Title: Old Scars and Future Hearts
Word Count: 2, 317
Chapter eleven: Band-Aid for the Soul
"Where are we going?"
Harry didn't like the way her voice sounded. There was something different about it but Harry couldn't tell exactly what it was. He glanced at his best friend whom made a big deal out of not looking him in the eyes and who couldn't seem to decide if she wanted her hair up or down. Her hands shook, her fingers twitched and every time he came in too close proximity she took a step to the side regardless if that meant walking into someone or not.
"What did you tell her Malfoy?"
Draco shrugged for what felt like the tenth time and Harry felt the same rush of anger going through his body. "I didn't tell her anything she or you didn't already know."
"Enlighten me about what I already know." Harry said with a voice so thick of sarcasm that one could cut through it with a knife.
Draco's familiar smirk appeared on his face. "That's good Potter, you almost sounded like…"
"Talk!"
"I told her that she was a textbook example of the stereotypical girl that she didn't want to be. I said that there is nothing remarkable about her, her fear of rejection and need for validation makes me want to kill myself and that the guy she fancies would never go for her because she is the most annoying person to ever set foot in this school." Draco didn't smile when he spoke but still, Harry had never felt such an immense desire to hit someone in the face before. "I even managed to guess who she fancied but that's a story for another time."
Just thinking about it made Harry's blood boil and when he saw Hermione he couldn't help but feel guilty and sad. When he and Ron spoke she only answered with one or two words and for most part of the time she didn't dare look him in the eyes. It didn't matter that Harry tried to move so that he could capture her eyes.
"We are going to the kitchen." He answered after a few moments of silence as they stopped before the painting with a bowl of fruit. While he spoke, he began tickling the pear which eventually turned into a green doorknob. "We spend way too little time together outside of the common room and the library."
"So, you figured that we should spend time together in the kitchen?" Hermione asked quizzingly but never the less followed him inside. Her eyes went from one side of the room to the other. She wasn't able to keep the look of amazement away. "We're not bothering anyone, are we?"
"We are definitely not bothering anyone and I promise to put things back, scouts honour. And we are here because I am going to bake for you and we are going to talk." And because I find it calming to bake, was what Harry wanted to say but didn't. Instead he gestured towards a chair that was placed on the other end of a working station. "So please, sit down for me golden girl?"
He saw the flicker of a smile on her face as she sat down on the opposite side and watched him move back and forth between the different stations as he gathered everything he needed. "You were not a scout Harry Potter."
"That's hardly the point." Harry answered and winked at her.
Hermione coughed as she looked down on the floor. Only when her cheeks had taken their normal colour did she look back up at Harry who acted oblivious to the entire thing. "So, why haven't you told us that you knew how to bake?"
"Bake, make dinner… I'm good in a kitchen overall, at least at making easy things that require little ingredients," Harry said with a shrug as he measured up the exact amount of flour that he needed. "It's not like I was actively trying to hide it from you but here I never have to cook for myself and when I'm home during the summers you never come to visit me; I always go to you."
The tension thickened and Harry mentally cursed himself when he saw the somewhat hurt expression on Hermione's face. "It's not like I want you guys to come spend the summer with me anyway so don't get me wrong. I was just saying that because the only way that you could have found out was if you caught me in action and that only happens when I'm with the Dursleys."
Although the girl looked slightly less disappointed there was still a few wrinkles left on her forehead that had yet to dissolve. "So," she was still making a big deal out of not looking him in the eyes. Harry hadn't realised how much he liked seeing her eyes until she started not facing him. "What are you making?"
Harry's smile grew. "It's something I invented myself over the course of a few years. I used to call them angel cookies but I'm thinking about changing the name to band-aids for the soul."
"Over the course of a few year?" Hermione repeated with a smile. "Should I be concerned for my health?"
"No," Harry rolled his eyes albeit still looking amused. "It took me years because I was rarely able to cook since the Dursley's rarely left me alone to roam the house. And when I did get the chance I couldn't use too many kinds of ingredients or too much of it so I had to make half a batch and then hope that they turned out good."
Harry felt his hands shaking as the words left his mouth. He was now the one to avoid her eyes and the smile on his face were all of the sudden not to stable anymore. He remembered the feelings of horror that he was going to get caught and the motivation in the form of his loud stomach that reminded him that he hadn't eaten in days. In his mind, he knew that cookies weren't the best thing to eat but all his little brain could think about was sugar and the best way to get sugar in his system was through cookies. At least that's what he thought at the time.
"Thanks for telling me." Hermione said in a low tone which forced Harry to look up at her. "Have you talked to Ron about any of this?"
"Not really," Harry shook his head. "But at the end of the last semester he gave me a cream to cover up bruises and these little pills that he told me worked like food and that you wouldn't get hungry as quickly if you took one of them. I think he knows more than he tells me."
"We both do." Hermione tilted her head to the side and gave him a sad smile. "We don't talk about this because we feel that you should be the one to bring it up but we can both guess what's going on behind closed doors."
Harry hummed as he continued working by putting in the remaining ingredients into the bowl and began mixing them together to create a dough. His breathing was laboured and he could feel pearls of sweat running down his neck. He assumed that those weren't because it was so physically exhausting to knead the dough. Harry didn't just dislike talking about himself, he hated it, but if he could get Hermione to talk to him then he would just have to suck it up and do it anyway.
"How did Draco do the other day?"
"He said it went fine but you know what he's like. I don't think that fine has the same meaning in his vocabulary as it does mine." He said with a wink as he hoped to lure her to laugh but she didn't. "I was actually going to ask you why you weren't there with him?"
"He didn't tell you?" Harry shook his head and Hermione sighed. "Long story short, he did a very muggle thing and psychoanalysed me like the amateurish thirteen-year-old boy that he is and somehow ended up hitting home by telling me everything that would hurt me the most."
"You shouldn't listen to him. He's full of shit sometimes." Not completely without reason Harry thought to himself but didn't say out loud. He put the cookies inside the stove and began the cleaning up. "Whatever he told you I can guarantee you that none of it's true. You're an amazing person and a great friend. You're a brilliant witch and overall one of the most intelligent people that I have ever met. You are going to be something great one day Hermione Granger."
Hermione's cheeks turned a shade pinker. "Do you really think so?"
"I don't think so, I know so." Harry looked at her while washing his hands. "We should spend more time alone, don't you think? The next time we can be outside instead of in the kitchen or we could even to to the library if you want to. I've grown to like that place in the past few months."
Hermione laughed. "Yeah, I've noticed. I've also noticed that you've taken up reading and studying like you've never done before. Where did you find that book anyway?"
"I didn't find the book. Draco found it in a hidden section somewhere in Flourish and Blotts," Harry said as he took the book out from the pocket of his robe where he always carried it around. "This book has all the information about my family. It's amazing."
It didn't look nearly as worn out as Hermione's books did but the front page was paler than it had been when he bought it and the first hundred pages, the ones that he had read most often, also looked a bit older than the rest of the book.
"Draco found it? You spent time with Draco during the summer?" Hermione asked with one of her eyebrows raised.
Harry shrugged as he tried his best to look innocent. The moment the words had left his mouth he knew that Hermione would pick up on them. The only thing he could do now was lie. Luckily, he never struggled in that department. He batted his dark eyelashes, pouted his lips and shrugged.
"I saw him when I went to buy my books this summer." Harry replied. "I met him when he was there with his mother to do the same."
Hermione's frown deepened. "And since you two are so good friends you decided that you were going to talk to him and he decided that he was going to show you a hidden part of the store so that you could find a book about your family. Forgive me for finding that a bit hard to believe." She crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you and Draco really working on Harry and no lies this time."
"I told you, we're working on a project to increase our grades." Harry replied without as much as stuttering.
"I think that you're lying about that too." Hermione didn't sound angry when she said that but rather disappointed. "Just like you liked about not going to Hogsmeade."
Harry fidgeted with his fingers but didn't look away from her. "How do you know if I was at Hogsmeade?"
"Because I saw you or at least a glimpse pf you." Hermione shrugged and looked down on the ground with an intensity that made it look as if she had found something much more interesting there. "I have no idea how you got there but I saw you when you walked out of Three Broomsticks with Draco and some woman."
"Did you tell anyone?"
Hermione shook her head. "I wanted to ask you why you were there first but I couldn't convince myself to confront you about it. Harry, what were you thinking when you went there yesterday? You have a killer following you, a crazy murderer who wants to see you dead, and you go to Hogsmeade with Draco Malfoy none the less. What was so important that you had to be there?"
Before Harry opened his mouth but didn't say anything when he was Hermione raising a finger. "And don't tell me your grade in history because I will walk straight out of this kitchen and I won't talk to you until you're ready to tell me the truth."
Harry sighed and frowned. Hermione, though being his best friend, had a strict idea of what was right and what was wrong. She was the friend who took it upon herself to protect people from themselves and that had often put a stop to some of Harry's plans. This was the first time that he wasn't willing to risk it. Because if something stopped him from helping Sirius and revealing that he was innocent then so many more would be hurt than just Harry. He thought about Sirius himself who would be running for the rest of his life. He thought about Penny who almost cried at the idea of Sirius being a free man. And he thought about Draco who had changed so much for this man and who could never go back to his old ways. His family would never accept him again and neither would the other parts of the pureblood community. They needed him and Harry needed to do this for himself.
"My grade in history." Harry told her without as much as a hint of emotion on his face.
Hermione let out a disappointed laugh, muttered fine, and then walked out of the kitchen. The door had just been closed behind her when the oven told Harry that the cookies were finished. Band-aid for the soul. He put the cookies on the bench but didn't bother waiting for them to cool off. He really needed them.
