QL - Round 9 [Going Solo] - Pride of Portree - Beater 2

Additional Prompts: [Colour] Red; [Character] Hermione Granger; [Number] Seven.

THC - Round 7 - Ravenclaw - Potions - Standard.

Prompt: [Speech] "When I grow up I want to be a hero. I want to be just like...!"

THC Challenge #4 - There are two sides to every story.

Word Count: 2960

Beta(s): Crissie, Cupcakeyyy, Aurora, Bea, Phoe.

Hermione couldn't comprehend why she was so astonishingly shocked by Ron and Harry's decision to not return to Hogwarts for their final year. How did they think they'd get on without a formal education if their offer in the Auror's department didn't work out?

She was confident that Ron had wanted to be a Quidditch player as his first choice, had he lost the passion? Instead of brightly coloured jerseys, he'd likely have to attend formal meetings in suits. It was never something she had pictured him enjoying. However, after all of their adventures in the fight to take down Voldemort, she did understand his desire to continue to help others and become an Auror.

Harry, however, never really showed much desire for any occupation that she was aware of. His whole life had been one tragedy after another. He would be a good Auror, but was it what he really wanted?

Despite any of that, it didn't change that neither of them wanted to return to Hogwarts. Which meant, for the first time ever, she'd be attending it without her best friends. She felt like she was going back to Hogwarts on her own, however, she and Ginny had gotten closer over recent weeks. Hermione had practically been living with the Weasleys, just like Harry had after the war had ended. So, she didn't feel completely alone, even without her two best friends - and potential future husband - there were many others returning to Hogwarts who she could call her friends.

The three of them separated in the morning, with Hermione leaving at seven in the morning to do her school supply shopping by herself - Ginny hadn't needed anything. She remembered being surprised that both of her best friends were also getting ready at 7 am. Ron had been dressed in casual but clean grey robes for his meeting at the Ministry and Harry had worn his normal clothes - though, his wardrobe was filled with more fitting outfits than when they had been at Hogwarts. Hermione, on the other hand, had just dressed in jeans and a white top. However, as they couldn't trust the English weather, she had packed her red jumper - and she was so glad that she had.

By the time she was heading to meet up with Ron and Harry, she had put it on to keep herself warm. Hermione walked past the crowds of people until she finally saw the boys in view, Ron was no longer wearing his grey robes, but had on jeans and a t-shirt; wasn't he cold? Her eyebrows drew closer in confusion as she watched them interact with a little boy - he looked extremely excited, though, Harry didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm.

The young blond departed just before she reached them. "He looked excited."

"Complimentary," Ron replied shortly with a hidden smile.

Glancing over at Harry, she knew to not press the subject. After all, this was their last time together as a trio before she headed to Hogwarts tomorrow. Life would be very different. "Are you both sorted for your Auror training?"

Ron, who had been staring at her red jumper, instantly perked up. It was clear that he was ecstatic over this prospect. "Yes. I've gone into the Ministry a few times, as you both know. It's a shame that Harry and I are being trained separately."

"It'll give you your own individuality and you won't be compared to him as much," Hermione answered, his joy radiating onto her.

"Yeah!" he said as if he had just realised that. A thoughtful look crossed his face. "I went from being one of seven to one of three. I won't be just another Weasley, nor will I be one of the trio. I'll be Ron! Just Ron!"

Hermione grinned. "Just Ron is who I'm always happy to see."

The two of them shared a shy look at that comment before Harry jumped in. "I'll be doing part-time Auror training."

Taken back at the suddenness, Hermione couldn't come up with a response before Ron let out an unfiltered: "Why? You're not thinking about going back to school?"

Hermione's mood soured at his tone, however, her focus was on Harry. "Why part-time?"

"I want to get to know my family more, or at least, discover things about their past. When I turned seventeen, I inherited my family's manor - I didn't even know we had one. I just thought they had the cottage." He paused and looked down, seemingly ashamed at this decision.

Hermione smiled. While she supported his idea, Ron couldn't quite grasp why Harry had chosen to look around a building over a full-time career as an Auror.

Ronald Weasley's day had turned from amazing to even better to absolutely dreadful. It all started with him waking up on time - without any prompting - and making his way to the Ministry of Magic for an official introduction to the Aurors before training. He even wore robes - they weren't as stuffy as his black ones, but he wasn't sure wearing bright colours was the best decision. The meeting went off without a hitch. Everything sounded perfect, apart from that he and Harry would be trained separately, but he was too excited to allow that to dampen his mood.

Then, when meeting up with Harry and Hermione, a little boy called him a hero. Not just Harry, but Ron too! He was acknowledged personally.

Things got even better after that when Hermione turned up wearing the most amazing red jumper he had ever seen. It hugged her body naturally and made him want to just hold her in his arms. He couldn't remember seeing her in red before, but it And even though she looked amazing, her mind was even more amazing as she pointed out expertly that training separately from Harry would mean he wouldn't be compared to Harry. Ron had been compared his whole life, he was one of seven children to Molly and Arthur Weasley. How could he possibly live up to any of his brothers? He was the youngest. And at age eleven, he walked into Hogwarts and befriended somebody who, in a lot of ways, he could never beat. Ron had never thought about it this way though, not until after the war when others had compared them and given Harry all of the credit. A lot of people disregarded him. So, Hermione's expert comment made the only bad thing about his day turn into a great thing.

Unfortunately, that was when the rug was pulled from under his feet: Harry informing him he was changing his plans and not joining him for Auror training. How could he recover his mood from that? Because honestly, part-time? What's the point of that? How does he expect to become one of the best and most-known Aurors in the world alongside him? Harry's excuse: his family home. He wanted to look over his Dad's old home and that would stop him from taking on a full-time job? How big did he think it was?

It was difficult to not zone out the rest of the conversation, including Harry's explanation. Thankfully, Hermione was in full form and took over the other half of the conversation, meaning he didn't have to speak. It was a good thing, too. Because Ron's mind was not very clear in regards to his best friend's stupid decision.

Harry was incredibly nervous about meeting up with Ron and Hermione. He had some news he needed to tell the both of them and wasn't sure how either of them would react. Hermione usually thought things through but always spoke her mind, and his red-headed friend sometimes spoke before thinking - completely uncensored.

It was Ron that he was more nervous about. The two of them were supposed to be joining the Aurors together, however, now that wasn't Harry's overall plan.

With a sigh, he arrived at the location at the same time as Ron. It felt weird that the three of them were making their own way their seeing as they all lived at the Burrow right now, but they each had their own errands to run. Harry was at the Ministry signing paperwork to take full ownership of his family's property, Potter Manor, Hermione was shopping for supplies for Hogwarts, and Ron was doing an initial meeting with the Aurors.

"Hey," he greeted, surprised that both Ron and he were early and Hermione was nowhere to be seen. This must have been a first.

"Where's Hermione?"

Harry shrugged and sat down, waiting until his friend joined him before speaking, "I wanted to talk to you before Hermione gets here." Harry took a breath to calm his nerves. Time to spill the beans.

"You're Harry Potter!" a little voice announced.

The two young adults looked down at a child, approximately seven years old. "I am," Harry replied curtly. He hadn't been in public much lately but didn't expect to be recognised where they were. They had chosen this spot specifically for privacy.

The boy wiggled excitedly and looked over at Ron. "And you… you're Ron Weasley!"

With pride, he grinned. "I am!"

"When I grow up I want to be a hero. I want to be just like you!" he announced proudly. "Mamma! Look! It's those heroes who saved the world!"

"Come on, Benny, let's leave them to their day," said the woman who they presumed was his mother.

Ron smiled at them. "It's not an issue." He looked down at the boy. "Being a hero means doing what's right, even if it's difficult."

Benny grinned up at him with excitement. "Thank you, Mr. Weasley!"

Harry watched as the mother-and-son combo walked off. That was something he had never had. When he had been that age he had done what he had needed to survive, to get through the day, and to earn an ounce of respect he could from his so-called family. His mind was filled with how things could have been different if at age seven his parents had still been around. That was what he had always wanted. Still, to this day, he didn't know much about either of them. But this opportunity, to live in the house his father had grown up in, where there were generations worth of history in one place, that would be more than he had ever expected.

He barely noticed a flash of red when Hermione turned up and they began to talk about Auror training. A conversation he would be expected to join, but he knew he couldn't until he told them both the truth.

"I'll be doing part-time Auror training."

There was a full second of silence as two heads turned towards him. "Why? You're not thinking about going back to school?" Ron asked first, his voice filled with disgust at that possibility.

Thankfully, Hermione's tone was more curious and level-headed. "Why part-time?"

Harry thought about how he could phrase his answer. How could he make them understand without sounding like a seven-year-old? "I want to get to know my family more, or at least, discover more about their past. When I turned seventeen, I inherited my family's manor - I didn't even know we had one. I just thought they had the cottage."

He paused and looked down. Deciding to not take a full-time job, one that was literally given to him, had been a big life-changing direction for him. One he had questioned several times. His whole life had had other people making decisions for him - who he lived with, where he stayed, who he had to defeat. And now, being given an automatic acceptance into a job he didn't have the qualifications for felt a bit like the direction he was going to take in life had been chosen for him. Or at least, it was an easy way for him to follow others and not discover himself.

"Are you moving into the manor?"

Harry looked up at Hermione thankfully. "I'm thinking about it." He looked at Ron, wondering if that would entice a response, however, it appeared that Ron was lost in his own thoughts. "I haven't seen it yet."

Hermione nodded. "Do you want us to come with you?"

He couldn't help but smile at that. Even with Hermione ready to leave for Hogwarts tomorrow, and having an evening planned with Ron, she would still drop everything to help a friend. "I think this is something I want to do alone. Some…" he drifted off, trying to think of the expression or word.

"Self-discovery?"

"Exactly." Harry looked over to the café's menu. "There'll be plenty of time after you've graduated for all three of us to explore it together, but…"

"I understand, Harry." Hermione followed his eyes to the menu. "I'll go get us all some Butterbeers."

As she left, Harry wasn't sure what to do with himself. Was he being over-dramatic or stupid for choosing to not take the job with the Aurors as a full-time position? He wished he could understand it from his best friends' perspective.

Later that evening, Harry felt truly alone as he entered the large manor - officially known as Potter Manor. What was he going to do with all of this space? The Ministry of Magic had been very kind and given him a basic history of the Manor when they passed over the keys - actual, physical keys! Though the Manor was protected by magic, as long as there was a living Potter in the world, the Ministry was not able to gain entry unless with permission.

So, it was his. Officially, legally, wholeheartedly.

However, Harry felt like he was a first-year again, looking around Hogwarts and worried about getting lost. This manor had seven bedrooms. Seven!

Hesitantly, he stepped into the entryway and already wished that he hadn't decided to do this alone. The dusty stone walls stretched across the grand entrance hall, reaching great heights - at least three times the height of him - before opening up to the large stone staircase.

His footsteps echoed off the walls as he walked to the staircase, deciding whether to go up first or to investigate the ground floor. Harry ran his fingers over the oak wood banister before looking to the large open archway leading into a large room to his left. Curiosity got the better of him and he found himself walking into a large ballroom. That didn't shock him, the portraits on the wall, on the other hand, did.

"Ah, a new face," one of the portraits spoke. "Who are you?"

Harry looked up at the aged man who wore clear black robes. His portrait frame was a mahogany red - in fact, all of them were. "I'm Harry-"

"Harry, who?" asked a very well-dressed younger woman.

He turned his attention to her portrait towards the centre of the room. "Harry James Potter."

The eighteen-year-old looked around, wanting to ask a thousand questions but also not wanting to be rude. All he received was stares; some confusion, some wonder, some intrigue, some disgust.

Maybe he should probably introduce himself. "I'm Harry, James' son."

"Fleamont's grandson, he was a good kid."

"James, the one who married the Mudblood?"

"They're known as Muggleborns, remember."

"If I remember correctly, it was that talk that made James move out for that witch."

"He never came back. Hasn't been back in years!"

"And now he sends his son."

Harry had mild trouble keeping up. It seemed the portraits and his father hadn't always seen eye to eye, however, more prominently, it appeared they were not up to date in regards to the war. Years behind.

"My father's dead. He died sixteen years ago."

There was only a second of silence. "Passed not long after his parents. Such a shame."

The room merged into mini conversations between them, though, Harry couldn't focus anymore. Should he give them an update? Or could he start fresh? Not as the boy who lived, but a Potter.

"Oi! Oi! Junior!" Harry looked up at a very old woman, one who appeared to be trying to lean out of the portrait to see him. "Why are you here?"

That was a good question. A very good one indeed. "To find myself. To discover who my family was. I grew up without them, without any Potters to guide me."

"You're in the right place," she stated. He looked up to the engraved name to see she was Iolanthe Potter. "Now, go get an elf to cook you some food, you're far too skinny."

Harry chuckled at that and walked off to where she pointed. He couldn't help but follow her orders.

He wandered into a formal dining room, one which reminded him of Hogwarts. The large table was made of the same mahogany redwood as the frames and likely could fit at least twenty guests. There were red and bronze paintings to signify Gryffindor, as well as green and silver for Slytherin. In fact, as Harry looked around, he noted that each house was represented here in the artwork.

By the time Harry made it to the kitchen, he was astonished. But he was also feeling as though he didn't belong here. It was too grand for his liking. Secretly, he wished that he could rebuild the old cottage in Godric's Hollow. A cozy cottage, small, maybe two bedrooms, and a comfy living room; that would be nice. But his dad had grown up here.

His attention moved to a small breakfast nook at the side of the kitchen, one with a red tablecloth, which represented the cosy family atmosphere he desired.

This showed him what this mansion could become once again: A loving family home.

Maybe he could turn it into one again?

Only time would tell.