Chapter 13
Hermione was still asleep when Harry began to awaken the next morning.
At some point during the night, they shifted their position so that they were lying on their left sides while she was snuggled right up against his back. Her right arm was also hugging him so that her hand was resting right over his heart. And because of not only their position but also the fact that she was still sleeping for the moment, she didn't get to see Harry smile at the protective embrace that she was giving him in her slumber.
It was when he started slightly moving to take a glance at her clock on the closet door that she began to gradually stir. Though her eyes were still closed, Hermione became aware enough that he was slowly trying to rise from the bed, most likely in a bid to not disturb her. But he just barely got his shoulder up before she locked her right leg around his hips, and her right arm tightened its hold around him. As he stopped and then lowered his body back down, she yawned for a couple of seconds before sleepily saying, "Going somewhere?"
She heard him give an amused snort before replying, "I guess not anymore. Will you at least let me turn around so I can face you?"
A smirk instantly rose on her face as she opened her eyes, pulled her leg off of him, and then answered, "Hmm, I guess I can allow that."
He chuckled before twisting his body until he was lying on his right side. Once they were gazing into each other's eyes, she shifted her arms to wrap them around his neck, while he circled his own arms around her waist. They wordlessly stared at one another for a few seconds. But then, with her eyes widening a bit, Hermione's face grew quite serious.
Harry asked in concern, "Hermione, what's wrong?"
With a slightly watery smile, she responded, "Nothing. Nothing at all. I was just… thinking about how easily I could wake up like this every morning."
His expression grew tender as he said, "Yeah, I – I think I know what you mean. And it's almost scary how easy it feels, isn't it? If it were anyone else other than you, though, I couldn't even just imagine this happening."
She placed her right hand on his cheek and whispered, "Yes, my thoughts exactly." Her expression then became quite timid. "And because of what my parents did last night, and what they said about you having free reign to stay in my room, well… we could wake up like this every morning while we're still here for the holiday break. Only if you're comfortable with that step, of course."
Even with the fact that they made love twice in one day yesterday, she still couldn't help doing everything she could to only move their relationship at the pace that he was willing to take.
To her pleasant surprise, though, he gently touched and held his forehead to hers. Then, he quietly said, "After everything that's happened, both yesterday and this week in general… I think that sounds pretty wonderful."
A great smile grew on her face, and she couldn't resist giving him a slow and gentle kiss, to which he responded just the same.
When their mouths separated, they spent a few more seconds simply gazing at each other again. Then, Hermione glanced up to her clock, since the numbers glowed just enough in the dark to be visible but not enough to be overbearing while trying to sleep. Seeing that it was about ten minutes until six, she then said, "So, do you want to go ahead and get up?"
He sheepishly nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind. Don't want to break the routine too badly, you know?" He then relaxed a bit before adding, "You can have the shower first this morning. I'll get dressed back in my pajamas and then go pick out my clothes for the day before coming back in here to wait on you."
She nodded, and they both let go of one another before sitting up in the bed at the same time. When they did, Hermione immediately saw Harry's eyes widen a bit and heard his breath hitch at seeing her naked body again, since neither of them had bothered putting clothes back on after finishing their activities last night. But the absolute love she could see in his expression as he gazed at her, how he truly saw her as completely beautiful even with the huge scar on her chest, made her just want to cry in happiness.
When he looked back up to her face, he said, "But before you get dressed, since I won't have as many chances to do this compared to you with my scar…"
And just like yesterday morning, he leaned in and gently trailed kisses all along her scar, starting from her shoulder. She couldn't help tilting her head back a bit and closing her eyes at the desire that flared up within her again at his simple action.
When he finally pulled away, she took one long breath to calm herself before she opened her eyes. Giving him a smirk, she said, "You know, if you keep that up, I may not let you leave the room."
He rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand and gave her a shy smile. "Well, I just want you to feel as beautiful as I see you."
She was so touched at his comment that she couldn't resist giving him one more soft kiss. Then, after pulling back just enough to look into his eyes, she lovingly whispered, "You're doing a wonderful job so far."
The affection in his eyes at her statement was the only response she needed.
At that point, she told him, with a slightly reluctant sigh, "Alright then, let's get the day started."
To that, he just silently nodded as the two gathered their pajamas that were once again strewn about the room after the activities of last night.
It was about seven fifteen that Harry and Hermione had both finished their bathroom routines and made their way downstairs. After they rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs, Harry glanced to his right and stopped in surprise to see Miranda in the cleaner room, throwing something from the washer into the dryer. Hermione stopped after another step to see what had caught his attention.
Right when Hermione returned to Harry's side, and before either of them could speak, Miranda glanced to the doorway and noticed them standing in the hall. Without stopping what she was doing, she said, "Good morning, kids."
The two of them automatically replied, "Good morning."
Hermione then said, "Doing laundry already, Mum? Isn't it a little early in the morning compared to when you typically start?"
"Just all the bed sheets from our room right now," Miranda responded, as she threw the final sheet into the dryer and then started the machine up. She turned around to face the teenagers immediately afterward.
She then gave a quiet but amused snort and added, "And when there's laundry that needs doing, then there's no reason to wait on it, is there?"
Harry and Hermione were both slightly puzzled at her mother's response, but it only took another second for Hermione to realize a possible implication about the statement. She then said, slowly and a bit suspiciously, "So, when you say your sheets needed doing – "
Miranda interjected at that point, with a clearly teasing tone. "Are you sure that's an answer you want, Little Worm?"
The teenagers both looked at each other for an instant with faint blushes on their faces before Hermione quickly said, "No, I think that's a question that can remain unanswered, even though I'm quite certain as to what the answer is."
The mother chuckled for a second. "Whatever you want then, sweetheart."
Harry then surprisingly jumped in, speaking with a somewhat timid tone. "Um, if you're already washing sheets this morning, then we probably need to do Hermione's again, as well."
Miranda blinked a couple of times in surprise at the statement, to which Hermione couldn't help giggling at the expression on her mother's face. She then replied, as jokingly as her mother previously had, "What's wrong, Mum? Are unexpected questions rising in your mind now, too?"
While Miranda just smiled in good nature at finally being on the receiving end of the teasing as she walked into the hall to join the teenagers, Jack walked up to the group at that moment. He said, "Oh, so everybody's up now? I saw you kids standing here and talking, so I figured Miranda was still down here as well. Anything interesting in the conversation to note?"
Harry immediately blushed again, while Hermione and Miranda just looked to one another and smirked at the same time, both holding back laughs. Then, Miranda was the one to say, "Well, let's just say that it seems all of us had the same idea of how to end Christmas night."
Jack blinked in confusion for an instant before the words processed through his mind. Then, he gave a resigned half-smile and shook his head with incredulity. Looking to Hermione, he simply said, "So, I take it your bed sheets could use washing again?"
He chuckled upon seeing Harry's blush deepen, and then he added, "Well, it can wait until after breakfast. We'll go start on that now, since you two are up."
Before anyone could move, Harry immediately spoke up. "Actually, because of everything you and Miranda have done for me over this week, would you – "
He paused before becoming timid again. "Would you mind if maybe I cooked breakfast this time? Just to try and give even a little back to the two of you?"
Miranda looked at him with sympathy. "Harry, don't you remember what I said early on about you not having to justify the fact that you're here?"
His eyes widened a bit as he quickly responded, "Oh no, I haven't forgotten your words." After another second, however, something crossed his mind that caused him to smirk before he continued. "Of course, I also remember you saying at the time that I was a guest in the house. And that doesn't exactly apply anymore, does it?"
Hermione couldn't help giggling at Harry's cheeky question, while Jack let loose a deep laugh for a few seconds. Once he calmed himself a bit, he turned to his wife and said, "He's got you there, honey."
Miranda gave an amused snort and replied, "Yes, I suppose I was outsmarted on that one."
Turning back to Harry, she became serious again. "So, is that really something you want to do?"
He nodded and quietly said, "Yeah, I would, as long as both of you are alright with it."
The two parents just looked at each other for a second before nodding. Then, Jack said, "Then I guess breakfast is yours to handle this morning, Harry. But let either of us know if you need a hand. I guess we'll just go ahead and grab Hermione's sheets, then."
With that, the parents walked off towards the second floor and left the two teenagers alone. When they looked at one another, Harry was the one to nudge his head towards the kitchen, to which Hermione silently nodded.
While walking down the hall, she couldn't resist happily saying, "You, Harry Potter, are just the sweetest man alive, you know that?"
They entered the kitchen as he smiled sheepishly and replied, "Just want to make sure I show your parents that I'm appreciative of what they've done, you know?" Then, he became a bit more serious. "Alright, let me get started so that I can have it done in the same amount of time as the previous mornings."
Before he could begin moving, Hermione nervously asked him, "Is it alright if I just sit in here with you while you prepare things, so I don't get in your way?"
He grinned at her and answered, "Of course, you can. Any time I get to spend with you is time well spent."
She merely responded with a grin of her own. After that, there were no more words as Hermione, not wanting to distract Harry in any way, sat in her seat at the table and just watched him go through the process of making breakfast. It seemed that he wasn't kidding with his comment on the first morning here about having done a lot of cooking, as he appeared to look right at home preparing food at the stove, as though he'd done it thousands of times before.
That thought, however, made her frown when she remembered the house in which he grew up, though she was lucky that Harry's back was turned to her and thus prevented him from seeing it. There was a good chance that he had done it thousands of times, if what she knew about his despicable relatives was any indication.
She lightly shook her head. Every time Harry talked about or even just gave some kind of implication about his childhood, it grew harder and harder to resist the temptation to travel to Privet Drive and see if those wretched Dursleys had returned, so that she could give them not just a piece of her mind but the entire thing. Her blood even began to boil at remembering how, from Harry's comment on Christmas Eve, she also now knew for certain that they'd starved him at points in his life. But she stopped and quietly took a deep breath to rid herself of all those thoughts for the moment, not wanting to waste any time at all thinking on those people right now when she could simply enjoy the rest of the holiday break with Harry. And just like that, when she looked back to Harry in his food preparations, the smile returned to her face.
Soon enough, Harry had finished preparing their normal breakfast meal of bacon, eggs, toast, and a piece of fruit. Once everyone was sitting at the table to eat, he waited while the three Grangers took bites of each part of the meal. He was too anxious about everyone's reactions to eat just yet, and he told them as such when they gathered at the table.
Though Hermione had wanted to comfort him when he brought up his concern, she also knew that it wouldn't go away until they actually ate the food. But once she took a bite, all she could think of was how could Harry have ever worried, because the breakfast was completely delicious.
And apparently, her parents had the same thoughts, as they beat her to the punch when it came to speaking up.
Jack exclaimed, "Damn, Harry! You got the cooking exactly how I like it!"
Miranda interjected, "The same with mine. And on your very first attempt, as well!"
A small look of relief appeared on Harry's face for a second before he turned to look at Hermione. As the hesitance began to grow in his eyes again, she didn't give him even another instant before ridding his fears with her words. "It's delicious, Harry. And made just how I like it."
This time, Harry fully relaxed and let out a happy sigh. He then said, "Well, there was probably a little luck involved. I just tried to make it the same way as I've noticed you all eat over this past week, like how your bacon always appeared to be less crispy than Jack and Miranda's. But still, thank you all."
Jack got their attention by saying, "I'd say there's no luck involved. That's just good observation along with the skills to make the food how you want it. So, since I didn't say this before, I'll say it now. Good job!"
That brought a large smile to Harry's face. With that, the group just contentedly ate their breakfast in silence for a bit.
After a couple of minutes had passed, Miranda broke the quiet and asked, "So, do you two have any plans for what you'll do today?"
Though she had been going to take a bite of her scrambled eggs, Hermione immediately looked to Harry with wide eyes and a large grin upon hearing her mother's question, dropping the fork she had been holding back onto her plate while doing so. When he turned to her at the sound, he was perplexed for a second at her expression before the light bulb in his head turned on.
With the hint of a chuckle in his voice, he asked, "You want to start immediately after breakfast, don't you?"
Without dropping her grin, she replied, "Is that an actual question?"
That caused him to actually laugh out loud for a second. Then, he turned to the parents and said with a sheepish grin, "Looks like we'll be practicing magic when we finish breakfast, trying to see if we can start getting a handle on wandless magic."
Miranda's eyes went wide as she immediately exclaimed, "Oh, that sounds amazing! I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see that, but I don't want to be the overbearing and hovering mother. But if you two manage to perfect anything you practice, is it alright if I ask to see it when you're done?"
When Harry and Hermione looked at one another, he just shrugged a shoulder and said, "I don't mind if you don't."
She smiled at him before saying to her mother, "Sure, Mum. If there's anything later that we feel we can perform well enough, we'll show you and Dad."
Miranda replied, "Oh, wonderful, thank you! With that, I won't say any more about it until you two do so first."
Jack just chuckled at his wife's enthusiasm, to which she lightly slapped his arm in jest.
Everyone became quiet again as they returned to eating their meals. Once they were all done, however, Hermione immediately put her and Harry's plates in the sink before then grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him out of his seat. As she led him out of the kitchen, she called out, "We'll be upstairs if you need us, Mum and Dad!"
Ignoring the laughs that she could barely hear coming from the kitchen, neither she nor Harry said another word as she quickly took them to her room and shut the door. When she turned around after closing the door, Harry was smirking at her, and he said, "Well, someone's an eager beaver today."
She instantly responded, "Is it that surprising? After how disappointed you know I was that wandless magic hasn't been a lesson in any class, along with how wonderful it is that you really do want to practice during the holiday break, is it any wonder that I'm eager to start?"
As he sat down on her now-bare bed, he gave her that tender expression and said, "No, it's not surprising at all. And that tenacious drive you have to better yourself is one of the things I love about you, now that I actually have a greater appreciation for it."
She couldn't help shyly smiling at his compliment, to which he responded with a small smile of his own.
Once she sat down next to him on the bed, though, he turned a bit serious. "OK, so. I don't really have much of an idea of how we even really begin with wandless magic. I know that we managed to do Summoning Charms yesterday morning, but a part of me can't help but wonder if that could have been an accidental fluke."
Her eyes flicked downward for a second before she responded, "Well, how about I start by telling you about, as you called it, the possible epiphany that I had yesterday morning? Especially since it could relate to both wandless magic in general as well as those potion detecting spells that we talked about trying to create."
He said, "Alright, yeah. That's as good a place as any. And I admit that I'm curious as to what you were thinking about at the time."
At that moment, Hermione pulled her wand from her jeans and looked at it for a second before turning her gaze back to Harry. But she was left speechless for a moment, in a bit of confusion, upon finding him staring at her wand with a small smile on his face.
She had to ask, "Something else on your mind?"
That caused him to blink a few times before looking back to her. With a slightly embarrassed grin, he said, "When seeing your wand again, I just couldn't help thinking about how amazing it is that the wand is connected to me in a way with that Horntail core."
He then pulled out his own wand. "And it actually makes me wish that my holly wand could have some connection like that to you."
She looked away and despondently replied, "It does if you count me being the one that broke your wand last Christmas, when I cast that Blasting Curse to try and stop Nagini in Godric's Hollow."
After a few seconds, she felt his right arm come around her and hold her tightly. She turned to find him gazing at her with both sympathy and affection.
He quietly said, "Hey, it's like I told you the morning after finding out what happened to my wand. It was just an accident. You were incredible in trying to get us out of there alive. And I would have been dead without you there to help me."
Then, a heartfelt smile rose to his face. "Sure, I was lucky in that I was eventually able to repair my holly wand, by using the Elder Wand before snapping that one in half. Even if I hadn't, though, a wand is still ultimately just a possession that can be replaced, like how you got your new one. But a Hermione, on the other hand… that only ever comes around once in a lifetime, and nothing else in the world could ever even hope to live up as a replacement."
She couldn't help giving him a watery yet joyful smile. After a couple more seconds, she responded, "You really are completely amazing, you know that?"
He gave an amused snort and shrugged his shoulders a bit. "I guess it takes one to know one, then."
A few giggles escaped from her mouth at how he was able to simultaneously accept the compliment and still brush it off back onto her as well. The giggling also caused his smile to widen in the knowledge that he had quickly stopped her moment of depression.
For a few seconds, they silently gazed at one another. Then, after glancing to her wand again, Harry let go of her and placed his own wand to his left on the bed. He said, "So, this will probably be a bad transition, but are you OK if we get back to what you were going to say regarding whatever yesterday's revelation was for you?"
Hermione exclaimed, "Oh, right, of course! And don't worry, Harry, you're fine."
With that, she began her train of thought. "So, you were the one that made me fully aware of how we performed wandless Summoning Charms before making love yesterday morning. And we both mentioned that we simply needed our wands at those very moments, with me saying that it was like my magic performed solely off my intent. Well, that's when another memory hit me, one from fourth year with a certain spell."
With a bit of hesitance in her tone at this point, she asked, "Now, do you remember me making a passing mention at the church about the Four-Point Spell that you used in the third task of the Triwizard Tournament?"
Harry's brow furrowed in confusion for a second before his eyes widened immensely. "That's right! When you talked about creating our own potion detecting spells, you also said that you managed to do that with the Four-Point Spell! I can't believe I haven't thought more about the invention part since then. At the time, I guess I was – "
He stopped for a second as his cheeks became pink from blushing. Then, he somewhat timidly said, "I was sort of caught up in how cute you look when you're excited about having a new academic challenge."
That caused her to warmly smile and reply, "You know, if I knew it wouldn't distract us even more, I would kiss you right now for that compliment."
He laughed for a couple of seconds. "You're probably not wrong about the distraction part." He quickly sobered up, though, and continued. "But yeah, Hermione. I always thought that spell was just something that you found in a book. That's amazing if you actually managed to create it on your own. How did you do it? And why did you never say anything about it?"
The hesitance was much clearer in her voice and expression this time. "I was afraid you would never believe me and thus maybe wouldn't want to use the spell. And how I managed to come up with the spell won't be so amazing once you hear it, Harry."
He tilted his head a bit to the side, the challenge clear in his eyes, and simply replied, "Try me."
She scoffed a bit before taking a deep breath and continuing, "Alright. Well, after you told Ron and me about the maze for the third task, I did start researching every book I could find in the library for some kind of navigation spell that would function like a compass so that you could keep your bearings. But somehow, I just could not find anything in the dozens of books I must have looked through. And with every book that was unsuccessful, my worry that I was going to let you down just grew and grew."
The look of sympathy reappeared on his face, but she just continued so that she could reach the important part of her story.
"Eventually, when I reached the end of the last book I tried, I was just so completely furious that I was still finding nothing. At that moment, the only thought running through my mind was that I just had to get a spell for you, no matter what. And because I was sitting outside at the time and completely alone, I picked up my wand, holding it flat in my hand, and then yelled out loud, 'I just need a spell that will work like a compass and point me in the right direction!' That's when I received probably the second-largest shock of my life up to that point."
Harry's expression turned into a mix of fascination and confusion, and it seemed that he couldn't help asking, "Why just the second-largest?"
Her mouth curled upward for a second as she replied, "The largest and most pleasant was still, at that time at least, you running into that bathroom to save me from the troll and then becoming my friend afterward."
A bashful smile rose to his face for a few seconds. He quickly became serious again, though, and said, "OK, more importantly, back to the story. What surprised you so much?"
Hermione nodded and continued. "After making that exclamation, my eyes widened, and my jaw dropped, when I saw my wand spin around before stopping in a certain direction."
The fascination returned to Harry's face as he interjected, "Just like how the spell worked when you showed it to me."
"Exactly, Harry! But in that moment, I was too afraid that what I just witnessed was simply a fluke, and that maybe my wand wasn't actually pointing north like a compass. So, I turned it in another direction, while I stood up and faced the same direction to which it had pointed. Then, I tried to recreate the magic that I had seen.
"The first two times, I tentatively called out 'Compass' and 'Right Direction' in the hopes that maybe one of those words had been the key. But as you can obviously guess, they didn't work. My total frustration returned upon the failures, and for the third attempt, I angrily yelled to my wand, 'Point Me!' And to my surprise once again, it spun around before stopping in the same direction that it had originally pointed to the first time."
She paused for just a second to catch her breath. "Now that I'd intentionally made it happen, I had to test it out to make sure I was truly performing this new magic. I turned to the other cardinal directions and then would call out 'Point Me' in each one, trying to be less angry with each successive attempt. In fact, when I tested the final direction, I was already growing ecstatic and said my incantation quite happily. And all three times, my wand pointed towards the exact same direction, just like a compass would. That's when, in my jubilation, I rushed to tell you about the spell and try to teach it to you, only coming up with the name on the way."
Becoming timid now, Hermione ended with, "So, that's the story behind the Four-Point Spell."
With a beaming smile, Harry immediately responded, "Just – wow, Hermione. I still say that what you did is completely and totally amazing! I've always known you were brilliant, but that just takes it to a whole new level!"
Though his smile lessened after that as he sobered up, the affection for her never left his tone with his next words. "And I think I can follow how your spell creation relates to our wandless Summoning Charms. You're thinking that when our intent is great enough, when we're basically so completely focused and determined on performing the magic successfully that it's almost as if there's no other feeling within us, it can help us with performing or even creating spells. Like our entire being, both body and soul, refuses to accept failure any longer, and that allows us to do exactly what we want with our magic. Then, as you try the spell again after successfully casting it, the need for that intent grows smaller until you can simply perform that spell just like you would with any other one. Am I on the right track with all that?"
This time, she flashed him a huge smile before dropping her wand and then immediately flinging her arms around his neck in a hug. He chuckled as his arms wrapped around her a second later.
They just silently hugged for about ten seconds. At that point, Hermione pulled away and then said to Harry, "Can I just say how much I love that I can talk about things like this with you now? And yes, you are exactly right."
That may not have been the right thing to say, though, as his smile then became somewhat dejected. He quietly said, "Well, I actually see now why you're always so driven with your studies. And brainstorming with you like this is so enjoyable. It all makes me wish that I'd been better in earlier years about studying with you more."
She put her left hand on his cheek and whispered, "Hey, let's not ask about the what-ifs. Sure, maybe if you had taken more time to study with me, that could have led to us realizing our love for one another sooner. But it's also possible that neither of us would be here like this right now. I know for certain that, if we had been romantically involved at the time, I would never have let you walk into that forest alone no matter how much you may have begged and pleaded. And that means I would surely be dead right now, and my parents would be stuck in Australia to never know that their only daughter was gone."
He put his right hand on top of her left. "No, you wouldn't be dead right now. Because if we were together back then like we are now, I would never have been able to give myself up to Riddle in the first place. If anything, I would have just fled Britain and brought you with me, because I could never allow even the chance of losing you just to help a population that had previously shown they were willing to treat me like a pariah at a moment's notice. I probably would have taken us to Australia so that we could get your parents, but we would have stayed there. But of course, that means Riddle would still be running around and causing destruction, and we may not have ever been able to live safely due to the chance that he could send his Death Eaters around the world to hunt me down anyway."
Her mouth twitched upward for an instant before she replied, "With that, you see how things could be wildly different right now if we start talking about what could have changed. So, don't fret about the past. Just remember our agreement at the church. That we should simply look forward to a wonderful future together now."
His smile became more genuine at that. "Leave the past behind, and reach forward for the future. Yeah, you're right. And thank you for being so understanding and pulling me out before I could sink too deeply into guilt about something again."
She tenderly replied, "Anytime, you're welcome."
He patted her hand that was on his cheek before dropping his right hand. As she then pulled her own hand away, he glanced at her wand for a second before grabbing his own. He said, "So, we have your hypothesis. What do you say we just try to do Summoning Charms again, trying to use our intent in the same manner that we did yesterday? I could place our wands on your desk, and then we stand in front of your big dresser so that we can be as far away from the wands as possible when we attempt to summon them."
She simply responded, "Alright."
With that, they quickly stood from the bed, with Harry taking her wand before laying both wands on top of Hermione's desk. And in no time at all, they were standing at her dresser, preparing to attempt wandless magic for the second time as they held their hands out towards the desk.
For some reason, though, Hermione couldn't fight a bit of dread that she wouldn't be able to do a successful summon, even though she had not felt any such fear up until she held her arm straight out. It's like something in her mind was purposely holding her back. But then, it hit her that this seemed similar to how she'd felt before both of her failed attempts at recreating the Four-Point Spell.
She didn't get a chance to say anything, however, as Harry spoke right then. "Hermione."
She looked at him. "What is it, Harry?"
When he turned his head, the look of hesitance was clear in his expression. "This may sound weird, but does it – does it feel for you like something is trying to hold you back, now that we're going to deliberately attempt to do wandless magic?"
She frantically nodded. "Yes, I was just thinking the same thing! What's odd for me is that I felt exactly like this during the two unsuccessful attempts at performing the Four-Point Spell again. I thought at the time that it was simply fear at being unable to recreate a spell that I accidentally performed. But now, I wonder if it might be something else entirely, because I wasn't afraid at all here until I put my arm out and was ready to attempt the summoning."
He nodded in return at first, but then a contemplative expression appeared on his face as he pulled his hand closer to him and stared at it. Hermione dropped her own arm in confusion, wondering what was rolling through his mind. It didn't take long, however, before she found out.
After a few seconds of silence, Harry frowned, his expression becoming much fiercer and more resolute. Then, his head snapped back in the direction of her desk as he quickly thrust his hand back out. And immediately, his wand flew to his palm before stopping in the air for him to grab.
Hermione's eyes widened, and a joyful smile instantly rose on her face, at seeing Harry be successful with wandless magic again. Before she could say anything, however, he had snatched his wand from the air but then quickly tossed it back to the desk. She decided to simply remain silent until he was completely finished with his attempts.
At that moment, Harry held out his hand and summoned his wand again with ease. He did that about six times, and Hermione saw that his expression grew less angry each time until the final attempt saw him looking completely blank and neutral. She knew that he must have been trying to use his intentions in accordance with her earlier idea that greater intent could help fuel their magic performance, but she also couldn't help pondering whether there might be something else to it as well.
His final attempt, however, also came with another surprise. Instead of throwing his wand back to her desk, he placed it in his belt loop before, with that neutral expression, holding out his hand. Not even an instant later, her wand zoomed over to him, and he snatched it out of the air. He stared at the wand, with a small smirk coming to his face for a second, before he turned to her.
Unable to keep silent any longer, Hermione cheerfully said, "You did it, Harry!"
His smirk turned into a full-on grin. "I did, thanks to you laying the groundwork. You were definitely onto something with your hypothesis about intent. On my first attempt just now, I thought back to how I'd felt yesterday morning before I summoned my wand to put up those silencing spells. Even though that odd restraint was still weighing in my mind, recalling that memory helped me to focus on simply needing my wand right then. And you obviously just saw how I also summoned it multiple times. Each time, I kind of tried to use less and less of that intent. And by the final one, where I summoned your wand here, that restraint was all gone, and I was able to basically wipe my mind of all emotion and make the summon."
He held her wand out for her to take, which she did so before he continued with his thoughts. "Now, if you'll indulge me, I actually have a couple of thoughts of my own that may add more to all this."
She sat back on the bed before patting it on her left side, signaling for him to sit with her. As he did so, she excitedly said, "Of course! I'll listen to anything you have to say, Harry."
He gave an amused snort first. Then, he said, "OK. So, the first thing. You know how, when we were at pre-Hogwarts ages, we typically would perform accidental magic when our emotions ran high. For example, my hair all grew back in less than a day after my aunt Petunia intentionally gave me a haircut that I hated, one that basically left me almost completely bald except for bangs in the front to hide my scar, and I was afraid of everyone at school seeing me with it. And I basically Apparated onto the roof of my school one time when I was desperately trying to get away from my cousin Dudley and his gang, who bullied me physically on a very regular basis. Although, I did get to spend lots of time stuck in my cupboard as punishment for those little feats of magic."
Hermione couldn't help closing her eyes, as well as clenching her left hand into a fist, due to the anger that promptly rushed through her upon hearing more incidents from his childhood. In an instant, she felt Harry's hand rest on top of her clenched one, causing her to open her eyes again.
With a look of sympathy, he whispered, "Don't think about them right now, Hermione. They're not worth the effort."
After another second, she closed her eyes again and took a very long and deep breath to calm herself. After finishing the exhale and opening her eyes, she nodded her head and said, "OK, I'll let it go for now, because you're right that they're not worth any thinking space in our minds during this holiday break. But I can't promise that I'll always be able to hold this in, Harry. Every time you mention them, it's something new that was horrible about your childhood."
He squeezed her still-closed fist with his hand. "Like you've done for me, I won't ask for any more than what you're willing to give or capable of giving. Just try to remember that I never have to go back there or see them ever again."
That caused the corners of her mouth to twitch for a moment before she gratefully said, "No, you don't have to go back there. You can be right here with me, where you belong."
Her statement caused him to give her a nod and a warm smile, and that allowed her to finally become calm enough that she was able to relax her left hand. She then gave him a small smile in return before adding, "Alright, I didn't mean to interrupt things. You were previously talking about accidental magic being used during moments of great emotion."
He pulled his hand away before responding. "OK, yeah. So, that kind of magic has always just been considered accidental because it only happens when we feel that we're under duress. But my first thought is… what if there's just a very thin line between accidental magic and intentional wandless magic? What if the way, or one way at the very least, of doing wandless magic is deliberately making use of emotions, and if you can become completely absorbed by a single emotion during the spell, that allows us to break the barrier of performing the spell? That would go along with how you invented the Four-Point Spell, how easily we both summoned our wands yesterday, and how I used that same emotion to do the Summoning Charm again today."
Hermione was completely absorbed in Harry's musings, feeling just like a student listening to the professor. His train of thought did line up with all the evidence they'd seen thus far. She still remained silent, though, not wanting at all to interrupt and cause him to lose track of his thoughts.
Harry continued, "And now, for my second thought. We've always been taught in class about the correct wand movements and spell pronunciations. But when we were preparing to try deliberately summoning our wands, while I can't speak fully for you, I know that one of the feelings in my mind that was holding me back was how it almost felt like something was missing before I could perform the spell. Was it the same way for you?"
Her brow furrowed in thought as she answered, "Yes actually, that does sound like one of the bits that was restraining me from attempting the wandless Summoning Charm this time. But I don't understand what it is I could be missing besides my wand itself, and that defeats the purpose of even performing wandless magic."
Oddly, he smiled at her ending statement and said, "You're already on track with my point even without knowing it. And that point is… what if our wand, along with the movements and incantations, may not be totally necessary for every spell, but they all simply make spells much easier to cast successfully? Like all three of those just allow us to more easily focus our magic to perform what we intend, but because we've always used our wands, it feels odd when trying to cast magic without it because we've subconsciously relied on the extra focus that a wand naturally gives to us? And we just need enough intent to push past that feeling of needing a wand, in order to become proficient with wandless spells?"
Her eyes widened as she murmured out loud, "Like a child riding a bicycle without training wheels for the first time. You're afraid that you can't do it at first, but then you get over that initial hump and it becomes no issue."
He sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "I'll have to take your word on that metaphor, since I don't know how to ride a bicycle anyway. But yes, you're right regarding the initial hump."
She couldn't resist exclaiming at that moment, "Harry, this is great! I'm so heavily geared towards theory and logic that I'm not sure I ever would have thought outside the box like you are right now!"
His expression grew a bit hesitant as he interjected, "Well, before we too quickly make any hard proclamations…"
He paused and looked at her wand before standing from the bed and taking a couple of steps away from it. He then said to her, "Would you mind placing your wand on the bed and then standing beside me?"
Hermione did as he requested and was now simply watching him, waiting to see his next move.
With his gaze on her, he spoke again. "So, we now have the hypothesis that wands, wand movements, and incantations all contribute to helping us focus our magic to do what we want it to. Since our sixth year of Hogwarts, we've had practice with taking away the incantations and the movements for some spells, though not necessarily together at once as well. But we've never before tried to take our wands out of the equation."
He turned his stare to her wand laying on the bed. "Therefore, something I'm going to attempt is to perform one of our first-year spells verbally and with the movement, but I'll try it with just my hand rather than using a wand." He then nervously chuckled. "I hope this works and I don't just look like a complete idiot."
She didn't get a chance to say anything to that, as he held his right hand up, palm open and fingers bunched together. Then, he did a familiar swish and flick to her wand, while he said at the same time, "Wingardium Leviosa."
And to her happy shock, her wand floated about six inches off the bed, hovered there for a couple of seconds, and then gently fell back down. When she looked back to Harry, he had a relieved but happy grin on his face.
She joyfully said, "Harry, oh my God! It really worked!"
He looked to her, shrugged his shoulders, and responded, "Yeah, I guess it did! That resistance feeling came back the entire time I was levitating your wand, but I was able to fight it off and make the wand float exactly like I wanted."
Hermione moved to hug him, but she immediately stopped when he held up his left hand.
"I know you were probably moving to hug me," he said. "And as much as I hate telling you not to right now, I want to keep testing this first to see if I can get to the point that I can perform the charm with no wand, nonverbally, and without the movements all at the same time."
She quickly replied, "No, go right ahead! I can just happily watch because this is all so astounding."
He cheerfully laughed at her statement for a few seconds before becoming serious again and turning his attention back to her wand. With that, no more words were spoken between them as Harry concentrated on trying to master the Levitation Charm with this new method of magic.
For about fifteen minutes, he simply kept repeating the spell with the movement and incantation, but with each attempt, he would make her wand go higher in the air or do more complicated movements. After that, he spent the next fifteen minutes casting the spell only by performing the wand movements with his right hand.
Then, it was time to combine all of the removals at once. His first attempt only brought her wand just a few centimeters off the bed for a couple of seconds before it fell back down. She looked to Harry at that moment and found him breathing a bit hard, but after one deep breath, he seemed to be ready and attempted it again. This time, her wand rose a few centimeters more before dropping from the air. And for thirty minutes, she silently watched as Harry continued to repeat the spell, getting better each time. And by the final attempt, he was levitating her wand all around her room, making it do flips in the air almost like it was a circus performer.
At the end, he gently guided her wand to float right in front of her, as though he was silently asking her to take it. She grabbed it out of the air, looking at it in jubilation after what she just witnessed.
But then, she heard Harry clearly let out an exhausted sigh. She immediately looked at him in concern and found him breathing hard with his eyes closed.
"Harry!" she exclaimed before putting her wand in her jeans. She then guided him over to her bed and sat him down, sitting on his right side afterward.
She worriedly asked, "Harry, are you alright?"
He opened his right eye and turned his head just enough to look at her. Though clearly tired, he did flash her a small smile for an instant before answering, "It's OK, Hermione, I'm just tired from the exertions. I didn't think about how much effort that repeatedly performing a new method of magic like that could take, though I probably should have considering how quickly I would get tired in the early Patronus lessons I had with Remus. It does feel like I just ran a double Quidditch practice with Oliver Wood at four in the morning, but I'm fine. I just probably need to rest for a bit now."
She was still concerned enough that she said, "Wait here, I'll be right back!"
With that, she rushed out of her room and down to the first floor. She darted into the kitchen and began making Harry a cold glass of water. She didn't notice that her mother had walked out of the living room and had seen her frantic movement until, right when she was finished filling up the glass, a voice spoke up from a few steps behind her.
Miranda asked, "Is everything alright, Hermione? You looked quite worried."
Hermione just twisted around and quickly replied, "Harry exhausted himself while performing magic. He's still awake, in case you start getting bad thoughts, but he needs to sit and rest for a bit. I don't have time to say any more. I need to get this to him."
With that, Hermione quickly ran around her mother and back up to her room. As she rushed in, not even thinking to shut her door again, Harry looked up at the noise. He still appeared to be taking very hard breaths.
She sat down again and held the glass out for him. "Here you go, maybe some water will help?"
He gave a tired chuckle before taking it and drinking about half of the glass at once. When he brought the glass down, he sighed almost in relief, and his breathing began to level off a bit. He then said, "I didn't think that would help as much as it seems to be so quickly. Thanks for this, Hermione."
She just quietly said, "You're welcome, Harry."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. The two looked to it to see Miranda standing in the doorway.
The older woman tentatively said, "I ran into Hermione downstairs, and she told me that you tired yourself out with your magic, Harry. I just wanted to come check and make sure that you were alright."
Though still sounding quite tired, the gratitude was also clear in Harry's tone when he spoke. "I'm alright, Miranda, really. I basically just feel like I performed a very hard workout routine. The water that Hermione brought to me already feels like it's helping, so I'll be fine. Your concern is still very much appreciated, though."
Miranda gave a nod and smiled at the teenagers. "Alright then. But if something should come up and either of you feel like you need me or Jack, just come get us."
Hermione replied, "We will. And thanks, Mum."
Harry, in the middle of another long breath, simply nodded in response. And with that, Miranda walked off back towards the stairs.
After that, Harry and Hermione were content to sit silently while he regained some of his strength. At one point early on, he put the glass in his left hand before wrapping his right arm around her. She snuggled into his side and laid her head on his shoulder in response, and she remained like that as Harry continued taking sips of water every so often.
It was about twenty minutes later that she heard him say, "OK, I've finished the water, and I really do feel a lot better now that I've rested."
She pulled her head up to look at him. His breathing had returned to normal, and the fatigue appeared to have left his eyes. He definitely did appear to be much better now in comparison.
Still, she couldn't help shyly saying, "Maybe I should start trying my hand at it now. You seemed to have already mastered the Summoning and Levitation Charms. And this will also give you a chance to rest for a while longer."
He chuckled for a second. "Sure, that sounds like a plan. I'm sure you're probably eager to finally get to try for yourself now."
She shook her head in amusement before taking his empty glass and placing it on top of her small dresser. He rose from the bed a second later to stand with her.
Not able to mask her worry, she asked, "Are you sure you don't want to sit or lie down while you rest?"
He tenderly replied, "It's OK, Hermione. I'm not so tired that I can't stand up. But thank you for worrying about me, like always."
He then looked to her bed and added, "Besides, I want you to place your wand on the bed so that you can do some of the same testing that I did. If you don't mind, of course."
She just nodded and did as was requested of her before they moved to stand in the exact same spot where Harry had practiced with the Levitation Charm.
But then, before she could do anything, he continued speaking. "Now, while it feels very weird right now that I'm going to be the one to basically teach you, what I want you to try first is to use just your emotions to summon your wand to you. Just like how we did yesterday, and just like how I first did earlier this morning."
She nodded before looking to her wand and holding out her hand. But then, the same fear hit her again, and she froze for a second before her arm curled back towards her just a bit.
Harry obviously noticed, because he whispered in her ear, "Your magic's trying to fight you right now because it's not used to doing anything without a wand. Don't listen to it. Just focus on the memory of how you felt when you summoned the wand last time, and then use that emotion to bend your magic to your will. Don't forget that you have a strength greater than a Hungarian Horntail within you, a strength greater than anyone in the world. Let it out. Show me that strength."
His words filled Hermione with so much warmth, and in no time, she was immediately lost in that memory of him lying on top of her and asking what they were doing. With that, all she could feel within her was the need to have her wand right now. And with a determined growl, she thrust her hand back out, silently ordering her wand to come to her this very instant.
Without any hesitation, the wand zoomed towards her and stopped in the air right at her palm. She instantly closed her hand around it with an iron grip. She stared at it for a couple of seconds before her success hit her.
At that moment, she looked to Harry with wide eyes and a large smile. She whispered, "It worked. I really did it."
He smiled back at her and said, "I knew you would." He then nudged his head towards the bed and added, "Now, throw the wand back to the bed and repeat it, trying to use less of that emotion each time until the spell becomes second nature, just like how you did for the Four-Point Spell."
She nodded excitedly, not noticing after she'd turned away from him that Harry was trying quite hard not to crack up with laughter at how she'd just appeared so much like Dobby with her happiness. Her next attempt was a successful recreation of the first, while the following four were done as Harry had requested, with her trying to wash away some of the initial heavy emotion each time.
On what would be her final attempt, Harry stopped her before walking over and picking up her wand. Then, he placed not only his holly wand but also his glasses down on the bed before returning to her side and holding her wand out for her. After she took it and placed it back in her jeans, he then simply nodded at her, telling her wordlessly to now try and work her magic on the objects, just like he'd done to her wand earlier.
Though a bit nervous, she nodded back and focused her attention to his wand and glasses. This time, she tried clearing her mind of all emotions in order to see that she'd truly mastered the spell. After a few seconds and a couple of deep breaths, she felt completely calm. With that, she gently held her arm straight out and opened her hand, quietly saying in her mind for the objects to come to her. And to her great happiness, both of them flew towards her and stopped at chest level for her to take. With a large smile, she grabbed his wand in her left hand and softly plucked the glasses from the air with her right one.
When she turned to Harry, he was looking at her with the same smile. After she gave him his glasses and he had placed them back on his face, he affectionately said, "Looks like you mastered the Summoning Charm with our first method. Ready to try the Levitation Charm on my wand with the second one?"
She responded with determination, "Definitely!"
After that, the testing began anew. Just like Harry had done, Hermione spent fifteen minutes performing the charm just without a wand, and then the next fifteen minutes were spent with the added removal of the incantation.
Once she moved onto performing the charm without the wand, the incantation, and the movements, her first attempt showed her exactly how Harry could have gotten so exhausted. She only got the wand up a few centimeters, just as he had, because it felt like her entire body was fighting against her. But she was too determined to give up, so she gritted her teeth and kept trying. And just like Harry, every attempt brought with it more progress and a greater levitation of his wand.
After twenty minutes, though, she looked at Harry when he said with worry, "Hermione, you're getting tired. You don't need to wear yourself out like I did."
Even though her breathing had begun to get hard, she shook her head and decisively replied, "No, not until I know that I've mastered it in the same way that you have. I won't say no if you go ahead and get some water ready, but I want to keep going."
Though he frowned a bit at her, he was also aware that she was stubborn enough not to quit when she didn't want to. Thus, he just grabbed the empty glass and said, "I'll be back as quickly as I can."
She just nodded, having already turned away from him and started her next attempt, finally getting his wand to go all the way to the ceiling. Harry returned barely a minute later, and she had begun to make his wand do acrobatics in the air with her attempts. After another five minutes, she directed his wand to zoom around the room just as he had done on his final attempt. Then, to signify that she was through, she levitated his wand over to him, hovering right in front of his chest. And after he grabbed it from the air, she slumped into his side in exhaustion, feeling his left arm instantly go around her in support.
He walked her over to the bed and sat them both down. Then, since her eyes were closed, she heard him anxiously say, "Hermione, raise your head up and drink this water. Please."
Though her body protested every movement, Hermione lifted her head off of his shoulder and saw the full glass of water in his right hand. She took it and drained half of the glass before pulling it away from her lips. Somehow, like Harry had previously mentioned, the cold liquid running through her body really did help a bit already with her tiredness.
Through her heavy breathing, she managed to smile and say, "Thank you for letting me continue to practice until I knew that I was finished. And I'm sorry for worrying you with my obstinance."
A tiny smirk appeared on his face for an instant before he replied, "Well, I just went through the same thing and was fine after resting and drinking water. If I hadn't known that for sure, I probably would have tried to be firmer about making you stop when I saw you getting fatigued."
She just nodded and took a much smaller sip of water. And just like the previous time, they sat silently while Hermione slowly caught her breath and drank the water to refresh herself.
After twenty more minutes, her breathing had leveled off back to normal. She then finished the last of the water and said, "OK, I feel a lot better now."
Turning her gaze to him, he just nodded at first, not removing his left arm from around her. Then, he grinned and said, "I guess we're now on our way to learning wandless magic, aren't we?"
She grinned right back at him. "Indeed, we are." Her expression then became more affectionate as she said, "You're a good teacher, you know that?"
An amused yet disbelieving scoff left his mouth. "If I am, it's because I was not only just lucky that my ideas turned out to be at least somewhat correct, but also because you're the brightest witch at Hogwarts, if not the entirety of Britain. You're the one that came up with the concept about the intent. Without that, my ideas would never have seen fruition. Not to mention that you've always been the first in class to correctly perform new spells."
Though she wanted to protest against his self-deprecation about how well he'd guided her with this makeshift lesson, especially considering he already had such teaching experience with the time in fifth year where he agreed to teach spells in secret for Defense Against the Dark Arts to defy Umbridge, she didn't get a chance to say anything as he continued speaking. "And speaking of ideas, I'm thinking the one about high emotion in times of duress will help us with those potion detecting spells you wanted to try and create."
That perked her up again. But then, a sneaky idea also came to mind.
She evasively replied, "You've piqued my curiosity again. But before we get to that, there's something I'd like to do first."
He looked at her with confusion but just nodded his assent. At that, she pulled out of his grip to stand and place the empty glass back on her small dresser. Then, walking back to stand in front of him, his confusion deepened when she continued to remain silent for a few seconds.
At that moment and without warning, she quickly stepped forward to place her hands on his shoulders. Then, she pushed him forward until he was flat on his back and she was lying on top of him. She only gave him another second of a reprieve before her lips flew down and connected with his in a hot and heavy kiss. After one more second, she couldn't hold back her smile during the kiss once she felt him respond to it just as eagerly.
And in the snogging session, Hermione couldn't help thinking about how lucky she was to be with someone as wonderful as Harry. How fortunate she was to have been able to find her other half at such an early age, even if it took so many more years to awaken to her true feelings. And how absolutely amazing it was that they were able to last through every one of their ordeals over the years to finally begin finding true happiness with one another.
A/N: Since I'd brought up the whole deal with wandless magic in a previous chapter, this was basically a chance to get to show off that "excited schoolgirl" side of Hermione. Also, considering how very little is given in book canon about wandless magic, hopefully my way of implementing it is somewhat sensible.
To those who have made it this far, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!
