Harry Potter and all related Characters belong to JK Rowling
Chapter 1 - Nightmares and Discoveries
It was past midnight as Harry Potter sat on the windowsill of his bedroom and watched the rain as it came down in big fat globs. Unlike the previous summer when Surrey had seemed more like Spain this year it had rained almost every day since Harry had returned to Privet Drive to stay with the Dursleys, his obnoxious and only living relatives. Not that he'd actually noticed as since he'd returned from Hogwarts Harry had thrown himself into reading the new Defence Against The Dark Arts books Moody had sent him at the start of the holidays to try and prevent himself from dwelling on the events of the previous year and especially what had happened that fateful night at the Ministry of Magic. Unfortunately he'd been unable to prevent the nightmares that constantly plagued his nights since his return to Privet Drive or quash the tremendous feelings of guilt he felt over the death of his godfather, Sirius Black, or the fact he'd nearly gotten his closest friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Ron's sister Ginny and their other friends Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood killed when he forced them to reluctantly go with him to the Ministry on what they thought was a mission to rescue Sirius from Harry's nemesis Lord Voldemort. Unfortunately it had all been a trap set by Voldemort in an attempt to gain hold of the Phoenix Prophecy although the Dark Lord's plan to steal the Prophecy had failed when Neville had dropped the orb containing it and causing Harry to believe the Prophecy to be lost.
But although the Prophecy itself had been destroyed it had not been lost as Professor Dumbledore had learned of it sixteen years earlier from Sybil Trelawney and had told Harry it before he'd returned to Privet Drive at the end of term. Harry had also tried to forget this but on some nights instead of images of the battle at the Ministry he would see the images from Dumbledore's pensive and hear Trelawney's voice as she told the Professor the Prophecy.
`The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…
born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other as neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord as the seventh month dies…
Harry felt nauseous every time the damn thing burrowed its way into his mind. Either he had to kill Voldemort or be killed, neither of which was particularly appealing to him. Vanquish Voldemort to somewhere where he could never harm anyone, yes, he could live with that but to kill him…? Even after everything that Voldemort had done to Harry he wasn't sure if he could actually kill someone, not even Voldemort.
Harry now gave a shudder and sighed softly, so far he hadn't even had the courage to tell his friends that he knew the contents of the Prophecy. It wasn't that he was worried they'd be angry that he knew about it, heck, he'd bet his Firebolt that Hermione would have guessed that Dumbledore knew the thing off by heart. It was their reaction to the thing that terrified him. They'd all be so quick to forgive him for not only the Ministry but for every incident when he'd acted like a jerk. Ron had even gone on to put it all down to stress!
`After all,' he'd written in one of his letters to Harry. `Who wouldn't have been stressed if they were You-Know-Who's Number One target and also had to deal with the added annoyances of Snape, Malfoy, Umbridge and Fudge. Blimey mate, I would have gone bloody nuts!'
Hermione, while not quite as colourful with her language as Ron had generally agreed with him in that Harry had been under a great deal of stress. She'd also remind Harry that both Dumbledore and Hagrid had pointed out that Sirius had known the risks of going to the Ministry and whilst he may not have wished to die he would have given his life quite willing if it meant saving Harry's. A fact she'd again pointed out in one of their twice-weekly phone calls.
After their talk Harry had felt embarrassed and ashamed as he realised that when both Dumbledore and Hagrid had told him this he'd been short with both of them and although Hermione had told him that neither of them would expect it of him he had immediately written to both to apologise only for Hermione to be proven correct once more when both had written back telling him that an apology wasn't necessary and that they understood how he'd been feeling at the time.
`Of course she was right,' thought Harry as he continued to look at the window. `This is Hermione after all, she's not usually wrong about anything!' At this he turned his gaze away from the window and looked over to a picture of him and Hermione from the previous Christmas. They both had an arm around each other and were grinning and waving at the camera and occasionally exchanging glances. As he looked at the photo Harry felt the corner of his lips turn up into a smile, something that had only really happened these past few weeks when he'd either spoke to Hermione on the phone or received a letter from her, Ron or one of the others (except for the previous Tuesday night when Dudley had been brought home by a Police car, an event that had caused Harry's Uncle and Aunt much embarrassment and had resulted in Dudley being grounded for the rest of the week). Leaning back against the window frame Harry felt the smile on his face broaden slightly as he gazed at Hermione's image in the photo. She was, he realised, truly his best friend. Yes, he'd known Ron longer but things had never really been the same between the pair since the whole Goblet of Fire incident in their fourth year despite the face the pair had made up after the first trial, whereas Hermione had stayed loyally at Harry's side the whole time. She'd even stuck by him last year despite the fact he'd acted like a irresponsible jerk on several occasions and had even come close to hitting her at one point, a memory which still made Harry's stomach lurch with self-loathing whenever it enter his head.
`She really is my best friend if she still wants to know me after last term,' he thought still looking fondly at the photo.
`And that's why you love her!' piped up a voice in his head causing Harry to blink.
`Where the hell did that come from?' he thought as he took a gulp of air.
`Oh come on, admit it,' replied the other voice which sounded oddly like Ron's. `Your in love with her!'
Harry tried briefly to find someway of denying this but then realised to his own surprise that the voice was right.
He was in love with Hermione.
But what about Ron? He had a thing for Hermione didn't he? And then there was Krum.
But once Harry started to think about it the obstacles began to crumble. For a start only the other day Ron had written to him admitting to the fact that he `kinda liked' Luna and had been writing to her a lot and as for Krum, Hermione hadn't heard from him in months.
But then there was Hermione herself. If she had feelings for him why hadn't she said anything? It only took Harry a second to realise the answer to that one.
Cho.
`Merlin's beard,' thought Harry glumly. `I'm so bloody blind!'
Whatsmore, the more he thought about it the more it made sense. Why would she have stuck by him so long if she didn't feel anything? Plus there was the fact she'd never actually made a move to get a boyfriend. Sure, she was often busy with study but Harry was sure if she wanted one Hermione could easily organise her schedule to accommodate the occasional date!
But there were still the Prophecy and Voldemort to take into consideration but Harry quickly realized that even if she wasn't his friend, let alone his girlfriend, Hermione would still be a prime target for the Dark Lord being a Muggle-born. As for the Prophecy, it was reasonable to assume that if she suspected Dumbledore knew it there was a good chance that Hermione had a theory on what the Prophecy said.
Harry now slid off the windowsill and crossed the room before flopping onto his bed with a sigh as he now realised the unmistakable truth.
He'd fallen in love with his best friend.
"Great," he sighed as he removed his glasses and placed them on his bedside cabinet. "Why does my life have to go and get even more complicated?!"
Little did Harry know was that fate was for once on his side!
***
That night for the first time since returning from Hogwarts, Harry's dreams were not of that fateful night at the Ministry or of Trelawney's meeting with Dumbledore.
They were of Hermione.
They're first meeting on the Hogwarts Express.
The Troll incident in the girls' toilet.
Their hug in the middle of the Great Hall at the end of their second year on Hermione's return from the Infirmary.
Their flight on Buckbeak during their rescue mission in their third year.
Hermione in her ball gown during the fourth year.
The kiss goodbye she'd given him at Kings Cross that same year.
Hermione casting her patronus for the first time during a DA meeting last year.
Then a strange hazy blur filled Harry's mind until he found himself sitting in a chair beside a bed in which Hermione was sitting, propped up by pillows. She was wearing a red dressing gown and in her arms she was holding a small bundle of blankets from which came the occasional gurgle or snuffle and seemed to be dominating her attention for a few minutes before she turned to Harry with tears of joy shimmering in her eyes.
"Our daughter Harry," she whispered softly before handling the bundle to Harry who now found himself looking at a small pink face with two brown eyes looking at him through half open lids.
"Hello young lady," he whispered softly. "I'm your Daddy."
***
Harry sat up with a jolt gasping for breath while a thin sheen of sweat covered his brow.
`Merlin's beard!' he thought as he slowly laid his head back on his pillow. `What the hell was that?'
Of course Harry had an idea of what it was. It was a vision, a full-blown vision like the ones Trelawney had albeit rarely.
Harry blinked a couple of times as he pinched the bridge of his hose. The last time he'd had a vision like that it had lead to the ill-fated trip to the Ministry. But that had been Voldemort messing with his mind and Harry was fairly certain that the Dark Lord would be the last person to give him a happy memory, especially one of the future.
`Could this one be real?' he thought as he looked up at his bedroom ceiling. `Suppose I'll have to wait and see.' He now turned and glanced at the alarm clock and saw it was just gone five. At this Harry allowed himself a smile. Although it was still early it had been the longest uninterrupted sleep he'd gotten since Sirius's death. Now slipping his hands behind his back Harry closed his eyes and let a picture of Hermione fill his mind.
`Never knew school uniforms were so sexy,' thought Harry, a wolfish grin crossing his face as he slowly drifted back to sleep.
***
Not ever so very far away Hermione Granger lay awake looking straight up at the ceiling of her bedroom having just awoken from one of the strangest dreams she'd ever had. It had been like a collage of her memories of Harry from the time their first met right up to their goodbye hug at the end of last year. But then she'd seen something she wasn't sure what to make of. She'd been sitting in a bed holding a small newborn baby in her arms while an older (although not by much) Harry was sat beside her looking on in awe.
She'd never believed in Divination, heck she thought Professor Trelawney was the biggest fraud she'd ever met and was better suited for a tent at a carnival but the dream had seemed so real. Could it have been a vision? Hermione frowned slightly as she couldn't think of anything else it could have been.
But it that case what did it mean? Then suddenly a thought pushed itself to the front of Hermione's mind.
It means Harry feels the same way about you as you do about him!
Hermione was shocked by her conclusion but quickly realised it was the only one possible. She'd never told anyone but she'd realised that she loved Harry early in their fourth year but unfortunately Harry's crush on Cho had gotten in the way and then Viktor had asked her to the ball making things complicated.
But now Cho was no longer speaking to Harry and Viktor hadn't written to since signing for Sofia Screeches in the Bulgarian National League not that Hermione had ever had any romantic feelings for him. She now turned and reached for the photo of her and Harry that she kept on her bedside table and ran her finger of the pictures as the image of her and Harry waved back at her and at that moment she knew what she had to do.
She had to tell Harry how she felt. She wasn't entirely sure why, just that it was the right thing to do.
With a smile on her face and still clutching the photo Hermione fell asleep with thoughts of Harry and Quidditch Robes floating through her mind.
***
What neither Harry or Hermione knew at the time was that a third person had seen their dream but whereas Harry and Hermione had been left with warm feelings of happiness the third was currently in a heap on the floor of his hideaway groaning and cursing loudly while several hooded figures stood around watching nervously.
"My Lord? What is it?" murmured one of the figures nervously. At this a hand holding a wand shot out of the bundle lying on floor and pointed itself at the terrified Death Eater.
"CRUCIO!" roared a muffled voice and the Death Eater collapsed to the ground writhing in pain whilst the figure that had been lying on the floor slowly pulled himself off floor and straightened up into the large and menacing form of Lord Voldemort.
"Damn them!" he hissed. "They shall pay for this!"
"Who do you speak of My Lord?" said Peter Pettigrew dropping onto one knee and bowing his head.
"Who do you think you idiot!" hissed Voldemort, his red eyes glowing menacingly. "It was Potter and that damn Mud-Blood!"
"What…what did they do My Lord?" stammered Pettigrew.
"That is not important," rumbled Voldemort as he kicked the still twitched Crucio-ed Death-Eater out of the way as he staggered across the room and slumped down in a high-backed chair by the roaring fire. "What is important is that they shall pay! Especially Potter! I shall truly make him suffer!"
At this Pettigrew and the other Death-Eaters all began nodding eagerly in agreement and so none of them and not even Voldemort himself noticed as one of the figures retreated into the shadows of the far corner of the room and disapparated.
***
At the first hoot Harry just gave a soft grumble then rolled over as he tried to focus on the newest image that had entered his mind.
Hermione in Quidditch robes.
However at the second hoot Harry raised an arm and waved it aimlessly to try and stop the noise.
"Shuddup `Edwig," he slurred. However this failed to have any effect as a second late his left ear was assaulted by a loud blast of chirps and hoots which was quickly followed up by a sharp peck on the ear lobe causing Harry to yelp in pain and sit up quickly causing his attacker to take to the air with a triumphant hoot. Harry now blinked but couldn't see anything through unfocused eyes before reaching for his spectacles. As his vision came into focus he now found himself looking at Pig, Ron's over excitable Owl who seemed to be wearing quite a proud expression on his face while sitting on the end of Harry's bed.
"Oh, it's you is it?" said Harry as a smile crossed his face before he swung his legs out of bed and stretched some stiff muscles. "Got a letter for me?" At this Pig gave a short happy chirp and stuck his leg out offering Harry the role of parchment attached to his leg which Harry now removed before giving the small owl a friendly jab.
"Grab yourself a drink while I read this fella," said Harry as he settled down to read the letter. Pig now gave another chirp and fluttered over to Hedwig's perch while Harry unrolled the parchment and found himself looking at the familiar messy scrawl of his best (male) friend.
Hiya Harry,
Just a quick note to say Happy Birthday mate, and don't panic, Pig's not lost your present. Mum suggested that since Dumbledore said we could come and get you tonight that we should keep your presents until tomorrow so you can have a proper birthday party for a change. I've already written to Hermione and she'll be bringing hers with her when she gets here later today. Unfortunately I've got a bit of bad news mate, we'll be staying at Grimmauld Place. Mum tried to change Dumbledore's mind but he told her that the Burrow just wasn't safe enough which I think Mum kinda knew already but she still had to have a go.
Anyway mate, see you tomorrow, don't bother sending Pig back; I'll bring his cage when I come.
Best Wishes
Ron
P.S. Ginny says Happy Birthday and sends her love! That goes for Mum to.
Harry now leaned back against his headboard and sighed. He wasn't to certain about going back to Grimmauld Place, mainly because he wasn't sure how he'd react if he ran into Kreacher. At the start of the holiday he'd wanted nothing more that to kill the traitorous house elf but now he wasn't so sure he could bring himself to do it. He was certain even if he could Hermione wouldn't let him although she'd made it quite clear that she had no sympathy for the elf on several occasions during the holidays.
"Boy, your breakfast is on the table!" bellowed Uncle Vernon breaking Harry's train of thought. Quickly Harry jumped off his bed and made his way to the bathroom where he washed and cleaned his teeth before heading back to his room and slipped on a black polo shirt and blue jeans before slipping on a pair of light grey trainers and headed downstairs.
As Harry entered the kitchen Dudley looked up from his magazine and shot him a fearful look before looking back at his magazine while Uncle Vernon merely raised his newspaper higher so he couldn't see Harry. Meanwhile, a harassed looking Aunt Petunia looked up nervously from the frying pan before turning her attention back to the contents of the pan. With a sigh Harry took his seat and waited patiently in silence. It had been the same all summer with the Dursleys, instead of harassing him, had instead taken to ignoring him whenever possible. Not that this bothered Harry although it meant the only time he really got to talk with someone was when he went to see Mrs Figg a couple of times a week.
After a few minutes of awkward silence Aunt Petunia walked over with two plates, which she gave to Vernon and Dudley before returning to the counter and collecting her and Harry's plates and took her seat beside her husband who glared at Harry as he folded up his news paper. For the first few minutes the four eat in silence until Aunt Petunia began talking about Mrs Deacon, a divorcee who'd moved into Privet Drive while Harry had been away the previous term and how she'd gotten herself a fancy man. Uncle Vernon immediately started going on about falling standards and it was long before the three Dursleys were chatting amongst themselves whilst totally ignoring Harry not that this bothered him in the slightest. The conversation went on like this for another ten minutes or so until just as Harry was finishing his orange juice several loud hoots filled the air. Dudley let out a strangled cry and dived under the table in a flash which considering his large bulk was quite a feat while Petunia just went ghostly white. Vernon however went a horrible shade of purple and glared at Harry, his moustache quivering violently but saying nothing. Harry now quickly excused himself and hurried out of the kitchen while all the time having to fight the urge of bursting into laughter.
On arriving in his bedroom Harry couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of him. Pig was currently bouncing all over the room chirping in excitement while Hedwig was seated on her perch with a bemused expression on her face matching that of the two owls sitting patiently on the windowsill.
"Hello girl," said Harry stroking his loyal pet's feathers. "Hermione look after you Okay?" At this Hedwig gave a hoot and nipped playfully at his fingers before offering her leg to allow Harry to take the note from her leg before turning her attention to her water pot while Harry crossed over to his desk and sat down before breaking the seal on the parchment and unfolding it to reveal Hermione's neat and crisp hand writing.
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday,
Hopefully by the time you get this letter Ron would have sent you a letter about your birthday party so you'll know why I haven't sent your present with Hedwig, but if you haven't I'm keeping for when you get to Grimmauld Place tomorrow. I know it's probably not where you'd like to be but on your birthday but at least we'll be altogether and that's the important thing right?
Anyway I just wanted to say I hope you're alright and that the Dursleys aren't being terrible to you (especially today).
Can't wait to see you tomorrow.
All my love
Hermione
As he finished the letter a warm feeling made it's way through his body as he read the words on the parchment. Tomorrow, he only had to wait until tomorrow to see Hermione, the girl, correction, woman who he now realised he loved. With a sigh he dropped the parchment onto his desk next to the note from Ron before turning to his attention to the other two waiting owls.
"Alright, whose first?" he said reaching into his desk and pulling out a bag of owl treats. At this the slightly bigger owl nudged the smaller one forward causing Harry to grin. "Alright fella. What have you got for me?"
The owl now hopped onto the desk and stuck it's leg out allowing Harry to remove the parchment before taking the treat in it's beak while Harry unrolled his third scroll of the day and found himself looking at the messy but familiar scrawl that belonged to Hagrid.
Dear Harry.
Many happy returns on your birthday.
Things are a little hectic here at the moment as Buckbeak is staying with me again now that Dumbledore's got his execution revoked and is doing fine although I think he know something may have happened to Sirius. I've also sent Grawp to stay with Madame Maxime. He took a right shine to Olympe when she came to visit at the start of summer and his French is coming along a heck of a lot better that his English did.
Anyway I'd better go and I'll see you… (At this the parchment was marked by what appeared to be smudged ink but Harry could just make out the word `party' and realised that Hagrid had probably been about to mention his birthday party but obviously got the impression it was meant to be a surprise and so had smudged out the words before continuing.) …at the start of term.
Best Wishes,
Hagrid, Fang, Fluffy and Buckbeak
Harry now leaned back and gave a sigh. In all the confusion at the end of term he'd forgotten about Buckbeak but at least the hippogriff was safe and Hagrid was easily the best person to be look after him. A soft hoot snapped Harry back to the real word and he turned to see the Hogwarts owl looking at him patiently.
"Oh sorry," said Harry grinning sheepishly. "No reply." At this the owl bobbed itself before jumping back onto the windowsill then hopped out the window and took to the air while Harry turned to final owl, which he now recognised as a Daily Prophet deliver owl as it now offered the rolled-up news paper tied to it's leg. Harry quickly untied the paper, handed the owl a treat and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of Knuts, which he now slipped into the owl's leg pouch. Then with a hoot the owl took off and flew straight out the wind Harry watched the owl until it had disappeared then leaned back in his chair and unrolled the paper and felt a surge of satisfaction at the large headlines spread across the front page.
FUDGE SACKED! MINISTER LOSES CONFIDENCE VOTE
By Wendell Derris - Senior Ministry Correspondent
In a move that has been a long time in coming Cornelius Fudge became the first Minister of Magic to be sacked for over two hundred years. In a confidence vote called over Fudge's handling of the return of You-Know-Who the Wizengamot voted Ninety-Three to Seven in favour of sacking the Minister despite an attempt to cancel the vote led by his Senior Undersecretary Delores Umbridge. For the last six weeks since an attack on the Ministry by Death-Eaters led by You-Know-Who Fudge has been using a series of more and more desperate excuses ranging from blaming the Department for Magical Law Enforcement for incorrect intelligence regarding Death-Eater activity to claiming that his Chief of Staff, the Death-Eater Lucius Malfoy, had him in the Imperius Curse, a claim which has now been disproved by Ministry Officials who performed a Prior Incantato on Malfoy's wand before it was snapped. The Wizengamot also voted to sack Undersecretary Umbridge and Assistant Undersecretary Henry Wormsborugh for flagrant abuses of power. Professor Umbridge is said to have tortured students and ordered attacks on staff members who refused to tow the official Ministry line about the status of You-Know-Who during a brief spell as Headmistress at Hogwarts last time whilst Mr. Wormsborugh was sacked for preventing anything but officially approved articles being published. It was also announced that several members of Fudge's staff are to be reassigned to low ranking positions at the Ministry.
The next stage for the Wizengamot is to select a successor to replace Mr. Fudge. Acting Minister Amelia Bones who has already ruled herself out of becoming permanent Minister announced that under the rules all Ministry Department Heads are automatically entered into the ballot unless they rule themselves out and a vote by the Wizengamot tomorrow (Wednesday) will decided the new Minister.
`Well at least with Fudge gone the Ministry might start getting things right,' thought Harry. `As long as they replace him with someone decent!' He now spent the next half hour reading rest of the paper but with the exception of some Quidditch transfer news there wasn't much of interest to him and he was soon wondering what to do to kill some time. As he did so he gazed around the room and saw textbooks, rolls of parchment and items of clothing strewn around the room.
`Well there you go,' said a small voice in his head. `You might as well get your stuff together.'
As it was it took Harry nearly an hour to pack his trunk after which he was beginning to feel a little hungry. Thankfully Uncle Vernon was pretty busy at work currently and so wasn't coming home for lunch while Dudley was out with his gang (Despite the fact he was meant to be grounded) meaning only Aunt Petunia was still in the house with him.
To Harry's surprise he found that his aunt had gone out as well, most likely to see Mrs Orrington at number nine who was, like Aunt Petunia, a rather nosey lady who enjoyed nothing more than a good gossip. With the knowledge he had full access to the fridge Harry now grabbed a couple of rolls from the bread bin and then helped himself to some of the best ham that Aunt Petunia saved for Uncle Vernon and Dudley's lunches and then added mustard to one and pickle to another. He then grabbed a glass of coke, a bag of crisps and a small cake and with his bounty now made his way back to his room.
On arriving back in his room however Harry was startled to find a hawk standing on his windowsill. He quickly shot a glance over at Hedwig and Pig and whilst Hedwig didn't seem to be too bothered by the large bird Pig was cowering behind Hedwig and trembling softly. Harry now turned back to the hawk then suddenly dropped his plate and glass, which both crashed to the floor as Harry whipped out his wand from his waistband and pointed it straight at the bird.
"Alright, what do you want?" he demanded. At this the hawk fluttered into the room but as it did so it began to ripple and change into a familiar figure that caused Harry to gasp and almost drop his wand.
"Well, for a start how about Happy Birthday Harry?" said Professor Dumbledore with a wry grin as he gave his robes a tug.
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