Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 5 Fireside Chats

     "Actually I was thinking. Since we only have three days left this week, not counting the weekend, maybe we should start with the elective classes. We only have three years to review in each class that way so we should be able to finish one class each day. I'll start today with teaching you Arithmancy and then we can deal with Divination and Ancient Runes tomorrow and Friday," Hermione said, opening her book eagerly ready to start one of her favourite hobbies.

    "You know, that isn't a bad plan," Ron said, opening his book, with less enthusiasm than his friends.

    "So let's make our list in order of how we want to study, something like this: Arithmancy, Divination, Ancient Runes, History of Magic, Astronomy, and Muggle Studies. We'll have something a little easier to work on at the end of the summer if we do things in this order. This weekend we can start either Remus's potion, he left some hair for us in the box on the mantle, or the Animagus potion," Harry said, also opening his book, ready to give his whole attention to the study session.

    "I agree," Ron said, dipping his quill into the inkwell that was sitting in the middle of the table for all three of them to use.

    "That sounds reasonable. Here, I'll go get my Arithmancy books in a moment, but let's write our list," Hermione said. She quickly wrote the five subjects that she wanted to revise and waited for the book to fill with study guides. Smiling she closed her book for now and went to get the books from her trunk.

    "You know you could just summon them right, Mione?" Harry asked smiling.

    "Accio Arithmancy books," Hermione responded. After a few moments there was a flutter of pages as the books flew down the girl's staircase and landed on the table with a solid thump.

    "Wow. It worked. There are five pages of things to review for the third year," Ron said.

    "Yeah and eight pages each for the fourth and fifth year," Harry said, starting to read some of the things he would learn about Arithmancy. "This sounds like the unit we did in Divination on numerology," Harry said.

    "It would, since numerology is basically what Arithmancy is. But unlike Divination you don't just use it to find out what sort of person someone is by their numbers. You can find out how strong a spell is, even how strong a wizard or witch someone is just by figuring out the equations," Hermione said. She opened her third year text and made two copies of it quickly, placing a copy in front of each of the boys. "These will only last for today, but we'll be done with the work before then so it's okay," Hermione said.

    Harry and Ron worked steadily for the next two hours only asking occasional advice from Hermione who passed the time reading a book on advanced Arithmancy that she had bought at the end of last year just because it looked interesting.

    "Here goes nothing," Harry said.

    "Are you ready to take the third year test?" Ron asked Harry.

    "Yeah, are you ready?" Harry asked.

    "Almost, just give me five more minutes and we'll start at the same time," Ron said.

    Harry nodded and reread the last section of the textbook again to be sure he remembered the last equation since it was slightly more complicated. At Ron's nod both boys turned to the test and put the book copies face down next to Hermione so they couldn't cheat. This was acknowledged with a smile from Hermione who couldn't believe how serious they both were being about studying. ‘I guess when we all swear to do something there really is some sort of power behind it,' Hermione thought to herself, turning the page of her book. As she looked up, she noticed that Remus and Sirius had returned from the headmaster's office but were just sitting in the lounge area, not wanting to disturb the study session. Hermione marked her place in the book and walked over to Harry's guardians. "They're taking the third year Arithmancy test. From what I heard while they were studying I think they'll do well. Then they can take a break before they move on to fourth year," Hermione said.

    "You three don't do anything by half do you?" Remus asked.

    "When we all put our heads together to do something none of us back down. Its one of the things we're known for. As a team we can do anything if we want it to happen badly enough," Hermione said.

    "I can see that. I'll keep Padfoot quiet so we won't disturb you. Actually, why don't I put up a ward? We can have a chat with Prongs and Lily and they can finish. We'll come and retrieve you for lunch in a couple of hours, let them start on fourth year," Remus said.

    "That would be wonderful. If we can get that much done then we can do some more exploring today, or start planning one of our other projects," Hermione said. "Thanks, Remus, you too, Sirius. Have a good conversation with James and Lily," Hermione added before retreating back to where the boys were sitting staring at the book in front of them.

    "Are you finished already?" she asked them.

    "Yes, we just finished a few minutes ago. We're just waiting for our score," Harry said.

    "I think I did well, but we can't move on until we get an O, then we know that we can get an O on our OWL as well," Ron said.

    "Here we go," Hermione said, noticing a change in the ink as it started forming the score. She looked at Ron's first and smiled. "Well here's our first O," she said. Then looking over at Harry's book her smile grew even more. "Good work, love. I knew you could do it," Hermione said.

    "What were you talking to Remus and Sirius about?" Ron asked, relieved to have managed an O.

    "They set up a ward so that they could talk to James and Lily without disturbing us. Lunch will be in a couple of hours as its only 10:00 a.m. right now so you can work on part of fourth year before we eat, maybe even the whole thing," Hermione said.

    "Works for me," Harry said, waiving his wand over the copies of the books to end the spell as they didn't need them anymore. At the same time Hermione made copies of the fourth year book and her notes and gave them to Harry and Ron. "Good luck boys," she said, kissing Harry's cheek and giving Ron a brief hug before returning to her book.

    When the call for lunch came, Harry and Ron were surprised that they had finished the fourth year work and were already nearly done with fifth year, meaning that they could take the OWL after they ate. "Well here we are, one chance to add an OWL to our record," Harry said, taking out his letter from the Wizarding Examiner so he could see the moment the new OWL was added.

    "Let's eat first," Ron said, rubbing his hand which was cramping from writing so much.

    "Limpio," Hermione said helpfully waiving her wand over both boys to clean the ink smudges from their hands and one from Ron's nose. Then she noticed the state of both boys' quills. "You used sugar quills to take a test?"

    "It was the first thing I found in my trunk," Harry said, laughing as both quills had nearly the entire feather part missing from where they sucked the quills during an especially tough question.

    "We have to use the anti-cheat quill for the OWL anyway so its fine, and we have a whole bag of sugar quills. At least this way we're still working and not staring off into space when we can't figure out a question," Ron pointed out.

    "True, it was just funny that's all. Actually I have to admit that sugar quills are one thing I miss when I go home in the summer. My parents think that all sweets are bad even if they are disguised as a writing utensil," Hermione said.

    "Well here, I know you aren't doing any writing today, but you might as well join us in the sugar high we'll be on later. We have chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts also, but I'm quite sure if I eat a boogie flavoured bean during the OWL that my concentration will be completely gone," Harry said, handing Hermione a sugar quill.

    "Well I do have a couple of letters to write so I'll be able to use this for more than just something to snack on later, and I agree, save the disgusting Every Flavour Bean competition for later tonight after the test is done, I'll even join in. I haven't eaten a grass flavoured one in awhile," Hermione said, putting the sugar quill on top of her book.

    "Let's go have lunch," Ron said.

    "Again we're lead by Ron's stomach," Harry said, walking over to the other side of the room.

    "Hey there you are. I thought you had disappeared to search for more secret passages," James said.

    "Hey dad, we were actually taking our Arithmancy OWL, or preparing for it anyway. We finished fourth and fifth year so we'll be taking the OWL after we eat. Can you two wait to see what score we get?" Harry said, directing his question at Sirius and Remus.

    "Sure kiddo. Moony and I don't have anything else to do besides finishing the redecoration project at Grimmauld Place. We decorated your room already Harry, but you'll have to wait until Christmas to see it. Hermione, Ron, what would you like in your rooms?" Sirius asked.

    Harry was overwhelmed. He knew that he would have a home with Sirius and Remus but he wasn't expecting a room to himself. "I thought I would just share the room with Ron like usual. I didn't think you'd spend the time on a room just for me," Harry said.

    "Of course we would pup, you're ours now and you deserve to have a lot more than just a room to yourself," Sirius said.

    "He's right cub. It was the least we could do," Remus added.

    "What did you just call me?" Harry asked.

    "I called you pup, since I consider you my son and my Animagus form is a dog. Padfoot has always been protective of you ever since the day you were born," Sirius said.

    "And Moony considers you a cub. I called you cub ever since the first time I saw you, which was about four hours after you were born," Remus said.

    "Thank you," Harry said softly, knowing his guardian's canine ears would pick up what he said.

    "You're welcome," Remus and Sirius both answered.

    "Now, for our long term guests, Hermione, what colours do you prefer or should we decorate your room like we did Harry's and then if you don't like it we can change it?" Sirius asked.

    "A surprise would be fine. I'm guessing that you're decorating with magic so if I don't like it then it wouldn't be that difficult to change things," Hermione answered after she ordered her lunch.

    "Exactly. Ron, Harry tells me you're into the Cannons and that your room at the Burrow is bright orange. Would you like a copy at Grimmauld?" Sirius asked.

    "That would be great, maybe with a couple of posters of keepers," Ron said.

    "Great, now let's eat so you can get back to studying. We'll be here all day, if you three don't mind anyway, so after you take the OWL we can tell stories. I think there are a few things that Harry hasn't told us about the trio's adventures," Sirius said, taking a sip of butterbeer.

    "Only if you tell Marauder stories. After all we have two living Marauders and a portrait to hear from," Harry said.

    Lunch was finished before long and Harry and Ron went back to quickly revise the fifth year work they had done before starting the OWL. "Well I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Ron said. Harry nodded his agreement and the two picked up their books and letters as well as the anti-cheat quill. Then they separated to opposite ends of the table, leaving Hermione sitting in the middle happily sucking on her sugar quill as she tried to write a letter home to her mum and dad.

    The book closed itself two hours later to signal the end of the OWL and both Ron and Harry dropped the quill and took a deep breath. Now all they had to do was watch the letter to see the OWL added to the page as the book had told them it would be.

    "I hate waiting like this," Harry said, as they rejoined Remus and Sirius in front of the fireplace. Ron stared at his letter waiting for the change and Harry glanced over every few moments. Nearly 30 minutes later the ink in the score section of the letter glowed a light blue and a score replaced the previous mark of N/A next to Arithmancy. Harry and Ron looked at their own letter and then at the other's letter and let out a nervous breath. "Mione, we did it. We now have 11 OWLS.

    "Did you get O's?" Hermione asked.

    "Yes, a 95 even," Harry said.

    "I only got a 90, but it's still an O," Ron said.

    "Tomorrow we'll need to hurry up and work on Divination. I can't let you boys get too many OWLS ahead," Hermione said with a smile on her face. She finished the rest of her sugar quill as she signed the letter and put it on the table for Hedwig or Pig to take to her family tomorrow. Probably Hedwig, she thought, since Pig was a little too hyperactive to deliver to Muggles who weren't used to owl post even after five years.

    "Well now, who's going to start the stories?" Remus asked, giving Harry a quick hug. Sirius also hugged Harry whose face was turning a bit red from the attention.

    "I think you three should start," Sirius said.

    The trio sat and told stories of their first five years. They had a captive audience in Remus and Sirius, not to mention the portrait of Lily and James. None of them had heard much about the adventures that had been happening since first year.

    "So let me get this straight. First year was an obstacle course to get to the philosopher's stone before Voldemort, who was on the back of the DADA professor's head, could get it?" Sirius asked.

    "Yes, but Dumbledore had put the stone in the mirror, so Voldemort couldn't get it because he wanted to use it and you had to want the stone but not to use it for the mirror to work. I'm quite sure that's why he told me what the mirror did, so I could save the stone," Harry interrupted.

    "Then in second year Hermione figured out what was petrifying the students but was petrified herself before she could tell anyone. And you and Ron went into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny and ended up watching Lockhart memory charm himself?" Remus asked.

    "That was the best part of the whole thing. My wand was busted and he was trying to memory charm Harry and me so he could take credit for rescuing Ginny. It's how he wrote all his books. The charm backfired and he was left even more of an idiot than he was to start with," Ron said.

    "The only reason we knew that the creature was a basilisk is that Hermione had a piece of paper in her hand from a library book about basilisks. All the clues pointed to it we just needed Hermione to put it together. She also managed to scribble down that it was travelling in the pipes. That's why I was hearing it through the walls. If I hadn't found out I was a parselmouth, I wouldn't have been able to get into the chamber in the first place. And if Fawkes hadn't brought the sorting hat with the sword of Gryffindor then I would be dead from the basilisk venom," Harry said.

    "Third year was the first time that Hermione broke any laws. She had the time turner, as you know. Only she didn't tell us for the whole year. The only way we found out was when she and Harry saved Sirius and Buckbeak," Ron said.

    "Fourth year, as you probably know, I would rather forget. We'll just leave it at a giant maze I still see in my nightmares as it blurs into the graveyard. Fifth year is pretty much on the same level. Dreams of eerie blue light and locked doors. Umbridge was breathing down my neck. Then I nearly lost everything in the Department of Mysteries because I fell for Voldemort's lies. I'm so sorry Sirius," Harry said, barely keeping the tears back.

    Remus and Sirius knew they had to lighten the mood, so with the help of James and Lily they told Marauder stories for the rest of the night. When the clock hit 11:00 p.m. they stood up to leave. "Well, we have to be going, but we'll be back probably this weekend sometime. Is there anything you need from Hogsmeade or even Diagon Alley since you can't leave to get it yourselves? If you give us your key, Harry, we can get money from your vault for you, that way you'll have it for the year. We'll ask Dumbledore if we can take you into Hogsmeade at all before term starts," Sirius said.

    Harry fished his Gringott's key from his pocket and handed it to Sirius. "Could you see if Madam Malkin would make my robes if I owled her the measurements. The old ones are too short. Oh and robes for Ron and Hermione as well. Dress robes for Hermione and I, Ron has a new set from the twins that he hasn't worn yet, unless they're too short already," Harry said.

    "There's a book on Ancient Runes I was looking at in the catalogue but it can't be delivered without paying a lot more for it. I also need this changed to Galleons if you wouldn't mind," Hermione said, pulling out three twenty pound bills.

    "Maybe some more sweets from Honeydukes, unless you can bring us to Hogsmeade some weekend, oh and I need a new cauldron. My old one has a rusty spot and Snape will find a reason to take off points and make a joke in class unless I replace it. I can owl mum for the money," Ron said.

    "Alright, so that's three sets of school robes, two dress robes, one Ancient Runes book, withdraw money from Harry's vault and change Hermione's money, a cauldron, and a stash of chocolate frogs; sugar quills; and Every Flavour Beans, don't worry about the money I have so much the goblins want me to open another vault and my family already has 6. I don't need that hassle thank you very much. Remus can you conjure a measuring tape? We'll get the measurements and then Hermione can write down the name of the book for us and we'll be on our way," Sirius said.

    No more than twenty minutes later, Remus and Sirius were opening the portrait of James and Lily and exiting the Marauder's Lair promising to be back during the weekend with gifts for the kids.

    "Now do you still feel like finding all the odd flavoured beans and watching the fire burn down?" Hermione asked her boys.

    "Sure, who wants to start?" Ron asked, opening a fresh box of Bertie Botts.

    "I will," Harry said, taking a somewhat safe red bean. "Gross, liver," he said, swallowing the half- chewed bean.

    "Eww," Hermione said. "I'm not sure what it was actually. It was a mix of tripe and lint, I think it was a new flavour," she said.

    Ron grabbed a bright orange bean and started to chew. Then he stopped suddenly, nearly choking on the bean. "Gah, they do mean every flavour, this one was dirty sock," he said.

    "I think that's enough of that game," Harry said, disgusted. "What do you think Dumbledore has planned for us? You know he's planning something for this year. I'm not sure I like the sound of that," he said.

    "Me either, but it's Dumbledore. He wouldn't do anything to endanger his students," Hermione said.

    "Do you remember our first year, Mione? He was the one who set it up so that we would go after the stone. If he hadn't shown up when he did I could have easily been killed," Harry said.

    "Okay, but I don't think he would do that again, Harry," Hermione said.

    "I hope you're right," Ron said, a bit uneasy as he walked back to his room, deciding to go to sleep.

    Harry and Hermione walked to their room as well still deep in thought. Harry closed the door and they settled on the bed. "The last time he was so mysterious was near the end of last year, right before he finally told me the. . ." Harry said, breaking off when he realized he was going to say something about the prophecy and that Hermione still didn't know anything about it.

    "The what, Harry? Please tell me. You know I'll do anything to help you," Hermione said, turning to face him as her fingers combed through his messy hair. One finger came to rest on his scar.

    "No fair, Mione, using our connection to figure out something I don't know how to tell you or even if I can tell you yet," Harry said sighing.

    Hermione's eyes filled with tears. "Too late, Harry, I heard Dumbledore tell you the prophecy. Then he said there was more. I'm not sure about the last part of what I heard though," Hermione said.

    "What did you say?" Harry asked her.

    "That there's more to the prophecy," she answered, grasping his hand. "It has to do with us," Hermione said, sensing part of what Dumbledore wanted to tell them.

    Harry leaned into her and covered her hand that still touched his scar with his own. Then he too heard Dumbledore's words. "Mione, we're telepaths," Harry said, trembling slightly from the strain.

    "I know Harry," Hermione said.

    "I wonder if we can hear each other's thoughts or just sense others?" Harry asked.

    "Come here, let me try something," Hermione said. She pulled him down and brushed her lips against his scar. All at once Harry was hit with waves of emotions, both his and Hermione's. His hands moved to circle her comfortably in his arms and he decided to test their telepathy by silently praying that she wouldn't move her lips from his skin. After a few moments though, Harry broke contact and moved his lips to hers in a much more needy, passionate kiss than either of the kisses they had shared before. His hands moved down her back slowly until they spanned her narrow waist. Then he sensed rather than heard Hermione's reaction.

    "Hermione Jane Granger! I never thought I would hear you say something like that," Harry said aloud.

    "Well it worked," Hermione said, without moving from her present position. She was comfortably tangled in Harry's arms and being held tight against his chest. ‘I'm in heaven,' she thought, a blush coming to her cheeks thinking of what she'd like to do with Harry.

    ‘Same here,' Harry replied silently, adding his own impure thoughts.

    "Harry James Potter, really now. Don't you think that would be moving a little fast since we only had our first real kiss tonight?" Hermione said, a smile lighting up her face as she lightly kissed him.

    "Sorry, Mione, you'll have to learn to live with my stray thoughts. They aren't always pretty, or appropriate," Harry said, in a whisper, between kisses. He blushed as he thought about how he accidentally let Hermione know how much he would love to see her in her underwear.

    "It's okay, now that you mention it, I am curious to see what you sleep in at night when you don't fall asleep fully dressed," Hermione said.

    "My boxers," Harry whispered, his blush deepening.

    Hermione was silent for a moment, deep in thought. "We should go to the library and find a book on empathy and telepathy so we know what to expect," she said.

    "Alright, let's go see what we can do with this connection of ours. It's better than lying here waiting for the next nightmare," Harry said.

    "Oh Harry. Maybe they won't be so bad when we can help each other sleep," Hermione said, tears in her eyes.

    "I keep making you cry. What kind of boyfriend am I?" Harry asked.

    "The best kind, Harry. I'm just upset that you're always so afraid lately. Everything keeps happening before you can deal with the last crisis," she said.

    The walked back into the common room and over to the door to the library. Harry pushed open the door and pulled Hermione inside. "Okay my little genius, what are we looking for exactly?" Harry asked, a rare smile on his face.

    "Not Quidditch Through the Ages," Hermione said with a laugh, pulling him away from the sports section. She walked toward the restricted section and Harry gallantly unlocked the door with a quick Alohomora, without his wand.

    "Harry! You didn't use your wand," Hermione said, knowing that he was capable of wandless magic, but not wanting to tell him that she knew since Dumbledore didn't want him to know just yet. Hermione hoped he didn't pick up on those thoughts and pushed them out of her mind to prevent him from catching even a hint.

    "I . . . wow, I'll have to ask Dumbledore tomorrow about that. You know it's almost easier without it," Harry said, surprised himself, but thinking already about how liberating not worrying about his wand during the upcoming battle could be.

    Hermione ran her finger down the spine of an old book on telepathy. "Here we are," she said.

    Harry had moved over to the shelf on Animagi and found what he was looking for. "Should we go, Mione?" Harry asked, taking the book from her hand and sliding his arm around her waist.

    "Of course," she said.

    They returned to their room and sat on Harry's bed to start learning about their bond. "Many empathy become telepathic. Some are even able to train their connection so that physical contact is not required to converse. A smaller number are able to include another person in the link, but it must be someone who is closely connected to the pair of telepaths already as it takes the power of both of the originally linked people to add the third person to the connection. In rare cases the telepathic power will expand to allow for hearing each other over long distances," Hermione said, reading aloud.

    "So we might be able to add Ron to the connection. This will be useful during a battle, not to mention if one of us has trouble in Potions and we don't want Snape to know that we're helping each other," Harry said.

    "I think adding Ron would be a good idea, although you know I don't approve of you two cheating in potions," Hermione said.

    "It's not cheating, it's preventing a cauldron explosion that in the NEWT class would probably lead to a million point deduction and a whole term of detentions,"

    "We'll ask Dumbledore to see if he knows anyone who can train us or suggest what we can study," Hermione said, yawning.

    "Come on, Mione, time to sleep," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her. He leaned over and whispered, "Nox," turning out the light, again without a wand.

    The next morning Harry woke up not shaking and sweating as he usually did. He felt something on his shoulder and looked down to see Hermione curled into his chest. His arms were wrapped around her and his chin rested gently on the top of her head. ‘She's so beautiful,' Harry thought to himself. Then he realized that her cheek was laying against his bare chest. His white Oxford button-down shirt, part of his Hogwarts uniform, was unbuttoned. He didn't remember unbuttoning his shirt the night before. "Morning beautiful," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

    "Morning," she answered, shifting from her sleeping position, her cheek rubbing gently over Harry's chest causing him to blush. Hermione smiled at his reaction. ‘You looked uncomfortable last night so I tried to help. You did seem to sleep better once I unbuttoned your shirt,' she thought to Harry.

    ‘Did I have another nightmare?' Harry thought.

    ‘No, but you were tossing us around a bit after we laid down and I was afraid that one would start. I curled up right next to you and decided I wanted to see what you've gained from all the Quidditch,' Hermione thought to him.

    ‘Like what you see?' Harry asked through their link.

    ‘Oh yes, it was definitely worth it. One of these nights we'll actually have to get changed for bed you know,' Hermione thought.

    "Shall we change clothes, wake Ron up, and go see Professor Dumbledore? That way we can get today's lesson out of the way before it's too late," Harry said, switching back to actually speaking.

    "I guess, but let's go visit the giant squid before we start our Divination work, then we can see if Hagrid is back," Hermione said.

    "Sounds good to me let's get going," Harry agreed.