Disclaimer: If I owned any of this, I would be much happier…
Mirrors and Ice Cream
Harry was taking his time walking down the corridor towards the entrance hall of the castle. He had emptied out his Pensieve, and refilled it with his memories of his various encounters with Voldemort. Hermione had to talk him into letting her view them so soon after her breakdown in the common room, but Harry had eventually caved in to her stubbornness. He set up everything she had wanted to see, and brought Dobby back in to guard her while inside, but Harry opted to go fetch them both some food from the kitchens, with a stop off to release Hedwig, who would meet him back in Surrey sometime overnight.
He carried his faithful friend out to a secluded spot by the lake, almost directly across from the White Tomb. Together they sat in silence, as Harry tried to make sense of the path that had been laid before him. "You know girl, everything is going to be a bit scary for a while here, and I just want you to know, it's okay if you want to stay here… You'll be safe, and I can always come back for you when it's safe." An annoyed hoot, and a stiff poke in the arm later, and Harry had his answer; at least one of his friends would be along side him until the end. Feeling somewhat happier, Harry sent Hedwig on her way, and made his way back to the castle.
While the elves were making him up a basket, he noticed Kreacher lurking in the corner, and a sudden idea popped into his head. Going over to the elf, whose mumblings grew more frantic as Harry drew closer, he pulled the mirror Sirius had given him from his pocket. "Kreacher?"
"Master needs me?" Croaked Kreacher as he bowed low to the ground before adding, "The spoiled brat banishes me from my Mistresses house and forces me to work with the disgraceful one."
"Dobby is a friend of mine, and I would appreciate it if you would not cause anymore trouble with him, now, do you know what this is?" Harry asked, holding up the mirror.
"Kreacher remembers his old master with a mirror like that. He carried it everywhere, hoping Master would call him on it."
Harry sighed at the thought of Sirius alone in his house, staring at his mirror waiting for something that would never happen. "Do you know where Sirius left his mirror?"
"Kreacher knows his old Master would leave it on his nightstand, waiting for his Godson to call him. It was his greatest wish that he would get that call, but it will never come now." There was a look of pure glee on his face, and Harry had to fight the urge to knock out his few remaining teeth.
"I want you to pop over to the house, right now, and bring me his mirror." He knew he could make a stop on the way to the train station, but Harry still did not want to step foot inside of his house.
Kreacher looked at Harry for a second, as if trying to figure out why he wanted the other of the pair before he disappeared with a loud crack, only to reappear a moment later holding out the mirror to Harry. "Why does Master need both mirrors? Perhaps he is going to give one to his blood-traitor friend, or even the mudblood that is so fond of him…"
Harry decided it was best to ignore everything the elf was muttering, "Kreacher, I am going to be moving around a bit this summer, so I want you to stay here at Hogwarts. Do you understand?"
"Kreacher knows his Master is trying to fight the Dark Lord, and is afraid Kreacher will give away his secrets. When the Dark Lord is finally victorious, Kreacher will be rejoined with his Mistress…"
"Not if I have anything to say about it. You are to stay here, and continue working in the kitchen. The only reason for you to leave the school is if I call you, which I don't plan on doing." With that Harry grabbed the basket of food, and trekked back up to the Gryffindor common room.
-----
Placing the basket on the table, Harry looked into the Pensieve Dumbledore left him and noticed Hermione watching the battle in the Department of Mysteries, and entered into the stream of thoughts just as Dumbledore showed up to save the struggling members of the Order of the Phoenix.
Harry and Hermione watched in silence as Sirius fell through the veil, as Harry chased his killer up to the lobby, using his first Unforgivable Curse. They stayed through his possession, all the way up until Dumbledore Portkeyed Harry back to his office, at which point Harry pulled her back out with him. Hermione was shaking uncontrollably, which was quite understandable given what she had just watched, so Harry gently set her back down on the sofa, conjuring a thick wool blanket to cover her with. Dobby, who had once again been watching from outside the basin, was looking equally shaken, so Harry went over and picked the elf up, intent on lying him down on the opposite sofa, but he had a different idea.
"Dobby is so sorry Harry Potter sir! If he had known what trouble his old Master's book would have caused, he would have destroyed it long ago! Please forgive Dobby sir!"
Harry sat down next to him, and placed his arm around his small friends shoulders, trying to calm him, at least a little, "Don't worry about it Dobby. It worked out for the best, besides, if you would have done anything different, then I never could have helped you get free." Dobby was about to refute Harry another time before he said, "Two things Dobby, first, it's all in the past, so it really doesn't matter anymore; second, if you would have destroyed the book, you wouldn't be free. Never regret anything you did, it couldn't have worked better as far as I'm concerned."
"Harry Potter sir, Dobby could never repay your generosity, but he promises to do anything, anything he would ever require!"
"Dobby, I swear if I ever need anything, I'll ask, but for right now, I think I need to see to my friend over there," Harry pointed out Hermione, who was quivering underneath her blanket while staring blankly ahead, "so if you don't mind…"
The elf nodded, either by habit, or simply for something to do, he began laying out the food Harry had brought up with him. Meanwhile Harry sat down in front of Hermione and placed what he thought was a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know you just saw some pretty nasty stuff, so of course you aren't okay, but is there anything I can do to make you feel better? How about some dinner…"
Hermione blinked a few times before cracking a weak smile, "Leave it to a boy to think of food…"
"Hermione, why did you insist on seeing all of that today? It could have waited, but now you are just going to be sitting around your parents' house obsessing about every little thing you've seen. And I'm sure Ron's not going to take it well when he finds out I've let you in on all of this."
"I'm sure you had let him know a lot more of the details over the years, I mean you've shared a room with him for the last six years."
"Not at all, really… Anything I would have told Ron, anybody else in the room might have heard, plus it's not like I go around bragging about all the times I almost got myself killed. I leave the gloating for the other guys."
"Like Ron… You don't really know how bad it was after they won the cup this year. He kept going on and on about the match to me, and anyone who would listen," She seemed unsure if she really wanted to continue, but charged ahead anyway, "Do you ever get the impression that I really enjoy Quidditch? Not just going to the matches, but talking about all the tactics, and going in depth on all the plays?"
Harry was genuinely surprised by her question, which caused him to give it some serious thought, "Well, I suppose not… You do come to all the matches and cheer us on and all, but you just want us to win, and every time I've seen you at a practice, you look more like you just wanted a quiet place to do your homework."
"Exactly," Hermione beamed up at him, "so why does Ron continually try to talk over all of it with me? Is he trying to get me to help him strategize, or is he really just that dense?"
"Wow Hermione, that's pretty brutal. What's bringing this on? Is everything alright between the two of you?" Harry had a general feeling that his two best friends were starting to move down the same path he had taken with Ginny, but Hermione's comments were making him doubt that, which strangely enough, made him feel better. The thought of the two of them in a relationship just didn't settle well in his stomach.
Still lying on the couch, Hermione pulled the blanket Harry conjured for her over her head and let out a noise somewhere between a grunt and a sigh, "Why is everyone going on about Ron and I, like he's my bloody boyfriend? It was a funeral, and I needed a shoulder to cry on! I doubt Ginny would have taken well to me clinging onto you."
"Not that that matters anymore… You know, it could be more than that. You two have been acting a bit strange around each other all year, I mean, you've been a bit mad at me before, but I didn't end up with a flock of canaries chasing me down a corridor… Who's been talking about this?"
There was a muffled noise from under the blanket that sounded a lot like "Lavender," and Harry had to bite his lip to stop the smile. It wasn't often Hermione showed this level of embarrassment around him.
"Well, given that she is his ex-girlfriend, and for quite a while there she thought Ron was sneaking off to be with you, I would guess she's just a bit jealous you got to his shoulder before she did. But that still doesn't explain the birds…"
She let out another deep sigh, "I am sorry about that. I was expecting things to be a bit different between us this year, and then Ron was just being a general git, goes off and starts snogging a girl whom I know has been trying to get a peak under his robes for a year. I just wanted to go and be alone, and then you came and found me, which by the way was the sweetest thing, only to be interrupted by them again…" She poked her head back out to look Harry in the eyes, "I'm so sorry I've been such a basket case, it just been the pressure of studying for our N.E.W.T.'s, and still trying to keep up with everything going on with this war… A few times I really wished I still had that Time Turner…"
She seemed to be holding something back. "Don't worry. I totally understand." Harry decided to not bring up the fact that she was studying for tests a year and a half before she would actually have to take them, or the feeling he had that she could have passed them a year ago, if somebody had made her try.
Hermione grabbed Harry, pulling him down into a deep hug, "Oh thank you. I knew you would understand, you always do…" She looked over his shoulder and noticed Dobby sitting opposite them, quietly snacking on a sandwich while petting Crookshanks, who seemed to be in a much better mood than he was in earlier, "Oh, Dobby. You didn't have to fetch us supper, but thank you."
"But Dobby didn't bring the food, Harry Potter sir did," he squeaked.
Hermione smiled over to Harry and thanked him before they both tucked in. During their meal, Harry remembered what else he had brought back from the kitchens, and pulled one of the mirrors from his pocket. "Hermione, if I asked you to take something from me and keep it with you all the time, would you?"
She seemed a little perplexed, but answered, "I suppose so Harry, as long as it's not something silly from Fred and George's shop…"
"No, nothing like that, I promise," he put the mirror on the table in front of her, "It's just this. I trust you remember what I told you it did before?"
"Of course I do Harry, but I can't take this. Sirius left it for you, besides, who am I going to talk to with it?" Ready for this question, Harry pulled out the other.
"That would be me. When I was in the kitchens, I had Kreacher pop back to London and grab this for me." She looked like she wanted to berate Harry for ordering his elf around, but didn't.
"But Harry, why do I need this? I thought Ron and I were going to be with you at your Aunt and Uncle's house. You aren't going to try to sneak off on us are you?" She was really starting to get worked up now, "Don't you dare try to take all of this on by yourself! I told you I'd stick by you no matter what, and I meant it Harry! Don't you dare try to leave me now, I won't allow it!" Somewhere during her rant, Hermione had gotten to her feet with her fists clenched tight in front of her, sending both Dobby and Crookshanks looking for cover. Harry, realizing she had only stop to catch her breath, grabbed her by the wrists and tried to head her off.
"I know what you told me, Hermione, and I swear I'm not trying to run off on you. The reason I'm giving you the mirror is so that we can talk to each other when we leave here, and no, you two are not coming to the Dursley's' with me. As much as I would love to have another friend there, the three of them would make all of our lives a living hell. I'm giving it to you instead of Ron because I know you'll actually use it, and talk about real things, not just how the Cannons are doing, plus I'd be more than a little afraid Ginny would steal it from him, which would not be a good thing, as I think she'd just keep trying to talk me into getting back with her. Besides all of that, you need to go with your parents. You've spent too much time away from them on my account already."
Hermione looked like she wanted to interrupt him until he mentioned her parents. Harry looked deep in her eyes, as she seemed to fight through several emotions at once before a single tear dropped down her cheek. He reached up to wipe it away for her, but instead was smothered in another embrace. Between sniffs, she got out, "Oh thank you Harry. I've missed them so much, and nobody else seems to care, I swear Mrs. Weasley always expects me to come straight to the Burrow from the train."
Harry made a note in his head to be sure the Weasley's invited the Grangers to the wedding. It was the least they could do after taking their daughter away from them so often. "Then I want you to promise me something else Hermione. When this is all over, and we can finally get back to our lives; even if Hogwarts is open, you will take off from everything to be with them. I mean at least a few weeks, even a month, no matter what, okay?" He felt her nod into his shoulder and involuntarily lightly kissed the top of her head.
Hermione looked up at him with a massive grin spreading across her face, "But you get to be the one to break it to my Dad that I'm just going to be loafing around the house for a month."
"I never said you get to loaf around. You can at least take to making dinner now and again, right?" She blushed deep enough to match the sofa behind her.
"I'm not really allowed to do any of the cooking anymore. I used to love helping my Mum, but everything I touched caught fire. She said the insurance was going to go up if they ever found out… Stop laughing!"
"I'm sorry Hermione, really. I guess I just figured out why you were so good with those blue flames our first year. Plenty of experience." Harry received a hard smack to the arm, along with a very severe scowl from her.
-----
When the time came, Dobby took up Crookshanks in his arms, waved over Harry and Hermione's trunks, and popped himself over to King's Cross. The two teens casually exited the castle, and took some time to visit the White Tomb. While standing next to his mentor's resting place, Harry looked back upon his school, and wondered if he had left it for the last time.
"What are you thinking about Harry?" Hermione had been eyeing him suspiciously.
"Nothing I should tell you, I'm sure." He looked back over to his best friend, whose glare sent a shiver down his spine. "I'm just saying good-bye." Harry had hoped she would assume he meant Dumbledore, and not their school, but her carefully guarded expression refused to give him an answer.
"I suppose we should be on our way then…"
As soon as they made their way outside the gates to the school, Hermione turned to Harry, but he did not want to give her the chance to lecture him. He simply grabbed her arm as tight as he dared, and concentrated on the end of the train platform before the feeling of compression engulfed him, only to disappear a second later.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" His heart froze, as the only thought going through his mind was that he managed to splinch Hermione. He quickly started looking her over, making sure they didn't leave anything behind when he noticed her face was glowing with a fury that he normally only saw from his Uncle Vernon.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I just thought I might get a bit scared if I had to listen to how it was supposed to work-"
"Did you think that maybe I could have been a little bit worried about arriving with all my body parts in their proper order?! Maybe-"
Harry felt a slight sting from her words, like she didn't really believe he could safely bring them both to the station. As she continued to rant, Harry tried to figure out just why she was mad at him. She had agreed to his bringing her back, so she must have believed in his ability, which meant that she was simply mad because he cut off her lecture. Which she was now giving him, at a much louder volume. Afraid of attracting a scene, Harry looked up only to notice that they were alone on the platform. Either they had missed the trains arrival, or something was very wrong. He let go of Hermione's arm and covered her mouth, which seemed to aggravate her beyond anything he had ever seen before. "Hermione, did you by chance notice that we are all alone here?" She immediately tensed up, obviously thinking the same things as Harry. "I don't even see our luggage…"
With out a further thought, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it over the two of them. They drew their wands, and slowly crept up the platform growing more concerned the closer they got to the magical archway to the muggle world. Surely if they were going to be attacked, it would have happened when Hermione was screaming at Harry… As they reached the opposite end of the platform, they were both distracted by the mewing sound coming from behind them.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione tore the cloak off them and they looked back to see Dobby pushing two trolleys with their luggage, and Hermione's cat lazing about on top of her trunk.
"Dobby, where the bloody hell were you, and where is everyone else?!" Harry was still in something close to panic-mode.
"Dobby was getting carts for Harry Potter and his Hermy! Do not worry, the others will come. The Hogwarts train is late every year, and Dobby can wait with both of you until it arrives!" Harry could tell the elf was a little on edge, no doubt from having two wands still pointed at him, so he lowered his, hoping Hermione would follow suit, which she did.
"How much longer will it be Dobby? Do our families know, and that is why the platform is empty?" Hermione said while glancing towards the portal.
"People will all be here very soon, but your families are both here now, only unable to pass through the wall. Dobby could make the wall let them pass, if you want them to wait with you for your Wheezy, Harry Potter sir!"
Hermione looked over to Harry, and he saw the desire written on her face to simply go home and try to leave this day behind. "No thanks Dobby, I think we are just going to go now, but if you would be willing, could you stick around and let Ron know everything went alright when he gets back? I have a feeling he was a bit put out that we didn't see him off from Hogsmeade…"
"Of course! Dobby will gladly help Harry Potter any way he can!" They watched him bouncing with excitement at his new task, and Hermione firmly nudged Harry in the ribs to remind him of something she made him agree to on their way out of the castle.
"Dobby, hold out your hand," Harry dug into his pocket and pulled out a small stack of Galleons, "This is for helping us out today, and I will not take any of it back."
Looking at the coins in his hand, Dobby seemed to debate himself if it was worth trying to give back the money before giving up, "Harry Potter is too generous. He pays Dobby a month's salary for an afternoon, any time Harry Potter or his Hermy need Dobby, just ask, and he will come!" He pocketed the coins, and gave Crookshanks one last scratch behind the ears before disappearing with a pop.
"I thought he was going to wait for Ron." Hermione seemed as puzzled as ever by the little elf's antics.
"I doubt he'll forget, he just doesn't seem the type to sit around waiting for something. Unless it's me waking up…" Hermione gave him a curious look, "Don't worry, it was only once, and I set him right about it."
"But why was he-"
"Really, don't worry about it." Fishing for a new topic he pointed out, "So Crookshanks seems to taken a bit of a shine to Dobby."
"Well of course. He'll like anybody willing to spend more than five minutes petting him. Except for Ron. I suspect he'll never be forgiven for trying to step on his tail every chance he got in our third year." They both sighed as the remembered the simpler times in their lives, when they were only afraid of one crazed killer on the loose. "So this is it then? Back home until we have to go to the Burrow?"
Harry looked down into her eyes and saw the sadness that he felt growing inside himself. "It's only a couple weeks, just spend the time with your parents, and if you ever feel the need to talk to me, just use the mirror I gave you."
"Oh, Harry," she gave him another fierce hug, "You do know this means I'll be calling you with it everyday."
He smiled broadly and gently patted her back, "I know. Anything less and I might think somebody had put a curse on you." It felt good hugging Hermione. It reminded him how much their friendship really meant to both of them, and how much he had missed it lately, spending so much time with Ginny. Actually, this felt a lot like the time he had spent with Ginny. "Um, Hermione? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I just kind of noticed that you've been a bit… Close today…" Her face instantly turned crimson.
"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I've just been a bit… Emotional…" She said, while examining her feet.
"Oh, I'm not uncomfortable. It almost seems like you're hugging me enough to make up for the past year of missing them. You actually kissed me…"
Still looking anywhere but Harry, she mumbled out a reply that sounded a lot like, "Can't a girl show a little gratitude," before Harry lifted her eyes back up to meet his own.
"It's fine, really. This is the closest to normal I've felt in months, almost like I'd lost track of myself, and I'm defiantly glad to have you back."
"Good, because I'm not going anywhere any time soon…" She wore a look that almost dared him to prove her wrong.
"But you're going somewhere now, or at least as soon as we walk through this wall." He had expected her to slap him, but instead she grinned in a way that made Harry very nervous.
"Well, not right now. Have I ever properly introduced you to my parents?"
As they crossed the barrier, they noticed several sets of parents milling about. It seemed the muggles waiting for the express truly had no clue when it would arrive. Harry had spotted Vernon almost immediately, being the he was easily the largest person in the station, and luckily, his cousin had been causing some commotion nearby, and Vernon was trying to calm the security agent down. Harry had only seen the Grangers twice in his life, but quickly identified them casually sitting on a bench, closely chatting with each other. When Hermione rushed up and hugged her father, he seemed quite surprised.
"Hermione! I must say this is the fastest that train of yours has every gotten you home," He seemed to notice only the two of them had come through the barrier, "Is everything alright? We received a note saying your Headmaster had died, but it was unusually vague. Why did they cut your term short? Did you even take your exams?" Harry smiled to himself, seeing where his best friend had gotten her habit of erratic questioning.
"We're alright Dad, but it has been a really bad week, and frankly I'm a little shocked that Professor McGonagall didn't inform you of the situation. I promise I will tell you, just please not right now, it's been a hard day…"
Harry noticed Mrs. Granger looking between the teens waiting for some introduction, "Hi, I'm Harry. I don't think we've properly met before." She smiled sweetly to him as she shook his hand.
"Pleased to finally meet you Harry, I'm Emma. Of course Hermione has told us all about you, and all the trouble you seemed to cause when you first started school. I'm glad to see that you've grown up nicely."
Something about what Emma had said made Harry a bit nervous. Had Hermione not told her parents about the way things had been at Hogwarts? Had she been lying to her parents about what really had been happening? Come to think of it, when most students were seriously injured at school, their parents had come to visit them. Hermione had a few lengthy stays in the hospital wing, and he was sure he would have heard if they came to Hogwarts. He looked over to Hermione, still in her father's embrace, and she was giving him a very nervous smile, so he decided to play along for her sake, "Well, I'm sure I couldn't have grown up anywhere near as well, if it hadn't been for Hermione's help. In six years now, she's beaten me in all but one class. There's no way I could have passed all of my classes without her."
"Oh Harry, you really don't have to talk me up to my parents," she said, but she was giving him the brightest smile he had ever seen from her.
"Pleased to really meet you Harry, I'm Dan Granger." Harry took the older man's had and returned his rather firm shake. "Now could one of you tell me just what the two of you are doing here if the train hasn't arrived yet?" Hermione rushed to explain to her father, which Harry was very thankful for, even though he didn't know why.
"Well Dad, Magical people can learn to Apparate, which is really just disappearing in one place, and reappearing in another almost instantly. All the sixth year students are given lessons, although not everyone can do it. I passed the licensing test, but didn't quite feel up to traveling this far, so Harry Apparated us both here, seeing as he's been doing it since last summer." Harry was amazed by the fact that she seemed to get all of this out in one breath, and didn't immediately notice Dan and Emma looking at him like he was going to turn into smoke and vanish at any second.
"You can really do that?" Emma Granger said after coming out of her stupor.
"Well yes, but it was really only the second time I'd ever Side-Along Apparated someone. The first time I tried I was bringing the Headmaster back from near Brighton, so I was pretty sure it was safe for the two of us today." The three Grangers looked at him with a little bit of awe. Dan and Emma were still trying to get used to the concept of Apparition, while Hermione had just fully realized how far Harry had to bring the Headmaster. Their looks were really starting to make him feel uncomfortable, so he thought a demonstration was slightly in order. He looked between Hermione and her Father, "Would either of you mind if I borrow Emma for a moment?" All three of them shook their heads, only Hermione was smiling again, as Harry pulled Emma into an empty corner.
"Okay, now, hold onto my arm as absolutely hard as you can." He waited as she squeezed his arm tight enough to stop his blood flow. "No matter what, do not let go. This is going to feel a little weird at first…" Harry focused on a small patch of trees behind an ice cream stand not far from his Aunt and Uncle's house on Privet Drive, and a very long second later, they were there. He looked over to Emma to see her wide-eyed and gasping for breath. "Are you okay? I know it can be really unpleasant the first time, but it's okay, we both made it in one piece." She blinked a few times before shaking her head clear. They could hear the children playing in the park nearby, enjoying the beautiful sun-filled day. Harry pointed to the stand a little ways in front of them, "Ice cream?"
They casually walked up to the stand as Emma took in her surroundings. "Where are we Harry?"
"We're in Little Whinging. I would have loved to bring you to Florean Fortescue's, but I doubt they've reopened since the owner disappeared." Emma stopped and looked curiously at Harry.
"Disappeared? Is there something going on that we don't know about? I remember Hermione getting a brochure last summer, and she started asking some of the most bizarre questions, almost as if she were trying to get to know us better." Harry looked over to his friend's Mother, and he saw the worry etched in her face. Hermione had never been able to completely keep things hidden from anyone, and her Mum obviously knew there was something going on.
"Things are not very good in our world right now, but I'm not really sure how much you should know. I'm sorry, and please don't take this the wrong way, but Hermione has to have had a reason for not telling you, and I think I should respect that." As Harry finished, he knew he had only made matters worse. If Emma acted anywhere near the way Hermione did, he was in for a very long talk. "I'll try to tell you some of the basics, but you'll have to get the rest from Hermione, and I will make sure she tells you."
They each got some ice cream, and Harry led her to a table away from the prying eyes of the neighborhood. Swallowing his pride, he asked Emma if she knew why Harry was famous, only to find out she had no clue he was anything more than a normal sixteen year old wizard, which comforted Harry in a way he never thought possible. He decided to go with an ultra-short version of the truth, and hoped Hermione could fill-in the rest.
"Very, Very basically, there is a really bad wizard out there calling himself Lord Voldemort. He was around in a big way about twenty years ago, trying to take over the magical world, and he's the one who killed my parents," Emma gasped slightly, and reached out for Harry's hand, leaving him wondering why women tended to act like this around him, "But he was defeated back then, only to come back two years ago. He's been slowly gaining his strength back, and for the last year, has been waging an open war on most of Britain; you've just been hearing it as strange news stories about hurricanes, and floods, and disease. The pamphlet Hermione got was about home security from the Ministry of Magic, but it was essentially useless. Just don't tell her I said that. To answer your main question, yes, we're all in danger as long as Voldemort is around, but if I were you, I would try not to worry too much about it. He's a terrorist, and worrying helps him win, besides that, I can guarantee you that I'll do everything I can to make sure Hermione sees the end of this thing." Emma Granger had listened intently, something her daughter seldom did, and Harry was very glad she had let him finish his summary of the world.
After several deep breaths, Emma looked deep in Harry's eyes, "Thank you Harry, you have no idea how long Dan and I have been waiting for someone to level with us about what has been going on. We will defiantly be taking this up with Hermione over dinner tonight."
"Could it wait?" Harry still felt the need to protect her, even from her own parents, "Maybe only until tomorrow. We really have had a bad day, starting it off with the Headmasters funeral and all." Harry found himself looking at the ground as he thought back to this morning. It seemed so long ago.
"Well, I suppose. We've waited all this time with no answers, and you came along and helped us out. What happened to your Headmaster, anyway? The letter we received never even said."
Harry felt a bubble of anger rise within him, and he resolved to tell of McGonagall as soon as he could for leaving so many parents in the dark. "One of the other Professors murdered him. They didn't so much let us go early, more like chucked us all out. They're not even sure if the school is going to open in the fall."
Emma again took several deep breaths, and Harry knew she was angry, just not with him. At least he had offered her some answers. "Thank you for telling me all of this Harry," Emma said, "I'm sure Dan and I will be having a very long talk when we return home."
"Then we should see about getting you there, but first, what should we bring Dan and Hermione?" The anger on Emma's face subsided a little as Harry led her back to the stand.
"Well, when she was little they used to love sharing a chocolate malt." Harry ordered a large, and once again was thankful that Bill had put a few ten-pound notes in his money purse the summer before.
When Harry and Emma arrived back to King' Cross, they found a very irate group of people standing around his and Hermione's trolleys. All three Dursley's seemed to have made their way over when they noticed Hedwig's cage, only to find Harry not with it, and now Vernon was laying into Dan and Hermione, under the belief that no harm could come to him from either of them.
"If you freaks think you can intimidate me again into taking that good for nothing brat into my home, then you've got a lot to learn-"
Harry hoped this had not been going on for too long, but also realized the need to stop him in his tracks, so he did the first things that came to mind and cast a silencing charm on him. Having never considered how comical his uncle would look under these circumstances, Harry was soon holding his sides from the constant laughter, while Petunia and Dudley look at him as if he were a madman. When he finally caught his breath, Harry told the Dursleys to go home, and that he would meet them there. Petunia and Dudley seemed to accept this, but Harry was a little worried about the calculating look his Uncle was giving him. He almost seemed happy, and if there was one emotion Vernon Dursley never had around Harry, it was happiness. As the three of them walked out of the station, Hermione discreetly canceled his spell, before rounding on him.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? Apparating around, casting charms on Muggles? The last time the ministry caught you doing this, they tried to snap your wand! Are you trying to end up in Azkaban?" Harry knew there was no way for them to track the spell he had cast, and was fairly certain the Apparation would also go unnoticed, so he decided on a friendly approach.
"Chocolate malt?" She blinked a few times before seeing what he was holding.
"You took my Mother out for ice cream?" Harry nodded in reply, and Hermione took the cup without question, handing one of the two straws to her Father, who was simply smiling at the two of them, as if he hadn't seen anyone put a stop to one of Hermione's rants that fast in years, if not ever.
Harry realized he was once again stuck with his trunk, so without thinking, called out, "Dobby!" Immediately, the little Elf was bouncing in front of Harry, but only for a second. He popped directly to a platform loaded with Muggles, and quickly vanished from their sight. "Are you still there, Dobby?"
"Of course Harry Potter sir, Dobby just can not be seen by all the people on the platform. What does Harry Potter want from Dobby now?"
Harry looked over his shoulder expecting to see Hermione throwing him a dirty glance, only to see her smiling at her parents blank looks as Harry was apparently talking to the air. "First off, these are Hermione's parents Dan and Emma Granger, say `Hello', Dobby." The elf became visible just long enough for a small wave to the two of them. "Now, My relatives have left the station without me, so I was just wondering if you could send my things back to my room on Privet Drive?"
"Of course! Dobby will do anything for Harry Potter!" Emma jumped slightly as Harry's trunk, along with Hedwig's cage disappeared right in front of her. "Is there anything else Dobby can do for anyone today?"
Harry smiled and tried not pat his little friend on the back only to miss completely, and ended up leaning on the wall. "No thanks Dobby, you can go back to whatever you were doing, and we'll call if we need anything." He felt the elf hug one of his legs before once again leaving them. Hermione's parents were still staring at the blank space where Dobby had appeared until Dan spoke up.
"So that's what a House-Elf is, huh?" Hermione must have thought it a too obvious question to answer as she continued drinking their malt.
"Dobby's a little more excitable than most, but yes. I helped free him in our second year, and since then, he's been a good friend." Hermione was once again beaming at Harry when the first students started appearing through the portal. He assumed the Weasley's had apparated to the platform itself, but they would surely have to come back this way, and the last thing Harry wanted right now was to have to see Ginny again, and quite possibly be forced to explain why he had broken up with her in front of her whole family. Hermione must have sensed some of this dilemma in Harry.
"Well, looks like we should get going if we want to avoid the rush, right? I guess I'll see you in time for the wedding, maybe even Mrs. Weasley will invite us out a couple days early to help set up."
"I bet she will." Harry looked directly in Hermione's eyes, "Be safe, and call me later, okay?" She nodded back to him before he said his good-byes to her parents, and with the tiniest of pops, Harry disappeared from the train station.
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