The group caught their Portkey to China at 4:00pm sharp. No thanks to Hermione, who was too giggly and wobbly to coordinate something as simple as Portkey travel. Harry had to get a firm grip on her waist before grabbing the bronze key and struggled to keep them both upright when they landed under the night sky several moments later outside a dark building.
James and Lily lit their wands and cast the light toward the building. "Is this where we're staying, Hermione?" Lily asked. "Or are we camping?"
"We're staying at an inn owned by our guide. Joe something."
"Okay," James said, reaching for the doorknob. It didn't turn in his hand. "I think it's closed," he said, pulling his hand away.
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe you shouldn't have changed the Portkey time. Then we'd have arrived before they locked up for the night."
"You could have mentioned that."
She shrugged, then began to snigger, leaning against Harry for support.
James shook his head and focused back on the door. "Who let her drink so much?"
Lily raised a tentative hand. "She needed to lighten up, but I may have gone a bit overboard. In hindsight, that last glass of wine wasn't a good idea. We should have cut her off at two. I blame Harry."
"Me?" asked Harry.
"You're her keeper," Lily said simply.
"I am a strong, confident woman who doesn't need a man or a keeper or, or, any of that sort of thing," Hermione slurred. She stood up straight and threw her shoulders back, but forgot to account for the weight of her backpack and nearly fell over. Harry caught her as Lily let out a snort.
"Okay, dear," Lily said kindly, reaching out to pat Hermione's head. "You don't need a wizard or a keeper, we get that, but we're going to have this wizard here keep you upright, if that's okay." She winked at Harry before turning back to help James. "I think we should knock."
"Yeah. Okay. I don't see a bell or anything." James knocked firmly on the door. Nothing happened. He knocked again, then a third time. Harry was about to suggest they just camp for the night when the door opened to reveal a very short, very angry-looking Chinese man, wearing a black robe and green slippers.
"Grangers?" he asked in heavily accented English.
"Uh, sure. We can be Grangers," James replied, nodding his head up and down to make his meaning extra-clear.
"You late," the man sneered.
"So sorry, Joe," Hermione chimed in, pushing herself to the front. "It was his fault." She pointed at James.
"No Joe," the man said, affronted. "Jua-hao."
"Joe-how," Hermione repeated.
The man rolled his eyes and repeated sternly, "No Joe! Jua-hao."
Hermione was about to try again when Lily grabbed her by the arms and handed her back to Harry. "Let us take over, Hermione. Before you get us kicked out."
Lily turned back to the man and shot him a brilliant smile. "Your name, how do you spell it?"
"With Chinese characters," he said gruffly.
"Of course. Sorry."
He sighed and added, "In pinyin, name is Z-h-i-h-a-o. Jua-hao."
"Spelled just like it sounds," James quipped.
Lily glared at him and hissed, "Are you trying to get hexed?" James cowered slightly and took a step back as Lily turned to face the man again. "Zhihao," she began in a pretty good impersonation of the man. "So sorry we're late. We were held up at our last destination. And about your name, please forgive my family, we're just stupid Brits who clearly need to get off our island more often."
She gave him another dazzling smile. Zhihao frowned back at her for a few moments before letting out a small grunt and disappearing inside the building.
Lily turned back to the group and hissed, "No one talks except for me. Got it?"
Everyone nodded dutifully, even Hermione. Lily turned back to the door, which was ajar, and was about to push it open when James whispered, "Are you sure we're supposed to go after him?"
She shrugged. "Why else would he have left it open? Now hush."
Lily led the group into a large, dimly lit house that looked distinctly Asian to Harry, with lattice patterns in the windows, sliding panels separating the rooms, an array of stone vases lining the walls, and a blocky, wooden dining table at the center. "This is gorgeous," Lily said, looking around in awe. "Is this your home, Zhihao?"
"Yes, home," he said curtly, clearly out of patience for them and ready to get back to bed. "Rooms upstairs," he said, pointing toward a simple staircase on his right. "Six o'clock start. Full day. No late." He said the last words to Hermione directly.
Before anyone could respond, he disappeared down a hall at the back of the house.
"No late," James repeated. "Got that, Hermione?"
She stuck her tongue out at him, then burst into giggles. Harry Silenced her quickly, which earned him an appreciative nod from his mum.
Lily and James went up the stairs first as Harry wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist and nearly pulled her up after them. "Let's go to the room and get you a lot of water."
"Don't forget a strong Silencing Charm," James said when he reached the landing.
Harry nodded as he and Hermione ascended the last few stairs. "Good idea. We don't want you waking up your friend Joe, again."
Hermione flipped him off, which made James laugh. "Hush," Lily hissed. "I checked and there are two rooms at the end here with the doors open, so they must be ours. We'll take the one on the right and you and Hermione can have the one across."
"Sounds good," Harry replied, heading toward the room she had indicated. "Do you have Sleeping Potions?"
"Yeah," Lily said. "They were on the packing list." She reached out and patted Hermione's cheek. "Sorry in advance for the bad day you're going to have tomorrow." Lily moved her hand up to Harry's shoulder and leaned in to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Good night and we'll see you bright and early tomorrow."
Once Harry had pulled Hermione into the room, closed the door, and cast a Silencing Charm on the doors and walls, he pointed his wand at Hermione and murmured, "Finite Incantatem."
She sat back on the bed and gave him a large smile.
He couldn't help but laugh as he took her trunk out of her backpack, enlarged it, and started looking through it for the Potions Hermione had packed.
"Your dad told us to cast a strong Silencing Charm."
"Yep," Harry said absently, "and I did."
Hermione laughed and flopped back on the bed. "They probably think we're having S-E-X."
Harry snorted. "Right. Because this giggly, can't-hold-herself-up behavior is extremely sexy. Also, the fact that you spelled it out makes you a dork."
"I like shagging when I'm drunk." She lifted herself on her elbows to look at him. "Don't you?"
Harry had just found the Sleeping Potion and pulled it out, but continued to search the trunk for a Hangover Potion.
"Let's move on to a less awkward topic of conversation."
She hummed. "Most people talk to their friends about it, but your best friend is Ron, so that's weird."
Harry stopped searching and looked up at Hermione, who was on her back again, looking at the ceiling. "You talk to Ginny about that stuff?"
Hermione lifted up again and winked at him. "She said all good things. Mostly…"
Harry took a pair of balled-up socks out of her trunk and threw them at her. She lunged to catch them and nearly fell off the bed in the process. "That's what you get," Harry teased before continuing his search.
"Maybe they're shagging," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Who?"
"Your parents."
"Hermione! What is wrong with you?"
She turned her head and smiled at him. "What? We know they shag; they had you. Do you need a refresher on where babies come from?"
"I know they shag but I don't need the mental image. Now, can you please stop talking about shagging?"
Hermione hummed again but did, thankfully, drop the conversation.
After confirming that there were no Hangover Potions in Hermione's trunk, Harry went to the bed and offered Hermione his hand. Once he'd pulled her up to a sitting position, he handed her a vial of Sleeping Potion and a large glass of water. "Sorry, there was no Hangover Potion."
"Oh. Is that what you were looking for?"
"Yeah."
"You can get the same effects as a Hangover Potion by mixing two parts Brain Elixir with one part General Healing Potion and one part Nutrient Potion, and I know I have all of those in my trunk."
Harry's jaw dropped and she just shrugged, then downed the glass of water and Sleeping Potion in quick succession.
"How did you know that? You're not the one getting a Potions Mastery."
She shrugged again. "I read it in the other Hermione's notes. She packed a lot of basic Potions that can be mixed to make more complicated Potions. It was rather brilliant."
Harry shook his head. "You can barely walk but that, you remember perfectly. You are a strange kind of genius, Hermione Granger."
Hermione smiled and carefully rose from the bed. "How about you make the Potion while I get changed?" She grabbed a few articles of clothing from her trunk and picked up her wand.
She looked blankly at it for a few seconds before Harry asked, "Would you like me to erect a screen for you?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, please."
Harry mixed the makeshift Hangover Potion while Hermione dressed behind a black curtain. He heard her fall over and almost went to check on her, but stopped himself and called instead, "Are you still alive?"
"All good," she said. "I'm just going to have a large bruise on my hip tomorrow."
Harry shook his head. "Okay. This Potion is ready. Do you have clothes on?"
"Yes."
Harry stood and dropped the screen. He froze in place. While Hermione did technically have clothes on, it was a lot less than he'd been expecting. "What?" she asked, looking down at herself.
She was wearing a tight grey tank top which was twisted all around her waist, showing off about half of her bra which, thankfully, she was still wearing. And instead of wearing sleep trousers, as she'd been doing for most of the trip, she was wearing skimpy shorts that barely covered her knickers.
The way she was standing there in clothes that clung to her curves, with her long, curly hair billowing over her shoulders, and her lip pulled between her teeth made a familiar heat pool in Harry's lower abdomen.
What the fuck is wrong with you? This is Hermione. She's engaged. And so are you!
Harry sighed and placed the Potion on the side table, then walked to her. He pulled her tank top back in place. "Not your best work," he tsked, trying to keep his voice light. When he was finished, he leaned back and smiled at her. "You're a mess."
She gave him a breathtaking smile. Harry reached up and pushed her hair behind her shoulder with one hand, tracing his fingers down her neck, which was warm and soft, while his other hand rested on her waist. The pool of heat in his stomach rippled. Shit. Enough lingering touches. Harry took a large step back and said hoarsely, "Uh. No trousers tonight?"
"No. I'm really hot," she replied, pressing her hands to her face and neck.
"Yeah." Did you just say she's hot? Don't be a pervert. "Anyway. Uh, here." He picked up the Potion and shoved it at her.
Hermione nodded and drank the Potion quickly. "Thanks," she said, turning back to Harry. "And not just for the Potion. I had a lot of fun today."
"Me too. I've been having fun this whole time."
"Except for the nightmare last night."
He smiled and shook his head. "You're determined to put unwanted images in my head, aren't you?"
She winced. "Sorry. I'd normally filter all this out before saying it out loud."
Harry patted her arm before taking the empty vial from the bedside table and putting it back in her trunk. "Let's get you to bed. And I meant that in a non-sexual way," he added sternly—which was more of a reminder for himself than for her.
She snorted as she began climbing under the covers. "Ron would kill you. Actually, he'll probably kill you anyway."
"You think so?" Harry was standing by the side of the bed and took a seat on the edge.
"Yeah, but it's okay," she slurred. "You can take him in a duel. But don't tell him I said so."
Harry let out a laugh but on the inside, he felt sick as the truth of Hermione's statement settled in. Ron was going to hate this.
When Hermione grazed her hand along his arm, Harry looked back at her. She looked half-asleep and was giving him a small smile.
"What?" he asked.
"Even if he ends up giving me the cold shoulder for months, I'd do it again," she whispered. The next moment, her eyes closed as the Sleeping Potion took over.
Harry leaned forward and brushed his knuckles against her cheek. "Fuck," he whispered as he shook his head and rose from the bed. He gathered Hermione's clothes from the floor, folded them, and returned them to her trunk. Then he found her sleep trousers and placed them on the bedside table, in case she got cold at night.
He found her wand under the bed and placed it next to the trousers, since he hated waking up without a wand and guessed she might feel the same way and lastly, he conjured another glass of water and placed that on the table too.
Harry changed into his pajamas, took a dose of Sleeping Potion, and climbed into bed next to his best friend's fiancée who also happened to be his fiancée's best friend. Bloody hell.
She was your best friend before she was those other things.
That was true but he knew the argument wasn't going to work very well on Ron and Ginny. After fretting for a few moments, Harry finally felt the effects of the Sleeping Potion. He waved his wand to turn off the lights, placed it on his bedside table, and turned to face Hermione. Her lips were turned up.
He smiled. He felt the same way she did. Regardless of Ron and Ginny's reactions when they returned, there was no one else he'd rather be here with.
Day Four
"Why does he hate me so much?" Hermione whispered to Harry as they walked through the fog behind their guide, Zhihao.
"Because you kept calling him Joe," Harry whispered back, trying hard to stifle a laugh.
"I wasn't in my right mind," she said defensively. "I normally wouldn't be so rude. I knew Zh sounded like J so nicknamed him Joe in my head, but I never meant to say it out loud. I was going to ask him very respectfully how he pronounced his name when we met."
"That's what Lily did," James said from behind him, "which is why Joe loves her."
"We need to stop calling him Joe," Lily replied. "And I think 'love' is a strong word. I'd say he regards me with begrudging tolerance instead of the blatant hatred he feels toward all of you. Hermione especially," she added with a wink. "Also, the Zh doesn't sound like a J. There's a subtle difference. You need to place your tongue further back in your mouth to—"
James pushed her but caught her arm before she fell over. "Enough of that, show off."
"Hey!" Lily exclaimed, hitting his arm. He caught her wrist before she made contact, then turned her hand around and kissed the top of it. "You're not as charming as you think, Potter," she grumbled, with a hint of a smile playing on her lips.
Harry smiled inwardly. He loved watching his parents messing around like this. This is what he always thought love should be: easy and fun, but with the knowledge in the background that you'd die for each other, if you had to. His heart ached again for his parents in his world and their awful fate.
Zhihao stopped abruptly and said something that made Hermione hitch her breath. Harry focused back on the guide. "What did he say?" he whispered to Hermione.
Zhihao answered for her. "We walk on air." They had stopped at the edge of a high cliff and he was motioning toward the space behind him.
"Wait, what?" Harry asked, sure he was misunderstanding what the man was trying to say. Maybe it was the language barrier.
Zhihao held his hand up to silence the group before they could ask any more questions, looking irritated and like he got this sort of response all the time. "Education time. We go to forgotten city with dragons. People ask why called forgotten? The way is tricky and only the Liu family—me, two brother, two sister—know the way. We pass on to children. Others forget. They try to remember, write down, magic makes them forget. Lius are protectors of dragons."
Lily stepped forward and asked, "We're going to be seeing dragons?"
Zhihao tsked and waved her away. "Yes, dragons. Lots of dragons."
Zhihao turned back to the cliff edge and, alarmingly, began walking on the air. When he had gone about ten feet, he created a floating red flame with his wand. He turned to his right and walked another fifteen feet, then created a second floating flame. "You come walk," he called back to them. "You walk straight to flame. Stop, look for next flame, walk straight. Don't walk straight, fall and die."
Hermione had gone completely white. Harry wrapped an arm around her. "You'll be fine. I'll hold your hand."
Hermione shook her head.
"You come!" Zhihao repeated.
Hermione shook her head again. "Zhihao?" she called, hoping she had said it correctly. "I'm very afraid of heights and walking on air like this with nothing under us for miles, um, is pretty much the worst thing I can imagine so I'm wondering if there's another—"
"No!" Zhihao called back. "Too afraid to walk on air, too afraid to see dragons. You stay."
Hermione turned back to the group and shrugged. "I guess I'm staying. I'll be back at the house and you can—"
Harry threw her over his shoulder and began walking toward the first flame. She screamed and pounded on his backpack. "Harry James Potter! Put me down this instant."
"You're not staying. You planned all this and you're going to see this Wonder of the World, even if I have to carry you the whole way."
"Put me down!"
Harry stopped at the first flame and carefully placed her on the invisible path. He grabbed her face to keep her from looking down. "Stomp your feet. Feel that? It's solid. And as long as we stick to Zhihao's path, we'll be fine. You heard him, he's part of the special family that knows the way."
Tears stung Hermione's eyes and she leaned forward and pressed her face into Harry's chest, trying to get as much comfort out of the familiar feeling of being close to him as she could. By then, Lily and James had joined them on the path. Lily placed a hand on Hermione's arm and said gently, "You'll be fine, Hermione. Harry's not going to let anything happen to you."
Hermione took a deep breath and leaned back to look at Harry. "She's right, you know," he said.
Harry removed his backpack and handed it to James. Then he cast a Featherlight Charm on Hermione with his wand. He turned around and told her to jump up onto his back. She did as she was told, keeping her eyes squeezed shut the whole time. Then, she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him and buried her head in his neck.
"Okay," Harry said, struggling to speak with the way her arm was pressed against his windpipe. "Can you lighten the grip on my neck there?" She nodded and loosened her grip slightly, but not by much.
He grabbed the back of her legs and walked to the second flame, apologizing to Zhihao for the delay. Zhihao just rolled his eyes and kept walking, taking a circuitous path that didn't seem to be leading anywhere.
"This is wicked," James said after a while, grinning as he looked down at the nothingness below them.
"I disagree," Hermione murmured.
"Just keep your eyes closed," Harry said to her.
"You don't have to tell me twice."
They walked for another hour before Zhihao stopped and declared that they'd arrived. Harry told Hermione to keep her eyes closed as he looked around. As far as he could tell, they were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing in sight but the cliff they'd come from far off in the distance. He looked back at their guide, who looked bored as he said, waving to his left, "Magical barrier here. Hide dragons."
Harry squinted his eyes and could see a faint shimmering in the air. "Come," Zhihao said, walking forward and disappearing into thin air.
Harry turned back to his parents. "Do you think this is safe?"
Lily shrugged. "We've already put this much trust in him, haven't we?"
"It's safe," Hermione confirmed. "I checked the Ministry's records on the Lius and they were clean. They take their role as keepers of this Wonder seriously and love to share it with visitors, though you wouldn't guess from Zhihao's attitude."
"Maybe his siblings are nicer," James said.
"I have a feeling he can see and hear us from the other side of that barrier, so let's go," Lily said, walking after Zhihao. James went after her and Harry followed behind.
He paused just outside the shimmering barrier, took a deep breath, and walked through, relieved to find himself standing on the edge of another cliff. The sight around him took his breath away. They were surrounded by what looked like floating mountains. There were thousands of dragons of all different colors, shapes, and sizes flying around them, from large, brilliant gold dragons to small black ones the size of Harry, and everything in between.
"Wow," he whispered.
"What is it?" Hermione asked. "Can I open my eyes?"
Harry stepped further onto the cliff so he was no longer close to the edge, then put her down and told her to open her eyes.
"Wow," she said. "They're everywhere."
"Yeah."
"Look up there." She pointed to one of the floating mountains where there was a group of red and blue dragons basking in the sun. "And there." Now she was pointing at a waterfall that was flowing off one of the mountains where green, brown, and gold dragons were flying through the water playfully.
Harry nudged her side. "And you wanted to stay back at the house."
"That was truly awful," she replied, "but I'm glad you forced me into coming. Thanks." He was giving her a strange look, so she asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I like seeing you weak. Is that weird?"
"Yes," she laughed. "Very weird."
Harry shrugged. "I don't know why. Something about seeing the strong, impressive Unspeakable reduced to a trembling mess anytime she gets any more than four feet off the ground is fun. Plus, I like being able to help you, since it always seems to be the other way around."
Hermione stepped forward and pressed her fingers against his lips. "I think you mean strong, impressive Potions Master. Don't go blowing my cover."
Harry smiled. Hermione felt it against her fingers and saw it brighten his eyes. And even though she was surrounded by thousands of spectacular dragons, a sight that had inspired countless pieces of art, music, and poetry over the centuries, she couldn't tear her eyes from his arresting gaze.
"Okay, you two!" James called from the other side of the cliff, where he and Lily had met up with Zhihao. "You can stare adoringly into each other's eyes later. We have dragons to see."
Harry and Hermione jumped away from each other, blushing as they rushed to join the rest of the group.
Zhihao led them to a pasture about half a mile away, stopping often to move them along, since everyone kept looking up to watch the dragons flying overhead. "You keep walk, we fly with dragons."
"Are you serious?" James asked. "We're flying with them?"
Zhihao ignored his question and kept walking up a faint path, where the grass in the field was pressed down slightly. James nudged Lily and whispered, "You ask him."
She shook her head. "I want him to keep liking me. You heard him, we're flying with the dragons, what more do you want to know?"
"I, for one, have a thousand follow-up questions," Hermione cut in, "but I think it's best if I don't think about it."
"How do you not know?" James asked. "And how have neither of us heard of this? All I've ever known about the Forgotten City is that it's one of the Seven Wonders, but no one says what's here."
"I read that it had something to do with dragons," Hermione replied, "but the details were fuzzy. I suspect there's something about the magic protecting this place that keeps people from writing about it."
"Will we remember it?" Lily asked, sounding alarmed.
"I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Hermione said.
Zhihao had stopped in front of several light brown, winged horses. "We fly on horses."
Hermione tensed again. Zhihao, obviously picking up on her fear, pointed at her and said gruffly, "You no fly alone. You fly with him." He pointed at Harry.
She turned and gave Harry a shy smile. "Is that okay?"
"Of course."
Zhihao walked through the group of horses, carefully considering which one to assign to each member of the group. Once everyone had mounted their horses, Zhihao leaped gracefully onto one of the larger horses and turned back to the group to say, "Education again. Dragons no attack horses. You fly on broom, dragon attack. You walk on other islands with no horses, dragon attack. You fly on horse, no attack. Need horse."
"Got it," James said, grinning widely, clearly in his element amidst all the risk-taking they'd done today. "Don't get off the horse."
Lily leaned forward and patted the mane of her horse. "Hear that? Please, don't buck me off. I'd like to live to tell people about this if that's okay with you."
Hermione stayed quiet. She had no idea how James, Lily, and Harry were staying so calm. She had her hands buried in the horse's mane, gripping so tightly her hands were hurting.
Harry, who was sitting behind Hermione and had his arms wrapped around her, grabbing the reins on the horse, leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Relax. I promise you're going to be okay."
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, but didn't loosen her grip on the horse.
"Okay," Zhihao said. "Horses follow me. You do nothing, just hold on." He whistled and the next moment, the four horses rose into the air.
Hermione squealed and squeezed her eyes shut as their horse accelerated upward. After a few moments, she felt the horse level out and relaxed, but still kept her eyes closed. "Open your eyes," Harry said. He was so close, she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Come on," he urged when she didn't listen, "you didn't come all this way just to close your eyes the whole time."
Hermione peeked one eye open, then the other. Once she took in the sight around her, she forgot to be afraid. The dragons were so close, she could almost reach out and touch them. Her heart jumped in her chest when they flew past a massive grey one, but he (or she?) didn't seem to mind and acted like they weren't even there.
The horses followed behind Zhihao as he led them closer to the waterfalls Hermione had spotted earlier. Once there, they hovered in the air and watched several dragons fly through the water, splashing the group as they shook their wings. "This is the coolest thing I've ever done," Harry said.
Hermione turned to find him beaming widely. "Yeah," she said. "Me too."
He propped his chin on her shoulder and pulled her back against his chest in a sort of hug. "I know I've said this a thousand times, but thank you, Hermione. I don't care what sort of magic is surrounding this place, I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life."
"I didn't find this place. It was the other Hermione."
"We both know we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. Stop being so self-deprecating and take the compliment," he said with a wink.
"Okay," Hermione said, turning forward again as the horse flew toward the hovering island on their right. "You're welcome."
After a long tour of the area, Zhihao led the horses to a smaller island at the end of what Hermione was calling the "Floating Mountain Range," even though it was a bit of a misnomer, as each "mountain" had a flat top. Perhaps it would be better to call them "Upside Down Floating Mountains," since the bottoms were rocky and the tops were flat and grassy.
The horses landed in the clearing of a small wood with exotic trees and walked toward a pond at the edge, dipping their heads to take a drink of water.
"We get off horses now," Zhihao declared, jumping down from his horse.
"You said the dragons would attack us if we got off the horses," Hermione countered.
He tsked. "Not here. Horses eat and rest, we walk to lizards."
"Lizards?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head. "I have no idea."
Harry dismounted first, then helped Hermione down. They were joined by Lily and James, who were both grinning. "That was brilliant!" James exclaimed.
"Yeah," Lily said, gripping his arm. "I never thought I'd ever get that close to a dragon."
Harry and Hermione, who had been even closer to a dragon than this, exchanged a knowing glance.
"And now I guess we're going to see some lizards," James said skeptically.
Lily pulled him across the clearing, where Zhihao was waving for them, looking impatient, as always. "I'd keep an open mind," Lily said. "Nothing on this trip has been what we expected."
Zhihao led them through a short hike in the woods and stopped next to a natural archway made from two ancient trees that was covered by hanging vines. Zhihao pulled the vines back and motioned for the group to follow him.
Lily took James's hand before walking through and Hermione wanted to do the same with Harry but thought maybe she'd pathetically clung to him enough today. He took a step forward, then stopped and turned to her, holding his hand out for her to take.
Hermione smiled as she placed her hand in his. He linked their fingers together and pulled her through the vines. They stepped out into another clearing. This one had a small river flowing through it and was surrounded by tiny dragons the size of Hermione's forearm.
"Fire Lizards!" Lily said as soon as they finished walking through the vines. "Fire Lizards, Hermione!"
"I thought they were extinct."
"I know! Me too. At least, that's what all the textbooks say."
"What are Fire Lizards?" James asked. Harry was glad his dad had asked since he didn't know what they were either.
"They're miniature dragons," Lily explained. "It's an ancient species that historians suppose all of our larger, modern-day dragons are descended from."
Just then, a silver lizard started flying around James's head. James gave him a charming smile and said, "Hey there, little guy."
The Fire Lizard hissed and let out a small burst of flame that just missed James's eyebrows. "Whoa," James said, stepping back. "He doesn't like me." James turned to Zhihao for help, who was smirking slightly.
"More education," Zhihao announced. The group went to gather around him as he reached into his robes and pulled out four pouches, which he passed out to everyone. Harry peeked into the pouch and found what looked like pieces of raw meat. He closed the pouch again and looked back at Zhihao.
"You right," he said, pointing at Lily. "Fire Lizard is small dragon. Ancestor of the dragon. You feed meat and see if Lizard like you."
When the group stayed still, he motioned toward Lily. "Come. Feed Lizard." Zhihao motioned toward a smaller, green Lizard standing next to a tree trunk behind him, which Harry hadn't noticed before.
"Okay," his mum said. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a small piece of meat, then knelt next to the green Fire Lizard. The Lizard grabbed the meat quickly in his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp. "Oh!" Lily exclaimed, pulling her hand back.
"Good," Zhihao said, looking impressed for the first time all day. "Now get up. You next." He was looking at James. James tried the same thing Lily had but the Fire Lizard didn't want to eat from his hand. He chittered angrily before flying away. Zhihao huffed but didn't seem very surprised by this reaction.
Zhihao went to retrieve another Fire Lizard, this one blue, and it was Harry's turn. He had as much success as his dad. Hermione, however, was able to feed the next black Lizard Zhihao grabbed.
"Do they prefer women?" James asked. "Like unicorns?"
"No," Zhihao said. "I'm man. Lizards like me."
"Yeah, but you're from the special Liu family."
Zhihao shook his head. "No man/woman, Lizards choose strength. Quiet power, heart." He tapped his chest.
Lily winked at James. "It looks like Hermione and I are stronger than you two."
"I knew that," James replied, "even before the small dragons confirmed it."
Zhihao nodded and pointed to Hermione and Lily. "You strong. Special. Rare for Lizards to like people." His eyes lingered on Hermione doubtfully, then he walked to the edge of the river and motioned for Lily and Hermione to follow him. "You keep feeding." He turned back to Harry and James and said, "You stay back."
James nodded. "Yeah. You don't have to tell us twice. We're not interested in getting flamed today, not even by tiny dragons."
Harry and James took a seat on a log as they watched the girls feed the Fire Lizards. Hermione squealed when a gold one flew onto her shoulder and wrapped its tail around her neck. "Oh my!" She held out a piece of meat for the Lizard and once it had finished eating it, it cooed appreciatively and buried its head in her hair.
Hermione looked back at Harry and James, wearing a nervous smile.
"Good job, Hermione," Harry called back.
"I have no idea what I did."
"Well, try to remember," Lily said. "I want one on my shoulder, too." She reached out to a nearby bronze dragon and tried to entice it onto her arm.
James leaned back on his hands and laughed. He turned to Harry and said in a low voice, "We may not have the quiet Fire Lizard powers the girls have, but we Potter men have a special power of our own."
"Yeah?" Harry asked, watching as his mum, who had managed to coax the bronze dragon onto her forearm, lifted it for him and his dad to see.
"Brilliant, Lil!" James called back to her before saying to Harry, "Yeah. We're able to get remarkable witches, who are way too good for us, to fall in love with us. You're welcome, by the way." Then he added with a wink, "Also, impossibly untidy hair."
Harry had no idea what to say to that. He thought of Ginny and whether his parents would like her as much as they liked Hermione. His gut told him no. That's not to say Ginny wasn't great. She was funny, beautiful, brave, and talented, but she lacked that...resilience Hermione had. A quiet power that lived in her heart, as Zhihao had said. Harry didn't think the Fire Lizards would have chosen Ginny if she were here.
Tears stung Harry's eyes and he wiped them discreetly while pretending to clean his glasses. When he turned back to the witches, Hermione was laughing as a very small white dragon tried to climb her leg while the gold dragon on her shoulder protested, clearly wanting Hermione all to herself.
Harry let himself smile at the ridiculous scene as he tried to push the thoughts of Ginny from his mind. This trip was about getting to know his parents and reconnecting with Hermione, to an extent. He loved Ginny and back in his world, where the circumstances were different, she was the witch for him. And his parents, if they had all the facts and got a chance to get to know Ginny, would understand that and approve. He had to believe that.
