Neville and Hermione arm in arm, followed by Harry and Ginny, arm in arm as well.

Outside the portrait hole, Harry suddenly changed his mind about going to Gryffindor Tower. "I'm going to Dumbledore's office, to talk to him about the thing about your parents," he told Ginny. Taking a quick look up and down the hall and seeing no one other than Hermione and Neville, he moved in for a quick kiss before heading off. He knew they couldn't be doing that in public, but the novelty and the excitement were exhilarating. He walked off towards Dumbledore's office.

He knocked on the door, which opened, and he walked in. Tonks and Cassandra were standing; apparently they had been on their way out. He greeted them, which seemed to give them more than enough information. Tonks grinned. "You told her, didn't you? It's all over your face." Harry smiled broadly, which came naturally to him right then. Tonks made a sound of delight. "All right, Harry! You did it!"

He looked at her earnestly. "Seriously, Tonks, it's thanks to you, what you said. I just made up my mind to go over and do it. I don't think I would have otherwise."

"She was very happy, I assume," said Cassandra.

"Yes, she was," said Harry. "It was just the reaction you hope for when you tell someone you're in love with them, I would imagine."

They congratulated him, said goodbye, and left. Dumbledore looked up at Harry. "I believe, Harry, that I have never seen you anywhere near as happy as you are right now. It gives me great pleasure."

"Thank you, sir. I had never imagined what this felt like. It's ironic, since I've been using the energy of love for my spells, but only now do I realize what it feels like when it's as strong as this. Ginny was saying, no wonder it can defeat the Killing Curse."

"Indeed. What is also ironic is that had Malfoy not used that particular device to attempt to lure you to your doom, you probably would not have discovered what you have now discovered."

"Yes, sir. Particularly since how it works is exactly why I was so reluctant in the first place. What I wanted to ask you, sir, was about how soon I can meet the Weasleys to tell them this. Ron and Ginny have told me that Molly has been hoping for this, and I'd like to give her some good news for a change."

Dumbledore looked at him affectionately. "That is very thoughtful, Harry. I am pleased to be able to tell you that I contacted them after Ginny went missing. They are en route, and should be here any time now."

"That's great, sir. I'll go get Ginny. Where should we meet them?"

"I believe the staff room should be available, as the hour is late. I will escort them there when they arrive. You and Ginny should go straight there."

"Thank you, sir." He left Dumbledore's office and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. He felt as though he wanted to run, he had so much energy. Now this is really the energy of love, he thought.

He walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Fish and chips," he said, and he climbed in. He was immediately accosted by some first years wanting to hear his account of what had happened. "I'm sorry, I can't, there's people waiting for us. Ginny," he shouted. She ran over. "Your parents are on the way, they'll be here any time." They climbed out again, and walked toward the staff room, hand in hand.

"Harry," she said, "would you believe me if I told you that you were only gone for ten minutes, but I missed you?"

He grinned. "Yes, I would. I feel like I don't want to do anything else but be with you. Now I really wish this had happened before vacation."

"Well, look on the bright side, Harry, that it happened at all. You would have gone on for who knows how long, a few years maybe, never letting yourself feel like this. I'm just so glad that didn't happen."

"I see what you mean. I could easily imagine that happening. It's almost scary now to think about that."

"Well, we don't have to think about it if we don't want to, since it didn't happen," she said happily. "Where are we going?"

"The staff room," he answered.

"Too bad Hermione's not here, she's always wanted to go in there," joked Ginny. Looking at him as they walked, she asked, "So, you felt this way, but you didn't know?"

He thought for a few seconds. "I'm not sure... like I said, I just felt like it was something I couldn't have. If I ever started thinking about it, the fear would take over, and it made me stop. But I think in some way, I knew. It's kind of hard to explain."

She put her arm around his waist as they walked, and squeezed him. "I'm sorry, Harry. That must have been really hard. I know you must still be scared. But I'm serious, even if something happened to one of us tomorrow, I'd never regret this. Some things are so good they're worth taking risks for, and this is definitely one. If you feel anything like I do, you'll know that's true."

"Before this happened, I'm not sure I would have believed that," he answered. "But feeling the way I feel right now, I know you're right. I'm still scared, but I'm glad I did this. I wouldn't take it back even if I could. I never imagined that it felt like this." She squeezed him again as they approached the staff room.

They walked in, and Arthur and Molly were standing in the middle of the room, talking to Dumbledore. "Harry! Ginny!" exclaimed Molly, rushing toward them, hugging them both at once, one with each arm. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right. Now, what happened?"

Dumbledore excused himself, and Harry started telling the story. Molly reacted very strongly to it, gasping when he told her what had happened to Pansy, about Ginny undergoing the Cruciatus Curse, and upon hearing how he was held in place by Malfoy. Harry discovered that when he took out everything Malfoy said, the story didn't take that long to tell. When Harry got to the part about the newest spell, their jaws dropped, and they were speechless. Finally Arthur said, "I was wondering how you could have gotten out of that... amazing... but how did you even get out of the Chamber?"

"I Disapparated out, and carried Ginny."

"But you can't Disapparate out of anyplace in Hogwarts," pointed out Arthur.

"I thought the Chamber might be different, since it was underground. So I tried, and it worked. It was only afterwards that I found out that I shouldn't have been able to do it."

Again, the Weasleys looked stunned. "So, how did you do it?" asked Molly.

"Well, that brings us to the best part of the story," said Ginny, obviously relishing the anticipation of her mother's reaction. "You see, something else happened that's even better than Harry finding a shield for the Killing Curse."

Both Weasleys raised their eyebrows. "This ought to be good," mused Arthur.

"Something about what happened down there, I'm not sure what it was," explained Harry, "but... after I knew Ginny was safe, and I hugged her and looked at her, something just clicked... and I realized that I was in love with her. After we got back to the infirmary, I told her." Ginny's beaming face provided its own commentary.

Molly let out a high-pitched squeal of joy, and reached out and hugged Ginny hard, causing her to gasp for breath. After a few seconds, she did the same with Harry. Then she hugged her husband, who just smiled. "That's wonderful," he said. "We're really very happy for you." He paused, then added, "At least I am, I can't speak for Molly." She lightly and playfully hit his arm, as Harry and Ginny laughed.

"Oh, my, I'm so happy I can barely say anything," said Molly, still ecstatic. "It's so wonderful... Ginny, how do you feel?"

She just smiled at her mother and, instead of answering, turned to Harry and planted a firm kiss on his lips. After five seconds, she released him. He felt a bit dazed, but happy. "That should answer your question," said Ginny.

"It does," said her beaming mother. "You know there are places you can go to be alone, right?"

Harry was taken slightly aback at a girl's mother suggesting such a thing, but then he thought, most girls' mothers aren't quite this happy at their daughter's choice of a boyfriend. "Yes, Mum, Hermione said she'll tell us where they all are," said Ginny. "The only problem, of course, is that Harry's so busy. Saturdays with the Aurors, him and Neville teaching us what they learn from them, homework, teaching... we won't have as much time as most students. But I'll take what time with him that I can get."

"You'll get all I can give you, believe me," said Harry. Molly beamed again and rubbed Harry's head.

"Not to get off the subject, because this is really terrific," said Arthur, "but what does it have to do with Disapparating out of the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Well, you know that I've gotten used to using the energy of love for all my magic now," explained Harry. "Just before I Disapparated, I looked at her, and felt this powerful feeling of love, more than I had ever felt. Professor Dumbledore thinks that was what got us out of there, that it made my magic that powerful. He said he can't do what I did."

Molly and Arthur looked amazed again. "Yeah, I know, I kind of feel that way myself," agreed Harry. "But right now, I'm much happier about Ginny than I am about that, or the new shield."

"You sweet boy," said Molly fondly, touching his face. "Oh, my... we came out here just hoping there wouldn't be a disaster, and we find out this... this is just so wonderful, we love you both so much..."

"I'm really glad, Molly," said Harry. "I didn't know you'd feel this way. I would have thought you'd be concerned about the extra danger it brings to Ginny."

She looked at him sadly, though still very happy. "Harry, you have to understand, I love you as much as I love the children I gave birth to. I'm always concerned about the danger you're in, and it endangered Ron and Ginny anyway. She won't be in that much more danger by being the girl you love. Yes, I'm concerned, but I would never let it affect how I feel about this. You two are so good for each other, you both love so well..." Molly was practically swooning. "There's going to be wonderful grandchildren from this, I can feel it."

"I was wondering how long after we told her it was going to take before we heard the word 'grandchildren,'" joked Ginny.

"Molly, she's only fifteen," pointed out Arthur. "You don't want to go giving her ideas."

"I already have ideas," Ginny said, raising her eyebrows and grinning at Harry. "Don't worry, Dad, I'm not in a hurry for children. But I know what Mum means, just eventually. I know Mum, tomorrow she'll be picking out wedding patterns."

"I will not," said Molly unconvincingly. Arthur chuckled.

Harry looked at Ginny. "She might as well. The way I feel isn't going to change. I'm sure of that." He knew as he said it that he was saying a lot, but he also knew that even though he said it impulsively, it was how he felt, and he didn't regret saying it.

Ginny looked at him with boundless love, and hugged him, her eyes starting to tear up. Molly's were as well. Ginny held his shoulders and said, "I love you so much, Harry... I feel like there's so much I want to say, but I just don't have the words."

He nodded. "I know what you mean, I felt that way earlier. It's just... an amazing feeling."

Arthur took a step toward them. "You know we're both thrilled for you, and Harry, I know you mean what you say. I'm sure I said the same thing to Molly thirty-two years ago; when we fell in love, we were about the same ages you are now. But I'm the practical one, so I want to give you both some practical advice. There are dangers and problems in any relationship, no matter how happy, so I want to give you some warning of the most common ones.

"The most important thing is to always talk, always communicate. If you're unhappy about something to do with the other person, you'll want to not say anything, so you don't upset them. But believe me, you pay a price in the end for that. You'll store up resentments and unhappiness, and it'll be harder to deal with later on. You always have to say when something's bothering you, even if it seems irrational, and the other person has to respect that person's feelings. If you don't, it'll be that much harder, eventually."

"Believe me, we know," added Molly. "We have a lot of hard-earned experience. We just hope it can be less hard for you."

Harry and Ginny nodded, both serious now. Harry was trying to digest this; he was barely used to the idea of being in a relationship, so it was all a bit much.

"A lot of men, Harry, have the problem of at times not being attentive or thoughtful enough," continued Arthur. "It kind of seems like that may not be such a problem for you. I hope that's the case. But you may have to be especially cognizant of Ginny's feelings, because this may be harder for her than for you at times, for the same reasons that sometimes you don't like being Harry Potter."

"How do you mean, Dad?" asked Ginny.

"Well, Ginny, you have gotten yourself-and I don't mean to embarrass you, Harry, I'm just trying to state an objective truth-the most desirable boy in your age range in the entire wizarding world." Harry tried, not very successfully, not to be embarrassed as Ginny and Molly smiled at him. "Good as that is, there will be drawbacks. He's going to get a lot of attention from people, many of whom he doesn't know, and he has to be polite and attentive to that, since he's so famous, and now a public person. You're going to feel like there are too many people tugging at him. He's still going to get attention from women, even though they'll know he's taken. I can't imagine there won't be times when you'll feel jealous, if not of a specific woman, then just anybody who puts a demand on Harry's time. That's going to be hard for you, and Harry, you need to recognize that, and try to be understanding of it, if she acts put out by it at times."

Molly raised her eyebrows. "This is, of course, from Arthur's long experience of being highly popular, sought after by many women, demands on his time..."

"And thank goodness for that," he replied, accepting her joke well. "I wouldn't want the celebrity thing any more than Harry does. But, as he knows, he's stuck with it, and now Ginny is too. Honey, you're going to start seeing your name in the Prophet, and it won't always be complimentary."

She nodded. "I already knew that, from Harry's experience last year. But they can say anything they want about me, I don't care as long as I have him."

"I know that's true. I'm just saying, it won't be easy at times."

"I was just thinking," recalled Harry, "when Tonks talked to me about girlfriends, she said the most important thing to remember is, 'the girl as always right.'"

The others chuckled. "Not always, I would argue," said Arthur. "More than half the time, definitely. I think women are just naturally better at relationships than men. It's possible that Tonks meant that even if the girl seems to you to be wrong, you can't dismiss it, you have to realize she could be right even if it seems impossible to you that she is. Or, to put it another way, her feelings are never wrong, they just are. You can never say 'you shouldn't feel that way,' because she does, and can't help it."

"Yes, that phrase is a big danger sign," agreed Molly. "Another one is, if one of you says, 'I don't want to talk about it,' that's exactly the time to talk about it. That's where relationships can be hard. You do things you find very hard to do, because you love the other person and don't want to cause them pain. That's very basic, but also hard at times. If you love someone and they're in pain, you do everything you can to help them. If you do that, you can deal with whatever comes along."

"I'm pretty sure I can do that," said Harry.

Looking into his eyes, Ginny said, "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, Harry. If you're in pain for any reason, whether or not it has to do with me, I want to know. Please don't ever keep what you're going through from me, even if you mean to protect me."

"I'll try," he said, though knowing he would want to protect her.

"Oh, and one other thing," added Arthur. "Revel in this feeling you have now, enjoy it for all it's worth. I don't mean stop studying, but just stop frequently to appreciate it, and each other. I didn't mean to depress you with all this serious advice, like this is some chore you have to start working at. It should be joyful, and it will be. I just want to save you some pain if I can."

"Well, we should get back home now, we know you can't be out of Gryffindor Tower past a certain time." Molly hugged Harry, saying, "It's not only Ginny you've made very happy, Harry." She then hugged Ginny, whispering something to her which caused her to giggle. Molly and Arthur said goodbye and left the staff room.

Harry and Ginny stayed for a moment. "Can you tell me what she whispered to you?" Harry asked.

Ginny giggled again. Because they were alone, she leaned over and gave him a long kiss. They both smiled, then she answered his question. "She said that her and Dad's favorite spot was near the lake, behind some bushes against the castle wall."

Harry chuckled. "Boy, will I get teased in here tomorrow. John and Flitwick, I imagine, will have a lot of fun with me, and McGonagall will probably have a comment. They'll be impressed about the other thing, and they'll say that, too, but it'll mainly be about you."

They left the staff room. "You like it that they do that, don't you?"

"Of course; they do it because they like me, and it's all in fun. They often have a go at each other. Except Snape, of course. But one reason I like getting teased is it means I can do it to them, too. I usually don't, but I do if I think of something good. It's just very comfortable."

"I'm glad, Harry. You're just a likable person."

He put an arm around her. "Just so long as you keep liking me."

"Not much danger of that stopping," she assured him.

Back in Gryffindor Tower, they were greeted with more questions, which Harry now had time to answer, Ginny at his side. He, and they, were congratulated by many, which seemed to please Ginny even more than Harry. "I'm not used to being the center of attention, like you are," she said at one point.

"Better get used to it," he replied.

Finally they sat with Neville and Hermione, who they told about the conversation with the Weasleys. Hermione, still in a state of high excitement, asked for their maps, and ran off to her dormitory. When she got back, she returned their maps to them.

"A little modification I made for mine when Neville and I got together," she explained. "You know how I set yours to sound an alarm if Crabbe or Malfoy got anywhere near you? I had already made a similar one on mine; I changed mine so that it could be set to make a soft beeping noise if anyone got to within ten yards of us. It was very useful in certain situations, situations which I think you'll be finding yourself in too."

Ginny told them what her mother had whispered, and they chuckled. "Yes, that's a good one," Hermione agreed. "Here, I'll show you the others."

She laid the map out in front of them, making sure no one else could see. They no longer needed them for defense, thought Harry, but it was good to put them to another, happier use.

Harry and Neville left their dormitory a little early the next morning; Ron had not come back. Harry wondered if Ron's status as a prefect had anything to do with Madam Pomfrey not throwing him out of the infirmary. Ginny and Hermione were waiting for them in the common room. Harry knew he had to get used to the idea that they couldn't be too physically affectionate in places like the common room or the halls, but he had to think to stop himself from kissing Ginny anyway. They settled for exchanging very happy looks.

They had decided the night before to stop by the infirmary before breakfast to see how Pansy was doing. As they entered, Harry saw Ron and Pansy talking, Ron holding Pansy's hand. When Ron saw them, he put it down quickly, and stood up to greet them.

"She's doing a lot better," said Ron. "Still can't get up, and shouldn't, but Madam Pomfrey says she should only have to spend one more night here, then she can leave."

"It's so good to see you all, thank you for coming by like this, as soon as you could," said Pansy.

"We would have all stayed the night if Madam Pomfrey had let us," Hermione assured her. "When did you wake up?"

"At about three o'clock," said Pansy. "Ron was still awake, but he looked tired. He kept saying he wasn't tired, but he was really lying."

As the others laughed, Ron said, "Well, once you woke up I wasn't tired. I had someone to talk to."

She smiled and took his hand again. "He was just paying me back for that night I spent talking to him last month."

Ron looked embarrassed to have his hand held in front of the others. "I would have done it anyway," he said.

Harry sat down on the other side of the bed from Ron. "Pansy, I'm so sorry that happened. We shouldn't have left you alone, we would have been better off making sure the whole school knew, and looked out for you. We should have had protection in your dormitory-"

She cut him off. "Harry, you can't think like that, you can't blame yourself for everything. Dumbledore thought it was okay, everyone did except you. I never expected him to come after me, only you. It's the chance I took. It's easy to see this kind of thing in retrospect. It was awful, I admit, but I'm okay now. I don't regret anything, and if I had to suffer, I'm proud of the reason it happened." Harry was very proud of her, but still distressed at what she had suffered for him. Seeing this, she changed the subject. "Ron told me about you two, I'm so happy for you. He described what happened here last night, I spent a half hour pressing him for every little detail. You haven't lived until you've tried to get Ron to describe a touching emotional scene in full detail."

The others laughed again, and even Ron couldn't keep a grin off his face. "It wasn't that bad," he admonished her. "I'm going to have to take lessons from Harry on how to get rid of this reputation I have."

"All you have to do is watch him, Ron," teased Ginny. "That's all the lesson you'll need."

Pansy, Neville, and Hermione laughed. "That was pretty good, Ginny," said Pansy. "You managed to tease both of them-Ron for his discomfort with emotion, and Harry for his modesty-with one comment." Then she said, "Seriously, it's wonderful. I know you'll be really happy together."

"You should have seen them after we left the infirmary," said a smiling Hermione. "They were both so giddy. It was like they had been given too many Cheering Charms."

Ginny shook her head. "No Cheering Charm could have made me as happy as I was last night, as happy as I am now."

They all talked for another ten minutes. All five, including Ron, were going to go to breakfast, but Pansy asked Harry to stay back, and he did, after exchanging a goodbye glance with Ginny. As they left, Harry heard Ron asking Hermione if she could whip him up a potion that would keep him awake all day. Harry imagined that she would give him a lecture on not depending on potions for that kind of thing, then do it anyway.

"You're still giddy, Harry," Pansy said. "It really suits you."

"Thanks," he replied, glad that she was happy for him. "Should we be expecting any announcements about you and Ron anytime soon?"

"Why do you say that?"

"He dropped your hand a little too fast when we came in," Harry explained. "If he was just doing it as a friend, like he might for Hermione, he wouldn't have cared what we saw when we came in."

"Very perceptive, Harry. I don't know... I can tell he likes me, and I think it may be in that way. I'm just not sure. I'll ask Hermione later, she knows him better than me. But considering how un-expressive he's supposed to be, he's been fairly expressive. Who knows, maybe he's just trying to be different with me. Maybe he was being extra nice because of what happened to me, or my spending the night talking to him after Percy died. It's hard to say. I don't think he's just going to come out and say 'I'm in love with you' like you did with Ginny. That was pretty impressive."

"It's like jumping into a pool not knowing whether it's warm or cold, you just have to decide to do it," Harry said. "I knew I had a good chance of a positive reaction; the hardest thing was getting past my fears. You know how I worry," he joked. "Still, I was really nervous. So how are you on Ron?"

"I really like him, of course. I think I need to spend more time with him to be sure, in more normal situations, but I really like what I've seen. We'll just have to see how it goes. I know the rest of you will be trying to push us together."

Harry smiled. "I'd be very happy to see it, of course. And Hermione would love it. She and you could gang up on teasing Ron. I think she noticed the thing with the hand like I did; I hope she doesn't tease him about it."

"I don't think she will, Harry. I think she knows what to tease him about and what not to." She looked at him seriously. "I asked you to stay back because there's something I want you to do for me. I think it's something you're not going to want to do, and I wouldn't blame you."

Harry was surprised she would say such a thing, after what she had done for him. "Pansy, there's literally nothing I wouldn't do for you. Just ask."

She gestured to the Pensieve two yards away. "Professor Dumbledore must have left that there from last night. I want to put my memory of what happened yesterday in there. I want you to see it."

Now Harry understood why she had said he wouldn't want to do as she asked, but he knew he couldn't refuse her anything. He nodded somberly. "Of course, I'll do it. I am curious as to why, though."

She nodded. "I know, but it'll be easier to explain after you've seen it; you may even know without my telling you."

He moved the Pensieve over closer to the bed, and told her how to move her memories over. She did, and he put a finger inside.

He was standing in Pansy's dormitory; she was alone. She was putting something away in her trunk. She turned around and gave a start as Malfoy suddenly appeared in front of her, out of nowhere.

"Draco!" she gasped, slipping into her acting mode, Harry could tell. "What are you doing here? How did you-"

Unfortunately, Malfoy wasn't buying it. "Shut up, you lying bitch!" he said quietly, with fury, as he Silenced her with his wand. "If you scream when I lift the Silencing, I'll kill you immediately. You have one chance to tell me the truth. Why did you betray me?"

"Draco, I don't know what you're-"

He Silenced her again. "Wrong answer, Pansy. Crucio!"

She screamed silently and collapsed, writhing uncontrollably. Harry wanted to look away, but didn't, out of respect for what Pansy had done, and suffered. It was very painful for him to watch, even as a memory that he knew was long over. But not long for her, he imagined. He felt he understood why she wanted him to see it; she would live with this for the rest of her life, and she wanted someone else to know exactly what she had been through. He was a little surprised she hadn't chosen Ron, however.

She screamed in agony for what Harry guessed was about fifteen seconds before Malfoy stopped it and lifted the Silencing again. She breathed heavily and whimpered, still in shock. Pitiless, Malfoy knelt and leaned over her.

"I know what you did. Why did you do it?"

She took another few seconds to recover, then looked up. Now, her expression was defiant. "For him," she said.

Harry's name had not yet been spoken, but it was clear to Malfoy who she meant. He looked outraged and stunned. "You... you let me... touch you... to save him?"

Harry cringed. Oh, my God, I did not want to know that, he thought. Then he was immediately ashamed of himself for the thought. If she can suffer it, the least I can do is know about it if she wants me to, he told himself. But he was still terribly pained at the thought of what she had done.

Pansy nodded. "Why?" asked Malfoy quietly.

"I love him," said Pansy. "He's noble, brave, kind, and selfless. He suffered terribly to help all wizards everywhere. And he's right, you can't possibly understand it, you'll tell yourself some lie to make yourself feel strong. He'll beat Voldemort one day, and I wanted to make sure he stayed alive to get the chance."

Fury reasserted itself as the dominant feature on Malfoy's face. He Silenced her again, and again said "Crucio!"

Pansy screamed noiselessly again, pain and terror on her face. Malfoy kept it going for a good deal longer this time; Harry was sure it was longer than a minute. As it continued, Harry recalled how Neville had felt last night; even though he knew Pansy was fine, right then, he feared for her sanity. He wondered how long it took before that became a risk. His memories of how it felt came flooding back, and it had lasted far less long for him.

Finally, it stopped. Pansy gasped and lay limp, unmoving, eyes glazed. "Still want to sing his praises? Tempt me, and I'll send you the way of Longbottom's parents. Go on, say some more nice things about him."

Pansy looked very afraid, which Harry could positively understand. She said nothing.

"Well, I guess you're not so stupid as to let yourself get tortured when you can help it, unlike your hero," Malfoy sneered. "Tell me, Pansy, does he love you too?"

Shedding some of her fear, she spoke again. "I'll never be worthy of him. He would never say that, but it's true." Harry noticed that she hadn't directly answered his question.

Malfoy shook his head in wonder. "I swear, he addles everyone he comes in contact with. If he has some special power, it's to make people stupid. Well, you'd better hope he doesn't, because if he does, you'll be dead very shortly, along with him. Of course, you might prefer that than what I've got planned for you."

He Silenced, then Cursed her again, this time for about thirty seconds. Again Harry winced as he saw her endure unimaginable pain. Just that thirty seconds, he knew, was more than he'd suffered in all his dreams combined. When it was over, she lay limp again. Far too weak to stop him, Pansy gasped for breath again as Malfoy got out a small, sharp knife. Harry cringed again, knowing what was coming. Malfoy used the knife to tear her robes and shirt, exposing her stomach. He started below and to the left of her navel, cutting upwards, then down, then up again. She screamed and tried to move, but could hardly manage any movement. As the blood flowed from the cut, Malfoy took the knife's edge and turned up one side of the cut, as if curious to see what was underneath her skin. Harry was revolted that anybody, even Malfoy, could do such a thing.

Malfoy moved from where he'd been as the blood started to reach the floor, and moved to kneel behind her head. "Now, you and he will have even more in common, so you should be happy about that," he said with a cruel smile. "If you're lucky, you'll die of blood loss before anyone finds you. A small penalty for betraying me like you did. But if you survive, you'll pay a higher price. I'll take my time, I'll wait until you're defenseless and alone, and I'll take the time I don't have now to do this right. You'll be pleading for me to kill you quickly, and maybe I will, if you plead well enough. Or maybe I'll just give you an hour of the Curse, who knows. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. But you shouldn't be surprised to see me again, because you will. And I'll be looking forward to it."

He took something out of his robes and adjusted it, and the doorway that Harry had come through suddenly appeared. Without a look back, Malfoy walked through it. Pansy fumbled through her torn robes for her Galleon; finding it, she pressed it. Harry was amazed that she had enough strength to do that much. Suddenly, Pansy was standing up, frozen in place, putting something away in her trunk. The memory was over, and Harry pulled his finger out of the Pensieve.

Pansy looked at him, and he took her hand, looking at her with intense sorrow. "I can barely remember what happened, when it's in there," she said. "I wish I could leave it there. But I know I can't." Harry showed her how to restore her memories, and she did.

She sat up halfway, leaning on one elbow. Harry leaned forward and hugged her, trying to be gentle out of concern for her injury. He desperately wished he could take away her pain. He moved his head and looked into her eyes, wanting her to see how he felt.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said quietly. "I know that was really, really unpleasant. You probably still wonder-"

"I think I know," he said, equally quietly. "You wanted somebody to know what you'd been through. Seeing it is different from hearing about it."

She nodded. "Partly that. I didn't want you to feel bad for me especially, though I knew you would, that it would be really painful for you. That's why I'm sorry. But something in me wants to know, needs to know that you know what I suffered for you. Maybe that's selfish, I don't know. But at the same time, I feel like I didn't suffer it only for you. I feel like I had a debt to pay for all the stuff I'd done before. I think it's safe to say that I've paid it, that I can look in the mirror now. That may sound stupid, but it's what I feel.

"And also... I am scared of him coming back for me. I know he can't get me at Hogwarts, but there's no reason he can't get me during the summer. I'm sure he'll do what he says he'll do."

"I won't let it happen," he said fervently. "I'll do whatever it takes, I'll get the Aurors to protect you or get Dumbledore to keep you at Hogwarts over the summer if I have to. But I will not let anything happen to you. I'll keep you safe until Malfoy is caught, like you kept me safe." Harry didn't truly know that he could make that happen, but he knew he was determined. He would do something.

"Thank you, Harry," she said. "That was another reason I showed you. I wanted you to know why I was scared. I'm not as brave as you are, you would face that without running for help."

"I'm not so sure of that," he said. "Voldemort's after me, but Dumbledore arranges for my protection. Fortunately, I'm getting stronger, and may not need it that much longer. I'm also going to find out if there's some way I can protect you personally, be your own personal Auror. But you shouldn't be ashamed of being scared. What you went through was horrible, and the thought that worse could happen in the future... I understand why you wanted me to see it. I won't let anything happen to you, Pansy," he repeated, willing it to be true.

"I know. I see it in your eyes, you'll do anything you possibly can. Knowing that makes me feel better. I know how you are when you're that determined, nothing will stop you."

"No, it won't," he agreed, still meeting her eyes. She looked reassured, and happier. After a few seconds, he asked, "How's your stomach doing? Is the cut healing all right?"

By way of answer, she reached down and pulled up her blouse enough to completely expose her stomach. Harry did a double-take as he could see no evidence that there had ever been an injury. He moved his head closer to get a better look, then backed away a bit and glanced up at her, embarrassed that maybe he was looking too closely. She chuckled and said, "Go ahead, look as closely as you want." He did, and could still see nothing. Eyebrows high, he looked at her inquiringly.

"Madam Pomfrey was pretty surprised too," Pansy said, pulling her blouse back down. "She's sure it was because of Fawkes. When she first saw it, she knew it wasn't deep enough to be life-threatening, but she thought there would be a scar. So I'll be sure to thank Fawkes the next time I see him.

"By the way, I wanted to make sure you knew... when I said to Malfoy that I loved you, it was in the same way as you said it to me on that card. I knew that Malfoy would take it the other way, and I was happy to have him do that. I just wanted to make him mad. Guess that wasn't such a good idea."

"He'd have done all that stuff to you anyway, Pansy," Harry said. "And I understood how you meant it, in the memory. But you were wrong about what you said after that; there's nothing that would make you not worthy of me." He saw a skeptical look, then continued. "Please don't tell anyone this, because I haven't told Ginny, and I don't know if I will... but after Hermione and Neville got together, I started thinking about the idea of a girlfriend more, because I saw how happy they were. It wasn't serious, because I knew I wouldn't let myself have one, at least I thought. I thought, maybe in a couple of years... but I daydreamed about it. When I did, I thought about Ginny, but I also thought about you. It didn't happen to turn out that way, but my point is that it never occurred to me that you weren't worthy of me. I felt like it was very possible."

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Harry. That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me, and you've said a lot. It means so much to me. I suppose that was just something I told myself so I wouldn't let myself think about it too much. I had to try hard not to fall in love with you. It would have been so easy... anyway, thank you."

Harry nodded, and gripped her hand more tightly. "You spent a lot of time talking to Ron. Did you tell him what happened, what I saw?"

She nodded. "He was so angry at Malfoy, he really wanted to kill him. He said a lot of nice things about me, about what I did all year. He was very sweet. He really can be, when he wants to be. I told him almost everything, but I did leave out one thing. You can probably guess which one."

"I think so," he said. "And I can guess why. If you do end up with him, you don't want that image in his head."

"Yes, that's right. You're the only one who knows, and it's going to stay that way."

Harry shook his head. "I think Hermione knows," he said. To her inquiring look, he added, "I didn't understand it at the time, but... when you signaled yesterday afternoon, we got out the map to find Malfoy, to see if he was anywhere nearby. She was the one looking at the map, and she-"

"Saw us in one of the places that couples go for privacy," Pansy finished. "Did she say anything about it?"

"No, she just didn't say anything for a minute, then she said she saw you moving. But then later, in Dumbledore's office, when you said you got Malfoy to tell you what he'd done, she kind of twitched. Now, knowing what happened, I can put it together. She had to have figured it out. I was wondering why she hugged you like that, she must have felt awful for you, and grateful for what you did. But she won't tell anyone, I'm sure of that."

"She's pretty clever, we all know that," Pansy mused. "I think that was why Malfoy was so vicious. I poured on the charm, sympathy, flattery, you name it. I was afraid I might be overdoing it, but he's weak and vain, and it worked. He'd been after me to let him do that for over a year. It was revolting, but I'm proud that I did it."

Harry shook his head in wonder. "There's a big part of me that would rather you hadn't done that, even though I'd be dead if you hadn't," he admitted. "But I know you chose it, and that you're proud of it. It's... just so much..." He trailed off for a minute, then continued, emotion in his voice. "That you would do that for me... it means more to me than I can say."

"I know," she said, her appreciation coming through in her tone. "It's funny, horrible as the Curse was... if I'd known that's what I had to endure to save your life, I would still have done it. I remember when you took on Voldemort in those dreams, I said I couldn't do what you were doing. But I guess I did, in my own way. At that time, I never would have been able to. I suppose it's just a matter of having something you feel really strongly about."

Harry looked back at her, not knowing what to say. He squeezed her hand again. "Thank you," he finally said, knowing it was nowhere near what he wanted to say.

"You deserve it," she said. "It's like what Hermione said at the award presentation, thanking you for being the kind of person you can do that for." After a few seconds, she let go of his hand. "I should let you get on down to breakfast, you don't have tons of time now."

"I'll come back after lunch," he said. "I'm sure we all will."

"Madam Pomfrey will love that," she smiled.

He looked at her again, thinking of what she'd been through. "I love you, Pansy. I love you very much."

"I know," she said. "I love you too, Harry. Now, go to breakfast."

He picked up his bag, looked at her again, and left the infirmary. Reaching the Hall, as he walked to his usual seat, he heard some people start to applaud. By the time he got to his seat, it had reached a crescendo. Hermione looked up at him and said, "Professor Dumbledore just finished talking a few minutes ago. He showed them images of you and your newest shield."

"Did he mention Pansy?" Harry asked. She shook her head.

Harry made a sudden decision; he couldn't bear being applauded while Pansy lay in the infirmary alone. He dropped his bag at his seat, walked up to the teachers' table, and stood before the magical microphone, which was still activated. The applause died down, as people were clearly curious to hear what he had to say.

"Thank you for that," he began. He wasn't sure what he was going to say exactly, but he found he wasn't nervous. After teaching for seven months, he realized, large groups didn't bother him anymore.

"Some of you may know that Pansy Parkinson is in the infirmary now, recovering from an attack she suffered yesterday. What you don't know is that she's been helping me all year. She's been pretending to be Malfoy's friend, being a spy, essentially, to help keep me safe.

"She saved my life yesterday, and it was the second time. In January, she warned me that Goyle was dangerous, and that warning saved my life. Without her help, then and yesterday, I would be dead." The Hall was totally quiet when he paused.

"She was attacked yesterday evening because Malfoy found out what she'd done. He assaulted her in her dormitory. He put her under the Cruciatus Curse three times, for a total of two minutes. For the Curse, that's an eternity. Believe me, I know. Then he cut her with a knife. Not in passion, but coldly. She could easily have bled to death.

"I'm telling you this because I want you to know who she is, who she really is, what she's done. She came to me in early September and told me she wanted to help me, she wanted to become a different person. In the time since then, I've gotten to know her well, and she's become a very close friend. All this year, she's loathed Malfoy, but pretended to be his friend for my sake, suffered the dislike and mistrust of the entire school, to keep me safe... and has now paid an even worse price for it. I..." His voice started to break; he paused for a few seconds, then continued. "I can never repay her for what she's done. She's not the person you think she is. I ask you, if you support me, please support her. Thank you."

As he walked away from the podium, he heard more applause; he hoped it was for Pansy, not for him. He noticed that all the teachers were in their seats, and were applauding as well. He passed Hagrid-how did I not notice him before? he thought-who smiled and patted him gently on the back as he passed. He sat down with his friends at the Gryffindor table.

Hermione had tears in her eyes. "That was beautiful, Harry," she enthused. Sitting across from him, Ginny reached out for his hand. "It really was," she agreed. Ron, now on Harry's right side, patted him on the shoulder. "Well done, mate," he said. Now I'm sure he's interested in Pansy, thought Harry, amused.

"It was the least I could do," he said. "After what she's been through, she deserves the support of the whole school. I just hope she gets it."

"She will, Harry," said Neville. "People will follow where you lead them."

"He's right, of course," agreed Hermione. "Don't worry, Harry."

"Why did she have you stay back?" asked Ron.

"The Pensieve was still there. She wanted to show me what had happened."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Why didn't she show all of us?"

"It was really painful to watch, Ron," said Harry, wincing inwardly at the memory. "It was awful. I know you would have anyway, we all would have. She didn't want to subject you all to it. But she wanted to know that one person knew exactly what had happened to her, and I think it was me because I was the one she was doing it for, who she suffered it for. Believe me, you wouldn't want to see it."

"I believe it," affirmed Ron. "She told me about it in detail, I was just finishing telling them when Dumbledore spoke. It sounded horrible."

"It was," Harry said.

"If I ever manage to get my hands on Malfoy..." Ron said, not needing to finish the sentence. The anger Harry saw in Ron's eyes was further evidence to Harry that Ron had feelings for Pansy.

"I know how you feel," Harry said. "I told her I would find a way to protect her. I'm not sure how I will, but one way or the other, I will."

Ginny squeezed his hand. "I know you will, Harry. We'll all help if we can. I'm especially grateful for her saving your life, you know."

Harry smiled broadly for the first time since seeing Pansy. Feelings about what had happened to her had dominated his thoughts, but now, looking at Ginny brought the feelings he'd had last night flooding back. She smiled at him, love in her eyes. "Harry," she said, "it makes me so happy, that even after all that, just looking at me can make you that happy again."

"I'm sure it always will make me that happy," he said.

"I saw that look, Ron," said Ginny, annoyed. "We may be like this for the rest of our lives-I hope we will-so you'd better get used to it."

Ron chuckled. "Give me a break, it's all a bit much. I am happy for you, you know that. One thing I like about the new seating arrangements is that Ginny and Hermione are both out of hitting range of me. Ow!" he finished, as Hermione leaned around Harry and whacked him on the shoulder. "Okay, out of easy hitting range." The others all laughed.

"Oh yeah, I was so involved, I didn't even notice you'd moved around, until I saw this lovely face across from me." Ginny blushed, and Ron struggled to keep a straight face.

"This is in deference to you and Ginny, of course," Hermione explained. "As I've discovered with Neville, it's better to sit across from your special person, so you can look lovingly at them more easily. I see you two have already picked up on that." She looked over at Ron to get his reaction to this, and seemed disappointed to see him looking undisturbed.

He saw this, and shrugged. "Sorry, Hermione, but I can see I'm massively outnumbered here, so I'm giving up. You four can snog away at the table for all I care, I'm not going to say a word. It'll be too easy for you to have at me all the time otherwise."

Harry looked up and saw Justin and Ernie approach. "Hi, guys. I'd forgotten, since there were three attempts on my life yesterday, you owe me two more visits."

"I'm sure we'll squeeze them in somehow," said Justin. "Before you got here, Dumbledore showed us your new shield, and told us you Disapparated out of the Chamber when even he couldn't have. I was just wondering if you were going to go shopping for a cape and tights later."

Harry and Hermione chuckled. "Muggle reference," she said to the others.

"No, it's just me, mild-mannered Harry Potter," joked Harry. "It's amazing what you can do when you know you'll die if you don't. I just get a chance to find out a lot more than most people."

Ernie shook his head. "No, Harry. Most people just die, if it happens to them. A lot did, fifteen years ago. Looks like the Killing Curse is one less thing you have to worry about."

"That is a relief, that's for sure," agreed Harry.

"Seems safe to say that there won't be a formal demonstration of this one," commented Ernie.

Harry chuckled. "No, I don't think Dumbledore would allow it. I guess the images are going to have to do. Did the images show it protecting Ginny too?"

"Yes, they did," said Justin. "Oh, and by the way, congratulations, you two. It's all over the tables now about you. I see you overcame your fears, Harry."

"Turns out love was more powerful than I thought," Harry said. "I'm still worried, but with this shield, maybe a bit less worried."

"I would think so," Justin agreed. "And that was a nice speech you gave about Pansy. Ernie and I are going to go up and see her before our first class, and I suspect we won't be the only ones."

"Thank you, both of you," said Harry. "She deserves whatever support she gets."

They nodded and walked off. Harry started in on his breakfast; he knew he would need most of the time left to finish it before his first class. He thought about Pansy, but also enjoyed the comradeship of his friends. He rejoiced in knowing that soon she would too, and not have to hide it.

Harry's morning classes went well, except for the fact that some of his second years were again awestruck. He felt he could deal with it better this time, having experienced it before. He managed to loosen up both classes before they ended.

He and the others ate lunch quickly so they would have more time to go see Pansy. She was sitting up and finishing her lunch when they arrived. "Hi, everyone," she said happily. They pulled up chairs, none of which were far from her bed, and sat.

She looked at Harry affectionately. "I can't believe you did that, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I've had about twenty or twenty-five visitors this morning, some of whom I barely know. A lot of them told me about your speech, and a few got details different from each other, but the idea came across well. They all wanted to wish me well, compliment what I did, give me their support, that sort of thing. It's been really overwhelming; I'm so used to people looking at me as though I were scum that it's hard to adjust. You knew this would happen when you gave that speech. This is what you wanted."

"Pretty much. It's nothing you don't deserve, of course. I just wanted people to know the truth, which is what I told them."

"I do want to take issue with one thing," she said, looking more serious. "You said that you could never repay me for what I did, but you already have. Your love and friendship are the best things I've felt in my life. What you did this morning is just typical of you.

"By the way, Professor Dumbledore came by, a little after classes started. He stayed and talked to me for a while, longer than I expected. Maybe a half hour or so. We talked about the situation with Malfoy, and I told him what happened. He was very reassuring, he said he would make sure I was protected. He said-and I think this was kind of a joke, but it's hard to tell-'I could never look Harry in the eye again if I did not,' meaning, protect me. He said that he was sure that no matter what he arranged, you would want to be a part of it."

"Not only Harry, either," said Ron, and the others nodded.

"Thank you, Ron," she said. "All of you, I appreciate that. I've seen how well you protect Harry."

"I'll bet Madam Pomfrey hasn't been happy with all your visitors," said Harry.

"Professor Dumbledore told her while he was talking to me that I would need emotional support more than quiet bed rest, and suggested-it was an order, but he did it very politely-that I be allowed as many visitors as I got. She didn't look happy, but she didn't argue with him. I was happy, of course. Justin and Ernie were the first ones to come by, they were very nice."

They talked for another fifteen minutes, after which the infirmary door opened, and the five Slytherin first year girls came in. They greeted Pansy and the Gryffindors, but couldn't get too close to Pansy's bed, as there were too many chairs nearby. They stayed back and waited their turn.

"Why not the boys, too?" asked Harry.

"We decided that ten at once was too many, so we flipped a Galleon to see who got to go first," explained Augustina. "We won. They'll be coming later."

To Harry's surprise, Helen walked over to where Ginny was sitting. "Do you know how lucky you are?" asked Helen, as if there was a chance that Ginny might be taking having Harry for granted.

Ginny smiled. "I think that I'm the luckiest girl in the world, not to mention the happiest. If my happiness were energy, it could light up the whole world. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes. And we're happy for both of you. We still wish we were five years older so we could have had a chance, but we're still happy for you."

All of the older students laughed, even Harry. "Thank you," said Ginny fondly. "I can really understand why you would say that. Even for me, I felt like it was too much to hope for. It's a dream come true."

Harry shook his head. "Are you going to keep saying things like that that embarrass me for the rest of your life?"

"If you're lucky, she will," said Hermione pointedly.

"That was Hermione's way," he said to the first years, "of telling me that I should be happy that she feels that way and not be embarrassed."

"We should go, let them have a turn," suggested Hermione. I'm sure that some of us will be in later when we get a chance." They said goodbye to Pansy and started to head out, but Harry stopped.

"I wanted to tell you," he said to the girls, "how proud I am of you-and Pansy, tell the boys I said this too-that you kept this secret all year long, and nobody found out. That's not easy to do, especially for ten people. Thank you for doing that."

"It wasn't that hard," said Augustina. "We like her, so we wanted to help her. We didn't end up being able to do much to help, but we wanted to."

"You did," said Pansy. "You gave me someone to talk to, I knew you cared about me. I really needed that. Now, sit down and tell me about his speech. Others have told me, but I like the story."

Everyone laughed, and Harry and the others left, Harry heading off to the staff room. He walked in and sat on the sofa next to John. John looked at him and said, "So, what's new, Harry?"

Harry pretended to consider the question. "Looks like I didn't need the blindfold or the cigarette after all, and managed to escape the firing squad."

"And get the girl in the process," John agreed. "Not a bad day's work. Oh, I heard Justin from the teacher's table. I was going to make the tights-and-cape joke."

"You're smart, John, you'll come up with others."

"We're all very pleased for you, Harry, that you got past your fears enough to decide to have a relationship," said Flitwick. "But I'd like to ask, did the fact that you can now fight off Avada Kedavra factor into your decision? Like it wasn't quite such a risk anymore, now that you can protect her?"

"No, it didn't enter my mind like that," answered Harry. "Tonks talked to me, helped give me the courage to do it. She convinced me that I'd be hurting Ginny more by not telling her than by putting her in danger. Ginny agreed."

"Hardly a surprise," commented Sprout.

"Professor," said McGonagall in her strict tone, "I suspect you are aware that we teachers know all about the places where student couples go to be alone."

This was greeted by some chuckles; Harry knew she was having fun with him, and he thought of a response. "Professor, I suspect that you yourself were sixteen once."

The teachers broke up laughing. It was the best response any comment of Harry's had ever gotten, probably, Harry thought, because it came at McGonagall's expense. McGonagall was smiling, and trying not to laugh. "I concede the possibility, but it was a very long time ago."

John smiled at Harry. "I've been told that you have an Invisibility Cloak, Harry. I have a feeling you're going to find a few new uses for it."

"Wow, you know, I hadn't thought of that," Harry admitted. "I haven't had time to really think this through."

"You would have figured it out sooner or later," John said. "The teenage mind has great flexibility and creativity when it comes to this sort of thing."

"Hermione's already given us the rundown on the places, and some of you know the Weasleys came by last night. Molly made sure to mention them too. She told us which was her favorite when she was here."

The teacher exchanged impressed looks. "I hope you took that for the compliment it was, Harry," said McGonagall.

Harry nodded. "She was really, really happy. One nice thing about it being Ginny is that I don't have to worry about in-laws, since I already think of them as parents anyway."

"And your aunt and uncle don't care?" Flitwick asked.

"My aunt and uncle would be happiest if they never saw or heard from me again," Harry assured them.

"Why is that, Harry, if I may ask? I mean, you're not such a bad person," said Flitwick, with humorous understatement.

Harry chuckled. "Thank you, Professor. It's not so much me they dislike as magic. They think it's unnatural and strange, and want nothing to do with it. I'm just a reminder to them of the problem Professor Dumbledore dropped on their doorstep almost sixteen years ago. They've resented it all that time, and they took it out on me. Not being abusive, mind you, just making it clear in every way that I wasn't wanted or welcomed."

Sprout looked at him sympathetically. "There are those who would consider that a form of abuse," she said. "Children need to know they're cared about. To deliberately withhold that... it doesn't say good things about them, to be sure."

Harry couldn't argue with that, so he said nothing. John said, "Oh, Harry, did you know that Hugo is coming? He might already be here, I'm not sure. Any guesses as to why he might be here?"

Harry kept a casual, deadpan expression. "Going to do an article on how incredibly brave Pansy has been all year, I hope."

John nodded. "There might be a separate article about her, actually. It wouldn't surprise me. The new shield will be the main article, of course, that and the three attempts on you in one day. He could easily do separate articles on Pansy and Ginny as well."

Harry cringed. "Oh, please, not one on Ginny, not so soon. Can't they wait until we're married?"

A few teachers chuckled. "Sorry, Harry," said John. "From their point of view, it's irresistible. Just Harry Potter getting a girlfriend is big enough news. But Harry Potter, facing certain death, saves himself and the girl, and then is inspired by her love to unheard-of feats of magical ability, and falls in love... it's way too good a story. May as well have it written by Hugo, and not somebody drawing on second- and third-hand accounts, which is what would otherwise happen."

"Thank goodness for Hugo, anyway," grumbled Harry. "From my other experiences with the press, I probably just wouldn't talk to them, and I'd probably look pretty bad not doing it." He paused. "Funny how I care about that now, I never used to. I guess I'm recognizing part of the grim reality of being Harry Potter, that I'll have a public image whether I like it or not, and it's better that it's a good one."

"Next thing, you'll have to hire yourself a publicist," joked John.

"Don't say that," said Harry fervently. "I get these images in my head, fearing I'll end up like Lockhart, walking up to random people and offering them autographs."

"Don't worry, Harry," said a chuckling Flitwick, "your friends would never let that happen."

"That's true. Thank goodness for them, too."

"Another thing you should be aware of, Harry," said McGonagall, looking serious, "is that he may also do an article questioning Professor Dumbledore's decision to allow Malfoy and Crabbe back into Hogwarts after vacation. This morning, the headmaster received twenty owls from parents raising such questions, after hearing of the explosion which could have killed a hundred or more students. Unfortunately, it is a legitimate question."

"How can they criticize him for not doing something against the rules?" Harry asked.

"Professor Dumbledore runs Hogwarts the way he, and I, would like to see society run," she explained. "Students have rights, and cannot be searched, disciplined, or expelled for arbitrary reasons, or based on suspicion. But the fact is that these are his rules and principles, not those of wizarding law. He could run this school any way he saw fit, and as long as he had political support, it would not be questioned by the Ministry. He could have expelled Crabbe and Malfoy if he had wished, and as their fathers are known Death Eaters, people would have applauded. That he did not do so is admirable, but also exposes him to criticism when things do not go well. Had the explosion in fact killed a hundred students, he would no doubt have been removed as headmaster by the governors, who would have been under intense pressure to do so. As disaster was narrowly averted, this will not happen, but he will have to answer questions, and his actions will be debated. You will certainly be asked about this, so it is better that you know in advance."

Harry nodded, lost in thought. He supposed he could understand that, though he wished people would trust Dumbledore more. "Thanks for the warning, Professor," he said. He found himself wishing for nothing more than to be with Ginny, to revel in love, and not have to think about things like this. Sometimes, he thought, it would be nice to be an ordinary teenager.

He got that chance, at least for a while, after Transfigurations. There was nothing specific he had to do, nor was there with Ginny, so they decided to try out the spot that Molly had recommended. They checked their maps to make sure no one else was already there, then walked out towards the lake, trying to be as casual as possible. They looked at the lake for a minute, and when it seemed like nobody was looking in their direction, went behind the bushes. Harry felt extremely self-conscious, and told Ginny so.

"Don't worry, I do too, a bit. Hermione said she did the first time as well, and she had to practically drag Neville, he was so nervous. Everybody knows that couples do this, it's no big deal."

"Yeah, but being Harry Potter, I always get noticed. I can't help but wonder if this will too."

"Relax, Harry," said Ginny. "Remember when we kissed in the infirmary last night? What were you thinking then?"

"That I'd like to do it a lot more," he remembered. "And you're going to point out that now I can."

She nodded and looked at him expectantly. He smiled, leaned in, and kissed her. A few seconds at first, the kisses got longer and longer. After a few minutes, they stopped to catch their breath. "Wow, that's so good," he said. "Kind of like being in love, I knew about it, but I had no idea it was as good as it is. It's wonderful."

"I understand that there are even better things to come," she said, grinning.

"Yes, I heard that somewhere, too," he replied, grinning as well. "But I'm happy to do this for now. We can try the other stuff when this gets boring," he joked.

"I hope we don't have to wait that long," she joked back. "I don't see this getting boring anytime soon."

"Hermione really said she had to drag Neville here?" he asked.

"Just the first time," she explained. "After that, he went very willingly."

"I can definitely believe that," he said, and leaned in again. After another few minutes, they came up for air. He felt his head was swimming.

"You know what's best about this," he said, "is that I love you so much." Stopping to appreciate her expression in response, he then continued, "I mean, I could imagine that this would be nice even if you only sort of liked the person. But there's a part to it that's more than just how it feels physically, if you know what I mean."

"I do know," she agreed. "Do you mind... I want to ask you something, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to... but how was it for you with Cho? I never heard you talk about that."

"It was nothing like this," he said. "I wasn't ready... I knew I liked her, but didn't know what to do. There was only one kiss, and she was crying, so it wasn't such a great experience. But even if she hadn't been, I'm sure it would have been nothing like this. When I kiss you, it feels like it means something."

"I'm so glad, Harry. I think that's what it's supposed to feel like when you're in love. You know... " She looked into his eyes, almost shyly. "I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I will... I used to daydream about this. I'd sit there and imagine that you were in love with me, and kissing me, and stuff. I never thought it could happen, but it was nice to imagine. Part of me still can't believe that it happened, that you're in love with me. I didn't think people's dreams came true like this."

Let's hope it doesn't turn into a nightmare, he thought, then tried to squelch the thought immediately. He looked into her eyes again and sunk back into the feeling of love. "I'm so glad, Ginny. I'm glad I could make you this happy, like you've made me. So, what else happened in these daydreams?"

She raised her eyebrows and smiled, as if wondering whether or not he was teasing her. "I thought you were content to do this for now."

"I didn't mean that to be set in stone or anything. I just thought you might have a better imagination than me."

"I think you'll find that your imagination's just fine," she said, reaching for him. As they kissed again, he remembered Arthur's advice, to revel in this. He decided that he intended to do just that.

They stopped at a little after five o'clock; they had been there for almost an hour, and they both would have been happy to continue, but knew they would have to come back for dinner eventually anyway, and felt it had been long enough. As they walked around the lake on their way back, Harry said, "Did I mention that that was really, really good?" He knew that he had actually said it about five times or so; he just didn't have the words to say it much differently.

"I think you did," she said. Both were smiling; Harry felt as if he smiled quite a lot now, just because of Ginny. "Harry, I love you so much. I can't wait to do this again. But not only this, I just love being with you. Even when we're with the others, even if we can't touch each other, it's still wonderful. When I look into your eyes now... I've always liked your eyes, but now they're especially beautiful, because of what they say about me."

People had often commented on Harry's eyes, but never had the comments made him feel as good as that one, and he told her so. She put her arm around him and leaned into him. "I feel like I'm going to have to figure out a lot of different ways to say I love you, because otherwise, I'll just be repeating myself a lot," she said. He assured her that he didn't mind the repetition.

Harry saw Hugo Brantell about thirty yards away, walking towards them. "The teachers warned me that he'd be here today," he told Ginny. "They said he would write about you, too."

She shrugged. "I suppose that should bother me, but it doesn't right now. I don't think much could bother me right now."

"Well, he's just going to write the truth, which is as much as we can hope for," said Harry. Hugo got closer, and extended his hand. As he shook Harry's hand, then Ginny's, he smiled and said, "Well, the others told me as much, but it's nice to see it for myself."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Let's put it this way, Harry. If there was a beacon shining from your eyes that spelled out the words 'I'm in love,' it wouldn't be that much more obvious than it is now." Turning to Ginny, he said, "Yours too, I should add."

Ginny's smile widened, and Harry couldn't help but smile as well. "Isn't this pretty common when people fall in love?" asked Harry.

"Yes, but yours is especially strong, from both of you. My special powers are telling me that this will be a long and happy relationship."

"I would never argue with your special powers," said Harry. "Especially when they agree with what I feel."

"I want to thank you for not telling him," said Ginny.

"Not telling me what?" asked Harry.

"She means that when I first interviewed her in September, it didn't take long for me to realize that she was in love with you. Of course I never would have told you; people have to find out that kind of thing for themselves. But I don't think I'd be violating any confidences if I told you that your friends are incredibly happy for you; they had hoped this would happen. Especially Ron."

Harry blinked. "Really?"

"I thought that was the case," said Ginny. "I mentioned the idea to him jokingly a few times, and he didn't react negatively like he did anytime I mentioned any other boy I might be interested in. You know, Harry, you're the first close friend he ever had, too. He feels a lot for you, even if he'd never say to you what you said to him in that card."

Harry explained what he'd written in Ron's birthday card, and Hugo laughed heartily. "I can be pretty sure, Harry, that while he may have been embarrassed, he was also very pleased."

"I thought so, I hoped so," said Harry. "I assume you've already talked to most everyone else you're going to? That's what you usually do, I think."

Hugo nodded. "Not everyone, just a few more teachers, and Professor Dumbledore." He stopped, took in Harry's expression, and said, "Yes, I'm sorry, but I have to do the article about him. I'd rather not, I assure you. You know how I admire him, and I respect what he did, even if I wouldn't do it myself. But the questions have to be raised and discussed, and better me than someone else. I'll put it in the proper context, while someone else might just make it seem like he was lazy and didn't care."

Harry sighed. "I can't argue with you, of course. The teachers warned me you'd be writing about that, and I actually said, thank goodness for Hugo, without him I'd probably never talk to the press at all."

Very pleased, Hugo smiled. "Thank you, Harry. I don't think I'd be compromising my journalistic integrity too much by telling you that I'm happy you feel that way. Reporters are supposed to be neutral and objective, but we're human, too. I think some journalists get so wrapped up in the story that they forget that people are involved."

"Rita Skeeter," Harry muttered.

"Say that name around Hermione, Hugo, and you'll get a lot of information without her even opening her mouth," said Ginny.

"Yeah, she did a job on Hermione, that's for sure," Hugo agreed. "But, you know, I did mention the name to her in September, and Hermione's main reaction was an almost smug satisfaction. She wouldn't say anything about it; my best guess is that she found out something about Rita that helped put her out of action for awhile."

"Hermione's pretty clever," said Ginny humorously.

"I'd tell you, but I think I'd be violating Hermione's confidence if I did," said Harry. "I doubt it's that important for you to know, anyway."

"True," agreed Hugo. "Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom okay?" They set out for the castle.

"Say, Hugo," asked Harry, "did you just happen to come out here at a good time, or-"

"I was with Ron," Hugo answered. "He was keeping an eye on the map, and he let me know when you moved. Don't worry, that won't make it into the article."

"If it did, Mum would be pleased to know we used her spot," joked Ginny.

"I see that she was happy about this," commented Hugo. "I'll be talking to your parents later on."

"I hope your deadline isn't tomorrow," said Ginny. "You'll never get Mum to shut up. She was walking on air when we told her."

"It's always nice to talk to happy people," said Hugo.

"Hugo, I just wondered... personally, how has the Apparation Restriction Act affected you?" asked Harry.

"You're trying to get a sense of public opinion by asking me, I see. The problem is, Harry, I understand the issues better than most people. Even if it inconvenienced me a lot, I wouldn't be bothered. But no, it's not a huge problem. I can take fireplaces to most places, and I'll take a broom if I need to. It doesn't affect me much. Most people feel like I do, in fact. But I will tell you that there's already starting to be rumblings in the Ministry about Ministry higher-ups and their benefactors trying to figure out how they can get special permission to Apparate for non-emergency reasons. You hadn't considered this possibility when you supported it; that's the problem with being sixteen years old and noble, Harry, you don't imagine how selfish people can be. Don't worry, if I get any solid information on this, I'll write about it. I may know enough about people to be a bit cynical, but I'm also disgusted by it."

"Just incredible..." Harry couldn't think of much more to say. They walked up the steps to the castle, and headed for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. In the hour before dinner, Hugo didn't get a chance to ask all the questions he wanted, so he came to dinner with Harry and the rest. He finished his questions, thanked them, and headed off to talk to more teachers.

Harry knew he had to get some homework done that evening-he hadn't had much time for it the previous evening-but he wanted to talk to Professor Dumbledore first. He hadn't talked to him privately at any length about what had happened, and he wanted to know what Dumbledore thought. He headed toward Dumbledore's office, but received no answer when he knocked. He realized that Dumbledore might be in his quarters, so he decided to go there. He knocked, and the door opened. "Harry," said a pleased Dumbledore, getting up. "I was just finishing my dinner. Please come in, have a seat."

Harry sat in the chair he'd sat in when he had the dinner with Dumbledore before the term started. "Have you had a good day, Harry?" asked Dumbledore. This was not a usual question from him, so Harry assumed he was referring to how he felt about Ginny.

"Very good, sir," Harry answered. "It feels wonderful. I don't have to have experienced everything to know that there's nothing better than this. I still fear that something could happen-maybe even more than before, since now I know exactly what I could lose-but I don't regret that I did it. Now I just wish I had done it before."

"Things must happen in their own time, Harry," Dumbledore advised. "There are times we are not ready for things, and they must wait until we are. So, what would you like to discuss?"

"A few things, sir. First, I wanted to know what you thought about how what happened yesterday will affect any future encounters I have with Death Eaters, or Voldemort. Ron was saying he thought I might be able to take on Voldemort now, since I can defend against the Killing Curse. I didn't think so; I assume he's got lots of stuff that I don't know, and would find it hard to defend against. Is that right?"

"Unfortunately yes, Harry. I believe now that power for power, you could stand up to him. But, as you suggest, he is expert in all sorts of Dark magic, the defenses for which you do not yet know, and would take you a few years to learn. With enough time, you could defeat him in a head-to-head battle. But I fear that you will be called upon to face him sooner than that. Based on your performance in crisis situations before, I am not pessimistic about how you would handle yourself. You will be able to stay calm and focused, I am sure. But I would say it is not something you should seek, not yet.

"As for the Death Eaters, yes, I believe that you could defeat most of them. Being able to block the Killing Curse gives you a tremendous advantage when you duel. Your shield will come on without your conscious thought should a deadly curse break through your defenses. Kingsley tells me that your dueling skills are coming along very well, and I believe that your falling in love will affect your other magical skills as it did your ability to Disapparate. As you refine your dueling skills further, even if your technical skills do not match theirs, your power may be greater, making you their equal. I shall greatly look forward to Kingsley's next report."

"Was that what you were talking to Cassandra and Tonks about last night?"

"Yes, among other things. They were awed that you could escape the Chamber, even more so than by your newest shield. They recognize that it suggests a large increase in your power, and wished to discuss its implications. For example, they suspect that next Saturday when you practice your anti-Disapparation field, none of them will be able to escape, and if that is the case, you could even do one that would trap Voldemort. And that would have substantial implications regarding the notions of a raid against Voldemort, should we get solid intelligence of his whereabouts."

"Do you mean intelligence that wouldn't compromise Professor Snape?"

"Yes, I should have clarified that. We cannot risk him until we know Voldemort can be defeated. Your power notwithstanding, I still do not know precisely how that will be accomplished. There is one thing I am certain of, Harry: if you defeat Voldemort, it will not be by using a Killing Curse. As your magic is based on the energy of love, I believe you would simply not be capable of it."

"I've wondered about that too, sir," Harry admitted. "How am I going to beat him, then? What can I do that would kill him?"

"You should recall, Harry, the exact wording of the prophecy. It did not use the word 'kill,' but the word 'vanquish.' I would speculate that you will find a way to 'vanquish' him without killing him, as such. Granted, the prophecy also says that one of you will die at the hands of the other, but the phrase is still not as direct as 'kill,' and prophecies can be fulfilled in unexpected ways which do not contradict the prophecy. I admit I cannot imagine how that would be done. But I believe the prophecy is accurate, and that a way will present itself when the time is right."

"Hmmm... I guess I shouldn't worry about that right now, then. Anyway, I also wanted to ask you what you have in mind for Pansy's protection. She said you said you'd take care of it, and I know you will, but I feel personally responsible for it too. I'd like to have something to do with it."

"I imagined you would, Harry. I have not yet decided on a final plan, but there are a number of things that could be done. I am sure that the Aurors would look favorably on a request to provide her special protection, for example. As for a location, I have yet to talk to Arthur and Molly, but I am thinking of the Burrow as a place she could stay for the summer. With a little effort, it could be made highly secure, and you could help in that effort."

"That sounds great, sir. How could I help?"

"You could help in laying down an anti-Disapparation foundation on the grounds, much like the one here at Hogwarts, but reversible. If your ability to Disapparate out of the Chamber is any indication, the area you create would definitely disallow any Apparation by Death Eaters, and perhaps even Voldemort. Not that he would go on such a mission alone, of course. But you could be instrumental in ensuring the Burrow's security.

"In addition to that, Pansy can be outfitted with jewelry similar to what your cousin has. She can wear what would essentially be a Malfoy detector. Professor Snape has acquired a few strands of his hair from his bed; they can be used to imbue a jewel to serve as an alarm if he gets within a certain distance. You, and I suspect, your friends, can be equipped with jewelry that will signal you when that alarm sounds; you should be able to Apparate to her location within seconds in the unlikely event it should become necessary. If she resides at the Burrow and you all wear such devices-hers going off would alert Aurors as well, of course-she will be very secure."

"So," Harry said, "if that ends up being what we do, then it would make sense for me to spend the summer there, too, I assume. I mean, it would be almost as secure as Privet Drive is for me, and I was going to have to leave there soon anyway." Harry hoped that Dumbledore wouldn't contradict him. He knew he would do what Dumbledore suggested, but he wanted to be at the Burrow even more than he didn't want to be at Privet Drive.

Dumbledore gave him a small smile, obviously having a clear understanding of Harry's emotional state. "Yes, your new strength combined with the security in place will surely discourage any attempts on you while there. You need not go back to Privet Drive. It is a burden you have borne for too long as it is."

Harry exhaled visibly, without having intended to. Thank goodness, he thought, never to have to go back there again. "It's not only that, sir, it's getting to spend the whole summer with Ginny... it'll be the first time I ever looked forward to summer."

Dumbledore nodded. "It will not be a relaxed summer, however. I have no doubt the Aurors will want you for training at least a few days a week."

"That's fine, sir, as much as they want," he said. "Ginny knows that the stronger I get, the better I can protect both of us."

"That is good, Harry. There is one other thing I wished to mention as far as Pansy's protection goes. Measures will be taken which assume that Malfoy will energetically attempt to fulfill his threats. The fact is, however, that he will almost certainly not do so. Not because of a lack of desire to," he quickly added, forestalling Harry's objection, "but because he will not be authorized to. It will not surprise you to learn that he will be fully indoctrinated as a Death Eater very shortly. Once he is, the chances of his pursuing any sort of personal vengeance are reduced to near zero. For Death Eaters, obedience to Voldemort is primary, and he does not allow them to engage in any operations without his instructions. Even if Malfoy were to ask for permission, which is highly unlikely, Voldemort would almost certainly refuse, because Pansy is of no strategic importance. So while Malfoy undoubtedly meant what he said to Pansy when he said it, he did not realize that he would not be allowed to follow through."

"I'm very glad to hear that, sir. I would still think the protection was essential, of course, since we can't know for a fact that it won't happen. But that is good. Did you tell Pansy that when you talked to her this morning?"

"No, Harry, I did not. After suffering what she did, she did not need to be told that he would not follow through on his threat. She needed to be told that she would be safe even if he did. I would have eventually, just not right then. You may tell her if you wish."

"Thank you, sir, I will. I'll emphasize that there will still be strong protection, of course." They talked for a little longer, and Harry was going to get up to leave, but stopped. "One other thing, sir. Nothing important, but over the past few weeks, I've had a few dreams about the Veil of Mystery. Not Voldemort dreams, of course, I would have let you know, but they didn't seem like regular dreams either. Not much happens in the dreams; it's just that archway, sitting there. Not even calling to me, which it seems like it should. But it reminded me, has anything happened with that thing from my dream before the term started, that Legion of Doom thing?"

"'Legion of the Dead,' Harry," Dumbledore corrected him. "Nothing specific, no. And as for the dreams, it is not surprising that it should appear, as it is a compelling structure. We sometimes go through periods in which our dreams focus on one thing or another. It is understandable that you would take it seriously, given your other experiences with dreams. But unless something more happens in these dreams, I would not worry about it."

Harry thanked Dumbledore and left, heading back to the Gryffindor common room. On the way, he had an idea for a test to see if his magic's power had really changed. Entering the common room, he found Hermione, Neville, and Ginny studying together. "Where's Ron?" he asked. Hermione smiled and raised her eyebrows a bit. "Oh, with Pansy," he said. Now the others smiled too; Harry could see that she was right in saying that the others would try to push them together, or at least want to. Harry did not plan to do that at all, fearing it could be counterproductive. He exchanged a loving look and smile with Ginny, then said, "Neville, could we have a few duels?"

"Sure," said Neville, getting up.

As they took their positions, Hermione joked to Ginny, "Oh, how I hate it when our men fight like this." Ginny chuckled.

What Harry had thought might happen did happen; he demolished Neville, taking all five bouts in times ranging from ten to thirty seconds. Harry and an amazed Neville sat back down with the girls. "When we started training with the Aurors, Harry and I were evenly matched," said Neville to Ginny and Hermione. "Over the past few months, Harry had started to get better than me, I'd only win a quarter or a third of our bouts. But now, all of a sudden I can't touch him, I was lucky to last thirty seconds once. It's not that his tactics are any better, but he's just overpowering. Even if I don't make any mistakes, I still lose. I have to think it's because he's in love."

Harry nodded. "I told you last night what Dumbledore thought about my Disapparating out of the Chamber, and I wanted to find out if it applied to the rest of my magic. It seems that it does."

Neville shook his head in amazement. "I've lasted up to nearly a minute in my best bout against an Auror, and I could barely do thirty seconds against Harry. He's going to be a match for them in dueling, he'll definitely beat at least some. It's pretty incredible."

"It's funny, I don't even really care that much," he said. "I mean, it's nice, and I'm sure it'll be helpful, but for now, I have more important things on my mind." He looked at Ginny during the last part of the sentence. He got out his books and joined them in doing homework. Sitting next to Ginny, even that felt much better than usual.

Harry and the others headed down to breakfast the next morning at their usual time. They were still in the mode of protecting him, though they knew that any attempt on him was now highly unlikely, and they were at nowhere near as high a state of readiness as they had been on Monday.

They took their now-usual seats, and as they did, the morning owls came in with the mail. Copies of the Prophet dropped in front of Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, who picked hers up slowly. "I guess this is because there's an article about me," she said.

"I'm sorry," said Harry sincerely. "I'm afraid it comes with the territory."

"It's worth it, it's really good territory," she said, opening the paper. Harry and Hermione did as well, Harry sharing his with Ron, as Ginny did with Neville. They slowly ate as they read. "Wow, four Hogwarts-related articles," said Neville. "The main one, about the attempts on Harry and the new spell, then one on Pansy, a smaller one on Ginny, and one on Professor Dumbledore not expelling Malfoy and Crabbe."

"How in the world did he write four articles in one night?" wondered Harry aloud. "I know he said he wrote fast, but still..."

Hermione read aloud from the Dumbledore article. "'While admitting that he would have expelled Malfoy and Crabbe had he been in the same position, Professor Potter nonetheless offered a spirited defense of his headmaster's actions...' There's a long quote from you, I see you told the Hagrid story, that's good, it illustrates your point pretty well... wow, Pansy defends him too, I didn't know that. 'Asked how she felt about Professor Dumbledore's actions, Miss Parkinson said, "He's the headmaster, he has to do what he thinks is best. I don't have the knowledge or experience to criticize him. And I refuse to blame anyone for what happened to me other than Malfoy. Also, I knew what I was doing when I got into this. I knew there was a risk, and I took it."' That's very good of her, considering what happened."

"Yes, I'd say so," Harry agreed. He thought he heard Ron make a noise that sounded like a grunt. "What?" he asked Ron.

"Nothing," responded Ron, with just enough discomfort to suggest to Harry that Ron wasn't being truthful.

Normally Harry wouldn't pursue the question, as he preferred not to try to make Ron talk when he didn't want to. But on this occasion, Harry felt compelled to know what Ron meant. Instead of pressing Ron, he decided to try to guess what Ron was referring to. "Do you think she's being too nice to Dumbledore?"

The 'can we not talk about this?' look on Ron's face told Harry he was right; Harry raised his eyebrows in response. Clearly deciding he'd been found out, Ron sighed, then spoke. "I didn't want to say anything, because I know how you feel about Dumbledore. And I understand the principle, and I know it makes sense. At least in theory. But... you saw it, you know how bad it was. That's going to be with her for a long time. And the worst thing is, I think in a way she feels like she deserved it. Not for what she did to Malfoy, of course, but for all the stuff she did before."

It looked to Harry as though Ron was angry, but trying to control his feelings. "That's ridiculous, of course, and I told her that last night, when we talked about it," Ron continued. "I mean, okay, she was mean and nasty. She enjoyed hurting people that she and Malfoy didn't like. But that's just a... a huge difference from the Cruciatus Curse, never mind for that long a time. You just can't compare them, it's like saying someone deserves to be killed for stealing a few Galleons. But I think she won't blame anyone else because she's too busy feeling like she deserved it, but that's just wrong. She didn't deserve it, and she doesn't deserve to feel like she does."

There was silence for a moment; no one was reading the newspaper. "I don't think anyone here will argue with you about that, Ron," said Hermione, her expression somber. "I would say the same thing to her that you said. But we really can't know what it feels like for her."

Neville spoke. "Is it like, you don't want her to blame herself, so you blame Dumbledore?"

Ron grimaced slightly and hesitated, suggesting that while he didn't want to say it that way exactly, Neville wasn't too far off. "I blame Malfoy first, obviously," Ron clarified, with a glance at Harry. "But none of us would have done what Dumbledore did; he could have prevented this. Not only this, but you and Ginny almost died, would have if not for this energy-of-love thing you have going. If you had died, I don't think I'd be sitting here saying, 'well, at least Dumbledore did what he thought was right, gotta give him credit for that.' I'd be wishing someone else had been headmaster. Yes, I know the Hagrid story, I was there when they took him away. But I'd bet if you asked Hagrid about the trade-off--he has to spend a week in Azkaban, and in return, Crabbe and Malfoy aren't allowed back in--he'd take that trade. I know Dumbledore's reasons, Harry. But it's too extreme. I can't sacrifice people on principle, and I can't approve of it. If you could've stopped something, and you don't, you do have responsibility."

There was another silence, as Harry struggled with what Ron had said. He still wasn't inclined to blame Dumbledore, since he knew better than anyone how heavily the consequences of his actions weighed on Dumbledore, but he didn't feel he could argue with Ron, either. "He would be the first to agree, with that last sentence," said Harry. "I'm sure he feels responsible for what happened to Pansy, what almost happened to us. I just..." He trailed off, feeling uncomfortable saying anything that opposed Ron or Dumbledore.

Ron seemed to understand. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't going to say anything, this is only because you asked me."

Harry nodded in acknowledgment, and told himself that from then on, if Ron didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't encourage him to. They all went back to reading their newspapers. Harry started on the article about Ginny, which was shorter than the rest. After a few minutes of reading, he looked to his left. "Hermione, what does 'vivacious' mean?"

"'Spirited' or 'lively,'" she answered, distracted, as she read.

"Well, that sounds right," said Harry. "He could just say that, though."

"I would explain to you why that word is better than the others, Harry, but I'm reading right now. Ask me later, I'll tell you." Harry looked at Ron, and they both smiled, knowing that Harry would not ask. Not having moved her head from the paper, Hermione continued, "Don't think I don't know what you two just did. You're so predictable..." Now Harry and Ron exchanged a less pleased look as Ginny and Neville chuckled.

Reading the article about Ginny, Harry said, "It's not as bad as I expected. Lots of nice things about Ginny, which is good." To her, he continued, "Mentions the Chamber from four years ago, I should have expected that. Molly is described as 'deliriously happy,' guess we knew that. Flattering quotes from classmates..." Harry's mouth dropped open in surprise, and he looked at Ron, who already looked embarrassed. "Thank you, Ron. I'm very touched." Ron nodded, but didn't say anything.

"What did he say, Harry?" asked Neville. "Ginny's on a different page."

"'Of course, I'm really happy. They're both great people, and they'll be really good for each other. I couldn't have wanted any better for either of them.'" He looked at Ron again, with gratitude; Ginny did as well. "Oh, that's so sweet, Ron," said Hermione, reaching around Harry to squeeze Ron's shoulder; Harry moved forward so she could reach more easily.

"I didn't really say that, Hugo just looked at my face and figured it out," joked Ron.

"Even if that were true, I'd still think it was really nice," replied Ginny. "Thank you."

They read and ate in silence for a few minutes. Hermione said, "Okay, I've finished all four articles, and-"

"That was fast, I'm still on the second," commented Ron.

"I read fast, Ron, how do you think I do all that reading for classes? Anyway, there's a very interesting omission: nowhere in these articles does it mention what we all assume to be the reason for the increase in Harry's power, nor does it ever say specifically that there was a sudden increase. From reading this, you'd assume that Harry always had the ability to Disapparate out of Hogwarts."

"Why did he do that?" asked Neville.

"Thank you, Hugo..." Harry said to himself, realization dawning. To Ginny and Neville, he said, "Dumbledore must have persuaded him to do this; he must want to keep it a secret that this is why I got stronger."

"But wouldn't he want everyone to know what love can do?" wondered Neville.

"Yes, he would, Neville, but not until Voldemort and his people are dealt with," explained Hermione. "Dumbledore's being cautious. He's concerned that if Death Eaters know that Ginny is responsible..." She trailed off, looking at Ginny sadly.

"...they'll think about getting rid of Harry's power source," finished Ginny, looking both frightened and determined. "I don't care, Harry," she said. "I knew what I was getting into, never more than when I thought we were going to die in the Chamber. Besides, I know you. You won't let anything happen to me."

"No, I won't," he said quietly. "Besides, it's not going to happen like that anyway, since Dumbledore did make sure that didn't make its way into print. Funny thing is, it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway-Voldemort wouldn't take it seriously, he'd assume it was just some stupid invention of the press. Since he has contempt for love, he'd never believe it could be a source of power. But it was still very smart of Dumbledore to do that. I hadn't thought of it."

He was going to say something else, but stopped when he heard applause start, and slowly swell. He looked around, and saw Pansy near the entrance to the Hall. He immediately jumped up off his seat and ran toward her, the others close behind him. She took a few steps towards him, smiling. He reached her and hugged her tightly. Then he stepped aside for Hermione, who hugged Pansy next, after which the other three did too, to sustained applause. They walked back to their seats, taking Pansy along with them, as the applause died down. They had Pansy sit down opposite Ron; Harry could see that she had tears in her eyes.

"I've never been applauded before," she said, accepting a tissue from Hermione. "You know, Harry, when you were having the Voldemort dreams, you said a few times how much it helped you that the school supported you. I think I know what you mean now. All those visitors yesterday, and now that... it feels so good to know that people appreciate what I did. And thank you again for telling them."

He shook his head. "It was so little compared to what you did. I'm just happy that now we get to be your friends is public, no more hiding and looking at maps."

"Yes, now you'll be looking at maps for different reasons," she teased him. The others chuckled.

Pretending to be annoyed, he said, "All right, who told her?"

She rolled her eyes fleetingly. "Nobody had to tell me, Harry, come on. Of course you're going to go to the places for couples, and of course you'd use the map. Hermione told me how she used it for that."

"Really," said Neville, as though what she had said was only mildly interesting. "What else did she tell you?"

Pansy smiled. "Wow, Neville, I'm impressed that you're not embarrassed for me to say that kind of thing at the table. Let's see, she said-"

"That's okay, forget I mentioned it," said Neville quickly, to general laughter. Hermione laughed especially hard, then said, "Pansy, it's very good to have you at the table." She looked up, and got up from her seat and walked to the teachers' table.

"What'd she do that for?" asked Neville.

"I think McGonagall motioned her over there," said Ron. "That's pretty unusual."

"I think I know why," said Pansy glumly. "It's against the rules to sit at any table except your house's."

"You really don't think she's going to be like that, do you?" Ron asked.

"It would seem a bit strict, but you know McGonagall," said Ginny.

Hermione sat back down, looking happy. "She said she wanted to tell me about a new rule. Apparently, prefects are allowed to sit wherever they want."

Pansy looked over at McGonagall, who was talking to the teacher next to her. "She's not looking at you on purpose," Harry advised her. "She doesn't want to acknowledge doing something nice. I'll tell her in the staff room later that you appreciated it."

Hermione handed her copy of the Prophet to Ginny, who gave it to Pansy. "Here, read that while you eat," said Hermione. "There's a good article in there." The paper she had handed over was opened to the article on Pansy.

Three days later, Harry had his first Auror training session since Monday's events, but it was as much testing as training; the Aurors were trying to determine the extent of Harry's current magical power. Dueling yielded much the results that Neville had predicted; Harry beat some Aurors more than they beat him, and some could beat him more than he could beat them. Even those said they felt that their superior skill and experience was all that allowed them to beat him, and were sure that once his skills matched theirs, they would rarely or never defeat him.

Apparation testing yielded similarly impressive results. Kingsley and Dawlish were considered to be the two strongest Aurors, but even they could not escape his anti-Disapparation field. Dumbledore was summoned, and to the astonishment of the Aurors, and Harry himself, Dumbledore could not escape the field either. Then he put a field onto Harry, who escaped it. Harry then had several practice duels with Dumbledore, who defeated him soundly and repeatedly. Dumbledore expressed to him and the Aurors what Harry had assumed: that he was strongest when it was a question of sheer power, but in matters where skill and experience were important, he was still some time away from reaching his ultimate potential. Still, everyone was amazed at the change.

Harry spent some time talking about his newest spell, what little he felt he could tell them. Dumbledore, for the Aurors' benefit, asked Harry some questions about his focus on love and how he went about channeling that into his magic. Harry felt that he was not quite sure himself, but he talked as much as he could about what he was thinking and feeling at the time he believed he started doing it. Dumbledore then gave the Aurors some advice about how to reach the state of mind that he and Harry did, with the idea that eventually they could do the same thing, and so use Harry's new spells. Dumbledore's talk to the Aurors gave Harry an idea.

At dinner at Hogwarts later that evening, Harry told his friends that he wanted to talk to them in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom after dinner. They headed off there together after they were finished eating. To the others' amusement, Harry showed off a bit by simultaneously moving fourteen desks off to the sides of the room, then moving the remaining desks into a circle, all six at once. They sat down. He had already told them at dinner about the results of the informal testing; now, he told them what had happened later, the talk that Dumbledore had given the Aurors.

"So, this is what I want to talk to you about, see what you think. From what happened to me last week, it's easy to see that there's huge potential for wizards to become stronger by using the energy of love in their spells. Now, the big question is, is this something that anybody could do with the right kind of training and practice, or is it something that only a very few wizards, like Dumbledore or me, could do? I have no idea, but I'd really like to find out.

"When Professor Dumbledore was talking to the Aurors, it occurred to me that I have a unique opportunity. I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. If I thought this could work, I could teach it in my classes-"

Hermione couldn't restrain herself from interrupting. "Oh, that would be wonderful! I hadn't thought of that. You could teach a whole generation to use the energy of love! It could be a revolution in how wizards use magic!"

Harry couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Well, that would be the ideal, but I definitely don't know if it could happen. The thing is, like I said, I don't know if it's the case that it can be taught like that, and I don't want to spend a lot of class time on something that I don't even know will work or not. So, before I even try that, I want to find out. That's why I wanted to talk to you."

As usual, Hermione was the first to figure it out. "You want to see if you can teach us..."

He nodded. "I have to try to teach someone before I'll try it in my classes. You're the ideal people to try to teach, for more than one reason. The six of us are very close, and that's very helpful to start with. We can have a very comfortable atmosphere from the beginning. Now, the thing about this that's hard, but would be less hard for us, I think, is being comfortable being really open and talking about this sort of thing. I'm sure you remember that it was hard for me at first, but I had the motivation of desperately needing to deal with Voldemort to push me along. You don't have that, and I don't want to feel like I'm pushing anyone to do anything they're not comfortable with, or wouldn't want to invest the time and effort in something that might not work. So-"

"Harry," said Ron, "sorry to interrupt, but I think we all know you're talking mostly about me here. I know, I know, not only me, you mentioned the effort and everything, and that could apply to anyone. But I'm the only one who the bit about being comfortable applies to."

"Not necessarily, Ron," Pansy put in. "I've never really been that kind of person myself. I've gotten that way somewhat this year, because Harry, and then the rest of you, have been so good to me. But it still doesn't come naturally to me. I think that Hermione, Ginny, and Neville are more like that naturally."

Ron nodded his understanding. "Okay, but I still think Harry knew he was pretty much talking about me. And I can't pretend it's going to be totally easy for me. But I really want to do this, and I'll do my best to put aside my... being reserved. Partly because it could make me stronger, but more to help Harry, and because I don't want the other five of you doing something like this without me. I..." Ron took a breath, then continued. "I feel very close to all of you, and if you do this, I want to do it with you."

"Thank you, Ron," said Hermione.

"We appreciate it," agreed Harry, understanding that saying something that was difficult for him to say was Ron's way of saying he was serious about it. "But just to be sure before I continue... all the rest of you do want to do this?"

The other four nodded. "Of course," said Pansy.

"I'm glad, thank you," said Harry. "I'm not saying that we're constantly going to be saying how much we love each other, or something like that. Honestly, I don't know what'll be involved. I'm just going to feel my way through it, and maybe you can help me. It was just that in my case, I found it was necessary to say things like that, that were hard to say, or even think things. For example, back in August and September, Professor Dumbledore advised me to think of love as feelings of closeness and friendship, and focus on those feelings. So I had to think about who those feelings were associated with, and the answer was obviously Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. With Ginny and Hermione, it was easy, because they're girls. But I kind of had trouble at first including Ron with that, because he's male, and it's awkward to think like that. And then later on, it was awkward to say it in front of him, but I felt like I had to, that I had to do it full out or it wouldn't work, so I did. I'm just saying, I don't know how this will work, but there could be that kind of situation."

"It's hard to argue with the results you've had, Harry," said Neville. "Now, we know that it's possible that this could be useful for increasing magical power only with you. But I would do this anyway. You had to do this to survive, and it's changed you. Even before you and Ginny, we saw that it made you a happier person, more relaxed. That's a good goal in itself." The others nodded in agreement.

"Right, okay," said Harry. "Well, first I'll talk in as much detail as I can about what was happening in my mind when I started doing this, and how things changed as I made progress. And sometimes we should stop and pause, and try to get that feeling going in our minds, and talk about how we feel or if we're having problems. And we'll see how it goes from there. Of course, anybody should interrupt if they have a question or a comment. Here goes..."

Harry started talking, and found it got easier as he went along. In what seemed like very little time, two hours had passed, and they had to go back to their common rooms. Harry didn't have any idea whether it would work or not, but it felt like a good start, and that he and the others would be happy to do it. For the time being, that was enough.