Chapter 971 - Ch: 32-34

Chapter 32: Draco's Legacy.

Lucius Malfoy was tucking into a late lunch in his palatial manor home when his remaining house-elf entered the room with a letter on a silver tray. Snatching up the note, he idly wondered whom it could be from as he slit open the envelope.

The predatory smile that split his face as he read the contents of the letter wouldn't have been out of place on a Cheshire Cat. His lunch forgotten, Lucius summoned a quill and some parchment and composed a brief note to his lord before including a copy of the note from the Goblins at Gringotts.

Disdainfully, he called out, "Elf!" When the tiny creature hobbled into the room, he gave it a look of loathing before speaking down to the filthy vermin, "It took you long enough to get here. Make sure to punish yourself harshly when you return from delivering this letter to the Dark Lord."

Trembling, the diminutive elf accepted the letter from her master before popping away to do his bidding.

Looking at the spot that the elf had just vacated, his lip curled in revulsion. House-elves disgusted him to no end but they were extremely useful. Since the debacle with Dobby, he made sure that his remaining elf wasn't seen by anyone but his fellow Death Eaters. Lucius also made sure that there was a standing order never to accept clothes from any family member in any way, shape, or form.

Just thinking about how that insignificant brat, Potter, had freed Dobby made his blood boil. Pushing those thoughts aside, he wiped his mouth on a pressed linen napkin, dropped it on the table, then rose from his chair and headed down to the cellar where he had a makeshift dungeon that was currently occupied by a muggle family.

As he approached the dungeon, he could hear the screams from the filthy muggle woman. Stepping into the room, he walked up to the screaming woman and backhanded her as hard as he could.

Snatching up a handful of her matted hair, he wrenched her head up to look into her eyes. Seeing, and smelling, her fear made his pulse quicken. His aristocratic drawl had an edge of pleasure in it as he whispered harshly, "Shut your mouth you filthy muggle before I give you something to really scream about."

Turning to face Crabbe and Goyle, he said in a voice that would not be out of place at Sunday dinner, "You two will stake out Gringotts and I will keep watch in Diagon Alley. Sirius Black was spotted there today and we may get lucky and catch him, or Potter, for our master." Pulling out the note from the Goblin, he handed it over to them and said, "Here is the description of what Black looked like. Look for him because I'm sure that if Potter goes to the bank, he will be disguised as well."

With one last glance at the muggle woman cowering in the corner, Lucius smirked, and said to her absolute horror, "Of course, please finish up with her. I should be ready to depart in half an hour." Her cries of pain and despair were like music to his ears as he headed back up to finish his lunch.

Lunch was just winding down in the Great Hall within Hogwarts. Some students were milling about, chatting with their friends, while others began to head off to do who knows what before they left for the summer.

As Harry, Hermione, the twins, Ginny, and Neville were getting up to leave the hall, Draco Malfoy sauntered over in his normal colored robes with a snarl of disgust on his pale face. Inwardly groaning, Harry wondered if he could ever go a day without interacting with the pompous fool.

Malfoy stepped up to the group of Gryffindors and said in his nasal drawl, "You cheated didn't you, Potter? There is no other explanation for how you managed to win the tournament."

Ginny was about to retort when a raised hand from Harry stilled her tongue. Fuming at Malfoy's slight, she settled for glaring at him while tapping her finger on the handle of her wand.

Slowly moving to the side, Harry positioned himself with his back to the Slytherin Table and putting his friends behind Malfoy. As he was moving, he began stretching out his magical senses, alert for an attack. Smirking, Harry looked back at Malfoy and said simply, "You're jealous, Malfoy." Taking a stab in the dark, Harry guessed, "You're mad that you didn't get picked by the Goblet after you paid an older student to put your name in. It must really brass you off that I won the blasted tournament and I didn't even enter myself."

Malfoy's cheeks began turning red in his anger and embarrassment. Snatching his wand out of his robes, he leveled it at Potter and roared, "Confringo!"

The Blasting Hex rocketed from Draco's wand but Harry had already stepped aside, letting the spell pass by harmlessly. The hex connected with the Slytherin Table with disastrous results. Shards of wood were sent flying in every direction as the hex obliterated the table, wounding a dozen students in the process.

Draco looked on in horror as his spell destroyed the Slytherin House Table. When the screams of his injured housemates reached his ears, he forgot all about the furious wizard in front of him.

Harry had begun pooling his magic the moment he felt Malfoy's spell start to leave his wand. As he sidestepped the lethal hex, he brought his own wand to bear and sent a Binding Jinx at the inbred fool. Ropes shot from the tip of Harry's wand, tightly wrapping around Malfoy causing him to fall over backwards.

Students were screaming while the teachers were rushing towards the injured students to treat the wounded as best as they could. The ghosts flew from the Great Hall to fetch Madam Pomfrey as quickly as possible.

Stepping over to Malfoy, Harry kicked aside the idiot's wand, stunned him, and then turned his attention to the chaos over at the Slytherin Table.

Professor Snape was feverishly attending to Daphne Greengrass. She had been the closest to the blast and her body was riddled with shrapnel from the explosion. Her face was a bloody mess and her right shoulder looked like it had been put through a meat grinder.

As Madam Pomfrey came rushing into the Great Hall, she quickly took stock of the situation. Realizing that Severus would be dealing with the most injured student, she rushed over and began working with him to save the young woman's life.

Silently, Harry watched the scene unfolding in front of him. Malfoy's actions had driven home the point that all wizards and witches were armed and dangerous. He realized that he was going to have to learn how to keep his magical senses attuned at all times, not just when he felt like he was in danger. Shaking his head at the thought of Malfoy actually teaching him something, Harry stepped back over to Hermione and their friends.

Hermione was hugging herself in horror at the spectacle in front of her. She knew Daphne, not well, but they were on semi-friendly terms. When Harry approached her, she threw herself into his arms and whispered in his ear, "Do you think that Daphne will be okay?"

Glancing at the carnage in front of them, Harry's posture slumped and that told her just as much as his reply, "No. I think her arm is really badly damaged and she is definitely going to have a bunch of new scars if she can be healed."

Fred and George had watched the entire confrontation unfold in silence. When Harry had positioned himself with his back to the Slytherin Table, they thought that he was insane. Now, they realized that he did it to protect his friends. Realizing that it could have easily been all of them on the receiving end of that hex made them shudder at the thought.

Silently, George walked over to the entrance to the Great Hall and cancelled the prank from the morning while Fred was undoing the trigger on the benches. They both understood that this was not a time for pranks.

Madam Pomfrey and Severus Snape were working franticly on Miss Greengrass. The young woman had lost a lot of blood and it looked like she was going to lose her arm from the shoulder down if they were going to save her life. Turning her head to her colleague, she whispered, "Severus, I'm going to have to take her arm. The bleeding is too severe to be healed in time to save her life."

Onyx eyes bore into the healer's hazel ones for a moment before Snape whispered in his silky voice, "Do it. I will cauterize the wound when you're done."

Minerva McGonagall had been watching while her co-workers tried to save Daphne's life. When she heard what was being discussed, she conjured privacy partitions and began herding the students out of the area.

Dumbledore entered the Great Hall in time to see Minerva conjure privacy screens around Madam Pomfrey, Severus Snape, and what he presumed was an injured student. Taking in the destruction around him, his gaze fell upon a trussed up, and stunned, Draco Malfoy.

He noticed Harry Potter hugging his girlfriend, Miss Granger, to him as they stared at the spectacle in front of them. Dumbledore knew that Harry was involved in this somehow. No one in the school was able to aggravate Mr. Malfoy to the extent that Harry could.

Walking over to the stunned form of Draco Malfoy, he peered intently down at the young man. He was so lost in thought that he almost missed Harry Potter stepping up to him. Turning his ancient gaze to the young Gryffindor, he asked, "What happened here, Mr. Potter?"

Harry looked up into the troubled blue eyes of the headmaster and pushed the memory of the encounter to the surface of his thoughts. Shielding the rest of his mind, Harry calmly said, "Take a peak, sir. I will push the memory to you."

Dumbledore was shocked; this was the first time that Harry acknowledged that he knew that he was a Master Legilimens. Carefully, he said, "Thank you, Mr. Potter." He slowly pushed out his mental probe towards the young man's mind. When he made the connection, Harry began feeding him the memory of the event.

After a few seconds, the memory ended, and Dumbledore found himself back in his own mind without realizing that he had been pushed out of Mr. Potters. Deciding to deal with that nugget of information later, he turned his focus to the events that transpired between Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy.

With a casual wave of his wand, Dumbledore summoned Draco's wand to him and placed it in his robe pocket. Looking at his Deputy Headmistress, he beckoned her over to them. When she arrived, his voice sounded tired but determined, "Minerva, please contact Amelia Bones and inform her that we have a situation that requires her presence." He paused a moment, then added, "Do not tell her who the culprit is until she is here. It is important that we take care of this before word gets to Lucius."

Minerva nodded once and headed off to make a floo call in the antechamber off the Great Hall.

Harry understood what Dumbledore was aiming for; Lucius Malfoy had Fudge in his back pocket and would do everything in his power to get his son off without facing charges. Quietly, Harry asked the headmaster, "Do you think that Draco deserves that second chance now, sir? That curse would have killed me had it connected. Instead, he very nearly killed a dozen students." Finished making his point, he walked away leaving a frustrated Albus Dumbledore behind pondering where Draco Malfoy had gone so wrong.

When Amelia stepped through the floo into Hogwarts, she knew that something terrible had happened. Looking up at her longtime friend, she asked, "How bad is it, Minerva?"

Minerva McGonagall pursed her lips in frustration and practically hissed, "It's very bad. Draco Malfoy very nearly killed a dozen students from his own house. Daphne Greengrass is the most seriously injured." Seeing Amelia's monocle fall out of her eye in shock, she pushed on, "Miss Greengrass is going to loose her right arm and she will have multiple scars adorning her body and face if she survives."

Madam Bones almost gasped when she heard the details from the Deputy Headmistress. Steeling herself for the worst, she put on a calm mask and said, "Please take me to the scene of the crime."

When they entered the Great Hall, the first thing that the Director of Magical Law Enforcement noticed was the partitions surrounding what she presumed to be Miss Greengrass and the school medi-witch. Spying Dumbledore standing in the middle of the hall next to an unconscious and bound Draco Malfoy, she made her way over to him.

Albus Dumbledore felt every one of his one hundred and fifty two years as he took in the situation. Draco Malfoy was about to be hauled off to the Ministry for his careless assault, Daphne Greengrass would be lucky if she survived, or unlucky depending upon how one looked at things, and Harry Potter had just cast some serious doubts upon one of Albus' oldest beliefs.

Releasing a sigh, Dumbledore turned to Madam Bones and said, "Thank you for coming so quickly." He withdrew Draco's wand from his pocket and presented it to her, "Here is Mr. Malfoy's wand. Mr. Potter witnessed the entire incident from a unique perspective. The curse Mr. Malfoy fired was meant for Mr. Potter but he dodged it and it struck the Slytherin House Table instead."

Amelia looked over at the destruction Draco Malfoy's spell had caused. She knew that the curse would have been fatal had it actually struck Mr. Potter. Not glancing away from the destruction, she said in a clipped tone, "Where is Mr. Potter now?" Adding the additional charge of attempted murder to the list would really help her case against the Malfoy heir. Because The-Boy-Who-Lived was the target, that would go a long way in seeing that Draco Malfoy stood trial.

Albus gestured to their left while saying, "He is with his friends over by the entrance. I have already spoken with him about what happened here. Do you wish to speak with him now or will you take a statement from him later?"

Madam Bones really wanted to speak with Harry Potter now but she knew that the longer she delayed in taking Mr. Malfoy into custody, the more likely it was that she would have to deal with Fudge and Lucius upon her return. Sighing, she said, "No, I will interview him later. I need to get Draco Malfoy to the Ministry and processed as quickly as possible. Your rendition of events is good enough for now."

Somberly, Dumbledore said, "Very well. I will inform Mr. Potter that you will be contacting him at his relative's house soon for an interview."

Amelia didn't let the shock show on her face at Dumbledore's statement. She knew that Mr. Potter no longer resided with his muggle relatives and that he had new guardians. She decided against correcting his assumption, but she would mention it when she was eventually able to speak to Mr. Potter. Too many things didn't add up around the young man and she was curious to see what was really going on, not what the press or Albus Dumbledore reported.

Stepping over to the unconscious Draco Malfoy, Amelia pulled out two pair of enchanted manacles that could only be taken off by an Auror. She slapped them on his wrists and ankles before vanishing the ropes and waking him up with a quick flick of her wrist.

Draco looked around in momentary confusion before the details of what he had done came rushing back to him. He blanched when he realized that he was cuffed and sitting on the ground in front of the head of the Auror Department. He almost shuddered when he saw the cold, calculating, look that she was giving him. Instead, his arrogance won out and he drawled, "When my father…"

"Shut your mouth, you foolish child." Amelia's harsh tone of voice cut across him, "Your father isn't going to be able to save you from your own arrogance. Attempted murder is a very serious charge, not to mention the fact that Miss Greengrass may not survive, and you also injured a score of your own housemates."

Seeing the young man pale at the mention of almost killing Miss Greengrass, Madam Bones continued talking loudly, making sure that everyone could hear what was going on, "You have just caused all sorts of trouble for your father. Many of his business associates' children were just injured by you."

Draco's skin color was now an ashen green as he started to think through what he had done and what his father was going to do to him when they returned to the manor. It never occurred to him that his father might not be able to get him released. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realize that the headmaster had joined them.

Albus Dumbledore looked down at the young man trussed up on the floor of the Great Hall and sighed. His voice was laced with regret when he spoke in a clear voice that carried across the entire Great Hall with ease, "Draco Malfoy, you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You wand has been turned over to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as evidence of your crimes. I shall inform your parents that they may come and pick up your effects."

Too stunned to speak, Draco just sat there on the floor looking like a fish out of water after he was expelled.

Whispered conversations broke out all over the Great Hall as Dumbledore's announcement began to sink in. Some students were openly pointing at the disgraced boy while others continued talking amongst themselves about the events that they had just witnessed. The majority of the school was silently milling about in shock while the professors valiantly worked on their injured classmates.

Amelia reached down and hauled the prisoner to his feet. Turning to face Albus, she quietly asked, "Would you please make a Portkey to my office? I don't want anyone seeing me bring him in."

Only the Headmaster of Hogwarts could make a Portkey that could penetrate the wards of the castle. As everyone discovered at the end of the Third Task, anyone could make a Portkey to penetrate the grounds but that was something that the teachers were trying to rectify.

Dumbledore reached over, grabbed an empty goblet off the table, and tapped it with his wand. It glowed blue for a moment before he handed it to Amelia. Solemnly, he said, "Just tap it with your wand to activate it. It's a one way Portkey." He knew that the reverberations from today's events would echo for months, perhaps years.

Unwittingly, Draco Malfoy had just struck a major blow against Voldemort. Eight of the injured children were from the ranks of the Death Eaters and they were going to want retribution in some fashion.

Amelia touched the Portkey to Draco's hand and then activated it with a tap of her wand.

They vanished in a swirl of light and colors from the Great Hall, cementing Draco's Malfoy's Legacy in the lore of Hogwarts.

Chapter 33: A Bloody Day.

Harry was holding onto Hermione as he surveyed the damage from Malfoy's curse. As his eyes swept the room, he saw the telltale flash of a Portkey indicating that Amelia Bones departed with the blonde idiot.

He was vaguely aware that Hermione was talking to him. Looking into her worried eyes, he softly said, "I'm sorry. I was looking at the destruction from Malfoy's curse and not paying attention. What did you say?"

Nodding in acceptance, Hermione asked, "Why hasn't Professor Dumbledore called Fawkes down to help? You said that he saved you after you were bitten by the Basilisk in second year."

"I'm not sure." Harry said thoughtfully as he looked over at the headmaster. "Why don't we go find out?" Taking her by the hand, he led them over to where Dumbledore was looking around at the injured students with a glazed look on his face.

Clearing his throat, Harry spoke once he knew that he had Dumbledore's attention, "Excuse me, sir. Why haven't you called Fawkes to help the injured students? Daphne Greengrass is hurt pretty badly."

Dumbledore looked down at Harry Potter, the twinkle gone from his normally expressive blue eyes, his somber whisper was barely audible above the din, "Alas, Fawkes has just had a burning day and is currently sitting on his perch in front of my fireplace. Why didn't you block that spell, Mr. Potter?"

White-hot fury flooded through their bond and Hermione almost winced. She had become so used to Harry's flashes of emotions that she was quite good at schooling her own features behind a blank mask. While pushing tranquil thoughts through their bond, Hermione put her arm around his waist in a show of support.

Harry took a couple of deep, calming, breaths while he focused on Hermione's feelings. Blowing up at the Headmaster would not be a good thing right now.

Finally reigning in his anger, Harry politely rebuked, "First of all, I didn't know that he was going to fire a Blasting Hex at me. The impact from that spell would have injured me even if I managed to put up a shield. Secondly, I was standing at the head of the isle between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. There were a lot more students sitting there and the damage could have been even more severe if the hex had deflected off my shield and hit one of those tables."

Before Dumbledore could turn Harry's words or actions against him, Hermione stepped in and asked in concern, "Excuse me, sir. Why aren't you helping the professors heal the wounded?"

Surprised at the question, Dumbledore shifted his attention to Miss Granger and said, "I think that the teachers have things under control." Looking around the room at his teachers, he found them all working on injured students. With a tone of finality, Dumbledore said, "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to file some paperwork to make Mr. Malfoy's expulsion official." before stepping around the two teens and heading for his office.

Stunned by Dumbledore's abrupt departure, Harry took stock of the situation and dragged Hermione towards Madam Pomfrey. When they arrived where the Mediwitch and their Potions Professor were working, they met with a gruesome site.

There was blood everywhere. Daphne's robes were torn open, revealing a mass of cuts and pieces of wood sticking out of her body and her arm had been amputated at the shoulder joint. The wound had a charred look to it and Harry realized that they must have used fire to stop the bleeding by cauterizing the remaining flesh.

Hermione turned around and hastily stepped back out of the privacy screens before vomiting all over the floor of the Great Hall.

Harry fought down the bile rising in his throat and burned the image in his mind. The scene in front of him was a stark reminder that innocents could and would get hurt in any conflict no matter how careful you were.

Quietly, so he wouldn't break their concentration, Harry asked, "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

Snape didn't even bother to look up, he recognized Potter's voice easily. His voice was without its usual snarl when he spoke, "Mr. Potter, we are very busy here at the moment. If you want to help, start checking the injured students that haven't been treated yet."

Seeing Madam Pomfrey nodding in agreement with Snape, Harry replied, "Yes, sir." and stepped out of the enclosure, never noticing the trail of bloody footprints he was leaving behind.

Looking over at Hermione, he grimaced and asked, "Are you going to be alright?"

When she looked up at him, her eyes were bloodshot from throwing up and crying at the same time. It was her first experience with how dangerous a spell could really be. Wiping her mouth on a napkin that Ginny handed to her, quietly, she said, "Eventually."

Harry rubbed her back gently in understanding before turning his attention to the rest of the group. He noticed that they all seemed a bit green but seemed willing to help.

In a commanding tone that they had never heard him use before, Harry said, "Hermione, I want you, Neville, and Ginny to head up to the Hospital Wing and get some extra medical supplies. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape are tied up and the other teachers are going to need some assistance."

The three teens nodded and dashed off towards the Hospital Wing at a run.

Turning his attention to Fred and George, Harry said solemnly, "Professor Snape wants us to treat the students that the teachers haven't gotten to yet. I figured that you two would be able to handle the blood better. If you can't treat a wound, just bandage it until a professor or Madam Pomfrey is free."

With identical nods, the normally rambunctious Weasley twins made their way over to the injured students to lend a hand where they could.

Focusing on his magic, Harry allowed it to direct him to an injured student that was sitting slightly away from the crowd. Kneeling down next to her, softly he said, "Where are you hurt?"

The look of pain on the young witch's face was agonizing to see. When she removed her hand, Harry was shocked to see a piece of the table the size of a railroad spike protruding from her left forearm. Gingerly, he took her injured arm and lifted it up to better inspect the wound.

His gulped when he saw that the shard had been driven through her arm. She was bleeding profusely but no one had noticed because she was holding her injured arm against her black school robes. Looking closely at her face, Harry realized that she was paler than usual because of the blood loss and that her eyes were out of focus.

Gently, he lowered her to the floor, placed his own school robes beneath her feat, and laid her injured arm across her abdomen. Soothingly, he said, "I need to fetch Madam Pomfrey. Stay still, I'll be right back."

Sprinting back to the school healer, he blurted, "Madam Pomfrey, Tracey Davis is badly injured and no one noticed. She's lost a lot of blood where a piece of the table pierced her left arm."

Not even looking up from her work, Poppy said brusquely, "Take a Blood Replenishing Potion from my bag and bandage her injury as tightly as possible. I'll be there shortly." Looking up into Mr. Potter's eyes, she said, "Don't leave her, she may go into shock if she hasn't already. Good job catching her injury before it was too late, Mr. Potter."

Harry knelt down and rifled through her medical bag and withdrew the proper potion, a few bandages, then ran back to Tracey. Gingerly, he lifted her back into position with her head across his thighs and said softly, "Madam Pomfrey wants you to take this potion for the blood loss and then I'm going to bandage your arm. She'll take care of you as soon as she's finished helping Daphne."

Tracey Davis looked up into the eyes of her nurse and focused on him for the first time. Harry Potter was the last person that she expected to see helping her and the shock was plainly visible on her face.

She swallowed without conscious thought as he tilted some of the potion into her mouth, her gaze never leaving his. "Th…Thank you." she rasped, just before she passed out.

As Harry was about to pour another measure of potion into her mouth, Tracey's eyes rolled up into her head and she began to convulse. While he tried to keep her from injuring herself further, Harry yelled as loud as he could, "Help!"

In the mass of confusion, no one noticed a flashbulb from a camera going off; forever immortalizing the moment. Changing back into her Animagus form, Rita flew over to a wall sconce and settled down for a very juicy story, ignoring the cries for help around her.

Madam Pomfrey was just finishing up with one of the wounds on Daphne's chest when she heard Harry's yell. Checking her patient's vital signs, she said urgently, "Severus, Miss Greengrass is stable for now. I need to see to Miss Davis." Without waiting for his response, she stood up and made her way over towards Mr. Potter.

A whispered, "Good luck." from Severus Snape was lost amongst the din.

Madam Pomfrey surveyed the situation in front of her as she knelt down next to the two teens. The first thing that she noticed was the extremely pale color of Tracey's skin and the large wooden spike that was sticking out of her forearm.

The clinical part of her mind noticed the good job Mr. Potter was doing to prevent any further injury to Miss Davis as she convulsed. While running her wand the length of Tracey's body, she was muttering an incantation to check for vital signs.

"Minerva!" Poppy shouted. The results from her spell were much worse than she feared. Miss Davis had lost a tremendous amount of blood, if she lost much more, her heart could fail. As it was, some of her organs were already shutting down from the blood loss.

Turning her attention to Mr. Potter, she noticed him looking down at Miss Davis with wide eyes. Calmly, she said, "Harry," when he looked up at her with those piercing green eyes, she continued, "When she stops shaking, I'm going to need you to pour the rest of that potion down her throat as soon as I say so."

Harry nodded in understanding and grasped the potion firmly in his hand waiting for her word.

Minerva bustled over as quickly as possible when she heard the Matron's call for help. Arriving at the scene, she quickly conjured up more privacy screens before asking in her thick Scottish brogue, "What do you need me to do?"

Poppy's tired eyes glanced up at the Transfiguration Professor; this wasn't the type of injuries that she was used to dealing with at Hogwarts. Sighing in relief, she said urgently, "Minerva, I need you to get some additional healers here. We have at least two students that need to be transferred to Saint Mungo's."

Moving as fast as she could, Minerva McGonagall headed towards the nearest floo to call Saint Mungo's for some help. As she was leaving the Great Hall, she spied the Hogwart's Poltergeist, Peeves, madly cackling with glee at the destruction and chaos. Furious beyond belief at the annoying spirit, she did what Mr. Filch had wanted to do for years. She exorcised him with a swish of her wand without even breaking her stride.

Poppy noticed that the girl's convulsions were ending so she said commandingly, "Now, Mr. Potter." as she began treating the wound in Tracey's arm to get the bleeding stopped.

When he was finished pouring the potion down Tracey's throat, Harry asked, "What do you need me to do now, Madam Pomfrey?"

Looking into Harry's eyes, Poppy could easily see that he was determined to help and would do what was necessary to see things through to the end. Relieved that she didn't have to do this alone, she said, "I need you to vanish the piece of wood in her arm and then I'm going to start closing the wound."

Turning her attention back to the unconscious girl's arm, she snapped, "Now!" The moment that the stake was vanished, blood spurted everywhere. It was as she had feared; the arteries in the arm had been severed below the elbow. She quickly conjured a tourniquet and began wrapping it around Tracey's bicep while keeping her other hand clamped over the pulsing wound. Shifting her gaze to Mr. Potter, she said urgently, "I need you to keep tightening this tourniquet until the bleeding stops so I can heal her arm."

Harry didn't say a thing; he just took the tourniquet and began tightening it down just like Madam Pomfrey was doing moments before.

As the bleeding began to lessen, Poppy was able to see what she was doing and began repairing the damaged arteries. After a few tense minutes, she finished fixing the arteries and had begun to seal up the wound. Relieved, she said, "Mr. Potter, please begin slowly loosening the tourniquet."

Relief flooded through Poppy as she felt Miss Davis' arm begin to warm back up from the flow of fresh blood. Slumping down on her haunches, she looked up at a blood covered Harry Potter and said tiredly, "Great job, Mr. Potter. Miss Davis is going to be just fine. If it wasn't for you, she would have bled to death."

Suddenly very tired, Harry leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. After a few moments respite, he opened his eyes and looked down at the girl lying across his lap. Her skin color was returning to normal and her breathing had evened out.

Unconsciously, Harry reached out and brushed the hair away from Tracey's face before beginning to use his fingers to untangle the knots. He was unsure how he felt about what had happened in the last fifteen minutes.

He was confident that Draco was going to throw a spell at him once he started goading the blonde haired ponce. He was extremely surprised by Malfoy's spell choice though. At most, Harry was hoping that it was going to be something harmless but uncomfortable. Nothing prepared him for the lethal spell that the arrogant brat had sent rocketing his way.

It was ironic that Malfoy ended up teaching Harry, not one, but two important lessons during the disaster. The first was that all witches and wizards were armed and dangerous. The second lesson was that you should never taunt someone without being prepared for the consequences.

Harry knew that he didn't have control over Malfoy's choices, short of using the Imperious Curse, but his own actions did lead to a very bad situation. That being said, he was glad that it wasn't his friends, or heaven forbid, Hermione, on the receiving end of Malfoy's disastrous spell choice.

Albus Dumbledore had returned to the Great Hall just as Harry Potter yelled out for Madam Pomfrey's assistance. Suppressing his presence, he stuck to the outer edges of the hall until he was about fifteen feet from where Miss Davis was being treated so he could observe Mr. Potter more closely.

He knew that Harry had goaded Mr. Malfoy into attacking, the question burning in his mind was, 'Did he do that with the intent to harm the Slytherin students?' Dumbledore feared that Harry had already started down a dark path based upon the boy's reactions to the tasks in the Triwizard Tournament.

Just as Harry was beginning to relax, he felt the familiar presence of Albus Dumbledore. When he spoke, his voice clearly conveyed his displeasure towards the Headmaster.

Dumbledore was ripped from his thoughts when the very person he was dwelling upon said in a very frosty voice, "Is there something you want to say, Professor Dumbledore?"

Poppy was startled by the tone in Mr. Potter's voice and by the fact that she had not heard Albus step into the cordoned off area that they were inside.

Plastering a smile on his face, Dumbledore said in his proud grandparent voice, completely ignoring Harry's tone, "Indeed, Mr. Potter. I wanted to congratulate you on saving Miss Davis' life. Had you not noticed her injury she most certainly would have died before ever being treated."

Annoyed, Harry had to struggle to keep his voice low so he didn't disturb Tracey when he growled, "It wouldn't have been necessary if you would have taught the students that their actions have consequences a long time ago."

Minerva McGonagall had just entered the Great Hall with a few Healers from Saint Mungo's. She directed one of the Healers to the cordoned off area where Professor Snape was still working on Miss Greengrass and one to check on the students that were being helped by the Weasley twins. She beckoned to the third Healer, a trainee named Augustus Pye, to follow her to see Miss Davis.

As they entered the cordoned off area, they both heard Harry Potter telling off the Headmaster. Shocked, Minerva snapped angrily, "Mr. Potter! Now is not the time for that discussion!" She was well aware that Harry was correct, but it was something that she felt should be discussed in private, not in the confines of the Great Hall in front of witnesses.

The look of defiance in Harry's eyes almost caused Minerva to rebuke him again but when Mr. Potter didn't speak, she wisely held her own tongue in check. Turning her attention to Madam Pomfrey, she reported, "I managed to grab two Healers and one Trainee. Mr. Pye is the Trainee." she said as she waved her hand in his general direction.

Relief flooded through Poppy when Minerva mentioned the extra help. Sounding exhausted, she said, "Thank you, Minerva. The worst of everything is under control, I hope. Please have them check all the injured students over just to be safe. Mr. Pye can assist me in getting Miss Davis ready for transportation to Saint Mungo's."

Minerva nodded and headed over to make sure Madam Pomfrey's instructions were carried out properly.

Harry was about to get out of the way when Healer Pye spoke for the first time, his voice surprisingly high, "Don't move just yet, Mr. Potter. We need to get her onto a stretcher first."

Dumbledore had been listening to the conversation with half an ear and at the mention of a stretcher; he conjured one with a lazy flick of his wand. Eyes twinkling, he asked helpfully, "Is there anything else you require, Healer Pye?"

Awed that Albus Dumbledore was speaking to him, Augustus stammered, "N…No thank you, sir. I think we can manage it from here. Th…Thank you for your help."

Impressed with Dumbledore's skill at manipulation despite himself, Harry took the lesson to heart. With that one action, the Headmaster made Healer Pye believe that he was the one to do the majority of the work before the Healers from Saint Mungo's arrived. Mentally shrugging at the irony, Harry figured it was a school and he did learn some very important lessons today, even if it wasn't in a classroom.

As the Headmaster walked away, Harry pondered Malfoy's situation. He knew that Sirius and everyone else needed to know about this tonight. Just as he was about to head off to find Hermione, Tracey reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

When he leaned down next to her, she croaked out, "Thank you, Harry Potter. I owe you my life." Too tired to say anything else, she closed her eyes and drifted off into a healing sleep.

Surprised, Harry just stood there and watched them carry the young woman out of the Great Hall.

A few minutes later, a very bedraggled looking group that consisted of Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Fred, and George joined him. All of them had blood on their clothes in some fashion but none more so then Harry. He looked as if a fire hose had sprayed him with blood.

Silently, he led them out to his garden down by the lake. Once they arrived, he checked the area for more Eavesdropping spells. Finding two, he held up his finger to his lips before miming covering your ears.

When everyone had safely covered their ears, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at his throat. With the Sonorous Charm active, he stepped up to the rock that the Eavesdropping Spell had been cast upon and shouted as loud as he could in his amplified voice, "The Chudley Cannons stink!"

The sound was deafening, birds scattered from their perches in the low hung branches in the trees while Harry's friends all cringed and tried to cover their ears tighter.

Back in the castle, Albus Dumbledore winced at the volume of Harry's shout. He knew that his ears were going to ring for hours and a headache was fast developing. He quickly deactivated the other Listening Charms with a frown on his face; he did not want to suffer that fate again. Rubbing his temples gingerly, he wondered what to do now that Mr. Potter had discovered another one of his tricks of always knowing what was going on.

In the garden, Hermione could feel the mirth and a touch of smugness coming from Harry. Curious, she asked, "Did you find more Listening Charms?" When he nodded yes, she sighed and said resignedly, "You would think that he would have gotten the hint when I blocked the sound from the area last time."

The wicked smile that crossed Harry's face complimented his smug tone well, "Oh, I'm sure that Dumbledore got the message today. If I ever find another one of those things, I'm not going to be so nice next time."

Remembering that they were all still covered in blood, Hermione drew her wand and began siphoning it off herself before moving on to Harry and the others. She never noticed that she performed the spell silently.

Everyone else, however, did. They were all giving Harry and Hermione shrewd looks before George piped up, "Okay, spill. How come the two of you are so good at silent casting?"

Harry and Hermione shared a look before she answered for the both of them, "We have been practicing our silent casting all year for an hour or two per day if we have the time."

Before anyone could say more on the subject, Fred interrupted, his tone curious, "What I want to know is what you meant about Dumbledore putting Listening Charms down here?"

The corners of Harry's eyes crinkled slightly, the only obvious physical sign of his annoyance towards the Headmaster. His voice was carefully controlled as he slipped into the state of Occlumency that he guarded his emotions behind, "For some reason, Dumbledore has been keeping tabs on me for a long time. Professor McGonagall removed a Monitoring Charm from me earlier this year."

The four purebloods all gasped at Harry's revelation. An invasion of privacy on that level was almost unheard of outside of a prisoner.

George's face clouded over into an angry expression that Harry was pretty sure that he had never seen on the normally gregarious twin. Moments later, Fred's expression mirrored George's as he too worked out what that Monitoring Spell really meant.

The anger in their voices was easily detectable as they said in tandem, "You mean that Dumbledore knew what your life was like at the Dursleys in your second year?"

Neville and Ginny were at a loss. Most of the conversation between Harry and the twins was going right over their heads. Ginny understood a little from bits and pieces that she had picked up from her parent's discussions when they thought that they were alone, but she still didn't have the full picture.

Uncomfortable about the abrupt change in the conversation, Harry felt that a simple, yet direct, approach was needed. Sighing in resignation, he whispered, "Yes, he did know." while never meeting their eyes.

Hermione had moved over to Harry and had wrapped her arm around his shoulders in support. Leaning over, she whispered in his ear, "It's okay, Harry. You can tell them, they already know most of it and Fred and George will figure it out soon enough."

Straightening up, Harry turned and planted a tender kiss on her forehead before saying, "Why don't we all have a seat, this could take a while."

Curious, the four teens sat down in a semi-circle facing Harry and Hermione. They listened, enraptured, as Harry gave them the basic details of his life up to his third year at Hogwarts over the next couple of hours.

Harry was finally able to tell someone other than Hermione about his previous home life and properly thank Fred and George for rescuing him that fateful evening. The emotion he felt at their finally knowing more about his home life shocked him, it was relief instead of shame.

Harry's story allowed Fred, George, and Ginny, a better understanding of Harry's reactions to food and freedom when he first came to visit the Burrow. Neville discovered that his own life wasn't so bad after all, and in a showing of true Gryffindor Courage, he told them about his parents.

Those two hours in the garden by the lake cemented the bonds of friendship between the teens for life.

Chapter 34: Another year gone by.

They were all getting ready to head back up to the castle after spending the afternoon together, talking about their lives. The sun had started to set, bathing the grounds in an orange hue that Ron would have loved had he been outside.

"Fred, George, can you wait a second before you two head back up?" Harry asked politely.

Hermione had a suspicion about what Harry was about to do so she deftly steered Ginny and Neville back up to Gryffindor Tower. Looking back over her shoulder, she smiled at Harry and mouthed silently, 'I love you.'

Harry returned the gesture then turned his attention to the curious but smiling twins. Gathering his thoughts, he asked them in a formal tone, "Are you two still serious about opening a joke shop?"

The twins turned to face each other, an entire silent conversation taking place between them in the span of a couple of seconds, before Fred finally spoke up, with a hint of curiosity in his voice when he said, "We do. At first we are probably going to have to be a mail order catalogue until we can save up enough gold to rent a shop in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade."

"How much do you think that you two will need to get started?" Harry asked them.

After cocking his head to the side slightly while he did some quick math in his head, George said, "Umm…somewhere around five hundred galleons give or take a hundred. That should allow us to rent a place for a year and still have enough to buy supplies to make our products."

Harry knew that the twins were brilliant; they just hid it behind their facades as pranksters. Looking at each one in turn, he said seriously, "I want in. I'll invest nine hundred galleons in your business providing that you make me an equal partner. Deal?"

Two identical grins broke out on the twin's faces as they chirped in unison, "It's a deal!"

Fred added, "We'll draw something up to make it official and get it to you as soon as possible."

Seriously, George said, "Thank you, Harry. This means a lot to us."

In a quiet whisper, Harry said, "I know what it's like to have dreams and I'm glad I can help."

Fred clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder in a gesture of friendship and understanding while George and Harry shook hands.

Turning as one, the three teens headed back up to the Gryffindor Tower with smiles on their faces and thoughts of the new joke shop running through their heads.

Upon stepping into the Gryffindor Common Room, the hue of red on the furniture and carpets caused Hermione to have a flashback to the carnage in the Great Hall.

Desperately trying to keep her composure, Hermione retreated to the Girl's dormitory to wash off the nonexistent blood. Even though she had used a spell to remove the dried blood and had scrubbed her hands and arms, it still felt like she couldn't get it off her.

Practically ripping off her jumper, she stepped into the shower stall, turned on the water, and grabbed a bar of soap and began frantically washing her arms. After scrubbing for five minutes, her arms and hands were an angry shade of red but she still didn't feel like the blood had been washed away.

Sinking to the floor of the shower stall, she hugged her knees to her chest and wept silently as she let the scalding hot water rain down on her head and shoulders.

Harry was just entering the Gryffindor Common Room when he felt Hermione's despair flooding their bond. Looking up in the direction of where he knew she was, a frown marred his face before he quickly strode over to the steps to the Girl's Dormitories.

Remembering that the stairs would turn into a slide if he tried to walk up them, Harry whipped out his wand, silently conjured a set of wooden stairs. He made sure that they didn't touch the stone steps before vaulting up them to find Hermione.

Using their bond to guide him, Harry quietly slipped into the fourth year girl's dorm and headed towards the showers and his distraught wife.

Fred and George stood there, slack jawed, when Harry conjured a wooden set of stairs and practically ran all the way up. Thankfully, no one else was in the Common Room but them when Harry pulled his little trick. With a nod to each other, they vanished the set of stairs before anyone saw them and could think to duplicate the feat.

George leaned over and whispered in awe, "I can't believe that we never thought of that. The alarm didn't go off either."

Fred nodded before replying slowly, "Yeah. Me neither. I wonder what Harry was so concerned about? Did you see his face?"

"I did." George replied softly while looking back up the steps. "Keep a watch in case a professor shows up. I'm going to send him a note."

While Fred moved over to guard the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower, George hastily scribbled a note to Harry and tapped it with his wand while muttering an incantation. The piece of parchment folded itself into a paper airplane and headed off towards Harry.

Rejoining his twin, Fred said, "I'm glad that we learned that spell from dad. Do you think that we should keep an eye out for a professor until he gets back?"

Furrowing his brow, George said, "Yeah. We probably should. You want to hit the showers first?"

"Nah." said Fred as he flopped down into the couch that faced the portrait hole. "I'll keep watch."

Giving his twin a nod, George hurried off to get cleaned up before the Leaving Feast.

Just as Harry was about to push open the door to the girl's showers, George's memo hit him in the back of the head. Leaning down, he picked up the note and quickly read through it before placing it in his pocket.

Stepping into the showers, he could hear the water running in the stall furthest from the door. Checking the room to make sure that they were alone, he strode over to her stall and called out softly, "Hermione?" When she didn't reply, he tried again, his voice full of concern, "Hermione, I'm coming in."

Opening up the shower stall, the sight that greeted him broke his heart. She was curled up in the corner of the stall, water from the shower splashing down on her head, rocking back and forth. Her arms from the elbows down were an angry red.

Ignoring the fact that she was topless, he shrugged off his robes and sat down on the floor right next to her. Slowly, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest as the warm water soaked into his clothes.

Hermione's reaction to Harry's loving embrace was immediate. She clung to him as if her life depended upon his touch and began crying harder. Her sobs echoed throughout the showers as she tried to rid herself of the image of her bloody hands and the carnage that she had seen in the Great Hall.

Returning her embrace just as tightly, Harry used his free hand to put up a Silencing Spell on the shower stall before wrapping both of his arms around her. It wouldn't do if any of her nosey roommates decided to come in only to discover Harry in their showers.

He didn't know how long they sat their together under the water from the shower, nor did he care. Hermione's well being came first and he was perfectly willing to sit there all night if need be. He knew what she was going through; he went through something similar after his first and second years at Hogwarts but he didn't have anyone to help him through it at the time so he suffered in silence.

Her sobs had finally subsided but she was still clinging desperately to Harry. Looking up into his eyes, she could see the concern and love in them. Slowly, she reached up, cupped his cheek in her palm, and whispered, "Thank you. I love you."

Giving her a soft smile, he said warmly, "I love you too." Squeezing her tighter, he asked, "Feeling better?" He noticed that her eyes didn't seem as haunted right now but he knew that it would be a while before the images faded.

"A bit." Hermione whispered as she traced patterns with her fingers on his soaked shirt. She desperately wanted to forget the horrible events that happened earlier and she began to unbutton his shirt while placing light kisses on his neck and shoulders.

Harry started slightly when Hermione nipped the base of his neck lightly with her teeth. He was a bit confused by her sudden change in demeanor. As her kisses became hungrier, his body began to respond through his confusion and a soft moan escaped his lips as she suckled on his throat.

When Hermione heard Harry moan, it drove her need to be close to him even higher. With an animalistic growl, she ripped his shirt open and began trailing kisses down his chest.

Thoroughly confused, Harry didn't know what to do. One minute he was consoling Hermione and the next, she was ripping his clothes off and doing her best to drive him crazy. Another moan escaped his lips before he pulled Hermione into his lap and began kissing her with the same desperate hunger that seemed to engulf her.

When her hands began fumbling with the front of his trousers, it was like a splash of cold water for him and he realized what they were about to do if he didn't stop her soon. Gently, he removed her hands and pulled her against his chest in a hug while saying in a husky voice full of love and desire, "Hermione, I want to just as much as you do, but I want our first time to be special and in our bed. Especially while we are in the girl's showers while you're trying to push aside the events from earlier today."

Harry's words crashed through her emotional, and hormonal, haze like a bucket of ice-cold water. Slowly, her mind began to clear and she realized where they were and what they were doing. Hermione turned a brilliant shade of scarlet, as she finally comprehended that she was topless and sitting on her obviously excited husband.

Before she could apologize, Harry placed a single finger on her lips, looked into her bright cinnamon colored eyes, and practically purred, "Don't apologize. I promise that when we are both ready, we can pick up right where we left off." Nuzzling her nose with his own, he whispered, "I love you, Hermione Potter."

"And I you, my husband." Hermione replied softly as she wrapped her arms around Harry's back in a bear hug as his words fanned her desires.

After a few minutes, he turned his head slightly and whispered into her ear, "Are you ready to get dried off yet?"

Hermione buried her face in Harry's shoulder in response to his question. She wasn't quite ready to leave the comfort of his embrace so she held on tighter. After a few moments, she murmured in his ear, "I don't want to go to the Leaving Feast…I don't think that I'm ready to go back in there."

Rubbing his hands softly up and down her bare back as she clung to him, Harry whispered back, "That's fine. I don't really want to go either." The Great Hall was about the last place that he wanted to be as well because he knew that seeing it again was going to be very difficult the first time they did.

Summoning his soaked cloak, Harry wrapped it around Hermione's back and clipped it just above her shoulders before pulling it completely closed to protect her modesty. He reached up with his hand and fumbled for a second before finding the shut off valve for the water. Carefully, he helped her to her feet and called out, "Winky!"

There was a small pop signaling the arrival of the diminutive elf. She took one look at Harry and Hermione's appearances and her gaze softened before she kindly said, "I will be right back with fresh clothes for you both." With a snap of her fingers, she dried the soaked teens before popping back to the house to gather some clean clothes for them.

A moment later, there were two distinct pops and both of the Potter House-elves were standing in the shower stall with a bundle of clean clothes for their masters.

Dobby stepped forward and said, "Master Harry, I will take you to the boy's dormitories so you can change. Winky will see to Miss Hermione, sir."

Harry looked over at Hermione and when she gave him a small nod, he held out his hand to Dobby and they were vanished without a noise only to reappear silently in the fourth year boy's showers.

Dobby steered Harry into a stall and handed him the fresh clothes as he said, "Just leave you clothes in there and Dobby will take care of them, sir."

Amused at being handled so expertly by his little friend, Harry chuckled and said, "Right away, sir."

Dobby blushed and gave Harry a final push into the stall before closing the door. While he was waiting for his master to change, he busied himself with tidying up the rest of the bathroom.

Winky was helping her normally talkative mistress into fresh clothes with an increasing amount of worry. Something must have happened to cause such a drastic change in her behavior. Tentatively, she asked, "Miss, do you need anything or do you want me to give a message to your parents?"

Hermione had been on autopilot as Winky helped her with her robes and it took her a couple of seconds to process the question before she could answer, "Yes, would you tell my parents what happened, I don't think that I'm ready for that yet."

"Of course, Miss." Winky said, hiding her concern. "Do you need me for anything else?" When Hermione nodded, no, Winky said, "Just call when you are ready to return home, Miss." After a small bow, she popped off to the kitchens to get some answers about why her mistress was unhappy.

Harry had finished dressing while Hermione was still getting ready. After saying goodbye to Dobby, he headed down to the Common Room to wait for her to come down.

When Harry stepped into the Common Room, Fred and George were staring, open mouthed, at him. Confused, he asked, "What?"

"Blimey!" Fred cried in shock.

George looked just as stupefied before he found his voice and blurted, "How did you do that?"

Thoroughly confused, Harry asked, "Do what?"

Fred and George got up from their spots on the sofas and hurried over towards Harry. Urgently, Fred whispered, "First you silently conjure a set of stairs up to the girl's dormitories and then you come down the boys stairs when we know that you didn't come back down the steps to get to your dorm."

"So, spill it! How did you do that?" George asked with a tone of awe mixed with curiosity in his voice.

Harry ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more than usual, before he answered with a smirk on his face, "Now that would be telling. Thanks for the note though."

Sensing Hermione's presence, he looked over towards the steps to the Girl's Dormitories and gave her a small smile. Keeping his eyes fixed on Hermione, he said to Fred and George, "Excuse me."

Fred and George watched in silence as Harry walked over to Hermione and pulled her into a hug that she heartily returned. They could see the pained expression on her face and deciding not to impose; they quietly slipped from the Common Room and headed down towards the Great Hall quietly discussing the very big puzzle that was Harry Potter.

After watching Fred and George leave, Harry quietly asked Hermione, "Are you hungry?"

Nodding yes to his question, Hermione leaned back a touch and looked into his compassion filled eyes. Giving him a small smile in return, she said, "Would you be terribly upset if we ate with my parents?"

Harry understood what she wanted and he was thankful that Hermione's parents were still around to provide a level of support that up until this year, he had been lacking and didn't believe existed. Squeezing her slightly to let her know he was okay with her request, he called out, "Dobby!"

When their faithful house-elf appeared with a pop and a smile, Harry asked him, "Would you please take us home?"

Seeing the tired look in their eyes, Dobby squeaked happily, "I would be delighted!" He reached out, grasped each of their hands, and vanished from Gryffindor Tower.

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his usual high backed throne in the Great Hall as he surveyed the student's in front of him. The chatter was subdued, probably due to the day's events, but nothing that he hadn't expected. What did surprise him was that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were missing in addition to the injured students.

Carefully, he scanned the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables to make sure that he hadn't missed them sitting somewhere unusual. Sighing into his napkin as he wiped his mouth, Dumbledore realized that he had been letting too many things slip through his fingers for the past few weeks.

The biggest of those things were The-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, and the disappearances of Alastor Moody and Igor Karkaroff. He was sure that they were somehow connected and he silently vowed to find the underlying cause of this particular mystery.

Dumbledore had already set up a rotating schedule of guards to keep a watch on Harry this summer at his relative's house without the boy being aware. Having him guarded would solve a couple of potential problems. First, it would give him the ability to keep Harry isolated from the magical world for another summer, especially once he forbid everyone to contact him because the Owl Post was no longer secure. Secondly, when he allowed Harry to visit the Weasleys, or his godfather, later in the summer, it would help put him back in the boy's good graces.

Turning his thoughts back to his missing friend, Dumbledore's eyes tightened as he came to the realization that Alastor was probably dead already. His desire to keep the potential imposter close was a strategic gamble that had probably backfired. To make matters worse, he didn't know who had been impersonating Moody for the past ten months. Meaning, if it was a Death Eater, they were now running free. His regret over Moody was one of the few times that he prayed that he was wrong.

However, Dumbledore had no regrets about Igor Karkaroff. He knew that Igor was a dead man walking the instant the Voldemort was reborn. Karkaroff had betrayed his fellow Death Eaters in open court for a pardon. If Voldemort didn't kill him, then one of his Death Eaters would.

The house-elves were just sending dessert up to the house tables and the appearance of a multitude of sweets distracted him momentarily. He reached out and served himself a generous portion of pumpkin pie with a large dollop of cream on top. Sweets were one of Dumbledore's guilty pleasures. He had other vices, but none that brought him as much pleasure as a good sweet.

When the talisman around his neck remained cool against his skin, he lifted the forkful of pie to his mouth and began eating. It wouldn't do anything good for morale if he were to be seen checking all of his food and drink for poisons. People would think him just as crazy as Mad-Eye Moody if he started doing that. In order to maintain his façade, he had created the amulet to pulse if there was a foreign substance in his food or drink. It had even saved his life on a couple of instances.

Finishing off the last of his pie, Dumbledore surveyed the hall in front of him. The students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had already returned to their respective schools so the hall seemed much larger now.

The house-elves had removed the extra sections from the house tables, leaving the students clustered closer together, which was part of the reason that Mr. Malfoy's spell had been so devastating. With so many students in close quarters, he knew that it was really dumb luck that no one had died.

About the only good thing that happened during the day was when Narcissa Malfoy sent one of their elves to pick up Draco's belongings after he had informed her of her son's expulsion and subsequent arrest. He had no doubt that he was going to have a long week at the Wizengamot dealing with the aftermath of Draco's disaster.

Slowly getting to his feet, he strode over to the podium at the edge of the raised dais where the head table sat. The students all noticed the headmaster and fell silent in anticipation of his upcoming speech.

Plastering a kind smile on his face, his voice easily carried the length of the entire hall when he finally spoke, "Another school year has gone by, faster for some and slower for others, I'm sure." Dumbledore paused to look at each of the house tables before continuing in a much more serious tone, "Many of you have no doubt heard the rumors that Voldemort has returned."

There were numerous shrieks at the mention of the Dark Lord's name and a few of the younger students were sniffling in fear. Ignoring the whimpers, Dumbledore held his hands up for quiet. His voice held an edge of command in it when he resumed speaking, "I assure you that it was just a rumor. However, that does not mean that you should not be, as your defense professor was fond of saying, constantly vigilant."

Giving the students another warm, grandfatherly smile, he said happily, "As a treat, there will be a late night snack in the Great Hall this evening at ten and curfew for the fourth years and up will be midnight." Listening to the students cheers, he gave them all another smile before saying, "Now, I suggest that you get your packing done this evening so you may enjoy the rest of your time at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore stepped down from the raised dais and strode out of the Great Hall listening to the now happier chatter coming from his students. He had originally intended to confirm that Voldemort was back but he realized that Cornelius would do everything in his power to discredit him if he did. Therefore, he felt that it was in the best interests of the war effort if he retained his positions of power within the ministry where he would be able to better combat the Death Eaters that operated in the political arena.

Albus' biggest fear about the upcoming war was that the government would fold without any resistance if he were to be pushed out of power. Fudge was a parrot that spouted the views of whoever was paying him the most that week. Unfortunately, that meant that it was Lucius Malfoy doing the whispering in Fudge's ear and that was never a good thing. Now that Voldemort had a body again, it was going to get a lot worse rapidly.

The fact that he had just undermined Harry Potter's word in the castle was a bonus. It would make influencing his wayward charge that much easier during the next school year.

Back in London, Harry and Hermione were sitting down to dinner with her parents, Sirius, Remus, and Andromeda. Ted and Dora were still at work but they would everyone as soon as their shifts were over.

John and Annabelle had been surprised when Winky had arrived with quite the tale about the events from earlier in the day before going off to inform Sirius and Remus per Annabelle's request. They were extremely grateful that the curse had missed Harry after Sirius explained what that particular spell would do if it hit someone directly.

When the teens had arrived home with Dobby, the adults were already in the kitchen waiting for them. Hermione launched herself into her parent's arms as soon as she saw them. Sometimes you just needed the reassurance from an adult. It had been Hermione's first experience with how destructive magic could be. She had heard, and read, about horrific things before, but there is no experience like living through something yourself. Unfortunately, she knew that today's events would not be an isolated incident with the coming conflict.

Harry was mildly surprised when Hermione's parents drew him into a hug once Sirius and Remus released him. Having a loving family was a concept that he was still adjusting to.

When everyone was settled, Annabelle asked the teens, "Are you two going to be okay?"

Harry looked over at Hermione and squeezed her hand under the table before gazing up at the adults seated at the table and said softly, "Eventually. It's just going to take some time." Hanging his head down slightly, he said in an even quieter tone, "Part of what happened today was my fault, I goaded Malfoy."

That was a bit of a surprise for the adults and it plainly showed on their faces. It was Sirius that spoke up first, his voice was firm but not angry, "Harry, look at me please." When he had Harry's attention, he continued, "Did you tell Malfoy which spell to use?"

Harry shook his head in the negative, but did not speak.

"You are not responsible for Malfoy's bad choices. What would you have done if it he had cast a Stinging Hex at you?" Sirius replied while looking into Harry's eyes.

Taking a moment to think things through, Harry said, "I probably would have shielded so he would have been in trouble for attempting to hex me."

Giving Harry a small smile as his explanation proved his point, Sirius said, "You did the right thing, Harry. That curse would have killed you if your shield faltered or you didn't get one up in time."

"But…" Harry started to say before Remus cut him off stepping into the conversation.

"Let me reiterate, you are not responsible for Malfoy's mistake." Remus said in a soothing tone of voice. He let Harry chew on that for a few seconds before he continued, "Sirius is right, Harry. You need to let go of your guilt over Malfoy's actions. You are not him."

Harry looked at the adults seated around the table and noticed that they all had the same expression of understanding on their faces. Turning to face Hermione, he gazed into her warm cinnamon colored eyes and found what he was looking for.

Her gaze wasn't reproachful, it was grateful. Surprised, he asked her in a small voice, "You…you don't blame me for what happened today?" Harry knew that she had been affected far worse than he had by the aftermath of Draco's spell and it was her forgiveness that he needed most.

Hermione looked into his bright green eyes that were full of guilt before quietly replying, "No, Harry." She reached up, cupped his cheek, and continued, "I'm glad that you had the presence of mind to put your friends out of harm's way and then how you kept your cool afterwards."

Sagging with relief, Harry gave her a tiny smile and mumbled, "Thanks."

Everyone seemed to relax a bit once Harry let go of some of his guilt and dinner proceeded with the accompaniment of pleasant conversation. Just as dessert was being served, a very anxious looking Tonks stepped into the kitchen, her hair cycling through various colors.

Unceremoniously, she plunked herself down in the seat next to Harry and with a grunt pulled the plate of food that Dobby silently slid in front of her and began eating with gusto.

Harry and Hermione were trying not to snicker at Dora's eating habits. They were startlingly similar to Ron's preferred method of eating, lean over the plate and shovel in as much as possible and as quickly as possibly, table manners be damned. Giving it up as a bad job, Harry lost it and began snickering into his napkin while Hermione hung her head and let her long hair muffle her laughter.

Looking over at the two teens, Dora asked with a mouth full of food, "Mwhat?"

"Nymphadora!" Andromeda snapped at her daughter. When Dora's hair cycled to a blushing pink, she continued ranting, "We taught you better manners than that! Now sit up straight and eat like a proper young lady instead of like some Neanderthal!"

Dora cringed at her mother's tone and tried to ignore the snickers coming from everyone else. She quickly sat up straight and resumed eating at a much more dignified pace.

When she was finished, she wiped her mouth and took a sip of water before saying seriously, "I caught Macnair this evening." There were a few raised eyebrows and a smile from Remus at her announcement. "He's in the cell at headquarters." She said before anyone could interrupt her.

Harry and Hermione shared a curious look and mouthed, 'Headquarters?'

Remus was watching the two teens and he decided to tell them the basics about what was going on, "We have another house under the Fidelius Charm that we are using for headquarters. If we capture a Death Eater, we have a cell set up for their use."

"Oh." Harry and Hermione echoed in response to the information.

Reaching into his cloak, Remus pulled out a worn looking book and slid it across the table to them while saying in a lighter tone, "I think this book will give you some information about Harry's Animagus form. I think he is some variant of a Coatl, but I'm not exactly positive."

Eagerly, Hermione snatched the book up and began looking at the pages Remus had tabbed for them.

Harry smiled at her antics and said warmly, "Thanks, Remus." He knew that Hermione was using the book as a distraction from the day's events but he did have some more questions about changing the dark ritual Voldemort used and what was going to happen now that the school year had ended.

Looking at the rest of the adults around the table, Harry asked, "What did you find out about the ritual that I changed and how is that going to effect me?"

Hermione had stopped reading when he asked his question and she was now eagerly looking at the adults for an answer as well.

Squirming slightly, Remus looked over at Sirius for permission to tell the tale. When he received permission, he quietly said, "That ritual was supposed to create a new body for Voldemort. When you gave your blood willingly it altered the intent of the ritual."

Remus paused to gather his thoughts on how to explain everything in a manner that Harry would understand before continuing, "You must understand that this is all speculation, but we believe that it is the correct assumption about why Voldemort survived that fateful night when you defeated him."

Thinking about the parts of the ritual that he remembered, Harry asked, "By giving my blood freely I broke my connection to Voldemort, didn't I?" He was pretty sure that was true because of his improved connection with Hermione, but it never hurt to have something confirmed to ease ones fears.

"Yes…" Remus said hesitantly as he processed Harry's question. After a few moments, he said, "Your scar was probably a Horcrux and when you gave your blood willingly it changed the intent of the ritual. Not only did it create a new body for Voldemort, we think it reunited him with the piece of his soul that was in your scar."

Andromeda had gone pale during the discussion. She knew the basics, but this was new information to her and it was very disturbing. Horrified, she whispered, "How many Horcruxes do you think that the Dark Lord made?" Being a Black, she knew the general terms of what a Horcux was.

It was Harry that answered her question, with a bombshell of his own, when he said, "I think Voldemort made at least three of them. The diary that I destroyed in my second year was one, my scar, and what ever other item that was keeping him alive until he got his body back."

The magical adults all had horrified expressions on their faces as they looked at each other and then back to Harry.

It was Hermione's leap in logic that conveyed just how far down the path to madness Voldemort had really traveled when she said, "Why just three? Seven is the most magical number in Arithmancy."

Shocked, Harry croaked softly, "Sweet Merlin, seven of them?" The answer to his question blossomed in his mind and he slumped in his chair at the implications. Looking up at the adults, he could see the despair reflected in their faces as they realized how large of an undertaking finding the remaining four vessels that contained the pieces of Voldemort's soul was going to be.

Deciding that a change of scenery would help ease the tension, Annabelle announced, "Let's head to the library for some tea and biscuits."

Everyone followed her in a daze, lost in his or her thoughts. When they arrived, the elves had already placed a tea service with a plate of biscuits on the table. Grabbing a cup of tea, Annabelle settled down into the loveseat with her husband and curled her legs underneath so she was sitting on her feet.

A small smile played across Harry's lips as he looked at Annabelle sitting on the loveseat just as Hermione did when she sat on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. He sat down next to Hermione and put his arm around her as she tucked her feet beneath her legs and got comfortable.

The conversation was light because everyone was trying to distract themselves from the daunting task that lay in front of them.

Hermione had resumed reading up on Coatl's with Harry reading over her shoulder.

Remus, Sirius, John, and the recently arrived Ted, were arguing about the merits of Quidditch versus Football and which sport was better.

Andromeda, Annabelle, and Dora were talking quietly about Quidditch and Football but with an entirely different slant. They were going on about how fit the male athletes were much to the annoyance of the men. Their occasional giggles caused everyone else to look up in surprise in some cases and exasperation in others.

Unable to stand the incessant giggling any longer, especially from her mum, Hermione asked, "What's so funny?"

Annabelle and Andromeda were blushing lightly but remained steadfastly silent, refusing to answer Hermione's question. Dora, however, smirked and said, "We were talking about how fit the athletes were that played Quidditch and Football."

Dora was expecting Hermione to stammer out a reply, so when Hermione simply said, "Oh. Okay then." and went back to reading, she was a bit disappointed.

Curious, Dora blurted, "That's it?"

Hermione gazed up from her book and the grin that graced her face was almost predatory in its intensity, "I know perfectly well how good Quidditch is for the male physique, thank you."

No amount of Occlumency was able to keep the blush from creeping up Harry's neck, especially when he felt Hermione's emotions humming through their bond. Wishing he could just melt into the couch, Harry settled for keeping his eyes glued to the book in front of him.

Annabelle, Andromeda, and Dora all turned a bit pink at Hermione's innuendo while John just stared at his daughter in shock. Sirius, Remus, and Ted were failing miserably in their attempts to hold back their snickering.

Unable to stand the tension any longer, Harry blurted, "Can we please change the subject!" His outburst set everyone into fits of laughter at his expense and he was blushing so badly that his face felt like it could light up a dark room.

It was getting late and Remus was anguishing over the fact that Harry had pseudo Horcrux and how was he going to tell him about it.

Sirius could see the conflict in his friend's eyes and decided that it should be his responsibility to tell Harry. Speaking loudly enough to be heard over the light chatter, Sirius said, "Harry, there is something else that we need to talk to you about before you two head off to bed."

The tone of Sirius' voice brought all conversation in the room to a screeching halt. Harry leaned slightly forward in his seat while unconsciously tightening his grip on Hermione's shoulder.

Seeing that he had everyone's undivided attention, Sirius continued in a solemn voice, "We think that something else happened when you modified the ritual. There is a very good chance that you now have an anchor to this plane because Voldemort used your blood to construct a new body."

Harry was putting the pieces together and when he finished the thought, his blood ran cold. When he finally spoke, his voice was borderline hysteric, 'You…you mean that I have my own Horcrux?"

Hermione could feel the panic coming from Harry. It was so palpable that she was sure that even if they weren't bonded that she would have been able to feel it. Wrapping her arms around him, she whispered into his ear, "It's okay, Harry. You're not evil; this is just a byproduct of the modified ritual."

He shuddered at the thought of having his own version of a Horcrux. As he thought about Hermione's words, he understood that there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it right now but it still bothered him tremendously. Squeezing her a little tighter, he whispered back, "Thanks."

After he untangled himself from Hermione, Harry stood up and announced, "I'm going to go to bed. I'll see everyone in the morning and we can talk about this some more then. I'm…I'm not ready to talk about this yet." Turning to face his wife, he leaned down, gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, and said, "Do you want to stay down here for a while or are you coming up?"

Silently, Hermione stood up and laced her fingers in Harrys. She waved goodnight to the adults and they left the library together for the privacy of their room.

The adults watched them leave the room in silence, respecting Harry's wishes for postponing the discussion. None of them wanted to delve too deeply into that particular topic now anyway.

Finishing off her tea, Dora finally broke the melancholy silence that had descended upon the library when she asked, "Should we go have a little chat with Macnair or do you want to wait until tomorrow?"

"Why don't we let him worry for the evening? We can talk to him tomorrow when we're rested and he's nervous." Sirius said after looking at the tired faces of everyone.

Hermione silenced and locked their door while Harry went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. She could still feel his distress pouring through their bond and it left her at a bit of a loss. This wasn't something that she could just make go away.

Harry's prior connection to Voldemort was an insidious one that allowed Voldemort too much access to Harry's mind. This new connection would have to be explored carefully. Hermione's best guess was that Harry now had the greater degree of control. The one million-galleon question now was, 'Would Harry be able to keep Voldemort from recognizing the connection and from getting glimpses of Harry's emotions and thoughts?'

Silently, Harry padded out of the bathroom, ran a hand tenderly across Hermione's shoulders, and climbed into bed. His thoughts were a jumble and his emotions a mess as he tried to wrap his mind around this new development. He placed his wand on the nightstand next to the bed and slipped under the covers before removing his t-shirt and tossing it on the floor.

Hermione walked out of their bathroom just as Harry dropped his shirt on the floor next to the bed. She was wearing a light pink baby doll and the matching pair of knickers that Winky must have left in the bathroom for her. Stepping into Harry's field of vision, she watched as his eyes widened comically and he gave an involuntary gulp. Smiling widely, she pirouetted to show him the entire outfit before slinking her way over to the bed.

As she climbed beneath the covers, Harry lifted his arm, and she curled up next to him while draping one of her legs across his and lay her head down on his shoulder. Leaning up, she placed a tender kiss on his cheek and said softly, "I love you and nothing is going to change that." She was gently tracing circles on his other shoulder with her free hand while she gazed into his troubled eyes.

"Thanks." Harry whispered. "It's a lot to take in all at once, you know? Are you going to be okay?" he finished with a sigh.

Hermione continued tracing patterns on Harry's chest with her fingers for a few moments before she answered in a barely audible voice, "Eventually. I know it was silly of me to never consider how destructive and dangerous magic could be, but today really made me see things differently." She paused to gather her thoughts and to regain control of her emotions before continuing softly, "I guess that I better understand some of what you have been through over the years now."

She perched herself up on his chest, looked directly into Harry's eyes, and said, "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you after what you went through your first three years." When she finished speaking, Hermione had tears in her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay." Harry said while tenderly wiping away one her stray tears. "You have been more help to me over the years than I can possibly begin to explain. If it weren't for your help, I don't think that I would have been able to make it through some of the things that we've done." he finished quietly while cupping Hermione's cheek in his callused hand.

Hermione clung to Harry tightly as she snuggled as close as possible to his chest. Hearing Harry's reassurances that she did help him cope made her feel a bit better about her actions from the past few years. Part of her worries were irrational, especially after witnessing first hand how he comforted her in her times of need even while he was dealing with the burdens of the Tournament.

Changing the subject, Hermione asked in a mock angry tone, "Now, when were you planning on telling me you were an Animagus?" Before he could answer her question, she lightly poked him in the ribs and said, "And why didn't you let me help?"

Squirming from her poking and her question, Harry mumbled, "I wanted it to be a surprise but then I found out that I was a snake and I was worried that it would frighten you. Then my form felt different after my encounter with the dragon but I couldn't figure out why." Reaching up, Harry ran his hand through her hair while he gathered his thoughts.

Smiling at the memory of finding out he was an Animagus, Harry said happily, "I had just finished reading the journal for the fifth or sixth time and I was thinking about my dad and Sirius when I discovered my form. I had been imagining that I was with dad, Sirius, and Remus during one of their jaunts around the grounds. The next thing that I knew, I was seeing things from a very different perspective."

Hermione noticed the wistful smile on Harry's face and she could hear the emotion in his voice as he spoke. Deciding to save her questions for later, she settled for getting comfortable and repositioned her head on his shoulder and settled down to listen to the rest of his tale.

Harry felt Hermione shifting and gave her shoulder a light squeeze with his arm before continuing with a light chuckle in his voice, "Honestly, I discovered my form by complete accident. The hard part was changing into a snake again but with a conscious thought instead. The first transformation happened so fast that I didn't really have time to concentrate on the magic. It's also a good thing that I didn't transform in the Great Hall or in front of a bunch of people the first time."

Hermione could feel the blush on Harry's chest and she couldn't quite stifle a giggle. Curious, she asked, "What happened?" She almost laughed aloud when she felt his chest grow even warmer in embarrassment.

Giving up on controlling his blush, Harry finally blurted, "When I transformed my clothes didn't change with me. So, when I turned back, I was completely starkers."

Hermione lost it and started giggling when the image of a naked Harry looking for his clothes after his first transformation.

She felt a sudden surge of magical energy from Harry and seconds later, she was cuddling a nine-foot long Coatl instead of her blushing husband. Squashing her desire to scream, Hermione calmly reached up and rubbed the scales between his eyes and said playfully, "You know, you have the cutest shade of pink in your scales. Perhaps a nice bow and a few pictures are in order?"

There was another shudder of magic and Harry reappeared blushing and scowling at the same time. Indignantly, he quietly retorted, "I do not have pink in my scales!"

Hermione's response was a single raised eyebrow, very reminiscent of Professor Snape.

"Okay, fine." Harry huffed, "Perhaps there is a bit of pink under the right light."

She patted his chest lovingly and cooed, "Aww, you make such a cute little snake too. Would you like for me to set up a nice aquarium with a heated rock?"

"No!" Harry quickly replied, and to his shame, his voice broke like a little child.

Still chuckling slightly, Hermione snuggled closer to Harry and whispered, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the pink in your scales. Let's try to get some sleep, I'm really knackered from today, and I bet that tomorrow is going to be intriguing."

Harry leaned down to kiss Hermione good night. As he pulled back, he said warmly, "I love you, good night."

"Good night and I love you too." Hermione replied as she settled into his embrace secure in the knowledge that whatever happened, they would face it together.