Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: To be honest, I think I started off pretty strong with this chapter but waned as I went along. I think I'm my own worst critic, but that's neither here or there. I want to give my Beta, TheOddEnigma, a huge thanks for all the hard work she has done polishing up my story. Without her, I would probably have a lot more mistakes than I should have had. Oh well! On with the story. Also, I'm a bit embarrassed that I forgot the legal age to drive is seventeen. Honestly, what kind of writer was I to forget such a crucial element? It's far too late to change that now ha ha.
From the End to the Start
Chapter VIII
The train home was unremarkable compared to the match of wits she had with Dumbledore in his office the previous night. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle foolishly attempted to harass Harry, but the Slytherins had forgotten that the DA encompassed three of the four Hogwarts houses; the presence of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws that were firmly sided with Harry was enough to intimidate the three bullies. However, it wasn't anything different than previously, so she had ignored Ron's dramatic retelling of the confrontation. To pass the time, Hermione read the Quibbler much to the surprise of Luna.
"Hey, Harry," said Ron, motioning his head toward the window that saw into the corridor.
Hermione looked up from her magazine and spotted Cho passing alongside Marietta Edgecombe sporting the ridiculous looking balaclava. Suddenly, Hermione stood up, startling her friends and Cho who briefly looked within their compartment.
"Hermione, what -" Ron's voice was drowned out as Hermione moved quickly towards the door, accidentally knocking Ron's chessboard onto the floor. He cried out in shocked, but Hermione ignored him and pulled open the door, catching Cho and Marietta by surprise; the two Ravenclaws staring warily at Hermione.
Hermione raised her wand and pointed it towards Marietta, a muffled whimper escaping her throat. Cho's eyes shot opened in panic and grabbed Hermione's wand hand by the wrist hissing, "What are you doing?"
Harry came up from behind Hermione and placed his hand on her shoulder, a frown marring his face as he stared inquisitively at what was going on, "Hermione?"
"Let go, I'm only just going to remove the pimples." Hermione flatly stated indignantly, "Let me go?"
Cho released her grip on Hermione and moved to encircle her arms around her friend to comfort her. Hermione sighed and began waving her hand to perform the spell, silently chanting the incantation beneath her breath. Once she was finished, a blue light erupted from the tip of her wand and blinded everyone in the corridor for a brief second. Hermione smiled, "There. Finished."
Tentatively, Marietta removed the balaclava while Cho produce a compact mirror. The older girls looked at Marietta's forehead to find that the word 'SNEAK' was now gone from her face. A look of pure joy appeared on Marietta's face as she hugged Cho. She turned back to Hermione, eying her fearfully, "Thank you - er – Hermione."
"No problem." Hermione then stared pointedly at Marietta, "I know that you had your reasons for telling Umbridge, but it doesn't matter anymore. A war is on the horizon, and what happened then was child's play. Remember Marietta, in the real world, the punishment for betraying secrets is often death."
The girl fervently nodded. Hermione said nothing else, indicating that the conversation was finished. With one final thank you, Marietta and Cho quickly walked away from the Gryffindors' compartment. Hermione squeezed Harry's hand that was still on her shoulder and smiled at him reassuringly when she turned to walk back to her seat.
The compartment was deathly quiet when she re-entered. Neville, Luna, Ron, and Ginny were staring at her with wide eyes – or in Luna's case, wider than usual – and all opened their mouths to speak but no words came out. However, it was Luna who regained her typical demeanor first and commented, "That was very intimidating Hermione."
Hermione shrugged and sat back at her seat, "I only said the truth. She's already considered an adult, why should I coddle her? Besides, there's more important things than to hold a grudge. That punishment was unnecessary, so I simply removed it."
"What's with you lately?" Ron asked, picking up his broken chessboard while glaring at Hermione, "You bloody broke my chessboard."
"Are you a wizard or not Ron?" Hermione asked, annoyance laced in her voice.
Harry frowned at the exchange and looked worriedly at Hermione, "What Ron is trying to say is Hermione is that we're worried about you. You've been on edge since last night. Did something happen?"
She sighed, but smiled warmly at Harry for care in his words, "Nothing you should worry about. I'm just – uh – worried about my O.W.L. Scores is all. I think I may have messed up my practical because of my nerves." Hermione didn't want to mention the Horcruxes just yet, let alone the Horcrux that resided in Harry's scar.
Ron snorted, "Figures that it would be schoolwork that has Hermione riled up."
"Prat." Ginny hissed at his brother, "Is that anyway to..." She trailed off.
"So – er – Harry, was that Cho? What's going on with you and her nowadays?" Neville asked quietly, his embarrassment pervading the room for the moment. Hermione was grateful towards him for steering the conversation away from her.
"Nothing." Harry replied.
Luna lowered the magazine she was reading, "She's dating Michael Corner now."
"What? Michael? Hey Gin!" exclaimed Ron as he craned around in his seat to face his sister, "You were going out with him."
"Not anymore." Ginny stated resolutely.
Hermione tuned the rest of the conversation out, instead, she watched the scenery go by outside the window. Its rolling presence mesmerizing her tired frame as it slowly lulled her to sleep...
"Hermione. Wake up." Harry softly whispered as she felt him gently nudge her.
Slowly, Hermione opened both her eyes and stared around her as she regained her bearings. She automatically stretched and yawned, smacking her lips as she placed one arm over her head. Hermione noticed that the compartment was empty save for her and Harry. She yawned again, "Where's everyone?"
Harry grinned , "Gone ahead. I stayed behind to wake you up."
She hummed a response and began carefully picking up her belongings. Crookshanks remained on the seat, prepared to follow his mistress once Hermione was ready. As Harry picked up his trunk and Hedwig's cage, Hermione went into the corridor rubbing the sand out of her eyes.
As Harry walked out, he glanced at Hermione and asked, "I'm curious though, what's with the sundress?"
Hermione looked down at the floral-printed white sundress she wore; it had been a gift from her mother. Her mother always bought her clothes that she often didn't enjoy wearing often. Her typical style usually consisted of jeans, baggy shirts, or anything she found comfortable. When she had been younger, her mother and her aunts often dressed her up as their personal doll and as she grew older, she developed an aversion to casually wearing those types of clothing. She only wore it on special occasions, and for what she had in mind, meeting her parents once again, Hermione thought it was a special occasions. Although, she can't deny that there was also an ulterior motive for the change of pace.
"Just wanted to. Shall we go Harry?" Hermione saw Harry frown and knew that he wasn't looking forward to going back to the Dursleys.
Harry nodded and the two of them set off towards the exit. They found Ron standing by the magical barrier, waving at the two of them as they got off the train. Harry and Hermione met him at the barrier, but before they could hold a conversation, the ticket inspector signaled to her, Ron, and Harry that it safe to go through platform nine and ten. Hermione knew of the surprise waiting for Harry on the other side and smiled broadly at the surprise etched on Harry's face once they stepped through the other side.
But, as she stood there as the rest greeted Harry, Hermione felt a pang in her heart as she stared at the four people that were alive once more. Tonks's bubble-gum-pink hair gleamed in the sunlight, her eyes lit up with the exuberance of life. Remus's face was pale, his hair graying, but even she was relieved by the smile on his face when his stare landed on Harry. Fred acted as one with George as the two of them began badgering their siblings with their jokes. Even she had to admit that Moody's sinister look was a welcoming sight. These people were alive, and Hermione knew her knowledge could help prevent their deaths.
Quietly, Hermione slipped away from the group, an action only Moody, Remus, and Tonks noticed. Not too far away from Harry's welcoming committee were her parents who were waiting patiently for their daughter to come to them. As she saw her parents, Hermione immediately rushed towards them with all the speed she could muster. Once she had been close enough, Hermione dropped her trunk and wrapped her arms around both of them.
"I missed you two so much!" Hermione nearly yelled. It took all of her strength to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.
The Grangers held their daughter, smiling contently at their family reunion. Hermione was sure that the two of them were surprised, it wasn't often that she showed them physical affection; something that was only common when it came to Harry. They disengaged from the embrace and Hermione stepped back grinning.
Her father still looked about the same. He was not much taller than her, about three inches higher; he sported an average fame, with a small gut slowly building as he advanced in age. Her father had the same shade of brown hair that she had, but it was gradually receding, making his forehead look wider. It was also from him that Hermione inherited the same tint of chocolate eyes that sparkled gold in the right light. He had a tough, stern-looking face, but he had a small smile reserved for his wife and daughter.
Her mother, on the other hand, was still what you would consider a beautiful woman. Even as she neared fifty like her husband, her mother had an attractive, slim build stemmed from her daily exercises. However, her most attractive feature had to be her green eyes. It wasn't a shimmering emerald like Harry's, but much darker and piercing. Her hair was let loose in dark brown curls, as opposed to the bun she had in the future. Hermione knew her mother often changed her hairstyle every month or so.
"Hermione! You're wearing the dress I sent you! And oh! What have you done to your hair? I love it!" Her mother excitedly squealed as she began examining her hairstyle. With the help of Ginny, Hermione had borrowed a bottle of Sleek-Easys in order to slightly tame her hair from bushy to a little bit wavy. It didn't do a lot, but Hermione pulled her hair back into a pony-tail, showcasing more of her face. Harry, Neville, and Ron didn't notice, or if they did, they didn't comment. It didn't matter though, Hermione didn't do it out of a whim.
Her father patted her shoulder, "It's good to see you again sweetheart." Hermione nodded smiling, her father wasn't much of a conversationalist, but it was his gestures that showed his emotions often.
"Actually, would it be alright if the two of you meet Harry's relatives? Considering that we'll be accommodating him for the summer, it seems only right that we go introduce ourselves." Hermione asked sweetly, looking hopefully at her mother and father.
Her mother grinned, "Of course. I would like to meet Harry as well, he's not a twelve year old anymore after all."
Hermione led the three of them towards Harry and the rest. Her mother watched the group in amusement as there were various heads of red, black, gray, and pink in the mix. As they neared, Hermione picked up Remus mentioning to Harry about 'a little chat with his aunt and uncle'. Alarmed, Hermione quickened her pace just when it had been decided to go harass the Dursleys, "No! Let my parents and I handle it."
"What?" Moody growled, "What would a girl like you do?"
"Now, now Alastor. Let Hermione talk," Arthur said, "Why is that Hermione?"
Hermione crossed her arms and sighed, "Don't you think that threatening the Dursleys is going too far?"
"Relax Hermione," said Remus with a slight smile, "We're not really going to hurt them. We're just going to scare them to back off Harry."
"That's the point! Even if you do that, they're still going to lash out at Harry. I don't think Harry's uncle is the type to take threats lying down. He may be afraid of magic, but he has too much of an ego to let what you say affect him." Hermione argued firmly.
The three adults were at a loss as to what to say to that, and they were stunned silent when Harry agreed, "Hermione's right. I appreciate the gesture, you don't know how much it means to me, but Uncle Vernon really will come after my hide if you guys did something like that."
The magical adults frowned with Moody growling angrily. It was Remus who turned to Hermione and said, "If you and Harry think it's best, then let's try it." He turned back to Harry, "Sorry Harry, I was the one who came up the idea to do this. I thought it would have helped."
Harry flashed a reassuring smile, "Thanks for caring. It really means a lot."
Meanwhile, Hermione returned to her parents who had been watching the scene with both humor and mild confusion. When Hermione didn't explain and instead gestured to follow, the two simply said nothing else and went after their daughter. Hermione walked towards the Dursleys who stood not too far off from Remus and the rest. As he saw the three approach, Vernon cast a suspicious eye towards the Grangers as Petunia and Dudley huddled together looking fearfully at the Brightest Witch of the Age.
Putting on her sweetest smile she could muster, Hermione curtsied Harry's clearly obese uncle and greeted him warmly, "Good day Mr. Dursley. I'm Harry's friend, Hermione Granger."
Vernon's eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets, but – interestingly enough – his face hardly turned a shade of purple which Harry often described what would happen when his uncle became enraged. The fat man said nothing, but instead stared at her two parents right behind her, his eyes wary and fearful. Hermione giggled politely, "Oh pardon me. It appears I misplaced my manners. Excuse me, Mr. Dursley, these are my parents, the Dr. Charlotte and Nathaniel Granger. They're dentists."
Already, Vernon's beady eyes quietly examined both her and her parents. She was right with her assumption to wear the sundress and styling of her hair; it was already clear that Vernon was calculating how much her family was worth. While Vernon was a bigoted and despicable man, he wasn't without any intelligence. He did become a Director of Grunnings for a reason. While she was sure that Harry's uncle detested her for being a witch, he wouldn't allow the opportunity to slip to introduce himself to her well-off parents. It was a gamble, but if it failed, what harm would it do to have the Order threaten him again?
"Oh, good day miss. It's a pleasure to meet you." Vernon greeted her in a sickeningly welcoming voice that was highly reminiscent of Umbridge. He turned away from her and faced her parents, "I'm Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle. Here's my card." Vernon pulled out a business card from his wallet and handed it towards her mother and father.
Her parents made their greetings, her father taking Vernon's card and smiling politely, "Oh. Grunnings eh? They supply some of the drills I work with. Very reliable piece of material."
"Really? That's splendid! Of course, I work out in the Surrey branch so I..."
It was from there that Hermione slipped away from her the adults; being near Harry's uncle made her nauseous with ire. She had taken all of her will to not have taken out her wand and blasted a very creative hex that would have the round, detestable bag of flesh unable to walk for the rest of his life. But, Hermione wouldn't stoop down to that level. She turned to her parents conversing with Harry's uncle, this time with Petunia and Dudley coming closer, and they appeared to have an enjoyable time. Her parents would be alright and would see through the Dursleys easily; after all, her mother had grown up with people who only had interest for her beauty or wealth and her father was trained by her mother after all the social events they go to.
As she made her way closer to her magical friends, Hermione cocked a grin at their direction in a triumphant manner, "There, that should take care of them."
"What good will it do to butter them up?" snarled Moody, "We could have had them cowering in fear and making sure they won't touch Harry."
Hermione opened her mouth to explain that her plan wasn't finished just yet, but opted not to. Instead, she only grinned cryptically at the old auror. Nothing else was said as the adults simply accepted what happened. Hermione, of course, had gotten her crushing hug from Molly as she had gotten one yet. After she had let go, Hermione found herself standing close to Ron who was staring at her. While she did not mind, she found it oddly strange. Frowning, she asked, "What is it Ron?"
His ears turned a slight crimson, "Oh, it's – er – nothing. By the way Hermione, do you want to – er – exchange letters while I'm in Romania? You know, to stay in contact?"
"Don't we always write letters to each other Ron?" Hermione replied automatically.
"Oh, right. Yeah. Of course. I'll – uh – write you then."
He walked away with her and was dragged into another conversation with the twins. Hermione simply shrugged off Ron's strange behavior and watched Harry talk to Remus off to the side a bit. From the solemn looks on their expression, it was clear that they were talking about Sirius. Hermione had to smile though, at least with Remus, Harry had someone else to enjoy Sirius's memory with. While she could have done that, Hermione knew she was nowhere close to the shaggy-haired man as Remus was.
"Psst, Hermione. What's with you?" Ginny whispered into her ear.
Hermione eyed her friend inquisitively, "What do you mean Ginny? I'm perfectly fine."
"What's with the response to Ron? I mean, don't you understand what he was trying to do?"
She thought back to Ron's rather awkward questions and the weird gazing he had done. Slowly, she came to realize that he was doing some roundabout away to show his interest. To be honest, he had done the same thing before, and she felt rather flattered back then. However, that door was forever closed and will not open again. Instead, Hermione simply shrugged, "I know what he's doing, but to be frank, I'm not interested."
Ginny gaped, "What? I thought you two had a thing for each other."
"I'm sure he does." Hermione confirmed, "Doesn't mean I feel the same. You could say I had a small crush on him before, but I only see him as a friend." She remained silent as she tried to define that relationship she had with Ron. Hermione recalled the kiss that she had shared with Ron in the Chamber of Secrets. It had felt awkward kissing him like that, but then again, the adrenaline of the time blurred what her real emotions were. Thinking about it now, it was like kissing a brother or a relative, "To be honest, I think I see him more as a brother. We fight a lot over the most trivial things, but we always end up making up sooner or later. So yeah, I think it's more of a familial feeling I have for him."
Ginny didn't say anything more. She heard someone call out her name and saw that her parents were beckoning her to come closer. She saw Vernon doing the same for Harry, so she turned to leave, making her farewells before she did. Harry was taking a longer time, staying behind for the Weasleys to all hug him or spread words of wisdom. Her parents had already separated from the Dursleys and were walking away. From a distance, she saw her parents' smiling masks crumbling and was replaced with a displeased expression. Hermione had to chuckle, it appeared that they found the Dursleys to be insufferable.
Hermione stopped her march and waited for Harry, matching his pace, "Did you talk to Remus about Sirius?"
"Yeah." Harry said smiling, "It was nice. He promised to talk more with me later on."
Instead of letting Harry walk further, Hermione enacted the second stage of her plan with his relatives. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug. Hermione made sure that they were near enough for the Dursleys to overhear as she said, "Good bye Harry. I'll try to visit every day to check up on you. If your relatives do anything bad to you, I'll tell my parents or tell our magical friends all about it. So don't worry alright?" From the corner of her eye, she could see the Dursleys shrinking at the subtle threat. Hermione sighed, glad that they picked up the cue.
"Thanks Hermione. I couldn't ask for a better friend. How are you going to visit me though?" Harry asked curiously.
Hermione grinned, "Are you muggle-raised or not? I'm sixteen, I do have a license you know, I'll be driving to you."
"Oh. Don't you live too far?"
She shook her head, "It's just an hour's drive Harry."
"Okay." Harry agreed and hugged Hermione again, "I can't wait for your visit then."
"Me too Harry." She said sincerely. The two of them stood there in one another's embrace before Hermione had a wicked idea in her head. She raised her head and planted a soft kiss on Harry's cheek as she softly whispered, "I'll see you real soon."
Before Harry could even elicit a reply, Hermione disentangled herself and began to walk back to her parents, a wide, Cheshire grin on her face.
