Disclaimer
The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to J. K. Rowling. I get nothing out of this except enjoyment.
A/N I was nearly overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter. 70 reviews in the first 24 hours! (And then even more for my silly, sentimental oneshot, Best Mates, that I posted two days later.) Thank you, all, for the support and encouragement.
Frankly, I was a bit dispirited with the response to my last two stories, which received barely more than 50 reviews each, and it took more than three months to attain that mark. I wondered if I should pack it in with fanfiction, if the stories I write just weren't in demand anymore. That's a big part of the explanation for why I didn't post anything for six months. After all, I've been writing fanfiction for five years now, perhaps it's getting to be time to hang it up.
Apparently there's still some interest in the stuff I write.
With regard to the current story – with this chapter you'll begin to get an idea of how the format is going work. Keep in mind that the only real-time scenes will be the times during the summer that involve Harry and Hermione rejoining each other and preparing to return to school for the next year. (Note the title of the story.) Any events during the school year will be shown in flashback or reminiscing. The main purpose is to present a yearly snapshot, if you will, of how their relationship develops over time. This will be the case for the next several chapters.
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-
2nd year
Hermione had to force herself to not hold her breath as she waited to hear the results of her father's phone call. Something had happened at Harry's house – that is – something additional had happened. The first oddity of this summer had been when she hadn't received any reply from Harry to the letters she'd sent him. After two weeks of steadily increasing worry on her part at not having any communication from him, she'd checked with Neville and Ron – they hadn't heard from Harry either. That had prompted her to attempt to contact him by telephone. (1)
She'd had the good sense to call during the day, and so avoid having to talk with Harry's uncle, who might have refused to let him come to the phone. It had been a close call with his aunt, but she'd eventually relented. Hermione had been relieved to learn that Harry was all right, and that he was just as perplexed as she was about the missing letters. He explained that he hadn't been able to send any of his own because his Uncle Vernon had locked Hedwig in her cage. At that point they'd abandoned owl post and stuck to muggle means of communication. Harry's aunt had established strict guidelines for their use of the phone, foremost among them that Harry was not allowed to call her, so that no charges would appear on the Dursley's phone bill.
Their phone privileges had abruptly ceased a few days ago without any explanation other than a terse statement that Harry was no longer permitted to use the phone. Hermione could only conclude that he was being punished for something, which she surmised was most likely to do with magic. This conclusion had prompted Hermione, after some agonizing, to request her father's intervention, as she could readily imagine that Harry's physical well-being might be at risk.
Mr. Granger was a rather imposing individual from outward appearances, although he was quite pleasant with his family and friends. From a Dursley perspective, he'd gone to the 'right' schools, had a very respectable profession, lived in a high-class neighborhood, and drove an expensive automobile. Somehow he was able to communicate this proper breeding over the telephone. His brisk, no-nonsense, "Hello, I'm Dr. Granger, I'd like to speak with Vernon Dursley please," which opened the conversation established who was in control from the outset. From there on it was a matter of maintaining the proper balance of assertiveness and understanding.
As she forced herself to settle down and wait, Hermione thought back over the previous year. It had been positively wonderful, making new friends and learning so much magic! She had finished the year ranked first in her class! And nearly as satisfying to her was that Harry was in the top ten, and second in Gryffindor. Despite many temptations and distractions, he had always been willing to buckle down and study with her when he needed to. Neville had tried hard, too, but didn't have very good control over his magic. Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same about the effort from her other friend, Ron. He had clashed repeatedly with her over the amount of time she spent on her coursework, and often complained about what he considered her 'corrupting' influence on Harry. (2)
But there had been some rather disturbing, not to mention downright terrifying, episodes at Hogwarts during their first year of study. An encounter with a troll that had been let loose in the castle on Halloween. Watching in horror as Harry nearly fell to his death from a jinxed broom. Smuggling a baby dragon out of the castle. Running into a dark creature that had been killing unicorns, while serving a detention in the Forbidden Forest. And finally, the adventure that had concluded the year, when she, Harry, Ron, and Neville had fought their way through the traps protecting the Philosopher's Stone in their attempt to keep it from being stolen. (3)
They'd worked well together. Neville had immediately recognized the Devil's Snare and known how to disable it. Harry had led them in chasing down the flying key on a broomstick, Ron had taken charge of playing through the gigantic animated chess set, and she had solved the potions riddle. But there had only been enough potion in the vial for Harry to go on to the final confrontation. She'd waited anxiously with Ron, who'd been knocked unconscious in the chess match, while Neville had gone back for help. (4)
Harry had survived the encounter with their possessed Defense instructor, but it had been a close call. He'd been unconscious in the hospital wing for three days, during which his friends had rarely left his side, taking turns sitting by him while the others went to class and meals. During her time alone with him she'd held his hand and whispered fervent pleas for him to get better soon. She was amazed at how important a part of her life he'd become.
Hermione was broken from her thoughts by her father's voice as he reached the conclusion of his argument with Harry's uncle. He shot her a wink as he began to close the deal.
"Well, Mr. Dursley, I certainly understand the need for discipline, but it seems to me that your family might benefit by some separation from your nephew. Give things a chance to settle down a bit. Like I said before, in my profession I'm required to follow up when I hear about domestic situations that have the potential to escalate to violence. Removing the boy from your household for a time would seem to me to resolve that issue without too much difficulty. And it just so happens that my daughter would like to invite your nephew to spend the rest of the summer with us. No, it's no trouble at all …"
Hermione broke into a smile. Her father was positively brilliant! Being careful not to interrupt his phone conversation, she wrapped him in a rib-crushing hug.
-ooo-
The next morning she carefully pondered her choice of clothing as she got ready to go with her parents to pick up Harry. The thing of it was – over the course of the past year Hermione had developed curves. Her body was no longer a straight drop from shoulders to knees; it now went in at the waist and out at the hips. Her breasts were still small but that was OK; all in all everything was coming along nicely. The challenge was in deciding how best to display her improved figure to her best friend.
What she really wanted to do was put on a pair of short shorts and a skinny tank top, but she knew that would be too much, too soon. She finally settled for a pair of capris that fit snugly around her hips, combined with a short sleeved tee shirt made from a stretchy fabric that accented the curves of her waist and bust. There was nothing specific that her parents could object to, but the outfit would get the message across. And that message was that Hermione was not just one of the guys.
Her long term goal was that this year the three boys she hung around with (particularly Harry) would recognize that she was a girl. Third year, when they gained the privilege of Hogsmeade visits, was when Hogwarts students customarily began dating. If all went according to plan … well, they'd just have to wait and see.
She knew she'd have plenty of competition. Besides her, the girls Harry was closest to were his quidditch teammates. Alicia and Angelina were two years older, and tended to treat Harry as a little brother. But Katie Bell was another matter. For now, Hermione would focus on having a good time with her best friend for the rest of the month. But she would also take the opportunity to begin to nudge his thoughts in another direction.
When they arrived at Privet Drive Harry was waiting on the front porch with his trunk and Hedwig's cage. As they pulled into the driveway Hermione's father nudged his wife and motioned up at the second story bedroom window. It was covered with bars. Hermione suddenly had an image of her best friend as a prisoner who was being let out on parole.
As soon as the car stopped, she was out the door and racing for the house, catching Harry up in an enthusiastic hug. Harry's eyes went wide just before she reached him, as he took in her outfit and what it revealed, and she couldn't help grinning as she wrapped her arms around him. Perfect!
Harry pulled away after a few seconds, and shot a nervous glance at her father, expecting that he might not be too thrilled to have a boy in such intimate contact with his daughter, best friend or not. Hermione smiled and gave his hand a squeeze of reassurance, but it was unnecessary. Mr. Granger was directing an even but pointed stare at his Uncle Vernon. The message was clear – I know how you've been treating your nephew and it better not happen again next summer.
Hermione only just managed to hold her question until they were in the car and driving away. After her parents warmly greeted her best friend, she pulled him around to face her.
"Harry!" she burst out. "What happened?"
It took Harry a few seconds to compose his thoughts before he could answer, being a bit overwhelmed by her greeting and his sudden reversal of fortune, having been so quickly transferred from the custody of his abusive relatives to the company of this affectionate family.
"Have you ever heard of a magical creature called a house elf?"
Harry's explanation of the strange creature and his bizarre behavior (while downplaying the cryptic warning) took up a good part of the drive to the Grangers' house, especially with Hermione interrupting him for points of clarification every so often. While the whole episode was unsettling, she at least felt better that they had an explanation for the missing mail. All three Grangers agreed that the first order of business would be to give Harry a proper birthday celebration. (5)
-ooo-
As much as the first month of summer had seemed to creep along at a snail's pace, the second month seemed to pass by in no time at all. With Hermione's help, Harry's summer homework was completed fairly quickly, and they had the rest of the time to relax and enjoy one another's company. At the local library they found some books that Harry enjoyed reading, and they took frequent walks around Hermione's neighborhood as she shared stories of things she'd done growing up. Harry even helped Mrs. Granger with her gardening, discovering that putting those skills to work was much more enjoyable with nice people who worked alongside him and appreciated his help.
As for Hermione's other goal, Harry soon became accustomed to seeing her in muggle summer clothing, which was of course far more revealing than their school robes. From the discreet glances he'd send her way occasionally when she wore something particularly tight fitting, she was certain that he'd got the message loud and clear – Hermione Granger was a girl.
One afternoon while they were sitting out on the Grangers' back porch admiring the flower beds they'd been working on earlier, Hermione asked (trying to keep the hopefulness out of her voice) how he was enjoying his summer.
"It's been brilliant! The best summer I've ever had, by far!" Harry responded quickly, causing a beaming smile to break out on her face. Seeing that, Harry grinned back. He must have spotted the relief in her expression, because he added teasingly. "Now, if there were only a place where we could go flying it would be perfect." Hermione responded appropriately, she thought, by rolling her eyes in mock exasperation.
Before they knew it, it was time to go to Diagon Alley for their school supplies. They went first thing in the morning, trying to beat the crowds, but hoping they might run into Neville and/or Ron later in the day. Their first stop was at Gringotts, where Harry got a lesson about banking. As they entered the bank he and Hermione overheard her father grumbling about exchange rates. Hermione quickly explained that the goblins made money on every transaction – when you exchanged pounds for Galleons there was one rate, but the conversion from Galleons to pounds was considerably different.
Harry thought for a moment, then interrupted the Grangers before they got in line for a teller. "Wait," he suggested. "Let's go to my vault first. I want to show you something." Mr. and Mrs. Granger exchanged uncertain looks, but then assented. As they headed to the carts that would transport them to the underground vaults, Harry suddenly stopped and turned to the other three.
"Do you like roller coasters?" he asked. Puzzled at this apparent non-sequitor, the Granger adults nodded, then looked at Hermione, who shook her head uneasily. "Well, then she'd better sit in the middle."
By the time they reached Harry's vault, Hermione had silently resolved to kill her best friend, or at least find some unpleasant payback. He'd sat up front next to their goblin guide grinning all the way down while she fought to retain her breakfast. To his credit, he did help her from the cart, and held her arm while she wobbled uncertainly and tried to regain her equilibrium. All thoughts of discomfort vanished as soon as the door to Harry's vault opened.
"Oh my!" she breathed softly, taking in the mounds of gold, silver, and bronze coins. Her parents were speechless, glancing several times from the piles of treasure to the unassuming boy who'd been almost literally dressed in rags when they'd met him. Even the most cursory calculation would indicate that Harry's bank balance greatly exceeded their own.
"How much is this?" Hermione blurted out before clapping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. She knew very well that Harry was uncomfortable with his wealth. Before she could figure out a way to rescind her question Harry just shrugged.
"I never asked," he admitted. "And I don't really care that much. It's enough to last me a while, I reckon." Then he turned to her parents.
"So, I was thinking, how about if I pay for Hermione's school books?" he offered. "Then you wouldn't have to exchange anything." Caught off balance, the Grangers tried to refuse, but Harry persisted, pointing out that they'd put him up for a whole month free of charge, not to mention all the clothing they'd bought him. It was only fair that he be allowed to reciprocate. Not having any counter, and still a bit stunned at the sight of all this gold, they agreed, whereupon Harry scooped up two bags of coins and they returned to the cart. On the way out he took Hermione aside and cautioned her not to say anything to Ron, and she quickly agreed.
From that point on it was an enjoyable excursion, right up until they reached their final stop, the bookstore Flourish and Blotts. There, their desire to avoid the crowds was finally thwarted. They soon discovered the reason for the throng – a personal appearance by Gilderoy Lockhart. At that point everything went horribly wrong!
-ooo-
Hermione sat glumly in her room, dismayed at the turn things had taken as the summer drew to a close. She and Harry had been at odds ever since their shopping trip to Diagon Alley and their encounter with Lockhart.
She had been giddy at the opportunity to meet the well known and amazingly accomplished wizard. It had absolutely nothing to do with how good looking he was! Admittedly, he'd pulled Harry up in front of everyone to have their picture taken together, but there was no way he would have known how much Harry hated things like that. It was all a misunderstanding. And he had presented Harry a complete set of his books at no charge.
But Harry had been so disgruntled with the whole thing that he'd promptly handed the valuable texts off to Ron, who happened to enter the bookstore just as Harry was storming out, muttering about what a fake Lockhart was. Hermione had been about to chide Harry for making such an inappropriate comment about their new professor when she'd encountered Lucius Malfoy. He had stopped and looked at her for a moment and it appeared as though he was contemplating something before he turned away and moved on. She'd had to hurry to catch up with Harry, but a minute later they heard the sounds of a scuffle behind them. They'd looked back to discover that Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley had somehow got into a fight!
She'd been mortified at what her parents would think, but they'd been more impressed at the way Harry had stepped protectively in front of the three of them than they'd been bothered by the childish behavior of the two adult wizards. But the family had been so shaken up by the episode that they'd cut their outing short and returned home.
During the drive Harry had continued to say rude things about Lockhart and Hermione had hotly defended him. Things had deteriorated rapidly after that, and by the time they arrived home the two friends were no longer speaking to each other.
She hated being on the outs with Harry. They normally got along so well together, and they'd been having so much fun! But she just didn't know what to do about it.
"Hermione, I'd like to talk with you," came the voice of her mother at the door.
"Sure, Mum," she replied, moving over on her bed to make room for her mother to sit beside her.
"I have something I want you to think hard about," her mother stated as she gave her hand a compassionate squeeze.
"Is being right and winning an argument more important than a friendship?"
Some time later Hermione came downstairs to join Harry and her parents in the living room. Harry had finished his packing and was leafing resignedly through one of Lockhart's books, Travels with Trolls.
"Can we talk about … this?" Hermione asked softly, gesturing to the book in Harry's hands.
With the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Granger, they were able to have a calm, reasoned discussion and arrive at a compromise of sorts. Hermione reluctantly agreed that Lockhart was, in her father's words, 'a pompous arse'. Harry agreed, also reluctantly, that even so it was possible that he could be an effective instructor, particularly after the Granger adults both declared that they'd had several professors with that unfortunate characteristic in their university courses, who'd nonetheless been able to adequately convey their subject matter.
Harry argued that being a five time winner of Witch Weekly's 'Most Charming Smile Award' was not a qualification to teach anything, much less Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione had no choice but to admit the truth of that, but countered that it didn't automatically disqualify him for the position either. In her opinion, it was more significant that he was an honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League.
Hermione argued that just because Harry disliked Lockhart and the way he acted, it didn't necessarily follow that he was a fraud. Harry conceded the point, but made Hermione promise to keep an open mind should he come up with any evidence that the man was an imposter.
Harry's most telling point, which surprised Hermione with its insightfulness, was that the books didn't say how Lockhart had done all the things he claimed to have done, and therefore were pretty much useless as textbooks. When Hermione could only stare open-mouthed at that revelation, her mother joked that she presumed that there would be more to the course than students being required to memorize and be quizzed on their professor's many adventures. She added with a significant look at her daughter that since Harry suspected that some of his claims might be fraudulent, perhaps some extra research in the library might either refute or corroborate those claims.
At the end both students stood up and a teary eyed Hermione wrapped Harry in a fierce hug. "I couldn't bear to lose your friendship over this, or anything else," she whispered.
"Don't worry, you won't," he murmured back.
-ooo-
The next morning everyone was more relaxed as they made their way through King's Cross station, relieved that the two friends had sorted things out. The pair was also much more confident than they had been a year before, when they'd first begun their adventure in the magical world.
At least they were, right up until they crashed into the quite solid wall between Platforms 9 and 10.
The perplexed students picked themselves up off the floor and righted their trolley, trying to figure out what had happened. As Harry had ended up doing the prior year, they waited for someone else to come along. But to no avail, as everyone else went through the barrier just fine. Even when they tried to follow directly behind some of their fellow students, they were still shut out. Frustrated, Harry wondered aloud if the strange elf, Dobby, that had caused him so much trouble at Privet Drive might be involved somehow.
At length one of their classmates, who Hermione identified as Susan Bones, showed up with her parents and her aunt, who had the air of someone with authority. When even she couldn't pull Harry through the wall, she decided with a humorless expression that someone was jinxing the barrier as a prank. She solved the problem by holding him back and sending Hermione and the rest of her party through, then apparated him to the platform. (6)
Once they were successfully on the other side, Harry explained to Madame Bones about Dobby. After listening thoughtfully, she assured him that she would take care of his notice for doing underage magic, asked her niece Susan to keep her informed, and left. As the three students boarded the train, Susan explained that her aunt Amelia was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and had a good reputation for getting things done.
Susan stayed with them, and on the train they spotted Neville and the four of them settled into a compartment together. Neville and Susan already knew each other, and Harry and Hermione found themselves making a new friend. The Gryffindors explained how they had won all those points at the end of the prior year, and Susan was suitably impressed. They continued to entertain her with stories of some of the other adventures they'd shared.
It didn't take Hermione long to notice that Susan was quite obviously in awe of Harry. Somewhat possessively, she moved closer to Harry, sending a subtle message to the other girl. Susan turned out to be very nice, however, which in turn made Hermione feel a bit guilty about her behavior. She didn't move away from Harry, though.
At the last minute Ron finally showed up, this time with his little sister in tow. "Hi guys …" he began, before noticing Susan in the compartment, and he trailed off, clearly wondering what she was doing with his Gryffindor gang. "Erm, this is Ginny …" he continued. But as he began to introduce his redheaded sibling and the others focused their attention on her, she gave a small squeal, turned red, and ran from the compartment.
Ron shook his head in exasperation. "She's not usually this shy. She's been going on and on all summer about meeting Harry Potter." He grinned at his fellow Gryffindor and now it was Harry who turned red. Hermione patted his hand sympathetically, but insisted that Ron track his sister down and bring her back to introduce her properly.
To her surprise, Susan took that opportunity to get up and move across to sit on Harry's other side. With an innocent smile on her face, she gestured to the larger empty space beside Neville. Harry and Neville nodded in understanding – now there was room for two people on that seat and Ginny would likely be more comfortable sitting next to her brother (and away from Harry). But Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly, her suspicions about Susan's intentions reawakening. She couldn't help being aware that Susan was noticeably curvier than she was, and decided that she would suggest that they all change into their (more concealing) Hogwarts robes as soon as possible.
Just then Ron and Ginny returned, and although the younger girl joined them, she practically hid behind her brother, tucking herself into a small space between him and the door. While she never did say anything, she was clearly unhappy to see Hermione and Susan sitting so close to Harry.
Hermione felt sorry for the poor little girl, but when they got to Hogwarts she ended up being sorted into Gryffindor, so she assumed that things would probably work out. She'd get used to being around Harry, and eventually get over her crush. While the students around them applauded the final selection to their house for the year, Hermione shared a smile with Harry. Another year was underway.
Hopefully it wouldn't be as dangerous as the previous one.
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-
(1) At the end of Book 2, Harry gives his phone number to Ron and Hermione. Ron calls him, with disastrous results, but Hermione does not. Why? Did she defer to Ron because he was Harry's 'best friend' and she wasn't? Even though Ron has never even seen a phone, much less used one, while making a phone call would have been second nature for her? Or is it just another example of JKR going for drama at the expense of plausibility? In any case, here Harry naturally exchanges phone numbers with his best friend Hermione, and she naturally calls him when she suspects something's wrong.
(2) At the end of Book 1 we learn that Hermione 'of course' was at the top of the class, and that Harry and Ron passed 'with good marks'. Here, with Harry being considerably more conscientious about his studies, a Top 10 placement seems quite reasonable. According to JKR's class list, there are 40 students in their year.
(3) They experienced all the same dangerous episodes that occurred in Book 1. Except Hermione wasn't sitting in the bathroom crying when the troll arrived. Here's what happened instead:
Hermione was reading in the library and lost track of the time. This was not an uncommon occurrence, and usually Madame Pince waited until it was past the starting time for the evening meal, then shooed her out. Neither of them, however, knew that on this particular evening there was a troll wandering the halls. When Quirrell made his announcement about the troll, Harry and Neville immediately went to fetch her. (Ron was still sulking about his poor performance in Charms, where Hermione had gotten the levitation spell on her first try, and Harry had also eventually made it work.)
They found her in a corridor, cowering in terror in an alcove behind a suit of armor while the troll tried to get at her. When Harry shouted at Neville to distract it, Neville knocked over another suit of armor and threw the helmet at the troll. Harry darted in and grabbed Hermione and ran.
Back in the common room, the other first years gathered around the three of them, eager to hear their story. Hermione was still shaking, so Lavender and Parvati took her up to their dorm to try to settle her down. There they teased her about how romantic it was that Harry had saved her life, and giggled that now she'd have to marry him someday. Hermione was embarrassed and blushed furiously, but appreciated that they were helping by taking her mind off the troll. Before this she'd had little patience for their silliness, but resolved to try to get along better with them in the future.
Meanwhile, Seamus and Dean gave Harry a hard time for thinking like a muggle instead of a wizard. Harry admitted that he'd reverted to his standard tactics he used when being threatened by his cousin (who he claimed was nearly as big as a troll), namely, duck, dodge, and run like hell.
The boys all got a laugh out of that, but Seamus claimed that they should have levitated the suit of armor and made the troll chase it. Dean chimed in that they could have even tried to levitate the knight's sword to attack the troll. Neville reminded them that he'd not been able to make the levitation spell work, so throwing the helmet was his only option. That made Ron feel a bit better – he wasn't the only one who couldn't do the spell.
Later, McGonagall showed up to announce that the emergency was over and the troll had been dealt with. When she reported that it had smashed up two suits of armor in the library wing, she wondered why all her first year boys found that so funny.
(3a) I'm worried that the previous footnote is too much information for a footnote. But I can't think of anything else to do. That material just didn't fit into the flow of the chapter, but on the other hand I thought you would really want to know what happened with the troll!
(4) The Herbology trap seems tailor made for Neville. And this way each of the four friends took the lead on one of the challenges.
(5) So, the Grangers rescue Harry from Privet Drive instead of the Weasleys. Sorry, Harry, no flying car this time. Also, he doesn't get to visit the Burrow for a couple more years yet.
(6) I've made this point before, but here it is again. The most common characteristic of Susan Bones in fanfiction is that she is an orphan (closely followed by her having a larger than normal bust). Actually, neither of these is supported by canon. I tend to go along with her being well endowed, because it's fun and harmless. But it's pretty clear from Book 5 that her parents were NOT killed by Death Eaters, so I never portray her as an orphan. The HP Lexicon agrees with me on this. We are told specifically in Chapter 25 that Susan's uncle, aunt, and cousins were killed, but it says nothing about her parents. Certainly, in that context, losing her own parents would have been a considerably more significant point to make. And while earlier in the book she explicitly identifies Amelia Bones as her aunt, there's no indication given that she lives with her.
