Two Souls, One Destiny
By: ChanceTheChase
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters but the plot is mine. You know, typical stuff.
"HARRY! FIX BREAKFAST NOW!"
What a bloody wake up call grumbled Harry. Every morning, without fail, he'd hear Aunt Petunia belt out that he had to fix breakfast. His summers were what he dreaded most. Two months with the Dursleys. It was unimaginable torture. He threw on a shirt and pair of jeans, hand-me-downs from the Dursleys porky son Dudley, and headed down to make breakfast.
"What took you so long," asked Uncle Vernon, already getting purple in the face. He always did when talking to Harry. Neither he nor his wife approved of his being a wizard. They'd know ever since he was found on their doorstep with the note that he was going to be one of "them," one of those "freaks" as they commonly called him. They tried to suppress his abilities but in the end it won out and he went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was the only time he could remember being that happy. He had a lot of friends there, two of which he was missing sorely right now, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger.
He didn't even dignify that with an answer. He just mechanically started breakfast, making the eggs and bacon. Same old shit day in and day out he thought. I bet they don't even remember it's my birthday. Hn. Like they'd do anything about it anyway. They could care less that I'm here so long as I serve them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yep. Tomorrow would be his 16th birthday. He'd be going into his 6th year at Hogwarts. He'd only been back for a couple weeks and already he was dreading the rest of the time. He was going to head back upstairs when all of a sudden the doorbell rang.
"Get that boy," said Uncle Vernon. "I'm expecting company and I expect you to act – normal. Anything funny and out you go."
"Whatever," said Harry, heading for the door. Opening the door, he almost dropped. There was Hermoine, shaking and crying, looking exhausted and worn out.
"Hermoine! What happened," he asked. Putting both hands on her shoulders, he pulled her inside and shut the door. By then the three Dursleys were standing there staring at them. Dudley was covering his enormous bottom with his hands and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were keeping their distance. Glaring at them, Harry took Hermoine upstairs to his room and sat her down.
"Moine, what's wrong," he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders.
Sniffing and tearing, she told him. "My parents—My parents….." She couldn't finish her words as she collapsed into his arms, crying her eyes out. He put his arms around her and gently rocked her back and forth, running his hands on her hair trying to comfort her. Eventually she stopped crying and leaned back, wiping her eyes.
"Oh Harry I'm so sorry. I didn't know where else to go."
"Moine, what's wrong," he asked her gently, afraid of her crying again.
"Well," she said, her voice wavering, "my parents went on vacation leaving me at home by myself. I figured I was fine, but just as a precaution I asked permission to use magic and put Locking charms on the doors and windows and set my parents' muggle alarm. I was safe, but……" She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling, then continued. "I got a letter from Hedwig one day. I thought it was from you. I'd recognize her anywhere. It wasn't though. It was from Dumbledore. He wrote me saying that…….that my parents had been……murdered….tortured to death by the remaining Death Eaters. They said that they were caught, the Death Eaters. They have all but 3 of the Death eaters now, but………" She started to tear again.
Harry just looked at her stunned. Oh god he thought. This can't happen to her. The boy who lived my ass. Oh god. He silently put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him, letting her cry once again. He suddenly felt a surge of anger running through him, anger making him want to hurt the people that hurt her. I can't have feelings for her he thought. She's my best friend. Then why does this feel so right? I have this tingly………oh god. I like Hermoine. He gently rocked her again, letting her cry on his shoulder. Eventually she stopped crying again and looked at him.
"Harry, what am I going to do? Where will I go now?"
"I'll write Dumbledore and ask him what the Ministry has said. For now, let's go to the Leaky Cauldron and get a couple of rooms. We can stay there for the rest of the summer. I'll tell Dumbledore what we're doing. Hedwig knows where to find me. Come on. I'll pack up my stuff and we can go."
Throwing her arms around him, she said "Oh Harry, what would I do without you? You're the best friend I could ever hope for."
Laughing a little, he gathered up his things from the room and, making sure he didn't miss anything, began to get the trunk down the stairs.
"Harry, why are you carrying that? Here. Let me show you." With that she used a shrinking charm and made the trunk and cage pocket size. "There," she said. "It'll be easier on you."
Smiling, he put the newly shrunk trunk in his pocket and went downstairs. Uncle Vernon immediately said something to him as he went down the stairs, something about he had to stay there and what was that slut doing in the house. Harry immediately grabbed his wand, pointing it at him and said, "If it's the last thing I do I swear to Merlin I will kill you outright if I ever hear you insult my friends or family again. My godfather will be hearing about this." Sneering back at him, enjoying the horrified look on their faces, he finally turned and, Hermoine in front of him, walked out the door.
They hailed the Knight Bus, paid the fares and started off to London. Hermoine took a bed across from Harry and they talked for a while, mainly Hermoine talking, all about her parents, what they used to do, where they went on vacation, just memories she had of them. In the end she collapsed from the strain that she'd been under. Harry watched her all night, making sure she was okay and giving her his blanket when she started to shiver. Eventually, he too fell asleep.
"We're 'ere chap! Wake up!"
Harry jumped, hitting his head on the post of the bed. "Huh," he asked.
"We're 'ere! Yer stop! Come on then!"
Harry looked out the window. In front of him was the biggest house he'd ever seen. It was a brick mansion, three stories high, with a sweeping front lawn and trees lining the drive. Harry was still stunned when he felt someone shaking him.
"Come on Harry. This is my house. I need to get my things."
Turning, he quickly shut his mouth and got up to go with Hermoine. Before she got off the bus, she asked if they could wait for a few minutes, saying that they were only collecting her school things and were going to use the bus to get to the Leaky Cauldron. Stan happily agreed, sitting back and getting some rest while the two of them went to her house to get her things. Harry was a little embarrassed when he walked into her room. He somehow found it different than if a girl was walking into a guy's room.
Gazing around the room, she saw posters and framed objects everywhere of bands, people, places. She noticed a particularly large wall devoted to the Backstreet Boys. Shaking his head, he muttered "Girls" and turned to her.
"Do you have everything you need?"
"I think so," she said. She gazed around the room, taking everything in. This might be the last time she saw her room. She didn't know what was going to happen. Sighing, she looked at her nightstand. There were a lot of pictures there in frames. One with her as a baby, one in her dancing costume from when her parents made her do ballet, vacations, pictures of her with Harry and Ron. She opened her trunk, grabbed all the pictures, shrunk all her Backstreet Boys stuff, put it into the trunk and turned to leave.
"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but did you need all those pictures and the wall of stuff," Harry asked.
Hitting him playfully, she said "I took the pictures to remember………" Letting her breath out slowly, she smiled again and continued. "And if you think I'm gonna leave my Backstreet Boys collection here you're crazy! They're the greatest muggle group ever!"
By now Harry couldn't help himself. He was laughing too hard. "What about NSync? Aren't they the other muggle group like that?"
Suddenly getting very serious and grabbing her pillow, she throttled him saying "NSync is a sad rip off of the Backstreet Boys. Don't ever compare them again." She started laughing when the pillow suddenly burst and feathers went everywhere.
"Come on," he said, shrinking her bags for her as she had been so kind as to do for him. "They're waiting for us."
With a final look at her room, she gathered her things, put Crookshanks in his bag, and went off with Harry. Reinforcing the locking charms on the house, she got back on the bus, paid the drivers again, and, suddenly feeling very tired, fell right back to sleep.