He's A Magic Man

A/N: This little one-shot is actually in response to two challenges. The first being the Harmony Podcast Christmas fan fiction contest. The second is the writing exercise on Midnites_Angels' LJ (http://midnites_angel.livejournal.com). For the exercise I had to include the following two sentences about life in this story. 1) Life is like drawing without an eraser. (Anonymous) and 2) Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. (Anais Nin).

I know it seems weird to put these two challenges together into one story, but I was really short on time and this idea just came to me. Hope you enjoy it! Special thanks to Midnites_Angel for her magical beta-ing!

He's A Magic Man

"Come on home, girl" mama cried on the phone
"Too soon to lose my baby and my girl should be at home!"
"But try to understand, try to understand
Try, try, try to understand…
He's a magic man, Mama
He's a magic man"

~Heart

Harry blew a warm breath of air into his cupped hands before starting his ascent to the roof. The fire escape's handrails were so cold he wondered if his hands could freeze to them since he wasn't wearing any gloves. Honestly, it didn't matter to him; even if the gentle snowfall made the ladder slippery, he was determined to make it to the roof.

Tonks had better be right, he thought as he climbed. It was Christmas Eve and he didn't want Hermione to be alone, not even for a couple of hours. She shouldn't be away from her friends on a holiday and Harry had an overwhelming need to find her. As someone who had spent a lifetime missing his family, he knew that holidays could be especially hard. Hermione can't be with her parents on this Christmas Eve, he thought, but she's my family and we need each other.

In a way, he was surprised that Hermione had confided in Tonks, rather than in himself. In all honesty Hermione never was the type to have close girlfriends. But he had a hunch she kept these feelings from him so that he wouldn't feel guilty. And she was right. He did feel guilty.

The wind gushed around him causing him to pause for a moment before finally reaching the roof. He climbed up cautiously and gained his balance. As he looked down and around the edges of the rooftop, Harry couldn't help but be amazed at the sight of the urban winter-wonderland below. Headlights from the muggle cars on the street showcased the swirling snowflakes as they made their way to the ground. Street lamps were adorned with lights and wreaths and store fronts were decorated with various displays of holiday greetings. There was warmth in the air as muggles bustled about wishing each other good cheer and heading in and out of stores to make their final purchases before the stores closed. A group of young girls squealed with excitement as they twirled in the falling snow and then collapsed on soft ground to make snow angels. A mother hugged a small child to her chest as she crossed the street in an effort to keep him warm. Down the street a bit farther, the sound of carolers filled the air.

Then he saw her. She was sitting at the far corner of the roof looking down into the street. Her legs were pressed tight against her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her scarf was flapping slightly in the breeze and her chin rested gently on her knees. The bushy hair that Harry had become so fond of was playful dancing with snowflakes in the breeze. She looked so sad, so alone.

From where she was seated, she had a perfect view of the other side of the street, and more importantly, directly into her parents' dental clinic. The large, picture window was dressed in garland and lights. There was a weathered sign just above the door that read, Grangers' Family Dental Clinic. Harry wondered how many after-school afternoons or evenings just like this had Hermione spent at the clinic. A yellow ribbon was tied on the door knocker. Was this ribbon for Hermione and for a war that their patients knew nothing of? With the office lights still on, Harry could see the Christmas tree in the clinic's waiting room. The twinkling lights glowed through the frosty window, illuminating a portion of the icy sidewalk.

Harry looked back to Hermione and noticed how vulnerable she seemed sitting there all alone. Her normal “down-to-business” attitude regarding their training, the horcrux hunt, and Order meetings masked the fact that she was just a teenaged girl who missed her family and perhaps wished for some normalcy in life, like it was before she found out she was a witch. He knew she had sacrificed more than she should, more than anyone else. While Ron often went on rants about his Mum's “mothering” or his brothers' relentless teasing, he loved having his messy and imperfect family near.

And as for Harry, he would give anything to have his parents and Sirius back. Imagining himself with his parents sitting around a Christmas Tree at the cottage in Godric's Hollow was enough to produce a patronus without a wand. And here was Hermione up on this roof all alone, possibly imagining a similar scenario. Ron still had his family and Harry's choice had been made for him .But Hermione had chosen to fight alongside Harry, even if it meant being away from her family. Not many people he knew would be strong enough to make that kind of decision.

Seeing her now reminded him of something that Tonks had told him. Tonks had gone with Hermione to visit The Grangers at the beginning of the summer. Harry had offered to go with Hermione, but she had declined his offer stating that Tonks had to go with her anyway to discuss her parents' security. She had come back too late that night to talk, and the next morning she appeared to be her usual positive and determined self. It was only after cornering Tonks later that Harry realized the extent of Hermione's cover-up. Tonks seemed rather upset to bring it up at all, but she relented for Harry. She told him how heartbreaking it was to see Hermione tell her parents that she and her magical friends were in danger and that there was a good chance she might not come back to them. The Grangers were terribly upset that she couldn't visit them for their own safety and that the school wasn't doing more to restrict their daughter from fighting in a war. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage,” Tonks told him, “and Hermione has a rather big life right now.” And the subject was never brought up again.

Harry could only imagine the intensity of the Grangers' response. He didn't ask Tonks to elaborate, but he knew enough about human nature to know what they must be struggling with. It was probably hard enough to lose their daughter to a world that they couldn't be part of, but to know that she was in constant danger must be terrifying.

Looking at her now, Harry didn't see a vulnerable girl at all, but a courageous one. One who made the right choice, even if it wasn't the easy one. Sometimes, Harry wondered if Dumbledore would have had an easier time mentoring Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her age, as the “Girl Who Lived” rather than himself.

Sniffling from the other side of the roof broke into Harry's thoughts and he began to carefully make his way over to Hermione. She wiped away a renegade tear and without turning her head said, “Hey, Harry.”

“How did you know I was here,” he asked in amazement.

“Well, I have been known to find you even when you're under that invisibility cloak, so this was no major feat,” she smiled and looked up at him, obviously glad to see him. “The real question is how you knew where to find me?”

“I have my ways,” he replied, “I am a wizard after all.”

She sighed and surprisingly didn't push the issue. Exchanging small smiles they shared the knowledge that they were destined to have difficult choices and difficult times, but they also had each other. They

returned their gazes to the small clinic across the street. Harry heard a pause in Hermione's breathing as the last patient, a plump, elderly woman, opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Just then Hermione's parents came into view. They walked over to the Christmas tree in the clinic lobby. Her father handed her mother what looked to be a steaming cup of cocoa and they stood there arm in arm for a while.

“You know what my parents told me this summer when I told them about the war and that I was going to be fighting in it?”

Harry didn't know what to say. Hermione never talked about her parents, even when their conversations had entered more sensitive subjects.

“At first they were so shocked and scared that they tried to talk me out of it. My mum said that I was too young to make such a major and irreversible decision. She told me, `Life is like drawing without an eraser' and then rambled on about how serious the consequences of this decision would be. I almost laughed out loud at this thinking back to our third year and the time turner. A wizard's answer to the eraser I suppose.”

She paused for an instant and Harry got the sense she just needed someone to listen to her.

“Eventually they calmed down and realized that I was making exactly the sort of decision that they raised me to make. I often wonder if I will ever be as strong as they are. To make a decision for yourself is one thing, but when you have to watch someone you love make a decision that you don't understand or agree with, and then watch them follow through with it regardless….That, Harry, is true courage.”

Harry thought about this and smiled to himself. The Grangers' ancestry was probably laced with Gryffindor types. Here Hermione was giving up her carefree teen years and her warm family life to fight in a war, and she was admiring her parents' courage! What a woman!

“What in Hogwart's History…,” Hermione began as she moved closer to the edge of the roof. Inside the clinic her parents were opening up a small box which appeared to be a Christmas present.

“That looks like the gifts I purchased for them…and my letter!” Hermione's excitement was growing. Shacklebolt had warned her of having any contact with her family during this time. The auror department had agreed to help somewhat with the Grangers' protection, but they were spread thin at the moment with all the death eaters on the loose. It was likely that Voldemort's minions would discover Hermione's relationship with these otherwise harmless muggles and use it to their advantage.

“How did they get that box? I wrote that letter, but I never sent it,” her bewilderment grew as all the logical scenarios ran through her mind.

“I hope you don't mind,” Harry began, “but I took the liberty of making sure they received your gift and letter.”

“Oh, Harry! But, how? Surely you didn't send Hedwig,” she questioned.

“No, it was much easier than that,” he grinned, “it was…magic.”

Hermione's face finally broke out into a smile and she leaned into Harry's arms so that he could hold her as they watched her parents embrace with thankfulness that their daughter was still alive. He cast a simple warming spell and the two of them sat there for a while longer just watching the snowfall.

Harry made a mental note to thank the Grangers' last patient of the day, Mrs. Figg, for delivering Hermione's gift. He knew that after Christmas they would have to go back to the task at hand, but for now Hermione deserved a little magic in her life. And he was her magic man.

~End

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