Chapter- Heart and Firebolt

*****Harry*****

"Hermione," Harry greeted, surprised to see his friend back on Boxing Day. Ron was spending another day with his family. Harry wouldn't have been in the Tower at all except to move a couple of his Christmas gifts into the Tower. "I didn't think you would be back before tomorrow like Ron."

"I had some things to do here," Hermione explained, indicating the large pile of books in front of her. Harry couldn't understand what she could possibly have to do. None of Harry's classes gave any work over the holiday, so unless Ancient Runes and Divination had a lot of work… because he knew there wasn't any Muggle Studies assigned either from Ron. She was probably getting ahead for next term, but with her time turner, couldn't she make both work so she could spend time with her family? Was she allowed to take the time turner home and use it there to do studying and family time?

She had evidently spent less than a day there- half a day really.

"Hermione, did you go home at all?" Harry guessed quietly.

Hermione opened her mouth a few times. She looked just like when he and Ron had confronted her about the time turner on the second day of term.

"My… parents aren't like the Weasleys. They wouldn't have understood why I would come home for just a few days. It was… easier to say I had other plans," Hermione explained.

"Well, you could have gone home the whole time you know?" Harry said, feeling responsible. "I mean, I love having you here, but I don't want you to feel like you had to stay for me."

Hermione looked away, "Harry, I have four grandparents. And two step-grandparents. And my own parents. And that's a lot of family for me to be the only child, the only grandchild that any of them have. And they aren't very religious, but on Christmas, we would always get together, even grandparents who didn't get along the rest of the year, and the focus was always on me."

"That would be a lot of pressure," Harry guessed, hoping it was the right thing to say.

"I loved it. I flourished with adult adulation that I never received from my peers."

"Oh," Harry said. That didn't seem bad, but he thought there was a 'but' coming.

"But when I went home after the first term my first year, I had nothing to talk about with them. Nothing that I could talk about with them. I was already a term behind in school, and I hadn't even looked at a muggle book since I got my Hogwarts letter because I was so excited to be a witch. So when they asked me about what I was learning in school I panicked. I could hardly say that I had transfigured matches and needles and levitated feathers, brewed potions that wouldn't work by rules of muggle chemistry."

Harry nodded, getting a clearer picture.

"So I lied. I talked about things I had learned the last term, after Christmas when I saw them last. And you know what? My grandparents all agreed that my new school wasn't challenging me enough, that I could be doing so much more. When I was stressed over trying to learn a few thousand years of national and international wizarding history, and enough spells to look… like I was as good as or better than everyone who grew up with magic."

"That's… a lot of pressure to put on yourself, but you were definitely the best in our year."

"Not at first. On the first few assignments, my marks weren't as good as they could have been. Not the best in the year, I knew. We didn't have many classes with the other houses, but there were two Ravenclaws who already knew so much Astronomy. I knew some of the muggle observations, but it wasn't anything I had studied at length. And several of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws knew some of the first year spell work that they must have learned on borrowed wands. I thought that that would stop after our first year, but they probably keep getting ahead each summer because the trace doesn't work in magical homes, which is still completely unfair. Our year in Gryffindor just has a lot of muggle raised students and magical parents who follow the rules, so it would be easy not to notice, but I do now."

Harry was torn between assuring his friend that she was the top of their year and telling her that it didn't matter what grades she made.

"You're a really great witch, Hermione. The best I know. Well, tied with Tonks, but I don't think she had everything figured out when she was our age. And Professor McGonagall's pretty great too, even when she's scary."

"Thanks, Harry," he said, voice hitching. Please don't cry, Harry thought. He didn't know what to do with crying. A hug? "It's just… after that, I tried to keep up with what my peers would be learning in regular school but… I still didn't want to go home last Christmas, and it was so easy just to stay here. And with all of my courses last term, I hardly had time to look at muggle school work at all. I had hoped Muggle Studies would be more… informative. With as behind as I was… I just couldn't face them."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"My own grandparents don't know what I am, who I am anymore," Hermione said.

Harry hadn't had to do that. He grew up in the muggle world, but no one there cared about him, and he'd never had to go back after coming to Hogwarts.

"Maybe you could just tell them," Harry suggested.

"It's against the Statute of Secrecy. You can only tell muggle family members who live in the same house as the magical child. It would be especially illegal for my step-grandparents, whom I love just as much as my other grandparents. And even if I told them, they wouldn't believe me. Mum and Dad didn't really believe me until we went to Diagon Alley, even though I'd done magical things mostly or halfway on accident for years. I think it might look strange bringing a bunch of old muggles to Diagon Alley. I can't cast spells over the holiday to show them. I don't have a flying broomstick or an invisibility cloak, and they could probably rationalize either of those inventions in non-magical terms. It's just… not worth breaking the law over. I'm fine staying here."

"And your parents?" Harry asked.

"I- spent time with them in the summers, and they haven't pushed too hard for the winter breaks."

"That's good," Harry said awkwardly.

"You're a good friend Harry for listening to me as I babble on," Hermione said, wiping her eyes which never quite cried.

"Thanks. You are too."

"Don't tell Ron how close I was to having a meltdown, okay?" Hermione asked.

"I won't," Harry promised, wondering how he didn't notice that something was wrong with his friend sooner. "How about some training?"

"Thank you. That sounds refreshing," Hermione agreed.

*****Harry*****

It was the third morning after Christmas when Harry met Ron outside of McGonagall's office.

"Sorry Mum guilted me into another day," Ron said as they walked back to the tower. Harry didn't think Ron really minded. "She really wanted me to stay the rest of the holiday, but without you two, the train ride would've been dull. Is Hermione back?" Ron asked.

"Er-" he had promised that he wouldn't tell Ron that Hermione got upset, but did that include all of the contents of their conversation? "She should be in the tower, yeah." Hermione could tell him later if she wanted to.

"Then it's even better that I'm here. Can't let her get too far ahead of me in defense practice," Ron said. "She's better than me enough as it is," he said, which Harry didn't think was really fair. Ron was doing really well with the blasting hex, "But I almost didn't make it back when I did from trying to get Scabbers back with me. Mum had to summon him for me, and he kept struggling. It's that cat, you know."

"Yeah," Harry said, though he privately wondered if Scabbers was smart enough to remember anything that happened even the day before.

*****Severus*****

Severus had done little but train Harry and pore over the mysterious Firebolt for the latter half of what should have been his holiday break. The broom had passed not only his own inspection, but those of Minerva, Filius, Hooch (for the little that that meant to Severus), and even Albus before Severus was able to speak to the retailer and the lead manufacturer, who also inspected the thing and found nothing wrong.

The cowering, irritating shop owner couldn't tell him anything useful. He'd accepted an owl order from Gringotts without even the account number and sent the broom to Hogwarts. And of course the goblins could not be intimidated into sharing client information. And Severus suspected that they would have no issue taking an order from Sirius Black. Because, that was exactly who Severus had suspected sent the "gift." Sirius Black came from enough family money to buy such a thing, and who else would send such a thing to his son? How could it not have ulterior motives?

But there was nothing wrong with the broom. The little store was so sure that there was nothing wrong with the thing that he switched brooms and gave Severus a different one entirely, thereby wasting days of work, but Severus was still glad to do it. He was loath to admit that it was an excellent idea from the unlikable man.

After a few additional scans and a ride on the new broom himself… just to be certain, of course, Severus was ready to give the broom to his son.

"Father?" Harry called, walking into their rooms. He had asked to see Harry here sometime this afternoon, so of course the boy would come just after finishing lunch. But it was good enough timing. The train with his peers would be arriving that evening, so if he wished to test the broom in relative privacy before then, there would be time.

Severus motioned to the Firebolt on their table. "The broom has been cleared of all dangers. I believe you have a quidditch practice tomorrow morning that you might want to bring it to?" Severus suggested.

Harry shrugged, "Thank you. Very much. I'm sure Oliver will be glad that someone can borrow the Firebolt," Harry said, like he was testing. Like he was pretending that he wasn't saying something important.

"Are you still afraid to ride it yourself? Because I assure you, testing has been very thorough, and I have ridden it myself without issue. It is… an excellent broom." Better than he could have hoped to provide himself, at least without a drastic change to their financial security. No, they needed enough savings to leave this place and go into hiding for an indefinite period of time if needed, and he would not dip into the Potter vault to do so.

"Then you can ride it when we go flying together," Harry suggested. What was wrong with the boy?

"Harry, what's wrong?" Severus asked.

"You gave me a really great broom," Harry started. "And then I got it wrecked, and you were really great about it. You even bought me an even better broom. I would never- I would never be ungrateful enough to ride a broom that some stranger got me when you've done so much."

The boy was insecure. Perhaps even afraid to upset him. Harry seemed so well adjusted and happy most of the time, it was easy to forget that this was a child who would not take having people who loved and provided for him for granted.

"Harry, I want you to ride the broom," Severus told his son.

"Why?" Harry asked, not understanding.

"Because you are a thirteen-year-old boy who has been given one of the greatest material possession money could buy, and I would not take that from you," Severus explained.

"Thank you, Father," Harry replied, tentatively picking up the broomstick, before putting it down again and giving Severus a hug. Severus never got tired of that.

"I suggest we go see how you can fly with it, don't you think?" he suggested. It was still wie for him to supervise the first ride on such an impressive broom.

"You're coming too?" the boy asked with a smile. Severus knew that most teenage boys would be less thrilled with the prospect of flying with their parent, but Severus felt guilty that he hadn't done so more often.

"I don't see why not." He had put everything except brewing the Wolfbane potion aside during his investigation of the broomstick. The rest of his work could wait one more afternoon.

*****Harry*****

Ron thought the Firebolt was just about the greatest thing ever. Hermione wouldn't fly with them, but she did bring her course work outside while they flew, so it was basically the same thing to her.

Oliver was beside himself at their next practice. Harry hadn't wanted to make a big deal about the broom, so he hadn't mentioned it to anyone besides Ron and Hermione, but he figured that he needed experience riding the broom in an actual team practice. But Oliver's face… he might have been in love with the broom.

The start of practice was incredible. There was nothing quite like flying. But it started to feel… too easy.

"Land," Harry yelled to Colin after Harry caught the snitch the fourth time in a what couldn't have been more than twenty minutes.

"That was incredible flying Harry. And such a great broom," Colin complimented.

"Take it," Harry said, handing Colin the Firebolt and walking towards the broom shed. Colin was doing fine, but it just wasn't a challenge when he was faster than the snitch and with a slower and less skilled opponent.

"What?! I can't do that. What if I break it or something? Your dad could skin me for potions ingredients or something. Not that he's not great and- you know what I mean. And Oliver would scream at me for endangering it."

"You can fly, Colin. You're not going to break it. It's easier to handle than a school broom. You just need some confidence. Once you know you can do something, it's a lot easier." He'd learned that recently, and was pretty sure it applied to most everything.

"But why would you do that?" the boy asked, insistent. That was interesting. Harry didn't think he could have loaned out his Nimbus 2000 from his dad. Maybe not his Nimbus 2001 either. But the Firebolt… it was just a really good broom, and it might help Colin.

"To make you a better opponent. And I always need more practice with an inferior broom. It's like making the snitch faster only even better, because the opponent isn't disadvantaged. Though maybe I could get the snitch to go faster too," Harry pondered aloud.

"But Harry, you have a Firebolt. You don't have to worry about anyone having a better broom than you."

"For now," Harry acknowledged. "Until someone else makes the next broom. My first year, the Nimbus 2000 was probably the best broom on the market, and that was just two years ago. There's always something new. Okay?" Harry asked, swinging his leg over the school broom.

When Oliver called an end to the practice, the snitch count was nine to one, but Harry had never seen a bigger smile. He was pretty sure after that catch, Colin Creevy could cast a pretty good patronus if he knew how. And that gave Harry some other ideas.

*****Harry*****

Harry had rarely seen Hermione moving so… angrily. She hurled a book at the table. A book! Neville was just a few paces behind her.

"I'm done. I'm done. I do not put forth that much extra effort for this."

"You're dropping Divination?" Harry asked after seeing that was the book she had thrown. And she would have had that class that day.

"Yes, I am," Hermione huffed, slightly more dignified.

"You beat her," Neville said, happy eyes wide.

"I wouldn't call it a defeat as much as an escape. And I do wish you could leave too. That witch is positively horrible to you," Hermione went on. "Maybe you could ask Professor McGonagall-"

"I'm fine," Neville dismissed. "I just predict my death and stuff like she does, and I usually get "E's" at least. Easiest class I'm taking. But you really beat her. She said one of our number would leave forever around Easter. But if you leave in January, that's way too early to count! I think she was talking about you, guessing how long you would put up with her nonsense."

Hermione looked uncertain if this was best, "I- suppose I did then, thank you. I'll speak to Professor McGonagall about removing the class from my schedule."

"After an exit like that, I don't think she expects you back," Neville said.

"What did you do?" Ron asked, looking at his smart friend with admiration.

"She… is an absolute affront to academic integrity. And bullying! She refuses to cease fabricating horrendous scenarios for Neville that ultimately predict his death. Palmistry is no better than any others. She's had it out for you since you broke that second tea cup, when if she were a decent witch, she would have just fixed it herself. If I cared about her stupid tea cups, I could have fixed it."

"I'm fine, really. And you made it the most entertaining class period ever. And now your schedule will be easier since you won't have Divination and Muggle Studies at the same time," he said the last part quietly. The other three couldn't help looking at each other, even though Harry knew it made them all look guilty.

"Neville, that's not possible," Hermione said. It wasn't even a very good lie.

"Don't worry, I haven't said anything to anyone, and I wouldn't. It's none of my business," He said, heading off.

"Neville, I didn't mean it like that," Hermione said. "I can explain. Really explain," she said.

"Don't need it. I already know. A time turner fits best," he whispered. "I've- looked into some of that stuff. There's a lot of things I've wanted to change before, and magic seems like it could do anything, even if it really can't. I had to grow up a lot to know that I wouldn't change anything even if I could."

Thinking about what Neville saw with the boggart, Harry had a vague idea of what Neville might have wanted to change. And he was now pretty sure that Neville Longbottom was a lot stronger in many ways than Harry was.

A/N: Let me know what you think! The scene with Hermione was inspired by another fic that I plan to write eventually called Happy Families are All Alike.