A/N: Shout-out to conjuringghosts from AO3 for helping out by giving his opinion on a section of this chapter. And now, on with the show!
Chapter 28
After the study session, Harry and Hermione began the return to Gryffindor Tower. They walked slowly, enjoying the peace before having to face the load of questions that they were sure would come their way after all of the information that had been revealed throughout the day.
Their hunch was confirmed when they arrived at the tower and entered the portrait door. Just like the evening when the school learned of Harry and Hermione's changed relationship, what looked to be the entire house was waiting in the common room. As soon as the portrait shut, Hermione wasn't surprised when questions immediately started flying from all around, though she and Harry did also see Neville close his eyes and shake his head at the actions of their housemates.
"You two talked to Aurors?"
"How did you get the Minister himself to speak for you?!"
"Rita Skeeter is really a secret Animagus?"
"How did you learn that Skeeter was an Animagus?!"
This time, Harry was the one to shut people down. "ENOUGH!"
Everyone instantly went quiet at his exclamation. He then shook his head and looked at Hermione. "So, do we give answers to everyone?"
She gave a tiny smirk. "We may as well. We both knew this would happen as soon as we walked into the common room."
He huffed a bit but then nodded. "True enough. Alright, I'll start for now."
Turning back to the rest of the house, he firmly spoke up. "OK, here's a summary of things. Yes, Hermione and I had to speak to a team of Aurors, no thanks to whatever git wanted to start trouble by talking about us to Rita Skeeter, which got that article released and the Auror Office bombarded with demands to have Hermione investigated. Minister Shacklebolt came with the Aurors to make sure things went smoothly because, as you can guess from his statement this morning, he thought everything with the article and investigation was rubbish. Hermione and I had already gotten proof from Madam Pomfrey that I was potion-free, and with that, the Minister assured us that a public statement would be made for our sake, which you obviously read this morning.
"And as for Rita Skeeter…"
He turned to Hermione. "Like at dinner, do you want to take over from here?"
She nodded to him before proceeding to give the same account that she had told Neville, Luna, Lavender, and Parvati at dinner about how she and Harry had found out about Rita being an Animagus.
Once she finished, there was only silence. After a few seconds, when no one else spoke, she added, "Alright, are there any other questions?"
A little scoff left her. "Not that you'll necessarily receive an answer if it's a question we think goes too far, but it would be nice to just get all of this commotion over and done with tonight."
It was another few seconds before someone called out from the crowd, "Why did you go to The Quibbler to make a response?"
Harry let out a single cold laugh before saying, "Three years ago, when the Daily Prophet just wanted to hide and act like nothing was wrong even though war was on the horizon, The Quibbler actually printed the truth. Not to mention, The Quibbler went against the Death Eaters after they had taken over the Ministry, when the magazine came out in support of me during the war until forced under duress by Death Eaters to stop. What reason was there for me to not go to The Quibbler for a response to Rita's article, since the Prophet seems all too willing to go back to printing false information about me and those close to me just for some quick fame to sell papers?"
When he finished, the room just went quiet again.
After ten seconds passed, Lavender was the next person to speak. "Alright everyone. You got what you wanted to hear. Why don't we leave them alone and let them have a little peace and quiet?"
Neville added in return, "Yeah, I'm sure Harry and Hermione are getting sick of having to deal with all these commotions whenever they do anything."
Hermione smiled and replied, "Yes, some quiet would certainly be nice. And thank you both."
That was all it took for the rest of the house to turn sheepish, before everyone finally went about their own business. As people moved around in the common room, Hermione saw an open armchair. She took Harry's hand and led him over to it. Harry chuckled before laying his bag down beside the chair and then sitting down. Hermione placed her bag next to his and then quickly got comfortable in his lap, curling up into his chest.
As they hugged one another, Harry whispered to her, "That was easy enough, I suppose. I guess we scare people enough that they don't want to get on our bad side."
Hermione giggled for a second. "All I really care about is that it was easy enough."
At that moment, however, they were interrupted when a large group of younger students timidly approached them. The group consisted of students from those in their first year to those in their fourth.
Once Harry and Hermione were giving their attention, everyone in the group began apologizing for having believed the initial article in the Daily Prophet. They said that they shouldn't have thought badly towards Hermione because of the article, especially after she and Harry had helped many of them with academic matters whenever the younger students would ask.
The corners of Hermione's mouth twitched upward at how the students were willing to not only admit that they had first believed the article but also to publicly apologize in front of the entire house. Thus, she simply accepted the apologies, as well as mentioning that she wouldn't let this new knowledge affect things and cause her to turn any of the younger students away if they would need help with something in the future.
Immediately after she made her statement, Harry then gave a similar one. Hermione couldn't help thinking that he had been waiting to see her reaction first before giving his own.
Afterwards, all in the group immediately and profusely gave thanks to the two of them before leaving, with many going ahead and walking up the stairs to their dormitories.
Once the group had gone, Harry said, "Well, looks like at least some people are willing to apologize over what happened, even if all they did was think bad thoughts but never actually verbalized those thoughts."
Hermione nodded and replied, "Yes, and even if those are the only apologies we receive, it's still more than I was expecting."
He chuckled for a second, but his expression became quite grave before he leaned his head closer to her and whispered, "You know, there's no telling what may happen when it comes to the mystery person that gave information to Rita. We don't know how they'll react, whether they'll back off in fear of being found out or if they'll get bolder and try something else in response. Hell, we don't even really know if it's a single person working all alone or if there may be multiple people involved."
She heaved a little sigh. "You're not wrong. But like we've agreed before, all we can really do is keep our guard up and wait to see if the person does something to reveal their identity."
"That's what I want to talk about, Hermione, keeping our guard up. As paranoid as this will probably sound…"
Harry trailed off before grabbing his wand and casting Muffliato around them. Once his wand was stowed, he took a deep breath and continued.
"I think we need to start using your Potion-Detecting and Poison-Detecting Spells before every bite of food or sip of beverage. The Switching Spell does exist, you know. Who's to say that this person, or these people if it ends up being multiple parties, wouldn't try something like slipping some kind of potion into their own goblet before then switching the contents with one or both of ours? Especially after I made that statement about having a method to check potions, they might think that I was bluffing and put it to the test."
His expression then became pleading. "At least as long as this issue remains unresolved. If the culprit finally gets caught, we could go back to just doing it at the start of meals. But as long as this issue is still up in the air, I couldn't take it if something bad happened to you because we weren't doing everything possible on our part."
Hermione couldn't help placing her right hand on his cheek in comfort. She waited for a couple of seconds before gently responding, "In most cases, this would be paranoia. But everything we get involved in doesn't ever seem to fall under most cases, does it?"
She caressed his cheek for a moment before continuing, "Alright, I agree with your idea. Let's take this extra precaution when it comes to testing for potions."
Relief immediately washed over Harry as he said, "Thank you, Hermione."
He then, however, became somewhat timid. "And I'm sorry that you have to put up with all of this."
She shook her head. "Harry, you're worth everything. I'll put up with whatever I have to from the rest of the world, as long as I can be with you."
That caused tenderness and affection to fill Harry's eyes, before he gave her a soft kiss.
When he pulled away, he whispered, "Thank you for everything."
Hermione just smiled at him and then gave him a kiss of her own. When it ended, she was glad to see a smile on Harry's face.
At that point, Hermione got an idea for something fun they could do.
She said, "Hey, how about on Saturday, we go and visit Hagrid like we told him we would try and do? That way, since there's no telling how the rest of this week will go, we'll know that we have at least one thing enjoyable to do on our calendar. What do you say?"
He hummed for a moment before replying, "Yeah, Hermione. Sounds good to me."
With that, Hermione simply nodded before curling back up as much as she could into Harry. In response, he gave her a squeeze with his arms. They just enjoyed the comfort as they both prepared themselves for whatever may come.
Surprisingly, there were no more huge events through the rest of the week. Though Hermione still received anonymous letters, the quantity dropped down immensely to only a few each morning. Because of that, she decided to read every letter that still came, just to see what the people who were still against her may try to say. About half of all the letters actually ended up being apologies written to her and Harry, while the other half just made her laugh with how they were trying to say the exact same things that the initial batch of letters she received had used. And in another wonderful twist, many younger students from all the other houses also made apologies to Hermione for believing Rita's article, for similar reasons as the Gryffindor students had first done.
Beyond that, while Hermione and Harry continued to receive a great many stares wherever they went, most students were now only staring for a second, with remorse in their expression, before turning back to whatever they had been doing. It was enough of a confirmation to Hermione that these were people that had also believed Rita so easily and now knew they were in the wrong for doing so. Of course, there were also just enough glances that weren't exactly glares, but which still seemed to have the hint of suspicion, to indicate that some people perhaps were going to be stubborn, even after the Aurors, the Minister, and Harry himself had all professed Hermione's innocence.
Still, it was essentially a quiet week of classes. In fact, one thing the two of them were happy to have kept hidden was the increased number of times that they were checking for potions during meals. Not even Neville and Luna had noticed that anything was different. That said to Hermione that she and Harry were extremely proficient with the wandless casting of her detection spells, if the two of them were apparently so subtle that no one had seen that they were checking every single bite of food and sip of beverage.
Thus, the week passed, and Saturday quickly arrived.
Harry and Hermione waited until nine o'clock that morning before leaving for Hagrid's hut. It was an overcast morning, and as they slowly walked, the two talked to one another about whether there might be more snow arriving.
When they reached the front door of the hut, Harry rapped three times on it. Immediately afterwards, loud barking sounded from Fang, Hagrid's huge black boarhound. They then heard Hagrid yelling, "Back, Fang! Back!"
Things went quiet for a few seconds. Then, the door opened to reveal Hagrid, who was keeping a hold of Fang with one hand.
"Harry, Hermione!" he exclaimed. "Well come on in, make yerselves at home."
The two of them entered and took seats at Hagrid's wooden table. Hagrid shut the door before letting go of Fang, who immediately bounded over to Harry. Harry started scratching Fang's ears, which seemed to calm the hound as he sat next to Harry's chair.
At first, Hagrid bustled about for a bit, getting them tea to drink. Once that was finished, he took his own seat at the table, across from Harry and Hermione. At the same time, Fang finally laid down on the floor, allowing Harry to stop scratching him and rest his hand.
"It's good ter see yeh," Hagrid said. "I wasn' expectin' yeh so soon."
Hermione replied, "Well, like we said last week, we haven't been down to see you at all this year, so we thought it would be good to visit you soon after we brought that up."
Harry added, "Plus, it gave us something to look forward to this week, after the entire mess that happened when that article got released in the Daily Prophet last Saturday."
Hagrid whistled and said, "Blimey, yer not wrong there. The article, the Howler. An' apparently yeh had ter give proof ter Aurors abou' not havin' potions in yeh, Harry?"
At that point, Hagrid received a recap of everything that happened when Kingsley and the Aurors came to Hogwarts because of people wanting Hermione investigated.
When Harry and Hermione finished, Hagrid smacked the table with his left hand, which shook the table and caused Harry and Hermione to grab their cups of tea so that nothing would spill.
He said, "Ruddy codswallop, havin' ter go through all o' that an' gettin' letters from people who don' know a thing."
Then, he smiled and added, "Still, good on the two o' yeh for bein' prepared an' gettin' Poppy ter help yeh out. And it sounds like the Minister's got his head on straight, if he thought the whole thing was rubbish, too."
"He did, thankfully," Hermione said, "and it certainly was a pleasant surprise that his own statement for Harry and me, as well as one from the Head Auror, got prepared and published so quickly."
Harry replied, "Yeah, and since the letters coming to Hermione have slowed down tremendously after my response in The Quibbler and the Ministry's statements in the Prophet were published, even getting some letters that were apologies, we figure that it means most people must believe us."
He then gave a sigh. "Still, Hermione and I have seen some people here at Hogwarts give suspicious glances to us when we pass by. And even though those are far outweighed by the number of people that seemed to be ashamed of having believed the worst of Hermione, those few glances, along with the fact that some people are still writing letters condemning Hermione, mean that we still have to be wary about people who still believe in Rita's article."
Hagrid took a swig of his tea, wiping his face and beard afterwards with the sleeve of his arm, before saying, "Well, nuthin' much yeh can really do abou' that, 'cept keep yer guards up and be ready if summat does happen."
Harry chuckled. "Yeah, that's what we've both said, Hagrid."
The half-giant laughed for a moment in response. The three all drank on their tea for a few seconds afterwards, before Hagrid became more serious and changed the subject.
"So, the two o' yeh not keepin' up with Ron anymore? I know he didn' come ter Hogwarts this year, so I figure he was one o' the ones who joined Auror training. But that Howler made it soun' like yeh haven' talked to any Weasleys since the Battle o' Hogwarts."
Harry and Hermione turned to one another, their expressions becoming grim. He then whispered, "It's up to you, however much you want to say."
Hermione gave him a small but thankful smile. Turning back to Hagrid, she took a deep breath before replying, "I'll only speak for myself. With the Weasleys in general, the first letter I actually received from any one of them since the family left the castle after the Battle of Hogwarts was a letter from Fleur on New Year's Day, a letter that was addressed to Harry and me. So, I have no idea what Mrs. Weasley is talking about when she said that Ron apparently sent me letters during the summer.
"And as for Ron himself… at a point last year when the three of us were struggling while trying to hide as fugitives of the Death Eaters' Ministry, Ron lashed out and left. And though he did manage to find us again a couple of months later… when I sat down on the night the final battle ended and just did some reflection, his leaving itself and the way that he left are things that I just cannot forget and cannot trust him again because of it, especially when combined with how he ignored and deserted Harry once before with the whole fiasco of Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire."
When she went quiet after that, Harry then took over the conversation.
"For me, I did receive some letters from Ron and Ginny in the summer, but the first one from either of them was only sent in early July, and no other Weasley ever sent anything to me until that letter from Fleur that Hermione brought up. I'll admit that I never responded to Ron or Ginny for various reasons. For one, when Hermione had talked to me, once the Weasley family had returned home after the battle, about how she felt regarding Ron and what happened between all of us… well, it was hard for me to disagree with her after doing my own reflections. Secondly, and more importantly, I was so worried about the way that I'd left Hermione with her parents, when the two of us went to Australia at the beginning of June and found them, that I only wanted to hear from her so that I would know I hadn't destroyed our friendship."
At that point, Hermione instinctively reached over and took Harry's hand in her own to comfort him, knowing what was on his mind but wasn't being said. She received a quick squeeze of gratitude in response.
Hagrid just sadly frowned while listening to their responses. Once they had finished, he took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
He asked, "So, that's it fer the three o' yeh? Yer friendship with him is done?"
Hermione replied, "Hagrid, a friendship implies some level of trust between two people. If I can't trust a person, then how could I really be friends with that person?"
Hagrid was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "I guess if yeh put it that way…"
He then shook his head. "Still, it's sad ter hear. The three o' yeh have bin a trio o' friends ever since yer firs' year."
Hermione immediately responded, "Well, that's life sometimes, Hagrid. Some people, you meet them and try to stay friends forever. With others, you may eventually drift apart for whatever reason. And in this case with Ron, it's a reason where I no longer feel it's worth putting in my efforts if I may not receive that same effort in return."
As she took a sip of tea when she finished, Harry shifted his chair to be as close as possible to hers, before then letting go of her hand and wrapping his arm around her. She couldn't resist laying her head on his shoulder, giving him a nuzzle for a quick moment.
They saw a tiny smile rise on Hagrid's face for an instant after the action.
He was serious again, though, when he replied, "Well, I s'pose I can't begrudge yeh yer choice. I jus' hope things can maybe get better again later with the three o' yeh."
Neither Harry nor Hermione said anything in response. Hermione thought that Harry must have been thinking the same thing that she was, that it wasn't very likely at this point for things with Ron to get better but also not wanting to say anything to that effect and dampen Hagrid's optimism.
Hagrid took another swig of his own tea before saying afterwards, "Alright, movin' on from that. Don' want yeh to get stuck talkin' about depressin' things since yeh came this way. How abou' yer classes, yeh both doin' well there?"
Hermione certainly couldn't resist perking up a bit at that. For a while afterwards, she and Harry both gave their accounts of how classes and studies were. She also giggled in her mind at how Hagrid was almost like a proud family member at hearing about their current results.
At one point, Harry said, "Hermione and I also did a little self-studying over the holidays, even if it wasn't really related to the actual N.E.W.T.s."
Remembering all of their magic sessions at home, Hermione suddenly recalled one particular bit with a smile in her mind.
She interjected at that point, "And actually, Hagrid, there's something from those studies that you might like to see."
She then turned to Harry, who was now looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She leaned in and whispered, "Our new Patronus forms."
When she pulled back, his eyes lit up as a smile slowly rose on his face. He then just silently nodded and stood from his chair. Hermione immediately followed him.
When Hagrid stood, his brow was furrowed as he asked, "What're yeh talkin' abou', Hermione?"
Harry then whispered to Hermione, "Let me go first, if you don't mind? Especially since we may have to go outside for you to perform your Patronus."
She just gave him a nod.
With that, he pulled out his wand and said, "Hagrid, you know my Patronus form, right?"
Hagrid replied with confusion. "Well yeah. Everyone who knows yeh knows that yeh got a stag, Harry."
Harry took a couple of steps back from the table. As Hermione joined him, he said, "Well, could you come stand over with us on this side? I've got a definite surprise to show you."
Hagrid took one last swig of tea before doing as directed. Once the three of them were standing together, then without another word, Harry waved his wand and called out, "Expecto Patronum."
The form of Hedwig immediately burst from his wand and flew two laps around the room before settling on Hagrid's table and facing them.
Hermione kept an eye on Hagrid as Harry cast the spell. His eyes widened as much as they possibly could when he saw that it was an owl that appeared. And once Hedwig was standing on the table, the man's jaw dropped.
At that point, Hagrid spoke, with his words sounding a bit weepy. "Blimey. Oh blimey! That's Hedwig, isn' it? It looks like Hedwig if she were silver!"
Harry happily said, "Yep, it is, Hagrid."
The Patronus owl then bobbed her head up and down as a confirmation before then slowly disappearing.
When Hedwig had faded away, Hagrid let out a great sob before he then took Harry in a big hug.
"Ah Harry!" he cried. "It's great that yeh got this way of rememberin' her! But I'm still so sorry for what happened ter Hedwig when I was takin' yeh away from yer relatives two summers ago!"
Harry's words sounded pained, but only because of Hagrid squeezing him tightly. "It's alright, Hagrid. It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you."
At that point, Hermione gave Hagrid a gentle reprimand to get him to let go of Harry. "Hagrid, you're crushing my boyfriend a bit."
The man quickly dropped his arms from Harry, who immediately started breathing hard. Hagrid then remorsefully said, "Sorry, sorry."
Hermione replied, "It's alright, you don't have to apologize. Just try to stay aware of your own strength compared to the rest of us."
Hagrid stepped away from them and then gave Hermione a quick nod. Silence held for a few moments while Harry continued to catch his breath.
Once Harry's breathing was normal again, Hagrid's eyes lit up as he excitedly asked, "When'd yeh find out yer Patronus changed? Do yeh know why it changed?"
Harry smirked before looking at Hermione, keeping his gaze on her while speaking to Hagrid. "I found out over the Christmas holidays, during my and Hermione's studying. And as for the reason why it changed, I'll give you one guess."
Hagrid immediately turned to Hermione. "Is that right! It changed on accoun' o' the two o' yeh gettin' together?"
She smiled and replied, "Essentially. After Harry first realized that his Patronus changed to Hedwig as a reminder of me, he then went into a few reasons as to what similarities he could see between Hedwig and myself to justify the change."
Hagrid gave a great grin. "That's certainly summat to hear! That's jus' amazin'!"
Hermione gave a little snort before replying, "Well, don't get too comfortable just yet, Hagrid. I've got something of my own to show you, and we should go outside for it."
Looking at Harry, she then gestured towards the door. He gave a silent nod, and the two exited the hut. Hagrid quickly followed them, until they were standing at the side of the hut and facing towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid asked, "Will this be yer Patronus, Hermione?"
She began thinking of Christmas morning again for her happy memory. Then, without a word, she just pulled out her wand and waved it while saying, "Expecto Patronum."
This time, instead of slowly forming, the silver form of Buckbeak immediately burst from her wand. It flew up towards the sky for a few seconds before turning around and slowly coming to settle in front of them on the ground.
Harry and Hermione instinctively gave a bow, even if it may not actually be needed. The Patronus bowed in return.
Hagrid was the first to speak, even more tearfully than when he saw Harry's Patronus. "Oh, gulping gargoyles! It looks just like Beaky!"
Hermione smiled and said, "Yes, Hagrid, it is. That's a Patronus form of Buckbeak."
At that moment, a screech sounded from close to the forest. Immediately afterwards, the very hippogriff on which Hermione's Patronus was modeled had galloped over to stand beside the Patronus form. Buckbeak then gave a little questioning cry before gazing over the entire silvery form of the Patronus, like he was checking to see if it really was him.
Hermione then spoke up, causing Buckbeak to look at her. "That's right, Buckbeak. It's a Patronus form that looks just like you."
The Patronus then gave what sounded like an affirming screech.
Buckbeak stared at it for a few more seconds before giving the same sound. Only then did Hermione's Patronus finally fade.
When it was gone, Buckbeak looked towards the three people. All of them immediately bowed to him, to which he instantly bowed in return. Afterwards, however, Hagrid scooped up Hermione in a hug.
"Merlin's beard, Hermione!" he exclaimed. "Incredible, that was! Jus' incredible!"
Hermione was barely able to force out, "Thank you, Hagrid."
"Hagrid," Harry said. "Careful there."
Similar to before, the half-giant quickly let go of Hermione and said, "Sorry, yer right, need to watch me strength so I don' get carried away."
Afterwards, while Hermione caught her breath, he walked up to Buckbeak and began stroking the hippogriff's feathers while happily saying, "Yeh see that, Beaky! That was you, it was!"
Buckbeak gave his affirmative cry.
Then, Hagrid turned to Hermione and asked in astonishment, "How'd yeh get Beaky here as a Patronus?"
Once she was breathing normally, Hermione looked at Harry with a bit of apprehension and quietly said to him, "How much should we say?"
He shrugged and replied, "However much or little you want. It doesn't matter to me either way."
Her lips twitched upward as she nodded. Turning back to Hagrid, she took a deep breath and decided that Hagrid should just get the full context of everything. To start with, she answered with a question of her own.
"Hagrid, do you remember the day that Buckbeak was supposed to be executed?"
His expression became somehow both sad and happy, as he stopped petting the hippogriff. "Sure do. Started as one o' the worst days o' me life, but then turned into one o' the best with how Buckbeak here was able ter escape. Still don' know how he did it, but I'm so glad that he got free."
He then became confused. "But what does that day have ter do with yer Patronus form becomin' Buckbeak?"
Hermione just bluntly said, "That's because Harry and I helped him to escape to freedom that night, along with Sirius."
She couldn't help giving a light snort at the change in Hagrid's expression. He was looking at her like she had literally just lost her mind.
He was just able to sputter out, "Y-You? You freed Buckbeak, and Sirius?! But – but how?! Ron and the two o' yeh had only jus' left me hut when the Ministry people had showed up fer the execution."
Hermione took a deep breath before replying, "Look Hagrid, I'm going to trust you with the details. But please, this cannot go beyond us. With what Harry and I had to do to free Buckbeak and Sirius, we can't take the chance that there may be any people who were at all involved in Buckbeak's trial that could still be at the Ministry today."
Hagrid became quite grim. After a few seconds, he nodded and said, "I swear ter yeh both. I won't tell another soul, live or dead, abou' what yeh say."
Harry interjected, "Alright. Well, if Hermione's alright with you knowing everything, Hagrid, then I'm alright with it."
Hermione gave nods to the two of them before casting Muffliato around them all for safety. Then, she began recapping for Hagrid all that happened after she, Harry, and Ron had left his hut when the executioners had appeared at his door. Harry would occasionally jump in and give his own account to supplement her words.
Once they were finally finished, Hagrid was looking at them in complete astonishment, his eyes and mouth open as far as humanly possible.
He said in awe, "The two o' yeh really did all o' that?"
They just silently nodded.
A big grin then slowly formed on Hagrid's face. "Merlin's beard, I'll say it again. That's amazin'. Just ruddy amazin'."
"Well, now you know what happened with Buckbeak back then," Hermione said. "Now, as to how it all relates to my Patronus form, that comes from me being scared to ride Buckbeak when Harry and I were going to use him to rescue Sirius, and even being scared during the flight, but knowing in my mind that I was safe as long as I was with Harry."
She couldn't help turning to Harry and giving him a tender smile at that point, while still directing her words to Hagrid. "So, when I found out my Patronus had changed, it made all the sense in the world to me for it to be represented by not only a moment that just the two of us shared but also one where I felt guarded and safe by him."
Harry gave her an affectionate little half-smile after her remark.
They turned back to Hagrid when they heard him chuckle. He had that proud expression on his face now, and he said, "The two o' yeh are summat else. Makes me proud ter have gotten ter see yeh grow up inter the people yeh are today."
Hermione smiled and replied, "Thank you, Hagrid."
Harry added, "Yeah, thank you for that, Hagrid."
The large man laughed for a moment. "Nah, like I told yeh before. No need ter thank me fer anythin'."
The three went silent for a few seconds before Hermione looked at her wristwatch.
She then removed the muffling spell from around them all before saying to Harry, "Well, we've been here for a couple of hours. Do you want to stay longer, or should we head back to do some classwork and study?"
He frowned a bit and said, "Well, we do have things to work on, but – "
Hagrid interrupted, "Oh nah, if the two o' yeh got things ter do, it won't bother me at all."
Harry hesitantly said, "Are you sure, Hagrid?"
"Course, Harry. I know yeh got ter concentrate on yer N.E.W.T.s."
Hagrid then smiled again. "Still, thank yeh both fer comin' down today ter see me, I appreciate it."
Harry nodded but then, rather than saying anything, just stepped up and gave Hagrid a hug as best he could. Hermione saw the half-giant be surprised for a moment before smiling, putting his right arm around Harry, and patting him on the back.
Once Harry had pulled back, Hermione decided to follow his lead and hugged Hagrid herself. She heard the man chuckle before he repeated his previous actions.
When she had separated and was standing with Harry, she said, "It was good to visit you, Hagrid."
Harry added, "Yeah, we'll try to do it more often before this year ends."
Hagrid grinned and replied, "Come on down whenever yeh feel like it, me hut's always open fer yeh."
The two teenagers nodded. As they turned to begin walking back towards the castle, they stopped when they heard Buckbeak cry out.
While they looked at Buckbeak, Hagrid just said, "Yeh OK there, Beaky?"
Buckbeak just stared at Harry and Hermione for a few moments before stepping closer to them. Then, in a surprising twist, he shifted so that his side was facing them and then crouched down onto the ground. At that point, Buckbeak looked at Harry and Hermione before slowly gesturing with his head towards his back, putting his gaze back on the two afterwards.
Hagrid let out a quick but bellowing laugh and said, "Well look at that! Looks like he's wantin' yeh ter get on his back so he can take yeh fer a ride!"
Hermione couldn't help the quick flash of hesitation that flowed through her, after remembering her fear from the first time she flew on the hippogriff.
A moment later, however, she turned to Harry when he took her hand in his. With a look of sympathy on his face, he whispered, "I saw that flash of fear in your expression. If the one time back then was too much, we don't have to do this."
All her hesitation was washed away as her heart melted. She also realized that she was being stupid. Her Patronus had changed thanks to the memory of feeling protected by being with Harry on that first flight. Why should she hold any worries about a second flight?
Thus, with a smile, she shook her head and replied for all to hear, "No. Let's do it."
Harry smiled in return, while Hagrid happily cried out, "That's the spirit!"
Then, Harry said to her, "Do you want me to be in the front, so you can hold onto me like last time? Or do you want to try this like the way we flew on my broom?"
She glanced at the ground for a moment and then said, "Are you alright with the second way?"
"I am if you are, Hermione."
She just silently nodded and then turned towards Buckbeak. Then, she slowly mounted onto the hippogriff's back. Once she was settled, Harry followed to sit behind her, circling his arms around her to hold her with them while his hands could still have a grip on Buckbeak's feathers at the same time.
Buckbeak seemed to realize when they were ready, as he stood from the ground.
At the same time, Hagrid said, "Well, the two o' yeh have fun! And Buckbeak, just fly on back here whenever all o' yeh are finished, I'll be waitin' fer yeh."
Buckbeak screeched at Hagrid before turning towards the open part of the grounds and beginning to run. And after a few seconds of sprinting, the hippogriff spread his wings and launched off the ground.
Hermione held tightly onto Buckbeak's neck as they soared into the air. At the same time, she felt Harry tighten his arms around her as much as he could while still holding onto Buckbeak's feathers. They both remained silent during the rise up. At one point, when they flew over and past the Quidditch pitch, Hermione noticed one of the Quidditch teams was in the pitch for what must have been a practice session. She wondered how many of the members might stop to look at Buckbeak.
Eventually, Buckbeak leveled out once they were at what must have been a height of a few hundred feet. At that point, Harry shifted his arms so that he was simply hugging Hermione and then put his head on her left shoulder.
He said, "So, are you still alright with this?"
Hermione couldn't help smiling at his concern, even though he had no reason to worry. While gently tightening the grip of her legs on Buckbeak, she slowly pulled her arms up and put her hands on Harry's.
"I am, Harry," she said. "Like with the Firebolt, I promise I'll tell you if something becomes too much or if I want to stop."
He chuckled for a moment. "OK, then I won't say any more about it unless you do."
She simply nodded and leaned further back into his embrace.
They both went quiet at that point, simply enjoying the flight as Buckbeak flew them over the Hogwarts grounds. After a short while, though, Hermione was emboldened to act just like she had with the Firebolt. She slowly stretched her arms until she was holding them straight out to her sides. Then, with a huge smile and without a care in the world, she released a loud, whooping yell for a few seconds.
When she finished the shout, Harry laughed before he gave her a kiss on her cheek. She turned her head to nuzzle him for a second and then hugged her arms to his again. The comforting silence between them returned as they allowed Buckbeak to fly wherever his heart desired. This would certainly be yet another memory with Harry that Hermione would never forget.
She had no idea how much time passed, but eventually, Hermione gently tapped Harry's arm to get his attention.
"What is it?" he asked.
She replied, "We've been up here for a while. What do you say we head back to Hagrid, and let Buckbeak rest?"
"Sure, Hermione, we can. I'll handle this, you just hold on."
With that, she grabbed Buckbeak around his neck again. Harry grabbed the feathers in front of her as best he could.
Then, he called out, "Buckbeak! Let's fly back to Hagrid now!"
The hippogriff shifted his head as best he could to look at them and gave a quick screech, before he gradually turned in the direction of Hagrid's hut.
Buckbeak began to slow down and drop height once the hut started to come into greater view. Harry and Hermione could also see Hagrid waiting exactly where they'd left him. Soon enough, with a gentle thump, Buckbeak had landed right in front of the man. And in another surprise, once he had touched down, the hippogriff crouched down onto the ground, allowing Harry and Hermione to have a much smaller drop to the ground.
When they dismounted, and as Buckbeak stood up again, Hagrid said, "Did yeh enjoy the flight? Yeh were gone fer half an hour, so I figure yeh musta."
Hermione's eyes widened. "We were in the air for that long?"
She then turned to Buckbeak and began stroking his feathers. While Harry followed her a second later in petting the hippogriff, Hermione said, "Oh, Buckbeak, you must be tired after flying both Harry and me for that long. But thank you so much for taking us."
Harry added, "Yeah, you should get some rest, Buckbeak. You earned it."
Buckbeak gave them what sounded like a happy cry. When they quit stroking his feathers, however, he had one last surprise for them.
He looked at them for a moment before leaning in and giving the two of them a nuzzle with his head, Harry first and Hermione second. Then, just like Hermione's Patronus form had done in its first appearance, he actually gave them a bow, which the two of them couldn't help returning on instinct. Only once they were standing straight again did Buckbeak end his own bow, with another happy cry.
Hagrid grinned and said, "Yeh know, in all me years, I can't say I've ever seen a hippogriff bow ter summat else firs'. Course, I'm sure he remembers what yeh did fer him, too. And maybe he's proud ter see himself as yer Patronus there, Hermione."
The hippogriff happily screeched and nodded his head. That caused all three people to laugh.
When they finished, Hagrid sighed and said, "Alright, Beaky. You jus' sit tight now, and I'll bring yeh summat ter eat."
Buckbeak grunted at Hagrid and then sat down on the ground.
With that, Hagrid turned to the two teenagers. "Thanks again Harry, Hermione. It was good ter see yeh and visit with yeh."
Hermione said, "You're welcome, Hagrid. It was our pleasure."
Harry added, "Yeah, and we'll make sure to come by again later this year to see you, and maybe Buckbeak as well."
"Lookin' forward ter it," Hagrid replied. "Now go on, and good luck with yer work."
He went into his hut afterwards. With that, Harry and Hermione turned and began walking to the main entrance of the castle.
They didn't make it very far, however, before they both stopped in suspicion. Somewhere far up ahead, right on the path back to the castle entrance, someone appeared to be standing still and was looking directly at them.
Hermione quietly asked, "Harry? Does it look like someone is watching us and waiting for us?"
He replied, "Yeah, and I can't tell who it is or think why someone might be waiting, so be on guard."
She simply nodded, before they slowly began walking again. Once the person started to come more and more into view, she gave a quick sigh of relief before saying to Harry who it was. It also clued Hermione in to just which Quidditch team had been practicing.
Standing ahead was Katie Bell, holding a broom and wearing Quidditch robes.
The sight of Katie also caused Hermione to start reminiscing a bit about what she had learned from Katie early on in the year, in one of their shared Ancient Runes classes, when Hermione had asked why Katie was still at Hogwarts and why she wasn't sleeping in the actual dormitory with her and the other girls in their seventh year. Hermione had waited until then because Harry had snapped at Katie in their initial meeting this year, saying that it was none of her business when the older girl had asked him about why he was no longer playing Quidditch, so Katie had never tried to come around Harry again except strictly for any kind of occasional studying.
Of all the Hogwarts students to have to repeat the previous year, Katie almost certainly had gotten the shortest end of the stick. She had chosen to come back to Hogwarts in 1997, because of the many months of school that she had missed two years ago due to the attack she suffered from the cursed necklace Draco Malfoy had used in his attempts to kill Dumbledore. To compound her terrible luck even further, her repeat year also ended up not counting for anything, because of the war and the Death Eaters taking over the school last year. Thus, she was having to go through her seventh year of Hogwarts for a third time.
Of course, Katie also ended up with something of a benefit for being forced to repeat her final year again. Katie said to Hermione that she had told Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch, on the first evening of this school year, that she hoped she could mentor under Madam Hooch to take over for her whenever she may retire. Katie eventually ended up being surprised by the headmistress and the flying instructor in that meeting, with the two offering to allow her a head start and basically be a teaching assistant this year during flying classes, if she felt that she could handle the job along with her N.E.W.T. studies.
Katie agreed since she was taking just four subjects of Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Ancient Runes. The stipulation was that she would have to keep an overall average of 'Exceeds Expectations' in her classes. She also wouldn't be able to help with refereeing Quidditch matches due to conflicts of interest, since she had chosen to remain on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and become the team captain this year.
In return, however, due to her technically having a teaching position by being Madam Hooch's assistant, as well as to make up to her somewhat for her repeating her final year twice through no fault of her own, she was allowed to have her own small quarters for herself, which she said was basically a one-person dormitory near Gryffindor Tower that had been reserved for professors in the past. She also told Hermione, however, that no other people besides the staff members knew exactly where it was since she was only being allowed a room to herself because of her assistant responsibilities, so she didn't want to risk losing that privilege.
Thinking on it more, Hermione couldn't help but wonder if maybe, since she and Harry had given their affirmation to Professors McGonagall and Flitwick about wanting to teach at Hogwarts, there was some way that the two of them could get their own rooms by assisting with the actual Defense and Charms classes in any way. Of course, Professor McGonagall also obviously knew about Harry and Hermione being a couple, which meant that she would probably see right through Hermione and know the hidden reason for trying to bring up such a question.
Hermione just shook her head within her mind, as she and Harry finally stopped a few steps away from Katie.
When they did, Katie pleasantly said, "Hi, Hermione. Hi, Harry."
Hermione replied, "Hello, Katie."
Harry remained silent, only giving a short nod. That caused a quick flash of hesitation to appear on Katie's face.
Seeing it and hoping to keep things cordial in case Harry didn't want to talk, though also deciding to keep things vague to start with, Hermione added, "So, were you waiting for someone, Katie?"
Katie looked at her and said, "Well, waiting for the two of you, I suppose. I stayed late after Quidditch practice earlier so I could go over some plans, and when walking from the pitch to the castle, I looked over and saw you two standing with Hagrid and a hippogriff over at Hagrid's hut."
Her expression then became much more clearly tentative. "So, there's something I wanted to ask, and you don't have to answer if you think it's none of my business. Was – so was that you two flying on the back of that hippogriff that flew by the Quidditch pitch during practice?"
Harry and Hermione turned to one another at that point. Hermione wasn't sure if Harry would want to confirm Katie's suspicions or not, so she was hoping to get a cue from him.
It only took a couple of seconds to receive that cue. She saw his lips just slightly twitch upwards, before he leaned in close and whispered into her ear, "I'm OK with telling her, if you worry about that. It doesn't matter to me what anyone thinks of us."
When he pulled back, Hermione gave him a smile and quick nod.
Then, she faced Katie and just outright stated, "Yes, Katie. It was us. And yes, in case you ask, the same hippogriff you saw Harry and I standing with was the one that flew us."
Katie gave a half-grin. "Well that answers two questions, then. I have to say, it took a bit of work for me to get practice going again, after everyone stopped to gawk at the hippogriff flying away and was wondering who was riding it."
The grin then dropped. "Still though, if you don't mind me asking. What possessed you to want to fly on the hippogriff in the first place?"
Harry actually answered before Hermione could, to her slight surprise. "Hermione and I are well-acquainted with that particular hippogriff."
Hermione nodded and then added, "Indeed. We've been around Witherwings a lot," remembering to still use Buckbeak's false name for the sake of safety, "so he's friendly towards us."
She felt a faint blush begin to rise in her cheeks but continued on with her next words. "And as for why we flew… well, the entire school knows that Harry and I are together. The flight was basically us simply wanting to do something with each other, and Witherwings was completely willing to fly us."
Katie shook her head, but with a smile. "Going flying on a hippogriff is definitely something unique to do for a date. Still, thanks for confirming my thoughts, which I'll keep to myself, too, since I doubt you would want someone else to spread your business."
She then grew much more serious. "Speaking of which…"
When the older girl trailed off, Hermione was curious as to what may be coming next. She and Harry both remained silent, though, while Katie took a long breath and then continued speaking.
"This may not mean much since no one else is around, but… it wasn't right what happened to the two of you when your relationship became known, with that article in the Daily Prophet and all of its aftermath. I never believed a word of it, especially not after how the Prophet had been shown to be lying about you three years ago, Harry, when You-Know-Who was revealed to be alive at the time.
"I'm sorry to both of you for not having said anything to you before now, since it probably looks like I'm only talking about this because of the statements from the Aurors and the Minister proclaiming your innocence. And if someone else may try to start trouble over your relationship going forward, I'll stand with your friends on your side. I know I'm not nearly as close to either of you as others, but you and I were teammates for so many years, Harry, and frankly, even with you not playing Quidditch this year as well as you wanting people to stay away from you, I still consider you as such."
Hermione widened her eyes a bit. This was certainly a nice surprise, if she and Harry were gaining yet another ally against the rest of the world.
Still, she didn't say anything and looked to Harry, wondering what he wanted to do. He seemed to sense her gaze and glanced at her, but only for a moment, and his expression remained neutral and almost guarded.
After another second, however, he responded, "Don't worry about it, Katie. But thanks for telling us that you didn't believe all of that rubbish about me and Hermione, and that you would be willing to stand up for us in the future."
Then, he gave a little sigh and added, "And since you were willing to say all that, then… I want to apologize to you, for having been such a prat in the first term of this year. I know that you were probably just caught off guard to learn that I wasn't playing this year, and you didn't deserve me lashing out at you like I did with basically everyone except Hermione."
Though Harry wasn't facing her, Hermione smiled tenderly at him. It was wonderful to see him taking these little steps towards reconciling with people after having tried to push everyone away in the first part of the school year.
Katie's response was spoken a bit in jest. "Well, you said it about acting like a git, not me."
Harry actually chuckled and said, "Well, it's true, isn't it?"
Katie laughed for a second. Afterwards, she said with a tiny smile, "Can I assume we have Hermione here to thank, even if just in part, for the change?"
Before Hermione could say anything, Harry nodded and softly replied, "Yeah, it's all thanks to her." His following words, however, were much cheekier. "No matter how much she'll try to say otherwise, since she can't take a compliment."
She lightly slapped his upper arm and retorted with a smirk, "Takes one to know one, doesn't it, you noble, self-deprecating prat?"
That caused Harry to let out a full and hearty laugh for a bit.
When he finished, all were silent for a few seconds before Katie grew serious again. "So, would you mind if I asked again, what made you decide to quit playing Quidditch this year?"
Harry took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh, but he showed little hesitation in answering. "While I don't want to go into the full details, let's just say that I didn't know what to do with my future once the war was over. Because of that, I lost any motivation for basically everything."
Unable to resist, Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder, giving him a nuzzle. She felt Harry put an arm around her and then press a kiss to her head.
Katie's expression became full of sympathy. She said, "I'm sorry. I guess so many of us never really thought about all that you would have had to go through to kill You-Know-Who and win the war, though you certainly gave us a tiny glimpse with what you wrote in that article from The Quibbler about being hopelessly lost at one point during the war."
A small smile then rose on her lips. "But… you're now starting to get better, for lack of a better term, and starting to work past that?"
Harry gave a sort of amused hum and then said, "Starting to, yeah, again thanks to the person holding onto me right now."
Hermione looked up at him and softly said, "Don't give me all the credit, Harry. If you yourself didn't want to change, you wouldn't have."
Another hum left him before he replied, "Without you breaking through my shell and getting me to talk, the change wouldn't have started in the first place."
They looked at Katie when she giggled. The older girl then said, "I guess both of you were right about the other person not being able to take praise and compliments."
That caused everyone to laugh for a few moments. When they finished, Katie smiled and said, "Well, I'm glad to hear things are starting to turn around for you, Harry. And it's nice to get to see that the two of you are good for one another."
Hermione gratefully replied, "Thank you, Katie."
"Yeah, thanks for that," Harry added.
Katie nodded before letting out a quick sigh. "OK, I'll leave you two alone. I've got studies and plans I need to work on, and no doubt you both have your own work to do as well."
Then, with another smile, she added, "Thanks for humoring me. And thanks for being willing to talk somewhat personal things, Harry. Take care, you two."
Harry said, "You're welcome, Katie."
Hermione replied, "You take care as well."
With that, Katie hoisted her broom onto her shoulders and started walking back to the castle. Harry and Hermione both remained silent at first and just watched her.
Once Katie was finally out of sight, Hermione pulled her head off Harry's shoulder, though she kept her arms around him.
She looked up at Harry and said, "Well, that was a nice surprise, wouldn't you agree?"
The left side of his mouth curled up, and he responded, "I would, since we have another person who was not only willing to forgive me for how I've treated people this year but will also stand with you and me if anyone tries to cause trouble with our relationship."
Hermione smiled tenderly at him, before then shifting her hold on him so that she was facing him from the front.
She said, "You know, I'm really glad to see you slowly opening up and allowing more people to be personal with you."
Harry gave a similar smile before touching his forehead to hers.
"Well, even if they obviously will never be as close to me as you are," he replied, "it's sort of like something I said during the holiday break. I had an angel show me that trying to hold everything in and pushing everyone away wasn't really helping me."
Her smile grew as her heart melted at his statement. Without hesitation, she tilted her mouth forward to kiss him.
When the kiss ended, she simply said, "I love you, Harry."
His eyes went completely soft as he replied, "I love you too, Hermione."
They just stood there for another minute, holding one another.
Harry was the one to break the silence. "So, how about we go and get to studying? And what do you say we go to the library this time, instead of the Room of Requirement, in case someone may want to join or may need us for something?"
After humming for a moment, Hermione replied, "Yes, I'm alright with that."
She pulled out of the hug but then grabbed his right hand in her left. With that, they began walking towards the castle again.
Hermione thought back on all that had just taken place thus far today. Getting to reconnect with Hagrid and allow him to know how one of his beloved animal friends survived. Going on a date with Harry by flying together on Buckbeak. Gaining another ally and friend against those who may interfere in her relationship with Harry.
She smiled in her mind. As she had thought many times before, it was the little moments like that which made it so that she could never regret being with Harry, no matter what trouble others would try to cause.
A/N: Another chapter that's pretty much mostly filler, but it's filler that should have been obvious was coming, since I made that previous mention in Chapter 24 of Harry and Hermione agreeing to visit Hagrid at some point.
Also, writing out Hagrid's dialogue in a more extended scene wasn't exactly what I would call fun, but I wanted it to be at least somewhat true to the book, so it had to be done. For anyone curious, I actually used a site that had the dialects and accents for different characters from the franchise listed out to help, and the page could come in handy for anyone reading this. Go to "archive dot ph/i1qfo" if you would like to see the guide (as always, replace " dot " with ".").
I hope that the portion involving Katie is enjoyable as well as that the explanation for her being around works (this is the specific bit on which I wanted a second opinion). Considering all the time she missed in HBP because of the cursed necklace, it made sense to me that she would have wanted to repeat that year so that she could actually have as much study time for N.E.W.T.s as she could, but of course, Hogwarts being taken over the following year put a huge hurdle in those plans.
Now, I've currently got an idea of something where she will be involved, but that will come much later after more pressing issues are resolved.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!
