Unofficial Portkey Archive

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

A/N: Hello again! You know, I honestly thought this would only take a week or so. I figured I had a good head start, so I only needed "a few more pages" to get them to where they end here (no, don't look ahead). That way, I can get them to King's Cross at the end of next chapter. Yeah, that really worked out! I said I was afraid of an uber-update last time? Well, that's what this turned into. Forty-five pages this time!

Along those lines, someone sent me a rather shy email asking what I meant by 'this chapter is X pages long.' I had to laugh (at myself) because I realized that only me and my beta see that. When it is posted, it's actually just one VERY long page. This chapter is simply 45 pages long in Word when I write it. But what is 45 pages? It's 45 pages they way I have it formatted to make it easy for me to read. But what if it were formatted differently?

Look at the hard-bound US version of Order of the Phoenix (the last book I was happy to read). If I formatted this chapter exactly like in the books-paper size, font, spacing, margins-it would be 72 pages long. Sure, it doesn't really mean much of anything, but if one person asked, then I figure there's got to be a few more out there who didn't ask also...

Speaking of which, Chapter 29 officially made this story longer than Order of the Phoenix by word count. That surprised even me! Then again... 72 pages this time. At least I don't count my "brief" author notes in there!

BTW, If anyone thought I did, I didn't mean to imply that next chapter was the last chapter of the story. I said earlier they can't get together until they get to school. Next chapter is merely the proof that the summer will actually end and they will be returning to school. One summer in thirty-one chapters. Wow.

I wanted to say that I was happy that most everyone understood what I was trying to convey last time. Hermione ISN'T one to tell dirty jokes in mixed company. But she does have a quick wit, and can think up snappy comebacks with the best of them. She WOULDN'T say them at school, but alone, at home (or beside a tree with Harry), she reveals that is normally hidden from everyone else. We all have aspects of our personality that only our family sees... Harry is simply starting to become included in those displays now.

Happy Birthday to Hermione Granger. I missed posting on the same day because I actually fell asleep while trying to do a very late night edit to get it out in time. Sorry!

A quick hello to Shawn out there for correctly guessing what Hermione's present will be.

Oh, and I borrowed a couple of lines from a classic '80s comedy. Just saying so...

Chapter 30. Married... With Children, Part 2: The Circle is Now Complete.

He turned back to glance at her once he was about a full step ahead of her. "About promising to 'not bring it up again'?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Don't make promises I can't keep," he said as he started to run for the house, laughing the entire way. Hermione was tempted to respond back, but seeing as he'd managed to make a joke at himself, she decided to give him the last laugh. She just smiled a large, satisfied smile and trotted back to the house, adding a skip or two along the way.

Once back inside, Hermione found that what was left of the party had resumed, although Lavender and the Patils seemed to have taken their absence as a good time to leave. Neville's minder had decided to "get some air" outside for a while, finally admitting to Remus and Tonks that he really wasn't good with "kids." Neville could have told him that ten minutes after meeting the man.

With Harry and Hermione gone, Ginny with her mum and Neville, and Ron with Luna, the only people left for the girls to interact with were adults, which was a good sign to them that the party was just about over. They'd politely interrupted Ginny to wish her well and genuinely thank her for a great party. The Knight Bus had jumped away just as Harry walked back into the house.

A short while after the raven-haired teen's return, Remus made his way over to him.

"Looks like I was trying to give 'the talk' to the wrong person there, eh?" he asked. Harry's lack of comprehension was evident. "Your owls. Looks like they're the ones who needed to be told about the birds and the bees."

"Well, knowing Hedwig and Metis, they'd try to eat the bees if they didn't know they'd get stung," Harry joked.

"So what are the two of you going to do now?" Remus asked. Harry glanced over in Hermione's direction, who had joined Ginny with Neville and Molly. He caught her eye, and she shot him a small smile; he returned it.

How on earth could I have even tried to ignore her? he asked himself disbelievingly.

"Absolutely nothing," Harry answered his minder's question. "Hedwig and Metis are perfectly capable of handling this on their own," he repeated Hermione's answer. "It is in their nature, after all."

Remus smiled and nodded thoughtfully. As Harry turned to look back at Remus, he noticed the probationary Auror looking in Tonks' direction, who was currently talking to Arthur.

"You know," Harry said innocently, "speaking of 'the talk,' do we need someone to have one with you?" Remus turned to look at Harry, confused. "Hermione and I saw you in the cinema." Remus still didn't seem to understand. "You and Tonks... holding hands?"

Harry couldn't ever remember seeing Lupin truly embarrassed. He'd seen the Marauder in a lot of different emotional states over the years, from Dark Arts professor to Order member, even as a teenager in Snape's Pensieve memory, but never did he recall him blushing. It was answer enough for him.

"So, you and Tonks, huh?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Don't get any ideas, young man," Remus tried to threaten him, failing miserably. "Nothing's official, or anything like that. We've, um, grown a little closer together, living together, supporting each other about Sirius. We're just taking things slowly, trying to see if there's something there, or if it's, you know, just from Sirius."

Remus's statement hit Harry like a ton of Hagrid's cakes. His words seemed to exactly match his own situation with Hermione. Was it possible?

It was impossible even for Captain Oblivious to not notice that he and Hermione had somehow become a little closer because of their living arrangements. But what if that was the case with his feelings for her as well?

Was he imagining them? Were they real? Or were they only there because he was with her nearly every hour of the day (sleeping excluded)? He knew that he pretty much saw her just as much at school as he did back at her house, but there was just something different about being with her at home. Would his feelings vanish as soon as they got back to school?

"Harry, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep this quiet," Remus said, preventing the teen from getting too worked up over this new possibility, "quiet at least until Tonks and I figure things out. If things don't work out, it'll be easier, I think, for us to go back to being 'just friends' if everyone didn't know that we were exploring something more.

"But, if things do work out," he said as he looked back at Tonks with a small smile that suggested he was hoping they would, "then everyone will find out quickly enough anyway." Remus then looked back down at Harry. "So, for the moment, no, I don't need 'the talk.'"

He then smiled broadly, "Yet.

"Oh, and what I meant about 'what are you going to do' was what are you going to do about going back to school?" Remus clarified. "You're only allowed one animal. How soon will there be another owl coming along? If you have Hedwig and Hermione has her cat, then will you be able to take Metis and the new owl, or will they all have to stay with the Grangers?"

Harry's eyes widened in shock. He'd never even considered that before. "I don't know," Harry said quietly, starting to worry, "about any of it."

"Well, send an owl to Professor McGonagall. I'm sure she can answer everything for you."

About ten minutes later, Bill and Fleur finally arrived. They'd been packing up her flat on Diagon Alley, getting ready for her to move out tomorrow. And they certainly hadn't been doing anything prohibited by Veela tradition. Harry had to admit: Fleur looked absolutely stunning. She was practically glowing. He suspected her radiance was due this time more to the (supposedly surprise) announcement that was still pending, rather than her heritage.

When Bill moved to the center of the room and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, Harry shot Hermione a knowing grin. Their discussion about what to do about Hedwig and Metis in regards to the one-animal rule could wait until later. It was all supposition anyway without their Head of House or the headmaster there.

Besides, there was an engagement to announce!

Harry could see Bill's hands tremble slightly in anticipation. It was a good thing Fleur had already said yes.

"There are a lot of expressions in life," Bill began. "Life is short. There are no guarantees in life. Live for today, for tomorrow may never come. These past few weeks have begun to show that for any who might not have been paying attention. The wizarding world as a whole has been lucky so far. But we all know that luck, by its very nature, implies that it will run out at some point.

"'Seize the day,' someone once said," he continued. "One week ago, I realized that was my day. I realized the greatest opportunity of my entire life had been there right in front of me the entire time. It was my day, so I seized it," he said, making eye contact with Fleur. It was something that went unnoticed by all those who did not know what was coming (which turned out to only be Neville, Luna, Remus, and Tonks).

Fleur made her way forward into the center of the room to stand in front of Bill. "Imagine my surprise when I found out I wasn't the only one who felt that way," he said as he reached out and took her hand. Those not in the know still weren't exactly sure what was going on.

Until Bill dropped to one knee.

"One week ago, I asked Miss Fleur Delacour to be my wife, and she said yes." With his free hand, Bill reached into his pocket, then began to speak to her instead of the room. "One week ago, I gave this to you as a symbol of my commitment. Allow me the honor of doing so once again, so that all may know."

Both Bill and Fleur's eyes shone with emotion.

"Fleur, will you marry me?" Bill asked with a voice that was nervous, even though he'd already received his answer a week earlier. Once the words were out, an amused smile appeared on his face. "Again?" he added as he lovingly slid the engagement ring on her finger.

"Oui!" Fleur cried. "Oui! Nuzzing would make me 'appier!"

As Bill stood up, he smiled a smile that betrayed the fact that he felt he was the luckiest bloke in the entire universe. He then moved in and kissed his fiancé as intensely as he could manage without incurring the wrath (of any kind) of his family members, whether it be his mother (embarrassment) or his twinned brothers (teasing).

Harry watched the scene in front of him with a similar feeling of longing as on his first day at the Grangers when he observed Dan and Emma together for the first time. Again, his feelings weren't directed towards Bill or Fleur specifically, but rather what they had together.

Harry suddenly felt someone grab onto his arm tightly. He looked to his side to see Hermione wrapped around his arm, with her head resting on his shoulder. She'd just let out a long sigh and was beginning to tear up.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered, wanting to be sure she was all right.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she whispered back. "It's just a girl thing, crying at weddings... or engagements." He looked up to see if anyone was going to make fun of him for this, only to find that Hermione was right: it was a girl thing.

Every female in the room had latched onto the male nearest them and was... swooning similar to Hermione: Molly had grabbed onto Arthur; Tonks to Remus; Luna, Ron; and Ginny had captured Neville. As he looked around the room, Harry noticed that all of the detained males (except Arthur) were similarly looking around the room, all wearing the same looks of awkwardness, terror, and, was it possible, hope?

Whatever the actual feelings of the four now-captured but officially uncommitted males, once they all realized they were all in the same awkward position in the middle of the Weasleys' living room, they all shared a smile that was 'guy' for "I won't laugh at you if don't laugh at me."

* * * Flashback to earlier that afternoon * * *

Neville. Neville Longbottom.

Ginny Weasley had to say his name to herself several times as she considered him. She was almost absolutely positive he fancied her. Just two weeks earlier, she wouldn't have even given him a first thought. To be fair however, she really wouldn't have given anyone much more than a first or second thought.

It had always been Harry. If she was honest with herself (and for the first time in her life, she was), her little dalliances with Michael and Dean had merely been something to hold herself over until the day when the Boy Who Lived would notice her. A little fun, maybe even a snog or two, but nothing more.

But then came her "day of awakening." Yes, it was corny, but that's what she decided to call it. It was the day in which she realized that the Boy Who Lived wasn't going to come in and sweep her off her feet, like in that song Hermione seemed to like so much. She knew this because it was the day she finally realized that 'the Boy Who Lived' didn't exist.

It was just a title, given to a baby named Harry Potter... a boy she finally realized she really didn't know all that very well. That brought her back to Neville. She actually did know him pretty well. He'd taken her to the Yule Ball back in third year, something for which, at the time, she was grateful to him for no other reason than because she wouldn't have been able to go otherwise.

She was looking forward to going to the dance, but her enthusiasm didn't overflow onto her date. It wasn't that she was unhappy about going with Neville, she just lacked enthusiasm about going with him. She just didn't really know him. He was just this shy, quiet, slightly pudgy little boy who was her ticket in the door.

But then she started actually talking to him.

It was the weirdest thing. He hardly said two words to her through the first two dances. At first, she thought he was staring at her chest, which on some insecure level she found flattering, but then she realized he was just staring at his feet: he was counting his steps. His focus was so intent that it looked as though he'd been practicing this for quite a while.

After he stepped on her foot for the fourth time, she decided he hadn't been practicing enough. If he went for number five, she was out of there... even if it meant she had to leave the ball.

In one last ditch effort, Ginny decided to try actually talking to him. His silently mouthed "one, two, three, four," had done nothing to liven the moment. She hoped that if she could distract him with a real conversation, maybe he'd stop moving all together. Her feet would certainly thank her for that.

Ginny got his attention by telling him that "my eyes are up here." After looking up at her, he quickly assumed she thought he was looking elsewhere. This of course caused him to immediately look directly at her chest in reflex. He then flushed bright red and stammered out an apology.

Once she was actually able to engage him in a real conversation, he suddenly focused all of his attention onto her. At first this was noteworthy only because his dancing actually improved greatly once he stopped thinking about it and just did it (because of his earlier practice).

But then something strange happened, It soon dawned upon Ginny that he was focusing all of his attention on her.

As far as she could remember, no one had ever done that before. Even though she was the youngest, and the only female of seven children, and the first born-female Weasley in what seemed like forever, Ginny had never been the sole focus of anyone's attention. It was simply not possible in a family of that size.

And then... there the two of them were, waltzing around the Great Hall, and Ginny felt like the only girl in the room. Not because Neville was looking at her, but because Neville was looking at her.

Once he'd forgotten about counting steps and dipping and twirling, Ginny managed to get him to start talking. She was amazed. She knew he was quiet and shy, but once she got him started, he just did not stop. He just seemed to need a little encouragement. She wondered, was this the same little boy whom she saw flinch whenever Draco or Snape entered the Great Hall for a meal?

The truly amazing thing was that all throughout the dance, Ginny found herself unable to tear herself away from him. She'd gotten several requests to cut in (even one from a hunky-looking seventh year), but each time a request came, by chance Neville was at a point in whatever he'd been talking about where she felt unable to leave his story incomplete.

"Maybe next song," she would tell them, distracted. Who would have believed a story about a plant could actually be funny? Neville, obviously, for his anecdotes were, to be direct, not a waste of her time.

By the time the end of the dance arrived, Ginny realized that she'd spent the entire evening with Neville. It had certainly not been the evening she had envisioned; it certainly was not the evening she would have chosen.

To be honest, if after the dance she'd been given the chance to go back and relive the evening but instead land Harry as her date, she would have. Neville was a lot like Harry in certain ways, but he was, after all, not THE Harry Potter. Nevertheless, she had enjoyed herself that night, dare she say it, with Neville.

When they finally did decide to call it a night (they were some of the last dozen or so to finally leave), the two of them silently walked up to the tower together. There was a friendly distance separating them, but they did walk together, side by side the entire way. It only seemed polite after all... walking back to their common room with him, rather than running off on her own.

Once they finally reached the staircases that separated the boys' and girls' dormitories, Ginny thanked him for a "nice" evening, and gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. In all honestly, having passed no less that eight couples mid-snog on their way up, it really would have been impossible to not do so otherwise.

Besides, it really was only a friendly, I-had-a-nice-time-but-don't-expect-anything-more kiss.

At the time.

And she really did think it funny, but strange, that he started humming one of the waltzes from that evening as he climbed the stairs to his dormitory.

Two years later, she kissed him again: a sweet sixteen snog.

The dying ember that still pined for the Boy Who Lived would have preferred that kiss be awkward and gross. It would not be the last time it would be disappointed. There weren't fireworks (for her, at least). There wasn't a magical shock that connected them. But it was pleasant enough.

When Neville stepped away, Ginny could see how downright loopy he looked; he nearly even fell over. Michael or Dean never looked like that! And Dean was the one eager to take things "to the next level." What exactly "the next level" was after two weeks of dating, she did not know, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to find out. It was a good thing she'd already decided to actively (and directly) pursue Harry again. If she hadn't, she might have taken Dean up on some of his advances, if for no other reason that to try to make Harry jealous.

As the party progressed, no matter how hard she tried, Ginny could not stop thinking about how Neville had reacted to the snog. To be perfectly honest, she felt he looked like she imagined she did whenever she was around Harry the four years previous.

Was it possible? Does Neville fancy me? she wondered.

Of course he does, the snide voice (that thought of itself as Super!Ginny) in the back of her mind replied. Who wouldn't fancy you? Who COULDN'T fancy you? This voice of course had always the strongest proponent for chasing after the Boy Who Lived. It was, therefore, a voice Ginny had begin to tune out ever since she heard her brother attack her mum with the love potion incident.

Super!Ginny haughtily asked who couldn't fancy her. Real-Ginny knew the answer: Harry. And while she was not overjoyed by that fact, she now knew she could live with it.

And it was a good thing too, for that voice was soon getting to the point where it was beginning to consider more... elaborate ideas. All it was really looking for was a little something to get Harry's attention.

The part of Ginny that realized Harry was Harry James Potter, and not the Boy Who Lived, thought back to what she felt she really wanted in a boyfriend. She wanted a second Harry, someone who was everything good that Harry was, but just wasn't the Boy Who Lived... because that was the only way she'd ever known Harry ever since she'd been old enough to be told the tale of... the Boy Who Lived.

And then it hit her. Of all the boys she knew, and she knew a lot of them (in passing, because they all knew her... something about redheads with long, silky, flowing hair), if there was one of them who most embodied Harry, it was Neville. She suppressed a laugh; she'd even said as much two years earlier after the Yule Ball.

Over the years, the pro-Harry voice all-too-frequently heralded the famous teen wizard for saving her life back in first year. As she thought back on it, Ginny could not help but notice it had curiously stopped promoting that fact after her trip to the Department of Mysteries back in June.

Ginny felt the answer was obvious: if saving her life was all that was necessary for her to fancy someone, the voice certainly didn't want to remind her of Neville's actions before they left for the Ministry. True, he didn't save her life as such, but he certainly had come rushing to her rescue from the members of the Inquisitor Squad.

Even to this day, many months later, she could still hear clearly in her mind Neville's voice shouting out her name in shock from the other end of the corridor. Nothing had sounded so sweet to her ears as him screaming, "LET GO OF HER, YOU BASTARD!" as he ran down the hall, towards her and her captor.

She recalled with a slight wince as Warrington did exactly as he was asked: he passed her off to a large Slytherin girl she didn't recognize and stuck out his beefy arm. He then proceeded to viciously clothesline the charging Neville (not that she knew that particular maneuver was called clotheslining).

As Ginny stood next to her mum watching her brother continually cycle from ecstatic to despondent as he talked to her quirky Ravenclaw friend, she knew what she wanted: a boy who was all the good things Harry was, but was also something that Harry wasn't... a boy who fancied her.

It also had not escaped her attention that Neville had apparently gone out of his way to find out what she wanted for her birthday. Now, there was nothing wrong with what Harry had given her. But honestly, to give a girl the exact same thing as what another girl (whom she'd considered competition) had given him a few years early? Could anyone be any more un-original, or un-romantic?

Well... except maybe for Ron. Chocolate frogs, while not unwelcome (chocolate was a girl's best friend after all, right after diamonds), were certainly not unexpected. But Neville's present was entirely unexpected (from him), and EXACTLY what she wanted.

Ginny had come full circle and was back to where she started: saying Neville's name to herself.

Did she fancy Neville? Could she fancy Neville? She liked him as a friend, to be sure, but could there be more? There was only one way to know: talk to him, spend some time with him, and find out.

But first, she had to find Neville. And think of a reason to talk to him. And discreetly figure out what her mum thought about him. Things would be so much easier if her mum approved of him. While Ginny was mostly certain she would date whomever she wanted, regardless of what her mother said, she wasn't yet ready to waste a perfectly good, potential boyfriend to test that theory out.

With perfect timing, Arnold, her newly named Pygmy Puff, squeaked from his box. She'd asked her mum to perform a gender charm so she could name it properly. Not that she would want to, but one couldn't perform a "visual inspection" on something like a puffskein to determine gender. How the critters figured it out for themselves, she didn't want to know.

Arnold's announcement that he was now awake gave her the perfect excuse. She didn't know what she was supposed to do to take care of it. As much as she had wanted a puffskein, she never did bother to find out what kind of maintenance was involved before asking for one.

Where was Neville? She looked around the room. Both he and Harry seemed to be missing. Craning her neck to look into the kitchen, she saw Harry with his back to her, talking to someone just out of sight.

Ginny smirked to herself. Even if she had moved on from Harry, she could still admire the view. She had to admit: if there was anything good about Harry having spent the last few weeks at Hermione's house, it was that he'd obviously, finally gotten himself a decent wardrobe. The jeans in particular...

Bloody hell, Ginny said to herself. While the ones he was wearing now were okay, the ones he had on back at his birthday party were certainly much more flattering. Shaking her head before the snide voice took too much interest in what he was wearing, Ginny started to head for the kitchen.

"Neville?" she sang out in a sing-song voice, a slight bounce in her step.

* * * End Flashback * * *

It was soon time for Harry and Hermione to return home. Bill and Fleur, along with Charlie and Percy, had headed off to Diagon Alley to get a head start on moving boxes. As Luna hugged Ginny goodbye, a very grouchy Ron stomped up the stairs to his room. Luna then came over to Harry and Hermione.

"Please tell your owls that I wish them congratulations," Luna said to them as she came up. "I must admit I was very confused when I first met Metis. He seemed so protective of Hedwig from Pigwidgeon at Harry's party that I immediately felt he was male. But when you called him a 'her,' it confused me to no end. It was worse that trying to figure out what happened to all of the Heliopaths now that Minister Fudge is gone."

Harry and Hermione just looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes. They shared a small smile.

"Erm, Luna?" Hermione then asked. "Didn't you say you had a reference book on birds?"

"Oh, yes!" Luna exclaimed excitedly. "Daddy just loves birds. We have several just about owls, even. Would you like to borrow them while we are away?" Hermione smiled and nodded. Harry hid a smirk. Finally, Hermione and Luna had something they could talk about, if only for a moment: books.

"Will either you be staying here much longer tonight?" Luna asked Hermione. Hermione glanced in Harry's direction; he shrugged his shoulders.

"No, we'll be leaving soon," Hermione replied.

"I'll send it off as soon as I get home. I do have a question for the both of you, if you don't mind?" Luna then asked. "You both arrived here by Knight Bus this morning? And you arrived at Harry's party by Portkey, correct?"

Harry and Hermione shared a nervous glance. Fidelius or no, could or would Luna figure out their living arrangements?

"I was just wondering, did either of you feel lost at Harry's party? I was told when the Portkey was delivered that I couldn't be told where I was going. While I accepted the answer, as soon as I arrived, I immediately felt isolated somehow, like I was cut off from the rest of the world. Did either of you feel like that?"

Now was definitely a time to not say anything about Grimmauld Place, assuming they even had a choice in the matter. As it was, in this unique situation, they told the truth as completely as they could.

"No," they replied together. They didn't feel cut off, as they knew exactly where they were; they just couldn't tell her that.

"Hmm. I think I would very much like to go there again, to study that feeling. I think it would make a wonderful article in The Quibbler, don't you think? 'My Trip to Nowhere,'" Luna mused, sounding excited.

She then abruptly changed topics. "Have either of you seen Ronald?"

"I think he went upstairs a minute ago," Harry replied.

"Of course," Luna said simply. "I did notice he was drinking a lot of pumpkin juice today. Maybe I could help him out."

Both Harry and Hermione stared at Luna, eyes wide and jaws dropped in shock.

"I'm sure if he ate a little food, the liquids wouldn't go through him so quickly. I wouldn't want to disturb him, however, so perhaps you could tell him for me?" the Ravenclaw asked Harry.

"Erm, I think I'll wait for him to get out first," Harry said awkwardly, even though he doubted Ron was actually in the bathroom.

"Oh, okay then," Luna said indifferently, as though she wouldn't have thought it odd if Harry had gone in to deliver her message while Ron was using the facilities. She then took a moment and looked longingly upstairs.

"Would you tell Ronald that I said goodbye?" she asked Harry. "Daddy and I are leaving for Sweden tomorrow, and we won't be back until the thirty-first." Harry nodded.

Luna then turned towards Hermione. "You're welcome to keep the books until I get back. If you don't mind, you can return it to me on the train back to school."

And then as quickly as that, Luna turned and then walked out the door, heading back home.

"Okay then..." Harry said as he blinked several times at the suddenness of her departure.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed.

"Well, I suppose I ought to go deliver Luna's message, doncha think?" Harry said with a grin.

"As long as he's not in the bathroom," Hermione said with wink.

"Yeah, I'll let her handle that one."

Hermione rolled her eyes, then shook her head, smiling.

* * *

Harry walked into Ron's room and found Mr. Cheerful standing in front of his window with his arms folded. Harry slowly walked up to him.

"Hey," Harry said quietly; Ron jumped.

"Bloody hell, mate!" Ron wheezed as he caught his breath. "You could give a bloke a heart attack like that."

"I just wanted to let you know we're leaving soon," Harry told his friend. Ron nodded absently, still looking out the window. A few moments later, he let out a sigh, then turned and went to lie down on his bed.

Harry went over and stood where Ron had been and looked out the window. Ron's window overlooked the road into town. Harry was just in time to see a head of blonde hair disappear behind a small hill in the road.

"Everything all right, mate?" Harry asked.

Ron sat and thought about it for about ten seconds. "Yeah, I suppose. It's just the timing of it all sucks."

Harry remembered what he'd overheard Ron saying earlier. "Luna lives right up the road from you, you move back, and now she's leaving?"

Ron lifted his head to stare at Harry with a look of having been caught, though this time he didn't at all look embarrassed. He then put his head back down on his pillow.

"Merlin help me, but I think I'm actually starting to like her," Ron said as he stared at the ceiling.

"She asked me to come up and say goodbye for her," Harry added.

A smile began to appear on Ron's face. "She did?" he asked hopefully.

"Yep," Harry replied. "But I really think she would've rather said goodbye in person." Even with Ron lying down, Harry could see his eyes shoot wide open. He leapt up off his bed and rushed over to the window. Harry managed to step out of the way just in time, even though he knew Luna was already long gone.

"Damn it," Ron muttered to himself, then trudged back to his bed, flopping down.

"Why didn't you just stay downstairs with the rest of us?" Harry asked. "You wouldn't have missed her then."

"I don't know. I was just mad, I suppose." Ron then let out a little laugh at himself. "Yeah, imagine that... me, Ron, sulking. I was just feeling sorry for myself, I suppose. We've been writing each other, you know?" Harry figured as much.

"It's strange how you can get to know someone, just by writing to each other. You know, she's really not that bad once you get to know her," Ron said matter-of-factly, as if he was cluing Harry in on the biggest secret in the world.

Harry smiled slightly. He remembered a similar discussion back at his birthday party with Ron along the same lines, though it seemed as though Ron had forgotten.

"I mean, she just looks at the world differently, and once you accept her for that, she can be quite interesting. I really don't think she actually expects me to believe much of what she says, but as long as you just listen to her and then just let her believe what she does, she seems happy with that.

"Although," Ron then added with a small grin, "I do have to admit, some of her ideas about the management of a couple of the pro Quidditch teams are pretty... complex. I, uh, was actually hoping to get a chance to debate some of them with her." Ron's face suddenly darkened. "But then she had to go to Sweden," he added sulkily.

Harry realized then that Ron had been caught off-guard by the timing of her Snorkack holiday. "But didn't you know when she was going?" he asked Ron. "I mean, if you've been writing to each other, wouldn't you have known that she was leaving?"

"We never really got around to talking about that," Ron admitted, now starting to get a little pink around the edges. Harry decided to spare him any further embarrassment by not pursuing that topic any further. Something did stick out in his mind, however.

"Well, if you're going to discuss her Quidditch theories, just keep Cho Chang in mind, all right?" Harry asked.

"Huh?"

"Just remember that there is a fine line between debating and arguing," Harry reminded him. "I doubt Cho will ever talk to you about the Tornadoes again."

Ron looked guilty. "Oh yeah, right," he said. A semi-horrified look then suddenly appeared on his face. Somehow Harry was willing to bet that it had something to do with the idea of Luna never talking to him again. "Oh... right..." Ron then whispered to himself.

Harry then put on a cheery face. "So! Are you going to come say goodbye to me, or are you going to spend the rest of the day lying in bed, moping?"

Ron sat up in his bed. "Oh, are you two leaving?" He'd obviously not been paying attention when Harry first walked in the room.

"Yeah, I figured we probably should be getting back soon. Hermione's mum and dad wanted to have a little chat with us about Hedwig and Metis," Harry explained.

Ron got up and went over to Harry, clapping him on the shoulder consolingly. "Rotten luck on that, mate."

Now that he'd seemed to have gotten over the 'our owls had sex' thing, Harry didn't at all see what was so rotten about the whole thing. "Oh, I don't know. I think it's kinda neat, really. Life goes on, even in war. You know, just like with your brother and Fleur."

Ron's eyes glazed over for a moment. "Blimey, mate. She's going to be my sister-in-law soon. Wouldn't have minded bumping into her on my way to the shower in the morning," he said dreamily.

"Yeah, well, you make sure you're covered up first thing in the morning. If she sees you like that, I'm sure you'll have Bill to deal with."

"Oh, yeah," Ron realized. While he certainly did not at all mind looking at Fleur, and to be honest, had even had a fantasy or two (or three dozen) about her, he certainly did not want to inflict himself upon her, even accidentally. It was bad enough those two times when he had to listen to Ginny screech at him about how she'd been blinded. If there was an accident with Fleur, somehow he suspected it wouldn't be his eyeballs at which his brother's hexes were aimed.

"Either that, or she'll just start laughing at you," Harry immediately teased in typical best friend fashion.

"OY! Watch it, mate!" Ron warned in good humor. "You better be careful yourself. One of these days Hermione is going to burst in on you one morning while Mister Happy is still up and about. Good luck explaining that to her."

"Oh, I'm sure I'd figure something out," Harry replied evasively. Actually, she'd explain it to me! he added to himself. A puzzled grin then began to appear.

"Mister Happy?" Harry asked; Ron immediately turned bright red. "Mister Happy?"

"Oh, come on, like you haven't given him a name," Ron defended.

"I bloody well have NOT!" Harry assured him, trying not to laugh.

* * *

Harry, Hermione, and Neville were soon standing outside the Burrow, ready to depart. As Harry glanced at Remus, Tonks, and Neville's minder standing by the road (he still did not know the man's name; he certainly was not Mr. Conversation), he suddenly realized something.

"Don't you and Ginny have someone watching you?" he asked Ron.

"Yeah, but they only come when we need to go out somewhere," Ron explained. "We've been so busy going back and forth here and there with the moving that we haven't had a chance to go out anywhere else."

"Oh yeah," Harry realized, embarrassed. Just then, he heard more gnome chatter from the overgrown fields completely surrounding the farm. Ron turned his head in the direction of the sound as well.

"Merlin's beard, Harry," Ron complained. "Me, Dad, Charlie, and Percy all spent three hours yesterday trying to de-gnome the house and just this small area that we cut down. They'd completely taken over everything! The little blighters even managed to get inside the house while we were gone. Fortunately there was nothing for them to eat in there, but oh what a mess they make.

"It's a good thing Ginny and I can use magic now. Mum had to call Fred and George over after work yesterday so we could get their wands too. We're all experts at Confounding gnomes now," Ron said, shaking his head.

He then lowered his voice. "Mum even found one hiding in her china cupboard. I bet you even Luna heard that. She's now started looking for a more permanent way of reducing their numbers... at least enough to get them down to more manageable numbers like before we left. I even heard her complaining about how the grass cutting charm only cuts grass."

Ron then pointed around them at nearly two dozen spots where the grass was several inches taller. "See all those? That's where there were gnomes when Dad cast the charm."

"Goodbye, Hermione," Ginny said, hugging her friend. "Thanks for coming, and thanks for the quill." She then turned to Harry.

"Thanks for the broomstick kit, Harry," she said as she gave him a polite hug. Neville, already flushing from merely the idea that he might get a hug, was next.

"Thank you SO much for Arnold, Neville," Ginny said as she gave him a great big hug. She then gave him a kiss on the cheek as she grabbed hold of his arm to keep him from moving, or falling over. "I'm really sorry we missed your birthday party," she said as she stepped back slightly, then moved to stand next to him as her parents came up. She did all of this without letting go of his arm (she was curious to see how she felt about, and how he reacted to, her touching him).

Neville, for his part, looked as though he had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he certainly wasn't going to complain about it.

"Thank you all for coming," Molly gushed as she gave Harry and Hermione hugs (Neville didn't at all feel left out in not getting a hug; he knew the two of them were much closer to the family than he was). "Don't be strangers," she told them. "Send an owl if you can't send yourselves." Ginny finally let go of Neville.

Right as they were about to head for the road to catch the Knight Bus, Arthur pulled Harry aside. "The next time you come over, if you could bring a little more of that... soda pop, I'd be in your debt. I've only managed to get one from Ron."

"I will," Harry promised with a smile.

As they walked towards the road, Hermione quickly pulled out some money to pay the bus fare back to Wandsworth. She wasn't trying to "even the score" with Harry; she just wanted to treat this time. She also wanted to give Stan an extra tip to make sure the bus stopped at her house when there were no other passengers, so they could put Harry's Invisibility Cloak back on without anyone seeing them.

With a BANG!, the Knight Bus appeared a few minutes later. The three teens and three Aurors climbed aboard and all found seats on ground deck. At this time in the afternoon, there weren't nearly as many people aboard as in the morning. All in all, the return trip back took about as long as the first one. The smaller number of witches and wizards aboard was offset by the increased number of stops necessary to ensure they were alone when they disembarked. Remus and Tonks remained on the bus to head back to wherever they were going.

On the ride back, Remus had asked Harry if he minded if he used Grimmauld Place the following week: the full moon was in a few days. Harry immediately agreed, then asked him if he would be staying there afterwards... just as he had been prior to the Weasleys moving in.

Remus cast a quick glance at Tonks and became embarrassed again. He said he really hadn't thought that far ahead yet. He then said he'd think about it. Harry was pretty sure that meant no.

Still under the safety of the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione was surprised when the front door didn't open when she turned her key in the doorknob. It took a second to realize that the deadbolt was locked. Unlocking it, she opened the door to find her parents stretched out on the sofa looking extremely comfortable.

Dan and Emma looked in their direction as the door opened. They weren't even surprised when the two teenagers suddenly appeared out of nowhere from beneath the cloak.

"Why was the deadbolt locked?" Hermione asked, curious but unconcerned.

Dan and Emma shared a look. Hermione obviously (thankfully) had no idea just how relaxed... how truly sated they were, and why the lock was really locked. "Oh, must have just locked it out of habit," Emma quickly answered as if it were unimportant.

Hermione nodded in acknowledgement; she herself had done the exact same thing all the time... locked the deadbolt out of habit, that is.

Emma waved her hand towards the loveseat; Harry and Hermione sat down. "Did you two enjoy yourselves today?" she asked.

Both teens agreed. They certainly had... once they'd "straightened" a few things out.

"We looked in on your owls this morning," Dan said.

"Uh huh," Hermione replied hesitantly.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Dan commented. "Out here in the Muggle world, no one knows that a war is brewing. Inside, I can only imagine what is going on. And yet amongst all of that, well, as Ian Malcolm would say, 'Life finds a way.'"

"Jurassic Park," Hermione whispered to Harry.

"I remember that," Harry teased.

"I know I said we'd talk about this later," Emma reminded them, "but is there really anything you think we still need to talk about?" she asked. She and Dan were pretty certain this incident would have the sobering effect they hoped it would, so they didn't really feel the need to discuss that.

Harry and Hermione both felt that they'd settled everything that needed settling standing out by the tree (except what to do about Hogwarts' one animal rule), so they didn't think anything else needed discussion.

"No, I think we're okay," Hermione answered. "Luna will be sending over a few books on owls later today, so I'm hoping that will address any... technical questions we might have about what's to come."

"You guys might want to consider a larger cage now," Dan pointed out. Even from where he'd been standing in Harry's room earlier, he could see that Hedwig's cage certainly was not designed for her to be sitting on the bottom rather than her perch. It certainly was not designed for two... soon to be three.

"You're right," Hermione observed, then turned to Harry. "Shall we do a little redecorating, Dad?" she asked Harry jokingly.

"Need to make room for a growing family, Mum," he joked back. As the two headed upstairs chuckling at their new nicknames, the adults were pleased to hear the two teens seem to eager to tackle such an important responsibility... especially since they weren't doing it for real... meaning Harry and Hermione were the "grandparents," and not Dan and Emma.

"Just think of it as practice for when their time comes," Dan whispered into Emma's ear once Harry and Hermione had gone upstairs.

"Yes, well, some things you can't practice for," Emma whispered back. "Hermione certainly wasn't the size of an egg when I had to hatch her," she joked.

"Oh, I remember," Dan added. "You nearly broke the bones in my hand on that last push."

"Yeah, but it was worth it, wasn't it?" Emma asked as she snuggled deeper into Dan's arms.

"Yeah, it was," he replied as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

* * *

After surveying the layout of Harry's bedroom, Hermione went to fetch Metis's cage from her room. After setting the entire stack of his fifth-year books on the floor out of the way, she decided to set up a new, larger cage on his desk. Since they'd been doing all of their homework downstairs together anyway, he'd never really even used his desk yet. He hadn't even looked at the stack of his old books since returning from his birthday party since they'd managed to get that part of their homework done early.

After expanding Metis's old cage to nearly three times as large, Hermione decided to wait until Luna's books arrived before moving Hedwig, so she could know how to "decorate" the cage to make it more like it would be out in the wild.

While Hermione was expanding the cage, Harry had sat down on his bed. He immediately heard the sound of parchment crumpling beneath him. He stood up, pulled back the sheets, and found something he'd never seen before... something he didn't even know existed.

He'd read about three-quarters of it before he found his voice again. "Personal Health for All Third-Year Witches?" Harry asked as he continued to read. Hermione immediately spun around, looking wide-eyed at his discovery.

"Give me that, Harry," Hermione asked abruptly as she started to reach for it.

"What is this?" he asked, holding it just out of her reach. For once, Hermione cursed the fact that Harry was taller than her.

"It's nothing," Hermione lied.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Harry pointed out as he looked up at the sheet he was holding high above his head where she couldn't get it.

"Intimate relations.... contraception spells, the Paternus charm," he read off, "where did all of this come from?" he asked. He'd mercifully not read aloud anything from the anatomy and hygiene sections, though he did find them extremely interesting strictly from an academic standpoint (honestly! Where would he have learned about that kind of thing prior to now?).

"Please, Harry, give that back to me," Hermione asked again, quietly this time. Seeing that she truly wanted it back from him and was not just saying it for the sake of saying it, he immediately gave it to her.

"What is that from?" he asked again, however.

Hermione stared at him for a few seconds. "How much of it did you read?" she asked.

"Most of it," he admitted.

Since the figurative cat was out of the bag now, Hermione decided it would just be easier in the long run to tell him.

"Basically, it's sex ed for witches," Hermione admitted. Harry looked surprised.

"When did they teach that?!" he asked in shock.

"Third year, Harry," Hermione reminded him. He looked slightly guilty that he'd forgotten so quickly.

"Where was I during all of this?" he asked, sounding offended at being left out of the loop. "Or was this one more form my aunt and uncle didn't sign?"

"No, it's only for witches," Hermione explained.

"Why?" Harry complained. "Don't you think I should know about that too?"

"Why? Are you planning on getting someone pregnant?" Hermione joked. When the words left her mouth, she'd said it hoping to lighten the moment. But at the same time, a tiny part of her felt a little defensive and jealous. Why did Harry want to know about that too?

"No, of course not," he replied. "It's just that... well," he said as he glanced in the direction of Hedwig and Metis, "that if I was going to be intimate with someone, I would think I was just as responsible to know about... that kind of stuff as the girl was." He started blushing.

"Oh, Harry, I could just kiss you for that!" Hermione exclaimed. "I know we've never... that none of us have really ever talked about... had a frank discussion about sex, but it makes me so proud of you to know that you actually care about being responsible.

"Unfortunately, wizarding society as a whole does not agree with you. This is something that is taught only to the girls. It's just like at school. They trust me to come up to your room, but they don't trust you to come up to my room."

"Hey, I'm trustworthy!" Harry defended jokingly.

"Yes, I know you are, but can you say the same thing about all of the boys at school?" Harry quickly shook his head. "Imagine if every boy knew just how easy it was to prevent pregnancy."

"But..."

"At least this way, they don't know, so in theory, it would make them more cautious. The saying is, 'it takes two to tango.' As long as all the girls know... when a boy and a girl... well, at least one of them knows."

"But..." Harry tried to say again.

"Trust me, Harry. I really don't agree with that either. Knowledge is power, and in this case, knowledge is responsibility. But, it is the way it is."

"Well, I still think they should teach us that stuff," Harry insisted. "If guys knew just what was involved in being responsible, it might make them more responsible about being responsible." He then stopped for a second to replay that sentence in his mind. He nodded to himself once he was sure it made sense.

"Well, you know, Harry," Hermione said casually, ready to unleash her wit again, "reproductive magic is an important topic. Since I'm campaigning for elf rights, maybe you could campaign for this. I'm sure if it came from the Chosen One, people would listen."

"Erm..." Harry said, not sure of what else to say.

"I have S.P.E.W. You could start your own group. We could call it the Society for the Promotion of... of... Equitable Reproductive Magic." Hermione could no longer stop smiling.

"Yeah, and I'm sure it would be very popular," she continued. "Everyone knows me as the spew girl, so you could be the..."

"You know what?" Harry cut her off. "Let's work on one campaign at a time. We'll focus our attention on S.P.E.W.," he said making absolutely sure to spell out each letter, "and then we'll go from there. In the mean time, I'll just trust you to perform the contraception charm."

Hermione's eyebrow rose.

"Erm... eh... uh..." Harry spluttered. "You know what I meant!"

"Yeah, Harry, I DO know what you meant," she said. A few silent moments later, they both finally began to laugh.

* * *

Later than afternoon, Harry and Hermione decided to have another go at throwing off the Imperius. Both felt bolstered by their performances the previous evening, so they wanted to try again, to be sure. They also decided to up the ante by increasing their risk if they failed.

After Dan again fetched the metal stepladder (after reluctantly putting down Harry's cloak; he'd been amusing himself with it for most of the afternoon), the two of them returned downstairs with two valued possessions this time: two stuffed animals for Hermione and the Firebolt and crystal chess set for Harry.

Harry went first this time. Again, because he knew what voice to listen for, he was able to throw off several different commands, each on his first attempt. When it was Hermione's turn, however, she struggled at first but finally succeeded in throwing the curse off without dropping her wand.

After a few minutes of rest, she made her second attempt. While still not as fast as Harry, she was able to throw it off more quickly this time. Also, on this attempt, she noticed how Harry still staggered slightly afterwards from his exertion due to the extended duration Imperius.

On her third time, Hermione decided to try something. The warm sound of Harry's voice of warning countermanding the hollow-Harry voice gave her the strength to throw the curse off immediately. She intentionally did not, however.

Rather than breaking the link, she continued to struggle with the voice for several minutes. When she was able to hear his voice weaken slightly (the hollow sound made it almost seem drowsy), she then threw off the curse with all of her strength. Because she had been toying with "it" the entire time, she really hadn't tired much at all.

Harry, on the other hand, had been fighting against Hermione's will the entire time. He didn't know she was just dragging things out. He was actually beginning to worry that she was going to fail this time. When she finally did expel him, Harry started to fall back just as he had the very first time he'd done this the day before. Just as before, Dan moved to catch him.

This was exactly what Hermione had been waiting for.

Quickly drawing her wand, she immediately stunned Harry. Dan had been so surprised by the ray of red light that shot towards Harry (and him) that he instinctively let go of the now-unconscious teen and jumped back, like a person might after dropping a sharp knife.

Harry fell to the floor with a painful sounding THUD! It was a good thing he was already unconscious.

"DAD!"/"DAN!" came the simultaneous shouts from Hermione and Emma.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Dan chanted to Harry's unconscious body as it lie on the floor. Hermione ran over and kneeled down behind him, cradling his head in her lap. She glared angrily up at her father. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he kept repeating.

Hermione began to run her fingers across the back of Harry's head to see if he'd hurt himself upon begin dropped by her father! She scowled up at him again.

Fortunately Hermione had only stunned Harry lightly, so he woke up a couple minutes later. He came to with a dull throb in the back of his head, which was being offset by a most wondrous feeling: fingers (that were not his own) gently massaging his scalp. He'd done this countless times before when tired or in pain, but when it was someone else's fingers, it felt a hundred times better. The feelings caused him to actually shudder with pleasure before opening his eyes.

When he opened his eyes and saw Hermione looking down at him, he was glad he hadn't opened his eyes earlier. If he had, his shudder... well, never mind.

After Harry had assured everyone he was all right (and accepted Dan's fifteen apologies), he decided it might also be a good idea to do a brief review on the Patronus Charm. Partly because the Headmaster had suggested it, and partly because it had been on his mind ever since Hermione mentioned the Paternus Charm.

Hermione briefly explained to her parents what a Patronus was and how it was used while Harry cleared the room to make more space. He moved his and Hermione's possessions off to the side, setting them on one of the steps of the staircase. Perhaps because it just looked strange the other way, Harry set the two stuffed animals down so they were facing out, as if looking into the living room. He then shrank down all of the furniture and bookcases in the room; he shrank everything except the entertainment center.

While the Grangers' television, VCR, and stereo all worked in the vicinity of Harry and Hermione's magic, neither he nor she was willing to test what would happen if either of them actually performed a spell on said device.

It was not merely the presence but rather the concentration of magic that created havoc with electronics. "There's too much magic in the air," Hermione said once about Hogwarts in fourth year. That was why Remus and Tonks' mobile phones worked in places like Diagon Alley. It was an everyday sort of destination for shopping and dining, so magic wasn't constantly being used there to the extent it was in other places like Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, or the Ministry building. It was also why electricity worked in Muggle/wizard villages like Godric's Hollow.

Fortunately with everything else from the room reduced to dollhouse size and placed in the kitchen (Dan and Emma laughed when they saw everything sitting on the kitchen table), Harry felt there was enough room. It wasn't as large as the Room of Requirement, but then again there were only two of them this time. Dan and Emma stood in the kitchen and watched.

Once they were certain all of the curtains were tightly closed, Harry and Hermione stood in front of the television, to ensure the Patronuses were cast away from the electronics, just to be safe. With just the two of them, the "magic in the air" was quite low (at least the magical kind of "magic in the air"). But should they perform a spell on the television, or into it, the concentration would effectively be one hundred per cent. Harry was comfortably wealthy, but it didn't mean he wanted to waste money on a new television simply because he'd been careless.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"Ready," Hermione replied.

Harry closed his eyes and remembered how he felt waking up with Hermione in his arms. Meanwhile, Hermione closed her eyes and remembered how she felt waking up in Harry's arms.

"Expecto Patronum!" both cried out simultaneously.

All four people in the room were momentarily blinded by the surge of brilliant light that flooded the room. When it had faded enough, Harry was finally able to see the stag form of his Patronus walking around the Grangers' living room, looking as though it was inspecting its surroundings. He could not help but grin as he saw Hermione's otter gamboling around the room.

It playfully waddled around in circles around Dan and Emma's legs. Emma, unable to resist, kneeled down to try to touch it. Although it appeared transparent, she gasped in surprise when her fingers made contact.

"It feels like real fur," Emma said as she stood up and looked at her hand in awe.

"It does?" Hermione asked.

"You seem surprised," Dan astutely observed.

"Well, we didn't really study this spell in class. It was more of an extra-curricular activity," she explained. "The book I read said that Patronuses took on different traits depending on their strength.

"A weak one is just a nondescript shape, like a silver mist. Even stronger is one that takes a corporeal shape, but is just an image. It has no substance," she explained, as if quoting from a book. "Next is one an image that has a nondescript substance, as if you were touching fog, or maybe even water.

"An even more powerful Patronus," she emphasized, "has true corporeal form and substance, but no mass. It looks and feels at first touch like its image, however it is still partially transparent and not entirely solid. The only thing more powerful is the true Corporeal Patronus, with a capital 'C.' It's completely solid, completely opaque, and even has mass. In fact, it is identical to the real thing in every way, except that it is made of magical energy instead of flesh and bone. It's so rare that when people talk about a corporeal Patronus, they are talking about the lesser ones, with a lowercase 'c.'" Hermione finished breathlessly.

"I think the book I was reading said that a true Corporeal Patronus has only been produced less than a dozen times in all of history. It's so powerful that everyone within miles of it can feel its presence in some form."

Emma suddenly let out a small gasp and started to look at her hand again.

"What?!" Hermione asked, concerned, as she and Harry moved forward, leaving their Patronuses to wander around on their own.

"What happens if you touch even one of the weaker corporeal ones?" she asked, trembling as tears began to form in her eyes.

"It transfers its energy to whatever it touches," Hermione replied. "In the case of dementors and lethifolds, it allows them to feed off of it instead of the person casting it. If the Patronus is strong enough, it will repel or even kill it."

"You said it was created by thinking happy thoughts, that it's essentially a mass of positive energy?" Emma asked; Hermione nodded. "I think that's what I'm feeling. When I touched it, it transferred some of what you put into it, into me." Emma's eyes darted to the right a bit, in the direction of Harry, however she was able to prevent herself from actually looking at him.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked. Emma was now able to look at him. As she did so, she was still able to feel the lingering remnants of her daughter's feelings for Harry. It was then that Emma truly knew that Dan was right: that when their time came, they would have so much more than what she and Dan had. If she ever had a reason before, now she knew why she couldn't interfere and rush them together faster than they were destined to be.

Emma smiled the exact same smile Hermione would have in her place (since they were Hermione's feelings for Harry she was feeling; they weren't her own). "I'm fine, Harry," she assured him. "I was just a little overwhelmed by the suddenness of it... or the sudden delayed onset, I suppose I should say," she said with a small chuckle. "I'll be okay."

"What are they doing?" Dan asked, drawing everyone's attention to the other side of the room. There, everyone saw the two Patronuses, which in all honesty they'd all forgotten about, standing at the foot of the staircase. Harry walked over to see what they were doing while Hermione stayed with Emma to check her hand further. They'd never touched their Patronuses before during the D.A. meetings, and Harry had once mentioned that the one he'd conjured in third year faded just as he reached out to try to touch it.

Harry was shocked at what he saw. Hermione's otter had put its two front paws up on the first step and was looking at the stuffed animal representation sitting on the second. It almost appeared as if the glowing otter was trying to smell the toy version, to see if it was real. Because of the way he'd set it earlier, it appeared as though the two were looking at each other.

But what caught him by surprise even more than that was to see his own stag Patronus with its head down, doing the exact same thing to the other stuffed animal. From the moment he first saw it, Harry simply assumed the second of the two animals Hermione kept on her bed was a reindeer. But now, all he could see was a stag.

He'd always associated the gray stuffed otter with her Patronus. But was this other one representative of his? After staring blankly at the two stags looking at each other, Harry finally heard Hermione's voice behind him, still by her mother.

"What is it, Harry?" she asked. Harry debated whether or not he should ask her about the brown toy. He just HAD to know. He turned around, ready to ask. But as soon as he did so, he saw Hermione standing next to her parents. For some reason, he just couldn't do it in front of her parents. Patronuses were very personal, after all.

"Finite," he said turning around and pointing his wand at his Patronus. It evaporated away into thin air. He reached down and picked up the gray toy, gently tossing it to Hermione. Her Patronus then turned around and excitedly chased after it, circling her legs as if it wanted to play.

"They seemed fascinated by their counterparts," Harry replied, hoping Hermione might react to the plural form of the noun. If she or her parents did, no one let on. She looked at her stuffed animal in her hands, down at her Patronus, over to where Harry's Patronus had been standing, and then back to Harry again. She then canceled her Patronus as well.

After dinner, thoughts soon turned to the week ahead. As the prospect of five more days of work and homework loomed out in front of them, they decided to enjoy what was left of the evening with another movie. Harry could not help but smile as he thought that he certainly was making up for fifteen years of missed movies.

He also found out what Hermione was talking about when she had mentioned being chased out of his vault by a huge boulder. He was certain that seeing the Nazis' faces melting had to have been the grossest, and coolest, thing he'd ever seen.

After the movie, Harry was tempted to tease Hermione about making them watch the end credits, until she'd explained that the theme from this movie was one of her favorite movie soundtracks of all time. He nodded attentively however as she rambled excitedly on about the interview with John Williams she'd seen on television once. He'd explained that theme was actually the result of merging two different themes that had proposed to the director, Steven Spielberg. After hearing both possible themes and loving both, he turned around and asked back, "Can't you use both?"

Harry smiled at her enthusiasm and made a mental note that he'd need to telephone Shawn, manager of the music store, once again.

As everyone was getting ready for bed, Hermione came and knocked on the doorframe of Harry's open door.

"Luna's owl is here," she told him.

The very first thing Harry noticed as he followed Hermione into her room was the large barn owl sitting on Hermione's dresser, where Metis's cage had previously sat. He remembered Ron commenting on the appearance of the Lovegood's owl. Now he knew why.

A barn owl seemed oddly fitting for Luna Lovegood. One of her most noticeable features was her large, unblinking eyes. A barn owl, with its facial feathers almost sculpted to draw attention to its eyes, just seemed perfect for the Ravenclaw. This owl also never seemed to blink, and stood there on the desk as if it had nothing else to do but watch them. Hermione was finally able to convince it that it was all right for it to leave after offering an owl treat.

"That is definitely Luna Lovegood's owl," Hermione commented as she canceled the shrinking spell (which, thanks to the aforementioned Arithmancers, also included a built-in lightening charm).

She then immediately sat down on her bed and started looking through the larger of the two books, flipping immediately to the index.

"Page 457," she commented aloud, finding the subsection on snowy owls. She then started reading down the pages.

"Nyctea scandiaca... females larger than males... males pure white or mostly white," she noted, then continued to scan the paragraphs. "Barking sound when threatened or protective... breeding season typically midwinter to April... specimens in captivity known to breed year round," she said and took a deep breath and sighed.

"It was all right here... if I'd bothered to look it up..." Hermione commented darkly to herself.

Harry had just come to terms with what had happened (thanks to Ron, surprisingly enough), so he wasn't going to let her get too upset by it. She'd seemed fine earlier... until she'd realized what clues she'd missed. He felt his best opportunity was to reassure her, then distract her.

"If there's anything I've learned from reading some of the Sherlock Holmes stories your parents gave me, it's that a clue is only a clue if you are looking for it. It's easy to connect the dots after the fact, after the puzzle has already been revealed. And besides, I think 'in captivity' is just the Muggle way of saying they live indoors, or in a controlled environment. I doubt many Muggles have them as pets. And they're certainly not fortunate enough to have them as familiars."

Hermione looked up from her book and smiled slightly. His plan had worked. "That's true, on both counts."

"What does it say about... nesting?" he then asked, still a tiny bit embarrassed saying the word. Hermione reopened the book to where she'd placed her finger as bookmark, and started reading again.

"Usually nests on the ground," she paraphrased. "Well, I guess all we need to do is give them a pile of dirt. Let's see what this other book says. Yes... yes..." Hermione confirmed as facts from the two books matched. "Hmm... mating season May to September?"

She made a disgruntled face. "Well, that was helpful. The two books say practically the opposite things for mating season. No wonder they can mate year round in captivity. Even they don't know!" she half-joked, half-complained.

Before it got too late and Emma came over to encourage them that tomorrow was another day, the two of them returned to Harry's room to finish the newly expanded cage. Fortunately, transfiguring stuff into dirt and rocks was pretty easy, so she was easily able to furnish the large cage appropriately.

Convincing Hedwig and Metis to use it was another thing all together.

Only after she closed Harry's window was Hermione able to draw Metis's attention towards the cage. Neither knew if he understood what she was explaining about the wonderful new cage, but once he'd gotten a good look at it with the distraction of an open window removed, Metis flew over for a closer examination.

He must have liked what he saw for he immediately hopped into the cage and began scratching his talons into the dirt in what almost appeared to be an appraisal. Hedwig, for her part, seemed to be attentively watching the goings on across the room.

Hermione came over to her. "Want to check it out?" she asked the nesting owl. "A lot more space than in here." Hedwig stepped back slightly to look down at her egg, and then back up again. "We can move it for you," Hermione offered kindly, then made a motion with her hands as if she was going to pick it up.

Hedwig hissed threateningly at Hermione, then stared intently at Harry, who was standing several feet behind her, by his bed. He came over and patted her on the shoulder consolingly. "Don't take it personally. I'm sure Crookshanks would prefer you be there if he ever fathered kittens."

Hermione chuckled. "Well, that would certainly be a medical miracle for him. But to be safe, please, Harry, promise me you'll never buy a cat. And if a someone offers you one, just say no!"

"Awww... but what if it had three heads?" Harry joked, then went to move towards Hedwig's cage.

"Especially if it has three heads!" Hermione replied as she stepped back and out of the way. Hedwig carefully climbed out of her cage, then flew over to the larger one. She too must have approved of her new surroundings for she immediately began digging out a nesting hollow. Harry wrinkled his nose at all of the dirt she was kicking out onto his desk. After a few minutes, Hedwig seemed satisfied with her effort.

Harry felt more terrified than he could possibly ever remember as he carefully picked up the precious, fragile object. The eight foot journey across the room felt like eight miles, but finally, it was resting safely in its new home.

"Home sweet home," Hermione commented as she walked over to look into the cage. As Harry withdrew his hands from the cage, Hedwig and Metis both nuzzled their heads into his hand in thanks. Metis then hooted softly in Hermione's direction, and moved closer to the bars of the cage.

Hermione carefully put her hand into the cage (just in case Hedwig still disapproved) to give Metis an encouraging pat on the head. Since it was within her reach before she could withdraw it, Hedwig quickly tilted her head up and nipped affectionately at her hand.

"It's okay, girl," Hermione assured the nesting owl. "No hard feelings. I understand."

* * *

Harry's slumber was slowly and gradually interrupted by the activation of the radio on his clock-radio alarm clock. He really didn't know what music he was listening to, but he found it a much more pleasant way of waking in the mornings. There was no rush to get up, but he didn't want to sleep in the entire morning.

Harry lie there, his face buried in his pillow, as he listened to whomever it was, singing whatever it was he or she was singing.

What the...? he complained groggily, still blind from having not opened his eyes. Why was it on in the first place?

What day is it? He was still mostly asleep, so it took a good five seconds to remember. Monday. Another few seconds. The twelfth? A few more. Twelve... even... my turn for breakfast.

That was why he'd set the alarm last night.

Harry groaned. He was so comfortable wrapped up in his sheets that he really didn't want to get up. They'd decided back in his first week there that they would alternate making breakfast on an odd/even basis. It had seemed silly at the time, but it really was an easy and efficient way to share the responsibility.

Within a few minutes, Harry had dragged himself out of bed and headed for the bathroom for a quick shower. He made sure to carry his clothes with him.

Ten minutes later, he was showered and fully awake, heading downstairs to ponder what to make. As he stood in front of the open refrigerator (letting all of the cold air out) looking at what lay inside, the telephone unexpectedly rang.

Should I answer it? Harry wondered. Who could be calling here this time of morning? He glanced at the clock; it was nearly half past eight. Maybe it's Dan or Emma, saying they forgot something? Before the second ring even sounded, another possibility occurred to him.

What if it was Shawn from the music store? What if there was a problem with his present for Hermione? If that was the case, he certainly didn't want her answering the phone. And really, in any case, he didn't want for her to be woken up unless it was necessary.

Harry picked up the receiver just as it was beginning its second ring.

"Hello?"

A silent pause. "Um... Hello? Sorry, I must have the wrong number," a woman's voice said. "I was looking for the Grangers."

"This is the Grangers' residence," Harry replied.

Another awkward pause. "And with whom am I speaking?" the woman asked hesitantly.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter, a friend of..."

"OH! Harry! Yes! Hermione's friend. Oh yes, Em told me you would be staying with them this summer. I'm so sorry," the woman said, chuckling. "She told me you would be there, but it completely slipped my mind."

The voice that had at first sounded hesitant, almost concerned, was now much lighter and friendly.

"Imagine my surprise when I call there and a BOY answers the phone first thing in the morning. I swear, sometimes if my head wasn't attached..." she explained.

"Well, Mister Harry Potter, nice to meet you, on the phone at least. My name is Bonnie. Emma is my sister," Bonnie explained.

"Is she there?" she then inquired.

"Emma, or Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Sorry, Emma. Is she there?"

"No, sorry. She and Dan left for work a while ago. I don't know when, but they're long gone by now."

Bonnie sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I just wanted to call here first in the hopes of catching them before they headed in for the day." By now, the jovial tone had faded.

"Is there anything I can help you with, or maybe Hermione? Want me to take a message?" Harry offered.

Bonnie let out a long sigh that sounded almost tired. "No, that's all right. I'll just call them at their office." Maybe it was because he could use no sense other than his hearing, but something in her voice sounded like something was wrong, or at least bothering her.

"Is everything all right?" Harry asked. "I can go wake up Hermione if you'd like."

"No, that's all right. Let her sleep in today. I'll just call and leave a message with their receptionist. I'd call now, but they don't turn their phones on until they open at nine. What time is it there? Eight-thirty? Would you please let them know I called, if they don't get my message at work?" Bonnie asked.

"Of course," Harry promised.

"Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Harry. You must've made a big impression on my sister and Dan if they're leaving you at home alone. Oh, and don't tell my sister, or her daughter, that I forgot that you were there," she asked.

Harry could hear that a smile had returned to her face. "I won't," he promised.

"Say hello to Hermione for me, will you?"

"I will."

"Thanks, Harry. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Harry finished, switching the phone off and returning the handset to the cradle. Something about that conversation sounded wrong. Was something the matter? Or was Emma's sister just still a little off kilter from hearing him, a boy, answer the phone first thing in the morning with Dan and Emma gone? And how was he supposed to know if they got her message or not?

About half an hour later, Hermione had come downstairs, looking refreshed and ready for a brand new day... of homework. Fortunately, at the slow but steady rate they'd been progressing, they would be done in the next day or two.

Now, seeing exactly what he'd gone through thus far, he knew that if he'd put it off until the very end like he usually did, it would have meant several nasty, grueling days of rushed reading and feverish scribbling at the very end.

Not this time.

"Did someone call earlier?" Hermione asked, then tucked into her breakfast; Harry nodded. "I thought I'd heard it ring this morning, but I couldn't tell if it really had, or if I'd dreamt it ringing. Since I only remembered hearing it once, I just assumed it was a dream and went back to sleep."

Harry smiled and nodded in understanding. He really hated it when he dreamt about hearing the doorbell ring early in the morning.

"It was a woman, said her name was Bonnie?" Harry said, asking Hermione if the name was familiar.

"Aunt Bonnie!" Hermione exclaimed with a large smile. "She's Mum's sister. How is she? What did she want?" she said excitedly.

"Oh, she wanted to talk to your mum," Harry explained. As for how Aunt Bonnie was, he debated what to say. In the end, he just explained how she sounded "off" but added that it could have easily just been from her surprise at him answering the phone. Harry was able to word it in such a way that he didn't admit Emma's sister had forgotten that he would be there.

"Well, Mum and her usually talk to each other every Sunday night, but she and Uncle Matthew have been on a cruise for the last month or so," Hermione explained. "Maybe they got back early."

After another moment or so, she finally decided she didn't know what to make of it either, that she wouldn't worry herself without direct reason, and that she would just ask her parents when they got home.

Several hours later, the two teens were back sitting at the same table for lunch. A subdued sense of anticipation was growing inside both of them. The light at the end of the tunnel was now visible. By her own estimation, Hermione would be finished with her homework tomorrow; Harry, maybe Wednesday.

This would mean that they would have more than two full weeks of holiday remaining, with absolutely nothing they had to do. Both of them, separately, were looking forward to doing things together that they wanted to do. And amazingly enough, each of them, separately, was hoping to pick up where'd they'd left off in their "playing games..." the ones they'd started back in Fred and George's shop eleven days earlier. The events of this last weekend had been somewhat distracting, after all.

Once the dishes were washed and put away, Harry looked out the French doors into the backyard. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get used to seeing the fog day-in and day-out, fog that seemed to chill him to the bone. Whether it was the actual temperature or merely the knowledge that it was caused by the dementors did not matter. Either way, he was glad to be indoors.

He continued to stare absentmindedly out the glass doors, looking at but not seeing the neighbor's house behind the Grangers', which sat on the next street over, Merton Road.

WHAP!

Harry jumped as a very ruffled-looking tawny owl slammed into the glass door, then dropped to the patio below. He could see it was carrying some parchment.

"What was that?!" Hermione asked as she turned around in her chair.

"The Prophet, I think," Harry hazarded.

"I was wondering why I didn't get one this morning," Hermione commented as she walked over and opened the door. The two of them looked down to see the owl right itself then shake its head to clear the fog it no doubt must have been experiencing after flying into a glass door. Its feathers looked rather uneven, as if it were molting, or based on the memory of another owl with similar delivery methods, balding from old age.

"About time for retirement, this one?" Harry asked in good humor.

"I guess," Hermione agreed as she ran upstairs to fetch some money for payment. Dazed and disoriented as it was, the owl would not let Harry remove the newspaper until Hermione returned; it was her subscription after all.

And she still need to pay.

Hermione promptly returned, paid the owl, and collected her newspaper. She quickly scanned the front page for any major crises; there were none, thankfully (today). Finally on the third page, something must have caught her eye for she actually spent a minute or two reading something.

"I knew it," she said, then showed Harry.

Post Owls Spotted in Muggle London

For several weeks, mysterious sightings have been reported by Muggles in a park on the outskirts of London. Reports to the local bird watching organization mentioned glimpses of birds that seemed to disappear like magic upon sight.

Kara Thrace, an Auror with expertise in Muggle-Worthy Excuses, was dispatched to the area to investigate.

"I set up surveillance immediately upon my arrival at the park in question. Not soon long after, I was able to positively identify them as Post Owls," Auror Thrace explained.

"They appeared to be merely hunting for a morning meal, and seemed healthy and not otherwise impaired or lost."

Auror Thrace then determined that the increasing sightings had drawn the attention of the local Muggle newspaper.

"It was just one of those local, communities oddities that they felt needed answered as at least a dozen Muggles reported glimpses of the owls. After confirming they were in fact Post Owls, by chance I stayed in the park a little longer to watch and see how the non-magical folk reacted to the momentary glimpse of a magical creature.

"I soon noticed a woman walking around the park with a note pad, talking to every person she met, and pointing towards the trees where I had seen the owls. As luck would have it, this woman was in fact a reporter from the newspaper.

"I was able to convince her that the birds were actually seagulls. A plausible yet boringly mundane explanation often is the best one for diffusing attention from magical occurrences."

According to her, Auror Thrace then applied a harmless glamour charm to several local pigeons in the park, just in case anyone wanted to see for themselves. Any Muggle who saw the disguised animals would see the seagulls instead. Evidently so near the Thames it is not an uncommon sight to see seagulls, especially in areas where careless Muggles throw their uneaten food on the ground, like in a park.

"With the local Muggles now thinking they are seeing gulls, the mysterious reports should decrease. However," Auror Thrace added importantly, "it still does not address the fact that two Post Owls seem to have made a Muggle park as their preferred hunting ground.

"Short of attempting to capture the owls, identifying them may be impossible. Considering the distances a Post Owl is capable of flying in search for food, that leaves hundreds of square miles in which they might live. Any witch or wizard living within owl-flying distance of London is encouraged to monitor their owls' hunting habits.

"Fortunately, we are able to narrow the search down considerably. The owls seen were both snowy owls, and based on the fact they appeared to be hunting cooperatively rather than in competition, they are most likely a breeding pair.

"I strongly recommend that anyone who owns a pair of white owls keep close monitor on them. While the Muggle interest has hopefully been satisfied for now, continuing sightings may prompt new reports." Auror Thrace then explained that in such an event, Ministry officials could be forced to locate the owls and place a tracking spell on them to trace them back to their owner.

It should be noted that violating the Statute of Secrecy in a manner such as this is strictly a minor matter, but could result in charges of up to several hundred Galleons, depending upon the number of Muggle witnesses involved.

Harry sat thoughtfully for a minute or so as he considered the article. "Well, at least we already knew about the breeding part," he said with a small smile. "Can you imagine if we read this two days ago?" Hermione nodded in agreement.

"I suppose that Hedwig won't be going out hunting anymore," she ventured, "and we could only let Metis out at night. I don't want them feeling like they're being locked in, but we also can't have them getting caught." Harry thought about it for a few moments, then nodded his agreement.

With the "open window" policy now suspended, Metis was transferred from guard duty back to delivery service. After showing him that Harry's window was now closed against any possible intruders, Hermione was able to send him off to Professor McGonagall with a letter asking about bringing both Crookshanks and Metis with her to school.

As they were on a fresh new week of homework, and as both knew they were nearly done, they decided to take a short while for a little more quizzing. Hermione challenged Harry to determine her Numerological Character Number; he was not at all surprised when it calculated out to be four, the same as the number she had quizzed him on earlier.

Harry flipped to the road signs section of her driving manual and asked her to explain three different road signs.

"The one on the left means 'no entry,' the middle 'no stopping,' and the right 'no waiting,'" Hermione recited proudly.

"And what exactly is the difference between 'no stopping' and 'no waiting'?" Harry cleverly asked.

Hermione hesitated. "Um... well, one is... and the other... I mean, we see them all the time, in all sorts of places..." she explained. "FINE! What IS the difference?" she finally admitted.

"Dunno," Harry also admitted with a grin. "The Highway Code manual you've been reading only identifies the signs here. It says to go buy Know Your Traffic Signs for 'a comprehensive explanation of our signing system,'" he quoted.

Hermione half-heartedly scowled at him for what she considered a trick question.

"Just because the answer wasn't in here, it doesn't mean it wasn't a fair question," Harry noted, seeing right through her. Hermione just rolled her eyes at him, though she was unable to completely hide the smile she had knowing he was right.

* * *

Harry and Hermione put away their homework when they heard the family car pull into the drive. Both noted the time: 5:30PM. They were home early today; they must have left a little early.

Dan and Emma were unusually quiet as they walked in the house. Harry could not help but notice the envelope that Emma was nervously playing with in her fingers.

"Hermione?" Dan said quietly as he and Emma sat down on the sofa. They both looked exhausted. Hermione could see something was wrong; her mind immediately returned to the phone call from this morning. She sat down on the loveseat; Harry joined her.

"Aunt Bonnie called work this morning. They had to cut their cruise short..." Dan said, his voice trailing off. He then looked to Emma to say what she needed to say.

"Your grandfather is in the hospital..." she said finally.

"Gran-da?" Hermione gasped in a whisper. Her hands clenched in anxiety resting on her legs. Harry set his hand on hers in support.

Emma looked back at her husband as she fought to keep her now-watery eyes from overflowing. "We have to go..." Dan said.

"Go?" Hermione asked, not understanding.

"Your mother would like to see her father... we need to go."

"Now?" Hermione asked incredulously.

Dan cast a quick, uncertain glance at Harry, then back to his daughter. "They don't know how much time... we have, not much, they think," he said as Emma grabbed hold of his hand.

"When?" Hermione asked.

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"You're leaving, tomorrow?" Hermione asked, again not seeming to understand.

This time it was Emma who gave Harry a pained look. In her eyes, he could see her heart-felt apology. Suddenly he knew what they were trying to say, without actually saying the words. Harry suddenly felt his heart sink to his stomach, but he knew it had to be done. Hermione did not notice; she was still looking at her father disbelievingly.

"You're leaving tomorrow, Hermione," Harry finally said. Hermione suddenly pulled her hand out of his as she turned to look at him, shocked. She looked at him as if she could not believe her ears, as if he'd told her the earth was flat.

"You're leaving tomorrow, Hermione," Harry repeated, his voice a little stronger this time. It hurt knowing their summer together might be at a end, but he of all people knew it had to be done.

"No," Hermione whispered.

"Hermione," Harry tried to say.

"NO!" she shouted, then jumped up and ran up the stairs. "I'm not going!" they heard her say right before her bedroom door slammed shut. Dan and Emma both sighed and rested their forehead in their hands. Harry looked off in the direction Hermione had stormed.

On the one hand, it seemed so unlike her to do that. And on the other hand, it made perfect sense. If he'd had his way, she wouldn't go either. But he knew this wasn't about him. It wasn't even about Hermione. It was about their entire family.

Emma was the first to look up. "Thank you, Harry. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to say it outright. And I'm really sorry this means our time together has been cut short. We've enjoyed so much having you here with us for this last month. It's meant the world to us to have our daughter back for the summer. This is the longest we've seen her since, what, summer before third year?"

"Please, don't thank me, Emma. I know what it's like. This past month has been the best I can ever remember, so even if it has to end like this, it's been worth it!" Harry said emphatically. He suddenly looked guilty. "Oh, I didn't mean..."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Harry," Emma said, actually managing a small, weak laugh. "I know what you meant." She sighed, then all three of them looked up the stairs in the direction of Hermione's room.

"I'll go talk to her," Emma said, then slowly headed up.

Dan and Harry looked at each other awkwardly. "I'm really sorry about this, Harry. If this were any other hospital visit for Emma's father, we might have let her stay. But Bonnie and Emma both know it... this isn't like the other times."

Dan then put on a brave smile that still let show this was affecting him too. "But, he's had a long and happy life, and he knew it was coming. He's had time to prepare. You know, he has a strange sense of humor. He liked to intentionally quote people out of context to make a point. It was he who turned Emma on to science fiction in the first place. If he could talk at the moment, I imagine he would quote Darth Vader, 'The circle is now complete.'"

Harry smiled at the very fitting reference. Only yesterday was a new life started. Soon another would end. The circle of life, indeed.

He also noted without comment that Dan had probably given away a little more than he intended about his father-in-law's condition.

"Did you know him well?" Harry found himself asking, surprising himself.

Dan too appeared surprised by Harry's question, but then smiled. "Yeah. After Emma and I got married, he became more like an adoptive father than simply 'the father-in-law.' My father and I weren't especially close," he said, and left it at that.

Just then, Emma came downstairs. "She's locked her door," she said, but in Harry's direction.

"Should we get the key, or just let her be for a while?" Dan asked.

"The doorknob itself is not locked. The entire door is closed shut," Emma said, still looking at Harry.

"She's sealed it," Harry realized, "magically."

He thought back to the last few weeks, at how Hermione had been there for him the entire time. Things had been getting better. While by no means had he forgotten about Sirius, he was no longer obsessing over his death. And when he did think of him, usually when he was lying in bed alone at night, it still hurt a little, but it was slowly getting better.

Life went on, just like Hermione said. Harry knew the least he could do would be to be there for her too. He stood up, drew his wand, and headed upstairs.

"She didn't abandon me when I needed someone, so we're not going to abandon her," Harry said intently as he walked towards her door.

Emma was about to object that no one said anything about abandoning anyone, but Dan interrupted, smiling at her in a way that said, "Let him do this."

Harry walked up to the door and knocked on it. It made absolutely no sound. The door was absorbing all sound; Hermione must have cast a silencing charm on it. Knocking or asking if she was all right would be pointless. She wouldn't have heard.

"Alohomora," Harry said, trying the first thing that came into mind. He was surprised when her door unlocked. She probably didn't give much thought to coming up with something more elaborate than Colloportus. Or perhaps on some subconscious level, she actually wanted Harry to get in.

Either way, the door opened, and Harry slowly walked in, followed closely behind by Dan and Emma. He felt his heart break in two as he saw Hermione lying face down on her bed, tightly clutching her two favorite stuffed animals, one under each arm.

Harry immediately went to her side, sitting next to her on the bed. He put a hand on her shoulder. She immediately climbed up and threw her arms around him.

"Why, Harry?" she asked with a voice thick from crying, although she wasn't anymore. "Why did this have to happen? This has been the best summer ever, and then this has to happen," she said into his shoulder.

"I know, I know," was all Harry could say as she held onto him. He heard her mumble something unintelligible under her breath. He couldn't make out the words exactly, but enough vowel sounds survived that it was possible she might have said that she didn't want to go.

"You need to go, Hermione," Harry replied, in case he was right. Even if she hadn't said that, it still needed to be said. "You need to be with your family right now. And more importantly, they need you."

"But what about you?" she said with a slight sniffle. "I thought... you needed me... us... here... after Sirius," she said timidly.

For some reason he didn't understand, Harry found her statement amusing. Before he could try to figure out why though, the answer popped into his head. "Hermione, I don't think I'll ever NOT need you," he said with a slight chuckle into her bushy hair. He was surprised when Hermione actually let out a laugh too. "But right now, your family needs you more."

Hermione pulled away a bit, and then looked searchingly into his eyes. It was his turn to give a brave smile. She them looked at her parents, and found them looking exactly as if they truly needed her at that moment. She turned back to Harry after a moment. "What if you came with us?" she asked hopefully.

Harry quickly turned to look at Dan and Emma. Before he was able to get his hopes up, he could see the look of shock and realization on their faces. Harry then remembered the envelope that Emma was still clutching in her hand.

They already had tickets. They'd already made travel arrangements, and judging by the looks of guilt on their faces, they must not have thought to include him. In all honesty, Harry didn't blame them. He couldn't feel upset about it even if he tried.

He knew this was a time for Emma's family. Even though he had come to think of this house as 'home,' even if Dan and Emma had enjoyed having him here as much as he enjoyed being here, he knew that wherever they were heading, he would be an outside element for the rest of the Granger family... erm, or whatever Emma's family name was... since Granger was Dan's name.

Before Hermione could say anything else, and before Dan or Emma could say anything, Harry took the initiative. "This is a time for you and your family, Hermione. I'll just be in the way. I'll be all right. I'm sure the Weasleys would be begging to have me over for a while. Besides, I think I'm due for a few ribs to be broken by Ron's mum anyway," Harry joked.

Hermione sat there for a few moments, looking very thoughtful. He got the feeling she wanted to object as much as he did, but both of them knew what had to be done. Finally, Hermione took a deep breath, then nodded, turning to her parents.

"Paris?" she asked; Dan and Emma nodded. "What time is our flight tomorrow?"

"Erm, actually we're taking the train," Dan said.

"The train?" Hermione groaned. "But it's like three hours from London to Paris by train. Why couldn't we fly?"

"Because plane tickets at this short of notice would have been several hundred pounds more," Dan explained patiently.

"And... there's something else," Emma added hesitantly. Hermione looked to her. "Crookshanks can't come."

"WHAT?"

"Pets aren't allowed on the Eurostar. And even IF we did get plane tickets, there isn't time to get his traveling papers ready. You know that if he leaves the country without his papers, he'll have to be put in quarantine for six months when he gets back."

"I know," Hermione admitted petulantly.

"He can stay with David and Eve," Emma answered before Hermione could ask where he could go. "You know how much Precious loves him."

"But Crookshanks hates Precious," Hermione complained. "There's something about the Kneazle in him that Precious loves," she explained to Harry. "She gets so excited around him and chases him around wanting to play all day long. He just gets tired of her after about five minutes. It's a good thing he's as big as she is."

A thought suddenly occurred to Harry, and part of his brain immediately sent it off to his mouth to speak before he could properly think about it.

I couldn't help it! It just popped in there, his instinctual side fretted.

What? What just popped in there? his logical side asked.

I... I... I tried to think...

"I can take Crookshanks," the words finally came out. Harry groaned internally; he'd made the offer without even thinking whether the Weasleys, or Ron, would like having the ginger cat around.

"Oh, could you, Harry? Would you? I know he'd be so much happier with you!" Hermione exclaimed.

* * *

The rest of the evening was rather subdued. Dan and Emma retreated to their room to pack and telephone family, informing them of their scheduled arrival tomorrow. Harry remained in Hermione's room while she packed. He got the feeling she didn't want him to leave; she kept asking him to hand her things to pack away that she could have easily gotten up and retrieved for herself.

He didn't mind however, for it kept his mind off the fact that he was leaving too. Besides, something about it seemed kind of funny. He was tempted to start saying, "As you wish," after each of her requests, though he never did.

Even though Hermione could pack by magic, this time, today, she chose to do it by hand. She did use magic, however, to make sure everything fit into a small, carry-on bag. Before they left the room, she'd told her parents that she would shrink down the contents of their luggage too. It would make traveling on the train that much easier. Even without the use of magic, her drawers of clothes were already so neatly arranged that it only took about five minutes anyway.

As Harry wandered around the room, he was surprised to see the framed copy of The Quibbler back up on the wall again. On the one hand, he was curious why it had disappeared when Ron and Ginny visited. But on the other hand, he was glad Hermione hadn't had to part with it for Luna to give him her present.

And besides, it is a nice picture, Harry's internal voice observed. Maybe someday, if we're lucky, it could be a real picture of us hanging up there, lovingly framed like that magazine is.

"Yeah," Harry agreed rather dreamily aloud. Captain Oblivious might have started noticing a few things, but he didn't get his name for nothing.

"Did you say something?" Hermione asked.

"What? Oh, no," he hastily denied, moving away from the magazine and over towards the picture of him and the Gryffindor Quidditch team practicing, which was sitting on the desk. His eyes gliding past the "in-the-zone Harry" chasing after the Snitch, he noticed again the large family reunion picture on her desk. He picked it up, looking at it.

"Which one is your grandfather?" Harry asked as he looked down at the portrait. He could see both sets of grandparents in the separate photographs of them, but he wanted to see the one everyone was worried about while he was surrounded by his family. Hermione came up beside him, leaning against his arm for support as she too looked at the non-moving photograph.

"Him," she said as she pointed out an elderly gentleman sitting in a chair in the front row. Harry had to take a second look at both photographs. He barely recognized the man sitting in the reunion photo as the same one in the separate pictures of just the two pairs of grandparents.

"This was taken in October of last year," Hermione explained of the reunion picture. She could see Harry also looking at the other picture. "That one was taken about three years ago." He was shocked that her grandfather had seemed to age so drastically in only two years.

Hermione then started to point out some of her other family members. "This is my Aunt Bonnie, the one you talked to on the phone this morning. And that's her husband Matthew. This is my dad's brother, Rupert, and his wife Evanna." Hermione then pointed to the eight children who, even in the picture, Harry could tell were dying to start running around.

"And these are all of my cousins. It's funny, both my aunt and uncle had large families, but Mum and Dad only got me." Harry could hear the disappointment in her voice. Fortunately, he knew her well enough to know that it was because she didn't have any brothers or sisters, not because her parents only had one child.

But still... "A more than fair trade, I think," Harry said honestly. Hermione turned away from the photograph to look at him.

"Thanks, Harry. Has anyone ever told you you're sweet?" she asked, then leaned over to give him a perfectly friendly, very brief, kiss on the cheek. She stepped back and looked at him again, smiling in amusement. "You know, you're cute when you turn bright red," she said unabashedly, then left the room to go check on her parents' packing progress.

Wearing a grin from ear to ear and feeling lighter than air, Harry returned to his room and looked around. He realized that packing up all of his stuff would not completed anywhere nearly as easy as Hermione's had been. Fortunately, this was not a time when it was a matter of right versus easy. This time, it was only easy versus hard.

"Pack!" he said, pointing his wand at the clothes hanging in his closet. Unlike Tonks, Harry's magical packing was rather neat and tidy. Then again, he hadn't tried to pack up everything in the entire room, only the closet so far. Another casting emptied his dresser drawers. He was about to do his fifth- and sixth-year school books when he heard a voice behind him.

"Cheater!" Hermione said, smirking as she entered the room.

"Oh, come on," Harry joked, "I'm nowhere near as organized as you. I'd be here for days trying to pack up everything. Besides, you're only packing to go visit family. I'm packing up to leave forever!"

"Well, that's true," Hermione agreed as she came over to look in on the two owls, who were now effectively locked in during the day; both appeared to be napping comfortably. How Hedwig could be comfortable sitting on an egg, Hermione did not know. Then again, some day, maybe she might find herself in a similar situation... similar biologically, not orthopedically.

"True that you are nowhere near as organized as I am," she added cheekily.

"Hey!" Harry objected.

"And besides, it's not forever, now is it?" she then added. "Your dentist appointment, remember? You have to come back here for at least that," she reminded him.

"Oh yeah!" Harry recalled. He was never so happy to be having his teeth checked as he was at that moment. He never really was fond of visiting Madam Pomfrey for those dental potions she gave him. Merlin's beard! He actually managed to get a cavity in his very first term at Hogwarts from eating all of the sweets available on a daily basis.

He really didn't know what was involved in Muggle dentistry (as if the Dursleys would take him), but it had to be better than those vile orange, smoking liquids. One mouthful of Denta-Fix was enough to guarantee his first cavity was his last.

Ron, on the other hand, still seemed to prefer his sweets. Even in fifth year, he returned from his two semi-annual appointments in the hospital wing wearing the unmistakable look that came from gargling and swishing, and thereby repeatedly bathing the tongue in the one potion in the world that tasted worse than both Skele-Gro and Polyjuice combined.

"Finished yet?" she asked him.

"Just my books" he replied.

"Well, no time like the present" Hermione replied, moving towards the stack of fifth year books on the floor, while Harry went for his new ones on his desk.

Because they were books and because she was Hermione Granger, Hermione stopped and looked at each book as she put them in his trunk. She stopped and looked curiously at the very last one.

"Harry..." she said, sounding confused. "What is this book? Where did you get it?"

"What book?"

"This one. Advanced Defense. Strange, there's no author," she commented as she opened the book.

"I have no idea where-"

"HARRY!" she gasped out. "LOOK! Here, look!" she said breathlessly, thrusting the book into his hands.

Harry looked at it. Advanced Defense. "What?"

Hermione just rolled her eyes at him. "Open it!"

Harry opened it and found a slip of parchment sitting inside the cover.

Dear Harry,

I told you it would be considered inappropriate if staff were seen giving presents to some students and not others, so I had to make sure I wasn't seen. I do apologize for the intrusion into your room after you and Miss Granger left for your party today.

Please consider this a book more of a long term loan than an outright gift. This has been handed down from person to person for countless generations. The only terms of the loan are threefold and simple.

First, that you share this book with no one, unless you feel it important to do so. The information contained within may be freely shared as needed, however the book itself must be protected from casual hands. Trust me when I say it is a one-of-a-kind item.

Second, if you learn something new, that you add it to the book. In the back of the book you will find a magical index. It lists additions in any way you may wish: by date, subject, or even author.

And finally, should the time come that you no longer need this book, that you pass it on to someone else whom you feel is worthy, so that the process may begin again.

I regret that you will someday find this book useful; however I pray you do find it useful.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster.

P.S. Look in your closet.

The closet? Harry wondered. My Firebolt! he remembered as he recalled finding his broom returned to him.

It was well past 1AM when Harry finally fell asleep. The book was... well, amazing would be an understatement. He joked to himself that he could never show it to Hermione; he might never get it back. Hedwig and Metis had objected to the bedroom light being left on all night, so Harry was reading by wandlight, ironically enough with his wand tucked behind his ear, pointing at the book in his lap.

If Ron could see me now, he joked to himself.

* * *

It was fortunate that Tuesday greeted everyone cold and gray, like every day since the dementors began breeding; it matched the mood of everyone in number 8, Broomhill Road perfectly. Harry's mood took a drastic swing up however when he went to greet Hedwig and Metis good morning.

There were now two eggs in the cage. Harry could not help but smile as he walked downstairs. The dementors and their weather be damned!

After making a certain other phone call while Hermione was still upstairs, Harry called Remus to see if he could arrange some transportation to the train station so the Grangers wouldn't be forced to leave their car there for an indeterminate period of time, or to try to take the bus whilst carrying their luggage.

He also used the Grangers' fireplace to Floo the Weasleys and ask if they would mind one more. He knew it was short notice, but worst case, he could always stay at Grimmauld Place. It was his now, after all.

Needless to say, but Molly had practically ordered him to move in to the Burrow as soon as Harry was able to convey that the Grangers were leaving. Harry recalled being told how the connection was restricted to allow communication only. Remus's analogy of bars on a window was eerily accurate. That was pretty much how it felt; he could stick his head in the emerald flames, but his shoulders would not pass.

After Harry was finished with the phone, Dan used it to make a few last minute calls to ensure all of their appointments were rescheduled with another dentist in their office building whom they had covered for in the past. Good friends of theirs, he certainly did not mind the extra business sent his way. Taking the receiver, Dan smirked at Harry, having heard what he just ordered from the music store (he still didn't know what he'd ordered originally, and Emma had refused, with a very large grin, to tell him).

By noon, all of the details seemed to be finalized, except one: how to move Hedwig and Metis, and their now growing family. Coincidently enough... or perhaps not... that problem was solved just as Harry and Hermione began to consider it: Professor Dumbledore and Fawkes arrived.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" Emma asked innocently, enjoying herself. "He telephoned this morning while you two were still upstairs to say he would be stopping by this afternoon."

The surprised teenagers both gave Emma and Dan looks that plainly said, "Yes, you DID forget to tell us!"

"Professor McGonagall shared with me this morning that you had a question for me," Dumbledore said to Hermione. Not that anyone was surprised, but his eyes revealed that he already knew what the question was.

"Well, sir," she began hesitantly, clearly uncomfortable about asking for a way around school rules. "I was wondering about bringing animals to school. I know we are allowed to bring either a cat, an owl, or a toad. I know that exceptions have been made to bring different types of animals, a rat for example. I was wondering if there was anything about bringing more than one."

"There is, Miss Granger," the Headmaster replied. "Unfortunately, school rules on this point are very clear: one animal only. Exceptions can not be made. If exceptions are granted for one, then they must be granted for all." Hermione looked heartbroken.

"May I ask why you are inquiring, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked. Again, he looked as if he already knew the answer.

"Well... you see, sir..." she faltered.

"Metis is male, sir," Harry answered. "He and Hedwig... well, there will be two more owls soon."

"Two?" Hermione, Dan, and Emma all asked simultaneously in surprise.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Harry asked with a smile, though it really was the truth.

"Yes, you bloody well did!" was the silent response he got back from the three of them. Twinkling eyes behind half-moon glasses watched the exchange with amusement.

"Ah, I see your predicament, Miss Granger. Do you take your cat or your owl?" he asked rhetorically. "Again, I'm afraid the rules are quite rigid in this regard that only one animal is allowed per student.

"However," he added before anyone could feel any worse, "there IS no rule against one animal bringing another." Harry and Hermione's eyes widened in incredulity but also hope. "In fact, I do not believe this particular situation has ever been addressed in all of Hogwarts' history."

Hermione looked stunned. "The school owls breed most years, yes, and there have even been instances of two students' owls mating," the Headmaster explained. "However in those rare cases, the students in question did not have any other animal they were also bringing, so it was never an issue.

"So, in this case, since there is no rule at all to cover this particular case, I believe there will be no problem. However," Dumbledore added importantly, "I must stress one fact. Officially, Metis will be a guest of Hedwig this year. Most bondings last only for the one season. Should the two of them choose to not mate again next year, this exception can not carry over."

"I understand, Headmaster," Hermione said happily.

Dumbledore then smiled. "So! When was this wondrous discovery made? I was wondering how long it would take the two of them, or the two of you, to figure it out."

"Sunday, actu..." Hermione laughed, then suddenly stopped. "Excuse me, sir. You were wondering? Did you know about Metis all along?" she asked, her voice becoming a little sharper, though still under control.

"Hermione Jane!" Emma chastised, able to read her daughter's voice.

Dumbledore cast a quick glance at Emma that informed her it was all right.

"I did, Miss Granger," he admitted. "As soon as I saw him, I knew immediately. One does not get to be my age without knowing certain things along the way. Are you familiar with magical auras?" he asked; Hermione nodded.

"For lack of a better description, auras are 'colored' by the gender of an organism. I suspect that you performed a Paternus Charm to verify your discovery?" he asked. Again she nodded.

"And what was the result?"

"Pink and blue glows around Hedwig and Metis, respectively," Hermione answered.

"This is something you would not learn until post-N.E.W.T. level Arithmancy, should you continue your education" Dumbledore explained. "Technically, the charm only produces a glow in the auras of the two parents. The gender of each influences the glow.

"Your own magic picks up on that, and causes you to interpret that influence as color. If you traditionally associated, say orange and green for male and female instead, you would see those colors instead of blue and pink. In time, you will be able to pick up on such influences, and many others, without the need for charms to illuminate the way."

Hermione was silent for several moments as she absorbed everything; she seemed positively fascinated by a new view on the world.

"But why didn't you say anything?" she then asked. "Why did you let us think he was a she?"

"Why should I have?" Dumbledore asked plainly. "What difference would it have made? Would it have caused you to do something different?" Hermione tried to say something, but stopped as she didn't know the answer. "Would you have worried what might happen if you had known Metis was male? Would you have tried to prevent them from mating?

"Nature must take its course sometimes, without our interference, or without our... permission." A small smile could be seen forming beneath his moustache. "And, I hope this will be an important lesson for both of you," he said, now looking in Harry's direction. "I trust you are both familiar with the Muggle expression of what happens when you assume?"

Harry and Hermione both nodded guiltily, but with a grin as they both knew what it made "U" and "ME."

"Now, Miss Granger, Mister Potter, was there anything else you needed this perfectly gray afternoon?"

"Well, actually, we were just starting to wonder how best to move the eggs to Ron's house," Harry said. "I was planning on Flooing over to the Burrow from Grimmauld. Remus is moving in there for the full moon, so I decided I'd accompany him after we drop the Grangers off at the train station.

"I often don't make a clean landing," he admitted, "so I wasn't entirely eager to take them with me."

"Well, if your owls permit, I may have a solution," Dumbledore said. "I happen to know that Fawkes here would be honored to carry the four of them to the Weasley home. It would be nearly instantaneous and completely turbulence free, despite how it might appear from the outside."

* * *

A very few short hours later, it was time for everyone to leave. The house was locked tight, newspaper and mail stopped, and refrigerator cleaned out. Not knowing how long they would be gone, Dan and Emma simply decided to send all of the perishables with Harry. All four of them were pretty sure they could find someone at the Burrow to eat it all.

Getting Crookshanks into his traveling basket proved to a bit of an adventure. He'd been out all morning and had returned to the house with yet another mouse in his mouth. Evidently he too had known all along about Metis's surprise, and had therefore was eager to be helpful when Hedwig revealed her surprise.

After vanishing this mouse (fortunately this one had been dispatched during catching), Hermione told Crookshanks that they were leaving. He sat on the patio by the back door, looking as though he was listening attentively. The moment she said that he was going to Ron's house, he turned his head away from her; he appeared as though he was trying to ignore her. His tail thumped against patio in displeasure several times.

As soon as she explained however that he could either go with Harry to the Burrow or spend the time with Precious, his ears immediately perked up. He ran over to Harry and started rubbing up against his leg, purring eagerly.

"I suspected you'd change your tune," Hermione commented to her familiar.

At three o'clock on the dot, a Ministry car pulled in front of number 8. Remus and Tonks, dressed as chauffeurs, got out to help with the luggage... Crookshanks' basket, Harry's trunk, and three small, carry-on bags that each magically contained a full week's worth of clothing for the Grangers. The lighter mood that had surrounded them had left with Dumbledore and the winged companions.

Not a word was spoken on the drive to Waterloo Station. No one seemed happy about the change in plans. Finally, the silence seemed to get to Emma for she turned around in her backwards-facing seat. She pressed the button to lower the black privacy glass that separated the front and back seats.

"Is there a radio in here?" she asked Tonks, who was driving.

"I believe so," she replied. "This was a Muggle limousine at one point. There are a bunch of controls behind the panel on your right."

"Ah, here we go," Emma said in relief. "It's just too quiet in here." She began to tune to different stations to find something she liked after putting the window back up again.

"... killing me softly..."

"... eeeh, macarena ..."

"... not in a shy way ..."

"... wanna be my lover ..."

"Spice Girls..." Emma muttered under her breath. "Hey! Was that Ol' Blue Eyes?" she asked herself, tuning back a couple stations. Harry could see Hermione shake her head ever so slightly. "Perfect!" Emma said as she found the previous station.

"I did it my way.

"For what is a man, what has he got?

"If not himself, then he has naught.

"To say the things he truly feels;

"And not the words of one who kneels.

"The record shows I took the blows,

"And did it my way!"

"Mum fancies Frank Sinatra," Hermione whispered to Harry, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Shush!" Emma said as she tried to swat at Hermione on the opposite seat, becoming embarrassed. "I forgot the oldies station was having a Sinatra marathon today," she said, looking very happy.

The next song began with four notes played on strings that were instantly recognizable to most Muggles, especially any who knew who the television character Al Bundy was. Sappy, almost dazed smiles appeared on both Dan and Emma's faces.

"Love and marriage, love and marriage,

"Go together like a horse and carriage,

"This I tell you brother,

"You can't have one without the other.

"Love and marriage, love and marriage,

"It's an institute you can't disparage,

"Ask the local gentry,

"And they will say it's elementary..."

Emma finally noticed the curious stares from the two people who didn't know how much that song meant (separated by the privacy window, Remus and Tonks couldn't hear). She nudged Dan with her elbow.

"Dan used this song to propose to me when we were in dental school together," Emma explained.

"You never told me that," Hermione said, sounding almost disappointed.

"You didn't want to hear about us being mushy, remember?" Emma asked knowingly. "Anyway, the school we went to wanted to have a 'mixer' type dance to help everyone get to know each other better at the start of term.

"Unbeknownst to me, Dan just happened to know one of the guys in the jazz band they hired for the night. How much was it?" she asked him.

"£100," Dan answered, looking both embarrassed and proud of himself at the same time.

"Dan paid him £100 to have the band play this song at the very end of the evening. He'd managed to get me out in the middle of the dance floor. Then, right after his friend sang the last line, Dan, right there, in front of everyone, said he couldn't have one with out the other, dropped to one knee, and asked me to marry him."

"Oh..." Hermione sighed rather dreamily.

"We'd been dating for several years by then," Dan picked up, "but had never mentioned marriage outright, yet. But each of us had made off-handed comments in our senior year that suggested we were both interested in making our relationship long term..."

"Very long term," Emma corrected.

"Permanent," Dan trumped her.

"So, I decided to pity the poor fool and say yes," Emma teased. "What was his name, anyway? Your piano-playing friend who was also a very good Sinatra sound-alike?"

"Shane," Dan reminded her.

"Ah, yes," she recalled happily. "So anyway, I guess you could say this is our song." Just then, the last stanza began.

"Love and marriage, love and marriage,

"Go together like a horse and carriage,

"Dad was told by Mother," Dan looked at Emma and grinned.

"You can't have one," Dan sang over top of one of the members of the legendary Rat Pack.

"You can't have none," Emma sang over the chorus.

"You can't have one without the other," the two of them finished the song together.

"Duh duh duh duh duh," they mimicked the last few instrumental notes, "Bah buh."

The two of them moved to kiss each other, but stopped at the last second and looked apologetically at Hermione.

"Fine! Go ahead, just get it over with!" Hermione said exasperatedly. The two adults nodded thanks, then gave each other a brief kiss. Hermione just rolled her eyes then looked at Harry as she shook her head and smiled. Harry grinned in return.

After two brief commercials, the next Sinatra song in the marathon started, just as the car pulled into the Waterloo Station car park. No one noticed (besides Tonks and Remus, of course).

"For once in my life I have someone who needs me,

"Someone I've needed so long,"

Dan and Emma both noticed as Hermione smiled absently as she stared at some point on the other side from her, somewhere above Dan's head.

"For once unafraid I can go where life leads me,

"And somehow I know I'll be strong.

"For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of,

"Long before I knew,"

Dan and Emma both noticed Harry smile blankly as he stared at some point on the other side from him, somewhere above Emma's head.

"Someone warm like you,

"Would make my dreams come true.

"For once in my life I won't let sorrow hurt me,

"Not like it's hurt me before,

"For once I have something I know won't desert me,"

Positively content looks appeared on both Harry and Hermione's faces.

"And I'm not alone anymore."

Suddenly, the song stopped and the door was opened by Remus. "We're here!" Tonks said cheerily as she climbed out of the driver's seat. Emma saw the looks of disappointment on Harry and Hermione's faces from the sudden termination of the song. She smiled and made a mental note that she'd need to telephone Shawn, manager of the music store.

* * *

Harry plus the Grangers found themselves standing on the platform in front of the Eurostar with about ten minutes to spare before departure. Tonks and Remus stayed with the car... something about vehicles being left unattended in loading zones. Hermione noticed Harry had brought his book bag with him from the car, but did not mention it.

Dan shook Harry's hand. "I'm really sorry about this, Harry," he assured him.

"Please, don't give it another thought, Dan," Harry said. "You guys were here for me this summer. The least I can do is let you be there for your own family now."

"Thank you," Dan said, and was immediately swept out of the way by Emma. She came up to Harry and gave him a hug that easily rivaled the ones given by Hermione and Mrs. Weasley. Harry smiled to himself thinking that he'd get his cracked ribs before he even arrived at the Burrow.

"Now, don't forget, young man," she told him, "you still have your dentist appointment at the end of the month. We should be back by then, so we're coming to get you for that." Harry got the distinct feeling his dental appointment was now merely a convenient excuse, but he wasn't going to object.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear, and he knew she was referring to him convincing Hermione to go with them. Finally Emma let go of him.

Harry turned to Hermione. She immediately threw her arms around his neck while his settled naturally around her back. "We'll be back as soon as we can," she promised him.

"No," Harry replied, not letting go of her. He continued to look at the train behind her; if he looked at her, he wouldn't be able to say it. "No, you stay as long as you need to. I'll be all right. Just be sure to come get me for my dentist appointment."

He heard her laugh over his shoulder. "We will," she promised. Harry let go of her and stepped back.

"I, erm, wanted to give you something... before you left," Harry said awkwardly. "In case you wanted to talk." He reached into his book bag and pulled out Sirius's two-way mirror, the unbroken one Remus had given him.

"You can talk through these, if you can find somewhere where people won't see you," he explained. "The glass in the other one, the one I have, is broken, but hopefully if I can fix it, they'll work again. My father and Sirius used to use these to talk to each other when they were in detention."

Hermione looked at the mirror in her hand as if it was the most important thing in the world. "Do you know how the spell works? Do you know how to fix it?" she asked anxiously as Harry pulled his broken one out.

"No," he admitted.

Hermione looked from the one in her hands to the broken one in Harry's hands. She then looked back and forth once more. "Here, let's trade," she suggested, holding her other hand out towards Harry's mirror.

"Just in case... I might be able to figure it out sooner... and then we could... I mean, if I needed to talk to someone, then it wouldn't take so long," she stammered.

"Of course, that makes perfect sense!" Harry agreed. Honestly, he was very glad she suggested it. He really had no idea how his father and Sirius had created the mirrors, and didn't know where to start to fix them. And he had to admit that getting them fixed sooner than later had its advantages too.

The train horn sounded a warning. It was time for the Grangers to get aboard. Harry looked over to the side where Dan and Emma were waiting for their daughter. They appeared to be reading the Departures reader board. He turned to look back at Hermione.

"Remember, be there for your family. And let them be there for you." He then leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead as a gesture of support.

Hermione looked over to where her parents were waiting for her. They appeared to be reading the Departures reader board; she knew they were secretly them. She turned to look back at Harry. "Goodbye, Harry," she whispered, then stepped forward to give him a kiss goodbye on the cheek.

At the last second however, Hermione made a slight detour and instead kissed him on the very corner of his mouth. There was no lip contact, but the kiss lasted a good second longer than was necessary. She then turned around and quickly walked over to her parents to board the train, never looking back.

Harry stood on the platform for several moments in a daze, holding his hand up to where she had kissed him. A minute later, a female voice announced over the PA system the departure of the train, and the train horn blasted again.

As the train began to move, Harry caught sight of Hermione, Dan, and Emma all waving to him through one of the windows. He waved back to them. A few moments later, they were gone.

Harry slowly walked back to the Ministry car, where Tonks and Remus were waiting for him. He climbed in silently and they started heading for the other side of London. For the entire ride to the train station, Crookshanks was quiet in his basket; now he desperately wanted out. Harry opened the flap and the orange tom immediately jumped up into his lap.

Harry stared blankly out the window and watched the city pass him by as he absently stroked Crookshanks' back. Suddenly, the cold mist he hadn't noticed at all back on the platform suddenly seemed to increase ten-fold, though on some level he knew there really hadn't been any change.

Harry paid no attention as the car turned onto a street called Drury Lane. He paid no attention as it turned again a minute later from Drury Lane to Grimmauld Place. He didn't notice as they drove around the small square that was said street. He didn't see as the past-their-prime houses passed him by: eight, nine, ten. The car came to a stop outside of eleven. He felt a small shudder reminiscent of Disillusionment wash over him as Tonks cast a glamour charm on him.

After re-securing Crookshanks, Harry calmly climbed out of the car and grabbed the basket (while Remus retrieved his trunk from the boot), and walked over to in between numbers eleven and thirteen. His mind thought back to that small piece of parchment he'd been given just over a year ago. Grim, old number twelve suddenly squeezed itself into existence between the two other houses, dreary as ever.

Everyone in the rundown neighborhood was either at work, at school, or in a chemically-induced state of indifference. If anyone had seen them however, they would have only seen a utility vehicle and three maintenance workers who appeared to be inspecting the streetlamp nearest number thirteen, which seemed to go out mysteriously for no apparent reason... on a fairly regular basis in the last week or so.

Harry walked up to the front door; it opened at his touch. As he walked in, he did not see Tonks give Remus a quick hug and wish him well for the next few days. He headed downstairs towards the fireplace in the kitchen, finally hearing the front door close. He was only beginning to notice Lupin's footsteps on the stairs behind him.

Harry walked over to the fireplace and looked at it, taking a deep breath.

"Harry?" Remus asked. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he replied. It was partially the truth.

"If you need me, you can call me by Floo here, or... at Tonks' later," he said, looking a little embarrassed. Harry managed a smile, and meant it. "If you can't get hold of us by Floo, try our mobiles. There is a public phone in town in Ottery St. Catchpole. Do you have any Muggle money?"

Harry nodded.

"If you need me, don't hesitate to call," Remus implored.

Harry stopped and thought about it. He would be with Ron and Ginny, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. And besides, Hermione had the other mirror. He would be okay.

"Thank you, Remus," Harry said, genuinely appreciative of his former professor's help. He then drew his wand. "Incendio!" The fireplace flared to life.

Harry stepped forward, grabbed a handful of Floo powder, and threw it into the fire. He took another deep breath and then stepped into the green flames.

"The Burrow!" he shouted, and was gone.

Next time: Harry gets some quality time to be alone with his thoughts as he replays everything that has happened in the last month. Dan and Emma finally ask Harry for something as payment for staying with them for the summer. And Harry and Hermione get their "shoves" through the barrier at Platform 9¾ by Dan and Emma.