The Crucible
by Jardyn39
Part Two of "The Apprentice Piece"
Chapter 10: Lily's Letters
Harry crept downstairs the next morning. It was still very early and he didn't want to disturb anyone. It had been gone two o'clock in the morning before the Weasleys finally went home, refusing Lupin's invitation for them to stay the night.
Tired but full of nervous energy, Harry hadn't been able to sleep at all. He entered the kitchen to find Hermione sat at the table staring at her mug.
"Morning," said Harry with a tired smile.
Hermione looked up blankly, her face and eyes red.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked with concern, moving towards her.
She moved her head in what could have been either a nod or a shake, and Harry realised she probably wasn't that okay.
"What can I get you?" Harry started to ask before being enveloped in another hug as soon as he got within range. He gently extricated his arms hand wrapped them around her back as she cried gently into his shoulder.
After a while she lifted up her head.
"Thanks, Harry," she croaked. "Er, you can let go now."
He gave an ironic sigh and said, "What? Ready to discard me just because for some reason I've become all wet and soggy again?"
Hermione snorted and averted her face while she struggled to blow her nose with a tissue. She emerged rather redder than before with an expectation that he would be wearing a disgusted look. Harry couldn't help but grin and hold her tighter.
Hermione's shoulder's appeared to relax slightly and she returned her arms to Harry's back, presumably accepting they would be staying like this a while longer.
"I think you should know," he said gently, "as something of an expert in these matters," and paused when Hermione made an indistinct but definitely derogatory noise, "that despite all the tears and dribbling, I could definitely grow to enjoy early morning hugs."
Hermione said, "There's a lot worse than tears and dribble down here, Harry."
Harry laughed and felt Hermione's laughter too. At last she looked up and looked at him.
"Why, Harry?"
He really wasn't ready for such an ambiguous question this early in the morning. He knew he would immediately be in trouble for admitting he had no idea what she was taking about.
"Harry, if you don't know what I'm talking about, why not just ask?"
"Um, I thought I'd be in even more trouble," he said honestly.
"After the Halloween Ball. Didn't it mean anything?"
"Oh," said Harry quickly.
She looked up at him.
"After what happened with the Auror tent you seemed so upset," he said. "More than just upset or mad, really. It was like I'd lost your trust and I was scared. I was afraid to loose you so I thought it best to make sure we were still friends above anything else."
After a long moment, Hermione lowered her head again and said, "I will always be your friend, Harry, whatever happens."
"No matter how stupid I behave?"
"Yes."
"And no matter how wet and soggy I become?"
"Well, actually."
They both laughed again.
"Have you read your mother's letters yet?"
"No," said Harry, "I wanted to ask you if you'd mind being with me when I read them?"
Hermione broke away before Harry could stop her.
"I'd understand if you didn't want to," Harry said in a hurry.
"Don't be silly, Harry," she said, "I'm going to get washed and changed. You make tea and I'll meet you. Er, where do you want to open them?"
"Well," he said, more than a little relieved, "I've set up some tea making facilities in my room."
"Great," she said rushing off, "I meet you in twenty minutes. Change into something drier, will you?"
*
About an hour later, although Hermione insisted she hadn't taken any longer than she anticipated getting herself ready, they sat on Harry's bed staring at the small timber chest.
Harry reached out and touched the seal. Immediately the box clicked and the top sprang open.
Inside were several opened envelopes in thick cream coloured paper. Stuffed inside the lid was a scroll with a note at the top from Professor Flitwick explaining that the text of the letters was duplicated on the scroll as Harry may not be able to read the originals.
Harry handed the scroll to Hermione so she could read the note. She gently placed the scroll to one side while Harry picked up the first envelope.
Harbinger had marked each envelope with a date and arranged them in date order. A paperclip on one envelope had a note from Harbinger telling Harry to start with that letter, although it was not the first received. It was the last.
Hands shaking slightly, Harry opened the envelope and took out the letter which was written on the same heavy cream paper as the envelope. It was a single folded sheet written on both sides in neat small handwriting.
He unfolded the letter, turned it the right way around and began to read.
As soon as Harry had got as far as "My Dear …" when suddenly there was a flash and from underneath the paper there dropped another envelope.
Harry lifted up the paper to look at the envelope that had appeared. On the front, clearly visible was a single word. It said "Harry"
Harry just stared at it for a moment before looking up at Hermione. She grinned at him and said, "Go on, open it!"
He picked the envelope up. It was warm. Turning it over he could see an unbroken wax seal. With shaking hands, he opened the envelope and took out the contents. Again, it was a single sheet of paper.
Harry unfolded the paper. It was completely blank though. He turned it over but the other side was still blank.
He turned it back over and looked up in frustration at Hermione who looked like she could hardly contain herself. "Look, Harry!" she managed to say. She was pointing to the sheet of paper.
Writing was appearing as if it was being written by an invisible hand.
"My Dearest Harry, Please don't be alarmed by what is happening. Please do not open the next envelope."
There was another flash and yet another envelope appeared. Harry reached for it but it suddenly leaped up out of his reach, escaping even Harry's reflexes. Hermione made to grab it but the scuttling envelope was too quick. It fell to the floor but appeared to be content to lie on the rug. It too had a wax seal but no name or address on the front.
Harry returned to his letter which had continued to reveal itself.
"I hope you are not alone when you are reading this. Please now promise out loud not to open that envelope but to deliver it unopened to the addressee when they are revealed. I will wait for you to do this."
Harry looked up frowning. "It says … Er … "
He cleared his throat and said as clearly as he could, "I promise not to open that envelope and I promise to deliver it to the addressee when they are revealed."
Hermione grinned at him and he shrugged and continued to read. The letter had started again from scratch.
"Thank you. I have entrusted my letters to a valued friend who will deliver them to you when the time is right. I must start by, at last, introducing myself. My name is Lily Potter and I am your mother. As I write this, you are sleeping beside me. When you read this, I will be dead."
Harry paused and wiped his eyes. Hermione jumped off the bed and immediately jumped back on behind Harry, holding him tightly.
After a while, Harry was ready to continue and whispered, "How about we read this together. Can you see?"
Hermione rested her chin on his shoulder and nodded. She draped one arm across his back and moved her other hand to Harry's forearm. As she moved her hand brushed the paper. Neither of them noticed the small flash the blank envelope made, now lying forgotten on the floor.
*
The messages that came from Lily's letter didn't appear to follow any chronological order. It was as if she was writing passages as and when they occurred to her or perhaps when she had the chance to write.
They learned that other letters would reveal themselves out of the letters written to Harbinger. They were arranged by subject so they could expect, say, one to tell Harry something about his family. Others would give practical advice on charms, potions, wards and defence. At least one letter detailed the family finances and another contained a diary written from when Lily first attended Hogwarts.
This letter, though, just gave general advice, encouragement and reflected Lily's fears and doubts. The writing was very emotional, and almost every other passage poured out Lily's feelings of love for Harry.
It was late into the evening before they finished the first letter. They had been left alone all day and were now a little hungry, despite Harry's provisions.
The letter ended with a small instruction how to recall specific entries from each letter again. Hermione was fascinated, both by how such a charm might work but also to get to know a little about such a powerful and loving person.