Harry got used to Hermione's company very quickly. They got up together, ate together, Harry showed her around the small town of Little Whinging, they made their homework and practiced spells together. They had not come around to practicing hexes and duelling yet, as they had determined it best to let Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon get used to the company for a few days.
"Aguamenti!"
A stream of water shot out of Harry's wand. The spell didn't work as he had wanted to, however. He had intended to fill the glass on his desk, but the stream came out with quite some force, resulting in Hermione getting soaked instead.
"Harry!"
"Oops. Sorry about that…" Harry brought out, although he could barely contain his laughter. He regretted that a few seconds later, however, as his pillow hit his face.
"That's what you get!"
"Oh come on Hermione, I'm sorry," Harry pouted.
She huffed, but Harry saw her smile softly behind her wet, curly hair. He cast a quick drying charm on her.
"Thanks," she said.
"No problem. But hey, at least I'm able to do the charm now!"
"Yeah, but you still need to work on your control. You nearly blasted me backwards with it."
"I'll try to do better next time," Harry smirked. "So, which spell are we going to try next?"
"Let's see… what about the Herbivicus Charm?"
Harry frowned. "What does it do?"
"It's a N.E.W.T. spell," Hermione answered. "It makes all kinds of plants and flowers grow and bloom, but it takes a lot of magical energy to get the hang of it."
"I see… how about we go into the garden, find something to practice on? Who knows, maybe we'll convince Aunt Petunia that magic isn't that bad after all. Her garden is in a right state," Harry said.
Hermione thought it was a good idea, so they made their way downstairs and outside. Dudley was sitting on the grass, playing a portable game, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were nowhere in sight.
"Hey Dud," Harry said.
"Hey. What are you guys up to?"
"We're practicing spells. We're looking for some flowers or plants that are in a rather bad state."
That's weird, Dudley doesn't seem put off by magic anymore, Harry thought.
"Can I watch?"
Harry raised his eyebrows, but Hermione answered. "Of course."
They started looking in the flowerbeds, and it didn't take the youngsters long to find an ideal set of flowers to practice on. Now that Harry started looking around, he noticed that the horrible summer weather really had taken its toll on Aunt Petunia's once fabulous garden. Not only the flowerbeds were in need of help. The one tree that stood in the backyard looked in terrible shape, the hedge was missing a lot of leaves and even the grass they stood on didn't seem as vibrant as it should.
"So, Harry, you just say the incantation and then keep moving your arms in an anti-clockwise movement while you work the spell. The important part is to stay focused on whatever plant you're casting on. I'll show you."
Hermione pointed her wand at a lonely and particularly wilted flower, while Harry and Dudley watched with great interest.
"Herbivicus!"
As soon as the words had left her mouth, the flower started to raise itself, emitting a yellowish glow. A few seconds later, a perfectly healthy flower stood where the decayed one had been just moments earlier.
"Wow!" Dudley gasped, while he closed in to inspect the flower. "That's awesome!"
Harry grinned. "Can I try?"
"Sure," Hermione smiled.
Harry sought out a flower to practice on, until he found what he was looking for: a lonely rose, sitting on the edge of the flowerbed. He pointed his wand at it and concentrated with all his might.
"Herbivicus!"
At first he thought he'd failed, but while he kept rotating his arm, the rose started raising itself slowly, emitting a bright red glow in the process. Finally, the rose raised itself completely and the red glow died away. The rose looked to be in great shape.
"Fantastic, Harry! You got it on the first try!" Hermione grinned, while she leapt over to Harry and hugged him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Dudley looking at him with a rather knowing grin. Harry started blushing.
"Thanks," he flushed. "How about we give the garden a complete makeover? It looks like it is needed."
"Right," Hermione said, with a determined look in her eyes. "Let's do it."
For the next hour or so, they went around the garden, using the charm on any kind of plant or flower they found, with Dudley helping them look around. Harry quickly got the hang of it and after a few attempts, he managed to make the plants grow almost as fast as Hermione could. The end result was that Aunt Petunia's garden was in optimal condition. Harry wondered how she and Uncle Vernon would react to it. There was just one thing left to do…
"Hermione, we still have to do something about the tree," Harry said.
"Right. I think we'll have to do that one together. It's a tree after all, I don't think one of us could do it alone even if we tried."
Determined, the two of them took place below the tree, while Dudley was watching from a few meters away.
"Herbivicus!" Harry and Hermione shouted in unison. Slowly but surely, a lot of missing leaves started to grow back. While they continued to work the spell, the leaves that were already there changed to a bright green color.
"Yes!" Dudley shouted. "You guys did it!"
Hermione fell backwards on the grass, completely drained from the effort, while Harry stepped back in order to take a look at the now blossoming tree.
"Still afraid of magic, Dud?" Harry asked.
"Starting to feel better about it…" Dudley answered, while he continued gaping at the tree.
Harry looked over to the base of the tree, where Hermione was still on her back. He suddenly got an idea. He pulled out his wand again and made his way to the rose he had first used the charm on.
"Diffindo," he whispered. Harry picked up the rose and walked over to Hermione, who had her eyes closed.
"Hermione?"
"Hmmmm…" she opened her eyes.
"Here, this is for you," he grinned, while giving the rose to her. The funny feeling in his stomach returned when he saw Hermione was starting to blush.
"Come on, get up," Harry said, stretching out his hands towards her. "Let's grab something to eat."
Their eyes locked. Hermione shot him her sweetest smile, which caused Harry to start blushing as well while he pulled her to her feet.
Both of them didn't notice the grin on Dudley's face as he watched the two of them.
(…)
When Aunt Petunia returned home later that day, she could not believe her eyes. She stared in awe at her colourful flowerbeds and nearly toppled over when she saw the condition of the hedges and the tree in the backyard. As such, it was the main topic during that night's dinner at Number Four.
"… and Vernon, did you see the tree? I swear, it looked horrible yesterday, but it seems so full of life now! I have never seen it in such good condition. And the flowerbeds seemed to have gotten a lot of colour overnight, it's incredible!"
Vernon didn't have the same amount of joy as his wife on the subject. Instead, he was thinking about what could have caused the garden to change so much in what was seemingly just a matter of hours. Harry knew the look that had been on his face ever since he returned home. Vernon knew something suspicious had gone on, and Harry had already caught his uncle eyeing both him and Hermione a few times during dinner.
"I sure wonder what made the garden look so much different," he said, once again shooting glances at the wizarding pair. Harry knew he suspected them.
"They did it."
Harry immediately turned his attention to his cousin with a rather annoyed look. He knew Dudley meant well, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were the type of people who never appreciated magic. Not of any type, shape or form. As such, Vernon's reaction was to be expected.
"I KNEW IT! Boy, didn't I tell you not to use any nonsense that would affect us?!" Vernon shouted, his voice thundering down on them.
"And how exactly does this affect you in a negative way?" Harry shot back, annoyed.
"Don't act like a wiseguy with me, boy. I don't want it in this house, and since you're still a resident here, you will obey!"
Harry opened his mouth again to protest, but it was Dudley who answered in his place.
"But, Dad, the garden looks great right know! Mum just said it, the garden looked horrible until they fixed it this afternoon. I helped them a bit as well and I'm happy I did. Just look at it. Even with all the work you and Mum put in it, it has never looked as good as it does now."
Vernon stared at his son, lost for words. Everyone got back to eating dinner in silence.
"Thanks," Aunt Petunia said a few minutes later.
Harry looked up in surprise. He'd never been thanked by his Aunt for anything, even with all the chores he had done in the fifteen years he lived at Privet Drive.
"You're welcome," Hermione said with a smile.
Once again, a momentary silence fell at the table. Until Hermione decided to ask an important question to the Dursleys.
"Excuse me, Ms. Dursley?"
"Yes?" Aunt Petunia asked.
"I wanted to ask you a favour."
Petunia's eyes narrowed. "Go on."
"Well, as you may know, Harry has an important role in fighting the most evil wizard of our time. Our Headmaster has instructed us to keep training over the summer, and we need a place to practice duelling. Harry and I were thinking about using the garden, but we wanted to ask your permission. If you want us to, we can use silencing charms, so nobody in the neighbourhood will be disturbed by us. And of course, we'll make sure the garden is in great shape when we leave it."
"Absolutely not! I will not have it!" Vernon barked immediately, his face growing purple with anger.
"Vernon!" Petunia snarled.
That was the first time Harry had ever seen his aunt and uncle argue over something. He hadn't expected this. He knew that his uncle wouldn't want them to do this, but Aunt Petunia actually seemed to be considering what Hermione had proposed.
The room stayed silent for a few minutes, until…
"Fine. I will let you practice your… whatever in the garden. On the conditions that you use those silencing measures, clean up afterwards and that you only do it when Vernon and me aren't here. Understood?"
Harry and Hermione grinned.
"Thanks, Aunt Petunia."
"Thanks, Ms. Dursley."
Petunia didn't answer. Everyone went back to their meals in silence.
(…)
"Your aunt doesn't seem too bad, Harry."
It was later that night, when both Harry and Hermione were in their beds and the lights were already out.
"That's because you've only known her for about a week. This must be the first time she endorses magic in and around the house, I never thought I'd live to see the day…"
"She sure seems reasonable, even if she didn't appear to like the idea. Your uncle didn't seem too pleased with the prospect, though. I was quite shocked with the way he shouted at us…"
"I think that's an understatement. You've never seen one of his outbursts, and now you've seen how much he despises magic. He'd probably still hate me even if I used magic to save his life."
Silence returned in the room. Harry felt himself dozing off silently.
"Harry?"
"Hmmm?"
"Thanks for the rose you gave me."
Harry could feel his face heating up as he heard her hand reaching over from the camp bed. She slipped her fingers into his own. Mere seconds later, he felt her giving him a small kiss on the cheek. His heart pounded in his chest.
"No problem," he said hoarsely. "Goodnight, Hermione."
"Sweet dreams, Harry."
Her hand didn't leave his for the rest of the night.
So, I'm back! I'm a lot later with this chapter than I anticipated, since I planned I fell silent after August and planned to post this last month... either way, I am still hoping to finish this story before 2017 starts, so expect the remaining chapters to come very quickly now. Especially because I had a reaaaaally good writing session tonight! Also, I realize this chapter is quite slow - but writing and including it just felt good for story development reasons. But don't worry, there is a lot of action coming up, in multiple ways!
I wonder if some of you know the Herbivicus Charm? I got this spell from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire videogame, me and one of my friends used to play that game all the time on my old PS2 when we were kids. Kudos if you know it. I am not sure if it exists in Rowlings universe, but then again, this is my story.