As she had done every night before he died, Hermione lit the candle in respect of Sirius. Hermione missed him so much, for he was her father-like figure. How many memories had she had of him and her together, riding on the back of Buckbeak, singing songs in The Leaky Cauldron while he played the violin...These are the moments she missed most.

Sirius, his picture hanging above the row of candles, gave a pained smile and waved sadly from the picture. The moving picture of Sirius had hung there since the day he died. That day he fell behind the vale of the secret room of the Ministry of Magic, never to return again, was the worst day of her life. All it left Hermione was alone with a great pain in her heart. The only thing she really had now was this lonesome head shot of him, every night waving sadly to her.

While her golden gown puffed out from under her as she sat on her knees, Hermione gave a weak smile back to him, slowly tearing her eyes from his picture. Wand in hand, she placed it over a candle under his picture and softly spoke the word "Inflamari". A flame poured out at the tip of her wand, and ignited a yellow flame onto the wick of the candle, leaving it to look as if it had been lit for hours. At this, Hermione bowed her head to the floor in silence.

Not a moment later, a soft brush of wind entered the room with a voice following it. It was distant, but quite clear to Hermione's ears.

"Brava, brava, bravisimi", the male voice spoke tenderly. This was the voice in which she had heard so many nights before. This was the very person who had visited her room only three months ago telling her that he would provide his knowledge of magic and music to help her become all that she could. This was her Angel of Magic.

Hermione lifted her head slowly as his voice filled her ears. She smiled softly. It was so good to hear her Angel's voice. Even more so after her concert in which all of the things he had taught her were put to good use. Perhaps this was the night she would finally see his face?

A loud pop broke her stream of thoughts, for Luna had apperated directly behind her. With a baffled look on her face, Luna slowly walked up to Hermione, her radish earring swinging madly from her ears.

"Where," she spoke in a kind voice. "In the world have you been hiding? I thought the Hiffypinks might have gotten you."

Hermione chuckled as Luna sat on her knees next to her. Tenderly touching her shoulder, Luna took all seriousness and said, "I really wish I knew your secret. Who is your tutor?"

There was a moment of silence. Searching for the words inside her head, Hermione thought of how she could tell Luna about her Angel. Should she lie? She didn't want anyone knowing about him, but then again, it was Luna, her best friend, which she was talking to.

The words came from her mouth at last. "Luna, when I first came here to Hogwarts, whenever I would come down here and light a candle for Sirius," she hesitated. The memories flooded back so quickly. If only she could explain to Luna how she saw them and how much importance they had to her.

She continued. "A voice from above and in my dreams…he was always there. You see, only days before Sirius died, he told I would be protected by an Angel - an Angel of Magic."

Luna stared in utter amazement, her hand slipping off her best friend's shoulder absent-mindedly. Her mouth was slightly open, but she swallowed and broke the silence of the moment.

"Hermione, do you believe? Do you think Sirius's ghost is teaching you?" Her words were soft, but her brow was furrowed.

Hermione was almost shocked at her reaction. She thought that her most understanding friend whom she was with for six years would believe what she was explaining. This was her Angel of Magic! If she was so sure of it, why couldn't Luna be?

"Who else, Luna?" she asked yearningly. "Who?"

Luna turned her head to the side, still in doubt and disbelief. Hermione knew what she was thinking. The Angel of Magic was some dark wizard that was out to get her and her family, trying to rule all of École Hogwarts, and eventually the world. After the reign and fall of the Dark Lord, Luna hadn't really trusted any wizard or witch again. Hermione could understand this, but how could an Angel be a dark wizard?

Hermione spoke to Luna, but more so to herself. "Sirius once spoke of an Angel in whom I'd dream he'd come to me and..."

Her words trailed off. Pushing herself up from the floor, Hermione now lost all awareness that her friend was even in the room, let alone sitting right beside her. All she cared about now was finding her Angel.

Vainly, her eyes slowly searched around the room for any trace of him. "…And as I speak, I can sense his presence. I know he's here calling my name. He's hiding, but somehow I know he's with me the unseen genius." She whispered her last words, barely audible to Luna's ears.

Now standing up, she grabbed Hermione's cold hands and began leading her out of the room.

"Hermione, you must have been dreaming about these unreal stories. This isn't like you at all: the smartest witch in her grade to be talking in riddles."

Hermione wasn't really listening. She yearningly was seeking for Him. With one last look over her shoulder, Hermione searched for her Angel in the candlelit sanctuary, but to her greatest surprise, none had come.

---

"Miss Granger will have no visitors this evening." And with that, the door was closed in front of the fan's faces.

Madam McGonagall could still hear the voices from under the spiral staircase shouting the young girl's name. She watched as Hermione simply walked into the girls dormitory ignoring her admirers, while many thoughts raced within her head.

The aged woman was silent as she studied Hermione's eyes. She only knew what the girl was thinking about. How could she not be thinking of Him? Perhaps it was time to introduce Hermione to her to her teacher at last...

Walking over to the scarlet four poster bed, the ballet mistress took a dark object lying on top of the sheets. Pacing back to Hermione, she placed into her hands.

"You did very well. He is actually quite pleased with you." she said softly.

Confused, Hermione accepted the item from Madam McGonagall and looked down at it.

A single red rose, was placed into her hands. The flower was lush and green, while the crimson pedals were in full bloom. The rose was perfect; it had no missing pedals, thorns, or damaged leaves. But tied to the middle of the stem was a black ribbon of lace. It was a simple ribbon, simply tied, but it was all together extravagant.

Hermione knew who had sent this. There was no doubt of whom. She knew it was...

---

"The Phantom who Lived!" George exclaimed at the top of his lungs, then roared with laughter.

Sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room they sat, talking about the history of the old school in which they had recently acquired. Fred, all the while holding a bag of Bertie Botts Every flavor beans, chuckled softly, shaking his head back and forth.

"I can't believe," he said. "That someone would really believe that. I mean, sure, there are ghosts in the castle, but a phantom who only appears sometimes to scare the girls of the ballet? That's just..." He shook his head once more, and threw his hands in the air. "Who could actually think of something like that?"

"And," George proceeded. "People really do believe it, 'cause I just spoke to a woman today - age fifteen, sixteen - that was so sure that the Phantom really did exist and was teaching her how to sing." George scoffed and continued. "That's as good as a joke as the ones in Zonko's..."

The portrait hole opened, and a boy of sixteen entered. While climbing over the hole, he straightened his black Hogwarts cloak, and observed the room.

Immediately recognizing the boy, Fred and George clambered out of their seats and quickly treaded toward him.

"Vicomte!" they said in unison.

Huddling in front of him, the managers quickly talked to Ronald. "I think we made a big discovery with Miss Granger."

"Want us to present her to you?"

Ronald held up a hand in front of the faces of the men. "Guys, guys, I'm sorry, but this is one visit I'd like to make alone. Oh, great, thanks." He took the Bertie Botts from Fred's hands and proceeded up the stairs to the girl's common room, not speaking another word.

"Huh...seems that they met before." Fred said while staring at his empty hands.

X

Nuh, I had a virus on my computer! It's called "Cool Web Search" and it's a mean little booger – even worse than the ones in my nose. Doesn't let me get on phantomoftheopera . com mumble grumble…that's why I didn't update earlier. x.x

For the mirror, I was actually thinking of doing something with the Mirror of Erised. Yeah, it would have been cool and stuff, but what would I do? So, I just decided to make it a regular mirror. Sorry, my dear Erised x Hermione fans. I know how much you wanted to see the love between a girl and a mirror grow into a great romance. XP

Yumi