Harry and Millie and the Philosopher's Stone

by sovinnai

In his elementary school in Surrey, Harry is saved from Dudley by a new friend. This friend is named Millicent Bulstrode, and she soon is introducing him to a whole new world, a world of magic.

8. Quidditch and Forgiveness

Well, it's been a long time since I updated this fic. Much has changed in the nearly three years since the last time I posted an update. I certainly can't promise that I will update on any kind of consistent schedule, but I do promise to continue updating. Hopefully it won't be three years until the next update.

I apologize for not updating faster, and I hope that all my readers from before will still enjoy reading this fic. I am also about halfway through the next chapter of These Grim Bones, and will hopefully post an update in the next week or so.

Unfortunately, the words don't really flow off my keyboard the way they did when I was last working on this fic. Parts of this chapter did, but parts didn't, and I can only hope the next chapter will be easier.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this.

For Harry and Millie, the next year passed much like the previous one. Harry and Millie went to school every day, got in fights with Dudley and his gang almost every day, and were sent to work with Ms. Capon much of the time. Millie had continued to improve her ability at school, although by her own admission she was not as smart as Harry by a long shot. Meanwhile, Harry worked hard to keep his grades just below Dudley's to ensure that he would not be punished by his Aunt and Uncle.

Millie and her parents had a very strained relationship for much of the year. Ever since the revelation that Harry was famous and that her parents were using him in a way, Millie had generally stayed away from them. The Bulstrodes had not known how to handle their daughter's newfound alienation, and spent that time trying to make it up to both Harry and Millie by giving the pair books and gifts. This hadn't really impressed Millie at all, but to Harry the gift of a WWN set, among other gifts, was precious beyond measure.

Millie, when Harry received the Wizarding Wireless Network receiver, had been slightly disappointed at the look of glee on his face. She had been planning on getting one for him for his Christmas gift, but her parents had preempted her. It was obvious that he really enjoyed it and she wished that it had been her giving the wireless set, not her parents.

And Millie had felt a certain guilty and vengeful pleasure when she had shown Harry the Daily Prophet article detailing the sighting of the "Boy-Who-Lived" in Diagon Alley. Her parents were mentioned on the front page, along with Harry himself. Millie then told Harry how since then her mother had been given a pay raise and her father had replaced the Beater Coach for the Cannons, moving up from his previous position as Assistant. Admittedly, everyone knew that the old coach was going to have to go anyway, after the Beater's poor performance against Falmouth the previous year, but without the Harry connection, Mr. Bulstrode probably wouldn't have gotten the job. Millie was sure that Harry would be just as appalled as she was that her parents would be profiting from her knowing Harry.

Harry, however, had not reacted as badly as Millie had assumed he would, and with nowhere near the disappointment with which she had. He just shrugged and said, "That's what your Auntie said would happen."

In a way that was somewhat disappointing, learning that he had taken what she saw as her parent's betrayal in such a calmer manner than she had. Some part of Millie felt jealous of the fact that her parents could give him gifts when she couldn't, especially now that she had found out that her parents had, whether purposely or not, withheld the fact that he was famous from the both of them.

Still, Millie felt somewhat relieved as well, as if her best friend's at least limited acceptance of her parent's manipulating meant that she was free to continue loving them. She wasn't ready to forgive them just yet, but she did feel enough better to browse the gifts that her parents had got for them with Harry.

The books that both of them had received were quite interesting as well, particularly the Quidditch books that Millie's father had brought. Harry and Millie spent many fruitful hours browsing through the books of plays and talking about them. They decided that they would make the Slytherin Quidditch team as second years, and play Beater together.

Millie could see Harry's disappointment that they wouldn't play in their first year, but she had explained, "I'd rather wait. If we try out first year, we won't have brooms, and we'll be too small. So we'd just make the captain think we're not good enough."

Harry sighed. "I suppose so. Is that what your father said?"

"Yeah," she replied. "He said that he had lots of people try out for Beater slots on the Cannons when they weren't good enough, and that made him less likely to accept them if they tried out again later, even if they get better."

Harry nodded, and the pair went back to looking at the book Millie's father had bought them, A Wasp's Journey, by Ludo Bagman. They didn't really read the book, as much as admire the pictures of the Wimborne Wasps in the book, particularly the fantastic Beating moves of Bagman.

That summer, a few days before Harry's ninth birthday, Millie and he were able to finally see a Quidditch game in person. Harry had been listening to games on his new WWN set for most of the year, but he had never seen one and Millie was determined that he should. Mr. Bulstrode agreed readily, although, as Millie said, he probably did so as much so that he could be seen with Harry as to please the pair of them. Again, Harry just shrugged and said with a grin, "either way, we're still going to a Quidditch game!"

The game in question, Chudley versus Pride of Portree, was a regular season game for the British and Irish Quidditch League. Millie didn't have much hope that the Cannons would win, but it would still be an entertaining game. This was especially true as George Grey, Portree's star Beater, had been suspended for three games for taking a cheap shot at Falmouth's Keeper after the Snitch had been caught two games before.

Mille was doubly satisfied by this result. "It takes Portree's best Beater out, and it hurts the stinkin' Falcons. We won't win still, of course, but my father's Beaters will be able to do some damage."

"Why won't we be able to win?" asked Harry.

"Cuz Portree's Chasers are the best in the league. Two of them played for England last year at the World Cup."

Despite that negative premonition, Millie was still excited to be attending, and Harry was even more so, if that was possible. On the day that the game was scheduled, Harry sped through all of his chores before lunch and ran to Millie's house to get ready for the game.

When he reached her doorstep, he found Millie sitting outside, waiting for him. "Hey Harry!" she shouted, waving at him. "Ready for the game?"

Harry grinned at his friend so hard that he felt his face would burst. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, following Millie inside.

Once in doors, Millie led Harry upstairs to her room. The room was about the size of Dudley's room—maybe ten times the size of Harry's cupboard—and was filled with magic and wizarding items. An old-fashioned four-poster bed took up the center of the room, its silver curtains pulled back to reveal a green blanket on the bed. The walls had several Chudley Cannon' posters in their garish orange coloring, and a few portraits and moving paintings sat on the walls as well.

Millie let loose her trademark grin, the one that always made Harry want to smile too. "C'mon!" she said, dragging him to her closet. "We've got to get ready!"

"What?" Harry asked, bewildered. He looked inside the closet that Millie had just opened, and saw a remarkable array of orange staring back at him.

Millie grabbed an orange cap and a t-shirt off the top of the pile and thrust it at Harry, taking a jersey and an orange head band for herself.

Looking at Harry, who was still gaping at the huge amount of Cannon's gear in her closet, Millie laughed. "My father always gets me free stuff from the Cannons. See, look at your shirt. It says Cannons Training Camp '84. That was the year he first started working at Chudley."

Harry blinked, then grinned and put on the t-shirt. "Why don't you ever wear this stuff to school?"

"Cuz of my mother," Millie said with a hint of bitterness. "it's not proper for a young lady, she always says."

Her friend laughed at that. "Lady?" he said mockingly. "I thought you were a 'hooligan.'"

"I know!" Millie said. "But you're the 'trouble-maker,'" she responded, mimicking Mr. Reilly's nasally voice as she did so.

"Well you're a reprobate's reprobate. You know what a reprobate is, Miss Bulstrode?"

Millie burst into laughter at Harry's impersonation. "Oh that was hilarious! And Dursley's face at that! 'What's a…uh…repriate, sir?'" she mimicked, chuckling.

The pair of friends would have continued in that vein for quite a while longer, as they often had, for Dudley Dursley and Mr. Reilly were popular targets of mimicry for the pair. However, Millie's father called from downstairs at that point. "Millicent, Harry. Time to go."

Millie and Harry quickly ran downstairs, excited for the game. When they reached the living room where her father was waiting, he put a hand on each of their shoulders and they Apparated with an awful squeezing sensation.

When they appeared at their destination, Harry again felt dizzy and groaned, "I hate doing that." When Millie laughed at him, he glared at her. Suddenly, he stood up straight, staring in awe at the edifice ahead of them. It was a monstrous looking stadium, at least to Harry who had never seen such a thing before in his life.

He could only see part of the stadium through a gap in the trees, but what he could see was incredible, with its orange posters hanging over the sides and the distant sound of chattering wizards that was audible even so far away.

"Hurry up, you two," beckoned Mr. Bulstrode. "I've got to start warm-ups for the Beaters."

As they trailed behind the older man, Harry asked Millie, "So the game won't start for a while?"

Millie responded, "No, we'll have to wait for a while. Father has to get to the stadium a couple of hours early every game. But it won't be so bad. We can watch all of the Cannons fanatics before the game."

Harry inwardly laughed at that, thinking that a person would have to be pretty fanatic to beat Millie's support for the Cannons. His thoughts abruptly cut off, however, at the sight of a wizard dressed all in orange, even down to an orange top hat with a model cannon on top that regularly emitted bursts of smoke. That, however, was not what drew Harry's gaze to the wizard, but rather the singular fact that he was riding past Harry, Millie and Mr. Bulstrode on what looked like a giant, orange chicken.

Seeing Harry gape at the wizard, Millie said, "See what I mean? I think the bird is supposed to be a falcon."

"But the Falcons are our rivals, right?"

"Exactly, that's why he's sitting on it," Millie replied with a grin.

Harry could only nod in reply, as he watched dozens more fans in odd costumes of all stripes go by, all chattering and waving to each other. Mr. Bulstrode quickly led them to the base of the stadium and told them to go to their seats on the fifth level, as he strode towards the team rooms.

Harry was a little wary of venturing into the crowd, but Millie took him by the hand and dragged him through the crowd, quickly making their way through the stadium. "I thought you've only been to a few games before?" Harry asked. "How come you know your way so well?"

Millie laughed at him, and pointed above them. Harry looked and saw an easily visible sign not too far away that said "Fifth Level, Seats 50-60" in flashing orange lettering. Harry said "Oh" in a slightly embarrassed tone. "Which seat are we then?"

"We're Seats 55 and 56. We're pretty lucky, we're right near the Chudley goalposts. There'll be sure to be a lot of action right there."

"Why?" Harry asked.

Millie colored slightly. "Because the Quaffles will probably be on our side of the pitch the whole game. I said Portree had the best Chasers in the league, remember."

"Oh." Harry followed Millie up the stairs to their box and found their seats. They were good seats, right at the edge of the box. And the box itself was not only a little off-set from the Chudley goalposts, so they were close to the posts but could still see all of them, but it was also at the same height.

The box was empty when they arrived, so Harry and Millie took their time to explore the box and also to look around at other seats nearby. Just as Millie said, watching the Chudley fanatics was almost as fun as watching the game itself.

Harry gasped when he saw three pale-white, transparent wizards float past their box, wearing what would have been Cannons jerseys and apparel if it had been orange instead of the same pale-white as the rest of their bodies. "What…is that?" he exclaimed.

Millie peered up at them, and excitedly said, "Oh, those are the Cannons Ghosts. That's Gabe, Mike and Rafe. I'd heard of them, but I've never seen them before."

"Why do the Cannons have ghosts?" Harry asked.

"Well, the story goes that the three of them tried to sacrifice themselves in some ritual in the 50s to let the Cannons win. They had some hare-brained theory that there was a curse on the Cannons and if they sacrificed themselves, then the Cannons would be break the curse and be able to win again. It obviously didn't work."

"Why would they…?"

"I dunno. They were real fanatics."

Harry and Millie continued to discuss the Cannons and laugh at all of the odd costumes that were going by. After a while, they heard a commotion right outside the door.

"C'mon Dad, c'mon," came a boy's voice from outside. "We need to find our seats before the game starts."

"Don't worry, Ron," responded a man's voice. "The seats are right here, and the game won't start for another hour and a half, anyway."

"Well, let's sit down then," came a girl's voice, loud with excitement. "If the seats are right here."

Harry and Millie turned in their seats to look as the door opened, admitting three people. One, a tall, thin, balding wizard, held the door for the other two, who looked about Harry and Millie's age. As the pair of children came through the door, Millie recognized them as part of the family that they had seen in Diagon Alley the summer before.

"Oh, hullo," said the older wizard. "I didn't expect anyone else here so early."

Millie responded, "My father's a coach for the Cannons, so we had to get here really early so he could start warm-ups."

One of the two children that had came in, a gangly boy with bright red hair, burst in at that news. "Your dad's a Cannons coach? That's awesome. Have you got to…y'know…meet the players and all that?"

"Nah," Millie said, "my father wouldn't even think of it. Although…" She glanced at Harry quickly, and then shook her head. "…Never mind."

Harry realized what she was thinking. Maybe Mr. Bulstrode would let them meet the players because Harry was there. Harry decided he would ask Millie's father after the game, as a nice surprise for Millie. Millie obviously guessed what he was thinking, because she shook her head at him vigorously. Harry in turn shrugged, and thought to himself that he definitely would do it, despite Millie's protests.

They turned back to the others, and saw all three of the newcomers looking at them strangely. The older wizard said, "Well, I'm going to go talk to some colleagues from the Ministry. Why don't you four talk a little. This is Ron, and this is Ginny."

Millie responded, and introduced herself and Harry, making sure not to mention his last name. The older wizard, who asked that they call him Mr. Weasley, turned and made his way out of the compartment, leaving the four children alone.

"I think we saw you and your family at Diagon Alley last summer," said Millie. She pointed then to the small red-haired girl who was standing next to her brother. "You were running through Gladrags, right?"

The girl blushed bright red. "Yeah. Fred and George turned my hair green, so I wanted to get back at them."

Millie laughed, but Harry, who knew how it felt to be bullied by a relative, said, "I hope you got them good."

The boy – Ron – laughed as well, "She managed to get Percy's wand back from them and made big bats made out of bogies come flying out of their nose."

Harry and Millie both scrunched their faces at the thought. "That sounds kind of disgusting," Harry noted.

"Yeah, it is," Ginny responded, "my brother Bill told me how to do it. He just graduated from Hogwarts last year, and he's going to work for Gringotts."

"That's wicked," Millie exclaimed. "What's he going to do? I heard the goblins only hire humans if they're the best."

"He's brilliant," said Ron. "He was Head Boy last year, and he got straight Os on everything but potions. Mum doesn't want him working for the goblins, though, says he'll get hurt."

"When will you two be going to Hogwarts, then?" Harry asked. "I wonder if we'll be in the same year."

"I'm eight," Ginny replied. "I won't get my letter for three more years. Ron will get his in two, though."

"Same with us," Millie exclaimed. "We'll be in the same year as you, Ron!"

Ginny deflated at that. "Oh, I thought you meant same as me. The only one I know who' s going to be in my year is this girl from my town, Luna. She's nice but a little off. I feel like everyone is going to know everyone except for me."

"Don't worry about that," Harry said. "The only one I know is Millie here, and now Ron, I guess."

"Well, my mother also forced me to meet a few others like Zabini and Parkinson," Millie said distastefully. "But they're boring and mean and I don't like them."

"Who are they?" Harry asked, curiously. He didn't think she'd ever mentioned them before.

"They're purebloods," Millie explained. "My mother wanted me to meet some to ensure that I had 'good connections' or something like that. Of course she couldn't get me a playdate with anyone important like the Malfoys, but she had to settle with some lesser ones. But they all knew that I was a half-blood and thought it would be funny to tease me about it. After I broke Zabini's nose I wasn't invited back again."

Ron was watching this exchange with a hint of suspicion. "'Good connections?' Purebloods? 'Important like the Malfoys?' Are you trying to be a Slytherin or something? My brothers say Slytherin's full of nothing but a bunch of slimy gits."

Millie got red in the face at this, responding heatedly, "Well, I bet you'll be a Gryffindor, won't you? They're nothing but a bunch of prideful idiots who rush in to things without thinking."

"Oh, what, did your 'mother' tell you that?" Ron asked. "At least Gryffindors aren't cowards and dark wizards."

"Well, neither are Slytherins. We're just smart enough to think before we act, not jump off a cliff and then realize that you need a broomstick."

"Hah, Gryffindors aren't dumb! My da says half of the Aurors were in Gryffindor."

"Well, maybe half the Aurors were Gryffindor, but two thirds of the Ministry was in Slytherin."

"Yeah, and the Gryffindors are there to save them when some dark wizard like You-Know-Who attacks!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, you know what; you probably won't even be a Gryffindor, anyway. You look like a Hufflepuff to me."

"What?" Ron looked even angrier now, if that was possible. "Well, you probably won't even get into Hogwarts at all. You're probably a Squib."

Harry, hadn't been particularly bothered by the conversation up to this point. In fact, it was kind of funny, and unlike the teasing on the playground, he didn't feel like Ron was personally attacking Millie. But the Squib comment made him see red, and he stood up from his seat.

But Harry was too late, for Millie had already rushed at Ron and pushed him backwards. Ron snarled and also pushed back and the two of them ended up on the ground in front of the seats, rolling around and hitting each other.

Harry lunged towards them, unsure of whether he was going to try to break it up or start joining Millie in hitting Ron. But before he could, the door to the box opened, and Mr. Weasley stepped through again.

"Well, know, what is this?" He said. "Break it up, you two." He waved his wand and Ron and Millie were pulled apart, suddenly still now that an adult was in the box. "What was all this about, then?"

"Da, she said I'd be in Hufflepuff."

"Well, he called me a Squib."

"And then she hit me!"

Mr. Weasley looked all too familiar with conflicts like this, for he sighed and said, "Okay, you two. Ron, you're going to sit on this side of the box, next to me. Millie, right? Millie, I can't give you orders, since you're not my child, but could you sit on the opposite side? We're here to watch a Quidditch game, not get in a fight."

The two squabbling children sighed and did as Mr. Weasley said.

For the next hour, Ron and Millie sulked quietly on either side of the box, occasionally sending each other glares. Even as more witches and wizards came into the box, the two continued to sulk, although Mr. Weasley was drawn into a conversation with an older wizard the row behind them and Ginny and Harry talked a little as well. Of course, their conversation was a bit stilted by the fact that their brother and best friend respectively were on either side of them glaring across them.

Finally, the game started and Ron and Millie were drawn out of their sulk by the announcers calling the players. Millie exclaimed excitedly when she saw her dad behind the Cannons' bench, and even Ron was brought back into his earlier awe that her dad worked for the Cannons.

Several hours later, an exhausted pair of friends walked back to the Apparition point with Millie's dad. As Millie had predicted, the Cannons had lost to Portree, but it had been much closer than the announcers had been expecting, and the Cannons Beaters had performed really well. Without their star Beater, Portree hadn't been able to keep control of the Bludgers, and some fantastic teamwork between the Chudley Beaters and Chasers had caused Protree some troubles early in the game. Portree's Chasers had quickly recovered, since, as Millie had said, they were the best Chasers in the league.

Still, it had been a fun game, and the announcers had even specifically mentioned Mr. Bulstrode's promotion as one of the reasons that the Chudley Beaters were doing so well, making Millie smile in happiness for most of the game. Even Ron had been awestruck by that, and when he'd been forced to apologize by Mr. Weasley after the game, Millie had felt generous enough to apologize as well.

When they returned home, and Harry had recovered from Mr. Bulstrode's Side-Along Apparition, Harry and Millie had gone to their park and discussed the day in depth. Much of that time was spent talking about the plays in the game itself, of course, and Millie spent almost ten minutes marveling about the fact that her dad had been mentioned by name in the WWN broadcast of the game, but they also discussed their encounter with the Weasleys.

"I think they're a Group 4," Harry said, referring to the classification system Millie's Aunt had talked to them about the previous summer. Since that time, they'd made it a habit of deciding where in that system everyone they met would fall.

"I dunno, they didn't even realize who you were, so how could you tell?"

"You're just still angry at Ron," Harry laughed. "Honestly, didn't you say last summer that you thought that we could trust them?"

"Well, yeah, I guess." Millie laughed then. "Well, I guess that makes sense, actually. They're Gryffindors – they're not smart enough to try to use you."

"Well, there is that," Harry grinned. "I can't believe you called him a Hufflepuff."

"It's pretty obvious he won't be a Ravenclaw," Millie laughed.

"What about Slytherin, then?" Harry asked. After a second, Harry and Millie both burst out into laughter at the thought.

"I have to go do some chores now," Harry said suddenly, looking at his watch. "I'll see you tomorrow at your house."

"Okay, sounds good. We can see if we recognize any of the Beater tactics from the game in dad's books."

And so the summer went, with Harry going to his friend's house every day to 'clean,' which really meant spending an hour or so cleaning Millie's room and sweeping dust out of the house, and then spending the next few hours hanging out in her room or in the library of her house. Then in the afternoon he would return home to do chores at the Dursley's, and then spend a few hours in the playground before returning to the Dursley's house to sleep.

It was interesting how over the past several years, Harry had stopped thinking about the Dursley's as home. He had always hated their house, and felt that school, even with Dudley chasing him, was a welcome break. But, since he'd met Millie, and especially over the course of the last year and this summer, he'd started feeling like the Bulstrode's house was more home than anything. He'd even had a few sleepovers, on those few occasions that the Dursleys had allowed it.

Over the course of the summer, and into the next year, Millie had slowly begun to forgive her parents. Harry had already done so, but Millie was slower to forgive, upset as she was about their use of Harry, her first friend. Surprisingly, their final reconciliation was not caused by her dad, but rather by her mother, who had always been more distant.

By the Christmas that Harry and Millie were nine, two years since they had first met, the Dursleys had mostly begun to accept Harry's friendship with the Bulstrodes. They had even let him spend most of winter break at the Bulstrode's house, so for the first time that Harry could remember, he had a real Christmas. When he had thanked Millie's parents and told them that, both parents had gotten an odd look on their face, one that Harry couldn't really place.

Then, Mrs. Bulstrode had done something very surprising, something that neither Harry nor Millie could ever have imagined her doing. She bent down and gave Harry a hug. It was an awkward hug, not like the ones Millie gave him, which were full of warmth, but it was still a hug, and it made Harry nearly break down.

The moment quickly passed, though, and Harry and Millie began opening their presents. In the Bulstrode family, it was customary for Millie only to receive three gifts – one from her mother, one from her father, and one from both of them together. This year, Harry received the same.

When Harry saw the presents for him under the Christmas tree, he hunched up inside himself again. It was almost like the Bulstrodes were treating him as family. He began thinking – what would it be like to have a real family? Not his friend's family, but his own family. Since learning about the truth of his family's murder, Harry had researched it a lot, and seen enough pictures of his mum and dad that he could imagine them, sitting beside him while he opened some presents.

Millie's hand on his shoulder brought him out of it, and he gave the three Bulstrodes a watery smile. He moved towards the tree and opened the first present – the one from both the Bulstrode parents together. The present was small – it was a picture of Harry and Millie, both dressed up in their Chudley Cannons finery, arms around each other as they smiled at the camera – but it was the best present that Harry had ever gotten.

"Thank you," he said, eyes still watery. "This is the best present I've ever gotten."

Millie's present turned out to be a similar picture, this one of the pair in the playground, lying next to each other as they read one of the books they had smuggle out of the house.

"You knew we were taking books?" Millie asked, half smiling and half worried that they'd get in trouble for it.

"Yes," responded Mrs. Bulstrode. "Carrying books out of the house in your backpack – it wasn't hard at all to spot. You two will need to be more clever than that if you expect to succeed in Slytherin house."

Millie was so happy that she didn't even respond to her mother's rebuke. "Thank you, thank you," she said, smiling so wide that she thought her face would split.

The presents from Millie's dad for both of them were Quidditch books, as expected. These weren't just any Quidditch books, though, these were The Beater Coach's Manual and Beater Training for Rookies, books for real Quidditch professionals, not just books for fans.

"Maybe sometime later this year we can go to the pitch and show you a little about how to Beat," Mr. Bulstrode said. "I was going to get you two Beater bats and a Bludger, but your mother convinced me that it would be a bad idea."

Unsurprisingly – she was a Ravenclaw, after all – Mrs. Bulstrode's presents were also books, books on Transfiguration, of course. What was surprising, however, was the subject of the book that she gave Harry. Transfiguration in Broom Construction looked like one of the dry and boring books that she normally gave Millie and somehow expected her to understand and enjoy. This one, however, this one was about something that they were actually interested in.

The book Mrs. Bulstrode gave to Millie, Uses of Transfiguration for Ward Design, wasn't quite as interesting, but it was still better than The Principle of Similarity and Conflux in Transfiguration which Millie had gotten the previous Christms.

Mrs. Bulstrode had a slight smile, just the corners of her mouth turned upwards, as she acknowledged the children's excited thanks. "I think that these books will perhaps make you more interested in the fine art of Transfiguration."

Several days later, when Harry and Millie went up to her with a list of questions that they wanted explained from the books, Mrs. Bulstrode actually did smile, and when she spent nearly two hours walking them through a difficult section, then Millie finally forgave her mother. She even gave her mother a hug, although Harry could tell Mrs. Bulstrode really didn't know what to do in that situation.

When school started again after the winter break, Harry and Millie received another surprise when they went into the kitchens on the third day of school for getting in another fight. Mrs. Capon looked up and actually smiled at them.

Harry and Millie were in shock from that, so when Miss Capon handed each of them a box wrapped in gift wrapping, they didn't know what to do. This couldn't be the Miss Capon who never smiled and who hated children in her kitchen, could it?

When they saw that Miss Capon had gotten them both an apron that matched hers, they had to laugh.

"Well, I figure that you two are in the kitchen so often that you might as well be working in here for me," she said, looking embarrassed.

When Millie gave the kitchen lady a hug, and Harry followed her lead, Miss Capon looked even more embarrassed, although she did lean forward and put her arms around both of them as well, even more awkwardly than Mrs. Bulstrode.

After a few seconds, she shook herself and scolded them, "Get back to work, you two. Those pots won't scrub themselves, and we need them ready to make lunch." But Harry and Millie could tell that her heart wasn't really in it, and they smiled as they went to the pots. By now it was a comfortable ritual, and barely even a punishment anymore.

And so went their third year together in school, with more of the same. Dudley got bigger and meaner, as did his friends, and their near-daily fights escalated more and more. Dudley broke Harry's arm early in the spring, but Millie broke Dudley's nose in retaliation. Of course, that meant even more time in the cupboard with no food for Harry, but as he said, "It was totally worth it to see Dudley's face."

Harry and Millie continued to read books from the Bulstrode's library, but now with the permission of Millie's parents. Every now and then, they would approach Mrs. Bulstrode and ask what something in one of the books they were reading meant. Most of the books were still too advanced for them, but they were still able to pick up some things, and according to Mrs. Bulstrode, they probably had an understanding of Transfiguration that was in advance of most Third-Years at Hogwarts.

Late that spring, Mr. Bulstrode brought Harry and Millie to the Cannons pitch after practice to show them a little bit about how to Beat. One of the Beaters on the team, Harvey Rudd, had stayed after practice to ask his Coach something and ended up staying on the Pitch to help them as well. Of course, they didn't loose the Bludgers, but the pair spent almost two hours swinging Beater's bats around and having their grip corrected.

They even got to use the Bludger training machine in the Cannons' training room. It was just a Bludger that was enchanted to move forward until it was hit, and then bounce back again in a straight line, but it was pretty fun to use anyway. Of course, the pair couldn't really exert enough strength to do much to it, but Rudd congratulated them anyway, saying that not many nine year olds could even do as much as they could.

Thus Harry and Millie spent the year, eagerly anticipating the day in two years that they would receive their Hogwarts letters and be able to attend the Wizarding school. Harry's days were mostly filled with laughter and happiness as he played with his best friend, a far different fate than he could have had if things had been different.

During these days, a momentous event passed by entirely unnoticed by any of the participants. Had Albus Dumbledore known, he would have been horrified by the failure of his precautions, but he was sure that everything was going well. If the Bulstrodes realized, they would have been simultaneously excited beyond measure and horrified to the same extent. Harry and Millie did realize, in some sense, but did not understand the implications.

Harry no longer considered the house of his mother's blood his home. Now, he considered the Bulstrode's home, and this would have consequences far-reaching and unforeseeable.