Chapter 3-Early Goodbyes
Once everyone had returned from getting refreshments, the game resumed. They only had time for one or two more and it was Harry's turn to select `Truth' or `Dare'. He was taking it in stride. He'd become the favorite to pick on because he seemed to be the loosest and funniest.
"Well, I suppose that I should pick `Truth'," he said.
"Okay, Harry, you don't have to use names, but tell us the biggest missed opportunity or disappointment during or since leaving Hogwarts?" asked Seamus.
At first he thought he might refuse and be the only one who had all day because there were so many deaths and sad things, but he realized the question wasn't about that. He could think of other things and then he knew how to answer.
Well, I hope this isn't too sappy coming from me, but I'd have to say it was how easy I let the best people and friends in my life slip into memories and casual acquaintances. I came here ten years ago without friends, found them and then let them go. I'm really to blame though. I have the resources and clout to visit you whenever I want, yet I didn't. There is no doubt that the missed opportunities to reunite and have days like this one is the greatest disappointment." Harry said passionately. He looked at Ron and Hermione specifically when he'd spoken but no one else took that as a slight.
Seamus looked at Harry and shook his head. "I hear that, Harry. I think if we all were to look closely within ourselves, you're speaking for all of us."
It was Harry's turn to select someone. He hadn't selected Hermione today and didn't think he would. "Luna," he said.
"Dare," she said. He wondered why she hadn't picked truth. He went through all the cards there were no new ones left. He read them all to everyone.
"Okay, you have to sit on the lap of the oldest guy here and pretend he's Father Christmas. You have to give him the top seven to ten off your wish list for next Christmas," said Harry.
"Harry, that's not fair. You know I'm the oldest," said Ron. Hermione gave Harry the thumbs up behind his back. "I protest," he complained. Everyone told him tough luck. But it was when Luna said something that Ron gave in.
"Ron, you don't like me? I'm your biggest fan and I think you're a great guy, so just do this and be quiet. You never know, you might like me sitting on your lap." She smiled.
Harry always thought Ron was a tough guy to figure with girls, but somehow this just seemed kind of cool. Luna sat on Ron's lap and really pretended to talk to Father Christmas. Harry thought that Ron had mixed feelings about this. She was embarrassing him by wishing he would win Most Valuable Player again. Everyone laughed silently as Luna went down a somewhat ridiculous list of things that they thought would never happen. The last was that she wished Ron knew that she liked him and she'd go out if he asked. Everyone laughed. Not at Luna, but the fact that they knew it was coming and Ron didn't. She gave him a hug and sat down. She hadn't blushed once.
Harry wondered where Luna got her nerve. She didn't act desperate or corny. She just gave a really funny list of stuff she probably believed in and then spoke from the heart to Ron.
"Hey, that's a great note to wrap up the game and head toward Quidditch. We get to watch Ron and we can all get our seats together if we get there early enough," said Hermione.
"Thanks a lot Harry. I'm not sure you weren't out to get me on that last one, ay. I mean do you believe the nerve of that girl. I'll get you back for that one Harry." Ron paused. "Hey, Harry, seriously though, don't take the blame yourself, mate. The time between meetings is as much my fault as yours. I could have come seen you many times at the Ministry if I'd just rearranged the schedule a little," said Ron.
"That's right Harry. I'll keep a little closer tab on it so that when Ron's here I allow time for him to get together with you," said Ginny.
"Hey, I really gotta go right now," said Ron. "Will I see you after the match, Harry?"
"Yeah, I'll look for you when the match is over. I know it will be hard for you, since it'll be the first time your eyes open since match began," Harry teased. Shaking like Ron had the first time he ever played goalkeeper. "Hey, watch out for Luna, she's after you."
"Funny. Ha ha, you git," said Ron. "I'll catch you later then mate."
Hermione was smiling as she listened to Ron. "I think he's protesting too much if you ask me. I think he likes her."
"What makes you say that?" said Harry.
"Did you see how he moved around to make sure she was comfortable when she sat on his lap? He tried to hide it, but he nonchalantly laid his hand across her lap and his other arm around her waist in a loose hug," said Hermione. "I'm no body language expert but that's not a guy who's embarrassed by a girl sitting on his lap."
Harry thought for a moment and raised eyebrow and nodded. "You have a point." He thought she'd embarrassed Ron and maybe Ron embarrassed himself getting a little too snuggly.
"Plus, he listened to the whole list. He rolled his eyes when we did, but he listened. He didn't act like someone who just couldn't wait until it was over," she pointed out.
"The ball is in Ron's court and we know how long that can take sometimes, don't we?" replied Harry. "Why were you so interested that you paid that much attention?"
"Harry, don't you ever just see something and it seems to fit. I mean whether it's just two friends or a guy and a girl in a relationship? I was just testing my theory and I was right," asserted Hermione.
"What's that?" asked Harry.
"If we women don't tell a guy they like us, they'll never decide for themselves," she smiled. "You know what I mean? It'll always end up as nothing more than an attraction or crush. We either have to flirt or something to get you guys to do anything."
Harry smiled and said nothing. He didn't want any part of where she might go with the rest of that. He offered her his arm. "I'm really enjoying your company, Hermione," said Harry trying to act as if he were taking the lead and ignoring the fact that he was scared to death of how he felt about her. They began walking toward the Quidditch match.
They walked as slowly as time would permit talking about their lives. Harry wondered what Hermione thought at that moment. He knew that he was going to get her schedule and every phone number she had before she left. He wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away again.
"Harry, let's spend tomorrow together. I want to be with you more than anyone else here. Let's go out to the country and see the scenery. We'll go get my car and we'll drive," she said.
"You drive a car?" asked Harry. Harry had to wait for the answer until later. The noise once they got inside the Quidditch Pitch was too much to hold a real conversation. Short sentences and hand gestures were the only way to go and that wasn't going to work.
When they got to the top of the Quidditch Pitch, Hermione and Harry had to giggle a little. Down near the Chudley side Luna was leading a group of fans in a chorus of Weasley is our King. The combination of cheering and that song gave Harry chills. He couldn't be there a lot of the time when Ron had had his best games. But Harry still loved the buzz of Quidditch in the air. Harry had given is Firebolt to Ron when he went off to play for the Cannons and wished sometimes he'd kept it. But he realized that he wouldn't ever play professionally.
The match began with a scary volley of shots coming at Ron. He was on fire tonight thought Harry. There were breakaways that Ron handled like he was playing catch with one of his brothers in the backyard. But on one breakaway about eighteen minutes into the game a bludger came flying past Ron at the same moment that the Quaffle sizzled past and all Ron was able to do was kick at it. He deflected it but just not far enough to keep it from the top right ring.
"Score: Pudmere United 10, Chudley Cannons 0." The announcer said. The boos were deafening.
It was nice to see that his teammates got him off the hook just moments later with a cool demonstration of teamwork. The Quaffle was thrown and one of the Cannons got it and dove for the ground, as two of his mates stayed above him. In what Harry could only describe as the Quidditch version of the shell game they raced at each other so fast that when they separated no one knew who had the Quaffle. Seemingly from no where the Quaffle appeared sizzling out of the left near corner as it flew threw the bottom left ring leaving the Pudmere goalkeeper speechless and motionless.
"Score: Chudley Cannons 10, Pudmere United 10," said the announcer.
Harry and Hermione clutched each others arms each time Ron was under pressure from Pudmere. He was so good, thought Harry. He grinned at the thought of the early days and the other version of Weasley is our King. Luna was still getting everyone going after each save Ron made with that little tune. Harry could see Ron's teammates smile as they came by the stands and heard the cheers. One seemed to stop in the same place by Luna at each break in the action.
The two goalkeepers did an amazing job keeping the score low tonight. At 70-50, Chudley in the lead, Harry had his biggest scare of the night. When he wasn't watching Ron he was scouring the landscape for the Golden Snitch. He saw it at the same time the Pudmere United seeker did. Hermione had to settle him down as he yelled to the Chudley seeker. Fortunately for Ron and the Cannons, the seeker for Pudmere was their second string tonight, because he failed to catch the snitch as it stopped just before the lower wall of the pitch. The Pudmere seeker didn't and he slammed into the wall just seconds before the Chudley Cannon seeker gathered the Golden Snitch. There was a huge roar as Chudley won the match, especially Luna raising her arms in victory.
Chudley wins: Final, Chudley Cannons 220, Pudmere United 50.
Harry and Hermione stood cheering as the winning team did their victory lap around the Pitch. Harry saw Ron riding next to someone who was pointing into the stands. Harry was just glad to see his friend play. He smiled again at Hermione. He couldn't remember a day in his life when he'd laughed and smiled as much. At that thought, he started to reminisce about other fun days and realized that he probably wasn't exaggerating. The happy meter might have been pegged higher with his first Quidditch win where he caught the Golden Snitch or when he felt the elation of beating the Dragon in the Tri-wizard championship, but he'd never smiled or laughed more.
It seemed like they ran into everyone they knew as they filed out. It seemed to take forever to get out and down to the bottom. Once they got to the bottom, they saw Ron mumbling to himself and looking rather perplexed. Just fifteen feet away, Rita Skeeter was talking to Luna. "Tell me I didn't do what I just think I did," said Ron as he crouched down holding his head.
"What?" asked Hermione. "What could you have done that would make you look like you'd just ate slugs again?"
Ron explained that during the match one of his teammates kept asking him who that was organizing his cheer. Ron had simply told him her name. Well, since Quidditch matches allow players to fly just about anywhere while time is out to set the new Quaffle, his teammate Mark Addison, kept flying up toward Luna. Harry remembered seeing the guy. Ron just kept shaking his head.
"I swear, Harry, he kept asking me these questions about her. And, then one time he said, `are you friends with her?'" he asked. "I said yes, and pretty close ones at that." Well, he flew off and we finished the game. Just five minutes ago, he came to me in the runway to the locker room, just over there." Ron pointed to a spot where the players were right in front of the reporters, "and, then he asked me if I minded if he asked her out. Well, I looked at her standing over there and saw her smile at me and I melted. Maybe it was fatigue from the game. Or maybe, she gave me some love potion or something, but I don't know what happened. I just said yes I minded because she was sort of my girlfriend. I didn't want him to bother her or me anymore. Well, guess who heard that? Then to make matters worse, he goes, `Sort of doesn't sound like you have any right to tell me I can't ask her out,'" When he said that, I lost my mind I walked over to her and kissed her." He stood there with goofy expression that cracked Harry up. "What did I do Harry?"
Hermione and Harry were laughing so hard that Hermione was hugging Harry with the tears running down her face. Especially, when Harry leaned to Ron and said, "I think you got yourself a girlfriend and if you don't want her version of things in the paper, I'd get over there."
The look on Ron's face was priceless. He looked at them and said, "You don't think…nah….she wouldn't? Oh, Jesus, her Dad owns the Quibbler she might…" Ron walked quickly toward her trying to put a smile on his worried face. That just made Harry laugh as hard as Hermione.
Ginny came up and asked what was wrong not noticing Ron and Luna with Rita Skeeter. "Are you two okay?"
Harry couldn't breathe, but each time he caught his breath he told Ginny a little more. She stood there silently for a minute or so and started giggling too. She laughed but not as hard as they did. "Well, I'll be," she said.
"You'll be what?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know, but I watched Ron look at her today. And, I got that same feeling from him, I used to get when he looked at you, Hermione. She caught his eye this weekend. He asked me earlier if she seemed different. I told him definitely, but she was still a little off the wall and he said, `And, pretty too.' That was before the final little dare that Harry gave her. I though Ron handled it pretty good."
That just put Harry and Hermione over the top. Hermione said, "I waited for three years for him to say something, he sees her for twenty-four hours and he almost proposes to her because someone else showed interest in her. You think he learned a lesson all those years ago."
"Well, I wouldn't be laughing too hard at him. You two look pretty cozy yourselves," she smiled and winked heading in the general direction of Luna, Ron and Rita. "Be careful, you two, the love bug is in the air."
Harry looked at Hermione who seemed to relax her grip a little. "Nah, she's just seeing things, right Harry?" She said a moment or two later as she and Harry stood smiling, holding hands, avoiding comment.
They walked talking about how life just never slowed down for anyone. The people filed by them taking no notice. Or at least for the moment, the fame and all the annoyances that came with it, disappeared. "Harry, truthfully, what do you want to be doing ten years from now?"
Harry walked slowly, thinking. "I don't know Hermione. I know I want to start a family by then, but anything else is just too hard to imagine. I can't imagine fading away and living a normal life. What about you?"
"I can see that in you, Harry. You'd be a good father. Me, ten years, yeah. Maybe sooner. You see, in my profession, one day there will be someone prettier or with a better story. Maybe she will have a better agent. I don't really know or care which one it is, but once I'm done with this I'm going to get on with my life."
"What stops you now?" asked Harry.
"Fame is a drug, Harry. You know it as well as I do. Look at how well Ron handled that little boy and the family today. He was the star. He wasn't the Ron Weasley, youngest son of a poor wizard family of nine. He was Ron Weasley, Quidditch star, although he's remained very genuine and I'm glad. When we broke up he was pretty wild. You remember. He was pretty full of himself."
"Yeah, he thought the money and fame would make all the difference in the world. I remember when he brought home the first girl he'd met in London. She was shallower than a bird bath. She was all over him too. While I don't know and never asked I'm sure he learned a thing or two about sex from her." Harry said.
"Tell me about it. I felt…well, you remember. I wasn't shy about dating, snogging or playing around, but sex was something for marriage to me then and is now," said Hermione. My parents were that way and I grew up with that belief."
He sort of held the same belief, but wasn't sure he'd stick to it in the heat of the moment. Harry listened as she told him some of the same old stories he'd heard before about Ron wanting fool around and her refusals. He'd told her that she didn't need to worry. He'd take care of her. Hermione had plans then and worried that Ron didn't really understand the picture. "You know, I've never regretted my decisions those days. Even Henri had a hard time respecting that aspect of my life. I'm no prude, Harry." She winked. "But certain aspects of sex are not negotiable until marriage." Harry laughed.
"Of course, you're referring to kissing and such, right?" teased Harry.
"Yeah, kissing is definitely a part I enjoy," said Hermione. "Sex isn't just about doing it. But to most guys it is."
They stopped again along the trail and held each other. Softly exploring a strange place neither had been in many, many months and maybe years. "This is nice, Harry. It's difficult though, isn't it?"
Harry knew she meant that they hugged and taking it too a kiss was the next logical step. "What's happening between us this weekend, Hermione? I don't want to speak for you, but something nice is going on between us and I know I'm as happy as I've ever been."
Hermione laughed nervously. "Yeah, we can't seem to do anything about it though."
Harry looked at her and realized she was kidding. "Can I kiss you?" She nodded.
It was brief, sweet and passionate. Hermione just hugged Harry and said, "I waited all night for that and it was worth the wait." Soon they began walking again.
They laughed as they reached the Hogwarts station. They'd walked right past the Main Entrance Hall, deep in conversation. No one but them existed.
"We should get back," said Hermione. "Let's spend the day in the country, Harry-- another day where everything folds into peace and quiet." Harry nodded.
Once back in the castle, they said good night with a very brief almost cautious kiss. "Don't want to have the whole world making it a big deal, do we?" asked Hermione.
Harry understood, but part of him wanted to declare their connection on the mountain top. He went to his room wondering if this was love or just something like it. He felt a little sad that maybe it was just unfinished business that would be finished soon. Either way, he looked in the mirror and saw that even at 21 his face had become drawn until today. He was looser and more satisfied. He laughed at the thought that maybe a good It didn't take long and he was asleep.
"Good morning, sleepy head," said a soft voice when Harry awoke. Hermione was sitting in the only chair in the room.
"How did you get in?" he said faking embarrassment.
"I'm a witch, with a `w', remember?" she smiled. "I was about to conjure a bear or something worse to scare you awake if you slept much longer."
"What time is it?" he wondered.
"It's time for you to get up, that's what time it is," said Hermione firmly. She pulled the blanket off and saw Harry scrambling for the top sheet to cover himself below the waist. Hermione looked at Harry as he turned red and pulled the top sheet off the bed covering himself.
"Yeah, Hermione, we guys wake up with our share of problems too," he said as he ran to the loo while Hermione laughed. She was pretty embarrassed.
"What was that all about?" said Hermione. "That couldn't have been because I was here."
Harry dropped his head and eyes laughing. "No, that happens when you go all night without going to the loo." He knew he'd have a chuckle at that a few times today because her surprise and naïveté were so genuine. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to embarrass you."
"I've read in medical books about it at St. Mungo's you just don't…well…"she shook her head, "not another word about it. I just didn't think." She giggled.
"It's 9:30 AM, Harry. I thought we'd get our stuff and get a good head start. My flight leaves at 7:00 from Heathrow." She said.
"What's with the airplanes?" asked Harry.
"Well, I'm going to from London to New York. It's hard to explain the arrival of your next cover girl when she just pops in from out of the blue. Muggles like to wine and dine you. I'm going to New York to meet with the people at Vogue and, I think I mentioned, Elle. My publicist and agent already had the itinerary before I came here."
Harry was amazed at the ease she displayed talking about stuff he had no clue about. It wasn't a new experience, since she'd explain the classes they attended with the same effect during most of their Hogwarts careers. The difference was it was the same world, the magical world. Now she was in the muggle world again.
"Let's get moving sleepy head," she said. "There are already a few people in the queue for the carriages. Unless you want to carry my bags, we'll take the carriage too."
"I can take them he said as he came out. He pulled his single little bag out and put his things carefully inside. Once done with that he looked at Hermione and said, "We were here for two days, how much could we have?" Hermione giggled.
He looked at her strangely. "Seriously, how much could you have?" he asked.
When she opened the door to her room and saw five bags, his jaw dropped. "Harry, I've just come from Geneva, Switzerland, stayed here for two days, and I'm flying to New York. I couldn't figure out what I wanted with me so I brought it all." Harry could do nothing but laugh. He loved it. She was a glamorous model who had become used to the lifestyle.
He smiled as she took her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." They slowly rose and floated as Hermione took them down the hall. "It's slow going so I don't want to walk all the way. As it is, I have to Apparate back and forth at least three times to get everything."
As they got to the huge doors and realized everyone was gone that had been there before, one carriage came back down the road. In that short little time while they waited for it, Harry thought about how she was as cute as the day he'd met her. He didn't know it then, but he saw that same spunky essence in her still. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Forget all this beauty stuff; you're still as cute as that girl we met ten years ago. You know what I mean?" He felt bad when the suitcases came crashing down and couldn't figure out why. Then he figured it out. She'd lost her concentration and her eyes had welled up with tears.
"That's the sweetest thing you've said yet," she tried hard to regroup as she gave Harry a brief hug and just as the thestrals came to a stop with the carriage she'd managed.
They sat across from each other with the bags packed at their feet. "What do you have in there? Fifteen pairs of combat boots?" he teased.
"No, my knife and cleaver set for chopping up fresh wizards," she joked back. "I'm about to make wizard stew out of you if you don't quit teasing me."
"Ah, so there is a cauldron in there," he replied.
"Harry, stop it. Don't make me sorry for asking you to spend the day with me," she shivered with a slightly annoyed look. "Just be that sweet guy you were yesterday and the day before, okay?"
"I'm sorry, Hermione. Am I really being a pain?" he said seriously.
She ignored him for a minute or two. She had a grumpy look on her face. "Seriously, sweetie, I didn't mean to be an idiot." He really felt bad now and kept trying to get her to talk to him when finally he noticed an impish grin start to surface. "Have you been taking the mickey out of me?"
"Are my acting classes paying off?" she asked as he crossed the little gap between them and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'm sorry if you really thought I was mad." She laughed. "You're cute when you're worried."
Harry was relieved and showed it with a deep sigh. "Yeah, I'll say. What's up with the acting classes?" They were almost there.
"When I first started I had three expressions: scared, happy and sad," she explained. The acting classes help me to find the attitude to be sultry when you have a cold or wish you were somewhere else. "It's hard to look sexily into a camera with a cameraman who is twenty stone and has what the Americans call, `plumbers butt'. That may be exaggerating a bit, but sometimes you find it really a turn off. You have to act on those days."
Harry laughed at the picture of a huge man with his pants coming down in back. He knew what she meant. They both laughed. The carriage stopped at the station. The train was there and for a second they discussed getting on it and just snuggling in a car, but they knew someone would come along and bother them. "Does that happen often? I mean where the photographers are creepy?"
"Yeah, a lot more than you'd think. But they're usually not that kind of creepy, they're more smarmy and kind slick. You feel like they're trying to look through your clothes at you. The `plumber butt types' are usually the only photographer for some weekly newspaper in the country or some entertainment guy who was just sent to cover the story.
"Well, shall we? We're going to Apparate, right?" asked Hermione.
"Sure, how do you want to do it?" asked Harry.
"Why don't you stay here with the rest of the bags? I'll pop back and forth and then I'll take your arm. That way we end up in the same place and not a block apart. You don't know the area and the best concentration in the world won't help in that case," she said.
Once on the street beside the tracks, Hermione grabbed two bags and disappeared. A moment later, she was back again. She repeated the procedure one more time. Finally it was just her and him. They ended up standing next to a light grey Nissan Pathfinder. He was amazed because she'd already put the bags in the car.
"I first bought a little car, but I couldn't see with all the bags in the back, so I got this one," said Hermione. "Do you like it?"
Harry hadn't been this close to a parked car in ages. He stood on street corners as they passed by and maybe he stood in a parking lot or two. But he hadn't had a chance to look inside one in a long time. "Yeah, I like it."
"Well, shall we?" asked Hermione.
"Sure," said Harry as he climbed into the comfortable passenger seat. Then a thought hit him. "We didn't say good-bye to anyone, Hermione."
Hermione looked at him with a touch of sadness too. "Should we pop back there real quickly? Everything will be here in the car." She thought for a second. "Yes, we should go back. I want to know how Ron and Luna turned out." Her face broke into a wide smile as did Harry's.
They locked arms and Apparated to Hogsmeade Station. The platform was empty and the train was gone. "Well, if they're still here we'll be glad we made the effort. If not, at least we made the effort."
They found Ron and Luna sitting quietly on the benches in the courtyard. Harry had a strange feeling that things were a little somber. He looked at Hermione for guidance. Hermione approached them eagerly. "Hi, Luna. Hi, Ron. Did you get that Skeeter woman straightened out?"
They both cheered up at the sight of Harry and Hermione. But shortly after the hugs and congratulations, Ron shook his head. Luna showed them why. Rita had written and article about the wedding and it made the front page. "Yeah, read that part, Hermione. I keep telling Ron it's not that bad."
"As far as the celebrity attendance angle of the weekend went, it was rather tame. This reporter expected the hormones and bed sheets to be flying amongst the beloved trio. After three years of being apart it first appeared that the drunken frolicking the first night would lead to juicy news by today. However, Miss Granger and Mr. Potter looked more like very good friends getting reacquainted. We'll have to check back in on that story. The real story came as Ronald Weasley threatened one of his teammates if he were to approach his new girlfriend, Luna Lovegood, the daughter of Quibbler owner Prentiss Hall Lovegood. While no blows were delivered, Miss Lovegood told this reporter that she and Mr. Weasley were engaged to be married, but no date has been set."
"Now, the whole world thinks I'm getting married," said Ron.
"Well, Ron, I did catch the bouquet," said Luna. "So, I'm next to be married. And you were telling people we were going together without asking me, so I did the same."
Ron looked at her and shook his head with a smile. "You and I are going to have to work on our communications skills." He hugged her. "So, where have you guys been? Some of the guys said you guys left here in a hurry this morning."
"We got all the way back to London with everything packed in the car, when we decided that we really wanted to see how you guys were and say good bye to everyone. But we do have to hurry," said Hermione.
"It's getting on toward lunch and I thought I saw Neville, Seamus and some of the others near the Great Hall a little while ago," said Ron. "Ginny's in my parents room and so is Bill and Fleur."
"Oh, great," said Harry. "I don't remember saying much to Fleur and Bill. It'll be nice to just say `Hi.' Let's go Hermione." Hermione hugged Ron and Luna wishing them good luck.
"They're taking it in stride I think," said Hermione. "Luna's a little strange, but she's not stupid. She'll take her time and make sure things are right before getting too involved."
"Yeah, I think Ron will too. You have to admit that was one of the funniest things I've ever seen--the picture of Luna talking to Rita and Ron fretting with us. I'm not sure the Daily Prophet articles are over though, either." Harry warned.
"Well, let's hope for all our sakes she's not been snooping too much," said Hermione. They were just a door away from the elder Weasley's room. "Go ahead, knock Harry."
Harry knocked. And, the door opened almost immediately to Bill still talking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and greeting them in the same breath. "Mom, I'm sure things will be fine. Ah, Hermione and Harry, how nice to see you," said Bill. There were hugs all around and knowing smirk from Ginny. They spent ten minutes talking about their careers and another ten about the article in the paper this morning. The discussion focused on whether Luna was going to be a continual pain or not, but in the end it was Fleur who summed it up best in her thick French accent, "Well, you didn't like me at first either, but I grew on you. If she truly loves Ron, it will be okay, yes?"
No one could disagree. Hermione made her apologies for having to leave and Harry said he was spending the day with Hermione. So they said their good-byes. Both Harry and Hermione left addresses and phone numbers where they could be reached. Harry said that he only checks messages once in a while because no one ever calls. They all laughed. "So, send an owl. Ginny, do you still have Hedwig?"
"Yes, I do. It's still the most wonderful present I ever got from you," she said. "I'll send her with a letter soon, so you can see her."
"That would be nice," said Harry. He waved as everyone said good-bye at once.
Ginny followed them into the corridor. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," said Ginny with a wink. "You guys should just go for a good boink, it would straighten you out." She smiled and laughed. "I'm sorry that's crass. I'm really sorry." She hugged Harry and Hermione.
"You are just one little trash talking witch, aren't you?" teased Harry.
"Guys, I love you both. You know that don't you. I'm pulling for you," she said.
"Pulling for us?" asked Hermione with a wink.
"Don't think I don't see something special between you guys. You guys look good together. Don't give up just because the circumstances are difficult," she said as they walked away. "I'm serious."
Harry waved and Hermione took Harry's hand.
"She's right, you know," said Harry.
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