Author's Notes: HP is JR's, etc.
- I was very tempted to title chapter 7 "Harry Dies." are you glad I didn't?
- I'm trying to be more consistent with the value of the Galleon. I've changed a previous chapter to reflect this, but in my story, a Galleon is worth about £100. This is mostly because of Ollivander's wand pricing. Think about it- here's a guy who makes his entire living selling wands. For the majority of the population, one wand is all they will ever have for their entire life. The wand is so important that snapping it is tantamount to losing their magic. Poorer families don't even buy new wands, and prefer to give their children poorly-matched hand-me-down wands. If those things are worth any less than £700 apiece, I'd say something's wrong. This also makes the knut worth about 20 pence, which is large enough to be useful while small enough to still be considered "pocket change."
Then there's the Triwizard Tournament prize. Why would you risk your life (for a year) in deadly competition for only £5000? Working a good part-time job for a year could get you that much. And how are you supposed to start a business with only that much? The twins opened up a shop in Diagon Alley. Not the poor, run-down, criminal-infested Knockturn Alley. Diagon Alley, the place where all the decent folk like to shop. I'd like to see anyone try to open up a store in downtown London with that little money. £5000 probably wouldn't even cover the first month's rent.
Chapter 8: Summer with Grangers
As Harry tumbled out of the fireplace, he thought of the importance of first impressions. As he lay on the floor covered in soot in a messy heap, he thought the first impressions the Grangers would have of him would not be good. He prayed that they hadn't noticed him like this, but those hopes were dashed when he heard Hermione's voice. "Mum, Dad, I'd like you to meet Harry Potter!"
Mrs. Granger seemed to be amused, while Mr. Granger was apparently having some reservations. Quickly getting up, Harry dusted himself off and held out his hand. Don't act nervous, he said to himself. Stay calm, be confident..."Hello Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger," he said in a flat monotone as he shook their hands. He knew he was utterly failing to impress Hermione's parents. To his surprise, Hedwig flew in at that moment to land on his shoulder. She hooted in greeting.
"So you're the one that owns this beautiful snowy owl," said Mrs. Granger. "She's remarkably intelligent, you know. My name's Emma, and this is Dan. Don't be afraid, we won't bite." She gave a welcoming smile. "Hermione's mentioned to us in her letters that there always seems to be a lot of excitement surrounding you. Would you care to explain?"
Harry looked at Hermione, who was standing behind her parents, shaking her head furiously. He looked back at Emma, and said, "Um... well, you see... I play Quidditch. I'm the seeker on the house team. It's the position that gets the most attention... so... um, things kind of get hectic around me." Hermione was nodding in approval in the background.
Dan Granger became a bit more interested with this. "Oh, it's a sport then? How often do you practice? And are you any good?" He was a bit more gruff when asking his questions, almost like it were an interrogation.
"Dan! Don't be so rough on the boy!" exclaimed Emma. "Sorry, but he's quite protective of our dear little Hermione." He's not the only one, thought Harry.
"I'm not little any more, mum!" Hermione complained.
"You'll always be our little Hermione as long as we live," said Emma, smiling.
While the two women were having their little argument, Harry decided that it was the best time to get on Mr. Granger's good side. "Well, to answer your questions, sir, um... Yes, Quidditch is the main sport for wizards. The practices change depending on the school schedules, but Captain Wood gets us out on the field about four times a week. And... well, I don't mean to brag, but I've only lost one game out of all the ones I've played so far. Our team won the Quidditch cup this year." Harry relaxed a bit, now that they were talking about a subject he could be rather confident about. Hedwig noted his tension fade and decided to be a little friendlier, as well. She nipped his ear, as if asking for an owl treat. Harry looked at her, and said, "Later, Hedwig! I'll buy you the freshest ones from Eeylops, alright?"
"Oh, don't be so modest, Harry!" exclaimed Hermione, hopping over to his side. "He's the youngest seeker Hogwarts has ever had in a century! In fact, he's still the youngest player out of all the teams at Hogwarts!" she said, rather proudly.
"It looks like our Hermione has found herself quite an accomplished young man, hasn't she?" Emma whispered to her husband. Dan simply whispered back, "We'll see. He'd better not just be some jock type who's playing with her feelings."
Hermione led the way out of the Leaky Cauldron, and said to her parents, "Mom! Dad! Harry and I need to stop off at the bookstore to grab some textbooks before we head home... Is that alright?"
"Oh, we'll have to stop off at both the normal and the wizard banks, then. We didn't bring much cash with us..." said Emma.
"Don't inconvenience yourself, Mrs. Granger," said Harry. "I can just take some gold out of my account."
Dan replied, "Harry, we can't have you buying things for our daughter..." He was still looking at Harry questioningly.
"Oh, that's not it, Mr. Granger. The textbooks are for both of us. Hermione and I wanted to learn some more about things that the school doesn't teach, so we're going to study ourselves over the summer. It's as much for me as it is for her. My parents left me my trust account for my schooling, so it'll be fine." Harry explained. To be honest, he really wanted to get in their good graces as quickly as possible, and saw this as a way to do it.
"Well, Harry, just make sure you don't spend too much of your money. You need to have a budget, to take care of your finances," said Emma. "Textbooks aren't cheap. We don't want you to have to explain to your parents why you suddenly spent a good chunk of the money they're giving you."
Harry paused, wondering how he was going to explain his parenting situation. Hermione was giving him an apologetic look- it seemed she hadn't told her parents, and wasn't expecting the subject to come up, at least not in this manner. "Umm... I'll tell you about my parents later," said Harry. They made their way to Gringotts, and Harry told Hedwig to wait for him outside Eeylops. She took off when they stepped inside the bank. Dan and Emma followed Harry as he walked up to the counter.
"I'd like to make a withdrawal, please."
The goblin didn't bother looking up. "Name and vault?"
"Harry Potter. My vault number is... um... 687. Here's the key."
"Would you like to visit your vault or shall I make the withdrawal for you, Mr. Potter?"
Harry looked back at the Grangers. He remembered how uncomfortable the Weasleys were when they saw his vault, which was stacked with Galleons. Then again, the Grangers were both dentists, and were pretty well-off, but he wasn't trying to flaunt his wealth to them. He just needed a modest amount of money to get some books. "We'll wait here. I only need about fifty Galleons or so for today."
"Very well, Mr. Potter." The goblin took his key, and quickly left for the mine-carts. As he was watching the goblin hurry away, Harry got the feeling that he was being stared at. He turned around slowly. Hermione's parents were gaping at him.
"Harry, dear," Emma said slowly, with a look of concern on her face. "You did just withdraw fifty Galleons, didn't you? Not Sickles?"
Harry nodded. "Um... did I do something wrong?"
Emma hesitated. "Well, Harry, remember what I said about finances? How you should look after your money and make sure you don't spend too much of it too quickly?"
Harry nodded again. "Er... yes... I'm not taking too much out, am I? I've still got a lot more in my vault. I just wanted to make sure we had enough so we wouldn't have to come back again when we bought our books. I've never really learned much about money, but I'm careful to make sure I don't run out any time soon."
Emma stared at him. He seemed sincere about what he said. Turning back to her husband, she whispered to him, "What was the exchange rate again, Dan?"
Dan, still looking at Harry, said, "Just over 100 pounds to the galleon, I think. Did that kid just withdraw £ 5000 for textbooks?"
"He did say he knew he had a lot more. He didn't consider it very much money." Turning back to Harry, Emma said, "Harry, when that goblin gets back, perhaps you should ask him for a bank record? Perhaps a statement of your current accounts?"
Harry nodded. Clearly Hermione's parents were agitated by his actions, and he didn't want to do anything to upset them. After a few more minutes, the goblin returned with a sack of gold.
"Here you are, Mr. Potter. Is there anything else I can do for you today?"
"Err... yes, I'd like a statement of my current holdings."
"Very well, Mr. Potter. There is a transaction fee of one sickle for written copy of your current vault holdings, verified and authenticated by Gringotts of London. I'll need a drop of your blood."
"Yes, that will be fine," Harry replied. The goblin pricked his finger with a small needle and held it there until it turned bright red. When he withdrew the needle, Harry's finger didn't bleed. Two minutes later the goblin with two scrolls of parchment. Thanking the goblin, which elicited a small look of surprise, Harry and the Grangers sat down in the lobby. He unrolled the first parchment.
Vault 687: Potter Trust Vault
Restrictions: Each child of the main branch may not withdraw more than 20% of the Vault's total holdings or 500 Galleons per year, whichever is lesser. Any withdrawal over 50 Galleons must be approved by the current head of house or family treasurer. Children of secondary branches must be approved by the current head of house to access the trust fund.
Current Balance: 40,246 Galleons, 13 Sickles, 20 Knuts
Interest: Variable based on Gringotts Investments, Cautious growth.
Recent transactions
Withdrawal: 1 Sickle
Withdrawal: 50 Galleons, 2 Knuts [Transaction fee: 2 Knuts]
Deposit: 169 Galleons, 14 Sickles, 2 Knuts [Interest]
Deposit: 167 Galleons, 16 Sickles, 4 Knuts [Interest]
Deposit: 166 Galleons, 8 Sickles, 19 Knuts [Interest]
All the Grangers gaped. Hermione was staring at the statement. Doing some quick addition in her head, she said to Harry in awe, "You're earning about 2,000 Galleons a year on your account in interest alone, Harry."
Harry looked back at her. "Um... wait... so that means withdrawing 50 galleons isn't a problem, right?"
Emma was rubbing her temples, while Dan was still staring at the statement mumbling to himself. "Harry... well, I have to agree that's not an issue any more. Maybe we should talk about your finances later, when we get home, alright?"
Harry looked up at her and said, "Alright, Mrs. Granger. Thanks for taking the time to teach me these things. I never really had a chance to learn it from anyone. I just want to see what's written on this second scroll before we go." He unfurled the other scroll.
Vault 39: Potter Family Vault
Restrictions: May only be accessed by Head of House Potter when he is of age.
Current Balance: 4,163,846 Galleons, 11 Sickles, 10 Knuts
Interest: Variable based on Gringotts Investments, Aggressive growth
Recent transactions
Deposit: 37,760 Galleons, 4 Sickles, 22 Knuts [Interest]
Deposit: 25,246 Galleons, 2 Sickles, 3 Knuts [Interest]
Depost: 40,465 Galleons, 10 Sickles, 6 Knuts [Interest]
The list continued. Emma nearly fainted. Dan suddenly seemed to be looking at him with greater approval. Hermione was hyperventilating. "Four... maybe five hundred thousand Galleons in interest per year... Oh my god, Harry, I had no idea you were this rich."
Harry fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, let's just get the textbooks and we can discuss this back at home." Hermione nodded in agreement, and dragged her shocked parents out of the bank. Harry followed closely behind.
They made their way to Flourish & Blott's, where Hermione expertly navigated the huge stacks of books around the store. She practically dove into a large, old stack of books at the back of the store, rummaging around for several minutes before coming up with several books: Mild Mental Meditations, Safely Stowing Secrets: Locking Your Mind, and Intruder Beware: Mental Snares. "These are books to help us learn Occlumency, Harry." She shoved them into his arms, and quickly ran back to another stack of books. After another few minutes, she had picked out Trust and Truth: Know Your Enemies and Detecting Deceit. "And these ones are for Legilimency." She stacked them on top of the ones Harry was already holding, and then rushed off to another part of the store. She was much quicker this time, as this section was neatly organized into shelves. She pulled out Your Inner Animal: The Path to the Animagusand Bring out the Beast . "And we can learn to be Animagi as well! These were the books that Sirius recommended. Is there anything else?"
Harry didn't quite want to carry many more books, but he did have one thing he wanted to read over the summer. "Are there any good books on duelling, Hermione?" So far, in every fight, he had been relying purely on instinct. He knew he would have to actually know what he was doing, even if he couldn't actually practice during the summer.
"Oh, of course!" Once again, Hermione was off like a shot to another corner of the store, and returned with The Dueller's Arsenal I: Fundamentals of Fighting and The Dueller's Arsenal II: Speedy Spellcasting and Cunning Combinations. "That should be enough reading for summer, right, Harry?"
Harry was nearly losing his balance with the stack of texts, and his arms were getting very tired. How did Hermione do this? Lightening charms? But if she had been like this even before discovering she was a witch... well, that explained where she got her exercise. They made their way to the front counter, where Mr. Blotts eyed them curiously while ringing up the books. "Four Galleons and ten Sickles, please." Harry paid for them all, and Hermione shoved the books into Harry's trunk, since hers was full of books already.
After they were done, they went over to Eeylops, where Hedwig was waiting for them. Harry ran inside to quickly buy some own treats, as well as some owl care products like feather wash and a talon file. He immediately gave Hedwig a handful of treats when he got back outside. He asked Hedwig, "Would you rather ride with us in the car, or fly to Hermione's house on your own?" With a dignified hoot in response, Hedwig took off.
Upon exiting Diagon Alley, Hermione's parents led the way to their car, which was a fairly large, comfortable Mercedes. Harry and Hermione jumped into the back seat. Feeling tired from their day of endless activity, they were already asleep before they even left London.
Upon their arrival in Southampton, Mrs. Granger smiled at the pair. The two of them seemed to have gravitated towards each other in their sleep and were leaning across the center seat. Hermione's head was resting on Harry's shoulder. "Dan! Look at this! Aren't they simply adorable?"
Dan Granger would have agreed if, say, Harry was his own son. But Harry wasn't. Harry was a boy his dear little Hermione had brought back home with her. He was a boy she seemed to enjoy holding hands with very much- and he seemed to enjoy it just as much. He couldn't let himself agree that they did, in fact, look absolutely adorable, or else he'd be going easy on Harry, and he certainly couldn't do that.
"Don't wake them... let me get the camera first!" whispered Emma. She dashed into the house, bringing back the camera and clambered quietly into the front seat of the car. Holding the camera right in front of the two children, she snapped a perfect photo. The flash woke the two of them up.
"Mum! What did you do that for?" Hermione cried.
"You two looked so cute! I couldn't resist. I'm adding this one to the photo album for sure." Emma grinned and ran back into the house. Hermione chased after her, leaving Harry staring at Dan.
"Come on, Harry, let's move these trunks inside," said Dan. Harry obediently grabbed the trunks and unloaded them from the car. Dan took Hermione's in, while Harry dragged his own towards the house. Looking around, he could tell he was in a much more affluent neighbourhood than the Dursleys'. The houses were much larger and many of them had well-trimmed hedges surrounding the yards. As he walked up to the front door, he noticed that the Grangers also kept their lawn neatly trimmed and weed-free. Hermione greeted Harry right when he stepped inside.
"Harry! Follow me! I'll show you around!" Hermione led Harry around her house, first pointing out the need-to-know rooms: bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, and the guest room where he would be staying. Right across the hall was Hermione's room. She seemed a little hesitant to show Harry inside, but relented when he gave his promise not to laugh. Harry was unsure of what she could be embarrassed about. As expected, inside her room was her bed, a large desk, several bookshelves full of books, a large, padded basket for Crookshanks to sleep in, and... teddy bears?
Harry was somewhat surprised and relieved to see Hermione's girly side express itself in her room. I wonder if she likes hugging her teddy bears a lot, Harry speculated. Maybe that's why she likes giving hugs so much. He grinned at Hermione. "That's a nice collection of teddy bears you've got there."
Hermione put her hands on her hips, and said with some annoyance, "Harry! You promised you wouldn't laugh!"
Harry replied with a perfectly straight face, "I'm not laughing, Hermione! I like this side of you. I think it's... cute."
"You... do? Really?"
"Yeah. I'm glad you let me know you better, Hermione. It means a lot to me. Can I... hold one of your bears?"
Hermione boggled at the idea of a teenage boy wanting to play with one of her teddy bears. "Um... sure, Harry... but why?"
"Well... I heard a lot about them, but I never had one when I was growing up, so I just wanted to know what it feels like to hold one of them," Harry answered, rather embarrassed.
Hermione suddenly remembered Harry's neglected childhood and felt the sorrow well up inside of her. She grabbed a big, furry, brown, and slightly worn teddy bear off the head of her bed and gave it to Harry. "Here, Harry. Take Mr. Fuzzybum. He's been my favourite bear ever since I was little. Give him a hug."
Harry gave Mr. Fuzzybum a tight squeeze. The soft, warm fabric of the bear made him very comfortable and relaxed. "I like him, Hermione. He smells like you," said Harry. He didn't notice Hermione blush, as he had closed his eyes to enjoy the sensations the teddy bear was giving him all the more.
Hermione saw how relaxed Harry was when he hugged the bear. In some ways, he was a little childish- no, that wasn't right. He was making up for the childhood he never had. Hermione stepped behind him and squeezed Harry and Mr. Fuzzybum in a tight hug. She gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek and said to him, "Why don't you sleep with him tonight, Harry? It'll be the closest thing to being with me..." she suggested.
Harry tilted his head back and looked at Hermione. "I... umm... are you sure? I mean..."
"Just say yes, Harry."
"Yes. Thank you, Hermione."
That night, Harry dreamed the most beautiful dreams he ever had. With Hermione's aroma filling every breath, and the teddy bear's fur tickling his skin the way Hermione's hair did, he could honestly say he had never had a happier night's rest.
The next day, the entire family had gathered in the living room. They went over house rules, schedules, and outlined daily chores for the two kids. Harry was rather surprised at the extremely small, and simple, list of chores he had to do compared to what went on at the Dursleys. He could easily finish all of them in less than an hour. At the end of the meeting, however, Emma brought up an unfortunate subject. "Harry, why don't you give your parents a phone call to let them know you're doing alright here?"
Harry drew a sharp breath. Hermione placed her hand on his lap to reassure him. She leaned over and whispered, "I think you should tell them. Don't be afraid, Harry."
Harry nodded, and said, "Um... Well, my parents died when I was a baby... I've been living with my Aunt and Uncle."
Emma gasped, and quickly knelt down in front of Harry. "I'm sorry, Harry. I had no idea!"
Dan, however, furrowed his brow, noticing Harry's attitude change. He seemed to have come to terms with his parents' death long ago... that wasn't the real issue here. He crossed his arms, and asked, "You don't want us to contact them, do you? Are you running away from home?"
Hermione jumped to his defense. "Dad! They're horrible people! They treat Harry like a slave around the house, and they hate him just because he's a wizard! You can't possibly make him go back there!"
Dan had rarely ever seen Hermione become so passionate about anything. In fact, she was always a good girl, following the rules, respecting her elders- but the letter she wrote to them said that Harry had permission to stay over for the summer. For the first time in his memory, Hermione had lied to them. So why did it have to be for the sake of a boy? he thought, sighing. "I'm sorry, honey. They're his legal guardians. They need to know where he is. In fact, they could be calling the police and filing a missing-child report."
Harry almost laughed at that. "I doubt it. They'll be glad I'm gone... the only thing they'll miss about me is that I won't be doing all the work around the house."
Dan was still trying to figure out Harry. He couldn't be running away from home just because of some chores, he thought. Heck, he seemed relieved when we gave him the list of summer chores to do. Hermione says he works pretty hard at school, too. We'll have to get to the bottom of this. He asked Harry, "Well, I'll still have to talk to them. What's the phone number?"
Harry said, meekly, "Um... I don't know." Seeing the doubt in Dan's eyes, he continued. "They never let me use the telephone, and they told me they didn't want to be bothered by me when I was out of the house, so they never let me know the phone number." He could tell that Dan was shocked at the information, but still held some doubt, thinking it might have been a lie to avoid letting him call the Dursleys. Harry told Dan what he knew. "I don't know the whole mailing address, but they live at Number 4, Privet Drive, in Little Whinging, Surrey. Oh, and they're the Dursleys. My uncle is Vernon Dursley."
Dan seemed satisfied with that answer. "I can look up his number with that information. I think I'll make the call now." When he finally found the number, the rest of them listened in to the conversation.
"Hello? My name is Daniel Granger, could I speak to Mr. Dursley please? Yes... mhm... Mr. Dursley, I'm calling to tell you that a boy by the name of Harry Potter is staying over... what did you just call him? No, I don't... my daughter, yes. WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? If you DARE speak like that to me or my family again, I swear..." He looked at the receiver, then turned around and saw everyone staring at him. "Well, that was easily the most unpleasant man I've ever had the misfortune of talking to. Harry, I'm sorry for doubting you, but you're welcome to stay at our house this summer."
Harry and Hermione both cheered and hugged each other. They never guessed it would have been so easy to get the parents' permission.
They spent most of their days studying together, cuddled in each other's arms while Hermione's parents were at work. As soon as they heard a car pull up, however, they would break apart instantly, and they just acted like good friends for the rest of the day. Neither was sure whether or not the parents suspected, but they had a feeling the jig would be up eventually- possibly before summer ended.
Aside from their magical studies, Hermione took the time to help educate Harry on Muggle science. Not too surprisingly, she had already completed her high school education last summer, so she tutored Harry with what she knew- and she knew quite a bit. Harry was in awe, but then again, she had only found out about the magical world when she turned eleven, and then came to school already knowing more about casting spells than most of the pure-blooded first years.
They decided on a schedule for the rest of summer with mornings spent on scientific education, and the afternoons were spent on magical.
On the magical side, they began with one of the Legilimency texts. Since it was a wandless type of magic, they could practice it over the summer without getting any annoying owls from the Ministry. At first, they were both hesitant to invade each other's mental privacy, but they also both agreed that the skill was necessary to further develop each other's Occlumency as well, and they both trusted each other enough that they knew they wouldn't use anything they saw against each other. Hermione, being the quicker learner of the two, decided to dive into Harry's mind first. Harry focused on his image of the empty sky while looking straight into Hermione's eyes.
"Legilimens," whispered Hermione. Harry immediately felt a presence, but after a few seconds, she quickly stopped, losing her balance.
"Hermione! What's wrong?" asked Harry, as he cradled her.
"Um... you know I'm afraid of heights... and I just wasn't prepared to be so high up when I entered your mind..." said Hermione sheepishly. "Let me try again. Legilimens," she repeated.
This time, Harry could sense something poking from below the clouds. "Hermione?" he asked. "Is that you?"
"Err... I think so," said Hermione. "Let's test this out. Um... try to hide your memory of our first kiss."
"Wait, which first kiss?" asked Harry. Unfortunately, the very mention of the act brought the memories to the forefront of his mind. Hermione saw each one of the times he had accidentally "kissed" her along with the one he gave after his "test" of the blood runes.
"Harry! I told you those two didn't count!" she shouted. She paused, and then added, "...and you need more work on keeping your memories hidden, too."
Harry decided to return the favour. When he entered Hermione's mind, all he saw was darkness. "Wow, Hermione. What is this?"
"It's the deep sea. I got the idea from some documentaries. No sunlight can reach this depth so it's pretty much pitch black."
"You're going to have to show that to me sometime. Now, try to hide your memory of the sunset above the Burrow." He smirked, knowing Hermione really treasured that memory.
Just like Harry, Hermione failed to not think about it the moment he said it. Harry caught glimpses of her perspective, and her emotions, during the lessons. "Looks like you need to work on your shields, too, Hermione." He grinned. "Oh... I had no idea you enjoyed them that much, love. I promise, I'll give you more 'lessons' when we get back to school, alright?" Hermione blushed, and bit her lower lip seductively. She made him seal his promise with a kiss.
The occlumency textbooks were extremely helpful. They could only do so much on their own, and the books suggested things neither one thought of before. They learned a few new meditation techniques, and experimented for a few weeks to see which ones worked best for each of them. Hermione really enjoyed doing her meditation while relaxing in the bath, and was now prone to taking much longer each night to wash up than before. Harry tried out a sensory deprivation exercise and found it worked extremely well for him.
The next two textbooks both suggested imagining powerful, but simple, defences to shield their memories. Ideally, it had to be unbreakable, without being complex. The second one suggested something more devious, in placing a decoy fortress within their mindscape, which stored trivial memories, so an attacker would waste a lot of time attempting to break their defences and receive nothing in return.
A few weeks later, just before Harry's birthday, they had their basic schemes set up. Neither one really had any good defences, as it still took a lot of concentration keeping their memories divided into two locations within their minds. Once again, Hermione entered Harry's mind first to take a look around.
"Well, this seems a little cliché. A flying castle?" asked Hermione.
"I got the idea from the cover of one of your books, Hermione," retorted Harry.
"You didn't have to make it shaped like Hogwarts, though," she said. "You might be familiar with Hogwarts, but so are the thousands of other people who had years of schooling there."
"Alright, I'll change it. Maybe I'll make it a UFO or something and fill it with little green men." said Harry.
"Oh, I'd like to see Professor Snape try to take on some Martians. This is your decoy fortress though, isn't it? I can't seem to find your real one... come on, give me a hint, Harry," Hermione said, rather frustrated.
"Go up," was all he said.
"What? There's nothing up higher than your flying castle up here... not even any clouds. It's just the sky, and... Ohhh, I get it," she smiled. "You're hiding your memories in the sun? That's great, Harry. It's always there, but nobody ever really notices it..."
"I'm glad you approve. Now it's my turn," he said.
Entering Hermione's mind, he saw exactly the same thing as he did before- complete blackness. "Uh... a little help?" he asked.
"You're just going to have to feel your way around with your other senses," Hermione said, smirking.
Harry "felt" his way around Hermione's mindscape until he sensed something moving in the water. He chased after it for several minutes, only to come across an enormous squid, tentacles poised to strike at him. "Gah!" he cried. "You're making me work this hard for your decoy memories? This is your decoy, isn't it?"
Hermione grinned. "Yup. I'll give you a hint for my real ones, though. It's the opposite of what you did."
Harry thought for a moment, and then plunged downwards. Deeper and deeper he went, until finally, he hit the seafloor, which was solid. In fact, it was much more solid than, well, dirt or rock should have been. Harry laughed. "Wait... you're telling me that your mindscape is one of the deepest parts of the ocean, but you still bury your memories under the ground?"
"Well, it's not that obvious, is it?" retorted Hermione. "Actually, it's much deeper than that. You remember our geology lessons, right? I decided to stick my memories under a lot of magma. I figured Wizards would never really know enough about the Earth's crust and inner layers to figure out how deep down they have to go. Where did you get the idea for the Sun?"
"You taught it to me. I also kind of figured wizards don't know much about the sun, either. Muggle astronomy seems to be so much more advanced than Wizarding astronomy, although all the horoscopes are completely inaccurate..."
They both laughed, realizing how incorporating muggle sciences could help make their magic that much stronger.
They continued with their animagus training after they had established a stronger foundation in occlumency. They realized that, technically, Sirius hadn't sent Harry his birthday gift yet this time around. They pored over the two animagus books for the week leading up to Harry's birthday, combining some of the meditation exercises with their occlumency meditation. Harry was having an easier time feeling his instincts- throughout most of their adventures over the years, Harry had been running on emotions, whereas Hermione always seemed to manage to keep a level head, which was apparently hindering her progress. She was already skilled at controlling her emotions before occlumency, but the problem was with letting go of that control.
One of the books suggested that they associate a memory or a situation with a very basic, animalistic feeling. Simple joy, sadness, aggression, fear. Harry knew what brought the most joy in his life right now- it was Hermione. Seeing her smile, making her smile, giving her kisses and hugs, or simply being near her while they sat silently and studied. He could feel happiness and love right down to his very core when he thought of her. But sadness? What made him really sad? The Dursleys? Maybe years ago, but he knew now he only had to deal with them for two months out of the year. It was more frustration than sadness now. His mind floated over to the time when he was dying of Basilisk poison, and Hermione in tears in front of him. She was incredibly fearful, angry, and sad... and it made him sad, as well. He never wanted to see her like that again. Even worse, he was the one that caused that anguish in her. He never wanted to do that to her again. What about fear? And anger? He realized he was feeling both at the same time the night of the World Cup, seeing Hermione unconscious, he feared for her life, and he wanted to utterlydestroy the ones who had done that to her. Hermione. All of his deepest, innermost feelings, revolved around her, he suddenly realized.
"Ummm... Harry?" Hermione held his face with both hands on his cheeks. "What are you doing?"
"Huh?" Harry opened his eyes, and realized he was leaning on Hermione. "What? What was I doing?"
"You were... um... rubbing your cheeks against me," said Hermione. "Not that I didn't enjoy it, you know. But it just seemed to come out of nowhere. And I think you were sniffing, too. You might have been about to nibble on me."
"Oh!" Harry exclaimed. "I... uh... um... well, I think I found the key to my animagus meditation. Or maybe I didn't, but I discovered something important, anyways."
"Really?" asked Hermione excitedly. "Did you discover your form? Can you tell me what it is? How did you do it?"
"Oh... no, I didn't discover my form. I... uh... discovered you, Hermione," Harry said, timidly.
"Me? You discovered me? What do you mean by that?"
"Well... I discovered that... all my deepest emotions... happiness, sadness, anger, fear... they all revolve around you, Hermione. You make me happy, and I'm sad if you're unhappy, I get angry when others try to hurt you, and I'm afraid... of losing you. I feel everything more strongly when it involves you," he said.
Hermione squealed, tackling Harry to the floor again. "Oh, Harry! You have no idea how romantic you just were, do you? I'm going to have to think of you myself... after I finish snogging you silly, that is."
On Harry's birthday, he received very nearly the same letters as he did last time around- except Ron wasn't quite as friendly, and just sent his usual box of chocolate frogs instead of the Quidditch statistics book. Hermione and her parents took him out to a restaurant and had celebrated with cheesecake. Knowing that Harry had already finished reading the curse-breaker book she gave him his last birthday around, she bought him The World's Wildest Wardsthis time around, detailing some of the most intricate and advanced warding schemes, both modern and ancient. Sadly to say, the most advanced warding schemes were also the least detailed, because the owners didn't want to give up many of their secrets to the authors. It was still a very interesting and inspiring read, and Harry nearly thanked Hermione with a kiss until he remembered they were in front of her parents, and he settled on a hug.
That evening, he was hit with a vision of Voldemort once again- being better prepared for it, he focused on remembering the ritual Voldemort was performing, the markings on the ground, the smell of the potions. He could glean very little more information, though. It seemed that Voldemort had finished the preparations before the vision began, and didn't spend much more time looking at it. Afterwards, he still sent word to Dumbledore, but received the same unhelpful reply.
The rest of summer passed by without much fanfare. They exchanged a few letters with Ron that summer, who seemed rather miffed that Harry hadn't woken him up in time to pack, but Harry decided to mention that Neville, Dean, and Seamus had all tried to wake him, too. Ron, apparently had to Floo home from McGonagall's office, so he never noticed they weren't on the train, either. Ron was just as excited as before to invite them over to the World Cup, and Harry and Hermione debated whether or not they should go. They knew there was going to be an attack, but Harry also knew that Cedric didn't seemed to be destined to suffer any harm, and nor would the Weasleys, in the attack. They turned down the invitation, which, according to the twins' letter a few days later, left him catatonic for at least twelve hours as he couldn't comprehend anyone who would turn down free tickets to the World Cup.
Instead, Harry decided to thank the Grangers for having him over the summer by treating them to dinner at an expensive waterfront restaurant with a fantastic view. They were reluctant to have him pay, but Harry insisted, especially since he knew he was filthy rich and the Grangers were some of the nicest people he had ever met in his life, and he just had to thank them for their hospitality. When they got home, Harry surprised them with an owl. It was a long-eared owl of moderate size, strong enough to handle small parcels as well as letters. "Her name is Kerris. I've also bought you a year's worth of food, treats, an indoor stand and outdoor stand, and a cage for transportation. Now you can send letters to Hermione whenever you want!"
For the first time all summer, both Dan and Emma hugged Harry.
The day before they were to leave for London, Dan and Emma were talking in hushed whispers down the hall to Hermione's room.
"We should do it now, Dan."
"What? What makes you think she's going to... I mean, she's a smart girl, and she's only fourteen!"
"Nearly fifteen, Dan. And a lot can happen in a year. You saw how close they were already this summer. In fact, they were probably hiding a lot more from us."
Dan's eyes widened. He was always protective of Hermione, but the idea of her trying to deceive him was new. "You're right. In fact, they live in the same dormitory at school, don't they?" He sighed. "Do you want to do it, or should I?"
"I'll do it, Dan. The two of us can have a little girl-chat afterwards, as well. Maybe I can get some more details about Harry, too."
Emma walked down the hall and knocked on Hermione's door. "Hermione? Can I come in?"
"Sure, come on in, mum."
Hermione was, as usual, meditating while sitting on her bed, like she did every night. Emma walked in and sat down beside her.
"Hermione, I want to talk to you about... um... your relationship with Harry."
Hermione opened her eyes. "You like him, don't you? He's such a great friend..." she began.
"Oh, no, no, honey. It's not that we... disapprove. It's... well, we're worried that you'll be gone all year, and... that your relationship will develop further. We want to make sure you know what you could be getting into..." she tried to explain it slowly.
"Oh, you mean sex? Don't worry, mum. Harry won't push me that quickly. We both love each other and he'd never try to push me further than I'm comfortable," Hermione was grinning mischievously.
Emma was taken aback. "Oh... alright, so I don't have to explain about that... I'm glad you two can trust each other. When did you learn about it? Anyways... um... if you do, you still need to make sure you're using protection..." she continued.
"I learned this stuff when I finished Biology last summer, mum. And don't worry about STDs or pregnancy. There's several spells that protect against disease and pregnancy, and they're all more reliable than condoms or birth control pills. I've already got my Hep A and B shots when I was in school. I actually got my HPV vaccine at the doctor this summer, too. And after all that, magical potions can cure nearly everything short of AIDS. They might have a cure for that too, I'll have to look it up."
"Oh... well then... thank you honey. What's the HPV vaccine, by the way?"
"It's a new vaccine, it helps against the Human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer. It's good for younger girls to get it."
"Oh... thank you, honey. That was most informative." Emma walked out of the room, shaking her head. Weren't the education supposed to go the other way around?
Author's Chapter End notes:
- I know the HPV vaccine didn't come out in 1994, it's actually a very recent development, came out in 2006 i think. Still, I think people (especially teenage girls) should know about it and get it. Why not have useful information in a fanfic, after all?
