"Your parents aren't going to believe you." Harry hissed at her as the Granger car pulled into the driveway. "Didn't you say you din't make friends in primary?"
"Shut up!" She hissed back through her teeth, focused on presenting a large smile to her parents.
Mr. Granger was the first to get out of the car. He must have seen Harry and Hermione standing waiting in driveway, because he immediately strode over bearing a bemused expression.
"Welcome home, Dad!" Hermione said, every ounce of effort going into the portrayal of casual.
He smiled at her with a very knowing expression, "Good to be home, Hermione. And who is this?"
"Oh?" Said Hermione, as if just remembering Harry's presence, "This is Harry. He's a friend from school. He isn't in my class, so you've probably never met him. I was, uh, I was sondering if he could stay the night, actually, Dad."
"Who is this?" Called Hermione's mother, all enthusiastic smiles, "Have you made a friend, Hermione?"
Hermione blushed as her mother shuffled over, carrying considerable paperwork, as the Grangers usually took from the office to do in the comfort of their home.
"Yes," She said, "This is Harry. He's a friend from school."
"That's wonderful!" Said Mrs. Granger, clearly not having much idea of the definition of 'discreet', "Where did you meet him? Oh, hello, I'm Mrs. Granger, Hermione's mother. Very good to meet you, Harry."
"She'd like him to stay the night." Mr. Granger said to his wife, raising an eyebrow.
"A sleepover!" Exclaimed Mrs. Granger, "Yes! I'll make popcorn and start baking cookies!"
"Mom." Said Hermione, a slight whiny quality in her voice. Mrs. Granger didn't seem to hear her and bustled inside.
"And we can order pizza later!" Mrs. Granger called.
Hermione could only blush while Harry giggled.
With Hermione's mother hovering, they couldn't do much work and instead spent the night watching movies and eating the junk food Mrs. Granger cheerfully provided. They declined to paint each other's nails or have a pillow fight, as Mrs. Granger helpfully suggested, but had quite a wonderful night none-the-less.
Harry used a spare toothbrush the two dentists had lying around and left to use the couch as his bed overnight.
Hermione's day had been filled with quite a bit of adventure and her eleven-year-old body was left exhausted. Knowing Harry was safe downstairs, she slept peacefully, perhaps more peacefully than she had in a long time. For once, Hermione was not full of concerns for the future and even the matter of her unexpected marriage did not weigh heavily on her mind.
After a good night's rest, Hermione woke early and made her way downstairs for a cup of tea. Her father was in the kitchen already, reading from his newspaper and sipping his own tea. He indicated the chair across from his at the small table.
With one aprehensive glance behind her to where Harry was still sleeping, Hermione sat down.
"Honey," Her father started, "Where did you really meet Harry? I know he isn't from your school."
"Oh, he is." Hermione said, "He's just in a different class, that's all."
With but a quirk of his eyebrow, Mr. Granger perfectly expressed his disbelief.
Hermione sighed. Best out with it then, she couldn't fool her father, even if she wasn't so terrible a liar.
"Okay. He's not from my school, but he is my friend. I really care about him, Dad... and his family... weren't exactly kind to him. Harry's run away from his home and he says he isn't ever going back. I believe him, I think Harry would rather sleep on the streets than in that house. He needs a place to stay, Dad." Hermione looked up at her father when she finished. She could feel tears welling in her eyes.
Mr. Granger, for his part, looked honestly surprised. "So his parents don't know he's here?"
"Dad!" Hermione squeaked, "That is hardly the issue at hand! We can't send him back to his relative, we can't!"
Hermione heard shuffling. Harry had apparently woken and walked up behind her, "Hermione, it's okay. And Mr. Granger, I know I can find somewhere to go, so please don't worry about me. I don't want to trouble anyone."
"Harry!" Said Hermione.
Mr. Granger looked very distressed. "Let me... let me talk this over with your mother, Hermione. And no matter the case, if Harry's relatives are abusive, we won't send him back. Please, wait here."
Mr. Granger stood and left. Hermione looked to Harry, who only shrugged.
As they waited for the return of Mr. Granger, Harry and Hermione had tea and light breakfast together. They didn't talk much, but were comfortable in the silence. Hermione had made her mind up: if Harry hated his relatives so, there must be a reason. If there was a reason, she would not let him go!
Mr. Granger returned with his wife. "We'd decided to have you stay with us for now, Harry. Mrs. Granger and I will file an anonymous report on your relatives. We'll need your details to do so. Can you help us with those, Harry?"
Harry nodded, "Hermione, would you do the cleaning up while I talk?"
Hermione nodded, not understanding why exactly Harry wanted her to do the cleaning up, until about twenty minutes with her hands deep in dishwater: he didn't want her to hear whatever details he was talking to her parents about. She shook her hands dry and turned around... then turned back to the sink. If Harry didn't want her to hear, she wouldn't. She would respect his privacy and talk about whatever was going when and if he was ready.
Had Harry had to bear abusive relatives his entire childhood? Of course he had, to wonder about it was stupid. Hermione felt a profound sense of guilt and even pity. Poor Harry! Why had she never known. Why had no one known? Yes, why had no one known! Dumbledore had Mrs. Figg watching closely over the Dursley household! Why had Mrs. Figg never reported or noticed that abuse?
She could figure out no answer, so Hermione filed away her thoughts for later contemplation.
Her mother had such a sad look in her eyes when she returned and choose to stay home that day with Hermione and Harry, pampering both children and very often enveloping them together in hugs. Harry seemed very embarrassed with the attention.
Finally, the next day. Harry and Hermione were alone, expected either to stay at home or walk the short distance to the library.
Hermione didn't know what to say to Harry on the topic of his relatives, so she didn't say anything about them at all. Instead, she pressed for figuring out their plans.
"Obviously, we can't do it alone." Said Hermione. Harry nodded, agreeing with her completely. "I believe we should figure out a way to contact Dumbledore indiscretion and do so as soon as possible."
Harry bit his lip, drawing from Hermione a curious expression. "You don't think so?" She asked.
"No." Confessed Harry.
Hermione was completely bewildered. Why on earth would Harry not want Dumbledore's help?
Harry continued, "I'm not sure I trust Dumbledore anymore. He was manipulative, Hermione, and he kept secrets. If we can avoid it, I don't want to work with him."
His words left Hermione puzzled, but she trusted in Harry's instincts more than her own. She nodded to herself.
"Okay then. Hm, who? Sirius, yes. We need to free him from Azkaban anyway, and the sooner the better. Who else can we trust who will trust us implicitly?"
"Not Lupin, I'm afraid, or the Weasleys, or Tonks, or any other member of the Order. I trust them and love most of them, but wouldn't believe for a moment they wouldn't report to Dumbledore right away."
Harry brought up a good point, but in doing so greatly limited their pool of options.
"Who do we even know who isn't part of the Order?" Hermione asked. Just about every teacher at Hogwarts, the parents of their friends, trusted members of the ministry.
Hermione took on a serious look. Now was where the serious planning began. "How difficult do you suppose it is to break into Azkaban?"
"Hugely difficult!" Harry said right away, "I doubt we can do alone! It's a prison, Hermione, they don't make those things easily accessable, and if it could be broken into, the Death Eaters would have done it already."
"But they did do it! Remember, Harry? Shortly after the war really began there was a massive breakout and Sirius got out all on his own in our third year."
"Sirius is an animagus, Hermione! That's how he did it. And just to remind you, we aren't!"
Hermione took Harry's hand to express her point, "But we could be."
For a moment Harry was skeptical, then he relented, "All right. It's one hell of plan, Granger."
Hermione grinned, "Since when did we ever do anything that wasn't risky?"
Together, they apparated to Diagon Alley, needing to purchase books on the subject. Harry hid carefully beneath his cap and stayed out of the way while Hermione completed the transaction. With apparition, they could return as often as they liked, so they bought nothing else on the trip but books on Advanced Transfiguration and the process of becoming an animagus itself.
"This is going to take a lot of study." Harry commented, eyeing the heavy pile.
"The Marauders did it when they were still in school. We're much older than they were and have a lot more time on our hands. I know we can do it." Hermione replied, feeling determined.
"The Marauders were geniuses." Harry sighed.
"We're geniuses!" Hermione hissed, lightly knocking Harry on the arm. That, at least, made him smile, despite the massive amount of work sitting in front of them.
Harry and Hermione studied almost all day for weeks. The Dursleys were being investigated for child abuse, apparently a lengthy process, during which Harry was allowed to remain at the Grangers. Only once was Harry taken away for interview, aside from that they recieved no real news of the investigation.
In this manner they consumed the rest of summer. With school rapidly approaching and no great headway into becoming animagi, Hermione didn't trust their ability to function with school subtracted from their available time. What to do?
"Harry, we'll need to take you to get enrolled in school soon. You'll be attending the same as Hermione. If we ask ahead of time, we can probably get you into the same class."
"Er, Dad. About that. I was wondering - we were wondering, actually, about that."
Dan Granger sighed, as if he already knew what was coming.
"We were wondering if Harry and I could try home school. We're both far ahead in our studies, we've been working hard on them all summer, even."
"Hermione, we've talked about this." Dan said, "I know you're ahead in your studies, but you need to go to school for the social aspect. You need to make friends."
"I have a friend!" Said Hermione, "Harry is my friend!"
"She had a point, dear." Mrs. Granger said, "And I've noticed. This summer especially, Hermione has acted very mature."
Mr. Granger bit his lip, considering. "I don't know. Could you try school this year, at least for a couple weeks? You might find you like it better now that you have a friend with you."
"And if we decide we don't, we can study independantly?" Hermione asked.
Mr. Granger nodded, "Yes. Two weeks minimum, then if you're still unhappy we'll pull you out. But I don't want you dragging Harry with you. Harry, you tell me. How do you feel about this?"
Harry started a little, feeling rather put on the spot, "Well, I never liked school. I was bullied a lot, mostly by my cousin, but not him only. The teachers didn't pay me any mind, only reported if I complained. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't want to go back. And I know you think Hermione's 'dragging me with her,' would be a very bad thing, Mr. Granger, but in honesty, I really would want to go where Hermione goes. I - " Harry blushed a little and started at his shoes, "I wouldn't want to be without her."
Despite everything, Hermione felt a little touched. She nudged Harry's shoe with her foot and smiled at him when he looked up at her. He smiled back.
"Well, all right then," Said Mr. Granger, "But one more thing: you'll need to take tests, Harry, regularly, just like Hermione. I won't have either of my children falling behind, and I'm going to try to get you to return to school next year. You'd better be ready for it."
Harry and Hermione both looked up in shock, not so much at what Mr. Granger had said about tests, but about the matter he had accidently implied. 'Both' of his children? 'Next year'?
Mr. Granger startled himself, then sighed. He realized he had let something slip. "Okay, you two. No getting excited now. We hadn't wished to tell you until everything was confirmed, and I'd wished to talk to Harry about the matter in private beforehand. Too late for that now. So, yes, if the investigation into the Dursleys proves conclusive, and I suspect it will, then we plan to adopt Harry."
Harry's jaw dropped in shock.
"Over this summer, we've grown close to you, Harry," Said Mrs. Granger, "We don't want to give you up to the terrible foster system, especially after what you've been through. You need a home. We think it should be here. But we need your aproval, Harry. Would you like to be part of our family?"
Everyone else at the table jumped when Harry started to sob.
"Harry? Oh, Harry, have we upset you?" Mrs. Granger asked as everyone crowded around him.
"No!" Said Harry, "Not at all! I'm just - I'm just so happy I don't know what to do!"
Hermione immediately hugged him and held him tight. She felt her parents do the same around both of them.
"Yes." Said Harry, "To your earlier question. Yes, I would very much like to be part of your family."
"I love you." Whispered Hermione into Harry's ear.
For a while, the new Granger family sat together like that. Still.