Guilty Love: Year 7
Chapter 1: Summer of Silence
A/N: Here is the sequel to my previous story, Guilty Love: Year 6. This does NOT follow Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It is a sequel only to my last story. This is also separate from my third fic, Figuring It Out. I hope you enjoy it! As always, you may find me on AIM at WritingHarry182.
xXx
Harry Potter had never noticed how white his ceiling was. The ceiling of the smallest bedroom at Number Four, Privet Drive, that is. It was so white that even though the setting sun was casting an orange glow on everything it touched, Harry's ceiling remained white.
White and empty. 'The ceiling looks the way I feel,' Harry thought to himself grimly. Harry was lonely. He missed Ron and Hermione like mad. The first few weeks he had gotten by, remembering his last night with Hermione. How perfect she had been when they finally made love.
Perfect was the best word to describe Hermione Granger, Harry's girlfriend, his fiancée, and his soul mate.
Last year, they had discovered that they were not only meant to be together, but when they were they had powers that no normal couple would ever dream of. Harry's spells were stronger because of it, and they even had connection in their minds, where they could communicate.
Sadly, Harry had been forbidden from using it when they parted at the end of the year. In fact, Harry was not allowed to contact either of his two best friends. Ron and Hermione were both out of the country, and Harry was not allowed to contact them, or even know where they were.
And it was killing him.
'It's for their safety,' Harry reminded himself. 'And mine.'
That didn't stop him from being miserable though.
Standing slowly, Harry stretched his limbs, pausing to stroke Hedwig a few times. She hooted gratefully and closed her eyes sleepily. Hedwig was bored too.
The sky was darkening now and Harry drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
"Harry. Harry, wake up." Harry opened his eyes and saw the bleary outline of a silver haired man in a pointed hat.
"Professor?" Harry mumbled.
"Yes, Harry. Wake up."
Harry pulled himself upright, leaning against his headboard. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"I came to wish you a happy early birthday, Harry," Dumbledore said with a smile.
Harry turned and looked at the clock. Eleven fifty-seven. He would be seventeen in three minutes. "Uhh, thanks, Professor." After a moment he added, "You've never come to wish me a happy birthday before."
Dumbledore smiled, "Observant boy! Right you are! This birthday is particularly important. For," he glanced at the clock, "in two minutes you will come of age."
Harry nodded. That meant if Voldemort showed up, he was fully allowed to blast his head off. No more underage magic.
"Also, I wanted to inform you that as soon as that clock strikes midnight you are in danger. The protection you receive by staying in this house will disappear at midnight. Your mother protected you for as long as she could, Harry, but now you're on your own, so-to-speak."
Harry nodded again. "Now, today I am going to take you to get your apparation license. I know you have not had any lessons. Many of your classmates spent their summers practicing, but I think you will do fine."
"Sir, I don't even know how to apparate," Harry mumbled.
"It's easy, Harry! Confidence is key, though. All you have to do is concentrate on the place you would like to be, turn on the spot and you're there. If you don't concentrate, however, you will splinch yourself. Got it?"
When he got no response, Dumbledore turned to face Harry. "You'll do fine. If you can take on the darkest wizard in the world, apparation will be no problem for you."
"Ok," Harry said. His mind was already on a new topic. "Sir, could I ask you something?"
"Certainly, Harry," Dumbledore said.
"I was wondering, if…if you had heard from Hermione at all," he asked sheepishly.
Dumbledore smiled. "In fact, I visited her."
Harry was suddenly full of questions, "How is she? Is she ok? Is she getting along at all? Did anyone follow her to wherever she is? Does her Dad hate me?"
Dumbledore held up his hand for silence. "Miss Granger is fine, and she asked, being it is your birthday and all, that I deliver a letter to you."
Harry opened his mouth, but Dumbledore silenced him. "I also visited Mr. Weasley, and have a letter from his as well. Both your best friends and their families are well. They are appearing as no more than harmless tourists to the local culture. I am the only person who knows where they are. I am their secret keeper, Harry, no one else will know. And no, Harry, Hermione's Dad cares about you as much as we do here. You mean a lot to his daughter, so you mean a lot to him. He's been known to refer to you as his 'son-to-be.'"
Harry flushed brightly at this. "Now," Dumbledore continued, "I will give you these letters if you promise me, Harry, that you will not try to find them. You must not write to them. That would draw attention."
Harry nodded. "Alright, let's go." Dumbledore stood up. "You're going to take your test, and then you can have the letters."
Now Harry was anxious. He got up and followed Dumbledore across his room to the hall. Glancing back in as he shut the door, he saw the clock. Twelve o'clock. Harry smiled despite himself. 'Happy birthday to me.'
xXx
An hour later Harry Potter apparated back to his own room with a slight 'pop.' A moment later Dumbledore appeared next to him. "Well done, Harry!"
"Thank you, Professor."
"Well, Harry, I have a few things to attend to before the day begins, but remember your promises. Take care of yourself. I will be back in a few weeks, if all goes well, to escort you to the Burrow. Here are your letters." And then he was gone.
Eagerly, Harry threw himself onto his bed and tore open the first letter: Ron's.
'Harry!
If you're reading this, it's your birthday! Happy seventeenth birthday, mate. Things here are, well, strange to say the least, not bad, just strange. It's very warm here, warmer than it's ever been at home, and the girls seem to own nothing but these tiny little swimsuits, that are really more like knickers than anything, but I won't complain!
Fred got slapped in the face for asking some girl if he could take a picture of her bosom. Percy got called a "staring creep" and Ginny got caught making out with a Life Saver. Oh, she just corrected me. She says its Life Guard. Stupid title if you ask me.
I hope everything is ok with you, we're all thinking about you. I hope you stay out of trouble, and I really hope to see you soon!
Ron'
Harry grinned. Ron was a strange as ever. Harry took a few moments to think about where he might be, where it's warm and the girls were scantily clad. Sounds like he was having fun, wherever he was.
Harry tore Hermione's letter open at lightening speed.
'Harry,
I don't even know how to tell you how much I miss you. I hope you're ok. Dumbledore says he's going to see you on your birthday, so I asked if he would deliver this for me. I hate to think of you sitting in that little room at your Aunt's house with no one to talk to, so I hope you get this.
Things here are interesting. I'm learning so much about the culture! I am surrounded by all kinds of animals and people. I think we're the only of our kind around, but there is some crazy old man who sits in a hut all day telling people that he can cure diseases by chanting at them. Personally, I think he's fit for a straight jacket, but that's just me.
Well, I better wrap this up, but I just want you to know that I'm thinking about you. I love you and I miss you. Happy birthday, Harry.
Love,
Hermione'
Harry smiled slightly. No matter where she was in the world Hermione could turn anything into an educational experience.
xXx
They next couple weeks dragged by. Harry was no longer receiving the Daily Prophet so Harry had little to do. He even took out his schoolbooks and read all of them. Even the ones he hadn't used since his first year at Hogwarts.
It was late at night and the candle Harry had lit was melting down to nothing when Harry heard a 'pop' behind him. Hr grabbed his wand and spun around, expecting to see a Death Eater holding him at wand point, but merely found Professor Dumbledore perched on the end of his bed, smiling politely at him.
"Expecting company, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
"Ah, no sir," Harry muttered, lowering his ward and rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly.
"No mind, Harry. Now, as to why I am here. Harry, pack your things. I'm taking you to the Burrow," Dumbledore said with a smile. Harry grinned and flicked his wand causing most of his possessions catapult themselves into Harry's trunk. He picked up the few items he'd missed and tossed them in, closing the trunk after them.
"I'm ready," Harry said with a grin.
"I see that," Dumbledore said amusedly. "We'll be using Floo Powder, since you have your trunk and Hedwig with you," Dumbledore explained picking up Hedwig's cage and leading the way downstairs.
At the foot of the stairs they ran into a very tired Vernon Dursley. "What's going on here?" Vernon asked loudly, obviously surprised to see a strange man in his home.
"I'm leaving," Harry said flatly. "For good."
"It's about time," Vernon spat. Behind him, Harry's Aunt crept into the room.
"You won't be back?" she asked anxiously.
"No," Harry answered.
"Oh, ok," she said quietly.
Dumbledore led the way to the fireplace, moving about as though he lived there. He lit a fire with his wand and pulled a bag of Floo Powder out of his pocket. Harry stepped up to the fire and dipped his hand into the bag, readying himself to toss it into the fire.
"Harry! Wait!" Aunt Petunia came forward. "Listen, I know I've never been wonderful to you, Harry, but…" she trailed off at a look from Vernon, but after a moment stepped forward and continued. "You've always got a room here, Harry. You're family." Then Petunia Dursley did a very un-Durselyish thing and gave her nephew a hug. "Goodbye, Harry."
"Bye," Harry said, smiling at her. Then he tossed the powder into the fire and stepped in, dragging his trunk with him. "The Burrow!" he shouted, and with a swirl of green flames he was on his way.
Moments later, Harry flopped unceremoniously onto the floor of the Weasley's kitchen.
"HARRY!"
Harry found himself being hauled off of the floor and into the hug by his best friend and his entire family it seemed.
"Get off him! You're going to smother him! Let the boy breathe!" Harry was happy to hear Mrs. Weasley trying to get him free. No sooner than she had pulled all of her children off him than she herself squeezed him tightly in a hug. "Glad to see you, Harry, dear."
"Ah, you too, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said once he could breathe again. Harry glanced around anxiously. "Hermione will be here tomorrow," Mrs. Weasley said kindly, answering the question Harry hadn't wanted to ask.
Harry blushed. "Ron, help Harry carry his things to your room." Ron grabbed one side of Harry's trunk and led him up the steps.
Harry had never been happier to see Ron's tiny room. It was familiar. "Ron, tell me everything about your summer!" Harry said excitedly.
"A little starved for conversation?" Ron teased.
"A bit, yeah," Harry snorted.
"Alright, well, Dumbledore sent us to North America. It was bloody hot though, and the girls didn't seem to know what clothes were. Not that I minded, though I did miss Luna," Ron grinned. "We spent most of the summer swimming, in the ocean, Harry! The water wasn't even that cold!"
"Tell me more about Fred getting slapped," Harry said with a laugh. He spent the rest of the night listening to Ron and the rest of his family tell stories about their wild summer in America.
Finally Harry hauled himself to bed.
The next morning Harry was treated to one of Mrs. Weasley's famous meals. She insisted Harry take seven helpings of everything until he finally surrendered his utensil and declared himself full.
The morning seemed to drag by. Harry was happy to see the Weasley's, but…
"Not yet, mate," Ron sighed when he noticed Harry looking at his watch again. "Come on, it's your move," he said, motioning to the wizard chessboard below them.
"Sorry, Ron. I just," he sighed, "I just miss her so much."
Ron nodded. "If it makes you feel any better I haven't seen Luna all summer either. I got to call her on the fellytone though."
Harry laughed, "Telephone, Ron, telephone."
"Right," Ron nodded, "Fellytone."
Harry sighed and moved his knight forward three spaces, drawing Ron's attention back to the game.
A few minutes later they heard footsteps in the kitchen. "Hello? Anyone home?"
Harry stood up as Hermione came around the corner. They stopped and stared at each other. Ron stood up awkwardly. "Ok, this is how we're going to do this. Nobody move," he said slowly.
Ron then walked over to Hermione and greeted her. "Hey, Hermione," he said, giving her a hug. "I'd love to catch up with you, but I think I've just thought of something I'd rather do than watch you and Harry make googly-eyes at each other all afternoon, so I'll go do that."
He headed for the door, but before leaving the room he turned to face them and raised his arms dramatically, causing Harry to roll his eyes. "Aaaand, ACTION!" Ron bellowed before bolting up the stairs as if he expected a hurricane to sweep through at any moment.
Harry and Hermione turned back to face each other and there was a very, very long moment in which they both stared at each other. Then Harry jumped over the couch, dodged the coffee table and raced around the armchair that had been between them.
His hands were on her waist, pulling her flush against him; her hands were on his face, tracing his features lightly with her fingertips. He leaned forward so that his forehead was touching hers, looking into her eyes, as if checking to see that she was really in there.
Finally, Harry remembered how to talk, "Hey," was all he got out before he brought his lips down to hers and kissed her passionately.
After a few moments Hermione broke the kiss and hugged him tightly. "Hey," she whispered, holding him tightly.
Harry rested his head on her shoulder, burying his face in her brown locks. "Hermione, I missed you so much." He pulled back and pulled her hands into his, standing back to look her over.
Her hair fell in tawny curls about her head and shoulders. She looked great in muggle clothes, a pair of faded blue jeans, white tank top with a brown leather jacket over it. She was tan, very tan. Harry supposed she'd been somewhere warm as well.
"Harry, you're looking at me like you've never seen me before," Hermione teased him gently.
"I was afraid I'd forgotten what you looked like," Harry murmured, pulling her close again. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and running one hand through his thick black locks.
"Happy late birthday," she said before kissing him again.
Harry broke the kiss, "Hermione, thank you so much for that letter. I don't know if I would have lasted those last few weeks. I was going mad not hearing from you."
Hermione laughed, "I thought so." She hooked a finger around his chin and pulled him close for another kiss.
A sudden noise caused them both to jump.
"Hermione! How really corking to see you!"
"Hi, Fred, George." Hermione smiled, hugging them both. The rest of the family came down to greet her, feeling it was safe by now. Hermione smiled and laughed, chatting with the Weasleys.
Later that evening Harry found himself leaning against a wall, content to watch Hermione tell a vivid story from her vacation. He loved the way she talked with her hands, motioning wildly, this way and that. Every now and again she would toss her head back and laugh at her own story, as if she could see the very thing she was talking about, and everyone laughed with her. Even more so, he loved the way every once and a while she would look up, see him watching her and give a smile that was meant only for him, and then go back to telling her story.
Finally, Harry joined her on one of the couches. She leaned back against him, taking one of his hands in hers, and continued telling her stories.
And in that moment, tucked in the Weasley's living room, Hermione in his arms, surrounded by friends, everything was right.
xXx
A/N: Ok, it was long; I got a little carried away. I hope you all liked this first chapter and I will keep the new ones coming. Please don't get upset if they are delayed because this is in fact the last semester of my senior year, so graduation activities are ensured. I know, excuses, excuses! Ah well, enjoy the story, I'll try not to take six months to update! (Sorry!) Anyway, as always you can find me on AIM as WritingHarry182.