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document.write(''); chapter ten: So Happy Together

" Are you sure you saw them come this way?" Ginny inquired as she, Ron, and Draco hurried down the hall.

" I'm sure," Ron said grimly. " They were with Kimmy, and they were heading toward Dumbledore's office. Now they're gonna tell Dumbledore that we hexed them and kidnapped them, and he'll send us to Azkaban. I knew this was a bad idea!"

" It was YOUR idea," Draco reminded him, " and quite a deliciously underhanded one, too. I didn't know you had it in you, Weasel."

Ron had just opened his mouth to retort-probably something to the effect of telling Draco to shut up-when they turned the corner and stopped dead in their tracks.

Harry kissing Hermione.

Hermione kissing Harry.

Harry and Hermione kissing each other.

Sensing them, Hermione and Harry broke apart, blushing as they recognized their friends. " Hi," Harry said awkwardly.

Ginny's blue eyes were wide. " Please tell me that I'm not hallucinating."

Hermione's cheeks were positively crimson. " You aren't hallucinating," she assured her.

Ginny let out a squeal and wrapped her arms around Hermione first, then Harry. "I just knew it would work-I just knew it!"

Ron grinned and pumped Harry's hand energetically. " Finally, mate. It only took you-what?-three years."

Harry glanced over at Draco, his face suddenly guilty. " Listen, Malfoy...Draco...I didn't mean for you to find out this way."

Draco stared at him, uncomprehending, then frowned. " Oh, right. Well, I suspected all along."

" You did?" Harry returned, frowning. " So then why did you propose to Hermione in the first place?"

Draco shrugged. " Well, I thought I might as well get the benefits as long as you were otherwise preoccupied."

As Harry's face darkened, Hermione quickly intervened. "Well, all's well that ends well, right?" She cast a quick warning glance at Draco, then reassuringly smiled up at Harry.

Ginny frowned as a sudden thought seemed to strike her. "Wait a minute-what about Kimmy? Have you told her yet?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. " Well actually," Hermione began, " it's a long story..."

She proceeded to tell them everything-about Kimmy's deception, the prophecy, and Dumbledore's participation. When she was done, Ron, Ginny, and even Draco were staring at her in shock.

"Suffice it to say," Harry said dryly, " Kimmy and I are no longer together."

" Darn." Draco drawled. " I thought you two crazy kids were gonna make it."

For what was not the first time in his life-or that day, for that matter-Draco was ignored.

" So what are you going to do about the prophecy?" Ron inquired, looking troubled.

Hermione smiled up at Harry. " Nothing."

" Nothing?" Ginny echoed.

" Nothing." Harry confirmed, wrapping his arms around Hermione. " We've been kept apart for too long to worry about some silly prophecy. I'm madly in love with this woman, and I don't intend to let her go."

As Ginny let out a wistful sigh, Ron abruptly began to sniff and looked away, blinking his eyes, which were suddenly quite shiny.

" You all right, Weasel?" Draco inquired, grinning at him.

Ron wiped furiously at his eyes. " I just got something in my eye, I think."

Draco looked at him with mock soberness. " Looks like a tear, Ron."

" Shut up Malfoy."

A sudden thought seemed to strike Harry, and he reluctantly broke his gaze away from Hermione. " Wait a minute-what about all the guests for the wedding? Is everyone just sitting down there waiting?"

" We took care of that," Ginny announced, grinning. " As soon as we locked you and Hermione away, we wrote a fake note-supposedly from you-saying that you just couldn't go through with it and that the wedding was off."

Harry frowned. " But what if it had turned out that I wasn't really in love with Hermione, and that Kimmy wasn't actually a psychotic zealot on a mission to destroy our love? You would have ruined my wedding for nothing."

Draco shrugged. " We were sort of banking on the hope that you and Hermione would work things out," he admitted. " Otherwise, we planned on keeping you down there until you did. Or until you both died from starvation."

Harry merely stared at him for a moment. " I fear you," he said finally.

Hermione smiled fondly at their three friends. "Well, whatever the case may be, Harry and I are very grateful to you for...well, kidnapping us and trapping us in a dark, dank pit." She met Harry's gaze. " Now, if the three of you don't mind, Harry and I would like some time alone together."

Without waiting for a response, they turned and walked down the hall together. A moment of silence passed, then Draco cleared his throat. " Well, how do you like that? All we get is a thank you? I would have preferred a bag of galleons, myself."

" Shut up, Malfoy." said Ginny and Ron in unison, though they were smiling.

***

The next few months were paradise for Harry and Hermione. They did virtually everything together; eating, hiking, talking, staring up at the clouds. Most importantly, they spent the time getting to know each other not as Harry and Hermione the best friends, but Harry and Hermione the couple.

If Hermione had ever worried about things being awkward with her newfound relationship with Harry, all of her fears had quickly been put aside. Though they had always been close, they were inseparable now. Hermione found all of her old restraints and self-consciousness slipping away; with Harry, she was beautiful and clever and funny and perfect. Nothing could bring her down.

For Harry, being loved by Hermione was the first perfect love he'd ever known. She loved him fully, uncompromisingly, even to the point of spoiling him. Even more importantly, he loved her the same way. The loneliness that had always inhabited his trademark green eyes was beginning to fade; it was such a startling transformation that people sometimes didn't recognize him in the street, scar and all.

One night as they sat next to the fire, Harry's head in Hermione's lap, he gazed up at her, watching the flames flicker off her face. She was so beautiful it hurt him sometimes to look at her, to know that she loved him, for reasons he still could not comprehend.

Smiling, he reached up to stroke her face. " I want to marry you," he said.

Hermione smiled but didn't look down at him. " Is that a proposal?"

" Not a very good one," Harry admitted, " but yes." He ran his hand along her face, then down her neck and shoulders, eliciting a pleased sigh from her. Smiling, he continued tracing his fingers along her arm until he intertwined his fingers with her own. "After all, we were destined to be together, weren't we?"

Hermione's smile deepened, but still she refused to look at him. " You can't use an ancient prophecy to bully me into marrying you."

Harry grinned at this and waited. When it was too much to bear, he prompted, "Well?"

" Yes," Hermione said simply.

A drop of moisture splashed against Harry's glasses. With a start, he realized that Hermione was crying. Silently, he sat up, taking her face gently into his hands. " Those are happy tears, I hope."

" The happiest," Hermione assured him, and leaned in to kiss him soundly.

***

Elsewhere in the world, Kimmy was making her way up a darkened street, a hood pulled over her blonde hair. She glanced down to double-check the address, then stopped in front of a small, compact little home in the suburbs. Stealthily, she made her way up to the front door, knocking sharply.

A moment later, the door was answered. Kimmy drew back her hood, meeting the man's gaze squarely. " You don't know me," she said briskly, " but my name is Kimmy Trelawney, and I need your help."

The man looked suspicious. " Why should I help you? I don't even know you." He began to close the door.

Before it could shut all the way, Kimmy called in, " Because it will involve making Harry Potter miserable."

There was a moment of hesitation, and then the door pulled open again, and she was met by a pair of curious eyes. " I'm listening," the man said.

***

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