Chapter 100: 100 The First School Year

Bokuboy

After everyone told their Christmas stories, some funny, some normal, and all of them happy with their presents, the impromptu gathering broke up and most of the others went their separate ways. Ron let out a big yawn and called it an early night, Neville went back to working on copying spells, and Hermione blushed a little and nodded when Harry asked her in a very low whisper to stay up for a while and he would be back down to talk to her.

Harry left her and went up to his bed to get his writing things and quickly wrote out, almost word for word, what he had told everyone else. He included the events of New Year's Eve and the events at the Ministry after the trip was over. That part had been a bit difficult to write, until he thought about Hermione waiting for him downstairs in the common room. He kept his emotions in check and told Bertha all about it.

He filled a one foot roll of parchment and then half of another, without even really embellishing anything. His writing was small and concise, and he thought that it would take Bertha a long time to get through it all. Harry thanked her for the Christmas present of a new book called Charms of the Ages. He hadn't had a chance to look through it yet and knew it was going to be a good one, especially since he thought it was going to tell him some of the old spells that people didn't use anymore.

At the bottom of the second roll of parchment, Harry added in what happened with the Slytherins and about getting detention afterwards. He left out telling Professor Snape about the prophecy, since he thought that was something no one else needed to know... except for one person. The only one that was better at meditation than him.

Harry folded up the two sheets of parchment and made a large envelope for them, tucked them inside, and sealed it with a tap of his wand. He walked over to the window and opened it for Hedwig. She landed and Harry gave her the large envelope.

“Bertha might give you three mice for this one.” Harry whispered.

Hedwig hooted happily and took the envelope, dove out the window, and disappeared from sight.

Harry closed it, cast the warming charm to stop the cold air that had come in, then went down the stairs. No one else was in the common room and he walked over to the chair that Hermione sat in.

“You took your time.” Hermione said softly.

“You waited anyway.” Harry said softly back and sat beside her. He waved his wand and a privacy curtain surrounded them. Silencio was cast next and he put his arm over her shoulders.

“This must really be serious.” Hermione said, without worry that someone else would hear.

“Kind of.” Harry said, a little sheepishly. “I... ah... left something out of my trip story.”

“Oh, no.” Hermione covered her mouth. “You cast magic illegally.”

Harry chuckled. “Not during the trip.”

Hermione caught her breath. “Oh, Harry. What happened?”

“Before I get to that, I need to tell you about the trip first.” Harry said. “I hope you don't freak out about it.”

“You're making me nervous, Harry.” Hermione said.

“Well... I... um...” Harry stammered. Now that the moment had come, he wasn't sure how to say it.

“Harry.” Hermione said.

“Did you know that on New Year's Eve, you're supposed to kiss the person you're with?” Harry asked.

“Well, yes. Mom and dad do it every year.” Hermione said. “This year we were at the top of the mountain when the fireworks went off.”

Harry relaxed a little. “I didn't know it happened... until... well...” His face went a little red. “Susan kissed me.”

Hermione's mouth dropped open and she had a surprised look on her face. She didn't say anything.

“She said everyone was doing it and then Amelia explained to me about it.” Harry said and Hermione kept staring at him. “When she told me that it was a kiss that was usually shared with a date, I wasn't sure what to say. Then she said you could do it with a close friend as well, as long as it didn't mean anything more than wishing them a Happy New Year... and I kissed her.”

Hermione took in a sharp breath and then seemed to stop breathing.

“Hermione! Breathe!” Harry said and gave her a little shake. “Breathe! Please!”

Hermione let out the breath she was holding and took another. “Is... is that all you did?”

Harry shook his head. “I told Susan that I liked her... but...”

Hermione closed her mouth into a thin line and her eyes squinted.

“No, don't be angry at her.” Harry said. “She didn't reject me. I rejected her.”

Hermione's mouth opened slightly again and her eyes went back to normal.

“She knows that I like her; but, I don't like her, like her.” Harry said. “We're just friends.”

“A-Amelia.” Hermione asked, barely above a whisper.

“No.” Harry shook his head. “She sees me like she sees her niece Susan and I... I think I...”

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Hermione's hand took his free one. “You see her like Susan sees her, too.”

“She said... she would have taken me in if she knew.” Harry whispered and did his best to not cry.

Hermione sat there and watched him fight to not cry. “Harry, why... why are you telling me this?”

“You needed to know, so that... when I explain what happened... you would understand.” Harry said, then he told her about going to the Ministry, finding the prophecy, hearing what it said, and then everything that happened afterwards.

Hermione stayed quiet and didn't say anything, because she knew that he wasn't done with the world changing information. After sharing his new version of the encounter with the Slytherins and what he said, revealing his scar, and everything about Professor Snape in his office, she was stunned.

“M-m-me?” Hermione whispered and her hand gripped his hand. “I calmed you down?”

Harry nodded. “I tried thinking of Susan and her kiss. It didn't work, because it wasn't very important. I tried Amelia and what she said as she kissed my forehead, and it wasn't enough... then I thought about sitting here, like this, with you.”

Hermione's breathing sped up a little.

“It worked a lot better than anything else I thought of. When Professor Snape's words surprised me again, I remembered falling asleep right here, in your arms, and it all stopped.” Harry said. “My mind and my magic were calm, even though I had broken the glass in the cabinet a moment before.”

“H-Harry...” Hermione whispered. “That's why you told me about Susan.”

Harry nodded. “I was upstairs and wrote about the prophecy to Bertha, because you know she's going to know all about it.” He said and Hermione nodded. “I started to get angry again and went right back to thinking about being here with you. I calmed right down and I still am, even after telling you everything.”

“You aren't remembering it right now are you?” Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. “I'm here with you.”

“H-Harry... take... take out your wand.” Hermione whispered as she let his wand hand go.

Harry flicked his wrist and his wand popped out of his sleeve. He held it out to her and she put her hand around it and his hand. She shared her magic with him and his responded, almost eager, and she pointed their hands up to the ceiling. A small red spark popped out of the end of the wand, floated up to the ceiling, then popped apart like a firework. Another followed it, then another.

“Happy New Year, Harry.” Hermione whispered and kissed him.

The wand shook and hundreds of multi-colored sparks shot out and lit up the entire common room.

If anyone had been outside the castle at that moment, they would have seen that Griffindor Tower looked like the brightest lighthouse beacon in the country.

*

The next term started and Harry was happy. He and Hermione hadn't done anything more than kiss that night, and hadn't done it again since. They did sit closer together at mealtimes, pushed their chairs together during class and in the library, and they always sat in the same armchair in the Griffindor Tower common room, even if the place was empty.

Harry did his detention and both Filch and Missus Norris loved their presents. Filch was sure he was never going to run out of a year's supply of cleaning supplies and Missus Norris only left her giant cat treehouse with multiple levels and hiding holes when she had to accompany Filch on castle inspections once a week. Otherwise, she stayed inside and enjoyed her home.

Harry ignored the jibes and jeers from the Slytherins for his cleaning duties. Like he had told Draco, he didn't care. Nothing they said meant anything to him. They were not a part of his life and he paid them no attention. He didn't even bother silencing them most of the time, unless he was walking with Hermione. No one was allowed to speak badly of her. He always did it silently, so that they wouldn't catch him at it.

Madam Pomfrey was quite busy for the rest of the school year.

Classes continued and so did life at the castle. Wednesdays were Hedwig days and Fridays were Potion days. Harry kept getting Exceeds Expectations in all of his potions and did his work quickly and efficiently. He didn't have to help Neville anymore with the potion formulas for the gold cauldron, either. He, Hermione, Neville and even Ron were getting excellent grades.

The same was true for their normal classes of Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, and Astronomy. Once they realized that taking classes were fun, especially if you understood things and had friends to help when you struggled, everything became easier to handle.

His Saturdays training with Amelia and Susan weren't strained or awkward, even when Susan joked about the kiss. Harry joked right back and then they both laughed at Amelia's red face from being reminded about Harry kissing her that night. The times they spent together made him feel even more welcome in their lives.

Harry also promised to spend two weeks of the summer break going with them on the next train tour. It was just too much fun to say no to, especially since all the places would be almost completely different for the summer.

Rumors spread randomly about odd creatures roaming the school, long lost magical artifacts turning up in random empty classrooms, and stairways taking students to parts of the castle that they hadn't been before. Harry and his friends ignored all of it, unless they ran into them. Thanks to Hermione's creature and spell list, anything they met was dispatched without so much as an eye blink and then vanished or reported to Filch.

Harry always helped him clean up large messes, even when he didn't have detention. No one said anything and assumed that he was being punished for something. He ignored those rumors, too.

The year end exams approached and everyone went into serious study mode, even Harry and Hermione. They knew that they didn't have to study, since their own research and spell work were so far above everyone elses; but, they also did their best to help their friends study. It also put the course materials freshly in their minds and helping their friends actually helped them, too.

Harry wasn't surprised that neither Amelia nor Bertha mentioned the prophecy to him again. Amelia didn't believe in it and Bertha probably didn't want to bring up such a sensitive subject. They didn't have to worry about him, though. He and Hermione had been working on it and trying to decode it since Christmas, with an occasional visit by Harry to Professor Snape's office. He added his own input, then gave Harry detention for bothering him.

Harry took it gratefully, because they both knew what detention really meant for him.

After everything that happened to him during his first year in the wizarding world, discovering who he was and then finding out how he became that way, made Harry realize one thing. Something he never, ever thought would happen.

For the first time in his life, Harry Potter was genuinely happy.

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