A/N: I've obviously taken some liberties with the geography of West London. I apologize to all Londoners. Also, you may or may not have realized this back in Chapter Two, but I've changed Hogwarts to the trimester academic year. For the 1991 - '92 school year, Fall term is September 1 - Winter Intercession; Winter term is January 6 - Easter holiday; Spring term is April 20 - June 19. Because of the shortened length of the Spring term, Hogwarts educators will use it mostly for reinforcement of that year's material and preparation for next year's. I think this is reasonable?
Chapter Twelve
Intercession / Winter Term 1991-`92
"Harry?"
"Yeah, Hermione?"
"Where's Hedwig?" I asked, thinking for the first time of his wonderful snowy owl.
We were sitting on the sofa in the living room, two days after Christmas, watching some television. Nothing too interesting was on, but it was a worthy enough diversion for the lazy afternoon. He turned away from the telly to look at me.
"I left her at school," he answered, quirking an eyebrow. "I wasn't sure if your parents would want an owl in their house. Why?"
"Random thought, that's all," I told him. He gave me a look that clearly said he did not believe me.
"Hermione Granger does not have any random thoughts," he said, loftily, and then grinned. I stared at him for a moment and then grinned back, knocking into his shoulder with mine.
"Alright, alright…I was just thinking we should send letters to Neville and maybe Ron as well. You know, see how they're doing and all that, and give them a hint or two about what we got them for Christmas."
He nodded. "Not a bad idea, but without Hedwig…"
I shrugged. "It's ok. Was just a thought-we'll see them in about a week, anyway," I said, thinking of our return to Hogwarts the following Saturday. We'd been home since the eighteenth, and it was already the twenty-seventh; we only had a little more than a week left before the fourth. Intercession was flying by, and I almost didn't want it to end. It had been amazing so far.
Boxing Day had started off somewhat awkwardly, after our heart-to-heart the night before, but neither of us had said anything we did not truthfully mean, so that weirdness faded throughout the day and by dinner we had settled into our comfortable camaraderie once again. I had gone over the conversation several times in my head since Harry had left my room very late that night, and I was beginning to realize that it had provided us both with some needed catharsis.
Even if we hadn't revealed all of our troubles to each other, we had gone a long way toward understanding the life of the other prior to Hogwarts. And with that understanding came a new perspective on who we were when Fall term started, and how we had changed since then. It was comforting, knowing that we had achieved a certain level of trust because of that conversation.
We continued watching the telly for some time as the afternoon waned toward evening. Mum and dad passed in and out of the room, doing various post-holiday things. They were returning to work in a few days, after their much-deserved time off. Conversation started and stopped, lulled for awhile, and then restarted in fitful gasps, as was the normal course of idle chatter.
As dinnertime was approaching, Harry suddenly turned to me with a look of surprise on his face. His green eyes were wide behind the lenses of his glasses.
"You know what I just realized?"
"Hmm?" I wondered, not really in the mood to guess.
"I haven't thought of Nicolas Flamel since we left Hogwarts."
As soon as the name passed his lips, I realized I had not thought of the mysterious man since leaving the castle, either. We had occupied ourselves nicely since being home, though, so it was understandable; and besides, home was such a different world than the medieval castle, that it was easy to forget the day-to-day things on which we had focused. From my vantage point on the couch in my living room, it was easy to forget our mortal encounter with Fluffy; on that same note, it was also easy to forget my afternoon in the bathroom, crying my eyes out…
"I guess I haven't, either."
He was silent for a moment. "D'ya think any of your books would have anything about Flamel?" he eventually asked, eyeing the bookshelves in the living room, and probably thinking of the others scattered around the house.
"Maybe," I answered. Then I sighed and shrugged. "But we have so many…do we really want to spend the rest of the holiday looking for Flamel?"
I'm sure it sounded odd to Harry, coming from someone who loved books as much as I did, but I honestly did not want to spend the next week searching for an obscure name, with little possibility for success. I wanted to continue to enjoy the rest of the time off from school with Harry, and I also wanted to visit Sally either the next day or the day after. The hunt for Flamel would just distract us from that.
When had hadn't said anything in awhile, I glanced away from the telly toward him. My forehead creased as I considered his pensive gaze; he was obviously struggling with something, so rather than inquire further, I let him work out what he needed to say.
"Not really," he finally said, answering the question I had asked. "But it's just that Flamel could have something to do with Voldemort, or my parents…" He trailed off and looked at me, and I saw that same bittersweet longing for his parents in his eyes that I'd noticed on Christmas night. It was somewhat more muted now, however.
I considered his words, understanding that this was the first time the Dark Wizard from the history books had come up in conversation. We had never talked about his defeat of You Know Who, as the books had called him.
"Is that his name? Voldemort?"
"Yeah…" Harry affirmed, sounding mystified.
"The history books I bought before the start of school would only call him You Know Who or He Who Must Not Be Named. It was very annoying."
Harry was nodding. "Hagrid-he told me about Hogwarts and that I was a wizard-wouldn't say his name. So I asked him to spell it out, and he said he couldn't do that either, so he just whispered it to me."
"It must have been bad," I pointed out, parsing this new information. "For everyone to cover up his name, it must have been awful."
"Yeah," Harry sighed, "it cost me my parents, didn't it?"
I had no idea what to say to that and an uncomfortable silence passed. Harry stared at the floor, brooding about the topic at hand. He shook his head and looked apologetically at me.
"Sorry, Hermione," he said. "That was a bit harsh."
"But true," I told him, hoping that we could continue to talk about these things. He nodded, albeit reluctantly.
"So those history books…" he wondered. "What do they say about Voldemort and the war?"
"Not a whole lot," I admitted, sorry that I wasn't able to provide him with more information. "They mention your name and how you ended the long struggle against him, but almost no details. It's almost as if…" I trailed off, thinking of how to articulate what I'd noticed, and at what the concealment of Voldemort's named hinted.
"As if everyone wants to forget?" he asked, finishing my thought.
"Yes, exactly," I said, looking at Harry and smiling. He had known precisely what I wanted to say. "I mean, how much do you even know about what happened?"
"Nothing, really," he said, shrugging. Then his eyes turned inward again. "Sometimes I dream about high, cold laughter and a flash of green light, and there's this woman screaming…"
Harry had recurring nightmares about what I supposed was the death of his parents? How had I not known that before and how did he mask them so well? Merlin, the boy had psychological fissures deeper than most, yet was still well-adjusted and mature.
"But no one's really told me anything," he continued. "Hagrid wouldn't reveal much and who else do I know that could tell me more?"
"What about the Headmaster? Or Professor McGonagall…or Flitwick? They must have been at Hogwarts when your parents attended."
Harry looked like he had never considered this angle before. "You're right; it was probably Dumbledore who gave me the cloak, and the note did say something about my father entrusting him with it. Maybe he knew my parents well enough to tell me about them?"
That heartbreaking hope had crept into his voice again, reminiscent of two nights before, and I could tell he was thinking about all the stories someone like Dumbledore might be able to tell him about his parents. I just hoped Harry didn't dwell too much on the past and forget about the present-but, I also knew that wasn't fair to him, because I'd had both my parents and their love throughout my childhood. Harry hadn't.
"He probably could," I answered.
Harry looked satisfied. "While I'm at it, I might as well ask him about Flamel-"
"Harry-" I warned, thinking that was not the best idea. We weren't supposed to know about Fluffy or Flamel, and asking Dumbledore directly about the latter would reveal we had been out of bounds.
"What, Hermione? He did tell us to go to him with any questions or concerns."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean questions we have because of rules we've broken."
"I dunno…" He wasn't convinced.
"Can we just put this on hold until we get back to Hogwarts?" I asked him, turning my body on the couch so I was facing him. I crossed my legs and leaned forward with my elbows on my thighs. "I promise I'll help you look for Flamel when the new term starts."
He faced me and looked into my eyes for several moments. That internal struggle was still evident in his eyes. It's amazing how much someone's pupils can tell about what they're thinking.
"It's frustrating," he said, glancing down at the couch. "I swear I've read Flamel's name somewhere." He looked up again.
"Please, Harry?"
He chewed on his lip for a moment and then slowly nodded. "Alright. Maybe the Invisibility Cloak will be handy for our search," he said.
I chuckled lightly, thinking with resignation how many rules we'd be breaking this term, now that Harry had an Invisibility Cloak. On the bright side, it certainly kept life interesting.
"Dinner!" mum called, and I turned off the telly. Harry and I headed for the kitchen, looking forward to whatever delicious food mum had made this time.
----------
I was up early Saturday morning with thoughts of Sally interrupting my usual lie-in, so at half-past eight, I roused Harry from his bed.
"Mmmph," he mumbled, rolling over and then staring at me with bleary eyes.
"Time to get up!" I said, cheerily. His look of disdain was classic, and I laughed at him.
"Hermioneeeee," he whined. "What time is it?"
"8:30," I told him. "Now get up! We're going to see Sally today."
That woke him some. He stretched and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, alright. I'm up," he mumbled, sitting up and throwing the covers back.
We had breakfast and attended to our various morning needs, and by ten o'clock we were bundled up and ready to make the twenty-minute walk to Sally's house.
"Why don't I just drive you over there?" mum asked, looking at us standing by the front door with slightly concerned eyes. "It is rather cold out there today-how far did you say it was?"
"Not that far, mum. Only fifteen or twenty minutes. And this will go much smoother if it's only us two."
"Really?" she wondered. "Don't you think an adult would be able to convince Sally's parents easier than other students?" I had told mum and dad about Sally being withdrawn from Hogwarts in a letter, and had elaborated for them at the beginning of the holiday. They had been understandably puzzled by Sally's parents' extreme reaction. Sure, mum and dad had been skeptical at first, but they had eventually accepted the magical world as something that belonged to me. I didn't tell her that I had a feeling Sally's parents were the opposite-close-minded, strict, stodgy, what have you-and that I was a little worried how this visit might go down.
"No mum, I don't think so. Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall already tried," I said. Harry quirked an eyebrow at this information. "They didn't get very far. I'm just hoping because Harry and I have been at Hogwarts all term that we can show her parents what the school is really like."
"And what they did to her when they took her out of school," Harry added. Both mum and I looked at him.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Just that she's only half a person if she has to forget magic," Harry went on, shrugging his shoulders. My eyebrows crept up my forehead. Harry could really throw out the casual insights when he wanted to!
"Oh," mum articulated, probably just as unprepared for Harry's words of wisdom. "Well, I'll be here all day," she said, finally giving up on driving us to Sally's house. "If things go well, would you like to have Sally over for dinner?"
I nodded, thrilled with the idea. "Yes! That would be great." My hopes were already very high, although I honestly had absolutely no idea how we were going to pull this one off.
"Ok, I'll plan dinner for five," mum said, and watched us as we left the house. She waved from the front window as we turned onto Hemmings Drive. Harry and I waved back. Soon enough, we had turned the corner and my house was out of sight.
The sounds of our steps crunching on the pavement filled the silence for awhile; it was cold enough for me to see my breath every time I exhaled.
"So how are we going to do this?" Harry asked, after a time.
"I'm not sure," I said, and he looked at me. His face said oh really? "I just hope she's home," I said. "This would be quite the trip if she's not even there."
"If she's not home today maybe we can get your mum to drive us over tomorrow."
"Yeah, probably," I agreed, absently. I was trying to figure out what we could say to Sally's parents to convince them that she should be at Hogwarts.
"It'll be nice to see her again, at least," Harry said, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring at the ground. "I liked Sally."
"Me too," I said, looking sideways at him.
"She was always pleasant and rather funny at times," he continued. "And she was a pretty good student-wait, am I describing you or Sally?" he finished, looking at me with a silly grin on his face.
All in all, Sally was a girl I could accept being compared favorably with, so I just smiled at him and shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't exactly sure where Harry was going with that line of conversation, but it was making me slightly uncomfortable. I didn't know why, though.
"Anyways," he said, "if we do get her parents to let her come back to Hogwarts, how will she catch up with the rest of us? You know, with her studies?"
And Harry had raised another valid point. "I'm not sure," I answered. "Perhaps we could help her catch up."
Harry nodded, looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded again. "I like that idea, Hermione. That makes a lot of sense. We're top of our class, so I'm sure we could spare some time to help her."
"Even with Quidditch practice?"
He smiled again. Mentioning Quidditch always made him smile. I was realizing more and more that I tolerated the sport-and was even mildly interested in it now-because it brought him such joy. With our recent conversations in mind, it was even more of a source of happiness he should enjoy and cultivate.
"I'm sure I could work something out," he told me. "I dunno about you, but I'm actually rather ahead in my reading."
"But there's the practical-"
"Which comes easily to us both and you know it," he pointed out. I didn't disagree with him, because I knew he was right. But of course that did not mean we should put in less effort because it came easily now; for all we knew, that could change in the future.
"Just don't get complacent," I said.
He rolled his eyes, though he was still smiling. He brushed some of his shaggy black hair away from his face and resumed staring at the ground.
"With you by my side, Hermione, there's not a chance of that happening," he joked.
I forced a laugh, because I knew he was just taking the mickey, but I wondered if he even realized what he'd actually said. With me by his side…with him by my side…it was a decidedly speculative turn of phrasing, looking indefinitely into the future. And if that future had us working together, then his joke meant much more than he could imagined. He had basically guaranteed with that one sentence that we would remain friends for a very long time.
Then again, perhaps my twelve-year-old brain was reading too much into the offhand comment of an eleven-year-old boy; perhaps not. Only time would tell, and I surprised myself by knowing that I was actually looking forward to the coming days, months, and years. Life is much more bearable when you have people to share it with.
Those were fleeting thoughts, however, on that Saturday morning as we came closer and closer to Sally's house. My main concern at that time was Sally and her plight, and how Harry and I were going to rescue her. I don't know when it happened, but at some point I had started thinking of our operation a rescue effort. Maybe it was because Harry had saved me once before, and he was with me as we turned into her driveway and looked at her modest house. It was smaller than mine, but still nice and well-kept. There were two autos in the driveway, so I assumed that she was home.
We both unconsciously paused at the start of the brick path to the front door. We looked at each other in silence for several seconds, both trying to ascertain what needed to be said.
"Well, nothing like Gryffindor bravery, I suppose," Harry said, and started toward the front door. I followed at his heel.
He pressed the doorbell and we could hear it ring throughout the house. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then we heard the patter of feet moving toward the door.
"I got it!" a familiar voice called, and two seconds later Sally-Anne Perks pulled open the front door. There was an instant of shocked silence, and then she gasped and a huge smile lit up her face, stretching her mouth from ear to ear and showing all of her teeth.
"Hermione!" she cried, coming forward and crashing into a hug. I returned the embrace and laughed into her hair. Merlin, it was good to see her again! She stepped back and looked at Harry, who was smiling serenely at her.
"And Harry Potter!" she added, and then hugged him too. He returned the hug a little awkwardly, patting her back, but she didn't seem to care. She looked at me over his shoulder and raised her eyebrows. She mouthed Harry? at me. I just shook my head, trying not to laugh again.
As she stepped back, I noticed that she had changed some since I'd last seen her. She had grown slightly, and her hair was longer and straighter than I remembered. There was also the barest whisper of some womanly curves, beneath her t-shirt and jeans…
"Hello, Sally," Harry said, glancing at me. "How have you been?" he asked.
She waved the question off. "Fine, fine, but come in! Get out of that cold," she said, stepping back into the house and moving aside so we could enter.
"Thanks Sally," I said, taking off my heavy coat and my shoes.
"Not a problem," she responded. "What are you two doing here, though? This is totally unexpected."
"Visiting," I said. Harry nodded. "It's been a long time since we've seen you, so we thought it would be nice to come over. Happy Christmas, by the way," I said, removing her present from my coat pocket and handing it over to her.
"Yeah, Happy Christmas, Sally," Harry said, giving her his present. She just looked flabbergasted for a moment.
"Wow you two…thanks!" she said, and it sounded like she was struggling against her emotions. "Happy Christmas to you too! But I don't have any presents for either of you…" she trailed off, looking sad all at once.
"That's ok, Sally!" I interjected. "You didn't know we were coming, and it doesn't really matter anyway. We're just glad to see you!"
She eventually nodded and set the presents down on the low table by the door. We were still in the foyer of her house.
"Well, let me have a look at you!" she exclaimed, and stepped back to scrutinize us. She casually wiped the corner of one eye, and I saw some moisture on her finger as she dropped the hand to her side.
"Like what you see?" I wondered, attempting to be funny. I even posed a little for her. Harry's eyes moved back and forth between Sally and me.
"Of course, Hermione," she laughed. Then she looked at Harry. "Do you live around here, too?"
He shook his head. "I actually live in Surrey. I'm staying with Hermione for the holidays," he explained, though that was as far as he went. I knew he didn't want to get into the whole story once again.
Sally nodded slowly, taking in this new information, meanwhile stealing glances at me. Her eyes contained sparkles of laughter, though her face was sober. I just smiled at her, shaking my head slightly at her assumptions. I never forgot what she'd asked me about Harry at Hogwarts, and she seemed to heading along that train of thought once again.
"Yes, Sally, instead of making him stay at Hogwarts for the holiday, I invited him to spend it with me and my parents. It's turned out quite nicely so far, don't you think so Harry?"
"I think so," he agreed, though by the look on his face I knew he was trying to figure out my odd emphasis on her name.
And by the look on Sally's face, I knew she wondered why Harry hadn't just gone home for the holiday. She wisely held back from asking, however, and I was glad for her intuitiveness.
"Sally?" a female voice called. "Who is it?"
Sally looked panicked for an instant, and then pursed her lips. "Some friends from school!" she called back. I noticed she carefully avoided saying `Hogwarts'.
"Oh, how nice," the voice called again, and it was closer this time. Soon enough, Mrs. Perks appeared from a door to another part of the house. She was middle-aged, had short brown hair, and was slightly overweight. "You didn't tell me any of your friends were planning on visiting."
"Well," Sally laughed, a little uneasily, "here they are! This is Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter," she continued, introducing us.
"Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Perks," Harry said, moving forward and sticking out his hand. I marveled at how quickly he had assessed the situation. "Sorry to just burst in like this, but we wanted to surprise Sally with some presents," he added, shaking her hand. She smiled down at him, though to my eyes it seemed more patronizing than anything.
"It's nice to meet you," I said, nodding at Sally's mum. I knew that we were going to have a difficult conversation coming up, and I didn't want to get too cozy with her mum. After all, she had pulled Sally out of Hogwarts. I wondered when Mr. Perks would make an appearance.
"Such pleasant friends, Sally," Mrs. Perks said, looking at her daughter a little queerly. Something seemed off about this whole thing. "You said you met them at school?"
Sally nodded. She was staring at the floor. "That's right."
"Interesting," her mum said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Then why haven't we met them yet? It's been some time since you were in school."
I looked sideways at Harry, just as he was doing the same at me. I could see the confusion in his eyes, and I was sure he could see it mirrored in mine. Was Mrs. Perks referring to Hogwarts? And if so, surely there was some impending explosion toward us, since we represented everything the Perks had tried to ignore?
Sally shrugged. She still didn't make eye contact with any of us. I thought she looked forlorn, which devastated me. She was a wonderful girl with amazing vitality and a razor-sharp mind; yet, I had only been in her house for a few minutes and already it seemed like her parents treated her like rubbish. I thought of Harry's relatives: how could parents or aunts and uncles treat their family so poorly?
"Dunno," Sally said. "I haven't talked with either of them since last June."
Harry and I looked quickly at each other again. I finally comprehended what was going on here. Her mum had been talking about Sally's old school, the one she'd attended before going to Hogwarts. If Sally hadn't been back since the previous June, that must mean she was now home-schooled. It looked like her parents had really closed her off from the outside world.
"What's going on?" a new voice asked, and Mr. Perks sauntered into the foyer. He was fairly tall, had sandy blond hair, and looked to keep himself in decent shape.
"Sally was just introducing me to some of her friends from school," Mrs. Perks told him, giving her husband what I thought were significant glances in our direction.
"Oh really?" he asked, looking us over. "Well, I'm Mr. Perks, and it's nice to meet you," he said, nodding at us. "Sally hasn't had friends from school over in quite some time."
"We wanted to surprise her and wish her a Happy Christmas," Harry explained, motioning to the presents on the table.
"Thank you, Harry and Hermione," she said quietly, and unless I was mistaken, there seemed to be a plea in her eyes. It might have been to keep quiet about Hogwarts, or it might have to bust the whole thing wide open. I never did find out, though, because Harry charged forward like a true Gryffindor and shattered the ice.
"We're actually not from Sally's old school, Mr. and Mrs. Perks," he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. His eyes were hooded and began to smolder as I watched, and whether he knew it or not, he had turned into an imposing figure within a time span of three or four seconds.
"We know Sally from Hogwarts," he continued, ignoring Mrs. Perks's savage snarl of glee-probably because she had guessed that all along-and Mr. Perks's mildly surprised glare. "And that's why we're here today, actually. We'd like to speak with you about Hogwarts and what it really means to Sally."
Sally was staring openly at Harry now, with her mouth hanging slightly open. Her eyes shifted to me, and whatever plea had previously been evident was replaced with gratitude and perhaps a little sadness. She probably thought our gesture was futile.
"Excuse me, young man?" Mr. Perks asked. "Are you presuming-"
"Get out," Mrs. Perks said, with some venom in her voice. She pointed toward the door. "Both of you get out of this house right now. We split from you people when we removed Sally from Hogwarts, and we will keep it that way." I saw Mr. Perks' eyes cut toward his wife; his forehead was creased slightly. I wondered if we might be able to appeal to him more easily than his wife.
"No," Harry said, quite simply. He was still leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed over his chest. He was staring at Sally, who had sagged at her mother's words. "Exactly what do you mean when you say `you people'?" he asked, interrogating them with his eyes.
I realized that I hadn't said anything substantial yet, but so far there hadn't been any need. Harry quite clearly had things well under control, for now at least. The only other time he had seemed this formidable was during his fight with the troll. This was a different kind of battle, however, even though it was also for the heart and soul of a little girl.
Mrs. Perks sputtered for a few seconds. "Witches…and wizards…and magic!" she fairly screeched, pointing her finger at us. "It's unnatural and we don't want any part in it. Now if you don't leave-"
But Harry pushed himself off of the wall and squared his shoulders at her, cutting her off by saying, "You sound like my ruddy aunt and uncle. And believe me, you don't want to be compared to my relatives. You want to know what their idea of love and encouragement was? Try locking me in a broom closet for days at a time, and feeding me the scraps from meals, and making sure everyone hated me.
"And I'll give you one guess why they did all of that, but since you're so smart I bet you're not going to need it." No one said anything. "What, cat got your tongue?" he prodded, and he was really on a roll now. I couldn't believe how poised Harry was-he was amazing! "They did that stuff to stamp magic out of me. They neglected and abused me to prevent me from being like `those' freaks at Hogwarts," he continued.
I couldn't believe how much he was revealing about his home life; this was even more than he'd told me. The bit about the broom closet hit something deep inside and I felt a pang somewhere near my heart, but I bit my lip and said nothing, lest I interfere with the flow of his argument.
Mr. and Mrs. Perks looks appalled at what Harry had told them, and Mr. Perks especially was looking at his daughter with some new emotion in his eyes. Sally had stood there through all of this looking at the floor, and it was only when Harry stopped that she looked up.
"But it didn't work, did it? I still have my magic," he asserted, "and they're more freakish than I'm ever going to be. There was absolutely nothing they could do to change that part of me, yet they still treated me like rubbish for years. Is that how you want Sally to remember you? Is that how you want your daughter to think of you when you're old and gray and want her to take care of you? Will she remember when you made her deny half of herself, and then abandon you like you are abandoning her?"
Harry's chest was heaving now, and I felt tiny goose bumps on my arms as something palpable entered the air all around us. I could only attribute it to Harry's magic, yearning to break free, so I laid a calming hand on his shoulder. He glanced back at me and willed me to say something with his eyes.
"Everything Harry said is true, Mr. and Mrs. Perks," I started. "Harry and I were both raised in normal households"-though of course I used `normal' loosely when referring to Harry's home-"so as I'm sure you are quite aware of, the introduction to the magical world was shocking and a little overwhelming.
"My parents were skeptical at first, but they kept an open mind throughout last summer and eventually came to terms with this major part of me. They didn't want to send me off to school nine months out of the year, but they realized that they could not deny the magical side of me without doing significant damage."
I paused, making eye contact with Sally from my vantage point slightly behind and to the right of Harry. She was standing just in front her parents. The first tears had started leaking from her eyes.
"So we would like to ask you to consider exactly what you're doing to Sally by denying her the magical side that will never, ever go away. She will live with magic for the rest of her life, and if you try to stamp it out or ignore it, you will only alienate your daughter. Do you want that?" I asked, making direct eye contact with her parents. I could feel Harry's approval radiating off of him.
Mr. Perks sighed. It was an unreadable noise. He glanced at his wife again, and then spoke: "You should know that your Headmaster has been here several times, as has that Professor McGonagall, and every time we've turned them away."
"You won't be able to turn us away," Harry said, sounding sure of himself even though, according to the law, the Perks could have us arrested for trespassing. I wasn't really looking forward to that eventuality. "This is important to us," he stated. "Sally is our friend and we miss her, and we think you will regret for the rest of your lives-both of you-not letting her become who she was meant to be."
Sally ran forward then, crossing the few short paces between us and them in three strides, and collided with Harry in a bone-crushing hug. I added to the embrace and we held onto Sally as she started sobbing into Harry's shoulder. Harry glanced at me again and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he hadn't been expecting this development.
But it was Mr. and Mrs. Perks who seemed most surprised by Sally's emotional display, because they just stared at their daughter for a long time, both obviously occupied by their own internal musings.
I felt tears behind my own eyes, because I empathized with Sally so much; I could only feel simmering anger from Harry, though. His posture was slightly clenched, and I'm not sure how I knew this, but inside he must have been furious with Sally's parents. By what he'd said-his words still rang in my head-her parents must have reminded him strongly of his relatives.
Mr. Perks cleared his throat after a moment. He looked at his wife. "Anna, can I speak with you in the living room?" She shook her head briefly, as if emerging from a stupor, and then returned her husband's gaze. She then nodded and followed him from the foyer.
The three of us were left alone, and slowly Sally's sobs turned into sniffles. After several minutes, she backed out of our arms and looked at us with a watery smile, rubbing her face with the backs of her hands.
"Thank you so much, you two…" she trailed off, and her lips trembled again. Moisture pooled on her lower lids and dropped down her cheeks, splattering on the hardwood floor. She kept herself largely under control, however.
"There's no need to thank us, Sally," I told her. "We are your friends and we want to see you happy. We know you're going to be an amazing witch." Harry nodded in agreement.
"If I'm half as amazing a witch as you are, or a wizard as Harry is, then I'll be happy," she laughed, sounding choked up again.
"You should give yourself more credit," Harry said, smiling at her and then at me. He had a twinkle in his eye.
She shrugged and conceded the point. "Whatever happens, you have no idea how much this means to me."
"I think I do," Harry told her. He was staring at me. I fought the urge to look away or to blush, because I knew he was referring to me inviting him home for the holiday, and most likely specifically our late night Christmas chat. I'm not sure how much of this Sally picked up on, but she gave me that same weird, knowing smile I'd seen a few other times.
There was some noise from the other room, and Mr. and Mrs. Perks came back into the foyer, where we were still standing. Mrs. Perks looked annoyed; Mr. Perks looked resolute.
"You should thank your friends, Sally. I wish had such good friends when I was younger," he said, looking at Harry and me and inclining his head. "Because of them, we've decided to allow you back at Hogwarts, but on one condition-"
Sally squealed and leapt toward her dad. She crashed into his middle and wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated for a moment and then hugged her back, gently. Mrs. Perks watched all of this with enigmatic eyes.
"Like I was saying, there is one condition," he continued.
"And what is that, Mr. Perks?" Harry wondered.
"One of you needs to send a note to your Headmaster and tell him that we would like to speak with him. If he can visit with us before the new term starts, then we will allow Sally back at school. We have some things we would like to discuss with him."
This was minor difficulty that a quick trip to Diagon Alley could fix. Since Hedwig was at Hogwarts, we would have to rent an owl to send Dumbledore the letter.
"That sounds reasonable, Mr. Perks," I consented, and watched as Sally disengaged from her dad. The radiant smile spread across her face when she turned around made this whole afternoon and its unpleasantness entirely worth it.
----------
Sure enough, Dumbledore was able to meet with the Perks and after doing so, stopped by my house as well. My parents were quickly enamored with the `strange' but `wonderfully kooky' old man because they both saw his inherent wisdom and power. It was impossible not to, no matter hard Dumbledore tried to hide it at times.
He congratulated Harry and me for convincing Mr. and Mrs. Perks to let Sally back at Hogwarts, and with what he had told me at Hogwarts in mind, it must have meant more to him than he was showing with my parents in the room.
His visit was late Sunday night, December 29th, so after he left we had the week ahead of us to begin catching Sally up on everything she had missed during her absence. We had asked before he left if we could tutor her throughout the rest of the year, in the hopes of having her take the end-of-year exams with the rest of us. He had agreed and wished us best of luck.
I know I told Harry that I didn't want to spend the rest of the holiday looking through books for Flamel, but helping Sally with her studies was something entirely different. Harry must have realized this, because he was never resentful over how invested I became with tutoring our friend. In fact, though I would not have admitted this to anyone at the time, Harry was actually a wonderful teacher and made the learning-and reviewing, in our cases-quite fun and amusing. Sally came to my house for the tutoring, because she felt that her parents weren't yet comfortable enough with us for it to be there.
Suffice it to say, that week passed very quickly, and Saturday, January 4th was upon us before we knew it. The train left Platform 9 3/4 at nine o'clock that morning, so we were up bright and early. By arrangement, we picked Sally up from the Perks' house, and even though it was a tight fit, we were so happy to have her with us. Mr. and Mrs. Perks quietly hugged Sally goodbye, though the exchange was strangely emotionless on both ends. They might still have all been getting over the shock of the past week.
At the station, I said goodbye to mum and dad, and it was a teary affair. I wouldn't see them again until summer, because I didn't think I was going to come home for the long Easter weekend. Harry thanked them profusely for letting him stay at our house during the break, and they just shrugged it off, telling him it was their pleasure and they had been happy to have him. Harry and Sally crossed through the barrier to 9 3/4, but mum held me back for a second. She sent dad to pull the car around. I looked curiously at her, wondering what she had needed me alone to tell me.
"Do you still have those bras we got you over the summer?" she asked, and I was momentarily stunned by her question. It wasn't at all what I expected.
"Um…" I stalled, blushing. "Yeah, they're at school. Why?"
She gave me a look. "I think you know why, dear. You might want to consider wearing them. You're beginning to develop into a woman."
I glanced down, realizing that what she said had some merit. The last time I'd examined myself in the bathroom mirror after a shower, only a few days before, I vaguely noticed the nubs developing on my chest. I should have been more excited, but I was understandably distracted with helping Sally catch up.
I shrugged. "Ok, I'll try them out," I said.
She half-smiled at me, looking wistful. "I know you wear those baggy school robes most of the time, but bras aren't just for appearances, Hermione. They keep your chest looking healthy and young."
"Huh?" I wondered, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Breasts have a tendency to…sag," she said. My eyes widened in realization. "They weigh themselves down, and bras prevent that kind of damage. Wearing them now will pay off in your forties and fifties, and beyond."
I nodded. "Sure, I understand. Thanks mum."
"You're welcome honey," she said, leaning down to hug me. "Write us lots of letters!" she exclaimed, and I nodded and waved to her as I turned toward the barrier. That same wistful smile filled my last glimpse of her as the barrier swallowed me whole.
Harry, Sally, and I met Ron, Neville, and the other Gryffindor first years on the train, and we passed most of the long trip telling each other stories about the holiday. They all listened as Harry and I told them about how we had convinced Sally's parents to let her come back to Hogwarts, and most were suitably impressed. Sally was ecstatic to be among us all again.
Ron had equally as fantastic stories, dealing mostly with the dragons he had encountered in Romania. I could tell by what he was saying, though, that it had been incredibly good for him to see his older brothers. Bill had made it from Egypt, so the whole Weasley family was together again for the first time in many years. Being an only child myself, I had no idea what that felt like, but reuniting with family members after so long must have been very rewarding.
Harry and I got Ron and Neville alone and gave them our Christmas gifts, which they appreciated and had not been expecting. Ron, in particular, was shocked I got him a gift, and turned an embarrassed red when I mentioned receiving a sweater from his mother. He said something about mentioning me in a letter home. Neville thanked us and then produced gifts for all three of us. They were mundane things, like candy and knickknacks, but I was touched nonetheless. He had been distant since our experience with Fluffy and for him to get us Christmas gifts was a huge step. He left quietly after we said our thanks.
This left Harry and me alone with Ron, so Harry took this opportunity to show Ron the Invisibility Cloak. Ron couldn't think of anyone other than Dumbledore who might have given Harry the cloak, and I realized we could have asked the Headmaster when he was at my house. It had slipped our minds, though.
We pulled into Hogsmeade Station around 3:30 in the afternoon. Horseless carriages were waiting for us this time-the lake was frozen over-and we chatted amicably as the carriages brought us from the Station to Hogwarts. I noticed for the first time the winged boars over the gates.
The rest of that day was spent settling back into the dorms, and by dinner time all of us had mostly finished unpacking for the term. There was an enormous welcome back feast that night, and it was amazing to be back in the Great Hall, with the mesmerizing enchanted ceiling and hundreds of floating candles. It was almost like going home, though in a different sense, of course.
Filled with the good food and the good stories from everyone's holiday, most of us turned in early that night. As I was heading for the girls' dormitory to get ready for bed, Harry caught up with me by the stairs.
"Happy to be back?" I asked him.
"Of course," he said, smiling at me. He looked oddly pensive, though. "But the holiday was really nice too."
"I'm glad you think so, Harry," I told him. "I think it will be one to remember."
"Oh yes, without a doubt!" he exclaimed, looking very happy as he seemed to reminisce for a few seconds. Then he quickly sobered.
"What?" I asked.
"I think I'm going to use the Cloak to see what I can find in the library about Flamel," he said, looking into my eyes.
"Harry…" I started, thinking of how to dissuade him. "Not only is that against the rules, but you know that I said I would help you."
He nodded, rather impatiently. "I know, I know, but we're not going to be able to look through the Restricted Section together. I figure I might as well make a trip tonight and maybe a few other nights and see what I can find."
"The Restricted Section, Harry? Are you serious?" Some part of me realized that I sounded slightly sanctimonious, but Harry was talking about breaking about ten different school policies.
"Yes, Hermione. I am."
I knew this was important to him, and I knew that he was just as stubborn as I was, so I eventually just shrugged. "Nothing I say is going to stop you from doing what you want," I told him. "But please be careful. That note said `use it well,' and while I don't think this is what the giver had in mind, take its advice to heart. Don't get caught. We just got Sally back here. I don't want to lose you now."
"You won't, Hermione. Ever. I promise."
I went to bed that night with his parting words echoing around my head. I was worried about him, but also weirdly calmed by what he had said. It had seemed so assured.
---------
Harry was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs the next morning, which was Sunday, the fifth of January. He looked up when he heard me coming down the stairs, and his face broke into an excited smile. He jumped up, and by his attitude I expected him to say he found information on Flamel.
"Hermione! You'll never believe what I found last night!"
"Let me guess-something about Flamel?"
He shook his head vigorously, surprising me. "No, no, actually Filch nearly caught me in the Restricted Section, and then I had to run from him and Snape-but, that's not important!" he cut himself off, seeing the horrified look on my face.
"Snape almost caught you?" I asked, incredulous.
"Whatever, that doesn't mean anything now," he said, almost stumbling over his words in his excitement. "I got lost when I was running from them, and I ended up slipping into an unused classroom to elude them. There was this giant mirror in there, and-Hermione, I saw my parents in it. And my whole family too!" he said, and then took a huge breath. There was color high on his cheekbones and his eyes were sparkling. I hadn't seen him this wound up in quite awhile.
"So there was a mirror," I said, slowly, trying to figure out what he had said. "And instead of your reflection, you saw your parents and the rest of your family?"
He nodded. "I saw myself in it too, but there was a crowd of people as well. And right in the front was a woman with red hair and the greenest eyes I'd ever seen, kind of like mine, really…" he trailed off. His eyes clouded over for a moment as he remembered what he'd seen. "And next to her was a man with hair like mine, and he wore glasses too. They must be mum and dad!"
"Are you sure it wasn't a really vivid dream, Harry?" I really had no other explanation for what he was telling me.
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, Hermione, I'm positive! You should come tonight and see it with me."
"Me? Out after curfew again?" I asked, giving him my best stern look. He just laughed it off, immune to it by now most likely.
"Yes!" he told me, and then grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the portrait hole. "But for now, breakfast!"
Harry was energized all day, and both Ron and Sally asked him the reason as the day wore on. He could hardly contain himself, and told them exactly what he had told me. He'd had to explain the presence of the Invisibility Cloak to Sally, but the story did not make any more sense to her once he had. She was equally as puzzled as I was, though she did say she wanted to see the mirror. Ron said something along the lines of `wicked!' and `I'd like to see your mum and dad.'
Reluctantly, I agreed to join the three of them on their late night journey, even though I was worried about getting caught. I had already been on several adventures with Harry, and I trusted him enough to want to see exactly what he was talking about.
So after everyone else had gone to bed, the four of us slipped out of the Gryffindor common room, all huddled under the Invisibility Cloak. It was a tight fight, though not unmanageable, and we slowly made our way through the castle. Harry circled around a few times, muttering to himself, and just as we were all getting impatient with the endless journey beneath the Cloak, he pointed to a door halfway down whatever corridor we were in. It was ajar.
"That's it," he said, and we hurried forward. Once inside the empty classroom, we threw off the Cloak and looked on with wide eyes at the mirror Harry had described. It was beautiful and ornate, and it was as tall as the classroom. Gold framed the mirrored glass and two clawed feet held the giant thing upright. There were words carved into the top of the frame: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. It was not any language I recognized.
Harry stepped directly in front of the mirror and immediately his face broke into a magnificent grin. "There they are," he said, pointing at the glass. "Mum and dad and the rest of the Potter family…"
From my vantage point at Harry's side, I could only see him in the mirror. I glanced at Ron and Sally, and by the dubious looks on their faces, it was apparent they were only seeing him, too. I sighed, feeling sad for Harry. It had become very clear during the holiday that being part of a loving family was what he wanted most, and he might have just been indulging that fantasy.
"I can't see anything," Ron said.
"But look!" Harry said, gesturing at the mirror. "There are loads of them…"
"We can only see you," I told him. He looked at me with confused eyes.
"Well, stand where I am," he said moving aside and pushing Ron in front of the mirror. "What do you see now?"
Ron's eyes widened, transfixed on the mirror. I could only see Ron's reflection. "Look at me!" he cried.
"Yeah, and you can see your family all around you, can't you?" Harry asked. Sally and I made eye contact, wondering just what in Merlin's name was going on.
"No," Ron said, breathlessly. "I'm alone, but I'm different! I look much older…and, I can't believe it, I'm head boy!"
"What?" the three of us said, at the same time.
"I am," Ron said. "I have the badge like Bill used to-wait, I also have the house cup and the Quidditch cup at my feet!" He squinted at the mirror. "Merlin, I'm even Quidditch captain!" Ron gestured excitedly at the mirror, and then looked quickly at the three of us.
"Do you think this mirror shows the future?" he wondered.
"How can it? My parents are dead…"
"Can I have a look?" Sally asked. Ron moved aside and she took his place. His face was still rapturous from what he had seen. As Sally considered the mirror in silence, I looked back at the inscription on the frame. There was something funny about those words…
"Wow," Sally breathed, and I looked back at her. She was staring at the mirror, just as mesmerized by what she was seeing as Harry and Ron had been. I could only see her reflection from this angle.
"What do you see?" Harry wondered.
"I see, well I guess I see my family how it might have been," Sally said. "There are my parents and me, but there are also two younger boys and a younger girl. I'm doing magic for all of them, and they're laughing and enjoying the show…" She looked at me with wide eyes, and I could see a deep longing piercing her soul. She'd seen open-minded parents and siblings she'd never had but apparently had always wanted.
The first word of the inscription kept bothering. Erised…erised…erised. I felt like I should know it for some reason, but I was drawing a blank.
"Hermione, why don't you have a look," Harry prompted. "We're all seeing different things, so what is this mirror?" he wondered.
Sally stepped aside and I took her place. I stared at the inscription for another second before lowering my eyes to the mirror, and when I did my breath caught in my throat. I was looking at the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
They must have noticed my reaction, because they all wanted to know what I was seeing. I didn't even know how to describe the image. It was me, but much older; I guessed my age to be around thirty. A young boy was running around my legs and I held an even younger girl in my arms. Standing behind me was a male figure, though his face was obscured. The children both resembled me, except the boy had black hair and the girl had green eyes…
"Well?" Harry prodded, waiting for my response.
"I-I think I see my chil-" I started, but was cut off by another, familiar voice. I almost jumped out of my skin.
"So, back again?" it asked, and we all turned on the spot to see Dumbledore sitting on one of desks that had been pushed against the wall. I closed my eyes, unable to believe our bad luck. We had been caught out of bounds and breaking curfew by the Headmaster, of all people. We must have walked right past him when we entered the classroom.
"We didn't see you, sir," Harry said, glancing at the rest of us, obviously wondering how we all could have missed him.
And against all odds, Dumbledore actually smiled at us. He stood from the desk and moved toward us, conjuring five comfortable armchairs out of thin air.
"Strange how nearsighted invisibility can make you," he said, motioning for us to sit. He didn't seem angry at all, and I settled into my chair with a feeling of relief, though that was quickly overpowered by curiosity. How had Dumbledore known we were here, and why had he waited so long to reveal himself?
"So," he began, "you all, like the hundreds before you, have discovered the wonders of the Mirror of Erised."
"We didn't know it was called that, sir," Harry said. Dumbledore's spoken use of erised prompted something in my brain, and with dawning comprehension, I looked once again at the inscription.
"But I expect all of you have realized by now what it does?" he asked us, and the other three shook their heads slowly.
The pieces finally fit together: "`I show not your face but your heart's desire,'" I translated, reading the inscription backward, and pointing to it. The others seemed to understand as well.
"So it showed me my family…" Harry said.
"And it showed Mr. Weasley himself as head boy, Miss Perks with an accepting and loving family, and Miss Granger…?" he trailed off, and as I made eye contact with him, I blushed slightly. I doubted he knew what I had seen, though the twinkle in his eyes said otherwise.
"How did you know-?" Ron asked, stopping himself at Dumbledore's chuckle.
"I do not need a cloak to become invisible," he told us, very gently. It was a subtle reminder of who was master at Hogwarts. "So what does the Mirror show us?"
"Our heart's desire," I said, thinking of the inscription.
Dumbledore nodded. "The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised just like a normal mirror. He would see himself reflected in its glass."
"So it shows us what we want," Ron said.
"Yes and no," Dumbledore explained. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desires of our hearts. You," he said looking at Harry, "who have never known your family, see them all standing around you."
He looked at Ron. "And you, who have always been overshadowed by your brothers, see yourself standing alone, the best of all of them."
Then he turned his head to Sally. "You see loving parents and siblings, because you have always wanted brothers and sisters and for your parents to accept you as you are."
Lastly, he looked at me. "And you saw whatever represents lasting happiness in your heart, as did the rest of them."
He paused for several moments, steepling his hands and leaning forward slightly. "However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men and women have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible."
We all considered his words in silence. Even though the object had showed me something truly wonderful, and apparently my heart's deepest desire, I knew that I could never look in it again. It might reveal more than I wanted to know at this time...
"The Mirror of Erised will be moved to a new home tomorrow. I ask all of you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
He looked at each of us in turn, and we all nodded. He then smiled once again. "Why don't you all put that admirable Cloak back on and head to bed? It is very late. In fact, it might even be past curfew, but I seem to have lost the time on the way here."
We stood and readied for the journey back to the Gryffindor common room. Just before Harry threw the Cloak over us all again, under Dumbledore's watchful eyes, he paused and looked at the Headmaster.
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"What do you see when you look in the mirror?" Harry asked, and I wanted to chide him for his forwardness. It was an extremely personal question.
"Thick, woolen socks. Several pairs, in fact."
We all looked at each other, and Dumbledore must have sensed our confusion.
"One can never have enough socks," he informed us. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I did not receive a single pair. People will insist on giving me books. Now, off to bed with you," he finished, shooing us out the door with a gesture. Harry put the Cloak over us and we headed back to the Gryffindor tower. We said very little, thinking about everything we had just learned.
It seemed Hogwarts had just revealed another of her vast secrets.
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