Chapter Four: Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough
Luna was the one to find him.
When Harry didn't show up at the library as he promised he would; she went looking for him. Similar to the Marauders' Map that Harry said Jack liked to boast about in the dormitory, Harry and Luna figured out how to charm their own Mosstroopers' Map,
with the help of Sirius, of course.
She spotted his name near the Black Lake, which was odd. Harry didn't normally go down to the Black Lake and, well, it looked like he was in it.
In the end, the only thing that really saved Harry from hyperthermia was that he was wearing clothes; clothes that he wouldn't have been wearing if Hermione hadn't heard the first part of what Jack had planned for his brother during that
first Quidditch practice. Without his wand and vastly outnumbered, Harry was easy pickings.
They tied Harry up like some kind of rag-doll, and suspended him over the water face first, forcing him to keep his head turned to the side to be able to breathe. But, whenever the water shifted, owing to the Giant Squid or anything, really, his
entire head would be completely submerged. It was a true testament to his lung capacity that he didn't drown in the time it took for the little Ravenclaw to locate him.
Luna acted hastily, efficiently, levitating Harry away from the water and straight to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was quick to run diagnostics and administer the required potions, all while Luna watched in complete silence, her mind already reeling.
Forget the Ravenclaws. They were going after the damn Gryffindors.
"Miss Lovegood, do you know what happened?" Madam Pomfrey eventually asked Luna, once Harry was warming up and in a deep sleep. "His body temperature is very low."
"He was in the Black Lake," she said softly, her voice a dangerous monotone. "They put him the Black Lake."
"They?"
Luna looked at the MediWitch for a moment, unsure whether she could actually trust her with this information. She didn't decide immediately. "Is he going to be okay?"
The older witch nodded. "He'll need some rest and a few more potions, but he should recover quite well."
"And if I hadn't found him?"
"I can't say."
Luna knew that she could, but she wouldn't. Not until she had all the facts, at least. "Will he be asleep for long?" she asked. "I need to send a letter."
"He should be out for a while, dear," Madam Pomfrey informed her.
Luna spared Harry's sleeping form one last look before she left the Hospital Wing. She first located Neville, calling for him through their Communication Mirrors. She briefly explained what had happened, and then sent him to sit at Harry's side while
she composed a letter to Harry's mother.
Luna decided on using a letter, mainly because she wasn't sure she would be able to tell Lily Evans what happened to her son through the mirrors. She didn't think the words would even leave her mouth when faced with the resident mother's green
eyes. They reminded her too much of Harry's.
She sent the letter off with Hedwig, who seemed to sense the urgency, even as Luna clipped the letter onto her leg. When she returned to the Hospital Wing, she found Neville dozing at Harry's side. Her boys. Someone tried to hurt one of her boys and that
was not okay with her. Not at all.
Neville snapped to attention when he noticed Luna. "Um - wake," he mumbled. "I mean, I'm awake."
Luna moved to sit down in the chair on the other side of Harry. "Any change?"
"Still sleeping," he informed her. "Though, he was saying something early, but I couldn't make it out. It was a toss-up between mum and mine; I couldn't tell."
Luna nodded thoughtfully, filing away that bit of information for when she wasn't actively trying to think up every nasty thing she could do to Jack Potter and his minions. Oh, they definitely had another thing coming.
Her musings were interrupted by the arrival of Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. The Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress flew straight past Harry's bed on their way to Madam Pomfrey in her office. It took every ounce of Luna's control not
to say something. Couldn't they have at least checked on the wellbeing of the patient first?
The Professors were still in the MediWitch's office when Lily Evans arrived, practically bursting through the doors. Her eyes immediately landed on Harry and she scurried over to his bedside, absently greeting her son's two friends. She hugged his sleeping
form, kissed his damp forehead, and then demanded answers of his two friends. She suspected that she would get the unblemished truth from them and them alone. She couldn't trust her own son not to skip over details.
Luna explained how and where she'd found him, but she didn't know how he came to be where he'd been. Only Harry knew.
"But you suspect someone?"
Luna dropped her gaze. "I have no proof."
Neville stood up and offered his seat to Lily, but she waved him off, quickly Summoning another chair so the three of them could sit together, in a sombre vigil around Harry's bed. Lily was silent as she tried to wrap her head around what she'd just been
told.
"Let me get this straight: they tied my boy to poles and hung him over the water face first?"
Luna nodded.
"And then they just left him there, forcing him to strain his neck to stay above the water so he could breathe?"
Another nod.
Lily blinked, forcing away her own tears. "And he could have died, if you hadn't gone looking for him?"
There was no response this time.
Lily's eyes drifted towards Madam Pomfrey's office. The door was closed, but it was clear to see that the people behind it were having some form of a disagreement. It was enough for Lily to know just what they were discussing. "It was Jack, wasn't it?"
Luna pressed her lips together, before she nodded. "He hasn't taken the fact that Harry's on the Quidditch team very well," she explained. "It also doesn't help that Harry's embarrassed him several times this week."
Lily took a deep, calming breath. "My son is so damn stubborn," she said tiredly.
"Yes he is," Neville said, agreeing. "But he's good, Aunt Lily. He's really good. Great even."
Lily wanted to ask if Harry was better than James, but she stopped herself. These were children. She would ask Sirius later. Clearly, the man knew more about her son's flying abilities than she'd ever cared to know.
The trio's vigil was interrupted by Madam Pomfrey's door flying open, and Professor McGonagall storming out in apparent anger, immediately followed by the other two occupants. She froze when she spotted Lily. She hadn't seen the woman in some years. Lily
Evans was always one of her favourite students and, really, Harry Potter was one of her favourites as well, though she'd never say so. He had a real knack for Transfiguration.
"Lily," McGonagall said, slowly moving towards Harry's bed. "You're here?"
"Professor," Lily replied, standing up. "Why wasn't I immediately informed when my son was brought into the Hospital Wing unconscious? I thought that was now a school policy. Unconsciousness equals parents."
The professor blinked. "Well, you see, our automatic system does inform the parents," she explained cautiously. "The primary parent."
Before Lily could even register what that meant, the Hospital Wing's doors flew open again, this time admitting Senior Auror James Potter and his work partner, a female Auror-In-Training with blinding pink hair.
"Where is he?" James demanded immediately. "Where's my son?"
Nobody replied to him as he surveyed the situation. When his eyes landed on the boy in the bed, he blanched and froze mid-step.
"How nice of you to acknowledge him," Lily muttered under her breath, as she returned to her seat and looked at Harry. She did not need to deal with James Potter and his antics right now. Or ever again.
James forced his eyes away from the boy and his mother, searching for Madam Pomfrey. "What is this? I was told that my son is in the Infirmary."
Madam Pomfrey stepped forward. "He is."
James frowned. "Well, next time, be specific in your letter," he said casually. "I thought something happened to Jack."
"We'd have called in the cavalry then, wouldn't we, huh, Dad?"
All heads turned towards the bed, where Harry was painfully trying to sit up. Neville immediately moved to help him, and Madam Pomfrey started on further diagnostic spells.
"Harry," Lily said. "Sweetie, are you okay?"
"Obviously he's okay," James said irritably. "The blighter's more than okay; if he's already started with his insults."
Lily ignored James in favour of her son. "What happened? Who did this?"
Harry glanced at his two friends for a moment. He could tell that they already knew. His mother probably knew as well, but it would be Harry's word against Jack's, and those were terrible odds. Especially when Jack had people to support him; people to lie for
him. "Mum," he said softly. "It doesn't matter."
"Of course it does," she argued.
"No it doesn't," he said hoarsely. "We both know it doesn't."
"Harry, they could have killed you!"
"But they didn't." He coughed painfully, and Luna automatically handed him a cup of water. "They didn't," he repeated. And then he looked his father square in the eye. "Your son failed."
James was so surprised that he didn't even respond.
"Which isn't surprising," Harry continued, his striking green eyes narrowing slightly. "That's what happens when you have a failure for a father."
James sputtered. He opened his mouth to say something - probably something along the lines of 'he was Harry's father as well' - but the coward wouldn't acknowledge that Harry was his in a situation like this either.
"Now, Harry," Dumbledore said, speaking up for the first time; "that's a baseless accusation for a harmless prank."
Silence. His comment was met with complete and utter silence.
It was Luna who broke it. "Harmless?" she screeched incredulously. "Harmless?"
"Miss Lovegood," McGonagall said.
"No!" It was Lily this time. "You don't get to give your input here, Albus," she said, standing up and facing her former Headmaster. "I won't have you say anything to or about my son, do I make myself clear?"
A mother's ire; it was terrifying.
"After all, it was you who said the words that labelled my son as little more than nothing to the rest of the world; including his sheep of a father!"
Neville was shocked. He'd never seen Lily Evans this angry before. Her cheeks were red with anger, and was that her magic rumbling? He exchanged a look with Harry, and it was clear that the raven-haired wizard was just as stunned as the rest of them.
"Get out!" Lily suddenly yelled. "All of you, get out!"
"Lily," McGonagall tried.
"No!" she snapped. "My son has been in your House for four years now. Four! Why is it that this kind of thing still happens? Control your Lions, Minerva, before one of them really does end up killed." The threat in her voice was unmistakable, and a certain
chill fell over the room. "Now get out! My son is recovering from an attempt on his life and he needs his rest."
James started to protest.
"Say one word, Potter, and I will go straight to Amelia with this."
James snapped his mouth shut. He wouldn't put it past Lily to go over his head to his boss, Amelia Bones, about this matter. He was going to have to remind Jack to be more careful. He threw Lily one last nasty look, and then he turned and stalked out
of the room, the others following in subdued silence.
Even Neville made a move to leave, but Lily stopped him, laughing somewhat hysterically.
"Mum?" Harry asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"
Lily's slightly manic laughter tapered off. "Do you know that that's the first time I've spoken directly to your father in years?"
Harry just waited.
Lily finally seemed to calm down. "Well, sweetheart, I do believe that you need your rest," she said gently. "I'm sorry about all of this. Maybe after this year's O.W.L.s, we can actually do that home-schooling thing that we discussed?"
Harry looked worriedly at his two friends, but they were both purposefully looking away.
Lily noticed his panic. "It's just an idea," she said, trying to calm him. "It's still a long year to go. Just promise me you'll be more careful, okay?"
"Constant vigilance," they said together, before they shared a laugh. Harry's ended prematurely when he broke out into a fit of painful coughing.
"He needs his rest," Madam Pomfrey said, speaking up from her position just out of earshot. "You can all visit him tomorrow, if you'd like."
Lily just nodded, as she moved to kiss Harry's forehead. She ran a soothing hand through his hair, her heart hurting at the sight of his pain. He was too kind and good for what the world tried to do to him. "I love you, Mr Potter."
"I love you too," he whispered as he settled down once more. He allowed himself to be tucked in, suddenly not caring that he was a fifteen-year-old boy in front of his best friends.
"Goodnight, Harry," Neville said, starting to leave.
Luna waited a moment before she moved towards Harry, bending to whisper in his ear. His face automatically broke out in a wide smile, and then Luna was skipping away, looking particularly chuffed with herself.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked Neville.
The boy shrugged. "Oh, she was probably telling him one of the ways she's planning on retaliating."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Neville smiled at her. "Don't worry, Aunt Lily," he said. "We'll take care of them."
And really, Lily didn't doubt it. Normally, she wouldn't condone such a thing, but this was different. There'd been sinister intentions behind what happened to her Harry, and that was not okay with her. "Make it good, Neville."
If the young Hufflepuffwas surprised, he didn't show it. "We will."
Hermione didn't realise that something was wrong until the next morning. There was a certain buzz in the Great Hall that immediately put her on edge. Something had happened. Something of which she had to take note.
She headed towards the Gryffindor table, her mind reeling. The first thing she noticed was that Jack looked mightily smug about something; Ron looked slightly pale, but it was the sight of the twins that really made her stop and take notice.
Harry.
Hermione quickly scanned the Hall for his raven hair, but came up short. When she couldn't locate Neville or Luna, she just knew that something happened. No. Jack had done something. That much was clear.
Her steps sped up until she reached her two friends. At the sight of her, Ron's face fell, but Jack only smirked.
"Good morning, Hermione," he said happily. "You're later than usual this morning."
Hermione fought off her blush, her reasons for being late moving to the forefront of her mind. They did not need to hear about how she got lost in a book. "What did you do?" she asked, abandoning all pretence that she was anything other than angry.
"I don't know what you mean, Hermione," Jack replied innocently.
She narrowed her eyes. "Jack," she said tensely.
His smile didn't falter. "So I see that you heard then," he said. "Can you believe it? The other one is in the Infirmary for whatever reason. Clearly, he's just too much of a coward to admit that our Quidditch practice tired him out."
Several students laughed, but Hermione just frowned.
"What?" she automatically asked, her voice coming out as little more than a whisper. "You put him in the Infirmary?"
Jack's left eye twitched. "He put himself in the Infirmary," he said darkly.
Hermione just shook her head. "I'm disappointed in you, Jack."
He had the decency to look ashamed for a moment, before the smirk was back. "But I didn't do anything, Hermione," he said just as innocently.
She didn't even respond to him as she glared at Ron. Then at the twins. The heat of her stare was enough to leave a burn, and then she was marching out of the Great Hall. Her mind was in a frenzy as she imagined all the things that Jack could have possibly
done to Harry for him to end up in the Hospital Wing. It had to be serious, because she was sure that Harry wouldn't have agreed to go if it wasn't completely necessary.
Hermione found him sitting up in his bed, surrounded by his mother, Luna and Neville. It was a little foreboding stepping into that den, but she had to know that he was okay. Something inside of her needed to know that she hadn't been wrong to
leave him in the locker room the way that she had.
Lily Evans spotted her first. "Someone's popular," she said, smiling at her son.
Harry looked confused for a moment, before his eyes settled on Hermione. For the smallest moment, his eyes lit up, but then they narrowed dangerously. "What are you doing here?" he asked harshly, making Hermione skip a step.
She cleared her throat, abandoning the formality of trading greetings with everyone present. "I just heard that you were in here. What happened?"
"As if you don't know."
Her eyes widened. "You don't actually think I had anything to do with this, do you?"
"What am I supposed to think, Granger?" he asked, his bottom lip trembling from anger, maybe, or hurt. A potent mixture of both. "If you supposedly heard what Jack had planned, why didn't you tell me?"
She blinked. "He was going to take your clothes," she said.
"And then what?"
"That's all I heard."
Harry just stared at her, his eyes colder than she'd ever seen them. "Why are you even here? Come to finish me off because your boyfriend failed?"
"Harry," she whispered, surprised.
"Don't call me Harry," he said sternly, and then he turned away from her, decidedly refusing to look back at her.
Hermione felt her eyes prickle with tears, but she refused to cry. "Oh," she sounded, her eyes drifting across the the other occupants. Neville and Luna were looking anywhere but at her, but Lily was looking at her apologetically.
"Oh," Hermione said again and, with that, she turned and started to leave. It was only once she was out of the doors that she realised that someone was following her.
Luna managed to catch up to her, and they both came to a stop. There was a moment where they just stared at each other, visibly sizing each other up.
"He's not really mad," Luna eventually said, her voice gentle, almost dreamy in quality. "He's just in a bit of pain, you see? And he's irritated, and I suspect he's a little hurt, though he'll never say it out loud."
"I didn't know," she felt she had to say.
"I know," Luna assured her. "I'm sure he knows that too. He's just being unreasonable, and he wants to take it out on someone." She gestured at the other witch. "He's a bit of a drama queen sometimes."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully.
"But it's also to do with the fact that they snapped his wand, Reductoed his broom and tried to drown him, so, understandably, he's in a terrible mood."
Hermione's eyes bulged. "They did what?"
Luna sighed heavily, before she told her just what had happened the evening before as Harry had explained it to them. With every word she said, Hermione's face took on a look that Luna'd never seen before. Something dangerous flashed in the brunette's
eyes.
"Will you tell him I'm sorry?" Hermione eventually said. "Because I am."
"I'll tell him," Luna said softly. Then, her curiosity getting the better of her, she asked: "Do you actually really care?"
Hermione met her gaze. "Why wouldn't I?"
"But why?"
"Why not?"
"You've never cared before," Luna pointed out. "I wasn't here in your first year, but I suspect that you forgot all about Harry Potter when you became friends with Jack Potter and Ron Weasley. So, why now?"
Hermione swallowed thickly.
"Is it because he's now on the Quidditch team?"
"What? No!"
"Then what?" she asked pointedly. "What is it?"
Truthfully, Hermione was a little taken aback but, if she wanted answers, then she was going to get some. "It's him," she said. "It's Harry, isn't it? I never really, uh, talked to him before, but now... He's - he's sensational, isn't he?"
Luna couldn't help her own smile. "He really is."
Hermione wasn't sure just what exactly was happening during this conversation. They were both saying things, and then not saying them at the same time. How was it that they were casually discussing a boy that Hermione barely knew?
"Do you like him?" Luna suddenly asked.
"What?"
Luna shook her head. "Nothing."
Hermione shifted her weight from her left foot to her right, suddenly very uncomfortable. Did she like him? What kind of question was that? "Just tell him that I'm sorry."
"I will."
That was the end of their conversation. Hermione gave her one last small smile, before she turned and started on her way back to the Great Hall. She couldn't quite figure out what was going through her head.
What was Jack thinking?
Jack.
Really, she didn't think that she could handle dealing with him right now. Her anger was just building up again, and she was almost sure that she would hex him if she were to see him. But that didn't mean that she couldn't deal with someone else.
When Hermione went looking; the someone else was easy enough to find.
Ginny was unlucky, really, because most of the brunette's anger was yet to be exhausted on Jack Potter, who was going to have to deal with the bulk of Hermione's ire. Seriously. What was he thinking? Harry could have been killed!
The Boy-Who-Lived would have become the Boy-Who-Killed. His own brother, no less.
She was planning what she would say to him as she walked, but she decided that she definitely needed to calm down further before she saw him again, so she bypassed the Great Hall and made her way back to Gryffindor Tower.
Hermione found Ginny in the Common Room, sitting with a few of her own year mates. The redhead automatically smiled at the sight of her best friend, but it quickly fell away when she spied Hermione's facial expression.
"What's happened?" Ginny asked.
"Come with me."
There was no hint of a question, and Ginny immediately stood up and followed Hermione back out of the Common Room and into an empty corridor. She watched with worried eyes as the brunette began to pace.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked hesitantly.
"Did you know?" she suddenly asked, halting her pacing and snapping her head to look at the redhead. "Tell me, Ginny, did you know what Jack would do?"
Ginny blanched. "What?"
"I mean, sure, it's one thing to steal Harry's clothes, right? It's nothing but a harmless prank, but..." Hermione growled. "Tell me, did you know?"
Ginny dropped her head, not daring to speak.
Hermione's breath hitched. "But... why? Why didn't you try to stop him? Why didn't you tell him not to go through with it?" she demanded.
Ginny sputtered. "Don't give me that look, Hermione," she said. "It's not like he even listens to me. What was I supposed to do?"
"More, Ginny," Hermione said, sounding defeated, visibly deflating. "You were supposed to do more."
Harry was released from Madam Pomfrey's care just after lunch on Wednesday afternoon. She made him drink one last round of potions before he was allowed to leave. The rest of the school was still in class - unless they were bunking - so Harry wasn't met
by any of his friends when he stepped through the Hospital Wing's doors.
Instead, he was met by his mother.
Lily pulled her son into a long hug, using it to reassure them both that, despite everything that happened, he was alive and everything would be okay. Eventually.
She'd spent the better part of the day at Hogwarts, occasionally going down to Hogsmeade. She'd been out of the Wizarding World for so long that the witches and wizards of the little village weren't quite sure what to do with themselves when they
recognised her. Because they did; they definitely did.
Lily kissed the top of his head before she released him. "Have you given any thought to what I said?" she asked.
Harry shook his head. "I'm not going to leave the team," he said seriously. "It's what they want, and I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of having ousted me."
"But Harry..."
"No," he said strongly. "I get why you're worried, Mum; and I know it's hard for you to accept that I might have something in common with James Potter - " which was said with some distaste, " - but I want this. For the first time, I get to be part of something.
Something more."
Lily sighed. She hadn't expected anything else from him, so she wasn't even surprised. Harry Potter could be terribly stubborn when he wanted to be. Unfortunately, he was like his mother that way.
"Have you talked to Sirius?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
She smiled, recognising his attempt to diffuse the situation. "I did talk to him," she said. "He had half a mind to - " she paused; "well, you know how Sirius is."
Harry did, which was why he chuckled.
"He mentioned that I should take you to get a new wand," she said. "Today."
He nodded in agreement, his eyes narrowing slightly at the fact that he was currently a wizard without a wand. Jack was going to pay heavily for that. It would be relentless.
"And he also mentioned that it would probably be a good idea if we took Neville with us."
Harry immediately grinned. "Oh, yes please," he said excitedly. "That would be awesome, Mum. He definitely needs his own wand, and he's not brave enough to bring it up to his gran."
Lily knew this all already, which was why she agreed with Sirius' suggestion.
"Can we take Luna as well?" he asked.
Lily couldn't stop herself from smiling knowingly. "We'll have to check, but I can't see why not, sweetheart."
Harry's grin only widened.
"Would you like to invite your other friend as well?" she asked.
He frowned. "My other friend? Who?"
"The brunette witch who came to visit you in the Hospital Wing," she said; "the one you were incredibly rude to."
Harry dropped his gaze, suddenly feeling ashamed. He'd almost forgotten what happened that morning. God, he'd been so awful to her. "She's Jack's friend," he said, as if it was all the explanation his mother would need.
"Oh."
He nodded. "Oh."
"I didn't know that," she said quietly. "But she's your friend as well?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "After this morning, I don't think so, and I don't want to put her in the middle of whatever the hell I've got going on with Jack."
"Language, Harry."
He chuckled. "But you understand what I'm trying to say."
Lily nodded thoughtfully. "Well, speaking as someone who was friends with someone who my friends didn't particularly like; I don't regret it, and something tells me that she won't either."
Harry knew a few things about his mother's friendship with his Potions Professor, Severus Snape, though she didn't usually actively talk about it. Especially not around Sirius. "How could you possibly know that?" he asked.
"Call it a witch's intuition."
Harry was tempted to question her further but decided against it. He didn't want to think about Hermione Granger right now; he thought about her enough already.
"And I talked to Luna."
"What did she tell you?" he asked, suddenly very curious.
Lily said nothing.
"I don't think that I like that you and my best friend discuss me the way that the two of you do," he said, grumbling slightly.
Lily put an arm around his shoulder, and started them walking away from the doors to the Hospital Wing towards Gryffindor Tower. She suspected that Harry wanted to pick up something from his room while they waited for Neville and Luna to get out of class.
It had been a long time since Lily had been back in the Tower, and she was hit by memories upon memories of her time in school as Harry left her alone in the Common Room. A lot of her memories in this Tower involved the Marauders and her roommates.
Really, if anyone had told her then how her life would play out; she never would have believed them.
First and foremost, she never would have believed that she would fall in love with James Potter, let alone agree to marry him, and then give birth to his son. But what she definitely wouldn't have believed was that the boy she fell so head over heels
for would ever betray her the way that he had.
With one of her best friends, no less.
Lily shook her head. There was no use dwelling on that now. Her turmoil was over. She knew what it was like to have a sibling hate you, but her son also had to deal with said sibling wanting to harm you. Lily wasn't sure how to make that better
for her son.
Or if she even could.
Harry was grinning when he returned to the Common Room, having changed into something more Muggle to match his mother's attire. He didn't care much for Wizarding World etiquette, mainly because his mother didn't care. Only Sirius was forced to
care whenever he attended the Wizengamot.
"What did you do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing," he said innocently. "I didn't do anything."
"Is that so?"
He shrugged. "Okay, so I may or may not have Charmed Jack's bed to do something."
"Something like?"
"I can't tell you," he said. "Plausible deniability and what not."
She just laughed, shaking her head. "You spend way too much time with Sirius."
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but stopped abruptly. He spent time with Sirius, and not with his biological father. He preferred it that way, he supposed, but that didn't mean that it was okay. Especially not after their latest interaction with
James Potter.
Lily seemed to realise what he was thinking, and pulled him into another hug, holding on to him for longer than she had before.
Harry eventually cleared his throat and removed himself from his mother's grasp. He was an independent man, wasn't he?
"We should go," he said. "Don't want to be here when the students start coming back."
Lily just nodded and stepped back, allowing him to lead the way. She spared one last look at the Common Room and shook her head of the memories that it held. It didn't matter anymore. It was over know.
Even as she thought it, Lily knew it wasn't true.
It was very far from over.
Hermione spotted him as soon as she entered the library on Friday afternoon. She hadn't had time to talk to him since he returned to class the day before. In her mind, she was giving him space, but she was practically burning with what she wanted to tell
him.
She couldn't even deny how relieved she was to see him, alive and healthy, out and about. She'd noticed that he always sat at the same table, in the exact same chair. He also always had his textbook on his left side, and his notebook on his right, his
pen waiting expectantly in his right hand. He didn't use a quill either when it wasn't required.
She always appreciated that he was very Muggle in his ways, but she'd never told him. She'd never had the chance to. Not until now.
She was still beyond angry with her best friends and, as a result, she wasn't talking to them. How could she? She didn't even know what to say to them? Weren't they ashamed? Didn't they even bother to think it through before they decided that almost drowning
a fifteen-year-old boy would be amusing?
"Granger, you're staring."
Hermione snapped to attention. "What?"
Harry couldn't help his smile. "I said, you're staring at me," he repeated. "Are you planning on sitting down or what?"
"That depends," she said. "Are you still mad at me?"
His smile fell. "Oh, right," he said, dropping his gaze. "I'm sorry about that. I definitely shouldn't have taken it out on you like that. But I wasn't really mad to begin with, you know?"
"Luna might have mentioned it," she said, wary of bringing Luna up, given the girls' last conversation. Hermione was still somewhat confused by it. "I hear that you had quite the night."
He ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair. "You could say that, yeah."
"Listen, Potter, I really am sorry about what happened," she hurried to say. "If I had known what - "
He raised a hand to stop her. "It's not your fault," he said seriously. "And please don't apologise for him. He made his choices, and you've made yours." He smiled slightly. "So, are you planning on sitting down or what?" he asked again.
Hermione did eventually move to sit down opposite him, and proceeded to remove her work from her book bag. She took her time getting comfortable, settling into position. When she looked up, she was surprised to find Harry looking at her curiously.
"What?" she asked innocently.
He swallowed. "Nothing."
"You don't mind if I stay, do you?"
"Not at all."
She gave him a small smile. "I noticed that you had a new wand in class today," she said.
"Uh, yeah," he said, absently touching his new wand hidden in his robes. "My mum took me and Neville to get new wands."
"You and Neville?"
"Neville's always had, uhm, a problem with his wand's compatibility," he half-explained. "So we just used the opportunity to get him a new one."
"And yours?"
"It didn't take as long as it did the first time, that's for sure," he said. "The first time, we were there for hours, and we still couldn't find the right one."
"But you think you have it now?"
He nodded. "I felt it," he said, blushing slightly. "Does that sound stupid?"
"Not at all."
"It's not as if I'll be thanking Jack anytime soon though," he said tensely.
She nodded. "How was yesterday's practice, by the way?"
"Angelina gave the boys a piece of her mind, but I doubt it will do much good," he informed her. "Though, I'm a lot more careful now. I really was exhausted that day, and I swear I still have an ache in my neck."
"What about your broom?"
"Oh, I used an old Cleansweep," he said, chuckling. "Those things are terrible, by the way. Sirius said he would try to get me a replacement as soon as he could. As long as it's before the first match, I don't mind the wait."
"And how is it in the dorm with Jack?"
Harry shifted in his seat. "Why are you asking me? Haven't you talked to him about it?"
It was her turn to blush. "Not exactly," she confessed. "I kind of gave him a piece of my mind, and we haven't talked since. I think I'm waiting for an apology that may never come."
"Join the club."
Hermione gestured at the table. "It seems that I have."
He grinned at her. "Welcome, welcome."
She returned his grin for a moment, and then dropped her head and got down to business. Their second week back was already proving to be trying, and this was their O.W.L. year. This year would determine which N.E.W.T courses she would take.
As yet, she was taking all of them.
"Why are you smiling?"
She looked up at him. "Hmm?"
"You're smiling," he said. "Why?"
"No reason."
He raised an eyebrow. "Okay."
Her smile merely widened. "I have a question."
"I'm listening."
"Can I go back to calling you Harry?"
He let out a light breath. "If you want to," he said kindly. "And I shall continue to call you Granger."
"One day, you'll call me Hermione," she said, tilting her head slightly.
"I'm sure I will."
"Is that so?"
He nodded. "We talk now," he said; "it's bound to happen."
"You're so sure, aren't you?"
"I would even go so far as to say that I might have joined the team because I wanted to be able to talk to you without the school burning to the ground."
She laughed out loud at that, the glorious sound carrying far and wide and tugging on his heart in a way that was very new to him. Huh? "You're a little ridiculous," she said teasingly. Then: "This was all about you, Harry."
"And my mum," he added.
"And your mum," she echoed.