A/N: Hello all! I finished this chapter a lot earlier than I expected. So for those who follow me on Tumblr, you got a nice, long excerpt yesterday. And for the rest of you, you get to read the whole thing a few hours earlier than usual. Yay! I think after this chapter, all of the rest will come a lot easier to me. Hopefully, that'll be a good thing.
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Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his wizards friends along with Jessica Packwood and her clan of vampires aren't mine. I only have my normal, human friends. Damnit.
Enjoy!
-
We're Going to Be Friends
"And we don't notice any time pass
We don't notice anything
We sit side by side in every class
Teacher thinks that I sound funny
But she likes the way you sing
Tonight I'll dream while I'm in bed
When silly thoughts go through my head
About the bugs and alphabet
And when I wake tomorrow I'll bet
That you and I will walk together again
Cause I can tell that we're going to be friends"
- The White Stripes (We're Going to be Friends)
Phase one was now complete. Hermione knew she was a witch and I didn't have to worry about her coming up with an overabundance of conspiracy theories on how magic was purely scientific. If that were the case, I'm sure I would have checked myself into the loony bin within a week. Thankfully, the power of her wand finding her was enough to convince her otherwise.
Phase two on the other hand was another story.
It was time for my weekly report to the Order and there was much I had to tell them. First on that list was the Draco problem. I had wanted to tell someone about him since I first laid eyes on his greasy head but Dumbledore had given me explicit instructions to not contact them save for emergencies and weekly reports. Since I didn't deem Draco too much of a problem (save for the fact that Hermione was near to falling head over heels in love with him), I knew that I could wait.
The fireplace in my flat did end up being connected to the Floo Network my first day here with Floo powder in a silver urn next to it. So, since it had now been a week since I had arrived, I grabbed a handful of the silvery powder and threw it into the flames I had conjured a few moments previous, watching as the fire shifted to a bright emerald green color. I inserted my head into the flames and spoke up in a clear voice. "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place."
It was a few moments before I saw the familiar living room of my childhood home. As I expected, Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus were waiting for me. They seemed to be in hushed conversation, so I cleared my throat to catch their attention.
"Harry." Remus said cheerfully. "How was your first week in the Muggle world?"
I shrugged, but it only came off as a slight bob of the head on their end. "It went relatively well. I took Hermione down to Diagon Alley the other day to get her wand."
"And?" Remus asked.
"Well, it took a while, but her wand found her and she's now very convinced she's a witch." I said proudly.
"Well done, Harry." Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together. "It seems as though the hardest part of your quest is complete."
"Not quite." I said honestly. The three men gave me odd looks so I elaborated further. "First off, when we were in Diagon Alley, I saw Dolohov."
"You did?" Sirius asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I think he was looking for me. Word has probably gotten around by now that I'm not at Hogwarts and so Voldemort is starting to grow suspicious."
"I cannot say I find this surprising." Dumbledore said in that all-knowing tone of his. "We took a great risk in sending you there to find Miss Granger."
"How has your workload been?" Sirius asked. "I know Dumbledore has all of your teachers sending you work. On top of teaching Hermione how to control her new-found abilities and normal Muggle school coursework, you must be exhausted."
"It's been tough." I admitted. "But I know it'll all pay off in the end."
"That's the spirit." Remus said with a wide grin. "I'm glad things are going well."
"Actually, there's something else." I said. "It turns out that Voldemort may be more ahead of the game than we originally thought."
"What do you mean?" Remus asked.
"There's already someone from the Wizarding world at the school and he has Hermione in the palm of his hand."
"Is it someone we know?" Sirius asked.
I nodded. "Draco Malfoy."
"That little shit."
"Sirius." Remus said warningly before turning back to me. "Harry, are you sure it's him?"
"Positive. I confronted him about it and he didn't deny a thing. He's been here since January, apparently."
Dumbledore put a hand on his chin thoughtfully as Sirius spoke up. "He's been working on this for nine months?"
"Yeah. And unfortunately, he's done a good enough job that when I told Hermione about him, she refused to believe me."
"What?" Sirius said, aghast.
"She's very stubborn." I said.
"And loyal." Dumbledore supplied. I gave the Headmaster an odd look. "She stands by those who have gained her trust. Since you've only just arrived, she holds Mr. Malfoy's word above your own. It is not a bad trait to possess, but in the situation we are in, is becoming increasingly inconvenient."
"You're telling me." I said sadly. "It feels horrible not having her believe me."
"It's understandable." Remus said.
"We have to get rid of him!" I said. "With him out of the way, we're one step closer to getting rid of this bond and heading back to our normal lives."
"That is out of the question."
I looked over at Dumbledore and frowned. "Why? The whole reason you sent me here was to protect her from anyone that was working for Voldemort taking advantage of her. Now that I've found him, I can get rid of him and we can free ourselves of this bond once and for all."
"No, Harry, it is not that simple."
"Then how can I-?"
"All you need to do is continue teaching Hermione the ways of our kind. The stronger she becomes, the stronger your bond grows."
"Dumbledore, I don't think-"
"Remus, please." Dumbledore interrupted smoothly. "Harry, if you get rid of Mr. Malfoy, it will put you in more danger than you are already in. Voldemort is under the impression that he has the upper hand in this circumstance. Within the next few days, he will likely gain knowledge that you are there and double his efforts to corrupt Miss Granger. Getting rid of his accomplice will do nothing but cause more problems."
"But what if he succeeds in making Hermione fall in love with him? I hate to admit it, but he's damn close."
"I have full confidence that you will prevent that from happening."
"How can you be so sure?"
He gave me a knowing look. "Have I ever led you wrong before, Harry?"
"Well, no…"
"Then you will do well to heed my advice."
I sighed. "Yes, sir."
"Remember, Harry, you are the one with whom she is bonded. Having that in common gives you an advantage that Mr. Malfoy can only dream of."
"What kind of advantage? So far, it's only led to trouble."
"As I recall, trouble has never been a problem with you before."
I felt my cheeks heat up.
"We all have complete faith in you, Harry." Remus said. "You'll do fantastic."
"Yeah." Sirius added. "And if Draco bugs you, just send a nice hex his way. You're legal now."
"Sirius."
"Sorry."
"So." I said, trying to change the subject from Malfoy. "How are things with the Order? Any news on Voldemort's hiding spot?"
"Unfortunately not." Dumbledore replied. "We have a team scouting around the perimeter of Spinner's End tonight."
"Snape's place?" I asked.
"We are trying every place that has ties with him. Since Snape is our emissary, he may have a hint to where his whereabouts are."
"Couldn't you just ask him?"
"Unbreakable vow."
"Ah."
"But we are making progress. So far our research is pointing to somewhere in Wales." Remus supplied.
"That's good to hear." I said, though still wanting to know more about the progress.
"We'll inform you if anything important occurs, Harry." Sirius said as if reading my thoughts.
I smiled. "Thank you, Sirius."
"Oh, and we have a message from Ron."
I perked up at the news. "Oh? What did he say?"
"He wants to know how to contact you." Sirius said. "Oh, and that Potions sucks without you."
I chuckled. "Tell him I'll contact him soon."
"Remember not to give away your location." Remus chimed.
"Naturally." I said with a laugh. "If that's all, then I have some Chemistry homework to get to."
"What's Chemistry?" Sirius asked.
"Like Potions… but with numbers."
Sirius clutched his heart. "Good luck with that one, son."
"Yeah, thanks. I'll talk to you guys in a week."
"Make sure to work out a date for you to visit!" Sirius said. "I mean, Ron and Ginny really miss you… and stuff."
"I miss them, too." I said. "You too, Padfoot."
I saw a ghost of a smile appear on his lips and said a final farewell before he started to cry. Sirius had always been a very emotional fellow, but sometimes it was too much to handle. I was pulled back to my flat in an instant and looked behind me at the pile of books I had brought home from school that day paired with the few I needed for Hogwarts coursework. It was horrifying to look at, but it had to be done.
I got up off my knees and numbly walked over to the small table in the kitchen area. As I sat down, I wandlessly summoned the stack of books and papers over to me and set them down on the table with a loud thump. I looked at the alarm clock for a moment and saw that it was already six o'clock. I had just come back from dinner with the Grangers and knew that I had the rest of the night to finish the workload in front of me without interruption. It was like this nearly every night. I woke up, fixed breakfast or had breakfast already waiting for me depending on Hermione's mood, went to school, came home, taught Hermione a new spell which she always (and I don't exaggerate when I say this) picked up after three tries or less, eat dinner, then come back to my loft to work on all of the homework I had for the day, finishing it around one to two in the morning.
I would have collapsed by now if it wasn't for the wonder that was coffee. I had asked Jane if she had an extra coffee maker that I could take for these late nights and she literally jumped out of her seat and ran to the attic to fetch me one. It was a few years old, but still worked just fine. Jane had also taught me how to use it and given me three containers of coffee grounds to start off with. She really was an angel. I could see where Hermione got her kind nature from.
This past week had also introduced me to the wonder that was Hermione Granger. She was quite literally the most fascinating person I had ever met. In class, she was this dynamo genius who knew everything there was to know about a given subject. You would think with a brain that large, she would be a little bit egotistical about it all but, in fact, she was quite blasé about the complexity that was her mind. Every time someone brought up how smart she was she would wave it off with a comment like "Oh stop it, you're just saying that" or something equally as carefree. She was the same way with magic. Every time she nailed a new spell, she just added it to her growing list of knowledge and acted as though she hadn't a care in the world, but on the inside I knew she was beaming.
Although we weren't quite friends yet, I could see that we were getting there, and that was the only thing that was keeping me from strangling Draco Malfoy every time he got within two inches of Hermione. With friendship comes trust, and that would inevitably lead to Hermione kicking Malfoy to the curb like a sack of rotten tomatoes. It was going to happen and I was trying my hardest to make sure it happened soon. If what Dumbledore said was true, than Voldemort could double his efforts to break mine and Hermione's bond within the next few days.
And on top of all of that, I was in an advanced Chemistry class whose teacher gave us two pounds of homework a night, none of which I understood in the least.
I drew the heavy book towards me with a grimace and opened it up to the page our assignment started on. We were covering something that had to do with significant figures and their effects on balanced equations. In other words: I was doomed. I knew I had to do well in order to fit in and I couldn't do that if I hadn't had an ounce of knowledge on this subject to begin with.
Within five minutes of attempting the first problem, my head was atop the book and repeatedly beating itself with a little help from my emotional discharge. I knew at the rate I was going I was going to have one major headache to deal with, but I didn't have a care in the world. There was only one thing that could save me, and that was a distraction. But since I had locked myself in this room and made a mental promise that I would conquer the harder assignments first, all distractions wouldn't do a thing but postpone the inevitable.
But by some mark of the heavens, a relief appeared in the form of knocking. I lifted my head off of the book after a final bang and looked towards the only door to my flat that didn't lead to a toilet. At first, I thought it was a figment of my imagination - my brain rolling around in my skull perhaps - but when the knocking continued after a brief pause, I knew that fate had dealt me a sweet card. I quickly dashed out of my seat and unlocked the door to let whoever was acting as the angel on the other side into the hell that was my flat.
I opened the door wide enough to catch a glimpse of bushy brown hair and immediately flew it open the rest of the way. Hermione was standing there holding a large box that looked to be way too heavy for a girl of her petite build to be carrying.
"Hey Harry, sorry to disturb you but my mum wanted me to drop off some things."
"It's no problem. Come in, come in."
She walked in with a slight wobble to her step and made her way to the kitchen, placing the box atop one of the empty counters. I closed the door but refrained from locking it, knowing she wouldn't be here for long.
She brushed off her hands on her jumper as she looked around the place. "You've changed some things."
I remembered that she hadn't been here since my first night. "Oh, right. I had some things shrunk down in my bag to make the place homier."
She nodded to herself. "It looks nice. I see a lot of gold and red. Are those your favorite colors?"
"Of a sort." I said. "They're my house colors back at Hogwarts."
"Oh." She said softly, walking over to my bed and observing the new bedspread I had put on it. "And the lion?"
"The house mascot."
"Wow, they really go all out at Hogwarts, don't they?" She said with a smile.
I shrugged. "I guess. I've never really known any different. My godfather had a lot of his old house stuff that he passed down to me when I got sorted into Gryffindor. I've lived in a well of red and gold ever since."
She walked over to the bedside table where I had a picture of Ron, Ginny, and I framed. She picked it up and gazed at it for a moment before turning to me. "Are these the friends that you told me about?"
"Yeah." I said as I walked to her and pointed to Ron and Ginny respectively. "That's Ron, the one with the chocolate frog stuffed in his mouth." She giggled at that. "And the other one is Ginny."
"You have her arm around her." She mused. "Are you two close?"
I nodded. "Yeah, we are. This was taken at the end of last year when we were dating."
She looked up at me questioningly. "When?"
"We broke up a few weeks later." I told her.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." She said sincerely.
"It's fine. We're better off as friends, anyway."
"That's nice." She said. "It's great when you can still stay friends after a breakup."
She had a certain something in her eyes when she said that, one that made me question her almost out of reflex. "Did you have a bad experience with that?"
She snorted. "No. I've only gone out with one person in my life and he's hardly worth mentioning."
"Oh."
It came as some sort of a shock to me that she had only had one boyfriend. She was a very attractive girl that anyone would be lucky to have.
Whoa, where did that come from?
"Looking at your Wizarding pictures gives me a headache." She said, placing the photo back on the table.
She turned back to me and we locked eyes for a moment in silence. She quickly looked away after a few seconds and her eyes settled on something behind my right shoulder. "Oh! I didn't realize you were doing homework. I should be getting back."
She brushed past me and was halfway across the loft when an idea struck me. I walked the few steps to catch up with her and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. She turned around to look at me and I spoke. "Actually, I could really use your help."
She narrowed her eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah. With Chemistry."
She seemed to relax a bit and nodded. "Alright."
I gave her a wide smile. "Fantastic!"
I led the two of us to the table where I had previously been banging my head against the open textbook. I cleared off the rest of the books so that we had enough room to work and she scooted her chair next to mine, or as close to it as she could get at a circular table.
"What exactly do you need help on?" She asked as she pulled the textbook directly between us.
"Everything." I answered honestly.
"Everything?" She asked me in disbelief.
"Well what do you expect? I grew up in an entirely different world where significant figures aren't significant enough to teach." I said earnestly.
She inhaled a decent amount of breath in through her nose before nodding. "Okay, well, it's not terribly difficult. What we're learning now is review from last year, so I have a pretty good grasp on it. The point is to eliminate the insignificant digits so you have a more well-rounded answer."
"And how exactly can you tell that?"
She went on explaining and I hung onto every word, soaking in as much information as I could. The way she explained it to me was much easier to understand than the brief lecture the professor had given us before assigning the work. Before I knew it, the assignment was finished and I was excessively thanking her.
"Don't worry about it. It's the least I can do with you teaching me magic every day after we get home." She said.
"At least let me make it up to you!"
"You already are. Learning magic is enough payback, I assure you."
"You just saved me from blowing my cover and completely failing the class."
"For now." She said teasingly. "Besides, you're saving me from becoming an easy target for Voldemort to manipulate. I think we're even. You teach me magic, I tutor you with anything you need help with."
I knew there was no use trying to reason with her, but there was still a part of me that wanted to repay her. Since I had grown up around magic, I felt that learning new spells was more of a chore than anything. I owed her big time.
"Harry, stop thinking of what you can do to change my mind." She said, interrupting exactly that. "We. Are. Even."
"Christmas!" I blurted.
"What?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Christmas." I repeated. "You can come with me to Grimmauld Place for Christmas."
"Harry I really don't think-"
"Come on, Hermione, it's the only way to put my mind at ease." I said pleadingly. She looked unconvinced, but I quickly continued in a sly voice with what I hoped would sway her. "It would give you an opportunity to observe Wizard life at its best."
I could tell I got to her when I saw her eyes move to one side in thought. I couldn't tell what she was thinking just yet, but I knew with time it would be a piece of cake. Thankfully, she saved me the trouble of thinking too much on it by looking back at me with a small smile. "Okay."
I let out a relieved breath. "Great. I'll tell Sirius."
"What, now?"
"No, maybe in a few days. You still need to ask your parents, right?"
"Oh, of course. Yes. I'll do that now, actually." She said, sliding back her chair and making her way to the door.
"You don't have to this instant." I said in amusement.
She turned around on her heel and put a hand on her hip. "And why ever not?"
"You don't want to rush into it. Merlin, you're always moving ten million kilos an hour, you can afford to sit down and relax for a while. What do you even do for fun?"
"Plenty of things." She said defensively.
"Like what?" I questioned.
"Well, I like to read."
"Tell me something I don't know. I meant fun."
"That is fun for me! I read fiction novels every night before I go to sleep."
"Fair enough. Anything else?"
She thought about it for a moment, a sign that whatever she was going to say next was going to be as convincing as a rock running a marathon. "Study?"
I frowned and got up, walking towards her slowly. "Hermione, if you don't say something convincing within the next ten seconds, I'm going to move up our flying lesson to right now."
She gulped and answered with three seconds to spare, just in time for me to stop an inch away from her. "Draw. I like to draw."
"Really?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes."
"Show me."
"What, now?" She asked, looking startled.
"Yeah. I want proof that you're not a Dementor or something."
"A what?"
"A creature incapable of anything related to happiness." I quickly explained. I then flicked my wrist and summoned my notebook and pencil from the table and held them out to her. "Now go on, show me."
"I don't draw unless I'm inspired to do so." She said concretely, turning her nose up at the pad and pencil.
"Well if you have no evidence, then I'm afraid-"
"But I can show you." She interrupted, grabbing the two objects out of my hand and placing them on the mantle above the fireplace. "Follow me."
I followed her out of the loft and into her house. She led me up the stairs and down a long hallway where I had never been before. A few doors down, she stopped. We were halted in front of a door covered in painted lilac flowers. At first, I thought this was she was going to show me, but she opened the door and I was led into a room slightly smaller than my loft outside. The room was painted light purple and had a pale green ceiling in which tiny stars were scattered. Only when I noticed the bookshelves covering the bottom half of the walls did I realize we were in Hermione's room.
She walked around to her bed, a white frame with purple sheets and pillows, and bent down to look underneath. After a moment of her head disappearing underneath the bed, she reemerged with a large maroon book that looked to be as thick as Hogwarts: A History. She sat down on her bed with it atop her lap and motioned for me to join her. I did, albeit hesitantly. When I sat down atop the covers, she opened up the book so that it rested on both of our laps.
"This is my sketchbook." She explained, flipping through the first few pages. "I've been drawing in it ever since I can remember."
She stopped turning the pages as she reached a drawing of what looked to be a still photograph of a bird. It took me a moment to realize that it was hand drawn. "Wait, you drew this?"
"Yeah." She said. "After a bird flew on my windowsill, I copied it to memory and drew it."
"It's fantastic." I said in awe.
"Thank you." I looked up at her and saw she was blushing furiously.
I turned another page and saw pictures of similar detail, ones of people and still life alike. Some she had shaded to perfection and others were mere lines on paper, but every one of them was nothing short of a masterpiece to my eyes. I turned back to her and said in a small voice, "You are an amazing artist."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. I would kill for half of your talent. I'm surprised you haven't filled this book up to the brim yet."
"I would if I had the time." She said forlornly. "Unfortunately, with all of the time I dedicate to school, I never have any time to draw anymore."
"Why can't you make time?" I asked.
"I would if I could, but it's just not the kind of person I am."
"What about now?"
"Excuse me?"
"Now. Draw a picture." I said with a grin plastered on my face.
She smiled sadly. "I don't have anything to draw."
I looked around the room and saw that she was right. She had drawn many of the things that held any sort of interest around us. Then, an idea struck me. "Draw me."
She gave me an odd look. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, why not?" I said nonchalantly.
"Erm, alright." She said after a moment.
I stood up then, placing two hands on my hips and looking off into the distance as Hermione fetched a pencil from a cup on her bedside table. When she turned back to me, she let out a sound between a laugh and a cough. "What on Earth are you doing?"
"Posing." I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well stop, you look like a brainless catalog model."
"Isn't that what I'm supposed to look like?"
"Only if you want to seem like an idiot with no sense of self-awareness. Go sit on that chair over there by the window." She pointed to a small alcove in which the wall was slightly bent to give the look of a private reading area.
I followed her instructions and sat down in the white wicker chair, looking at her expectantly. "Now what?"
She put a hand on her chin thoughtfully before pointing to a spot slightly to my left. "Grab that book." Though I thought it odd, I obliged her request and held the book in my lap. "Now, pretend like you're reading it."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"But I don't like reading."
She gave me a look. "Do you want me to draw you or not?"
I huffed. "Fine."
I opened the book to a random page and assumed the position I took when I had to read a section for History of Magic; legs apart just so, leaning slightly back on the backside of the chair with the book being balanced on the arm and one of my hands steadying it.
"Perfect." She said admiringly. "Now try to hold that position."
"Can't you just do it by memory?" I asked, looking up at her in question.
"No, not with people. They have too many details to commit to memory. Now put your head back down. This has to look completely natural in order to look right."
"Me reading is the complete opposite of natural." I mumbled.
I heard her chuckle, but didn't look up to check. I didn't want to be scorned again. So I simply stayed in that position until I began to grow bored. Knowing I shouldn't move, I took to actually beginning to read the book. It held my interest for a nice chunk of time. In fact, I began to get so enamored with the story that I couldn't hear Hermione calling my name until she had to yell it at a frequency so loud I nearly jumped out of my bones. I looked over at her and saw that she was shaking the sketch pad.
"I'm finished."
"Oh, good." I said, closing the book reluctantly.
She must have sensed my hesitancy because a small smile formed on her lips and she nodded at the book as I began to get up. "You can borrow it if you like."
I bit my lip and considered her offer. I knew that any book able to catch my attention for more than five seconds was worth reading at least a chapter or two. I tried to sound breezy as I said, "Yeah okay. Cool."
I knew that she could see past my cool demeanor, but still held it up for appearance sake. I didn't want to look like an idiot now did I? As she fiddled around with what I assumed to be the final details of the picture, I swiftly looked at the title of the book: Disclosure by some guy named Michael Crichton. I shrugged and took out my wand to shrink to book to fit into my pocket. By the time I was finished, she was closing the book and seemed to be about to put it back underneath her bed.
"Hold on, I want to see it!"
She looked at me with a small smile. "Not yet."
"What-why?" I asked. "I didn't spend an hour in a chair posing for your picture to not see the final result."
"You will see it… eventually."
"Exactly how long is `eventually'?"
"Christmas."
"What?!"
She gave me a small smile. "It's not quite finished yet, but I have the basic outline for it. Judging by the amount of free time I have between now and the end of the year, I'll have it done by Christmas."
"But I want to see it now."
She shrugged. "Too bad, you'll have to wait."
I pouted. "It had better be a fucking tour de force."
She gave me a stunning smile that melted my angry demeanor. "It will be. I promise."
I clenched my jaw. "Alright, fine. You win. But if I don't see it by Christmas, there'll be hell to pay."
"I'm shaking."
I grudgingly watched her put the pad away. Although it did give me something to look forward to in the next few months, I was still a very impatient person. But I was also reasonable.
I walked back over to her bed and sat next to her once more. She looked over at me with her cinnamon orbs and I almost forgot what I was about to say. Luckily, I still had the talk-before-I-think complex that included talking before I got distracted. "Thank you for showing me your drawings."
"You're welcome."
"Your parents must be very proud of you. More so than they already are, of course."
"I - you're actually the first person I've showed them to." She said, bowing her head.
I was taken completely aback. "Really? Not even Kat?"
She shook her head. "Not even Kat."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of."
She looked back up at me. "I'm not ashamed of it I just… I dunno. She's never really given me the chance to show them to her. It's the same with my parents. I don't want to go up to them one day and shove my sketch pad in their faces screaming like a little girl `Look what I can do, look what I can do!'"
"Why not?"
She laughed nervously. "I'm way past that. Showing them now would just be an inconvenience."
"Hermione, having a talent for something isn't an inconvenience."
"It is when you have other plans ahead of you." She said coolly. "Drawing for me is nothing but a silly pastime compared to the things I have in front of me."
"And what are those, exactly?"
"They were to go to University. But now that you're here and I've discovered this whole new world, who knows what I'll end up doing."
To a logical mind, that would have made sense. I have never held any logic. "Don't just discard something that you love to do because it's not in your plans, Hermione. It's like cheating yourself."
"Easy for you to say." She said bitterly.
"Fine, whatever. It's your life."
"Right."
"Well, I should be getting to my other ten pounds of coursework. I'll see you in the morning, Hermione." I got up and began to walk to the door when her voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Harry?"
I turned to her. "Yes?"
She gave me a small smile. "Thank you for letting me show you my drawings."
I smiled back at her. "Anytime."
With that, I left her room and returned back to my flat to work on what was sure to be another full night's worth of work. But when I returned to my side of the property, I let myself feel a well of accomplishment. She had shown me something that no one, not even her best friend, had seen before. If that wasn't making progress, I didn't know what was. Take that, Malfoy!
From that moment on, Hermione Granger and I had a new label for our complicated relationship: Friends.
Hermione's Guide to Newfound Sorcery
14
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