Sorry it took me so long to update, I got involved in reading an exceptionally long fic, and it took me about five days to read it.
I had a couple complaints about the writing style of the first chapter, so I thought I'd take a minute to clarify that. It was merely an attempt at a new way of how to perceive the story. It failed miserably, so to the happiness of those of you who complained, I will be reverting to my old style, which follows the trends of JKR. And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!
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Chapter 2: Birthday Presents
Over the past two and a half weeks, Harry had gotten used to Hermione living with him in his room at the Dursley's. To Harry's relief, Dumbledore had been correct in assuming that the Dursely's would not notice if he didn't leave his room for the summer.
At first, living with Hermione had been quite....fun. Yes, if Harry could choose a word to describe it, fun was probably the best choice. The non-stop snogging probably had something to do with that. About a week after she arrived though, the raging teen hormones started to calm themselves down, and Hermione was now back in study mode, the result being a very mature, working type of atmosphere.
Harry had no problems with this, as he was pretty sure that the things that he and Hermione did at night in his bed were classified as "mature" acts (even though the two of them had mutually agreed on waiting to do 'certain things' until they were both ready), but the snogging on the couch during the day had stopped so they could work. Work was progressing quite well (they had managed to compete ALL of Snape's summer essays already, and were almost done with their Charms work), and as Harry's birthday quickly approached, he couldn't help but wonder what was in store for him this year.
Two days before Harry's birthday, Hermione brought the subject up.
"Harry, can we talk for a little bit?" she asked. Harry looked up from his food. He didn't know much about girls in general, but he did know that this question usually meant that a problem was about to present itself. Hermione noticed the look of disdain on Harry's face and quickly added, "Oh, don't worry it's nothing to be concerned about." Harry's face relaxed considerably.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. Hermione had been conjuring more complex things as of late, and was getting very good at it.
"Well, I know we haven't really talked about it much, but I was wondering what you would like to do on your birthday?" she responded. Harry looked at her questioningly.
"Well...nothing I suppose." Hermione looked at Harry disapprovingly. "I haven't really celebrated my birthday before, so I don't even know what I would do. Everyone's always sent me presents and cards and such, but aside from that I just act like it's any other day."
"You mean to tell me that during the 16 birthdays you've had here-"
"Fifteen," Harry corrected her. "Although I don't remember my first when my mum and dad were still alive."
"Fine, fifteen," she said. "You mean to tell me that the Dursley's have never done anything?"
"I think it's more likely for Snape to start awarding house points to Neville for trying in potions class than for the Dursley's to celebrate the day I came into this world," grumbled Harry.
"That's horrible," replied Hermione. "I guess we'll just have to make up for all that other bad birthdays you've had then." Harry arched an eyebrow at her in surprise. She saw this and sniggered into her goblet. "You are such a boy."
"Would you prefer I be a girl?" Harry asked smiling. "I never knew you were attracted to women." In response to this, Hermione picked up her wand and pointed it at Harry's lap from above the surface of the table.
"Watch it Potter, or I'll make a change to your anatomy that will make life very unpleasant for you," she said acidly. Harry's eyes grew wide.
"You can do that?" he asked in awe. Hermione scoffed.
"Yes. Why, do you want me to make that change to you?" she asked smirking.
"I was just thinking about why you haven't threatened Malfoy with anything like that," Harry said with a grin. This prompted a chuckle from Hermione.
"I doubt there's anything for me to deprive him of anyway," she laughed. "So, you never answered my question. What do you want to do for your birthday?"
"If you insist about making such a big deal about it, how about that for the entire day there's no mention of any type of work or studying whatsoever," Harry said. Hermione growled a little. "I know, it's the exact opposite of what you would want for YOUR birthday, but I'm really tired out from all the studying we've been doing." Hermione's expression softened a little.
"And here I thought I was finally becoming a good influence on you."
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The next day, Harry woke up to the sound of Hedwig hooting on her perch. He looked over at her and found that Hermione was obstructing his view, whispering to Hedwig.
"Whatcha doing up?" he asked groggily.
"Oh damn," she said. "I was hoping I wouldn't wake you up."
"Why? What are you hiding?" Harry asked sitting up in bed and putting his glasses on.
"I'm not hiding anything, you received a letter and a package from Dumbledore today and I was asking Hedwig why Ron hadn't responded to my letter yet."
"You can talk to owls now?" Harry asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You can't possibly tell me that you've never been able to communicate with Hedwig," she said pursing her lips.
"Oh, right," he said sheepishly. "So can I have my letter?"
"It's on the table next to your breakfast," she said sitting back down in front of her tea. Harry sat down opposite her and looked at the parcel wrapped in paper patterned with golden snitches on the front. His letter was on top of the package, and he opened it and read aloud,
Dear Harry,
I know this letter and parcel will arrive one day prior to your birthday, but I have business I must attend to tomorrow and therefore sent it today. But before I get ahead of myself, Happy Birthday! Speaking of birthdays, as you will be 17 and of majority age, I thought I should bring to your attention that you may pledge to join the Order (Harry's heart jumped at reading this). I daresay that you are reading this letter aloud to Miss Granger right now, so I will also add that once she comes of age, I'm sure she will be most welcomed into our ranks as well.
Now, onto your present. First, let me express that you are welcome to open the gift whenever you choose, as long as it is on or after the day of your birthday. It has been in my possession for several decades, and now I feel it would be better suited in your hands. I believe it may be of use to you for preparation in the upcoming battle. I do believe your father attempted to gain control of it at one point, but thanks to the charms I had upon it, he could not locate it. The password is 'from knowledge rises power'. Use it well.
-AD
P.S. Oh by the way, as your mandatory month at the Dursley's will be completed in two days, you are of course, free to return to Snuffles home if you wish. Please send a letter with Hedwig if you wish to go there, and if so when would be an appropriate time for Remus to pick you up.
Harry looked up at Hermione as he finished reading the letter. Her eyes were wide and she was biting her lower lip like she always did when thinking, nervous, or both.
"How did he know we call him Snuffles?" Harry asked to no one in particular. Hermione shrugged. "Do you want to go?" Harry asked while Hermione was still in thought.
"Only if you do," she said.
"Well I'd like to. I want to get back there and besides, it'll do for a change of scenery." Hermione frowned.
"You don't like my scenery?" she grumbled referring to her interior designs of Harry's magically expanded room.
"You know what I mean," said Harry. "Besides, I think the house is probably legally mine now that...Sirius is gone..." his voice trailed off. "I'd like to see what I can do about repairs and improvements."
"Of course," she said. "But I'd like to stay here a few more days at least."
"That's fine," replied Harry. "How does leaving on August 3rd sound?"
"Seems ok," Hermione replied.
"So Ron didn't write back yet?" Harry asked.
"Guess not," she replied. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"What do you think he sent you?" she inquired looking at the package wrapped in the snitch-patterned paper. Harry lifted it the item up to his eye level, and brought it up and down, as to get a feel for its weight.
"It's a book of some sort-" he began eyeing the package. Hermione's worried expression immediately turned into a giant grin.
"Well if it's a book it can't be all that bad," she said. "I bet there's loads of useful information in there. Shame you can't open it until tomorrow." Harry looked at her shocked.
"You really think I shouldn't open it until tomorrow?" he asked pleadingly.
"I think it's for a reason that Dumbledore said to wait. You know that if he wrote that, he wrote it for a reason." Harry let out an exasperated sigh.
"Fine," he said sliding the parcel under his bed. "I'll wait."
"Good," replied Hermione. "Now eat your breakfast, we have to get to studying if we're not going to do any work tomorrow." Harry groaned.
"Hermione, the point of not doing work tomorrow is to give me a day off, not to do double the work on a different day." She huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Yes well, you'll feel better once it's all over trust me."
"I know, but do we really have to work so hard all the time?" Harry asked with a lopsided grin. Hermione rolled her eyes, but at the same time seemed to be thinking.
"I'll tell you what," she said. "Humor me today, and I'll give you your birthday present from me early." Harry considered this a moment, wondering what she got him. It would have to be good in order for her to be able to tempt him with it early. Of course, that might be her intentions to make him think that. Either way, Harry wanted to avoid any type of argument and replied,
"Deal." He stood up from the table and went over to Hedwig. "I'm gonna write back to Dumbledore now." Hermione nodded and Harry scribbled quickly that if he and Hermione could be picked up on August 3rd, it would be most appreciated. When he was done, he rolled up the parchment and tied it to Hedwig's leg who took off into the early afternoon sky.
"Now," said Hermione walking over to their study table (also newly transfigured) with an armful of books. "Sit." She commanded. "We need to get Flitwick's assignment done." Harry groaned but went over to sit next to her nonetheless.
The day passed without event, although the extra work they had done had caused them to start eating dinner at around eight at night. As Harry and Hermione finished dinner, Harry brought up Hermione's part of the promise they made earlier in the day while Hermione was vanishing the plates and silverware she had conjured.
"So," he asked leaning back on his chair. "What's my present?" Hermione stopped vanishing objects and looked at him. "You did promise to give me my present early." She considered him a moment before speaking.
"You'll get it," she said. "In a little while." Harry began to rock back and forth in his chair.
"Can you give me a clue?" he asked.
"No, you'll just have to wait and see," she responded twinkling slightly. Harry rocked back on his chair again, and this time the chair broke and he fell flat on his arse. "Honestly," sighed Hermione. "Weren't you ever told not to lean on chairs because they would break?"
"Yeah," said Harry rubbing his backside. "I just never believed it." Hermione grinned at him.
"Just like a boy."
"Would you stop saying that?" Harry asked smiling.
"I'm merely stating the facts," she replied. Hermione repaired the chair with a flick of her wand, and after five more minutes, they were done clearing the table of all the conjured items. Harry gave a yawn.
"I'm tired," he commented. "I think I'll get ready for bed." Hermione nodded.
"I'll retire too, let me get changed." And with that she walked off into the conjured bathroom with nothing but her wand. Harry paused for a moment to think about this, but then realized that Hermione was probably just going to transfigure or conjure herself something to sleep in. He was about to change into his pajama bottoms when he heard Hermione's voice come from within the bathroom.
"Sleep in your boxers tonight," she shouted to Harry through the closed door.
"Why?" Harry shouted back. "And how did you know that I was changing?"
"Law of averages, and just do it, it's supposed to be a warm night tonight." Harry grumbled but complied, and slipped under the covers wearing just his boxer shorts. He lay there staring at the ceiling with his glasses on for a few minutes until he heard the bathroom door open. What he saw made his jaw drop.
It was Hermione, and that wasn't what surprised him. It was what she was wearing that was the surprise. She was standing there in a red-silk nightgown that Harry had never seen before. It came down just barely below her knees and was quite 'revealing' Harry thought. She walked over to the bed and got under the covers next to him.
"How come you're wearing that?" he asked, his mouth still hanging open.
"Don't you like it?" Hermione asked suddenly looking very self-conscious. She looked at the gown she was wearing and started smoothing it down until Harry took one of her hands in his.
"It's gorgeous," he whispered. Hermione smiled.
"I thought you'd like it," she said.
"So why are you wearing it?" he asked still holding her hand. She grinned at him like only she could and whispered,
"I did promise you your birthday present early, didn't I?"
Harry's brain began reeling with what the implications of that sentence could be. The only action he was able to make in response was to swallow and force the lump in his throat to shrink slightly. Hermione noticed this and chuckled.
"Unless of course, you don't want your present?" Harry's mind immediately snapped back into focus.
"N-n-n-no," he said trembling slightly. "I just....just...." He trailed off as he saw Hermione was giggling at him.
"You are adorable when you stutter," she said smiling. Harry felt the blood rush to his cheeks and looked down. "Oh come on, you can't still be embarrassed in front of me, can you?"
"You'd be surprised," he muttered.
"You do know that I'm not embarrassed about anything with you anymore, right?" she asked regaining her business-like tone.
"Well, yeah. I've just never really had a person before that I could feel so secure with," Harry replied still facing away from her. Hermione lifted his head to that their gaze was even.
"I know," she said. "But I love you enough to trust you with my life and then some. Do you not feel the same way?" she added arching her eyebrows.
"I would die for you, Hermione," he replied taking her hands in his. "There is no one else I would rather be with than you." A silent tear rolled down Hermione's cheek as Harry finished this and he wiped it away.
"I know," was her response. Then a smile flickered onto her face as she cleared her throat. "So...are you ready to stop being embarrassed in front of me?" Harry couldn't help but blush, but he made sure his eyes stayed focused on hers this time.
"I think so," he said smiling. This time it was Hermione's turn to blush slightly.
"That's more like it," she said. With that she grabbed her wand from the nightstand and flicked off all the lights.
The next morning Harry awoke in his bed with his arms wrapped around Hermione. He kept his eyes closed, trying to remember his dream from the previous night. All he could remember was that he and Hermione had done some very adult things. It wasn't the first time he had dreamt it, but it had seemed so real this time, he was kind of disappointed when it had ended. Sighing, he opened his eyes.
It was then he realized that both he and Hermione were lying in his bed stark naked. Slowly, he realized that last night had, in fact, not been a dream.
"Wow," he chuckled to himself. He was about to do some more thinking when Hermione stirred and she turned over to face him with a grin on her face.
"I was wondering when you'd wake up," she said smiling. Harry looked at her skeptically.
"How long have you been up?" he asked.
"About twenty minutes," she replied.
"How come you didn't get up?" Harry asked. Hermione's smile widened.
"I liked being held by you." Harry couldn't help but smile at hearing this. "Happy birthday, Harry. I hope you liked your present." This time it was Harry's smile that widened.
"You have no idea," he breathed out. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.
"Actually I do, but I'm glad you enjoyed it nonetheless," she said resting her forehead against his. "And by the way, I happen to feel the same way." A thought crossed Harry's mind then.
"Isn't the first time supposed to be.....unpleasant for girls?" he asked.
"Well at first it wasn't," Hermione confessed. "But it got much better," she said smiling. "I read it's only supposed to get better with time."
"You read?" asked Harry incredulously. Hermione grinned.
"You'd be amazed what you can find inside a book," she said. Harry chuckled.
"So how much better does it get?" he asked smiling. Hermione smiled back, but hers was very mischievous.
"Let's find out." It took Harry's brain a few seconds to register that sentence, but it didn't take him long after that to figure out what it meant.
Forty-five minutes later the two of them were sitting on the edge of Harry's bed, getting dressed for the day. Hermione finished, put her head on Harry's shoulder, and sighed with contentment.
"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" she asked. Harry smiled.
"Yeah, you may have mentioned it once or twice." Hermione playfully slapped Harry in the arm as he turned to kiss her. The kiss was broken up a few minutes later by the arrival of Hedwig, carrying several parcels along with letters. She landed ungracefully on the table as it was apparent that her heavy load had tired her greatly. Harry stood up from the bed and walked over to her.
"Wow, you carried this all by yourself, huh?" he asked Hedwig. She hooted softly as Harry untied the three parcels and four letters that she had brought him. When he had finished untying the last one, she flew over to her cage and immediately went to sleep.
"So who sent you presents?" Hermione asked walking over next to Harry.
"Well there's a letter from Ron attached to this one, a letter from Hagrid on this one, looks like Lupin sent me something as well, and this last letter looks to be from......" Harry scanned the envelope. "Dumbledore," he finished, recognizing the familiar looping handwriting.
"Well go on," Hermione said. "Open them." Harry complied and opened Ron's letter first.
Harry,
Sorry I didn't get back to you right away mate, but Hedwig took off somewhere before I had a chance to reply. She came around this morning carrying packages for you, so I assume she was just bringing you all your birthday stuff at once. Speaking of which, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATE! Can't wait to hear how your summer's been ::wink wink::. Say hello to Hermione for me, and don't go doing anything that I wouldn't do.
-Ron
"I get the feeling that he's trying to encourage you to do bad things," said Hermione smiling.
"Now now, not all of them are that bad are they?" asked Harry grinning. Hermione laughed.
"Definitely not." Harry returned to the package and saw that it was the usual homemade fudge from Mrs. Weasley, and a few chocolate frogs from Ron. Harry the turned to Hagrid's package and saw that thankfully, it wasn't any of his homemade cooking, but an interesting book on the nature and characteristics of dangerous creatures.
"That should be useful," commented Hermione. "You never know what sort of things Voldemort may throw at you." Harry looked up frowning. "Sorry," Hermione hastily added. "I didn't mean it like that."
"It's ok, I know," replied Harry. He then opened Remus' letter and read it.
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday. I don't really think that there's a point to writing down everything I know in a letter, as I'm going to see you in three days. I know your present may seem a bit odd at first, but I think you'll understand once you open what Dumbledore sent you (if you haven't opened it already). Just be careful, and use it well.
-Remus
"Why is everyone telling me to 'use it well'?" Harry asked with a slight smile.
"Because you should," responded Hermione smiling. "Go on and open it then."
Harry opened the package and saw that Remus had in fact sent him, of all things, a book of English-Latin translations.
"I wonder what this is for," he commented. "Suppose I should open Dumbledore's present and find out."
"You should probably read his letter first, just in case there's something he forgot to mention to you yesterday," Hermione commented. Harry looked at her like this was highly unlikely, but opened the letter anyway.
Harry,
I am just writing to let you know the Remus will apparate to your room at noon on August the third, so be sure you are not involved in any activities that would be cause for embarrassment. Also, do not begin work on anything in what I sent you, wait until you arrive at headquarters. Again, Happy Birthday.
-AD
Harry had a strong suspicion that Dumbledore had been twinkling madly while he wrote this letter.
"Well," began Harry. "Let's see what he sent me, shall we?" Hermione nodded and Harry went over to his bed and pulled the present out from under it. He set it on the table and tore off the paper. It looked like an ancient book of some kind.
"I wonder what it is," said Hermione. She made to open it, but as she touched the cover, she shrieked and pulled her hand away quickly. "It shocked me!" she cried nursing her hand. Harry's brow furrowed, then he remember what Dumbledore had said in his letter the day before. He pulled out his wand and touched the tip of it to the cover.
"From knowledge rises power," he said, and the cover of the book flew open. At first, Harry thought there was something wrong, he leafed through the book and found all the pages to be blank. But when he returned to the first page of the book, print started to materialize.
"I wonder what needed to be guarded so carefully," said Hermione. The print finished materializing and Harry leaned close to the book so he could read the words.
"De Tomus et Ur Castatus," he read. "What does that mean?"
"Well Remus did send you an English-Latin translator," Hermione said handing Harry the book from Lupin.
"Oh yeah," said Harry leafing through the pages of the dictionary. "De Tomus et Ur Castatus," he muttered. Harry ran a finger down one of the pages in the index. "Page 243." He quickly found the page and began scanning it. His jaw dropped when his gaze reached what he was looking for. Hermione quickly looked at what he had read.
"Oh....my....god," she breathed. The translation had read as:
'The Tome of the Spellmaker'.
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A/N: I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT LATIN! I'm positive that the translation I just gave is 100% incorrect, so all of you Latin scholars out there, please take no offense. Oh by the way, I forgot to mention this in the first chapter, so I decided to write it now. Throughout this story I will be using ideas from many separate people, and I decided that it would be easier to write a list of credits at the end of the story instead of citing them one by one. So if I've contacted you about taking ideas, do not fret, you will get credit at then end.
Next chapter up soon - I'm almost done with school, so I should have a little more free time (although once school is over, the job hunt begins, so we'll see......)