The Dawning of the Rest of Our Lives
Chapter 1: Thinking Things Through
It was 3:00 a.m. and Harry Potter was sitting at his desk finishing a letter addressed to his best friend, Hermione Granger
As he finished he took it over to his faithful pet owl, Hedwig.
"Take this to Hermione," he said, and watched as Hedwig flew out the window into the night.
Harry went over to his bed and lay down. He had thought of Hermione a lot these past two weeks- ever since they said goodbye at Kings Cross. As a rule, he thought of Hermione often, seeing as she was one of his best mates, but lately he had found that the particular WAY he had been thinking about her had changed quite dramatically. Harry used to think about Hermione the same way he thought of Ron- as a best friend.
Now it was much more then that.
Harry had started to have feelings for his bushy-haired pal in the middle of their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and had been planning to talk to her about it after their OWL tests were over. Then the disaster at the Ministry of Magic had happened. After that, Harry found that he just couldn't open himself up to anyone about it- the memory of his late Godfather, Sirius Black, was too painful.
Harry tried many things to help him keep his mind off of any subject that related with the night in the Department of Mysteries, and found a new hobby that helped ease his mind quite considerably- working out. Harry spent most of his summer vacation running through the streets of Little Whinging. He found it liberating and it was a great way to organize his thoughts.
It was during one of his early morning runs that he figured out that he had to talk to Hermione about his feelings. He needed her now more than ever and decided that he needed to talk to her face to face, so in his last letter, he asked her if she wanted to meet him at a café in center London. Knowing that Hedwig would not be back for at least two hours, Harry went to sleep thinking that his owl would wake him when she returned.
Sure enough, the sixteen-year-old wizard woke two and a half hours later by Hedwig pecking at his finger. He got up, anxious to read Hermione's response.
Dear Harry,
I would love to meet with you!
How about two days from now?
Pick the place and time and get back to me.
I can't wait to see you!
Love from,
Hermione
"Yes!" thought Harry. "Two days from now- that means Tuesday." Immediately Harry began to think about where he should take Hermione on their potential 'first date', and decided on a place called Java that he heard some other teenagers his age talking about when he went jogging.
Settling down at his desk, he began to compose a nervous reply.
Dear Hermione,
How about we meet at Java, in Center London at 13:00?
I can't wait to see you too!
Harry
Harry went over to Hedwig (who had just dozed off after her long flight), and lightly stroked her on the back
"I hate to do this to you again, but I need you to take this to Hermione."
Hedwig looked a bit annoyed, but stretched out her leg so he could attach the letter and took off again.
After seeing her safely out the window, Harry fell into his bed thinking about Hermione once again that night. Looking at the picture of her and her family on vacation in Brazil that she sent him when they got back, Harry couldn't help but smile. Hermione had also sent a very detailed letter of how much she had learned there.
"That's Hermione," Harry thought with a chuckle. "Always focusing on the educational side of things."
When he had first saw the picture he couldn't believe that the girl, no, the woman in the picture was in fact the busy-haired, big-toothed Hermione that he had come to know and love. Her school robes probably hid that amazing figure that Harry had never noticed before, and now he couldn't bring himself to stop looking at the picture of a very differently attired Hermione. The blue mini skirt and black tank top that made her look so good had made the photo the object of Harry's daydreams all summer long.
Finally, Harry fell asleep with Hermione in his dreams.
But Harry didn't get to sleep for long because of Hedwig who came back two hours after he had laid down. As before, he got up and took the letter from Hedwig.
Dear Harry,
That sounds great, I have been dying to go to Java for a long time!
I will see you there
Love from,
Hermione
Although Harry had to stop himself from jumping up and down with joy; at the same time he was, extremely nervous.
"What if she doesn't feel for me what I feel for her?" he thought miserably. "I wont be able to look her in the eye if she rejects me."
But finally he decided that life was too short (he couldn't suppress the thought that his life might be even shorter than most), and knew that if he didn't tell Hermione his feelings he would regret it forever.
Harry looked at his watch. "7:00 a.m." he thought.
"Well it doesn't look like I'm going to get any sleep tonight, might as well go for a morning jog."
He put on his trainers and walked out of his room. As he walked to the front door, he saw the Dursley's sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast. He wasn't about to sit with them- he had made it very clear to his Aunt, Uncle and cousin on the first day of summer vacation that he would do whatever he wanted to do, whenever he wanted to do it, and they couldn't stop him. All he had to do was remind the Dursley's that if he wrote to Lupin that he was treated badly that in an hour not only would his half-breed Werewolf professor come to call and remedy the situation, but he would also bring an assortment of other wizards to help. This had a great effect on the Dursleys, and from that day on Harry had been excused from helping out around the house and wasn't bothered by any member of the wretched family.
When Harry stepped outside, a cool morning breeze greeted him and he started running. He didn't think about where he was running to, he just let his feet carry him not caring where he would end up- but then he passed the place where he first saw Sirius. Harry stopped at once and felt tears starting to fall from his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and continued to run.
"I can't keep doing this," he thought. "I can't start crying every time something reminds me of Sirius. I need to get this thing under control."
Beginning to run again, the thoughts started flowing. "Well, I will deal with this later. Now I need to think about what I'm going to say to Hermione."
Harry started to plan and rehearse what he was going to say and without realizing it, his feet were carrying him back to the Dursley's house.
When he arrived, he found his Aunt and Uncle sitting in the living room watching TV.
"Well, I might as well get it over with," Harry thought.
"Uncle Vernon?" Harry interjected, as soon as the commercial came on. "I'm going to center London it two days so could you give me ride?"
"And why should I give you a ride?" asked Uncle Vernon, coldly.
"Because you wouldn't want me to contact my friends and tell them I don't like the way I'm treated," retorted Harry, with a dangerous smile on his face.
"Alright I will take you, you can tell that to your friends."
"Thanks," said Harry, without any genuine gratitude.
With that, he went into the kitchen, made himself a sandwich and took a big bite thinking that maybe summer vacation isn't the worst thing after all.
Over the next two days all Harry could think about was what he was going to say to
Hermione and how she was going to react. Tuesday morning found Harry standing in front of his closet very confused about what to wear- he never faced a situation like this. With Cho, he did dress carefully, but they had also worn their school robes. Finally, Harry decided to go with the safest choice- Jeans and a T-Shirt thinking that there was no way to lose with this combination.
He checked and double-checked that he had everything he needed and then went over to the mirror, rehearsing what he was going to say to Hermione.
"Hermione," he began, feeling as awkward as he looked, "I don't know how to say this, but lately I've been having these feeli-"
A knock on the door stopped him. It was Uncle Vernon telling him that he was ready to go.
Harry looked at his watch: it was 12:15.
"Good." he thought. "This will give me a little time to prepare myself before she gets there."
Harry walked down the stairs to hear Uncle Vernon's angry voice, "Come on boy I haven't got all day!" The ride past quietly- neither of them wanted to speak to the other, and so they just sat there, deep in thought.
Finally, when they were near center London, Uncle Vernon spoke.
"You'd better find your own ride back because I'm sure as hell not going to pick you up as well"
"Whatever," said Harry, knowing that he would get along just fine without a ride from his uncle.
Five minutes later they stopped at Harry's destination. Harry got out of the car with a quick 'bye', and started to walk towards Java. He looked at his watch. It was 12:50. He had ten minutes before Hermione would get there. As soon as he went in he understood why everybody was talking about the place. The first thing you noticed when you walked in was the incredible smell of coffee, and Harry immediately noticed why: on the bar was every type of coffee bean Harry had ever heard of and some that he hadn't.
At the bar you got a coffee mug and you could fill it with any kind of coffee beans you wanted and then you gave it to the servers behind the bar and they added the water, cream, and anything else that you required. Deciding not to buy coffee until Hermione got there, Harry picked a table in the back so he could say what he needed to Hermione without too much noise.
Harry began to prepare himself mentally, but he didn't have long because a minute later Hermione arrived. She wore jeans that looked as if they were made for her legs, a red v-neck shirt and had headphones attached to her ears. Harry was dumbstruck; although she didn't wear anything special. Harry couldn't help but notice how good-looking Hermione was. Since Harry was too busy admiring his friend, he didn't notice that she was looking at him in a way very similar to the way that he was looking at her. Hermione had also noticed the changes in her companion. She could tell he had been working out over the summer.
She went over to the table and Harry stood to greet her. She put down her
Headphones, and Harry could hear a part of a GreenDay song-
Harry said, finally, "Hermione its so great to see you!"
"It's wonderful to see you too, Harry, I missed you so much!"
cried Hermione, smiling back at him.
"I missed you, too," Harry said. "come on Harry" he thought to himself "tell her why you wanted to meet with her" "Listen, there is something I need to talk to you-"
Hermione putting a finger to his lips stopped him mid-sentence. "I know, Harry, and I feel the same way."
Now Harry was completely stunned. "How did you know what I was going to say?"
"Oh Harry it was so obvious, you never wanted to meet just us without Ron"
Harry was now thinking back and he understood that she was right, but now he remembered something else. "Did you say you feel the same way?" he asked, not sure he had heard right. "Yes, Harry, I do feel the same way" she replied. Harry smiled wildly, and then he did what he had been dreaming about doing for a long time. Brushing her hair away from her face with one hand, his other hand holding her by the waist he kissed her in a long, soft kiss. It was the most wonderful feeling Harry had ever experienced. He then pulled away from her to see if she felt the same and knew from the look in her eyes that she did. Before she could say anything, Harry pulled her into another kiss, much more passionate this time. Hermione put her hand on his back and neck while his hands were on her waist. Then, they pulled away again and Hermione didn't really know what to say so she just looked at him with a look of ecstasy in her eyes. "I was waiting so long for you to do this."
Harry looked at her and whispered, "Not as long as I have. I was dreaming about this all summer." "You were dreaming about me all summer?" Hermione asked, flattered.
"Hermione, I have been dreaming about you all my life, but this summer I finally figured out it was that it was you all along." At this point, Hermione was blushing and so to break the tension, Harry said, "Come on, lets go get some coffee."
They went to the counter and chose the kind of coffee that they wanted (Harry paid) and went back to their table. At first, they were both a little uncomfortable, and didn't know what to do next. Harry had thought so much about what to say and how but he didn't think about what to say to her if she said yes, so now he was trying to think about what to say to her.
Finally, he managed, "You look really nice today Hermione"
"Thanks" she replied. Another awkward silence fell and Hermione attempted to fight it. "This is stupid. Why cant we talk like we used to?"
"I don't know," Harry said. "Lets just try to overcome it." Hermione nodded in agreement. "So how have you been?" Harry continued. "Well, I've been pretty good. This summer was great. I got to spend a lot of time with some friends from my neighborhood that I didn't talk to in for ages. "It's weird last time I really spent time with them was before I went to Hogwarts and they used to be my best friends but now when I was with them I realized that they don't even know what friendship is. They don't know what it is to stand beside your friend when he needs you the most, and then I realized that if I only had you, Ron and Ginny as my best friends I would consider myself so lucky, because I know that you are true friends who will always be there for me, just like I would be there for you."
"I know what you mean Hermione. I feel the same way. Of course, I didn't have any other friends before Hogwarts but I know that I need no other friends as long as I have you guys beside me."
"So that's what I am to you?" Hermione taunted, playfully. "Just one of the guys?"
"Hermione you are my everything. I can't imagine my life without you and I can't remember my life before you. For me, life began when I met you."
"Oh Harry!" she cried, softly, pulling him in for a soft kiss on the lips. When they parted Harry said " I need to tell you something" and Hermione noticed he looked concerned "what is it?" she asked. "It's about me" Harry said "and my destiny" "What about it?" Hermione asked now getting a little concerned herself Harry looked around to see that no one was listening and said "Hermione its time you found out what the prophecy said."
"I thought it was destroyed?" she asked, a bit confused.
"Yes, the official documentation was," Harry answered "but the man who heard the prophecy is still among us and he told Me."
"Who is it?" Hermione asked, although she thought she knew the answer.
"Dumbledore" Harry said. "He used the Pensieve to show me, but the only thing I can do is tell you what it said." And so he relayed to her word for word what the prophecy said (he knew it by heart, it was like a movie that played in his head all summer). When he finished, Hermione just looked at him, jaw hanging and asked, "Does that mean what I think it means?" "It means that I am the only one who can kill Voldemort and I must kill him or he will kill me." As he said this Hermiones eyes filled with fear, and she couldn't bring herself to speak. Harry saw she was very frightened by this and attempted to console her. "Hermione its o.k. I'm gonna be o.k." "How can you say that!" she cried, tears now flowing down her face. "Because" he replied, as he stretched out his hand to wipe the tears from her face, "I have you by my side. I have a damn good reason to stay alive and I'm hanging on to it!" He said this a bit to loudly and people were starting to stare. "Come on lets get out of here" he said, and they both got up and left. They found a deserted alley and went to talk in there. Hermione was the one who spoke first. "Harry I just don't want to lose you."
"Hermione I can't tell you that I am not in danger because I am. And I can't tell you there isn't a possibility that I am going to die because there is. But I can tell you that I will do everything in my power to be the one who survives that battle and come back to you." His words managed to calm Hermione a bit and he kissed her softly to soothe her. It worked. When they parted, there was a smile on her face. Harry took this as a sign to continue and kissed her passionately. Hermione kissed him back and put her hands on his back. Harry moved from her lips to her neck and gave her small kisses all the way from her neck to her shoulder, and as he did this Hermione let out a moan. She started to move her hands under his shirt on his bare chest. "I see you have been working out" she said between kisses. "I try," said Harry, as he let his hands move a bit down from her waist. He kissed her once more and said, "Come on lets go find someplace to eat lunch." Harry put his arm around her waist and they left to look for a place to eat. They found a nice little pizza place and went in. The restaurant was packed with teenagers who went to eat and there was music playing.
They ordered and Hermione said "So I told you about my summer, now its your turn." "Well," Harry started, "it was actually very boring. The Dursleys didn't give me any trouble because they are afraid that Moody will come and hex them, so all I did this summer was run and do my homework. Dumbledore writes me every once in a while to let me know what's going on-" He saw the question in her eyes and answered, "Not much, they captured some Death Eaters who attacked the ministry, and that's about all the things that have happened this summer." Harry grinned cheekily, and added, "But now I can include having lunch with a beautiful lady to my list." Hermione blushed a bit and said 'oh Harry' and kissed him softly. The rest of the day just flew by and what seemed like minutes after they finished lunch they were saying goodbye. "Thank you for the best day of my life Hermione." Harry said. "You are very welcome, Harry, this was a great day for me too." The kissed goodbye and Harry saw her getting in to a car with her dad and drive off. Harry went to the main street trying to get a taxi. He found one and all the way back to Privet Drive he was replaying the day in his mind. When they arrived at Harry's destination, paid the driver and went inside. He went to his room he saw on the desk a letter and a gold phoenix feather
"Dumbledore" he smiled to himself.
Harry,
Pack your bags you're coming to headquarters.
A guard will come and pick you up at noon tomorrow. Be ready for them.
Albus Dumbledore
"It's about time!" Harry thought to himself, and tumbled off to sleep, with visions of a certain no-longer bushy-haired, big-toothed girl in his head.
Harry woke up very early in the morning with the thought of leaving the Dursleys in his mind.
He quickly got out of bed and started gathering his possessions and packing them in to his trunk.
When he finished Harry went down to the kitchen to tell the Dursleys that he was leaving with a big smile on his face.
He found the Dursleys sitting around the kitchen table eating breakfast.
"Er," he begun trying to get Uncle Vernons attention "I just wanted to let you know that I am leaving today, someone will pick me up at noon."
"Will the neighbors be able to see?" Uncle Vernon asked in concern.
"No." Said Harry.
"Very well then" Uncle Vernon said and went back to his breakfast.
Harry wasn't hungry so he decided to go back to his room and wait.
Harry double checked that he hadn't left anything behind and when he was sure he had everything it was noon and Lupin appeared before him.
"Hi Harry," said Lupin and gave him a hug, "How have you been?"
"I've been pretty good," said Harry and gave him a little smile,
"Are you ready to leave?" Lupin asked.
"I have been ready to leave since I got here," Harry retorted, "lets go."
Lupin handed Harry a book he used as portkey, Harry put his finger on the book and the next moment he was in the house of black. I don't know how I'm going to spend the rest of the vacation in Sirius's house without having a breakdown. Harry thought.