This is for cyle, who was refreshed, Janie Lupin, who was pleased, and Jill, who now cannot give me the dreaded raspberry. Ha! :D Thanks, everybody!

Chapter Two: Can I Keep Him?

Harry's class visited the Secluded Garden, full of giant trees, creeping vines, and beautiful flowers. No one had needed to remind each other to be quiet in there, the hush was so complete. After that, they wandered by the Winter Garden, which was not quite in bloom, it being spring, and then they went to the Woodland Garden, which looked like an alpine forest. Bushes cuddled up against majestic oaks and flowers of every color were blooming all over the place. The garden was awash in graceful white irises, fat little pink buds, and small clusters of purple lavender that ran along the ground.

That was when it happened. One minute Harry was walking next to a giggling clump of girls, and the next, he found himself quite alone. He reckoned he'd probably stared at the hellebores for too long, but it wasn't as though he hadn't eyes or ears. Where had everyone gone? Neither his classmates nor his teacher were in sight. A tad puzzled, but hardly frightened (he was used to being by himself), Harry wandered off out of the garden and off down what looked like a reasonable path, looking for his class.

Of course, after a long while spent wandering down cobblestone paths without seeing a single familiar person, he realized that being alone was becoming less peaceful and more frightening with each passing minute. Harry walked past a giant glass house in disrepair, lots of greenery, and a small building with tall columns before he finally conceded that he must have gone the wrong way. Stopping, he saw a building in the distance made of brick with a huge tower. Of course, this did him no good.

"Stupid gardens," he muttered to himself. "Some day this is turning into!"

Discouraged, annoyed, hungry (for he'd had no breakfast), and if he was honest with himself, very scared, Harry sat down on a large garden rock, a bit off the path. He put his fists on his pointed chin and stared at the ground under his scuffed trainers, trying to ignore his runny nose and the blurring grey cobblestones.

He sniffed and kept looking down. Perhaps if he just sat here, someone would come along and help him find his class. Of course that was about as likely to happen as his favorite daydream. The plot varied with his mood, but it always seemed to involve a fairy godmother, a flying horse, and an exciting escape from the Dursleys. Thoroughly depressed at these odds, Harry let a tear escape.

"Stop it," he mumbled again, angrily wiping his eyes. "If someone finds you crying like a baby, you'll never hear the end of it."

But no matter how much Harry told himself these things, no matter how much he tried to hold his face in check, the tears wouldn't stop. The gardens were big, and he was small, and he was never going to find his way out of here. He buried his face in his arms and tried not to make any noise, but he couldn't stop himself shaking.

A shadow fell over him then, and for a moment he thought the sky had gone cloudy, but it was not the sky. There, beyond his trainers, was a pair of bright orange clogs and two brown trouser legs. He blinked at them, not sure what he was seeing. And then a friendly alto voice said, from high above him…

"Hello, what are you doing here all by yourself? What's your name?"

Harry looked up at a young woman with wide hazel eyes, a strong nose, and short, wavy brown hair, who was looking down at him in concern. She was striking, not the classic sort of pretty, Harry thought. He liked her immediately, although he wasn't sure why.

"I'm lost," he said.

Jo, wandering past the Campanile, had happened upon a small boy sitting on a rock. He was now desperately trying to dry his wet cheeks with his palms and staring up at her as though she were a museum exhibit. But she couldn't help staring right back.

The boy was very short and very skinny, and his clothes looked like they were straight out of a charity bin. He wore an ancient red and black striped shirt about six sizes too big for him (the neck hole was so large she could see his collar bone), and old, patched, jeans so enormous that they were cuffed several times at the ankles. His little trainers were an odd shade of grey. A ratty jumper was knotted around his slim waist.

And his face! He would be a real heartbreaker someday, this one. He had high cheekbones set under pale skin, a straight little nose (slightly red at the end), flashing emerald-green eyes behind round glasses, messy black hair that flopped everywhere, and some kind of scar on his forehead which was nearly hidden under his fringe. Even with his woebegone appearance (and an apparent case of the sniffles), he was adorable.

Jo crouched down to have a better look.

"Well hullo, Lost," she said. "I'm Jo."

That got a little smile out of him. The boy sniffed once and opened his mouth to speak, not seeming to care that he was talking to a complete stranger. He just looked markedly happier for company.

Then he looked confused. "Hang on," he said, "Why is your name Joe? Joe's a man's name, and you're a woman!"

Jo laughed. "My name's actually Josephine. My friends make it shorter. They call me 'Jo.'"

"Oh," he said. He seemed to be thinking something through. "Are you my friend?" he asked suddenly.

Jo was a bit taken aback at the question, but she nodded indulgently.

"Good," he said, looking a bit proud of himself. "Because if you're my friend, well … my name's Harry, but if you like, you can call me 'Ha.'"

"You know what?" Jo said, laughing a little, "I think I'd just as soon call you Harry, because Harry is very fine name. We have a prince called Harry, did you know that?"

Harry shook his head, confused again, blushing and shy. His cheeks had gone all red. "But … but I'm not a prince."

"Well, you can be my prince, how about that?" Jo asked. "Come on, up you get!"

She took Harry's hands and helped him off the rock. He stood next to her on the cobblestones. Jo was petite, but Harry still only came up her hip.

"So, Harry, back to my original question … what are you doing out here alone?"

"I came to Kew with my class," Harry said. "We went into the Woodsy Garden, and then I looked and everyone had gone, so I went looking for them and I got lost."

"Oh, that's terrible!" Jo said. "How long have you been by yourself?"

"I don't know, an hour?" Harry guessed. He didn't seem terribly fazed by this.

Jo was shocked. "You've been on your own for a whole hour, and you've heard no one calling for you?"

"Well, the class is big," Harry explained. "Mrs. Bloom can't keep her eyes on everybody. She probably doesn't even know I'm gone."

Again, Harry didn't look too sad. Harry didn't look too anything, actually. It sent a chill up Jo's spine.

Jo had to rehearse with her quartet. She had to study tonight. She had to practice. She had to eat. There were so many things she had to do. But this boy, this sweet, gentle, little boy, was clearly in need of some help. He was a good lad, she could tell. It was there in his bright eyes, in his innocent smile. And Jo made a decision.

"Harry," she asked, "Have you had any breakfast?"

She was sad, and yet not surprised, when he shook his head no.

"Well, would you like to come and have breakfast with me and my friends?"

"Yes, please!" said Harry.

"All right, then!"

So, Jo took his hand and led him off back to the Temple of Bellona. Lisa was back from the lav, muttering and swearing her way through a trying run-through of a devilishly tricky Paganini caprice. Aidan was finishing his part-check. And Jim had just come back from the café with two cups of coffee, an apple juice (he'd always been attracted to those apple juices in the glass apple bottles) and a bag with some buns in it.

The rest of the quartet waved at Jo, who waved back. Then they saw that Jo was holding Harry's hand. Harry, on seeing them, gasped slightly and ducked behind Jo's legs, quick as a shot.

"Oh, my," Lisa said.

Aidan raised his eyebrows. "Who's this, now?"

"Cradle robber," Jim cracked. "Honestly Jo, d'you have a complex or something?"

"Shut up, Jim," she said sweetly. "Everyone, this is Harry. He was separated from his class, and he got very lost, so I invited him to breakfast. Harry, these are my school mates, Jim, Lisa, and Aidan. We're all at University, and we play music together!"

"Music?" Harry asked, peeping out from behind her.

"Mm hm. We're a string quartet! D'you know what that is?"

"I think so," said Harry. Curiosity had gotten the better of him. He stood at Jo's side. "It's four people who play instruments with strings. We learned a little about music in school."

He spotted Jim's cello, sitting on its side next to his chair.

"That's a cello!" he said excitedly, pointing. "I've seen pictures of those. Is that all wood?"

"Yes, it is," Jim said.

"I like it!" Harry declared.

Jim looked ridiculously pleased at this pronouncement. Harry, for his part, seemed to be feeling a bit more comfortable. He smiled at the other three people. Jim smiled back. Aidan was grinning like an idiot and elbowing Lisa. The corners of her lips had turned up just a hair.

And then something rumbled loudly. Harry rubbed his belly and stared pointedly at the lawn with reddening cheeks.

"Here, darling, sit down. Have some food," Jo said, leading him over to her chair and handing him a big bun from the sack Jim had brought.

Harry seemed almost absurdly grateful. He said "thank you" several times before hopping up to reach the seat of the chair, and when he sat his legs swung far above the floor. Then he started to eat, savoring every bite. Jo uncapped the apple juice and gave it to him, and Jim didn't object.

Jim and Jo divvied up the rest of the bag. He had started his coffee and she was alternating sips of coffee with bites of bun when she saw Lisa was standing off a ways, beckoning both of them over with a finger. Aidan was by her side. Harry was absorbed in eating his breakfast, so they walked over. Lisa crossed her arms.

"I must say, Jo, I never saw this coming," she said, a smile now tugging firmly at her lip.

"Can I keep him? Please?" Jo asked, playing along. "He's so cute, and he's no trouble!"

Lisa was about to reply to this, when Aidan suddenly sneezed. The others just murmured "Bless you," but Jo held her bun in her mouth, freeing up her left hand, and dug around in her trouser pocket.

"Here, dear," she mumbled thickly, and handed Aidan a travel-sized packet of tissues.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Scratch that," she said. "I saw this coming a mile off."

Aidan blew his nose, sounding remarkably like an elephant. And Lisa sighed. Her smile went away as she turned to Jo.

"Jo, look, I hate to sound coldhearted, but we don't have time to reunite some small child with his class. You said it yourself – we have to rehearse."

Jo blinked at her, looking like a chipmunk with her cheeks full of pastry. She took a moment to chew and swallow, buying herself some time to build courage. The walk back with Harry had given her an idea. She just had a feeling it would be a hard sell.

"Yes, I know we have to rehearse," she began carefully. "But, well, I wasn't thinking of reuniting him with his class immediately. I thought … I thought maybe he could stay with us for the day."

The uproar was virulent, if not entirely unexpected. But a small person with big ears was nearby, so the opposition came in hisses and whispers.

"Have you lost your mind? How are we supposed to watch him and the music? Or is one of us to sprout an extra pair of eyes?" Lisa said.

"He's bright," Jim added. "We'll have to mind our language and not corrupt him." He looked around quickly at the other three. "Yeah, he hasn't a chance in hell."

"And if he drinks my apple juice … I don't want to think about it," Aidan finished.

"Besides," Lisa said, her face and voice softening, "The boy's supposed to be getting a tour of the gardens, not hanging about with us."

Lisa was right, but Jo rebutted beautifully.

"I think he can have both. No, really, look, it'll be fun!" she added, off Jim's scoffing noise. "If we just use our time wisely, Harry can have a day at Kew, we can rehearse, and everybody can be happy."

It took a little more coaxing, and by the end of deliberations Lisa was kneading her eyes with her palms, but finally, they all agreed. Just in the nick of time, too. They broke ranks and looked at Harry, who was finishing his apple juice and had fortunately missed the whole thing.

Jo went over to him with a smile. "Harry, I know it's probably impossible to find your class now, but do you know when they leave for the day?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Erm, five o'clock, at the main gate. Do you know where the main gate is?"

"We'll find it," Jo said. "But the thing is, we're all happy to have you stay with us for the day, if you want to. Would you like that?"

Much to her pleasure, Harry nodded happily.

"Oh, good! Well, listen, we're here to rehearse, so we have to practice together for two whole hours, until one o'clock. Jim will fetch us lunch…"

"Shall I?" Jim asked, amused. Aidan elbowed him in gut.

"We can all tour the gardens together, so you can have a good walk, and we'll come back and rehearse again. Then at 4:30 we'll take you to the front, and you can get on the train with your class. What do you think?"

Harry was speechless for a moment. But then he seemed to understand, grinning like Christmas had come early. Finally locating his vocal chords he burst out, "Brilliant!"

Aidan laughed. "Oh, I like this one!" he said.

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