Harry Potter and the Infernal Plan Part III
by Jori
REVISED July 2003
e-mail: Jori@netroenterprises.com
Set during and after their sixth year at Hogwarts, Hermione asks something of Harry that will change their lives forever.
NC-17
Spoilers for all five books. Most of this was originally written well before Order of the Phoenix came out but I decided to go back and do some edits. Some were very necessary while others were more cosmetic.
H/Hr story
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
***********
The Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin had now gone on for eight hours in weather so dreary the players kept getting lost in the mist. It was late in the afternoon and it wasn't going to get any better when what little light there had finally vanished. Harry, there to study the team Gryffindor would face depending on the outcome, was beginning to get restless and he had passed being merely bored hours ago.
The weather was so bad that he couldn't even convince Ron to come join him, which was probably for the best since Harry still hadn't told his best friend about his other best friend. The only other Gryffindor here was Colin who was too cold to even take pictures. Instead of focusing on the match like he should be, Harry's eyes would periodically search around to see if Hermione had come out of the castle to keep him company. It was a foolish thing to hope for considering the weather and everything else.
Ever since the incident with Peeves on Valentine's Day, they had kept their distance from each other. If Peeves had indeed told on them, no one seemed concerned about it. Harry was just thankful for every day that passed without being called in to talk to Professor McGonagall.
Harry shifted in his seat, wrapping his cloak tightly around him to keep from shivering. He had spotted the Snitch no less than half a dozen times in the last two hours and was amazed that neither team had managed to catch it yet. Of course, he knew quite well how different it was out there on a broom with Bludgers coming at one's head.
He was just about to give up and go back to the castle when he saw Hermione, standing there at the end of the row covered completely in her cloak. His heart started beating faster like it often did now when she showed up just when he hoped she would. She squeezed past the other onlookers and sat in a space next to him that was so small, it forced them to get quite cozy.
"I was just about to go in," Harry said.
"That figures. I give up my study time and hike through the muck to get out here just to see you and now you tell me you were about to leave," Hermione said, rolling her eyes in mock indignation.
"We can stay until the end if you'd like," Harry said, sighing as Cho let the Snitch go by her again. Thankfully, Malfoy wasn't doing much better. "It should only last another ten or so hours."
"It's not as exciting when you're not playing," Hermione said after watching for less than a minute. "Of course, this way I don't have to worry about you getting yourself killed."
"Or worse -- maimed just enough to ruin your plans. Are you ever going to tell me what those plans were?" Harry whispered into his girlfriend's ear.
"You'll just have to wait," Hermione whispered back. Colin turned around just then, gave them a big smile and moved up a few rows to be closer.
"Slow game, isn't it, Harry?" Colin asked and Harry felt Hermione move away.
"It is," Harry answered, focusing on the players again and hoping that Colin would leave them alone again soon so Hermione could snuggle back up to him.
"Not like when you play. You really are the best player," he said and Harry shook his head.
"I'm not sure about that," Harry mumbled and Hermione elbowed him in the side. He added a quick, "Maybe."
"Can I take a picture of the two of you?" Colin asked, holding his camera up before either of them could answer. There was never much point in telling him no anyway. Harry and Hermione both sat up straight, trying not touch at all but in the crowd, that wasn't easy to accomplish. Someone jostled them closer just as Colin snapped the picture. "Thanks! I think I'll be going in now. This could go on forever."
Harry watched Colin leave and then turned to face Hermione. She looked envious that Colin was heading towards the warmth of the castle while they were still stuck out here in the cold rain.
"Would you like to leave?" he asked. She nodded her head and they both stood up, people grumbling at them as they moved down the row.
They made their way out and when Harry was sure no one was watching, he grabbed Hermione's hand in his. They were just two students out in the cold completely concealed under their cloaks. Who would ever be able to tell it was them?
"Do you think it's safe?" Hermione asked.
"Do I think what's safe?"
"For me to make plans again," she said and he stopped walking. She came to a halt next to him and he still held onto her hand, thinking. She pushed the hood of cloak down and he stared at her, reaching out to gently touch a rosy cheek. He didn't feel like waiting for her to make plans. He simply wanted to be with his girlfriend right now. Hermione finally asked, "What?"
"Oh, to hell with the bloody plans. Come with me," Harry said, pulling her in the opposite direction of the castle.
************
The changing room was dark and terribly cold but at least it was dry. Better yet, it was completely empty and far enough away from the castle that they didn't have to worry about Ron or any of the other Gryffindors finding them. All they had to worry about was the Quidditch match ending and one of the the teams coming back here, but the way things were going, they had a while. Or at least Harry hoped they had a while.
"Six months. They could be out playing for six months," Hermione stated, in her usual factual manner, as if she was reading his mind. Before he could respond, she pulled his face to hers for a long, deep kiss. Her lips parted under his and he moaned when her tongue danced across his own. He had her pressed up against a wall and he was trying to focus on kissing her while tugging up the bottom of her cloak. Her hands were working on his clothes at the same time and he could tell she was growing impatient.
"I don't think we'll need six months," he said when they finally had to break the kiss, both breathless now.
"We might need that much time to get through all the clothes you're wearing . . . what do you have on under here?" Hermione said with an exasperated huff, pulling his cloak open.
"It was rather cold out there," he said, looking down at what she was doing with her hands. "I'm sure you're not just wearing . . . oh."
Under her cloak, she had only a sweater and a skirt -- and whatever might be underneath that. He was expecting jeans and now Harry knew why she looked so miserable watching the match. His hands went exploring further, hiking up her skirt and feeling her through her cotton knickers. She moaned, her hands dropping away from whatever they were doing. Pushing aside the thin fabric, his fingers circled around just the right spot and she started sinking down the wall. They both ended up on their knees, his eyes locked onto hers, as she rocked against his hand.
Her mouth dropped open a little as her breathing grew shallow. He wanted desperately to kiss her parted lips but then he'd have to take his eyes off of hers and he didn't want to do that. He had seen so many horrible things in his life and he hoped moments like this would overwrite all those bad memories.
She held onto his arms so tight he could feel her nails digging through all the clothes he had on. It was moments like this, when the desire in her eyes tore right through to his heart and when she clung to him so tightly that it was if she was drowning, that he could feel a tiny little stab of fear rise up into his chest. Nothing, after all, could really overwrite the bad memories. Nothing could keep her safe and he knew that just by doing this, he was putting what he loved most at risk. This time, the loss would be unbearble.
"Harry, what is it?" she asked, pushing his hand away and drawing him out of his thoughts. He shook his head but he could tell she knew what he was thinking about.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. It's just . . ."
"Shh . . ." she said, kissing him once again. His hands went to her face, never wanting to let her go. She managed to get through his layers of clothes and down to his jeans, unzipping them slowly. Every sound they made echoed around the empty room and the only other noise was an occasional cheer from the crowd outside. Harry knew that none of the cheers so far were the sound of one team defeating the other. He knew that sound well.
After pulling his jeans and underclothes down just past his hips, Hermione pushed him back until he was lying down and he was quite thankful that he had his cloak on because the floor was very cold. Harry propped himself up on his elbows and watched as Hermione stood and slipped her knickers off, tucking them into her pocket so she could find them quickly.
"What are you going to do to me?" Harry asked, heat radiating through his body just from watching her.
"I'm going to make you forget about whatever it was you were just thinking of," Hermione said, crawling up him and straddling his hips. He sighed -- no, moaned -- as she settled down against him, so wet and warm that he could barely stand waiting another second even though she wouldn't let him in just yet. She ran her fingers through his hair, brushing aside his bangs. Now she sighed, her fingers brushing lightly over his scar. "There are things not even I can make you forget, aren't there?"
"You've come the nearest yet by far to erasing all of it," he said.
"There are ways . . . but I don't want you to forget it all," she said and he gave her a quizzical look. "You wouldn't be you anymore. You wouldn't be Harry Potter. Besides, you don't want to forget it all. You just want it to go away for a while."
"If people forget, if I forget, it will never end and . . . " Harry started to say but she sank down, taking him in as far as he could go. Harry waited for an expression of discomfort to cross her face but it never came. With a gentle push, he was on his back again as Hermione took his hands in hers, fingers wrapped tightly together. He kept staring at Hermione and realized exactly why she was his best friend -- she always knew exactly what he needed.
As soon as she started moving, all his thoughts turned to where they were joined and how amazing it felt to lie there and do nothing but watch her. If only she didn't have on so much clothes, it would be perfect. Absolutely bloody perfect.
"Harry?" Hermione asked while she kept moving over him. He had to work to focus on her.
"Hm?" was all he could manage to get out.
"Do you think you could . . . can you . . . oh, here," she said, unable to get the words out. She pushed her skirt aside and pulled his hand down until his fingers were at the apex of her sex. "Can you do that again?"
"Er-- anything," he said, trying to remember exactly how he touched her last time and quickly discovered that anything close seemed to work brilliantly. Hermione moaned softly, her tongue brushing slowly across her lower lip before she started moving again. Her pace was faster now and Harry could barely concentrate on everything all at once. He had to make her happy -- he couldn't stop moving his fingers against her. She deserved to be happy because she truly did make him forget.
"Anything . . . I'd do . . ." she mumbled words that meant nothing and everything all at once.
"Me, too," he said before she could go on, squeezing her one hand in his. "What were the plans, Hermione? What were the ones I missed?"
"This. This was the plan. You . . . in here . . . after the match," she said, barely able to get the words out.
"I would have liked that . . . I mean, I do like that. Now," he said, the dark room spinning around him and he tried to keep his eyes on Hermione moving above him. Her long hair swayed with each movement and it made it hard to see her face.
Neither said another word for a long while until the constant rumble of the crowd out at the Quidditch pitch grew into a riot of screaming and cheering.
"Bloody hell!" Harry said, his eyes opening wide. "It's over. Someone won."
"How close are you?" Hermione asked and he couldn't believe she was taking the time to ask instead of getting off of him and fixing her clothes. Plans or no plans, she couldn't be serious.
"Hermione!"
"How close?" she asked, sinking down as far as she could and tightening all her inner muscles around him. At that point, her question became moot as his body went into spasms, emptying everything into her.
"That close," he managed to say, gasping for breath. "How 'bout you then?"
"Don't stop . . ." she said and he didn't. His fingers circled faster and harder and he could hear a crowd of people coming this way but he didn't stop until she finally came, her body quaking over and around his. Her eyes never left his and he was in awe of how beautiful she was right at this moment. This he never would want to forget.
"Hermione, we better . . ."
He couldn't get the words out before she was up and off of him and smoothing out her skirt. Apparently, there was no time for her knickers for she reached out a hand to him and helped him off the floor. He carefully tucked everything back in and watched as she made a face.
"Do you think anyone can tell?" she asked, looking concerned.
"If we get out of here, no one will know. Come on," he said, pulling her towards the door. Before they could reach it, the door flew open and the Ravenclaw team came streaming in, looking rather triumphant. Harry came face to face with a happy but confused Cho Chang.
"What are you doing in here?" Cho asked suspiciously, looking Harry over from head to toe. It was only then that Harry realized he was still holding Hermione's hand in his and he dropped it quickly.
"Nothing. I was . . . I forgot something during our last practice and I . . . you won?" he asked, hoping to change the conversation. He glanced over at Hermione, who now had her arms crossed in front of her, looking unhappy . . . and a bit tousled. What they were doing had to be obvious to everyone by now.
"We won and next we're going to beat Gryffindor so you better prepare your team for defeat, Potter," said some player Harry hardly knew and the Ravenclaw team burst into a boisterous whoop of agreement.
"Er -- congratulations, Cho," Harry mumbled before he and Hermione dodged around the lot of them and made their way out of the changing room. People were streaming back to the castle and Harry and Hermione managed to blend in with the crowd.
"Do you still like her?" Hermione asked, her voice barely loud enough for him to hear over the crowd.
"What? Who?" Harry asked.
"Cho. Do you still like her?" she asked again.
"Hermione, why would you ask that? Especially right after . . . you know," Harry asked, looking around to see if anyone was listening. Hermione didn't answer right away. Instead, she continued to look unhappy and lost in her thoughts.
They were nearly to the castle before she spoke again. "In the next few weeks, there's another trip to Hogsmeade planned. I'd like to be able to go with you and have you not drop my hand if someone sees us together. I'd like to go with my boyfriend and not just my best friend."
"What are you saying?" Harry asked and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What I'm saying is you better figure out a way to tell Ron before then or I will," she answered. She stomped off into the castle by herself, leaving Harry standing out in the cold, wondering how his day turned out like this.
************
"Harry, wait up!"
Harry stopped his trek across the lawn to the Quidditch pitch and turned to find Ron racing after him. He shifted him broom from one hand to the other and pulled his cloak tighter around him.
"What's the problem?" Harry asked once Ron was near. It was too early on a Saturday morning for anyone to be out who didn't need to be. Besides that, it was bitterly cold and after running, Ron was now struggling to catch his breath, panting out huge puffs of white air.
"I . . . I just wanted to talk to you about something," Ron said.
"You couldn't find a warmer place to talk?" Harry asked, unable to feel his toes despite the thick socks he had on.
"You're never around much. You're always working on homework or practicing or . . . with Hermione," Ron said. The look on his face tugged at Harry's insides. He knew he had been avoiding Ron the last few weeks but that's only because he was afraid to tell him the truth. He was going to have to do it soon.
"You'll have to walk with me. I wanted to get in a few minutes on my broom alone," Harry said and they both continued across the lawn. Ron said nothing and Harry was beginning to wonder exactly what was on his mind. "All right then. What's this about?"
"Colin had some pictures that he took recently developed and last night while you and Hermione were studying, a group of fifth and sixth years were laughing at one in particular," Ron said and Harry had no clue what he was getting at.
"So?"
"I asked to see it and . . . Harry, this is the picture," Ron said, pulling it out of his cloak and handing it to Harry. What he saw made Harry stop walking and in a step or two, Ron realized he wasn't keeping up with him and turned around. "I told everyone there was probably an explanation for it but Lavender seemed to think she knew the explanation already."
Harry stared at the picture of Hermione and him sitting out in the cold at the Quidditch match. Despite the fact that they weren't snuggling and kissing when the picture was taken, they surely were in this wizard picture. Harry could have kicked himself for not thinking about that when Colin asked to take their picture. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing he had to tell Ron the truth and now was as good a time as any.
"There is an explanation," Harry said, watching as the Hermione in the picture brushed her hand through his hair just as the real Hermione often did. It sent a warm tingle through him and he looked away from the photograph.
"I knew there had to be one. I told Lavender she was daft for thinking . . ."
"Hermione and I have been seeing each other since Christmas," Harry said, cutting Ron off. Ron looked at him as if he didn't actually hear what he said and maybe he hadn't. "Actually, more like right after the New Year. Almost two months but not quite . . ."
"What?" Ron asked, his voice wavering a little.
"Ron, Hermione is my girlfriend," Harry said, choosing to look down at his feet instead of having to face his friend. Ron took a step backwards. A silence hung between them for quite a while and Harry thought for a moment that maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as he had thought. That moment didn't last for long.
"Oh, bloody hell! And why not? You've got everything already, Harry. Why not one more thing? You've got the fame and fortune and everything you do always works out for the best so why the hell shouldn't you have the girl, too, right?" Ron said, going from confused to angry rather quickly.
"It's not like that. Hermione isn't a prize to be had . . ." Harry said, looking up now to find Ron's face all red with anger. His reaction was making Harry angry, too.
"Easy for you to say. You're the one who has her," Ron said, his voice growing louder. Harry looked around to see if anyone else was out this early in the morning and indeed there was. Streaming out of the castle were a few other members of Gryffindor team, each with the same idea as him.
"I don't have . . . Hermione isn't a possession . . . she's not one who . . ." Harry tried explaining himself but his tongue kept tripping over the next word. Ron knew Hermione as well as he did (almost) and he had to understand that someone as headstrong as Hermione wasn't someone that could be had.
"You could have any girl, Harry, so why'd you go and do this? Girls . . . women, even . . . I've seen how they look at you. You could have them all . . ."
"I couldn't have Cho so that's not exactly true," Harry said, cutting Ron off again but it didn't last for long.
". . . Instead, you do this. Why, Harry?" Ron asked and Harry thought for a second that his friend was going to start crying but he didn't. He just sniffed and grabbed the picture out of Harry's hand.
"Because I love her," Harry answered. There was no other reason. He loved her and nothing else mattered. Not his so called fame or all the galleons he had saved up in Gringott's bank. Ron could be as angry as he wanted to be but that wasn't going to stop him from loving her.
The few other Gryffindor team members had finally caught up to them and the newest member of the team, a second year girl named Zoila Witherite, asked in a very concerned voice, "Is everything all right, Harry?"
"It's fine. I'll just be a few minutes," Harry said, waving her on. They all started walking towards the pitch again and Zoila turned back to look at him.
"There's another one you could have," Ron said rather sarcastically. Harry looked at Ron whose face was still an unbelievable shade of crimson and Harry was sure his was the same color by now. He didn't have time for this. He had a team waiting for him and a big match in a few weeks and he couldn't deal with a pouting and unhappy Ron right at the moment.
"She's only twelve years old . . . damn good on a broom, though . . . and . . . I'm not going to fight with you about this now. I don't have much time . . ."
"You didn't even bother to ask me if I wanted to practice. Afraid I'd find out the truth?" Ron asked.
"Goodbye, Ron," Harry said, leaving him behind and dashing as quickly as he possibly could to the Quidditch pitch.
************
Hermione put her book down and sighed. "Are you going to study?"
"I don't know," Harry answered, opening and then closing the book before him. He sighed, picking up his quill and playing with it instead of actually writing something down on the scroll in front of him.
"You have to talk to him," Hermione said before picking up a different book and searching through it. "I can't work with you sitting around here sighing. My marks are suffering as it is because of you and now I have to catch up."
"You're going to blame me for your marks?" Harry asked, pulling Hermione's latest essay out of her bag and looking at it. "You nearly got a perfect mark!"
"Nearly. That's not good enough," Hermione said, grabbing the scroll back from him. Harry sighed again and she gave him a nasty look. "I've been letting you interrupt my study time for a while now and it's showing in my work. You have to make up with Ron so I can get some studying done."
"I thought you liked it when I came up with interruptions," Harry said, leaning in closer to her. Hermione closed her eyes and let out a breath of exasperation. Their last 'interruption' involved a dark closet and an hour of lost study time.
"I do love your interruptions but I have to get this done. Either work or find something else to do," Hermione said, opening her eyes and giving him a pleading look.
"What should I say to him?" Harry asked. He really didn't even know how to approach Ron at this point. How much he should tell him was another issue he wasn't too sure of.
"Tell him you miss him and that I've tossed you out on your ear. Tell him whatever it is you want to tell him. But please tell him soon," Hermione said, growing more frustrated with him as each minute passed.
"I could go visit Hagrid. I haven't been to see him in a long while," Harry said, beginning to pack up his books.
"I saw Ron go into his hut earlier this afternoon."
"Or maybe I'll just go to bed. Care to join me?" he asked, lowering his voice so the table of Hufflepuffs next to them wouldn't hear. It was one thing if the entire school knew they were dating but he wasn't sure the was ready for everyone to find out that they were doing more.
"Harry . . . I love you. I love you a lot. Now please go away," Hermione said, her voice no louder than his.
Harry gathered up his books and supplies and, coming around the table, gave his girlfriend a kiss. It was their first in such a public place and the students around them all grew silent as they waited for Madam Pince to come over and tell them off for kissing in her library. Before that could happen, Hermione blushed and buried her nose deeper into her book as Harry quickly left the library smiling.
************
Harry stepped through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room and saw Ron sitting alone on the couch in front of the fire. Harry had hoped that Ron would still be visiting Hagrid or in bed already but they couldn't avoid each other much longer.
"I knew you'd be upset," Harry said, putting his books down on the table before sitting on the couch next to Ron.
"How'd you ever guess?" Ron said, not hiding any of his disappointment in his voice. He didn't turn to look at Harry but instead continued to stare at the fire.
"I don't know. Maybe because you haven't spoken to either of your best friends in two weeks," Harry answered.
Ron looked over his shoulder and then back at Harry. "Speaking of my 'friends,' where is Hermione? I thought you two were inseparable?"
"She's still in the library studying."
"I'm not upset about you and Hermione --"
"Ron . . ."
"I'm still trying to get used to the idea and all but I think what bothers me more is that you couldn't tell me the truth. You and Hermione lied to me, Harry and I'm not sure whether it was to protect me or to protect yourselves," Ron said, turning to look at Harry. The firelight was dancing across his face, making it hard for Harry to read his features.
"I'm sorry," Harry said softly. He didn't really know what else to say. There was a time in his life he wouldn't have apologized but this time, he knew he should have told Ron. He knew Ron was perfectly within his rights to be upset about that. A silence hung between them for a long while, punctuated only by the crackling fire. Harry really wanted to slink away up to his bed but instead he sat there under Ron's penetrating gaze.
"You do know how much I liked her, right? You're not so blind as to have missed that?" he asked.
"I . . . I figured after Hermione started dating that Muggle boy that you'd realize . . ."
"That she didn't like me in the same way?"
"I guess so," Harry said, turning to watch the fire again.
"You know there was a time when she did," Ron said thoughtfully.
"You were fourteen then. People change," Harry said with a shrug.
"Obviously."
"We didn't plan this," Harry said, nearly laughing at his words. "Or rather, we didn't plan for *us* to happen. She wanted to . . . and something happened and we did . . . we had . . ."
"I don't want to know what you two have done," Ron said, putting a hand up before Harry could go further. "Just promise me that you won't hurt her. Or get her killed. If something happens to her because of who you are, I'll . . . I'll kill you."
Harry knew he didn't mean it and that Ron was angry but the words stung anyway.
"Ron, I love her . . ." Harry said and Ron blanched at his words. "She's one of my best friends and you're the other. I would never let anything happen to you. Besides, you wouldn't have to kill me. Believe me when I say to get to Hermione, they'd have to kill me first."
"But people have died around you and you couldn't do a bloody thing to stop it," Ron said, his voice filling with anger. The implication that he wouldn't do everything in his power to stop such a thing was making Harry quite angry himself.
"I've changed a lot in the last few years. I'm a far better wizard now and . . . and there are things Dumbledore has done to assure our safety here at Hogwarts that I can't even begin to explain," Harry said, trying to gain some control over his emotions.
"What about when she goes home?" Ron asked and Harry shook his head.
"What could possibly happen to her at home?" Harry asked. After the summer with the dementors sent by Delores Umbridge, nothing had happened again at the Dursleys and in looking back, his summer holidays would have been the easiest time to do something to him. He always figured it wouldn't make a bold enough statement, though, attacking him as he pulled weeds in Aunt Petunia's garden. Voldemort would want to make a show of it and a show of him in front of other wizards, not just the common Muggles on Privet Drive. Still, Harry could only imagine the look on Uncle Vernon's face if the Death Eaters all arrived at once on the front doorstep and . . .
"You won't be with her this summer," Ron said, interrupting Harry's thoughts. "You won't be able to protect her if you're locked in a bedroom with the Dursleys."
"If it comes to that, I'll do anything . . . I'll break all the Ministry's rules about being underage and using magic. I've done it before and I'll do it again. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her, Ron. Please trust me. This isn't just some fling and I love her more than I've ever loved anyone in my life and there's no way Voldemort's going to hurt her. I'd die first . . ." Harry repeated.
"I don't want that . . ."
"Do you think I do? Do you think my mum wanted to die? She did it because she loved me and I love Hermione and I would never let anything happen to her just as I would never let anything happen to you," Harry said followed by another long silence.
"It's going to take a while for me to get used to this. I'm not sure I'm ready to see the two of you together as boyfriend and girlfriend. I'm not so sure I want to know anything that . . . you know," Ron said and Harry nodded.
"There's a trip into Hogsmeade in two more weeks. Do you think the three of us could go as friends like we used to?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. And Harry, Hermione or you better talk to Ginny, too. She always had the biggest crush on you and she didn't see this coming. I guess the whole Weasley family was blind to the obvious," Ron said, his face twisting up.
"It wasn't that obvious. It just . . . happened," Harry said.
"Things always seem to just happen to you," Ron added, jealousy seeping into his voice again.
"They're not always good things. You don't know what I would have given to have grown up in a house like yours with a mum and a dad and . . . I don't get everything, Ron. I spent years locked away in a cupboard and nothing will ever make up for that. Coming to Hogwarts and meeting you and Hermione comes close, but all those years . . . nothing will ever change them," Harry said, opening up to Ron far more about his early childhood than he had in a long time. Ron's expression grew slightly softer and he opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. "If I hadn't met you and Hermione, who knows what would have become of me."
"You'd be one bloody awful wizard," Ron said with a smirk.
"But I bet I could still handle a broom better than anyone," Harry added and Ron objected quickly while Harry firmly stood his ground on that point. Watching as his friend told him all the reasons he was better on a broom, Harry realized that eventually, it might just all be fine between them.
************
To Be Continued . . .