The Truth about Magic and Muggles
Author: Fabiana (superwitch@brturbo.com)
Summary: Have you ever wondered why magical babies are born from Muggle families? Join Harry Potter in his sixth year at Hogwarts and face with him mysterious deaths, the consequences of the Prophecy and maybe... love?!
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Acknowledgments: I'd like to thank Sbys for her words of encouragement (they truly meant a lot to me), and to Gal-texter for her incredible work as a beta. You girls are the greatest, I couldn't possibly thank you enough.
P.S. - This is a revised version (06/11/2004). Hope you guys like it.
Chapter One - The family he never knew
Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
Harry stretched in bed and finally got up. As far as his sleepy ears could hear, his aunt was calling him to have lunch. And Merlin… he couldn't understand how he had put up with her high-pitched voice for so many years… Did she always tear her throat open like that when she was talking?!
He was sure the answer would be a 'yes' if the object of her talking was him. But unlike before, Harry no longer cared about his relatives' subtle aggressions. He didn't mind anymore his ridiculously low food supply, or how hard they tried to pretend he didn't exist. Truth to be told, Harry didn't feel like eating, or getting up from bed, or taking a shower, or seeing how the day was outside the window...
Although he was physically there, in Privet Drive, getting along with the Dursleys now felt like being in a surreal reality. All the lame provocations from Dudley, the evident shame and disgust from his aunt and uncle were such small things now compared to what he had inside, that being there almost didn't affect him like it used to. Just like the previous summers, Harry could feel clearly that he didn't belong in there, but that old impulsion to make himself known as a magical being wasn't there anymore. This time, he truly felt like he didn't belong anywhere.
The dreams didn't bother him much. Sirius' death scene would repeat itself continuously even when he was conscious, just like all the mistaken steps that triggered his godfather's death.
Harry was aware he couldn't focus on anything else ever since he returned from Hogwarts. Making his best not to think about it, he trudged to the mirror. It carried a huge crack, caused by a fit of temper one afternoon Dudley had his videogame fight interrupted by a power failure. Ignoring the distortions, Harry stared at his face.
He felt an amazing emptiness as he looked at his reflection. All he could feel was shame. Shame for being such an arse and believing that he was the only one who could be right. Shame for having been fooled and manipulated so easily. Shame for being kept oblivious to everything that really mattered. Shame for knowing that the one person he respected the most didn't trust him enough to reveal the pivotal truth in his life - the one that would explain everything. But he felt ashamed mostly because he knew that the death of one of his greatest friends could have been easily avoided if…
His uncle's hideous voice brought him back to reality. "Harry, if you won't come now I'm going there myself and shove this tray down your throat..."
Then he finally moved, going down the stairs slowly.
Reaching the table, the first thing he saw was Dudley touching his food disgustedly.
"You see, Mum, my meat is cold..." he said, scratching his nose with the fork. "And it's all because of this bloody freak, just for a change..."
Petunia rose silently and took Dudley's roast beef to the microwave. Deliberately avoiding looking at the Dursleys' faces, Harry remembered bitterly that all his aunt's insistence for him to eat properly, bask in the Sun, or change his clothes were elicited by threats from the Order.
Yeah, Mad Eye Moody was definitely a persuasive guy...
However, he had the distinct impression that if it weren't for his friends, he would probably be worse. Hermione and Ron had taken turns to call him on the phone every other day. In these occasions, Harry tried his best to sound as cheerful as he could, in order to avoid any eventual comment regarding what happened at the Ministry of Magic. For him, there was no reason to let Ron and Hermione know what he was feeling, because they would hardly understand. Besides, Harry didn't want anyone else to suffer for a tragedy that he was the only one to blame for.
Also, early in his first week at Privet Drive, Miss Figg appeared at the Dursleys' door inclined to make a request to Petunia. Harry heard his aunt allowing him to stay at Miss Figg's house every Friday to take care of her cats, because she had promised to make long visits to a hospitalized relative once a week. Rubbish. That was just a pretext for Harry to listen to information from the Order. Every week, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Mad Eyed Moody or Kingsley Shacklebolt would use the Floo Network and Miss Figg's fireplace to update Harry on the central headlines of the Wizarding World and the latest accomplishments from the Order of the Phoenix.
As far as Harry knew, Voldemort hadn't made any move yet. He was aware he couldn't be sure of anything, considering all information that has been withheld from him since the end of his 4th year. But taking into account the strange reality he was facing with the Dursleys, he couldn't care much about that either.
Lunch that day dragged on for uncountable minutes. When he was cutting his last piece of meat, glad to finally being able to leave the table and being alone again, he unexpectedly had to make use of his Seeker's reflexes:
"BLUUUUUUUUUURP!"
Ducking quickly from an orange juice blast originated by his uncle, Vernon was actually managing to spit and yell at him at the same time:
"I can't believe this. Not again!" his uncle cried, drooling juice all over his plate.
Disgusted by the scene, Harry just had to look at the ceiling to get the picture. There was an owl flapping its wings above the roast beef, now completely covered with brown feathers. From the envelope of the letter the bird was carrying, Harry could notice that it was an official letter from the Ministry, probably bringing his O.W.L.s results.
Harry carefully removed the letter from the owl, then quickly headed for the privacy of his room. Just like his relatives didn't feel like participating in his life, Harry didn't feel like sharing with them the results of such an important test for him.
"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIING!"
Being in the middle of the stairs, Harry didn't mind the phone ringing. Ron and Hermione usually just call at 5 pm.. And this bloody letter just might be the most important happening in my life this month...
His aunt's voice interrupted his thoughts the moment he reached the final step. "It's that annoying girlfriend of yours, who's now taking the liberty to barge in even on our lunch time..."
Something important must have happened to make Hermione call me at this hour.
So, he had no choice but to run to take the cordless phone from his aunt's hands. "Hello?"
"Hello, Harry! Have you got it? Please, tell me!" Hermione was gasping with an anxious voice.
"Get what? And tell you what?" Although he knew the answer, it somehow amused him to torture her a bit. During his entire fifth year at Hogwarts, Hermione made sure to use all possible opportunities to remind him that he wasn't preparing himself enough for his O.W.L.s' tests...
"Your O.W.L.s, Harry! How did it go?" Hermione asked like mad.
Harry took a minute to answer. "Oh, don't know, I was just opening the envelope when you called me."
"So, open it then," Hermione ordered briskly.
"Okay, hold on a sec," Harry said calmly.
However, as he took the letter in his hands, he felt butterflies in his stomach he couldn't quite explain. But then, he also remembered how a mere prophecy revealed in a pub would rule his life. This letter was nothing compared to that. So he took a lungful of breath, took off the sealing wax from the Ministry, and removed the paper from the envelope.
Putting the telephone in his ear, he let Hermione know he was still there, "Hmm, let's see..."
After a few seconds of deliberate silence, he started to peruse the letter's headings. There were four columns: Subject, Theory Examination, Practical Examination and Overall Performance. Not really sure of what he would see, he let himself read it aloud:
"Charms: Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Outstanding."
"Transfiguration: Outstanding, Exceeds expectations, Outstanding... Blimey, I'm going to attend McGonagall's N.E.W.T.s classes!"
Hermione, apparently beside herself, sighed, "Heh, I always knew, Harry. Read the rest."
"Herbology: Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Exceeds Expectations."
"Defense against the Dark Arts: Outstanding, Outstanding, Outstanding. Now, Potions..."
"Potions?" Hermione repeated, worriedly...
"Ahn... Potions." And gathering all the strength he could muster, Harry allowed his eyes to read, "Potions: Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Outstanding…What!?? That's not possible..." but before he could finish the sentence, Harry got startled at some muffed noises on the other side of the line.
"We'll be accepted, Harry! I knew it! Now we just have to dedicate ourselves and study for the N.E.W.T.s, Harry," Hermione said with a strange voice, mixed with the strange sounds.
"What's happening out there, Hermione?"
Hermione, sighing deeply, seemed to be struggling to recover her breathing and then suddenly the noises stopped. "Oh no, it's nothing. What's next?"
"Hmmm, Care of Magical Creatures: Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Outstanding."
"Astronomy: Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Exceeds Expectations."
"Divination: Acceptable, Poor, Acceptable."
"History of Magic: Acceptable, Poor, Acceptable."
"Oh well, at least you won't need N.E.W.T.s in these last subjects to enroll for an auror position," Hermione said, trying to console him. "And anyway, I'm really glad there will be someone to attend these classes with me -"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Err... Ron didn't get enough O.W.L.s in Transfiguration and Potions, Harry. However, he had achieved seven Outstanding O.W.L.s and that's not so bad."
"But what happens now? What are his career's options going to be, then?"
"Well, he's going to attend the N.E.W.T.s classes of the subjects he's been accepted. I really don't know much. He wouldn't even talk to me about it, it was Ginny who told me," Hermione said sadly. And added, "I reckon he won't call you today, according to what she said, he isn't really taking it well."
That shook him up somehow. Sharing his O.W.L.s results with Hermione made Harry feel a lot better... However, Ron has been at his side ever since his first ride at the Hogwarts Express... excluding their fight in the fourth year, his red-head friend was a partner in everything he'd experienced at school... The knowledge that they would share even less time together was rather painful for him.
This early end to Ron's ambitions of being an auror must have really let him down.
He knew better than anyone how Ron wanted to live up to his brother's achievements at Hogwarts... Percy and Bill have been Head Boys with twelve O.W.L.s each. Harry stopped to mutter how many O.W.L.s he got, "one in Transfiguration, three in DADA and Care of Magical Creatures, and..."
"You've got twelve O.W.L.s, Harry," Hermione interrupted him solemnly.
"Twelve?!?" Harry asked bewildered.
"Yeah. And with those, I consider you a great candidate for being Head Boy in seventh year..."
"Nah, if Dumbledore thought that being a Prefect would be too much for me, imagine being a Head Boy..."
Hermione answered disgruntled, "you've never told me about your conversation with Dumbledore. Well, anyhow, the criteria are different --" but before she could continue, Harry heard loud thuds on the door...
His aunt started yelling, "Bloody disgraceful boy! If you think that only because that freak lot of yours tried to threat us you're going to be the king of this residence and spend all afternoon blabbering in our phone, you're wrong. HANG UP NOW!" she said dramatically. "I want to know if Maggie can look at the clothesline of that tramp from number 16, everybody is saying that she had just hung a G-string for all the street to see! How dare she?"
"Hermione, I need to hang up, my aunt wants the phone back --"
"No!" Hermione said nervously, "I still need to tell you something. As today was Ron's day to call you but I took his turn, I won't call you tomorrow and then it'll be too late..."
"Too late for what?" Harry asked quickly, trying not to increase his aunt's rage.
"Start packing today. We're going there on Friday to take you with us to join the Order," Hermione said in a fast manner.
"And who is coming with you?"
"Tonks and Lupin. Mrs. Weasley called from the Burrow confirming it. McGonagall herself asked my parents if they could lend our car. Tonks' father is muggle-born, so Tonks has got a driver's license. They think it's better to rescue you in the 'muggle-way' so it won't arouse any suspicions..."
"What about your parents?"
"Oh, they're going to Portugal on Saturday morning," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Dumbledore believes I'll be an easy target if I leave the country, it seems that there's already an international effort in order to recruit Death Eaters. Honestly, I prefer it this way. I wouldn't be able to catch up with my studies for the next school year if I were traveling."
And then she sighed, "When do you think we'll get our Hogwarts letter? I just can't wait to see the sixth year's booklist..."
"PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFFF!"
At that exact moment, Harry thought that the house had been attacked by a cannon ball. The wall trembled as if a rhinoceros was trying to get the door down.
It didn't take long for him to realize that it was just Dudley forcing the door with his not-so-slender body. "You bloody loafer! Give the phone back to my mum! This isn't a holiday inn for you to come and enjoy at our expense!"
Before Harry could say anything, he heard Hermione say, "All right, Harry, I'm sorry. We'll talk on Friday. Take care." And then she hung up.
Harry didn't want to open the door, so he thrust the phone by the cat-flap on his door that his uncle installed after the incident with Dobby during his second year. The telephone hit Dudley's shins, who quickly grabbed the opportunity to make a scene.
After some hours of threats and attacks on the door, his cousin finally gave up.
For the first time that summer, Harry could taste something different from the negative feelings that had haunted him. Filled with happiness and surprise about his results, when he slept that night he felt arms encircling him... familiar voices praising him proudly... and although he couldn't see them in his dream or remember it on the following day, he had just experienced an evidence that love would never leave him.
*********
Waking up a bit more cheerful, although he couldn't say why, Harry all of a sudden felt sick of being cooped up in his stuffy room. Deciding to fight the self-destructive impulse he have been unconsciously feeding during all his time there, he went to face the day outside.
He decided to sit beside the same hydrangea bush he hid in last year before getting attacked by the Dementors. Closing his eyes, he couldn't help but letting his mind show him those hideous scenes one more time, and feel again the pain that have been chasing him ever since he left school. Unable to open his now wet eyes and face the Sun, he felt delicate fingers drying them. Startled, Harry opened them and saw Hermione.
Getting inside the flowerbed quickly, Hermione stooped until their eyes were aligned, saying worriedly, "Harry, for Merlin's sake, are you feeling well? What happened?"
"Nothing you don't know," Harry answered, really embarrassed and now regretful of having showed himself so vulnerable in such a public place. He took the chance to get up, and was coming up with an apology about taking his trunk down the stairs when he saw Hermione frowning in the same way she does when she's trying to understand something difficult in class. Right when Harry was about to put his right foot out of the flowerbed, she held his arm.
Her voice felt like a whisper, if it weren't said in such a dry way. "Look at me," she ordered. When he failed to comply with her request, she swapped her arms until she held his chin in one of her hands, so she could look at his eyes properly. As she noticed that they wouldn't reveal anything, she let them go, closing her brown eyes with fury.
When she finally opened them again, she was carrying a cool expression, which she usually had when solving a difficult question. In a low voice, she affirmed in a rather questioning tone, as if she couldn't believe what she was saying, "You've lied to us all summer saying you were all right."
Harry, pushing his glasses that were in the tip of his nose, answered staring the floor. "Err - I didn't want to bother anyone. I really appreciate your concern, but you can't help me, and I don't want you to."
"You don't want us to help?"
"Look, you don't really understand. You've never been there, and I'd rather take care of this myself..."
"You can't be such a selfish prat to keep on nurturing this pain alone," Hermione answered angrily. "Nor step back from us just because we've never experienced anything similar..."
Returning to grab his arms, she suddenly pushed him to the trunk of the tree, moving her hands so that she was now holding his shoulders. When she finally caught his eyes, she took a large gulp of breath and said: "Can't you see that the only way to hurt less is spilling it out? That as long as you keep this pain inside you, it will consume you entirely? She smiled slightly. "You may say it's silly, but one of greatest things I've read in 'Hogwarts: A History' was a quote from Godric Gryffindor that said: 'The only way to face the darkness is by opening your eyes and seeing through the black'. Stop this nightmare, Harry. Open your eyes."
Harry just stood there, beneath her hands, unable to react. He felt like yelling at her and saying that that kind of pain wasn't the kind of stuff you can learn in a book, so that she could develop a rational answer that would comfortably minimize his agony... But he somehow wasn't capable of doing that, so he just stared at the grass.
Hermione let his shoulders go and suddenly resigned. With brighter eyes than usual, she let go with a trembling voice, "Albeit I suspected during the holidays, I could have never imagined that you would really do something like that to us. Can't you see that if you keep up like this *we* are the ones who are going to lose you? Is this what you want for your best friends? You more and more apart from us until we reach a point where we've got nothing else in common, nothing else we can hold on to? Indeed, I've never lost anyone, but that doesn't justify that you can't trust me enough to let me help you..."
"I don't wish for you the pain I'm feeling, Hermione. This is *my* personal war. You've never needed to know death profoundly and I want you to keep it that way," Harry said unable to look in her eyes.
Crying openly now, Hermione gathered all her strength to say, "Harry, you can't just end our friendship like that. You - I feel - you're like my family in the Wizarding World, I just can't let you go like that." Trembling, she looked deeply into his eyes and said, "And you're completely mistaken if you think that it is only YOUR problem. Did you forget that my parents are Muggles? Even if we'd never been friends, I'd never be safe in a world ruled by Voldemort. And by the way, I think it'd be good for you to acknowledge that I'm really looking forward to getting involved in the war, and I don't really care if I'll have your blessing or not."
Taking her eyes to the small flowers on the ground, forgetting her tears that were still falling, she walked to the trunk of the same hydrangea bush and leaned down on it, sliding until she could hide her head between her knees.
Seeing Hermione so small, so fragile, brought to his mind that image of her in the Ministry of Magic some months ago, when he thought she was gone. Trying to avoid the same unpleasant stomach ache he felt that day, Harry walked to the tree.
Hesitating a bit, he put his right hand in her nape and said in a low voice, "Hey, I've never said our friendship would end, far from it."
Shrugging her shoulders, Hermione stood silent before she could finally say, "What kind of friend would I be to pretend that everything's all right when it's not?" Turning her eyes aside, she said bitterly, "Or do you really think you've fooled me during the summer? I mean, I hope you know that what you did was WRONG."
Harry tried to find words to disprove her. He tried to look for of all the possible reasons why: 'she's never experienced anything like that, she would put her life in danger, she needn't have to get involved with that...,' until his mind took him back in time and he remembered the debate they had after their exam of History of Magic.
After Voldemort invaded his mind, he got blind of desperation on the possibility of Sirius being tortured. Somehow, he had managed to convince Ron easily... so easily that his red-haired friend even came up with some (absurd) hypothesis bearing out their urgent need to go to the Ministry of Magic. But Hermione... didn't buy it so easily... She was the only one who immediately saw that he was falling into a trap. And she has used all the rational approaches she could to alert him. Failing to do so, she refused to let him do it on his own.
Only now could he understand that by doing that, she consciously risked her permanence at Hogwarts, her future legal ability to perform magic and most importantly, her life - just to support him in something she always knew to be a trap caused by a hallucination.
And then, he finally understood.
And he felt the most stupid person to ever step on Earth.
It was so obvious! Why couldn't he understand that before? Those weren't ordinary reasons... She wasn't just being driven by a friendship. There was surely something more than that...
He could hear her voice again: "...you're like my family in the Wizarding World..."
And that was it!
Indeed, Hermione was the only person in his generation that he could consider as a member of his family. Not trying to undermine the Weasleys, after all spending vacations with them was wonderful, but he never really felt at home there. Because it felt as if he'd arrived afterwards... Harry was brought up as a Muggle for a decade, albeit he was getting more and more used to the reality of being a wizard, it wasn't the same - there are certain things in the past you just can't recall.
Whereas Hermione entered in the Wizarding World practically concurrently with him. After the Troll incident, they've faced all the adaptation barriers to the Wizarding World together. It was more than natural for her to relate to him in a special way. THAT was the reason for her to risk herself as much as she did. After all, he was the guy with the 'saving people thing'. And she was the rational girl. The rational girl who found a brother she'd never had - and driven by a platonic, fraternal love that she'd never experienced before, jeopardized her life like crazy for him. Yeah, only that would explain it all.
He bent down until to look at his friend's face, and used his fingers to raise her chin. Breathing deeply to put his pride aside, he admitted for the first time something that he had kept hidden inside several times in the past. "You were right," he said.
When she opened her eyes to see him, he sat across from her and took her hand. "I-I'll try to uncover it all. I just don't know if I can make it. What do you want to know?"
With a weak smile, she squeezed his hand, saying, "Everything that's been bothering you."
"Hmm, so maybe you'll need to charge me some extra-hours in your psychiatry sessions, Dr. Granger..."
Hermione smiled. "Oh, we can make a deal, then." And said, shyly, "I think the time to face my fear of height has come. It's an absurd for a future auror applicant not to know how to ride a broom correctly. Would you mind giving me some lessons?"
Harry laughed, "Not at all. It's a deal, then."
*********
Harry told Hermione everything related to that night in the Ministry of Magic. The identity of the Death Eater who had attacked her - Antonin Dolohov, Neville's bravery since then, meeting Ron, Ginny and Luna again - apparently unscathed, the Cruciatus Curse Bellatrix performed on Neville, the members of the Order finally arriving, the break of the prophecy, Bellatrix and Sirius fight and he falling through the veil...
Hermione cupped Harry's hands with hers, and nodded sadly, as if it were a request for him to continue.
He preferred not to tell her how long it took him to acknowledge that Sirius was dead. Gathering some strength, he told about the chase he started when Bellatrix tried to run away, his frustrated attempt to perform a Cruciatus Curse on her, Voldemort's appearance and his battle with Dumbledore, until he thought that everything was over and Voldemort invaded his mind...
And he concluded until Fudge's arrival, although he couldn't explain how he managed to do that, because his body has been taken by a tremendous sorrow, that hurt every time he tried to breathe. Therefore, Harry didn't mention the prophecy issue. It wasn't that Hermione didn't deserve to know, but that would be too much for him on just a single day...
Hermione interrupted his thoughts, "we tried to reconstruct the facts using what Neville knew, but I had no idea that things turned out like that, Harry..."
And Harry, now completely self-conscious that she knew everything, said, "I don't know how you're still able to look at my face, after all you've heard..."
"What do you mean?" But before Harry could explain, Hermione seemed to have understood and said, "you can't carry a burden like that, alone. It wasn't your fault, Harry."
"Of course it was my fault. And you should be the first to know that, since you've alerted me that it was a trap since the beginning."
Hermione sighed deeply, "Harry, you've got to stop assuming that the world spins solely around you." Before he could protest, she raised one of her hands, as a gesture for him not to get mad and continued, "Undoubtedly you're an important character to the Wizarding World... You're Voldemort's greatest enemy... Your actions obviously have great significance to the course of the history. But you're not doing this alone."
Harry tried to stop her, but he couldn't. "For all those events have happened, other people besides you had to take decisions that, seen now, were completely wrong."
She started to count them on her fingers, "the Order thinking of us as kids and keeping us oblivious to the prophecy. Lupin, Kingsley and Tonks' decision of allowing Sirius to join them on that day. MY decision of supporting your excursion to the Ministry of Magic. Sirius decision of going to a public place to try to save you..."
"YOU CAN'T CONDEMN HIM FOR GOING THERE," Harry burst.
Hermione smiled. "Exactly. Do you know why? His reasons to go there were the same as yours thirty minutes before. And although you two had been completely aware of the danger you were putting yourselves into, your attitudes were reasonable. Sirius wasn't less smart than you are for HIS reasons to be forgiven and YOURS not. Your soul needs peace, Harry."
"Peace won't bring him back."
"Nothing will bring him back," Hermione said, regretting it instantly. Swallowing hard, she awaited for a new explosion...
But Harry replied crestfallen, "He had been just brought back to life, Hermione. The best years of his life were already stolen from him in Azkaban. He had the right to reconstruct his life with the little he was left."
And then Hermione said something that Harry could never had imagined it would come from her mouth, "But we don't really know what death is, Harry. We don't have any evidence that it would necessarily be the end of everything - take the ghosts as an example. I know that what I'm trying to say doesn't make much sense, but the idea of real wizards and witches would seem like a complete absurd if someone have told me before I received my Hogwarts' letter... And Sirius... Well, I'm aware I don't know him as much as you do, but I'm sure that the last thing he wanted was seeing you like this. The best way to keep his memory alive within you is by getting on with your life in the way he'd always wanted - fighting with honor and with your head up..."
Harry smiled and hugged her before she could continue. He had no idea whatever happened to Hermione that summer for her to start creating theories about life after death, but he took that as a sign of their friendship. Even because the idea of her in fact being Luna Lovegood after a Polyjuice potion was a bit too scary.
In that exact moment, Lupin appeared outside the flowerbed. "Hi, Harry. I'm sorry to interrupt, but we'd better get going. I want to arrive at our destination before the Sun goes down, and we have a few hours of road ahead from us..."
Putting his hands in his head, exasperated, Harry said, "Oh Merlin... I still need to get my trunk and talk to my aunt..."
"Never mind about that. Tonks and I already took your trunk from your room and talked to your aunt, although Tonks' business-woman disguise didn't convince Petunia much after she knocked over an angel statue with your cousin's face..."
Harry smirked. Getting up from the flowerbed, he could see Tonks sitting with her legs stretched outside a black Ford Fusion, that probably belonged to Hermione's parents. Before they reached the car, Harry stopped Hermione in the middle of the way, looking deeply into her eyes.
"Hermione, you were right, about that family thing... I feel the same way, it-it surely feels li-like you're a sister to me."
Hermione frowned, turning her eyes to the ground, returning a few seconds later with a small smile. "It's good to know that, Harry. I-I hope I won't let you down," she stuttered. Catching Lupin's eyes, she gave him a small nod and proceeded to the car, without looking at Harry.
Getting inside the car, Harry saw Tonks preparing herself in the driver's seat. Looking to the rear view mirror, he met the eyes of his Metamorphmagus friend, who greeted him, "Wotcher, Harry! Ready for a ride?"
Remus and Hermione looked at each other apprehensively and quickly fastened their seat belts. Harry understood why when Tonks started the car and, with the windscreen wiper turned on, started moving with hard jolts. "Riding a broom is so much easier..." she sighed, while some inhabitants of the calm Privet Drive observed startled her lack of aptitude in driving a car.
*********
When Harry remembered that afternoon some years later, he discovered that during the argument he had with his best friend inside his aunt's flowerbed, Hermione performed a transfiguration spell that probably even McGonagall wouldn't be able to accomplish. (And that he could never thank her enough for that).
From the first (and probably the last) theory without rational reasoning Hermione ever developed, Harry noticed, some years later, that gradually all the sensation of death he carried within himself turned into sorrow. The sorrow was a bit more bearable and made him see that the best way to praise the memory of all the innocents whose lives were taken by Voldemort would be by never giving up on fighting.
After all, the belief that would be a day in the future when all the magical community wouldn't be segregated between purebloods and muggle-borns could never die. As a matter of fact, one of his main drivers on the war has always been the hope that he would still see a world that wouldn't stand the existence of a Dark Wizard that claimed the supremacy of a pure race. That no innocent lives would be destroyed for an insane battle of power. And that their dreams wouldn't be wasted for a battle they had no responsibility for.
Yet, he knew that even after all those years, it wasn't really over. And it never would be. But some things surely change. Just like he started changing that day.
Maybe like a seed, threw in that flowerbed in Privet Drive, Surrey.
Author notes:
1) Thanks so much for reading! So, how did you feel about the story? I'm really looking forward to knowing your opinions. If possible, please review it!
2) I'm sorry if the angsty tone of this chapter was a surprise - this is not how I plan the whole story to be. The thing is, I just couldn't continue from Ootp without Harry feeling depressed - if you have any comments about it, please let me know.
3) And oh, before anyone ask, this is not a "what-I-think-book-six-will-be-like" kind of story. Although I've started from where JKR left in Ootp, soon you'll see that what I'm planning for this fic is a bit different.
4) Next chapter: Where are Lupin and Tonks taking them? Harry's birthday is coming and he gets to talk about the Prophecy - how will Hermione, Ron and Ginny react?