Paternal Instincts

Chapter 36

Later that day, Harry, Ron and Hermione got their school supplies, accompanied by their parents and the rest of the Weasley children. Since the Weasleys still had money left over from Mr. Weasley's winnings, they were able to buy Ron a new wand and robes. The Weasleys were also able to afford at least half of their children's books new, especially since the books this year were not quiet as expensive as Lockhart's books last year. Unfortunately for the lady working at Flourish and Blotts, that included five Book of Monsters for the Weasley children (sans Ginny who was only a second year) and Hermione.

Hermione's parents gave her extra money to buy an owl as a pet since her Birthday was coming up. Once they got their supplies, James and Remus accompanied The Golden Trio to the Magical Menagerie while the rest of their families went back to The Leaky Cauldron. Remus himself was looking for a new owl to deliver his letters as his current one was getting on in age.

As they looked around at the owls, Hermione's eyes grew wide and shone bright at the sight of a silver owl with a rose red beak and streaks around it's wings and body.

Harry felt a tingle as she tugged at his arm and he didn't know whether it was from the owl or from Hermione. "Harry, isn't she magnificent. I can tell it's a she!"

"Yeah, she is," he agreed. Hermione was right. The owl was like no other that he had seen and you could look at her forever.

Hermione got the owl whom she named Aurora. They headed to the counter at the same time as Uncle Remus who had a large ginger cat and a regular brown tawny owl with him. There was no polite way to put it, but the cat was quiet the opposite of beautiful, unlike Hermione's new owl. It looked grumpy and it's face looked like it had been squashed.

"I figured I'd give this poor cat a home since the lady at the counter said no one else wants her," Remus explained when he noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione gaping at his choice of a pet.

Hermione patted the cat. "That's a really kind thing you're doing, Mr. Lupin. I might have taken her myself if I hadn't seen Aurora first. What's her name?"

"Crookshanks".

They headed back to the Leaky Cauldron after Hermione and Uncle Remus had paid for their respective pets.

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Harry and James were getting ready for bed in their shared twin bed room at The Leaky Cauldron when he decided to get a few things off his mind.

"Dad, I want to get something really nice for Hermione for her Birthday, especially since she did for me on Birthday .... But I don't know what to get."

"Right, the kit was amazing. I don't know how I've never thought of getting one for our brooms," said James.

"It's a relatively new invention," Harry shrugged.

"Yeah. But regarding what you should get, ask yourself what she likes and what she doesn't. And work from there. But there's also a line you should probably stay within. You don't want to go too simple if you want to match what she gave you. But you don't want to go too extravagant to the point it overshadows what she gave you either. I made that mistake with your Uncle Remus once because I thought I was doing a nice thing for him, but he felt bad that his gift for me wasn't as grand as mine for him, even if I didn't expect any such thing. And there's Ron. Your gift should probably not cost significantly more than what he gives Hermione. You don't want to make him feel bad either."

"Right. The only hobby I know of Hermione's is reading. But I don't know the type of books she likes outside of our school ones." Harry was frankly a little ashamed of his lack of knowledge regarding one of his best friends.

"You could discreetly ask her parents." James suggested.

"Her parents. Of course. They should know more.Thanks dad," Harry said gratefully. "There's also Ginny .... She seems embarrassed around me. Probably because I saved her the end of last school year, but I feel bad. How do I tell her that she has doesn't have to be embarrassed or awkward in front of me?"

His dad laughed. "If you don't mind me saying, though I assume you noticed, the girl fancies you. Even before you saved her."

"I kind of figured, but now it just seems worse. I care about her as Ron's sister but I don't think I feel the same way back. What do I do?" Harry asked sheepishly.

"At least at the moment, there isn't much you can do beyond continuing to be nice and doing your best to make her comfortable around you. You're both still too young to do anything about any romantic feelings you may have. And if you don't feel the same way as you said, there's even less reason to do anything about it unless she directly tells you that she fancies you. Then you could probably be honest as politely as possible."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Too young? Dad, I'm thirteen. Didn't you have your first girlfriend at thirteen?"

"That didn't work out well to be honest. But alright. Thirteen may be reaching the somewhat acceptable age, but Ginny's twelve is still too young," said James. "And I guess I'm not ready for my boy to grow up that fast." He confessed.

Harry sat beside James. "I'll always be your boy, dad. I'm just not little anymore."

His father stroked his hair. "I know. Is there a lucky young lady that you fancy?"

"No. At least not at the moment".

"Would I be awful for being relieved about that?" asked James.

"Dad ...." Harry shook his head, grinning.

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Two days before school was due to open again, Hermione turned thirteen. They had a very small celebration at the Leaky Cauldron with just cutting a cake and having a meal were joined by Remus and the Blacks. Uncle Sirius and Aunt Miranda even brought the their two month old twins who added much delight to the affair.

After discreetly speaking to Hermione's mom, Harry gathered that Hermione, like him, loved murder mysteries but that she also secretly loved romance novels. How he had missed that he and Hermione shared that interest was beyond him. His dad suggested that he should probably not give her a gift based on something she was keeping secret and so romance novels were off the list. He instead got her a starter set of his favorite Mick Hinds murder mysteries as Mick was practically the Agatha Christie of the wizarding world. To his relief, Hermione loved them and he could tell from her eyes and expression that it was genuine. She was even happier that they had an interest in common. They spent at least an hour the next day speaking of all the mystery novels they had read while Ron was playing wizards chess with his siblings.

A/N: I know Hermione's Birthday is supposed to be September 19 th and she is supposed to be turning 14 during this time. But I decided to take the liberty of changing her birthday to make her younger than Harry due to my personal preference. I mean since this is fanfiction. Plus, her Birthday isn't that significantly to the story in canon and hence I'm not really altering anything drastic with this.