AN- Stephanie O, this one is for you. Thanks for all of your reviews, glad you are enjoying my fanfic's.
Nothing got done in Muggle administrative offices at this time of year. It was all full of Monday to Friday mothers and fathers that took off during the holidays because their children were out of school, so there was no way that any request she made for information was going to be addressed during her time off.
But this was important information she needed and searching for it herself wasn't hurting anyone. It was a government facility, but she wouldn't be taking anything just getting information. And she was of age, so the magic that she'd used to get into the building was allowed. It wasn't being lawfully used, but it wasn't going to result in an Owl from the Ministry.
And besides, it was only a disillusionment spell and a few Alohamora's. An Alohomora was a first-year spell, that probably didn't even register.
Rationalizing her break and enter was only kind of working.
There wasn't any way that she was going to be able to just sit home today and go over everything she knew already. She'd been over her entire wall of evidence and facts and theories for days now and after Ron's Owl yesterday she couldn't just sit at home. She was single again and in need of something.
It was madness.
It was crazy, impulsive and criminal.
She was being crazy, impulsive and criminal.
But.
It was here. Should a few locked doors and holiday closures really be what stands in front of her and her search for the truth of Tom Riddles upbringing? No!
If she lived in London, went to school somewhere that was accessible by phone or facsimile, well then, she might have been able to find something else to do today.
If her parents weren't back in the office performing root canals, then she would have someone to spend her day with.
All these things were legitimate reasons to explain why she was standing in a dark administration office for the London Council looking for the whereabouts of a demolished orphanage's records from fifty years ago. The orphanage itself was only demolished two years ago, so they wouldn't have destroyed them.
They are probably being stored in a warehouse or something. But this office building, well they would have the information on where.
She'd checked all around the building and there weren't any CCTV camera's yet installed here. It wasn't like they kept any money or valuables locked up here, just information. Lovely, beautiful multi-colored manila folders with labels perfectly placed on every tab. Meticulously maintained filing cabinets with alphabetical and chronological organization that made research so easy.
These were her people.
Every document that entered the building would be reviewed, possibly copied, signed off on and then placed in the exact right folder for future reference.
She walked down the corridor that led to the expansive open cubby area with desks and drawers dedicated to each employee's specialty. Name plates were proudly displayed at the entrance to each perfectly squared off work station with name and title.
These stations didn't move around like the one at the Ministry. Like most things in the secret world she was being educated in, magic was relied on heavily. Stacks of papers and folders had been piled high in the administrative offices at the Ministry of Magic. She'd nearly had a heart attack observing the chaotic towers of documents behind the doors blocked by the desks on the Level One Administrative Offices.
Simple summoning charms meant that they didn't have to be delicate with these important pieces of paper. It was lazy and sloppy. She would not be able to find anything there.
Here however.
She came to a stop in front of Gertrude Smith's name plate. Assistant Operations Director. Miss Smith would be the second in charge to the Operations Director who would dictate how best to distribute tasks amongst the lower administration clerks. Meaning she would have the list of clerks and facilities available at her desk.
Hermione pulled out the wheelie office chair and checked the papers pinned to the cubby wall on either side of the computer. There was a list of names and phone numbers along with post-it's reminding her of dates and tasks, but nothing indicating who the records clerk would be. There were basic stationary supplies and granola bars in the top desk drawer, the middle drawer had a laminated piece of paper with exactly what she was looking for though.
Adam Steinbeck was listed as the buildings Records Clerk.
There was no layout attached for exactly where Adam's desk would be though. Disappointed, she put the employee list back in the drawer. Putting the chair back exactly as she had found it, she wove her way down the aisle between cubbies checking every one of the name plates.
Now, there was that expression that things are always in the last place you look. And it was a ridiculous expression, of course they were in the last place you look. If you find your tie clip under a couch cushion you wouldn't continue to look for it when it is in your hand. However, here was the name plate for Adam Steinbeck in the absolute last possible cubby she could have checked. On this floor anyhow.
His desk was unfortunately stacked with papers, as was the top of his filing cabinet.
The man had the benefit of a great view from his corner desk by the window and yet he had the most cluttered desk of all the one's she had seen so far.
With a sag of her shoulders she reached into her bag and pulled out a half sandwich and a bottle of water. This was going to take a while.
Paperwork and research were things that Hermione got a thrill out of. It was hard to explain to others why she liked it. Why seeing all these stacks of loose unrelated papers could both be seen as tedious and a thrilling challenge to her studious brain.
It was a Friday at ten in the morning. There wouldn't be anyone in here until Monday, and no one expecting her at home until 5pm. She picked up the closest stack of papers that she could easily hold in between her two hands and tap down on the desk so they were aligned, she did a quick flip through them to see if they were all the same type of document then went through one by one by way of a quick flip down on one corner to check the titles and addresses showing in the top left corner of each page.
Stack by stack she went through the papers. There was nothing relating to Wool's Orphanage or Guilford Street, Bloomsbury in any of the loose-leaf cluttering Steinbeck's office surfaces. With mentally crossed fingers she tugged at the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet, praying that they would hold more order than the desk had.
The drawer opened easily, and she raised her eyes to the ceiling in thanks to whatever gods convinced mister Steinbeck to have these files at least organized and properly labeled.
The tabs read out Acquisitions 1995, Merch. Inv. 1995 and the like at the front of the cabinet and the back was 1994. 1995 would have been when the orphanage was demolished and the records moved. Starting at the front she began going through all the folders and documents in the files.
Transfers 1994, third hanging folder from the back of the drawer held what she was looking for.
70-72 Guilford St. Queen funded orphanage. Record transferred to the Family Records Centre in Islington.
Thank mercy.
Had it been in the Public Records Building on Chancery Lane then there was no way she was going to be able to find it with all the people who would be using it. It was a public building that would be full up of uni students working on a thesis or something. The Family Records Centre however, well, that would be 'closed' today.
Tucking the paper back into the folder she closed the drawer and started her way from where she was in Southwark, only three miles north to Islington. It would only be a few stops on the Northern Line and then she'd have to break in there as well.
She was quite at home by herself in the Muggle world of London. In fact, given the warmer than average temperatures it would have been a lovely walk there. But she did not have the time for that, and any time spent not doing something was time for her mind to drift back to Ron's letter.
His last line, asking her not to push him away if he tried to hug her. That had made tears roll down her cheeks. She would never push him away! He'd been so sweet with her. And patient. Victor may have been the first boy she'd ever dated, but that hadn't been a relationship. It was a few kisses and a cordial friendship more than anything.
Ron had been her first boyfriend. His attention had been so flattering, and as he was the new boy coming into a sea of estrogen that was basically his for the taking and he was focusing his attention of her! Oh, she'd felt so empowered by it.
And the kissing.
Well the kissing was lovely.
The feeling of his arms around her was perfect. And she had felt how much he enjoyed it. She wasn't an idiot in that department. She knew what that weight was pressing against her hip, and Ginny had admitted to her that she would have been shagging Harry if they had enough privacy. Girls and boys their age did that.
But she wasn't ready.
And really, she and Ron had so little in common.
Breaking up was the right choice. She wouldn't have been enough for him in the relationship department and didn't want to wait for the day when he realized just how much of a problem he had with that. If they waited any longer, she would no doubt stumble across him making up for lost time with some other girl and their friendship would be ruined too.
Enough!
She wasn't going to focus any more attention to it. It would be hard enough when she gets back to school. Now was the time to focus on breaking into the Family Records Centre.
It would require the same spells she'd used to get into London Council. These records would most likely be sorted by last name. That shouldn't take too long.
Getting off at the Euston station she weaved her way through the crowds of post-holiday bargain hunters and made her way to the rather interesting looking corner building on Myddleton Lane.
No one was paying her any mind as she glanced around once again for any signs of a surveillance camera or security system before unlocking the door and disillusioning herself.
There were only security lights on on the main floor. There were rows and rows of binders on shelves behind a reception counter. Flipping the counter door up she went to one of the workers stations to see if she could figure out how to use their tools of streamlining the process.
They didn't have any computers here. That was good news for her. Not because she didn't know how to use one, but because they took ten minutes to start up and she could only figure out how to play some of the games on them, not use the software.
A binder was much simpler a tool for her. Such as the one that was sitting at the ready behind the counter of the first wicket station.
Flipping it open there were a few tabs showing Marriage, Death and Birth. The first set of three tabs was for London. Turning to the Birth's tab she trailed her finger down the R's. R to Ri was in a few binders on shelf D-36-C.
Looking behind her, she saw the shelves all had alphanumeric assignments and she left the binder where it was and headed to the destination.
D-36-C had fifteen enormous binders on it with assignations for where in the alphabet the names inside fell. RID had one binder all to itself. And in that binder one Riddle, Tom Marvolo had his own line. Born December 31st, 1926- Wool's Orphanage. And a newly inked notation that had Hermione shaking with anticipation- see Wool's Orphanage Records- Room 136 shelf 22.
Repeating that notation to herself a few times she shut the binder and made for the closest wall on the opposite side of the reception area in search of room 136.
Well, the 1 would be an indication of the first floor, which was this one. So, it must be one of the rooms off of this main records area. At the end of aisle D was room 122. She turned right and the room numbers she passed kept going up until turning another time and finding room 136. Using her wand, she opened the door and entered a room lined with deep shelves, and only one row of double-sided shelving in the middle.
Shelf 22 was directly opposite the door.
Every single space on the shelf was occupied with bankers' boxes that read out "Wool's Orphanage" on the top line and different subject lines right underneath it.
Wool's Orphanage- Orphans- P-Z 1900-1950 was the box. For a moment all she could do was stare at it.
Pulling the box off the shelf she set it on the floor and sat cross legged in front before flipping the lid off. The files in the box were relatively new, certainly hadn't been the ones that were used while Tom Riddle lived at Wool's. And his was near the back.
Riddle, Tom M. 1926-1944.
She pulled it out delicately and flipped it open. The papers inside were not in any sort of order, and they were not well preserved either. Some of them appeared like they would crumble to dust if they were exposed to the outside air.
Taking the file completely and erasing any proof of there having been a Tom Riddle raised in a Muggle orphanage was an option here. However, if she was going to be able to credibly back up her facts then these resources would have to be available at a later date. She duplicated the file, keeping the copy for herself and casting a simple preservation charm on the newly formed papers.
Replacing the file, she put the banker's box back on the shelf and left the way she came in.
Once back out on the street with the duplicated file secured from the elements in her bag, she felt... alive.
She'd just broken into two government facilities and found the material she'd been looking for in just under four hours including travel time. And no one would be the wiser. Those were public records, anyone could have requested them. So, it wasn't really against the law what she'd done. Just the breaking and entering part.
Hermione couldn't help feeling that it had been a James Bond moment for her though.
Now she was headed straight home to read through the pages and figure out the origin story of Lord Voldemort.
()()()()
"So that's it?" Harry asked Sirius after he'd pulled a bag from his pocket and set it down in a dresser drawer otherwise full of books.
Sirius gave a sigh and a nod. "Yep. That's the one we found yesterday inside there."
Harry peered at the bag with interest. He'd only seen the diary and the locket, now they'd already destroyed Ravenclaw's diadem, and they had this ring that apparently set his Headmaster off on some kind of mad tangent. It was really intriguing. His Headmaster was supposedly the greatest wizard of their time, but something about the stone in the ring made him lose it.
Dumbledore had Floo called them last night after dinner to inquire about it after speaking to Remus. He'd been rather odd about it then too. He was being tight lipped about answering questions Sirius had in regard to his reaction earlier. Apparently, Madame Pomphrey had made him take a calming draught and kept him for observation for a bit, but that was it.
Sirius had assured him that he was going to keep it in a safe place and at a safe distance from him. That's why it was getting stashed in the Black Vault.
Hopefully this would be the last time Sirius would have to come down here and search for the chalice. Harry was hoping to be with him when he found it, and they could come back again tomorrow, but he was hoping to get all the rest of his holiday assignments done tomorrow morning and then do a whole lot of nothing with Sirius tomorrow afternoon. They had both been rather busy these past two weeks.
"Just that back corner that hasn't been searched yet." Sirius led him through the stacks. "If we don't find it there, then I'll have to pay the Goblins again to find it." He shook his head. "Can't believe how hard this blasted thing is to track down." He paused his movements and turned to Harry. "You know, if we find it and it doesn't turn out to be a Horcrux I'm going to be pissed."
Harry laughed at that. It was understandable. This was, what? The fourth day he'd been down here looking for it? He must be close to wanting to get rid of all of the possessions down here by now, save for the coin.
"Alright." Sirius brought is arms up and pointed to the wall to their right. "From about here." His other arm came up pointing to the wall in front of them and off to the left. "To about there." Then gave a sigh.
Harry nodded and started opening cabinets and trunks in his vicinity.
The elves weren't with them today. They had invited Mara over and the three House Elves were doing a thorough clean of Grimmauld Place from top to bottom. The little girl elf had been so excited to see Harry at breakfast that morning that she gave him another hug around his knees. She was rather adorable in her elf sized courtesan dress she'd made for herself. Sirius had requested she make outfits for Kreacher and Dobby as well and she was happy to.
"So." Sirius started from the other side of the makeshift alley from Harry. "Are you happy to be going back to school?"
Harry paused and turned to him in humor. He was trying to make small talk, or trying to get to an important question? "It'll be nice to get back to playing Quidditch I suppose. But I've been having a really good holiday." He and Sirius had gotten comfortable with each other easily. Sirius was starting to feel like a proper parental type person to him, something the Dursley's never had been. Remus, er, Professor Lupin, felt like he was more of an uncle now too, a close one that Harry could come to with any personal problems.
This was the first time he wasn't eager to go back to school. "I'm going to miss sleeping in." Harry offered lamely then turned away. "And, you know, you." He felt his face heating up. He was going to miss Sirius. Their eyes met and Harry hoped he could portray that thought with a look rather than verbalization.
"Well." Sirius cleared his throat. "You know. I um. I'll be able to visit Remus a few times through the year. And we still have Easter Break before the summer. I was hoping you'd come home for that too."
He sounded so hopeful about that that it made Harry grin. "Yeah. I'd like that." They smiled at each other a moment and turned back to their task.
"I was thinking that, maybe we could go and see the Godric's Hollow property then?" He asked rather cautiously.
Harry sucked in a slow breath. He'd been avoiding that topic and didn't know whether it was because of his own feelings or Sirius'. He'd been too young to have any memories of the house he'd lived in until he was 18 months old, but Sirius had been there that night after it happened. He'd seen things in that house that he wouldn't be able to un-see and if Harry and he went.
Harry closed his eyes tight for a moment to try and push away the thoughts, but his closed eyes only had his imagination showing him what Sirius would have seen when he came into the house. Had his father been lying face down in the entryway? Was his mother just crumbled at the foot of his crib? It was just too awful to picture. With his eyes open he could look at all the priceless junk piled high in this vault. This wasn't something he could answer right then.
"Let me think about it." Harry told him quietly.
"Right. Right." Sirius let it go and turned back to his own pile. "So then, Quidditch and seeing Ginny regularly. Must be nice."
Grateful for the change of topic he latched on. "Yeah, and what's happening with the woman you're seeing? Does Remus know who she is?"
"Nope. Too soon for that." He replied nonchalantly.
"So, it's a casual thing?" Harry asked curiously. He tried to picture himself having a casual relationship and what that would be like. Just a few snogs in a broom cupboard? He couldn't pull up an image of any girl he would want to do that with. The girls at Hogwarts all seemed like they wouldn't be up for that kind of thing anyways. Though, now that he had Ginny he supposed any previous girl he might have snogged or whatever before she came along would have been classified as casual. He couldn't picture having the same feelings for another that he had for Ginny.
"Er. No?" Sirius replied.
Harry looked over at him. His brow was furrowed as he moved a few items around in a cabinet. "So, it isn't casual, it's been going on for several weeks now, but it's still too soon to let us know who she is? Is she ugly or something?" He teased.
"No!" He looked over at him incredulously. "She's gorgeous! It's just. It's." He was starting to look like a teen boy caught with his hand in a girl's knicker drawer.
"Why are you hiding it then?"
"She's just someone very important, okay?" He exasperated.
"Well if she's important to you, then-"
"Not like that." He cut him off. "She's important in the sense that she has a lot of influence and shouldn't be associated with me." He said morosely.
"Oh!" It finally clicked for Harry. This mystery girl wasn't being the one kept secret, Sirius was. Mystery girl was important and being connected in that sense to a previously escaped convict would look bad for her. "Oh." His humor dropped. Well, now he felt bad for Sirius.
Harry's brow knit together as a sudden onslaught of what his Godfather had been through over the past several years passed through his mind. "Aren't you tired of keeping so many secrets?"
"What?" Sirius stopped his search and stared at Harry.
"Well. I mean, you knew that Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper and didn't tell anyone because you didn't know who you could trust with it. Then you had to hide yourself as a dog at the Burrow and couldn't tell anyone, again, because you couldn't trust anyone with it. Now you're doing this Horcrux hunt and only have a few people you can talk to about it. Aren't you tired of always having a secret?" He asked in earnest. "I mean. I didn't realize until after Ginny got me to talk about my... uh, growing up at the Dursley's, that I was keeping that a secret. So maybe you hadn't even thought about it like that. But once I told her, then you know, it felt, uh, good." He finished lamely.
Sirius stared at him for a long minute, his eyes growing slightly glassy and his complexion coloring slightly. "I." he cleared his throat. "My person. The one that I told about what my parents did to me over the years. Well. It was your dad."
Harry felt uncomfortable tingles go through his arms and up to his cheeks at that before taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. "And now you. I mean. Remus is still your- You don't resent him or something, do you?" He tried to understand.
Sirius shook his head adamantly in a way that told Harry to completely disregard that thought. His hand was resting on the side of a cabinet, his pinky tapping nervously against the wood.
"Amelia Bones." Sirius blurted out.
Harry blinked a few times. "The. The lady from? The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?!" He grew loud with his incredulity.
"Shh." Sirius waved his hand in a lower the volume gesture and tried to see back to the door of the vault where a Goblin was standing, but it was much too far away. "Yes. Okay. And please! Keep it to yourself."
"I. Just." He knew he must have been gaping at him like a fish. No wonder they were keeping it quiet. She was part of the Wizengamut and played a part in his pardon. "She's... attractive."
"I know." He waggled his eyebrows at him and gave a cheeky grin.
Harry let out a laugh. "Look at you just all-" He cut off when something caught his eye on a shelf about five feet behind Sirius and his eyes went wide. "Look!" He went around him to the bookcase and pushed two plates out of the way, knowing not to touch it. "Look!" He said again now it was more visible.
"You found it!" Sirius let out a whooping noise. "Okay. Stay here. I'll be right back with that sack and we'll knock it in there until we can get Remus or Albus to test it and see if it really is a Horcrux."
Harry nodded at him and turned back to the chalice to study it closely. It was completely golden and looked more like a trophy than a cup, but it was rather like a fancy wine glass with two handles on either side up the cup part. He'd been able to make out there was an animal on it from the distance. Keeping in mind how Headmaster Dumbledore had reacted he was trying not to inspect it too closely in case there was some sort of Compulsion charm on it.
"Alright." Sirius came up behind him. He opened the sack wide and set it at the base of the bookcase then grabbed an ornately handled umbrella from nearby, only to drop it when the bird engraved on the end of it tried to bite him. "Ah! Blasted Granny Melania!" He started muttering about crazy old witches while he looked for something else to use while Harry bit his lip to stop from laughing outright.
Sirius ducked around the corner out of sight and came back with a sword. "Alright." He said again and hooked the end of the sword through one of the handles on the cup and got it to come forward off the shelf and drop into the sack. It made a tinging noise when it struck the other item in there.
Sirius chucked the sword into a pile of items beside him and picked up the sack. "That concludes our hunt for today!" He beamed at him before pulling him in for a one-armed hug and ruffling his hair.
()()()()
Some had been weary of making Nymphadora Tonk an Auror. She fumbled and tripped regularly, her attitude was very laid back and she had trouble keeping a filter on that mouth of hers. But all of those off-putting qualities just made her all the more endearing. If one was to look at only what made her an amazing addition to the Aurors then she would be seen as rather the dangerous individual. Her metamorphmagus skills for one could scare off several individuals, her critical thinking and thorough investigative nature was a huge help in rallying her team to get the job done. The girl had no quit. And she was blunt. She didn't beat around the bush about anything.
So, when she all but barged into the Amelia's office and demanded that there be some sort of shadow program for potential Aurors she had the list of all the reasons why it was a great idea, and why it wasn't. Not just verbally either, she had a business proposal in her hand that was twelve feet long with statistics and budgetary costs taken directly from the Auror Program Training Facility and the Records Department at the Ministry.
She had already gone so far as to consult a few of her senior Auror's for their backing on it and had names and signatures on the last page of those willing to help institute the program.
After Tonks handed over the document and helped herself to a chair, she prattled off the summary of what was inside and how she'd already talked to a student at Hogwarts and they had been entirely eager to be a part of a program like this. She'd also mentioned that this little chat had occurred mere days ago.
Amelia sat there silently while Tonks said her bit with an amused expression. The girl was passionate and that was a wonderful thing.
"So, I really think that we should institute this program before the next years Initiate Auror program begins." Tonks finished with a determined nod of her head and a heavy breath through her nose.
"Feel better?" Amelia asked her humorously.
"Yes?" Tonks shakily answered as though she was unsure what the question was supposed to be referring to.
The two of them had a good rapport, and Tonks was one of the few people she would prefer to intrude her work day without an appointment. Generally, she would hope that she'd have two beverages for them to relax with and talk about a lot of nothing with, but a this was still a better interruption to her day than the whiny complaints that she normally gets stuck with. Most of them from the Minister via one of his assistants.
She held up the document. "I will read through this and give it careful consideration. Then if it does look like it would be a good idea and help root out some of the problems, we've been having with the short lived Auror careers we've been seeing then I will present it forward for official approval." She stated simply. "There is nothing I can do to streamline the process for this, so give me the weekend to look it over and double check your facts, then come and see me again on Monday."
"Monday?" Tonks lit up. "As in three days from now Monday?"
"Yes." Amelia nodded.
Tonks patted her hands down hard on the arms of the chair in her exuberance before standing. "Great! Thanks Ame-, er, Miss Bones." The steel toe of her boot caught on the leg of the chair and she fumbled a bit but didn't knock either it nor herself over. Giving one more wave she let herself out and closed the door behind her.
Amelia shook her head. Tonks was just so likable.
An Auror shadow program would be a good idea, and it would only be for a day during the summer. The next Auror training was already full up with a wait list that was dependent on NEWT results, but even those already signed up should have to do it to see what a day in the life of the Auror's would really be like.
Currently the Auror's would be partnered with a senior staffer after they've completed the program. The Junior Auror to Senior Auror numbers were heavily skewed, almost 3 to 1. It certainly wasn't due to any mortality reason. These kids were coming in expecting thrills and adventure at every turn and that just wasn't the way of it.
Budgetary reasons would be the best way to get Fudge to approve the program.
Amelia gave a sigh. Yet one more piece of work to bring home with her this weekend.
She put the proposal in her bag and turned back to the task she'd been occupied with before the interruption. It too was more of a side project of hers than job related. It was a copy of the Deed that Harry Potter had presented to her on Monday along with everything else that Tonks and Harley had found about his upbringing.
The phrasing of the deed looked... funny. It would have had to be put in place by a temporary guardian of Harry's that knew the house the Dursley's had been living in had belonged to the Potter's. That hadn't been Sirius, and it obviously hadn't been Harry, he was only 18 months old when he had to move in with them.
Remus Lupin couldn't have done it either. That left Dumbledore.
But why would Dumbledore make promises like that on behalf of the Potters?
Clearly the Dursley's didn't want Harry there. Did he know this and use it as incentive for them to keep the boy? And what right would Dumbledore have had to make this promise? Why did the Potters have the Deed to the home in the first place, and why did Dumbledore know about that?
Sirius hadn't said anything about it in the meeting, but he'd been letting Harry speak for himself.
She didn't want her job to interfere with their... relationship. She wasn't sure exactly what they had between them. But she liked having the answers to her questions.
Taking a piece of parchment, she wrote out a request to meet with him Sunday evening. Harry would be back at school then, as would Remus, so Grimmauld Place was a safe spot for their liaisons again.
()()()()
Coming back to school early on Sunday was a great idea, and not having to take the train was great too.
There were only a handful of kids that stayed behind at school over the holidays, so the corridors were basically a free reign for him. And he had one spot in mind that he was very eager to discover. Harry had his cloak just in case, and his father's map.
This map. It was so amazing to watch the ink spider out and see the little footprints wandering alongside the names of those in the school. And besides that, just having another piece of his dad was wonderful.
According to the map there was no one in the seventh-floor corridor that he was headed to. Sirius explained to him how to get in there. Just pace back and forth three times and think of what you want in the room. It sounded too simple. Although, the castle was a large place and odds of anyone accidentally finding this were slim. People didn't absentmindedly pace in a corridor that contained no other door.
He found the portrait of Barnebus the Barmy and looked at the wall opposite. There was nothing there to indicate it was any different a stretch of piled stone than any other. It's lack of portraits or tapestries might have been a bit of a tip off, but there were usually hidden passageways behind the tapestries, and doors behind the portraits, like with the kitchen.
If anything, having nothing on the wall where this door was supposed to appear would have hinted more towards nothing being there than something.
As a first test he paced back and forth and thought about the boy's dormitory. Three paces and then a door did appear. Harry let out an exulting 'ha' and grasped the handle to pull it open.
Magic was so amazing, he thought when he entered the room. It had five twin beds, each with a trunk at the end. It was a really detailed replica as well. There was even a sticker on one of the trunks advertising Manchester United that belonged to Dean.
He stepped out of the room and closed the door. It disappeared and turned back into the dark grey stone. Harry stepped back towards the middle of the corridor grinning broadly and thought about what he wanted the room to look like next.
It was a little embarrassing, but he'd pictured it in his mind several times now and he wanted to try it out.
Once more he paced back and forth before the door appeared again.
This time when it opened it showed him a small cluttered room with only a bed, dresser and a trunk for a closet. Amazingly there was still the same scene through the single window that there had been the first time he'd seen the room.
Harry closed the door behind him and stared at all the little details of the room, running a finger along the dresser and the wrought iron bed frame before he picked up the pillow off the bed delicately, bringing it to his nose and inhaling.
No. The room was good, but it didn't copy the scent that he'd remembered. The last time he'd been in here, the real here, her flowery shampoo had left it's smell on her pillow.
It was ridiculous how obsessed he was feeling about her. Possessive even. But she just... did things to him.
He was trying to keep some kind of polite decorum around her and particularly around their friends, but she'd opened his eyes to the pleasures of the flesh and he just wanted her all the time. The other day at the Burrow when he had her up against the tree, he'd almost let his body just take over completely and have at her how he really wanted but he'd held back a bit. He kept in mind that she was literally up against a tree and he could really hurt her if he wasn't as gentle as he could manage.
After their first time in his room she'd been sore, and she'd mentioned her tailbone hurting after their first time in the orchard. If he wasn't careful, she might start associating sex with pain and he really didn't want that.
He'd figured if he maybe took care of himself a little more regularly then he might be able to control himself around her better. Being in this room for that seemed a little pervy, but he was visiting it in his fantasies, and kind of couldn't help himself.
Curious about everything this room was able to replicate, Harry turned to her dresser and pulled open the top drawer. It was full of knickers and bras. One's she certainly didn't possess. They were all from that shop that Sirius had dragged him into before Christmas.
His body reacted to them, he felt himself growing slightly in his trousers. Reaching into the drawer he pulled out a lacy strip of knickers that would have had trouble covering up her curls down there, even with the subtle grooming he'd noticed she did for him. Closing his eyes, he pictured her on the small bed behind him wearing only these knickers, then rolling over so he could see the way it showed off her bum. The way the middle bit wouldn't be visible from between her cheeks.
With a groan he collapsed back on the bed and freed his growing erection from his trousers, grasping it firmly while he grew. He let a scene run through his mind of how she'd raise her lacy knicker covered lower half over his mouth, his eyes right in line with the lovely curve of her bum. He raised his head as though her was truly about to press his lips against her there. His tongue darted out of his mouth and met only air.
His head fell back against the mattress with a pout, his hand starting to pump.
Imaginary Ginny wasn't going to let him do all the work though, she'd lower her head to nuzzle the underside of his cock, burying her face against his recently made smooth scrotum as her hand took over for his. Then her mouth would tentatively come over the tip of his erection. Her tongue would swirl around the head.
His hips jerked up at the idea of her tongue lapping against the underside of his tip.
She'd get surer of herself with his eager and appreciative movements and sounds. She'd take more and more of him into her mouth, sucking him off in time with her hand movements. She'd moan at the taste of him. She'd appreciate the size of him, getting wetter herself as she thought of how much she'd want him inside her between her legs, but be determined to finish him off with her mouth first before demanding he make her cum as well. Her breasts would be bouncing with her enthusiastic movements.
With a loud groan he let himself squirt all over the bed sheets.
His needs satisfied it took a moment to realize that recreating his girlfriend's bedroom for a wank and calling up all those images that he had. Well. He found he was a little ashamed he couldn't control his lust.
But then again, she and Ron would be arriving in only a few hours. And he was desperately horny all the time. Perhaps he shouldn't feel weird about it. Guys wanked all the time. Whether it was with a porno mag, imagination or in a magically created replica of their girlfriends bedroom.
His edge was taken off, and now he would be around her and hold a conversation instead of just pawing at her. So, it was a good thing. It would help him be a better boyfriend.
AN- With all the rules Hermione broke in Canon she had to have rationalized reasons for it. I tried to relay her rationalization for breaking into the Muggle facilities for you all. And am pretty proud of the research I did for that part. The people's names were made up, but the facilities and their locations were real.