Chapter 34
"Hey, Harry! Hey, wake up!"
Harry began to stir as he felt someone shaking him, he opened his eyes and saw the curtains around his bed were open and he could see a few blurry figures. One of the figures placed his glasses on him and soon Harry could see his dorm mates. He asked "What's going on?"
Dean decided to answer, "We came to wake you up, it's almost time for dinner."
Seamus chuckled and said "Snape and Binns were mad that you skipped class, I think they said something about detention for a month."
"Wait what?" Harry immediately sat up at that, he turned to the window and saw how late it was.
Neville shoved Seamus and said "He's just joking Harry; the professors thought it was best to cancel our classes after everything that happened with the chamber last night."
At the mention of the chamber Harry remembered everything that happened, he knew he was exhausted from facing Tom and the basilisk but he didn't think he'd be out this long.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Seamus said "Seriously Harry, a bloody basilisk, you fought a bloody basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor!?"
Harry turned to Seamus and asked "Wait, how do you know about that?"
He glanced at Ron and Neville wondering if they told anyone, Ron shook his head, "It wasn't us, mate."
Dean decided to answer, "Last night when the professors and aurors came to tell us the danger was over; one of the aurors announced that Harry Potter found the chamber and killed the basilisk and stopped the heir of Slytherin, he then might have also mentioned you wielding the sword of Gryffindor."
Harry's jaw dropped before he covered his face with his hands, he fell back into bed and groaned loudly, he knew the students would ask him nonstop questions about the chamber.
Seamus chuckled at Harry's reaction and said "It's all the school has been talking about."
Neville shoved him again, "That's not helping."
Harry thought about the chamber before sitting up again, his expression more serious, he turned to Ron and asked "Ron, how's Ginny doing?"
Ron's smile dropped slightly before saying "Mum and dad took her home, Madam Pomfrey said there's nothing physically wrong with her but being possessed like that for so long isn't good for her mind. Madam Pomfrey gave them some dreamless sleep potions to help her in case she has any nightmares, it'll take a while before she's back to herself again."
Harry lowered his head at hearing that, he still blamed himself for not helping her sooner. Both Seamus and Dean heard about what happened to Ron's sister and both hoped she'd be ok. Scabbers poked his head out of Ron's pocket and Ron picked up his rat and started petting him.
Dean tried to change the subject, "Anyway, we wanted to wake you up so you wouldn't miss dinner, the professors said they're going to make an important announcement and want everyone to be there."
Harry thought about it, he knew everyone in the great hall will be watching him and they'll be whispering again. He shook his head and said "I don't think I should go, could you guys bring me something from dinner?"
"Sorry Harry, but the professor's said everyone needs to be present for dinner." Neville said.
Harry didn't want to deal with everyone watching him and whispering about him, he shook his head and said "I'm not going, I'll be alright." It wouldn't be the first time he went a day without eating.
This time Seamus got closer and said "Professor McGonagall said to make sure you're there at dinner, you need to take a shower before going to dinner, if you don't then we'll use the same spells we use to scrub our cauldrons to clean you."
Harry shook slightly at the thought; he looked to Neville and Ron for help but he could see neither of them would help him in this situation. Dean and Seamus even went as far as to take out their wands, Harry sighed and said "Fine, I'll get ready."
Harry got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower, as soon as the door closed the four boys glanced at each other and shared a silent agreement. Once Harry was cleaned up and dressed all five boys made their way down to the great hall, Harry noticed the castle felt different as they made their way down, he guessed it's because the attacks finally stopped.
As they got closer to the great hall Harry could hear several students talking, it looked like they were the last ones to arrive. He felt anxious about going into the great hall, Neville and Ron stood at his sides and gave him encouraging smiles, Harry took a deep breath and prepared himself for what would happen.
Harry saw how lively the great hall was, there were conversations all over and it looked like almost every ghost in the school was here for dinner. It didn't take long for some of the students to notice him, they immediately told their friends, in a few seconds the great hall had quieted down and soon everyone was staring at Harry. Harry could see all eyes were on him, he lowered his head and wondered if it was too late to go back to bed. He heard someone start to clap and he looked up to see it was coming from the Hufflepuff table, Cedric stood up and with a smile started to clap.
More and more students followed and soon three of the four tables were clapping and cheering for Harry. Most of the Slytherins looked indifferent but some of them even glared at Harry, he saw a few looks of worry coming from his friends in that house. Harry saw as the students cheered for him, he could hear many of them mentioning the chamber of secrets, the basilisk, or the sword of Gryffindor.
Harry saw the cheers he was receiving were louder than any he had gotten when he won a quidditch match, however he didn't smile. He remembered these were the same students who believed he was the heir of Slytherin, he didn't feel any joy at hearing them cheer for him.
Neville gave him a slight push and guided him to the Gryffindor table; Harry could see Oliver, the chasers, and Lee were saving seats for them. He spotted Parvati, Lavender, and Sally-Anne, even Colin and Demelza were sitting close to them.
Harry made his way to his seat, some of the students tried to talk to him but his dorm mates blocked them and pushed him through before taking their seats. Harry did his best to ignore the constant stares he was receiving, thankfully he was distracted by his friends in Gryffindor.
Angelina was the first to talk to him, "Harry, we heard what happened last night, are you ok?"
Harry nodded, "I'm fine."
Angelina gave a soft smile and gently reached out and grabbed Harry's arm, Harry looked at her and could see she looked concerned for him. He heard Alicia's voice, "We were all worried after we heard what happened, we all checked on you right after but you were asleep, Oliver said it's for the best we let you rest."
He looked to Oliver who nodded, "We thought something might have happened to you, we're glad to see you're ok."
Harry could see everyone was worried about him, they weren't asking him endless questions about the chamber or the heir, they were more worried about his wellbeing. Harry felt a bit happy they cared about him but he felt bad that he worried them, he said "I'm sorry I worried you, I'm alright now, I promise."
Katie gave him a smile, "Don't apologize, we're just glad you're alright."
They all knew Harry wouldn't want to be asked several questions, they at least wanted to make sure he was alright. Harry turned to the professors' table and saw they were all there, he noticed someone was waving at him, his mood immediately brightened when he saw it was Hagrid. Hagrid wore a bright smile on his face as he got Harry's attention, the friendly giant knew it was thanks to Harry that he was out of Azkaban and he wanted to thank his friend.
Neville saw Harry noticed Hagrid and explained, "I heard Madam Bones tore into the minister before going to Azkaban to retrieve Hagrid, thankfully he wasn't there for long and they made sure to help him recover from dementor exposure. He heard you got him out of Azkaban and said he wanted to talk to you after dinner."
Harry was relieved to hear that, he was thankful that Madam Bones kept her word and got him out of Azkaban. A few minutes passed and Harry wondered why dinner hadn't started yet, it looked like everyone was here. A ghost soon flew over to the professors' table and spoke to Dumbledore, Dumbledore smiled and nodded to the ghost before standing up, the students soon quieted down to let the headmaster speak.
"It brings me great joy to see Hogwarts as lively as ever, I understand all of you have been under a lot of stress these last few months because of the attacks, therefore I am pleased to announce that the attacks have come to an end and the culprit has been stopped. It is thanks to the actions of certain students who discovered where the chamber of secrets is and stopped the culprit responsible for the attacks." Many students glanced over at Harry and his friends, "As for the students who have been petrified, a member of the board of governors, Augusta Longbottom, has brought the restorative draught to Hogwarts last night," Harry immediately perked up at that, "The draught has been administered to the petrified victims, I have just been informed that they have made a full recovery, please join me in welcoming back our students."
Harry was stunned at what he heard, he turned to Neville to see the boy smiling. Neville looked at Harry and explained, "My gran was tired of the minister saying a dangerous ingredient ordered by a student needed to be heavily inspected. When my gran heard Hermione and Fay were petrified, she decided to go and purchase the restorative draught herself, that's why she took a trip."
The doors to the great hall suddenly opened and everyone turned to see the petrified students, many of the students started cheering when they saw their friends again. Fred and George walked ahead of the group and seemed to be enjoying the attention, Percy walked behind them and smiled seeing everyone welcoming them back. Penny walked in after them and many Ravenclaws cheered loudly, some even rushed over to her. Justin walked in after and felt nervous but soon many Hufflepuffs rushed over to him, even Mrs. Norris rushed over to Filch and jumped into his arms, the old caretaker was overjoyed to have his cat back.
Harry didn't pay much attention to the other students, instead his gaze turned towards the doors and soon he spotted Hermione. Harry felt his breathing stop as he spotted his friend, the moment he saw her he felt something in his chest, not realizing he felt his heart skip a beat.
Hermione walked into the great hall to all the cheering but her gaze immediately turned to the Gryffindor table, almost instantly her eyes locked with Harry. The two stared at each other for a moment before Hermione's smile grew, Harry started breathing again the moment he saw her smile and he couldn't stop his own smile from appearing even if he wanted to.
Not wasting another moment Hermione started running towards him, as soon as she started moving Harry got up and moved towards her.
"You solved it! You solved it!" Hermione yelled as she met Harry half way, she threw herself into Harry's arms and Harry caught her. The two embraced in a tight hug and Harry felt the bruised ribs were worth it, he missed Hermione's bone crushing hugs. Many eyes were on the two but neither of them noticed, they were overjoyed to be reunited again.
Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and said "I knew you would solve it." She then became silent for a moment before whispering "And… I hope you'll still let me read your mother's journal."
Hearing that surprised Harry, he pulled back from the hug and looked her in the eyes, he asked "You heard?"
Hermione smiled and said "Yes, and… I feel the same way." She took hold of Harry's hands, "The best part about coming to Hogwarts is that I met you, you make me a better witch, we make each other better so… let's keep making each other better!"
Hearing her words made his smile grow before he answered, "Always."
The two embraced again in a tight hug, neither of them noticed the looks they were receiving or the few looks of jealousy. They were finally made aware of the students when a familiar voice yelled "Hermione! Fay!"
Sally-Anne rushed over and Hermione broke the hug before the excited girl hugged her two best friends, Harry hadn't noticed Fay standing there until now. As soon as Sally-Anne let go of them Fay turned to Harry with a smile on her face and said "Good to see you too."
Harry was about to apologize for not noticing her but Fay just chuckled and hugged him, she told him "Don't worry about it, I didn't want to interrupt your moment."
Neville and Ron came over and Hermione pulled the two boys into a hug, the group of friends were glad to be reunited again. The group soon made their way back to their seats, Fred and George were welcomed by Lee and the rest of the quidditch team, they all sat down and filled the remaining empty seats.
The cheering soon became louder and this time it came from the ghosts; at the entrance everyone saw nearly headless Nick enter the great hall. The ghost was glad to no longer be petrified, he arrived in time for the feast and as soon as he entered the great hall, he heard many of the ghosts clap and cheer for him. Nick was surprised by the welcome he received; many ghosts came up to him and he even saw the ghosts from the other houses were cheering for him. News had spread around the school about him saving the lives of three students, many ghosts were praising Nick for his brave and noble act.
Nick felt a bit overwhelmed by the attention but he smiled and thanked the ghosts around him, suddenly the headless hunt appeared on their ghost horses. Nick was surprised by their appearance, they stopped before him and the leader of the headless hunt hopped off his horse and approached Nick, Nick greeted him, "Sir Patrick."
The headless ghost held up his head and said "Sir Nicholas, word of your bravery in saving the lives of three students has spread across the castle, you had been petrified by putting yourself in harm's way in order to save three students, you are a ghost who truly represents what Gryffindor stands for. Many were impressed by your noble act and that includes those of the headless hunt, which is why we have something to offer you."
Nick looked stunned by what he was hearing and said "Wait, you don't mean…"
The ghost smiled and said "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, it is with great pleasure that we welcome you into the headless hunt as our newest member."
The rest of the headless hunt cheered and Nick was left speechless at what he had been told, he had been rejected by the headless hunt many times for his head still being attached by half an inch, but now they welcomed him as their newest member. Nick felt like this was the happiest day of his afterlife, he bowed which caused his head to dangle but he said "Thank you, I accept your offer."
Many of the students watched this and the Gryffindors even cheered for their house ghost, Nick looked at the students and spotted Harry and Hermione, the two smiled at him and Nick gave them both a bright smile before joining the headless hunt.
Once the hall started to calm down, Dumbledore stood up to speak, "It brings me great joy to welcome back our petrified students, a feast has been prepared to welcome back our students and celebrate the end of the attacks."
As soon as he finished his words the tables filled for more food than usual, the students were quick to fill their plates. Some of the students started talking and Harry started to fill his plate, Hermione looked over at him and watched him for a few seconds, as soon as Harry filled his plate he froze when Hermione suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Some of the students looked surprised and when Hermione pulled back Harry felt his face blush as he brought his hand up to his cheek.
He looked at Hermione and asked "H-Hermione, w-what was that for?"
Hermione's cheeks turned pink but she smiled and said "It's thanks for everything you did for me while I was petrified, for coming to see me every day, for reading to me, for talking to me and keeping me company."
Harry could feel his heart race but hearing her words made him smile, he thought about the kiss on his cheek and felt the same comforting warmth.
The moment was interrupted when Ron said "Hey, what about us?" He gestured towards himself and Neville, "We came to see you too, don't we get anything?"
Some of the students groaned at seeing Ron couldn't read the room, Fay brought her hand up to her mouth and kissed it then slapped Ron across the face and said "There's your kiss."
That immediately made the students around them burst into laughter, Harry and Hermione even joined in the laughter. Ron placed his hand on his cheek but felt the slap was more playful than serious, even he joined in the laughter.
The group of friends enjoyed their meals as they talked, Hermione and Fay talked with Lavender and Parvati, the two girls explained some of the things that happened while they were petrified. The two girls listened and Hermione was surprised to hear about what Harry had done, Lavender mentioned some of the things Malfoy had been saying about her before Harry attacked him, Parvati even explained how Harry disarmed McLaggen and stunned him with his own spell.
Hermione turned to Harry and asked about the chamber, Harry explained what happened, he spoke quietly to keep everyone from listening but with their year mates sitting close enough they heard most of the explanation. Hermione's face paled as he talked about being trapped in the chamber and having to fight Tom and the basilisk, Harry didn't want to go into too much detail while everyone was listening so he tried to keep the explanation brief, he also explained what happened afterwords in Dumbledore's office with Lucius and Dobby.
Once Harry finished explaining everything Hermione said "So let me get this straight, in the time I was petrified you got into a fight with Malfoy, Lockhart tried to obliviate you, you disarmed and threatened Lucius Malfoy, escaped a colony of acromantula, dueled the heir, and even killed a basilisk with a sword, did I miss anything!?"
Harry chuckled nervously before Parvati said "He also disarmed and humiliated McLaggen and got Snape in trouble."
Harry flinched at that but then he heard Hermione sigh before saying "Harry James Potter, how did you do all of that while I was petrified?"
Before he could speak, he heard Fay say "You weren't there to keep him in check."
A small smile appeared on Hermione's face before she said "It looks like I'm going to have my hands full keeping you out of trouble."
Harry realized they were just teasing him, he just smiled and agreed, as everyone returned to their own conversations he leaned in closer to Hermione and whispered he'll explain everything more properly later when there aren't too many people listening.
As the feast continued Harry was approached by Percy, "Harry, I would like to speak to you."
Harry was surprised but nodded, "Sure."
Ron made room for him and Percy sat down, Percy took a deep breath and said "I want to thank you for what you did, in the hospital wing they informed us about what happened with Ginny."
Hearing Ginny was mentioned made Ron and the twins lower their heads, they were informed about Ginny being possessed for most of the year and they felt ashamed of themselves for not realizing it.
Harry looked concerned and asked "Have you heard anything from her or your parents?"
Percy lowered his gaze and said "Ginny isn't going to come back for the remainder of the year, mum and dad said she's a lot quieter and often stares at nothing, mum holds her most of the time to comfort her."
Percy felt angry, not with Ginny but with himself, he focused more on studying and being a prefect that he completely ignored Ginny. He thought about the times he thought something was odd about the way Ginny was acting but he chocked it up to her adapting to being in Hogwarts, he never once bothered to check on her and assumed Ron or the twins would.
Harry felt saddened by the news, he hoped Ginny would be able to recover and wondered if there was anything he could do. He thought about it and asked "Would it help Ginny if we wrote letters to her, let her know that we care about her and hope she'll be alright?"
Percy gave a small smile at that and said "I'm not sure but I think it might help her, dad told us she thinks we hate her."
Harry asked "Why does she think that?"
"While she was possessed, the diary made her put me under the imperius curse and used me to lure Fred and George to the bathroom, we were almost killed by the basilisk until nearly headless Nick saved us."
Harry could see all four brothers were worried about Ginny, he said "I can have Hedwig deliver the letters to her, you should write her a letter and let her know you don't blame her for what happened."
Percy and the twins nodded at that, a few of the Gryffindors decided they would write letters to Ginny wanting to check on her and make sure she's ok.
"Thank you again for saving Ginny, if you ever need anything then please let us know."
Harry nodded, "Of course, I hope Ginny will be alright and I hope she and I could become friends."
Hearing that made Percy smile, "I think that would make her really happy."
Percy got up and left to sit somewhere else, Harry thought about what he should write in his letter, he decided to send her a letter during the weekend.
The feast continued until soon they were interrupted by a nervous voice, "H-Hermione?"
Hermione turned around and was surprised to see Myrtle was there, the ghost girl looked a bit nervous and had trouble looking at Hermione. Myrtle glanced at Harry and saw him give her an encouraging smile, Myrtle turned to Hermione and took a deep breath before saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything I said to you back in December. It wasn't right for me to make all those insensitive jokes about you, I'm sorry for all of it and I hope we can be friends."
Hermione was surprised by the apology; she thought back to her potions accident and saw Myrtle was acting different now. Hermione smiled at the ghost girl and said "I forgive you."
Myrtle looked up in surprise, she was expecting Hermione to still be mad at her, she asked "Really?"
Hermione nodded, "Yeah, I know we haven't gotten along before but I would like to become friends."
Myrtle smiled at that and nodded, "I'd like that, thank you, Hermione!"
Myrtle turned to Harry and said "Harry, I wanted to thank you again for helping me. Knowing that my death was avenged makes me really happy, you and your friends can always come visit me in my bathroom whenever you want. I think it's time I stop crying in my bathroom and actually get to know some of the other ghosts."
Harry smiled at that and said "That's great Myrtle, good luck."
The ghost girl thanked them again before floating away, many of the Gryffindors were surprised to see how much livelier the ghost girl seemed. The feast continued and at some point, Harry and Hermione noticed Myrtle was talking to the grey lady and she seemed to be smiling a lot more.
When the feast came to an end the food vanished and Dumbledore stood up to make another announcement, "Now that we've all been properly fed and watered, I must announce that for the time being classes will be canceled."
Dumbledore paused as many of the students cheered at the news, Harry noticed Hermione was the only one with a look of disappointment, "With Professor Lockhart being arrested, your defense classes will be changed to self-study sessions while we look for someone who can replace him for the remainder of the year. Lastly, I would like to announce that four students will be given awards for special services to the school, it is thanks to their actions that the truth of the chamber was discovered. The award will be given to Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom."
The four friends were surprised by the announcement, they heard most of the school start cheering for them and their friends around them congratulated them. Ron seemed to enjoy the attention as he smiled brightly, Neville was more composed as he politely thanked his friends that congratulated them. Harry didn't like that all the attention was on him but he at least smiled at his friends around him, Hermione wasn't sure how to handle the attention but at least accepted the congratulations she received.
Once everyone calmed down Dumbledore said "With that you are all free to return to your common rooms."
Many of the students got up and started heading to their common rooms, Harry and his friends approached Hagrid and as soon as they got close the friendly giant pulled all four of them into a hug. As they were being crushed, they heard Hagrid say "Thank yeh, thank yeh so much."
When Hagrid let go of them, he smiled brightly at Harry and said "Thank yeh, Harry. Madam Bones told me yeh were the one who got me out o' Azkaban."
Harry smiled at his old friend, "We're glad to have you back, Hagrid, Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without you. Thank you for everything you said to the minister, for protecting me."
Hagrid's smile grew at that, he patted Harry on his back and said "O' course, I wasn't goin' ter let 'im take yeh." Hagrid leaned in so only they would hear, "I have more good news, Madam Bones said she's goin' ter look at me case, she said she's goin' ter clear me name an' get me a wand again."
"That's great news, Hagrid!" Hermione said cheerfully before hugging the friendly giant.
Hagrid patted her back and said "I'll be able ter practice magic again, Dumbledore said he'd teach me."
"That's great, congratulations Hagrid!" Harry was glad to hear Hagrid would get his wand back.
Ron decided to speak up, "Hagrid, you'll need to speak to those bloody spiders of yours, we barely survived!"
Hagrid looked surprised and asked "Wha' did Aragog do?"
"We'll tell you later," Harry said, he saw the professors were still there and didn't want to be overheard, "We'll visit you later, Hagrid."
Hagrid nodded and told them to take care before leaving, by now most of the students had left the great hall so the group of four students made their way back to the tower. Once they gave the password, they entered the tower to see Gryffindor was having a party, Lee said it was to welcome back all the petrified students and celebrate the awards that the four of them had won. They somehow managed to get plenty of drinks and snacks for the party even though they just had a feast. It was clear Gryffindor was just looking for an excuse to party, it hasn't been this lively in months.
The party in Gryffindor continued, a few of the students went up to their dorms but most of the students stayed to enjoy the celebration. Most of the second years joined the party and had fun, however after a while many of them noticed Harry and Hermione were missing.
Harry and Hermione had managed to sneak out of the tower using his invisibility cloak, he promised to show her his journal so the two made their way through the corridors until they arrived at the dueling room. Harry knew they would have plenty of privacy in the dueling room, Hermione had thought they would go to his dorm but Harry said he didn't want to risk any of his dorm mates interrupting them. They entered the dueling room and Harry made sure to cast a monitoring charm on the door, he turned to Hermione and held out his hand with his palm up.
Hermione watched as Harry flicked his wrist, her eyes widened when she saw the journal appear in his hand. Hermione was fascinated and asked "How did you do that?"
"My mother used my blood to bond the journal to me, I can call it to me whenever I want and if I'm too far away for more than three days then it appears next to me."
Hermione was interested at hearing the kind of magic Lily had used on the journal. Harry opened the journal but it still appeared blank, Hermione said "I still can't read it."
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand, he remembered one of the first things he read in the journal, he placed the tip of his wand on the journal and said "I, Harry James Potter, give permission to Hermione Jean Granger to read what is written in this journal, so mote it be."
Hermione's eyes widened as she saw a light glow come from the journal and words began to appear, once the glow died down Harry said "This is my mother's journal."
Harry flipped to the end and Hermione was once again fascinated to see the pages vanish before more appeared. Harry closed the journal and handed it to Hermione, as she opened it up and began looking through Harry explained, "This journal is made into four sections, the first is full of my mum's diaries and explains her life in Hogwarts. The second is full of all her notes she had from every subject she had taken while in Hogwarts. The third is made of her personal research such as wandless magic, she's written all kinds of notes explaining a few spells she was working on, she also wrote everything she knew about potions since she wanted to get her mastery in potions. The last is personal messages she's left me from her and my dad, it's helped explain a lot to me."
Hearing that, Hermione decided to skip the first section, she didn't want to invade Lily's privacy and read her diaries. When she got to the second section Hermione saw the details Lily had in her notes, she had taken plenty of notes from her classes and wrote down more information she had gotten from her textbooks. Hermione couldn't help but say "I can see why your grades are really good, you've been able to study your mum's notes so they could help you in our classes."
Harry sheepishly chuckled before saying "Well, my mum made sure to tell me that I should also study my textbooks and not just her notes, she told me to work hard while I'm in Hogwarts."
Hermione noticed the pages were blank after a while, she turned back to the last page with writing on it and saw the words written there.
[Third years notes]
Harry saw that page and explained, "My mum made sure that I couldn't just read ahead, she wanted me to take my time at Hogwarts and not just read her seventh year notes during my first year."
While a bit disappointed Hermione could understand why Lily wouldn't want Harry to read that far ahead, she asked "Are you able to read them as soon as third year starts?"
Harry shook his head, "The next part reveals itself on my birthday so I can study it during the summer and prepare for next year."
Hermione pouted a bit at seeing she wouldn't get to read his mum's third year notes yet, she turned to the personal notes and was amazed at the list of spells Lily had. Lily had written down the incantations and made sure to explain how to properly pronounce them, she explained the wand movements and made small drawings with arrows to show how to move your wand.
Harry held out his left hand and silently cast lumos, he then created a small puff of smoke using fumos before pointing his hand at a book and levitating it over to him and grabbing it. Hermione was amazed to see Harry cast those spells silently offhand and without the wand movement, she saw each of those spells were on the list and noticed Harry marked each spell he can cast.
When she got to the point where it just described the spells Harry explained, "My mum made sure I wouldn't push myself too much trying to practice more advanced spells, she explained the dangers of magical exhaustion and made sure I could only learn the spells she felt I was ready to learn. With the description I can still look for those spells in the library and try learning them that way."
Hermione continued to flip through each page until she got to Lily's notes on potions, Lily had explained why every ingredient was needed and why a potion needed to be stirred clockwise three times instead of four or two. The step of every recipe was carefully explained and there were even details on what to do if you make a mistake, it was clear that Lily loved potions and could have easily gotten her mastery.
Hermione came across a recipe she knew and noticed it was different than how she remembered, Hermione asked "Why is this one different?"
Harry looked at it and said "My mum made adjustments to the recipes in order to make the potion better, potions was her favorite subject and she studied a lot with her friend Sev and had many discussions with Professor Slughorn. She tested and altered many recipes and made them better, I've been wanting to practice some of them but since Snape just has us follow his recipes I haven't gotten the chance."
Hermione was surprised to hear this; she flipped through each page and noticed some recipes she knew and saw a few changes had been made. Hermione got to a part that had a lot more writing on it, it seemed to be a new potion and Lily had crossed out some ingredients and explained why they won't work, there was a recipe but it looked incomplete. Hermione wondered what kind of potion Lily had been working on, from a part she read it seemed that the two main ingredients for the potion are mandrake leaf and wolfsbane.
Hermione stopped when she got to the personal messages, since they were meant for Harry, she felt they were private and didn't want to invade his privacy. Hermione closed the journal and looked at the cover and was amazed, she said "Wow, your mum was really amazing Harry, she was brilliant and her notes are really helpful."
Harry smiled at that and thanked her, he said "This is why I needed to practice occlumency, a few times Snape and even Dumbledore have tried to read my mind so I need to make sure I can shield my mind. Since you know occlumency it means I can let you read the journal any time you want."
Hermione smiled brightly at that; she was excited to get to study the notes of someone brilliant. She suddenly hugged Harry and said "Thank you so much for letting me read your mum's journal."
Harry returned the hug before they took a step back, he turned to sit on one of the sofas and said "I'm grateful my mum decided to make the journal for me, it's taught me so much about my parents that I didn't know and helped me with learning magic."
At that Hermione's smile faltered before vanishing, hearing him mention his parents made her think of his family and she remembered something. Hermione set the journal down on the nearby table before saying "Harry, I also wanted to ask you something… about your relatives."
Harry suddenly stopped at what she just said, Hermione continued, "When I was petrified… I heard you say something about your relatives."
Harry felt his heart stop as his eyes widened, he remembered what he had said while she was petrified, "… Even if it meant the Dursleys would keep beating me for the rest of the summer or lock me back up in my cupboard…"
Hermione slowly approached him as she asked "Was… was that true? That they beat you… that they locked you in a cupboard?"
Harry didn't move, he seemed to be frozen in place. Hermione could hear his breathing become a bit shaky, she stepped in front of him and saw a look of fear in his eyes. She tried to look him in the eyes but Harry turned away, he tried to speak, "H-Hermione, I-I don't-"
Hermione stood in front of him, he could see a look of worry on her face. She gently touched Harry's arm and noticed he flinched; he kept trying to look away but Hermione still stood in front of him. Harry tried not to look but slowly he turned back to face Hermione, his face looked like he was begging her not to mention it.
He turned his gaze down and Hermione asked "Harry… do they hurt you?"
The silence stretched on for what felt like hours but was only just a few seconds, seeing he couldn't get out of it, Harry gave a slight nod that was almost unnoticed. Hermione noticed it, she lightly gasped before saying "You're not going back there."
This time Harry looked at her and saw a more serious but still sad expression on her face, he said "Hermione…"
"I mean it Harry; you are not going back there."
"Hermione… I have to."
"Absolutely not, you are not going back there!"
Harry looked Hermione in her eyes and said "Hermione, I need to go back, it's the only way I can keep the blood protection."
Hermione looked confused and asked "What do you mean?"
Harry explained, "It's something Dumbledore told me, he said when my mum gave her life for mine it created a protection that protected me from the killing curse. The protection only works if I live with a blood relative to my mum, so I need to keep living with my aunt and cousin to keep the protection going."
Hermione asked "Why do you need it?"
"Hermione, we both know Voldemort wants to kill me, he would have succeeded in killing us last year if it wasn't for the protection. Voldemort is a powerful wizard and the only person he's ever been afraid of is Dumbledore, Dumbledore can't protect me every minute of every day, as long as I have the protection it means I have a way to stop him."
Hermione took hold of Harry's hands and looked in his eyes, she was worried about him and said "It's not worth it if it means you have to keep suffering for it. You can talk to Augusta and stay with her and Neville, you should be safe with them, or I can convince my parents to let you come stay with us, you don't need to go back there."
Harry let out a sigh, "That won't work, Voldemort will keep coming after me and he'll find a way to get to me. If I lose the protection then it means I'm vulnerable, in the chamber I already had to fight Voldemort again."
Hermione was surprised by that and asked "What do you mean?"
"In the chamber Tom Riddle revealed he's a younger Voldemort; he was trying to drain Ginny's life so he could regain a body. I tried to use the protection to destroy him but since he was just a shade and didn't have a physical body yet it meant I couldn't rely on the protection; I had to duel him and the only reason I won was because he didn't expect me to use wandless magic and I had help. Even as a sixteen-year-old Voldemort was still powerful, I was lucky to survive but if he knew what I could do then I would have lost."
Hermione was stunned to hear this, Harry had to face Voldemort again this year.
Harry continued, "That duel showed me that if I lose the protection then it means I need to rely on my own magic, I couldn't beat a younger Voldemort in a duel so I need to hold on to the protection."
Hermione looked upset; she hated that Harry needed to go back to his abusive relatives. She asked "Isn't there anything that can be done about your relatives?"
Harry tried his best to give her a comforting smile, "I'll be alright, Augusta knows how they treated me and has used magic on them before, she said she's spoken to them so I think they're terrified of her. I can threaten them with Augusta so they should leave me alone, I should be alright since Augusta said she'll help me."
Hermione squeezed his hands and gave a sad look, she said "I hate that you need to go back to those people, you shouldn't have anything to do with them."
Harry could see Hermione was still worried about him, he thought about something and decided to say "How about this, I'll still go back to my relatives and after two weeks I can go stay with Neville or Ron. I'll continue practicing wandless magic and as soon as I'm strong enough to be able to protect myself then that's when I'll leave my relatives for good, as soon as I'm strong enough to no longer need the protection then that's when I'll never go back to my relatives."
Hermione gave the idea some thought, she let go of Harry's hands and paced around as she thought about it. She would have preferred if Harry never went back to those people, but she can understand why he feels he needs the protection.
Hermione stopped pacing and turned to Harry, she said "Fine, but on one condition, you have to teach me wandless magic."
That surprised Harry, he asked "What do you mean?"
"You said you'll keep practicing wandless magic until you're strong enough, I want to learn wandless magic so I can practice with you, we'll practice together so we can both become strong enough to face Voldemort. We'll both grow a lot more if we practice together, that means you'll be able to leave your relatives sooner and never have to go back there."
Harry was stunned by what he heard, not only did Hermione not flinch at the name, but she wanted him to teach her wandless magic. She continued, "That's my condition, we make each other better so let's keep making each other better. It took me most of my life to finally get a best friend and I'm not going to let Voldemort take him away."
Harry gave the idea some thought, the only person who knows about his wandless magic is Luna. Luna had given him some idea for how to practice his casting, maybe having Hermione learn wandless magic will help him improve his magic a lot faster. Harry smiled at Hermione and said "You're right, let's keep making each other better, I'll teach you wandless magic."
Hearing that made Hermione happy, she walked up to Harry and hugged him and said "Thank you, Harry."
The two separated and Harry wondered if they should start practicing now, he checked the time and the two realized it was late and they needed to head back to the common room. He promised he'd start teaching her tomorrow, the two left the dueling room and made their way back to the common room.
There was a bit of trouble when they got back to the common room, it seems many had noticed the two had vanished during the party and weren't found anywhere. Harry and Hermione blushed when one of the twins asked if they needed to make up for lost time, they couldn't tell them about the journal.
Thankfully Fay and Sally-Anne came to help the two friends, the twins were quick to drop it and chuckled before heading upstairs, by now most of the students have returned to their dorms so the common room was mostly empty.
Harry and Hermione stayed in the common room for a bit longer to talk to their friends, Hermione decided to talk to Lavender, she walked up to her dorm mate and said "Lavender, I wanted to talk to you."
Lavender looked at her and asked "What is it?"
Hermione cleared her throat before saying "Thank you for giving Harry my letter, I'm not sure I would have been able to give him the letter myself."
Hearing that surprised her but Lavender smiled and said "Sure, I'm happy I did, Harry seemed a lot better after he got the letter."
"It helped us a lot, thanks."
Parvati listened to the two and asked what they were talking about, Hermione explained she wrote a letter for Harry but couldn't deliver it but Lavender delivered it for her.
Parvati smiled at hearing that and asked "So did you tell Harry you like him?"
Hermione's cheeks blushed before she shook her head, she said "It wasn't like that, the letter was thanking Harry for what he did for me."
Parvati looked disappointed at hearing it wasn't a confession, Lavender however chuckled and said "It's not surprising that you're important to Harry, it's actually kind of romantic seeing what he did after you were petrified."
All four girls turned to her and Hermione asked "What do you mean?"
Lavender smiled, "Think about it, there were other attacks in the school year earlier but nothing happened. When you were petrified however, Harry found the chamber and killed the basilisk, he beat up Malfoy for saying all those things about you and when McLaggen got on his nerves Harry disarmed him and took him down, he actually looked really cool when he did that."
Parvati chuckled at the way Lavender put it, "Yeah, we all saw how he became after you were petrified. He looked a lot more serious, he actually looked really good when he was like that."
Hermione blushed at what the two were saying and even Fay and Sally-Anne found it pretty funny, Hermione said "Knock it off already!"
Lavender stopped chuckling before saying "Alright, but it is true, it's clear Harry really likes you. It might not be too long now before he says he fancies you."
Hermione blushed at what her dorm mate was saying, she glanced over at Harry and saw him talking to Dean and Neville. She thought about their reunion in the great hall and felt her heart race when she saw him again.
It wasn't long before a prefect told them it was past curfew and to head up to their dorms, Harry and Hermione told each other good night and promised to meet up in the common room for breakfast, the two soon made their way up the staircases.
Harry had trouble trying to fall asleep, he had stayed up a bit longer talking to his dorm mates but soon all of them felt tired and went to bed. Harry got into bed and closed the curtains before summoning the journal, he couldn't fall asleep since he spent the day sleeping so he decided to read some more. An hour had passed and Harry was still wide awake, he kept tossing and turning but he still couldn't feel like he would fall asleep. He listened to the sounds of his dorm mates snoring and knew he was the only one awake, in the end he gave up and got out of bed, he decided to find something to do so he made his way to the common room.
Harry was surprised to see he wasn't the only one in the common room, he saw the fireplace was still burning and noticed there was someone reading, he recognized who it was and called out "Hermione?"
Hermione looked up from her book and spotted Harry, she asked "Harry, what are you doing still up?"
"I couldn't fall asleep so I came down to the common room, what are you doing still up?"
He noticed Hermione looked a bit worried, she said "I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to sleep yet."
"Why?"
Hermione took a deep breath and said "When I'm about to fall asleep I begin to feel like how I did when I was petrified, as soon as I feel that I immediately wake myself up since it feels like I might become petrified again."
Harry was surprised to hear that, he asked "Are you alright?"
Hermione nodded, "Madam Pomfrey said that might happen so she gave us some dreamless sleep potions to help us, I didn't want to take mine yet so I came down here to read so I wouldn't bother my dorm mates."
Harry hadn't thought how the petrified students might be feeling, he hoped everyone else was alright. He thought of something and said "I don't think I'm going to fall asleep anytime soon. Can I join you? We can read together."
Hermione was surprised by his suggestion, she smiled and nodded, "Sure, that would be great."
Harry smiled and said "Great, do you want to keep reading Hogwarts: A History?"
Hermione thought about it and an idea came to her mind, she said "I have another idea, I'll be right back."
She got up and rushed up the girls' staircase, it wasn't long before she returned with another book, Harry read the title, "A Midsummer Night's Dream?"
Hermione smiled and said "This is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, I think it's one you'll enjoy."
The two sat on the sofa so they could start reading together, Hermione was about to move closer to him but was surprised when Harry moved closer to her. They sat right next to each other and Hermione felt her heart race, she placed the book on their laps so they could start reading together.
Harry found himself enjoying the story, they took turns reading different parts and Harry liked getting to hear Hermione read. When Harry got to a certain part, he read it as if he was trying to give his best performance, seeing this made Hermione start to laugh and Harry thought he really liked her laugh and wanted to hear it more.
They continued to read together and at some point, Harry felt Hermione lean her head on his right shoulder, he was reminded of that night in the hospital wing when they watched the fireworks and smiled. Harry leaned his head against Hermione and neither said a word about it, they enjoyed each other's presence as they continued to read the book. Both of them felt comfortable around each other and they both felt they didn't want this to end.
When Harry was reading another page, he noticed a light snoring coming from Hermione, he looked at the girl and saw she had fallen asleep. Hermione felt herself dozing off, she felt comfortable leaning against Harry and hearing his voice as he read to her calmed her down, she enjoyed listening to his voice and soon she fell asleep. Harry watched her sleep and felt the same feeling in his chest, he thought of letting her sleep so he tried to move but he felt Hermione move. She got more comfortable as she leaned against him, Harry could see if he tried to move then he would wake her up, he didn't want to disturb her so he decided to continue reading while she got her rest.
The next morning Fay woke up first before the rest of her dorm mates, she was used to waking up so early now and saw the rest of her dorm mates were asleep. She noticed Hermione's bed was empty and thought she must have already gone downstairs for breakfast; she then noticed Hermione's dreamless sleep potion was still sitting on her nightstand and it was unopened. Fay was confused by that since it would be hard to fall asleep without it, she got out of bed and made her way downstairs to the common room, she was about to head to the great hall when she noticed something on the sofa.
Fay noticed Harry and Hermione were both asleep on the sofa, they were leaning against each other with an open book in their laps and they were both sleeping peacefully. Fay was surprised to find the two in the common room but smiled at her two friends, she then quickly made her way back up the stairs. A minute later Fay brought a sleepy Sally-Anne downstairs with her, she wasn't happy at being disturbed from her sleep but Fay insisted that she'd follow her. The moment she saw Harry and Hermione on the sofa though she understood why her friend woke her up.
Sally-Anne thought the two of them looked cute sleeping like that and thought of getting her camera, Fay had already thought of that and brought the camera with her, Sally-Anne took a picture of the two and knew she would gift them a copy later.
Fay quietly asked "When do you think the two of them will finally become a couple?"
Sally-Anne answered, "Hopefully soon, I heard there's already a betting pool going on wondering when they will officially become a couple."
For now, they decided to wait for their friends to wake up and thought about how they can tease them.
Sorry for the late update, life has been a lot busier recently.
Please comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter.