From the Mist
It was another hot summer day on Privet Drive; children were laughing outside while riding their bikes and playing new games, with not a care in the world. Who would have ever guessed that at that same exact moment, a teenage boy by the name of Harry Potter was laying in his bedroom on a beautiful day, full of concern and resentment, hidden away from the wizarding world that he missed so much, even though he had only been away from Hogwarts, his school, for no more than two weeks? It was the twelfth of July and he had already missed his best friends, Ron and Hermione, and the school at which he learned magic after spending the summer holidays with the Dursleys, his least favorite and only relatives.
For Harry Potter was a wizard - and a real one at that. Not the ones that muggles see on television doing fake magic tricks, but the kind of wizard who was brave, noble, and, at this very moment, the loneliest one in his year.
But right then, Harry wasn't thinking about the homework that he had to do over the holidays, or how much longer he had to wait until he came into the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. He wasn't even bothered with who was going to be the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain or who was going to fill in all those empty spots on the team, or what he had gotten on his O.W. L.'s. And, for one thing, he wasn't even thinking about Sirius, who's murder he had wanted more than anything in the world to get out of his mind. The only thing he was thinking about was -
Hermione. And all of the others that he had dragged into the Department of Mysteries last year that could have suffered the same fate as his godfather.
"She nearly died," he thought to himself, "and I haven't even apologized to her or any of the others. All I was thinking about was myself and that stupid prophesy...It was all my fault. She warned me; she knew this would happen. And now what?" he thought. "What if something did happen to her? I'd never forgive myself! I was such a fool to think that I could save Sirius. That I, Harry, could face Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters singlehandedly. If I had only left it alone, let Dumbledore handle it."
But then he remembered, it was Dumbledore who had told him that it was not Harry's fault, but his own. Of course, Harry wasn't about to fall for that. It was his fault and he knew it. Nothing Dumbledore could have said changed anything, even when he told him about the prophesy . . .
Harry shuddered. He remembered the words spoken by Sibyl Trelawney so clearly, as if she was whispering them in his ear at this very moment, "BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRISE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES .. ."
"But one day," he reminded himself, "one day I will have to face him, all on my own, one on one. I will either have to murder him or die trying. And I'm the only one who can...I must do it...one day"
And he drifted of into a deep sleep from the heat of his bedroom.
"Harry, Harry, listen to me," he heard a voice call out from the mist. No, it wasn't a mist, it was behind the veil. The same black veil behind which Sirius fell and never returned.
"Harry," came Sirius's voice, "the mirror, Harry. Use the mirror. Tell her, she needs to know...You must decide. Tell her, she is the one that must know. Tell. Tell. TELL HER!!!"
Harry awoke with his glasses fogged-up in sweat. He was still fully dressed and could feel a chill running down his spine from the wetness of his tee-shirt.
Tell her? But who was her? thought Harry. Although he knew perfectly well who Sirius was talking about.
Harry rummaged through his trunk and found the mirror that Sirius had given him last Christmas and called out to his own reflection, "Show me Hermione Granger."
At first, nothing happened and Harry thought that the only way the mirror would work is if it was in Sirius's possession, but later he heard mumbling voices and the image of what appeared to he a slab of wood appeared to him. Then Harry realized the mirror was laying face down one of the tables in the Black Mansion. He then wondered if Hermione was there and decided to reach her. "HERMIONE! RON! ANYBODY! I'M HERE! PICK UP THE MIRROR! IT'S ME, HARRY! HELLO! IS ANYONE THERE?"
Suddenly, Harry saw another flash of light and the mirror was picked up by none other than Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister.
"Harry?" she exclaimed in utter surprise. "What are you - what the - ?"
"Ginny!" said Harry. "Hi! Sorry, no time to explain. Is Hermione there?"
"Er - " she said, still mildly bewildered, "yeah, she - she's here. D-D'you want to talk to her?"
"Um, yeah," said Harry. "If-If she's there, that is." He didn't know why, but the thought of telling Hermione about the prophesy made him nervous. He began to feel sweat streaming down the back of his neck again.
"Okay," said Ginny, "hold on just a moment." Then she turned awkwardly and said, "Wait a minute? How do I know that you're the real Harry?"
Harry signed, impatiently, "Just go on, ask me anything."
"Alright," she said. "Er...what's Ron's owl's name?"
"Pigwidgeon," he answered.
"And who came up with that name?" she said in a teasing tone.
"You did," said Harry, getting rather bored.
"You pass, then," she grinned. "Hold on."
Harry heard a muffle of footsteps and then two people running up the stairs very hurriedly. One of them picked up the mirror again and Harry found himself face-to-face with Hermione. He was now feeling rather dumbstruck because he didn't really know what to say after she screamed and began speaking very quickly. "Harry! Oh, my goodness. It's so great to see you! Where did you get this mirror? Why do you need to talk to me? Did something bad happen? Are you alright? Do you need any help? Oh, Harry, what is it? I'll do anything, just say the word."
Harry's grin fell immediately. He now remembered how Hermione had told him that she would do anything to save Sirius with him if he was sure that Voldemort had been torturing him. How very wrong and stupid Harry felt now. But that is exactly why she had to know...
"Er," spoke Harry, "hi, Hermione! It's very nice to see you too. And I got this mirror and the one that you're holding from Sirius." Hermione's expression sunk and Harry could tell that she felt a bit embarrassed for making him remember Sirius. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm over it, honestly," said Harry, and she suddenly looked the happiest since the time that she read the article saying that Harry's name had been finally cleared from coming up with the silly story that Voldemort had regained power, because it was true; Fudge, the Minister of Magic, saw him right within the Ministry itself.
"Listen," he continued, "are you alone?"
"Er," she turned to Ginny, who Harry saw rolled her eyes and left the room, shutting the door behind her, which Harry noticed was the same room that he had slept in when he last stayed at the Black Mansion.
"What about Ron? Is he there?" asked Harry.
"Oh, no. He's at Diagon Alley with Fred and George. He agreed to help them with some things at their joke shop," explained Hermione. "So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
Harry still didn't feel confident to tell her. Not here, he thought, not now. Maybe, he thought, it'd be better if I spoke to her in person. Then, an idea popped itself into Harry's mind.
"Hermione, it's only a matter of time before I see you again at the Order of the Phoenix and I need to tell you something very important. So, make sure that you can arrange a room for us so that we cannot be overheard or over looked. Okay? It's very important and you just have to know. I'm afraid you're life may be at stake - " Hermione gasped - " and not just yours...all because of me."
"Harry, what are you talking about?"
"Look, I can't tell you now. The thing is, I don't exactly know how safe this mirror is. So, will you agree not to tell anyone and do this for me?"
"Oh, of course, Harry, but what about Ron - ?"
"Absolutely not! Especially he can't know. Nobody! Do you hear me?"
"Yes, yes. I understand Harry. I'll study how to make that charm that they used on the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix. Although, I dare say, it will be quite the challenge. But I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out!" she said with a wide grin.
"Excellent! Well, I hope to see you soon, then."
"And, er, Harry," said Hermione going rather pink, "I'll try to arrange it so that Moody and the others can pick you up as soon as possible."
"Right, thanks. Well, I'd better go."
"Okay," said Hermione, rather depressed that they had such a short conversation. "Bye," she said, and put down the mirror.
Harry did the same and signed, "Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest."
But it was not far enough off his chest yet and Harry knew it because, sooner or later, he knew that he would have to face Hermione once again and tell her the real truth about the Boy Who Lived....
***
"Potter! Get down here this instant," Harry heard the booming voice of Uncle Vernon call from downstairs.
Harry had woken up and, as he looked out the window, he could tell that it was early morning.
"I'm coming....coming," he roared.
Harry got dressed and made his way downstairs, which he regretted very much once he saw the loathing look that Uncle Vernon gave him.
"Tell me, who is this person, or rather people, stalking us at our very home!" he screamed and pointed at the front door. Harry slowly moved towards it and saw Ron staring back at him.
"Ron!" said Harry, quite shocked. "Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, but what the devil are you doing here? I knew Hermione told me you'd pick me up soon, but isn't this a bit overdoing it?"
"Nice to see you too," said Ron sarcastically. "So, are you ready? Everyone's waiting in the car." Ron pointed to a crowd of Weasleys frantically waving at him from none other than -
"The Ford Anglia! No way! How did you get that back?" said Harry, astounded.
"Dumbledore," said Ron, simply. "He found it out in the Forbidden Forest while he was searching for some slightly unusual things and decided to send it back to us, fully fixed and everything! Dad's not allowed to fly it anymore though; he was forced to remove the charm. Shame, we could have really used it for a bit of fun, eh?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "Well, d'you want to help me get my things?"
"Sure," said Ron, "that's exactly what I'm here for."
Uncle Vernon gave Ron a slightly detesting look, which Ron returned and Harry laughed at.
Harry gathered up his belongings quickly, along with his treasured Firebolt, the mirror, Hedwig, and his trunk, and the both of them made their way downstairs and towards the car where Harry was greeted by an overwhelming amount of people.
"Harry! Our old business partner. You can't possibly imagine how well our joke shop is doing. All thanks to you, of course," said Fred in a hushed voice so that Mrs. Weasly wouldn't overhear. Harry noticed that they were, indeed, dressed in the finest cloaks and seem to have done the family the same bit of profit because Ginny was wearing a new dress and the rest of the Weasleys were no longer clothed in their old cloaks. Even Mrs. Weasley seemed to be wearing a new pair of diamond earnings which changed color in the sun.
"Couldn't have done it without you, mate," added George. "Great to see you again!"
"Hullo, Harry!" said Ginny. "I know you're glad your summer with the Dursleys has been this short, aren't you?" Harry grinned and nodded.
"Oh, Harry. It is good that we get to see you so soon, dear, isn't it?"said Mrs. Weasley, grinning merrily.
Both Bill and Charley clapped Harry on the back and said, "Hey, Harry. Nice to see you again."
But the one Weasley that Harry couldn't believe was smiling back at him as he reached the end of the line was Percy.
Harry felt quite awkward. After all, it was Percy who had betrayed the Weasley that same year and told Ron not to hang out with Harry anymore.
"Er," said Percy, "listen, Harry. I'm really sorry about being so stupid and all. I should have guessed that you and Dumbledore were both telling the truth. I guess I just let my head get a little too big -" Fred and George giggled; Percy threw them a stern look - "So, I really hope that you'd only be so kind as to forgive my foolishness."
Harry couldn't believe his ears. Percy, perfect prefect Percy, was admitting to him that he had been foolish and was actually asking Harry for forgiveness!
After a few seconds, Harry replied to an earnest Percy, "Of course I'll forgive you. After all, I never really gave you any explanation, did I?"
Percy beamed, "Why thank you, Harry, I' m honored."
Harry noticed that the Order of the Phoenix wasn't there to accompany him anymore and he asked, "Er, what about the members of the You-Know-What?"
"Oh," said Mr. Weasley, who had just emerged out of the car and smiled at Harry, pointing up. Harry looked above his head and saw the members circling the car on broomsticks like muggle helicopters. "Couldn't stay away, now, could they?" he said.
"Won't the muggles see them, though?"
"No, I'm afraid not. You see, Moody has learned a new trick that he desired to show off to all of us. It's called the Eye-of-the-Muggle. You see, you simply mutter the magic words and the muggles cannot see the witch or wizard that may be standing right in front of them."
"Awesome," said Harry.
"Yes, it certainly is. Now, Harry, if you don't mind, we best be on our way. Don't want to linger for too long or the muggles might find it suspicious" he said.
"Right," Harry said and he climbed into the Ford Anglia, followed by Ron and the others.
Yet Harry felt as if there was someone missing, as if a part of his was still not in the car.
"Ron," he asked, "where's Hermione? Didn't she want to come and see me as well?" He sounded a bit hurt.
"Oh, she did and she told me to tell you that she was truly sorry, but she had to deal with something important. Dunno. Probably doing homework already."
But Harry quickly realized what she must have been doing - she was looking for the spell to silent the room in which Harry was going to tell her -
He gulped. Why couldn't Hermione just look for it when he got there? She didn't have to know it at the exact moment that they met. The though slipped his mind, however, as Ron began to tell Harry the fascinating story of Percy's apology to his parents and the rest of his family. Percy didn't seem too entertained by it and tried to quickly change the subject. "Harry, by the way," he said, "you'll never guess who's joined the Order of the Phoenix!"
"Oh, yeah," said Ginny and giggled as she glanced at Bill who suddenly became interested in the muggle buildings that could be seen through the car window.
"It's - " began Percy, but was interrupted by the harsh landing of the Ford Anglia at Number Twelve, Grimauld Place. Harry's insides lurched. He knew very well that everything inside the place would remind him of Sirius. Luckily, it was the house of Dark wizards, so there weren't many portraits of Sirius hanging there. Still, there was Buckbeak, who helped Sirius escape the dementors in Harry's third year and Kreacher, the house elf that had betrayed Sirius and got his own master murdered....
But Harry tried hard not to think about it right at the moment and got out of the car, anxious to get some breakfast and find out if Hermione had found the spell.
Harry went with the others, who got his things, and Mr. Weasley said, "Number 12, Grimmauld Place," to an empty alley between Numbers 11 and 13 where an entire mansion suddenly appeared towards which Harry stepped forward and walked inside.
"Quiet, Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley prompted him. "Remember, Sirius's mother."
Harry made his way silently down the creepy corridor with the decapitated heads of the old house elves and into the kitchen where he dropped his things and waited for the others to join him. Hermione, however, was nowhere in sight. She must still be looking for that spell, thought Harry.
The Weasley all made their way into the kitchen and were followed by the members of the Order who all greeted Harry as invitingly as if he was their own flesh and blood. To Harry's surprise, Tonks had made her pink hair floor length, which he didn't see the point of considering the fact that she constantly kept tripping over it.
However, he soon found out that she had merely been trying to outgrow another girl's hair who ran towards Harry and slowed down on her tip-toes before she rushed into him, and it was none other than Fleur Delacour!
"Oh, `arry!" she gave him a kiss on each cheek and Harry felt himself go red. "It is marvelous to see you again!"
"Hi, Fleur. What are you - how did you - ?"
"`arry! I'm surprised at you. I would think zat you would be `appy to see me."
"No, I am. It's just that this is the Order of the Phoenix, and well-"
"Oh, I am working for zee Order now, `arry. `Asn't anyone told you yet? Ah, well it is a long story."
Harry could hear someone approaching and joining the rest of them behind Fleur's silvery blonde hair, but he wasn't paying attention; he couldn't if he tried. Fleur's glow was so illuminating and her hair so shiny that it was impossible to see anything but her, even if Harry desperately tried.
"Well, since I am working for zee Order now, we will be able to spend a lot more time togezer. Isn't zat wonderful `arry?"
"Ahem," a girl had cleared her throat very loudly behind Fleur, and Harry had suddenly turned to focus on who she was, though he couldn't figure it out.
She had sleek brown hair that laid very nicely on her strait figure and looked like the type of hair that Harry noticed Aunt Petunia arguing was no point in having if you didn't want to spend a fortune on a hairstyle. Her eyes were deep blue and unlike anything Harry had ever seen before. She was wearing an orange dress that fell down to her knees and met up with a bright yellow hem. Over the dress, she had sky-blue robes that were attached at the center with a gorgeous blue pin that resembled an oval gem. A red heart necklace hung on her neck.
Just then, Harry was taken aback as Fleur said, "Oh, don't worry. I am engaged, you know."
The girl's eyes widened and she went extremely pale. She suddenly regained her blood to a point when she was crimson red and Harry finally recognized her to be no other than his best friend, Hermione. He felt his jaw drop.
Hermione looked so much more feminine that it was scary. Her eyebrows had thinned, she was wearing a very thin and natural layer of make up, and she even had gained about an inch from the very elegant shoes that sat gracefully on her feet.
"Er, hi," was the only idiotic thing that Harry could possibly think to say to her because, even though Fleur, who was part Veela, was standing right in front of Harry, he couldn't take his eyes of Hermione. So this is what she has been doing, he thought to himself. Ron seemed to be just as surprised, only one of his eyebrows was raised and he looked slightly disapprovingly at Hermione.
She smiled back at Harry and quickly looked away because everyone seemed to be staring at her now.
"Well, Harry. Best get your things upstairs, eh?" said Mr. Weasley, "Ron and, er, Hermione can help you with that of course." He gave Hermione an odd and disbelieving look.
Hermione, eager to get away from all of the people staring, all except for Fleur, who seemed to be simply beaming at the sight of Hermione, was the first to leave the kitchen and lead the way.
As they made their was upstairs, Harry was speechless. He didn't know what to say to Hermione, but he knew it would be rude not to complement her on such a change so he said, "Er, Hermione you look - you're - "
"Different," helped Ron.
"Well, not that there was anything wrong with you before," said Harry to a blushing Hermione, "but you look somewhat more elegant and, well, you're hair's strait and stuff."
"See, since Fleur came buy I kind of thought that I was getting tired of my hair being all over the place, so she bought me this special potion that permanently straightens your hair - "
"But I never minded your hair before," said Harry.
Hermione's face turned even more brick-red, but she continued, " - and my eyes were getting a bit dull - "
"That's not true!" shouted Harry.
"Calm down mate," said Ron, "you'll wake the mother of horror," who referred to Sirius's mom.
"Sorry," said Harry, "but what about Fleur? How did she - ?"
"She's engaged to Bill, you know," said Hermione.
"Oh, no, Hermione. Not Bill. It's dear Villiam," said Ron, mimicking Fleur's accent.
"Do you mean to tell me that Fleur is going to be a Weasley?"
"Yep," said Ron and, right before Harry had the chance to open his mouth, he said, "and Bill was convinced that she really wanted to spend a lot of time with him and work for the Order and stuff, so Dumbledore let her join."
Harry was shocked. "But how does he know- I mean, not that Fleur is a bad person, we just don't know that much about her - how do we know her parents aren't in touch with Voldemort or anything?"
"Because Snape tested her with Veritaserum, even though Dumbledore seemed to think that her word was enough. So they allowed her in," said Hermione.
"But how do they know that she just won't run off to Voldemort and, well, spill everything about the Order?"
"Harry, do you honestly think that Dumbledore is going to let anyone join the Order without special charms cast upon them? Otherwise, anyone could just run over to Voldemort and tell him everything, no matter how much we might trust them."
Harry had completely forgotten that Hermione had started saying Voldemort's full name last year and now remembered how much he had appreciated her for that.
They finally reached the top of the stairs and it seemed that both Harry and Hermione had remembered something important - their secret meeting. How in the world were they supposed to ditch Ron? thought Harry. But it was Hermione who handled it, and very nicely indeed.
"Listen, Ron. Harry and I can take care of things from here on. Why don't you go and have breakfast already? I ate and, well, I'll come down with Harry soon enough."
Ron hesitated, firstly, but then heard his stomach growl and said, "Okay, then. I'll meet you two downstairs. Hurry up, though. We've got a lot of people there. Wouldn't want them to run out of food, now, would you?" and he ran off, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.
Harry felt awkward. He still didn't feel right about telling Hermione, but he knew that it had to be done.
"Er," he said, "so, I suppose you've worked out that charm?"
"Oh, yes," said Hermione. "It was a bit difficult at first, but I got the hang of it eventually."
"Okay then, er, where to?"
"Well, I was thinking we could go into the room with Buckbeak. I mean, he can't overhear us and he was just fed this morning, so I don't see any reason for someone to go bursting in there."
"Alright," said Harry and they made their way through the mansion to a room containing the hippogriff, which was far less pleasant than Harry hoped it would be, but at least no one was about to hear what he was going to tell Hermione.
"Imperturbio," said Hermione and, immediately, the door behind her had shut itself and so had the only window that the room contained. The floor boarder jammed themself up tightly and Harry was slightly worried that someone would notice the bangs that they had made as they closed themselves.
However, there was no shouting Mrs. Weasley or Mrs. Black, so Harry let out a relieved sigh.
At that moment, Hermione turned to him and was watching him closely, he beautiful head tilted to one side.
Harry took a deep breath. This was it, he told himself.
"Hermione," he said, "there's something that I've been meaning to tell you."
"Yeah, I know," she said in a quiet and voice and Harry noticed that her cheeks were a bit flushed.
"Well," began Harry rather nervously, "the thing is that this is very serious, Hermione."
"Oh," she said, "well, go on then."
"Hermione, do you remember that prophesy last year? The one that Neville dropped and was lost forever?"
"Er, yes. But what does this have to do with anything, Harry?"
Harry could obviously tell that this wasn't exactly what she was expecting.
"Absolutely everything," he said.
She looked at him with a mixture of misunderstanding and concern.
"The thing is that the prophesy that was destroyed was told by none other than Sibyl Trelawney, our Divination teacher, to Albus Dumbledore."
"Harry, how could you possibly - ?"
"And it was about Voldemort...and me," he breathed.
Hermione looked extremely puzzled.
"It was told before I was even born and the night that we returned to school from the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore invited me into his office. And since, you know, he witnessed it, he was able to draw the prophesy out of his Pensive."
Harry could see an anxious and frightened look on Hermione's face.
"It said - " he continued, " - It said that the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. It said that he is born to those who have thrise defied him as the seventh month dies. He will mark him as his equal, but he will have power unknown to the Dark Lord," Harry stopped as he saw Hermione losing breath. "And one of us must die at the hand of the other because the both of us cannot live at the same time," he finished.
Hermione looked as if she had just been Petrified again. She seemed lost for words but then spoke in a minuscule voice, "But, Harry," he could hear the tears edging to escape from her throat, "how can you be sure that she was talking about - " she gulped - "you?"
"Because," said Harry and lifted his hair back so that Hermione could see his scar clearly, "the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal."
At first, he though that Hermione was going to faint, but then she took him by surprise as she threw herself onto him and said, "Oh, Harry. No, she wasn't talking about you. It's not true! I won't let it be true! Do you hear me Harry, I won't let it be true?!" she screamed as he saw tears running down her face, but he knew that no matter what Hermione could possibly do, the truth would always stay the same.
Harry was holding onto her very tightly, but then she slightly drew her head back and was now face-to-face with Harry. Although, Harry didn't understand why she hadn't run and never wanted to see him again. And then something magical happened, as Harry looked into Hermione's shining blue eyes, they moved closed and closed together until, finally, their lips touched and Harry never wanted it to end; it was the most sensational feeling. And it was not like when he had kissed Cho, because he could feel Hermione's love and passion for him, there, in Buckbeak's room.
However, she suddenly drew away and Harry could see a look or regret on her face. "Oh, Harry," she said, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I better go."
Just then, Harry realized that what Hermione wanted to hear wasn't about the prophesy or his destiny. What she wanted to hear was the exact reason for why she had gotten dressed up and made sure to look beautiful when Harry first saw her. And that was exactly what she was going to hear because that was exactly how Harry felt.
As she approached the door, Harry ran after her and grabbed her wrist.
"Wait, Hermione."
She stopped, but still had not looked up at him. "Listen, the reason why I wanted you to know this is because I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't want to lose you like I lost Sirius. Because, that day, at the Department of Mysteries, when you were hit with that spell and I thought that you were - well, dead - I realized how much I cared about you. Hermione I l-"
But Harry never got the chance to finish telling Hermione what he "l-"d because, at that moment, he could hear Ron's voice coming from the hallway calling for them, "HARRY? HERMIONE? WHERE D'YOU TWO GO?"
"We better get going," she said.
But Harry wasn't finished, so he said one of the shortest and most meaningful sentences of his life, "Hermione, I love you."
It seemed that those words were exactly what she wanted to hear because she suddenly looked up at him with the most hopeful face in the world and said, "Harry, you have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that."
"What?" said Harry.
"It seems...that I've loved you since forever."
"Y-you did?" said Harry.
Hermione nodded her head with a mixture of a smile and eyes full of tears.
"You don't mind that I might - that you might -?"
"Harry, if I was told to die for you tomorrow, you know that I would. Considering the countless times that you nearly died for me and the way that I really feel about you."
Harry felt better. It was as if he was suddenly no longer a victim or a future murderer. It was as if, for one of the few times in his life, he felt normal, and just the same as everybody else. So, I'm not a marked man, he told himself. I'm just really lucky...
Hermione came up to him and gave him another kiss, and a much more confident one at that. She held his hand and said, "Let's go, we need to tell the others - "
"Wait!" said Harry as he pulled her back and returned her kiss. "First of all, I don't want anyone else to know about the prophesy. Not yet. And second, I think that we should keep our relationship a secret."
"But, why?" said Hermione, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Because," replied Harry, "if Voldemort ever somehow finds out that you are someone that I love deeply, then you will be put into a lot of danger, and that is the last thing that I want right now."
"Alright," said Hermione, and let go of his hand, which he very much regretted.
Hermione undid the spell by shouting, "Fortis!" and they walked out, eager to find out what had happened in the past half-hour.
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