Day Two
The following day there was a short hike planned, so the group waited until after lunch to begin. That gave Hermione time for a lie-in, which she normally wouldn't have taken, but Harry had turned off her wand alarm, cast the room into darkness, and set up a strong Silencing Charm to prevent anything from waking her up.
After packing up the tent, they went to a nearby stream—which Hermione declared safe after running a series of diagnostic spells—and filled up their water bottles. Hermione was unscrewing the cap of her water bottle when Harry took it from her. "I can do that for you."
"I can fill a water bottle, Harry."
He just shrugged as he emptied the bottle into the stream, washed it out, emptied it again, then filled it before handing it back to her.
Harry was being extremely attentive today and Hermione was racking her brain for the cause. She must have said something last night when she'd been on the brink of sleep. She didn't remember their conversation clearly, thanks to the after-effects of the Stamina Potion, but she recalled talking to him about why he'd become an Auror.
Then...had he asked her why she had become an Unspeakable? She thought she remembered that. Had she answered truthfully? That would certainly explain Harry's odd behavior. Oh well, there was nothing to be done for it now. Plus, she already had plenty of other things to worry about.
As if on cue, Harry leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "They suspect something." He kissed her cheek before leaning back. Hermione's heart thumped. Harry was getting good at these fake kisses and embraces, but each one still unsettled her. She tried to push the thought from her mind and focus on the present.
Lily and James were behind her and she saw Harry's eyes flash to them periodically. "What happened?" she mouthed as she took a drink from the water bottle.
He smiled, then reached a hand out and pushed a curl behind her ear. "I'm glad you got a chance to rest. You needed it," he said louder than necessary.
Hermione just nodded.
She heard rustling behind her, then heard Lily say something to James. James laughed and replied with, "No kidding. But did you consider…?"
Harry, who had been watching his parents, focused back on Hermione. "He asked me a Polyjuice question while you were asleep."
"What?!" she hissed. "Did you get it right?"
"Luckily, yes. He told me he always wanted to be an Animagus. I asked if he'd forgotten how to turn into a stag. I guess not many people know that about him, which makes sense since we only learned it because of Sirius."
Hermione nodded. "You're very lucky that's what he went with."
"I know."
"What are we going to do?"
Harry looked down at his water bottle. "We need to be very deliberate about showing what we're filling our bottles with. And if you can, go as long as possible without drinking anything. I suspect they'll be watching what we consume very carefully today."
"We shouldn't have—"
Harry shook his head imperceptibly but it was too late. Hermione felt a hand on her shoulder and nearly jumped out of her skin. Her magic crackled and whoever had touched her pulled their hand away. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Hermione turned and blushed. "Sorry, Lily."
Lily was watching her intently. "What were you saying just now? What shouldn't you have done?"
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She had no lies at the ready. She looked at Harry, but he also seemed at a loss. "It's nothing, Mum," he said, standing up and returning his water bottle to his bag. "Are you ready? We should get going."
That was one strategy, but Hermione could tell by the shrewd look in Lily's eyes that it wasn't going to work on her. James, who was near the path and had missed the interaction, called to Harry. "I forgot to ask, did you catch the Tornadoes playing the Cannons last week?"
"Uh, yeah," Harry lied. He had expected to be asked about Quidditch on this trip so had studied the current stats for each team and the highlights from the recent matches back at the other Harry and Hermione's flat. He looked at Hermione, who was giving him a "don't you dare leave me here alone" look, then gave her a guilty smile before going to join his dad. It would be strange to linger around Hermione and his mum since he'd been trying to pretend like nothing was wrong.
Once Harry went to join James, they started walking along the path. Hermione tried to catch up to them but Lily linked her arm in hers and held her back. "You don't want to talk about Quidditch, do you?"
Hermione shrugged.
"Hey, Hermione," Lily said seriously. Hermione turned to find green eyes studying her the same way Harry's had been all morning. "Hermione," Lily repeated, this time in a lower voice.
"Yes?" Hermione asked, trying to remain calm. This was it. Lily was going to say she knew she was an imposter and demand an explanation. What was Hermione going to say? She couldn't tell her the truth. Or could she? Would that be so bad? Absolutely. That would be very, very bad.
"How's your injury?"
Hermione's eyes widened and she almost blurted, "You know?" but luckily, caught herself. Hermione took a deep, calming breath and as she did so, felt the wound on her side thump several times with pain. She winced slightly and took another, slower breath.
The wound was the first thing she noticed when she arrived in this world. It was constantly hurting and didn't react to any of the healing charms or salves she tried. She performed a few diagnostic spells during her first visit to this world, cross-referenced the results with the archives in the Department of Mysteries back in her world, and decided it was an Everlasting Curse, which she'd read about, but never encountered in person, until now.
"It's okay," Hermione said.
Lily gave her another searching look. She shook her head before facing forward again. "You don't have to lie, Hermione. I'm sure the four-hour lie-in you had this morning was really about you recovering from all the hiking we did yesterday. Is all this activity making it worse?"
Hermione shook her head and said honestly, "It's not. I promise. I was just tired. I didn't sleep a wink the night before the trip. The movement is good for the wound, I think. It's when I'm sitting completely still that it's the worst since I have nothing else to focus on."
Lily gave her that searching look again, then eventually nodded. She leaned into Hermione and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Do you remember what we talked about at Headquarters?"
No. Not even a little bit. "Um, yeah."
"Well, I think you need a refresher," Lily said as she returned her arm to her side. "You can't do everything for everyone, if you don't stop to take care of yourself every once in a while. You are part of that world you're trying to save too. Don't forget that."
Tears stung Hermione's eyes. "Thank you, Lily," she said softly, trying to keep her voice steady.
Lily leaned into her again. "You can speak up if you need something, okay? Don't bottle it in."
Hermione just nodded. She had no idea what the nature of her past relationship with Lily was, but the older witch clearly knew her well. Lily had mentioned "headquarters" earlier, so perhaps they'd worked together during the war.
They walked silently for a few moments, then Lily said darkly, "I'm so glad Dolohov is dead."
Hermione guessed he was the wizard who had done this to her but wasn't sure, so she just hummed in response.
"Did I tell you he was the first wizard James killed in the war?"
A coldness settled in the pit of Hermione's stomach. "Uh, no."
"It still haunts James, but I always remind him what that awful man did to you," she spat. "It's too bad no one killed him sooner."
Hermione looked over and saw that Lily's eyes were bright with indignation, the same look Harry's got when he was angry. It was eerie how similar they were. She understood why Dumbledore had said that although Harry looked a lot like James, his nature was closest to Lily's. Hermione agreed.
"It's okay, Lily. He's gone and all of that... it's done. We won."
"Yeah. We did, didn't we?"
Hermione's heart broke as she thought of Lily's fate in her world. She never got to see the end of the war. But she'd had such a huge part in their side's victory. Hermione dipped her head down because if she looked at Lily for a second longer, she would burst into tears.
"Sorry to bring up such a sad topic, Hermione."
"It's fine."
They walked in silence for a while longer as Hermione watched Harry laughing with James on the path ahead of them. She gave Lily a side-long glance and saw she was watching them too. Lily must have felt Hermione's eyes on her and turned her head quickly, catching Hermione before she could look away.
"Harry seems off," Lily said bluntly.
Hermione resisted the urge to drop Lily's gaze, fearing that would look suspicious. "How so?"
Lily looked back at the guys. "It's hard to say… He seems happier, but also, sadder than normal. Which I know makes no sense, but, well, is something going on?"
Hermione opened her mouth and closed it. She didn't know if this was a test or a serious question. Perhaps both. And she was at a loss for how to answer since, although she knew her Harry almost better than she knew herself, she didn't know how different the Harry in this world was.
"You know Harry," she began, with no idea how she was going to end the sentence. She was half-hoping Lily would jump in and finish the thought for her, but wasn't that lucky. "Uh, he feels responsible for everything, you know? It just… overwhelms him at times. But he's fine, and reconnecting with you two will be good for him."
Lily hummed and looked back at Harry. Was she buying it? Why had Hermione gone along with this insane plan? This was probably the first time in her life she'd taken such drastic action without thinking it through.
No, it was the second time. The first was when she Obliviated her parents so she could keep them safe while she fought beside Harry during the war, with no idea at the time what that would entail.
And after that, she'd done insane things with Harry, like breaking into Gringotts while impersonating Bellatrix, of all people, and charging right into Hogwarts, one of the most dangerous places for them at the time.
Why did Harry have the ability to knock her off balance and make her forget all about plans and logical, reasoned decision-making?
And this current situation...
Her mind kept racing through the possible outcomes, but she couldn't come up with any viable ones besides her original plan, which Harry would hate. But he'd have to be okay with it, since every other option would completely wreck the other Hermione and Harry's lives.
Her heart was pounding hard in her chest and she felt slightly sick. By the end of this, she was going to have a stomach ulcer. She was trying to recall the Healing Charm needed to treat ulcers when Lily said, "Oh, Harry," under her breath.
Then, before Hermione could respond, she turned and added, "I'm surprised he hasn't brought up your injury. I expected him to stop at least every fifteen minutes and check whether you're okay."
"Oh, uh, yeah," Hermione said, searching her mind for something to say. "I got him to drop the mother hen act about a year ago."
Lily cocked an eyebrow at her. "How? By Obliviating him?"
"The thought crossed my mind." Hermione let out a nervous laugh. She turned to find Lily looking at her expectantly, obviously waiting for her to say, "Just kidding, of course I didn't Obliviate your son. I'm not the type of person who Oblivates people against their will."
Hermione took a deep breath. She needed to get a grip. What were they talking about? Right. The nasty wound on her side which caused constant pain, like a knife being shoved in her ribs. The one Harry knew nothing about, and which Hermione had no intention of telling him about. The first thing that had made her pause when Harry asked her to stay in this world for two weeks and the real reason she'd stayed up all night before the trip, pouring through the other Hermione's notes, searching for hints about how she managed the constant pain.
"I, uh, just had to be direct with him," Hermione said to Lily. "I told him how much the constant doting was irritating me, reminded him that I am perfectly capable of caring for myself, and made a pact with him that if it got really bad, I'd speak up and otherwise, he'd leave me alone."
"Huh. Well—"
Lily was cut off by the unexpected sound of music. Hermione turned right, toward the source of the sound, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw a clearing with large, floating bubbles. Brilliant. She was officially saved from the awkward conversation with Lily.
"I didn't touch it, Hermione!" Harry called from further up the path. "It was coming at me, so I threw a rock at it and then the music started—"
"Don't worry, Harry," Hermione replied as she walked up the path, motioning for Lily to follow her. "These are perfectly safe. Watch."
Hermione waved her wand and cast a silent Finite Incantatem to stop the music. She reached out to the closest bubble, which was larger than her head, and popped it with her finger. A beautiful soprano began to ring out, in a language that didn't sound like anything Hermione had ever heard a human speak. The music felt like it was coming from inside her, rather than from an external source.
She looked back and smiled at the look of wonder on the group's faces, then popped another bubble. A lower voice joined the soprano, creating a perfect harmony. She popped a third bubble, then a fourth to add a percussion line that sounded a bit like the tapping of a hollow log and a twinkling sound that reminded Hermione of wind chimes.
Lily popped a nearby bubble, which added a sound of water splashing to the beat of the song. "It's all sounds from the forest," Lily said, beaming widely. She ran into the clearing, popping bubbles as she went. She laughed and jumped up and down, looking happier than a child on Christmas morning as twenty more harmonies were added to the song.
"It's like a symphony!" Lily shouted over the song. "This is incredible!"
James dropped his pack and motioned for Lily to do the same, then grabbed her by the waist and began dancing with her on the path, each of them laughing as they tried to figure out how to move to the ever-changing beat.
Harry went to Hermione's side and wrapped an arm around her as they both laughed at his parents. After a few moments, he turned and kissed the side of her head. "This is amazing," he murmured, leaning in close so she could hear him above the music and his parent's laughter. "Are the fairies making this?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes. This means we're close to their colony."
Harry dropped his pack, just as his dad had done, and held a hand out for Hermione's. Once she was free of her backpack, he gave her a small bow. "May I have this dance?"
"Do you promise not to step on my feet?"
"No. You know I'm a dreadful dancer."
Hermione smiled. "Maybe in this body, you'll be better."
"Only one way to find out."
She beamed back at him as she placed her hand in his.
The group moved on after exploring the clearing with the musical bubbles, stopping the songs and starting them again—pleasantly surprised to find the tunes different each time. Almost immediately, they stumbled upon a rare, magical plant Hermione said was called Booster Briar.
"What does that mean?" James asked, leaning forward to study the bush, which looked a bit like Sneezewort to Harry, but without the flowers.
Hermione cast a few silent spells on the plant, which Harry guessed were diagnostic spells. Seemingly satisfied with the results, she grabbed one of the leaves between her fingers and whispered, "Lumos."
The result was incredible and unexpected. A blinding light shot out of Hermione's wand and cast the area around them into brightness for several seconds before it disappeared. It made Harry think of a camera flash but was a hundred times stronger than that.
"Bloody hell," James murmured, staring in awe at Hermione. "Does that plant boost spells?"
Hermione nodded.
"That is incredibly dangerous."
"Yes," she said matter-of-factly. "Luckily, the leaves only work when they are attached to the briar, the plant can't be transferred out of this forest, and there are only four of them in the entire area, spread far apart. But even with all that, it can be very dangerous."
James simply nodded, moving his gaze to the leaf in between Hermione's fingertips. She took her hand away, then pushed the branch toward James. "Do you want to try?"
"Yeah. Obviously," he replied with a wicked grin. He looked at Lily and asked, "What do you think? Which spell should I cast?"
Lily bit her lip and looked up at the sky as she thought. "Try Levitating something."
"Or someone," Harry said, stepping forward.
"No!" both witches cried while James perked up. "That's interesting," James said. "You could take your broom."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Harry grinned back, then looked back at his mum and Hermione. "I'll be fine. Really."
Lily rolled her eyes and murmured to Hermione, "Boys," as Harry took his broom out of his backpack and unshrunk it.
"Okay, Dad. I'm ready," he said, gripping the broom tightly in his hands.
"Wait!" Hermione stepped forward and applied a Sticking Charm between one of Harry's hands and the broomstick. Then, she created a tall beacon of blue light in the center of the clearing. "So you can find your way back," she explained as she stepped away, keeping her wand raised, just in case.
James grabbed a leaf on the plant, just as Hermione had done, and leveled his wand at Harry, who was standing on the beacon at the center of the clearing, out of the way of any trees. When Harry nodded, James murmured, "Wingardium Leviosa," and Harry went bursting into the air, whooping loudly as he went higher, higher, and higher until he couldn't see the group anymore.
Harry was inwardly thanking Hermione for her brilliance in applying the Sticking Charm as he bounded through the air, using his free hand to keep his glasses in place. It was exhilarating. He was moving faster than he ever had on a broom. When he reached the top of his ascent, he floated momentarily, then mounted his broom in one motion and returned to the forest, following the beacon Hermione had placed. Damn, she really was a genius.
"That was brilliant!" he cried as he reached the clearing and dismounted. "You have to try it, Dad."
"I'm already ahead of you," James replied with a grin, showing Harry the broom he'd taken out of his pack while Harry had been flying.
After Harry blasted James into the air, he took another turn flying, then Lily and Hermione tried a few spells. Once the group had exhausted all the safe spells they could think of, they continued toward their next campsite.
"That was brilliant, Hermione!" Lily said as she walked arm and arm with James along the path.
"I didn't put all that stuff there," Hermione replied. "I just read about it."
"Don't do that self-deprecating thing," Lily scoffed, turning to shake her head at Hermione. "Take the compliment!"
"Yes, Ma'am," Hermione smiled back at her.
"Does anyone think that maybe the music and the really cool plant were just there to lull us into a false sense of complacency? Get us to lower our guard before a giant spider bursts out and tries to eat us all?" Harry asked.
"No, Harry," James replied flatly. "No one was thinking that."
"How dark," Lily added. "Hermione says it's safe and she hasn't been wrong yet."
Hermione nodded. "It's safe. At least, everything I read said so."
"A spider that eats humans…" James said thoughtfully. "Like an Acromantula? What made you think of that?"
Harry simply shrugged.
Hermione leaned into him and whispered playfully, "Yeah, Harry. What on earth made you think of an Acromantula?"
Night had just fallen and the group was going out for another hike. They had reached their campsite and set up the tent in the late afternoon, but Hermione said they had to wait until nighttime to make their way to their final destination: the fairies' colony.
Currently, they were standing on the path about a quarter-mile from the campsite, trying to figure out which of the three forks to take.
"Do you have coordinates?" James asked.
"Not this time," Hermione replied, frowning as she looked for clues along the path.
"What did your research say?" Harry asked.
"That the path to the fairies' colony changes daily and you need to solve a series of puzzles to get there."
"Oh. Were there any other hints?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Hermione said, then perked up when she finally spotted what she was looking for. She created several floating lights and moved them toward the end of the path with her wand. "Use the toadstools," she finished, gesturing toward a large toadstool that was gleaming silver under the lights she'd cast.
"O—kay," James said as he went with Hermione to inspect the toadstool. "Is it supposed to be pointing toward one of the paths?"
"No idea."
James poked it with his wand and nothing happened. "Is it supposed to speak?"
"No idea," Hermione repeated, frowning slightly.
"I have an idea," Lily said, coming up behind them with her wand raised.
Hermione stepped out of the way. "Okay. Go ahead."
Lily cast a gust of wind at the toadstool and a cloud of glittering dust rose into the air, swirled around several times, then disappeared behind Lily. Hermione moved the floating lights after the dust and saw it had settled in the air, hovering above the middle fork of the path.
"How did you know that would work?" James asked, looking at Lily in awe.
She shrugged. "I saw a little bit of dust on the top and thought it might be fairy dust. And then, I don't know, decided to try the wind."
James pulled her into a hug. "You're brilliant."
"I couldn't let Hermione get all the credit," she said with a wink to Hermione.
"I don't mind getting a break from doing all the work around here," Hermione teased, returning to the path and already making her way down the middle fork. "Let's go. I doubt every toadstool is going to work like that, but we can try."
As Hermione expected, the next toadstool they found near a fork in the path did nothing when they blasted it with wind. Lily and Hermione inspected it for several minutes before figuring out that when they rapped on the top of the toadstool, a drumming sound came out of the woods in the direction of the path they were supposed to take.
It continued like this for another hour and a half as the witches solved the riddles of the next five toadstools, leading the group deeper and deeper into the forest, while Harry and James stood back and marveled at how clever their partners were.
But at the next toadstool, which was the largest of all, the girls were stumped. After trying to crack the code for a solid twenty minutes, all they could do was get two of the four possible paths to light up. "I think we may have to try both paths," Lily suggested.
"Yeah. That's what I was thinking," Hermione replied. They decided to try the path on the left first, since it was closest to the toadstool, but after going a hundred yards up the path, they reappeared in the same clearing.
"Okay. Not that one," Lily said. They tried the next path, but the same thing happened.
"Huh. Interesting," Hermione said when they reappeared in the clearing again. Then, she got an idea. "You know what? I think we may have to try both paths simultaneously."
"Ahh," Lily said. "Tricky. So you could never visit the colony on your own?"
Hermione shrugged. "Guess not."
"Are you suggesting we split up?" Harry asked, a hint of alarm in his tone. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Hermione placed a hand on his arm. "I think it might be the only way, Harry. And we'll divide into pairs, of course, so no one's alone."
"Are you sure? What if something happens and we're outnumbered and—"
"We can Apparate back to the campsite. There's nothing in this forest to keep us from Apparating. We tested that as soon as we walked in, remember?"
Harry nodded, but still looked concerned. Hermione saw his parents watching the interchange curiously and wondered if this Harry was more paranoid than the one they knew. Hermione gave Harry a knowing look. He sighed and nodded again. "Okay."
James clapped him on the back. "Don't worry, Harry. I'm sure if you encounter any flesh-eating spiders, your fiancée will protect you."
"I will," Hermione said with mock seriousness.
Harry just rolled his eyes as he took Hermione's hand and dragged her down the path on the left. "Let's go find this bloody colony. And whoever finds it first, send a Patronus."
"Do you want to try to beat them?" Hermione heard James ask Lily as Harry pulled her further down the path. Harry was walking so quickly, she had to run to keep up with him. The path didn't spit them back out into the clearing, as it had done before, so that was a good sign.
"Harry, please slow down! My legs aren't as long as yours." She pulled back on Harry's hand.
He slowed his pace, but not by much.
"We're safe in here, Harry," she said gently. "Worst case, we get lost and Apparate back to the campsite."
"Are you certain we're safe? We've seen some remarkable magic in here and if it fell into the wrong hands we—"
"We're safe," she repeated. "The fairies are peaceful creatures and have powerful magic at their disposal, as you've seen, which they use to keep this area of the forest free of all dark presences. Surely you can tell by the feeling alone. There's none of that hair-raising, cold sensation you get when Dark Magic is nearby."
"Yeah." Harry stopped on the path and sighed as he turned to face her. "It feels okay I just—I don't know—I just found them, you know? I don't want to lose them on the second day."
"I understand. It's going to be fine, I promise." Hermione took his hand again and continued walking down the path, worrying about the moment when Harry would have to say goodbye to his parents for good.
The dark path wound on and on for almost a mile, with no indication they were getting closer to the colony. Hermione could tell Harry was getting nervous and was about to suggest they send a Patronus to his parents, more for Harry's peace of mind than anything else, when the path abruptly opened into a clearing so large, it could fit the entire Hogwarts castle.
They'd arrived at the colony and it was... so much more than Hermione had been expecting. The whole area was lit up in various ways. Every tree trunk looked like it had Christmas lights strung around it, there were glowing waterfalls scattered around, colorful streams coming up from the ground that looked like geysers, glowing toadstools dotted here and there, and a hundred other details. Hermione thought she could be here for hours and not get a chance to see everything.
She jumped when she saw a group of fairies peeking out the hollow of a nearby tree and waving at them. Hermione waved back and heard their twinkling laugh in response. That's when she noticed the faint sound of music in the air around them.
When she looked back at Harry she was smiling so widely, her cheeks hurt. But she was so delighted by the sights that she couldn't think of a better response than to simply smile and take them in.
Harry was beaming too, his green eyes sparkling in the glow of a nearby tree. There were gleaming leaves of all different colors falling like snow around them and one fell on Hermione's foot. She looked down and saw that even the ground beneath them was luminescent, covered in a layer of glittering fairy dust.
When she looked back up at Harry, he was watching her admiringly, which caused a warm feeling to spread through her. "This is…" he began.
She nodded.
"I guess I don't have the words."
Hermione smiled. "I know what you mean."
Another leaf fell and landed on Hermione's hair. Harry reached forward and brushed it away. He had a hundred things he wanted to say to her but had no idea where to start. So, instead of speaking, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on her lips.
"Harry," she whispered, her warm breath tickling his lips. Harry moved his hand to her waist and tried to pull her closer, but she placed a palm on his chest and pushed him back. "Harry. They're not—they're not here."
It took a few seconds for the meaning of her words to settle in. Oh. Shit. He wasn't supposed to kiss her just because. The kissing and hugging was for show and right now, there was no audience. And he had a girlfriend. No, a fiancée, and Hermione had Ron. What was he doing?
Harry was about to take a large step back when his parents stepped into the clearing. Harry tightened his grip on Hermione instinctively, and he let out a sigh of relief at the sight of his mum and dad. They weren't gone. Not yet.
"Wow," Lily said, turning her head from side to side as if trying to take in everything at once. She walked over one of the colorful streams and was lifted several feet into the air. She laughed as the wind encircled her, blowing her hair all about.
"Well, that was unexpected," she said when she returned to the ground, trying to put her hair back in place.
James cocked his head toward Harry and Hermione, who were still recovering from the awkwardness of their kiss. Harry noticed he was still holding her and dropped his hands from her waist.
"Hello, Lovebirds," his dad said teasingly. "I thought we agreed to send Patronuses when we arrived."
"Leave them alone," Lily cut in. "They clearly wanted a moment to themselves. We've been there, young and in love."
"Now we're just old and in love," he replied with a wink.
Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "Who are you calling old? Watch this." She turned and jumped into the same air stream that had just lifted her. When she reached the highest point, she jumped to the next stream, and the next one after that. When she finally returned to the ground, a group of fairies on a toadstool near her started clapping. Lily took a bow before waving back at the group.
"You think that's impressive?" James called to her. "Watch and learn, Evans." He got a running start and jumped into the first air stream, then bounced through three more before grabbing a tree limb and pulling himself up, then sitting up on the branch.
"Show off!" Lily called.
"Your turn!" James yelled toward Harry and Hermione. Harry cocked an eyebrow at Hermione.
"There is no way I'm doing that," she replied. "You go on."
He grinned and turned toward the air stream but after taking a few steps, turned around and backtracked. He grabbed Hermione's hand and squeezed it. "I know I probably say this too much, but you're brilliant and I owe you… like… so much. I'm going to get you the—the moon or… something."
Hermione smiled and shook her head. "The moon?"
"I'll think of something better."
"Good, because I don't want the moon. I think it's good right where it is. Now go on, Harry. Your parents are waiting." He kissed her on the cheek before turning around and running after Lily and James.
