A/N: Hey you guys! I finally got Microsoft Office back on my laptop so updates might be a bit faster since; you know…I love typing on my laptop a lot more! Lol. Well, thanks to the response from last chapter!
I dedicate this chapter to my lovely friend, Lola, from harmony forums whose computer is down and is having a
dreadful reading an fan fiction. When you read this, know that I love ya, Lola. Hope it gets fixed!
Ps. You guys had some big hopes with how the Ferris encounter would go-I'm here to warn you that its not that big of a deal. So don't get your hopes up!!
I feel bad for those of you I told this chapter would have come out while ago. This chapter would have been out DAYS ago, but I was going to wait til my beta sent it back. However, I am a very impatient person and I have concluded this chapter does not have as many mistakes as Caribbean Cruising always does, so I shall save that for my beta work. If you disagree, just tell me.
~*~
I want to swim away but don't know how
sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
-"Into the Ocean" By Blue October
~*~
"Why, hello, servant girl," sneered the far too familiar face of Michael Ferris.
Hermione froze on the spot and had no idea what to say or do.
"Speechless, eh?" Michael leaned up against the doorways. "Normally, I'd invite you in to `play'," He looked behind him. "But my mum is here, and my step dad, so-"
"Your st-step dad?" She finally sputtered.
"Well, yeah, you don't think my real dad has ever kept a wife? Goin' on number seven this summer. Ah, memories," he pretended to reminisce. "Mum somehow thinks she can straighten me out, like my good ole half brother, Tommy."
"You've been here all along?" She asked, uneasily.
"Yep, whole time. Let's get something straight, Granger, your little body guard Potter may've scared me off yesterday. But he can't always be around," Michael started towards her. Her hand went to her wand.
"Oh! Hermione! You're here!" His apparent `mother' appeared just in time, checking her watch, she said," Right on time. Emma's coming. Michael? What's going on here?"
"Nothing, mum Just meeting her," Ferris said, not wanting to use her proper name.
"Well-" She started, but was cut off by Emma's loud entrance.
"Hermione! You're here! Let's go," Emma practically zoomed by her, grabbing her hand. Hermione staggered as her sister pulled her, eyes on Michael as he hissed," See you around."
The door slammed and finally snapped out of it, moving father down the block. Shaken up, Hermione asked her sister softly, "Um, so you met M-M-Michael F-Ferris? Tommy's, um, brother?"
"Half brother," Emma replied smartly. "And yes."
"Did he-do anything? Say a-anything?"
Emma looked at her, confused. "No. He looked at me oddly for a moment, but no. Hermione, did something happen?"
Hermione had no intention of filling her younger sister's head with those kinds of thoughts. "Um, no, Emma, no, don't worry about it," She forced a smiled and rushed her sister home.
Once Hermione had gotten out of the cool night air and through the warm cottage. She realized just now how exhausted she was. "Emma," She rubbed at her tired eyes. "You need to go to bed-and I do too."
"Tired?" Emma asked curiously.
Hermione yawned. "Yes."
"From your secret adventure?" Emma perked up.
Hermione rolled her eyes and pointed her finger to the stairs. "Bed. Now."
Emma sighed. "Night Hermione," She ran to her sister, pecking her on the cheek.
"Goodnight," Hermione watched her sister disappear up the signs.
Thanking the heavens above that her bedroom was on the main floor, she trotted off to her room and threw herself on her bed. What a night she had had. Learning an important defensive spell and right off the bat. And Harry, Harry had been so impressed. IT made her smile to remember how shocked Harry Potter, of all people, had been.
She hadn't meant for such an emotional conversation to occur afterward though-no, she had definitely not expected that. Harry had known all along; well, perhaps not all along, but he had known. Hermione couldn't believe what Harry had gone through. Perhaps she had found someone who could understand after all. She knew she could trust him now, he was the only one. Why did he care about her so much through? She let her thoughts wander as she drifted into the first peaceful sleep she'd had in a long time.
~*~
Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, Harry was hoping Hermione had gotten home alright. He shouldn't have let her walk home alone after everything that had happened. She could get hurt-Oh Merlin, now he was just even more worried. That's when Madeleine chose to make her entrance beside him in the common room.
"Hi, Harry," She sang. "Where have you been? No one has seen you since dinner."
"I was just spending time with a friend," Harry answered quickly.
"What friend, Harry?" Madeleine asked, curiously. "All your friends are here, in Gryffindor. And they've all been right here. Taking about where you were."
"You don't know all my friends, Len," He answered.
"I'll say. What was with that one Hermione girl I met the other day?" Madeleine asked.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, defensively.
"Well she obviously doesn't go to Hogwarts, but you know her. And she doesn't seem like your type of friend anyway," She rolled her eyes.
"My type of friend?" He asked, slightly agitated.
"You know," She impatiently said. "She was pretty, but she seemed like she spends half her time thinking about books and studies. Harmony just doesn't seem very popular, that's all."
"For your information, Hermione has friends. And her mother is a good friend of Remus'…and my mum. She's a great person, Len."
"Whatever," `Len rolled her eyes, shrugging. Her face suddenly got very smug and she leaned in to kiss him.
Harry responded, but felt quite uneasy. He pulled back slightly and said, "Um, Madeleine, I'm really tired," He yawned for effect. "So I'm going to go to bed…I'll see you tomorrow."
Madeleine looked disappointed and sighed. "Alright. Goodnight," She kissed him again and Harry forced a smile, rushing up the stairs to his dormitory.
Once Harry got through the door, he was immediately bombarded by Ron's questions. "Where've you been?"
Harry jumped in surprise but continued to his bed, where Ron was waiting on the end. "Around."
"Around where?" Ron narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Just around. With a friend," Harry answered, nonchalantly.
"A friend?" Ron questioned. "Who…Me, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Padma, Parvati, Neville, Ginny…Madeleine…everyone has been around and asking about you."
"Well, I have a lot of friends," He said.
"Yes," Ron looked at him. "Oh, you were with that Hermione Granger weren't you?"
"What?" Harry asked, alarmed.
"Well, who else would you be with…?" Ron asked. "Were you with Luna?
"No!" Harry said.
"I know," Ron said. "Your mum?" Ron asked, answering for him. "No she asked for you earlier. Remus?"
"Maybe," Harry lied.
"Liar," Ron rolled his eyes. "I saw him earlier. You were with Hermione."
"So if I was?" Harry asked, kicking of his trainers.
"Ah ha! You admit it!" He yelled in victory.
"Sh," Harry quieted him, so as not to wake the other three boys sleeping in the cabin. "Yes, okay, I was with Hermione Granger."
"Why?" Ron asked, confused.
"What do you mean, `why'?" Harry asked.
"Well, I mean…you've been distant from me, everyone lately. And spending time with her. What's up?" Ron pursued him, obviously annoyed with Harry's questioning.
"Nothing. I just…" Harry struggle for words without telling Ron what was going on with Hermione.
"I mean she's pretty but she really can't be all that great at-OW!" Ron felt himself being pushed. "Bloody hell, Potter."
"Don't talk about her like that," Harry snapped, feeling his emotions being let loose.
"Sorry, sorry," Ron held his hands up innocently. "Besides, I was kidding. I just don't understand. How can you say you're such good friends with her if you've only known her like, a couple weeks? You've known me seven years! I just don't get it."
"You wouldn't, mate, you wouldn't," Harry shook his head, stripping down to his boxers and slipping into bed. "Look, our mum's are good friends. Remus and her mum are good friends. She needs a friend…"
Ron shrugged, getting into his own bed. "I guess you're as good as anyone. Listen, mate, I was wondering how you've…been. I mean, everything with you-know-who and the…horcruxes…"
"We haven't been working as hard as we should, Ron. I have a feeling the Death Eaters are going to be making an appearance soon. I can't meet Voldemort and not be reading, Ron," Harry said quietly.
"I know," Ron sighed. "Lillian has been trying to look some stuff up about that Ravenclaw artifact. After we destroyed the locket, though, she's been kind of…distant towards the idea of horcruxes."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, remembering how when destroying Slytherin's locket, Lillian had gotten burnt badly on the hand. Somehow Lillian had been a bit scared towards the thought of any other horcruxes, and that slowed down the process a bit. "We need more help."
"Help? Like who?" Ron raised his eyebrows, a bit angry. "You KNOW Dumbledore left it just for us, right?"
"Well, yes, I know…but letting one person in…that wouldn't hurt. Not if we trusted that person completely."
"Who?" Ron asked.
Harry shook his head. "Can we just, not talk about this right now? I'm sorry, I'm tired. I have no idea what to do and I need some sleep."
"Okay," Ron rolled over in his bed, closing his eyes.
Harry heard Ron's snores moments later and let his thoughts drift away from Voldemort and the horcruxes, and back to the evening he had just spent with Hermione. Merlin, she was bloody amazing! She had learned a spell in one try that took others…weeks of DA meetings to get perfect; and yet she was dead on the first time.
That girl was one of a kind; positively brilliant, his mother and Remus had been right about that. Afterward, he hadn't meant to tell Hermione he knew about her past, but how could he hide such a secret from her. He couldn't look at her without thinking about her father and all he had done. How could someone hurt her so much? Her own father? What kind of a sick minded bloody bastard would do that to his own damn daughter?
Harry didn't know what had gotten into him when he had ranted on and on about how much he cared for her; he was never one to be so out front with his emotions. But he wanted her to know, he needed her to know that he would never hurt her or let anyone cause her anymore pain.
He kept thinking about everything that had occurred for the next few minutes before finally letting his eyes close and he fell asleep not long after.
~*~
Hermione Jane Granger woke up the next morning with a bright smile on her face. Today was going to be a good day, she was due to meet her mother and McGonagall again at Hogwarts while Emma spent the day at Mrs. Codsworth's, and hopefully get a few more work opportunities.
Emma came tumbling down the stairs while Hermione was preparing toast and humming. "What makes you in such a good mood?"
"Good morning!" Hermione grinned. "I'm just making toast. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes," Emma looked at her sister suspiciously, plopping herself down on the barstool. "And I take it you did too?"
Hermione nodded. "Of course. Here," She laid some toast down in front of her sister. "Eat up. When
we're ready, I'll take you down to Mrs. Codsworth's and then I have to get down to Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts?" Emma inquired.
"Yes," Hermione sat beside her younger sibling, taking a bite of toast. "The Headmistress promised me a few jobs around the castle. I have to get down this morning soon though, so whenever you're done, brush your teeth and then we must leave."
"Alright," Emma agreed, satisfied with Hermione's happiness that morning.
Hermione smiled as they continued to eat their breakfast, pleased at how well the morning was going. There was no need
for fighting, as they had last night. She had a feeling her better mood had come from the joy of last night and the
spell she had learned. Besides, maybe today she would be able to sit in on her mother and Lily's classes if she
finished the jobs early.
They finished breakfast, brushed their teeth and headed out the door at around eight thirty. Hermione and Emma got to Mrs. Codsworth's house just on time and from there Hermione had continued on to the gates of Hogwarts. This morning was particularly cloudy, seeming as if it would rain at any moment…just when you least expected it. It kind of reminded her of home, in England. Not that she had ever had much of a home there. The shelters definitely were not home and the house where she had lived before with all her family was hell.
After a bit of conversing at the gate, Filch had let her through. Hermione made her way to McGonagall's office.
"Password?" The gargoyle sneered.
"Lemon drops," Hermione used the password the headmistress had given her to get in the office. The old professor had mumbled something unintelligible about it being the old Headmaster's memory that had inspired it.
The door opened to reveal McGonagall arguing with a professor. He had black, greasy hair and a hooked nose, cloaked in black. She hung back as they noticed her.
Both cautiously looked at her, the professor looking at her in almost disgust as he hissed, "Remember what I said, Minerva."
"Same to you, Severus," She narrowed her eyes as he stormed past Hermione and let the office door slam behind him.
Hermione jumped in surprise and McGonagall offered her a small smile. "I'm sorry for that, dear, do come in."
Hermione walked in, sitting down in an armchair, and started to speak. "I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am, Headmistress. I feel so privileged to be able to work here. I'm sorry if I cause any disturbances the other day though…"
"Disturbances?" McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "What are you talking about Ms. Granger?"
Hermione's breath caught in her throat. For some reason Harry had not told McGonagall. He could have at least warned her! "Nothing, I'm sorry. I just…thank you."
"Of course, Ms. Granger. You are a lovely girl and I would hate to see your time go to waste…and that comes to the next order of business. I understand that it is too late to start here at Hogwarts but Professor Potter, er, Lily…suggested that you sit in on her seventh year class on the day's you are working here." Hermione smiled at Lily's offer. "Of course, you must understand that--"
"I… I get it, Professor McGonagall. I know that I am here for one reason and one reason only. I do appreciate Lily's offer, but I understand that I am only here to work," Hermione's face fell a bit.
"Now, Ms. Granger, slow down," McGonagall chuckled. "You must understand that even though you are not a student at this school, I care deeply for your future and I believe your talents should not be wasted. So even though your mother doesn't think that you are experienced enough, which you may not be, to enter this school…but I would be honored if you would sit in on Lily's classes," Minerva handed her a new Charms textbook that looked as if no one had ever touched it.
Hermione slightly gasped and carefully took the textbooks in her hands. "Professor McGonagall--"
"No, no," Minerva said. "Don't even bother."
"Thank you," Hermione smiled softly, getting up from the seat she had taken.
"You're very welcome," She smiled. "Just be sure to report to the Charms classroom right after lunch, which you may attend if you finish your work."
Hermione nodded her head in thanks and shook her hand, turning and walking out the door. She bumped into someone coming out, dropping her textbook.
"Oh, sorry, let me--" the person started, bending down.
"No, it's quite alright," Hermione said, picking it up.
They both got up and met each other's eyes for the first time. "Oh, its you. Hello, Hermione," Draco smiled at her.
"Hello, Draco…" She greeted, hoping she got his name right. "How are you?"
Malfoy shrugged. "Okay, I suppose."
"Already being sent to the Headmistress's office?" Hermione guessed.
Draco grinned. "How'd you figure?"
Hermione shook her head. "You should be careful. This is the last year of school, any amount of trouble…"
"I get it, I get it," Malfoy put his hands in the air. "I won't get in any more trouble."
"Please, Malfoy, I wasn't asking for miracles. Just a little effort," Hermione walked past him.
"Funny, Granger," He said as she turned back around to face him. "What're you doing with a textbook?"
"I'm joining Lil-er, Professor Potter's Charm's class," Hermione said.
"You don't say?" Draco asked. "I don't see why anyone would want to join classes, though," Hermione shook her head. "Hm, well, I should go."
"See you around," Hermione waved.
"Goodbye," Draco turned around and readied to enter the Headmistress's office for yet another punishment.
Hermione turned and walked away, shaking her head at Harry's friend; he wasn't half bad. She continued down the hall, reporting once again to the grumpy groundskeeper to receive the duties for the day.
~*~
"Hey Potter," Malfoy entered Defence against the Dark Arts later that same morning. "I ran into your girl today."
"What?" Harry and Ron asked as Draco sat down behind them.
"Hermione," Draco answered.
"What was Hermione doing here?" Harry asked, wondering if something had happened.
Draco shrugged. "Never got around to talking about it, she was coming out of McGonagall's office when I ran into her. Literally." Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Relax, it was an accident. She's fine…we're both fine, just knocked a stupid book out of her hand."
"What--" Harry started, but was interrupted by the start of class.
"Alright, alright, settle down, Good morning class," Remus walked in, his voice booming throughout the walls. "Good morning," He spoke louder, as some whispers still remained.
"Good morning, Professor Lupin," The class murmured.
"There we go," Lupin smiled, "For a moment I thought you didn't want to be in this class." The slight sound of laughter echoed throughout the room. "Alright, everyone up, you know I hate sitting down and reading from textbooks. Today we are going to practice our disarming spells! Sometimes these may be difficult…" The members of the DA shared smirks as they lined up. They already knew how to do that and more. Maybe today's class wouldn't be bad after all.
Harry grinned when he heard Lupin say that, glancing around at the members of Dumbledore's Army and was satisfied to know that he was the one who put that confidence in them since he had taught them.
~*~
Hermione found today's cleaning just the tiniest bit easier, considering for any spills she could use the quick cleaning spell. Although, she was forced to do most of the work herself, unless she could figure out to charm the brooms and mops to work themselves; however, Hermione wasn't planning on doing that. It wouldn't be right, McGonagall didn't need to pay her to do that, she could already do it herself if she wanted to. McGonagall was paying for Hermione to do the work herself.
After a while, she had finally finished cleaning the lower west wing, which was currently unoccupied, and felt relieved as she packed the supplies back in the broom closet on the other side of the school. A few giggling girls past her on their way to lunch, and Hermione looked down at her clothes. She was wearing the same light, ripped jeans as the day before, a dark blue shirt with a white shirt underneath it that stuck out a bit. Her hair was pulled into two plaits; with little make up covering her face. From the reflection of the glass, she actually didn't look that bad at all. The work wasn't exactly vigorous, so her face wasn't flushed and her hair wasn't frizzy and messed up. No, she looked presentable; she just…looked different than everyone else, wearing uniforms.
That was something she should probably get used to, however, uniforms were custom for students only, and she was not. Although, many girls would probably kill for the privilege of not wearing a uniform. Perhaps she was considered lucky.
Hermione made her way to the Great Hall, figuring she might catch some lunch. Walking into the Hall, she had no idea where she was supposed to sit. She figured since most of the students she had met were in Gryffindor, she could sit at that table. Opening the Charms textbook she had put away in her bag until then, she began to put food on her plate and eat lunch. She hadn't noticed that Harry, Ron, Lillian, Draco and Seamus had walked in to the canteen and saw her sitting alone.
Harry grinned at the sight of her and walked over, as the others followed. "My, my, this is a surprise."
Hermione jumped, started by his voice and exhaled a deep breath, smiling. "Oh, hello, Harry," She turned to him as he sat beside her. Ron, Draco, Lavender, Seamus and Lillian sat across from them.
"Hey," He said. "What are you doing here?"
Hermione shrugged. "Working, and um…taking your mother's class," She pointed to the open textbook.
"Really?" Harry was surprised at this revelation.
"Yeah, McGonagall told me this morning and gave me the textbook," Hermione answered.
"And then, ever so rudely, ran into me, knocking said textbook from her hands, as she came out," Draco
smirked.
"Hilarious," Hermione rolled her eyes. "You ran into me."
Draco shrugged and Harry intervened. "You knew she was taking a class, Malfoy?" Harry asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah, I knew I was going to tell you something else!" Draco exclaimed. "Sorry, I thought she might've told you last night."
"What happened last night?" Ginny said, swooping in, kissing Draco on the cheek as everyone's ears perked up.
Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous looks. "Um, nothing, Ginny," Harry answered.
"But weren't you hanging out with her last night?" Seamus asked.
"Well…" Harry looked at Hermione.
"Yes," She finished. "Yes. He was helping me with something."
"Right, yes, I was," Harry smiled.
"Oooh," Ginny and Lavender sang.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron shut her textbook. "Do ya think you can lay off reading for like, one bloody minute?"
"Well, some of us care about our studies…" Hermione shot back.
"Some of you care too much about your studies!" Ron exclaimed.
"There's nothing wrong with that!" Hermione snapped.
Ron was about to retort, but Harry interceded. "Alright, quit it. Ron, stop riding her about her work."
Ron rolled his eyes. "So, anyways…"
"I can't believe today's lesson was something we already learned!" Seamus exclaimed.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Today's DADA class was about teaching us the disarming spell…which us in the DA already learned," Lavender informed her.
"Yeah, it was easy this time. It took forever to learn!" Ginny groaned.
Harry and Hermione shared a secret grin and held back a laugh. Harry nudged her and she blushed, looking down at her
plate.
The group saw this and Ron asked, "Are we missing something?" They both shook their heads. "Well," Ron shook his head. "That's one spell you can't learn by reading a book," Ron smiled smugly.
"I don't need a book," Hermione retorted, without thinking.
"Like you could handle it! You don't know any magic!" Ron said.
"Hey!" Harry and Lillian came to her defense.
"Please, Ronald Weasley, I could take you in dueling. Any time. Any day," Hermione replied.
"Name it," Ron shot back.
"For Merlin's sake," Draco finally said. "Do you two ever shut up?"
Both Hermione and Ron snapped their mouth's shut and continued to eat. Ron piled more on his plate and shoveled it into his mouth. Lillian rolled her eyes and shot Ron a dirty look that went unnoticed by him.
"Finally," Draco sighed.
The rest of the lunch went by somewhat quickly, with casual conversation before the class bell rang, signaling they needed to hurry to their next class.
"So you'll be joining us now?" Lavender asked, as they walked down the hall.
Hermione nodded. "Um, yes. That's right."
Ginny bobbed her head in satisfaction. "Well, good luck guys, I've got herbology!" She bade them goodbye as she walked in a different direction.
"She's not joining us?" Hermione asked, curiously.
Harry shook his head. "She's a year younger than us."
"Oh," Hermione said. "Good to know."
Harry smiled at her as they walked inside. The rest of the group started ahead of them but Harry hung back. "I'm glad you are here."
"Me too, I owe your mum," Hermione said.
"I told you she liked you," He reminded her.
"Hermione!" Lily exclaimed as they stopped in front of her.
"Lily! I, I mean…Professor Potter," Hermione corrected herself. "I just want to thank you, I mean, there's no way to thank you enough for doing this."
Lily laughed. "Of course, Hermione. You deserve it. And," Lily leaned in, "It's only Professor Potter in class…otherwise I'm just Lily & mum to you two," She finished with a wink.
"Thank you, Lily," Hermione smiled.
"You're very welcome," She smiled back, but then regaining a mock-serious face. "But get in your seats. Wouldn't want to give you detention on your first day, Ms. Granger."
Harry chuckled and followed Hermione to where the others were sitting. Hermione once again settled herself between Lillian and Harry. Madeleine strolled ever-so-gracefully into the classroom, sitting beside Harry and looking at Hermione curiously. She must've thought Hermione was deaf when she leaned in to Harry and said, "What is she doing here?" Because she acted as if Hermione could not hear, but she did.
"Madeleine," Harry started. "She's taking this class."
"But she's not a student!" Madeleine whispered.
Harry shot her a `look'. "So? My mum requested she be able to take this class."
Madeleine rolled her eyes, sitting back in her seat and fixing her hair, scooting her chair closer to Harry's. "Let's hope today's class isn't as boring as yesterdays."
Harry was about to comment but Hermione beat him to it. "I think her classes are very interesting."
Harry secretly grinned at Hermione but Madeleine just rolled her eyes again. "Of course, you would."
"Just shut up, Madeleine," Lillian shot at her, from a few chairs down. "No one asked your opinion."
Just watching Madeleine shake her head made Harry wonder why he was dating this bird in the first place. So what if she was pretty? She was acting like a total bitch at the moment. She wasn't normally like this, Harry didn't think so at least.
However, Lillian figured he was just now realizing her atrocious behavior, and it probably had something to do with a certain brown eyed witch sitting beside her. Maybe she was just what they all needed.
A few minutes later when Lily had assigned them a personal reading assignment, Harry leaned close to Hermione and whispered in her ear, "Did you get home okay last night?"
Hermione was startled and his hot breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine. It took her a minute to register what he'd said. "Yes," She whispered back, not choosing to tell about her Michael Ferris encounter. What Harry didn't know wouldn't hurt him. It's not like anything bad had happened to her. No reason to get him so worked up over nothing.
"Good," He whispered back. "I was kind of worried about you," He admitted.
"No need," She smiled at him, whispering. "I was just fine. I promise."
He smiled back at her before returning to his own work. However, he found it very hard to pay attention to it while Hermione was sitting beside him. Harry didn't know why, but his eyes kept drifting back to Hermione and her work. She was sitting very straight up, quill in hand, scribbling away on her parchment. Her writing was incredibly neat and legible, which Harry admired compared to his chicken scrawl. Her hair that day had been pulled back into two plaits out of her face, which Harry found cute. She was biting her lip as her quill stopped, obviously in an internal struggle about her work. Harry smiled again at her, shaking his head, returning to his work.
~*~
Lily was watching this interaction from afar, pretending to be immersed in her own readings. She couldn't help but
smile as her son leaned over and whispered something in her ear and saw the way Hermione reacted. Hermione looked
somewhat surprised, but she could tell Hermione answered him. She watched again as Harry whispered another mysterious
saying to her, earning him a smile from Hermione. He smiled again and she saw him try hard to return to his parchment.
However, he saw his eyes wander to Hermione and examined him as he examined Hermione. She watched the myriad of
emotions cross his face before he finally smiled and shook his head, returning to his own work.
Then her own eyes wandered to the pretty blonde beside Harry. Lily didn't mean to be rude, but that girl was a ditz. She had no substance to her; all she was was a good quidditch player and a beautiful girl. She knew Harry was rubbish at girls and he probably was only staying with her since he just wanted to be a normal bloke with a girlfriend. However, Madeleine did not deserve a young man such as her son. Lily knew just who she think deserved her son, and hoped it wouldn't be long before they both figured it out.
~*~
Class had ended a little bit ago and Hermione announced to the group that she would probably just go and see her mum before going back home.
Harry stopped her, hanging back as the group continued far away from them. "You want me to come with you?"
"No," Hermione shook her head. "I'll be fine."
"You sure?" Harry looked at her.
Hermione smiled. "I promise. I'll be fine."
"Okay, okay…" Harry sighed, looking around in the halls. "Just…I don't want you to run into Ferris again."
"I know, I'll make sure I stay far away from him," Hermione promised sincerely, taking his hand.
"I don't want anything to happen to you," Harry admitted.
Hermione looked at him and just stared into his beautiful emerald eyes for a moment. "I know, Harry."
"Will you be extra careful for me?" Harry asked.
"For you," Hermione squeezed his hand.
"Thanks," Harry said, drawing her closer to him, putting his arms around him. Hermione immediately let herself relax in her embrace as she never had with anyone else. She put her own arms around hers, laying her head against his chest. He kissed the top of her head.
"You should go to class," Hermione told him softly.
"I suppose I should," Harry reluctantly let go of her.
"See you tomorrow," Hermione smiled at him, letting go of his hand.
"Bye," Harry said, as she walked off. He watched her retreating figure until she disappeared out of sight.
~*~
"Mum?" Hermione called, walking into her mother's classroom, as she knew their was a short afternoon break before the last lessons of the day.
"Hermione? Is that you?" She called from her desk.
"Yes," Hermione answered, walking in. "How are you?"
"Quite fine, you?" Elizabeth asked.
"Good, very good," Hermione smiled. "I'm about to go pick up Emma, just wanting to say hello before I left."
"Took you awhile to finish today," Elizabeth commented.
Hermione opened her mouth but didn't mention that she was taking a class at Hogwarts. She would tell her mother when they had more time to think about it. "Yeah," Hermione lied.
"Well, you have to go pick Emma up," Elizabeth said, after an awkward moment of silence.
"Right," Hermione said. "I guess I'll see you later. Will you be home tonight?"
"Maybe," Elizabeth said, nonchalantly. "I may be able to, but I'm not sure. I'll see you soon though."
"Right…goodbye!" Hermione called.
"Bye!" Elizabeth called after her.
Hermione walked down the halls purposely, her trainers occasionally making a noise as they hit the stone floor she had just recently cleaned. Out the gates she strolled, home to the only home she had ever really had.
~*~
A/N: Heyyyy guys! I'm nervous, as always. I ALWAYS am!! Did you like it? I hope you did! Leave me a comment!
Next chapter has a scene I have been planning since before I even PUBLISHED the first chapter! That should be wonderful to write!
**Next Chapter:**
~ A crisis hits Hogsmeade/Hogwarts
~ Hermione is involved in a scuffle
~ Death Eaters make an appearance
~ Elizabeth finally finds out (in a unfortunate way) her daughter is friends with Harry Potter
Tune in!
~Fin
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