Late Night Conversations
After a particularly long lecture on muggle advancements and technology, Harry wanted nothing more than to go to bed, but Ron and Hermione had wanted to talk to him. He hadn't been spending as much time with them as usual and he certainly missed them. The last month had been... Well, there weren't really words for quite how overwhelming it had been. His friends had their own stuff going on too. Ron was surprisingly devoted to the idea of creating his own line of brooms and Hermione was working hard to spend as much time with her parents as possible.
They'd been having a lot of long conversations about her behaviour. It bothered Hermione that they seemed to blame themselves. They seemed to think that they'd taught her wrong or something. Hermione wasn't completely sure why. She didn't think she was that bad. Sure, these books were painting her in a pretty bad light but she'd certainly always tried to be a good friend. The problem was she wasn't actually sure what that meant. From what the teachers said, she seemed to have confused roles... Parent. Teacher. Friend. And more often than not, behaved more like one of the former two instead of just being Harry and Ron's friend.
That was something she wanted to fix. Although she wasn't completely sure how. Habits were hard to break and even here she was tempted to correct their behaviour almost constantly. Less so with Harry... Ron, however... Someone really needed to teach him to eat with his mouth closed. And she just couldn't fathom why he wasn't attending the lessons any more. She knew why Harry wasn't. And it was true enough that most of the older ones were either attending different lessons to their younger selves or using the time to help Harry and the adults with some of the new plans that were forming.
But Ron wasn't doing any of that.
Sighing deeply, Hermione reminded herself that she wasn't Ron's parent or teacher and tried to let it go. She didn't need to know what he was up to. More importantly, she wanted to make sure they were both okay. Especially Harry. This couldn't be easy for him. Having his entire life read from a book and in such a public way.
"I feel like I haven't really seen either of you for ages," Hermione said, sitting down in front of the fire, "except at meals and readings, that is."
"Yeah, it's been a bit manic," Harry said with a sigh. "I've been busy with the plans for the new school and talking to the goblins. And now I have the teachers on my back about changes I'd like made to Hogwarts."
"They want you to make changes at Hogwarts?" Ron asked.
"Well, no. They want to make changes," Harry explained. "But as I technically own half the school, I have the right to veto changes, so it makes sense to come to me before they get too far ahead, in case I don't like it."
"But if it's to improve the school why would you veto?" Hermione asked, confused. She sounded slightly huffy but Harry knew her and knew that was how she always sounded when she didn't quite understand.
"Humans don't always agree on what counts as an improvement," Harry said with a cheeky grin. "I mean if they told me they were bringing back security trolls, I'd veto it."
"Well, yes. But surely they wouldn't," Hermione said while Ron chuckled.
"We can only hope not," Harry said with a sigh. "So far, it's been quite productive. They also wanted to know if I had any more ideas."
"Oh!" Hermione grew excited. "What did you tell them?"
Ron rolled his eyes.
"Er... I recommended starting a student council," Harry said.
"How would you arrange it?" Hermione asked. "Would it be democratic?"
"Two students elected by their peers from each house and year. Except maybe first year. They have enough to be getting on with, just finding their way to lessons."
"Forty-eight students," Ron said, doing the math. "But what would this council do?"
"Act as a liason between the students and teachers, even the headmaster and the board of governors," Hermione began in a rush. "Bring forward any ideas the student body has, requests for new resources or classes. Anything really. They do it in the muggle world. It's really good and it teaches responsibility."
Ron nodded his head. He definitely didn't want to be on that council. It sounded like a lot of work and he wanted to focus on his brooms. Ron decided to change the topic of conversation.
"So, er, how are you doing, mate?" Ron asked. "I mean, this has been awful for all of us but it must be worse for you."
Harry grimaced. "It's only going to get worse."
Ron nodded. He wasn't wrong there.
"It's good though," Hermione said. "As much as loath everyone telling me off constantly, it's nice to know things are actually going to change because of this."
Both Harry and Ron smirked at her.
"Are your parents talking to you again?" Harry asked. He knew they seemed to be in the chamber but he wasn't sure that actually meant things were better.
"They're still hurt and I don't think they trust me," Hermione said, her eyes downcast. "I really disappointed them and these books aren't helping. But we're having family counselling with the mind healers and that's been helping. They understand why I did what I did, but they feel I need to learn that other people have autonomy."
Neither Ron or Harry knew quite what to say.
"And... Well, I think they might be right," Hermione said. "I've been thinking back, you know with the books bringing everything back up, and I sort of do just steamroll over things. Don't I?"
"Sometimes, yeah," Harry said quietly.
Ron looked at him like he thought he was mental, before glancing at Hermione as if waiting for her to explode.
"I'll do better," Hermione said. "And I'm going to try and talk about it with my younger self. I still don't really understand what Mother Magic meant by we'd merge together. Will our consciousnesses just combine or will some be lost from both... It's kind of scary to be honest. And I don't want her making the same mistakes."
"I think we'll just combine," Harry said with a shrug. He wasn't sure how he knew it but he knew this wasn't something they had to worry about. "Mother Magic will make sure we're still ourselves."
Both Ron and Hermione looked slightly relieved. Although Hermione looked like she wanted to find an appropriate book to confirm what Harry was saying.
"Have you guys noticed that Seamus has been acting weird?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Hermione said sharply. "He's barely talking to Neville and Neville doesn't know what he did wrong."
"Neville hasn't done anything," Harry said with a sigh. "Seamus just needs a few days to come to terms with a shock."
"How do you know that?" Ron and Hermione both asked.
"Er... He didn't say anything. I just saw..." He didn't want to tell them that he saw the look on his face when he read his inheritance test results. It wasn't any of their business what was written there. "Anyway, I'm sure he'll work it out."
Ron huffed. "Rather he wasn't being a complete git though. He went off on me earlier today because we were all talking about our inheritance tests and he didn't want to share his. He could have just said no."
"Talking about inheritance tests," Hermione said. "Harry, you're a prince!"
"Argh. Don't remind me." Harry shuddered. "If it wasn't enough that I was the Boy-Who-Lived, I'm now a bloody prince."
"It's kind of cool though," Hermione said. "You'll be able to make some real changes."
"Yeah, I guess. Beats being an auror at least," Harry said. He'd had enough fighting criminal wannabe dark lords for a lifetime. Two lifetimes even. "Let's talk about you, Hermione... Umbridge?"
"Just thinking about being related to that toad makes me want to throw up," Hermione said, grimacing.
Both boys laughed, although not cruelly. "Just think if Meda can find a way to help Squibs access their magic, your dad might be Lord Umbridge one day."
Hermione groaned. She did not want to even consider it. Although it would be brilliant if her parents could get access to their magic, she didn't want to think about that toad.
Meanwhile, Arcturus, Remus, and Sirius were sitting together in the living room off their chambers. Severus had chosen to join them for a nightcap and was sitting next to Sirius on the sofa with the other two men in a pair of armchairs. They were in a rather heated discussion about how they could guarantee that Harry have a real chance at a childhood once they returned to the new timeline.
"Well, Harry owns quite a tidy share of the Daily Prophet," Sirius said. "The Potter family has a ten percent share, Peverell has seven and Myrrddin has thirty. So, I'm pretty sure we can keep the press away from him."
That allowed all of the other men to relax slightly. They had feared what the press would do. While there were plenty of laws governing the press's behaviour, they tended to go ignored. And it would be better if they didn't have to take constant legal action against the country's main paper.
"My biggest concern," Severus said, "is that I struggle to see how any of these children won't just die of boredom when they come to Hogwarts. Repeating all seven years, will be mind numbing. While I admit some of them might benefit from it." He hadn't been very impressed by their potion skills. Just what had his older self been teaching them?
"I agree," Arcturus said. "We'll need to talk to the teachers. Perhaps they could take more advanced courses alongside their schooling. Self-study, perhaps?"
The others all nodded.
"Although if Harry gets his way and new classes are added," Remus said, "that will definitely help."
"Everyone does seem surprisingly willing to listen to Harry," Sirius said, leaning slightly towards Severus. Their thighs were touching and although neither of them had said or done anything, neither pulled away. He silently wondered if he could ask Severus on a date. But what really counted as a date in Mother Magic's realm?
Their conversation died off when Harry joined them.
"Have fun with your friends?" Remus asked kindly.
"Sure. We just talked." Harry shrugged. "Hermione isn't happy about being related to Delores Umbridge."
"Can't blame her," Remus said, his eyes flashing. "I can't stand the woman."
"Me neither," Harry sighed, his fingers running along the scar on the back of his hand.
"Do you have anything you want to warn us about," Arcturus asked, "with the reading tomorrow. I've already had one heart attack and would rather avoid a second."
"I will be entered into the Triwizard Tournament," Harry said with a sigh. "But I didn't do it."
That wasn't really surprising. They'd all thought that was inevitable.
"Nothing else?" Sirius pressed.
"I don't think so. Unless we read about the first task tomorrow," Harry said with a yawn. "That will probably require an abundant supply of calming draughts."
Severus nodded. Appreciating the warning.
"And why is that?" Remus asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Er... The most important thing is that I'm fine and that task was probably the hardest out of the three. For me, at least."
They all nodded before Remus stretched and said he was going to go to bed. Soon they had all left for their own chambers, except Sirius and Severus. They sat there silently for several minutes. Neither saying anything. They weren't even looking at each other. Sirius had his eyes shut, head resting on the back of the sofa, while Severus stared into space. He glanced at the other man and made a rash decision. Leaning forward, he gently kissed the other man. It didn't stay gentle for long as Sirius's eyes snapped open. He pulled Severus closer, wrapping his arms around him as he opened his mouth to give Severus's tongue access.
Severus sighed. Sometimes behaving like a silly lion wasn't so bad.