It wasn't as deep as Harry had thought, but the entrance sealed up the moment he was through. A few seconds of falling through darkness later and Harry hit the ground with a crack and an ungraceful thud.

"Oof!" Harry groaned. He coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Stay still. You've cracked a rib," Marici mumbled as she ambled over and butted her head against him. "Are you alright?"

"I had to come ... I couldn't stand the pain," Harry confessed. "It was like my very heart was being torn out by sharp thorns."

"I know ... I felt the same," Marici whimpered. "That must have been what it was like ... for Hermione and Pap ... only -"

"- they let their cord snap!" Harry breathed, understanding the full horror of the sacrifice for the first time. "She - they - went through all that ... for us, Chi! How am I supposed to ever say thank you for that? It hardly seems enough. But Hermione ... is she okay?"

"Yes, she landed on something soft," Marici replied. "I was just about to see what it was ..."

"Get down!" Harry yelled loudly.

For as they were speaking, a sharp-forked tail had lashed out them. Hermione must have landed on the basilisk! The sleeping basilisk ... which she had now roused to fighting form. Harry could see her still motionless body face down but safe behind a hefty pillar.

That allowed Harry a better look around the Chamber of Secrets. It had the feel of an ancient ritual space, with columns and altars and rows of stone pews for worship ... probably of this King of Serpents. Dull green light suffused the place from a source Harry couldn't make out. It might have been woven into the fabric of the stonework itself. There were no windows, the cavernous roof disappeared into dark mist high above, and there was a sweet, rotting smell about the entire place.

Then Harry saw the High Altar down at the far end ... and the fluffy ginger cat lying prostrate there.

"Pap!" Harry shrieked out in terror.

But the dæmon didn't move. He appeared to be as comatose as his human.

"I have to get to him, Marici!" Harry cried out, as the basilisk smashed its tail against the pillar he was shielding behind.

"It's too dangerous, Harry!" Marici called back. "You'll be smashed to pieces! We need to take control of the basilisk!"

"But to do that ... you'd need to wrestle control from me!"

Harry froze in the ensuing silence. All he could hear was the hulking slide of the giant serpent ... and the ethereal wizard who had all the power over it.

"Voldemort!" Harry hissed to his dæmon. "He's here!"

"How?" Marici whispered back. "He has no body!"

"Here, in this ... the Chamber of my ancestors - my spirit finds a powerful form," Voldemort called back to them in his cold, callous voice. "And as faithful Lockhart has been channelling the energy of most of this castle to me for a year I have an almost complete physical presence, too. Observe."

Harry peered out from behind the pillar ... and cursed in his anger at what he saw.

For Tom Riddle was touching Papageno!

Marici roared and jumped to block Harry's path as he made to dart out. Harry screamed in mindless panic and pushed hard to move her, but she held firm. He just had to reach Pap ... had to stop that crushing, dirty pressure Voldemort was pressing upon the poor, helpless dæmon. He had to stop that contact if it cost him his life.

"Marici! Help me!" Harry moaned. "This is hurting me as if he was touching you!"

"I know! But we cant get to him. Harry ... go to Hermione. Maybe Neville was right ... you need to keep her alive with a kiss of life!"

Harry was up in flash. He dived to Hermione as the basilisk tried to strike again, but Marici roared and drew its attention, leading it away to another part of the Chamber. Harry turned Hermione over and cradled her in his lap. Her breathing was shallow and faint and Harry understood what was happening ...

Voldemort was trying to squash the very life out of her ... by squashing Pap on the altar!

"Marici! You have to get to Pap! Voldemort is killing him! I'll fight the serpent."

Harry's dæmon agreed with another fierce roar. Closing his eyes tight, Harry darted out from behind the pillar and moved forward on instinct. He couldn't see, so he'd have to fight blind, be like a dragon. Harry took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind, as he'd done when first in the cave. And, somehow, he knew where the basilisk was.

Then Voldemort stupidly gave him a helping hand.

"Forget the lion," he hissed. "Go left, kill the boy!"

So, the serpent was to his right, then? Harry immediately raced off to his left, hearing the lumbering basilisk take off in pursuit. He had to make the way clear, allow Marici a chance to reach Pap. Voldemort wasn't at full strength, he cant have had a wand. And a lioness would best an unarmed wizard in any sort of duel.

"Here I am! Come and get me!" Harry tried to taunt. He stumbled over some rubble on the floor, picked it up and launched it in the general direction of the hulking beast. He heard the impact, but the serpent was unharmed and kept on coming.

"Duck, Harry!" Marici suddenly cried out.

So Harry obeyed, throwing himself to the floor before being showered by shards of stone and mortar, as the top of one of the pillars was smashed by the serpent's tail. Harry leapt up and darted on randomly through the darkness. This was hopeless, he'd never help Hermione like this.

But he wasn't alone. "Harry - brace yourself! This is going to hurt us both."

Marici's words hung in the air for a moment, then Harry turned and actually vomited, as the hated flesh of Tom Riddle came into contact with the fur of his dæmon.

For Marici had smashed right into Riddle's spectral body and drove him forcefully away from Papageno. A moment later and Marici had carefully taken Pap by the nape of his neck, and bounded back across to Hermione with the cat safely in her strong jaws.

"Harry! I've got him! But you need to get back here ... Hermione has stopped breathing!"

Harry snapped his eyes open in utter terror. Luckily for him, the basilisk was facing away from him, seemingly confused at all the screaming voices. Then Harry had an idea. In a move stupider than jumping on the back of a twelve-foot troll, Harry leapt onto the tail of the basilisk and shimmied his way up its neck. Either it was very stupid, or Harry so light that it didn't feel him there, but the giant serpent didn't react at all.

That was until Harry took out his wand and stabbed it repeatedly in both eyes.

The beast exploded in angry sound, thrashing around in agony and launching Harry from his neck. Harry cracked another rib on impact with the floor, but had the good sense to roll behind a stone pew for cover against the basilisk, who was slamming wildly around the Chamber, blood streaming from its useless main weapon.

"Harry! Hurry!"

Harry looked up. He was loosely aware of Voldemort calling the basilisk back to him, and he wondered if the evil sorcerer would somehow be able to fix his lethal pet. But Harry, mindless with his pain, hauled himself up and fell at Hermione's side.

"She isn't breathing, Harry," Marici whimpered, feeling Harry's injuries as her own. "And Pap is so weak. I don't know what to do!"

"Y-yes you do!" Harry grimaced. "You have to do what the Book of Dust told you to. And I have to do what Neville told me to do. On three ... we do it together."

There was only one thing for it. Filling his lungs with as much air as they could hold, Harry knelt down and pursed Hermione's lips open, trying not to hitch his mind on how soft they were. Trembling frightfully at the lack of air coming back at him, Harry pressed his lips to Hermione's and blew deeply into her lungs. As first kisses went, it wasn't one for the romance purists.

But Hermione didn't seem to mind ...

Harry suddenly felt gentle pressure against his own lips, as Marici continued to hiss close to Pap next to him. Harry snapped away from Hermione in an instant, looking deeply into her face. Her eyes were still closed, but her fingers were twitching and she was breathing softly. There was a small smile clinging to the corners of her mouth, too.

"That was nice ... but Harry, I didn't know you cared!"

Harry laughed at Hermione's teasing voice as she slowly opened her eyes and grinned up at him. Momentarily forgetting his broken ribs, he threw himself atop her and hugged her close.

"You're awake! You're alive!" He breathed into her hair, drinking in her scent. "I thought I'd lost you!"

"Lost me? But why?" Hermione whispered back with a wobble in her voice. "Er ... Harry? Where are we?"

Harry pulled himself up again. "We are in the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione. Riddle and his basilisk are here, too. We aren't doing too well against them! They've smashed my ribs and Marici had to touch Voldemort. I need to shower to get that stain off."

Hermione shot up in a flash. She was white with shock. "The Chamber of Secrets? At Hogwarts?"

"Do we know any others?" Harry quirked.

"No, but how did I get back to Hogwarts?" Hermione demanded shrilly. "I was only just taken home by Lyra ... after Dumbledore suspended me."

Harry blinked at her. "That ... that's the last thing you remember?" he breathed lowly. "You don't remember anything else? You don't remember Christmas?"

"Christmas! No! Did I miss anything?"

Harry's heart sank as he thought about his lonely mobile phone in his dorm, and the one-sided messages that only he would now remember exchanging.

"Harry ... when are we?" Hermione asked desperately.

"It's May, Hermione," Harry told her softly. "The basilisk attacked you on Val ... in February. You've been Petrified ever since. The Stare must have eroded your short-term memory."

"What!? But that's five months, Harry!"

"I know, and I'll explain how we got to this point," Harry replied. "But we need to find a way out of this, or we might be dead in five minutes!"

"Okay, okay," Hermione breathed to master herself. "What's the situation?"

"Voldemort was possessing you using a Dust Stream from your world," Harry began plainly. He waited for Hermione's angry gasp to subside before continuing. "My dæmon is now corporeal, but we are facing a version of Riddle powered by energy Lockhart stole from all the girls at Hogwarts. He also has control of a basilisk, but I blinded it with my wand."

"What!" Hermione shrieked in horror. "How? On second thoughts, tell me later. I haven't got time to tell you off right now. So ... why did you kiss me? Just lost in the moment or what?"

Hermione's nervous laugh might have been a prelude to more kisses in a sensible world, but this was Harry Potter and he cursed his own atrocious timing.

"I went to find out how to control the basilisk, and I was told a counter spell in Parseltongue, which Marici performed on Pap," Harry explained. "That healed your mind. But ... er ... Voldemort touched Pap ... tried to squash the life out of him. Out of both of you. You weren't breathing ... so I ... sort of ... had to. You know, do the kiss of life."

"Well, it was a nice kiss," Hermione blushed furiously. "Kiss of life, I mean. I liked being saved by it!"

Harry laughed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "But now we're stuck. Not only that, but Tom Riddle still has a connection to you. He established it using the dream diary, but it's still active. I don't know how to break it ... but I think, if we could, it might weaken him enough to send him packing."

"We need to take control of the serpent, Harry, use it against Voldemort," Marici whispered, coming up close, but keeping a shy distance from Hermione, who noticed and cocked her head curiously at the act. "The basilisk was sent by Riddle from Hermione's world. It sought her out, drew her energy first, and established an anchor here in whatever form Riddle is taking over there."

"And if we can destroy that abomination," Papageno added, slinking up on unsteady paws. "Then it will shatter that foundation and sever the link to Hermione. They are feeding from each other - Hermione is keeping him grounded and powerful and it is now that form of Riddle that is still connected to her. Destroy it ... and free us, Harry."

"I would ... if I knew how!" Harry moaned.

"You do," Pap cajoled. "Trust your heart, Harry."

Then Pap took Harry's breath away ... by brushing his head softly against Marici's. The great lioness fell into a sitting position and returned the intimate contact with closed eyes and a deep, rolling purr. Harry felt hot all over. He looked to Hermione, whose chest was heaving as her bright eyes blinked in shock. She didn't know how to be, or where to look. She, clearly, was just as shaken by this contact between their dæmons as he was.

But Harry suddenly found he was clear of thought. And, ironically, he didn't have to think ... just do. That was his role in his dynamic.

So he stood and strode out, taking a position at the very centre of the Chamber of Secrets. Lord Voldemort saw him ... and ordered the basilisk to strike. Harry saw it coming, waited until it was three feet away, then looked up at the huge beast and said in a clear voice -

"Stop, my beauty."

And the great serpent fell docile at his feet with a deafening thud.

"Up! Get up! Kill him!" Voldemort screamed.

"No, he will not," Harry replied calmly. "You are but half a man, Voldemort. Powered by stolen dreams and dark forces. Whereas I am powered by Light. Capital 'L', in case you missed that. And I will heal this magnificent creature, keep it safe if he'll allow me. I wont let him be dominated or repressed by anyone. So long as he does one favour for me."

The wounded basilisk raised his broken eyes and directed them at Harry. He felt a surge of guilt at having caused this creature such pain, but they were both victims of the evil of Tom Riddle. Harry would make amends.

"Kill him ... and then I will look after you."

Harry hissed the words softly, framing it almost as a question. The basilisk rose up to his full height, which was considerable, and lunged at Voldemort. He shrieked and cursed and tried to escape ... but he was held fast.

For Hermione had snuck up behind him and grabbed him in both hands. Voldemort in this form was all energy and very little mass. His physical strength had not yet taken form, so Hermione held him easily in place. The great serpent surged forward ... snapped his jaws at Voldemort ... and bit and bit until the spectral form of Tom Riddle dissipated away like parchment curling up on a roaring fire.

But the flesh of Voldemort, such as it was, could not only be held easily ... but pierced easily, too ...

"Ouch!" Hermione yelped, as one of the rapier-sized fangs bit through the last of Tom Riddle's form and cut right into Hermione's hand where she was still holding him. "H-harry ..."

Hermione fell to the floor as the poison of the fang sped through her veins. Harry raced over to her, clutching her wounded palm in both his own.

"Hermione ... no ... no," Harry cried lowly. "Stay with me ... stay with me ..."

"It's the v-venom, Harry," Hermione whispered. Her voice was tiny. "I can feel it spreading ... and I'm so cold ..."

"I'll go and get help," Harry mumbled. "I wont be long -"

"No, Harry, no time," Hermione breathed. She was very pale. "Stay with me. Hold me. I'm so cold, Harry. And I don't want to be on my own at the ... at the ... at the end. Stay with me."

"No!" Harry mewled pitifully. "You cant die!"

Hot tears sped to Harry's eyes, rolling swiftly down his cheeks. He couldn't see through them.

"It'll be okay, Harry," Hermione soothed. "You're a great wizard. You really are. You'll be okay. You'll fulfil your destiny, I just know it."

"I cant! Not without you!" Harry sobbed. "You are my destiny! We're supposed to do this together, whatever it is! You cant leave me!"

"You're crying on me!" Hermione whispered, sounding surprised. "I can feel it in my cut! It doesn't hurt anymore, nothing does. I'm not in any pain now, so it's okay, Harry ... you can let me go ..."

"I wont, I wont!" Harry wept. "Not ever! I've got a million things still to tell you ... about how I feel about you ... you're my best ... the best ... I think I ... I ..."

Hermione let out a long, satisfied breath and Harry howled as he knew it was her last.

He threw down her arm and hugged her as tightly as he possibly could. His head was wrapped so far around her shoulders it was practically resting at the top of her spine. Their necks were pressed tight together, skin-on-skin ... and Harry couldn't understand how warm Hermione still was. After at least three minutes she still wasn't turning cold.

Not only that ... but her pulse was still throbbing away in her neck, hammering hard against his own.

Harry pulled back cautiously and looked at Hermione. Her eyes were still closed and she was smiling broadly. But then, in dubious surprise, Hermione slowly opened one eye.

"Harry ... am I dead?" she asked.

Harry cocked his head at her. "You don't seem dead. You're talking to me, aren't you?"

"I am," Hermione agreed with a nod. "But how? The basilisk bit me! Not on purpose, but it happened. Though I'm not dead. I don't understand."

"Chi?" Harry asked to his dæmon. "Did you do something?"

"It wasn't me, Harry," Marici replied. "But Pap has a theory. He really is the brightest dæmonof his age, I think."

"Pap?" Hermione asked. "What happened?"

Papageno crept close to Harry and - with impropriety that would have shocked every soul in Hermione's former world - the fluffy cat stood on all fours, placed his paws either side of Harry's shoulders, and licked the salty tracks of his tears from his moist cheeks.

"You cried on Hermione," Pap explained. "But your tears are not ordinary tears ... not where Hermione is concerned."

"Ahh!" Hermione hushed, understanding suddenly. "Our phoenix connection! Harry's tears can heal me!"

"And yours him, of course," Marici explained.

"Yes," Pap laughed. "If you just fancy doing a bit of crying, Hermione, you might be able to fix Harry's broken ribs!"

"No!" Harry yelped. "I don't want to see you upset!"

Hermione laughed and pulled Harry close. She reached up shyly and brushed the last teardrop from Harry's cheek with the pad of her thumb.

"Not all tears have to be sad ones, Harry."

Then she hugged her head tight to Harry's injured ribcage. Pap, on instinct, moved back to Marici and resumed his brazen rubbing against the lioness's face. Harry didn't need to wonder at the effect, for he felt the euphoric joy of the contact, too.

But it seemed to overwhelm Hermione. Harry heard her laugh-like whimper, saw her shoulders rise and fall as she began to weep in joy ... and her tears flowed onto Harry's t-shirt, soaked through to his skin and healed his cracked bones in a flash of heat.

"That tickles," Harry teased as the last of his pain ebbed away.

Hermione sat back up and dried her eyes. "We'll have to remember that one! Crying ourselves better!"

"You knew," Harry mused good-naturedly. "You knew that our phoenix connection went beyond wands. When I was in the Hospital Wing that time. You knew then."

"I only guessed, Harry," Hermione replied, colouring slightly. "But good thing I was right, eh?"

"Very good," Harry grinned. "So ... what now?"

"We have to find a way out," Hermione advised. "But now you speak basilisk and dragon that should be a doddle for you. As for me, well, I have five months of homework to catch up on! Do you think I'll still be suspended after this?"

Harry laughed and leaned back on his elbows. "You just helped save the school ... again. I'm sure they'll let you off after that!"

"And ... did I miss anything else?" Hermione asked carefully. "You gave me the impression that I did."

Harry looked pointedly at anywhere but Hermione. He knew she was staring earnestly at him, for Marici was looking at Hermione where he could not, and then letting him know that she was. But Harry couldn't explain the monumental changes of the Christmas holiday, at least not in any sorts of words he knew how to speak to her face.

Harry took a deep, resigned sigh. "No ... nothing important. Apart from finding out my Mum and Dad are having another baby. That was pretty big."

"What ...!"

The last few weeks of the school year flew by in a blur of questions, revision and unexpected exams. Harry and Hermione, and all other students attacked by the basilisk, were allowed to sit special papers that took into account a reduced school year, leading some students to moan that they wished they'd been Petrified, too.

Harry, who had just skipped off to a mystical land and was not Petrified, managed to steal a few of the complete exams, and he and Hermione sat them for fun during lunchtimes in the library. They then coaxed Harry's Dad's old friend, Remus Lupin, to mark them as a favour to Harry's Mum, who Lupin had been very close to during their school years.

Hermione beat Harry in six tests, Harry beat her in five, and they agreed that was a fair battle and called a truce till next year, when they'd up the stakes and place some sort of bet on who would come out on top academically, not that they could decide on the terms just yet.

There was also the drama of Gilderoy Lockhart being carted off to Azkaban for numerous violations against the girls and women of magical Britain once he was revived, though reinstated headmaster Albus Dumbledore thought they were all far too young and innocent to know the full details of that until Lockhart was formally prosecuted, which promised to be a lengthy process.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they were packing up to go home. Harry and Marici, who spent all her time under Harry's Invisibility Cloak, waited until the last minute to gather up their things. Neville dragged the other Top Dorm boys out for a game of two-on-two, End-Of-Term Quidditch to allow Harry and his dæmon some free time to pack in peace.

"That was good of Nev," Marici commented, as Harry folded his robes and slung them haphazardly into his trunk. "He's a good friend."

"My best, apart from Hermione," Harry agreed, squashing his pointed hat until it looked like a little, black frisbee.

"You should tell her how you feel, Harry, before we part for the Summer," Marici suggested. "I'm sure she'd like to hear it."

Harry dropped his head and closed his eyes. Breathing deeply, he moved to look out of the window and down towards the Quidditch pitch.

"I cant, Chi," Harry muttered. "We said so much ... but she doesn't remember any of it. She might not feel like that anymore."

"Of course she does," the lion soothed, trotting up and brushing her lush fur against Harry's fingers. "Pap and I ... we shared an understanding down in the Chamber of Secrets. You and Hermione need to come to one, too ... in your own way. It will just take a bit of bravery from one of you, that's all."

"It's not just that," Harry replied, smoothing Marici's mane. "I know there's something she hasn't told me ... about why she came here to meet me. This destiny of ours. And she must have a good reason for not telling me. I trust her more than anyone, Chi ... she'd tell me what it was, if she could. I know that. But she's holding it back, maybe trying to protect me with the secrecy. It's what she does ... looks out for me so diligently. I don't deserve it."

"Of course you do," Marici cooed. "Hermione and Pap think so, especially if they are still keeping this from us. You need to give yourself more credit, Harry."

"Maybe. But till then, I'll let Hermione lead my way," Harry replied. "She says that's what she has to do ... and I'm happy to let her."

"Let her ... letter," Marici hushed suddenly. "Harry ... you never read her Valentines Card."

Harry gulped hard and span around. "No ... no I didn't. Where is it?"

"Beside cabinet, top drawer, hidden inside Hogwarts: A History."

Harry grinned and hurried to his bed. He pulled the bright pink envelope from the drawer and into his lap, opening it with far less care than it deserved. But he was just that keen to get to the contents and to hell with the packaging.

There was a substantial amount of text in the card, so much so that Hermione had charmed a roll of parchment to unfold as soon as Harry opened it. Not only that, but a swirly form of Hermione suddenly rose from a pool of what Harry initially thought was spilled ink on the card.

Then the facsimile of Hermione began to talk.

"Dont be alarmed, Harry, on receiving this Valentine, that it should contain anything soppy or embarrassing from me. Don't be alarmed, either, at this odd image you should be seeing. I stole the idea from the Pensieve I've been using to keep up with all my classes. But, just in case I haven't done the spell right, I've written everything I want to say on the parchment. Sorry if it's a bit long!

"This probably isn't going to be like the hundreds of other cards you're bound to get today, Harry. Pap fancies himself as a bit of a poet, and thinks I should tell you that your eyes are 'as green as a freshly-pickled toad'... but I'm not even sure that's a compliment! You do have VERY green eyes though, I will say that!

"Despite all that, there ARE some things that I do want to tell you, Harry. And if I cant do them today, on Valentines day, when everyone is allowed to show some affection, then when can I do it? So here goes ..."

"You're not just my best friend, Harry ... you're also the best person I've ever known. Ever. Two years ago, I ran into Lyra in the gardens of Jordan College in my world. I was there to decide the direction of my future ... a future I pretty much already had mapped out. But then I met Lyra ... she told me about YOU ... and all that changed in a single afternoon.

"And I just want you to know, Harry Potter, that I wouldn't change it back. Not for anything.

"I know I said I wouldn't be soppy, but I have to be a little bit. Coming to this world and meeting you has not only been a great adventure, but the best decision of my life. I left behind my parents and a world I knew. I suffered through the pain of Separation from Papageno, but we recovered. And now we both agree ... we'd happily do it again because we know we'd meet you at the end of it.

"What I'm trying to say, Harry - and not at all eloquently - is that you are the best thing to ever happen to me.

"I don't regret a single moment spent with you, and I hope you feel the same about time spent with me. You seem to, but I hope I'm a good enough best friend for you. For you so deserve the best one you can get. And I can be that, Harry ... and so much more. I can only hope you keep me around long enough to prove it!

"I have to finish now, Harry, before I end up crying and smudging all this writing! I just wanted to tell you on this day, the day of gaudy outpourings of affection, just how much you mean to me. You are the most important person in my life (ssh, don't tell Pap lol!) and I am lucky to be your friend.

"Have a great day. All my love, your Hermione xxx."

Harry swallowed down the lump in his throat and brushed hastily at his eyes. Marici turned away and preened herself modestly, while Harry struggled to compose his speeding heart and ragged breathing. He folded the letter, unfolded and read it again - twice - before finally placing it back in the envelope and stowing it carefully in his trunk. One thing was for certain ... he'd be reading that letter a lot this Summer ..."

Harry was still thinking about the letter when he and Hermione left the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross. He had spoken the fewest words on one of the train rides ever ... preferring to watch as Hermione and Neville played Exploding Snap and Famous Wizards Top Trumps to while the hours away. He tried not to stare at Hermione too much, but she had twisted her hair into an elegant bun and looked especially pretty, making this a very hard edict to stick to.

Not that it mattered. The cute way that Hermione smiled and blushed every time she caught Harry staring - which reached double figures by the time they arrived in London - told him that he was free to look, even if Hermione hadn't given him outright permission to.

But then the commotion on the station gave them both new cause for thought.

For as soon as they disembarked they were being buffeted towards the Platform Barrier. Once there, Harry was hugged briefly by his father and then passed on to his mother ... and the pushchair she was wheeling.

"Harry ... meet your little sister, Seren Amanda Potter," Lily smiled down warmly. "Hermione? Would you like to come and say hello, too?"

"Ooh, can I?" Hermione asked shyly, before hurrying over and swooning over the sleeping baby in the pushchair. "Oh ... she's so gorgeous, Mrs Potter!"

"Thank you, Hermione!" Lily beamed. "Now, Harry ... stand still while I transfigure your clothes."

"What? Why?"

"Oh .. and take these," James added.

He thrust a little box into Harry's hand as Lily flicked her wand. His jacket and jeans were instantly replaced by a smart, teenaged-sized tuxedo. Harry frowned at his new get-up and opened the box.

"Dad ... why have you given me a box of rings?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Because ... Sirius wanted you to be Ring Bearer," James grinned. "Oh, I almost forgot."

Then he flicked his own wand and Hermione's blouse and leggings became a posh white dress.

"What is this?" Hermione giggled, pulling at the frill on her neckline.

"I know, it's not my taste, either," Lily laughed. "But you look the part, at least."

"Part? What part?" Hermione asked.

"Why, Maid of Honour, of course," Lily smiled. "At Sirius and Lyra's wedding. Which we are already late for. Have you ever Apparated before, Hermione?"

"No ... but I've heard it's beastly," Hermione frowned. "Though I'll try it on one condition."

"What's that?" asked James.

Hermione blushed, then stood next to Harry and took his hand.

"That the Ring Bearer gives me the first dance of the evening," Hermione whispered, beaming at Harry.

Lily swooned at them both. "Well, Harry?"

"You may have that dance, Maid of Honour," Harry grinned. "But only if you accept a going away present from me."

Then Harry reached into his pocket and took out a brand-new mobile phone. He handed it to Hermione.

"It's Muggle technology," Harry explained, as Hermione turned the shiny handset in her fingers. "We can keep in touch this Summer, send messages and pictures and all sorts. There are funny acronyms too ... I'll send you a list of the ones I know."

Hermione looked oddly at Harry a moment ... as though remembering a distant dream. She wanted to say something important, but she couldn't for the life of her think what it was.

But she was sure, somehow, that she'd already said it.

"Thank you, Harry. This is really thoughtful."

Harry nodded shyly. "Now ... do me a favour ... and Google 'How To Dance At A Wedding' ... because I haven't got the first clue how!"

End of Volume Three