"Being in love suits you, darling," Jean Granger said to her daughter. "I don't think that I have ever seen you happier."

"Ron and Pads are wonderful, Mum! Soulmates are supposed to be your perfect match. The three of us are made for each other!

"Mum, Dad, we shall be having a New Year's Eve party on the island tonight. All parents and guardians are welcome!"

"Including us, I take it," John Granger laughed. "We'll be there, Hermione! Wild horses couldn't keep us away!"

"I'll get our summer clothes out," his wife noted. "Light smart casual should be appropriate."

"Exactly, Mum. Pads and I shall be in minidresses, if that helps. Nothing too fancy.

"Actually, there is a spot of beach that the three of us use for sunbathing. Put T-shirts and shorts over swimwear and come along and join us."

"Will Ron and Padma be OK with this?"

"They both like you and Mum, Dad. I can't see them objecting.

"Bikinis and swimming trunks tend to be the order of the day on Potter Island, so both my True Loves are used to being seen in such attire. We only have eyes for each other in any event. I am so lucky!"

We all are, Hermione. I am happy to have the pair of you in my life.

Pads, Hermione, you are both so getting snogged when we are back in the tent!

Thanks, my loves! I'm looking forward to it, Ron.

Me too, Ron.

"Are you OK, Hermione darling? You seem rather distracted."

"I'm OK, Mum. One benefit of being soulmates is that we share a form of telepathy. Ours has fully formed now. I shall never be lonely again! Even when we are apart, they are both always with me.

"Apparently, the Six Goddesses have worked their magic so that all of us shall be one coven, the Coven of Hecate. All twenty-three of us shall to be able to communicate with each other telepathically then."

"That sounds as if it could get embarrassing."

"We should be able to ensure that only the three of us can share private conversations, Dad. I don't mind Ron and Pads making comments about my bust, legs or bum, but I draw the line at anyone else."

Both my girls have cracking arses!

All three of us do, Ron. Hermione's got better boobs than you though!

Your boobs are great too, Pads.

Thanks, Hermione. Ron won't be the only one snogging you senseless later…

I'm looking forward to it, Pads.

"You seem distracted again, Hermione darling."

"Oh! No problems, Dad. It is just Ron and Padma complimenting me on my figure!"

Give our love to your folks, Hermione. I'll pass on yours to mine.

Thank you Pads.

The same from me to both sets of parents. I'll do the same to Mum and Dad.

Thanks, Ron.

"My True Loves both send their love…"

"Thank them and reciprocate the love, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mum. I will."

"Neville?"

"Daphne? What's up?"

"We have been practising with the Gillyweed in the sea here. That is temperate saltwater. Harry will be in the lake at Hogwarts, which is freshwater and likely to be chilly in February. Would the dosage be the same?"

"That is a good question, Daphne. As far as I know, scholars are still debating whether the effects in saltwater are significantly different than in freshwater. I would ask Professor Dumbledore if you can practice in the lake.

"Ask Harry about getting himself a more traditional swimsuit. You know, like the one Luna wears."

"Thanks, Neville."

"No problem, Daphne. You can call me Nev!"

"In which case, I'm Daffy, Nev!"

"Remus," Harry asked, visiting the tent shared by the two surviving good Marauders, "why weren't my parents' wills discovered earlier? I mean, it was the obvious place to look."

"Wizards only pay death duties, Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax on savings and estates in the Muggle world, Harry. It could be argued that the Ministry of Magic effectively taking James and Lily's house into public ownership would have covered anything due in the Wizard World. Other than to cover your Hogwarts' fees, the goblins had no need to collect anything from your vault either.

"At the end of the day, Harry, you found the wills because you were looking for them. Why would a goblin looking for money for any reason have searched through piles of parchment when there were plenty of coins everywhere else?"

"Thank you, Moony. That makes sense. Other than me, only Hagrid and Mrs Weasley had ever been in my vault and I doubt that they thought to look for wills either."

"Indeed, Harry. Perhaps they should have left further copies at the Ministry, but that is water under the bridge now."

"If I had been given a trial," Sirius added, "I could have asked for a search to be made to assist with my defence, if I had thought of it.

"Harry, we have both wills now. Amelia can use them if she and Dumbledore can arrange a trial. We have evidence that states that Peter was the real Secret Keeper. That is all that I care about now.

"You have a family now, Harry. There are seven young ladies who love you. All you need do is return their loves."

"I do, Sirius. Thank you both very much.

"Now, I have a meeting with a pod of dolphins to attend…"

"Not to mention your soulmates in bikinis to ogle…"

"Don't embarrass Harry, Sirius! Enjoy your swim, Harry!"

"This is lovely, darlings," Jean Granger commented, lying on a sunbed with her husband. "You are so lucky to have this as a home. Thank you for inviting us."

"Mum, Dad, I might effectively be married, but I am always your little girl! You are always welcome to come and see me."

"Hermione's right," Padma agreed. "John, Jean, you haven't lost your daughter. You gained two other children to go with her…"

"I agree. We Weasleys are all about family! I have a Mum, Dad, five brothers, a sister and a batty old maternal great-aunt! Now I have two soulmates, whilst my twin brothers and my sister have a further eleven between them. According to what Remus told Harry, my eldest brother also is due to meet his soulmate soon. Their families are also now my family.

"Since Hermione and Padma are my soulmates, that makes you both and Padma's parents and sister as much my parents and sister as Mum, Dad and Ginny are."

"Thank you, Ron, Padma," John Granger said. "Never let them go, sweetheart…"

"I won't, Daddy dear, trust me!"

Harry slipped his head beneath the waves virtually the instant the Gillyweed began to kick in. It felt odd breathing through gills and not his nostrils.

Millie swam up beside him. Let's go and join up with our pod, Harry. Merlin! I feel like I belong down here beneath the waves. It is so beautiful down here…

You are more beautiful by far, darling! All my seven sea nymphs are!

You are really getting the hang of flattery, Harry!

Don't tease him, Trace! I find it sweet!

I do too, Parv! Our soulmate compares us favourably to a part-Veela yesterday and calls us sea nymphs today. What girl doesn't appreciate that?!

Oui! Notre jeune homme est un joyau!

Sorry, Weds?!

She said that you are a jewel, Harry. I agree with her!

Thanks, Pans. All you young ladies are priceless gemstones as well. How did I get so lucky?!

Ah, our new pod members have returned. You are always welcome here.

Thank you for your kind welcome, lady matriarch.

The pod swam up to greet them. For the next few minutes, if anyone could eavesdrop on the bond, all they would hear was joyful chatter.

"Well, Hermione dear," John said, hugging his daughter tightly, "your Mum and I are returning home to get changed for tonight's party. See you all in three hours' time."

"Look after my little girl, my dears," Jean said, embracing first Ron and then Padma. "See you soon, darling." She kissed her daughter goodbye before joining her husband in returning home through the portal.

"We need to get changed too," Padma noted. "Back to the tent?

"You have great parents, Hermione."

"We all do," Ron noted. He offered an arm to each of his soulmates.

"Thank you, kind sir," Hermione said with a giggle, as she and Padma took the proffered arms.

"Parvati," Harry said, "as my first soulmate, I intend to give you the traditional kiss at midnight. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course, darling! You never have to worry about me not being willing to kiss you! I am sure that our six other soulmates can pair off for their own kisses."

"As long as we get our kisses from both of you soon afterwards, we don't mind," Daphne chuckled. "I want a kiss from all seven of you in short order!"

"Je veux la même chose, ma copine."

"For non-Francophones, Weds says she wants the same," Pansy translated. "As do I, come to that!"

It seemed that all eight were unanimous on that score.

"We have been invited to a New Year's Eve party on Potter Island," Rex Milligan told a meeting of the British and American former young adventurer community. This was taking place at the Nancy Drew Leisure Centre in River Heights, in which Nancy herself was a sleeping partner. This was a full meeting with most of the community present. Everyone from the Swifts to the Secret Seven, Cherry Ames to the Swallows and Amazons and the Bob-Whites of the Glen to the Baker Street Irregulars were all present and correct. "I am going. Who else plans to join me in making an approach to the young mage community?"

"Frank, Ned and I have a prior engagement," Nancy told him, running her hand through her Titian hair. "I take it that the Danas are going?" Louise and Jean nodded. "In which case, how about Joe, Iola, Doris and Evelyn? I am sure that you won't say no to getting the gang back together, Louise, Jean."

Doris Harland, a charming blonde, and Evelyn Starr, a bashful brunette, had been Louise and Jean's best friends since their days at Starhurst School for Girls. They had got together with Joe Hardy, the fair-haired younger Hardy brother and his dark-haired pixie-faced wife Iola Hardy nee Morton about ten years previously.

"We'll go, Nancy," Joe agreed.

"Spending a few hours with our dearest friends is always welcome," Evelyn said. "Possibly longer, if we are to become effectively ambassadors to the wizards and witches."

"I doubt that something so formal would be required," Jon Warrender noted. "Since the heyday of the witch-hunts in the Seventeenth Century, the mages have felt it prudent to hide from non-magical people, whom British wizards call "Muggles" and the American ones "No-Majs". In 1689, their main international bodies, the International Confederation of Wizards and the White Council, signed into effect the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. This was fully established as law in 1692. As a result, only non-magical people who have mages born into their immediate families can know about the existence of magic.

"At the moment, we have permission from semi-ascended beings belonging to the Greek Pantheon and a group of powerful aliens worshipped as the Norse gods and goddesses to know of the existence of witches and wizards. I am unaware of how far, if at all, the wizard authorities are aware of this. I doubt that they have approved it formally. For the moment, I suggest that we continue to liaise with mages via Potter Island."

"Well," the dark-haired elder Hardy brother Frank observed, "shall we largely keep it to the Bureau, the Three Investigators, the Danas, Mystery Inc and Joe, Iola, Doris and Evelyn?"

"I agree, Frank," George Kirrin replied. "That said, there might be some legal issues in the British non-magical world we could assist with. David, you are a solicitor. Would you and Peter like to join us?"

The tall pleasant-looking David Morton has somewhat untidy fair-to-brown hair and is the Captain of the Lone Pine Club, the group of no-longer young sleuths of which Jon and Penny are proud members. His wife Petronella "Peter" Morton nee Sterling, the club's Vice-Captain, is tall and blonde with clear brown skin and piercing blue eyes. Both lived in Peter's native Shropshire, where David is a solicitor and Peter runs library stables. Sally, Peter's Welsh pony, was kept young by the Royal Jelly Honey. Their three children were now in their late teens and early twenties.

"Actually, one of those weird wizard tents has a hippogriff in front of it," Rex remembered. "As per the myth, it is sort of a hybrid between an eagle and a horse. Linda, Bob, would you like to join us?"

Linda and Bob Craig are possibly the least similar siblings on the face of the planet. Bob, the elder by a couple of years, is tall, slim, sandy-haired, pale-skinned and freckled, reflecting their father's Scottish heritage. Linda is also tall and slender, but with raven-black hair, dark eyes and olive-skin, their mother's Hispanic blood very much evident. They live at the Rancho del Sol in the Southern Californian desert with Linda's golden palomino Chica d'Oro (also kept young by the Royal Jelly). Bob is a top mechanic and Linda a noted horse-trainer, as well as being former young adventurers.

"Si! I might even get to ride it!" Linda is irrepressible! "Wouldn't that be neat?!"

"I might join you," Peter agreed. "A horse that flies! You don't find them in Shropshire!"

"I must ask Luna whether or not Shrewsbury or Telford have wizard quarters," Jigger mused.

"On a more serious note, thank you for the extra manpower. If we can create a liaison with the mages, it might allow us to help their community establish closer links with the other non-mundane groups, such as the mutants and the resident extra-terrestrials."

"There is also the new so-called meta-human community," Nancy noted. "We live in a much stranger world these days."

"Yes, because perpetually young people who have been solving art and jewel thefts practically since infancy is perfectly normal…"

"The usual Milligan sarcasm is in full flow! I take your point, though, Rex.

"Now, Frank, Ned and I need to get ready for the River Heights' New Year Ball. Keep us informed of your progress with your new friends. Hopefully, we can be of service to them.

"I formally declare this meeting closed! Happy New Year, everyone!"

"Have you got a training regimen in mind for our new friends, Diana?"

"Sort of, Thor. We need to begin with physical fitness, before moving quickly to training with sword and shield.

"Jason says that he is speaking to Giovanni Zatara and the Ancient One about magical training. Your mother and brother could also assist with that, Thor. Hecate has promised to join in already."

"I shall return to Asgard after tonight's festivities. Mother and Loki would be honoured to assist our old battle sisters on Themyscira in training a new generation of battle mages.

"Hopefully, that foul abomination Riddle will go to Helheim for aye this time, Princess."

"I hope so too, Prince. I hope so too…"

"Have you thought about taking on a new apprentice?" Jason Blood asked the Ancient One.

"I foresee a new one being chosen soon, Sir Jason. A top neurosurgeon is to lose the use of his hands in a car accident. In due course, he shall change from an obnoxious cocksure American surgeon into a noble Sorcerer Supreme.

"Until then, there are other matters at hand. I am grateful for the opportunity to instruct the young British witches and wizards magic that they never teach at that school of theirs."

"Hogwarts is hardly a substandard school, old friend. Albus Dumbledore may be a flawed individual, but he is a fine teacher and at heart a good man."

"I do not doubt it. We have both lived for generations and seen times of great magic come and go. For all Dumbledore's brilliance, he hasn't plumbed the depths of magic that we have.

"Defeating Riddle requires magic that he knows not. Whilst Dumbledore is right about it being Love, there is more to Love than he, or indeed Lily Potter, ever could imagine…"

Rex led his party through the portal shortly before the parents, relatives and guardians were due to arrive. After he, Jigger, George, Jon, Penny, the Three Investigators and Mystery Inc had greeted their wizard friends warmly, they introduced the mages to Joe, Iola, Doris, Evelyn, David, Peter, Linda and Bob. "We thought that two of the finest horsewomen in our community would like the opportunity to meet your hippogriff," Rex said with a smile.

"Buckbeak?" Harry asked. "As long as you bow to him whilst remaining steady eye contact, he will be happy to let you stroke and even ride him."

"I'll give it a go!" Linda Craig approached Buckbeak slowly, before curtseying like a Princess of Spain. The hippogriff gave a low nod of the head, before allowing her to stroke him. She clambered on his back and they set off for a trot. "Esto es divertido!" she cried as Buckbeak took to the skies.

"I didn't think a No-Maj would be able to fly a hippogriff, mes amis," Wednesday observed. "That woman must be really special!"

"There is nothing that Linda Craig can't do with a horse!" Jigger replied. "She has an almost telepathic communication with her golden palomino Chica d'Oro. According to her, it is their shared Spanish blood…"

"I don't think that hippogriffs are Spanish," Luna speculated. "I think that they were of Classical stock, although they spread to France by the time of Roland.

"Perhaps Buckbeak himself is of Spanish birth?"

"Well, Peter is a fine horsewoman too," Rex commented, "and her Sally is a Welsh pony. We can see if she can achieve lift-off too.

"Fossilised Fishhooks! I can't believe I am seeing someone fly a hippogriff! We must all be stark raving crackers!"

"I won't pretend to understand that, Rex. It must be the Wrackspurts."

Rex wisely didn't respond. It turned out that Peter was indeed able to persuade Buckbeak to let her take a ride into the sky. Louise and Jean, fine horsewomen in their own right, also gave succeeded in flying the hippogriff, as did the "animal whisperer" Jigger.

"Dad, this is David Morton," Daphne said to her father. "He has offered to look into the Muggle legal matters around Harry's guardianship for us."

"Thank you, Mr Morton," Giles Greengrass said, shaking David's hand. "I shall pay any fees in full. All I need to do is convert galleons into pounds and…"

"That won't be necessary, Mr Greengrass. The community that I belong to wants to establish informal friendly relations with the wizard world.

"Our world is changing. More and more empowered humans, costumed vigilantes and the like are appearing on the scene. The Six Goddesses and the other Powers That Be want us to act as your liaison to the new world.

"Not every, err, Muggle needs to know about you. The vast majority will continue to be ignorant of your existence. Ask the mutants if persecution by the ignorant is still very much alive! There are more opportunities, however, for our worlds to cooperate on matters which overlap, such as law and order, retrieval and safe storage of dangerous artefacts and so on.

"You want to remove a young person from an unsuitable home? I never charge for assisting with that anyway. We former young adventurers are loyal, brave and honourable, with an ethos based on being true to each other through thick and thin and never refusing to help a person in need."

"Thank you, Mr Morton. Please call me Giles."

"I will, as long as you call me David."

"Men!" Peter muttered. "I'm Peter Morton, David's wife," she told Sarah Greengrass.

"Peter?!"

"My first name is Petronella. I've always preferred to be called Peter or Pete."

"I'm Sarah, Giles' better half.

"I thought that only noble wizards could ride hippogriffs. How did you do it?"

"I have been riding horses and ponies since childhood and now run livery stables. Once you establish a bond with either, riding them is easy. Other than approaching in a more respectful manner, it seems that it is the same with hippogriffs."

There was a distinctive whining and groaning sound. What appeared to be a blue police box from the 1950s or 60s seemed to fade in and out of existence, the blue light on the roof flashing. After a few seconds, the box solidified, the light stopped, and the noise ceased. The Doctor emerged. After that, a rushing wind seemed to come out of nowhere and Mary Poppins flew down from the heavens, an open umbrella in one hand and a carpet bag in the other. She landed next to the TARDIS and greeted the Doctor warmly.

"It is always good to see you, Doctor," Rex said with a smile. "You must be Mary Poppins, the Flying Nanny of Cherry Tree Lane. You must be another of these mysterious Powers That Be, I take it. Good to meet you regardless."

"I am, Mr Milligan, on both accounts. It is a pleasure to meet you too.

"The Six Goddesses invited us to this evening's soiree."

"We did, Mary Poppins," said Aphrodite with a smile. "Welcome to Potter Island!

"Now, I am sure that Mr Milligan here wants to be kissing the elder Ms Dana at midnight…"

Jean Dana started crying. "Whatever is the matter, Sis?!" Louise asked.

"This may sound selfish, but you have Rex and Evelyn and Doris have each other, Joe and Iola."

"Your soulmate is a Miss Craig. You could kiss her at midnight if you want."

"You can kiss me now, mi amor!"

Jean pulled Linda in for a long kiss. "I love you too, Linda my darling!"

"Te adoro, Jean Dana!"

After a buffet dinner, there was dancing late into the night. At midnight, Harry pulled Parvati in for their kiss. He saw that Millie was kissing Wednesday, Pansy Ginny and Daphne Tracey. Elsewhere, there was kissing, cheering, laughing and fireworks.

"Happy New Year, Parvati!" Harry said, after their lips had finally parted.

"Happy New Year, Harry! Welcome to the first year of your new life!"

"I couldn't be happier, darling!"