Recently, I applied to the New York Film Academy's Hollywood school, and this Wednesday I got my acceptance letter. Huzzah! My term starts in early September (so unfortunately I will not be attending Witching Hour as I had planned), and once this happens, my fanfiction writing will cease. I hope to have this story along with one other one (I'm debating whether to write a Phantom of the Opera A/U fic, or a very emotional depressive/angst fic, any opinions?) completed by that time, so don't worry, I'm not leaving anytime soon, but it will happen eventually.
A couple people have talked to me about Ron, and why there's so little of him. Don't worry, he's not dead (again). But he's going to be gone for a very long time. There'll be a few places between now and the end of the story when you'll see him again, but that's it.
Only one other note this week, and it's that I'm now officially dropping out of the preside - ::cough:: Reader's Choice Awards race. I know, I know, I can't really drop out, but let's just say we're at the point where it's obvious I'm not winning in any category. Therefore, I'd like to give an extremely heartfelt thanks to whomever voted for me, and good luck to the other nominees in the voting.
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Chapter 7: Departure
The rest of the week went by without incident. The Ministry had formally recognized Arabella Figg's death, and held a memorial service in her honor. Most of the Order had attended; Ron and Dumbledore were still meeting with a mass of ghosts and were the only two not present. Aside from the service, Harry and Hermione had spent all of their free time practicing apparation. Because of the attacks, Moody gave his two students an extension on learning how to apparate until Monday. Although Harry still needed a little bit of work, Hermione had managed to get it down in three tries.
"I'm really glad you found out how to fix this," Harry said after another failed attempt. He had tried to apparate across his and Hermione's room and upon arriving there, found that his legs had remained firmly planted on the ground where he had last been.
"Well I wasn't about to try apparating without at least talking to someone from Accidental Magic Reversal," Hermione said, re-attaching Harry's bottom-half to his torso. "After all, it's not something to be taken lightly."
"I just wonder how everyone else learns," he said, getting up and brushing himself off.
"With trained professionals watching," Hermione replied with a grin. "Do you want to try again?" Harry took a look at his watch and shook his head.
"Nah," he said. "I'm tired enough as it is, and we've also got the Order meeting to attend in a few minutes."
"All right," she said, sitting down on the bed. "I still think you've made great progress today."
"From not being able to move at all, to moving half of my body?" he asked with a chuckle as he sat down next to her.
"Well...it's an improvement," Hermione said, interlacing her fingers with Harry's.
"Improvement won't be good enough for Moody," he said. "And given that he's putting us through hell for eight hours a day because we can't do mind tricks makes me really want to get this right."
"Well, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything," Hermione replied.
"That's a good saying," Harry said, moving close to her and gently pressing his lips against hers.
"If that's what I get for telling you proverbs, remind me to do it more often," she said, once Harry had pulled away.
"Come on," he said, getting up and extending his hand to help her. "We've got to get to this bloody meeting."
"Are you still going to vouch for Draco?" she asked as they left his room and started to descend the stairs.
"I plan on it," Harry said. "I'm still suspicious of him, but not enough to change my mind. Besides, if he is the spy, then he'd know we were on to him if I didn't speak tonight. And the last thing you want is your enemy to know that you're on to them."
"True," Hermione replied as they entered the already full basement kitchen and took their usual seats at the table.
"Well then, now that everyone's here," growled Moody, shutting the door. "We can get on with business. As this is the first meeting we've had since Albus has been gone, it's my duty to inform you that I'll be conducting these meetings while he and Weasley are away. Now then, I believe we have an initiation to perform?"
"Yes, sir," Draco said, stepping out from the shadows in the corner.
"What is your reason for wanting to enter the Order?" Moody asked.
"Headmaster Dumbledore has asked me to keep a close eye on the minister," Draco replied, although his voice seemed slightly forced. "I requested admittance into the Order as repayment."
"Bargaining," Moody grumbled as he shook his head. "Tell the assembled why you should be admitted since you're the son of a known death eater?"
"Ex-death eater," said Draco, echoing the conversation that took place at the end of the school term. "For those of you who do not already know, I killed my 'death eater' father when he attempted to kill myself, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. Any of them can back me on this, they were all there."
A couple of heads in the room turned to where Harry and Hermione were sitting.
"He's telling the truth," Harry said. "And I believe that he will be a useful asset to the Order."
"Is that all, then?" Moody asked. Draco nodded once. "Very well, all those in favor?" A good seventy percent of the room raised their wands in agreement, although it was easy to spot that the first wand that went up was attached to Snape's arm. "All right, admission granted. Let's get to business then, shall we?"
Malfoy stalked off to the corner where he had been leaning before, while Moody pulled out some parchments from his robes.
"These are letters from Dumbledore," Moody said. "Carried by Fawkes, so they're not tampered with, before any of you ask."
"What do they say?" Fred Weasley asked.
"This one here is a bunch of arithmetical calculations," he replied, spreading out the first piece of the parchment on the table for everyone to see. "I don't know much 'bout Arithmancy, myself."
"They look like calculations for the strength of wards, shields, some protective charms," Hermione said.
"Well this letter explains it all," Moody said, holding the second piece of parchment at arm's length so he could read it aloud. "These are the mathematical conjectures that show the apparent and actual strength of the protections around the Dursley and Weasley homes. Based on carefully calculated estimates, both families should be able to return to their respective homes by Saturday."
"We're going home?" George asked suddenly.
"That's the general idea," Moody replied. "Only if you want to, of course." The entire Weasley family huddled together quickly to discuss this option, and a moment later broke apart.
"Nothing against you, of course, Harry," Molly said gently. "But we'd rather prefer to go back to our own home if possible."
"Not at all," Harry replied. "I also believe that it's safe to assume that the Dursley's will wish to leave here as soon as possible."
"We'll get them packed and ready to go then," Moody said. "Any questions?"
"How're Ron and Dumbledore getting along with the ghosts?" Tonks asked.
"They haven't sent much in the way of reports," Moody growled disdainfully. "But they seem to be making a little progress."
"That's good to hear," Remus said. "Bill and I are still working on the goblins, though they're not to keen to help out."
"Who can blame them?" George said. "We treat them as badly if not worse than how we treat werewolves. No offense to you, of course, Moony."
"None taken," Remus replied.
"The goblins would be a great asset," Moody said. "But the giants would be of more help. Minerva, talk to Hagrid when you get back to the school and ask him how he's doin' with that brother of his." The transfiguration teacher nodded once. "That it?" Moody asked, when no one else spoke. "No one else's got news to talk about?" The room stayed silent. "All right then. Dismissed."
"Potter, Granger, a word please," Snape said as they stood up. Though slightly surprised, they nodded and followed the potions teacher off into a corner of the room. "Obviously, having to train the both of you in potions beyond the N.E.W.T. level doesn't please me that much, but there is no other alternative. Moody may or may not have already told you, but your first session with me will be next Thursday at 11 AM. Apparate to the back room of the Three Broomsticks; Madam Rosemerta will have been alerted. We'll leave a coach for you to take you up to the castle."
"Yes, sir," Harry and Hermione said simultaneously. Snape regarded them carefully before turning away and walking out of the room.
"At least he's being slightly more civil," said Hermione with a sigh.
"I suppose," Harry said. "Do you want to head back upstairs since there's nothing else we need to do right now?"
"Why not," Hermione agreed. "I was thinking a nice hot bath could be just what we're in need of."
"We?" Harry asked with a smirk on his face as they departed the room, waving to various members of the Order as they left.
"I'll make it worth your while," Hermione said in almost a purr.
"You'll give me a back rub?" Harry said, his face lighting up. Hermione tried to give him a disapproving look but found it too difficult and burst into a fit of giggles.
"Well, if that's what you really want," she said with a shrug. Harry quickly grabbed her arm and whirled her around.
"You know I was joking," he said, his eyes starting to darken with lust. "Besides, you know what I want more than I do."
"Mmmm, I think I might," Hermione replied, unconsciously licking her lips. They had already reached their room and Harry was about to open the door when he heard a voice coming from down the hall.
"It's good to see you," the unmistakable voice of Ginny Weasley said.
"You too," Draco replied. "I...can we talk?"
"Sure." Harry heard a door open and close in the distance.
"What do you think that's about?" he asked, finally opening the door.
"Don't know, don't care," Hermione murmured, leaning against Harry in a way to make him move inside the room.
"You drive a hard bargain," Harry grinned as she shut the door behind her.
"Bargains aren't the only thing," Hermione said with an evil grin as she shed her robe and opened the door to the bathroom. "Get in here."
"Coming, dear."
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The next morning Harry woke to find Hermione noticeably absent from his side. His curiosity overpowering his desire to go back to sleep, he got out of bed and threw on some clothes before trudging downstairs.
He entered the basement kitchen to see Ginny hunched over the table, head in her hands, while Hermione sat next to her rubbing her back consolingly whilst Fred and George were grumbling amongst themselves.
"What happened?" Harry asked, taking a seat at the table and loading up a plate of Dobby's marvelous cooking.
"Draco broke up with me," Ginny said softly. Harry's fork clanged to his plate and he stared at her.
"Why?" he asked, finally unable to come up with anything else to say.
"Said that his job was more important to him," Ginny spoke in a trembling voice, tears threatening. "Said that he didn't want to keep me occupied with a relationship when we only saw each other for two or three hours a day."
"Excuses," Hermione scoffed.
"Is that what he wanted to speak to you about last night?" Harry asked. Ginny looked up at him in surprise, and he was taken aback with how red and puffy her eyes were from crying.
"How'd you know about that?" she asked.
"We heard him ask to speak with you," Hermione said, draping her arm across Ginny's shoulders and hugging her.
"Oh," came the response. "Yeah."
"Well if he thinks he's staying here now, he's mistaken," Harry grumbled.
"He said he'd go back to Malfoy Manor," Ginny said before lowering her head onto the table sobbing softly. Harry glanced at Hermione whose eyes were locked on him.
'This sounds fishy to me,' Harry said silently.
'I agree,' she replied. 'We'll talk about this with Moody on Monday during training, since he's taking over for Dumbledore.'
Harry gave her an almost imperceptible nod and glanced over at the twins who were still arguing.
"What are you two going on about?" he asked, looking over at them.
"Oh, us," George said, looking slightly like the cat that ate the canary. "We're...uh..."
"You're not planning on trying to get back at Malfoy, are you?" Hermione asked, sounding scarily similar to Molly.
"Oh, of course we are!" Fred exclaimed. "Look at what he's done to Ginny!"
"But - "
"Hermione, let them do it," Ginny said, sniffling. "After making me think that he loved me, I deserve some payback."
"I don't think - "
"Hermione, let it drop," Harry interrupted. "They'll do it no matter what you say. So what were you planning to do?" he asked. Fred procured a small white bottle from his robes.
"The git didn't move his stuff out yet," Fred grinned. "So we're planning on dumping this on his drawers."
"I'm afraid to ask," Hermione said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "But what is that stuff?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out," George said. "But if you don't, we'll tell you afterwards."
"Right, right," Harry said. "Hermione, could I talk to you for a minute?" She nodded and got up from the table before giving Ginny one last squeeze, and followed Harry out of the room, up the stairs and into the library.
"Why here?" Hermione asked, looking around the old Black vault of knowledge.
"You do your best thinking in libraries," Harry replied. "Does the timing of this seem strange to you?"
"You mean Draco breaking up with Ginny in relation to everyone leaving?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded. "I don't know. I mean, he was at the meeting last night."
"But why now?" Harry asked. "I mean, he could've chosen any other day, but instead he chooses to leave her the day before she moves back to the Burrow. Doesn't that set off warning alarms to you?"
"A couple," she agreed with a sigh. "But I don't possibly see what his motives could be."
"Well..." Harry said thoughtfully. "If he is the spy, it would make sense."
"He killed his own father, who happened to be Voldemort's right hand," Hermione said. "How does that make sense?"
"Maybe Lucius did something to piss Voldemort off and Draco was offered his place if he killed him to show his loyalty," Harry said with a shrug.
"I suppose that's possible," Hermione said.
"Besides, think about it. He goes out with Ginny so he can stay here and try to catch pieces of information from the Order. Once she moves away there's no excuse for him to stay here, so he breaks up with her and moves back to Malfoy Manor, where his mother lives. There's no harm in him not living here any more because now he's a part of the Order. And let's not forget the dream I had where we found out that Narcissa is most definitely a death eater."
"Dumbledore trusts him, though," Hermione pointed out. "That's got to count for something." Harry growled and slumped down into a chair.
"It sort of worries me," said Harry. "I mean, Dumbledore gets a lot of things right. Couldn't it be possible that he got one wrong for once?"
"He is an excellent legillimens," Hermione replied. "I would think he would know if Draco were a spy."
"All of this is giving me a headache," Harry said. He was just about to comment when he heard a familiar voice coming from the hallway.
"Would you please let us carry our own baggage?!" the booming voice of Uncle Vernon exclaimed. Chuckling, Harry opened the door and peered outside, to be greeted with a view of Moody levitating the Dursley's suitcases down the stairs.
"Scared of magic, Dursley?" Moody grinned.
"I just wish to make sure you don't do anything funny to our possessions!" Vernon exclaimed in a dignified voice.
"Sure, sure," Moody said, although he continued to float the luggage down the hall. Vernon's face was starting to purple as they passed, when Petunia suddenly spoke up.
"Oh, I forgot something in the room, I'll go and get it," she said, turning and hurrying back up the stairs before anyone said anything. Harry suddenly thought of something he wanted to ask her, and turned to Hermione.
"I need to go ask her something," he said. "I'll be right back, okay?"
"Sure thing," Hermione said. Harry quietly slipped out the door so as not to alert his cousin and uncle, and hurried up the stairs after his aunt. Arriving at the room where they had been staying, he saw the door ajar slightly and opened to find Petunia rummaging around looking for something.
"Explain to me something," he said, causing his aunt to startle in surprise. "Why haven't you told Vernon about not hating magic anymore?" Standing up straight, his aunt sighed and looked at him.
"Vernon has a brother who's like you," she said.
"You never told me about any brother of his who was a wizard," Harry retorted.
"If you'll remember, we were trying to keep you from finding out about the wizard world," Petunia replied. "I told you when we had that conversation that Vernon hates magic because I did. The truth is that's only some of it. Vernon has a brother who's a wizard. Unfortunately everyone on his side of the family hates abnormalities, including himself. So when he found out he was a wizard, he changed his name and ran off somewhere. I heard he went to a wizard school somewhere in Germany."
"Durmstrang," Harry said. "Probably fit him real well."
"Yes, well," Petunia said. "We never heard from him again. I think he keeps in contact with Marge, she's the only one who doesn't know. She was already away at university when his letter came, and no one told her. Or so Vernon tells me."
"I wonder if I know him," Harry said.
"Probably not," Petunia said, finally pulling out a small necklace from under the bed and putting it on. "I don't even think he came back from the mainland."
"So why not talk to Vernon about all of this?" Harry asked. "I'm sure you could convince him that we're not all so bad."
"You'd be surprised," his aunt said with a chuckle as she walked past him out to the hall.
"Thank you again, by the way," Harry said following her. "For the rings."
"It was nothing," Petunia said as they reached the hall on the main floor where Vernon, Dudley, and Moody were waiting for her.
"Go on then," Harry said in an angry voice, though he winked at her slightly. "And try not to make me house you for your own safety again."
"Trust me, we have no interest in coming back here," his aunt replied in an equally cold voice, though she also winked at him. Harry smiled inwardly as she walked down the hall and the Dursleys departed from the house, Vernon's grumbling audible until Moody closed the door behind them.
Laughing, Harry walked back into the library where Hermione was lying on a sofa she had conjured for herself reading a book.
"What'cha reading?" Harry asked, walking over to the couch and kneeling down next to her.
"A book," she replied with a small smile. Rolling his eyes, Harry looked at the worn brown cover with the intention of reading the cover. Though the gold lettering was worn and dirty, he could clearly make out "H gw rts, A is tory".
"Oh you can't be serious," he said. "Doesn't this book ever get old to you?"
"I never read this book before," she said seriously.
"Oh come on," Harry replied. "You know 'Hogwarts, A History' by heart."
"Yes, but this edition was published in 1732," she said. "I bet there's some information in here that's not in the newer versions."
"Well how about you bring that on upstairs and read it while I practice apparating some more?"
"Honestly, Harry, I was just reading it while waiting for you to get back," she said, putting the book back on a shelf and vanishing the couch. "Let's get moving then."
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The weekend came and went. On Monday morning Harry felt fairly confident that he could apparate across a room without trouble. He and Hermione had practiced apparating to the roof of Grimmauld Place from the basement. He'd managed it, but it still made him slightly nervous.
They arrived in their dark training room on time, and were greeted by Moody firing off several stunners at them. Out of instinct, Harry pushed Hermione out of the way before firing off a few stunners of his own. Hermione did the same, and eventually Moody halted his attack.
"Good," he said. "Glad to see you don't let your guard down."
"Was it really necessary to do that?" Harry asked, catching his breath.
"Yep, gotta make sure that you're being vigilant," Moody said. "After finishing up with your Occlumency and Legillimancy training, I'll be teaching you how to throw off spells, and the stunner will be one of the first. Granger got me good with one, but as you can see I'm still quite conscious."
"Another mind over matter thing, I take it?" Harry asked. Moody nodded.
"You'll find that most of the secrets behind magic are mental ones," he said taking a piece of parchment from his robes. "Now then, here are your coordinates. You have two minutes." Without another word of explanation, he disappeared with a pop.
"Where'd he go?" Harry asked, staring at the parchment that read 55° 55 10, -3° 4 0.
"From the looks of this," Hermione said staring over his shoulder at the parchment. "Somewhere in Scotland."
"You can't be serious," he said.
"Yeah," Hermione replied. "That seems to be near Edinburgh."
"How do you know where this is?" Harry asked, stunned. Hermione shrugged.
"I don't, it's just a guess," she said. "But I guess we need to apparate there."
"You're joking."
"Not at all," Hermione answered.
"How are we supposed to get there if we don't even know where 'there' is?"
"One of the great things about apparition," she said. "Is that you only need coordinates to do it. A picture or mental image of the place helps, but it's not necessary."
"So I just need to imagine..." Harry trailed off as he tried to make sense of the parchment.
"Fifty-five degrees, fifty-five minutes, ten seconds north, three degrees, four minutes east," she said. "See you there." And with that she disappeared with a similar pop. Harry shook his head and frowned.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" he asked himself before closing his eyes and thinking about the coordinates in his head. The familiar whoosh of air surrounded him and he opened his eyes to find himself on the roof of an old church overlooking a small Scottish village.
"Glad to see you both made it," Moody growled from behind him. "I'm impressed."
"We did practice a lot, sir," Hermione replied, walking over to Harry and putting an arm on his shoulder. 'I told you you could do it.'
'Yeah,' Harry said standing up and surveying the landscape. "So what are we doing here?"
"I thought we could have training out here today," Moody said. "I get sick of that damn room sometimes. Too small and dusty."
"Where are we?" Hermione asked.
"Small wizarding village called Old Craighall," their instructor replied. "I like it here. Nice and peaceful."
"Won't people see us training?" Harry asked.
"Nah," Moody replied. "The town's about ten square miles and has a population of seventy. We're on top of the only church in the town and it's a Monday. No one will see us."
"Fair enough," Harry said. "Let's get to it then."
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Seven hours later the three of them were brushing themselves off after apparating back into the grimy little room they usually trained in.
"Good session today," Moody said. "I usually like to go out there every couple of weeks, so we'll be there again."
"All right," Harry said. "Sir?"
"Mmm?" Moody growled as he gathered up some notes he had been taking on Harry and Hermione.
"Can we talk to you about Order business?" Moody swivelled both of his eyes to look at Harry and regarded him carefully before nodding.
"But keep it down," he said. "These rooms aren't soundproofed, nor can they be."
"Do we have any leads on who the spy might be?" Harry asked. Moody shook his head.
"None, but we know it's someone who works for the Minister in some way."
"We have an idea of who it might be," Hermione said. "Mind you, it's just a guess."
"Well go on then," Moody said. "Tell me."
"Draco Malfoy," Harry said.
"Why him?" he asked.
"We've been keeping an eye on him," Harry said. "There are several reasons, but the biggest two are that he didn't use the communication necklace he gave to Ginny when she and Hermione were kidnapped, and that he broke up with Ginny on Friday night after the Order meeting."
"She might not've been wearing the necklace," Moody said.
"I think she was," Hermione interjected. "I don't remember much, but I do remember her wearing a necklace of some sort."
"All right," their teacher replied. "What about the breakup?"
"He didn't give a really good reason," Harry said. "Said that he didn't think it was fair to Ginny to only see her two or three hours a day when he's working here for the rest of it."
"That's a real reason," Moody grunted.
"Yeah, but he could've done it at any time," Harry replied. "Why right after the Order meeting where we agree to send the Weasleys and Dursleys back to their houses?"
"Hmm...you make some points," Moody said. "And he is in the Minster's circle. I'll look into it. In the meantime, stay away from him if you can. He's in the Order, so there's not much we can do right now, but we'll watch him."
"You know...I don't even know what Malfoy does, come to think of it," Hermione said.
"He's the official scribe," Moody said. "For some reason Minister Weasley admires his ambition and gave him the position."
"After the crap that Malfoy gave him in Hogwarts?" Harry asked. "That doesn't sound like Percy at all."
"Well, what can I say, the man is strange," Moody said. "I'll look into it."
"Okay," Harry said. "Thank you."
"Not at all, now get out of here and get some rest," Moody said with a crooked smile. Harry and Hermione nodded and left the room, and walked to the lift.
"Do you think we could see Remus?" Harry asked as the doors opened. "I just want to hear his opinion on all of this."
"Sure thing," Hermione said, pressing the button in the lift that read '4'. They spent the short ride in silence and stepped out when the doors opened. Immediately they were greeted by an angry bulldog barking at them, the collar around his chain the only thing keeping it from attacking them.
"DOWN, BRUTUS!" a loud voice said, and the big sour-looking man who was Remus' boss pulled the dog back on his chain. "Oh, you again."
"We're here to see Remus?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, yeah, get moving," he said, nodding towards the cubicle that Remus worked at while trying to restrain the growling dog. "Damn dog..."
As Harry and Hermione walked down the aisle, Harry looked over his shoulder at the bulldog and noticed it was eyeing him suspiciously. The dog seemed somehow familiar to Harry, but he shook it off as a strange case of deja-vu.
As Remus' cubicle came into view, Harry could see that Remus wasn't alone. A familiar blond woman was smiling and talking with him. So they wouldn't be seen, Harry quickly pulled Hermione into the nearest empty cubicle and listened carefully.
"I know he's a bit harsh, Remus, but he's good at what he does."
"I know, Rose...I just wish he'd go a bit easier on me. Sounds a bit like how Snape treated Harry."
"You haven't told me that story," Rose said, with a hint of mirth.
"Well, I will later," Remus replied. "I should get back to work. Would you like to have lunch tomorrow?"
"Sure," she replied. "I'll meet you in the café at noon?"
"That sounds great," Remus said. "I'll see you then."
"See you."
Harry and Hermione backed against the thin wall of the cubicle so as not to be seen by Rose as she passed by them. When she had gone, they stepped out of the tiny space and walked over to Remus, who was facing away from his desk staring into space.
"Hey, you two," he said, his attention returning to the present. "What's up?"
"I think it should be me asking you that question," Harry said with a grin turning to face Hermione. "Would you give me the honor of dining with me?" he asked, holding his hand over his heart in an exaggerated manner.
"Of course," Hermione replied, codding on. "I'll meet you in the café at noon."
"Oh, sod off, you two," Remus said, though he was grinning. "So, you've taken to eavesdropping now? James would be proud."
"If you remember, he was after I found out about you four and that powder," Harry said with a laugh. Remus narrowed his eyes at him but chuckled anyway.
"So?" Hermione asked in a giddy voice.
"So what?" Remus asked.
"So...are you two dating?" Remus' normally slightly pale face turned a soft pink at this.
"No," he said. "But I'm trying."
"Well good for you, Moony," Harry said, clapping him on the back. "We'll let you daydream about your new love. Don't forget you have work to do."
Remus scowled at him, but it was easy to tell he wasn't angry. Waving them away, Harry and Hermione left the cubicle and walked back towards the lift.
'You didn't tell him about Malfoy,' Hermione said silently.
'Yeah...I didn't want to ruin the mood,' Harry replied. 'Remus hasn't had it easy. He deserves some happiness and I didn't want to take that from him.'
They reached the lift and the same bulldog was still there. Harry was pretty sure he had seen it before, and given that the dog was giving him a shifty look, he guessed that the dog remembered him. Hermione pressed the button to call the elevator while Harry stood locked in a staring contest with the canine.
"Harry?" she asked as the doors opened.
"Coming," he mumbled, as he stepped into the lift and the doors closed.
"What was that about?"
"That dog..." he said. "I swear I've seen it before."
"Really?" Hermione asked. "Where?"
"I have no idea," Harry replied as the doors opened and they walked out towards the departure room.
"Well, don't worry yourself over it," Hermione said. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
"Yeah..." Harry said as they arrived at the disapparation point. "I'll see you at home?"
"Of course," Hermione replied. She leaned over and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before disappearing with a soft pop, followed moments later by Harry.
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Eeeeeee! Remus has a love interest. Now you all see why I created Rose. She'll be in more of the story, and
you'll get to see some great Remus/Rose/Tonks interaction (I won't hide it that Tonks does have a
thing for Remus) in later chapters. Until next time!