As of the last chapter, this story became the longest one of mine in terms of word count, beating out my Total Drama story, Keepers of the Elements, a story which has been on the site for almost six years and was completed four years ago. It also beat out the same story for most chapters, as of Chapter 39.
Hooray for fanfiction milestones!
"Me... me go to Tir Nan Og with you?" Hermione stammered. "You actually want me to come with you?"
"Well, who else would you go with?" Harry asked cheekily. "Obviously I want you to come with me!"
"You can be such a prat sometimes!" Hermione rolled her eyes, patting Crookshanks idly when he jumped up onto the bed and curled up on her lap. "What I mean though... would I really be welcome there? What could I do with my life there? It would be so different to what I know..."
"Where's that Gryffindor courage? I know that the Sorting Hat wanted to put you into Ravenclaw, but it had to have decided on the House of the Lions for a reason!" he exclaimed.
"I'm not like you, Harry! I can't just jump into situations without just thinking about it!" Hermione glared at him. "I'd have to think about it first!"
"Please do. You'd be safe there, there's plenty of opportunity for a bright mind like yours there... and then there's the fact that Queen Nebula and Princess Morgana have both expressed the desire to meet you personally."
Hermione looked at him in complete and utter disbelief.
"They want to meet me?" she sputtered. "The queen and former queen, one of whom is an actual legend, actually want to meet me? Why?"
"Of course they do!" Harry exclaimed. "They know you're a close friend of mine who pretty much helped to keep me alive during my Hogwarts years and your reputation as an intellectual who can also hold her own in a fight precedes you. The queen would love you for the fighting part and Roxy's mum would love someone who could hold up in an intelligent debate with her."
"And I suppose you can't?" Hermione asked almost mockingly.
"Not nearly as well as you could." Harry retorted.
"True..." Hermione chuckled. "...but they actually referred to me as an intellectual?" she asked, seemingly in shock.
"It's come up in conversation more than once..." he nodded, chuckling at her expression.
The room was silent for several moments, as Hermione seemed to be considering the idea.
After a while, Hermione composed herself and spoke again.
"When do you leave?" she asked.
"Two more days." Harry answered.
Hermione paused to think. "I... I'll let you know my answer by the end of tomorrow."
"Great." Harry took her hands in his, smiled encouragingly and squeezed them. "Take your time. I know you'll make the best choice for you in the long run."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Harry. Your being there and in Magix seems to have really done well for you. You've changed so much- and that change was for the better. You've grown smarter, stronger, more confident... Voldemort won't know what's hit him in the end." Hermione smiled back.
"I bloody well hope so!" Harry agreed. "Anyway, I have to go make a call. Roxy's no clingy girlfriend, but she's threatened to come over here and find me herself if I don't let her know how I am at least once a day while I'm here..."
"I can't blame her, given the current climate in Magical Britain..." Hermione said. "Now go. I really want to meet the Tir Nan Og fairies, but not when they're..." she trailed off.
"Yes, I understand. I completely get it." Harry stood up. "I've seen them angry before and while they weren't angry at me, they were still bloody terrifying. You'll be fine though. I promise."
"Roxy!" Aisha exclaimed as she stepped through a portal in the usual transport area near the palace. "It's so good to see you!"
"It's great to see you too, Aisha! How are you doing?" Roxy beamed as they broke apart from their hug.
"Doing well. I've been really throwing myself into working for my planet. It keeps me occupied when I'm not spending time with the Winx Club. You know, it feels really strange that we're not fighting threats like the Trix anymore all the time..." Aisha said.
"But they are still out there. Well, Icy and Stormy are still out there, at least." Roxy reminded her.
"Yes, but oddly enough, they're not causing any kind of trouble now like they usually do. That's actually... really concerning." Aisha actually looked briefly worried.
"Their concerns might lie somewhere else at the moment..." Roxy thought of the last encounter that she and Harry had had with them.
"Anyway, that's not what I came here for. I came to meet with your aunt, regarding a little trip she wants me to take with you, amongst other matters." Aisha said.
"A trip with me in particular? Why not her? She's the queen, not me!" Roxy exclaimed.
"It was something we were supposed to do ages ago, but we never got around to it. I think you might know what I mean. You have met people from there before and they're really anxious to have the first Earthling fairy in many, many years come to visit them!"
"Wait..." Roxy's mind immediately flashed to the bonded pixies of the Winx Club. "You don't... you don't mean..?"
Aisha shrugged, refusing to give anything else away. "We'll see, won't we?"
The Androsian princess walked away towards the entrance of the palace and after briefly speaking with some guards there, was escorted inside.
Roxy huffed. "Well if she won't tell me, Harry's not here and there's nothing else for me to do at the moment, I might as well take Artu out for his walk now..."
After she fetched the eager hound, she and him took a walk down to the area of the tropical village that she had visited with Harry the last time he had come to Tir Nan Og.
It wasn't just the fairies and some of the British magicals who had taken asylum on the island present, but also some representatives of the Earthling magical community at large that were more... favourable towards them that had been invited to spend time there so they could learn about their magic.
It wasn't an entirely philanthropic endeavour however, as it also aided her kind who had been sealed away catch up with the magical developments of their planet while they were gone.
She had been spending the most time amongst British witches and wizards lately, but the magicals of her own home country were a rather interesting bunch all on their own.
Just like American Muggles were as well...
"I wonder if Harry would like Quodpot. It's really similar to Quidditch, I hear and I know he likes that..." she thought.
When she got to the beach, she noticed that several of them- and the British wizards- were caught up in some sort of intense discussion.
"It really is your government's fault. If they hadn't stuck their head in the sand and ignored the problem, you wouldn't even have to be here in the first place!" one American witch exclaimed.
"I'm not disagreeing with you. I blame them too." Jacob shrugged, seemingly indifferent.
Roxy snickered to herself as she walked further up the beach and found a more secluded spot for them to relax.
Waving her hands, she conjured up some beach supplies for herself and magically changed into a swimsuit with her hair pulled into a high ponytail.
As soon as that was done, Artu ran straight for the water, diving in with such impact that he splashed Roxy from head to toe.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" she exclaimed, wading out into the water to join him for a swim, temporarily forgetting about American wizards, British wizards and all their problems.
"It's getting worse. I heard that they took control over the Ministry building. That means now that they'll have access to all the records, information and other critical things there." Percy said as they all sat around the kitchen table. "Unless this all ends soon..." he trailed off.
"The Order's working on safe places. Hogwarts has been shut down and is being offered as a place for safe haven- once you can get to it without being attacked." Bill stirred his cup of tea idly as he spoke. "The place has enchantments on it that the Founders themselves put on it and a thousand years' worth of headmasters, headmistresses and professors- among others- adding their own protections makes it even better. Voldemort would have to bring out all his Death Eaters to stand a chance of it and even then, he'd have a hard time of it."
"That's good to hear." Harry nodded approvingly. "I honestly don't think that I could, in good conscience, have left you all behind while I'm off on my other-worldly adventures..."
"Well, it's not like you'll be off on vacation. You'll be going to school, getting stronger, learning to fight." Ginny pointed out. "Meanwhile, the rest of us will be trying to find a way to help you get rid of the current problem. Obviously I can't go to school anymore and since I'll be of age in a few weeks, there's really nothing Mum can do to stop me."
One look at (the older) Mrs Weasley told him that she wished she could stop Ginny.
"I'm going to Tir Nan Og with Harry later. I know I'll be safe there and I'll learn so much..." Hermione spoke up. "To help both myself and..." she looked down at her feet nervously.
"We know, dear." Molly smiled at her reassuringly. "We know..."
"You've helped us all so much, Harry. Do whatever you have to in order to survive and beat this threat." Mr Weasley said.
"I know zat you can do eet, 'Arry." Fleur smiled at him.
Harry smiled back, then checked his watch.
"Hermione and I really should go and prepare to leave. Apparently, I picked a day to go to Tir Nan Og that some 'important visitors' would be coming and I'd hate to be late..." Harry excused himself and stood up from the table, Hermione following soon afterwards.
Sometime later, there was an emotional round of farewells before he conjured up a portal to take himself and Hermione to Tir Nan Og.
Their pets were in their respective carriers and all their other possessions had been shrunk down enough to fit inside rucksacks.
"You continue to do well for yourself. You hear me, young man?" Mrs Weasley engulfed Harry in a hug that threatened to kill him before Voldemort could.
"We have each other, Harry. You don't have to worry about us." Mr Weasley reassured him. "We'll stick together and ride this out. We have Dumbledore, Moody and many other powerful ones on our side."
"We'll give him hell, Harry!" Ginny piped up. "Go on. Don't keep the queen waiting! The next time you see us, it'll be right before (or after) you kick his arse!"
Fred and George cheered loudly.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny and Hermione hugging tightly and crying (since when was Ginny that emotional?), Percy standing there, looking awkwardly at him as if he didn't know what to say and Fleur walking over to him.
She swooped down on him and kissed him on both cheeks.
"Bonne chance, 'Arry."
If Harry had been a bit younger (and single), he likely would have swooned.
He turned to Hermione and put his arm in hers.
"Ready to go, Miss Granger?" he asked her.
"I certainly am, Mr Potter." Hermione said.
They turned one last time to wave to the Weasleys before they stepped through the portal.
Harry felt the familiar wave of energy wash over him as the portal took them to their destination, but judging by Hermione's tight grip on his arm, she wasn't as comfortable with it as he was.
Seconds later, however, as they stepped out on the other side and within Tir Nan Og at last, she relinquished her firm grip on him completely as she took in her new surroundings.
"Wow..." Hermione's expression was one of pure and utter amazement as the wind ruffled her hair.
"It's a beautiful place isn't it?" Harry smiled knowingly. "Just wait until you see Magix though. It's a completely different environment, but just as amazing, I think..."
"Ah, Harry. Welcome back. I see you brought your friend with you..." Harry recognised Morgana's voice behind him and turned to greet her.
Hermione stood to one side, looking as if she was both terrified, yet excited at the sight of the former fairy queen.
Which, as Harry knew her quite well, she probably was.
"Well then, Harry. Aren't you going to introduce me to her?" Morgana smiled at the other female encouragingly and she relaxed, albeit slightly.
"Your Highness, this is my best friend Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Princess Morgana, former Queen of Tir Nan Og and the mother of my girlfriend."
Harry motioned for Hermione to step forward and she did so, bowing respectfully as she did.
"Rise, my dear." Morgana tapped her shoulder and motioned for her to get up. "Harry can call Dobby to put your things in the room I have assigned for you. I would actually love to have a chat with you now."
Hermione wheezed and Morgana chuckled at the younger female's reaction.
"Let us go and have our chat. Plus you picked a great day to arrive as we have guests coming that I'm sure you would be delighted to meet..." Morgana put a firm hand on Hermione's shoulder and steered her off.
Once they were gone, Harry burst out into laughter.
Hermione's reaction was priceless.