Chapter 18

Time had passed since then and, just as Harry thought, the quidditch practices had been changed so they could beat the Slytherins, both Ron and Oliver had borrowed Harry's cloak to watch the Slytherins practice and plan for what they might do. Harry was glad to hear Oliver kept his word and spoke to the other quidditch teams and told them how to prepare against Slytherin, the Ravenclaws were thankful for the information and planned for their match, the Hufflepuffs on the other hand almost disagreed since they felt it wouldn't be fair but Oliver pointed out how the Slytherins never play fair and are cheating the rest of the teams out of their chance to win the cup, in the end the Hufflepuffs agreed. The Gryffindor team had also gained another unofficial member since Colin had bought a new camera with the galleons Harry gave him and now he showed up to all their practices and took many photos, the team even had to pose for a few photos and Harry did have to sign one with the rest of the team. Oliver would review the photos Colin took of their practice to see where the team needed to improve and copies were made that quickly spread through the students, even McGonagall had a few photos in her office.

Harry did notice that whenever he had to practice he'd see most of the Gryffindor second years in the stands, they started to attend the practices whenever they weren't busy. A few times some of them had to miss the practice since they'd spend their time with their other friends or they needed to study for a class, however one person that made sure she was at every practice was Hermione but she did bring a book with her to read. During this time Colin had more people interested in his photos since he had developed many photos of the quidditch teams and gave them to their captains, the excited first year had gone around the school and took many photos of the castle, grounds, and students.

Flitwick had informed Harry and his friends that he was going to be busy on Saturday and so they would push their training to the Sunday after, to Harry he didn't mind since that Saturday was Hermione's birthday and he hoped to celebrate it more properly than last year. The day before Harry had managed to sneak away from his friends so he could prepare something for Hermione's birthday.

That Saturday Hermione was woken up by two excited girls saying "Happy birthday Hermione!"

Hermione sat up and before she could register what happened she was hugged by both Fay and Sally-Anne, Hermione realized what they said and smiled and hugged them back as she said "Thanks you two!"

Lavender and Parvati were surprised to hear it was Hermione's birthday but wished her a happy birthday, she thanked the two before getting ready for the day. Once the three girls were ready they went to the common room where they were greeted by Harry and Neville, both boys saw Hermione and said "Happy birthday!"

Hermione smiled and rushed over and hugged the two boys, normally she was the first one of their friends to wake up but it looked like they beat her to it. Fay walked up to them and said "We'll give you our gifts later in the day, for now let's all head to the great hall."

The five friends left for the great hall, however Fay was the last one to leave the common room but not before looking towards the stairs leading to the boys' dorms and nodding at an excited Colin holding his new camera. The five friends arrived for breakfast and were soon joined by Hedwig and Lyall, Fay was glad to see her parents and Hermione's parents were getting along and they let Hermione's parents use Lyall to deliver any package or letter they wanted to send. Lyall dropped off a package from Hermione's parents while Hedwig gave Hermione some flowers, Hermione thanked the two owls before they took off. Throughout breakfast they were joined by the other Gryffindor second years who wished Hermione a happy birthday, the other three Gryffindor boys were told about Hermione's birthday and gave her some sweets.

Once they were done with breakfast Harry asked "Hey Hermione, do you want to go to the library?"

Hermione immediately smiled and agreed, they invited Dean, Seamus, and Ron but the three turned down the offer, making a quick stop at the tower Hermione grabbed some supplies before they went to the library. Arriving at the library Hermione started to look for books she'd like to read while Fay, Neville, and Sally-Anne looked at each other and smiled before splitting away from Harry and Hermione. Hermione looked for some books she could read now and some she could check out to read for later, Harry offered to carry them for her. When Harry was carrying seven books he spoke "I don't think I know anyone who loves to read more than you do."

Hermione felt a bit embarrassed and said "Well they're all so fascinating and looked interesting."

Harry asked "They do look interesting, can I read them with you?"

Hermione was surprised but smiled and agreed, grabbing a few more books the two walked over to the usual table they'd sit at to see Fay, Sally-Anne, and Neville were already there. The two walked over to the only available seats and sat next to each other, Hermione grabbed some parchment and a quill as she started to read one of the new books with Harry, she started to take notes from the books as the two unconsciously scooted closer to each other. Neville, Fay, and Sally-Anne saw the two were lost in one of their books and quietly moved away while Colin took many pictures from a farther distance to remain hidden. Over an hour had passed and Hermione had written a few notes and was about to move onto another book however the peace was ruined when they heard a familiar and annoying voice along with several girls.

Glancing over they saw Lockhart entered the library and was surrounded by many sixth and seventh year girls, they saw he even had pictures of himself he autographed and was handing them out. Hermione looked annoyed that the peace of the library was ruined and even Madam Pince seemed to be staring at Lockhart. Hermione looked over and saw Fay, Neville, and Sally-Anne were gone and asked "Where did they go?"

They noticed a piece of parchment which read "Harry, Hermione,

We didn't want to disturb you since you both looked deeply invested in your books but we had to leave to help Professor Sprout in the greenhouses, we'll meet up later.

Fay, Sally-Anne, Neville."

Looking at each other the two shrugged before they heard Lockhart's laugh, Hermione groaned and said "Let's go, I can't stand being around Lockhart longer than I need to be."

Harry chuckled a bit at seeing Hermione no longer called Lockhart a Professor, he spoke "Glad to see you listened to Augusta and saw he's really just a fraud."

They started to gather their things as Hermione spoke "I can't believe he assigned all of his own books just to get the students to buy them, they don't teach anything about defense."

"It looks like the only thing he loves more than his fame is himself."

Hermione shook her head and said "I'm glad you dislike your fame and don't act anything like him."

Harry got an idea and put on his best fake smile and said "You don't think I can win Witch Weekly's most charming smile?"

Hermione saw Harry's smile before hitting him on the head with her parchment and saying "Don't do that!"

The two looked at each other before they smiled and laughed, they quickly checked out the rest of the books before deciding to head to the tower to drop them off. Harry carried all of her books for her until they got to the common room, Hermione took her books and said she'd be back before walking up to her dorm. Arriving at her dorm Hermione put the books away in her trunk but then noticed one of her books was sitting on her bed, picking it up she saw it was the book Harry gave her last year for her birthday about the Hogwarts founders. Hermione saw a piece of parchment was in the book, pulling it out it read "I think Harry would like to read this with you."

Hermione recognized Fay's handwriting and realized she left it there for her, Hermione thought of leaving it there but decided to take it with her. Arriving back at the common room she saw Harry was waiting for her, she asked him "Hey Harry, would you want to read this together?"

Harry saw the book and said "Sure, I didn't get the chance to read it." Hermione smiled and was about to walk over to one of the couches to sit together but Harry stopped her and said "Maybe we should go somewhere else."

Harry pointed over and they saw Cormac was bragging to a girl about the important job his father had in the ministry. The two left the common room and thought about heading to the dueling room however Harry saw how nice it looked outside and suggested "Why don't we go outside to read?"

Hermione saw how nice it looked outside and agreed, the two walked outside and Hermione followed Harry to a nice tree that had a great view of the Black Lake and of the castle. The two sat down under a tree and Hermione opened up the book to start to read however she froze when she felt Harry sit close to her so he could see. She felt their shoulders touching and Hermione blushed but tried to focus on the book, Harry asked "What did you think of the book?"

The question snapped Hermione out of it before she smiled and said "I loved it, it told me so much about the founders and I learnt more about the founders than I did from Hogwarts: A History."

Hermione told Harry what she thought was the most interesting while flipping through the pages, she told Harry about the sword of Godric Gryffindor, the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, and the locket of Salazar Slytherin. She explained how the sorting hat originally belonged to Godric and the four founders enchanted it to sort the students into their houses. She explained how Helga specialized in food related charms and the recipes she made were used as the basis for the Hogwarts feasts. Hermione explained how Rowena had chosen the location for Hogwarts and is responsible for the moving staircases. Hermione also explained how Salazar had a dislike for muggleborns and it caused an argument with the other founders and even a fight with Gryffindor before Slytherin left.

Harry listened to Hermione as she explained everything she found interesting from the book, it took a while before she realized she wasn't letting Harry read the book, she blushed in embarrassment and apologized but Harry told her he didn't mind listening to her. This made Hermione blush more before saying they should focus on the book, they read for a while before Harry saw his watch and realized lunch would start soon. Harry stood up and Hermione felt she was already missing having Harry next to her but Harry asked "Do you want to walk around the Black Lake before we head to lunch?"

Hermione smiled and agreed, the two walked around the lake and enjoyed the fresh air as they started a conversation about their classes and their dueling lessons. They soon left for the great hall for lunch, once the two sat down they were slowly joined by the rest of their friends. Fay was glad to see Hermione was having fun spending her birthday with Harry, she glanced over at Colin as he was eating his lunch with Demelza and the two nodded at each other. Fay did notice that during lunch Ginny was sitting close to Colin and she was staring at Harry as if he was the only one there.

Lunch was almost over and Harry and his friends were about to leave however they were interrupted when Oliver showed up and said "Harry, good news, I was able to book the pitch for after lunch so we should head there soon."

Harry was surprised but quickly glanced at Hermione before turning to Oliver and saying "Oliver, I can't today."

"Come on Harry, if we want to win that cup and beat Slytherin then we need to be ready."

Harry was about to disagree however Hermione spoke "You should go Harry, I don't mind watching you practice."

Hermione realized what she said and blushed however Fay came to her rescue "Yeah, we'll all be there to cheer you on and watch you practice!"

Harry heard the other second years agree so he turned to Oliver and said "Alright, I'll head there after lunch."

Oliver thanked him and told Ron to get ready too before leaving to inform the rest of the team. Once lunch was over the rest of the second years left to head for the pitch but Harry needed to head back to the dorm to pick up his broom since he never left it in the locker room, Hermione followed Harry since she needed to grab another book and drop off her other one. Hermione quickly got to her dorm and grabbed another book to read and returned to the common room but saw Harry wasn't there, she decided to head to the boys' dorm to see if Harry was ready yet, walking in she saw Harry was wearing his quidditch jersey and looking through his trunk.

Hermione asked "Is everything ok Harry?"

"Yeah, I let Ron borrow my broom before and I think he misplaced it since it's not in its usual spot." Harry looked at the expanded compartments in his trunk hoping Ron didn't leave it somewhere else.

Hermione walked over and sat on Harry's bed as she waited for him to find his broom, she looked around the dorm and saw that Seamus had his area messy and Ron had a quidditch poster hanging close to his bed. Neville seemed to be cleaner than the rest and Dean had a football poster hanging close to his bed, Hermione looked around at Harry's bed and saw it was cleaner and on his bedside drawer he had a few things however when she looked at his pillow she noticed there was a book underneath it. Hermione reached over and grabbed the book and saw it was a journal, her curiosity got the better of her and she opened it but saw all the pages were blank. Hermione flipped through the pages but saw they were all blank, when she got to the end she closed the journal and looked at the cover and the back, the only thing written on the journal were three symbols on the back.

"I found it!" Hermione jumped and saw Harry was holding his broom and closed his trunk, he spoke "Come on we should-" Harry stopped when he saw Hermione was holding his mother's journal.

Hermione saw Harry was looking at the journal, she placed it down and said "Sorry, I just saw it and was curious to what it was."

Harry grabbed the journal and said "Uh, no, it's fine, it's nothing really."

Hermione saw Harry seemed nervous as he opened his trunk and placed the journal inside, Hermione asked "What's it for?"

Harry quickly said "Nothing, I mean, it's nothing really, I haven't written anything in it, it's not important." Hermione was confused since she'd never seen Harry act this secretive before, Harry quickly said "Come on we're going to be late for practice!"

Harry left the dorm and Hermione followed after but she glanced back at Harry's trunk as she was still curious about the journal. Harry was berating himself for leaving the journal somewhere it could be found, while none of his dorm mates found the journal he realized he was being careless and someone could end up finding it. He thought "What if a teacher finds it and they are able to reveal what the journal says, mum said to keep it secret from everyone unless I trust them completely." Harry thought about Hermione and thought "Well, I do trust Hermione but I'm not sure if I should tell her, what will she think of the journal, I probably shouldn't tell her yet."

Harry shook his head and decided to ask Hermione about the book she brought with her, Hermione started to explain what the book was about before they made it to the pitch. Hermione wished Harry good luck before leaving to join the rest of their friends in the stands, Harry flew up to join the rest of his team. Hermione sat with her friends and watched Harry practice with the rest of the team, she did feel a bit worried when she saw Fred and George hit the bludgers towards him but thankfully he dodged them. Hermione started to read her book after a while but she would glance up at Harry every now and then, she saw how much Harry enjoyed pushing his broom to its fastest speed before catching the snitch and releasing it again. Hermione looked over at their friends and saw how all of them were enjoying watching the quidditch team practice and she noticed how Colin was there taking pictures.

The team stopped their practice an hour before dinner even though Oliver wanted to keep practicing but the rest of the team refused, most of them left for the locker room but Harry flew over to see his friends and ask what they thought of their practice. The second years and Colin were telling Harry about how excited they were to see the first game, Fay had gotten an idea during the practice and whispered it to Sally-Anne, when she saw Sally-Anne was distracting Hermione Fay decided to whisper to Harry "Harry, I know Hermione barely passed her flying exam last year so maybe you should offer to help her by offering her a ride."

Harry thought about it and agreed, he flew closer to Hermione and got her attention "Hey Hermione, do you want to go for a ride?"

Hermione's eyes widened before she shook her head and said "No, no, no, I don't think I should!" Hermione looked at the broom and after seeing all the crazy moves Harry made she wouldn't want to get on that thing.

Harry held out his hand and said "Come on, I promise we'll fly low and slowly until you get used to it, please."

Hermione looked over at their friends, Dean and Seamus had already left and Neville, Fay, and Sally-Anne were encouraging her. Hermione looked nervous but she saw Harry smile at her, she decided to agree and got onto the broom behind Harry. Hermione tightened her hold on Harry as soon as she felt her feet leave the ground, thankfully Harry flew closer to the ground and flew slower. She heard Harry say "Hermione, I promise it's not as dangerous as you think it is, I won't let anything happen to you."

At those words Hermione blushed but loosened her hold slightly, she saw Harry was keeping his promise to stay low to the ground and fly slowly. Hermione did tighten her hold again but not because she was scared but because she was close to Harry, holding onto him she noticed how he was no longer the scrawny kid she met on the train last year, he put on a healthier amount of weight and seemed better than he was last year. Harry slowly sped up and when he felt Hermione tighten her hold again he said "Don't worry Hermione, I'm in control of the broom and I won't let anything happen."

Harry felt Hermione rest her head on his back, she kept her arms wrapped around him and said "I know Harry, I trust you."

Harry felt surprised by her words and actions, he's been hugged by her many times before but having her this close to him felt different, he felt he didn't dislike it. Harry saw the sun was going down so he said "Hermione, I want to show you something, we need to fly higher but I promise I won't let anything happen."

Hermione felt nervous but she decided to trust Harry so she nodded and agreed, she felt them fly higher so she closed her eyes and tried not to look down. Harry flew to a spot where they would have the best view, Hermione soon felt the broom stop and heard Harry tell her to look, Hermione opened her eyes and looked around Harry and saw the natural beauty of the forest, the mountains, and the lake and it was all made more beautiful because of the light from the sun, while she has seen it from a window she felt it was more beautiful when you saw it from a broom. She temporarily forgot about her fear of heights as she said "It looks beautiful up here."

Harry smiled and said "Happy birthday Hermione."

Hermione tightened her hold on Harry but she smiled and said "Thanks Harry." Harry flew back down and back to the pitch, as soon as they placed their feet on the ground Hermione got off the broom but said "Thank you for showing me that Harry, it was beautiful."

Harry smiled and said "If you ever want to fly again just let me know."

Hermione seemed nervous since she was still afraid of heights but she liked being that close to Harry, she smiled and said "Sure, I just hope next time it's not after you got done with quidditch practice."

Harry realized how much he must have sweated from practice, he blushed in embarrassment and apologized. Hermione giggled before seeing their friends were already gone so they decided to head back to the castle, unknown to the two a certain red head was watching them.

Harry returned to his dorm to take a quick shower, as he showered he spoke to Hedwig through their bond and told her to get ready since it was almost time. Once Harry was showered and dressed he returned to the common room where he found Hermione sitting in her usual seat, he saw the rest of their friends were gone so he knew it was time. The two friends left the common room but instead of heading to the great hall Harry pulled Hermione over to the dueling room, Hermione asked what was he doing but Harry just told her to wait and see. Arriving at the dueling room Harry opened the door but pushed Hermione in front, she was about to ask what was going on when she heard "Happy birthday!"

Hermione looked and saw all their friends were there along with Fred and George, Colin, Luna, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and Oliver. Hermione felt her eyes tear up at seeing all her friends did this for her, Fay and Sally-Anne came over to her and hugged her as Fay said "We hope you like it."

Hermione hugged the two tightly before thanking everyone there, Oliver apologized for scheduling a practice and explained he didn't know until Angelina told him after practice, Hermione accepted his apology. Fred and George had gotten the food and drinks, they recommended they should have the butterbeer, before they could begin Harry walked over and opened a window, soon Hedwig along with Lyall and Sage flew in and they were carrying a box. They set the box down on a table before flying to the side of the room, Harry walked over and opened the box and Hermione saw it was a birthday cake with thirteen candles.

Hermione asked "When did you get this?"

Harry explained "I went to Hagrid's hut yesterday and asked if I could bake you a birthday cake, I asked Professor Flitwick if he could cast a stasis charm on the cake so it would be ready for today."

Hermione pulled Harry into a bone crushing hug and thanked him for doing all of this for her. They spent all of dinner in the dueling room enjoying the cake and food, they gave Hermione their gifts and she saw most of them were books, the twins gave her some parchment and she saw it was detailed instructions for different prank products they were working on and explained how they were hoping to one day open their own joke shop. When dinner was over the students returned to their common rooms, the students from the other houses wished Hermione a happy birthday again before leaving, the twins told them all to go on ahead and they would take care of the food and cake.

Returning to the common room Harry and Hermione sat together on a couch to read a book, Harry waited until most of the students were in their dorms to give Hermione his gift. Once most of the students were gone Harry told Hermione "It's getting late, we should probably head to our dorms." Hermione seemed a bit disappointed that the day was over but she agreed, they walked towards the stairs but Harry stopped her and said "Hermione, here's my gift."

Hermione saw Harry was holding a small box, she said "Harry, you don't need to give me something, I've already had an amazing day with you and our friends."

Harry held out the box and said "I'm sure you'll love this." Hermione took the box and opened it and saw inside was a bracelet, she saw the bracelet was decorated with the Gryffindor crest, a book, and a snitch. Harry spoke "I asked your parents if there was something you might like and your mum said a bracelet would be nice, I hope you like it."

Hermione pulled Harry into a tight hug and said "I love it, thank you!"

Harry hugged her back, neither wanted to separate but they had to, Harry told Hermione "Goodnight Hermione."

Harry was about to head to the stairs when Hermione suddenly leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, Harry was caught off guard before Hermione pulled back and said "Goodnight Harry."

Harry saw Hermione quickly rush up the stairs, he touched where she kissed him and felt the same comforting warmth he felt the last time she kissed him. Hermione returned to her dorm and she was still blushing, Fay and Sally-Anne saw her and Fay smiled and asked "What's that blush for?"

Hermione smiled and showed the two girls the bracelet Harry gave her, Sally-Anne smiled and said "It's beautiful, I'm glad you enjoyed your day with Harry."

Fay spoke "I knew you'd love to spend the day with him."

Hermione knew they would plan something like this and she was thankful to her two friends, she went to bed but didn't notice the look Fay and Sally-Anne shared between them. Early the next morning Fay managed to wake up first and quickly rushed to the common room, she looked under one of the couches and saw Colin left the photo album where they agreed. Grabbing the photo album Fay rushed back upstairs and dug through Sally-Anne's trunk before finding what she was looking for. She woke Sally-Anne and the two waited for Hermione to wake up.

Hermione woke up and heard Fay call her "Hermione." Hermione looked over and saw Fay and Sally-Anne were up, Fay held out the photo album and said "It's a bit late but this is from both of us, here's your birthday gift."

Hermione was surprised and took the album, she opened it up and her eyes widened when she saw it was full of photos of the day she spent with Harry. Hermione looked up at them and Sally-Anne explained "We asked Colin if he could take pictures of the two of you throughout the day, it's from him too."

Hermione flipped through the photos and smiled at seeing the moments she shared with Harry, she hoped sooner or later she could tell Harry how she feels or he might tell her he likes her. Hermione got to the end and her eyes widened as she blushed when she saw the photo of the two of them asleep on the couches and holding hands. Hermione asked "When did you take this!?"

The two girls wore wide smiles and Sally-Anne said "It was after your detention in the forest last year, when we found you two in the common room."

Fay spoke "I'm sure Harry will eventually realize how you feel and return your feelings, for now he's still just an oblivious boy."

The two girls told Hermione they'd see her in the great hall and left, Hermione felt embarrassed they took a picture of them, she looked down at the photo before looking through the photo album again. Hermione put the photo album in her bedside drawer before getting ready and leaving to join her friends.

This chapter turned out differently than I originally intended but I think it's better this way.

Please comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter.