Disclaimer: All characters from the first six books in the Harry Potter series by Joanne K. Rowling, to whom I am deeply indebted, belong to her exclusively; © 2007. I am simply playing with them for my amusement, and to see what kind of reaction I can get.
Not Another Author's Note: Many thanks to the_scribbler and Serenity of the Lake for their kind assistance with this chapter.
41 - Hermione's Thoughts
The arriving students, for the most part, made their way into the Great Hall and found their seats quickly. The Head Boy and Girl were again at the end of the procession, hustling and herding the stragglers along. Parkinson, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were the final stragglers and seemed intent on delaying the feast or at least trying to make a grand entrance. When the large doors started to close, Hermione stuck the four together and levitated them into the Hall before she and Harry closed the great doors.
Minerva stood and watched them as the doors closed. The Head Girl released the four from the spell and they glared at her as if daring her to try it again. Minerva turned her head to look at Horace; nodding, she then returned her attention to the hall until everyone was seated. The four Slytherins made their way to their table and sat in a group, Draco had a smug look on his face - his return had been well noticed by everyone. The rush of whispered conversations grew into a dull roar until the Headmistress, using a 'sonorous' charm, called for silence.
Traditionally, the sorting of new first-year students was next. Professor Flitwick brought forward the three legged stool and the Sorting Hat; placing them on the podium, front and centre of the High table. From the enrolment scroll, he read off the names of the new students and each sat on the stool in turn, while the Professor placed the Sorting Hat on their heads.
Hermione looked over the High table while the first years were being sorted, and took note of who was there. Her scan stopped briefly at Molly, wondering just how good a teacher the mother of seven would be. Her next pause was at Moody, he had been here before, but only as a prisoner in his own trunk. Then there was Remus Lupin. He had a very successful year here a few years ago, she thought, and she was sure he had saved Harry's life by teaching him the incredibly difficult patronus charm. That train of thought reminded her about her agreement with the Board of Governors and made her wonder whether or not the Board members really understood what she had done and the leverage it gave her.
Flashback
The Board, mostly ancient Wizards, with one Witch more closely resembling an old Hag, had been a tough bunch of negotiators; however Hermione had gone over all the details with Rowena before her final meeting with them. They had grudgingly agreed to allow Remus Lupin to return to his former teaching position in consideration of Hermione reducing the rent that the Board, or more precisely The Ministry of Magic, paid her for the use of the Castle and its grounds. Hermione would easily make up for her small reduction in rent in the satisfaction she would have when the stuffed-shirt pure bloods in the Ministry realized they were paying a Muggleborn for the use of Hogwarts. She purposely dragged out the negotiations until the last few days of August so that school would be in session by the time the details became public. She had signed the contract as Lady H. J. P. Gryffindor to further confuse the issue because she knew the Goblins would uphold the agreement even if the Ministry had coronary seizures and did back-flips over it.
End Flashback
Suddenly there was a loud cheer and the tables filled with food. Ron's, who was sitting beside Luna at the Ravenclaw table, was getting some odd looks ... and not just from the Ravenclaws. He was drawing attention partly because his stomach had been rumbling for the last twenty minutes. Luna was almost afraid that he might decide to snack on a first-year. Ron kept muttering something unintelligible about slim pickings amongst the first years until Trevor Goyle was sorted and Luna could make out the words 'tasty morsel' which she assumed referred to the youngest Goyle. Trevor was on the chubby side much like his older brother.
After the feast and the Headmistress's speech about banned items and out of bounds areas like the Forbidden Forest, the fifth-year prefects took the firsties in tow and each house made their way to their dormitories. The password for the Fat Lady is 'Goblet of Fire', a female prefect told the Gryffindor students after they had all entered their Common Room. The lovely blonde Prefect looked up and noticed that Hermione and Harry were last to enter, making sure everyone else was inside ahead of them.
Hermione looked around and saw Ginny and Neville near the boy's stairs; hugging like they really didn't want to part for the night. Ron was nowhere to be seen. He was a Prefect, so he could get away with being out late. Harry figured he was probably saying good night to Luna, somewhere private. Harry and Hermione had chosen to take patrols the first night and Harry hoped he wouldn't run into his other best friends during those rounds. When they left for rounds, Harry stopped at his room quickly to collect The Marauders Map out of his trunk.
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Harry was walking the route they had planned, holding the Map in front of him to see if anyone was out and about. The map showed that Remus and Mad-eye were patrolling two floors above them. Hermione had her left arm linked through Harry's right, her wand held loosely in her other hand, but she was mostly thinking.
As she was with her love, the beautiful Head Girl let her mind wander. So much had happened that there was a lot to think about. So engrossed in thought was she that as they turned the corner and started down the third-floor corridor, she almost tripped over the edge of a carpet. Harry caught her easily and kept her from falling.
Hermione was quite amazed at how much Harry had changed over the summer, and quite proud to think that she could have that much of an effect on him. At the beginning of the summer he was quite hesitant and unsure of himself around her in anything that went beyond their friendship of the last six years.
Some time after that earth shattering walk in the park, they had some discussions about sex and safety and he had willingly gone along with her when she decided ... no they agreed ... they should wait. Not that he was pushing her on that topic now, no, he was being very patient, considering that he was taking the potion every week, like clockwork. He would take it right in front of her, there was never any question of whether he took it; not that she would have questioned his word. She wondered if maybe it reduced his interest in sex, but then thought better of that question. Every night and most mornings, they would explore each other, wind each other up and make a big bang … or at least a decent whimper. 'Tergeo' was usually the last spell they used at night and the first one used most mornings.
Her parents grew accustomed to her goofy smiles in the morning and her sidelong glances at Harry while they ate breakfast. She remembered one day ... shortly after Harry's birthday; she wasn't smiling one morning and wouldn't let him touch her. Harry had tried since they woke up to find out what was wrong, what he had possibly done. He could sense that she was in some pain and ill at ease about discussing it. The good news was that she didn't seem upset at him, specifically ... until she couldn't put up with his apologies any longer.
The blow up happened during breakfast, she actually yelled at him to get out and leave her alone. What she actually might have said if her parents were not sitting right there at the time is anybody's guess. Harry was horrified and left the kitchen immediately, heading towards the living room before Emma caught up with him.
Several days later, when she was feeling better, Harry had shown her his memories of his talk with Emma.
Flashback to Harry's memory
Emma took hold of his arm and directed him outside to a seat on the patio, and then she took a seat opposite him. Harry was by now openly crying, he had no idea what he had done to hurt Hermione and now, to make matters worse, he expected Emma was going to give him a piece of her mind too.
Surprising him, Emma simply started talking, "Harry dear, this is Hermione's problem not yours ... calm down and look at me." Harry looked up, but couldn't see her except as a blur. His tears had pooled on the inside of his lenses, when he looked up they ran off his glasses and down his cheeks, streaking his glasses. His damp eyes couldn't hope to focus anyway. "Now as I understand it, you never had a sister and you've never had someone that you would call a girlfriend for more than a couple of weeks ... Is that right?"
"Y ... yes Ma'am," Harry responded with hesitation.
"And I suspect that neither your Aunt nor your Uncle ever explained about the ..." Now it was Emma's turn to blush, "the Birds and the Bees ... you know ... The Talk", asked Emma.
A look of horror, disbelief and fear crossed Harry's face as he removed his glasses and wiped his sleeve across his eyes. He wiped his glasses with his t-shirt and could at least now focus, not that he was sure he really wanted to see Emma at this moment. Emma recognized the looks she saw and knew the reason for his face turning red. She was certain that he didn't want to have this discussion with her, of all people.
"A ... Arthur ... that is Mr. Weasley, kind of took me aside a couple of summers ago, and ... and ... warned me that there might be some girls that were desperate enough to trap me ... they might try to get pregnant to do it, and I should keep my piece in my pants unless I was very, very certain ..." responded Harry hesitantly. "He might also have been concerned that his own daughter might have been that desperate."
"Considering your wealth and fame, that was very good advice, but that is not what I had in mind. Your friend Remus Lupin is a Werewolf ... For a few days on either side of the full moon, Hermione has told me that he's grumpy, irritable and out of sorts, not to mention what happens the night of the full moon itself." Emma started saying.
"I don't follow. What does Remus have to do with this?" asked Harry.
"He is only an example to illustrate the point I am about to attempt." Emma said, "A woman's body is on a similar cycle of about twenty-eight days. During that cycle there are a few days when she will be, like your werewolf friend, irritable, grumpy and in some pain. After Hermione's has had something to eat, she'll likely take some medication to ease the cramps, but the rest of it you'll just have to put up with. Give her a hug and tell her you love her, ok? Don't become an added irritation, that's about all you can do for a few days until it goes away. I'll ask her to explain it to you. I think you'll feel more comfortable that way. She has known all about it since before she was eleven, long before she first went to Hogwarts. She probably assumes that you should know about it too."
End Flashback of Harry's memory
During that few minutes of Harry's enlightenment, Dan had taken his daughter's hand and given it a light squeeze. "Pumpkin," Dan started to say as she looked into his eyes.
"Harry has no idea, does he Dad?" she asked. Her Father nodded his head in agreement. "And I've been about as mean to him as I could be ... haven't I?"
Dan shrugged his shoulders and smiled before saying, "Find him and give him a hug, show him you're not mad at him. If it makes you feel any better, your Mother had to explain it to me and I had two older sisters and living parents, your Mum and I were both going to Medical School at the time. You would have thought I'd have a clue. Give the poor boy a break and when you feel comfortable, explain it all to him. If it comes from you rather than us, he'll be more receptive and he'll feel better about asking questions and trying to understand."
"Yes ... I'd better find him before he does something stupid, like leaving." She sighed. As Hermione made her way to the living room she saw Harry coming in from outside and tried her best to reassure him with a smile until she was close enough to wrap her arms around his neck and bury her face in his chest. His arms went around her gently as he kissed the top of her head. He need not hear her apologies nor did she need to hear his. "Harry, apparently I have some explaining to do ... finish your breakfast and meet me in my bedroom. Take your time." She hung onto him for a minute more; enjoying his warmth. As she loosened her arms and pulled away she looked up, their eyes met and moments later they kissed, briefly; then she made her way upstairs.
Harry did as he was told and finished his breakfast then set the dishes to washing themselves before he made his way to her bedroom. He came up to the open door and knocked before looking through. She was lying down on one side of the double bed with her hands behind her head and eyes closed. One hand moved and patted a spot on the bed beside her. Harry came in and sat where she indicated. Her hand ended up on his thigh with their fingers intertwined.
After a few minutes of silence during which Hermione was psyching herself up and figuring out how to start. She had placed a medical text on the table beside Harry that had several obvious Hogwarts bookmarks in it. She started out in textbook mode and for all Harry knew, she was quoting the medical text verbatim. He had to stop her ... he wasn't following the explanation because half the words she used he didn't understand. He lay down on his side facing her and taking one of her hands in both of his, he started asking simple questions. She gave him the simple answers, but in doing so was able to prompt more questions in the direction she wanted him to follow. They spent most of the day talking and when he wasn't asking her questions, he was listening attentively and stroking her hair. This generally elicited slower and more elaborate responses because she loved the feel of his fingers running through her hair and it threw off her concentration. They shared one funny moment, when Hermione told him about 'the squirms' - a term that totally befuddled him - until she explained it. He looked at her with the sympathy and love that he always did as his comprehension grew. He asked her if it happened every month and she nodded yes. Then she told him about her muggle friends and their (often) monthly prayers that the squirms did show up.
Harry grinned and Hermione asked him what he was thinking. Looking at her with eyes full of mirth, he said "Pansy. Last day of classes in June." It took a moment, but then the light dawned for Hermione and she burst into giggles.
Realizing that the tension between them from the morning had passed, Harry pulled her to him and kissed her gently. When she responded with a passion that had been missing for her during the previous two days, they quickly lost themselves in a snogging session that went on for almost a half-hour, before sleep claimed them both.
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They had just woken up as her parents were arriving home - a situation which led to some initial questions and then reassurances. Harry and Hermione hadn't moved very much during the marathon talk, except that when her parents got home, he was a little closer to her. One thing that amazed Hermione was that all during the afternoon, while they were awake, he had maintained his stroking of her hair, and it made her fall in love with him that much more.
Even though her pain killers had worn off hours ago she was still oblivious to the discomfort, as though his presence and compassion was the best medicine.
Returning to the present
"Harry," she started.
He looked over at her and their eyes met, he knew what she was about to say, it was, after all four weeks later, so he knew what was coming. "I guess we had better make tonight a night we can remember for the next few days." He said while smiling down at her. She smiled back in eager anticipation.
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Tuesday, September 2, 1997
The next morning Hermione was in relatively good spirits, she knew to stop by the Hospital Wing during their rounds the night before, for a potion to ease her through the next few days. Poppy always had a keg of potion on tap and all the girls knew where she kept it.
The first morning's breakfast was busy with the handing out of course schedules and making adjustments for some of the sixth and seventh years. The Headmistress remained Head of House for Gryffindor this year, she wasn't about to turn that over to someone else with Harry still around. Most of the students had to return to their dormitories for the right books.
Jeannette was plunged straight into the deep end, the second year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had Practical Defence (PD) with the real Professor Moody.
Hermione and Harry had some free time and decided to learn more about Ravenclaw's Wand from Rowena and Salazar. It didn't take their practiced feet long to arrive at the Library and Madam Pince knew they were coming before she even heard their hurried footsteps in the corridor. There were very few years when I wasn't one of the first students to use the Library, she thought.
The pair came quietly through the doors, not wanting to attract any attention, but of course they already had, then turned towards the back where the restricted section was. They looked back at Irma and she waved them on with a rare smile. When the noise at the back started to pick up again Irma knew they were in the portrait with Rowena.
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Rowena naturally hoped that Harry could save her wand and magically destroy the Horcrux, however she did concede that if the wand were destroyed it would be one less magically powerful object in the world and it was certainly worth it, if it led to the elimination of the Slytherin Pretender. Both teens had free time just before lunch on Friday and it was decided to destroy the Horcrux then. They would use the Quidditch Pitch; no one else was likely to be using it at that time of morning. They talked to Salazar about the protection spells on the wand and learned that there were two more that the locket didn't have. Harry and Salazar went through the detection and removal spells, again in parsel-tongue, so no one else could understand what they were doing. Hermione was able to follow along in Harry's mind while he translated the snake language for her, but without the ability to speak it herself there was literally nothing she could do with the knowledge.
8 a.m. came and went and soon it was time for their first class of the Term, Transfiguration, presumably with Headmistress McGonagall. Before they left Rowena reminded them that they should bolster the Castle's protection wards and learn to control the Castle itself. The structure had its own magic and could be made to assist them if the battle came inside Hogwarts itself. They thanked Salazar and Rowena and leaving the Library behind, they began making their way to their new rooms. Armed with books and supplies for the balance of the morning, they arrived at the Transfiguration classroom just in time to see the previous class that appeared to be first-years, leave. Hermione pointed out to Harry that Carol Taylor was amongst the group as was Trevor Goyle. They entered to find Professors Weasley and McGonagall in a discussion and found seats together at the front, sitting quietly; it would likely be a few minutes before the first of the other NEWT students arrived.
The Professors finished their discussion and Minerva sagged into the chair behind her desk. Molly looked around to see Harry and Hermione sitting together and paying attention only to each other. She made her way over and interrupted what she assumed was their 'mutual admiration society'. They were in fact discussing, in their thoughts, the new staffs and whether it would be too unwieldy for Harry to use his to destroy the Horcrux on Friday. Harry had found that the Basilisk eyeball would move in its socket, so as long as he could keep his eyes focussed on the escaped soul fragment and the staff pointed in the general direction, the eyeball would swivel, following Harry's line of sight.
"Good Morning, Professor Weasley", the pair chanted and smiled back up at her. "How was your first class?"
"A little disappointing I'm afraid ... though Minerva keeps telling me it is quite normal for none of them to transfigure their matches into needles on the first lesson and probably only a very few on the second lesson. She keeps bringing you up as an example of exceptional talent," Molly said as she looked at Hermione. "She is quite proud of you, Hermione." Hermione blushed at the compliment and smiled back, part of the blush was caused by an emotional surge from Harry; Hermione had picked up on his exaggerated feelings of pride, admiration and love for her. "I get a short break now and before lunch I have some second year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, I understand your cousin is one of that bunch?"
"Yes, Jeannette is a second year Ravenclaw, and quite fast to pick up new spells if she isn't distracted by something", responded Hermione. "I'd prefer to keep the fact that she's my cousin quiet if possible Professor ... We don't want to take the chance that some of the Junior Death Eaters may try to use her to get to me or Harry."
"Oh, yes of course dear, I think that only the Order Members know ... I'll be sure to mention that to Minerva," replied Molly.
"Thank you," Said Hermione, "Turning buttons into beetles is the first lesson if I remember correctly."
"Oh, right ... yes that's the first lesson all right," said Professor Weasley while trying to remember how to do it herself. I'll make sure I keep her full attention, I'd better go. Your class is starting to fill up." And she skirted around the room to the door, and then made her way to the Teachers Lounge to go over Minerva's notes for her next class. She hoped the second years wouldn't be as frustrating as those first years, even if Carol and a few of the others at least showed some promise. The Goyle boy on the other hand, had a foul mouth and seemed as smart as a fried kipper.
Hermione, barely able to keep a straight face in front of Molly after Harry's emotional overload, retaliated in kind, remembering an exciting play session in bed and recreating her feelings of pleasure and love for him to pick up on. She snuck a peek at him as she squeezed his inner thigh ... his eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets when the feelings came together for him. Harry was about to call her a 'naughty little bookworm' when Professor McGonagall spoke up.