Chapter 3
Having been to Diagon Alley so many times this summer, Harry didn’t really need to buy anything for school.
Instead, he, Ron, Hermione and Deeks found themselves munching on ice cream at Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Lyn just needed a handful of things, so she told them that she would meet them there in about an hour. They didn’t mind, though. There were quite a few people wandering the streets and a number of them were schoolmates.
They spent the first half hour chatting with fellow students and introducing Deeks to them between ice cream bites, and Harry was just finishing his first sundae when he caught sight of a fellow Seventh Year loitering nervously nearby.
“Hannah!” he smiled at her widely. The Hufflepuff flinched before reluctantly shuffling forward.
“Hello, Hannah,” Hermione grinned at her fellow Prefect. “How’s your summer been?”
“Oh… um, good,” the strawberry blonde nodded jerkily. “And yours?”
“That’s a loaded question,” Deeks told his ice cream.
Hermione lightly elbowed him before shrugging. “It could have been better,” she smiled sadly. “A personal friend of ours died at the end of July and we’re still a bit shaken.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“So are we,” Harry added.
They stayed silent for a few moments before Ron coughed.
“So, who are the Head Boy and Girl this year?” he asked.
Harry wondered about that, too. He’d been so sure that Hermione was going to be Head Girl, but the letter never came.
“Oh, we-well,” Hannah fidgeted. “One of the Ravenclaw boys and… and… Hermione, I am so sorry!” she blurted. “I had no idea – everyone thought you would be Head Girl – even me -, but you’re not and … and I am… I am so sorry!” she looked like she was about to cry.
It took a moment for Harry to filter through that, but he just smiled once he did. “I’m happy for you, Hannah.”
“Brilliant,” Ron agreed.
Hermione was quiet for a few moments before she smiled warmly and hugged the other girl. “Congratulations! At least I was beaten by someone who more than deserves it.”
“So… so, you’re not upset?” Hannah asked almost incredulously and with no small amount of relief. It had most likely been weighing on her since she got word of her promotion.
“Merlin, no,” Hermione pulled away. “That’s great. And it would allow me to take care of other things I might need to oversee.”
Harry saw Hannah’s eyes drop to the ground, her face flushed at Hermione’s praise. The Hufflepuff really was modest, wasn’t she?
It reminded him of another Hufflepuff of his acquaintance.
The brown haired Second Year had also attended the wedding and even dropped by a week later for some birthday cake. AJ Johnson was sweet and everyone kind of agreed that she had half adopted him and Hermione.
It had made sense with Hermione being an only child and Harry and AJ both being orphans.
Once Hannah was sufficiently convinced that Hermione was far from upset, she scurried off with a wave after telling them that she would see them on the train tomorrow.
“She’s nice,” Deeks noted, drinking his melted ice cream.
“Yeah,” Ron nodded in agreement before finishing off his ice cream. “I think I’ll get some more.”
Harry and Hermione agreed and they went to stand in line with their orders, as well as one for Deeks as he guarded their table and people-watched.
“It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” Hermione turned her face to the sun.
“Yeah, it is,” Harry agreed, looking up to see a clear sky. “I wonder how long it’s going to last.”
“I bet Tony would know,” Ron nudged him.
There had been a few instances in the past where Tony had accurately predicted the weather and he confessed thee ability to Ron and Hermione. He seemed to believe it easily; she didn’t.
She also didn’t believe their theory about AJ, but that would come later.
They waited for their turn and were almost halfway to the counter when Harry felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Lovely time for a fly, innit?”
“Eames!” he whirled around to see the blond smiling down at him. His grey eyes were shadowed and red – and he looked a bit thin and sleep deprived -, but they still had a sparkle in them even if it wasn’t very strong and bright.
“Mr. Eames?” Hermione whirled with a smile. She was about to initiate a hug, but held back at the last minute since they had only met him once and she wasn’t certain about his feelings on the matter.
“Mi,” Eames held out his arms and Hermione moved into them, both hugging tight. “How’s it been, Dove? Ron,” they shook hands.
The last time they’d seen him was back at Baker Street after the funeral. Eames, Tony and Watson – along with Deeks and Palmer – had been the primary drinkers as they sat on the floor of 221B. Mac had been the only one that hadn’t had a drop, having taken over flat 221A with Ron as Harry and Hermione had some drinks upstairs with the others.
Eames had stayed behind to put Watson to bed as the rest of them returned to the Burrow and they hadn’t seen either one since.
“It’s good to see you,” Hermione stepped back with a sigh.
“Tony here?” he wanted to know.
Harry was sorry to tell him that Tony was readying to go undercover (“for real, this time”), Eames slumping in disappointment.
“I’m sure you can visit him when he’s all set up,” Hermione assured. “When we get more information, we’ll send you an owl.”
“I would like that, I think,” Eames sighed, “but get one of the small brown ones. And you may have to wait an age before you get anything from me, but I’ll welcome anything you send. Heard from the other three?”
“Deeks is waiting for us at the table,” Ron told him.
“Excellent,” he brightened. “You know, I think I’ll have a little something for myself, as well,” he eyed the distance left to the counter.
“Are you busy?” Hermione asked. “You don’t have to stay.”
They never did figure out what he did for a living. Tony had said something about freelance work.
“As a matter of fact, I happen to be between jobs at the moment. I thought it prudent after – I start back up again in a few weeks. One of the lads, Arthur, told me to keep my schedule clear. Darling really is a perfectionist, I’m afraid.”
It didn’t escape any of them that he’d skipped over the thought of Sherlock…
Harry didn’t like thinking about it, either.
“I hope you do well,” he told him, sincere in every word.
“I do, as well,” Eames nodded at him. “Perhaps more so.”
They paid for their treats and went back to their table.
Deeks was delighted to see Eames and the Brit listened to them talk about recent news as he ate his ice cream.
The four of them managed to get a few laughs and a few more smiles out of him before he glanced at the time and shook his head.
“Well, lads, I have a few calls to make,” he regretfully stood. “It’s nothing to do with a job, but they are necessary and I fear having my door broken down by a well-meaning contact should I miss one of our agreed windows. Oh, don’t be terribly sad,” he told them. “It’s a sure bet that we’ll be crossing paths again. I know who you all are, so I’ll meet you in a country of your choice should it come to that. In fact, my wanderings could take me to Hogsmeade in a month or so.”
“We look forward to it,” Harry told him.
By the time all had said their slightly teary farewells, it was about time for Lyn to rejoin them.
Harry watched Eames disappear into the slowly thickening crowd and sighed. He really did hope that the older man was alright. For both his and Tony’s sake. The Italian didn’t need anything else to happen right now, especially on the eve of his undercover assignment.
They met up with Lyn and the Trio took it upon themselves to show the pair around.
“This is truly a marvel,” Lyn beamed as the five passed Susie’s flower stand.
The American Witch moonlighted as a flower seller when she wasn’t running around at her waitressing job near Tony’s flat.
“Hey, Mr. P!” she grinned. “I wondered when I’d be seeing you.”
“Hi, Susie,” he grinned back. “Anything from Tony?”
“Nah. Palmer said Tony’s lit out for his undercover gig. I heard it was quite the surprise, too.”
Lyn bought some flowers for a friend’s daughter’s birthday before they moved on.
They eventually found themselves at the bookshop and Deeks decided to scope out the Charms section while Lyn browsed nearby.
“We’ll be around,” Ron told them before they separated.
The Trio went upstairs to the Quidditch section and Harry wandered back to the spot where he found the diary of Adrienne Lewis last year.
“You know, I really don’t get it,” Hermione shook her head as they looked around at the surrounding books. “How could the diary of a young Muggle girl end up here?”
At the end of last year, Tony had told them that Adrienne was Muggle. It had been quite a surprise since they’d believed her to be a particularly clever Ravenclaw. “Maybe she had a Magical person in her family,” Ron shrugged.
“It couldn’t be a sibling,” Harry reminded. “She doesn’t have any.”
“Or a Magical friend,” Hermione added. “She’s written about quite a few friends already.”
Harry found a small section on locator spells nearby. “Think we could use one of those?” he pointed them out.
“Maybe,” Hermione went to look. “But we should probably wait until we finish reading the diary. And maybe when we come back for Christmas. We can pass it off as a present without drawing suspicion.”
Which was absolutely paramount.
The adults could take the diary away, but Harry had grown kind of fond of the Muggle. He hoped she hadn’t changed as she grew up.
There was nothing they could do right now, so they eventually moved on and found themselves in the Healer section.
There were a number of sections within the area dedicated to the different elements of being a Healer – such as spells or potions – and Ron pointed at one on Herbology. “Neville’s got one of those for his grandmother. Some of her friends need some of those plants and he tries to grow them.”
There were a few people milling around the area, so they stayed off to the side. In fact, Harry was heading past one of the chairs scattered around the area when he just so happened to glance at the Wizard sitting in it.
“Dr. Watson?” he paused as he recognized the slumped figure rubbing his eyes.
Sad blue eyes glanced up and a half-hearted smile crossed his face. “Hello, Harry,” the blond sighed.
“Wotcher, mate,” Ron awkwardly reached out to pat his arm.
“And Ron,” he blinked, obviously not having expected to see any of them.” Is Hermione here, as well?”
“Somewhere around here, yeah.”
Harry watched Watson rub a hand through his short blond hair. He looked tired and sad.
Sherlock had been everything to him. Maybe not to the same degree as he had been to Tony and Eames, but Watson had lived with him and thought of him as his best friend.
(Maybe more if Mrs. Hudson and Angelo were to be believed.)
“You missed Eames,” Ron continued.
Watson shrugged. “And Tony?”
Harry couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. Watson was still hurting over the loss, but he was still concerned over two people almost as bad off as he was and who he’d never met. Something told Harry that that was Watson in a nutshell.
“He’s off undercover,” Harry explained. “Do you want us to leave?”
“I’m sorry,” he pressed his lips together. “I’m not much good for company. Especially now. You know what’s the most horrible thing?” he looked at them. “I keep wondering if the signs were there. I keep wondering if I could have missed them – obviously, I did -, what I could have done… Merlin, I have so many questions about what I could have done or said to change it all, but…” he sighed, scrubbing his face with his hands. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure Eames and Tony are thinking the same thing,” Harry sighed. “I didn’t really have anything to compare anything to.”
“Me, either,” Ron rubbed the back of his neck.
But that didn’t stop them from wondering if they’d missed something, too.
Hermione rounded the corner and was subdued in her greeting when she saw the Doctor.
“The third one arrives at last,” Watson smiled slightly. “Are you all ready for your last year?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Ron let out a long suffering sigh.
“We should be going, actually,” Hermione told them apologetically. “Deeks was looking for us.”
“Well, tell him I said hello,” Watson breathed deeply.
“Alright, then. We’ll write to you,” she offered. “Oh, but we don’t have to if any thought of us reminds you of Tony, which could remind you… well.”
“Oh, no,” he shook his head. “Please. I’d like to see if anything’s changed from my day. And,” he smiled wryly. “Feel free to complain about teachers and homework.”
“You might regret that,” Ron half-joked.
Harry bit his lip while his two friends said goodbye and he waved them ahead, while he stayed.
Watson tilted his head. “Alright, Harry?” he studied him thoughtfully, with a furrowed brow.
“You heard about the Third Task, right?” he crouched next to him. “I still have nightmares about it.”
“Your interview in the Quibbler,” Watson nodded.
“I felt guilty, too, even though I couldn’t do anything about it.” He still did.
Cedric Diggory had been a good man and Harry had gone over everything that had happened and couldn’t figure out what he could have done differently. Perhaps grabbing the Cup first, but how could he have known it had been a Portkey?
Watson reached up and squeezed his arm. “The circumstances were different, Harry,” he smiled kindly, “but thank you.”
“But,” a thought crossed his mind, “maybe you can write to Tony about it. I can’t tell you everything, but I do know that he would understand a little more than I could. He went through something similar a few years ago.”
Director Jennifer Shepard might have ordered Tony and Ziva David to stay away from her, but Tony had come completely clean to him, Ron and Hermione and there had been an inkling of a gut feeling that had come in and it hadn’t left. Every time Tony had thought of tracking Shepard down, that gut feeling told him to stay as far the hell away as he could get – and to keep Ziva away, too.
If Tony had ignored his gut, he probably wouldn’t be here right now and the Trio would’ve been absolutely lost without him. And the marriage bond had happened after that…
Frankly, Harry wasn’t sure who else would be married to them, but he was glad it was Tony.
But Tony was still guilty about listening his gut feeling. He’d not known about the ambush Shepard had walked into and the team’s behavior had begun to make Tony wish he had so he could’ve walked into it with her.
And that was something the Trio wasn’t going to stand for.
(And there was still the story about Agent Kate Todd, but that seemed to be a whole different kind of guilt that Harry wasn’t ready to dig into. From the lack of detail around Agent Todd and her death, that was a very sensitive topic that not even Palmer would talk about.)
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Watson nodded, giving him a small smile. “Now, you better run along, mate. Wouldn’t want you to get left behind.”
“I won’t,” he surprised them both by leaning down and hugging him tight. “I didn’t know him well,” he said quietly, “but he won’t be forgotten.”
“I know,” Watson squeezed back.
Neither drew attention to the other’s wet eyes as they bid each other a farewell and Harry found his way back to his friends as they waited for him a few shelves over.
“I still feel horrible,” Hermione sniffed as her arms wrapped around herself.
“But none of us knew him well enough to know he was acting differently,” Ron pointed out.
“I know, but…”
“Yeah,” Harry nodded to himself. “Me, too.”
They stayed silent for a long moment before Ron blew out a breath and rubbed a hand through his short red hair.
“Are we going to do something about him?” he ventured.
“Yes, we should,” Hermione immediately answered.
“But I have no idea what that something could be,” Harry pointed out.
“… I don’t, either,” Hermione bit her lip in thought.
Well, if they did figure out what to do, it wasn’t going to be today. They had to get back to the Burrow and pack for tomorrow. As much as Harry hated to admit it, Watson was going to have to wait.
They silently made their way back to Deeks and Lyn, the former giving them all a thoughtful once over.
“Watson said hello,” Ron told him, glumly.
“Oh,” he fell silent for a moment before jerking his head slightly. “You guys up for a Butterbeer at the Cauldron before we leave? I suddenly have a slight craving for it.”
“Sure,” Ron spoke for them.
They’d filled their coin purses on an earlier trip, so they didn’t go to the bank.
Lyn had been delighted to have an opportunity to get a drink at the Leaky Cauldron, admitting that she didn’t really leave to travel internationally. This had been a special occasion, however, and she’d been very happy to have the Trio along for the trip.
“And it was a pleasure to be with you and Agent Deeks,” Hermione smiled warmly at her almost girlish excitement.
“I hope to have another trip with you young ones, but I’m sure having an old person like me around will cramp your style,” she patted her hand.
“I keep telling you, it’s fine,” Deeks had pretty much drank half of his Butterbeer already. “And it’s not like I have style to actually cramp.”
“Oh, shush. You think it.”
Deeks simply rolled his eyes with a good natured grumble, but this was obviously an old argument between them.
They finished up and returned to the Burrow.
“Mrs. Weasley!” Deeks called out as Harry slid out of the fireplace. “We’re back!”
There was no answer, so they decided she was still out.
“D’you want some tea?” Ron awkwardly offered.
“Just a cup,” Lyn nodded. “We don’t have to leave immediately. Well, Marty doesn’t so he can stay as long as either of you can stand it.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay,” Hermione shook her head as Ron made for the kettle. “We’ll be more than fine by ourselves. We should actually start packing for school.”
“Yeah,” Deeks settled into an armchair with a sigh. “And I actually have to get back pretty soon. Hetty may have given us the day off, but I still have to get hold of a contact anyway.”
Lyn wandered into the kitchen to chat with Ron and Deeks watched her go.
“So,” he turned a speculative look on Harry and Hermione. “Eames looked like he was barely holding it together, but he also looked a hell of a lot better than I thought he would have. Palmer said that Tony hasn’t fallen to pieces, but I’m sure it’s because of that situation out in Oregon that he’d been asked to help with and this undercover thing that came up out of nowhere. I hate to say it, but I think it’s only a matter of time. He just has to sit down long enough and something will give way.”
“That’s sort of what we’re afraid of,” Hermione looked at Harry with worried brown eyes.
Tony had had a breakdown upon receiving the news, but his world had been turned upside down. It seemed more due to shock than anything else, but there was yet to be a secondary breakdown. At least, not one Harry had heard of.
“Maybe Palmer just hasn’t witnessed it,” Harry suggested.
“Considering the fact that he knows Tony better than you, I’m taking his word for it,” Deeks smiled crookedly. “How did Watson seem to you?”
‘Resigned’ was the first thing that Harry thought of.
‘Lost.’
‘Broken.’
“Not in a good place,” he decided on.
Deeks simply nodded, as if he were expecting that.
They waited silently for Ron to announce the tea was ready and went for their tea.
It didn’t take very long before Deeks and Lyn were readying to go.
“We’ll see if I can swing by Hogsmeade some time,” Deeks let Lyn say her goodbyes before Hermione was hugging the stuffing out of him. “You’ll have to let me know the dates.”
“You can bring Tony, Mac and Palmer with you,” Ron shook his hand.
“No promises,” he hugged Harry next and gave him an extra squeeze. “See you guys soon.”
Harry watched as Lyn gave one last wave before leaving and Deeks gave one last smile before he was gone, too.
“Think we’ll see them again?” Ron said in the silence that followed the fire dying down again.
“With the Order?” Harry shrugged. “Who knows.”
Tony had brought up his suspicions that the Order might have an issue with him and made some disturbing allegations that Harry, Ron and Hermione could do nothing to dissuade him from. He was so convinced that they themselves were no longer completely sure that his suspicions were just the result of paranoia.
“Well,” Hermione shook her head. “Come on. Let’s get the kitchen in order and then go pack, starting with the rooms. We’ll go through the rest of the house soon enough.”
Harry and Ron trooped up to the latter’s room where they started separating the clothes on the floor. Dumping his clothes on his bed, Harry then turned to organizing his trunk as Ron did the same.
Harry emptied his and smiled as he went through all his school books from the past six years. There had been good times since his First Year.
He stacked his new books on top of the ‘leisure’ books and ran across something he’d forgotten about.
“Hey, Ron,” he looked up. “Remember when we went to Hogsmeade on Halloween? I picked this up outside the Post office.”
“What is it?”
Harry showed him the small flower trinket – he thought it to be a lost charm – and let him hold it.
“It’s small,” he shrugged, handing it back. “Looks like a girl used to have it.”
“Yeah,” he traced over the ‘A’, wondering again what its story was. He put it to the side and frowned up at him. “You aren’t going to ask why I kept it?”
“I reckoned it was just like the diary,” Ron quirked a smile. “’sides, you remember that Muggle toy I found in the Forest?” he took it out of his pocket. The little toy soldier still had the name ‘Ronnie’ scratched on the base. “So, I figured I had no room to talk.”
“Yeah, but your name’s on it,” Harry pointed out with a grin. “Well, not your name, but someone else’s name that just so happened to be yours.”
“It’s still cool, though,” he shrugged, smiling down at it as it sat in his hand. He turned to stow it safely in his trunk as Harry turned back to his.
He packed the diary and the Marauder’s Map and he would have packed the mirror that his Godfather had given him, but he was assured that the mirror would be returned when Remus “Moony” Lupin could get it to him in Hogsmeade. In went other odds and ends before Harry got to a familiar drawstring bag.
“The tokens still good?” Ron questioned, looking over.
“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “Tony fixed it before he took Deeks back to California.” He smiled fondly at the bits of rock before packing the bag in the trunk.
About a year and a half ago, now, during the Fifth Year Christmas holidays, Tony, Harry, Hermione and Ron had toasted the New Year directly at midnight. A handful of months later – amidst illness -, they all found out about why they were so sick: the glasses and plate used on New Year’s had been the Black Family Marriage Set.
Staying in contact with each other had been a proviso on the marriage bond that the four found themselves tied together by.
Because of the needed secrecy, it became critical to know who knew and Tony eventually came up with a notebook that was created solely for that purpose.
As of right now – if Harry wasn’t mistaken -, there were a handful of others who knew: Aidan Waite (who, as it turns out, only knew because he was a Vampire), Agent Doug Donners at the MNP, Agent Peter Burke (their cousin via Tony) and… Sherlock.
Because the bond made them ill when the quartet were away from each other, the tokens had been created in preparation for the Trio’s Sixth Year, because Tony couldn’t disappear from his job on a whim.
It had turned out that Tony would disappear from everyone’s radar under the guise of being ‘undercover’. In reality, he’d unknowingly been targeted and the Trio mistook him for Harry’s Godfather, Sirius Black.
Tony later told them that he and his three friends from school had something about their illegal Animagus forms that didn’t quite fit. Well, Harry knew that one should always be sure about one’s facts, but, until the truth came out, the Trio had always known about one blue/grey eyed black dog.
What else had they been supposed to think?
In the end, it had been the neglected tokens that had first clued Harry in that something didn’t quite make sense.
But all’s well that ends well.
He picked up the Swiss Army Knife that Tony gave each of the Trio and blinked as he found that it had changed design again, like the Italian had told them would happen. The green knife was put in his trunk for safekeeping and he finally picked up the radio.
Tony and the Trio all had one that had helped them tremendously over the past couple years. They could talk to each other over fifty miles and Tony had recently upgraded them, which tied in to that little mishap hours after the wedding.
Harry set that one next to the small flower charm. The radio would stay with him on the trip, just in case, and saw Ron do the same thing.
“What’s that?” the redhead looked over.
“Oh, yeah,” he sighed, picking the last object up.
During a trip to Hogsmeade, he’d had to duck into a store under the pretense of buying something – even though he’d really been speaking with Neville Longbottom over Hermione’s radio -, and came out with the lighthouse.
“I still don’t know what to do with this,” he huffed. For lack of anywhere else to put it, he returned it to his trunk and stood as he gathered the radio and flower charm.
Hermione poked her head in.
“Harry,” she held up a familiar object. “I still have the pendant from where we dug it and the box up in Collie Muldoon’s garden, remember?”
That had been the Easter holidays this past year, when the pair of them had stayed with fellow Gryffindor Vince Muldoon, one of the boys in Harry’s Year – though not a roommate.
They told Ron about what had occurred and even showed him the pendant of a figure eight carved in jade, that was ensconced in its scrap of cloth. “What are you going to do with it?” Ron questioned.
“Well, we thought about giving it to Tony,” Hermione shrugged. “He found it, after all.”
“And we keep forgetting to ask about his birthday,” Harry sighed.
“There is that, yes.”
“Give it to him for Christmas, then,” Ron suggested. “That’s when we’ll probably be seeing him again, anyway.”
Hermione nodded in agreement and turned to go back down to Ginny’s room, when Harry picked up a pair of trousers – only to have something slip out of a pocket and clatter to the floor.
“What was that?” Hermione turned back with a frown.
Harry bent down and picked up a flat white box about the size of his palm.
“What is it?” Ron watched him turn it around in his hands.
Harry shrugged, just as puzzled. “Don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.”
“Think you should open it?”
“Harry, when was the last time you wore those trousers?” Hermione wanted to know.
It took a few moments to think and he remembered when he spied soot spots on the hem of a leg. “I think it was when we went to Diagon Alley the day Peter went home. I forgot all about it.”
“Maybe he put it in your pocket, then,” Ron mused.
“Someone did,” Harry told him. “I don’t remember putting anything in my pocket, never mind this.”
Exchanging one last look with the others, Harry draped the trousers over his arm before taking the lid off the box.
He stared at the first thing he saw before realization hit and he sat hard on his bed.
“Harry? What?” Hermione and Ron crowded him. “What’s in it?”
He felt the color drain from his face as he stared a bit longer before he shakily reached in to extract… a note.
The note itself, however, wasn’t what brought tears prickling at his eyes. It was the heart lurching writing on the note.
“Harry?” Hermione’s voice was full of concern as she sat next to him.
“The handwriting,” he swallowed past the lump in his throat. “It’s Sherlock’s.”
She gasped as Ron startled.
“How can you be sure?” he frowned.
“Sherlock had switched out Tony’s note for his before they picked me up at my Aunt’s. This is his writing.”
Hermione caught sight of the second and last object in the box. “Oh, Merlin,” she whispered, tears starting to well up in her eyes. “That’s Sherlock’s pocket magnifier,” she reached out for it. “Tony said it was one of the things he never left Baker Street without.”
Ron sunk down next to Harry on the bed as Hermione sniffed, looking the magnifier over. It was obviously a well-used object, from the light scratch or two on the lens.
“Read the note,” she wiped her eyes.
Harry deeply inhaled before nodding.
‘Mr. Potter,
It has recently come to my attention that your Coming of Age is near at hand. While the reasons for sentiment are forever lost, I do know that it is a custom to give you something special for your birthday and, after a long period of contemplation, I have decided to lend you my personal magnifier for one year. Tony may not have told you our connection to your birthday, so I will be succinct. On July 31st, many years ago, I came across a Bobby in the American state of Florida where I was working on a case. Yes, it was Tony and I will never forget the first person outside my Archenemy who had the potential to see what I have to live with on a day to day basis. Ever since, the both of us have helped each other – which I will admit only here – in honing our respective deductive abilities and it is my hope that you will use your gift wisely in the year that you have it. It will help you see through the trivial matters and the lies to what truths they hide from view.
Use it wisely, and remember; don’t just see, observe.
Have a Happy Seventeenth Birthday,
Sherlock Holmes.’
Silence fell upon them as they sat there.
Harry felt numb, tears running down his face as Hermione stared at the object she held. Ron had his hand over his eyes, but he could tell the redhead was crying, too.
“Oh, Sherlock,” Hermione hiccupped.
There was nothing else to say.