Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Chapter 5 - Part 2

Her eyes never left the table but she knew she was simply delaying the inevitable. Harry had earned the right to show off the smug grin she was positive he now sported. She looked up and realized she was wrong yet again. Harry's gobsmacked expression rivaled the one he had sported after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire.

"Wow," he eventually replied, "I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't that. Thanks. And I meant what I said last term...you can use it any time you'd like."

"That won't be necessary," she mumbled, her eyes once again returning to the desk as she pulled out two stacks of parchment and silently rejoiced at Harry's maturity. She should have known Harry wouldn't preen about being right...he was much more concerned about them getting along. She quickly forged ahead.

"I spent the last few days of the break transcribing all of the Prince's notes and added a few indexing charms to make it easier to quickly look up specific topics. Preparation advice, potion types, safety measures, general tips...that sort of thing."

She slid one of the stacks across the table and continued. "I made a copy for you as well."

"This looks like my handwriting," Harry replied in confusion.

"I came across a spell over the summer that can mimic someone's penmanship. I thought it would make it a bit easier for you to read if they were in your own handwriting."

"That's really cool," he replied. "The things you know...it's amazing, Hermione."

"Books and cleverness," she joked as she nudged Harry's foot under the table, her stomach twitching once again at Harry's warm smile. She ignored it.

She quickly pushed the other stack of parchment across the table. "I made a copy for Ron as well...you can give it to him. Tell him that if he makes any comments about me being wrong about the book I can make the ink on his copy vanish whenever I want."

"His copy has your handwriting," Harry observed.

"Only non-dunderheads get the special penmanship spell," she replied as she pulled out another parchment. "Besides, he's borrowed my notes so often over the years he can probably read my handwriting better than his own."

Harry barked out a laugh, drawing another curious glance from Ron.

"We need to talk about the spells though, Harry," she trudged on.

Annoyance briefly flared on Harry's face before he forcefully calmed himself and nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Go on," he replied.

"I haven't changed my opinion on the spells. Promise me you won't try anymore before we test them out together...on practice dummies or something. Based on a few of the notes some are at best mean-spirited and at worst dangerous."

"That's fair," Harry replied as he nodded in resignation. We could use the Room of Requirement...maybe classify them based on the danger level or something."

Hermione purposely cleared her throat and pushed the new parchment forward. "I took the liberty of setting up a schedule. I came up with twenty spells in the book that I had never heard of and I thought we could cover them all over the next few weeks. We could start with the ones that sounded the most useful and save the more severe sounding ones for last. I've gone ahead and ranked them based on a few-"

She stopped abruptly as she noticed Harry smirking as he listened on. "Something funny, Harry?"

"Sorry," he replied abruptly as he schooled his features. "It's just...I should have known you would have already thought of that."

She stubbornly fought back the smile threatening to break out on her own face. "Anyway, since you're meeting with the Headmaster tomorrow maybe we could start Tuesday night. You can invite Ron as well if you'd like but tell him if he makes any stupid remarks he'll be my practice dummy for the spell testing."

"Will do," he answered, "looks like Lavender might beat you to it though."

She looked over at the pair and to her surprise felt a bit of sympathy for Ron. Before the holiday break, she would have been reveling in Ron's misfortune. Now, any feelings toward Ron, whether positive or negative, seemed to be muted...overshadowed and thrust to the background thanks to her new normal. She was broken out of her musings by Harry.

"How long did it take you to do all this?" Harry asked as he scanned the parchments she had provided.

"Just a couple of days, actually," she replied. "It was actually a good distraction," she continued, "I finally told my parents everything that has happened to me at Hogwarts and about what's happening now. I kept trying to convince them to leave England for their own safety and they kept trying to convince me to go with them. After a few days of talking everything out I was desperate for something else to focus on. And the book really is quite fascinating."

Harry pretended to review her notes for a few moments before speaking.

"It's not a bad idea actually," Harry tentatively replied, "you being safe and away from all this nonsense would-"

"Shut up, Harry," Hermione interrupted as she leaned over and flicked him on the forehead.

"That hurt, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed as he rubbed his forehead and smiled despite himself.

"If you stop saying stupid things you won't get flicked. It's that simple."

They sat in silence for several minutes as Harry stared fixedly at the notes. "I'm really sorry about you and your parents. It's not fair..."

She nudged his foot under the table once again so he would look at her. "I'll tell you what I told them," she continued, laying her hand on his. "I have no intention of running. You'd never do such a thing and neither will I."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled as he gathered himself and quickly picked up the parchment stacks and placed them in his bag.

"Anyway," Harry eventually continued, "now that that's sorted I talked to Mr. Weasley and Lupin over the break about what Snape and Malfoy are up to. Oh, I also kind of told off the Minister of Magic..."