Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Chapter 6 - Part 2

Unfortunately, Harry's meeting with Slughorn had not gone well, at all, and three weeks later they were still no closer to knowing anything additional beyond the name. The weekly sessions to test out the Prince's spells had been a nice distraction and had done a wonderful job of establishing some normalcy between the foursome...Ron and Lavender even joined them occasionally for meals and her Prefect rounds with Ron were relatively pleasant as well, But as the days passed and nothing new could be found on Horcruxes the stress was starting to grow.

She let out a groan as she closed the third and final book she had ordered from Flourish and Blotts using Harry's Christmas present, once again coming up empty. She had specifically chosen the three books considered the 'darkest' that the bookstore chose to carry in hopes of finding something.

As she grabbed the first book once again to re-review for something she may have missed it was abruptly pulled from her hand by Harry.

"No more research and no more studying tonight," he declared authoritatively. "It's Friday and I think we are due for another night off."

She made to protest but stopped herself. She had felt herself sliding into bad habits and attitudes over the last week due to their lack of progress and realized this was the perfect opportunity to nip it in the bud.

"I don't see a dance floor or fruity drinks anywhere, Harry. What are you proposing?" she asked.

She watched Harry scan the room for options.

"Game of chess?"

"Next."

"Trip to the kitchen?"

"I'm a Prefect and it's almost curfew. What else."

"Sit on that couch, stare at the fire and talk about anything besides Voldemort, Malfoy or Horcruxes."

"That sounds perfect," she answered with a sigh as she began to gather her things and make her way over to the couch. As she went to sit a ginger blur seemingly appeared from nowhere and took her preferred seat.

"Crooks!" she admonished as she reached down to move her companion.

"He's fine," Harry interrupted as he slid over a bit. "There's plenty of room."

Crookshanks mewled in agreement before curling up in a ball and closing his eyes. She was sure it was her imagination but the cat seemed to be purposely taking up more room than usual.

As she took the seat next to Harry she felt his arm drape across the back of the couch and desperately fought the urge to lean into his side and rest her head in the small of his shoulder where she knew it fit perfectly. It was so close. She settled for laying her head back against his arm and closing her eyes. It was nice...it was enough.

"Well go on then...talk" Hermione playfully commanded after several minutes of contented silence.

"There is one thing I've been wanting to ask you about," Harry began, "about your parents."

"We are not talking about me leaving again, Harry."

"It's not that," he quickly plowed on, "I'd just like to know more about them...about your life outside of Hogwarts. After we talked about them leaving I realized I've never asked you about your family. It seems like all we do is talk about me and my problems. I don't even know their first names."

She was about to protest...to say that it was unimportant...that she focused so much time and energy on him and less on herself out of necessity and that he would do the same if their situations were reversed. But then she realized this was their night off.

"It's stupid," Harry finally blurted out to break the uncomfortable silence, "just forget I-"

"My Dad's name is David," she interrupted. "David Sinclair Granger. He hates his middle name...says it makes him sound like a pompous ass. Mum likes to call him Sinclair whenever he gets a bit full of himself. It never fails to set him off.

She felt Harry chuckle in amusement and continued.

"Mum's name is Jane Elizabeth-"

"Your middle name is from your mum...just like my dad and me," Harry interjected, pleased at the synergy.

"When they were dating Dad tried calling her 'Janey' a few times and she hated it...so when I was born 'Janey' became my nickname. He said it was revenge for Mum spoiling his fun."

"Janey," Harry repeated in consideration, "I think it suits you."

"My father calls me Janey...no-one else," she stated matter of factly.

"Can I call you Sinclair?" Harry replied. He seemed very pleased with his joke.

"Hermione," she deadpanned. "You can call me Hermione."

Crookshanks apparently had grown tired of his seat and jumped into her lap. Despite the extra room now available, she did not move away from Harry...instead she allowed herself to settle into his side just a bit. It was nice. Familiar.

"Did they meet at Uni?" Harry asked.

"Everyone thinks that because they're both dentists but no. They met at some dental conference years later. They struck up a conversation at the hotel bar the night before the conference and that was it for the both of them. According to Dad they skived off the conference and spent the entire week with each other instead but Mum says he's exaggerating. She's usually like me...responsible. I think she just doesn't want me thinking she let loose and shagged Dad the first night they met."

"That does sound like you," Harry interjected.

"Are you saying I'm a slag, Harry?" Hermione teased.

"Of course not," he protested. "It's just...you have this reputation as always following the rules but it's ridiculous."

"This is supposed to be making me feel better?"

"Let me finish," Harry continued as he squeezed her shoulder, pulling her in even closer. When had his hand moved off the back of the couch and onto her shoulder? She didn't resist.

"You always ignore the rules if you think it's stupid or the person enforcing the rule is wrong. And if there is something you care about you will always choose that over some rule. I could see you skipping some boring meetings for someone or something you were passionate about."

"You're exaggerating," she replied defiantly.

"First year. You set a teacher on fire."

"To save you!"

"Second year. Polyjuice," he stated simply.

"That doesn't count. It was important!"

"Third year. Time turner," he continued.

"That was sanctioned by the school," she protested once again.

"Dumbledore's Army?" he shot back, clearly enjoying having so many examples.

"We weren't learning anything!" she replied good naturedly, knowing her arguments were futile.

A few seconds passed before Harry responded, now in a much quieter voice.

"You left school grounds, on a creature that you couldn't see, and broke into the Ministry."

"That wasn't just me though...Ron, Neville, Luna, and Ginny...we all came to help you."

"But no-one, except maybe Neville, accuses any of them of never breaking rules. And you were the only one that was positive it was a trap. You knew it was a trap and did it anyway...for me. You broke so many rules that night."

"Fine, you win. I do irrational things for the people I care about," she said in defeat.

"Glad we got that sorted," Harry replied triumphantly. "Next question. What was your first bout of accidental magic?"

Thirty minutes later Harry was recalling the time he turned one of his teacher's hair blue. She'd never heard that story and smiled to herself as he told the tale. She stared into the fire and felt Crookshanks' contented purring under her hand. Eventually, she succumbed to the insistent urge and rested her head in the small of Harry's shoulder. As she suspected she fit perfectly. Hermione wondered if this was what her mother experienced in that hotel bar twenty years ago.

For the rest of the evening, she didn't think about Voldemort...or Malfoy...or Horcruxes. She didn't worry if people were watching. She didn't care if she was setting herself up for heartbreak down the line. It was her night off.