Growing up too fast

The next day they were watching the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Quidditch match but talking about the ball. "What do you think Snape will dress up as?" Ron asked.

Harry laughed and hadn't even thought about that. Seeing the teachers in costumes would be worth going by itself.

Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff after Cho caught the snitch. She saw Harry standing and cheering and waved at him. After the match, Harry was surprised that Ginny was going to Hogsmeade with them. This would be the first time she was around him in a week. They were beginning to walk away when Cho came over. "Harry. Thanks for coming to the match."

"That was a great catch Cho, I'm glad we weren't playing you today. You want to come to Hogsmeade with us? The girls have a couple last minute things to get before the ball and then we're going to the Three Broomsticks for a few minutes. We'll be back early enough to get ready for the ball."

"I'd love to, thanks. My friends had other plans so I would have just stayed here."

Ron and Harry waited outside why the girls shopped for their last minute additions to their costumes. "I still can't believe you turned her down Harry. You are coming tonight aren't you?"

"Of course I'm coming, I told you I asked a friend. You'll approve," Harry responded.

The girls finally came out with their bags and all seemed to be in a good mood, even Ginny. They found a table at the Three Broomsticks and soon Madame Rosmerta came over to take their drinks.

"Now what can I get you all. Harry! Back again so soon? I like seeing you in the daytime instead of the middle of the night. Will it be five butterbeers?"

"Ah, yes, five. Thanks," Harry answered and noticed all the others staring at him.

"What did she mean so soon Harry? When were you here in the night?" Cho asked.

"Well, I was celebrating the end of my detention last night and came in for a minute," Harry answered, not really wanting this to come up.

"Hagrid brought you here at night? He shouldn't have done that," Ginny said angrily.

"I saw Hagrid in the castle last night so he couldn't have been with Harry," Cho added.

"It wasn't Hagrid. He hasn't been doing my detention for almost two weeks."

"Did she bring you here?" Hermione asked, sounding like a teacher.

"Yes Hermione, I came with her to celebrate ending detention."

"I have no idea who you are talking about. Who did you come with Harry?" Cho asked.

"The friend I'm bringing to the ball. She's been doing my detention and now it's over. You can meet her tonight if you want."

"I'd like to know what kind of detention you've been doing at night with a woman who is now your friend," Ginny said loudly before storming out.

"I'll go talk to her. Maybe she'll understand when she meets her tonight," Hermione added quickly before running after Ginny.

"You're bringing R.J. to the ball! No way! Does McGonagall know? How did Hermione know?" Ron asked.

"Who's R.J.?" Cho tried asking again.

This was getting too complicated Harry thought. "R.J. is in helping with the extra security for the school. Now that Voldemort is back, Professor Dumbledore thought it might be wise to have additional security. She has been training me in some Muggle self-defense as part of my detention and we became friends. She doesn't really have many friends so I asked her to come to the ball. And yes Ron, McGonagall knows and Hermione figured it out last week."

"That sounds like you Harry. Being friends with someone who doesn't have any. I think it is a very sweet thing you did and I would rather you turn me down for something nice like this instead of just wanting to take another student," Cho said while squeezing Harry's arm. "We should probably head back though. I'm going to try and catch up with Hermione. Thanks for asking me to come."

After she left, Ron said, "I can't believe you're bringing a vampire to the school ball. Everyone is going to freak out."

"No they won't. It's a costume ball and I'm dressing like a vampire also. They won't know she's a real vampire. You'll be nice to her won't you?"

"Of course I'll be nice to her. Still, I think a warm bodied Cho would have been a better choice," Ron added smiling. "I'm going to be a knight. I found an old leather armor suit that McGonagall said I could borrow that fit pretty well. Hermione even approved of it. Sorry that Ginny got so upset. She still has that crush on you I think."

"Hermione said I should have asked Ginny to the ball. Would you have been mad if I had asked her?" Harry asked

"It would have been weird at first but I wouldn't be mad. Don't know how Fred and George would take it though. They'd probably be ok. But, what could ever make you ask Ginny instead of Cho? I mean c'mon!"

"Something is just weird with Cho now. She's pretty and nice but with Cedric and everything, thing's are just different. Ginny is more like you and Hermione, a good friend that you like being around. I just don't like all the games girls play, trying to get you to like them by not talking to you and avoiding you. I can't figure any of that out," Harry said exasperated.

"That's why you just stay clueless like me," Ron joked while they walked out of Three Broomsticks and headed back to the castle.

Harry headed straight to Madame Pomfrey to get the potion and hoped it didn't taste as bad as polyjuice. "Now this will take effect quickly once you take it. It may not be comfortable at first but I assure you it will be fine within a couple minutes. The effects will last about twelve hours and you should avoid sunlight until it has completely worn off. It won't seriously hurt you but will be uncomfortable. This is a very strange request you know?"

"Thank you Madame Pomfrey It will make my costume seem much more realistic."

Before the Ball started, Harry grabbed his costume and the potion and headed to Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was setting outside and greeted him. "Hello Harry. R.J. has already changed so you can change in my hut. She is waiting out of sight so you won't see her first. Nice thing you're doing by asking her."

Harry went in and changed into the costume. The cloak had a much higher collar and was trimmed in bright red. He wore a white ruffled shirt and black leather pants. Just with the costume, he thought he made a decent vampire. He looked at the potion and decided he had to do it right, so he downed the entire glass in one gulp. It wasn't as bad as he expected. In a moment, he started feeling very cold and started shaking. This was like being back in the lake before the gillyweed took effect. Looking at his hands, he could see them turning very pale. His fingernails finally turned black and he no longer felt cold. Actually he felt pretty normal. He walked over to the mirror and was shocked to see his face. His normally bright green eyes were as black as coal and even his lips were very black. He thought that he looked exactly like a vampire. He walked outside and even Hagrid was surprised by the change.

"Harry! I'd never know you weren't a real vampire. That potion really did the trick." Then he added loudly. "Ok R.J. he's in the costume now."

She came out from behind the hut and Harry was shocked. "Wow!" was all he could say.

"I'll take that as a compliment Harry," R.J. added. She had a black robe trimmed in red just like his but wore skintight dark red leather pants and a matching leather sleeveless top with a very low neckline highlighted by a gold necklace. Her lips were dark red, not black like his. "I could say the same about you. You make a very handsome vampire Harry."

"You look amazing R.J. Are those your own clothes?" Harry asked, still staring.

"Yes, a long time ago we used to get dressed up once in a while. I haven't worn these in many years."

"I told her that the students and teachers will be falling all over themselves when she walks in," Hagrid added.

"Let them fall, I know who my date is," she said taking Harry's arm.

"Bye Hagrid," Harry added.

"You really do look amazing," Harry said one more time walking into the castle.

They were a bit late so most of the students were already in the Great Hall when they walked in. Soon after opening the doors, the loud noise of talking stopped and everyone was staring at them. Then they heard much whispering and a few gasps. "Kind of like the Three Broomsticks," Harry whispered. "There's Ron and Hermione." The couple walked slowly over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting with Ginny and Neville. No one spoke to them on the way over, but at least the noise was coming back into the hall.

Hermione stood up when they approached. She was dressed as a 'fair maiden' that went well with Ron's knight costume. Hermione looked very pretty and he imagined Ron was pleased with himself for asking her now. "Hello R.J. It's nice to see you again. That's a very -um- impressive costume."

"Hello Hermione. Thanks. I really like yours as well. The medieval time period is one of my favorite, great clothes. Ron, you make a striking knight," R.J. said.

"Harry, how did you get your skin color changed?" Hermione asked while giving him a hug. She jumped back a bit. "You're cold! And your eyes aren't green. How did you that?"

"You're cold? Let me see," Ron said while grasping Harry's hand. "Wicked!"

"Madame Pomfrey gave me a potion. It'll wear off by tomorrow."

"Harry really put some thought into this," R.J. added smiling.

"Ginny, Neville, this is my friend R.J.," Harry said walking up to Ginny.

"Nice to meet you R.J.," Ginny said coldly and went back to talking to Neville.

Just then Fred and George came over "Harry, now we see why you turned Cho down. How did you end up with such a beautiful date?" Fred said extending his had to R.J.

She smiled and took his hand but he immediately pulled it back. "What. It's cold, you're a real vampire!" George exclaimed

Harry stepped forward and said. "George, feel my hand, it's cold too." Harry held out his hand and George took it and felt that it was cold also.

"Whew, you had me worried for a minute. That's an amazing costume," George said smiling again.

"Yeah, hands down you two are the best we've seen. Even though Hermione here looks pretty impressive, our little brother isn't up to her standards," Fred joked.

"Ah, you are Ron's brothers. Harry told me all about you two. Hope I didn't give you too much of a fright with the cold hands and all?" R.J. added smiling.

Harry pulled R.J. closer and whispered, "R.J. I don't mind anyone else knowing you're a real vampire if you want. It doesn't bother me at all. I just jumped in because I didn't know if you wanted others to know."

"Let's keep it to ourselves for tonight. No need to worry anyone," She whispered back. "Do you know how to dance?"

"I have a couple of times, but don't really know what I'm doing."

She pulled him out on the dance floor and took the lead. This wasn't like dancing before where he really didn't want to do it. He liked being close to R.J. and she was making this easy for him. They danced for a few songs, completely oblivious to everyone staring at them, they were enjoying dancing and talking. After a while they were walking back to the table when Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall stopped them. Professor McGonagall had on a simple tiger mask and an orange robe. Professor Dumbledore had a normal looking robe and a bright phoenix mask. "Enjoying yourselves? It's good to see you taking time off R.J.," Dumbledore said.

"Thank you. This has been highly enjoyable so far," R.J. answered.

Professor McGonagall asked, "I happened to be looking out the window last night and could have sworn I saw a griffin flying over the forest with someone on it's back. You haven't been showing off for everyone in school have you?"

Harry felt his stomach drop. "No professor, only one student knows but I really wanted to show R.J. I thought it would be dark enough that no one would see."

Dumbledore stepped in. "Ah, no harm done Minerva. Harry, would you mind if I had a dance with R.J. I'll get her back to you right after." R.J. started dancing with Dumbledore who seemed to want an excuse to talk to her. Harry went on back to the table and sat down.

"You actually seemed to be enjoying dancing," Hermione said with a knowing look in her eye. Just then Ginny said something to Neville and they got up and went to get more punch. Other students came over and asked Harry questions about R.J. and how he was able to look so much like a vampire. Ron and Hermione seemed to be enjoying themselves instead of fighting. Harry felt a tap on his shoulder and found Cho standing there. "Care for a dance Harry?" He thought it would be fine while R.J. was dancing with Dumbledore so he took her up on it.

"That's your friend, huh? She's very pretty and both of your costumes are amazing. I came with Bill Thomas, a seventh year. He's nice and we've become decent friends. Everyone is talking about voting for you two for the best costume. I don't think anyone else is close." The dance was nice, they talked a lot and while walking back they ran into R.J. and Professor Dumbledore.

"Thank you for letting an old man enjoy a few dances Harry. Enjoy the rest of the ball. And Harry; I think you should need one more night of detention right after the ball. But no flying," Dumbledore winked and then left.

That meant he could stay up talking to R.J for an extra few hours. Harry was so excited that he almost forgot about Cho. "R.J. this is Cho Chang, she's an amazing seeker for Ravenclaw. Cho, this is my friend R.J.," Harry said.

"Pleased to meet you Cho. That's a lovely costume you have," R.J. said warmly.

"Nice to meet you R.J. I hope you don't mind me taking Harry for a dance; I hadn't gotten to talk to him yet. I should be getting back to my date now though."

"Not at all Cho, it was nice to meet you," R.J. responded and then turned to Harry and said, "She's very pretty Harry, and a seeker as well. I'm lucky you turned her down and brought me." R.J. held his arm as they walked back to the table. They sat and talked for a while longer then heard a bell ring to get everyone's attention.

"Now is the time to announce the best costumes. This was decided by all of you and the teachers voting," Dumbledore announced. He held up a parchment and read. "The overwhelming choice is Harry Potter and Miss R.J." There was loud clapping and then Dumbledore interrupted. "However, as much as it pains me I must disqualify them from competition and in turn award the competition to Jamey McMillin and Kacey Gonphan the two mice costumes. Congratulations all of you."

"That's not fair, you two were the best by far," Ron roared. "Why'd he disqualify you?"

"Probably because I'm not wearing a costume Ron," R.J. said. "Sorry about that Harry."

"I'm not complaining. I've had a great time," Harry said smiling. Just then he felt someone behind him and noticed Professor Snape.

"Potter. R.J. Not content with werewolves and escaped convicts as friends I see. For someone who always does the good thing you sure seem to have questionable friends," Snape said.

"Good to see you again, Severus," R.J. said. "He's just kidding Harry; he's known me for a while."

"Yes, well you can tell your godfather that I approve of this new friend more than the werewolf," the Potions Master turned and left.

"He's never that nice to me. He really doesn't like me at all," Harry said.

"Snape's not so bad really. Sometimes things happen in life and a person's whole outcome is based on how his friends support him. People without real friends have a hard time dealing with things sometimes. Don't let him get to you."

They talked for a while longer then most people were going back to the common room. Harry and R.J. said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and walked out the front, back toward Hagrid's hut. Harry suggested taking a walk by the lake. They walked without talking for a while and then R.J asked, "So, what's the story with you and Cho?"

This startled Harry but he said, "Well, it's kind of weird. I had a crush on her since the first time I saw her. Then I asked her to the Triwizard Tournament ball last year but she had already been asked by Cedric Diggory the other contestant from Hogwarts. Then when we both took the cup and were taken to where Voldemort was, Wormtail killed Cedric. I brought his body back with me. Seeing Cho's face when she was crying so much kind of changed everything. It's just weird any more. I'm surprised she even talks to me."

"She doesn't seem to blame you at all. Do you think anything will change with you two?"

"I would say we might become better friends but probably not more than that. I can't really even think of that knowing Voldemort is going to come after me again. Why are you asking about her? Was the date so bad that you just want to talk about Cho?" Harry answered with annoyance.

"I had a really nice time at the ball Harry. I just thought that you and Cho could make a good couple and if you would rather spend time with her, I would understand."

"I'd rather spend time with you R.J. And now that I don't have fake detention anymore, I won't get to see you as much. I will try and sneak out whenever I can. I'll send Hedwig with a note so we can try to meet. If that's still ok with you."

"I'm glad you want to spend time with me. I'm sure we can meet whenever possible. In fact we may see each other more than you think. Dumbledore has suggested that we could do some self-defense sessions up in the castle in the early evenings. That way I would be up there a couple times each week."

"Really? That would be great. I'm sure that Ron and Hermione would want to come also. I should be getting back to the castle; we should walk back to Hagrid's."

Harry took her hand and they walked along the lake. She stopped before reaching the hut and said, "I really had a good time tonight, Harry. I can't remember when I felt so normal. Thank you" Then she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Harry wasn't quite sure what to do since this was his first real kiss but it felt natural to just kiss her back. Harry was just looking at her after the kiss when she asked, "Is everything all right? You have a strange look on your face."

"Don't laugh or anything but that was my first real kiss. I didn't really know what to do," Harry hung his head embarrassed.

R.J laughed, which didn't make Harry, feel any better. He was looking horrified when she said, "I'm sorry Harry but it's so amazing that you've fought the most evil wizard of modern time, who has tried to kill you a few times and yet you've never kissed a girl before. You need to get your priorities straight." This made Harry laugh as well. He thought that sounded like something Ron would say. "I think we should try it again since that was your first time even though you did it perfectly." She pressed into him again and gave him a deep, slow kiss. Harry put his arms around her and held her. He was disappointed when it ended and they turned to continue to the hut.

"Don't mention the training yet, I want it to be a surprise. I'll see you in a couple days, send Hedwig if you need anything. Thanks again," she said.

"Ok, see you. This has been the best night ever," Harry responded.

Harry was in such a good mood the next couple days that all his friends kept asking what was up. He was walking with Ron and Hermione after last class when Cho came up to them. "Hi guys. Harry, I wanted to say that I really liked R.J. and thought your costumes were the best. I can't believe you were disqualified, do you know why?"

Harry looked at Hermione who shrugged her shoulders; which Harry took to mean that he should tell Cho about R.J. She would be finding out soon enough anyway. "Cho, I want to tell you something about R.J. You know how convincing she looked as a vampire?" Cho nodded. "We'll that's because she really is a vampire. We were disqualified because she wasn't wearing a costume."

Cho looked horrified. "You're kidding, right?" Harry shook his head no and so did Ron and Hermione. "She seemed so nice; I thought all vampires were monsters."

"That's what most people think. That's why she doesn't have any real friends. Everything I said was the truth, I just left out the vampire part."

"I should know by now that nothing is ever quite normal with you, huh? I'll just have to get used to it I guess," Cho added with a smile but it still bothered Harry how she said it. Cho split off to catch up with her friends and Harry asked Hermione

"What do you think she meant by that?"

"I would say she really wants to be better friends with you but isn't used to all the extra things that happen to you," Hermione answered.

"You guys seem to handle it fine? Ron's still a friend after almost being eaten by Aragog with me and we all made it out of the trap door the first year. Does it bother you?"

"Not me," Ron added quickly. "Imagine how boring this place would be if we had to hear about you and a couple other students doing all this stuff. I'd rather be there doing it with you."

"Exactly," Hermione said.

The next morning there was a group around the bulletin board. There was a notice: "Non-Magical self defense training"; "Evenings after supper"; "Limited to the first ten fifth year students"; "Sign up here". Harry noticed that the firs three names were. H.Potter; H.Granger, R.Weasley.

"Hey, who signed us up for that?" Ron said without thinking.

"Wake up Ron. Who do you know that can teach non-magical self defense?" Hermione said sarcastically.

"R.J.'s going to teach these?" He asked.

"She wanted it to be a surprise, I assumed you two would want to come along. If you don't we can take your name off," Harry said.

"I wouldn't miss this for anything," Hermione quickly said.

Harry saw Cho sign up and she waved at him but continued on with her friends. He didn't know how to feel about this.

After supper they headed to the classroom where the self-defense training was going to be held. All of the other students were already there. There was Cho and one other Ravenclaw, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, two Hufflepuffs and then Ron, Hermione and Harry.

"Which teacher do you think will be trying to teach this?" Malfoy smirked. "I doubt many could do anything non-magical to defend themselves." Crabbe and Goyle laughed.

"Actually, it won't be a teacher Mr. Malfoy," R.J. said while walking in. "I'll be giving these training sessions."

"Why are you still looking like a vampire? Halloween's over," Draco added laughing.

"It's hard not to look like a vampire when you ARE one. That's why we needed to hold this in the evenings. I don't get out much during the day."

Harry heard the students who didn't know already talking and then looking at him. "You're a real vampire?" One of the Hufflepuff girls asked.

"Potter, you brought a vampire to the ball? What, couldn't get a live girl to go out with you?" Draco said

Harry thought about pulling out his wand but before he could do anything Cho spoke up. "For your information Draco, I asked Harry to go to the ball with me but he wanted to take R.J. I thought they made a good couple." Harry just stared at her wide-eyed.

"Ok, let's get back to the reason we're here. Yes, I'm a vampire but I assure you that you will all be perfectly safe from me. I didn't bite anyone at the ball did I?" She said smiling. "I do know quite a bit about self defense without the use of magic and I think you may see it could be useful in certain situations. In the worst cast it will give you all some exercise that waving a wand doesn't do. We'll be practicing mainly hand-to-hand defense but there are many ways to fight without magic. Harry, would you help me demonstrate using swords?"

He walked forward ready for her to hand him the wood sword, but she handed him a real metal sword that looked very sharp. She must have noticed the confusion in his eyes because she whispered. "Try not to take off my head please," and then smiled. He was more worried about her taking off a part of him. "Will the rest of you back up please? I don't want you losing any limbs the first night."

"Don't hold back R.J. See if you can take off his arm," Draco taunted.

"Ready Harry?" He nodded slightly. She brought the sword down fairly slowly in motion they had practiced before so he blocked it easily. The swords hitting still made a loud clang each time. He tried to respond and to attack her but she blocked it easily. After a couple minutes, her strokes weren't as slow as before and Harry was really concentrating hard to block them all. When he started to get really worried she stopped and said, "Not bad Harry. Of course if you met a vampire who really wanted to hurt you with one of these. I doubt any of you could stop it. Try to attack me again Harry. Try really hard."

Harry stepped forward and lunged with his sword and before he knew what had happened she used her sword to twist his from his grip and had swung hers around and stopped it right next to his neck. All the other students gasped and Harry's eyes were wide with amazement. She just winked at him and said, "Don't ever put yourself into a situation where someone you don't trust could do that to you. Muggles may not have magic but they have developed many ways to hurt each other that work just fine on wizards."

The rest of the class was spent learning basic hand-to-hand moves. Harry had worked on all of these already but really liked practicing them again. Everyone was tired by the end of the session. R.J. had really made them work. Even Draco seemed to enjoy this type of training. "I hope you will all come back for the next session as well. I'll leave the swords at home next time."

Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed behind for a few minutes. "That was a great session R.J. We don't get much exercise doing magic all the time so this was a good change," Hermione said.

"I say Quidditch is enough exercise for me but this was fun," Ron added.

"I'm glad you both came. I hope it wasn't just because I signed you up. Now I wonder what will be said when their parents find out there is a vampire in the school?" R.J. said.

"They all seemed to enjoy the session, even Malfoy; so I expect the students will tell their parents how much they liked it," Harry said.

"We'll meet you back in the Common Room Harry, don't be long. I don't want to have to take points from you," Hermione said while smiling and pulling Ron out the door.

"Ron is pretty good at this, he's a quick learner. I was worried about teaching this, not knowing how the students would react to me. I think seeing me at the ball probably helped. I've missed seeing you every night though," R.J. said.

"I missed you too. I was thinking about asking Professor Dumbledore if there was any way I could see you some evenings without sneaking out. He likes you and knows I would be safe. He wouldn't want the other students to find out though or they would want to be out at night. I knew the students would like you if they just gave you a chance."

The next morning while they were eating, mail was delivered and Hermione took one look at her Daily Prophet and said, "Harry, you're not going to like this."

She showed him the front page that read:

What's next for the 'Boy-Who-Lived', Diner with Dementors?

Harry Potter who counts; escaped convicts, werewolves and half-giants as his closest friends obviously isn't content to date normal witches anymore. He has chosen to bring a vampire to the Hogwarts Halloween Ball. He went so far as to take a very dangerous potion that basically turned him into a vampire during the date. "His skin was so pale and cold, and his eyes were pure black. It was kind of scary" one of the students was overheard saying. "She wore such a revealing outfit, it's no wonder Harry was under her vampire spell."

Even though Cho Chang; one of the prettiest girls in the school; asked him to go to the Ball, Harry chose to take a vampire instead. This reporter finds it odd that Ms. Chang would ask Harry to the ball when he was involved in the mysterious death of her boyfriend Cedric Diggory last year at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. Cedric and Harry supposedly tied for the cup but Harry was the only one to come out alive.

How the headmaster could have permitted this to happen once is unthinkable, now this vampire is giving special self-defense instructions to a small group of students. What other creatures will soon have access to the vulnerable students?

Can befriending dementors be far behind?

"I should have seen this coming," Harry said. "She probably won't have anything to do with me again. I should send her an owl tonight." He felt terrible, but then some of the students from the training class who had seen the article came up and told him that they weren't worried and had already told their parents about her. They were still planning on taking her training if she was still going to have it. This made him feel somewhat better.

Ginny read the article after Hermione and just said, "She was a real vampire and you didn't even tell me!" and then stormed out. This was not starting out to be a good day.

Students who weren't in the training started coming up to Harry asking him if he had really brought a vampire to the ball. He got annoyed with answering the same questions over and over. He tried to stay out of common areas where there would be many people. Hermione had told him before potions that Ginny was really upset with him for not telling her that R.J was a real vampire. "Tell her that if she wasn't trying to avoid me so much maybe I would be able to tell her things again," he said.

"You tell her yourself. I don't know what's come between you two."

"I'm not going to worry about all the games she plays. If she wants to be my friend, she should act like it." Just then Snape walked in and they couldn't talk any more.

They were walking down to supper when Professor Dumbledore came up to them. "Enjoying the new training sessions I hope? We should add it as a regular activity. Harry, would you mind taking a walk with me, there is someone who would like a word with you." Harry looked pleadingly at Ron and Hermione but turned and followed Professor Dumbledore down the corridor.

"I hope your approve of the self-defense training we started. I think it does Miss R.J good to be around so many smiling faces. You two seem to have hit it off quite nicely," Dumbledore said with his usual twinkle in his eyes.

"I doubt she'll want to come back after the article in the Daily Prophet. She probably won't want to see me again."

"I think you underestimate R.J. Harry. Remember she's been around a long time and I seriously doubt that article will bother her. Why don't you stop by Hagrid's this evening? I'll see if I can get R.J. to stop by as well."

"Really? Thank you sir. I really like spending time with her. She's so easy to talk to; I can tell her things I wouldn't want to tell Ron or Hermione. She really seems to understand."

"I imagine she does Harry. She seems happier than I have ever known her to be since meeting you. She told me about your first meeting and how much it surprised her. She respected your talent and your ability to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I think you'll continue to find she is a very special person."

Harry thought this would be a good time to see if he could spend time with R.J in the evenings. "Professor, do you think there is any way that I would be able to see R.J. in addition to the training classes? I can't really talk to her in there."

"I'll have to think about that Harry. We can't have you running around the forest anymore. I dare say we should try to figure something out so you don't have to resort to sneaking out of the castle to see her. Ah, here we are. You can go on in, I'll leave you here." He left Harry outside of a classroom in one of the far unused sections of the castle. Harry opened the door and saw Remus Lupin and Sirius talking.

"Sirius, Remus! What are you two doing here?" Harry said running over to give Sirius a hug. "Nothing's wrong is there? Any word on Voldemort?"

"Calm down Harry, nothing's wrong," Sirius said with a big smile. "Can't your godfather and his best friend come to visit?"

"You're looking good Harry. You know I miss teaching here," Remus added.

"So, any word on Voldemort? We haven't heard anything here," Harry asked excitedly.

"No, nothing specific. It's kind of strange; we expected to hear more by now. People in the ministry are saying that's because he's really not back but we know the truth."

"This is purely a social call; we hadn't seen you since your birthday party and thought it had been too long," Sirius said but Harry could tell there was something else.

"I'm not that dense, there's something else isn't there?"

They both laughed and then Remus said, "Your godfather here wants to meet this new girl you took to the ball. The word is she's quite a looker."

Sirius looked kind of embarrassed but said, "I am your godfather and was just curious about who you're seeing. Is that so bad?"

"Would you be so curious if she wasn't a vampire? That's the only reason you're here isn't it?" Harry asked obviously annoyed.

"I'd just like to meet her Harry. I'm not jumping to conclusions or anything. You're probably right that I wouldn't have come if I heard you were seeing some other student, unless it was a Slytherin. And it was an excellent excuse to make the trip."

"Ok, I understand but give her a chance. I mean your best friend is a werewolf and you'd trust him with anything. I just like being around R.J. She smart and I can talk to her about things I can't with Ron or Hermione. I'm trying to see her tonight down at Hagrid's and will ask if she can meet you tomorrow after her session. If she's still talking to me after that article."

Remus got a sly look in his eye and said, "Can you see if she'll wear the outfit she wore to the ball! More was said about the outfit than her being a vampire. I heard that none of the students even knew she was a real vampire since your costume was so good. That was very smart."

"She did look amazing and with the potion I took, my skin was the same color and as cold as hers so once people saw me they didn't suspect her. Only Ron and Hermione had met her before, so they knew. Now that she's taught the first self-defense session and with the article everyone knows. They pretty much all think I'm mental."

"That thought had crossed my mind, but I'll give her a chance," Sirius added. They spent the next hour just talking about other things and really enjoying the time together.

Harry ate quickly and then ran down to Hagrid's hut. He knocked and Hagrid answered the door. "Hello Harry. Dumbledore mentioned you might stop by. Not letting that article get to you are ya?"

"That article doesn't bother me, but I don't want it to upset R.J. They've said worse things about me in there before."

"That's the attitude to have. Who cares what they say. We all know ya and that's all that matters. I was a bit surprised at first when I heard ya was taking R.J., but you both seem to be happy and that's what counts." They continued talking for a while and then there was a knock on the door. Hagrid got up to answer it and said, "Hello R.J., Harry here was hoping you'd come. I've got a couple things to do so I'm going to leave you two alone for a bit."

"Hello Harry," she said while giving him a quick hug, but didn't seem happy. "Dumbledore sent me the article and said you may want to talk about it. I'm really sorry if this caused you any problems, I didn't think about you being famous and what being with me may cause. I shouldn't have..."

"Wait a minute," Harry interrupted, "I don't care about that article for me; I was worried what you would think. I didn't know if you would ever want to see me again."

She instantly cheered up and hugged him again. "I expected you to say that you couldn't be around me anymore. Nothing they can write would bother me; I just don't want to cause you any problems." This cheered Harry up and they laughed about it for a while. Then Harry said, "Most of the students from your training had already told their parents and they all want to keep training with you. Other students just think I'm even more mental than they already did but that doesn't bother me."

"Well, in that case." She leaned forward and gave him a nice long kiss. "I didn't think we'd be doing this again."

Harry remembered Sirius and sat back. "There is one favor I need to ask. My godfather is here and would like to meet you. This embarrasses me but it seems important to him. He wouldn't have risked coming here if it wasn't. Would you mind meeting him and Remus Lupin after the session tomorrow?"

"I don't mind at all Harry," she said quickly. "If I was in his place, I would demand to meet me. You've never had real parents; this is the kind of things they do."

They talked for a few more minutes and kissed a few more times before Harry had to go back to the castle. He had been dreading coming down since he thought it may be the last time he would see R.J, but now he was very happy.