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I do not own Harry Potter. It is wholly owned by J. K. Rowling. I do not get anything from this fanfiction aside from the joy of writing it and having other people enjoy the reading of it.

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Chapter 22 - Manifestation



Christmas had come and gone. Harry had spent part of it with the Weasleys at the Burrow, and part of it at Hermione's parent's home. It was the happiest he had been since... well... ever!



Luna and Henry were continuing guests at the Burrow as well. Luna still got winded when she tried to do anything really strenuous. Between her afternoon walks with Henry, the potions Ginny and Neville were making for her, and the chores around the house she helped with, she would be strong as ever in just a few more weeks. She had been accepted in the ranks of the Weasleys by Molly. Luna still missed her mother and father dearly, but she knew she had another family now as well. One that would barge through the gates of Hell and chew the ear off of the Devil to get her back.



The only thing to mar the perfect holiday was an issue of the Daily Prophet that had a picture of Lucius and Draco, smiling their oily smiles as they "donated" a large sum of money to St. Mungos to help repair the hospital from the Death Eater attack several weeks before.



Harry had taken one look at the paper and tossed it into the fire. Everyone had silently looked on as the fire consumed the issue, char racing across the smiles of the two Malfoys.



Over the next few months, Harry worked on his skills in Ollivander's shop. Twice a week he would drill the auror trainees on how to get the most out of their wands, and tuned their wand movements. Death Eater attacks peppered the headlines of the Prophet weekly. Harry had found an advanced group of people who were willing to help him learn more of the forms for his Tai Chi.



Hermione was spending several evenings with Harry at his apartment, tutoring him on Runes and Arithmancy. He was soaking up wand making theory with her help. Every time Olivia saw them climbing the stairs to his flat she had a knowing grin on her face and Harry would blush a bright red.



He had never felt about Hermione as more than a friend, but over the past weeks stray thoughts had been filtering through his mind. The smell of her body wash when she sat next to him, a stray brush of her hand on his arm as she pointed something out in the book they were using, and her smile when he grasped something fundamental would all make his heart skip a beat. He knew he was starting to feel different about her, but couldn't quite figure out what it was.



As spring made itself known, Hermione and Harry would work on the roof garden. She had helped him plan out the annual flowers he was going to plant. Daisys, Primrose, Lavender, Violets, and Lilly of the Valley adorned the boxes. She was sitting beside a planter with a trowel and was turning some dragon dung into the dirt as she planted the flowers. Harry had his shirt off as he struggled to replace a water pump that had seized. There were rust smudges across his chest. Hermione stopped to focus her attention on him fully. He didn't take his shirt of very often as he was very self-conscious of the scars on his body. She had never asked him where they had come from, but assumed some were from Azkaban and some from the Dursleys.



Harry finally got the resistant pump out of the floor access. He heaved it up and set it on a work bench. He puffed his cheeks out blowing a long breath and clapped his hands together to brush off some of the rust. He looked up at Hermione and with a querying look tilted his head to the side.