Title: Another Way to Die
Summary: One day, Hermione starts acting very strange. Suddenly she begins to fancy Malfoy, enjoys skipping around the Great Hall, is being abnormally polite to Ron, is skipping classes, and absolutely hates Harry Potter. What the bloody hell is going on here?
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Again, I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed; it really helps me to keep writing. This is the last chapter of the story and I feel very satisfied with the ending. I may write a pure fluff fic later illustrating what happens in the time gap I leave at the end. We'll see.
But before you read, and I know I'm being repetitive, I'd like to thank you, the reviewer, and all my readers for being so kind and positive about this story. This is my first ever story on Portkey and I've had so much fun writing it. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me in some way. I hope you have enjoyed the story and thank you so much for reading.
Chapter Four --
Neither of them wanted the kiss to end, but they were both in desperate need of oxygen. Hermione was the first to pull away, gasping for air as Harry did the same. After both of their breathing patterns had become normal again, Harry looked up at Hermione.
"Wow," he whispered.
"Yeah…" said Hermione, smiling shyly.
There was an awkwardly comfortable silence - which didn't make sense to either of the two. Neither of them knew what to say, what had happened, if it was okay, and if their friendship was ruined. Hermione broke the silence.
"Thank you, Harry," she said, softly, "for saving me."
"From what?"
"From Bellatrix," she snarled.
"From - from who?" Harry repeated.
"That evil woman, I don't know what she was thinking if she thought that she had complete control over me. There is no possible way that I would ever hurt you… She must've been crazy to think that she could use someone like me," Hermione rambled on.
"It was Bellatrix Lestrange? The person who - who -"
Harry stopped. Hermione used to try and make Harry talk about Sirius's death; she thought that it made him feel better and that it would ease his pain. But, actually, it was the opposite for Harry. He did not want to talk about his loss and instead, he tried to muse about it and admit it to himself on his own that Sirius was gone.
Hermione knew what Harry was trying to say even though he said nothing at all. She knew what it meant when she saw the sadness in his eyes and the dark shadows that blanketed over the startling green of them all too well. She loved his eyes; she loved them even more when they were looking directly at her. But when she saw his eyes so dark, so depressed, it just made her want to take all the pain he was suffering from and make herself suffer instead. She'd do anything to make him happy. He didn't deserve any of pain and despair that he was wallowing in.
Harry straightened up and lifted his head, attempting to be strong. He could talk about it, and he would.
"She's the woman who killed Sirius," he said flatly.
Hermione nodded, "Yes."
Harry thought for a moment. "If only I had killed her before… then none of this would've happened. It's all my fault."
"No, it's not, Harry, and you know it."
"But it is! Really, if only I'd -"
"You need to stop taking the blame for everything…"
"But what if everything really is my fault!" Harry yelled, turning on Hermione, "What if it all is? Maybe you're wrong! You know, it is possible for you to be wrong."
Hermione didn't shrink away from him; she wasn't afraid of Harry.
"Harry, no," she said patiently, "I know this isn't your fault. It's just a coincidence. Bellatrix wanted information and she decided to use me to get it. This has nothing to do with you."
"If I wasn't your friend then she wouldn't even care about you. If it wasn't for me, then you'd be safe," he said slowly and then quietly, "If it wasn't for me, then you wouldn't have almost died in the Department of Mysteries that night."
Harry and Hermione stayed quiet for a moment, both staring at the ground.
"Let's not talk about that now," said Hermione softly. Harry nodded.
"But it's relevant…" he mumbled.
"Harry…" Hermione warned.
"Ok, fine, but let's talk about you. What happened?"
"I don't know how she was able to, but she did it…" began Hermione.
She went on to explain how Bellatrix had somehow gotten inside Hogwarts and found her while she was walking down a corridor with Harry and Ron. She had stolen Moody's invisibility cloak and had used that to silently take Hermione away without anyone hearing or noticing. She dragged Hermione into a distant corner and put the Imperius curse on her.
"That evil woman…" interrupted Harry.
"I know. And she didn't even make me act like myself!"
"So stupid," said Harry, "She obviously doesn't know you as well as I do."
Hermione smiled, "So true. She made me act like some kind of weird, boy-crazy girl. You must've noticed that something was wrong by then. Or at least, I hope you did."
"My suspicions were confirmed when you started flirting with Malfoy."
Hermione grimaced, "I think that was by far the worst part of these past few days. Did you see his face?"
"He didn't know what hit him," said Harry, remembering the terrified look on Malfoy's face.
"But, anyway… the only times when I felt like I was almost fighting the curse were the times when I was around you."
"What did I do?" asked Harry.
"I don't know… you were just being… you. And I guess I subconsciously cared about you so much that I didn't want to hurt you. When you said that you loved me, I was able to break the curse. It was just pure emotional power, I think."
"It's true, though. I do love you."
"I know, and I love you too."
Harry kissed Hermione lightly on the cheek.
"So, what should we do now?" asked Harry.
"About what?"
"About us. What are we?"
"I don't know… Well, we're still friends. But… we're more than that."
"Right," said Harry, and then a thought occurred to him, "What about Ron?"
"Let's tell him tomorrow," said Hermione and Harry agreed.
"I just hope that he doesn't overreact…" said Hermione thoughtfully.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ron stood, mouth half-open, ink spilled and dripping onto the floor, quill abandoned and speechless.
Harry had expected this.
"You're what?" asked Ron in an almost whisper.
"Ron, that line is so cliché," said Hermione, and Harry chuckled.
"But - but…" stuttered Ron.
"Yes?" asked Hermione.
"You - you just can't!" said Ron in a stronger voice.
"And why would that be?" asked Harry - maybe he wasn't as prepared at he thought he was.
"You'll ruin everything! You'll take over everything! You'll take him away from me," said Ron, directing this all at a very taken aback Hermione.
"That's not true at all, Ron! You know that," reassured Hermione.
"No, I don't think I do. Harry, you're not going to fancy her forever, right? It's just temporary, right mate?" Ron was desperate; he was groping at thin air for a reason to support his argument. He was loosing badly, very badly.
"Well…" Harry thought for a moment. Was this just a "temporary fancy"? "No, I don't think this is going to be temporary," he reached for Hermione's hand, Ron grimaced. "I think… I think we're in love."
Ron watched as Harry and Hermione had a "moment". They just gazed into each other's eyes, just reveling in each other's stare.
And then it clicked.
"Oh," said Ron slowly, "Ohhh."
Harry and Hermione returned to Earth and Harry blushed. He had totally forgotten that Ron was even there.
"Oh!" said Ron, getting excited. A smile began to form on his face.
Harry was confused. Hermione was even more confused than Harry. Ron knew something and he wasn't explaining.
"Ha!" said Ron, he was bouncing on the balls of his feet, pointing a bouncing finger at Harry and Hermione.
"Huh?" said Harry dumbly.
"Sorry?" asked Hermione, just as dumbly.
The intelligent half of Harry's brain fleetingly thought, Hermione, dumb? Wow.
"Well, it's about time!" said Ron with a huge grin on his face.
"Is this some kind of joke?" asked Harry.
"No! Really, I'm serious! It's about time!"
"What, Ron, is so timely?" asked Hermione, still confused.
"You! You two, being together. It should've happened years ago. Really, didn't you even consider that?" asked Ron. He was feeling extremely smart right now.
"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" asked Harry, "We were just friends before; this only happened recently! I never would've -"
"But that's the thing! You're just so clueless that you never would've figured it out! It took a punch in your face, some Unforgiveables and a bit of Veritaserum and - voila! Big realization of love!"
"You sound like a chef," said Harry flabbergasted.
"And you need to calm down," said Hermione, "I honestly had no idea that this was going to make you all hyper. I thought you'd yell at us or swear to not speak to us for a month… but this! What are you talking about?"
"Don't you get it? Isn't it obvious?" asked Ron.
"Isn't what obvious?" asked Harry, clueless as ever.
"You're so stupid!" said Ron, raising his hands to the ceiling in frustration.
"Excuse me but I don't think I'm the stupid one, here. I think that you're the one who's got some explaining to do," said Hermione.
Ron closed his eyes for a moment and took a few deep breaths.
"Ok," he said, "Look. I bet that everyone in this big Gryffindor tower knew at some point that you two were going to get together at some point."
"You're not serious," said Harry.
"If this is a joke, then it isn't funny," argued Hermione.
"I swear this isn't a joke! No, really, ask anyone. I bet at least one person made a bet. Come to think of it, I should've made a bet…"
And then Harry understood. No wonder he and Hermione felt so comfortable together. No wonder taking their relationship to "the next level" didn't affect their friendship at all. No wonder it all felt so… right.
"Interesting," said Hermione thoughtfully, "Very interesting…"
"About time you got it," said Ron.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
By the next day, if someone didn't know about Harry and Hermione's new relationship, then they must've been living under a rock somewhere in a very remote part of the Earth.
Rumors fly fast at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but this juicy piece of news made breakneck speed around the school. It could've been a new record. Every student, no matter what year or gender, knew about it. Even Rita Skeeter had somehow found out and had written a whole five page long exclusive article on the secrets of Harry and Hermione's love titled "I Told You So".
The only problem was, everyone seemed to have forgotten about any type of fiasco with Bellatrix Lestrange and an Unforgivable Curse. It all went unnoticed and this bothered Harry.
What if this attack was another small sign of the soon approaching rein of Voldemort? Was this supposed to be some kind of threat or warning? Harry had told this all to Dumbledore who, after congratulating Harry on finally noticing what he had with Hermione, told him not to worry and that everything was going to be okay. Fudge, the insufferable minister, continued to ignore Dumbledore's warnings of the return of Voldemort. It was all "codswallop" and the Prophet made Dumbledore look like a madman. Nobody, except for his faithful students and those in the Order, trusted or believed anything important Dumbledore had to say. And, it turned out, almost everything he said came out to be important at some point or other.
The rest of the school year went by like a flash of lightning. One second it was October and Harry gave Hermione a special pumpkin-flavored Halloween kiss and then suddenly, it was Christmas and there were plenty of romantic snowball fights. A few Hogsmead dates, goodnight kisses, and private talks in the common room by the fire at night later, it was June and exams were long gone. It was time to go home.
Both Harry and the entirety of the Order were afraid that Voldemort was busy planning something destructive in all this down time. He couldn't have been just sitting around doing nothing. That wouldn't make any sense. Whatever he was planning, they were ready. They would take all the blows as they came.
Harry knew now, though, that whatever happened - whatever troubles or misfortunes he met on the way - Hermione would always be there for him. Ron and the Order would always be behind him; backing him up and preparing him for the final battle. He was ready. If this was what was supposed to be his purpose in life, then he would work hard and achieve what he was meant to achieve. And Hermione would be there, by his side, all the way there. She had promised, after all and Harry was grateful for it.
Very grateful, indeed.
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