Good evening all,
I was able to post another chapter tonight after finishing up some homework. I will most likely be posting between two and three chapters per week, depending on my workload. I hope that you are enjoying the story and as always, please review! Your comments help to motivate me and the direction that the story takes.
P.S.
I still don't own Harry Potter, as J.K Rowling will never give it up. All I can do is play with the world she created for us to enjoy. All OCs are mine thought unless otherwise stated. Thank you, and happy reading!
Chapter 9
Harry followed Hermione's retreating form up the stairs as quickly as she could. Hermione was surprisingly quick for someone who wasn't a part of any athletic sport. Harry was quite fast due to her constant exercise and training regimen with Sirius and Regulus, but the bushy-haired girl ran like the wind!
Before Harry could stop her, Hermione slammed the door to her assigned bedroom shut and locked it behind her. She knew that Harry could unlock the door with a simple alohomora, but she wasn't really thinking straight at the moment.
"Mione," Harry called out to her from the other side of the door. "Can you let me in? I think we should talk."
Hermione was mortified! What was she thinking? How could she admit to Harry that she liked her? She knew that she had fallen for Harry when the younger girl had jumped on the back of the troll in their first year, but back then, Harry had been a boy.
It wasn't like Hermione was prejudiced in any way or anything, but what would everyone else think about her and Harry? Before she could reply, Harry was popped into the room by the family's house elf Kreature, surprising both teens, and placed a barrier around the door.
"Fix it!" Kreature sternly demanded of Harry. "Proper nobles do not make their mates cry."
The elderly elf pointedly vanished out of the room with a distinct pop before the two remaining occupants shyly made eye contact with one another.
'Mates?' thought Harry. 'What is that old elf on about?'
Harry carefully joined Hermione on the bed and gently squeezed her best friend's hand.
"Mione," Harry tentatively asked. "What's wrong? Why did you run away? Did you not mean what you said back there?"
"Oh, Harry," Hermione sighed. " Of course, I meant what I said. I'm sorry I ran away, but I suddenly felt trapped. I guess I just tried to run from my problems like I used to. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I'm more worried about you, Mione," Harry told her. "Yeah, my situation is weird, to say the least, but I've learned some things about myself and made some decisions that are pretty much going to affect my life and will continue to do so for quite a while."
"Well," Hermione said. "It's not like we can go anywhere anytime soon. It would appear that Kreature has locked in. Where would you like to start?
With that, Harry told Hermione everything that had happened since she had returned to the Dursleys that summer. She told her about the beatings, about how Sirius had saved her, and about how she learned that her real name was Harriet and that she was a metamorph.
Harry also told Hermione about all the different magic that she had learned by dueling with her godfather and how he had helped her to become an animagus! Hermione was amazed by Harry's phoenix form and couldn't help but reach out and stroke her beautiful feathers.
"Your gorgeous!" Hermione exclaimed while Harry puffed up her feathers in mock vanity. "Do you think you have a magical animagus form due to all of the tears that Faux used to save your life?"
Hearing that, Harry returned to her normal appearance and thought about the question. It sounded plausible, and the idea in itself had merit.
"You may be right, Mione," Harry agreed. "That is definitely something to bring up to Sirius and dive into some research."
"Perfect!" Hermione squealed with glee. "Who would have thought that the great Harry Potter would ever voluntarily dive into research? Are you sure that you're my Harry?"
"Always," smirked Harry causing Hermione to blush.
Harry finally finished her tale by telling Hermione about the memories and journals that her parents had left her. She told her how her mother and father were worried about Dumbledore marrying her off to one of his allies and that the Death Eaters might have tried the same thing. That was why they cast those enchantments on Harry in the first place. To protect her.
Harry finished her story and finally dropped the biggest news. She showed Hermione her betrothal ring and told her about the contract that Sirius helped to make between her and his son Regulus. By the end of the conversation, Hermione's head was spinning.
"So, what you're telling me is that to save yourself from being married off, you agreed to a betrothal contract between you and Regulus," Hermione bluntly stated. "The contract has several escape clauses so that you can cancel it if you change your mind, but the moment you do, Dumbledore could trap you in another in order to keep you "safe" from the dark families. Do I have that right?"
"Yes," Harry answered.
"What about me?" Hermione asked her best friend. "Where does that leave us, and what we want? You know that I love you after my little outburst, but what about you? Do you feel the same for me as I feel for you? If so, what can we do about it? Ugh! The wizarding world is so barbaric! Why do they have to be so difficult?! Why can't they catch up to the rest of the world?"
"Slow down, Mione," Harry laughed at her irate friend. "Of course, I love you. I think I always have. I didn't notice it until we saved Sirius together, but it's always been you. Everything else pales in comparison. What was it that you told me on our hunt for the sorcerer's stone? 'Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and –' What was that last thing? You never quite finished."
Hermione's face was now beat red at Harry's remembrance of her words, and she floundered for a distraction.
"Do you have to remember every I say?" Hermione's whispered in exasperation.
"I try," Harry remarked. "After all these years, you have become the voice of my conscience. "So, what was it? I'm waiting."
"Honestly, Harry!" Hermione huffed. "Fine. What I was going to say was that there are more important things, such as friendship, bravery, andlve…"
She had mumbled that last part quite quickly, and Harry hadn't been unable to understand what she had said.
"What was that?' Harry asked again, her curiosity peaked.
"Bloody hell!" Hermione finally shouted. "Love! Friendship, bravery, and love!"
With that said, she tackled Harry in a tight hug and planted a kiss directly onto her lips. Harry was frozen at her actions, and for a moment, Hermione thought that she was having second thoughts. For a second, she thought she had made a huge mistake!
Hermione started to pull away until Harry smoothly wrapped her arms around the bushy-haired girl and deepened the kiss that they were sharing. As their eyes were closed, lost in the kiss, they didn't notice the golden light that surrounded them or the house rumbling beneath them. Lost to their passion, Hermione pushed Harry onto her back and snogged her for the very first time.
With a sudden bang, the door was blasted off its hinges, and Sirius Black charged into the room with Remus and Regulus trailing behind him. After scanning the room for any threats, the trio began to look over the girls to make sure that they were alright.
"What happened in here?" Sirius asked with a smirk as the two teens jumped apart due to his sudden intrusion. "Where did that flash of light and the rumbling come from?"
"What?" Harry and Hermione asked in unison. "I didn't see any of that. Did you?"
It would have been comical if this had been any other time. The two were speaking as one and reminded Remus of a certain pair of Weasley twins.
"Sweet Merlin!" Remus exclaimed as he pointed to their hands. "They've been bonded!"
Sure enough, on the ring finger of their left hands were matching golden runes of love, spirit, and eternity. These strange runic symbols displayed the magical bond between Harry and Hermione for all to see. This was the equivalent of a marriage in the eyes of magic.
"No way!" Sirius crowed. "This is the best prank ever! Now no one can touch Hermione without repercussions as she is protected by house Potter."
"Does this mean that the betrothal is no longer necessary?" Hermione hopefully asked the old marauder.
"Ah," Sirius sighed. " I see that Harry has shared her story with you. Unfortunately, no. Magical society is very patriarchal, and a male is needed to solidify any marriage legally. However, as the two of you are now attached, Hermione is automatically added to the betrothal agreement and protected from any unwanted attention. With this surprising news, both Hermione and Harry are tied to the betrothal through House Potter and Reggie through House Black. If anyone attacks either one of you, Reggie and I will legally be allowed to go after them and seek justice. Also, if anyone tries to intervene with the betrothal, they can be charged with attempted line theft. That in itself is 15 years in Azkaban."
"Blimey," Hermione sighed as she leaned into Harry. "I think I need a moment."
With that, Hermione rushed off to the library in order to get her mind in order and come to terms with their latest situation. Sirius and Remus left the room and repaired the door on their way out. Sirius winked at Harry before leading Remus back to his office.
"Well," Regulus teased his betrothed. "That could have gone worse."
"Tell me about it," Harry agreed. "On the plus side, I learned that we both love each other."
"That's great, Harry!" Regulus exclaimed as he embraced her in a friendly hug. "I'm glad for you. I kept my fingers crossed the whole time that you were up here. That light show sure was something else. I can't believe that you didn't notice it! Something good must have been going on behind those closed doors!"
"Why you!" Harry mocked-threatened. "If you must know, I was appropriately distracted at the time."
"I can only imagine," Regulus said with a wink. "How about you go and check on your little bookworm? From what you have told me about Hermione, she is probably getting herself unnecessarily worried right about now."
After more light ribbing from her betrothed, Harry headed out of the room to make sure that Hermione was ok. Regulus told her that he would be going downstairs to check on his mother and to see if she needed any help chasing out the guests that still remained.
As Regulus departed, Harry quickly made her way up to the library to find Hermione. Her betrothed was right. If left too long to her own devices, the bushy-haired girl would let her mind carry her off in Merlin knows how many different directions.
What Harry found when she finally entered the library made her smile. Hermione had placed herself into the loveseat and had wrapped herself with a seventh addition Hogwarts: A History, that had rested on one of the shelves and had fallen asleep.
Harry couldn't help but admire how cute her friend looked as she gently took the book from her hand and placed it on the end table. After setting the book down, Harry returned to Hermione's side and, very carefully, brushed her hair off of her face. The sleeping girl stirred but remained asleep, softly muttering under her breath.
Harry leaned closer to hear what she was saying and was surprised to hear her name being whispered over and over again. Red in the face, Harry removed the blanket from the back of the loveseat and draped it over Hermione's body. She placed a gentle kiss on the girl's cheek and sat in the chair beside her, watching her as she slept until she finally drifted off to her own pleasant dreams.
