Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. And that's the truth. Pbbbbttttt.

A/N: Many thanks to give this time. First and foremost, my beta, MapleMountain. You keep me SANE!!!

Second, another thanks to my business associate, Erika, who again helped me with some of my British-isms. All the research I did about "new money" and "old money" didn't tell me that they really do say "fifty-pea." I may not be speaking like a native, but I'm a lot closer now. :-)

Third, I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to replying to all of your reviews yet. I make it a point to reply to each one, but this chapter has gotten away from me. I will get to them all, I promise!!

And fourth, but by no means least, thanks to Evernight for conspiring with me as I developed the scene in Madam Malkin's in this chapter (link at bottom of page... no, don't look now!). I gave him a rough outline of what I wanted to happen, and then he visualized a single moment to capture.

What he captured with his Photoshop magic was so EXACTLY what I wanted (even though the outline I gave him was actually completely different) that I actually rewrote almost half of the scene in Madam Malkin's to fit the picture.

Chapter 22. Double Trouble: Something Wicked This Way Comes.

"Hermione?" he asked. "Why were you smirking when Malfoy was talking?"

"Oh, yeah. That. Well, he called you a prince. When he did... I... uh..." she stuttered, sounding as though she was embarrassed, "it, uh, made me think about my, ahem, about that T-shirt. My Prince Harry T-shirt," she clarified, then quickly sped up to walk next to her mother. When he realized he'd stopped walking, Harry had to jog for a moment to catch up to everyone else.

As they slowly strolled back in the direction whence they came, stops were made here and there. They walked first to the Owl Post office so that Bill could send a letter for Fleur to her family, thence they continued on.

Hermione made a stop in the Magical Menagerie to inquire about potions for preventing hairballs for Crookshanks. Ginny accompanied her in. After Hermione made her purchase and they emerged a few minutes later, Ginny immediately began a less-than-subtle whispering campaign to suggest that the puffskeins they were selling would make an excellent present for her upcoming birthday.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Percy all went into Eeylops. All of them except Hermione needed to buy more owl treats. Hermione-who still had the full bag she'd bought at the end of fifth year "in case" (in the hopes that) Hedwig might stop by-went in to see if there was anything of a magical nature that she might want to buy for Metis.

Since she was going to leave Metis at home with her parents, she wanted to be aware of any remedies she could easily send them. After all, Hagrid wouldn't be there at her house to provide care for her magical creature.

There were some expense feather-care potions available for promoting healthy, shiny-looking feathers. She decided against them considering owls had existed for millennia without them. It certainly didn't hurt that Harry said Hedwig had done perfectly fine without them either. She did make note of a owl-care potion for dealing with parasites however, such as the biting louse that was found only on owls, Strigiphilus garylarsoni, just in case.

The trip to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary was actually very easy this year. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny went in alone, however. Dan and Emma had both been eager to look at all of the strange ingredients, something they hadn't done since first year. They quickly turned around as soon as they walked through the door way.

"Good Lord!" Dan complained as he returned to the street. "Now I remember why we waited outside before second year." The horrible smell of bad eggs and rotten cabbage took a lot longer to get used to than most other smells did.

Now entering N.E.W.T. level Potions, Harry, Hermione, and Ron needed a large assortment of ingredients they'd never used before (at least in class... they did have some extra-curricular experience with powdered horn of bicorn in second year). They also needed to buy new scales.

The scales used at the O.W.L. level were only accurate to one gram; N.E.W.T. classes required accuracy to one-hundredth of a gram... or so the booklists said in the supplies section.

"One hundredth of a gram?" Ron complained. "Why in the name of Merlin do we need anything like that?"

"Because, Ronald, a single grain of coarse sand weighs, on average, about one-hundredth of a gram," Hermione explained, quoting directly from the booklist which explained the need for such precision. "And since several of our ingredients will be in powder form, which is much finer than coarse sand..."

"How does she know that?" Ron asked Harry, nettled.

"Do I really need to answer that?" Harry replied with a grin; he'd read it on the booklist too.

As for their ingredients, with so many new, advanced potions in the N.E.W.T. class requiring new ingredients, it was simply easier to just buy a complete sixth year Potions kit. Anything they had left over from the previous year could just be added to the kit.

While they waited for the shop owner to gather (rather grumpily) all of the necessary ingredients for three kits (and Ginny wandered around selecting what she needed to refill her supplies for her O.W.L. year), the three of them had little to do. As such, they wandered around looking at some of the more exotic ingredients.

Looking at two large jars on a shelf, Hermione let out a small chuckle. When the shop owner walked by to gather another item for their kits, she stopped him for a moment.

"Excuse me, sir. Forgive me for asking, but I was just wondering. Did you put these two next to each other on purpose?" she asked, pointing to the two jars.

"Ah, I did indeed," he replied in surprise. "Nice to see that some people still appreciate the classics, even if he was a Muggle." He then resumed his gathering, though his mood seemed to brighten considerably.

When the shop keeper walked away, Harry came over to see where she'd pointed. "Eye of newt, and toe of frog," she told him. "It's from a play called Macbeth," she tried to explain when she could see he didn't recognize it.

"I'll show it to you later," she said and then continued to look around. About ten minutes later, their sixth year Potions kits were ready. After removing three scales from the shelf behind him, the shopkeeper turned back to Hermione.

"Did you find the scale of dragon next to the tooth of wolf?" he asked with a large grin; Hermione nodded.

"Fillet of a fenny snake?" the shop keeper quizzed her, trying to suppress his excited laugh.

"In the cauldron boil and bake," Hermione answered after a moment, quoting the next line of the play.

"By the pricking of my thumbs?" he asked.

"Something wicked this way comes," she answered with a smile.

The shopkeeper began to laugh and clapped his hands together.

"Ah, excellent! Excellent!" he replied, very pleased that she knew something of Macbeth. "Just for that, I'll knock a Galleon off each of your totals."

The three of them each left twenty-three Galleons lighter (eleven for the ingredients, thirteen for the scale, minus the discount). Since Ginny was only refilling her supplies, she made it out the door five Galleons, thirteen Sickles later (after discount).

Ron, tickled pink at the extra Galleon in his pocket, turned to Harry once they were back out in the street.

"See, Harry? I knew there was a reason we kept her around," he said. Hermione, to Harry's surprise, actually grinned at Ron's comment.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you have a smart girl around, Ron," she said before going to rejoin her parents. Before walking off however, she turned to look at Harry. It was literally only half of a second, but in that moment, Harry could have sworn she wagged her eyebrows ever so slightly at him.

He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. If she did do what he thought she did, it was so subtle, he was positive he would've missed it if he hadn't be watching her so intently. Once she was ahead of him, Harry shook his head slightly to stop the racing that had begun inside.

That was the second time she'd said that. Once was just once. But twice was just... well... twice! He was definitely going to have to start paying much closer attention to what she said. Sure, it didn't necessarily mean anything, but still, it was a foot in the door.

* * *

Upon walking into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Ron and Ginny raced to be the first to start looking at new dress robes. Both knew that Madam Malkin's attention would be at a premium once fittings started. They had to wait a moment, however, until they reverted the transfigured robes they were all wearing. Madam Malkin ordered everyone to immediately cancel the transfigurations the instant they entered.

"Transfigured robes? Not in MY store!" she admonished them.

Twenty minutes later, neither Ron nor Ginny had found anything they liked (both had already gone through four sets each already). Finally, Ron found something he seemed to like. His fifth selection was a set of dark maroon robes. The pleats in the fabric offered the slightest hint of Quidditch robes. As for the color, well, somehow Ron managed to pull it off... not that Harry would ever admit that to anyone.

By now, Harry (and Hermione) had been wandering around the store, trying to make as many decisions as they could before they tried anything on. After five sets for Ron, and currently on numbers six and seven for Ginny, Madam Malkin's patience was wearing thin.

Ginny finally seemed to be down to two. The problem was that she could not decide which she liked better. All of the ones she was interested in showed off her shoulders and quite a bit of chest... nothing inappropriate for formal school events, but enough to remind everyone of some of the differences between males and females.

The problem was that with so much exposed skin, the color of her robes had to be balanced against not only her red hair, but the abundance of freckles now visible. Her two finalists were a shimmering, satiny-silver and a deep forest green.

Unlike the silver, the velvet-like green material seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, causing waves of near-black to ripple across the material as it moved. Both, Harry thought, looked very nice.

Hermione and Dan had agreed fully with Emma's assessment that both were very lovely. Arthur and Molly had given up trying to render a verdict that Ginny would accept when she was still at numbers three and four. Bill, Charlie, and Percy had skipped the now full robes shop in the first place and wandered ahead to Quality Quidditch Supply.

Poor Harry made the mistake of telling Ginny that both were "nice" and that she should just go with whichever one she liked better. When Ginny hastily retreated to the dressing room to put on the green one for the third time, Dan discreetly came up behind Harry.

"We need to have a chat at some point about what not to say when a female asks your opinion," he whispered quietly so that no one else could hear.

In the end, Ginny actually enlisted Ron to help her decide, once he returned from the dressing room. She asked him which one he thought looked sexier on her. When he reacted with a much more horrified complaint of "Don't ask me things like that! You're my sister!" to the green one, Ginny smiled and made her choice.

"I'll take the green one," she told Madam Malkin, beaming.

Harry thought he heard a whispered "Finally!" come from at least one of her parents... but then he realized it could have been any one (or all) of the adults that had whispered.

With Ron now out of the dressing room, Harry felt it important to give him a good ribbing for his help in selecting his sister's robes. Once Ron was sufficiently annoyed, Harry went and grabbed his first selection (he'd had ample time to narrow them down by now).

Honestly, he didn't really see the need for new dress robes in the first place. If it wasn't for the undeniable fact that he'd grown nearly a foot since Molly bought his current bottle-green set two years earlier, he probably would've skipped it all together.

Harry's first choice was a set of black robes with an open front that required a white dress shirt underneath. Returning from the changing room wearing a pair of black dress trousers and the required shirt, he stood in front of the mirror as Madam Malkin draped the robes over him and began making adjustments.

The resulting ensemble very much resembled a Muggle tuxedo. All that was missing was a black bow tie. Harry studied his reflection while Madam Malkin continued pinning up the bottom of his robes here and there. Considering how critical Harry was of himself, even he had to admit that he looked rather presentable.

Almost as if that thought summoned them, Hermione and Ginny, fresh out of the changing room, appeared. Both came up behind him (Hermione on his right and Ginny on his left) and looked over his shoulders at his reflection.

"Looking good, Harry!" Ginny said enthusiastically, wagging her eyebrows at him suggestively.

Hermione took an extra second or two to answer. "Not bad, Potter. Not bad at all," she said with a smirk.

"Not bad?" Emma's voice suddenly added as she walked up and joined the other two in assessing his appearance. "He's bloody handsome!" All three of them began to laugh as Harry started experimenting with his facial colorings.

"Though..." Hermione added once she stopped laughing, "there is something missing." She turned to her mother and tapped the collar of her own shirt.

"Of course," Emma said, nodding knowingly. She then headed off to where Harry had gone to get the white dress shirt.

Ron, with his newly purchased robes in a bag, came up and stood where Emma had. He'd obviously heard everything.

"You're so hot, Harry," Ron teased, trying to mimic a high-pitched female voice.

"Prat," Harry grumbled.

Not until Ginny had finally made her selection (and sealed it by actually buying them) did Hermione walk over to the racks of witches' dress robes and quickly select two. She stopped and looked hard at a green one on the end of the rack, but ended up skipping it.

While she never appeared to get caught up in the intricacies of fashion as most of the rest of the girls at Hogwarts seemed to, Hermione did at least want to be sure she didn't get the same thing as Ginny. She decided early that it'd simply be easier, and faster in the long run, to let Ginny decide what she wanted and then adjust her choices accordingly to eliminate any blatant similarities, rather than the other way around. The green one, now eliminated, was one of her top three.

"What is it with girls and dress robes anyway?" Ron asked quietly, referring back to the Ginny-seven dress ordeal. His head suddenly snapped towards the window. Looking in the same direction as Ron was, Harry thought he caught a glimpse of long blonde hair walking just out of view, in a group of several other people.

"Be right back," Ron mumbled as he headed for the door. In the doorway, he stuck his head out and looked up the street, appearing as though he was trying to find someone. Evidently giving up the visual search after about ten seconds, he walked out the door and headed up the street in the same direction he'd been looking.

Suppressing a smirk, Harry turned back to see Hermione return with her two selections draped over her arm.

"Which one should I try first, Harry?" she asked, examining the fabrics as she set both down on a table. He turned his attention to the two sets of robes. Both of the fabrics were nice, however his eyes were immediately drawn to one. It wasn't periwinkle, but...

"I don't know... I've always thought you looked rather nice in blue," he admitted, trying to sound as objective as possible.

"The blue one, huh?" Hermione mused, picking it up. "Midnight Sapphire," she said aloud to herself as she looked at it. She then turned around and scrutinized him slightly.

"You're not trying to take the easy way out, are you, Harry? Sapphire is my birthstone, after all," she informed him.

"What? No. Of course not," he defended. How was he supposed to know what the birthstone for September was, or any other month for that matter? He'd never had reason to need that kind of information before. Then again, now that he knew, it was a handy tidbit of knowledge to have... should he ever have the chance to use it.

"I didn't know that sa..." Harry trailed off as he realized from the look on her face that she was just giving him a hard time. As Hermione headed off to the changing room, Emma returned with what looked like a thin strip of black fabric.

"Don't forget your tie, Harry," she said as she handed it to him. Harry looked at the piece of material in his hands. He knew it wasn't supposed to be one, but he could not get over the fact that it did not look like a necktie. He could knot a regular necktie in his sleep; he'd been doing it since first year. But a bow tie?

Madam Malkin looked up just then and saw him holding the unfurled accessory apprehensively. Returning her attention to one of his hems, she casually flicked her wand up towards him. The bow tie immediately jumped out of his hands and perfectly tied itself around the collar of his shirt.

"Just temporary, dearie," Madam Malkin said, not looking up. "You'll still need to learn to do it yourself at some point."

Dan now came over to see what all the fuss was about.

"Very nice, Harry. You look a bit like James Bond like that," he said, clapping him on the shoulder.

James Bond, Harry knew. He was able to catch bits and pieces of many of the movies over the years as he cleared the table and did the dishes while the Dursleys watched television. Aunt Petunia, it turned out, was very fond of James Bond (at least four of the five of them, sorry George). Vernon and Dudley liked the movies too, especially when stuff blew up. And there were the Bond girls too, of course.

"You think so?" he asked Dan. He looked into the mirror again, straightened his back, then gave his robes a quick tug (much to the consternation of Madam Malkin at his feet) as if to make sure they were properly seated. "Potter. Harry Potter," he introduced himself to his reflection.

Something suddenly caught Harry's eye. He turned his head to find Hermione walking out of the changing room in the dark blue dress robes. He was pretty sure his jaw didn't really drop open, but it sure felt like it. Beautiful was such an inadequate word (in his opinion) to describe how she looked in her robes.

Stunning might have been technically more correct since he felt unable to move or speak. All he could do was stand there and watch her walk up to the second fitting table next to his. Hermione cast him a quick glance before turning to face the mirror. The last thing he saw of her face was a blushing smile. Was the look on his face that obvious?

So THAT'S what it is with girls and dress robes, Harry said to himself.

While Madam Malkin began making adjustments, Harry slowly moved a couple steps to the side to be better able to see her in the mirror. Strangely, when she was walking out of the changing room, he'd seen her, but hadn't actually looked at the rest of her; his eyes never left her face.

When they did finally leave her face, he could feel his mouth dry out. She'd done nothing special with her hair, but she still looked absolutely beautiful. The blue material seemed to have some sort of sparkly effect. Even the slightest movement would cause thousands of tiny sparkles to appear. Any curves in the fabric seemed to accentuate the sparkles, and unfortunately for Harry's... resolve, dress robes were not as adept at hiding curves as standard school robes. If anything, they seemed to accentuate them, but without being too revealing.

Also overwhelming his willpower was the fact that Hermione's robes were of the same cut as Ginny's. They showed off her shoulders and a fair amount of her chest as well. Again, nothing inappropriate for formal school events, but thank Merlin she wouldn't be wearing these every day... and damn Merlin too, now that he thought about it.

The worst (and best) part about these robes was that Harry now knew Hermione had a small mole... there. He hadn't seen it before when he accidentally barged in on her because her arms were in the way. And he hadn't seen it in his dreams this morning, since he couldn't see anything in his dreams that he didn't see when he barged in on her. He was so glad his new robes were still very loose and very oversized so that they hid everything.

Ginny, Molly, and Emma quickly huddled around Hermione to examine the robes (Emma was now standing between the two of them).

"You'll knock 'em dead!" Ginny told Hermione; Harry agreed.

"Lovely, dear," Molly added; Harry agreed.

"My princess in blue," Dan added from the other side; Harry agreed.

"Absolutely beautiful, honey," Emma said; Harry agreed.

"How about a male point of view, one that isn't her father's?" Emma added suddenly. Still slightly stupefied, Harry felt himself being maneuvered to stand directly beside Hermione. "What do you think, Harry?" she asked, then casually moved everyone back so that the two of them couldn't see anyone else in the mirror.

Standing next to her, it felt like it took an eternity before Harry was able to find his voice. In reality, it only took about three seconds. Of course, in a silent room with everyone waiting for a response, three seconds was nearly an eternity.

"Y-yeah..." he finally croaked out, thinking of the descriptions so far. "Yeah, what they said," he finished once his voice smoothed out slightly. When he saw Hermione looking at him through the mirror, he smiled and gave a tiny nod as if to confirm that he really did mean what he said... however inarticulate he'd been.

When she looked back to her own reflection, Harry's attention quickly wandered down about a foot.

Oh dear, he thought to himself. Now that he knew that mole was there...

With his gaze firmly attached to that tiny mark on her skin, Harry did not notice Hermione look at him in the mirror again. A smirk of triumph slipped out when she realized that his distracted attention was proof that he was looking at her differently now, if only by definition.

Even if she never got a chance to wear these robes at school, they'd already paid for themselves. She had his complete and undivided attention... at least for the moment. She didn't know if it was anything more than hormonal, but it was certainly progress.

She'd never seen him look at her like that before. And there could be no doubt now that these robes reminded him that she was a girl.

Thinking about their conversation that first day, Hermione realized her mother was right (not that she really doubted it). Maybe, sometimes boys did respond better to a subtle song than an anvil chorus. Looking back, her "PRINCESS" T-shirt was rather overt. But this... this was just her buying something that she needed to buy. Totally innocent, right?

Deciding that sooner or later, Harry would realize he was staring, Hermione turned her attention back to the dress and her own reflection. Her mind was already made up. She supposed she ought to at least look like she was actually thinking about it though, so as to not be obvious.

Harry finally caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror; he did look as obvious as he felt. Of course, since he knew he was the only one who knew how he felt about Hermione, he was certain no one else would recognize it. And Hermione still seemed to be thinking about it, so he was sure she didn't catch him staring.

Just then, Molly then started looking around. "Where did Ronald go?" she asked.

"I think he saw someone outside and went to talk to them," Harry answered, forcing himself to look at his own robes again.

"Well, Hermione, dear," Molly resumed, "I guess you'll have to settle for the four of us, plus Harry. What do you think? Do you want to try on the other one?" she asked.

Needless to say, but the gold dress she'd also pulled from the racks was put back without ever having been tried. The whole thing, from the time she emerged from the changing room until she actually returned had taken all of about two minutes, much of which was spent standing next to Harry in the mirror.

Right as Hermione walked through the curtain that led to the changing rooms, the front door opened and Ron walked back in. Harry noticed he had a decidedly disappointed look on his face.

"Where'd you go?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh. I, uh, thought I saw someone. But it turned out it wasn't h... them," Ron finished. Harry noticed that he'd changed his word at the last second. He also noticed Ron's ears begin to turn slightly pink.

"So, what? Now do we have to wait for Hermione to try on her robes too?" Ron asked, looking around to see where she was.

Harry smiled. "Nope. She's already picked hers out. She's just changing now."

Ron looked stunned. "What? Are you serious? I was only gone a minute!"

"Yeah, well, Hermione isn't Ginny," Harry replied, making sure Ginny couldn't hear him. Oh, and how true that is, in so many ways, he added to himself happily.

"What about you?" Ron then asked. "Still can't decide yet?"

"What?" Harry asked, surprised. He'd decided the moment he met double-oh-Potter.

"You're still standing there, looking lost," Ron pointed out.

Harry let out a laugh. "Oh, no. I'm getting these. I just got hooked into by these four," Harry said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards Molly, Ginny, Emma, and Dan on the other side of the store, "into giving an opinion on Hermione's robes."

Ron shuddered slightly at the opinion he was forced to consider for his sister. "So sorry, mate," Ron consoled him.

As he returned to the dressing room, Hermione's words echoed in his mind, "Midnight Sapphire."

* * *

Just before noon, the large group finally found themselves back where they started their shopping trip: in front of Quality Quidditch Supply (and the clock shop next to it on the left). While the older Weasleys had lunch at the same restaurant where they ran into Tonks and Lupin earlier, Harry, Dan, Ron, and Ginny went in to wander around.

Hermione, in the meanwhile, offered to pick up new parchment, ink, and quills for everyone while they all looked at brooms. Leading her mother towards the stationery store on the other side of the Quidditch store, she also said she wanted a little quality mother-daughter shopping time. Why Emma looked nervous, Harry did not know.

Walking out about half an hour later, Ron let out a laugh when the door closed behind them.

"One thousand Galleons, mate," he said to Harry.

"For what?" Harry asked.

"A Firebolt."

Dan stopped mid-stride. "Are you telling me, Harry, that your broom cost five thousand pounds, plus or minus?"

"I guess so," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It was a gift from Sirius. I never knew how much it cost. The sign on it said 'Price Upon Request.'"

He then turned back to Ron with a grin. "You requested?"

Ron managed to look guilty as he grinned. "Just for fun. Wasn't really going to buy one. I've gotten rather attached to my Cleansweep, if you must know."

"He talks to it, you know?" Ginny added from behind them. "When he's polishing it. If you sneak up on him, you can hear him whispering to it."

"I do not!" Ron defended resolutely. Harry could see a slight twinge of pink appear in his ears.

"Uh huh," Harry replied. "Is that why you bought the extra large tin of High-Finish handle polish?"

"You bought some too," Ron replied, his ears getting brighter.

"Yeah, but I only bought a standard refill for the servicing kit Hermione got me for my birthday," Harry teased. "I didn't buy the super, jumbo sized tin."

"Ah, there they are," Ron said, looking in the other direction, clearly trying to change the subject. Harry turned to see the elder Weasleys waiting for them at their table. Hermione and Emma were sitting a couple tables away from the others, talking quietly to each other.

"Well gang," Dan called as everyone began to get up, "are we all finished with our shopping today?" Hearing all affirmatives, he then rubbed his hands together. "Who's up for lunch?"

"ME!" came the simultaneous reply from all three Grangers, Harry, Ginny, and not surprisingly Ron. Labored groans indicating satiation came from the remaining Weasleys.

Everyone else seemed to let Dan be in charge at the moment, so he turned to Harry. "Since you've pretty much been taken along for the ride these last two days, what do you say we let you pick where we go for lunch? Any ideas, Harry?"

Harry thought about it for a few moments. An embarrassed grin appeared on his face. "Erm, actually, you might laugh, but yeah, now that you mention it. Wasn't there a Kwik-E-Burger up the street near the Underground?" he asked smiling. "For some reason, a hamburger sounds really good right about now."

Dan, Emma, and Hermione all nodded in agreement. "What about you two?" Dan asked Ron and Ginny. "Ever been to a Kwik-E-Burger? It's the pinnacle of Muggle cuisine," he said with a grin. Harry noticed Arthur's attention perk up.

Ron and Ginny both shook their heads to indicate they hadn't been there. "Do they serve food there?" Ron asked with a grin; Dan nodded. "Then I'll eat there."

"Sure," Ginny agreed also.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Arthur asked excitedly.

"You just ate!" Molly admonished.

"I just want to see the straw dispensers," Arthur promised. "Did you have any other plans today, dear?" he asked. Molly shook her head.

"Why don't you, Bill, Charlie, and Percy go on home then? I'll go with this lot, and then stop by the Ministry to pick up a couple things on our way home."

Molly agreed. As unenthusiastic as she was to sit in another restaurant for another half an hour, she also seemed uneasy about making the trip back to Grimmauld Place without Arthur.

Bill, seeing his mother's uneasiness, stepped in. "Don't worry, Mum. I know my way around the Underground. I have to use it occasionally to get to the Bank of England Museum. Have any of you ever been there?" he asked.

Only Arthur and Dan nodded. "All of Gringotts' financial transactions with the Muggle world go through the Bank of England," Bill explained. "The extension office is in the museum... of all places. Wizards who choose to live in the Muggle world can go there to set up a special Muggle account that will tie into their Gringotts vault. With one of these accounts, they can access the gold in their vaults, electronically, from any local branch bank in England."

"Oh, so that's how it worked," Hermione said quietly to herself; Ron's eyes looked glazed over.

"Plus, it's conveniently located. It's just right down the street from King's Cross." Once Bill stopped talking, Ron seemed to wake up.

With everyone's plans decided, they all started to head back to The Leaky Cauldron. Once in the small courtyard beyond the brick wall, they took a moment to shrink their purchases so they could be easily carried while they walked around.

After everyone said goodbye to Tom the bartender, they walked out the front door to rejoin Muggle London. None of the passersby on the street paid any attention as eleven people reappeared on the street outside.

When The Leaky Cauldron finally disappeared between the bookstore and the record store, a young woman, who'd been looking directly at them as she approached, suddenly jumped in surprise. As her face began to flush in embarrassment, she turned to walk around the group. She offered a small apology as she walked by Emma (closest to her).

"Oh, I'm so sorry. My mind must have been a million miles away. I didn't even see you standing there until the last moment."

"Not to worry, dear," Emma consoled her in a friendly manner as she walked by. "It happens to the best of us sometimes."

"Yeah, especially when you really do appear out of thin air at the last moment," Hermione added in a whisper to Harry; he nodded.

When they reached the entrance to the Underground, Molly, Bill, Charlie, and Percy separated from the rest of the group to start their journey back to Grimmauld Place. She took with her Arthur's, Ron's, and Ginny's purchases. Everyone else continued walking down the street to the Kwik-E-Burger on the corner.

As they walked in the door and the smell of rapidly prepared food washed over them, Harry's suddenly recalled Arthur's enthusiasm and excitement at everything Muggle about the Underground when they journeyed to the Ministry for Harry's trial. He moved to walk along side Arthur as they approached the order counter.

"Remember, Mr. Weasley. This is a restaurant and they can't clean up with a wave of a wand," Harry whispered. "I don't think they'll take kindly to you if you start touching everything. Observe discreetly."

"Yes, of course Harry," Arthur replied in a tone of voice that was both a mixture of happiness that he was allowed to look and also disappointment that he wasn't allowed to touch.

"All right everyone," Harry told them as they all looked at the menu boards, "my treat today. No argument." Happy that he got none, he turned to Ron and Ginny, who both appeared lost as they looked at all of the options.

"What do I want?" Ginny whispered to Hermione, afraid to let any of the other customers see that she didn't know what she was doing.

"Just get a combo meal," Hermione whispered back, "a hamburger, chips, and a drink." Ginny nodded.

"Right, do you want any modifications?" Harry asked the younger Weasleys. "You know, toppings taken off or added to your hamburger?" he clarified. The look that Ron gave Harry was clearly one of offense at the idea of removing anything edible from his hamburger.

"Right," Harry said to Ron with a laugh. "Ginny?" Ginny again looked at Hermione.

"No onions for Ginny," Hermione answered for her. Ron looked aghast (and confused).

"I thought you liked onions just fine in your food," Ron asked. As he did, Ginny finally saw a picture of the hamburger on the wall.

"I like onions in my food, not on it," Ginny explained as she saw the toppings that came included. "If you'd ever paid any attention, you'd know that."

Ron, who quickly turned away to get out from under the wrath of his sister, suddenly started tugging on Harry's arm.

"Oh! Harry! Can I have one of those?" he asked eagerly, pointing at one of the illuminated signs showing a picture of a triple cheeseburger.

Harry looked at Ron dubiously. "That's three-quarters of a pound of meat, Ron," he pointed out. With a big grin on his face, Ron just nodded happily. "Okay."

While the females went to scout out a table for seven, Harry and Dan went up to order. Ron and Arthur came up behind them (Ron to get a better look at all the food behind the order counter, Arthur to watch the cashier use the 'little box with all the buttons').

"Can I help you?" the young, pretty girl behind the counter asked, then put on a brilliant smile as she looked at Harry.

"Yeah. Can I get three number ones, two extra pickle, one no onion, one number three with extra everything..." Harry started, but then paused as he could see the cashier wanted to interrupt.

"Extra everything?" she asked; Harry nodded. "That'll be an extra 30p for the extra cheese and 90p for extra tomatoes. Is that okay?" Ron nodded before Harry could consider it. The cashier looked at Harry; he nodded. Ron then looked back up at the picture and saw a small sign in the corner of it.

"OH! And add bacon!" he tacked on. He then put his hand on Harry's arm in excitement. "Do they-?"

"No, they don't do extra bacon," Harry cut him off. He then gave the cashier a smile that told her "No, you don't do extra bacon." He looked up at the sign on the picture also.

50p/2 pc per patty

"You're already getting six pieces as it is," Harry pointed out.

"Okay," Ron replied, still happy.

"And..." Harry continued his order, trailing off as he looked at Dan.

"One number two and one number six, extra pickle on both," Dan told the cashier. As he did, Harry noticed Arthur beginning to lean over the counter to get a better look at the cash register. Harry reached over and put his hand on Arthur's arm to stop him. The cashier glanced at Arthur for a moment then looked at Harry questioningly; Harry just smiled as if to say, "Don't ask."

"Would you like to upgrade any of your meals to large or Mega-sized?" she then asked. Harry briefly glanced at Ron (who appeared fascinated watching the workers behind the cashier assemble the burgers).

"Yeah, better make the number three Mega-sized," he wisely decided.

The cashier repeated the order then fixed Harry with a very intent stare. "Can I get you anything else?" she asked in what he felt was a rather flirtatious voice.

"That'll be all," Harry replied with a fake smile.

"Twenty-five eighty-four, please," the cashier told him his total. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Ron flinch. He pulled one of the £50 notes he got at Gringotts out of his pocket and handed it to the cashier.

After taking his change in one hand and their drink cups in the other, Harry led Ron and Arthur toward the soft drink fountain. As they approached it, he turned to Ron. "Pounds, Ron, not Galleons. Twenty-six pounds."

Ron shook his head. "Yeah, I figured that out after my heart attack," he said in good humor.

Emma remained seated, holding their table (it was a busy lunch hour, after all), while Hermione and Ginny went up to get their drinks. Dan took the stack of cups out of Harry's hand and handed them out. A flummoxed Ron stood staring at the soft drink fountain.

"It's nothing like butterbeer," Harry said to Ron when he saw him begin to point at the root beer. While everyone else got their drinks, and knowing that Ron might take a moment (or ten) deciding which drink to try, he began to idly play with the coins he got in his change, having already put the paper notes back into his pocket.

"Was I just imagining things, or was that girl flirting with you, Harry?" Ron asked. Harry suddenly became very interested in the coins in his hand.

"What girl?" Hermione asked, sounding entirely uninterested as she filled her cup.

"The girl taking orders," Ron answered, still staring at all the drink options. "Sprite?" he asked aloud to himself.

"Ooh, she's cute, Harry," Ginny cooed after looking at her. "You should ask her out," she teased (at least, Harry assumed she was teasing).

"Thanks, but no," Harry replied awkwardly, desperately trying to memorize each of the different designs on the four £1 coins he got. Thanks to the rotating use of different effigies of the Queen on the obverse and various images on the reverse representing the UK, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England, there had been only three duplicate designs since the pound coin replaced the pound note in 1983.

This year's design was the "second" effigy, along with the Celtic cross and pimpernel which represented Northern Ireland.

In his change, Harry also happened across a two pence coin. Looking at it, he suddenly recalled something from many, many years ago. For one of his birthdays, Harry had actually received a small handful of coins from his Uncle Vernon. The day after that birthday however, he found out why Vernon gave them to him.

They were some old coins his uncle had found in a box back from his own school days... back when there were twenty shillings to a pound and twelve pence to a shilling. Now that there were one hundred "new pence" to the pound instead of the old two hundred forty, those old, worn out coins, all these years after decimalization in 1971, were now effectively worthless.

Dudley took great pleasure in pointing that out to Harry. And the only reason Dudley even knew anything about it was because Vernon had to explain to him why he actually gave their nephew, who took hard earned food off their table, any money in the first place. It was easy to give a small boy tiny, worthless bits of metal.

But in the end, Harry didn't really care. Because contained in those seven old coins was one of the old twopence coins, the "tuppence" made famous by a certain movie that his Aunt Petunia had once tried to make Dudley watch when it was on television, instead of the more violent movies the eight-year old preferred.

She only tried to make him watch it once however, for not only was there the fact that it was on television and would probably not be on again for another year or two, but Dudley screamed at the fact that there was singing in the movie.

Then of course, Vernon had locked Harry back into his cupboard for a week after that when he found out it had been on television, threatening him to not get any funny ideas about people flying around on umbrellas. It would be a few more years before that threat made any sense to Harry.

So, as Harry stared at the current twopence in his hand, he was reminded fondly of the old tuppence he'd managed to hold onto until one day when it disappeared from his cupboard while Vernon had let him out to use the toilet. Harry remembered that Dudley was unusually happy that day.

In the five seconds that had elapsed while Harry reminisced, Ron turned back to look at the cashier again. "Hey, even I think she's kinda cute, and I like to think my standards are pretty high," he said grinning.

Not if you think Hermione is plain-looking, Harry thought to himself with a grin, forgetting the coins for the moment as he put them into his pocket.

"Or... what? You don't have a thing for brunettes either?" Ron teased. Harry quickly glanced at Hermione, then rapidly turned his head in an attempt to make it appear as he meant to look at Ron. This time, he hadn't meant to do that. It was just an irresistible reflex. Oh, how he'd love to slowly run his hands through that bushy, brown hair...

Harry refocused his attention on Ron. He didn't know how to respond to his comment. He couldn't say that he didn't, but he couldn't say that he did either. Fortunately, the flirtatious cashier called his order number just then, and they all went up to grab the four trays of food.

As Harry, Ron, Dan, and Ginny carried the trays, Hermione went and grabbed napkins and straws for everyone. Arthur watched with delight as she pushed the little lever on the dispenser and one paper-wrapped straw popped out. After the second one, Arthur asked if she would allow him to press the lever. He did it four more times.

Once they were all seated, since Dan and Emma were on the far end of the table and Ron and Ginny didn't understand the little markings on the sandwich wrappers, Harry handed out everyone's lunch: hamburgers with extra pickle for himself and Hermione, hamburger no onion for Ginny, triple bacon cheeseburger with extra everything for Ron, double cheeseburger extra pickle for Dan, and grilled chicken sandwich extra pickle for Emma. Hermione handed out the boxes of chips.

It took Ron a few seconds to figure out how to unwrap his burger, but once he did, he put nose down next to the monstrous burger and took a deep breath.

"Blimey..." he sighed with a very content grin and then dove straight in. Harry was pretty sure he couldn't open his mouth that wide to take a bite of anything that large, however in good humor he did suppose that Ron had had some practice putting his foot in his mouth, so it worked out just fine for him.

After two large bites of his burger and a large handful of chips, Ron (fortunately) took a moment to swallow and then looked at Harry in contentment after he returned from taking the trays back to free up space on the table.

"We have to get them to start serving these at school, mate!" Ron insisted; Ginny agreed. As Ron resumed his attack, Harry finally got a chance to start eating. He immediately opened his hamburger and took off the tomato and set it on the opened wrapper of Hermione's (who was sitting next to him). She then took it and added it to her hamburger.

Ron saw this and (between overflowing mouthfuls) let out a laugh.

"Eat here often?" he teased. Harry looked at Ron confused.

"I mean, you already knew what she wanted on hers and you knew she would take the tomato," Ron explained.

"Actually, no, this is only the second time I've been to a place like this," Harry explained. "As for knowing about what she likes, as your sister so eloquently pointed out, it's easy to know what someone likes if you just pay the slightest bit of attention to them," Harry said grinning, and winking at Ginny.

"And besides, it was easy to remember. They all got the same thing: extra pickles. Since the first time they ordered mine that way too and I liked it, I did again. And since I don't like tomatoes on my hamburger, this way I don't have to throw mine away and she doesn't have to pay extra for an extra one."

"But you like tomatoes just fine," Ron pointed out, confused.

Harry grinned. "As someone once said, I like tomatoes in my food, not on it." Harry just didn't like raw tomatoes, so the cooked tomatoes in the sauce of the Grangers' chicken dish (and in the other things he ate) were perfectly fine. Perfect, actually, as he'd told Hermione several weeks ago.

Ron thought about it for a moment, trying to remember how he'd missed little details like that about his best friend and his sister. He smiled when he realized that he didn't notice much else when there was food in front of him, and then took a large drink.

Harry could see a look of surprise appear on Ron's face as he forced down his drink. He then let out a cough of surprise as he grinned broadly.

"Wasn't expecting that," Ron explained. "It's like it's... bubbling... in my mouth."

"That's because it is," Dan replied, leaning forward to look across Ginny who was between him and Ron. "It's a carbonated beverage. There are..." he paused for a moment, searching for a way to describe it, "thousands of bubbles hidden in the liquid, and they pop when you drink it."

A look of sheer amazement appeared on Ron's face. "You can DO that? Wicked!" Ginny, who hadn't yet taken a drink yet, did so. She began to giggle afterwards.

"It tickles," she said. Butterbeer was foamy and frothy and did have tiny, tiny bubbles in it from the manufacturing process, but it was nothing like a Muggle carbonated beverage.

Dan and Emma watched the two youngest Weasleys in silence, seeing them so impressed by things considered commonplace by Muggles.

Arthur could no longer contain himself. "What's it like, Ron, Ginny?" he asked quietly; he knew he didn't want to draw attention to himself surrounded by the rest of the lunch crowd. "How does it feel? What does it taste like? How long does the bubbling last?"

Harry looked over at Dan and saw the look of amusement on his face too. He fished a quid out of his pocket and handed it to Arthur.

"Go up. When the girl asks you what you want, tell her you want a 99p drink," Harry told him. "Give her the coin. She'll give you your cup and a penny back in change. Then go over and get your drink. You watched how we filled the cups, right?"

"Which kind do I get?" Arthur asked, almost nervously.

"Whichever one you want," Harry replied. "Try the Sprite. We all got Coke, so you could try something different. I'm sure Ron would be willing to share some of his Mega-size drink with you." Ron looked up at Harry scandalized.

Harry watched from his seat as Arthur, coin in hand, nervously walked up to the cashier. He saw him place his order and then hand over the coin. The cashier then handed him his change and receipt, and then his cup (he appeared quite fascinated by the receipt too). Arthur approached the ice machine with trepidation, got some after a moment of hesitation, and then finally filled his cup. He then presumably went to grab a lid and straw. Harry couldn't see them from the angle he was sitting.

Looking even more excited than the ten-year olds in Fred and George's shop, Arthur Weasley successfully returned from his first ever Muggle soft drink purchase. Harry did notice however, that there was one slight hitch: he returned with eight straws.

"You only need one, Dad," Ginny pointed out.

"I know," he replied, then began to look guilty. "I just wanted to take some extra ones home with me."

Harry and the Grangers let out a small laugh; Ron and Ginny shook their heads in disbelief.

It was a good thing Harry had ordered the Mega-size upgrade for Ron's meal. He finished all of his food at about the same time as everyone else. Harry and Ginny both had to smack Ron's hand away from taking the last of their chips. Ron was most disappointed when he reached the bottom of his Mega-size cup. It quickly changed to ecstasy when Harry informed him he was allowed to get a refill to take with him.

Finally, lunch was finished, and after dumping their garbage (Harry observed Arthur pocketing all of the unused ketchup sachets), they returned to the street outside. Sitting on a bench on the other side of the street was an elderly woman, tossing bread crumbs to about a dozen pigeons in front of her.

Harry didn't remember much of that movie that had been on television all those years ago, but he did remember parts of two of the songs, which both incidentally mentioned tuppence. He remembered them, probably because they advocated doing things that served no useful purpose, in Vernon's opinion.

Suddenly flooded with the memory of several of the famous lines from those two songs, Harry reached back into his pocket and dug out the twopence. He showed it to Dan.

"Should we go feed the birds?" Harry asked, then nodded his head towards the woman on the other side of the street. Since the coin in his hand wasn't the tuppence from the song, Harry's question didn't immediately click in Dan's mind. "Or do you want to go fly a kite?" he asked grinning.

Dan looked at the coin one more time, thoroughly confused. However once he connected the two activities together, Dan broke out in riotous laughter.

"Oh, Harry!" he belted out, clapping him on the shoulder. "That was a good one. It took me a minute to figure it out," he said as he took the commonplace coin and looked at it fondly, as if seeing the old coin.

"Wow," he sighed. "It's been what, twenty-five years, since the switch?" Dan asked Emma in amazement.

"Yeah," Emma confirmed. "It was the day after Valentine's Day, a Monday... in second year." Hermione could hear the emphases her mother placed and noticed the subtle grin she shot Dan. She really hoped that wasn't the weekend her mother told her about.

"Yeah, I remember that," Dan replied. Now Hermione was sure they weren't talking about Decimal Day.

"Everyone running around," Dan continued, unaware of the annoyed look on his daughter's face, "asking, 'How much is that in old money?' That was fun," he said sarcastically.

"So, we can feed the birds?" Ron asked, unaware of what everyone was talking about (the significance of the movie, of 15 February, 1971, and of the weekend before).

"Birds?" Dan asked, as he came out of his remembrance. "Oh! No... Harry was... there's a Muggle movie, they sing about feeding birds and flying kites, all for tuppence," Dan explained, handing Ron the twopence. "The old 2p coins... well I suppose I should say 2d. Anyway, the old two pence coins were called sometimes called tuppence. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Ron lied as he looked at the coin. "You Muggle-borns," he said jokingly to Harry and Hermione.

Those who knew Ron well enough (i.e. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Arthur) could tell from his voice that he was just kidding, and that there was no ill will. Dan, who only knew of what Hermione had shared with him (not the most ideal picture), was not so sure.

He could see that neither his daughter nor Harry seemed the slightest bit affected by Ron's comment, so he trusted that there was no disparagement intended. But still, it did remind him of how little he knew of Hermione's other friends. Remembering some of their reactions in the Kwik-E-Burger, it also illustrated how little they knew of the Muggle world. An idea began to form in Dan's head.

As the seven of them started to head back towards the Underground Station where they'd go their separate ways, Dan allowed himself to fall back slightly, bringing Emma with him. He whispered his idea to his wife to get her opinion.

When she readily agreed, he tapped Arthur (who was also behind the four teenagers) on the shoulder. After he pulled back also, Dan asked his permission for what he had in mind. Arthur instantly agreed, though it was obvious he was envious.

When they reached the entrance to the Underground, the group stopped. Before Dan could announce his idea, Harry turned to Arthur.

"Mr. Weasley. Did you say that you were going in to Ministry today?" Arthur nodded. "Well, Madam Bones said that we could stop by when we had some free time to pick up our awards. I was thinking, if we had some free time..." Harry asked, looking at Hermione and Emma who both nodded, "that we could go now.

"I really don't remember how to get to the visitor's entrance," he admitted, "so I was wondering that if you, Ron, and Ginny were going there, that maybe we could come too?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Harry," Arthur exclaimed. "It'll give your parents a chance," he then directed to Hermione, "to see a little more of our world." He then shot Dan a grin (which all of the teenagers saw but none understood).

"Okay everyone, back to The Leaky Cauldron!" Arthur directed. "We can Floo in from there."

"Can Muggles use the Floo Network?" Harry asked. "I've never heard anything about it said either way."

"Of course they can," Hermione answered readily. "The magic is in the network and the powder, so anyone can use it. The only possible problem might be them knowing when to get out at the right grate."

"Covered on that one, Hermione," Arthur replied. "Since Ron and Ginny are not Ministry employees, we have to use the visitor's Floo entrance. There's only one grate there."

While they waited for The Leaky Cauldron to reappear, Harry's eyes wandered across the windows of the record shop next to the pub. They were filled with signs announcing the latest releases, adverts offering to "Turn your records into CDs," and even posters of various musical groups. There would be no posters of the Weird Sisters at this store.

After everyone greeted Tom hello again, Arthur asked permission to use his fireplace to visit the Ministry. Now facing a lunch time crowd (it was around just after one o'clock by now), Harry again had to weave his way through the greetings.

Finally they found themselves in front of a fireplace in a back room. Arthur took a small pot filled with glittering powder off of a small shelf next to the hearth.

Arthur quickly explained the basics of Floo travel to Dan and Emma; Harry noticed Hermione was paying close attention as well. Has she ever used the Floo before? he wondered.

"Harry, Hermione, why don't you two go last?" Arthur suggested. "After her parents... you know, to bring up the back, as the Muggles say."

"Bring up the rear," Hermione corrected him; Arthur smiled and nodded to himself, making a mental note.

"Remember, speak clearly," Arthur reminded them. "As long as you do, you'll be fine. There's only one grate there." He then stepped up to the fireplace, took a pinch of Floo powder, and threw it into the flames. With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose all the way to the top of the hearth. Arthur then stepped into the fire, shouted, "Ministry of Magic Visitor's Entrance!" and was gone.

Dan and Emma, already squeamish at the sight of him standing in the middle of a fire, jumped when he vanished. Next Ron repeated the scene, then Ginny. Finally it was Dan and Emma's turn.

"Just remember what Mr. Weasley said," Hermione told her parents confidently. "Speak clearly, eyes closed, elbows in. When you feel yourself stop, open your eyes and step out of the fireplace on the other end."

"And try not to kick up any ash when you step into the fire," Harry added, remembering his first time using Floo powder. "It's easier to speak if you don't swallow the ash," he said grinning.

Dan nodded meekly, took some powder from the pot that Harry was now holding and stepped up to the fireplace. He threw it in; the flames roared to life again. Taking a deep breath first, he then stepped into the fire and shouted out his destination. The fire consumed him and he too was gone.

"Give him a couple extra moments to arrive and step out," Hermione suggested, again sounding confident. More nervous than she'd ever been in her life, Emma nodded and reached into the pot, repeating exactly everything Dan did. Just in case he did something wrong, she was determined to follow him there, wherever he went.

When her mother disappeared, Hermione let out the breath she'd been holding. "Our turn," she said, now not sounding so confident.

"Ever used the Floo before?" Harry asked. He was beginning to suspect that her confidence was merely a show for her parents' benefit. Hermione shook her head.

"Thought not," Harry said. He then repeated her instructions for her parents back to her, word for word. In her simplified form, they were easy to remember.

"Just remember what Hermione said," he teased her, "speak clearly, eyes closed, elbows in. When you feel yourself stop, open your eyes and step out of the fireplace on the other end."

"Git," she teased back.

"Yeah, but you love me for it." Since it was an expression, Harry really hadn't intended it to be any sort of test. He did immensely enjoy saying it however.

"Yeah, I do," she replied, not looking at him as she stared at the fireplace. She knew it was just an expression, so she really didn't expect it to mean anything. She did immensely enjoy saying it however.

Another roar of the fireplace, and Harry was left in the back room of The Leaky Cauldron alone. Returning the pot to the shelf, he took his own pinch of powder and stood in front of the fireplace apprehensively. Harry wasn't sure which he liked less: Floo powder or Portkey.

Harry arrived in the Ministry of Magic Visitor's (Floo) Entrance in a much more dignified manner than he had in Borgin and Burkes four years earlier. He stepped out of the fireplace to find everyone tidying up. A few quick cleaning charms and they were all good as new.

The visitor's Floo entrance turned out to be little more than a plain room, empty except for a fireplace on one side and a door on the other. As they approached the door, Harry noticed a small slot next to it. Arthur knocked on the door. Harry immediately heard the same cool female voice he'd heard in the telephone-box before.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, escorting visitors," he identified himself, then looked at Harry.

"Harry Potter, to visit the Minister of Magic," Harry said. The remaining 'visitors' similarly identified themselves.

"Thank you," replied the bodiless voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."

There was a click and a rattle, and Harry was not surprised to see six silver badges slide down into the slot next to the door. Arthur, being the closest, grabbed them and handed them out. Harry looked at his: Harry Potter, Minister's business. He pinned it to the front of his school shirt.

"I bet with Fudge around, they had these stamped en masse," Harry quipped, causing everyone to laugh.

"Only if you could afford one," Hermione replied.

"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium. The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day," chimed the voice, and the door opened.

Harry, being the last one through the door was consequentially the last to see where they'd arrived. This looked very familiar. Harry turned around to find that they'd just walked through the same doorway that he had when he'd used the telephone-box entrance. He was about to ask how that was possible when he realized he already knew the answer: it was magic.

The party of seven made their way toward the security desk at the far end of the Atrium. As they walked past it, Harry noticed that the fountain and gold statues looked exactly as they had the first time he'd seen them. There wasn't any trace that the statues had been running around in the middle of a battle.

Sitting at the security desk was the watchwizard in peacock blue robes, reading the Daily Prophet. Harry half wondered if someone could just walk by him unnoticed. When they approached, he set down his paper and looked up at them. It was the same watchwizard Harry met the first time, Eric Munch. He looked as just as bored (and badly-shaven) today as he did a year ago.

Though Arthur stepped forward, Eric's attention immediately turned to Harry.

"Escorting some visitors today, Eric," Arthur said.

"Not in trouble again, I hope, Mr. Potter?" Eric asked, clearly remembering him.

"No," Harry replied coolly but politely. "We're here to see the Minister."

"The Minister is a very busy woman, you know?" Eric said, sounding important.

"That's for the Minister to decide," Arthur said firmly.

"Yes, of course," Eric replied, obviously deflated. "Step forward," he said gruffly.

Harry did so and Eric picked up his aerial-like golden rod to perform the standard scan. He also examined the bag containing Harry's purchases.

"Wand," he said, bored. Harry submitted it. "Eleven inches, phoenix-feather, five years?" he asked in an uninterested voice after reading the slip of parchment that came out of the scale-like brass instrument on which he'd set Harry's wand.

"Next," Eric called as he kept the parchment and retuned the wand. He then repeated the procedure on Hermione, Ron, and Ginny as well (he made sure to give Ron's drink cup an extra scan).

Arthur interrupted right before Eric started with Dan. "They're Muggles, actually," he explained.

"Muggles?" Eric asked in surprise.

"Yes," Arthur replied, "they're Miss Granger's parents."

"Ah, I see," he replied, clearly not caring. Since they were non-magical and did not have wands, it clearly meant that there was nothing they could possibly do to cause trouble. He did perform his scan on both of them however since they could've been carrying a magical device.

A few moments later, they were in front of the lifts, waiting for an empty one so they could all ride together. A number of paper airplane memos followed them inside. Though no one else got on (because it was full with seven), the lift stopped at each level to allow memos on and off. The cool female voice noted the levels as they rose. Level Seven.

At Level Five, Arthur decided it was time to inform his two youngest children of Dan's offer.

"So, youngest Weasleys," he began excitedly, "did either of you have any plans for tonight?"

"No," both Ron and Ginny replied unenthusiastically.

Level Four.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Granger were wondering if the two of you would like to spend the night at their house tonight!"

Ginny squealed in delight and Ron clapped Harry on the back and said something to the effect of "Cool!"

Level Three.

"So... I take it you two would like to come over?" Emma asked with a large grin.

"I guess that's settled then," Dan noted right as Ginny just let out another SQUEE and Ron nodded enthusiastically.

"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."

"First stop everyone," Arthur told them. The four memos destined for this level zoomed out as soon as the lift doors opened. As they walked past the rows and rows of cubicles that was the Auror Headquarters, Harry noticed that it seemed exactly the same as it did a year ago.

The open area was again buzzing with talk and laughter. Memos continued to zoom from one cubicle to the next. All around him, Aurors were doing their jobs. This time however, they were looking for Voldemort, not Sirius.

As he walked by one of the cubicles, Harry caught sight of something familiar out of the corner of his eye. Stopping and going back to look through the open doorway, Harry saw one of Sirius's old "Wanted" posters on the wall, with a large, red X hand-drawn across it. When he was close enough, he could see that there was no one in the office, however items laying about suggested they were merely away from their desk.

Almost as if he expected Harry to see it, Arthur immediately came back to grab Harry and keep moving toward his office.

"Not now, Harry," Arthur asked. Harry started to open his mouth, however he didn't get the chance to start speaking. "I know. I have to walk by it every day too," he said sincerely. "Give the Minister a chance... it won't happen overnight." Harry relented.

Soon they ran into Kingsley Shacklebolt near the back of the office. Again, he and Arthur spoke as though they only knew each other in an office setting.

"Afternoon, Weasley," Kingsley greeted him. "Can't get enough of this place that you're coming in on your days off now?" he asked in a tone of voice that sounded like he was implying Arthur was just 'trying to look good for the boss.'

"Actually, Shacklebolt," Arthur replied coolly, "I was just here to pick up a few personal items that I wanted to take home but forgot yesterday."

"Well, since you're here, would you mind taking a look at this?" Kingsley asked as he led them all down to Arthur's office. Harry always did feel that Arthur's office was little more than a refurbished broom cupboard. Well, if it was the case, then Arthur had moved up in the world... slightly. He was now in the larger broom cupboard on the opposite side of the hallway. The "office" was larger, but the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts brass plaque was still tarnished.

"Arthur, how are you?" Kingsley asked in a friendly tone now that he was out of earshot of everyone else in the office. After Arthur replied in the positive, Kingsley looked at his six traveling companions. "Taking the whole gang on the Ministry tour, are we?" he asked grinning. He then reached out to shake Harry's hand.

"And you two are..." Kingsley continued as he turned to Dan and Emma, looking at their badges, "Miss Granger's parents. I'm honored to meet you. Quite the natural fighter your daughter can be," he said with a grin. "I'm glad she's on our side."

"So are we," Emma replied with a laugh.

"So, what brings you down here today, Arthur, besides Minister's business?" Kingsley joked.

"Well, in a minute, we're going to go up to talk to the Minister. She's going to give you know who," Arthur said, nodding head towards the four teenagers, "the you know whats for what they did you know where, you know when."

"If it hasn't been said yet, then congratulations to all of you," Kingsley said quietly. "I think you all deserve it."

"But first," Arthur continued, "I just wanted to stop by and pick something up. I found one of those... ele-tronic Muggle watches last week. It still works, at least when I get it away from here, so I wanted to take it home so I could take it apart to see how it worked."

"Really?" Kingsley asked, trying to sound interested. "You know, Thrace, down at the other end, she's Muggle-born. You might ask her about it first before you take it apart. Do you remember what happened the last time you tried to take something apart?" he asked knowingly.

Arthur didn't reply.

"I told you that 'No user serviceable parts' meant what it sounded like," Kingsley reminded him.

Arthur went over to his desk and retrieved the digital watch from a drawer, while at the same time depositing the straws and ketchup sachets he'd brought back from the Kwik-E-Burger.

He stared at the watch for a moment, debating whether he'd interrupt someone while they were working. But... it was an ele-tronic watch! He just had to know how it worked.

"What's her name?" Arthur asked.

"Kara."

"All right kids, you can just sit right here. I'll be back in two minutes," Arthur told them. He returned twenty-five minutes later.

* * *

"Level One, Minister's Office and Administration," the voice announced before the doors opened. As they disembarked, a score of outgoing memos flocked into the lift. Walking past rows and rows of cubicles, Harry and everyone else walked up to the secretary outside the Minister's office.

"May I help you?" he asked in a very friendly and courteous voice. Harry felt Arthur nudge him discreetly. This was Harry's show, after all.

"Yes. Harry Potter and several others to see Madam Bones, please," Harry replied in an equally friendly voice.

"Did you have an appointment?" the secretary asked innocently as he looked down at a day planner.

"Erm, no, but Madam Bones told me this morning to just stop by when we had some free time. She said to have you tell her we were here, and that we could just wait for her."

"Very well," the secretary replied, again very courteous. Almost no one, other than Albus Dumbledore of course, ever showed up and just expected to meet with the Minister. It was simply assumed by all that you needed an appointment.

He had no reason to believe what Mr. Potter had told him, but he had no reason not to either. He knew though that that wasn't his decision to make. Though he'd only had this job since Madam Bones replaced Cornelius Fudge, he already knew that much, to be sure.

If the Minister did not tell Mr. Potter (who he knew very well from the papers) such a thing, then he and his friends would be sitting there waiting for a very long time. And if they refused to leave at closing time, the watchwizards were always just a wristwatch-tap away.

Bloody clever invention, the secretary thought to himself. Hurts like hell though. I really shouldn't have had so much butterbeer at lunch. Maybe I can sneak off to the toilet if they go in.

"If I could just get all of your names," the secretary asked, "I'll let her know you're here."

The secretary wrote their names down on a piece of parchment that appeared to be adhered to the surface of his desk, along with a note saying that they were here to see her. Harry watched as the ink was absorbed into the paper and disappeared.

When good magic goes bad, Harry thought to himself, recalling another time he witnessed writing on a page disappear like that.

The secretary then tapped his wand to a miniature golden chair that was sitting on his desk. Seven chairs suddenly appeared along a wall. He then waved his hand towards them to indicate they could sit down and wait.

Harry was pleasantly surprised. They only had to wait about half an hour to see the Minister. Considering they showed up unannounced and unexpected, he thought that was pretty good. He'd kept himself occupied by unshrinking his new Defense textbook and looking through it.

Ron looked at him funny for reading a textbook, but Harry just shrugged his shoulders. What else was he going to do? Just stare at the ceiling and watch the memos fly around like Ron did? When he showed him that it was the Defense book he was reading, Ron nodded his head in grudging acceptance.

"Well, I guess that isn't so bad," Ron decided. "Least you're not reading Potions." Harry shuddered and shook his head in agreement with Ron's sentiment. With all of the office chatter around him, he wasn't able to read much, but what he did read made him very curious about who their new Defense professor would be.

It was obvious that whoever selected this book knew what they were doing. They knew what was involved in the fight against the Dark Arts. Harry had jokingly said to himself earlier that virtually anyone the Headmaster selected would be able teach it effectively. Coming from a year of Umbridge, that wasn't saying much. However, if this book was any indication, this new person had some tremendous potential.

A small chime sounded. "Mr. Potter," the secretary called. "You may go in now." The group stood up to see six witches and wizards come filing out of the Minister's office, half looking very pleased, the other half not so pleased.

Madam Bones was the last one out of her office. She greeted Harry warmly when she saw him.

"Harry, Harry. Nice to see you again. I must say, you do work rather quickly, stopping by only hours later. But, no matter, no matter.

"Arthur!" she then turned her attention as she led them into her office. "I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to speak with you earlier, but I was on a rather tight timetable. How are things down in the Misuse office?" she asked.

"Slow, actually, but we're hoping that's a good sign..." Arthur said, allowing his voice to trail off.

"My feelings exactly," Amelia said as she closed the door. Though she did nothing, Harry heard it make the same odd squelching sound as when Hermione sealed the doors in the Department of Mysteries with Colloportus.

Amelia noticed that Harry's attention was drawn to the door and she smiled. "Ah, did you catch that, Harry?" she asked. "Seals the door and prevents eavesdropping. Dear Cornelius had that charm installed, I suspect, when he was working on some of his more... creative endeavors," she explained, nodding towards a small table behind her desk upon which sat four separate stacks of files sealed with different colored ribbons; red, green, blue, and black.

"But, we aren't interested into forays into financial fine print, now are we?" she asked with a grin. "No, we are interested in getting you properly cited for your actions last June," she said as she sat down at her desk. A small, white cardboard box suddenly appeared on top.

"I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me for just a moment," she asked as she reached for the box. Opening it, she reached in and pulled out half of a sandwich as well as a goblet and pitcher of pumpkin juice. She immediately took two bites of the sandwich, poured herself a goblet, and took a large drink. Harry's eyes widened in regret. It was nearly two o'clock, after all.

"I'm sorry Minister," Harry apologized. "We can come back..." After getting her first few bites down (and a look of relief appeared on her face), she held up her hand to stop him.

"That's quite all right, Harry," she assured him. "My days are pretty full right now, so since you're here now, we'll do it now. Though I may sneak in a couple bites between awards. Pumpkin juice, anyone?" she offered. Everyone declined (Ron was still working on the last of his Mega-sized drink).

"Now, before we get to the fun part," Amelia began, "I have something more important that I would like to discuss with all of you first." She then paused for several moments and took a deep breath. Her entire demeanor changed. She seemed hesitant to bring up whatever she had to.

"I recently had a discussion with your headmaster about the events that occurred here in June," she began, addressing the four of them; they all listened carefully. "As you know, the version of events that was reported to the Daily Prophet was woefully incomplete. It made no mention at all of what the six of you did.

"As you may recall," she directed to Harry, "you were only mentioned in the form of non-retraction retractions of everything bad they'd printed about you, as well as the reprint of your interview from The Quibbler.

"After reading the debriefings of nearly a dozen Aurors who arrived after it was all over, and comparing them to the reports from the Order members who were there, I noticed a very interesting, though very obvious, detail. It turns out," she continued, "that no one who was not actually down in the Department of Mysteries that night knows exactly what happened, nor do they know who exactly was there."

Madam Bones fixed Harry with a heavy stare before continuing. "What that means is that the only people who know the full truth of what happened, and of who was there, are those who WERE there, aside from myself and Mr. Scrimgeour, of course, since he's head of Magical Law Enforcement."

Harry could feel something begin to form in the back of his mind. Something about what she was saying had very important implications. He could feel it, but it was just still out of reach.

"Miss Granger," Amelia asked, "have you discussed with anyone the entire truth about what happened that night... anyone who did not already know?"

"No, Madam Bones. No one other than Harry," she replied. She then stopped for a moment and stared blankly, lost in thought. A guilty look appeared on her face. "And my parents," she added finally. "I didn't talk to them about it, but I did write to Harry about what happened that night, and I showed it to them. And the Headmaster, but he already knows." Hermione appeared upset with herself.

But to everyone's surprise, Madam Bones actually smiled. "So, they know the truth, but only because they were told by someone who was there?" she confirmed. Hermione nodded.

It suddenly clicked in Harry's mind; he actually snapped his fingers when it did. "Voldemort and his Death Eaters were there too, that night," he observed.

"The Death Eaters captured that night have not been in contact with anyone since their arrest and conviction," Amelia said, then nodded, encouraging Harry to continue.

"But Voldemort and Bellatrix escaped," Harry reminded everyone. Amelia continued to nod. "So if no one on our side tells anyone the truth about what happened, then anyone who does know... will have to've gotten that information directly from Voldemort or Bella."

A large smile broke out across the Minister's face. "All Order members have volunteered to remain silent about what happened that night. We hope that containment on our side will reveal leaks on their side. If someone knows too much, then they'll have to explain how they got that information."

"Is that why you wanted to have a private awarding ceremony?" Harry asked the Minister.

"Yes, Harry. I wanted to be able to show you that your efforts were invaluable, however I didn't want knowledge of those events to become public. At least, not yet... not until this is all over."

"So, essentially, you want us to sign off on Fudge's version of what happened that night?" Harry asked.

"Sign off on it? No. Volunteer to not add to it? Yes," the Minister clarified. "I'm the first to admit that his version has robbed you of a little positive publicity. It has however provided us with a possible opportunity to reveal spies lurking in our midst. Again, if they know too much, I'd be interested to learn where they got that knowledge."

Harry thought about it for a few seconds. "I can't speak for anyone else here, but I can honestly say that the last thing I need or want right now is more publicity. You have my promise to not say anything, Minister," Harry pledged.

Neville, Harry thought to himself, recalling that he'd asked him to write an account of what happened. He'd owl him straight away as soon as he got home to tell him to stop. He then saw Hermione look at him with a note of concern. He knew that she too was thinking about Neville. He nodded slightly to let her know it was already taken care of.

Everyone else, including Dan, Emma, and Arthur, all agreed to remain silent about what really happened in the Department of Mysteries that night.

"Excellent," Madam Bones said as she stood up to shake their hands again. She then opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a small wooden box. Coming back around to the front of the desk, she set the box down, and opened it. She pulled out a small bronze medal that hung from a red ribbon then turned around to face Harry.

"Due to your selfless acts of bravery on the evening of 18 June and morning of 19 June of this year, I, Minister of Magic, Amelia Susan Bones, am honored to award you, Harry James Potter, an Order of Merlin, Third Class. Congratulations," she said, then reached out to shake his hand.

After doing so, she handed Harry his award, rather than putting it around his neck. Unfortunately, remaining silent about that night also meant remaining silent about the awards... for now.

Harry returned to his seat and began to think about what she'd said, about restricting information to try to reveal spies. As he sat there and watched Madam Bones present the rest the awards, he couldn't help it, but he began tune her out. Thinking about the plan, he began to feel anxious.

He really didn't care whether he got public credit for helping with the capture of the Death Eaters. The captured Death Eaters. His thoughts were dwelling on them. They'd been locked up there in Azkaban for nearly a month and a half now. They hadn't spoken to anyone. No one knew what they knew or saw that night.

This was risky. Very risky. Everything depended on this working. Well, not everything, But it certainly would make things a whole lot easier if it did work. There were so many things that could go wrong, but if it worked...

The more he thought about it, the more his anticipation grew. He could feel it building. Whatever it was, it was almost within reach. It felt like he was simply waiting for the right moment, when everything would fall into place.

Just as Harry felt as though his anticipation would burst, a tiny buzz was heard coming from the top of the Minister's desk as she shook Hermione's hand. Everyone looked to the source of the noise and saw a wristwatch sitting there. Harry recognized it immediately.

"Truth be told, as useful as they are, I rather don't like those wristwatches of Auror Tonks'. She is right about one thing, they do sting something fierce when they activate," she said grinning. A moment later, a piece of parchment similar to that from the "wand scale" at the security desk came out of a small box on her desk.

"Ah, that must be Mr. Scrimgeour, making his report, no doubt. Remember that appointment I mentioned at Azkaban with Mr. Malfoy?" she asked Harry, then looked at he clock. "It was scheduled to begin right about now."

"Did you want to get that?" Harry asked. The unexpected interruption from the wristwatch caused all of Harry's anticipation to vanish. His stomach had been so knotted that as his mind cleared, he felt so relieved that things were the way they were supposed to be. He suppressed a smile. He still didn't know what exactly he'd been so focused on, but it felt so much better that the anxiety was gone.

In fact, it felt really good. He couldn't explain it, but he could feel an odd soaring sensation in his stomach, as though he was flying... that everything was going according to plan. It was wonderful. All that waiting, the build up, it was finally paying off.

"In a minute," Madam Bones replied. "We just have two of you left."

As she began to present Ron his award, Harry was only vaguely aware that Madam Bones was still talking. But he didn't care. Everything would be all right now. He just knew it.

After a few minutes however, that happy feeling began to fluctuate. He didn't know if there was something wrong exactly, but something wasn't adding up. He could feel it. Just like how a sweet fragrance could become sickly sweet, so too did his pleasure shift into some kind of sickly-happy feeling. A slightly queasy reaction to that feeling began to develop in Harry's stomach.

Something was wrong. There was a problem. How could this happen? All of that work... all of that planning... it was all falling apart. Harry began to get frustrated. It began to intensify his queasy feeling. He was starting to feel nauseous. While still staring blankly at the Minister, Harry subtly held his arms to his stomach in hopes of settling himself. Hopefully he could ride this out. Hopefully things could still turn out.

There was another slight buzz from the Minister's watch. He still wasn't hearing her words, but he did see that she'd stopped talking for a moment to look curiously at the watch. Harry could feel his frustration rapidly shift to anger. Everything was falling apart. The Minister reached over to grab the second slip of parchment that came out of the box, as well as pick up the first one she hadn't read yet.

She looked at the first slip of parchment, bringing her monocle up to her eye so she could read it clearly; her face paled. Harry was now furious. Everything was ruined! Could no one follow instructions? It was such a simple plan. Harry's stomach was positively roiling by now; he was quite certain he would lose his lunch soon if it didn't stop. He clutched his stomach even more tightly and bent over in his chair.

"What is it, Minister?" Harry vaguely heard Arthur ask.

"Harry? Harry? Are you all right?" he heard Hermione ask.

Harry suddenly screamed out in agony. Pain he'd only felt when inhabited by Voldemort in the Atrium erupted from his scar. His hand instinctively went to clutch his forehead, but it made no difference. Harry felt himself fall to the ground in the middle of the Minister's office.

Though his eyes were squeezed shut, he could see a brilliant dazzle of light and color, caused by the intense stress his body was under. Every muscle was clenched tight as he writhed in anguish. Harry suddenly had a vision. He knew his eyes were closed, but he could still see. He saw the image of a dark and foreboding castle or fortress. All around it he could see dark and light shadows.

He had no idea what he was looking at, but what he saw enraged him. Trying to get his bearings, Harry forced his eyes open, to try to see where he was. He knew he was still the office, but he knew he was somewhere else too.

As he opened his eyes, he saw the floor... but it was sideways... he was lying on his side. There was a pair of knees in front of him. He could see both images simultaneously, the office, the fortress, one overlapping the other. The conflicting images began to make him dizzy.

And just like that, as quickly as it started, the pain in his scar vanished completely. All of the emotions rolling through him did as well. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was cold; he was drenched in sweat. The moisture evaporating in the cool office air made him feel so cold. He felt a pair of warm arms envelop him, helping him sit up. Harry tried to focus. He was now sitting upright. The warm arms were still holding him tightly.

And he was still nauseous. The sudden disappearance of the pain caused a powerful wave of relief to wash over him. That, combined with his nausea and the gentle rocking motion he was now feeling, finally caused Harry to lose the battle against his stomach. Everything went away after that.

Harry regained consciousness a few minutes later. The first thing he noticed was that he was still being held protectively by the same warm arms. The second thing he noticed was a strong acrid smell. He immediately grabbed hold of the arms that were around him and held tight onto them. His head was still spinning.

"Harry?"

"Harry?"

Harry finally opened his eyes. All he saw were feet and the bottoms of legs. He looked up to see everyone standing around him, looking at him in fear and concern. Everyone that is, except Hermione. He couldn't see her. She was gone. He began to panic. He tried to stand up, but the arms held him down.

He looked down to see his stomach contents spread out on the floor in front of him. And on the sleeve of the person holding him. He recognized that sleeve. He'd seen it before. In fact, he'd seen it all day since they left Madam Malkin's.

"Hermione!" Harry called out.

"Yes," he heard her reply gently just behind his ear. She was holding him. He grabbed hold of her vomit-covered arm even tighter. Right now, he didn't care if he fancied her or not. He didn't care if anyone saw him hold her. Hell, he didn't care if she was married to Viktor-bloody-Krum right now. All he cared about was knowing that she was there, to feel her presence. All he needed was to hold on to her... if only for a moment.

"VOLDEMORT!" Harry gasped out, tightening his grip on her arm even further. "Something's happened! He's furious!"

"We know, Harry," she said soothingly behind him. "The dementors have attacked Azkaban."

A/N: Whew! Twenty-nine pages! Longest chapter yet. Just a couple final notes.

I've never said this in an official Author's Note, but I have many times in replies to reviews. Harry and Hermione will not be getting together until after school starts. That is why the month of August will fly by so quickly. July 31 and August 1 are the most important days, which is why I have spent so much time on them.

The rest of the month will be them "playing their games," testing the waters (along with at least one more surprise). And we don't need to see that in such detail. He only realized his feelings "yesterday" and she's hidden her for two years. They won't become a couple on August 2.

So, the point of that is since the month will fly by, I'm going to write it in much smaller chunks... chunks that I can publish more quickly. I'm thinking closer to ten pages rather than thirty. Please note that smaller chapters WILL NOT affect the total amount of writing that I will do. It merely means that there will be smaller updates more frequently.

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A couple examples of Evernight's awesome work!!

Scene from Chapter 21, in Flourish and Blotts.

Scene from Chapter 22, in Madam Malkin's.

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And finally, this has absolutely nothing to do with anything... other than showing what a complete dork I can be. It just made me laugh while I was tearing my hair out to get this chapter finished. I often send my beta smart-ass comments about things that I write. For example, when Emma casually moved everyone away from the mirror leaving only Harry and Hermione there, I highlighted the word "casually" and commented "YEAH RIGHT!"

So, when Ron's ears turned bright red after buying the broom polish, this suddenly popped into my mind, so I sent it to him.

Rupert the red-eared Keeper,
Had a very shiny broom,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it zoomed.

One of the other Seekers,
Used to laugh and call him names,
He never thought poor Rupert,
Could ever win his games.

I stopped there, saying that I needed to get back to writing the story, not Christmas songs. My beta then turns around and sends the following back to me. Oh, it made me laugh so hard, I just had to share it with you all!

Then one soggy Quidditch match,
Evanna came to say,
"Rupert with your ears so bright,
Won't you block the Quaffle tonight?"

Then after "Luna" kissed him,
Emma shouted out with glee,
"Rupert the red-eared Keeper,
Might just stay away from me!"