On Teenagers & Love

a story by anamatics

Part Two

Chapter Two: On Family

AN: I am still working on this story! Don't get me wrong, I just wanted to update you guys with another little tidbit of this plot before it took too long. I'll probably post one or two more parts before I go back to writing it. As it is, this second part of the story is nearly 30 pages long - well longer than the first story and I'm only at ~Christmas on the Closed Ward from OOtP.

This is gunna take a while to finish, lol.


"You can test it out ma, tell me what you see
Order what you want, hell yeah it's on me
Don't it tell ya I'm good?
What that tell ya? I'm good.
What they tell ya? I'm good.
What she tell ya? I'm good.
What you see? (I'm looking good)"

- I'm Good

"You better shape up;
you better understand
to my heart I must be true."

- You're the One that I Want


And then Harry comes. He is angry, Hermione can see it, she can hear it in his voice and in the temper tantrum that he throws over their Dumbledore imposed silence. There is so much to-do about fetching him from his relatives that Hermione is positive that Voldemort's forces were going to attack them right on the way to Grimmauld Place. Fleur whispers that it is just Mad-Eye posturing to Hermione after they'd all left to go and fetch him and Mrs. Weasley had glared at the pair of them until they'd left the room to go and watch Ron utterly destroy George at Wizard's Chess.

Fleur asks to play a round with him after that and once Ron stops blushing (Hermione is rather proud of him for getting better about being tongue-tied around Fleur) they have a go, but Fleur's not much better than George and loses in short order as well.

"'ou are a razer good 'ow do you say…" Fleur trails off, searching for the right word, "stratège – erm – strategist."

Ron blushes bright red and mumbles his thanks but there is worry in his eyes.

Harry was attacked by dementors two days ago. He's going to be expelled from Hogwarts.

"What if they really do kick him out?" Ron whispers, not looking at anyone else in the room. His voice is shaking and Hermione wants to go to him, to hug him and tell him that everything is going to be alright. She takes a step forward, but Fleur's voice stops her.

"We will teach 'im zen," She has a resolute look on her face. "Sirius, Remus, William, myself – anyone who can teach 'im will. Zat is what Dumbledore wants."

Hermione smiles brightly at Ron and nods her agreement. She knows better than to let on to both Harry and Ron that she's been worrying. They take their cues from her – knowing that she is the most level headed of their threesome.

Inside she's afraid. Can Dumbledore get Harry off? Hogwarts is the safest place for him, but Grimmauld Place is nigh impossible to find if you're not already in on the Fidileus Charm it's under. Harry, she reasons darkly, would be just as safe here as he would be at Hogwarts.

When Harry arrives he flies into a rage unlike any that Hermione has ever seen before, yelling and cursing the lot of them for not telling him what was going on. She and Ron implore him, telling him that there was no way that they could have – as Dumbledore had made them swear to keep him in the dark. Harry doesn't accept this, but when Sirius and Professor Lupin pull him aside, Hermione lets him go without a second glance. He'll calm down, he always does.

"Reckon we might 'a deserved that," Ron mutters as they sit opposite each other in Ron's room. Hermione is sitting on what will be Harry's bed. Mrs. Weasley had come in earlier with fresh bed sheets and a few more cleaning charms that seemed to make the room sparkle with unnatural light.

Hermione sighs, "I think so as well."

When Harry finally comes back he is calmer and the three of them sit and talk long into the night. Hermione sleeps in her proper bed with Ginny as it's nearly two in the morning before they're ready for sleep and she does not think that Fleur, nor her seven o'clock alarm will appreciate her intrusion. She sleeps poorly though, tossing and turning and plagued by dreams of birds and Voldemort and vicious creatures singing her down into the sea.

Over the next few weeks, Hermione learns more than she ever cared to know about magical pests, nasty jinxes placed on sofas, and dark objects disguised as tea kettles. She cannot imagine what it must have been like for Sirius, growing up in this awful house, and tells him so two days after Harry's trial. They're all still in a celebratory mood, Dumbledore had gotten Harry off despite the Ministry's full Wizengamot hearing and Harry's scar hurting in the middle of it.

Sirius pours himself some tea and sighs dramatically. "My mom was one of the most awful people you will ever meet."

They all laugh, having met Mrs. Black's portrait and Fleur quietly asks, "Worse zen Rita Skeeter?" They've all been slighted by her, but Hermione, ever proud of herself, has fixed that for at least a year.

Fleur is contemplating a spoon and muttering 'café' under her breath. She pulls out her wand and taps the spoon experimentally, Hermione watching with interest as it grows and changes under her spell. Soon it resembles an old-fashioned coffee steeper and Hermione grins. Fleur likes tea just fine, but is far more of a coffee person in the morning and when they're all still bleary-eyed and just waking up.

Harry eyes her sideways and Hermione giggles behind her cup of tea.

Mrs. Weasley gets up and tells Fleur she'll find the coffee.

"I should hope so. At least all that woman did was print lies than anyone with common sense -" Sirius trails off, eyeing Mrs. Weasley out of the corner of his eye and Hermione remembers the very small egg she'd received at Easter after Rita Skeeter had published that ghastly article in Witch Weekly. There's a flush on Ron's mother's cheeks that rivals her hair color and Sirius coughs to hide his sudden pause. "Anyone with any common sense would realize that Harry isn't five years old, and that he's perfectly capable."

Harry chews on some toast. "Thank you for your vote of confidence."

Sirius gives him a mock bow and they all laugh.

There are times when Hermione thinks that Sirius' presence is very bad for Harry. That Sirius is too playful and not mindful enough of the facts of Harry's existence. Voldemort is after him, after Sirius too, probably – and yet it is all fun and games with Sirius Black. She's pondered this with Ron, who thinks that it might be because of Harry's dad, and with Fleur, who thinks that Sirius is trying to make up for lost time.

This isn't one of those times, though. Harry is truly happy, smiling and chattering away, really coming out of his shell like he hasn't in a long time.

Hermione is happy that Harry has found himself a father figure.