Harry grinned in relief as he entered the common room, finally away from all the curious and dubious students with their excitement about the end of the term. It was nearly overwhelming for him to be under such heavy scrutiny from kids younger than him, to be doubted and ridiculed because they believed he'd simply attacked Cedric in the maze.
No, no dark lord here, no sir.
Harry snorted and then his eyes were drawn to the couch in front of the fireplace, easily spotting the fiery orange of Hermione's cat as it reclined and purred loudly under her gentle fingers.
Harry tilted his head to watch the way Hermione had stretched herself out and laid with Crookshanks, touching his nose and gently batting at his paws as the cat squirmed and tried to lick her fingers. Hermione was smiling openly in the empty common room, and he approached with his own grin as he realized this was why no one ever saw her…she came when no one was around and left to hide when everyone was. The only reason he'd finally spotted her was because the castle had been over full with the other schools, and her sanctuary had been invaded.
He was kind of glad she'd been forced out of hiding.
He huffed and flopped own onto the couch, watching her cat narrow its eyes and twist to a more defensive position, Hermione turning with curious eyes to regard him and then smile again. Her hands absently continued playing with her cat who gave him a guarded look before swatting at her hand with more purpose as he kept his claws back and Hermione waited for him to speak.
"It's really annoying to walk down the halls, so I came to relax."
She smiled. "But no one bothers you."
He snorted. "Instead they skirt around me and whisper behind my back."
Her expression grew thoughtful. "They are quite frightened, and with the media and their parents they don't know what to believe."
"I don't ever remember being as frightened as some of those first years." Harry scratched his head and made a face as he spoke, looking at Hermione to watch her raise an eyebrow and levy herself up from her reclining position. Crookshanks mewled before purring as he resettled himself upon her lap, her hand absently falling back to stroke his fur.
She tilted her lips up in a wry smile, her eyes kind as she leaned closer to him and gave him all her attention. "I think we all were."
And she continued looking at him, all her being focused to understand him and speak with him. He had grown used to that as he slowly became her friend- and he found he liked the way it told him she was interested in what he had to say, that she would try to hear him even if she didn't understand. He didn't comprehend how people found her stare unnerving…it only showed how much she wanted to be connected to you.
"But we had friends; we stuck together and went in together and weren't so…fidgety."
She covered her mouth to laugh.
He gave her a wide eyed look before he fought his smile (he really didn't know what was funny) as he gestured and tried to explain. "I mean it, the first years all avoid me and the other guys, like we're going to roar at them. I remember going after anyone who hurt our friend…we stood up for ourselves."
"They are lucky to have you; I don't think anyone would have stood up for me like you did for your friends in that `frightening' first year."
Harry watched her pause to contemplate her next sentence, and he wondered if that was why Ginny was his friend- they were connected because he had protected her. He shifted and winced at a particularly sharp spring on the couch; he shifted away from it and then spoke. "But Neville is really close to you, I don't doubt he'd even roar at Snape if you were in trouble."
Harry didn't doubt that; Neville was insanely protective of Hermione, and Luna was too- in her own vague manner.
She smiled, her hands almost coming up to cover her mouth before she just let it be. "Neville became my friend after Halloween, but that was just because we ran into each other at the medical ward." She covered her mouth to giggle. "He was so clumsy he stood up just to fall down again." Her eyes softened in fond remembrance, and then she smiled widely at him. "We ended up helping each other up off the floor and staying for hot chocolate with Mme. Pomfrey because we worried her."
Harry felt his eyes widen as he clicked this into place- it had only been a rumor that a young first year had been caught by the troll, people had dismissed it since no one was telling hero stories or gossiping. He winced as he realized no one had asked Hermione about it because everyone thought her a pretentious snob in their first year, not responding to their calls for her attention, it was later that they'd all learned to ignore her- she had simply accepted this and drifted off on her own.
"What about Luna?"
Hermione smiled and leaned back as she looked at him, her eyes bright and smiling as her nose crinkled in amusement. "Neville actually ran into her, and then I stumbled over the pair of them and we ended up in a pile."
Harry gaped at her and then laughed, his side hurting at the abrupt movement before he was smiling softly and tilting his head to watch her. He wondered if she met all her friends by running into people…but then he hadn't done so, yet.
She blushed. "We had to run around to sort all our stuff out, and I had no idea what was going on so Neville had to explain it to me." She sighed and her shoulders shifted with the weight, her eyes guilty as she thought of her past confusion (Harry winced, wondering if other people had accused her of being a worthless bother like they had him). "Turns out some students had kicked our stuff further down the hall, but Luna practically pounced on me when she saw us using sign language- she wanted to make sure she had her grammar right. She is in Ravenclaw for a reason, you know." She smiled and tilted her head, letting it rest lazily upon her shoulder. "We missed our classes trying to get all our books sorted out, but Luna was our friend after that."
Harry swallowed and looked down at his hands as they fidgeted, his eyebrows furrowing as he held in the urge to go and maim some students for causing so much trouble, and yell at the other students for ignoring the trio just because of their differences.
Harry tensed his fingers before he concentrated on loosening his muscles, looking down at the blood rushing back and returning color as he thought and bit the side of his tongue.
Would he have kept on doing that if he hadn't seen them in the library?
Hermione looked down to Crookshanks as he batted her wrist, and then her attention turned to her watch face before her face grew solemn and she stood. "I have to go now Harry, I have a meeting with Mme. Pomfrey soon." And then she gave him a smile. "I know it will work out for you- you're too nice, they'll get over all of this eventually."
At least the good ones will.
……
Harry took a deep breath and smiled, his teeth clenched together with his worry as he waved Ron and Ginny over and they gave him quizzical looks, already close to the train so there was no need to move away and then need to rush to get on later. But they complied easily enough and trotted over to him as he led them to the trio.
Ginny gasped and drew up short, her mouth open as her wide brown eyes stared at Luna and then Neville (she fidgeted uncomfortably) and then focused with pursed lips on Hermione.
Ron twitched his nose and tilted his head in a rather oblivious way, but then he grinned easily and blushed as he looked at Luna. The girl responded serenely by drifting forward, introducing herself in her odd way, and then smiling.
Ginny glowered with a skeptical face before shrugging and introducing herself in return. Harry sighed, watching Neville step up and smile charmingly (in that fumbling, too clumsy to not be adorable, way of his- or so Hermione had told him) at Ginny before shaking Ron's hand and returning to Hermione's side. Harry tilted his head as easy banter erupted, Ron fumbling and joking as he was prone to do and Ginny welcoming but suspicious as was her habit since her first year- though he watched her narrow her eyes at Hermione in an entirely too hostile manner.
Harry laughed and broke the tension, causing Ron to blush- as he'd been stammering (and consequently thought that was what he had been laughing at) before they were roughhousing- though now Neville joined in and Luna made the odd stray comment from the side.
Hermione eventually pulled Neville away and protected him behind her, teeth white and flashing in a smile as Neville stuck out his tongue and laughed while hugging her. Ron stumbled to a halt in front of her, unwilling to brave the strange girl, but his grin was cheeky as he stuck out his tongue in return and moved to stand between Luna and his sister.
Neville shifted to stand beside Hermione and actively started a conversation about the dragons from the task (something that Harry truthfully didn't want to recall with any fondness, other than that he'd gotten out of it intact) - Hermione shifted more away from the group to be able to see all of them easily as their comments came faster and her eyes darted about.
Harry watched his two old friends talk with two unique individuals, and he watched Hermione try to watch them all and pretend she understood; her form tense as she stayed quiet and humble just at the edges of their little group. Her eyes narrowed and her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth as she tried to find a way to follow the conversation when no one was pausing or getting her attention before they spoke.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his head before he caught himself and lowered his hand, making his way over to her to stand solidly by her side as he halfheartedly listened to the conversation around them, the background murmur of students yelling last minute messages before they boarded the train to go to King's Cross.
She glanced to them with a surprised face, and he smiled lightly at the way her expressions were always so vibrant and animated - it was another result of her struggling to communicate and create connections with people who would have trouble understanding her. So when he smiled and she responded by softening her eyes in gratitude and lifting the corners of her lips in a soft smile- he didn't have to hear her say anything. Her expression said it all for her, and Harry understood her enough to understand.
…
The train compartment they claimed was filled with murmured conversations livened up by Luna's stray comments and Neville's fumbling (Luna's eyes remained firmly on her upside down magazine as Ginny giggled and talked to her about girly things). Neville was busy showing Ron his pet toad, the wary amphibian struggling with his slimy legs to get out of the firm grip and hop away as he usually did.
"How did you start hanging out with Harry?" Ron questioned in his usual oblivious way, missing the way that Neville narrowed his eyes at him and Luna finally tore her eyes away from her magazine to give a cloudy look their way.
But Neville shook his head and sighed bemusedly. "I helped him with a few things this year, and he started studying with us." He vaguely gestured to the misfit trio, and Harry watched Hermione light up as she followed his careful speech.
Ginny turned her attention to him, and Neville blushed under her scrutiny and shifted more into his seat. "You actually helped Harry out?"
Hermione gave a particularly dark look, and Harry smiled and watched as Neville straightened, "I was the one that gave him Gillyweed."
Ginny's mouth formed an `o' and then she blushed, her eyes darting back to Luna and starting up a frantic conversation to cover up her folly. Ron looked between them with confusion before rolling his eyes and shrugging, realizing he had caught Harry's attention and mouthing `mad' with great exaggeration.
Hermione stifled her giggle beside him.
Harry finally relaxed into his seat, his breath whooshing out as nothing had exploded yet and everything seemed to be going pretty well. Hermione moved beside him, he looked up to find her worried eyes intent on him before they crinkled into a smile upon finding he was alright.
He grinned, because he was alright. His friends were getting along and they hadn't started any bitter conversation while drawing him into the middle or calling him in on his acquaintances. And it felt great.
Now he didn't feel that he had to hide his friends away from each other, the trio cloistered in the library or the Weasley's kept away from his studying. He didn't have to hide the fact that he enjoyed talking to Luna and roughing about with Neville, or that he was good friends with the quietest girl in their year.
Yeah, definitely alright.
……
Hermione scowled as she returned home from her new school, throwing her book bag into the hallway wall as she stormed up the stairs and hit the walls on her way up. She was startled to come face to face with her father, and her feet faltered on the top step before he was pulling her into a hug and she was bursting into tears and clinging to him like she used to when she was so much younger and he could do anything- when he would do anything because he still listened and had the time.
He stroked her hair and his lips moved against her temple, the color around him fogging into existence as a calming warm gold and caring green. She choked and snuggled her cold nose into his shoulder, wondering if he would understand her when she was so worked up.
She pulled away and looked at him with watery eyes, and he smiled at her before sitting down upon the top step and pulling her to sit across his lap. His arms wrapped around her in a hug before his eyes were unblinking to watch her and wait for her to start.
She gave him a watery smile before she started with the simple things, telling about her day and how the boys were being mean again and the girls kept on ignoring her. Then she hesitated, and Daddy's eyes softened before he caught her hands and brought them to his mouth to kiss her knuckles, smiling gently as he rubbed the little scratch on her thumb from the briar patch out back. She took in a deep breath and continued.
Daddy didn't like hearing about how the teachers didn't want her using sign language, and he scowled as she told them about how they refused to use any language aids to help her. His eyes started getting wet when she told him how she was struggling to read lips when they didn't bother facing her; how the textbooks weren't up to date and didn't help her understand what she couldn't hear.
Dad whispered her name, something so pleasantly easy to recognize because it was so strange, "we'll talk to the school." He made a tentative attempt at the signs as he spoke (it was a habit for him to speak and sign, like it used to be for her before she realized people didn't like the sound of her voice), and she smiled and choked out a little watery gurgle before she was hugging him and speaking around a thick tongue.
"Thank you, Daddy."
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