Story Title: Time, Interrupted

Chapter Title: Price

Author: Madm05

Rating: Strong PG-13/T

Warnings: Costly Regrets

Chapter Word Count: 5,436

Date: 21 June 2008

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everyone else from Potterverse belong to JKR.

Chapter Twenty Eight: Price

"Mum! Don't you love me anymore? Mum please! Please Mum? Oh please oh please oh please oh please!"

Hermione watched as Ron hugged his mother's left leg, begging shamelessly. So much for being mature, she thought with a sigh. Harry stood beside her, shaking his head, a small smile on his face. "This is getting to be embarrassing," she said quietly. Harry said nothing, but his smile widened. If she were honest with herself, it was rather amusing.

"Mum!" Ron continued to wail.

"Of for heaven's sake, Ronald, yes, you can stay the night if Headmaster Black agrees!"

Ron immediately launched himself at Sirius, latching on to the older man's leg. "Oh please oh please oh please oh—"

"You can stay, Ron," Sirius said, smirking. "It won't be a problem."

Mrs. Weasley sniffed. "Not wanting to spend Christmas Eve with his own family. I'm half ashamed."

Remus waved his hand dismissively. "It's perfectly alright, Mrs. Weasley. Ron just helped Santa deliver presents. I'm sure he's still quite excited about it, and would like to talk with Harry and Hermione. It really isn't a problem."

Mrs. Weasley huffed but did not argue. "Well, I suppose I should get back to Arthur. Poor man, he's watching the children all by himself and hasn't the heart to make them stop their tricks. Come here, Ronald. Give me a hug and a kiss goodbye."

"Mum!" Ron gasped, horrified. "No, not in front of my—" Mrs. Weasley pulled him to her kissed him before hugging him. They could hear Ron's muffled groan from his place in his mother's arms as Mrs. Weasley reminded him to be good, not keep Harry and Hermione up all night, respect the headmaster and his staff, take a bath and be sure to use the bathroom before going to sleep so he wouldn't wet the bed this time around. When she finally released him, Ron looked mortified.

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and shared a wince. While Hermione couldn't personally say anything about Harry, Hermione clearly recalled the time her own mother had loudly reminded her that it that time of the month again, and that she needed to pick up more feminine supplies—while the neighbours were over for dinner. Hermione completely understood Ron's agony, and gave him a sympathetic look.

Ron walked over to them, his face frighteningly pale and his ears alarmingly red. Hermione briefly considered trying to comfort him, but knew that such words would fall on deaf ears. Anything she said would only embarrass him further. Best to keep quiet, I think.

Harry didn't share in her discretion. He snickered as his friend approached. Ron looked like he wanted to die on the spot.

Hermione leapt to his defence. "Don't feel bad, Ron. Just the other day Uncle Sirius had to give Harry another bath because Harry forgot to wash all of the soap out of his hair." Harry stopped laughing.

Hermione had found that making Harry see parallels between himself and others was the best way to deal with him. From what she understood of him, Tom Riddle refused to see the similarities between himself and others. If she could make Harry see himself as being part of a group, she was sure it would help keep him grounded.

"Well," Remus said as he knelt down next to them. "Are you boys ready to get a bath?"

"Hermione's a girl!" Ron gasped. "She's a girl, not a boy!"

Remus chuckled. "Indeed, she is a girl. Hermione likes to get her baths in the morning though, and Harry likes to get his in the evening. I thought it would be the same for you, Ron."

Ron seemed to think about it. "Hermione won't be there?"

"No, I won't," Hermione interrupted, intending to set his mind at ease. "I will be in my room, reading." She shook her head a little. Life would be so much easier if Ron could just get over his fear of girls. It was getting on her nerves.

Ron looked notably relieved. "That's good."

Remus smiled and continued. "We're going to let you boys sleep in Hermione's room tonight. We figured the three of you would want to stay up and talk for a bit and rather than having you sneaking around, we've decided to just let you stay together." His smile softened. "The cots we've set up have all been spelled to protect you from any… stray… magic."

Harry and Ron didn't seem the least bit bothered by the idea of accidental magic, though, and merely nodded. With that, they went their separate ways. Hermione, clutching her hat and the cup within, left to change and get ready for bed, and the boys to get a bath. To her annoyance, there were several bathrooms in the house, so she wouldn't have to wait long before both of the boys were done, giving her less time to plan what to say.

She snuggled into her blankets and pulled out a book to read. Hogwarts, A History always warmed her heart and soothed her nerves. She stared at the words on the page, but was focused on what to say to Ron. Hermione wasn't sure how long she stared at the same page, but before she knew it, her door was opening and Harry and Ron walked in, lost in conversation.

"I heard Bill telling Charlie a joke in the summer, and I just remembered it," Ron was saying. "Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure," Harry said. "I like jokes."

"Okay," Ron nodded. "How many mice does it take to screw in a light bulb?" He asked.

"I don't know," Harry replied.

"Two. It's getting them inside the bulb that's the hard part," Ron said with a grin. The two boys burst out laughing. Hermione blushed crimson and raised her book to cover her face. How did they know about that?

"I don't get it," Harry said after he calmed.

"Me neither," Ron replied breathlessly. "But Bill and Charlie thought it was the funniest thing in the world."

Hermione felt a bit of relief at that, and lowered her book. "Ron? Maybe you shouldn't tell any more jokes that you hear your brothers say, especially if you don't know what they mean."

"Why?" Ron asked. "Do you know what it means? Can you explain it to us?"

"Yeah," Harry said leaning towards her as if to hear what she might say. "Can you explain it to us? We don't get it."

Hermione felt that the room was much hotter than normal. She shifted uncomfortably, her face red. She was sure she hadn't been that red since that time she had accidentally picked up a romance novel. As it was, Hermione really didn't want to explain about two mice screwing in a light bulb to her two, very young, male friends. "I don't get it either," she murmured. "But," Hermione said in a stronger voice. "That doesn't mean you should go around saying it. What if it's a really bad joke? One that could get you into trouble?"

Harry gave her a look that clearly said he knew that she knew exactly what that joke meant, but that he was going to let it pass. He always seemed to know when she was lying, or when she wasn't telling the whole truth. It was times like this one that she desperately wished she had been able to find more information on betrothal bonds. Alas, she books had long since been removed from the Black family library, and she certainly couldn't ask Remus or Sirius, lest she raise suspicion.

Ron, meanwhile, looked terrified. "I'll never talk again," he said solemnly.

Harry snorted mirthfully. "I don't think you can go for forever without talking."

"I can so, just you watch me. I won't say another word," Ron said firmly. "Hey, can I have a chocolate frog?"

"I don't have any," Harry replied. "Besides we have stuff to talk about."

"Right," Ron agreed. "Like why you two went off like you did. What was that about?"

Hermione drew in a deep breath and launched into the story. "There's a man, Ron, named Voldemort. Have you ever heard of him?" It was a silly question, but one she felt compelled to ask.

Ron, surprisingly, shook his head. "No, I haven't. Who is the Voldemort guy?"

Hermione started. She had fully expected him to tremble in fear and back away. It dawned on her that Ron probably had only known Voldemort as You Know Who, and had never heard his fashioned name. "He's an evil wizard," she replied. "His name was Tom Riddle, but he changed it to Voldemort.

"Anyways, he was defeated a long time ago, but he broke his soul into pieces and put them into some things," she explained, hoping she had simplified the situation sufficiently. "Because of that, he can't be killed until those things are destroyed. This," she pulled the cup out of her hat, "is one of those things. I have three more, but Harry and I still need to get another one. After that, we can destroy them and finally beat him."

Ron nodded in understanding. "So this Voldemort guy can't die until we get rid of all of the pieces of his soul. But who is Voldemort? You never said."

"He's a coward," Harry said viciously. "He's the one who killed my mum and dad, and tried to kill me too."

Ron's face turned dramatically white. "Y-you mean you're talking about You Know Who? B-b-but I…"

"Ron," Hermione interrupted softly. "If you say his name, you make him a man, and men can be killed. If you are so afraid of him that you refuse to say his name, you make him a god over you, and you can't defeat a god."

"And he's a coward Ron," Harry said, his voice tight, controlled. "He tried to kill me when I was a baby, so you know he's not very brave."

"And you said his name three times," Hermione added. "I'm very proud of you. I bet none of your brothers have ever been brave enough to say his name."

Their words seemed to soothe him. He was quiet for a long moment before he nodded sharply. "So what are we going to do about the last thing with his soul? We need to get it so we can beat V-Voldemort." He flinched and looked around as if expecting him to appear as if saying his name would summon him.

Hermione leaned back, satisfied. "I know where it is, but I don't know how we can get it. Plus Papa Remus and Uncle Sirius are really protective of us."

"We'll think of something," Harry said before yawning. "I'm tired."

"Me too," Ron added, stretching. Hermione shook her head, inwardly admiring the ability of the young to bounce back from anything. She'd just told Ron that she and Harry were out to save the world, and he was ready to sleep.

"Let's get some sleep then," Hermione said. "We'll figure it out later." She paused. "Let's not worry about it for now. It's Christmas tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ron said sleepily, laying down and pulling the blankets up to his chin. "I'll see you in th'mornin'…"

"Mmm," Harry agreed as he wriggled under his blankets.

Hermione looked at them for a moment before laying back herself and drifting off to sleep.

————

A scuffling sound coming from outside her door woke her. Hermione remained still, half hoping she would go back to sleep. It was a peaceful night, with the Dark Harry behaving himself in her dreams. He was throwing some sort of party.

The scuffling sounded again, this time accompanied by voices. Her door opened silently, and in slipped Remus and Sirius. "Careful Moony, you're going to drop them."

"I wouldn't be having such a rough time if someone would give me a little help!"

"But you do so well on your own. Oh alright, hold on…there. Better?"

"Much. Now, get a move on, these things will be hatching any minute now."

Hermione frowned. Hatching? Oh dear. What were those two up to now?

"Any idea what they are Moony?"

"No idea. It's all Dumbledore's doing. He said this one here is a miracle. Apparently, he was supposed to visit an old friend this Christmas, but cut his visit short so he could help us again. I guess he got back to his office and found the egg. From what I understand, if he hadn't been there to keep it warm enough, the egg would have died."

"Really? What about the other two?"

"I told you, Padfoot, I have no idea. All I know is that whatever hatches will know who they belong to immediately. From what I understand it's some sort of spell that summons a Companion, you know, the perfect Familiar. That's why he needed those things from each of the kids, so it would be personal. Do you have the tags? The one saying they're from Santa?"

"Somewhere…" Sirius murmured. "Here they are. There. That looks pretty good. Now what do we do?"

Hermione could almost hear Remus shrug. "Wait for them to hatch I suppose."

Silence.

"Hey, you want some pancakes? I'm hungry." With that, the door shut and the scuffling resumed as the two men walked away.

Hermione sat up and looked first at the clock, noting that it was not even six in the morning. Shaking her head and questioning the two men's sanity, she turned her attention to the gifts they had brought in. There, a few feet from her bed, was a basket filled with straw and three eggs.

Unable to stave off her curiosity, Hermione slipped out of her bed and made her way over to the basket. One of the eggs was very large and fragile looking. There were no marks to identify what animal it came from, to her disappointment. The next egg, much smaller, was speckled, but the pattern was not discernable. The final egg didn't seem to be a real egg. It was large and looked more like a white sphere, bearing a faint glow.

It was this would - be egg that drew her attention. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched the smooth surface. Cracks radiated out from the place her fingers touched the shell. Hermione jerked her hand back, fearful of what she had done. She watched with baited breath as the cracks spread and a small paw poked through. Hermione sat, entranced, as first a golden paw broke through, followed by a human head, a golden shoulder, another paw…

"A sphinx," she breathed. It made a whining sound as it struggled to make its way out of it's cage. It was young, only just born, as far was she could tell. The sphere would have kept it safe, she knew. It opened its eyes and peered at her with watery blue eyes. Shaggy brown hair fell over it's face and cocked it's head to the side. "Are you a boy sphinx or a girl sphinx?" She wondered aloud. It puffed its chest out. "A boy sphinx then." He nodded his head. Hermione smiled lightly and gently ran her fingers through his fur. He was small, incredibly so when she considered how big a sphinx could grow. He fit nicely in the palm of her hand. "Are you mine?" She asked tentatively, still stroking him. He stretched and began to purr. "I'll take that as a yes." Hermione smiled a little. "What shall I call you, hm?"

"H'mione?" A voice murmured. "What're you doing?" Harry was sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes. He reached over and grabbed his glasses. Looking at the sight before him he gasped. "Ron! Ron look what Hermione's got Ron! Wake up!"

"No Mum, m'seepin'. Lemmelone." Ron rolled over.

"It's Christmas Ron, and there are eggs! We got eggs! And Hermione's got some cat with a human head!"

"Huh wah?" Ron jerked up. He stared at her for a long moment before rubbing his eyes and looking again. "Merlin! That's a sphinx!"

"Wow," Harry whispered in awe. He grinned. "Let's see what we got Ron!" Both boys all but tumbled out of their beds in their excitement. Ron was still tangled in his sheets and would have fallen flat on his face had he not caught himself with his magic. They took their seats beside her.

Ron looked between the eggs and almost dejectedly grabbed the smaller egg. "This one's probably mine," he said softly.

"Mine's opening," Harry said breathlessly as a crack appeared on the large, fragile surface. A beak emerged, accompanied by a head. Large, glowing orange eyes blinked and stared at Harry before shrieking. "Mine's stuck, I think." The creature struggled to get out of it's egg and finally stood proudly before them, taking up most of Harry's lap. "It's a cat bird," Harry said.

Hermione wasn't listening. Her eyes were trained on a small mark on the creature's foot. She recognized it. In third year, when and the boys had been fighting, she had spent a lot of time with Hagrid and consequently with Buckbeak. She had notices a small, hook - like mark on his left claw. A birth mark, Hagrid had said. The same mark was on the Hippogriff now sitting in Harry's lap. Harry's new pet was Buckbeak, the very hippogriff that had saved their lives countless times.

"It's a hippogriff, Harry. You need to be careful, because they are very proud. You'll have to bow to him and things like that," Hermione told him. She paused. "I think he looks like a Buckbeak. Maybe that's what you should name him."

Harry looked at the hippogriff for a long moment before smiling. "Buckbeak. I like it. What about you, do you like it?" He asked the hippogriff. Buckbeak nodded his head regally before stretching his wings. "Wow," Harry murmured with another smile.

"Neat," Ron said, his voice strained and his smile forced. He was holding his own, much smaller egg carefully, but was looking longingly at Buckbeak, who was now preening. With a pang Hermione realized what he must be thinking as he compared his own gift with the sphinx and hippogriff she and Harry had received. She could only hope his gift was as wonderful as theirs.

The egg in his hand trembled slightly and then, just as the other two, cracked. A beak poked through, followed by a head of red feathers. Hermione gasped softly as she watched a beautiful red and gold bird slowly make its way out of the shell. "It's kind of…" Ron trailed off, his face the picture of confusion.

"Merlin, it's a phoenix," Hermione said quietly.

Ron's head snapped up. He looked between her and the bird now cradled in his hands with an awestruck expression. His lips twitched in uncertainty. "Hi," he said weakly. "I'm Ron."

"A phoenix, a real phoenix! That's brilliant Ron!" Harry said with a grin. He reached out to touch it, but the phoenix snapped at him. Harry jerked his hand back and frowned. "He's not very nice."

The phoenix squawked indignantly. "I think he is a she, Harry," Hermione said. The phoenix lifted her head regally. She seemed to sniff in disdain before turning back to Ron and cooing. "She's a feisty one, isn't she?"

"She is a fiery one, that's for sure," Ron grinned. His smile faded as he looked pensively at his new Familiar. "Fiery," he murmured. "Inflamare? No. Incendio… Incendia!" He grinned again. "How about that? Would you like to be Incendia?" The Phoenix made a sound that filled their hearts with warmth. "I'll take that as a yes."

"What about you, Hermione?" Harry asked. "What are you going to name yours?"

Hermione cocked her head to the side as she looked at the small, male sphinx sitting in her hands. "Zeno," she said finally. "I think I'll call him Zeno."

Ron wrinkled his nose. "What kind of a name is that? You always come up with these weird names for your animals."

"I don't know, I think they sound neat," Harry disagreed. "I like them."

"They're named for philosophers," Hermione replied. "Muggle philosophers, so you wouldn't have heard of them."

"Oh," Ron murmured. He looked back at Incendia and smiled warmly. Incendia's feathers had already dried, though she was still very tiny. She sang a single, pure note. "I'm hungry too." Ron looked up. "You two want to get something to eat? I'm starved!" Holding Incendia with one hand, Ron rubbed his stomach with the other.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, let's go eat. I think Buckbeak is hungry as well." The hippogriff squawked his agreement. He stood up, cradling the creature in his arms. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Ron agreed heartily. Incendia perched on his shoulder as he rose. The two boys hurried out of the room. Only Harry looked back as he passed through the door, smiling softly as he went.

"Well, Zeno, I suppose we should join them, yes?" The sphinx looked up and yawned largely before nodding. Smiling, Hermione followed the boys, feeling better than she had in a long time.

It wasn't long before they walked into the kitchen, their dining area of choice when school was not in session. Sirius was sitting at the kitchen table, a red Santa hat cocked jauntily on the side on his head, and Horace sitting in his lap. Sirius was loudly singing an off - key Christmas carol while Horace barked accompaniment. Remus was sitting beside him, smirking in amusement. Harmony sat in his lap, giggling madly as a tan coloured puffskein stuck it's tongue up her nose.

"Ho! Ho! Huh?" Sirius had caught sight of the magical creatures accompanying them in the middle of his Christmas greeting.

"I got a phoenix! I named her Incendia! She's a girl!" Ron cheered, grinning widely. "Do you have any pancakes?"

"I've got a Hippogriff," Harry fairly crowed. "Hermione said he looked like a Buckbeak, so that's what I named him. Isn't he great! I think he's going to be real big one day. Do you think I'll be able to fly on him?"

"Absolutely not! You could fall and break your neck!" Hermione replied as Sirius and Remus looked on in silence, Harmony still giggling, and Horace whining in an attempt to get more attention. Hermione turned back to everyone at the table. "This is Zeno," she calmly told them, introducing the sphinx as though it were an everyday occurrence.

"Zeno is the name of a fossil," Ron stated.

"Philosopher," Hermione corrected absently.

"Same thing," Ron shrugged.

Sirius and Remus remained quiet, looking between the phoenix and Harry before sharing a look between themselves. Hermione couldn't help but think that she'd met subtler Jarveys, but managed to refrain from rolling her eyes.

"Uh, about those pancakes…" Ron broke the silence, his voice unsteady.

"Oh! Of course! Sit down, sit down, all of you. You must be rather hungry," Remus said. "Tuck in, you lot."

"Thank you Mister Lupin," Ron said as though Remus had just saved his life. "I'm so hungry I could eat a hippogriff!"

Buckbeak squawked and began to flap his wings angrily, snapping at Ron.

"What's going on?" An airy voice asked. "Have the Skoffins come?"

Everyone turned to see Luna Lovegood standing in the doorway. Her nightclothes were interesting, to say the least. The shirt was a peculiar shade of lime green, covered in purple stars and orange crescent moons, while the bottoms were a soft grey with blue stripes down either side. Her socks were tan, but the toes were cut out, seemingly on purpose. Hermione supposed the odd ensemble was meant to ward off some mythical creature of which only Luna knew.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Kids, this is Luna. She's going to be staying with us for a few days. Luna, this is Harry, Ron, and Hermione—"

"I know," Luna interrupted softly. "Everyone knows, of course." She cocked her head to the side as though listening to something. "Hmm." She hummed a little before taking her seat at the table. "Please past the toast, and do be mindful the Willibogs. Daddy says they like to hide in toast on holidays."

Ron stared at her in a mix of confusion and distaste. "What are you doing here?"

Luna stiffened, her hand hovering over her cup of juice. Hermione didn't know what was wrong, but knew she needed to do damage control. "What exactly are Willibogs, Luna?" She asked, just as Sirius opened his mouth.

Luna looked up, her eyes wide. "Willibogs are small creatures that hide in toast so that, when someone goes to eat, they can jump into their noses and take over their mind," Luna replied solemnly. "They look like very tiny, featherless birds. You can only see them when you use a spell to help."

"I see," Hermione replied weakly. She looked over at Harry, who looked just as lost as she felt.

"You never said why you were here," Ron continued, frowning.

"Ron," Sirius began firmly. "That is none of your—"

"My mum died," Luna said quietly, her voice carrying nonetheless. Her wide eyes stared vacantly at the bacon on her plate. "And my daddy is away. The headmaster can't reach him. He will not get back until the day after tomorrow. He's searching for Klanslaws in the mountains."

Silence.

Hermione shook her head, staring at her plate, but seeing nothing. "But she wasn't supposed to, not yet," she murmured. "Not yet, not for another three years…" she trailed off as a weight settled her stomach and her chest tightened. Too late, she thought bitterly. I was too late again. Can I do nothing right? I thought I had so much time. How did this happen? She swayed dangerously in her seat. Distantly, she registered that Harry was holding her by the arm to keep her from falling.

"You knew?" Luna's voice snapped Hermione out of her daze. Luna's eyes, normally so wide and distant, were now narrowed and focused.

"No, no of course not. I… I don't feel well." She turned to Remus. "May I be excused?"

"Of course you may. Perhaps you should go lie down for a little while. We'll come get you later. If you're up to it, we can open gifts."

"Yes… yes thank you. That would be nice." Hermione nodded absently and stood before pushing her chair in and walking out of the kitchen. Too late. The words seemed to echo in her mind over and over. Too late.

"Hermione?"

Her head snapped up. Hermione looked around, realizing she had somehow walked to her room without knowing it. Looking towards the doorway, she saw Remus standing there, a concerned look on his face. Silently, he came forward and sat on her bed, waiting.

They sat, not speaking for several long moments. "Luna's mother wasn't supposed to die, not yet. She wasn't supposed to die until Luna was nine," Hermione said at last her shoulders drooping under the weight of Luna's loss. "I was… I was going to warn them." She sniffled. "I was going to save her but… but I was too late." Her voice broke. "Too late." She was unaware that she was crying until Remus wiped a tear away from her face and pulled her into his lap.

"Hermione," he began, his voice soft, gentle. "You know Harry's parents, James and Lily, died. For a long, long time I blamed myself for that. I always thought that, if I had been a better friend, if I… if I hadn't been a werewolf, they would have trusted me more and maybe they would be alive now. No," he stopped Hermione before she could argue. "Listen. Hermione, you can't blame yourself for things you cannot control. You can't blame yourself for not being able to save Luna's mother, just as I can no longer blame myself for not being able to save Lily and James." He kissed her gently on the forehead.

The two sat in silence once more. Hermione sighed, and felt some of the tension in her heart ease slightly. Logically, she knew he spoke the truth. Obviously, being able to send Luna to a school that would watch her allowed her mother the opportunity to experiment more, and so would have sped up the timeline in that respect. Logically.

But in her heart, she blamed herself for not anticipating this as a potential ending. She had tried so hard to take all possible outcomes into account, but she had never thought that, by changing the future, she would speed up the events of her own timeline.

"Sometimes," Remus was speaking again. "No matter how much we wish it was not so, some things simply cannot be avoided. I certainly wish that James and Lily hadn't died, that Sirius had never gone to prison, that Peter," he swallowed thickly. "That Peter had never betrayed us.

"But Hermione," he brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Some things cannot be changed, and some things should not be changed. I've often wondered what would have happened if I could somehow send a message to my younger self, telling what would happen. Maybe I could have changed it, could have saved Lily and James, but I would have paid a price for my second chance. Maybe, because I saved them, maybe Harry would have died in their stead."

Hermione gasped softly. She couldn't imagine a world without Harry.

Remus nodded. "Sometimes, Owlet, the price is worth paying, sometimes it is not. I would dearly love to change things, but not at the cost of Harry's life. You need to remember that. Perhaps you could have saved Luna's mother if you had said something sooner, but remember that something worse could have happened instead."

He was silent as he held her. Hermione clenched her jaw. Something worse indeed. She had saved her dog at the cost of her parents. Yes, she understood all too well what he meant.

"You can't dwell on what could have been, Hermione," Remus said softly. "If you do, you will lose yourself." He pulled back a little. "Now, what do you say we go celebrate Christmas?"

Hermione looked up at him for a moment before smiling weakly and pulling him into hug. He returned her embrace, offering her comfort. "Thanks, Dad." She slid off his lap. "Let's go." Feeling better than she had in a long while, Hermione made her way to the door, Remus a few steps behind her. She never noticed the wide grin he bore.

Harry, Ron and Luna were waiting for her in the family room. Harmony was trying to climb on Horace's back a few feet away. Ron at looked at her with a mix of awe and a little fear. Luna was unreadable. Harry was Harry— he was the calm she needed him to be. The four stood in silence.

"You're a Seer?" Ron finally blurted, his ears as red as his hair.

Hermione grimaced and looked down, not wanting to look him in the eye as she lied. Fortunately, she did not have to lie. Luna came to her rescue. "Or maybe the Pholypines told her. That's possible too."

They were quiet for a moment before the four began to laugh. "Come on," Harry said. "Let's open our gifts. Ron's mum will be here for him soon."

On the other side of the room, Remus stood watching them next to Sirius, still smiling. "Why Moony, I don't think I've ever seen you smile quite like that." Sirius cocked his head to the side. "Care to share?"

"She called me Dad," Remus told his friend.

Sirius smiled in reply. "That talk went well, I take it?"

Remus nodded. "It was… difficult, but yes, it went well. She feels so guilty, Padfoot, over things she can't control. It's like she's trying to save everyone, or prevent some sort of disaster, but she doesn't know how. I don't know how to help her." When Sirius didn't respond, Remus looked over at his friend, who was watching Harry.

"I don't really think we can help her, Moony. I think there is a lot going on that we don't know about. It bothers me. Harry and Hermione have this…" he hesitated. "Connection. And then there's Ron. He's changed, lately. Seems more confident. They're up to something, and I don't know what."

"What are going to do?" Remus asked.

"In the long run? We'll think of something. For now? We'll enjoy Christmas with our family." In silent agreement, the two men walked towards the children.

--

A/N: Well, Fibinaci called it—everything was going great so I went and pulled the rug out from under our trio. I must be getting predictable. Again, a thousand apologies for the delay, but college… well, I left a note in my profile about how hectic things have been of late. I'm not sure about the next update, only that you will not have to wait as long until the next chapter. I hope. Finding spare time to just write is not easy. I almost miss High School.

I did get it here by the third week, like I promised. Granted, it's the tail end of the week, but here it is. I would have had this chapter out a few days ago, except I was having a lot of trouble with the scene with Luna at the breakfast table. And I mean a lot of trouble. I had to rewrite it five times, and I'm still not satisfied with it. I think if feels rather forced.

Also, a few people have mentioned our favorite trio becoming animagi. It's idea I've been considering off and on for some time. It seems like fairly advanced magic for children to be learning. On the other hand, it is easier for children to learn than it is for adults. Since, it really won't have an impact on how the story plays out, I have decided to leave the decision to you. I will put a poll up in my profile shortly. You can cast your vote, and I'll close it…whenever I remember to close it.

Thanks to everyone who read, and special thanks to everyone who reviewed.

Cheers,

Madm05