Chapter 201- Forgiveness

HERMIONE'S POV

It's been almost a week since the moment she finally understood what an ass she's been to Harry, and she really couldn't think of a way to ask for forgiveness.

Saying sorry isn't gonna cut it, nor singing like Neville did.

If it was Marcus or Ron that she has hurt, she would have offered to do their homework for them, but Harry always got grades better than her.

It was why, just after the first DA meeting, which had less than half of the original members, She asked Luna Lovegood to stay behind.

"Do you need us to stay with you?" One of the Weasley twins asked Luna.

"No thank you George," Luna answered. "Hermione's wrackspurts have lessened considerably, she wouldn't attack me."

Her words seem enough for the twins as they left the unused classroom we transformed into the DA room.

"So Luna, did you like the lesson?" Hermione asked as a way to start the conversation.

"It was nice," Luna said with the same dreamy way she usually talk whenever Hermione heard her. "pretty basic, but I hope it will improve as we go."

"Yes, we will work on a few basic hexes before starting working on a shield and then have mock duels." She explained the planning for the class.

"What about charms, or transfigurations, will Marcus teach those too?" Luna asked

"What?" Hermione was confused "This is a defense class Luna."

"Yes, I'm aware." She said in a way that told Hermione she's still waiting for an answer.

"We will learn curses and shielding, maybe a patronus." She tried to explain better.

"Oh, I see." She sounded disappointed. "Just thought, never mind, thank you for answering my concern. Have a nice day." She turned about to walk away.

"Luna! Wait!" Hermione stopped her. "I actually asked you to stay for a different reason." Seeing Luna looking at her, she gathered her courage. "Just recently I noticed I've acted toward Slytherin just as purebloods act toward muggleborns, and worse, for four years I've acted like this toward a boy whose been nothing but nice to me, Harry." Hermione swallowed as she saw Luna's eyes lose the lost look in them, turning sharp, before continuing. "I need to apologize to him, and as you are his friend, I wanted your advice on how..."

Luna only looked at her, as if deep in thought. "Well, you can always offer him something he can't refuse, maybe a piece of lost magic if you know any." Luna said after a few moments.

"Very funny." Hermione said, only to see Luna's face being extremely serious. "Wait, that was a real suggestion?" At Luna's nod she lost it. "Really? Using my apology as a way to gain something of value? What a sly-grim way of looking at the world!" Hermione managed to stop herself from saying Slytherin.

"Well, if you aren't willing to give him anything of value as an apology, maybe use the oldest method?" Luna's words horrified Hermione. "I'm not going to sleep with him as an apology!" She exclaimed.

"What?" Luna looked confused for the first time ever. "I just meant go and apologize to him."

"Oh." Hermione could feel her cheeks getting red. "Are you sure it will work?"

"Honestly?" Luna said, shrugging. "I'm not sure Harry will care for your apology either way." She turned once more to leave. "But if not giving him something of value, than a sincere apology is all I can give you as advice." With that, she left, leaving me in thoughts.

HARRY'S POV

For the last week, with the exception of classes, Harry has dedicated half of his time to building a new SWOR, and the time which he couldn't (can't be in the same place as a past self when time traveling) he used it to try and understand what could have gone wrong in the ritual to turn Grayback to a patronus-like creature.

To do that, he started studying the patronus charm from books, something he already did once, but never paid it too much attention, as by the time he reached the magical side of the world he could already do it.

This time, instead of focusing about how it worked, he studied what is a patronus.

Expecto Patronum, is an emotion based spell whose meaning is 'I expect a guardian', while happiness can be used to produce one, it can also be conjured based on sense of duty, love or pure determination.

The most interesting about the spell, is that while it's misconception that the animal take the shape of your inner-self, that's not the truth.

Human beings are way too complicated to be thought of as specific animals.

Instead, the guardian takes the form of a secret of yours, taking your need to protect that secret and using it as a basis to the guardian.

Even after the secret is revealed, as long as you don't have a new secret that you need to keep that feels more important to you than the previous one, the guardian won't change shape.

The reason some people who are in love have the shape of their patronus match their partners in some way, is because they, at some point, wanted it to be kept a secret for some reason.

Another interesting thing about the patronus is one that I already knew in some way.

The patronus spell has no limits for how much energy it can take, meaning that is you want, you can pour your entire magic into it.

That's what Harry believed happened to Grayback.

The ritual, with the help of his and Grayback's magic, has caused Grayback's entire body, and the energy in it, to be converted into magical energy and infused into a patronus like spell.

As the ritual involved transfiguration into animal, total change of DNA and transforming into an inner animal, with the wrong arithmetic values, it might have caused the change to happen into patronus instead of animagus-form.

Of course, to be sure of it, Harry still need to discover the actual properties of each number and of every equation from the start.

As Harry was busy building the SWOR and figuring out the patronus issue, he hasn't gone to eat in the grand hall at all, instead, he had Doby bringing the food to him.

But today is different, as Luna forced him to go, saying something is about to happen.

Harry wasn't expecting that the thing that would happen would be Granger coming to the Slytherin table mid-meal, nor for her to come toward Luna and him.

"Hey Harry." She said his actual name in a small voice, making his eyebrow rise. "I, I came here to..." she took a deep breath. "To apologize to you about the way I treated you for the last four years. I'm really sorry, I acted with as much prejudice to you as Malfoy acts toward every muggleborn."

He should have felt something, happiness, sadness, anger, need to gloat, something, but he didn't.

It's been four years since they stopped being friends and two since Neville apologized.

By this point of time? Harry didn't feel anything toward her, just like one of his pens that broke years ago, he didn't think of her at all.

"Sure, you are absolved." He said in a bland voice, making her take a step back.

"Really?" She didn't seem to notice my tone. "So do you want to study together sometime or-"

"Wait." Harry stopped her. "I forgave you, but that doesn't mean we are friends, And no, I don't want to restart our friendship, I gave my friends and you have yours, and that's fine by me." She seem about to cry making Harry roll his eyes and about to say something but before he could, she ran back to the Gryffindor table, where her friends with the exception of Neville gave me a stink eye.

"You truly don't want to be friends with her again?" Luna asked from the side, curious.

"Why would I? I have you, Nagini, Doby and the twins. How many friends do you think I can handle?" He asked back with a wry grin.

"Well, considering you disappeared for a week, I would have to say zero." She gave him the look that said 'Explain.'

"Well, I might have accidentally created a living patronus." Harry said, as after studying the Grayback patronus, not to mention obliviating it, which was one of the only spells that seem capable of affecting it, and making a spiritual cage with a rune scheme in the outside world to make sure it can't leave, He could say that the wolf had no memories of his time as a human and only had the ability to howl at people for the moment.

Everyone who knew her would have been able to instantly see her eyes become full of wonder.

"Show me!"

"Sure," He said, as by now he already considered taking her to his second secret room. "We just need to go to the chamber of secrets." Her eyes were so open Harry feared they would pop outside.