Chapter 10

In the dark, sullen halls of Grimmauld Place, Harry Potter sat in a desk chair in the bedroom he was sharing with Ron. His pocket mirror sat open in front of him as he was talking with Tracey. It was the first time the couple was using the mirrors for the break. Two days prior, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children had left school in an emergency after Harry had seen Arthur Weasley attacked through the eyes of Voldemort's snake during a dream. Harry had woken Ron and Hermione and the three had rushed to Dumbledore's office to inform him of what he'd seen. After calling on Order members Tonks and Shacklebolt to investigate, Mr. Weasley was found and not a moment too soon as he had to be rushed off to St. Mungos for emergency treatment. The day after the attack, Harry had sent Tracey a short missive that briefly explained what happened and that he was alright. For the past hour, he had been explaining everything in detail.

"So they think he's going to be alright?" Tracey asked about Mr. Weasley's condition.

"When I saw him yesterday he was stable and awake. The Weasleys went to see him this morning but they're not back yet so we don't know more yet. I thought about joining but I figured the Weasleys needed some time together as a family today." Harry answered.

"Thoughtful of you. I know you care about Mr. Weasley too though Harry so you should go see him again at some point, I'm sure he'd like that." Tracey told him.

Harry nodded and smiled. "I will, now how're you holding up at the castle?" He asked her.

Tracey shrugged. "Fine I guess, no one else from Slytherin is staying here so I'm alone in the dorms. Roger and I have been having meals together which has been nice, we've not had many chances to speak this year so it's good to catch up with him. He approves of you by the way."

Harry laughed at this. "Glad I got the older brother's approval, that's always important."

"Yes, well he wants me to make you promise to go easy on Ravenclaw in your next match in exchange for skipping the….. what did he call it exactly? 'Dumb big brother talk where he threatens to hurt you if you hurt me.' I believe." This caused Harry to laugh more.

"You can tell him Angelina would kill me if I did that and I'm far more scared of her." Harry joked

"I don't blame you, after hearing about how intense she is during practices I'd be scared of her too." Tracey joked back.

The two shared a laugh followed by a calm silence.

"I suppose I should go meet Roger for dinner." Tracey eventually said.

"Enjoy, talk to you again tomorrow?" He asked.

She nodded and smiled. "Wouldn't miss it, goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Tracey." Harry said before closing his mirror.

He couldn't help but smile, the fact that Tracey was his girlfriend still felt unbelievable to him. He thanked Merlin in his head that she'd gotten through his insufferable stubbornness earlier in the year when she convinced him to let her join the DA. He sighed contentedly as he flopped onto on his bed.

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts.

"Harry, it's me, may I come in?" Said a feminine voice he knew belonged to Hermione.

"Go ahead." He replied as he sat up.

Hermione entered the room and took a seat across from Harry on Ron's bed.

"Ron still not back?" He asked

"Not yet, Sirius is downstairs arguing with Kreacher about making dinner since Mrs. Weasley isn't here either." She said.

Harry snorted at the thought, watching those two would certainly make for an entertaining evening. He looked up at Hermione and noticed she was looking down and away while nervously rubbing the backs of her hands.

"Everything alright Hermione?" He asked curiously.

"I think so, it's just…… I owe you an apology Harry. I've been harsh towards you and Tracey over your friendship to the point where it's affected ours." She said with a twinge of guilt in her tone.

Harry was internally pleased to hear this from his friend but tried not to let it show on his face. Tracey had told him more than once that he forgave too easily. He had tried to argue but she'd cut him off by adding that she wasn't telling him not to forgive, just that the person apologizing should have to earn it and show an understanding of what they did wrong and make an effort not to repeat it. Otherwise people would come to expect his forgiveness with no consequences.

"I appreciate that Hermione but I'm really not the one you should be apologizing to." Harry said neutrally.

Hermione shook her head at him. "No Harry, while I owe Tracey an apology as well, which she will get back at school, I also owe one to you."

That had surprised Harry a bit, he was curious where she was going with this and waited for her to continue.

"I'm assuming you've noticed how I don't talk much about my life before Hogwarts. I always figured you noticed since you never asked me about it and well…… I know you prefer not to be asked either." She said simply.

Harry just nodded at this, he had never opened up about the Dursleys to anyone as life with them was unpleasant to say the least. Hearing Hermione say this to him was concerning as she'd always spoken fondly of her parents and he couldn't keep his worry from becoming apparent in his facial expressions. Hermione noticed this and clarified.

"My parents love me and they always have but before coming to Hogwarts they're all I ever had. I wasn't popular in school and got bullied a lot, no one ever stood up for me or helped me because no one wanted to be my friend. Other kids forced me to do their homework, they'd lock me into closets or lockers, steal and destroy my school books." Hermione paused for a breath as her eyes grew watery before continuing.

"You and Ron were my first friends and that has made me immeasurably happy. While I understand, logically speaking, that after all we've been through you wouldn't just cut me off suddenly, I still get anxiety about it anyway. Every time you or Ron get upset with me, every time you keep secrets from me, even seeing you spending time with other people, it brings that fear bubbling up and I react on instinct by trying to fix things as quickly as possible. Pushing you and Ron to study so we can spend time together while I help you with homework, forcing you to share so I always feel like I know you better than anyone else, these are things I resort to when my anxiety is at its worst. When you admitted to secretly spending so much time with Tracey it caused all my insecurities to surface. I was jealous that you were spending so much time with someone else and I was afraid you didn't want to be friends anymore because you kept it from me." The words fell out of Hermione like a burst of a damn as she poured her heart out to Harry.

Harry felt empathy for his longtime friend, this couldn't have been easy to admit, he knew all too well how hard it was to allow himself to feel vulnerable and he was touched that Hermione was willing to trust him with all this. Seeing her looking at him misty eyed, waiting for him to say something, he crossed the room, took a seat next to her, and hugged her. The moment he did her tears began to flow freely.

"I will always be your friend Hermione. We might fight and argue sometimes but I will never stop being your friend." Harry said, reassuring her.

He gently rubbed her back as she continued to cry. After several minutes she began to collect herself and Harry released her.

"Thank you Harry." She finally said through a sniffle.

"Anytime Hermione." He replied, giving her a smile.

Hermione blew her nose and wiped her eyes.

"If you don't mind my curiosity, what prompted all this?" Harry asked.

"I suppose Ginny got me started on it. That night after you told us about Tracey we got into a big argument. She said some hard truths to both Ron and I that we needed to hear and asked us both to speak with Madam Pomfrey about setting up visits with a mind healer. Apparently Bill convinced her to do the same when the Weasleys visited Egypt after second year and it helped her come to terms with having been possessed. It's been difficult but I think it's helped me address things about myself I need to improve." She answered

Harry had no idea that Hogwarts offered that service to students but supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised, muggle schools all had guidance counselors and doubted Ginny and Hermione were the first students in the school's history to need this kind of treatment. That being said they hadn't exactly advertised it too widely.

"Is Ron seeing a mind healer too?" Harry inquired further.

"He is now, he didn't at first and was angry with Ginny that she even suggested it, but after seeing how it was helping me and receiving a letter from Bill that Ginny had asked him to send, he finally agreed a couple days before the term ended." Hermione replied.

"I can't believe I didn't realize." He said quietly.

"We were giving you space Harry, between meeting with Tracey, classes, quidditch practice, and running the DA you haven't been around the common room as much and I was trying to let you be while I dealt with my issues." Hermione said as she placed a hand on his knee, not wanting to let him feel guilt.

"I guess I have had a lot going on lately." Harry smiled. "Since we're sharing, I suppose I should mention Tracey is my girlfriend now."

Hermione smirked at him. "I kinda gathered after you told Ron and I that you needed to speak to her in private, not your most subtle move there Romeo." She lightly teased.

"Hey now, she's the one who kissed me, I just wanted to give her a Christmas gift." He defended.

"Yes, I saw you bring a box along to DA. Is that the only package you gave her that night?" Hermione joked.

Harry went slack jawed at his friend's crass innuendo.

"Hermione Jean Granger, since when did you get such a dirty mind?" Harry said, mock offended.

"Just because I don't say it, doesn't mean I don't think it." She replied with faux haughtiness.

Harry shook his head at his friend's antics.

"I think this is the first time I've been unsure if Sirius has the most vulgar mind in this house. Speaking of which, we should go make sure he and Kreacher haven't killed each other." He said as he got to his feet.

The two made their way down to the kitchen to find Kreacher swinging a large skillet at Sirius, who was wearing a bright pink apron.

"Nasty blood traitor master not defile Kreacher's kitchen." The elderly elf said as he continued to swing at Sirius's hands each time he attempted to grab a utensil.

"You know Sirius, for once I'm on Kreacher's side. Have you ever cooked before?" Harry jokingly asked his Godfather.

Sirius turned to Harry and Hermione with his hand over his heart in mock distress. "Such a betrayal by my own godson. I'll have you know I cooked meat of all kinds while trying to survive that first year on the run."

"You know Harry, I've suddenly lost my appetite." Hermione said, piling on.

"Traitors, I have traitors living in my house." Sirius joked back.

Harry looked Sirius up and down, trying to make sense of what he had on.

"Somehow I doubt anyone in your family owned something with such a cheery color. Where did you get that?" Harry asked.

Sirius grinned madly. "You like it? This was my mother's, I used a color changing charm and showed it to her portrait. It warmed my heart to see her so offended."

"You need a hobby." Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"I've thought about jogging but no one lets me outside." Sirius snarked.

Harry felt a little bad about that, Sirius had kept a positive attitude through everything but the setback of Dumbledore being ousted as Chief Warlock had been difficult for him seeing as it had been delaying the possibility of a trial.

Just as those thoughts entered his head they heard the fire roar to life as someone arrived by flue. The three went to investigate and find none other than Albus Dumbledore himself waiting for them in the sitting room.

"Apologies for disturbing your evening but I have come to ask Harry to accompany me back to Hogwarts." The elderly man said seriously.

The request surprised Harry as the Headmaster had mostly kept his distance since the school year had started.

"May I ask what this is about Headmaster?" Harry replied.

Dumbledore looked Harry in the eyes as he answered. "Moments ago, Amelia Bones, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, arrived in my office. She requested to speak to both you and I regarding the possible innocence of Sirius Black."

The statement caused each other occupant of the room to widen their eyes in surprise.