A Slight Mishap
Summary: An AU fic set in the trio's sixth year. What happens when Harry is asked to test an ageing solution and everything goes horribly wrong once more?
Disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter. Wish I did sometimes, but hey, not all wishes can come true!
A/N; I am so proud of myself! I got another chapter done, and not all that much longer after the last chapter either. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next out quickly. Look out for a one-shot called Explanations of the Smaller Kind that will basically explain what is happening with the triple-Harry situation. It will take place between the point that the trio heads to Dumbledore's office and the time that they make their way down to the dungeons. Anyway, Enjoy!
Chapter Twelve
Teaching Hermione
Hermione paced the common room before the fireplace, the soft glow of the dying flames illuminating her stressed features. Ron, the only other one in the room, sat in an arm chair and watched her. Harry had long since been put to bed, quite tired by the day's events.
Ron tapped the arm his chair, not making a sound on the soft material, and sighed softly, wondering what was wrong with his friend. She has been pacing back and forth for ages now, her mind seemingly working a mile a minute.
Suddenly Hermione stopped and looked at him.
"Why didn't it work?" she asked sharply, mindful of the fact that most of the Gryffindors were trying to sleep.
"I don't know, Hermione," Ron said honestly.
"It should have worked," she murmured, flopping down on the lounge chair.
Ron waited for her to say something else, wondering when it had become he that had become the more patient and reasonable of the two.
"What if it happens again?" Hermione finally said. "What if I lose my temper again, or something else?"
"We can deal with it when it comes to that?" Ron suggested.
"It shouldn't ever have to come to that again," Hermione said fiercely. "It was bad enough this time."
She made as noise of frustration and stood up. She began pacing again and Ron sighed and settled back for another supposedly long wait.
However, not two minutes later she turned to him again.
"How do you do it, Ron?" she demanded.
"What?" Ron asked, bewildered.
"How are you so patient around him?" she asked. "Why don't you ever get frustrated by him?"
"I don't know, I just don't," Ron said uneasily, feeling that they were straying into forbidden territory. Talking about something that he was better at then Hermione was just not a good way to keep his life in tact.
"I need to learn how you do it," she said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
"You'll learn with time," Ron said, unconsciously running a hand through his red hair. "You'll get better with him the longer he is young."
"But what if I can't teach myself this?" she asked.
"Well, then I'll just have to keep him out of your way," Ron joked weakly.
"Teach me, Ron," she said, staring at him intently. "Teach me how to be patient with a little child."
"What?" Ron asked incredulously. "I can't just teach you something like this…"
"I need to know, Ron," she said pleadingly "What if… what if I have kids of my own some day, and I get frustrated with them too? What if Harry is just the beginning? I need to get the hang of this now."
Ron opened his mouth to refuse her again until he saw the look in her eyes. She stared into her brown eyes and swallowed. For the first time ever she was asking him for help with something… he couldn't turn her down.
"Alright, Hermione," he gave in and she beamed at him. "But I don't know how much I'll be able to help you."
"It's enough that you might be able to help a little, Ron," she said. "Thank you so much!"
She swooped down and kissed him on the cheek before running off to her dormitory, not noticing how Ron put his hand to his cheek and smiled, thinking that agreeing to help Hermione was definitely a good thing.
"I can put my socks on!" Harry declared proudly.
It was the morning after the small change and Harry was dragging on Ron's hand as he jumped down the stairs to get to where Hermione was sitting. He was absolutely beaming. The picture was all the more cute by the sight of Harry's socks being back to front on his shoeless feet. Ron was carrying his small shoes.
"Really?" asked Hermione with a smile as Harry let go of Ron's hand and bounced up onto the lounge beside her. "You did a very good job."
Harry beamed at her and Hermione felt stirrings of relief. Perhaps she wouldn't mess this up.
"I think Dumbledore must have come to the dormitory before we got there," Ron said to Hermione in a low voice. "All the clothes have been resized and look more…"
"Appropriate?" Hermione suggested when Ron paused, searching for a word.
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "They look more appropriate for his age now."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Hermione said.
Ron grinned.
"'Mione, do we go to class today?" Harry asked, tugging on her shirt sleeve.
"Yes, Harry," Hermione said. "We're going to potions."
"Yay!" Harry cheered.
For some strange reason the little boy had taken a particular liking to the subject, despite what he seemed to think of Professor Snape… or what he had thought of Snape.
"But for now, we need to go down to breakfast," Ron said.
They were about to leave when there was a soft pattering on the stairs. Ron and Hermione turned to see Black jump down the last few steps, panting happily. Harry laughed.
"Black come to breakfast too!" he said.
"Indeed," Hermione said with a small sigh.
Breakfast began a lot calmer then Hermione had ever expected it to be with both Black and Harry attending. People passed by and looked curiously at the somewhat older young boy and cooed over him, but that was the only disturbance.
Hermione's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of Black growling menacingly. She looked up to see Sirius passing by, who was glaring back at the dog. She was just about to thump her head on the table when Harry tugged lightly on Black's fur.
"Bad doggy," he scolded lightly in a whispered tone that only those nearest him heard. "Don't growl at Padfoot!"
Black calmed down, even though his ears were still laying flat on his head. Padfoot licked Harry's hand and then went on his way, trotting to the table where Remus was sitting.
Hermione blinked and, for some strange reason, felt the urge to burst into inconsolable tears. Harry had solved that altercation while she had wanted to be as far away as possible… I can't do this!
"Hermione!"
Hermione looked up to see Ron waving a hand in her face with a raised eyebrow.
"Blimey, Hermione, you must have been miles away then," Ron laughed. "We need to get to Herbology."
"Oh, alright," the girl said, standing.
She was about to walk off when Ron cleared his throat. She turned back, surprised, to find that Ron was looking pointedly at Harry, who was just being content with looking around at everything.
Hermione blushed and moved to pick up Harry. Another clearing of the throat and a raised eyebrow made her realise that, now that Harry was four, she had to let him know what she was doing first.
"Um, Harry, we need to go to class," she said, chiding herself for feeling a little foolish. "I'm going to pick you up now."
Ron seemed to be barely suppressing laughter, but Harry beamed up at her and stretched out his small arms so she could pick him up.
"Okay, 'Mione!" he said.
Hermione picked the small and still light boy up and frowned. Wasn't Harry supposed to get heavier as he got older? And taller too?
Deciding to put it aside to think about it later, she followed Ron out of the Hall and out onto the grounds after bidding Ginny farewell. The walk to the greenhouses was quick, and they were one of the first groups there.
Harry's eyes roamed curiously around the greenhouse as they walked inside. He could see a short woman who was teaching the class, and she had dirt all over her clothes. He frowned slightly. Aunt Petunia wouldn't like that.
But what really grabbed his attention were the small pots on the long tables, which had funny shaped plants in it. It looked nothing at all like the flowers that his aunt had in her garden, and he was curious about it.
Eventually, as the class started, Hermione put him down on his feet and, making sure to keep quiet, he took off to go and investigate the more interesting plants that were around the room. He was sure no one would mind as long as he didn't touch anything. Aunt Petunia never minded, as long as he didn't ruin her nice garden.
A large, moving plant moved its bud down, and Harry had the creepy feeling that it was looking at him, though he couldn't see any eyes.
"Hello," he whispered, not wanting to distract the woman talking.
The bud seemed to regard him curiously for a second before nodding- at least, that's what Harry took it for.
"I'm Harry," the young boy said. "Are you alive?"
The plant nodded again, bristling in indignation. Showing remarkable empathy for a child of his age, Harry smiled.
"I'm sorry," he said.
This seemed to calm the plant down a bit, and the bud moved closer to the four-year-old in curiosity.
Harry hesitated. The big plant was like a dog, and Black wasn't there to bark at any potential competition. The dog had unfortunately, been forced to wait outside. But would the teacher-woman find if he pet the plant?
Professor Sprout was giving a lecture on the types of plants in front of her students.
"…When ground after it is picked at the right stage, it can have amazing healing properties," the woman said. "Unfortunately, the Micus Volera needs tender and almost round the clock care if they are to survive…"
Harry tuned the woman out and looked at the plant. Tentatively he reached out a hand and touched the bud. The plant almost seemed to croon under his gentle touch and Harry giggled softly.
It was just like petting Black…
Unfortunately, at that moment, Professor Sprout's eyes flicked over in that direction as she unconsciously checked on her other plants as she taunt, only to find her youngest student petting her most venomous of plants.
"Mr Potter!" she screamed, cutting herself off mid-lecture.
Harry started and swung around as the plant quickly withdrew itself. The teacher-woman was the one who had yelled his name.
"Stupid boy!" another voice screamed in his mind. "I told you not to touch any of my flowers. Go to your cupboard!"
As Harry watched the Professor approach, he felt his breathing quicken. He had touched the plant, and now they were going to throw him in the Dark with all of the black Shadows and they would leave him there…
Before anyone else could react as Harry started panicking for some reason, Hermione swooped down on her small charge and scooped him up.
"Hey," she crooned softly, hugging him. "Nothing is wrong, everything's alright. The plant is very dangerous and Professor Sprout was concerned. Come and sit by me for now."
She took Harry over and sat him on a seat between her and Ron, not noticing the looks she was getting for the way her mother-instincts had kicked in. Finally, once Harry was settled and curiously surveying the plants on the table, she looked up to find Ron looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
Again. He seems to be doing a lot of that this morning, she thought vaguely.
"What?" she asked uncomprehendingly.
"And, you wanted me to teach you… why?" Ron asked softly.
Hermione blinked at him and looked down at Harry. She hadn't been trying to prove anything, Harry had needed her…
It wasn't until Professor Sprout had continued the lecture that it actually kicked in. She had acted instinctually on her charge's behalf, zooming in on the cause of distress and calming him down.
I can do this! Hermione thought with a bit of wonder.
Coming Up; Chapter Thirteen; Problems with Fire. They say that curiosity killed the cat, and Harry has a lot of curiosity stored in him. So what happens when he and a couple of salamanders meet?
A/N; The next chapter is part of an idea that has been floating around my head for ages, so it shouldn't be too long before it' up!
Reviews!
hittocerebattosai- holds hands up I know its been ages! I've been trying to make up for it though by writing as quickly as possible!
beckyboo99- Did you mention trouble? grins slyly now, where would you ever get that idea from?
Aldavinur- The fight between Harry and Hermione was a little idea flitting around. It isn't central, but I also like the idea that there was more to it then just a silly broomstick and a rat. grins I realised how long Harry had been two, and decided to make him a little older to make the plot more interesting. He's going to age four years every potion from now on unless I get a better idea.
Freja Lercke-Falkenborg- laughs You'll never believe how close you are to the mark you are to what the story started out as! This story was started out as a vague, silly little idea that was supposed to add a bit of ridicule-ness to the stories that I was writing that were full of angst. Then I realised that, 1, I quite liked writing this story and 2, I adored writing humour. I'm glad you like it, and I'll try to update as quickly as possible.
Lurk- Okay, now to tackle your review. beams It feels so nice to get your reviews because you ask so many questions, and they're so long! Okay, first things first- Okay, Hermione's promise is an interesting point… but who says he has to be sixteen to remind her? wink wink I've always liked the stories where Snape doesn't change his personality overly much, but he is definitely on the side of the Light. I'm think of perhaps forcing him to baby-sit again later in the story because of an emergency of some sort. Don't worry about going over things you've already said, I do it all the time! You may have noticed that, right now, Harry doesn't quite know that what he is doing is the dreaded 'm' word, and there will be a chapter on it when he does eventually find out. No, it isn't that stage yet, but in this chapter, Hermione began speculating on how small and light he was. And yes, I love the big 'reveal' as well, and I plan a lot of things for it. If you weren't making sense, I didn't notice. I usually ramble anyway, so most things that don't make sense to others make sense to me! It'd have to be really confusing to make my head spin. Either that, or make complete sense. Anyway, I'll go back to writing before you make me keep rambling to the point of insanity or spill all my secrets!
Thanks also to;
anonymous, reader, PaddyWaddy, emeraud.silver, cat, mauradersbanana and Saturnblue