The first thing Harry did was take his wand from his pocket. He didn't know what he was doing in this maze or where he was supposed to go. If he just stayed here for long enough, would Kingsley eventually come and take him back out of here? What would happen if he simply tried turning around and walking back through the wall?

It was all shrubs behind him. No windows, of course. But that's the way that Kingsley had gone.

Surely he would fail this test if he simply gave up, though, right?

It was dark here in the maze as though it were night. Harry knew it wasn't. Cedric Diggory fell back and Harry felt the void of the soul that had once been there. A vacuum. The reality of death hit Harry then as it never had before. Cedric had been alive. Now he simply was not.

Harry gasped for breath as though he'd been under water. Had he just had a flashback? Was he developing PTSD right here in this Auror test?

"Lumos," Harry muttered. His wand lit to life. And before him, he saw Cedric Diggory, in his black and yellow uniform—the same he'd worn the day he had died—Cedric strode forward.

"You killed me and then stole my girlfriend," Cedric said, sliding his wand from his pocket.

"What?" Harry said. He was in utter disbelief. A short laugh escaped his lips. This couldn't possibly be real. It was just a mind game.

"You heard me! You're laughing! I'm dead because of you, Harry!" Cedric yelled. Then, wordlessly, he cast a glowing golden spell at Harry. Automatically, Harry cast a Protego charm around himself. Cedric glared at him through the Protego and then Disapparated. For a millisecond, Harry thought he'd won this particular challenge, but Cedric Apparated to just behind him.

"Boo," Cedric whispered in Harry's ear.

Harry spun and disarmed Cedric without even saying 'Expelliarmus'. Cedric seemed to sift into sand and he disappeared.

Harry took deep breaths trying to calm himself. Cedric, the night that he'd seen his parents, Voldemort… the night came crashing back to him. He'd locked it away in a box in his head until now, never to be opened again. Now, it was open and bleeding from his ears.

Harry reached up and touched his earlobe—there wasn't actually any blood.

He took a few more steps forward. Was this maze going to dredge up every horrible thing that had ever happened to him?

After Ron had helped a couple of customers and magically restocked the shelves (with Verity's help), George Apparated into the shop. It was nearly noon.

"Nice of you to drop in," Ron said quietly to him after his customer left, bags in hand. The shop seemed to be cleaning out since it was nearing lunch. Verity was helping the only other customer.

"I had a late night," George said, shrugging. "I had an Angelina in my bed that needed breakfasted. What was a gent to do?"

"Oh bullocks, George, search me," Ron said flatly.

"You know what it's like I'm sure," George said, winking at Ron without smiling, "I'm quite sure a certain bushy-haired bookworm, who you happen to live with, needs a breakfast now and then, too…"

"I suppose," Ron said, feeling his face flush. He could count on his fingers the number of times he'd even kissed Hermione, let alone anything else. He was starting to wonder if Hermione even liked him or if it had only been the heat of the battle.

"Ah, speak of the bushy-haired breakfaster," George said. Ron hadn't noticed the bell on the door tinkle. Hermione stood near the doorway, glancing around the large shop. She looked worried. Or maybe flustered…

Hermione wasn't about to take any of this seriously. She'd gone straight to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to speak to Ron. It hadn't been a long walk.

And there he was, standing next to George behind the counter. He was already looking at her. Pushing her hair back she belatedly fixed a smile on her face and waved to the boys. They waved back as she walked up to the counter.

"Ron, could I have a word?" she asked quietly. She glanced at George. He looked mildly amused, though there were black crescents under his eyes. He needed to sleep more.

"He's on the clock, Hermione. It better be because you're looking for some Puking Pastilles or the like," George warned. Hermione shot him a look and he obligingly quelled under it. Ron ignored both of them and came around the counter.

"What is it?" he asked, looking down at her. He smelled good. Like soap and candy.

"I think we should… I think we need to talk about some things," she said.

"Okay."

Hermione had always hated when he made this face—the look he had when he was worried was almost the same as if he was about to vomit. "Maybe we could have lunch and talk after I meet with Ollivander?" Hermione said. She could feel George's gaze on them and wanted to speak privately.

"Alright."

"Meet me in about an hour at the Leaky Cauldron."

The next person to appear to Harry was Sirius.

"Sirius," Harry whispered. He pushed thoughts of the Resurrection Stone away. Here was Sirius before him. He'd never gotten the chance to say goodbye. Harry absently put his wand away into his pocket.

No burial. No memorial.

"Harry," Sirius said quietly, "How could you have done it? How could you have fallen for dumb trickery? I came after you…" Sirius paced forward, closing the gap between them. He whispered, "I fought for you and here I am, stuck just beyond a magical piece of cloth and you get to go on living. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Harry immediately thought of the Veil. It was here in the Ministry. Just down in the Department of Mysteries. He could just go down now. He could get him back.

"I'll save you, I'll get you out," Harry said immediately. He didn't notice the tears that snaked down his face.

"It's too late," Sirius said. He took a step back and raised his wand. "Avada—"

In the split second wherein Harry knew that Sirius was going to kill him and he needed to act, Harry stood still. If Sirius wanted to kill him, it was only right. Fitting.

And the maze dissolved away. Harry blinked tears from his eyes. He was in the middle of a large gymnasium, like the kind that had been in his primary school.

Turning around, Harry watched as Kingsley paced forward from the wall of squat windows. There were a few others there behind him. They must have been other Aurors.

"Ah, Harry, you'd done so well with the first obstacle," Kinglsey said as he came nearer. He was smiling but he sounded disappointed.

"Did I fail?" Harry asked.

"Only for today. You'll do better tomorrow."

Harry didn't want to ever do this again.

"Go ahead home for today," Kingsley said, patting Harry's shoulder. "Get some rest. You know what you're in for now." Harry only nodded. Kingsley led Harry back through to the room full of desks. Then, Harry went back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

Hermione's meeting with Ollivander was short. He gave her a book to read and said she was to come back once she'd finished it.

"The stone shouldn't come in until next week at the earliest, so if you finish it before then… Oh, before you go," said Ollivander as Hermione gazed down at the dusty, frayed spine. The Craft of Pensieve. There was no author's name.

"Yes, sir?" She reluctantly looked up from her book.

"When you get to the part of memories, I need you to think long about the good memory that you want to use. The more important it is to you, the harder it will be to recover from."

"Sorry?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Physically, I mean…," he said, raising his chin a little, as though seeming to assess her. "Well." He looked down at the book again. "See you next week same time, Miss Granger. I will carve the stone, you will do the hard part. It should only take a moment."

"Thank you, sir."

Hermione went straight to the Leaky Cauldron and sat and read for the remainder of the hour while she waited for Ron. He was early.

When he saw that she hadn't gotten anything to eat or drink, he ordered butterbeers and sandwiches at the bar and then sat down across from her.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine," Hermione answered. But Tom was already coming to their table, levitating their lunches in front of him.

"It's just, you seemed a bit out of sorts when you came into the shop," Ron said once Tom had walked away.

"I, well…," Hermione said. She looked down at her sandwich but didn't touch it. She watched as Ron picked his up and took a bite. "Well, you know how you came to visit me at my parents' house the other day? Well, I agree."

"Agree about what?" Ron said with his mouth full.

"I think we should get married, Ron."