Congratulations to those who have managed to guess the first wish: Black Ice, Alexander Pheonix, Ronniekin's Sweetheart, AmandaPanda, rebkos, princesswitch, FairyBubbles, Sapphire Selia, Saphron, Kamatazi Yumi, Wood's secret lover, Houou, Dauphin, C-chan, Katie Bell, zzxm, Teri, PadmeSkywalker, Bucky, unknown reader (you forgot to write your name), Ari Potter, LilGinny, pamela-potter-24, X-Tow-Naga, Kristen Michelle, Nefertiri, limbada-the forbidden dance (um, isn't it supposed to lambada?), Myr Halcyon
It was kind of funny that most of you managed to find out Harry's first and third wish, but no one even came close to Harry's second one. I guess it will be quite a surprise for you.
Reala Welana: about Charlie and Bill's age: in book one we get to know that Charlie graduated 7 years before Harry and Ron started at Hogwarts. Thus, he has to be around 24 at the time of book one. Bill has to be 25-26 at the time of book one, but in book two Ginny says that she wanted to go to Hogwarts ever since Bill started to go there. This is rubbish, given that Ginny is about 15 years younger than Bill, so she wasn't even born when Bill was already at Hogwarts. And now, to the main part of your review: you are right about my lack of characterisation. I should have done more of it, but I was too much concentrating on the plot and if I started to develop characters, then the stories would have been around 60 chapters long. On the other hand, many readers don't like too much describing, and a thorough character-development would have included a lot of descriptions. I also have to admit that I have not much of an idea how to write characters – all I know is how to do a plot. If you have a clear idea about characterisation-techniques, please, write it to me in an email, I could use a lecture on it. You are absolutely right that my Ginny is flat – as flat as a pancake. I only wrote how much she loved Harry, the only role I gave her was to be a support for Harry. The reason is that I simply didn't know what ELSE she should have been. What should she have done to make her be exciting? Give me advice on it, because I have no idea at all. You also wrote that Harry was flat – that I could argue. He might be flat in my story, but then he must be flat in the original books as well – given that he is ALWAYS good. I can't imagine him being bad – and hopefully neither can Rowling (we'll see later whether she'll turn Harry from a little angel into a little monster, but I doubt it). For the way too long names – um… which ones? Mileta Krum is short. Guillaume Lochar isn't that long, either, and his name (if pronounced) even resembles Gilderoy Lockhart's a bit to help the readers remember it. Tatyana is also short, so is Piotr, Anor and Aaron. Anyway, most of the Russian names (Ivan Ilyich, Jevgheniy Anegin, Anna Karenina and even Tatyana) come from the original works of world famous Russian writers such as Leo Tolstoy and Pushkin – I can't help if they gave their characters such hard-to-remember names. Sorry if the story is way too complicated – I'm trying to make the next one a bit less difficult to understand (I can't promise that it won't be complicated, but I promise that at least I'll try). Thanks for the constructive criticism. Your mark B is also right – in Hungary we have marks from 1 to 5 (1 is the worst and 5 is the best), and I guess I'd also give myself a 4.
Elfangor19: why do you hate me?
Myr Halcyon: you're right, it's TOTALLY out of character for Harry to wish for his own powers. I loved your version of the 'when you wish upon a star', too pity that fish doesn't have a decent word to rhyme with it :)
Pamela-potter-24: I usually update once a week. I'm glad that I almost managed to make you cry:) Hehe, I remember that many people had cried when I 'killed' Ginny in the previous fic, and I'm sure that some will cry when reading a certain chapter of the next fic as well – at least I cried when I wrote it :)
LilGinny: I hope your grandpa gets better soon, I'll pray for him. I'm glad that I turned you into a H/G shipper. Yes, I do read H/Hr, too, but I don't like it that much. Everything you wrote about Rowling and book 5 was already known to me, but thanks for writing them, nevertheless :)
Lupin's Angel and Melinda Malfoy: I don't know the Cinderella story with a magic goldfish. You could tell me about it.
zzxm: ffnet decided to ban NC-17, because it is 'harmful' for the little children. (IMHO if little children read the NC-17 fics, then it's their problem, not the author's of the NC-17 fics.) Anyway, with this censorship, ffnet has kind of lost the meaning of its motto: "unleash your imagination and free your soul." The free imagination is restricted, so the motto should be changed to "unleash your imagination, but only from G to R, because we don't let you corrupt the little kids". Stupid. Totally stupid. Oh well, I have joined a yahoo group where I can read lots of NC-17 fics, so I won't miss them on ffnet that much.
starheart: five chapters, together with this one.
Jeanine23Dr: Harry is NOT old anymore. Read the – for you too sappy – H/G scene in the previous chapter again, and you'll see that Harry became young again. About throwing away the food that I don't like – I feel the same as you do. I feel guilty when I throw it away and I also think of all those millions of people who are starving to death. Terrible.
C-chan: I didn't really like Bug's life, but I liked Mulan, it was very funny – finally a Disney movie that does something against male-chauvinism! Yeah, 42 is really a good answer – to 'how much is 7x6' :))
MauiGoddess3: I don't really feel like drawing Ron, I only draw Harrys :)
sk8reagle: the only story I know about the magic goldfish is one in which an old and very poor chap catches the fish, the fish says that it'd fulfil any wish of the old chap if he dropped it back into the lake/sea. The old chap doesn't wish anything, goes home, tells his greedy wife about the fish and the wife freaks out: "Why didn't you wish for anything? Go back and wish for a decent house!" The old guy goes to the fish, tells his wish and by the time he goes home, his wife is waiting for him in a pretty house, but she's still angry: "Why didn't you wish for a palace, you fool?" The old man goes back to the fish, wishes for a palace, but when he goes home, his wife isn't satisfied, tells him to wish for more… and so on and so on, until the fish gets riled up and reverses all the wishes – the old man and his wife get back their ugly little cottage and they'll be poor again. That's the story I know. But don't worry, Harry's wishes won't be reversed.
romina: it's Piotr, not Poitr, and you pronounce it as Pyotr.
waldomier: thank you :)
White Raven: you have an interesting name! Harry does love his son the way he is, but obviously he wouldn't leave him that way, would he?
X-Tow-Naga: good to see ya again, I've been missing you! Yes, we have already seen many Star Trek Voyager episodes with 7, and I like her. It's cute that the Doctor is in love with her. My personal favourite is the Doctor. Such a character! :) We already have episodes here in Hungary in which Tom and Bellana are already married. If you want to read some really good action scenes, then read 'Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix' by ruskbyte. It's a damn good fic, and the writer is a male, who – as he said – is older than Bill but younger than Dumbledore. I can assure you, that HE can write action. Why can't Harry make all his wishes right there? Well, perhaps the fish needs to replenish its powers after a wish, and it would also spoil the fun of cliffhangers if Harry made all his wishes at once.
Kristen Michelle: thanks for regarding me as the best :) I think you should re-post your fic, I'd like to know who the rapist was. Surely not Neville…
Silver Wolf: I'm glad you think I'm creative :)
Also thanks to: K. C. Hunter, ArtisticNightmare, Alyssa, Rose, writingfreak-14, Padfoot, aurora riddle, star queen, NuttyBuddy, Cassandra Anthemyst, Arif, princess Ginny, PepsiAngel, figgiesblazin, GinnyPotter387, goldenstar555, apple-pie, Lady Schezar, Kit Cloudkicker, Hermione Weasley, The-Girl-Who-Lived, Lady Python, Blondie in Disguise, 'mione weasley, Tessa, jess, spangle*star, Coolio, figgiesblazin, Sean Mulligan
Chapter 35 Like fish out of water"Aberforth… do you hear me?" Minerva asked, clutching the old man's right hand. The nurse had been giving him small doses of Edelweiss Essence for the last two hours, but his condition hadn't improved a bit. In fact, it was getting worse and worse.
"Yee-ees." he whispered, very faintly. Life was leaving him.
"Don't… don't die, Aberforth…" tears coursed down McGonagall's face. Suddenly Aberforth's body started to shake madly. She gasped – it must be the end! And she hadn't told him the truth! "Don't die…" she bent her head on his chest. "Don't die… I… I love you."
"I know." Aberforth replied in a much stronger voice, then sit up and caught Minerva's lips in a kiss.
"Uuuuuuuh!" she gasped, her eyes widening. "You old scoundrel! Were you simulating that you were dying? Just to hear me say…"
"…that you love me?" Aberforth gave him a huge grin. "No, Minnie. I was really dying. Truly… My spirit was just about to leave my body and I saw a tunnel full of light appear in front of me, when… I got dragged back! I didn't have time to die because something caught me and pulled me back."
"What?" she clutched at her chest. "Someone dragged you back? But who?"
"No idea. It must have been a miracle." Dumbledore grinned. "Aren't you a bit happy to see me alive?"
"Well, of course, but…" she diverted her eyes, feeling herself blush. Suddenly she felt his hand catch her arm and pull her down to himself. "How dare you…?" she gasped as he kissed her again.
"Will you marry me, Minnie?" he asked as their lips parted.
"Aber…forth…" she mumbled.
"Yes?"
"Oh, yes!" she flung her arms around him and kissed him senseless, just when the nurse entered to give him another dose of medicine.
"Oh!" the nurse turned red. "I never knew that the Edelweiss Essence was so efficacious! I guess I'm not needed here anymore…" she muttered and left the infirmary.
* * * * *
Draco heard a knock on his door. "Coming!" he shouted and opened it to see Ginny Potter standing there.
"Er… hi. What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I've come to pay you." she replied nonchalantly.
"Really?"
"You don't look too enthusiastic..." she perceived. "…which is strange, considering how much you wanted me after the serpent adventure."
"Oh, yeah. Well, come in." he motioned her to enter in a rather awkward way. "Truth be told I wasn't expecting you to come to me… of your own free will."
"We had an agreement, Malfoy, didn't we? You agreed to help me get to Durmstrang and find Harry. I agreed to pay you for it. We did find him. So I'm here to settle the debt."
"Er, well, yeah… have a seat."
She sat down on the bed.
"I meant a chair." he said, sitting down on a sofa. "Well… do you want to drink something?"
"No, thanks. Let's get it over with so that I can go back to my husband and knock a bit of sense into him."
"Sense?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean he's being stupid."
"Well, old people tend to turn crazy." he shrugged.
"But he isn't old anymore!" she snapped. "His looks are back to normal but he's still not magic, and keeps whining about it! He simply doesn't understand that I don't give a damn about it! He could be the greatest Muggle on Earth, I'd still love him."
"Um, may I ask how he changed back? Some transfiguration charm, or what?"
"No." she shook her head. "It's something… inexplicable. It… it was love, I guess… my love for him changed him back… you know what that evil guy said… he said that the charm was irreversible, but… I think it was a charm made out of hate. It seems love conquered hate." she lifted her head to meet his glance. "Does it makes sense?"
"Not much." he replied. "I heard Potter's story about losing his powers… So… he's still whining about not being a wizard?" he asked incredulously. "I think I wouldn't be happy myself, if I was deprived of my magic abilities, but with such a woman at my side… he's a git. He should be happy to have you and his youth back. If he still isn't satisfied, then he doesn't deserve you."
"I know. Still…"
"You love him."
"Yeah." she nodded. "Even if he slept with another…"
"It was not his fault." Draco said.
"I know." she hung her head. "But it still leaves a thorn in my heart. A thorn that cannot be removed from there… maybe time will make it shrink, but… it will always be there to prick."
"And that's why you came here. To give him a thorn in return… and do it in a way that he can't accuse you of cheating on him…" Draco pointed out. "You can say that you merely paid a debt… convenient."
Ginny gasped. "Have I opened my soul to you so much… or are you a mind-reader?"
"Neither. I only know women. Some of them are proud. Others are easily hurt. Again others are vindictive. You are all of these together. But there's more to you than just these. You can be quite sensible, you know… and I'm sure you are capable of forgiveness as well… especially when it concerns that dupe of a husband you have. Don't be mad at him… at least not because of that woman. She's dead. Buried. Forget her."
"Who buried her?"
"Father." Draco shrugged. "No one of the Durmstrang people felt like doing it… and that Aaron particularly hated her. So father buried her somewhere in the garden of Azgard."
Ginny chuckled. "I try to imagine the haughty Lucius Malfoy digging a grave."
"Hah! A Malfoy would never even touch a spade! What did you think? He did it with magic, of course!"
"Oooh… sorry for having presumed something so… inferior about a Malfoy!" she grinned. "All right, so… I'll try and forgive Harry… and not only for Tatyana, because he wasn't faulty in that case, but also for being such an idiot. Thanks for your moral support, Draco."
"Hey, the first time you called me Draco!" he smiled at her.
"A slip of the tongue." she smiled back. "So, then, Malfoy, what do we do?"
"Well… did I really give you moral support?"
"You did." she nodded.
"Then… I do have humanity." he grinned.
"Humanity?" her eyes widened. "Oooooh… yeah. You do." she stood up and walked over to the sofa. "You are an insufferable git, Malfoy, but sometimes you can show humanity. Not too often, but you can. Thank you." she kissed him on the cheek and left.
As she entered Harry's room, she was surprised to see that he had returned. She was even more surprised to see that he was asleep with a little smile on his face. He must have been having a nice dream.
Ginny slipped into the bed next to him and watched as his chest rose and fell in a peaceful rhythm. He really looked so peaceful… which was strange, after that terrible row they had had…
In the morning Harry awoke to the feeling of being watched. He opened his eyes, blinked and saw a pair of emerald eyes fixing him.
"Good morning." Ginny said, giving him a radiant smile.
"What are you doing here?" he frowned, sitting up.
"What?" she propped herself on her elbows. "I'm sleeping in my husband's bed. Is that a problem?"
"I thought you would be spending the night with Malfoy." he grunted, pulling off his pyjama top, then stood up to grab a vest. "Was he any good?"
"I'm not answering stupid questions." she crossed her arms, furiously glaring at her husband. "What is that?" she suddenly pointed at a scar on his chest. "I haven't seen that before. Is it a mark from… your Tatyana?"
"No. First of all: she isn't my Tatyana. Never was. Secondly: the mark is from two vicious pogrebins who wanted to kill me because I had been wearing their uncle's fur." he replied.
"What?" she didn't know whether to laugh or scowl. "When did that happen?"
"Around the end of February." Harry shrugged. "Why?"
"Because the gem in my ring flickered on the 27th February – I remember it as though it had been yesterday. I almost got a heart-attack when I saw the first flicker. I wanted to come to you that instant, but the flickering stopped as soon as it started. You weren't in lethal danger for more than two or three seconds, so I couldn't teleport myself to you…"
"You tried to teleport yourself here?"
"Of course I did. Why – did you think that I wouldn't want to save you if you got into trouble?" her expression was full of accusation and sadness. She had risked her life when coming to Durmstrang, even her 'chastity' when accepting Malfoy's conditions – and here was her husband not believing that she'd go to any length to help him… in other words: not believing in her love. How dare he?, she fumed. "Believe it or not, Harry Potter, I love you." she said, drawing herself up, her face solemn and dignified. "No matter what a great prat you are, I do love you."
"You shouldn't." he shook his head, pulling on a pair of jeans.
"Why not?" she asked quietly, her words barely louder than a whisper.
"Because I don't deserve it." he sighed, sitting back down on the bed.
"Why not?" she repeated her question, tentatively reaching out and placing her hands on his shoulders.
He shrugged her hands off, as though they had burnt him. "I'm going for a walk."
"Good. We can go and look at Aberforth." she nodded, hoping that he wouldn't turn down all her attempts at getting closer to him.
"He's all right." Harry said.
"How could he be all right?" she knitted her eyebrows. "He was quite in a bad shape yesterday."
"He's all right. Believe me." he said coldly and left.
Ginny heaved a sigh. *Draco, Draco, I think this isn't going to be easy. He's as stubborn as a mule!*
* * * * *
When Ginny entered the infirmary, Hermione, Ron and Aaron had already been there, along with McGonagall, who – according to Ginny's suspicion – never even left the sickbed. The visitors were surrounding the invalid's bed, talking in a rather cheery way.
"Sis!" Ron waved happily.
"How's Aberforth?" she asked.
"Never better, never better. My wound has healed, I'm fine, really." the old man grinned at her. "But she," he gave the nurse a rather nasty look, "doesn't allow me to get up until midday. Terrible! I'm condemned to lie here while I could be down in the great hall, celebrating my engagement!"
"Your…what?" Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Aaron gasped. Minerva turned ruby-red.
"Ooooh…" Hermione realised what he meant. "Congratulations!"
"When is the wedding going to take place?" Ron inquired.
"Well… a bit early to tell." McGonagall replied, still furiously blushing. "Around Christmas, I believe."
"Christmas? Great!" Ron clasped his hands. "There's nothing better than getting married at Christmas, is there, honey?" he reached out to pull Hermione into a firm embrace. "But of course… having kids is even better."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Since he got to know about the twins, he cannot be silenced for a minute. He keeps planning the decoration for the babies' room, keeps suggesting names… really Gin, don't you have a couple of good names in store?"
"Nah, she needs them for her own future kids." Ron winked at Ginny, who diverted her stare. She wasn't sure whether she'd ever have more children… given the circumstances, she really couldn't be sure.
* * * * *
At lunch headmaster Krum announced that the points for the second task would be given to the champions at two o'clock and an engagement party would be held at the great hall – combined with dinner. Everyone was quite surprised by both news. Minerva was gazing at her plate all over lunch, never looking up, feeling the students' eyes on her. Aberforth, on the other hand, was cheerier than ever and was grinning and looking at his fiancée-to-be so intently that he kept missing his mouth with the spoon.
Not much of the food had been consumed during lunchtime, since all students used their mouths for talking instead of eating. They had so much to discuss: the events of the past days at Azgard, the engagement, Aberforth's miraculous healing and of course the possible points.
So many things had happened since the second task that practically everyone had forgotten about it – even the champions.
"How are you going to award points if you didn't see our performance?" Mileta asked her brother after they left the great hall.
"Oh, the magical screens are still there." Viktor shrugged. "All we need to do is to perform a Replay charm on them."
"Replay?" Mileta went as white as a sheet. What would the judges think when they saw her boggart??? "And… will Harry also be there?"
"I don't think so." Viktor shook his head. "According to his wife, he doesn't feel like socialising nowadays, which I can truly understand. Poor guy… I wouldn't be in his place."
"Then… who is going to be the fifth judge?" his sister got curious.
"Well… I asked Ginny."
"Gi…" Mileta felt like having been petrified. "Oh, no!"
At two o'clock all students and teachers gathered around the screens that had been hovering before the entrance of the underground ice-cave for about a week.
Dennis was feeling quite self-confident. Eleanor Branstone was giving him encouraging smiles – not that he needed them – he hadn't done anything wrong in the second task, after all.
Guillaume – though being smiled at by professor Zvezda – still felt jittery. In seconds everybody would be seeing his wonderful ice-sculptures… along with the floor that he had stupidly turned so slippery that Mileta fell and knocked over the statues. The judges would surely be taking points from both him and her because of that.
The most nervous of all of them was Ms. Krum. She not only hadn't been capable of fighting her own boggart, but then she ruined the whole cave as well. "I'm not going to get a single point… not a single one…" she murmured.
"What makes you think that?" Dennis asked.
"Because… I screwed up the whole second task!" she pouted. "I made the tunnel cave in…"
"… freeing Aaron from the captivity of ice." Dennis reminded her. "It might have been a blunder, but it had a positive outcome."
"The judges aren't giving points for sheer luck!" she knitted her eyebrows. "And then… when they'll see my boggart… especially when Mrs. Potter sees it… I think I'm going to faint."
"You're not." Dennis patted her on the shoulder. "Have a bit of self-confidence, Mili."
"I'll try." she smiled at him, seeing that he had been already looking at Eleanor again. *That's my ill-luck.* she thought. *Whenever I grow to like a guy, he turns out to be married or at least be smitten with someone else.* she felt like kicking something.
And then, the show started. The crowd watched with interest as the champions fought down the obstacles and many of the spectators started to laugh at the Lockhart-boggart. Fred and George were practically howling with laughter and Ginny also laughed so hard that she had tears in her eyes. When Mileta's boggart came, Ginny stopped laughing.
"You silly, silly girl!" the boggart-Harry shouted. "Did you think, did you really think I'd ever like you?"
Ginny squinted at Mileta, who was standing there with her eyes downcast. Ginny's heart ached, seeing her misery. Mileta had been quite nasty to her, still, she felt sympathy for that girl. They had something in common, after all: they loved the same man.
At the same time the man they both loved, stood on a small hill next to the lake, looking over the crowd. He was wearing his invisibility cloak that he managed to salvage from Azgard.
The crowd of wizards and witches beneath him clapped admiringly whenever the champions did something brave and gasped as one single entity when the tunnel started to cave in. They reminded Harry of his own first task… when every spectator cheered and oooohed and aaahed… those times were over. For Harry it seemed it had happened a lifetime earlier… in another life.
Another life.
This life was never going to be the same for him. He did not feel the same. He was desperately seeking for himself in that shell called body, but he simply couldn't find what he was looking for. He was lost. The Harry Potter the world had known was gone. And not only to the world, but to Harry himself as well.
Looking at the yelling crowd below, he felt extremely empty. He did not feel envious of their powers, he did not feel envious of their happiness… he did not feel envy at all. He felt emptiness.
Emptiness, that not even the love of his wife could fill. Not even the love of his children or friends…
He no more felt belonging to these people. They belonged to another world that wasn't Harry's anymore.
When he felt he had seen enough, he returned to the castle. He didn't hear when Viktor Krum announced that the three champions were to receive fifty points each.
Mileta's eyes widened in surprise. "But… I made several blunders! I couldn't fight my boggart! I made the cave tumble in! I screwed up Guillaume's looks!"
"Remember what the second task was about?" Aberforth said. "Co-operation. We wanted to test your abilities in co-operation. All of you proved to have the required qualities, since all of you helped the others pretty well. Thus, all three of you deserve full marks."
"But the ceiling! The walls…! Guillaume's face!" Mileta protested.
"Mr. Lochar's face is almost back to normal... in two weeks or so his complexion will be as rosy as always. Anyway, you got out in one piece, and that's what counts. You were excellent in team-work. Fifty points. And don't want to persuade the judges that you deserve less!" the old wizard winked at her.
"See, you were great, Mili." Dennis said. "Truly great. And that stuff you did with the two wands at Azgard… wow!"
"How can you remember that? You were unconscious back then." she frowned.
"I have been told about it, then I imagined it." he smiled back at her and she felt her knees buckle.
* * * * *
"And when did you realise that you loved each other?" Ginny asked McGonagall at the engagement party that was combined with dinner.
"Well…" Minerva looked at her husband-to-be.
"I realised that I loved her…" Aberforth cut in, "…when she told me off for having sung so early in the morning. That was right the day after I arrived."
McGonagall gave him a surprised look. "Really, Aberforth? I never knew…"
"You bewitched me, dear Minerva, with the first dressing-down you gave me." Dumbledore grinned at her.
"And you…?" Ron turned to McGonagall.
"Well… I guess I started to like him after… he made the dragon wear top-hat and bow-tie."
"Hey, that was the very same day I started to like you!" her fiancé pointed out.
"Was it?" she raised an eyebrow. "Could be…"
"A toast!" Krum stood up and raised his cup.
"Hopefully this is no tea." Aberforth smirked, lifting his own goblet.
"Now. Champagne." the headmaster winked.
"Great!" Ron yelled eagerly, only to get a withering glance from Hermione.
Viktor cleared his throat. "This is a very special moment for me… the first time I've proposed a toast. I don't know how to be eloquent… so, may Minerva and Aberforth be very happy together! Well… that's all, I guess."
The students and teachers in the hall clapped enthusiastically.
"Kiss, kiss, kiss!" Fred and George shouted. Arthur gave them a scolding look, but soon everyone else in the hall joined the twins, demanding a kiss from the newly betrothed couple.
Minerva was reluctant. "In front of everyone?"
"But Minnie, we have already done it, remember?" Aberforth caught her hand. "Remember?"
"How could I ever forget that?" she laughed. "All right."
As they kissed (Minerva intended to make it be a quick, small kiss, but Aberforth caught her and didn't let her go until she couldn't breath), the whole hall erupted with applause and cheers again.
Harry was watching the new couple from the door-frame, under his cloak.
"May you live happily, my friends. You deserve it." he whispered and headed for the lake.
By the time he reached the coast, the goldfish was already there.
"You're late!" it demanded as Harry dropped his cloak on the ground.
"Late? I didn't know I had to be on time." he gave the fish a sarcastic look. What was this fish thinking of itself? Harry was the 'master' for the time being, still the 'servant' was giving orders. Ridiculous.
"All right, what's your second wish?" asked the fish.
"Well…" Harry sat down on a rock, staring at the water.
"Don't tell me that you haven't made up something all day?"
"Well… in fact I haven't." Harry shrugged. "I was thinking, of course… there are so many things I would like to have…"
"First of all, your powers, right?" the fish suggested.
"Yeah, that's what I desire most." Harry replied. "But…"
"What could be more important to you?" the fish asked, surprised, as the Moon illuminated Harry's troubled face.
With desperate, helpless expression, the young man looked around, then suddenly a faint smile appeared on his face and he let out a happy sigh: "I've got it. My second wish is…"
A/N2: I know, I know, you hate me because of these evil cliffies. Don't worry, in the next chapter you'll get to know Harry's third wish, I promise that I won't cut off his line for the third time as well. That would be way too evil, even from me :)
I don't know whether you have recognised, but the Aberforth-Minerva scene at the beginning contained a bit of Star Wars and a bit of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
Only four more chapters to go. I can't guarantee you to start uploading the third fic right after I finish this one, because the third one is/will be really long – up till now it has 20 chapters, but it's already as long as the 39 chapters of this fic together. So, I guess I still have a lot to work on it, because I'm only around the two-thirds of it.
If you'd like me to send you a note when I start uploading my third fic, then just drop your email-addresses into this review, or any of your future reviews.