Harry Potter and the return of the Dementors

Harry Potter and the return of the Dementors (9/?)

---------------------- Chapter 9 ----------------------

"Harry, be still for a second, will you?" Hermione said, smiling while she guided Harry to his bed and sat him down.

"Er..what exactly..." Harry started, before being interrupted by Hermione.

"Just be quiet for a sec, OK? I'm sure you wan't find that very hard to do, judging from past history," Hermione said in a voice that told Harry not to argue. Harry sat on his bed with a curious expression on his face, feeling quite awkward as Hermione seemingly searched his face for something.

After a couple of seconds, Hermione stepped back and said, "About time. I've been waiting for long enough."

"Exactly what's about time?" Harry asked, wondering what Hermione was talking about.

"Why Harry, you're smiling!" Hermione said happily.

Harry almost exploded with exasperation. "You're kidding, right? You had me worried there for a while," Harry admitted.

"Well...there could be other reasons why I'd be looking at you, but let's not go there," Hermione said cheekily.

Harry blushed, and playfully threw his pillow at Hermione. "Oh, really!" Harry responded.

"No really, I've actually been slightly worried about you. Ever since we got here, you've been moping around, getting yourself all depressed," Hermione said.

Hermione didn't want to hear Harry's protests that he'd been perfectly OK all the time, and so she quickly pinned Harry down on his bed and mashed the pillow over his face playfully. After Harry had extracted himself from under the pillow, the look that Hermione saw on his face strongly suggested that Harry was plotting revenge. Pressing her advantage, Hermione reached over and tickled Harry mercilessly until he buried his head in his hands and gasped "No more!"

"Yeah, I guess you've had enough for a while," Hermione replied to Harry, who was nervously peering at Hermione through his fingers. This was enough for Hermione to start laughing.

Harry, meanwhile, had recovered somewhat and had managed to return to a sitting position next to Hermione.

"I take it that you've quite finished attacking me, now?" Harry asked in a hopeful voice.

Harry flinched as Hermione reached over towards him again. "Yeah, I've finished...for the moment."

Harry looked at Hermione with a look of mock fear on his face. "You should take up the position of chief torturer at some prison." Harry said, shaking his head.

"If I'm going to do that, Harry, I suppose I better start practising..." Hermione retorted. Harry quickly edged back out of reach, now sitting against his bed post in the corner of his bed, watching Hermione's movements. Harry prepared himself to transform into his animagus form, if things got out of hand.

Hermione reached over to Harry slowly, showing that she did so with no malicious intent. "Truce?" Hermione offered.

Harry took the extended hand and smiled. "Done. I was rather worried that you would insist on a Carthaginian peace," Harry said, with a sigh of relief.

"A mutual peace between friends is just fine by me," Hermione said. Suddenly, Hermione looked at Harry as if something had just struck her as significant. "Exactly how much ancient Roman history do you know?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"A little," Harry admitted.

"I'd say more than a little, if you know what a Carthaginian peace is," Hermione said in a exasperated voice.

"I read it in a book, somewhere," Harry replied, inadvertedly repeating words people would attribute more to Hermione than himself.

"And to think that I thought the only thing you read about was Quidditch!" Hermione muttered.

"Since I ended up on the house team, I thought I'd better at least find out what the rules were," Harry responded in a matter of fact tone.

Hermione was shaking her head slowly. "I don't know what to do with you. Soon you'll be telling me you've read Shakespeare as well!" Harry seemed to be avoiding eye contact as she said this. Hermione suspected she knew what that meant.

"OK. This is going to take some getting used to," Hermione said to Harry.

"What is?" Harry replied.

"You being some sort of closet genius," Hermione clarified.

"I'm not that much of a genius. It's not as if my marks are anywhere near yours. I'm no smarter than before, it's just that I've read a little more than you thought," Harry responded.

"Maybe, but then, I'm not somehow magically attracted to the hospital wing, nor am I on the Gryffindor Quidditch team," Hermione replied.

"I'm still going to need as much help as I can with my Potions homework," Harry warned.

"I'm always happy to help a budding genius." Hermione teased.

"I give up. I'm just warning you, don't be expecting any flashes of genius coming from this direction anytime soon," Harry said, exasperated.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, then. Now, I think we had better finish that letter to Ron," Hermione replied, moving over to Harry's desk, where the unfinished letter to Ron lay. Harry followed shortly after. After a bit of discussion, Harry and Hermione both decided that they would write their messages separately, but on the same piece of parchment, as it would be easier than combining what both had to say.

                *****

Ron,

We've arrived at Privet Drive, and I can say that Harry's cheered up some since we got here. It looks like Harry might even be enjoying himself at Privet Drive, which would sound pretty disturbing, except for the fact that Harry's aunt has been really nice to him (actually to both of us) and his uncle isn't here.

I hope everything's going fine in Hogsmeade!

Hermione

Hey Ron, how's Hogsmeade? Probably slightly more interesting than here, as we haven't really done much yet. I'm sure we'll find something to do, though.

Just a thought, have you found anyone to ask to that Hogsmeade ball yet? If not, you had better hurry up...

Sorry this letter isn't more interesting, but we really have done absolutely nothing at the moment. I suppose I'll try and teach Hermione to fly a broomstick properly, though. I'll tell you how that goes in the next letter, OK?

Harry

                *****

"It's a pretty boring letter, isn't it?" Harry remarked, after he had finished writing.

"Well, I suppose it's the best we can do at the moment, really," Hermione replied, putting the letter in an envelope and attaching string to it.

Harry called Hedwig over, and tied the letter to Ron on Hedwig's leg. She seemed to be delighted at the prospect of another journey. After Harry told her to deliver the letter to Ron, Hedwig swooped out the window and disappeared over the horizon.

Later that day, when Hermione was taking her shower, Harry spotted two owls on the horizon. Opening the window for them, Harry noticed that the two owls were Hedwig and Pig, Ron's owl. Both owls had letters attached to their legs. And both letters were from Ron. Untying the letters from both owls, Harry noticed that one of them was addressed to him, and the other to Hermione. For a brief moment, Harry found it curious that Ron would send different letters to Hermione and himself, but, after that fleeting moment, Harry put Hermione's letter aside and turned to his own.

Ron had written back to Harry saying that he still hadn't found a date for the Halloween ball, and that he'd like to know how Hermione went on a broom. There wasn't really much in the letter, just the usual exchange of greetings and best wishes. Harry liked it that way - the more trivial the letter, the better. There were no complications that way. Harry reached over and picked up Hermione's letter, wondering what could be inside it. Absently flipping it over in his hand, Harry decided that whatever was in Hermione's letter, should be read by Hermione. Thus, he flipped it aside again, and waited for Hermione to open it. Harry was pretty sure that, in the same position, Hermione wouldn't have opened his letter.

Hermione returned soon enough, to find Harry absently gazing out of his window, looking at everything, yet nothing in particular. As Hermione reached out and put her hand on Harry's shoulder to get his attention, Harry let out a small yelp of surprise, and turned around to face Hermione.

"You should watch out, Hermione. One day you're going to give someone a heart attack, doing that," Harry said.

"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Hermione replied.

"Nah, just daydreaming. Hey, this came for you," Harry responded, handing the letter from Ron to Hermione.

Hermione looked at the letter, and noting to herself that Harry hadn't opened it, opened it and read the contents. Upon reading the letter, Hermione knew exactly why Ron had decided to write two letters, instead of one.

"...Professor Dumbledore reckons that you-know-who may know where you and Harry are. He says that the charms around Privet Drive should protect you while you're there, but he wants you to keep a close watch on Harry." Ron wrote. Hermione knew, by the fact that there was two letters, that Ron didn't tell Harry.

Ron's letter went on to say "...Sirius suggested that maybe we should use the Fidelius charm on Harry, to hide him from Voldemort. Dumbledore said no, because Harry was too much of a public figure to hide, and if he went into hiding, people would get scared."

"Ron say anything important?" Harry asked, after Hermione finished reading the letter.

"Not really," Hermione replied innocently, putting the letter in her trunk and locking the trunk. Hermione hoped that the fact that she was lying didn't show up on her face a badly as it did on Harry's when he wasn't telling the truth. The look on Harry's face when she said this indicated to her that Harry didn't quite believe her, but he didn't persue the matter, and the letter was soon forgotten.

After dinner, the day's travels hit both Harry and Hermione savagely, and they decided to go up to Harry's room and sleep. Harry found himself sitting on Hermione's mattress, next to her, listening to her talk about what had happened between them in the last four years. Harry was perfectly content listening to Hermione, input from him being limited to hums of agreement, monosyllabic answers, nods and smiles. Besides what had happened at the end of the third task, Harry felt no reason not to be happy about what Ron, Hermione and himself had accomplished in their time at Hogwarts. After a while of conversation, Hermione asked:

"Harry, I know you're probably going to laugh at me for saying this, but I don't care. Have we somehow become more than 'just friends'?"

Hermione noticed a look of pure shock and surprise flash across Harry's face, but he didn't laugh. "I think I may have said this once before," Harry answered, "but I don't think we've been 'just friends' for a long time. You and Ron have always really been there for me, these last four years, and have, in effect, become more like family to me. Well, at least, that's the way I see you two."

Hermione smiled and nodded, knowing that Harry had spoken the truth. Hermione made a mental note to herself that Harry had said exactly what was on his mind, and had let down his guard, at least for a while. Hermione had suspected for a while that what went through Harry's mind, and what came out of his mouth were two different entities altogether, and Harry's little speech had confirmed this for her. Hermione, however, knew that she would probably have to wait for a long time before she heard Harry say something like that again. From what Aunt Petunia had told her earlier, Hermione knew that Harry was hiding much of what he felt beneath the facade of 'normalness' that he maintained. Harry's unenviable childhood must have left an indelible mark on his subconscious, and it was this mark that Uncle Vernon had bestowed on him that Harry did not want to show to the world. But it was this mark, that slight feeling of insecurity that Harry couldn't hide, that had made Hermione love Harry, not as a boyfriend, but as a brother.

"Hey Harry, have you brushed your teeth yet?" Hermione asked in a trivial manner.

"Well...yeah. Why do you want to know?" Harry replied curiously. He found out soon enough.

Without warning, Harry found himself being hoisted into the air by Hermione, and being placed gently on his own bed. As Hermione proceeded to tuck Harry in his bed, Harry said:

"Uh...Hermione?"

Hermione smiled at Harry as she pulled his blankets up to his chin. "Little boys should be tucked into bed once in a while."

"I think I'm perfectly old enough to get into bed myself!" Harry protested, but the look on his face told Hermione that Harry really didn't mind, behind his embarrassment.

"Old enough, yes, but not big enough yet," Hermione teased. "And don't you dare grow," she added with mock sternness.

"Yes, Hermione," Harry replied meekly.

"Good. Now Harry, let's see if you can get a good night's sleep. No middle of the night wanderings, and hopefully no nightmares. Got it?" Hermione continued.

"Got it," Harry replied in a soft voice.

Hermione smiled and pulled Harry's glasses off his face, and put them on his bedside table. "Now close your eyes and go to sleep." Harry's eyes remained open.

"You don't trust me, do you?" Hermione asked, seeing this.

"Hermione, I would trust you with my life. Actually, I think I already have." Harry replied.

"Well, close your eyes and try to go to sleep, then." Hermione replied sweetly. Harry slowly, seemingly reluctantly, closed his eyes. He did, however, still have a look of nervousness on his face, as if expecting Hermione to do something. Hermione obliged.

Reaching down and putting a hand gently under Harry's head, Hermione bent ofer Harry and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Chuckling silently on the look of surprise that appeared on Harry's face, Hermione quickly switched off the bedside lamp, and lay down on her mattress to go to sleep. It had been a long day.

"Good night, Hermione." Harry's voice piped through the darkness.

"Good night, Harry," Hermione responded.

As Harry prepared to go to sleep that night, he wondered that if the warm sensation that travelled through his body as Hermione tucked him in was how it felt like to have a mother. And Hermione heard him.

Hermione's eyes flew open. Had she done what she thought she had? Did all the friendship, all the times that she and Harry had spent together create a bond through which she could now hear Harry think? Ever since the beginning of this school year, when Harry had come to her place half starved, Hermione had felt that she had grown closer to Harry. Hermione realised that while before, Harry had seemed quite emotionless, she could now sense what he was feeling, from the look in his eyes, and the tone of his voice. Hermione realised that the trust that Harry had bestowed in her just before had been the final connection in the link between them.

'Harry, just know that I would never hurt you, unless I truly have no other choice.' Hermione thought to herself.

"You too, Hermione." Harry's voice sounded through the darkness, Harry not realiing that Hermione hadn't actually said anything. Hermione trusted Harry as well, in fact she found it hard not to. Harry seemed so trustworthy all the time, so dependable. Hermione realised that the trust that she put in Harry meant that he too could hear her thoughts, although he didn't know it yet. Fred and George, as twins, always seemed to reach mutual agreement with many things, and Hermione knew why many people thought that twins possessed a special bond between them. Having grown up together, being born together, their trust in each other must be phenomenal. Hermione probed around in Harry's mind for a while, before realising that doing so was almost paramount to her betraying Harry's trust in her. Hermione was just about to tell Harry about them being able to hear each other's thoughts at will, when Harry spoke up.

"Hermione, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead, Harry." Hermione replied.

"Do you ever get the feeling that someone's in your head, as if they were looking for something?" Harry asked.

Hermione was astounded. It seemed that Harry actually felt her mental presence inside his own head.

"I'm sorry, Harry. It won't happen again." Hermione replied in an apologetic tone.

"That's OK." Harry responded, before asking, "What did you just say?"

"Harry, that was me in there. I'm sorry, I really am. It seems that we can reach each other mentally if we want to." Hermione tried to explain. Harry knew, somehow, that Hermione was being sincere.

'You can hear this, can't you?' Harry thought to himself.

'Yes Harry, I can. I suppose that you can hear this as well.' Hermione thought in response.

'Wow, this is weird. I've done this before, you know, with Professor Grey. We can experiment with this tomorrow. I think we had better go to sleep.' Harry replied. Harry, though, wanted to try one more experiment.

'Ron...can you hear me?' Harry projected his thoughts outward in all directions as hard as he found possible.

'Harry Potter, what on earth are you doing?' a voice which wasn't Ron's replied. It took a while to identify the voice as Professor Grey's.

"Harry! I thought you were going to sleep!" Hermione said sleepily from her mattress next to Harry. "That was pretty loud, you know." Hermione added. She wondered how many people heard that mental projection.

'I think that many more people than just Mr Weasley just heard that, Harry.' came yet another thought, this time Dumbledore's.

'Potter...if you can hear me, I'd like to remind you of what time of day this is!' Professor McGonagall replied angrily.

"You're in big trouble now, Harry. McGonagall didn't sound pleased." Hermione said through the darkness.

"You heard that?" Harry replied.

"Yes, I did. I don't think anyone knows how to use this link properly yet." Hermione replied.

'How on earth am I hearing Harry?' Harry heard Professor Lupin thinking. Harry heard Sirius have exactly the same thought.

Eventually after a few more replies from various other people, Harry heard Ron thinking. 'Bloody hell, I'm hearing voices.'

Harry realised two things at that moment. Firstly, the fact that everyone he truly trusted had heard that projection, and nobody else. Secondly, the fact that he would have a lot of explaining to do in the morning. With those thoughts in mind, Harry's eyes closed for the last time that night.

Harry and Hermione were awoken the next morning by two very audible pops which signalled that somebody had apparated into the room. While Harry quickly put his glasses on and picked up his wand, Hermione had already drawn her wand, and found that she was pointing it at no other than Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. Feeling sheepish, the two students put their wands away quickly, realising that they would have already been attacked if that were their visitors' intention.

"Er...hello?" Harry said, breaking the silence.

Both Professors chuckled at Harry's apparent nervousness.

"Potter, there is no reason at all for you to be so nervous and embarrassed! It is not as if Hogwarts staff have not seen students in bed before." Professor McGonagall said sternly. "Both myself and the headmaster are meaning to ask a few questions, and then we shall be gone, that is all."

Harry smiled at his headmaster and head of house, and then nodded in agreement. Hermione watched silently from her mattress on the floor.

"OK Harry," Professor Dumbledore started, "We were wondering how you managed to cause what appeared to be quite a racket last night to myself and Professor McGonagall, but which allowed all other Hogwarts staff to remain oblivious of your actions."

"I didn't quite get that...what did you ask?" Harry admitted, trying to shake the remains of sleep out of his head.

"Harry, whatever it was that you did last night, it woke myself and Professor McGonagall up, but not anyone else on the Hogwarts staff who was in the room at that time. We were wondering how you managed to do so." Professor Dumbledore clarified.

"I'm not actually sure why some people could hear me last night, and others could not." Harry admitted.

"I think I may have an idea." Hermione suggested from next to Harry.

"Go ahead, Hermione." Dumbledore prompted.

"I may be completely off track here, but unless you are a mind-reader, like Professor Grey, I think that you can only hear the thoughts, or thought projections of one who you would truly trust. If you would wholly trust someone with your life and inner self, I think that person would be able to hear your thoughts. Else, I think they have to project them like Harry did last night. I suggest that you might ask Fred and George Weasley whether they could do that as well. I think that as someone trusts you more, your sensitivity to that person's thoughts increases." Hermione replied.

"Although you have an interesting theory, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall replied, "why is it then that this has not been discovered before?"

"I think that this link has always been there, in our subconscious. I think this is why some people are more open than others, why you can read some people more easily than others. There are some people where you can sense what they are feeling at a given moment, and others, like Harry, who you have to really know before you can sense any emotion coming from them at all." Harry looked down at Hermione curiously, and she could sense that Harry didn't know quite what to think about what she had just said.

Looking at Harry, Hermione added, "Well, it's true."

"I guess." Harry replied.

"If this is true, however," Professor Dumbledore said wisely, "It would mean that Harry only trusts a very select few of the Hogwarts staff."

"Or he doesn't know most of them enough to know whether to trust them or not." Hermione answered.

Harry looked at Professor McGonagall, and thought 'Trust has to be earned. If you don't know someone, how are you meant to trust them?'

Professor McGonagall replied audibly "I suppose you have a point, Potter."

Professor Dumbledore and Hermione both looked at Professor McGonagall, who seemed to be talking to herself. "Does something happen to be the matter Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked Professor Dumbledore.

"You were just talking to yourself." Professor Dumbledore said in an amused voice, suspecting what had just happened.

"Nonsense, I was talking to Potter, here." Professor McGonagall retorted.

"Harry has hardly said a word since we got here." Professor Dumbledore explained.

Professor McGonagall glared icily at Harry, who recoiled slightly under the look she was giving him. Looking at Professor Dumbledore for support, Harry thought to himself 'McGonagall's going to hex me into the next world soon!' The thought was just strong enough for Hermione to hear. Hermione looked up at Harry and smiled. Harry had the suspicion that the thought may have reached Professor Dumbledore as well.

"Minerva, I think that's quite enough. Harry's hardly going to give a straight answer when you're standing over him like that." Dumbledore said to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall gave an exasperated "Hmmph!".

"So Harry, how DO you do that?" Professor Dumbledore asked, sounding like he probably already knew the answer.

"Well, I think that if I picture the person in my mind while projecting my thought toward that image, I think they might be able to hear it. Although trust does seem to be a factor." Harry replied.

"Perhaps." Professor Dumbledore replied curiously.

'Are you meaning to say that Professor McGonagall and myself are the only members of the Hogwarts staff whom you trust?' Dumbledore's voice resonated in Harry's mind.

'It depends on what you mean by the word trust.' Harry replied, instantly regretting it.

"We'll talk about this some other time, Harry." Dumbledore said, smiling, which made Harry feel somewhat happier. "We'll meet some other time."

After exchanging their farewells, the two Professors Disapparated back to Hogsmeade.

As soon as they re-orientated themselves with their new surroundings, Professor Dumbledore said,

"I think that Miss Granger might be correct."

"But...how is it that only you and I are the only ones that heard him last night?" Professor McGonagall replied.

"Well, Harry hasn't had a very good experience with some of the staff that have taught him in the past. Former Professors Quirrel, Lockhart and the Moody imposter have turned on him in the past. Harry isn't exactly on amicable terms with Severus either, as you very well know, and he's not going to exactly trust a Professor who predicts his death every year." Dumbledore said wisely.

"But what about the other professors, say, Professor Sprout?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"I think that Harry knows that he should have nothing to fear from the Hogwarts staff in general. I am sure that he knows that even Severus will not try to harm him, although they do rather dislike each other. But, as Harry quite nicely put it, it really depends on what you mean by the word 'trust'." Professor Dumbledore explained.

Seeing the perplexed look on Professor McGonagall's face, Dumbledore continued. "Put another way, should Harry ever be in need of a Secret Keeper, you would be a choice that Harry would be happy with. Besides Professor Grey, who has his special ability, I'll hazard a guess that Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Mr Weasley were also amongst those who heard Harry last night."

Professor McGonagall replied "Are you telling me that young Potter would entrust me with his life?"

"Yes Minerva, I believe he would," Professor Dumbledore replied to an astonished Gryffindor head-of-house.

"What could I have possibly done to receive this type of trust?" Professor McGonagall asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Harry does not crave, nor does he enjoy the fame he has inherited from his past. As his head of house, you have been nothing but fair to all in Gryffindor, including himself. You have talked to Harry, told him things when others would have been unwilling. As with all students under your care, you neither idolise, nor patronise Harry, and I believe that it is this that has allowed Harry to foster the trust that you see today," Professor Dumbledore said wisely.

The day progressed on like clockwork, Harry and Hermione basically wondering around aimlessly for much of the day. Both Hogwarts students found that this was highly entertaining, when contrasted with what they usually got up to between Hogwarts terms. Harry and Hermione both reached silent consensus that a boring day was much more preferable to a stressful day. Today, the two had walked around Little Whinging with no objective in mind. However, as soon as Hermione saw the local library, she insisted that she at least have a look inside.

"Well...if it isn't little Harry Potter," the librarian said kindly as they walked in.

"Hello Madam Sophia, how's things been around here?" Harry replied politely.

"Not bad, been pretty quiet lately, but that's normal around here. How have things been at Privet Drive since I last saw you?" Madam Sophia responded.

"Not too bad, really," Harry replied quietly.

Madam Sophia raised an eyebrow and dropped her voice. Little Whinging was a close-knit community, and it was well known (but not well publicised) that the Dursleys only kept Harry out of legal obligation. News of the events of last summer spread like wildfire, although Harry, not being in Little Whinging, didn't know this.

"That's not what I've heard, Harry."

Harry looked up at Madam Sophia in surprise.

"Nothing really stays quiet for very long around here, Harry. We're a pretty tight community around here at Little Whinging, so to speak. So, I'm pretty sure that most people in the town are pretty well informed about your whereabouts last summer," Madam Sophia said softly.

"Well...I was at home, and then I went to a friend's place for the rest of the summer," Harry responded, giving a very general summary of his holiday.

Madam Sophia rolled her eyes upward and smiled at both Hermione and Harry. "Important thing is that you're OK now, right?"

"Right," Harry confirmed. Motioning toward Hermione, Harry said, "This is Hermione, a friend from school."

"Pleased to meet you, Hermione. So...I suppose that Harry dragged you here?" Madam Sophia said in an amused voice.

"No," Hermione replied, chuckling, "this was my idea, actually. Oh, and I'm pleased to meet you as well."

Madam Sophia smiled, and seeing that someone was coming to the counter to borrow a book, said to Hermione "You take good care of Harry, here. Despite the fact that he's always so scruffy all the time, he's really quite harmless, our Harry is."

"I know that...and don't worry, I'll take good care of Harry," Hermione said with a smile, drawing Harry toward her with her hand.

"Aw...I'm sure you will. Have a nice day," Madam Sophia replied, before serving the man with the book.

Hermione nodded, and both she and Harry went into the library.

"Madam Sophia seems to know you pretty well, Harry," Hermione said in an amused voice.

"I think Madam Sophia knows everyone around here pretty well, actually," Harry replied, before flopping onto an armchair next to some magazines and newspapers on a table. Hermione sat down on a chair next to Harry's, and they leafed through the day's newspaper together, enjoying each other's company in amicable silence. Harry found it comforting to be able to read a newspaper knowing that you wouldn't feature on the front page like he did last year with Rita Skeeter's articles.

After finishing the paper, and leafing through a 'National Geographic' magazine absently, Harry and Hermione decided that they would resume their walk around Little Whinging, and, even though it was still before Halloween, maybe start looking for a Christmas present for Ron. Harry was also looking for Hermione's present, but he didn't tell her that. Harry thought it funny that he would very possibly give Muggle presents to his best friends, both whom he knew from the Wizarding world.

After waving at Madam Sophia as they walked out, and promising that they would visit again soon, Harry and Hermione resumed their walk around the little town which Harry had grown up in. Hermione found it surprising how many people around the town all knew each other, and she couldn't help noticing that some of them, especially the police officer, were shooting sympathetic glances in Harry's direction. Madam Sophia was right, news did travel quickly around Little Whinging.

It was evening by the time they got back to No. 4 Privet Drive, and soon after both Harry and Hermione arrived, it was time for dinner. A definite chill had blown into the town, and Aunt Petunia had the heaters in the house working overtime just to keep the house warm. Harry couldn't help thinking that a simple warming charm would do the trick, but he wasn't allowed to do magic out of term, especially amongst Muggles. Strictly, this wasn't out of term, but Harry wasn't on the best of terms with the Ministry, and decided that he'd better not push his luck too far. Harry and Hermione were both glad that they had arrived home before the worst of the weather and were in from the cold. Harry also thought of Ron, and hoped that conditions were better in Hogsmeade than they were here.

After a dinner that would have done the house-elves proud at Hogwarts, Harry, as usual, went to do the dishes for Aunt Petunia. Before Hermione could follow, Aunt Petunia caught her attention, and asked

"How was your day?"

"It was fine, thanks," Hermione replied politely.

"That's good. When you were gone, your Headmaster visited here, and said that the person that's after Harry most probably knows he's here. He said that Harry's protected while he's in this house, but if he goes outside, he wants someone to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. There are some wizards scattered around Little Whinging keeping an eye out for trouble as well, but he wants you and Harry to keep your wands with you, just in case. Oh, he also told me to remind you that you're only meant to use magic in front of the non magical folk in an extreme emergency," Aunt Petunia said.

"So, we're allowed to use magic inside here?" Hermione asked Aunt Petunia.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so," Aunt Petunia replied.

The Muggles call it 'Murphy's Law', and some religious folk would have other explainations for it, but it happened that on the coldest night that Harry had seen for a while that the power supply failed. After eventually locating a couple of candles around the house, Aunt Petunia gave one to Harry and Hermione, and kept one for herself to navigate around the house. The heaters having stopped working when the power went offline, the temperature in the house dropped savagely, making Harry and Hermione feel that the prospect of bed would be a good option, early as it was, as it would be warm under the sheets. After crawling under the sheets, to both Harry and Hermione's dismay, it was found that they weren't very thick, and the two from Hogwarts were still cold and miserable. Both came up with the same supposition that it would be a long night.

By the light of the candle, which they hadn't blown out yet, Harry could see Hermione on her mattress, trying to seek heat from her blanket. From the way she was shivering, Harry surmised that it wasn't working. Although feeling rather cold and miserable himself, Harry had thicker clothing on due to him having access to his winter clothes, Hermione not having hers with her.

"Er...Hermione?" Harry said softly.

"Y..yes Harry?" Hermione stammered in return through the cold.

"I don't want you to take this in the wrong way, but..." Harry started.

"I don't think I could really ever take offense at anything you've said that I can remember, Harry," Hermione interrupted, shivering with the cold.

"I'm sure you have, but anyway, I was wondering whether it would be better if...er...never mind, forget I ever said anything," Harry retreated.

"Harry..." Hermione pressed him for a reply.

"Uh...don't worry, it was a stupid idea, I didn't really think it through properly," Harry continued retreating.

"H..Harry! Don't make me force you..." Hermione threatened.

Harry looked down at Hermione, who was still visibly very cold. Seeing this, he decided to throw caution to the wind. Reaching down toward Hermione, he swiftly pulled her blanket from her grasp and put it on his own bed.

"Harry! I..I need that!" Hermione managed to stammer out between her shock and the cold.

"Sure you do," Harry said kindly. "Now, get in."

"W..what?" Hermione said in shock.

"Two blankets better than one, right?" Harry said evenly.

"And where will you sleep?" Hermione asked.

"It's a big enough bed," Harry replied.

"And a small enough Harry," Hermione said to herself, accepting Harry's offer.

"Er...yeah, that too," Harry replied, chuckling.

"You get in first, and I'll climb in after you," Hermione offered.

"Nah...better the other way around, that way, if someone falls out, it's not you," Harry explained. Harry waited for Hermione to climb into his bed before squeezing in next to her. Harry felt like he was going to fall out of the bed, but he said nothing.

"Enough room, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Plenty," Harry lied, not wanting Hermione to feel bad.

"Yeah right," Hermione retorted, looking at Harry as he said this. "Look, I can move over a bit, here," Hermione said, shuffling over to create more room for Harry. Harry thankfully moved into the extra space. Soon, both Harry and Hermione were feeling much warmer.

"Who said this was a bad idea?" Hermione said in an accusing tone.

"Do you have any idea what this looks like?" Harry shot back.

"Aw...so noble and prudent," Hermione chided.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"Noble for offering your bed and sleeping on the edge where you could fall off. Prudent for not wanting to be seen," Hermione replied, feeling much warmer. Harry blushed.

"Keep doing that, Harry. You create more body heat that way," Hermione added. Hermione laughed as Harry buried his face in the blankets in embarassment.

Once Harry had pulled his head out of the blankets, Hermione looked right into Harry's eyes and smiled. "Thanks," Hermione said softly.

"No problems, Hermione," Harry replied in a soft voice.

"Harry, am I allowed to ask a stupid question?" Hermione asked.

"I think you just did, but fire away," Harry replied, not believing that anything Hermione would ask could be classified as stupid.

"OK, here goes. What's Harry short for?" Hermione asked, "I've always been curious."

"It's not short for anything," Harry replied, a little too quickly for Hermione's liking.

Hermione poked Harry under the ribs, almost causing him to fall off the bed as he recoiled involuntarily. Hermione held him on the bed, however, and said "Nice try, now what's it really short for?"

"Nothing, really!" Harry insisted.

"Nothing at all? Not Harold?" Hermione suggested, looking for a reaction.

"It's always been Harry," Harry replied.

"OK, I believe you Harry. It's just that Harry is generally short for something. Just like Ginny is short for Virginia," Hermione explained her line of questioning.

"I see," Harry replied.

"Not Henry, either?" Hermione asked, trying her luck.

"No!" Harry replied, sounding a little upset.

"I've struck a nerve, haven't I?" Hermione asked, sensing this.

Hermione knew that she had indeed struck a nerve when there was no reply. There was only one thing to do. Hermione wrapped her arm around Harry and drew him toward her in the tightest hug she was able given her position.

"Feeling better, now?" Hermione asked hopefully. She was relieved when she felt Harry nodding.

"Are you angry with me?" Hermione asked the still silent Harry. Harry remained silent, but answered Hermione by shaking his head.

"There's nothing a good hug can't fix, now is there?" Hermione said to herself softly.

As Harry fell asleep in her arms, the feeling of annoyance ebbing away that she sensed from Harry's direction told Hermione that Harry really wouldn't be angry with her in the morning. After a short while, Hermione felt Harry's body relax and go limp, signalling to her that Harry had fallen asleep. Disentangling herself from Harry, Hermione prepared to go to sleep herself, thinking about how different Harry looked without his glasses on, and how calm he looked as he slept.

The first thing Hermione realised when she woke up was that Harry was no longer beside her. Opening her eyes slowly, Hermione saw Harry pacing anxiously up and down the room, obviously upset and agitated about something. Eventually, Hermione watched Harry sit down on the chair in his room, run his fingers through his hair in a look that clearly read 'What have I done?'

Harry looked over at Hermione, and, realising that she was awake, gave her a nervous look, the same as when Harry was waiting to be shouted at by Professor Snape.

"Sorry about last night," Harry said softly.

Hermione smiled at Harry, who had walked closer to her as he spoke. Hermione wondered whether Harry gave new meaning to the words 'infinitely forgiving' or if he knew the meaning of the word 'grudge'. Harry did get annoyed and angry sometimes, but after an argument, Harry was also the one who tried to repair the damage as best he could. Hermione's stomach gave a guilty turn when she remembered the times when Harry had to witness, and was brought into arguments between herself and Ron. She remembered one time when Harry had tried to step in and calm things down in a particularly heated argument, both Ron and herself had shouted at him, demanding that he 'mind his own business'. Harry had walked away, head bowed, and slumped down on the ground underneath a tree with a defeated look on his face, staring into space. Seeing his two best friends tearing each other apart had hurt him deeply, and he had not wanted to choose between them. Colin, without Harry knowing, had taken a picture of Harry in this position, but he gave it to Hermione saying that it would probably be best if she kept it. The photo was intriguing, and like all of Colin's camerawork, was well taken. It had now become one of Hermione's most treasured possessions, a sobering reminder that in the past, she had taken Harry's friendship for granted. Hermione vowed silently that she would never do so again.

Instead of giving a verbal answer, Hermione offered her hand. She hoped that Harry would take it.

Harry did. Hermione then spoke up.

"I'm sorry as well. Let's just forget this ever happened, alright?"

"No objections here," Harry replied.

"Are you still angry with me?" Hermione asked. Harry smiled and shook his head. Hermione couldn't help noting that Harry was back to his usual self, taking the blame for something he didn't do, and adopting other peoples' problems and making them his own. Hermione wasn't going to let Harry do that, not to her anyway. Pulling Harry closer toward her, she eventually managed to coax Harry into sitting on the side of the bed. As soon as Harry was close enough, however, Hermione pulled him toward her abruptly and clapped her hand over his mouth. The emerald green eyes on the smaller black haired boy widened with shock. "I'm not going to attack you, Harry. But I do want you to answer a question for me. Understand?"

Harry, still shaken by the abruptness of Hermione's approach nodded. Hermione let go of Harry, and he sat still looking at her apprehensively.

"What happened last night?" Hermione asked gently.

Harry sighed, he'd been expecting this question since he woke up. "I don't know. You asked a perfectly legitimate question, and something inside me just let go. It felt like you didn't believe that I wasn't...well...me."

"Nobody likes to have their identity questioned, Harry," Hermione replied.

"I still shouldn't have been upset at you, though," Harry said, sounding genuinely sorry.

"I shouldn't have asked the question," Hermione replied.

It was an old trick that Hermione had learnt from somewhere. If you caught anyone by surprise, they would, momentarily at least, let their guard down. This method, Hermione realised, worked better on Harry than truth potion. Sometimes, the Muggle way really was better.

Hermione pulled herself out of bed, and stood up next to Harry. "Want to have breakfast, Harry?" Hermione asked, changing the subject tactfully. Harry agreed, and the two walked down the stairs to get breakfast, their differences already put aside.

The kitchen was exactly as Harry and Hermione had expected it to be, except for one thing. Sitting on the floor was a very large, familiar, black dog.

"Snuffles!" Harry exclaimed, seeing his godfather.

"None other," Sirius replied after transforming, with a bemused smile on his face. "I feel the need to check on my godson once in a while. I arrived during the night, actually, when you two were already asleep. Imagine what I saw when I poked my head into your room to see if you were awake?"

"Oh dear," Hermione said.

"It wasn't what it looked like," Harry explained coolly.

"I'm sure..." Sirius replied with a bemused voice.

"It really wasn't! I mean, we were in the same bed because Hermione was freezing, but we didn't...you know..." Harry seemed lost for words.

Sirius laughed as he watched his godson protest his innocence rather poorly. Looking into Harry's eyes, though, Sirius could tell that Harry was telling the truth. However, Sirius was having too much fun to tell Harry that.

"I was talking to your aunt last night, Harry, and she agrees that you two seem rather...close." Sirius said in a voice that made Harry wince with embarrassment.

"Not THAT close!" Harry exclaimed.

Sirius laughed heartily as he stepped forward and ruffled Harry's hair in an affectionate manner. "Of course you're not. Just having you on...nice to see you're well, though. You too, Hermione."

A thought came to Harry's head. "Sirius, can I ask, what's the deal with all the public appearances in Hogsmeade? I mean, it's great that you can, but aren't you still technically wanted by the ministry?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "It's like this. During the attack on Hogwarts, which occurred when we were away, fighting at Alnwick Castle, dear Peter was seen fighting alongside none other than Voldemort himself. Complete with that silver hand that you said he sports now. So that kind of killed the theory that I murdered Wormtail. Which is all very well except for that idiot Fudge who still wants to capture me. None of the aurors want to, though, so that's good."

"Why does Fudge still want to get you for?" Harry asked.

Sirius grimaced as he replied, "Evading lawful capture."

Harry couldn't believe it. Sirius was a good as a free man, now, the only person questioning his inocence being Cornelius Fudge, whose credibility must have taken a large dive since the very visible re-emergence of Voldemort. The last year and a bit, Sirius had been as good as a father to Harry, and Harry missed him greatly due to his very necessary lengthy disappearances. Those disappearances seemed now to be much less necessary. If someone had hit Harry with a cheering charm at that time, it wouldn't have made a difference.

After breakfast had been eaten, Harry, Hermione and Sirius were still sitting around the table when Sirius seemed to remember something.

"What's wrong, Sirius?" Harry asked, seeing the look on Sirius' face.

"Nothing...I just remembered, I have orders for today," Sirius replied.

"Orders?" Harry asked curiously.

"From your aunt. I've got to take you two into London today," Sirius explained.

"Oh...right," Harry said simply, before excusing himself and going to get changed. Hermione followed him, and within five minutes, they were ready to leave.

Throughout that day, it seemed that Aunt Petunia had sent the three of them to London, but with no specific task to accomplish. Harry had the distinct feeling that he was being watched, but he couldn't see who was doing the watching.

Sirius, walking through Muggle London, was fascinated by things that Harry and Hermione took for granted, especially when it came to two very ordinary things (in Harry and Hermione's mind, anyway). These turned out to be Muggle fast-food and Muggle clothing. Sirius was, however, wise enough to keep his voice down when he remarked on anything he found out of the ordinary.

After a short cross into Diagon Alley to collect, and convert some money, the three spent the rest of the morning wondering around London, explaining things to Sirius. Over lunch, Sirius made the decision that Harry had better get some clothes of his own. Later that day, having looked at what was bought, Harry wished that he had never agreed.

Harry never realised that the simple act of buying some clothes from a department store could be so difficult. During the course of the afternoon, Harry got the distinct impression that Sirius was quite eccentric when it came to bright, clashing colours. Harry on the other hand, having refused to wear a bright purple jacket, picked out much more conservative costume, which annoyed Sirius to no end. Hermione ended up playing negotiator all afternoon, choosing the middle ground. Personally, Hermione agreed that Harry should pick out some brighter clothes, but that bright purple jacket was going a little too far. Eventually, it was decided that they had done enough for one day, having bought the set of clothing they had sought to buy at lunch. Everyone involved had agreed on the clothes, eventually, and they weren't TOO eccentric. Still, blue trousers, a green jacket and a red beanie (winter was coming) wasn't exactly the exact definition of bland. They had also bought a nice pair of gloves and boots for Harry, for when winter set in.

Once they arrived back at Privet Drive, Aunt Petunia was waiting for them inside, asking how their day was. Seeing the clothes that they had bought for Harry, Aunt Petunia, along with Sirius and Hermione, insisted on Harry wearing them to see how he looked. Eventually, Harry gave in, and went upstairs to his room to get changed. Harry was eternally grateful for the fact that he didn't have a Wizard mirror in his room, he didn't want to know what it would have said then. Harry reckoned that he looked ludicrous enough without anyone else having to tell him so. Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by a knocking on his door.

"Harry, are you finished yet?" Hermione asked with an expectant voice.

"Yes, these clothes are quite...eccentric," Harry replied. Hermione opened the door and looked inside at Harry. The clothes weren't that bad, really, but she would have to get used to Harry wearing such bright costume. The beanie covered Harry's messy hair and scar, which meant that Harry was much less recognisable to people who didn't know him.

"Oh come on..." Hermione started, before grabbing Harry's arm and basically pulling him downstairs. Once they arrived, Aunt Petunia cast a critical eye over Harry, finally saying "Not bad."

Harry had to admit that he liked the boots, gloves and beanie, and although he would have rathered his jacket and trousers to be a slightly duller colour, they were pretty comfortable, and most importantly, they fit.

"Harry looks a bit like a full-size garden gnome, actually," Aunt Petunia added after a period of silence.

"That's really reassuring!" Harry said in an exasperated voice, looking at one of the gnomes in the garden at Privet Drive.

"I should hope not!" Sirius exclaimed at almost the same time.

Harry and Hermione both chuckled, realising that Sirius was thinking of gnomes found in wizarding gardens, which looked nothing like Santa Claus.

"I think she meant one of those," Hermione explained to Sirius, pointing at one of the little gnomes in the garden.

Sirius looked at the little statue, and said "Oh. That's not so bad, then."

Sirius drew his wand out of his pocket, and pointing it at Harry without him realising, muttered "Reducio!"

Harry spun around as he felt himself shrinking. "Ahhh! What have you done?" Harry shouted in surprise. Sirius, Aunt Petunia and Hermione started laughing as Sirius stopped shrinking Harry when he was approximately garden-gnome size.

"Just be careful you don't step on him!" Sirius said, chuckling. Hermione stooped over and scooped Harry off the floor, placing him on the table.

"This isn't funny," Harry muttered to himself as he was placed on the table. A byproduct of him being shrunk was that his voice didn't carry much.

"You know, he looks rather cute like that," Aunt Petunia said, stifling another chuckle.

"I could leave him like that, if you wanted," Sirius suggested. Aunt Petunia, Sirius and Hermione burst into laughter at the look of absolute horror on Harry's face.

"You wouldn't!" Harry exclaimed loudly enough for the others in the room to hear.

"Really? Why not?" Sirius asked playfully. Harry groaned inwardly.

"Because...because...I don't know!" Harry protested.

"That's not a very good reason, Harry," Hermione replied, picking Harry up from the table. Harry wriggled around in her grip, uncomfortable with being picked up and carried around. "Having fun?"

"Oh, plenty," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Oh...you're hopeless!" Hermione exclaimed, as she ran her finger gently over Harry's face. Harry smiled.

After Harry spent the best part of the next hour in miniture form, Sirius finally relented to Harry's wishes and inflated him back to normal size, despite Aunt Petunia's protests. After re-adjusting to a world which now seemed normal size, Harry turned to Sirius and muttered "Thanks."

"No problems, Harry," Sirius replied. "Want to grow a little, now?" Sirius asked mischeviously.

Harry blanched and backed away. "No thanks, I think I like being this size, thanks all the same, Sirius."

Sirius sighed and put his wand away. "Maybe another time."

The rest of the time spent at Privet Drive was uneventful, punctuated by visits from Sirius, letters sent to and received by Ron, and, largely due to Hermione's insistence, Halloween. Harry wasn't too keen on Halloween, but when Sirius and Professor Lupin arrived that night, Harry was amongst those who he considered his closest friends. On Halloween night, it occurred to Harry that he had almost as many close friends from his father's generation as he did from his own.

Largely, though, the time was spent in anticipation of one event, that being the notice that Hogwarts was safe to return to. Harry and Hermione both missed the castle, and Ron greatly, and they thought that they would see neither until the confirmation came. Harry was eternally grateful for Hermione's presence at Privet Drive, which mitigated his boredom somewhat. Harry and Hermione also managed to annoy each other to no end using the mind link. Once they managed to show Ron how it worked, they used it to communicate with him as well. It seemed that as time went on, more and more of the students had been evacuated from Hogsmeade, and tensions around the town were running high. Over the next few weeks, Ron kept Harry and Hermione informed at what was happening in Hogsmeade through the link and letters, until he himself left Hogsmeade for the Burrow with Ginny and the twins. Visits to the Burrow and visits from Ron kept Harry and Hermione occupied, but, mainly, there was nothing to do but wait.