aurora riddle: you asked whether Lucius had feelings. Well, not necessarily… He's a peculiar man, this Lucius, one can never know him enough. Truth be told I don't really remember LotR. It's possible that the tower scene reminded you of it, but it wasn't intentional – I really don't remember the book, neither the movie much.
K.C. Hunter: you wrote: "I'm waiting eagerly to see how you can pull off a fic that sounds like it's going to be largely an OC story." What do you mean by oc? Other character? Anyway, don't worry, about half of the characters will be old, canon characters, only the children will be new.
Sean Mulligan: sorry, I haven't had time to read Slytherin rising for months now. I barely have time to read long stories, so I usually just read shorter ones (with a very few exceptions). How can I put the young Dursley into Hufflepuff? Because I know that he'll be a nice and generous boy, not a power-thirsty and nasty one like Dudley had been. About the NC-17 rule… I kind of understand ffnet – it just tries to protect the kids, but IMHO that's a bit silly, because if kids read NC-17, then it's their problem/fault, they shouldn't have been so stupid as to read it and have their innocent little souls corrupted. On the other hand I don't think that ffnet will actually reach its aim by banning NC-17 – many authors will just convert the NC-17 rating into R and keep posting.
Notebook Girl: what kind of school play do you play in?
Lavendar Brown: how many cop cars had you seen on 13th Friday? Hm… 17?
Harrysgirl: no, McGonagall won't start to like Aberforth – she already likes him, but hasn't admitted it to herself yet.
Indigo Ziona: I don't think I'm good at deathbed scenes… though there might be one such scene in the third fic…
Bucky: I'm answering only a couple of question of yours: yes, Dan is still a squib, no Lucius doesn't know the counter-curse of Exsugo vium magicae (if there's one counter-curse at all). So, you're a Slytherin? What sorting quiz did you take? The one on Warnerbros's site? Because that's a rather lame one, it kept putting me into Gryffindor, although I tried to answer the questions to become a Slytherin.
J-Kid: I don't remember the Neo and Trinity scene from Matrix, I saw that movie about 2 years ago. All that I remember from that movie is that the woman kind of 'floats' in the air in some fight-scene.
Katie Bell: the dragon (the Durmstrang dragon Vladi) had been kidnapped by Anor just like the people and the house-elves. Happy belated birthday.
Coolio: no, there's not just one chapter left, but six. (is that good news?)
Lyny: I don't have the word shame in all the titles, I have the word 'greatest' in all of them.
Sapphire Selia: no, I haven't read HP and the twick yet, I'll try to read it later if I can find some time for it. Is it a long fic? And who's the author?
C-chan: did you really feel like freezing when Tatyana talked to Anor, and when Ron told Herm about reading her diary? Glad to hear that I can make people shudder :)
Arif: I guess you do have to learn a bit more of German grammar, my friend :)
Jeanine23Dr: the weirdest place ever from where I got a review was… ehm, I don't really know. Perhaps Peru or the Dominican Republic (that's where you live, right?). But also Singapore and India count as exotic places to me and I got reviews from there, too. A shame that I haven't got any from Africa, but I'm not surprised by that – people in Africa usually can't afford a computer, or even if they do, they don't read Harry Potter :(
Lupin's Angel: in the final chapter you'll get to know who Remus' great love is, but don't expect someone so special, because if you do, then you'll be disappointed. She's just an ordinary character who was mentioned by J.K. for a couple of times. Btw, thank you very much for the almost-killing-Harry-award :) It was cute!
Kamatazi Yumi: no, Lucius isn't connected to Anor, there's another reason for his peculiar behaviour. Thanks for pointing out my mistake! Btw, it wasn't Harry whom Aberforth saved, but Minerva. Heh, he loves her!
Melinda Malfoy: hehe, you were shocked when seeing my favourite stories list? Yeah, I do like NC-17 fics, but not all of them. I never read slash, for example. And half of the NC-17 fics are just mindless porn with totally no plot. Fortunately there are a couple of beautifully-written ones as well – ones that even have a bit of a plot besides just describing sex. I usually review those, too. Pity that ffnet is going to ban them, I'm going to miss them – somehow I need my weekly dose of NC-17 fics :)) Btw, why did you think of me as a saintly innocent girl? I thought I was making the characters in my fics do stuff far from saintly and innocent - even if I don't go into details, I make them have sex quite often… some of the readers even sent me to hell for making Harry impregnate Ginny while still at school or making Harry be such a 'sex-maniac' at the beginning of this story. Oh well, now it seems that I don't have to worry about the rating of my fics (I feared that I might exceed PG-13, but apparently I haven't:) In Harry Potter category I wouldn't write NC-17, but years ago I wrote some NC-17 ones in Star Wars category (those are no more on ffnet, I took them off long ago because I thought that they were stupid and pointless – you know, just sex and no plot :)
Hermione Weasley: I didn't know that reindeer didn't have a plural form, sorry. Is it like sheep – that also hasn't got a plural form, right?
2Coolio: perhaps :)
LilGinny: yes, the twins will be born in this fic, though I won't show their birth, just mention their names in the final chapter. Tell me when you upload something and I'll read it, okay?
One-Winged Butterfly: I didn't forget you, because you have such a peculiar name that is hard not to remember :) I've been considering to post the fic to fictionalley, but there are some problems: first of all, only such fics are allowed there that have been beated by 'experts' – I mean, my stories have only been betaed by my mum and she couldn't point out my grammar mistakes, thus my stories aren't 'perfect' enough for fictionalley. Secondly: I have no idea how to upload there, it seemed to be rather difficult for me. Thirdly: I have no idea how to have a look at my reviews there – on ffnet it's easy, but whenever I wanted to look at the reviews someone got for his/her fic on schnoogle, I could only view 3 or 4 of them, and only when I also submitted one. Fourthly: fictionalley is full of Harry/Hermione and (God forbid!) Draco/Ginny shippers, who wouldn't be happy about fics with H/G and R/Hr shipping. At least 80% of the authors there are H/Hr and D/G shippers, just think of the most popular story's author, Cassandra Claire. So I feel I just wouldn't fit in there. Perhaps I could still post my fics to gryffindortower where everyone is H/G shipper, but there's another problem with that: in order to have my stories published on that site, one of the current authors (most likely one of the Queens of H/G) has to beta them to see whether they fit the requirements of gryffindortower, but it is clearly stated on that site that the authors available for betaing are extremely busy, so I don't think that my stories would be able to appear there earlier than a year from now. So, I guess, all that remains for me is ffnet – the other ones are out of my reach :(
MauiGoddess3: you said that Ron and Herm were too different for each other. I believe that it is exactly what will bring them together. Just think of Han and Leia in Star Wars, you cannot think of two people more different, and they seem to hit it off wonderfully.
eclectus: what kind of dances do you learn? Btw, I haven't read the Anne series, just seen it on TV – I started to read the books but found them so terribly boring that I had to stop. The TV series rocks, though, I've seen it for at least five times.
Also thanks to: Kit Cloudkicker, Wood's secret lover, Cassandra Anthemyst, AmandaPanda, zzxm, Waldomier, Nefertiri, Super saya Jin-Gotan, PepsiAngel, GinnyPotter387, jennaration, Houou, MidniteSunrise, Saphron, Aimee, Dauphin, starheart, Alexander Pheonix, princess Ginny, Lady Python, star queen, The-Girl-Who-Lived, Blondie in Disguise, princesswitch, Lana Riddle, goldenstar555, apple-pie, jen, PadmeSkywalker, NuttyBuddy, princess Ginny, NightmareSweety
Chapter 34
When you wish… upon a fish
Soon the Weasley couple returned, followed by about fifty happily chattering house-elves. What Draco immediately noticed was that Ron had a black eye and Hermione looked rather grouchy.
"Aaron!" Hermione ran up to the black-bearded man, followed by Ron. "What happened to your hand? And your brother?"
"Dead." he replied and recited everything that had happened up in the tower.
"And that woman… also dead? She deserved it!" Hermione said with a satisfied expression.
"C'mon, guys, time to go back to Durmstrang!" Fred stepped to them, followed by George. They seemed to be on good terms again.
"Hey, Ron, nice black eye." George perceived.
"Yeah, how did you get it?" Fred asked.
"Ran into the fist of an aggressive amazon." Ron growled. "And you two? Since when are you talking to each other again?"
"Since Fred saved my life." George said.
"And since George saved mine." Fred added. "We never really were enemies, were we?"
"Nay." George waved.
"And what about Angelina?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
The twins shrugged. "No idea. We still have four months before the baby is born. We'll work out something by then."
"One of you should marry her and you should take turns living with her. She wouldn't even notice it." Ron grinned.
"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione gasped. "How could you be so… immoral?"
"Don't bother with her, little brother." Fred grinned at Ron. "Pregnant women are always so tetchy. Angie's also like that."
"But she isn't half as tetchy as Hermione!" Ron pouted.
"Because she's just half as pregnant as I am." she spat.
"What?" Ron blinked.
"A bit dim, isn't he?" Fred pointed at his youngest brother, and George nodded enthusiastically.
"WHAT??? Would someone explain?" Ron growled.
Hermione folded her arms and gave him her usual unbearable know-it-all look, but this time it contained more of despise than usual. "Stupid." she said.
"Really stupid." George snickered.
Ron's head was already as red as his hair. "Would – someone – explain – it – to – me?"
"Twins." Fred said with a grin, placing his hand on Ron's shoulder.
"Huh?" Ron blinked. "You don't mean…" he looked at Hermione, whose eyes twinkled jovially. "Hermione!" he yelled, gathering her into a firm embrace. "Twins? Two babies?"
"Yeah… just don't squeeze me that much… it might hurt them."
"Them…?" Ron felt his heart melt and pulled her gently into his arms again.
"You know, little brother…" George spoke up, "You should really hope that you'll have two sons… because two daughters with Hermione's temper… uh-oh…"
"I wouldn't mind having two daughters." Ron grinned at him over his wife's shoulder. "If they would be as smart as their mother…" Hermione pulled back a bit and gave him a radiant smile.
Soon the Weasely brothers, the Malfoys, the teachers, the several hundred students and the fifty house-elves boarded a huge, sled-like thing that Viktor and a couple of his fellow teachers magicked there and attached to Vladimir's body with reigns. The old dragon had been souped up a bit by strengthening charms and looked extremely proud of his sudden importance.
* * * * *
"How's he?" some hours later at Durmstrang Minerva, Harry and Ginny asked from the nurse who had just exited the infirmary.
"Not well. I have given him the Edelweiss Essence, but it doesn't seem to help a lot. All we can do is pray."
"May… may I go in?" McGonagall asked with a pleading stare. The nurse nodded and she entered.
"Oh, poor Aberforth!" Ginny sighed, turning to Harry – who wasn't there anymore. "Harry?" she looked around. He had just turned right on a corner and vanished from her sight.
* * * * *
Harry was standing by the window of his room, already wearing his glasses to be able to see properly. His hood was pulled up again, as though he hadn't felt safe without it. But the truth was that he felt ashamed without it. He felt ashamed whenever he felt people's eyes on him, knowing what he had been like and what he looked like now.
He kept looking down at the snowy planes. Vladimir had just arrived with the students who were getting off the sleigh that disappeared as soon as everyone got off.
All the students looked happy, their cheerful yelps could be heard up on the fourth floor and through the closed window as well.
Harry heaved a deep sigh.
These children were happy again… their lives got settled, they were free and careless… not like him.
His life had fallen into pieces and didn't seem to ever be put together again. *Well, maybe there's no need to put it back together…* he thought bitterly. *I'm not going to last long, after all…*
He heard the door creak but didn't bother to turn around. He knew who had come.
"Go away, Ginny. Please." he whispered.
"No." she said, walking up to him and placing her hands on his shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Why not?"
"Because I want to be with you."
"With me?" he laughed coldly, turning around. "With this guy?" he slipped his hood off his face. "With this wrinkled, old man?"
"Yes." she said. "Because this wrinkled old man is the man I love. The man I believed dead… the man I got back… the man I'm not going to release again."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ginny." he pulled up his hood again, turning away. "What could I give you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even Malfoy could give you more than I…"
"Malfoy? What could he give me?"
"His love." Harry replied.
"His what?" she breathed.
"He loves you. Maybe even he does not know it, but he does love you. I've seen it, Gin. He could give you what I cannot."
"But I don't need what he can give me!" she snapped.
"Are you sure?" his eyes flashed under his hood. It struck Ginny that she hadn't recognised those eyes all along… but no wonder: Harry's eyes weren't brilliant emerald green anymore – they were greyish-green, the eyes of an old man… Still she should have recognised her husband, she fumed in herself. Or at least realise that the old Russian squib was talking in a rather British accent… but no, she was too taken up with her sorrow at Harry's 'death' to notice things like these.
"Are you sure?" he repeated. "He is still a wizard, I'm not. He is young, I'm not. He can give you… children. I cannot. He has everything I don't have."
"And it's still you I love and not him." she answered calmly. "And you know… I'd rather eat a skrewt than to give birth to a Malfoy."
"And what about that time…?"
"What time?" she raised an eyebrow.
"When you almost slept with him."
"I wasn't in my right mind."
"And what was that debt stuff?" he demanded. "You said something to him when we entered the cell… and back when you thought that I was dead, you mentioned something about… paying him. What was that?"
"What do you think it was?" she asked sarcastically. "I asked him to take me to Durmstrang and he named the price."
"I have a good idea what the price was." he whispered. "But… how did you know… that you had to come to Durmstrang?"
"The ring." she said, looking down at her right hand. "You see, one day I noticed that the gem wasn't glowing anymore. I knew that something terrible must have happened to you… and I wanted to come to Durmstrang." she reached out for his hands. "Harry… where's your ring? You promised me that you'd never take it off."
"In one of the drawers, I guess…" he shrugged. "I took it off because you would have recognised me at once, had I been wearing it."
"Why did you not want me to recognise you?" she knitted her eyebrows.
"You really need to ask that?" he sighed, diverting his stare. He continued talking to the window-pane: "It was so terrible, Gin... realising that I had no magic left in me… and I still don't know how it happened..."
"But I know." Ginny hung her head. "That Potions teacher took your powers when… when she slept with you. She needed your magic powers to wake up her lover from his eternal sleep."
"Oh." Harry whispered. "Now at least I know why she did that… why I lost my abilities… I just don't remember a thing of it."
"Maybe it's better that way." she replied sternly. "I'm glad that you don't even remember having slept with anyone else but me."
Harry nodded. "It's something I would never like to remember. But I do remember its consequences… as vividly as though it had happened yesterday! Oh, Gin… it was the greatest shock of my life, losing my powers… flipping my wand madly, and being unable to perform the easiest charms… There's no greater shame for a wizard than to lose his magic powers…" he shook his head. "You have no idea."
"Then tell me so that I know it." she took his right hand into hers.
"So… we were down by the lake when I realised that I couldn't do magic anymore… then came the whirlwind with Anor… he flipped his wand at me, murmured some incantation and I fell. The last thing I saw before I lost my consciousness was that the whirlwind picked up the others. When I awoke, I felt numb… I saw that he had left and taken everyone with himself… leaving me behind. I felt so extremely weak… I somehow stumbled through the snowy field… I saw something glittering in the sunlight… I got curious. It was a mirror that Guillaume had used before the second task… it was lying there, in the snow. I looked into it and saw white beard, wrinkled skin… For minutes I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot… then I somehow staggered into the castle. Soon the champions came back, and I knew that they mustn't see me. I went into hiding with the help of the invisibility cloak… until Malfoy caught me." he gulped, looking away from his wife. "He… he deserves you more than I do, Gin. I… cheated on you."
"You did not, Harry." she squeezed his hand. "You were never unfaithful to me, I know. But… there's something I still don't understand… why did you lie that your wife and daughter were dead?"
He looked away so that she wouldn't see the tears filling his eyes. "Because… I wanted you to believe me dead. I wanted you to start a new life… I knew that if I wanted you and my children to be happy, I had to set you free…"
"Free? From what?" she gasped, squeezing his hand even tighter.
"From the sense of duty towards a helpless, old man. I did not want to be a burden. I still don't want to be one… so go, Ginny. Leave me. I'm giving you your freedom back. Go and live happily, bring up our children, and… tell them about their father the way he was… the way he had been… I want them to remember me that way."
Tears started flowing down Ginny's cheeks. "No, Harry… please, don't talk like that. Don't send me away… I couldn't live without you."
"You fared quite well without me." he tossed her hands away, looking down at the planes again.
"Yes, because the desire for revenge put heart into me, but now… I couldn't keep going without you." she stepped to the chest of drawers, pulling out the drawers, one after the other, until she found what she was looking for. "I don't care what you look like, Harry Potter. Neither do I care what you are capable of. I don't mind whether you can do magic or not. I love you either way." she caught his right hand and slipped the ring onto it. "I love you, and only death can part us." with that she pulled his face down to hers and placed a kiss on his lips. He wanted to pull away, but she held him in place in a vice-like grip.
The fervour of her kiss made him feel alive – alive after weeks of feeling like dying. He eagerly responded to her kiss, his whole being on fire, as though an electric shock had coursed through him from head to toe. When they parted after several minutes, panting, he felt rather strange - dizzy. He felt that his legs weren't strong enough to bear his weight… the world was spinning around him as though he had been put into a centrifuge… he closed his eyes to stop the spinning and stumbled backwards to lean to the wall. "Death?" he laughed sardonically when he finally opened his eyes. "That's quite close for me, dear. I already feel so funny…"
Ginny, however, didn't even hear his remark - her mouth fell open and her eyes widened. She looked as though she couldn't breath. For a moment Harry thought that his remark had hurt her so much, but then she practically started hyperventilating.
"Ginny?" he stepped to her. "Are you all right?"
"I… I… Harry…" she couldn't take her eyes off his face. "Harry…" she gulped, "…you're… you're…"
"What?" he frowned.
"Come!" she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the wardrobe, opening its door. She pushed him before the mirror on the wardrobe door. "What… do you see?"
Harry's eyes popped in surprise. There he was, seeing his reflection, unable to utter a word. He tentatively reached out to touch the cool glass of the mirror… just to check whether it had been real or not… but it felt real. His reflection also had to be real, then.
His heart wrenched, but not in pain, but in infinite joy. This simple wardrobe-door mirror now functioned as the Mirror of Erised, showing Harry the deepest desire of his heart – his young self.
However… this mirror was not that of Erised, and it did not show only desires – it showed the truth.
He felt his knees buckle, but Ginny caught him and held him upright.
"Is… is this… really… the truth, Gin?" he whispered. "Am I… back to normal?"
"It seems so." she laughed, tears obscuring her vision.
"Then… don't cry, dear. Don't cry." he pulled her into his arms.
"See… Anor wasn't right… the charm wasn't irreversible." she sniffed, burying her face into his shoulder. "You're healed."
"Your love healed me." he smiled at her, kissing her tears away. "Do you think… that I can…?"
"What?"
"Do magic." he replied with wavering voice. He ran to the chest of drawers and pulled out his well-hidden wand, his hand shaking. "Lumos."
He waited for the light, but it refused to come. With a sigh, he lowered his wand, his gaze falling on the ring on his hand. The gem didn't glow. It still wasn't glowing!
"Harry…" she stepped to him, wanting to console him, but he recoiled, no remainder of happiness on his face.
"I'm still a Muggle… I'm still no one…" he breathed.
"Harry… I love you without magic as well." she replied. "I don't care..."
"But I do!" he shouted. "I do!"
"Pathetic!" she yelled, losing her patience. "Some minutes ago you were old – that was your great problem, then. Now, instead of being happy that you got your youth back, you cry after your magic powers! Think, Harry! Had you got your powers back, and not your youth, what would you do with it? You'd be still so old that you'd die soon! Face the truth, Harry: you can't have both your youth and your powers! Face it! Don't wallow in self-pity while other people are dying… and not in months, but in these very moments!"
"Oh, Aberforth!" he growled, banging his fists into the window-frame. "It's my fault that he's dying now! It should have been me who got hit, not him!
"Enough of this, Harry Potter!" she stamped her foot.
"Harry Potter…" he spat. "I'm not the old Harry Potter anymore."
"That's right!" she nodded, her eyes gleaming with fury. "You're not the Harry I first saw on platform 9 ¾! You're not the Harry I gave myself to in the prefect's bathroom!… You're not the Harry who risked everything to bring me back from death…" her voice faltered. "I don't know this Harry. And I don't even want to get to know him… you're right about Malfoy. He might be the one for me." with that she turned on her heels and left the room.
"Right!" he shouted after her. "Go and pay him! You found me, after all!" as the door slammed shut, he leant to the window-frame. "…but I wish you had never found me…"
* * * * *
Ron and Hermione were just about to knock on Harry's door when he burst out, carrying a fishing rod.
"Harry, you're young again!" Hermione gasped.
"Wonderful!" Ron clasped his hands. "How did it happen, tell me, mate!"
But Harry seemed not to have heard or seen them, just hurried past them.
"Is he gone crazy?" Ron furrowed his brow.
"I don't know." his wife shook her head. "First Ginny runs past us, now Harry… they must have had a row."
"But why?"
"Well… maybe because of Tatyana…" Hermione shrugged. "That's all I can think of."
* * * * *
He dropped himself down on a rock on the coast of the lake. It was getting dark already, but he didn't care.
The lake's surface wasn't frozen anymore – a warm front must have come a couple of days ago and melted the ice.
Harry, however, had never felt his heart so frozen before. Why? He couldn't explain. When he had seen himself as an old man for the first time, he had been scared, but somehow he managed to get used to the thought of living the rest of his life in that form. Now that he had his youth back, but his magic powers not, he felt more deprived than ever before.
For a mere second he hoped and believed that he might be magic again, and the truth felt like a cold shower. He felt like a child who had received a precious gift, but it was taken away from him a second later. He wanted to cry like a little child, but the tears simply refused to come. He couldn't shed a single tear.
He just gazed at the lake's surface for while, then swished his fishing rod, dropping the hook with the bait into the water.
After a couple of minutes he felt a bit calmer. Aberforth had been right – fishing was really something marvellous.
The thought of Aberforth's possible death tore at his heart like a dagger. He felt responsible for it. He didn't want to imagine McGonagall's face holding a dead Aberforth in her arms… Harry knew what maybe not even Minerva herself knew: that she loved Albus' crazy old brother.
Harry shook his head. Life was so unfair… and always to the decent people. McGonagall and Dumbledore deserved to be happy together, but now they'd never have the chance…
Suddenly Harry got shaken out of his reveries by something tugging at the fishing line.
He started to spool – it was not difficult, the fish must have been very tiny. And it really was.
What surprised Harry was that it was a goldfish. Not only orange or reddish like the normal goldfish, but it was really gold – its scales and fins sparkled in the light of the moon.
The strangest thing was, that the fish suddenly spoke up: "If you drop me back into the lake, I shall fulfil three wishes of yours."
"Excuse me?" Harry almost dropped the fishing-rod in surprise.
"I said that if you let me back into the water, you may wish three things and I'll fulfil them." the fish repeated it in a rather grouchy tone, rolling its eyes.
Harry had never seen a fish roll its eyes.
"Er… what kind of wishes?" he asked.
"Whatever."
"Anything?"
"Well… almost." the fish replied. "Of course there are a couple or restrictions…"
"What kind of restrictions?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Well… number one: I cannot revive the dead. So don't even ask for your parents back. Number two: you cannot wish for more wishes. Number three: your wish cannot contain the word 'and'."
"Huh? I fear I don't understand number three."
"Are all people this dim?" the fish snapped. "It means that you cannot make a wish like: 'make me extremely rich and unbelievably clever as well', neither may you make a wish like: 'make me and my best friend become immortal', or…"
"Okay, okay, I understand." Harry cut in. "No 'and' in the wish, all right… really, what would you wish for?"
"What?" the fish snapped. "I would wish to be caught only by sensible people who do not ask such silly questions!"
"And were the other people who have caught you sensible?" Harry grinned, suddenly forgetting about all his sorrows. "Really, how many people have caught you?"
"Well, let's see…" the fish seemed contemplative for a moment. "Ten, if my memory serves me well… since the day I got into this lake, I have been caught ten times. Usually once in a century. And I always fulfilled the wishes of people who caught me. That's the rule."
"The rule?"
"Ah, come on, don't tell me that you haven't heard of the Code of Magic Goldfish?"
"Sorry, but I haven't." he shrugged. "What does it say?"
"It says: If you get caught, silly fish,
Ask the fisher for a wish."
"But you said three wishes!" Harry reminded the fish.
"Oh, yeah, the code has been changed during the millennia, although its motto hasn't. At first we only fulfilled one wish, but then we did three. Okay, out with the first wish, then drop me back into the water! It's pretty cold out here."
"Now wait a minute!" Harry said. "If I drop you back now, then how will you fulfil my second and third wish?"
"Ah, that… don't worry, I'm not going to escape from my duties. I'm going to swim back here this time tomorrow evening and you can make your second wish then. We, poor goldfish are in a magical contract with the Code of Magic Goldfish, so we have to fulfil all three wishes. Don't think that I like this, but that's my job. Okay, go ahead, tell me the first!"
"Can I wish… anything? Really anything? I mean with the exception of those three…?" he asked.
"Sure you can. Ask for great wealth, you'll be richer than all the tsars together. Ask for immense knowledge, you'll be cleverer than Einstein. Ask for immortality, you'll never die. Ask for your lost powers, you'll get them back."
Harry helped the fish off the hook.
"Good… this thing hurt my mouth." the fish said, splashing into the water. "Oh, almost forgot: there's a fourth restriction as well: you may not use family names in your wish. If you want something to happen to someone, call him or her by their given names. I'll know who you are talking about."
"Tell me, who made up all these stupid restrictions?" Harry started to feel a bit irritated.
"They're in the Code and the Great Goldfish made them up at the beginning of times, I guess. You can't imagine how many restrictions there were when the Code was originally written! 98% of them have already been abolished, just these four are left. You're still lucky that there are only these four – imagine what it had been like for the people of the ancient times: they barely could make a wish that didn't fall into any of the restricted categories! All right, enough of my blabbering, what's your first wish?"
Harry stared at the water for a while, resting his chin in his hands. The temptation was great… to be the old Harry again. The wizard Harry. However…
"My first wish is…"
A/N2: note to GinnyPotter387: did you like this chapter title as well? I thought it'd be funny to re-write 'When you wish upon a star'.
To all readers: sorry if you found the H/G scene way too sappy with love healing and things like that, I just felt that it had to be like that (given that the main genre of the fic is romance). There won't be too much fluff in the upcoming chapters – at least not this much.
I bet you didn't remember the legend that Hermione had read in chapter 8 (or 9?) about the magic fish in Durmstrang's lake, but I mentioned it there on purpose :)
Note that the magic goldfish is a very common thing in Russian (and even Hungarian) fairy tales. I don't know whether you in America and Britain and all other parts of the world have heard/read stories about guys catching wish-fulfilling goldfishes, but they are really frequent in Eastern European fairy tales, so I just thought: why not use them?
You might have noticed that some of the goldfish's restrictions (number one and two) came from Disney's Aladdin – oh, my fave Disney movie! :))
Now can you guess what Harry's first wish was?