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Harry Potter and the Wanderer by The Shadows
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Harry Potter and the Wanderer

The Shadows

Chapter Five: Birthday Party

Harry fumbled in the dark for a moment before his senses came back to him. "Lumos," he whispered. The wand on his nightstand was suddenly glowing brightly, and he could see his glasses easily. Putting them on, he picked up his wand and whispered, "Nox."

As the light faded, he stretched. It was far earlier than he had wanted to be up, but a sound from downstairs had woken him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone moving about down there, preparing something. He was sure he had been imagining things, but knew that he wouldn't get any sleep if he didn't at least look into it.

Creeping down the stairs as quietly as he could, he paused on the bottom step as he heard muffled voices. "Careful with that, Ron."

"I being as careful as I can be, Ginny. I'm not a bloody stepladder, you know?"

"Quiet, Ron, or you'll wake Harry!"

"You're making more noise than me, Mum!"

"Everyone, shh!"

There was a distinct pause in the movement, and then things started going again. "Remember what Harry said last year? He's never had a real birthday party! We can't be messing this up now."

"Don't worry so much, Hermione. Even if we make a few mistakes, he'll never notice, right? Like you said, it's his first real one. He wouldn't spot any mistakes."

"I still think we should be quiet. He told me that he's sleeping lighter these days, even though he's not having any more nightmares."

"We may be too late already, Miss Granger." Harry definitely recognized the scruff voice of the ex-Auror with the magical eye. "He's no longer in his bed."

There was a sudden scrambling, and before Harry could move a muscle to bolt away, the door to the kitchen burst open, flooding the bottom of the steps with light. Harry squinted for the briefest of moments before he realized that it was Hermione standing in the doorway.

"Er... hi..." was all he could manage. "Fancy you being up so early..."

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry!" she said hurriedly, pulling him to his feet as he held out a hand to her. "We wanted to surprise you and everything, and I kept telling them that they were being too loud, but everyone was having such a blast trying to decorate and..."

Harry held a finger to her lips quickly to silence her, and she froze instantly. "Can I see it?" he whispered, trembling a little. It was like she had said just a few minutes earlier... it really was the first time he would be able to celebrate his birthday. "Or should I go back upstairs and wait?"

"That wouldn't do at all, Harry, honestly..." she said, shaking her head as he withdrew his finger. She pulled him to the doorway and smiled to him. "Happy sixteenth birthday, Harry Potter."

The first thing that came to Harry's mind was the Halloween decorations in the Great Hall at Hogwarts during his first year - they had simply been so stunning and magnificent. But even the better done Christmas decorations suddenly seemed like gaudy lightbulbs as he looked about the kitchen slowly. They had obviously been working very hard to prepare everything.

The table itself was covered with a red and gold tablecloth, and the gold trim seemed to sparkle with life. On the table itself was a large pile of neatly wrapped - well, mostly neatly wrapped, he could easily guess which one was from Ron - and behind them was a massive cake. From the top of the cake was a chocolate fountain which was shooting into the air and pouring down the edges, only to be drawn back up the sides by magic.

Apart from the table there were streamers everywhere in reds, golds, and even a few greens - not the gaudy Slytherin green, but the richness of emeralds, like his eyes. There were more candles lit than he could possibly ever count, and little piles of candy were spread throughout the massive room. The streamers seemed to be dancing in the air around the heat given off by the candles, making the whole room seem alive.

The decorations themselves weren't what really caught his eye, though, and neither were the presents. It was the people. Ron and Ginny were standing at the far end of the kitchen, half wrapped in streamers which - he guessed - they had been trying to hang when he interrupted them. Luna was kneeling next to the fireplace, which he just noticed had the words Happy Birthday glowing through the flames. Fred and George were both there, too, with large, obnoxious party hats on which only the two of them could ever have gotten away with. Tonks was leaning against the sink with her hand wrapped in cloth, and he could spy the broken dish behind her that she must have dropped a few minutes before he had come in. Lupin was there, too, with Moody, whom he had definitely heard earlier. Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there, beaming at him as though he was one of their children. Dumbledore was sitting at the table, poking at the cake with his wand, which seemed to change the simply flowing fountain of fudge into jets of chocolate which danced around above the cake before splashing back down over it again.

Harry was speechless. Of all the things he had been expecting when he had come downstairs half asleep, this wasn't even a thought. He turned to Hermione, who still had a hold of his hand as she had dragged him in, and managed a broad smile to her, but words had failed him. Utterly failed him.

The room was becoming a little blurry as he looked around again, and he knew that tears were forming in his eyes. There was only one thing he could think of doing suddenly to hide this fact, and so he drew Hermione to him in a big hug and buried his head in her bushy brown hair.

"Thank you..." he whispered, but everyone heard him. "Thank you, everyone..." He had to stop as a sob was caught in his throat, and Hermione gave him a quick squeeze before pulling apart from him. "This is more than... more..."

"Hey Harry," Ron called, and he wiped his eyes and looked down to his other best friend. "Happy birthday, mate. This one's gonna make up for all the ones that you missed growing up. A few people couldn't be here... but its all for you!"

He really didn't know how he managed it, but suddenly he found himself sitting at the table. That really was a good thing, though, as he didn't think his legs would support him much longer. It was really a foreign concept to him, and he knew it. No one had ever done so much for him for so little reason.

No one except Sirius.

As that thought came unbidden from his mind, he swallowed deeply and reached into his robes that he had pulled on. There he found, as he knew he would, the mirror that Fey had had repaired for him. The mirror that Sirius had given to him. Without a word, he placed it face up on the table, and ran a finger along the edge of it gently.

"Sirius is here, too," Dumbledore said softly. "Even if we can't see him."

Harry smiled, though this one was a little sadder than the others he had done recently, but then he nodded. "I know." He then looked around at the group again. "So... what now?"

Dumbledore looked to him over the rims of his half moon spectacles. "Now, Harry, it is your birthday. Yours. And we all want you to enjoy it. However, I am going to take the joy out of someone in this room, as I am giving you a gift first, before anyone else can do so." Harry looked to the pile of gifts in the centre of the table, but the Headmaster shook his head. "No, Harry, it is not a gift that you can find there. It is a two part gift, both promises from me."

"Promises?"

"Yes Harry, promises. Words of truth from an old man may not mean much... but it is what I shall offer you today." He then sighed and sat back. "First, I will offer you - at a later date, of course, as now is not the time for such things - the chance to ask me about anything in the world... and I will not hide the truth from you."

"Albus!" Molly said at once, as though horrified by the idea.

"Yes, Molly," Dumbledore replied a little wearily. "The truth. He is plenty old enough to hear it, and after my grave mistake last year... I would not wish to hide it from him ever again." He then looked back to Harry. "Also, I am offering you a chance to continue something that you started last year, though I'm afraid it would still be unofficial and against the rules. But I daresay that that won't stop you."

"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked. He could hardly believe his ears so far... a promise from the Headmaster not to hide the truth anymore. It was all he had asked for ever since last June... and suddenly he had it. He couldn't imagine anything else that would make the day any better, and it had only just begun.

"I believe the little matter of my army, and it's training..." he said with a sparkle in his eye and a twitch of a smile on his lip.

"You'll let us run the DA again?" Harry asked.

"I don't think I could stop you if I wanted to. Just know that I approve... as does your new teacher."

Harry nodded slowly. He hadn't really thought about that right away, and was glad that the Headmaster had. He didn't want to upset the Wanderer at all, as he knew that he had a lot to learn from the elf.

"Right," Fred said after a long silence.

"Sweets anyone?" George followed, holding out a bag of treats. As everyone cast a leery eye towards them, he shrugged. "They aren't ours, they're from Honeydukes."

It wasn't long before Harry found himself sitting at the table with a plate of breakfast in from of him, with Ron on his right hand side and Hermione on his left. As Mrs. Weasley brought him a cup of orange juice, he held it up in front of him.

"I can't see life getting any better than this..." he said with a grin.

"Yeah right, mate," Ron said, nudging him in the arm. "You'll be all day opening all of those, mark my words. I've seen smaller piles of dragon dung."

Harry grinned back. "Then, after breakfast, I'll start with yours, so you then have to sit through all the rest..."

To his surprise, Ron just grinned back. "It's like Hermione said, Harry. Today is your day, and it's gotta make up for a lot of lost birthdays."

Once breakfast was cleared and Mrs. Weasley had set the dishes to wash themselves, everyone gathered around the table for Harry to open his presents. As everyone sat down, Dumbledore withdrew his wand again and waved it almost lazily above him. Instantly, the wooden chairs in the room billowed out a bit to become padded cushions, and they all sort of dropped to the floor into them as the table vanished as well.

"I think that will make everyone much more comfortable," he explained at the glances. He then pulled on the chain by his front pocket, and looked at his pocketwatch which Harry stil didn't understand. "Unfortunately, Harry, as much as I wish I could stay, there are a few things that I must attend to. Have a good one."

Before anyone could object, the Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry suddenly popped out of the space he was sitting in.

Nobody said anything until Ron shoved the badly wrapped package into Harry's hands, confirming his earlier guess. "Two things in there, mate. I'll explain the letter once you've opened the main part."

Harry looked down at the mess, a little confused, but then ripped it open anyway, and a wooden box fell into his lap, along with the letter that Ron had mentioned. He opened the box slowly, as though afraid something might pop out at him suddenly.

"He didn't get it from our store, Harry," Fred said with a grin.

Harry let out an audible sigh of relief, causing a ripple of laughter to spread throughout the room, and then he opened the box deftly. Inside were several small bottles of white and silver liquid, a small brush, and a large silver towel. Harry recognized the supplies instantly as refills for his broom polishing kit that Hermione had given him a few years back.

"For your broom," Ron explained.

"I gathered that, Ron," Harry said dryly. "Cause I don't think I could use this on a toilet seat." He then glanced over to Fred and George. "That is... unless there happens to be one in this pile of stuff..."

"There had better not be!" Molly said deftly, glaring at the twins as they broke out into fits of laughter.

"The letter's from McGonagall," Ron added once the laughter had died down. "I had to ask her to owl it to me to get it here in time, but I knew you had to have it now, before you started to worry."

Harry opened the letter quickly, a little confused by the cryptic remarks from his best friend.

"Dear Mister Potter,
It gives me great pleasure to reinstate you as the Gryffindor Quidditch Team's Seeker. Please see to it that the trophy remains in my office for another year.

Professor M. McGonagall.

ps. Happy birthday, Harry."

Harry looked up to Ron in surprise, and he was a little embarrassed to find tears in his eyes again. He looked over to Ginny quickly, but she was just smiling. She had known what was in the letter, and had told him last year that she would be a Chaser this year anyway.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry managed.

"Hey... what are friends for?"

"Right," Ginny said, as she picked up her package and tossed it to Harry once he had set both the letter and the box of refills to the side. He caught it deftly, and waited for her to continue. "Just so you know, we all knew that you were going to continue the DA this year. Just makes it a little easier now that Dumbledore's approved it."

Harry grinned and tore the paper off this package too. It was only after he removed the paper that he noticed that the drawings on it were moving. He set the package aside and looked at the wrapping paper carefully. There were miniature drawings that looked like a child might have put them there of Quidditch players zooming around on the paper. He could once stare at the tiny quaffle as it was passed back and forth, and he thought he might have caught sight on the miniature snitch, but it vanished again just as quickly, just like the real snitch.

"Looks like you could've just given him the wrapping paper, Gin!" Ron said with a laugh.

Harry set the paper aside quickly. "No, I just... well..."

"He's never seen magical wrapping paper like that before," Hermione offered, and he nodded meekly. "Which makes sense. It's really rare, and few people ever use it for anything short of something extraordinarily important."

"Which Harry's birthday is," Ginny pointed out.

"The Auror's Training Guide to Curses, Counter-Curses, and Jinxes," Harry read the cover of the book that Ginny had given him out loud to stop any arguments that might have been starting. "This'll make it real easy to..."

"Figure out what you're going to teach us this year?" Ginny prompted at once. "It took a bit to find a copy of this - you aren't supposed to be able to get one unless you are an Auror."

"So how did you get me a copy?" Harry asked, confused.

Ginny smiled and nodded to Tonks, who was suddenly very fascinated by her shoelaces, and was very carefully not meeting anyone's eye. "I'd like a word with you later, Nymphadora," Moody said quietly.

"Sod off, Mad Eye," Tonks said cheerfully as she looked up. "It's Harry's birthday!"

Moody looked at her carefully, his electric blue magical eye still spinning around, before he finally nodded. "I suppose so. He'll need to know some of that stuff anyway, I daresay." He then looked to Harry. "Remember, Potter..."

"Constant Vigilance," Harry said before the retired Auror had a chance to say it. This earned him a reproving look from the older man before he saw the barest evidence of a smile.

"And don't you forget it."

Harry then looked back to the book in his hands, and realized that there was another book underneath. "A lesson planner..." he said more to himself than to everyone around him. He flipped through the blank pages quickly and smiled. "This should make it a lot easier to remember what I taught before..."

"Good thinking, Ginny!" Hermione said. "Wish I had thought of that... but then I guess he'd have two, and he doesn't really need that many."

"Glad you like them, Harry," Ginny said with a smile. Harry carefully set the two books next to Ron's gift to him, and then looked around the room again.

From Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, he received a hand knit sweater with a large H on the front and a box of fudge. Alongside the box of fudge came an extended invitation to visit the Burrow whenever he wished, without regard for anything else - except school.

Luna was handing Harry his gift next, and he realized as he took it that he should have been able to figure out which one was from her as well. It was certainly not in a box, but it was very well wrapped. Once he had removed the paper, he found himself holding a necklace made out of butterbeer bottle caps and a long golden feather.

"My father tells me that the necklace can bring you all kinds of luck," Luna explained, though she wasn't really looking at him. "And I always thought they looked neat," she added, tugging on her own. "If you don't want to wear it, though, don't worry. Just don't throw it out."

Harry nodded and set the necklace in his growing pile of gifts, and then looked back to the feather. "And the feather?"

"That is a quill that my father bought while on vacation this summer. Can you guess what animal it came from?" she asked.

"Well, it wasn't a Snorkacks," Hermione said immediately. When Luna looked to her sharply, Hermione was grinning, and Luna smiled back, realizing that she was simply being teased a little. "But I can hardly believe what it is from, either, so there you go."

"Oh, you can believe it," Luna offered. "I even have it written down, so you can look up the facts," she said with a grin of her own.

When Harry simply looked back and forth between the two, Hermione sighed. "Harry, that's a feather from a gryffin!"

"A gryffin quill?" he asked, looking at it in amazement.

"I wouldn't use it for taking notes, but for writing letters or something special, it should help," Luna added into the silence. "After all, a gryffin's feather makes writing anything easier."

Harry could tell easily that Hermione was holding back saying something in response with great difficulty, so he cut in quickly. "Thanks, Luna. I won't use it in class, don't worry, but a letter to a few people might work well."

He carefully put it behind him as well, and then the package that Tonks had been holding onto landed in his lap. "Treakle tarts, Harry," she said before he could open it. "You can open them later. Don't lose the letter I stuck in there, though."

Harry looked to her a little confused by what she had said, but something about the way she was looking from him to the box and back again told him that he should listen to what she was saying - or not saying, as the case was. She had given him something that a few people in the room should not have a chance to see. "They're my favourite, thanks," he said genuinely as he set the box behind him as well. He caught Moody's eye suddenly, and was a little concerned that he might be able to see inside the box, but figured that Tonks must have thought of that already.

Moody gave him a sneakoscope, one that Harry promised to keep by his bedside table at all times. Lupin then gave him a new cauldron with a few potions kit - "You'll need it, Harry. Severus does not go easy on his NEWT students, and I suspect you might need all the help you can get to avoid his wrath." - as well as another book for the DA, this one entitled "Avoid getting cursed - the Ins and Outs and Ups and Downs of Dodging."

Fred and George handed him a large package with the words "The Sampler" on the side. They told him that it contained a couple of each of the Skiving Snackboxes, which they figured he might need at some stage. They just asked that he keep them away from anyone who might think it best if they were thrown out - they seemed to be looking meaningfully at Hermione when they said it.

Harry suddenly realized that he was holding his breath a bit, and released it slowly. There was only a couple of gifts left, and he couldn't pick out which one was from Hermione. He knew, though, that for whatever reason, he wanted to save it for last, so he had to be careful about which gift he took next.

"Try the green one, Potter," Moody muttered from behind him.

Harry turned slowly, an eyebrow raised to ask the question without asking the question, but Moody shrugged. Although he didn't say anything, his lips did move, and Harry could've sworn he saw the words "Hers is the gold one." He nodded vaguely and picked up the green one.

"There's that symbol again," he muttered as he looked at the top of the box.

"What symbol?" both Ron and Hermione asked at the same time, only to be echoed by a few others.

"Oh," Hermione added as she looked at it. "The Wanderer's symbol. That must be a gift from him!"

"Why would he give me anything?" Harry asked aloud as he started to unwrap the gift. It was only after he started that he realized that the object was not wrapped in paper, but in a giant oak leaf.

He found himself holding a small wooden box when the leaf was set aside, and there was a brief letter on the top which he read out loud.

"Harry,
Inside this box you will find a small blue stone. This is a teleportation stone - what you might call an apparation stone. It is activated by the heat of skin contact, and will take whoever touches it out of harm's way. Do not use it recklessly, and do not forget it. Never has one been in the hands of a human before, but I have a feeling that you will need it."

At the end of the letter, rather than a name or even The Wanderer, the symbol appeared there again. Harry looked away from the letter to the box again, and then up to the others.

"Harry... that is a priceless gift!" Hermione breathed softly. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, his mind already spinning quickly. It could get him out of a tight spot, in case he came face to face with Voldemort again. It could also get any of his friends out of tight spots if they insisted on following him again. The Wanderer had given him a way to protect his friends.

After a moment, he set the letter on the pile of gifts, and slipped the box into a pocket of his robes. He then looked back to the pile, where there was only two gifts left. One was wrapped in gold, and the other one was wrapped in brown paper. On closer examination, he found that it was actually tree bark, and not paper.

"Hey..." he said softly as he picked up the brown package. "I think this one is from Kailyn..." He then looked around the room. "Anyone know who told them that it was my birthday?"

There was a long silence that followed his question, until Ron cleared his throat. "We've... never met either of them, mate, remember?"

Harry nodded. "Right." He then looked back to the package. He tore the bark off easily enough and looked into the box. On the inside was another box that was propped open. Inside that box was two rings, and there was a letter on the inside as well.

This one, he decided to read to himself. He didn't know what the rings were for, but he somehow didn't think it would be a good idea for everyone to hear.

"Harry,
I know you weren't in the elven village for very long, but I couldn't think of much else to give you. These are vow rings - part of the three part vows that the elves make to their mates. I am not trying to make a vow with you, so don't worry. But I thought you might want to take part in one of our traditions with a girl of your own - I'm sure you have one, you're too nice not to. The other parts of the vow are bracelets and necklaces. The rings represent the love for the other, which is given only on the day of the ceremony. The bracelet represents the promise of eternal love and commitment, telling everyone else that you are taken by more than they could ever understand. The necklace is the promise of family - that if anything were to ever happen to your mate, that the remaining family would take care of you.
If you don't want to partake, I would understand. But it is something that the elves think highly of, and after hearing about the human customs, I thought ours was much better.
See you at school!
Kailyn."

Harry closed the box slowly as his mind tried to wrap around what she was saying. Three vows to a loved one... not like he had anyone like that, really. But it was a nice gesture from the young girl. The more he thought about it, the more he found himself liking the idea.

His heart skipped a beat when Hermione touched his arm, making him jump a bit. "Harry," she called to him. When he blinked and looked to her, she smiled. "Sorry, you seemed lost suddenly. What did she give you?"

"Uh... some elven candy," he said easily with a wave of his hand. "I got sort of hooked on the stuff while I was there. I think I'll save it for later, though. The letter is just asking about the school. I think you'd be better suited for that, though, Hermione. You could just quote her Hogwarts: A History, right?"

A ripple of laughter ran across the room, and Hermione couldn't help but grin as well. She then picked up the last package and handed it to him. "I guess mine's the last one, Harry," she said. It might have been his imagination, but it seemed to him that she seemed a bit nervous suddenly. "I hope you like it."

"I'll bet it's a... book!" Ron said, pausing slightly as he spoke.

Before the two could say anything else, Harry ripped the paper off to find himself holding a very old looking book. It was more of a tome than anything else. "The Source of Magic and the Power of Charms, Curses, and Jinxes," Harry read aloud as he brushed the slight amount of dirt from the spine. It was obviously very old, and had seen better days.

"Are you serious, Harry?" Arthur spoke up, stopping his conversation with the twins as he looked back to Harry. He saw the book in his hands and let out a small gasp of surprise. "My word, it really is..."

"How did you find that, Hermione?" Tonks asked.

Harry frowned as he looked back to the book. "What's so hard to understand?" Harry asked. "Hermione could find any book she wanted to, right?" he asked, looking back to her with a grin.

"Harry," Moody said from behind him. When Harry turned, he found both the normal eye and the magical one fixed on him. "That book is ancient, and thought to be lost to the world. It was one that was handed down through the Merlin line, until that line vanished. The book was supposed to have vanished then, too."

"I..." Hermione seemed to falter slightly before pressing onwards. "I thought it would come in handy for the DA," she explained. "You knowing the theory and all behind magic and abilities and all that."

"Where did you find it, Hermione?" Harry asked in surprise, looking at the book in an all new light. "It must have cost a fortune!"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think the guy selling it knew what it was," she explained. "I ran across it in the summer at a flea market, and I thought of you right away." She looked away from him as she felt the blush creep up her cheeks.

He opened the cover slowly, and found a note written on a blank piece of parchment. "I'll give you the rest of your gift later. Meet me in my room before bed." He looked back to Hermione, who was watching him intently again, and he nodded so slightly that no one else could notice, and she smiled broadly to him.

"Could you describe the man, Miss. Granger?" Moody asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said a bit taken aback by the question. "Later, alright?"

"Don't forget. I'm going to look into this matter... if a book like that was in the hands of a muggle, I'm going to have to have a word with a few people in the Ministry of Magic..." he muttered.

Harry wasn't entirely sure what happened for most of the rest of the day. He remembered vaguely as he climbed the stairs to get ready for bed that there was a great deal of odd games that Luna had come up with, a lot of eating food that Mrs. Weasley had prepared, and more than one practical joke played on almost everyone - including both Fred and George! The only one who had been exempted from the jokes had been Harry himself, though he remembered that he didn't laugh very hard when Hermione suddenly vanished, and then reappeared with purple hair and her arms on backwards. The charm had worn off quickly enough, but he just hadn't found it very funny, as she seemed more embarrassed than he had ever remembered seeing her.

It was on that thought that he remembered the note that she had left him in the ancient book. With a deep breath as thought preparing himself for some sort of battle, he set the last of his gifts down on his desk and left his room. Down the hall, he knocked gently on Hermione's door, hoping it was loud enough for her to hear him.

The fact that the door opened instantly told him that she had been waiting for him.

She smiled almost nervously to him as she shut the door behind him, and then sat down on her bed. "Oh, Harry, I hope you had one of the best days of your life today. You deserve it, after all," she said softly.

He stood in the doorway for a moment before sitting next to her on her bed. She looked over to him, and he suddenly noticed that she was holding a small box in her hands. "What's that?" he asked quietly.

"The rest of your present," she whispered. "But I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone else."

He took it curiously and opened the velvet white lid carefully. On the inside was a glistening gold bracelet. He took it out of the box without a word and looked carefully at it. On the inside of the bracelet, he found his initials had been engraved. The bracelet itself was less than half an inch thick, but was substantial enough to know it was there. There was an odd weaving pattern etched into the gold, and he looked up to see Hermione looking at him expectantly.

"It's beautiful, Hermione," he admitted.

"I wasn't sure what to put on the inside, and I wasn't sure how you were going to react, and so I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone else in case you hated it," she said quickly. "And if you don't want it, I'll understand completely and take it back and we can never speak about it again..."

"'Mione," he said gently, stopping her from saying anything else. He closed the box carefully and set it down on the bed between them. "What do you know about elven customs?" he asked.

She blinked as though surprised by the question, and then put on her thinking face. "Not a lot," she admitted. "I remember something about birthday parties, gathering together as a family to discuss the year and life... and I remember reading something about a passing ceremony for when you come of age. I couldn't find a lot else, though, no one knows much about the elves."

"Can I tell you about another ceremony?" he asked, not meeting her eye.

"Sure," she said slowly.

"Elves exchange three vows when they select a life partner," Harry explained. "You know, get married," he said, correcting himself to use the human expression. "Sort of ways for people to identify that the elves in question have someone else, as well as a confirmation that you always have someone there. Rings are given during the ceremony, and represent much what wedding rings do," he said.

"Okay," Hermione said slowly, processing the information. "Three vows for the one you love," she whispered, her face turning crimson as she looked away from him, even though he wasn't really looking at her either.

"Then there is the necklace," Harry added. "The necklace, apparently, is a vow that the family of the elves will always be there to help out in times of need. I think that is really nice, but it doesn't really mean a lot to me, seeing as I have no family that could support anyone."

"You are adopting an elven custom?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Harry nodded. "It seems more meaningful than an ordinary courting or marriage," he said with a nervous grin. "Besides, you know me, anything to stand out from the crowd." Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the sarcasm in his voice. "But seriously, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it."

"Why are you telling me about this now, Harry?" Hermione asked, even though she was more than a little afraid to know the answer.

"The third vow is in the form of a bracelet," he explained, tapping the box that sat between them. "It tells of the deep commitment the two have for each other. It shows everyone that they care for another, and would do anything they could to help the other without hesitation. A promise to protect the other at any cost. Also the promise of commitment."

"Oh."

"'Mione?" She looked to him slowly as he said the nickname that she had only ever let him use. "I'm..." he started, but then faltered. She looked into his emerald eyes for a moment before she saw him start to move. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned in and gave her the gentlest of kisses she had ever even imagined. His lips barely touched hers at all before he was pulling away again.

Without a word, he took the white box again and pulled out the bracelet. He held up his left hand meaningfully, and then snapped the jewellery onto the wrist. With a weak smile to her, for she hadn't even moved an inch since he had kissed her, he rose from the bed to leave.

He stopped when she caught his hand, and turned as she pulled him to find his lips pressed against hers. Her arms were around his back, holding him against her, and he just breathed in as he kissed her, revelling in the sweet embrace and scent that was Hermione. She then released him and opened the door for him. No words were exchanged between the two and he left. She didn't close the door to her room until she heard the door to his close further down the hall, and then she sank to her bed unsteadily.

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"Well Sirius," Harry whispered to the mirror as he laid down on the bed in his room. It had been the study that Sirius had often frequently, but Harry had transformed it into his own room when he found that he felt comfort within it. "I guess you saw my birthday today. It wasn't really the same without you."

Harry sighed as he sat up, still looking into the blank surface of the mirror. "It was a great day. Ron gave me a kit to fix my broom, and I guess I'm back on the house team this year. Ginny and Lupin both gave me books for the DA - Dumbledore says I can keep it running, but I have to keep it quiet. Hermione found me this really old book that seemed to worry Arthur and Molly, as well as Mad Eye. They didn't tell me much about it, though, but I'm sure I'll be reading it soon enough."

"I got a bit of other stuff, too. Some sweets, a magical stone from our new Defense teacher - he's really neat, I think you would have liked him. I haven't really met him yet, it's just a feeling that I have. His granddaughter - I think I mentioned her to you, Kailyn? - anyway, she told me about elven customs, and the three vows of emotion. You know... love..."

He sighed as he laid back down on the bed. "Anyway, Tonks gave me a portkey, not the sweets she told me they were. It's to take me and some friends to Hogsmeade at anytime when we need an escape. I don't know when or who with, but it should be fun anyway. Sounds like something you would have tried, if you thought you had a slim chance of getting away with it, anyway."

He was silent for a time before speaking again. "I wish you were still here, Sirius, so I could actually talk to you. I feel kind of foolish talking to a mirror like this. But I think you can hear me anyway. I hope you can give me an answer, too. I've got a problem - a big one. Hermione gave me a bracelet, too. You know that three vow thing I mentioned earlier? I told her about it then, too, and the bracelet is one of them. I kissed her, Sirius. Me. Harry Potter. Kissed Hermione Granger. Then she kissed me back. I'm wearing the bracelet, but I'm not sure if I should. It's just not fair to her."

"Wait, let me back up for a minute. After speaking to her tonight, I know now that I'm falling for her. Hard, Sirius. Harder than when my father fell for my mother. I can't stop thinking about her. And I love that. She is so wonderful. But I hate it, too. By being so close to me, she would be in even more danger than she is just by being my friend. How can I do that to her? I mean..." He shook his head. "I don't know what I mean. I think it's something like `If you love her, you'll set her free.' I don't want her to die, Sirius. I lose everyone I love. I can't fall anymore for her. If I fall in love with her, she'll be taken from me too. I know it. And I couldn't stand it."

"I have to kill him. You know that, don't you? It's either Voldemort or me. That's what that blasted prophecy said. The very thing that led to your death was some stupid prophecy that said either I would kill him, or he would kill me. If I kill him, it'll be using something he doesn't know, but how is that supposed to help?"

"I can't have her, Sirius. But I can't be without her either. What am I supposed to do?" After a long silence, during which time he half expected an answer from something - anything - he finally set the mirror on his nightstand with his wand and glasses. "Nox."

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In her room, Hermione set her covered mirror aside, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. There was no way she was going to get to sleep that night.

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The Shadows are always stirring…

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