On their way to the dining hall after Council, Harry heard Mei's wheels gliding on the stone floor behind him. He was tempted to pick up his pace and try to avoid them, but they were too quick and there were people in front of him—it would have been obvious that he'd been trying to run away.

Come on. Be a Gryffindor!

"Oi, Harry. Gotta moment?" Mei asked. "It's okay, Gemma—I just want to talk to Harry for a sec."

Harry stopped and turned toward them, saying "sure," as he felt his face heat up again.

Gah!

The group of people headed toward the dining hall flowed around them and Harry listened to their diminishing voices and clatter.

Mei slipped their hand into Harry's and pulled him down to their level. He crouched by their chair.

"Harry, you seem upset. Was it what I said about when you fell on me?" Mei asked.

"That obvious, huh?" Harry said.

"Well, your face is pretty much an open book."

"I didn't know… about where I landed. I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"I know—it just happened and I reacted before I really thought about it. Well, and that's all water under the bridge. Here, look," Mei said and pulled Harry's hand over to their wrist.

On their wrist was something cool and gelatinous—he instantly recoiled, "What's that?! A slug? Do you have a slug wrapped around your wrist?"

"No! That'd be gross! No. This is beautiful. And it was your idea—a way to help me not have accidental magic—by having some seawater in contact with my skin at all times. It also means I don't have to go hydrate all the time. I can stay longer on land. It's a bracelet of seawater. Here, feel it again. I have one on both wrists."

He pressed his fingers against it, trying to find the form—but it moved from his touch and then his fingers went through it and it was like placing his hand in a stream of water, and when he pulled his fingers out, they were wet.

"Oh, that's brilliant! So does this mean you'll be able to control your magic now? No more blasting us off benches?"

"Hey!" Mei shoved him playfully so that he almost fell over. "And yes. We tested it and it really does work. Now, if something makes me angry, I just get angry like everyone else—I'm not some kind of exploding cauldron."

"I bet that's a relief."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about hurting you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I know. Your song… on the ocean. It was… well, I've never heard anything like it. I couldn't understand the words, but I could feel … I could feel how you felt. And it helped me kinda understand."

"Um, thanks. It was hard to do that—be so open… "

"That Council was way better than any of the other ones. I wish we could do them all like that or flying on brooms."

"Yeah, me, too."

"Let's go get dinner. I'm starving."

"What's for dinner tonight?"

"Smells like roast beef and potatoes to me."

"Ugh. Why can't they cook something decent for once… like Dim Sum? I'd love some Dim Sum."

"What's that?"

"Oh, come on. You don't know what Dim Sum is? How can you not know what Dim Sum is? Everyone knows!"

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

Harry hurried to the reception area after dinner, eager to see Hermione and Neville again. Harry had sent a note to Neville telling him what time Hermione was coming and he expected they'd both arrive at the same time.

He entered the reception area and tried casting the "Tell me who is near" charm nonverbally—inspired by Gemma's recent success and also armed with the knowledge that he'd been able to cast the protection spell nonverbally without even trying. It took a couple of tries, but then through his aftí, he learned that Healer Huw was at the reception desk that evening, but that no one else was in the room.

He went over to the desk and greeted the Healer, explaining that he was expecting some friends, and then went and sat on the bench. As he sat down, he was overcome with a huge yawn.

I might just fall asleep in the library… I wonder what she's going to want to research?

He was regretting his promise to spend time in the library. What he really needed was to fly around the lake again… or just tuck into bed. He couldn't stop a second yawn and tears squeezed out of his eyes. He took off his glasses and rubbed them while yawning again.

He heard the Charing Cross Road Egress open and got a whiff of the diesel/bakery aroma with a dash of fermenting sewer that imbued London as the honking of horns, rumbling engines, and shouting people sounds erupted into the tranquility of the reception area. Hermione's quick, sharp footsteps sounded on the tile floor as she ran toward him. He quickly stuffed his glasses back onto his face and stood up, bracing for her running hug and wasn't disappointed as she flung herself around him and he breathed in her hair.

"Oi, Hermione!" Harry said laughing as he stumbled back—his knees hitting the bench and almost giving way.

"Oh, Harry! I missed you and I can't believe we're heading to France in a few days and I'm not going to see you for ages," Hermione said, sounding a bit teary.

Harry patted her on the back.

"You'll be having so much fun in France, you won't even notice. Besides, there are a number of Egresses here that open up to France! Madam Flamel is French, you know. We could just meet… run into each other in the French Alps or at Louis Braille's childhood home or something. Wouldn't that be funny?"

"Hey, maybe we could plan it. That would be brilliant! Oh, Harry! I'd love that. Let's figure out when we can get together!"

Harry heard the St. Mungo's Egress open while Hermione was talking and turned slightly toward it, listening for Neville. The St. Mungo's aromas and sounds weren't quite as invasive as the Charing Cross Road smells and noises, but the pepper-up potion odor was distinctive. Neville's steps were more hesitant as he entered the space and it took longer for the Egress to close behind him. Then he was clattering toward them in his ungainly way and Hermione was smothering Neville in her enthusiastic hug.

"Hiya, Harry!" Neville greeted.

"Hi, Neville," Harry grinned back… some of his exhaustion falling away.

As they started to head toward the corridor for the Center, Harry told his friends that he wanted to introduce them to Healer Huw. They walked over to the reception desk and Harry introduced his friends. Gemma had been teaching him the fingerspelling alphabet and in addition to saying their names, knowing that they'd be spelled out on the paper, Harry fingerspelled them—his staff in the crook of his arm so that he could use both hands.

Harry waited and listened while Neville and Hermione exchanged polite greetings with the Healer—though he could only hear their side of the conversation—and then they said good-bye and headed for the corridor.

"Gosh, he's a very handsome wizard," Hermione said, sounding a little flustered.

"Really?" Harry asked, not really sure why he was surprised to learn this. He hadn't really thought about it.

"Yeah—and really friendly. He seemed really pleased that you were fingerspelling—that made him light up. How have you had time to learn so much?" Hermione said with a bit of awe.

"Oh, well, you know—it doesn't really feel like learning or school or lessons—it is just what's needed to get by here. If I want to talk to people, I need to figure out how to do it, you know?"

"Yeah, I suppose. But gosh, it seems like you've learned so much in just a few weeks," Hermione said, sounding envious. "I wish I could take classes here!"

Anger burst from his throat and he seethed, "You could go here, too, you know—just hex your eyeballs or chop off your legs or something!"

There was a shocked silence and Harry felt as if his words had been on fire and had scorched his tongue and lips as they exited. Harry halfway expected to smell ash and feel it falling around him as he stood stock still, horrified by his outburst.

Gah! Where did that come from?

There was a strangled noise—and Harry realized that Hermione was trying to stifle a sob.

"Hermione," he choked out. "I'm sorry… I had a really long day… I didn't mean that."

And as quickly as the rage had flooded his senses, it was gone and he felt deflated… like one of Dudley's rubber balls that had been kicked hard against the wall one too many times. He reached out, trying to find her—and found her arm. He held onto it and felt her shaking.

She fell against him and her tears soaked his shirt almost immediately as she clung to his neck and cried.

"I'm sorry," he said again, the words dragged from his throat as if they were being dredged up from unfathomable depths. He could hear Neville standing nearby, shifting from foot to foot.

"I'm… I'm… I'm sorry, too," she managed to say between sobs. "I should have thought before I said that. You know I didn't mean it like that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm just really tired."

After a while, she stepped back and he could hear the wet sounds as she wiped the tears off her face.

"Thanks, Neville," she said and then blew her nose. Neville must have handed her a handkerchief.

Harry could hear people approaching in the corridor and felt a prickle of embarrassment. Hermione tapped the back of his hand and he accepted her offer of sighted guide and they started walking slowly down the corridor again.

"Evening, Harry," Adam's voice rumbled nearby and was joined by others.

"Hi," Harry returned the greeting—not exactly sure who else was with Adam—his voice was the most distinctive. He dimly wondered if they were heading out for a night on the town—sometimes the adults did that—went to the Leaky Cauldron for drinks. He had a fleeting thought of Hagrid hunkered over the bar with a tankard dwarfed in his huge hand.

"You all right, Neville?" Harry asked.

"Um. What? Er, yeah. Just thinking," Neville said quietly.

"Yeah? What about?" Harry asked, hoping for a distraction.

"Er," he paused for a long time. "Er, its nothing. Sorry."

Hermione's breath caught and Harry wondered if she'd started crying again.

"'Mione—what if we went flying tonight instead of the library… would that be okay? I don't think I could stay awake in the library… and I really need a break."

"Oh, well—you know I hate flying, Harry," Hermione said.

"Oi! Harry taught me how to fly, Hermione—he's brilliant. You've got to try it. If he can teach me, he can teach you."

"Oh, I don't know…" Hermione stalled.

"Come on, Hermione," Neville urged. "You know what I'm like on a broom—you're way better than I ever was, but now I can actually fly. I mean… I. can. fly!"

"I don't have a broom," Hermione said.

"Neither does Neville, but I already thought of that. Arig has two and he said that was meeting some friends tonight and he wouldn't need them. I've got them in my staff," Harry said, lifting it up and shaking it.

"Oh, okay. I guess I can try. If you really want to," Hermione said.

Harry could help but smile.

"Thanks, Hermione!" and he picked up his pace.

When they reached the Egress, Harry checked to make sure that no one was using the Mont Blanc room for other things and selected the lakeshore as the entry point.

As they passed through, Harry took in a deep breath of the crisp mountain air and felt the delicate spray of mist on his face.

"Oh, is it raining?" he asked.

"Kinda—it's more like a really thick fog… like a cloud is sitting on the lake."

"Mmm. It feels good," Harry said.

"It's kind of hard to see," Hermione said hesitating.

"Tell me about it," Harry agreed and smiled wickedly in her direction.

She swatted him across the shoulder playfully.

Harry summoned the three brooms out of his staff, charmed them to ring with different bell tones, and handed them to his friends—they were pretty easy to identify by the handles.

"Harry, you should do what you did with me with Hermione," Neville suggested. "Take her up on the broom so that she can understand how to lean and stuff."

"Oh, yeah—that's a good idea. All right, Hermione?" he asked. "Want to see what it's like to fly with the blind kid?"

"Hey, don't call yourself that—you're just Harry," she said, laughing—but she handed her broom back to him and he put it in his staff. Then he opened the spot for his staff and placed it in his broom and he held his broom out to her, holding it up so that she could mount it and then climbed on behind her, reaching around her to grab the broom handle.

He waited as second as he heard Neville take off and then said, "you ready, then?"

She moved back against his chest and he could feel her nodding.

"Okay, here we go!" he said as he pushed off and willed the broom to take off over the lake. The sounds were muffled by the fog and the moisture in the air coated his skin and sank into his shirt, cooling him as they flew. The smells of the algae along the shoreline were muted as were the pungent pine trees farther up the slope.

Neville's bells even sounded distant through the cloud. It made Harry feel as if he were in a dream… the kind where his sheets and pillows become clouds or cotton balls or even cotton candy. He couldn't hear the birds, either—like they were all hunkered down in the trees, too sleepy to try to capture moths or mayflies.

Harry took it easy, knowing—feeling—how uncertain Hermione was about all of this. There was a part of him that wanted to give her a thrill (and the voice urging him on in his head sounded very much like Ron), but a more rational voice piped up and convinced him that if he gave into that temptation, Hermione would never trust him again.

"Okay, I'm going to take us a little higher and we're going to start leaning into turns—I want you to feel how I move with the broom," Harry said.

"Not too fast, okay?" Hermione squeaked.

"We'll go nice and easy at first, and then when you're ready, we'll go a little faster. It'll be okay. You'll like it. Trust me," Harry sputtered into her hair that was whipping into his face, even though they were going pretty slowly.

He felt her sliding around on the broom a bit—not as badly as Neville had done, but enough that he knew it would cause her problems when she was on her own.

"Grip the broom with your knees," he advised.

He felt her knees come up and she moved her hands forward, which meant that they sped up a bit and slid from side to side because now their bodies were closer to the broom handle. She let out a little yelp and let her knees dangle again.

"No, that was right, but just sit up taller when you do it. When you lean forward, you go faster—that's how the broom knows."

She tried again and they didn't wobble so much this time.

"That's right, that's good. You're doing it," Harry encouraged. "Do you want to try going a little faster?"

"Uh, I dunno."

"It's okay, this is good for now."

"You two all right?" Neville cried out as he approached from their right, his bells making a clanging noise like a cowbell.

"Yeah, we're doing great. How about you?" Harry asked, turning his head trying to free his mouth of Hermione's long strands.

At least it smells good.

"This is so awesome! It's actually pretty cool to fly around here and not be able to see much—I mean, there's really nothing to run into!"

"I know, isn't it brilliant!"

Hermione leaned forward a bit and Harry could feel that she was gripping the broom handle tighter with her knees as his thighs were on either side of her legs.

"That's right… you're ready to go. Let's do it!" Harry laughed as she shot forward. She sat up, no doubt surprised by the burst of speed, but then leaned low again and raced through the misty air, her hair getting heavy with the water and slapping him in the face.

Neville hooted behind them and then his bells started gaining speed. He raced in front of them, and then Hermione leaned in again and they sped forward.

"Okay, now take us up!" Harry encouraged. "Now lean to the left, now to the right. That's it! You've got it. Hermione, you're flying!"

Hermione pulled against the handle and leaned back into Harry. He clung to the broom and wrapped his ankles around the broom handle behind him, letting Hermione put her feet in the stirrups.

"Harry, this is amazing!" Hermione laughed.

"I know, right?"

"Okay, I think I'm ready to try it on my own broom," she said and she turned them around so that they were headed back to shore.

"Wait, we're close to the island, I think."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah—I can kind of feel it faintly in the vibrations from my staff. Just down a bit and to the left. Can you see it yet?"

"No, the fog is so thick. We're literally in a cloud."

"It's getting stronger, I think we're getting close."

"Are you two headed to the island?" Neville said behind them.

"Yeah—can you see it, mate?" Harry asked.

"No, but it seems like it should be here."

"I can feel the vibrations. I think we're getting close," Harry said.

"Is that what your broom is doing? I can feel it shaking. How can you tell that that's what it means?"

"You figure it out after a while," Harry shrugged.

"Okay, I'm going to steer us through here—okay. Neville, fly right behind me."

"Oh, wow! The trees!" Hermione shouted and pulled at the broom handle making them wobble as Harry tried to wrest it from her grasp.

"It's okay, Hermione—I know where they are. Let me do it," Harry said in her ear.

She relaxed a little and he was able to get the broom under control again.

"Harry, the ground—it's…!" He could feel her cringing and she turned her face to the side as if she was expecting to crash and didn't want to watch.

He put his feet down and they skidded across the sandy ledge and stopped.

"See, no probl- " Harry started to say when Neville crashed into them from behind and sent them sprawling.

They tumbled to the ground, a tangle of limbs and brooms.

"Sorry!" Neville shouted. "Didn't see you."

"Is it really that foggy?" Harry asked.

"Like pea soup," Neville said, getting up and brushing himself off. "Here, my hand is right in front of your face, Harry. I'll help you up."

"Thanks, Neville," Harry said, then turned to see if he could help Hermione untangle. His outstretched hand found her head.

"Ow! That's my eye, Harry!" Hermione grouched.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just some scrapes. Nothing bad," she sighed.

Harry flicked out his wand, "Here, let me heal them."

"What? You know how to heal now, too?" she said.

"Yeah—it's all part of the package deal they offer here… stumble and trip often? Learn how to heal cuts and bruises in three easy steps," Harry said in a mock radio announcer's voice.

"Very funny!" she chided, but she guided his offered wand to her scraped palms and elbows and let him heal them for her.

"How about you, Neville? You okay?"

"Yeah, I think I mostly fell on you," Neville laughed.

"Okay, you ready, Hermione?" Harry said as he summoned her broom out of his staff and handed it to her.

"I think so—as long as we let Neville land first next time," she laughed.

"Yeah, I'll make a nice landing pad," Neville said patting his belly.

They whipped up into the air, Harry leading them through the trees that were vague outlines to them, but he had a better reading of their shape through the vibrations in his staff.

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

As they were practicing loop-de-loops in the air a while later, they heard someone shout across the lake.

"Hey, that kinda sounds like Tony!" Harry said as he turned his broom and started racing toward the lakeshore.

Hermione swooped in after him and then Neville and the three of them flew in tandem toward the sound of Tony's whoops and hollers. Harry didn't even try to contain his joy as he led them on an undulating course, listening to Hermione and Neville laughing and shouting as they swooped up and dove down and curved to the left and then the right. By the time he was nearing Tony, his grin was broad and his heart was pounding.

He slowed and started circling the form that he could detect through the vibrations in his staff. He hoped that Hermione and Neville were able to see ahead now… at least better than they were able to see out on the island in the middle of the lake. They'd been able to see him well enough as they were racing across the lake to mimic his movements and not crash into each other… so that was good.

"Hey, Gemma said you were out here," Tony said. "Can I fly with you?"

"Sure—you don't have to ask!" Harry laughed. "Is she still busy practicing her nonverbal spells?"

"Yeah—I tried to get her to fly, but she's too excited about her spell work," Tony said.

"You remember Neville, right?" Harry motioned to the sound of Neville's cowbells.

"All right, Neville?" Tony greeted.

"Yep," Neville replied.

"And this is my friend, Hermione—she was here the first day when we were getting the tour," Harry said as he motioned to her bells which were more like sleigh bells.

"Oh, yeah—Mei knocked you both off the boardwalk—I remember. Nice to meet you, Hermione," Tony said.

"Nice to meet you, too," Hermione said primly.

Harry furrowed his brows together trying to figure out why Hermione seemed offended, but quickly dismissed it as embarrassment over the whole falling into the sand thing.

"So what are you waiting for! Charm your broom so that it rings and come on!" Harry said and he took off again. He heard an insect buzz by him again and was surprised that it was trying to fly when there was so much moisture in the air.

It was probably scared up by Tony mucking around in the reeds by the shore.

Tony had charmed his bells to sound like a large gong and the sound reverberated across the lake as he flew.

"You're going to wake the Kraken with all that noise!" Harry shouted as he chased Tony. "Or Mei."

"There's no Kraken here! Maybe a Loch Ness—but Mei'll sort it out for us. We have nothing to worry about," Tony retorted as he swung up, heading straight up into the sky.

"The Kraken is a mythological sea creature, Harry! It's as likely in this freshwater lake as Moby Dick," Hermione lectured.

"Moby Dick?" howled Tony as he shot back down and had to be skimming the water underneath them. "What's that?"

"Only the great white whale that plagued Captain Ahab and took his leg and then his life in Herman Melville's classic novel?" Hermione sputtered. "It is thought to be the greatest novel of all time, though I think Pride and Prejudice ranks right up there."

"Novel! Are you talking about a muggle novel? Don't tell me that you're a mudblood!?" Tony laughed and it sounded like he was wobbling dangerously close to the water.

"Hey!" Harry and Neville shouted indignantly at the same time. "Don't call her that!"

Hermione's bells stopped ringing abruptly and Harry turned his head, trying to figure out what she was doing. Then they started ringing again, but slowly and it sounded like she was headed to shore. Harry pulled around and so did Neville and they sped to her side.

"Blimey! I'm sorry about that Hermione—most of the time he's okay, but every once in a while… well, there's really no excuse. I really thought he'd gotten over that kind of stuff," Harry finished weakly. "He hasn't said anything like that in a while."

"Don't worry about it. You didn't call me a… well, you know," Hermione said stiffly.

"Yeah—that's bloody awful. I can't believe he said that," Neville said.

"Oi! Where are you lot going?" Tony called after them, his gong catching up with them as they flew across the lake. "Did I say something?"

"Um, yeah. You used a really foul word to describe my friend," Harry said tightly as he dismounted his broom on the shore next to Hermione.

"Oh, well. Come on! I didn't mean anything by it," Tony said, dismounting and coming over to stand near them.

Harry walked up to Tony and poked his finger in the air until he found Tony's chest and then he drove it into Tony's clavicle with each of his words, "Well, you know. You're going to have to do better than that. It just happens that Volde… ," Neville and Tony both yelped when Harry used the name.

"VOLDEMORT… used that same word to describe my MUM when I faced him in the Chamber of Secrets… right before I defeated him… he evaporated into NOTHING after I stabbed that diary that he came out of with the same Basilisk fang that nearly killed me… that BLINDED me!" Harry was shaking. He couldn't believe that Tony had just casually used that word… that he had called Hermione that.

"Oi, calm down, mate!" Tony said. "It's not like that. I'm not a Death Eater. I'm not the Dark Lord! I don't even like him!"

"You're using the same pureblood language that they use!" Harry shouted. "Dark Lord! You sound just like them!"

"But I'm not like that. Listen. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it. I didn't think about it," Tony shouted. "I'm really sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean anything by it." There was an awkward pause and then his footsteps sounded as he hurried toward the Egress and left them on the side of the lake.

"Well, that was fun," Neville said glumly.