So Close

It was early in the morning as Molly Weasley stood alone in the kitchen of the Burrow beginning to get things together for the family's breakfast. The time before the others woke up was her only time to let her true emotions show. Alone in her kitchen she let the tears come as they may, and in the two years since the official war started, they came quite often. She worried so much about her children. Bill, Charlie, Fred and George were all official members of the Order now. Bill and Charlie were regularly out on special protection assignments and she worried constantly when they were gone. Fred and George mainly developed devices the others could use so they weren't directly involved in the fighting, but as soon as word go out they were helping the cause; they started receiving threats from Death Eaters. Percy had gotten back in the good graces of the Minister of Magic and was once again the assistant to the Deputy Minister. She worried about him, not so much for his safety but how his allegiance to the current Minister would continue to pull him further away from the rest of the family.

Mrs. Weasley also worried about her youngest son. Ron had entered Auror training directly after graduating Hogwarts along with one of his best friends Hermione Granger. Molly had been happy when Ron and Hermione dated, but was very much relieved when they both decided they were better suited to just being friends. Molly hated that Ron and Hermione both were working as hard as they could so they could directly join the fight against Voldemort's rise. Her youngest girl Ginny had just graduated this year and started training to be a healer at St. Mungo's Hospital. Molly was thankful that the young girl hadn't chosen to follow in her brother's footsteps and join in the fighting.

Molly glanced at her magical clock on the wall that showed the current location of all of her children. All the faces were pointing to home even though that meant various locations, except for one. Each face had distinctive flaming red hair except one, and it had raven black hair. The boy she considered as one of her own was currently pointing to 'War'. Harry Potter's hand on the clock had either been on War or Mortal Peril since he left with Professor Dumbledore and Nymphadora Tonks almost two years ago to find a way to defeat Lord Voldemort for good. As thankful as Molly was that all of the red-haired faces were safely at 'Home', she couldn't keep the tears from falling at the thought of what the other boy was going through.

Harry hadn't contacted anyone since leaving that night after his birthday party. There had been times when people thought they saw him in various places but these were usually written off as hopeful thinking. The only time they were all fairly certain Harry had been around was just before the Holidays this year. Bill had been stationed with a group of people that was going to help protect Beauxbatons from an attack that was reported to be imminent. He was sitting in camp one night when three hooded figures casually walked directly into their camp, causing everyone to wonder about them. When the three passed where Bill was sitting, the figure in the middle stopped and seemed to stare at him for a second. Bill felt something strangely familiar about the figure but before he could place the feeling, the third figure nudged the other one and they continued to the far side of the camp where they sat close together, speaking only in whispers.

That night, there had been a surprise attack on their camp and in the midst of all the confusion, Bill was hit by a large limb and knocked down, unable to move. He looked up to see the mask of a Death Eater looming above him and truly thought that would be the last thing he saw. Suddenly, the Death Eater was blasted away and one of the hooded figures came to him and said, "You're going to be ok." The figure placed a small piece of parchment into Bill's hand before Bill passed out. When Bill woke the next day in St. Mungos with Mr. & Mrs. Weasley at his side, he noticed the crumpled parchment on the stand next to his bed. Opening the note he saw that it simply said:

Tell the others I'm fine. H.

Molly Weasley had taken that piece of parchment and carried it with her from that moment on.

Hermione had been equally worried about Harry, and in some ways even more so. She still lived with her parents while she was finishing training to be an Auror but spent a great deal of time at the Weasley's studying with Ron or just worrying with Mrs. Weasley. She had been furious with Harry when he left with Dumbledore after his birthday party, but quickly progressed to worrying almost constantly about him. She liked being at the Weasley's where the clock on the wall at least would let her know he wasn't in Mortal Peril. Her breakup with Ron had gone surprisingly well. Neither of them could pinpoint when it happened exactly. One day, they both realized that they had just been acting as best friends for the past couple months and both seemed much happier with that label so their relationship just went back to that. Ron had actually gone out with Lavender Brown a couple times since graduation but Hermione had been focused on her training.

Harry had sent Hedwig to stay with Ginny when he left but Hedwig decided to stay with Hermione instead, irritating Ginny. Hermione liked having the owl around since she was very useful, but also because she sensed how much the owl loved Harry. It was almost like having her own magical clock because she could see Hedwig become nervous on some days and when she asked Ron about this he would say that Harry's hand on the clock had been on Mortal Peril at the same time.

It was July 30^th and Hermione was going to spend the next couple days at the Burrow with Ron and his family. Other than the Holidays, this was an emotional time for the family since it was Harry's birthday and the anniversary of when they had last seen him. It really bothered Ron that there wasn't anything he could do to help his friend. It was all Hermione could do after Harry left to keep Ron from storming off to try and find his friend. Hermione would have liked to do that as well, but without any plan or clues, she knew it would be a hopeless task.

Hermione was staying in the twin's old room which Mrs. Weasley had done a thorough job of cleaning. Bill happened to be in Percy's old room since he had just come back from another assignment and wanted to be close to the family for a while. She couldn't really room with Ginny anymore. Ginny had taken Harry's departure quite differently and things between Ginny, Ron and Hermione had been very strained ever since. Hermione had to keep reminding Ron that she was his little sister and had her own way of dealing with things. Hermione couldn't relate to Ginny's actions either and this caused the two to drift apart.

Ron and Hermione had stayed up late with Bill, listening to his latest stories from his last mission. They tended to get into long discussion on what they thought Dumbledore, Tonks and Harry were currently doing and this seemed to make Ron and Hermione feel much better. They all finally trudged up to bed knowing that Ron and Hermione had to get up early to continue training in the morning.

Hermione's alarm had just gone off when she saw Hedwig fly through the window looking very agitated. "What's up girl?" Hermione asked but Hedwig wouldn't sit still long enough for Hermione to pet her. The own would fly around the room and then out the window, only to return the next moment. Hermione got a queasy feeling in her stomach but headed to take a quick shower before getting ready for training. While she was getting dressed, she thought she heard some commotion from downstairs. When she reached the bottom, she heard Mrs. Weasley and Ginny in an argument.

"I'm sick of that damn clock!" Ginny exclaimed. "I wish you would have never put his face on it!"

"Don't you ever say that Ginny," Mrs. Weasley scolded. "He's as much a member of this family as anyone else."

"Yeah, then why isn't he here?" Ginny spat back.

Hermione entered the kitchen just in time to see Mr. Weasley kiss his wife and say, "I'm going to the office early, I'll try to find out what's going on." With a pop, Arthur vanished. Hermione looked at the clock and saw that Harry's had was indeed pointing to "Mortal Peril."

Bill had just come downstairs and was closely followed by Ron when they heard a pop and saw Mr. Weasley standing back in the kitchen with a very confused look. "Can't get in," he said.

"What's wrong dear?" Molly asked.

"Can't get into the Ministry building. It just spits you right back out," Mr. Weasley said. He was about to say something else when the head of Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared in the fireplace.

"Arthur!" Kingsley said with urgency.

"I'm here Kingsley, what's going on?" Mr. Weasley said as he stepped in front of the fire.

"He's in the Ministry building Arthur and Dumbledore's there as well! No one can get in at all," Kingsley said, speaking very fast for him.

"You-Know-Who's there!" Ron exclaimed.

"What do you need us to do?" Arthur asked with Bill coming to stand right behind him.

"You and Bill see if you can find some way into the building," Kingsley quickly said and then noticed Ron. "There's no training today so I want Ron and Hermione to stay away from the building."

"Forget that!" Ron exclaimed. "If Dumbledore's there than Harry is as well and I'm going."

"That's an order Ron," Kingsley calmly said. "As soon as we have any hard info, we'll let you know but you two stay away for now."

Ron started to argue but Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen. "Ron, that's still our boss. We've got to do what he says."

"I don't care who it is Hermione. We finally know where Harry's at and I want to help," Ron pleaded.

"So do I Ron," Hermione said soothingly. "But if they can't get in, then neither could we. We'll be ready to go as soon as we can. At least we know where he's at now."

When Bill and Arthur Weasley arrived outside of the Ministry building, they were surprised by the number of people already around. Many Ministry workers were standing, wondering what was going on. Reporters from the Daily Prophet arrived soon after and tried to get any information they could from the bystanders. Colin Creevy who had quickly become one of their best photographers right after graduation quickly began trying to find some way into the building. His Gryffindor courage came out soon after his first professional assignments when he had gotten the first pictures of a Death Eater attack and he intended to get the first ones of this situation as well.

Inside the building, Dumbledore, Tonks and Harry had split up after Dumbledore cast wards to prevent anyone from Apparating in or out. They know Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange were inside but didn't know if any more Death Eaters were there as well.

Harry heard the sound of a spell and then the sick laugh of Bellatrix and quickly bounded down the hallway. Now he heard Tonks shouting spells of her own as Bellatrix countered them. There was a painful scream and Harry rounded the corner and stepped into the Death Room just as Bellatrix was beginning to use the killing curse on Tonks who was dazed on the floor.

Bellatrix just looked up as Harry's spell hit her flat in the chest. The evil woman looked amazed and stumbled backwards, just as Sirius had done three years before. "Oh no you don't!" Harry yelled as he summoned Bellatrix before she could fall through the veil. "There's no way you're going where Sirius is." The woman dropped to the floor with a thud.

Harry quickly stepped over to Tonks. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Tonks was bleeding from her head and her wrist seemed to be at an odd angle. "I'll be fine, we've got to get to..." The woman was cutoff by a blood curdling scream from Harry. Tonks saw Bellatrix raise a bloody knife and quickly screamed "Reducto" and blasted a whole clear through the Death Eater.

Harry was clutching his side as Tonks pulled him around to see a gash from just behind his left shoulder, all the way to his waist. "Damn her," she said as she cast the charms to stop the bleeding. "That's the best I can do Harry. You know what that knife was don't you?"

"I know. I should have let her go through the veil," he said, still in pain.

"This could be our last chance," Tonks defiantly said. "Go finish this, I'll be ok."

Harry nodded and ran out of the room leaving Tonks clutching her arm. Harry finally made it back to the lobby of the Ministry of Magic to where the fountain showing a Centaur, House-Elf and Goblin looking up longingly at the larger statue of a wizard. He had hoped to find Professor Dumbledore along the way but was disappointed when he entered the lobby and found it empty. Harry stood clutching his side where the knife had cut him looking around at the pristine setting of the lobby remembering the last time he was in this location.

His flashback was interrupted by the cold high-pitched voice of Voldemort saying, "So this is it Harry." Harry spun around with his wand drawn to face the evil wizard. "It seems we are the only two left and it is time for you to realize your own mortality." Harry glanced around hoping to see Professor Dumbledore but saw nothing else. He ran through the plan Dumbledore had setup for them to pull off but couldn't help but think this would be the last thing he would ever see.

Harry began circling, trying to make himself a moving target for whenever Voldemort launched his first curse. He knew from experience how quick and powerful the wizard's curses were. The next moment Voldemort launched the first curse and Harry barely rolled out of the way before attempting to respond with a curse of his own. Voldemort casually blocked his response and laughed. "Have you learned nothing since the last time we met? I would have expected more from you Harry."

While Voldemort was talking, Harry got off another curse that did make Voldemort move to the side to dodge. Instantly Voldemort responded with a red flash coming from his wand. Harry just got behind a column when the curse went streaking by. The next second, something hit the column and Harry was thrown back against the wall. Clutching his still store side, he barely got a shield up and deflected Voldemort's next curse. "I see Bellatrix got to you Harry," Voldemort said with obvious enjoyment. "It's a pity you won't last long enough to feel the effects of the blade. If Dumbledore hadn't locked us in here you could have survived a bit longer."

Harry jumped out and sent a curse at the wizard who had to quickly move to the side in order to dodge it. This step caused Voldemort to end up in the center of the fountain which is what Harry had been hoping would happen. Dumbledore had given him a spell to use that required Voldemort to be standing in that spot to perform.

Harry not stepped out into the open to face Voldemort knowing that the next curse by either of them would finish this and complete the prophecy. He felt as calm as he could ever remember and when he saw the look of confusion on Voldemort's eerie face his confidence soared. "You're right Tom, this is it," Harry calmly said, still holding his wand firmly. Harry saw Voldemort give a confident smile and quickly started to say the spell Dumbledore had taught him, "Diffendiu Aqua Deema," Harry firmly said and a blue light shot out of his wand at Voldemort.

At first nothing happened and Voldemort began to laugh and Harry saw his mouth start to form a spell, but suddenly the evil wizard got a very peculiar look in his eyes. The evil wizard tried to move his wand but it was frozen in place by the blue beam. Harry concentrated with all of his might on maintaining the spell. Harry felt the drain upon his magic reserves that maintain the spell was placing on him. He saw Voldemort trying to mutter spells and could see the blue light starting to fade. Redoubling his concentration he was able to restore the brilliance to the spell but knew he couldn't maintain it for much longer. Voldemort's wand began to glow with an eerie red glow and the evil wizard's face seemed to be screwed up in desperation.

Harry felt the limits of his magic being tested and knew he was about to falter when he saw Professor Dumbledore appear off to the side of Voldemort. Instantly he felt better, knowing that Dumbledore would say the final spells to finish Voldemort for good. His confidence suddenly took a hit when he saw Dumbledore point his wand at him and quickly say a spell. A blinding white light flew out of Dumbledore's wand and hit Harry in the middle of the chest. Instantly, Harry thought he would explode from the amount of magical energy surging through his body. The only thing that had felt this overwhelming was when Voldemort had briefly possessed him two years before in this very spot.

Harry now found he couldn't stop the spell he was casting on Voldemort at all. He saw through his tightly squinted eyes that Voldemort's wand was now glowing much brighter red. The wand began to smoke as Harry fought to maintain consciousness, not knowing what Dumbledore was doing to him or what it was in turn doing to Voldemort. Harry knew he couldn't take the amount of magic flowing through him much longer and just as he thought he would finally split, he saw Voldemort's wand burst into flames and heard the wizard cry out in pain. The white light from Dumbledore's wand vanished at the same time as Harry's blue curse did and Voldemort collapsed onto the ground. Harry quickly caught his breath and stumbled over to the evil wizard's body with his wand firmly prepared to cast the killing curse if necessary. However when he reached the body, he saw that Voldemort's eyes were no longer red, they were now pale white and his body was cold. As far as Harry could tell, Voldemort was dead.

"You were cut," Dumbledore weakly said, getting Harry's attention.

Harry ran to where Dumbledore lay and knelt down at his side. "You'll be ok sir. We'll get you help," Harry said with desperation.

"I'm sorry for failing you Harry," Dumbledore said as barely more than a whisper. "I should have stopped her."

"It was my fault. I stopped her from falling through the veil. It doesn't matter now that Voldemort's gone," Harry said trying to lift the spirits of the person he felt closest too. "Now, we'll get you some help."

"You remember after your sixth year when I said there may be a time when sacrifices needed to be made?" Dumbledore weakly asked and Harry nodded. "Well this was the time and the sacrifice was mine. I've stayed alive all these years with magical help but as I'm sure you've realized that was just transferred to you to guarantee his destruction. You had to be the one to destroy him but as long as I didn't use magic directly on him, the prophecy could be fulfilled."

"Tell me how to give it back sir!" Harry exclaimed. "I know what's going to happen to me anyway."

"It can't be done Harry," Dumbledore said having trouble breathing now. "You were like a son to me Harry and I'm very proud...of...you," the words came out with the last breath the old wizard would ever take.

Harry clutched the man into his chest and wailed, "No!" Harry had never cried this openly before, unable to stem the flow of tears at this loss. "You can't leave me, you just can't!" he exclaimed.

Harry hadn't heard Tonks come into the room but he didn't jump when she knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. "He did this for everyone Harry, he knew it was going to come to this," she calmly said.

"You knew!" Harry exclaimed. "You knew he was going to sacrifice himself!"

"It was his choice Harry. He wanted to do everything he could to make sure we were all safe," she said with her own tears falling. She looked at the lifeless body of Professor Dumbledore and then to Harry who had been a rock these past years and couldn't handle seeing him in such a state.

Harry was still cradling Dumbledore's lifeless body and Tonks was trying to comfort Harry, so neither of them heard the approaching footsteps and didn't notice people around until the flash of the camera startled them. Harry was too distraught to do anything but Tonks knew she had to get him away from the reporters until he could collect himself. "Harry, you can't do anything for him. You need to get out of here before more people show up." Harry looked up but didn't seem to be moving. "Take the knife Harry. We can't let them know what happened to you. You're their hope right now."

Harry shook his head but then saw the flood of people coming through the entrance and began to panic himself. "Take the knife and go Harry!" Tonks exclaimed. "I'll handle this and then we'll talk later. They can't know!" Just before the Minister and Mr. Weasley had gotten to their location, Harry grabbed the knife and Disapparated away.

News spread fast that day and a special afternoon edition of the Daily Prophet made it official as far as most of the English Wizarding Community was concerned:

He's Done it Again!

The Boy-Who-Lived Kills He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!

<there was a picture showing Harry cradling Professor Dumbledore's lifeless body in his arms and crying openly. Over his shoulder you could see the disgusting body of Voldemort looking very dead as well.>

Harry Potter, along with Albus Dumbledore and Nymphadora Tonks lured The Dark Lord into the Ministry Building early this morning and in a battle that left Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange dead, Dumbledore and Tonks were able to support Harry Potter when he cast the spell destroying all magic within The Dark Lord. Without his magic, The Dark Lord could no longer cause his cursed body to stay alive. Nymphadora Tonks was injured and Albus Dumbledore died during the final few seconds of the struggle. Harry Potter left the scene before anyone could get his reaction to finally destroying He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named once and for all.

We are sure we speak for all the community when we say that we are very grateful to those three and especially to Harry Potter for all they have done for our world. Please come back Harry, we want to applaud you.

But Harry didn't come back. The Weasleys along with Hermione were especially hard on Tonks for not disclosing where Harry was. "You can't understand what he's going through!" Tonks exclaimed. "He wants to be alone."

"We just want to help him," Molly insisted. "He needs us now!"

Tonks sighed and said for the fifth time, "I can't argue with that Molly but he made me promise and I will never betray Harry."

"Fine!" Ron spat out. "We'll find him on our own you know!" Hermione stood shoulder to shoulder with Ron.

"No you won't," Tonks said with authority. "Harry's the best at concealment, even better than me and I'm a Metamorphmagus. If he doesn't want to be found, you won't find him, I'll promise you that."

Over the next week, articles about Harry were on the front page of the Prophet each day. Some with headlines like: "Where's Harry?" and "Please come back!" All of the Weasleys became irritated at these articles but did feel the same way themselves.

The memorial for Professor Dumbledore was held exactly one week after "The Final Battle" as it was now being called. It was going to be a private affair but for someone like Professor Dumbledore, that still meant that over a hundred 'very important' people were to attend. Minerva McGonagall made sure that all of the Weasleys along with Hermione Granger were invited as well, however their seats weren't in the prime spot since so many people in the Ministry wanted to attend and show their support for the fallen wizard. McGonagall spoke gruffly when she talked about this, knowing that most of those people in the Ministry only wanted to increase their political standing by showing support.

"He has to come back for this Hermione," Ron assured her. "Once we see him, he'll want us around."

"Are you sure Ron?" Hermione asked. "We really don't know what all he's been through since he left."

"I'm sure Hermione," Ron said without hesitation and this did make Hermione feel better.

"I just need to see him Ron," Hermione said softly. Ron felt no jealousy having fully agreed to the breakup with Hermione. They were only very good friends and in fact he felt the same way but would never voice it like that, not even to Hermione.

"I know Hermione, I really do," Ron comforted her.

Ron and Hermione arrived at the memorial before almost anyone else and were instantly let in by Professor McGonagall who informed them that she had not heard from Harry and didn't know if he would be there or not. After more people started arriving, Ron noticed Tonks arrive and sit at the end of the front row next to an aged wizard who looked very sad. "Let's make her tell us where he is," Ron angrily said to Hermione.

"Not here Ron!" Hermione snapped. "This is for Professor Dumbledore." The two became more depressed when the service started without any sign of Harry. After many people spoke about all the great things Dumbledore did over his life, many thought the service was over until the Minister of Magic; Cornelius Fudge stood up and whispered something to Professor McGonagall who didn't look happy about it at all.

Fudge approached a podium and said, "I join all of you in saluting the life of Albus Dumbledore. I have always had the utmost respect for the man and his actions." At this, many in the audience gave a low mumble and all of the Weasley's glared at the man knowing he was just trying to gain some of his influence back. "The Ministry assisted as much as we could with their efforts and only wish we had known about the Final Battle earlier so we could have provided more support. I would like to announce that exactly one week from today, there will be an award ceremony where Dumbledore, Tonks and Harry Potter will all receive The Order of Merlin-First Class for their tireless efforts to protect our community. Dumbledore will be the first in history to receive this award twice." There was thunderous applause, mainly from other people in the Ministry who wanted to be seen as doing anything for Dumbledore. The attendees that were in the Order of the Phoenix however were only half-heartedly clapping knowing why the Minister was doing this.

Hermione noticed the elderly wizard sitting next to Tonks get into an animated discussion with her about something. He looked very angry and Hermione wished she could hear what they were saying. Hermione nudged Ron and pointed for him to watch the exchange. Finally, Tonks poked the old man in the chest far harder than Hermione would have thought appropriate for such an old man, but the wizard didn't even flinch. Tonks then grabbed his shoulders and pushed him towards Professor McGonagall who was also watching the exchange with a strange expression.

The old man slowly made his way to the corner where Professor McGonagall was standing and began to whisper something to her. McGonagall's face took on a very shocked expression and then she did something Hermione had never seen her do before, she embraced the old man into a very tight hug. Then it clicked with Hermione. She remembered what Tonks had said about Harry being a master at concealment. "Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's him! That's Harry!" she said pointing to the old man again.

Hermione grabbed his arm and began to pull him through the crowd as Ron said, "Are you sure?"

"Positive!" she replied still pulling him roughly through the crowd of people. When they finally broke through the other side, they were met with the sight of Tonks and Professor McGonagall standing alone in the corner talking with both of them looking happier than either should be after a memorial service.

"Where is he?" Hermione demanded. "I know that old man was him. Where did he go?"

"Keep your voice down Miss Granger!" McGonagall snapped as she looked around nervously. "Now, what are you going on about?" she asked looking guilty.

"I know that was Harry," Hermione whispered but sounded very agitated. "Tonks said he was an expert at that stuff. Where did he go?"

"You tell us or I'll start calling out that he was here," Ron threatened.

"Don't you dare Ron!" Tonks said. "He doesn't want to be found. You can't imagine how this is for him."

"Can't I?" Hermione snapped. "I loved Professor Dumbledore too! Harry's one of my best friends and is a part of me. I haven't seen him in over two years. It's killing me."

Both Tonks and McGonagall sighed deeply and Ron put his arm around Hermione's shoulder for comfort. Tonks finally took a deep breath and said, "I do understand Hermione. I think it would do him good to see both of you but it is his choice." Hermione started to say something but Tonks stopped her. "You think you have some idea of what he went through and what he is going through now, but believe me when I say that you really have no clue how bad things are for him. When you do see him don't push it, let him decide when to talk."

"How is he though?" Hermione asked, desperate for any information.

"Better than I would be," Tonks said.

"But you were there too," Ron said, sounding confused.

Tonks shook her head and said, "It was bad enough for me, but no way near to how it was for Harry. He knew the responsibility was his all the time, and then to watch Dumbledore die in his arms. It just hit him hard."

Ron and Hermione both knew Tonks was right but that didn't help the fact that they both wanted to see their best friend again and would do nearly anything to make that happen.

At the award ceremony, Hermione had hoped to get more information about Harry and had even hoped that he may show up but there was no sign of him and Tonks wouldn't say anything more than she already had.

The months passed without any word and Hermione began to get angrier with Harry. She and Ron would often sit after their Auror training and talk about things over a drink. They both kept bringing up reasons to be mad at their friend but also both knew they would forget everything in a second if he were around.

Christmas was coming up in two weeks and as usual, Hermione planned to spend the time with her parents and then visit the Burrow on Christmas day. She had just gotten home from her last day of Auror training before the Holiday break and was starting to fix herself something for supper when there was a tap on her window. Turning toward the window, Hermione's heart almost stopped when she saw the large snowy owl sitting patiently on the ledge. Hermione dropped everything she was doing and ran to the window, throwing it up. "Hedwig!" she exclaimed as the own nuzzled into her hand and stuck out her leg to show Hermione the note. Hermione quickly untied the note and felt happier than she could remember when she read it.

Hermione

If you happen to have some time, I'd really like to talk. Tonight, Tomorrow or whenever you have the time is fine with me, I'll be here. Don't mention this to anyone else yet.

Miss you.

H.

p.s. I'm on the floo. 'Haven'

Hermione smiled brightly and said, "Oh thank you Hedwig!" Leaving everything out on the counter, she quickly stepped to the fireplace, threw in the powder and confidently said, "Haven!"