Running

Chapter 9

The Room of Requirement had become a personal hangout space for Harry and Hermione; somewhere just the two of them could be themselves without having to worry about raising suspicions or behaving a certain way - they could just, be. They began spending more and more time there together, dedicating parts of their weekends to the room - not so much time that people wondered where they were, but enough time that they could get some much-needed rest.

Often, they liked transforming the room into wide-open fields. It was wintertime at Hogwarts and the icy cold landscape wasn't the best place to go for walks in. Roaring green hills and endless blue skies; it was quickly becoming their favourite place to return to. Sometimes the day called for a nice stroll, other days, they were running races. Harry and Hermione were happy there.

That wasn't to say they weren't happy generally at Hogwarts too. Ignoring the plots and manipulations of certain people in their lives, classes were a breeze and they'd formed many close bonds they hadn't the first time around. Neville's confidence had already seen major improvements from the previous timeline. Though he seemed to spend more time with some of the Hufflepuff boys, when he was around the Gryffindor tower, Harry and Hermione were always his first choice. Harry had gotten to know Seamus and Dean a lot better this time around too. It was fun hanging out with them, they didn't only talk about quidditch and he got along easily with them.

Hermione had also been having a much easier time with friendships. Last time around she'd been so nervous about the Wizarding World, boarding school, and trying not to fail her classes, she'd often come off as bossy and borderline hostile with her approach to learning, to the point most of the other girls ignored her until 3rd or 4th year. Armed with a lot more confidence and far fewer nerves, she found they were good friends - even Lavender, though she'd been wary at first. It was hard, to begin with. This was the same woman who her husband had been cheating on her with, who'd been supplying him with a potion that had forced her into becoming his prisoner, who'd said she always hated her. Except, it wasn't the same woman, not anymore. This was just, another student in her year. And as time went on, it became easier to see her as a friend.

The two certainly wouldn't consider Draco a friend. He was around, and far less hostile than he had been previously. In fact, on one occasion, when Hermione had left her bag in Transfiguration, he'd been quick to chase her up after class and return it to her. They spoke to him on occasion in the classroom, predominantly about the class content, but generally, he was just another Slytherin.

All things considered, life was going well. They were happy.

One day, in late November, the two were sitting in the Room of Requirement. The sun was shining and a light breeze blew past them occasionally. As they sat there, a thought suddenly came to Hermione.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?" He turned to face her.

"I actually completely forgot to ask you about this after the Sorting Ceremony, but why did it take so long for you to be sorted? It felt like you were up there for ages."

Harry reclined against the grass and began telling her about his conversation with the Hat.

***FLASHBACK***

Harry seated himself on the stool at the front of the Great Hall, not nearly as nervous as last time. He'd been through all this before, and he knew where he was going. As the hat was placed on his head, it once again seemed to engulf him, he could barely see under it.

"Welcome back, Mr Potter," came the gruff voice of the hat.

"Good to be back," Harry smiled.

"I am more than certain you would like to join your fellow time-traveller in Gryffindor. I still believe you could have done wonders in Slytherin." It was as though the hat tried to mumble the last part, but it is very hard to hide your speech from someone when sitting on their head.