A/N: This chapter was hard to write for the two of us and will be a bit hard for you Harry/Hermione shippers to read. But, don't be too hard on Hermione. Her heart is in the right place and she thinks what she's doing is best for Harry. We promise not to make you suffer too long.
Here With Me - Dido
I don't want to call my friends, they might wake me from this dream
And I can't leave this bed, risk forgetting all that's been
Oh I am what I am, I'll do what I want but I can't hide
I won't go, I won't sleep, I can't breathe until you're resting here with me
I won't leave, I can't hide, I cannot be, until you're resting here with me.
Hermione walked numbly back to the cabin, not realising where she was going until she was actually inside her bedroom. She listlessly dressed in her pyjamas, Ginny's words going over and over in her head. "What am I going to do?" Hermione asked softly, hugging herself around the middle.
Lavender came into the room just then and seemed quite surprised to see Hermione. "What are you doing here?" she asked, closing the door behind her. "I thought I wouldn't see you until tomorrow morning." She winked at her cousin as she took her shoes off.
"Oh..." Hermione shook her head. "I'm just... tired." she got into bed and pulled the covers over her, facing the wall so Lavender wouldn't see the tears that suddenly sprang to her eyes. 'I can't lose Harry... he's the most important person in my life... but how can I keep doing this if it takes away his dream?'
"You didn't happen to see Draco, did you?" Lavender said, as she grabbed her own set of pyjamas from the closet. "I looked all over for him, but couldn't find him. He's sort of disappeared from view these last few days."
"Who cares?" Hermione snapped, angry yet relieved to be jerked from her thoughts. "He's such a pompous git- I don't understand what you see in him!"
Lavender, who was about to head into the bathroom to get ready for bed, stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at Hermione. She was ready to come back with a smart remark, but one look at Hermione and she knew that something was going on.
"Hermione?" she asked cautiously. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Hermione said, turning back to the wall. "I'm just really not feeling good and I want to go to sleep."
Lavender walked over to Hermione's bed and sat down. "Did something happen? Did you and Harry have a fight?"
"No!" Hermione said quickly. "I'm bloody tired is all! I want to go to sleep!" she buried her face in her arms so her cousin couldn't see her tears.
Lavender sighed. "Alright," she said, getting to her feet. "But, if you do want to talk, I'll listen."
When Hermione didn't respond, Lavender decided to leave well enough alone for now. She walked into the bathroom and quickly got ready for bed. Within a few minutes, she was fast asleep, oblivious to the whimpering and sobbing coming from the other bed.
When she was sure Lavender was asleep, Hermione sat up in her bed. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. Ginny's words kept echoing in her head. Her thoughts drifted to Harry. She wondered if he was worried about her. She hadn't gone to see him after talking with Ginny. She'd been too shaken up to do so. She fought the urge to get out of bed and sneak off to see him.
"I have to stay strong," Hermione whispered to herself. If she went to Harry now there would be no way she could stay away from him at all.
She sat in bed racking her brain trying to think of any other possible way out of it. No matter how she looked at it, she came to the same conclusion. It would look very bad for Harry. Vernon was pre-programmed to think the worst of Harry. As much as it pained her to admit it, Ginny was right.
"I'll just have to stay away from him," Hermione mumbled, wiping new tears from her cheeks. "I'll have to break things off tomorrow."
She wondered how it was possible to go from absolute happiness to complete and utter loss in a span of a couple of hours. Things had been going so well for them. She had even allowed herself to think that her father would come around. Now, it didn't matter.
*** *** ***
Harry smiled at the guest in front of him. She was a teenage girl, somewhat quiet but once he got to know her, she was very nice. "That's good," he encouraged. "Just don't turn your feet out so much and you'll stay right in step."
Robin smiled back at him. "You're a good teacher." she replied.
"I get that a lot," Harry winked at her and she laughed. 'It was nice', he surmised. 'Not all the women here at Hillsdale were out to get a piece of his ass.'
Hermione stood outside the dance studio wondering how she was going to be able to do this. She'd rehearsed over and over in her head what she would say. She didn't believe a word she said and she didn't know how in the world she'd get Harry to believe what she was saying was the truth.
She paced in front of the door, not quite ready to go in. Her heart nearly stopped as she heard the music come to an end and she heard footsteps approaching the door. Her first instinct was to run and hide.
Robin glanced at her watch. "Wow, that hour went by fast."
"Sure did," Harry stretched. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"I'll be here," Robin smiled before grabbing her things and heading out the door. She bumped into another girl who was pacing around outside. "Sorry... I didn't see you behind the door here."
Hermione gave a weak smile. "It's okay. I didn't want to interrupt your lesson."
"Oh we're all finished." Robin smiled and went on her way, leaving the girl looking quite stricken.
Hermione took a deep breath and opened the door and saw Harry standing in front of the mirror, stretching. She felt a pang in her stomach just looking at him.
Harry looked up and saw her standing at the door. "Hey!" he said. "What happened to you last night? I waited up for you!" he crossed the room and hugged her tightly.
Hermione resisted the natural instinct to wrap her arms around him. She kept her arms planted to her sides. "I-I couldn't' get away," she replied softly.
"Oh," Harry buried his face in her hair. "It's all right... for once we both got a peaceful night sleep eh?" he joked.
"Yeah," Hermione replied. She hadn't exactly had a peaceful night's sleep. She'd heard of people crying themselves to sleep before, but it had never happened to her before until last night. She shrugged out of his embrace.
Harry didn't seem to notice anything was wrong. "I've got the next few hours free if you want to practice anything," he said casually.
"Actually," Hermione said, avoiding his eyes. "I came here to tell you that I wouldn't be able to continue with the lessons."
Harry stopped and turned to face her fully. "What?" His eyebrows knit together in concern. "Why?" he crossed the room again and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Did your dad find out about us? Do you have to leave?"
She shook her head. "He doesn't know."
"Then what's wrong?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked into his eyes and saw such love and concern that she felt her resolve melting away. "Please let me go," she said, desperately trying to break free from his grasp. She'd never be able to do this if he insisted on looking at her like this.
"No!" Harry cupped her face in his hands. "What brought this on?" his heart was beating so fast he thought he was going to pass out. He couldn't lose Hermione, not like this.
"Please," she choked out, a tear falling down her cheek. When he didn't let go, she steeled herself to just do it; to get it over with. She looked everywhere but into his eyes as she began to talk. "I've been doing some thinking. I think that my father was right all along."
"No!" Harry said again. "He's not right Hermione. You and I belong together dammit! I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what the hell is going on!"
"We don't belong together," she whispered. "We're too different. We want different things."
"I want you and you want me. That's all that matters," Harry was getting desperate. He leaned forward to kiss her but she pulled out of his arms.
"No," she said quickly. Seeing her chance to flee, she made for the door, but he grabbed onto her arm and pulled her close.
"You're not leaving!" Harry said angrily. "If you were telling me the truth I could accept what you're saying but you're bloody lying to me!"
"Please let me go," she said pleading with him. "You don't need me. You never have. You… you were just using me. I was just too blind to see it."
Harry's jaw fell and his arms dropped from around her as Hermione finally bolted from the room.
Cho, who had decided to check in at the dance studio to see if Harry was up for a quick practise session, saw Hermione running from the studio, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Cho called out to Hermione, but the girl was halfway down the path. Cho went into the studio and saw Harry standing there looking as if he'd seen a ghost. "What just happened?" she asked hesitantly.
"Hermione just..." Harry shook his head. "I think... she thinks I'm using her Cho." He looked up at her, his green eyes filled with confusion.
Cho stared back at him in amazement. "What?"
Harry was still in a state of shock. "I don't know... she just... she said things weren't working out... but just the other night... and just yesterday..."
"Did the two of you have a row?" she asked. "I just spoke with her a couple of days ago. She didn't mention anything to me. She looked deliriously happy." She walked closer to Harry. "This doesn't make sense."
"I know!" Harry pulled his hands through his hair. "What the bloody fuck?" he suddenly shouted.
Cho looked thoughtful. "Did her dad find out about you two? Could he have said something to her? Or Dudley?"
"No," Harry replied. "She said her dad didn't know."
"What are you going to do?" Cho asked, watching Harry pace angrily back and forth.
"I don't know!" Harry burst out. "The bloody love of my life just told me we didn't belong together! What can I do?"
"Maybe I could talk to her?" Cho asked helpfully. "See if she'll tell me anything."
Harry sighed heavily. "I guess." He looked up at Cho and her heart went out to him. "She's lying about something... I just don't know what."
"Promise me that you won't do anything stupid," Cho said her voice full of concern. "I know how you are when you're upset. Just promise me you won't go and do something stupid."
"I promise," Harry sat down hard on the mats. Cho sat next to him and hugged him and Harry held tight onto her. "At least I can count on you," he said in a softer tone.
"Always," Cho said with a sly grin. They sat in silence for a moment and Cho suddenly remembered the scene she and Neville had witnessed a few nights ago. "You should know something else," Cho began.
"What?" Harry asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"The other night when Neville and I went for a walk, we saw the lights on in the studio," Cho said. "I thought that was strange because I knew you and Ron and Luna were in the ballroom. Well, we came a little closer and we saw Dudley leaving."
"Dudley?" Harry looked at her strangely. "What was he doing in here?"
Cho shrugged. "I don't know. Neville and I came in here to see if we noticed anything out of the ordinary, but we couldn't find anything. It's probably nothing, but I thought you should know."
Harry sighed heavily. "Maybe I should just leave," he said gloomily. "The whole bloody world is against me once again."
Cho put a hand on his shoulder. "So, this is it then? You're just going to give up?"
Harry sat a moment then shook his head. "No... I'd never leave without resolving all this somehow."
"Good," she said, getting to her feet. "Well, I better go and get started then."
"All right," Harry hugged her again and pecked her on the cheek. "Thanks," he said.
"We're going to get your girl back," Cho said, her eyes twinkling.
Harry smiled thinly. "Right," he said, wishing he was as confident as she was.
*** *** ***
Late afternoon found Lavender sitting by the lake waiting for Draco. Normally, she wouldn't have minded waiting, but this was becoming a sort of habit with him. He was forgetting about dates and he seemed to be blowing her off at every chance he got. To say she was worried would have been an understatement. He was by far the best looking guy she'd ever dated. She didn't want to mess everything up and was afraid that she'd done something to do just that.
At around 4:30, Lavender tired of sitting by the lake and decided to go looking for him elsewhere. To her dismay, he wasn't at his cabin. She knew that his dinner shift began promptly at 5:00, so she decided to try her luck at catching him before he started work.
She nearly jogged the entire path to the restaurant. By the time she made it there, she was sweaty and hot, but she didn't really care. The important thing was that she saw him. She took a seat on the stone steps just outside the restaurant and waited. Fifteen minutes later, she was still waiting and there had been so sign of him.
Draco tucked his shirt of his waiter uniform into his dress trousers as he raced down the path towards the restaurant. He'd been on his way to get to work early and Ginny had sidetracked him- the next thing he knew they were back in his cabin, shagging each other as hard as possible. "Bloody hell..." he muttered as he pulled his coat on. "Bloody hot out here." He finally reached the restaurant, bypassing someone on the steps outside.
Lavender was about to chuck it all and go back to her own cabin and get ready for dinner when she'd seen him rush past her. "Draco?" she called out, getting to her feet. She smoothed down her messy hair and prayed that she didn't look that bad.
Draco stopped. "Oh... hi." he said. "Didn't expect to see you here."
She smiled. "Well, I was waiting for you down at the lake," she said softly. She leaned in to give him a kiss, but he turned his face at the last second so her lips met his cheek instead. Her smile faded. "But, you, um... didn't show."
Draco momentarily felt bad but it didn't linger. Lavender really meant nothing to him, especially now that he was with Ginny again. "Sorry babe," he shrugged. "Something came up."
"Oh," she said, not even trying to hide her disappointment.
"Malfoy!" a voice boomed loudly, startling both she and Draco. They both turned to see one of his fellow waiters, looking quite put out. "Were you planning on joining us tonight? We're already short two people. Get your sorry arse in here!"
Draco raised his eyebrows at her. "Gotta go." he said, turning and leaving her there like a fool.
Lavender stood there for a moment wondering what in the world had just happened. He'd looked nearly relieved to have the chance to get away from her.
As she walked back to her cabin, she'd racked her brain again to wonder what was going on. And then it hit her. She knew why he was being distant. She knew why he didn't want to spend time with her. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to rethink her whole position on the sex issue. If she didn't take action soon, he might break things off with her.
A thousand questions were dancing in her head as she finally made it back to the cabin. She apologized profusely to her aunt and uncle and told them to go on to dinner without her. She promised that she and Hermione would catch up to them as soon as Lavender changed clothes.
She walked into the bedroom and found Hermione, reading. She didn't notice her cousin's red, puffy eyes. She sat down on the bed and looked at Hermione. "I'm so glad you're here," Lavender said softly. "I kind of wanted to talk to you about something."
Hermione jumped. "Oh... you scared me..." she said, closing her book.
Lavender rolled her eyes. "Getting lost in the books again, huh? Well, good to see you're somewhat back to normal."
When Hermione just shrugged, Lavender looked shyly at her cousin. "I cannot believe that I'm about to ask you this. I used to think that when the time came for you and I to talk about this, it'd be you coming to me for help and not the other way around."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked tiredly. She'd been in the bedroom almost all day, avoiding going out and possibly bumping into Harry, Cho or anyone else on the grounds.
Lavender wrung her hands nervously. She giggled. "I was just wondering," she began. "How did you know you were ready...I mean, how did you know it was the right time?"
"Right time for what?" Hermione asked.
"You know," Lavender whispered. "Merlin, I can barely say it and here I am thinking about actually doing it."
Hermione rubbed her eyes. "We'd better get to dinner," she said, realising what her cousin was implying towards.
"We will," Lavender said anxiously. "But I really need to talk with someone about this. And since you've actually done it, you're the perfect one to ask."
Hermione turned her dark rimmed eyes on her cousin. "I don't want to talk about having sex Lav," she said softly.
Lavender looked pleadingly at her cousin. "I'm not going to ask you anything disgusting, I promise. I just want to know how you knew you were ready. What was it like?"
Hermione turned away and got up off the bed so Lavender wouldn't see her tears. "It just happened that's all. It wasn't really anything special." She closed her eyes and bit down hard on her lower lip.
Lavender hadn't expected this answer at all. "Nothing special?" she asked. "You mean to tell me you snuck out of here night after night for nothing special?"
"That's right," Hermione said in a strained voice. "I've got to use the loo..." she practically ran towards the other room and shut the door tightly behind her.
"Hermione?" Lavender said, walking over to the bathroom door. She knocked softly. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Hermione replied, muffling her voice as sobs threatened to wrack her body. "Just... go on without me. I feel quite ill tonight and I'm going to try and sleep it off."
"Are you sure?" Lavender asked. "I could stay behind and keep you company." She wasn't so sure she could take two rejections in one day from Malfoy, so she didn't see skipping dinner as a big sacrifice.
"No... I just want to be alone... I just don't want you to catch this if I'm contagious." Hermione replied, turning the water on to the bathtub.
Lavender hesitated for a moment before leaving the cabin. She wasn't going to dinner, though. Something was wrong with Hermione and Lavender wanted to know what it was. She had a feeling that there was someone who might know what.
*** *** ***
Harry sat by the lake, Cho sitting on one side of him, Ron on the other. He was with his friends yet he never felt more alone than he did right now- Ron and Luna were busy joking and teasing one another while Cho and Neville seemed to be talking quietly about something- Harry caught a few words of their conversation, which seemed to be revolving around Neville wanting Cho to meet his Gran and Cho thinking it was a bad idea. He sighed, his eyes roaming around, skipping over the water- it reminded him too much of the last time he and Hermione had made love.
"I'm so glad you're going to be out there tonight, Cho," Luna said. "I think if you'd have waited too much longer, I would have collapsed from exhaustion."
Ron hugged her around the shoulders. "Bloody fell asleep on me during a lesson today," everyone laughed but Harry.
"I did not!" Luna said, indignantly. "I was just resting my eyes."
"That's also what you said after breakfast and during three other lessons yesterday." Ron continued.
Luna hit him hard on the arm. "Well, the important thing is that Hillsdale's favourite dancers will be back on stage tonight...and not a moment too soon, I might add."
Cho nudged Harry. "We've got to go get ready soon," she said. "I can't wait to get back out there- but make sure it's nothing more fancy than a waltz. I practically had to beg Hermione's father to give me the ok to do this." she winced as soon as she said Hermione's name. "Sorry Harry..."
"It's all right," Harry shrugged, his false bravado clear to everyone. "I don't care."
"So," Luna said, after a long awkward silence. She didn't say anything else and she nudged Ron in the side and tilted her head toward Harry.
"Are you all right mate?" Ron asked hastily.
Cho shook her head at him. "Harry... I promise you we'll figure out what's going on with her. I'd like to think I know her well enough that she wouldn't just drop you this way. There's got to be something else going on."
Harry nodded numbly but he was grateful to his friends for their support. "I guess... I hope I'm not that horrible." he muttered.
"Of course you're not," Luna said emphatically. "She's probably just under pressure from her parents."
"But she said her dad didn't know!" Harry protested. "If he did, I'm sure he'd have had Vernon sack me or come scream at me himself by now."
Neville agreed. "Her dad can be pretty scary."
Harry let the corner of his mouth turn up slightly. "At least he's been good to you," he said, turning to Cho.
"You have some nerve!" a voice called out from behind the group of friends. They all turned to see Lavender staring daggers at Harry, her hands pressed firmly on her hips.
Harry immediately recognised her and he stood up. "You're Hermione's cousin right?" he asked.
Without a word she quickly walked toward Harry and before anyone knew what she was doing, she hauled back and slapped Harry as hard as she could.
"What the hell was that for?" he shouted angrily.
"You tell me," Lavender spat back at him.
"I don't know!" Harry snapped. "First Hermione, now you- is there something in your water at the cabin that makes you act differently?"
"Me?" she asked angrily. "You tell me what you did to Hermione! And if I don't like the answer, I'll hex you!"
"I didn't do anything to Hermione!" Harry shouted. "She came into the dance studio this morning and broke things up with ME!"
"It's true," Cho stepped between them. "I came in right as she was running away... trust me, Harry would never intentionally do anything to hurt Hermione. He loves her too much," she added softly.
"Then what's wrong with her?" Lavender asked.
"I don't know!" Harry replied. "I tried to find out but she's been hiding all day because no one here has seen her!"
"She won't tell me anything," Lavender said, her anger subsiding somewhat. "I've never seen her like this before."
Harry's head drooped. "I just wish I knew." he ran both his hands through his hair. Cho rested her chin on his shoulder.
"Do you think we could talk some sense into her?" she asked the blonde.
"I don't know," Lavender said. "Every time I try, she brushes me off." She looked at Harry apologetically. "I'm really sorry for slapping you. I thought you did something to her."
"It's all right. I'd have slapped me too." Harry said. That brought a weak chuckle out of everyone, and a minute after that Ron and Luna excused themselves as did Neville and Cho.
"I'll see you in about a half hour in the ballroom right?" Cho asked, her eyebrow raised. Harry nodded and she left, Neville intertwining their fingers together as they ambled away from the lake.
Lavender smiled weakly at Harry. "If it makes you feel any better, she's about as down in the dumps as you are."
"Is she?" Harry asked. "I really honestly don't know what happened. Just yesterday everything was fine, we were together for awhile in the afternoon but she never showed up at my cabin last night." he was talking eagerly now, trying to find out more about Hermione's whereabouts. "And then today..." he relayed to Lavender everything Hermione had said in the dance studio. "I don't understand why she would think I'm using her. I've never used anyone before in my life- I haven't been close enough to anyone but Cho to use them."
"This doesn't make sense," Lavender said, shaking her head as she remembered how excited Hermione had been last night in the ballroom as she'd slipped away to go and meet Harry. "And the two of you haven't fought?"
"Not since we got together," Harry replied. "Before that I was being a bit of an arse but since then..." he shook his head.
"Well, it's definitely not Uncle Robert's doing," Lavender said. "If he found out about the two of you, we'd have been long gone. Maybe someone else said something to her."
"Who could have though? If it were Dudley she wouldn't have believed him and she'd have told me right away." Harry pulled again at his hair in frustration.
"I wish there was something I could do to help," Lavender said. "I'm sure she told you that she and I were never all that close growing up, but we seemed to bond this holiday. I don't like seeing her hurt or unhappy, Harry."
"Me either and I've only known her a little more than a month." He looked at the girl. "Does it seem stupid when I say I'm head over heels in love with her in such a short time?"
"No," Lavender said wistfully. She wished that Draco felt that way about her. "You should probably get going. I'm going to stop by the concession stand and see if I can get something for Hermione and me. We both missed dinner."
"All right," Harry replied. "Just... if she'll listen to you... tell her I love her and I want to talk to her."
"I will," she said. She turned to walk away, but turned around. "Harry?"
"Yeah?" he answered.
"I really am sorry for slapping you," she said.
Harry smiled. "Don't worry about it," he said, feeling a bit lighter than he had all day.
*** *** ***
Cho and Harry's return to the dance floor had been a success. To the casual eye, things looked quite normal. Luna, being a dancer as well, had noticed that their performance was a little off. While Cho and Harry did all the steps correctly, Luna saw that Harry's heart wasn't really into it. Her heart went out to him. He covered quite brilliantly and if you didn't know him, you wouldn't have suspected anything was wrong. But, Luna did know Harry and she knew he was hurting.
The entire mood of she and her friends that evening had been quite sombre. If there was a silver lining to be found in any of this, Luna reckoned it would be the fact that Cho had finally returned to duty. Luna was perfectly happy returning to her role in the background
She and Ron had lingered in the ballroom as the guests dwindled out. Now, the two of them were enjoying a casual late night walk back to her cabin. The night air was cool and Ron had already gallantly taken off his jacket and offered it to her.
Ron was cold himself after taking off his coat so he used it as an excuse to sidle up next to her and slide his arms over her shoulders. "It's chillier than I thought." he said when she looked at him questioningly.
"You're not getting your coat back," she teased.
"That's all right," Ron grinned. "Gives me a good excuse to walk close to you," he blushed a bit at his words but she smiled at him and put her own arms around his waist.
"You don't need an excuse," she said, with a giggle.
Ron blushed even harder but his grin grew. "All right then," he said. "So uh... I was thinking... now that we have most nights off... maybeyouwanttogooutsometime?" the last part was said very fast; Ron wasn't sure why he was nervous about asking Luna on a date, it was quite obvious they both liked one another.
She looked sideways at him. "Go south sometime?" she asked bemused.
"No," Ron cleared his throat as they reached his cabin. "Do you... that is... would you be interested in going out sometime?" he asked in a normal tone.
"You mean like on an actual date?" she asked, teasingly. "As in you pick me up and we go into town for some dinner?"
"Yeah," Ron rubbed the back of his neck as he looked hopefully at her. "I mean.., it might be fun and we'd have less of a chance to get interrupted like we always do here."
"You noticed that, too?" Luna asked with a grin. "I was thinking I was paranoid....well, more so than usual."
"No it's not just you," Ron grinned. "What do you say?"
"I say, 'What time and what do I have to wear?'," she said, leaning in and kissing him softly.
Ron was taken back at her action but his arms wound around her waist as he returned her kiss, relishing the fact that no one was around to interrupt them. Fumbling a bit, he managed to unlock the door and push them inside without breaking their lips apart.
Luna had a fleeting thought about locking the door, but it flew out of her head as she and Ron fell onto his bed.
"Ouch," she said, as she felt something digging into her back. Ron pulled away from her and she sat up and he pulled back the duvet cover to reveal a box of crackers. She looked at him, suppressing the urge to laugh.
"Sorry," he grinned before leaning in again, pushing his coat off her slender shoulders, his fingers working their way into her thick hair as his tongue lined her lips, forcing Luna to open her mouth under his.
Without breaking the kiss, Luna began to unbutton his shirt. Ron, in turn, slowly peeled back the straps of her dress and began kissing her shoulder.
His mouth skimmed over her smooth skin as Ron kissed his way up her neck. He mumbled a few unintelligible words as his lips sought out hers again.
As they were both wrapped up in each other, they didn't hear a knock on the door. "Ron," a familiar voice called out in the darkness. "Are you in here?"
"Bloody hell you have GOT to be kidding me!" Ron groaned.
"What?" Harry called out. "Where the hell is the light switch?"
"Don't turn it on!" Ron shouted as he pushed off Luna. He pulled his shirt back on and stalked to the door. "Could you wait outside for two seconds please?" he snapped, pushing his best friend out of the way.
Before Harry could respond, Ron had shoved him out the door. Luna laughed. "He sure has perfect timing, doesn't he?"
Ron shook his head. "He can wait outside until we're done."
Luna looked at him, her mouth dropping open. "What?"
Ron clenched his fists at his side. "I should probably go talk to him," he chose his words more wisely. "Are you going to stick around?"
"Yeah," she said. "I promise I won't fall asleep."
Ron laughed softly. "All right, I'll be back as soon as I can," he kissed her and finished buttoning up his shirt. "What's wrong mate?" he asked, stepping outside.
"You weren't alone, were you?" Harry asked sheepishly.
"No," Ron sighed. "But that's not the point here is it?"
"I'm screwing up everything lately," he said, running a hand through his hair. "Cho and I were leaving and I saw Dr. and Mrs. Granger standing by the doors. He looked at me like he always has. I didn't do anything wrong, Ron. I love his daughter. I want her to be happy. How am I the bad guy in all of this?"
Ron shook his head. "Your uncle most likely," they started off down the path together, Ron's hands shoved deep in his pockets. "I've seen you with Hermione. It's plain to see that you love her. I'm not sure why her dad's being such an arse about it. He's a Muggle right?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "Both her parents are, why?"
"Well otherwise they'd know who you were," Ron replied. "They'd know what you've done and that you're not just some sort of playboy looking to shag as many guests as you can."
"Yeah, that's Malfoy's job," Harry said with a wry smile.
Ron laughed. "Good one mate..." they walked along a bit further. "You and Cho did good out there tonight."
"Cho did, anyway," Harry said. He saw someone walking toward them and he suppressed the urge to groan as he recognized the girl at once...Ginny.
"Hi you two," Ginny said coyly. She'd peeked in the ballroom to make sure Hermione was holding up her end of the 'bargain' and had seen the miserable look on Harry's face. "What are you up to?"
"Walking," Harry said sarcastically. "What are you doing out so late?"
"I'm just on my way to Dra- on my way to get a drink..." Ginny covered quickly.
"At almost one in the morning?" Harry asked, exchanging a look with Ron.
"A girl can't help it if she's thirsty," Ginny said defensively. She wrapped her arms around her middle, shivering in the cold.
"Where did you get that shirt?" Ron asked suddenly.
"I've had this," Ginny lied. "You've just never seen me in it before."
Ron was still suspicious. "You seem to be wearing a lot of things I've never seen you wear before." he insisted.
"So, what are you two up to this evening?" Ginny asked, changing the subject. "I heard that you and Cho made your triumphant return tonight."
Harry shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about. Ron and Luna wanted a chance to show off what they've done, and we're just switching off from here on out." he looked at Ron who nodded.
"Luna's taught me a lot in a short time." he said proudly.
"So you've said," Ginny said dismissively. She turned to Harry. "I would have thought you would have been spending time with that girl...what was her name again? Henrietta?"
Harry's eyes blazed. "She's none of your business," he said tightly.
"How did you know about any of that?" Ron asked his sister.
"I've seen her coming and going from the dance studio and from Harry's cabin," Ginny said quickly. "I didn't think it was all that much of a secret."
Ron had to hold Harry's arm down. "Ginny... don't worry about what you saw. You won't say anything to anyone right?"
"Of course not," Ginny said, trying hard not to grin. "So where is she tonight? Waiting for you in your cabin?"
"Probably," Ron said hastily. "So we've got to get going. See you later Gin." he dragged Harry away, who was still glaring at her over his shoulder.
"Good night, boys," she said, sauntering away.