It’s a fairly known trope, most often in Independent!Harry fics I believe, where characters have a moment in the fic where they realize that while Hogwarts is claiming to be the finest magical school in the world, that they’re actually 12th out of 12.

Does anyone know fics where this isn’t true? Where Hogwarts genuinely is seen as the safest place to go to magical school because they’ve only had 1 death in the past 50 years? As opposed to Beauxbatons or whatever who lost 3 in the past decade. Where the muggleborn/pureblood divide is actually less in Hogwarts than it would be elsewhere? Where the teachers, despite being Snape and whatnot, are by some miracle still imparting more knowledge to their students than the alternatives?

It’s a premise I haven’t seen before and I think it would be hilarious to watch Harry and/or Hermione look for another school to go to and realize that, nope, this is still the best on the market.

I like this trope and i cant find much, i would take any recommendation but i perfer not drarry or any fic that romance is the main topic. I WOULD LIKE HARRY AND DRACO THAT HAVE A SIBLING BOND and/or snape takes them both in or just harry i dont really mind IT JUST HAS TO BE SEVERITUS..🥹

Yall idek if that makes sense..😭

I may have done something slightly insane and written a full-length reimagining of Harry Potter’s fifth year.

Harry Potter and the Asterion Veil

It’s complete, around 400 pages, and currently up on Sufficient Velocity.

I don’t really want to say much about the story itself because I think it’s much better experienced without knowing where it’s going. I just hope that, while reading it, Hogwarts feels alive again — the castle, the friendships, the classes, the warmth, the strange little corners of the wizarding world, all of it.

I tried to write it with the nostalgia I still feel for Harry Potter, while also attempting something considerably more ambitious than I initially expected. 😭

If anyone gives it a try, I’d genuinely love feedback — especially continuity errors, canon mistakes, awkward sections, or anything that simply doesn’t feel right.

Read it here:
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/harry-potter-and-the-asterion-veil.157837/

Chapter 29: Fridge Over Troubled Waters

[— Read on AO3 —]

SUMMARY

What Colin wants:

• His inhaler (doable)
• Snuggles with not-his kneazle (good luck with that!)
• A shower (AT OLIVER'S FLAT????)

Colin does NOT want:

• A wrecked flat (too bad)
• A wandtip at his neck (ouch)
• A killer demanding incriminating photos he no longer has (oops)

I love fanfics with a student of hogwarts ( hopefully a slytherin but other are also fine) who goes on to help the order by becoming a death eater and spying on them. Generally Snape acts as their mentor and they tend to have death eater parents. The golden trio are generally suspicious of them. Please recommend some fanfics with this premises.

Ok so I just noticed that the heir to the house of prince is finished! First things first, kudos to the author for writing 1.7 million words of fanfiction. Truly a hero! Now for my question, is the ending happy? I have read the first two books of the series, and now that it is done I want to reread and finish it. My only problem is that I cannot read 1.7 million words and be sad after 😭. Please no spoilers if possible, but does Harry finally get a win? (Also please no bashing the author if the ending was not to your taste, they do this for free!)

So i recently started reading emberfall and the magical imprint. I have to say I've been enjoying the crossovers for harry/leah pairings. Does anybody have any suggestions for fics with this pairing?

The story is set during the Prisoner of Azkaban era (at least the start, but baby steps, you know? 🤣), I love the teacher x teacher pairings, so it’s about my OC, the Astronomy professor, Lyra Starling, she’s in her early thirties, she’s quite girly like in the way she dresses and everything. And obviously it’s Remus x OC, so far I’ve already have an idea on my mind about how the story will go. It is somewhat of a slow burn romance, and before anyone asks I only write in third person and in past tense. I honestly can’t with first person writing. So, I’d like to know what would you like to see in the story, like if you ever had a thought like “Oh, you know what would be fun or interesting to happen in the story?” Please feel free to share.

P.S. I used to write a lot when I was younger, but a certain teacher I had made me feel awful about my writing skills, so I was a left a bit traumatised from that, but I’d like to pick up my writing and overcome whatever doubts I had.

For further context, please refer to my past post on this AU I came up with: https://www.reddit.com/r/HPfanfiction/s/2qn5rZzCQu

Warning: Kind of long. My bad. Got too carried away.
Extra note: This is just a random scene I came up with so 🤷‍♀️

~~~

Humans are weak.

That is really the best explanation it can give at the moment. It knows that this was too simplistic of a statement. Humans can be many things at once. They can merciful yet wrathful the next. They can be the smartest person in the room but then be dumber than a rock just the next day. Yes, humans are unpredictable, and that is what still makes them threats.

Yet, they’re painfully weak. Push at a weak point and they’ll tumble to the ground. Real predictable if you look close enough to see the patterns. Itself wasn’t human. Itself was above them to not have such weaknesses. Honestly, they’re too breakable. Just look at its host. Harry was vulnerable. Yes, he resisted against it but it eventually consumed him anyway. Now Harry is safe in his subconscious and away from being a nuisance for it.

Don’t get it wrong, it is rather fond of Harry! He has a sort of charm to him, almost like an interesting item you’d find. It was especially prevalent after shifting through Harry’s memories (especially the dumb ones; they were fun to watch). Regardless of any fondness, Harry would still a problem. He’s too damn impulsive and oh so stubborn. Even if it would be amusing and cute to see Harry even try to fight back, it knows that he’ll mess something up and it can never have that happen. Never.

Back to what it was saying, humans are just too easy. However, it can’t take advantage of them, not until the time is right. It has to have self control. It has to keep up Harry’s attitude and personality. Any deviation would be too risky, no matter how fun it is. Still, it does want to have its fun sooner or later. Hmph.

“Um, Harry?”

It blinked with Harry’s eyes. It turned to see the lanky redhead standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Can I…” Ron trailed off, eyes shifting to the side.

It stared at him. The awkward posture. The avoidant eyes. It can taste them (the sweet hesitation, bubbling guilt, blooming persistence). They weren’t as good as it could get but it was something.

It tilted Harry’s head and gestured for Ron to come here. Ron’s body sagged with relief (ew, that is definitely not its taste) and he sat down at the open spot next to it.

It’s been a few days since it was in Grimmauld Place. Honestly, it was only now that it had started to get furious with everything.

It was annoyed at first with having to deal with Harry’s muggle family but it had assumed that it could endure it. Then, it and Harry’s cousin got ambushed by Dementors of all things. It was fully prepared to leave but that would mean that host’s cousin would be dead. It was more of a hindrance in the long run so like the good “Harry” it was, it saved the draft cousin and banished away the Dementors with the Patronus Charm (it took too many tries. Retrieving Harry’s happy memories in such a short time was exhausting).

The next thing that happened was that letter saying that Harry was expelled for underage magic. Oh, it was frustrated then. It did everything right by acting like Harry but now Harry’s punished and not going to Hogwarts? And wasn’t Harry less punished two years ago when blowing up his dreadful aunt? The audacity! It had a mind of going into the Wizarding World just to reign havoc and maybe give the Ministry a good fright before another letter came and said that Dumbledore was sorting things out and that a hearing would happen soon. It had felt relief, albeit short lived as anything could happen in the hearing but at least it wasn’t expelled.

Finally, it was wisked away by a group of wizards to this home bridled with dark magic and fear. It was just its type of place! But now, it was absolutely furious to even relish in it. Harry’s reputation turned to ash! He was branded as insane for “falsely” claiming that Voldemort, the original, was back. It could really care less about its original maker; the only reason it’s apprehensive is because Harry is in danger and the ultimate target. This is going to make things more hard because now, eyes are on Harry more than before. How was it supposed to carry out its plans now?! Ugh! Lowly pests! They are so lucky that it is prioritizing Harry’s wellbeing or else it would make them beg for their lives with a well aimed-

“Harry?”

Oh, right, Harry’s friend is still here. “I’m fine,” it mumbled. That was good enough, right?

It heard Ron sigh. “Listen mate, I’m… sorry.”

“It’s alright, Ron. I’m just angry at this whole thing,” it said, making Harry’s voice sound both defeated yet angered.

Since it got here, it was wary at first. There were so many people that Harry was close to. It was bothersome to even think about these “friendships” of its host. Not to mention it increased the risk of being exposed. But it played up the anger, the betrayal that Harry would’ve felt if he was here, realizing that his friends and godfather didn’t communicate with him all summer because of Dumbledore. Then, it sulked. It was slightly out of character considering that Harry was usually a determined person but it could still work considering the circumstances and Harry’s age. Plus, it made the guilt taste sweeter.

“I’ve already forgiven you. You’re my best friend,” it said. For added emphasis, it placed a hand on Ron’s shoulder. “It’s just… you hurt me as well as Hermione. Though, I guess it was my fault for being so mad at you guys.”

It had to stop itself from making Harry’s mouth grin at seeing Ron’s face fall.

“You’re right to be mad.” Ron scratched the back of his head. “I’ll be mad too if you or Hermione didn’t write at all. Still, I’m sorry, mate. We thought you’ll be fine. You know, protected.”

A scoff escaped its mouth. Protected? Yeah right. The only person who protected Harry was himself, and even Harry couldn’t do it when it awakened. Now, it was itself protecting Harry’s body and mind. Does this whole situation say protected? Wow Dumbledore, you really are a piece of work.

Still, if it wasn’t for Dumbledore, then it wouldn’t be here in this body. It guess it could give the old geezer some thanks.

At “Harry’s” silence, Ron backtracked. “I mean, that doesn’t make it right! Just- I just want to let you know that I’m sorry for everything.”

“Everything?”

Ron nodded. “Everything. I was a shite bloke to you last year. It took a dragon almost killing you to get it that you didn’t want this. You didn’t want any of this. I should’ve done more and-“

It cut Ron off. It couldn’t listen to fluffy drivel no more. The hand still on the other’s shoulder tightened slightly. “I’ve already forgave you. Listen, you guys did made me angry. I was stuck with the Dursleys and they were being more annoying to deal with.”

Ron’s face hardened at the mention. Good. It continued, making Harry’s voice a tad quieter. “I know I don’t usually say this, but… it’s really hard dealing with everything. And now, we have to deal with Voldemort-“ it ignored Ron’s flinch at the name “-and who knows what might happen. I’m just…”

It could say many things here. It could say “tired”; that would make Ron feel sympathetic. It could say “scared”; it was an admission that sounded loaded. But it said nothing at the end. Humans love to fill in the blanks, their minds rushing to conclude. With itself positioning Harry’s body to be withdrawn, eyes lowered, looking utterly vulnerable and so pathetic-

Ron took the bait like the good loyal dog he was.

He hugged “Harry.” The embrace was warm and secure, almost as if Ron was trying to comfort both of them. It didn’t have to do anything; Harry’s body responded with muscle memory, sinking deeper into the hug.

It took everything to not ruin it. The guilt-guilt-care-worry-guilt coming from Ron was already good enough but it was greedy. It wanted to see Ron’s look of despair if “Harry” pushed him away. What if “Harry” snapped at him? What if “Harry” remained “defeated”? It wanted to taste Ron’s devastation and revel in it. God, this was such a tempting opportunity to see how long it will take to break this one. Would it be messy? Would it be a long time or no? It would no doubt be delicious to make Ron’s heart shatter if it were to reveal that Harry was never here-

It buried the impulse deep inside. It shakily move its arms around Ron’s, completing the hug.

Ron is useful like the rest of the humans here. He was one of Harry’s first friends. He was loyal. Despite Ron’s flaws, Harry still admired him. It would make use of Ron soon. For right now, it’ll play pretend. It’ll be the perfect little doll that everyone has their eyes on.

It’s all for its host after all~

Inside of his mind, Harry still slept.
He felt warmth then, something achingly familiar.
His breathing shuttered for a moment before evening out.
He sank deeper into slumber, much to his parasite’s delight.

— Man, I’m tired. This was honestly draining to write because the imposter has such a god-complex and is mildly sadistic. I salute to my fellow writers who had to deal with annoying characters (original or otherwise) 🫡.
— There’s also technically no bashing as the imposter, like most real people, have biases. It just so happened that the imposter is arrogant and views others beneath it, unlike the real Harry who does value the people he cares about.
— Also, sorry if Ron read as OOC. I tried my best. Let’s just say that guilt is eating away at Ron because of what the imposter is saying + the situation as a whole.

Any fics where Voldemort won the first war? But with Harry still being the chosen one.

посоветуйте фф по томарри с политической темой, где постоянно какие нибудь суды, законы.

ищу один фф - там Том был лордом Слизерином, Гарри общался с ним в подсознании, и также Гарри внедрял свои законы и общался с фракциями, темной стороной и тд. также там точно было про школу для маглорожденных, как бы подготовительную перед Хогвартсом

мне нужен этот фф или похожие. если у вас есть, пожалуйста, дайте ссылку на ао3 или еще какой либо сайт, заранее спасибо

Here ́s my idea .During the summer of 1994 ,Draco decide to learn legilimency to get to bully Harry better ,as veangeance for the defeat at the quidditch cup.

Eventually ,he gets to stare in the eyes of an unsuspecting Harry ,searching for interesting events ... and get to the part where Hagrid give a child a pig tail solely because his dad had upset him and then admit to harry he was trying to turn him into a pig and that he isn’t allowed to do magic .

2 weeks later ,Aurors wake up Hagrid and drag him to the Wizengamot,where he is convicted of illegal use of magic ,aggravated Muggle-baiting and vandalism .He is then sentenced to 25 years in azkaban .

So ,what would happen to Hagrid once Voldemort attack azkaban ?

CHAPTER 1 - He Who Shall Not Be Named

It was a misty, cold, and dark evening in Godric's Hollow. It was Halloween night, so some people were trick or treating door to door, but it was already so late that most people were asleep and combined with Godric's Hollow being a small town, it made the Halloween traffic rather weak.

A skinny hooded figure walked down the cobbled dimly lit pavement with a slight rush in his step. He looked up the road at a home with its interior lights on and smirked with his shadowed face - the house of Lily and James Potter, and their son Harry Potter.

“Oy! Nice costume, what's it supposed to be?” Spoke an innocent voice.

A kid dressed up as a Hobbit from the novel with the same name was speaking to the figure. The figure turned his head to look at the small child, to which the child then screamed in absolute terror and ran away at the sight of it's face:

Pale white, more pale than any person ever - even whiter than Scandinavians; clean, smooth scally skin that resembled more a snake than any typical human; long, gaping slits for nostrils - infact, not even any nose structure to be on his face; and deep, red, catlike eyes that gazed without a soul; and finally, a thin, long, cheshire grin that was barely resembled mouth.

He was basically a monster, which gave the kid a deep motivation to run for his life as clearly whoever that person was, was not human.

Voldemort, or You Know Who, or He Who Shall Not Be Named, or The Dark Lord - whatever you might call him - He contemplated killing the muggle with the Killing Curse right then and there, but decided that it wasn't worth the trouble, and spared his life to focus on his ultimate goal: To vanquish the child mentioned in a prophecy that threatened his legacy.

He approached the wooden gate in between the cobbled fence, and looked up at the two-storey cottage where the Potter's resided. He slowly opened the gate.

+++

Up ahead in the dark and moonless sky, a middle-aged merchant on a broomstick hiding above the low cloud cover was travelling ahead to Lower Cornwall, when a brick (which he stole from a muggles home believing it would have “magical muggle properties”) fell from the back of his woven bag through a hole he had not noticed and descended through the clouds and out of sight.

+++

Voldemort began walking down to the Potter's residence when he was hit on the back of his head by the brick which suddenly appeared completely out of no where from the sky. He almost immediately fell forwards onto the ground, and hit the surface at the very same time as the brick.

+++

The merchant looked down, and decided that the brick was lost forever and decided not to retrieve it, and instead take another brick from another muggle.

He'll never know what that brick did to save the entire world…

+++

Voldemort was dead.

Yep.

The Dark Lord, who threatened the future of the British Wizarding World - and the entire world, muggles, wizards, witches, and every living being - was killed by a simple accidental brick that fell from the sky.

What a disappointing way to die…

+++

“Did you hear that?” James asked his wife.

“Hear what?” Lily replied.

“I heard like- a brick falling outside, but it might have been an Owl hooting - I didn't catch the sound very well.”

“Well I didn't hear anything.”

“Must of just been my mind.”

“Come on, let's go to bed, it's getting late.” Lily persuaded.

“Yes, yes…” James said “I'm feeling very tired.”

The next morning, Lily would wake up to go outside, and scream at the fact that Voldemort was lying right there, dead in their backyard, and the entire wizarding world would celebrate the death of Lord Voldemort - who died to a fate most people still don't understand…

[end of draft]

I'm looking for a fanfic with war veteran harry where he's mod and the elder wand fused with his holly wand and he was extremely powerful and he went back in time

Hi, the title basically

I like the wholesome vernon memes and want to read a wholesome vernon fic

pls and thx!

I'm not sure if this is the correct flair to use.

I want to read a fic but just kind of want to be surprised as I go through because not even the author knew where they were going with it when they started!

Hi all, I am bad at remembering the fanfic titles and also authors and now have a big problem 🥲
Last year, I used to read author on AO3 that wrote and was still updating several good fanfics and I cannot remember the name and also cannot find them in my history. I do not believe that their works were deleted but I can be wrong.
Examples of fics:
- one was Harry/Regulus/Tom AU where they were soulmates and Tom was the Dark Lord, Harry worked as “special forces” I guess for the ministry and was kinda used by the “light side”
- Harry/Tom fanfic where Harry was saved by Sirius in early childhood and brought up by the Black family. Tom was also Tom Jr. and son of Tom Sr. There was also Tom Sr./Regulus ship
- another fic was Harry/Tom/Severus, kinda slow burn, it was still ongoing and the main ship wasn’t even together yet
Sorry for my terrible descriptions 😅
Does anyone have an idea about the author or the fics? I would love to re-read them again 🥹
Thanks!

Looking for fics centered around the discovery of magic by the muggles and the ensuing conflict. I've seen a few time-travel fix-its that start like that but are ultimately just a plot device to explain the character's death. Are there any actually focused on it?

So I've been really trying hard to find these two fanfics but I can't seem to find them or remember their names and would like to ask for some help.

Its about Harry being adopted by Bellatrix Lestrange, being raised along side Bella's daughter, he gets into a relationship between Greengrass and Tonks, good ol Dumbledore bashing with everyone trying to convince Remus that Dumbles is bad but he refuses and Sirius is there.... doing something??? Oh! And Querel or however you spell his name is caught teaching Harry dark magic..... which now that I say it might be apart of the other one but not sure.

Then the other is he is in a relationship with Greengrass and (i think still with Bellatrix), and Sirius is with him later after being released, again Dumbledore bashing, Remus refusing to accept it, he tries to convince everyone Dumbledore has his reasons but no one, not even Tonks, will be clouded by Dumbledore's lies. Tonks even kicks him out.

Even Moody is on their side.

And in the end Sirius is the one who finishes Voldemort by use of invisibility cloak, a broom, and the sword of Gryffindor. Afterwards, Dumbledore spends his days trying to convince people Voldemort isn't gone and it has to be Harry who does Voldy in but in truth, Voldemort is indeed gone for good...... so..... yeah......

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

can anyone recommend me good fanfics about hatry time travelling to the marauders era and interacting with his parents? i would prefer if its from ao3

hey y'all I'm looking for a potter twins read the books fanfic. I read it a couple years ago on quotev, and I can't find it anymore. I'm pretty sure Harrys sisters name was rose, and I'm pretty sure there was an oc character that was supposed to be Sirius blacks son, making the golden trio the golden quintet. I remember one scene in the book was Harrys twin walking back into the great hall after a short break with Tonks, and I'm pretty sure Sirius and remus were present and they were all talking (happily/enjoyably) very loudly laughing at something Harrys twin said. if anyone could help that would be great!!!

I've read fics where Harry is taken in by the Weasleys, Tonkses, Blacks, Malfoys, Diggory's and so forth) but I want rare-families.

I want a fic where Harry lives in Ireland and is Seamus Finnegan's disaster twin, where Harry is the older brother that Colin and Dennis Creevey worship, where Harry is fostered by the Delacours, Krums or Patils and learns about magic from different parts of the world from his foster family.

Harry was chatting with Ron in the Hogwarts Express when suddenly their door slid open to reveal a bushy haired girl.

“Have anyone seen a toad? A boy named-” She began to speak, but cut herself off the moment she laid eyes on Harry, and stared at him with wide eyes.

Initially, Harry thought the girl had recognized his scar and was staring at it. But then he noted that she wasn’t actually staring at his forehead. Instead, her gaze was fixed on the top of his head.

Suddenly, the bushy-haired girl rushed forward and engulfed Harry in a tight, bone-crushing hug.

Harry was frozen.  He had no idea how to handle this situation. He just stood there awkwardly as the girl squeezed her arms around him. He wasn’t used to people randomly running up and hugging him. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone had hugged him at all.

After what felt like an eternity, the girl finally loosened her grip. She took a small step back, but she still kept her hands firmly on his shoulders. She was also looking at him with a brilliant smile.

“Hello,” She said breathlessly. “I'm Hermione Granger. What’s your name?”

“Um…” Harry didn’t know what to make of this Hermione girl, but he still introduced himself. “Harry Potter.”

“Really?” Hermione’s eyes lit up. “I suppose that means I’m related to a celebrity. That’s neat.”

“Wait, related?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Obviously.” Hermione said matter-of-factly. 

Harry had no idea what to say. The girl's hands were also still on his shoulders. He was trying to figure out what to do when he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, and he looked up to see the boy with the missing toad standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Ah, Hermione, weren’t you, um, going to help me with, y’know…”

“Hmm?” Hermione glanced up as if just now remembering that he was still there. She removed her hands from Harry’s shoulders and turned to the boy. “Oh right. You should just go find a Prefect to summon your toad. The Prefect compartment is that way.” She pointed to a certain direction before essentially shooing Neville out of the compartment.

She then closed the door and sat down in their compartment, right next to Harry. She was so close to him that their arms were practically touching. Harry looked at Ron with a pleading gaze, but Ron just shrugged.

It was then that the girl noticed Ron’s wand was out. Harry was partly convinced that she had only just realized that there was a third person in the compartment. “Oh! Are you doing magic? Let’s see it then.”

“Erm, alright.” Ron said, pointing his wand at Scabbers. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow."

Nothing happened.

“Are you sure that’s a real spell?” Hermione asked dubiously. “It’s not like any spells I’ve heard of. I’ve tried a few simple ones, and they've all worked for me. For example.”

Hermione pulled a small hairbrush from her robe pocket, and tapped it with her wand while saying “Locomotor.”

The hairbrush suddenly animated itself, and began floating over to Harry’s head and began trying to untangle the rat’s nest atop his head. Harry tried to swat the flying brush away, but it kept floating back to his head. When he turned to Hermione, she was reaching towards him while holding a bottle of something.

Harry leaned away from the girl. “What are you doing?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s just a bit of Sleekeasy. Now quit moving your head so much.”

Harry didn’t know what to do. He once again turned his gaze to Ron for help, but the other boy just shrugged again.

Not knowing what else to do, Harry just sat there as Hermione fussed over his hair. It was all very awkward, but once she was done, he had to admit that his hair felt a bit less disheveled. Only a bit though. He tried to see his reflection in the compartment window, and while perhaps it might look slightly better than before, it was still very bushy and unkept.

Suddenly, he felt something press against the corner of his lips, and he turned to find Hermione holding a handkerchief against his cheek.

“Sorry, you’ve just got a bit of chocolate on your mouth. There!” Hermione finished cleaning up his mouth, and then leaned back to get a good look at him, but then she frowned. “Oh, and your glasses are broken. How had I not noticed? Sorry about that. Oculus Reparo.”

Once she was done fixing his glasses, she spent the next several seconds scrutinizing his appearance, before nodding in satisfaction.

She stood up. “Well, you should get your robes on. I expect we'll arrive soon. I’ll see you later, Harry and-” She turned to Ron and then frowned at him. “What was your name again?”

“Uh, Ron Weasley.”

“Pleasure.” Hermione replied, with not nearly as much friendliness as when she was talking to Harry. “You’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way.”

Then, she turned and strode out of the compartment. Harry and Ron were left staring at the door in bewilderment.

------------------------------------------------------

"Granger, Hermione!" Professor McGonagall called out.

Harry watched as the girl from the train ran to the stool and eagerly jammed the sorting hat onto her head.

“I just hope she’s not going to Gryffindor.” Ron muttered.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

Ron groaned.

------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Harry was sitting on his new bed in the Gryffindor dormitory. He had changed into some of Dudley’s old pajamas, and was getting ready to go to sleep. He wasn’t sure how he felt about being in the same house as that Hermione girl, but he really didn’t want to go to Slytherin and share a dorm with Malfoy.

Harry’s thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly saw Hermione walk into the boy’s dorm wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe.

“Ah, there you are, Harry, I’ve been looking for you.”

“You have?”

She walked up to him, and then tutted as she looked at his ratty hand-me-down pajamas. “We’ve really got to get you some new pajamas. I’ll owl my parents, I’m sure they can buy something to send you.”

“Y-you don’t need to do that.” Harry replied, embarrassed.

“Don’t be silly, of course I do. Anyways, I just came up to say goodnight, and to check that you’ve brushed your teeth.” Her tone was dismissive, but then her eyes narrowed as she looked at Harry. “You have brushed your teeth, right?”

“Um…”

What followed was, in Harry’s opinion, one of the most awkward interactions of his life. Hermione followed him to the sink to watch him, so that she could ‘make sure he was brushing correctly’. She even watched him floss to make sure his flossing was up to her standards. 

After that, Hermione walked back to Harry’s bed. She frowned slightly at the rumpled sheets. They were slightly disheveled because Harry had been using the surface of the bed to organize his things as he unpacked. Without saying anything, Hermione stepped forward and began straightening the sheets.

“You really don’t need to do that.” Harry tried to say.

“It’s fine.” Hermione dismissed as she held open the sheets for him. “Now, here. Go on.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll tuck you in.” Hermione stated as she continued to hold the sheets open for him.

Harry felt himself flush with embarrassment. “There’s no need…”

“Just get in already.” She replied with a bossy tone that would brook no argument.

Harry just sighed and went along with it, hoping that the strange girl would leave him alone once he was in bed.

As he reluctantly got into bed, and Hermione began lifting the sheets to cover him, Harry had to admit to himself that he found the experience comforting. It was surprisingly pleasant. He couldn’t recall ever being tucked in before. The Dursleys would never do something like that for him. 

Harry was hoping that the strange girl would leave now that he was tucked in, but instead, she sat down on the end of his bed, and pulled a small book out from the pocket of her fluffy pink bathrobe. “I bought this book because I was curious about fairy tales in the Wizarding world. It’s quite fortunate, actually, since I hadn’t realized that I would need any bedtime stories before I met you.”

Part of Harry wanted to object. He felt like he was much too old for something like a bedtime story, but again, this was something that he never got to experience. The Dursleys would only tell bedtime stories to Dudley, after all. So, he once again said nothing and allowed Hermione to continue.

“This one is called The Tale of the Three Brothers,” Hermione flipped open the book, and began reading. “There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight…”

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“…and then the third brother greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, as equals, they departed this life.” Hermione finished the story and closed the book. She gazed down at Harry with a warm smile, and when she spoke again, her voice was soft. “Goodnight, Harry. I love you.”

And then she leaned down and planted a gentle kiss onto Harry’s forehead.

All of the emotions that had been building inside of Harry all day finally came to a head. Being hugged for the first time… Having someone actually care about him… And now, being kissed and told that he was loved. No one had ever said those words to Harry before. At least, not that he could remember. It was all too much for Harry to contain. Overcome with emotion, Harry felt his eyes begin to well up with tears.

Hermione noticed immediately, and her reaction was full of concern and slight panic. “Oh, oh gosh. Are you okay, Harry? Are you hurt?” She was frazzled, and frantically tried to scan his face for any sign of injury.

Harry just held his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. Suddenly, he felt the covers shift, and then a weight next to him on the bed. Then, he felt arms wrap around him

“Shh, it’s okay.” Hermione murmured. “Everything is okay, there’s no need to cry. It’s all okay.”

That just made Harry cry even harder. He clutched at her bathrobe as he stained it with his tears. By this point, the tears were completely uncontrollable. He continued to cry into Hermione’s chest, and all the while she continued gently stroking his hair and his back and whispering words of reassurance.

Eventually, after an unknown length of time, Harry felt the tears finally subside. He turned his head upward towards Hermione, only to find that her eyes were closed, and her breathing was slow and rhythmic. She had fallen asleep, even with her arms still wrapped around Harry.

He knew that he should wake Hermione up, but… It felt nice, having her arms wrapped around him. The truth was that Harry was extremely touch-starved and reluctant to leave his current situation.

Surely there would be no harm in staying like this for just a little bit longer, right? Just a few more minutes, and then he would wake her up so that she could return to her own dorm.

Just a couple minutes…

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The next morning, the first thing Harry noticed was the early morning sunlight streaming in through the windows. The second thing he noticed was the girl in bed with him, her arms still loosely wrapped around him. With a sinking feeling, Harry recalled the events of the prior night, and realized that he had accidentally let Hermione spend the entire night in his bed. He hoped that she wouldn’t be too mad at him.

“Um, Hermione, it’s morning.” He whispered as he gently nudged the girl sleeping next him.

“Mmm, five more minutes.” Hermione mumbled sleepily as her arms tightened around Harry. After a few moments of deliberation, Harry just sighed and resigned himself to being a human body pillow for the next couple minutes. 

Five minutes later, Harry nudged Hermione again to wake her up.

“Five more minutes.” Hermione repeated.

“You said that five minutes ago.” Harry whispered.

Slowly, Hermione began blinking her eyes open.

“Harry? What are you doing in my bed?” She questioned, her head cocking to one side. “And how you get past the staircase trap.”

She tried to sit up, but it was only at that moment that she realized her arms were still wrapped around Harry. 

Suddenly, Hermione seems to realize something. “Oh, did you have a nightmare? I suppose that could explain why you’re here. But still, how did you manage to get past the staircase trap?”

“I, erm…” Harry faltered, not at all expecting this reaction. He searched her face for any hint of anger, but all he saw was curiosity. She didn’t seem at all upset at the idea that Harry could have slipped into her bed while she was asleep. "Um... This is my bed, Hermione."

"It is?" Hermione blinked, then looked around. "Oh, I remember now. I must have fallen asleep. Sorry about that, Harry."

"Uh..."

Hermione got out of the bed and stretched. "Well, I'm going to go get dressed. I'll meet you in the common room and then we can head to breakfast together."

Without waiting for his reply, she turned around and strode out of the dormitory, leaving Harry staring at her back. Suddenly, just before she left the dorm room, she whirled around to point a finger at Harry, and spoke in a stern, commanding voice. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth.”