Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Never did. Never will...
A/N: As always, thanks to my beta MapleMountain. Without him, I'd still be lurking around Portkey, hoping to stumble across a story that had Hermione grab the backside of Harry's hand, then he lifted it, turned his hand over, and replaced her hand in his...
Second, a nod goes out to my friend Petronilla. One of Harry's birthday presents here was inspired by one his Christmas presents from Secrets From The Past. Obviously I've made it my own, but still, it was the inspiration, so credit where credit is due. :-)
Chapter 15. Where My Heart Has Led Me.
Harry returned with great haste back to the party. What the hell was that all about? he wondered as he hurried down the hall. Just like with the Portkey and that hand-holding thing earlier, he had a pretty good idea of what that was all about, but he was hoping to find some other explanation for what just happened.
Upon his return, Harry found Ron trying to determine how many chicken wings he could pile onto one plate.
"Oy! Mate," Harry called out in good humor as he approached Ron. "Leave some for the rest of us, why don't you?" Ron turned around to see Harry standing behind him with his hands on his hips, trying to look at Ron with a disapproving glare.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Hermione," Ron retorted as he turned back to the table. Harry flinched, but quickly recovered. He then grabbed a plate and moved over next to Ron, trying to ignore his last remark. He didn't know what Ron meant by that, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to find out. Harry looked at the small feast before him.
The lunch at Harry's party was being served in a buffet style, and since the seating in the drawing room was very limited (the large furniture had been removed to make room for everyone), Molly had prepared foods that could be eaten standing while holding a plate: fried chicken, a varied assortment of sandwiches all cut into halves, some sort of casserole, and a fruit salad that was bound together with what appeared to be whipped cream... simple foods, but extremely delicious nonetheless.
Ron was still at the tray of the highly coveted fried chicken. By the looks of the pile, there seemed to be six chickens worth. By the looks of Ron's plate, he had all twelve wings.
Harry, amused, looked at the pile on Ron's plate.
"What?" Ron asked when he saw Harry looking at it. "They're small," he explained, then moved on to the sandwiches. Deciding it was probably not wise to come between Ron and his food, Harry just smiled and said nothing. After grabbing a breast piece, he waited for Ron to decide which of the three types of sandwiches he wanted (he ended up taking one of each).
While they were loading up their plates, Molly had brought up from the kitchen several large flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer. After filling their large glasses with butterbeer, Harry and Ron worked their way over to one of the corners of the room where a small table stood. They set their drinks down and began to eat.
After finishing his sandwich, Harry happened to look over and see Hermione on the other side of the room, standing with Ginny and Luna; Hermione and Ginny were talking while Luna appeared to be just standing there, lost in her own dream world, eating her fruit salad. When he saw that Hermione had started to turn her head to look in his direction, Harry quickly turned back to Ron, who appeared oblivious to everything other than what was on his plate.
A small part of Harry was impressed to see that Ron had been keeping up with Harry as he ate. Ron had gone through all of his wings (he only managed to get ten of the twelve) and three sandwiches in the time it took Harry to get through his one piece of chicken and one sandwich. Then again, Ron had always been a fast eater.
Harry assumed that rapid eating was simply instinct for Ron after sixteen years of Weasley meals. Being the sixth of seven children, Ron probably learned at an early age to eat quickly, lest one or more of his older brothers (two guesses which) found some way to relieve from Ron the burden of eating his lunch.
After finishing the last bite of his sandwich, Ron stopped for a moment to take a long draft of his butterbeer.
"So, mate, how's life in the library?" Ron asked with a grin.
"The library?" Harry wondered, befuddled. Ron just rolled his eyes at him. Seeing him roll his eyes, Harry suddenly realized that he meant Hermione's house. "Oh, the library."
"Yeah, the library," Ron repeated, laughing. Harry, for some reason, didn't find it all that funny. Truth be told, he had started to think of Hermione's house as home. Even more, he was pretty sure he himself had called it that recently. And it wasn't when he told her thank you before they left her house. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure it had just slipped out recently. It felt perfectly normal to say, so he hadn't noticed it earlier.
"It's not a library, Ron," Harry replied, trying his hardest to sound like he was joking also. "I'll have you know that I've only read my school books, as well as Quidditch." Ron was still looking at Harry with a sense of disbelief. Now Harry started to find it slightly amusing. "What did you expect? Surely you didn't think I'd be able to stay there and NOT get my homework done, did you?"
Ron's face dropped ever so slightly. If he hadn't specifically been worried about Ron's reaction to the idea of him living with Hermione (awkward swooping feeling), Harry probably wouldn't have noticed. "No, not really. Actually, I didn't know what to think at first," Ron admitted.
After Ron said that, Harry suddenly realized that he'd been half-expecting Ron to reply "Don't call me Shirley." Harry suppressed a laugh and thought to himself in amusement, Wrong best friend for that.
Ron sighed slightly and set down his plate of food. He then looked over to the other side of the room. Harry followed his stare and saw that he was looking over to where Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were. Harry suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
"Harry?" Ron asked uncertainly. "Can I ask you something?"
"You just did," Harry quickly replied back. He said it, hoping to make himself feel a little better. He was sure Hermione would've said something like that; he thought it was pretty funny. Ron however, did not seem to think it was funny. In fact, he didn't seem to think it was much of anything, for he just stood there, staring blankly towards... the other side of the room, Harry tried to convince himself.
Seeing that Ron had not reacted to his little joke, and more importantly, he had actually put down his food, Harry decided that humor was probably not a good idea at the moment. "Yeah, Ron, go ahead," Harry finally said as he set down his plate as well. He found himself watching Hermione.
Hermione was trying to appear interested as Ginny and Luna talked. Harry smiled suddenly. As he watched the three of them, he realized that it was probably easy for Ginny and Luna to talk, and it was easy for Hermione and Ginny to talk, but he highly doubted that the three of them would easily be able to share in the same conversation.
"This is just between us, okay?" Ron asked, suddenly snapping Harry back into attention. Harry nodded sideways to Ron; the two of them were both staring at... the other side of the room.
"How do you know when you fancy someone or not?" Ron asked suddenly, but quietly. The smile died from Harry's face; he forced himself to maintain a neutral expression. He now felt very uncomfortable again.
"Hermione?" Harry asked in barely a whisper, and with an overwhelming sense of dread.
Ron turned his head slightly and looked at Harry incredulously. At first, Ron looked as though he might deny it or ask where on earth Harry got that idea. However, after Harry stared intensely back at Ron, almost daring him to say otherwise, Ron's face changed again. "How did you know?" he asked.
Harry tried not to smile. Now was definitely not the best time for that, particularly because he really didn't feel like smiling. The instinct to laugh had merely been from disbelief of Ron's question. "I do have eyes, you know," he said, trying to maintain his friendly tone.
Ron smiled faintly, then turned back away from Harry; that only made Harry feel worse. Harry felt a slight constricting feeling in his chest, as though it were becoming difficult for him to breathe.
"I just figured you might be able to tell me what I was feeling," Ron said as he shrugged his shoulders. "You and Hermione always seem to be better at the whole feelings thing than I am." Harry's heart skipped a beat when Ron said "You and Hermione." He tried to ignore it.
Harry really didn't want to be talking about this right now... about Hermione... and Ron. But... Ron was still standing there. He had put down his food, so it must have been more important than the small mountain of fruit salad still on his plate.
Ron took a deep breath then finally started. "And you can't breathe a word of this to anyone."
Yeah, like I want to talk about this ever again, Harry heard his reasonable side quip to himself. For some reason, hearing it in Hermione's voice lifted his spirits slightly.
"I suppose you know that I've fancied her for a while..." Ron said, allowing his voice to trail off, unsure where to go next.
"I suppose," Harry parroted back as his aforementioned spirits dropped back to where they were originally. He really didn't feel he could give any better response than that. It was really becoming difficult for him to breathe. He felt as though he was in a small enclosed room where the walls were slowly moving in on him. He could still breathe, but he knew the walls were coming. He felt like he was being chased and running out of time.
"It's probably been a year and a half now, or so," Ron said, confirming Harry's fears. He was already pretty sure of the timeline of Ron's feelings, but that statement pretty much confirmed that this was what they were talking about. Harry didn't say a word; he couldn't.
Just at that moment, Hermione, obviously bored listening to Ginny and Luna's conversation, decided to go talk to the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall. As she walked over, she looked quickly over towards Harry and Ron. Harry could see her look briefly at Ron and then at him.
Since he was still in the stupor he had begun to build to insulate himself from whatever Ron was about to say, Harry didn't quickly look away like the last time when she looked at him. Hermione smiled at Harry for a brief moment, and then quickly turned away to address their Head of House.
Though she was no longer looking at him, Harry immediately felt all of his feelings of dread and discomfort get swept away. A dazed smile appeared on his face, and he felt a cheery, almost giddy feeling bubbling up. His momentary bliss was interrupted when Ron suddenly turned to look at him; Harry was still looking at Hermione though he could see Ron in his peripheral vision.
"Harry," Ron whispered through clenched teeth, "she's watching us."
"Huh?" Harry whispered back. No she's not. She's talking to Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore, Harry thought, confused.
"Okay, maybe she's not watching us, but Luna's definitely looking in our direction. I can't talk about this in front of her. What if she can read lips?" Ron said, sounding slightly panicked. Harry quickly looked over at Luna. Sure enough, Luna was looking in their direction while she still continued to talk to Ginny.
He couldn't tell if she was looking at either of them specifically, or simply facing in their direction. Either way, Harry felt a little unnerved. He had forgotten about her; he had forgotten about everyone else, really. How long had she been looking in their direction? Had she seen anything?
What's to see? Harry wondered. There wasn't anything to see. Was there?
Harry turned back to face Ron as though they were in normal conversation. He picked up his plate again and showed it to Ron, indicating he should pick up his plate again just so they would look casual. Ron did and started picking at his fruit salad with his fork. Harry stood there, waiting for Ron to begin. He just couldn't bring himself to start the conversation.
Ron seemed to brighten a little after a few bites of his mother's fruit salad. He suddenly started talking as though he just picked up in the middle of a conversation he'd been having with himself.
"What I mean is that all this time I was absolutely sure I fancied her. I don't know why, really. It's just that, you know, she's a girl, and... I like girls."
Yeah, she's definitely a girl, Harry agreed to himself, recalling that photograph of her with Dan and Emma... followed by a memory of her in a certain pink T-shirt with silver lettering. He then kicked himself mentally for allowing his mind to wander. He really needed to pay attention to what Ron was saying, though deep down he knew that he also really didn't want to hear whatever Ron was about to say.
"You have absolutely no idea how jealous I was of Viktor back in fourth year," Ron said.
A small chuckle escaped Harry's lips. "Yeah, actually I do have an idea of how jealous you were. It was hard to miss, Ron." A slightly embarrassed look appeared on Ron's face.
"Well, anyway. I just kinda got used to that feeling, of feeling comfortable around her... when we weren't fighting, of course," Ron added with a chuckle.
Hearing Ron say that with a laugh really irritated Harry. "Well, then you must not feel too comfortable around her, since you always seem to be fighting," Harry snapped without realizing. He paused for a second to take a calming breath. "Why do you always fight with her, Ron?"
"I don't know, because sometimes she really annoys me, I guess" Ron answered. Harry unexpectedly found himself clenching his jaw. "She always has to be right. She always has to point out when you or I are wrong. She's always trying to drag us into her stupid spew thing."
Harry sighed. "First of all, Ron, it's S.P.E.W., not spew. Second-" He was interrupted by Ron starting to laugh.
"Blimey, mate," Ron exclaimed between laughs. "You really need to look at yourself in a mirror one of these days. I think all that time at her house is starting to rub off on you. The way you just rolled your eyes at me and told me it wasn't spew, you looked exactly like Hermione."
Ron laughed a little more. "And earlier, when you complained about me taking all the chicken, the way you glared at me looked exactly like she does when we don't do our homework," Ron explained, looking very entertained.
"I did?" Harry asked in disbelief. "I didn't even realize that I rolled my eyes at you."
"Believe me, you did," Ron assured him. "Like I said, I think you're spending too much time with her," he said in joking manner.
Somehow I doubt that's possible, Harry thought fondly. "Yeah, well, what can you do?" he asked rhetorically about himself. "Move back to the Dursleys?" He almost added "or Grimmauld Place," but stopped himself before he spoke it.
Harry really didn't like the idea of that right now, even though things seemed to be better with Percy, and he didn't seem to feel too bad being here in Sirius's old house. It was as if he was afraid they might accept his joking suggestion and actually ask him to join them there. It would have been a hassle to have to pack up all his stuff again to move out of Hermione's house.
Ron flinched slightly at the idea of Harry returning to his relatives. "Yeah, I guess you're stuck there," Ron said, making it sound like defeat.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Harry said with a smile; it really didn't seem like a defeat at all.
"Anyway," Harry resumed, "what I was about to say is that she always has to be right because she doesn't like to be wrong. Do you like having the wrong answer when McGonagall calls on you in class?" Ron shook his head, looking as though he never considered that before.
"And she tells us when we're wrong... because we're wrong. She wants us to know what we're doing as well. Do you remember me pointing out when you performed a spell incorrectly during our D.A. meetings?" Ron looked like he wanted to say something, but Harry didn't let him. He was feeling a little too protective of her at the moment.
"It's the same exact thing, Ron," Harry said, silencing him. "And as for S.P.E.W.," Harry continued, smiling as he emphasized each letter, "she gets excited about it because it's something that's important to her. She just wants to share it with us because she's excited. How often do we try to get her to play Quidditch?"
"Too often," Ron joked. Neither of them had ever had any success getting her onto a broom.
"We don't have to like S.P.E.W., or even participate in it, but we should at least support her and encourage her to do what she enjoys. Sometimes it's about what she wants to do, not what we want to do, Ron."
Ron stood there, taking it all in. Harry got the feeling that he didn't disagree with him, he'd just never thought about it like that before.
Harry sighed. "Let me ask you something, Ron. If all these things about her annoy you, then why do you fancy her?"
"That's the thing, Harry. I don't really know," Ron replied sounding slightly confused. "But now that I think about it, I'm not entirely sure if I do fancy her anymore," he added quietly, almost as an afterthought.
That certainly got Harry's attention. He suddenly found it a little easier to breathe. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, part of him eager to find out what exactly he meant. Another part of him was highly annoyed that Ron, or anyone else for that matter, could not know whether or not they fancied such a wonderful human being like Hermione Jane Granger.
"Well, when Professor Dumbledore brought us her letter telling us that you were going to stay with her, I thought I'd be jealous of you. It wouldn't have been the first time." Ron grimaced in a way that indicated he wasn't entirely proud of some of his earlier behavior.
"But I didn't care. What I mean is that it didn't bother me," Ron explained. "If anything, I felt a little sorry for you. I mean, I don't know what she's like at home, but I just had this picture of some stuffy house that smelled like a library and was filled with bookshelves and everyone sat around the kitchen table reading."
Hey! There's nothing wrong with it smelling like a library, Harry thought to himself, recalling how he felt when he walked into the bookstore when they went shopping at the mall. For some reason, Harry didn't feel like confirming or denying Ron's impression about what Hermione's house was really like... except for one thing.
"Well, there are a lot of bookshelves," Harry said with a grin. "In the living room, in her parents' room, in her room. None in my room, though." Ron looked curiously at Harry for a moment, and then his expression returned to normal as though whatever he had been thinking wasn't really important.
"And then when she gave you your birthday snog... nothing. Except that we all wanted to laugh seeing as how the girls had all planned it to surprise you. You did look pretty surprised when Ginny kissed you," Ron said, smirking.
Realizing that they had drifted off topic slightly, Harry tried to steer them back to something that was really bothering him.
"So then why did you fancy her?" Harry asked.
"Well, you know..." Ron started, looking towards Hermione again. Harry followed his gaze to her also. "Like I said before... she's a girl, she's always around, it just seemed to make sense, you know, to fancy her," Ron explained. "It just seemed easy to do."
Harry unexpectedly found himself becoming very irritated. He couldn't bring himself to look at Ron; he knew he was more upset than he should have been. If he looked at him, Ron might've seen his annoyance. As a result, he continued to look in Hermione's direction as he spoke. "You don't fancy someone just because it's easy, or convenient. You fancy someone because you just do. Because you want to spend your time with her. Because she makes you happy just by being near her..." Harry said, allowing his voice to trail off.
Harry turned to see that Ron was looking at Harry with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Blimey, Harry!" Ron said, sounding slightly awed. "Is that how you felt with Cho?"
Harry's stomach sank slightly. He really didn't want to be talking about Cho right now. And yet he had been talking about her... hadn't he? "For a little while," he admitted, hoping that was the end of it. "But then..." he added, shrugging his shoulders, hoping Ron would get the hint that was the end of the matter.
However, just in case Ron didn't... "But we're not talking about Cho now, are we? We're talking about Hermione," Harry reminded him. Ron nodded slightly. Harry quickly looked around them to see if anyone appeared to be paying attention to them. He had been talking for several minutes, oblivious to everyone else around him... well, almost everyone.
"Is that how you feel about Hermione?" Harry asked Ron seriously. "Do you want to spend your free time with her? Do you find yourself inexplicably happy when she does something as small as smile at you? Do you want to walk around the mall holding her hand?"
Ron looked slightly lost. "'Mall?' What's a 'mall'?"
Harry suddenly felt very confused. "'Mall?' N-no, I said 'hall.' You know, like walking around the halls at school." I did say 'hall,' didn't I? he tried to convince himself.
"Oh," Ron said, his confusion disappearing as he accepted Harry's answer.
"So, is that how you feel about her?" Harry asked; he was eager to stop trying to think up examples, as well as overly anxious to hear Ron's answer. Ron stood there for a moment, thinking about it.
Come on! What's there to think about? If you DID, you should already know the answer! Harry thought to himself impatiently.
Harry could see Ron searching through his memories and feelings, trying to decide what he felt for their bushy-haired friend. After a few moments, Ron looked as though he had come to a surprising (to him) revelation.
"No... I don't feel like that about her..." Ron finally said, and then turned again to look curiously at Hermione.
YES! Harry heard a voice in his mind shout out, though he couldn't tell which. He fought valiantly to keep from saying anything out loud.
"But... but..." Ron spluttered, "I thought I did fancy her..."
"Well, maybe you did, at some point," Harry conceded. "But maybe it went away. Just because you fancy someone, it doesn't always mean that they will fancy you back. It's hard to have feelings for someone if they don't return them. No offense intended, but just look at your sister. How long did she fancy me before she gave up?"
Ron's earlier lost expression disappeared in a snicker that he tried to hide in his hand. "Who says she's given up?" Ron said. That earned him a friendly punch on the arm from Harry.
"Heck, forget about Ginny, look at me," Harry said with a slight laugh, sincerely hoping that Ron's comment was just a joke. "How long did I just sit there and stare at Cho?" Harry asked, thinking now about how pointless that had all been.
"But the two of you did get together, eventually," Ron reminded him. Oh, how easily Harry could forget about that.
"Ah yes, but I, Ron, am a clueless git. And besides, look at how well we turned out. I mean, sure, for a very little while there, I felt like I was flying on my Firebolt, high up in the sky. And we did... snog... a couple times... that was kinda nice," Harry admitted, somewhat embarrassed.
"But the rest of the time, it seemed like all she ever did was cry. We didn't argue with each other all the time," Harry said, emphasizing the word and staring heavily at Ron. But, now that he thought about it, with what little time they had been able to spend together, they had actually argued a lot more than he thought was normal.
"When we did argue," Harry added unexpectedly, "oddly enough, it was usually about Hermione," he remembered with a slight grin. What did that have to do with anything? he wondered in confusion, then shook his head slightly to clear that thought.
"But anyway," Harry trooped on, desperate to get this conversation back to something that was vaguely recognizable as coherent. "The point is that sometimes two people aren't meant to be together... sometimes they are better as just friends. If you try to push something that isn't there, look at what can happen" Harry said, pointing to himself. When he said it, he intended to mean himself and Cho, but a small part of him also secretly meant Ron and Hermione.
"Let me ask you this," Harry continued. "Think about how much the two of you argue. Do you really think that's a good thing to have in a relationship?"
"No," Ron admitted. He then scrunched up his face in confusion as though he was trying to justify something to himself.
"But... I always kind of thought that it was like... tension... between us, you know," Ron tried to explain.
"I always kind of thought that it was like... anger... between you, you know," Harry found himself retorting back before he could stop himself. Fortunately, Ron seemed to simply accept what he'd said as a valid point, without argument or question.
"I always kinda thought that we were... I mean, I'd heard some people say that we fought like we were flirting, or like some old married couple," Ron said with an embarrassed smile.
Harry suddenly felt his irritation suddenly spike, approaching anger. That idea really did not sit well with him. Finally, his five years of torment with Professor Snape paid off: he was able to resist the urge to say something he might have a hard time explaining.
"You know, Ron," Harry forced himself to say civilly, "I'll admit I'm not the world's best expert on understanding girls-"
"That's for sure," Ron quipped with a grin.
Even Harry had to agree that was funny. As he smiled, he felt most of his annoyance with his friend disappear.
"But," Harry continued, "I am pretty sure that arguing is not flirting. At least not the way you two do it." Ron shook his head a little, agreeing with Harry's assessment. "I would think... I would hope... that if you were flirting with someone, you would both enjoy it. Isn't that what flirting is about? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that when the two of you fight Hermione doesn't enjoy it. I don't recall many times seeing her walk away smiling after one of those 'flirting' sessions."
Entirely unexpectedly, Harry suddenly recalled his little battles with Hermione over their favorite seat on the sofa. And the times he teased her about not knowing everything. And the time he made fun of her for using the word "proper" too many times. Whoa! he said to himself. Had he been flirting with Hermione? He wasn't entirely sure. His prior experience with flirting was nonexistent.
In the little time he'd spent with Cho, he really hadn't done anything that he'd consider flirting. He thought that flirting was supposed to be playful. He had certainly never done anything like that when they were together. And before that, all he really ever did was just stare at her across the Great Hall, or watch her fly around the Quidditch pitch when Ravenclaw was playing.
So... had he been flirting with Hermione? The only thing stranger than that possibility was the fact that he already knew the answer. Whatever he'd been doing, he enjoyed it, immensely. And he didn't feel guilty about it either. He couldn't recall seeing anything that might have indicated that Hermione was hurt by it. She certainly didn't look like he so often remembered seeing her after she had snapped at Ron for whatever idiotic thing he'd said.
Ron stood there for a moment and processed everything that had been said. "So... maybe I don't fancy her..." he mused quietly to himself. "But I know I feel differently about her than I do any other girl," he added, still confused.
"Well, of course you do. So do I." Somehow, that felt slightly hollow as Harry said it. "She's our best friend. Of course she's more special to us than, say, Seamus or Parvati or Susan Bones, or Malfoy," he added, smirking. The unexpected addition of the infamous ferret boy caused Ron to start laughing very loudly. Everyone else in the room turned away from their own conversations to see why Ron was laughing so hard.
Harry happened to notice that Hermione was still standing with the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall. When she caught his eye, she looked at him inquisitively and raised her eyebrow as if to ask what was so funny. Oh... now I get what she meant about the eyebrow thing and Mr. Spock, Harry thought as he recalled Hermione showing him one of Dan and Emma's favorite TV shows a few days earlier.
Harry just smiled at her and shook his head slightly to indicate it really wasn't worth trying to explain. Truthfully, it really was easy to explain; he just didn't want to go anywhere near trying to explain to her what he and Ron had been talking about. She nodded slightly, and then smiled at him. As she returned to her conversation with their professors, a big, stupid grin appeared on Harry's face.
As he shifted his stare right, back towards Ron, he suddenly noticed Luna on the other side of the room again looking in their direction. Harry felt strangely exposed under her unblinking stare; he really hoped she'd been watching Ron. As he waited for Ron to stop laughing, he took several drafts of his Evercold-charmed butterbeer. Butterbeer was just as good warm or cold, depending on the weather.
Now that he and Ron had stopped talking, or at least paused for a while, the other party guests managed to work their way over occasionally to make idle chitchat. After about ten minutes, Molly and Arthur slowly worked their way over to Harry. Seeing his mother approaching, Ron took several steps away from Harry, unwilling to get in the way in case she decided to go in for another hug.
"All right, Harry dear," Molly said warmly. "It's time for you to open your birthday presents. I'm sure everyone here is dying to see what you got."
Harry nodded and allowed her to lead him over to the table with all the presents. He had to admit, he too was eager to see what his friends had gotten him. He was particularly dying to know what that present was that made him feel like he was dying not twenty minutes earlier. When he was ready, Molly again silenced the room. "Okay everyone, present time!" she said in a sing song voice.
Before he could reach for the first present, Professor Dumbledore stepped forward and pulled out his wand. He waved it quickly and conjured a large throne-like chair. As Harry looked at it, it reminded him strongly of something from a Muggle Christmas advertisement. It was the type of chair in which Father Christmas would sit.
Dumbledore looked at Harry, his eyes behind the half-moon spectacles twinkling as usual. "I'm sorry, Harry. I just couldn't resist. Present giving always puts me in a festive mood, regardless of the occasion. Have a seat, Mr. Potter." Harry looked around the room; everyone was smiling at him, bordering on breaking into laughter. Feeling his face heat up, Harry sat down in the chair.
"If you don't mind," the Headmaster started, waving his wand towards the presents. Not sure of what he meant, but unwilling to ask since he still felt on the spot, Harry simply shook his head. With that, Dumbledore gave a quick flick of his wand towards the presents. They all began to hover slightly.
The letter Dumbledore had "delivered" began to rise and floated towards Harry. He would later realize that the Headmaster had enchanted them to deliver themselves to Harry in the order he had been given them. This suited Harry just fine. Although he was most eager to see what Hermione had given him, for some reason, he wanted hers to be last.
Harry reached out and plucked the letter from the air. He looked at it again; it was addressed to him, and sealed with a stamp from the Ministry of Magic. Harry looked up at Dumbledore. Just as he had in his office when confronted by Umbridge with the D.A., the Headmaster gave Harry the tiniest of nods, imperceptible to anyone who hadn't been looking for it.
Harry opened the letter and began to read it. After the third sentence, he looked back up in shock. He looked at Dumbledore, then down to the letter, then back up again, silently asking if he was supposed to read it aloud. Another nod. Harry cleared his throat, and then took a deep breath.
"To: Mister Harry James Potter.
"It is my distinct pleasure to inform you that due to your selfless acts of bravery on the evening of June the 18th and morning of June the 19th of this year, the Ministry of Magic is honored to award you an Order of Merlin, Third Class." Harry heard a female voice breathe in suddenly. He kept his eyes on the letter; he was pretty sure if he looked up at everyone, he wouldn't be able to continue reading.
"Also to be awarded Orders of Merlin, Third Class, are Hermione Jane Granger-" Harry heard the same gasp again; he tried not to smile, but didn't succeed, "Ronald Bilius Weasley, Ginerva Molly Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood. A private awarding ceremony will be held at your convenience." Harry paused for a moment to take another deep breath. As he did so, he could hear an excited murmuring in the room.
A private ceremony? Harry pondered. I certainly like the idea of that. No Daily Prophet reporter around misquoting me or spelling names wrong. I can just see it now: 'Hermyonee.' I bet she'd just love that!
He continued to read aloud. "Furthermore, due to the events of said night, and considering the nature of the conflict I fear you may soon find yourself in, I hereby decree that you, and the above named individuals, are to be exempt from the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. I trust that you will make good use of your time away from school, if I am to believe the words of the Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot.
"Congratulations on your award." When Harry saw the next sentence, he quickly skipped to the end of the letter.
"Sincerely, Amelia Susan Bones, Minister of Magic."
As Harry finished the letter, he looked up and saw that everyone in the room was silent. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all appeared stunned. Even Luna appeared genuinely surprised, and that was saying something. While they all processed what had been said, Harry reread the paragraph he had not read aloud.
Congratulations on your award. I know that it has come at too high of a price. It may be of little comfort, but after discussing the events of fifteen years ago with the Chief Warlock, I just wanted to let you know that I am personally investigating the possibility of having your godfather's conviction overturned, as well as a public apology issued. It won't bring him back, but it will set right a wrong done too long ago. I know how you feel about your godfather. The least I can do is try to make sure everyone else sees him in the same light.
Once everyone had seemed to regained their senses, Professor Dumbledore stepped forward for a moment. "As Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot," he said, humorously trying to sound stuffy and pompous, but then his voice returned to normal, "I would like to point out that you all are still subject to the Statute of Secrecy. Intentional violations will not be ignored."
Seeing that all five of them seemed to understand, Dumbledore then smiled. "Congratulations, to all of you," he said.
Please don't applaud, Harry begged silently. He was already dying of embarrassment enough from sitting in that oversized throne; he didn't think he could take it if everyone started clapping. Fortunately, the Headmaster then cheerfully shouted out "Next!" The letter returned to the table and Molly's present slowly began to rise.
Harry eagerly watched this present float over to him. He knew what it was before he even opened it. He tore back the wrapping to find a gloriously large dish of his absolute favorite dessert: treacle tart. Even though everyone was watching him, Harry could not resist stealing a sample. Saying that it was phenomenal was all that was necessary.
Next was Remus's present. Harry's breathing hitched for a moment when he tore away the wrapping paper and saw... himself. It was Sirius's mirror, the second of the pair of matching magical mirrors his father and Sirius used to talk to each other. Feeling a sudden upwelling of emotion, Harry looked up at Remus and nodded a thank you. It was all he could manage. He now regretted breaking the other mirror. He hoped he would be able to fix it.
After the mirror returned to the table, a small box floated over to Harry. This was from Charlie. Harry had been too busy trying to figure out Hermione's reaction to Fleur kissing him that he hadn't seen Charlie leave a present on the table. When he opened the box, a small model of a Hungarian Horntail took flight out of the box and lazily flew in a small circle around Harry's hand.
Harry was absolutely delighted by Charlie's present. His original model of the Horntail from the Triwizard Tournament was broken sometime early in fifth year (probably during his initial flight to Grimmauld). When Harry found the pieces under one of his books, he had thrown them away; it was, after all only a model.
His attempt to repair it failed, as whatever enchantment gave it its lifelike appearance also interfered with his Reparo spell. After thanking Charlie, rather than let it return to the table, Harry set the Horntail down on the arm of the chair, where it promptly curled up to take a nap.
Harry suddenly found himself becoming very anxious. He really wanted to see what Hermione got him. But he had to get through everyone else's first. Harry made every effort to speed his way through the remaining presents, however still taking enough time to express genuine, heartfelt thank yous.
From Bill and Fleur, Harry received an eleven Galleon gift certificate to Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley. Hagrid had indeed given him a large bag of rock cakes. It really tested Harry's acting ability to genuinely thank Hagrid. It's the thought that counts, Harry reminded himself.
Harry held Fred and George's present with trepidation. When he looked up at them, they were conveniently looking away, busy digging all of the peas out of Molly's casserole. Harry tore back the plain parchment wrapping and found a small phial of... something. The glass was opaque, so he couldn't see the contents. A very small card tied around the stopper read "Do not open in a crowded room!" That was good enough for Harry right now.
When Harry opened Ron's present, he was pleasantly surprised to see that he was correct: Ron did give him a book. But it wasn't just any book. A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions. He'd seen a copy of it in the Room of Requirement when they were holding D.A. meetings, but he'd never gotten around to looking at it. This was a really cool present. As soon as he got home, he'd have to start looking through it for new ideas for the D.A.
The D.A. Until now, Harry hadn't given it too much thought. With Umbridge gone, there probably wouldn't be a need for it anymore. Virtually anyone the Headmaster selected to fill the position would be able to teach it effectively. But still, Harry enjoyed the meetings. Maybe he could make it an official school club, or something like that. He'd have to ask Hermione later what she thought about it.
Damn, Harry suddenly cursed himself as school crossed his mind. I forgot to fill out my timetable. Oh well. Just have to have Hedwig deliver it to McGonagall later.
Harry opened Ginny's present to find two small bottles of vibrant blue and green liquids. The blue was labeled "Dr. Koolskin's Aftershave," the green "Exactly YOU Cologne." Harry could not help it as he felt his face began to warm up slightly. I wonder if this is how Hermione felt when she thanked Ron for the "interesting" perfume. He looked up to see Ginny smiling shyly, trying to hide her face behind her hair; the two were the same color at the moment.
Ginny was also trying out of embarrassment to get Hermione to stand in front of her. After finally succeeding, she buried her face in the back of Hermione's shoulder and, by the looks of it, began to giggle. Hermione did not look at all amused. Seeing her roll her eyes in annoyance, Harry shot her a quick grin of amusement; her mood seemed to brighten immediately.
Luna's present turned out to be a copy of The Quibbler. It was the issue in which he gave his interview earlier that year. Before a confused Harry could ask, Luna explained that it was the very first copy off the printing press. Her father always kept the first five copies for sentimental and archival reasons.
Finally, there was only one present remaining: Hermione's. This was what Harry had been waiting for. As he reached to grab it out of Professor Dumbledore's hovering spell, he had to remind himself that it was heavier than it looked. He very carefully set it down on his lap. Yep, still numb, he confirmed.
With great haste, Harry tore away the wrapping paper. Even the wrapping paper was perfectly folded and taped. Based on the size and shape, as well as the weight, he had simply assumed that her present was a book. What he found was certainly not a book.
Hermione had given him a chess set. Harry laughed to himself. A book from Ron and a chess set from Hermione. This however was unlike any chess set he had ever seen. It was an exquisitely beautiful chess set, at least as far as the picture on the box was concerned. According to the packaging, the squares and playing pieces were made of quartz and obsidian.
A word on the packaging suddenly caught his attention. Holly. The frame of the playing board was made of holly. Harry looked at the picture again. This holly didn't look anything like the holly of his wand. Then again, his wand hadn't been "skillfully milled by master craftsman," nor was it "painstaking stained to bring out the unique character of this uncommon wood." No, Harry assumed the wood for his wand had been selected for its magical properties, not its aesthetic appeal.
Harry was speechless. It was so beautiful, he didn't know what to say.
How about 'thank you?' he suggested to himself. He tried but couldn't form any words.
Hermione broke free of Ginny's grasp and stepped forward. "And there's one other thing, Harry," she started, taking the box out of his lap. She set it on the table and removed the lid, handing it to him. Inside the cardboard box was a fancy wooden case that safely contained the board and pieces. Harry looked at the cardboard box again as Hermione opened the case.
He recognized this packaging. It was from the game and hobby store they had visited earlier. All of the chess sets there were made by this same company, and all had similar packaging. At the time, he had been focused on the sets themselves. But now that he thought about it, he recalled seeing the company's logo on the price tags.
"Here, Harry, see?" Hermione called his attention. Harry stood up and stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hermione as they, and everyone else in the room, looked at the chess set on the table. Harry could feel the upper part of his left arm resting lightly against Hermione's right. It began to feel oddly warm.
Hermione removed the board as well as two pawns: one white and one black. She set each of them on its starting square, across from each other. She moved the white piece (technically, crystal clear) forward two spaces, then the black piece forward two spaces.
To Harry's great surprise and shock, the roughly hewn foot soldier (these were pieces of carved crystal and volcanic glass, after all) suddenly came to life and attacked its black counterpart, causing it to break into many pieces with an appropriate, yet oddly satisfying shattering sound. The broken pieces quickly reassembled themselves and the pawn then walked across the board, and back into the wooden case.
"Wow!" was all Harry managed. He looked at Hermione in wonderment. How was this possible? As far as he knew, this was an ordinary Muggle chess set. Before he could ask her, he felt Ron's hand on his right shoulder, pulling him back slightly so he could get a better look.
"Wicked!" Ron proclaimed. "Will you let me have a go sometime?" he asked in excitement.
Harry smiled and nodded. While Harry had to admit to himself that Hermione's present was by far and away his favorite, he wanted to make sure Ron knew that he hadn't already forgotten about his present, and that he liked it also. "But only if we can go through some of the spells in here," he proposed, pointing to Compendium.
"Deal," Ron agreed eagerly, and then picked up a black and white knight, inspecting the pieces closely.
With Ron presently occupied, Harry turned back to Hermione with an inquisitive look, to ask about the set.
"Later," she said happily as she looked over his shoulder. Harry turned and saw that Molly had brought up the cake and set it down on the table where the leftovers from lunch had been consolidated onto two trays and pushed over to one side.
Harry felt Hermione put her hand on his back and push him slightly towards the table. He didn't think he could've put up any resistance to that, even if his head hadn't started swimming at her touch. When he got to the cake, he found that it was in the shape of Gryffindor Tower. On the glorious Honeyduke's chocolate frosting was "Happy Birthday Harry!" written in red and gold icing.
Molly handed him a large knife. "If you would do the honors, dear," she said kindly. Harry looked at the cake, and decided to start with the spire of the tower. As he began to cut, the cake suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream. Harry let go of the knife in shock; it remained stuck in the cake. From the cut, what appeared to be strawberry gel filling suddenly started gushing out like blood. Fred and George began laughing riotously. Everyone in the room turned to look at them.
"What?" Fred asked innocently. "We didn't touch the frosting, like we were told."
Molly appeared to have the wrath of God in her eyes as she began to take a step forward. Deciding he would save the twins, but torment them a little at the same time, Harry quickly cleared his throat.
"Please Mrs. Weasley," he started. She turned back to look at him. "It's okay. Don't worry about it." Fred and George grinned at each other. Harry then put on the most innocent looking expression he could manage. "I'll deal with them... later." Molly turned to look at Fred and George.
Seeing the looks of genuine fear appear on their faces (which rarely happened), Molly turned back to Harry and smiled at him. "Very well. If you insist. But please don't do anything that might get you sent to Azkaban," she said seriously; Harry knew, however, she was enjoying it as much as he was.
Fred and George smiled again, realizing it was all a joke. Unfortunately for them, Harry saw them smile. "Oh don't worry about that, Mrs. Weasley. I would never do anything... like that," he said, then smiled innocently to Fred and George. Their looks of fear returned. Harry heard Hermione cough beside him to conceal a laugh.
A couple minutes later, the cake was cut (George generously volunteered to remove the screaming charm, as well as the charm that caused the filling to gush out). For a minute, Harry was standing by himself, eating his cake before Ginny came over and stood by his side.
"Hi Harry," she greeted him excitedly. "How's the cake?"
"Brilliant! Remind me to thank your mum," he replied as they both watched the rest of the guests wander around chatting.
"I made the strawberry filling," she offered hopefully.
"Oh, that's nice," Harry replied. As soon as he said it, he realized it sounded less enthusiastic than he meant. "It's very good," he added, as he turned his head slightly to look at her. Ginny seemed to perk up a little.
"Did you... um... like my present?" she asked shyly. Harry could see a slight pink tint return to her cheeks.
"Oh, yeah," Harry replied. "I'll have to try them out when I get home," he added. Ginny's pink hue faded.
"Well... that's good. I hope you like them," she said. She then looked over at Ron and suddenly changed the subject. "Looks like Ron's in trouble again."
Harry looked over and saw that Luna had again seemed to ensnare Ron in a conversation. She was standing there, waving a fork with a piece of cake on it around as she spoke. Ron was staring intently at his own cake as he ate it. Harry couldn't tell if he was listening or not (he assumed not).
Hermione joined Harry and Ginny a minute later, stepping in between them. There was barely enough space between them for her to fit without bumping into either of them, but she managed it anyway.
"Hey Ginny, what do you say we go rescue your brother, huh?" Hermione offered.
Ginny seemed to brighten a little. "Okay," she said, and the two of them left for the other side of the room. Part of Harry was disappointed that Hermione hadn't spoken to him, but part of him was glad he wouldn't have to talk about his new cologne with Ginny.
Harry watched as Hermione and Ginny walked over to Luna and Ron. Hermione skillfully interrupted them; Ginny appeared very pleased. Her face dropped slightly when a few moments later, Hermione sent Ron back over to Harry while she, Ginny, and Luna stayed on their side of the room.
"Thanks a lot," Ron said sarcastically as he walked up to him. Harry was confused. He assumed Ron would welcome the interruption. He looked blankly at Ron, hoping he would explain.
"'What's the worst that can happen?' you said," Ron started. "She's been writing to me every day since then. That's what happened."
Harry fought to not smile. "Who? Luna?" he asked innocently.
"Yeah, Luna," Ron replied. "Ever since I replied to her letter, she's written to me every day. Do you know, they have the weirdest owl. It just sits there and watches me. Kinda like her, actually, now that I think about it," Ron said, looking back across the room over at Luna.
"Maybe the owl fancies you," Harry teased. "You know... kinda like..." Harry let his voice trail off, wagging his eyebrows.
"And of course," Ron continued, either not catching Harry's hint or intentionally ignoring it, "I had to reply to each one of them, just to be nice," he said, repeating what Harry wrote in his earlier letter.
And when has Ron worried about not being nice to someone? Harry wondered, amused.
"Under his radar." Hermione's words suddenly echoed thought Harry's mind. Ron did say that he'd replied to each one of them. He could have ignored her. And as annoyed as he appeared, he didn't actually seem to be angry.
Harry considered Ron's reaction for a few more seconds, then asked, "Well, was that so bad?"
"Well... no... not really. It's just that... well, it's Loony Lovegood, that's all," Ron said, as if that explained everything.
"And it did give you someone to talk to, didn't it?" Harry pressed on. "I'm sure writing to me every day wouldn't have been a good idea. They might've traced the owls."
Ron considered this for a moment. "Well, that's true, I suppose." Neither Harry nor Ron knew that Hermione had been corresponding daily with Ginny leading up to the party with no worries about the owls being traced.
"Better than talking to Percy," Ron said sarcastically.
"She isn't quite so bad, you know, when you actually talk to her. You kinda get used to her," Ron said as he looked back to Luna. "She still says some weird things sometimes I grant you, but, you know, what do you expect?"
Under his radar, indeed, Harry thought to himself. He decided to take a chance. "And she is a brilliant kisser," he whispered to Ron. As soon as he said it, Harry remembered Ron's confused reaction after seeing Luna kiss him. He decided to take another chance.
"So, Ron," Harry started casually, "what do you think of her, as a girl?"
Ron looked suddenly surprised. "Who? Luna?" he asked incredulously. Harry nodded. Ron looked as her as though he was studying her, as if he never really consciously considered that possibility.
"Well..." Ron started uncertainly. "She... is... kinda cute... in her own weird way. She is a blonde. That's always a plus. And... you do have to admit... she is rather... well put together," Ron said, turning his back to everyone and holding his cupped hands in front of his chest with a sly grin.
Harry took a second look at Luna. She certainly wasn't unattractive, by any means, and as far as being put together, she seemed rather average. But if Ron thought otherwise, Harry certainly wasn't going to say anything.
Ron continued to stare at Luna for a few seconds, obviously mulling things over. Unexpectedly, Luna looked over towards Harry and Ron. Upon seeing Ron looking at her, she immediately turned back to Ginny.
Seeing this, Harry nudged Ron in the arm. "Did you see that Ron? I think she might fancy you," he said in a teasing voice. He had suspected it for quite awhile, but now seemed to be the perfect chance to actually bring it up with Ron.
"You're mental," Ron said in disbelief.
"Am I?" Harry asked. "Remember how she was always staring at you last year? Remember how she wanted to carry Pig's cage? Oh, you weren't there for that. Remember that lion hat of hers? Remember her always singing 'Weasley-'"
"Enough," Ron interrupted, "I get the point." He looked positively embarrassed, though he was still looking at her.
"You know, half the fun is simply knowing that they already like you. Go on, talk to her," Harry prodded him. He pushed him a step forward. Ron didn't resist, but also didn't continue walking either.
"Go on," Harry exhorted. "What's the worst that can happen?" Ron turned and looked askance at Harry. "Okay, fine. What's the best that can happen?" Ron stopped and seemed to consider this for a moment. Harry couldn't resist. "She's blonde, you know? And a great kisser." A moment later, he suddenly realized he didn't want to know what Ron thought might be the best that could happen.
A slight smile appeared on Ron's face, but then he quickly hid it. "Wouldn't it be nice if 'the trio' became a quartet?" Harry suggested. Coincidently enough, the additional possibility of Harry adding someone and Hermione adding someone to make it a group of six never occurred to him.
Ron put his right foot forward, then back again as though he was debating what to do. "Just talk to her," Harry encouraged him. "You don't have to ask her out. You don't have to snog her. Just talk to her."
"A good kisser, huh?" Ron asked.
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes; he noticed it this time. "Just talk to her," he repeated.
"She is kinda cute," Ron repeated, as if he was trying to talk himself into doing it. "No offense, but now that I think about it, Hermione is rather plain looking. I..."
Whatever Ron said after that, Harry did not hear. All he heard were both voices in his mind scream out simultaneously.
WHAT??!!
After that, all Harry could do was stare dumbfounded at Ron, watching him speak, but not hearing any of his words. He could only make out bits and pieces of the overlapping screaming in his mind.
Of all the...
... planet are...
How dare...
...most beautiful girl...
And then suddenly... silence.
What was that? Harry heard his own voice asking.
Um... nothing. I didn't say anything, his reasonable side replied, sounding entirely unconvinced. It was strange for Harry to hear such uncertainty in Hermione's voice. He knew it wasn't Hermione, but still, it sounded like her voice.
If that voice had a face, Harry was certain it would be smirking right now. No... I'm pretty sure you just said something... something about Hermione being the most beautiful girl you've ever seen.
No I didn't.
Liar!
For another moment, silence. Oh bugger! How in the bloody hell did that happen?
It's true then! Harry's voice exclaimed in triumph.
Of course it's true. And you know it.
Yeah I knew it. But I had to wait for YOU to say it to know that it REALLY was true.
When did Hermione go from just our best friend to the most beautiful girl we've ever seen?
Honestly? I think it happened when we were asking Ron all those questions about whether he fancied her or not. Every time we listed an example, somehow she just got prettier with each one.
Well... so what? Harry's reasonable side argued. No big deal right? There are lots of beautiful girls in the world. Hermione's just the most beautiful. It doesn't mean anything. Right?
If you say so. Harry's voice didn't seem at all convinced. It's just that she suddenly became that in the last two weeks, it said sardonically. She must've obviously just grown into it... in two weeks. Right? Nothing ELSE could have changed, right?
Right, Harry's reasonable voice agreed, though it didn't sound entirely convinced.
Suddenly, Harry realized Ron was waving his hand at him, trying to get his attention. "Are you all right mate?
"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," Harry assured him. "I was... just thinking about something. My mind was wandering for a moment."
Wandering where? Harry's internal voice teased.
Shut up! the Hermione-voice snapped, though Harry could somehow just feel that it was embarrassed.
"I was just saying that I must be mental for even considering this," Ron explained, casting a glance over at Luna. He then laughed slightly. "But not as mental as any bloke that fancies Hermione," he added under his breath. He then listed again everything about her that annoyed him, adding a couple more this time.
As he stood there, Harry realized that all those same qualities Ron thought annoying, he found rather endearing.
"Just talk to her?" Ron confirmed. "What the heck! I'll give it a shot."
Harry wanted to tell Ron that you don't just "give it a shot," but he had already started to walk away. Before going over to Luna, Ron must have decided he needed a little gastronomical courage, for he first made a detour back to the food table and grabbed another sandwich and took two bites, and then just stood there holding it protectively like a security blanket.
At the table, Ron did not move. He looked unwilling to approach Luna with Hermione and Ginny standing there. He looked pleadingly at Harry, who nodded and started starting intently at Hermione, hoping he'd get her attention. After a few seconds, Hermione must have felt him watching her, for she turned to look at him inquisitively.
Harry jerked his head back slightly to indicate she should come over. Hermione tilted her head as if to ask why. Harry stared hard at Ron, then Luna, then back to Ron. He then looked back to Hermione, then Ginny, then back to Hermione again, then nodded his head back once more to again ask them to come over.
A surprised, but pleased look appeared on Hermione's face. Harry nodded with a smile, and then signaled a third time for them to come over. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna really hadn't been talking, just eating their cake; Hermione turned to Luna and said something (probably that they would be back in a minute), and then politely grabbed Ginny by the arm and dragged her away.
Harry watched Ron take one last motivating bite of his sandwich, and then throw the half-eaten sandwich back onto the tray with the other sandwiches. As he approached Luna, Ron suddenly looked over at Harry and stared pointedly at him. Harry nodded, then turned away so as not to watch him.
When Hermione and Ginny came over to him, Harry set down his now empty plate and then grabbed their hands and turned them so they too weren't looking in Ron's direction.
"Ginny," Harry asked quietly. "Would you do me a favor?"
"Sure, Harry," she eagerly replied.
"Would you go ask Fred and George to leave Ron alone for the next few minutes?"
"Why?" she asked. Ginny then glanced over her shoulder and saw Ron talking to Luna, his hands stuffed into his jeans pockets in nervousness. "Oh," she realized, her face dropping slightly.
"Um, okay," she finally agreed without much enthusiasm. "But I doubt they'll listen to me."
"Just tell them that I'm asking them politely," Harry said, grinning.
Ginny seemed unconvinced, but... finally, "All right." She then walked over to where Fred and George were standing. They were watching Ron intently with devious smiles on their faces. When Ginny went over to them, she said something to them. The twins then turned simultaneously to look at Harry; Harry just smiled innocently at them. The look of disappointment mixed with a hint of fear was quite amusing. Ginny then walked over and joined her parents.
"So I take it I missed something," Hermione asked quietly with a slight grin.
"Just kill me now," Harry begged her with a smile. "I think I'm turning into Parvati and Lavender over here. I just talked Ron into talking to Luna... 'talking' talking."
"You didn't?" Hermione asked in amazed disbelief. Harry nodded weakly.
"Please, promise me that you'll never try to hook me up with some complete stranger," Harry asked with a smile.
Hermione considered him for a moment.
"No strangers, huh? That I can do," she replied with a mischievous grin.
Harry saw her grin. Maybe I should've been a little more specific... he mused to himself. But, alas, it was too late. He worried that if he brought it up again, it would look suspicious. He'd originally said it just as a joke, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew there was more truth in that statement than he'd first realized.
Hermione looked at Harry again. "But only if you promise that you won't try to hook me up with anyone either," she said, grinning again.
Yeah, like I'd ever try to get you interested in anyone other...
"That I can do," Harry mimicked back, and then smiled. With the conversation ending abruptly, Harry could do nothing but look at Hermione for a few more seconds. As he did, he suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of anticipation.
He could feel something building in his chest. Something that reminded him of how he felt when he kissed Hermione just a little while ago. Something that reminded him of how he felt when he took her hands and helped her off the floor after their Portkey arrival, or when she touched his back earlier to guide him to the cake As this feeling grew, he began to worry that it might cause him to do something that he could not undo.
So he smiled once more then forced himself to look away. Harry turned to sneak a glance at Ron. Ron still looked as nervous as before, but it did appear that he was actually talking to Luna. He didn't seem to notice Harry looking at him.
Ron's earlier words echoed through Harry's mind. "But not as mental as any bloke that fancies Hermione."
Considering his behavior in the last few minutes, Harry expected that this would annoy him. And yet, now, he found it mildly amusing.
Based on the last five years, and especially these last two weeks, Harry's reasonable side said humorously, not paying attention where this thought might lead, if anyone were to start fancying her, it'd be me.
The voice managed to get out one laugh before suddenly silencing itself.
Harry had heard the word used once or twice before, but now he finally, truly understood what an epiphany was.
OH MY GOD!! I FANCY HERMIONE!! Harry distinctly heard both voices in his mind scream in panic.
It was a rare occasion when the two voices came to the same conclusion. It wasn't so much that they disagreed with each other; they simply looked at the world differently, and therefore usually came to different conclusions. One was more based on instinct, emotion, and subconscious thoughts. The other was more rational and, ever since he realized it was Hermione's voice in fifth year, tended to act also as his conscience.
So, when they did say the same thing, it was impossible to ignore. Harry's eyes widened in shock. He quickly looked around; no one was looking directly at him. That made him relax a little... but only a little.
Was it true? Could it be true? Deep down, he knew it was true. It just seemed too fantastic to believe. He fancied her. Harry James Potter fancied Hermione Jane Granger. It seemed impossible to believe... and yet... it made sense.
Again, he never said or thought those words. It was simply a feeling, an understanding. It was true.
And as quickly as that, every odd thing that had happened in the last two weeks finally fell into place.
How he felt when he first saw Hermione at the front door. How he felt when she told him he was staying with them. How he felt before going shopping, when he realized that something was causing him to be happy when he should have been sad. There were lots more, but Harry knew they were all the same. He remembered thinking before they left for the mall how he promised himself that if he ever figured out what "it" was that had caused the changes, he'd never let go of it.
Well, now he knew: it was his best friend. His best friend whom he just happened to fancy and think was the most beautiful girl in the world. It was as simple as that.
Harry slowly turned to look back at Hermione. Fortunately the look of shock had finally died from his face. His insides however, were a right mess. Excitement, fear, happiness, terror, anticipation, dread... it was all there.
When he finally could see her properly, Harry could see that Hermione too had been watching Ron and Luna. She looked at him and smiled again. Harry immediately felt all of the fear washed away by that same bubbly, giddy feeling he felt earlier. He was so overwhelmed by it, he was tempted to start giggling. Fortunately, his self control was strong enough to at least keep him from doing that.
In a daze, Harry grinned dumbly back.
Oh, I am in trouble now, Harry thought to himself.
A/N: FINALLY!! YAY!! Harry figured it out. I must say though that we aren't at the end yet. Remember, this story is planned to end once they are together, so we still have a few more chapters to go. Many of these chapters will be "live," covering only a very brief window... for example, July 31 lasts 6 ½ chapters: last half of 12 through 18. Other chapters will be much more sparse. August will probably last one to two chapters (unless I'm struck by some NEW rabid plot bunny). I PROMISE it won't take Harry two years to get together with Hermione, like it did with Cho. Remember, I know how the story ends, so I'm just as eager to get there as you are!