A/N: This is the story that has been keeping me away from the other one…I just had to type it and post it, it wouldn't leave me alone. This goes out to EA, who wouldn't leave me alone until I finished typing it, sorry for the wait, but like I said, I can't sit still so typing this was a real pain. Hope you guys like it and please review, they make me feel special.
A girl with curly brown hair walks to the podium next. Although she is older and her teeth are no longer big and her hair is no longer the bushy mess it once was, she is easily recognized. Especially by the crowd that is gathered. It's Hermione Granger, one witch that everyone has come to know over the years, it's a name that is regularly used in homes now that the war is finally over.
She clears her throat and begins the speech that she has rehearsed over and over in front of the mirror, hoping that all will turn out like she has planned. "Hello, my name is Hermione Granger. This is my story. Well," she feels herself begin to get off track, but for once doesn't mind that things are going according to plan, "this is really Harry Potter's story. But I suppose it is mine, too. Because, our paths have been intertwined since I was eleven-years-old.
"Sure, I had to do my fair bit of pushing to get it to be that way. I wasn't always his friend. There was a time that I couldn't stand him. I though he was just a slacker. A slacker with a famous name. But he's more. He was so much more then that and it took me a while to see that. But I'm glad I did. I'm glad I got to be a part of his world. A part of his adventures. I'm so thankful for that. Because… well, he's the one who made me who I am today. He didn't do it on purpose, but over the years I have changed and it is all because of him.
"I first meant him on the train to Hogwarts in my first year. He was in a compartment with Ron and I was helping Neville look for his toad, Trevor. I was amazed that I was in the same place as the boy whom I had read so much about in books. It was like… I was seeing books come alive.
"In the beginning Harry, Ron, and I did not get along very well. Well, Harry and Ron did, but I didn't get along well with them. They were friends and I was just the bossy know-it-all. That was until they saved me from a troll. There are some things that you can't experience without becoming friends...defeating a troll is only one of them.
"That first year was also the year we went on our first "adventure", it was really scary, but then I don't know many grown people who could have done what we did and not thought it was scary. Because it was frightening, especially the part Harry did alone. I don't know if I would have been able to do what he did when I was that age.
"That year was also the year I had my first crush. It was on Harry. I, like so many other young girls, fell for his looks and his past. I wanted to be able to help him and be with him. There is just something about Harry that you have to like. And at such a young age you feel for him. And fall I did.
"Second year is one that I don't have many memories of. For most of it I was petrified and well, when you're petrified, it's like your dead. You don't think anything, you don't see anything, and you don't feel anything. People always ask me what it was like, and all I can say is it was like nothing. They ask if I was frightened and truthfully, I cannot say that I was, because I knew nothing during that time. Before that though, I was scared. I was twelve/thirteen, I was a muggleborn and there was a monster in the castle that obviously did not think to fondly of muggles. No one wants to go through something like that, especially one at such an age. But I did, and I did not like it one bit.
"Third year was, yet again, different. We all thought that a murderer was after Harry, and with good reason; Sirius Black had been said to have murdered a street full of people and to have turned in Harry's parents to Voldemort. Then he had been talking about how 'he was at Hogwarts', no one in their right mind would not be worried about Harry being killed during that time. It would be just wrong. It turned out that Sirius didn't want to kill Harry. Turns out that we were all wrong about Mr. Black. I'm just sorry that he didn't live to see his name cleared. I'm sorry he died when most of the population thought he had killed so many people... But I'm getting ahead of myself; we're still on third year.
"In third year I also started to notice Ron a bit more. I still liked Harry, mind you, but I was starting to see Ron clearly for the first time. We had some of the worst fights that year. It seemed we were all so tense that the bond we seemed to have made was breaking. It didn't though, and for that I am thankful. If anything, the bond became even stronger that year. This was something we all needed for what lied ahead of us.
"Fourth year. I think that year scared me more then any of the others, more even then my second. Harry had been picked as a champion and we all knew that there was someone that wanted Harry dead. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know what he needed. Heck, I didn't know what I needed. I knew I needed something though, because that year was just...I don't know...I guess frightening would be the word, but that doesn't seem like it explains everything enough. It was just this utter fear in my heart that was always there. Always telling me that if I didn't help Harry enough in this tournament, then he would die and I wouldn't be able to ever see him again. I would never be able to thank him.
"Because that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to thank him for everything he had done for me. For how much he had changed me. For the better. That was the year I realized how much I had changed. No longer was I the bossy, lonely know-it-all. No, now I was part of a team, I had friends.
"That year also had the biggest fight between Harry and Ron. It was over a stupid thing, Ron was jealous and Harry thought it was all his fault. Which I guess, in a way, it was. But it was the combined efforts of them both that kept them fighting. I hated them both for that. Well, no...Hate is a strong word, I would never hate them, but I was sure upset with them and what they were doing to themselves. To me. To us, the golden trio.
"They sorted it out in the end though, after Ron finally got it through his thick skull that Harry hadn't asked for any of this. That he had never wanted it. That all of it was thrust upon him and that he didn't mean to make it look like Ron was in the back-seat. That Harry himself knew how much Ron meant to everything that went on, even if the rest of the wizarding world didn't see it. That Harry was truly sorry for what went on.
"That was also the year that I fell completely for Ron. I guess those feelings had always been there, always been close to the surface, but they fully came out that year.
"Fifth year we should just skip. If we were to go into detail about that one, I would begin to ramble on and on about that hag Umbridge and how all of you believed that Harry was some crazy person. I will never, ever forgive you for that, I hope you know. Never.
"Sixth year was by far the best. Even if it was another year of death. We lost Dumbledore that year to someone we all thought we might be able to trust. I've never made that mistake again. Trusting someone because someone else does and that should make it alright.
"Besides that, though, it was a good year. Harry was no longer the naive boy who had first entered Hogwarts or the angsty boy who had blown up at the slightest thing. No now he was Harry, the real one. Not the Boy Who Lived or the Chosen One or whoever else everyone thought of him as. He was Harry, just Harry.
"I think it was Ginny who brought out most of those changes. When she was with him, it was like he was complete. He would light up when she walked in. It was like she was his other half. What they had was pure magic. Even though he messed it up at the end of the year.
"He broke up with Ginny at Dumbledore's funeral. Ginny says it was his 'Stupid Nobility Bug' that made him do it. And that's what I think, too. Harry was just that kind of person. He was noble and loyal, and brave, and a great friend. I think that's why he left this world so early. He was just too good for us all. He was too great for Earth, and so God decided that Harry should leave. And he was, Harry was just good in every single way. He was the perfect hero and yet he hated being called that. But he was, and he still is. He's a real hero.
"Over the summer that year I went over to the Burrow, Harry came, too after his birthday. When he first came, I thought I would cry at the sight. And not with happiness.
"He was pale and thin. Much too thin. And his usual glowing emerald eyes seemed dull and there were dark circles under his eyes. It was a sorry sight, one that made my heart ache. None of that was the worst though. The worst was something I would see the next day.
"We were all in the living room. I was reading, Ron and Ginny were playing chess, and Harry was sitting there. Just sitting there looking off into nothingness. Lost in his own thoughts. Thoughts I wasn't sure I wanted to know about. I should have though. I should have asked questions. I should have made it my business to know what was going on through his mind, we all should have. But not one of us did.
"Anyways, the thing I saw that day was something, or rather somethings, on Harry's arms. He had dropped a piece of parchment that he had been fiddling with for the past hour or so, and in the process of picking it up, let his sleeves rise a little way up. Not much, mind you, but enough to see the beginnings of long pale scars and cuts that ran up what I supposed was the rest of his arm.
"I should have said something right then and there, but I didn't. I didn't know what to say. I was shocked. Never would I have thought that Harry would be the kind of person that would even think of causing himself injury willingly. I guess, I always thought he was too good for that kind of stuff, that he would never ever in a million years try to do that. But there it was. There was the evidence that showed that he had thought of it. That he had done it. I guess war makes people do things that they would never do. It makes people do crazy things. It makes weak mean strong. It makes strong men weak. It breaks people down. It changes them. And I guess war changed Harry. I guess war got to him a bit. Not that I blame him. I mean, I don't think I could ever handle the pressures that were thrust upon him. I don't think anyone could ever do that, no matter how old they were. Yet here was a seventeen-year-old boy that we all expected to be a hero.
"Ginny saw it, too. I could tell by the look on her face. She too was shocked like I was. She too was having a hard time believing what she was seeing. I thought she would go off on him right then and there, but she didn't. She too remained silent as she made her chess move, something that I still, to this day, cannot believe.
"That night, when the two of us (Ginny and I that is) were alone in her room and getting ready to sleep, we both broke down. Neither of us knew what to do, and both of us were scared for Harry. I can't tell you how long we sat there that night, holding each other and just crying, but I know it was a long time. It was well into the morning when we were finally able to settle down and fall asleep.
After that, Ginny seemed really tense. Everyone knew she was mad and everyone knew exactly who that anger was geared to. It was a very series situation, one in which everyone wanted to help but no one knew how to, but the Weasley boys started collecting bets on how long it would take for her to explode. The bets ranged from one hour from when they were collected to a year. I'm not entirely sure who said a year, but I doubt they knew Ginny very well if that was their guess. It would be a lie if I told you that I hadn't participated in that event. My bet was on three days.
I know it was a very immature thing to do, but Harry once told me that when everything seemed to be going bad, you had to find the good and then use that good to make everything seem brighter and funner and just plain better. He always was like that. Yeah, he didn't say much around people, and he wasn't one that did well with feelings, but when it was just him and me, or just the "Golden Trio", he opened up a bit more and said things that could make you fell really good about yourself. HE was great, and like I've said, I think that's why he left us so early… He was just too good for the rest of us…too great for this world.
"Anyway, two days later we were all in the garden in back of the Burrow. IT was all of us; Fluer's family, all of the Weasley's (excluding Percy), Harry, and me. We were all decorating everything in gold and silver, it looked lovely. Harry and Ron were doing the alter and as Harry reached up to put something on there, the sleeve of his shirt fell back.
"Like I said before, never ever in all of my life would I have said that Harry would do something like that. But he had. And there along his arm was a cut that looked brand new. And I knew it had, it looked as though only moments ago it had stopped bleeding. At that moment, I hated the world and everyone in it. I hated it because it had made Harry like this. IT had made Harry this different person. One that hurt himself. It made me so angry, but I didn't know what to do. Here was a boy that I had known since I was eleven, been friends with since I was twelve...but I had no idea what to say. No idea what to do. No idea what to say.
"I wasn't the only one who had seen Harry's new cut. Ron had been working beside him, and I am pretty sure that he saw it. He, like me, seemed to have no idea what to say to his best friend. It looked like he was in the same kind of shock I was in.
"Soon it was obvious that Ron wasn't the only Weasley who had seen Harry's arm. Another Weasley was getting red in the ears and many of the Weasley boys claim to have seen smoke come from her nose, this detail I don't remember. If you haven't quite caught on yet, the Weasley I was talking about was Ginny. At that moment I seriously feared for my best friend's life. Ginny is scary when she gets mad, like really really really scary. Like she could give Voldie a run for his galleons.
"Harry seemed to notice, along with the rest of the people in the yard, that Ginny was furious with him. He slowly got off the ladder that he had been on, and tried to back away, but failed. The look on his face was one of someone who wanted to run away as fast as they could.
"He, however, could not do this, and the fight that ensued was probably the biggest and fiercest anyone will ever hear of. They looked about ready to murder each other. Ginny couldn't understand why Harry had to act like such a prat and make it out like he was all alone in this world; Harry didn't see why Ginny had to be the way she was, why couldn't she just accept that this was the way things had to be for him?
"The spells were just as bad as the yelling. They cursed and jinxed and blocked faster then I gad ever seen. I was just about to stop them from killing each other when something I had never expected happened.
"Harry looked like he wanted nothing more then to shake Ginny until she understood and Ginny had the bat bogey curse on her lips when she found she couldn't curse him. In fact, she found she couldn't say anything at all since her lips were otherwise occupied.
"It was like one moment Harry wanted to kill Ginny and the next he had her pinned against the old oak in the backyard and was snogging her senseless. It amazed every one of us in the backyard. None of could quite figure out exactly how it had happened.
"Then it was like all of a sudden, Harry remembered where he was. That he was in the backyard kissing a girl in front of her parents, her friend, and her five older brothers. Slowly Harry pulled away and his face paled. The look on his features was the funniest I have ever seen. His eyes were paled and his moth formed a small "O", it made me want to laugh, but I was too busy at the time trying to figure out how to stop five boys from killing my best friend. Unfortunately for Harry no one can stop those boys.
"Well, that is except for him. See, Harry has the awesome powers that until that day nobody really knew all that much of. The Weasley boys were the first to face those powers. One minute they were charging towards him and the next they were flying backwards and landing in a heap.
"Harry had somehow made a huge shield around himself and Ginny, which stopped all the attacks coming at them. He grinned then bent down and resumed his battle of tongues with Ginny. Everyone just gaped while he had his super snogfest.
"Seventh year… I say that as if it was a long while ago, but really it was just this year. It was only this year that Harry defeated Voldemort for the last time. It was only this year that he saved all of us.
"This year was so hard. There were so many times when I would have loved to just stop it all, just be normal for once. I wanted to be someone who was at home, at school, be with my friends. But I knew that even though I wanted that so much, if the opportunity had come by…I would have passed. I wouldn't be able to be anyone else now that I know what it's like to be a part of Harry's world. And not just Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, but Harry, just plain Harry. The Harry that's just a regular kid…
"Because that's who he really was. He was just a normal kid. That's all he wanted to be. HE never wanted the glory or the fame. Harry never wanted to be the Boy Who Lived; all he wanted to be was Harry. Just plain old Harry. But he never could be, because no one could ever see that side of him, no one could ever see that part of him. Every one of you in this room with the exception of a few knew that about Harry when he was alive.
"So now I'm going to do what I promised Harry I would do. I'm going to tell you the about the real side of him. The side that none of you ever knew. The stuff he never told you.
"Harry refused to eat almost every vegetable. He hated them all and it was always me who would tell him that he had to eat some. It was the same with milk. The boy hated milk. Even when he was 16, he acted like a young child when it came to eating healthy. It was one of the most annoying things about him.
"Another thing about him that you probably didn't know is that he loved the color red. It was his favorite in the whole world he said. My guess as to why would be because it was the color of his first family and home, Gryffindor. Another reason may have been that it was the color of Ginny Weasley's hair.
"Ginny Weasley, that's another person that I should tell you about. She was the only person who could bring Harry out of his shell. The only person that could make him truly happy no matter what was wrong. She could brighten any day for him, and he loved her more then anything in the world. Ginny is still here. Here meaning alive. She couldn't be here here today since she is still in St. Mungo's because of injuries she received during the war. It would have been her talking today, but instead you got me.
"That's really all I have to say. I didn't plan it to take this long, I had everything I wanted to say planned out, but sometimes you just have to leave the plan behind and go with the flow.
"Harry was an amazing person and he was a great friend. I loved him like a brother and he took care of me like one would. I'll never forget him, and I don't think anyone else who was part of his world will either. Thanks, Harry. You taught the world more then anyone else ever could. We will always remember you. Always."
And then the young woman got down off the podium and walked away to a silent room.