Disclaimer: I own no part of this story except for the plot and spell work. J. K. Rowling owns everything else, including dozens of hours of my life that I am dedicating to this story.
Chapter 22: Hermione's Troubles
Hermione was running late and she frantically pulled a sweater over her head to guard her from the cold. Hermione's gaze settled on the large "R" that had been embroidered on the maroon sweater and suddenly realized that the sweater had been Ron's. Mrs. Weasley had made him that sweater last Christmas and Ron had given it to Hermione. However, instead of the thought bringing her to tears as she thought it would, Hermione smiled as she remembered how much Ron had hated the sweater. Mrs. Weasley always insisted on making Ron a maroon sweater and, after receiving the same color for seven years in a row, Ron had gotten angry and tossed the sweater to Hermione, telling her she could have it if she wanted.
"Besides, what am I going to do with another one? She's given me the same color since our first year and I still haven't outgrown the one from last year. It's yours if you want it Hermione, toss it in the bin if you don't."
Hermione had enjoyed the sweater and, though the color clashed horribly with most of what she had to wear, Hermione found herself wearing the sweater more than she wore anything else. It was a constant reminder of Ron and Hermione hadn't ever wanted to forget him and the wonderful times they had spent together.
"Maybe I need to wear it more often. Who knows, it might help with the pain. It sure can't make it any worse."
Hermione wouldn't ever admit to Harry, or anyone else, how much Ron's death had affected her, but was also sure that Harry knew about it anyway. Harry had hidden enough pain within himself to be able to see the signs of what Hermione was going through and had to know how much pain she was actually in.
"He's seen way too much for someone his age, and I don't think that the experiences are going to stop anytime soon."
Still, at least everyone else thought that Hermione was okay and Hermione wanted to keep it that way. It wasn't that Hermione didn't want their support, but the simple fact that they couldn't do anything to help her. Her healing process was just going to take time, and lots of it. Harry knew this, which was why he didn't try to make things better for her, but Hermione knew that the Weasley's wouldn't be able to let the healing happen naturally. While Hermione did appreciate the Weasleys' loyalty, Hermione knew that this wasn't their problem, but hers, and Hermione had to learn to deal with it.
The muggle clock on the wall chimed and Hermione cursed underneath her breath.
"I promised Harry and Ginny that I would have been there five minutes ago."
Hermione finished getting ready before grabbing her wand and disapparating to the Burrow.
Upon arriving at the Burrow, Hermione heard voices coming from the dining room. As Hermione entered the room, she watched silently as Ginny jumped up and down, unsuccessfully trying to hex Harry. Hermione instantly recognized a silencing charm when she saw one and immediately knew that Harry had cast it.
"But how did he? George is holding his wand."
Hermione watched as Bill threatened Harry and felt her jaw drop as Harry reversed the charm easily.
"He…He did it without a wand. Harry didn't need a wand to reverse the charm."
If Hermione had been surprised then, she was downright amazed as she watched what happened next. Ginny suddenly moved forward and threw a spell at Harry. Hermione couldn't tell what Ginny had said, but recognized the spell as a Full Body Bind by the way Ginny had moved her wand. Hermione waited for Harry to hit the ground; it served him right, tricking Ginny like that.
Instead, Hermione watched as Harry's hand flew up impossibly fast and suddenly the spell had changed directions and was now flying towards Ginny. Hermione watched as Ginny's eyes flew open in surprise, right before her arms and legs locked up and she hit the ground with a thud.
The entire room fell silent as everyone regarded Harry with surprise and awe. Hermione heard several members of the Weasley family try and put together enough words for a response and watched as Harry muttered the countercurse and smiled as Ginny wrapped him tightly in a hug.
"Harry you did it! I'm so proud of you—I can't believe it—you were so fast, it was unbelievable—and without a wand too!"
Hermione smiled knowing that, if anyone knew what had actually happened, it was Ginny of course, and, by the looks of things, what ever Harry had done had been extremely difficult and important.
"Harry, I think you have some explaining to do."
Every head in the room swiveled to where Hermione was standing in the doorway. Hermione felt nervous under the gaze of so many people and briefly wondered how Harry was able to put up with it all of the time.
Harry smiled at her and replied happily, "There you are Hermione. For a second I thought you had stood us up."
The Weasleys all came forward and Hermione soon found herself fiercely hugged by every member of the Weasley family. After one would finish, they would pass her on to the next person waiting in line. Though Hermione did enjoy the love and attention the Weasleys were giving her, she couldn't help but wonder how much Harry had told the Weasleys about this morning.
"Hermione dear, it's so good to see you. We don't get to see you near as much as we'd like to," Mrs. Weasley said after releasing Hermione.
Hermione gave Mrs. Weasley a heartfelt smile and figured that she would at try and stop by the Burrow at least once a week from now on out. Hermione was tired of avoiding everything that reminded her of Ron and was ready to get on with life.
Hermione continued around the room, accepting hugs and smiles from all of the Weasley boys, before turning back to Harry.
"Don't think that you're getting away from me that easily Harry Potter.
Harry jumped guiltily and Hermione watched as he hurriedly removed his hand from Ginny's. Sometime during the confusion of Hermione's entry, Harry must have taken hold of Ginny's hand and had been unprepared for everyone's attention being suddenly focused on him again. The twins chuckled, Bill turned red, and Charlie cracked his knuckles menacingly before Mrs. Weasley stepped in.
"Charlie Weasley don't you dare threaten Harry. I've had enough of this nonsense. It's not like you haven't seen any of your other brothers with their girlfriends and I noticed that you never had this attitude with Hermione. Let Harry and Ginny enjoy the time they have together and mind your own business. I know that you are extremely protective of Ginny, but I can assure you that Ginny couldn't have chosen a better man in all of Britain. And that goes for you too Bill Weasley."
Harry, Bill, and Charlie all flushed red with embarrassment and Hermione watched as Bill and Charlie muttered a near inaudible apology to Harry who was still looking at Mrs. Weasley in shock. Hermione nearly laughed at Harry's expression.
"He's so modest that he doesn't realize that what Mrs. Weasley is saying is the truth. Harry has done more than most wizards three times his age have done, and he still has so much to do. The fact that he can do all of this and still find time to be with Ginny speaks volumes for the love he has for her. Neither Ginny nor Harry could ask for anyone better."
The room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence and Hermione decided to save Harry from his embarrassment.
"Okay Harry, enough stalling. Who taught you wandless magic and what spell did you use to move so fast?"
Harry gave a short laugh, "Straight to the point as always Hermione, and ten points to Gryffindor for correctly identifying the use of wandless magic."
Hermione smiled and she suddenly realized how much she missed Hogwarts. Hogwarts had been her life for the past seven years, even when she was at home during the summers. Before getting her Hogwarts letter, Hermione had always felt out of place at school. She hadn't had any friends and everyone else always seemed to distance themselves from her. Even Hermione's teachers seemed reluctant to come near her. Hermione hadn't ever understood what had driven them away until she had found out that she was a witch. Suddenly everything made sense; why she felt so out of place learning things like long division—which she had mastered in two days of course—why she couldn't ever make any friends, and how she had made Jimmy Waters run screaming from the room as he suddenly sprouted pink bunny ears from his head.
When she had first arrived at Hogwarts, Hermione had thought she had made a mistake going there. She still didn't make any friends and nearly a quarter of the school hated her just for being a Muggleborn witch. The other three-quarters of the school didn't like her for being an "insufferable know it all." Hermione had been on the verge of just saying to hell with it all and going home when the fateful event on Halloween had occurred. Hermione suddenly found that she had two friends, who were some of the most popular students in her year. Harry and Ron had taken Hermione in as if she had been with them since the first day of school and Hermione found herself happy with who she was for the first time in her life.
Since then, years had passed, but Hogwarts had still remained her home away from home. With the death of her parents, Hermione had grown even closer to the school and had wished that her days of learning there might never end. But everything has to end sooner or later, and Hermione now found herself in the process of creating a new life, one without Hogwarts as anchor in it.
Hermione looked up and realized that, sometime during her thoughts, Harry had taken Ginny's hand in his again. Hermione watched as Bill's eyes narrowed when he saw their clasped hands, but was surprised to see that Harry didn't let go. Instead he held on tightly, as if trying to prove to Bill that he wasn't going to let Ginny go. Bill's frown turned into a smile and nodded his head in approval of Harry.
"So Harry, are you going to tell us what happened or are we going to have to force it out of you," Fred said as he and George raised their wands.
Harry smiled and replied easily, "I'd like to see you try."
Fred and George exchanged excited looks and started whispering to one another.
"Plan five then?"
"Nah, to risky. What about seven?"
"Seven! Do you remember what happened last time we tried to use seven?"
"Yeah but I fixed that problem remember…and the tail fell off after a week anyway."
"Relax guys, I'll come clean and tell you," Harry said with a smile. "You might want to take a seat; this will probably take a while."
After everyone had gotten settled, Harry started speaking. "Nearly a month ago, Professor Dumbledore asked me to start coming to Hogwarts every night so that he could train me in magic that I wouldn't learn at the Ministry. I accepted the offer of course and, since then, I have been working on mastering two abilities. The first of which, and most noticeable, is the use of wandless magic. I have been working with Albus with wandless magic for almost two weeks now and have steadily progressed from very simple magic to the mirror spell I performed today. Albus admitted to me that he can't do much when it comes to wandless magic, but he was sure that I would be able to do much more. I didn't believe him at first, but today's experiences have proven to me that he may be right."
"The other branch of magic Albus is teaching me is very rare. No witch or wizard has been able to master it since Godric Gryffindor himself and I still find it extremely difficult to believe that I am fortunate enough to have this ability."
Harry paused, enjoying the dramatic effect that it created. Unable to help himself, Harry suddenly asked, "So…when's supper?"
After several loud outbursts and a swat on the back of the head by Ginny, Harry chuckled and continued. "I have the ability to affect time while remaining unaffected. In theory, I can slow down, speed up, and stop time entirely with enough concentration. Though I haven't completely developed all of the skills yet, I have been able to successfully slow down time enough for me to cast an extra spell or at least get a shield up."
Harry stopped and waited for the inevitable questions to follow. Suddenly, they were all speaking at once and Harry struggled to keep track of who had asked what. However, rather than Harry speaking, it was Mr. Weasley's voice that was heard first.
"Harry, perhaps it would be best if you told us exactly what happened when Ginny attacked you. It would probably answer most of our questions and anyone else that has questions can ask them afterwards."
Harry nodded and mentally went over what had happened earlier. "Well, when George took my wand, I knew that I had to do something to keep Ginny from telling mine and Ron's darkest secrets. As you probably guessed, I used wandless magic to place the silencing charm on Ginny and again to reverse the charm. That much was easy; I had practiced simple spells like that without a wand before.
"It wasn't until Ginny threw the Full Body Bind at me did I realize how much I had actually learned. Before I really knew what was happening, a part of my mind had already separated itself from my consciousness and began to work on slowing down time. It all seemed second nature at the time and I didn't even have to focus on what it was doing; I just knew it would work. I watched as the spell slowed down and used the extra time to build up my magical core. Wandless magic isn't like regular magic. You don't have a magic focus that automatically directs magic from your core, you must instead do it all by yourself. I hadn't ever used anything as complex as a Mirror Curse with wandless magic before and wasn't sure how much magic it would take so I took the extra time to make sure I had enough. Once I had more than enough magic stored, I recited the incantation in my mind and channeled the magic down my arm. Suddenly, time automatically went back to normal and I found out that everything worked out exactly the way it was supposed to. I guess that the portion of my consciousness that affects time was somehow able to sense that there were no more active threats at the time and knew that it was safe to stop affecting time. Or maybe I just ran out of energy; I'm not really sure."
Harry shrugged his shoulders, acting as if everything was normal and Hermione almost started screaming at him. Didn't he realize how important this was? Couldn't he see how big of an asset he could be for the Order? How couldn't he see how big this was? Hermione opened her mouth to tell Harry this, but it was Mr. Weasley that spoke first.
"Well Harry, this is quite a surprise. I can't say that I quite expected this on Christmas, but I am pleased nonetheless. You will be a wonderful asset to the Order."
Harry nodded, knowing that it was time for him to begin using his talents in the field. Today's experience had proven that Harry was ready for action and, though he had not completely mastered his new abilities, Harry knew that he needed to be in situations where things were on the line and he had to depend only on his abilities.
"Yes sir, I know. It's time for me to take the fight to Voldemort."
"I am sorry that you have to be the one to shoulder this burden Harry — and stop calling me mister. It's Arthur to you now; you have long since proven that you are an adult. Titles like Mr. and sir have no place here."
"Yes sir, Arthur," Harry said with a smile. Mr. Weasley let out a sigh and shook his head but looked happier than Hermione had seen him in a long while. It really was nice to see how Christmas brought everyone together and how happy it made everyone.
Hermione sighed, once again wishing that Ron was here, before settling her gaze on the two people who had just walked through the door.
"Hello everyone. Am I too late for supper?"
"Remus!" Ginny squealed.
Hermione looked at Remus and saw how ragged the man looked. Last night had been a full moon and Remus had said that he wouldn't be able to make Christmas dinner today because of it. Still, no matter how worn Remus looked, his arrival was a pleasant surprise that took Hermione's mind away from thoughts of Ron.
"Remus, you look terrible," Mrs. Weasley said tactlessly.
"I can assure you Molly, I've looked much worse. This is one of my better days actually."
"I'm sure you have Remus, but I do believe that it is time we got some food in you. You haven't had a bite to eat since yesterday morning."
Hermione smiled as she heard Dumbledore's kind yet firm words that left no question for debate. Harry smiled as he walked forward and greeted Dumbledore and Remus. It really was amazing how mature Harry looked now. Hermione still remembered the First Year Harry that had saved her from the troll. The Harry that was smiling and chatting casually with Remus and Dumbledore hardly even resembled the same person anymore and Hermione found her thoughts drifting back to their first year again. Hermione cursed under her breath as the thoughts inevitably led back to Ron, the one person that Hermione was trying to avoid thinking about.
Hermione sighed as Mrs. Weasley called out that supper was ready. Yes Christmas had brought everyone back to the Burrow — all except one.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Preparations for college are catching up with me faster than I expected them to. I've got more work to do over the next three weeks than I have done all summer. Oh well, at least there's always time for Harry Potter. Sorry this chapter was a little short but I promise that I'll make it up to you on the next, the final Christmas chapter, so until then, adios.