When they arrived at the panel outside of the O&M room, Harry asked Gemma, "Do you know how to change the room so that it is the beach?"

She tapped "no," on his arm and then shook with giggles.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

She took his palm and wrote, "T-W-I-N-S" space "C-H-A-R-M-E-D" space "H-A-I-R" space "S-T-A-N-D" space "O-N" space "E-N-D" space "A-N-D" space "D-A-N-C-E" space "L-I-K-E" space "V-E-E-L-A-S-!"

Harry laughed, "What are Veelas?"

She made a motion in his hand that reminded him of hula dancers he'd seen on the telly. He wondered what Percy had done to deserve that kind of abuse. Probably just being Percy was enough. Poor guy.

"What are you two doing?" Ron asked.

"Gemma was just filling me in," Harry said.

"Filling you in on what?" Ron asked. "What do you mean?"

"Why your mom was so upset with Fred, George, and Lee," Harry said.

"Oh! You didn't know," Ron said. "So, what was she doing with your hand?"

"She was writing on my hand… that's how we talk," Harry explained as patiently as he could.

"Really? There's no charm that gives her a voice?" Ron asked.

"There's a complicated one with runes that Healer Jordan does, but we don't know how to cast it and it only works while she's around," Harry said.

"That's weird," Ron said and didn't notice the heavy silence that followed his statement. Harry wondered what Gemma was doing. She was very still. He remembered that Ron's comments were now visible to Gemma since he'd cast the Scribunt loqui charm. He rubbed his fist on the back of her hand, "I'm sorry," and she tapped his hand three times, "I understand."

"What did you just say, then?" Ron asked.

"I was just apologizing," Harry said, feeling his neck grow warm.

"What were you apologizing for?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Harry said.

"Huh?… So, what's this panel for?" Ron asked.

"Well, it changes depending on how the room is set up," Harry explained trying to push his annoyance with Ron aside. He reached his hand out to see what the layout was; it looked like it was still set up as a gymnasium. He wondered if it mattered if someone was in it or not.

His aftí was reading the layout to him as he ran his fingers over the braille labels and tactile map of the room.

"You can read those bumps?" Ron asked.

"Not yet, I'm still learning braille, but fortunately it is charmed so that I can hear it with my aftí," Harry explained.

"Your what?" Ron asked.

"It's this piece of charmed metal on my ear," Harry touched his aftí, "that speaks to me when I'm using my staff and with other charmed objects in the Center."

Harry took it off to show to Ron and then put it back on.

"Oh," Ron said. "If it reads the braille to you, why do you need to learn how to read it?"

"So, I can read if I'm somewhere where I can't use magic," Harry said.

"Where would that be?" Ron said, then paused. "Oh, yeah, with the Dursleys, doh!"

Harry wondered if Ron was always this dense and he just never noticed before.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione had come up beside them. "Would you mind if I skipped the beach and spent some time in the library instead?"

"Oh, come on, Hermione," he said surprising himself with a whine. "I want to spend time with you and everyone. You can come back and we can go to the library together another time. I promise." He really wanted her to stay. He really didn't want to have to deal with Ron on his own.

"Oh, all right," she said. He wondered if she was as annoyed with Ron as he was.

Gemma was also trying to figure out the panel and Harry heard something make a hissing sound from behind it. He wondered if she'd figured out how to change the room, "Did you figure it out?"

She tapped his arm, "yes," and then went over to the door. When she opened it, he could hear the seagulls calling and a warm breeze brought a smattering of sand out into the corridor.

"Oh, Percy! Time to don your speedo!" George or Fred called out as they raced through the door, Lee hooting with them and skidding on the sand. Ron was right behind them, hollering.

Harry wondered if Percy's hair was still swaying like little hula dancers.

"Come on, Ginny, it'll be fun," Molly was speaking quietly behind them. "You haven't been outside since you got home except to come here. You need some sun!"

Harry made the wait sign to Gemma and quietly asked his staff to guide him over to Ginny. He had remembered to momento all the Weasleys (except for Arthur) and Lee while they were having tea.

"Hi Ginny," Harry said.

She made a barely audible gasp. He scrunched his brows together.

"Do you want to walk to the beach with me and Gemma?" he asked and he held out his hand.

"Oh, come on now, Ginny, don't be shy," Molly said.

Harry was still holding out his hand.

Finally, she grasped it, her hand was small and her fingers were cold.

He tried to give her a smile, but wasn't sure if it was an effective one. Mrs. Weasley muttered something encouraging to Ginny as he turned and walked back to Gemma. Ginny followed him stiffly, her hand almost limp in his. He collapsed his staff and stuck it in his pocket and waited for Gemma to tap the back of his hand so he could find her elbow. When she didn't tap right away, he guessed that Gemma was signing to Ginny, but if Ginny was responding, he couldn't tell. Finally, Gemma tapped his hand. Mrs. Weasley seemed to be waiting for Arthur, "I'll be there in a moment," she called after them, and Harry could feel Ginny pulling on his hand as if she didn't want to go without her mum.

"Ginny, this beach is really beautiful," Hermione said from her other side as they walked through the portal onto the sandy boardwalk that had thrown them into the sand the last time they were in the room. Harry shut his eyes against the bright light and felt some of the tension between his shoulders lessen as the heat and humidity eased some of the heaviness he'd been feeling since his flight on the broom.

"Hermione, do you know how to transfigure our clothes into swimsuits?" Harry asked.

"No, maybe Mrs. Weasley does," she responded. "Oh, Percy just changed his—no wait. He didn't do it, one of the twins did! Hey, that's pretty advanced magic! Oh, Percy's not so happy about it!" Hermione was laughing and Harry could feel Gemma shaking again. He felt kind of bad for Percy—but it was making Gemma laugh. Ginny didn't seem to notice. He was beginning to really worry about her. She seemed really distant, even though he was holding on to her hand. They had stepped off the boardwalk and were now in the sand and he was sinking into it with each step. Gemma was moving through the sand more quickly than he was able to follow comfortably. He pulled on her arm to get her attention, "Go on ahead. I'll walk with Ginny." She tapped his hand twice, "okay," and took off.

"Harry, do you want me to guide you?" Hermione asked, coming around to his other side and tapping his hand with the back of hers.

"Sure," he said as he grasped her upper arm.

Ginny sniffed.

"What is it, Ginny?" Harry asked.

"Ginny,' Hermione said gently. "You have to say something otherwise Harry can't tell that you're responding."

Ginny was shaking and let go of his hand. He heard her stumbling over grasses as she ran away.

"Is she headed back to her mum or… " he tried to listen to the direction of her footsteps, but the sand, surf, and seagulls made it harder to hear.

"No, she's headed toward the beach, but away from the boys," Hermione said, sighing.

"Should we follow her?" he asked.

"How about we kind of walk that way," Hermione suggested.

"Do you know why she was crying?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione said. "She feels guilty."

"What?" Harry said. "Guilty about what?"

"About what happened to you," Hermione said slowly.

"Oh, no… " Harry said as he felt some of the weight settle back into his gut. "She can't… it's not her fault. It just happened… " He turned to Hermione. "She doesn't think I blame her, does she?"

"I don't know Harry," Hermione said. "I haven't really talked to her. Ron said she's been refusing to come out of her room. He said that the Mind Healer's been coming to their house to work with her and that's the only reason they were able to get her to come see you today."

They had reached the part of the beach where the sand was firmer and easier to walk on. The sound of the boys running into the ocean and splashing each other was getting farther away.

"Is Gemma all right?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, it looks like they helped her transfigure her clothes and she's running in the water with them," Hermione said. "It looks like she's having fun."

"Oh, good. I thought she might not… when Ron said that about her scars… "

"Gah! Why does he do that?" Hermione interjected.

"I dunno," Harry muttered.

They walked in silence for a bit, the seagulls calling overhead and the waves breaking on the beach not far from them.

"We're getting close to Ginny," Hermione whispered close to his ear. After a few more paces, Hermione slowed, then put her hands on Harry's shoulders, turned him so he was facing the ocean, and pushed down.

Oh, she wants me to sit down next to Ginny.

He crouched down, felt the sand under him and then sat on it. His arm brushed against Ginny as he sat and he felt her flinch.

Maybe she hasn't noticed we were here? he wondered.

He busied himself with taking off his shoes and socks and stowing them in his staff, then he rolled up his trousers. The sun was beating down on his head and a trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. He dug his toes into the sand until he found seawater seeping in and it cooled his feet.

He reached out to where he had brushed Ginny and found her knee, then her arms tight around her legs. She flinched again, but not away. He followed her arm up to her shoulder, then put his arm around her back and held her. She was shaking with sobs and she leaned into him. He put his other arm around her. He remembered how Gemma had held him that night.

After a bit, she lifted her head, sniffing loudly, "This isn't right. You shouldn't be comforting me," she wailed. "I'm… I'm… I'm… the reason you're blind!"

"No, Ginny. You're not. It wasn't your fault. The only person to blame is Tom Riddle. He made the Basilisk go after me," Harry said squeezing her shoulders.

"But… but… but… I let him out of the diary," she sobbed. "I should have known it was da… da… dark magic." Her sobs grew muffled as she buried her head in her knees again.

"Ginny, how could you know? Please don't blame yourself. I don't blame you," Harry said. "He fooled me, too, you know… when I had the diary. He had me convinced that Hagrid had opened the Chamber of Secrets the first time and caused Myrtle's death… Hagrid, my friend."

"You sh… sh… should blame me. I sh . . should have died. It would have been better if . . if… I had died," she whispered.

"No, no it wouldn't have! It wouldn't have changed the fact that I got Basilisk venom in my eyes. If you had died, then Voldemort would be back and it would be like it was when my mum and dad were killed all over again. He and his followers would be making people do terrible things and killing them for no reason at all. If you had died, then all of this would have been for nothing," he said as he waved at his eyes. "And I would have probably died, too, because what would there have been to stop him from killing me? He had my wand—he just needed your soul to come back to life all the way." He went quiet—listening to Ginny's labored breathing. Hermione was on Ginny's other side, rubbing her back in circles as Gemma had done for him.

"I very much like your soul in your body, Ginny."

They sat quietly for a while, listening to the waves breaking on the beach, the distant shouts of the boys as they splashed in the water, the seagulls circling overhead.

"You really don't blame me, Harry?" she said, her voice barely audible over the crashing surf.

"It has never crossed my mind. I could never blame you. This just happened. I'm lucky to be alive," he said heavily. "Being here at the Center, I've learned that life doesn't always go the way you planned… you never know when a Jobberknoll is going to drop dead in front of you." He felt a little like an imposter saying all this when he had, not too long ago, been curled up under his covers wishing he could disappear into a hole, but he couldn't let Ginny continue thinking that this was somehow her fault.

Ginny shuddered under his hands and raised her head from her knees and wiped her eyes.

"What's a Jobberknoll?" she asked.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," and he launched into a greatly embellished description of the tiny bird. It didn't take too long before a giggle erupted from Ginny and some of the heaviness that Harry had been feeling slid off him into the sand.

The shouts of the boys were moving their way. Harry heard Molly and Arthur yelling at the twins and he wondered how they were tormenting Percy now.

Suddenly, they were being sprayed with warm water and then cold wet hands landed on his arms, trying to haul him up. "Come on you lot, no more of this moping around. Stop being a wet rag. It's time to get wet. We're going to transfigure you the most fabulous swimming suits you can imagine!" He had no idea if it was Fred or George.

Harry laughed as he stumbled to his feet and then felt his clothes changing. He bent forward covering his bits until he was sure that he still had clothes on.

"Hey! You could warn a guy!"

He checked the pocket of his trunks (he was so thankful that he didn't have speedos on) and was comforted to find his staff was still there in a zippered pocket. Harry hastily stuck his glasses in the other zippered pocket.

By the squeals, it sounded like Hermione and Ginny were also having their clothing transformed. Then they were being pulled toward the pounding surf—water and sand flying around them.

A hand waved across his back and he realized that Gemma was there, too.

"Hi, Gemma! How's the water?" Harry asked as the warm waves lapped around his ankles.

She scratched his back with the funny sign and he wondered what that meant. "Are you having fun?" he asked.

She tapped twice hard, "yes," and he smiled at her.

He had dug in his heels a bit and the person who was tugging at his arms stopped pulling so insistently.

"Who's pulling me into the water?" Harry asked.

"It's me, you git!" Ron shouted. "Come on! It's fun!"

Harry could hear Fred or George muttering with Ginny not far behind him. It sounded like they were being very gentle with her. He heard someone run by him and then a neat plunk into the water and he imagined that it was Hermione.

The ocean floor dropped out from under his feet and Harry lurched forward, Ron hauled him back up.

"Whoops!"

He was in chest deep water now and the waves were splashing in his face and the taste of the briny water was making him pucker.

"Ron, stop pulling me. This is deep enough," Harry said as something brushed against his calves. He was reminded of Mei's tail.

"Is Mei here, too?" he turned his head and asked Gemma. One quick tap, "no."

Ron was still pulling him deeper.

"Ron, I said stop!"

Harry was starting to panic as the water was reaching his neck and he was on his tiptoes trying to keep his head above water as the waves came in.

"Oh, come on, Harry! Just a little farther out!"

But Ron stopped and let go of his wrists and Harry turned, trying to go back to more shallow water. Gemma's hand was on his back. He thought Hermione was close by, too. He wondered how Ginny was doing—it sounded like Fred, George, and Lee were trying to make her laugh in ways that involved a lot of splashing.

That's good.

He didn't hear Percy.

"Harry, here comes a good one! Let's catch this one!" Ron was shouting.

Harry could feel the water being sucked back into the wave and tried to jump up as it swelled, but jumped too early and the wave hit him on the side of the head and pushed him into Gemma. She held onto him as he sputtered, his mouth flooded with salt water, and tried to regain his footing.

Ron hollered as he rode the wave past them. Farther down the beach, Harry was pretty sure that Hermione was doing the same thing. Around his feet, he could feel seaweed and seashells swirling in the water and sand. He felt another fish brush against his legs. Gemma grabbed his hand as another wave was sucking the water away from them, building momentum. This time she signaled to him to jump by raising their arms and jumping and they moved with the wave, but didn't get crushed by it.

Ron was whooping and laughing as he ran back to them, and shouted, "Harry, Gemma! You've got to try it! It's so cool! You just hold your arms out like this and when the wave comes you jump and ride on top of it and it carries you all the way back to the beach! It's so awesome!"

Gemma tapped his arm twice, "yes," and moved his arms to a superman position. He caught on after a second. This is what Ron was telling him to do. Then, still holding his hand, their arms up in the air and facing the beach, Harry could tell that Gemma was looking back at the wave that was coming—the ocean rushing past his legs as the water was being sucked up into the wave. She tugged on his arm and jumped and he tried to follow and keep his body rigid. The wave caught them and they were carried fast toward the beach.

This is like flying on my broom!

But then the wave pushed him down to the ocean floor and tumbled him around, pulling Gemma's hand from his. He fought to find his way up to the surface as sand and seashells swirled around him. His trunks filled with sand. Hands grabbed him under his arms and pulled him to his feet. He was surprised to find out he was only in knee-deep water. "Thanks," he sputtered.

"That was awesome, Harry! Way to catch the wave!" Lee shouted, heartily smacking him on the back.

Someone splashed up to him and hugged him with tiny, wet arms—Gemma. She pulled on his hand, asking him to do it again. He shook water from his ears. They started running back, stumbling on the moving sand, and shaking with laughter.

More splashes approached him and another small hand caught on to his—Ginny. Harry felt Gemma being pulled in another direction and guessed that Ron had caught on to her other hand. He heard hoots and guessed that Fred, Hermione, George, and Lee had made a chain, linking hands. Then there was a whoop and loud splashing as Percy's joined in next to Ron. They pulled on each other and ran as the ocean was sucked out to fill the next wave, whooping and hollering and laughing. Harry heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shouting at them from the beach—"Wait for us!"

Molly and Arthur were breathing heavily and laughing when they caught up with the group. They had all stopped in the chest level water and then Gemma was tugging on his arm and Ginny dropped his hand. He turned around and put his arms out like superman, Gemma still holding on to him and when she tugged on his arm, he jumped again and they rode the wave again. He was tossed around again in a tangle of arms and legs that weren't all his own. He was nearly on the beach this time and fell back into the water laughing, elbows propping him up as small waves washed over him. His friends tugged him to his feet and they ran out again and again.

After a bit, they were tired of catching the waves, they started bobbing around in the water in a close group, jumping up when the waves came by and letting them pass. Harry felt a big fish move against his leg and started, "Hey!"

"What?" Fred asked.

"That was a big fish!" Harry said.

There was a big splash right by his head and his mouth was filled with water.

"Shark!" yelled Ron! And there were screams and frantic splashes.

"I'm not a shark, dung-brains!" Mei snapped.

Harry hooted with laughter, his head submerging under water with a big wave. He came back up sputtering and spitting out water and still laughing.

"Hi, Mei!"

"Stop hugging me, Gemma!" Mei protested. "You lot are making a racket!"

"Is that how you found us?" Harry wondered. "You have to meet my friends—the Weasleys—Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Molly, Arthur, and Hermione and Lee," Harry said, sweeping his hands around him, not really sure where they all were. "This is Mei Lee, everybody!" There was a chorus of greetings as they bobbed on the water.

"Hey, you're that fish girl from Hogwarts!" Ron exclaimed. Harry groaned and wished he was close enough to smack him. Hermione was, apparently, "Hey, what was that for?"

"Yeah, and you're that slug-hurling Gryffindork, what of it?" Mei shot back.

"Hey!" Ron protested.

"Come on, you two," Harry said. "Knock it off. Mei, we're riding the waves, want to join us?"

"I came over to see if you wanted to meet a friend of mine, actually," Mei said, dropping to a friendlier tone.

"I told you I saw a shark!" Ron said as something slippery and large slid against Harry's arm and a loud hissing noise erupted with a spray of water.

"He's a dolphin," Mei said in a quelling voice. There was a high-pitched squealing sound and Harry guessed that the dolphin was laughing.

Gemma's hand was on Harry's back, excitedly scratching. Hermione and Ginny were oohing. The rest of them had gathered around in a tight group, trying to get near the dolphin.

Harry held his hand out, hoping to touch that sleek body again as it swam by. Gemma guided his hand farther out into the water and the dolphin's nose prodded his hand. "Hiya, buddy!" Harry said.

"Oh, he's so beautiful!" Molly said.

"Don't everyone crowd around him at once," Mei said. "Make sure he feels like he can swim away if he gets scared. Let him touch you first."

"Wow, he's so cool," Fred or George said.

"Ginny, why are you crying?" Percy asked quietly right behind Harry.

"I dunno. The dolphin. It's so beautiful and calm. I don't know why I'm crying," she sniffed.

"Hey, it's all right, Ginny," Percy said, and it sounded like he was giving her a hug.