Dost thou have to post this chapter tonight, scribe?

Gwendolena, you were just bugging me about not being in the story. Why would you want me to wait?

What if thy readers findeth me hateful? Maybe thou shouldst edit it a little more for safety's sake.

The last thing I need to do is edit things more. I'm anal-retentive enough as-is.

So I canst not tempt thee to do one more SPaG review?

How on Earth do you know what a SPaG review is?

I resent thy implication that I am unlettered. I readeth the Girl of Grammar nightly after sleep taketh thee.

You use my computer? Wait, are you the reason I keep getting Google ads for—"

Nay! Most certainly nay! Now haste and post this chapter, scribe, and keepeth not thy readers waiting one moment longer.

Fine, but I'm changing my login password.

And I shall let thee think that will help. See? Now we art both content.

Luna waved goodbye to her parents and hurried down the path from the front door to meet up with her friends. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were there with Sirius Black and Hestia Jones, and with almost nary a wrackspurt in sight. Sirius seemed to have just a few, which was unusual but not concerning by itself. Oddly, Harry (who wasn't normally a hat person) was wearing a tweed Scottish flat cap.

"Happy Birthday!" they all shouted as she approached. Hermione and Harry then pulled out little whistles that, when they were blown, emitted the sound of a foghorn and expelled a rainbow-coloured mist.

Hestia jumped a little. "What in Merlin's name?"

"Zonko's party whistles," Sirius said. "Perfect for every occasion."

Hermione studied the whistle quizzically. "Especially ships on a foggy night, apparently."

"Ships?" Harry's eyes lit up. "Perfect!" He blew the whistle again.

"I'm glad you like them," Sirius said. "Now, I'm going to call the Knight Bus to take us there, but we'll be going a bit of a roundabout way on it."

"We will?" Hestia asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to take the floo?"

"Yes," Harry said, "but far less pirate-y."

"Piratical," Hermione corrected.

"Piratical-y," Harry said.

The older girl sighed.

"Anyway," Sirius said, "the Knight Bus is a very bumpy ride and might seem scary the first time you use it. It's absolutely safe, though. No matter what you see it do, you're not going to be hurt and the bus isn't going to crash. Oh, and the armchairs we'll be sitting in slide all over the floor, but just treat it like an amusement park ride. Don't worry if you spill the hot chocolate; I'll clean you up with magic when we get out."

Hermione raised her hand, which Luna thought was absolutely adorable.

"Yes?" Sirius asked.

"Hot chocolate? Armchairs? Amusement park ride? On a bus?"

Luna gently patted Hermione's shoulder, which seemed to help the older girl relax a little. "It's a magical bus," Luna said, "and magical devices often do things because they seemed like a good idea at the time they were created, not because they make sense."

"That's…so irrational!" Hermione said.

"That's what makes it so lovely," Luna said. "There are lots of buses in muggle London, aren't there?"

"Well, yes."

"And they're mostly the same, right?"

Hermione nodded. "There are a few different models of bus, but they're all generally one of a few types that the government bulk-purchased to save money."

"The Wizarding World is different," Luna said. "There's only one Knight Bus. Nowhere else in the world has a bus quite like this one, and when this one finally does break down for good, whatever replaces it will almost certainly be irrational in an entirely different way. That's why I can't wait to ride the Knight Bus: this could be the only time I get to see something as queer and irrational as this and I don't want to miss a thing."

Hermione's lips formed a silent 'o.'

"Huh," Harry said. "I think Luna broke Hermione."

"No," Hermione replied slowly, "I…I think she fixed me." She pulled Harry and Luna into a hug that smelt of vanilla, pen ink, and cinnamon. "Happy Birthday, Luna," she said. "Let's go have our adventure with our best friends and not waste one more minute worrying about how rational it is."

"Yay!" Luna didn't even bother hiding the huge smile on her face. She'd just helped her friend and they were about to go on an adventure that would almost certainly involve ice cream or pudding. She wasn't sure how future birthdays could possibly top this one.

"Yarr!" Harry added with a grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes and shot him a fond smile. Luna basked in its warmth and hoped that someone would smile at her like that one day.

Sirius coughed gently. "I…um…hate to break this up, but we are on a bit of a schedule."

"No worries," Harry said. "Let's go!"

Luna and Hermione nodded. Hestia did, as well, but she seemed to have accumulated a number of wrackspurts all of a sudden and the smile she'd pasted on her face didn't come close to her eyes.

Luna wasn't too worried about her, though. She had Sirius's help to deal with those wrackspurts, whether she knew it or not.

"OK, kids, get ready," Sirius said. "The bus will appear when I hold up my wand and it can be a little sudden."

Harry shifted a little to stand in front of Hermione as Sirius raised his arm. Luna wasn't sure Harry even knew he'd done it, but had no more time to think on it as the huge purple triple-decker bus roared up in front of them from out of nowhere.

"Welcome t'the Knight Bus," said a lanky young man in a ratty conductor's coat as stepped out onto the boarding platform. "We provide top-notch emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard, best in the business, and always just a hail away. I'm Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this fine day. Where can I take you good people?"

"Good afternoon," Sirius said. "We're off to the Leaky Cauldron, but we'll sit and enjoy the ride for a bit." He handed Stan four galleons. "I'll take five seats with the hot chocolate, please, and keep the change."

"Blimey, thanks!" Stan said. "Hop on board!"

Sirius led them all onto the bus and they waited while Stan drew mugs of hot chocolate from a space-expanded warm box underneath the stairs to the upper deck. As soon as Sirius had his mug, he stepped on those stairs and motioned for them to follow him. "Hang on tight," he said. "The bus goes—"

"And we're clear," Stan said as he gave the last mug to Hestia.

The bus lurched forward and accelerated to what Luna could only describe as ludicrous speed. Hermione squeaked in fright, but Hestia said, "Don't worry, dear. The bus has lots of charms on it to hide it and protect it from collisions. You're probably in one of the safest places in Britain right now."

Harry just said, "Wow." He tried to drink some of his hot chocolate while he held onto a railing for dear life, but about half of it spilt on his shirt. Luna's was sloshing all over, too, which was disappointing because it was a chilly day and hot chocolate sounded lovely.

The staircase was enchanted so the first step took them up to the second floor of the bus. There was no one else up there at that time of day, so Sirius led them over to some of the armchairs rolling around the floor like plimpies in an eddy and they all got seats together. At least, they were initially together. After a few minutes they were spread all over the bus and most of the remainder of Luna's hot chocolate was on her shirt. As Sirius whizzed by them, he took turns cleaning each of them up, making a game of targeting his cleaning spells. Harry cheered his aim and, despite her concern at the madcap driving of the bus, even Hermione seemed impressed by his control.

After about ten minutes, all of the hot chocolate was either in Luna's stomach, on her shirt, or (mostly) cleaned off of her shirt, and she was starting to wonder why they couldn't just go straight to the Leaky Cauldron when a blonde boy with a bit of baby fat still in his cheeks climbed up to the second floor of the bus.

"Hullo," he said as he staggered from side to side of the bus, eyes wide from the chaos.

"Neville!" Harry leapt from his seat, nimbly dodged Hestia's chair as it hurtled past him, and gave the other boy a hug. "Welcome aboard our pirate bus!"

"It's not…" Hermione began, then paused. "Nevermind. If there was ever, in the entire history of this island, a pirate bus, this is most certainly it."

"Good…oof…afternoon," Hestia said. "My name is Hestia Jones, and Sirius asked me to help supervise on this trip."

A chair rattled by the boys and Harry caught it and helped Neville in. The blonde boy went bouncing around the floor and ended up near Luna. "Hullo," he said to her. "I'm Neville Longbottom. It's alright if you want to make fun of my name."

"Hullo, Neville Longbottom," Luna replied. "I'm Luna Lovegood, and people make fun of my name, too."

"Well, I won't," Neville said firmly. Behind him, or at least briefly behind him depending on which way his chair was angled, Sirius climbed down the stairs, presumably to ask Stan to take them to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was now swinging on the grip bars hanging from overhead and both Hestia and Hermione were trying to cajole him into coming down.

"That's very kind of you," Luna said. "I think we shall become friends."

"I'm pretty boring." Neville looked down at the floor. "You'll probably change your mind."

Luna arched her eyebrows at him. "I disagree. I have been to three different continents in search of magical beasts. I should like to think I can identify interesting things by now and you are one of them."

They both jumped a little when Hermione shrieked, but it turned out to just be due to Harry swinging himself down from the bar into a passing chair.

"What?" Harry asked. "You wanted me to come down."

Hestia sighed.

"I actually am interesting?" Neville asked when they'd turned back to face each other.

"I have a hunch," Luna said.

"Really?" The poor boy looked genuinely surprised about that. "Wait, are you the person whose birthday it is today?"

Luna smiled. "Yes, I am. I've never spent a birthday with friends like this before and I'm ever so excited about it."

"Happy Birthday!" Neville said. "I'll do my best to ensure you've a good one, then."

The bus screeched to a stop outside the Leaky Cauldron before Luna could respond, which conveniently threw all of their chairs against the front of the bus next to the staircase there. Hestia helped Luna and Neville out of their chairs while Harry helped Hermione out of hers, then the all made their way unsteadily (except for Harry…Luna was starting to wonder if that boy was part Lemurian Lemur) downstairs and out of the bus.

Sirius already had the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron open when Luna and Neville exited, and as they followed him in, Harry pulled his hat down low over his eyes.

"Oh," she whispered.

Neville looked at her, brows furrowed.

"He doesn't want any attention," Luna said. "It hurts him."

"At least people remember what his parents did," Neville said sadly.

Luna made a mental note to ask Sirius about that statement later. "They don't, though. They thank him."

Neville glowered. "Bastards. Oh! I'm sorry, that was—"

"Just fine." Luna placed her hand gently on his arm as she spoke. Under the baby fat was a surprising layer of muscle, as if he were much more accustomed to manual labour than he appeared. "Appropriate, even." She took a quick glance at Hestia, who was bringing up the rear just behind them, but she seemed too busy scanning the seedy bar for potential threats to have noticed their conversation.

The establishment still had a bit of the lunchtime crowd in it, but it wasn't too busy and they had no real difficulty threading their way through the dingy room and out into Diagon Alley. The early afternoon sun was a harsh, but welcome change after the dinginess of the Leaky Cauldron. The Alley was quiet, with most people at work and the school supply rush a few months off yet, and they paused in the middle of the street to plan.

"Alright," Sirius said. "Harry and Hermione already have their wands and didn't particularly enjoy the experience—"

A shadow passed over their faces as Sirius mentioned them, and Luna filed that away for further questioning, as well.

"So, I thought Hestia could take them to a bookshop—"

The shadow lifted from Hermione's face so fast that Luna was surprised the little witch's lips didn't get whiplash. (Liplash? She made a note to ask her father if that was, as Harry would put it, a Thing.) Harry rolled his eyes, but still smiled at how happy Hermione was.

"—while I took Luna and Neville for their wands. Hestia, are you up for that? We'd meet you at the bookshop."

Hestia nodded firmly. "That works. Flourish & Blotts?"

"No, I thought they would like a place with a little more character this time," Sirius said. "Could you take them to Oldknowe Books?"

The older witch arched her eyebrows. "Don't you think the ghosts will be a bit much?"

"Nah," Sirius said with a grin. "They're harmless and it'll be a good chance to get used to ghosts before they go to Hogwarts."

"Ghosts?" Hermione asked, alarmed.

"Ghosts?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Wixen can see spirits that muggles can only barely perceive," Hestia said, "and the more magical a place is, the more likely it is to have a few spirits sticking around. They can't hurt you, though. Oldknowe Books is reputed to have a few ghosts."

"How interesting!" Hermione said. "I wonder if they can recommend books."

"Or if any of them were pirates," Harry added.

"Both of those are quite possible," Hestia said. "Shall we, then?"

Oldknowe Books had a dirty and run-down exterior (with the word "UNQUIET" written on it for some reason), but, as if trying to prove an old adage about its products, was clean and well-lit inside. Everburning candles floating near the ceiling every few feet provided plenty of light and all of the books were arranged neatly on shelves by their topics. Although the shopfront was only about twenty yards wide, the length of the inside had been magically expanded to the point that Hestia had difficulty even seeing the back of the shop in the candlelight.

"Wait, children," Hestia said as Harry and Hermione entered behind her. "Before you go touching anything, I want to talk to the clerk about what might be dangerous."

"It's alright," the clerk said. He had his back to her behind the desk a good twenty feet from the door, so his hearing must have been remarkable, and he turned around as he spoke. "There's nothing dangerous on the floor right now. The children's books and introductory level spellbooks are toward the back, though. The items with somewhat Darker spells are up here near the front where I can keep an eye on them."

Hestia had to stop herself from visibly reacting as she caught a glimpse of the man. He had a number of scars on his face and hands, several travelling up his wrists and under his shirtsleeves. His short brown hair hung limply on his head and he had bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept well in days. His smile was kind, though, and he seemed genuinely concerned for the children's safety.

"That's good," Hestia said.

"Are there ghosts here?" Hermione asked. "We were looking forward to meeting one."

"I think Gwendolena is back there," the clerk replied. "She likes children."

"Oh, good, thank you," Hermione said.

"Was she a pirate?" Harry asked.

"I don't think so."

He shrugged. "Oh, well. It'll still be cool to meet her."

"I won't tell her you said that." Hermione took his hand. "Now come on! There are books back there."

Harry laughed and let her pull him toward the back, past a display of Newt Scamander's new book, A Children's Anthology of Monsters.

The clerk chuckled as he watched them go. "Those children seem like fun, but a bit of a handful. Are you watching them for their parents?"

Hestia glared at him and had to stop her hand from twitching toward her wand. "Perhaps. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious." He held his hands out so she could see they were empty, but that didn't assuage her concerns as much as it might have before she saw Lockhart draw his wand. "I guessed they weren't yours because you seemed a bit young to have children that age, their skin tone is different enough and their age similar enough that they can't be fraternal twins, so at least one of them isn't yours, and they're dressed like muggleborn wixen while your robes are more like those of a modern Pureblood."

She inclined her head slightly. "Very observant. You're correct that I'm watching them for their parents. They're working right now and aren't always comfortable in Diagon Alley, regardless."

He smiled at her, a genuine smile that came through in spite of his apparent exhaustion. "That's wonderful of you. Thank you."

"Well…I mean, I'm getting paid for this trip," Hestia said.

"That's not what I meant," the clerk said. "I had a friend at Hogwarts, a brilliant muggleborn witch. She would have loved an opportunity like this to learn more about the Wizarding World and spend time in Diagon Alley. I know you're just doing this as a job, but I promise you that those children are going to remember this trip for the rest of their lives. So, thank you for giving muggleborn children the memories my friend never got to make for herself."

"Oh…you're very welcome." Hestia didn't bother to correct his assumption that both children were muggleborn, since that was safer for Harry's anonymity. "I'm sorry your friend never had that opportunity. Is she making up for it now?"

The man shook his head sadly. "No, she died in the war."

"I'm sorry," Hestia said.

"I miss them every day." He sighed. "I should leave you to your browsing. Is there anything you're looking for?"

"Cursebreaking, if you have anything," Hestia replied. "I'm starting out as a freelancer."

His eyebrows shot up, but all he said was, "Those shelves there have all of our cursebreaking and warding books." The shelves to which he pointed were toward the front of the shop, along the far well from his desk and cash register, but separated from him by two more shelves. Evidently, he considered the cursebreaking and warding books among the Darker ones in the shop, which was probably a good sign for the safety of the rest of it.

"Thank you." Hestia made her way over to the shelves to see what he had in stock.

Harry allowed Hermione to lead him all the way to the back of the shop. On the way, they passed an end cap display with some used Harry Potter Adventures books in it. "Oi," Harry said, "aren't you curious what I've been up to?"

"I already know what you've been up to," Hermione said. "We live together. Would you help me find the introductory spellbooks?"

"You never know," Harry said. "I may have a hippogriff hidden away in your parents' attic."

She sighed loudly. "We were just up in the attic a couple of months ago putting away the Christmas decorations."

"Maybe it's a recent addition."

She turned around and glared at him.

"Nevermind," Harry said.

"Anyway," Hermione said, "I'll check the shelves on the left side of the shop and you check the shelves on the right side. That way, we'll find the spellbooks faster."

Before they could separate, though, the spectre of a young woman rose up through the floor. She wore a blood-red cloth dress bound by an ornate ribbon around the waist and a white cloth hanging over her hair. "Good afternoon, children," she said.

Harry and Hermione's grip on each other's hands tightened and they each jumped back a few feet up the centre aisle of the shop.

"Be not alarmed," the woman said, giggling. "I am Gwendolena, one of the resident spirits here."

"Oh, hullo." Harry tried to run his free hand through his hair, but forgot he had a hat on and nearly knocked it off. "I'm Harry and this is Hermione."

"Well met, Harry and Hermione," Gwendolena said. "I see ye art in a hurry to find books. May I help ye?"

"Thank you, Miss Gwendolena!" Hermione said. "I'm looking for introductory spellbooks."

"Spellbooks already?" Gwendolena asked. "Surely thou art too young yet to attend Hogwarts."

"Only by a little," Hermione replied, "and I want to ensure we're both caught up on all of the spells we'll need to know. There's just so much to learn and I'm worried we're already behind!"

"There is indeed much to learn, but thou needst not sacrifice thy childhood to do so," the ghost said. "Abideth for a moment among the children's books and thou will learn much about the Wizarding World, too."

"That doesn't sound like a good use of our time."

"It sounds more interesting than spellbooks to me," Harry said.

"I know, I know, but we need to be prepared in case anyone else comes looking for you," Hermione told him. "I'm worried we won't be ready."

Gwendolena arched her partially transparent eyebrows. "Ready for what, praytell? Thou art but children. How…" she knelt down until she was at eye level with Harry. "Thou…thou art a Potter!"

"What of it?" Harry asked defiantly.

The ghost reached out to him and gently ran her hand across his cheek, chilling his skin wherever she touched. "Oh, child, thou hast a heavy Doom upon thee, and nothing I do may change that. Please allow me to help thee, though."

"Doom?" Harry asked. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's an old word for your fate," Hermione said. "How can we help him?"

"There is a tale I must recount to ye," Gwendolena looked distant for a moment. "Many centuries ago, I coveted the life of my elder sister Iolanthe and did endeavour to do her a grave injustice by enslaving her to another with vile love potions. Thine ancestor Hardwin Potter slew me before I could succeed and Iolanthe agreed to be his wife."

"My ancestor killed you?" Harry asked. "Aren't you angry at me, then?"

"Nay, child." The ghost smiled sadly. "Long years have taught me the right of the matter and I now thank Heaven that Hardwin was there to stop me."

"Oh, OK," Harry said.

Hermione looked around, puzzled. "This bookshop doesn't look that old. Were you killed here before it was a shop?"

"An excellent question," Gwendolena said. "Some ghosts can go whither they will, and for many a year I haunted the library of Hogwarts. The current Headmaster troubled me overmuch with questions to which only young Harry here deserves the answers, though, so I took my leave some years ago and sought out another building friendly to spirits and full of books."

"I'm sorry you couldn't stay," Hermione said.

Harry nodded. "Me, too, but I appreciate you offering to tell me that story."

"I thankest ye," Gwendolena said. "If thou canst find me a certain book on the bottom shelf of the bookcase behind me, place it in front of me, and turn the pages for me, I can read it to thee and tell thee the truth of thy heritage, as I understand it. Thou must tell no one, though. Only thee and thy betrothed must know."

Hermione sighed again. "Does everyone know we're still engaged? We're trying to keep that a secret."

Gwendolena laughed merrily. "Oh, child, thy secret is safe. I canst only perceive thy bond due to my aethereal nature and distant relationship to this boy."

"That's good, at least," Hermione said. "What book did you want us to find?"

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard," the ghost replied.

Luna skipped gaily along Diagon Alley, revelling in the feeling of her new wand thrumming against her head from its place behind her ear. A glance over at Neville slowed her back to a walk, though. The poor boy was staring nervously at his wand as he made his way down the street.

"Are you alright, Neville Longbottom?" she asked him.

He gave her a confused look that suggested he really didn't know how to answer that question. "Um…is Mr. Ollivander always like that?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, he's usually just mildly creepy. He really pulled out all the stops for you and Harry, though."

"Wonderful," Neville said drily.

Luna patted his arm. "Don't worry. If Mr. Ollivander had tried anything funny, I would have used my wand on him."

"How did you learn spells without a wand?" Neville asked.

"Oh, I didn't mean that sort of use," Luna said. "I would have punched him and, while he was distracted, shoved my wand somewhere unpleasant. Wands are sturdy things, you see. I think I could get it quite far up there."

Neville stared at her, open-mouthed.

"No, silly." She placed a finger under Neville's chin and gently pushed his mouth closed. "The other hole." That misunderstanding cleared up, she skipped on toward the bookshop.

Sirius and Neville watched her for a moment, then turned to one another.

"Did she…" Neville trailed off.

"Indeed she did," Sirius said.

"My goodness," Neville said.

Sirius patted him on the shoulder and smiled wistfully, wishing Frank and Alice could be here to see this instead. Frank would be grinning like a thief right now, and Alice…Alice would be laughing so hard she was crying.

The two of them hurried to catch up with Luna, and they all arrived at Oldknowe Books at roughly the same time. "One moment," Sirius said, and the children turned to look at him expectantly. "Can you both stay up near the front of the shop? I'll go find Harry, Hermione, and Hestia, and then we can get some dessert. Neville can't stay too much longer, but we can go back here afterward if you'd like, Luna."

"Thank you," Neville said. Luna nodded seriously…a reflection of how seriously she took dessert.

Sirius opened the door for them and followed them inside. The clerk was rummaging around under the counter for something, so all Sirius could see of him was the worn tweed jacket he wore. Luna's attention was immediately drawn to a display of Newt Scamander books and Neville seemed content to follow her, so Sirius left them alone for a moment while he collected the other children.

Harry stared at the floor where Gwendolena had been before she…left. "I don't understand," he whispered. "Gwendolena, please come back. I still don't understand."

"I…don't think she can." Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry from where she sat next to him on the floor. A copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard lay in front of them, still open to the last page of "The Tale of the Three Brothers."

"Why does it have to be me?" Harry asked. "I don't know what I'm doing. I don't want this job."

"I think that's why," Hermione said. "Anyone else would find it tempting. Who knows how much power you could wield with those objects…assuming you ever find them?"

"Anyone?" He paused. "E…even you?"

"Even me," she whispered back.

"Then you do it," Harry said. "I don't want to."

"I can't," Hermione replied. "I could only take the wand by hurting you and I would rather cut my own arm off. I think that's why Gwendolena thought it would be safe for me to hear. I'll always be there to help you with this, Harry, but I think you have to take up this responsibility."

He hugged her then, too, suddenly and tightly. "Thank you. I can't do this alone."

"You won't have to," Hermione told him. "You'll have me, always. But…I guess it will only be me, won't it?"

Harry nodded. "I suppose it will. I can't tell anyone, can I?"

"I'm afraid not. People would and have killed for this sort of power. Even good people could be corrupted by it."

"Just us, then," Harry said.

She nodded and closed the book. "Just us. Until the end."

They sat there like that for a few more minutes before Sirius came back. "Is everything alright?" he asked. "You two look like you've seen a ghost." He grinned at his own joke, but the grin faded away when they both looked up at him with tired eyes.

"We did." Harry decided to lie only a little bit. "She…was waiting for us, I think is the best way to describe it. She asked if she could read us some stories from this book and then said it was time to pass on. After that, she just faded away."

Sirius knelt in front of them. "That's…highly unusual. Ghosts don't generally pass on until they address whatever is holding them to the material plane, and that can take centuries."

Hermione nodded. "She said she was many centuries old. I'm not sure what held her here, but she really wanted us to hear these stories."

"Interesting." Sirius picked up the book and flipped through it. "I haven't read these since I was a little boy. Did she flag any particular story?"

Harry shook his head. "She just started fading away as she read them, and then she was just gone."

"Weird." Sirius rose back to his feet and held out his hands to help them up. "Maybe she'd wanted to read stories to a certain number of children and you two happened to be the lucky ones. Are you alright?"

"We're fine," Hermione said. "But…do you think she's OK? She seemed nice and we don't know what happened to her."

"No one really knows," Sirius said, "but she didn't seem scared, did she?"

"Not at all," Hermione said.

"There you go, then," Sirius said. "I mean, she was an old ghost. If anyone had plenty of time to think about the pros and cons of passing on, it would be her. I figure if she's not worried about it, why should we worry?"

"That's a good way to look at it," Harry said. Hermione nodded.

Sirius smiled. "I have my moments. You two look like you could use a hug. Is that right, or are you getting too old for that now?"

Harry shook his head and threw his arms around Sirius's waist, with the slightly taller Hermione following a moment later. He wrapped his arms tightly around them and they stood together for a few minutes before Luna's voice called out from the front of the shop.

"Harry, could you come here, please?" she shouted.