Harry anxiously waited in the park that was close to his home on Privet Drive. While he sat on the swings, waiting, he was incredibly aware of how alone he was, and how wrong it felt. Not only was Hermione not with him, but neither was Kex.
Today was Harry's birthday, and Harry was waiting for his Order escort to take him to the Weasley's. The day after Harry had received the letter, he had sent Hedwig with a letter to Remus asking if he would be his escort. Harry had gone through great lengths to make sure that Dumbledore wouldn't be the one to stop by the Dursley's.
The four friends agreed, much to their familiar's displeasure, that it was too risky to have them at the party, so they were staying at Longbottom Manor. Dobby and Winky had taken the trunk to Longbottom Manor where Harry, Hermione and Luna were going to be headed after the party. All that was left to do was attend the party.
The tricky part about getting to the Weasley's while making sure that no one knew about Harry's titles or the attack on Hermione. Having Hermione at Privet Drive would raise too many questions, and she couldn't be picked up at her old house either. The best solution that they could come up with was to have her be picked up at Flourish and Botts. So that morning, Winky had taken Hermione to the bookstore while Harry waited at the playground.
Harry waited by himself in the playground until there was a loud 'pop' in the corner of the playground. He turned around and smiled when he saw Remus Lupin brushing off his shaggy robes and walking towards Harry with his wand raised.
"Why was the Whomping Willow planted during my first year at Hogwarts?" he asked.
"To keep out students when you were transformed," Harry responded easily. "How did I learn how to cast a Patronus?"
"By using a Boggart which took on the form of a Dementor," Remus responded with a smile while he lowered his wand.
The two exchanged a brief hug before they pulled away.
"Hello Harry, happy birthday," Remus said happily.
"Thanks Remus," Harry responded.
Remus looked at Harry's more physical physique and raised an eyebrow. "Either you've had one heck of a growth spurt, or you've been working out."
Harry laughed. "A little bit of both."
Remus laughed as well and beckoned with his hand for Harry to follow him to the corner of the playground, which was reasonably well hid. "Why didn't you just have me come to your house?"
"The playground is within the boundaries of the blood wards, and this way I won't have the Dursleys yelling at me on my birthday," Harry explained simply.
"Alright then," Remus said with a shrug.
The werewolf gripped Harry's arm tightly and apparated the two of them to the party.
They landed just on the outskirts of the Weasley home protections. Harry could sense a large number of protection charms, but they were feeble compared to the protections on his trunk or Longbottom Manor.
"Who cast the protection charms?" Harry asked Remus.
Remus smiled reassuringly at Harry. "Dumbledore himself, so there's no need to worry about any Death Eater attacks during your party. Are you sure that you don't want to spend the remainder of the holiday here?"
Harry smiled grimly; he had expected everyone to try to talk him into staying here. "I promised Neville, and I don't go back on my word if I can help it."
Remus nodded approvingly. "Then prepare yourself to talk down Molly, she's determined to talk you out of it. I do believe she's planning on cornering Neville and Augusta when they arrive. By the way, it was very thoughtful of you to suggest that you and Neville celebrate your birthdays with one party."
"Neville's my friend," Harry said with a knowing smile. "And I don't let my friends celebrate alone."
They headed towards the Burrow and Harry could make out a large amount of people waiting outside, barely noticeable in all of the decorations. As soon as they made it into the yard, Harry was engulfed in a hug by a fiery redhead. It took him a second to realize that it was Ginny.
"Happy birthday Harry," Ginny said with a slightly flirtatious smile.
It was the first time that Harry had seen her since he had learned about the marriage contract, and he felt himself torn between angry and doubtful. He had no proof that Ginny knew anything about the contract, but when he looked in Ginny's flirty eyes, he felt a knot in his stomach as he realized that she knew.
"Hi Ginny," Harry said as happily as he could.
Ginny beamed and grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him to the house. Standing outside amongst all the decorations were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Fred, George, Tonks, Minerva and Hagrid. They were all beaming and waving at Harry excitedly.
Molly broke away from the group and engulfed Harry in a bone crushing hug. "Harry dear, happy birthday," she said in his ear.
When she was done with her hug, she pulled away and inspected Harry with a critical eye. Her forehead wrinkled slightly when she saw that she couldn't comment on Harry's weight, but she quickly put her warm smile back on.
"We were all terribly disappointed when you decided to not spend the remainder of the holiday with us," she said with a pout. "I had already prepared the house for you and made a bed in Ron's room."
Instinctively Harry glanced at his shoulder where Kex normally resided, but was painfully reminded of the pine marten's absence. He would point out that she's trying to guilt trip me, he thought.
"I'm sorry that I won't be staying here," Harry said carefully. "But I promised to help Neville with his project and I'm looking forward to it, Herbology is not my best subject and I might learn something."
Mrs. Weasley frowned but didn't say anything. Instead she gently pushed Harry towards Ginny, who grabbed Harry's arm, and led the two of them to the group of people. Harry was scanning the crowd for Hermione, Neville and Luna when the twins pulled him aside and thrust a large box in his hands.
"Happy," began Fred.
"Birthday," continued George.
"Harry," they finished together.
Harry grinned skeptically. He was still unsure of whether or not the twins were in fact his friends or if they were after his money.
I guess I should give them a chance, Harry thought. Ron and Ginny are always the first to feel jealous, but never them. They deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Fred and George had large grins on their faces. "We hope that you'll stop by our shop after your stay at Neville's, but until you do we thought we'd give you our latest merchandise for your birthday as a little preview," Fred said happily.
Harry looked into the box and smiled at the large assortment of merchandise. "Thanks guys," he said sincerely. "I can't wait to try these out."
The twins' grins widened. Harry quickly put the box on the table that contained the rest of his presents and began mingling with the rest of the people at the party. There was one tense moment when Ron started berating him for wanting to stay at Neville's when Harry felt like he would lose his cool, but he managed to calm down.
Neville arrived ten minutes later with Augusta and Luna. He had a big smile on his face and he was blushing slightly. Harry noticed that the birthday cheers that Neville got weren't as warm and welcoming as his were, and it irritated him.
"Happy birthday Harry," Neville and Luna said when they came up to him.
"Everything's ready for our project," Neville said loudly for others to hear. "I've got a bunch of different plant pods and I have them all ready to go. I can't wait to see if we can get them to coexist together in a more confined area."
Harry laughed. Leave it to Neville to get excited about a project that they weren't even going to do. Suddenly he stopped laughing and he looked around. Besides the painful absence of the familiars, there was another hole.
"Where's Hermione?" he whispered to Neville and Luna. "She should be here by now."
Luna looked around and frowned slightly. "Wasn't Tonks going to pick her up?"
Harry's eyes widened and quickly went to the clumsy Auror with bubblegum-pink hair who was talking to Remus. "That's what Hermione said," he mumbled fearfully.
Before Harry could walk over to Tonks, Ron shouldered his way through Neville and Luna and threw his arm around Harry's shoulders.
"So how's it feel to finally be sixteen?" Ron asked obnoxiously.
Harry glared at the redhead and pushed the arm off of his shoulder. "It feels great," he said sarcastically. "Hey Ron, do you know where Hermione is?"
Ron glared at Harry. "Why do you care?"
"I care," Harry spat, losing his cool. "Because she's my best friend."
"And what am I?" Ron demanded.
Neville quickly put his hand on Harry's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "He didn't mean anything by it Ron," Neville said with a small smile. "Harry just wants Hermione to be here when we celebrate our birthdays."
Ron sneered at Neville. "That's right; you couldn't find anyone to come to your own party so you decided to crash Harry's."
This time it was Neville's turn to get angry and it was Luna's touch that calmed him down. Luna grabbed Neville's hand with her delicate one and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Your manners certainly do lack Ronald," she said with a voice as cold as her gray eyes. "That's no way to talk to someone on their birthday."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Whatever, anyway I don't know where Hermione is. All I know is that Dumbledore told Tonks that he would pick her up."
Harry shared an alarmed glance with Neville and Luna. "Why did Dumbledore offer to pick up Hermione?" he asked faintly.
"Beats me," Ron said with a shrug. "Personally I think he's a nutter to offer to pick her up in a bookstore. That girl is such a bookworm that it's ridiculous."
Before Harry could retaliate Ron walked over to the table where Harry's and Neville's were being piled and began inspecting the box that contained the products that the twins had given Harry.
"Why would Dumbledore offer to get Hermione?" he asked Neville and Luna desperately.
The two shook their heads sadly. "I don't know Harry," Neville said sadly. "We could ask Tonks."
Harry nodded and the three friends walked over to Remus and Tonks. The Auror was in the middle of telling a story when they approached her.
"Wotcher Harry," Tonks said cheerfully. "Happy birthday!"
"Thanks Tonks," Harry said a little hurriedly. "Do you know where Hermione is?"
Tonks shared a knowing grin with Remus. "Dumbledore offered to pick her up. He said that there was something that he wanted to talk to her about. I'm sure that she'll be here soon."
Harry shared another alarmed glance with Neville and Luna. Shortly after they had begun training, Hermione had told them everything that had happened to the both of them, so now Neville and Luna fully understood how serious Dumbledore's sudden interest in Hermione was.
"We can only wait for them to show up," Neville whispered worriedly.
Harry nodded and they excused themselves from Tonks and Remus. They began heading to talk to Hagrid when there was a 'pop' at the edge of the yard. Harry turned his head so fast that he almost got whiplash.
Walking towards the party was a smiling Dumbledore and a slightly subdued Hermione. It took all of Harry's willpower to not run over to her and get her away from Dumbledore. Instead he gave Dumbledore the warmest smile that he could manage.
"Hello Professor," he said with fake cheerfulness.
"Happy birthday Harry my boy," Dumbledore said with a slight twinkle in his eye. He dug his hand in his robes and pulled out a small, wrapped present. "I do hope that you enjoy the gift that I got you. It should prove to be very useful during the upcoming war."
Harry was barely listening to Dumbledore; he was looking at Hermione's face. Her face was looking pale and her eyes were a little distant. Harry gritted his teeth and again resisted the urge to pull her away from the manipulative old man.
Instead he turned his attention back to Dumbledore and accepted the gift. "Thank you Professor," he said, as happy as he could
He opened the gift and found himself holding an ancient-looking coin that was attached to an equally ancient-looking chain.
"That is an emergency portkey," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "If you are ever in trouble, you merely tap your wand to the coin and the portkey will take you straight to me. I put some of my own magic in the coin so I will be the portkey-anchor."
Harry didn't like the feeling of the coin in his hands. It felt dirty. "Thank you Professor," Harry mumbled.
Dumbledore waved off Harry's 'thanks' and walked over to talk to Minerva. As soon as he was out of earshot Harry shoved the coin in his pocket and gently grabbed Hermione's shoulders.
"Hermione are you okay?" he demanded. "Did he do anything to you?"
Hermione stared at Harry for a moment like she couldn't figure out who he was. After a second she blinked several times and she sagged slightly. Harry immediately went to her side and grabbed her waist to support her.
"What did he do?" Harry asked his voice dangerous.
"I think he tried to put a Confundus Charm on me," Hermione mumbled. "All I remember is feeling very confused about our friendship and whether or not you were my friend. I don't know why it didn't work on me, but it drained my energy."
Harry felt his anger begin to boil in his veins. "How dare he," he growled. "How dare he."
Hermione shrugged and gently pushed Harry away. "I'm okay, just tired."
Luna immediately stepped forward and grabbed Hermione's arm. "If Dumbledore cast a Confundus Charm on you, then you should act like it worked or else he might try it again. You'll have to act awkward around Harry for the rest of the party."
Hermione nodded in understanding and let Luna lead her to one of the tables that was covered with food with Harry and Neville in tow. As soon as Hermione was seated, Mrs. Weasley came hurrying over.
"Hermione dear," she fussed. "So happy you could come. I was disappointed when I heard that you were going away with your parents for the rest of the holiday. It seems that my house will be emptier than ever this year. Are you feeling alright dear? You're a little pale."
"I'm fine Mrs. Weasley," Hermione mumbled. "I'm just tired."
Mrs. Weasley gave a little 'tut' and began filling up a plate of food for Hermione. "You need to eat something. You're too skinny for a girl your age."
Hermione didn't protest she just gave Mrs. Weasley a small smile. "Thanks Mrs. Weasley."
The older woman walked away without another word. Hermione watched her go with a sad expression.
"She keeps trying to set me up with Ron," she told Luna. "When I was here earlier during the holiday, she kept hinting about what a cute couple Ron and I would make. She also commented multiple times about how I'm too skinny to have kids."
Luna frowned and Harry and Neville scowled. "She wants you to have Ron's kids? You're only sixteen."
Hermione shrugged tiredly and began to pick at the food on the plate that had been made for her.
Harry watched Mrs. Weasley through narrowed eyes. "It's like she and Dumbledore are both trying to keep you away from me."
"I agree," Hermione muttered.
The rest of the party went by too slowly for Harry's taste. Whatever had happened with the Confundus Charm had drained all of Hermione's energy and she could barely keep her eyes open. It didn't help that Dumbledore kept flashing them looks and Hermione had to act like she couldn't stand sitting too close to Harry.
There was an incident when Ron and Ginny decided to join them at their table and blatantly insult Neville and Luna. Even there had been nothing that Harry would've liked more than to hex both of them, but he knew that Neville and Luna were perfectly capable of defending themselves.
For presents, besides the coin that Dumbledore had given him, he got a practice snitch from Ron, a book about famous seekers from Ginny, a bunch of homemade treats from Mrs. Weasley and as another gift Dumbledore had given him an enchanted mirror whose partner resided in his office. The mirror was much larger than the one that Sirius had given him. These gifts were put to one side for Dobby and Winky check for spells or anything suspicious.
From Hagrid he got a book about the different species of dragons, along with a set of dragon miniatures like the miniature Hungarian Horntail that he already owned. From Tonks he got an Auror manual, from Minerva he got a new pair of seeker's gloves which were charmed to never wear out. Hermione, along with Neville and Luna, told Harry that they would give him their gifts later after the party.
His favorite gift though came from Remus. The Marauder had pulled him to the side after everyone had begun to help themselves to cake and handed him a small, battered old journal.
"What's this?" Harry asked curiously. When he opened the old journal he saw that the pages were blank and he was reminded of Riddle's old diary that he had destroyed during his second year.
"This," Remus said in a whisper. "Is the notebook that contains all of the notes that the Marauder's made about magic and Hogwarts. I would normally be against giving this to you, but times are dark and I plan to give you every advantage that I can. My only request is that you don't go looking for trouble or misuse what you learn."
Harry looked at the journal and ran his finger along the spine. "How do I get the journal to show me its contents?"
Remus gave Harry a wolf-like grin. "How do you activate the map? Don't look at it here, wait until you're alone and only show your closest friends. I suggest looking at page 103 first," he finished in a whisper
Remus didn't wait for Harry to respond. He patted Harry on the shoulder and blocked Harry from everyone else's view while Harry secured the journal in his pocket. Once the journal was out of sight, they headed back to the rest of the group.
When they got close to the rest of the group Harry heard Dumbledore talk quietly to Augusta. He stood as close to the two as he could and he focused in on what they were saying.
"You cannot take Harry for the rest of the summer," Dumbledore was saying. "He is safest either here or at his home. The Order can offer protection here and you can't offer him the protection that he needs."
Harry cringed when he pictured the look on Augusta's face. He did not want to be in Dumbledore's shoes when Augusta gets angry.
"For your information Albus," Augusta said dangerously. "I live in Longbottom Manor, the main home for the Ancient House of Longbottom. There are protections on my home that go back centuries and have never been breached. I highly doubt that the wards that you have placed on the Weasley's home can even hope to match the protections that my home possesses."
"Harry will be safer here," Dumbledore insisted, a little angrily. "I am his magical guardian, and I say that he is to stay here."
That was the boiling point for Harry. Ignoring the questioning looks that Hermione sent him; he stomped up to Dumbledore and glared at him through his blazing emerald eyes.
"Don't you care what I want?" Harry demanded.
Dumbledore looked at Harry in surprise. "Of course I do Harry, I'm just thinking about your safety. You will be safer here."
Harry shook his head irritably. "I already said that I would spend the rest of the summer at Neville's, and I'm looking forward to it. You have no right to tell me where I am to stay. You may be my magical guardian, but this isn't a magical guardian matter. I got permission from the Dursley's; I don't need your permission. The plans are made."
"You must see reason Harry," Dumbledore insisted. "The Order has been using the Burrow as headquarters, and I have personally set up the wards that protect this place. Are you seriously telling me that you don't wish to spend the remainder of the holiday with your best friend?"
"I love staying here," Harry said through clenched teeth. "But I want to see where Neville lives and I'm looking forward to our project. So please stop trying to get me to stay here, my plans are made and I don't plan on changing them."
Dumbledore looked angry that Harry was defying him. "I only have your best interests at heart," he said a little irritably. "I am sorry that you won't listen to reason, but I can see that I cannot change your mind.
Harry shook his head and returned to the table. His three close friends looked at him in concern, but Harry gave them a reassuring smile.
The rest of the party went by too slowly for Harry's taste. There were multiple attempts by Ron, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley to get him to stay with them, but they all ended with Harry's cold decline. Slowly, everyone started to head back home. After they gave Harry and Neville their last birthday wishes, they left. At Mrs. Weasley's insistence, Harry stayed a little longer to help clean up. He was washing dishes with Ginny when the redhead spoke up.
"I really wish that you would stay," she whispered seductively. "We could spend the rest of the summer getting closer. Wouldn't you like to spend more time with me?"
Harry turned his head away so Ginny wouldn't see him roll his eyes. "I'm getting sick of you guys trying to talk me out of my plans," he growled. "It's not like I won't see you at school." He finished the stack of dishes that he was cleaning and he put them away. Without looking at Ginny he said, "See you at the Hogwarts Express."
He left the stunned girl alone and walked out to the yard. The tables were cleared and all of the decorations were gone. Harry saw that Hermione was leaning against Luna slightly, and he couldn't help but wonder why the Confundus Charm hadn't worked.
"Harry dear are you done with the dishes?" Mrs. Weasley asked from behind him.
Harry turned around and nodded. "I am Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for the party."
Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly. "I do wish that you would stay…"
"I'm not," Harry said coldly, cutting her off. "I'll see you at the Hogwarts Express."
Mrs. Weasley glared at him, but it was gone in a second. "Of course you will dear."
Harry walked up to Hermione and Luna. "Where's Neville and Mrs. Longbottom?" he asked.
"Talking with Dumbledore," Luna answered. "He's trying to convince them one last time."
Harry sighed irritably. He then heard his name being called and he turned around to see Neville and Augusta walking towards them. Augusta looked angry and Neville looked a little bemused.
"What did he do now?" Harry asked angrily.
"Do not fear," Augusta reassured him. "It was just one last attempt. He won't be able to reach you at Longbottom Manor so you will be free of him until school. That is assuming that you get rid of that mirror that he gave you, as well as the coin."
Harry grinned mischievously. "I'm sure that I can get Dobby to put the mirror somewhere appropriate. As for the coin, maybe I'll attach it to a garden gnome or something."
"Don't do that Harry," Hermione scolded him. Even though she was exhausted she could still scold with the best of them. "That coin could lead anyone to Dumbledore if it gets in the wrong hands. I think you should put it somewhere safe where Death Eaters can't get it."
"Alright Mione'," he said. "Let's go."
Augusta grabbed Harry's and Neville's arms firmly. "You have to keep up appearances," she told Harry. "You'll have to endure side-along apparition. I've already sent your gifts to my home." She turned to Luna and Hermione who were glancing at Dumbledore who was talking to Mrs. Weasley. "Are you girls sure that you don't want me to come get you?"
Hermione smiled and shook her head. "I've told people that Luna wants to prove to me that a crumpled horned snorkack exists so I'm going to her house. Because Luna lives close by, we said we would walk and once we're out of sight I'll apparate us to Longbottom Manor."
Augusta nodded and spun on the spot. They landed in the foyer of Longbottom Manor and Harry and Neville were immediately tackled by a blur of fur.
Sage, now a full grown wolf, leapt right on top of Neville and tackled him to the ground before nuzzling him affectionately.
"Don't leave me again," Sage ordered.
The familiar had really grown. His fur was still the same shade as Neville's hair, his build had become more powerful and his muzzle was thick. Harry said that Sage proved that Neville did have a lot of power, and would make a great alpha male.
"I'm sorry I had to leave you behind," Neville said while he hugged the wolf. "I don't like leaving you any more than you like being left."
Sage wagged his tail and continued to but his head into Neville's stomach affectionately.
While Neville and Sage enjoyed their moment, Kex climbed up Harry's leg and settled on Harry's shoulder.
"How'd your party go?" Kex asked.
Harry sighed and reached up to scratch Kex under his chin. "As well as expected. I wish you were there."
Kex nuzzled against Harry's head. "I wish I could have been there too," he agreed.
Once they were done greeting each other, a tired-looking Ivy sprinted up to Harry and began barking angrily.
"She wants to know what happened to Hermione," Kex translated.
Harry bent over and picked up the fennec fox. "Dumbledore tried to cast a Confundus Charm on her, and for some reason it didn't work. Hermione is okay, but whatever happened drained her energy. She should be here soon."
Ivy nodded worriedly.
They didn't wait long. Less than five minutes later there was a loud 'pop' from behind them. Harry turned around and saw Hermione and Luna, and surprisingly Luna's father.
Ivy immediately struggled and tried to get to Hermione. Hermione saw Ivy and instantly went over and scooped up the small fox into a hug.
"I'm okay," she assured her. "I missed you."
Luna pulled her father up to the group and smiled. "I hope you don't mind that I brought my father, he wanted to say goodbye and he wanted to meet the familiars."
"He's welcome here," Augusta assured her.
Luna smiled in reply and looked around the group. She giggled after a moment and held out her arm. "Fay!" she called.
There was an excited screech and a streak of silver and black. Fay had finished growing as well and now had black feathers with silver feathers on her stomach. Her beak was slightly longer and now had a slight hook to it, and her talons were incredibly sharp. She always took care when she perched on Luna, but she wasn't as cautious on anyone else.
Fay perched carefully on Luna's arm and beamed. "I was flying through the halls," she explained. "It's easier to practice sharp turns in here."
Luna giggled and stroked Fay's feathers. "Hopefully you won't feel restricted while we're in the trunk."
After everyone was reunited with their familiars, Augusta led them to the guest room where Harry's trunk was already set up. Neville and Luna had moved in the day before, and now there was nothing left to do except activate the rune and step inside the trunk.
Harry took the gifts that he had received from Hagrid, Minerva, Tonks, the twins and Remus and held them in his arms. The other gifts lay on the floor where they had been dumped.
"You won't need to worry about us," Harry told Augusta. "We have everything that we'll need."
Augusta nodded and turned to Neville. She looked hesitant about something for a moment until she finally pulled Neville into a tight hug.
Neville squeaked in surprise at the hug. His gran was not the hugging type. Once his shock wore off he returned the hug.
"I'll make you proud Gran," he mumbled.
"You already have," Augusta said, beaming.
While Neville was saying his goodbyes to his gran, Luna was hugging her father tightly, like she couldn't bear to let him go.
"You'll do wonderfully my little Luna," her father whispered. "And when you get back you can show me everything that you've learned."
Luna nodded in her father's shirt and shakily pulled herself away. "I love you Daddy," she sniffed.
"And I love you," he said fondly.
Neville and Luna shared one last hug with their loved ones before they walked over to the trunk. They looked slightly intimidated by the trunk, but they determinedly opened the lid and began walking down the stairs. Sage awkwardly climbed in the trunk while Fay flew down the staircase with Hermione following with Ivy in her arms.
Before Harry could move forward to activate the rune, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that it was Luna's father and was shocked to see that there were tears in the man's eyes.
"Luna is everything to me," he started. "I know that she'll be safe with you, but you can't blame a father for worrying."
Harry smiled in understanding. "I won't let anything happen to Luna, and neither will Hermione or Neville. Friends don't let their friends get hurt."
Luna's father nodded emotionally and pulled back.
Harry quickly activated the rune and stepped into the trunk. He gave Augusta and Mr. Lovegood a big smile before he pulled the lid shut. The protection charms activated and the trunk locked. The second training session had begun, and neither of them would be the same when they exited.
chapter 12
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office feeling a mixture of both anger and satisfaction. True, he hadn't been able to talk Harry out of staying with the Longbottom boy, but he had managed to secure a way to keep tabs on them.
The mirror that he had given Harry was very useful. He now had the method to check in on Harry whenever he wanted. And if there was one instant where it looked like Harry was hurt, he could contact the Aurors and take Harry away from Longbottom Manor.
Dumbledore looked at the clock on his wall and smiled slightly. The party had ended ten minutes ago, plenty of time for Harry to make it to Longbottom manor. Even if the mirror wasn't hanging yet, he could still eavesdrop in on the conversations without showing up in the other mirror.
He walked up to the mirror and tapped his wand to the glass. "Spy," he commanded.
The mirror glowed white before a picture began to show. Dumbledore smiled at his own brilliance. It was impressive spellwork to get the mirror to work only one way and still have the other mirror only work the way that it had been intended.
The picture finished forming and Dumbledore felt his face flush in anger. The picture that he was looking at was a very clear view of a kitchen that was filled with house elves working.
"Why is my mirror in a kitchen?" Dumbledore demanded. "Harry was meant to hang it in his bedroom!"
A house elf that was passing by the mirror stopped and looked right at it.
"Excuse me sir," the house elf squeaked. "But those eavesdropping charms do not work on house elves. Mistress Longbottom has given her house elves permission to destroy the mirror if Sir continues to spy and bother Master Neville and his friend Mister Harry."
Dumbledore flushed even more. "Why is the mirror in the kitchen?"
The house elf giggled into her hand. "Mistress Longbottom thought that the mirror looked nice in the kitchen."
"I demand that this mirror be moved into Harry's room," Dumbledore raged.
The house elf immediately stopped giggling and glared at Dumbledore. "Tippy does not serve Mister Dumbledore," she said in a cold tone that Dumbledore hadn't thought possible of an elf. "Tippy serves the Ancient House of Longbottom, and will proudly do anything that her master's ask. And Mistress asked to keep the mirror in the kitchen. Tippy warns you now, if Tippy or any other elf catches you spying on Mistress' home again, Mister will find that his mirror will be moved to a location with a displeasing view."
Without waiting for a reply, Tippy turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Feeling angrier than ever, Dumbledore deactivated the mirror. Fuming, he stomped up to his fireplace and threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fire and stuck his head in the emerald flames.
"Longbottom Manor," he yelled angrily.
Taking care not to inhale any ash, Dumbledore waited to be answered. He saw that he was in a study; Augusta's if he was correct. He frowned irritably when he saw that it was empty.
"Augusta," he called as calmly as he could.
He could faintly hear footsteps outside of the door. He gritted his teeth impatiently until the door finally opened and Augusta walked in.
"My dear lady," he said angrily. "Would you care to tell me why the mirror that I gave Harry is currently hanging in your kitchen?"
Augusta didn't flinch. She straightened her hat and grinned. "Harry thought that it looked good in the kitchen."
"I gave him that mirror so that I could communicate with him," Dumbledore said sharply. "You obviously do not care for his safety, but I do. I insist that the mirror be placed in Harry's room."
Augusta glared at Dumbledore. "You do not order me around Dumbledore," she said quietly. "You will see Harry at school, but until then you will not communicate here. I will ban you from my Floo Network and I will not reveal the location of my home to you."
"Madam," Dumbledore gasped.
Augusta wasn't done. She leaned forward, as far as her old back would go, and sneered at Dumbledore. "I will not be manipulated by you anymore. Harry is safe here, and that is all that you need to know. If you continue to harass me and my family, I will destroy your mirror. Rest assured that hideous coin will not be tossed outside with the garbage. That is all that I will tell you."
Without another word, Augusta stepped back and locked the Floo Network with a wave of her wand. She stood up and brushed off her robes in satisfaction.
"Tippy," she called while she finished locking Dumbledore out of her Floo Network.
The door opened and the small house elf walked in. After bowing down to Augusta, she stood up and smiled. "Tippy finished Mistress' request."
Augusta smiled widely. "So that wretched coin will not be a bother? Dumbledore failed to mention that as long as Harry wore that coin, Dumbledore could activate the portkey himself and bring Harry to him."
Tippy giggled. "Tippy secured the coin around a garden gnome. No bad wizards will be able to use the coin, but if Mister tries to summon Mister Harry then he will get a surprise."
"Good job Tippy," Augusta said while struggling not to laugh. "Hopefully by the time Dumbledore realizes that Harry doesn't possess the coin, they'll be done in the trunk."
After entering the trunk, the first thing that they all did was sit around the dining table to discuss their plans. Hermione had her muggle notebook in front of her and she had a pen poised and ready to take notes.
Harry sat at the head of the table with the journal that Remus had given him sitting in front of him. The journal was open, but Harry was hesitant to activate the revealing charm.
"You might as well do it," Kex said.
Harry nodded sadly. "I know it's just that this is my father's legacy. I'm just nervous."
Kex nodded in understanding. "But think of it this way. You'll be closer to your father than ever. Remus gave this to you for a reason, don't pass it up."
After a couple more deep breaths, Harry tapped his holly wand to the pages. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said clearly.
Immediately ink began to appear on the pages and arranged into words. Harry noticed that the notes seemed to be written by more than one person and seemed to mostly cover Transfiguration and dueling spells.
Hermione, who couldn't resist and started looking over Harry's shoulder, gasped in excitement. "Harry those are some very useful spells and these notes show how to maximize their effects. The Marauders really knew their stuff. I'm worried though, Wormtail is sure to know these tricks as well."
Harry scoffed. "Wormtail is a pitiful wizard. That's why he clung to my dad. Even if Wormtail does know these tricks, I bet that we can easily overpower him. Remus told me to check out page 103, I guess now is as good a time as any."
Taking care not to rip the old pages, Harry continued to flip the pages until he saw a messy 103, scribbled in the corner. Harry read the page and he felt his mouth form a sly grin.
"What does it say Harry?" Hermione asked excitedly.
Harry grinned at her and gently pushed the journal towards her. The girl bent over the table and read the journal. Soon her grin was just as big as Harry's. Ivy climbed onto the table with Hermione and shrugged indifferently.
"We're going to be in here for almost three years," Hermione began excitedly.
"And we know how to process works now," Harry continued.
Hermione began reading through more pages. "It is illegal though," she said a little doubtfully.
Harry scoffed. "The ministry is run by idiots. If it gives us an advantage, I say we go for it."
Neville and Luna watched the exchange in confusion. "What are you guys talking about?" Neville demanded and Sage barked in agreement.
"Sorry guys," Harry laughed. He took the journal from Hermione and passed it down to Neville and Luna.
At the top of page 103, in what they called the Marauder's Handbook, Animagus was written boldly. Neville gawked at the notes, but Luna didn't seem too surprised.
"These are step-by-step instructions on how to become an Animagus," Neville gasped. "Harry, do you realize how dangerous this could be? If we screw it up we could seriously hurt ourselves."
Harry took the journal back and continued to flip through the notes. "Everything they wrote is incredibly detailed. Sirius said that it took them close to three years to do this, but they were figuring it out themselves. If we follow their instructions carefully we should be fine. And since we're going to be training for close to three years, we should be able to accomplish it." He paused and looked at his three friends with a serious expression. "If you guys don't want to do this, that's fine. But, I'm going to use every advantage that I can get."
Neville and Luna exchanged a quick glance. Neville still looked unsure while Luna looked interested.
"I'm going to go for it," Hermione said.
She took the journal from Harry and waved over every page of Animagus notes with her ash wand before waving the wand over the blank pages of her notebook. The notes copied in the notebook and filled up five full pages. When the notes were done copying, Hermione gently tore out the pages and performed another copying charm, making another three copies of the five page notes. When the notes were done copying, she waved her wand again and each pile of notes bound together as if they were tied with an invisible thread.
When Hermione looked pleased with the work, she holstered her wand and handed out the copies and gave Harry the original.
"This way we can each look over the process without having to bother you," she explained. "I charmed the pages so that they won't tear and they can't be separated."
Harry beamed at Hermione. "That's great. So I guess we should come up with a schedule now so we can start tomorrow."
Hermione nodded in agreement and grabbed her pen. "I think we should still start with physical fitness and weapons."
"Agreed," everyone said.
Neville looked thoughtful. "We should work on more than just fighting. What if we worked on Potions and other more passive forms of magic?"
Hermione looked thoughtful. "The Potter Library does have a vast collection. But we'll have to have a very diverse schedule to accommodate so many different topics. If we do physical training every day of the week and work on topics in the afternoon…"
They waited quietly while Hermione muttered to herself and wrote furiously in her notebook. Every now and then Ivy would bark a comment and Hermione would cross through something. After ten minutes of planning, Hermione looked very pleased. She used the copy charm again and passed out a copy of the schedule to everyone.
Harry groaned a little when he read the schedule. It read:
7-9: Physical Training
9-11: Weapons Training
11-12: Lunch
12-2: Spellwork + Dueling
2-4: Topics
4-5: Animagus
5-6: Dinner
6-7: Occlumency
"Geez Hermione," Harry groaned. "This schedule is even more brutal than Master Zux's was."
Hermione grinned. "We have a lot of work to do. It won't seem too bad after a while. We'll take it easy at first and add on to the workload as we go on."
Luna was looking at the schedule with interest while Neville paled. "What is Topics?" she asked.
"Topics are things that would be covered in school," Hermione said with a grin at Neville. "Monday and Wednesday we'll work on Potions and as much Herbology as we can while in the trunk. Tuesday and Thursday we'll go over Transfiguration and Magical Creatures as much as we can. Friday we can work on whatever we feel needs more work. I feel that these topics are the most important, but I would also like to work on Runes a little bit whenever we can."
Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione. "Are we only working Monday through Friday Mione'?"
Hermione nodded. "We'll need the weekends to fully recover. Does this schedule look alright to you three?"
Everyone nodded and moved to stand up when Sage growled something. Harry and Hermione looked at Neville confusedly.
"He wants to know what they're supposed to do," Neville said. "He has a point. We're going to be working hard to train, why can't they?"
"Can you guys do magic?" Harry asked Kex.
"I'm not sure," Kex admitted. "It's not like we have anyone explaining it to us."
Harry closed his eyes in concentration. "Ragnok said that true familiars can apparate when taken away, but I don't remember what else. It was over seven months ago to me."
"I'll do some research," Hermione promised the familiars. "But until I find anything, you guys can work with us. It would be useful if you could sneak up on an opponent of ours and attack. And when we work on topics, we can activate a training dummy and you guys can practice on that."
Sage looked happy with the answer, as did the other familiars.
Everyone suddenly felt very exhausted after their day. "I vote we go to bed," Harry said. "Tomorrow's the first day of training and I for one don't want to fall asleep in the middle of it. We have a lot of work to do."
Four months into training everyone had improved immensely. The first two weeks of training had been completely brutal for everyone. Dobby and Winky had more on their plate between cleaning and repairing after their training sessions (especially failed potions) and taking care of injuries.
The two elves had managed to add a room to the trunk, which they turned into a potion's lab. The lab had everything that they would need for potions and always made sure that the ingredient pantry was always full. Their current project was making a room with the same properties of a greenhouse for plants for Neville.
Harry and Hermione worked Luna and Neville very hard in physical training. Hermione still preferred swimming to running, but she was trying to do both. During weapons training, when they weren't sparring, everyone worked on their own to further develop their skills.
So far during spellwork, they worked on polishing the spells that they already knew. Thanks to the Marauder's Handbook, they were able to use their spells to their full potential. The handbook was filled with little tips, like how to hold your wand or an easier wand motion.
The familiars worked very hard to get in shape as well. The three mammals would mostly run and swim while Fay flew laps. Out of all of the familiars, Fay had the hardest time. Even though the trunk's apartment was incredibly roomy, it felt very small to her. Fay didn't have enough space to truly work on her flying abilities and her heart ached for the open sky.
Whenever they weren't training they all spent a lot of time in the pool room. It was Fay's favorite room mainly because of the sky. Everyone loved the pool room and it always made Dobby practically burst pride whenever they praised him for all of the hard work that he put into it.
The most difficult thing for the four friends so far was the Animagus training. The very beginning of Animagus training was basically the same as beginning Occlumency. They had to clear their minds, but in Animagus training they also had to tap into their animal instincts. A week into Animagus training, they found that it was easiest to do this while in the pool room. Even though the pool room only mimicked nature, it still made it easier.
The difficult part wasn't clearing their mind; it was tapping into their animal instincts. So far only Hermione had managed to grasp and hold her animal instinct, but that was only for a few minutes at best. Only when they could grasp and hold onto their instinct without losing their grip even for a second, could they move onto the next step.
Because Hermione was already further ahead than anyone else in most of the Topics, she would spend some of the Topic's time in the library. She said that she was researching more about the familiars, but Harry felt that she was hiding something.
The four friends were finishing yet another day of training in the training room when Hermione cleared her throat. Everyone's eyes were on her instantly.
"What is it Hermione?" Harry asked while he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Occlumency training was still difficult for him.
Hermione looked excited. "I finished researching about true familiars."
The familiars immediately matched Hermione's excitement. Only Ivy didn't look surprised, but that was mainly because she had helped with the research.
"What did you find?" Neville asked.
Hermione stood up off of the floor and stretched. "True familiars can't do much magic, they can open doors and unlock things, but other than that they can't do much on their own. But they can be incredibly useful while in battle. When it comes to magic, all they can really do is strengthen our spells. I'm not sure how they do this, but from what I've read the spell's strength can increase by over 50% when aided by a true familiar."
"Brilliant," Harry muttered and Kex nodded in agreement.
"Familiar apparition is something that can only be activated when the need is great," Hermione continued. "I'm not entirely sure about this, but I believe that it happens when the familiar is separated from the wizard and both parties feel the separation so much that their bond brings the familiar back. Do you guys remember how on Harry's birthday, Dumbledore tried to cast a Confundus Charm on me?"
Everyone nodded. Ivy looked furious at the memory and had her lips drawn back in a snarl.
"Well when it happened, I felt a pull coming from Ivy," Hermione continued. "I think it was because I truly needed her and she would have apparated right to me if I hadn't managed to cut her off."
"And nearly gave me a heart attack out of worry," Ivy growled.
Hermione smiled apologetically and picked up Ivy and gave her a hug. "I didn't want Dumbledore to see you. Hopefully I won't have to hide you at school."
"Like I'd let you wander Hogwarts without me," Ivy teased.
Hermione giggled and turned her attention back to the others. "I don't know how to control familiar apparition, but from what I can gather both parties need to feel the need."
"Is there anything else?" Harry asked excitedly. The thought of what Kex could do made Harry fidget in excitement.
"I found something called 'Body Merge," Hermione began carefully. She looked a little nervous as did Ivy. "I personally hate the name, but what it is, is when a witch or wizard literally becomes one with his or her familiar."
Harry looked confused. "How do we do that?"
Hermione sighed and put Ivy down on the floor. "From what I've read there are two parts to Body Merge. The Body Merge is difficult, but if done correctly you can literally merge into your familiar's body. It's kind of like apparating your entire essence into your familiar. I haven't managed to do it yet though."
"You've actually tried this?" Neville gasped.
"We have," Hermione said. She looked at Ivy who nodded. Turning back to her friends, Hermione gave them a half-smile. "We've only managed the first part of the Body Merge. We'll show you."
Before they could stop her, Hermione sat down and closed her eyes in concentration. Harry felt a rush of magic come from her, and before he realized what was happening, Hermione collapsed to the floor in a heap.
"Hermione!" Harry, Neville and Luna cried worriedly.
Harry pulled Hermione into his lap and anxiously checked her heartbeat. It was slow, but it was steady.
"Wake up Hermione," Harry said urgently. He turned to Neville and Luna. "Did something go wrong?" he asked desperately.
He felt something poke him. Looking down he saw that it was Ivy. The fennec fox was grinning painfully and seemed a bit unsteady on her feet.
"What went wrong?" he asked Ivy.
Ivy barked something to Kex, whose eyes widened in surprise.
"She says that nothing went wrong," he translated in awe.
"But then why is Hermione unconscious?" Harry demanded.
Ivy continued to grin, and leapt on Hermione's body. Shakily, she stood on her hind legs with her front paws planted on Harry's chest. Harry looked down at the little fox and gasped when he saw a pair of achingly familiar brown eyes staring at him.
"Hermione?" he asked.
Ivy's grin widened and she nodded enthusiastically.
Neville and Luna crawled over with their familiars following. They gasped when they too recognized those eyes.
"So your spirit merged with Ivy's body, but you can't get your body to follow," Luna concluded.
Ivy nodded again and jumped away from Harry. She closed her eyes in concentration and Harry felt the same magic that Hermione had let off moments before. The little fox became unsteady on her feet and sat down roughly, panting slightly.
In his lap, Harry felt Hermione stir. He looked down and smiled when Hermione opened her eyes and gave him a tired smile. Harry returned the smile, but didn't let go of her.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly.
Hermione blushed and nodded. "It's just a little tiring, but it's much easier than it used to be. Right now all I get is a small headache afterwards."
Without thinking, Harry brushed a gentle hand across her cheek. "Please explain what you're going to do next time," he said gently. "You scared me half to death."
"I will Harry," Hermione responded, just as softly.
They were reminded of everyone's presence when Sage barked in amusement. Blushing like mad, they scrambled away from each other.
Hermione picked up Ivy and gently set her in her lap. "Are you okay Ivy?"
Ivy nodded. "It didn't hurt as much this time," she said happily.
"That's good," Hermione sighed in relief.
Luna made her way so that she was sitting next to Hermione with Fay perched on her shoulder. "So how did you do that?"
Hermione chuckled. "I just sort of followed the bond. I don't really know how to describe it. But I think the reason why I can only move my spirit is because I can't follow the bond completely."
"So you can't really teach us," Luna confirmed.
Hermione smiled sheepishly. "Sorry I can't. But I can tell you this: when you start trying it out do it at night and while you're on your bed. It's very tiring and it hurts to land on the floor night after night."
Luna laughed and looked Fay in the eye. "I would very much like to fly with you Fay. When we perfect the Body Merge and we finish our time in the trunk, we'll go flying together often."
"I can't wait," Fay screeched happily.
Hermione suddenly gasped excitedly. "Oh, I almost forgot! I found a way for us to understand each other's familiars!"
Harry saw Luna flinch slightly in the corner of his eye, but he didn't make anything of it. "That's great! How do we do it?"
"A loyalty oath," Hermione laughed. "A true familiar can only be understood by another wizard if that wizard makes a loyalty oath and the familiar's wizard accepts it."
"It's that easy?" Neville asked in amusement. "We could've done that months ago!"
Harry laughed with Neville. "I'll go first then." He held his alder wand in front of his face. "I, Lord Potter-Black, do hereby swear to be loyal and a true friend, to Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood."
Hermione raised her ash wand. "I, Hermione Granger, do hereby accept Lord Potter-Black's oath of loyalty. I also do swear to be loyal and a true friend to Lord Potter-Black, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood."
Neville accepted Harry's and Hermione's oaths and gave his own. Hermione accepted Neville's oath and Harry accepted both Neville's and Hermione's. After they were done they looked at Luna expectantly.
Luna looked nervous and hesitant to speak. After an encouraging chirp from Fay, she took a deep breath and looked at her three friends with an expression that was more serious than they had ever seen on her.
"Before I accept your oaths and make my own," she began. "I wanted to tell you guys something."
"What is it Luna?" Neville asked curiously.
Luna took another deep breath. "I can already understand your familiars because I can speak to animals, magical or not."
Luna closed her eyes and braced herself for her friends to call her Loony or odd. She was so used to being mercilessly made fun of while at school that she had built up a vague appearance as a form of defense. But, when she was with her true friends her defense came down.
If they reject me, it'll break me, Luna thought despairingly.
After a couple of moments Luna couldn't bear it any longer. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes and saw that everyone was smiling at her. Neville's smile was the biggest and he reached out and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"We already knew," he said gently. "After you said that you understood Fawkes we figured that you could also understand other animals, including our familiars. But, we wanted to wait for you to tell us."
"You guys don't think I'm Loony?" Luna asked in surprise.
Everyone shook their heads. "We think you're Luna," Harry said happily. "A kind, intelligent and somewhat unorthodox witch. But that's what we love about you. You aren't Loony Lovegood, you're our friend."
Luna felt her eyes fill up with tears. "Thank you," she sniffed. Eyes still watering, she accepted their oaths and made her own.
Everyone accepted Luna's oath happily. After the oaths were finished, they all grinned at each other. They looked at their familiars expectantly.
"I think they want us to say something," Kex said in amusement.
"It appears that they do," Ivy chuckled.
"It's about time that they figured out how to do this," Sage laughed loudly.
"It will be nice to be understood by everyone," Fay said clearly.
Everyone laughed in excitement when they realized that the oaths had worked and they could all understand each other. Their bonds had become that much stronger, and nothing could break them.
The biggest achievement that was made during their training was achieved by none other than Neville Longbottom. They had now been training for close to a year, and Neville had managed to transform his hand into a large paw. They started partial transformations after they each were able to grasp their animal instinct, but it was incredibly difficult.
Neville was so happy that he was the first one to achieve partial transformation that he danced around the pool with Sage right behind him. It turned out that Neville had a great energy and sense of humor, but he was always so shy that it never came across. Now that he had spent so much time with his best friends, he finally felt comfortable showing who he really was.
"I did it," Neville chanted excitedly.
"He did it," Sage barked.
Everyone watched the two in amusement. Luna watched Neville fondly, with a small smile on her face.
"He did it," she whispered to Fay, who was perched on her shoulder.
Fay nodded. "He's come a long way," she whispered back.
Harry was laughing in excitement and stood up to stretch. "That's awesome Nev! Now we know that you're a mammal!"
Neville stopped dancing and came running back to the group. There was sweat pouring down his face and he seemed to be struggling to hold onto the partial transformation. The paw was covered in dark brown fur and was twice the size of Sage's paws.
He held his paw out to Luna, who knew more about animals, magical or not, than even Hermione. "Do you have any ideas Luna?"
Luna blushed slightly and took the paw in her hands. "I don't know exactly what it is, but I can tell you that it isn't feline, the toes are too long and the claws don't look like they can retract."
Neville smiled at Luna's touch. Her fingers were so delicate and gentle that even when brushing against fur it sent shivers up his spine. "Well that narrows it down," he said cheerfully.
Their eyes met and for a moment they both found that they couldn't look away. It was only when Fay gently dug her nails into Luna's shoulder when they broke the contact.
"So," Hermione said a little awkwardly. "Congratulations Neville, this means that you're going to be the leader for this step."
Neville beamed in pride. He never thought that he would be the leader in anything except for perhaps Herbology while they were in the trunk.
"It's just taking what we could already do a step further," Neville began to explain. "You just have to go a little deeper…"
That night after everyone had finished with Occlumency they all split up and went to their rooms to rest early. Hermione was changing into her pajamas after a much needed shower when there was a timid knock on her door.
"Hold on," Hermione called while she finished pulling on a simple blue tank-top over her gray sweatpants.
Ivy was sprawled across the bed and lazily opened one eye. "Don't be long," she yawned. "I'm tired."
Hermione rolled her eyes in amusement. "I won't."
She opened the door to find a nervous Luna standing in the hall. "Can I come in?" she asked softly.
"Of course," Hermione said instantly. She stepped to the side and closed the door behind Luna.
She motioned for Luna to sit down. Luna was so distracted that she almost sat on Ivy. The fox gave an indignant grunt and leapt out of the way to play with Fay.
"What's wrong Luna?" Hermione asked gently. Even though the two girls were very different, they were still best friends and it hurt Hermione to see the desperation and confusion on the younger girl's face.
Luna smiled nervously and looked at Hermione pleadingly. "I think I have feelings for Neville."
Hermione smiled and took Luna's hand in her own. "I kind of figured."
Luna gasped in horror and pulled her hand out of Hermione's. "Does that mean that Neville knows?" she asked despairingly while she buried her face in her hands.
"Luna its okay," Hermione said hurriedly. "I don't think he knows."
"I don't think he knows either," Ivy said while she squirmed her way into Hermione's lap. "He doesn't act like he knows."
Fay clumsily walked over to Luna and gently pecked her arm. "It's nothing to be ashamed about. It's completely normal to find a mate."
Luna looked at Fay in alarm. "A mate? I'm just struggling with some feelings; I'm not planning on marrying him or anything."
Fay gave a little bird shrug. "The ways of humans still confuse me. Everything is so much simpler as an animal."
"I bet," Luna mumbled. She looked up at Hermione. "I don't know what to do. What if this ruins our friendship? It would kill me to lose Neville as a friend. What did you do when you realized that you had feelings for Harry?"
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. Beside her Ivy flinched and looked at Luna. "She didn't realize it yet," she explained.
"You didn't realize your feelings for Harry?" Luna asked disbelievingly. "It's more obvious than my feelings for Neville."
"I d-don't," Hermione stuttered. "I don't have feelings for him!"
Luna giggled and put her hand on Hermione's knee reassuringly. "It's rather obvious. You stay as close to him as you possibly can, you turn as red as a tomato whenever you touch, and whenever you look at him you don't look away until someone talks to you."
Hermione shook her head in denial. "He's my best friend."
"Neville's my best friend," Luna pointed out.
"It-it's different," Hermione said. She got off of the bed and began pacing in front of Luna and their familiars. "I do feel safe when I'm around him, my heart beats faster…"
She started to ramble on about her relationship with Harry and how the thought of there being more both excited and terrified her.
While Luna watched Hermione worry over her feelings for Harry, she began to feel better about her feelings for Neville.
Suddenly Hermione stopped pacing and burst into laughter. Luna and Ivy exchanged confused glances before turning back to Hermione.
"Hermione?" Ivy asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"
Hermione turned to face them and started to clutch her stomach. "I'm okay," she choked out. "I just can't believe that I never noticed it before! I'm supposed to be the brightest witch in my year and I can't even realize that I bloody love Harry Potter!"
Luna stared at Hermione for a few moments before she started laughing with her. "We're quite a pair aren't we?"
Hermione nodded and flopped back on her bed. She hugged Ivy close and tried to control her laughing. "It's not like he would ever return my feelings," she said when she finally managed to stop laughing.
"Don't say that!" Luna protested. "You're an amazing person! You're loyal, intelligent, caring, strong and beautiful. There's no reason why he wouldn't love you back." She smiled when she withheld the fact that Harry already returned her feelings. They'll have to figure that out for themselves, she thought.
The two girls talked about their newfound feelings for their best friends for almost an hour. It wasn't until Ivy let out a huge yawn when they remembered just how exhausted they all were.
"I think it's time we went to bed," Luna said while she held her arm out for Fay to perch. "Thank you for listening Hermione."
Hermione laughed. "Thank you for helping me realize what I had been denying."
The two girls laughed again. They bid each other good night and Luna left Hermione and Ivy alone. Once the door was closed, Hermione sighed deeply and collapsed onto her bed. Without a word, she waved her vine wand and the lights in her room turned off and she fell asleep.
Ivy stayed awake and waited until Hermione was fast asleep. When she was sure, she leapt off of the bed and opened the door with a flick of her tail. After making sure that the hallway was deserted, she quietly trotted down the hall, closing the door behind her with another tail flick. When she made it to her destination, she opened the door and cautiously poked her head inside.
"Kex," she whispered, loud enough for the pine marten to hear, but soft enough so Harry wouldn't.
Even in the darkness of the room, Ivy could see Kex lift his head up from the bed. Without a word, he leapt onto the floor and ran over to the door.
"What is it?" he asked tiredly. "I'm exhausted."
Ivy rolled her eyes and motioned with her tail for Kex to follow her into the hallway. The tired familiar obliged and closed the door behind them.
"I think it's time that we give Hermione and Harry a little push," Ivy said bluntly.
Kex's ears twitched in amusement. He knew exactly what Ivy was talking about. "What's bringing this on?"
"Hermione finally realized just how much Harry means to her."
Kex squealed happily. "Harry knows, but he's still in a little denial. What do you want to do?"
Ivy gave a sly fox-grin. "I have a plan."
The next day was a Saturday and everyone had the day off from training. Everyone's favorite way to enjoy their time off was to sleep in and, in Hermione's case, research.
When Hermione woke up at 8, she rubbed her eyes tiredly and instantly went to her wardrobe to change. She preferred to start her day with a good swim when she could, and Saturday was always the best time. Everyone ended up sleeping in until 10, which gave Hermione plenty of time to swim by herself.
Hermione brushed her teeth before throwing on her bikini. Even though they were dead, her parents would never forgive poor dental hygiene. Once she was ready, she grabbed a towel and made a move to grab her ash wand off of the nightstand.
"Just leave it," Ivy said while she shook herself awake.
"I need to glamour my scars," Hermione said sadly. Hiding her scars had become an instinct. She wasn't ready for her friends to see the scars.
"Everyone always sleeps in on Saturday. You need to get used to wearing your scars with pride," Ivy said harshly. "That's what Master Zux always said."
"Why should I be proud of them," Hermione demanded. "One reminds me how I was too weak at the fight in the Department of Mysteries and the other reminds me of how I couldn't save my parents. What do I have to be proud of?"
Ivy looked at Hermione sympathetically. "You survived," she said simply. "You survived to become stronger. If you can't be proud of those scars, then you should wear them as a reminder of why you're fighting."
Hermione stared at Ivy for a few minutes before she sighed and nodded. "Fine, but I'm covering up for the walk down."
"Okay," Ivy said with a little shrug. "I'm going to head on down then."
Hermione looked over her shoulder in confusion. "If you want."
The fox grinned and left the room, closing the door behind her. She sprinted to Harry's room and opened it slightly. Right away, Kex poked his head out from under the covers and winked at her. Ivy nodded and closed the door and sprinted to the pool.
Hermione joined Ivy a minute later wearing a pair of short jean shorts and a blue tank-top over her bikini. She didn't have either of her wands on her and she looked incredibly nervous. Ivy felt guilty about talking her into swimming without a glamour charm, but she knew that it was necessary.
With a heavy sigh, Hermione took off her shorts and slowly took off her tank-top. She stopped taking her shirt off halfway and looked at Ivy desperately.
"I can't do this," she choked. "I feel so hideous; I shouldn't even be wearing a bikini. I'll ask Winky to get me a one piece suit."
"Don't you dare," Ivy growled. She ran up to Hermione and playfully butted her leg with her head. "You're beautiful, and I'm not the only one who thinks so."
Hermione blushed and nodded. With shaky hands, she slowly pulled her shirt off and threw on top of her shorts before she could change her mind. Once her body was exposed, with only her bikini covering her up, she looked down at her abdomen. She choked back a sob when she saw the long scar that had been the result of Dolohov's curse and the smaller scar that had been left behind by the knife.
After she took a few calming breaths, Hermione began walking to the water's edge. She was about to take a step in when the door behind her burst open.
"Hey Hermione!" she heard Harry call.
She was so shocked that she stood frozen to the spot. Hermione grew pale and started shaking slightly.
He's going to see, she thought despairingly. If I go for my clothes he'll see and if I don't turn to face him, he'll know that something's wrong.
"Hermione?" Harry asked worriedly.
When he saw her shaking he instantly jogged up to her and put a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of comfort. Hermione flinched at his touch and Harry pulled his hand away, hurt.
"I'm sorry Mione'," Harry said softly. "Do you need a moment alone?"
Hermione almost said yes, but she felt the words get stuck in her throat. Suddenly, realization hit her so hard that it knocked the wind out of her.
I'm tired of hiding, she thought. I'm so tired of hiding.
"Don't go," Hermione said softly that Harry could barely hear her.
Harry nodded and gently put his hand back on her shoulder. "I won't."
While their humans were focusing on each other, Kex and Ivy quietly left the pool room and closed the door behind them.
The two friends stood there in silence for a few moments while Hermione collected herself. Finally she took in a shuddering breath and looked over her shoulder to look Harry in the eye.
"I've been hiding," she admitted softly.
"Hiding what?" Harry asked gently.
Slowly, she turned around with her eyes closed shut. Harry gasped in horror when he saw the long scar that went from her shoulder to her hip. He knew that the knife would leave a scar, but it shouldn't have been that long.
"Your knife wound left that?" Harry gasped.
Hermione looked puzzled for a moment before she realized what he was talking about. "This smaller scar," she said while she pointed at it, "is from the knife. This scar," she said while she traced the long scar with a trembling finger, "is from Dolohov's curse."
Harry felt his heart skip a beat. "I d-didn't know," he stuttered shamefully. "Why did you hide it?"
Hermione hastily tried to wipe away the falling tears. "Because it's hideous," she cried. "I'm hideous."
Harry immediately scowled slightly and pulled Hermione into a hug. The girl squeaked in surprise before she began crying into his shoulder. Harry gently rubbed her back and whispered comforting words into her ear.
"You're not hideous," he whispered over and over. "That scar just shows me how loyal and true a friend you are. You're not hideous."
Hermione shook her head. "I am. It's always going to be there, taunting me, reminding me of how I was too weak."
"Weak?" Harry asked, unsure he had heard correctly. "Mione' you're the strongest person I know!"
"I am?" Hermione choked out.
Harry smiled and wiped away her tears with his thumb. "Are you kidding? Not only are you an amazing witch, you're also an amazing person. You're the most important person in my life."
Hermione smiled and leaned her face into Harry's hand. Harry felt his heart start to race. Gulping hard, he gently caressed her face.
Her skin is so soft, Harry thought. I can't believe how soft.
While he looked into her anxious brown eyes, Harry felt like he couldn't look away. Holding her felt right, and seeing the hurt on her face, hurt him too. He touched his forehead to hers and quietly inhaled the scent of her hair. Hermione took in a sharp breath and Harry was afraid that he had gone too far when Hermione lifted her hand and traced Harry's lightning-bolt scar with a delicate finger.
Harry smiled tentatively and grabbed Hermione's hand in his. The spark that he felt when he touched her, the same spark that made him uncomfortable when he first felt it, now felt extremely comforting. It felt right.
At that moment, Harry ignored the warnings that were shouting in his head and listened to his heart. He lifted her chin up with his finger and slowly leaned in. He was past the point of no return, now he just wanted to act.
Their lips met, and instantly they both felt like their whole bodies were on fire. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, but she returned the kiss. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck while he wrapped his arms around her waist. At first their kiss was shy, neither of them wanting to push the other. But, then Hermione slowly deepened the kiss. Harry was more than happy to oblige.
When they came up for air they both gasped in pain. It physically hurt them to be apart. Within seconds, they were kissing again.
After they kissed for another minute, Hermione's mind finally ruled over her body. She stopped the kiss and gently pushed Harry away. It broke her heart to see the hurt in Harry's eyes, but she had to stop before they went too far.
"Harry," she whispered. "What was that?"
Harry smiled and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. "That was me, doing what I've wanted to do for a long time."
Hermione blushed and her breath quickened. "You've wanted to kiss me? Why?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Harry laughed. "You're amazing Mione', I'm just sorry that it took me so long to realize just how amazing. I'm sorry that I pushed myself on you though," he said softly. "I just couldn't stop myself. If you don't return my feelings, I perfectly understand."
Hermione's eyes suddenly filled with tears again and she started crying.
"Oh God," Harry gasped. "Please don't cry Mione', I understand, you don't like me that way."
Hermione shook her head irritably and she looked Harry in the eye. "I'm so stupid."
"Why are you stupid?" Harry asked.
Hermione smiled and kissed Harry softly on the lips. "If I had realized sooner we could have been doing this for much longer."
Harry kissed her back. "Realized what?" he whispered.
Chocolate brown eyes met emerald. Both colors were filled with so much happiness and warmth that it could melt the coldest heart.
"Realized that I love you," Hermione whispered in his ear.
Harry's heart instantly filled up with so much warmth that he thought that it would burst. "I love you too."