(Harry Potter) Worthy of you: Chapter 6 – Open Your Eyes

Chapter 6 – Open Your Eyes

Summary: Old wounds, quiet strength, and a moment that just might change everything.

Harry was walking toward the hospital wing faster than usual, though not as fast as he had walked to the headmaster’s office.

He would need to go over the conversation he had just had with Dumbledore later. That discussion had certainly gone sideways very quickly, but Harry simply couldn’t hold any of it in any longer.

Actually, there was a lot more Harry wanted to say, not just to the headmaster, but that would have to come later if the opportunity arose.

He was pretty sure he’d given Professor Dumbledore—and for that matter, McGonagall—a lot to think about already. All he could do now was hope that good things would come of it.

Though, thinking about it, the headmaster did say Harry wouldn’t have to return to his relatives ever again. He’d even mentioned that Remus would be the one to take care of him over the summer. Harry could only hope that would happen and that the old man wouldn’t change his mind in the next few days.

Before Harry could think about it further, a now-familiar voice cut in teasingly, “So, you snuck out at night to sit and hold this girl’s hand, eh?”

Harry felt his cheeks heat up and demanded, “How did you find out about the hand-holding?!”

He’d been under his invisibility cloak—no way even Madam Pomfrey could have known about that! So how the hell did Remus know?

The man chuckled. “Well, I was just joking, but now I’m really curious.”

Harry groaned before saying flatly, “That was a dirty trick, Mr. Lupin.”

Remus laughed harder before managing to speak. “You can call me Remus, Harry. We’re family, after all.” Harry felt a smile spread across his face, but it froze when the older man smirked and said casually, “By the way, your dad never managed to pull one over on me with this smooth subject change either, so you’d better start talking.”

Harry blushed again, but seeing no way out of it, he spoke in a low voice. “Okay, fine, yes. I have a crush on her. Happy?”

“Hmm, maybe,” Remus replied before asking, “What’s her name, and what’s she like?”

Harry allowed his mind to drift to his memories of Hermione over the past two years as he tried to come up with a way to describe the amazing girl.

After a moment of spacing out, he shook himself out of his thoughts and began speaking. “Well, her name is Hermione Granger. She’s probably the smartest person I’ve ever met. She’s a Muggle-born, but even the first time we met, on the way to the castle, she already knew more than some pure-bloods. She even fixed my glasses with a spell.” Harry took a breath before continuing. “But she’s not just smart—she’s brave, too. Well, she is in Gryffindor, so I guess that was obvious. She helped me smuggle a dragon out of here to protect Hagrid, went with me after the Philosopher’s Stone, and this year, the bravest thing she did was go to the library alone during the attacks, just to figure out what the monster was and clear my name.”

Without noticing, his blush returned, and he added, “And on top of all that, she’s super loyal. Even after the whole school turned on me, calling me the Heir of Slytherin, she wasn’t afraid to openly stand by my side.”

Remus had a strange smile on his face as he said softly, “What more could you ask for?”

Harry nodded, but it was a small, sad nod. Remus raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “Okay, so why the long face, Cub?”

Harry felt a small shot of warmth in his chest at the nickname, but he spoke with a sad tone. “For the last two years, all I’ve done is drag her into one dangerous situation after another. And the worst part is, while it was all my problems, I just relied on luck to get through. In reality, it was all the hard work Hermione did that saved me. Like this year—she ignored all the danger and just pushed on by herself to figure out it was a basilisk, while I was goofing around hoping it would just go away.”

Harry let out a heavy sigh before summarizing it all in one sentence: “I’m not worthy of her.”

Remus looked like he was about to say something, but then a fire lit up behind Harry’s eyes, and he said determinedly, “But I’m going to change that! I’ll work hard, and even though I’ll never be on her level, I’ll get to a point where I can at least say I’m worthy of her choosing me.”

Remus shook his head with a chuckle and commented, “You Potter men are all the same, it seems.”

Harry stopped mid-walk and looked at him with an odd expression. Harry had only ever been compared to his father in terms of looks, according to Hagrid, and in the worst way by Snape. To have one of his dad’s close friends say something like that stirred up many mixed emotions. But he managed to whisper absentmindedly, “I am?”

Remus laughed for a moment before speaking with a fond smile. “Oh yes. Your grandfather Charles once told us how he and your grandma Dorea were betrothed since their first year at Hogwarts, but Charles was too arrogant, and it made Dorea dislike him from the start. He only realized he was wrong in their third year, figured out he was in love with her at the end of their fourth, and only in their sixth year did he convince her to give him a chance.”

All Harry could do was whisper in wonder, “My… grandparents…” He had never heard a single word about either of his grandparents. There were one or two times he had wondered why Aunt Petunia never mentioned her parents, but he never dwelled on it. Now, hearing this story about his grandfather was something Harry hadn’t known he wanted, but he was happy to get.

Remus nodded. Harry hadn’t even noticed they were walking again until now, and by the time he did, they were in the hallway leading to the hospital wing. After a moment of silence, Remus spoke again. “Your dad wasn’t much different. James didn’t like Snape right from the start and began pranking him. Lily saw it, and to say she didn’t approve would be putting it mildly. James realized his feelings for Lily during our fourth year, but that was before he pulled his head out of his own ass. That happened in our fifth year, and even then, it was after Lily rejected him a few times. But by sixth year, James had matured, and by seventh year, they were dating and were Head Boy and Girl.”

Remus then, much to Harry’s surprise, began laughing deeply before managing to say, “Thinking about it now, you’re ahead of both of them, and your issue is quite the opposite of arrogance, I suppose.”

Harry wasn’t sure if that was meant as a compliment or an insult. Before he could figure it out, Remus spoke again, rubbing his chin. “Well, I suppose your situation is more like your dad’s, considering how similar Hermione is to Lily.” Harry probably looked shocked because Remus gave a single nod before explaining, “A genius Muggle-born who puts pure-bloods to shame, brave, unwavering, and fierce enough to kill with a single glance. Remind you of someone? Because I just described Lily.”

Harry blinked twice before saying aloud, “Wow.” He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel about that comparison.

As he said that, they entered the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was just pouring a potion down Penelope Clearwater’s throat. Once she finished, she looked up and saw them. “Mr. Potter, I did expect to see you here today. But is that Remus Lupin?”

The ragged man smiled and gave her a small bow. “It’s good to see you too, Madam Pomfrey.”

The woman huffed in irritation. “Says the man who stopped checking in for the last decade.”

Remus gave an awkward chuckle. “You might have heard I’ve been out of the country for the last few years.”

There was an awkward silence, which Harry decided to break. “Umm, you expected me?”

The woman huffed again, though this time with more fondness than irritation. “You’ve stayed with this girl for as long as I allowed each day…” She paused to give him a side-eye. “And a little over that time as well.”

Harry could feel his face heating up, and he reverted to his stuttering self. “I-I c-can e-ex-explain, umm…”

Before he could think of an excuse, the medical witch cut him off. “No need for explanations, dear. But I did expect you here today, so you may sit in your usual chair while I prepare the potion for her.”

Harry was about to sit down when a voice from behind him called, “Harry?”

He turned to see Penelope Clearwater blinking away her stiffness and slowly starting to move. Harry took a step closer to her. “Take it easy, Ms. Clearwater.”

She shook her head as much as she could with her stiff muscles and began speaking quickly. “It was a basilisk, Harry! Hermione—she saved me. I was about to look at it when she grabbed my cheek and forced me to look into the mirror instead. If she hadn’t, I—I would be dead, not petrified. And you killed it, with a sword?!”

Harry blinked twice at the older girl before raising his hands and saying calmly, “Take it easy, Ms. Clearwater. You’re still recovering.”

The Ravenclaw slowed her movements and smiled at him. “Please, call me Penny.”

Harry was confused but nodded. There was something he needed to know.

Before he could ask her anything, Madam Pomfrey returned from her office with a vial of odd-looking potion. Her eyes landed on Penny, and she immediately began speaking in a worried tone. “Oh dear, you’re awake. How do you feel?”

Penny smiled and replied, “A little stiff, but fine. Ummm… I do need to go to the restroom.”

Madam Pomfrey nodded to her, then looked at Hermione and Remus. She sighed and offered him the vial. “The entire contents, please. I trust you know how to handle it while I take care of Ms. Clearwater.”

Remus nodded, took the vial, and walked toward Hermione. With what looked like expert movements, he poured the potion into her mouth. Once the vial was empty, he stepped back and said, “Well, if Ms. Clearwater is any indication, your friend will be with us in a couple of minutes.”

And indeed, a couple of minutes later, Hermione’s eyes began to blink repeatedly. Her hands started to close and open slowly. She wiggled her toes and tried to move her neck before she seemed fully aware of her surroundings again.

Harry stepped closer to the bed. The moment he was near, Hermione jumped—at least, as much as she could—and hugged him. She didn’t care that her lips were next to his ear as she spoke loudly anyway. “Oh, Harry, thank you so much! Without you, I would’ve gone insane.”

A giggle from behind revealed that Penny had returned. Once she had their attention, she said sweetly, “Not only you, Hermione. Harry was the only one who came every day to update us on what was going on around the school.” Then her face turned sour. “Percy didn’t even visit once.”

Harry had an opinion about the man, one he usually kept to himself. Well, his old self would have. Now, as someone who wanted to help as many people as he could, he figured giving his opinion might help. So, a little hesitantly, he asked, “Umm, Penny, can I be honest with you?”

The blonde gave him a bright smile. “Please do, Harry.”

Harry took a deep breath, then looked into her blue eyes and said, “You can do a hell of a lot better than Percy. He’s an arrogant arse who only cares about his career. He’d sell you out in a heartbeat if it helped him get a Ministry position. You’re kind, smart, creative, and caring—none of which Percy gives a damn about.”

Penny blinked at him for a moment, then looked down. “Well, there was someone else I was interested in for a couple of years, but during the summer, Percy told me that the guy only wanted one thing from me. I was so grateful to him that I agreed to a date, and from there, it somehow just kept moving on.”

“Umm, was that guy a sixth-year from Hufflepuff? Umm… Timothy something?” Surprisingly, it was Hermione who asked. When Penny looked up and gave her a surprised nod, Hermione continued. “Well, I don’t like gossip, but I do live in the same dorm as Lavender and Parvati, so I overhear it sometimes. At the start of the year, they were talking about this Timothy and how he had a crush on some Ravenclaw girl, but then out of nowhere, she started dating a Gryffindor. They thought it was just like a romance novel.” She finished with a shrug.

Penny looked at her with distant eyes and whispered loud enough for them to hear, “So the stick-in-the-mud lied to me so I’d go on a date with him?”

Harry grumbled, “That man would sell his own mother if his boss at the Ministry told him to.”

Penny suddenly hugged both of them and said, “Thanks to both of you! I have a few people I need to talk to, the sooner the better. Hope I’ll see you both later.”

With that, the older girl left. Hermione turned to Harry with a smile. “I’m proud of you, Harry. You’re really making a difference by speaking up. Now, about this basilisk-killing thing…”

Harry blinked, feeling like he had whiplash from the subject change. “Umm, how do you know about that?”

Hermione smirked. “Oh, I heard everything that was going on most of the time. There were still times I was sleeping, but when I wasn’t, your voice was the only thing keeping me from losing my mind. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one.”

“Oh,” was all Harry could manage, before his eyes widened comically and he asked loudly, “Wait! Everyone heard everything I said?!”