At last the summer was coming to a close and it was time to meet up with Hermione at Diagon Alley to go school shopping together.
The first thing Harry did when he arrived on the knight bus was head for Gringotts and have a look at all of his vaults now that he had the keys for them.
Vaults two and three held mounds of coins much like the first one did. But vault four was where the family heirlooms were kept.
When Griphook unlocked vault number four, Harry gasped when he saw inside it. He could see gold, silver and other precious jewels. There was a whole line of moving portraits of the various Potters, recovered from the manor when it had burnt down, according to the goblin. He was disappointed however that there was not one done of either of his parents.
He wandered through the vault gazing at the rich marvels to behold, finally stopping when he found a pedestal that held the family grimoire and lordship ring. He slipped the ring onto his finger and the seemingly plain band suddenly transformed into shiny gold inlaid with emeralds that matched the color of his eyes.
"It enchants itself to suit the current heir" Griphook explained, having looked after many Ancient And Noble house families belongings before. "I'm afraid however you'll have to leave that here until you can officially claim it."
"Oh right" Harry said having forgotten this. He put the ring back and it changed into a plain band again.
He then quickly flipped through the grimoire surprised to find that he recognized none of the spells inside it.
"What's this?" He asked next, picking up an antique looking silver brush.
"It was made and given by your great Uncle to your great Aunt. The Potters have always had by heritage messy unruly hair" The goblin said eyeing Harry's own mop of hair with distaste.
Harry tried brushing his hair, then looking into a fancy gold mirror hanging on the wall could see that his hair had been tamed and was in fact looking nicer than it ever had.
"Will you be taking anything out today, Mr. Potter?" Griphook asked, clearly wanting him to move things along.
"Er, no…wait actually I'll take the brush with me. Everything else can stay where it is. I just wanted to make sure things were in order."
"And why wouldn't they be?" The goblin looked disgruntled at such a suggestion.
"Oh I didn't mean to imply anything on your end. The keys have simply been out of my possession for quite some time and I wanted to make sure the person who had been keeping them for me hadn't taken something."
Luckily Dumbledore hadn't used any of his funds yet, which made sense. Right now Voldemort was in hiding and the wizarding world was in a time of peace. But he was glad he got the keys back before the dark lord's return because he was certain Dumbledore wouldn't hesitate to use to Harry's money to help fund the Order Of The Phoenix's missions.
When Harry withdrew some cash from vault number one he then returned above ground and found Hermione there with her parents who were making an exchange.
"Harry!" She exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat. "Oh it's so good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too" He replied hugging her back tightly.
She then introduced him to her parents and even though he technically already knew them, it had been only the one brief time before.
After that they set off together with Hermione's parents following slowly behind them. Hermione took his hand and he blushed a little. Normally he wouldn't have minded, they'd held hands plenty of times in the past, but for some reason he felt a little odd about doing it in front of her mum and dad.
They did their usual shopping and were halfway done when Hermione's parents decided to leave them to it and go get a stiff drink from the inn. Perhaps the sight of so much magic was becoming too much for them to handle.
When they had arrived at Flourish and Blotts, Harry caught sight of Lockhart in the window and groaned. "I am not going in there!" He resolved.
"Oh come on Harry, we need to get our books sooner or later."
"Later, much later!" She gave him a look but he shook his head. "Fine you can go in then and pick them up for me."
"I know you don't like your fame but I think you're being a little ridiculous here."
"It's bad enough we're going to have to deal with him all year as our defense teacher" Harry protested. "Wait you're not still keen on him, are you?" He asked with a sudden suspicion.
"No I don't!" She replied with a huff, cheeks flushing a little. But he could tell she was blushing out of indignation rather than embarrassment. "After what he did to you," She continued with fervor then paused for a minute. "Alright I guess see your point, I'll go in and get your books for you."
"Thanks, Hermione" He smiled at her gratefully.
A few minutes later she came back out, arms loaded with a stack of books. "I can't keep hold of them all, hurry take yours!" She implored, wobbling a little under the weight. Harry quickly complied.
Once they had finished shopping, they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to join her parents for a lovely dinner. They planned to stay at the inn overnight and then it would be time to board the train to Hogwarts the next day.
Harry took Hermione to the room he had rented after dinner and told her about what he'd found in his vaults then showed her the brush.
"It's beautiful, is that real silver?" She asked, eyes wide.
"Probably but look what it can do, can I?" He held the brush up to her hair.
"Uh sure" Was her only reply, watching him curiously. He began gently brushing her bushy brown hair which was soft and smelled sweet like vanilla.
He had always liked the long shiny hair that Cho and Ginny always had but he realized that even though it was very different from theirs, he liked Hermione's thick bushy mane too.
When he finished brushing her hair, she looked in the mirror and gasped when she saw her reflection. Her hair was now sleek and smooth like it had been at the Yule ball only it hung down past her shoulders instead of twisted up into a bun. "Wow" He uttered and her cheeks turned pink at the compliment but she looked very pleased. Harry decided that she was just as pretty without taming her hair, maybe even prettier than girls like Cho and Ginny.
There I go again, he thought. Thinking of her the way I used to do with the girls I used to fancy…wait does that mean…do I fancy Hermione?!
Harry dropped the brush in surprise and Hermione whipped around at the noise.
"Harry are you okay?" She asked, her warm brown eyes watching him with concern.
"She's like a sister, I love her like a sister and I reckon she feels the same way. It's always been like this. I thought you knew."
The memory hit him once again and he realized it was a lie. It was a lie! The whole time it had been a lie, not to Ron but to himself. This was why it had haunted him all this time. No wonder he couldn't stop replaying it in his head, no wonder he kept thinking of her and feeling so…so odd.
"Uh—yeah I'm f-fine."
"Harry you look like you're gonna be sick."
"I'm fine," He said more firmly. "It's just been a long day is all." She looked at him with an expression that showed she didn't quite believe what he said but decided not to push it.
"All right."
"This brush is amazing," She added a few minutes later. "It works just like the Sleekeazy's potion I used at the ball but without all the work of brewing it. I wonder what kind of enchantment it has."
"Dunno" He responded, still reeling from the realization that he liked her, he liked Hermione! "Apparently it was my great aunt's. We Potters are all born with hair as unruly mine," He grinned slightly.
Hermione smiled back and lightly brushed her fingers across the top of his hair. "That's something we have in common."
Harry could feel his heartbeat thumping in his chest at her touch, but it wasn't the silly flutter he'd felt with Cho or Ginny. Rather it beat slower and steadier, like his heart was slipping into the easy comforting of knowing he was with someone who knew him better than anyone else.
The next morning Hermione knocked on his door first thing to borrow the brush and tame her hair again before they left for King's Cross station.
"I thought you didn't care about that kind of stuff" He pointed out but handed it to her anyway.
"I don't…but well, I guess I just like looking more like a girl for a change" She answered shyly, which was unlike her.
"You do look like a girl, even without fixing your hair" Was his assurance. Her cheeks had bright pink patches on them.
"Really?"
"Really."
She beamed at him. When she finished brushing her hair, which had turned into a long sleek mane, she handed the brush back to him.
"Keep it" He said, placing it in her hands again.
"I can't take your brush, it's a family heirloom!"
"I want you to have it. If it'll make you feel better then consider it an early birthday present."
"Well if you're sure—"
"I am. What am I gonna do with a brush like that anyway? I don't really care about having unruly hair myself."
"Thank you, Harry. It's a great present." She kissed his cheek affectionately. "Now c'mon we better hurry or we'll be late!"
They just made it to the station on time and Harry was relieved to find Dobby hadn't barred trance to the platform like before. Once they were on the train he got an idea.
"Let's look for Luna, she'll be starting Hogwarts this year."
"All right" Hermione agreed.
They eventually found the blonde sitting alone in an empty compartment."Hello," The girl greeted when she saw them.
"Hi. We were looking for somewhere to sit, mind if we join you?" He asked.
"Not at all. You're Harry Potter aren't you?"
"I am and this is my best friend Hermione Granger."
"Nice to meet you" Hermione said amiably.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood."
"Your dad runs the Quibbler doesn't he?" As expected her eyes lit up at this.
"Yes in fact he just published a new article on the Gruffle migration!"
Hermione pursed her lips to keep from making a comment and offending her the way she had the first time they'd met. Harry grinned, proud of her for holding it in.
He thought about the beautiful mural Luna had painted on her ceiling and was glad they had a chance to become friends much earlier.
"That's great. This is your first year at Hogwarts isn't it?" He said steering the conversation in a safer direction.
"Yes."
"Any idea what house you'll be in?"
"I'm hoping to be in Ravenclaw like my mother was."
"We're in Ravenclaw, it'd be great if you do get sorted there then we'd be in the same house."
"Yes it would" She agreed. "Like having friends."
"We'll be your friend Luna" Hermione said earnestly. Harry nodded to show he agreed with her.
"That's nice."
Harry noticed that even though she was acting airy and aloof as always, she did truly deeply appreciate their offer of friendship to her. Maybe she had already dealt with the bullying for her odd quirks, even before attending Hogwarts, and her aloof behavior was a result of that.
Huh, he realized. Hermione, Neville, Luna, and I all grew up the same way, lonely.
When the train arrived at Hogwarts that night they said goodbye to Luna and wished her luck on her sorting. Then they met up with Neville at the carriages.
Hermione suddenly froze and gripped Harry's arm tightly. "Thestrals Harry!" She whispered into his ear. "I can see them!" She looked scared.
"It's okay, they're harmless."
"I know but it's really only just hit me. I've actually seen people die."
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I know."
Even though all those people were now alive and Harry was determined to keep them that way, the past still had a way of haunting you.