Good golly! It's been a year? I am beyond sorry about that, but college and whatnot have been far more trouble than I care to admit. Let's carry on then!

Hermione Jean Granger, daughter of two very successful dentists, had been given a quiet upbringing. Small little Tudor house, all the books her little hands could grab, sweets only on special occasions and even then only sparingly. Her hometown had never had anything more dangerous looking than a decrepit pub, and even then she'd never had any need to go into it or anywhere near it.

They'd gone into Muggle London, just her and Harry, and she found that she liked going out with just Harry far more than going out as a group. Harry kept his arm looped in hers, he stopped and pointed out things in shop windows and promised before she even opened her mouth that they would stop by a bookshop on their way back. Walking with Harry was calming, even if the bustling streets of London were not.

However, the tattoo parlor's exterior was…grungy, if that makes any sense. It had dark brick, blacked out windows with adverts for local bands or a lost dog or two, and a flickering "open" sign that the "o" was struggling along with. But, Harry promised that he'd checked the place out beforehand, and she would've berated him for going here alone, but a very large man with piercings, a scraggly beard, and a large quantity of tattoos on his exposed biceps stepped through the door and looked blankly at them for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Cor…" he murmured, leaning down to look at the two as Hermione clutched Harry's arm, "'Ermione Granger and 'Arry Potter…watchoo doin' 'ere?"

"Gonna get tattoos," Harry chirped brightly.

The man blinked back before giving a blinding grin, "Well, you'll find no better wizard to do yer ink!"

"Wizard?" Hermione whispered to Harry, but the man continued.

"Charlie's the best there is, no doubt about that! He'll fix yer up, no worries! Welp, best be gettin' on, have a nice day!"

"You too," Hermione and Harry chorused as he held the door open and they stepped inside, the receptionist looking up, widening her eyes, and then waving them along down a curtained hallway.

"Lobby for you lot down that a way, can do both Muggle and magical tattoos, can be paid in both Muggle and magical money," she stated.

"Thank you," Harry smiled, gripping Hermione's hand and walking with her into the spacious lobby the woman had indicated. "Well, what would you like?"

"I'm not so sure…" Hermione admitted, "Do you know what you're getting?"

"Yup! But that'll be a surprise," he patted her hand and steered her over to the wall with designs, some moving, others not. "Here's some angel wings, you can get them on your back."

"I'd rather not," she hummed, gazing over the designs and wishing that she had an artistic bone in her body. Most of them were incredibly detailed, and no doubt would take hours to etch into someone's skin, but she found her eye being drawn to them more than the simpler designs.

"Hmm," Harry hummed, smoothing his thumb over the skin on her hands. "Alright…a dragon?"

"Hah, no, that's all you, remember?" she said with a grin, bumping his hip with hers as he smiled.

"Alright, fair enough…what about one of those cool ones that makes it look like you've got something underneath the skin? Like a cyborg?"

"Not my style," she shook her head.

"I have something to recommend the lovely miss," a voice called, and they turned to see a gangly young man, covered in both tattoos and scars, grinning at them. "Charlie O'Haggen, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Hermione said as they took turns shaking his hand.

"So, would you like Muggle or magical?" he asked, turning their gaze back onto the wall.

"I would like magical, but nothing too…expansive," Hermione answered.

"Muggle, please," Harry stated.

"Alright…hmm…" Charlie took a few minutes to stare hard at Hermione, which she found rather odd, before he smiled, "I have just the thing for you, Miss Granger. Come with me, please, I'll do both of you. Not every day you get to tattoo wizarding royalty."

Hermione scoffed, finally releasing Harry's arm to follow Charlie down the narrow hallway to his room. "I wouldn't say 'royalty'."

"Ahh, and that's why I like you!" Charlie grinned as he plopped down into his rolling chair, shutting the door behind Harry with his wand and patting the tattoo chair for Hermione to sit down. "No hoity-toity attitude. Now, where would you like it?"

"Uhm…shoulder blade, please," Hermione said as she sat on the chair, straight as a board and holding her hands tightly.

"Alright then, shirt up," Charlie said as he grabbed a sharpie. Harry's eyebrows rose and Hermione glared at him.

"Never breathe a word of this, Harry James," she hissed as she tugged her shirt up and off, Charlie carefully nudging her bra strap out of the way and setting to work on drawing the design.

"Wouldn't want to share, Hermione Jean," Harry grinned cheekily back at her, sitting in the chair next to her and smiling brightly up at her. She glared at him but said nothing, gripping her shirt tightly in her lap.

"Alright, it'll be a surprise, I'm afraid, but not to worry, I can fix magical ones better than Muggle anyway," Charlie said as he drew. "And you can direct it to other areas if you want to keep it hidden, if you're wearing a certain dress or something and want the paps to leave you alone about it."

"Alright, that sounds fine," Hermione nodded as Harry stood and watched Charlie silently for a few minutes.

"God, Hermione, it's gonna be beautiful," he insisted, "You'll love it, really truly."

"Thank you, Mister Potter," Charlie grinned before setting the sharpie down and motioning Harry back to his seat. "Miss Granger, on your stomach, please. And before you ask, this will hurt, I'm afraid."

Hermione took a deep breath and laid down, moving her hair out of the way. Harry scooted his chair in front of her, taking the shirt out of her hands and setting it in his lap, wrapping her hands around his tightly.

"Alright?" Harry asked, making Hermione smile and nod.

"Alright!" Charlie said cheerfully, tattoo pen in hand and ink nearby, "Off we go!"

It took two hours and forty five minutes for the tattoo to be completed, Harry taking all of Hermione's cursing and hand crushing like a champ. She was sweaty, her shoulder blade hurt, and she was very concerned that half of her bra had slipped down during the process, but she found that all was well once she sat up and was given a mirror and pointed to a full length one on the wall. She turned her back to the full length mirror and held up the hand mirror, gaping at the design on her back.

It was a phoenix, rising from the ashes, transitioning from a light, cool blue to a deep, dark red, swirls of fire and flame delicately twirling around the design. Its wings outstretched and folded, and the bird began to preen before returning to its original pose.

"It's beautiful," Hermione whispered, finding Harry standing in front of her and fondly watching her admire her new artwork.

"Here's a list of spells that you can use on it, and what they do, and how to take the spells off," Charlie said as he handed her a piece of parchment, holding up a jar with something green in it, "May I? Stops the pain."

"Oh, yes, thank you," she turned her back to him as he applied the cool goo, "Thank you very much, it's amazing, Charlie."

"Something unique and beautiful for a unique and beautiful lady," Charlie smiled, setting the jar back before turning to Harry. "Alright, mate, what's for you?"

Harry hopped right up on the chair, still holding Hermione's shirt and beaming brightly at him, "I want a little penguin with a Gryffindor scarf. On my arse."

Charlie stared blankly at him as Hermione snorted and fixed her bra strap, no pain involved.

"Hell no," Charlie frowned as Hermione took Harry's former seat, pulling her shirt back on as well. "Something else."

"Come on!" Harry crowed, grinning back at him.

"Hell no! That's on your arse, mate, your girly's gonna be looking at that bugger and wonderin' what kinda man she picked out," he insisted. "Back tattoo, and no tramp stamp shit either."

"Come on," he kept grinning.

"Hell no!" he glared, Harry pouting and relenting. "How about the Gryffindor crest? Will that do for you?"

"Nah, I wanted something simple," Harry hummed before Hermione brightened and took Charlie's sharpie and tugged Harry's shirt off, both men looking bewildered at the entire thing.

"No looking, it's a surprise," she insisted as she wrote on his arm.

"Fair enough," Harry shrugged with his free shoulder. "What she says, mate."

Charlie shrugged as well, tugging on gloves and readying his pen and ink.

Harry's took far less time, and he spent far less time cursing than Hermione did, but she gripped his hand all the same and let him burying his face into the crook of her neck and breathe deeply. When it was over, Harry looked into the full length mirror and grinned.

"Little by little, one travels far," was scrawled elegantly on his bicep, strange markings over the 'a's, three dots in a pyramid shape.

"Who is this by?" Harry asked, his fingertips touching the angry red around the lines.

"Tolkien," Hermione answered, standing next to him and smiling at their reflections. "I can give you a copy of the Hobbit, I think you'll enjoy it."

"I love it," Harry murmured, looking into her eyes in the mirror and smiling softly, "We've travelled a lot, huh?"

"And I've no doubt we'll continue to do so," she smiled back.

Charlie dabbed the goo onto Harry's arm, and once the two paid and tipped him, they were set back on their way, inked and feeling upbeat about everything. And although they really didn't need to, their arms were linked the entire time as they strolled the streets of London, the aisles of bookshops, and all the way to Hermione's flat.

Both Hermione and Harry's tattoos have some meaning to them – Hermione's phoenix, alongside the Order and everything, symbolizes rising from the worst of it stronger and better than before. Harry's, which my boyfriend picked out, shows that progress can be made in even the smallest of steps. There are many good Tolkien quotes that I could've gone by, other than the standard "All those who wander are not lost", and maybe I'll give Hermione or Harry more Tolkien tattoos. But, for now, they're all inked up and feeling pretty great.

And I hope you're feeling great too. I promise to try to update this more, as there are few stories that I feel I'm prepared for nowadays. But, this one, I feel like all I have to do is sit down and write what I feel. So I hope I can continue with regular updates.

See you next time!