Chapter 4:
This was driving Harry insane. It had been three days, but he'd promised he wouldn't rush her.
He'd gone back to Grimmauld Place that night after having seen her to find all the Weasley's in residence as well as Remus, Tonks and McGonagall. He'd been inundated with questions, and eventually he'd managed to answer them all. Several hours later only Ron remained, the two shell shocked friends sitting together in front of the fireplace.
"How did she look?" Ron asked after moments of silence.
"Beautiful." Harry sighed happily.
"But she didn't…?"
"No. But she will Ron. She will. She has to." Harry said quietly, determinedly.
That now seemed so long ago. He'd apparated up to Hogwarts to speak to Madam Pomfrey the morning after seeing Hermione, and had spoken to her at length about Hermione's condition. She'd advised him to be patient, and he'd nodded, knowing she was right.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the fourth day of silence, Harry had spent countless hours wondering how she had reacted to the news, and just what her diaries had told her. He remembered all those nights in the Gryffindor common room, and in their house she had studiously scribbled away in her notebooks, and he was never so thankful that she had. For the first time since his job had begun, Harry wished it wasn't the summer holidays - at least if he were teaching then he'd have something else to focus on. Thankfully Ron had some time off to meet him for lunch, and they hugged and smiled in greeting as they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. They talked and talked, Ron letting Harry get everything out of his system, before they descended into discussing Quidditch, Ron repeating Oliver Woods weekly demand that Harry stop teaching and join his team immediately.
As they stood to leave Ron paused.
"What did Hermione love more than anything - other than us and her books?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Harry grinned as he caught his friends meaning, and without a pause he flooed out of the pub, leaving Ron grinning in his wake. It was good to have the old Harry back again.
--------------------------------------------------------
Hermione had now read all the books and diaries Harry had left for her repeatedly. She grinned as she remembered particular passages, having to laugh at all the melodrama, and the obviously happy memories. There were months that left her in tears - the loss of Sirius - Harry had been through so much - he had lost so much - and yet he seemed to strong. It was beginning to drive her mad now though as there was one diary missing - the last one - she couldn't imagine that after years of vigilantly keeping a diary she would have suddenly stopped, it must be with her other possessions. It was time to be brave, and to make contact with Harry again. It wasn't anything to be scared of, it was merely that she was nervous of trying to live up to her past, and their close friendship. She'd obviously known him as well, if not better, than she'd known herself. It seemed to be a very different relationship from her friendship with Ron, much deeper and unspoken. She had to admit that she was dying to meet all these people she'd been reading about and looking at photographs of.
Grabbing her bag and sunglasses from beside the door she decided to walk over to Grimmauld Place straight away. She smiled as the sun shone down on her face as she walked, anxious and excited about what she would find, about whether her instincts were correct. And to be honest, quite desperate to try out some magic!
Half an hour later she stood outside number 12 Grimmauld Place, and rather hesitantly she raised her hand and knocked on the door as there seemed to be no bell. A moment later a tall, thin man appeared, one she recognised from many of the photographs Harry had left her. He stared at her for a moment before smiling welcomingly.
"Come on in Hermione." He said warmly.
"Harry was just on his way to see you! Quite a coincidence…oh sorry. I'm Remus…"
"…Lupin" Hermione interrupted.
"I recognise you from the pictures." They smiled at one another before Hermione jumped at a loud crashing sound from the kitchen.
"Sorry about that. My wife's rather clumsy…"
"You're married? You must have married Tonks!" Hermione gasped smiling. Remus looked down at her and grinned.
"I'd almost forgotten how clever you are Hermione…and how perceptive. Now lets stop standing in the hallway, come on through to the kitchen and we can see what kind of chaos she's caused this time." He chuckled and Hermione followed him with a smile. She'd known she'd like Remus from her diary entries, he was so gentle, and his intelligence and thirst for knowledge seemed to hover around him.
Tonks was sitting on the kitchen floor trying to cram saucepans back into a cupboard when they entered the kitchen, and Hermione grinned to see a mop of curly purple hair.
"It's alright Remus, didn't even break anything this time!" She shouted cheerfully. Remus chuckled, and reached down to give her a hand to her feet.
"We've got a visitor."
"Ooh really?" Tonks said turning around before squeaking with excitement to see Hermione. She launched herself at Hermione and hugged her tight.
"Oh!" She said pulling away.
"I'm so sorry - it's just so easy to forget…" Tonks blushed, and her hair became green.
"It's fine." Hermione laughed.
"It's rather nice not having people walk on eggshells around me. I've had years of it now. It's good to see you Tonks. Congratulations on your marriage."
The women smiled at one another before Tonks hugged her again.
"It's just so nice to have you back." Tonks grinned.
They were interrupted at that moment by someone running down the stairs.
"Oops, completely forgot to let Harry know that you were here. I take it you came by to see him?" Remus said as the kitchen door opened and Harry entered talking.
"Can anyone remember the password to Sirius' old safe?"
He paused as Tonks raised an eyebrow at him, and turned to see Hermione standing there. A grin spread quickly all the way across his face, his eyes sparkling, and Remus smiled to see him so happy.
"Hi Harry." Hermione said, cursing herself internally for sounding so shy.
"Hey. I was just about to come and see you. I've got a present for you, well, two if I could remember how to get the old safe open…"
"It needs two wands that Sirius approved, and an incantation of `Open Sesame Street'" Hermione said with a wry smile.
Harry turned to her amazed.
"No I don't remember." She said softly, seeing the look of hope on his face. "I've just been relearning…he had an interesting sense of humour…" Harry nodded with a grin that Tonks and Remus shared.
"Want to see some magic then?" He asked with a mischievous grin. She nodded eagerly and he grabbed her hand as laughing she followed him out the kitchen and up the stairs, Remus and Tonks walking behind them.
As Tonks and Remus cast the incantation to open the safe Harry watched Hermione's eyes sparkling with excitement and curiosity, he grinned and resisted the urge to hug her to his side. Remus ad Tonks quietly left the room as Harry reached forward and drew a small package from within the safe. He looked down at it and smiled before looking up and passing it to Hermione.
"What is it?"
"Open it and see." He said with a grin.
She looked at him warily for a moment before straightening her shoulders and determinedly pulling the layers of paper apart to reveal a thin piece of wood. She gasped as the wood touched the bare skin of her hand as a small tingle spread up her arm.
"This is my wand." She said quietly, not a question but a statement.
"Yes. Every wand is different, the wand chooses the wizard."
"Or witch." She said looking up and winking.
Harry's heart thumped particularly vigorously in his chest as she winked at him and he returned her smile.
"Wave it around a bit." He suggested.
She made to move her arm before pausing.
"I wont do any damage?"
"No. Not unless you plan to practice some of the spells you've no doubt been learning." She looked up at him and grinned in a particularly impish way - a look Harry knew well and he grinned, waiting to see what she was planning. Her eyes were flitting around the room searching for something, and when she spotted it she smiled, and a look of concentration appeared in her chestnut eyes.
If Harry had been happy before, just to be near her, whether she was Kate or Hermione, he couldn't describe the feeling that came over him when she uttered the words `Wingardium Leviosa' and a feather rose into the air from within the safe and hovered gently in the air before him. He laughed and clapped.
"What made you choose that spell?" He asked, taking in her beaming face.
"My diary from our first year was very thorough." She said with another heart stopping wink.
"Well Miss Granger, if Professor Flitwick was here I'm sure he'd be awarding you some house points, that was a perfectly executed charm. Not that I expected anything less." He said. She grinned at him and took a mock bow at his words of encouragement.
"Do you want your other present?" He asked her, distracting her from her careful study of her wand. She looked up and nodded at him a little shyly.
Harry took his wand from his pocket and with a quick wave a very familiar sound filled the air around them, the sound of a muggle electric tin opener. Hermione looked at him in confusion for a moment before realisation dawned and her eyes flew to the door where a moment later a very large, somewhat bow legged ginger cat came stalking through. Harry saw moisture form in her eyes as she crouched down to see Crookshanks. Crookshanks looked up, sniffed the air and paused in confusion before bounding across the room and jumping into her lap purring contentedly. Hermione hugged him close and Harry could see her laughing through her tears.
"He's missed you too." Harry said, crouching down beside her and running a hand over Crookshank's back. "We all have."
Hermione looked at him, and was suddenly aware of how close their faces were. The words forming in her throat were lost momentarily and instinct took over, reaching out a hand she ran it through Harry's messy hair before she could think about her actions. He looked shocked for a second, but the emotion in his eyes was quickly replaced by one she knew well. The answers she hoped to find in her final diary were answered in part by Harry's eyes and she smiled at him before withdrawing her hand.
"I think I'm almost ready to meet some more of the family." She said softly.
"Have you got plans for tonight?" He asked eagerly.
Hermione shook her head. "Why, what do you have in mind?"
"Well it's the last Sunday of the month - that means one thing in our family - dinner at The Burrow."
-->