Note: I don't own any of the Harry Potter Universe. JK Rowling, her publisher, and Warner Brothers does. Not me.
Forever Yours
Chapter 1
"OW!"
Harry Potter had just woken up, not expecting to fall off his bed, but nonetheless, he had.
He pulled himself off the floor and looked around the room. Remembering he couldn't see anything without his glasses, he snatched them off the nightstand and threw them on, the pair hanging off the brim of his nose. Glancing around, he saw that he was in his room at his Uncle's home, not the boys' dormitory he was hoping to see. He glanced at the calendar on the wall and saw that it was only the 22nd of July.
"Damn. I guess I was dreaming, then." He muttered, trying to find some clean clothes to throw on.
"HARRY! Stop that racket this instant!" Uncle Vernon roared from downstairs. "You're rattling the ceiling, boy!"
"Not as much as Dudley does, the fat pig…" Harry thought as he pulled on some tattered jeans and a sweatshirt. He walked over to where his owl, Hedwig, was and gave her a pat. "Morning, Hedwig." The owl gave a cheerful hoot once Harry had let her out of his cage. He wasn't really supposed to do this, as his relatives forbid him to, but they never came to his room to check. Harry yawned as Hedwig fluttered about the room, happy to stretch her wings. The boy left Hedwig and went downstairs, careful to not attract his guardian's attention.
Too late.
"Get down here this instant and make some breakfast, young man!" Aunt Petunia screamed at the top of her lungs as she coddled her son Dudley, who was happily stuffing himself full of sweets. "Dudleykins is hungry!"
"The oaf is always hungry." Harry muttered as he trampled down the stairs. "I'm surprised he hasn't raided the neighbor's fridge." He made his way into the kitchen where his only relatives were sitting, waiting for their breakfast, or in Dudley's case, more breakfast.
"What did you say?!" his uncle roared at Harry.
"Nothing, sir. Nothing at all." He replied. "Nothing that I would ever say to your face, you pratt." he neglected to say.
"I thought not. Now get to work! I'm starving!" Harry nodded, already quite used to this procedure. He began to take out the necessary ingredients.
What happened next was something that wasn't part of the procedure. In an instant, a seemingly tiny brown object had crashed through the window and landed on the Dursley's kitchen table. A small envelope fluttered down from the air. Aunt Petunia fainted where she stood and Dudley toppled from the chair he was sitting in.
"WHAT THE BLAZES?!" Uncle Vernon yelled, subconsciously staring at Harry. "YOU!"
"I didn't do anything!" Harry pleaded, always the scapegoat. He ran over to where the thing that crashed and picked it up. He saw that it was his best friend Ron's owl, Pig. The tiny owl raised its wing and gave a hoot, not caring about its injuries, happy that he had actually succeeded in a delivery for once.
"That's an OWL, ISN'T IT!?!" came the booming voice Harry was so accustomed to.
"Y…yes?" he stammered.
"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT OWLS?!"
"That I'm not to have any come by, Uncle Vernon…"
"SO WHAT IS AN OWL DOING IN MY KITCHEN?" The yelling was beginning to hurt Harry's ears.
"I dunno, sir. I suppose a friend of mine sent me a letter…"
"Go to your room!! And take your bloody owl and your bloody letter with you! No meals!"
Harry nodded and picked up the letter off the floor. He proceeded silently out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The sound of Uncle Vernon trying to wake up his wife could be heard. "Wake up, Petunia. It's another one of those ruddy owls again!"
Harry really didn't care that he didn't get any breakfast. He barely got any food to eat anyhow. Scrambling up the stairs and into his room, he deposited Pig inside Hedwig's cage. Hedwig made a sound as if to say "Not in my cage!", but stayed where she was perched.
"Sorry Hedwig…" Harry told her, "It's just for a little while." The white owl gave a small hoot and flew over to her cage, watching the smaller owl like a hawk.
Harry slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the paper inside. He began to read.
~~~~~
Hey Harry!
Mum keeps pelting Dumbledore with owls asking when you can come over for the rest of the summer. I suppose he got fed up and finally agreed. Lucky for him too, she was about to send a Howler. What a nasty surprise that would have been for old Dumbledore, eh? She says we can pick you up tomorrow morning, about noonish? Great. Hermione says she can't come, since she's in Bulgaria with Krum. Hey, that rhymed. Neat. So anyways, she sounded really happy in her letter. I gotta go now; I think Fred and George blew something up again. See you tomorrow!
Ron
P.S Oh wait. Hermione can come, but not till next week. She seems to be really cozying up to that Krum character, huh?
P.P.S Oh yeah! She also says that she's sorry that she couldn't write to you, but she was afraid that the Dursleys would yell at you. I hope they don't find this letter!
~~~~~~
Harry's face was vacant of emotion. One part of him was happy that he would get to spend the rest of the summer at the Burrow, but the other part…
Hermione… with Krum.
Harry shuddered. Ever since that kiss he got from Hermione at the train station about two months ago, he couldn't stop thinking of her, Cho Chang actually forgotten. His mind kept flashing back to the Yule Ball last Christmas and how pretty she looked. Not that she wasn't already pretty, he admitted, but still…
She had dressed up for Krum… Krum…Every time he tried to do his summer homework, visions of Hermione sitting in the library kept popping into his head.
Hermione in the common room.
Hermione at Hogsmeade.
Hermione in the Great Hall.
Harry knew it wasn't right for himself to think of his friend like this, but he really couldn't help it. There was something about that girl that he couldn't place, not for four years. Something he adored. But when she had kissed him, all that came rushing down on the young Potter.
"Ah, get off it! It was just a friendly kiss, nothing more!" Harry thought to himself, but even he didn't believe it. Hermione wasn't the kind to just kiss a friend out of the blue.
She's with Viktor Krum…
"Aaaargh! Stop thinking about it, Harry Potter!" he suddenly cried out. "So what if she's with Krum!? She wouldn't do anything with him! It's Hermione for Merlin's sake!"
He threw the thought into the back of his mind, but it still nagged him. He had more important things to get to, though. There was the matter of getting the Dursleys to agree to let him go to the Burrow, but he knew now wouldn't be the most prudent time to ask. His uncle would still be fuming anyway. Later, maybe…
He lay down on his bed, trying to think of ways to convince his uncle to let him go. Glancing down at his midsection, he noticed the envelope lying there. There seemed to be something left in it as well. Harry picked it up and shook it a bit. A photo fell out and fluttered to his chest.
"What's this?" he thought, picking up the photograph. It was a picture of Hermione, waving furiously at Harry. She was standing in front of a huge mansion, a blue-sky overhead. Harry could barely make out the writing on the iron gate behind her.
Krum Manor
"Great. He has a mansion. Perfect." He thought bitterly. "Waitaminute… what… what did she do to her hair?" He noticed that Hermione's hair wasn't bushy at all anymore, now it was much different. It was completely straight and shiny, just like at the Yule Ball.
"Wow. She looks even prettier now…" Harry said to himself, as he turned over the photo. On the back was a note from Hermione.
~~~~~~
Harry,
How has your summer been? Mine's great! It's so nice here in Bulgaria and Viktor's parents are really nice. I've learned quite a bit about the culture here as well. I should be coming to Ron's house sometime after you get there. Viktor says hi! Hope you're well! I miss you!
Love,
Hermione
P.S Like my new hairstyle? I really like it and it doesn't take hours to do like before. Viktor seems ecstatic about it!
~~~~~~
Viktor…
With a heavy sigh, Harry dropped the photo and slumped down on his bed, obviously upset. The picture lay forgotten.
"Hermione…." he whispered. "Why?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Note: Woo. Our favorite wizard doesn't seem too happy now, does he? Poor Harry!
But don't forget, this is a Harry/Hermione story, so things have to pick up for him soon!