Chapter Thirty
It didn't take long for Billy to find out. As he put down the mug and tried to blot away the spilled tea, he saw a beautifully wrapped box with a lovely bow shimmer into being on his desk. It was wrapped in some kind of paper that Billy couldn't decide if it shimmered or glimmered. The same chiming as the original box could be heard and he gaped at it.
What now?
He mentally slapped himself as he realized that he was repeating himself… to himself… which didn't bode well for his mental health. If this kept up, he was going to go cuckoo. Billy wasn't too sure that he wasn't already there. In fact, he wasn't too sure that he hadn't been there for some time by this point.
The box didn't do anything, just sat there quietly. It didn't jump around or get into his lap or look like it was going to follow him around everywhere he went. It was simply a box, wrapped up in pretty paper and tied with a bow. He waited to hear a giggle from the capricious manifestation of Magic, but there was nothing. Thankfully there wasn't anyone else in the small office to glance at him sideways and ask him if he was all right.
Billy honestly wasn't too sure how he would answer that question.
After a few minutes of staring at the small box, he decided that it would be best to see what it was. He didn't want to have any jokes coming his way about a secret admirer sending him gifts at work. As it happened, his supervisor was the worse of the lot for that. Granted, sometimes the jokes were even funny enough for Billy to see the humor, but lately it was hard to do.
He sighed. He was so very much putting in for vacation time when whatever this was going on was done. Maybe to a nice beach somewhere or someplace quiet. Somewhere like Antarctica. Surely, no one would bother him there for a good bit. Right?
Billy shook his head and sighed again as he pulled the box to him. He might as well man up to do this and started to carefully unwrap it. He grabbed some scissors from his desk and snipped the bow loose. It really was quite lovely. He didn't know how to arrange ribbons like that and wanted to keep it. Billy didn't know why but it seemed like a good idea just then.
The paper was carefully undone since it looked to be quite delicate. Someone put a lot of careful work into this gift or whatever it was, and he really couldn't bring himself to just rip it all away. A few minutes later, the wood grain of the box revealed itself.
It was a hardwood variety that Billy didn't recognize. Something dark and dense, which accounted for the heaviness and sturdiness. He opened it to find that the lid was mounted on cunningly hidden hinges that disappeared into small recesses carved into the walls of the box. There was a mirror mounted into the lid, flush with the surface. He noticed that there was gold filigree sunk into the wood around the mirror.
Inside the box, Billy could see a rich cloth inlaid into the structure of the box, with miniature shelves and holders for what seemed to be jewelry. A motion at the topmost portion of the lid caught his eye. There was a blank space with lighter wood above the mirror. As he watched, he could see his full name appear as magical fire scored the wood in an exquisite script.
"M-mine? But for what?"
The question went unanswered for now. Billy continued to watch, his Ministry work forgotten. After the smoke cleared from the burning of his name, he could see that a ring and two short chains had appeared within the box. A small note was with them.
He put the box on the edge of the desk and plucked the note out to read.
"What does that mean, 'these are for the job Magic has for you?' What job?"
He looked again.
"And 'never remove them, for your protection?' That doesn't sound ominous as all."
Billy thought about some of the things that had happened to him recently and hurried to put the jewelry on. The note had specified that the chains went on each wrist and the ring on the pointer finger of his wand hand. There was a small hum of power as the metal made contact with his skin and settled. The snaps and rings at the ends of the chains melded into new links that blended in with the rest. Billy couldn't see where they had been as the pattern of links appeared to be unbroken now.
The chains had thick links and fit his wrists quite well, but he was sure that the rather short length meant that he wouldn't be able to remove it. The ring had an inlaid dark stone of some kind with a flat face. The stone had his initials engraved into it in the same script as his name in the box. The engraving was filled with gold the same color as the band and the chain.
Billy really wasn't up to speed with the names of gems and rocks, but he had a cousin that knew things like that. Maybe he would ask her about it. Whatever it was it seemed quite dashing, really. He actually liked it.
"Um, thank you, Magic? If that's who gave me this."
The box chimed and a familiar giggle rose faintly from within, followed by the distinct sound of a kiss.
Billy wasn't sure whether to be pleased he figured it out or worried. A second chime announced the arrival of a thin stack of parchment. He was still a bit jumpy and nearly found himself tumbling to the floor.
"What's this?"
It only took a few flips through the stack to realize that he'd just been given his marching orders.
-===(| - |)===-
Hermione wondered where Harry was. She had been wondering for a little while, since classes were out for the day and he wasn't where he normally would be. They had fallen into the habit of meeting outside under their favorite tree if the weather was suitable, and near the library if it was not. Since it was currently storming outside, Hermione had checked their inside spot.
Harry wasn't there, and she was a bit confused. He'd never failed to be there. She ran their schedules through her mind, looking for any Quidditch practices. Just because it was raining didn't mean that practice for that silly game couldn't be held. The query reported back that there were no such practices scheduled, nor any study sessions, nor anything else. She stopped walking for a moment, then a thought hit her. He had a new place he could be now that he hadn't had before since he arrived at Hogwarts. She smiled to herself and walked toward the senior Potters' quarters.
It took a little longer to get there than usual since no one else wanted to be outside in the storm. Except maybe Luna, but she was a law unto herself. Hermione snickered at the thought of Neville gamely trailing behind Luna as she blithely skipped her way through lightning strikes without a care in the world. He probably would, too. There was a connection between those two. It confused most of the rest of the school, but she could see it. Usually. This was Luna.
If anyone asked Hermione what she thought about Luna's choice in Neville (and it obviously was a choice,) all she said was "think like Luna and you'll have your answer." Seeing the resulting screwed-up expression on the faces of those that actually tried it was more than entertaining.
Thinking like Luna had given her more than one headache, so she was generous in sharing that particular pain. It didn't seem to bother Neville one bit.
She was lost in her thoughts and almost missed the turn into the corridor that lead to the Potter quarters. If it hadn't been for a Canary Cream triggering off on a previously-unsuspecting second year and distracting her from her pondering, she would have. For once silently thanking the Twins for their pranks from WWW, she turned the corner and headed to the now-familiar door. A passing thought reminded her to never tell the Twins that she actually liked the Canary Creams. They would make an Oppugno interesting.
The Potters had told her she didn't have to knock and gave the portrait permission to grant her entry without question. The Lady Knight in the portrait frame, Dame Isabella, winked at her as she approached. Her Master Ranger tattoo gleamed on her forearm. Hermione had asked her about the tattoo and was amazed to learn that it was a way for those of Dame Isabella's time to recognize their version of the Ministry's Aurors. It wasn't a complete correlation, but it was close enough. When she entered, she could see James fiddling around with what appeared to be a Snitch except it was the wrong color and not quite the right size.
"James?"
He looked up and put his finger to his lips. The gleam in his eyes made her groan in resignation.
"Can you find a way to put this in Minnie's quarters?"
She stared at him, aghast.
"No! Whatever you're trying to do, I don't want to know! Do you want me to get a detention and get Harry mad at you?" Her spluttering speech spilled out.
As she watched, the Snitch grew. It turned the expected golden color and the wings started to flicker around. He grinned at her and she really didn't want to know what that Snitch was supposed to do.
"Well, it might not exactly be the same thing since Harry would be mad at me and not you so you'd have to get him mad at you, but you know what they say about make-up s…"
"James Fleamont Potter!"
He twitched at the sound of the other female voice in the room. James jumped to his feet and tried to duck behind Hermione.
"Hide me!"
As she was barely five and a half feet and he was over six, it was a ludicrous attempt. Hermione tripped him back onto the couch and waited to see what Lily would do. It didn't take long and maybe she could take notes on the other woman's technique. If it worked on James, maybe it would work on Harry.
"James, are you daft? Are you a glutton for punishment?"
"He might be, Lily…" Hermione snickered. It was a reasonable question. After all, Harry did some odd things.
Lily narrowed her eyes at James, who cringed theatrically. Her eyes promised James some pain in the near future but she turned to Hermione. Behind Lily's back, James pretended to wipe sweat off his brow but tellingly, he did it silently.
"Are you looking for Harry?"
"Yes. Is he here? He wasn't at our usual spot after class let out."
Lily waved her at one of the bedrooms.
"He's in there. I think he's trying to figure something out for himself."
"It might be a good thing I got here, then. 'Harry Potter' and 'figuring something out' don't often go well without me there to help him."
Lily grinned. From the smug glance the redhead shot at James, Hermione thought that maybe it was a Potter trait.
"You know what they say, Hermione: behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes and sighing in irritation."
James poked his head up at this. The Snitch had disappeared to somewhere and Hermione still didn't want to know.
"See! I knew she knew I was great!"
Lily rolled her eyes and sighed as she shook her head and shooed Hermione to the other room.
"And leave the door open, kids! Wait, I never thought I'd say that after that night," James mumbled the last part to himself, but Lily heard. The irritation in her voice drained away.
"Me either, honey. But do you know what? We're back."
They watched Hermione scoot away, searching for Harry.
"And there goes the reason why. James, promise me that you, Sirius, and Moony won't pull any pranks at their wedding? Don't do that to them!" Her whisper was right in James' ear, so Hermione didn't hear.
James brightened. In turn, he snuggled his wife closer so he could whisper in her ear after kissing her cheek.
"Wait?! Has he asked her? Am I actually going to have a daughter-in-law?"
Lily regarded the door to the room the other two inhabited and shook her head. James could tell that it was in disappointment at the answer she was going to give him.
"No, I don't think he's asked her yet but look at them and how they are with each other. Tell me it won't happen?"
"I don't think I can." James sighed. "I just wish we hadn't missed the time with our boy."
Lily felt his shoulders droop even as she pulled him closer. She knew he was still having problems which was why she asked Moony to look into something or some way to help him. Lily knew that she was too close to help her husband with his problems since she suffered the same things he did. If their old friend could find something for James, it would help her too.
If anyone knew, Moony would. Moony seemed to know everything.
In the meantime, she would hold on with all she had. After a moment, she let him go and led him to the open door that Hermione had disappeared through. Both eased closer without a sound and stopped just outside the doorway, looking in as they held each other. They could hear her voice and watched the couple from the short hallway.
-===(| - |)===-
In the Owlery, Gleamtalon nodded to himself as he felt the magical currents around him shift and sway as they flowed over and throughout each other. The younger owls were discomfited at the sudden strange sensations that they had no explanation for, but a glance at the peaceful mien of their chief settled them. Work slowed, then stopped as others noticed that he seemed to be waiting for something. Whatever it was, he was waiting. He didn't do anything for spurious reasons, so they relaxed and waited with him.
-===(| - |)===-
In the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore abruptly stopped speaking to Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick as Fawkes took flight from his perch. The phoenix made two circuits of his office before sailing out the window. The others in the office could hear the echo of phoenix song from the other side of the grounds, and they dashed to the window.
Surprise was on each face as three other phoenixes joined Fawkes in his song. A white and blue phoenix, a blue and light green phoenix, and a dark green and black phoenix. The four ancient birds flew an intricate pattern interweaving with each other as they sang. Up and down, left and right, right and left, back and forth, the four phoenixes sailed around each other. There were small trails corresponding to their natures that melded at each intersection.
Together, they built an aerial display to something that obviously meant something to them. It was confusing to many who saw this and those that had knowledge in phoenix lore were befuddled as well. The more artistic students in the castle had already tugged out their supplies. They could be seen madly scribbling, sketching, and painting away to get the image of the phoenix display down on parchment and canvas.
The more musically inclined did the same thing. Those with perfect pitch had it a little easier than the others. Since this was phoenix song, it had its own difficulties but they were not to be denied in their quest.
All activity aside from that within sight and sound of the quartet stopped as everyone watched and listened.
-===(| - |)===-
Hagrid nodded to himself as he sat by his window, knitting. He couldn't remember when a second phoenix had ever appeared on the grounds, much less four of the beauties.
"Reckon Magorian and th' Herd will have summat to say about it sooner or later."
He thought about that and rolled his eyes.
"If anyone can make any sense about it when they do, that is."
He went back to his knitting, smiling as the phoenix song filtered throughout his small hut. Beautiful birds, they were.
-===(| - |)===-
Within the Forbidden Forest, two centaurs stood side-by-side. No words were exchanged, since both had lyres that they were plucking along with the phoenix song. As the song and lyre music continued, more centaurs arrived. Their approach was silent, out of respect to the ancient birds and their vocal projections. The two centaurs playing their lyres separated and made room for the others to arrange themselves between them without noise. There wasn't any other noise anywhere in the Forest, and the new centaurs arranged themselves in a certain way. As the song continued, they fell into a meditative trance.
There was a pure sound that came from the lyres and the power that arose from the centaurs rose from the Forest before dissipating toward a certain place. Magic determined where that was and guided it.
-===(| - |)===-
"Harry?"
She looked into the open door, momentarily reminded of the wisecrack James had tossed her way. Hermione snorted to herself. If she wanted to close the door, she would.
"I'm here."
He was sitting on the bed with the Beak in his hands, spinning the shaft. The light caught the metal as the head rotated, creating a slow stroboscopic effect. She watched the muscles in his hand control the speed of the Beak and felt something ignite inside her. Leaning against the wall, she could see her Mace.
'My Mace?' Where did that come from?
She put that thought aside to think about later. Maybe there was something about the weapons that they needed to know but if so, they had to find it.
"Are you okay? And since you had to have carried it here, did you get…" she motioned to the Mace. Harry shook his head.
"I'm okay, just thinking. And no, I didn't get a reaction like you did when I picked up the Mace."
There was a moment's silence. She took the opportunity to sit down beside him on the edge of the bed. She also gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek, just because she could. He grinned at her actions, but kept looking at the weapon he held. After a few minutes had passed, during which she was silent, he directed a green gaze to her eyes.
"Hermione, do you have any thoughts about why that happened to you when you touched the Beak? The… well, the orgasm? Anything?"
The question broke her musings.
"What? No, I don't. Do you?"
"I think so. I think it has to do with what we did to bring Mum and Dad back. I've been thinking it over all day, among things."
Her eyebrow raised. Now this was odd, since it was usually her that had thought everything out before jumping to conclusions. She motioned for him to go on with a rolling motion of her hand.
"Remember the ritual? Magic said that you make me a 'fine mate,' 'one must have the other,' and would see us joined since we have something called 'affinities.' Now we have matching weapons, or at least weapons linked to each other somehow," he explained, motioning to the Beak and the Mace, "and the Centaurs gifted us, not me but us, with a ceremonial arrow. That arrow is for our nuptials, according to the letter Firenze wrote."
She didn't say anything, but listened as he put the Beak down next to the Mace and stood. The bed squeaked a bit as his weight shifted. Her heart started thudding in her chest and her breathing quickened as she noticed his eyes looked different – almost iridescent. She didn't know why and he didn't seem to have noticed her reaction yet. Her own eyes widened almost as an autonomous response to his own.
"There's…" he paused and looked closer at her before continuing. "There's something that I've been wondering since then. I really don't know how to put it into words but it's on my mind and my heart."
She looked down for a moment as she took a deep breath, then met his eyes. She could see from the reflection of the lenses in his glasses that her eyes seemed to be bigger than she'd thought. Her voice was soft as she spoke with only the very slightest of trembles.
"Just say what you're thinking. I'm right here, Harry, and I'll be right here. My place is and has always been beside you – come what may, despite everything, against all, now and forever."
This gentle declaration prompted him to match the gentleness as he grasped her hand. Harry lifted the hand as his other hand came up to join the first hand and leaned over it to brush his lips across the knuckles. She watched him as he knelt in front of her with his hands still holding her single hand. It felt as though he was cradling a scared little bird in need of a safe nest. She could feel the power in the touch, her magic welcoming his in the contact of her skin and his. Hermione didn't notice that she had started to grip his hands a bit tighter and her other hand gripped the bed a lot tighter.
"I feel the same way, Hermione. I've never felt more sure of it, but with you I'm never safer, never more confident…" He looked deep in her eyes as he continued, "… never more loved."
She smiled at him as her eyes misted a bit.
"And I do love you, Harry. It's so easy to say that to you."
He returned the smile and kissed the back of her hands but didn't rise. He remained kneeling.
"I love you, too. I know that I've said that before, but it needs saying again. Hermione?"
She was gazing into the glow of his eyes and spoke with a languidness that she didn't normally.
"Yes, love?"
"I didn't know love until I met you. You were my first hug, my first kiss, my first snog, many of my firsts. There are a lot of other firsts that I want you to be but there's also an 'only' that I want you to be. I've been thinking a lot about what I mentioned earlier and how I feel about you and what place you have in my life. If you disappeared from my life and my side, I would be completely devastated. We're so close to finishing Hogwarts and starting life after that."
She nodded, saying nothing and watching him as he spoke. Her hand started to tremble and both could feel their magics start to react, just below the surfaces of their skin. The warmth spread from the hands held together as he continued with what he had on his mind.
"You know we have destinies. Magic told us that. Mine, we know – I think – and we don't know quite what yours is, only that it exists and is part of mine."
She nodded again, internally upset at the oblique reference to Voldemort. She held on to the sound of his voice to banish the specter of that madman.
"So, I have to ask something very important."
Her eyes widened even more, and the gleam in them linked to the gleam in his. She could feel a tear break free even as her mouth curled up. The magic in their combined grasp bubbled up with increased strength, but neither noticed. They were so intent on each other as she sat there on the edge of the bed and he knelt before her that the presence of wild magic went unremarked.
"Hermione Jean Granger, you're my love, my life, my reason for being, and the other half of my mind, body and soul. Will you do me the high honor and marry me?"