FicWad

Hooray for chapter 6! Whoot to the max! Anyway, I loved all of your suggestions, so keep them coming! If you see anything that you suggested, that means I loved the idea to the moon and back and couldn't picture my story without it! All of you rock beyond words!

Disclaimer: How many times must you force me to say it! Cries I don't own anything that JK Rowling does! But the rest of it is mine!





From the pointed tips of his wrinkled brown ears, down to his multiple sock clad feet, the house elf Dobby trembled in rage at the sight of the muggles before him. They had hurt the wonderfully, magnificently, fantastically, stupendously, amazingly, truly kind, caring, wonderful, honourable, great, magnificent, illustrious Harry Potter!

Headmaster Dumbledore had told Dobby everything that his secret Order knew had happened to Harry and Dobby felt his long fingers itching to snap them the worst sort of punishment. They had treated the great Harry Potter no better than his last Masters had treated him! The Great Harry Potter treated like a house elf! It should not have been done, no, not at all. The Great Harry Potter was the best of wizards in Dobby's mind, and these muggles would pay.

The fattest one's face was a deep purple colour as he yelled at Dobby, spit flying out of his mouth and falling to the stone floor of the Room of Requirement where they had been confined. Dobby merely blinked his huge eyes once, not moving from where he stood, and continuing to stare at the three muggles.

He was thinking.

The skinny one made 'shoo-ing' motions at him, but still Dobby remained where he was. Wizards he would have obeyed, but these were muggles, and horrible muggles at that and Dobby did not think that anyone would be angry if he ignored them.

He had a plan.

The smaller fat one hid behind the skinny woman, trying ignorantly to hide his bulk behind the woman's pencil thin body. It might have worked, had the boy not had the mass of a large Shetland pony.

With a feral gleam in his watery eyes, Dobby smiled and took a step forward.

"They will do nicely..." he said, making his voice quiet and breathy, and twitching his right eye a little. "Oh yes, they will be very good. Master will be pleased with Dobby for this... He will be so pleased..." He shot a glare at the fattest one "That one will last at least a week if Dobby cuts him up well. Enough fat to make many candles for the castle... Dobby will not have to supply his own earwax for many weeks! The meat will be good too..." quickly he lunged forward and grabbed what he could of the man's stomach, pinching it as if measuring, before the man sprang away. "Very tender... Master will be pleased..." He smiled again, flashing sharp teeth at them.

The skinny one shrieked and said something to the big one, desperately trying to get her son off of her, but the boys pudgy hands would not release their hold.

Dobby turned to the smaller fat one, the smile still upon his face, and he began to circle the boy, looking him over. "Much fat on that one... he will make good steak, Dobby thinks. Oh yes, very good meat... A roast for Sunday dinner...." He pretended to consider "But would the spit be enough to hold its whole body above the fire?" The boy began to cry and blubber, snot running down his face, but Dobby was far from finished.

"Hmmmm...." He said, slowly running his gaze up the skinny one's body "This one is too bony, Dobby thinks. No good, no good at all. Too tough and stringy...." He moved closer and closer, the group moving backward with him stride for stride until he had them pinned against the wall. He raised a spindly finger and poked it roughly into her ribs. "Bones in the soup, Dobby thinks." Dobby smiled toothily "And skin in the broth! Master will be loving his meals!" The skinny one blanched completely and sank down the wall. Dobby's grin just grew wider. "Dobby is just be needing to get his tools, then he may be beginning to prepare them for cooking... It is not too far to the kitchens and back... perhaps Master will be having some bacon in the morning!"

With a snap of his fingers Dobby disappeared from the room, landing in the kitchens. He would not be returning to the room that night.

But the Muggles didn't know that.






Albus Dumbledore had not slept last night. To be completely truthful, he had not slept properly since the night of Harry's disappearance, and almost 4 days being completely awake was wreaking havoc on his less than youthful body.

How could he sleep, though, knowing what a hellish existence he had forced upon young Harry Potter. He had been blinded by the belief that no matter the strained relationship between Petunia and Lily, that Petunia would be able to see past petty childhood jealousy and take care of the sweet, innocent baby that was placed within her care. Oh, how he should have listened to Minerva when she said they were the 'worst kind of muggles', how he should have checked them more thoroughly! At the revealing of the news, Minerva had looked him in the eye while she spilled out the secrets of Harry's past, and that look was more of an 'I told you so' than words could ever be.

The Dursleys were a delicate matter to deal with. Sentencing them in a wizarding court would prove to be disastrous, the press and ministry would have a field day to learn that Harry Potter had been abused, and to do so in the muggle court system would require more evidence that they had at the moment. There were still a few ancient laws that Albus had yet to look into though, and from what he could remember, they were his most promising options.

Albus looked up from where he had been distractedly staring at the wooden table in front of him when the members of the Order of the Phoenix began to enter into his office. It had become the unofficial headquarters of the Order since Sirius's passing, losing them an owner for the Black house, and making it far too risky to use. They were looking into other venues, but none so far had seemed suitable.

As this meeting concerned Harry, Albus had allowed the children to attend, and as soon as the youngest Weasley had situated herself beside her older brother Charlie, Albus cleared his throat. "Is everyone able to report?"

Those members of the Order that he had asked to gather information regarding Harry all nodded. "Good." Albus said, "Severus, would you begin?"

The dark haired man nodded brusquely "Of course sir. It seems that Potter had quite the academic record in the muggle world," he began, sporting a sour look "From all records available, he was described as a 'bright, quiet and studious child' and up until halfway through his third year, he achieved the highest marks in his classes and was identified as a 'gifted' student. However, once that label was given, his grades immediately dropped to just below the average in his classes."

"Sir," Hermione spoke up "I'm an identified gifted student, and I was in classes with other gifted children, and Harry doesn't act anything like a gifted child should."

"Are you questioning my report Miss Granger?" Severus asked icily.

"No sir," she said quickly "It's just that being gifted doesn't go away, I know. You always have this thirst for knowledge bubbling inside you, and Harry doesn't act like that. I practically have to force him and Ron to study, even for exams!"

"If you wish to present this for me, please feel free." Severus said. When Hermione did not speak further, he continued. "As I was saying, Potter does not have any of the characteristics representative of gifted students. He is lazy and half-way about everything he does, focusing more on things going on outside of the school than his work. However, he passes everything he does. It may be by only a slight margin, but he always passes. I found this interesting and investigated further to find that there are instances in which he gives marvellously correct answers to questions he should have failed, and failed questions he should have known the answers to years ago, or had recently answered correctly."

"You believe that Harry is holding back in his schoolwork." Albus said gravely.

Severus nodded "His cousin had horrible grades at school. It stands to reason that with their patterns of behaviour toward Harry that the Dursleys would not want him doing better than their own son. He may have been hiding his-" he made a face "intelligence, for many years before this."

Albus winced at the veiled suggestion. Harry might have been punished for doing well, for showing talent for anything. "Thank you Severus. Molly, what have you found?"

"More like what I didn't find!" she exclaimed, wringing her hands "Harry has never been to a muggle doctor! There are no records of him at any hospital either, so any..." she hesitated "Injuries, that he may have suffered were never professionally treated. The files at Hogwarts document numerous visits to the infirmary, but none show any injuries that I had not heard of, only those he received while fighting against You Know Who over the years, or from Quidditch."

"Thank you Molly." Said Albus, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes. "Remus?"

A face sporting more signs of age than it deserved rose up. Remus swallowed before taking a shaky breath. "The Dursleys have spread rumours about Harry since just before he went to Hogwarts. They said that he went to a school for criminally insane boys, told their neighbours that he was mentally unstable and completely untrustworthy. For the most part, the neighbours believe the rumours, but most of the shop owners and employees don't. They say that whenever Harry was running errands for the Dursleys he was polite and quiet, never tried to steal anything." He paused "One thing stood out for me, though, they said that he was far more talkative and social whenever 'that pretty young girl' was with him." He frowned and looked at Rona and Hermione "I didn't know that Harry had any muggle friends nearby his house. Did you?"

Ron blinked in confusion "No, come to think of it, I've never heard Harry mention any muggle friends at all. I really didn't think he had any."

Albus sighed, "Yet another mystery, I suppose. Do you have any more information on the girl, Remus?"

"The shop owners said that she looked to be around the same age as Harry, slim, maybe Hispanic or Latino with dark eyes and hair." Remus said "They didn't say anything unusual about the way she talked or dressed, so I'm guessing that she is a muggle, most likely living nearby." Remus gave a lopsided smile and his dark amber eyes softened momentarily. "They also said that they saw them kissing and holding hands. It looks like Harry has or had, a girlfriend."

For the briefest of moments, Albus's heart rose a little from where it had come to weigh heavily in his chest, but just as quickly as it rose it fell again. Had he destroyed this for Harry as well? Was there a young girl waiting for word from him who would never get it?

All his self-deprecating thoughts were halted, however, when Alastor Moody barged into the room, his neon blue eye spinning wildly in its socket. Albus frowned and stood up from his seat. Alastor had been absent from the meeting so far because he was on duty at the Dursleys home in the vain hope that Harry might return. Why would he have abandoned his post?

"Potter's owl is gone." Moody growled "The body's not anywhere in the house. Harry must have come back for it."

"Then he's somewhere nearby!" Molly cried out happily.

"Not necessarily," Tonks pointed out "He disappeared using a portkey, and that sort of transportation magic can reach up to 1000 miles, so that only narrows our search down to..." she thought for a moment and Albus saw her skin pigment change slightly "The British Isles. Ireland, Scotland and England at most."

"Good thinking." Moody growled again, but a glint began to spark in his original eye and he smirked, making his facial features twist into a fairly grisly mask. "But you've all forgotten to ask the most important question."

"And that would be?" Severus drawled haughtily.

"Can I track him." Moody grinned eagerly. He looked just as he had in his glory days, chasing down his targets using any means necessary. "And the answer is... yes. I put up some heavy duty signature wards on every door in the house just in case something like this happened. I remembered how attached Potter was to that owl, and figured that it'd only be a matter of time before the boy came to get her, or sent someone else to get her. They were put up knowing all of the Order members' magical signatures, and would alert me if a new signature entered."

Ron practically jumped out of his chair "What are we waiting for?" he exclaimed, "We have to go! We have to find him!"

"Use your head Ron," said Charlie "What do you think Harry is most likely to do if all of us suddenly showed up asking him questions and demanding that he come with us? He'll run! Right now, we can't treat Harry like the Boy Who Lived, who can take anything you throw at him and not bat an eyelash. He's like a skittish baby dragon, one that's most likely to burn you bad and fly as far away as he can to keep himself safe."

"So what do we do?" Ron questioned as he sat back down heavily. "Just ignore the fact that we can actually find him?"

"I believe," said Albus, walking around his desk to where Fawkes was perched by the window "That it is time to respond to the letter that Harry sent Hermione. Charlie is correct in comparing Harry to a skittish animal at the moment, direct confrontation would only lead to disaster in this case. However, we cannot have Harry running around without protection for much longer. The question remains, though, as to how long we should wait before revealing what we know." He gave the scarlet birds head a pat, making Fawkes coo in contentment. "I think that the best course of action is to tell him immediately, and give him enough time to process things properly, also affording us time to use the wards to track him if he does not cooperate."

There seemed to be mixed reactions to his decision, but no one questioned it. The meeting dispersed shortly after that with promises of frequent reports, leaving Albus to the task of writing the letter. It took the better part of 5 hours to come up with an acceptable draft, and Albus hoped fervently as he watched Fawkes fly off in the early evening light that Harry would be willing to think things through properly, and not just brashly decide to take care of everything himself, as he was so prone to do. Albus hoped that Harry would try to at least consider things.







Harry,

I wish that this letter could come to you under different circumstances, but as I hope you know or I hope you will come to understand, I do not possess any ability to change the past. I will try my best to be blunt with you, as I remember how my convoluted thinking sometimes creates more problems than solutions when it comes to you and your life.

The Order is aware that you are no longer at Privet Drive or with your relatives. We know why you left, but please, have enough patience to read this letter in its entirety before making any decisions.

When I first placed you with the Dursleys I placed very strong wards around the area, one of which being a alarm that would sound if anyone ever made a deliberate attempt to take your life while you were in that house. The night you disappeared, that alarm sounded and I gathered the Order to come and save you, but unfortunately arrived too late. You were already gone. We all feared the worst... that you were dead, but we pressed onward and clung to the hope that you would remain the survivor we knew you to be.

I have a confession to make, Harry. One that I would prefer to make face to face instead of on parchment, but this will have to do for know. You may not realize it, but to me you are far more than just a student, you remind me constantly of the grandchild that I never had. Family, Harry, that is what I consider you as. I am aware that these words may seem empty to you, for why would I send you away if I considered you to be a part of my own family? The truth is, my boy, that the Dursleys had the one thing that I did not, and could never give you. Blood protection.

Do not scoff at my words, I beg you. Protection of blood is far more potent than any care to realize. I explained it to you in my office at the end of the school year, but I feel that in your heavily emotional state, you did not fully comprehend all that I said. When living with those that shared your mothers' blood, no Death Eater could harm you; you could not be harmed by any wizard.

Unfortunately, I never considered that Death Eaters would not be your only threat.

The Dursleys were questioned under Veritaserum about your whereabouts, and in doing so; the Order unearthed some startling facts. I do not think that we shall ever be able to atone for the mistakes we have made concerning you Harry. I will not ask why you never said anything to us, because it was not your place to make us aware of your problems. We should have been able to see for ourselves, the adults around you, myself included, have been blind it seems when it comes to you.

Also, I shall not ask where you are or who you are with, and shall only hope that you are safe and happy.

If all were right in the world, I would like nothing more than for you to take all the time you need in returning to us, but as you know, that is not the case. Harry, you are in danger while you are not under our protection. Do not mistake my concern for that of an army general for the security of his weapon, for it is nothing like that. You are my student, a child under my care, and I feel that I would never recover fully if you were to be taken from me by death. That is why I must ask you to come back to Hogwarts.

Come back, Harry. I realize that many things will be painful for you to recount, but never doubt that everyone here supports you completely, and will be more than willing to listen. You have every right to be angry with us, and never want to see any of us again, but we only wish to help put right that which we have destroyed.

Please send your reply within the next 3 days with Fawkes. I await your reply.

Albus Dumbledore.






"Harry! ¿Dónde usted puso mi camisa? Do you remember?" Maria called out; her head plunged deep into the recesses of her closet. She was looking for her favourite black t-shirt, and from what she could remember, Harry had definitely been the last one she had seen with it, bringing it back to her room after he had found it underneath his bed.

"Which one?" she heard him ask as he entered her room. It was about the same size as his, but with pure snow-white walls, bed sheets and curtains. It was brightly lit by her huge balcony window, which only served to highlight the hot pink wall behind her bed and matching pillows and rug.

"You know, that black one! My favourite!"

"I thought your favourite was the green jumper?"

"No, that's my favourite jumper, I'm looking for my favourite t-shirt!" she growled, heaving a basket full of jeans out of her closet and searching that corner.

"Why d'you need it?" Harry asked her curiously.
Maria gritted her teeth, lugging the jeans back into the closet. "Marta found some cool buttons that I want her to sew on it, but I can't find it anywhere!" she sighed and flopped backward onto her butt. "Doy para arriba! I give up!" she exclaimed.

Harry leaned over her with a smirk "You're speaking Spanish, that means you must be tired."

She nodded, lifting her arms above her head so that he could help her up. "I worked on the Lycanthropy-cure all afternoon and at least three batches completely flopped. I had to go back and see what went wrong, it turns out that we should have gone with powdered tooth of Kappa instead of valerian root and that changes the consistency of the potion entirely!"

Harry smiled and set on her feet "But just think of how close we are!"

Maria's heart warmed and she nodded "Yeah, think what this is going to do for Remus. You'll make him so happy." She had never actually met the man, but during third year, he was practically all that Harry talked about so she had a pretty good image of him.

"Especially since he'll never know that I had anything to do with it." Harry said with obvious relief. "He hates people pitying him for his condition, and he'll never believe that it wasn't pity that made us do this." He ran a hand through his hair absently "Anyway, I just came to tell you that Marta says dinner is ready."

Maria's mood considerably brightened and she began to bounce on her toes excitedly, Marta's cooking was second only to Harry's in her mind, and she felt starving! "What are we having?" she
questioned eagerly.

Harry shrugged as they walked to the kitchen. "I have no idea, but didn't you ask for pizza yesterday? I've been looking forward to having Marta's pizza for months!" he admitted.

They entered the kitchen to find three of the cats lounging in the last rays of sun on the mat at the back door. A mess of grey, brown and calico fur signalled that it was Astrophe, Preacher and the elderly Aunt Ophelia occupying the space. The kitchen was an odd sort of layout. It was made completely of dark grey stone, with rough oak furniture, all carved with designs. It was square in shape, with windows on the furthest wall, and the wall to the left, as it was the corner of the manor, and had a giant fire pit/oven in the far right corner, with a large oak island in the centre to prepare food at. The kitchen table was in the far left corner, and was large enough to seat 10 comfortably, but could probably be enlarged if it had to be. It was cozy, always warm in winter, and Harry said it reminded him of Hogwarts.

They sat down to dinner, pizza as Harry had predicted, and Marta disappeared off to do some other housework that she claimed needed doing. She and Harry spent most of their dinner planning when they were going to go out dancing next, or determining what the next step in their Lycanthropy-cure would be, while enjoying their food and playing footsie under the table. The dogs had been let out for their evening romp/ bathroom break and Maria smiled a bit, hearing them playing and barking outside.

Their night of relaxation was interrupted though, by fierce tapping at the back door.

Maria turned and both she and Harry gasped. Peach was out there flying beside another bird, a phoenix, who was outside the door, holding a letter in it's beak, and Maria only knew of one wizard who would ever send a letter to either her or Harry with a phoenix. Albus Dumbledore.

Quickly, Harry sprang out of his chair and opened the door, allowing the two birds to fly inside, disturbing the cats beneath them, who hissed.

"Oh yeah?" Peach called down at them, after landing on the table "Well, your father wears boots!"

"Peach, what's going on?" Maria asked, watching warily as the phoenix landed beside the smaller Macaw and trilled, letting Harry take the parchment from its beak.

"I thought it'd be obvious!" Peach squawked, preening herself "Harry's got mail!" she turned and looked at the phoenix beside her "You know, Hedwig never mentioned what a hunk you was!"

Maria blinked a few times, was Peach flirting?

That wasn't really important though, so she turned to Harry who was reading the letter, but vowed to bring that subject back up once this was all settled.

"They know." Harry whispered. His hand was shaking slightly. "They know ev- everything!" Maria tried her best to read his face, but he had slipped into Slytherin-mode, making it a complete neutral mask, so she couldn't tell if the shaking and tremor in his voice was from fear or surprise. He handed the letter to her and she read it over thoroughly.

Damn.

They did know everything. Well, not everything, but as close to everything as they could, and that was far much more than they needed to know to be able to take Harry away from his relatives. Away from her.

She shouldn't be thinking like that! Harry was getting away from the Dursleys, wasn't that all that mattered? But, she couldn't help the little seed of fear that sprouted in her heart, telling her that once Harry went back to the Order he wouldn't need her to heal him, or comfort him, or love him...

But this wasn't about her. This was about Harry and what made him happy. Maybe the Order would let her visit at Christmas at least, to give Harry the present she had been working on.

"What do you think?" he asked breathily. He looked so eager and hopeful... Maria plastered on a small smile and tried to look as supportive as she could.

"I think that this is what you've been waiting for." She answered truthfully, moving over to hug him, laying her head on his chest and holding him tight. "You always said that if they found things out for themselves then you'd come clean with them. Here's your chance. Now you can be yourself around them."

She felt his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed nervously "No, I can't. They've only known Harry Potter, not Harry. They'll hate me for lying to them."

"They won't hate you if they're truly your friends. Harry, you've got nothing to worry about. They'll probably be a little mad and confused about why you aren't acting like the Harry they knew before, but... they'll get over it." Maria said, trying her best to seem inconspicuous as she stroked his hair, trying her best to memorize how it felt in case this was the last time she touched it like this. Coarse silk, that's what it was.

"What about you?"

Maria's heart clenched. "What about me, Harry?" she asked, trying to sound carefree.

Harry pulled away from her a little bit, and looked into her eyes with a small frown. "Are you going to come with me when I go, or do you want me to keep you a secret still?"

"Harry, the Order will never let me come with you. They're wizards! They use stories of Indigo's to scare children into behaving!" she exclaimed, shoving the fear in her voice back down "They'll think I'm some dangerous monster who's going to kill them in their sleep, or suck out their souls, or gouge out their eyes with blunt nail files-"

"If they want me back, they'll have to take you too."

Maria blinked. "What?" Had she heard right?

Harry cupped her face with his hands; rubbing her cheekbones lightly with the pads of his thumbs "You don't know how much you mean to me, Maria! I want you with me, I don't want to have to hide you away, but if you're scared then I'll do it." He leaned down and their lips brushed together "Usted tiene que aprender confiar en a gente otra vez, Maria. No es el ser sano un ermitaño." He whispered.

"I do trust people!" she exclaimed in her own defence, how dare he call her a hermit!

Harry laughed, "Then come with me?" he asked.

She bit her lip, there were so many ways this could go wrong! But, she'd be staying with Harry... But her uncle.... Damn. She'd said it before and she'd say it again, life was too bloody hard!

"Ok." She said, taking a few deep breaths. "Yeah, I'll go with you, but you can't say anything about me being related to Severus Snape. Nothing. I- I don't know if I want him finding out."

"Great!" Harry exclaimed happily, his eyes lighting up in a way that Maria hadn't seen in years, and suddenly all of the doubt and insecurity was worth it.

She pulled out of the hug and surveyed the phoenix sitting on her kitchen table "How are we going to come out into the open?" she asked "I don't think it'd be wise to have the Order come here just yet, we need a trump card just in case things start to go south. Which they won't." she added quickly, seeing Harry's affronted expression "But I'm just saying, in case they aren't as welcoming of me as we'd hoped, I'd like to have a home to go back to that won't be monitored."

"True." Harry said thoughtfully, moving to stroke the phoenix's head, making it coo softly and Peach sigh quietly. "I say we arrange a meeting in a public place, maybe Diagon Alley. That way they'd be less likely to mob me or attack you."

"Problem number one," Maria pointed out, raising a finger "You are Harry Potter, if we do this in Diagon Alley, you're running the risk of Death Eaters showing up, or a witch or wizard will overhear something that they really shouldn't and you lose all that you've worked so hard to keep secret. And problem number one leads into number two," she said, raising another finger to join the first "Do you go wearing the Glamour or not?"

Harry frowned "Well, then we pick a spot in muggle London where there's less chance of running into witches and wizards, but I'm not sure about the Glamour. If I wear it, they'll think of me as the same child they know at Hogwarts and won't take me seriously until I do something drastic. If I don't wear it though, they wont recognize me until they see my scar, and even that wont satisfy Moody at first, and me looking different will definitely start the questions earlier than I'd like."

"You have to answer them either way, Harry." Maria shrugged "If you're really stressed about them, just beg off that it's not a secure location or something. They'll realize that it's true, and get a glimpse of the real Harry as well."

Harry sat down heavily on a chair at the table, holding his head in his hands "And when are we going to do this? Dumbledore said he'll wait 3 days for a reply, and I think that's code for 'if you don't reply I know a way to find you anyway'. I swear he should have been a Slytherin! Barmy old coot."

Maria smiled, coming behind him and massaging his shoulders absently "Well, that 'Barmy old coot' as you call him, considers you to be family apparently. You shouldn't insult your pseudo many times great-grandfather, you know."

Harry stiffened, looking down at the letter he held. "Do you think he means it?" he asked quietly. "Do you really think he considers me to be a grandson of sorts?"

Maria stopped the massage and leaned over his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him. "You know what?" she said, "I really think he does. This letter is proof that he wouldn't just use that as a ploy to get himself back in your good graces. He is hurrying you, true, but he's giving you time to think about all of this, and if what you think is true and he really does have other ways of finding you, don't you think he would have used them first if he hadn't been sincere?"

Maria rested her chin on Harry's shoulder while he thought about what she had just said. Did he know just how lucky he was to have so many people who loved him? Did he even know? Maria sighed a little into his neck, inhaling his smell of forest and sky. All she had was him, and sometimes it made her just a little bit jealous that he had so many and that he was able to put himself in a position to find friends and family without constant fear of rejection. Merlin, Harry was right, she was a hermit...

"I'll tell him that we'll meet in Covent Garden in three days, on Saturday. All the street performers should provide us with some cover at first. I'll tell them that we'll be near a duo, a male singer and female dancer." Maria stifled a gasp, wow; he was going all out to introduce them to the real Harry if he wanted them to perform for them! "I'll tell him to bring whoever he wants and we'll meet up with him at 4 o'clock and then we'll go wherever he wants, as long as you are allowed to come along." He turned his head and captured her lips with his "Good plan?"

Maria smiled "Good plan. But do you want to know what I think is an even better plan, though?" she asked with a smirk, trailing her fingers slowly from his neck down the slight bulge of his chest muscles and further along the flat expanse of his abs to mischievously tug on the waistband of his jeans. "I'll give you a few hints, it involves you and me..."

She placed a kiss on his collarbone and Harry gave a little moan.

"In a bed..."

Her hands busied themselves with undoing the button of his jeans and Harry threw his head back a bit, starting to breathe heavier.

"Doing everything but sleeping." She finished, nibbling on his earlobe "Good plan?"

"Good plan. Let's go." In a flash, Maria found that the tables had turned, and she was flung over Harry's shoulder as he carried her off to one of their bedrooms, shrieking and laughing in surprise and excitement all the way.

Peach turned to look at Fawkes with a wink "C'mon you hunk-a-hunk of Birdie love, you can share my perch for tonight!"

Fawkes was silent for a moment before giving what could only be described as a flirtatious trill, and followed Peach off out of the kitchen.



Professor Dumbledore,

I'll be more than willing to meet with you and the Order, but in three days time and at a location and time that I choose. I hope that you can forgive my blunt attitude, but that's what I need from you.

I will meet you and whomever you choose from the Order at Covent Garden in muggle London at 4 o'clock on Saturday. I will be there, but I wont be alone. I have an old friend of mine who'll be accompanying me there and who will be staying with me. Her name is Maria, and I have no doubt of where her loyalties lie. If taking her along will be a problem, then our meeting is cancelled and I'll see you at the start of term. You take both or get neither. Again, please forgive my terseness, but this is imperative and you'll get an explanation as to why when we meet.

We'll be near a duo that I know will be performing, a male singer and female dancer. As soon as they finish their routine and bow, feel free to come up and fetch us, but please do not interrupt them, they hate it when that happens. Maria and I will be more than happy to go along wherever you take us afterwards, but I must ask that you ensure our safety, especially Maria's.

Sorry to be so cryptic, but all will be explained soon.

Thank you and see you Saturday,

Harry and Maria.

P.S. Tell everyone that I've missed them, and that they shouldn't worry. I'm fine, and that Hermione needn't worry about getting me the summer work list. I'm pretty sure pass with flying colours.



End chapter 6! Sooooo, did you like? You know how much I love reviews, so keep 'em coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!