As terms began again, so too did the stress, and worse, the homework. Ron came back with presents, just like he said, much to their surprise. He told them those presents were from his mom, but he got them one box of chocolate frogs each. Between the two of them, they were starting to accumulate quite the collection of wizard trading cards. It wasn't long before they began to discover others in Gryffindor also collected and traded amongst each other.

Pressure only mounted as January peeled off the calendar and the winter remained bitter. Students were wearing increasingly thicker coats under their robes and drinking warm-up solutions at an increasing rate. As their end of course exams grew nearer, it seemed panic began to take hold of both the professors and Hermione as a collective.

"Now, Harry, remember that it's important to read through your essays after you're done with them to make sure you understand them thoroughly and can remember them at a moment's notice. Ron, your essay is good but the grammar needs a bit of work. I've only marked it enough to where you can make the changes yourself. It's not difficult." Hermione was an absolute machine, but it didn't take a genius to notice that her skin was becoming somewhat discolored and the shaking in her hands was steadily growing worse.

This was not helped by the very prominent presence of the Potions Class. The tensions between Gryffindor and Slytherin were only put on hold for the Christmas Holidays. Now that break was over, they picked right back up and continued to mount.

"No, Potter! I told you that the lizard legs came before the boiling point! Were you not listening when I explained the book was in error? I'll say that's ten points from Gryffindor! Perhaps if you lived up to your fame, I'd stop being so disappointed by the very sight of you!" Snape walked away from him, even though the coloration of his potion was only slightly less than immaculate. Harry's brow was furrowed to a degree that was alarming, even to Hermione.

"Harry…" She spoke just below the boiling sound. "Don't. Just breathe." She whispered. It was a very long moment, and it took a few good, cleansing breaths, but Harry soon didn't feel his heart beating in his ears.

"What's the matter, Potter? Need the mudblood to whisper sweet nothings so you don't have an accident?" Harry's eyes nearly went cross as he turned a stern gaze at Draco Malfoy, who had Crabbe and Goyle in fits of laughter.

"You rotten bastard!" Ron growled as he pulled his wand from his robe.

Harry would have done the same, but the black robed professor was back inside the classroom, causing Ron to put his wand back in its holder. Malfoy's insipid grin seared its way into Harry's sight and soon, not even Hermione could say anything. She was absolutely furious and all three of them wore such dark expressions that even Draco and his cronies started to feel a tad uneasy and went back to their work in their cauldrons.

It was soon forgotten as the three of them very silently discussed their plans for the rest of that day. Whether they were going to search for Quirrell was still up in the air, though the fact that he had not been seen since before Christmas break left them with few options as for where to start.

It wasn't long before they sensed something was off, though. The Slytherin side of the class was too quiet and their faces were too slanted upward in crooked grins. Still, thankfully, the class was drawing to a close.

"Douse your fires and put your vomiting draught in the proper bottles labeled within the recipe. Any loud talking and you will be getting detention!" Professor Snape announced before walking back behind his desk.

"There's not many places we can look." Harry reasoned to both of them as he very carefully ladled the potion inside the bottle before corking it.

"We can check the towers. If anything, he could be at the top of them. Not many people go up there." Ron offered and Hermione thought for a moment as well.

"The ghosts tend to go up there, so we could ask a few of them. Not to mention, Sir Nicolas may be able to keep an eye out for him." Hermione sighed, not at all liking the thought of a potential criminal hiding somewhere in the school.

"That's a good idea, they can float through walls." Ron nodded and got his bottle corked tight.

The period ended with only slight murmurs as they gathered their bags and left the room. They had to wonder what was going to happen with their Defence Against the Dark Arts class when the professor was nowhere to be found. They figured it would be a free period where they could play a loud game of Exploding Snaps.

They made their way to the Great Hall and sat at the table. It was laid out with fresh plates of chicken, asparagus, salmon and kidney beans. Lunch was always more of a silent affair as the days continued on in the deathly cold. A great fire roared in the great hall, but there was still no escaping the air that passed through the castle.

"No, obviously he can't disapparate, there are too many charms in the school to keep from that. He would need some sort of item that can allow him access to another place." Hermione said as she kept her book open and shook her head the more she read it. "It's no use. Every theory I can think of is one dead end after the other. We need to find a way to search for him."

"Well, you said you had the invisibility cloak. That's a good start." Ron said and Harry nodded.

"It's a good start, but we still need to know where to look. It doesn't matter if we're invisible if we're lost inside the castle or locked inside a passageway." Harry didn't like the thought of walls literally closing in on him or either of them.

Just then, Ron looked over Harry's head and began to pull his wand from his robes. Crabbe had appeared from behind Harry with a small vial of vomit draught. Before he could uncork it, though, he was hit with a jet of magic from the side.

"Rictusempra!" George shouted as he pointed his wand and Crabbe immediately began to wheeze as he laughed and struggled. After two steps to the side, he flung the vial and it splattered across the Slytherin table. Two fourth year Slytherin boys hurled all over their own pants and the table. There was a collective exasperation of disgust from the students around them, but then the house in green began to glare toward the Gryffindors.

"You're dead, Weasley!" One Slytherin shouted, and Fred called back.

"You ought to be more specific. Which one of us did you want to knock you on your ass?" He shouted.

"Yeah, please say me, you rotten tosser!" Ron shouted with a very rude gesture and there was more of an outcry. Even when the vomiting drought was cured, there was mounting tempers among them.

Of course, then it happened. Theodore Nott pulled out his wand and shouted "Locomotor Wibbly!" He jinxed Fred, causing his legs to collapse from under him in a most uncomfortable fashion. That didn't stop Fred's retaliation, though.

"Impedimenta!" Fred shouted, and Theodore's attempt to dodge was struck at several times slower speed.

"Melofors!" George shouted, stopping the next attack from Zabini and causing his head to turn into a pumpkin.

"Expelliarmus!" A Slytherin shouted, but Hermione jumped in front of George with a shield.

"Protego!"

"Flipendo!" Harry Potter came in from the side and caused two Slytherins to fly straight back, whirling to the ground.

The battle began! Jinxes and curses flew through the Great Hall in all directions as shields up-ended and students began falling to jelly-legs jinxes and full-body locks. Harry was hit in the stomach with a stunning spell and it knocked the wind from him, but he was able to counter with "Expelliarmus!" He knocked the Slytherin straight back and caught his wand as it was flipped from his grasp.

Hermione cast a repelling charm at close range into Pansy Parkinson, knocking her directly into Draco Malfoy. Her head collided with the side of his face right before he was going to do a curse at Harry's blindside. Within ten minutes, his black eye would be swollen completely shut and Pansy would have a lump at the site of the impact.

Soon, though, all of the students began to freeze in place as professors Mcgonagall, Sprout and Flitwick administered body-binding curses to anyone who was still fighting. Harry tossed the extra wand down and put his away, the rest of Gryffindor doing the same. Slytherin followed suit over time.

"I will need to know who started this mess…" Mcgonagall asked, looking around.

All at once, the Great Hall had everyone pointing at everyone and there was dialogue collectively lost in vicious arguing. They were silenced. The common consensus was that it was Harry, Hermione and Ron. While the Gryffindor side went after Malfoy, Nott and Goyle. Crabbe was obviously knocked unconscious very early in the conflict.

Even though it was the Weasley twins that threw the first jinx, Harry was more than happy to take the fall for them. They were friends and allies when he needed them most and he shrugged at the prospect of punishment for this. Having Hermione get involved in the punishment, though, that was another story. She didn't let on that it hurt her, but he knew that it had to.

The six of them went out that night after lessons, and all of them met Filch in the rain. They wore their rain cloaks and saw him with his own, very old and patched up rain gear. Mrs. Norris was pointedly absent. He wore a sickening grin on his face that was illuminated in the lantern he held.

"Good evening, gents and lady. Tonight, you'll be joining Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. Nasty things been happening, there's been… noises." He said with a somewhat superstitious, worried look on his face.

"The Forbidden Forest?! We can't go in there! My father will not allow it!" Malfoy said with a clear edge of panic in his voice.

"Awe, poor ickle Dwaco need a lolly and a bottle?" Ron drawled out in an almost perfect Malfoy voice. Draco became red at the face, Nott and Goyle both growled at Ron, but they both noticed that Harry and Hermione were in no mood to give them an inch toward him.

"Now, now, pipe down you lot. Come on." He bid them onward toward Hagrid's Hut. He led them to it and there he was, gigantic, hairy, and wielding a very large crossbow, loaded with a full sized arrow.

"Here we are, Rubeus. Six prisoners for your disposal." Filch said to the large man, who rolled his big eyes.

"Oh, cut that talk. I expect they're already miserable enough after the nonsense today." Hagrid said as he stepped forward with a larger lantern of his own and the great boarhound, Fang at his hip.

"It's your job to make sure they are thoroughly punished. If you don't do a sufficient enough job, I have a whole collection of chains and manacles that will perform the task nicely."

"Oh, shut it, ya filthy squib! Get on with you!" He motioned Filch off and growled along with his dog, who knew too well that he was the keeper of that dastardly cat. Filch gave him a wretched look, but went off all the same with a quick, wicked glance at all of the students.

"I will not be taking one step further until I've sent an owl to my father about this!" Draco shouted, and before any of the three could tell him off, Hagrid spoke up.

"Take the time to send an owl and you may as well pack your bags for home. You've done wrong and you're gonna sit there, shut up and take your medicine or that'll be your stay at Hogwarts. Take your pick." Hagrid stood there, daring any of them to make a move. In fact, he looked like he very much would like to see them try. "Good, now, shut your yaps and listen. I don't know what you've heard, but there has been some strange happenings these past nights. There's been women screaming."

All of their faces turned pale, as it was very true. They had heard distant cries of what sounded like young women. Hagrid probably got a much better listen to it as his hut was much closer and the walls much thinner.

"That can mean many things, but what I'm guessing, is it's hags or even banshees." Hagrid said and there was another chill among the six of them. "Yes, and there's quite a stir been going through the forest. We're going to need to be on our guard. All of you lot get your wands out and follow me. We got some snooping to do. Ron, you're with me, you lot go through the west end of the forest, Harry and Hermione, the east. If you get lost or need help, send up some red sparks."

All of them got their assignments and none of them seemed especially confident. However, the certainty of expulsion seemed a lot worse than the prospect of death. The fact that they were allowed to hold their wands was a bit of a comfort.

The three groups set off toward different parts of the forest, and the night became very still. As gruesome as the forest seemed, from the inside, it really just seemed like a collection of trees. With the moonlight and the lights at the ends of their wands with the word "Lumos", they set off between the rows of tall oaks and ash.

"Really gets on my nerves how we're going through all of this thanks to a craven little viper like Malfoy." Hermione said and Harry had no argument.

"Shows his true colors when the pressure is on. I don't think he expected to get bruised up in the face during that duel in the hall. Was he crying?" Harry asked and Hermione giggled with a grunt of confirmation.

"So was Pansy Parkinson, and I don't think I will lose any sleep over it." She admitted as they continued through the tree lines. Though, they did keep their voices down. The crickets sounded very distant, and the moon's rays revealed through the trees that there was a small body of very cold water on the ground. With the rain going on and off that night, it was no surprise.

Then they noticed that the water became silvery, murky and it looked like mold. To their horror, within the water's shallow depths, there was shown the frozen body of a unicorn.

"Oh, my God!" Hermione nearly swooned as she took a few steps back. Harry drew his eyes away from the hideous sight. The unicorn looked like it put up a struggle, as its blood was on the edge of the water and trailed off a short distance away.

Tears were hot against Hermione's face before icing over as she removed her wand and leaned down toward the body. "If he had to die, at least his remains can do some good in the world." She whispered before a sob. She placed her hand in the very cold water and brought up the unicorn's beautiful sky blue tail. "Diffindo." She cut the tail into a large tuft of hair and held it close to her. She would give it to Ollivander and it would aid wizards of a new generation in wands that bore his essence. Harry's hand gripped her shoulder as he tried to comfort her.

"Come on, let's go tell Hagrid what we've–" He was interrupted as both of them heard a stirring in the grass and leaves to their left. Harry also felt a small tingle in his scar. From their left came a cloaked figure, slowly approaching them with their limbs and features shrouded.

Both of them held up their wands toward the figure and Harry found his voice. "Stop!" He shouted, holding his lit wand higher.

Before long, though, it was clear that the figure was not alone. There came three other hooded figures behind it, and Hermione stood up straight with her wand upraised. Then she pointed it upward, letting off a flare of red sparks into the sky.

"Very good, my dear, but unfortunately, you will be dead before any help arrives. That is a promise. Still, we have a moment to talk, so now we shall." As the figure spoke in a high, shrill, menacing voice, Harry felt a much harder burning in his scar, causing his eye to tear up.

Hermione looked at him, obviously worried, but then looked to the figure. Whoever it was, it didn't sound like Quirrell or Snape. "Harry Potter," the figure continued, "it's been ten long, miserable years thanks to our last meeting, but I am feeling in much higher… spirits." The figure's voice hissed toward him, making him wince.

"Get away from him!" Hermione, now finding her own voice, wielded her wand toward all of them.

"Aww, how quaint. Such young love, so pure and true. It is truly sickening." The voice sounded older and more feeble than before as the thing spoke. As it said this, the hooded figures behind it began to go forward. "Kill these wretched scum." He rasped to his three servants.

Before Hermione and Harry could do anything, the servants unhooded themselves, revealing green, hideous skinned women who looked older than the wrinkliest mummy. One had no teeth and no lips, also sporting no eyes so she looked like a skeletal face with a weak nose. The other two, who were most assuredly hags, glared toward Hermione's beauty with obvious jealousy and drive to snuff out her youth.

"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted, blasting one of the hags, who used her wand to deflect the stunning spell. The skeletal faced woman opened her mouth in a snarling rage as her jaw seemed to become unhinged. She let out a piercing, shrieking howl that distorted the soundwaves around her and brought about a bone quaking tunnel of pain through Hermione.

"Silencio!" Harry attempted, but it was no good. The charm bounced off of the magical creature, who was obviously immune. However, it brought her sights onto him as Hermione trembled from such a horrible sound. Now Harry was caught in the thick of it.

"Flipendo!" Hermione shouted, now that she could actually hear some semblance of the area around her. With her jinx, she sent the banshee woman tumbling backward and hitting her face against the ground.

Then the hag sent an attack Harry's way, making it feel like a brick wall smashed into his front and sent him straight back into the freezing water behind him. Mud sprayed all over him and covered his back.

"Avada K–" Before the hag could utter the words, Hermione sent a jet of fire straight into her chest.

"Confringo!" She shouted, and the hag burst into flames, screaming in pain!

"Locomotor Mortis…" the high, piercing voice said as Hermione's legs went numb and she fell over, unable to balance. "Very good, both of you. I can tell that this will need to be the end." He said as he began to raise his own wand.

To his shock, though, Harry was gone! He saw no movement of any kind, where had he gone? Then he looked back over to Hermione, she was gone as well. "What?! What is this?!" The voice shouted in fury. "No! Where have you gone! Come back here! Find them! Find them, now!" He shouted at the remaining hag.

Harry had Hermione bunched up with him in the invisibility cloak. He hurried behind the nearest, largest tree he could find and listened as the cloaked figure raged.

"Incendio!" The voice cried out, making a huge blast of flames cover the area in light so that he could see. As the flames were extinguished, though, there came the sounds of horses' hooves.

"Be gone, desecrator of the forest!" A loud, booming voice called and the hooded figure was hit, spiraling to the ground. Two arrows shot and hit what sounded like the hag as the man on horseback fought off the dark wizard and it was clear that, as the horses filled the forest circle, the hooded figure ran deeper into the forest.

"He flees! Give chase! He shall not get far!" Another of the men shouted as they heard hooves growing more and more distant.

"We're safe." Harry assured Hermione and she nodded to him, leaning against him. "Can you move your legs?"

"No, do you remember the counter jinx?" She asked and he nodded.

"Finite Incantatem." He said as he tapped his wand onto her leg. Her legs released and she sighed. "That was too close."

"Ah! So, there were human foals after all." One of the men said, causing them both to start. He didn't even notice that he had taken off the invisibility cloak to have a closer look at her. "Are you alright, little ones? You are friends of Hagrid, are you not?" He asked and both of them nodded. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that both of them were, in fact, centaurs. They were half men in their upper bodies, while their lower bodies were that of the four legs and backside of a horse.

"So, this is what caused the desecrator to reveal his position? Perhaps their presence is a blessing, if we can kill him once and for all." The other stated as he looked off toward where their other herd members pursued the ne'er-do-well.

"Aye, but it is not to be taken for granted. These two must be taken to Hagrid and returned to the safety of the castle."

"No need, he comes." The other centaur stated as he pointed toward the sound of very large, running footsteps.

"Harry! Hermione! Where are they?" Hagrid shouted and they waved him. Harry stood up, helping Hermione to her feet as he quickly tucked the cloak away. "Oh, thank Merlin for that. Are ye alright?"

"We're fine, Hagrid." Hermione said, though she was stretching and popping her legs, thankful to still be able to stand.

"Harry!" Ron shouted as he followed along with Hagrid and Fang the boarhound. "Hey! Are you alright? We heard a banshee!"

Speaking of which, both of them noticed that the only one still on the ground was that of the hag that was burned to a crisp. The banshee and the other hag were gone, as was the hooded figure. Hagrid studied the burned up hag with a grunt of approval.

"Looks like you got one. Which one of you done it?" He asked and Hermione raised her hand. He grinned and gave her a nod. "A fine shot. World's better off. Come on, you two, you can tell me what happened." He motioned for them to follow. "And you two, thanks for the help."

"Of course, Hagrid. We will inform you if we are successful in killing the intruder." The horseman nodded to him.

They told the large man of the hooded figure and the horrific women that accompanied him and Ron recoiled in horror. She even showed Hagrid the dead unicorn's hair and he lamented it with a nod. He told her to keep the hair and use them as she wanted, as it was a "right neighborly thing to do for the poor horse".

Along the way, they met the Slytherin students, who obviously barely made it a hundred yards away from the hut. Hagrid didn't have the patience for them and told them just to get to the castle. Then he muttered to the other three that he planned to give them another day of detention.

Hagrid brought Harry and them to his hut and made them very large cups of tea.

"It was all true, Hagrid. There's no denying it. He really is back and he's getting stronger." Harry said and Hagrid grunted his grim agreement. "He's even gathering followers."

"Always had a talent for it, that monster." Hagrid said, filling his cup with tea and brandy. "What amazes me is that you two survived. Not many people can say that."

"They really tried to kill us." Hermione said in a somber, thoughtful tone. She looked to Harry, who had a similar expression. "If he gets the philosopher's stone, he will try again. I can't imagine how much power he will have if he obtains it."

"Look, I'll be making my report to the headmaster. The three of you, come on, let's get to the castle. Consider yourselves punished." Hagrid waved off the idea that this was all a detention.

Sitting in the common room was a muted affair. They had homework to do, but neither Harry nor Hermione even had the smallest inkling to do it then. She laid her head on his lap as her hair covered his stomach and legs. She gazed into the fire as he leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

Ron, who didn't have images of burning hags weighing on him, went onto bed. The common room was thankfully deserted.

"I don't feel like sleeping tonight." Hermione admitted, drawing his attention. He looked down at her and she looked at him from her peripherals. "Can we use your invisibility cloak?"

Without asking what for, Harry stood with her and got his cloak out from the back of his shirt. She stood close to him and he put it over the two of them easily as they walked very close together, timing their steps so they did not trip on one another.

"Who's there?" The fat lady asked as her portrait swung open and no one was there to answer, it seemed. The two of them stayed cheek to cheek and walked through the long, dark hallways of the castle. From time to time, she would hold his hand. It was obvious that she wasn't feeling romantic, but it was a comfort to be near. The long, quiet walk gave them both time to think and they whispered little things to one another when they were sure no one was near.

"Let's check on the dog." Hermione offered and Harry nodded, thinking that was a productive use of the cloak. It was clear that, from the snoring, the dog was fast asleep and still able to guard the philosopher's stone. However, Hermione eyed something else. Looking toward the door to her left, she decided she was curious enough with the freedom she was given.

From ten feet away, she pointed her wand toward the doorknob and whispered, "Alohomora." This caused the lock to click and she even made the door open. Harry saw this and leaned back to get a better look. The two of them went to the other room and were amazed to see that it was empty, save for a single standing mirror that was seven feet tall. There was just enough light from the windows in the back to give it a very dark, but beautiful ambience as the two of them approached it, coming out of the cloak as the door silently closed behind them.

"What made you come in here?" He asked and she shrugged.

"At first, I wanted to see if there was a good place to hide at a moment's notice. I know we wouldn't want to be in the room with a giant dog. Then, I decided I was curious what was in here." She admitted and he couldn't see too much flaw in that logic.

As she went around behind the mirror to study it further, Harry stood in front of it and was astonished to see two people standing on either side of him. He gasped, and looked behind him.

"What?" She asked as she came around the mirror's edge. Hermione looked at Harry's shocked face.

"It's… the mirror. There's… people." Harry stammered as he tried to describe it. It took a moment, but he saw that they were a man and a woman. The woman had dark red hair, was only a head taller than Harry and looked rather young, hardly older than a teenager. She was also very pretty. It was her eyes that drew him toward her, though. As he described her eyes to Hermione, her hands went to her mouth.

"Green eyes, slightly rounded? Harry! Good God! Those…"

"Are my parents…" He said, looking to see that the man was tall, wore glasses and had messy, black hair that poked out at every angle. There was no doubting that this man had to be his real father. "They look so happy."

"I can't see them." Hermione admitted as she looked in the mirror. Harry stood there for one moment longer, then he looked to see Hermione had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Here, have a proper look." He offered and he stepped out of the way. She stepped in front of the mirror and after a moment, the image came to her.

It took Hermione a long moment to discern what she was seeing. There weren't Harry's parents at all, nor were they hers. In fact, they weren't even adults. There stood two girls on either side of her. Both of them were slightly taller than her, with dark hair. One of them wore glasses while the other didn't, otherwise, they were perfectly identical. Their black hair was bushy and their eyes were as green as the spring's grass.

Hermione looked at them, absolutely stunned as she realized who they were. The way they smiled at her and their overall physical mannerisms. They were his. They were hers. As both of them waved, Harry stepped closer into the picture.

"What do you see?"

She screamed for a moment and jumped as she clamped her hands over her mouth. "Nothing!" She had to quiet herself. "Nothing. I'm sorry." She said in a very meek, tiny voice.

"My my, this is, by far, better than I had expected." Both of them turned ice cold as they turned around and saw none other than a tall old man with a long white beard and beautiful, naval blue robes with stars and a moon embroidered to them. "Of all the people to find the Mirror of Erised, I dare say, you two were the top of the list. Hello, Harry, Hermione."

Both of them, mortified to the point of muteness and unable to do anything else, they both waved. This made Dumbledore chuckle as he walked around and eyed the mirror.

"This mirror is, by far, one of the most curious discoveries I'd made on my long travels. I'd heard of its abilities and its potential and I am glad to say that while I am deeply impressed, I do wish I had a better place to put it. As it turns out, it is far more dangerous than I could have ever imagined." Dumbledore said as he studied the mirror a moment longer and then turned to them with a smile on his face. "I suppose you both have caught onto what the mirror does and why it is, as I said before, dangerous?"

"It shows us what we want more than anything." Hermione said, looking away from Harry as her face went completely pink.

"Very good, Miss Granger! Yes, the Mirror of Erised shows you your innermost desire and it shows it in grave, stark detail. In fact, it shows it to you so readily, that some people have gazed into it to the point of madness."

Hermione immediately sympathized with these poor souls. Already, she was ready to gaze into the mirror until her eyes drooped shut. Though, that told her that she was, indeed, just as vulnerable. She could imagine Harry was in a similar mind.

"I am not here to punish you, my dear pupils, but I do hope you do not repeat your visit to the mirror, if you can help it. Clearly, it has entranced you as it has entranced many others, myself included. But you are young, and your life is worth far more than mine. Go on, use your cloak, off to bed with you." He said with a hearty smile. Both of them nodded to him and draped the invisibility cloak over their heads. Then they headed toward the door.

"Oh, wait, Profess–" Harry turned around, but Dumbledore was gone.

What was to be said about that night? All of the images danced around in their heads as they sat in the common room. This time, though, they talked for a nice long while.

"I just want to tell you later, is all." Hermione said as she turned her head to the side to look into the fire as she had retaken her position with her head on his lap. "Is that alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I am curious but not enough to pry." Harry admitted and chuckled. "So, I want to ask you a rather big question."

"But we're eleven, Harry. My mum told me I had to wait." Hermione pursed her lips to keep from grinning.

"Not that question, you loon." Harry scoffed and Hermione snorted. "I was going to ask, what uummm… what drew you… to me?" He looked into the fire and Hermione's eyes widened.

"Aside from your dashing good looks…" She said in a tone that very clearly was not joking. "Your bravery and soft-spokenness got me, I suppose. Other than that… I suppose I just… did." She shrugged at that.

"Fair enough." Harry also left it at that. It wasn't long before they decided to go off to bed. After a very slow, gentle snogging, they were off to their rooms.

One step toward their rooms, and Harry's scar began to burn.