She snuggled into his chest and whispered back, "Goodnight, my knight." She fell asleep to the sound of Harry chuckling softly.
The next morning, they found that they actually had a day off. Harry enjoyed the fact that having Friday as a free day meant a three day weekend. He looked over to Hermione, who was completely absorbed in the Animagus book. Every once in a while, she would brush her hair behind her ear or bite her lip, and Harry enjoyed the opportunity to simply gaze at her.
Suddenly, something odd about yesterday occurred to him. If it was only a residual of the Horcrux that his scar used to be, how had he managed to send the pain to Voldemort? Was it possible that-like the parseltongue ability-the connection had simply become a part of him? Or did the residual magic keep the connection alive?
He practically jumped out of his skin when Hermione leaned against him. "I finished the book," she whispered into his ear. Harry noticed that her voice seemed rather husky.
Frowning, he turned to her. What is going on? He thought. "Are you okay, Hermione?" He asked her out loud.
She looked startled at the question. "Yeah, I'm fine," she responded. "Why?"
"You're acting different," he said. "Whenever I spoke parseltongue-and at other random moments-you seem like you want to jump me. I wouldn't really mind, but it just doesn't seem like you," he explained to her.
She frowned at him, seeming puzzled, but after a moment, her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and realization. "Oh," she said simply before grabbing at the Animagus book. Skimming through it quickly, she stopped at a page and read aloud, "'After the first transformation, the new animagus will act more on their animal instincts. This means that the flight-or-fight impulse will lean drastically towards one, they may be more possessive or territorial, and often become more sexual towards their partners.'"
Harry frowned thoughtfully for a moment. It made sense, but…. "Why am I not affected as much as you are?" He asked Hermione.
Hermione barely paused to think before replying, "Probably because of Voldemort." Seeing her boyfriend's-husband's she mentally corrected-puzzled look, she explained, "His emotions used to affect you, much the same way that your inner animal is supposed to. Because you got used to his effect on you, you learned to counter it and-because they're so similar-the affect you form would have on you."
Harry's frown didn't ease, though. "Doesn't that mean our Occlumency training should help us?" He asked.
Hermione shook her head. "Occlumency is meant to keep people out of our head, but our inner animal is inside our head; only our own willpower can prevent something like that."
Harry got a look of outrage on his face. "Does that mean that Occlumency wouldn't have done anything for the visions Voldemort was sending me?" He asked angrily.
Hermione shook her head again. "No. From what I understand, our inner animal is a part of us from birth, but the potion unlocks it. The Horcrux that was your scar was not originally a part of you, so Occlumency would still have worked. The difference is that it would have been much harder to defend against."
Harry considered that for a minute. Shrugging, he said, "At least it's gone now." Standing, he pulled Hermione up with him, and asked in parseltongue, Shall we go visit our hissing friend? Hermione's eyes once more got that glazed look of arousal, but this time she was aware of it, and it dissipated before she could do anything she would regret when she wasn't high on hormones.
Before Harry could ask again, she nodded and started dragging him towards the door. Harry stopped her and scooped her up into his arms, loving the way she giggled. He knew he could hold her for quite a while; he may be scrawny, but thanks to the Dursleys it was almost all muscle. He winced at the thought of the Dursleys, but shook it off as he carried Hermione to the Chamber. By the time they got there, Hermione's face was a very deep red that made the Gryffindor red seem like pink; the entire way to the Chamber, girls had been either jealous or cooing, "Awww," at them, and the boys had just made fake coughs saying things like, "whipped." Harry didn't care-he just loved the closeness he had with Hermione. After a decade where physical contact was-to put it mildly-not pleasant, just holding the woman he loved was Heaven.
Hermione was running similar thoughts through her head. She was pretty sure that if anyone else tried to carry her the Harry was, they'd be having a long visit with Madame Pomfrey, but this was Harry. Not Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, but Harry Potter, the boy who would jump on the back of a Mountain Troll to save a girl he barely knew, who fought a basilisk to save another girl he barely knew, who rescued two innocents, who fought in a stupid tournament against his wishes, who would break the law to protect people, who would do anything for those he considered friends, and-most of all-who she loved.
She was broken from her thoughts as Harry hissed, Open, followed by, Stairs. She struggled to control herself at the sound of parseltongue, but it was a lot harder than she thought it had any right to be. She was still trying to figure out why she was having difficulty controlling her inner animal when she heard Serpenta hiss happily, You came back!
Harry laughed at the obvious joy, replying, Of course we did! We wouldn't be very good friends if we didn't, would we?
Serpenta gave a hiss that the two teens somehow understood was a shrug. I don't know, I've never had friends before.
Harry and Hermione winced internally; not only had they already known that, but they could empathize with it, and it hurt like hell to have to admit it out loud. Hermione simply hissed, You have friends now.
You speak? Serpenta asked Hermione, surprised. She turned her gaze to Harry, hissing, You said she couldn't speak!
Harry managed to look both ashamed and affronted as he replied, She couldn't! I gave her the ability yesterday just before I left. Sorry about not saying goodbye, by the way, he added.
Don't worry about it, Serpenta hissed with a dismissive flick of her tail. I was still exhausted from whatever it was you did, anyway.
Harry frowned. Why had she been exhausted? He thought. She didn't have to do anything, I basically just scanned her. He shrugged; he'd have to ask Hermione about it later. He hissed apologetically, Sorry about that.
Serpenta again hissed in the snake equivalent of a shrug, responding, It's shed skin, now. Harry and Hermione both assumed that this was a snake's way of saying that it was in the past and should stay there.
Harry spent the rest of the evening getting to know Serpenta, her likes, her dislikes, her fears, and her usual habits. Apparently, there was a back entrance to the Chamber of Secrets that she would go out of to get food; her favorite was fox, and she loathed the taste of rat. She spent most of her time in the woods, and confessed that she probably would have gone out there permanently soon, and still might. When Harry asked why, she responded that she wanted to meet other basilisks, despite her new friends, it wasn't the same. Harry, of course, completely understood; it would be like him trying to be friends with a muggle-even if they knew about the magical world, there would just be something missing.
Hermione, in the meantime, was completely absorbed in the animagus book. Some of the things that the book said could happen would put them in a world of trouble. She was definitely going to have to talk to Harry about some of them. But she hadn't found anything about how to willingly transform yet. So far, it was mainly warnings about the possible downsides of the transformation. Getting frustrated, she did a very un-Hermione-like thing and started skimming through, looking for what she wanted. After what felt like eternity, she finally found what she was looking for. Relieved, she quickly read what it said. It didn't take her long, and she had to read it twice more. Could it really be that simple? She asked herself.
Could what really be how simple? Harry asked her mentally; apparently she had unknowingly broadcast.
"The transformation," she answered him aloud. "The book just says we have to concentrate on becoming our forms."
Harry frowned at the answer. "How are we supposed to concentrate on turning into something when we don't know what that something is?" He asked. "And how is that simple?"
Hermione shook her head, replying, "No, we're not supposed to concentrate on changing into a specific form, just on changing forms. It does say that we should concentrate on a specific part of our body to start, though." Neither noticed Serpenta leave as he asked her what she meant. "I mean focus on changing a part of your body-your hand, for example. It basically says to just will a part of your body to change. If I understand correctly, it's similar to a metamorphagus's ability, only less focused, since they can change pretty much anything, so they have to know exactly what they want…" She trailed off as she noticed Harry staring at her, realizing she'd gone off on a tangent. Ducking her head to hide her blush, she said hurriedly, "Why don't you give it a try? Try focusing on your hand," she encouraged him.
Shrugging, Harry stared at his hand, willing it to change into its animal form. The young couple stared in a mixture of shock and awe at the golden-furred claw that appeared at the end of his arm. Looking closely, they saw a very mild tint of red to it. Harry was the first to recover, saying, "I wasn't really expecting it that fast. I thought this was supposed to be complicated?" He asked Hermione with a light frown.
"Neither was I," Hermione admitted before addressing his question. "And it is complicated magic. Most people don't have the ability to transform at all. It's impossible to know who will transform and who will not; it's not entirely about power, it's also about who you are," Hermione said, getting into lecture mode. "For example, someone who is extremely vicious, absolutely fearless, and will often win, no matter the size of their opponent, could probably be a Fisher Cat. They're extremely vicious animals," Got that, Harry thought, "and can even win a fight with a bear, even though they're about the size of Crookshanks." Harry's eyes widened; he might not have seen a bear in person, but he knew they were supposed to be at least the size of the average person, and have more fight. The idea of something the size of Crookshanks beating up on one was disquieting. "But many people can't change because the animal that describes them is too large and magically taxing for them. Or, they may not even have a specific animal-many don't. After meeting Wormtail," Harry scowled at the mention, "he got lucky; he didn't seem like someone who was magically powerful enough to be anything bigger than a rat."
Harry glanced down at the hand he had turned into a paw, trying to figure how something that large could fit on the end-it was at least one-and-a-half times the size his hand was supposed to be. He was interrupted from his musings by Hermione's voice saying, "You should change the rest of you," as though it were obvious.
Harry automatically prepared to, but paused suddenly, asking Hermione, "Any dangers I should know about?" He watched her closely, and she hesitated for a brief moment before denying it; most people wouldn't have noticed, but Harry had been forced to learn how to read people, and he had been friends with Hermione for five years. He gave her a stern look, letting her know that he hadn't been fooled, and waited for her to tell him.
Damn it! Hermione screamed in her head, making sure Harry couldn't hear it. This is going to be difficult now. Sighing, she said, "Well, according to the book, the animal could end up taking over. Thankfully, we know you're not a fish or something, so we don't have to worry about the danger of you being unable to breathe," she added, trying to distract him from thinking about the possibility of the animal taking control, and knowing it would never work.
Sure enough, Harry's eyes grew wary, as did his tone when he asked, "What do you mean, 'the animal could end up taking over'?"
"Unless you turn into something like a phoenix-which is intelligent-you'll be acting mostly on instinct and feelings, whether it be hunger, fear, anger, etc." She admitted.
Harry frowned, puzzling over it for a moment, before his eyes widened. "I'm not changing with you here," he said, sounding both horrified and determined. "I will not put you in danger."
Hermione groaned, knowing he would do this. "Harry, I have to be here when you change," she said. She held up her hand to stop his protests, explaining, "According to the book, the person needs to go through the transformation with someone familiar and important to them so that they can help coax the person back to their 'human' mind."
"Well, you certainly belong to both of those categories," Harry conceded, causing Hermione to blush. "However, I think I'll have to think about it for a little while before actually doing it; I'm too nervous to be sure I wouldn't hurt you." Hermione sighed, but nodded her acceptance; after all, she wasn't sure she would be confident enough to do it in his place. "Why don't you try changing something?" Harry suggested to her.
She started; for some reason, it hadn't occurred to her to try. Without answering, she willed her hand to change. Both of them were pleasantly surprised to see a paw looking like a smaller version of Harry's with a tint of brown rather than red. "I wonder what the tint means," Hermione wondered aloud. Harry shrugged in response. "I guess we'll find out," Hermione sighed.
For a moment, there was an awkward silence, as both suddenly realized that they were alone in a room that no one else could get into. Hermione broke the silence and brought up what they had both lived through and felt. "Harry," she started, "you remember how we lived each other's lives?" Harry tensed slightly and nodded cautiously. "I think we should talk about it," she said, more than a little nervous.
Harry frowned. "I don't understand," he confessed. "We both know what happened, and we both felt it, so what do we need to talk about?"
Hermione paused to think for a moment and gathered her thoughts before launching into her reasoning. "Well, neither of us had any friends when we were children, and because of that, we closed ourselves off; although we've both lived through the other person's life, I think we need to discuss it so we can learn to open up and undo the damage that was done." Harry frowned at being called 'damaged,' but he knew it was true, and nodded for her to continue. "I think the best way would be for us to ask the other questions, switching after every question." Seeing how nervous Harry was, she decided to go first. "Do you love me?" She asked him.
Harry practically jumped out of his skin, clearly not expecting that particular question. "Of course," he answered. But then he frowned. "Doesn't the bond we have make sure of that?"
"Yes…and no," Hermione answered. "The bond won't force you to love someone; that would be ridiculous. It will lead you to certain people based on who it believes you would love and would love you, but it is entirely possible to ignore it. Remember what Luna said? That it had been a possibility for you to bond with her?" Harry nodded. "If kissing started the bond, and the bond made you love her, why wouldn't she have just kissed you to make you love her?" She queried.
"It's not in her nature to do that," Harry replied. "But you're right; it would be foolish to force someone to love someone else." He frowned as another thought occurred to him. "What do you mean, 'kissing started the bond'?" He asked. "I thought it finalized the bond?"
Hermione looked confused for a moment, but realization struck and she said, "Oh! I did say that! I'm sorry, I meant that it finalizes the second stage of the bond."
Harry didn't lose the frown; if anything, it deepened. "There are stages to the bond?" He asked her. "How many?"
"Just three," Hermione replied. "The first stage is like…well, I guess it's kind of like dating; the part of you that makes the bond kind of searches for the perfect recipient, often finding several people you would be compatible with. In stage two, it will give a subtle pull towards those people-most don't even feel it. Stage three begins after the kiss, and that stage is where minds connect so that thoughts and feelings could be shared. The connection will grow stronger until the bond finalizes," she explained. "But, what I was trying to say is that you would love me with or without the bond, and the bond just encourages it. I didn't want you to feel like the bond had some kind of control over you."
Harry nodded absently at the last part, his mind was still on the bond. "How does the third stage get finalized?" Hermione blushed a deep crimson at the question, and looked down at the floor, which Harry had thankfully cleared of bones. She's really beautiful when she blushes, Harry thought to himself. Then he mentally snorted, thinking, Then again, when isn't she beautiful? A feeling of love came across the bond, and he realized that he had accidentally projected his thoughts, and sent how he felt back to her.
After a few moments of basking in each other's feelings, Hermione finally answered Harry's question, "It finalizes when I'm pregnant."
Harry blinked in surprise. Then again. Finally, a look of fear crossed his face. Hermione naturally assumed it was the thought of having children, and she was partially right, but she wasn't expecting Harry's whispered question, "What if I'm a horrible father?"
Hermione had looked at the ground when Harry's look of fear had appeared, but it shot back up in surprise at his question. "Why do you think you'd be a horrible father?" She asked him. He just gave her a look, and she recalled that the only long-term parenting he had seen came from the Dursleys; not really the best role-models. So she put her arms around him, saying, "If you're half the father that you are a husband, you'll be great." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, and hugged her back. After a few moments, Hermione spun so she was sitting in his lap, and leaned against him with her eyes closed. "It's your turn for question, my knight," Hermione said after a few moments of comfortable silence.
Several questions ran through his head, but there were two that stuck out, and only one of those that he was brave enough to ask. "Why do you love me?"
Although Hermione wasn't pleased by his question, she could understand why he had a difficult time thinking someone could love him. An idea came to her mind, and she started off by teasing him with, "You're famous." After a few seconds of silence where Harry had tensed, she continued, "But you're still down to earth; you don't see beyond the bushy-haired, know-it-all, bookworm to the person underneath, but instead see the person I am, outside and inside. You're one of the most caring people I've ever met, and will do anything to help the people you care about. Even after the confrontation with the Weasleys, we both know that you would help them out in a heartbeat if they needed it." Hermione could feel that Harry wasn't able to really speak right then, but she did receive a mental thank you. "My question is, why do you love me?"
Harry frowned in puzzlement. "How could I not?" He asked her. Not waiting for a response, he continued, "I'm the famous Harry Potter, but you see me for me-Harry, the boy with emotional scars and a quick temper who only wants a family. You're willing to protect me at all costs, even if you think it will cost you my friendship. You're intelligent, beautiful, caring, stubborn, and right more often than not. I know I'll never be worthy of you, but I'll try my best every day," he finished with a promise.
Hermione snorted at the last sentence, retorting, "I think it's the other way around, but we'll just have to agree to disagree."
"Fine," Harry sighed. "When did you realize you loved me?" He asked.
"Third year," she replied without hesitation. "When we got on Buckbeak, all I could think was how nice it felt to hold you in my arms. What about you?"
"This summer, when you kissed me," Harry replied. "But I started to love you in third year. All I could think was how nice it felt for you to hold me, but I didn't know what love felt like. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I never thought you could love me back," she replied simply, causing Harry to frown. "If you felt that way third year, why did you pursue Cho fourth and fifth year?" She asked, struggling not to let the hurt she had felt show.
Harry, of course, heard it anyway, and whispered an apology as he kissed the top of her head. "It was rather obvious that Ron fancied you; when we got back to the Hospital Wing and explained everything that happened, his look of jealousy that I spent that much time with just you was obvious. Cho was reputed to be almost as smart as you, and she was almost as pretty, too. It wasn't really fair to her to use her as a substitute for you, but I didn't really know what else to do."
Hermione beamed, finally letting go of the last dredges of jealousy she had felt for the Ravenclaw Seeker. Harry telling her that he thought she was smarter and prettier than Cho had more than a little to do with that. "You know just what to say," she told her husband happily as she snuggled into him.
He smiled down at her, reveling in contact that didn't include pain as he thought of the next question he could ask her. Since they seemed to be keeping the questions personal, he discarded any questions about the animagus transformation or the bond. "Why didn't you fight back against the bullies who made fun of you in school when you were younger? I know you were creative enough to come up with some very good insults, so why didn't you fight back?"
Hermione seemed to shrink in his arms at the question, and almost told her she didn't have to answer when she started speaking. "I think I was trying to prove I was better than them," she said. "I told myself I was better than them by taking the high road."
Harry hugged her tighter. "You don't have to prove you're better than anyone, love, I already know you're better than everyone. Just ask your dad, I'm sure he'll agree with me," Harry said to her, trying to cheer her up a little.
Hermione blushed and smack his arm playfully. "Yeah, but you're both biased," she disputed, though Harry could tell it was only half-hearted and she was feeling better.
"And you love us for it," Harry said teasingly.
Hermione laughed, and confirmed it before asking her question. "When do you want to get married?"
Without thinking, he immediately responded, "Now."
Hermione was surprised at how quickly and absentmindedly he had said it; she was touched that he wanted to marry her so much that it was on his mind almost constantly. She had found out early on that you don't say things absently unless you think about it a lot.
While Hermione thought of Harry's answer, Harry was thinking of what question he wanted to ask, and soon found one. "How many children do you want?"
Hermione didn't know what she had expected, but she knew it wasn't that. She'd actually barely thought of children, if she was being honest. All she had for an answer was, "Less than the Weasleys!" Which, of course, had Harry in stitches.
"Do you want a girl or a boy more and why?" Hermione asked Harry as he stopped laughing.
"A girl," Harry responded immediately, "because I hope she looks like her mum. What about you?"
Hermione laughed as she answered, "A boy, because I hope he looks like his dad!" She took the time while he was laughing to consider what her next question would be. She knew she didn't want it to be a very serious question, but she did want it to be personal. Finally, she asked, "How much have you thought about having kids?"
"A lot," Harry answered softly. "I've even come up with some names; Lily Emma for a girl, and James Daniel for a boy." Hermione was shocked that he had thought it out that much, but touched that he wanted to include her parents in such a way. "Do you think your parents would be okay with that?" He asked nervously.
"I think they'd love it," she answered. "But not yet." Harry laughingly agreed with that assessment and Hermione asked, "What would you have done if I hadn't come after you when you ran away from my house?"
Harry buried his face in her hair and whispered, "You don't want me to answer that." Hermione didn't respond, she just waited patiently for him to answer. His sigh told her she succeeded before he even started to speak. "I probably would have been in worse shape than when you found me at the beginning of the summer," he whispered. Before she could say anything, he continued, "But I don't know that for certain-the second possibility was that I would be too weak to stay away, and would have come back begging for forgiveness."
"Which I would have granted," Hermione said, equally as quiet. So much for not getting too serious with the questions, she thought to herself.
"See?" Harry said. "You're way too good to me!" Hermione just shook her head and waited for his question, afraid it was going to follow hers in terms of seriousness; she wasn't disappointed. "Do you think that some part of the Dursleys loved me?"
Hermione longed with all her heart to say yes, but she had to be honest. "I don't think anyone who loved someone in even the slightest would treat someone the way they treated you." She felt Harry nod, and decided they were done with personal questions for the day, so she asked, "What do you think your animagus form will be?"
"I honestly have no idea," Harry responded. "I know it's some kind of big cat from the paw, but the color seemed off for a lion." He paused for just a moment before asking, "Why haven't any of the other animagi we've met only changed part of themselves? Sirius, for example, would have had a great disguise covered in fur."
"Well, from what I read, you can only change a part of yourself until you willingly change fully for the first time," she explained. "Apparently, this happens because the mind automatically knows the rest of what's to come." She paused to let Harry absorb that and to think of her question. "Will you be okay if I go back to serious questions?" She finally asked.
Harry nodded, adding, "And I won't count that."
Hermione smirked up at him before asking, "What do you think of my parents?"
"I think they're great people," he responded without hesitation. "I'd like to think that's how my parents would be. From what I saw, your dad has a very devious sense of humor and you definitely got your brains from your mum. I just wish that our parents had been able to meet," he added in a soft voice. "Do you know what your parents think of me, and if so, what?" He asked after a moment of receiving comfort through their bond.
"I don't know what my parents think of you," Hermione began, "but my mum seems pleased with you. I even heard her telling Dad that even after just the summer she was starting to think of you as a son. Dad responded that he liked you, but didn't think you were good enough for me," Hermione said with a frown.
She was brought out of thoughts of her father by the crack in Harry's voice as he asked, "Really? You're mum thinks of me that way?" Hermione nodded into his chest; she knew how much that meant to him. "And for the record, I still agree with your dad," Harry said in an attempt to lighten the mood a little, but Hermione could still hear the tears in his voice.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Hermione decided that they had spent enough time in the gloomy Chamber, and started to tug him to the entrance. She wasn't tugging for very long when Harry took the opportunity to spoil her some more and carried her. That suddenly brought to mind a question she had been wanting to ask him. "Harry, how are you able to carry me for so long?"
"Hermione, I was the Dursley's slave. I got used to carrying plenty of weight, something that you are not," Harry replied. Hermione frowned at the treatment he had received from his 'relatives', but glad that it had enabled him to hold her so close for so long.
They spent the rest of the weekend talking about themselves, a very odd experience since they had already lived through each other's lives up to the summer. But after that weekend, many people found them to be more outgoing than they had been before.
On Monday, Harry finally agreed to transform on the condition that Hermione transformed once he changed back, so they found themselves back in the Chamber after classes. Harry had also forced his wife to stay on the other side of the room so she would have enough time to erect a shield if, for some reason, he attacked her. And that's how Hermione found herself across the room from a griffin.