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The Power of the Press
Chapter 2 - Year Four Continued

By Bobmin

Standard Disclaimer:

"You killed our Emu!" Bob exclaimed.

"Of course I did, what is it with you and animals lately? Are you sure you're not hiding some strange fetish I don't want to know about?" Alyx retorted.

"No! But the Emu was our mascot! No what will we do for a mascot?" Bob whined.

Alyx sighed and shook her head. "Do we really need a mascot? I mean you've had penguins, llamas, Emus, Hippogriffs, Elephants, Killer Whales and a clown named Bobo in our disclaimers. Why not do something new and different?"

"How about we bring out Sean Connery wearing a codpiece in the shape of a fish to do the disclaimer?" Bob asked eagerly. "Or wait! We can get Britney Spears to do it. She's desperate for any kind of exposure!"

Bob's expression filled with disappointment.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"If we get Britney she can't wear a codpiece in the shape of a fish!" he wailed.

Alyx groaned and banged her head against the wall a few times. Then she turned to the audience. "While he wrestles with this problem, I'll let you know that we don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with him."

She turned back to Bob and blinked in shock. He had a life size replica of Darth Vader and he was trying to attach a stuffed fish to it.

She carefully walked over to him and took him by the shoulders. "Come on dear, I think you need a rest."

"Oh, is it nap time already? I haven't finished watching the crab races."

She shook her head sadly. She knew this day would come. Behind her she never noticed the dozens of crabs running in her direction.

Waivunu, Fiji...

Hermione rolled out of bed and stretched, then stopped and looked out the window in surprise. She was momentarily disoriented and needed a minute to get her bearings. She remembered arriving at Fiji with her parents and meeting Harry. Then the long ride across the island on an incredibly bumpy road. When they arrived at the house in the small village of Waivunu Bay, Sirius suggested the Grangers each take a small dose of sleeping draught and nap for a few hours. They accepted, as it would help with the jet lag they were suffering from.

Wait a minute! Harry? she thought. Grinning, she bolted from the room and ran down the hall, skidding to a stop once she reached what looked to be a spacious living room. Hearing something outside, she walked toward a large, open sliding glass door, then stepped out onto the porch. She squinted slightly in the bright sunlight and glanced around.

There, just off the porch, she found the source of the sound that had drawn her from the house. Harry stood, his expression slightly pinched in concentration. In front of him were half a dozen objects, all of which he seemed to be levitating. Sirius was off to one side, tossing ping pong balls at him.

When Sirius noticed her, he winked, then placed a finger to his lips. Hermione wasn't sure what he was doing, but understood that he wanted her to remain quiet.

Sirius walked up slowly behind Harry. "BOO!" he shouted.

Harry ignored him and raising the objects higher.

Sirius frowned, then turned and gestured to Hermione. She glanced between him, Harry and the objects, then shrugged.

Stepping off the porch, she walked up behind Harry, leaned around his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek.

The objects came crashing down as Harry spun to face her, blinking rapidly. "Hermione?"

Remus, who had been watching from the porch with Hermione's parents, applauded and whistled loudly. "Nice job, Evan!" he called.

Hermione laughed, then grabbed his hand and tugged. "Come on. You owe me some explanations," she told him.

He nodded and waved to his godfather. "We'll be down by the water's edge, Sirius."

"Alright, Harry."

He rolled his eyes. "It's Evan," he muttered.

"Sure, Har...er, Evan," Sirius said, smiling. "Now go explain to Hermione before she has kittens."

Harry glanced at his friend and raised an eyebrow. She did look close to bursting. Laughing, he led her down to a bench well above the water line.

Hermione sat and looked around in wonder. It was summer in Fiji and the crystal blue waters beckoned to her invitingly.

"It's a far cry from Surrey or Hogwarts," Harry murmured, then leaned back on the bench and sighed. "So much has happened and so much needs to be explained."

He turned to look at her, noting the worry in her eyes.

"My life has never been a very good one, Hermione. Until a few months ago, you and Ron were the brightest spots in my life. The Dursleys hated me and everything about me. They barely fed me enough to survive and kept me locked up most of my life. Sirius had Azkaban, I had the Dursleys. I won't burden you with what happened there. Let's just say it wasn't a good place and Dumbledore knew that.

"A lot of my life hasn't been what I would have wished for. When Sirius and Remus visited me this summer, they told me they had spoken to the goblins, who told them about what Dumbledore had done. I read my parents will and it specifically said I was to be raised by a wizarding family in my family home and that under no circumstances was I to go to the Dursleys."

He paused and his hands trembled and he smiled apologetically at her. She reached across the distance between them and touched his hand gently.

He shook his head. "So much of my life has been a lie. My parents knew about the prophecy and made special arrangements to have me tutored, starting at age eight. I wasn't supposed to go to Hogwarts at all. They recognized that it would limit what kind of education I would have, and they didn't want that. They wanted me to have a broader view of our world and knew Britain couldn't provide that view."

He looked away, trying to hide the pain he felt. After reading his parents will, the magnitude of what he'd lost and could never regain had hit him hard.

Hermione squeezed his hand gently. "Harry, there's no shame in mourning what might have been. You're not responsible for Dumbledore's actions or the way the Dursleys treated you. But it looks like Sirius and Remus are doing everything they can to help make up for what you've lost through the years."

"I know," Harry said. He turned to face her, then shrugged a bit helplessly. "It's just that things could have been so different."

"They are different," she told him earnestly. "Look around you! This place is a far cry from Privet Drive or Hogwarts. Sirius and Remus would do anything to keep you safe and happy." When a tear slid down her cheek, she brushed it away irritably.

Harry looked at her, his eyes wide. "Don't cry, Hermione," he said, alarmed over her reaction.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. "Idiot," she mumbled. "I'm crying because I'm happy for you. You finally have the family you always wanted." She had always suspected that her friend held a terrible secret and when his home life was revealed in the papers she'd broken down and cried, cursing herself for missing the obvious clues. She had cried for him in the privacy of her own bed, with the curtains drawn and a silencing charm in place.

Now, however, with the help of his parents best friends, Harry had a chance of living the life his parents wanted him to have.

He wrapped his arms around her a bit awkwardly and thought about what she'd said. It was true that he'd been concentrating so much on what had been denied him that he hadn't quite realized everything he'd been given. Remus and Sirius were family. His parents wishes for him were being fulfilled, if later than they might have wanted.

"Thanks, Hermione," he said, leaning away so he could see her face. "I was so caught up in the past that I couldn't see what was right in front of me."

She released him and flashed him a bright smile. "I'm glad I was able to help. But I'm angry, too. Angry at not seeing the clues about your home life that you kept hinting at."

"You really weren't meant to see them," he told her softly. "They weren't clues so much as mistakes on my part. Sirius said I've become adept at hiding my feelings. He said he learned to do the same thing in prison, which is why he can see it in me."

She nodded. His explanation made sense. "Alright, now tell me how can you still perform magic?"

He grinned and considered making her wait, then decided against it. "It's simple, really. The Goblet is a binding contract made by wizards. The prophecy is an expression of destiny. Which do you think is going to win when they're in conflict?"

"So the prophecy and the binding contract clashed and the contract lost?"

Harry shrugged. "Sort of."

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

He looked across the bay. "Do you remember the glow that surrounded me for a second? In that instant, all of the magic in my body, including the bindings placed on my core and my abilities, were lost. I was, for just a moment, a muggle. It came back, of course. My core has been steadily expanding and refilling since then.

"Now days I spend as much time learning new magic as I spend learning to control my power and using my new focus. Three days after we arrived on Fiji, I accidentally levitated a lawn chair into orbit."

He looked at her sheepishly when she broke into a fit of giggles. He tried to glare at her, but he couldn't hold it. A second later he was laughing right along with her.

Gaining control over the need to laugh, she shook her head. "So, tell me about your new focus."

He held up a hand, showing off an ornate wooden ring. "Fiji's about forty percent forested land, but only a quarter of that is suitable for logging. As such, appropriate wood for wands is an issue and the native wizarding population doesn't want to add to the demand. Their solution was the use of focus rings, which use less wood, rather than wands. In some ways, the rings are very different and seem to make for a stronger focus."

"So your magic is stronger now?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes. Like the saying goes... 'and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal'... I have as much as he does."

She nibbled on her lower lip worriedly and looked unhappy. "He's not really gone?"

"Not yet, but we're working on it. And I'm preparing for when I finally face him," he said. He gestured and a ball of fire appeared in his hand for a moment, then vanished. It was a demonstration of magic far more complex and different than anything she could do.

She looked at his wooden ring rather wistfully.

He caught her look and made a snap decision. Holding up one hand, he closed his eyes. A few moments later a small box flew out the sliding glass door, over the porch and down the beach to his hand. He looked down at the brightly wrapped box and smiled. "I was going to give you this, as well as another gift, for Christmas," he told her quietly, then he thrust the small gift box into her hands.

Her expression changed to one of surprised pleasure. "Are you sure?" she asked.

He nodded. He knew he was jumping the gun, but it was important that she learn to use it while she was here.

She carefully unwrapped the box and glanced up at him when she saw the beautifully built focus ring. He blushed knowing what giving a ring to a girl normally meant. When she smiled shyly, he rushed to explain.

"I'm not trying to propose or anything, you understand," he stammered quickly. "That's a focus ring, like mine. It has no tracking charms like your wand, so you can use it at home without the Ministry knowing, as long as you don't attract muggle attention. Besides, it works differently from a wand, which requires a precise movement."

She looked at him curiously. "Why, Harry? Why do you want me to have this?"

He looked at his feet.

"Harry?" she prompted gently.

He ran a hand through his hair, flustered. "I like you a lot, Hermione and you'll be going back to that school without me around to keep you safe. Despite what they say, we both know Hogwarts isn't safe, especially with gits like Malfoy still running around. No one back in Britain will recognize the ring for what it is, and Sirius is going to charm them with a modified Fidelius charm. That will hide the ring entirely. You'll always have a way of protecting yourself."

She pulled the ring from the box and when she slid it onto her finger, she felt a small pinprick. "What was that?" she asked, frowning.

"The ring has a dual focus core," he explained. "The primary focus is sacred Tiki wood. When you put the ring on, a tiny bit of your blood was added as the secondary focus. With your blood as part of the core, only you can use the ring."

"A blood core," she said breathlessly. Blood cores were banned by the British Ministry, but they made for the most powerful foci known. It didn't make sense to her why the Ministry would ban them, but she wasn't about to throw the ring away. It was mated to her now, She would be the only one who could ever use it.

"Can I try it here?" she asked eagerly.

He nodded. "Sure. This stretch of beach has a notice-me-not charm on it. Besides, the Pacific Rim Ministry doesn't have underage magic laws. Try this. Place the box on the bench and levitate it. Don't bother moving your hand, just point a finger and think the incantation."

The box rocked gently a few times before she managed to get it to rise six inches off of the bench. She laughed and the box fell to the bench.

"Hermione..."

She tore her eyes away from the box and looked at him. "Hmmm?"

"You know you can't tell anyone about me, don't you?"

She frowned at him, wondering what he was talking about. She was about to ask when it dawned on her. "If people knew you still had your magic, they'd know Voldemort still had his. And since the prophecy is still valid, that means Voldemort will come back."

"But as long people think I'm powerless, they'll believe Voldemort is, as well," he countered.

She nodded. "If they knew about your powers, then his followers will flock to help him."

"I wish I could be with you, but I can't. The best we will be able to do is arrange holidays together. Sirius and your parents are probably talking about that now," he said with a touch of bitterness. The reality of the flight to Fiji was sinking home now that Hermione was here. He realized that she couldn't stay.

"It'll be fine, Harry. We can do this. At least now I can send you letters."

Harry laughed. "Yeah. You can drive Lavender nuts by telling her you're writing the boy you met on an exotic tropical island."

She looked at him oddly. "I suppose I could tell her I'm writing my boyfriend," she said, watching his face carefully to note his reaction.

He smiled at the thought. "That's the second offer along those lines I've gotten in the last month," he said softly. "Though I must say, this one is far more attractive than the last."

"Oh? You've already catching the eye of the local witches?" she asked. There was a strange, twisting feeling in her belly that she couldn't quite identify. She didn't like the idea of other witches being interested in him. Was this jealousy?

"No, I've not met many local wizards or witches yet. When Sirius was cleared, a friend of his in the States offered to help smooth things over for him there. He had some work he needed to arrange for and she's employed with their Department of Magic."

"And this older witch is interested?"

He grinned. "Well, I do like women a little older than myself, but she's way too old for me. She had a niece, you see. She wanted to send a photo and wondered if we'd consider a formal betrothal."

Hermione bit her lip and looked down at her hands, trying to hide the sudden hurt she felt. Her best friend was engaged?

Harry didn't catch her expression. "I told Sirius that I am going to do what my father did. When the time comes, I'm going to marry someone I love. But I'm too young for something that serious. Besides, I... Well, let's just say I have a hunch my heart knows where to go when I'm old enough."

She glanced up to see he was staring intently at her. "What are you trying to say, Harry?" For the first time since she'd met him, she was unsure of what he was saying, mostly because what he was saying went against her own self image. Part of her wanted to shout for joy and another part was terrified by what he was implying and denying the possibility.

"I like you, Hermione. I like you a lot. Someday I think we could have something really special.. We're young, maybe too young, but I had a lot of time to think when I was in the hospital."

Her eyes flickered to the faint scar on his forehead. Sirius had explained about his operation on their trip from the airport. The scar was barely visible now and it seemed odd to see him without it, though he did look better.

"You're my best friend, Hermione. I can easily see what I feel for you turning into something more."

She smiled shyly at him. His comments struck a chord within her. It wasn't as though he had professed his undying love for her or something, but the last few months had changed him. He was more mature and willing to express his hopes for his future; a future that might just include her. For herself, his comments bolstered her self confidence. She had never thought either of her friends would realize she was a girl. Obviously she'd been wrong, at least where Harry was concerned.

"I can see that, too," she whispered. It was going to take some getting used to.

Harry's smile tugged at her heart. For the first time in a long while she saw that his smile was also reflected in his eyes.

"Come on, let me show you around," he said as he stood up and offered her a hand.

Blushing, she reached up and took it.

Sirius watched the two teens walking down the beach holding hands and he shook his head and smiled. He then turned to his other guests, who were also watching the teens. "I've known two Potter men in my life besides Harry. Harry's father, James and James' father, Charles. James fell hard for Harry's mom from the moment he met her. He then spent the next six years mooning over her and trying to deny the inevitable. Charles told me he met his wife, Catherine, early on the Express. Unlike his son, Charles didn't try to fight the curse like James did."

Daniel Granger turned to look at Sirius in alarm. "There's a curse?"

Remus laughed. "What my melodramatic friend is trying to tell you is that Potter men tend to do two things in their lives rather well. They find the girl they're going to marry very early on, and they usually pick the smartest girl in their class. We thought it might be something about red heads, but Harry's grandfather told us it wasn't. It was just a coincidence that James' mother and wife both had red hair."

Emma Granger glanced at the teens, then looked at Remus. "So, you're saying that they're going to be a couple? Already?"

Dan scowled and started to stand. "She's too young yet!"

Sirius stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Dan. They aren't there yet and won't be for a while. I'm just saying that, if Harry is true to form, you're looking at the beginning of it right here."

"I'm rather surprised he took the step myself," Remus added softly.

Emma turned to look at him. "Oh? Why?" She was inwardly pleased for her daughter. Harry's influence had turned her from a sedate bookish little girl into a vivacious young woman.

The two wizards exchanged a glance and Sirius nodded his approval.

"Harry wasn't well treated when he was being raised by his relatives. Hermione knows a good deal of the story because it's been published in the Wizarding Papers. No one but Harry know the entire story. He's still painfully shy at times and he has no self esteem. We don't think he was physically abused, or at least not regularly. His surgeon in Tokyo told us that he's suffered bouts of malnutrition and there are more than a few scars that he won't talk about.

"That the two of them are holding hands tells me that they're close and that Harry may have told her some things that he hasn't told Sirius and me." Remus watched the two teens on the beach for a moment, then turned back to Emma, his lips twitching. "I think he might even have told her he likes her."

"For Harry, that's a really big step," added Sirius. "I don't think you need worry about Hermione's virtue anytime soon. Harry's too much of a gentleman for that sort of behavior and he'd never do anything without her telling him it was alright."

Mollified, Dan sat back down. "So what do we do?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "It's up to them. All we can do is continue to bring them together during their free time. It's up to them to develop it further or see if they remain just friends."

"I have some ideas, if you're willing to listen," offered Sirius.

Emma nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"We'd be more than willing to play host to all three of you. We have ample space and can provide portkeys or other methods that can be used to move between here and your home in Oxford. Harry is planning on giving Hermione a focus ring..."

When Dan tensed, Sirius held up a hand in caution. "Relax. It's not what you think. Wood is in high demand on Fiji. As a result, they use wooden rings, rather than wands. The government here has no underage magic laws either, so she'd be able to practice her using both her wand and her ring. When she goes back to Britain, the ring will allow her to use magic, free from Ministry interference, as they don't track rings."

Emma frowned. "I'm uncomfortable with the idea of spending every holiday we have here. Our summer is your winter. Would you be willing to consider letting Harry take a holiday with us during the summer months?"

"Half and half, eh?" Sirius asked. "Mind you, Harry or I will pay for any expenses he incurs."

Emma nodded. There were several issues that she still wanted to address. It was obvious that Hermione felt something for Harry. Even if it were only friendship, she had so few real friends. And she'd be able to continue her studies during the summer months under Remus, who was her former Professor.

Both Emma and Sirius smiled, thinking that they had won the best part of the deal. Remus and Dan exchanged a knowing glance and looked towards the couple walking the beach.

"Well, that's one thing taken care of. The next is Voldemort," Sirius said softly.

"He's not really gone, then?" asked Emma worriedly.

Remus shook his head and explained the hoax they had managed to pull on wizarding Britain.

Dan watched the couple as they walked back toward the house. "So, he still has to fight this Dark Lord," he murmured, shaking his head unhappily.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, Dan," Sirius said. "First off, James and Lily provided for his training. We have a number of specialists lined up to help him in the coming years. We've also found out how Voldemort managed to survive his attempt to kill Harry when he was a toddler."

"What did he use?" asked Hermione. She and Harry were climbing the short steps onto the porch.

"Do you know what a horcrux is, Hermione?" asked Remus. He knew she probably didn't.

She shook her head and looked upset that there was something she didn't know.

Remus smiled. "Don't be upset. You wouldn't learn about them at Hogwarts, ever. It's a piece of dark magic so obscene and foul that all good folk would rather not know about it."

When she looked at Remus with bright, curious eyes, Sirius tried not to grin. Many called her the smartest witch of her age and he didn't doubt it. Knowledge was like air to her.

"Basically," Remus continued, "a horcrux is a vessel in which you place a piece of your soul. It can be anything, really; a cup, even a fireplace poker. We found out about them when I read Dumbledore's journal. In fact, Harry's already destroyed one horcrux already; the diary."

Hermione shivered.

"That's not the worst part, " Remus added. "In order to create a horcrux, you have to kill someone in cold blood. With each Horcrux you make, you become less human."

She gasped and took a step closer to her parents. Emma reached up and took her hand.

"We think he may have meant to use Harry to make one, but that effort failed, obviously," Sirius said. "Remus has the list that Dumbledore had kept and the spells needed to detect them. After the new year, he'll return to Britain and begin the search for them."

"Once you've destroyed them, he'll be mortal again?" Hermione asked. Her eyes were on Harry and everyone could see she was clearly scared for him.

Harry reached out and took her free hand in his. "I have no intention of going after him until I'm trained and have a chance," he told her. "He's a stain on my life, ruining everything I want. I can't let that continue."

She released her mother's hand and wiped at her wet eyes. "No, I know you can't."

The two stared at each other, oblivious to everyone around them. It was a bit embarrassing for the adults. They felt like they were witnessing something intimate.

Sirius coughed politely. "I do believe dinner's ready. When we're finished, we can change clothes, go to midnight services and get home before Santa shows up!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "There's no such thing as Santa," he said tiredly. It was an old argument between them and he never won it.

"How do you know?" asked Sirius, seriously.

Remus blinked. "Erm... Well..."

"HA! Gotcha! You can't prove he doesn't exist!"

Harry turned to Hermione's parents. "I'm so glad there are some adults around finally! I've felt like I should be parenting these two!"

Sirius pounced on Harry, grabbing him in a headlock and vigorously rubbing his knuckles into Harry's head. "Say uncle! Say uncle!"

Remus shook his head and walked into the living room.

Dan leaned over to Hermione. "See? Aren't you glad you weren't born a boy?"

"Dan!" Emma exclaimed.

He winced and quickly followed Remus into the house.

Aboard STS 66...

A loud alarm sounded in the cabin and the Commander floated over to a console. He frowned and activated his microphone.

"Houston, Atlantis, we show an object coming up from astern, distance 100 nautical miles and closing at 600 mph."

"Atlantis, Houston. We not showing anything on our scope here."

"Houston, Atlantis, activating rear cameras. Stand by for video feed."

"Roger."

There was a moment of silence as everyone examined the monitors in growing confusion.

"Houston, Commander McMonagle here. Have the Russians started skimping on their MIR program?"

"Atlantis, say again."

"Houston, we're being overtaken by a lawn chair," came the sardonic reply. "We can see it clearly in the telephoto view."

The speakers remained silent for a few minutes.

"Atlantis, our experts down here don't agree with your assessment. They don't think it's a Russia lawn chair. Perhaps it's Chinese."

Commander McMonagle looked at shuttle pilot Curtis Brown and shook his head. Who knew NASA has experts on lawn chairs?

Christmas on Fiji...

It had been an exhausting day for Hermione. Harry and Sirius had taken her and her parents out to witness the Christmas celebration, followed by a huge feast at their home.

Harry had given her a book on magic used by the islanders, as well as a training guide for using her focus ring. He also told her that one of the big hotels had a New Years ball and that they had reservations. She and her Mom would be going shopping for an appropriate dress up in Nadi in a few days. Harry wanted to make up for the fact that she had missed the Yule ball.

Hermione was a little upset over the fact that she hadn't been told about Harry or Sirius and Remus. Not expecting to see them, she hadn't gotten gifts for Christmas. Harry brushed her concerns off by telling her that just coming to Fiji with her parents made up for it.

Harry was sitting on the couch with Hermione, talking softly when Sirius interrupted them.

"Guys, I have one final little gift that will make life a lot easier for you both," he said, sitting across from them on the love seat. With that said, he pulled out two small packages and laid them on the coffee table.

Hermione sat forward and picked up one. She started to unwrap it, then paused and Sirius nodded for her to go ahead. She unwrapped the package to discover a book. It was light pink in color with a silver pentagram on it's cover. Harry had unwrapped a similar book, only his was light blue.

"They're charmed journals," Sirius said. "There are instructions on the inside covers of each book for some of what they can do. The really nifty feature about them is that what you write in one appears in the other. This way, you don't have to rely on owl post to talk to each other."

Hermione was practically bouncing with excitement. The distance between them had her concerned, but this would do a lot to limit that distance.

"The books have other abilities that you'll not be able to tap into until you're both older. But for now, the ability to write to each other is a big plus," Sirius added. "For some of the other features, read the instructions and don't worry about running out of space. They're charmed to be never ending."

With a wink, Sirius stood and walked out of the living room, leaving them alone.

Harry glanced down at his book in wonder. He'd never heard of anything like them before. Opening the cover, he scanned the instructions and discovered that he could make entries private, or visible to the mated book.

"You will use the book to write me, won't you, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Of course! This is brilliant. They'll make things a lot easier for both of us."

"Easier?"

He shrugged. "Well, some things are easier to say in a letter, or in this case, a journal, than they are in person. At least at first. Had you not come here for Christmas, I had a letter ready to send to you."

She chewed on her lip for a moment. "Do you still have the letter?" she asked.

He nodded.

"May I have it?"

He smiled gently. "I tell you what. When we take you to the airport, I'll give it to you so you have something to read on the airplane."

She smiled and stood up. "Thanks! Good night, Harry." She bent down and kissed his cheek, then walked out of the room.

The remainder of the holiday was extremely pleasant for everyone, until it came time for Hermione and her parents to leave. Neither teen was able to say goodbye happily. It was a scene that moved the adults. Harry and Hermione would have been surprised to discover that both Hermione's parents, and Harry's guardians vowed to do whatever they could to help the pair stay in touch with each other.

Waivunu Fiji, January 15th 1995...

"You've been quiet the last few days, Harry; ever since I came back from the States," Sirius said, sitting down on a deck chair near him. Sirius had just returned from a week long trip to Britain and the United States.

Harry closed the book he'd been reading and looked at Sirius. "I can't help but wonder why things happened the way they did. I mean, my parents, all the other people who were affected by this. But I don't understand why. Don't get me wrong. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for what you and Remus did. But sometimes I lay awake wondering why. What did the Potters do to deserve such a fate?"

Sirius glanced up at Remus, who stood in the doorway listening to Harry, before turning back to his godson.

"Sometimes there's no real understanding, no real reasoning why things happen. No one will fully understand Dumbledore's actions. His journals hint at financial difficulties as his motivation for pillaging nearly thirty family accounts. He would have emptied yours as he did the others, but he couldn't, thanks to the way the accounts were set up.

"In a way, we were lucky," Sirius said, continuing with his explanation. "Gringotts considered your family to be one of the founding depositors. For that reason, they felt they had an obligation to expose what was going on with your account."

Remus stepped out onto the porch and sat next to Sirius. "Sometimes, a man gets a taste for a certain way of living and he'll do anything to keep living in that manner," he offered. "Why he ignored the issue with Voldemort is a mystery to me. Perhaps he felt he could take care of Voldemort himself. Then the prophecy came along and took it out of his hands entirely."

Remus looked out across the bay. "I don't understand it myself. He knew Tom Riddle had the potential to do great evil. He even wrote down everything we now know about the Horcruxes, including how many Voldemort had and where he thought they were. I get the impression that Dumbledore had no intention of telling anyone about them. Not even you."

Harry shook his head in dismay. "He was setting me up to fail, wasn't he?"

"We think so," Sirius replied. "Remus thinks he was going to collect the horcruxes and keep them intact until you failed. Then he'd destroy them and kill Voldemort. But that's only a theory. There's nothing in Dumbledore's journals to back that up."

"So it boils down to human greed and what? A quest for fame and glory?" the teen asked.

Remus shrugged. "That's why Paddy said we'll never know. Does it really matter?"

Harry sighed and shook his head. "I suppose not. I just wanted to understand. He took my parents and my life from me. It would be nice to know why." He looked at his godfather. "You're looking better now that you've sobered up. Was destroying that locket really that bad?"

Sirius shuddered and his eyes seemed haunted. "I've had lot of nightmares about Azkaban, but my dreams about the locket's destruction make them seem like a walk in the park. Remus thinks destroying the locket disassociated Voldemort."

Remus nodded, pleased for once that Sirius hadn't mangle the word. It always surprised him that Sirius, could be serious when it was called for.

"Disassociated?" Harry asked, confused.

Remus leaned forward. "We know from the vision you had over the summer that Voldemort and his familiar, Nagini, are in close proximity to each other. Now we think, and mind you this is only a theory based on Dumbledore's journal explanations for horcruxes, that when the locket was destroyed, it was like dropping a stone in a pond, sending shock waves out to all of the soul fragments.

"For most of the fragments, it wouldn't mean much because they are anchored by the magic of the horcrux. But for the one that's currently free, the one that needs to be close to Nagini? That one will be torn from it's body."

Remus paused when Harry frowned.

"But if it's torn from Voldemort's body, what will happen? Won't he possess someone else?"

Sirius shook his head. "I had the same thought. Moody thinks otherwise."

"The free fragment is like a moth, Harry. If Nagini is anywhere nearby, within say a few hundred yards, or if there is another horcrux in the same range, he'll be pulled to them like a moth to a flame."

Harry closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead painfully. "So," he murmured, "Voldemort was thrown out of his body and sucked into Nagini, making her a double horcrux?"

"Yes, that's the theory," Remus replied. "From what we saw in the pensieve of your vision, Voldemort was using a magical construct and he needed Nagini's venom to keep him alive. As such, I doubt he'd allow Nagini to get too far away."

"The real beauty of this, if Remus is right, is that Voldemort really is powerless. If he's been sucked into the snake, he can't wield his magic. If he's been sucked into a different horcrux, he'll not only be powerless, but immobilized, as well."

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Transmitted Entry), Jan 20th 1995, Hogwarts...

Harry,

It's been only a few weeks since we were together and I miss you terribly.

Things have become difficult in Gryffindor without you. Ron and I are always fighting and almost never have a civil word to say to each other. Ginny and I have grown closer and I have told her about 'Evan'. She thinks it's all mysterious and wonderfully romantic to meet a boy on a tropical island.

Ginny is a tough girl to figure out. In a way, she's like a combination of Parvati and Padma all rolled into one. She can be extremely smart one moment and all giggly over something in Witch Weekly the next.

From what I was told, Ron made a royal fool of himself at the Christmas ball. He went with Padma but wouldn't dance with her. And then, to make matters worse, he got into a major fight with Ginny over her going with Neville. Dean and Seamus had to pull Ron off Neville. The poor guy had to go to hospital to have his nose and a tooth fixed and Ron got a month's detention and a howler from his mum.

I don't think I told you, but our new potions teacher is an ex-healer. Her name is Professor Milly Thistlewhistle. And no, I didn't make up that name. I swear! Is there some law that says Wizards must have oddball names? I mean, really. Ronald Bilius? Or Ginevra Molly? At least you got lucky with your name. It's nice and simple. Harry James... see? It just flows off the tongue.

Anyway, despite her odd name, she's a really good teacher. She answers questions! And if she sees you about to make a mistake, she stops you in time. I really like her.

Lavender and Parvati found out about 'Evan' from Ginny and have been wondering if I had a photo to show off. Do you think I should cut something out of a magazine? I mean, they won't know it's not a real photo, would they?

Answer back soon, Harry. I've got to go now. I still have a charms test to study for.

Miss you.

Hermione

From the Journal of Harry Potter (Transmitted Entry), Jan 21th 1995, Waivunu, Fiji...

Hermione,

Wow, talk about strange names. I suppose it could be worse though. One of my private tutors is from the United States and he's part Native American! His parents hated him, I think, because they gave him two names, Julius Augustus Murphy and his Indian name, which I can't even pretend to spell. But it means 'He who soars with Eagles.' Cool, eh?

And speaking of names, what about Hermione? It's very uncommon, to say the least. It's a name I wouldn't mind saying for a long long time.

I'm sorry about you and Ron. I told Sirius about it and he had an interesting comment. He admitted that had it not been for James (my dad), Peter would probably never been part of their group. Remus says that in every group there's always someone who holds them together. I'm sad to discover that I was that someone for you two.

You must be terribly lonely now and that makes me feel bad, like it's something I did to you. But I promise I'll make it up to you! HEY! Did you hear? Your mum agreed to allow me to visit with you over the Easter holiday. It's only a week, but it breaks up the time between our visits and makes it a little less uncomfortable.

Yes, I said uncomfortable. I miss you Hermione and it bothers me a lot. There! I said it. I told you writing would be a little easier. For one thing, it gives me a chance to think of what I want to say instead of just blurting stuff out. If I left it up to my mouth alone, you'd probably hate me and I'd choke to death on my toes.

You'd be proud of me, Hermione. I'm getting really good grades and my tutors all think I'll be taking the Pacific Rim NEWTS at least a half year, maybe even a full year early! My tutors know about you and are adjusting things so that when you're here, we'll do an accelerated schedule. It'll be tough, but we'll have weekends for fun and Sirius is insisting on at least one week off to relax.

Now, onto other news. Sirius has dropped the aliases for himself and Remus. He's been cleared and exonerated in Britain, so there's no need for them to pretend to be someone else. It made for some interesting conversations with our neighbors. I'm still Evan, and I'm not really happy about that. I can't wait until I'm just Harry again.

Speaking of that, Sirius returned to England for a few days to check on something. We found one of V's items! It turned up in Sirius' old London home. It was a locket that was once owned by Salazar Slytherin. Apparently, Sirius' brother, Regulus, was an ex-Death Eater who was killed for trying to leave V's service. He stole the H from wherever V had hidden it and was killed for it. The H was in the London home where Regulus left it.

After he had the locket, he went to visit his friend in the States. Yes, the same friend who tried to hook me up with her niece. She helped him by arranging for the H to be thrown into a muggle industrial blast furnace. He told me it was over 2300C!

Sirius doesn't frighten easily, but he said this scared him senseless. He said the locket sat on top of the molten metal for a minute and everyone was getting worried, then it turned black and started to scream. The American representative became physically ill. The screaming went on for several minutes, then the locket melted away, leaving nothing behind. Just writing about it makes me shiver, but that's one step closer to being able to come home for good.

I look at it as a puzzle. Each piece puts me one step closer to going back to being Harry Potter again.

Tell Lavender that you'll have a photo to show off soon. I'm letting my hair grow longer and I'll soon have it in a pony tail. A simple glamour to make a few changes and you'll have a photo of Evan to show the others. Only you'll know the truth.

It's nearly midnight here and I have to go. I get up at five in the morning to run on the beach before my tutors arrive.

Miss you too!

Harry

From the Journal of Harry Potter (Private Entry), Mar 10th 1995, Fiji...

Just once in my life I wish I could be a normal kid! ARGH!

Alright, now that I've got that out of my system, I'll have to explain it. One of my tutors, Eton - yes, that's the only name he'll give me when I ask and I don't even know if that's his first or last name - is teaching me Occlumency. Once I know that, he'll start on Legilimency.

What Remus taught me last summer was barely enough to keep out a surface scan. Eton is teaching me the whole damn thing. And that's why I'm stuck writing in this thing in private mode now. The book allows for public and private entries, and Eton says I need to write down my thoughts and especially my dreams. He insisted that I do this because he thought I was allowing certain 'things' to distract me. By 'things' he means Hermione. He stumbled onto that dream I've been having over and over where she's wearing that blue bathing suit of hers and she...

STOP IT!

Alright, I'm back. I had to bang my head against the wall for a while to get that image out of my mind. Yes, she's driving me to distraction and she's 10,000 miles away! I would like to say I love her but if I were honest I'd say I'm not sure what love even is. All I know is that I think about her often. I wonder what she's doing, is she doing her homework or sleeping? Is she laughing and happy? Does she miss me like I miss her?

If I had known now the price I'd pay for quitting the tournament, I'm not sure I would have gone through with it. The simple fact is, I'm doing alright, and I love being with Sirius and Remus. But if someone asked me if I were really happy, I'd have to think about my answer.

I didn't know being without my friend would be so uncomfortable.

There, Eton, I hope you're happy. I miss her and it's a distraction that won't go away. Live with it! Are you sure you're not related to Snape? He was a git, too!

Remus is back in England this week. He has a line on a possible location for one of the other Horcruxes; the cup of Hufflepuff, I think he said. Hopefully he'll succeed. Each one down brings me closer to my goal of getting Voldemort out of my life, my name returned and the day I can go home for good. I like Fiji, but I miss Britain.

Damn, tomorrow is PE day, or as I like to call it, "Torture Harry day". Last time I had to run up this hill with a pack on my back weighing twenty kilos. I wonder what I'll have to do tomorrow? Lift a car? Dig a hole and bury an airplane? I know I won't be able to get away with using a featherweight charm. Sirius could have told me the tutor for that class was a wizard. I hate Sirius! Well, not really. But he deserved that bowel loosening hex I hit him with! He's just a prat!

Quibbler Front Page Article, March 30th, 1995...

Harry Potter sighted!

The Quibbler has discovered that Harry Potter was spotted in lower Patagonia last week, attending the annual Puffskein roundup. Potter, age 14, was spotted riding a double crested Peruvian Llama and wearing a large sombrero emblazoned with his signature lightning bolt.

The Ministry would have you believe that Potter is no longer magical, but the people we've spoken to don't agree with that assessment. In fact, they tell us that Potter is hiding his powers until such time as he can announce to the world that he's really harnessing his energies so he can oppose the Ministry backed Heliotrope revolution.

The Ministry refused to confirm any part in the Heliotrope conspiracy, but they did announce that the prophecy sphere concerning the muggles Harry Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle, formerly known as You-Know-Who, and former British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher, has been destroyed. Minister Scrimgeour claimed "Voldemort will never return!"

Fortunately for our readers, we've discovered that the Minister's comments were actually a coded anagram which we've decoded below.

Ed Velvet Newt Mirror Unroll

Ed Velvet is the lead cellist for the internationally acclaimed band, Prancing Wizzies. As to what "Newt Mirror Unroll" means, well it's obviously a reference to the final exams that students take in wizarding schools world wide and only confirms our long held belief that those exams were being illegally rigged by House Elves.

We at the Quibbler will leave no stone unturned to learn more about this terrible conspiracy. And that, dear readers, is a promise you can count on!

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Private Entry), April 1st 1995, Hogwarts...

Sigh...

Easter break is coming up quickly and as much as I want to see Harry, the professors have really piled on the holiday work! I'll have to figure out a way of being with Harry and doing my homework.

Lavender and Parvati saw me writing to my parents about Evan and they started in on me again. To my surprise, Neville and Ginny both jumped on the two gossip mongers. I still can't believe Lavender! As if I'd really answer a question like 'what kind of bulge is he packing in those tight bathing suits?'

Honestly, has she no decency? I nearly died when she asked that question loudly in the common room.

Besides, how could I know anything about that? I mean, Harry never wears anything tight, and the few times we went swimming he wore a t-shirt in the water.

Oh, alright! The voice in my head is telling me I'm being foolish and dishonest with myself. Yes, I will admit I wouldn't mind finding out the answer to Lavender's question someday. At least, that's what some of my dreams of late seem to suggest. I can't imagine what others would think or say if anyone knew that I, Hermione 'Know-It-All' Granger was seriously crushing on her best friend. I mean, come on, he's growing up to be just... Wow!

Neville kissed Ginny yesterday, and she went from blushing to angry in less than ten minutes. Ron jumped on Neville and broke his nose again. McGonagall is really angry. She's sent him home early with a two week suspension, and he'll be serving detention every night until the end of the year.

It took me over an hour to calm Ginny down. After they took Ron to Madam Pomfrey to reconnect his limbs, she spent several hours crying. She thought that Neville wouldn't want nothing to do with her again. Surprisingly, the twins spoke to Neville and they promised him that they would keep Ron under control.

Oh, well, time to start packing. The train will be here tomorrow at eleven and it's going on noon.

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Transmitted Entry), Jun 10th 1995, Hogwarts...

Harry,

What do you mean it was only a minor injury? Wasn't it you who said you were in hospital for nearly a week? And that was a wizarding hospital, at that! I suppose I can wait until you arrive, but I think it was foolish of Sirius to give you that potion without checking to see if you would have an adverse reaction to it. The Animagus Revealus potion is dangerous and controlled for a reason, you know!

Sigh... There I go, nagging again, but I can't help it, Harry. I do worry about you. I'm not exactly sure what's going on between us, but I do worry about you.

In other news, after nearly a month of refusing to speak to me, the red headed git had the audacity to ask me if I'd like to come visit with him and his family for a few weeks during the summer. He went into an absolute fury when I said I would be with Evan this summer. He accused you of being after only one thing, then he said I would be a scarlet woman if I gave into your demands. Talk about over dramatic!

At that point Ginny hit him with her famous Bat Bogey hex, which sent him screaming from the common room. Unfortunately, the damage is done. You know how the rumor mill works around here. Now everyone thinks I'm dating the mysterious 'Evan' who lives in the Pacific. The stories are all quite outrageous and have us lounging around on topless beaches all day long. Really! As if!

And if that isn't bad enough, someone copied that photo of Evan you gave me and it's been duplicated all over the place. I have had several girls ask me for your address and more who practically growl at me as I pass by. Honestly, you looked really good with those contacts and the brown hair, but I like your green eyes and black hair better. I keep the photo on my night table, but I keep your real photo locked in my trunk. That's the image I think of when I think of you.

I took your advice about Neville and Ginny. You were right, Neville is shy and just lacks confidence, once he learns a spell, however, he remembers it perfectly. It's a far cry from the days when he used to forget the passwords to the common room! Bringing those two together and being friends with them isn't as good as having you here, but at least some of the loneliness is gone.

I know you're going to be here in only fifteen days, Harry, but it's still hard to wait.

I'm going to close this entry for now. But just so you know, I've written to Mr. Flourish of Flourish and Blotts about our journals. Sirius mentioned they had other properties and I'd like to find out what they are. Wouldn't you?

See you soon!

Hermione (I'm counting down the days!)

Daily Prophet Article, Jun 11th 1995...

Tournament Ends!

The famed Triwizard Tournament ended at Hogwarts last night with a wonderful fireworks display and the award ceremony of the Triwizard cup to Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour. Ms. Delacour had been trailing going into the final task, but managed to pull off an unexpected upset when the Hogwarts and Durmstrang champions fought over the opportunity to escort Ms. Delacour past a muddy patch on the ground near the cup.

The tournament got off to a very rocky start when former Headmaster Dumbledore attempted to force Harry Potter to participate for reasons he was never able to adequately explain. Potter, age 14, refused and suffered the loss of his magic. His refusal stripped not only his magic, but also that of Lord You-Know-Who, thus preventing him from ever returning again to threaten our world.

Mr. Potter has been declared a hero for his selfless sacrifice. There were calls by the Wizengamot to award Potter an Order of Merlin, but those calls were dropped when the Ministry rightly pointed out that the Order cannot be award to a Muggle.

Headmistress McGonagall did call for a toast to be made in Potter's memory at last night's award ceremony. Many of those present were moved to tears at the loss of such a courageous spirit.

Sirius Black pushes Sentencing reform. See page 2
Bellatrix and Rodolphus LeStrange to be kissed! See Page 3.

From the Journal of Harry Potter (Transmitted Entry), Jun 12th 1995, Waivunu, Fiji...

Hermione,

I said it was no big deal. They know I'm not allergic to that potion, so they're trying to figure out why I had such an unusual reaction to it. Believe me, spending a week in hospital was no joy. Madam Pomfrey must train healers world wide because I swore my healers were just like her.

It's all old news at this point anyway. It happened last month, after all!

It's not nagging, really. Well, it is, but it's a good kind of nagging. Not too many people have cared about what happens to me in the past. I know Sirius and Remus do and I know you do. But it's not something I'm used to yet.

I'm glad that you, Ginny and Neville are growing closer, Hermione. I hate the fact that you've been alone all this year. And honestly, if I ever see Ron Weasley again, I'll be tempted to punch him in the nose!

You know, it's funny. I sit here, thousands of miles away, and I think about Ron and wonder why I was ever friends with him. Remus thinks I was so lonely and wanting a friend so bad that I accepted the first person to came along. And Ron stuck around because I let him make so many of the decisions. Funny thing is, he's probably right. You and Ron were my first real friends. I probably would have been friends with you from the start, but Ron tried to talk me out of it.

I hope you won't mind, but while I'm visiting with you I'll still need to keep up with my daily exercises. Master Kwang (or King Kong, as I prefer to call him) insists that I don't let myself go and I guess that makes sense. The man is huge! Not Hagrid huge, but huge for a normal person and I'd swear he'd swing from a tree if you offered him a banana. Honestly, Hermione, he has one eyebrow that runs from one eye to the other!

So, to appease Kong, I run ten kilometers every morning. If I can keep that up, then I can let the rest slide with King Kong's permission.

I pulled O's in most of my classes and Eton says I should master Occlumency by next year. He's teaching me some interesting protective techniques that aren't taught in western wizarding society. He was also more than a little annoyed by the influence you have over me. He's a stuffy git who's a lot like Snape, but at least he knows how to teach. The only problem I have is that he keeps harping on the influence you have on me. I swear, Hermione, one of these days I'm going to hex him good if he doesn't let up.

Yes, that's right, influence. He was probing my mind a couple months back and ran into some memories of you and knew from my emotional upsurge that I was missing you greatly. He made me sit down and start using the journal in private mode so I could try to figure out my feelings for you. I'll tell you now, don't look for any definitive answer except to say that my feelings are confusing. Sometimes I wish I could turn them off entirely, like that guy, Data, on the telly.

Honestly, I don't know if I could even say face to face half the stuff I say in these journal entries. And if I know you by now, you're biting a nail and wondering if I'm talking about my feelings changing. They have changed;, they've gotten stronger and that is something I'm uncertain about.

Did you write Sirius? He went out and bought me a pair of swim trunks that look like you have be poured into. You know what I mean because you've been hinting about them for the last three entries. Well, I've got them now. Wearing them, however, is another matter. I do know he's charmed them to be fireproof, and no, you don't need to know how I know that.

Way back in March, Remus got a lead on another H. This one, believe it or not, was Hufflepuff's cup! He finally found it about two weeks back and we did the same thing with it as Sirius did the the first. When Remus returned from the States after seeing the cup destroyed, he did something I've never seen him do. He got drunk, and he wept for my parents. Sirius and I had to put him into bed.

That's three down and three to go. Nagini will be the hard one. Slytherin's ring and Ravenclaw's brooch should be easy. Each one of these brings us one step closer to when I can return home and not have to hide any more. Remus will be looking for the ring while I'm with you, then he'll come back with us to Fiji and Sirius will leave for a couple weeks.

He's been using his family seat on the Wizengamot to push through tougher laws for Death Eaters. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the LeStranges were kissed. I saw some of Sirius' memories of them in a pensieve and they were true evil. Just looking at them made my skin crawl.

We're going to be seeing each other real soon and I'm counting down the days also. I know you'll yell at me for my language, but this time apart is hell.

I'll see you on the 25th, Hermione. Till then, take care of yourself.

Love,

Harry

From the Journal of Hermione Jane Granger (Private Entry), June 13th, 1995 Oxford England...

LOVE? LOVE!

In his last journal entry, he wrote:

Love,
Harry

I've spent the day puzzling over this, trying to figure out what he meant by love.

He could be saying he loves me, as in 'I love treacle tart'. Or he could mean Love (yes with a capital L).

Alright, let's try to work this logically. Fact: Harry hasn't much experience with love, thanks to Dumbledore and those damnable Dursleys, so he obviously can't mean he loves me. But just the same he'd never say it or mean it the same way he'd say he loved treacle tart.

Am I making sense? I think I'm confusing myself!

He's given me some clear signals that he really likes me. Even someone as relationship obtuse as I am couldn't miss them. So, where does this 'love' fall into the picture? He couldn't love me like a sister, could he? No, that isn't possible either. He was quite plain in his meaning without coming out and saying it. Merciful Merlin, why won't he just say what he means?

I can't believe this! I've been home for nearly six hours now and I still haven't opened my text books to start my homework! No, Mr. I-will-confuse-the-girl Potter had to go and throw the 'L' word at me. Thank god I read that in our compartment when everyone was off changing out of their uniforms. I'm sure I may have squeaked out loud. Oh, alright, I know I did. Crookshanks spent the last twenty minutes of the trip giving me the evil eye for disturbing his nap.

I'm continuing this entry from the previous night. It's now two in the morning and I woke up from a dream that I thought I should write about. Harry's entry is still bothering me, why else would I have a dream about him like that?

I dreamed he was watching me with a strange look in his eye. I didn't understand his expression, and that's strange because I think I'm quite the expert at reading the many facial expressions of one Harry James Potter. He walked towards me and gently ran his hand against my cheek, then he leaned in and kissed me! I remember his expression. It was so clear, I thought it was real. I remember waking up and wishing I hadn't. I wanted the dream to continue! I want to know what happened next!

Anyway, I woke from a sound sleep and realized that figuring out what Harry meant wasn't nearly as important as figuring out what I would feel if he mean it in the real sense.

I laid in bed for nearly an hour thinking about that. I remember when I was younger I dreamed of a hero that would sweep me off my feet and carry me away to his castle. Childish, I know. Then I met Harry. He's moody at times, he's been hurt terribly in the past, but he strives to move beyond that. He's a hero, but his armor is tarnished and dented and his horse has a limp. The reality, however, is better than the dream.

Do I want him to love me? I think I do because I think I'm falling in love with him. It would be nice to know he feels for me as deeply as I feel for him. There, I've said it! I want Harry to love me because I think it would be so easy to love him back.

We're young, but I don't think we're too young to fall in love. If I've learned anything about this past year, it's that I've missed him as much as he's missed me. Do you hear me, Harry? I think we're connecting and I'm content with that for now. The future, however, looks to be wonderful, and I can't wait for it!

London, England, June 25th 1995...

Harry bit his lip and walked past the security guard, showing his stamp that proved he'd been cleared through customs. Behind him, a small cluster of airport security personnel were studying an X-Ray machine that had just gone up in smoke. He shook his head and smiled ruefully. While he was walking down the jetway he had recast his body shield. It was low powered, but would absorb a stunner or a medium power hex.

He always had the shield up these days. His Dark Arts teacher had drilled it into him, and while it hadn't become a habit yet, he was working on it.

What he hadn't counted on was the press of the crowd pushing him until he brushed the portable X-Ray machine they used to search for incoming contraband. Magic and technology don't mix and the machine fried on contact.

The terminal was packed. His flight was just one of many that had arrived nearly at the same time and there had to be three or four thousand people waiting for loved ones and friends to arrive. He blinked in the harsh light and looked around, wondering how he was going to find Hermione and her parents.

A brown blur streaked in from an oblique angle and he had only a split second to brace himself before he was engulfed in a warm hairy hug from Hermione. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. He had dreamed of holding her like this.

They had seen each other only two months ago but seemed like forever.

"I've missed you so much," she whispered.

"Me too. You're a sight for sore eyes," he replied, then he looked up and smiled, seeing Dan and Emma not far away.

"Welcome home, Evan," Dan said softly. "How was your flight?"

Harry grinned. "Tiring, but I'll only have to do this one more time, and then we'll not need to do it again."

Neither adult missed the fact that the teens still held each other.

"Why, Evan?" she asked.

Harry and Hermione parted reluctantly and Harry grabbed the cart that held his luggage. "I'll explain when we get to the car. It's a little complicated and not something we should talk about in public."

Dan took the cart from Harry and Hermione latched onto his hand. He looked down at her hand and smiled at her.

"We're over this way, Evan," Dan said, then he started off with Harry and Hermione following. Emma followed the two teens with a satisfied smile. It was clear to her that they were on the cusp of forming a relationship. It hadn't happened yet, and still might take a while, but it was growing before her eyes.

Emma was thrilled for Hermione. Despite his rocky upbringing, Harry was unfailingly polite, and usually very soft spoken. He obviously cared about Hermione a lot. Emma felt privileged to be able to witness this. Had Hermione formed a relationship at school it would have been an accomplished fact before she got home. With Harry's insistence that her parents come along whenever possible, she had a front row seat on what Hermione and Harry were going through.

Once they were in the car, Harry rubbed his face tiredly. "In my trunk is a portable door. Remus will be arriving soon and he'll help me install it. It's much more convenient than a portkey, but they're very expensive. Porkeying between here and Fiji takes too long and is dizzying, as I found out at Easter. The doors are custom made in the far east. That's why you don't see them around very much. Sirius had to pull some strings to get them made for us.

"In order to keep customs records straight, I'll be flying home on the 30th of July. On the 31st, you, your parents and Remus will step through the door and come out in our living room in Fiji. I'll be there the next day. The door will be left at your home and we'll use that to go back and forth, rather than unbelievably long flights or sickening portkeys."

"But, Harry, you'll miss your own birthday!" protested Hermione.

Harry shrugged. "It's always been just another day for me. I never even knew when my birthday was until I entered primary school. I learned a lot about..."

He stopped and looked out the window. They were coming too close to subjects he didn't want to talk about. It was common knowledge that life with the Dursleys had been hard for him. Even with that, he didn't like talking about it.

Hermione reached out and gripped his hand, gently squeezing it for support.

"So, do you have any idea what you'd like to do while you're here, Harry?" asked Dan.

He looked forward again. "Yes, sir, I'm thinking that first I'll help Hermione finish off her homework. Once that's done, we'll have more free time. I have a set of exercises to teach her for her focus ring and I need to transfigure a stick to look like her wand. Beyond that, I was hoping that maybe we could visit London and take in some of the sights? I've lived in Britain all my life but except for trips to the store to carry packages and my trips to Diagon Alley and Hogwarts, I've never seen the country."

Dan and Emma exchanged a grin. "Shakespeare walking tour?" she asked excitedly.

"Absolutely!" he replied with a grin.

Harry tried to hide a yawn, but it was too much for him.

"I think someone needs a dose and off to bed," Emma said, watching him carefully.

He nodded. "I could use a bite first, then I've got a potion that should put me out until tomorrow." He glanced at his watch, noting it was nearly five in the afternoon. "I've brought some gifts that I think you'll really like, but I think they'll wait until tomorrow when I'm more awake."

"Well, then, how about some Chinese take away?" offered Dan.

"As long as it's not sushi," Harry said with a shudder. "Sirius tricked me into trying the stuff after I was released from the hospital in Tokyo. Hideous stuff! Give me something that's cooked any day of the week."

"I never thought you were a picky eater, Harry," Hermione replied softly. She liked sushi!

"Generally, I'm not. But sushi reminds me too much of the Dursleys. Aunt Petunia used to give me raw chop meat instead of what she was cooking for dinner. It didn't happen often, but it was enough," he replied quietly.

"That's called a learned response," Emma offered. "It wouldn't be easy, but you could over come it. However, for tonight, we'll have Chinese take away and we'll make sure yours is cooked."

Harry nodded and smiled sheepishly.

Two hours later, Hermione came back downstairs where her parents were sitting in the living room.

"Is he sleeping?" asked Emma.

"Out like a light. He took that dose and was asleep before his head hit the pillow," she replied. "I'm not sure he even needed the potion, he was that tired."

"I can't help thinking about all the things he's missed out on. Then I wonder how he managed to turn out the way he did," mused Dan.

"He's not that bad," Hermione said with a frown.

"No one is saying he is, dear," replied Emma. "But even you have noticed how little self esteem he has at times. He's working on it, that much is obvious, but he still has a way to go."

"He's a good lad. He'll get there. And did you see the muscles he's wearing now? I think that PE course of his is really helping," Dan said

Hermione blushed to the tips of her ears. The changes in Harry hadn't been lost on her. He didn't have a body builder physique, thankfully. She'd never been interested in bulging muscles. Instead he was toned and tanned. When she'd met him at the airport, she'd hugged him and couldn't believe the changes. He was a little taller, which she expected, but he felt like iron. He'd always been a little thin, but he'd put on a bit of weight, and built up some muscle mass. He'd never be brawny, but he looked much better than he had before he left Hogwarts.

Being away from the Dursleys, surrounded by a family who obviously loved and cared for him, certainly agreed with him.

Emma chuckled. "Judging by that blush, I'd say that our daughter has noticed those muscles, too."

Hermione stood. "I don't have to stay here and take this abuse. I'm going to go work on my homework," she said with a sniff. Her blush deepened and she retreated to the sound of her parent's laughter.

Hermione's home, Oxford, England, Jun 26th 1995...

Harry reached to open the door when it was suddenly flung open and he was pulled inside with a surprised squeak.

Hermione glared at him. "Where have you been?" she asked, her eyes flashing and her hands on her hips.

"Out running? I told you about this. I get up at five and run every morning," he replied mildly.

Her expression softened and she motioned for him to enter. "Mum and Dad are just getting up. If you want, you can use the bath in the garage for a shower. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until they're done with it. They're going to spend the next few days at work, catching up on paperwork, until I'm done with my assignments."

"Right. I'll run up to my room and grab some clothes to change into after I shower."

An hour later, Harry sat down to the kitchen table with a small package. The Granger's eyed him curiously.

"Good morning, Harry. Did you sleep well?" asked Emma.

"Yes, thank you. I know you and Mr. Granger are going to work today, but I brought a few magical gifts I thought you'd like to look at."

He opened the package and pulled out what looked to be a pane of window glass. He passed it to Dan. "Thats a natural aquarium window for your study. You hang it on the wall and it shows you a scene of a coral reef just off the coast of Fiji, along with fish and occasionally someone swimming by," he explained. "The really nice thing about it is you don't have to feed the fish."

Harry reached out and touched the window, then muttered something Dan couldn't quite catch. The glass flared to life.

"Astounding!" marveled Dan. "But won't I need to hide this?"

"No. It's charmed so only wizards,or people who know about magic can see it. Muggles will only see a still image, like a photograph."

He reached into the box and pulled out two smaller boxes, handing one to Hermione and one to Emma.

Each opened a box to find a finely wrought gold chain with several polished seashells attached to it. Harry looked briefly uncomfortable and unsure of himself. Maybe these gifts were too personal?

Hermione could feel the magic in the chain and she looked at Harry curiously.

"The old lady that sold me the chains said they were for women only and you'd understand what they do after a month or so. When I tried to get her to explain, she refused. I bought them because they were pretty and I knew they wouldn't hurt you. Sirius managed to get an explanation, but the old lady said I was too young to know."

Hermione frowned, reluctant to put the chain on.

"The old woman said they have their own magic, so even a muggle can use them," Harry offered.

Emma's eyes lit up she loved all things magic and suspected what this might be related to. She undid the clasp and handed it to Dan, then she lifted the her hair from her neck. Dan closed the clasp and she shivered for a moment. Then, with a sigh, she leaned over and whispered something to Hermione.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

Emma nodded.

"That's useful," she said as she passed the chain to Harry. Lifting her hair, she smiled at him. "Will you put it on, please?".

He fumbled with the clasp but finally managed to open the little lock and put it on. He resisted the temptation to kiss her neck. Hermione fluffed out the back of her hair and then turned to smile at him.

"Do you know what it does, Mrs. Granger?" asked Harry.

Emma looked at Harry for a moment, then smiled. "I do, but I think it's best that you don't know for now. You bought them because they're pretty and I thank you for that. It was a very thoughtful gift."

Harry wanted to protest, but settled for a frown instead. He was beginning to feel like the old woman had swindled him somehow.

Dan leaned over and winked. "Harry, if there's one lesson to learn, it's that women aren't meant to be understood all the time. They have this little secret club, you see. If a man gets too close to it, they kill him."

"Dan!" Emma said warningly.

"Dad!" shouted Hermione, her face flushed.

Harry tried not to laugh."I guess it doesn't matter. I didn't buy them for the magic, after all. I knew they were charmed and Sirius said it was safe. I was just curious, that's all. If Mrs. Granger and Hermione say they're alright, I'll go along with it."

He turned back to his package, pulled out three books and gave them to Hermione. "One of these is a new book about using your focus ring. The other two cover advanced transfiguration theory and ancient runes, which we'll be taking next month back in Waivunu."

"Do you use your wand at all any more?" asked Emma.

He nodded. "Sirius and Remus insisted on it. I can do things so much better with my ring, but they want me to continue using the wand. This way, no one will know about the ring. Speaking of that," he said, turning to Hermione, "have you been keeping up your practices?"

Hermione gestured and the tea pot floated across the room and refilled her cup. She looked at Harry and grinned broadly when he laughed.

He was pleased to see she had kept up with her ring work. It was sufficiently different that it could almost be classified as a different type of magic than wanded work.

Dan looked at his watch. "We're going to be late if we don't get a move on," he said to Emma.

They both stood and headed for the door. "We'll be home by five. I'll call later to see what we're doing for dinner," Emma called over her shoulder. A few minutes later the two teens were alone with the breakfast dishes.

Harry stood and looked at the table. "I'll clean up here. Why don't you bring your homework down and work at the table? I'll sit with you and either help or work on my own studies."

She nodded and rushed upstairs for her things.

Harry turned back to the table and raised a hand. All of the dirty dishes lifted off the table and floated into the kitchen. With a twirl of his fingers they washed themselves, one by one, and landed in the drying rack.

"You're handy to have around, Mr. Potter," she said from the doorway. Her arms were loaded with books and parchment.

He grinned. "If that impresses you, you should taste my soufflÃ©."

"You can cook? I never would have realized after seeing you in potions class," she teased.

He frowned. "I do much better in that subject now. I guess it's because I don't have an overgrown bat hovering over me. Do you need any help with your homework?"

She looked at him, arching an eyebrow.

"Er, right!" he said, feeling a bit foolish. "I'll just be over here working on my meditation exercises."

He sat down and closed his eyes. Eton had originally taught him the technique, but several of his tutors had wanted him to continue using it to reach out to his core. The process of touching his core helped strengthen his connection to his magic. Remus and his defense tutor wanted to see if he'd be able to hold a continuous shield by touching his core and attaching it directly to the shield.

"Harry? Harry!"

He opened his eyes and looked up at Hermione. She was leaning over him, looking worried. "Sorry about that. Did you say something?"

She straightened up and looked at him in exasperation. "I've been trying to wake you for twenty minutes. You've been sitting there silently for hours, but every so often you'd... Well, you'd glow and levitate off the chair!"

He chuckled, then stood up and stretched. "Relax, Hermione. Meditation is one of the things I'm going to try to teach you this month. Using it, you can touch your core and strengthen your connection to your magic. Are you done with your homework already?"

She shook her head. "I've completed several essays, but it's nearly four and my parents will be home soon."

"Why don't you give them a call and tell them we'll cook dinner for them tonight? I'll run up to my room and grab my wallet, then we can walk to the store to get what we need."

"Are you sure you can cook?" she asked with some suspicion.

He grinned. "Why do I get the impression that you have problems with cooking?" he asked.

"I'm not answering that," she muttered darkly, as she turned away and picked up the phone.

They ate outside around a picnic table in the Granger's backyard. Harry had cooked a chicken breast over rice dish and had included a number of tropical fruits. The meal was sweet, with a small bite of tartness and well received by the adult Grangers and Hermione.

Dan was surprised to find Harry turning down the offer of a Guinness stout. When pressed, he replied that his tutors had told him that he should avoid mind altering drinks and drugs. Eton's take was a simple, "I teach you to defend your mind and you weaken it with drink?"

Sirius had been extremely disappointed by Eton's attitude, and even more so by the fact that Harry agreed to abide by it. Remus, on the other hand, applauded the decision. Remus rarely drank, it was too easy for the raging wolf to break free when he was drunk.

"So, three of the horcruxes have been destroyed, Harry?" asked Emma.

He nodded and gestured, placing a privacy charm in place. "Yes. The diary, Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup. There's still a ring out there that was once owned by Slytherin and a brooch owned by Ravenclaw. The last one is the difficult one; Nagini."

"Why is that the hard one?" asked Emma. "And what about Voldemort? Isn't he still around?"

Harry leaned forward. "The snake itself isn't the horcrux, but there is something inside it that contains the horcrux. From what I've been able to figure out, the horcrux should be pouring out enough dark magic to change Nagini. She's a very large snake, and most likely she's poisonous. Adding the horcrux to that will enhance her darker features. If she's like other snakes I've talked with, she's also very intelligent."

He took a drink from his glass, then tilted his head in thought. "So, we have a horcrux that moves and can inflict dangerous, perhaps lethal, bites. Remus showed me pictures of several snakes since I had the vision of Nagini and Voldemort last year. He hoped to identify it. The closest we could find was a Black Mamba, which is the second largest poisonous snake in Africa and one of the deadliest snakes in the world.

"Remus thinks Nagini might have started out as a Black Mamba, but that the Horcrux has twisted her beyond that."

Emma shivered. "Do you have any idea where Nagini is now?"

He shook his head. "No, but we're planning to search for her once the other horcruxes have been destroyed. I should be able to get a handle on her fairly quickly, if I can get the snakes to cooperate."

At their confused looks, he was forced to explain. "I can talk to snakes. It's called Parseltongue. British Wizarding society considers it an evil talent."

"That'll be handy," murmured Dan.

"Nagini's a magical creature, but she won't have the ability to cast spells, even if Voldemort's consciousness bled through to her. She'd have to go find another parseltongue, or another snake that does have some abilities to help her," Hermione mused.

Harry turned to stare at her. "Hermione! That's brilliant!"

She blinked at him. "What?"

"She'll go to the one snake she knows has powers and should be willing to help her. The problem is, she doesn't know it's dead!"

"The Basilisk?"

Harry nodded. "What happened in the chamber never became public knowledge. And I think it might be safe to say that Lucius Malfoy never had the chance to tell Voldemort that he willingly gave one of his precious Horcruxes to an eleven year old girl. It may be nothing, but I think it's worth looking into."

"And what about Voldemort, Harry?" asked Emma again.

He twirled his glass around on the table for a moment, then looked up at her. "We're not sure, but Remus thinks that with the destruction of a Horcrux, something interesting will happen. Voldemort's spirit could become disembodied, but with the close proximity of Nagini and her horcrux, he thinks Voldemort's spirit will be absorbed into that horcrux. So, killing Nagini means killing both a horcrux and the excess spirit."

"Of course," murmured Hermione, turning to Harry. "The pull of the horcrux on the spirit fragment would be irresistible." Her eyes widened. "But that would make Nagini..."

"A double horcrux," Harry said, completing her thought.

Everyone fell silent for a few minutes to consider the implications and the atmosphere grew uncomfortably heavy.

"How goes the homework?" asked Dan, trying to change the subject.

"I got about a third of it done, while Harry slept most of the day," she said dryly.

"I wasn't sleeping," Harry protested. "I was meditating."

"Alright, call it what you want," teased Hermione. "I'm just glad you didn't snore."

Looking offended, he bent down to finish his dessert, ignoring the laughter of the three Grangers. He knew when he was out numbered.

Later that evening, Dan and Emma held a private conversation in their bedroom.

"So, what does the necklace do?" Dan asked. He had been dying of curiosity all day.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

He nodded.

"Well, our guest brought them because they are pretty. What he didn't know is they were apparently designed for a specific purpose. I put mine on this morning and my cramps faded away to nothing in seconds. You know that aspirin only takes the edge off. This made them disappear."

Dan suddenly looked squeamish. "Oh."

She glanced at him, amused. "Yes, 'oh'. I think Harry would be embarrassed to know what they do. But you know both Hermione and I have bad cramps every month. This solves the problem and, like he said, it's pretty."

"I think he'd die if he knew. Does Hermione know?"

Emma nodded. "She's actually looking forward to experiencing the necklace for herself. But she's of two minds about it. Like Harry, she's embarrassed, but she's also thrilled. It's the first piece of real jewelry anyone besides us has given her. Add to that the fact that it came from a boy she likes very much."

"She does, doesn't she?" asked Dan unhappily.

Emma looked at him sharply. "What are you upset about?"

"She's still my little girl!" he replied mulishly.

"She always will be, Dan. But she's growing up. When Sirius and Remus talked about Harry's father and grandfather, I thought they were pulling our legs. Now, I'm not so sure."

"You think they are getting too attached?" Dan asked worriedly.

Emma sat on the edge of the bed and thought about his question for a while. "Yes... and no. What I see them doing is starting a relationship in slow motion," she said softly, then she looked at him. "What I mean is that they're going to take things very slowly. Hermione has a good head on her shoulders, and so does Harry. I think this summer we'll see a lot of hand holding and some hugs and kisses from them, and that's about it.

"They'll probably move ahead a bit more next summer, but I don't think you have anything to worry about until we're closer to graduation. Harry's focusing on his education, and making sure Hermione is kept safe. He wouldn't do anything she doesn't want him to do."

"You could tell all that just from today?" he asked incredulously.

She grinned smugly. "I know my daughter and I think I know Harry well enough by now. All I ask is you give him a chance to prove himself to you."

He nodded uncertainly. "I can do that, Em. I'm not trying to be unreasonable."

"I know. Now turn off the lights and come to bed. We have to get up early again tomorrow."

Hermione's home, Oxford, England, July 3rd 1995...

Over the course of the next week Harry and Hermione held mostly to the same routine of study. The only difference was, in the afternoon, they moved into the backyard. He swam in the pool, while she continued to work on her essays.

Now, nearly a week after Harry arrived, she rolled up her last parchment and smiled to herself. Harry had helped when and where he could. He made sure she had something to drink and basically left her to the job. It was quite a change from working in the common room, or even working with Neville and Ginny, where there was always some sort of conversation going on.

They had plenty to talk about, it was just that Harry gave her the solitude she craved to really concentrate on her homework. He seemed to know what she needed and didn't feel as if he had to fill the long silences with pointless conversation.

She placed the last roll in her school bag and used her focus ring to send the entire bag back into the house. With a pleased sigh, she leaned back on her chair and watched Harry swim laps in the pool. She frowned, seeing he was wearing a shirt again.

Standing, she walked over to the edge of the pool, sat down and dangled her legs in the cool water. He looked up and smiled at her. He let himself drift for a moment, then reached for the pool edge and pulled himself out of the water to sit beside her.

"All done?"

She nodded. "It went faster than usual."

"Would you like to learn a new exercise for your ring, then?"

She took a deep breath and almost changed her mind, sure the question she wanted to ask wouldn't be something he'd want to talk about. "I know we talked about this using the journals, but I'd like to know why you always wear a shirt when you're swimming. You have tanned arms and legs, and your face and neck. Why is that?"

Harry's expression altered and he looked down. "I have places on my back that don't tan. It would look weird."

When she remained silent, he glanced up at her. Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he sighed, peeled off his shirt and turned away from her. On his back were nearly thirty marble sized scars of irregular shape.

"What happened?" she whispered. Her hand reached out and touched one and he shivered under her touch.

"Dudley," he replied. "It was the only time I ever saw Aunt Petunia really mad at him. He was having a tantrum and he threw a pot of boiling water at me. I ducked, but I was still splashed with it. My plastic surgeon said he could fix some of them, but that there were too many and even a skin graft wouldn't help much because the scars are so old.

"Sirius and Remus know about the scars, but I haven't told them what caused it. I don't like talking about that time," he said, reaching for his shirt so he could put it on.

"Don't," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "They're part of you Harry. You don't need to feel ashamed about them. Believe me when I say it doesn't change a thing about how I feel about you."

He blushed and looked at his feet dangling in the water. "Thank you," he replied softly.

She picked up his shirt, wrung it out and spread it out to dry. Her parents were cosmopolitan enough that her only body modesty came from her own self image and not from others. "Now you were going to show me a new focus ring exercise?"

He grinned at her and held out his hand. A globule of water detached itself from the pool and lifted up to hover over his hand. "This is part exercise and part game. Watch carefully."

The hovering blob of water suddenly seemed to solidify. "It's not really solid. There's a paper thin layer of ice containing the water. Now, the purpose of this, to start, is to make the ball of water hover higher and higher without touching it. If you get really good, you can start playing a form of catch with it. But there's a penalty. If the ball touches you, anywhere, it will shatter and hit you with ice cold water."

Hermione watched him carefully as he lifted the ball twenty feet above his head, then let it free fall. Just when she thought it would hit him and shatter, a puff of wind caught it and hurled it upwards.

He played with the ball for a moment longer, then he let it fall back into the pool and turned to her. "This is where things start to get different from wand use. Hold your hand out, palm up and concentrate on what you want the magic to do. There's no movement, no incantation. Command the magic and let the ring be your focus."

Hermione nodded and held her hand out. A moment later a stream of water hit her, soaking her thoroughly. She glared at Harry, who rolled over on his side, laughing.

"Well?" she asked archly.

He regained control and turned back to her, then averted his eyes. "Hermione, go change into something you don't mind getting wet!" he exclaimed in a strangled voice.

She glanced down at the white t-shirt that was now molded to her frame like a second skin and blushed brightly. It was obvious that she found the water cold. She bounced to her feet and ran back into the house. Ten minutes later, she came back out wearing her bathing suit and muttering to herself.

"I'm sorry," he told her.

She looked at him strangely. "For what?"

"For looking at you when you were like that."

She grinned. "Well, at least you know I'm a girl now."

He grunted and muttered something she couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"No, you said something. What was it?"

He looked up at her and knew from her expression that she wasn't about to let it drop. He sighed and knew he had backed himself into a proverbial corner. "I said that I was well aware that you were a girl."

She grinned smugly at him. "So, is this what your tutor complained about when he said I was a distraction?"

He thought for a moment, then stood and motioned her over to the table. "I think we should talk," he said softly.

She tensed, wondering what had just happened. Why had he become so serious? She moved to sit at the picnic table and watched him as he joined her there. Her stomach was churning with worry. Reluctantly she took a seat across the table from him.

"I've been told I have a tendency to rush into some things without considering the circumstances and I guess that's true. I'm going to say something and it's going to have an impact on us, Hermione. This last year with Sirius and Remus has been an eye opener for me. But even more of an eye opener was this last year without you in my life."

He looked at her intently. "Believe me when I say I'm well aware that you're a girl. I think you're beautiful and I often wonder what it would be like to kiss you."

She opened her mouth to speak, but he waved her to silence.

"I would like to know what it would be like. But, to be truthful, I'm scared. I'm afraid that if I make that kind of move, I'll risk losing the best friendship I've ever known. Part of me wants more and another part isn't willing to gamble what I have now."

She stared at him for several minutes. He had said things she had always hoped he would say, and then explained why he didn't act on them. It was confusing and annoying, especially since she knew he'd do nothing without any clear signal from her.

Finally, he ran a hand through his hair and let out an explosive breath. "I knew I would mess this up," he muttered in an anguished tone.

She blinked and shook her head vigorously. "No! You haven't messed anything up, Harry," she replied quickly, then she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I was surprised to hear you voicing the same worries I had. And no one has ever called me beautiful before," she ended in a whisper.

"Well, they should have," he blurted, then looked away quickly.

She looked down at her hands, studying them carefully and trying to control the blush she felt creeping up her face. "So, where does that leave us?" she asked, still staring at her hands.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" he asked, then closed his eyes and nearly groaned. Oh, God! Did I just blurt that out? Merlin, did that sound as lame as I think? he asked himself. I'm dead. She's going to kill me. Or hate me. How could I be so stupid? My life is over. Just kill me and bury the body Hermione!

She looked up to see him turning red. Despite his obvious discomfort, however, his gaze captured hers.

"I think I'd like that," she replied, then she did something she rarely did. She giggled as a sudden thought came to mind.

"What?"

"I just had this vision of Parvati and Lavender going ape when they hear that Evan is my boyfriend."

She laughed again and he smiled. He knew from her journal entries that Lavender and Parvati were dying to find out more information about Evan.

As her laughter died away, he mustered his courage, leaned across the table and kissed her, quickly. It caught her by surprise and she stared at him in shock.

He leaned back and sat down again. "We're going to have to try that again when we have more time. Now, do you want to know why you got soaked when you tried to summon the water?"

She nodded, unable to fathom if she was nodding in response to his comment about kissing again, or about the spell. Finally she held up a hand and shook her head, trying to clear it.

"You kissed me!" she exclaimed finally.

"I did. Weren't you listening when I said I wanted to kiss you?"

"I did, but..."

"But you didn't really believe it?" He sighed and shook his head when she reluctantly nodded. "What a pair we make. I was convinced I wasn't good enough for someone like you and you're convinced I shouldn't be interested in you."

She smiled wanly and reached across the table, taking his hand in hers. "It will take us both a while to get used to it. In the meantime, why don't you tell me what I did wrong?"

"Alright, but don't be surprised if I kiss you again sometime."

"I'm counting on it."

He grinned, then pointed at the pool. With a simple gesture, he had a frozen orb of water in his hand. "Your first mistake was that you tried to use your ring like a wand. In an emergency it can fill in for that particular job, but it highlights the limitations of wands and formalized spells."

He turned back to her, still floating the ball of ice water. "When you attempted to summon the water, you used the Accio spell in your mind, didn't you?"

She nodded.

He leaned back on the bench. "The accio is a wand spell, Hermione. Think outside the wand. Sure, you can do the summoning spell with the ring, but it's not exactly what you wanted to do."

He gestured and the orb of water vanished. Next, he conjured a sheet of parchment and laid it flat on the table. "Use your ring to fold the parchment in half."

She frowned. "I don't know a spell for that."

"I know. You don't need one. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Concentrate on what you want your magic to do, then let the ring tap into your magic to make it happen. I know you can do this. You've told me you've been doing the exercises to touch your core.

"Your desire can power your magic without the need for a formal incantation and wand movement. That's what I'm trying to teach you."

She stared at the parchment for a long while. It quivered a few times, then suddenly rolled itself up.

He grinned and unrolled the parchment. "Not quite what I had in mind, but that was good. Let's try it again. This time, make it into a roll instead of folding it. That first time was an accident, but let's see if you can repeat it. Command the magic."

Three minutes later the parchment was neatly rolled again and she let out an explosive breath of relief. "This is hard," she said in complaint.

"It isn't, really. What's hard is forgetting what you've learned. That's why you have so much trouble."

She looked at him, confused. "I don't understand."

"You like the structure of wand magic because you like order. Order is comforting to you. But ring magic is unstructured. There's no spell, no movement, no incantation. You envision what you want your magic to do and the ring helps focus your magic to make it happen. Maybe I made a mistake by telling you a ring could perform as a wand. You took that to mean it works the same way. when it doesn't."

He unrolled the parchment and laid it flat again. "Now, try it again."

She grimaced, but in less than a minute the paper was rolled up. "That time it came easier."

He grinned. "I think that, until you have it down pat, you should practice by doing things which you don't know corresponding wand spells."

Quibbler Headline Article, July 15th, 1995...

Harry Potter Prevents Ward Decay!

Despite his muggle nature, our reluctant hero has once again made his presence felt when he suggested to the International Association of Professional Warders that adding fluoride to their warding ceremonies would help prevent ward decay.

As you recall, Ward Decay was the principle cause of the Muggle stock market crash back in 1929. The Ministry denies this possibility, but they also deny any involvement in the coming Heliotrope revolution or the rise of Voldemort.

Potter, age 14, swooped down on the IAPW meeting in his patented bat suit and announced his findings. He then swooped away before the stunned audience could muster any form of reply. It was only after the incident that Melon Frumpberger, IAPW president and poster child, denied vehemently that it had happened.

Obviously, Frumpberger is lying. We have it from multiple eyewitnesses that Potter appeared to be an expert at swooping. How would so many eye witnesses know this unless it really happened?

This publication can't help but wonder what other mischief Potter will get into. Will he prevent the mass migration of Nargles through Naples? Or will he endanger our world by proving Stubby Boardman is not really Sirius Black using polyjuice?

We strongly suggest that the Ministry find Mr. Potter and stop him before he contacts brain eating aliens from planet Six!

Daily Prophet Article, July 15th 1995...

Wizengamot Narrowly Defeats Harry Potter Day Proclamation.

In a narrow vote, the movement to declare Harry Potter's birthday a national holiday was once again overturned. The Ministry was firmly against the idea, stating that the Wizarding world does not honor muggles by naming holidays after them.

What came as a complete surprise, however, was the fact that Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, came out openly opposing the proposal. Mr. Black is quoted as saying,"Harry does not want the wizarding world to name any holiday after him. He left our world, discouraged and unhappy with the way he was treated. Naming a holiday after him would be a grave disservice to a boy who made the ultimate sacrifice for us."

Walden McNair, Ministry department head and Wizengamot member, led the effort to create the new holiday. "Of course, we're disappointed, and by no means have we seen the last of this effort. However, for now, we abide by the wishes of the Wizengamot. Perhaps we'll try again next year," he said.

In other business, the Wizengamot voted 78 to 22 to declare it illegal to sell medicinal potions to muggles who are not already aware of the Wizarding world. The Wizengamot also approved a proposal by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to create a special unit capable of handling undercover operations in the muggle world.

Hogwarts, office of the Headmistress...

Minerva McGonagall finished the last of the official letters she needed to write to the Governors explaining the past year and the results of the Triwizard Tournament. The board had not been pleased with the outcome and accusations had flown fast and furious against Miss Delacour.

Some claimed she had used her Veela abilities unfairly to confound the other two champions. However, in examining the magical traces recorded during the final minutes of the competition, it was discovered that she hadn't used any magic at all. Krum and Diggory had fallen for a much older and more potent magic than Veela magic. They had fallen for a pretty girl and started fighting over her.

Madame Maxime was understandably upset by the accusations as was the Triwizard Champion, Miss Delacour. Instead of waiting for the facts, several board members made public statements that had resulted in Minerva being forced to write letters of apology on behalf of Hogwarts and the board of Governors.

"Excuse me, Professor?"

Minerva looked up, surprised, but relaxed when she saw the house elf standing in the room, holding a box. A Hogwarts elf would be the only creature capable of entering her office without her approval.

"Yes, Tinky? What can I do for you?"

"Professor, this box contains things left over from Master Albus. Some of them are magical and are still working."

Minerva frowned. She had ordered the elves to clean out the man's possessions when she assumed his position. She sighed. With Dumbledore dead, she might as well try to figure out what to do with his possessions.

"Put the box on the floor, Tinky, and we'll go through it. I certainly don't want you rooting through anything that might contain dark magic. Merlin knows I wouldn't put it past that man," she replied.

The little elf placed the box on the floor next to McGonagall, who leaned down and opened the box. The first item, a foe detector, she placed on the desk. She also found the Puter Outer and several charmed snow globes. Gryffindor's sword was in the box, as was what looked to be an early copy of the Marauder's map. Near the bottom she found a small saucer shaped silver object that spun and emitted puffs of green smoke.

"Well, hello. And what are you?" she asked the object. She placed it on the desk and stared at it. "I've always wondered what you were for."

"It's a tracker, Professor," Tinky said softly. She wasn't used to the new Headmistress yet. Before the changeover, she had been Dumbledore's personal elf.

"A tracker?" Minerva said, looking at her.

"Yes, ma'am. Professor Dumbledore said it tracks his most important student and tells him how he is doing."

Minerva sucked in a breath. "Tinky, do you know the name of that student?"

The little elf trembled in fear, but nodded.

Minerva frowned. She hadn't meant to frighten the creature. "I'm sorry, Tinky. I'm not angry at you. But would you please tell me the name of the student?"

"Harry Potter, Professor."

Minerva sat back on her chair, thinking hard. The device was clearly still operating, but it should have ceased tracking Harry when he lost his magic. She opened the lid on the device and saw a small crystal vial of blood contained within.

It's tracking on his blood? Shouldn't that have stopped when he lost his magic? I don't understand this. she thought. Maybe I could ask Ollivander. He knows about such devices.

She waved her wand and all of the magical objects, except for the tracker, returned to the box. She leaned forward and rubbed her forehead.

Harry's leaving was only one of several odd things that happened last year. she mused. What about Miss Granger?The girl returned from holiday practically ecstatic. Before the break, she had been depressed and her grades had started to slip. But that all changed when she came back. Why?

She considered the rumors that had been circulating near the end of the year about Miss Granger having met a boy on a tropical island. She had dismissed them at the time because she knew the girl wasn't likely to fall that hard for someone she had just met. But what if it was someone she knew very well? Someone she had thought she had lost? That might account for her change in attitude.

She pulled a piece of blank parchment out to write a note to Ollivander. She had a suspicion now and she'd probably know better after she talked with the wand maker.

Hermione's home, Oxford England, Jun 16th 1995...

"Sirius! Remus!" Harry shouted from the pool. He swam to the edge and lifted himself out so he could greet his guardians.

Hermione, floating on an air-mattress, waved and went back to practicing her ring exercises. It had taken her a while, but she had finally made the connection between desire to perform magic and commanding it. Right now she was summoning her orb of semi-frozen water.

"Hey, Cub!" Remus said, flashing him a quick grin before waving to Hermione.

"Harry," Sirius said, then he glanced over at Hermione and grinned slyly. "So, you're checking out Hermione in her bikini, eh?"

Harry blushed and stopped dead in his tracks. What Sirius said was true, but he wasn't about to admit it! He was sure Hermione knew, but neither of them spoke about it.

A second later Sirius was soaking wet and shivering from the now broken ball of semi-frozen water. "I don't mind Harry ogling me. But you're too old, Sirius Black," Hermione said with a sniff of mock disdain. Using her ring, she propelled the air mattress to the shallow end of the pool and climbed out of the pool.

"Old? Me?" Sirius said, aghast.

"Yes, old," agreed Emma from the door of the house. "Now, if you're interested, I happen to know a very nice woman who would probably enjoy knowing you. She's a muggle, a doctor, and probably just up your alley, considering how much she enjoys immature pranks and potty humor."

"Oh, Merlin," muttered Remus. "A female version of Sirius? I'd never survive it!"

Sirius, on the other hand, looked intrigued. "A doctor? Really? Maybe I should meet her!"

The two older men walked to the picnic table and their expressions tightened, becoming more serious.

"Harry, can we talk?" asked Remus.

Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked back at him inquisitively. He shrugged, then joined the two men at the table.

Remus leaned forward and looked at him intently. When he saw Hermione watching them, he waved her over to join them.

"You know I've been hunting for the horcruxes," Remus said as Hermione sat down.

The two teens nodded and Harry reached for Hermione's hand. Something about Remus' attitude seemed off and he was afraid he was about to get some bad news.

Sirius, spotting the two holding hands, raised an eyebrow and grinned, but said nothing.

"A few days ago I searched the ancestral home of the Gaunt family. Gaunt was the maiden name of Voldemort's mother. The Gaunts are all dead, so the building is falling into ruin, but I did discover a few interesting and disturbing things.

"First off, I found Slytherin's Ring. It was heavily warded, hidden under the floor of the sitting room. However, Voldemort never considered that someone might try breaking in from the basement, which was unprotected."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large gold ring with a green stone and placed it on the table.

Harry looked at the ring with revulsion. When Hermione tried to reach for it, and he snatched her hand away. "Don't," he said, shuddering in revulsion. "It's vile. I can feel it from here." He tore his eyes from the ring and looked at Remus. "Why haven't you destroyed it?"

"There are some spells on the ring that weren't put there by Voldemort," Sirius said. "We think we'll have to break those enchantments before we can destroy the ring. I'll be taking it to the States the day after tomorrow. My friend at the Department of Magic has offered the services of their curse breakers. They don't know what we're destroying, but they recognize that we're searching out dark artifacts and destroying them. They agree the items need to be destroyed and are willing to help."

Remus' expression turned grim. "Harry, we found something else at the Gaunt home. We found Wormtail."

Harry's expression lit up and he looked eager. "Great! When is his trial?"

Remus shook his head. "No, you don't understand. Peter was dead. From the looks of things, he was bitten by a snake, most likely Nagini. From the state of the body, we think he's been dead for at least eight months."

"That would put it right around the start of the Triwizard tournament," Hermione said softly.

"Yes, that was our thought," Remus agreed. "We found a newspaper spread out on the floor with the article that announced you and Voldemort had both lost your magic."

"There were signs all over the place that a snake had spent the winter there," offered Sirius.

Harry nodded and he bowed his head. The news wasn't completely unexpected, but he'd always hoped that someday he'd be the one to give Wormtail the justice he deserved.

"Harry?" Remus said softly.

He looked up, his eyes troubled. "I'm sorry. I know he was once your friend, but I always hoped I'd be there when he paid for his crimes."

"He's paying for his crimes," Sirius said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "He hurt all of us; you most of all. But never think he isn't paying the price for his actions."

Hermione leaned against him, trying to offer what comfort she could. He took a deep shuddering breath and fought off the welter of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. When he opened his eyes, they were bright, clear and determined.

"Hermione and I have a theory about what Nagini might do," he said.

The two older men looked interested and Hermione outlined their ideas about Nagini.

"Very good," Remus approved, impressed by both of them.

Emma watched from the kitchen window for a moment longer. She knew she would find out later what had happened. What ever it was had a profound effect on Harry. She made note of the fact that he'd accepted comfort from Hermione without question or embarrassment.

The teens had announced to Dan and Emma that they were now officially dating. So far, that meant two trips to the movies, one night when Harry treated the whole family to dinner and dancing, and lots of walks around the neighborhood. They hugged more often and held hands a lot, and even occasionally shared a chaste kiss.

It made Emma want to pull her hair out! She had tried to talk to Hermione, hoping to find out if they were more romantic in private, but her daughter wasn't talking. Emma had come to understand that their fear that their friendship could be ruined had put the entire relationship into slow motion. The pair were exercising a remarkable amount of self control for their age and she was proud of them.

Emma chuckled watching them now. Hermione wasn't entirely above the whole hormone issue. Her choice of bathing suit proved that. Emma had bought her a skimpy blue bikini. She and Hermione had fought over it before Harry arrived, but she still wore it despite the fact that she owned more modest swim suits. She and Dan had taken Hermione several times to Nice, in Southern France, for holiday and she hadn't had a problem until she hit her teen years and became self conscious about her appearance. Now, for the first time, she was starting to gain confidence in herself, thanks to Harry's reactions.

Harry, for his part, nearly swallowed his tongue when he first saw her in her bikini. Emma wasn't sure if the boy would faint, or bolt from the backyard. It took all of her willpower to keep from laughing. Hermione was practically preening from Harry's reaction. And Harry... well, CPR might have been needed had he not snapped out of his shock.

Dan, on the whole, was relieved by Harry's attitude. In fact, Harry often looked to Dan as a guide for how he should behave towards Hermione. He felt much better about the fact that his daughter was dating now that he saw them together.

Emma looked out the window again and smiled. All four were laughing now. Coming to a decision, she reached for the phone, wondering if Cindy could get off work for a small BBQ.

Back at the picnic table, the course of the conversation had altered radically.

"And so I told them that unless they were planning on holding a parade and putting up a statue of you, I couldn't possibly support such a measure," Sirius said haughtily.

Harry groaned and buried his face in his hands.

Hermione looked at him worriedly, then turned to Sirius. "Please, tell me you're joking! You didn't really say that, did you?" she asked.

Sirius nodded. He was actually quite proud of how he had outmaneuvered Walden McNair. He didn't trust the man at all. He was rumored to be a Death Eater, but that had never been proven. His attitudes were definitely leaning towards Malfoy and his crowd, except that the arrogant pure blood was now in prison and useless to those who'd once tried to curry his favor.

Hermione gestured with her hand and a Daily Prophet appeared in it. "I know I saw it here the other day," she muttered. "Ah! Here it is among the letters to the editor. It's from the chairwoman of the International Harry Potter Foundation."

Harry looked up and stared at her, thunderstruck. "I have a foundation?"

"He has a foundation?" asked Remus in astonishment.

"I didn't know you had a foundation," Sirius said, staring at his godson in admiration.

"Oh, Merlin's bloody balls!" groaned Harry, then he buried his face in his hands again.

"Language, Harry," chided Hermione, then she began to read.

"The recent proposed legislation which failed to ratify in the Wizengamot doesn't go far enough in the opinion of the IHPF. We have spoken with the sponsor of original bill and plan to work on bringing a new bill before the Wizengamot when it reopens for session in September.

"We understand one of the major shortfalls of the original bill was a lack of proper recognition for Harry Potter. Declaring a day in his memory is just not enough. Our improved version of the bill will result in a boon for businesses, as well as providing a draw to the Wizarding public. The parade and candle light vigil are sure to be quite popular."

She paused, hearing a strangling sound coming from Harry, who was glaring at Sirius.

The older man wisely decided to beat a hasty retreat. Unfortunately for him, he strayed too close to the pool.

Harry launched himself over the table and leaped, crashing into Sirius and taking him, and himself, into the pool.

Hermione stared, while Remus doubled over with laughter. Sirius stood up, and held Harry under the water.

"Ha! Now who has who?" he gloated. He lifted Harry out of the water by his hair.

"Do you say uncle?" he asked.

Harry sputtered and jabbered something at him. Sirius turned to Remus. "I told you we shouldn't let him learn Arabic. Now he curses at us and we have no idea what he's saying!" He dunked Harry again.

Harry waved a hand and a fin broke the surface of the pool. A large dark shape swam around them and Sirius' eyes bulged. With a shriek, he apparated out of the pool. Harry fell back, laughing and sputtered.

Sirius reappeared next to the picnic table. Harry stood and picked up the inflatable shark he had charmed to act like a real one. Sirius bared his teeth and growled at him.

Hermione, watching Sirius, shook her head. "You know, that's much more effective when you're in your other form," she informed him.

Before he could reply, the door to the house opened and Emma stepped out. She was followed by a tall brunette carrying a platter of chicken. Dan was behind them and made a beeline for the grill.

"Sirius, Remus, Evan? I'd like you to meet my friend, Cindy," Emma said, trying to ignore Hermione's smirk. Smiling, she took the platter from Cindy and walked over to the grill.

Cindy eyed Sirius, who was standing next to the table, dripping wet and wearing a somewhat dumbstruck expression.

Harry quickly canceled the spell on the inflatable shark and climbed out of the pool.

Sirius, finally remembering he was wet and rather bedraggled, shook himself. "Er... I think I'll just pop inside and get into something dry."

"I have some of your clothes in my trunk, Sirius," Harry offered. He had a towel around his neck and was busy rubbing his hair dry. He didn't really have any of Sirius' clothes, but he gave Sirius the excuse he needed to get inside where he could perform a drying charm and a quick transfiguration on his clothing.

Remus snorted and tried not laugh as Sirius beat a hasty retreat. Harry picked up a t-shirt and walked over to Cindy. "I'm Evan, a friend of Hermione's," he said, offering his hand.

"Cindy Adams," she replied. Her eyes took in Harry, noting the scars that spotted his body, including the tell tale signs of plastic surgery on his forehead. She held her tongue. After all, it really wasn't her business.

Remus leaned across the table. "Remus Lupin, one of Evan's guardians."

"Sirius should be down in a few minutes. He went for an involuntary swim," Harry said, then his eyes widened for a brief moment. He had spotted the Daily Prophet on the table in front of Hermione. "Emma must be a prophet. She mentioned you earlier and now you're here," he said lamely, hoping Hermione would catch on.

Hermione looked up at the mention of the word prophet, then paled. She couldn't use her wand. She gestured with her hand and the paper vanished, while Cindy's attention was on Harry.

Fortunately for all, Sirius returned at that point, exiting the house loudly and further distracting the new arrival.

Relaxing, Harry sat down next to Hermione. He leaned against her, watching and enjoying a warm summer evening and, more importantly, Sirius making a fool of himself in front of a woman.

Harry's home, Waivunu Fiji, Aug 1st 1995...

Sirius pulled the land cruiser into the garage and shut off the motor. He turned around in his seat to see why it had gotten so quiet in the back of the car. Emma sat next to one window, and she held up a finger, motioning him to be silent.

Harry leaned against Hermione, who had slipped one arm around his shoulders. He was sound asleep, his head resting on her shoulder.

"Well, that explains the lack of conversation on the way back," Sirius said softly.

"He's exhausted," Emma said softly. "Open the door on his side and we'll wake him up and get him in bed."

Sirius grinned. "Are you sure? Hermione looks quite comfortable at the moment."

Hermione blushed and then she did something incredibly mature for her age. She stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to laugh quietly.

Sirius exited the car and walked around to Harry's side, where he opened the door and levitated him out. Hermione flexed her shoulder in relief. She had enjoyed cuddling with Harry, but her shoulder and arm had fallen asleep. She climbed out after Harry and used her ring to open the doors for Sirius.

Emma walked behind them, smiling at the strange sight they made.

Remus and Dan stood in alarm. They'd been waiting for them to get home for the past hour. Emma motioned them to be quiet. She sat down on the couch, then she tugged on Dan's shirt, making him sit as well.

"There's nothing wrong, Harry fell asleep on the way home, that's all," she explained.

Relieved, Remus sat down and blew out a breath. "Good. I was worried," he said, glancing towards Harry's room. "I think Harry's one of those people who simply cannot sleep on a plane."

"Well, he won't need to take the plane anymore, so that shouldn't be a problem," Dan offered. They had installed the door back in Oxford and the houses were now connected. All someone needed to do was step across the threshold and they were transported thousands of miles in an instant.

"No, it's still something he'll need to know in case he has to travel muggle style in the future," Sirius said as he entered the room "If he has to make this trip by plane again, it might not be a bad idea to schedule a layover someplace like New Delhi."

He flicked his wand and drinks appeared for each of them. He stretched, then sat down near Remus.

"So, he's asleep? And where's Hermione?" Dan asked him.

"She'll be along. She wanted to put a charm on Harry to warn her if he wakes."

"So, Sirius," Emma began. "Cindy tells me you two are becoming an item."

Sirius made a face. "Yeah, maybe." He met her eyes. "You know, I was always a bit jealous of what James and Lily had. Now, for the first time, I find myself experiencing that and I'm not sure what to do about it."

Remus stared at him in surprise. "You've fallen in love already?" he exclaimed.

Sirius shook his head. "No. Yes. Maybe.

"Well, as long as you're sure," Remus quipped.

"Blast I don't know!" Sirius exclaimed, glaring at his best friend. "I can definitely see the potential for it, though. I never thought it would happen to me, especially after Azkaban, but Cindy is different."

"So what's the problem?" asked Emma. She was ecstatic to discover that her little foray into match making seemed to work this time.

"She's a muggle!" Sirius said. A frown wrinkled his brow. "No, I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just that I have to tell her about our world. And then there's the whole lifespan thing."

"Lifespan thing?" asked Dan.

"You know that we live longer than muggles, right?" asked Remus.

Hermione walked in and sat down next to her mother and Dan and Emma nodded to Remus.

"It works like this, our lifespans are tied to our magic. Sirius is fairly powerful, so he should live to be about a hundred and forty, maybe one fifty. Harry, despite his age, is even more powerful. It's very possible that he could live to two hundred, or more.

"When a weaker magic user marries a stronger one, the stronger partner's magic extends the weaker partner's life span to approximate his or hers. For example, Hermione could normally expect to live about a hundred and fifty years or so. Should she stay with Harry and marry him, her life span would increase accordingly."

Hermione chewed her lip and looked down at her feet. She was way to young to be thinking seriously of marriage, but she had considered it already. What she and Harry had could easily go that way.

Sirius grinned at her discomfort.

"Now, in the case of Sirius and Cindy, Sirius' magic would try to extend her lifespan to match his, but because she has no magic of her own, so it will only partially succeed. In the end, it will mean a reduction in Sirius' life span as his magic increases hers."

"What my learned and wordy friend is trying to say is that a permanent relationship with Cindy would extend her life by nearly forty years, while cutting mine by the same. That doesn't really bother me as much as having to explain that to her, along with the fact that there is no divorce from a magical marriage," Sirius said.

Emma frowned. "So, explaining this to her is what bothers you? Or are you just worried about her reaction?"

"A little of both," Sirius said. "I've never had to explain our world to a muggle before. And that's another problem. She's a doctor, a trained, very intelligent specialist in muggle science. There are some diseases that muggles get that Wizards never have to worry about. That works in reverse, of course. Our world has it's share of diseases that seem to ignore muggles. If she had a cold, she'd reach for aspirin or something and I'd be offering her a pepper up potion.

"Those potions would be available for her own personal use, and for any family, but she would not be allowed to use them legally on her patients. Think how she'd feel knowing that there's a cure for a dying patient and she's prevented from using it?"

"What will you do?" Hermione asked quietly.

Sirius shrugged. "I'll keep seeing Cindy for now. If things continue the way they are, however, I'll have to explain our world to her soon. Perhaps I'll invite her here for Christmas."

"Oh, that will go over well," Remus remarked, trying hard not to laugh. "What will you do? Stun her and push her through the door in Oxford?"

Sirius grinned. "You know..."

"No," Emma said firmly. "Before that happens, you'll invite her to our house and we'll help you explain it to her."

Sirius blushed and looked both surprised and relieved. "You'd do that?"

"In a heartbeat," Dan answered for his wife. "I'm going to say something here that will embarrass my daughter, but it needs to be said. I didn't like the idea that Harry was interested in her. She's my baby girl, but I cannot deny the fact that Harry has done more to bring her out than even knowing she was a witch. Emma and I know he's saved her life on more than one occasion, and he's continuing to work to see that she's protected.

"That focus ring business is a prime example. But more than anything else, I've watched them together this past month in Oxford and they fit together like Emma and I fit together. We owe Harry and you and we'll do what we can to help where we can. Even if that means helping you break the news to Cindy about magic."

"Daddy," Hermione murmured, her eyes glistening brightly.

He turned to look at her. "It's true, princess. When you thought you'd lost Harry last year you were depressed. Your letters home were flat, almost emotionless. It was as though someone had sucked all the joy out of your life. Your Mum and I were terrified. You were retreating back into the shell you used to hide behind before you met Harry. Why do you think we took an extra vacation to come visit with Harry? We hoped that bringing him back into your life would bring you back to us. I don't think you'll ever know how much we missed you!"

"It's true," Emma agreed. "When Remus approached us and delivered Harry's letter, we were overjoyed to know that he wasn't gone forever. You two might not be ready to tell each other how you feel, but anyone who knows you both can see that there's love there." She turned to face Sirius. "And that's why we're willing to help you. Like Harry, you deserve something good in your life. Cindy's always been a bit of a cynic where men are concerned, but I know she's very interested. You intrigue her."

"Well, she's interesting and a lot of fun to be around," Sirius replied.

"You would say that, especially after she got you with the dribble cup," Remus said with a laugh.

Sirius ignored the barb. "I'll take you up on the offer, if things continue the way they're going," he told the Grangers. Leaning back, he was relieved to know he'd have help in breaking the news to Cindy. He could only hope that she didn't panic or think them all insane.

"So, what have you got planned for this week?" asked Remus.

Grateful for the topic change, Sirius went on to describe a relaxing week that included a day of deep sea fishing for the men, while the women went shopping in Nadi, one of the largest cities on the island. Sirius would leave Fiji with Hermione's parents after a week. His role in the Wizengamot and the wizarding world was expanding. Remus would stay behind to supervise the two teens and their tutors for the remaining three weeks.

Hermione was looking forward to the extra classes and privately grateful that she wouldn't have to participate in Harry's physical training. That particular tutor had been asked to prepare a gentler regime for her that she could continue, even while going to Hogwarts.

She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. It was good to be back in Fiji.

TBC.

Author's Notes:

Well, we're back and we are actually doing author's notes for this story.

First thing we want to do is offer our tanks to Keith and Dorothy for giving this file an extra pair of eyes. We appreciate it no matter what Alyx says. I'd send them a box of donuts, but if I had a box, I'd save them for myself. HA!

Hopefully this chapter will clarify a few points from the prologue. Yeah I didn't call it a prologue, but hey, you people don't pay me enough to do something fancy like a prologue.

We had a few nasty reviews, to those people we bare our behinds and remind you for the millionth time, if you don't like it, don't read it. No one is forcing you and your not paying for it. So your opinion means as much as the donuts I'm allowed to eat (which is none).

This is going to be largely a personality driven story. Unlike our other stories, there won't be a lot of magic and or action. It's a romance wrapped around a horcrux hunt with some magic thrown in because it's Harry Potter.

We've always wanted to write a story where Sirius survived, and this is it. It's also a salute to canon by tossing most of it out the window. You will find elements from books four, five and six in this story. But pieces only.

For those that are tired of bad Dumbledore, well I can't see that going away in this story. But I will say, Dumbledore is gone, I wanted him gone and out of the picture so I could concentrate on more important issues.

One word of caution. Pay CLOSE attention to section headings in this story. They will identify a lot about each section. If you ignore them, do so at your own peril because we'll publicly chastise you if you complain about something we clearly marked in a section heading. (Points to Alyx who has the BBQ pits already fired up)

Ken, you were right, he was an innocent bystander. What does the military call it? Collateral Damage?

Hang onto your hat Meg and buckle into that llama saddle. This is going to be a different ride.

Hands Treck a compass that doesn't work. Now you'll be even more lost.

You're right Taxzombie, Alyx made me send all our llamas to Meg. It wasn't easy stuffing them into those little fedex envelopes believe me!

All those that were convinced the first chapter could have stood by itself, you're right. In fact I first handed it to Alyx as a stand alone one shot and she passed it back saying it was too short. So there you have it. How a 6.6K word story is now pushing more than 50k words and will probably top out around 80k to 100K. Blame Alyx, I blame her for everything.

For all the Weasley bashers out there, sorry, but Ron bashing isn't really going to happen here. Ron will be a git for a few chapters, and then wise up. Sadly however the golden trio is permanent dissolved.

Fenris, this will teach you to not assume all the questions have been answered. Besides, you know us, if we close out one line of contention, we usually open another.

The Power of the Press Chapter 2 - Year Four Continued

By Bobmin

The Power of the Press
Chapter 2 - Year Four Continued