They climbed the stairs, each step they took adding to their anxiety. Harry led the way and had his wand drawn. He swallowed hard and turned to the rest of them. Ron stood waiting with Hermione, who was constricting his hand so much that Ron felt his blood circulation cutting off. Her tears were temporarily stopped by fear. Ginny ended off the group with James and Isabelle hidden behind her.

"Alright, you have to stay calm, because there still might be—er—just follow me quietly okay?" he said softly. Everyone nodded quickly and slowly walked into the landing at the top of the stairs. Their mouths fell open at what they saw. There were the normal bookshelves upon book shelves lined with dust—but they noticed that they were walking amidst a mess of ripped book pages that went up to their ankles. Books were littered everywhere, fluttering in the gusts of wind caused by their movements. Drawings of some sort of a symbol were drawn in black and red all over the pages. They gingerly stepped farther and farther down the room, looking for Victoria. They were just in front of a large bookshelf stacked with books about magical creatures, when they heard a voice from behind the trolley beside it, hidden from their view.

""Yes…and then what's going to happen? Oh I'm glad you're going to keep me safe Nick. Why are you leaving?" Victoria said. Hermione leapt forward at the sound of her bright voice, but Harry stopped her with a cautious hand.

"No, wait here. There may be something else there…with her. Stay calm and I'll get her," he whispered, pursing his lips. Hermione grabbed Ron's sweater as Ron's familiar expression came over his face. Ginny held back James and Sarah, covering their eyes for what might happen.

He straightened his glasses, pointed his wand, and stepped behind the trolley. Harry saw nothing, except Victoria. He relaxed, lowered his wand and took a deep breath.

"Is it all right?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"Yeah…it's okay…come and see this…" Harry replied, bending down. Hermione hurried over, followed by the others. She froze when she saw her daughter. Victoria was sitting on the ground, her back to them with a quill in her hands—which were covered in black ink. Hermione let out a tiny cry. Victoria heard the sound and turned her head around.

"Uncle Harry!" She shouted, smiling.

Harry squatted down beside her, "Hi sweetie…er, who were you talking to?" he said as he lifted her up.

"I was talking to my friend Nick, but he just left," she said normally. Harry looked at her apprehensively. He pulled out his wand and crept around the corner. His heart was racing when suddenly—WHAM! A large book fell with a clang off a shelf. Harry's face relaxed and he put his wand back.

"But—there's no one here," he said as he walked back to the group and put Victoria back in Ron's arms. Hermione hugged them both tight as she planted dozens of kisses on her daughter.

"Oh honey we were so worried! Don't you ever go away from us again!" She exclaimed.

Victoria pouted, "But I told Daddy I was going to meet Nick here, didn't I Daddy?" she asked sweetly. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Ron set her down and knelt down before her.

"You know that Nick isn't a real person, don't you?" Ron asked her.

Victoria shook her head furiously, "Yes he is, Daddy I talk to him and he tells me terrible things that are going to happen!" Harry looked from Ron, then to Hermione. He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. He excused himself and went to check out the surroundings.

Hermione looked genuinely frightened, "What sorts of things does he tell you?"

Victoria looked at her feet. "I can't tell anyone," she said softly. Hermione was about to protest but something stopped her. It was Harry. He put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. He was grasping a sheet of paper with a scribbled symbol drawn on it. Ginny gasped. It appeared to be a tree, but—

"It's bleeding…." Ginny said in awe and horror. Drops of crimson blood oozed out of a gnarled black tree that had been hacked at. Hermione's eyes fell and she collapsed right into Harry's arms, the drops of blood dripping on her white maternity blouse.

Ron looked frantically at Victoria, "Honey what's this?" he asked, showing her the paper.

Victoria looked at the paper then right into his eyes with such innocence, as she said with no expression, "That's the wounded tree."

Harry stared at her, Hermione unconscious in his arms, "The wounded tree?" he asked, astounded that she even knew that word.

Victoria put her hands in her pockets, "Yes...it's where Nick lives," she explained. Everyone had their eyes transfixed on the little girl, who was plainly so naive that she didn't think it was a big deal.

She tugged at her pigtail while she continued, "I'm not supposed to tell you this but...he says that he sees bad things that are going to happen and the tree bleeds every time he sees it. He drew lots of pictures for me to see what it looks like...and it looked like fun, so he told me to draw them too."

Ron held her shoulders, "What bad things are going to happen love?"

She looked up at everyone who was waiting for her reply, "Well...I told you I can't tell you, Nick will get in trouble." Hermione's head moved as she regained consciousness and Harry stood her up.

Ron went to her and pulled her against him, kissing her quickly. "Are you alright my love?" he asked her, looking at her nervously. She nodded but didn't speak, holding her husband for support. Harry motioned at Ron to not tell her what Victoria had just told them and he understood. They all decided that Victoria wouldn't crack so they decided to leave. Isabelle held her sister's hand and walked ahead of the group with James. Harry saved a page and stuffed it in his pocket for evidence. They left the store much less upbeat then they were this morning. Ron stuffed his hands deep in his pockets.

"Harry, Ginny, why don't you guys come over to my house and we'll have dinner together?" Ron asked. Ginny looked at Harry and they both nodded in agreement.

"Sure we will, besides we couldn't separate James and Isabelle with a crow bar," Ginny said as she smiled. They all laughed and relieved some of the tension. James' green eyes were twinkling as he showed Isabelle his new robes and books, he was going to Hogwarts as well. They made plans for all the things they would do when they were in Hogwarts. James suddenly turned to Harry.

"Dad, can we get some ice cream?" he asked, fixing his glasses.

"Sure, my treat," Harry replied, ushering everyone over to the ice cream parlour. After Mr. Fortescue had disappeared in their sixth year, his son had taken over. There were so many changes that happened after the war with Voldemort, sometimes even little things that they failed to notice before. They all walked over to the umbrella-covered benches outside while Harry and Ron went inside to get ice cream for everyone. While they were waiting in line, Harry turned to Ron.

"Listen mate, I don't want to alarm Hermione because of her condition right now, so don't tell her more than she already knows alright?" he requested.

"Yeah I know…I just hope we'll find out what that whole 'Nick' thing is about. At first I thought she was just talking to her imaginary friend, but now…" Ron trailed off.

"Don't worry about it now, we'll talk later," Harry assured him with a weak smile. They arrived back outside with seven cones of the most delicious ice cream ever.

"Alright, who ordered the 'Fizzing Whizbee Vanilla' ?" he asked grinning. James, Victoria and Isabelle took their cones, licking their lips and laughing. Ginny, Ron and Hermione all ate 'Pumpkin Paradise' and Harry enjoyed a 'Sherbert lemon'. He licked the ice cream and smiled at the memory of his favourite headmaster. The children were giggling and licking the melting ice cream off their cones. Ginny and Hermione seemed deeply immersed in gossip and Ron was staring at his ice cream like he was trying to contemplate whether or not there was a hair in it. Everyone soon relaxed and forgot about the mishap of the day.