Chapter 25

An hour later Harry had finished the story up to his eleventh birthday. James and Lily were both awestruck at how mature their son acted after that kind of childhood. A sociopath usually claimed an abusive childhood, this boy…man in front of them was a hero to the Wizarding World, and he was calmly talking about his horrible path and almost begging his parents and friends to not harm the ones who harmed him.

It took all of James and Lily's strength to not Apparate to 4 Privet Drive and teach Petunia and Vernon a lesson. They resisted and Harry appreciated the effort.

"My eleventh birthday was probably one of the weirdest and best days of my life. The day I met Hagrid and got my Hogwarts letter and my owl Hedwig. Hagrid showed up at midnight exactly and pounded the door down on this little hut on a rock out in the sea…" Harry told the story of his eleventh birthday, cheering everyone slightly. A happy story for once was a relief.

"I was waiting on the 9th platform in Kings Cross Station wondering where Platform 9¾ was when I heard this woman talking about being 'packed with Muggles of course' and I knew they might know how to get on the platform. So I walked up and tried to watch the other kids go through and didn't understand, so I asked. That's when I met the Weasley's." Harry smiled at Ron and Ginny.

James and Lily smiled. They listened as they learned about Harry meeting Hermione and Draco Malfoy on the train. Scabbers the rat wasn't revealed as Wormtail until the story of their third year as a 'surprise' for his parents.

"So put the hat on, and it started muttering to me in my ears. It said…it said I would be great in Slytherin. I had a thirst to prove myself, gotten from years of being the outcast in primary school and at the Dursley's. But since I had met Malfoy, I didn't want to go anywhere near Slytherin, so I said to it, 'Not Slytherin' and it put me in Gryffindor. Best day of my life up till then." Harry was smiling at his dad's reaction to almost being put in Slytherin.

"You…a Slytherin? No…I refuse to believe that. No son of mine would a slimy Slytherin!" James said dramatically. Harry grinned.

"Don't worry Harry, he's only acting like this since he knows you're a Gryffindor. He never would have tried to prejudice you against the house of snakes if he knew what was good for him. There are a few good Slytherins," said Lily thoughtfully. She looked sad just then and Harry knew what she was thinking.

"Severus Snape was a Slytherin," he said softly. She looked at him curiously.

"Yes, he was. How did you know him?" she asked.

"He was our Potions Professor for a long time. From first year to our sixth. Sixth year he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Seventh, he was the Headmaster under Dumbledore and Voldemort's orders."

"WHAT!?" shouted James and Sirius. "That slimy bastard was your headmaster?" added James.

"James!" scolded Lily.

"Well, no. He was Ginny's last headmaster, but we didn't go for our seventh year. The thing about Snape is…you know how Dumbledore was always saying he was on our side during the war, Sirius?" asked Harry. Sirius nodded.

"Well…this would be so much easier if I had a Pensive…" Harry mumbled. Hermione smiled.

"I'll be right back," she said.

"Where are you going?" asked Ron.

"I'm going to go ask McGonagall if we can use Dumbledore's old Pensive. She might let us. Why don't you guys take a break from Snape, and you two tell them about beating the Mountain Troll in our first year." Hermione smiled as she heard the shouts of confusion as she left the room.

She Apparated to the front gates of Hogwarts and strolled up the green lawn to the front doors. She already knew she was going to be Head Girl next month when she and Ginny returned to school for their seventh year. As such, she knew the password to the Headmistresses office.

"Maine Coon," she said quietly. The gargoyle jumped aside and she rode the stairs up. She knocked on the door but heard no response. Pushing aside the door she peeked inside.

"Ms. Granger?" asked a familiar voice.

"Yes, sir. Is Professor McGonagall around?" she asked. She was in no way shape or form ready to forgive the former headmaster, but she saw no reason to be rude.

"Ah, yes, she should be returning soon. I believe she was seeing out the latest applicant for the Defense position. Dreadful CV that one had. No qualifications whatsoever. Worse even than Gilderoy Lockhart, I'm afraid," the portrait said conversationally.

"Oh dear. That isn't good at all. I do hope we he a decent Professor this year. It will be my last and I'd hate to get a bad NEWT grade," said the studious girl. He smiled at her.

"May I ask about Harry, child?" he said cautiously. She looked at him with a frown.

"What do you want to know?" she asked evasively.

"I just wanted to know if he was happy on his birthday. I know what I did was…unforgivable, but I did it in the hopes that one day he'd be happy." Albus Dumbledore's portrait sadly wiped away a tear.

Hermione momentarily felt sorry for the old man, until she remembered the stories Harry had been telling them before she arrived.

"Harry doesn't know how to adjust to suddenly having parents. Yesterday he pulled a stunt on his broom where he jumped off, keeping his broom in his hands and plummeted to the ground, only getting back on his broom with enough time to slow his descent and scrap the ground with his toes as he flew perpendicular to the ground. He fell about fifty meters scarring the life out of everyone, but none more that his parents who could only watch in horror as they watched their only child, plummet to what they thought would be his death.

"Suffice it to say, Harry is now grounded from flying, and the way he reacted to that…I believe his words were, 'Who is she to ground me?' 'She' meaning his mother. The rest of the night he avoided being alone with either parent without either me, Ron, or Ginny nearby, and even those little visits were scarce.

"Harry has spent the morning telling us all horror stories about his childhood. You've heard that they kept him in the cupboard under the stairs until almost right before his eleventh birthday, right?" He nodded. "Well, imagine being a three year old, during a thunderstorm, with a broken arm not healed and in a cast but hanging limp at his side, crying his eyes out in terror from the storm and pain from his arm. Then his aunt came down and told him to be quiet. Good boys aren't afraid of a little thunder." Dumbledore looked shocked.

"And that's not all. The reason his arm wasn't taken care of until the next day…neither Petunia nor Vernon wanted to drive in the rain.

"Harry was severely abused as a child. He didn't deserve that. No child deserves that. Blood protection or not, he should never have gone to the Dursley's. You should expect two very angry parents in here today or tomorrow. Harry is trying very hard to make sure his parents don't do something to the Dursley's to get themselves thrown in prison." Hermione stared at the portrait who was doing some very deep thinking. Several minutes went by in silence before Hermione heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Ugh, what a horrid man! Albus, you wouldn't believe what he said to me before he left. He was actually coming on to me as if flirting shamelessly would get him the job! Urgh, what a cretin," ranted McGonagall. She stormed into the office and completely missed Hermione sitting on the sofa by the wall, petting a large cat. She walked over to a large cabinet and poured some amber liquid from a decanter into a small glass and took a gulp.

"I feel for you, I do Minerva, but it seems you have a guest," said Dumbledore. Minerva spit the liquid and spun around and finally saw Hermione who was gawking at her mentor like she'd seen a ghost.

"Hermione! What are you doing here?" she asked in a surprised tone as she wiped her chin.

"Er, I'm sorry, Professor, I just…Harry was telling his parents some stories and he mentioned a Pensive would make everything so much easier, and I thought maybe he could borrow Professor Dumbledore's Pensive for the day?" said Hermione shrinking into the couch. Minerva stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"Oh, my dear, don't look so frightened. I've had a horrid day and needed a little pick me up. You just startled me is all." The headmistress chuckled as she sat down at the desk. "Now, Ms. Granger, I do believe a Pensive would make story telling a little easier, but it's a very rare object. I don't know if I can just loan it out, even if it is to the best student in the school." Hermione blushed at the praise. "I do, however, have no more plans for the day as it's a Saturday, do you think Harry would mind me tagging along on a few memories? I might be able to be persuaded to borrow out the Pensive if I'm there to guard it."

Hermione thought for a few moments. Harry had confided in her during the long months of just he and herself in the woods in a tent, that McGonagall was one of his favorite Professors, next was Flitwick, and then Remus. She didn't think he'd mind since most of the memories now would be from school, and since he was done with his education, he had no worries about retribution from the Professors for all the rules broken.

"I don't think he'd mind Professor. I'm sure you'll enjoy some of the memories, like the Troll in our first year. That's where I left them when I came here." Minerva smiled at the memory.

"Why don't you go on ahead. I have to fill out a piece of paperwork quickly on the last applicant, then I'll be along. Alright?" Hermione nodded. "You can use my fireplace to leave. Just Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then to Harry's house. I'll be along quickly. And I expect to see the Troll memory, I'm sure you were all lying to me that night." Hermione smiled and left by the Floo.

"Albus, what were you and Hermione talking about while I was out?" she asked the portrait.

"Harry. Apparently he was worse off that I thought at that house. Hermione told me off and told me to expect a visit from some angry parents later tonight or tomorrow," he sighed.

"Well, I'll try to stem some of the anger while I'm there, Albus. I'm sure it can't be as bad as they let on," she said as she signed her name on a line and stood up. She went to the armoire and took out the large Pensive. She quickly conjured a jar and emptied the contents before leaving the office.

a/n: so, big bombshell in chapter 27...big...well not really a bombshell, more like yelling and shouting...it's cool off here a lot, so i'm writing more! Yay!I used a few quotes for the first book, so i'll put this in to sooth any legal types...Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to JK Rowling and i'm just playing in her sandbox! No copywrite infringement is intended. This goes for the next several chapters as well. I completly admit to not owning Harry Potter.

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