The Time of Change
by Olafr (olafrt@gmail.com)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated milieu, characters, and situations are owned by J.K. Rowling and her licensees. This is a work of fan fiction, produced solely for enjoyment. No infringement of rights is intended.
Rating: PG-13
Last updated: 15 February, 2005.
Author's Notes: Seeing double - Harry manages to see magic for the first time, and Hermione takes Harry swimming. (Cliché? What cliché?) Also, I have not yet read HBP so I don't know Rowling's mechanics of apparation or even whether she spells them out or not. (I'm waiting for the paperback edition to come out.) I decided to ignore that lack and invent my own, so I don't want to hear any complaints that the technique isn't canon. :-)
11. Seeing Double
Tonks' expression softened for a moment before returning to its normal animation. "Don't thank me just yet, lover boy!" she crowed. "Training starts again tomorrow morning. Don't forget your shield!"
"So what is on tomorrow's agenda?" asked Hermione.
"Tomorrow? Tomorrow, we're going to teach you two to Apparate, and once you've got that down we're going to visit an old disused quarry the Aurors use sometimes for training."
"What ever for?" asked Harry.
"Remember how we decided you needed to try some powerful spells to get started seeing magic? That's what for."
oOoOoOo
"Okay, you two, today we're going to learn Apparation. You're both bright people, and I know you've both read McGiven, so neither of you should have any trouble at all." Tonks frowned, and set down the well-knawed peach pit she was holding. "Moody told me that he had a word to you two about that book. Let me emphasise what he said. If anyone official finds out you even know about that book, let alone have read it, there'll be serious trouble. As in, forced Obliviation, trouble. So keep it quiet. Okay?"
"Yes, Nymph," said Harry with a half smile. Hermione nodded solemnly.
Tonks snorted at Harry's apparent flippancy but nodded. "Good. Now, we'll be taking a portkey to an Auror training range. It's unplottable and so forth, so you won't need to worry about underage magic detection there. It can get pretty cold there, even at this time of year, so you might want to bring a cloak. Oh, and wear robes."
A few minutes later, the two joined the now bright cyan haired Tonks downstairs. After saying goodbye to Hermione's parents, the three of them poked the old ballpoint pen that Tonks produced and, a dizzying moment later, they had landed... nowhere.
It was cold, shockingly so to bodies acclimatised to summer's warmth, and a stiff wind was blowing. The wind that seemed to want to snatch his loosely-buttoned cloak away, and Harry struggled to button it closed as he looked around. The sun shone, painting the surrounding landscape in bright greens and yellows. Clouds were scattered across a sky which was slightly deeper in colour than he was used to, making them appear to stand out as though painted. There were no trees, only a low scrubby ground cover with bare rock peeking through here and there. They appeared to be on top of an enormous swell of land, far too large to be described as a hillock but not large enough to be a plain, and in the distance Harry could see that they appeared to be surrounded by similar humps in the landscape separated by deep dells. They were utterly alone, completely out of sight of civilisation.
"Welcome," came the voice of Alastor Moody from right in front of them, "to the Skinsdale Moors." He shimmered into view, his wand held to the top of his own head. He was frowning at Harry darkly. "I expected better of you, Potter," he said in a disappointed tone. "What happened to those wards you were using all the time? You should have spotted me straight off. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
Harry jumped as Moody shouted his catch phrase, then nodded sheepishly. "Sorry," he said.
"You will be, Potter, you will be. If you don't smarten up, that is." He turned his head to face Hermione. "That goes for you, too, Missy. You're supposed to be intelligent - use your head!" The admonition was gentle, for Moody, but Hermione still looked down guiltily and nodded.
"Now, pay attention, you two," continued Moody. "You can do pretty much what you want here and you won't get in trouble for it. But that doesn't mean you can do stupid things! Keep your heads, and always tell us what you're going to do before you do it. That goes double if you're tryin' somethin' new!" He paused a long moment, waiting for both teens to nod, then looked to Tonks, who addressed the two.
"Harry, Hermione," she said, "you're here to learn by doing. You can't really get into trouble here, and we're here just in case you somehow manage it. So I don't want you to hold back. There's no-one here to look silly in front of, so if you leave your clothes behind somehow then nobody's going to tell and there's no reason to be embarrassed, and the worst that can happen is that you get a chill. Understand?"
Again the two nodded, and Harry quickly glanced at Hermione and the two exchanged nervous smiles.
"So, who'd like to go first?" she asked. "Hermione?"
Hermione nodded, and Moody made a quick gesture with his wand, causing a large yellow cross about a metre across to appear on the ground about twenty metres away. A second gesture made similarly-sized circle, two metres to Hermione's left.
Harry watched as Tonks led Hermione over to the circle and spoke with her for about a minute. He couldn't hear what she was saying to Hermione as the wind carried away her words. She then returned to join Moody and himself. For a long, long minute, Hermione stood there, wand in hand, and suddenly, with a sharp crack!, she disappeared, reappearing almost immediately just in front of the yellow cross. Tonks apparated next to Hermione, had another quick word, then returned. Ten seconds later, Hermione apparated once again, this time appearing in the exact centre of the circle.
"Well done, Hermione!" called Tonks, clapping loudly so she could be heard against the wind. "Do it once again, then we'll let Harry have a go."
Hermoine duly apparated once again to the cross and back again, then ran over to Harry, a grin a mile wide splitting her face. "Harry, I did it!" she cried in triumph as she grabbed him in an embrace. Harry put his arms around her to steady her then let her step back.
"Well done, Hermione," he said with a matching grin. "How was it?"
"Oh, I had to concentrate quite hard to make the first jump, but after that it was easy!"
"Okay, loverboy, your turn," said Tonks, taking Harry's arm and leading him away from Hermione. "Now, remember the incantation, but before you say it, make sure you take a moment an feel every part of yourself and, if you can, your clothing. It's not hard, it just needs a little practice. You remember everything?" Harry nodded, casting his mind over the pointers he had absorbed from the book. "Good. One final point, your wand. Most wizards use their wand because they're lazy, but it's not strictly necessary. Feel your magic, feel how it fills your body, how it flows into the things you're touching. That's the best way to make sure you don't leave something behind. Okay?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Good. Now, you saw what Hermione did earlier. I want you to aim for the centre of the cross. Okay? Good. Then just do it."
Harry concentrated, using his meditation practice and his experience in feeling his magic guide him into a state where all outside distractions no longer existed. He felt his magic, how it filled his skin. He felt his clothes where they touched him. He extended his magic to flow like liquid, visualising his clothes being coated in it. He opened his eyes, and saw the cross, and visualised standing there.
Now he was ready to go, he decided to be brave, be confident, and decided to leave his wand in its holster. He concentrated further, feeling the potential of his magic thrumming around him, and murmured to himself, "Go."
oOoOoOo
Moody watched as Tonks gave the usual pep talk to Potter as she walked him over to the circle. Or maybe not so usual, given Dumbledore's ideas about teaching the kid. All appeared to be well, however, with a few nods from the kid and then Tonks returning with a smile and a nod. She stopped standing next to him. Granger stood a few yards away, concentrating on the boy, so he wasn't surprised when Tonks leaned over to murmur in his ear.
"A galleon says he'll get it first time."
He snorted. "I don't take sucker bets, Tonks," he growled. His magic eye caught something, and he concentrated. "Merlin's hairy balls! He's going to deafen us!" The Potter kid was now glowing perceptibly to the magic-sensitive vision of his replacement eye, and with every moment it only got brighter. "Put your hands over your ears!" he called to Granger. Then he noticed that she, too, was beginning to glow. Frantically, he checked Tonks, who was also beginning to glow to his sight. "Shit! Did you remember to tell him to drop those links yesterday, Tonks?!" he yelled. He backed away as he began to feel the kid's magic, like ants skittering over his skin. He felt a gentle pull from within himself. He was being grabbed by the kid's apparation field! He frantically apparated ten yards back, and his view of the world around him returned just in time to see Potter disappear, taking Tonks and Granger with him. The odd little pull continued for a moment longer, and then--
CRACK-BOOOM!!!
The sound was like the hammer of Thor, and a pressure wave slammed through him, almost knocking him off his feet. Great clods of dirt and grass was still rising from the kid's departure point, sucked up by his departure, and Moody quickly formed an impervious shield to protect himself from the debris. After all, what goes up, must come down, and he didn't want to be covered in dirt and mud any more than the next fellow.
The good news, though, was that Potter was standing exactly on the remains of the landing point, the two girls right next to him, almost touching. The three of them were standing on a rough circle of untouched grass surrounded by a ring of scoured dirt and flattened plants. Clods of dirt were starting to land all around Moody, and as a ringing started in his ears he cursed himself for forgetting to raise a soundproof shield. He watched Potter look up, then jump and turn, bowling over Tonks and himself. After a few moments more the rain of dirt came to an end, and he dropped his shield before apparating over to the others to make sure they were all right.
oOoOoOo
The feeling as he apparated was like nothing he had expected, nothing like the book described. The scenery simply changed; the feeling was almost that of pressure coming off.
The sound wasn't right, either. Some sort of hollow thunder was echoing off the hills, and he looked up to see whether he was going to get wet. Nope, fluffy white clouds... where had the thunder come from?
Hermione's panicked scream in his ear made him jump to face her, only to find an unexpected body behind him. The two of them went down in a tangle of limbs before Harry realised the person beneath him was Tonks.
The scream stopped, and Harry looked up at Hermione in dazed surprise. She returned his surprise, as his mattress began to writhe beneath him, he was amazed to hear a giggle bubble forth from his classmate.
"Get off me!" his mattress commanded. Finally coming to his senses, Harry quickly rolled off Tonks into the bare dirt. (Dirt? He could have sworn the landing area was all grass?) Tonks breathed a sigh of relief just as a low tud announced Moody apparating in.
"Everyone all right?" he asked loudly and tonelessly, his magical eye focusing for a long moment on each of the other three in turn.
"What happened?" asked Hermione, eyeing Harry carefully. Noticing the large yellow cross beneath their feet, she continued, "How did Harry apparate all three of us? We weren't even touching him." She remembered what Moody had shouted immediately before the jump, and frowned in thought. She grasped her want and closed here eyes, concentrating. "Harry! You're still feeding power to me! You must have followed the links when you were visualising yourself."
Moody shook his head as though bothered by an irritating fly, then pointed his wand at each ear briefly. "That's better," he said. Looking to Harry he continued, "Potter, your apparation field was far too large; I reckon you took a couple of yards worth of the air around you as well when you jumped. The thunderclap almost deafened me, you know, and that's not good form! This isn't some pissing contest where you see how big an apparation field you can raise!"
Harry looked sheepish. "Yes, Moody," he said.
"I want you to try again, but if you can't tell the difference between yourself and your magic, then drop the links first." He gestured with his wand, and a large hollow square appeared about fifteen metres away. "This time, your target's the square." He turned to Tonks and Hermione, who were turning to step back. "You two stay there; if he takes you with him again at least it'll keep the collateral damage under control."
oOoOoOo
It was later that morning, and Harry, Hermione, Moody, and Tonks were huddled in the shelter of a small hut that Moody had conjured. They sat around an incongrously fancy table, which Harry had produced at Moody's request, sipping on hot mugs of tea. Harry was not actually unhappy, but he was feeling rather out of sorts as he had been unable to apparate alone without actually dropping the links to Hermione and Tonks, and even then, he had always torn up the ground at his point of departure accompanied by huge claps of thunder.
Eventually, Moody had had enough. "That's enough, Potter," he had said. "Re-read the book and we'll try again tomorrow."
"The whole thing?" Harry had asked, incredulous.
Moody had given him a withering look. "Just the stuff on apparation," he had eventually ground out. Harry had blushed, feeling about an inch high. It was then that Moody had waved his wand and the hut had appeared.
"So now what?" asked Harry, feeling somewhat sorry for himself. It was the first thing he had tried recently that he had not been able to make work reasonably quickly.
"Gonna make a virtue of your current problem, Potter," said Moody, almost lightly for him.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione. Tonks and Moody shared a look.
"We're going to have Harry throw some nice, powerful spells so he can try and get his mage vision working," said Tonks.
"What kind of spells?" asked Harry, perking up.
Tonks pulled a sheet of parchment folded lengthways from the neck of her robes. She held it out to Harry who took it and opened it. He looked at the sheet for a moment before raising it to his nose to sniff it.
"Smells like... Nymphadora," he said, smiling what would have been a wicked smile if he had been feeling more positive. He snickered at the Tonks' silent snarl at his use of her name.
"What's the spell, Harry?" asked Hermione. The somewhat dull light in the hut suddenly brightened as the sun came out from behind another of the clouds scudding across the sky, propelled by the ceaseless wind.
"It's a stone cutting spell, apparently," he said distractedly as he skimmed the writing on the sheet of parchment.
"We're goin' down into a valley near here," said Moody. He dropped a crushed aluminim drink can on the table without further comment. "Potter, when you're finished reading that, give it to Granger. We'll all take turns castin' that spell for a bit, see if a bit of power can get those eyes of yours workin'. I reckon we'll teach the you two young'uns a thing or two about projectin' power into your spell, too, while we're at it."
"Oh, how wonderful!" enthused Hermione. Harry returned his attention to the page, sipping his cooling tea as he did so, sure that the coming session would at least be fun.
oOoOoOo
"Six clubs."
"Six hearts."
"Errr... six... no trumps?"
"Pass."
"Hmm. Seven clubs."
"So what happened then, hon?"
"Well, after Harry and Moody vanished the hut and the furniture, we took the portkey into this really bleak little valley. It wasn't quite a ravine, really, it was much too broad but not really very big overall. About forty metres across, I suppose, and really steep-sided."
"What's your bid, then?"
"Oh, seven hearts."
"Um..."
"What then, dear?"
"Moody started by demonstrating the spell for us. It makes a wide blade, really, which slices through rock. You're supposed to use it to cut blocks and slabs of stone, but it requires ever so much power. They used it to cut the stones which make up Hogwarts, which is part of the reason it only took three years to build."
"Harry, dear, if you don't think you can make a bid, you are allowed to Pass if you like."
"Oh, er, yes. Pass, then. Thank you."
"Hmm. Err. Eight clubs!"
"Feeling confident are we daddy?"
"Are you cocky enough to make it eight hearts, daughter dear? That's quite a bid."
"Three hundred points worth." Hermione eyed Harry shrewdly. "Yes, I think... eight hearts!"
"Stupefy!" The red jet of the spell bounced off Harry's back to leave a black scar on the not-quite-white paint of the wall behind him.
"Nym! Must you?"
Nymphadora Tonks appeared suddenly, Harry's invisibility cloak draped over her arm in a shimmering, liquid waterfall. "Constant vigilance, loverboy," she lilted.
"I'm gonna find a bloodly lock for that trunk," Harry grumbled. "If it's not Ron bloody Weasley helping himself, it's Nympha-bloody-dora."
"Language, Harry!" admonished Hermione.
"Nymphadora, dearest, if you wouldn't mind...?" asked Emma, nodding towards the black mark.
"Oh! Sorry." She gestured at the black mark with her wand. "Reparo! Besides, Harry, you don't keep it in your trunk."
"Trunk, dresser, same thing."
"So, were you perchance going to risk nine clubs, father dearest?"
Dan eyed his daughter, his eyes narrowed and his jaw jutting a little. After a long moment, he shook his head. "I don't think so, daughter mine. Hearts it is."
"Oh, goody!" Hermione reached out and took the three cards in the middle of the table into her hand, quickly sorting them. She frowned in thought. "I see you weren't really serious with your clubs bid, father," she teased somewhat absently as she frowned at her hand.
Dan just smiled at his daughter before turning to Harry. "So what happened next, Harry?"
Harry frowned mightly. "Apparently, in addition to being a Mage, a Maker, a Parseltongue, and almost but not quite a Metamorph, plus no doubt a number of other things with Leading Capitals," said Harry, "I'm also, er, somewhat more powerful than normal."
Hermione looked askance at Harry, but quickly pulled three cards from her hand and placed them to her right in a neat, face-down pile. "Right, I'm ready," she said.
"What does that mean?" asked Dan.
"Who's your partner?" interrupted Emma, addressing her daughter, sensing as Hermione had that Harry was being made rather uncomfortable by the line of questioning.
"How about the ace of diamonds?" asked Hermione brightly.
There was silence for a long moment. Then, Harry jerked upright. "Oh, that's me!"
"Glad to hear you had something behind that no-trumps bid," said Hermione somewhat tartly, though she wore a broad smile.
"It's your lead, Hermione," said Dan.
"Yes, yes. I think we'll see what my partner's got up his sleeve. Let's see what you make of this," she replied to her father with a grin, placing the Six of Diamonds face-up in the centre of the table.
"Ouch! You wound me, daughter." He turned his attention to Harry. "So I'm curious. What does 'somewhat more powerful than normal' mean?"
Harry blushed and ducked his head, concentrating on the middle of the table where the cards would soon be played.
"Oh, really, father!" said Hermione in exasperation. "Can't you see you're embarrassing Harry?"
"Why? What's to be embarrassed about? Now if he was weak or something, that's be like having a small... er..."
"Daddy!" shrieked Hermione.
"Ahem, well, I don't see what Harry's got to be embarrassed about. Isn't it a good thing to be powerful?"
"I can't believe you! Imagine, bringing that up." Hermione's cheeks and neck were crimson.
"I don't see why it's a problem unless he really does have a..." Harry
"Why don't you quit while you're ahead, honey?" put in Emma.
"Speaking as someone who's nursed Harry," said Tonks suddenly with a mischevious lilt to her voice, "I can say that Harry is above average in all respects."
Tonks' remark fell into the conversation like a stone into a pond, leaving a thick silence in its wake.
"Were you going to lead something, Hermione? And why won't anyone answer my question?"
"Just leave it, Hon," said Emma quietly, giving Dan a 'we'll talk later' look.
oOoOoOo
Later that evening, Tonks sat with Emma and Dan in the living room. Harry had eventually come out of his shell as the game had gone on, and he and Hermione had run upstairs to get some sleep readily enough once Tonks had informed Harry that his physical training would resume tomorrow in all its former rigour. It was after eleven o'clock.
"Dan, you should understand something about Harry," said Emma. "Dora told me a bit about his upbringing." Dan looked his wife in the eyes, his expression serious. She went on, "From what Dora says, Harry's been abused in a number of ways. Tonight's behaviour..." She sighed. "Dora?"
Tonks tried not to look like she'd eaten something bad. "Harry was brought up believing he was a freak and abnormal, and being beaten and locked in his cupboard for days on end every time he did accidental magic or even some normal 'kid' things, like showing imagination. Despite his power and ability, which are simply amazing, he's only a fair student.
"I've been working on him this summer to try and get him to enjoy being better than normal," she went on quietly. "And he's been pretty good about it lately. But when you put him on the spot tonight, Dan, I think he felt threatened. He knows me well, but he hardly knows you at all, and I think your questions put him off balance, even though you meant them positively." She paused, then went on, "The Headmaster put Harry through the little-known 'full' version of a fairly common coming-of-age ritual on his birthday. In the form that Dumbledore did it, it's a power sharing and community ritual. I've noticed that I can sometimes tell what Harry's feeling, and I'm sorry to say that your questions made him very nervous. I think he felt like he was being accused of being bad, like a five-year-old."
"How's he feeling now?"
Tonks shrugged. "I'm not sure. I can't feel anything at the moment."
Emma frowned. "Does Harry know about this?"
Swallowing, Tonks shook her head. "I don't think so. He now knows about the power sharing aspect of it, and he's been told about the emotional aspect, though I don't think he knows that strong feelings are shared between members of the Community... especially his, since he's the Centre."
Emma frowned in thought. After a moment, she asked, "Did Harry know about this before he took part in the ritual?"
oOoOoOo
12 August, 1996
Ron,
Made a rather shocking discovery earlier today mate. Turns out I'm one-fifth owner of the Holyhead Harpies, of all things! (Imagine that - thanks to Sirius, I'm part owner of the one team I can't play in! Just as well I wasn't seriously contemplating a Quidditch carreer as my ownership would make it rather awkward.) Anyway, this is significant because I'm told that makes me a member of the Quidditch Owners' Association - and that means I can do something nice for my friends.
In the past, I'm sorry to say that your birthday presents have consisted of mostly things like Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts' Beans. I'd like to make up for that, if you'll let me. Please find enclosed two tickets in the Owners' Box for each of the remaining Cannons' games this summer, and in the hope that you'll either broaden your horizons (joke, mate! - well, sort of) or give them to Ginny, two tickets to each of the Holyhead Harpies' games that are on before Hogwarts returns. That's three games for each team, or six in total. And I don't want to hear anything about not accepting them - it's not like they really cost me anything to get in the first place (except Sirius' death so I could inherit... sorry, I didn't mean to get morbid). So early happy birthday, mate, and I hope you take someone you like to each game - not necessarily the same someone.
Life here at the Grangers has taken some getting used to. As you know, I'm staying with the Grangers for the remainder of this summer. Tonks is with me as well, acting as a bodyguard cum big sister; she and I are staying in the attic. Tonks magicked the room larger and beds and bookshelves and so on have been created. Tonks is great fun to be with, and she's been telling me a bit about being an Auror and scaring the bejeezus out of me about NEWTs. She's joking, I hope, but she and Hermione have been ganging up on me and I've found myself doing some study almost every day. (Yes, despite the fact that there's no homework assigned.)
As I told you at the party, she's also got me doing a whole lot of fitness work and physical training, working on my strength, endurance, and agility. Or so she claims. I think she just likes to make me sweat. (Speaking of the party, I need to have a chat to you at some point about one aspect of that. But on the train or the first week back is soon enough, as it's not urgent. It's not really the kind of thing you put in a letter.)
Evenings are what's really different, though. Hermione's parents don't allow her to study in the evenings. That's family time, and now that Tonks and I have joined them that rule applies to us as well. So we've spent time talking, reading books (fiction - that is, stories), playing games. I've learned how to play a card game called 500, which is more complex than it looks, but great fun. I've also learned about Monopoly, and that Hermione can be utterly ruthless.
Hermione's different when she's with her parents. More confident, I guess. They tease each other, and I tell you it's taken some getting used to being teased myself by people I hardly know. Tonks, of course, fits right in, but she can be quite a tease herself.
Speaking of Hermione, mate, I've got a rather difficult thing to ask. Hermione shook me awake this morning, and something about her just took my breath away. She was all surrounded by this light, like she was glowing from within, and it made her look like an angel descended to Earth. (Did I write that? Whew!)
So anyway, it struck me that I really like her. Yes, that way. I was thinking of maybe asking her out, and seeing if just maybe she likes me. Frankly I doubt it, but Tonks has been on me to "go for the gold" a bit more when dealing with people, so I figure I just might give it a go. What have I got to lose? She can only say no. Actually, no, she could actually hex my goolies off, make me feel like a total twat, spread nasty rumours about me, and worst of all hurt me... but I figure it's worth the risk.
The thing is, I figure you might feel you like her a bit too. I'm not asking your permission to approach Hermione - she's not yours, not so far as I know, and if she is then I'm sure she'll let me know in no uncertain terms - but I suppose I'm really trying to sound you out a bit and find out if you're really going to get your nose out of joint if I go ahead and she doesn't reject me. I suppose I figure you've felt that way for most of the last year, and you've had a good long time to take your own chance and maybe it's my turn, but I suppose what I'm trying to say is... Bugger, I don't know what I'm trying to say. It's so much easier to just write a short note - "Hi Ron, having a great summer - how 'bout those Cannons?" - than this kind of letter. Tonks' influence again - trying to get me to open up some more, and I want to be a better friend to you so that means telling you this kind of stuff, she says. She's also told me she wants me to write to three people I've never written to before and normally wouldn't write to, classmates of mine. Sheesh.
I feel like I should just screw this up and start again, but I can't face it. Gryffindors go forward, and so does this letter.
Wishing you all the best, and do enjoy the remainder of your summer,
I remain, your friend (I hope),
Harry Potter
P.S.: Looking forward to seeing you on the train - and early happy birthday! Enjoy the games.
PPS: I've also included a selection of batteries for your father. Tell him to touch the shiny parts of one of the square ones with his tounge. I'm sure he'll get a charge out of it.
oOoOoOo
Harry was a little surprised when Pigwidgeon hurtled into the attic late the following day, interrupting the afternoon exercise period. Harry had removed the letter and set it aside for later reading, but Tonks had soon sent him off to read it as he was distracted and not paying attention to what he was doing.
Tremulously, Harry opened the letter. He knew that the letter could easily spell hard times for his relationship with his long-time friend, but he clenched his jaw, firmed his stance, and broke the seal on the letter.
The news was good. Ron was thankful for the tickets, and agreed with Harry that while he (Ron) did feel as though he too might Like Hermione, that was no reason why Harry shouldn't see if she Liked him, since as Harry correctly pointed out, Hermione was after all her own person and could (and habitually did) make up her own mind. He then went on to say that he rather thought he might try inviting Lavender to the first game - after all, as Harry had pointed out, she could only say no and Gryffindors go forward. And yes, thank you, he had passed on the Holyhead Harpies tickets to Ginny, who had also been very appreciative.
He had finished by saying that Harry's rather touchy-feely letter had made him feel rather awkward at first, but added that it was nice to receive as well provided that there was no hugging on the train platform to be expected. Well, maybe a little one, but that was all. And definitely no kissing. At all.
Harry snorted with laughter at this - it appeared as though Ron was growing a sense of humour. He set aside the letter from Ginny that she had included, returning to his exercises under Taskmaster Tonks with a light heart.
oOoOoOo
Later that evening, Tonks, Harry, and Hermione were in the attic. They had eaten there, as the Grangers had gone out to a dinner party being hosted by friends of theirs. The three of them were reading - Tonks was reading a Victorian romance novel, while Harry and Hermione were sitting side by side on a comfortably-plush couch, reading books from the Headmaster's collection.
Harry was reading McGiven again, or at least, he was trying to. He was supposed to be trying to understand where he had gone wrong and looking for alternatives to apparation... but he couldn't concentrate. Hermione's nearness called to him, and he found himself looking up at her as she concentrated on her own book. The letter he had written to Ron, and Ron's surprising reply, kept running through his mind. He thought about all the times she had smiled at him, supported him, even hugged him. Her support earlier this summer... the times she had held him while he was weak after a session with Snape. Maybe... maybe she did like him the way he liked her. Her shoulder brushed his as she turned a page, and his hypersensitive awareness of her immediately noticed when she didn't move away.
Something about her scent tickled his brain, and he breathed in, softly but deeply. He was reminded of the time she had slept with him in his bed, together with Nymph. They had ended up spooned together, her bum nestled against him, her holding his hand against herself.
Thinking back, Harry felt now as though his heart would burst. He felt himself being pulled towards Hermione. It was not a physical thing, but he could not help himself as he leaned closer to her. He wanted to kiss her neck, to discover whether she tasted as nice as she smelled, but the censor of his mind held him back - the thing that told him that nobody would want him, and more usefully told him not to tell both 'Mione and Nymph that they were unspeakably hot, and they should strip off their clothes and jump into the sack with him Right Now. And so he hung there, too timid to lean forward and kiss her, too caught in desire to move back and pretend nothing had happened.
She must have felt him breathing on her. She turned to look at him, only a few inches away, her eyes first questioning and then smiling gently. He could not move away, even though his internal censor was screaming at him to back away. He rather thought she looked like she would welcome a kiss, and Gryffindors go forward, but he could not make himself. And so he hung there, trapped in uncertainty.
"What is it, Harry?" asked Hermione at last. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all. I, err...." He could no longer hold her eyes; he leaned back and looked away. He himself blushing.
Hermione put down her book and once more closed the gap between them, placing her hand on his arm. "What?" she asked gently. She looked at him blushing, and wondered if maybe, just maybe...
"I was wondering..." Harry swallowed. "I was wondering... ifyou'dbemygirlfriend."
Her eyes grew wide, and he could see what looked like it might be an incredulous joy dawning in them. Then they shuttered, and he could no longer read her. She studied his face for a bit, a broad, close-lipped smile growing on her face. "What did you say?"
He swallowed, gathering his resolve. He was committed now; he knew that she had understood him and she wasn't one to deliberately injure someone. He hoped that her teasing meant that the answer would be 'yes'.
"Would you be my girlfriend?" he said unsteadily, forcing the words out.
Her smile grew brilliant, dazzling him. She flung herself forward, flinging her arms around his neck. "Yes!" She pulled back a little, once again looking him in the eyes. "Yes." He felt her arms tugging him forward, and he knew she wanted him to kiss her. He looked to her lips, involuntarily tensing, then leaned forward to press his lips against hers. His eyes closed, and for a long moment he enjoyed the intimate contact, then pulled back a little.
He opened his eyes again to see her frowning prettily. "You'll have to kiss me a little better than that if you want to be my boyfriend, Harry Potter," she said. Her voice bore a teasing lilt.
Determined to do his best, Harry thought back to some of the movie clinches he had seen in passing at the Dursleys. He stood, pulling her up by her hands and then embracing her. He was pleased to see that she was now three inches shorter than he. She fit nicely into his arms. He smiled and pulled her into his embrace, leaning forward to kiss her properly.
Her lips were petal-soft and mobile as they kissed for the second time. Harry was surprised when she took his lower lip between hers but returned the favour and soon he was lost in her, his whole world was Hermione, her lips, her self, and the unavoidable discomfort in his groin. Harry ignored the messages from his personal proximity wards which recorded Tonks' approach and subsequent departure as he continued to lose himself in Hermione. Eventually they parted.
"Wow," said Harry reverently. Hermione pushed him down onto the couch again and sat in his lap before pulling him in for another long kiss. She felt his excitement but ignored it for the moment since his hands seemed to be behaving themselves. At length they parted once more and Hermione put her forehead against his.
"My boyfriend is a wonderful kisser," said Hermione in a breathy voice.
"Thanks," said Harry weakly. "You're pretty amazing, too, 'Mione."
Hermione hugged him and squirmed on his lap. "Is that because of me?" she asked quietly.
Harry looked down guiltily and nodded, embarrassed. "Yes. Please don't be offended, Hermione, I can't help it."
"I trust you, Harry. I'm not ready for sex yet, but I know that you can't help being excited. I can't help it either, you know."
"Oh?"
"Mmm." She leaned into him, positioning herself to kiss him.
oOoOoOo
The sixteenth of August was one of those days that made Harry wonder if he was living in England or India. Since early the previous day, the wind had set out of the south-east. The weather had started unsettled but had cleared by mid-afternoon, and it had become surprisingly hot before the sun had eventually gone down, taking some of the heat out of the day.
Now, though, it was mid-morning and the summer sun blazed out of a blue vault unmarked by the tiniest suspicion of a cloud. It was already blazing hot, and the weather forecast predicted it would reach a shocking thirty-eight degrees - one hundred degrees in the old scale - before a slight cooling in the early evening. In a country where summer temperatures were notable when they exceeded thirty degrees, this was almost unprecedented heat.
To Harry, though, who had been cooped up inside for a whole month, the feeling of the sun's almost physical power on his skin was pleasant beyond belief. He had shed his top very early on in the exercise period this morning, and the feeling of sweat running down his chest and ribs, the rivulets cooled by the fitful gusts of warm breeze, was positively delightful, even if he was also feeling quite overheated.
"Whew! I feel like a swim," said Hermione. She ran her fingers through the thick mass of hair which she had pulled back into a rough braid for the exercise. Harry thought it made her look completely different. She looked towards the neighbors over the left-hand fence, and frowned in disappointment. "It's a pity the Falmouths are out, we could go over there."
Tonks looked up from where she was crouched, breathing heavily after leading Harry and Hermione through the last part of the exercises. "Oh, I know!" She stood and clapped an arm around Harry's shoulders, leading him towards the house. "Come on, Harry, let's go put a pool in upstairs."
"But--" began Hermione, before being cut off by a lighting frown shot her way by Tonks. "Oh, all right. Can we at least have an open air illusion?"
"Oh, we can do better than that," said Tonks. "Boy, am I glad I was a Ravenclaw," she muttered gleefully under her breath.
After quickly waving her wand to clean up the sweat and dirt that clung to each of them, Tonks led the way upstairs with Harry and Hermione following her. "What do you think she's got in mind, Harry?"
"Probably a little magical exercise for me," he said dourly. Hermione glanced at Harry in amazement. He had never complained about his workload before, but she saw that he was grinning at her cheekily. She slapped his near shoulder lightly.
"Oh, you."
Upstairs again, Tonks led the way to the far side of the exercise area. She stopped by the wall and turned to face the other two. "Now, pay attention, Harry," she said. "This is some pretty advanced stuff, but I think you'll be able to do it easily. You've certainly got the power; it's just a question of whether you can visualise things clearly enough."
"Okay," he said with a nod.
"Good. What we're going to do is extend the space expansion charm from this wall. It's best if you create and merge another bubble instead of trying to extend this one; that way if you get it wrong we can't be hurt by the collapse of the bubble we're standing in now. Okay?" At Harry's not she went on. "Now, what we want is an outdoor appearance, with a wall of windows and some French doors going right here," she said as she slapped the wall for emphasis. "Now, in addition to the space expansion bubble, if you've got enough power - and you do, lover boy, for sure - it's easier if you fully visualise the finished environment at the same time. So, if you're ready, I'll guide you through it. Okay?"
With a nod and a quick smile at Hermione, Harry took his wand and closed his eyes. With practiced ease he entered what he thought of as his 'heavy magic' mode, which was actually a form of focussed concentration.
"Now," said Tonks, "pull up some magic and hold it ready. I'm going to describe what I want, you're going to visualise it using your magic, then when the visualisation is complete you let your magic go with a direction to execute the visualisation. It's a large-scale conjuration mixed with the space expansion. Understand?"
"Uh-huh," grunted Harry affirmatively. He had seen swimming pools before, in television advertising. "How big?"
"As big as you can manage," said Tonks.
"An Olympic standard pool is fifty metres long by twenty metres wide, Harry, and it's eight feet deep at one end and four feet at the other. They usually have a small spa pool nearby, about three metres square with a stepped bottom, half a metre deep near the edge to form a seat and then stepping down to a metre deep in the centre, where your feet go. Spa pools have bubble being forced through them in high-pressure jets; it's a little like being massaged. Some pools have a diving pool as well; they're usually ten metres square and five metres deep. Each pool has a way of circulating the water and keeping it fresh. Around the pool's there's usually some kind of stone flagging and then a grassy area, sometime shrubs and so on. There's usually an open roofed area where people can relax out of the sun, too."
"Thank you, Hermione," said Tonks. "Have you got all that, Harry?"
"I don't get the bubbles in the spa," he said. "Or this pumping you're talking about."
"Why don't you just visualise a large pond then, Harry? With a grassy area to rest, and a gazebo or something to relax in? Make the walls illusions of forest and or something, so we get the impression of a house build on a private, secluded lake. Can you do that?"
Harry nodded. "Just give me a minute."
Tonks and Hermione watched as Harry stood facing the blank wall, his head bowed in concentration, his wand held lightly in his hand in front of him almost like a conductor's baton. After a few minutes, they each once again felt a slight tugging on their beings that gradually became stronger, until finally Harry raised his head and, eyes still closed, flicked the wand.
What followed was, of course, magic, but magic to a degree and complexity that even Tonks, who was well experienced in the magical world, drew breath at seeing. The bottom half of the wall melted into white-painted French doors and sash windows, a white-framed wall of glass, each pane of glass about a foot and a half on a side. As the glass became clear, a wave of change swept away from them, leaving behind a scene from a painting of satyrs and nymphs. Before them lay a shallow but broad dell, a greensward leading the way from the house to the shore of a lake that appeared to be over a hundred metres across. Most of the shoreline was narrow, with luxurious trees and shrubs discouraging exploration, but to one side a wide gazebo stood near the shore of the lake. A wooden jetty protruded into the water about ten metres.
Harry breathed out explosively and opened his eyes. The scene was almost exactly as he had visualised it... ah, there was no sun. After a moment's thought and another wave of his wand, the sourceless light was replaced by bright sunshine. He smiled proudly.
"Not bad," he said to himself. Hermione grabbed his arm, jumping up and down in excitement.
"Oh, Harry, that's amazing!"
"Not bad, he says," said Tonks, shaking her head. Harry turned to her, hurt.
"Hey! I tried as hard as I could! I'm sorry I couldn't do it perfectly the first time!"
Tonks stared at him, shocked, then shook her head. "No, Harry, you don't understand. Hermione's right, that's amazing!"
"Oh," said Harry, mollified. He blushed a bit in embarrassment at the misunderstanding. "Then thank you, I guess."
"Was it really hard?" asked Hermione. "I could feel you, or rather, I could feel something pulling on me a little towards the end there."
Harry nodded. "So that's what that feeling was. I had to gather up my magic extra-hard to do it; I guess I was pulling something from you two as well? Oh well, at least I know what it feels like now."
"I think you've been doing it a bit during apparation, too," said Tonks. "Maybe that's why you've been having problems."
Harry shook his head. "I guess so." He was very noncommittal; something sounded wrong about Tonks' statement but he couldn't quite think what.
"Shall we get changed and go swimming then?" put in Hermione excitedly. She pulled on Harry's arm and added, "I want you to wear those Speedo's we got you, Mr Potter."
Harry looked at her hesitantly. He nodded after a moment, and was left by the newly-created glass wall as the girls dashed away to get changed.
oOoOoOo
Inside, Hermione and Tonks ducked into the bathroom to get changed. Tonks pulled on a tie-side bikini with a halter top in a shiny crimson fabric so bright it almost screamed. Finished, she watched as Hermione pulled up her on-piece suit then efficiently ran settled the seams so it sat comfortably. It was navy blue and somewhat modestly cut, with a double white stripe printed on it vertically above the left leg.
"Do you want to give Harry a thrill?" asked Tonks suddenly.
Hermione paused and thought for a moment. Her body language was uncertain. "I... You don't mean going naked, do you?"
Tonks snorted in amusement. "No, but that's not a bad idea. What I meant was, I could zap your suit so it's a little see-through when it's wet."
"Oh! Well, I don't know...."
"Come on, lover-girl. It's totally private up there, just you and me and lover-boy. You don't feel like teasing him a bit?"
Hermione thought it over for a bit, then nodded. "Oh, very well," she said, then broke into a smile. "What are you going to do?"
By way of answering, Tonks got out her wand and muttered under her breath. Hermione's suit changed from the dull dark-blue nylon to pure white with a bright sheen to it. She smiled as Hermione squeaked.
"You took out the lining!" she accused Tonks.
"Of course! Otherwise what's the point?"
Hermione turned and looked at herself in the mirror. She had to admit the new suit made her look really good. She noticed that her nipples were lightly denting the now-unlined fabric, and she smiled at the thought of what the sight would do to Harry.
That's if he didn't just look away. She grinned at her reflection and nodded.
"Thanks, Dora," she said. "Come on, let's go!"
oOoOoOo
Harry stood nervously by the door, now dressed only in a bright green pair of Speedos. He didn't feel as under-dressed as he had thought he might, as the swimsuit was lined and actually fairly thick so he didn't have to worry about showing off his every detail to the girls. He knew it didn't really make sense given the times Tonks had bathed with him, but it was a rather different thing being outside than in a bathroom.
Giggling suddenly burst from the bathroom, and Harry turned to see the girls coming out of the bathroom. Tonks was dressed in a rather small bikini, with midnight blue hair for contrast, but it was Hermione and her white swimsuit which drew his eye. She saw him looking and caught his eyes with hers, smiling at him.
Tonks broke into a run as she passed Harry. "Come on, last one in's a greasy Snape!" Hermione stopped next to him and laid her hand on his forearm.
"Come on, Harry."
Harry allowed himself to be tugged forwards. "You look amazing," he said. She smiled at him in a way that sent a thrill up his spine. It was somehow a rather dangerous look.
"Just you wait, Mr Potter," said Hermione. "Come on!" And with that she, too, broke into a run, leaving Harry to try and catch up. Tonks ran ahead of them down the jetty and jumped off then end. Hermione followed her, but Harry was nowhere near confident enough to just jump into water no matter how inviting it looked and instead waded in from the shore of the lake. He stopped when the water got up to his shoulders, about two thirds the way out to the end of the jetty. Instead he put one hand on the jetty, the top of which was only about six inches above the surface of the water, and enjoyed the coolness of the water.
"Come on, Harry!" called Hermione. Harry just shook his head, a little vexed that Hermione had forgotten that he couldn't really swim. He had been taken to swimming lessons like the other children in school, but he had been dunked so many times by Dudley and the other children that he had never managed to feel comfortable or confident in the water. He had failed his swimming test dismally, despite only being required to swim twenty-five metres to pass it. He so wished for a handful of gillyweed, as it would give him all the instincts he needed to be comfortable in the water. He remembered the feeling of stroking through the depths, perfectly comfortable and knowing just what to do, almost like flying was to him.
"Harry." Hermione's voice was nearby, and his memory played back for him the sound of footsteps and a wet sound as she had sat down on the jetty right next to him. He cursed himself for, once again, neglecting to maintain his awareness all around himself. "Harry, look at me."
He turned to look, and his breath caught in his throat. Hermione's modest-looking swimsuit had turned practically transparent, hazing her skin like a whitish cellophane but hiding absolutely nothing. He jerked his eyes away from her breasts and her rigid nipples, dark pink and rigidly erect from the cold water, up to her eyes. She was smiling at him.
"I-I'm sorry, Hermione," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to stare."
Hermione reached down and took his head in her hands. "It's okay, Harry. It's all right for you to look. Boyfriend privileges."
"Boyfriend privileges?" repeated Harry, shocked.
"Mmm-hmmm." Hermione let go and leaned back, straightening her hips as though about to slide into the water. For a long moment she hung there as Harry looked her up and down. He was surprised to see how see-through the suit was; he could see the individual hairs at the edge of her pubes. Slowly Hermione lowered herself into the water, ending up floating in front of him. She placed her arms around his neck and pulled herself close. His arms went around her almost automatically. She was warm and a little slippery in the cool water.
Harry didn't know what to say; he was almost overwhelmed. He felt himself stiffening despite the cool water. In a frantic attempt to distract Hermione, he found himself saying, "And I suppose you get girlfriend privileges?"
"Yup," she said, somewhat uncharacteristically Harry thought. Her hips bumped into his once, twice, and then she wrapped a leg around his hips. He could feel his half-erection (for the water was far too cold for him to become fully hard) press into her. She smiled at him and pulled him in for a kiss.
The kiss was very nice indeed, and Harry felt himself reacting more as her body heat warmed him up a little. When Hermione wriggled against him, he broke the kiss. "Hermione, wait," he said. He was starting to wonder if this was in fact Hermione. Perhaps it was Tonks, playing a joke on him?
She relaxed a little and stopped her wriggling. "What's wrong, Harry?"
He closed his eyes and shook his head, his thoughts racing. He wanted to ask her a question that only she would know, but he realised that he'd told Tonks so much while they were together at Privet Drive that it would be difficult to think of one Tonks definitely wouldn't be able to answer correctly. Besides, Hermione could be offended, and that was the last thing he wanted. So he decided to try and sense if it was her. Recently, he'd had an odd feeling, almost a different taste or smell to things. Perhaps if he were to...
Harry opened his eyes and caught Hermione's gaze, staring into her lovely brown eyes. As he did so he allowed himself move into his centre, the eyes-open meditation that he had been learning, and tried to open his senses to the world around him.
It was then that it happened. A glow surrounded Hermione, an explosion of colour and light that surrounded her like the corona of the sun. He gasped in amazement as, suddenly, the glow resolved itself into a myriad of glowing threads, each bright enough to make him want to squint and yet, not. A moment later, he became aware of another glow at the end of the jetty with a very different taste that somehow made him think of Tonks, and then further away again he could sense...
Everything. He clutched Hermione convulsively as his mind's eye flooded him with sensations and information. He could sense the birds in the trees - oh, look, here comes Pig. He could sense the trees, and the grass, and even the gray blight that was the lack of life where roads passed. He could sense the people all around them, and the mind-twisting distortion that was the expanded space bubble they currently occupied, and there was Moody hiding in another pocket attached to the front of over-the-road's house. He felt the connections, the delicate but omnipresent web of links between everything; he could feel...
Something jolted him. "...rry?! Harry?! Harry!!" Hermione's voice was panicked. "Tonks!" she screamed. "Something's wrong with Harry!" He jerked against her convulsive grip, lifting his loosely-hanging arms back around Hermione's waist.
"I'm here," he said quickly. "I'm here." The vision, the overlay of his senses had gone away when he was jerked out of his meditative state although Harry could feel it at the back of his mind, waiting to be heard. "I'm okay."
"Oh, Harry!" sobbed Hermione. She was still clutching him and he could feel her tears hot on his shoulder above the water. "I was so worried!"
"I'm sorry, 'Mione," said Harry with a smile. "I'm sorry, I just, I, well, I thought you might be Nymph playing a joke on me so I tried to sense whether you were you. And I saw, 'Mione." His voice was filled with wonder. "I saw." He closed his eyes in an extended blink, and as he closed his eyes he could see Hermione etched in golden light before him.
"Oh!" cried Hermione excitedly, all thought of tears forgotten. "You mean your mage sight?" Harry nodded. "What's it like?"
"It's... there's a glow, and it's made up of all these little, um, strings I guess." He struggled for words to describe what he had seen. "It's like seeing, but not seeing; there's taste and smell and feeling, but not." He sighed, then smiled at Hermione's perplexed expression. "I can't really describe it."
"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised," said Hermione. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Harry nodded and darted forward to give her a peck on the lips. "Boyfriend privileges!" he said afterwards, and Hermione giggled.
"Just don't forget there are girlfriend privileges as well!"
oOoOoOo
Dear Harry, Hermione, and Tonks,
We're holding a belated birthday party for Ginny tomorrow evening at 5 o'clock at the Burrow. As Ginny counts you all amongst her friends we'd very much like it if you would come and help us celebrate her fifteenth birthday.
RSVP.
Yours truly,
Molly Weasley
oOoOoOo
Author's Notes Redux: Hermione's appearance in the swimsuit is based on a particularly vivid memory of mine from when I was fifteen, of a girl who was chasing my mate Mina. To this day I have difficulty believing that this girl wore that suit to a public swimming pool. My imagination was also bolstered, if that's the word, by some of the pics at Wicked Weasel (http://www.wickedweasel.com). This is a bikini shop operating out of Byron Bay (Australia's eastern-most point, a resort town, and a rather surfie/hippy place) run by an ex drummer of the band Midnight Oil that features some fairly extreme cuts and/or fabric choices. It also has some fairly racy pictures of a number of girls wearing their bikinis, both professional and amateur. (If you do choose to visit that site, take care, as it's not work-safe.)