Dragonkin

Begin at the Beginning

*~* The Burrow *~*

"I'm so sorry about Sirius, Harry," Hermoine said softly. There was something in her voice that stopped Harry from snapping back at her as he might have done. She was sitting next to Harry on one of the Twins' beds after Ron had run off at his Mum's command.

"I'm all alone now, Hermione. Remus is great, but Sirius was my godfather, my dad's brother in all but blood. The last of my family. It's not the same," Harry muttered as Hermione dropped her head on his shoulder.

Oh, how that would have hurt Remus. They both knew it, but it was true nonetheless. Harry Potter had no one else he would claim as family. Hermoine bit her lip for a second.

"I know what you mean. I had to contact the Weasleys when my parents began saying I couldn't go back to Hogwarts, that I couldn't go back to the wizarding world. As I was leaving they told me I had a choice, but if I left, I had to do it on my own and I shouldn't bother to come back. Apparently everything recently was just too much for them to handle. Looks like we're both alone." She allowed herself to feel it. The hurt over being forced to choose.

"My dad and Sirius were like brothers. Even their magic recognized it they had such a strong bond. Like you and me, You've always stood by me never wavered not even when Ron did. You're my sister. Or that's how I think of you."

"Yeah, I think of you the same way. I guess we aren't as alone as we thought." Which had been her point in sharing that mortifying piece of trauma.

"Say," Harry began, with a sad, nostalgic twist to his mouth, "Did you ever see kids on the playground, swear to be blood brothers? Or was that only a boy thing?"

"I saw it a few times. I don't think I ever saw a girl do it. Why?" She could almost see the moment he decided it was a good idea.

"You and me, Moine. We're going to do it. I'll be your brother and you'll be my sister and neither of us will be alone."

She almost told him no, but as she looked in his eyes she admitted, even if only to herself, one fundamental truth in her life: she would do anything to help Harry and make life better for him. She knew she was going to end up doing it; so she sighed and agreed.

Now, anyone who had grown up in the wizarding world would have told them not to do what they were doing. You don't just add blood to a vow. It was an unwritten rule in the wizarding world. No one thought to teach the two muggle raised friends the unwritten rules. They had barely been taught some of the written ones.

Harry took out his wand and did a simple cutting spell on his left palm, while Hermoine did the same. The grasped bleeding palms together Hermione only moaning a little bit about it being unhygienic.

Harry smirked but looked her straight in the eye. "You are now my sister, even in blood. I will never abandon you. I will always protect and defend you."

"You are now my brother, even in blood. I will never abandon you. I will always support and encourage you."

That moment started so many things...

*~*September 1996*~*

Luna was watching her friends across the great hall at the welcoming feast. It was so nice. She had, of course, noticed the differences on the train, but it became more obvious at a distance. The bond between Harry and Hermoine was so much stronger and clearer now than it had been. She finally decided it was because it was more defined, a family bond. It reminded her more of the one between Fred and George than the one between Ron and Ginny, which surprised her somehow. She could see the other changes as well. In their shared carriage on the Express Luna had noticed Harry's eyes were slightly darker. It was very slight and wouldn't be obvious unless you were looking for it like she was. His permanent mess of a hairstyle had an ever so slight wave as though it wanted to curl, but wasn't quite long enough. It still resembled a bird's nest. It hadn't changed that much. He was still very Harry.