Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Returning to Hogwarts	By : TheSlytherinPhoenix Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 56088 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS AND DO NOT MAKE ANY MONEY OFF OF THE STORIES. I SIMPLY LOVE TO WRITE FANFICS IN THE POTTERVERSE CAUSE THEY ARE FUN AND ENJOYABLE TO ME. THIS IS SIMPLY FOR JOY AND PEOPLE TO READ FOR FUN.

Chapter List
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Hermione sat on her bed staring at the closed door, her mind was now catching up fully and everything that had happened was crashing in around her. She remembered the first time Ronald had tried to wake her from her night terrors, it had been the very opposite of what she had just experienced with Harry.
Ron had ended up with a busted lip and called her a lunatic, he had been so enraged with her when she finally woke up that she had never slept over at his house again even though they were together for years. His one reaction had made it so she hid this particular problem from everyone, but now that Harry knew- had actually seen it…
Her mind snapped into focus as she remembered when Ron had told her that she had screamed Harry’s name before she was able to be woken up by him, she had explained it was the memory of Nagini attacking them when Ron had left in her nightmare when really it hadn’t been that at all and now she was almost certain she had screamed for him again. Would he ask her? Would she have to lie to him about it as well? Would she even lie? Harry was the one person she had never willingly lied to. But she did have her secrets- Secrets! “Dress warmly?” she said to the closed door, “But it isn’t THAT cold out yet.” Logic always won, even in her humiliation.
After digging through her trunk she finally found a light blue crocheted sweater that was almost too big for her but was her warmest layer without being an actual winter coat. Dark jeans and boots that had tan fur lining the outer edge of the tops was her final decisions because she had no idea what she was walking into, so she prepared for any element- ever the thorough Granger! She left her room, a quick flick of her wand had the bed making itself before she tucked it away in her back pocket so she could braid her hair in a thick braid as she walked down stairs. “Harry, where are we going?” Maybe she could pretend like he hadn’t just been pinning her down on her floor, even though she knew that moment would stick with her for many reasons.
When Harry heard her voice he turned around from where he had been standing, he had made it all the way to the fireplace hearth before he had put enough distance between them that he wasn’t tempted to march back up the stairs after cleaning his shirt with his wand. He had even placed a hand on the cold stone to assure himself that he was going to stand there and pretend to enjoy the warmth of the fire lighting the living quarters. She had been faster at getting ready than he thought, not even ten minutes so it wasn’t nearly enough time to fully compose himself but he was able to pretend otherwise in the dim light. “To my home.” He smiled at her, watching her face as she narrowed her eyes.
“I have seen your house Harry. Grimwauld place can’t be that different than when I was there last.” She had tied off her braid and crossed her arms over her chest, determined she was right.
“I am not talking about Grimwauld place, ‘Mione.” He was looking like the cat that ate the canary now, further making Hermione wonder just what in the world he was talking about.
“Then what-” she started, but Harry interrupted her.
“Come on.” He didn’t give her a chance to argue as he pulled a thick red sweater on over his head, instead he strolled out of the room and through the opening portrait; she silently noted that he could have given Lockhart a run for his money with that stride.
She hurried to catch up with him, waving at her portrait as she left, and began trying to guess where they were going but he would shake his head at each guess. After they got outside her final question made him stop, “How are we getting there?”
Harry looked down at her then, wanting to commit her next reaction to memory. “We fly of course.” He wasn’t let down, she had gone from curious to panicking as she really looked around and noticed they were on their way to the Quidditch field.
“But I don’t like flying, Harry!” Her voice had a higher tone now, an edge of worry. “I don’t even own a broom!”
Harry smirked, this was even more perfect now. He had wondered if she had one, but now this would give him the excuse he never had to be close to her. “You can ride on mine with me. No big deal.” He was walking again, refusing to let her logic her way out of the situation. “My broom is in the coaches office.” He flicked his wand and held out his hand, it only took a minute for the broom to reach him.
“That can’t be safe!” she was still walking up to him as he mounted his broom.
“It is.” He casually responded.
“What if I fall!” she looked at his outstretched hand.
“I can catch a snitch in the rain, I imagine I could catch you too.” His hand did not move.
“Harry, you CAN’T be serious?” but he continued to wait for her to take his hand.
“Of course. I won’t drop you, ‘Mione. Trust me.” Hermione wanted to flat out say no, to remind him that she could disapparate if he would only tell her where they were going! But it was Harry, and the way he smiled at her would forever be the boy smiling as she made her way down the great hall after being cured of her petrification in second year. She had no idea what she was thinking, but she tentatively took his hand as their eyes met and then she was flying.
He had thought she was going to go inside and grab a spare broom, he was almost sure of it as she hesitated before reaching for him. He couldn’t believe it honestly, but he didn’t wait for her to come to her senses and be brilliant, instead he kicked off the ground as he pulled her onto the broom in front of him. Had she been a taller woman or any bigger than the petite beauty she had become the position would not have worked, but she was able to tuck into him perfectly without being in the way for him to maneuver the broom.
She had sucked in a gasp as they took off, his broom being the latest model that usually only professional athletes could get their hands on but thanks to Viktor he was able to as well which meant she could hardly breathe in her panic at their speed. She refused to look around as they shot through the air, “It really is beautiful, you should look.” He would try and she would shake her head and tighten her hands into his shirt, his chuckles were heard by her only because she was pressed so tightly to him.
She was terrified, but not like she usually was. The smell of Harry all around her was enough to calm her nerves, the way that his warmth seemed to spread to her after a few minutes of flying was a comfort in the air where all she could feel was endless panic. She had only even flown on her own besides when Buckbeak had helped them save Sirius and being on the large animal had been alarming all on its own without her having to focus on the flying part. She would never admit to anyone that she had taken more falls off her broom when learning to ride it than she had ever had happen on her bicycle as a child, but this was different.
She wasn’t in control at all and normally that would make her anxious, she would go over the many details of the situation over and over to make sure nothing went wrong. But Harry was the best flyer she knew, she had seen him do tricks and stunts on his broom for fun, witnessed him nose dive till a breath was between him and the ground and pull up without a scratch. She was probably safer with him on the broom than she was alone on one, that thought had her eyes slowly opening after what felt like hours but had only been closer to thirty minutes.
Harry could feel her slowly relaxing against him, could tell she was starting to trust that he wasn’t going to let her fall even though they were speeding through the air like a bullet. When her head turned a bit to brave a look he slowed down, not wanting to terrify her with how fast they were actually going. They had already left the mainland of Scotland and made it to the northern most islands, she had missed the ocean views of the sun rising but now she would get to see the plummeting cliffs along the island and the waves crashing on the Northern most part of the country.
Her body tensed briefly when she saw the water but then she glanced further out and gasped inaudibly. The sun had come up over the horizon and was a brilliant golden ball of light that made the snow covered islands luminescent. Now she forgot she was supposed to be terrified and was instead in awe, she had only seen landscape views like this in puzzles and award winning photos of bucket list destinations. They flew leisurely for a few minutes, Hermione moving as much as she dared to catch glimpses of the islands they passed. “Where are we?” She called out over the wind as Harry began to speed up slightly when they neared the final islands.
“When I came of age I inherited my family’s home. Potter’s Cottage.” If Harry could have seen the puzzled look on her face he would have laughed, but he was focused on entering the protective barrier around the hidden island at just the right point to allow entry. One moment there was open ocean ahead of them and the next Harry was circling high above a main island large enough to hold a quidditch field that had a stone bridge to connect a smaller island to it that was only large enough for a greenhouse made of glass windows on it.
She tried to commit the entire scene to memory, the cute cottage that looked like it once housed a cozy family inside its stone walls. How the windows seemed to have a glow of their own with the suns reflection hitting them, the lazy swirls of smoke coming from the chimney, but the moss and ivy covered pitched roof must have been enchanted because it was startlingly green against the white of the snow all around the home. The closer they got to the cottage the more she could make out, she noted that there was a floral garden all around the edges of the home that was also enchanted to stay alive among the snow, making the small flowers be a burst of color in the winter.
A glance at the green house showed inside was full of vibrant greens but she did not have time to focus on it because Harry spoke. “This is my real home. I was born here, lived here before my parents went into hiding.” The broom came to a slow stop, he didn’t want to startle her into being afraid on the broom again by jostling her about during the landing.
She looked at him, though it was hard to not look at everything again now that she knew that small detail. “So this is where you disappear too?” He nodded with a smile that said he was not sorry at all about it, but before she could scold him on his secret keeping ability the door to the house swung open and a small familiar voice squealed out a greeting.
“Mr. Potter, Sir! You’s is home?! And Miss Granger, too?! Oh what a happy day for Winky, Sir!” Hermione flung her head around to stare at the house elf in shock. She had real clothes on, a bright pink shirt and yellow skirt that barely reached her boney feet that were in lime green socks with small flowers on them. “Should ‘ave told Winky you was comin’, Sir! Would have had breakfast ready!” She bustled back inside in a happy flurry of motions and began scrambling about the house inside.
“Yes, I pay her.” He teased before she could even ask, a moment later she was getting off the broom, snow crunched beneath her boots she was very pleased that she had worn them now. “And she has her own room.”
“You better.” She mumbled as she felt the bitter cold hit her, she had not realized just how warm Harry was. “I can’t believe you kept this from me all these years.” She looked around once more before heading inside the door Winky had left open for them.
“In my defense, ‘Mione,” he followed her inside, setting his broom on a wall mount inside the door as he closed it. “I haven’t told anyone about this place.”
“Why not?” She didn’t look back at him as she spoke, she was too busy looking at everything inside. A multicolored rug was laid on the floor in front of the fireplace, there was a long comfy looking dark brown couch that formed an L around the living area with a table in the center that had an empty tea set on it made of porcelain with a painted lily on the tea pot itself. The walls were full of moving pictures from generations back, hanging planters were scattered around the room with normal muggle plants that had been thriving for years with low hanging ivy down to almost the ground, the view beyond the windows was of the green house and the sea or white islands in the distance when she turned to look back at the front of the house.
“I needed time with them.” Harry pointed at the end of the room that had a hallway entrance. “The door at the end is the master bedroom, but the door right before it is the portrait room.” He guided her to the room, naming off few of the relatives in the older pictures they passed before he opened the door for her. “See?”
Hermione looked inside cautiously, wondering who all would be inside but she clasped her hands to her mouth as she took in the room. In the center of the room was a black oval lounge so no matter where someone sat they were able to talk to the painted people in the portraits that filled almost the whole wall with a space at each side for smaller mounted individual frames for the people to be added for access to the main frames. Each wall had a different part of the house painted on it, she could clearly recognize the living area they just came from on the one she was looking at while the wall to her left had the greenhouse, the wall to the right had the outside of the cottage, and the wall behind her was of a beach.
“Harry! Welcome home, Son!” James spoke from the painted couch while Lily turned around from the greenhouse frame and smiled at him.
“Is this Hermione?” Harry turned a bit pink when his mother asked.
“Yep. Figured I would show her the perks of flying.” He rubbed the back of his head before entering the room.
James shot to his feet, setting a painted book down on the table. “Indeed! It’s the only way to reach Potter’s Cottage! Best views indeed! Have you shown her the beach? Or your mother’s garden? Did you see that sunrise!”
Hermione instantly knew where Harry got his enthusiasm for flying from. “He hasn’t yet. We’ve only just arrived and Winky wanted to bring us food.” She sat down, a little shocked and overwhelmed. The commotion of James had woken the other small portraits holding sleeping relatives and they were now going from being small sized people in paintings to accurately sized ones in the larger frames as they came out to greet them.
“Hello Hermione.” She spun her head around to see Sirius pop into the portrait with James. And so for well over an hour the pair sat among the painted family and friends, but to Harry’s dismay, they all had quite a few moments of poking fun at him since Hermione could fill in details of his school years for his parents. Winky sat with them once she brought tea and scones in, and Hermione almost cried when she saw little Dobby come out of the smallest portrait in the corner by the kitchen painting.
It took Lily tricking James and Sirius into playing a game of Wizards chess by a sneaky comment along the lines of ‘your father never could win a game against Sirius’ when the game was brought up in a memory to allow the pair to slip out of the room and eat the lunch Winky had prepared for them and set up in the dining room. “Harry, I can’t believe this.” Hermione was all smiles and laughter now.
“Now you see why I haven’t brought anyone here. I had a lot to learn about myself before I could. Imagine my surprise when I was given this key at Gringotts and came not knowing they were here this whole time waiting for me.” Harry pointed to the door that led into the kitchen then guided her through a second door instantly to the right that led into a single room with a large circle table set with bowls of steaming soup and fresh bread. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell them how they died, I had to bring a portrait of Sirius from Grimwauld place to be there with me to help.” He paused before laughing briefly, “Mum was livid when she found out about Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, I think she would have hexed them into oblivion had she been alive.”
As they ate something James said popped into her mind, “Harry, what did your father mean by ‘it’s the only way to reach Potter’s Cottage’?” Harry was dipping his piece of bread into the tomato soup as he chuckled.
“No one can apparate or disapparate here. The only way through the barrier is at one point only accessible by broom. Can’t even dock a boat since no one can find this place and the wards keep muggles away from accidentally making land here. My great-great-great-great-..great something was a recluse and didn’t like visitors much.” Harry smiled fully, “Kind of like me.”
Hermione threw a small piece of bread at him with a playful scowl. He started to laugh whole heartedly, before tossing his own piece of bread back at her. “You cheated!” Hermione giggled as she was shaking her head.
“How so?” He had that smirk again, a smirk she had just seen his mother make as she tricked her husband and his best friend into a distraction.
“You KNEW I would want to come back here again and now the only way I can is to fly on a blasted broomstick!” she huffed, a moment of exasperation in her tone but still it was happy.
“You liked the flight here, ‘Mione. Don’t deny it, I could feel you relaxing once you started to look around.” He took a sip of his soup, risking a glance at her to make sure she wasn’t going to throw more bread at him but instead he saw her cheeks flushed nearly as red as their soup.
Winky came bustling in with a tray of dessert pastries, having heard Harry as she did. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Lily didn’t much like flying either. She tells Winky stories about how Mr. James would fly her about when she was young so she could cover her eyes.” Said the house elf with a genuine smile, not noticing how the pair of them both suddenly found their bowls of soup the most fascinating thing in the world as she set the tray down.
Hermione couldn’t stop the connecting dots as she tried to think of their broom ride as anything other than an intimate moment when looked back upon. Harry was more like his father than she had realized now that she had seen the two in the same room in a way and it made her mind race into possibilities that were impossible. James had ridden with Lily because they were a couple, they were close and it made it different… but Harry had only offered to her because she was afraid to fly and refused to do so when possible, not because he had romantic feelings towards her! She would know! But then again, he had somehow kept this very big part of his life from her so what else could the boy-who-lived have hidden away in his private lifestyle.
Winky spoke up before heading back into the kitchen. “Winky will make roasted lamb for dinner! A special meal for the special day when Winky gots to see her friends!” and then she was gone in happy sobs to start whatever she was going to do next.
Harry jumped on the opportunity to slide out of the awkward air the house elf’s comment had made. “Guess that means we need to get some vegetables from the garden, or else she will make enough food for an entire house at Hogwarts in her excitement. She did that the first month here, made enough food to feed all of Gryffindor table every night.” He shook his head at the memory, “She cried when I didn’t eat it all. Can’t have that happening again now, can we?” Hermione was shaking her head quickly, grateful for the distraction from her thoughts.
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Returning to Hogwarts