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SIYE Time:9:18 on 29th March 2024
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Harry Potter & the Veil of Shadows
By elaithin

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Romance
Warnings: Death, Extreme Language, Sexual Situations, Violence
Rating: R
Reviews: 306
Summary: Moving on, strange dreams, mysterious newcomers, Death Eaters, the Veil of Shadows, and a little bit of life, laughter and love. Join Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione for their last year at Hogwarts - and the first year of the rest of their lives as they learn that just because Voldemort's gone doesn't mean life's going to be easy!
Hitcount: Story Total: 160533; Chapter Total: 6687





Author's Notes:
Whew! Sorry for so long between updates! Finals got me first, and then SIYE had it's issue - but chapter ten is here, and it won't be very long before eleven's ready. Enjoy! Thanks to TeyriJen, TopGun, FaithfulCynic and IcarusPhoenix for their beta work, as always!




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Chapter Ten - "His Own Man"

Dawn came bright into the Burrow the morning of Harry's birthday. It was one of his favorite things, and one of the reasons he liked staying there so much. It was far from the only reason, of course, but it ranked highly. The sun just seemed brighter in the mornings at that place, no matter how eminently more livable Grimmauld Place had become. For now, at least, Grimmauld Place was still just a house where he and Ron lived. The Burrow was a home, and that made all the difference.

Of course, this particular morning, it was far past dawn, and the slow drifting into wakefulness that he had begun to enjoy these past months had been soundly interrupted - namely by the petite redhead who had (presumably) bounded into his room and woken him by the simple expedient of laying down on top of him. The feel of another, very familiar person pressed on top of him had been strange enough to penetrate his dreams - though admittedly, it had taken Harry a moment to distinguish dreams from reality. As a pair of soft lips pressed against his, he firmly came down on the side of 'reality' and opened his eyes to find all other sights blocked by a curtain of red and a face easily distinguishable by pale skin and prominent freckles.

It was, Harry decided, the best possible way to be woken up on one's birthday. Or any sort of holiday. Or any day at all, really.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Ginny said softly, very much unable to contain her wide grin.

Harry smiled as he stretched with a groan and ended up wrapping his arms around Ginny's body. He found it rather unfortunate at that point that her clothing was certainly not in a state of disarray. Reality, it seemed, had its downsides. "That is definitely the way a bloke wants to be woken up on his birthday, Miss Weas-"

Ginny effectively silenced him again by simply leaning forward and pressing her mouth against his once more. The young couple stayed that way for quite some time, and Harry was beginning to seriously not consider getting out of bed at all, if that was what he had to look forward to. When she finally drew back, it occurred to him that he was having trouble focusing on her - and everything else, really. It took a moment to dawn that this was because he had not put on his glasses yet.

"Better?" Ginny purred with a knowing smile as she slipped his glasses onto his face. She was not, he knew, asking about his vision.

"Much," Harry chuckled. "I'll have to return that favor on your birthday, of course."

She cocked her eyebrow at him, and her mouth curved upwards in a wicked grin. There was a welcome glint in her eyes as she leaned forward so their noses almost touched. "I look forward to it, Mr. Potter," she said with an unmistakable note of challenge in her voice.

He leaned slightly to close the distance between their lips when she pulled back abruptly and scrambled off the bed and headed for the door.

"Oi!" Harry protested. "Where're you off to?"

In passing, she scooped up a change of clothes and tossed them in his general direction. That they landed on his head was completely accidental, Harry was sure. He was also quite certain that his glare, if noticed, had been as completely ignored as his question had been... "Get your shower - Mum's got breakfast cooking, and you've had enough of a lie-in already. Ron'll go spare if he's got to wait for his food much longer."

"Y'know, Gin," he noted, dragging the tangle of clothes off of his head. "I think you're more excited about my birthday than I am."

"Of course I am," she answered, her childishly gleeful grin leaving no doubt that she really was Ron's sister after all. "There's presents! Come on then."

She began to whistle as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. Before she headed down the stairs, Ginny paused for just a moment on the landing and cocked her head towards the room, listening for the muted sounds of Harry moving about. When they came to her, she nodded in satisfaction and headed down to the main floor. Good man. Knew not to keep her waiting for him, especially when presents were involved, even if they weren't for her.

Maybe Ron had taught Harry a thing or two about Weasleys after all.

* * * * *

Harry dressed quickly after his shower. He'd finally found a decent shirt and jeans among the clothes that he kept at the Burrow, mainly a Puddlemere United shirt that he'd picked up when they'd gone to one of Wood's games earlier that summer. Ginny's selection of a shirt for him had fit a bit more snugly than Harry was really comfortable with. While he was no longer the "skinny shrimp" Dudley had often referred to him as, Harry still retained a bit of admitted negativity in his self-image. It was also not lost on him that a large number of the shirts - the ones he liked, at least - and nearly every pair of socks he'd left here had gone "missing".

He was also very much of the opinion that if he happened to check Ginny's room, he'd very easily manage to locate all of his missing articles of clothing. His girlfriend was rather notorious for "acquiring" clothing that didn't belong to her - especially socks. The t-shirt thievery hadn't started until they'd gotten together. As far as he knew, at least - though, upon reflection, it did seem that a disproportionately high number of his shirts had gone missing over the years during his stays at the Burrow.

Oddly, Harry found that it didn't bother him - not the way it drove Ron up the wall, at least. One of his mate's biggest endorsements to his and Ginny's relationship was that at least now his wardrobe was safe from his little sister. In the end, that had proven to be a forlorn hope. Harry had never commented on the phenomenon to Ginny, and he actually wondered if that didn't take some of the fun out of it for her. It had become something of an unspoken game between them, to see who would crack first.

So far, Harry was winning. But then, if he hadn't been able to nick a pair of Ron's socks himself this morning, he had to admit he'd probably be pretty annoyed.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all downstairs in the kitchen, along with Molly who was, as always, busying herself at the stove when he came down the stairs. Harry's gazed flicked over to the clock, and confirmed that it was half-nine. He had slept in a bit, hadn't he? "Good morning..." he started to say, but his own words were cut off by a rather large yawn.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You're not still tired, are you Harry?" She flicked her eyes over to Ginny a moment. "Dreams not keeping you awake, are they?" Their eyes met briefly, just enough to exchange a questioning glance.

If only you knew, Harry thought as the strange image of himself, older standing over Dumbledore's body flashed through his mind. He just shook his head, dismissing the odd fragment of dream from a few days before, and started looking about for the tea. He also tried to ignore that Hermione, of all people, was trying to take the mickey out of him.

Yes, Ron was definitely a bad influence on her.

"Over on the counter, dear," Molly told him without even looking, causing Harry to once more marvel at just how she did that. Eyes in the back of her head, Ron had often said. Of course, raising Fred and George, she'd probably had to develop a very good situational awareness.

"Thanks, Molly," he said with unfeigned gratitude, and poured himself a cup of very hot tea before setting into his accustomed spot next to Ginny at the end of the table.

"Of course, dear," the Weasley matriarch replied easily as she set plates in front of himself and Ginny. After a moment, she added plates for Hermione and Ron, much the latter's satisfaction.

After Molly set her own plate - and herself - down, she regarded Harry once more. "Happy Birthday, Harry," she noted brightly, which Ron and Hermione quickly echoed. Ginny settled for giving him a kiss on the cheek, and Harry smiled warmly as Molly continued speaking. "Any plans for the day, then?"

"Not rea-" Harry started to answer after he'd finished a mouthful of eggs. He didn't even get the second word out before Ginny clamped a hand over his mouth. Smiling sweetly, she turned to face her mother and answered for him.

"He's got plans, Mum," she said, causing Ron to chuckle and a small giggle to escape Hermione's lips. "We've just not let him know them yet."

Harry fixed a stare on his girlfriend for a moment before returning his attention to the elder Weasley woman. "Apparently I do," he conceded, and resumed the attack upon his breakfast.

Molly looked as though she wanted to say more, but everyone's attention was diverted to the clacking of an owl's beak against the kitchen window.

Harry watched with interest as he continued with his breakfast, and abruptly realized that for the first time in a year, the sight of owl post didn't immediately renew the sense of pain and loss from the death of his own beloved snowy owl, Hedwig. That hurt, at least, was finally healing, even if Harry suspected it would never fully heal. Hedwig had been more than just an owl - she'd been his first birthday present and more than that, his first real friend aside from Hagrid.

He was able to remember her now for what she'd meant, and not dwell on just the thought of her loss. It was progress, he supposed. That train of thought ended, however, when Harry recognized the new arrival as one of Hogwarts' barn owls and flashed a conspiratorial grin over at Ron. He was sure that the girls saw the grins that he and Ron shared as they each counted the number of letters that the barn owl dropped off. Ginny's eyes had narrowed in suspicion, and a familiar look of calculation was now dancing across Hermione's features.

"Oh, Hogwarts letters," Molly noted, taking the envelopes from the bird and absently offering it a treat. "But there's..."

"Four," Hermione said aloud, fixing a stare on her boyfriend and his best mate, who were by now grinning in a way that oddly reminded her of Fred and George upon the successful completion of a particularly good prank. Ginny had not missed this either, and Harry watched as she purposefully took the letters out of her mother's hands.

Momentarily, he allowed his vision to shift as he looked at the letters, and confirmed that there was no unexpected magic contained in them. It was something he'd started two days before, when a letter that had arrived with the normal post had been hexed to put a ton-tongue curse on the opener. The witch in question (who Harry had never met) was of the opinion (which Harry had never solicited) that he was largely making things up about how he'd defeated Voldemort. Never mind that he had still not said anything more than a few words to the public on that topic and her opinions were formulated in response to the now-daily questions and wildly-inaccurate theories being bandied about by the Daily Prophet. He would have to do something about that soon.

Ginny absently tossed Hermione's letter onto the table in front of her friend. Her own, she dropped on the table in front of herself. The other two, she confirmed, were indeed labeled for Harry and Ron. Holding it up so the two could see - though her eyes were very firmly fixed on her grinning boyfriend - she spoke only a single word. "Explain."

Harry reached out and snagged her hand, dragging her over unceremoniously to sit on his lap. While this was not normally an action that engendered protest, at this particular time it incurred a rather direct glare. Without a word, he extricated Ron's letter and his own from her grasp, and tossed the redhead his. Then he waggled his own in front of Ginny for a moment. "Why, Miss Weasley, you seem to be very interested in the contents of this letter," he teased at his own risk.

"Harry, you prat," Ginny finally snapped at his cheek. "Of course I am. I very much want to know why you've got a letter, when you've been saying all summer that you weren't going back to school. Now open the bloody thing!"

It was not lost on Harry that Molly, rather uncharacteristically, didn't reprimand her daughter for language at all. She also did not seem to be at all surprised any more. He had to give the woman credit - she was rather quick on the uptake.

He did, however, grin some more as he broke open the wax seal. As he pulled the letter out with a flourish for Ginny's benefit, two things that he hadn't expected tumbled out with it. His teasing grin vanished, then, as he heard Ginny and Molly gasp simultaneously.

Two small badges landed on the table in front of him with a tinny clink as metal landed on oak.

One badge he'd expected. The 'Quidditch Captain' badge was familiar enough, and not exactly a surprise. He'd have been Captain last year again, in a perfect world, where they'd been at school and worried about things like N.E.W.T.s and their social lives, rather than hunting Horcruxes and evading Snatchers and Death Eaters.

He couldn't say that the second badge, an embossed gold one that read 'Head Boy', was something he'd expected in any way, shape or form.

"Bloody hell," Harry and Ron cursed at the same time. Harry's gaze darted up to his friend to see him lifting two badges from his envelope as well. His Prefect's badge - and another Quidditch Captain badge?

Okay, Professor, let's see what you've got to say, Harry thought, and directed his attentions to the words in front of him.

- - - - -
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT & WIZARDRY
Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall
(Order of Merlin, Second Class, Sitting Member, International Confederation of Wizards)

Mr. Potter,

I am pleased to inform you that arrangements have been made for you to complete your seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. As you see, you have been reinstated as the Co-Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Your fellow Captain is Ronald Weasley. While the Captaincy is normally handled by a single individual, your Head of House and I have agreed that you will need to also train up a complete reserve team this year, as many of your teammates will be graduating with you. A Co-Captaincy will better enable the pair of you to spread the responsibilities around. Please see your new Head of House at the start of term for more information.

I am also very pleased to state that you have been selected as this year's Head Boy. Enclosed, you will find a parchment detailing the responsibilities of the position. There is no better or more natural choice for this among your class, I feel, and you have my sincerest congratulations on this accomplishment, Mr. Potter. I suspect you will do your parents, your family, and your House most proud with this appointment.

Seventh years are also to be reminded that this is your N.E.W.T. year, and that you may seek to purchase additional study materials in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl to confirm the contents of this letter. Upon receipt of that owl, you will receive further instructions for the train, so that you and the Head Girl may inform the prefects of their responsibilities for the coming term.

Students fourth year and above are also advised to bring suitable dress robes, as there will be a ball this year.

Sincerely,
Professor Minerva McGonagall,
Headmistress,
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry

-------
SUPPLIES (7th Years)

Uniform:
Seventh year students will require:


  • Three sets of plain work robes (black)
  • One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
  • One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
  • One pair of suitable dress robes
  • suitable clothing for Hogsmeade visits, including winter wear
  • Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

    Books:


  • The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7) by Miranda Goshawk
  • Advanced Transfiguration, N.E.W.T. Edition by Gilbert Gadfly
  • Animagus Transformations - Theory and Practice by Minerva McGonagall
  • Advanced Herbology (or How to Keep Your Fingers, Toes and Other Important Body Parts) by Phyllida Spore
  • Advanced Potion Making by Severus Snape & Horace Slughorn
  • Mighty Monsters by Newt Scamander
  • Constant Vigilance! by Alastor Moody
  • Complex and Complicated Charms, N.E.W.T. Edition, by Caduceus Cadawallader

  • Other:

  • 1 wand
  • 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
  • 1 set glass or crystal phials
  • 1 set brass scales
  • 1 pair of earmuffs
  • Potions ingredients as included on the following page.

  • Students may also bring a familiar (most commonly an owl, cat or toad). Dogs are not permitted.


    - - - - -

    When he finished reading, Harry's eyes came up to meet Ginny's. She was still staring at him, and very obviously waiting for her explanation. She had also clearly been reading along with him, and as soon as he moved the letter away from his chest, she threw her arms around his neck. "Harry, you're coming back! You're Head Boy!" she said as her excitement overwhelmed her irritation at the surprise. She was still going to extract the details from him, Harry was certain.

    Painfully, if he wasn't quick about it.

    "Yes, on all counts," he confirmed with a laugh, and Ginny swatted his shoulder even as she rolled her eyes. Despite all that, she was clearly pleased.

    Harry's eyes darted over Ginny's shoulders, to where Ron and Hermione were sitting across the table. Ron was still staring in shock at his Quidditch (Co-) Captain's badge - he hadn't even seen the badge that the bushy-haired witch was holding in her hands. Hermione looked on the verge of tears - but they were certainly happy ones, from the dazed smile she wore. "So, Hermione," Harry asked, mock-casually. "Did you make Head - "

    "Girl, yes I did," came Hermione's slightly breathless voice, and all other eyes in the room darted over to the bushy-haired brunette.

    "Oh, Congratulations!" Molly practically yelled, taking in the entire scene in front of her with no small amount of joy. "Head Boy, Head Girl - that's two more in the family, oh, and Quidditch Captains, too - Ginny, dear, open yours, have you made Prefect again, as well?"

    Again? Harry wondered.

    Ginny nodded mutely, pulling the badge out of her own letter. Harry noted that she didn't seem pleased by it - the wide smile that she'd given him had faded slightly. Nor did she seem surprised. Had she been a prefect last year, then?

    He still didn't know. Harry only knew scarce details of Ginny's last year - little things, like what they'd learned from Neville or her sudden proficiency with healing charms - but she had never volunteered anything beyond that. Harry knew only that it hadn't been pleasant, and he would continue to respect her obvious desire not to talk about it. If anybody knew what that felt like, he did.

    Now was hardly the time for such a heart-to-heart, regardless. He was still trying to wrap his head around the idea that he was Head Boy. How could that possibly be? After so much rule-breaking (Though there were always extenuating circumstances, one corner of his mind protested,) and never even having been a prefect in a first place...

    Dad wasn't a prefect either, and he was Head Boy, some corner of his mind reminded him.

    But it should be Ron! He's the one that wanted this! He mentally argued, and then looked up to find his friend staring thoughtfully at him. Hermione had noticed - and tensed up as well. Ginny and Molly were also watching; he saw now, and just as intently.

    "Ron, mate, I - " Harry started, but Ron gave a shake of his head.

    "Harry," he chuckled and Harry did, in fact, notice the way Ginny suddenly exhaled her breath at this. "Don't. I'm fine with it, mate. I've moved past all that."

    "But the mirror - "

    "I was eleven, Harry. I want - " his gaze flickered over to Hermione."Well, there's other stuff that's more important. And if I was Head Boy, it'd just be an empty title. You're the leader, the one people follow. Including me."

    Harry accepted this with a careful nod, and couldn't deny the relief he felt. "You're my partner, mate," he said, deciding it was time to show the girls the other thing they'd been keeping secret as well.

    If the Hogwarts letters had been a surprise, then the next pair of badges would be even more so.

    He pulled his wallet from the back of his jeans and flipped it open and set it on the table. Ron nodded in understanding and agreement as he did the same. The pair's Auror badges twinkled up at everyone, but Harry was still looking at his best friend. "Not a follower," he finished pointedly, waving the Quidditch Captain badge in his other hand, and threw it on the table next to the Auror badge. Ron's joined him on the table a moment later.

    "Partners," Harry reiterated.

    Ron gave a brief nod. "I can live with that."

    Hermione's voice interrupted then, "If you two are quite finished with all the male-bonding nonsense, maybe at least one of you would like to explain all this?" she asked, indicated the letters and various badges now littering the table.

    "I don't understand..." Molly trailed, a less-than-faint note of worry creeping into her voice. She'd know what the boys' choice would probably be some day, yes, but she could still hope for something less dangerous. Or so she thought. The two badges seemed to say that any such hope was well past lost. "How can you be Aurors already - you've not even completed school!"

    Ginny snorted, "Might as well get blood from a stone before trying to get these two to own up to something before they're ready, Mum." Her expression left no doubts as to her feelings, however.

    Hermione looked at her fellow witch in shock. "Ginny, I do believe you're forgetting that we have certain avenues of persuasion that were not completely open to us previously." Her gaze flicked up to Molly.

    "I've gone temporarily deaf, dears," the older witch noted. "Can't hear a thing, I'm afraid."

    Hermione grinned in a way that Harry - and especially Ron found to be very disturbing. Harry was even more disconcerted when he saw that grin mirrored on Ginny's face. Ginny then whispered to him in no uncertain terms, that if he ever wanted to even consider the notion of repeating some of the more pleasant things they did together, an explanation had best be forthcoming. Quickly.

    Ron's blush confirmed that Hermione had said something very similar.

    "Well..." Harry drawled, aware that he was playing with fire (or at least risking a bat-bogey hex). "It was really all Ron's idea..."

    Ginny's eyes narrowed.

    Hermione's head whipped towards Ron so quickly that Harry was rather surprised she didn't get whiplash.

    Ron glared at his so-called best mate. "Thanks, partner," he said sarcastically.

    Harry just grinned, "Floor's yours, mate."

    Ron grimaced, but started to launch into a much abbreviated description of his sending off of their Auror applications, and the subsequent consultation with Kingsley. Harry listened to it with half an ear as he quickly finished his breakfast, and was thankful, once again, for whatever miracle or magic was responsible for Molly Weasley's culinary skills, something he'd come to appreciate even more since he and Ron had moved into Grimmauld Place.

    As he ate, though, he noticed that Ginny was only partially listening to Ron's story. As his two best friends were discussing the new circumstances, she leaned in close, matching her eyes dead to his. "Thank you," she said softly, suggesting that she knew exactly what had gone into his thought processes, even if Ron didn't.

    It never ceased to amaze Harry how she was able to do that, to be so completely in tune with whatever was going through is mind. Frankly, if he hadn't been in love with her, it probably would have been more than a bit scary. "I didn't really want to be apart from you again," he said quietly back. The rest of it - his choice of career, what he was going to do, none of that was anything that needed to be discussed. She understood his choices, the reasons for them, his need to be his own man and make those decisions and would support them. It was perhaps a bit much for Harry to take for granted, but with one glance, Ginny answered all of his questions.

    "I know," she answered, and wrapped her arms tightly against him once more, and pressed her forehead to his.

    Their futures would be tackled together, and that, as far as Harry and Ginny were concerned, was exactly as it should be.

    - - - - - - -

    As it turned out, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione did have plans for Harry that day. Given Ginny's earlier excitement, he'd expected a small gathering of family and to get his presents shortly after breakfast. This was apparently not the case.

    "Well, what are we doing then?"

    "You'll have to wait, Harry," Ginny said with obvious mischief as she slung a large bag over her shoulder. Her eyes were twinkling in a way Harry found very appealing, and he realized that he could not bring himself to be overly cross with her for her silence.

    Not that he'd show that, of course.

    Harry sighed, "Wait for what?"

    "You'll see," she merely replied, taking hold of his hand. This was, clearly, a minor form of retaliation for earlier. "Come on now, Hermione and Ron are waiting downstairs. You'll have to side-along with Ron, since I can't do it legally yet. I'll go with Hermione."

    That thought gave Harry's stomach an unpleasant turn. "Wait," he called out as he was forcibly led down the stairs. "Why do I have to go with Ron? Why can't I..."

    "Because you're insufferably noble and surely wouldn't subject your beloved girlfriend to such a dangerous risk now, would you Harry?" Ginny asked, over-doing the sweetness of her tone more than a tad.

    It did not make Harry feel better about Side-Alonging with Ron, who had, of course, overheard that last bit. "Oi! I can still change my mind about this you know!" Ron called out in protest.

    "Of course you won't, Ronald," Hermione said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You've already seen my outfit. And Harry, you know very well that Ronald has significantly improved his Apparition abilities. Now, let's be off."

    "Yes ma'am," Harry mumbled obediently as he took hold of Ron's upper arm, ignoring his best mate's menacing glare. Ginny quickly grabbed hold of Hermione to settle the matter and with soft double-'crack', the two witches disappeared. When Ron didn't immediately Disapparate, Harry eyed Ron suspiciously. "Well, let's get on with it then."

    "Humph," Ron muttered as he turned on them on the spot, and the Burrow vanished from Harry's sight.

    As soon as they'd Apparated to their destination, Harry immediately had to throw his hands up to guard his eyes from the glare. That very glare was, he found after a moment, the reflected sunlight off of the very white sand they were standing on, and the rather large body of water they were facing.

    "The beach?" Harry asked, though it was a bit obvious. Immediately, he moved to hide his wand, before Ron stopped him.

    "Don't worry about it, mate. This is Beadnell Bay. It's got a pretty big wizarding population. The Muggles come here too, but they don't notice much. They've got their own section down the coast a bit, but this is mostly a wizard area," Ron informed him.

    "You've been here, then?" Harry asked.

    "Loads of times," Ron confirmed. "Mum and Dad used to take us here all the time growing up, before things got - well, you know."

    "Yeah, I know."

    "Thought you might like a little sun," Ginny said brightly, as she stripped off the over-sized t-shirt she was wearing. Under it was she was revealed to be wearing a two-piece bikini that, honestly, would have convinced Harry to go just about anywhere she asked him. Ever.

    "I think it's brilliant," he stated honestly. He was not speaking of the beach.

    "Thought you might," Ginny replied.

    Ron just rolled his eyes and let out a scoff, which forced Harry to drag his eyes off Ginny. "Oh, like you didn't do the same thing when you saw Hermione, mate."

    His friend at least had the decency to be honest, Harry noted. "Fair enough," Ron muttered with a shrug and a wide grin before accepting the swim trunks that Ginny was pulling from her bag.

    "Go on then, Mr. Potter," she said teasingly. "Get yourself changed, and then find me if you can."

    "You're on, Weasley."

    - - - - -

    In the end, the afternoon at the beach was very well spent - and not just because of the girls' choice in swimwear. The foursome had paired off into couples halfway through the afternoon to enjoy some private time, and all were grinning broadly by the time they reunited at five. After gathering their things, performing a few charms to make themselves presentable, and changing back into their non-swimming clothes, they Disapparated in unison back to the Burrow's back yard.

    "SURPRISE!" came the cry as soon as they had popped into existence.

    Stupefy! Harry's wand was out and firing a stunner before he'd even consciously realized it thought of it. The red beam traveled quickly in the direction of the sound, the closest source of which happened to be one Neville Longbottom.

    "Protego!" A golden shield flashed up in front of Harry's fellow Gryffindor as the spell came flying toward him. Neville grinned broadly as it was easily deflected away.

    "We've really got to work on that," Ginny muttered under her breath, taking hold of the embarrassed Harry's hand.

    He offered her a sheepish smile before returning his attention to Neville and many of the shocked other guests. "Sorry, mate."

    "S'okay," his friend replied, coming forward to draw him into a quick hug. "Mrs. Weasley warned us we should probably let you get your bearings first."

    "And you didn't listen?"

    Neville just grinned even more broadly. "Oh, I figured what you do. I just wanted to see the expressions on that lot," he laughed, jerking a thumb back towards the crowd.

    Harry gave Neville a considered look for a moment. It was astounding; no matter how many times he'd seen him this summer, just how much Neville had changed. The shy, bumbling, forgetful boy was long gone and a man that Harry didn't know nearly as well had taken his place. He knew Neville would be returning to Hogwarts this year as well - many of their classmates would, as so many had completed very little of their academic work for the year. That it would give him a chance to really get to know the new Neville was something Harry didn't regret at all, and joined him in his laughter before turning back to face Ginny, Ron and Hermione. "You three set this up then?"

    "Of course," Hermione replied. "It's been very convenient that you've been staying at Grimmauld Place. I don't know how we'd have kept you from noticing all the owls otherwise."

    "You'd have found a way, I'm sure," Harry replied as he drew a hand tightly around Ginny's shoulders. Looking around, he could appreciate how difficult it must have been to co-ordinate. It was certainly the most people he'd ever seen at the Burrow - very nearly everyone he knew.

    Well, everyone he liked, at any rate.

    With Ginny on his arm, the pair started walking around to greet everyone and thank them for coming. They exchanged a few words with everyone as they made their way around.

    Molly and Arthur were there of course, directing the veritable army of Weasleys to set the refreshments up on several picnic tables that had been set up. Percy and Penelope were helping dutifully, as was Charlie, who was standing very closely to a witch that looked vaguely familiar, but Harry could not recall meeting. Charlie introduced her as Adriana, a co-worker from the reserve who had come back with him when he'd taken his post in the Ministry's Care of Magical Creatures department. Ginny and Harry shared a knowing glance - the way Charlie and Adriana were interacting suggested far more than a casual relationship.

    Bill, Harry saw with a smile, was trying to convince Fleur to remain seated. She was just starting to show, and Gabrielle was rolling her eyes at her brother-in-law's over-protectiveness. She also kept pulling faces behind his back, making it very difficult for her older sister to maintain a straight face in front of her embarrassingly earnest husband. Harry and Ginny didn't have any better luck as they greeted them, but were able to put their laughter off to George's antics. George even resembled his old self, artfully directing several charmed paper lanterns in complicated flight patterns before finally hanging them where Molly had, Harry guessed, instructed him to put them.

    Andromeda and Teddy were there as well, and Harry was pleased to see that the witch was deep in conversation with Hagrid. Teddy was just staring at the half-giant with extremely wide eyes - he had not yet noticed the arrival of his godparents. Their usual routine - along with the accompanying shifts in hair color - was observed, and Harry happily took Teddy from Andromeda as they continued on their circuit through the crowd.

    With just those people, everyone Harry considered family was accounted for, and that alone made this a very good birthday indeed.

    But that was only the beginning. Minerva McGonagall was chattering animatedly (Not a descriptor he'd ever expected to use,) with Mister Parker, the contractor who'd been in charge of Hogwarts' renovations - and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Professor Flitwick, he saw, had moved to help George, and the two had charmed a pair of paper lanterns into rather convincing miniature dragons that were now engaged in an aerial dogfight (complete with fire-breathing capabilities). This caused Harry to suddenly realize that McGonagall wasn't the only Hogwarts professor with a hidden mischievous streak.

    Merlin help us all if George ever hires him as a consultant, Harry mused before turning his eyes back to the crowd.

    Gryffindor House was well-represented, he couldn't help but note. In addition to Neville, who had been accompanied by Susan Bones; Dean still accompanied by Luna - a relationship Harry wouldn't have predicted, but seemed to strangely work; Seamus in the company of Lavender, recently released from St. Mungo's. Like Bill, she had not become a werewolf after Greyback's attack, but the scars were something she would have to learn to live with. Seamus didn't seem to notice them at all.

    Parvati and Dennis were both present as well, though not together. Harry could see they were engaged in serious conversation, and he had no doubts as to what it was about. With Padma's and Colin's deaths, both had lost siblings that they were very close to. Dennis' best mate, Nigel, was standing nearby at a respectful distance, engrossed in what looked like a discussion about Quidditch with Demelza Robbins.

    Alicia, Katie and Angelina had clearly just come from their practice with the Harpies and Puddlemere and hadn't even changed out of their uniforms. Katie, like Oliver, was a starting player for Puddlemere along with Oliver Wood, who was also present. The foursome were still engrossed of discussions of the day's practices, and Harry made a mental note to get tickets the next time the Harpies and Puddlemere played.

    Lee, he saw, was staring appreciatively at Angelina. This likely had to do with the fact that she had at least ditched her outer robe, and Lee seemed to be eminently distracted from what Harry recognized as his magical dee-jaying equipment.

    Moira Jameson, Richard King, Miranda McGonagall, Mekaela St. George, Mathew Boardman, and Katherine Rhodes - Harry saw that the majority of Ginny's other classmates, who he had known but become much better acquainted with once they'd started dating - were all easily spotted in the crowd as well. He was a bit leery of stopping by that crowd with Ginny. It would be quite some time before they got away, he knew.

    His roving eyes quickly found Hannah, Anthony, Terry, Lisa and pretty much all of the surviving members of the DA, as well as any number of other students.

    It was even more sobering to note the people who weren't present - Remus, Tonks, Fred, Cho, Colin, Michael, Andrew, Jack, Su, Padma, Zacharias...

    On second thought, maybe there were some absences that he didn't really regret that much.

    He was surprised that, much like Hedwig, Harry found that he consider all those gone and merely wish they here, rather than start getting lost in his grief. His thoughts must have clouded his features for a moment, because Ginny abruptly tensed her hand against his and moved up to place her mouth next to his ear. "None of that," she whispered. "It's a happy day."

    "Right then," he said, giving her a small smile. Looking around, Harry found it startling, actually, how many people he could count as friends these days and - bloody hell, was that Griphook? "Blimey," he muttered, "I still can't believe all of you came here for me - "

    "Oi! Potter!" George called from across the grass. "Quit making out like this is some sort of high-born get-together! We've a party to be on with."

    Harry grinned broadly. "Right then!" he yelled back, and accepted the Fireale that Ron had returned with and pressed into his hand. "Everyone, thanks for coming, now let's make a time of it!"

    George grinned even more broadly, and tossed one his patented Weasley Whiz-bangs into the air. "Y'heard the man, Lee! Hit it!"

    Jordan obliged, and within seconds, the sounds of the Weird Sisters filled the Burrow's backyard air. The party had indeed been started.

    - - - - - -

    Someone - a Muggle-born, Harry supposed - had conjured up a few tables for table tennis in one portion of the yard. In no time, Harry found himself playing against Ron, who had taken to the game surprisingly quickly.

    Even more surprisingly was how quickly Ginny had taken to it. After winning six games straight, she had been forcibly banned from the table, and was now watching Harry and Ron play with amusement. She was also having moderate success attempting to throw both off their games with commentary that was drawing amusement from the gathered crowd. It was observed that she had significantly more success with Harry, who she distracted with comments spoken quietly over his shoulder where no one else could here.

    As Harry delivered a shot, he stood back to toss Ron a wide grin. What he found, though, was Ron standing as though petrified, staring at something just behind Harry.

    Before he could even turn around, he saw Ginny's face cloud angrily as she drew her wand. "What in the hell is he doing here?"

    Reaching down for his own wand, based on Ginny's reaction, Harry turned to find the last person he had ever expected to show up at his birthday party.

    Dudley Dursley.

    Even more shocking was who was accompanying him - Hermione and Justin Finch-Fletchley. The former looked more than a little bit nervous, though unsurprised. It didn't take Harry long to figure she'd been in on this development. He couldn't explain Justin's presence, however, or the steely sense of presence he'd never expected to see in that particular class-mate.

    The war had changed more than just Neville, it seemed.

    "What the hell?" he said, echoing Ginny's sentiment, though more in shock than anger. He managed to maintain the presence of mind to note that he had somehow remembered to place a restraining arm in front of Ginny, who did not look pleased at the interference. He also noted Ron did have his wand out, and was now standing just to Harry's left. The message was there that whatever was about to happen, Ron had his back as surely as Ginny did. Ron was, he had to admit, better about waiting for his lead though.

    Harry also realized that absolutely no one else was speaking, dancing, or doing anything else anymore. Lee's music had trailed off with a rather loud screech as the needle slid off the record, and the ensuing silence was deafening. Even all those present who had no idea about the real relationship between Harry and his cousin could see the way tension had skyrocketed as soon as this stranger had arrived.

    "Erm... hey, Harry," Dudley started nervously, and Harry grew even more astonished to see him wringing his hands.

    As his senses began to return to him, Harry took stock of his cousin. He'd lost much of his excess weight, and was now very firmly muscled. There was also a difference in his face - in one look, Harry could see that the spoiled bully who'd tormented his childhood was long gone - something had happened to Dudley in the last year, something that had changed him as surely as finding out he was a wizard had changed Harry.

    "Harry," Hermione began hesitatingly. "Please, don't be angry. We'll explain everything, I promise, but - Dudley wanted to come and wish you a Happy Birthday, and to... talk about some things."

    Harry just moved his disbelieving gaze to his friend now. "And you decided to bring him here?" he asked in disbelief.

    "Yeah, look, Harry, when Justin told me about your birthday - "

    "How in the hell do you know my cousin, Justin?" Harry asked, cutting Dudley off as he turned to face Finch-Fletchley.

    "It's a long story, Harry," the Muggle-born Hufflepuff answered. "And one I think Dudley should tell you. But I met him at the Refuge - he was a huge help to the Mudblood Resistance."

    Harry had heard of the M.R., of course - they had been one of the groups, along with the parents of several students, who had come to the aid of the school at the Battle of Hogwarts. Consisting entirely of Muggle-born witches and wizards - many who'd been barred by Thicknesse's Ministry from attending the school - had instead taken the derogatory name given to them by the pure-bloods and turned it into a source of pride. Justin, he knew, had modeled it after Dumbledore's Army, and they had been one of the principle thorns in the sides of the Death Eaters and the Ministry, alongside the Order and the D.A.

    Justin leaned in then, so only Harry could hear him. "But he told us who he was, too, and I'll give him credit, he didn't hold anything back when it came to his past with you. It earned him more than a few hexes for it, actually. You should've seen what old Reg Cattermole did to him."

    Harry snorted in slight amusement at that, and Hermione took it as sign to continue."I understand how you feel, Harry, but please - hear him out, for me?"

    Harry's return glance at his bushy-haired friend showed his resentment. She knew very well that such a request was just about the only way he'd do such a thing, and she'd only too easily played that card.

    "I would appreciate the chance," Dudley said quietly, drawing Harry's attention back to him. "I know you don't owe it me, Harry, and I probably don't even deserve it, but - I'd like the chance, nonetheless."

    If Harry could have ever guessed at words he'd have ever expected to come out of the mouth of "Big D", those wouldn't have been anywhere near the list.

    "Yeah," Harry muttered after letting out a long breath. "Let's talk."

    "Harry, I'll - "Ginny started, and he gave her a soft smile.

    "It's okay, Gin," he said reassuringly. "We won't go far."

    "All right," she said softly, and then pulled him close for a tight kiss. "I won't be far either, Harry."

    "You never are."

    - - - - -
    As Harry and Dudley walked away, Ginny turned to Hermione. "Why didn't you tell me that you were planning something like this?" Ginny asked, feeling almost a little bit hurt. With Hermione an accepted member of the Weasley family now, the two young women had been spending a lot of time together. That was hardly new, of course - over the years, she'd certainly been much closer to Hermione than either one of the boys. But it had developed into a truly sisterly relationship these last months. That Hermione could have planned this part and not ever mentioned anything to her at all...

    Hermione squirmed slightly under the accusatory glare being leveled at her. "Well, it all happened very quickly... Plus, I wasn't certain at all as to what your reaction would be to him coming today. You want to protect Harry so badly -"

    "And why shouldn't I?" Ginny popped back at her. "I know everything that he went through with... that family." She spat out the phrase like a curse. "Of course I wouldn't have wanted him to come, after everything that he did to Harry when they were growing up?"

    "Perhaps that's the problem," Hermione interjected. "First of all, you can't shield Harry from everything that used to hurt him. That protectiveness of yours - sometimes it can get in the way. Harry's the same way; you know that first-hand. I know you love him, but that doesn't mean you always know what's best for him."

    A dangerous fire was lighting behind Ginny's eyes. "And you do?" she asked, her voice dangerous enough that Ron was preparing to throw himself between the two witches.

    "Ginny - I really think this was something that Harry needed. Some kind of closure on the way that he was raised. I didn't believe Dudley could be sorry either when Justin came to me, but..."

    "But you still thought it was better to spring something like this on him? On his bloody birthday?" Ginny asked incredulously.

    "Ginny," Hermione said cautiously, and the redhead was glad to see that her friend had the grace to at least look embarrassed with himself. "You know as well as I do that Harry wouldn't have agreed to it."

    Ginny silently counted to five before replying, and when she did, she chose her words very carefully. "Hermione, you've been his best friend for seven years. You know how everyone responsible for him - even Dumbledore - has manipulated and controlled and used him. You should know how much he's hated that. You should know how much he needs to come to things in his own way, his own time, to be his own man. You should know that."

    "I do know that," Hermione shot back. "But Ginny - I'm terribly afraid that if this didn't happen now, then it wouldn't ever. I want Harry to have some peace. He deserves it."

    Ginny sighed heavily, and looked off in the direction that Harry and Dudley had walked. "Merlin help you if it goes badly, 'Mione," the redhead said sadly. "Because he'll never forgive you if it does." Ginny didn't say aloud that she wouldn't either. She didn't feel the words needed to be spoken.

    Hermione's gaze followed Ginny's. "I know," she admitted with obvious worry. "I know."

    - - - - -

    Harry led his cousin over to a small area where he and Ron had often come to sit and talk in earlier summers. It was far enough away from the Burrow that nobody could hear them talk, but close enough to assuage Molly's (understandable) worry in those years. It was a small copse of trees just by the pond, a spot Harry had always found to be very peaceful. He hoped that would help keep him calm today.

    "Muffliato," Harry murmured as he twirled his wand for a moment. Some conversations were best had in private. And if the casual use of magic didn't throw Dudley off - or remind him where things stood these days - then not much would.

    "That's the eavesdropper spell, right?" Dudley asked instead, and Harry was starting to think that he really couldn't handle any more surprises.

    The reality train has left the station, Harry thought for a moment at the incongruous idea of Dudley actually recognizing a spell.

    "How d'you know that?" Harry asked pointedly. There wasn't much point in pretending to be overly civil - he knew that, at least, Dudley would agree with him on that.

    "Justin used it a lot," the young man admitted. "Said that Neville bloke taught it to him. You taught it to Neville, didn't you?"

    Harry just nodded. A pregnant silence reigned for a moment, before the raven-haired young wizard broke it. "So... you wanted to talk," he prodded.

    "Yeah," Dudley sighed, and shoved his hands into his pockets. Harry watched as a moment as the other seemed to be debating with himself. Where to start, perhaps?

    Harry's guess turned out to be right. "Well... first thing you should know, I guess, is that Dad's dead."

    Harry blinked. Uncle Vernon was dead? "Erm... what? How?"

    "Heart attack, last year. About a month after we got to the Refuge. You've heard of it?"

    "Place over in Wales, right? Where a lot of the Muggle-borns went into hiding. That's where the Order stashed you?"

    Dudley nodded, "That Diggle chap figured it was the last place those Death Eater blokes would look for us. Said there was a whole bunch of magical protections on the castle, it belonged to some old famous wizard. I can't remember his name. Dad... well, he couldn't take being around all them wizards and all the magic all the time, and well, it's not like he was ever a paragon of health, was he?"

    "You don't sound that upset about it," Harry noted, even as he realized that he wasn't either. Vernon Dursley had been a thoroughly contemptible man, and as much as he wanted to, Harry couldn't find it in himself to be especially bothered by the man's fate. Not when he'd lost so many other people who truly had deserved to live. Death took them all, in the end. Young and old, good and evil, it didn't matter. And in the end, Vernon Dursley was a man who had sheltered an orphan at his wife's insistence, and nothing more.

    Dudley blew out a quick breath. "Weird, isn't it? But things between me and Dad weren't good that last month. That whole last year, actually, ever since - Dumbledore, right? - ever since he came to take you away year before last. I started seeing Dad, and Mum too, I guess... differently. Ever since you saved my life, I'd been... re-evaluating everything. Me. Dad, mum, the way we treated you. The way Dad acted to those people, who were just trying to save our sorry lives... hell, Harry, I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd tossed us to the Death Eaters yourself, after - well, after everything."

    Harry didn't respond to this verbally - trying to take in the changes in his cousin was simply occupying too much of his brain, as was trying to believe that these words were coming out of Dudley's mouth at all. Ten minutes ago, he'd have thought his cousin didn't even know how to string that many syllables together.

    "So after we got there," Dudley continued, "I started seeing Dad for what he really was. That kind of brought everything else into focus, and then he died - went completely barmy on this one bloke who used some kind of spell to start a fire for us, and keeled over right there in the middle of yelling. He was gone by the time those Healers got there."

    "I'm sorry, Dudley," Harry said honestly. He was sorry that the other man had lost his father, even if he couldn't summon up any grief on behalf of the man himself.

    Dudley nodded. He understood what Harry meant. "After that, I met Justin and some of the other blokes after they came to the Refuge. I... well, I guess you could say I made a choice, to be my own man, and not the one Dad had always wanted me to be. I helped out as much as I could, taught people how to defend themselves without a wand - d'you know how many wizards got no idea how to fight?"

    "I do," Harry nodded. Aside from the Aurors, most wizards were completely useless without a wand.

    "So I did what I could. Managed to get hold of a gun - that wasn't easy, mind - and then I started joining them on some of their raids."

    "Raids?"

    "Freeing people from the Snatchers, supply runs, that sort of thing. We also had people in place in case you popped up somewhere. What really changed my mind about everything though - was the way all these people talked about you. You're a bloody hero to them, you know? And once I heard all the stories..." Dudley hung his head down in shame. "You just being out there - I don't know what you were doing, and that look you've got makes me think I don't want to - you gave people hope, Harry. I've never seen anything like it."

    Harry at this point was finding Dudley's tale more and more unbelievable by the second. And yet - from his cousin's face, his words, and his body language - everything was practically screaming at him that the boy he'd grown up with - the bully of his childhood - was long gone. Gone, dead, and buried with his father. Looking back at him now was a young man who had seen war, and who had finally learned what was important in life.

    "And I tell you, Harry..." Dudley finally continued. "All that... well, it made me feel like the world's biggest prat and like I was about this big," he held his thumb and forefinger barely an inch apart, "all at the same time."

    "That's... quite a story," Harry confessed. "It's just..."

    "Not what you expected, eh?" Dudley actually grinned. "I get it, Harry. I don't... I don't expect anything of you, you know. I just wanted a chance to say my piece, and... for what it's worth, to say I was sorry. I don't know that it's worth anything at all, but..."

    "It's worth something, Dudley," the wizard admitted. "I don't know what, exactly, and I think too much has happened for us to suddenly be family, but - well, it's something."

    As the two young men locked eyes, an understanding passed between them. It was nothing either could put into words, but it was, in essence, an acknowledgement and a dismissal at the same time. Whatever interactions the two had for the rest of their lives, it would not be colored by their turbulent pasts. It was somewhere to begin.

    By silent agreement, they moved back towards the party. What had needed to be said had been - or so Harry thought. Dudley stopped, however, and told Harry that there was just one more thing. "I've sold the house on Privet Drive," his cousin said. "I've packed away everything you left at the house; it's ready whenever you want it. Mum - well, she's been real sick. Cancer, they think, but we don't know yet. I needed the money to pay for her medical bills. She'd - well, she'd like to see you, if you're willing. "

    Harry blew out a breath."I don't know, Dud," he admitted honestly. Despite how much Vernon had always been the antagonist, in some ways, Petunia's indifference had hurt him more than any of his "Uncle's" words or actions ever could.

    Dudley nodded, "I get that."

    Harry made a decision then. "I can do this, though. Send me the bills. I'll take care of them."

    "Harry, you don't have to - "the other protested sharply before Harry cut him off.

    "It's the least I can do, Dudley," Harry said firmly. "As for the rest..." he trailed off, and just gave a soft shrug."I don't know. I'll think about it."

    Dudley nodded in understanding, and Harry ended the discussion by inviting his cousin to stay for the rest of the party.

    Who knows? Harry thought as they walked back. Maybe he'll meet a nice witch. Wouldn't that just serve Uncle Vernon right?

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