Interlude: True Friend
"Sock stealing Ginny" is originally Imogen's idea. (Queen of Gryffindor and Beta-reader extraordinaire, may we all bow down to her glory!) :)
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"Harry?" Harry looked up from his place on the hearthrug to see Hermione standing on the dormitory stairs, her pink housecoat pulled close against the winter chill.
"Hi Hermione," he greeted
"It's late. Are you all right?"
"Fine," Harry responded automatically. Hermione tilted her head and raised a skeptical eyebrow. She walked closer to Harry and settled near him on the hearthrug.
"You're a horrible liar, Harry," she told him. Harry looked up in surprise and she grinned. "You're worrying. Why?"
"Hermione," Harry hesitated, wondering if he should just tell her, wondering if the simple act of talking about it would help his worry. Harry didn't know. He'd never fully confided in anyone quite like this. Ron wouldn't know what to say, but he half feared Hermione would be sympathetic and draw him up a booklist. Harry couldn't even confide in Sirius because he was central to the problem! Harry felt confused and didn't know what to say. Hermione solved his dilemma by piecing it together herself.
"You're worrying about Sirius, aren't you?" Her expression told him it wasn't a question. Harry hedged and attempted to change the subject.
"Ron's going to yell at you for stealing his socks, you know," he pointed to the tartan wool socks adorning Hermione's feet. "You've been spending too much time around Ginny." Hermione merely grinned, nodded and switched back to the previous subject.
"You were so happy when Sirius told us he was staying in the castle for the Holidays, what happened?" she pressed.
"I am happy about that!" Harry ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed. "But . . . Sirius loves her a lot, doesn't he?"
Hermione blinked at the abrupt question and Harry kicked himself mentally. That wasn't the most delicate way to put it. Hermione's hand on his knee snapped him out of his mental diatribe.
"Sirius loves you too, Harry," Hermione assured him, her brown eyes warm and sympathetic. "And so does Rowan. She's probably your godmother." Hermione added this last bit distractedly, as though thinking out loud.
Harry stared at her, shocked for a moment then nodded slowly.
"My parents made Sirius my godfather, didn't they? So making his fiancée my godmother would be logical." Harry felt oddly betrayed. "Why didn't she say something?"
"She was probably worried about how you would react." Hermione told him logically. Harry smiled, feeling slightly ashamed of himself. He couldn't expect someone he didn't remember to suddenly pull him aside after class and say, "Harry, I'm you're godmother" now could he?
"Talk to her, Harry," Hermione advised. "The Myfanwys are a very powerful wizarding family, you know. It even mentions them in Hogwarts, A History! If anyone can influence the Ministry into give Sirius a fair trial, they can."
Harry laughed. Only Hermione would try to prove someone was important because they were mentioned in Hogwarts, A History.
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