Runaway
Chapter 7: Return
By KZerina
She was glad Harry made her wear so many layers. Way up in the sky it was very cold, but at least she had Harry's warmth in front of her, keeping most of the wind away.
"You can open your eyes, now. We're almost there," Harry laughed.
"I haven't always my eyes closed!"
"Well then you haven't had a good view since your face has been buried in my back the entire time."
Hermione playfully smacked him on the shoulder before clinging again to his waist. She could feel the Aethonian's descent and landing. As she felt Sleipnir touch ground, she lifted her head and looked around. She hadn't been here for five years now. It still looked the same as she remembered it. Hagrid's hut was in front of them, and Hagrid was lumbering towards them.
"Tha's a beautiful Aethonian ya got there." Hagrid paused as he looked at the horse's riders. "Hermione? Is tha' you?" She nodded with a grin. "I's been so long! I's good to see ya!" he greeted with a large hug. "And who's yer friend?"
Hermione glanced over at Harry. She wasn't sure as whom he wanted Hagrid to know him.
"Andrew Coleman," Harry said, extending his hand, but instead of the bright blue eyes he wore as Drew, he had his own bright green ones.
Hagrid peered at him for a moment, having seen their transformation. Then his eyes grew wide. "Harry?" he asked, earning a smile. Then Hagrid rushed forward and picked Harry up in a huge bear hug. "'Arry! I can't believe you came back!"
Hagrid then put him down and shook him in his excitement.
"Hagrid! First off, could you stop shaking me? You're making me dizzy."
Hagrid stopped immediately, apologizing while Harry struggled to keep himself upright. "Second, I am going by Andrew Coleman, for now. You may call me Drew, Andrew, or if you really want to be formal, Mr. Coleman, but Drew is probably your best bet.
"Finally, would you be so kind as to care for Sleipnir for me?"
Hagrid's eyes lit up with great excitement. "Oh, of course, er, Drew. He's a beautiful creature, beautiful. Jus' tell me what I need to do with him, and I'll do it."
Harry smiled and turned to the chestnut. "You behave, Sleipnir. This is Hagrid. He'll take care of you." With these words, Harry dropped the reins and took the bags off the horse's back.
Kosse had insisted on joining them on their trek. "Come on, Kosse," Harry told the dog who was lying lazily across Sleipnir's shoulders. Kosse only looked at Harry and set his head back down. "Fine." Harry pulled out his wand for appearance's sake and floated the sluggish dog from his perch atop the winged horse. "Now, come on, we're going to see the headmaster."
"Good ter see ya again."
"And you, Hagrid. I will be back shortly."
He handed the reins Hagrid, who led the horse away, and kissed Hermione on the cheek before turning toward the front entrance to the castle, Kosse on his heels.
"Drew!" Hermione called. Harry stopped and looked over his shoulder. "If you see Ron, send him out, please?" Harry nodded and continued to Dumbledore's office.
While waiting for Harry to return, Ron came out and joined her. He took Hermione in a hug that was a little friendlier than she would have liked.
"Ron!" she exclaimed, pushing him backwards.
"What? I didn't do anything."
"We're not engaged anymore, remember?" Ron looked disgruntled at her statement. "I'm happy to see you too, Ron, but as a friend, nothing more than that."
Ron's face showed his disappointment, but he nodded and hugged her more appropriately.
"It's been almost a year, Hermione. What made you come back? I mean, it can't be just random."
"Andrew Coleman."
"Who?"
"Andrew Coleman, he's a wonderful guy."
"What exactly do you know about this guy?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"He saved me from Hypothermia…."
"Hypo-what-ia?"
"…He has a nice cabin in the mountains…."
"Which ones?"
"…He has sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and that over there with Hagrid is his Aethonian, Sleipnir…" she said.
"What kind of weirdo names something Sleipnir? Whatever that is."
"And he's got kids."
"Kids?!?"
"Yeah, they go ba-ah."
"Kids are strange. Who'd he have 'em with?"
"I mean baby goats, Ron."
"Oh, riiiiiight."
"He has house-elves."
"And you're okay with this?"
Hermione nodded. "He lets them come and go as they please, provides proper clothes for them, and things like that. He carves beautiful wooden statues…."
"Statues?" Ron scoffed.
"…He's the strong, silent type…unlike you…. You are loud and…louder…." Ron humphed. "He exudes this aura of power…."
"Are you sure he's not a Death Eater? They're still on the loose, you know."
"…He's kind and gentle and sweet, and he has the most beautiful green eyes…" Hermione said dreamily.
"Green? When I saw him in the corridor, they were blue."
"Oh! And he's got these cool tattoos on his upper arms!"
"Tattoos?"
"A phoenix on the left and a griffin on the right."
"Just how far have you gone with this guy?"
"I've slept with him," Hermione answered confidently.
"You WHAT?!?!?"
"Slept with him. You know, 'Z.' Snore, which by the way, you do so loudly."
Ron scowled, though she didn't know whether it was because she was talking about actual sleep or at her comment about his snoring. Hermione gave a satisfied grin at having successfully fooled him.
Ron put his composure back into place. "You said when you left that you weren't coming back until you found Harry. Why didn't you bring him back with you?"
Hermione heard footsteps behind her and turned to see who was approaching. It was Harry and the headmaster, Kosse trotting along behind the two men.
"Hey, 'Mi," Harry said as he approached. "Hello, Ron, was it?"
"Yeah," Ron sneered.
"Nice to meet you," said Harry, holding out his hand in a pleasant gesture, his eyes their familiar emerald. Ron only looked back with disgust and contempt.
"Ronald Weasley! That is very rude!" Hermione scolded, thumping Ron on the back of the head.
Ron gently rubbed the spot with a crinkled nose and asked rudely, "What'd you hit me for, woman?"
"That's not very nice either. Talk about bad first impressions. Would you like me to hit him for you, 'Mi?" Harry asked his blue eyes back in place.
"That won't be necessary," she replied. Then she slapped Ron so hard on the cheek that a large crimson spot shown from beneath his hand now clamped to his face as he steadied himself against a nearby tree.
The headmaster politely cleared his throat. "Shall we go to lunch?"
Harry nodded. "Sounds good. We're starved." He offered his arm to Hermione at the same time Dumbledore did, so Hermione holed one arm on each elbow and the three walked off.
"Oi, Red!" Harry called over his shoulder. "Ya coming?"
Ron scowled back, rubbing his still tender red cheek.
"Kosse, go on. Find Sleip and make friends with Fang."
The Rhodesian ridgeback perked up his ears, then trotted away in search of his equine friend. Hermione smiled at Kosse before turning forward again and entering the castle.
As they passed through the doors to the entrance hall, Harry looked around. "It's been so long…. Don't even think about it!"
Hermione looked over at Harry, not understanding his words until he shifted his gaze to the ceiling where Peeves, the pesky poltergeist, was hovering with a water balloon clenched in his hand and a very confused expression on his face.
"How did you know?" the spook asked warily.
"After seven years of you, you'd think I'd be used to it."
"But I've never seen you before."
"Just get out of here or you'll wish I'd called the Baron." Peeves eyed him, skeptically. "Don't test me. I do have the power to back it up."
With those words, Peeves rethought his idea of bombarding Harry with water balloons and zipped off to cause mischief elsewhere in the castle.
"Idiot," Harry said after Peeves.
"I'm impressed, Drew. That specter doesn't even listen to me," Dumbledore said.
"You just have to be a bit forceful with him."
They smiled and continued on their way to the table. Harry and Hermione sat on the end while the headmaster took his own seat. The students stared and pointed at the newcomers. Some of the seventh years seemed to recognize Hermione, the head girl from their first year. The teachers nearby looked at them before greeting them. Harry politely introduced himself as Andrew Coleman and the professors left it at that.
After lunch, the headmaster led them to an extra room on the fourth floor of Hogwarts. This was to be Hermione's room while they stayed at the castle. The room next door to hers would be Harry's, though they would most likely be in one room or the other at any given time they were there.
During the afternoon, Harry and Hermione wandered around the castle, visiting teachers and staff. While Hermione went to visit some of her favorite teachers, Harry went to visit Hagrid, Kosse, and Sleipnir, to show Hagrid how to care for them if for some reason Harry couldn't.
When she went to visit Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher, she found that he wasn't there, and she hadn't seen him all day. She passed Professor Dumbledore in the hall and decided to ask what was going on.
"Excuse me, Professor," Hermione said as she walked up beside the headmaster.
Dumbledore turned around. "Oh, Hermione! Yes, what may I do for you?"
"I was wondering about Professor Vector. I haven't seen him."
"He is at home taking care of some personal business. He is taking an extended leave of absence. We have assignments from him, and there are teachers taking care of the classes." Hermione nodded. "But, Hermione. The idea just struck me," the professor stated. "You would be able to teach these classes, would you not?"
"I think I could, but are sure you'd want me to do that?"
"Yes, I do. You would be able to teach them new concepts and answer their questions. Instead of just reading and writing, they can apply what they learn. Will you do it?"
Hermione was taken aback by the offer. "Sure," she finally got out as the headmaster smiled at her.
"Thank you, Hermione. The resources are in the classroom. If you need anything else, feel free to ask for it."
"Thank you, sir," Hermione said as she turned down the hall to the Arithmancy room to explore the texts and tools.
Before she knew it, hours had passed, and Harry entered the classroom. "It took me forever to find you, 'Mi. I've been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing up here?"
"Professor Dumbledore needed a temporary replacement Arithmancy teacher while Professor Vector was on extended leave for personal business."
Harry nodded and smiled. "That's just the job for you, Miss Arithmancy-was-my-favorite-class-at-Hogwarts."
Hermione scrunched up her nose at the comment, and Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione's shoulders and kissed her cheek. Then suddenly, strange yelling resounded down the corridor. Harry furrowed his brow and went to look out the door. He turned his head to watch down the other direction as a short, thin, black-clad figure shot past, followed by suitcases and Peeves, throwing rotten fruit.
"I wonder what that was all about," Harry said, waving his hand and cleaning up the splattered fruit from the floor. "She didn't seem too happy about something."
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know who that was, much less what her problem was."
Harry shrugged his shoulders and went back to his previous position. Hermione ran her fingers through his blonde locks and reveled in his presence.
Then Ron walked in. "Hermione, I need to talk to-what is this?"
"What does it matter?"
Harry put his chin on top of Hermione's head, his arms still wrapped around her shoulders.
"What is with you? The eye thing is weird! Don't do that!" Ron exclaimed, a disgusted look crossing his face. Then he mumbled, "Weirdo."
"Well I happen to love this 'weirdo,' as you say, and if your brain can't comprehend my saying it, then I'll just have to show you."
With those words, Hermione brought Harry's head level with hers and kissed him full on the lips. Ron, who seemed quite disgusted and bitter at this display, rolled his eyes and with a sneer left the room to go about his business.