A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter! We are getting close to the end of term now... but we may be in for an extra special surprise during the summer break! Stay tuned...

Twenty minutes later, when everyone had returned to their respective common rooms for the evening. Harry was on cloud nine, sitting and chatting with his friends Ana, Nova, Kellen, Hermione, and Daphne.

Nova, who had missed the entire event, was awestruck when she heard how Harry knocked out Replogle when he forced Daphne out on the dance floor.

"Oh, Harry, I wish I was there to see that," Nova muttered with a hint of regret in her voice. "That git sure had it coming, didn't he?"

Daphne clutched Harry's arm. "I wish I could take him back with me, he makes me feel safe."

At that moment, Professor Goode and Professor McGonagall made their way up to the Horned Serpent tower. They knocked on the door and asked to see Harry.

"Hello, Professors," Harry replied. "Do you want to see my friends as well, or just me?"

"Just you, if you don't mind," replied Professor McGonagall.

"And you're not in any sort of trouble - I promise," assured Professor Goode. "Could you step out for just a moment please? This won't take long... Professor McGonagall has something for you, as well."

Harry turned to his friends. "Could you all excuse me for just a moment? I'll be just outside the common room. Shouldn't be long."

Ana tapped Harry's hand and smiled at him. "We understand, Harry. We'll see you in a few minutes, mmkay?"

"Thanks," Harry replied with a smirk. "I'll see you shortly." He stepped outside to meet with the two professors.

Professor McGonagall began. "I apologize for taking you away from your friends, Harry, but I wanted to let you know that you were one of the primary reasons why I came to visit Ilvermorny. I see that you are well-cared for by both friends and faculty, and that you have the courage of a lion. What I witnessed on the dance floor earlier was an act of heroism - you took matters into your own hands, and you defended one of my students like she was your own housemate. I promise you that Miss Greengrass is beyond grateful for your deed. I know that you would like to keep in touch with both her and Miss Granger..."

Professor Goode continued. "So, Professor McGonagall and myself have allowed you to write to them, but as an extra layer of security, you will give me the parchment so I can ensure that the content is appropriately secured. I will then forward the notes to Professor McGonagall in Scotland, and she will verify the notes' integrity, before she personally delivers the notes to Miss Granger and Miss Greengrass; in return, your friends will do the same when they write you. We are working on devising a spell which will allow these letters to be transmitted without the use of owls - this may take some time to perfect - but we also know you, Mister Grimseth, Miss Granger, and Miss Greengrass all seem to be quite interested in maintaining friendships, so we will do our best to make that happen. And as Miss Granger is no maj-born, we see no reason why traditional nonmagical mail or phone calls would be impossible, either. It may be more difficult to mail Miss Greengrass nonmagically, but we will see what we can come up with before end of term. If we have any reason to believe that your identity, or the safety of either of our institutions are compromised, we will let you know as soon as humanly possible."

Professor McGonagall grinned. "On another note, I have something that belonged to your father that you might be quite interested in." She reached inside her robe, and produced a rather worn-out looking broomstick.

"This was your father's broom - he was a star seeker for Gryffindor before you were born. I think it would be most appropriate if you had this... I don't think it's air-worthy, but I know he'd want you to have it as a keepsake." She then chuckled. "I hear you've made quite a name for yourself as a Horned Serpent seeker as well. Both of your parents would be exceedingly proud of you. And truth be told... I think they'd rather you be here than back at Hogwarts... you'd be the Boy-Who-Lived there, - the centre of unwanted attention. Here, you can just be Harry Potter."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," Harry gasped as he accepted the old broomstick. "This is something I'll always treasure."

"It's my pleasure, young man," trilled the professor. "I will be seeing you one more time tomorrow before we leave, but I just wanted to spend a few minutes with you privately as I feel that I've ignored you more than I should have... your friend Mister Grimseth is exceptionally talented, but you're a tremendous student in your own right... you have no need to ride his coattails as I know that you'll be the charismatic leader your father was. He was a bit of a ne'er-do-well as an underclassman, yes... but make no mistake - he went from a hooligan to a fearless leader in a few short years."

"Nova's father, Roger Woodward was sort of a mentor to him... I'm sure you remember Mister Woodward," Harry said softly. "I met him at Thanksgiving last year... he was so fun to be with. He had all sorts of really neat stories about both my parents. With your help, he even gave me some of their personal effects."

Professor McGonagall smiled. "Oh, Mister Woodward was a bit of a prankster back in the day... but like your father, he grew up to become a prefect and served as a terrific role model for your father." Her smile broadened. "And he's a terrific father... I remember seeing November as a wee lass, maybe six or seven years old, she was always his little 'pixie dust', the apple of his eye. I was really hoping to have the opportunity to teach her myself, but unfortunately her parents separated less than a year before she was to attend Hogwarts..."

"Would you like to see Nova? She's sitting with us in the common room. I'm sure she'd be delighted to spend a minute with you, it'd do both of you some good, I think," offered Harry.

"If you wouldn't mind," chuckled Professor McGonagall. "Oh, I'll have a little something for you and Mister Grimseth in the morning... a little something from Hogwarts that I'd like for both of you to have. Please remind me before we leave."

"Thanks again," Harry said. "I'll go fetch Nova. Like I said, I'm sure she'd want to see you for a few minutes." He went back inside the common room and grabbed Nova.

"Hey Nova, Professor McGonagall's here... she'd like to talk with you for a minute. Y'know, just to catch up and stuff," he said.

Nova nodded. "Hold my spot, Harry. I won't be long." She got up and left the common room where she and Professor McGonagall embraced and spent a few minutes catching up.

Meanwhile, Harry proudly showed off his father's old broomstick to his other friends. "This... belonged to my father. He was a seeker for Gryffindor quite a few years ago, and Professor McGonagall thought I should have it. Isn't it awesome?"

"That's special, Harry," Ana murmured. "It looks a bit different than yours... I wouldn't try to fly it now..."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, Ana," Harry replied. "It's a family heirloom of sorts now..."

"I wish you could see the trophy room at Hogwarts, Harry," Hermione said. "Your dad's name is on a few plaques..."

"I wish I could see it too," sighed Harry. "Oh! Professor McGonagall and Professor Goode gave me some good news about you, and Daphne too!"

"What's that, Harry?" replied Daphne.

"Well, they said that I can write to you two, but for security purposes, I have to give my notes directly to Professor Goode, who will secure the parchment, then she'll forward it to Professor McGonagall, who will verify the security of the letter, and she'll deliver them to you two personally. And the process would be the opposite when you write to me."

"Well, that's not too inconvenient for us," said Hermione. "We really do want to keep in touch with you, because you really are a sweet boy... you were a very pleasant surprise for sure."

Harry started getting a little excited. "And since you're no maj-born, we can write to your parents during the summer and the holidays, and we can call each other on the telephone!"

Hermione squealed slightly. "That would be terrific, Harry! Now, you live at the same place as Kellen, so that'll be nice when I send Christmas cards and birthday gifts. Here, I'll write down my parents' address and phone number for you... erm, do you have a quill and some parchment I can borrow?

"I have some in my room," Harry said. "I'll be right back with it."

"Oh, bring some for me too," Ana said. She turned to Hermione. "Would you like my address and telephone number as well? You've been very sweet to both Kellen and Harry... anyone that treats them that kindly is a friend in my book."

"That would be awesome," Hermione replied. "Now Daphne is a pureblood, meaning that she's not used to Muggle, or no-maj methods of communication... she might be a bit more difficult to communicate with outside of school."

"We'll figure something out," Daphne said with a grin. "I'll talk to Professor Snape or Professor McGonagall when we return to Hogwarts... they both have my back."

A minute or so later, Harry returned with a few pieces of parchment, some quills, and some ink. He started writing his foster parents' address and telephone number and handed them to Ana and Hermione.

"As I was telling Ana, Hermione, and Kellen, don't worry about me," Daphne told Harry. "I'm not really familiar with your 'telephones' or 'Muggle mail', but I'll talk to my house head or Professor McGonagall shortly after we return to Hogwarts... we'll figure out a way to communicate during the summer and the holidays. I really want to stay friends with you."

"I'd like to stay friends with you too, Daphne," Harry said with a grin. "We have a couple of months to figure that out at least, so we can still owl each other until then." He handed his address to Daphne. "Just in case," he added with a wink.

"Thank you, Harry," Daphne said. "I'd give you mine, but I don't think your postal service would know what to do with my address. It's especially difficult because I live in another country altogether."

Hermione wrote her address and phone number twice - once for Ana, and once for the boys. "Thank you so much," Harry replied as he accepted the parchments from his friends. "I'll keep these safe until the end of term."

"Thank you, Hermione," Ana said gratefully as she gave Hermione her own address and phone number. "I look forward to corresponding with you after the term ends."

The next morning was a very difficult good-bye for everybody - neither Daphne nor Hermione wanted to leave, but their week was up, and it was back to class at Hogwarts the following Monday.

After a tasty breakfast, Professor McGonagall gestured for Harry and Kellen to come to the faculty table, where she presented both of them red and gold scarves - the colors of Gryffindor.

"A little something for my little lions," she purred. "Wear them proudly - at least outside of class."

"Thank you, Professor," the boys replied gratefully.

When it was time for Professor McGonagall, Hermione, and Daphne to leave, there wasn't a single dry eye waiting outside. Both Hermione and Daphne shed several tears as they hugged all four of their new friends good-bye.

"I really enjoyed my week here, Kellen," Hermione said as she embraced her pen-pal tightly. "I'm really, really going to miss you. You're a terrific friend."

Kellen couldn't help but shed a couple of tears himself. "I'm going to miss you too, Hermione," he replied softly, trying to stifle a sob. "It was a real delight having you here. Last night was heavenly. I didn't want it to end."

Hermione grabbed Kellen by the collar of his shirt, drawing him close. She closed her eyes and she tenderly placed her lips over his, giving him a gentle kiss. "I will see you again sometime," she promised. "Please take care of Harry for me."

Kellen's cheeks turned deep pink. "You can count on it," he replied.

After everyone said their good-byes, Daphne, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall climbed into the CAB, and Harry, Kellen, Ana, and Nova all waved good-bye as they gradually disappeared into the horizon.