A/N: This is very much an AU though it will cover the events of GOF pretty similarly to canon with Harry being a fourth champion, the tournament tasks being the same, Voldemort's return happening in a similar way, etc. But there's also a lot of changes from canon and things will only diverge more as the story progresses.
Lots of tropes and cliches but I've tried to put my own spin on things.
Like most soul bond fics Harry and Hermione's feelings and relationship develops very quickly so if you're not into that kind of thing and prefer a slow burn then this won't be to your liking.
To call Harry Potter's childhood strange would be quite the understatement. If Harry himself had to describe he would say it was like living three entirely different and separate lives all at once.
The first life was that of the one where he attended muggle primary school up until his eleventh birthday. It was his mother's wish that he do so. She had wanted him to have the opportunity to experience both the magical and muggle world as she did. So even though Sirius and his mentors didn't see the point in it, they upheld his mother's wish.
Harry didn't particularly like muggle school. His lessons there were long and tedious when compared to his magical training. It didn't help that most of the kids thought he was a complete weirdo. It had been hard to keep mum about being a wizard when he was very little. Sometimes he'd slip up and start to say something about it then quickly try to backtrack which left the other kids giving him funny looks. Between that and the bouts of accidental magic, they all tended to avoid him.
Fortunately he'd never done anything that warranted ministry officials coming to wipe the kids and faculty's memories, which Sirius warned him could happen if he wasn't careful.
But he did have one friend, a girl named Hermione Granger. She too, was an outcast among their schoolmates. Everyone called her a know-it-all and a teacher's pet, which wasn't exactly untrue. Harry hadn't initially gotten along with her either, but being ostracized from everyone else and even bullied by some, overtime had led to a friendship between the two misfits.
The hardest part about all this, was keeping his other lives a secret from her. He could never invite her over to his house because not was it as far from a normal muggle household as you could get, but no one could know where Harry lived for his own safety. There were all sorts of spells and wards protecting and hiding Grimmauld Place from the rest of the world, both magical and muggle.
Harry didn't exactly like having to hide things from his only friend, but he didn't have a choice. But he worried that if she did know the truth, she wouldn't like him anymore. There was a reason the magical world had to be kept a secret from muggles.
His second life was that of his magical one. Harry lived with his godfather Lord Sirius Black, hidden away from the rest of the world in Sirius' family manor, Grimmauld Place. Harry longed for the day he could finally attend Hogwarts and live in the wizarding world. He'd grown up on stories of the school for witches and wizards and the adventures his parents and godfather had gotten up to. But for now he had to be kept secret.
Still, there was plenty of wondrous magic to experience at home. From the creatures called house elves who served them, to the magical talking portraits (most of which Sirius ended up having to remove due to their foul language towards him and Harry), to seeing his godfather use his wand like a third arm, using spells for every occasion.
His favorite part of all this however, was flying on a broomstick. Sirius told him he was a natural at it and that it was no surprise since father had been the Gryffindor seeker at school. Harry felt so free on his broomstick, soaring through the air without a care in the world. Sirius had even smuggled him in magical disguise to watch a real professional Quidditch game once even though it had landed him in big trouble with Harry's mentors.
That was his third life and Harry's least favorite one. The life where Harry was the boy-who-lived, the chosen one who was destined to defeat Voldemort a second time someday.
The Department of Mysteries was, true to its name, very mysterious. No one outside of those who worked there really knew anything about it. The Department of Mysteries had existed for millennia, long before the Ministry of Magic even existed. They were a part of the Ministry but also considered separate from it. The Ministry of Magic had no authority over them either.
Which is why when the prophecy concerning Harry and the dark lord came about, the Department of Mysteries, being the first to know about it, did something no one could have predicted, not even Dumbledore.
According to the Unspeakable who was head over the prophecy section, informed those it concerned, that Harry must be turned over to their care. Every couple hundred years there was a child of prophecy who would decide the fate of the world in one way or another and it was the Unspeakable's job to raise, protect, and train this child so they would be prepared to fulfill their destiny.
And so from the age of five, Harry began his training. He spent the first year learning to control his accidental magic, which as you can imagine was quite difficult for a mere boy of five years old. The next three years were spent on developing Occlumency shields and the two after that on Legilimency.
The Dark Lord was still out there somewhere, the Unspeakables were certain of this. It was only a matter of time before he found a way to return to his full strength. They had realized early on Harry had some kind of connection to him through his curse scar and so Occlumency had been the first and top priority to learn. After he had mastered that, Legilimency had been decided would be a useful additional skill to learn.
"Legilimency is not the same as being a Mind Mage," His Legilimency mentor explained. "It's extremely weak in comparison and requires years of training and mental discipline. Legilimency is a skill anyone can learn if they're willing to put in the work for it, but most find it too difficult to even bother trying.
A Mind Mage is one of the magical inherited gifts you can be born with. While a Legilimens can read surface thoughts, tell if someone is lying, and perform memory charms, a Mind Mage can enter another's mind, dig through their deepest innermost thoughts, erase memories permanently, and the most powerful can even shatter a person's mental sanity beyond repair.
This is just one such gift you may end up manifesting upon your thirteenth birthday."
Harry often wondered what his magical inherited gift would end up being. Sirius had told him that his dad's gift had been that of a magical animagus. While most who went through the ritual of becoming an animagus could transform into a regular mundane animal, James' animagus form was that of a white stag.
No one had seen an actual white stag since the time of King Arthur, but it was believed to still exist somewhere out there in the world. This made his animagus form to be considered extremely rare and powerful.
While some had the gift of turning into a magical animagus, others had the gift to turn into multiple animagus forms. Another common gift that people manifested was a connection to an element such as fire, water, weather, flora, fauna, or earth.
Other gifts included being a Metamorphmagus, a Seer, or performing wandless magic. And those were just the more commonly known ones.
Harry could hardly wait for his thirteenth birthday to arrive and not just because of the magical inherited gift he would manifest. His mentors refused to let him attend Hogwarts until then. The other kids his age would get to attend starting age eleven, but the Department of Mysteries had deemed it unsafe for Harry to do so.
Once he had his gift, it would greatly increase his magical power and he'd be better able to protect himself. Sirius disagreed with this and Harry had overheard his godfather arguing with them about it many times. After all he'd be perfectly safe at Hogwarts with Dumbledore there as Headmaster.
Unfortunately not even someone such as Lord Sirius Black of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black could overrule their decision regarding Harry.
So Harry tried not to be too disappointed. At least he'd still get to learn magic once he turned eleven even if it was from his mentor's tutoring him at home. He couldn't wait to get his wand and start performing spells. And before he knew it the long awaited day had come at last.
"Well pup, are you ready to get your first look at Diagon Alley?" Sirius asked him.
"I can hardly wait," Harry grinned. They stood in front of a brick wall outside The Leaky Cauldron. Both were under enchantments to disguise their appearance.
Harry was currently a curly haired blonde and Sirius a red head. For some reason no magic could hide Harry's scar so he wore a hat to cover it. Until it was decided Harry was truly allowed to enter the wizarding world, he was forced to hide under a magical spell altering his appearance. Not only for his safety but so as not to be swarmed by people who would no doubt be clamoring to meet the boy-who-lived.
Sirius tapped the wall with his wand and Harry watched in awe as it opened the entrance to Diagon Alley. Together they walked through the streets and Harry's eyes were as large as saucers as he marveled at everything he saw.
They went from shop to shop, buying books and various school supplies, though they didn't do nearly as many things with him being tutored at home instead of attending Hogwarts. They skipped the robe shop since he wouldn't need school robes, for example. Fortunately they didn't need to stop by Gringotts either as Sirius had already taken out the necessary funds on a previous trip.
Gringotts had wards around it that undid any spells that concealed a person's true appearance and so it would have been impossible for them to go inside under their disguise enchantment.
When lunch time came around Sirius took Harry to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. "Can we really have ice cream for lunch?" Harry had asked.
"Of course we can! Besides it is a special occasion after all," Sirius told him.
So Harry had strawberry and peanut butter ice cream while Sirius had a triple fudge sundae. Harry knew Sirius wasn't exactly what one would call a responsible parent, at least not by muggle standards given what he'd seen of Hermione's parents, but he knew his godfather would do anything to see him smile.
He couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for Sirius. To be helpless as his best friends were killed mercilessly by Voldemort while his other best friend
Remus Lupin had turned traitor and was sentenced to Azkaban. Harry often thought his godfather's eyes looked so much older than the rest of him did. But Sirius rarely let his pain show in front of Harry and gave him as much happiness as he was able to.
Finally it was time to get his wand and Harry could barely contain his excitement. A tingling bell rang when they stepped inside the shop which was crowded with endless shelves with various sizes of boxes stacked atop them.
"Good afternoon," An old man greeted them. His eyes bore into Harry unsettlingly, as if he could see right into his soul. "Ah yes, yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Po—"
"Quiet!" Sirius hissed at the man, giving him a death glare. "Are you daft or are you trying to get us exposed to the masses?!"
"My apologies Lord Bla—I mean sir. I didn't mean to upset you, I was simply surprised to see him here at last."
Harry wondered how the man knew who he was under his disguise but Sirius didn't seem surprised by it. The man who introduced himself as Ollivander turned back to look at Harry piercingly.
"You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work.
Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it—it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."
"Listen, we don't have a lot of time on our hands here. We need to be gone by sundown at the latest. So if you could please—" Sirius began and Ollivander interrupted.
"Yes, yes, of course. Forgive me. Let's get your godson his wand."
Ollivander measured Harry and then handed him various wands to try out but would quickly pluck it out of his hand after a second and give him a different one. It wasn't til his fifth wand that found the one for him. It gave him a warm tingly feeling in his hand and he waved the wand around with ease shooting off a stream of gold and red sparks.
"Well done! I think we've found the one," Ollivander congratulated. He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious..."
"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?" Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. "I remember every wand I've ever sold. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather—just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother—why, its brother gave you that scar."
Harry swallowed while Sirius had a look of horror on his face. His godfather refused to let Ollivander continue and hurried Harry out of the shop immediately after paying.
"Did he mean Vol—" Harry began to ask but Sirius shushed him.
"Not here. We'll talk about it at home."
But they didn't get a chance to because as soon as they got home, Sirius went into a private floo call with who Harry guessed would be his mentors, the Unspeakables.
Harry sighed, fiddling with his wand in his room until an hour later Sirius came to talk to him.
"What's going on? Is it dangerous to have a wand from the same feather as Voldemort?" He asked his godfather who looked grave.
"No, it's not dangerous, at least not on its own. But they do know this likely has to do with the prophecy. They just don't know what exactly, though there is a theory."
"What theory?" When he saw him hesitate he added, "Please Sirius. I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm old enough to learn magic, I'm old enough to not be kept in the dark anymore."
Sirius gave him an amused smile. "I remember thinking I was so grown up at your age too."
"That's not an answer."
"Sure it is. Not the one you wanted but it is an answer." After seeing the look Harry gave him, Sirius sighed. "All right. They think something will happen should your wand and his ever come up against the other. They just don't know what. But you don't have to worry about it, Harry. Honest you don't. You've still got plenty of years to be a kid and a teenager and all that. Yes someday he will return and you will have to face him. But right now I just want you to have as normal a life as you can."
"But I'm not normal. I survived the killing curse. I'm the only one who can defeat Voldemort and I have to be the hero who saves everyone. Whether I want to or not."
"That doesn't mean you can't still be just Harry too. People are gonna put labels on you your whole life, but only you get to define who you are and who you want to be.
And this is why I think it's ridiculous they won't let you attend Hogwarts yet. You need a chance to be a kid for a change before having to shoulder all this responsibility. But they won't and so for now we'll just have to make the best of it."
The two years passed quicker than Harry had expected them to, for which he was very grateful. He did well in all his classes but his mentors found he excelled the most at Transfiguration and Defense Against The Dark Arts. The latter of which they said would be especially useful given his destiny as the chosen one.
However, Harry found himself becoming very lonely now that he no longer went to muggle school. He didn't even have a way to contact Hermione since Grimmauld Place was a magical home, they didn't exactly get normal muggle post. And even if they did they still wouldn't be able to since the manor was hidden under powerful spells from both the magic and muggle worlds.
But shortly after turning eleven Hermione had been accepted into a boarding school which pretty much did away with what little contact he did have with her. As a result he was beginning to feel very isolated, stuck inside all the time with no one his age to talk to.
Sirius noticed this and tried to at least take him out to a secluded area to go flying in regularly but didn't know what more he could do to help his godson for the moment.
When Harry's thirteenth birthday finally arrived, he felt like he could breathe again. Any day now he was due to manifest his gift and then he could finally go to Hogwarts.
But relief soon gave way to worry when no such gift seemed to manifest. September was inching closer and closer yet he felt no different than before. Harry briefly wondered if he could somehow fake one so they'd let him go.
"What if I don't get one?" He asked Sirius.
"Don't worry, you will. Some people end up as late bloomers, I knew one guy who didn't manifest until he was sixteen," Sirius seemed to notice how panicked Harry looked at this and quickly added, "But that's a very rare case. Harry, you are heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of both Potter and Black. Your mother despite being muggle born was one of the most talented witches of the generation. Point is, you come from more than one line of seriously powerful witches and wizards. Your gift will come and whatever it ends up being will be something amazing."
However when there were only ten days left until September first, even Sirius began to get worried. And then 5 days before September first, something completely unexpected happened.
Harry awoke that morning to a strange mark on his chest. Panicked, he immediately called for Sirius. His godfather rushed into his bedroom after being summoned by Lili the house elf. "What is it? What happened?"
"I woke up and found this!" He said pulling his shirt off to reveal a strange black spiraling symbol of some kind on his chest. Sirius' eyes widened in surprise and then he did something strange. He laughed.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked, baffled.
"Oh boy! I didn't think I'd have to worry about this for years. Sure thirteen is when this sort of thing can start but it hardly ever does. James and Lily didn't get theirs until they were at least sixteen."
"Get what? What is this thing?"
"That my dear godson, would be your soul mate mark."
"My what?!"
"I'm not surprised your lessons haven't covered that particular subject yet." Sirius sat down on Harry's bed and patted the spot next to it. Bewildered, Harry sat next to him.
"Every witch and wizard has a soul mate out there somewhere and when you get to a certain age, which can start at thirteen but is usually much later in life, you'll get a mark on your skin somewhere just like the one you have now. It means you're going to meet your soul mate very soon and the mark is meant to help guide you to finding out who they are."
Harry looked at him with skepticism. "Are you putting me on?" He finally asked, knowing his godfather to be notorious for tricks and jokes.
Sirius only grinned. "Honest I'm not. This isn't really talked about much in our world because it's a very special and intimate thing. As I mentioned, your mum and dad got theirs at sixteen. Everybody's is unique to them and their soulmate. That spiraling symbol on your chest is actually a word in ancient runes."
Harry perked up at this. He'd been considering taking ancient runes for one of his elective classes in third year. "What does it mean?" He asked curiously.
Sirius scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not sure. I must admit I'm pretty rubbish at ancient runes." Harry deflated a bit at this. "But," he continued, "There is a book in the Black family library that can translate for us. I'll go get it."
A few minutes later Sirius came back with a large dusty tome. They spent fifteen minutes poring over it until at last they figured out what it translated to in English.
"A Winter's Tale," Sirius translated aloud for him, looking puzzled.
"What does that mean?"
"I have no idea. It's not exactly meant to be a clear and easy path to your soul mate, these marks. But I'm sure it'll make sense in time. And you've got all the time in the world given how young you are to have gotten it."
"Great," Harry grumbled. Sirius laughed again.
It was weird to think of having a soul mate when he'd barely begun to notice girls. Still, it did make him curious. What kind of girl would she be? For some reason he kept picturing someone like Hermione but that made him feel weird in a way he couldn't explain and did his best to push such thoughts away.
He couldn't believe he hadn't seen her in two years. It felt like four. He wondered what she looked like now and if he'd ever have the chance to see her again.
"I bet Krum will be the champion for Durmstrang, he's the best choice they've got!" Ron said.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. He had been alternating between goggling at his idol Krum and drooling over the older girl he claimed was a veela, all evening long.
The great hall was packed tighter than ever now that their foreign guests had arrived. Hermione had initially been excited to meet them. But the Beauxbatons were all very stuck up, looking down their nose at everything they saw. Meanwhile the students from Durmstrang gave her the creeps. It didn't help that they'd chosen to sit with the Slytherins. But Hermione had lost all interest in them once she read in her book that the school didn't accept muggle borns.
Still, when everyone had finished eating and Dumbledore stood up, she couldn't help feeling a tingle of excitement course through her. The time had come to announce who would be the champions of each school to compete in the Triwizard Tournament.
Part of her still thought the whole thing was crazy, especially considering people had died in past tournaments. But at least this time they had put an age restriction on who could enter, though hadn't stopped Ron and the others from trying to enter anyway. It was positively mad of them, no amount of promised fame and riches for winning was worth the risk of losing your life! Unfortunately Hermione was alone in this opinion. Except for Neville who wisely was terrified of the whole thing. Not that that meant much seeing as Neville was scared of a lot. She glanced over at him and smiled.
Despite his many anxieties Neville was actually surprisingly brave when it came down to it and he was also the only true friend she had at Hogwarts.
At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. . . . Hermione kept checking her watch in anticipation. . .
The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Hermione sighed. Now he'd be talking about him more than ever. They'd not even been at the school very long and she was already sick of hearing about Viktor Krum.
The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"
"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.
When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next…
And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"
"No! " said Ron loudly but Hermione smiled. She was very pleased to hear this, Diggory was a great choice to represent Hogwarts. He was smart, hardworking, and driven. He was Quidditch Captain for Hufflepuff house and a prefect on top of it all.
The Hufflepuffs had exploded into cheers louder than the rest, they were stamping their feet and screaming as Cedric made his way to the front of the room. Hufflepuff had always been the house everyone overlooked so this kind of recognition was a huge honor for them.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"
But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.
The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.
Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the
parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out - "Harry Potter."
Gasps and shouts of confusion went around the room.
"Harry Potter?"
"A fourth champion?"
"He doesn't even go to school here!"
Dumbledore attempted to regain his composure. "Um, yes well, that concludes it. We have our champions. May they each be a credit to their school!" And with that he hurried out of the room, several of the teachers following behind him, looking upset.
"That was…weird," Ron said.
"Very," Hermione agreed. Everybody had been so excited her first year at Hogwarts for the arrival of Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. Even Hermione, who was a muggle born, had ended up reading several books that talked about him before coming to Hogwarts. She had to admit she had been a little curious to meet him.
How could a mere baby survive one of the most powerful dark lords in wizarding history trying to kill him? Voldemort had killed everyone else who had come face to face with him. But Harry had lived and Voldemort had died or at least vanished.
However it quickly became clear that Harry was not attending Hogwarts with the rest of them, despite being of age. Plenty of crazy rumors as to his whereabouts were spread, even after it was quickly revealed that he had simply chosen to be privately tutored from the comfort and safety of his own home. People were disappointed but soon, talk of Harry Potter stopped completely as they found other things to gossip about. And so life went on.
Now talk of Harry Potter had been thrust right back into the spotlight. How could there be a fourth champion and how could it be Harry Potter's name that came out of the goblet? Was there a mistake? Was the goblet malfunctioning? Would they have to redraw the names?
Hermione at least knew the answer to that last one. She'd read every book in the library on the Goblet of Fire since they first announced it. Once your name was drawn from the goblet it formed a magical binding contract that meant you had to compete in the tournament. If you got cold feet then you were in big trouble because there was no way out of it. That was just one more reason the whole thing had sounded so dangerous and completely stupid to think of entering underage.
But that gave her another thought. Would this magical binding contract be considered valid for Harry Potter? Supposedly he was her age or close to it. And he definitely hadn't been the one to enter his name. So what did that mean that his name had come out of the goblet as a fourth champion in something that had always been called the TRIwizard tournament, while being not only underage but he wasn't even a student here?
"All right, Albus. You summoned me here late at night out of the blue with not even a hint of explanation. You better have a really good reason for it," Sirius said the second he stepped out of the floo network and into the headmaster's office. But as soon as he saw Dumbledore's expression he knew it was serious.
"I'm afraid something completely unexpected and very dangerous has happened here tonight. And it concerns Harry," He said, gesturing for Sirius to take a seat.
"What do you mean it concerns Harry? How can it?" Sirius wondered.
"Tonight the Goblet of Fire was supposed to reveal the three champions for the Triwizard tournament and it did but not without adding a fourth champion. The name was Harry Potter's."
"What?!" Sirius exclaimed in shock, leaning forward in his chair. "That's impossible!"
"I never would have imagined such a thing could happen either. But it did. Harry, despite not even being a student here and underage on top of it, is now an unwilling fourth champion. You know what this means, don't you?"
Sirius nodded, looking sick. "And you're sure one of the students didn't find some way to put his name in as a joke?"
"I put an age line around the goblet along with many other magical precautions. It could only have been one of the staff or our guests."
"Karkaroff's here, isn't he? He's the mostly likely choice."
"I agree, which is why I have tasked Severus with investigating him," Dumbledore said, ignoring the way Sirius' face twisted in disgust at the mention of Snape. "But we also must consider the possibility that one of our own might have done it, as much as the thought pains me. Unfortunately these are dark times. Things have been stirring ever since the events of the Quidditch World Cup. A plot of some kind is at play and I am certain it has to do with Voldemort's followers if not Voldemort himself. But it's clear Harry is being dragged into it and there's not a thing I can do."
Dumbledore stood up and began to pace as he continued. "I have looked into the laws regarding the Goblet of Fire and magical contracts. I have spoken to more than one legal department at the Ministry. Nothing can be done to get him out of it. Harry is bound by the goblet to compete in the tournament. The consequences if he doesn't as you likely know, could be death or loss of his magic. Something we can't risk happening to him."
"Then cancel the bloody tournament! You know this is a trap!" Sirius said fiercely.
"You think I haven't tried that? Cornelius Fudge and the Ministry of Magic have utterly refused to let us do so despite knowing the full context of the situation and its dangers."
"You'd think he'd at least care since it's putting the 'boy-who-lived' in direct danger and we all know how much he cares about looking good in the public eye."
"The public won't see the issue with it. They'll think it's odd that he's been entered as a fourth champion but nothing more. If anything people will be excited that Harry is finally coming to Hogwarts. You must remember that they think him to be infallible. They don't understand the real reason Voldemort couldn't kill him that night and has vanished since. No one will find issue with any of this unfortunately. Our hands are as tied as they could possibly be."
Sirius put his face into his hands, defeated. Dumbledore put a comforting hand on his shoulder and he looked up at him as he spoke. "I promise to do everything in my power to keep him safe while he is here. We will find out who put his name in and the reason why before any harm can come to Harry. The tasks are hard and dangerous but they're not impossible either. The only way someone could die from them is they were being very very stupid. You're also forgetting that Harry has had more training as a wizard in his fourteen years than the others competent who are legal adults or near to it. Have a little faith in him."
"I do have faith in him," Sirius assured with confidence. "He's a very talented kid and I'll do whatever I can to help him prepare for all of this…even the things we can't predict."
"I'm going to Hogwarts," Harry said, though he could hardly believe it. Sirius had come home in a frazzled state after being summoned by floo shortly after dinner. He'd sat Harry down and explained everything that had happened about the Triwizard tournament and the Goblet of Fire.
Harry knew he should probably be more worried about being entered against his will into a deadly tournament only legal adults were supposed to be allowed into, for nefarious purposes of some kind, and he was afraid. Very afraid. But his excitement had overwhelmed the part of him that was panicking.
He'd long since despaired that he would ever be able to attend Hogwarts. His magical inherited gift still had not come and it had now been over a year since his thirteenth birthday.
He'd begged his mentors to let him go and Sirius had talked to them on multiple occasions about it but still they refused.
But now they would have no choice but to let him go. Not even they could do something about a magically binding contract. Sirius had specifically checked with the Unspeakables before telling him. They were not happy about it but had admitted defeat. He would have to go to Hogwarts. There was simply no way around it.
Sirius quirked a half grin at him. "Yes, you are."
"I can't wait!"
"Now hold on there. I know you're excited and I am happy for you, but this is not something to take lightly. There's a known death eater at your school right now. Or rather an ex death eater, at least that's what he claims. But Karkaroff is literally the head of a school that teaches dark arts and doesn't allow muggle borns to attend.
If anyone is likely to have put your name into that goblet it's him. And if it wasn't then that means we have a traitor in our midst which is even worse. The point is someone put your name in there to force you out into the open. A trap if some kind has been laid here, we just don't know what. You're going to have to be very careful and find some way to make it through three deadly tasks created for legal adults without dying a horrible painful death."
Harry nodded soberly. "I get it."
"But," Sirius' expression turned into a smile. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun! I don't want you to sit around worried out of your mind or anything. You should get to have the full Hogwarts experience: make friends, prank your professors, flirt with all the pretty girls. You know, normal stuff for a kid your age."
Harry chuckled at that. "Okay, I'll try."
"Good. Then you'd better get to sleep. Tomorrow we'll get the remaining school supplies you need and send you on your way. Hogwarts look out, Harry Potter has finally arrived!"
Harry coughed up ashes as he stepped out of the fireplace. Floo travel was by far his least favorite form of transportation. He wished he could have gone on the train like all the other kids got to do to get Hogwarts at the start of the year. But seeing as he was starting late in the year—it was nearly November already—that wasn't exactly an option.
He suddenly became very aware of the fact that making friends would be so much harder this way. Sirius said most people made their best friends during the ride to Hogwarts in their first year. His dad and Sirius had been practically inseparable since their first ride on the Hogwarts express. With Remus and Peter following quickly after.
Harry felt wholly unequipped in the friend making department. His only friend had been Hermione and she was a muggle. He didn't exactly know how to deal with other witches and wizards his age.
A tall stern looking witch was there waiting for him and Harry guessed she was Professor McGonagall. Sirius had warned him that she was the one professor at Hogwarts he didn't want to cross. But that warning was kind of diminished when he immediately afterwards told him stories of all the trouble the marauders had gotten into in school even though she was their head of house.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. I'm glad to finally meet you," She greeted and introduced herself. Harry had been correct. This was Professor McGonagall. "I must say you look so much like your father but with your mother's eyes."
"So I've been told," Harry smiled, feeling warm at the compliment.
"Well, let's not waste any time. I'll take you to the headmaster's office immediately," McGonagall told him, suddenly switching to the no nonsense side of her Harry had heard so much about.
"To the headmaster's office?" He gulped, nervously. Had he done something wrong already?
"That's where the sorting hat is and we need to know what house you're in before sending you to your dorm for the night. Unless of course you'd rather wait til morning and try the hat on in front of the whole school like the first years do?"
"Uh, no!" He said quickly. "In private is fine with me." He thought he saw a ghost of a smile on her face before the stern expression returned.
"Then follow me."
Harry followed her until they came to a griffin statue. He was surprised to find that the password into Dumbledore's office was a muggle candy. For some reason that made him a little less nervous.
"Hello, Harry," An old man with a long white beard and twinkling blue eyes greeted him when he came through the door. So this was Albus Dumbledore. Harry knew he may have looked like a kindly harmless old man, but he was one of the most powerful wizards both in history and the current day. The only one ever strong enough to stand up against Voldemort. He'd been offered the position of Minister for Magic many times over the years but preferred to be a simple headmaster.
"Uh, hello, sir. It's nice to meet you," Harry briefly wondered if he should bow but decided against it.
"I am very pleased to be meeting you," Dumbledore returned. "I met you as a baby and once as a toddler but I'm sure you probably were too young to remember." Harry nodded.
Dumbledore chuckled. "No need to be so nervous, Harry. I know we've only just been properly introduced but I want you to know you can come to me for any reason. While you are here it is my job to make sure you are protected and looked after. The circumstances of your arrival are certainly unusual and I know you're probably a bit worried about it all."
"Maybe a little," Harry admitted. "But mostly I'm really happy to finally be here."
Dumbledore smiled. "And we're happy to have you. So," He clapped his hands. "Let's get to it shall we? I am most curious to see where you'll be sorted!" He went over to a nearby shelf and pulled a floppy and frayed, pointed hat off of it. He handed it to Harry who stood staring down at it for a minute, unable to find the courage to put it on his head.
The headmaster just stood there, waiting patiently for him. Not wanting to keep him waiting, Harry slipped the hat onto his head.
"Oh ho! Now here's an interesting head!" A small voice in his ear said. "You're already quite accomplished aren't you? Where shall I put you then? Plenty of courage. Highly ambitious and determined to prove yourself. A sharp mind too and a large capacity for kindness. I can see you'd do well in any of the four houses."
"Gryffindor, please," Harry whispered to it. "I want to go to Gryffindor like my mum and dad. And Sirius."
"Yes it's quite clear you're more than decided on it. Very well—GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted out. Harry felt a huge weight lifted off him at this. He'd made it.
"Well done," Dumbledore congratulated.
"I didn't do anything, I just put the hat on my head."
"And thus you have taken the first step on your journey. An accomplishment is still an accomplishment no matter the size."
After that he called McGonagall back in to show him to Gryffindor tower. She didn't say anything but Harry had a suspicion his head of house was secretly pleased he had been sorted there.
"The password for this week is Balderdash," She explained and then demonstrated by saying it to the portrait of the fat lady which swung open to reveal a hidden passageway into the Gryffindor common room.
Harry stepped inside the round, warm, inviting room, looking around in awe. To think his parents had once been in this very room. Had spent seven years of their life in this room. The whole castle really. They'd hated each other in it and fallen in love in it too. "Are you all right Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked when she saw his expression.
"Yeah," He said, voice thick with emotion. "Just thinking of my mum and dad."
Now it was McGonagall's turn to get emotional and she turned away from him for a moment to compose herself. "It's getting late, you should get up to bed. The house elves have already moved your luggage into the dorm for you. The staircase on the right leads to the boys dormitory. You'll receive your class schedule tomorrow at breakfast. Have a good night." And with that she left.
Harry climbed the stairs on the right as instructed, feeling relieved that everyone was already in bed by now. Sirius warned him he'd likely be mobbed by everyone at school seeing as he was famous for being the boy-who-lived. It would be the exact opposite of his time at muggle school where he'd been a complete nobody. Something he was suddenly beginning to miss oddly enough.
But when he walked into the fourth year's wing he found all four boys awake. "Oh er, I thought you'd be asleep," He said in surprise.
Each of them mumbled a half hearted excuse but it was clear the real reason they were up. They had been hoping he would be sorted into Gryffindor and wanted to wait up to meet him if he was. Harry briefly wondered if the same thing was happening in Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw's dorms right now.
The boys introduced themselves. Seamus, Dean, Ron, and Neville. Harry repeated the names in his head, trying to remember them. Ron Weasley would be the easiest to remember with his red hair and freckles. Seamus was Irish and had the accent too to help him recognize him. Meanwhile Dean Thomas was clearly a muggle name.
And then there was Neville Longbottom, the one he was most interested in meeting. The Longbottoms had been close friends of the Potters and their boy Neville had been born around the same time he was. Sirius had said that the prophecy could have been about either of them but when Voldemort came after the Potters and Harry got his scar on that fateful night it became clear that he was the child of the prophecy.
"I'm Harry Potter," He introduced. "But I guess you already knew that." He felt awkward with the others goggling him like some animal in a zoo though he was surprised to find that Neville was the only one who wasn't treating him that way.
Harry coughed uncomfortably and finally Ron broke the silence.
"And have you really got—you know..." He pointed at Harry's forehead. Harry took a step back and instinctively put a hand against his hair to hide it.
"Ron!" Neville exclaimed, sounding horrified that he would ask such an intrusive question and Harry was liking this boy more by the second.
"What?" Ron asked back, oblivious.
"I'm not really comfortable showing it off," Harry explained.
"Oh, sorry," Now he looked suddenly embarrassed.
"S'ok. I expect I'll get a lot of people asking me that tomorrow," He realized with a sigh. Harry walked over the bed with his trunk by it. He opened his trunk and dug through til he found his pajamas.
"Anyway, welcome to Hogwarts!" Neville said in an attempt to make things less awkward between everyone.
"Yeah glad to have you here," Dean and Seamus chimed in.
"I just knew you'd get into Gryffindor!" Ron added. "I can't wait to see Malfoy's face. He was so sure you'd be a Slytherin like him."
Harry went to change and then suddenly realized he'd had an audience. "Er, give me a moment," He said and climbed onto his bed, shutting the curtains to give himself privacy while he changed.
He could hear the other boys whispering about him while he did so. He tried to ignore it until he heard something he couldn't believe. He couldn't fully make out what they were saying but he'd caught a word that made him freeze. "Hermione."
It couldn't be. He tried to tell himself it was some other Hermione. But his heart began to race and fill with hope. Hermione wasn't a very common name in the muggle world but maybe it was in the wizarding world? Hadn't she told him once her name was from a Shakespeare play? What would be the chances wizards would have even heard of the name in that case? And then a realization hit him. The last time he'd seen Hermione she'd told him her parents were sending her to a boarding school. He racked his brain trying to remember if she'd mentioned where the school was and almost had an inkling that she'd said Scotland. But he couldn't be sure. If she had though, could it be possible?
He finished changing and decided he had to know for certain. Harry pulled back the curtains and the boys looked up at him. "Pardon me, but did I hear you say the name Hermione?"
"Uh, yeah," Dean answered.
"Why?" Ron asked.
"I just er…I knew someone once with that name. But it's not a very common one as far as I know so it surprised me."
"Oh well that's because Hermione's a muggle born," Ron explained.
"What's…what's her last name?" He tried to ask casually but his mind was racing and his heart was beating so hard in his chest he thought he might explode. Please, please be Granger, he begged silently. If she was here it would change everything.
"It's Granger. She's a Gryffindor too."
Suddenly the room seemed to tilt sideways and Harry struggled to pull himself together. He felt like he was dreaming. Then suddenly he leaped to his feet and charged down the stairs.
"Where are you going?!" The others shouted in surprise quickly following behind. Harry ignored them as he set foot on the left staircase that led to the girl's dormitory. He made it halfway up before the stairs suddenly changed into a slide and he fell down into the common room.
"What the?!" He exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah the girls dormitory has a defense enchantment to keep boys from coming in," Seamus explained.
"Meanwhile they can come into ours no problem," Dean added.
"Why were you trying to go up there anyway?" Ron asked.
"I know her. I know Hermione. We went to muggle primary school together," He explained.
"You went to muggle school?" Ron asked, sounding disgusted. "Why on earth would you do a crazy thing like that? You're Harry Potter!"
"My mum was a muggle born and she told my godfather that if she died she wanted to ensure he would send me to muggle school til I was old enough to go Hogwarts. She wanted me to know what it was like to live in both worlds as she did."
"That's really nice, that your mum wanted you to grow up like her, I mean. And that your godfather honored her wish," Neville said quietly.
"It is," He replied simply. Feeling disappointed that he couldn't see her yet, Harry followed the others back up to the boys dorm.
But I'll see her tomorrow, he realized and his heart lifted at the thought of it. I'm going to see my best friend again.
"Did you hear?" Lavender asked, bursting into the girl's bathroom that morning as Her line was getting ready for the day. "He's here, he's really here! Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived." Her eyes were sparkling and dreamy.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, he's just another wizard like the rest of us. Please tell me you aren't going to bother him for an autograph or anything stupid like that are you?"
"What like you did with Lockhart?" Lavender said slyly. Hermione sighed in frustration, mostly at herself. She wished she'd never had that stupid celebrity crush. Now Parvati and Lavender would never let her live it down.
"At least Lockhart was an adult who's used to his fame. From what we know of Harry Potter, he's been hidden away for fourteen years of his life, his guardian wouldn't even let him come to school until now. He's probably terrified right now and you want to go goggle at him like some zoo animal."
"What's a zoo?" Lavender asked.
Hermione groaned. "Oh never mind."
"Aren't you at least a little curious?" She asked.
"Of course, he's written about in several of my favorite books. A complete and total mystery as to how he survived, there are theories but no concrete answer anyone can agree on. But he's also a person not a science experiment to be studied, so I'm going to leave him alone and you should too."
"What's a science experiment?"
Hermione shook her head in exasperation and ignored her.
"What's he like?" Parvati asked. Lavender was the only one who'd gone down the common room yet that morning.
"He's really cute! He's got green eyes—though I was surprised to see he wears glasses, not that it detracts from his looks in any way—messy black hair—but in a ruggedly handsome kind of way—and he's tall!"
"Wow!" Pavarti squealed.
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. That description…it was familiar. Too familiar.
"Does he really have a scar on his forehead? I heard it's from surviving you-know-who," Pavarti asked next.
"He does! And it's shaped like a lightning bolt, how cool is that?!"
"He what?!" Hermione exclaimed. That the description wasn't just familiar, it was identical. But it couldn't be possible. Harry, her Harry, was the boy-who-lived? There had to be a mistake.
"Look who's interested now," Lavender said smugly. Hermione ignored the smirk she gave her.
"Where is he?" She asked urgently.
"Down at breakfast but—" Lavender didn't get another word in, Hermione was already out the door.
She waded through the crowd, hearing whispers everywhere she went about the famous Harry Potter. He was Harry Evans to me, I wonder why he didn't use Potter, she wondered.
Once she made it to the great hall her eyes did a sweep of the room, looking for that all too familiar piercing green eyes and jet black hair. And then she saw him sitting at the Gryffindor table. Hermione nearly broke into tears at the sight.
"Harry!" She called out and he turned to look at her. There was instant recognition and his face broke out into a smile. He stood up and began to walk towards her but Hermione was already running.
"Hermione," Harry breathed. He'd been waiting for her to come out of her dorm since he woke up, but she took too long and the boys had dragged him down for breakfast. Then he'd heard his name—not that he hadn't heard it dozens of times in the hour he'd been awake—but this voice was familiar.
And suddenly there she was, much older but was definitely undoubtedly her. She was beaming at him, letting out a shriek of excitement and then she was running after him.
Before he knew it she had launched herself into his arms in a hug so forceful that it ended up accidentally knocking the two of them to the ground. Harry broke into laughter and Hermione soon joined him despite the tears in her eyes.
It was only after they stopped laughing that Harry realized Hermione was on top of him. His eyes left her face and he noticed he could see down the shirt of her school uniform. Face flaming he stared for several seconds before forcing himself to look away but not before he got a flash of something else.
"Hermione, you have a soul mark."
"What?!" She said shrilly, quickly scooting off him and clutching her shirt against her chest.
"Oh my gosh Hermione I am so sorry! I didn't mean to see, honest!" He told her earnestly. It was only then that the rest of the room came into focus and he saw that they had an audience. The entire great hall was looking at them like a giant entity of eyeballs. Harry stood up and helped Hermione to her feet.
"Uh let's continue this conversation later," He whispered and she nodded, looking mortified. They sat down at the table, neither of them able to look at each other for several minutes. Harry wished they could've gone somewhere private to finish their conversation but they only would've attracted even more attention and whispers if they had.
"So uh, Hermione. Since when do you know Harry Potter and how did you meet him?" A girl named Lavender Brown asked.
"Oh well you see we went to muggle school together," Harry and Hermione both said at the same time and they then blushed.
"I see," Lavender said.
"You went by the surname of Evans there," Hermione said, turning to look him in the eyes finally.
"Yeah. Sirius suggested I use my mum's maiden name. You know, for privacy and stuff. Never know if it might get back to a death eater somehow."
"Oh that makes sense. I wish I'd known though. I could've written to you after I went to Hogwarts."
"Me too. I knew you went to a boarding school but I never could've guessed it'd be Hogwarts."
The rest of breakfast passed without much conversation and then it was time for classes.
"What do you have first?" Hermione asked him, peeking over his shoulder to see his schedule.
"Herbology, looks like."
"Me too! Fortunately the Gryffindors share most classes with each other. Elective classes are the exception.
"Hey Harry!" Ron called from across the table. "What electives are you taking?"
"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," Harry answered and Hermione's eyes lit up in delight.
"I'm taking those too!"
Ron however made a face. "Why'd you take the two hardest electives? Divination's way easier!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Some people like a challenge, Ronald."
Ron simply shrugged while Harry said, "My tutors recommended those classes. They said Ancient Runes would be a good class to take since I excel at Defense Against The Dark Arts and a big part of Ancient Runes involves knowing how to break curses and the like. Meanwhile, Arithmancy is a good class to take if you're also taking Ancient Runes."
Hermione nodded along to all this and then added, "I'd think you'd have a little more interest in a class like Ancient Runes since you said your brother was a curse breaker at Gringotts."
"Yeah and that's how I know I don't want to take it!" Ron retorted. "Way too much work."
"What do you want to be then Ron?" Harry asked politely.
"I don't know, something cool I guess."
"Well I hate to break it to you but all the cool jobs take work." The redhead's face turned the same shade of his hair at this and mumbled something Harry couldn't make out before stalking off.
"Since when did you become so serious about schoolwork?" Hermione asked Harry as they walked to class together with Neville following behind them.
"I always have been when it came to my wizarding studies. But I was always rubbish at muggle school."
"You weren't that bad at it," She told him.
"I've always struggled with book smarts. Sitting at a desk all day is hard for me. I'm much better at practical appliance. Which is why I do best at Defense Against The Dark Arts and I'm a fair dueler. I also love flying."
"Oh really? I didn't know that."
"I've been flying since I could walk. My dad was the seeker for his house so Sirius figures I get the natural talent from him. I can't wait to try out for the Quidditch team!"
"'Fraid you'll have to wait til next year for that," Neville said, cutting into the conversation. "They're not doing it this year with the tournament and all."
"Oh," Harry said, crestfallen.
"Don't worry, you'll get three whole years to be on the Quidditch team," Hermione reassured him.
"I don't know if I'll be back next year."
"What?! Why not?"
Harry looked around him. Fortunately the crowd had died down and everyone nearby was walking at a distance from the three of them. Harry knew he could trust Hermione and hoped he could with Neville. So taking a leap of faith he explained about the conditions under which he was allowed to come to school and why.
"Wow," Hermione breathed when he was done. "We were there when your name came out of the goblet you know. But everyone thought it was a mistake."
"People did wonder though because the next thing we heard was that you were coming to attend Hogwarts," Neville added.
"I've been wanting to come to Hogwarts my whole life but my tutors wouldn't let me. They said it wasn't safe. Which is why I'm really glad to finally be here even if I have the looming threat of the deadly tournament tasks hanging over me."
"Well don't worry, there's a month until the first task. And we'll help you prepare for it. I'm sure there's plenty of books in the library that can give us an idea of what to expect. What?" Hermione asked when she saw Harry grinning at her.
"Same old Hermione. Natural habitat: anywhere with books." Hermione smiled sheepishly and Harry knocked her shoulder in a friendly way.
The truth was Harry couldn't stop thinking about all the ways she'd changed since he'd last seen her. He'd quickly become aware when she'd been on top of him, that not only was she grown up, but Hermione Granger was all girl. Face reddening slightly Harry sped up a bit to hide his face.
They arrived at the greenhouses and class had started but Harry had more important things to think about. Because he'd seen something when he'd caught a glimpse down her shirt. She had a soul mark in the exact same spot he did. But more than that was the word the rune translated to. Lightning.
I couldn't possibly be that lucky could I? He wondered. That instead of his soul mate being some girl he'd never met, that he wasn't sure he'd even like, that his soul mate would actually turn out to be the one girl he knew better than anyone?
He didn't want to get his hopes up…but what else could lightning mean but his infamous scar? Though it still didn't explain what his soul mark meant. He'd never been able to figure out what A Winter's Tale referred to. He couldn't imagine what it could possibly have to do with Hermione. Which is why he needed to speak with her in private and ask.
But it wasn't until after lunch that he had a chance to. "I guess this is where we part ways. Neville's taking Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies," Hermione explained.
"Oh. Well see you later then?" Harry said.
Neville grinned. "Sure."
Once he was gone and Harry and Hermione had gotten to an empty corridor, he pulled her aside. "I need to talk to you," He told her.
"About what?"
"Er…it's about well…it's about what I saw earlier. Your soul mark."
Suddenly Hermione was equal parts angry and embarrassed. "Harry Evans Potter! There is nothing to talk about! I still can't believe you saw that and my-my…"
"Boobs?" Harry offered helpfully and instantly regretted it. Hermione rounded on her heel and stormed off.
"Hermione, wait! I'm sorry!"
He caught up with her but she refused to speak to him. "Please Hermione, I didn't mean to. But I did see your soul mark and…other stuff," He rushed on. "But the rune, it translates to lightning and so I thought—"
Suddenly she stopped, eyes widening in surprise. "Of course. Oh I'm so stupid! How did I not realize it before?"
"I'm just glad yours was so much easier for me to figure out. I've been trying to work mine out for years and come up with nothing."
Hermione looked thoughtful. "What does yours say?" She asked finally. Harry took her hand and pulled her into a nearby broom closet.
"What're you—" She began as he ripped off his robe and tie, then unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the soul mark on his chest. "A Winter's Tale," She translated instantly. There was instant recognition on her face. She knew what it meant and looked dazed by it.
"Do you know what it means?" He pressed.
Hermione smiled at him, tears suddenly streaming down her face. "It's my name. My parents named me after Hermione, a character in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale."
Harry took a step back in shock. "Woah."
"I can't believe it's really you," She said in amazement,
"No kidding. I didn't think I could ever be so lucky. I thought I'd be stuck with some girl I didn't even know or like but…but it's you, my best friend." Suddenly he felt tears of his own which confused and embarrassed him,
Hermione reached up and gently brushed her fingers across the soul mark on his chest making Harry feel an electrifying tingle at her touch.
"You know," She said, her smile turning to a smirk. "You could have just told me what it said without having to undress like this."
"Oh right. I guess I didn't think of that," He said, face turning scarlet. "But it does sort of make us even for earlier, right?"
"No it does not!"
A/N: Eventually there will be flashbacks to Harry and Hermione's time at muggle school so you can get a feel for what their friendship was like back then.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please go easy on me and try not to criticize in your reviews. I know this is hardly anything well written or groundbreaking in its ideas. It's a bit clunky in some parts. I am still very new at writing and am trying to improve but really can't handle any major criticism with my mental health at the moment. This is supposed to be fun for me after all. Thank you.