Chapter Title: Chapter 7: Past and Present
Characters:
Genres:
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: HBP Spoiler
Summary: The Slytherins' and Gryffindors' first flying session has other lessons as well. Hermione visits for a guest lecture and to celebrate her birthday, and to revisit one of the most important moments of her life.
Harry's glasses rattled violently as the wind whipped through his hair. He clenched his jaw in concentration and his eyes narrowed as he stared straight ahead. With a sudden look of terror he ducked, closely missing the outcropping he'd been attempting to fly over. With a groan of frustration he regained his grip after the broom did several spirals in retaliation for his sudden maneuver. "This is never going to work," Harry said in defeat as he turned toward the ground. He landed near two rows of neatly arranged school brooms, all lined up for the afternoon flying lesson. "What utter rubbish," he said as he threw the broom down in disgust.
Harry looked up to a small window on the second floor. With a flick of his wand the window opened. A split second later a yelp erupted from the open window and Harry's trusty old broomstick came flying out to him. As he caught it, a red-faced Ginny appeared in the window brandishing her wand. With a silent look of apology on his face, Harry blew a kiss in her direction before she snapped the window shut.
The bell rang distantly and Harry quickly tapped his Firebolt with his wand as a group of students began rounding the corner of the castle wall. Where the once gleaming polished handle and flawlessly trimmed birch twigs of his Firebolt had just been hovering, was now a broom as tatty and worn as the ones lying on the lawn. He stood confidently as the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins assembled.
"Well then, good to see you're all ready for your first flying lesson," Harry said after all of the students had gathered. "I hope you've had a productive day of lessons and are now ready to release all of that pent up energy you've been storing all day. Focusing your energy and making the broom an extension of your body is the best way to become an accomplished flyer. There are always inherent, unavoidable dangers involved in flying so we'll start slowly until you've become proficient at the basics. However, there is little to be gained by being overly cautious or timid when handling a broom. It will respond much better if you are firm and confident when you handle it.
"Now, let's each step up to the left side of a broom." The students formed two lines facing each other as Harry stood facing down the center. "Hold your right hand over your broom and say 'up.'" A Chorus of 'up's soon rang through the grounds. Within a few seconds most students were holding firmly onto their temperamental broom handles. Three of the students were growing quite frustrated as their brooms twitched and rolled about but didn't seem to be lifting off of the ground at all. "You must be in command of the broom," Harry said firmly. "Show it that you are in charge." Two more brooms finally flew into their respective student's hands, leaving one Slytherin boy absolutely mortified. Harry walked down the line and kneeled next to the boy who was now on the verge of tears. "Mr. Crane, do you remember what we talked about in class the other day?"
"About Janet's bloody nose?" The Slytherins giggled as a girl standing right next to where Harry was kneeling blushed lightly. The boy seemed to cheer up a bit when he made his classmates laugh.
"No, Mr. Crane. Try again." Harry shook his head but smiled as he glanced at Janet, who was now trying hard to stifle her own giggle.
"Um… That thing about focusing?"
"Yes," said Harry, indicating that the boy should go on.
"Um, concentrating on just the one thing and ignoring everything else."
"Correct!" Harry said brightly. "Think of that when you look down at your broom. Don't think of anything but the broom. Just tune everything out. Use all of your senses to concentrate on the broom. See it, smell it, hear it, feel it, taste it." Several students laughed before Harry waved them quiet. "Nothing else matters, just the broom. Now, when you're ready, and with confidence this time, say 'Up!'"
"Up!" the boy's voice cracked. The broom twitched.
"Try again, with more feeling, from your gut!" Harry was now speaking very loudly.
"UP!" The broom snapped into the boy's hand with a tremendous force that nearly knocked him over. The Slytherins clapped appreciatively and the Gryffindors joined in politely. The young boy's eyes were huge as his face split in to a wide grin.
"Well done Mr. Crane," said Harry as he unobtrusively slipped his wand back into his pocket. "Now remember that feeling. You'll need it for every stage as you learn to fly." Harry walked back down to his own broom and turned to face the chattering students. "Quiet down now so we can move on to the next step. Are there any questions about what we've done so far? Yes, Miss Simmons?"
"Professor, is it true that you caught the snitch the first time you ever flew?"
"Miss Simmons, that question is decidedly off topic." Harry looked around at the rest of the students, all of which were watching him intently, hoping for an answer. "Please restrain yourselves from asking irrelevant personal questions during lessons. If it happens again I'll start taking away points." The students looked dejected and crestfallen. A couple of students farthest from Harry began whispering conspiratorially. Harry grew concerned that their suddenly sour mood would affect their performance during the rest of the lesson. "I think, in this case, I may have to appease you, and answer the question. I don't want false rumors flying around the school," he offered as an excuse.
"I did not, in fact, catch the snitch on my first time flying. There was a bit of an accident involving… another student," Harry caught himself. He had nearly said Neville's name. "Madam Hooch was off escorting him to the hospital wing when a bully found the boy's Rememberall had fallen out of his pocket. He thought it would be funny to fly off and hide it somewhere, so I followed him. The bloody coward decided to throw it away so I had to chase after it to catch it before it hit the ground."
"Did you catch it?" said a girl standing right in front of Harry.
"Of course I caught it! What kind of story do you think this is?" They all laughed.
"Did you get in trouble?" said a boy behind him.
"No, but I should have," Harry said, turning and revealing a much more somber face. "Nobody has any business trying to fly like that on his first try. I could have seriously hurt myself." He paused to allow those words to sink in fully. "Now, that's enough about me. Let's move on. You all have your brooms ready. Hold the handle with your right hand like so. For those of you who are left handed, simply reverse the right and left for everything as I go along." Harry gripped the knobby broomstick awkwardly for a moment before finding a comfortable spot. "Now, put your left hand a few inches below your right one… That's it." Harry walked up and down the row, checking and correcting grips. Once they were all set he showed them how to properly sit so as not to slide off the end of the broom. "Remember, think of your left hand as the stabilizing hand and your right hand as your steering hand. Now, I'm going to demonstrate this first. You are to watch only, and keep your feet firmly on the ground until I tell you otherwise." Harry had now wandered down to the opposite end of the lines of students and walked quickly back to his disguised Firebolt.
"Once you're comfortably situated, you'll rest your right foot up on the broom like this, allowing the hovering force of the broom to hold your balance." Harry turned himself around with his left foot to give them each a good look. "Take your time to get used to the feeling, and when you're stable you'll kick off gently from the ground and hover for a moment. Once you've got a feel for that, you'll lean forward and touch back down. Be careful not to push down the broom with your right hand, because that will make you want to fly forward. Lean your whole body forward, and you'll sink back down to the ground." With an exaggerated thud Harry landed again.
"Alright everyone give it a try." Harry walked along the row and watched carefully as, one by one, the student's faces lit up with joy as their feet left the ground. Occasionally he would have to reach up and pull gently on someone's shoulders. "Remember to lean your whole body," said Harry over and over again. Once everyone had touched back down and began congratulating each other, Harry called for attention again. "You've done wonderfully everyone. You're really getting a feel for it. We have just a few more minutes so I want to get a start on turning before we go.
"Spread out a bit now. We're going to need some more room to move around. Try to get at least a broom's length and a half between you and your neighbor. Good. Now, we're going to start off the same way," Harry mounted his broom quickly and hovered. "When you're hovering comfortably, lean ever so slightly to one side, and pull gently with your right hand in the same direction. You should slowly start to turn to that side." Harry slowly rotated to the right. "Remember to lean just a bit so it will be more comfortable. When you're actually moving it's very awkward to try to turn without leaning, but be careful not to lean to far or you could end up like this." Harry hung upside down for a moment, trailing his black hair in the grass, eliciting giggles from all of the students. "You don't want to get stuck like this, trust me. Incidentally, ladies, I highly suggest you never try flying while wearing a dress or a skirt or you'll wind up giving the boys much more than they bargained for." There was more giggling as well as a lot of mortified blushing as they all looked self-consciously at each other. After righting himself, Harry turned a full circle to the left and then another to the right, demonstrating the proper lean and exaggerating the pulling motion of his right hand slightly so they could see it. "Now you give it a try."
Harry watched admiringly as each student confidently rose from the ground and began wobbling in one direction or another. Harry occasionally steadied them with his hand as he observed their progress. Suddenly there was a giggle from behind him and he turned to see the girl called Janet nudging her broom handle into the tail of the broom in front of her.
"Miss Ross! Keep to your own space, this is no place for foolishness," Harry admonished, striding quickly toward the colliding brooms. Suddenly the boy she had been nudging turned around, blushing profusely when he realized what Janet had been doing. With a look of horror, the boy turned too far and suddenly began leaning back in the other direction. All too quickly he found himself hanging upside down and was now near a panic. Before Harry could reach him he had pulled himself upright and looked quite delighted at having stabilized the broom. Janet squealed in delight and clapped her approval, surely convinced he had been showing off. The boy blushed again and lost his balance. In a sudden streak of color he leaned forward and shot off into the sky, screaming.
"Mr. Crane! Come back here. This is no time for games!" Harry watched as the boy shot higher into the sky, his screams pealing off of the castle walls. "Nobody move!" He waved his wand and all of the brooms fell to the ground as if pulled by a magnet. Those students who were still riding them landed with a collective thud.
Before they could register everything that was happening, Harry had grabbed his broom and shot off in a blurred streak. He turned toward the Great Forest in a sweeping arc and hugged his broom tightly as he shot toward the screaming, flailing boy. The boy's broom was nearly out of control, bucking this way and that as he overcorrected his balance. Suddenly the broom turned sideways and began spiraling down toward the ground. Harry put on a last burst of speed and snatched the boy from his broom just as it landed with a tremendous, dusty thud.
"It's alright," Harry said into the trembling boy's ear as he slowed and glided smoothly back to where the rest of the class stood, watching in horror and awe at what was happening. "You'll be okay. I've got you." Harry conjured a squashy armchair as he landed, still holding the gasping and sputtering boy. "Sit here and catch your breath. It's alright."
"But the broom—"
"Don't worry about that old broom Jonathan. I'm sure it will be replaced. At least you gave it a proper burial." The boy laughed between gasping breaths. "The rest of you, class dismissed. I'll see you next time. Miss Ross, you will wait behind." Janet nodded silently and stood several feet away, unsure of whether to look worried about what had just happened or scared of her punishment.
After a few moments the pale boy seemed to regain some of his composure. Harry held him by his shoulders and looked him squarely in the eye. "There you are. Welcome back. Can you walk?"
"I think so," Jonathan gasped in reply.
"Okay then. Let's go on up to the Hospital Wing. You don't seem to be injured but you look as though you've seen a Dementor. I expect Madam Pomfrey has some spare chocolate. Come along Miss Ross," Harry added sternly. The mortified girl walked silently in their wake as Harry and Jonathan strode through the grounds, into the castle and up to the hospital wing. When they arrived, Madam Pomfrey showed them to a bed near at back of the room. Several third-year Ravenclaws sat nursing various sores and boils as they walked past.
"I'll be with you in just a moment. There was a bit of an accident down in Greenhouse Three." The nurse busied herself with her other patients, administering ointments and potions, cleaning some of the larger wounds. She made her way gradually down the line and eventually arrived at the last bed. "Flying accident?" she said surveying Harry and the other two, looking for the most obvious injuries. "What's broken?"
"Nothing as far as I can tell," said Harry. "Mr. Crane here just lost his balance and ended up shooting out over the grounds. Luckily I managed to catch up with him before he hit the ground."
"I see. Is that what I saw shoot past the window earlier?" She asked rhetorically.
"He's just a bit shell shocked and I wanted to be sure nothing was wrong," said Harry. "You don't have any chocolate around do you?"
"Well, of course. That should make you feel much better," she handed Jonathan a large, fist-sized hunk of chocolate. Janet looked on greedily as Jonathan ate. "That must have been quite a ride for your first time."
"It sure was. I just wish I had more control. The feeling was amazing." Jonathan's color was returning nicely as he downed the last of his chocolate. "When can I try that again?"
"Next week, if you're up for it. You've got some natural speed you know. I haven't seen one of the school brooms go off that fast in years. You've got the potential to be good around the pitch, probably a fair chaser I'd wager. Work hard on your form and you'll be even faster. You could even make the team by next year."
"Really? Nobody in my family has ever been good at Quidditch! I can't wait to try that again."
"Well, you rest for now," Harry said fondly. "I'll leave you here with Madam Pomfrey so she can check you over."
"Thanks Professor."
"You're welcome. I'm just glad that you're all right." Harry turned and guided Janet through the door by her shoulders. Once they were in the hall he turned gravely to her. "That was a very dangerous thing to do Miss Ross. As you have seen, he was very lucky. It could have been much worse. What if he had fallen off or ran himself into the ground?"
"I'm sorry," she said simply. Silent tears fell down her cheeks as she studied a bit of dirt on the floor between Harry's shoes. "I never wanted to hurt him." She looked up at Harry with pain in her eyes. Harry's expression softened instantly.
"I know you didn't. Quite the opposite I'm sure." She looked at him quizzically for a second and blushed. "To be honest," Harry added in a whisper, "I think he likes you too, but you're going to have to be careful. Anything more like what happened today and he'll be too terrified to even talk to you. And keep your flirting out of the classroom. That will be 10 points from Slytherin and I'll send notice later for your detention. Have a good day Miss Ross."
"Harry, come up to bed. Please." Ginny, in a pale green dressing gown, rested her arm against the wall of the stone entryway to their flat, brushing her hair lightly with her free hand. Harry, who hadn't heard the hidden panel slide open, started when she spoke, ever so softly as it was. Looking up from his desk he warmed as he gazed at the simple beauty Ginny exuded.
"Wow," Harry breathed.
"What?"
"You're gorgeous."
"Harry, I was getting ready for bed. I don't even have my makeup on."
"You don't need makeup to look beautiful." Harry motioned for her to join him at his desk. "In fact, you've never looked more ravishing," he gushed as she sat in his lap. Harry took the brush from her and stroked it through her glimmering, red hair. "I'm sorry I've been so distant lately. It's been busier than I thought keeping up with all of this schoolwork. I thought I was done with homework for life."
"You never really get to see how much your teachers do when you're a student," Ginny mused.
"Yes. We evil teachers always conspire to keep secret as much information as possible. It's our plan for world domination."
"Well, as long as you have some goals." Ginny took the brush from Harry and set it on the desk as she leaned back onto his shoulder. "I'd hate to see you all wandering aimlessly toward some higher purpose."
"Teacher's can't have a higher purpose. We'd be fired on the spot for our ambition."
Ginny laughed softly. "Should I be concerned that you're this jaded after only three weeks of classes?"
"Nah, I'll be numb after another week anyway," Harry chuckled. "I probably won't even feel it anymore." There was a long pause in which they both closed their eyes and breathed deeply. Contented in each other's arms, they sat and enjoyed their warm embrace. "This sure feels good though," Harry whispered.
"Mm," Ginny agreed, rubbing her cheek against his. "Seriously Harry, you are happy, aren't you? You're not regretting taking this job? I know I pushed you pretty hard."
"No. I don't regret it one bit. These kids are fantastic. The whole school is so much more united than when we were here. The house cup competition used to be like a life or death battle. Now it's more like a friendly snowball fight." Ginny giggled at his analogy. "I just hope they still have some competitive spirit for when Quidditch starts."
"It'll be nice to see a rousing game without all of that brutality we used to deal with," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Still, I think they'll probably get into it. There are only six games per year after all. I don't know. I think the competition gets in the way of the fun a bit sometimes."
"I've been thinking about that," said Harry. "That's what I was working on actually, before I was so pleasantly interrupted." Ginny shrieked as Harry poked her playfully in the side.
"You watch your hands mister." Ginny chided, pulling his arms around her and holding his hands in hers.
"I can't see them, you're in the way," Harry teased.
"Well I guess I'll have to watch them for you," Ginny responded without missing a beat. "What were you saying?"
"I was thinking of starting up an intra-house Quidditch program for Gryffindor."
"You don't think Gryffindor gets Quidditch crazy enough?"
"Maybe, but I think this would actually calm that down a little bit," Harry went on. "The house team is very competitive. It's really hard to get on it and I'm sure there are a lot of decent players that don't make the team. If they had an opportunity to play outside of the school-wide competition, informally, more students would get a chance to play and enjoy the game. People wouldn't have to worry so much about getting to the big school-wide games to get their Quidditch fix. Remember how badly Hermione felt whenever she missed a game to do homework? This way, people could enjoy playing or watching whenever it's convenient. It could be good for the House Team as well. How about this…" Harry began sketching on a heavily used roll of parchment, filled with scribbles of half-thought ideas. "Each intra-house team would be captained by one of the players from the House Team. That would give more people leadership roles. They'd be able to try out new ideas in games that don't matter so much; really take some risks on some bold plays. That in itself could be some fine entertainment."
"If this works Gryffindor will be unstoppable this year."
"I thought of that too." Harry smiled mischievously. "But I don't think I have time to set it up in time for this year. Maybe after Christmas…"
"I think it's a wonderful idea honey," Ginny said sleepily, "but we really need to get some sleep. You've got a full day of classes tomorrow and then we have Hermione's party. You'll be dead on your feet by noon if you stay up any longer."
"You are right as usual," Harry said with defeat as he slid the parchment and quill into a desk drawer. "Come on, let's get this tired girl up to bed." Harry spun Ginny around and threw her over his shoulder as he walked toward the apartment door.
"Harry don't," Ginny squealed. "Please, I can walk myself, thank you very much."
"Oh no, you have no business walking around so droopy and drowsy. It is my responsibility to see you safely to your bed, and so help me, that's what I'm going to do."
"You have the quirkiest kind of chivalry I've ever encountered Harry Potter." Ginny finally resigned herself to riding along on Harry's broad shoulder as he marched up the stairs. "But I love you anyway."
"Oh? And why would that be?" Harry asked facetiously as he turned the corner into the bedroom.
"Because you have a very cute bum." Harry yelped and nearly lost his balance before he lightly tossed Ginny onto the bed.
"No fair peeking." Harry rubbed his backside gingerly with a feigned expression of injury as he began to change into his pajamas.
"It is so fair; Wife's Prerogative," Ginny laughed, hanging her dressing gown on a hook near the bed. "Besides, I catch you peeking all the time."
"That's only because you make it so easy," Harry said as he slid between the covers. He ducked and raised his hands defensively as a pillow assaulted his face.
"Harry James Potter, is that anything that should be said of a lady?"
"Only one as lovely… and beautiful… and ravishing… and caring… and loving… and sexy… and incorrigible as you." Harry kissed a different part of her face after each word.
"You know, I forgot there's another reason I love you so much," said Ginny as she settled into the crook of Harry's arm.
"I'm afraid to ask but… What reason would that be?"
"You're sweet too." She turned her head and kissed him gently. "And you're all mine."
"I knew it was something." Harry smiled and stroked her hair softly. "Goodnight my love." Ginny sighed her approval and was instantly asleep.
"Harry, you'd better get back down there. Class will be over in a few minutes."
"I know, I know. I just need to get this… There." Harry turned the small parcel over in his hands with satisfaction. "That should do it."
"You know Harry, magic or not, I've never seen anyone struggle so much with wrapping paper."
"You know Ginny, I think men just have some sort of anti-wrapping gene or something. Remember your last Christmas present from Ron?"
"Harry, that's not nice. Don't you remember it was 'abstract'?"
"Oh… right," Harry snorted. "I forgot."
"What's that you're giving her anyway?" Ginny asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," Harry said with a mischievous grin. "Okay, I'm going down. We'll be back in a few minutes."
Harry walked briskly down the corridor toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, whistling merrily to himself. With a loud grunt and a thud, he tripped over a pile of robes as he turned around a corner. "Peeves! What are you on about this time?" he bellowed. As Harry got back to his feet and dusted off his robes, he noticed that the mess of robes he had tripped over was moving. "Miss Anderson, are you alright? I hope I didn't kick you too hard. Oh and Mr. Simmons as well," Harry added sarcastically, cottoning on to what was happening. "My, that is a lovely shade of lipstick you're wearing Eric." Harry paused as the couple on the floor untangled themselves and stood, flushed and embarrassed. "I might suggest there are more appropriate places for your extra-curricular activities, not that either of you really need any more to be getting on with. I'll be writing to your parents if that Charms grade isn't improved by the end of the month, Mr. Simmons. As for you Miss Anderson, I do hope you've made some progress on that Demiguise essay. You won't be getting another extension. Run along now."
The bell rang as Harry turned the last corner just outside of the Defense classroom. Doors began opening along the hallway and voices quickly filled the cavernous corridors. Harry pulled open his classroom door and was suddenly surrounded by laughter. The students noticed his presence and tried to calm themselves as he marched to the front of the room. "Oh don't let me interrupt. It looks as though you've been having quite a lively little discussion."
"I suppose you could call it that," said a stern looking Hermione. "It seems that someone suggested to your class that we should discuss Boggarts, not that there was any apparent need to cover the subject. They are all quite thoroughly informed about them including a number of specific forms their overly thorough professor has seen them take in the past."
"Well, what did you talk about then?"
Hermione held her hands on her hips as he smirked, looking out over the class of third-years with delight.
"What?" Harry said innocently.
"You know perfectly well what?"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley. I simply wanted to ensure that everyone got as much information out of this guest lecture as possible."
"It is possible to have too much of a good thing."
"Like homework?" With this the class burst out laughing again. Hermione simply shook her head.
Harry turned to speak to the students. "Thank you for being so polite to our guest…" Hermione snorted as she gathered her things from the corner of the room. "Don't forget about Quidditch team tryouts tomorrow, for those of you who would like to join the team. You've done very well this week so no extra homework. Don't forget to finish reading chapter seven before next class. Have a good weekend."
"That was downright cruel Harry, leaving me alone in here with them and loading them up with questions like that," scolded Hermione as Harry picked up her bag and threw it over his shoulder.
"Oh come on Hermione, it obviously wasn't that bad. Stop exaggerating."
"How do you know it wasn't bad? You weren't even here."
"Because they were still in their seats when I got back," Harry laughed. "That's pretty good in the middle of class, let alone after the bell had already rung. You were having fun, and you know it."
"Alright, I confess. It was a lot of fun actually. I couldn't believe it when the bell rang so soon."
"You get used to that after a while. Time does go by a lot faster than when we were students. Eventually you kind of develop a little internal clock; by instinct you know how far through the period you are. Mine's pretty accurate now and that's a very good thing because you're pretty much dead meat if they keep catching you looking at your watch."
"That makes sense," Hermione mused as they walked through the corridor toward Harry's other office. "I have to hand it to you. You really had them well-prepared Harry. They already knew more or less everything I was going to talk about. At first I was afraid I'd run out of things to say because they seemed to know everything already, but it was great because they really got engaged and we got into some pretty in-depth subjects. I think you've got a couple of fine Auror candidates in that class."
"They're some of my brightest, that bunch. I'm having to revamp how I do things for them. Half of them didn't even get a chance with our Boggart last week. A couple of their charms hit it really hard and it up and exploded on us after five minutes."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I even had to have Professor McGonagall come and watch the last time I had them in class because other houses thought I was giving out too many points in that period."
"From what I saw, they deserve them."
"That's what she said too," Harry said resolutely.
"Well, whatever you're doing, it's working. I don't know if you can tell, but they really admire you, as a teacher, not as a celebrity. It's been only a few weeks and they already seem to have forgotten that you're the Harry Potter."
"I had to earn that one. They were really frustrated for the first week or so but they finally realized I wasn't going to spend the class answering personal questions. It was hard to be firm about it but it was worth it. After you," Harry said as he held open the office door. "Hermione, thank you, really, for coming to talk to them. I really appreciate it."
"It was my pleasure. It's good to get out of the usual ministry routine once in a while. Besides, we needed an excuse to be up here. It's very nice of you and Ginny to have us up."
"I'm glad we get to see you for your birthday. Unfortunately, with all of my duties here, in and out of class, it's hard to get away for very long," Harry sighed as they walked through the hidden panel and up the curving stone staircase.
"There she is!" bellowed Ron as they entered the unusually crowded flat. Hagrid himself took up half of the room. "Happy Birthday!"
"Thank you sweetie," said Hermione as he swept her up in to a big noisy, cheesy kiss. "Ronald, grow up would you."
"What do you mean 'grow up', you're the old fart around here." Ron flinched as she slapped him playfully. Harry and Ginny laughed appreciatively.
"Happy Birthday!" Ginny said when Hermione had managed to untangle herself from Ron.
"Thank you Ginny," Hermione said, trying to ignore her husband as she hugged her best friend. "It was really great of you and Harry to have us up here. And it's so great to see everyone. How are you Hagrid?"
"Doin' qui' well, thanks fer askin'. Happy Birthday Hermione."
"Oh, and Neville, it's wonderful to see you. How are classes going so far?"
"Oh, they're alright. It's a little harder than I thought it would be. My third-years had a bit of a problem with the bubotubers the other day. All in all though, it's a lot of fun."
"That's wonderful Neville. Harry and Ginny seem to think things are working out quite well for both of you." Hermione turned to the final guest in the room. "Professor McGonagall! I haven't seen you in ages. Thank you for coming."
"I'm glad Ginny talked me into it. Professor Potter over there had me convinced you were going to hex me the first time you laid eyes on me."
"Why would I do something like that?"
"I honestly have no idea. He mentioned something about, his former job, Hogwarts, and you being denied information." The Headmistress smiled as Hermione laughed and turned her narrowed eyes on Harry.
"You sure have a big mouth lately." Hermione punched him playfully in the arm.
"Just looking out for my fellow teachers. We have to fend for ourselves most of the time."
"I suppose I deserved that after what I said about you," Hermione admitted.
"Well, you weren't saying it about me really. At least you didn't think you were," Harry responded playfully.
The party went on for hours as friends caught up on old times. It was after 10 by the time the other professors excused themselves, leaving Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry in the sitting room. They talked lightly as they relaxed in each other's company, something they each realized they had missed dearly. Hermione sat admiring the double picture frame Ginny had just given her. On one half was a picture of Ron and Hermione sitting together on the snowy steps to the entrance hall. On the other half was a picture of the two couples together in the Gryffindor Common Room. "Where did you even get these pictures Ginny? I don't remember anyone taking them."
"Well, it turns out, Colin was already an accomplished stealth photographer back then. I ran into him over the summer and he mentioned he had been looking through some of his old albums and found those."
"I don't know if Ginny told you," Harry said sitting up. "We have a similar set in the bedroom. Here, I'll run and get it." A moment later he returned with a similar looking frame. It had the same picture of the four of them and one of Harry helping Ginny up out of the snow.
"That was really a great picture to find," said Hermione, "You two weren't even going together when this was taken."
"Not that I hadn't tried," sighed Ginny. "Still, he was worth the wait." She patted Harry's leg gently. "You should give her your present before it gets too late Harry."
"I suppose you're right." Harry reached behind him for the small parcel that was on the floor behind his chair. "Hermione, thanks again for coming up and talking to my classes. We've really missed you guys since we moved up here. Anyway… Happy Birthday."
"Wow Hermione, it looks like a book!" joked Ron. "No, wait, Harry's a clever one. That's just what he wants you to think." Ron rubbed his chin in a conspiratorial way. "You'd better watch yourself."
"Don't be so ridiculous Ronald. Harry already had his joke on me today." Hermione mocked suspicion as she peeled open the wrapping, peeking carefully inside. "Hm, looks okay to me. Well, here goes nothing." With a dramatic sweep of her arm she pulled the paper open to reveal a worn, leather-bound book with gold lettering on the cover, which read Hogwarts: A History. "Cute Harry. You probably think this is funny, but I've actually wanted a copy of this. I threw mine away years ago when I found out about the House Elves at Hogwarts."
"I know you did," Harry said, trying hard to conceal a smile.
"So what's the joke?" Hermione glared at him suspiciously.
"No joke. Open the cover." Hermione looked suspicious as she flipped the book open. Her smile flattened and tears welled up in her eyes as she read the handwritten inscription inside.
Dear Hermione, Thank you for putting up with me on my first assignment. Good luck at Hogwarts! - Stephen Page, 17 July 1991.
Below that dedication was another.
Dear Hermione, Thank you for putting up with me over the years. I will never forget what a wonderful friend you were as we grew up, and continue to be today. Always, Harry Potter, 19 September 2003.
Without saying a word, Hermione walked over and smothered Harry in a huge, sobbing hug. After a few moments she pulled away, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you so much, Harry. This is such a perfect gift. I can't even begin to… This was the first book I read after my first Hogwarts letter was delivered. Stephen was the one who came to talk us through everything. He was in training at the time, so he gave me this to thank us for being patient with him. I was so mad that I'd thrown it away. Wherever did you find it?"
"Flourish and Blott's was closing out all of their old copies a while ago, back when your book came out. I just looked at it on a whim because I recognized the title. I couldn't believe it when I opened the cover."
"Wow. This is such a surprise," Hermione said, beaming. "I don't know what to say…"
Harry simply smiled at her and held her hand gently. "Sometimes words aren't necessary."