Disclaimer: Val, if you're reading this, I'm not Mark Zuckerberg. Please stop telling everyone I'm Mark Zuckerberg. Oh yeah, also, I don't own Harry Potter. If I was Mark Zuckerberg, I would buy Harry Potter. And fix it. But alas…I am not Mark Zuckerberg.
Chapter 34
Harry snapped his eyes open on a brisk September morning earlier than he usually did. He sat up straight and stretched, a triumphant grin on his face. None of his fellow third-years had even begun to stir, and a glance at the watch he'd gotten for his birthday told him it was just before seven.
Speaking of birthdays, today just so happened to be September 19th – Hermione's fourteenth big day. His smile widened even further as he rolled out of bed about as gracefully as a blind hippogriff and opened his trunk. Reaching past a mountain of books, his Invisibility Cloak, and a myriad of other school supplies, he extracted a small black box the size of a cocktail napkin. It was emblazoned with three words in silver font – Harry Winston Jewelers.
Admiring the parcel with pride for a moment, he gently placed it in the pocket of his jeans before pulling on his black hoodie. He uselessly ran a hand through his hair before slinking out of his dormitory and down the marble staircase to the common room. He made his way towards his and Hermione's usual couch – where they'd done a plethora of studying already this year – and made himself comfortable, lying on his back and crossing his ankles with his fingers laced behind his back.
For a moment, he enjoyed the tranquil silence, save the occasional pop and crack from the fireplace in front of him. Silence had been hard to come by in the first couple of weeks of his third year, and he was grateful for an opportunity to truly relax.
The dementors alone had made life unpleasant for Harry. Apparently, fainting out of fright in the middle of a train corridor doesn't go unnoticed, and from the moment he and Hermione had entered the Great Hall the first night he'd been the subject of all kinds of taunts about his unexpected nap from his fellow students, mostly Slytherins.
It was nice to have his peers constantly defend him, so it wasn't all bad. The Twins had taken to flicking food at Malfoy, the main perpetrator of mocking Harry, every single meal, no matter how many points they lost their house. Additionally, his fellow never hesitated to retaliate with insults towards anyone who hurled any unkind words at Harry – Seamus and Dean were surprisingly creative in teasing Malfoy for certain body parts of his and their…lackluster qualities.
Even classes themselves were off to a good start for Harry – well, besides being told he was going to die in Divination. His summer surge of doing homework while battling his feelings for Hermione had ended up producing some of his best work yet – Snape even gave him an O on his essay on Shrinking Solutions, albeit begrudgingly. His essays for Transfiguration and Charms had earned him twenty points apiece, much to his housemates' delight and Hermione's pride.
Speaking of Hermione, a familiar patter of light footsteps was making its way down one of the marble staircases. Harry quickly sat up straight, digging the black box out of his pocket and leaping to his feet. He felt his lips curl up into a genuine smile as Hermione traipsed down the steps into the common room, yawning.
"Good morning, birthday girl." Harry greeted her. She blinked a bit, then beamed at him.
"Oh, Harry!" She cried out, clapping her hands over her chest. Even from across the room he saw her eyes light up, and his heart fluttered at the sight. They stood in silence for a beat, then, she moved so fast Harry swore he saw a blurred trail of brown hair and pajamas behind her. He barely had time to open his arms before she crashed into him as if she wanted to send him flying into the fireplace behind him. He stumbled a bit, laughing merrily despite gasping for air as Hermione squeezed him like her life depended on it.
"Did you think I'd forget or something?" He asked as he leaned his cheek against her hair.
"Of course not." She pulled back, her smile looking particularly dazzling. She hopped up to give him the briefest of kisses on the cheek before stepping back with a blush, pointing to the box in his hand. "What's in there?"
"Why don't you find out?" Harry held it out to her, sitting back down on the couch as he rubbed his bruised ribs. Hermione followed suit, her eyes widening as she read the words.
"Harry…" She whispered, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. "Harry, you didn't." She lifted her head to stare at him, as if asking him to tell her the box was a practical joke. Harry just shrugged, and she blinked a tear out of her eye.
"There's actually something in the box, if you want to – ow! Okay, that's fair." He smirked as he rubbed the shoulder Hermione had just punched. "Take your time."
Hermione began biting her bottom lip as she carefully undid the silver ribbon around the box, carefully laying it on the coffee table in front of them. Then, slowly, she lifted the lid.
"Harry!" She gasped, almost dropping the box. "Is this real?" He nodded, watching carefully as she ran a hand along the velvet lining.
"Do you like it?" He asked shyly, his smile suddenly faltering. Hermione was staring at the box with all kinds of emotions in her eyes. She didn't speak at first, then slowly turned the box to him.
"Harry…" She whispered, unable to blink the tears in her eyes out of her eyes. He instinctively moved to brush one off her cheek, and she darted a hand out, clutching his hand tightly. "Harry I love it."
"I honestly don't know the first thing about jewelry." He confessed. "But I saw that necklace in the window of this store in Cannes, the day we all went shopping, and I just had this idea. It was like I'd been struck by lightning, and I knew I had to give this to you."
"It's gorgeous, Harry." She reached into the box and carefully extracted a silver chain, watching the deep blue sapphire dangle from the end. It was a few centimeters in diameter, laid into a small circular piece of silver.
"I thought it made sense to get you a sapphire." He held his hand out, and Hermione happily pressed the necklace into his open palm, letting her fingers linger on his skin for a moment. "Because it's your birthstone." Hermione beamed at him, nodding slowly. "But also…" He lifted it, turning so that the silver back of the pendant faced Hermione.
"Are those…" She leaned in close to read what had been engraved.
"Coordinates." Harry nodded. "For Sapphire Park."
Hermione's jaw dropped, and Harry felt his heart slow. He partially expected her to laugh. He was proud of the sentimentality he'd managed to come up with, but he wasn't sure what she'd think. If he was as clever as her he knew would have come up with something better. Her surprise quickly gave way to unfettered delight and she wrapped him up in another bone-crushing hug. Harry felt like he was in the presence of an anti-Dementor – every inch of his body suddenly felt like it was bursting with liquid happiness, and he broke out into a giant smile.
"I just figured, we have so many good memories there, it seemed like a nice touch – "
"It's perfect, Harry." She cut him off, squeezing him even tighter. Harry happily leaned his cheek into her hair, pulling her close. After a long time, which Harry still thought was too short, she relinquished her vice grip on him. "It's loads better than my other necklace."
"Yeah, well…" Harry snorted. "At least that one lets you travel through time. This one's just a plain old pendant."
"Nothing to do with you is plain old anything." Hermione beamed. "Do you mind?" She asked, turning away from him and pulling her frizzy mane over her shoulders. Harry carefully laid the necklace over her, fastening the clasp and letting it rest on her neck. He watched her turn back to face him, her fingers playing with the gem absent-mindedly.
"You don't have to wear it." Harry said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry if it's a bit much…or if it's not enough, I don't really – "
"Do you ever listen to me?" Hermione shook her head in amusement, flickering her gaze between him and the pendant. "It's perfect, Harry. P-E-R-F-E-C-T. Perfect."
Harry gave a grateful smile, reaching out and taking her hand in his. "For the perfect person."
"I cannot believe you got this for me." She whispered, still smiling brightly. Harry was grateful that footsteps began descending into the common room because he wasn't entirely sure what to say next. He and Hermione turned to see Lavender and Pavarti traipse into the common room, looking particularly groggy. "What are you two doing up so early on a Sunday?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Well, we were planning on waking you up with a nice loud 'Happy Birthday Hermione!'" Pavarti huffed. "But you have this infuriating tendency to get up unreasonably early."
"So, we assumed you'd be down here. Hi, Harry, by the way." Lavender flashed Harry a quick smile before turning back to Hermione. The boy wizard gave a confused wave. "We just thought we'd give you your gifts."
"You guys got me gifts?" Hermione gasped.
"What are friends for?" Pavarti beamed, and they each handed her a perfectly-wrapped parcel. Lavender had gotten Hermione a set of eagle-feather quills that never needed to be dipped in ink. To Harry, they seemed like pencils with extra steps, but he kept his mouth shut. Pavarti had gotten Hermione a Polaroid camera. "My sister's in Ravenclaw, and she had one of the seventh-years who's really brilliant bewitch it. It prints magical moving pictures, without needing to develop them." She explained with a proud smile.
Hermione leapt off the couch and happily embraced both her friends, who happily returned the favor. Harry caught locked eyes with both of them and flashed them an appreciative thumbs-up, which only made their smiles widen.
"Do you two want a picture taken?" Lavender asked as the three girls finally separated. Hermione blushed and turned to Harry, who shrugged.
"Why not?" Harry grinned, pushing himself to his feet and wrapping an arm around Hermione's shoulders.
"Say cheese!" Pavarti giggled, snapping a photo of the two. A small light flashed and then a small photograph was printed out of the camera, still mostly blank. "Magic can't fix everything. It'll be a few minutes." Pavarti shrugged, but Hermione insisted that she didn't mind waiting as she took the camera and the slowly developing picture.
"Well, we're off to the library. We're studying for Divination." Lavender beamed.
"Trelawney says I can be a Seer one day!" Pavarti excitedly rubbed her hands together. "Anyway, I suppose we'll see you at breakfast. Happy birthday, Hermione!" She gave one last smile before making her way to the portrait hole. Lavender hung back for a moment, pursing her lips together.
"Is something wrong?" Harry raised an eyebrow in concern. Lavender ignored him, staring at Hermione. Her eyes wandered downwards and caught sight of the necklace, and she beamed at the pair.
"I knew it." She said triumphantly.
"What?" Harry was now feeling more confused than anything.
"How long?" She ignored Harry's query. The pair stood in befuddled silence for a moment.
"Lavender! Hurry up!" Pavarti hollered from across the common room. The blonde Gryffindor let out a sigh, but not before flashing the pair another knowing smile before bouncing towards the portrait hole.
"What just happened?" Harry turned to Hermione, who was blushing furiously.
"I think Lavender might have figured it out."
"Figured what out?"
"Us."
"Oh, yeah." Harry couldn't help but break out into an amused smile. "I keep forgetting..."
"You keep forgetting that we still haven't told anyone?" Hermione giggled, and Harry followed suit, laughing merrily as he fell back onto the couch. Hermione plopped down next to him, still tittering as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I mean, I was going to, on the train. Then, certain events sort of…happened." Harry trailed off.
"And the other eighteen days we've been at Hogwarts?" Hermione smirked. Harry rolled his eyes, and Hermione just stuck her tongue out at him.
"Well, first Trelawney told me I was going to die. So that kind of killed the mood for the morning. Then Malfoy got sliced like a loaf of bread by Buckbeak."
"So that's the second day."
"Okay, well, I've had an ungodly number of Quidditch practices since then. It's hard to say 'Hey, by the way, you know that Hermione girl? Bushy brown hair, dazzling smile, really pretty face?' while I'm zooming around the pitch with Wood breathing down my neck about how it's his last chance."
"Flattery is going to get you nowhere." Hermione sighed, unable to subdue her blush.
"Well, how come you haven't spoken up? You're more than welcome to tell everyone too, you know."
"I suppose I could." Hermione said pensively. "Honestly, I feel like at least some people should have realized by now."
"You'd be surprised at how dense people can be." Harry smirked. Hermione giggled and nuzzled her head against his shoulder, sighing contentedly. "Anything you want to do for your big day?" Harry asked. "I actually have the day off from Quidditch and we don't have any classes."
"I think I would like to just sit here and enjoy the moment for a bit." Hermione smiled, and Harry nodded. He was hoping she'd say that. He couldn't think of anything that could possibly top the blissful tranquility that had covered them like a blanket. Speaking of which, he flicked his wand, muttering a familiar incantation, and levitated a nearby blanket over top of them. Hermione hummed in appreciation and scooted even closer to him, closing her eyes with a pleased smile on her face.
"As you wish." Harry grinned, letting himself sink into the couch cushions.
Almost an hour later, nearly every Gryffindor had filtered through the common room on their way to breakfast. Everyone else from their year had popped by the couch, dropping off birthday presents for Hermione. Ron had gotten her a box of various sweets, Seamus a copy of Exploding Snap For Scaredy-Cats with a voucher for Flourish and Blotts tucked between the pages, Neville got her a copy of Notable Magical Names of Our Time, and Dean had a similar mindset to Lavender and had gotten a set of no-ink quills – these ones with the feathers of Giant Storm Petrels.
"I've read about these birds!" Hermione gasped in excitement as she fiddled with the feathers. "They're native to a magical school in Japan, where some students don't board on the premises. They're these gorgeous birds the size of hippogriffs, and the younger students climb on their backs and fly on them every day, to and from the school. The school itself is called the Mahoutokoro School of Magic, it's an enormous ancient pagoda on a volcanic island. The students there go on to be some of the brightest in the world, and their Quidditch players are some of the best. The building might be nearly as old as Hogwarts – it's just bursting with history! Thank you, Dean, now that I have these I've remembered how much I want to read up on Mahoutokoro!"
"Uh…cool." Dean said, his tone similar to what one uses when they say something like 'Sir, this is a Wendy's.' "I'm headed down to breakfast." He added awkwardly before heading out.
"I think you might have scared him." Harry chuckled, and Hermione just huffed.
"Don't mock my interests."
"Oh, I won't. I'm one of them, after all, aren't I?"
"You're unbelievable." She muttered, failing at her attempt to hide her smile. "Oh, I nearly forgot!" She suddenly leaned forward, plucking something off of the coffee table next to her pile of presents. "Our picture!"
Harry leaned in with interest and smiled fondly at the sight of himself and Hermione. They were each smiling at the camera, Harry with his arm around Hermione's shoulders as she leaned into his side affectionately. Suddenly, they both turned towards each other, gazing into each other's eyes. Harry felt his breath hitch as he looked at his own expression, how he was staring at Hermione. He looked at her like she had just handed him a thousand Galleons.
"So that's what I look like…" He whispered to himself.
"You have seen a mirror before, right?"
"I meant…that's what I look like when I look at you." He gave a shy smile. "I've never seen myself with that expression before. I just look so…happy."
"Oh, Harry!" Hermione whimpered, throwing her arms around him with a ferocity that literally took his breath away. He managed to weakly pat her on the back in return, smiling to himself. "For what it's worth, every time you look at me like that I feel something similar."
Harry smiled into her hair, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head.
"I think it's time we head down to breakfast." Hermione beamed at him, and Harry nodded, folding up the blanket and returning it to the chest it had been lying on earlier. Hermione dashed up to her dormitory to deposit her gifts before returning to the otherwise empty common room, slipping her hand into his.
They happily strolled through the corridors on the way to the Great Hall, until they heard a familiar voice.
"Harry! Hermione!"
The pair turned and broke into gigantic smiles as a familiar face skipped over to them, clutching a parcel covered in pink and white wrapping paper.
"Good morning, Luna!" Hermione beamed enthusiastically.
"Happy birthday!" The Ravenclaw returned the smile, thrusting the present into Hermione's hands. "I thought you might like these." She said dreamily.
"Wow, thank you so much Luna!" Hermione looked nothing but pleasantly surprised as she began delicately removing the wrapping paper. "This is really nice of you."
"Anything for a friend." She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet eagerly. "My dad says these will help you spot Wrackspurts. They're these invisible little creatures that hover around your ears. I thought, since how much you're determined to be focused in all of your classes, it would help you concentrate."
"Erm…wow!" Hermione offered, examining the glasses in the box with great interest. They were pink, with gigantic eyes painted over the lenses. Harry thought they would make Hermione look like a demented, multi-colored owl, but said nothing.
"They're called Spectrespecs." Luna explained as if that solved any bit of confusion. "They come in quite handy. Anyway, I'm off to breakfast." The blonde turned to skip merrily away.
"Luna!" Harry blurted. "Do you…want to walk with us?" He said rather awkwardly. Hermione flashed him a proud smile and squeezed his hand. To Harry, it only seemed fair to offer after such a nice gift. After their unusual introduction on the Hogwarts Express, they'd seen Luna in the corridors and in the library and always offered cheerful greetings, which she always returned.
"I'd love that!" Luna grinned, moving next to Hermione and happily launching into a spiel about creatures called Nargles all the way until she darted off towards the Ravenclaw table. Harry looked over and saw a few of her housemates watching her walk with him and Hermione with great interest, and felt a bit of satisfaction when a few moved closer to her to talk to her.
"You really are sweet." Hermione whispered to him. He glanced at her to see she was also watching Luna make a few friends with a content smile on her face. Harry squeezed her hand and led her towards the rest of the Gryffindor Gang.
"Got any grand plans for your birthday?" Ron asked as the pair sat down across from him.
"She wants you all to come watch her fly on the Quidditch pitch." Harry snickered, and Hermione sent him a not-so-playful elbow.
"Absolutely not." She huffed at him before turning back to their expectant friends. "I'm not sure. I think I'd just like to relax. I've got a bit of Arithmancy homework to catch up on. And I'm sure some of you need help with that Lupin essay."
"You really think we'd bother you to help us with schoolwork on your birthday?" Dean raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, Hermione, how low do you think of us?" Seamus snorted. "We had Harry swipe your essay yesterday so we can copy it. That way we wouldn't be badgering you today."
Hermione turned to glare at Harry, who in turn was glaring at Seamus. "You what?" She hissed, white-knuckling his hand under the table.
"I…I have no idea what he's t-talking about." Harry was trying very hard not to look at Hermione while his friends snickered at him.
The rest of breakfast proceeded normally enough, and Hermione seemed to silently forgive Harry for his transgression. After a morning of studying in the library and an equally pleasant lunch, the two of them traipsed out to the Hogwarts Grounds, settling down on a patch of grass to read. They were alone outside except for another pair of students who were hurrying in the opposite direction.
"I seriously can't believe you have the willpower to do homework on your birthday." Harry shook his head in amusement as he opened his copy of The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"I suppose that's what happens when you take twelve classes." Hermione sighed. Harry shrugged, redirecting his eyes to reading about Redcaps. "What do you think of Lupin?" She asked after a few minutes of reading her Arithmancy book.
"He's brilliant." Harry said automatically. "Honestly, I know it's not much to go on, but he's the best Defense professor we've ever had. The Boggart lesson was amazing, even if I didn't get to go."
"I'm rather upset too. I wanted to see how I fared." Hermione sighed wistfully. "Do you suppose he didn't want everyone to see You-Know-Who waltz out of the wardrobe?"
"I don't think mine would have been Voldemort." Harry said shyly. He glanced up to see Hermione tilt her head in curiosity before parting her lips in a silent 'ah' of realization.
"That dementor was horrible. I don't blame you."
"What do you think your Boggart would have been?" Harry fidgeted, hoping to talk about literally anything else.
"Oh, I don't know. I suppose it might have something to do with failure." She whispered, distractedly drumming her fingers on the spine of her textbook. An uncomfortable silence ensued.
"Should we talk about something other than our worst fears on your birthday?" Harry finally said.
"That'd be nice." Hermione smirked. "How's the Quidditch team looking?"
Even though Hermione had accompanied him to every single practice, even when it was pouring rain, she was eager to hear about what Harry thought. He happily explained how synchronized the Chaser lineup was looking, and how Wood seemed more determined than ever to get the Quidditch Cup.
"Harry?" She cut in as he was in the middle of recounting an evening team meeting in which Wood was drafting up new plays.
"Yes?" He blinked, realizing he'd been ranting for almost half an hour.
"Do you mind leaning against that tree?" She asked timidly. Harry smirked at her shyness at such a simple request, but he happily obliged, crawling over and pressing his back against a sycamore tree just a few feet behind him. Hermione beamed at him and scooted over, turning onto her back and placing her head on his thigh.
"Oh, okay then." Harry said, smiling to himself as Hermione giggled and resumed reading her book nonchalantly. He returned his gaze to his own textbook but couldn't bring himself to absorb a single word. He kept glancing over at Hermione, who occasionally hummed to herself as she perused through Numerology and Gramatica.
After nearly an hour of pretending to read, Harry caught Hermione darting her eyes towards him.
"It's rude to stare, you know." He smirked mischievously. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You're one to talk. I've heard you turn the page about four times in the last hour." She said, sticking her tongue out at him.
Harry grinned, leaning down and planting a quick kiss on her lips, soaking up her trademark warmth before leaning back against the tree trunk, smiling contentedly. "Anything I can do to make your birthday better?" He laced his fingers behind his head, admiring the view of the castle ahead of him for a bit.
"You could do that again." Hermione offered bashfully. Harry couldn't help but laugh.
"As you wish."
A couple of hours later, the pair were still relaxing on the grass, actually reading their books. Harry had managed to page through almost the entirety of his Defense book.
"It must suck being a werewolf." Harry mused, pointing to the page he was on. Hermione looked up and nodded in agreement.
"I can't imagine it. Apparently without certain potions it can be really painful, and you can't control yourself." She sighed. Suddenly, the bell from the Hogwarts clock tower echoed out across the grass.
"I suppose we should get to dinner." Harry said, snapping his book shut. "And, as much as I love this, my leg has been asleep for ages. Pomfrey might have to amputate it."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hermione gasped, quickly lifting her head off of his thigh and clambering to her feet. Harry chuckled as Hermione helped him stand, shaking his leg as if willing it to return to normal. "If I'm being honest, though, I don't know if I want to go to dinner yet."
"Okay." Harry shrugged. "What do you want to do?"
"Stay out here."
"It'll be dark soon."
"Mm-hmm." Hermione hummed absent-mindedly, fumbling under her jumper, pulling out a familiar gold chain. "Can I interest you in time travel?"
"Can't you only use that for classes?" Harry pursed his lips. "As much as I'd love to go full Martin McFly – "
"It was Marty McFly, did we even watch the same movie?"
"Whatever. I'm just saying, what if McGonagall or somebody finds out? You could get in serious trouble."
"You're one to talk."
"I don't care if I get in trouble. You're the model student."
"You really are sweet." Hermione whispered before stepping so close to Harry he could feel her breath on his face. He let out an incoherent cry of surprise as she threw the chain around his neck before turning the hourglass on her necklace three times.
Harry had the sensation that he was flying very fast, backward. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past him, but just as quickly as it started it stopped, and he was standing exactly where he'd been before the strange feeling took over.
He glanced around. "Did it work?" He asked. "Also, I can't believe you did that."
"Oh, hush." Hermione giggled. "What's life without a little risk? And you tell me if it worked." She pointed towards the castle. The doors were opening, and out came two familiar looking figures.
"Holy shit." Harry's jaw came dangerously close to putting a hole in the ground. "That's us."
"Brilliant observation." Hermione grabbed his arm and began sprinting away. "Let's go find another spot. There's another thing I want for my birthday."
"A sapphire necklace and time travel isn't enough for you?" Harry snorted as he ran along with her, occasionally glancing over his shoulder at his oblivious past self.
"It starts with 's' and rhymes with eggnog." She gave Harry the most mischievous smile he'd ever seen on her face, and he felt his pulse quicken.
A/N: Hello, hello! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I liked just writing straight from the heart. A fair amount of scenes and exchanges between Harry and Hermione are based on either other works I've read, or my own life, but this was virtually entirely original. So, yeah. Also, who doesn't like Luna being the sweetest person on the planet? Honestly. She's amazing.
Anyway, I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but bite me if you're tired of reading this. Those of you who have been kind enough to leave reviews, or follow this fic, or add it to your favorites, are easily my favorite people on the planet. Your small acts of kindness make my day every time, and I want you all to know I really appreciate you.