Chapter 25: 25 Some Progress

Harry felt bad about leaving Hermione with a blank book, knowing full well what it would do to her. One of the worst things for a bibliophile to experience was an empty book that they knew was supposed to have vital information inside. The only reason he didn't rush back to restore it was because this was going to be a valuable two-fold lesson for the girl.

The first part was that she should take his warnings to heart and shouldn't dismiss a friend's concerns for her own greed. The second part was expecting to learn to protect her mind in starts and stops and then to see the book was blank. It provided no information to do so, essentially telling her she wouldn't get that help.

It would be quite the blow to her ego, fragile as it was after how she had been treated since arriving at Hogwarts. It had been almost laughable at how easy it had been for Harry to sift through her completely unprotected mind with it as organized as it was.

Harry hadn't planned on doing it, then she reacted like she had near the end of their conversation and he had no choice but to check. He didn't let his disappointment deter himself from wanting to be her friend. He just hoped she took the lesson to heart and approached him later.

Harry had just entered the closest hallway with a window when an owl hopped onto the ledge and hooted at him. “Oh! Thank you for waiting around until I left the library.” He said and held out a nice piece of fried bacon.

“HOOT!” The owl yelled and nearly took his fingers off as it gobbled the tasty meat down.

Harry chuckled and took the note from the thing's leg while it was busy.

Harry, I am in the Solar and will be available from 8 until 8:30. Love, Mum Amelia.

Harry smiled warmly at the salutation. Mum Amelia. I like that. He thought and handed another piece of bacon to the owl. It was much more subdued and accepted it into its beak without eating it and then flew away.

Harry checked his watch and saw that he had twenty minutes before Amelia would be in the Bones Manor's sun room and went to the hospital wing. After a quick consultation with Madam Pomfrey, instead of providing him an old classroom, she showed him to her own potion making room. Similar to his own thinking, she had six cauldrons to work with and lots of space for expansion.

“This is wonderful! I can definitely work here much easier than anywhere else.” Harry said. “Thank you, Madam Pomfrey.”

“You're doing good work to help people, Mister Bones. Helping you help them is almost exactly what my job description entails.” Madam Pomfrey smiled at him and lightly touched his shoulder. “It also won't be a hardship having you around and seeing you work.”

Harry put a hand on hers and smiled back. “I'm sorry, Madam. I'm already betrothed.”

Madam Pomfrey lightly laughed and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Oh, my poor heart. You scoundrel.” She said with a happy tone.

“I try, Madam.” Harry said and grinned at her. “I'll come back here after my meeting with Amelia.”

Madam Pomfrey nodded and Harry left the hospital wing, checked his watch, and ducked into an alcove before he cast silence on the spot and apparated to the proper apparition point in the lobby of Bones Manor.

Harry went to the Solar and saw Amelia as she sat at the small table and she had a cup of tea and a scone in her hands. He walked over to her and kissed her cheek, gave her a half-hug to not disturb her tea, and sat down across the small table from her.

“Good morning, Harry.” Amelia said and took a sip of tea.

“Good morning, Mum Amelia.” Harry said and did up a cup of tea for himself.

“It's a bit odd for you to request a meeting so early.” Amelia said and couldn't keep a smile off of her face, despite her normal countenance. She was glad that he hadn't objected to calling her that, even though she knew it had been his idea for her to adopt him.

“I had a couple of things that I wanted to talk to you about.” Harry said and sipped his tea. He took a breath and let it out, almost in a sigh.

“You don't have to drum up courage, Harry. You can tell me anything and I won't get too angry about it.” Amelia said with a knowing look. They both knew she would be angry if it was something she objected to.

“How did the cigarette sale go?” Harry asked with his own knowing look.

Amelia chuckled and saluted him with her scone.

“Make sure to donate it directly to your department and not to the ministry.” Harry reminded her.

“I already did.” Amelia said and took a bite of scone and a sip of tea to wash it down. “That was very nice of you, Harry.”

Harry shrugged. “It was the least I could do for the trouble I caused you the night I just popped in here without using the proper apparition point.”

“Still, such a large donation will be a huge help for my department.” Amelia said. “I'll make it stretch as far as possible.”

Harry chuckled. “Mum, I'm rich.”

“Not according to the goblins.” Amelia said and sighed. “They still haven't figured out how you and a dozen prominent families had their vaults emptied of gold.”

“That was an odd way to say it.” Harry quirked an eyebrow at her. “Do you mean that only gold was taken? They left the silver sickles and bronze knuts and only took the galleons?”

Amelia sighed. “I really need to be more careful about what I say around you.”

Harry laughed and reached over to put his hand on her knee. “Mum, it's not like I'm going to go around and tell everyone! The secret's safe with me.”

Amelia smiled and put her tea down to take his hand. “Thank you, Harry. You're a good boy.”

“I'm glad you think so.” Harry said with a smirk and she chuckled. “I suppose all of that gold is gone and they won't replace it?”

Amelia sighed and shook her head. “There's nothing in the Goblin Treaties that forces them to replace anything stolen.”

Harry spoke before he realized what him knowing about it would mean. “The Gringotts Establishment Charter specifically states that the goblins guaranteed that anything they stored in their vaults was completely protected. They also have wards, spells, and various other protections in place to ensure that nothing is ever stolen and will replace it if it is, plus ten percent.”

Amelia stiffened and then her eyes narrowed as the grip of her hand increased. “Harry, how do you know that? The original bank charter was apparently destroyed in 1076 during the second Goblin uprising and no copies exist because they hadn't filed it with the Ministry.”

Harry thought about trying to activate an acting mode to save him from revealing his extra knowledge, then decided not to. It wouldn't help him and he wasn't going to disappoint Amelia. Instead, he conjured a copy of The Complete Magical History Compendium and Encyclopedia that his Knowledge Absorption had assimilated after he gained it as a reward.

Amelia gasped at the massive book that just appeared on Harry's lap. She didn't bother asking him where it had come from, because she knew by the title on the spine that it was an extremely rare or even non-existent book. She took out her wand and cleaned her hands and then gently took the book from Harry.

“Unless you know how to speed read, the contents list pages will take you several hours to get through.” Harry warned her. “The bank charter is on page 546.”

Amelia shivered and opened the inch thick cover and it creaked. She winced, knowing she had potentially devalued the priceless book by doing that.

“It creaks every time.” Harry reassured her.

Amelia gave him an odd look, closed the cover, and opened it again. When it creaked, she gave him a smile and a nod before she started reading.

Harry waited for ten minutes for Amelia to lose herself in the list of things that were in the compendium. “I wanted this meeting to ask you a couple of things.”

“Hm hmm.” Amelia hummed.

“What happened to Quirrinus Quirrell?” Harry asked.

“He was killed when he attacked two Aurors after he tried to escape from custody on the way to Azkaban Prison.” Amelia said, completely distracted. “I only read the report and hadn't seen it myself.”

Harry sighed under his breath. “What about Azkaban? Any new protections there?”

“Quite a few.” Amelia said and started rhyming them off and Harry listened attentively. When she was done talking, Harry stood and walked around the small table before he bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

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“Thank you, Mum.” Harry said and gave her a one-arm hug. “You can keep the book.”

“Hm hmm.” Amelia hummed in response.

Harry let her go and stood up to wave his wand at the book to give it several protections, including a tracking charm and an old binding spell to let him know if anyone besides Amelia tried to claim or keep the book.

“It's a Bones Heirloom, so don't lose it.” Harry said and conjured a document stating so. He left it on the coffee table and Amelia nodded and kept reading. I think someone is a secret fan of history.

Harry left the Solar and went to his room, stored the potion setups he had, and went to the lobby of the manor to apparate back to the alcove near the hospital wing. He met Madam Pomfrey to let her know he was back and would be getting to work.

Madam Pomfrey finished up the latest report she needed to write for the school's records and joined him in the potions room. She was shocked when Harry produced his own potions setups from his fake backpack and they filled up nearly all of the available space on the work tables she had in the room.

“It's no wonder why you wanted more room!” Madam Pomfrey exclaimed when Harry had everything set up properly and added some water to each cauldron to start boiling.

“Getting them all going at once is a pain without enough space to work in.” Harry agreed. “With this much room, I'll have the hospital's order done by noon and yours just after lunch.”

Madam Pomfrey gave him a beautiful smile that lit up her face. “That is excellent to hear, Harry.”

Harry gave her a smile back. “I'm still betrothed, Poppy.”

Madam Pomfrey let out a laugh and lightly touched his shoulder before she went back to her office. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with the free time that Harry had just made available for her. There was so much that she had wanted to do before and never had the time for. She just had to decide what she wanted to do first.

When Poppy sat down at her desk, she was surprised to find a book there. Mediterranean Healing Herbs and Practices for the Practical Healer. She read in her head. Why not? It sounds interesting.

Madam Pomfrey settled back on her chair and put her feet up onto a small step stool that hadn't been there when she sat down.

*

It took Hermione the entire morning before she made the decision to confront Harry about their conversation. Was he really her friend or was he just manipulating her like everyone else? She had a lot of people befriend her to have her help them and then they tossed her aside when they were done with her.

Hermione left the library and didn't miss the encouraging look that Madam Pince had given her. She felt resolve fill her and she began her search for the popular boy in the areas that he and his friends hung out. She didn't find him after she searched for a while and went to the Great Hall for lunch. To her surprise, neither he nor Padma had shown up at the Ravenclaw table.

With no other recourse, Hermione stood and went to the only real source of information she had access to, despite that source being hostile towards her. It was her fellow Griffindor, Parvati Patil, Padma's twin sister.

“Excuse me, Parvati.” Hermione said with her Griffindor courage. It didn't waver at the slight scowl from the dark-skinned girl or the glare from Lavender. “Can you tell me where Harry Bones is? I've been looking for him for a while and can't find him.”

Parvati's scowl disappeared and a teasing smile appeared in its place. “Oh? Has the bookworm decided to take in interest in the smartest guy in our year?”

“That he's also handsome doesn't hurt, right?” Lavender added.

Hermione blushed a little and fought against it. She was not going to be embarrassed by these morons. “That he's good looking for a child is immaterial.” She said and ignored the surprised looks on their faces. “He offered to be my friend this morning and...”

“No way!” Parvati and Lavender gasped.

“Didn't anyone tell you?” Hermione asked and looked at the faces of a few of the Griffindors that had seen her leave the Great Hall with Harry at breakfast.

“We honestly forgot.” Fred Weasley said with a shrug. He was the redheaded twin on the right.

“Wait, Harry really did ask her?” Parvati asked, surprised.

“They left hand in hand.” George Weasley said and also shrugged. He was the other redheaded twin.

“You're not trying to steal him from Padma, are you?” Lavender accused her.

Hermione opened her mouth to refuse and was cut off.

“She can't.” Parvati said, smugly. “Harry and Padma signed the betrothal contract in good faith.”

“Betrothal contract?” Hermione asked and hid her surprise.

“Yeah, it's something the old traditional families do sometimes.” Angelina said and gave George a pointed look. “It saves them from having to worry about who their children end up with.”

George gave her a suave smile and held out a chocolate and peppermint stick to her. “Who needs a contract?”

“Not me.” Angelina said and accepted the bribe with a happy smile.

Fred nodded and gave George a clap on the shoulder.

“Don't you think that's barbaric?” Hermione asked them.

Most of the people at the table shrugged.

“It takes off a lot of pressure of finding someone to continue the family with.” Parvati admitted.

Lavender put an arm around her good friend's shoulders. “Don't worry, Parvati. You'll find someone.”

“You're eleven!” Hermione almost shouted.

“And you're twelve! You're getting old and you're running out of time to find a husband!” Fred exclaimed with a worried expression and a few people laughed.

Hermione immediately understood what he was trying to do by making a joke out of it. He had diffused a potential debate or a rant over the merits of marrying so young. She had to commend him for it, too.

“Does anyone know where Harry is?” Hermione asked.

“He left a note with her friends that he and Padma would be busy until later today.” Parvati said.

Hermione stopped her frown before it formed. That couldn't be true if Harry was with me this morning, unless he ditched Padma to spend the time with me to try and make friends. She thought and had to turn away from the table as she blushed.

The thought that Harry might have done that for her, had Hermione's face burning from being flattered and from complete embarrassment. It also changed her mind from confronting him about it to apologizing for not realizing how important it was, both to him and now to her.

Just as Hermione fought the blush down and was about to turn back to thank them for letting her know, the boy in question strolled into the Great Hall with a bright smile on his face. Hermione's blush rushed back and she couldn't fight it off before he was right there in front of her.

“I'M SO SORRY!” Hermione yelled and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “I didn't mean to act distrustful! I've never had anyone want to be friends for no reason before!”

Harry was shocked for about two seconds before he nodded and put his arms around her to hug her back. “It's understandable. I felt the same way for a long time.”

Everyone at the Griffindor table stared at them as they hugged.

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