Harry Potter and the Ghost Warriors

Harry Potter and The Ghost Warriors

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything but the plot. I’m just borrowing JKR’s work, but don’t worry I’ll be careful and return them in one piece.

Chapter 1 – Bitter Thoughts

It was yet another hot summer day in Little Whinging, a small suburb of Surrey. Kids were running up and down the streets playing with water hoses while their mothers tanned in the back yard, some people sat in their cooled living rooms watching the afternoon shows while other planned a weekend get away to the beach. But all and all every body had their way of enjoying or escaping from the scorching heat, well, almost every body.

In the smallest bedroom of number 4 Privet Drive a 15 years-old boy lay in his bed staring at the ceiling, drenched in sweat and seemingly unaware of the heat or anything else around him. It had been this way the hole time he had been back for the summer, alone in his room, not answering any of his friends letters (only the “I’m fine” note to the Order so they wouldn’t come bother him) and only getting up to go to the bathroom or eat something when he was sure that he wouldn’t bump into anybody.

Thankfully, this summer, after the show the Order had put on his ‘family’ at King’s Cross, they have mostly left him alone. No chores around the house, no yelling and insulting, as a matter of fact, they almost acted like he didn’t exist which suited him just fine, but sometimes he wished he had some tiring chores to do, something, anything to take his mind of where it has been all summer…

For the boy was Harry Potter, the Bloody Boy Who Lived (BBWL for short), and as usual, everything seemed to go wrong with his life.

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we??

He was born to loving parents, he was a beautiful and healthy baby and life couldn’t be better, until BANG!! Some psycho egomaniac decided to kill his parents, turn him into the BBWL and ruin his life. After that night he was forced to live with his aunt’s family that treated him like dirt and lied to him about his parents and who he truly was for 10 years.

On his 11^th birthday things started getting better again, he was told he was a wizard and so were his parents. He was famous in the Magical World for he had defeated the most evil wizard of all times and to top it off he was going to FINALLY leave his aunt’s house and go study magic at Hogwarts. At the school he made friends for the first time in his life, made enemies too but every thing was going quite well until once again BANG!! The psycho wizard is back to ruin his life and he still had to come back to his aunt’s house for the summer.

So, that was his life. Saving the world from the crazy bastard with his friends during school year and being treated like something the cat brought in during summer. Things had gone quite like this since he found out he was a wizard, except for last school year. At the end of his forth year the great Lord Voldemort (a.k.a. Pain in the Ass) had returned to his body, one of his death eaters had killed another boy and Voldemort had tried to kill him, AGAIN. During his whole school year most people thought he was barking mad for saying that Voldemort was back and at the end of the year HE had managed to get his godfather killed, his best friend almost killed and his other best friend seriously injured, all in a few hours when he lead 5 friends to an trap that said almost killed best friend had warned him about but he was too stupid to realize that he indeed had a saving-people thing.

And now here he was, stretched on his bed, staring at the ceiling, blaming himself. The first few days back here had been the worst of his life, he wouldn’t eat and couldn’t sleep because of the constant nightmares about the Department of Mysteries, all he did was cry his eyes out and blame himself, of course. There were some many feeling running through his head and his heart. Pain, guilt, sorrow, despair, anger … and fear. Fear that he won’t be able to vanquish Voldemort, fear that the prophecy would be fulfilled not in the way every body is hoping, fear that his stupidity and incompetence will be the doom of the world.

And that brings us to the prophecy, oh the prophecy. If it wasn’t enough everything that he’d been through this last few months, after everything that happened in the DoM, Dumbledore had found that to be the best time to tell him that he had the fate of the world in his hands (information that could have saved his disastrous trip to the ministry, but anyway…), he was the only one who can kill Voldemort, and he had no choice it was either kill or be killed, and if, in fact, he failed, the world would succumb in the hands of Lord Voldemort. Great, right?? No pressure whatsoever!!

But now, as you can see, he is tired of crying, he is tired of feeling helpless and weak. He won’t let the great bastard win. His feelings now have reached to a point of almost just anger, his thoughts are bitter and he can only think of one thing … REVENGE!

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Harry was woken up from his thoughts by a not so gentle nibbling on his left ear. Hedwig was rather impatiently trying to get his attention, apparently she had another letter, another one that would keep unanswered. He did read all the letters he got, in fact, he liked them, it made him remember that there was still people who cared, but he couldn’t bring himself to answer them, he couldn’t lie and say everything was fine like he did with the Order but also he couldn’t tell them what was going through his mind, at least not now, not in a letter.

Giving in to Hedwig’s pleas he sat up and motioned for her to come land on his leg so he could free her from her delivery. After getting this done, and giving her some owl treats, Harry sat back on his bed to read his mail comfortably. The moment he unrolled the parchment a small smile appeared on his face as a warm felling washed through his body. The letter was from Hermione. Hermione… he didn’t need to look at the end of the parchment to know it was from her, he knew her beautiful handwriting quite well having borrowed her notes through his 5 years at Hogwarts, and it also helped that she’d been writing him every other day despite the fact he wasn’t replying. Lately her letters were the only thing that kept them sane, the only thing that made him smile, he didn’t know why and couldn’t bring himself to thoughtfully think about the reason either, it was too complicated. Ron, Ginny, Neville and even Luna had written him a couple of time too but given up after realizing they wouldn’t get a reply. As always Hermione was the only one that understood him, the only one that was always by his side, no mater what. With that thought in head he started reading her letter.

Dear Harry,

As I long given up the hope of you answering me I won’t ask how you are doing, I just hope you are well, all things considered, of course. I’m still home, bored to the core having finished all my summer homework (Have even started yours?? Well, you better!! Nothing good comes from procrastinating!) and having successfully completed my ‘Special Project’. It is really great that they changed that stupid Restriction of Underage Sorcery from 17 to 15. I know they did it so we can protect ourselves now that the Ministry has accepted the return of Voldemort but it really help our studies being able to practice spells at home.

Well, now to business, as I told you before, my parents and I won’t be vacationing this year, as my parents cannot close the clinic for even a whole week, which is a shame because I was really looking forward to going to Australia this summer (*pouting and kicking the rug*). Anyway, I was really hoping you could come here to stay with me. I know you can go to the Burrow because it’s too dangerous being in the wizarding world and all and you probably don’t want to go to ‘the other place’ and I’m not sure I would want to go there either. So, what do you think?? I didn’t get any answer from Dumbledore yet but he will have to cave in or I won’t stop nagging him about it the whole summer!! (You know how good I am at nagging…)(* wink wink*).

Well, either way I’ll see you soon. I promise.

Love,

Hermione.

PS: I just hope you don’t sleep in on birthday suit. (hehehe)

Harry finished the letter with a huge grin on his face. ‘Wow’ he thought ‘Imagine spending the rest of the summer at Hermione’s. That would be something.’ But as he read the letter again to make sure he didn’t misunderstand anything, something caught his eye. ‘What the hell did she mean by that PS??’ And was thinking about his best friend going bonkers that he fell to sleep.

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A/N: Well, what do you think?? This is my first fic, so I hope you like it. Anyway, let me now by reviewing!! The faster you review the faster I update.

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything but the plot. I’m just borrowing JKR’s work, but don’t worry I’ll be careful and return them in one piece.

A/N: Hey, guys!! Here is chapter 2. It’s a little longer so I hope you like it! Thank you to all of those who reviewed, and I’m sorry to inform you but my characters are a little OoC. Hope you don’t mind. Read up and don’t forget to review!!

A/N: I can’t seem to get the italics to work here so I’ll put these // to separate dream scenes from the rest.

Chapter 2 – Late Night Visitor

//Harry was in the Department of Mysteries again; he’s been there every night since that one night when Sirius had fallen through the veil. He was fighting the death eaters with Neville and Hermione. And then the purple light hit her… Harry couldn’t think, he couldn’t breath, Neville was checking her pulse and Harry let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding ‘It’s ok’ he thought ‘this is the part where Neville tells me she’s not dead.’ But the words that came out of Neville’s mouth weren’t the ones Harry was expecting.

“She’s dead.” Neville said with tears in his eyes. “And it’s all your fault. She told you it was a trap. Why didn’t you listen?? WHY DIDN’T YOU LISTEN???”

He kept screaming at Harry, but he wasn’t listening anymore, Hermione was dead, and it was his fault. So he fell to his knees while one single word came out of his mouth.//

“ NOOOO!!!!” He kept yelling with all his force but then he opened his eyes and saw that he was in his room. It was all just a dream and something had made him wake up, a noise, a popping noise.

‘Oh, Merlin!’ he thought starting to getting his mind working again ‘There’s someone here. Someone just apparated in my room. Great wards, Dumbledore!!’ But when he had his glasses on and was starting to get his wand from the bedside table he felt someone fall on him crying and give him a bone-crushing hug. Then it all came clear to him as he relaxed and started soothing the sobbing girl on top of him.

“It’s ok, Hermione.” He whispered to her while rubbing her back and starting to cry himself. “I’m here, you’re here, everything will be fine.” And as he said those words it hit him that it was true, as long as they were together everything would be all right.

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After what seemed like a long time of just holding and comforting each other Harry decided it was time to ask what he wanted to know.

“So” he asked softly, lifting her head from his chest with a hand so he could look in her eyes. “ Are you going to tell me what are you doing here??”

She have him a small nod and a shy smile. “Sorry, remember when I told you that I had this special project this summer??” He nodded. “Well, it was my apparition license. I didn’t tell you before because I wanted to surprise you. Anyway, I wanted to visit you but I just couldn’t pop in here during the day and risk getting caught by your relatives, so I decided to come after they were sleeping. So, that was what I did but when I came here and saw you screaming in you sleep I just kept thinking of everything that happened and how you have to be here with those horrible people with no one to comfort you …” She trailed off here because she was starting to cry again.

During her explanation Harry didn’t say a word, he just kept looking at those warm chocolate brown eyes that showed so much worry for him, so much… love?? Yeah, that was it, he saw love in her eyes, and he was sure that all that love was platonic, but there was something else there that he couldn’t describe, a fire, a spark, that kept calling for him. Telling him to come closer, telling him to kiss her tears away. And that left him really confused, did he want that? Did he want Hermione as more than a friend? Was his love for her more than platonic? He didn’t know. All he knew was that she was there lying on top of him, and he could feel her body against his and he could smell the scent of apples and honey in her hair and that all his blood was starting to go south.

He had to keep his thoughts away from Hermione, or things would start to get embarrassing. ‘Ok, think disgusting things’ he was still rubbing her back to comfort her but was now back at staring at the ceiling. ‘Snape in a dress. Snape and Filch in a dress. Snape and Filch in a dress snogging’ That’s it, he could already feel the blood running normally in his body again, but his concentration was broken by Hermione talking to him.

“Harry?? Are you ok??”

“Huh?? Yeah, I’m fine.” He answered without looking at her.

“Then why are you staring at the ceiling?? Look at me, Harry. Talk to me.” She said pleadingly.

He looked at her, and those eyes, he could get lost in those pools of chocolate. But why was he feeling those things now? He had looked at her eyes before and nothing happened. Why did he want so much to kiss her when just a couple months ago he had only eyes for Cho. He couldn’t think about this now, he would have to wait until he was alone again and then he would be able to think clearly.

“It’s nothing, Hermione, really. I was just thinking about things and how lucky I am to have a friend like you.” ‘And how I’d be incredibly stupid to ruin everything by kissing you.’ He thought.

Hermione smiled at him, a real smile know, and hugged him again. ‘Looks like that was the right thing to say.’

“Oh, Harry!” She said squeezing him once more. “I’m the lucky one here. You are such a great friend. I missed you so much.”

“Yeah, real lucky! Having a friend who yells at you, and don’t listen to you and almost gets you killed. Very lucky indeed!” He replied bitterly.

“Harry James Potter! Don’t you dare say those things.” She said in her most Molly Wesley voice. Than a lot more softer “You truly are a great friend, in fact, you are my best friend. Why do you think I’m here? Charity? I truly care about you, Harry. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

“Ok, I won’t. I promise.” He said with a small smile. Seeing his this Hermione smiled back.

Then they stopped talking. They were just staring at each other’s eyes. Hermione on top of Harry, with her hands on his lightly toned biceps, looking at him as if for the first time and Harry under her with one hand on her back and the other gently caressing her cheek.

Then it happened, Harry didn’t know who started it, all he knew was that he was kissing Hermione. His best friend Hermione and he were kissing. But he didn’t want to think what this meant, he didn’t want to think about the consequences. All he could think about was how soft her lips were against his, how right this felt, how his whole body was tingling and how this warm feeling was spreading all over him. This was nothing like his one and only kiss with Cho, that was awkward and weird, this was perfect. Harry couldn’t take this anymore, he slowly opened his mouth under Hermione’s and she, following his lead, did the same. Their tongs met and they started exploring each other’s mouths, tasting, and sucking, and nibbling. This wasn’t a sweet innocent kiss anymore, it was passionate and hungry, as if their lives depended on it. Hermione’s hands were now in Harry’s hair, making it, if possible, even messier and Harry’s were pulling her to him, trying to get her closer. He wasn’t caring anymore about his blood going south, because he was pretty sure all his blood were already concentrated there, and since Hermione didn’t seem to mind (there was no way she wasn’t feeling him pressing on her) why would he.

When they stopped a little to catch their breaths, Hermione voiced the question that was in Harry’s mind but he was trying to ignore with all his might.

“Harry?”

“Huh?” He answered planting kisses down her neck.

“What are we doing??” She asked before gasping when Harry started sucking on her neck.

“Kissing.” Harry said simply and then as an after thought. “Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one??”

She slapped him playfully in the arm to get the big grin out of his face and started talking again a little exasperated. “I know THAT. What I want to know is what this means??”

He sighed and decided to try one last time to convince her to stop talk and keep kissing. “Well, we ARE kissing. So, that would mean…” he trailed off there and then finished in a hopeful tone “that we shouldn’t be talking.”

She looked at him for a moment, biting her lower lip as if considering very carefully what he had just said. Then she smiled brightly at him and leaned to kiss him again stopping briefly just inches from his mouth taking his glasses off. “I like the way you think, Potter.” And as she captured his mouth in hers she could feel him smiling against her lips.

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Harry woke up late morning from the best sleep he’s had in ages. He had had a nightmare as usual but then he’d had the most wonderful dream ever, he and Hermione were kissing, and it was great. He had never thought of Hermione like that, he always pictured her like a sister, but he highly doubted that he would feel that good after kissing a sister. With a smile on his face he stated to stretch with his eyes still closed but then he realized there was something on his arm, with his other hand he got his glasses from the bedside table and as he looked at his right arm a huge grin appeared on his face. Hermione was still there, lying by his side using his arm as pillow. It hadn’t been a dream and Harry couldn’t be happier.

He stayed a few minutes just watching her sleeping, she was so beautiful and peaceful. Then she started stirring and opened her eyes, those incredible brown eyes. Harry couldn’t help but smile at her and that smile grew even bigger when she smiled back at him.

“Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty” He said after giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

“Good Morning” She smiled at him and gave him another kiss. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, best night in ages. What about you?”

“I slept okay but my pillow is a lot softer than your arm.” She replied with a playful smile.

He leaned over and kissed her again. They kept kissing for a while until Hermione pulled back and looked at him with a serious expression on her face.

“We really have to talk about this.” She said moving her hands back and forth between them.

“Okay. You go first.” He said sitting on the bed and helping Hermione so that she could sit too.

“Right… How do you feel about me?” She asked tentatively.

‘Oh, fuck!! I was really hoping she wasn’t going to ask me that.’ He thought groaning inwardly. The truth was that he had asked himself that very same question as he was watching her earlier and he hadn’t come up with an answer. She was his best friend, he liked a lot but he didn’t know if he loved her. Well, he did love her but he wasn’t in love with her. ‘But how am I going to tell her that.’ He thought groaning again, but this time, out loud.

“It’s okay, Harry. You can be honest with me. I want you to be honest with me.” She offered after hearing him groan.

“I like you, Hermione. I like you a lot but it’s just that… “ he trailed off but she finished his sentence.

“You’re not in love with me.” She stated looking into his eyes. He averted her gaze and nodded slowly.

“Good.” She sighed relived.

“What??” He asked not hiding the surprise in his voice.

“It’s just that I’m not in love with you, and it would be really awkward if you were.” She explained quickly.

“Oh. So now what? We just forget it happened?” Harry asked in a sad voice. He really had liked kissing Hermione.

“Well, I was hoping not.” She said looking down.

“Go on.” Harry prompted in a brighter voice.

“See, the thing is… I had a great time last night… and this morning.” She said still not looking at him.

“Me too.” He replied tilting her face so she was looking at him. They smiled at each other and she continued.

“So, I was thinking that maybe we could have a ‘best friends with benefits’ kind of relationship. We would still be best friends but we would also snog.” She suggested.

“But isn’t that what dating is about?” He asked a little confused.

“Yes, but we wouldn’t make any serious commitment. No promises of undying love, no jealousy, no public displays of affection and no cover stories in the Daily Prophet. We would have all the good parts but not the bad ones. Nobody would know a thing.” And that last statement was what convinced Harry. He was sick of everybody knowing everything about his life, and a secret relationship with Hermione would be just perfect, he wouldn’t get all the attention he would get if they went public and she wouldn’t be targeted for being his girlfriend.

“You, Ms. Granger, just got yourself a deal.” He said in a playful tone before pulling her to him to start enjoying their agreement.

But then, just after their lips parted she jumped out of bed so quickly that one would think it was on fire.

“Oh… Oh, Merlin…” she started saying with a look of pure terror on her face while looking at the window that showed the sun up and bright.

“Hermione? What’s wrong?” asked Harry concerned.

“What time is it Harry?” she asked ignoring his question.

“Huh? 9:45” he answered a little confused looking at his watch. And then getting a little scared as he saw all the color in Hermione’s face disappear.

“What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I’m dead, that’s it, I’m dead. Will you go to my funeral, Harry??” She blabbed, laughing nervously, obviously panicking over something.

That was Harry cue to do something, he wouldn’t have her talking about dying even if it was just a joke. So, he walked over to her and hugged her thigh, trying to calm her down.

“You’re not going to die, I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

“My parents always check on me before they go to work, which was 2 hours ago…” She trailed off there, it wasn’t really necessary to continue anyway, he got the picture.

“Did they know you were coming here??” she shook her head. “Ok, can’t you give them any excuse like, you woke up early and went for a walk or something??” He offered.

“Well…” she said looking at him now. “that’s not all bad, it’s a long shot ‘cause it’s not like me to leave the house without letting them know, but it might work” she finished with a smile. “You know, you are getting smarter, Potter.” She said playfully but then sighed and continued. “But I have to go now.”

“Already?” He asked pouting at her and holding her tighter as she tried to disentangle herself from his embrace. “Can’t your walk take a little longer??”

“I’m sorry.” And Harry could see in her eyes that she really was. “I wish I could stay here with you, we didn’t even had a chance to talk yet, but I really have to go. The more time I take the tougher will be my punishment. I pop back here as soon as I can, ok?”

He sighed “Ok, but don’t forget about me. I will get lonely” He said in a dramatic tone.

She smiled cheekily at him and answered after a long passionate kiss. “ I wouldn’t do that.” He smiled back at her and watched as she walked to the corner of the room to apparate away from the window.

Just at this moment Dudley entered the room to tell Harry something but lost the words when he saw Hermione.

“Hey, who are you?” He asked but when he was going to take a step closer to her she gave Harry a small wave and disapparated, leaving a smiling Harry and a shocked Dudley behind.

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything but the plot. I’m just borrowing JKR’s work, but don’t worry I’ll be careful and return them in one piece.

A/N: Hey!! Thanks so much to all the reviewers, you made my day!! Here is chapter 3. Finally!! Hope you like it!!

Chapter 3 – Visits and Talks

Harry spent a couple of minutes just laughing at Dudley’s face after Hermione disapparated. But as he remembered that Dudley must have had a reason to come to his room, he decided to speak.

“Ok, Dudley, what do you want?” Harry asked still amused at the fact that Dudley didn’t seem to be able to talk.

“There are some freaks downstairs to see you, we were shouting for you to come down for 10 minutes but I guess you were busy, huh?” He said winking at Harry after he got over the shock.

Harry wasn’t in the mood for this and he didn’t want whomever the “freaks” were to know that Hermione had been there so he decided to answer in a way he knew would make Dudley forget about seeing her.

“Look, Dudley, that was just a friend from school, I didn’t hear you calling because I put a spell in my room so I wouldn’t be disturbed by the noise from outside. And yes, I am allowed to do magic now so if I were you I wouldn’t speak about seeing my friend here to anyone. Unless, of course, you’d like to be a fat slug for the rest of your life.”

As Dudley ran out of the room holding his behind, Harry, very proud of himself, changed from his pajamas and went downstairs to see who were the freaks Dudley was talking about. Upon getting in the living room, Harry was greeted with the sight of a very worn out ex-professor and a cheerful pink haired auror.

“Remus. Tonks.” Said Harry coolly; having all those feelings Hermione had managed to make him forget storming back to him at the sight of his godfather’s cousin and best friend.

“How is it going, Harry?” Asked Tonks with a big smile.

“Hello, Harry. How are you?” Asked Remus worriedly.

“I’m fine.” He replied dryly.

“Really?” Asked Remus searching his eyes for something.

“So, will anyone tell me what are you two doing here?” Asked Harry eager to change the subject.

“Glad you asked, Harry” Tonks said brightly. “How would you like to learn to apparate?”

Harry smiled a little at this and only now he realized his relatives were also in the room.

“What is that??” Asked Uncle Vernon turning a funny shade of purple. “I won’t have any of this nonsense in my house.”

“Oh, yes, you will.” Replied Tonks fiercely. “Apparating is the faster way a wizards can go from one place to another. We can just disappear from thin air here and reappear somewhere else in the blink of an eye and it’s very important that Harry knows how to do it now that we are at war.”

Uncle Vernon got a darker shade of purple as Tonks said this but kept his mouth shut, probably afraid of what could happen to him if he dared to disagree. When Harry was about to tell Tonks that he would love to learn how to apparate Dudley cut him off, not realizing that he was thinking out loud.

“Oh, so that’s how your girlfriend did it.” At hearing this Harry turn his head so fast that he thought he was going to twist his neck. Seeing Harry glaring at him Dudley realized that he had voiced his thoughts so he covered his mouth with both hands and started shacking uncontrollably.

“What girlfriend??” Asked the four adults at the same time.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about.” Replied Harry nonchalantly.

But Remus seemed really interested in knowing whom Dudley had seen apparating in the house, and didn’t drop the matter. “Come now, Dudley. What are you talking about?”

Dudley didn’t answer he just shock his head still covering his mouth with both hands.

“Answer the freak, Dudley. What did you see??” Said Uncle Vernon while taking his son’s hands down.

“Ca.. Can’t tell.” Stuttered Dudley, now looking as pale as milk. “He’s gonna turn me in to a slug.”

“Nobody is going to turn you in to anything. It’s against the law.” Said Tonks looking intently at Harry.

“Tell us already.” Spoke Aunt Petunia for the first time, obviously eager to hear the gossip her son was holding back.

“Ok.” Said Dudley, still throwing scared glances at Harry. “When I went upstairs to get Harry, he was in his room with a girl, I asked her who she was but she just waved at him and disappeared. Harry told me she was just a friend and if I ever told anyone that I’d seen her there he would turn me into a slug. But anyone who looked at them could tell that they were more them friends.” And then feeling more confident and wanting to get Harry into more trouble he added. “He was in his pajamas and her clothes were really messy. I think she spent the night with him.”

Aunt Petunia gasped at hearing this, Uncle Vernon started rambling about how he would not accept this kind of behavior in his house and Tonks kept grinning at him with an unnerving knowing look on her face but Remus just stared at him with a blank expression. So Harry just braced himself and waited for the worse.

Then a smile appeared on Remus’s face. “I didn’t know you and Hermione were dating.” It wasn’t a question and it caught Harry totally by surprise.

“What? How? Who?” He rambled.

“It’s kind of obvious. Don’t you think? She is the only girl of your year that already got her apparation license, she is you best friend and it was obvious that sooner or later you two would wake up and see that you are perfect for each other.” Said Tonks in an amused tone while Remus just laughed at the stunned expression on Harry’s face.

“Don’t worry about it, Harry. That’s great news. Hermione is a great girl, and I’m really happy for you.” Chocked Remus once his laugher subsided.

Harry had yet to say a word, he was too stunned to think strait. He and Hermione had agreed that no one should know about their relationship, especially because they weren’t dating and if he didn’t think something up fast the whole Order, and probably Ron and Ginny too, would know about it by the end of the day. He would have to lie. He didn’t want anybody to know about it, he wanted this to be their secret, especially because she would be in even more danger if word came out that she was his girlfriend.

“Sorry to kill you fun guys, but Hermione and I aren’t dating.” He said confidently to show that he wasn’t lying. Their faces fell.

“What? But then who was here??” Asked Tonks.

“Oh, no. You were right about that. Hermione came to visit me this morning since I wasn’t replying her letters, but she is not my girlfriend. Dudley is just trying to get me in trouble for having a girl in my room.” He replied looking them in the eyes. “In fact, I think that might be something going on between Ron and Hermione, so don’t mention this little incident with anyone, ok? I don’t want Ron to get jealous over nothing.” He decided to add as an after thought. He really didn’t want Ron to know about this, he suspected Ron fancied Hermione since 4 year and he didn’t want to loose his friend again. They would have to tell him by themselves if they decided to let him know.

“Ron and Hermione? Really?” Tonks asked obviously surprised. “But I was so sure you two…”

“Anyway, what about the lessons, Harry?” Remus cut her off eager to change the subject after their little “misunderstanding”, which Harry was really grateful for, he didn’t like lying to them. Not that he really lied so much since he wasn’t dating Hermione, she wasn’t his girlfriend and Dudley did want to get him into trouble but it still sounded like lying to him.

“That would be great!! When can we start?” Replied Harry eagerly.

“We can start right now if it’s ok with you. Tonks and I will take turns coming here to teach you since we have other business to attend to. We’ll be working really hard but we hope you’ll be good to go in less than a week. The sooner the better.”

“Well, I’m ready.” Was Harry answer. He was really looking forward to this.

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The last few days had been really tiring for Harry. He would practice apparating the hole day with Tonks or Remus and then would pass out on his bed only to be awoken by another nightmare. But all the hard work had been worth it. He had just come back from the ministry where he had successfully gotten his apparation license.

But now that he had time to think he was starting to get really worried. He hadn’t heard from Hermione since that day she woke up in his bed and it just wasn’t like her to not write him for such a long time, especially after what had happened.

So he had an idea. He would surprise her like she had done with him. But he wouldn’t do it during the night, it was too risky with her parents there and all. He knew her parents worked all day and she was usually alone until dinner time, that would give him plenty of time to know what was going on and he would also take his invisibility cloak in case there was someone there keeping an eye on her or something.

After showering and changing, Harry magically locked his door, put on his cloak and got ready to apparate. He’d decided that he would apparate in his cloak so if there were really someone else at Hermione’s they wouldn’t see him. Now that he was ready he was really nervous, he kept thinking that Hermione realized that the whole snogging had been a mistake and now was avoiding him. Taking a deep breath he took a last look at his almost bare room before apparating. He still had everything he owned in his trunk, he hadn’t bored to unpack as everybody assured him that he wouldn’t be left long with his relatives and he really hoped they would be good to their words. With that thought in mind he disapparated with a soft ‘pop’.

--------

When Harry arrived in what he believed to be Hermione’s room his jaw dropped. It was a huge light blue room, with a big bed, a computer, a flat screen TV, a DVD player, a stereo, a walk-in closet, a privet bathroom and very few books. But what surprised Harry was the fact that Hermione was sitting on her bed, eyes closed, playing a guitar and was very good at that. It looked like a rock song or something but he’d never heard it. And then, she started singing, she had a very nice but strong voice and Harry could do nothing but stare when he noticed what the song was about and that there was a tear running down her cheek.

“All day staring at the ceiling

Making friends with shadows on my wall

All night hearing voices telling me

That I should get some sleep

Because tomorrow might be good for something

Hold on

Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown

And I don't know why

But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell

I know right now you can't tell

But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see

A different side of me

I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired

I know right now you don't care

But soon enough you're gonna think of me

And how I used to be...me

I'm talking to myself in public

Dodging glances on the train

And I know, I know they've all been talking about me

I can hear them whisper

And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me

Out of all the hours thinking

Somehow I've lost my mind

But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell

I know right now you can't tell

But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see

A different side of me

I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired

I know right now you don't care

But soon enough you're gonna think of me

And how I used to be

I've been talking in my sleep

Pretty soon they'll come to get me

Yeah, they're taking me away

But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell

I know right now you can't tell

But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see

A different side of me

I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired

I know right now you don't care

But soon enough you're gonna think of me

And how I used to be

Yeah, how I used to be

How I used to be

Well, I'm just a little unwell

How I used to be

How I used to be

I'm just a little unwell”

Harry didn’t know what to think. Was she really feeling like that or was it just some song she liked? Slowly he took off his cloak and stood there waiting for her to open her eyes, he didn’t know whether she really was avoiding him or not so he would wait for her to make the first move.

When she finally opened her eyes to put her guitar aside she saw Harry. She didn’t scream or look surprised, she just locked eyes with him as if trying to see if he was really there or if it was just a hallucination. Harry didn’t move, he just kept looking at her and waiting for her to say something. After a while of this she decided to speak.

“Harry?” She asked tentatively.

“Hi!” He replied with a lopsided grin.

“Oh, Harry!” She exclaimed, jumping from the bed and enveloping him a tight hug.

“I’m happy to see you too.” He chuckled hugging her back. ‘I guess she wasn’t avoiding me after all.’ He thought happily.

“So… What happened? You never came back after that day.” He asked shyly after she pulled back from him.

She sighed, grabbed his hands and took him over to the bed so they could sit. “Well, I’m grounded. Can’t leave the house, can’t use the phone and can’t owl anyone until I’m back at school. I can’t believe my parents did this to me. I’m going completely mad!!”

“I guess that excuse I came up with didn’t work then.”

“It would have if you hadn’t given me a hickey!” She replied giving him a mock glare.

“I didn’t know that I had.” He said quickly. “That must have gone bad. What did you tell them?”

“At first I was speechless, I couldn’t tell them the truth. My father is very protective of me, I don’t know what he would have done if he found out I sleep in a boy’s bed. So I told them that I had met this muggle boy and that we were dating. We usually met at the park during the day while they weren’t home but he was leaving for a vacation with his parents so we agreed to meet before he left and that’s why I went out so early and didn’t tell them.”

“Wow, that’s a good lie. How did you think that up so quickly?” He asked really impressed.

“Well, the thing is…” she started looking down at her lap. “I did secretly date a muggle boy last summer before I left for headquarters and I knew that he would cover for me if my parents ever asked so it wasn’t really that difficult.” She said all of that really fast and now was looking shyly at Harry waiting for him to say something.

“Oh! That’s… something.” He answered trying to rid his mind of the image of Hermione with another guy. “At least this explains why you are such a good kisser.” He said with a smile.

“Yeah… about that…” She said looking at her lap again.

“What?” Harry asked in a high-pitched voice.

“Jason wasn’t the one who taught me to kiss like that.” She said playing with Harry’s fingers.

“Who was then??” Harry asked a little louder than he intended to do. ‘How many guys did you kiss??’ he thought but decided not to ask and risk sounding jealous.

“Viktor.” She replied carefully.

“But last year you said he was just a friend.” Said Harry a little put out.

“Yes, and I wasn’t lying. Last year he was just a friend, we decided to break up at the end of 4 year since neither of us believed in long distance relationships. If we hadn’t broken up I would never have gone out with Jason. Or do you think I was cheating on Viktor??” Hermione now was looking at him with a mix of hurt and disbelief in her eyes.

“No, of course not.” Answered Harry quickly. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t help but feel a little hurt that you didn’t tell me those things. I’m supposed to be your best friend and I told you everything that happened with Cho. Don’t you trust me?” He said feeling a little hurt and really jealous. He knew he couldn’t say he was jealous because they had an agreement and it’s not like he’d never dated anyone else but he just couldn’t help it and it left him really confused. ‘Why the hell am I feeling this things now??’ He asked himself. ‘I must be getting protective, that’s it. Like Ron felt when he found out Ginny was dating.’ And even though he knew that wasn’t the case that thought calmed him down.

“Of course I trust you Harry, or I wouldn’t be telling you now. It’s just that I never had an opening to talk about this kind of things with you guys and there was the fact that Ron went barking mad every time I mentioned Viktor. It’s not like I was hiding from you, you just never asked.” She told him in a tone that was pleading him to understand.

“Yeah, I guess you right.” He sighed. “It would have been king of awkward to have you talk about boys with us.” Said Harry deciding to drop the matter before she realized what was really troubling him. “Ok, back to matter of your punishment. Why is it bothering you so much? I thought you wouldn’t mind spending some quality time with your books. Speaking of which, where are they?” He asked looking around the room one more time.

“We have a small library… “ He smiled at that, it was just so… Hermione. “Anyway, I’m going to tell you something but you cannot speak until I’m finished, ok?” She said seriously. He nodded. “Well, after everything that happened this past couple of months I started to see things differently.” He looked at her with sad eyes remembering what had happened, and motioned her to continue. “It – was – not – your – fault! But I almost died and I’m almost happy it happened.” Harry was completely shocked by that and was about to say something when she started explaining herself. “I’ve always hidden myself behind my books, you and Ron kept telling me to loosen up and enjoy myself more but I never listened, I thought that once I graduated I would have time to do all those things. Even with my boyfriends I was like that; I must have kissed Jason a dozen times at most, we spent most of our time together talking about books and stuff and it was pretty much the same with Viktor, the only reason I snogged him in the first place was because I wanted to know what it felt like, I always wanted to know everything. But now I know that I may never graduate. It’s true, Harry, and you know it.” She said as he opened her mouth to speak again. “We are at war, and in war there are casualties. And it’s nobody fault but Voldemort’s. So, I’m not going to spend all my time readying and studying anymore. I still think it’s important but it’s not everything. I want to live a little, be stupid, do things I’ve never done before because if in the end I don’t make it, at least I’ll know that I didn’t waste all my time away. And that’s why I’m so angry at my parents, I’ve always been the perfect daughter and now that I want to be a ‘normal’ teenager for once, on my first slip up they lock me up as if I was completely irresponsible.” She finished with her anger showing in her voice.

Harry was speechless. He spent all his time wallowing in his self-pity that he never did stop to think about how everybody else was taking in everything. He must be the one who has to put an end to the war but the war affected everybody. He couldn’t help feeling guilt though, if only he was more prepared, if only he’d defeated Voldemort… No, this was no use. Hermione was right, as much as she couldn’t spend all her time studying, he couldn’t spend all his time blaming himself either. He was taking a leaf out of her book and try to enjoy his life while he still could. The order kept telling him to not worry and leave the war to the adults and that’s what he was going to do, or at least try to do.

“You’re right.” He said to a concerned Hermione. He had been staring at her for the last few minutes. “We need to have fun and enjoy our lives while we can. And I know just the way to start doing that.” There was one thing he wanted to do since he saw her singing earlier and now he had the perfect excuse to do it. So with a mischievous smile on his face he leaned and gave her a small and tentative kiss on the lips, as he felt her kissing back, he deepened the kiss and moments later they were lying on bed on a full snogging section.

They were interrupted after several minutes of intense snogging by the phone ringing.

“Hello.” Said Hermione still a little breathless. ”Oh, hi, mum. It’s just that I was in the bathroom and ran here to answer the phone.” She said innocently, earning an amused glance from Harry. “I’m fine. No, I didn’t leave the house. I know you can find out if I use the phone.” She said rolling her eyes. “Yes, mother. I know. I promise. Bye.” She finished sounding really annoyed.

She popped her head back on the pillow and groaned. “I can’t take this anymore, Harry. I’m going spare locked up in here, not being able to talk with anyone. And having my parents checking up on me all day, controlling everything I do. Remember the song I was singing when you got here? I’m really close to talking to the shadows on my wall.”

“Don’t worry, Hermy. We will figure something out.” He said lying next to her and kissing her cheek.

“Don’t call me that!!” She said hitting him with her pillow.

“Ok, ok! I won’t.” He said chuckling. “But then we’ll have to find a cute nickname that you like, because although Hermione is a beautiful name it’s a little big don’t you think? Imagine calling Ron ‘Ronald’ all the time.”

“Fine, I’ll think about it.” She said grumpily.

“Good.” He said while softly rubbing her arm. They lay there for a while just enjoying each other’s company until Hermione broke the silence.

“Harry?” She said tentatively. And then continued when he looked at her. “How are you coping with… er… everything that happened last month?”

He just looked at her for a while, maybe it was time to finally talk about this and Hermione was definitely the best person to open up with.

“I’m doing better.” He said moving closer to her so his head was in the crock of her neck, his arms around her and she was running her fingers through his hair. That seemed to calm him down. “But I can’t still help feeling like it was all my fault. You warned me it was a trap. Why didn’t I just listen? Now, I lost him and I almost lost you.” He said in a voice that was almost a whisper.

“It wasn’t your fault, Harry. You went there risking you life to save someone you loved and so did Sirius. We all went there to do what we thought was right, nobody forced us, we wanted to go. So I won’t have you blaming yourself for what happened there.” She lifted his head up a little so she could look him in the eye. “It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. Get it now?” She asked with a small smile. He nodded and gave her a small kiss.

“I have to tell you something really important. You can’t repeat this to anyone and nobody can know that you know, ok?” He said with a serious look on his face. She only nodded, frowning her browns at him as if in deep concentration. “You remember that Voldemort dragged us down there because of a prophecy, right?” She nodded again. “That prophecy broke during the battle but it was just a record. Professor Dumbledore was the one that the prophecy was told to and he told me.” Hermione nodded motioning to continue. “Well, the prophecy was about me, and Voldemort. It states that I have some power he knows not and that either I kill him or he kills me because neither can live while the other survives. And that’s it, in the end, it’s up to me and if I fail he can’t be stopped.” Hermione had tears in her eyes but a determined look on her face, she reached out for him and held him even closer to her.

“Then we will just have to make sure that you don’t fail.” She said kissing the top of his head. “You can do this, Harry. I know you can. And I’ll be right there with you, helping you every step of the way.” She now was crying freely but still kept her hold of him.

“What would I do without you??” He asked looking up at her and wiping her tears with his thumb. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.”

“But you didn’t.” She said holding his hand on her cheek. “I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.”

He leaned over to give her a soft kiss on the lips and rested his head on the crock of her neck again. They stayed like that in a comfortable silence for a long time until the phone rang again. After Hermione finished talking to her mother, she turned to Harry with a serious look on her face.

“We need to get training.”

“I know.” He sighed. “What do you have in mind?” He knew by the look in her face that she probably had a plan.

“We need to get serious training. Dueling, weapons, some martial arts, useful potions, and maybe other things too. And we know that we can’t count on the Order to help us with that, you know how they treated us last year like we were some stupid children that can’t understand grow up’s business.” Harry just nodded at Hermione that was now pacing in front of the bed. “I’ve been doing some research, you know, to kill the time while I’m grounded here. I still have to check some stuff up, since I can’t go to the library but I’ll see if I can find something on the Internet. I won’t tell you much now, but if I can get all the information I need and it all checks up then we’ll have a perfect place to get training.”

“But how can you research magical stuff on the Internet?” Asked Harry confused.

“Oh, no. It’s a muggle myth I have to research but don’t worry, I’ll explain once I’m done.” Explained Hermione.

“Ok, now that’s settled…” He stopped for a minute to pull her back to bed. “When were you going to tell me that you were a musician?? And that you were filthy rich??” He asked in an amused tone while looking around the room.

“I’m not a musician, I just like to play and sing when I’m at home, and I certainly am not filthy rich.” He looked at her with a look that said he didn’t believe her so she added with a playful smile. ”I am not! It’s just that I spend so little time at home that my parents keep trying to spoil me so I don’t want to leave.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking, listening to music and snogging. They got to know a lot of personal things about each other that they didn’t know and were getting really comfortable with their new relationship; it was just like another step on their friendship. When Hermione heard their parent’s car parking they said they goodbyes and Harry apparated home but not without promising to be back the next day.

Disclamer: I own nothing but the plot!!

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter, you guy are the best!! Here it is chapter 4. So sorry that it took me so long to post it but I had to buy a new HD for my computer so it took a while. I promise I won't take this long again. With that said… Enjoy!

Chapter 4 - A Long Hard Day

It was still early in the morning, the sun was barely up, but Harry was already awake in his bed thinking about everything that happened the last couple of weeks. He was, in fact, searching his mind to find a time when he was this happy but was failing miserably. Exactly two weeks ago Hermione had apparated in his room to see how he was doing and now thanks to her, he was having the best summer ever.

Ever since he got his apparation license he's been apparating every day to Hermione's house in the morning and only leaving at night when her parents got home. They were having a wonderful time just spending time together; as the days went by they got more and more comfortable around each other and now he was sure he could talk about virtually everything with her and he thought it was the same with her too. She was slowly opening up to him and he was getting to know the real Hermione, not the bossy know-it-all that walks around Hogwarts but the shy, insecure little girl that hides behind that confident mask and the more he found out about her the more he liked. And he was also starting to realize that `like' was maybe not the right word…

His musings were interrupted by a large black owl flying through the window, it wasn't any owl he knew or a school owl so he got up quickly and unattached the letter from the owl's leg and saw that it was from Gringotts.

“Why would Gringotts send me a letter?” Wondered Harry while opening it.

-

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are sending you this letter in order to inform you that the reading of the Will of one Sirus Black is taking place tomorrow at noon at Gringotts Bank, Solicitors Office. Your presence is required for the reading to begin.

Regards,

P. Tekgui

Gringotts Solicitor

-

Harry read the letter five times until the words finally sank in. They were going to read Sirius Will. He didn't know why this was affecting him so much but all those feelings he had during the first week of holidays were coming back to him, but this time he wasn't going to sulk around in his room. He knew what he had to do so he changed, grabbed his wand and invisibility cloak and apparated to Hermione's room.

Once he got there he saw that she was still sleeping and only now he realized that as it was still early her parents were still at home. But he didn't leave, he needed her now, he couldn't handle it by himself and although he didn't want to get her in more trouble he couldn't bring himself to apparate back home, not now when she was so close.

He quietly took off the cloak, cast a quick “Coloportus” at the door so her parents couldn't come in and went to the bed to lie beside her. He carefully got under the covers and hugged her from behind, she looked so peaceful sleeping that he didn't have the heart to wake her up. Just being here with her was enough, she made him feel safe, like he was not alone and as they had slept like this before more than once when they were watching movies or listening to music he knew she wouldn't mind. Still sleeping she snuggled closer to him and he found himself drifting off to the smell of apples and honey.

-----

“Hermione, wake up and open this door!” Harry heard a woman say followed by heavy knocking on the door. For a moment Harry opened his eyes and wondered where he was but as soon as he saw the shock on the beautiful brunette next to him he remembered quickly and jumped off the bed and under his cloak. After making sure that her mother could not see Harry, Hermione opened the door forcing an innocent look on her face.

“Good morning, mother. Do you want something?” She said with a fake smile.

“I just wanted to check up on you. Why was the door locked? You never locked your door before.” Asked Mrs. Granger looking around the room.

“Well, since I can't leave the house I thought that I deserved at least some privacy in my own room.” She replied coldly.

“Oh, honey. You know I don't like this punishment better that you do.” Hermione snorted at that. “But you know how your father is…” Said Mrs. Granger pleadingly.

“Whatever. Look, it's early and I want to go back to bed so now that you saw that I'm still here… goodbye.” And she closed the door on her mother locking it again. After casting a silencing spell on the room she sat on her bed and looked expectantly at Harry, who was taking off his cloak again, obviously waiting for an explanation.

“I'm so sorry, Mya.” After Harry insisted for 4 days Hermione agreed in choosing a nickname for herself, and although she hated most of the ones Harry had came up with, she thought Mya was rather cute and now Harry rarely called her Hermione anymore. “It's just that I didn't want to be alone.” He said in a small voice as he handed her the letter.

As she read it, understanding downed her face and she waked over to him and gave him a tight hug. “It's ok, Harry. I wouldn't want to be by myself either. Now, come here.” She said sweetly as she took his hand and walked over to the bed. “I'm still tired from researching all night. Let's try to sleep a little more then we can talk about this and about what I found out.” She said pulling him to bed with her.

“So that means you finished you research?” Asked Harry excitedly while making himself comfortable. She had told him that she would only tell him about her research once she was finished.

“Yes! But I'll tell you about it later. Now, sleep!” She said closing his eyes with her hand and giving him a quick peck on the lips before drifting back to sleep.

-----

Harry woke up to the sensation of caring fingers running through his hair. With his eyes still closed he hugged Hermione closer to him and started wondering when he had become so dependent on her. He always kept his feelings to himself and only talked when probed but now he had completely opened up to her and just being near her like this made him feel better, just felling her fingers in his hair made him forget about everything and everybody else in the world and he could help but smile.

“You can open you eyes. I know you are awake.” Whispered Hermione in his ear, making shivers run down his spine.

“Morning.” He said sleepily as he opened his eyes and took his glasses from her hand.

“Morning.” She smiled up at him. “Are you feeling better?” He just nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?” She asked running her hands up and down his arm.

“Yeah… but can we do it over breakfast? I'm hungry.” He replied sheepishly.

“Ok. Why don't you go make ourselves some breakfast while I wash up? I reckon that you're already pretty familiar with the kitchen.” She said winking at him and standing up.

“Deal! I meet you downstairs.” He said standing up himself. Truth was he knew his way around her kitchen pretty well since he'd been having all of his meals there for over a week, in fact, he only went back home to shower and sleep, even dinner he ate there before Hermione's parents got home. `The Order is really reliable, huh? I spend my whole day away and nobody notices I'm missing. And that's because I'm the only possible savior of the world…' Thought Harry chuckling to himself as he made his way to the kitchen.

----

Harry had already breakfast on the table by the time Hermione came down. She complimented him on the food but other than that they ate in silence. When Harry started to stand up to clean the table Hermione held him in place and taking a good hold of his hand she gazed into his eyes.

“You told me you wanted to talk.” She said softly. “Talk to me, Harry.”

“It's just…” He sighed and rested his head on her shoulder. “I know that he is gone and I know that he won't come back but I guess some part of me still had a little bit of hope that he would just come see me and tell me it was all a big joke, since there was no body and all… But now with this Will thing… it just makes things official, you know? He is really not coming back.” He finished in a whisper.

“It's ok, Harry.” She said running a hand up and down his back. “I understand. But it's a good thing that you don't have any hope anymore. Now tomorrow you can get some closure and then you can fully heal.” She kissed his temple and held him tight and he was really grateful for that. She was right he needed closure but he didn't know if he would be able to keep his emotions in check tomorrow.

“I wish you could be there with me.” He said shyly.

“Oh, Harry. I wish I could go too, but you know that my parents would never let me.” She said sadly but then added little brighter. “You know, you could come here in the morning and I could cheer you up until you had to leave and then when it was over you could come back here and you could tell me all about it. What do you think?”

“Thanks, it would be perfect.” He replied kissing her cheek and standing up. After helping her up and putting an arm around her shoulders, he led her back upstairs to her room.

“Now, I guess it would be your turn to talk, wouldn't it?” Harry asked as they got to her room.

“What? Oh, yeah, my research!” She said excited once she remembered what he was talking about.

“Yeah, come on. Tell me already!” Said Harry eager to hear what she had found out.

“Well, do you remember how we studied Ghost Warriors in history of magic? It was in our OWLs?” Harry had no idea what she was taking about, he always slept through that class and actually slept through the test too. She must have seen the confusion on his face because she continued. “Never mind… They are warriors that come to the aid of the light side whenever there's a war. They don't respect laws or follow any government but they are said to be the most powerful warriors on earth, they have this ritual that nobody really know about that supposedly enhance your most important qualities and a training program for young witches and wizards that's supposed to be the best that is.” She took a big breath and was about to continue when Harry spoke up.

“It seems great, but didn't you say something about muggles and a myth?” Asked Harry confused.

“Yes, if you just let me finish!” She replied in mock annoyance. “There is a problem in all this; you can't volunteer to this training program, you have to be invited and only then they will tell you how to get to wherever they hide. They are very secretive about this, nobody that isn't a ghost warrior know how to get there.” Harry's face fell, he knew it was too good to be true, but Hermione seemed happy about it somehow and kept talking.

“So that's why I was researching muggles. You know, it was really because of muggles that they have this name. They helped in muggle wars too and as they appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, used weird clothes and killed with what, to muggles were jets of light, the muggle soldiers thought they were ghosts of ancient warriors coming to help them. Obviously nobody believed this stories and it became a myth. I started searching trying to find any report written by muggles about this subject and see if it could help us in anyway and the good news is… I found one yesterday! That's why I didn't sleep much, I wanted to finish putting the pieces together before you got here.” She was clearly excited about her discoveries and Harry was starting to get his hopes up again.

“Well, apparently one night one of the warriors decided to enjoy himself a little in a muggle… er… `night club', but he got drunk and talked a little too much. He told the soldiers that all the warriors came from a island in the pacific where the time run faster than normal and that his kind had been there since all of it's native people died after a volcano eruption in the 18th century. Of course the fact that the time run faster is because of a temporal spell that is said to have being placed in the warriors `Boot Camp' so they can fully train their new warriors without too much time passing in the `real world', there they can train for what would be months while here passed only weeks. Anyway, with the information about the island he gave, I narrowed down the option for two possible islands, but when checking a wizarding map I discovered that only one of this islands is present there, so obviously the one we want is the other one.” She then stopped for a moment and looked at Harry. “Are you following me? I know I can be a little confusing when I'm excited and…” As Harry saw she was starting to ramble again he cut her off.

“I am! Just give me a moment to process all this information.” He said quickly so she wouldn't start again. It seemed like a very good opportunity if they really got the chance to be trained by these people but Harry still had some doubts.

“Ok, let me see if I got every thing right.” Harry said after a couple of minutes. “They are the best shot we've got to get training properly, they have this time spell on their island so we could get a good amount of training and still be able to come in time for school and you figured out where they hide, right?”

“Right.” Answered Hermione nodding.

“But don't we still have a problem? Didn't you say that you have to be invited by them to get into their training program?” It didn't matter if they knew every bloody thing about these warriors if they refused to train them.

“People have to be invited because they don't know where they hide so they can't get there on their own, but since we know their exact location we can just go there and show them that we could make very good warriors and if that doesn't work there's always Plan B…” Replied Hermione in her most confident tone.

“Right, and what would be this Plan B?” asked Harry curious.

“Beg.” Answered Hermione cheekily.

Harry had to smile at that. He knew Hermione wasn't sure about this either but it was their best shot, their only shot, and if Hermione had hope it could work then he was all for it. “Ok! Count me in.”

“Great!” She said hugging him. “I was thinking that maybe we could leave after your birthday. That would give us a whole month and you could still spend your birthday here.”

“Yeah, we can do that.” He answered happily, then took her face in his hands and kissed her slowly, just enjoying the feeling of her lips on his. “Thank you.” He said resting his forehead on hers, as they broke apart.

“For what?” She asked a little breathless.

“For everything. For being here for me. For helping me. For being you.” Having said that he kissed her again, more passionate this time, conveying all his feelings for her through that kiss.

“You're welcome.” Was all Hermione said when they parted before pulling him to her again and grabbing his mouth on hers.

Harry was ecstatic; he should really start thanking her more often for Hermione was all over him. He didn't even notice when it happened but they were now lying on her bed, with him on top, and her hands were everywhere, well, everywhere above the waist that is. They were kissing like their lives depended on it and Harry decided to do a little exploring of his own. He started by putting his hands under her shirt and caressing her flat belly. `When did she get a piercing? How did I not notice this before?' Thought Harry playing with the little ring in her belly, but then all coherent thought left his mind when her lips left his mouth and she started nibbling his earlobe, as if acting on instinct his hand started going up until he reached the soft fabric of her bra, he stopped there. But instead of slapping his hand away as Harry was sure she would do, Hermione just looked deep in his eyes for a second, as if to show him she was okay with it, and started kissing him again. Now more confident since he had permission he started caressing her breast and he felt Hermione press harder against his hand while moaning in his mouth. He couldn't take it much longer, the thought of her breast on his hand and her moaning was almost enough to take him over the edge, he was in pain now, physical pain, he's never been so hard in all his life and under this conditions, it wasn't a pleasant feeling. They had not talked about it yet, he wasn't sure how far Hermione was willing to go but he had to something, he couldn't keep this torture much longer.

“Mya… we have to stop.” He said breathlessly moving away from her. If she wanted to continue she would say so.

“I know.” She said kissing him again.

“I mean it.” He said looking at her and then at where he was pressing against his leg. “I'm in serious pain here.”

“Oh.” She said finally understanding what he meant. “Do you need to… uh… relive yourself?” She said nodding in the direction of the bathroom.

His eyes grew wide at her question. `Why is she asking me that?' He asked himself blushing. But he knew he really did need to so there was no point in denying. “Yeah… I do.” He said not looking at her.

“Do you need a hand?” She asked playfully waving her right hand in front of him.

His head snapped up so fast he thought he would twist his neck. `Was she just teasing or did she mean it?' He didn't know for sure but he was definitely going to find out. “What?” He asked looking at her face. But she didn't answer him, she just grabbed his shirt with her left hand to pull him to her while her right hand went to try and undo the fly of his jeans.

-----

Harry just couldn't stop grinning. He and Hermione had fooled around all day, with brief pauses to eat and rest, and although they hadn't gone `all the way' yet they did a lot of stuff and now he just couldn't stop thinking about her. Her beautiful eyes, her perfect body, her incredible smile, the things she did to him, and more importantly, the way she made him feel like he was the luckiest guy on earth just by smiling at him. And after this thoughts ran through his mind he finally realized why he was feeling this way. `Oh, Merlin… I'm in love with her.'

He was lying on her bed waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. She had decided to wash up before her parents got home. Somehow she got the impression that they wouldn't believe her if she told them that she had gotten that messy while studying. At first he was anxious for her to get out, he couldn't stand to be apart from her for too long any more but now he was thankful that she wasn't there when he had his sudden revelation because he might had blurt it out to her the second it happened and he didn't think that is the right way to go about this. As he was carefully stating the pros and cons of telling her how he felt he heard the familiar sound of her parents' car on the driveway.

“Mya, your parents are here. I'm going home, ok?” He yelled at her trough the bathroom door.

“Wait a sec! I'm done.” She replied and a minute later she was back in the room. She was wearing a white tank top that hung thigh to her curves and denim miniskirt, her hair was dump from the shower and she was barefoot. She wasn't wearing anything fancy but to Harry she was drop dead sexy and he just the sight of her made him forget that her parents were home.

“Do you like it?” Hermione asked with a wicked smile after seeing the look on his face.

`That wicked wicked witch!! She knew I was going to react like this, that's why she asked me to wait.' Harry thought while walking over to her and kissing her passionately. He couldn't get enough of her, she was the most important person in his life right now and he didn't know how to show that to her. “I love it.” He answered her after they broke the kiss and then after making up his mind he continued looking deep in her eyes. “And I love you.”

Hermione just stared at him for a while searching his eyes as if to see if he really meant it and just as she opened her mouth to say something they were jolted apart by a high pitched scream from downstairs.

Without thinking they both grabbed their wands and stormed out of the room to see what was going on. As they reached the living room Harry's fears were confirmed, there, looking over the bodies of Hermione's parents were three Death Eaters and although he knew he should do something he just stood there paralyzed by the scene in front of him. He barely heard someone shouting “Stupefy” before everything went dark.

--------

He woke up in what he quickly recognized as the stone floor of Headquarters' kitchen. Molly Weasley and Remus were fussing over him and asking several questions at once, he could also hear several other people in the room talking worriedly but he was still too dazed to acknowledge any of this until he heard the angry voice of his best mate.

“Have you totally lost it?? Why didn't you enervate him before coming here?? You could have splinched yourself trying to apparate with somebody else!!”

“Well, I obviously wasn't thinking…” Mumbled Hermione and Harry could tell that she was trying very hard to keep her emotions in check. And that's when it all came back to him, the Death Eaters, Hermione's parents… `Oh, Merlin, Hermione!!' Harry thought when he started to think about what must be going through her mind right now but Ron brought him back from his thoughts again.

“Well, everybody hear this.” Yelled Ron. “Little Miss Perfect wasn't thinking. Isn't that…” But whatever Ron was going to say next nobody heard because Harry was already on his feet glaring at Ron.

“You better shut your big mouth right now before I decide to shut it for you.” He said in cold whisper but as he heard several gasps in the room he was sure that every body heard him. He averted his gaze from Ron and looked over at Hermione, she had her back against the wall and a single tear was dropping from her closed eyes. He couldn't bear to see her in so much pain but at the same time he didn't know what to do to make her feel better so he decided to do the only thing he could and in a feel seconds he was tightly holding a sobbing Hermione against his chest.

“I'm so sorry, Mya.” He said while moving them over to a chair so he could sit her on his lap. “I'm just… I'm just so sorry.” He kept saying while soothingly rubbing her back

After she calmed down Harry became painfully aware that every single person in the room was looking at them. By the way Ron was talking to Hermione it was only safe to guess that she hadn't yet told them what happened at her house and everybody was waiting for an explanation. And just as to confirm his thoughts, Ginny decided to voice the question.

“Err… Guys? I'm sorry to interrupt this little moment of yours but can somebody explain what the hell is going on??” She said exasperated and Harry could notice that she was a little angry too; he would have to ask later what the hell was the problem with these Weasleys today and as he was opening his mouth to tell them what happened Hermione stood up and started talking.

“Oh, no. I'm the one who is sorry.” She started sarcastically. “I'm sorry that I couldn't think straight.” She said looking at Ron. “And I am so very sorry that I got a little emotional over the death of my parents.” She said looking at Ginny and the whole room gasped at that. “But don't worry.” She continued walking towards the door. “I'll try and be a cold hearted bitch next time someone I love is murdered by Death Eaters just because they had the audacity to have anything to do with a dirty little mudblood.” And with that she stormed out of the kitchen leaving behind some very shocked people.

Harry was beyond shocked by Hermione's words. She couldn't really be thinking this was her fault, if there was someone to blame in all of this it was him.

“Harry, what happened?” Remus asked worriedly breaking Harry from his thoughts.

“Death Eaters attacked her house, killed her parents and stunned me. What happened afterwards I don't know.” Harry answered quickly wanting to go after Hermione but knowing that he had to give some kind of explanation.

“And what were you doing there anyway? You didn't answer any of all owls all summer and the last owl we got from Hermione was over two weeks ago. We you guys too busy shagging your brains out to send us a bloody note?” Asked Ron angrily. From the corner of his eyes Harry could see Remus, Tonks, Bill and Charlie disapparating, probably to Hermione's house but the remaining people in the kitchen seemed eager to hear his response, so much so that Mrs. Weasley didn't even scold Ron for using such words. So Harry took a deep breath to try and put his anger under control and started responding.

“First of all never talk about Hermione like that ever again if you want to keep all your teeth. Secondly, what the hell is wrong with you? Hermione just lost her parents and you find this the best time to act on your jealousy? Well, save it for someone who gives a fuck because I'm going to find my best friend.” Harry said all of on more or less an even voice but didn't manage to hide completely his anger and frustration from his expression. As nobody seemed to want to voice anything else he left the kitchen to look for Hermione.

-------

Harry had looked all over Grimmald Place but hadn't found Hermione anywhere; he was about to give up when he came across a room he hadn't checked yet. Sirius room.

On a normal situation he would be an emotional mess after having walked all over his late godfather's house and now being about to enter his old room, but under the current state of things he just couldn't react like that. He had to be strong for Hermione. So gathering all his strength he opened the door and walked into the room. And once again today he was shocked out of his senses.

The room was just amazing, nothing like the shabby room Sirius used to have. The walls were a deep red and in the center of the room there was a king sized four-poster bed with golden curtains and comforter decorated with the Griffindor lion, there was a desk and some shelves full of books in a corner of the room, two closed doors on the right wall and a couch and some comfy chairs facing a fireplace on the left. And there, sitting on the couch was the reason he got into this room in the first place. He silently walked to the couch and sat beside her, taking her hand in his and looking straight into the fire, but from the corner of his eye he could see that she was crying silently. He felt her rest her head on his shoulder but neither of them said a word; they just sat there in a comfortable silence just staring at the fire.

“How are you feeling?” Harry asked after he noticed she had stopped crying. He knew it was a stupid question but he just wanted to get her talking.

“Like hell.” She answered honestly. “But I'm strong, I'm going to be ok. How are you feeling?” She turned around so that she could see his face but he kept his gaze on the fire.

“Better than I thought I would. I guess you managed to successfully get me through all of this without any of us going crazy.” He replied with a tiny smile, and finally turning around to face her. “And now I intent on doing the same thing for you.” He said lightly squeezing her hand.

“You know, I never got the change to tell you.” She said with a watery smile as a tear dropped from her eye.

“Tell me what?” Harry asked whipping her tear with his free hand.

“That I love you too.” She answered starting to cry again but somehow sill holding up a tiny smile.

Harry didn't know what to say, he just couldn't convey into words how that statement made him feel, it was like his heart was going to burst with pure joy. He decided then that actions speak louder than words and kissed her with all his might, trying to show her all his love in that kiss.

“I guess this is the official end of our agreement.” Said Hermione breathlessly after the broke apart.

“Yeah, I guess it is. Does this mean that you are my girlfriend now?” Asked Harry with a huge smile on his face.

“You bet.” She replied smiling and kissing him again. “What are we going to tell everybody? They might be a little suspicious after today. Do you still want to keep it a secret?”

“Yeah, Ron was making some insinuations after you left the kitchen and everybody seemed eager to know what I was doing at your place.” Harry said sighing.

“If you want to keep it secret it's ok with me. Ron is not going to take this well, he'll probably stop taking with us for a while and I know how much you missed him in 4 year… And there's also Ginny, she is definitely going to stop talking with me, you know she fancies you since ever, right?” Said Hermione biting her lower lip.

“How do you know Ron won't take it well? And what is this about Ginny? I thought she was over me.” Asked Harry confused.

“Honestly, Harry! Every single person in school knows Ron fancies me, and I know you do too. And I never said Ginny was over you, I said she had given up on you, which is very different and it wasn't totally true either. She was just going out with those guys to make you jealous. In other words we betrayed them by getting together.” Replied Hermione exasperated.

“Well, I just don't care. They were both huge prats today and I think that after everything we went through we deserve to be a little selfish if that is what it takes for us to be happy.” He said grumpily and then added teasingly. “And you, young lady, had better get used to the idea of having me as your boyfriend because now that I have I'm not letting you go.” And with that he picked her up in his arms and took her to the bed.

“Harry!” She shrieked as he dropped her in the bed.

“What? It's late and I think we should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.” He said getting on the bed himself.

“You're right.” She said with a tiny voice and a sad expression. Then she grabbed her wand from her pocket and murmured some kind of spell at the door before putting her wand on the bedside table and lying down next to Harry.

“What was that? I don't know this spell…” He asked and the quickly added “Oh, do you know where my wand is? I must have dropped when I was stunned.”

“Well, that was a locking charm much more complex than `coloportus', casting an `alomohora' will do you no good with this spell. And about your wand, I got it. It's on the coffee table in front of the couch, I thought you had seen it.” She replied from the place in his chest she had buried her face in.

Harry could tell from the tone of her voice that she was trying very hard not to cry and he knew his comment about tomorrow had affected her but he wouldn't push her into talking. He knew from his own experience that the way she was hiding her feelings and pretending nothing happened would only make things worse but he would wait until she was ready to open up. So with a kiss on the top of head and murmured Good Night's they fell to sleep.

------

A/N: So that was it… How did you like it??? Well, you can tell me that in your review!!

Ps: Before you guys starting commenting on Hermione's behavior after her parents death I would just like to say that everybody reacts differently on this situations, and the way she reacts in the same way I reacted when I lost my father so don't come complaining about that.

PS2: Some people mentioned spelling mistakes on the story and I'm so sorry about that guys but I'm from Brazil and we don't speak English here. :P I try to check the story more than once before I post it but sometimes I just miss some things. Anyway, anyone up for a Beta job?? If you are just send me an email. (Some one with good English, please!!)

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Disclamer: Do you really think that if I owned anything I would post this here? For free??

A/N: Sorry for the delay and yes, this is yet another short chapter but I think it's best to post it small than to keep you waiting for a long one. And, once again, thanks for everyone who reviewed, I just love you guys!! Also, a HUGE thanks to my brand new Beta sapph_fire_griffin, you are a life-saver.

Chapter 5 - The Breakfast Meeting

Harry woke once again to the soothing sensation of gentle fingers running through his hair but he didn't open his eyes or even moved. He didn't want to wake up yet, he didn't know if he was ready to face what today was certainly going to bring. So he just stayed there, enjoying the feeling of Hermione's fingers and thinking about everything that happened in the last 24 hours. It had been such a nice day until they heard that scream…

Everything had happened so fast after that, he still couldn't believe he had completely frozen up like that. It's not like he had never faced Death Eaters before, hell; he even had faced Voldemort more than once and lived to tell the tale. But deep down he knew better, he knew he hadn't reacted like that because of the Death Eaters; it was the sight of the Grangers that did that to him and the knowledge that it was his entire fault. Once again he had brought destruction to those he loved. He knew that if he told this to anyone they would tell him to stop blaming himself and all that crap they told him after Sirius death, but there was no denying here, the Grangers only were attacked because of Hermione's friendship with him.

It was like he was cursed, Hermione's whole world came crashing down mere seconds after he declared his love for her. He was really starting to think that maybe his divination teacher wasn't such a big fraud most of the time after all; maybe she had just misread the signs. The Grim she kept seeing on his path wasn't a sign he was going to die a most terrible death, it was a sign of what he truly was. He was the Death Omen; he brought death and pain to those he loved. It really made sense, first there were his parents, then Sirius and now Hermione's parents, not to count the several times when Ron and Hermione could have died during the five years they have been friends.

Maybe it would be better for everyone if he just left but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He needed them, all of them. They were his family and although he was still a bit angry with the Weasleys for the way they acted yesterday, he knew that in the end everything was going to be ok because that's what families do: they fight, they forgive and they make up. Well, most families anyway, he couldn't see the Dursleys behaving like that but that's not the point. And there was Hermione, he needed her the most and right now she needed him more than ever and he would not let her down. With that thought in mind he hugged her tight and gave away his awaken state.

“Morning.” Said Hermione sighing and by the tone of her voice he could tell that she must have been thing about last night's events too.

“Morning.” Said Harry finally opening his eyes to look up at her. They had changed position during the night, and Harry was now lying on his stomach with an arm draped over her belly. His head rested on the hollow of her neck as Hermione was on her back, one hand on his hair and the other on his arm. And now that Harry was looking at her face, he could see that there were tears silently running down her face as she stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Hey, come here.” He said turning on his side and hugging her to his chest so that she was facing him. “It's ok to cry. It's going to make you fell better.” But she didn't, she was too stubborn.

“I don't want to cry anymore. I cried enough already yesterday. I have too much to do today; I have to pull myself together.” She said forcefully trying to convince herself as much as Harry. “I thought I wouldn't have to explain this to you. I thought you would understand.” And she was right, as much as he missed Sirius he had cried very little, he did understand her need to be strong.

“You know he made this room for you, right?” She said in a far away voice and didn't wait for him to answer before continuing. “He told me last Christmas that he wanted you to have a place of your own. A room just for you since you never had that, well, at least not really, since the Dursleys made sure to remind you that you were just staying in Dudley's second room. A gift, from the kindness of their hearts.”

She smiled slightly and continued as if remembering something funny. “He said you would need a room to lock yourself up that didn't smell like dead rats next time you decided that the world was better off without you and a room where you could have some privacy when you finally got yourself a girlfriend.”

“What? Mya, …” Harry started but trailed off when he heard a tapping sound in the window next to the studying table. Hermione stood up and opened the window letting a large barn owl land on the table. As soon as she retrieved the two letters the owl was carrying it took off but Hermione didn't move she just stood there staring at the letters unblinkingly.

“Mya? What's wrong?” Harry asked concerned as he got out of bed and walked over to her.

“It's… It's our OWL results.” She whispered, handing a letter to him. Now he understood. She was waiting eagerly for those blasted results, she was hoping that if she got really good marks maybe her parents would drop her punishment and everything would be good again in the world, but after last night that didn't matter anymore.

“Want me to open first?” He asked kindly after they sat in the chairs by the desk. She only nodded, still staring at her letter, so he ripped his letter open and started reading out loud.

-

Dear Mr. Potter,

Enclosed you will find the result sheet of your OWL exams taken at the end of your 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Yours sincerely,

Griselda Marchbanks

Wizarding Examinations Authority

Ministry of Magic

OWL Results

Written / Practical / Total

Ancient Runes - - / - / -

Arithmancy - - / - / -

Astronomy - A / P / A

Care of Magical Creatures - E / O / O

Charms - E / E / E

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O / O+ / O+

Divination - P / D / P

Herbology - A / E / E

History of Magic - D / - / D

Muggle Studies - - / - / -

Potions - E / O / O

Transfiguration - E / E / E

Caption:

P and D - Fail

A - 1 OWL

E - 1,5 OWLs

O - 2 OWLs

O+ - 2,5 OWLs

Congratulations, you've got 12 OWLs.

-

Harry just couldn't believe his eyes, he'd got an O in potions and 12 OWLs, he could be an Auror. It was too good to be true, so he started reading the letter from Hogwarts that came attached to his OWL results expecting to see that because of some technicality Snape had been able to kick him out of his class.

-

Dear Mr. Potter,

Congratulations on your OWL results, with these scores you will be able to take the required subjects to pursue your chosen career of Auror.

Now that you are beginning your 6th year you must choose the subjects you would like to take for the next 2 years. Each Student must choose a minimum of 5 subjects and a maximum of 8. As we discussed when talking about your intended career, to be an Auror you must get NEWTs in DADA, Charms, Potions and Transfiguration so you may choose the complementary subjects you want as long as you've acquired an OWL on it. You must send me your list of desired courses by the first of August.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

-

So it was really true, that was no catch, no little detail; he would be able to take the required NEWT courses to become an Auror.

“You did great, Harry. Congratulations.” Murmured Hermione, breaking Harry out of his shock and only then he took his eyes of his letter and realized that Hermione hadn't opened hers yet. She was still staring down at it as if it was a bomb or something.

“Aren't you going to open it?” He asked moving closer to her so that he could put his arm around her shoulder.

“I… I don't think I can. Can you open for me?” She replied looking pleadingly at him.

“Sure.” He answered picking up the letter and reading it out loud.

-

Dear Miss Granger,

Enclosed you will find the result sheet of your OWL exams taken at the end of your 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Yours sincerely,

Griselda Marchbanks

Wizarding Examinations Authority

Ministry of Magic

OWL Results

Written / Practical / Total

Ancient Runes - O / - / O

Arithmancy - O+ / - / O+

Astronomy - O+ / E / O

Care of Magical Creatures - O+ / O / O+

Charms - O+ / O / O+

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O+ / O / O+

Divination - - / - / -

Herbology - O+ / O / O+

History of Magic - O+ / - / O+

Muggle Studies - - / - / -

Potions - O+ / O / O+

Transfiguration - O+ / O / O+

Caption:

P and D - Fail

A - 1 OWL

E - 1,5 OWLs

O - 2 OWLs

O+ - 2,5 OWLs

Congratulations, you've got 24 OWLs.

-

“Wow! 24 OWLs! It must be some kind of record.” Said Harry in awe. She'd got twice as much OWLs as him, that was just amazing but she didn't seem to share his enthusiasm, in fact, she seemed to be trying very hard not to cry.

“What's wrong?” Asked Harry pulling her to his lap. “Aren't you happy with your results?”

“I am.” She replied in a small voice. “It's just… It's just… They would be so proud.” She finished finally giving in and breaking down in sobs.

Harry comforted her again until she stopped crying. He still felt a bit uncomfortable around crying girls but Hermione needed him so he would be there for her. He thought that it was better to get used to it anyway because he would probably have to do it a several more times before she got over it.

“So much for not crying anymore…” Chuckled Hermione, obviously in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“That's ok, honey.” Said Harry hugging her and kissing her forehead. “You can cry all over me as much as you want.”

“Thanks, love. You're the best boyfriend a girl could wish for.” She said smiling up at him.

“Love?” Asked Harry grinning at her. All his life he'd been called only foul names and now the greatest girl in the world was calling him `love'. If it weren't for everything that happened the day before he would be bouncing up and down in joy.

“What? If you can call me `honey' I can call you `love'.” She answered defensively.

“Hey, I'm not complaining.” He answered quickly and then leaned down to kiss and reassure her.

They spent several minutes like this, just enjoying each other's touches and kisses. But Harry knew that although he would like to stay like that forever, they had a lot of things to do today, so he broke the kiss and went right into discussing the first thing on his `to do' list for today.

“So, have we decided if we are going to tell everyone about us or not? I thought about it and I really think we should, I don't want to hide what we have and after yesterday I really don't think that they would believe it if we tried to deny it.” Harry said all of this very fast so Hermione wouldn't have an opening to interrupt him.

“I know.” Hermione sighed, burring her face on Harry's neck. “I was fine with telling them yesterday, it's not as if it would be much use to try to keep it a secret anymore. But the more I think about their reactions… I don't know, I just… It's just… Ron and Ginny are like family to me and I really can't have them mad at me right now.”

“I know they might be upset at first, but they will come around. It will be worse if we keep this from them and they end up finding out on their own.” Harry understood why she wanted to hide it, he didn't want them mad at him either, they had gone through too much this past weeks to have a huge fight with Ron right now but it was the right thing to do.

“Fine then, but you do the talking. I might explode again if he starts acting… well, like Ron.” She said half-hearted.

“Ok, but I might explode too. You're not the only one who lost your temper with the redheads yesterday.” He said with a sigh.

“Well, then maybe that's why nobody came here to bother us yet. I was wondering why none of the adults have come check on us yet, seeing that we slept in the same bed, but now I think that they might be scared of us.” She said with a light laugh.

“Well, that is also the fact that is too damn early.” Said Harry looking at the clock on the wall that showed 7:15. “But why don't we go downstairs and find out? I'm starving.” Harry said getting up and bringing Hermione with him.

“Sure, but first I wanted to brush my teeth and maybe take a shower. I did a little exploring yesterday and found out that Sirius bought you everything you would need to live here so do you think I could borrow some clothes and your tooth brush?” She asked sweetly making puppy eyes at him so that he wouldn't have the heart to refuse, not that he would anyway.

“Of course. You can grab anything you want.” He said smiling at her. At that she got a mischievous glint in her eyes and pressed herself against him, grabbing his bum.

“Anything I want?” She asked seductively.

“Anything and everything.” He said in a husky voice leaning down to kiss her passionately. They kissed for a while and Harry was once again amazed at how Hermione could make him feel like he had died and gone to heaven.

“Thank you.” She said as they broke apart. “I'm going to take that shower now.” But as she was heading to the bathroom Harry grabbed her hand and pushed her back to him.

“You know it would save us a lot of time if we just took a shower together.” He said teasingly. He normally wasn't that forward, up until now Hermione was the one pushing their relationship further but after that little stunt of hers he was too turned on to be shy.

“Hardly.” Interjected Hermione with a smile. “If you got in that shower with me I would want to take my time with you, Mister. And as much fun as that sounds we don't have time for this right now. Maybe another time.” She whispered in his ear before kissing him again and walking into the bathroom.

Harry just stood there dumbstruck, staring at the closed bathroom door. He hadn't expected her to act so casual about his proposition, but on the other hand, Hermione hasn't ceased to surprise and amaze him this summer. So, with a smile, he plopped down on his bed to ask himself once more how could he have gotten so luck as to have a girl like her in his life.

----

After they had both showered and dressed they made their way to the kitchen. Hermione was so cute dressed in one of Harry's new sweatpants and a big T-shirt that he almost convinced her to skip breakfast, well, almost. To tell the truth Harry was a bit nervous about meeting everyone and explaining what the both of them had been doing for the past couple of weeks. They had decided that they shouldn't mention their earlier `agreement' to anyone and just say they had started dating the day Hermione aparated to his room, which wasn't completely lying, just a mere technicality. But, other than that they would be as honest as possible, as long as nobody asked for specific details of what a hormone-driven teenager boy was doing all alone with a teenager girl in a room with a big bed.

When they reached the kitchen door Harry stopped and looked at Hermione as if to ask if she was ready, only after she nodded and lightly squeezed his hand he led her into the room.

“Good morning.” Said Harry politely as they entered the full kitchen. Everybody stopped talking at the sound of his voice and turned to look at the couple that was now making their way to the table. After they sat Harry started pilling food in both their plates; since they hadn't had dinner he was famished and even if Hermione wasn't hungry he would make he eat. And when he finished devouring his meal and saw her still full plate he decided to do just that.

“What's wrong, Mya? You barely touched your food. We have a very busy day today; you will need your strength. You have to eat.” Harry said softly but seriously, letting her know that he wouldn't stop nagging her until she ate everything on her plate.

“I know. I just can't eat when people are staring at me.” She said in a neutral tone of voice as she looked around the table at the people who had been, indeed, staring at them but now were trying to cover it by looking at everywhere else but them.

“Okay.” Said Harry with a sigh. “We all have things to do today other than sit here and stare at each other so if you could just tell us what it is that you want and get it over with, we would really appreciate it.”

Hearing this the occupants of the kitchen exchanged glances as if trying to decide who was going to speak first since there were quite a few people present. All Weasleys minus Percy were there and also Remus, Tonks, Moody, and surprisingly Professor McGonagall, who, at last, was the one to address them.

“We know that this must be a terrible time to bring this up, and be assured that if we could postpone talking about this matter we certainly would but unfortunately it is of extreme importance that you both relate to us what exactly happened last night. And also, to help us get a better understanding of the whole scenario, it would be good too if you could explain a few things about your summer.” Professor McGonagall said all of this very kindly and everyone could see by her expression that she really cared for Hermione and as Harry thought about it he could really see why she was the one chosen to speak. Of all the people in the room, with exception of himself of course, the professor was the one that Hermione respected and trusted most, therefore making it easier for Hermione to respond to her rather than anyone else.

“That's fine, really. We were expecting something like this.” Said Hermione in a business like manner. “I guess it would be more helpful if we started telling you about our summer up until yesterday. What exactly do you want to know?”

People were clearly taken aback by Hermione's cool tone but Harry was not at all surprised. He knew she would keep this as much formal as possible so it would be easier for her to keep her façade and not break down in front of them. Harry also thought they deserved the treatment they were getting and intended on behaving the same way when his time came to speak, if only the Order had been more open with them last year things could have turned out much different.

“Well, …” Started Remus awkwardly. “I talked to your Aunt Catherine, Hermione. I wanted to tell her about what happened so she could help with the necessary arrangements and all. And, well, I asked her a few questions since we didn't know when you two would be up to talking… anyway, she told me about a fight you had with your parents over your muggle boyfriend …” Several gasps were heard at the mention of her boyfriend. Some people were looking incredulously at Hermione as if they didn't believe she could have a secret boyfriend that wasn't Harry or Ron and much less a muggle. “… And that Harry couldn't have been at your house since your were grounded until the end of the summer and was forbidden to have any contact with your friends, be they magical or muggles. So I was wondering…” But what he was wondering Harry didn't find out because Moody chose this moment to interrupt.

“Hey, stop a little there, Lupin. This might be important; this muggle boy might be a spy for the dark side or something. What exactly Granger's aunt told you? Asked Moody eagerly.

“This is ridiculous! This is private business and does not concern any of you. I've known Jason all my life and he's one hundred percent muggle! And since almost no one in the Wizarding world knew of our relationship then there's no way anyone could use him to get to me.” Countered Hermione angrily.

“She's right Moody, the details of her fight with her parents are not of our business and my telling them wouldn't help in anything.” Remus said before the old auror could reply. “But I have to know Hermione, who knew about this and if you really trust this boy.”

“Ginny knew since last summer and I told Harry a couple of weeks ago. And I do trust him. He's my best friend in the muggle world.” Said Hermione coolly, now that she had calmed out again.

Ginny, maybe sensing that now it was ok to speak, turned on Hermione with a curious look on her face. “But I thought you guys had decided to remain just friends and broke up. When did you get back together?”

“We didn't.” Said Hermione with a resigned sigh. And Harry knew that now was the time to come clean about their relationship.

“But your aunt told me that you admitted spending the night with this boy. And that there was some… err, evidence of it.” Asked Remus confused. And several mores shocked gasps were heard after that little bomb.

“I DID NOT admit `spending the night' with anyone” Hermione replied outraged. “I told my parents that I left early in the morning to meet Jason…”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. It's only that your mother didn't notice you were missing in the morning as she told you. She had had a nightmare so she got up around 2 am to check on you only to find your bed empty. As you had changed out of your pajamas she knew that you had sneaked out. The reason why she didn't say anything was that she didn't want your father to find out his little girl had spent the night out with some boy.” Corrected Remus.

Hermione was speechless for a minute, as was Harry. The fact that her mother knew she hadn't spent the night home weighing on their consciences. The whole room was now silent again, waiting to hear Hermione's response.

“Fine, I won't try to deny that.” Replied Hermione resigned. “This will only help me make my point which is that just because I `told' my parents I something doesn't mean that it's the truth.” As Remus was opening his mouth to add something Hermione raised her hand to stop him and continued. “I know there was `evidence', as you put it, that I was with a boy and I won't deny that either, it just wasn't Jason. I only told my parents that because I thought they would just forbid me from seeing him and forget about it, I had no idea they were going to ground me.” Harry was amazed as how calm Hermione was through all of this because he wouldn't be so collected if people were looking at `him' like that. Ron was so red on the face that he seemed like he was going to explode at any second and keep staring daggers at her. Mrs. Weasley was looking disapproving and was probably thinking Rita Skeater was right at portraying her as some sort of scarlet woman. The twins were looking at her as if for the first time in a mix of shock and admiration, Ginny also looked impressed at her coolness and the rest just looked surprised.

Everybody kept silent for a while, probably waiting to see if Hermione would continue and tell them who this mysterious boyfriend was, when she didn't Remus probed her again. “Well, huh, so are you planning on telling us where you were and with whom? I know you may think it's none of our business but after the attack we have to consider all possibilities.”

“Oh, but you know where and with whom I was. Don't you remember? You and Tonks may not have seen me but you knew I had been there.” Said Hermione amused, looking at Tonks who were sitting beside her, she must had been wondering, like Harry, how they hadn't piece it all together by now.

After a few seconds of confusion, Tonks jaw dropped. “I knew it!! I bloody knew it!! Just friends my arse, I told you the little brat was lying.” She exclaimed with a big smile on her face shifting her gaze from Remus to Harry and Hermione, then she leaned over to give Hermione a hug and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. But the smile that the scene brought to Harry's lips was soon wiped off his face as he looked at Remus and the others. The werewolf looked really hurt that Harry had lied to him and the rest still looked confused. They hadn't got it yet and now it was time for Harry to speak.

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A/N: So, that's it. Don't complain about my OWL results because I have no idea how they are supposed to go. See you next time and don't forget to Review!!

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Important: This A/N is about HBP, if you didn't read the book and don't want to know what happens, do NOT read this!!! The story however will continue HBP spoiler free. I'll update soon, I promise.

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A/N: I had posted this note as an one-shot yesterday but apparently I shouldn't have and they deleted it so I'm putting this here as an author's note to try and help everybody that is depressed about HBP to see that we shouldn't give up just yet. At first I thought I would just let it be but after I saw authors in this site and others abandoning their fics because of what happened in HBP, I'm going to explain to you why I'm not going to do the same.

Can we still hope?? (Just the jumbled up thoughts of a H/Hr aficionado)

When I finished reading the book a few of hours ago I was heavily depressed, I called some of my non-pottermaniac friends and went out to clear my mind, or else I might've just thrown the damn thing out of the window. And as I sit here right now trying put to my feelings into words I'm just torn between crying and screaming in rage.

I love Jo, I truly do but, c'mon!! Her writing seemed definitely hurried and a few characters seemed a bit OoC (Who's that girl? and what has she done to Hermione? And for the love of Merlin, how come Harry suffered more from Cedric's passing than Sirius??). Some of you may think that I'm being harsh, childish even but I'm sure I'm not the only one felling this way. But let's discuss the ships now.

I'm not in the least surprised about the Harry/Ginny romance in the book, although I had hoped against it, it was already expected by most of us due to some illustrations and a few things she said on interviews. But I thought that she would at least convince me that they should be together, she would make things grow slowly and such. So you must guess how shocked I was when all of a sudden, after 5 years of knowing each other Harry starts to like Ginny. Even with Cho things didn't happen like that. Anyway, I'll come back to H/G later.

Now to Ron and Hermione, I guess what surprised me most was that she didn't hook them up, and it kind of disappointed me, but before you start throwing your copies of HBP at me let me explain. We may try to deny it and kid ourselves that it `s not true but these two do have a thing for each other, but that's just it, a silly little crush that would go away after a while if they got together, just like the H/C thing, so if they had just got it over with I would have been much happier. On the other hand, it's good that Ron broke Hermione's heart the way he did, Ginny and Ron had their break ups on the same day and even though Harry and Ginny got together soon after that, Ron and Hermione didn't. After the whole Lavender fiasco they ought to have talked about things, since it was pretty obvious how Hermione felt about it. What I'm hopping happened here was that they did talk and, because of everything that happened, decided to remain just friends, given that if they tried dating and it didn't work it would ruin their friendship at a time when Harry needs them the most. So that would leave Hermione free to be with Harry on the next book. But the problem is, would Harry be free too?

I know every Pumpkin Pier out there is happy that Harry broke up with Ginny on the last chapter, but that alone doesn't bring me relief. I laughed out loud when I read that part because I've read that many times before and I know you did too, but only Harry was saying those words to Hermione and we all know that in the end, even though they spend some time apart, they get back together. So that leave us to wonder, how deep are Harry's feelings toward Ginny? Because they didn't break up because Harry was unhappy, as a matter of fact, he was “happier than he could remember being for a very long time” (HP and the HBP, pg 500. British edition) as much so that after he'd done it he had to get away from her in order not to be tempted to change his mind. He only broke up with her because of her safety, he didn't want her to be in even more danger because of him, but will he come back to her after the danger has passed (I don't want to even consider a scenario in which he dies, although I have a crazy theory that he will have to but I won't bore you with it right now)??

We have to be open to the fact that he may do it but as I'm sure that none of us true Pumpkin Piers will ever become H/G shippers we will have to hold on with every fibber of our body to the hope that he won't. If he carries on with his plan of leaving school to go looking for Voldemort's horcruxes with Ron and Hermione, it would be the perfect setting for him to fall in love with his bossy, bushy-haired best friend.

So, don't ever give up. We might have received a low blow on this book, but there is still hope and I'm sure that all of us Portkey writers will do our best to prove to everyone that Harry and Hermione belong together no matter what others may think.

Mel

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Disclamer: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh!

A/N: Well, so sorry for the delay but I seem to have a kind of post-HBP block but here it is now! I was planning on writing a really big chapter with everything that happens before they leave but that was taking too long so I'll be posting half of it now and the rest when the bloody block leaves me alone. Anyway, this chapter isn't one of my favorites because I had to explain a lot of things and sometimes that can get boring but there was nothing I could do about that, it had to be done. So, I hope you don't hate it and don't forget to review to let me know what you think.

Chapter 6 - Setting Things Straight (Part 1)

“We won't apologize for lying.” Said Harry in a serious tone, looking at Remus. He liked the man, he really did, but this was not about him. He had to let them know how they felt about the Order, and right now, he wasn't speaking to his last link to his father, he was speaking to an Order member.

“Nobody here is asking for an apology, Harry. We just want to understand. Why did you feel like you had to lie? Don't you trust Tonks and I?” Remus asked, not trying to hide the hurt in his voice and that affected Harry somehow. This was going to be harder than he thought. The people they cared about were hurt, disappointed and downright mad at them right now but they couldn't let this affect them, they had a point to make and they would do it.

“It's not you that we don't trust. We don't trust the Order. It's nothing personal.” Harry's cool statement was met by several outraged replies that he couldn't quite make out, as every order member seemed to be speaking at the same time, but he could hear a non-order member shouting at him very clearly.

“What about me, huh? I'm not a bloody member! When were you planning on telling me that you've been going at it with Hermione behind my back?” Harry had never seen Ron this mad, or this red, before. He was standing across the table from Harry and looking down at him with a look on his face that showed that he wanted nothing more than just beat him to a pulp.

“Ron, …” Harry started, standing up himself. He knew that Ron was going to flip over this but he was really not looking forward this conversation, especially in front of all these people.

“Why her, Harry?” Ron asked, pain now mixed with the anger on his face. “You could have any bloody girl you wanted. Damn, you even dated the most popular girl in school last term. Why this now?”

“That's the thing, Ron. Hermione isn't like Cho, or any other girl. She likes me for who I truly am, and not just because I'm famous. She is special and what we have is special. We didn't plan for this to happen and we didn't tell you sooner because we were still sorting out what all of this meant. Also, we wanted to tell you in person, because we knew how upset you would be and the reason you would fell this way.” Harry said all of this looking intently into Ron's eyes, trying to convey to him that he really meant all those things he said but at Harry's last statement Ron avoided his eyes so he stopped speaking.

Harry was pleased to see that Ron didn't look angry anymore but at the same time he felt extremely guilty for causing the hurt he was seeing on his best friend's eyes. Ron now was staring with a pained look on his face at Hermione that had been staring and poking at her food since Ron's outburst.

“Does that mean… Harry said `w-we'… Does that mean you knew? All this time you knew how I felt?” Ron whispered incredulously to Hermione.

“I knew you fancied me… since the Yule Ball.” Answered Hermione quietly, still playing with her food. “And the funny thing is that I liked you too. I had a major crush on you for the longest time, but as you never made a move or anything and we kept fighting all the time, I started thinking that maybe you didn't want to fancy me. I know it sounds weird but you were always making fun of me, never supported me on things like SPEW or even prefect duties, so I reached the conclusion that you were ashamed of me; one thing was to be friends but it was another thing completely to date the bossy, plain looking know-it-all. So, at the end of last term, after many nights of crying myself to sleep I decided that I had to get over you, and after everything that happened at the Department of Mysteries I finally did. I got over you.” After saying this, she finally looked up at Ron, who had spent the whole time she was speaking frozen in place, with his mouth hanging open. She had tears in her eyes and looked like she was trying very hard to keep herself together. “I'm sorry, but when I woke up on the hospital wing after almost dying I realized that life it's too short to spend waiting for a guy that doesn't seem to want you.”

People all around were gaping at her while Ron just kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish but no sound came out. Out of everybody in the room, Harry was the only one not surprised by this revelation. Hermione had told him this on a rainy afternoon last week, he had been extremely jealous at first but after she assured him that she was really over Ron and by no means their relationship was any kind of rebound and that she wasn't with him just because she couldn't be with Ron, he had calmed down.

“I know this will be hard for you to accept, Ron” Hermione continued, realizing that Ron wouldn't be speaking any time soon. “But I think that if you are really honest with yourself you will see that the only reason you are feeling this hurt right now, is because you always considered me your possession even though we were never a couple. I was something that you had and Harry didn't, and now that he took that away from you, you are feeling angry and betrayed.” She stood up and leaned over the table so that her face was closer to Ron's. “This isn't about you fancying me or wanting to be with me. Once again this is just about Harry and what Harry has that you don't. I just hope you realize that soon, because Harry and I have already lost too much to lose our best friend over some silly thing as your petty jealousy.” When Hermione finished talking her voice was breaking and there were tears running down her face, Ron was looking at her stunned and apparently hadn't found his voice yet.

“Well, I have a lot to do today. Are you going to be escorting me to my house?” She said trying to compose herself while turning to look at Tonks.

“Yeah, sure.” Said Tonks getting up fast and knocking down her chair, she seemed quite eager to leave the tension that had been created in the room.

“I'll see you later, Ok?” Said Hermione giving Harry a hug.

“Are you sure you'll be ok? I could go meet you after I finished at Gringotts.” He said looking at her and pointedly ignoring the looks their were getting from the others in the room.

“No, I'll be fine. Actually, I was hoping you could buy our school things while you are at Diagonal Alley, we might not have time to do it later.” She whispered the end giving him a pointed look that showed him that she hadn't changed her mind about their summer plans.

“Ok, I'll see you tonight then.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and she left the room with Tonks.

“Remus, I suppose you'll be the one taking me to Gringotts, right?” Asked Harry moving towards the door, hoping to leave as soon as possible. Remus just nodded; clearly still hurt that Harry lied to him. “Great. I'll just grab a couple of things upstairs and we can go.” Said Harry already walking out of the room.

“Wait there, Potter. We are not finished here.” Said Moody trying to get him to come back.

“No, as far as I'm concerned, we're finished.” Harry said not even turning around before he closed the door behind him.

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As he was lying on his bed back at Grimmauld Place, Harry couldn't think of a word to describe how he was feeling right now better than exhausted, physically and emotionally. He had just come back from Diagonal Alley and from the reading of Sirius will; and, to be honest, it had not been as bad as he thought it would. In fact, he was pretty sure thinking about it had been more emotional draining than the reading itself. Apparently Sirius had wrote this will during the `First War' when Harry was just about one year-old and hadn't had an opportunity to change it with being in Azkaban and going into hiding, so there were no last goodbyes or advices for the future, - what would have he said to a baby anyway? - just a statement that everything that he owned would belong to Harry in the event of his death. So Harry just had to spend a couple of hours going through boring documents and signing papers.

After they had left the bank, Harry had dragged Remus - who still wasn't speaking more than the absolutely necessary - to almost every single shop in the Alley and had bought not only his and Hermione's school supplies but also everything that he thought could be of any use during their `extended' summer. Remus had obviously questioned this, seeing that he was buying a whole lot of stuff, but Harry just shrugged it off saying he was getting most of this things to try and cheer Hermione up, since she hadn't come with them he didn't know what she wanted specifically so he was trying to get everything she might have bought if given a choice to pick it up herself.

Now, all that he wanted was a couple hours of sleep before dinner so that he could recharge his batteries but as he was starting to drift off to sleep, the sound of the door opening and closing crashed all his hopes of getting any rest. Tiredly, he opened half an eye to see who the intruder was and then woke up completely after the sight of a disheveled Hermione looking lost around the room.

“Where have all this stuff come from?” Asked Hermione after finally spotting Harry half-sitting on the bed surrounded by several bags.

“Well, you asked me to get our school things, so I got those and a few other things too.” Replied Harry yawning.

“A few? Harry, you bought the whole Alley.” Said Hermione tiredly, moving toward the bed and gesturing around the room that was filled with bags, boxes and packages.

“Well, I didn't know what you wanted.” Harry started as Hermione put down the bags that where on the bed and sat down next to him. He was about to continue his explanation when they heard a sound of something being dropped on the floor outside their room. So he took of his wand and put a silencing charm on the room while Hermione put her special locking charm on the door.

“Do you thing someone is trying to spy on us?” Asked Hermione walking to the door and placing more charms on it.

“Well, they can try but we're not going to let them.” Said Harry as Hermione sat back on the bed and placed another charm on the room that made the warm red walls around them, the ceiling and the floor all flash briefly gray.

“What was that?” Asked Harry smiling for he knew that it had to be some extremely complex but handy spell that only his Hermione would have thought about.

“A coating spell. It blocks any magical device that enables people to see through things from seeing inside or through the place where the spell is cast, in other words, it prevents Mad-Eye from spying on us.” Said Hermione in her usual `classroom' tone as if it was the most common spell in the word, which made Harry only smile wider. People normally thought that this know-it-all attitude of hers was annoying but Harry always thought it was endearing, well, most of the time anyway.

“Ok.” Said Harry putting an arm around her and bringing her closer to him. “Now that we are protected against prying ears and eyes I can properly explain to you why I bought a `little' more than you expected.” He said innocently and earning an eye-roll from Hermione. “Well, we are hoping to stay this summer, Merlin knows how long, on a small island in the middle of nowhere and I don't think they have any shops there so I had to buy a lot of supplies. I also had to buy things for you and I really didn't know what you wanted or the subjects you are taking so I had to buy everything on your list plus a whole lot of stuff Remus told me girls use and some stuff I thought you'd like. And then I got carried away and bought myself a lot of things too, I never had much living at the Dursleys and even after I found out my parents had left me money I was never able to buy anything that didn't fit in my trunk because I wouldn't have a place to store it since the Dursleys already complained enough about Hedwig… But now that I have a house of my own I just…” He trailed off and sighed. “So, putting all of those together, well, we have all of this.” He said looking at the bags all over the room.

“It's Ok, Harry, you are allowed to have anything you want while you are here. You deserve it.” She said kissing his cheek. “Now, did you just say you have a house? How was the reading?” She asked him quietly resting her head on his shoulder and running her hand up and down his side.

“Yes, this house is mine now, along with everything Sirius owned. And as for the reading, it wasn't that bad.” Answered Harry also quietly and then proceeded telling her about his day, when he was done it was his turn to ask her about hers.

“What about you? How were things at your house?” Asked Harry lying on the bed and bringing her down with him so that he could hug her and comfort her properly when she told him about it.

“It was hard, going back there and walking into the half destroyed living room, memories of last night flashing in my mind…” As soon as she started talking Harry could feel her tears start soaking his shirt where she was resting her head, her voice was weak and pained and it broke Harry's heart to see her like this. But he knew that he had to let her talk, it would make her feel better to get it out of her chest. “But at least my aunt was there, she helped me set everything for the funeral tomorrow and we talked a lot, it really helped me talking to her. Not that talking to you doesn't help too, it's just that you never knew them and she did, so there are some things that you just wouldn't understand.” She added quickly so not to hurt Harry's feelings.

Harry understood why she felt that way and he didn't mind that she felt better talking to her aunt, it had been easy for him to talk to her about Sirius because she knew him as much as he did, in fact she had spent more time with him than Harry himself last summer but he really never met her parents or remembered his own for that matter, so most of the things she probably talked about with her aunt were things he couldn't really relate.

“You know, she's my guardian now.” She continued after a while. “It's a good thing my parents told her about me being a witch on the summer before 4^th year, I wouldn't have the energy to tell her right now.”

“Is she ok with you staying here with me?” Harry asked worried.

“I didn't ask her permission. I just told her I was going to stay at the Order's Headquarters because it was the safest thing to do. She doesn't have to know the details.” She shrugged.

“So, do want to see the things I bought?” Asked Harry after a while, hoping that it would cheer her up.

“Sure, I brought my trunk and some other things from home too.” She said pointing to a pile near the door Harry hadn't noticed before. There were a couple of boxes, her guitar, a pet-carrier with a sleeping Crookshank's inside, two trunks and a bird cage. As he moved closer to take a better look at what he was sure to be his possessions, she explained it to him.

“As you've probably noticed I asked Tonks if we could stop by the Dursleys to get your things since I was sure you'd forgotten all about it. They were quite pleased to know that you had left earlier this year and didn't opposed to us getting your things. I've told Hedwig to fly here so she should be arriving any minute now, maybe we could send our course lists to Professor McGonagall later.”

“Sure, we'll send them as soon as Hedwig is up for the trip. Now let's open these packages so I can show you what I bought.” Said Harry grabbing a few packages and jumping on the bed like an over excited kid on Christmas morning. When he looked up at Hermione he saw that she was smiling at him so he pulled her onto the bed with him and trusted a broom-shaped package in her hands with just one thought going through his mind. `Mission accomplished.'

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Harry lay awake in bed the next afternoon thinking about the stressful day they just been through and about how it wasn't over yet. They had come back from the Grangers' funeral a couple of hours ago and looked themselves up in Harry's room since Hermione didn't want to talk with anyone. It was so ridiculous how everybody seemed to want to say some cheap line to her as “At least they didn't suffer” or “They are at a better place now” as if any of this crap would make her feel any better about it all. Harry knew, of course, that they all meant well but it was just not what she need right now, she needed silent support, a shoulder to cry on and that's what Harry was going to be to her. Harry had been impressed at how she had managed to keep it together during the whole service, only shedding a tear every now and then, but as soon as they got into the room and put all the proper privacy spells in place she had completely broken down and had cried herself to sleep in Harry's arms.

Now, as he looked at her peaceful expression, it was hard to believe it was all true, if fact, if weren't for the tear tracks on her face he would be compelled to believe that the last couple of days had just been a bad dream; but they weren't that lucky. It was all very real and tonight they would still have to endure another excruciating interrogation, with the added bonus that this one was going to be commanded by their beloved headmaster. Harry was a bit surprised that the old man hadn't shown up before but according to Remus he was busy at the Wizengamot now that he was reinstated as Chief Warlock and the ministry had finally sacked Fudge and was going through the motions of finding a decent replacement.

Apparently there weren't too many people willing to take the job since the wizarding world was in a state of total disarray right now. In the fortnight Harry spent at his relatives' house he had cut himself completely from the outside world, with the exception of the few letters from his friends, he didn't know anything that was happening in the war. When he started going to Hermione's house she got him updated with the wizarding news and they would also read the Daily Prophet together in the mornings, so from what he knew it was not a simple matter to choose a new leader to the wizarding world right now. There were attacks happening every day, all Death Eaters had broken out of Azkaban and the common wizard everywhere was in complete panic.

Also he and Dumbledore had changed status again from complete lunatics to the hope of wizarding kind and Harry was quite curious to see how Dumbledore was going to play this to his advantage and also quite eager to see the Headmaster's reaction when he refused to be his number one puppet anymore. He laughed out loud as the image of the always collected headmaster having his jaw hit the floor in surprise came swimming into his mind.

“What's so funny?” Asked a sleepy voice from his chest.

“Just thinking about Dumbledore's reaction when I put him in his place.” Said Harry kissing Hermione on the top of her head. ”Go back to sleep, we still have a few hours before dinner.”

“I've slept enough. I think we should go talk to Ron, we'll leave in a couple of days and I don't want him to stay mad at us the whole summer.” Said Hermione looking up at him.

“Are you sure, Mya? As you said we still have a couple of days left, we don't need to do this today. We have enough on our plates already without going and picking up a fight with Ron.” Asked Harry concerned. They've already been through a lot today and still had the meeting with Dumbledore and the others later, fighting with Ron now could make things a little too much to handle.

”No, I need to do this as soon as possible. I have to know if I still have a best friend or if I should mourn for another loved one.” Said Hermione forcefully.

At seeing how important it was to her Harry agreed and it was with a heavy heart and an intense sense of dread that he made his way out of the room with Hermione to try and find their best friend.

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A/N: Review! Please!

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DISCLAMER: I own nothing but the plot.

A/N: Sooooo sorry about the delay… I know many of you thought I had given up the story but don't worry neither I did nor I intent to. I seem to have gotten over my block (Thank God!!) and here is the next chapter!! It is small because it the second part of chapter 6 but I promise bigger chapters in the near future. Thanks a lot to all of you that reviewed I read it all and I loved them all so thank you so much. And a special thanks to my new beta DSS_Weasley. :P Now on with the story.

Chapter 7 - Setting Things Straight (Part 2)

They didn't have much trouble finding Ron. He was going through his trunk in his - and what used to be Harry's - room and paid them no mind as they walked in and settled on Harry's old bed. Harry thought it would be better to just sit and wait until Ron was ready to talk to them but Hermione didn't seem to share his thoughts seeing that after a minute of being ignered she stood up and walked over to where Ron was trying to get his things in order.

“Ron? Can we talk to you for a moment?” Asked Hermione pleadingly.

“So now you wanna talk, huh? After ignoring me all summer, now you wanna talk. Well, I don't think now it's the best time.” Answered Ron without even looking up from what he was doing.

“C'mon Ron, don't be like that. Please, just talk to us.” Begged Hermione.

“I'm serious, now it's not a good time. I have to finish packing, I'm going back to the Burrow tonight.” He said and just now Harry noticed that Ron's things weren't all over the floor as they used to be when they were sharing the room.

“What? Why are you leaving?” Asked Hermione surprised.

“Mum thinks it's best that we leave now that this is Harry's house. And I think it will be better this way too, I need time to think about stuff.”

“I don't mind having your family here.” Spoke Harry for the first time but Ron just ignored him and continued packing.

“Listen Ron, I know you need time to think this through, and I'm all for giving you space but please, I just need to know if you are still my friend, our friend. I'm really sorry if you think we took you for granted this summer, things were just complicated with me being grounded and Harry mourning but that doesn't mean we don't need you because we do, I need you Ron. Please, don't be mad at us forever.” Pleaded Hermione with tears in her eyes.

Harry was furious. How could Ron be such a prat not to care how much he was hurting her? But as he was starting to stand up to get Hermione and leave before he hexed Ron into oblivion Ron did something that shocked him into sitting again. There, before Harry's eyes, Ron hugged Hermione. And she hugged him back. Harry didn't know whether he should kill Ron for hugging his girl or thank him for doing it for her, in the end he chose just to wait and pretend he wasn't there while they just stood there hugging like there was no tomorrow and whispering things at each other's ears for what, to Harry, seemed like an eternity. The only consolation to Harry was that when they parted Hermione was smiling. Ron wasn't going to die today.

“So, are we ok now?” Asked Hermione holding Ron's hands. He just nodded smiling at her. “All of us?” She asked again looking at Harry then looking back at Ron.

“No.” Ron answered letting go of her hands and turning his back on them again. Hermione just sighed and motioned for Harry to stand up and talk to him. But as Harry was approaching him, Ron spoke again.

“Don't. We're not having this conversation now and we're not having it in front of Hermione. I need to think first. It's my fault Hermione moved on, I should have asked her out when I had the chance but I didn't, not because I thought she wasn't good enough for me but because I thought `I' wasn't good enough for her and now it's too late. I can accept that. What I can't seem to accept is the fact that my supposed best mate would go for the girl he `knows' I fancy behind my back.” Said Ron almost shouting the last part. When Harry was opening his mouth to reply he held up his hand and continued. “I don't want to hear any excuses or explanations now. As I said, I need to think first, you should do the same. We will talk at school.” He said giving Harry a poorly wrapped package. “Happy Birthday in advance. See you at school.” And with that he opened the door and motioned for them to leave, which they did with Hermione stoping just a minute to hug Ron and say their goodbyes.

----

“If everyone would be silent, please. I would like to start this meeting now.” Spoke Dumbledore at the head of the dinner table where few members of the order plus Harry and Hermione were all congregated for the `interrogation'. As the noise in the room died down he turned to the couple with kind eyes and began speaking softy but loud enough for anyone to hear.

“I hate to be bringing this up now after everything you two have been through this past few day but I'm afraid we can delay it no more. I'm sorry I have not been here for you before now but I was caught up with procedures at the ministry that I could not avoid and I hope you can forgive me. From what I heard about your last meeting the Order didn't get the answers to the questions that are plaguing our minds so I would like to ask you now to be completely honest with us when answering these questions for they are the key to your safety and to the capture of those who did you harm.”

Harry just nodded and saw that although Hermione did the same she was forcing herself not to roll her eyes. At seeing their agreement the headmaster motioned for Remus to start the questioning.

“We have a few questions that need to be answered before we ask you about what really happened that night. Firstly, Hermione, we need to know how you bypassed the wards we set up on Harry's house.” Asked Remus sounding at lost as how could anyone bypass wards designed by the great Albus Dumbledore. Harry felt a bit hurt listening to his former professor speaking for the first time since their trip to Diagonal Alley, Remus was still clearly avoiding him and right now wouldn't even look him in the eye.

“Wards? I don't know what you are talking about. I just apparated there like I would to anywhere else.” Said Hermione confused.

“You don't understand, Hermione. There are powerful wards on that house that prevents anyone from apparating in a 1-mile ratio. You must have done something different.” Said Remus.

“Well, Your powerful wards must be defective then because I didn't do anything different from any other apparating I've done. I'm afraid I wouldn't even know how.” Countered Hermione. Murmur started all over the table after that statement and Dumbledore had to ask for silence again before he could speak.

“I'm sure we can form a team to go check the wards tomorrow even though I have a pretty good idea of what might have happened there.” Said Dumbledore with the usual twinkle in his eyes but he didn't offer any more information on the subject. Seeing that he was done talking Mr. Weasley addressed them.

“Hmm… Harry. According to your safety instructions you weren't supposed to leave the house without a proper trained escort and we already know that Hermione's parents didn't know about your being at their house seeing that Hermione was grounded. So, how did you happen to be there at the time of the attack? Did you have another dream that warned you about it? Or did Hermione apparated to you for help?” Asked Arthur clearly uncomfortable with the subject of Harry and Hermione's relationship.

“None of those actually. I was already there when we heard her mother scream. I had been there the whole day as I had for the past several days since I got my apparation license. Funny how no one seemed to notice I was missing.” Answered Harry coldly.

“How did you wanted us to protect you, boy, if you were sneaking out when you knew you were supposed to stay put?” Asked Moody angrily, making everyone recover from the shock of Harry's statement.

“And how were you planning on protecting him if a Death Eater apparated to his room during the night and kidnapped him while he was asleep? We already reached the conclusion that the wards on his house are rubbish and that you had no way of knowing if he was home or not. When would you notice that he was missing? When you didn't get your “I'm fine” letter? No, that could be easily forged. Maybe when you decided he had suffered enough staying on that house by himself and went to get him out of there? Would he still be alive by then? Would he still be sane?” Asked Hermione forcefully. She was livid and nobody seemed to be willing to interrupt her speech. “Don't talk like you were doing him a big favor protecting him because you were not. You've put him through hell living in that home saying it was all for his safety when that wasn't even real. So don't blame him for your own incompetence.”

“Humph! I knew Harry dear wouldn't be acting this foolish if this girl wasn't influencing him. The Daily Prophet alerted us about her when they were in 4 year. Playing with his heart like that while seeing Viktor Krum and now doing the same with my Ronny… “ Molly Weasley rambled angrily only to be interrupted by the headmaster. And not one minute too soon either because Harry was ready to give her a piece of his mind too. Hermione though didn't seem affected by it, she seemed even bored like she expected that to happen.

“Now, Molly, lets not accuse people of things they have no fault of. Harry is not a innocent child anymore and as we saw in all his years at Hogwarts he can make his own decisions and once he has his heart set on them no one, and I mean not even Miss Granger, can make him change his mind. And also Miss Granger is right, sometimes we care so much for someone that it clouds our judgment in a way that we do them harm while trying to protect them. And I'm afraid that has happened to Harry too many times. But all we can do about that now is apologize and think back to what we've done wrong so we don't repeat ours mistakes. I truly am sorry Harry.” Said Dumbledore with a sigh.

“Err…” Started Tonks breaking the uncomfortable silence that had been created after Molly's accusations and the Headmaster's apology. “I think what is left to discuss here is what happened during the attack. We got a few basics from Harry the night it all happened but we need details if we are going to conduct a proper investigation on it. I know it must be hard for you to talk about it Hermione so if Harry would tell us everything he knows you would just have to fill in the blanks.” Said Tonks kindly looking at them both.

“Ok, but I don't know much more than what I've already told you.” Said Harry nodding. “We were upstairs in Hermione's room when we heard a scream so we grabbed our wands and ran to the living room… “ He sighed and grabbed Hermione's hand under the table to try to comfort her for what came next. “When we got there we saw the Death Eater over her parents bodies.” She squeezed his hand hard and he moved his chair closer to her so she could lean on him. “I think that er… scene froze for a second and that's when I was stunned.” Tonks nodded and looked at Hermione expectantly waiting for her to continue from there.

“When I saw that Harry was down I didn't know what to do. It was me against three Death Eaters and if I tried to flee they would get Harry so I just did the first thing that popped on my mind and fired a Reducto curse on the living ceiling. I had an advantage over them because I was still hidden from their view so they didn't have a chance to try and hex me before the ceiling stated coming down on their heads. I didn't even stop to see what happened next before I grabbed Harry and apparated us here.” Said Hermione in a small pained voice as if she was reliving everything she was telling them.

“That was all you needed to know, right?” Asked Harry eager to take Hermione out of there and comfort her.

“Yes, Harry, that was all. But I'm afraid that now we will have few arrangements to discuss with you.” Said Dumbledore apologetically.

“What arrangements?” Asked Harry frowning.

“Your living arrangements. After much discussion on this matter we thought it would be better if you spent the rest of your summer at Hogwarts.”

“What? I'm not going to leave Hermione here alone.” Countered Harry.

“Well, Miss Granger's aunt is her guardian now, and she wishes to take Hermione on a vacation across Europe until classes are to start. She thinks it might be a nice distraction for her on top of being safer to stay out of the country right now.” Explained Dumbledore leaving the couple dumbfounded. “Seeing that leaving you here all alone most of the time wouldn't be an option we think that Hogwarts would be the best place for you to go. It's safe and it's familiar to you so you would feel at home staying there.”

“When would we have to leave?” Asked Hermione still surprised by the turn of events.

“Tomorrow morning. I would like you both to pack your things tonight. A guard will be waiting here first thing in the morning to take you to the airport to meet your aunt, Hermione. And after your are safe inside the plane they will come back here to take Harry to Hogwarts.” Answered Remus with true sympathy on his eyes.

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. This had to be some kind of plot to separate them, maybe they did think Hermione was the one instigating his behavior and thought that by separating them they could get Harry to follow their every wish again. But as was Harry getting ready to starting telling them all the reason why that wasn't going to happen Hermione tugged on his hand and motioned for him to stand up.

“We should start packing now if we are going to leave so early tomorrow. We'll see you in the morning.” She said dragging an unwilling Harry out of the door.

Only when they reached their room and had all their privacy spells up was that Harry spoke up.

“You can't be serious Hermione. We can not let them do that to us!” Shouted Harry angrily. He didn't want to be shouting at her but he had get out his frustration somehow and the fact that she was actually starting to pack wasn't helping matters at all.

“And we won't, Harry.” Answered Hermione calmly.

“Then what are you doing?” Asked Harry exasperated pointing at where she was shrinking the things Harry had bought her so they could fit in her trunk.

“Packing.” She answered rolling her eyes. Harry just gave her an annoyed look that said “Reaaaally?” so after another eye roll she explained it further. “I know that I said we could wait until after your birthday Harry but we can't have that luxury anymore. We are leaving for the island tonight.”

---

Harry looked at the room again, his room, the room Sirius made especially for him. They had all their things shrunk and packed inside their trunks that were also shrunk inside their pockets. Harry had sent Hedwig to stay at Hogwarts and Hermione had told Crookshanks to hide in one of the empty rooms until later when he would deliver their letter to Tonks saying they had left for the remainder of the summer and asking her to take care of the half-kneazle for her. They were all set to leave, all Harry needed to do now was grab the portkey Hermione had made with the coordinates of the island they were hopping to find.

At first Harry thought they would just apparate there but as Hermione reminded him, one could not apparate such long distances. So she had brilliantly made her first illegal portkey. She never seemed to amaze him, and she believed this was what they had to do even if it was unbelievably dangerous and they were breaking laws and people's trusts by doing it. So, even though he was still a bit unsure about all this, he walked over to Hermione and with a look at all the love and trust she had for him in her eyes he grabbed the portkey and in the blink of an eye they were gone.

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A/N : So, what did you think? Review!

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