wade in the water
Harry Potter woke up believing that he was at Hogwarts in his first year of schooling. It was shortly after the incident with the troll in the bathroom where he, Hermione, and Ron first made the team that they did and took down the troll together. When he woke up in an entirely unfamiliar bed, he was confused. He was more than confused really. No
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Everything about the week itself seems most absurd, and she has been, naturally, researching what she has been able to to get to the bottom of things. Unfortunately, most of these events, as they may be deemed, have little to no rhyme or reason, and none of the books she reads give her any sort of information.
All it takes is observing her surroundings for some time before she recognizes the patterns of the fairytales. It gives her no comfort, and what truly confuses her is stepping into the cafeteria and finding her best friend...much, much younger than he really is now.
"...Harry?" she asks in disbelief. Oh, goodness.
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"...Hermione?"
He tilts his head as he looks at her, getting to his feet as if this will give him some idea of how much she's grown.
She is taller than him, and he has to look up at her from his spot.
"When'd you get so tall? And when'd your hair get so... flat like that?" Harry motions with his hands to indicate the clear difference from FLOOFY to not as floofy.
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She keenly remembers being eleven years old along with him, having first met him on the train ride to Hogwarts, probably already knowing much more about him than he would know about himself.
"Oh, Harry," she breathes out, mostly to herself than to him.
She gives him a bit of a look at his comment about her hair.
"It's been a long time since we were eleven, you see. Much time has passed since then."
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If he were to guess, he'd say thirty? Twenty five? Harry knows nothing about figuring out someone's age by looking at them, but she's much older and much taller than he remembers. It doesn't mean that it isn't good to see her. It's very good to see someone familiar and someone who he considers a friend.
Harry shuts his mouth quickly at the look that she sends him. "I didn't mean anything bad about it. I like your hair either way," he insists, nodding and adjusting his glasses.
He stares at her, wide eyed and curious.
"Really? How old are we now then?"
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At the thought, she gives him one of her Hermione hugs before stepping back.
She smiles a little at what he says about her hair. "Much better," she says of his answer.
"Well, I am seventeen and you recently turned eighteen." There's a frown on her face, concentrated as she is, leading him back to the table.
"Harry, do you recall how long you've... well, been this way? Since you woke up?"
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She's clearly brilliant. Harry smiles at her a bit and then hugs her back, tightly. Hugs are rather new for him at this age still, but he finds he quite likes them.
"Thanks. I don't want to cry again," he says very sincerely especially not if another troll will wander in.
Harry nods at the answer, following her back to the table. "I thought I'd be much taller at that age," he says with a frown.
He stares at her, a little confused.
"I've always been this way except when I was a baby, but... I suppose I didn't show up in the Tower until I woke up this morning. We'd taken care of that troll last night and I woke up in a bed here instead of at Hogwarts."
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She hugs him tightly and then steps back, still a little...bewildered by this change, wondering if he really will stay this age for good now. The thought is extremely bizarre, and yet, there do seem to be more children running around the Kashtta.
"No reason to cry at all. I'm here and we will figure this all out, yes?" she asks, smiling at him in reassurance.
It's what she'd say whether Harry was eleven or eighteen, but it's certainly a throwback to be speaking to his younger self.
"You are... somewhat," she says with the smallest of smiles.
Hermione bites the edge of her lower lip, considering this. "That was quite some time ago, Harry. We've lived here at the Tower for... goodness, nearly a year now." And he's lived here longer but those are details.
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He smiles up at her, looking equally confused, bewildered. It is very strange, but she's still a familiar face in a way! It's rather good to see her actually.
"Yes, we will! We've beaten a troll together this would be nothing in comparison, right?"
This is what Harry thinks at any rate, and it's funny how quickly after their first adventure that he entered into that mindset. However, loyalty was really created that night in a very strong way.
"So I do get taller then?" He hopes it's quite a bit taller.
Harry looks up at her, nodding in answer. "That would be a lot of time. That would be 7 years," he says, adjusting his glasses. "Do we always go on adventures like that one? I mean does Hogwarts ever not have trolls running through the girl's bathroom?"
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"That's right. There's nothing we couldn't defeat," she says, as she believes that's true.
She would never give Harry a lie, and despite what have seemed insurmountable odds--they make it to the other side, each and every time.
"Oh!" she says when he asks, going through her bag and finding her journal. She flips through the pages until she finds the one where a picture is nestled in between.
She hands it over to him so that he may see for himself just how tall he gets.
"It's been seven years," Hermione affirms, smiling down at him a bit. "Oh, there were always adventures. Trouble seemed to find us when we weren't finding it first. There was never a boring moment, Harry."
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Harry smiles at her when she confirms his question. "That's what I thought. It only gets better from here on out. It's better when you have friends, isn't it?"
He would never want a lie, not even at eleven and the older Harry is aware that she's never given him one.
Harry reaches over to pick up the picture. "... I don't look that different but older and taller. I still thought I'd get taller than that, but it is pretty tall," he says and taller than he is now which is what is really important.
He smiles at her in turn, just a bit.
"That's a long time," Harry says, handing a cracker to Hedwig. "That sounds about right. I never... really imagined having adventures like that before. I mean I did, but I didn't think they'd be real, and you, me, and Ron were friends all that time too?"
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"It's much better when you have friends and you understand the important things. It gets you through anything," she affirms, smiling down at him.
She would never want to give him a lie and knows he wouldn't want one, no.
"One doesn't finish growing taller until their twenties, you know. It's entirely possible you've some growing left to do," Hermione says, fondly amused at his reaction to the picture of the two of them, looking older than what he could possibly fathom. Than what she could've possibly fathomed at that age.
There was no way of knowing what awaited them.
Hermione ignores the small pang that comes at the mention of Ron. "We were inseperable," she says to him. "It was always the three of us."
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Plus, if you're part of the trio, there is always an adventure or two or three to have to contend with on top of everything else.
Harry sees that stern look, and he shifts his gaze away from her. "Well, if I'm happy with it then..." It shouldn't matter so much what he thinks now though he did always imagine himself growing a bit taller than that ( ... )
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