A/N: This is the final chapter. I hope you've enjoyed this short story. Please leave a review to let me know. This chapter is short but I feel it is much more of a conclusion than just a mere epilogue add-on. Plus at the bottom, I explain how this "songfic" works and for me, the song is the true heart of this story.

One reviewer commented that this story isn't about Harry at all and that Hermione is barely mentioned. Yes, that is absolutely true... "from a certain point of view," as Obi-Wan said. This story is not about Harry and Hermione specifically, rather it is a story about someone who MET Harry and whose life was affected by him, and by extension by his love for Hermione. Harry and Hermione do not exist in a vacuum in their universe. They meet and interact with people every day, both in and outside of the wizarding world. Each of us meets people every day and sometimes we never know exactly how one of our interactions might possibly affect someone in ways we never expected. This is one of those stories. But to be fair, I have revised the summary to state that this is from the POV of an outsider looking in.

The review also said since Friday doesn't remember exactly what happened at the end, that none of it mattered. To that, I respectfully disagree. Although she ended up forgetting most of the non-visual details of their meeting thanks to the spell, she still remembered HARRY and meeting him, she still remembered Hermione, seeing them together in the vision. She forgot the details of the story, but she remembered the emotions, her feelings. It's the same how even in our own lives, we often forget the mundane details of what actually happened and end up only remembering the feelings we had. If we think back to Christmases past, we might not remember what we ate, or what was said, or who got what presents. But we remember the feelings, the good times that were had (or the bad). In the end, we're all only a collection of our memories. And if all that we remember are the good feelings, the happiness, then sometimes the details are just... details.

So, thank you to the reviewer who left these comments. I appreciate your honesty. I hope you read this and I hope my explanation makes sense. I hope it provides another point of view to this story that you might enjoy it more. :-)

CHAPTER SIX

REMEMBERING

Two weeks later, we were halfway across the Atlantic again, midway through our next cruise, this time back to New York. My shift had just ended and I was relaxing in my cabin. My thoughts returned again to my mystery man from a few weeks ago. After he disappeared, I made subtle inquires among many of the staff. It was exactly the same as with Bill. No one but me remembered him. It was like he had never even been on board.

Here then gone without a trace. Except for all of the surveillance tapes that showed he had been here.

I thought about erasing the tapes; I don't know why. I knew all of the policies and storage procedures and how to get away with it. But then I remembered the old adage: the cover-up was worse than the crime. Accounting for "damaged" tapes would require paperwork; paperwork that someone would read. Which would then cause someone to come to investigate—not me, but just in general… probably someone from tech support to inspect the VCRs. No suspicion, just wasted time and hassle.

Whereas if I did nothing, said nothing, the tapes would be stored for sixty days, then erased, then reused on some future cruise. I'd watched those tapes enough times during my initial investigation. The image of him on them was so small and grainy; there was no way he could be identified anyway. I only found him because I was looking for him. Besides, who even remembered he was here? It was just best to let the tapes be forgotten and fade quietly away like everyone else's memory of him.

I thought about him often while we were in port in Southampton and on that journey back to New York. He never did tell me how he got on board. Considering how he had left just as mysteriously, I decided it was probably better I didn't know. Then again, maybe he did tell me and I'd forgotten.

Only fragments remained, like a dream. I only remembered what I'd seen and what I'd felt. In the end, did the words really matter?

I closed my eyes for a moment and could see his pleasantly haunting face again, perfectly clear, though this time it was a normal memory and not that vividly clear vision I'd had of him and his wife in my imagination right before he disappeared.

Haunting. When I first met him, I'd described his face as haunting; the contradictions about him… the way he seemed old and young at the same time, innocent and experienced, energetic and tired.

As I closed my eyes, I knew his face would be haunting me for quite a while… but in the best possible way, and not in a way that would dishonor his wife.

"Beg, borrow, or steal." I remembered that. That's what he said about getting home to his wife in time for Christmas. I couldn't remember what or why, but in my heart, I felt like he'd been on some grand adventure while aboard. I wondered how his journey ended. If what I had seen in my imagination was to be trusted, then I knew he'd made it home in time for Christmas.

I remember seeing a sofa in front of the fireplace where she had been reading. I suspected that's how he would be spending his first night back, Christmas night… lying with his love.

BONUS: As a nerd, I like to make PDFs of my stories in a style resembling the official US Harry Potter books. If you'd like to see these, or if you'd like to download any of these stories for archive or for easy reading on mobile devices, please see my author's profile page where I list them, as I can't post direct links inside the story itself. These PDFs are EXACTLY the same as the stories published here, except in a prettier format.

FINAL A/N: As I mentioned at the very beginning, this story was inspired by a song and is my own interpretation of a songfic. In order to get the full effect, I ask you to read the story a second time to really get it "set in." As you re-read it, you may skip over the flashback scene (Chapter 4) if you wish as the song only applies to the ship portion of the story.

Once you feel you have a good clear "mental image" of the story in your mind, go to YouTube and search for "Doctor Who Stowaway" to find the song that inspired this story. I would provide a link for you, but 1, I can't include links here, and 2, the first time I published this on Portkey I remember getting lots of reports that the YouTube link did not work for anyone outside the USA as different countries have different videos due to licensing rules. Searching yourself should find the right video for your country. Once the music starts to play, just sit back and relax, and close your eyes as you listen to the song.