For a moment, Harry really wished that he could see Mei flying on a broom—with their mermaid tail fluttering in the wind. He imagined that the setting sun would reflect off their iridescent scales in a rainbow of hues.

The image in his head was so vivid though, and coupled with the sound of their laughter as it carried over the expanse of the lake, he realized that it was enough. He didn't need to see to have an indelible image etched in his memory. The crisp air that grew colder the closer they got to the water accompanied by the murky odors, the droplets of water that landed on his hands and face, the way the sounds bounced off of the granite faces circling the lake, the echo of bird cries as they answered each other, the buzz of flying insects, the cooling warmth of the sun as it slid toward the horizon, and everything that he knew about Mei completed the memory.

He tucked the memory away and lay against his broom handle so he could catch up with them.

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

"Oi. That was fun. I wasn't as worried about falling off since we were over water—and also it was nice that it was just us… no one to stare at the fish on a broom."

"They should totally put the Quidditch pitch over the lake—then if people fall, they'd at least land in water."

"Well, landing water from great heights can be as dangerous as landing on the earth—it depends on how you enter the water and what is below the surface."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. And I suppose you'd need to know how to swim. It would be bloody tragic to survive the fall, but then drown."

Harry and Mei were gliding back toward the shore after flying over the surface of the Mont Blanc lake for what seemed like hours. The sun had set and they decided to head back to the dorm.

"Have you had swimming lessons yet, Harry?" Mei asked.

"Not yet, but I think we're going swimming tomorrow with Ms. Midgeon."

"That's good—you need to learn how to swim. Aminah, too. Do you know if she's okay? I saw her walking with Godric toward the office earlier today—she looked scared… like she'd received bad news."

"No. Godric got her from our lesson… but he didn't say why…"

"Oh, I hope she's okay."

"Yeah, me, too."

"Oi! You probably didn't see that my old muggle wheelchair is gone and now I'm using a levitating chair like Besel's. Figora even modified it with more water features so that it helps me stay hydrated. It is so much more comfortable! I don't have to sit down in it—I can kind of be floating upright and not have to bend my tail in such a weird way."

"That's great—did it hurt to sit in the wheelchair?"

"Yeah, I had to sit at a weird angle so that I wasn't crushing my fins. It was really uncomfortable. It really made me cranky. The new chair is so much better. When I'm walking around I can be standing so that I'm not staring at everyone's bums, but I can change it to a seated position for when we're at a table. It's really nice. You'll see… er… well, you know. You'll notice."

"You can say see… it's like you said that you'd be walking. Same thing, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Well, we're near enough to the shore now. How about you grab my broom and I jump off into the water?" Mei asked.

"All right, I can do that," Harry said, edging closer to Mei and stretching out his hand. They guided his hand the broom handle and he held on while they slipped into the water with a splash that sent water into his face.

He wiped the water off with his sleeve, though it was hard since he was holding two brooms—one in each hand.

"Harry. I need to thank you." Mei emerged from the water and their hand had grasped his ankle as it was dangling over the water. "You were the one who thought of the water to help me control my magic. When I tried flying on my broom before, it'd be fine for a while, but then when I got upset, my magic was out of control and I'd get thrown from the broom or stung or burned or all three… it was so brilliant to be able to fly and not wonder if that was going to happen. All because I had my water bracelets on. Thank you."

"No problem," Harry said as he felt his ears grow warm. "See you back at the room."

He heard Mei's tail slap the surface of the water and guessed that they were returning through the water Egress.

He placed Arig's broom alongside his broom, swinging his leg over it and then headed to the Egress. It was a little tough to manage both brooms at once—they wanted to go at different speeds, but he held on tight with his hands and his knees and managed to fly up the slope from the water's edge without too much wobbling about.

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

When Harry entered the dormitory, he cast the revealing charm to see who was there. Only Mei and Gemma were in the room, though he could hear the shower running behind the toilet door.

He waved in response to Mei's greeting, then went over to Gemma's area and held his hands in the air so that she could slip hers under his and sign. She greeted him cheerfully, her warm fingers dancing under his.

"How did lessons with Neville go?" he asked.

"He did okay. He _ to learn, but he tries," Gemma signed.

"What does _ mean?" Harry asked, trying to mirror the unfamiliar sign back to Gemma.

"S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E-S" or "H-A-R-D" she wrote out on his palm and then made the sign again so that he'd remember it. He repeated it back to her and she guided his hands through the motions until he got the pronunciation right.

"Yeah—he always needs more time to learn, but he does work hard at it. Thank you for teaching him. He told you about his mum?" Harry asked.

"Yes, tomorrow he'll take me to meet her—do you want to go? We're going to try to talk with her."

"Yeah, sure. When are you going?" Harry asked.

"After dinner," Gemma said.

Harry loved that he was understanding more signs as well as being able to use them; it was so much easier to talk.

"I suppose I should ask Healer Jordan if I can go… since that reporter was hanging around St. Mungo's. I would like to be there if Neville's able to talk to his mum."

Gemma made a soothing motion on his arm and he lifted his chin so she could see his small smile.

Harry heard Arig's crutches as he left the toilet.

"Have you seen Aminah," he asked Gemma.

"No," she answered. "She looked sad when I saw her. I'm worried about her."

"Yeah, me, too."

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

Harry stayed up as late as he could working on learning the braille contractions and listening for Aminah to return to the room. Tony had come in at one point and it was clear that the other Montmorency roommates were also waiting for Aminah.

"Oi! What am I? Boiled bowtruckles?" Tony grumped as he stomped off to his bed.

Luckily, Arig was able to soothe Tony's ruffled feathers by offering to share the latest issue of Seeker Weekly.

Harry finally got into bed, but he laid awake for a long time wondering if Aminah had been sent off to America without a chance to say good-bye to everyone. It felt like everyone was leaving him… one by one.

He tossed in his bed—trying to make his pillow more comfortable while chiding himself. He didn't even feel that close to Aminah. Of all his roommates, she felt the most distant… the one he didn't know as well. He mulled that over … he'd been with her in the most lessons and had even had some hard conversations… but she seemed to always be holding back… afraid to open up. She kind of reminded him of … himself.

He finally slipped into a fitful sleep, littered with dreams that left an acrid taste in his mouth.

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

The next morning, Harry awoke to the usual chiming and stumbled to the panel to turn off the alarm while his roommates groaned. He listened for Aminah's groan, but didn't hear it. She often slept through the alarm.

After he'd had his shower and was a little more alert, it occurred to him that he could cast the revealing charm and he was relieved to find that she was sleeping in her bed.

She hasn't gone to Ilivermorny.

He was looking forward to the swimming lessons, even if he was a bit apprehensive. Mei had said something about Aminah needing them, too—so maybe he wasn't the only one at the Center who'd never learned how to swim.

"Ready to head to breakfast?" Gemma signed under his hands.

"Wait for me!" Mei shouted and Harry heard the quiet breezy noises of a levitating chair.

"Is this your new chair, then?" he asked.

"Yes, how do you like it?" she asked, her voice up higher than usual and spinning around as if she were performing a pirouette.

Gemma clapped.

"Tell me what it looks like," Harry asked.

"That's one of the great things about it—it is nearly invisible right now. I can change what it looks like depending on how I'm feeling. It can be a comfy armchair or a ladder back wooden kitchen chair. Pretty much whatever I envision, I can make it look and feel like that. Right now it is just made of water. That's why you like it so much, right? Gemma?"

Gemma clapped again—clearly delighted.

"You're tall, Mei," Harry said.

"My tail makes me taller than I was when I had legs," Mei said.

"How do you make it move? It doesn't have wheels, right?"

"It's like a broom—same concept, different form. I can lean forward to move forward, lean to the side to turn, I can even move up in the air like I'm on a broom, though it doesn't go as high as a broom."

"What happens if you're just reaching for something and you don't want the chair to move?" Harry asked.

"Yeah—you have to think about those kinds of things… some of it is intention, like the broom and your wand. It takes a little bit to get used to… but I'm getting the hang of it. Come on—let's go! I'm starving!" Mei zoomed ahead of them and through the door.

Gemma tapped Harry's hand for sighted guide and then started skipping after Mei. Harry stumbled as he tried to keep up with her jerky movements. She stopped and made a laughing sign across the back of his hand on her arm, then she squeezed it joyfully.

"Sorry!" she signed emphatically against his chest and started walking at a more normal pace.

Harry smiled, enjoying how she continued to laugh silently while they were walking down the corridor—her body shaking with giggles.

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

Harry was starting to get a bit worried when he realized that it was nearly time for class to begin and he hadn't heard Aminah join the group. She hadn't been in the dining room either, though Arig reported that she was up and seemed to be fine.

Today they were in the O&M room, but instead of their usual room in the gym where they worked on stretching, balance, and strengthening their core, they were at an indoor swimming pool… and even though it sounded like the Leisure Center near Privet Drive with an echoey space and voices bouncing all sorts of surfaces, it didn't smell like chlorine and Harry was relieved.

The light was soft in this space—just enough so that he knew that there was light—but nothing that pierced him. It was soothing. The stone floor was uneven and littered with puddles coated in a silty mud that squished between his toes when he stepped in them. He kept stumbling into little holes in the floor and stubbing his toes on uneven rocks.

The locker rooms had provided swimming trunks instead of the usual joggers and Harry tugged at his nervously—reassuring himself that he'd put them on with the right side out. He was remembering the mortifying moment from earlier in the training when he'd been late to class and changed quickly into the joggers provided in the locker room and when he rushed out to join the others, Arig had pulled him aside to tell him quietly that he had his joggers on inside out.

He supposed it could have been worse. At least here at the Center everyone had moments like that and they were understanding. Even when they teased, it was to break the tension—to make it not seem so bad. He cringed at the thought of showing up in the Great Hall one morning with his school robes on inside out or hat on backward.

Malfoy would never let me forget it. At least I don't have to see Parkinson's smug and simpering expressions anymore.

He folded his arms across his naked chest, his staff enclosed in his arms, as he waited by the side of the pool wishing he had thought to bring a towel with him—goose pimples puckering his skin. He shifted from foot to foot, slightly splashing water in a small puddle and wiggling his toes.

The air was humid and cool—though he could feel a warmth rising from the floor and the pool— and smelled faintly of sulfur. The way voices bounced off the walls made him think that he was in a gigantic cave and he finally squeezed his staff to get a description of the space. He was surprised to find that it was a big cave with organically shaped pools of various depths and stalagmites and stalactites emerging from the ceiling and floor. He was glad he thought to ask for a description—he would have been really confused if he'd run into a stalagmite or hit his head on a stalactite.

For some reason, he was expecting a muggle Leisure Center that brought with it the ache of watching Dudley play in the water while he was forced to sit next to a cranky Aunt Petunia who scowled at him every time he fidgeted.

He was glad when Gemma hopped in the puddle and splashed water on his legs in greeting—her small hands under his hands gleefully telling him how delighted she was to start the morning swimming.

"Has Aminah arrived yet?" Harry asked Gemma.

"No, but I saw her eating when I went back to the dining hall—I left my jotter. She was in a hurry and so was I, so I said 'hi' and rushed off. Aminah doesn't speak much protactile yet," Gemma explained.

Peter and his interpreter, Gaius, joined them and the three of them spent a little bit of time teaching Harry the protactile signs they might use while they were discussing swimming.

Harry turned his head when he heard the familiar tapping of a staff… he didn't hear shoes, too, so he guessed that it was Aminah as he could hear Fitz talking with Adam a few yards away. He excused himself and walked toward the sound, avoiding a stalagmite in his path.

"Aminah?" he asked.

"Oh, hi, Harry."

"Everything all right?"

Aminah let out a big sigh.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry… just since you left our lesson… I hadn't seen you and I thought maybe something happened. That sounds like prying. Sorry. I…"

"It's okay, Harry. I just don't want to talk about it now. I need to try to focus on the lesson… okay? It's really sweet that you're worried about me. I'm okay," Aminah said.

Harry felt his ears growing hot… something about her tone made him feel as if he'd been dismissed like a little kid.

He stretched his hand out and found the stalagmite that his staff had described as he neared Aminah. He recoiled a bit when he realized that it was wet with a cool, slippery surface that covered bubbled shapes. He rubbed his fingers together wondering what was in the water.

"Um. Okay. Yeah. That's fine. Hey… Gemma, Peter, and Gaius are over here—talking, if you want to join us…" Harry invited, cocking an ear in their direction to see if he could hear them through the echoes of other conversations.

"No, thanks. I just want to be by myself. Thanks, though," Aminah said.

"Oh, okay," Harry said. "But watch out—this place has stalagmites and stalactites all over the place."

"Oh, wow—really? Thanks—I will."

"Class, come on over here to the pool—I'm going to assess where you are in your swimming ability and then I'll group you for lessons and we'll work on acquiring the skills you need to become strong swimmers," Ms. Midgeon explained.

The conversations that had been happening on the fringe of the pools ceased.

"Yes, that's right. Go ahead and enter the large pool—I'll ask you to move to other pools as I figure out what lessons you need. There are steps and a railing over here if you'd like a more gradual entry to the pool," Ms. Midgeon said as she tapped something metal with her crutch that echoed through the cavern.

Gemma had offered Harry her arm. He slipped his glasses into his staff, then collapsed it and stuck it into his pocket and then walked over to the steps with her. She placed his hand on the railing and he eased into the warm water.

"Wow—this is like a hot tub!" he exclaimed.

Gemma tapped yes on his arm.

He held onto the edge of the pool even though the water wasn't over his head—he bounced off the floor—it had a deep layer of the same mud, but underneath it was smooth stone. He listened to his classmates around him—splashing and reveling in the warm water—their voices reverberating off the stone walls.

"Raise your hands if you feel comfortable swimming the length of this pool," Ms. Midgeon asked.

Harry kept his hands firmly by his side. He didn't even know how big the pool was—well, that wasn't completely true—he had a sense of it from the echoes—it seemed really large.

"How big is the pool?" he asked Gemma who had joined him on the wall.

She answered him, but he had no idea what she said… he guessed that she'd signed measurements that he just didn't know.

"I have no idea what that means," he said to her and her laughter on his back tickled.

He pulled out his staff and used it to get some idea of the space he was floating in. He could hear a faint bell ringing and feel a vibration through the water.

"Okay, Harry, Aminah, Peter, and Fitz—we've strung some rope to mark the lanes—they have charmed bubbles attached at regular intervals to make them float—they should help you swim in a straight line and avoid running into the sides of the pool which are not straight. You'll also notice that there is a bell ringing and vibrating at the other end of the pool—and that is there so that you know when you've reached the wall. Adam and Fitz—go ahead and start swimming in lanes one and two. The rest of you wait—and I'll tell you when it is your turn."

"Ms. Midgeon—I don't actually know how to swim," Aminah said.

"Um, me, neither," Harry added.

"That's fine—you don't need to swim the length of the pool—but I do want to see what you can do. Don't worry—I won't let you drown. I imagine you can manage a little in the water—you've been swimming before?"

"Yes, a little," Aminah said. "But I can't swim across a pool."

"No, not really," Harry said as his face grew hot, remembering Mei dragging him out through the Egress in their tank to the South Sea.

Tony and Arig were next, then Gemma and Peter and from what Harry could tell, they were all competent swimmers—even Tony who was still adjusting to his new arms seemed to move through the water pretty easily. He and Arig were joking when the came back to the rest of the group about whether or not Arig would be able to beat Tony when he was finally able to get a magical leg.

"You know they make prosthetics with flipper attachments!" Arig informed Tony.

"Well then, I'll get some, too and we can challenge Mei to a race!"

While Aminah and Harry (they seemed to be the only ones who hadn't learned how to swim) were waiting for the next groups to swim, Ms. Midgeon asked them to work on hanging onto the side of the pool and kicking with their legs held out behind them straight and to try not to bend their knees—to kick from their hips. The ledge was made from a smooth, rounded rock that was a little hard to hold onto.

Others also received instructions on aspects of their swimming that they could work on while they waited their turn and so while Harry hung onto the edge of the pool he could hear the others splashing around him, performing the exercises that Ms. Midgeon had assigned them. His legs were starting to burn from the excursion and he could hear Aminah struggling to keep up a steady pace as well when Ms. Midgeon came back, her magical leg making a dull thudding noise as it hit the stone floor.

"That's looking good—can you feel the difference when you're kicking with your whole leg and not just from your knee?" Ms. Midgeon asked as she removed her prosthetic leg and slid into the water next to them.

"Yeah, it feels more forceful, and it's not so exhausting, too," breathed Aminah.

"That's right—you're using your body more efficiently to move through the water with that movement," Ms. Midgeon said. "Before I get Gordon and Shannon started, I'm going to take a moment to show you one of the arm strokes we're going to practice today. I'll move your arms through the motion, okay? You first, Harry."

Ms. Midgeon asked him to face her and relax, then she took his arms by the wrist and moved his hands together and forward from the center of his chest, then had him pivot his wrists so his palms were facing out and make his hands like paddles and push the water away from him in an arc. It reminded him of how Gemma showed him how to sign.

"This is kind of like that sun salutation pose you have us do," Harry said.

"Yes, that's right… except that instead of pushing through air, you're pushing through water."

She took Aminah through the stroke and then went back over to the lanes where she was watching the older residents swim the length of the pool.

Ms. Midgeon grouped the students by their abilities and then had the groups move to other pools and went from group to group giving them tips on how to move through the water more effectively. Harry and Aminah were joined by Gordon who was grumpier than usual—it seemed that he was expecting that moving through water would provide the kind of resistance he needed to not float away. But instead, he had to add extra weights and he complained of feeling like a beach ball that kept bouncing to the surface of the water.

"Hey, but that means you can't drown, right? Because you can't stay underwater," Harry said.

"Pointless, trying to learn how to swim when I can't stay underwater. Time-wasting Hodags!" Gordon grumped, apparently he didn't see not drowning as the advantage that Harry thought it was.

Harry heard bubbles coming from Aminah's direction and guessed that she'd tried to hide her giggles underwater—either that or she was farting and he thought that was unlikely—though, with the persistent sulfur odor, no one would know.

When Ms. Midgeon came back to their group, she pulled Gordon over to a deeper part of the pool to help him work on using his weights to travel underwater.

Harry and Aminah were practicing treading water by themselves.

"Harry, I'm sorry," Aminah said.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry for pushing you away earlier. You were just being nice and I was kind of rude," Aminah said. "I'm just… I just got some… well, I learned some things yesterday that…"

"It's okay, Aminah. You don't have to tell me," Harry said.

"I know. You've been really kind and patient. I feel like I should tell you. And we're in all these lessons together," she sighed.

"Yeah."

"Well, I received an owl yesterday from my father. The Center has been intercepting the letters from him and reading them at my request because some of them have been really out there. Like nutters. But this one… this one was different… and they thought I should read it," she paused, taking in a deep breath. She had stopped treading water and went over to hang on the side of the pool. Harry followed her.

"My father… he apologized," she said and it sounded like it hurt to say the words.

"Yeah?"

"It's the first time that he said he was sorry… for hurting me. And he explained why he felt he had to do it. And, gah! I guess that's the part I'm still struggling with," she said. "Because what… what he did to me… was even worse than… what his family… did to him."

"He had to do it?" The question burst from him before he had a chance to consider it and he reached for her arm on the ledge next to him.

"Yeah. He apologized and explained why he had to do it."

"That's not really an apology, then," Harry said.

"I know," Aminah said and then she half-sobbed and slipped underwater, her arm gliding from underneath his hand and came up again and wiped the water from her face.

Harry heard Ms. Midgeon's crutches crunching over the stone floor, talking to Adam and Fitz who were in a pool not far from them.

"Gah. I need to stop thinking about this… but it's all I can think about. I mean… why would he do this to me?"

Ms. Midgeon was walking their way again and they went back to treading water.

"Why did he say he did it?" Harry asked after Ms. Midgeon moved on to another group after giving them more instruction on how to scissor their legs to keep their heads above the water while they treaded water.

"He said it was to protect me… from the evil eye," Aminah said. "My dad—he's kind of torn between two worlds… his parents were not magical… he was muggleborn and they thought that he was possessed. They had an Imam who tried to exorcise him… and it nearly killed him. In fact, they left him for dead."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah. But I guess they did a number on him before that happened… because there was still part of him that believed that his magic was evil and something that he should try to get rid of."

"They kind of sound like my relatives…"

"Yeah, you've said stuff in Council that reminds me of my dad's biological family. Like when you told us about how they called you 'freak.' It was like that for my dad, too. After he was nearly killed because of his magic, he was adopted by a magical family that loved him for who he was… they even moved from Pakistan to the United Kingdom to help him get away from the persecution…"

"Wow—that's a big thing to do."

"Yeah and now my mum wants us to move to America to get away from him... The hard thing is that it seemed like he'd somehow survived it all and was going to be okay. He met my mom, they fell in love, and they got married. Her family was also from Pakistan, but they'd been here longer. And they were an old wizarding family. They accepted my father even though he was muggleborn."

"Yeah? I guess that doesn't always happen…" Harry said, paddling back to the ledge to hang on a bit—he was getting tired. Aminah joined him—their elbows touching as they clung to the side.

"But something happened… after I was born… my dad got really ill, and he thought it was a punishment from God… for being magical. And he started returning to his family's faith and then when he got better, he believed that it was because he had denounced magic. He thought I should do the same thing… but this is all I've ever known. I was raised with the old beliefs… the magic that was part of Pakistan long before Islam came… the jinn and the demons, the fairies and the ghouls. It is what my mother taught me, what her mother taught her. And when I wouldn't deny my magic, he thought that blinding me would mean that I couldn't use it… that I would be protected from the evil eye that had possessed my soul. He thought it was a small price to pay for saving my soul."

"You sound really understanding toward someone who … really hurt you," Harry said.

"He's my father…" Aminah said. "And I know he did it because he loves me… I think, sometimes, that this would be easier if I thought he hated me."