Disclaimer: I don't own Forgotten Realms or Harry Potter only some OC's that well be showing up later.

A/N: HI there once again and welcome to chapter 4 of Dark Allies two I do hope to get a few more reviews then what I have been getting but I don't mind as I tend to right for my own fun, now then I would also like to say that those of you who have been hounding me for Dragon Lords two, I well say it again, it well be getting a part two but not until near the end of this fic I'm sorry to say what with job hunting and school to go with the writing.

Until next time enjoy and if you wont let me know what you think so far.

Chapter 4: First moon.

The next two weeks passed relatively quietly for the Grangers with the greatest excitement being the arrival of Drizzt and Liriel. The Drow couple stopped by for two days but did not linger, leaving to head into London for business neither would explain. Before departing they promised to meet Harry and Hermione at the train station for the ride to Hogwarts if they did not appear in Little Whinging before hand. Both Harry and Hermione noted Liriel seemed to have something on her mind but the graceful woman merely smiled and otherwise ignored their questions.

Most of their days were spent looking over the house and gardens Shane informed them Lily had called the Phoenix Nest. They had taken Drizzt and Liriel to view the house and Drizzt had been very handy to them as he used his Rangers skills. The myriad of animals that had made the overgrown gardens their home responded to his skills. After a day the gardens were deemed safe for them to work in without fear of reprisal from disgruntled and displaced wildlife. After watching some of the animals who had responded to Drizzt move on Hermione had shaken her head and muttered about never having known what was around them being a blessing.

With the Drow having moved on to London and the garden now being tackled by eager and safer hands the days had fallen into something of a routine. Finally came the day preceding the night of the full moon which like so many others found Harry working on the fence of the Phoenix Nest carefully replacing stones that had fallen off the wall. He had fallen into a rhythm, enjoying the peace and tranquility he found in tending to his mothers house, content to know Hermione was near and all seemed right with his world. The sound of a dog barking shattered the peace of the day and he scowled, wondering what had upset the animal.

Harry looked up and around, leaning over the fence and then passing through the gap to get a better look. A fat bulldog burst into view, running up the street and seeming to be aiming right for him with teeth bared and looking for all the world like it could not wait to sink its fangs into him. Harry stared at the oncoming dog for a long moment and recognition, when it came, was like a dousing in frigid water.

"Ripper." Harry whispered when the dog was close enough that there could be no mistake about his identity. How could he ever mistake Aunt Marge's favorite bulldog for any other? 'She must be visiting the Dursleys. Has he escaped her attention or is she wandering around here looking for me to tell me yet again how worthless my mother and father were?'

Hermione was not in the front garden at this time and he was glad of that. He did not want her to overhear any unpleasantness and if Aunt Marge was around there was sure to be unpleasantries exchanged.

He caught a glimpse of the unmistakable form of Aunt Marge rounding the corner and sighed at the idea of ruining a perfectly wonderful day. Ripper was still on coming and Harry narrowed his eyes at the dog and for a moment he felt something entirely wolfish spark deep within him. An irritation at the presumption of the arrogant coward of a domesticated dog coming full tilt toward him surfaced. Without realizing it he bared his teeth at Ripper and growled softly, deep in his throat but he caught himself before he transformed.

Ripper skidded to a stop, looking comically uncertain for a long moment and Marge sailed on in her pilgrimage to denounce his parents. Ripper backed a step or two and barked and Harry glared at the dog that abruptly turned tail and ran back to his mistress with a whine, uncertain and suddenly fearing the boy he had tormented for years. Marge ploughed her way down the street looking rather disappointed and no little confused about Ripper's lack of attack on Harry. Her colour was high and she was winded but she was determined not to allow the juvenile delinquent to escape a lecture on the vices of his parents and his own hopeless future. Not to mention his attitude toward Vernon who had taken his ungrateful hide in and cared for him for so many years.

Spared Ripper's favorite greeting Harry felt rather buoyant and smiled as he leaned against the stone wall and watched. Marge huffed and puffed her way toward him and Ripper stayed behind her, still barking but there was a definite odd tone to his bark. Harry began to wonder if the bulldog was trying to warn his mistress that something about Harry had changed.

"Hello, Aunt Marge. How have you been since last we talked?" Harry set his tools aside on the repaired portion of the stone fence. 'Oh how I wish she could remember exactly what happened the last time we met. Pity her memory was modified but I guess there is always today.' Harry thought with an evil little smile.

Marge looked at Harry and her frown deepened at what she interpreted as a smug look. "Well at least my brother had brains to throw you out, you ungrateful little wretch. Living in this dump now, are we? Yes, well it seems much more fitting for the likes of a good for nothing like you. Now…" A low rumbling growl silenced the tirade and Marge looked warily at the overgrown garden, wondering if Harry had acquired a dog. With no dog in sight her beady little eyes fastened on Harry and she motioned imperiously at Ripper.

"Playing games, are we? Just like you, what more could I expect from a little…" Again the growl and something glinted in Harry's eyes that caused her to step back warily. "Going to attack me, are you? Ripper!"

Ripper, at the first growl had fallen silent and backed warily away from Harry and at the second growl he had made himself scarce. Aunt Marge looked around to find her dog on the other side of the street and cowering under some bushes in a garden Harry knew to be his Uncle Shane's.

Harry smiled as pleasantly as he could manage. "Aunt Marge, what a pleasure it has been to see you. Do you like my mother's house? Unfortunately it has been some years since anyone lived here, close to sixteen years I believe, or is it a little more? No matter. I have taken it upon myself to restore some sort of order to the house and grounds. Now that you have seen the utterly useless occupation my disreputable self is engaged in I'll thank you to kindly leave me in peace. Would you mind awfully taking that dreadful beast you call a dog with you before I call the pound and notify them of a feral animal in the area? I suppose I should tell them there is a dog running around loose too."

Marge looked at Harry for a long moment as she sorted out the meaning behind his comment and drawing herself up into a huff she glared at him. "You cheeky, ungrateful wretch! You should be in an institution not running around the streets." She spun around and marched away. "Ripper! Heel boy."

Harry snorted as the dog plucked up enough courage to snarl and bark at him from the safety of the far side of the road and waddled after Aunt Marge. Watching until the two were more than half the block away he laughed out loud and turned back to the fence.

Hermione came around the side of the cottage at that moment and hurried to the gate to see what was so amusing. For a long moment she watched the stiff back of the pudgy woman and the waddling backside of the dog at her heels marching along. She had been working on clearing the pathway leading around the house to the backyard while Harry had been busy with the wall. Both were determined to clear the garden using muggle methods and they were hoping to do it without calling on others.

"Who was that?"

"Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister." Harry glanced up from fitting a stone into place and grinned.

"What did you do to her?" Hermione watched as Harry used a hand trowel to gently tap the rock into the mortar and settle it in place.

"Not much, I just returned her growling with one or two of my own and politely asked her to leave." He slipped around the wall to her and gave her a quick kiss. "How is it going around there?"

Hermione grinned and led him to the path indicating the now clear pathway leading to the house and the side path extending almost halfway to the rear of the house. While the paths were clear the garden beds and lawn were still a jungle of weeds and overgrown plants. Harry smiled his approval, pleased to see evidence of order appearing about the house. There was so much work to do but doing it by hand was fulfilling and gave him a sense of accomplishment using magic would not have.

He eyed the slender young woman in her blue work clothes and grinned in approval, liking even the smudges on her face and the tangled bits of foliage stuck in her hair. "What do you say we call it quits for today and start first thing tomorrow?"

Hermione smiled and inclined her head toward the wall. "Not until you finish that section of wall you have been working on for the last three days."

A small pile of stones remained beside the unfinished wall and Harry contemplated them for a long moment and sighed. It was only a few stones and he could face the new day knowing he did not need to return to the same task yet again.

"Why don't you clean up quickly and go on home? You can have a shower or a soak in the bath and prepare for tonight while I finish this."

Hermione smiled brightly and planted a quick kiss on Harry before dashing to the garden tap they had unearthed the previous day and washed her hands and face. Harry scratched his head as he watched Hermione run to the house, poke her head through the door and call out to the House Elf that she was off for the day. Hermione gave Harry a peck on the cheek and with a wave started down the road leaving Harry to finish his task.

It was seven in the evening before Harry returned to the Grangers, looking exhausted but he was pleased with himself. A hot shower revived him and he joined Hermione and her mother seated in the living room noting Arutha had not yet returned from work. He admired Hermione's slender figure in the sheer black silk gown she would wear for the nights dance. Hermione nodded to him as she covered herself in a heavy black velvet cloak and settled into a chair. The cloak would not only cover her gown from prying eyes but also keep her warm.

Harry wore his armor beneath his cloak and a sheathed dagger on one hip and his flute tucked into his belt. His sword remained upstairs, tucked away for safe keeping as he was certain he would have no need of it this night.

"Are you ready to go, Hermione?" He seated himself on the armrest of the chair Hermione occupied and smiled down at her as he gently rubbed her shoulder. He could feel the tension in her and felt her relax a little under his attention.

Hermione nodded and drew a steadying breath before turning to her mother. "We will be back just after midnight so don't worry about us, ok?"

Holly nodded and smiled at them both as they all stood and the two younger members of her family moved to the door.

"Just be careful not to upset the locals." She cautioned, rolling her eyes in the direction of a certain house.

Hermione exchanged a glance with Harry as Holly closed the door after them and they paused on the front step to smile at each other. It had been so much easier when they could do this in the back yard but a nosy neighbor had moved in over the school year. It had taken only a couple of altercations with their neighbor for them to understand they would need to find a more private location to perform the dance to the Dark Maiden.

A quick look around to ensure they did not have any watchers and with an exchange of nods Hermione changed into the Raven, Dark Angel and Harry shifted into Lightning. Hermione settled to perch on Lightning's shoulders and the wolf headed for the park, taking advantage of every scrap of cover to remain unseen. Behind the park was a stretch of forest where they had found a small clearing ideal for Hermione to dance. It was far enough away from everyone that there was very little chance of any Muggles being in the area especially at a late hour of the night.

Harry still had Hermione on his shoulders as they entered the park when they heard the sound of running feet. Curious Lightning slipped into deep shadow out of the street lights and made his way toward the sounds. He growled low in his throat as he saw Dudley Dursley and his gang chasing a young girl.

Hermione clicked her beak in anger answering Harry's growl as the girl almost fell and recovered but lost ground to her pursuers. She would be no more than eleven Hermione guessed and was small and slender against the bigger boys and particularly the unmistakable bulk of Dudley.

/ Care for some fun before we dance/ Harry's thought was laced with a nasty amusement and Hermione was all for teaching Dudley and his gang a lesson they would not soon forget.

Hermione ruffled her feathers and clicked her beak again in agreement before taking flight. She flew straight at Dudley while Harry used the skills of the wolf to move silently and quickly behind one of Dudley's friends as he caught hold of the girl. Laughing the boys gathered around the sobbing girl, pushing and shoving at her and adding to her terror.

'Oh, you are not going to hit her, you brute.' Hermione closed in on Dudley.

Aiming for his head she beat her wings into his face and even hooked a claw down his cheek, leaving him bloody and howling in fear at this unexpected attack out of the night. Harry leapt into the knot of boys and directly into the youth holding the girl, knocking him over and voicing a bone chilling howl on landing. One boy screamed with enough pitch to be thought a girl and ran while the boy who had, with Dudley, been about to hit the girl practically fell over his feet to run away.

Dudley was batting blindly at the apparition out of the night, howling with fear and the boy Harry was still standing on was sobbing. Hermione flew over Dudley, her part done for the moment and Dudley found himself staring straight into the glowing eyes and gleaming teeth of a huge black dog standing on the back of friend.

"What the hell!" Dudley stared not recognizing the dog for a wolf but knowing he was in all sorts of trouble if the dog attacked.

Hermione settled on a nearby fence and considered the scene before fluttering over to land on the shoulder of the shocked girl staring at Harry in fear. She looked bright enough to at least suspect it was no ordinary dog but she had been quick to scramble out of the way as her captor lost his balance. The child gave a startled cry as Hermione landed on her shoulder and stared into her dark eyes. The Raven jerked her head and the girl seemed to understand and she hurriedly put some distance between herself and the altercation.

Dudley ignored the girl running away, keeping his attention on the dog as it stepped menacingly from the back of his friend. The boy scrambled backwards and clambered to his feet while Dudley tried to stare down the dog. With the beasts attention distracted his victim bolted and ran as fast as his feet would carry him away from the altercation.

Hermione stayed with the girl until the scene was out of sight and she was sure the girl was safe from the other boys. Taking wing Hermione flew to an area of deep shadow where she transformed back to her human form.

Harry looked Dudley in the eyes noting the growing fear and growled low and deep. His cousin flinched and the last of his cohorts footsteps faded even from Harry's sensitized hearing. With a wolfish smirk Harry shifted back into his human form and a very human smirk replaced the canine version. Dudley looked to be on the verge of fainting.

"What? Did you forget I'm still living in this town?" Harry walked slowly around his frozen cousin and snorted softly, unimpressed. "Let's see if you can take on someone your own age. I would say size, of course, but that is impossible as I don't recall seeing anyone our age in the area the same size as you."

Dudley saw red and snarled with his lips drawn back from his teeth, looking somewhat wolfish himself at that moment. He attacked Harry with a high low combination Harry had seen him use in most of his boxing competitions. Harry's smile widened and he dodged the combination which would have flattened him if any one of the blows connected. Compared to the speed of his usual sparring partner, Drizzt, Dudley moved in slow motion.

'I certainly can't beat him with my strength or weight so my speed is the key and since I'm wearing the armor Liriel made for me, I guess he can't possibly dodge me.'

Liriel's enchantment granting speed to the wearer of the armor would be a huge asset against the greater bulk and strength of Dudley. Harry almost laughed at how Dudley's eyes opened wider and wider as he dodged again and again the blows directed at him. In his usual brawls Dudley would have landed five or more hits even if his mates had not held their victim for him. He knew he could dodge Dudley until the boy collapsed from exhaustion but Drizzt's warnings about getting cocky and wasting advantages steadied him.

Dudley finally stopped and stood panting, glaring at him with narrowed eyes now, furious but thinking for a change. "How did you get this fast?" he panted.

Harry smiled, obviously not winded and pulled his cloak open to reveal the Mithril armor beneath. "A little magic that makes me nearly untouchable."

"Right! Magic. Can't fight your own battles can you? Have to use magic!" Dudley jeered.

Harry snorted. "I could do this even if I wasn't wearing the armor but I don't have the time or the inclination to change just now. Besides, it's no more an advantage than your bully boys have given you before today. Shall we continue?" Harry lashed out taking Dudley in the side of the head with the flat of his hand then dodged as Dudley again began his barrage of blows.

Hermione had made her way back to the fight and was standing to one side, her cloak pulled tightly around her shoulders. The black dress was little protection from the coolness of the night and she wore nothing beneath the sheer gown and was not inclined to give Dudley a free show.

/ Harry James Potter, stop playing games. We have things to do. Finish up. I want to get back to a warm bed before sunrise. / She sent the thought to him.

Harry waved a hand in the air acknowledging her reprimand as Hermione caught soft footfalls coming up behind her. Inclining her head slightly she saw the little girl looking from her to Harry as he dodged Dudley's attacks.

"Hello. How are you?" Hermione said without turning.

The girl looked up at Hermione with wide eyes uncertain as she took in the black cloak and the mass of bushy brown hair. "Fine, thank you. Ah, is your friend going to be alright taking him on?"

Hermione smiled as she watched Harry counter a flying fist, grasp the wrist as he swayed forward, set his feet and pulled. Dudley stumbled off balance and took a forced step forward trying to regain his balance. Harry brought his knee up smartly and solidly into Dudley's large gut, winding him.

"He'll do just fine." Hermione smirked knowing the satisfaction Harry would be feeling after so many years of not being able to strike back at 'Dudders'. "Lighting! We have things to do you know."

Dudley folded liked a dumped sack and at Hermione's call Harry looked up and nodded. It was getting late and he was feeling quite chipper. There was no further need to continue to fight his cousin and Drizzt had taught him not to fight just because he could. Satisfaction at taking Dudley down was great but he was not going to become the bully his cousin was.

"Don't let me catch you beating up anyone from now on or you will find yourself facing me again. Next time I might not be in a hurry or in such a good mood."

He turned his back on Dudley and walked over to Hermione and the girl, leaving the larger boy lying on the ground gasping for breath and holding his large gut.

Hermione turned around to face the girl. "You should be safe now."

"Thank you. My name is Sarah and you two are?" The girl looked up at Hermione with her blue eyes wide.

Hermione smiled at Sarah. "Friends. I suppose you could call me Dark Angel and this lump can be Lightning." She knelt down and ran a hand through Sarah's blonde hair. "You can go home now and I don't think you will be bothered again."

Sarah sighed and looked at Harry who was standing behind Hermione, his face hidden in the darkness as the light of the lamppost shed little light. Eerily his eyes seemed to glow in the dark until he turned his head a little. Hermione's face too was hidden in deep shadow, only her hair catching the light.

"Will I see you again?" Sarah inclined her head, trying to see Harry and Hermione's faces but the angle they stood to the light sheltered them.

Hermione looked at Harry and then back to the girl. "Who knows, Sarah? Perhaps we will."

Standing up she lightly touched the girls hair again in farewell and felt Harry wrap his arm around her waist. In a few strides their dark clothing enveloped them in shadow and they might as well have been wrapped in Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Sarah watched them until they're vanished into the shadows and then started to run home to tell her mother about the black wolf and raven and the strange man and woman who had saved her.

In the moonlighted glade Hermione performed the dance to honor her Goddess and Harry stood watch, enthralled by the grace of the dance but aware of every sound in the night. Later they returned through the wood and emerged into the park, Harry's arm wrapped around Hermione and the other hand grasping his flute. Hermione's hair was glowing softly silver as she fingered a long lock of silver with a gentle smile. At one stage, during her dance while Harry had played she had felt as though she did not dance alone, that another form, hidden in the night had been dancing with her, step for step. It had been then that her hair had begun to shimmer with silver. She really would need to talk to Liriel about that odd effect.

"Well, we managed to keep the Dudley problem off the street tonight." Harry smiled down at her while admiring the silver flowing hair.

Dudley was long gone from the park, of course and there was nothing left to indicate the local bully boys had met their match at least this night. Both Harry and Hermione knew they would not be roaming the streets continually looking for the gang until they learned their lesson and straightened themselves out. Tonight had just been one of those things, but they had enjoyed it.

"Yes, he never got his fun. I would feel better if we checked to make sure Sarah made it back home safely. I doubt any of those boys would have bothered her, you gave them quite a fright." Hermione pushed the hair back from her face then turned a large puppy dog eyed look on Harry.

"Gahhh! Not the Puppy Dog Eyes! Please, anything but that!"

The mournful puppy dog eyes blinked at him and he chuckled as he shifted form and Lightning lowered his head to the walkway and hunted out the smell of Sarah. Finding the scent he glanced at Hermione who was close behind him and led the way out of the park, scenting the girl easily as few people had been abroad this night. It was not a long walk before Harry stopped out front of a house that closely resembled all of the other houses in the street. He sniffed around and determined the scent led through the gate and sat on his haunches.

/ Happy now? She made it home without Dudley and his gang getting her first, now can we go home? My tail's getting wet. /

Hermione looked down at Harry and smiled when she notice his tail was lying in a puddle of water from a very well watered garden next door. Tutting at someone using a sprinkler all night she scratched Lightning's ear gently.

/ Fine, we found out what I wanted to know. Time to go home and it is much later than I told mum we would be back. It will be a long day tomorrow. / She had to chuckle when Harry angled his head for her to scratch at just the right place behind his ears. /You are disgusting, you know that don't you/

Harry rumbled deep in his throat, a soft growl of contentment before he led the way down the street. Neither of them noticed the small face watching from the upstairs window as the cloaked woman with the shining hair and the huge dog walked away from the gate.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was noon before Harry and Hermione entered the kitchen the next day, both dressed for more garden work at the Phoenix Nest. Holly looked up from making lunch and motioned them to have a seat at the table.

"Your father is on holidays now so we will be seeing more of him for a week or so. He's out with some old college buddies for the day so today will likely be a day we won't see him until dinner." Placing the last of the sandwiches she had been cutting on a plate she carried it to the table. "Did you have a good night last night?"

Hermione nodded and settled into a seat at the table while Harry moved to the sink and filled drinking flasks ready for the walk and work ahead of them.

"It was an ok night, Mum. We even managed to stop Harry's cousin from beating up some little girl." Hermione grinned and chose a sandwich, eating quickly and neatly.

Holly smiled and looked over at Harry who was looking for his shoes by the door. "Well, that was certainly doing a good turn. Be careful and do come back in time for dinner. It will be nice to have everyone home to eat dinner together for a change." She said while pouring a cup of tea for herself.

Hermione noticed the book Holly picked up as she left the room and arched an eyebrow, following her mother into the lounge and watching her settle down to read. Holly glanced at her and smiled in query, catching her daughter's attention on the book and chuckled.

"It makes for interesting reading, dear." Holly murmured and waved Hermione off, opening the book about Defense Against the Dark Arts and settling in for a quiet afternoon. Hermione blinked, grinned and nodded then joined Harry in the kitchen and found him wrapping sandwiches to take with them.

"Something wrong?" Harry queried.

"Mum's reading Defense Against the Dark Arts." Hermione grinned. "She says it's interesting."

Harry finished wrapping the sandwiches and slipped them into a small backpack as Hermione found her shoes and they called farewells to Holly, setting out eagerly for the Phoenix Nest.

They were halfway to the house when Harry developed the feeling he was being followed. For a minute he walked on, uncertain but decided he definitely was being followed. / We have a tail some where behind us. / He sent the warning to Hermione and continued walking, linking an arm through hers to keep her moving.

/ What do you want to do about it/ Hermione did not doubt Harry's suspicions, willing to trust him and the instincts that had kept him alive this long.

Harry didn't answer her immediately, unsure himself what to do. He sensed they were being followed but he didn't necessarily feel trouble was on the way. It was just an annoying sense of eyes watching, nothing malevolent. He smiled at her and inclined his head toward the house now in sight.

"We get on with what we came here to do, of course. I'll keep an eye out and see if I can't spot who is following us. It's not as though there is a lot of places to hide and I don't feel the presence of magic."

Hermione paused at the gate, admiring Harry's repaired stone fence and the neater paths visible. She did not particularly feel like weeding more footpaths today.

"Well, if you like I can try to find that water feature your Great Uncle was talking about. You could work on the lawn."

Harry opened the gate for her and Hermione made her way to the porch where she left their afternoon snack and surveyed the wild tangle of growth she had volunteered to tackle. Somehow it looked worse from this angle than it had from the road.

Harry nodded and moved around the side of the house to the small tool shed where he had stored the tools the Grangers had lent him for the work that needed to be done. He found the whipper snipper and hoped it would be tough enough to power through the overgrown lawn and reduce the grass enough to run a lawn mower through later in the week.

"This will do for now." He murmured and hurried back to the front yard, unwilling to leave Hermione with an unknown stalker in the area.

Hermione was peering carefully into the jungle, moving her feet with care to make certain she was on even footing as she searched for the water feature. Satisfied she was safe he moved to the fence and while making a show of checking the thread spool of the machine he glanced up and down the street. No sign of anyone but he could still feel that unease that suggested they were watched but he set to his work, confident he would spot anyone who might have less than kindly intentions toward them.

He had been making steady headway through the grass cutting a swathe through the overgrown mass and making it resemble something like a lawn when Hermione called out she had found the old fish pond. Briefly he stopped the machine and walked over to peer through the growth to see the suggestion of a depression and Hermione gave him the thumbs up.

"I'll work on revealing more of this."

He nodded his agreement and returned to his position but before he began work again he checked the thread spool and decided to refill it as it was almost out of plastic thread. Keeping his head lowered he scanned the road quickly, nimble fingers making short work of changing the line and chanced to see a head of blonde hair vanish around the corner of the bushes near the gate.

"Why don't you come in, Little One? We won't bite." He called, resting the machine against his side as he straightened.

Hermione looked up, still on her knees in the old pond and watched as Sarah peeked from behind the bushes. She offered a smile and waved, inviting the girl to join them and standing when Sarah crept to the gate.

"Good afternoon." Hermione greeted her.

Sarah looked nervously at Harry. She had been asking around Little Whinging and had heard some of the whispers about him stemming from his Uncle's snide comments about his delinquent nephew.

"I was only watching. I didn't mean anything by it." Her voice revealed her nervousness.

Harry smiled at her and fingered the handle of the whipper snipper. "I know you didn't mean anything, its okay. Now what do you say to something to eat? We have some very nice sandwiches on offer."

He swung open the gate and after a moment Sarah entered and Hermione left the pond to join them. Watching Hermione with great amusement Harry eyed the bits of twig and dirt clinging in her hair which had long ago returned to its normal shade.

"Hermione, my dear, you need a bath." He said and smiled an evil smile.

Hermione smiled and nodded sweetly to Sarah before steeping on Harry's foot and bouncing a little to make certain he felt it. "Why so would you if you had spent time cleaning out a fish pond that hasn't seen human hands for more than a decade."

Sarah smiled at the antics of the pair and particularly at Harry as he limped to the porch muttering about crazed girlfriends and abused feet. The whipper snipper was placed carefully to one side and Hermione opened the sandwiches and the three settled down on the porch steps to munch contentedly.

Sarah was happily eating one of the sandwiches when she felt Harry tense and looked up in time to see a snowy white owl fly down and land on his shoulder. Wide blue eyes watched as the owl offered a leg to Harry and he released a message band running a caressing finger over the birds head. Hedwig clicked her beak at Harry and proceeded to preen her tail feathers, ignoring Sarah.

Harry slipped the message band open and two letters were unfolded, both baring Hogwarts crest on them. He absently passed one of the letters to Hermione and began to open the other when a tiny voice at his feet brought him back to reality to find Sarah watching him with wide eyes.

"You get owls too?" Sarah breathed, staring at Hedwig in awe.

Reminded of her presence Harry reached up and stroked Hedwig's soft feathers before studying Sarah and considering what she had said. "Have you gotten a letter from an owl in the last week or so?"

Sarah nodded, if anything her eyes going wider than ever. "Just the other day I got a letter saying I was accepted into a school of witchcraft and wizardry. It was a big brown owl, not nearly as pretty as this one."

Harry smiled and then looked at his unread letter noting Hermione was watching and waiting for him to read it. "Her name is Hedwig and you can pat her if you like. Lightly stroke her feathers… that's right. The school is real, Sarah. Hermione and I go there and we are starting our seventh year this year."

Hermione nodded absently, having gone back to reading her letter and when she got to the last paragraph she squealed in delight. "Harry! I've been made Head Girl."

Harry gave a small laugh and tried to read his letter with Hermione hanging on to one arm, Hedwig riding the opposite shoulder and Sarah practically sitting on him patting the owl.

"Easy, Hermione. That's nice but I do believe you have been head Girl since fourth year."

When Hermione slapped him lightly he chuckled. "That was Prefect, twit."

"According to this I'm Head Boy. McGonagall is asking if we want to have the Dragon Host room as our dorm again or would we prefer the Head boy and girl's rooms."

Hermione smiled and shook her head. As far as she was concerned there was no contest. "I did like that room last year. The Dragon Host room will do just fine." After a moment she climbed to her feet and looked at the front door, quirking an eyebrow at Harry with a look at Sarah.

Harry grinned and nodded pulling a pen from out of a pocket he quickly wrote a note to Professor McGonagall to thank her for making them both the student link to the staff and claiming the Dragon Host room.

Sarah watched as Harry secured the letter into the cylinder and attached it to Hedwig's leg. The Owl took flight and vanished quickly and Harry stood up, motioning Sarah toward the front door.

"Well, Sarah. If you are going to Hogwarts this year you might want a sneak peak at the Wizarding world. Would you like to come in? "

Sarah nodded and followed Harry and Hermione into the house.