Disclaimer: Sorry I took so long with this Chapter. It's a long story. I don't own anything having to deal with Harry Potter, unfortunately.
*Chapter 3: P is for Prefect
Hermione was very surprised on Sunday morning when she woke up to find Harry helping her mother make breakfast in the kitchen. There were pancakes, hash browns, muffins, and waffles piled high on four plates in the middle of the kitchen table. "Come get some breakfast, dear," Mrs. Granger said to her daughter as she put down a few bottles of syrup and jam on the table. Hermione smiled as she sat down next to Harry. Mr. Granger was already seated, putting two pancakes and a muffin down on his plate. Harry passed Hermione the plate of waffles just as Mrs. Granger sat down with a plate of bacon. "Thank you so much for helping, Harry," Mrs. Granger said quickly.
Harry smiled lightly. "You're welcome," he said back.
"What did you help make?" Hermione asked quickly as she grabbed a piece of bacon, chewing on it as she slid it into her mouth.
" I helped your Mom make the bacon and the waffles," Harry said after taking a drink from his glass of milk. Hermione smiled as she took another piece of bacon from the plate. Within a half an hour, every plate had been cleared and put in the dishwasher to be rinsed and washed. Mr. Granger had moaned his satisfaction towards the food before retiring to his den to read the morning paper. Mrs. Granger proceeded upstairs to shower, intending on going to do the grocery shopping later in the afternoon. This left Harry and Hermione by themselves, wondering what to do.
"Would you like to go into the backyard? We have a pool, but the water is too cold to swim today. However, I can show you the fountain we have and I could take you up to the woods. Once we're there, I can show you my secret spot, where I go when I am troubled," Hermione stated.
"Alright," Harry said, "let's go." After Harry and Hermione both changed out of their pajamas and into regular clothes, they made their way into the backyard, walking around the various trees, stopping by the water fountain near the back gate. They stood next to each other, watching the water flow, not speaking. Harry broke the silence, splashing a bit of water at Hermione. She laughed lightly, splashing back. Before the water fight became a war, they luckily came to a truce before they were to soak each other.
"Come on, Harry," Hermione said as she linked her arm with his, "Let's go up to the woods." After sliding the bolt on the wooden gate and opening it, Harry and Hermione proceeded up a small dirt path. Harry could see the woods off in the distance.
"I'm really surprised that you live out here in the country, seeing as your parents are dentists that work in the city," Harry said gently. "Did you ever tell your parents about letting Madam Pomfrey shrinking your teeth last year?" Harry asked.
Hermione smiled and laughed lightly, before lowering her voice, seeing as they were too not far from her house. "Please do not say anything. I have not told them, and I'm surprised they haven't noticed yet," Hermione whispered. Harry chuckled lightly as they continued up the dirt path, passing between a few trees. They were beginning to get close to the forest that Hermione was leading them to.
Before coming to the forest, Harry and Hermione passed through a small flower field, petals flying through the air as the wind passed by. "This is one of my favorite places. It is so beautiful here. The petals taking flight with every breeze makes it seem so magical here," Hermione explained to Harry as she danced around lightly, petals falling down among them. Harry laughed lightly as a large petal lightly hit Hermione's nose. She glared at him lightly, but then laughed with him.
After enjoying the scent and sight of the flowers, Hermione led Harry to the edge of the forest. With his help, she climbed up over a large pile of logs to get into a large tree. Harry soon followed her, having trouble with the logs, almost falling. Once getting into the tree, they continued to climb up and down through many trees, moving in between many branches. "Hermione? What is the point of going this way? Wouldn't the dirt path be better?" Harry asked.
"It's the only way to get to the secret spot," she answered back as she stepped forward on to a thin branch.
"Hermione! Get off of that branch, now!" Harry yelled.
"Whatever for, Harry?" she asked, just before the branch snapped.
Harry wasn't even really conscious of what happened next. With surprising speed and agility, Harry had suddenly thrown himself on to the attached part of the branch Hermione had been standing on. He was almost pulled off of the branch as Hermione's hands grabbed hold of Harry's hands. "Hold on, Hermione!" Harry cried out as he pulled with all of his might, his legs locking around smaller branches to help pull. Within a few moments, Harry had pulled Hermione up on to the branch successfully in one piece.
"That was close," Hermione whispered lightly as she looked at how far the snapped branch had fallen. "Surprisingly, this tree is quite tall," she said. Harry nodded as he looked down too. It must have been a 20-foot drop. Had he not saved her, Hermione could have been seriously injured. He took in a deep breath as he relaxed lightly. Hermione did the same.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked her quickly as he touched her hand with his, using his other hand to hold tightly onto the branch.
"I'm fine, Harry. Thank you. I am just slightly shaken up. Maybe we should get down from the trees as fast as possible. The secret spot is just up ahead. I just know that you will love it," Hermione said slowly. Harry nodded his agreement as he helped Hermione climb to the next tree, going to lower branches. Soon they came to a small hillside that came right up to the side of the tree. "This way," Hermione said before she stepped onto the grassy hill. She then sat down on it, and slid to the bottom. Harry smiled as he did the same, coming to the bottom of the hill to stand up next to Hermione.
Before Harry and Hermione was a beautiful site. Hermione had led him to a small lake in the woods, with tall willow trees all around and many patches of tall grasses spotting the ground. The place was so alive and yet so magical. Harry took everything before him in before looking at Hermione. She smiled when he looked upon her face. "Come on," Harry said quickly as he began to walk towards the small lake. Within moments, he had passed through the tall grass and had come upon a large willow tree that rested at the water's edge. When Harry turned to look for Hermione, he saw her already climbing up into the willow tree. "Are you really sure we should be climbing up into this tree," Harry began to ask, "when we just got through with almost having an accident in one?"
Hermione laughed. "This tree is much older and much sturdier," she said as Harry grabbed onto a branch, climbing up to sit next to her on a large branch that hung over the water of the lake. Hermione smiled as she looked out at the water, watching birds fly by with songs in their souls. She watched them fly low by the water and splash the water about.
"I used to come here when I was little. I found this place when I tried to run away from home once when I was really sad because my Grandmother had died. Every time I come here, I feel happy about it, because this place makes me feel like she is still alive, her spirit resting here," Hermione explained slowly, pausing a few times in between words. Harry listened to her intently, watching her face as she spoke. He thought he saw her eyes water for a moment, but he wasn't sure. The next moment, her eyes were normal. As Hermione turned to look at him, he briefly looked away, his gaze locking on to a large, dead tree. There were no leaves upon it, thus it being dead, and it looked as if it had been dead for quite sometime.
"Hermione, what happened to that tree over there?" Harry asked as he continued to look at the tree. Hermione's eyes followed his.
"Oh, that tree. I don't know what happened to it, to be honest. Do you see that large crack down the middle? I think lightning caused it. Then again, it could have just died naturally," Hermione said slowly. For some strange reason, the tree looked oddly familiar to Harry. He just continued to stare at it as Hermione watched his face, his eyes.
"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked as she looked at his face once more.
"I'm fine, Hermione," he answered seconds later.
"You don't look fine, Harry. Please don't lie to me. It hurts me to look into your eyes, and see the pain that you are hiding from me and Ron and everyone else. Just please tell me what is wrong, and I can help you," Hermione said slowly, every word coming from her heart. Harry looked back into her eyes. He almost released all of his tension, hurt, and anger at her, but he held back so he wouldn't overwhelm her with his pain. He didn't want to hurt her. Harry wanted her to be happy.
"Everything is wrong, Hermione. Everything is just too much. How would you feel, growing up with no parents because a murderous wizard killed them and still wants to kill you, and that you yourself will cause the death of many more people? Voldemort couldn't harm me, but my blood has now helped create him and bring him back to power, giving him his life back. Because of me, Voldemort is back alive," Harry explained slowly, holding back many emotions. "Many more people are going to die because of me." Hermione sat there next to him, astonished, speechless, and afraid all at the same time.
"What happened was not your fault, Harry. Cedric's death was and is still not your fault. You just can not blame yourself for what happened last year, and if you do, you are not as smart as I thought you were," Hermione whispered to him. Just as Hermione got ready to climb down from the branch, Harry grabbed her hand and stopped her from dropping down.
" I try not to blame myself. I really do, but it is just so hard to not blame myself when Cedric died because I suggested we both grab the TriWizard Cup at the same time, and now, many more people will die," he explained. Hermione looked into his eyes.
"I know it is hard for you, Harry, but please try not to blame yourself. For me, and for Ron," Hermione said gently as she climbed down from the branch and dropped to the ground below. Harry watched her go down, and then the old tree attracted his attention once again. Staring at the tree, Harry suddenly remembered why it seemed so familiar. He had seen a tree almost identical to it in the graveyard where Voldemort had been brought back to his full strength. As Harry began to stare at the old tree, pain beyond anything he had ever felt before began to burn his scar that was upon his forehead.
Harry grabbed his forehead with his hands, letting go of the tree branch he was sitting upon. Then, as he began to fall, everything slowed down, and for an unknown reason to Harry, he could hear Voldemort speaking in his mind. "Bow to death, Harry," the voice said. He began to lose consciousness as his body continued to fall. "And now---we duel," the voice said again. Harry finally hit the water of the lake, and as he sank beneath the surface, Harry heard Voldemort's voice one more time. "Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!" Voldemort's voice screamed as Harry began to black out. Just before he lost consciousness, he could barely hear Hermione screaming his name.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It felt like eternity before Harry finally came around. The first thing he saw was Hermione and Mrs. Granger leaning over him, talking quietly amongst themselves. "You took a big risk leaving him there, Hermione," Mrs. Granger whispered gently. Harry's eyes were barely open, but he could see that Hermione was greatly worried about him.
"I know, Mum, but I had too. He is taller than I am, and Harry is much stronger than I am. I was surprised I got him out of the water. I really thought he drowned, but after a minute of performing CPR, he began to breathe again," Hermione explained as she pulled the towel around herself tighter, trying to get dry. Mrs. Granger left the side of the bed, crossing over to a small rocking chair that was by the window. Upon it were several towels. Mrs. Granger bent over slowly, getting another white towel, handing it to Hermione as she returned to the bedside.
"Though it was very dangerous to leave him there, Hermione, you did do the right thing by coming to get your father and I. Why did he fall, exactly?" " Mrs. Granger asked.
Hermione blinked lightly as she rubbed her hair with the towel her mother gave her before wrapping it around her shoulders. "I am really not certain, but, I think it was his scar," Hermione said gently.
"His scar? Why would that hurt, and why would it cause him to fall from the tree?" Mrs. Granger asked. She seemed quite surprised by her daughter's statements.
"Mum, I told you how he got it. Harry has told me before that it hurts when…" Hermione began to explain before Harry groaned lightly as he fully opened his eyes. His scar throbbed with a small amount of pain as he tried to sit up. Reluctantly, Hermione and her mother let him sit up.
"How did I get back here?" Harry asked slowly, his voice wavering.
"I pulled you out of the water, surprisingly. You weren't breathing, and I was really frightened, so I tried performing CPR, and luckily you started to breathe again. Although I felt really bad about leaving you there on the grass, I had to run back here for help. I got my Dad, and he helped carry you back. That's what happened," Hermione explained quickly, talking very fast to avoid confrontation about her giving CPR to Harry. She wanted to avoid talking about having to practically kiss Harry to get him to breathe. She merely blushed at the thought. To her astonishment, Harry began to laugh lightly. "What do you find so funny?" Hermione asked.
Harry continued to laugh. "Thanks for just leaving me there, Hermione, where a wild animal could have attacked me or killed me," Harry joked.
"I had to! I can't carry you. I had not other…choice," Hermione said, stretching it out at the end as her own mother laughed as well. "Oh! You are both insufferable!" Hermione cried.
"Hermione, dear, please calm down. Harry was just kidding," Mrs. Granger said as she walked around the bed to Hermione's side. Mrs. Granger then spoke softly to her daughter as she put her hand upon Hermione's left shoulder. "I'm going to go scrounge up some lunch for everyone. We will talk later," she said. After speaking to Hermione, Mrs. Granger left the room swiftly. Harry could hear her go down the stairs. As he looked at the door, Hermione came into his line of sight.
"You're wet," he said softly.
"Well, I did jump into the lake and pull you out," Hermione said.
"I know. I just figured you would have dried off by now. How long have I been unconscious?" Harry asked.
Hermione blinked lightly as she sat in the edge of the bed near Harry's left hand. "A little more than an hour. I'm still wet because on the way back, it started to rain. Luckily my father got you inside before it began. I, however, got wet," Hermione said. Harry turned his head and looked outside. It was indeed raining. The pavement all around the neighborhood was damp from the rain, from what Harry could see. "Harry, can you please tell me what happened? Why did you fall from the tree?" Hermione asked slowly.
Harry looked back to her. He was very hesitant about telling her because he didn't want to see her share his pain. "It was your scar, wasn't it, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking at him curiously.
Harry nodded his head. "It was," he said as he looked away briefly. Hermione continued to watch him.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
Harry paused before answering. "That old tree, I have seen one like it before. I saw a tree that looked exactly like it the night Voldemort was restored to his body in the graveyard. The moment I realized it, my scar burned and I could here Voldemort's voice from that night. His anger from that night made my scar burn," Harry explained. Hermione sighed softly as she got up from sitting on the bed and crossed over to the large windows. With a quick twist of her hand as she grabbed the window locks, the window slid open, letting the cool evening breeze in. Harry smiled lightly as he sighed softly, relaxing.
"If we go back there before we go to stay at Ron's, you and I could use some type of burning spell to destroy that tree. Maybe I could look in some of my books that I bought in Italy. I could look for a spell to transfigure trees, or…" Hermione said before Harry interrupted quite suddenly.
"Hermione, it is alright. We will figure out something, so please calm down," Harry said. Hermione looked at him with a reassuring look before glancing back out the window. Something seemed to catch her interest for Hermione stared intently at whatever it was. "What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Something is coming this way," Hermione said just before four owls came soaring through the open window, startling Hermione and waking Hedwig from her sleep in her open cage. Three of the owls dropped packages down to Harry, while the fourth owl dropped a small letter. Harry recognized Pigwidgeon, Ron's owl, as it hooted loudly and flew quickly out the window. The others followed, soaring off into the rain. When Harry looked back at Hermione, she had a package in her hands, and she slowly put it down on top of the others. "Happy Birthday, Harry," Hermione said.
Harry was quite surprised. He had been so worried about leaving the Dursley's and getting to Hermione's house, he had forgotten that today was his birthday. He had been 15 years old for almost a whole day. Harry smiled lightly as Hermione brought the presents and the letter closer to him, within his reach.
"Open them," Hermione said as she sat on the edge of the bed next to Harry. Harry then reached forward and grabbed the small package that looked like a gift from Ron and his family. Indeed it was. Inside the box, Harry picked up two tickets, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and a bunch of Chocolate Frog packages. Attached to the two tickets was a small note. Harry read it aloud so Hermione could hear.
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday! I hope you like the gifts we sent. Mum insisted on baking a cake for you. It is also in the box. She is nuts, I tell you. You're probably wondering what the two tickets are for. One is for you; the other is for Hermione. The tickets are to a Wizard's Duel tournament in the second to last week before school starts again. Percy got the whole family tickets to go and watch. Dad even said that some of the Hogwart's professors would be competing. Hopefully Snape is in it, so someone else could kick his ruddy (Hermione greatly disapproved of the next few words that Ron wrote). I can't wait to see you and Hermione in two weeks. Maybe we can meet up at Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade some day before then.
Ron
"Wow, a real wizard's duel between some of our professors and other adult wizards. Fascinating!" Hermione exclaimed.
"How do you see it to be so fascinating? What I mean is, it will be exciting, but Voldemort is alive again. The Ministry of Magic should be trying to combat him, not hold a tournament to possibly make the number of his opponents less, since you can die in a duel," Harry explained thoroughly.
"I agree, Harry, but with Cornelius Fudge not believing that Voldemort is alive, he won't be worrying about the tournament," Hermione said.
Harry nodded his head as he grabbed Hermione's present. He quickly opened the box, surprised to see several items inside. There were two thick books and two small bottles, one glowing blue, the other glowing silver. "What are they?" Harry asked.
Hermione beamed as she opened her mouth to speak. "The blue bottle is a special oil that you use to polish your broomstick. It is supposed to be a special Quidditch oil that will make your broomstick give off a faint, blue glow when a bludger is near, so you have a better chance on not getting hit," Hermione explained. "Plus, it makes your broom look brand new."
"Hermione, this is really great. It will really help. Where did you find it?" Harry asked.
"I found them in a Quidditch shop in Italy. Don't worry because they'll becoming to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley soon. The silver oil is used to polish your wand with, and it gives off a faint, silver glow when danger is near," Hermione explained, a small smile on her lips. Harry was so amazed he was speechless. He then carefully set the bottles of oil aside as he pulled the two thick books from the box. The first was titled Powerful Curses, Hexes, and Spells. The second was titled Magical Cures for Everyday Use. Harry was greatly astonished. The look on his face gave Hermione the satisfaction that she bought him the perfect gifts.
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said, smiling lightly. He glanced back at the window. It was still raining hard, accompanied by thunder and the occasional lightning bolt. Harry turned his attention back to Hermione as she pushed the two remaining presents to him, the letter sliding with it. Harry bent over slightly and quickly opened them. Hagrid had sent him numerous sweets, along with a new, bigger bag to carry his schoolbooks in. The last big package, from Sirius, contained a large box of new ingredients that were used in new useful potions he would be doing in his upcoming years in Snape's class. Some containers of butterbeer were also included, and a small certificate to the Quiddtich Shop in Diagon Alley. When Harry looked up at Hermione, she seemed very interested in the small letter. Harry then quickly picked it up.
"It's addressed to both of us, Hermione," Harry said as he handed it to Hermione. She slowly took it from him, her hand lightly brushing his. Hermione and Harry both lightly blushed. Hermione blinked lightly as she slowly broke the Hogwart's seal. Before she could pull out the letter, two small silver stones fell out. At least, Harry thought they were stones. Hermione soon had them in her hand.
"Harry, they're Prefect badges," Hermione said slowly.