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'Italics' - Harry and Susan mind talking through their strengthened bond.

Chapter 38

Harry was right about Amelia and Shacklebolt keeping secrets. Amelia never admitted anything about finding blackmail material to Harry or her niece. But over the next few weeks, slowly but surely the departments in the ministry found their most corrupt members being sacked or arrested for taking bribes or unrelated crimes. The elderly members of the ministry who had quietly supported the Dark Lord were brought in for questioning and had to pay hefty fines for their actions and for selling their votes on various items. Several pieces of legislation were then removed and put on the list to be reviewed along with a list of which houses were forced to abstain from voting on them because they'd taken bribes when the legislation was originally passed, shaming the bribe takers even if there wasn't anything they could do to remove them from the Wizengamot. Some of the older Dark members of the Wizengamot couldn't handle the embarrassment and criticism, they announced their retirement leaving the seat in the hands of their sons or grandsons, and the average age of the sitting wizengamot members and proxies started trending downwards.

-o0o-

It was odd that being back at school, surrounded by all their year mates, they actually had more opportunities for private time than they'd had over the summer even though Susan's aunt worked full time, leaving Susan home alone once the house and the wards had been repaired, and Harry was staying with Neville and his elderly grandmother who were happy for him to come and go as he pleased.

Since they'd become betrothed, they'd spent several hours most days in each other's heads, talking privately, or enjoying the tastes of the food the other was eating and activities the other was doing. Harry was fairly sure he'd spent so much time feeling Susan swim that he'd learnt to swim himself, though he was eager to try it for himself.

This was the first time they'd actually been alone in person without 'helpful' house elves popping in and out, and Susan was determined to make the most of it. They were in the room of requirement.

Susan had chosen the room's configuration, and it looked and felt very much like the pool at 'The Ossuary' in the warm southern England sunshine, The room had given them both relatively modest swimsuits suitable for a swimming lesson, but the ability to see and touch so much more skin than normal was distracting them from their purpose. Eventually though, Harry's sense of duty won out, he was here to learn to swim, and he wasn't going to waste the opportunity of Susan teaching him here in the Room of Requirement where the safety features wouldn't let him drown if something went wrong.

It didn't take long to learn to float on his back, and to kick his feet to propel himself around the pool.

"Now you know that you can always turn on your back and rest a bit, unless you panic, it's nearly impossible for you to drown in a pool or small lake, unless you get caught on something under the water and with your wandless cutting charms probably not even then," Susan told him. "Now turn over and float on your stomach, you'll need to put your face in the water but we're at the shallow end, you can just stand up if you need to."

Harry put his face in the water and opened his eyes, they stung a bit. He was reminded of the being in the lake during the second task but it wasn't traumatic he kicked his legs and moved around.

Susan panicked for a moment as he headed for the deep end but then grinned when she saw the water get shallower up that end as well. Once he had kicking down she had him add the arm strokes and it wasn't long until he actually felt like he was swimming.

Eventually he tired and they climbed out to lay in the sun on their towels, holding hands.

"You know I never could understand how you could like just lying about like this, but I could doze off in the sun, it's like having a warming charm on your bed and quilts in the winter," Harry said sleepily.

"It's nice to see you relaxed. You've never been one to like being idle, even when you're studying, you're fidgeting and moving about," Susan replied.

"I always felt like I needed to be in a hurry, hurry to have meals on the table before the Dursley's sat down, hurry to get all my chores done before Vernon got home, hurry to get my homework done at the last minute because I'd been having fun with Ron and left it too late. Last year was the worst, I was in a desperate hurry to try to learn everything I could to defeat Voldie. And now there doesn't seem to be anything to hurry for," Harry tried to explain.

Susan understood that more than anyone else, she'd felt his desperation with his training the year before, and she didn't blame him for feeling that way. Defeating Voldie had seemed such a monumental and impossible task before that night he attacked the Ossuary and they were fighting for their lives without warning. Then all of a sudden it was over, and the adults had stepped up and taken over dealing with the Death Eaters and finding the Horcruxes. The way someone should have stepped up to deal with them at the end of the first war. The second war could never have happened if Voldie's army wasn't waiting for him to come back and lead them in a new reign of terror.

Even after the weeks of having adult professionals to depend on to finish the war for good, this felt like the first time Harry had truly relaxed since he left Andromeda Tonk's house. He'd felt a little adrift, searching for tasks he needed to do until today. She hoped this ability to enjoy the stillness would help him with his meditation for his Animagus form which he had been struggling with. And if it didn't, then there was still nothing wrong with learning to enjoy lying about in the sun, especially since it was one of Susan's favourite pastimes and she enjoyed sharing it with him.

-o0o-

Harry sighed as he lost concentration and his vision of his Animagus form faded from his mind again. it seemed that he'd finally found a spell that he couldn't simply push more power into it to make the change work. Susan tried to be reassuring but she was also frustrated with the process, even though she was far more used to feeling this way. Their frustration was feeding into each other's and making both of them more irritable and shorter tempered.

Eventually they realised this, and Susan left to have a pamper party in her dorm room while Harry kept working and she did her own practicing while Harry was flying.

Unsurprisingly it was Harry who had the first break through, after an exhausting quidditch practice he took a quick shower and lay down to meditate. He pictured him self flying and swooping through the air, at first he thought he was daydreaming of flying but then realised he wasn't picturing his Firebolt or feeling himself steering a broom, but rather angling his arms to catch wind currents. He felt magic flood through his body and opened his eyes to see that the curtains around his bed all seemed huge in comparison to him and the colours were so vibrant with brighter highlights and deeper shadows. He looked down and saw the white and rusty orange feathered front and black wings. He fluttered his wings and found himself a couple of inches in the air. Careful to stay above his mattress in case something went wrong he practiced moving his wings trying to move himself up and down and then to move forward.

He was startled and fell when the door opened and Ron and Hermione found him lying on his bed, still in bird form.

"There's something wrong with this bird," Ron said reaching gentle hands to pick him up and put him upright. "I wonder how it got in here. It doesn't look like it's been used as an owl."

"I don't think it is a stray bird. I think that it's Harry," Hermione said, surprised as she saw the slightly green tinge in his eyes, out of place on a bird.

"What? He's never talked about trying to become an Animagus. Why would he do it without us?" Ron asked.

"I don't have the magical strength to become an Animagus, Ron," Hermione said slightly sadly, deliberately not voicing the belief that Ron didn't have the motivation or mental discipline to complete the process.

"Why didn't he want us to join him. I would've liked to become an Animagus," Ron lamented.

"How often do you offer to join Harry for training these days? Better yet how often do you actually go, and not try to distract him with other things?" Hermione asked.

"I haven't. I don't know why he's still bothering to work that hard. You-Know-Who is gone, and he says he doesn't plan on being an Auror," Ron replied.

"Do you think that Harry knows something we don't? is there a way You-Know-Who can come back again?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I dunno, we'll need to ask Harry, but I reckon he'd be trying to get us to keep training if he thought so," Ron replied calmly.

Harry concentrated on holding his form not wanting to transform back in front of his friends in case his clothes didn't transform back with him. He hoped they did because he was wearing his favourite pyjamas. It seemed that after watching him for a moment or two more Hermione realised the problem and dragged Ron back out of the room with an offer to raid the kitchens.

Harry transformed back and the bond between him and Susan bloomed into connection reflecting her anxiety.

'Susan, are you okay? What's wrong?' he sent.

'What happened Harry? I couldn't feel you?' Susan asked desperately.

'I was in my Animagus form. I couldn't feel you either, thinking about it now but I didn't notice it while I was transformed. I'm sorry I worried you,' Harry apologised.

'Oh! I didn't think of that,' Susan admitted. 'I was worried that you'd knocked yourself unconscious, because you weren't even there vaguely in the back of my mind like you are when you're asleep.'

'I'll try to remember to warn you before I practice again. But there's one good thing, I'm going to be able to fly without making you feel like you need to lie down, and we've found a way to give each other privacy if we ever need it,' Harry replied.

'That's true,' Susan thought smiling. 'I'll try to warn you when I'm practicing too though I think it will be a while yet before I succeed. Can I see your form?'

'Want to meet in the room of Requirements?' Harry asked.

'It's almost curfew,' Susan protested, though Harry could feel her getting up and putting her shoes back on. He smiled at how much more willing she was to break rules with him these days.

"You're so cute," Susan exclaimed out loud.

Harry transformed back with an irritated huff. "Cute!" he said outraged, ignoring that he was naked. The room generously provided him a privacy screen so he could pick up his clothes and pull them back on.

"Do you know what sort of bird you are?" Susan asked to distract him. She couldn't say his form wasn't cute, he would know she was lying.

Harry sighed. "A black thighed falconet, one of the two smallest birds of prey in the world. Native to southeast Asia. Not big enough to be a threat and to attention catching to be useful spying."

Susan giggled, then sobered. "Would you be safe flying around?" she asked.

Harry sighed, "I'm not sure. They're fierce little birds in their own habitat, eating birds up to twice their size but I don't think they'd be able to defend themselves against a large bird of prey, and I don't have the instincts and fighting skills of a real bird, still if I can get to the ground quickly enough to transform back, I could protect myself."

"Would a post owl amulet work for you in that form?" Susan asked.

"That's a great idea, I'd probably have to ask McGonagall or someone who makes them," Harry said thoughtfully. "I want to work on transforming with my clothes on before I speak to her though."

Susan giggled again. "At least you've got the transformation, and your clothes don't disappear. Can you fly?"

"I need to practice," Harry admitted. He had no intention of letting Susan laugh at his first attempts.

-o0o-

"Was that you on your bed this afternoon?" Ron asked that night.

"Yeah, it was the first time I'd managed the transformation," Harry said grinning.

"Why didn't you ask us to join in the training?" Ron asked.

"You never spoke about researching your Animagus form. Did you really want to put in the hundreds of hours of meditation to find and achieve your form?" Harry asked surprised. "I'd be happy to help you achieve the transformation once you've found your form."

"Hundreds of hours!" Ron echoed in dismay. "Are you serious? Isn't there a quicker way. I thought the potion they gave us showed us our form."

"It does, but you still need to get to know it perfectly. Have you researched exactly what you were?"

"I'm a dog," Ron replied.

"Well that makes it easier, but you'd need to know exactly what breed of dog and what their characteristics are," Harry told him.

"Can I use the potion to get another look at him?" Ron asked.

"Sure, if you can afford to buy it, Hogwarts only allows each student a single dose to allow you to decide whether or not to pursue the transformation. Even if you take another dose, you're going to have to be able to find it in your magic without the potion to have any hope of transforming," Harry told him.

"Being an Animagus would be so cool, and a dog is a useful form," Ron said thoughtfully.

"Sirius always enjoyed using his form," Harry agreed.

"I should have known you'd be a bird of some kind, but I expected you to be some sort of eagle or something," Ron said.

"A falconet is still a bird of prey, and they're fierce in their own way they can take on a bird twice their size," Harry said mildly. He'd been prepared for a lot of teasing over becoming such a small bird, and his didn't have any need to impress Ron with his form.

"Does Susan have the ability to become an Animagus?" Ron asked.

"She has the potential, and she is pursuing it, but she hasn't achieved a transformation yet," Harry replied.

"So you've been working on it together, no wonder you didn't invite us," Ron said.

"Hermione didn't have the potential, it would be cruel to ask her for help with this when she isn't going to be able to do it herself, and cruel for you and I to have a project together that deliberately excluded her," Harry reminded him.

"Do you think that she will leave the wizarding world? Percy said that a lot of muggleborns go back to live in the muggle world after graduation," Ron asked.

"Yes, I think that that has had more to do with the prejudice against muggleborns and how hard it is for them to get an apprenticeship or a decent job in the wizarding world than their magical strength or what they wanted to do. Hermione was all in on magic from the very first day she found out about it. I think if she can get a job that she finds rewarding then she will stay," Harry said.

"But she'll only work for a couple of years before she marries and starts a family," Ron said.

"Ron, your mum chose to stay home because that's what she wanted to do. Hermione's mum has worked all of Hermione's life and Hermione will want to do the same. Being a full-time housewife would drive her insane with boredom," Harry said.

Ron looked shocked. "It's not how it's done in this world!" he insisted.

"Susan's aunt, Hannah's mum. Padma and Parvati's mum, even Lavender's mum all work, and they all have plans for a career themselves too. Even your sister-in-law has an apprenticeship with the goblins, and they will definitely expect her to work for them for years to come to repay the expense of training her. There's no reason that Hermione couldn't work if she has access to childcare and she wanted to. It would be almost impossible for witches to get an apprenticeship or into Auror or Healer training if they were automatically assumed to be leaving the workforce once they marry," Harry argued.

"What does Susan want to do?" Ron asked surprised.

"She wants to be an Auror," Harry said.

"You could be partners," Ron said slightly jealously. He'd always assumed he and Harry would be partners in Auror training and out in the field.

"I don't know that I want to be an Auror anymore. I think I mostly wanted to be to get the training I needed to fight Voldie and his Death Eaters but I'm not going to have to do that anymore. They're rounding them up as quickly as they identify them and they're not going to be able to bribe their way out of Azkaban this time. He's probably gone for good and even if he isn't he won't be that much of a threat without the Death Eaters to back him up and unmarked supporters controlling the ministry and wizengamot to prevent them from fighting back effectively," Harry said.

"You don't want to be her partner in the field, don't think you're going to want to be there to keep her safe?" Hermione asked joining them in time to hear the end of the conversation.

"Our bond would actually be a liability in that sort of situation. One curse would take us both out. She'll be better off with someone who can stay conscious and keep fighting if she's knocked out," Harry replied calmly. Only a few people knew enough to realise that he'd be more help to Susan in a fight by being somewhere he could lock himself away and help through the bond than actually being with her.

Hermione was surprised that he was so calm and accepting of that, though she couldn't say whether she'd expected him to be more upset, worried or resentful or a combination of the three. "What do you want to do instead?" she asked.

"I don't know, I don't have an affinity for healing spells like Luna has, nor do I want to go into herbology or magical zoology like they do though some of their expedition plans sound interesting. I wouldn't mind spending some time travelling and seeing more of the world. I don't want to work as a lawyer and I'm pretty sure I couldn't stand working in the ministry," Harry said shrugging.

"You're a great teacher," Hermione offered. All of the DA learned a lot more from you than from any of the defence professors we've had."

"I was uniquely motivated to teach them to defend themselves, and there was a reason that I didn't want to teach it again, beyond the fact that Snape would have killed me for insinuating that he wasn't up to teaching them all what they needed to know," Harry replied, hoping she'd let the idea go. He didn't want to teach defence unless he could teach them all to really defend themselves properly, nor did he want to be responsible for having taught the next dark lord's army. He wouldn't be interested in teaching unless he could try to teach people to think for themselves and the curriculum at Hogwarts seemed purposefully designed not to do that.

"You're sure to be scouted for a Quidditch team, the Wimborne Wasps and the Kenmare Kestrals will both be looking for a new seeker next season," Ron offered.

Harry laughed. "I don't think so. The bond makes Susan feel dizzy and nauseas during my quidditch games and training. Unless we can find a way to close off the bond, she'd kill me if I decided to play professionally."

"You have to do something, have you talked to McGonagall about your options?" Hermione asked.

"No not yet," Harry replied. "But I should, I just don't know enough about wizarding careers."

"You could become a curse-breaker like Bill, that's a cool job and there's a bit of travelling involved," Ron suggested.

"You'd need a NEWT in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy but I'm sure there's a way to get tutoring and sit your OWLs and NEWTs through the ministry," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I don't know. I could probably get a job in the muggle world for a bit, have a bit of a break from all the attention," Harry suggested.

"You aren't going to get a very good job without even having your GCSEs," Hermione said frowning.

"No and the only things I have real experience in are cleaning gardening and cooking, I don't want a job doing any of those things," Harry agreed.

'You could always manage your estate and become a stay-at-home house husband and full time Dad, if you can't find something else that interests you,' Susan suggested through the bond.

'I wouldn't mind, if that's what you want,' he replied, grinning.

-o0o-

Amelia and Kingsley met with Harry and Susan when they came home for Christmas.

"We think we have found all the Horcruxes, and we're almost certain we've identified all the active Death Eaters. We've interviewed every single one under veritaserum and nobody is able to identify any more possibilities or even people they'd seen visiting or talking to Voldemort," Amelia said.

"The problem is of course that the person trusted with his resurrection next time could very well be someone none of the other's knew about," Kingsley added.

"Yes, but Mouldie Voldie isn't exactly the trusting sort. So, it won't be someone he didn't meet with often enough to learn to trust as much as he ever trusted anyone, unless he'd visited or watched him when he was in wraith form," Harry said thoughtfully.

"You mean someone he possessed like he did Quirrell?" Susan asked.

"I don't think that it can be, he had to drink Unicorn blood to keep Quirrell's body alive," Harry said.

"But the only people we know he interacted with before his resurrection were Quirrell, Wormtail and Barty Crouch Junior, and they're all dead," Amelia said sighing.

"It's a contradiction, someone he knew well enough to know he could trust them to perform the ritual but who the rest of the Death Eaters some of whom reported that there were always two or three of them there to do his bidding didn't know about," Kinglsey said.

"Someone he trusted to perform the ritual, who hasn't done it," Susan pointed out.

"Susan's right. He hasn't come back, he would have lost his temper and attacked by now, there haven't been any mysterious deaths or disappearances. So, either they've tried and the ritual didn't work because we've destroyed all the Horcruxes, the person he planned to have perform the ritual has been arrested, or for some other reason they haven't done it," Harry said.

"They still could at any time," Kingsley pointed out.

"I don't think so, or rather I don't think that they will even if they could. If they were going to resurrect Voldemort, then they would have as soon as possible or as soon as the arrests began or the first of the Death Eaters was convicted. The longer they leave it the more likely they are going to be severely punished for not doing it sooner," Amelia said.

"Unless they're stupid enough to be waiting for you to thin out the competition for a position in the inner circle," Susan suggested.

"Yeah, I mean whoever it is has to be some kind of stupid to have ever wanted to resurrect the dork lord. I know the Death Eaters were mindless sheep a lot of the time but they have to know the way he tortures his followers if they don't achieve whatever impossible tasks he sets them. They have to realise that he does it on purpose just like Vernon Dursley. He sets a task they have no hope of succeeding doing so he has an excuse to punish them for their failure," Harry agreed.

"But whoever has been tasked with the resurrection wouldn't know this if he never met with Voldemort when any of the other Death Eaters were present," Kingsley reminded them. "My money's on the fact they either can't complete the ritual or the ritual didn't work."

"Hopefully because we've destroyed all the Horcruxes, since there's no telling who the person is or why they couldn't attempt the ritual before now. They may simply be waiting for an ingredient for the resurrection potions or be one of the people in temporary custody who's going to be released with a fine after next week's Wizengamot meeting. We will have to maintain vigilance." Amelia said.

"We're going to have to be vigilant for the rest of our lives, it will be a challenge not to fall into complacency," Harry said.

Susan all but groaned aloud. She could just see Harry resuming his training regimen when they returned to school.

Harry squeezed her hand understandingly and promised through the bond not to go to extremes.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who Reviewed followed or favourited this story, for your support.