Author's note: This is the last chapter before the bomb is dropped…I am really glad that you guys are hanging in their with me…the next chapter is going to be really hard for me to write…I will let you know that once I finish this whole story, I plan on doing one that isn't so depressing and angsty…I promise! But, I am concentrating on this one for now and I hope that you guys hang on with me and I promise you won't be disappointed. Again, this is the last "happy" chapter for awhile for Harry James Potter & Hermione Jane Granger. Hang in there!
Chapter 20
She Loves You
"She said she loves you,
And you know that can't be bad…
She loves you, and you know you should be glad.."
(The Beatles "She Loves You")
Something was going on with Harry. Hermione could tell. You weren't friends with someone for as long as they'd been without picking up certain insight into their moods and behaviors. She'd always been able to do that with him, just as he had with her. They could read each other like an open book as Hermione liked to say.
Something was definitely up with him, though. She could tell. He'd been unusually quiet the past couple of days. When she'd call him on it, he'd brush her off by saying he was just tired or had a lot on his mind. She'd told him that if he wanted to talk, she'd always be there to listen. He'd nodded, but hadn't taken her up on her offer.
Truth be told, she was a little hurt by that. She figured that they had the kind of relationship where they could teach other anything. She hoped it didn't have anything to do with Voldemort. Logically, she knew that wasn't possible. Voldemort had been vanquished forever just last year.
She wondered it could be some other dark forces at work. In the past, he'd always welcomed her help and had even come to rely on it. They'd fought side by side after all. She couldn't' help but think that now their relationship had changed from one of friendship to one of love, he might be trying to protect her. Well, if he thought he was going to do that, he had another thing coming. She'd never been one to play the damsel in distress waiting for the knight in shining armor to come and rescue her. He ought to know that about her by now, she thought, feeling a little miffed.
One afternoon a couple of days ago, she'd cornered Ron in the Gryffindor common room. One look at Hermione's stern, serious expression and Ron's cheeks flushed red. He placed a magazine behind his back and tried to scramble for his textbook--Standard Book of Spells-Grade Seven.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the love of Merlin, Ron, I know you were reading that Quidditch magazine!"
"I wasn't," Ron said guiltily. "I was simply taking a break from studying."
"An extended break, more like," Hermione said, folding her arms across her chest.
"Hermione," Ron said, rolling his own eyes at her. "I have one mother already. I don't need another
one."
"At ease, Ron, I'm not here to get on you about your studies, which you should be taking more seriously," Hermione pointed out, as she took a seat at the table. "I'm here to ask you something."
Ron relaxed in his chair. "You had to get that in, didn't you? I think you'd go spare if you couldn't spend one day nagging at me about something."
"I went an entire month without nagging you, if you remember," Hermione reminded him. "I have a lot to catch up on. It was one of the hardest things about being away."
Ron smirked. "Okay, Granger. What is it you wanted to ask me?"
Hermione rested her elbows on the table and leaned in. "Have you noticed anything different with Harry?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, he's been really quiet lately. He kept to himself a lot while you were gone. I was going to chalk it up to missing you and all, but I think something else was troubling him. It seems as if everyone else is catching it too."
"Catching what?" Hermione asked, confused.
"He's not the only one who's been acting like that," Ron said. "Ginny's hiding something from me. I can tell. I've been trying to get her to talk, but she's not saying a word to me. She just tells me she's stressed out from classes and stuff, but I know that's not all it is. And Luna…" Ron's voice trailed off.
"What about Luna?" Hermione asked, concerned. "I thought you guys were doing okay?"
"We are," Ron said. "It's just that she's gotten all quiet and preoccupied lately, too. Sometimes, I feel as if everyone knows this big secret, except for me. I'm telling you, Hermione, it's a bad situation when I'm the only one acting normal."
Hermione gave a laugh. "Well, maybe we're just overreacting and analyzing things too much."
Ron put a hand to his chest. "No! You wouldn't do that, Hermione! Not you, not in a million years!"
"Sarcasm is duly noticed and duly unappreciated, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said, giving him a disgusted look.
"There's the banter I've been missing all these weeks," Ron said. "It brings back a sense of normalcy in this world of ours."
Hermione smiled. She and Ron were silent for a moment.
"What is it?" Ron asked her, his tone serious.
"I'm just worried about Harry," Hermione said. "You don't think there's something going on that he's afraid to tell us about like some Death Eater resurgence or something?"
"He hasn't mentioned anything," Ron said shaking his head. "I would have thought he'd tell us if there were."
"I know," Hermione said. "But you remember that thing with The Prophecy? He didn't tell us that until months after he'd heard about it."
"Well, think about it," Ron said. "That was pretty heady stuff he was going through. I mean right on the heels of Sirius' death, he has to deal with this news that it's either him or the bad guy, right? That's not exactly something he wanted to be shouting from the roof tops."
"Yeah," Hermione conceded. "It still hurt that he didn't feel he could come and talk to us about it, though."
"You don't think he's still feeling bad about Sirius, do you?" Ron asked. "I mean, you said that you didn't think he'd really ever had a chance to grieve."
"He didn't," Hermione remembered. "He sort of swept everything under the rug and I'm afraid it might be about to fester."
"You know what he needs?" Ron asked her.
"Oh, please don't be crass, Ron," Hermione said, warningly.
"I'm not going to be crass," Ron protested. "I can have an intelligent, capable thought every now and then that doesn't involve eating, sex or sport."
"You?" Hermione asked in mock disbelief. "The world is definitely coming to an end. It's like we're in some parallel universe."
Ron scowled at her. "If you don't want my help, Granger," he said, starting to pack his books away, "I can just let you go about your merry little way."
"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "I apologize. Please impart your great knowledge, Mr. Weasley."
Ron stopped packing and beamed at her. "Alright, then. What I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted by an insufferable know-it-all was that Harry needs a vacation. If I was him, I'd check out for the Bahamas or some other tropical island after graduation and take some time off."
Hermione listened to what he said and a smile came to her face. She got out of her chair and kissed a surprised Ron on the cheek.
"What was that for?" Ron asked, taken aback.
"You are absolutely brilliant, Ron Weasley!" Hermione said, making her way toward the portrait hole. "Absolutely brilliant."
Ron beamed at her as he watched her retreat from the room. He turned to see some first-year students gaping at him.
"What are you rug rats looking at?" Ron asked them with a sly smile. "The girl said I was bloody brilliant."
"Absolutely," a first-year girl said quietly.
"Thanks," Ron said, looking at her.
"No," the girl said, shyly. "She said you were absolutely brilliant, not bloody brilliant."
For a moment Ron stared back at the girl. "Same difference," he muttered. "Go back to your studying, ickle firsties."
Luna didn't like the position she was in---not one bit. She had overheard something she never should have and she was struggling with what she should do. Ginny hadn't mentioned anything to her, or to Ron, for that matter. Luna knew her boyfriend well enough to know that if he knew his baby sister was pregnant, he'd give new meaning to the phrase "losing it".
Even more troubling was the fact that Ginny had divulged this information to Draco Malfoy, of all people. She'd told him point blank the baby wasn't his. This meant that Ginny had been involved romantically with Malfoy. Luna found it hard to believe. She thought that Ginny hated Malfoy as much as her brothers. It didn't make sense. Ginny hadn't dated anyone seriously since she'd broken things off with Dean Thomas last year. If Malfoy wasn't the father, who was?
Luna couldn't help but wonder what was going on. She wasn't one for gossip…never had been. She just wished she could pull Ginny aside and ask her what was going on and offer her support. Somehow, though, Luna had kept quiet. It wasn't really her place to say anything to Ron about this. That was up to Ginny. Ginny would have to come clean sooner or later, though. It would only be a matter of time before she started to show. Come to think of it, Luna remembered seeing Ginny the other day and thinking that the girl's face had become a little more rounded and that she seemed to have put on a few pounds.
Luna knew now that was because Ginny was with child. Luna couldn't imagine what Ginny was going through. She was only 16 years old, after all. Having a baby this young…Luna couldn't even fathom it.
Worse still, Luna hated keeping secrets from Ron. She felt as if he had a right to know, but again Luna realized that it wasn't her place to say anything. It would be up to Ginny to tell her brother. Luna just hoped she told him soon.
*********
Hermione was out of breath when she finally found Harry at the Quidditch pitch. Hermione had looked all over for him before it dawned on her that when he was having trouble with something, he usually took a ride on his broom to clear his mind. Sure enough, she found him circling the grounds.
She waved up to him and as he spotted her, he aimed his broom toward the ground. As he landed, she beamed at him.
"What are you so happy about?" he asked her.
"Well, I was just talking to Ron and I just had a terrific idea," Hermione said breathlessly. "Actually, it was his idea and I've had some time to think about it and I think it could really work. I mean, you don't have to say yes right away. You could think about it. It's really a lot of stuff to think about and it's asking a lot of you, but I really think it would do you a world of good and me, too, come to think about it."
Harry watched as she rattled on and couldn't help but be amused and totally taken with her. She did this when she was excited about something and it was quiet endearing actually.
"Take a breath, sweetheart," he said, taking her arm and leading her over to the benches. "Okay, now. I'm actually glad you found me. I have something to talk about with you, too. But, you go first. You tell me what your brilliant idea is."
Hermione smiled. "Okay. Well, you know you've never really been out of England, right? I mean, you've never really traveled have you?"
"Not really," Harry said. "Whenever the Dursleys went on family vacations, they always left me behind with Mrs. Figg."
"Well, I was just thinking that it would be nice to go on holiday after graduation," Hermione said. "You know how a lot of students take a year off after graduation and have sort of a gap year? I was thinking that we could do that."
"Hold on," Harry said, taken aback. "You want to take time off?"
"Of course," Hermione said. "Everyone should do that every now and again. It's good for the soul and the spirit. Just think about it, Harry. We could go to all these great places---Egypt, Spain, Portugal, Greece. We could even go to the States if you wanted to. I've traveled quite a bit with my parents, but I've never been to Hawaii or to the Bahamas. I've always wanted to go there. And it wouldn't just be all fun, we could see museums, historical sites and things like that. It would be great, Harry. It really would. And you wouldn't always be looking over your shoulder waiting for something bad to happen. No one would be staring at you wanting to check out your scar. You'd just be you and I'd just be me. We'd be together."
Harry couldn't believe what Hermione was suggesting.
"Your parents would be okay with this?" he asked her.
"They'd have to be," Hermione said. "I've saved up some money. And I'm of age, for Merlin's sake. And they trust me. If this is something I want to do, they'll let me do it. They'll support my decision."
"You really think they'd be okay with you being 18 years old and traveling the world with your boyfriend?" Harry asked.
"Quit being a spoilsport," Hermione teased. "They'd be okay with it. They trust me, Harry. Come on, don't you want to do this?"
He was silent for few seconds. Of course, he wanted to do this. He could think of nothing better than traveling and spending time alone with her. It sounded perfect to him. A voice in the back of his head reminded him that he was going to come clean with her. He'd bolstered himself to do it today.
Yet, she was staring back at him, her eyes aglow with excitement. She was watching him closely.
"Well?" she prompted. "Come on, Harry. What do you think?"
Her face fell as he stared back at her, his expression unreadable.
"You don't want to do it?" she asked hesitantly. "I know it's a lot to ask."
She let go of his hands and got up from the bench. She stood at the fence with her back to him.
"Hermione Granger, you daft girl," Harry said, smiling at her.
She turned around and watched as he, too, got up from the bench. "I'd be out of mind not to want to go around the world with you. Of course, I'll do it."
She looked at him and grinned. "Really?"
"Really," he said.
She ran into his arms and as he picked her up off the ground and twirled her around, they were both laughing.
"We're going to have the best time, Harry," she said. "You'll see. We're going to have the best time."
He nodded at her.
"Let's go to the library, then," Hermione said. "We can go look at some of the things we want to see and do."
"Alright," Harry said, with a laugh. "That's your favorite trip of all isn't it? A trip to the library."
She scowled at him. "Come on."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, getting his broom and following her back to the castle. They joined hands and walked in silence. Hermione abruptly stopped.
"I nearly forgot," Hermione said, stopping in her tracks. "You said you had something to tell me. What was it?"
His own smile faded as he remembered his vow to tell her the truth today. She was smiling back at him, her cheeks red from excitement.
"It's not important, now," he said.
"It is important," she said. "I know something's been troubling you."
"It's not important," he said. "Really. I've just been stressed out with the Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, school work stuff."
"You see," Hermione said. "It's like you always tell me. You should take time out and have fun every now and then. That's what we're going to do on our trip."
Harry grinned at her.
"We sure will," he said. He leaned in and kissed her.
"What's that for?" she asked, when they broke the kiss.
"Just for being you," he said simply. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
*******
They'd spent the rest of the afternoon, looking excitedly over atlases and books on magical places across the world. Hermione had made a list of everything that looked remotely exciting and said they'd narrow things down once the time drew nearer.
Shortly before seven, they decided to go back to their suite before heading down to the Great Hall for dinner. As they made their way down the corridors, Ginny Weasley came around the corner.
"Hi, Ginny," Hermione greeted her warmly. Harry tensed as he saw the red-headed girl approach them.
Hermione gave the girl a warm hug and Harry caught Ginny's eye as she did so.
Harry suddenly became very interested in the floor.
"I haven't seen you around too much since I've been back," Hermione said. "We have to have a talk soon and catch up. You 're never around anymore it seems."
Ginny gave a weak smile.
"Yes, we'll have to do that," Ginny said.
"We were just going to get freshened up for dinner," Hermione said. "You want to come upstairs with us and then we can all go down together?"
Ginny shook her head.
"I actually needed to talk to Harry about Quidditch for a moment, if you don't mind letting me steal him away for a minute," Ginny said.
"I don't mind," Hermione said. "I'll just head on upstairs so you two can talk about wonky-faints or whatever."
Ginny gave a slight laugh at this. With one last hug to Ginny and a quick kiss to Harry's cheek, Hermione walked up the stairs to their suite alone.
Harry and Ginny stared after her.
"I'm sorry to come barging in like this," Ginny said, once Hermione was out of earshot.
"It's okay," Harry said quietly. "You wanted to talk to me about Quidditch?"
"Not really," Ginny admitted. "I need to talk to you about something else."
"Can it wait?" Harry asked, anxious to get away from her and back to Hermione.
"No," Ginny said, shaking her head. Her voice was solemn and her gaze was fixed directly on Harry. "It really can't wait. I need to talk to you, Harry. It's quite important."
"Okay," he said. "What is it?'