The girls had watched Sirius pass the wards and then disapparate. As they turned and walked back towards the cottage they noticed Hermione's father walking towards them.

"You three did very well tonight-hiding your relationship with Minerva and I." He told them smiling.

"Is that why you wanted us here when he dropped of Buckbeak?" Hermione asked.

"So we could practice?" Ginny added before he could respond.

"I admit I was concerned," He smiled, "the five of us have become quite comfortable with each other-Minerva and I needed the practice as well."

"Well, then," Hermione smiled as she went to hug him, "you did almost as well as we did." She teased him. As she stepped back he noticed his bemused expression, "Well-let's hope Sirius thinks all the pride you were showing us was just a professor's pride in three of his students."

"Indeed." He smiled. "And you three need to learn how to act more your age around unfamiliar adults."

"Are you saying we shouldn't have spoken our minds with Sirius?" Ginny asked.

"No, I am not, nor will you ever hear me say that." He smiled. "But few teenagers speak with the self assuredness that you three show while speaking with adults."

"It's partially your fault-both you and Minerva," Hermione teased him, "You treat us like equals."

"But it's not just them, Hermione," Ginny interrupted. "All the people you dealt with in Diagon Alley treated you, maybe not quite as an equal, but with more respect than I've ever seen my parents receive."

"They didn't at first, Gin." Hermione smiled, "What you witnessed was years of work. I would always show them respect but I wouldn't let them talk down to me and I found subtle ways of pointing it out when they tried."

Albus considered his daughter a moment.

"My dear...you must remember that, although you may be not only the equal of most adults, but indeed their superior-they will be reluctant to see you as such due to your physical age."

"So...a little less direct then?" Hermione asked shrewdly.

"You have a way with words, my dear, you can show someone the path instead of the destination."

"And if there is something that needs to be said and I don't have the time or I can't find an an age appropriate manner in which to ask it?" Hermione asked.

"If we are with you, think it to Minerva or I, and we will either indicate for you to go ahead or we will say it for you." Albus smiled. "We value your insights, all three of you, and we have no desire to stifle that."

"And if neither of you are there?" Hermione asked.

"Then use your best judgement...if in doubt, don't." He replied. "You three should go to bed, it's getting late."

"Yes, dad." Hermione replied smiling and watched as he blushed slightly.

"You have the weekend to yourselves and you will begin your Animagus training on Monday." He smiled as he drew Hermione into a hug, "I will see you three next weekend."

"Have you gotten the results for our exams yet?" Luna asked.

"You passed them all with flying colours." He smiled. "I will, with your permission, announce to the school that Luna and Ginny will be joining the fourth year at the welcome feast."

"Why would you need our permission?" Luna asked as they entered the cottage.

"Well...it will be a rather large spotlight however I thought it would save you from having to answer questions from your classmates." Albus replied.

Ginny and Luna looked at each other.

"What do you think?" Ginny asked Luna.

"Guess it would be easiest." Luna answered and looked back to Albus. "But you know we're still going to get asked questions."

"More than likely-however hopefully we can minimize that."

The three girls went to hug him briefly.

"Thank you for the journals but you really needn't have gotten me Mont Blancs." Hermione told him.

"Now that I can, I'd like to spoil my daughter...you can't hold that against me." He smiled.

"I suppose not." She smiled, "It's not like I don't try to spoil these two."

"Have a good week and I will see you next weekend." He said hugging Hermione again. "And I am very proud of all three of you."

…

They ascended the stairs to their quarters, fatigue settling in for all three of them.

"I'm going to take a shower before bed." Hermione said sighing as they passed through the sitting room to their bedroom.

"You're stalling." Ginny teased as she went to hug Hermione.

"No...it's been a long day and I got all sweaty when we were flying." She kissed Ginny and then whispered in her ear, "You were getting pretty sweaty yourself."

"Well...go take your showers you two-I'd like to get to sleep at some point." Luna teased.

"You need one too." Ginny teased back.

Hermione walked over and buried her nose in Luna's neck and took a big sniff before kissing her neck. She pulled away and wrinkled her nose. "She's right-you smell like whatever you clean your brushes in."

"Really?" Luna replied surprised. She pulled her t-shirt to her nose and smelled it. "I don't even notice it anymore."

Luna kissed Hermione briefly and then kissed Ginny on her way out of the bedroom. Hermione walked over and pulled Ginny back into her arms before kissing her deeply then resting her forehead against Ginny's.

"I'm going to miss Luna come the fall." Hermione said with a sigh.

"She's not going anywhere." Ginny replied confused.

"I know-but I've gotten so used to always having her around." She kissed Ginny. "Then again, it means I'll have you all to myself more."

"Wait a sec...you meant you're going to miss kissing Luna." Ginny teased as she playfully pushed Hermione away.

"And you're not?" Hermione teased back as she pulled Ginny back into her arms. "You're more than enough for me, love, you know that but-I've gotten used to kissing Luna, it's going to be weird not to."

"I know." Ginny sighed. "But she deserves to have someone of her own."

"She really does." Hermione said then kissed her again. "We'd better get showered or Luna won't let us live it down."

They kissed again and then went to their separate showers.

Hermione got undressed and then sighed as the warm water washed over her. She hadn't really needed a shower, she just wanted some time to collect her thoughts before she shared them with Ginny and Luna. She had felt the sadness retuning while they had been talking to Sirius about taking Harry to Godric's Hollow and she hadn't been able to shake it. She had come to realise the source of her sadness though...she was mourning the loss of a family she hadn't got the chance to know-and she felt sorry for her father. He'd spent most of his life denying himself love-until now.

She smiled. It may not be romantic love-but it was love nonetheless and both he and Minerva now had a lot more of it their lives. And now Sirius would too and so would Harry.

She turned off the shower and quickly dried herself off and put on her pajamas. She went into the bedroom and found Luna brushing out Ginny's hair on the bed. She watched them for a moment before they noticed her. She tried to see them as a stranger would-two young girls without a care in the world. How far from the truth they would be, she thought ruefully.

She went to sit in front of Ginny who started brushing out her hair without comment.

When Luna finished with Ginny's hair she went to sit in front of Hermione to have her hair brushed out as well. "You know, Luna, we're going to miss having you to ourselves come the fall." Hermione told her.

"I'll still be spending lot's of time with you guys-I mean we do have almost all our classes together." Luna replied.

"That isn't what she meant Luna..." Ginny clarified, "We're going to miss the extra parts of our relationship with you."

"Oh no, I realised that..." Luna replied as she turned to face both of them, "I will too...it's just so quickly become normal for us...it will be odd not to."

"Maybe a once a month 'date night'?" Hermione suggested. "I mean, if you want Luna-I know you mentioned you'd feel wrong about being with us when you're with Padma."

"No...I like the idea...but I think we should make a weekly thing..."

"Greedy..." Ginny teased.

"Maybe, but I was thinking just a weekly cuddle session would be nice...just a chance to reconnect." Luna replied then added: "I won't know how I feel about it until I'm back with Padma...to be honest."

"It's up to you, Luna, we'll respect whatever you decide." Ginny assured her then turned to Hermione, "Okay, you, out with it."

Hermione laughed lightly and reached for their hands.

"You sure you're ready for this?" she asked them.

"As ready as we ever are." Luna replied and smiled.

Hermione closed her eyes and organized her memories. "There's a lot so I'm not going to slow it down...okay?" She felt them squeeze her hands in response and she began the flow of information to them.

Once she was done she let their hands go and lay on her back, Ginny and Luna coming to rest on her shoulder.

"I can't believe dear-old-dad is gay." Ginny said quietly.

"Of everything I showed you...that's the first thing you say?" Hermione said laughing lightly.

"I don't know what else to say, babe...I mean I don't have any questions you didn't already ask him." Ginny replied as she propped herself up to look at Hermione, "I do wonder though, how you're coping with the information."

Hermione sighed. "I'm okay...I mean, yes, it's all very sad, but chances are my grandparents would have been dead by now anyways-and Ariana? I know my dad didn't have me to replace her but a lot of the ways he choose to protect me were because of her. She was only fourteen when she died and it was a senseless accident. Doesn't seem fair." She felt a tear run down her cheek. "Same goes for Harry-his life forever altered because of one man's fear of a stupid prophecy."

"I'm impressed he opened up to you so much." Luna said quietly.

"He's trying to make up for lost time-both he and Minerva have done the same thing-brought us into their confidence so we'll see them for who they are and not the persona they present to the rest of the world."

"I think, part of it, is that they want you to know them as well as they know you." Ginny said thoughtfully.

Hermione reached down and ran her hand under both their nightshirts and started rubbing their backs.

Ginny sighed. "I think I understand now why you got a little tipsy the other night."

Hermione laughed lightly and kissed her forehead.

"It wasn't my intent-but I wouldn't be surprised if that's why I got the honey mead that night." Ginny propped herself up to look at Hermione, "Dad probably asked Lucy to go see Rue and have her suggest the honey mead-he knew I'd be alone with my thoughts while you guys were taking your Astronomy exam-it's not super strong stuff but it was enough to take the edge off."

"His story-that's part of what you want to write down?" Luna asked quietly.

"It is-I wouldn't be surprised if, after he dies, someone digs up the story and distorts it-he made mistakes-so did his parents with how the choose to deal with Ariana-but my dad had no control over what they did." She sighed and shook her head. "And what do think people would make of his relationship with a man who terrorized Europe and then defeated in a duel?"

Ginny lay her head back down on Hermione's shoulder.

"Someday...they'll know the truth-about us, about everything..." Ginny said quietly.

"I am looking forward to the day when I can tell everyone he's my dad." Hermione replied. "But until then? Everything he told me? Everything he showed me? It's just strengthened my resolve to bring Tom down when he shows his ugly face again."

"Until then-I realised, right now? It's pretty damn good and I'm going to enjoy each and every day with you both and make the most of every day." Hermione finished.

"And in the meantime-we keep helping people when we can." Luna added.

"Exactly-because when we help others make their lives better we make our own better." Ginny replied.

"And-we build an army." Hermione said. "Everytime we help someone, we create new allies-people who will fight alongside of us-when the time comes, we won't have to do it alone."

"Everything happens for a reason?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Yes-even if we don't know what it is at the time." Hermione replied. "And if we've learned anything-it's that very little that has happened to us has been coincidence. It's like some greater force is doing everything it can to make sure we're ready."

"And we will be." Ginny added.

…

When Hermione woke the next morning she found that Ginny had been watching her sleep and Luna had already left.

"Morning beautiful." Ginny said quietly before kissing her.

"Good morning yourself gorgeous." She replied when they finally stopped kissing.

Ginny reached up and started tracing Hermione's face with her fingers.

"Where's Luna?"

"She went down to breakfast a little while ago," Ginny replied. "What do you want to do today?"

"I was thinking I'd wander the cottage-find a quiet spot and start writing." She smiled. "Maybe go flying this afternoon?"

Ginny considered her a moment before replying.

"I think I'll play Quidditch this morning and maybe after lunch we find a nice spot and just lay in the sun for awhile-just relax and cuddle for a bit." Ginny smiled and blushed.

"I like your afternoon plan better." Hermione smiled and pulled her down for a kiss. "Will Luna be joining us for this cuddle session?"

"Actually-I asked her to paint it."

"I really like that idea."

"We should get up though..."

"You just want more time to fly." Hermione teased.

"Well if someone hadn't gotten me such an awesome broom." Ginny teased back, kissed her briefly, and then got out of bed.

"It was worth every knut-I love watching you fly." Hermione replied smiling as she too got out of bed. She went to her trunk and choose her clothes with greater care than usual. Once they were gathered in her arms she started walking towards the bathroom to change.

"Where you going?" Ginny asked.

Hermione turned to face her girlfriend to find her standing in her bra and a pair of shorts.

She laughed. "Can you move right now?"

"Um, no." Ginny replied laughing.

"That's why..." Hermione replied. Their mutual desire created by Ginny's half dressed state had caused their rings to keep them apart. Neither seemed able to quell their desire so, sighing, Hermione turned and left for the bathroom. She didn't want to quell what she was feeling at the moment anyways-no, it was an essential part of the surprise she had planned for Ginny.

She took off her pajamas and underwear, then picked up the special underwear she had brought for Ginny's birthday. She had gone shopping and found the sexiest bra and panties she could find for a girl her age. She slipped them on and went to see how they fit in front of the full length mirror. She smiled. Her body was finally starting to mature and her new underwear emphasized the fact nicely.

She slipped Ginny's Harpies shirt over her head and then a pair of jean shorts she knew Ginny liked her to wear before returning to an impatient Ginny.

They had taken so long they met up with Luna just outside their quarters.

"Ginny, you go ahead-I just want to talk to Luna a sec." Hermione said before kissing her.

They watched Ginny walk away, broom over her shoulder.

"What's up?" Luna asked curious as Hermione motioned her into their quarters.

"I need you to cover for me until lunch-I want to set up Ginny's birthday surprise." Hermione replied as she took a small box out of her trunk and placed it in her pocket.

"What's in the box?" Luna asked curious.

"Just candles, Ginny's blanket-just stuff for the room." Hermione smiled. "Nothing expensive."

"You know Hermione-I'm really proud of you." Luna stated as she went hug her.

"For what exactly?' Hermione laughed.

"For embracing your relationship so completely-I've never seen Ginny happier." Luna kissed her cheek. "Though I never expected Hermione Granger-bookworm-to be such a hopeless romantic."

"I am-aren't I?" Hermione replied shaking her head. "But it's more than that, Luna-she told me once she was afraid, if she got her dreams back, it would make real life harder. I realized she'd been dreaming of me and of us together."

"She always knew how you felt about her-because of my ability." Luna admitted quietly. "She asked me to stop telling her though, she felt bad she knew how you felt when you hadn't figured it out yet."

Hermione sat on the couch and sighed.

"I know Luna-sometimes I wonder if things would have turned out differently if she didn't have you to tell her how I felt."

"I didn't need to be an Empath to tell how you felt for her Hermione." Luna replied smiling. "Although it still amazes me you didn't clue in sooner."

"And that's another reason I do the things I do for her Luna-she waited for me to catch up-despite knowing how I felt even if I didn't. And despite all the uncomfortable positions I put her in-all the openings I gave her to do or say something-she waited and she never gave up."

"She knew you were worth waiting for." Luna smiled. "And I don't think she minded the uncomfortable positions so much."

Hermione stood and walked over to the window overlooking the garden. Ginny was still eating breakfast with Minerva. She seemed to sense her watching and looked up to the window.

"You coming down for breakfast?" Ginny thought to her.

"Soon...you go ahead and fly though...I'll see you for lunch."

"Okay-love you." came Ginny's reply.

"Love you too-have fun." Hermione thought back and watched Ginny stand, walk away from the table and take flight.

Hermione looked back to the table and saw Minerva standing.

"Minerva?" She thought to her and watched as she looked up to the window. "Could you come to our quarters? I have something I'd like to talk to you about." Minerva nodded and walked towards the cottage.

Hermione turned to Luna.

"Should I go?" Hermione had let Luna in on both her conversations.

"Please...but only because I don't want Ginny to be able to get it out of you." Hermione smiled and went to hug Luna. "How can I ever repay you for being there for Ginny?"

"You repay me by loving her as much as you do and making sure, everyday, that she knows it."

"And you know how much I love you too, right." Hermione asked as she looked into her eyes.

Luna smiled. "And I love you too-my life got better too, when you came into it."

There was a knock at the door and they stepped apart.

"I'm going to paint-see you at lunch."

Hermione nodded and watched as Luna left.

"What can I do for you this morning, Hermione?" Minerva asked.

Hermione went to sit on the couch and waited for Minerva to join her before she started.

"Well-as you know we'd like to celebrate Ginny's fifteenth birthday here at the cottage." Minerva nodded and smiled. "With your permission and help I'd like to set up a special space for us in time for her birthday this year. I want to make it a special night for her and then next two years as well, if that's okay."

Minerva marveled again at the depth of Hermione's love for Ginny-her absolute certainty in it-when just a few months ago she had no idea how she felt. She smiled. Had she been any different when she had realised her feelings for Radha? Had she not thrown herself into their relationship? And hadn't she done the same thing with Rosmerta? She should have known Hermione would throw herself into it with all she was worth. She had watched over her her whole life-Hermione never did anything halfway. And why should she? She'd never seen her happier.

"You know I heard all that-right?" Hermione asked surprised.

"I meant you too." Minerva smiled. "Even as comfortable as we've all become-some things are difficult to say aloud."

"So-you'll help me with Ginny's birthday surprise?"

"I will." She replied as she stood. "I have already been working on it..."

"Great minds think alike." Hermione teased as she followed her from the room.

"And fools in love seldom differ." Minerva teased back. "It's the first birthday you're celebrating with her-given the significance of her fifteenth-I had a feeling you might want to do something like this."

They had walked for a full ten minutes before Hermione spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked and then continued when Minerva nodded. "You knew I was in love with Ginny-why didn't you say something?"

"For the same reason Ginny and Luna didn't-you needed to catch up on your own." Minerva stopped and looked at her. "How do you think you would have reacted if Ginny had told you how she felt or acted on her feelings before you were ready."

"I don't know-confused maybe, at first..." Hermione replied thoughtfully.

"You likely wouldn't have given yourself as fully as you have-Ginny knew that..." Minerva replied and began walking again, leading her up a tight spiral staircase.

"Are we in a tower?" Hermione asked.

"You'll see." Minerva replied.

When they exited a door at the top Hermione found herself on top of a tower with a path along the top of a high castle wall. As Hermione looked around she realised they were right up against the mountain and from their viewpoint she could see the whole valley and Ginny playing Quidditch off in the distance.

Minerva led her along the wall to another door and waited outside.

"I hope this room will suffice," she smiled, "Rosmerta and I found it a few days ago."

"Thank you, Minerva...will I see you for lunch?" she asked as she hugged her.

"You will." she smiled. "I noticed you skipped breakfast, if you're hungry just call Cara."

Hermione watched her mentor walk back across the wall before she turned and opened the door.

She looked inside and then stepped back and looked at the mountain where the room should be, laughed and then entered. From the outside it looked like part of the mountain-as she entered she saw that indeed the room had been built right into the side of the mountain and one wall was the mountain face, a gentle waterfall flowing from it and gently through the room. The opposite wall, the one that looked like the mountain from the outside was really floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the valley. The room was a mix of indoor and nature-live trees and plants-it was like being in the middle of the forest but there just happened to be bed. It was almost perfect.

She took the small box from her pocket, placed it on the ground and returned it to it's normal size. She opened it, took out the candles, and then placed them strategically around the room. Next she took out a spell book she had borrowed from Minerva's library. One thing was missing for her plan but the water from the waterfall would do nicely. She looked up the spell she needed and smiled.

She took her wand and lit the candles before aiming it at the waterfall. She muttered a complicated incantation and watched, pleased, as a perfect oval full length mirror formed from the water. She levitated it to one wall and attached it before creating a second and securing it above the bed.

Next she turned her wand on herself causing her t-shirt and shorts to hug her body a little more tightly. She walked over to the wall mirror she created and smiled at how her clothes now looked on her.

She took a deep breath and, without taking her eyes off her own reflection, began undressing slowly. Before, when she had shared memories with Ginny, it was like watching the scene take place. She hoped, if she could create a memory where she could see herself in a mirror the memory would be more effective.

She slipped off her shirt and then bent over slowly and began slipping off her shorts-never taking her eyes off the mirror. She slowly slipped her bra straps over her shoulder and then reached around and undid it before letting it drop to the ground. As she went to take off her panties she realised she could actually see her own wetness beginning to show on them.

She been getting more and more turned on as she set up the room and it was clearly evident. She hooked her fingers under the waistband and slowly slide them down her legs. She stood up straight again and smiled-imagining that Ginny was watching her.

She walked slowly over to the bed and lie down.

She closed her eyes a moment and then looked up into the mirror above the bed.

"I love you Ginny-happy birthday."