DISCLAIMER:
I'm not going to retell any of the parts I don't plan on changing because that would absolutely kill my enthusiasm.
Chapter 1: Sharing is Caring
Harry didn't know how to broach the subject. He wasn't exactly used to having friends, much less used to openly talking about his dislike of their behavior. So, this entire situation was new and troubling for him.
What he knew was that he honestly hated bullies. He had done so, ever since he understood that Dudley was one, and yet the looming confrontation with Ron felt much more difficult than it should.
He understood Ron when it came to Malfoy. The git insulted his friends' family, after all, and he knew that if he had a family he liked, he wouldn't have tolerated that either.
But Hermione wasn't that bad. Sure, she was a huge know-it-all, but she was also new to the Wizarding World and Harry understood why she was trying so hard. She didn't take magic for granted and it annoyed her that people who had grown up around it, did.
Even though he understood that, he also got the other kids. She was annoying.
But that didn't warrant Ron's scorn, much less his constant mocking. Harry had watched the other boy make an ass of himself throughout their first few weeks. The other kids found him hilarious, Hermione looked irritated most of the time, but still managed to ignore the whole thing, but Harry felt like she was hiding how much it bothered her, and knowing Ron he'd be overstepping soon.
Harry watched Ron with a grim expression. He needed to talk to his friend about it. There was no other way. He hated bullies. But he liked Ron, so, he thought of ways he could discourage him, without hurting his pride. That last part was especially important.
After two weeks of deep contemplation he finally pulled Ron back, when they were about to enter the Charms classroom.
'Listen mate, can you please lay off of her?' Harry asked.
'Why? She's behaving like a swot and it's not like I'm the only one that thinks that.'
He breathed in deeply and tried to calm his nerves, before he said, 'because I like her.'
Harry tried to look sheepish. He had no idea how that translated on his face but lying about liking Hermione seemed like the best way to get Ron off her case, without making a big deal out of it. Besides, it was only a white lie. No big deal.
Ron's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as he took in Harry's weird expression. 'Did admitting that, hurt?'
'A little bit,' Harry mumbled, and the other boy snorted.
'Her?' Ron asked again, in disbelief.
Harry frowned. If he had really liked her, that would have been a bit rude, but it wasn't like he didn't get where Ron was coming from.
'Yes. She's always been kind to me. Even repaired my glasses, before she really knew me. What about it?'
Ron looked a bit guilty, before he nodded. 'Alright. I'll stop. Should have said something sooner,' he grumbled, as they finally went into the charm's classroom.
The only available seats were next to Dean and Hermione, so Ron pushed him very unsubtly towards Hermione. Harry wasn't sure if he should curse him for it or be grateful, that his friend was trying to help him. He ended up feeling a bit of both, when he sat down next to her.
They were learning the Levitation charm and the young witch succeeded immediately. Harry had to admit that that was impressive. There were a lot of purebloods in their class and none of them had gotten it right on their first try.
Not that he made that distinction. The thought just came up, because the Slytherins wouldn't shut up about it.
'You're saying it wrong.' Hermione disrupted his efforts. 'It's Levi-o-sa, not Levio-sar,' she explained, and Harry repeated after her, trying to imitate the wand movement and bloody hell, it worked.
Professor Flitwick smiled encouragingly. 'Excellent job, you two. Very well done. Take 5 points for Gryffindor, each of you.'
Harry felt himself blush. He hadn't been praised by a teacher since second grade, and that had been followed up by an especially unjust punishment, because he'd done better than Dudley. After that, he stopped trying. He wouldn't now. Hogwarts was his magical education, his ticket out of Little Whining.
'It's weird isn't it?' Hermione asked, as she watched Dean blow up his feather.
'What?' Harry asked.
'The people who try the least are the ones that lived their whole life with magic. I don't get that.' Hermione shrugged and Harry looked towards Ron before he answered.
'I think they only treat this like a chore, because they know of a lot more interesting stuff. It's not always going to be this way.' Hermione looked at him in surprise.
'So, they are bored?'
'Basically. Ron has five older brothers and the ones that are already working are a Dragon Tamer and a Curse Breaker. Compared to what they are experiencing and telling him about this must be uninteresting.'
Hermione needed a moment to process all of that. 'I get that.' Brushing some invisible dust away from her robes, she continued, without meeting his eyes. 'I feel a bit stupid now, for thinking they aren't appreciating it.' She blushed fiercely while staring at the immobile feather on her desk.
'You couldn't have known without talking to the others.' Harry shrugged and Hermione groaned, before turning to him, all flushed and embarrassed.
'I know, I already said I feel stupid. Alright?'
Harry snorted. 'You're really bad at this aren't you?' He asked and she blushed even more.
'I'll be your friend,' Harry said, before he could stop to think about it. Talking to her was easy.
'Why?' Hermione suddenly looked suspicious.
'I don't know. You're kind of rude, but I don't mind that. I like that you say what you think.'
Aunt Petunia always talked a lot, but he didn't think that she actually shared a lot of what she truly thought. Not that her thoughts were anything to hold your breath over.
Hermione gaped at him. 'I'm not rude.'
Harry rolled his eyes. 'You were judging a lot of people without trying to get to know them on a pretty baseless assumption,' he reiterated, and she looked guiltily at her feather again.
'I really did, didn't I?'
Harry snorted and she punched him in the shoulder, lightly.
'I'll apologize.'
'What?' Harry asked, confused.
'I'll start with your friend.' Hermione nodded determinedly and that was all they could say, before the bell rang, and they had to leave.
Ron was surprisingly cool, when Harry and Hermione walked towards him after class.
However, he looked a bit as if the world was about to end, when Hermione apologized for being rude to him.
'I—; It's alright. I'm sorry about calling you a swot, too.'
Hermione pulled an eyebrow up.
'You called me a swot?' She asked, and Harry helpfully supplied, 'Behind your back.' Which earned him a glare from Ron, who then stared at the laughing Hermione in surprise.
'I mean you're not wrong,' is what she finally got out between giggles and Ron smiled.
It felt like a good beginning.
Well, except, that Ron thought Harry liked Hermione and did everything he could, to help, which meant a lot of alone time for Hermione and Harry, but they didn't mind. In fact, they got along great.
X
One day, she came at him with a book on hair charms. 'Harry! I found something that's worth more than gold.' Her eyes were twinkling in delight, Harry swallowed.
'What?' He asked, as he tried to think of his next chess move, while being taunted by his own tower. The tower was right though, Ron would win anyway. Every single one of his figures knew that, pointing it out didn't help.
'A book on taming untamable hair,' she said, sounding almost reverent.
'Where did you get it?' Ron asked, curiously.
'Lavender Brown gave it to me. She's a bit of a girly girl, but after I got to know her, I learned that she knows a whole arsenal of charms and hexes that are supposed to help with all kinds of issues, even medical ones, and they are really complicated, too. She even went and fixed my teeth!' Hermione smiled brightly at them and sure enough her front teeth looked perfectly normal. 'Listen, this could be great for us!'
'For us?' Harry asked, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was invoked every time anyone brought up his hair.
The last time Petunia had tried he'd ended up with that haircut. Hermione stared pointedly at his hair and Harry groaned.
'My hair doesn't work like that,' he hurried to say, with the memory fresh on his mind.
'We'll see,' Hermione said, before smiling dangerously. 'I like a good challenge.'
Ron who had sat silently next to Harry was now openly laughing at them.
'Alright you try them on me, and I will try them on you.' Hermione decided after looking through the book.
'Doesn't Lavender—'
'Nope, we're on our own,' Hermione disrupted determinedly, with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
Harry sighed. 'Alright, then.'
They sat in the common room, the book sprawled out between them and looked through the charms.
'Bloody hell,' Hermione whispered.
'What?' Harry asked, more surprised about the fact that she actually cursed than anything else.
'There's a Potter charm.'
'No way. Where?'
'It's right here, a charm to make your hair look fashionably windswept, by James Potter.'
Hermione read the last part aloud and nodded. 'Want to try it?' She asked, while Harry was still staring at the book.
'This has got to be the weirdest way to connect to my dad, ever.'
They ended up trying a lot of the charms, but besides the Potter charm, no one worked on Harry.
Hermione was another story, by the time they were done with her, her curls were defined and looked glossy, rather than frizzy. Harry stared at them both in the mirror for a moment.
'Magic is weird," he said almost reverently, and Hermione laughed and agreed.
X
Ron had decided that Harry and Hermione were perfect for each other after Hermione set Snape on fire.
He told him all about it, when they sat on his bed, curtains drawn, privacy spells in place and chocolate frogs distributed between the two of them.
'She set a professor on fire for you,' Ron whispered, almost awed.
And Harry felt himself blush. 'That is a pretty big deal, isn't it?'
'Hell yeah, it is.' Ron said. 'I mean she wouldn't even let us bad mouth him, before. Even though he was such a prat to her in class.'
'I know.' Harry said, still feeling slightly annoyed about that.
'And she looks nice, too. Now that her hair isn't so frizzy anymore.' Ron murmured.
Harry nodded. It was true.
'She even told me that Lavender told Romilda, that she liked me. I thought that was against girl code or something.' He paused for a moment, before turning the chocolate frog around in his hands thoughtfully. 'I'm really glad we're friends, now.' He finally admitted.
Harry laughed, that was something he could easily agree with. 'Me too.'
X
Just before the Christmas holidays started, Hermione pulled Harry aside. 'Do you need help with charming presents?'
'No?' Harry asked, suddenly unsure. Who had he forgotten? He bought something for Ron, Hermione and Neville, but that was it.
'For your family.' Hermione explained.
Harry furrowed his brows. 'They are treating me horribly.'
Hermione stared at him for a moment. 'Dumbledore said, you had to go back to them, right?'
'Yes,' Harry admitted begrudgingly. He didn't want to tell her about it in the first place, but she had asked him about his clothes and drew her own conclusions.
'So, try to get them something they'll like. Maybe they will treat you better?'
'I doubt it,' Harry said. Knowing them, they would throw out anything magical, immediately.
'It's the thought that counts.' Hermione insisted. 'Besides, I already wrote to my parents and they told me I could invite you over for our three-week vacation in France. It's all at the end of summer, so we'll go back to Hogwarts together.'
Harry stared at her for a moment. 'Seriously?'
Hermione nodded.
'They're taking me with them on vacation?' Harry tried not to let his disbelief bleed into the question.
'It's already booked. We always drive down to France and stay in a bungalow by the beach, one more person won't make a difference. I may have lied a bit and told them we were sure that your guardians would agree to it.' Hermione blushed again and Harry pulled her into a hug.
'You're the best,' he said smiling, and she hugged him back.
'Okay. What sort of present would your family tolerate?'
'Just very normal things, I guess. They love Dudley.'
'How about simple bracelets, charmed to let the other wearers know, that every wearer is alright.'
'That would be nice, for another family,' Harry said begrudgingly.
'It's not hard to do and we can transfigure everything we need. It's basically free. It will only take an afternoon.'
Harry groaned. 'Alright.'
They spent the rest of the day transfiguring three very simple silver bracelets out of Neville's half destroyed silver cauldron and charmed them to be slightly warmed as long as everyone who is wearing one of them is in good health, feeling well. If someone was in danger, they would cool down noticeably. It was simple enough, the bracelets looked perfectly boring, but not cheap.
Hermione had insisted on the present being slightly magical to get them used to the idea that magic could also be used for something good, too.
Harry took the three bracelets up to his room and wrote a careful note that explained their use and that he made them himself. He thought that they might like it, because Dudley was so far away. He also wrote that he didn't make one for himself and hadn't included himself into the charm.
He finished with the words,
I sincerely hope you like them, if you don't want them please throw them away. You will get in trouble if you try to sell them, because they are charmed.
Merry Christmas. Harry.
Harry put them in a package with an uneasy feeling. This had to be delivered as normal as possible, so he put the required post stamps on it and let Hedwig drop it off with the Royal Mail.
X
Christmas day was full of surprises. He had Christmas gifts. The invisibility cloak was amazing, and so were the gifts from Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, but Harry couldn't get over the new pair of shoes and jeans and the simple baseball shirts he had gotten from the Dursleys.
They were fitted and they looked good. Not incredibly cheap or second hand. Just good.
There were three notes, too.
Dudley liked your present a lot. Merry Christmas.
-Petunia.
We tested them and Petunia said they were harmless, but if any funny business happens, you'll regret it. Merry Christmas.
-Vernon.
It's cool that you made them for us. Merry Christmas.
-Dudley
P.s.: Perkins really wanted these shoes, so I thought it would be fun if they were sold by the time he showed up with his Christmas money.
Harry stared at the cards in wonder and went to put on his clothes. They fit nicely. He wasted no time pulling his Weasley sweatshirt over his head.
Christmas was amazing.
X
When they figured out that it was Nicholas Flamel, they had different worries. But Hermione had smiled knowingly at him, when she'd seen his new clothes.
X
He sent the Dursleys a treacle tart over Easter.
It's my favorite. There's a stasis charm on it. That means it won't start going bad, until you open the box and is still safe to eat, when it reaches you. I hope you like it. Happy Easter.
- Harry
He got a new shirt and new pairs of socks and boxers in return, with a card from Petunia.
We liked the treacle tart a lot. Can you get the recipe? Happy Easter.
-Petunia.
Harry stared at the note and the clothes for a while, before he tried to get into the kitchens. The house elves were very helpful, and Harry was able to send his aunt the recipe in no time at all.
He got another pair of jeans in return. That was a little weird. But it was true that he appreciated clothing items that actually fit him over toys or anything else.
Ron, Hermione and him, had grown even closer after their Dragon adventure. So, they did something stupid.
They followed their hunch and got through the protections.
X
When he woke up in the hospital wing, he woke up to angry voices and an enraged Madam Pomfrey.
'You can't do this in here," Someone said, and then Harry heard Aunt Petunia?
'What?' He whispered and blinked his eyes open.
Dumbledore stood at the foot of his bed and in front of him stood Aunt Petunia with Vernon Dursley.
What.
'What's going on?' He asked, shocked.
Vernon looked at him in his hospital bed and finally said. 'No one contacted us, when you were attacked. We heard from your friend's parents about it. That is no way to run a school. If this had happened at Smeltings Academy, they would be buried under lawsuits,' he finished and actually looked threateningly at Dumbledore.
'We knew this was dangerous.' Petunia finished in her most biting tone. 'You said there was nothing to be afraid of. This does not look like nothing.'
He was a bit relieved. They sounded angry, not worried. The world still made sense.
Next to him, sat Hermione staring wide eyed at the exchange.
'Hermione?' He asked, because he didn't have a filter anymore.
'Your uncle just insulted Dumbledore in a very impressive manner,' she finally whispered to him, while the adults continued their talk.
'That's not unusual.' Harry nodded and actually had to stop himself from snorting derisively. At least they were doing it to defend him or something?
A few months ago, he would have bet anything he had that they'd have send Quirrel a card for trying to kill him. Of course, that one would have been filled with insults too. For failure to complete what he set out to do.
He muffled his snort, as best he could.
'I'm sorry. My parents contacted them without my knowledge,' she whispered again.
'It's okay,' Harry said. 'I just hope they won't take me out of Hogwarts.'
'They can't. Dumbledore said so. It's in your parents' will.'
'That's messed up,' Harry mumbled, feeling drowsy again.
'I asked them about France.'
'Were they angry?'
'No. You can go. Your aunt was very nice to me about it.' He heard Hermione say, before he drifted off again, this time with a smile on his lips.
X
When he woke up the next time, he was looked over by Madam Pomfrey, quickly given his clothes and ushered to the fireplace to floo home. Before he knew what was going on, he landed in the Dursley's living room, sprawled out on the floor.
'Oh shit,' Dudley said. 'What happened to you?' And Harry looked up and saw the Dursleys looking expectantly at him.
'I hate wizard ways of transportation,' he said and Vernon nodded. Hating something from the magical world was obviously acceptable and would garner him approval.
After a few short moments, where he wasn't sure if they wanted him to talk about it or not, he started telling them about his latest adventure.
Vernon stared at him for a few moments. 'So, you're telling me your headmaster had a very dangerous artefact hidden in the school and employed a teacher, who wanted to kill you.'
Harry nodded. 'I don't know what happened there. Him not being aware of all of this looks really bad. Him being aware looks even worse.' He finally said, leaning against the couch. Petunia and Vernon went to the kitchen and to talk. Apparently, discussing the issue further if the curses were anything to go by.
'It looks like a test of courage,' Dudley whispered and Harry looked surprised at him. 'I made Pierce eat a snail, once, just to see if he would actually do it. If he had the guts,' he explained.
Harry stared at him. He did not want to think of his headmaster as Dudley. Merlin's saggy balls, that was the last comparison he would have drawn.
He thought for a moment how he could direct the conversation away from that thought. Far, far away from it.
'There's a hex that makes you barf snails. Ron told me about it. He even ended up using it on someone who kept telling us that people who didn't have magic were not as good as people who did.'
'Did it work?' Dudley asked, eyes gleaming.
'Yeah it was super disgusting,' Harry nodded, grimacing at the image of Malfoy barfing out live snails.
'Wicked.'
'Kid was really posh, too.'
Dudley laughed meanly and Harry wasn't sure what was going on with his life anymore.