It was 8:28pm Egyptian time, and the group was huddled around James, who was holding the next Portkey in his palm.
"This will be two big time changes in one day for us," Hermione was saying. "We're all knackered because it feels like 2:30 in the morning to us, we had a draining day, and we only had a short nap this morning. But in South America, it will be 3:30 in the afternoon and we're supposed to align with the next time zone to—"
"We're tired, Hermione," James cut in, "so we're going to sleep when we get there. Let's not overthink it."
"I was just about to suggest we ignore the guidance this time around and go straight to sleep—since I think we're all tired enough to sleep a solid twelve hours—which is something you would have heard had you not interrupted me."
"I don't know why you insist on explaining things we already know," he bit back. "We could be using this time to do more productive things, such as going to South America and setting up our tent so we can get to sleep faster."
"That's not true. It's a timed Portkey so we're going to be here for the next 45 seconds regardless—"
"Enough!" Lily cut in. "I'm finished listening to this. If you want to continue this argument in Venezuela, I will lock you two in a room and setup the Silencing Charm myself. But for now, we're going to spend these last few seconds in peaceful silence."
She took a deep breath and placed a finger on the Portkey, then looked pointedly at James and Hermione, who were glowering at each other. When Hermione touched her finger to the Portkey, James stuck his tongue out at her, which caused her to roll her eyes.
Hermione turned her head toward Harry, but he shifted his focus to the Portkey in his dad's hand, determined not to get dragged into the middle of thie row. The air was tense for the next few seconds, until the Portkey activated and pulled them away.
Everyone was in bed by 4:00pm which, as Hermione pointed out while Harry was drifting off to sleep, was 3:00am Chinese time and 9:00pm Egyptian time. Harry managed to sleep through most of the night, despite Hermione's concerns. When he woke up he checked the time with his wand, 3:00am, and was surprised that even though he'd slept a solid eleven hours, he was still a little tired.
He returned his wand back to the bedside table and shifted back under the covers. "Hey," Hermione said from the other side of the bed.
He turned to face her. "Hey."
"What time is it?"
"Three."
"Oh. That's not so bad."
"Yeah. I was thinking the same thing, though I think I can still sleep some more."
"Me too."
Harry couldn't see her face in the dark, just the outline of her face. He figured it was the same for her, so he made sure his tone was light when he said, "I guess that fight between you and my dad was useless after all," so she'd know he was teasing.
She let out a small snort and he pictured her rolling her eyes.
"Hey," he said next, a little tentatively. "Do you—er—like him?"
"Your dad?"
"Er—yeah?" Harry felt embarrassed. He wouldn't have been able to ask this sort of childish question in the light.
Hermione smiled inwardly. She understood the desire to have your friends like your parents. It was like two separate worlds, colliding, and it was validating when those worlds approved of each other. Her parents had always been known as 'the muggles'. Or to the few people who understood what it meant, like Harry, 'the dentists'.
She'd always wanted to have Ron and Harry get to know her parents, but then the war had happened, she'd Obliviated them, and destroyed the relationship beyond repair. A tear fell down her face as she focused back on Harry.
"I like your dad. He's an impressive wizard and besides that: kind, brave, funny, a really supportive husband and father. He just gets on my nerves. Or, I guess I can say that we get on each other's nerves. I'll apologize for being so snippy with him."
"You don't have to do that. I was just—er—checking."
"Don't let me alter your opinion of your dad, okay? He's really great. But, as far as Potter men go, I prefer you, of course." She kicked him playfully under the covers. "But he's good too."
Harry smiled. "That's good, because he really likes you. You should hear what he says when you're not there. I think the bickering is just a game for him."
Hermione hummed.
"You like bickering with people too, yeah? It's like—erm—fun for you?" This was something Harry had never understood about her and Ron.
"I wouldn't say I like it," she whispered back. "Just that some people bring it out in me."
"Well, you chose Ron as your partner, someone who brings it out of you, so I assumed that meant you liked it."
"Oh. Well, we don't fight as much as we did."
Harry's silence was heavy and Hermione could almost hear him biting his tongue. She pushed him. "Enough judgment out of you," she laughed. "We can't all be the 'Conflict-Avoider Extraordinaire.'"
"I know that was meant to be insulting, but I like the title," he smiled back at her. "Certainly better than 'Boy Who Lived.'"
"Okay. I'll float it around when we're back home and see if I can get the public to pick it up."
He let out a small laugh.
They were quiet for a few moments and now that Harry's eyes had adjusted to the dark, he could see the faint outlines of her face. Enough to see that her eyes were open and she was wearing a half smile.
He shifted, since one of his arms was falling asleep. "What's the next Wonder?"
"Fall's End. It's supposed to be the hardest Wonder to reach, so we may not even make it there, but we can try."
"What makes it a Wonder?"
"Apparently the water there has rare magical properties that provides enlightenment to anyone who drinks it."
"What?"
"I know. It sounds pretty interesting."
"What sort of enlightenment?" Harry asked, alarmed. "Like—will my parents know it's us?"
"I have no idea. But I got the sense it was more of a spiritual enlightenment, rather than a literal one."
"What will we do if they find out?"
Hermione reached out and placed her hand on his arm. "We'll figure it out, like we always do. Don't worry. The odds are against us. Only five or ten percent of the people—depending on which source you go with—who try to find Fall's End are successful."
She yawned and pulled her hand back as she shifted onto her stomach, fluffing up the pillow under her head. "I'm going to try to sleep for another hour or so. You should try the same."
Harry nodded, but his mind was still picturing them at some mystical pond, each taking turns drinking from the water. What sort of enlightenment would he experience? And his parents... what if Hermione was wrong and they learned his and Hermione's secret? How would they react? He looked back at Hermione, who was asleep again, surrounded by a mess of curls.
He reached out and moved a few curls away from her face. She didn't seem worried about this next Wonder. We'll figure it out, like we always do. She was right. As long as Hermione was there with him, Harry would be just fine. With that thought in his head, he was finally able to fall back asleep.
Day Seven
Two hours later, Hermione was sitting outside on a rock by a small fire Harry had just finished making, watching the first signs of sunrise creep into the night sky. A mug appeared next to her head and she jumped, then looked up to find James standing next to her. "Extra-strong with a splash of milk."
She smiled as she took the tea. "Thanks, James. And about yesterday, I'm sor—"
"Nah," he interrupted, taking a seat next to her on the rock. "We both get snippy when we're stressed. I remember that from Headquarters. We don't mean anything by it. It just makes those two—" he cocked his head toward the tent, where Harry and Lily were making breakfast, "—exceedingly uncomfortable."
Hermione smiled as she remembered her earlier conversation with Harry. "They're so soft," she joked.
"They really are," James laughed.
Hermione took a few sips of the tea, relishing the feel of the warm mug against her cold hands. She turned to James. He was drinking his own tea as he watched the fire. He looked like Harry at that moment, his brow furrowed and his mouth pulled into a tight line. It was funny, even though Harry and his dad resembled each other, she rarely saw Harry in James's face.
She figured it was because she knew Harry so well, the small differences between their features were enough to make James look like a completely different person to her. And their demeanors were nothing alike. But sometimes, when James was pensive like this, or when Harry was laughing fully, they looked just alike.
It made her heart simultaneously swell and ache anytime she saw it. She was glad Harry had this chance to connect with his parents, but there was that looming deadline drawing closer each day and after that, they'd be out of his life for good.
James raised his eyebrows in question when he saw her looking at him.
"I have some good news for you," she said.
"Yeah?"
"You're going to love today. See that mountain over there?" She gestured toward a large shadow barely visible in the distance.
James nodded.
"As soon as it's light enough, we're going to fly there. And later, we're going to try to make our way to the bottom and you'll be the one leading the charge."
"Oh my! You're abdicating the throne?"
"Nothing as dramatic as that," she replied, rolling her eyes with mock annoyance. "I'm just giving away control temporarily because we need an Animagus to lead the way."
"Really? Is it going to be like that mission in Kent or the one where we tried to get into Nott Manor?"
Hermione's jaw tensed and she took a sip of tea to hide it, glad for the low light. "Neither. It'll be like nothing you've done before," she said, hoping this was true.
She could feel James's eyes on her but kept her gaze on the mountain in the distance. "Okay, Hermione. I am officially intrigued."
She just smiled and took another sip of her tea.
"They're laughing out there, so they made up," Lily announced as she walked back into the kitchen. She grabbed a few plates from the cabinet and put them on the counter next to Harry.
"Good," Harry said as he started spooning scrambled eggs onto each plate. "Were they like this at—er— Headquarters?" He hoped this was something he shouldn't already know.
"Yes," Lily sighed as she cut up a few strawberries to add to the plates. "It was worse when Sirius was still alive. James and he were always looking for a laugh and Hermione was an obvious target since, well, you know how serious she gets when she's stressed. It was just non-stop bickering between the three of them. I felt like I was mediating sibling arguments, which isn't fair, since I only have one kid!"
She turned and squeezed his shoulders before lifting her wand to Summon four glasses from a high shelf. "But you can't use this excuse to get out of having lots of kids," she said with a grin. "Minimum three and yes, they'll fight, but you can send them over to our house when you've had enough."
Harry's heart clenched. She'd never meet his kids. Or, well, not his kids. She'd probably become very close with the other Harry's kids. "Uh, yeah," he said hoarsely, swallowing back tears.
Luckily, Lily was focused on the plates in front of her and didn't notice Harry's abrupt change in mood. "Okay, just toast I think, then—" As if on cue, the toaster popped. Harry floated the four pieces of toast to the plates and helped his mum carry them outside.
James conjured two chairs for Lily and Harry and they sat in silence as they ate their food, the only sound the clinking of silverware on their plates and a few wolves howling in the distance. Harry wasn't very hungry and only ate half his eggs and two bites of toast. When he put his plate on the ground Hermione leaned in and whispered, "Are you okay?"
He gave her a sad smile. She grabbed his hand and linked their fingers together, keeping them that way as she finished the rest of the food on her plate.
Hermione screamed as Harry dipped the broom to avoid an oncoming bird.
"Sorry," he murmured in her ear, his warm breath sending tingles down her spine. She shuddered and Harry, incorrectly assuming that meant she was cold, tightened his grip on her. He pressed his chest against her back and propping his chin on her shoulder, which just made the spine-tingling worse.
Hermione focused on the cool air on her skin in an effort to combat the heat that was rising in her body. Then, Harry swerved again. She forgot to be uncomfortable with being this close to him and settled back against his strong frame.
"It's these damn clouds," he said. "I can't see the birds until the last minute. But I'm trying to keep this flight as smooth for you as I can."
"Uh huh," she said, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. "I cannot believe the other Hermione included so many flying activities in this trip. Is she not afraid of heights?"
"You know you could have left this flying trip out and we'd have never known," Harry pointed out.
"It was in the plan," she said, slightly affronted.
Harry laughed and she could feel it vibrate through her body. "Hermione, you don't have to follow every plan. But in this case, I'm glad you did, because this view is brilliant."
Hermione looked ahead and gasped as the clouds parted to reveal a spectacular waterfall. "Wow," she whispered.
There was a mountain with a flat top shooting up from the ground. In the middle of the mountain was a giant waterfall flowing all the way down and disappearing into a thick mist that covered the ground below. It was the tallest waterfall Hermione had ever seen, higher than ten dragon-lengths. As she watched the water tumble downward, and considered how far it had to go, she felt dizzy and had to close her eyes.
She felt water on her face and opened her eyes to find that Harry had moved them closer to the waterfall. It was the spray coming off the falls, making them wet, even though they were still about twenty feet away. She didn't mind though. The sun was peeking out of the horizon and warming the air, and the cool water felt nice in contrast.
Harry gave her a small hug and said, with his chin still propped on her shoulder, "It's gorgeous."
Hermione turned her head and gave him a quick kiss on the side of the mouth. She tried her best not to overthink the action and about how she'd have to add this to her list to review with Ron when she returned. There was something about being in front of a view so awe-inspiring that made her want to feel close to someone else. As if sharing it made it more real, somehow.
Just then, James and Lily came up next to them. James was saying something to Lily, which Hermione couldn't hear over the sound of the waterfall. Lily, who was sitting behind James with her arms wrapped around his middle, nodded and took his wand out of an inside pocket of his robes. She held her hand out and he dropped his glasses into it, then she muttered a spell, which Hermione realized was a Water Repellent Charm.
Harry moved their broom closer to his parents and held his glasses out to Lily. "Can you do mine too?" He shouted to be heard over the sound of the waterfall.
Hermione turned her head and gave Harry an apologetic look. He smiled. "I would have asked you, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can say to get you to release your death grip on the broom."
Hermione nodded. Once Lily returned Harry's glasses, they flew around the area before dismounting at the peak of the mountain, just feet away from the start of the waterfall. Hermione was glad to be on solid ground again and resolved to stay near the middle of the peak so she wouldn't have to look over the edge.
Lily cast a spell that made a silent bubble around them so they could hear each other over the roar of the water. Everyone looked at Hermione expectantly, but she was too busy trying to forget how high up she was to respond. Harry wrapped an arm around her waist, which calmed her slightly.
"Okay," she said, her voice a little shaky. "This is it, Fall's End. Or, well, this is the fall, and the end is down there." She pointed behind her toward the raging waterfall.
"Why didn't they call it waterfall's end?" Harry asked. "That would have been clearer. When you said Fall's End earlier, that made no sense."
"I don't know," Hermione replied thoughtfully. "The Spanish name for it is final de la cascada, which translates to waterfall's end. I'm not sure why they changed it in English."
"I think Fall's End is more mysterious," Lily chimed in. "Makes you wonder which fall. And it has a better ring to it."
"What would happen if we just dove straight down there?" James asked, standing too close to the edge for Hermione's comfort. Watching him made her feel dizzy so she focused back on a rock on the ground in front of her.
"I assume you mean on a broom?" Lily asked.
"Of course. Even with a wand, I wouldn't take that dive." James moved away from the side and rejoined the group.
"Like I said over breakfast, the bottom of the waterfall is surrounded by a protective mist that strips magic from most of the area," Hermione explained. "There are small pockets where you can use magic, but it's pretty unlikely you'd hit one of those if you just dove into the mist from up here.
"So, if you tried to get there from the air, you'd pass out once you inhaled the mist. Even if you had a BubbleHead Charm, it would stop working immediately. Then the magic in the broom would give out and you'd fall. And even if you weren't unconscious, you wouldn't be able to lessen the impact of your fall with any spells. Because, like I said, no magic. So you'd crash into the ground and die."
James nodded thoughtfully. "Do you think the forest is littered with the bodies of people who tried that?"
"Probably not," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "I heard wolves this morning, so my guess is the animals would have eaten them by now."
Harry and Lily shared concerned looks while James laughed. "Never be a healer, Hermione," he said as he patted her on the back. "The way you deliver bad news...that would translate into a terrible bedside manner."
"You love it," she teased. "The more danger, the better for you."
"Absolutely." He mounted his broom again and motioned for Lily to join him. "Ready, Lil?"
"For what?" she asked as she climbed on and wrapped her arms around his waist.
James zoomed past the edge of the mountain, so he was hovering in the air, then winked at Harry and Hermione before diving out of sight. Hermione shuddered as Lily's scream filled the air, but it sounded amused, not terrified. Hermione almost laughed at Harry's face. He looked like Teddy when he was about to ask for sweets. "You can go, but I'm obviously not going with you."
"Really? You're okay to stay here?"
"Yeah."
"Brilliant!" He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
Hermione sat at the center of the mountain top and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. "Go have fun. I'll just be here, trying not to look down."
"I'll only be a few minutes," he said, shouting again since the bubble Lily had made was gone.
"Stay far away from that mist!" Hermione shouted back.
"I will," she saw him mouth.
"And don't die!"
"Of course not, it's not in the plan!" he yelled back. He was hovering in the air, just where his dad had been, then gave her a beaming smile and winked, looking more like James than he ever had before. Hermione's heart broke as he dove after his parents.
After their flight to the waterfall, the group returned to the campsite to prepare for their trek through the ominous mist. They were sitting around the ashes from their earlier fire as Hermione launched into her explanation. "It's actually good we left Egypt early, since that gives us two days to take a shot at making it to Fall's End. As I was telling Harry earlier, only 5-10% of the people who attempt the journey are successful."
"Is that it? 5-10%?" an unfamiliar voice said from Hermione's left. "No wonder we haven't made it yet, Margaret."
The group turned in unison to find a middle-aged couple standing under a tree at the edge of the clearing. Hermione instantly regretted lifting the wards around their campsite. The man took a step forward and James and Harry jumped to their feet, pulling their wands out of their robes in one swift motion.
"Whoa!" The man stumbled backward as he held his hands up in front of him, then said in a heavy Australian accent, "No need for wands. We're friendly. I'm Michael and this is my wife, Margaret."
Margaret gave them a small wave, seemingly unphased by the harsh welcome they'd received. "Our friends call us M & M," she added, also in an Australian accent.
"Like the sweets?" Hermione asked.
Michael and Margeret exchanged a knowing look. "You must be a muggleborn," Michael said. "We only get that comment from their lot." There was an unmistakable edge to his tone that caused Harry's anger to flare.
"Their lot?" James said cooly, stealing the words right out of Harry's mouth.
"We don't mean it like that!" Michael replied, affronted. "We're not those sorts of wizards. We love muggleborns, don't we Margaret?"
"Oh, yes," she chimed in. "Our neighbor's a muggleborn and he's a very decent chap."
Harry wasn't appeased and by the look of it, his dad didn't buy it either. Something about these two seemed off.
"Anyway," Michael said, keeping his eyes trained on James and Harry's wands, "we heard you talking about making your way through the mist. We've been trying for two weeks."
"Two weeks? What's gone wrong for you?" Hermione asked, standing as she did so. Harry took a step closer to her. Hermione could tell he was in full Auror-mode, but ignored him and focused back on Michael, eager to get as much information out of the man as she could.
"We inhaled the mist," Michael said simply. "It's bound to happen if you're out there for long enough. One of us makes one wrong step and—that's it. But we've got a solid path we've created with a bit of trial and error, and we're close. Maybe just half a mile left to chart out."
"What happens when you inhale the mist?" Lily asked.
Margaret shivered and turned to Michael. "How to explain?" Harry didn't need them to explain. Their obvious fear at the mere mention of the mist was enough to freeze his insides.
"That bad?" Lily asked.
Margaret nodded solemnly. "It plays out your heart's deepest fears and it feels...alarmingly real, when it's happening."
"You've been going through that for two weeks?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, well, we're chasing enlightenment—yeah?" Michael said. "You can't come by that too easily. We take turns going first, so only one of us goes through it a day. Plus—I wouldn't say we've become used to it—but we've learned how to manage it a little better. It usually lasts about four hours, but you can cut that time by half if you give the victim a tea made with those leaves there." He pointed to a shrub a few feet away with large, dark green leaves.
"And you need to get out as quickly as possible," Margaret added, "since if you both collapse, well…"
"Well, what?" James asked.
"That's it—isn't it?" Michael said matter-of-factly. "You both collapse out there and the animals get you. Which brings us to our reason for dropping by." He looked over at Margaret and nodded for her to take over.
"Maybe we can help each other," Margaret suggested. Her eyes darted to Hermione and Harry thought he saw a flash of doubt there. "We have a good system and with more people we could—"
"No," Harry said sharply. "We prefer to work alone."
"But we appreciate the advice," Hermione added. Harry rolled his eyes. She was too nice.
Michael looked to each of them, then sighed when he realized they weren't going to change their minds. "We should have known from the start," he murmured to his wife. "Brits are so paranoid."
"I can't imagine why," Harry said sarcastically. "What recent event in our history would have led to that?"
James snorted as Michael wrapped his arm around Margaret and turned to leave. "We get when we're not welcome. No need to be rude, boy."
Once they were out of sight, Hermione recast the wards around their immediate area while Harry said, "Sorry. I just got a bad feeling about them. It was obvious they didn't like muggleborns."
"Yeah, I got that too," James said, reaching out to squeeze Lily's hand.
Hermione just shrugged.
"I hate that you're used to that," Harry said in a low voice.
She gave him a small smile. "It's fine, plus they answered a question I couldn't find anywhere in my research about what the mist actually does. All I could find were warnings not to inhale it."
"Is it okay that I sent them away?" Harry asked her. "Did you need any more information from them?"
Hermione shook her head.
"And we didn't need them to make it to Fall's End, right?" Harry asked. "I assumed you already had a plan and that it was much better than theirs."
"I do and it is," she said with a smile. "But I can't take the credit. We have a secret weapon they don't have." She looked at James.
"Is this where me being an Animagus comes into play?" he asked.
"Yes. Look here." Hermione picked up a stick and began drawing in the dirt at her feet. She drew a large rectangle and put an X on the far side and an O on the side closest to her. "We're here," she said, pointing at the O, "and Fall's End is at that X. But we have to get through this mist. The problem is, like I said before, most of it renders magic useless and if you inhale it—well,you all heard what happens."
"So, how do we get through it safely?" Harry asked, emphasizing the last word.
Hermione started drawing smaller circles inside the large rectangle. "There are small areas where magic can be used spread throughout the mist. We need to find them and use them as stepping stones to get through the mist to the bottom of the waterfall."
"Okay...and where does James come into play?" Lily asked.
"The mist doesn't affect animals," Hermione said with a smile.
"Oh. So I just turn into a stag and run straight for the waterfall, fill up our water bottles with the magic water, and bring it back?"
"No. It's not that easy."
"Yeah," James sighed. "I thought that sounded too easy. Does it only work if you drink directly from the pool or something like that?"
"Precisely." Hermione turned back to her diagram. "Luckily, you turn into an animal that can cover a lot of distance. So, what you need to do is sweep the area," she moved the stick in a line along the length of the rectangle, "until you find a pocket of magic. Then you stop, transform back into your human form, and cast a Bubble-Head Charm immediately."
"Then what? I send you the coordinates with a Patronus? Will you be able to Apparate in?"
"According to everything I read, yes. But you don't need to send a Patronus." Hermione pulled a galleon that was adhered to a leather strap from her backpack. "Wear this coin around your neck," she said, handing it to James.
"It will transmit your coordinates to us on this coin," Hermione pulled another coin from her pocket. "Unfortunately, it will only work in the magical areas, but those are the most dangerous, since that's when you'll be transforming. This way even if something happens, like if you accidentally inhale the mist before you can send a Patronus, we'll know where you are."
James placed the coin around his neck, then took the stick from Hermione and drew a line from the O to the X. "Why don't I just run straight in and transmit the coordinates of Fall's End, bypassing the magical stepping stones altogether?"
Hermione shook her head. "Again, too easy. Our Apparition range will be severely diminished in the mist. We'll only be able to make jumps of about 1000 feet. So, hopping along those patches with magic is the only way. Which reminds me—" She turned to Lily and Harry. "If anything happens in there, we won't be able to Apparate straight back. We'll need to jump back through the magical areas, the same way we went in. I'll be taking notes with all the coordinates and making copies for everyone at each new location, just in case."
"I don't like this," Harry announced. "Too many things can go wrong. Dad, how about you just run in, take a drink from the pond, then come back and tell us everything you learned?"
"That was my plan B," Hermione said.
"How far is this?" James asked, ignoring Harry's suggestion as he gestured to the line he'd drawn between the O and the X.
"Just under two miles," Hermione replied, placing a comforting hand on Harry's leg.
James nodded thoughtfully, then jumped to his feet and said, "Okay! Let's do this."
"No," Harry said. "If anything happens to you when you're in those non-magical areas, we won't be able to help you. We won't even know if something's gone wrong."
"Come on," James nudged his arm. "Where's your sense of adventure? Plus, I've battled Werewolves in my stag form. I'll be fine."
Harry gave his mum a pointed look, but she just shrugged and said with a small smile, "I sort of want to try it."
"James, I need to warn you about something," Hermione cut in, her tone serious. "When you're traveling through the areas with no magic, it will feel...awful." Her eyes shifted to Harry for a second and he knew she was remembering that spell she'd cast on him back at the Department of Mysteries.
"You'll feel empty and powerless and may start to panic a bit," she continued, "worrying you'll be stuck in your animal form forever. It will require a lot of mental fortitude. I think you can do it, but, uh, don't want you to go into this blindly."
"Now you just made him want to do it more," Lily said, which seemed accurate based on the look of anticipation in James's eyes.
"I can handle it, but thanks for the warning," James replied. He stood up and pulled his pack off, then handed it to Lily as he added in a bad Australian accent, "Like our friend Michael said, you don't get enlightenment without a bit of work." The next moment, he was a stag.
Harry's heart skipped a beat. Years of hearing about his dad being able to turn into a stag and seeing the animal in his Patronus hadn't prepared him for the impressive sight of the full-grown stag close-up. This insane plan was almost worth it, just so he could see his dad like this. Almost, but not quite. "For the record," Harry grumbled, "I really, really hate this."
Lily nudged his side. "Since when are you such a worrier? Is Hermione rubbing off on you?"
"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. Lily just shrugged and followed after James, who had disappeared into the forest.
Hermione wrapped an arm around Harry and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."
"I'm not worried about me."
"We're all going to be fine, Harry. You forget, but your parents were fighting in a very dangerous war just a few years ago. They're very capable. I'm an Unspeakable and you're a fully-qualified Auror."
Harry eyed her warily. "My mum's right. Since when are you so daring?"
She smiled mischievously. "I'm taking a risk in the hopes that at the end of it, I'll find a spectacular discovery."
Harry understood then. He could see the hint of desperation in her eyes. The same emotion that had driven her to come to this universe with Harry in the first place and—how had she put it?—burn everything down. She was still searching for that "thing" she thought was missing from her life and expected to find it after drinking from the water at Fall's End.
"Fine," Harry said with a sigh, taking her hand as they chased after his parents. "Just don't let anyone get hurt. Okay?"
"I wouldn't dream of it. It's not in the plan," she teased.
