Harry Potter and The Gilded Portrait
A.N. The first several chapters were so large I thought it better to break them up into smaller ones. Please review…even if you hate it! Thanks.
Standard disclaimers apply
Chapter Two - Setting Things to Right
After Hermione had taken Harry to #12, she decided to return to Hogwarts instead of going home to her parent's house. They weren't there yet, after all and she had asked permission to leave Crookshanks with Andromeda Tonks. It was the only one she could think of who might look after her little beastie.
Her old cat-kneazle immediately took to little Teddy from the start. Crooks loved the little Morph-magus. He wouldn't let anyone he didn't know anywhere near the child. Hermione thought it quite un-natural but Andromeda thought it very sweet.
Crookshanks would sit at the edge of Teddy's crib and swish his furry tale. Teddy would laugh and gurgle happily trying to catch it in his chubby little hands. It would keep him occupied for hours. Her pet seemed quite content at the Tonks house.
Her plan was to try and get a good night's sleep and meet with Professor McGonagall in the morning. She was going to need assistance getting her parents back and since the Headmistress had been the one to oversee the administration of the memory modification to her parents, McGonagall was the one she needed to help her.
What bothered Hermione was how they were going to integrate her mother and father back into their dental practice. The wizards and Oblivators swooped in and generally shut the office down. She just hoped her parents hadn't lost all their patients to other clinics. She would have to discuss that with the Professor as well.
The hallways of Hogwarts were silent now in the late evening. The repair efforts had been halted until the fallowing day. She could still see places that had yet to be fixed.
The old castle took quite a beating yet still stood as strong as ever.
There was one more thing she wanted to take care of before she turned in. She worried about Harry being alone at #12 so she was going to try and convince someone to stay with him.
As she made her way down into the lower hallway, she found the painting of the large bowl of fruit. She tickled the pear and the doorway to the kitchen opened.
She ducked inside to find a multitude of house elves scurrying this way and that, all busy preparing for what promised to be a large breakfast with all the volunteers present to help with the repairs.
The smells of food was almost overwhelming her senses as she scanned the space for one old, wrinkled house elf in particular.
She spied Kreacher in the midst of the organized chaos croaking out orders in every direction. It seemed he had become a leader of sorts.
The fake Horcrux locket still hung about his skinny neck although his appearance was much improved.
When the house elves spied her, they rushed toward her bearing trays laden with all manner of food, bread and cheeses, bowing low to allow her to take what she pleased.
"Thank you…b…but no," Hermione was taken aback slightly by the fuss, "I'm just here to see Kreacher. Kreacher may I have a word please."
Kreacher ambled toward her and bowed low. The locket rapped heavy on the stone floor.
"Kreacher is at your service Mistress," he croaked.
That statement made Hermione's heart twinge slightly. Though she had mostly abandoned her S.P.E.W. endeavors, it still didn't set well with her most wizards still considered house elves to be beneath them.
There would be time for that someday…
She hoped, but today was not the day. Other things…other people were more important then even her own self interests.
"Kreacher, I was wondering if I could ask a very important favor of you?"
"Of course, Mistress," the wrinkled old house elf bowed low once again.
"Harry Potter has returned to Grimmuald Place. I believe he will be staying there for a while. He's sleeping at the moment but he's there quite alone, none the less. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to pop in on him from time to time just to make sure he is alright. I'll try to look in on him myself but I'm not sure it will be as often as I would like. I do think he would appreciate your company."
"It would be my honor to see to Harry Potter's well being Mistress," he croaked excitedly.
"Excellent! Thank you Kreacher."
A rather small house elf came up and pressed a cup of tea into her hands. She noticed something oddly familiar about this particular little elf. Then suddenly it hit her.
"Winky!"
The little elf's eyes grew wide. She seemed suddenly frightened.
"Don't you remember…," Hermione then recalled Winky had spent most of her time under the inebriating effects of butterbeer. She probably couldn't remember her own name those years ago.
"Well anyway," Hermione added hastily, "I was a friend of Dobby's…"
As soon as the name left her lips the little house elf crumpled in to a sobbing heap on the floor, dropping her tea tray with a loud crash.
Several agitated house elves rushed to clean up the mess as others hauled Winky's blubbering form off to a secluded corner.
Hermione felt horrible.
"She'll be alright in a day or so Mistress. Not to worry," Kreacher croaked but he looked a bit embarrassed by the whole spectacle.
Some things never change.
"I'm really sorry Kreacher. I best be going," she downed the last of her tea and handed the cup and saucer back to Kreacher. He bowed as Hermione made her way out of the kitchen.
As she made her way toward the Gryffindor tower Hermione found herself instead standing outside the Prefect's bathroom.
"Pine fresh," she muttered and the door swung open silently.
The next thing she knew, Hermione was up to her neck in a hot, soothing bath. It felt wonderful on the many bumps and bruises she had acquired during the fight.
She soaked there for what seemed like hours trying to let the events of the past several months float away along with the severe layer of grime and dirt that had accumulated over the past 24 hours.
She blearily gazed up at the portrait of the beautiful half-naked mermaid lounging on her divan, watching Hermione with barely veiled interest.
Hermione had never paid the portrait much attention in her previous trips to the bath.
She could see the woman was beyond natural human beauty.
She had an angelic face with long tresses of spun gold. She was un-naturally well endowed for a woman with such a slender frame.
She seemed unashamed to display them for anyone who cared to gaze upon her portrait, completely unconcerned about her immodesty.
Even the shimmering blue-green scales that covered her fish-like lower body did nothing to detract from her femininity.
She now understood why the boys spent such an inordinate amount of time in this place. Ron was at the top of that list. He'd single-handedly logged more hours in the Prefect's bath then all the other Prefects combined.
Hermione couldn't help but look down over her own body and feel a wave of inadequacy wash over her tired mind.
How could she ever compete with women who were so much more desirable than she felt she was?
She thought of girls like Cho Chang, Lavender Brown, Angelina Johnson, and even Ginny. Mother Nature had been most kind to the little redhead over the past year. She was gorgeous.
It was easy to see why Harry was smitten with her.
Hermione's mood seemed to darken as she allowed herself to sink into self loathing and pity.
It was very unusual for her to be so self-conscious but the events of the past few months had taken a toll on her. It made her re-evaluate many things.
As she washed herself in the hot fragrant water an ethereal voice cut through the silence of the bathroom.
"Why do you human women insist on comparing yourselves to one-another to gauge your own self-worth?"
Hermione jumped, her knee-jerk reaction was to duck under the bubbly water and covered herself with her arms looking around the bath for the source of the voice. It was obviously feminine.
"No need to hide my dear. I've seen you bathing here for years you know. I could tell you that you have nothing to be ashamed of but I fear it would do little good to assuage your feelings of inferiority."
She glanced up at the mermaid and found the woman smiling at her and swishing her tail slightly. Her large lavender eyes seemed to glow in the candlelight of the bathroom.
Hermione wasn't sure how to respond to her first comment. Her initial reaction was one of annoyance but as she floated there in the fragrant water the mermaid's second comment sunk into her beleaguered mind.
"What? Can you read my thoughts or something?"
The mermaid laughed quietly. It was like the sound of small silver bells tinkling in the vast open space of the Prefect's bath. The sound was more than pleasant, Hermione had to admit.
"I'm afraid it's nothing so dramatic love. I have spent over one hundred years observing students who bath here and have become quite adept at reading their emotions. So tell me then, my dear Ms. Granger. Why do you torment yourself so?"
"How do you know my name?" Hermione looked at the painting with her eyebrows raised.
The mermaid rolled her beautiful eyes and lay back down on her divan, wearying from the silly questions.
"You must be joking…every painting in this castle knows your name. I can see you are in no mood for conversation so I shall leave you to your bath."
That revelation stunned Hermione. She knew she had spent a lot of time at Hogwarts but she didn't realize the paintings even cared that much. As she floated there her mind drifted back to the mermaid's initial question.
Why did she compare herself to those other girls? Wasn't everyone special in their own way? Why did she care that Cho Chang had bigger boobs than she did? The girl had an empty head!
Because that's what boys want Granger and you know it…You could have brains oozing out of your ears - which would be rather gross - but boys would never even notice. They haven't yet, have they?
She glanced up at the mermaid who was now fanning herself slowly with a large palm leaf.
"I suppose it's only natural for us to compare ourselves to others who have…things we wish we did."
The mermaid stopped fanning herself and her eyes fell upon Hermione bobbing in the soapy water like a cork.
"And what…things... would those be?"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't sure she liked having her questions thrown back at her.
"When boys look at me they don't see the same things when they look at other girls. They don't see me in the same way for the same reasons. I guess it's just a bit…discouraging sometimes."
"So you feel as if you're not as desirable as other young ladies?"
If the mermaid was trying to help Hermione feel better, she was failing miserably.
"I suppose," She found herself becoming annoyed again, "Look, it really doesn't matter all that much and to be honest, in the grand scheme of things, it's just not that important…"
Hermione made her way to the edge of the pool sized tub. She figured if the dirt hadn't come off by now then it was stuck to her for good.
"Would it help to tell you there is one who holds you in higher regard than any other?"
That gave her pause for a moment but then she figured maybe Ron told the mermaid things when he was bathing. She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or mortified.
"Yes…well some boys don't know how to keep their mouths shut."
"Oh I assure you, he didn't speak freely. He was much like you. He seemed to be deeply troubled. He never came very often…"
That surprised Hermione greatly. She realized the mermaid wasn't talking about Ron.
"Once he came with a rather strange golden egg. I often wondered why he didn't take my advice and pursue you but I suppose it was because you were both so very young."
Hermione glared at the mermaid for a moment.
"We had more important things to do and I'm sure he fancies another girl anyway."
The mermaid gave Hermione a sultry smile.
"I'm sure you're right my dear but you may be surprised at what boys tell me…"
With that cryptic statement, Hermione had had enough. She decided she didn't want or care to know.
She dragged herself from the warmth of the tub, dried off, dressed in her freshly scourgified clothes and headed for the Gryffindor tower.
She pushed what the mermaid had said to her to the back of her mind. She knew the truth and there was no sense thinking about things that didn't matter.
As she made her way through the silent castle hallways, she thought about Ron. She thought about the way she had ditched him and his family. Guilt spiked in her mind and it made her stomach clench uncomfortably. It only served to make her feel worse.
Ron was angry with her when she tried to explain why she thought she had to help Harry replace the wand. She hoped it wasn't as lame as it sounded to her then but she was right in her assumption. She hoped he would understand. If she and Harry explained McGonagall's reaction then surely he would see. He had to.
Upon her arrival, she suddenly realized she didn't know the password to get beyond the Fat Lady's portrait. The portrait eyed her wearily.
"Something wrong young lady?" The Fat Lady asked her.
She was about to ask to enter anyway for what good she knew it would do when two burley Aurors came around the corner and spotted her.
"You there!" one of the men said, "Whaddaya mean by bein' ou' this time o' nigh'?"
Hermione stiffened and her hand instinctively reached for her wand.
As they came closer, recognition seemed to dawn on their faces. They both pulled up short as they looked down at her.
The other Auror thumped the one that had spoken on the arm.
"Blimey Luther, tha' there is Herminownee Granger. You know, th' one what was wiff `erry Potter. The young lady what's picture's in the Prophet I showed ya'.
Hermione had to stifle a roll of her eyes.
Thanks for murdering my name!
Luther squinted down at her.
"Bugger, I believe you're righ' lad," he mumble. He glanced at his mate, then with a growl, swatted Henry's head, "Take off ye' hat ya' tosspot. Show some respect why don' ya'"
Henry whipped his hat off looking slightly ashamed.
The whole display took Hermione completely by surprise but then his words sunk into her exhausted mind.
"Hang on. Did you say my picture was in the Prophet?"
Luther brightened.
"Oh ya' Miss. Big story `bout what happen' las' nigh'. Whole wizard world's talkin' `bout it. See for yourself."
The large man slipped a folded paper from beneath the crook of his arm, unfolded it and handed it to her.
A glaring headline read…
VOLDEMORT DEFEATED!!
Hermione quickly scanned over the story and saw, below the fold, a picture of her, Harry and Ron that was taken several years earlier by Colin Creevey. The caption under the photo read, `Golden Trio Ends Dark Lord's Reign of Terror!'
She suddenly felt terribly weary. Less than 24 hours after the final battle the news had spread throughout the entire world like a wind-driven forest fire.
Good news travels fast…bad news travels even faster…gossip travels at the speed of light!
She looked up at the two men and could do nothing but grimace.
The man named Henry looked at her awkwardly strangling his cap.
"Um…'scuse me Miss…Do ya' think…um…well, could ya sign the Daily Prophet for us?"
Luther gave Henry a scathing look.
"Don' be `n idiot `enry. She prolly gits that sort a rubbish from loads a' folk. Pardon me mate Miss Granger. He's a bit daft sometimes."
Hermione didn't know whether to laugh, cry or be incensed by the request.
Autograph indeed!
"Er…you're the first actually." Reaching out, she took the quill and paper and scratched her name as neatly as possible across the bottom of the front page. She handed them back to a very pleased Henry.
"Blimey! Thanks miss. If `ere's anythin' I can ever do…"
Hermione smiled at them sweetly.
"Actually there is something."
"Name it!" Luther growled.
"Headmistress McGonagall forgot to give me the new password to the Gryffindor dormitory and I'm really tired…"
She was about to explain further when Henry held up a large hand.
"No' ta worry young lady," he turned to the Fat lady and said, "Maroon and Gold!"
The portrait swung wide as Luther gave her a slight bow and a sweeping gesture with his arm.
"Thank you." Hermione said as she stepped through the portal.
"Thin' nofin' of it miss," Henry said, then he stopped abruptly, "Oh, Hang on, jus' one more question if I may?" He fumbled with his copy of the Daily Prophet for a moment.
Hermione looked at him quizzically.
Henry's eyebrows pinched together in concentration on the paper.
"D' ya' happen to know a six letter word for…a cry of anguish or sorrow?"
Hermione chuckled.
"I believe the word you're looking for is L-A-M-E-N-T."
He scribbled on the paper then smiled brightly.
"Tha's it! Thank you Miss Granger!"
Luther rolled his eyes as he guided his partner away.
"G'night Miss."
"Goodnight gentlemen and thank you again."
She could here them talking as the portrait swung closed.
"Toll' ya' she's brilliant."
"Come on ya' bloody toe rag, we go' corridors ta' check."
The Gryffindor common room was silent and deserted as she made her way to the stairs to the girl's dorm rooms. The light from a waning moon streamed through the windows, bathing the space in an ethereal glow.
Memories swam through her mind of happier days spent there. A deep sense of melancholy swept over her.
The events of the past several weeks seemed to come crashing down on her all at once.
She wrapped her arms around herself as she leaned against the ancient stone wall next to the stairway.
She couldn't seem to hold back the tears as a single thought pushed itself to the front of her exhausted mind.
What does the future hold for me now?
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