For a moment there was silence as Harry, Ron, Selena, Ginny, Odessa, Evan, Asha and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in the twins' case) blood. Then there was a scream.

"Ginny!"

It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by her husband, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter.

Harry and Selena, however, was looking past them. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to Professor McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. Fawkes went whooshing past Harry's ear and settled on Dumbledore's shoulder, just as Harry and Selena found themselves, Ron and the girls being swept into Mrs. Weasleys tight embrace.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly.

Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry and Selena, who hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the desk and laid upon it the Sorting Hat, the ruby encrusted sword, and what remained of Riddle's diary.

Then they started telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour they spoke into the rapt silence: They told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione and Adeline had figured that they were hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how Vanessa had ended up Petrified because she had gone after them; how they, Ron, Odessa, Evan and Asha had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how they had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom…

"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompted them as they paused, "so you found out where the entrance was – breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add – but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potters?"

So Harry and Selena, their voices now growing hoarse from all this talking, told them about Fawkes's timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving them the sword. But then they faltered. They had so far avoided mentioning Riddle's diary – or Ginny. She was standing with her head against Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, and tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks. What if they expelled her? Harry thought in panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore… How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all?

Instinctively, Harry and Selena looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.

"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

Relief – warm, sweeping, glorious relief – swept over Harry and Selena. "W-what's that?" said Mr. Weasley in a stunned voice. "You-Know-Who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not… Ginny hasn't been… has she?"

"It was this diary," said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen…"

Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.

"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school… travelled far and wide… sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, the when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"But, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with – with – him?"

"His d-diary!" Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year –"

"Ginny!" said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything. What have I always told you? Never trust anything that you think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain? Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"

"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it –"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strode over to the door and opened it. "bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, twinkling kindly down at her. "You will find Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out the Mandrake juice – I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly.

"And Adeline!" Odessa cried, grinning ear to ear.

"And Vanessa!" Evan and Asha squealed gleefully.

"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny," said Dumbledore.

Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken.

"You know, Minerva," Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully to Professor McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right," said Professor McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you deal with the Potters, Weasley, Didgy, Grail and Barkridge-Shadowmend, shall I?"

"Certainly," said Dumbledore.

She left, and Harry, Selena, Ron, Odessa, Evan and Asha gazed uncertainly at Dumbledore. What exactly had Professor McGonagall meant, deal with them? Surely – surely – they weren't about to be punished?

"I seem to remember telling you three that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore to Harry, Ron and Selena.

Ron opened his mouth in horror.

Odessa, Evan and Asha started talking desperately over each other. "No Professor, don't expel them!"

Dumbledore held up his hand to silence them. "Calm down girls, no one is getting expelled. This also involves you three as well. It just goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. "You will all receive Special Awards for Services to the School and – let me see – yes, I think two hundred points to each of your respected houses, for your troubles."

Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart's valentine flowers and closed his mouth again.

Evan and Asha looked like they had been hit with the Dancing Feet charm but were forcing themselves to keep still. Odessa was beaming brighter than the sun.

"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

Harry and Selena gave a start. They had completely forgotten about Lockhart. They turned and saw that Lockhart was standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.

"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart –"

"Am I a professor?" said Lockhart in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"

"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver moustache quivering. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"

"Sword?" said Lockhart dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy and girl do, though." He pointed at the twins. "They'd lend you one."

"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore said to Ron, Odessa, Evan and Asha. "I'd like a few more words with Harry…"

Lockhart ambled out. Ron, Odessa, Evan and Asha cast curious looks back at Dumbledore and the twins as they closed the door.

Dumbledore crossed to one of the chairs by the fire.

"Sit down, Harry and Selena," he said, and the twins sat, feeling unaccountably nervous.

"First of all, Harry and Selena, I want to thank you both," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again. "You two must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."

He stroked the phoenix, which had fluttered down onto his knee. Harry and Selena grinned awkwardly as Dumbledore watched them.

"And so you met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in you…"

Suddenly, something that was nagging at Harry and Selena came tumbling out of their mouths.

"Professor Dumbledore… Riddle said we're like him. Strange likenesses, he said…"

"Did he, now?" said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Harry and Selena from under his thick silver eyebrows. "And what do you think, Harry and Selena?"

"I don't think we're like him!" said Harry, more loudly than he'd intended. "I mean, We're – we're in Gryffindor, we're…" But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind.

"Professor," Selena added after a moment. "The Sorting Hat told us we'd – we'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought we were Slytherin's heir for a while… because we can speak Parseltongue…"

"You two can speak Parseltongue, Selena," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort – who is the last remaining descendent of Salazar Slytherin – can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you two the night he gave you those scars. Not something they intended to do, I'm sure…"

"Voldemort put a bit of himself… in us?" Harry and Selena said, thunderstruck.

"It certainly seems so."

"So we should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face.

"The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in us, and it –" Selena added gloomily.

"Put you two in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry and Selena. You two happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his handpicked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue – resourcefulness – determination – a certain disregard for rules," he added, his moustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."

"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin…"

"But I had no problems with Slytherin. The Sorting Hat told me that I best follow in our mother's footsteps." Selena said desperately.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I think there's more to it than that, Selena. Think again."

She did and remembered feeling nervous about being separated from Harry. Had she made the choice to be with him without meaning too?

"I-I didn't want to be separated from Harry…" she said slowly.

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you two very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Potters, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Harry and Selena sat motionless in their chairs, stunned. "If you want proof, Potters, that you both belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."

Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood stained silver sword, and handed it to the twins. Dully, Harry and Selena turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then they saw the name engraved just below the hilt.

Godric Gryffindor

"Only a true Gryffindor could have summoned and pulled that sword from out of the hat, Harry and Selena," said Dumbledore simply.

For a minute, neither of them spoke. Then Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in Professor McGonagall's desk and took out a quill and a bottle of ink.

"What you need, Harry and Selena, is some food and sleep. I suggest you two go down to the feats, while I write to Azkaban – we need our gamekeeper back. And I must draft and advertisement for the Daily Prophet, too," he added thoughtfully. "We'll be needing a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher… Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"

Harry and Selena got up and crossed to the door. They had just reached for the handle, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall.

Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby.

"Good evening, Lucius," said Dumbledore pleasantly.

Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Harry and Selena over as he swept into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face.

The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoy's shoes. Apparently, Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half polished, but his usually sleek hair was dishevelled. Ignoring the elf bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon Dumbledore.

"So!" he said. "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, "the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasleys daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think it was best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too… Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."

Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury.

"So – have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"

"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile.

"Well?" said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"

"The same person as last time, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."

He held up the small black book with the large hole through the centre, watching Mr. Malfoy closely. Harry and Selena, however, were watching Dobby.

The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes fixed meaningfully on Harry and Selena, he kept pointing at the diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist.

"I see…" said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore.

"A clever plan," said Dumbledore in a level voice, still staring Mr. Malfoy straight in the eye. "Because if Harry and Selena here" – Mr. Malfoy shot the twins a swift, sharp look – "and their friends hadn't discovered this book, why – Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will…"

Mr. Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly mask-like.

"And imagine," Dumbledore went on, "what might have happened then… The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and – killing Muggle-borns… Very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise…"

Mr. Malfoy forced himself to speak. "Very fortunate," he said stiffly.

And still behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head.

And then at once Harry and Selena understood. They nodded at Dobby, and Dobby backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny gold hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" said Selena.

Lucius Malfoy rounded on him.

"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said.

"Because you gave it to her," said Harry. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?" He saw Mr. Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench.

"Prove it," he hissed.

"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at the twins. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you…"

Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Harry and Selena distinctly saw his right-hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned to his house-elf. "We're going, Dobby!"

He wrenched open the door and as the elf came hurrying up to him, he kicked him right through it. They could hear Dobby squealing in pain all the way along the corridor. Harry and Selena stood for a moment, thinking hard. They looked at each other, thinking hard between them. Then it came to them –

"Professor Dumbledore," Selena said hurriedly. "Can we give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"

"Certainly, Selena," said Dumbledore calmly. "But hurry. The feast, remember…"

Selena grabbed the diary and she and Harry dashed out of the office. They could hear Dobby's squeals of pain receding around the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan could possibly work, Harry and Selena took off one of their shoes, pulled off the slimy, filthy socks, and stuffed the diary into it. Then they ran down the dark corridor.

They caught up with them at the top of the stairs.

"Mr. Malfoy," they gasped, skidding to a halt, "We've got something for you –"

And they forced the smelly socks into Lucius Malfoy's hand.

"What the –?"

Mr. Malfoy ripped the socks off the diary, threw them aside, then looked furiously from the ruined book to Harry and Selena.

"You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days, Harry Potter and Selena Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too."

He turned to go.

"Come, Dobby. I said, come."

But Dobby didn't move. He was holding up Harry's and Selena's disgusting, slimy socks, and looking at them as though it were a priceless treasure.

"Master has given a pair of socks," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave them to Dobby."

"What's that?" spat Mr. Malfoy. "What did you say?"

"Got a pair of socks," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master threw them, and Dobby caught them, and Dobby – Dobby is free."

Lucius Malfoy stood frozen, staring at the elf, then at the twins. Selena was smiling innocently. Then he lunged at them.

"You've lost me my servant!"

But Dobby shouted, "You shall not harm the Potter Twins!"

There was a loud bang and Mr. Malfoy was thrown backward. He crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumbled heap on the landed below. He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his wand, but Dobby raised a long threatening finger.

"You shall go now," he said fiercely, pointing down at Mr. Malfoy. "You shall not touch Harry Potter and Selena Potter. You shall go now."

Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed stare at the three of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.

"The Potter Twins freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, Selena knelt down and Dobby flung his arms around her shoulders. "Harry Potter and Selena Potter set Dobby free!"

"Least we could do for you, Dobby," said Harry, grinning as he knelt down too.

"You deserve it Dobby, more than you think." said Selena, returning the hug.

The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile as he stepped away.

"How can Dobby ever repay you two?"

"There is only one thing you can do Dobby," said Harry.

"Anything, sir, anything,"

The twins smiled at the elf. "Never try to save our lives again," they said together.

"We just have one question, Dobby," said Selena as Dobby pulled on the twins' socks with shaking hands. "You told us all this had nothing to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well –"

"It was a clue, miss," said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was obvious. "Was giving you two a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?"

"Right," said Harry weakly. "Well, we'd better go. We need to clean ourselves up before we go to the feast, and our friends Hermione, Adeline and Vanessa should be waking by now…"

Dobby threw his arms around the twins shoulders and hugged them both.

"The Potter twins are greater by far than Dobby knew!" he sobbed. "Farewell, Harry Potter and Selena Potter!"

And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared.

Harry and Selena had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pyjamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Harry and Selena didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione, Adeline and Vanessa running toward him, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring their hands and apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or seeing Evan and Asha tackle Vanessa into a hug as they ran over from their house tables, or Hagrid arriving at half-past three, cuffing Harry, Ron, Odessa and Selena on the shoulders so that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or Blaise Zabini coming over from the Slytherin table to hug Adeline, a faint yet noticeable blush on his cheeks, or the eight hundred points between Harry, Selena, Ron and Odessa securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor Dumbledore standing up to tell them all that as a school treat all exams had been cancelled for that year ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year owing to the fact that he heeded to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news.

"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."

"I know what you mean, I like the new Lockhart better than the old one." said Selena, grinning.

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences – Defence Against the Dark Arts classes were cancelled ("but we've had plenty of practice at that anyway," Ron told a disgruntled Hermione), so there was a lot of free time, but better than anything, Ginny was perfectly happy again.

Selena was just helping herself to her third helping of treacle pudding when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She whirled and to her surprise, Colin Creevey was standing there with a smile on his face.

"Colin! You're okay!"

"Never been better, just disappointed that I missed most of my first year. I was really looking forward to it too."

Selena smiled. "There's always next year Colin."

Colin grinned. "I know!" he cried with excitement, "And I can't wait for summer to end. I hear that you're going back to your aunt and uncles house this summer, you and Harry."

Selena groaned. "Yes... we are. Knowing my aunt and uncle, they'll treat us with the same kindness they've always treated us."

"They must be really nice." said Colin innocently, not realising the hint Selena had dropped.

Selena nearly laughed a little at his innocence, remembering she used to be just like that, maybe she still was, just not as dominant as before. Then she remembered something involving Colin from earlier in the year.

"Listen Colin... about how I acted at the Quidditch Match... it was completely unnecessary for me to threaten you."

Colin smiled. "I know..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of parchment, and Selena beamed. "I've read your letter over twenty times and that gave me a lot of time to think... after reading your letter and hearing your point of view... I realised that I let my excitement get the better of me. I wanted to meet the famous Potter Twins, and the only telekinetic witch in the world, not the children underneath. I guess it never crossed my mind that you and Harry were still regular children... well... regular as they get. I forgive you Selena."

And Selena felt whole.

Selena had agreed to meet Draco Malfoy at their spot under the oak tree during one of these free times. The air was warm, and the waters of the lake sparkled a crystal blue in the sunshine. The leaves of the oak tree were a brilliant deep green and grew thicker nearer the top. Draco stood leaned against the trunk of the massive tree, looking resentful and sulky. Selena skipped over to him and when he saw her his mood changed instantly.

"Selena," he said, hugging her, "you came."

"Of course, I came, why wouldn't I?" she said looking at him as if he had just asked the silliest question in the world. "Why did you look so sad before?"

Draco sighed heavily. "My father's been sacked as school governor."

"Oh," Selena whispered, half-concerned and half-gleeful that Lucius had lost his job. "What's going to happen to your family now?"

"Nothing, my family so rich my father doesn't have to work, but he chooses to anyway. It's just the humiliation of what's happened."

They stood there in silence for a second, looking out over the water.

Selena suddenly remembered something from earlier in the year. "Draco, remember when you called Hermione a Mudblood?"

Draco's face fell. "I thought we were over that?"

"We are, it's just. You never did tell me why you let your father control what you believe. Why do you so all those things he tells you to do?"

Draco gulped. Now he had to tell her. "Because…" – he sighed heavily – "the only times my father has paid any attention to me is when he's teaching me about pureblood society and how Muggle-borns, Half-bloods and Half-Breeds are all filth. My mother's a little more neutral about these beliefs. She's the one who raised me, but she's often busy."

"But I'm a Half-blood, do you think I'm filth?" she asked, putting on a hurt face.

Draco gasped, shaking his head like mad. "Merlin no! Selena, you're not filth at all. You're the sweetest thing that has ever happened to me!"

Selena hid her face behind her loose hair. "You really think so?"

"Yes," he said, hugging her again, tighter this time. "I don't like the way my father looks down on non-purebloods. But it's the only way I can get him to pay attention to me."

"So… everything you do is because…"

"Because I want my father to love me. I'm like a trophy son to him. He doesn't care about me, only our pureblood name and glory."

Selena felt so broken for him. He really was a normal kid surrounded by terrible influences, raised in the dark and cold. Much like the cupboard under the stairs she spent most of her life locked up in.

"It's okay, Draco, it's okay," she soothed, letting him hold her until he felt better.

She pulled away, still holding him and looked him directly in the eyes. "He's wrong you know, your father, about blood purity making the wizard the best out of them all?"

"How can he be wrong? Purebloods keep the wizards alive."

Selena shook her head. "I don't think they do. How many Pureblood families are left?"

Draco opened his mouth to speak but closed it when he realised Selena had a point. "The Malfoy's are one of the last few remaining." he uttered in shock.

"Exactly, blood purity is destroying our population. Besides, it's not blood purity that makes the wizard good, it's the skill. Look at us, I'm a Half-Blood, you're a Pureblood. But really, we're not at all different."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sewing pin. "Give me your hand,"

Draco wondered what she meant and gave her his hand. Draco flinched as Selena pricked his finger with the pin, drawing blood. Selena then pricked her own finger and let herself bleed a little. She then held her injured finger next to Draco's, comparing their blood.

"Look carefully at our blood, Draco, what difference do you see?"

Draco looked up at her with amazement. She was right. There was no difference at all to their blood, despite himself being Pureblood and her being a Half-blood.

The look on his face was enough for Selena as she wiped away the blood with a handkerchief and smiled sweetly at him. To Draco, it looked as though she was glowing in the sunshine, her ember red hair billowing around her face.

Draco finally brought himself to reality and smiled back. "We've still got another hour before lunch. I've got an idea on what we can do." He pulled out his wand and waved it in the air, muttering a spell. With a pop, a gold violin with silver strings appeared floating in the air. Draco flicked his wand at the instrument and the violin started playing on its own, filling the area with a beautiful, enchanted melody. "It's an ancient Celtic song from over a thousand years ago. I know how much you like music and dance, so" – he took her hand and kissed her knuckles – "Selena Potter, would you care for a dance?"

Selena giggled, her face glowing brightly. "I'd love to, Draco Malfoy."

(Play this video while reading the next bit: watch?v=AhJILVW7vlE)

Draco and Selena joined arms and Draco led her into the dance. Selena loved it. The dance was very upbeat and cheerful, but there was also a sense of love behind the violin's song. Draco twirled her around a few times and even knelt down on one knee as she skipped around him, the smile never leaving her face. It was magical. Neither of them noticed the sound of the bell ringing for lunch as they were so caught up in the moment, it seemed like they (as far as Draco and Selena knew) were the only people who existed in the world. Selena felt her heart swell to the sound of the violin playing and Draco's gentle touch. She mentally sighed. So much for putting her feelings behind her.

Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Selena, Fred, George, and Ginny got the compartment to themselves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic. Harry and Selena were getting very good at it.

They were almost at King's Cross when Harry remembered something.

"Ginny – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well – Percy's got a girlfriend."

Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head.

"What?"

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was – you know – attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who looking like his birthday had come early.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped.

Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Ron and Hermione.

"This is called a telephone number," he told Ron, scribbling it twice, tearing the parchment in two, and handing it to them. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer – he'll know, so will Evan, Asha, Adeline and Vanessa. Call us at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to…"

Selena cleared her throat, putting on a hurt expression.

"But we've also got each other," Harry quickly added, ruffling his sister's hair. Selena grinned

"If you lose them, the girls have also got copies I gave them earlier." said Selena still grinning.

"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you two did this year?"

"Proud?" said Harry.

"Proud?" said Selena. "Are you crazy? All those times we could've died, and neither of us managed it? They'll be furious…"

And together they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world.

I do not own the song included, all rights go Taylor Davis for her cover of For the Dancing and the Dreaming. For the Dancing and the Dreaming is from the movie How to Train you Dragon 2