The day was cool and rainy. The wind gusted, and the cold rain didn’t give up. It was Harry’s birthday, and he was now thirteen. At last, he was a teenager.
Amelia and Sirius had conspired to trap Harry. Formal society celebrations were something that Harry wanted to avoid. He had been invited to a few since the school year ended and was not impressed. Surprisingly, Sirius was the one who insisted that there must be a society event for Harry’s birthday. Harry knew the old Sirius from Azkaban. He had poured scorn and ridicule on formal wizard society conventions. A new socially connected Sirius had grown up in the months since his release and rehabilitation.
The birthday celebration was a ball for teenagers. It was held at The Ossuary. The Bones family had a ballroom and entertainment facilities adequate for the task. Harry didn’t count the number of guests, but they did include all of the students in his year at Hogwarts. Sirius had invited everyone, even the few whom Harry had never spoken to in the two years he had been at school.
Neville arrived with his grandmother. “Hi, Harry!”
“Hi, Nev! It’s great to see you. How’s the new greenhouse?” Harry knew what was important to Neville.
“Oh! It’s going well.”
Neville's eyes found something different with Harry. The Potter family crest was displayed on the left side of his formal robe near his shoulder, but there was something else.
“What is that?” Neville pointed at something on the right side of Harry’s robe.
Harry did something he rarely did: he blushed.
“Ah! That is my MBE.” Harry blushed again. “Sirius told me that I had to wear it and to explain what it meant to anyone who asked. He said that I needed to blow my own trumpet.”
“What is that medal?” Seamus Finnegan asked. A crowd of teenagers were now gathered around Harry. The medal was a silver cross with a crown. It was pinned to Harry’s robe with a red ribbon.
“It’s a medal that I got from the Queen.” Harry was almost mumbling. “We went to Balmoral today to get it. I can wear a red ribbon bar on my Hogwarts uniform.”
Ernie McMillan said, “MBE! What does that mean? Why did you say the Queen? You can’t have met the Queen.”
Justin Finch-Fletchly answered. “MBE is short for Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Hermione Granger’s father has one as well. I can see one on Tracey Davis’ father and Director Bones. Lord Greengrass has a GBE, which means Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. That is four grades higher than an MBE. He probably got that because he is already the Marquis of Crecy.”
“How do you know all that?” Theodore Nott asked.
“I’m already part of the system. My father is a baronet, so his title is Sir Edward Finch-Fletchly.”
“Why did you all get medals? Doesn’t that break the International Statute of Secrecy?” Padma Patil asked.
They turned to Harry. He shrugged and answered. “The medals are for the part we played in finally removing Lord Voldemort. There was also a nasty business with Lord Voldemort’s muggle father. He left an awful mess, which we helped clean up.”
“Isn’t this breaking the Statute of Secrecy?” Padma asked again.
Susan answered, “The British Prime Minister is in constant contact with the Minister for Magic. Most people don’t know that the Queen, the head of state, also has contact with the magical world. The controller of the Royal household, the Queen’s Lord Chamberlain, carries a wand of office. These days, it’s symbolic and not a real wand. Back in the days before the separation of the magical and mundane worlds, the Lord Chamberlain was a wizard. The Queen’s magical connection is secret but active, and the Queen knows all about our problems.”
Harry nodded, “The decorations are all secret. They will not go on any published lists.”
“The Ministry for Magic is still ignoring you. There will be no Order of Merlin for you or any of the others.” Theodore Nott said.
Harry shook his head. “Professor Snape made a recommendation after the troll incident. That was ignored. I’m expecting this to be ignored as well. Fudge was informed about the medals, and he objected, but he was ignored.”
Ernie McMillan asked Harry, “Why did you get a medal? I never read anything much about you in the Daily Prophet.”
Harry smiled, “For the full details, you must wait for Hermione’s book to be published. The main business was a visit to the Chamber of Secrets that I made with Draco Malfoy. I took Draco along if I needed someone to distract the monster.”
“I still haven’t forgiven you for that, Potter.” Draco put in from the back of the group.
Harry waved Malfoy away, “I went there to get Lord Voldemort to show himself. I have a spy network in the castle that works separately from all the other spy networks. My spies told me something nasty was lurking in the castle’s lowest drains. That meant that the Chamber of Secrets was worth a visit. The wraith was there, and I captured it by getting it to touch the drop of Elixir of New Life I was carrying.”
“You were crazy, Potter. You still are.” Draco said.
The Weasley family were there. The Weasley parents had been deeply shocked by the death of Albus Dumbledore. He had been their leader and guide, and now there was a vacuum where there had been certainty before. The group that had been The Order of the Phoenix was now a part of history. Minerva McGonagall had pursued the process of dismantling the Dumbledore myth. She privately showed the leading members Dumbledore's correspondence with Gellert Grindelwald. Those letters destroyed their faith in the myth, and Harry’s declaration of anathema against the former headmaster was no longer just words.
Ernie McMillan came back at Harry again. “Potter, what about Dumbledore? My father and grandfather have supported him since the war against Grindelwald. They don’t accept that Dumbledore’s legacy should be destroyed. That thing you said about him was wrong.”
Harry stopped and looked past Ernie’s shoulder. Arguments with Ernie were not important. Something else was happening.
-ooOOoo-
“Harry! Answer me!”
“I’m here, Hermione. Where are you?”
“I’m in the rose garden with Luna. Please come, Harry.”
-ooOOoo-
Harry looked back at Ernie. “Listen, if you and your father don’t believe me, talk to the Headmistress or Director Bones. They will show you the evidence. Now, I’m being called.”
The rose garden was in a walled garden on the south side of The Ossuary. Harry found the girls in a colonnade which surrounded the garden.
A strange person was with them.
As Harry walked up to the girls and the visitor, his senses tingled like lightning was about to strike.
Luna smiled at Harry; Hermione was staring at the visitor.
Luna spoke, “Harry, this is Hermes. He wants to talk to you.”
The man moved. Harry realised that Hermes was transparent when he moved. When he stayed still, he and his robes gained a solid quality. But the other-worldly appearance was strong.
Harry felt the aura of power coming from the God from Mount Olympus. He managed to find some words to say.
“Well met, Hermes.”
“Well met to you, Mister Potter. High-born manners don’t matter to me, Harry. I’m as likely to prank you as any Hogwarts student and more than most.”
“OK! Is this private? Can anyone else see you?”
“We are on our own for the time being. Don’t worry about being observed.” Hermes gestured, and the benches near them changed into comfortable chairs.
“Please sit.”
Hermes settled into a chair, and Luna took one next to him. Hermione dived at Harry, took his arm and dragged him to a chair. She squeezed into it beside him.
“Excellent! Harry! The time of extraordinary events is over for the time being. You have done very well. Hera, Poseidon, Zeus, Hades, Persephone and Hecate wish you well. The extraordinary gifts you were given are yours to keep. You have used them sparingly but enough to mark you as favoured by the greater powers.”
Hermes looked at Luna, who smiled and nodded to him.
“Your friend Luna has made many requests to the gods on your behalf. The gods have been pleased to grant them all. The latest request is this -”
Luna waved her hands, “Don’t tell them that!”
“But you are embarrassed! It’s so delicious! I love catching you like this.”
Hermes pointed at Harry. “Harry! You are to live your own life. You are not to allow anyone to pressure you into being a superhero. You are not to go about saving the ridiculous wizarding world from the follies it creates for itself.”
Hermione let her breath out, “Thank you!”
Hermes laughed, “Miss Hermione Granger! Thank you! Please continue with the task you have taken on. Well done, I say! You have many admirers on Mount Olympus.”
Hermione’s blush shone like a ripe red apple.
Hermes turned to Luna, “Isn’t she pretty! I love making you blush as well, Miss Lovegood. We shall speak soon.”
Hermes was gone. The three jumped to their feet. The chairs resumed their bench shapes.
Harry took Hermione’s hand.
Luna smiled at them and hurried back to the house.
“You’re holding my hand, Harry.”
“Yes, and I’m not letting you go.”
They walked around the rose garden, stopping to admire the blooms.
“Last week, when Sirius, your father, and I went to see Potter Manor, I made a decision.”
Hermione smiled, “What was that decision?”
“I could never live there. The rooms are too big, and there are too many of them. I grew up living in a cell where I barely had room to walk around. My little room in the Slytherin dormitory is big enough for me.”
“So, Harry, where do you want to live?”
“I love your mindscape cottage. I think I’m privileged you let me look around in it.”
Hermione squeezed Harry’s hand.
“I’m privileged to have seen Potter Manor before I even went there.”
“There is a place where I want to build the cottage. It’s outside the garden walls at Potter Manor in a private corner of the estate. There is a view over the lake on one side and a stream and the oak forest on the other. It will be a short walk to the Manor.”
“What will happen to Potter Manor, Harry?”
“I want to establish an advanced research organisation there. I want to find a way to keep the wizarding world from being overrun by the mundane. Any day now, something will be discovered which will make us as relevant as stone-age hunter-gatherers.”
“Wow! After decades of leaders like Dumbledore holding everything back, that will be essential.”
“Your father said there is probably a place in London doing the same thing from the mundane side.”
Hermione smiled, “That is almost a certainty.”
“Tell me, Hermione, where do you want to live?”
“I want to live in my cottage.”
-ooOOoo-
“Well, do you want to keep this gift?”
“When I first understood what was happening, I hated it. I wanted it gone.”
“That was obvious. Has anything changed?”
“I talked to you every day. I worked at what Hecate told me to do. I then realised something.”
“Yes, please continue.”
“I liked talking to you. I liked you talking to me. Having you so close became part of my life. I can’t imagine living any other way now.”
“What do your parents think about this?”
“My mother is picking out fabrics and designs for mine and the bridesmaid’s dresses. My father, bless his flinty heart, said that he had the standard questions like ‘Will you be able to support my daughter in the manner to which she is accustomed?’ “
“Is he going to ask the questions?”
“After the tour of Potter Manor, he shelved the idea. He said the toilet seats were made of solid gold encrusted with diamonds, and we could get married whenever we liked. He is being quite silly. Solid gold toilet seats encrusted with diamonds would be very uncomfortable.”
“Will you marry me, Hermione?”
“Harry! We are thirteen.”
“I know! Will you marry me, Hermione?”
“Yes! After we graduate!”
“The day after?”
“Yes!”
“Like my parents.”
“Really?”
Harry stopped walking, put his free arm around Hermione and pulled her to him. They kissed.
"I liked that. Can we try that again soon? We might need more practice."
“Sure! Let’s go around the colonnade again.”
“Good! Because I have a question.”
“Ask away.”
“I refused to ask about this because I was still angry about the way the gods acted like they were gods or something. Then I thought I would not like the answer if there was one. Then, I was embarrassed at thinking the way I was thinking.”
“So, the question is?”
“At the end of the Death Meeting in the headmaster’s office, Death stood there and looked at everyone. He seemed to be willing everyone to look into his eyes. He turned around until he got to me. I couldn’t help it; I looked into his eyes. He does have eyes. Death’s eyes are like distant stars shining in the night sky. He held me with his gaze. Then, one eye, his left one, slowly went out and then came back. I wouldn’t say this until now, but Death winked at me.”
“Death winked at you.”
“Yes, and I’m certain he didn’t do that to anyone else.”
“I was watching him, and you are right. Death looked at you for a lot longer than anyone else. I didn’t see him wink at you, but that is something he would do. He does have a sense of humour. Most people would say his sense of humour is a bit dark.”
“Why did the anthropomorphic personification of death wink at me?”
“Because he likes you.”
“Death likes me. Why?”
“Because you were helping me.”
“I was not happy about it.”
“He knew that you would help me, no matter what you were feeling.”
“Should we invite him to the wedding?”
“Very funny!”
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