The Sense

NOTE: Hello, sorry for the long delay.  I’m back from London (alas, British accent-less) but now begins the frenzy of buying stuff and preparing stuff before college for me AND my beta reader.  I will try to update before I leave for college (Aug. 26) because after that God knows when I will have time to update.  But update I will!!  I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review HONESTLY. 

“NO!” The old man cried.  His long gray hair seemed to frizz in fright at the sight before him.

            At least a half dozen Death Eaters had stormed in, knocking over the old, worn tables and chairs just for sport.  They each wore dark hooded robes and held their wands poised for attack.

            “We know you have it.  Give it to us and you won’t get hurt.” a deep rumbling voice echoed from beneath one of the Death Eater’s hoods. 

            “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” the thin gray man stammered.  His hands were clasped firmly beneath the counter, searching for his old battered wand. 

            “If you even twitch that wand of yours, your ass will be blown a mile away from the remains of your body.“ the voice threatened.  The old man staggered back.

            “You don’t know what you’re doing.” he cried.

            “How about, ‘Fuck you, you old geezer’?” a Death Eater sneered. “ACCIO SANGREAL!” 

            The floor literally burst open like a huge monster had burst free from beneath the moldy floor boards.  Dust and splinters flew in every direction, making it impossible to see what had come up from beneath their feet.

            Even more startling than the sudden explosion was the sudden burst of light.  The white light seemed to release an icy chill over the gaping hole in the floor.  Frost began to form on the old man’s beard and a thundering voice echoed throughout the structure and seemed to reverberate through their very bodies.

           

            “HIC EGO NON MANEBO!  DORMIAM UBI IMPETUS MALORUM EST BONORUM IN FINITUM BELLUM CONVENENT.  SOLI ME LOCARE POSSET!”

            The lone source of light as bright as the noon sun levitated in the center of the room, paralyzing everyone in fear and confusion.  The Death Eaters seemed thunderstruck.  Some sort of power emanating from the object appeared to be holding everyone in their place.  Finally the old man stared up at the light and spoke monotonously.

            “Age.  Locabunt te.”

            Unlike its explosive entry, the bright, glowing object disappeared from sight without so much as a ‘poof’.

            Immediately after the strange object’s disappearance there was distinct “pop” and another old wizard stepped before the stunned gathering.  He raised his own wand at the Death Eaters. 

            “Albus Dumbledore!” one Death Eater murmured in shock.  The rest of his crew shuddered at having their ability to move regained.

            “You tell Tom that this mission was a waste of time.  We don’t need things to get nasty right now.” Dumbledore said calmly. 

            “Like Hell we will!” A feminine-voiced Death Eater cried.  Voldemort’s intolerance of failure was well-known to all. “AVADA KEDAVRA!”

            Her bright green curse streaked towards Dumbledore and he deflected it as if she had just tossed a pebble in his direction.

            “Reducto!” another voice cried.  Before long dozens of curses and hexes were flying through the air.  Dumbledore expertly blocked them and sent some streaking back at them with an awe-inspiring speed that rivaled that of a bored toddler.  Tables exploded into splintery bits and chairs were flung wildly into the walls, all leaving Dumbledore unscathed.  Behind him, a wall cracked, causing a beam to topple over.

            The old gray man, too slow to save himself, was crushed underneath the old wooden pillar.

            “Avada Kedav - “

            “Silencio!” Dumbledore yelled.  The Death Eater mouthed silently, but a faded green beam of light struck the fallen old man square in the face, which was the only part of him visible underneath the pillar.

            “INFERNOS!” Dumbledore roared.  To the Death Eaters’ horror, the entire building caught ablaze and came alive with the dancing orange flames.

            “Retreat!” a Death Eater cried giddily.  “Go, go, go, GO!”

            “But the Dark Lord - “

            “Fuck that!  It’s not his ass getting barbecued!” the Death Eaters bolted from the burning building and apparated from the streets just as a band of Aurors arrived at the scene.  Dumbledore calmly levitated the fallen beam and picked the old man up gingerly.  Without a trace, Dumbledore and the strange old man were gone.

            The Aurors rushed into the burning building only to find nothing recognizable but a smoldering wooden sign.  It displayed the picture of a pig‘s severed head above the heavy lettered inscription “The Hog’s Head”.

~*~

            Harry gasped and shot up from the ground, nearly knocking Hermione off her knees.

            “HARRY!”  Hermione cried, enveloping Harry’s hyperventilating body in a fierce hug.  She let him go and stared at him.  “What happened?”

            “I saw him!” Harry cried, mindlessly pushing Hermione away.

            “Who?  What did you see, Harry?!”

            “Aberforth Dumbledore.”  He looked up at Hermione.  “I saw his attack.  I saw what Voldemort was after.”

~*~

            Ron groaned, swung his long legs over his bed and planted his bare feet on the floor.  Rubbing his eyes, it took him a while before he realized he was alone, hungry, and awake way too early in the morning.  The first of which concerned him the most.  Harry’s blankets were wrinkled and tossed aside haphazardly.  It was then that the events of the previous night rushed back to him and he felt something that was becoming all too common with him. 

            Regret.

            Last night was a stressful time for all of them, and Ron was never known to keep his temper under control or make the best decisions when he was going through too much.  He was known for making cheap personal attacks he didn’t really mean when he was angry.

            Hermione’s Sense still bothered him though, and he knew it always would.  It made things different somehow, no matter how much he trusted Hermione.  Harry’s secret had changed things too.  It seemed like he was the only one without some dark secret, aside from his tentative comic series.  He felt like a third wheel.

            Yet driving them away and being an angry prat would be no help whatsoever, so Ron decided the logical thing to do would be to make up.  It’s not like he wanted to be burdened with something like those two, anyway.  And it’s not like they had something in common.  The Sense and the Prophecy…completely unrelated.  There was really no reason for the two of them to leave him out of anything.  No reason for him to have overreacted.  No reason he shouldn’t apologize…

            He nodded to himself, convinced that his thoughts were reasonable.  Figuring Harry had woken up early to get some breakfast, Ron dragged himself out of his room and went to Ginny’s, where he planned on apologizing to Hermione first.  He was surprised to find Hermione’s things still rolled up and tucked away.  Had she woken up early too?

            Ron made his way down the stairs and found Mundungus still seated in his kitchen, handling a new bottle of what looked suspiciously alcoholic.

            “Dung, the sun’s barely up.”  Ron said.

            “I’m seizing the day. Sue me.”  Mundungus replied and took a defiant swig.  Ron rolled his eyes.

            “D’you know where Harry or Hermione is?”

            Mundungus shrugged.  “Out there somewhere.  Harry said something about fresh air.”  He pointed at the kitchen door.

            “Both of them?”

            Mundungus shrugged again.

            Both outside?  Before everyone was awake?  Without him?

            Ron pulled open the door and scanned the backyard for his friends.   Nothing could be seen except a scattering of lawn gnomes, sitting in the garden like uprooted potatoes.  All of them seemed distracted from their sneaking around to look at something around the corner of the house.  Following their line of vision, Ron saw Crookshanks sitting precariously on his haunches peeking around the corner as well.

            Curious as to what every living thing in the backyard was looking at, Ron quietly crept up behind Crookshanks.  He stopped in his tracks when he heard them.  A wet noise.

            “Harry, stop…mmm…stop kissing me!”

            “Hermione, I’m trying to get you to calm down.  We have to think calmly first, then - “

            Ron nearly fell over in a faint.

            “HSSSSS!!!” Crookshanks hissed, shooting away between Ron’s legs and back inside the house.  Ron didn’t hear the orange cat’s warning.

            Code Red!  Code Red!  The Scarlet Mage has landed!

            Hermione looked up, startled.  “Scarlet wha - ?“ she caught Ron’s shocked expression staring back at her.  Harry turned and felt his stomach drop.  He and Hermione were currently in what one would call a “compromising position”.

            “What…the bloody fuck…is going on?” Ron said slowly and calmly, resisting the very strong urge to grab them both by their ears and twist them while pulling Harry and Hermione away from each other.

            “I, well, Ron, quite a few things, actually…” Harry stammered.  “Um, I j-just had - “

            “A satisfyingly steamy and passionate snog with Hermione?” Ron supplied, still in the eerily calm tone.

            “Ron, no we -”

            “Accidentally tripped on rocks spaced conveniently enough so that you would land on each other’s lips and your tongues were forced by impact to -”

            “Ron!” Hermione cried.  “Ron, listen, we have to talk.  There’s so much we have to tell you.  Come on, let‘s go find some chairs - ”

            “I don’t want to hear it!” Ron finally cracked, his eyes bulging and his face a deep purple.  His anger was so palpable it could have been a fourth person standing amongst them.  “You guys just keep your damn secrets!  I don’t fucking care anymore!”  He stormed back into the house the same way he had stormed up the stairs the previous night.

            He didn‘t have a place with them anymore, that much was obvious.

           

~*~

            Tears had collected in Hermione’s eyes.  Harry wrapped a protective around her shoulder.

            “He’ll come around.  He always does…” Harry said, almost trying to convince himself more so than Hermione.

            “Yes, Harry, I think so too.  But we need to help him come around.”

            “How?”

            “Don’t you see?” Hermione looked at Harry.  “He feels left out!”

            Harry stared at her. “Left out of what??  Having a deep dark secret that eats you from the inside until you go insane!?  He wants one!?  He can have mine; I sure as hell don’t want it!”  Harry was getting angry now.  This was just like Ron, him and his self-assumed inferiority.  He remembered when Ron had turned so quickly against him when his name had turned up mysteriously in the Goblet of Fire in fourth year.  Ron’s inferiority complex was truly getting tiresome.

            “You have to understand, Harry, he feels like he’s not as important or helpful as the two of us.  My Sense could be very useful and well, you’re going to save the world - “

            “Or die trying, thereby plunging the world into an evil eternal darkness - “

            “You’re going to save the world.”  Hermione repeated firmly.  “He doesn’t have any special sort of thing like that.  Believe it or not, Harry, it gives us a bond.  He feels like he’s out of that bond.”

            “That’s stupid.”

            “Remember in fifth year when you were furious at Ron and me when you met us at Grimmauld Place because you were being left out of the news while Ron and I were being more informed?”

            Harry did.  Maybe Hermione had a point.  He did feel left out.

            “Okay, so what are we supposed to do?”

            “Same thing we did with you back then.”

            Harry gave her a puzzled look.  Hermione sighed.

            “We tell him everything we know.  Everything we could possibly tell him about your vision.  He’ll feel like he belongs with us again.”

            “We were going to do that anyway!”

            “He didn’t know that!  All he saw was us…kissing.  It was another secret he wasn’t in on.”

            Harry nodded thoughtfully.  “All right then, let‘s go.”

            “Wait.” Hermione grabbed Harry’s arm and planted a firm kiss on Harry’s lips.  Then she looked contemplative.

            “What?”

            “Nothing, it’s just weird how much I enjoy that…” With that she turned the corner into the house.  Harry watched her departing figure from behind before following.

~*~

            Ron stomped into the kitchen, banging the kitchen door shut.  Crookshanks hissed angrily at him.

            “Shut the hell up, stupid cat.”

            Go screw yourself, you bumbling idiot.

            Ron sat at the table and slammed down a bowl.  He grabbed a box of cereal and slammed it next to the bowl.  He repeated this process with the spoon and the milk.

            “Bloody hell, what’s with you?” Mundungus asked. 

            “Nothing.” Ron growled, sitting in the chair and scooting it in roughly closer to the table.

            “That’s bollocks.  You tell your Uncle Dung what’s going on, I’m listening.”

            Ron stared incredulously at their “protector”.  “Are you kidding me, you’re pissed of your rocker.”

            “Nonsense, why I - “ a pop and crackle interrupted him.

            “MUNDUNGUS!” a voice that sounded like Mrs. Weasley called from the fireplace in the living room.

            “Coming!”  Mundungus yelled back hastily.  He pulled a small intoxication potion from his robes and swallowed it all in one gulp before making his way to the living room fireplace.

            Ron ignored what just happened and continued slamming himself his breakfast.  He ignored Crookshanks’s angry hisses and his mother’s voice talking to Mundungus in the other room.  He ignored the sound of the door opening and Hermione calling his name.

            “Ron?”

            He made a point of crunching his cereal louder.

            “Ron, please…”

            Harry appeared behind Hermione and gently brushed past her.  He stepped straight towards Ron, and pulled the spoon right out of his mouth.  Then he swept Ron’s bowl away, not caring that its contents had spilled a little.

            “What the hell do you think you’re doing??”

            Harry grabbed the back of Ron’s chair and swerved it sharply so that Ron almost fell out. 

            “Hey!”

            Then Harry grabbed another chair and turned it facing Ron.  He sat before his friend and crossed his arms brusquely.

            “Harry, what the hell is your problem!?  I’m the one who should be angry, you git!”

            I will never get over how stupid humans are.  Dominant race my ass.  Why if cats had opposable thumbs -

            Hermione silently ushered her grumpy cat out of the kitchen.  She didn’t want to interrupt the exchange that was going to happen between her friends.  She wasn’t sure why, but she felt it was Harry who should handle this.

            “You tell me.” Harry said.

            “Or hey, you can just go fuck yourself.”  Ron suggested before making a move to leave.   Harry roughly grabbed him and sat him back down.

            “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Ron mocked.  “I’m taller and bigger than you are.  I can send you to St. Mungo’s with my thumb, neither of us have our wands.  Don’t think I won’t hurt you in front of your girlfriend.”  He said he last word with a disgusted sneer. 

            “What’s making you so mad?” Harry asked calmly.

            Hermione was proud at how maturely Harry was handling this.  Ron had to acknowledge the problem himself before they could work their way around it.

            “Fuck you.”

            “No, Ron, neither I nor Hermione want you mad.  Why the hell are you so mad at us?”

            “There you go again, trying to be the fucking ‘bigger man’.  Listen, you pompous ass, I don’t give a fuck if you want to be all righteous, I will still break your nose.”

            “Then do it!”  Harry dared.  Ron just glared.  “No?  Alright then now that you’ve got your threats out, we’re going to make you our friend again.”

            “I don’t need your pity, Potter.”

            Now this stung.  Ron had never called him by his surname before.  That was a courtesy reserved only for Malfoy or an angry professor.

            “Are you mad at me and Hermione being together?”

            Ron flinched.  There it was, out in the open.  Hermione, sitting a few feet away by door, felt odd.  It was weird when it was being told to someone else. She wasn’t completely used to it yet and a simple statement like that was just…strange.

            It was very clear that he wasn’t going anywhere, so Ron had no choice to at least humor Harry.

            “No.” he said truthfully.

            “Are you afraid of Hermione?”

            Ron squirmed uneasily, just as Hermione did the same. 

            “Why don’t you just ask her?  She would know.”  he glanced at Hermione.  He knew he was speaking utter bullshit, but he needed confirmation.  Hermione’s evident uneasiness was answer enough.  She didn’t know yet.  She wasn’t Sensing.

            “You know that’s not true.”  Harry stated plainly.  “Do you not trust her?”

            Ron glared at him, and then turned back to Hermione.  She was twiddling her thumbs nervously and couldn’t look into Ron’s scrutinizing eyes for too long.  She looked away shamefully.

            Yet Ron knew Hermione.  How she never revealed anyone’s secret.  She knew that Harry and Ron broke millions of rules in their Hogwarts career, yet she never told anyone.  She never told anyone about how Hagrid had a dragon’s egg in first year, or how he was harboring Grawp the Giant as a fugitive in the Forbidden Forest in fifth.  Third year she knew Professor Lupin was a werewolf, but respected his privacy. 

            Then again, also in third year she had revealed the secret of Harry’s mysterious Firebolt and had it confiscated.

            …Which was of course done for Harry’s safety.  It figures, the only time she wouldn’t keep a secret was when Harry was in danger.  How had their connection not been evident to him or anyone else as early as third year?  It reminded him of something he had heard his father tell Charlie once, “Sometimes the heart knows before the brain has a clue.”

            Anyway, now that Harry was forcing him to think about it, there was really no one more trustworthy than Hermione.

            “You trust her, don’t you?” Harry asked.

            “Bloody hell, Harry…”

            “Are you just feeling left out?”

            Ron jerked back in surprise.  Harry had just more or less hit the nail on the head.  This made him angry.

            “If you fucking know everything why the hell are you asking me so many fucking questions?”  he demanded.

            “Because you need to say it yourself.”  Hermione spoke for the first time.  She walked over to them and started unconsciously to take a seat in Harry’s lap.  She stopped in mid-sit and thought against it.  She pulled up another chair and sat there instead.  Harry looked slightly disappointed and Ron raised an eyebrow.

            “You can’t even tell when you do it, can you?” Ron rubbed his forehead and his friends looked curiously at him.  “You’re doing it right now, being all psychiatrist-like and stuff.”

            “Doing what?” Harry asked.

            “Leaving me out.”

            “You idiot, we wouldn’t have to do this if you weren’t such a prat!”

            “Well bloody hell, how would you like it if you knew everyone but you would have an important part in this war.  How the hell would you feel if you felt like you were just an unspecial nobody with super-power friends??”

            “Ron, how many bloody times do I have to tell you I didn’t want this?”

            “Doesn’t matter, it doesn’t change the fact that you have it.  You’re going to save the world and you…” he turned to Hermione “You’re going to help everyone out with that Sense of yours.  And the fact that you know bloody everything in the world isn’t exactly a kick in the balls either.”

            “Ron - “  Hermione started.

            “No, I know it’s a burden to you guys.  Well boo-hoo, you’ve got each other now.”  Ron took a deep breath.  “You guys don’t need me anymore.   I’m just the stupid extra in this whacked out movie.”

            “Since when do you have a working knowledge of Muggle movies?” Harry wondered.  Hermione slapped him for going off subject.

            “Look, why were you kissing Hermione earlier?”  Ron asked, surprised at his own daring.

            “I l-like her.”

            “Why?”

            Harry thought for a moment.  “She makes me a better person.  She helps me do things I can‘t do alone.  She makes me more than just who I am and what I‘m supposed to be.”  Hermione blushed.

            “And I don’t do that?” Ron asked.

            “Ron, please - “ Hermione began, but Harry silenced her.

            “No you don’t.”

            There was an awkward silence. 

            “You make me who I want to be.”

            Ron stared at him.  “What the hell does that mean?”

            “It means that you keep me grounded, you idiot.”  Harry said exasperatedly.  “You’re my best friend, I play cards with you, hang out with you, I suck at chess with you.  You are the life I WANT to have.  Without you I’d…”

            “Crack and go insane.” Hermione supplied.

            “R-right.”  Harry swallowed hard and begged himself not to act like some weepy girl.

            Ron was fighting a similar battle.  “You can do that with Hermione.”  he pointed out.

            “No he can’t.”

            “No I can’t”

            They said this together.  Ron sighed.

            “Why not?”

            “Because you’re my best friend.  You can’t replace a best friend, not even with a girlfriend.”  Harry started getting anxious over how dramatic this was getting.  “And no one can replace you, not even Hermione.  Forget what I said before, it‘s not because you‘re just my best friend.  It‘s because you‘re RON.”

            Ron stared.

            “Listen, don’t fricken make me say it.  I’m not going to say I love you or anything.”  Harry said adamantly.

            “R-right…”

            “So…”

            “So…”

            Hermione looked back and forth between the two boys, the tears already starting to fall.

            “W-we’re okay, then?” Harry asked tentatively.

            “Um, I think…yeah…”

            “Cool.”  Unsure of what to do, Harry reached out his hand.  Ron took it and they shook them.

            “Listen Harry, I’m sor - “

            “Never mind.  Forget about it.”  Harry assured him.  He grinned.  Ron did the same.   Hermione sniffled loudly and wiped at her eyes with her pajama sleeve.

            “Bloody hell, there’s nothing to cry about!” Ron said to her.  “We’re cool.  All three of us.”

            Hermione shot out of her chair and gave Ron a nice hard squeeze.

            Ron looked awkwardly at her bushy hair, then back at Harry.  Harry snickered, but Ron put a look on his face that said “Good luck, you’re the one going out with her.”

            Harry laughed and Hermione released Ron.  “What?”

            “Nothing.”

            “Here.”  Ron picked Hermione up off her feet.

            “Hey!”

            He walked over to Harry and plopped her on his lap.  “That’s better.  You don’t need to hide anything from me.”  As an after thought he added, “Please.”

            They both nodded and gave each other a chaste kiss.  Then they looked up at Ron, to see his reaction.  He made a face.

            “If that’s how you guys will be snogging all the time, you’re going to need therapy.”