When he woke up in the morning, Harry noticed that most of the school had left for the break, leaving only those students who where going to be traveling with the team. The Gryffindors' common room, however, was still packed.
Apparently, most of the house was going to be going to the first match, which Harry was happy to see. Harry, who saw Hermione sitting alone near their favorite corner, walked quietly behind her and placed his hands over her eyes, and gave her a kiss on her neck.
Hermione said quietly, "you better be careful. Harry could be along at any moment."
Harry pulled away his hands, and walked around to face her, as she started to giggle. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and said, "I saw you coming a mile away."
Harry looked deeply into her soulful brown eyes, and said, "if I wasn't in love with you, Miss. Hermione Jane Granger."
Hermione grinned, and said, "you'd what, Mr. Harry James Potter?"
Before Harry could say anything, Fred and George came sauntering over to them.
In an exasperated voice, Fred asked, "will you two ever give it a rest?"
"You're a couple. Ok, we get it," George said.
Harry had a small grin on his face as he turned to face the twins, "you guys aren't jealous, are you?"
The twins shared an offended look with each other before George said, "us, jealous? Perish the thought."
"Besides, we're already spoken for," Fred said.
Hermione had a surprised look on her face, as she asked, "you're spoken for? By whom?"
Fred replied, "sorry, but we're not at liberty to say."
Harry, who thought this was pretty funny, asked, "what? Don't they know they're going out with you yet?"
Hermione pretended to cough, in a miserable attempt to cover up her laughing.
The twins gave them both reproving looks as they walked away without saying another word. Hermione watched as Harry sat down next to her, and she asked, "do you think they're serious?"
"Dunno really. It's difficult to tell with the two of them."
"You're right of course. Are you all packed?"
"Yes. How about you?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any idea how were getting there?"
Hermione thought for a moment, and said, "I have given it some thought, and I have it narrowed down, but I'm still not sure."
After talking for a few minutes, they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they sat down and started serving themselves, someone stopped by. It was the Creevey brothers.
Colin, a highly enthusiastic fourth-year, said, "hey, Harry."
Harry automatically responded, "hello, Colin."
Colin, who was carrying his camera, as he usually did, took a deep breath and asked, "Harry, would you like some pictures of your team?"
Harry thought for a moment as he looked at Hermione, who simply shrugged, and said, "sure Colin. That would be great. Are you guys coming with us?"
Colin quickly said, "oh, yes. We wouldn't miss it for the world."
Harry paused, before he replied, "ok, Colin. You can take our picture over there then."
Colin was beaming now, as he said, "sure thing Harry."
As the Creevey brothers went off, Harry saw Hermione look at him intently.
"You never cease to amaze me, Harry. You know that?"
Harry had a broad grin on his face, as he said, "I do try."
After they finished breakfast, Harry and Hermione went upstairs to get their cloaks. They were going to be leaving that afternoon, so they decided to try to enjoy their last day at Hogwarts for some time.
The first thing they agreed to do was to pay Hagrid a visit. Harry wasn't too happy at the way he behaved the last time he was there, and he liked Hagrid too much to treat him that way.
Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, and was greeted by the booming barks of Fang, his boarhound. They heard Hagrid's deep voice saying "Down, Fang" before the door creaked open slightly. An eye looked them up and down before the door opened. As Harry walked into his hut, Fang bounded into his arms, and started to slobber all over him.
After managing to get past Fang, Harry sat down as Hagrid served them some tea, and a plate of rock cakes. As Hagrid was fussing over them, Harry couldn't help but feel even guiltier at the way he had treated him last time.
"Hagrid, about last time," Harry started to say.
Hagrid said in a gruff voice, "don't you think about that one second."
"But I'm really sorry," Harry tried to continue.
Hagrid waved his massive hand dismissively, as he said, "I know you are, but its ok really. I know you've been going through a lot lately."
Harry looked down at his cup of tea, and said, "but, Hagrid you're my friend, and I really shouldn't have treated you that way."
Hagrid gave Harry a pat on the back that knocked him into the table as he smiled at him, and said, "I consider myself lucky to be one of your friends."
After talking for a little while, Hermione asked Hagrid, "will you be coming with us, to the match?"
"Of course I will. You just try to stop me."
Harry looked up at him and said, "I bet you are looking forward to seeing Madam Maxime again."
It appeared as if Hagrid was blushing, at least it appeared that way from the little exposed skin that Harry could see anyway. Hagrid coughed, and said, "oh yeah, that. I, uh, guess it would be nice to see her again, yeah."
Then, as if it has just occurred to him, Harry blurted out, "what exactly did the two of you do last summer?"
Hagrid started stammering even worse, as he said, "uh, that. Well, I'm really not able to say. I mean, well, it's something that we are still working on, and all."
"You're still working on it?" asked Hermione.
"Uh, yeah. We don't have much time left, and I have to finish getting ready, so if you don't mind," Hagrid said, as he ushered the two of them out.
As they were walking back toward the castle, Harry asked, "what do you think that was all about?"
Hermione thought for a moment, and said, "I'm not entirely sure, but Hagrid is right about one thing. We don't have much time left."
As Harry followed Hermione into the entrance hall, he saw that most of the students were gathered around the marble staircase. No sooner had he wondered what was going on then his question had been answered. Harry saw Professor McGonagall at the top of the marble staircase.
As they joined their classmates, they heard the professor clear her throat, and say, "ok, now that we are all here, we will be leaving. I want you all to follow me now."
She wheeled around, and started down a series of corridors. The students hurried behind her, trying their best to keep up. Harry was wondering where she was leading them, but he was to busy keeping up with his classmates to have a chance to ask Hermione.
They had walked into an area that Harry couldn't seem to recognize. It was a long, barren hallway. There were no paintings, no doorways, no suits of armor, nothing at all by which to measure the hallway, making it seem longer than it probably was.
After they had walked for what seemed like hours, McGonagall finally came to a stop at the bottom of what seemed to be a turret that wasn't familiar to Harry. He waited as the remainder of the students continued to file in behind them.
The professor waited as the last of the stragglers finally entered the atrium, and she was checking of each of the students off a mental checklist. When she completed this, she said, "very good. I need to explain to you what will be happening now.
"This tower," she said as she waved her hand to the building in which they were standing, "will not only be the means of your travel to Beauxbatons Academy, but it will also be where you will be staying while we are there."
She paused a moment, as the students were taking in what she had just said. Harry was wondering what she meant when she said the tower would take them there. Was it going to be taken by a team of large horses, like the Beauxbatons Carriage was last year?
Several people where discussing this, until McGonagall had cleared her throat and the students went quiet once again.
"All of your things have been brought to where you will be staying. The dormitories are on the seventh floor. Sleeping arrangements have already been prepared, and you will find a list of where you will be staying posted by the entrance to the dormitory."
Seamus asked, "Professor, when are we leaving?"
"We, Mr. Finnegan, have already left."
The students started to look around, not understanding what the professor was saying, when Neville weakly asked, "we have?"
McGonagall looked at him and said, "yes, Mr. Longbottom, we have. If you would all look out the windows, you will see what I am talking about."
The class fanned out to the different windows, and as Harry and Hermione reached a window, they looked outside. To his astonishment, Harry saw at the foot of the tower what appeared to be a cloud where the ground should be. They also seemed to be moving, which Harry thought was brilliant.
Harry was looking around and all he could see was the clear blue sky for what seemed like forever. The vast empty sky combined with the feeling of flying made Harry feel as if he was on his trusty Firebolt.
Harry felt something in his hand, and when he looked down, he saw that Hermione had placed her hand in his. He looked up into her eyes, and saw that she was just as taken by this sight as he was. To be perfectly honest, Harry was a little surprised, because he knew that she wasn't exactly enamored with flying.
After a few moments, they turned around, and McGonagall called out to them, "we will be arriving at Beauxbatons by this time tomorrow. While we are there, I expect you to behave responsibly. You will be representing the school while you are there, and we want to make a good impression."
After she said this, she leered at the twins, and their friend Lee Jordan. After a moment she continued, "while we are there, you will be spending most of your time, including meals, on their grounds. This is an important opportunity for us to gain better relations with our fellow wizards and witches, so I want you all to make an effort while we are here. This is far more important than just a Quidditch match after all.
"Everything that you will need has been provided for you here. We have a dining hall, a library and even a hospital wing. You all have plenty of time, but just keep in mind that although we are not at Hogwarts, we still have the same curfew, and we are still keeping track of house points."
As everyone was starting to look around, trying to figure out where to go, McGonagall continued, "you will each be provided with a map, where you will find everything you will need. Lunch will be served in exactly one hour, so until that time you might wish to take this opportunity to become familiar with your new surroundings."
As they got their maps, Harry proceeded to follow Hermione. After a couple of moments of Hermione leading the way, Harry was less than surprised to see that they where in front of a smaller version of their library.
Harry really wasn't interested in starting his vacation in the library, so he grabbed hold of Hermione's hand and led her grudgingly away from her little sanctuary. Harry saw something that grabbed his interest, and after a few minutes, the two of them wound up on top of the tower.
As they felt the cool breeze hit their faces, Harry saw that several benches had been placed along the perimeter of the roof. Harry noticed that some of their classmates had decided to come up as well, probably for a chance to glimpse the spectacular views.
After looking around, Harry chose the most remote location that he could find and guided Hermione over to it, motioning for her to sit down next to him. Once he sat down, Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry's waist, and placed her head on his shoulder.
"When will your parents be arriving?"
Hermione paused for a moment, and finally said, "in a couple of days."
"That's nice."
"My dad has been asking about you"
Harry, who was a little taken aback by this, said, "really?"
Hermione said, "it's not a big deal. He just wants to know you a little bit better."
Harry liked Hermione's parents just fine, but he was a little surprised by this, but he just nodded, smiled and said, "sure. That would be nice."
Hermione smiled at him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. After a little while, they were starting to get a little cold, and they figured that it would be lunchtime soon anyway, so they headed downstairs.
As they walked into the room that was marked as the dining hall on their map, they saw a small room with several small round tables. Harry and Hermione grabbed a table near the window, and watched as the rest of the students filed in for lunch.
Harry grimaced as he watched Ron and Cho sit, he was certain purposefully, in a nearby table. While he was sitting, Harry suddenly ha an epiphany. After thinking it over for a minute, he noticed that Hermione was giving him a concerned look. As she started to ask him something, he interrupted her.
"Will you excuse me Hermione? I've got to do something."
Hermione hesitated for a moment before she said, "ok."
Harry saw the concerned look on her face and said, "I'll tell you later, ok?"
Hermione smiled, and nodded as Harry set off. He figured he would take care of the most difficult first, and went over to Ron and Cho. As he stood in front of their table, they proceeded to ignore him. He cleared his throat, and they continued to act as if no one was there.
It seemed futile, so he said, "I need to have a team meeting after lunch. We need to go over something, and I am going to need everyone. The meeting will be held on the roof, and, uh, bring your brooms."
Ron nodded without looking at him. Since Cho didn't he added, "you too, Cho, ok?"
After a moment, she nodded as well. Harry was satisfied, and he proceeded to go around notifying the rest of the team and reserves of his impromptu meeting. They all quickly agreed, and Harry quickly rejoined Hermione.
As he sat back down, Hermione asked, "what was that all about?"
Harry looked at her, and said, "I have a surprise for everyone tomorrow."
"Really? What is it?"
Harry grinned as he said, "I was thinking about something Mr. Weasley told us last year, and well, I decided we need a proper entrance."
"What are you planning Harry?"
Harry's grin grew wider, "I really don't want to say now, but I called a team meeting after lunch."
Hermione gave him slight frown as she said, "ok."
Harry put his hand under Hermione's chin, as he said, "it's going to be brilliant. Don't worry about it."
Hermione had a look of recognition on her face as she said, "I know what you're hoping to do."
Harry, not really surprised by this, laughed and said, "you probably do."
"It's dangerous you know?"
"We'll be ok."
"Well, this is against my better judgment, but ok."
"You're the best, Hermione."
She smiled, and said, "if you're going to do this you are going to need to do it properly."
"I have a plan."
"Well, that may be, but you need something really big."
Harry was surprised by this, as he asked, "and you have something in mind, do you?"
Hermione looked around, and said in a quiet voice, "as a matter of fact, I do."
Harry, who couldn't believe what he was hearing, asked, "what is it then?"
"I have it with my things. I'll bring it to you before your meeting, and tell everyone to bring their wands."
Harry stammered, "their wands?"
Hermione gave him a mischievous grin that Harry had never seen before, and watched in stunned silence as she walked off toward her dormitory.
After he finally regained his composure, he advised all the team members of the admittedly rather odd request. Every one of them pointed out to him that wands are illegal in Quidditch, which Harry already knew, with the obvious exception of the twins, who looked as if Christmas had come early.
After getting his broom and wand from his room, Harry walked slowly up to the landing underneath the roof, and waited for Hermione. After a few minutes, she finally showed up and she handed him a role of parchment.
"Sorry it took so long, but I didn't exactly know that we would be using it. I highly suggest you practice it, because it could go horribly wrong, ok?"
Harry was scanning the parchment as she was talking, and he said, "yeah, sure."
Hermione gave Harry a kiss on the cheek and said, "good luck Harry."
As she walked away, Harry continued to look at what she had given him, and after a moment he turned, and went up onto the roof where the members of the team where waiting for him.
Fred had a smirk on his face, "good of you to show up. You did call this little shindig, you know?"
George added, "yeah, were you just trying to freeze us to death or something?"
Angelina asked, "what's this all about anyway?"
As Katie picked up her wand, she asked, "and what's with the wands?"
Alicia said, "we cant use them in a match you know?"
Harry raised his hand and they went quiet. He took a deep breath, and said slowly, "as we were having lunch something came flooding into my mind. It was something Mr. Weasley had told me last year."
Fred asked, "was it that you should bore us with unnecessarily long speeches?"
George added, "and that you should freeze us to death in the process?"
Harry, ignoring the twins' complaints, continued, "he said when we get together we like to impress one another."
One of the reserve chasers said, "yeah, so?"
Harry continued, "I am certain that Dumbledore has something special in mind, in addition to this flying tower we're in, but I was thinking that as the school team, we needed to do something spectacular."
As he said these words, the team looked at him eagerly. Fred asked, "what, exactly do you have in mind?"
"We need a proper entrance, so I used some Muggle inspiration, and thought some precision flying to mark our arrival."
As they started to mutter the approval, George asked, "what's with the wands then?"
"Have any of you heard of the Flying Tigers?"
Several of the team members tentatively nodded their heads.
Fred said, "I think so. That was over a hundred years ago. What do they have to do with this?
"This idea came courtesy of Hermione." He took out the parchment she gave him, and put it out so everyone could see it. "We are going to be the New Flying Tigers."
Ron whistled and said, "can we do that?"
Harry looked around and asked, "is there anyone here who doesn't think they can do this?"
When nobody answered, he said, "good, because I know we can do this, but we will need a lot of practice, starting now."
They practiced well into the night, until they had it perfected. As Harry entered his room, he finally realized that he was roomed with Ron. He was too tired by all the practice sessions to care now though. As he changed, he thought of how well their little performance will go tomorrow, and he made a mental note, that he should do something special for Hermione to thank her for everything.
As he went over the plans several times, his thoughts began to drift, and he was starting to have difficulty concentrating. The image of their flight over the gasping crowd the next morning was vivid in his thoughts as his mind went blank.
He could feel himself flying, and as he saw the crowd beneath him, he decided that he would go and take a closer look at them. As he descended, he picked up speed. Before he reached the crowd, he decided that he was going to buzz them.
As he came closer to the crowd, he started to see individual faces. Colin was busy, madly taking pictures of his approached. Most of the crowd was either scattering around, or looking up, too scared to move.
Harry saw Dumbledore, who clearly had a bemused look on his face. Professor Snape, on the other hand, looked livid. He was beside himself with anger, as he leering at him as he approached. Harry had a difficult time reading McGonagall's reaction. She had a stern look on her face, but she usually did, so he couldn't really tell from that.
He saw Hermione, and his heart did a summersault. She was looking amazing, with the breeze he was creating causing her hair to flow, just so. He hoped against hope that Colin would take a picture of her now, because he wanted to remember her just like this.
He wheeled around to get a better view of what they had just created, when something took Harry by surprise. Instead of what he had been expecting, he saw something altogether different. When he looked up, he saw what was unmistakably a Dark Mark.
When he saw that, he bolted up in his bed and looked around. He was breathing heavily, but apparently hadn't woken up Ron, for which he was grateful. He decided that trying to go back to sleep was pointless so he got up, and after getting ready, went to the roof.
The cold morning air felt very nice, and it was helping him wake up. He sat down on a bench, and looked around, losing track of time. After what seemed like ages, he felt someone put their hands over his eyes and kiss him on the cheek.
"Better be careful. Hermione could be here any second."
Hermione walked in front of him, and said, "ha, ha, ha. Very funny you."
"I saw you coming," Harry lied.
She leered at him with her sweet eyes and, looking as if she didn't believe that, asked, "really?"
"Absolutely," he said. He the pointed to his eyes and added, "vision, it's very important for a seeker, you know."
Despite making, what Harry thought, was a persuasive argument, she still looked as if she didn't believe him. She thought for a moment, and finally said, "let's go. You should eat something before we get there."
Harry didn't feel much like eating now, but thought that perhaps he could drink something, because his mouth was getting a little dry. As they entered the dining hall, there was a smatter of applause, and several people wished him luck.
Most people were wishing him luck on the upcoming match with Beauxbatons, but what they were about to attempt was weighing heavily on him. Hermione seemed to have sensed this, and in a gentle voice said, "it's going to be ok."
Harry was lost in thought, and barely heard what she had said. He looked at her, and with a weak smile, said, "I hope so. This is difficult, and we only started practicing it last night. On top of that, this hasn't been done since…"
After he stopped, Hermione finished his thought, saying, "a hundred years. I know. But if anyone can do it, I know that you can."
All Harry could think of was that nobody had been able to do this in a hundred years. While it was going to be difficult, it would be brilliant if they could pull it off.
Hermione looked as though she had been lost in thought herself, said, "have you thought about how you are going to start this?"
Harry thought about this, and said, "I figured we would go to the roof and go down when everyone has taken their places."
She nodded, and said, "there is one problem with that. Do you think that they won't miss the entire team?"
She was right. They won't leave them behind as they were going down to the field. As he was thinking about setting up a distraction, Hermione looked around, and said, "I think I can give you enough time, but it will be tricky."
Harry smiled, and thought that he was definitely a bad influence on her, as he asked, "and how, exactly, will you do that?"
"Well, it's a little complicated. I can't explain, but just make sure the team is ready, so when I give you the signal, you can go, because you won't have much time."
"And how will I know what the signal is?"
"You'll know, and you will also know what to do when it happens so be ready."
At the far end of the dining hall was a group of tables on a raised platform. These were set aside for the staff. Professor McGonagall stood up from one of them and the smatter of conversations came to an end.
"We will be arriving after lunch today, so I want you all to be prepared, and assembled at the entry hall, where we were when we first left Hogwarts. From there we will make our way down to the grounds together."
After breakfast Hermione said, "I have to get ready myself. Make sure the team has everything they will need in position, because I can't guarantee you how much time I can give you, but it won't be long."
Harry still wasn't quite sure what Hermione had in mind, but he had learned never to underestimate her. As he nodded she bounced up the staircase toward her dormitory, and Harry went about telling the team to put their brooms on the roof, and carry their wands, because they won't have much time.
Harry couldn't find Hermione until lunch, when at the dining hall, he saw her saying something to herself. He was a little worried, as he asked if something was wrong. She continued to talk to herself, and without saying anything, just shook her head.
Harry spent most of lunch in complete silence, but with Hermione's continual muttering, he found it difficult to stay calm. Finally, just before lunch had ended, she returned her attention to Harry, and asked, "are you ready?"
Harry, figuring that she was talking about the team, "yes, we are."
"Good."
Harry was going to ask once more what were they supposed to be getting ready for, when Professor McGonagall rose up from her seat again, and said, "if everyone is ready, we shall make our way down to the entry hall. Please follow me."
As they headed down to the entry hall, Harry kept alert for any sign of, well, of a sign, any sign. When they reached the bottom of the staircase, and went into the middle of the Entrance Hall, Harry saw something he hadn't noticed before.
He saw a large, ornate mirror in the far end of the hall, where the archway that they used to enter yesterday was located. Like the Mirror of Erised, it had writing all along its top fringe that Harry couldn't read. There was something unnatural about the mirror, but Harry couldn't place his finger on it.
The class was all seemed to be taken by the mirror, and as they all gathered around it, trying to get a better look at it, McGonagall stepped in front of it, and said, "this will be the method by which we transport down to our waiting hosts." She looked at a watch she had in her hand, and said, "we should be directly overhead by now."
The class let out a collective gasp at what she had just said. They were going to be traveling through this mirror? McGonagall waited for the noise to subside, and resumed, "to go down, all you have to do is walk through the mirror, and you will wind up on the other side, at the mirror Madam Maxime has so graciously placed within their chateau. Who would like to go down first?"
After she said this Hermione poked Harry in the ribs. Harry quickly, and painfully, got the idea, and he raised his hand, quickly followed by the rest of the team. McGonagall gave a very slight smile, and said, "very well. The team shall go down first."
Harry wasn't sure what Hermione was planning, but he was able to guess that this was the sign, and so, he played along. Hermione glanced over toward a dark space behind the stairway, and motioned with her eyes.
Harry quietly followed her as she went over there. After a moment, the remainder of the team had followed suit and joined them. Hermione took out her wand, and after she had cast a spell, the team looked in stunned silence at what was before them.
Hermione had somehow created a mirror image of the team. Harry was about to ask how she had done this, when she gave them an urgent look, and motioned toward the staircase. They all sneaked away, quickly and quietly up the staircase, watching as it appeared that they were disappearing into this mirror at the other end of the hall, closely followed by Hermione and the rest of the school.