Chapter 13 — Back Again
The next morning, Harry and Hermione bid goodbye to Viktor at the Bulgarian Ministry on promises to write and keep in touch. Though the information she found out while in Sofia was invaluable, Hermione was happy to be leaving. There was just something itching at the back of her head — something that wasn't quite right about Viktor, but she couldn't place her finger on it.
After a Portkey back to the Ministry of Magic in London, they quickly flagged down a taxi and made their way to Hermione's parents home. There was only a week until Harry's birthday, part of the reason she had wanted to come back early. She knew he didn't want to spend it with Viktor, but would rather spend it with friends. It also felt like they had been gone for ages, her heart was screaming home.
"Mum! Dad!" Hermione called as she walked into the house. "We're home!"
Her mum appeared from around the corner. "Darling, you're home early! Give me a hug!" Hermione embraced her mother, happy to see her even though it had only been a few days since they last saw each other. "You too, Harry." Hermione's mum engulfed Harry in a hug as well.
"Where's Dad? Hermione asked.
"He went into the office today, even though our vacation isn't over until next week. That man," Katherine said, shaking her head.
"Are you guys hungry?"
They both shook their heads. "We are two hours behind Sofia, so we've just eaten breakfast."
Katherine nodded. "Why don't you go ahead and go up and get unpacked. I'll start thinking about a larger lunch since you're sure to be hungry a few hours from now."
Harry opened her mouth to respond, and Hermione cut him off. "Thanks, mum." Hermione grabbed Harry's hand, and they trekked up the stairs, pulling their luggage behind them.
Once they were in her room, Hermione shut the door behind them and pulled Harry to sit on the bed. "Don't mention the letter yet. They'll think something is up."
Harry frowned. "But—"
"I've been trying to keep them in the dark, Harry. I don't want them to think anything is wrong or that I am in danger. They have the power to pull me from Hogwarts and everything magical. Neither of us needs that headache."
"I'll send a message to Sirius though," Harry said, walking over to Hedwig's cage. She hadn't been in the cage long, but she was already irritated with him for not letting her out immediately. "Maybe we can wait several days before bringing up going to Diagon Alley and staying the rest of the holiday at Grimmauld Place to your parents."
Hermione nodded slowly. "Send Hedwig to Sirius and let him know we will meet them there in a few days." Hermione paused. "Do you think we should send a message to Ron as well?"
Harry ruffled the back of his head. She knew he defaulted to that when he was nervous. "I think maybe if we just wait until we are in person, that would be better," he said hesitantly. "Then we can explain everything to him."
Hermione swallowed. "That sounds... satisfactory."
Harry sighed and gave Hedwig one last pet before heading back to Hermione, who was still sitting on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down, so they were laying on the bed together.
"What's wrong?" he finally asked after several moments of silence.
She turned in his arms, so her head was nestled into his neck. "I am just scared," she murmured. "What if he hates us?"
"So what if he does?" Harry asked. "I think that our friendship with him can survive whatever is thrown at us. We've proved that time and time again, haven't we?"
Hermione nodded and picked some lint off of his shoulder before laying back down on his chest. "You have a way of making me feel better, no matter the situation."
Harry pulled her closer and placed a kiss on the top of her head. A kiss that no matter how innocent made her feel all fuzzy inside.
Hermione looked up at him again and smiled. Pushing herself up with one hand planted on the bed, she leaned down and pressed a kiss against his lips.
A few days later, Hermione and Harry broached the subject of going shopping in Diagon Alley and spending the rest of the summer with the Weasley's.
Hermione's parents understandably wanted to spend more time with them but didn't stop them from going. They said their goodbyes and found themselves outside of a worn down building that was missing the number 12. This had been where Sirius instructed them to be, but there was no one in sight.
Just when they were about to set their luggage down and scope out the area, a black dog came out of nowhere from the brick of the building.
"Snuffles," Harry said, excitedly as the dog approached. He had a piece of paper in his mouth, and Hermione reached for it, patting him on the head in thanks.
"The headquarters for The Order of the Phoenix is 12 Grimmauld Place," she read out loud before handing it over to Harry, who repeated the information. Before their eyes, the brick building split apart, and the house that was missing appeared.
Grabbing their luggage, they followed the black dog into the house. As soon as they shut the door behind them, a loud screeching came from the hallway. The black dog materialized into Sirius, who shook his head.
"Sorry, my blood purist mother," he said, explaining the yelling.
"Blood traitors and mudbloods! Werewolves, children of filth!" the portrait screeched on. "My father's home, filled with scum."
"Lovely, isn't she?" Sirius joked. Walking down the hallway, he stopped and turned. "Here, let me vanish your luggage to your rooms."
He pulled out his wand, and the luggage disappeared. "What is this place?" Harry asked. "And what is the Order of the Phoenix?"
Sirius paused. "Well, urm, that's a long story, how about we go into the kitchen—" He pushed open the door; Molly, who was inside, dropped a pan when she saw them.
"Oh, you're here," she said, rushing over and pulling them into a crushing hug. "I have been so worried about you two. Not letting us know where you were going and just disappearing like that."
Harry and Hermione hugged Molly back and just looked at each other as they were suffocated by her. It was just like her to be a bit too involved in their lives, sometimes. Though it wasn't as if they didn't appreciate her motherliness, it was nice to know someone cared. But it just felt like she was berating them for going on vacation and she knew Harry felt the same. Going from being unloved to being suffocated couldn't be easy.
"Molly, let them breathe," Sirius finally said, stepping closer. "I haven't even gotten a proper hug from my godson and the brightest witch of her age."
Molly pulled back and gave Sirius a sceptical look before turning and walking back to the stove. The two teens turned around and gave Sirius a proper welcome, wrapping their arms around his middle.
"I've missed you," Harry said.
"I've missed you too, pup," Sirius said, pulling back and ruffling his hair. "You're looking more like your father every day."
Harry grinned, but Hermione had to work hard to keep a smile on her face. She never liked that Harry was compared to his father. But when you looked exactly like him and your parents were no longer around, it was bound to happen.
"Harry! Hermione!" a voice said behind them. When they turned, they barely had time to register their best friend before he made their way over to them and surprisingly engulfed them in a hug.
"Ron! Good to see you, mate," Harry said, clapping him on the back.
"We've loads to tell you," Hermione said, as they pulled away.
"You can tell him all about it while you go upstairs and unpack your belongings," Molly said from the stove. "Ron can show you where you'll be staying."
"Right," Ron said. He motioned for him to follow him, and they made their way up the stairs. "So, where have you guys been? Sirius said something about your parents, Hermione?"
Harry nodded. "They rescued me from the Dursley's is the easiest way to explain it. They don't give two figs what I do and were happy to be rid of me for the summer, I'm sure."
Reaching the third landing, Ron pointed to a door. "Hermione, you'll be staying in there with Ginny. Harry, we are up a floor." He pointed at the ceiling.
"Would your room be a good place to talk?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, no one goes in there except for me, and mum when she wants to do laundry." They trekked up the stairs and shut the door behind them.
Hermione and Harry sat on one bed, Ron, on the other.
"Soooo," Ron said again, looking back and forth between the two of them.
They looked at each other and Hermione nodded. She'd start. "There is so much we have to tell you, but I suppose we should start with the second task."
Ron nodded, encouraging her to continue.
"Well, some of this might be unbelievable at first, I promise it's true." She swallowed. "When I was Viktor's hostage in the Black Lake, I was bitten by a mermaid. The merchieftainess of the colony to be exact."
Ron looked at them in disbelief. "Okay, so why did Harry know and not me?"
Harry rubbed the back of his head, messing up his hair. "Well, you see. I noticed that Hermione was acting weird, so I followed her one night with my cloak and the marauder's map to the prefect's bath."
"The prefect's bath? How'd you get in there?"
Hermione gave him a look of annoyance. "Really? From all of that, what you are really interested in is how I got into the prefect's bath?"
Ron blushed. "Well, yeah."
Hermione shook her head. Harry continued, "Cedric gave me the password, remember? And I told you guys? Anyway, she was sitting in the prefect tub, and she was full on mermaid. Like tail and scales and everything."
"Where's the bite?" Ron asked.
Hermione pulled down the collar of her shirt, revealing the bite mark. "It won't ever go away," Hermione told him, letting her shirt return to normal, covering the mark back up.
"I believe you," Ron said. "Just seems out of this world, you know?"
Harry nodded. "Believe me, mate. We haven't even gotten started yet."
"Wow," Ron said, clearly in shock about their story. "I mean, just wow." He shook his head. "What are you going to do?"
"Well, I haven't entirely decided yet, but I am leaning toward becoming Daughter of the Sea."
Harry smiled and reached for her hand. "I knew you were going to decide to do it. Your bleeding heart would never allow the mermaid colonies to fend for themselves."
"And what about this?" Ron said, pointing between the two of them.
"Ron, we don't want you to be angry—"
"I'm not angry," he said, interrupting them. "I, uhm, was trying to find a way to tell you guys. I sent Padma an owl over after school got out apologizing for my behaviour at the Yule Ball. We've been exchanging letters ever since, and we're planning to go to the first Hogsmeade weekend together."
"That's great, Ron!" Hermione couldn't stop grinning because Ron was such a poor letter writer. She had to beg him at the end of each school year to write and it was usually a lost cause. If he was writing Padma regularly, well, he must really like her.
"Nice job, mate," Harry replied.
A loud pop interrupted them, Fred and George materializing out of thin air, matching smiles as they saw the trio.
"Passed your tests now, did you?"
They nodded in response. "Time for dinner, mum didn't want to yell because of the portrait," Fred said.
"Bloody terror Walburga Black is," George added. "I can't even imagine what she was like when she was alive."
They paused. "Poor Sirius," they replied together, before spinning and popping out of sight.
"Better head down, we don't need both mum and the portrait screaming," Ron said, standing up from the bed. He got to the door and turned to look at them. "Ready for this?"
"Ready for what?" Hermione asked. Harry's eyes went wide under his wired frames before he looked back at Ron.
"This is headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Usually, dinner is an interesting affair...and now that you're here, it's probably going to be a bit more than usual. You've missed a lot while you've been gone."
Ron walked out, and Harry turned to Hermione and echoed one of Ron's favourite phrases.
"Bloody hell!"
Harry laid in bed that night, wishing that Hermione was curled up at his side. The evening had been rough, just as Ron had warned them. Lots of shouting and cursing had ensued, mainly between Molly and Sirius. They were both concerned about his well-being, but instead of asking what he wanted to do or how he felt, they took it upon themselves to argue.
It was exhausting, to say the least.
Closing his eyes, he hoped to Merlin that his nightmares would stay away. Ron might be okay with his and Hermione's relationship, whatever stage it was in, but it wouldn't fly to be sleeping in the same bed. He wouldn't be too comfortable with Ron shacking up with Padma right next to him, so he'd offer him the same courtesy. Plus, the adults would be less than happy with them sharing a bed at their age. He had to get used to it, especially since their return to Hogwarts was just a short month away.
The next month passed in a blur. More arguing, and even more cleaning to make Grimmauld Place livable. Surprisingly, Harry preferred the cleaning to the arguing. Having grown up waiting on the Dursleys, he was an expert on at least one thing — cleaning.
Eager to leave the hell hole that was Grimmauld Place, Harry and Hermione were both up early, doing some last minute packing. Thankfully, Sirius made an appearance before they left, to apologize and say his goodbyes.
Finally, they were aboard the Hogwarts Express, greenery passing them in droves as they chugged toward Scotland at a rapid pace.
"This year is going to be harder than the last, isn't it?" Hermione asked, leaning into Harry's side, a book propped up on her knees.
Harry nodded and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?"
Arriving at Hogwarts, they trudged into the Great Hall eager to dig into the Welcome Feast. Instead, they were greeted with a new face — a pink toad to be exact.
"Who is that?" Harry asked as they slid onto the bench at Gryffindor table.
"Who knows," Ron said, his stomach grumbling loudly. "But I do know that I am absolutely starving."
"Tell me something we didn't already know," Ginny piped, a small smile playing on her lips. "You're always hungry."
"Hey!" Ron said. He shoved his shoulder into his sister's and before she could retaliate, the first years walked into the room to be sorted.
Hermione didn't pay too much attention to the sorting, instead focusing much more on the woman in pink. She had a cruel look to her, and her nose turned up in a way that made it look like dung was permanently stuck nearby. As the sorting finished, Professor Dumbledore stood, and Hermione's gaze finally left the woman.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. This year, I want to introduce a new staff member who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge."
There were a few polite claps, but otherwise silent as the woman interrupted Dumbledore, hoping to give a speech.
"Oh no," Hermione whispered as the woman stepped forward to the podium.
"What?" Harry and Ron asked simultaneously.
Hermione shook her head. "She's from the Ministry. This can't be good."
A/N: I'm backkkkkkkkk! I have through Chapter 20 written, so I hoping to give you all regular updates (weekly/biweekly) for some time! Things will be picking up here very very soon! Huge thanks to the lovely HeartOfAspen for her alpha/beta work on this chapter - as always her comments and suggestions are invaluable.