Harry was smiling, smiling in a house in the Muggle world, smiling for the first time—a completely open, innocent, truly happy smile—and it was all due to his best friend and her amazing parents, who were currently debating which Star Wars movie was better: A New Hope or Return of the Jedi. Hermione was adamant that the cinematography of Return of the Jedi outshone all facets of the original, while Dan Granger argued that nothing could compete with the achievements of A New Hope and that "no sequel can compare with the original."
Harry himself didn't have an opinion and kept out of it, having never seen a single Star Wars movie in his life. Something told him that informing his hosts of that fact would lead to many subsequent viewings. Not that he was against watching the movies, but he felt like getting out of the house today since he would no doubt spend most of tomorrow cramped not only inside but in a select few chairs. Harry had no idea how long the hearing would stretch, but Mr. Tonks indicated that it would take quite a long time.
"No, no, no, can't you see it's the improved visual effects that finally carry the story George Lucas was—" "HERMIONE!" Hermione was telling her father something for the third time when Harry interrupted her. She slowly turned to look at him, eyes wide, about to tell him off for interrupting her when she saw the apology on his face. "Sorry, but didn't you say you were going to show me around the neighborhood? Not that I mind this debate, but since I'm going to spend most of tomorrow in a chair, I'd rather spend the rest of today up and walking with you. You know I don't sit still very long." "Of course, Harry, I apologize. We've almost talked the entire afternoon away. Give me fifteen minutes to get ready, and then I'll take you along the neighborhood." Hermione said this, looking very bashful, but brightened up when she saw that Harry was still beaming. With that, she hurried off to her room to gather whatever she needed, which turned out to be a different pair of shoes, a small hip bag, and her wild hair trapped in the same paperboy hat he had seen her in previously.
"Well? Where are we going first?" Harry asked as they set out after saying goodbye to the Granger parents.
"Oh, just around there is a lovely park, just down the road. I used to go there a lot after school, before I came to Hogwarts." Hermione gestured down the road while continuing to talk. It was several silent and content minutes later that Hermione once again spoke up. "Harry?" Hermione said rather hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"How often do you have nightmares?" Hermione stopped and looked him in the eye so she had Harry's full focus.
"Errr, rarely. Why?" Harry said, sounding confused.
"Because this morning I think I startled you a bit when I woke up, and I think you started acting out your nightmare. You started struggling and almost screaming, but after a minute your eyes went blank and even though you were still fighting I could tell you weren't awake. You calmed down shortly after and it was like nothing happened. I wasn't even sure if you would remember it happening."
"Oh...that...that (Harry heaved a large sigh), that wasn't a dream or a nightmare. Ever since we went down that trapdoor, I've been seeing what's left of...you-know-who...covered in the ashes of Quirrell, flying at me and screaming that horrible scream. It happens completely randomly and only a few times now. In fact, it hasn't happened since my uncle and I got into it, and I started down this insane path to independence. My brain has been too sidetracked to think about it, I guess."
Madam Pomfrey said that a panic response might set these visions off—something called PTSD or shell shock. So when you woke me up, it must have triggered whatever panic response she was talking about and set me off. My brain probably just shut back down. I don't really know; I haven't had the chance to look anything up. Madam Pomfrey explained it a lot better than I did." Harry turned around to face away from her while he explained all this.
"But you're okay, right, Harry?" Harry looked back up at Hermione when she asked this.
"I really don't know, Hermione. I don't think I've ever been what anyone would call okay. Most of my dreams are about my aunt, cousin, and uncle beating me. It happens so frequently that they don't even bother me. They aren't scary; they're not nightmares, not anymore, though I do dream about the troll from Halloween sometimes now." Harry smiled at this, as if battling a full-grown mountain troll was a fond memory.
"Have you thought about therapy?"
Not really, I never looked into it before Hogwarts, but I know a kid can't set their own appointments. And from what I know of the wizarding world, I doubt that the magicals have therapy. Madame Pomfrey understands basic psychology, I think, but even her go-to response was to hand me potions.
"That's not right! How can anyone deal with traumatic events like that in the wizarding world if no one studies psychology?"
Harry laughed at her indignity. "Well, maybe that's something one of us can introduce to the wizarding world in the future. It's as good a goal as any." At this, Harry looked up into the clear August sky, took a deep, slow breath, and looked around the empty dome of the heavens. "It would be a fantastic day for a flight on my broom. That might be the worst part about being back in the Muggle world—I can't fly, not in the daytime at least."
Well, I can't say I agree, but I understand the sentiment," Hermione spoke, gazing around the cloudless ether above them. Hermione was not a fan of flying; her fear of heights and trepidation caused the brooms not to respond to her. But Harry thought that might be the school brooms. He made a mental note to let her fly on his Nimbus when they returned to Hogwarts.
As the preteens arrived at the park, Hermione gestured grandly, like a ringmaster leading a circus.
"I present for your entertainment the 'Shakespeare Adventure and Playpark.' It was a small, shabby-looking play park. The swing set only had three seats, and one of those was for an infant. The slide appeared to be about 50 years old and was so neglected that it was rusted. Part of the jungle gym had collapsed in on itself, no doubt from the local teens jumping on it and trying to break it further."
"Err, Hermione, no offense, but this place is depressing."
That caused Hermione to laugh and, looking at Harry with mirth-filled eyes, she said
"Oh, I know it wasn't always this bad, but aside from swinging, I never really played here. Plenty of the neighborhood kids played here while I was here, but I was never included, so i always ended up reading in the sunlight."
She then gestured towards a bench with a large tree providing shade over it and a medium-sized pond. The tree looked a bit odd, a bit lopsided to Harry, but he couldn't fathom what had happened to such a large tree.
"what happened to that tree, Hermione?"
Hermione, beaming that he picked up what she had wanted him to say, said in a cheerful voice, "I asked my dad about it a few summers ago. He grew up in our house; he bought it from my grandparents when they moved after retiring. He explained that around here, that tree is called the V2 tree. During World War 2, that tree was struck by something called a V2 rocket from Germany, and it obliterated the top half of the tree. It landed and blew up right where that pond is." Harry looked at the almost perfectly circular pond.
"So that pond isn't a pond, really; it's a bomb crater?"
"is a war wound, a battle scar. Except instead of erasing it or leaving it behind as an ugly reminder, the people around here came together to make it a beautiful and welcome part of the landscape." Harry stood there staring at the pond before shifting to look at Hermione and smiled.
"Thanks, Hermione."
"Whatever are you thankful for, Harry? Come on, you can push me on the swing for a bit."
It was several hours later that a tired Harry and Hermione reentered the Granger house to find it empty, a note sitting on the kitchen table.
"Hermione and Harry, we left to go get takeout. Be back soon."
"Oh, it's not too often that we eat out two days in a row. I wonder what they're getting," Hermione said, her eyes sparkling.
"I don't know, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see. I've only eaten out a few times, and never anywhere good with the Dursleys. There was one time I went shopping with Dudley and Aunt Petunia, and Dudley wanted "Maccies." Aunt Petunia had to give me something because it would look bad, so I got to eat a full regular hamburger for the first time that day. And the fries! They had the best fries I'd ever tasted."
Hermione was silent then, silent as the grave. Harry figured he had overshared again about the abuses his aunt and uncle foisted on him. Harry knew he shouldn't talk about how he was raised, but they were such an everyday occurrence that he really stopped being able to tell what was normal or not.
"Hermione... it's okay, really. The way they treated me never bothered me."
"THATS BECUASE TO YOU IT WAS NORMAL HARRY! NORMAL TO BE STARVED AND BREATEN! NORMAL TO THINK LESS OF YOUR SELF! if i ever get my wand on the dursleys im going to jinx them into jellies! NO forget my wand ill strangle them with my bare hands."
"Well, that will be pretty difficult for Dudley and Uncle Vernon. But you really shouldn't trouble yourself; they're not worth the effort.". Scum, that's what they are and what they have been. I see that now, especially ever since they reset my brain at St. Mungo's. I can see that it was a passivity curse or something that led me to just go along with everything for so long. Another crime of Dumbledore's that he will be paying for tomorrow. Either I'll see to it or Smara will.
"Where is Smara? I haven't seen her the entire time you've been here."
Oh, well, she's not actually here. After I was hospitalized by my uncle the other day, I couldn't go back to Privet Drive to get her. But I can feel she's okay and content. I think she's lazing about in the sun; the familiar bond gives me a few basic details if I focus on it. Harry closes his eyes and draws deeper into the bond. "Yes, I think that Hedwig must have taken her to Ron's house. I know it's in the countryside somewhere. I guess we'll see. I know that if I focus, I can find her no matter where she is, so I'm not too worried. I know she's not at Privet Drive anymore, so I'm not too worried."
"Well," Hermione said, deep in thought, "what would you like to do until my parents get back?"
"Hmm, I don't know, really. I suppose you can start the Star Wars movie since you and your dad were talking about them earlier."
With that, the two children sat together, and Hermione explained all her favorite parts of the next two Star Wars films. Many laughs were had. Much food brought home by Hermione's parents was eaten, and the two friends fell asleep on opposite ends of the couch for the second night in a row. Not for the first time now, Harry had the ever-increasingly familiar thought before he fell asleep:
All is well.
hey guys sorry for the long break my life goes through cycles of having to much and not enough time.
byyyyyyyeeeeee
