Hermione's Bookshelf

049. Arthur Weasley never told his family …

Arthur Weasley never told his family, but the fight between him and Lucius Malfoy at Flourish and Blotts during the summer of 1992 wasn’t their first. They’d once gotten into a physical altercation at the Ministry of Magic over the Muggle Protection Act. He’d been patched up by Perkins, who had been rather understanding and amused about the whole affair, and had even bought him lunch. Arthur thought Perkins was secretly happy that he’d won the fight.

To this day, most people believe that Lucius Malfoy has a scar next to his left eyebrow because he fell down a flight of stairs. He would rather they think that he was clumsy than know that he lost a fight to a Weasley, and Arthur would rather his family not find out about the whole situation.

048. After Voldemort was dead, Harry had nightmares …

After Voldemort was dead, Harry had nightmares about the war for quite some time. They always included the horrendous deaths of the people he most cared for, especially Ron and Hermione. When he and Ron were roommates for a while after the war, while Hermione was finishing up her education at Hogwarts, Ron overheard Harry saying Hermione name in his sleep, which caused his fear and insecurities to reawaken.

Over breakfast the next day, Ron asked Harry about it, and Harry confessed about his nightmares. Ron immediately felt badly for doubting his best friend. Harry told him not to worry about it.

“I’m pretty sure,” said Harry, grinning, “I’ve said your name in my sleep, too.”

Ron smiled and said, “I think if I’d heard that, it would have lead to a more fun conversation.”

047. During his third year at Hogwarts, Harry decided to keep a journal.

During his third year at Hogwarts, Harry decided to keep a journal. He thought that maybe it would help him deal with the odd circumstances that were a regular part of being the boy who lived as well as being a fun way to keep a history of his time at Hogwarts. He started one after Fred and George gave him the Marauder’s Map. After he overheard the conversation in Hogsmeade about Sirius Black being his godfather, several of his journal entries were focused on the topic of revenge against Sirius. Some of the dire predictions that Harry and Ron invented for their Divination homework and which they had once fantasized happening to Draco Malfoy ended up the topic of contemplation for page after page in his little bound book, with Property of Harry J. Potter stamped on the back. When he looked at these entries several years later, he thought back to his decision against killing Peter Pettigrew and wondered if he would be able to kill Voldemort.

046. During his first few weeks at Hogwarts …

During his first few weeks at Hogwarts, when Harry woke up in the mornings, he would keep his eyes closed and be afraid for a moment that it had all been a dream. He would imagine himself opening his eyes to see the bottom of the stairs above his head in the tiny cupboard at 4 Privet Drive.

And then, Ron or Dean or Seamus or Neville would say something, and he would open his eyes with a smile.

045. There were nights when Harry was awake …

There were nights when Harry was awake in his four-poster bed in Gryffindor Tower listening to the raging wind and rain. During these moments, he thought about a great many things, ranging from the commonplace to the rare. He worried about his exams and about being killed by Lord Voldemort, about his interest in Ginny and his nightmares about the corridor in the Ministry of Magic, about Christmas presents and his parents’ deaths. There were nights when he cried due to fear, and nights when he laughed about something he and Ron had done that day, and nights when his thoughts were focused solely on the sexual. It was during these private moments that he had thoughts that he suspected he wouldn’t be able to share with anyone else.

044. When Severus Snape died, he awoke …

When Severus Snape died, he awoke in a place that resembled a courtyard of Hogwarts, and Lily Potter was waiting for him. He immediately fell to his knees before her, saying, “Lily …”

“Severus,” said Lily, “please stand up.”

He stood.

They looked at one another, Severus filled with love and nervousness, Lily filled with both anger and gratitude.

Over Lily’s shoulder, Severus could see James standing at the edge of the courtyard. He was clearly observing them interestedly. Death seemed to have calmed him down, Severus observed. Maybe it would do the same for him. The thought almost made him smirk.

Lily looked at him kindly. “You gave Harry your memories.”

Severus nodded.

“We need to talk,” said Lily. “Come with us?”

Severus looked at Lily and then at James. He hesitated and then nodded.

“We have to get on the train from Hogsmeade Station,” said Lily.

The three of them walked down the path to the village. Severus didn’t know what would happen next, if she would be furious with him for his actions that contributed to her death or if she would be forgiving towards him due to his actions after leaving Lord Voldemort. At least she was speaking to him, so there was hope.

Severus didn’t know where he was headed —- if there was some afterlife where he would be judged or if this was some absurd hallucination —- but there was nothing he could do at this point. He didn’t know whether to be happy about this situation because Lily was there or upset because James was there. He decided that Lily’s presence won out.

They got on the train.

043. On the night of 1 September 1971, Remus Lupin was sitting on his bed …

On the night of 1 September 1971, Remus Lupin was sitting on his bed watching two of his dormmates —- they’d said their names were James Potter and Sirius Black —- playing chess when the one named Sirius had asked, “So, Remus, we were talking about our first official prank at Hogwarts. James thinks it should be something small, to sort of catch people off guard —- maybe think we’re just fooling around —- then do something big later, as a big surprise. I say we should do something big right away. What d’you reckon?”

“What?”

Sirius started repeating himself, but Remus interrupted him.

“No, I mean why are you telling me you’re going to pull a prank?”

“So you can help us, of course,” said James.

“Yeah, we reckon you seem a nice guy,” said Sirus, “and us dormmates, we should all be friends.”

Remus stared at them for a few seconds, both amused and surprised that he was being asked to help create mischief.

Years later, Sirius would swear that he look on Remus’s face in those few seconds had been hilarious, and that he’d seen the inner mischief-making Marauder underneath Remus’s surprise.

042. Bill Weasley always looked after his younger siblings …

Bill Weasley always looked after his younger siblings; he thought of it has his responsibility as the older brother. When it became clear to him that Harry and Hermione were becoming close to the family, even before they married Ginny and Ron, he asked to speak to them privately one day at the Burrow. The three of them went out into the backyard garden. 

“This is going to sound awkward,” said Bill, smiling. “But I just wanted to let you two know that I consider you part of the family.”

“Thanks,” said Harry and Hermione. 

“And well,” continued Bill. “I’ve always told my brothers and sister that they could come to me if they ever needed to talk, they can always come to me. I want you to know that applies to you two as well. You know, if there’s something you’d rather not talk to your parents about.” He smiled. “I consider you my brother and sister.”

Mrs. Weasley was calling them inside for dinner, so Harry and Hermione thanked Bill and the three of them went back inside.

041. In the afterlife, James Potter watched as his son …

In the afterlife, James Potter watched as his son was being gossiped about and tormented by his fellow classmates and was reminded of his own time at Hogwarts, when he behaved rather immaturely. Of course, what he had done was not motivated by a discriminatory ideology, but he still felt that his own son had behaved much better in childhood than he himself had. He often wished he could tell Harry how proud he was.

Being a Marauder, of course, James was also very proud of Harry for continuing the tradition of going on adventures and breaking the rules. He watched as Harry met Draco for the first time and was impressed that his son had immediately recognized Draco’s views as incorrect. He was even more impressed that Harry had met his school rival even before school began. James hadn’t met Severus until their train ride to Hogwarts on 1 September 1971.

040. After Hermione and Ron got married, their parents …

After Hermione and Ron got married, their parents often spent time together and became good friends. The Weaselys loved learning about the Muggle world and the Grangers loved learning more about the wizarding world of which their daughter had become a part, especially about wizarding healthcare, as they were both dentists.

Mr. Weasley wanted to learn all about the various Muggle electronics, and Mr. Granger was more than glad to talk to him about the topic, as he had a collection of various gadgets. Mr. Granger loved learning all about brooms and Quiddich, a fascination about which the Weasley family was happy to answer questions.

Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Weasley would often go to shows and read books from both societies to learn more about each others’ worlds. Due to their efforts, Flourish and Blotts started a book club where magical folk and Muggles could both attend meetings and participate. Many Muggles who had magical relatives would attend the book club and meeting Mrs. Weasley immediately gave them a very good impression of the magical world.

Hermione and Ron thought their parents’ friendship was sweet and were glad that their family was showing how people from the two societies could become close.