Harry decided he hated weddings.

He hated them because they meant balls . . . and balls meant dates.

He had listened patiently, while Fleur gushed that morning . . .

"And ze ceremony will be 'eld at 'Ogwart's, ve 'alf decided because, it ees where I first set eyes on my Bill!" She snuggled up closer (if it were possible) to Bill and giggled a little.

Bill smiled warmly but then his features clouded, "And it's the only safe place we can think of considering our guest list." He looked pointedly at the Order members around the room finally settling on Harry as well. Harry felt a rush of guilt, but shook it off and listened as the continued to explain things to Mrs. Weasley.

"We already cleared it with McGonagall and she said we could use the great hall for the Reception."

Fleur's eyes were getting misty, "It will be magnificent! The 'all veel be decorated like a grand palace and the dancing . . ."

She drifted off there and Harry felt his stomach lurch.

"And of course ve vill have Miranda bless us with a song?"

Miranda looked up from her notebook, "Of course . . . If I ever decide on a song!" she gave an exasperated sigh, "How do you feel about 'I Can Hear the Bells' from Hairspray?" She said this a little mischievously.

She got blank looks all around except for Hermione who was raising an eye-brow and smirking.

"Ok I need to start playing my iHome around here."

Fleur smiled warmly, "I'm sure you will choose something lovely ma Cheri." The two had developed a special bond since Fleur saw in Miranda the potential of a younger version of herself.

Ron snorted.

Now Harry had to find a date (and not look like a fool) to the ball along with saving the Wizarding world, help Miranda set up Ron and Hermione, AND try and break up whatever was going on with Ginny and Malfoy. Why was it always him?

His first choice was obviously Ginny because, well he loved her right? He had to keep telling himself that. Lately things had been rather strange between them. It seemed as though they no longer had anything to talk about.

But she was already being escorted by Malfoy.

But what really got him stressed was what Bill told him next . . .

"Oh, and Harry? Minerva gave me an assignment for you . . ."

Harry had leaned forward eagerly, finally this imprisonment of uselessness would set him free! (Wow . . . He had been hanging out with the blonde orator for a little too long.)

"Now that you're seventeen and no longer living at Privet Drive, in order to make sure your relatives are safe you have to spend a couple days with them to make sure the charms are still strong."

He said this in a cool official voice that was clearly a muted imitation of the new head Mistress.

Harry felt his insides go into convulsions of disgust at the thought of going back to the Dursley's.

Before he could respond Hermione had chimed in, "When do we leave?"

Harry looked at her as though she had suddenly grown wings.

Ron nodded and burst forth, "Yeah, Harry; didn't we say we were with you no matter how bad the mission?"

Harry stared in further confusion.

"Can I come?" chirped the familiar voice from her chair.

That was it!

"I can't ask you to come to the Dursley's! It's bad enough I have to go, I can't let them eat you alive!"

"These are the anal ones who hate magic right?" Miranda quickly asked Hermione in an audible whisper. Hermione nodded. "Then I'm good."

Harry had to smirk at the thought of Miranda, with her lovable quirks and eccentricities, being 'good' in the home of his proudly 'normal' Aunt and Uncle.

"Look, I appreciate that you guys want to help but you two have already given up too much for me . . . this would tip the scales way too far, and we already were uneven." He looked over at Miranda, his dear naïve little friend, "And you have no clue what you'd be getting yourself into!"

Miranda stared at Harry thoughtfully for a moment, "I can handle it Potter;" She grinned; "Besides I've been curious about these people. Why anyone would dislike you is inconceivable to me!"

Harry forced himself not to blush or let her smile cause that weird trembling sensation.

So now Harry was preparing to leave for a place he hated with three people he cared about. Yay.

Miranda and Hermione, rushed down stairs each carrying a small over night bag and a large Tupperware. The two had spent the entire morning in the kitchen after Miranda had a 'revelation' that cookies relieve tense atmospheres.

"We're ready! Let's go venture into the Lion's Den!" Miranda piped enthusiastically.

Harry smirked; little did she know how right she was.

Hermione put an arm around Miranda and apparated out. Harry and Ron followed.

Soon they were all staring at the perfectly manicured façade of Number 4 Privet Drive.

Harry took a deep breath and motioned for everyone to follow.

When he reached the door he raised a trembling hand in a tight fist. He hesitated. Knocking on this door would lead his best friends and his newly discovered friend into the hands of the scum-coated, anti-social, creatures he called relatives (yeah . . . definitely too much time with Miranda)

His hand was still poised over the door when he heard a strange ringing within the house.

Ding-dung!

It took him a second to realize it was the door bell and that Miranda's petite hand had reached past him to impatiently press the button.

"It's not going to swallow you whole Harry!" she muttered.

Harry panicked, the footsteps were coming closer and closer until finally . . .

"What are you doing here boy!"

Harry wanted to crawl under the sofa and die.

Somehow Harry had grown so incredibly accustomed to not being around his relatives that it seemed that there very presence made his skin crawl.

Hermione and Miranda didn't seem to share this. Or if they did it was masterfully concealed (Harry reminded himself that Miranda was an actress.) Hermione was attempting polite conversation and Miranda was simply sitting and smiling politely while nibbling on one of the cookies she'd brought.

The three Dursleys were sitting cramped together on the couch looking both frightened and fierce.

Hermione smiled weakly and tried another conversation starter, "So . . . I'm sure you must be surprised to see Harry again so unexpectedly."

It was weak but it did get a reaction.

"You could say that." Uncle Vernon snorted.

Out of nowhere, her favorite subject matter, Miranda piped, "I find this family quite interesting. What is the cause of this revulsion? When did this start? What event triggered it? I want you to delve here."

"Miranda," Hermione whispered urgently, "Not . . . a good . . . time!"

Miranda looked resilient, "How else are they going to heal?"

"Pardon me." Petunia said snidely, "But there is nothing to heal from. We are perfectly normal."

Miranda raised an eyebrow and continued, "Uh . . . no. Look I have some relatives I don't prefer, but that doesn't mean I lock them in a cupboard for half their childhood and establish a clear favorite in the household hierarchy!" She was sitting slightly tense in her chair and the last part of the sentence dripped in venom.

Uncle Vernon stood up to shield Petunia and Dudley from Miranda's wrath.

Now it was Miranda's turn to snort, "I'm not going to curse you or anything; one: I can't I am not a witch. Two: I wouldn't if I could because I'm not that intense and I think you'll find most of the Wizarding world isn't like that either; I know these three aren't."

Harry wasn't quite sure how this had escalated this far so quickly but he had a feeling the brilliant passionate Miranda he saw at the Leaky Cauldron was about to get some air.

"What made you this way? What gave you this irrational fear of anything that doesn't fit in this little bubble of logic and normality? What deep hostilities are being lashed out on Harry? It couldn't be something Harry did."

Petunia was fuming, "What made me this way? I'll tell you what made me this way! My perfect sister and her freakish ways! That's what made me this way! She left me! She went off to that school and left me so she could become a freak! And no one else saw it! They all just saw lovely Lily! Talented Lily! Perfect Lily!"

Petunia collapsed into tears on the sofa. Everyone stared; Ron, who had remained silent throughout most of the visit, stared at Miranda and said an approximation of what everyone was thinking.

"Bloody Hell!"

The rest of the evening was a blur of tense silence. Miranda had remained silent after Petunia's outburst. Harry watched her in quiet awe. She seemed thoughtful and angry at the same time.

Finally it was prudent for them all to go to bed. Miraculously the Dursleys had let them stay when it was verified that they still needed to empower the protective charms.

They all walked mutely up to Harry's old room, which they would all be sharing. (Petunia wouldn't hear of any of them in her guest room.)

As soon as the door was shut Harry turned and found himself in a warm embrace. He looked down to see Miranda's golden hair facing him.

Harry awkwardly returned the hug before she pulled away.

Miranda blushed a bit. "I just felt like you needed one of those."

Harry smiled, "I did . . . thank you."

Miranda nodded and smiled back.

An hour after Harry fell asleep he was awoken by a soft light from another area of the floor they were all sleeping on (no one felt comfortable taking the bed.).

He crawled on over and discovered Miranda looking down at a book, holding a flash light.

She heard him approaching and glanced up quickly. Harry was quick to spot the tears flowing silently down her cheeks. She quickly moved to wipe them away and acknowledged him.

"Hey Harry. I was just . . . looking at some pictures." This made her voice sound husky and Harry felt the usual immediate concern.

She shifted and patted the ground beside her. Harry accepted the invitation and looked down at the book in her hands.

Harry saw it was really a scrap book of some sort it was open to a picture of a happy smiling family in front of a glorious fairy tale castle.

"That's all of us at Disney World last Thanksgiving." She sounded wistful.

Harry studied the six happy looking people in the photograph. There was an older couple; Harry assumed were Miranda's parents and four, for lack of a better word, kids. He quickly found Miranda but was rather surprised that it was her. The girl in the photo didn't have glasses, had an un-flatteringly round face and teeth linked with braces. She also hadn't seemed to grow into her nose yet.

"You look so different!" Harry blurted without thinking, "I mean, uh . . . no glasses and . . ."

He trailed off as Miranda started laughing quietly, "I like to think of this as my awkward phase." She said ruefully.

She turned the page and there was a photo of each of the 'kids'.

"I didn't think you had siblings" Harry whispered.

Miranda grinned, "Youngest of four." Her gaze rested on a tall statuesque girl with an athletic build and a stunning face. She pointed, "And that's my 'Lily'"

Harry looked at her sharply and then followed where she pointed. Under the photograph was a caption.

Erica Anne Harris at MGM

"My perfect sister."

Harry felt a clenching in his stomach. He glanced back up to Miranda's face petrified of the bitterness that would mirror his Aunt's.

It wasn't there. Instead there was a look of peaceful affection in her eyes as she looked at the photo.

"She's beautiful, organized, efficient, strong, and loved by all. Our choir director dotes on her high notes. When I entered high school and joined choir I knew that no matter how good I got Erica would always be considered better because she got there first." Harry cast a side long glance at Ron's sleeping form. Maybe he and Miranda had more in common than they all thought.

Miranda was still speaking, "All the boys love her. All the girls think she's cute, fun and perfect. In everything I do she's always there in the back of my head forcing me to make the comparison . . . and I love her. She's my best friend."

Harry stared at the change in vein.

Miranda looked up and smiled, "She can always make me laugh. Even when we're fighting it always ends in a joke or a hug." She laughed at this.

Turning a few more pages she paused at a picture the two sisters hugging and grinning at the camera and another of them making funny faces.

"I'm sorry I let things escalate that far with your Aunt today Harry. But there's just something unconditional about loving your sisters. You don't let jealousy get in the way of that. I guess the reason I got so angry is because I didn't want to see myself in the situation. I didn't want to think about letting whatever envy I hold for Erica to get that . . . out of control."

She set her jaw at this, resolute, "I won't let it get that far."

Harry head was spinning. He didn't know why Miranda felt a need to tell him this, but he was glad she had.

"Miranda?" Harry began tentatively, "I don't think you have any reason to make comparisons or even feel insecure at all." He reached out and took her hand, "You're beautiful when you're just being you."

Miranda looked up, startled. Her eyes were sparkling with un shed tears.

"Thank you Harry."

They sat there like that for a few more minutes. Holding hands while Miranda every now and then turned a page in her book.

"Miranda?''

"Yes Harry?"

"Will you go to Bill and Fleur's reception with me?"