Disclaimer: For the five-thousandth time, I am not JKR. Therefore I can't own Harry Potter. Bummer, isn't it?
A/N: Yay! I've got another update for you all! Now, I've gotten same depressing reviews and I know that the text is not really original since most of the events are in exact coordination with the actually novel of Deathly Hallows. Most of the dialogue has changed and while it may be difficult to see what has changed, added fluff has been put in. So if you are looking for the goodness of H/Hr that was lost in HP7, there is much more in this story, particularly in these next two chapters. :] I hope you all enjoy.
Book Seven: Deathly Hallows
by Hermione Potter
Chapter Four
Coming of Age
He stood along the mountain road for a moment, looking down at the shadow of the small town as it was bathed in fog. He began walking once more in the cool light of dawn, seeing the flickering lights of the town as if it had suddenly woken at his arrival. Was the man he sought down there, the man who he needed to find so badly that he couldn't think of anything else? The man who had the answer, the answer to his problem…
"Wake up!"
Harry opened his eyes to see the blurring shadows of the night. It seemed as though the sun had not risen yet and when Harry sat up, he could barely see Ron on his bed, looking at him. Harry sat on his cot still, feeling his scar prickling.
"You were mumbling in your sleep, mate. Pretty sure it wasn't one of those dreams," Ron teased, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "Oi!" He exclaimed feeling the hurdle of Harry's pillow in his face.
"Was I?"
"Yeah. `Gregorovitch.' You kept saying `Gregorovitch.'"
Harry squinted at Ron, but only saw the blurry figure of red hair and white pajamas. Feeling around him, he tried to locate his glasses, pushing them up his nose. "Who's `Gregorovitch?'"
"Beats me. You were the one calling out his name in sheer ecstasy." Ron earned another thrown pillow in his face.
Harry leaned back against the wall, rubbing his scar. It was bothering him. The name was bothering him. He remembered hearing it from somewhere, but he couldn't figure out where. "I think Voldemort's looking for him." He didn't even question it.
"Poor bloke," Ron shook his head, looking downcast.
Harry was wide awake now. Taking the sheets off of him, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, feeling his feet chill against the wooden boards. Trying hard to think of where he heard the name `Gregorovitch' before, all he could think of was the mountainous horizon and the village that was cradled in the valley.
"I think he's abroad."
"Who? Gregorovitch?" How many times had they said his name now?
"No. Voldemort. I think he's somewhere abroad, looking for Gregorovitch. From what I could see, it was nothing like Britain," Harry explained, closing his eyes. The burning in his scar seemed to lessen.
"You reckon you were seeing into his mind again?" Ron looked worried as he sat up in his bed, glancing at Pidwidgeon who had his head burrowed into the depths of his wing.
"Do me a favor and don't tell Hermione," said Harry immediately. He knew that if Hermione found out about his dreams, she'd be beside herself with worry. And he felt guilty enough making her worry about himself as it was. He smiled wryly. "Although how she expects me to stop seeing things in my sleep…"
He closed his eyes. Why did the name `Gregorovitch' sound so familiar? Merlin, he didn't need this right now.
"I think…he's got something to do with Quidditch. Maybe…I don't know. That's all I can come up with," Harry explained, glancing in Ron's direction. Had he been a player? No. A broomstick maker?
"Quidditch? Are you sure you're no thinking of Gorgovitch?"
Harry blinked. "Gorgovitch?"
"Dragomir Gorgovitch, Chaser, transferred to the Chdley Cannons for a record fee two years aago. Record holder for most Quaffle drops in a season," Ron threw this information out as if he was Quidditch Through the Ages.
"No. It's definitely not Gorgovitch." Harry knew who Ron was talking about.
Ron glanced outside his window before looking back at Harry. "Well, happy birthday anyway."
"Wha-Oh! Wow, I forgot! I'm seventeen!" Harry realized, looking down at his wand. Picking it up eagerly, he looked around the dingy attic to see of anything he could summon. Looking at his broom, he grinned. "Accio Firebolt!" In an instant, he felt the hard wooden handle of his broom clutching in his hand.
"Slick," Ron snorted, watching Harry. He was the last of the three to celebrate his 18th birthday. But for Ron, he felt uneasy. He had no idea why, but he did as he watched Harry start to summon Ron's possessions in a frenzy which woke up Pigwideon.
Harry was overly excited as he looked around the room. Gazing near the door, he tried to tie the laces of his trainers by magic, only to have them tie several times. With another wave of his wand, he untied the laces and then sat down on the floor in pure satisfaction.
"I'd do your fly by hand, though," Ron advised, snickering when Harry immediately checked it.
"You'd do my fly, eh?" Harry smirked, looking in Ron's direction.
"Oi. I didn't mean it like that. Get your mind out of the rabbit hole." Ron flushed with embarrassment before reaching under his bed to retrieve a rectangular-wrapped present before tossing it toward Harry.
"A bit of a stretch from the usual tradition, eh?" Harry chuckled, unwrapping it with ease. "A book?" He blinked, wondering how all of a sudden Ron had given him a very Hermione-like present.
"Not just your average book, mate. Pure gold. Twelve Foil-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. Explains everything you need to know about girls. I wish I had known about it last year when I had to deal with Lavender…Major disaster. But this book. This book will solve all your problems. Fred and George gave it to me last year and I've learned a lot. And then I would have known what to do with…," Ron trailed off. "Anyways, yeah."
Harry raised his eyebrow at his best friend. Had he really consulted advice about girls from this book? He had a vague thought that the last part was about Hermione. It was no secret that last year, he noticed Hermione's jealousy toward Ron and Lavender's relationship. He felt a twinge of loneliness.
"Let's go see if Mum's got breakfast on the table," Ron interrupted his thoughts, rubbing his stomach fondly.
Harry grinned and rolled out of his bed after Ron whose room seemed to be in a disarray of misplaced objects.
When they arrived in the kitchen they found a pile of presents on the table. Bill and Monsieur Delacour were finishing their breakfasts, while Mrs. Weasley stood chatting to them over the frying pan.
"Arthur told me to wish you a happy birthday, Harry. He had to leave early for work, but he'll be back for dinner. We've left our gift for you. There, on the top," she smiled brightly, pointing to an orange-wrapped box with her spatula. "Why don't you open some while I make you lot some breakfast?"
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," said Harry as he sat down at the table, retrieving the said present and opening the wrapping. Resting inside was a watch very much like the one Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given Ron for his seventeenth; it was gold, with stars circling around the face instead of hands.
"It's tradition to give a wizard a watch on his seventeenth birthday, when he becomes of age. I'm afraid it isn't new like Ron's. It was actually my brother Fabian's, but he was never careful about his possessions, it's a bit dented in the back-"
Harry hadn't known what she was babbling on about as he had taken her into a fierce hug. He placed his emotions and thoughts into that hug, hoping to convey how grateful he was for everything she had done in the past six years for him. Pulling away after a few moments, he felt her hand on his cheek, patting gently. As she pulled back, she twisted her wand in a wonky motion that caused the pan to drop a few pieces of bacon.
"Happy birthday, Harry!" Hermione's face appeared in the kitchen, flushed as if she had been running. She smiled, presenting a neatly wrapped parcel, placing it on the rest of the presents. "It's not much, but I hope you like it. What did you get him?" She turned to look in Ron's direction, however it seemed as though he pretended to not hear her.
"Com on then! Open Hermione's!" Ron exclaimed loudly.
Harry glanced between the both of them before going through his third present. Inside laid a new and polished Sneakoscope. "Thanks, Hermione," he grinned in her direction before going about opening the other presents. Bill and Fleur had given him an enchanted razor of which Monsieur said, "It will give you ze smoothest shave you will ever `ave, but you must tell it clearly what you want…ozzerwise you might find you `ave a leetle less hair zan you would `ave liked…." The Delacours had given him French chocolates while Fred and George proceeded to give him a partaking of the latest merchandise from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
Upon the arrival of the Delacours in the kitchen, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to leave do to the overcrowded room. Harry gathered up his presents before Hermione snatched them away. "I'll pack these for you," she brightly suggested, heading upstairs. He stared after her for a moment before following Ron toward his room.
"She's rather chipp-"
"Harry, will you come in here a moment?" Harry stopped and turned to see it was Ginny who stopped Ron mid-sentence. Ron was about to say something when Hermione appeared, nudging him in the ribs. Feeling anxious, Harry followed Ginny into her room.
He noticed that there were posters of the Weird Sisters and a picture of Gwenog Jones, Captain of the all-witch Quiddich team the Holyhead Harpies. The room was small, but incredibly bright compared to Ron's room. An old desk stood facing the open window, which looked out over the orchard where he and Ginny played two-a-side Quidditch with Ron and Hermione. However, it housed a large, white marquee, no doubt for the wedding.
With a steady gaze, she looked at him, almost expecting something. "Happy seventeenth."
"Yeah…Thanks," he mumbled, realizing how awkward this really was.
"I couldn't think of anything to get you," she admitted, not finding any shame in this.
"You didn't have to." It was true. Harry hadn't expected anything from her after he broke things off in the past year.
She seemed to ignore this.
"I really wanted to get you something useful. You know? Something you could take with you, but I just couldn't."
"You didn't have to," he repeated, looking at how the sun cast shadows on Ginny's hair, making her look lovelier than usual. He realized that she wasn't tearful or weepy. Having six other brothers seemed to toughen her up. He liked that.
His heart started pounding when she took a step closer to him. "I know. But I thought of something you could remember me by. In case some veela comes out of the blue and you decide to go for it."
"I really doubt that I'll be having any kind of `dating' status when I'm gone." He laughed, realizing the only female contact he would have was Hermione. And even then, it wasn't as if he'd consider any serious feelings about her.
"There's the silver lining I've been looking for," whispered Ginny before she leaned into him, her lips capturing his own in what seemed to be the most passionate kiss they had shared since they were together. However, something was off. Something he couldn't shake off as he responded to her kiss. As much as he tried to brush it off, the nagging voice in his head that vaguely reminded him of Hermione would not shut up.
The door sprang open, causing the two to break apart quickly. Harry turned to see Ron standing there, Hermione closely behind with an apologetic expression on her face.
"Oh. Sorry." Ron didn't seem to mean it.
"Ron! That was a bit uncalled for. You know very well they were in here," Hermione mumbled under her breath, loud enough for Harry to catch it. Ron's ears were positively scarlet as he was giving Harry a look of annoyance. Hermione gripped his arm, trying to tug him away from the scene as she and Harry shared a look. He wanted to lock the door, have a few more moments with Ginny. He wondered if there had been more time, what they would have said to one another. However, when the door opened, it seemed all of it came back to him. Why he and Ginny couldn't have a relationship. All the reasons for staying away from her. All of the happiness had gone when Ron opened the door.
Ron watched as his sister brushed past him and down the stairs without a word or a second glance. He knew she would be furious with him by the next day, but he didn't care. He knew what had been happening in her room and he knew that it was wrong of Harry to lead her on like that. However, the constant nudging of Hermione only heightened his annoyance.
"You dumped her. Do you know what you're doing when you're trying to mess around with her feelings like that?" Ron explained, almost exasperated.
"Ron! You can't blame him. After all, I'm sure Gin-" Hermione started, quickly interrupted by Ron.
"No! He's the one that broke things off with her. She needs to move on."
"I was not messing with her feelings. She's not the only one broken up about it, Ron. You would rather I have stayed with her, risked her life? Why don't I ask her to come with us so it makes you feel better about it?" Harry argued, getting heated.
"Harry," Hermione's voice warned, her hand on his arm. "You know you're both trying to get a rise out of one another. There's no need to fight over this. Just drop it."
"But he's the one snogging her! Just getting her hopes up! She's only sixteen!" When did Ron start sounding like a father?
"For Merlin's sake! It's not like us to end up married-"
"It may as well be! She's fancied you since she met you!"
At this, Harry fell silent. He knew that marriage was a long ways off when his life wasn't even long enough to last another day. However, the thought of Ginny in a white dress standing next to a tall, faceless man didn't bring as much grief as he would have thought to his mind. They were young. The one thing that was bothering him was that the faceless man had a future. Had a long awaiting future while Harry's was in an impending battle of life or death against Voldemort.
"Ron!" Hermione's voice chimed in. "Stop it! It's his birthday! Don't say anything else to him!" She looked at Harry who gave her an appreciative glance.
"It won't happen again," Harry promised.
Ron looked relieved, but still tense. "Right then…That's it then."
The tension, though still in the air, seemed to diminish as the rest of the day went on. Thankfully, Ginny had not sought another one-on-one session with Harry for the time as she must of understood what would happen if they did. Upon Harry's birthday dinner, the house was floating with aromas coming from the Weasley kitchen. Charlie, whom had arrived earlier that day was in an aggressive debate with Mrs. Weasley over the length of his hair while Fred and George were bewitching green and white lanterns to read the number seventeen. Since the dinner would have stretched across the Burrow to accommodate the guests including Tonks, Remus, Charlie, and Hagrid, several matching tables were lined up across the garden, end to end.
Harry kept glancing at George whose head had nearly healed after his ear went missing. While Harry knew what it felt like to be stared at with a physical imperfection, he couldn't get used to the hole that was left in George's head.
Flicking her wand about, Hermione made green and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves rather artistically across the trees and bushes.
"Nice. You're really gotten an eye for that sort of thing," Ron piped up, giving her work an admiring expression as she turned the leaves of a crabapple tree to gold.
Hermione looked at him. "Thank you," she replied, a bit confused.
"Yeah, no problem," he grinned, giving her a thumbs up.
Harry turned his head and smiled inwardly, knowing that there was probably a section on compliments in Twelve Foil-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. He coughed quickly as he fell in step with Hermione as she changed other tree's leaves into gold. "Having a blast?"
"Oh yes, truly. I've given thought to a career in decorating," she chuckled, looking at him as she tucked her wand away. "But it's for your birthday after all. It's got to be special now that you're of age."
"You're making it more of a big deal than it is, Hermione. It's not like I've defeated Voldemort. Then you can overdo it. Hell, I'll overdo it," he chided, giving her a wry grin to only have it dropped from his face at her serious expression.
"Don't joke like that, Harry. When you defeat him, it would be a great time for celebration. But a time for collection. I'm sure that you may not be celebrating such things sooner than others," she explained, her voice dropping a few octaves so that others couldn't hear her.
It had never occurred to Harry how confident and knowledgeable Hermione seemed about everything. It wasn't a matter of if he defeated Voldemort. It was a matter of when. As if she knew he would pull through in the end.
"How can you be so sure?" He didn't realize he said this out loud as Fred and George were now playing pranks on their Weasley brothers.
"Oh, I'm not, Harry. I'm not going to lie. I'm deathly afraid of what's going to happen. But I just have the feeling that you'll pull through. Voldemort is weaker in certain areas. Areas that you will have to your advantage," said Hermione, watching as one of the golden crabapple leaves drifted to the grown.
"Bu-"
"Let's not talk about this now. It's your birthday dinner. We shouldn't put a raincloud on it now. There are plenty of other ways for that to happen," she smiled, crossing her hands behind her back and turning around to see Mrs. and Mr. Weasley setting up the food. Turning to him, she frowned. "I'm sorry my present wasn't much. I know that your last one broke, but there are surely more prac-"
"Hermione," interrupted Harry. "You didn't have to get me anything in the first place. But you did anyways. And I needed a new one. So it was the perfect gift."
"Har-"
"Again, thank you. I really needed one." He hoped he had shut her up about her present. He heard her sigh and her feet shuffle before she fell into a pensive mood.
"Are you and Ginny all right?"
"There's nothing between us to have anything wrong in the first place." Harry morbidly replied, realizing that until Voldemort was defeated, there would be nothing.
"You seemed rather…charged when Ron decided to barge in."
"Charged? Hermione, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." He laughed for the first time that day.
"I couldn't think of anything else to say," she blushed, looking down at her feet.
"What? Did I hear right? You couldn't think? And more so, you couldn't think of anything else to say?" Harry thought he heard wrong, earning a smack in the shoulder.
"What's going on?" Ron seemed to appear out of nowhere, squishing between the two of them without notice.
"Nothing, Ron. Is the food out?" Hermione asked, flustered. Harry grinned suddenly, looking in her direction.
Disregarding this exchange, Ron rubbed his stomach. "Yeah. Mum said she's got all the fixings for you Harry. Your favorites. So why don't we just mosey on over and stack up our plates?"
"Yes, shall we, Harry? I'm rather famished," Hermione smiled, looking at Harry. She needed no answer as the three of them walked over to the stretched tables, gathered by the other guests and house members.
As Harry piled what seemed to be roasted chicken on his plate along with roasted potatoes, he was swept in a fierce embrace by the familiar Tonks.
"Happy birthday, Harry!" She wished with a big grin on her face.
"Thanks," he replied, looking at Remus who was beside her. It was odd. While Remus seemed unhappy, Tonks looked simply radiant.
"Is that a ring on your finger?" Hermione gasped, rather loudly as she looked at a small princess-cut diamond on Tonks's finger. Harry and Ron quickly moved to her side to see that there was indeed, a ring.
"Oh! Remus and I got married," Tonks made it sound like it was the most natural thing in the world to say. As if she had been saying it her whole life.
"Married?! Since when?" Ron asked, seeing that Harry was completely speechless.
"For a few weeks now…We wanted to tell you, but with everything that was happening, it didn't seem like the right time," Tonks laughed, looking at Remus fondly.
"Oh! I'm happy for the both of you! Congratulations!" Hermione squeaked, giving the two of them fond embraces. "You both deserve some happiness."
"Harry? Are you all right with this?" asked Remus tentatively as the four of them turned to him.
He hadn't said a word. "I'm happy for the two of you. It's great news," he grinned, clapping Remus on the back and returning a fierce hug to Tonks.
"We al-"
"Out of the way, out of the way!" sang Mrs. Weasley as she came out with a cake in the shape of a Snitch that was the size of a beach ball. For a moment, Harry took no notice of it until Ron was salivating over the abundant of sweet cake to make him realize that it was his own birthday cake. To save herself the strain and hefty trip to the garden, she had levitated it with her wand, placing it on the middle of the table.
"That looks amazing," Harry spoke in awe, realizing the work that went into making it.
" Oh, it's nothing," Mrs. Weasley flushed, giving Harry a smile. Over her shoulder, Ron was giving him a thumbs up, mouthing a Good job. Harry grinned and ran a hand through his hair as he watched Mrs. Weasley cut pieces of the cake, but keep them in tact so that it would be easier later to pick it apart.
He turned to see Hagrid standing near him, placing his present onto the table designated for presents, creating a large thump. "Seventeen, eh? Six year since we met, Harry, d'yeh remember it?"
"Vaguely," he joked, looking up at the half-giant. "Didn't you smash down the front door, give Dudley a pig's tail, and tell me I was a wizard?" He would never forget that day.
"I forge' the details," Hagrid chortled before turning to the other two companions. "All righ', Ron, Hermione?"
"We're fine," Hermione chimed, seeing as Ron was busy eating another piece of chicken. She sighed and looked at Hagrid. "How are you?"
"Bin busy. But no bad. We got ourselves some newborn unicorns." Hagrid's eyes lit up. "I'll show yeh when yeh get back," he paused to rummage through his dark coat, taking out a small parcel, presenting it to Harry. "I made you some rock cakes, but I thought you could use this too. Mokeskin. Hide anythin' in there an' no one but the owner can get it out. They're rare, they are," he squeezed the slightly small, slightly drawstring pouch with a long strong, evidently intended to be worn around the neck.
Harry was more than grateful for the gift. "Thanks Hagrid!" It would hopefully come in handy for when he left.
"An' there's Charlie! Always liked him - hey! Charlie!" Hagrid's rough voice boomed over the garden, calling attention to everyone for a moment before the Weasley son came over, locking hands with Hagrid eagerly.
"Hi, Hagrid! How goes it?" Charlie grinned, smoothing a hand through his newly shortened hair. He was shorter than Ron, thickset, with a number of burns and scratches up his muscle arms.
"Bin good. I've bin meanin' ter write you fer ages. How's Norbert?"
Harry reluctantly recalled the baby dragon that hatched in front of him six years ago while he was with Hagrid.
"Norbert? Oh! The Norwegian Ridgeback? Her name's Norberta now," Charlie laughed, looking at the four of them.
"Norberta? Norbert's a girl?" In all of the time that Ron could have spoken, he chose now to do so.
"How can you tell?" chimed Hermione, her eyes brightening as if she had just opened a new present.
"They're more vicious," Charlie shrugged, looking over at his mother. "I wish Dad would hurry up and get here. Mum's getting testy," he chuckled hollowly.
They all turned to see Mrs. Weasley trying to hold a conversation with Madame Delacour while glancing at the gate every other moment.
"Let's start now! Arthur must have been held up at the Minis-Arthur!" She gasped when a streak of light swam through the crowd taking form of a silver light that resembled a silver weasel.
Harry watched as it stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr. Weasley's voice. "The Minister of Magic is coming with me."
A/N: Thank you for reading. :] Like I've said, the events are in coordination to HP7. If you don't notice the differences, then reread the book. xD Nah. The little dispute between Ron and Harry dealing with Harry's relationship is different. Also, Harry and Hermione's conversation was also an add-on.
:'] Please review. And if you want to flame me, go ahead. xD I shall ignore your mean ways.
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