Chapter 26: 26 Building Foundations

“Harry? What are you doing?” Parvati asked, her voice unsure.

“Returning a friendly hug.” Harry said and eased his hold on an almost crying Hermione. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Y-y-yes.” Hermione said and let his neck go. “I just... this is...”

Harry nodded. “I know exactly how you feel. If you need a few minutes to compose yourself before we sit and eat, I can wait for you.”

“No, I... I'm okay.” Hermione said and smiled at him. “Do you want to sit here or at the end of the table?”

“That depends.” Harry said and looked at the people near them at the table. “Is anyone going to object to having my new friend join us?”

Lavender opened her mouth to do just that and Parvati gasped and stomped on her foot. “OWWW! What was THAT for?”

“Shut up.” Parvati whispered, even though everyone around them could clearly hear her. “We can talk about it later.”

Harry thought about calling her out on that, then decided to let it be for now. He was going to talk to Hermione about things anyway and ask her to come with him to finish making potions in the hospital wing. She was practically screaming inside her head that she was friends with the famous Harry Potter and he needed to deal with that as soon as possible.

Hermione tried to not frown at the two girls. One for being brave enough to object to her face and the other for being a coward and trying to cover it up, despite also objecting.

Harry easily heard her thoughts and smiled as he took her hand. “Shall we sit on the same side this time or across the table like this morning?”

Hermione's entire attention went right to him and Harry almost staggered from the intensity. “Same side. We can talk easier than shouting across the table, since it's so crowded.”

“That's a good point.” Harry said and sat next to Katie Bell, whom gave him an inquisitive look.

“Hi, Harry.” Katie said with a smile.

“Hi, Katie.” Harry responded and sat Hermione next to him. “How are you getting along with playing Quiddich?”

“I love it!” Katie gushed. “My fellow chasers and I are rocking the competition this year!”

The redheaded twins laughed and spoke together. “The Griffindor Flying Foxes are the talk of the school.”

Harry gave them a searching look and easily plucked the information from George's head. “I thought the first game wasn't until the first week in November?”

“Oho! Someone's a Quiddich fan!” Fred exclaimed. “Do you want to place a bet on who's going to win between us and Slytherin?”

“Did you find a good seeker yet?” Harry asked instead of answering.

The twins, the two dark skinned girls, an older boy, and Katie all looked dejected.

“I'm sure you'll find someone before the match. You have a month or so left.” Harry encouraged them.

“You're right!” The older student named Oliver Wood said. “We need to expand our search and hold more trials! Maybe we can even check the first year class for potential talent!”

Fred slapped a hand over his face, George groaned, and the girls looked even more dejected.

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“You've set him off and he's going to make us work that much harder during practises.” Katie said.

“Oh, I'm sorry.” Harry said and reached over to pat her shoulder. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Katie said and went back to her food.

Harry turned away from them and saw an odd look on Hermione's face. He winked at her and swiped his wand around them. The other voices and noises around them dropped to barely whispers.

“You need to teach me that spell.” Hermione said.

“Can we eat first? I need to get back to the hospital wing to make potions for Madam Pomfrey.”

Hermione nodded and the two of them gathered some food for lunch and they both quickly ate a healthy meal. When they were done, Harry cleaned their hands and dispelled the privacy spell that they hadn't needed.

“Come on, working and studying await us.” Harry said and Hermione jumped to her feet. He chuckled at her enthusiasm and looked at the people around them. “Thanks for putting up with me at your table.”

“It was a hardship; but, we persevered!” George joked. “Hurray!”

“Hurray!” Fred and the girls said as one and they all laughed.

Harry laughed as well and dug a hand into his backpack. “Here, have some nice biscuits I made.”

They all looked with interest as Harry dropped a large metal tin onto the table between Angelina and Alicia. It was quickly opened and then pilfered by everyone, including Parvati and Lavender.

“RANKS, RARRY!” They all mumbled loudly, because they had stuffed their mouths with the delicious cookies.

“It was a hardship; but, you persevered!” Harry repeated the joke.

“RURRAY!” They yelled in response.

Cookie crumbs spewed everywhere and they all laughed uproariously.

Harry led Hermione out of the Great Hall. As soon as they were through the doors, Hermione gave him a pointed look.

“You can wait until we get to the hospital wing. It's only a couple of minutes more.” Harry said with a crooked smile.

“Fine.” Hermione huffed and then smiled back.

*

The staff at St. Mungo's were ecstatic to receive their order a full week early. They always needed more potions and having access to someone that could make them so well and so quickly, had them arranging for special dispensations from the Ministry of Magic for Harry Bones. They also had a registered Potions Master check a potion from each batch to ensure the quality.

The man always praised them and claimed he couldn't do it better himself, which was a huge compliment. Using a Potions Master to brew a lot of the most used potions was a massive expense that the hospital didn't have to pay for. The skills and time were donated for free and they were elated!

Madam Pomfrey had also gained a lot of fame and favors for bringing such a promising student to their attention. It was just too bad for the young man that he couldn't take his potions mastery until after he had written his OWLs and NEWTs.

On the plus side, the mastery was practically guaranteed, because of the small innovations he had done to a few of the potions to make them more effective and to have a longer shelf life. The recipe changes were already registered with both the Ministry and the Potions Masters Guild. To their surprise, they were sponsored by Madam Pomfrey and not the Potions Master at Hogwarts, Severus Snape.

*

“I can't believe how easy this is.” Hermione whispered as she sat cross-legged on a giant pillow on the floor of the hospital's potion room.

“Now you know why I warned you that you absolutely had to read the whole thing before you tried anything.” Harry said and started bottling up the cauldron filled with Skele-Grow, the bone mending and growing potion.

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“I really am sorry that I doubted you, Harry.” Hermione apologized again.

“That's twenty-two times in the hour since you started practising Occlumency.” Harry said to her and kept filling vials. “Do you want to try for twenty-three?”

Hermione let out a soft laugh. “I'm not sure how else to apologize about being wrong.”

“I told you that the tenth time was enough for my shattered ego too start mending.” Harry joked.

Hermione snorted as she tried to stop her laugh. She wasn't sure why she felt so relaxed around him and didn't question it. She had made that mistake before and she was not going to repeat it.

Harry put the last vial into the case and cast a Stasis charm on it. With that in place, the potions would last for a month without having to reapply the charm. “All right, I'm done.”

“Three hours and forty-six minutes.” Madam Pomrey said from the doorway to the room. “That was nicely done.” She praised him and walked over to check the crates. She waved her wand over them and nodded. “You added perfect stasis charms, too.”

“I aim to please.” Harry said to her. “Do you need help restocking your potions cabinet?”

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. “I'll let my current stock get down to the minimums before adding anything new.”

“You can owl me whenever you need anything more.” Harry said.

“Thank you, Harry.” Madam Pomfrey said. “Now clear out of here and I'll clean up after you.”

Harry chuckled. “You make that sound like such a chore, Poppy!”

Madam Pomfrey laughed and the two of them swiped their wands at the cauldrons. The residues in each brewing set-up were vanished and the cauldrons cleaned with another spell.

“Have a good day, Madam Pomfrey.” Harry said and walked over to Hermione. “We're being ejected! Move it, move it, move it!”

Hermione actually laughed this time as Harry practically picked her up and carried her out of the room. She didn't fight against it and let him. Once again, she wasn't sure why she felt so comfortable around him. It was almost like as soon as she accepted him as a real friend, he had suddenly gained a lot of leeway in her opinion.

Harry let her go when they reached the hallway and the hospital wing doors closed behind them. “There are a few hours before supper and I have an errand or two to take care of.”

Hermione's happy face slowly faded and she nodded.

“Hey, don't be like that.” Harry said and put an arm over her shoulders. “We're going to be great friends, remember? I have something that I need to take care of before Padma wakes up at suppertime.”

“Wakes up?” Hermione asked.

“She was exhausted last night and needed a short break from everything she's been going through because of me.” Harry admitted and Hermione gave him an understanding look. “Yeah, like that.”

Hermione couldn't stop her smile and nodded.

“If you want, you can join us at the Ravenclaw table and I'll introduce you to each other.” Harry said and Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. “I'm not going to keep you two apart, Hermione. Friends don't try to hide other friends from each other.”

“You really think Padma and I can be friends, too?” Hermione asked, hope in her voice.

“If you had been in Ravenclaw, I think you would have already been friends.” Harry said and then grinned. “Can you guess who else has a desperate love of books and will do almost anything to get them?”

Hermione blushed and didn't try to turn her head to hide it. She knew Harry wanted to see her genuine reactions. “Is that why she agreed to marry you?”

“Agreed? She asked me first.” Harry said with a grin.

“She didn't!” Hermione gasped.

“Yep! She wasn't prompted or anything, either.” Harry said and led Hermione to the library as he told her about how the betrothal came about and the reactions of their families.

“I can't believe... you really...” Hermione shook her head. “What am I saying? Of course you would.”

Harry laughed and stopped just outside the library's door. “I am not surprised that you've already gained a bunch of insight about me.”

“I am.” Hermione said with a smirk and Harry laughed a bit more. “I'll see you both at supper.”

Harry let her shoulders go and nodded, gave her a questioning look, and waited.

Hermione knew that he knew what she wanted to do, so she stepped close and gave him a bone crushing hug. “Thank you for being my friend.”

“I'm glad... I made... lots of Skele-Grow.” Harry wheezed out.

Hermione laughed and let him go. “Stop faking!”

Harry grinned at her. “You see? Lots of insight about me.”

Hermione gave him a little push. “You're going to be late for supper if you don't get your errands done.”

“Okay, okay, I'm going.” Harry said and waved. “See you later.”

“Bye, Harry.” Hermione said and watched him walk away.

*

Bellatrix Lestrange huddled into the corner of her damp and dirty cell. Her prisoner uniform was just as dirty as the walls and floor, as were her feet and hands. Her body was thin and a little frail after ten very long years in prison. If it had just been that and the gruel they fed her, it wouldn't have been so bad. She could have borne it without much complaint.

It was the Dementors that eventually sucked out any happy memories Bellatrix had that made her truly miserable. Most of her best experiences with her family before she became a Death Eater were muted and practically gone, which was all of her childhood and teenage years. Those she didn't really mind losing.

The loss of the wonderful memories of serving her lord faithfully, those hurt the most. They had been drained from her and became shadows of what they used to be. Only the memories she had convinced herself were horrible, had remained with any strength.

Bellatrix shivered as another freezing gale of wind blew through the tiny barred window that was high in the wall. She thought he felt something else as well, then paled as she realized it might be another Dementor that was coming to visit her on the guard's orders. She hated it when they tormented her more than what was on the normal schedule.

There was a sudden wash of magic that went through her cell and down over her body to clean her. Bellatrix shivered again, only for a different reason. Power. She felt how much power had been used to clean her, her clothes, and her cell. She wondered who it was until a flash of light almost blinded her. She blinked her eyes dozens of times to try and clear the spots and then caught her breath at what she saw.

A very handsome young man, no more than twelve or thirteen because of his height, stood in front of her cell. He wore a black shirt, pants, and a long cloak that seemed to hug him. His long blond hair was windswept and wavy, which gave him a wild look that she found very appealing. His aristocratic cheekbones and his stern mouth were set in a scowl while his eyes almost burned with intensity as he stared at her.

“Wh... wh...” *cough!* “Who... who are you?” Bellatrix asked, her throat sore from disuse.

“Bellatrix Lestrange.” The young man said in a deep baritone voice that sent tingles over her skin and to certain places that hadn't felt anything in a decade. “You have something that I need.”

Bellatrix couldn't remember how she managed to get across her cell to stand in front of the young man. Her bare feet barely felt the stone floor anymore and her body was weak from malnourishment and no exercise for so long.

“I am but a shadow of myself.” Bellatrix admitted to him, for some reason, and stared into the young man's mesmerizing eyes. She hadn't been drawn to anyone's gaze in over ten years and it wasn't until she made that connection that she gasped. “My... my... my lord?” *cough!* “Is that you?”

“No.” The blond boy denied before his scowl changed to a frown. “Not quite.”

Despite his words, Bellatrix's heart soared. She had known that her lord had gone farther than anyone else had ever gone down the path to achieve immortality. He wanted to ensure that he would live forever and she was absolutely positive that whoever it was in front of her, was a part of that plan.

Bellatrix would never know that it was all an act by the young man or that he mentally cheered at the look of hope and absolute devotion on her face.

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