Nothing much to say as we head into chapter three. In fact, it's entirely possible I'm only putting a note up here for aesthetic purposes, and for the sake of consistency. I am nothing if not a slave to tradition.

Chapter 3

No Snakes Allowed

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Harry was halfway to the counter when he realized what he was doing. He didn't have time to go all the way down into Gringotts and come back out again before meeting Ron, Ginny and Hermione. And with his family's vault, something left to him not just by his parents but by all his ancestors, he wanted – needed – to make the first visit alone.

He pocketed the key and turned abruptly, heading for the exit. He still had a short while before the deadline Ron and Ginny set whereupon they'd come storming in after him, but he didn't have anywhere else he particularly wanted to go by himself, so he headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to join them.

Along the way, people would stop in the streets to stare and point at him, or whisper to their friends, or even greet him enthusiastically and offer their gratitude. Harry had experienced this type of behavior since his introduction to the wizarding world – most strongly after he first arrived before everyone became used to his presence – but never had he experienced it so strongly as he did that morning in Diagon Alley.

In the two and a half months since the defeat of Voldemort, Harry had been dividing his time between helping with the restoration of Hogwarts, helping the Weasleys and others fight for a Hogwarts memorial plot for the fallen and after losing that fight, planning and attending funerals. He'd been mixing in as much time with Ginny as he possibly could, as well as practicing Quidditch with her and Ron, which led him to the conclusion that he really needed a new broom. All of this had been done not only because he wanted to, but because he'd been trying to avoid precisely the kind of attention he was receiving now.

And yet, as awkward as it felt being the center of attention in a busy street while the crowds parted wherever he walked, as uncomfortable as he was the fifth, sixth, and seventh times attractive young witches came up to him and thanked him so much for everything he'd done and told him they would do anything to repay him – he felt an odd and unfamiliar sense of pride as well. This wasn't the same as being the Boy Who Lived, famous for something he couldn't even remember and had absolutely no control over. No, this was something he, Harry, had actually set out to do and accomplished.

So even as he politely endured yet another parent excitedly bringing their young child over to meet him, and nervously told the smiling blonde girl with the very nice figure that he was sorry, but he had a girlfriend whom he loved very much, he felt glad that he had been able to help all these people and thought that, for a little while at least, he could put up with the attention if it made them happy.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

'You're looking chipper,' Ron told him a few minutes later as he sat down with them in the pub and took the butterbeer proffered to him. 'Goblins decide not to murder you, then?'

'What?' Harry asked, momentarily forgetting why he'd been gone in the first place. 'Oh, yeah. In fact,' he grinned in full now, remembering just how well the meeting had gone, 'all is forgiven, apparently. They're letting Griphook off the hook as well and it won't be an issue anymore.'

'Bloody hell!' Ron exclaimed. 'You ruddy get away with everything! You didn't Imperius one of them again, did you?'

'Of course not!' Harry cried quickly, looking around anxiously. 'I just explained exactly what it was we were doing. You know, without saying exactly what it was we were doing. I don't think it would be a good idea to talk about all the details, if you know what I mean.'

'Right,' agreed Ron, taking a swig of his butterbeer. 'Last thing we need is to make a How to Be a Dark Lord in Three Easy Steps handbook.'

'So you're really not in any trouble with them?' Ginny asked, sliding her chair over and cosying up to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

'None at all. Ron and Hermione are in the clear, too.' He was tempted to tell them about his vault, but he still wanted to visit it himself first. He could make it a surprise at some point later on.

'I don't know how you do it,' Ron said, shaking his head and chuckling. 'Only you could rob bloody Gringotts and come out looking better for it.'

They talked for a little while longer and were on their second round of butterbeer when Hermione entered the pub. She looked around for a moment and smiled when she saw them, hurrying over to the booth they'd chosen.

'Harry!' she exclaimed excitedly as she hugged him (after Ron, of course). 'How long have you been able to do a talking patronus?'

Harry sat back down as she joined them. 'About a day,' he told her, and related the process by which he'd deduced how to make one.

'That truly is amazing, Harry,' she said, accepting the butterbeer Ron had ordered for her. 'I'd like to see you cast it at some point if you don't mind.'

'You'll likely get to see me cast it today,' he said, explaining about Mrs Weasley's condition for letting them travel alone. Hermione laughed.

'Yes well, you can hardly blame her, can you?' she said. 'Under the circumstances I doubt my parents would want me wandering around alone either.' Immediately after she said it, a shadow of sadness washed over her face, but she quickly covered it up with another smile.

'How are things coming, Hermione?' Ginny asked quickly.

'Oh, wonderfully!' Hermione said, back to being excited again. 'I think I've got all the particulars taken care of, and they'll be able to restart their practice and everything once they're back.'

'Do you really need to wait longer to get them?' Ron asked her then. 'I mean, if everything's ready, we could go get them now, couldn't we?' Hermione smiled at him fondly.

'You're sweet, Ron,' she said, kissing him on the cheek. 'I still need to double-check and make sure I haven't missed anything. All of their friends are going to wonder where they've been, of course, and I need to make sure the story is air-tight. Besides, I wouldn't dream of separating these two at the moment,' she gestured to Harry and Ginny, who were currently holding hands with their fingers intertwined and making eyes at each other at frequent intervals throughout the conversation. 'We agreed we'd go after Ginny's birthday, so that's what we'll do.'

'Don't worry about us, Hermione,' Ginny said encouragingly. 'Your parents are more important.' Harry nodded emphatically; he wanted his friend to be happy and part of a whole family again more than he wanted a holiday in Australia.

'No,' Hermione shook her head firmly. 'I need both of you for this,' she said, looking to Ron and Harry, 'and I'd really like for you to be there as well,' she added to Ginny. 'I don't know that I'm strong enough to do it without all of you.'

'Hermione, you're strong enough to take on the whole world without any of us,' Ron assured her. 'You may not want to – who would? – but you could do it; I've no doubt. But if this is how you want it, that's how we'll do it.'

She smiled at him and kissed him again, and then it was decided that they should get a move on.

The way back to Gringotts saw people accosting not just Harry, but Ron and Hermione as well. Evidently the parts they'd played in Voldemort's downfall were becoming well-known also. They were both clearly taken off-guard by this, and Harry couldn't help but laugh at the looks on their faces: Hermione as flustered as he'd ever seen her, and Ron as though he'd just been whacked soundly on the head with a Beater's bat.

'Is this what it's like for you all the time?' Ron asked Harry after the third young couple that had asked to take a picture with them departed.

'Not quite this bad,' Harry grinned, happy to have someone to share the spotlight with for once. 'I expect it'll die down in a few weeks.'

'The three of you together are probably a bigger draw than you would be alone, too,' Ginny said.

'You're probably right about that,' Hermione agreed. 'I wonder if it was a good idea for us to come together after all.'

'Oh, come off it, Hermione,' Ron said, throwing his arm around her. 'We're not going to stop spending time together just because a bunch of barmy gawkers get a thrill out of seeing us. They can sod off for all I care.' Harry was somewhat surprised to hear this from Ron, who up until this point had clearly been enjoying the attention, even if he remained baffled by it.

'Yes, well,' Hermione stammered, looking quite pleased and tugging Ron's arm tighter around herself. 'I simply meant that it's going to be difficult to get anything done.'

'You'll just have to get used to it, I suppose,' Ginny said. 'While I suspect Harry's right that it'll die down after a while, you're probably going to be famous for the rest of your lives.'

Neither Ron nor Hermione had anything to say to that, but from the looks on their faces this was probably the first time that had really occurred to either of them. Harry didn't know what to say either, so they simply pressed on through the crowd.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Harry's second trip to Gringotts that day was a rather lackluster affair. He was worried that one of the goblins might bring up his new vault, but none of them said a thing and before he knew it they were back on the streets again and shopping for school supplies.

'Who needs what?' Ron asked, glancing at their lists and surveying the shops in the alley.

'We'll all need new robes, I suspect,' Harry said.

'Well, Ginny and I haven't really grown so I don't think we'll need any,' Hermione replied. Harry thought privately that they had both grown plenty, but somehow didn't think that was what she had been talking about, and he wasn't fool enough to say anything.

'Actually,' Ginny piped in, 'most of my robes got pretty torn up last year. I'd like some new ones if possible.'

'Oh right, of course,' Hermione stammered.

'First stop Madam Malkin's, then?' Ron proclaimed, and led them off down the alley. The others shrugged and traipsed after him.

Another surprise awaited them in the robe shop. Quite aside from all the onlookers, Harry encountered something else he hadn't counted on: Despite practically begging to be allowed to pay for them, Madam Malkin steadfastly refused and insisted all their robes were on the house. In the end, despite Ron saying he was mad, he managed to haggle her up to half price, on the condition that he pay for all of it since he felt it really wasn't fair to make his friends give up a free gift just because he didn't want one.

'Honestly, you're being silly, Harry,' Hermione told him as they left the shop.

'Decent of you not to drag us into your mad notions, though,' Ron said grinning. 'I suppose I get free robes out of it either way, so if you want to be a git about it, feel free.'

'I just don't feel right about it, Hermione,' he said. 'Even if it is just honest gratitude, I don't feel right about taking free stuff when so many other people can't afford it at all.' He knew that was a sensitive subject for Ron and Ginny and hoped he hadn't upset them. Fortunately, they seemed to understand him well enough by this point not to be bothered by it.

'I know what he means, Hermione,' Ginny said. 'To be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable accepting it as well, seeing as I hardly did anything compared to you three. She only offered because I was with you and she didn't want to be rude.'

'You may be right about that last part,' Harry conceded, 'but don't ever say you didn't do anything.' He made his voice as serious as he could and locked eyes with her. 'You were as much a part of that battle as anyone and even before, you worked with Neville and Luna at the school to keep hope alive. You may not be famous for it, but what you did is no less important than what we did.'

'I'm going to have to disagree your last point, Potter,' she told him with a sidelong expression. 'But if you want to heap praises on me I'm not going to stop you, either.'

They went shopping for books next, and quite literally had to drag Hermione out of the shop an hour later when she had amassed a pile of books so tall even Ron couldn't see over it.

'But I haven't bought a new book in over a year!' she wailed at them as they pulled her out of the store.

'You've gotta pace yourself, love,' Ron told her as they hit the street again. 'Even Harry couldn't afford to buy that whole stack in one go.'

'We can come back another time, Hermione,' Ginny said. 'Once I get my apparition license I'll be able to come here whenever I want, and we won't need to bring these two.' She jerked her head at Harry and Ron.

'Oh, all right,' Hermione finally conceded. 'At least I got my school books and enough light reading to tide me over until Australia.'

They hit the apothecary next, as none of them were anywhere near full up on potion supplies. They also went by Quality Quiddich Supplies so Harry could buy a new broom.

'Last one we've got in stock,' the clerk said as he handed over Harry's brand new Firebolt. 'Lucky you came in when you did. Don't know how many more of those we're going to see this year. Their manufacture was disrupted during the war.'

Ron gazed in wonder at the broom as if he'd never seen one before, despite having ridden on Harry's old one numerous times.

'How the bloody hell did you afford that? You didn't bring that much gold with you.'

'I just told them to take it from my vault,' Harry explained.

'Oh, right, you've got Sirius's money now too,' Ron remembered. 'Handy, that.'

'You're going to be my seeker, right Harry?' Ginny asked him in a voice that was too cute to be taken seriously.

'Do you really want a former captain on the team?' Harry joked. 'Could lead to power struggles and all sorts of trouble.'

'I think I can handle it,' she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

'I dunno, I've been told I'm quite the troublemaker.' He leaned down and locked eyes with her, waggling his eyebrows.

'I'll straighten you out,' she told him huskily, glaring up at him from under her brows and grinning.

'I'd love to see you try,' he fired back, bending down to lock eyes with her.

'Hey look, Ollivander's is open!' Ron announced loudly and with great affected enthusiasm. Ginny and Harry rolled their eyes but humored him.

'Yeah, I saw some people setting it up this morning on my way to the bank,' Harry said, standing back upright. 'Wasn't open yet, though.'

'We should go and see him!' Hermione declared.

'Er, okay,' said Harry, who still wasn't very comfortable around the old wandmaker. He looked at Ron, who shrugged, and the four of them made their way over to the wand shop.

Upon entering, they encountered a young boy sweeping the floor. Harry was sure he'd seen the boy at Hogwarts, but couldn't place him beyond being reasonably certain he wasn't in Gryffindor.

The boy looked up at them, and Harry had a brief flash of a group of students rushing down the stairs of Ravenclaw Tower to see Alecto Carrow's stunned from. 'Hi,' he greeted them. He clearly recognized them, judging from the way his eyes widened, but he was good enough not to make a big deal out of it.

'Er, we were coming to see Mr. Ollivander,' Ron said.

'Sure,' said the boy. 'Hang on, I'll get him for you.' He propped up the broom he'd been using and retreated to the back of the store.

'I recognize that boy, I think,' Hermione said.

'Really?' Ron asked. 'I've never seen him before.'

'Of course you have Ron, he's obviously old enough to go to Hogwarts,' Hermione said.

'Yeah, him and a few hundred other kids around his age. You don't expect me to keep track of all of them, do you?'

'No, but as a prefect it wouldn't hurt you to put in more of an effort.'

'He's in Ravenclaw,' Harry cut in. When Ron and Hermione looked at him questioningly, he explained. 'I'm pretty sure I remember seeing him the night before the battle when I went up there with Luna. He was one of the ones poking at Carrow after she got stunned.'

'I like him already,' Ron announced.

'Ah, Mr Potter!' Ollivander declared as he emerged from the back of his shop. 'And Mr Weasley and Miss Granger! Truly a pleasure to see you three again. And you too of course, Miss Weasley. I hope you'll excuse me, the shop isn't exactly fully restored at the moment. Young Sieffre here is helping me organize things while I work with my nephew.'

'Your nephew?' Harry asked.

'Yes, my nephew Marcus,' Ollivander said. He sighed deeply. 'Recent events have convinced me that it is finally nearing time for me to retire. My late brother's grandson will be inheriting the shop and carrying it on in my stead.'

'Diagon Alley won't be the same without you, sir,' Ginny said. The old man smiled.

'That's very kind of you to say, my dear. Marcus will do fine, I think. He has after all been studying wandlore for over a decade now. Trained in all our family techniques, and apprenticed five years with Tabitha Weatherwax in Canada, a fine wandmaker. But that's for another day. How can I help all of you? I presume you three require replacement wands after that dreadful business at the manor house?' He addressed Harry, Hermione and Ron.

'Actually, the Ministry was able to recover both Ron's and Hermione's wands and returned them,' Harry explained. And then sudden inspiration hit him and he was glad they'd decided to come here after all. 'But if you could,' he said, 'I'd like you to take a look at mine.' He pulled out his holly and phoenix feather wand and handed it to the wandmaker, whose eyes opened wide as he sucked in a great breath.

'But this is impossible!' he said, turning the wand over in his hand, examining it. 'Your wand was snapped in two, Mr Potter! I saw it myself!' He gave it a quick wave, sending silver sparks out the end and gasped again, as if he still didn't believe what he was seeing. Finally, he gripped it tight and looked up at Harry. 'It's in perfect working order,' he announced. 'As good as the day I sold it to you seven years ago. How can this be?'

'The item we discussed the last time we spoke,' Harry said quietly, not wanting to go blathering on about the Elder wand in the middle of a shop (even if no one else was currently in it), 'is capable of incredible things, not just violence.'

Harry hadn't thought it was possible for Mr Ollivander to look any more astonished, but he was wrong.

'You have it? It's real?' Harry was strongly reminded of Xenophilius Lovegood at that moment, but at least Ollivander retained sense enough not to name it aloud.

'It's real, but I don't have it,' Harry lied. He thought of Gregorovich, and figured the less Ollivander knew about the location and ownership of the Elder Wand, the better. 'But if my wand really is fixed, then it apparently lives up to its legend.'

'Yes. Yes, so it would seem,' Ollivander stammered. 'Such a pity you were not able to procure the item itself. To be able to study it…well, it no longer matters, I suppose. Can I be of any further use to you?'

'Thank you, but that was all. We just wanted to see if you were settling back in okay,' Harry said. Mr Ollivander thanked them and bowed them out of his shop and the four of them began meandering back towards the Leaky Cauldron.

'Would it really have been so bad to have let the poor old bloke have a look at it?' Ron asked after they'd walked for a bit.

'I think it's safer for him if he has no idea where it is,' Harry said. 'Remember Gregorovich, after all.'

'Oh, right,' Ron nodded. 'Good thinking, Harry. We wouldn't want to get him in trouble again.'

Ginny had been watching this conversation with interest, as well as Harry's earlier one with the wandmaker. 'Are any of you planning on explaining what it is you're on about?' she asked finally. 'Who's Gregorovich? And what's this item you keep talking about? Do I get to know?'

'Oh!' Harry said. 'I guess I kind of glossed over that bit when I told you what happened last year. It was almost kind of a side-story so I wasn't really thinking about it. I'll tell you when we get home.'

'Harry,' Hermione said, as though something had just occurred to her, 'it might be too late to keep it a secret. You did talk about it in your duel with Riddle, remember?' Harry thought back, and realized she was right. Just as he was about to curse himself for his carelessness, Ginny saved him.

'Is this about what you mumbled to Voldemort after you talked about Snape and your mom?' she asked. 'Because a lot of us were trying to figure out what you said that led to that last curse.'

'You mean you couldn't hear?' Harry asked.

'Not really,' she said. 'You got really quiet there near the end. There was something about a wand, and Malfoy, but other than that I have no idea. I suppose someone may have heard you, but from what I've heard no one really knows what you were talking about by that point.'

'Hmm,' Hermione pondered. 'Maybe I was able to pick up on it because I already knew what you were saying?'

'I hope so,' Harry said. 'Otherwise, keeping it a secret from Ollivander won't really make much of a difference.'

They had mostly finished their shopping by that point, so Harry sent a patronus to Mrs Weasley saying they were going to go out to dinner. They opted to eat in muggle London to avoid the crowds, and Ginny was both excited and nervous as she'd never eaten in a muggle restaurant before.

'They're not all that different from magical restaurants, really,' Ron told her as they found a small place the next street up from the Leaky Cauldron. 'It's just keeping track of the muggle money that's tough, and we've got these two for that,' he said, gesturing to Harry and Hermione.

'Spoken like a true expert,' Hermione teased. 'How many muggle places have you visited with us now, Ron? Three? Four?'

'Shut up,' he grumbled, though he was grinning. Ginny laughed and threw her arms around Harry, who hugged her back as they walked and could not remember the last time he'd ever felt so carefree and content. Or indeed, if he ever had at all.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

They stopped by Grimmauld Place after eating, where they had to apologize profusely to Kreacher for denying him the opportunity to feed them. Ginny insisted on looking into some more of the restoration, in which she had not yet been able to take part, so after another patronus to Mrs Weasley, they started poking around to see what would be the next thing to go after.

'How about that mad portrait?' Ron suggested at once. 'Did we ever come up with something to do with that?'

'No,' Harry said. 'I still don't even know how to get it down.'

'Maybe Kreacher would know,' Ginny suggested.

'I thought of that,' Harry said, 'but I don't want to offend him by asking. You know how devoted he was to her.'

'Well, what if you just offered to give it to him?'

As soon as she said it, it seemed at once the most brilliant and obvious thing in the world. Apparently, Hermione agreed.

'That's genius, Ginny!' she exclaimed. A little too loudly, as the portrait they'd been discussing awoke at the outburst and began screaming obscenities at them.

'FILTH! SCUM! BLOOD TRAITORS AND MUGGLE SLIME! HOW DARE YOU SET FOOT IN THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK!'

'Kreacher!' Harry called, even as he and Ron wrestled the curtains closed once again, accompanied by Hermione's wincing apologies and Ginny's giggles. The elf immediately appeared before them.

'Master called for Kreacher?' the elf intoned, bowing low. 'How can Kreacher be of service?'

'Actually Kreacher, I wanted to ask you something,' Harry said. 'You know Mrs Black's portrait can sometimes be a distraction, and that a permanent sticking charm is keeping it on the wall. Ginny thought that if you could help us to get it down, you might like to have it for yourself.'

It took them nearly twenty minutes to calm Kreacher down and stop him from throwing his arms around Ginny's legs, sobbing hysterically. Once they did, however, he removed the portrait quite easily and took it away somewhere. Harry didn't ask where, and frankly didn't really want to know.

'Beats my idea,' Ron said when elf and portrait were finally gone.

'What was that, Ron?' Hermione asked. Harry was busy helping Ginny clean her robes from where Kreacher had sniffled all over them.

'I was just going to suggest blowing up the whole wall,' he said. Hermione tutted and rolled her eyes, but Harry thought about it for a second and thought destroying the thing might not have been a bad idea if they'd been unable to remove it.

From there they started going through the house. Ginny's first observation was in the bathroom with the claw-foot bathtub.

'They're snakes,' she said, pointing. 'They should be lions.' Everyone agreed that this was a splendid idea and so Hermione pulled out her wand and transfigured each of the four serpent-shaped feet into lion paws.

'The taps and faucet are all snakes too,' Ron pointed out. 'And the knobs on the towel racks.' And so those were transfigured as well. Ron made the taps into lion tails, Harry made the faucet a lion's head, and Ginny did the same for the towel rack knobs.

'What the ministry doesn't know won't hurt me,' Ginny said as Hermione gave her a look for this use of underage magic. Hermione scoffed and shook her head but said nothing and proceeded to transfigure the shower head into another lion.

After that they had fun going through the house hunting for any snake-themed ornamentation they could find. They didn't bother transfiguring it all as it would take too long, but they made sure to document everything they found so it could be changed at a later date. They kept score, with each person being awarded a point for every snake they found.

It was getting dark by the time they'd made it through the entire house, and Harry had sent off two more patronus messages to Mrs Weasley. Their list was several feet long and contained everything from door knockers and chandeliers to table legs and curtain rods. Ginny ended up winning with eighty-seven points to Harry's eighty-two and Ron's seventy-nine. Hermione, who complained she had a handicap as she'd been the one writing everything down, had fifty-six.

'I would have gotten more if you'd all bothered to write your own!' she wailed.

'You're probably right, love,' said Ron, draping his arm across her shoulders, 'but you'd never have beaten Ginny anyway. You know how competitive she is. She didn't even cut Harry a break.' This seemed to placate Hermione, who just smiled and shook her head.

'So what'd I win?' Ginny asked enthusiastically, bounding over to Harry and planting her smiling face right in front of his.

'I'm sure I'll think of something,' he said. 'But we might want to wait until Ron's not around.'

'Oi!'

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

They returned home after that, not wanting to give poor Mrs Weasley a heart attack. As it was, she thanked Harry for his regular updates, but said she still wished they'd come home sooner. Ron somehow managed to talk Hermione into a game of chess, and so Ginny took the opportunity to drag Harry up into her room.

'Am I…er, supposed to be in here?' Harry asked, nervously looking around as though Mr Weasley were going to pop out any second and hex him into next week. Ginny laughed.

'My parents trust you, Harry. Probably more than they trust me, in fact. At least when it comes to...that.' Harry could feel a blush creeping up his neck at her implication. 'But that's not why I brought you up here. We'll leave the door open, but cast that anti-eavesdropping spell, would you?'

Confused, but ever-obedient, he cast muffliato and sat down next to Ginny on her bed.

'Now,' she started, a very serious expression on her face, 'you're going to tell me what that was all about in Ollivander's this afternoon.' And suddenly it all made sense. He smiled in relief.

'Oh, that,' he said. 'Right. Listen, Ginny, I wasn't trying to keep any secrets from you or anything. Hell, I've told you the worst stuff already, so what would be the point? I honestly just forgot to mention it.'

'I believe you, Harry,' she said. 'I didn't think you were deliberately keeping something from me; I trust you more than that. It's just…how do I say this? Sometimes it hurts that I wasn't able to be with you through all of this. That there are things that you went through with Ron and Hermione that I'll never be able to share with you. I'll know about them, even if no one else ever will, but I wasn't there and it just…sucks. You know what I mean?' She looked at him with an expression of vulnerability he rarely saw in her, and he scooped her into his arms at once.

'I do,' he said. 'I really, really do. Ron said the same thing after he came back to us after Christmas. And believe me, no one wishes you could have been there as much as me.' He released her and held her in front of him, looking into her eyes. 'I used to watch you on the Marauder's Map while we were traveling, wondering how you were and what you were doing. Did I ever tell you that?' She shook her head. 'It's true,' he said. 'It made it feel as if you were closer, somehow. That if only I could reach into the map, I could touch you and make sure everything was all right.'

'Really?' she asked. She was tearing up again, the way she had when they'd talked the day after the battle.

'Really. And that's something not even Ron or Hermione know, either,' he told her. She sprang forward and hugged him again, laughing wetly as he stroked her hair. After a minute or so, she sat up straight again.

'All right, enough of that,' she declared, all business again. 'So about Ollivander's…'

Harry laughed at her and began his story. He told her about visiting Xeno Lovegood and learning about the Deathly Hallows. She gasped when she heard what he'd done, but forgave him when Harry reminded her about Luna. He then went on to tell her about his deductions that his cloak was a Hallow, that Voldemort was after the Elder Wand, and that the Resurrection Stone had been hidden in the golden snitch given to him by Dumbledore.

'And so you really got to see them?' she asked at that part of the story. 'Your parents, and Sirius, and Remus?' He nodded. 'Oh, that's so wonderful, Harry! I'm so happy you were able to do that. I mean, obviously I wish it had been in better circumstances, but that you finally got to meet them, and speak with them…' she trailed off and hugged him tightly again. 'I'm really happy for you,' she whispered into his chest.

'Thanks,' he said. 'And just so you know, Ron and Hermione didn't hear about that part of the story, either.' She detached herself from his chest and kissed him thoroughly, leaving him nearly bereft of his senses. When she finally pulled away and beckoned him to continue, it took him a moment to remember what he'd been talking about.

'Well that's the end, really. I already told you how he killed me and everything, and you saw the duel. The reason he couldn't curse me with the Elder Wand was because it had already given its allegiance to me.'

'Because you'd disarmed Malfoy, right?' she asked. 'And he was the one who'd really disarmed Dumbledore?' He nodded. 'Wow. That's all really confusing. I didn't know wands were so fickle.'

'I don't think most of them are. This one's a special case. After all, it was able to repair my broken wand, and that's supposed to be impossible.'

'Good point,' she nodded. 'So that's what you said to him right before that final curse? You told him it wouldn't work because you were the wand's master?'

'Right. Naturally, he was too convinced of his own greatness to believe me, so it didn't make much of a difference. Hermione's right, though. I shouldn't have said anything at all. Suppose someone puts the pieces together and figures out I have the Elder Wand?'

'Well, there's no sense worrying about it now,' she said. 'There's nothing we can do about it, is there? And if some idiot tries to hunt you down to steal the Wand of Destiny or whatever, he's going to have to go through me, and I promise he won't like that.' That fierce look Harry loved so much once again appeared, and he couldn't help himself from kissing her one more time before going downstairs. Even with the door open, Mr and Mrs Weasley had to be wondering what they were doing up in Ginny's room for so long.

The next few days were a lot of fun. They made a couple of trips to Grimmauld Place and started transfiguring all the snakes they'd found, and even managed to find a few more that they'd missed. Ginny also declared that the ratty old green rug in the drawing room had to go, and so she and Harry spent a day in Diagon Alley looking for a replacement while Ron and Hermione visited her parents' dental practice to make sure everything was in order. Before anyone knew it, Harry's birthday was upon them.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

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~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

There's chapter three for you. I had some trouble with transitions, getting from one part of the chapter to another. I had several things I wanted to have happen in this chapter, but couldn't quite work out how to get them from one thing to the next. The final result ended up a bit choppy in my opinion, and I'm not completely happy with it, but I was getting impatient to get to the next chapter and couldn't really come up with anything better. I may come back and revise this chapter later on if inspiration strikes. Just the transitions, mind. The content will remain the same.

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. I haven't gotten any for this story yet and I'm anxious to see how people are reacting to it, or if they're even reading it at all.

See you next time.