Chapter 16

Harry and Hermione silently remained in their hug for a few minutes before she felt him finally start to pull away, to which she let him without resistance.

Once they were separated, they just looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Then, the left side of Harry's mouth barely lifted, and he said, "Thank you for the moment of comfort."

Hermione affectionately replied, "You never have to thank me for that. But the sentiment is still appreciated regardless."

He quietly laughed for a couple of seconds at her cheeky but sincere response. When he stopped, he took a deep breath before asking, "Alright, so. Are you ready to start hashing out what spells we practice with next?"

She said, "Before that, there's actually another thought I had relating to emotions and intent with a certain spell that I wanted your opinion on."

He became a bit curious and replied, "Alright then. What spell?"

"The Patronus Charm," she responded. Harry's eyebrows rose as his curiosity seemed to grow, but he remained silent and let her continue. "Now you obviously know, having successfully taught that spell to some of us, that an immensely happy memory is required to cast a Patronus at all, let alone a corporeal one. But only now, with us having come up with our ideas about stronger emotions and intent helping us to perform and create spells, has it truly hit me how that could be the entire reason as to why the spell is so advanced.

"Think about it. The memory of strong emotion helped us to perform those initial wandless Summoning Charms, but that emotion certainly wasn't necessary when we were first learning to perform the spell as normal. But the Patronus Charm is impossible to perform, even when still using all three aspects of spellcasting, without also making use of that strong emotion at the same time. How many other spells can you think of which would have that same requirement? And how much harder could it be to perform a Patronus because of that, if you removed any one aspect out of the wand, wand movement, or verbal incantation?"

His eyebrows went much higher as his gaze turned downward a bit, his eyes shifting left and right slightly for a couple of seconds in thought. Then, he locked his gaze back onto her and said, with a smile, "I hadn't thought that far ahead yet with things, but I think you're right. Or at the very least, on track with something more regarding our ideas about magic. The only other spells I know of that seem to necessitate some kind of emotion or intent are the Cruciatus and Killing Curses, which could explain why Bellatrix Lestrange was so lethal with the Cruciatus Curse given her sadistic nature."

Then, he pulled out his wand. While staring at it in his right hand, he murmured only just loud enough for her to hear, "Now, I'm curious…"

Though Harry trailed off, Hermione figured that he must have been thinking about whether it was possible to remove any aspects of spellcasting and still produce a Patronus. Whether he was thinking about one certain aspect or all of them, though, she wouldn't know until he said something. It only took a few more seconds, however, for her to receive her answer.

At that point, Harry closed his eyes, and then a great smile rose on his face. When he opened his eyes afterward, though his smile never wavered, his eyes seemed to be filled with resolution. Then, without a word, he waved his wand.

And an instant later, a silvery cloud of mist erupted from the wand's tip, hovering about a foot in front of Harry and Hermione.

Hermione couldn't help grinning widely in jubilation. Even if it was an incorporeal Patronus, Harry had still managed to cast it nonverbally at all on his first attempt. She immediately turned to congratulate him, but what she saw of him made her words die before they could leave her lips, and concern started growing within her instead.

Though his expression was still just as determined, his smile had disappeared, and it appeared as though he was gritting his teeth even though his mouth was closed. His right arm was slightly shaking as he continued to hold out the incorporeal Patronus. The tremble in his arm very quickly became much more pronounced, and after just a few more seconds, he dropped his arm and huffed out a huge breath. The silver mist disappeared from the room a second later.

As he started tiredly breathing, Hermione couldn't help putting her left hand on his right shoulder. She fearfully asked, "Harry, are you alright? Do you need help? Should I go grab a glass of water?"

He looked at her and gave her a small smile to try and reassure her, but it only lasted for an instant. Then, he slowly said, "Yeah, water might be good."

She instantly rose from the bed and called out, as she rushed out of the room, "I'll be back as quickly as possible!"

Not even a minute later, she returned with a full glass of cold water and sat on his right side again. When he took the glass with his left hand, he drank for a couple of seconds, draining about a quarter of the water. Lowering the glass from his mouth, he smiled again as he looked at her.

He said, "This does help, thank you."

She nodded but still worriedly said, "I should have thought about grabbing some water before we left the kitchen, after what happened with our practice yesterday – "

"Hermione," he interrupted. "Don't blame yourself. I didn't think about it either. And I'm the one that should have realized what could happen if I tried performing a Patronus Charm while removing an aspect of spellcasting. It felt exactly like I was thirteen and learning the Patronus for the first time with Remus again."

He stopped for a second to sip on the water before continuing. "After what happened yesterday with performing the Levitation Charm completely wandlessly, along with what you just brought up earlier about the emotions necessary for casting a Patronus, I should have been prepared to get tired much more quickly. Though I can also say that I still don't feel quite as tired as I did at the end of my session with the Levitation Charm yesterday. Of course, to be fair, that was also a continual hour of practice, while this was just one single attempt."

She rubbed his back with her left hand. "Well, just to be safe, let's rest for a bit until you've fully caught your strength again."

He nodded before growing thoughtful. "While I'm sitting here, why don't you try a nonverbal Patronus for yourself?" He lightly shook the glass he was holding before adding, "There's enough water in here left that we could share it."

Hermione had to admit that her curiosity about being able to perform the spell outweighed her worry that she should wait until Harry was rested. The fact that, though his breathing was still a bit heavy, the fatigue had already left his eyes helped with the decision.

"Alright," she said, pulling out her wand. Turning her head to face forward, she began searching for a memory that was powerful enough to get around the fact that she would be removing the saying of the incantation. And immediately, a single instance came to mind.

It's a literal physical representation of just how much you love and care for me. And that, Hermione, my Angel… makes you the most beautiful person on the face of the planet.

Recalling Harry's words immediately made her give a tearful and huge smile. And with that, she waved her wand and thought of the spell's incantation in her mind.

To her delight, she was able to produce an incorporeal Patronus just like Harry. But the smile disappeared after only a second because it seemed that her entire body was now fighting against her, just like in the fully wandless casting of the Levitation Charm. Her arm began shaking more and more, and she only lasted a few seconds before dropping her arm and sighing out a breath just like Harry had.

He immediately held the water out in front of her, and she grabbed it with a nod. She took a drink for a second and thankfully felt relief already growing as the liquid flowed through her. She took another, smaller sip before saying, "I see exactly what you mean. That one attempt felt like all the resistance from when I was practicing the Levitation Charm without a wand, wand gesture, and verbal incantation."

At that point, she turned to look at him. He then said, with a smile, "Well, at least we know we're capable of performing a nonverbal Patronus in any form, even if it's not a full corporeal one."

She interjected, "Yes, we can. And maybe, though I imagine it could take much more work than all the spells we practiced yesterday, we could work our way up to being able to do the full Patronus nonverbally, wandless, and then without using any of the aspects of spellcasting. But given the choice, if we were ever in another situation that a corporeal Patronus was necessary to drive away Dementors, I may err on the side of caution and simply perform the spell as normal. If it were also a situation where I may not have my wand immediately on hand, though I'm sure that would be an exceedingly rare scenario considering our experiences with the war, I might even feel safer performing the wandless Summoning Charm to bring my wand to me."

She took one more drink of water, leaving a little less than a quarter of the glass remaining, before handing the glass back to Harry. She then said, "I'm done with this, by the way. I think I'll be alright with just sitting for a few minutes."

He nodded before draining the last of the water himself. He responded afterwards, "I completely agree with your thoughts. In a vital situation, it's best to be cautious and pragmatic to go for the best results possible."

He stood from the bed and placed the glass on her tall dresser. Then, turning around, he looked at his wand again and said, "I can't help but wonder, though, if my memory was strong enough, considering the nature of this spell. Or I guess I should technically say memories, since it wasn't just a single one."

She stood and moved to stand on his left side. As she placed her wand in her jeans, she asked, "What did you think about?"

His face instantly started turning pink, before he timidly said, "You. Just… moments with you."

As much as she probably shouldn't be surprised, her heart still melted at the reveal. She couldn't resist giving him a loving smile, which caused his face to return to its normal color as he returned the smile.

After a few seconds of gazing at one another, she glanced to his wand before saying, a bit playfully, "Well, there's only one way to find out if it was strong enough, right?"

His only reply was a wordless smirk. With that, he turned his head to face her desk before waving his wand and quietly calling out, "Expecto Patronum."

The form that appeared upon the casting, however, shocked both of them to the cores of their souls.

Instead of the stag form that was so well associated with Harry, a silver owl flew from the tip of his wand. Harry and Hermione's mouths dropped open as they watched the owl fly up to the ceiling and do a couple of laps around the room. Then, it slowly flew over and landed on top of Hermione's taller dresser, with Harry and Hermione turning around and continuing to stare at it. This allowed them to finally get a better look at the owl.

A better look at a very familiar-looking snowy owl.

Feeling tears rising in her eyes, Hermione whispered in awe, "Hedwig. It looks like Hedwig."

The owl looked at Hermione and bobbed its head up and down a couple of times, as though actually confirming the words.

Hermione looked at Harry, finding him staring at the owl with somehow even more astonishment while also looking ready to cry. She couldn't resist placing her arm around him and snuggling up to his side to try and comfort him. This caused him to glance at her for a second before looking back at the Patronus form and taking a deep breath.

He started reaching up with his left hand but stopped a few inches away from the owl. Then, he said somewhat shakily, "Hedwig? I have to ask, is it truly you?"

He also received a couple of head bobs, before the owl hopped forward and then nipped at his fingers in a familiar, affectionate manner.

Harry let out a tearful laugh for a few seconds as he dropped his arm. Then, he exclaimed, "Hedwig! It is you! It's so great to see you again, even if you're not actually physically here with us anymore."

The head bobs from Hedwig this time were much happier and more enthusiastic, causing Harry to let out a more amused laugh. And after a couple more seconds, the Patronus form of the snowy owl slowly faded away.

Harry continued to look, somewhat wistfully, at the spot where Hedwig had been as he put his wand away. Hermione remained quiet but tightened her arm a bit more around his waist.

That caused him to turn his gaze back to her, with his expression being a mixture of awe and seriousness. He quietly said, "That – that was something else, wasn't it?"

She nodded. "Yes, it certainly was, Harry." Then, unable to help her curiosity, she added, "When did your Patronus change? Ever since you learned the spell, it's always been a stag."

He shook his head with incredulity, and his eyes glanced down in thought as he answered, "I – I don't know, Hermione. I mean, I haven't cast a Patronus at all since the Battle of Hogwarts anyway. The only part of the equation that's changed has been – "

He abruptly stopped at that point, his eyes widening as much as humanly possible. She was intensely interested about what could have caused the change in him, but she remained silent in case she would interrupt his train of thought.

When he looked at her again, his expression became quite soft. And he whispered, "You. The only part of the equation that's changed has been you. You revealing your love for me, and me realizing my own love for you."

He then gave a great smile. "My Patronus no longer represents my parents. It symbolizes you."

Hermione's eyes widened and mouth dropped open in shock. Her heart was pounding so hard in delight that she was surprised that it wasn't literally bursting out of her chest.

His Patronus changed forms because of her.

Only then did her mind begin working enough that she asked the first question that popped into her mind, without thinking more about it. "But if it changed because of me, then why did it change into Hedwig?"

She only fully realized, with a grimace, how ungrateful that question could come off as after she asked it. But Harry just chuckled before shifting his position so that he could wrap both of his arms around her. The action comforted her enough that she knew that he didn't think anything wrong about her question, as she circled her second arm to hold him as well.

He then responded, "Well, now that I'm thinking more about it… you and Hedwig share some great similarities."

Hermione tilted her head a bit in confusion. "How so?"

His mouth curled upward for a second. "It seems obvious once you lay it out in a row. Highly intelligent. Greatly loyal. Willing to help me in whatever way you're able."

His face began turning pink again before his next sheepish words. "Beautiful in your own ways, even if I hadn't fully realized that aspect about you until a few days ago."

No matter how many times Hermione heard Harry call her beautiful, it seemed that her heart would always flip around in happiness every time he did so. She kept quiet, though, and let Harry continue speaking.

"And you know, the whole point of a Patronus is that it acts as a guardian for us against Dementors." He smiled again at this point. "And you've been protecting me for so many years, along with remaining by my side this year when, by all rights, I didn't deserve such kindness. Combining that with the similarities that you and Hedwig share… no other form could ever fit my new Patronus more than Hedwig."

The smile that grew on Hermione's face after his statement was watery but happy. Then, she leaned in and gave him a slow and deep kiss. His mouth responded in an instant, and the two lost any sense of their surroundings for the next twenty seconds except for the feel of one another.

When Hermione finally gradually pulled her mouth away to gaze into his eyes, she whispered with affection, "It honors me more than I can ever put into words that you have such a beautiful meaning behind your new Patronus, Harry."

Though he didn't say anything, his mouth lifted in a tender smile as he nodded. Then, he simply squeezed his arms around her just a bit tighter.

At that moment, however, she couldn't help but start thinking about her own otter Patronus. Besides the fact that Harry's last name was Potter, she wasn't seeing any way that it could relate to Harry. And that thought caused her expression to fall a bit.

But then, as Harry started to grow concerned, another thought hit her that made her eyes widen. She hadn't cast a Patronus since the summer, when she was showing off magic to her parents while they were still in Australia. But she had only first realized her love for Harry when she received that letter from her parents before the start of the holiday break.

Her eyes focused back on Harry when he hesitantly said, "You look like you may have had another epiphany. What's on your mind?"

She replied, "At first, I was wishing that my otter Patronus could relate to you in a wonderful manner like your Patronus now does to me. Beyond the fact that your last name contains the word 'otter' within it, I couldn't think of anything. But then, I actually realized that I haven't cast a Patronus since the summer, while the first time I knew my true feelings about you was less than two weeks ago."

Recognition filled his eyes with her final statement. "You're thinking that maybe your Patronus could have also changed without you knowing."

His expression became contemplative for a few seconds, before he smiled at her and let her go. Then, he added, "Well, only one way to find out, right?"

She silently nodded before stepping to his right side and then turning to face the direction of her desk. She pulled out her wand with a nervous sigh, unable to help the jitters she felt about how her Patronus still may not actually be different.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking back to Christmas morning again. As soon as Harry's words played in her mind, the huge smile returned to her face. And with that, she opened her eyes before waving her wand and saying, "Expecto Patronum."

At first, she was terrified when only a silver cloud burst out of her wand. But then, that cloud moved down to the floor near the middle of the room. The cloud began to grow as more and more mist flowed from her wand. In fact, it had already grown enough that Hermione quickly realized that this could be something much larger than an otter, if it did ever take a defined form.

As though it read her thoughts, the silver cloud did begin to take a shape. The legs were the first part to be formed, and Hermione was stunned to find that the two hind legs were those of a horse while the two front ones were the same as an eagle. Was her Patronus form truly going to be what she was assuming right now?

She remained silent in her amazement, not even realizing that Harry was witnessing this with the exact same expression. After about ten more seconds, the Patronus form finally took full shape. And standing in front of them, with its wings folded up against its body, was a hippogriff.

And though the creature was silver like all corporeal Patronus forms, Harry and Hermione were also quite familiar with this particular hippogriff.

The two of them instinctively bowed while keeping their eyes up, even if this was simply a Patronus hippogriff. In response, the Patronus instantly bowed itself. As it stood upright again, Hermione quickly rushed forward until she was right in front of the hippogriff.

As Harry moved forward to stand beside her, she whispered in shock, "Buckbeak? Are you really Buckbeak?"

The hippogriff rustled its wings just slightly before then nodding its head once.

Then, Buckbeak glanced to the both of them before shocking them further. Without any direction from Harry and Hermione, he bowed once again, going quite low and not even maintaining eye contact this time, as though he was showing how much he respected and trusted them even if this was just a Patronus form. And once he stood back up, he let out a happy cry before he gradually faded away.

This time, Hermione was the one staring at the spot where the Patronus had faded, while she was unaware of Harry staring at her in silence. She couldn't believe that her Patronus had not only changed to a hippogriff, but that it had also taken the form of Buckbeak himself.

And yet…

When she thought about it as she put her wand away, a smile came to her face as she realized that maybe it couldn't be more fitting. When she and Harry were on their venture to rescue Sirius at the end of third year, as afraid as she had been while flying on Buckbeak, she still felt completely safe because she knew that Harry would never let anything happen to her. And in fact, throughout every ordeal the two of them had ever faced, she always felt safest when she was right there with Harry. Even the attack in the Department of Mysteries didn't lessen that feeling, because it was entirely her fault for getting cursed considering she stopped in the middle of the fight to compliment Harry on his spellwork.

Plus, the flight on Buckbeak was an experience that only she and Harry shared together. And frankly, it could be looked at as quite a romantic experience even if nothing of the sort was ever intended with that flight, especially with how closely she had huddled up against Harry in her fear. So, with her having realized her love for him, why wouldn't her Patronus then take the form of the animal that they had ridden together and where she had felt so protected by him?

She was brought out of her musings when she heard Harry hesitantly ask, "What brought the smile on, if you don't mind me asking?"

Hermione looked at him, without dropping her smile, and replied, "Thinking on the possible reason or reasons about why my Patronus form became Buckbeak."

His expression became quite astonished. "Yeah, that – I can't say that I was expecting Buckbeak to show up as your Patronus, even after what we had witnessed with my own." Then, he added with curiosity, "So, does anything stand out as to why that specific change happened?"

She first turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself close to him. Though he looked a bit confused, his arms automatically circled her waist in response.

Then, she playfully said, "Well, you, for one."

His initial response was a tilt of his head and a smirk that clearly said that her answer couldn't have been more obvious. Then, he jokingly replied, "I kind of figured as much, considering how mine changed because of you. Any other insights there, oh great Brightest Witch of Britain?"

She just stuck her tongue out at him, which caused him to laugh for a few seconds. Once he went quiet, though, she became more serious and answered, "In all seriousness, do you remember our flight together on Buckbeak in third year?"

His expression became soft, and he quietly said, "How could I forget? You risked so much by using that Time-Turner to help me rescue Sirius and allow us to save Buckbeak in the process."

She gave him a sympathetic look before she continued. "Well, do you remember how scared I was during the flight?"

His own expression turned sympathetic. "Yeah. I remember hearing you mutter 'I don't like this' for a while. And it seemed like you were holding onto me as tightly as you could, though of course, I did also tell you to hold me before I nudged Buckbeak so that he would rise into the air."

"Well," she responded, "what you may not know is that, as scared as I was to be riding Buckbeak, I still felt safe because I knew that you were right there with me, and that nothing would happen to me as long as you were there. And while that night may have been the first time that I truly realized it, I've felt the same way with every ordeal we've had to face together. As long as I was by your side, I trusted that we would see things through. And thus, combining the realizations from our experience on Buckbeak with the fact that I've become fully conscious of my true feelings for you, my Patronus must now be reflective of the one that I know will always protect me and keep me safe."

His face fell a bit. Before she had a chance to say any more, knowing what was going to be on his mind, he sadly interjected while staring at the area on her shoulder where they both knew her scar began, "Not always. Being at my side also got you cursed to near-death in fifth year, and then tortured last year."

Resolution filled her as she replied with no hesitation, "But I'm still here, aren't I?"

His eyes looked to hers again as he answered, "You very easily couldn't be, Hermione."

She firmly responded, "And I could say the same for you, Harry. How many times have you nearly died since your eleventh birthday? The fact that we could legitimately say 'too many to count' tells everything on its own."

Her next words were spoken more tenderly. "But like I just said, as long as I was with you, I had faith that we would see through it all. Even at a point where I was truly starting to lose all hope, after Ron had left us high and dry during the hunt, you danced with me that one night and reignited my faith that happiness could still prevail even through the darkest of nights. And it did prevail, as evidenced by how we're both standing here right now."

She then gently brought his forehead down to hers. "No matter how differently you may think otherwise because of what we've suffered, you are my protector, Harry, and do keep me safe. Just as I try to do the same for you. We've always been stronger together, even just as friends. And we'll continue to be strong together through whatever may happen in the future. I'm sure of it."

His eyes were filled with emotion at her statements before he shut them. She remained quiet to let him work out whatever was on his mind. She took a bit of solace in how his expression didn't look guilty at the moment.

After about ten seconds, he opened his eyes again, showing her nothing but affection. He whispered, "You know, I'm not quite sure that I deserve to be represented by a hippogriff when compared to you."

His words were self-deprecating, but there was no true guilt laced within them. That caused her to smile at him and reply, "I think you do. And as far as myself, I'm proud to be represented by your beloved snowy owl."

That caused him to finally smile at her again. After a couple of seconds, he became serious. "I'm sorry I slipped up with my guilt. I'm trying to stick to that declaration I made on Christmas morning about appreciating the choices of you and others. I guess my guilty tendencies won't just go away after a single night, though."

She smiled before nuzzling his nose with her own for a second, causing him to silently chuckle. Then, she replied, "And just like I told your parents at their grave, I'll gladly pull you out of that guilt no matter how many times you slip up."

He just nodded against her forehead, without a word. And for another minute, the two just quietly stood there and held one another, not wanting to budge from the moment.

Hermione was finally the one to pull away, before she said, "So, what do you say the two of us get to what we actually came up here to do?"

Harry gave a quiet snort but simply nodded. The two of them made their way over to the bed and sat down on it again.

Then, she took a deep breath before saying, "OK, so the first thing I was thinking was that the first bit of time should be a review of what we did the previous day, and we continue to hold to that practice throughout the week for every spell we attempt. In other words, whatever we practice today, we'll review first thing in our session tomorrow, and so forth."

"Yeah, that sounds sensible," he replied. "Anything specific after that?"

She nodded. "I was thinking that one of our wandless spells to prioritize should be the General Counter-Spell, Finite Incantatem. Think of how useful it would be if we were in a situation where we were placed in a Full Body-Bind, or someone tied us up using Incarcerous, and we were proficient enough at the counter-spell to free ourselves. It would mean having to be good enough at using the spell wandlessly that we wouldn't even use our hands at all, since a Full Body-Bind only allows for eye movement when you are placed under it, but it seems too useful not to try.

"We would have to start out with trying to terminate something like a simple Leg-Locker Curse, so that we would still have full arm movement while doing early practice. And we would need to get to the point of being able to completely end that without any movement whatsoever before moving on to the more constraining spells. I'm also going off the assumption that conjured ropes, by their magical nature, could be removed or vanished by the General Counter-Spell's terminating effects, but again, it's too useful not to at least try."

She took a breath and finally ended her speech by timidly asking, "What do you think?"

He smiled for a second before answering, "I think that sounds like a great idea. I just hope that we're good enough to be able to pull it off. This seems like it could take most, if not all, of today's session to somewhat master."

"Before we start doing anything for certain," she interjected, "what about you? Do you have anything specific to put on our plate?"

His face became quite determined. "I do, actually. I have two specific spells in mind: the Disarming Charm and the Shield Charm. Think of how useful those could be in certain situations, with the Shield Charm being especially useful if we're ever in full combat again like the Department of Mysteries or last year. Not to mention, since we're at least fairly proficient right now with wandless Summoning Charms, we could disarm someone of their wand and then summon it to us, all with wandless magic. And we could also use one hand to throw up a Shield Charm in front of us and then use our wand to normally cast another spell around the shield."

She couldn't resist giving a great smile at that point upon hearing his ideas. No wonder Harry was the best in Defense, even if her numerical grade for the class was technically the same as his at the moment.

Her expression made Harry become sheepish before he timidly asked, "What's the large smile for, if you don't mind the question?"

Hermione affectionately responded, "Because of how you immediately jumped to giving us ideas that would be useful in Defense. It really does show why you're the best in the class, and the best in the school by extension since we're in our final year."

He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. "I'm technically not, since our grades are tied at the top of that class. You're still the best student overall in the entire school, considering that you're second only to Neville in Herbology and then in the top spot for every other class you have. And that's all with you taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes on top of having Charms, Defense, Herbology, Transfiguration, and Potions with me."

She shook her head. "That doesn't change the fact that you are number one in Defense, and were even on our O.W.L.s in fifth year as well."

She looked a bit more sympathetically at him. "But I'll drop it, for now." A tiny smirk then rose to her face as she teasingly added, "I don't want you to feel too down since you can't take a compliment to save your life, Potter."

He snorted with amusement before gently knocking her shoulder with his. "Like I've said before, you're in that club just the same as well, Granger."

She couldn't help laughing out loud, and he ended up joining her after a moment. When they calmed down after a few seconds, Hermione then said, "So, what order do we go in?"

Harry glanced away in thought for a couple of seconds before saying to her, "How about the General Counter-Spell today, then the Disarming Charm, and then the Shield Charm? And let's leave it at those three for now. There's always the possibility that learning them could take more time than everything we practiced yesterday did, especially given what you mentioned trying to do with the counter-spell."

She replied, "Yes, that sounds like a plan." She then gave a more resolute grin. "So, are you ready to begin?"

Without a word, his response was to return the grin and then give a nod.

-O-

The rest of the week seemed to fly by for Harry and Hermione, with them falling into the routine of always going back up to her room to practice magic after eating breakfast with her parents.

Finite Incantatem did take the whole session until they called it finished at around six o'clock in the evening. The first couple of hours were spent testing on themselves after using something like a Leg-Locker Curse or Jelly-Legs Jinx, and the teens were able to get to the point of wandless casting without the spell gesture or incantation. Ending an Incarcerous spell was trickier considering the way they would use the spell on each other meant the person trying to escape had zero usage of their hands from the beginning. They were both, however, successfully able to work from starting with saying the Counter-Spell's incantation to escape, proving Hermione's assumption that it may manage to work on magically conjured ropes, to eventually being able to do so nonverbally while wrapped in ropes. Harry was actually quite quick in being successful at cancelling out the ropes conjured by Incarcerous, which he credited afterwards to the memory of being tied up to the gravestone while helplessly witnessing Riddle's resurrection in fourth year.

With the Full Body-Bind Curse, the person cursed would only be able to move their eyes at all, so it would require entirely using their mind and intent to force their magic to act. Thus, Harry and Hermione agreed that, if the person getting cursed couldn't perform the General Counter-Spell after a full minute, the second person would simply cancel the curse themselves.

It took another hour from that starting point before one of them, once again Harry, was able to wandlessly break free from the body bind. It took enough energy out of him, however, that they had to take a break for about ten minutes before he could attempt it again. And while each of the next five attempts afterwards still took more energy in comparison to the spells used on their first day of wandless magic practice, he was able to perform it every time.

Upon Hermione's first attempt after watching Harry's success, her heart started falling as the seconds ticked by and she still wasn't able to free herself. But then, an image of Bellatrix Lestrange flashed in her mind, causing Hermione to imagine herself being back at Malfoy Manor and under torture. Only this time, instead of just using the Cruciatus on her again and again as had actually happened, Bellatrix had her in the Full Body-Bind and was getting ready to carve into her with Severing Charms like a slab of meat while also speaking about how she would do so much worse to Harry once Bellatrix had her hands on him. That gave Hermione the emotional push and focus to finally break free of the curse, and the image quickly faded away so that she could once again see that she was simply in her room. And afterwards, just like Harry, her next few attempts were hard-fought but managed to all be successful.

After that day's session was over, the two of them showed off their new Patronus forms to Hermione's parents before dinner. Jack and Miranda were both astounded at learning how the animal that appeared could change, as well as getting to see what a hippogriff looked like. They were also delighted, though, upon learning the meanings behind the Patronus forms of Hedwig and Buckbeak.

The next day, the teenagers also used the full day's session when moving onto the Disarming Charm. While Harry was still the first one to more quickly master the full wandless usage, Hermione found it unsurprising considering how the spell was essentially one of his signature ones.

The Shield Charm, however, managed to take two full days of sessions. Although their first attempts were still successful, even that attempt with removing only the usage of the wand greatly tired them out. Because of that, the two brainstormed and came up with the idea to use one day to simply build up their endurance with the Shield Charm and try to gradually cast larger shields and hold their shields out for longer periods of time before removing any more aspects of spellcasting.

Taking that time helped them the day afterwards with being able to quickly get to the point of the complete wandless casting. The remainder of that day was spent testing each other's shields, with the person trying to break through also getting extra practice at casting a wandless General Counter-Spell at the same time so that if a cast spell bounced off the shield, it would end before hitting anything else. The two went in twenty-minute spurts before taking a ten-minute rest break and then switching off who attacked and who defended.

And soon enough, the date reached December 31, New Year's Eve. The last day that Harry and Hermione would be at the Granger house before returning to Hogwarts, although classes themselves wouldn't start back up until Monday, January 4.

For their magic session, the teenagers decided to just try as much of a gamut of spells as possible, since they wouldn't have as many chances once the new term started. They were still only able to cast an incorporeal Patronus when trying nonverbally, and their few attempts tired them out quickly enough that they decided to let the Patronus Charm remain as is for now. Stunning Spells came quite quickly for them when removing only the wand, as well as minor charms and hexes such as the Cheering Charm or Jelly-Legs Jinx.

The two of them found out, however, that Transfiguration was either a complete no-go with wandless magic or would take much more time and practice than they currently had. Even with their most furious and determined attempts, neither Harry nor Hermione were able to even simply change a pen to a quill even when removing only their wands. The only success with wandless Transfiguration they had was when they decided to make an attempt where they would cast as much of their magic as they could together, and that only caused the pen to transform into a quill for a couple of seconds before changing back. And once it reverted, the teens ended up collapsing to their knees on the floor, and were barely able to shift their position to sit on their bottoms and hold each other while leaning back against her bed. It actually took them a full half-hour before they finally regained their breath and strength.

Of course, Hermione didn't outwardly complain very much about how badly wandless Transfiguration tired them out. It at least gave her a chance to cuddle with Harry while they were regaining their strength.

But all too soon, it was five o'clock in the evening as the two of them called their final session complete and went down to eat dinner with her parents. Hermione's mum had cooked up a roast chicken with mixed vegetables, and she even made a chocolate cake for dessert. The response Hermione received, upon joking about why did two dentists allow such a forbidden food anywhere near the household, was that they could live a little for the last night that she and Harry would be at home before leaving for school.

And by six fifteen, the group had finished their wonderful meal and moved into the living room. Hermione knew that there was probably going to be a talk when her parents sat in the loveseat, but she remained silent as she and Harry sat at the right end of the sofa. Crookshanks once again followed them in and then took refuge on the free left side of the sofa, so that he could stretch out.

When everyone was seated, Miranda let out a sigh and quietly said, "Well, it certainly has been a wonderful holiday break, hasn't it?"

Jack instantly replied, "I certainly think so."

Harry's response was full of gratitude. "The best that I've ever experienced to this point. I can never thank you two enough for being so open with me."

Hermione jumped in before her parents could reply. "I feel the same, Mum and Dad. Thank you so much for going along with my sudden idea to have Harry stay with us."

The parents simply smiled at the two teenagers in return. After another second, Miranda said, with a bit of sadness, "Now, with it being your last night here, there is one final thing that Jack and I were hoping we could talk about with the two of you, if you'll allow it."

Harry and Hermione turned to look at one another. Hermione just shrugged her shoulders, once again wanting it to be his decision. The left side of his mouth lifted for an instant before he whispered to her, "Yeah, I'm OK with it."

She nodded before they both looked at her parents again. Then, Hermione replied, "Sure, Mum and Dad. Go ahead."

The parents nodded before Jack took the lead. "There was something you mentioned on Christmas night, Harry, that we let drop until there was more time to talk about it. And since this is our last chance for a while, here's the question."

His expression, along with Miranda's, then became quite sympathetic as Jack asked, "So, you really have no idea about what to do with your future now or after school?"

Hermione immediately took hold of Harry's right hand with her left one, linking their fingers and giving him a quick squeeze after doing so. He glanced at her with a grateful smile before returning his attention to her parents.

He took a deep breath and replied, "I know that I want to be with Hermione, wherever the future may take us. But beyond that… no, no idea."

He turned to Hermione again and said a bit dejectedly, "In fact, I don't even know what you might have thought about wanting to do after we graduate. I've been so wrapped up in my issues that I never thought to ask at any point."

She shook her head and gently replied, "Harry, no. Like I've said before, you don't have to apologize for your pain." She then, however, became a bit more hesitant as she added, "And… there's actually something I thought you, or even we, could do after we graduate, and I wanted to discuss it with you before classes started again on Monday. I guess now is as good a time as any."

His eyes blinked in confusion, and he asked, "An idea possibly for the both of us? What is it?"

She nervously shuffled a bit in her seat before she came out with it. "Well… what would you say about us maybe trying to become professors at Hogwarts? You could easily take Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I could... well, I'm not entirely sure, but I could talk to Professor McGonagall about which subject."

His mouth dropped open in astonishment. He didn't immediately respond, which actually gave the parents time to give their own thoughts.

Miranda said, causing both teenagers to look at her and Jack, "You know, since we haven't yet asked you about your own career path, Hermione, we had been hoping to find out if you had any plans after school. And I must say, I think teaching is something that is right up your alley. You certainly don't lack for a love of learning."

Jack added, "Indeed. And I know that your mother and I always loved the classes where the one teaching was clearly enthusiastic about their subject and passing along their knowledge to others. I think you could be a wonderful teacher at your school."

Hermione shyly smiled and replied, "Thank you, Mum and Dad."

She then looked back up to Harry, who turned back to her with astonishment still clearly written on his face. She gave his hand another squeeze before softly saying, "What about you? You still haven't given any thoughts."

That caused him to close his eyes and take a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he hesitantly asked, "Well, first off… can you really see me in the role of an actual teacher?"

She immediately responded, "Yes, I can."

Reaching over to grab his left hand with her right one and pull it over, she squeezed both hands for a second before continuing, "You went along with my idea to teach Defense in secret during fifth year, when that horrible Umbridge woman wasn't teaching us at all. Then, when we took O.W.L.s that year, all the people that you had taught were the ones that performed the best on the exam. And just this week, you guided me wonderfully when I was about to freeze up again from fear in our first magic practice session, when we were doing Summoning Charms. You came up with the ingenious idea about learning to perform wandless Disarming and Shield Charms to better protect ourselves if we would ever be in some kind of fight again."

Harry finally interrupted at that point, as he dejectedly said, "I had you helping me every step of the way when we were doing those Defense lessons in fifth year. Without your organizational prowess, it wouldn't have lasted past a single session because I would have had no idea where to go with things. And as far as this week goes… you're the best student that Hogwarts has ever had, Hermione. You would have been able to learn on your own everything that we've done this week."

Hermione replied, much more firmly than before, "Then that once again simply means that we bring out the best in one another. But I refuse to let you diminish the wonderful parts that you've played. You did teach us all in fifth year. You have helped to teach and guide me throughout our wandless magic sessions. And I absolutely believe that you could be the best Defense professor that Hogwarts has had and ever will have."

When she finished, Harry was utterly stunned at the praise that she had just heaped upon him. She simply remained quiet for about ten seconds to let him process everything. Then, she spoke up again, though much more gently so that he would hopefully know that she held no ill will towards him.

"Now, you initially said 'first off' before you asked that question of your teaching prowess. Was there anything else you wanted to ask or discuss with me about the idea?"

He rapidly blinked for a second before taking another deep breath. "Alright, well. I guess the second thing is… is that really something you would want to do?"

She opened her mouth to make her affirmation, but he immediately continued with his thought, not giving her a chance to speak. "I know that I've never asked before what you wanted to do after Hogwarts. But I could always picture you as being someone that would go into the Ministry, maybe the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. You would start working your way up the ranks of the department, pushing to make your dreams a reality, such as house-elves having better treatment and not being abused. And at some point, you may even become the Minister for Magic and be the most powerful person in magical Britain, doing all you can to make sure that this society finally comes into the modern day."

This time, Hermione was the one shocked from hearing the great things that Harry could apparently see for her. She couldn't have interrupted him even if her mind had been working, wanting to hear Harry's thoughts to their end.

He continued, "And because of what I can picture for your future, I have to know that teaching is actually something you want to do, and it isn't just you settling for something else because of me. I told you in the Forest of Dean that I would suffer the pain of being alone a thousand times over if it meant that you weren't being held back from your potential because of me, and I want you to be the very best Hermione that you can possibly be. I know that you won't lie to me, so please, I need to know that you aren't simply settling."

As they were fully concentrated on one another, neither of them noticed the looks of sympathetic sadness on the faces of Jack and Miranda. The two parents glanced at each other for a second before they both simply nodded and then turned back again. Jack and Miranda, as much as they wanted to join this conversation, continued to remain silent with the knowledge that this was something that the kids could and would work out for themselves.

Meanwhile, Hermione simply stared up to Harry for a few seconds. Then, she quietly but resolutely said, "Being at your side could never be just settling, Harry. It's the best place that I could ever be. And if you don't want to go into teaching, then we'll figure out something together where you would be happy. But if you do think you could do it, then I'll happily be right there with you on that journey.

"Besides, who says we couldn't change things from Hogwarts? We could still petition and fight for causes that the new Ministry might be willing to listen to now, since Kingsley Shacklebolt is the Minister for Magic, and the Death Eaters and so many of the old pureblood regime are gone. But we could also show children coming into Hogwarts that blood status is meaningless, and those children would become adults and hopefully teach their kids the same. Think about it. Wouldn't that help with bringing society into a more modern age? And wouldn't it be something just as great if we played a part in helping to reform the name of Slytherin House at Hogwarts and make it a house in which all students could take pride in being there?"

Once again, Harry was at a loss for words. She squeezed his hands again, causing him to look at their joined hands. When he looked up afterwards, he gave her a small smile and nod for a second, causing Hermione's spirit to lift just a bit.

Then, she gently asked, "Any other troubles in your mind? And remember, we do still have six months of school left. I'm not asking you to make an instant decision on this. You can take as much time to think as you want or need."

Had Hermione given any sort of attention with her peripheral vision to her parents, she might have seen them give each other knowing smiles for a couple of seconds. Of course, she still wouldn't have known about Jack and Miranda both thinking about how Hermione's statement to Harry had been so much like Miranda's own to Jack about letting Harry live with them.

In the meantime, Harry turned his gaze to the floor for a few seconds. Then, he quietly said to her, "No, nothing else right now."

Though it was faint enough that it would be hidden to anyone else, Hermione heard the slight hesitancy in his tone to indicate that he was hiding something. But whatever else was on his mind obviously seemed to be something he didn't want to talk about in front of her parents, so she wouldn't bring attention to it.

Thus, she simply replied, "OK. But if you do think of anything else, don't hesitate to tell me. And like I just said, this isn't a decision that I'm asking you to make a choice on tomorrow, next week, or even next month. All I ask is that you just keep it in mind and think on it. Please."

His eyes were filled with both solemnity and affection. Then, he softly said, "I will, Hermione. I promise."

She gave him a small smile before leaning up and placing a soft kiss to the scar on his forehead.

When she pulled back and finally let go of his hands, the two of them just gazed silently at each other for a few seconds. But then, they finally turned back to her parents when they heard Miranda speak up.

"Well, it seems that the two of you might have at least one option to take. But as Hermione said, there's also still a bit of time to make a decision. Perhaps something else will come along during the next term that you would like more. Just know that, whatever path the two of you decide will make you both the happiest, we'll support you however we can."

Jack nodded and simply replied, "Indeed, we will."

Hermione smiled and responded, "Thanks, Mum. Thanks, Dad."

Harry quietly added, "Yeah, thank you both for that."

Things became a bit lighter after that, with the group enjoying the simple act of reminiscing with one another for the next couple of hours about all the events of the holiday break. And just after nine o'clock, they all decided to turn in for the night and walked upstairs. Hermione also grabbed her Mesozoic Era history book so that she could keep it with the others, in light of what Harry had told her earlier in the week to do with the books.

Upon reaching the entrance to the parents' bedroom, Jack turned to the teenagers and asked, "So, what time do you two want to be at King's Cross tomorrow?"

When Harry and Hermione looked at one another, Hermione immediately said, "What do you think about ten o'clock? That way, we would be early enough to reserve a compartment in the back of the train for ourselves."

Harry gave a quiet snort but simply said, "Sure, that sounds good."

Miranda responded, "Then we'll plan to leave here by nine o'clock to get you there by that time. But before you two go to bed…"

She then stepped into the room, confusing Harry and Hermione a bit. The sound of objects shuffling indicated that Miranda must have been looking for something.

When she came back, she held out a sealed envelope to each teenager and then said with a smile, "Here are the last remaining photos, the ones that were taken throughout Christmas Day, for your albums. We only just got them developed today."

Harry and Hermione took the envelopes and quietly but happily thanked both parents.

Then, Miranda stepped up and gave each of them a hug for a few seconds before quietly saying, "Good night, Little Worm. Good night, Harry."

Jack remained silent but repeated the actions of giving a hug.

The teenagers bid a good night as well, and then the parents stepped into their bedroom and shut the door. When Harry and Hermione reached the junction of their rooms after brushing their teeth, they went their separate ways to not only place the photos in their albums but also to get dressed for bed.

Since her photo album was still laying on top of her smaller dresser, Hermione placed the envelope on top of it as she put on her pajamas. Once she was done, she then opened up the envelope and pulled out the pictures, unable to resist the slightly tearful but greatly happy smile that rose to her face as she looked at them.

There were five in total. Two of them were of her and Harry in their slow dance, arms around one another and their foreheads touching together. The third, however, was actually a decent picture from the side of the two of them kissing at the end of the song. Hermione couldn't help chuckling at the thought that whichever of her parents took the photo had managed to be sneaky enough to get a good angle without her or Harry ever realizing.

The fourth picture was the one of her and Harry standing together while holding their photo albums, and the final picture showed Harry standing with her parents, wearing a huge smile while holding open the card that they had given him to show off what was now his house key. Only now, looking at the finished photo, did Hermione notice that a tear was falling down Harry's cheek at the moment that she had taken the picture. And she couldn't resist gingerly touching the picture right where that tear was.

Hermione shook her head as she finally got to work on slipping the photos into her album, though her smile never lessened even a tiny bit.

What an eventful two weeks, she thought. What an incredibly joyful and wonderful two weeks.

Once the photos were in place, an idea then hit Hermione about something else that she could keep inside the album. She went to her school trunk and pulled her copy of Hogwarts, A History out from it. Opening the book to the very back, she gently took hold of a small piece of parchment that she had tucked away there, before placing the book back in her trunk.

Reading the parchment, Hermione couldn't help the wistful sigh that left her. To anyone else, it would have been completely unassuming with its single sentence. But to her, that one sentence of 'I'll be there, Hermione' meant the entire world with even the small amount of hope that it had managed to give her.

After a few more seconds, she grabbed her photo album and opened it to the first page. There was just enough room that she could slip the parchment below the photo of her and Harry at King's Cross on the first day of the holidays, if she folded it once. She carefully did so and then read the sentence staring back at her for a couple more times. A smile rose on her face as she finally closed the album and placed it back on her dresser. Since she didn't have a picture of her and Harry on the first day of school, that was the next best place for his letter to be.

At that moment, she heard what she presumed to be Harry knock on her door, just like he had done since they first started spending their nights together. And soon enough afterwards, after Hermione pulled out an alarm clock and set it to go off at five o'clock the next morning, the two of them were lying in her bed and staring at each other.

After about ten seconds of silence, Hermione whispered, "Harry, may I ask you something?"

A bit of confusion reached his eyes, but he replied, "Anything, Hermione."

She took a long breath before asking, "Did you actually have another issue to discuss regarding my idea about teaching, and you just didn't want to talk about it in front of my parents?"

His eyes widened slightly, before he became a bit sheepish and timidly replied, "I really can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Before she could say anything to comfort him, his eyes glanced away as he continued, "You're right that it's something I was afraid to bring up in front of your parents. But our romantic relationship is also still new enough that I'm afraid that my final concern may come off as too assuming considering we've only been together for nine days at this point – "

"Harry," she gently interjected. That caused him to go quiet before gazing at her again.

She then said, "Don't forget my words from the forest. You can tell me anything. Anything at all."

He nodded before taking a deep breath. At that point, she could see him begin to blush as he spoke. "What about… what about a family? Have you ever heard any of the professors at Hogwarts mention anything about being married or having children? Not to mention, they live at Hogwarts during the school year, just like all the students. What if going into teaching means – "

His blush deepened as he paused for a second and looked away again. Then, he finished his prior thought. "What if it means not being able to have a family?"

His question stunned her initially. But then, she began to regain her bearings after a few seconds, with her expression becoming a mixture of sympathetic and loving. She should have known, after everything he'd gone through with losing his parents and growing up with those wretched relatives, not to mention how he'd left Australia because he wanted her to spend time with her parents, that maybe having his own loving family would be the greatest thing Harry could want. And if he wanted that family with her

At that moment, she placed her left hand on his cheek, causing him to stare at her. Then, she tenderly whispered, "If all you wanted was a family and children of your own, and you simply wanted to be a stay-at-home dad and be with them as much as possible, well… I know that I would never think badly of you for doing exactly what you wanted to do."

Harry's eyes became huge at her response, before she added, "Harry, whatever you decide to do with your life, and no matter how long it takes us to figure out what you want to do, it won't make any difference to me. All I want is for you to do what truly makes you happy."

He blinked a few times and then shifted his gaze down a bit to look at the bed. Hermione watched him close his eyes and take a long and slightly shaky breath. She couldn't resist lightly rubbing his cheek for a second with the hand that was still resting on it, hoping that the action might soothe him. It seemed to work, as she heard him give a quiet snort before he opened his eyes and looked back at her with a tiny smile.

After another second, his expression became serious, and he whispered, "I doubt anyone else in the world would ever be as patient as you're willing to be with me."

Giving a small smile of her own, she replied, "Well, we still have time to decide on what to do for our future, it's not something where we need to make a choice at this very moment. And it's also like I said this morning. When you love someone, their happiness becomes more important than your own."

Another smile rose on his face as he silently nodded. No words were spoken for a while afterwards as the two returned to quietly gazing at one another.

Eventually, Harry let out a sigh and then said, with some depression, "Our last night here, and our last night to be like this, for a while. It makes part of me wish that we weren't going back to Hogwarts."

Hermione merely stared at him for a few seconds. Then, she threw her left leg over his hips and placed her hands on his shoulders, slowly pushing him onto his back so that she was straddling him. His eyes widened at the implication.

Before he could say anything, she silently held out her right hand, and her wand flew out from underneath the pillow and into her hand. Without removing her gaze from his eyes, she quietly cast the contraceptive charm on both of them and put the wand back under the pillow.

Then, she leaned down until her lips were nearly brushing against his. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, she quietly but lovingly replied, "Then let's make this last night one to remember."

She saw affection and temptation instantly begin to fill his eyes, and his only response afterwards was to pull her head the rest of the way down to his and give her a fierce kiss. And for the rest of the night, the two lovers lost themselves in one another before finally falling asleep in each other's arms, both disappointed that they wouldn't have as many chances for such an encounter after this night but resolutely determined to see things at Hogwarts through so that, once they left, they could spend their nights together like this again.


A/N: One last bit of fluff and family talk before we finally start making our way back to Hogwarts. I know the bit with the Patronus changes is probably cheesy as all hell, but I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.

For those that have made it this far, thank you for reading! And I hope you stay tuned for more to come!