Having said that, she kissed his cheek and walked away, up the stairs and into the girls dormitories, leaving behind a stunned Harry, with his hand on his cheek, staring into the space Hermione had previously occupied.
As Harry slowly regained his senses, he realised he was stupidly standing at the base of the stairs leading up to the separate dormitories. He managed to get his feet to move towards the room he shared with the other boys in his year and towards his bed, changing into his pyjamas before laying on the bed and staring dazedly at the sky.
All the while, he wondered what that was about. Hermione hardly ever hugged him, except when she got really excited after not seeing him over the summer holiday, and she had never kissed him on the cheek before. What confused him further was the fact that he had a funny feeling in his stomach and felt extremely light-headed. Finally, he decided it was nothing and he should just ignore it. Eventually, after laying on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling, thinking over the events of the day, he succumbed to his tiredness, his eyelids falling like a curtain over his eyes.
Meanwhile, in the third year girls dormitory room, Hermione was in a similar position, thinking of ways she could help Harry, whilst wondering if he would still want her help after she kissed him so abruptly on his cheek.
Why did I have to kiss him! I should've resisted it. Now he might not want to be my friend anymore. He can't possibly think of me in that way as well! Ohhh… why did I have to start having this sort of feelings for him? And the feelings just deepened tonight after seeing him so distraught and worried about everything that was happening to him. I guess I'll just do my best to research all this pureblood stuff for him and hope that he doesn't ask me about the kiss tomorrow morning.
With this, Hermione succumbed to slumber, distraught with worry about what would happen the next day.
The next morning, Harry woke up to see Sirius' face staring right at him.
"Rise and shine Harry!"
"Sirius! I want to continue sleeping, I'm tired. Leave me alone!"
"But it's eight o'clock already! I'm hungry, I want to go get breakfast!"
"Oh, alright!" Harry said, slowly crawling out of bed.
He went to have a quick shower, getting dressed as fast as possible while a jumpy Sirius waited for him.
"Harry, I just realised, it's my first full day as a free man!"
"Oh… Where's Remus?"
"Hey, aren't you excited for me? Anyways, Remus said he'll join us at lunchtime, he needs to get some sleep first."
"Oh, okay. Let's go get breakfast!"
Harry and Sirius headed down to the common room, where Harry looked around for Hermione.
"Where's Hermione?"
"Hermione? I saw her with a gigantic pile of books. She said she was going to the library. She's just like your mom you know? Always off to the library." Sirius reminisced.
"Oh… I thought she would wait to eat breakfast with me, she always does."
"Don't be so down pup! You have me!"
"Okay, let's go."
After eating a full breakfast, Sirius set off, saying he had to settle some matters before lunch. Harry decided to go to the library to find Hermione, agreeing to meet Sirius at the Great Hall for lunch at 1 pm.
Entering the library, Harry walked towards Hermione's usual spot, quickly finding her sitting there with her usual gigantic stack of books.
"Hermione! There you are! Why didn't you eat breakfast with us?"
"I thought you would want to spend some time with Sirius alone. I didn't want to disturb you and Sirius from spending time alone with each other. Where is Sirius?" Hermione remarked, looking around the library.
"Hermione, you would not be disturbing us, it's always nice to have you there," Harry said smiling widely at Hermione before adding "Oh, Sirius said he had some things to settle before lunch. He did say he had to head to the ministry to discuss some things with Minister Fudge and Madam Bones during breakfast. I think there's some Wizengamot session in two days and he wants to be prepared for it. I agreed to meet him for lunch at 1 pm. You'll come along right?"
"If you're sure he wouldn't mind."
"He won't, Professor Lupin is going to join us as well."
"Okay, now let me get back to my research."
"What are you researching about this time?"
"What do you think?" Hermione questioned, waving her arms at the stack of books.
Harry tilted his head, reading the titles of the books from their spines, trying to decipher what Hermione was reading about.
"Wizarding culture for Muggleborns, The Sacred Twenty Eight Families, The Structure of the Wizengamot, Old Wizarding Houses, Wizarding Houses and their Magic," Harry muttered as he read the titles of some of the books.
"You're helping me research more about Pureblood related things? Oh, thank you, Hermione!" Harry said, gratefully hugging Hermione.
"Of… of course Harry, you're welcome." Hermione stuttered, shocked by the sudden hug from Harry. As far as she could remember, he had never initiated a hug with her before, or with anyone else as a matter of fact.
Letting go of her, Harry grabbed one of the books laying on the table and settled into the chair next to Hermione's, deciding he would help her research since she was doing it for him anyway. Looking at Harry joining in, Hermione smiled, returning to her book. There was a contented silence between them, both of them reading on without stopping, except for the occasional glance at each other.
Suddenly, Hermione looked up, tapping Harry on his shoulder to get his attention.
"Look Harry, this book is about the general structure of the Wizengamot. It says here that there are two hundred and seventy seats in the Wizengamot. They are divided between the ten Most Ancient and Noble Houses, fifteen Ancient and Noble Houses, twenty Ancient Houses, twenty Noble Houses, and the ten Ministry Staff and twenty people with Order of Merlins. Apparently, the Most Ancient and Noble Houses each have eight votes, the Ancient and Noble Houses each have four votes, the Ancient Houses each have three votes, the Noble houses each have two votes, and the Ministry Staff and those with Order of Merlins each have one vote. I wonder how they classify each of them though?"
Hermione put down the book she was holding, scanning across the titles of the books sitting on the table before picking up another one.
"Let's see… it should be that book… chapter five… right here! Page ninety seven of this book explains more about the classification of seats. The highest level of houses are the Most Ancient and Noble Houses, they are houses that have been around since Merlin's time, and were closely associated with Merlin himself. Then, there are the Ancient and Noble Houses, these houses are at least a thousand years old, and must have had a long history of being important members in the society who have continually done good deeds for the society, then there are the Ancient Houses, these houses must be five hundred years old, and last of all, there's the Noble Houses, they must be at least a hundred years old, and have members that have done good deeds for the community. The Ministry staff simply consist of the Minister, the seven head of departments in the Ministry, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Department of Magical Games and Sports, the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the Department of Magical Transportation, and the Department of Mysteries, the Head Auror, and the Head Hitwizard. Finally, the Order of Merlin seats are sat on by those who have received a First or Second class Order of Merlin, and they will occupy those seats until their death."
Throughout this, Harry just nodded his head, listening attentively to each and every word Hermione was telling him and trying to remember everything that he was told. When she finally stopped, he paused to think about what Sirius had said the previous day, instantly having a greater understanding of what Sirius has been talking about compared to the previous day.
"Sirius mentioned something about the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter and the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black yesterday. Does this mean that I have 8 votes on the Wizengamot?"
"Yes, I think so. Although, I read in another book something about vassals and a higher ranking house being able to absorb a lower ranking house if the last of the lower ranking house dies without any heirs."
Nodding his head, Harry turned to one of the books he had been reading, grabbing it and flipping it open before reading aloud from it.
"This book says that out of the ten Most Ancient and Noble Houses that began in the fifth century, only five remain today. Originally there were the four houses of the founders of Hogwarts, the Peverells, Potters, Blacks, Longbottoms, Bones, and Greengrasses. However, the houses of the founders and the Peverells are thought to be extinct."
"Let me see that."
Hurriedly reading through the rest of the page herself, Hermione then flipped to another page referenced in the page.
"Look, this here says that the ten Most Ancient and Noble Houses descended from the twelve Knights of Camelot, although two never had children so there were only ten Most Ancient and Noble Houses. That means King Arthur must have been quite close to Merlin as his twelve knights were people who had been close associates of Merlin and were trusted by him. Oh, it says here that the Slytherin and Ravenclaw houses were thought to have become extinct about a thousand years ago, during the time the four founders established Hogwarts, as both of those founders did not have children. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff married, but only had a son and a daughter, their son had one son, but their daughter died childless. Their son's son only had a daughter later on, who is thought to have married into the Potter family but it had not been confirmed before. Harry, you may be the heir of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff if it is true!"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Dumbledore did say in second year that only the true heir of Gryffindor would be able to pull Gryffindor's sword out of the sorting hat."
"Well, maybe. It would be interesting if it were true. Anyways, it is said that the Peverell line died sometime in the 13th century when Ignotus Peverell's son only had a daughter. The daughter is said to have married into the Potter family, bringing Ignotus Peverell's invisibility cloak with her as she was the last of the Peverell's. However, based on the story of The Tale of the Three Brothers in The Tales of Beedle the Bard, there should be two more deathly hallows, although their whereabouts are unknown. Harry, that may be where your invisibility cloak came from!" Hermione said with excitement in her voice.
"I wonder whether we can find out more about those deathly hallows, I've never heard of that book before."
With this, Hermione scurried off to attempt to find the book, leaving Harry to sit at the table alone. He picked up another book, and continued reading, waiting for her to return after she located the book.
After ten minutes, she returned with a triumphant grin, the book in hand.
"Harry, it's a children's book! When I asked Madam Pince about it, some other students who overheard me looked at me oddly. Madam Pince told me that almost all children who were raised in wizarding households would have had the book read to them as a bedtime story by their parents! Oh… I was so embarrassed!"
"It's fine Hermione. I'm pretty sure most muggleborns wouldn't know about it either. I didn't even know about this book, and I would never have if you hadn't read about it in that other book."
Pacified, Hermione sank into the seat she had previously occupied, cracking open the book to the right chapter and began reading. Once she finished reading, she closed the book gently, satisfied, setting it on the table. She looked up at Harry and began to summarise the story for him.
"There were three Peverell brothers, Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus. The three of them each possessed one of the three deathly hallows and the story says that it was given to them. Antioch had the Elder Wand, Cadmus had the Resurrection Stone, and Ignotus had the Cloak of Invisibility. However, Antioch was said to have been killed by someone who had slit his throat in his sleep the night after winning his first duel with the Elder Wand. Cadmus was said to have committed suicide after using the Resurrection Stone to bring back his beloved as he had found the experience completely unfulfilling. The only brother who was said to have lived to an old age was Ignotus, and he passed his invisibility cloak to his son when he died."
"Oh, so Ignotus' son was the one who had a daughter who most likely married into the Potter family?"
"I think so."
"Does that mean that the invisibility cloak I have is the same cloak as the one from this legend?"
"That is what I think. I'd always wondered why your cloak seemed to be able to work if your father used the same cloak. Most invisibility cloaks lose their magic after about ten years but yours still worked extremely well even after twenty years. I think I know why now."
"I didn't know my family had such a long history, I wished I'd known about these things since I was a child. The one thing I'd always wished for at the Dursley's was for me to have a real family that would love me. I would have loved to know that I had such a long history and that my ancestors were rather important people. My life would have been so different if my parents hadn't died. They would have told me about my family's history since I was a child and I wouldn't have to be flipping through library books to find out about it."
"It's alright, Sirius said he would teach you more about it. I also read somewhere that most old families have old family vaults with books about their family history in them. You'll be able to learn more about your family from those books as well."
"Thank you, Hermione."
"You're welcome. Look, it's already one o'clock, we better go meet Sirius for lunch now!"
"Okay, let's go! I'm hungry!"
With this, Harry and Hermione left the library, heading towards the great hall for lunch.