When Harry got back to school he was more nervous than ever, and two fiery red heads stomped up to greet him angrily.

Surprisingly it had been Ginny who snapped first,

"You can't keep running off Harry, people worry about you. We have a huge match next week and only limited training with the dueling classes and DA! Where were you?" Ginny shouted, her arms flailing wildly about her head as she stared at him pointedly.

"Well!" she demanded, and she thrust a pointed finger into his chest.

"Nowhere, I was just looking after Garuda," Harry lied nervously, biting his lip. Then noticing that he wasn't with Garuda, who had decided to go talk with Oz and Millie instead of come to Quidditch practice. Ginny noticed too.

"Just don't lie to us Harry," Ginny said, and her voice was solemn, she didn't sound angry anymore and when Harry looked down at her, her brown eyes were filled with tears. She squinted and marched off. Harry felt awful and couldn't think of a thing to say.

"I'm sorry mate, were all just a bit worried about you," Ron said, breaking the air, the two had been gazing up at the castle as Ginny had wrestled with the door and stormed inside. Harry felt awful, he was letting everyone down, again.

"I know," Harry said glumly, "it's just that I can't tell."

"Not even me," Ron asked hopefully.

Harry shook his head. Ron nodded but still looked crushed, he gathered the Quidditch gear and walked back up to the castle.

Harry wandered off the other way. How many times would he have to lie to the ones he cared about? And once again he felt like the adults had let him down, the Order wasn't safe, he wasn't safe and they had made him promise to sit and wait. He couldn't be angry like last year, couldn't rage at Dumbledore or snap at Ron and Hermione.

They were all he had left.

He sat under a tree next to the lake where he had seen his father sit in Snape's pensive. He tried not the think about that. He didn't know how long he gazed over the still water on the lake, but the sun was almost set by the time he was interrupted.

"Best not sit that close to the lake after sunset," said a sing song voice. Luna had come up behind him and he jumped at the sound of her voice.

"What?" he asked, turning around, she was standing in the pink glow of the sunset holding a compact mirror Harry had seen Muggle women use. Luna had two orange smudges across her face like Indian war paint.

"The Trachs crawl out of the water come nightfall," she explained airily, but she still sat next to Harry beside the lake. Harry still didn't want to talk with anyone but he found he didn't mind having Luna there.

Harry didn't ask about the Trachs, instead he pointed to the mirror and asked, "what's that for?"

"It's a foe glass," Luna explained, and sure enough in the small round mirror dark figures were lurking in the background. "I transfigured it into this old compact."

Harry smiled, it looked like a good idea, "That's great Luna." She smiled off to one side. Harry hesitated and then asked, "What, er, what's the orange paint for?"

Luna shook her head sadly, "Kingsly showed me how to do it, it's an African tradition to ward of jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Harry asked.

"Yes, since Ronald and Hermione became an item. Of course, I am just happy he is happy, so I guess it must be working."

Harry cocked his head and studied her thoughtfully. There was something so honest and tender about her. Perhaps he needed some of that, of course, he only just got people to stop thinking he was crazy so it was hardly the time to walk down the school in orange paint.

"You're really something Luna," he said and smiled at her sincerely.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "come on, join me back to the castle, they will be serving dinner soon."

Harry nodded and followed her. There was something amazingly indefinable about Luna. She made him think of others instead of himself, made him stronger instead of sorry. He knew he had to have another talk with Dumbledore.

Hermione ran up to him as soon as he got into the castle. "Harry," she grinned and then seemed to notice Luna, "Oh, Hi Luna."

"Hello," Luna said coldly, as she walked off to the Ravenclaw table. Hermione shook her head in Luna's direction and then turned quickly back to Harry.

"I have been looking for you and Ron everywhere, come quick I have got something to show you!" Hermione said, and Harry followed her as she began running off. They passed Neville and Queenie in the hall but Harry didn't have time to ask Neville how he was feeling and Hermione continued up to the second floor.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Oh, you have to see Harry, you have to see. I remembered reading something about a potion a while back when we were studying alchemy. Of course, Professor Snape wouldn't even talk about it, and I spoke to Kingsley about some of this stuff and he agrees with me. It was your mother that got me thinking about it, and she was good at charms. Yet, there wasn't a charm anywhere, not that I could find, I even spoke to Dumbledore and he had never heard of it. But it was the original text of the Druids that got me thinking, I have to show you first, quick." Hermione spoke quickly, and it matched the pace of her running, Harry, who was a good foot taller than her now was struggling to keep up.

They ducked into the Room of Requirement and Harry noticed that it was set up like a potions lab.

"Snape would hardly let me use his," Hermione explained. There was one potion already set up and removed from the heat. There were books scattered on the other desk and Hermione walked over to the cauldron and dished some of the potion into a thick cup.

"Here drink this," Hermione instructed. Harry smelt it cautiously.

"It's much better than Polyjuice," Hermione grinned. Harry raised an eyebrow and swallowed it. His face screwed up in anticipation of a nasty tasting liquid but instead it was cool and sweet. Harry could feel his chest clench with the cold, a rather anti-heartburn feeling but it was gone after a moment. He waited to see what it would do. He opened one eye and looked at a grinning Hermione.

"Well?" Harry asked confusedly. He looked down at his hands and feet and they were both fine. He felt like nothing had happened.

"Cast a Patronus," Hermione instructed.

Harry raised his wand, "Expecto Patronum." There was a rush and instead of a ghostly stag appearing, a shining silver stag appearing in front of him. The stag looked like it was made of steel, and Harry reached out and touched it. It's touch send shivers through his whole body, Harry was quivering. The silver was far more beautiful than the precious silver that had wrapped baby Garuda.

The stag whinnied under his touch and Harry felt it was so beautiful that he was crying.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed in awe, "What is this?"

"I know, isn't it beautiful! It's our answer to the Dementor problem," she grinned, and Harry noticed a silver otter scampering around the tabletop. Hermione vanished the stag and the otter with a flick of her wand.

"Now that's a Corporal Patronus!" she grinned. "You see, I was reading up ages ago about your scar, and then when Dumbledore told you that it was your mothers sacrifice that saved you it all started to make sense. You see, a Patronus can't kill the Dementors because it is simply an expansion of a happy thought, or care, which the Dementors can't handle. But, thoughts aren't corporal, aren't solid, so they can't physically kill the Dementors only repel them. You see nobody thought you could create a solid thought, or feeling. But, the Druids and African Wizards have been doing it for years. There are a lot of texts that talk of "love potions" and I am not talking about the ones that make you gar-gar and fall in love, but ones that are made of love. There are rumours about a potion that would protect the drinker from the old-fashioned killing curses, but seeing Avada Kedavra could break it no one bothered to keep the texts. But I found it! I had to translate it from Gaelic but it was there all along."

"How did you find the African text?" Harry wondered.

Hermione looked around guiltily even though she and Harry were the only ones in the room, "Well, I stole it. Borrowed it more precisely."

Harry gaped, "Hermione!"

Hermione steeled herself up and took on her lecturing tone, "Since Ron doesn't believe me about Kingsly I took it on myself to find some evidence against him."

"Did you find any?" asked Harry nervously, he didn't know what quite to believe.

Hermione paused thoughtfully, "Not exactly, he has been missing for several days now so I thought I might check out his office. I found loads of African texts on this exact subject, but not only that, dark texts too. And I mean dark, he has Necromancer texts Harry."

Harry raised an eyebrow clearly confused.

"Bringing back the dead," Hermione whispered. Harry shivered, was such a thing even possible? Could he bring back Sirius and his parents? Would he want too?

"So, um, you gave me a love potion?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"Not exactly, the potion isn't the feelings it's more of a tracer. You see the potion captures the essence of love inside a person, so it can build a shield. And the Expecto Patronum, of course, expels the shield. But, instead of it creating just the thoughts, it creates the real feelings, the real emotions."

"So, the stag?" Harry asked.

Hermione grinned wildly and grab Harry's wrists excitedly.

"It's real! It's love, it's incredible Harry, and the Dementors will fall at the sight of them!"

Hermione and Harry rushed back down to dinner where Harry's spirits lifted. Neville and Daphne were sitting at the Gryffindor table and the school was in an uproar. The Slytherins were casting her looks of betrayal and shock, Dumbledore was smiling and others were congratulating Neville and Daphne. Neville looked amazing Harry thought, so confident, so happy, the changes he had gone through were striking. For a moment, he wondered why it was him who was chosen by the Dark Lord, and not Neville.

"Harry," Ginny said softly, as she sat at the table. Ginny and Ron had just arrived, it was clear that the two had been talking. Ron looked at Harry, he was hard to read, and that was unusual.

"Gin," Harry answered, "I'm sorry, it's just there are some things I can't tell you."

Harry glanced down the table, everyone was surrounding Neville and nobody was watching Ginny and Harry talk.

"I know," sighed Ginny. "It's just that you let nobody in and I thought…You can trust me Harry." She looked pleading for a second and then shook her head, "I'm sorry too."

"I do trust you," Harry heard himself begging her, "I am going to try and include you, I have instructions, but I will work it out."

"It's not just the disappearances Harry, it's you, you can't do this," Ginny explained softly. "No matter how much we might want it."

Was possible for him to have a relationship? Is that what she was asking? He worried about stuffing everything up, he worried about making Ginny cry like Cho. Ginny looked at him pleadingly, like she would believe him if he said he was ready. But, he had already hesitated, he couldn't.

"Sorry," Harry said, looking down at his plate.

"It's okay," Ginny said smiling, and she took his hand and squeezed it. Harry smiled too, oblivious to the pain that had engulfed her.

"They should go and take down those Dementors!"

"I think (insert stuff here) worked best in this chapter. And I think you could improve on (insert stuff here), because I think this story is (crap/great)!"

"Hermione is a genius! I am going to write a Hermione ficlet with her story!"

"Daphne and Nev are great! I am going to write a ficlet with their stories!"