Author/Disclaimers/Dedication note: I just thought I'd add a little addendum to the Disclaimers to officially say that this story being loosely based on love109's Emma Black/Hermione Black duology with their permission as I wouldn't do it otherwise. For the rest of it, see Chapter 1. I made a few changes to chapter 1, including adding the first meeting between Harry and Hermione. And thanks to all that have Reviewed and added me and/or my story to their Favorites lists. On a final headnote, I dedicate this story to love109 as thanks for allowing me to borrow part of the plot from them and Jessica McGinnis for letting me use her name again.
Someone to watch over me
By Lucas Harrell
Chapter 2
Sirius watched from the porch as Harry and Hermione chased each other around the yard giggling. 'Good thing the Dursleys didn't call my bluff,' he thought, 'Watching over both of them at the same time will make things much easier.' It had been about almost 2 years since he had threatened the Dursleys and while they still weren't loving to him, they only made Harry do simple little chores kids his age could do and letting him really come out of his shell and make friends, starting with Hermione. In fact, he was at the Grangers pretty much every waking second.
The Dursleys had insisted that Dudley join them at first, but the three didn't really get along that well and the Grangers refused to let him come over after he tried threatening Hermione for some reason they had yet to figure out and his parents had refused to make him apologize and banned her from their home in response. Sirius was going to do something about it as was Clark, but Hermione said that she hated it over at the Dursleys anyway so she was fine with it as long as Harry came over to their house. However, he did step in when they tried keeping his godson from coming over as well to remind them of his last visit.
Meanwhile, Sirius wanted to show that he was man of his word, so he had made arrangements through Gringotts to have £1,500 transferred from his vault to the bank account the Dursleys had at the local bank every month since the promised grace period.
"Harry, Hermione, lunch is ready," Arabella called from just inside the screen door, startling Sirius from his thoughts. He had been a little surprised to find that she also lived on Privet Drive. 'Dumbledore must have planted her here to watch over Harry,' he realized, 'Good thing Jess didn't know I was an Animagus or I'd be in trouble if she visits.'
Arabella watched the kids while Lois and Clark worked. The kids seemed to like her well enough, but neither one of them really like cats and they didn't like staying at her house so she came over to the Grangers and stepped back over to her house to feed her pets. Sirius had met her years ago but hadn't really known her that well, mostly just through the Order and especially her cousin, Jessica McGinnis, who he had dated off and on through school and until a few years after they graduated Hogwarts.
It had ended very badly when after Jessica scared Sirius by hinting she wanted their relationship to become very serious. He had pretty much immediately gotten drunk and slept with another woman that turned out to be one of her best friends. Though he had been very cavalier about it at the time and for quite a while afterwards, Sirius regretted the breakup to this very day. 'If I had married her, I know things would have turned out so much differently,' he thought.
Sirius knew the two wouldn't come in on their own so he hopped off the porch and started prodding them and even gently pulling them towards the house. "Aw Snuffles, you always spoil our fun," Hermione said with a pout. She giggled at the playful glare he gave her as they reluctantly headed inside.
"Your dog is so cool, 'Mione," Harry said, patting Sirius on the head.
"Yeah, Snuffles is the greatest," Hermione agreed, giving Snuffles a kiss on the forehead. They giggled when he barked and wagged his tail.
They headed into the house where Arabella had some sandwiches and chopped fruit laid out for them as well as some milk. "Your parents called a few minutes ago, Hermione," she said, as they washed their hands. "They said they have an emergency come up and wouldn't be home before your bedtime."
"Can Harry stay the night?" Hermione asked.
Arabella hesitated. Dumbledore let given her specific instructions that Harry had to either spend all day or all night at the Dursleys for another month. 'But really, what's the harm in one day away from those animals?' she thought. 'And it is the weekend, so it should be fine with the Grangers.' "I'll have to call your parents of course, but I doubt they'd mind too much if his aunt and uncle don't," she said.
Harry looked scared at that. "I don't know…" he murmured hesitantly.
"Oh come on, Harry," Hermione said, "They let you come over all the time."
"It wouldn't hurt to ask," Arabella pointed out. Harry nodded with a sigh.
Hermione suddenly looked around. "Hey, where'd Snuffles go?" she asked.
If he could smile in Snuffles mode, Sirius would as he watched Harry and Hermione sleeping on the bed, him on his back with her was curled up next to him, using his arm as a pillow. 'They're just too cute,' he thought.
Sirius had paid the Dursleys a little visit to ensure the sleepover was going to happen. Nothing major really. He didn't even have to make a physical appearance, just leaving a little note that even a blind person couldn't miss. They didn't hesitate to agree.
Sirius lifted his head slightly when he heard the door open, saw the Grangers ducking their heads in, and faked panting as a way of laughing as he heard Lois murmur softly, "Oh, look how cute they are."
"Maybe we should put Harry in the guest bed," Clark said.
"Don't you dare," Lois said, "They're way too young for them to even think of that for at least another 8 or 9 years." Clark sighed and nodded as they closed the door.
The next morning, the kids were up and running around the house as usual when a very curious visitor came knocking at the door. Snuffles tried not to react when he saw that it was Albus Dumbledore. "Albus, what are you doing here?" Arabella hissed after she shooed the kids outside and closed the door behind them.
"My instruments showed a weakening in the blood wards at the Dursleys and I came to check on them," Albus replied. He patted Snuffles on the head and pulled a small treat out of his pocket for him which he ate with a friendly wag of his tail. Apparently Arabella had said something about him and he had planned ahead as always.
"Well, I suppose it's because Harry spent the night here," Arabella said, "I know you said that he's supposed to stay at least 12 hours over there each day for a few months a year, but I didn't think it would hurt for him to spend one full day away from them."
Albus nodded. "I suppose it wouldn't at that," he said, "But he needs to make it up by spending the same amount of time there and I must insist that he doesn't have any more sleepovers here until then to be safe. The blood wards should be fully charged in a couple of weeks and he'll be free to do whatever he wants for the rest of the year."
"Look, you should tell the Grangers themselves instead of us going behind their backs." Arabella said. "I know the law, but there are exceptions in special cases like this, right? Hermione has been showing some accidental magic recently and if you explain things to them and tell them about Harry's circumstances, I'm sure they'd be willing to help."
"I suppose that would make things easier," Albus agreed, "Very well, but I have a few things to do that I can't come myself, so I'll have Minerva come by since either will most likely be her Head of House if she's half as bright as you've told me. What time do you expect them to be home?"
"They usually don't come home later than 6 unless they get caught up in dental surgery that will take a little longer but as far as I know, yesterday was the first time they had done that since they moved here," Arabella answered.
Albus nodded. "Then she will come here around 7 then so please give the Grangers a brief heads up before she does," he said. With that decided, he left. Neither thought much about it when Snuffles had followed him out.
Arabella was nervous as Clark and Lois entered the house. "How were the kids today?" Lois asked.
"They were fine, but…"
"What's wrong?" Clark asked.
"It's Hermione," Arabella said, "Don't worry, she didn't get hurt or anything, but… well, she's a witch."
"Wait a minute," Lois said, "A what?"
"She's a witch," Arabella said. She could tell they were thinking she was crazy. "Let me ask you something. Have you ever seen Hermione do something that seems impossible, usually when she was frustrated or even mad about something?"
"In the time I've been babysitting the two, I've seen both of them Apparate… that's what we call the ability to move from one spot to another in the blink of an eye," Arabella continued, "And I've also seen her summon things by reaching out for them.
"That's just what I've noticed and those two alone are highly advanced magic," Arabella continued, "Not really that surprising since she's such a bright girl, but still, many fully grown witches and wizards don't get a handle on them that she does until they're about 17 years old."
"I don't mean to," Hermione claimed, "It just happens."
"We know, sweetheart, and you're not in trouble," Lois said, "Now that you mention it, I do remember plenty of times she did stuff like that. And Harry's one too, isn't he? I've seen him do strange things as well and heard even stranger stuff from the neighbors."
"Yes, He is a wizard and that's why I'm bringing this up now," Arabella said, "Luckily, all of what they've done is classified as accidental magic and doesn't fall under the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Magic until they start attending magical school or you might be in trouble.
"There are mostly two types of magical beings, purebloods and Muggle-borns," Arabella explained, "Muggle-borns are those of no recorded magical heritages like Hermione while purebloods have varying generations of magical heritages.
"There are also half-bloods, which is self-explanatory and Harry falls into that category," Arabella said, "James Everett Potter came from one of the oldest magical families in known history while as you would know since your aunt has no magical blood in her at all, Harry, Lily Evans was a Muggle-born."
"And you?" Lois asked, "Are you a witch?"
"No, I'm what they call a Squib," Arabella said, "A non-magical child of a pureblood family. It used to be rare and is still considered to be taboo, especially since there have been more and more Squibs births."
"The law also usually states that new students aren't allowed to find out about magic until a few months before their 11th birthday," Arabella said, "Though frankly that's just to keep those of non-magical descent or at least raised non-magically behind purebloods, but I've consulted one of the magical world's leaders and they agree that this is a special case.
"But why?" Clark asked, "Because of the accidental magic?"
"To be honest, this actually doesn't have much to do with Hermione," Arabella said, "This is mostly because of Harry. We just feel that telling you about her being what we call a Muggle-born would make it easier for you to understand the rest of what I'm about to tell you."
There was a knock at the door and she walked over to find a stern-looking older woman standing outside. "Ah good, you made it, Minerva," Arabella said, "This is Lois and Clark Granger, along with their daughter Hermione."
"Lois, Clark, Hermione, Harry, this is Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, the magical school Harry's parents went to and is the one that he and Hermione will also attend."
The three shook hands. "I'm guessing Arabella's explained a few things, but I've brought some literature for you to read on the magical world," Minerva said. She pulled out a couple of books. "You can look them over and if you have any questions, Arabella knows how to get a hold of me and I can drop by the first chance I get."
"When it come Hermione's time to go to school, I won't lie to you," Minerva said, "As the child of non-magical parents… or Muggles as we call you… she will be ridiculed by others that have magical heritages stretching back generations or purebloods. We will try to stop this at Hogwarts, but we're not omniscient."
"Um, I'm sorry, Minerva," Lois answered, "Arabella said that telling us about Hermione being a witch was just the easiest way to explain this, but we but we still don't understand what this is about."
"This is mostly about you, Harry," Minerva said. Harry pointed at himself and she nodded. "You're a national treasure of sorts in the Wizarding world because of the fact that you somehow surviving an attack by one of the most evil, vilest magical beings to live, apparently vanquishing him at the same time."
"Who?" Harry asked.
"Most don't speak his name, preferring instead to call him 'He-who-shall-not-be-named' and if you don't mind, I'd rather keep it that way, though you can find it in many modern magical history books," Minerva said. The others nodded. "Harry's parents were killed in the attack but as I said, he somehow survived with naught but a scar and was somehow able to vanquish the Dark wizard."
"I knew there was something wrong about that thing," Lois murmured.
"The Headmaster of our school, Albus Dumbledore, brought him to his aunt and uncle across the street to get him away from all that," Minerva said, "He was to be isolated to keep him safe from those in our world that would wish him harm and so he wouldn't be spoiled by the attention he has garnered."
"Oh, there was no chance of that before he started coming here," Clark said, "From what we've been able to tell, they treated him like he was absolute scum. They'd make him do all kinds of things that would be too much for a kid in their teens much less a boy who's just about to turn 3 and if he even tried to say anything, they'd go crazy and used heavy-handed punishments."
"I knew it," Minerva said, "If it's the last thing I do, I will make him…"
"Wait, Aunt Minnie," Harry interrupted. Minerva smiled for a moment at the nickname, as he had called her that when he had barely been able to talk. "They haven't been to me like that for the last year. I mean, they don't hug me or anything, but they don't do mean things to me anymore. They even gave me a new bedroom."
"They just ignore you in other words?" Minerva asked.
Harry nodded. "But at least they're not hurting me," he pointed out, "And they let me come over here whenever I want. I love it here and wish I could stay forever." The Grangers beamed at him and even McGonagall couldn't hide a smile.
"Not that you bring that up, I have good news and bad news," Minerva said, "There are special wards to keep you from being harmed by outside forces and the only way to charge them is to spend at least 12 hours there every day for about 2 months a year, so you'll have to choose on whether he'll stay during the day or spend the night.
"There is an upside to this other than being protected over there from dark magic users," Minerva said, "He only has to spend not quite another month over there to fully charge for this year and he is welcome to stay here the rest of the time after that."
"Well then, Harry, would you like to stay here during the day or during the night for the next few weeks and the first two couple of months next year?" Lois asked.
"During the day, so I can play with 'Mione all I want," Harry said without hesitation.
"You'll have to be back at the Dursleys by nightfall or at least right after," Minerva said, "That way, you can stay long enough to charge the wards before spending the daylight hours with your cute little girlfriend." She barely hid a smile as the two kids turned red and vehemently swore that they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend.
"However, since you've spent the last day and a half here, you will need to spend at least the same amount of time there over the next couple of days to keep the wards charged." Minerva said. Harry nodded. "Well then, since I have to walk down the street to Apparate anyway, I can walk you across to the Dursleys first if you want."
"Hermione needs to start getting ready for bed, so I guess that would be better if you wouldn't mind," Clark said, "Sorry if it's an inconvenience."
"Bah, not at all," Minerva said. She stood up and offered a hand to the giggling boy. "Mr. Potter, if you would please take my hand and follow me, the sooner we get you to the Dursleys, the sooner you can come back."
Harry nodded as he stood up and slipped his hand into Minerva's. "I guess I'll see you in a couple of days," he said. While her parents just said goodbye, Hermione gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek which made them both turn red as he was led from the house.
Minerva was about to step onto the street when Harry tugged on her hand and she looked down. "Aunt Minnie, you're supposed to look both ways," he admonished. She chuckled softly and of them both looked down one direction of the road then the other before crossing the street.
They headed up the steps of #4 Privet Drive and Minerva knocked on the door. Petunia answered and Harry was a little surprised when she obviously recognized the older woman. "Professor McGonagall?" she asked.
"Good to see you again, Petunia," Minerva said with a nod as Harry let go of her hand and stepped up to stand beside his aunt.
"Um, no offense, but what are you doing here?" Petunia asked.
"Albus asked me to drop by the Grangers to explain to them about magic since Hermione is a witch and so they'd understand why your nephew can only stay over there so long each day for the first few months of each year," Minerva explained.
"Isn't that against the law?" Petunia asked.
"Ordinarily yes, but there are special circumstances such as this when it comes to cases of clear and ever-present danger such as that to Harry's life and even Hermione's, since she's a Muggle-born witch like Lily as well as living across the street from Harry," Minerva said.
"Oh, I knew she was a witch," Petunia said, "It's the real reason why Dudley quit going over there. Though he's quit physically trying to stop Harry from using magic, Vernon's filled our son's head with anti-magic dribble so when he realized they were sometimes using magic, he acted out and refused to go over there and Vernon refused to have her over."
Minerva nodded. "Just so you know, it'll probably be best for Harry to stay here until the day after tomorrow," she said, "This is to make up for missing the last 36 hours. Also if you wouldn't mind a suggestion, the Grangers told me that Vernon doesn't like Hermione, but her being able to come over would probably help."
"I'll talk to Vernon, but no promises," Petunia said, "And even if he does agree to that, I especially doubt he'll agree to her spending the night."
"All I can ask for is for you to ask if she can at least come over tomorrow," Minerva said. She looked down at Harry and then back at Petunia. "Now that you know about magic, Harry, if either of you have questions, tell the Grangers. They know how to contact me and I will come as soon as I can."
"Thank you, professor," Petunia said.
"Thanks, Aunt Minnie," Harry said, causing the two women to chuckle. Minerva stepped off the porch as she closed the door and headed down the street to a good spot to Apparate from.
Harry was a little surprised when Hermione woke him up the next morning. He couldn't help but laugh as he threw his arms around her. "They wouldn't let me bring Snuffles over," she said with a pout. Giggling, he nodded, knowing Petunia's hatred for animals in the house.
"It's all right, Hermi," Harry said, "While I love Snuffles, you're here and that's all that matters." Since they couldn't leave the house in case it destabilized the wards more, the kids settled into the living room and started watching TV. Vernon was off to work already, Petunia was acting like they weren't there, and Dudley had gone to join his friends.
That night, Harry was surprised to find that Vernon was even going to allow Hermione to stay the night thanks to a note from Sirius to remind them of their agreement, though they wouldn't let her stay in the guest room and also forbid them from sharing the bed, so she slept on the bed while he took the floor.
To be continued…
Author note: So, what do you think about the early appearance by Dumbledore and McGonagall? I originally hadn't planned to do it at this point in the story, but it ended up being necessary given the situation. If you're thinking this story is taking too long, don't worry. I plan on them getting to Hogwarts in Chapter 4. I know that it's the popular train of thought that communicating with a Muggle-born and their family before the former is about to start school is against the Statute of Secrecy, but I'm using artistic license to change it here when it comes to special cases such as Harry's. Besides, just because it never came up in the books, does that mean it isn't the same?
Should Dumbledore have recognized Sirius? He seemed sincere in that he didn't know the Marauders were all Animagi in PoA, so I'm going with no but if you feel like he should, I'll go with him not acknowledging it for now to allow Sirius to stay hidden since he'd know the true story behind the betrayal but confront him when he, Hermione, and Harry all get to Hogwarts. Anyway, until next time, as always, Pueda el solitario Dios encuentra La Paz por ultimo.