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Harry Potter and the Triptych by Vickles
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Harry Potter and the Triptych

Vickles

Harry Potter and the Triptych

By Vickles

Rating: R (I decided to move it up since I'm not exactly sure what achieves and R rating and also because I will most likely need to eventually.)

Disclaimer: Christmas makes you want to be with the people you love, and the characters I have come to adore are spending it with JKR! How can they do this to me? The pain is unbearable, I tell you! Unbearable! *runs off sobbing, throwing chapter at readers*

~*~

Chapter 17: Exhaustion and Anger

~*~

When Harry and Hermione arrived back at the house, it was only to find that, in their absence, chaos had ensued. The house looked as if a stampede had whipped through it, and was still whipping through it by the sounds of things. It seemed like running was going on downstairs, and occasionally you could hear voices, but not loud enough to distinguish. Just as they reached the second floor, Harry gasped in realization and ran down the rest of the stairs. Hermione was confused for a second until she heard Harry yelling, "Ginny, it's okay!" causing her to take off down the stairs after him.

Upon reaching the sitting room they found Draco Malfoy crouching behind one of the couches as Ginny stood across the room, her wand fixed at on him. Seeing Harry, she ran up and gave him a hug, "What is he doing here?" she immediately launched into a great questioning, clearly a bit shaken up, "I popped in and he was sitting and eating, but none of you were anywhere! I thought he had done something horrible, that you were all…all dead!" She let go of Harry and immediately gave Hermione a crushing hug as well.

"We're okay, Ginny," Hermione reassured her with a smile, "Draco is just…staying with us for a while."

"Draco?" Ginny asked, looking between the two of them. Harry shrugged as he sat on the couch, "Are you…friends with him now?"

Harry snorted and Hermione shook her head, leading them all over to the couches, "Of course not."

"You know," Draco said, standing, "I'm still here."

"Yes," Hermione said, not really caring, "Why is that?" Not needing more instruction, he left them. Hermione turned to Harry and Ginny, "I think I'm going to go as well, grab a bite to eat."

Ginny nodded, "Okay. Where's Ron?" she asked before Hermione left.

"Helping out at Fred and George's."

"No he's not," Ginny replied almost immediately.

"He's not?" Harry asked. "How do you know?"

She merely shrugged, "Just that I've been there all afternoon and Apparated straight from there to here, so I would have run into him."

Before Harry could even begin to stand Hermione stopped him, "I'll go check it out, you stay. You two need to talk." Hermione smiled as she left them, ignoring the angry glare Harry sent her from behind Ginny's back. Grabbing her cloak, she Apparated to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

"Hermione!" One of the twins exclaimed at the sight of her, "What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for Ron. Have either of you seen him this evening?"

"Haven't seen him since Harry's birthday party. Have you, Fred?" George asked his brother.

"Nope."

"But…" Hermione did not like this, "But he told Harry that he's been coming here and helping out at nights."

They shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you," Fred answered and George nodded in agreement.

"But how about some Instant Darkness Powder?" One of them asked.

"Yes. We've fixed it so it can only be used with good intentions!"

"At least we think so, anyway."

"We're nearly positive!"

"You know you've got a special discount anytime you'd like to use it, right?"

"I know, thanks. Have a good evening!" Hermione waved goodbye and exited the shop quickly, turning into the small area beside and walking down the narrow walkway as the last of the sun's rays left the horizon. Staring at her feet in thought and trying to figure out where Ron could possibly be that he couldn't tell either of them, she moved along, no real speed behind the action.

Just as she was considering using the Triptych to Apparate to him, Hermione bumped into a couple in the middle of a deep snogging session. "Sorry," she muttered as the couple pulled apart.

"Hermione?" an all-to-familiar voice asked in shock.

"RON?" Hermione turned around and looked up suddenly. In front of her, lit by the moonlight, stood Ron and Luna, both embarrassingly disheveled. "What are you doing here?" When Ron couldn't answer Hermione shook her head, "I mean, why aren't you helping Fred and George's? I came looking for you, and…"

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned, as he straightened himself up, Luna doing the same.

"No, nothing's wrong," Hermione sighed, turning to Luna, "Hi."

Luna smiled, "Hello."

Hermione turned back to Ron, smacking him upside the head, "I love you, Ron, but…" suddenly Hermione had a great headache, likely stress-induce, she thought to herself with a sigh, "Never mind. We can talk later. Goodnight." Turned to Luna she smiled, "It was nice to see you again." She Disapparated, landing in the front room, now Ginny free.

"How'd it go?" Harry opened his mouth to reply but Hermione interrupted him, "Actually, tell me later. I don't think I can handling it right no." She flopped down on the couch beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"What is it, hon?" Harry asked.

"I found out what Ron's been doing."

"What?"

"Snogging Luna."

"You mean Luna Lovegood?"

"That's the one."

"Are they serious?"

"I don't know. For all of the knowledge I have he may just be out snogging random girls in the evenings and Luna was tonight's pick."

"You know that's not how Ron is."

Hermione sighed, "I know. Then again I didn't think Ron would lie to us about something like this." She turned and lay back, resting her head on his lap as he began running his hands through her hair. "I'm so exhausted," Harry nodded and she went on, "I mean, just with everything. There's … so much right now. Ron has been lying to us for weeks about a girl. Everyday we are learning to strategies to defeat Voldemort. You just discovered that you have healing powers, and Ron is sometimes forced to feel it when I `want' you, as you put it. If that's not enough, my best friend's little sister is lusting after the man I love, and later you can tell me all about how that went. And then, hey, just for kicks, Draco Malfoy is staying with us as his father, who killed his mother-who sent him to us-disowned him for not having the nerve to commit murder."

"Speaking of which, how do you suppose Lucius got out?" Harry asked as she stopped to take a breath.

"Voldemort wanted him out. No more questions, okay? I'm not entirely sure I can handle it."

"Okay."

Hermione kissed the back of his hand, "I'm so glad that I have you. I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

Just as Hermione was beginning to relax, Ron popped in, speaking immediately, "I am so sorry. I never meant for you to find out like that." He crouched in front of the couch, "You have every right to be furious with me."

Hermione exhaled softly, "I'm not furious with you, Ron. Just surprised. And a little disappointed that you thought you had to lie."

"I was just… worried what you would think I guess. I know you guys don't think much of her."

"That's not true," Hermione said and Ron frowned in doubt, "Okay, I'll admit that I think she's odd, but she's also put herself in danger for our sakes twice in the past two years, and I can't ignore that. Do you really care about her?"

Ron shrugged as he sat, "I…I don't know." Though he was looking at the carpet, his bright red ears gave him away.

Hermione looked up at Harry and they shared a smile. "You know," Harry said, "she could come over here anytime if you want. Maybe she'd like to watch us train, help out a little."

"Really?" Ron looked up, happy, "I think she'd like that. She's been wanting to spend more time with me, seeing as school starts in a little over a week."

His expression saddened a little at this and Hermione reached out her hand, "I'm sorry. That can't be easy."

Ron shrugged, sighing a bit, "No, but we both knew that it was going to happen." He looked up at Harry who was about to speak, "And don't even say it, Harry. I'm not going to ditch my best friends as they face the fight of a lifetime because I miss my girlfriend. She's great, amazing actually, and I care a lot about her, but I know where I belong. Besides," he grinned, "you two would be lost without me, and I might be able to convince McGonagall to let her visit on some of the weekends." He looked at them hopefully and they nodded.

"Just don't start taking Luna away from her studies, okay?" Hermione asked nodded in response and she sat up, "Good. Well, I am in need of some relaxation so I'm going to take a bath. I'm very happy for you, Ron."

"Thanks," he replied as she headed up the stairs, and then turned to Harry. "So how'd it go with Ginny?"

Harry groaned and Ron chuckled, sitting on the opposite end of the couch, propping his legs up on the table. "Well," Harry began, "first off, I found her cornering Malfoy in the living room. You see, Hermione and I had gone out for some fresh air after our session and I'd forgotten about Ginny for a moment, to be honest. So, we weren't here when she found him."

Ron smiled, "I hope Ginny gave him a third ear of something. Or boils. Boils would be good."

"Not that he wouldn't deserve it," Harry replied darkly, "but I stopped her. Figured Hermione or Dobby would eventually have to heal the boils and that's just not fair. Plus, Malfoy would make a big fuss out of it, the great baby that he is. He left, and after that Ginny made the comment about you and how she didn't see you at the shop so Hermione went after you."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, opening them again as he spoke, "Basically I started off by asking her why she lied about Dean. To my surprise, she was actually honest, or I think so anyway. Starts going off on how she'd hope it would make me jealous and about how much she's been missing me. Obviously, I didn't let her go on too long. I apologized and told her that I didn't return the feelings anymore, and that while what we had in the spring was great at the time, it wouldn't be now."

"I expected her to be furious. To be honest, it probably would have been better if she had been. But do you know what she did? She told me that she understood; she wasn't okay with it, but she understood. Then she started crying, and you know how I am around crying girls that aren't Hermione."

Ron laughed and shook his head, "You're not even that great when Hermione's crying."

"Exactly," Harry said, then sighed, "She left pretty soon after that. I felt rather horrible though. Ginny has never really done anything bad to me, and I have to give her credit about being pretty mature about it. I hope she finds someone else soon. That would be good."

"I know that's the truth," Ron said in agreement. They talked for a little longer and each headed up to bed, bidding each other goodnight. Harry entered the room to find that Hermione was still taking her bath. He sat on the bed alone for a few moments, then crossed the room and knocked on the door gently.

"Yes?" Hermione asked.

"Are you almost done?"

"I was planning on staying in a bit longer," she admitted.

"Can I come in?"

She didn't say anything for a few moments, "No."

"Why not?" Harry asked, hurt a little.

"Well, I just…I don't exactly have my swimsuit on right now, Harry."

Harry pushed past the lovely mental image she had just given him, "Hermione, it's just been a long day and I'd really like some company. I know that you've got bubbles going and I promise I will just sit on the floor."

She seemed to be thinking, "…Okay, you can come in. The door's unlocked."

Harry pushed open the door and walked in, sitting next to the bathtub, where Hermione lay under a sea of magical bubbles enchanted not to fade, her head resting on an inflatable pillow and her arms crossed over the chest despite the fact that Harry couldn't possibly see anything anyway. "Hi," he said, propping his elbows up on his knees and leaning his head against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Hey," she replied, relaxing a little, "what's bugging you?"

"Malfoy."

"Why, did he do something?"

"No," Harry replied, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, "and that's exactly the problem. I don't trust him Hermione."

"I know."

"But you seem to," he added after a moment.

Hermione turned, surprised and puzzled, "What's that suppose to mean?"

Harry opened his eyes, putting his glasses back on before sitting up straight, "Why are you being so nice to him, Hermione?"

"I'm not! I just…"

"You just what? It's Draco Malfoy, Hermione! Have you suddenly forgotten all of the horrible things he's done?"

"No, I haven't, Harry, it's just that…" she stopped talking as Harry stood.

"It doesn't matter. I'm… I'm going to go to bed." Harry walked out, closing the door behind him.

When Hermione came out of the bathroom Harry was sitting in bed, already changed into his pajama bottoms. Also in her nightclothes, Hermione padded over and got up on the bed, sitting in front of him. For a minute they just stared at each other, then she finally spoke, "I don't want us to be fighting."

"Me neither."

"Especially over Malfoy."

"I know that you just want to help him, Hermione, and it's great that you can do that. You wouldn't be you if you didn't," Harry admitted.

"But it's still not okay for me to be treating him so well after all he's done to us. I suppose I just thought I could fix him or something," she replied, "I want you to know that I haven't forgotten what he's done to us," Hermione told him. "And you're not going to find us playing a game of cards anytime soon. I guess I believed that if he wasn't really that bad or that it wasn't his fault he was so bad, I could find a reason for why he's done everything he's done."

"I get it. It's just that…" Harry sighed, "I really don't like him, Hermione."

"I know," Hermione said, joining him at his side and lacing her arms around him as he placed one on her shoulder. She smiled, "But I have to say that getting the chance to kick his butt felt quite nice."

Harry chuckled as he turned the lights out, "I bet it did. I'd like the same opportunity."

Just then, a knock came at their door. "Come in," Hermione called.

The door opened and revealed Ron and Draco. They walked in, Ron shutting the door behind them as Draco hovered near him. "He says he's got something to tell us," Ron began bluntly.

Harry and Hermione got up out of the bed, Harry pulling a shirt over his head on the way, and walked over to them. "And that would be…" Harry asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You asked me if I would like to take an active role in this or something behind the scenes, and I decided to take the more active route," Draco answered, abnormally without his usual sneer.

The three stared at him in silence for several moments, all having expected him to stay behind the scenes. "So…" Ron started, the first to find his voice, "what does this mean?"

"This means…" Hermione said, looking at Harry and knowing he was thinking the same thing.

Harry nodded to her, "This means that a change of plans is in order."

~*~

"We have a proposal," Hermione said at lunch the next day as the three of them, Malfoy, Tonks, Lupin, Gretta, and even Professor McGonagall sat at the table. "While I can understand our necessity for intense training, I believe it would also be advisable for us to spend our time doing other things."

"Such as?" Gretta asked, clearly able to see that Hermione had been thinking about this.

"Research. We still have four Horcruxes to find, remember…"

At the mention of the Horcruzes the adults all looked at Draco, who shrugged, "I already knew about them. My dad helped to hide on of them, back when he was the Dark Lord's right-hand man."

They all relaxed a bit and Hermione continued speaking, "There's also some definite shady areas in relation to Voldemort's past, especially in relation to what all went on the weeks leading up to…well, up to that night."

"But we already know what happened, don't we?" Tonks asked, "Dumbledore's told all of it in bits and pieces at some point or another. There was the prophecy and Snape and Pettigrew…"

"You may be right," Harry said, "But clearly Dumbledore didn't know everything, or I imagine that he might have let on at some point that my mum was pregnant."

Ron nodded in agreement, having spent the morning discussing this with his two best friends, "If he didn't know about that how can we know that there aren't other things he ever knew about?

"So what do you have in mind?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"We will continue our workouts and tactical training in the mornings and earlier afternoon, having a late lunch at one or so," Hermione began.

"Then in the afternoon, Ron and I will use our aliases to get information from the other side," Harry said, "Malfoy has consented to give us some good starting locations, and we already have a connection with the store clerk at Borgin and Burkes. From what we've been able to tell the only other ticket in is money…"

"And Merlin knows Harry's got enough of that," Ron added.

Professor McGonagall sighed, "I don't suppose I need to tell you how dangerous this could be," they shook their heads, "And I expect you know by now that you will need to err on the side of caution?" They both nodded. "Well then, what are you two going to do in the afternoons?" she asked Hermione and Draco.

"Tonks and I will help catch Draco up on the basic skills, and then I will also be doing research on Horcruxes, Voldemort, anything I can get my hands on. We will also be doing background checks on wizards and witches that Harry and Ron come into contact with, as well as supplying supply any information on magical objects and such or any other thing that should come up as they are out." It had been decided that Hermione should help Malfoy seeing as she was the least likely to kill him in the process. "I'm also going to get back to my tests and experiments. I think any tool that we can have that they don't is vital."

"Definitely," Tonks replied with a nod.

"This is all nicely thought out," Professor McGonagall said, "But I do have a couple of suggestions that I would like you to take to heart. Misters Potter and Weasley should not go out every afternoon, and never to the same location more than once a week. If they start showing up too often Voldemort is bound to notice something for sure. Also, try to get some help from Fred and George Weasley on the experimenting, seeing as it is their one area of expertise if you exclude causing trouble."

"Yes ma'am," Hermione replied with a respectful nod, Harry and Ron as well.

"Good. If that it is all, then, I must excuse myself to get back to the school," Professor McGonagall stood, Gretta as well.

"I should be getting back there, as well," she said, "I need to work on my lesson plans for the fifth and seventh years, yet."

"Lesson plans?" Ron asked, "You're teaching at Hogwarts?"

Gretta nodded, "Didn't I tell you that?" They all shook their heads, "Oh, forgive me. Yes, I am teaching all years of Potions and Transfiguration for the first and second years."

"I'll be continuing to teach the upper grades," McGonagall added.

Hermione looked at Gretta, concerned, "That's quite a lot of work isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Gretta agreed, "But there is a definite shortage of teachers this year, and I am willing to help out as necessary."

"Who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry asked, curious.

The headmaster sighed, "Wouldn't I like to know? I have a few more prospects to look at this week. Hopefully one will turn out." After a few more exchanged words she and Gretta left.

"Right then," Tonks said as they began cleaning up their dishes, "Am I to assume that this new plan won't be going into effect until tomorrow?"

"That's correct," Hermione answered.

"Good. Then I suggest we do some tests on Malfoy to see where he lies with skill. Come on, then." She led them up to the attic.

"How are you going to test me?" Draco asked cautiously.

Tonks shrugged, then looked between the three of them, pondering something. Finally her eyes rested on Harry, "I want you to fight Malfoy. Give him his wand."

Hermione and Ron grinned as Harry almost laughed in disbelief, "Seriously?"

Draco scowled, "Don't be so cocky, Potter."

Harry shrugged indifferently, handing over Malfoy's wand, clearly trying not to let him get to him, "At least I've got the skill to back my attitude up. All you ever had was back-up thugs."

"Please. Crabbe and Goyle couldn't kill a spider."

"Neither can you, from what I've learned this past week."

That struck a nerve as each of their faces turned to stone. Tonks, Ron, and Hermione backed away as the rivals began circling each other, both waiting to see who would make the first move. Hermione could tell that Tonks was observing Malfoy closely, watching his reactions. They all knew that Malfoy would act first, if only because Harry knew better then to start offensively.

They were right, of course. After several long moments, Malfoy send a simple jinx at Harry, which was avoided and reflected with ease. Draco conjured a shield and this time Harry simply let the jinx go past him. "You're going to have to try harder than that," he told him.

"I know how to fight, Pothead."

"Really? How surprising, considering you haven't been able to develop any new insults in the last six years. Am I to assume that Ron and Hermione's nicknames continue to be Mudblood and Weasel?" he took a quick moment to glance apologetically at Hermione.

"I haven't called either of them that since I got here."

"Only because when you called Hermione's family Mudbloods I sent you flying into a wall."

The almost light banter continued as jinxes and curses were sent, mostly from Malfoy. Harry repelled everything with an air of ease, causing Ron, Hermione, and Tonks to chuckle with each other on more than one occasion. If Draco planned to show them that he possessed any real skill he was going to have to step it up a notch.

Suddenly the fight took a turn, all talking coming to a stop as Harry began tapping into his other powers, placing Malfoy on the defense for a change. When something finally pushed him over the top, no one could ever remember what Harry had done, he stared at Harry angrily, "Crucio!"

The spell it Harry dead on, but it did nothing, unless one were to count the fury emanating from everyone in the room. Harry raised a hand and lifted Draco in the air, pulling him towards him. "What the hell to you think you're doing?"

Malfoy sighed, "I wasn't thinking. I told you that they only teach us to use those when fighting. Why didn't it do anything?" he asked, then it dawned on him as Harry tiredly set him down, "Right, the Triptych. So you're the hand, then?"

"Yes," Harry replied through gritted teeth as Hermione placed a calming hand on his forearm. "Malfoy… I swear… if you ever even consider using an Unforgivable again…"

"You'll what?" he asked in a tone that he could not support.

"I'll…" Harry tore away from Hermione, walking away from them with gritted teeth and grabbing what had been now labeled The Chair. "I'll tell you what I'll do…" he started mumbling to himself, though they could easily hear him. "I'll…I'll just…" He picked up the chair and threw it so close to Draco's head that his hair moved in response, then pulled it back with magical force and bashed it into his knee. Harry sighed, looking up at Malfoy, who was sufficiently stunned, "Got it?"

Draco nodded numbly as Harry stormed out of the attic, Hermione only pausing to glare at Malfoy before taking off after him. Tonks left not long after, leaving only Ron with him. "Do you," Draco started to ask, "Do you really think he'd do that?"

Ron shrugged as he put The Chair back together, "I suppose it would depend. If he was in a bad mood it would probably be much worse. And, well…"

"And what?"

Ron looked at him as if he was the stupidest person on earth, "And if you used it on any of the three of us, especially Hermione, you could just consider yourself a dead man."

Draco scoffed, "What makes Granger so special? Just because she lets him stick his tongue down her throat she's of great importance?"

Ron rolled his eyes as he began to leave, then turned around as he reached the door. "You know, Malfoy, I never thought I'd say this, but I almost feel sorry for you. It must be pretty sad to be such a prat that you don't understand a concept like love." He had almost made it out the door when Draco stopped him.

~*~

Hermione found Harry in the study, sitting at one of the desks and staring at nothing, his breath still a bit ragged. She took a seat next to him and placed her hand on his, saying nothing.

"I want to hurt him so much, Hermione," Harry said after a moment, "I want to hurt him so much that sometimes it scares me. I don't know how he does it, but somehow…"

Hermione nodded, "It makes sense."

"I shouldn't let him get to me like that. Even I know that it's just habit for him to use it, but…it's such a horrible feeling, and for a moment I had forgotten about the Triptych's protection, and I prepared for the pain and…" Harry's face screwed up into a tight grimace and Hermione wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder when suddenly a yell sounded from upstairs, causing them to split apart and Apparate out of the room.

~*~

"Take it back, Weasley!" Draco said as he held Ron against the wall, having already taken his wand.

"Take what back?" Ron asked, surprised by the sudden assault.

"You know what you said!" Draco roared as Hermione and Harry popped in, pulling them apart.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hermione exclaimed at Draco.

Harry crossed his arms, "For someone who says he wants to fight on our side you show it in a really strange way."

Draco was seething as he pursed his lips and shook his head back and forth, his cheeks flushed with anger as he looked up at Ron. They all paused, waiting for him to say something. Finally he spoke directly at Ron, "You can call me a prat all you want, Weasley," he said, his tone very controlled and low, "Even I'll admit that I am an asshole. But…" he blew air through his teeth before continuing, "don't you ever say that I don't understand what love is again."

Ron looked at him, confused, "Is that why you're upset? Why does it matter?"

Malfoy stamped his foot a little, clearly on the brink of explosion, "It matters because, in case you've forgotten, my mother is dead because of love, you idiot!" He yelled the last words, grabbing The Chair and smashing it into his knee, just has Harry had done minutes ago, then turned to Harry, "And that was without fancy super powers." With that, he handed Hermione his and Ron's wands, then calmly, a bit rushed, left the room.

Harry and Hermione turned to Ron, who stood shocked. "What did you say to him?" Harry asked with surprise.

"I don't remember. He made some comment about you two and I just said that I felt a little sorry for him, not understand love. I wasn't even trying to bug him; how was I supposed to know that he'd get all touchy about it?"

Hermione sighed and lied down on her back, unconsciously putting The Chair back together. "We can't keep doing this. He's never going to really fight on our side until we can all get on each other. Not like each other, necessarily, but… we've got to get past this."

Harry and Ron sighed, lying down on either side of her. "How are we supposed to do that?" Ron asked.

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know. To be honest I don't know what to think about him yet. But…I think that we'll have to do whatever it is that needs to be done first."

"I don't want to," Harry said, "I want him to just go away."

"I second that," Ron added.

Hermione exhaled softly, "Yes, I do suppose that would be easier."

Outside the attic, Draco stood silently, not knowing where he wanted to go, when suddenly someone ran into him. He looked up to see Ginny Weasley staring back at him. "What are you doing here?" they asked at the same time.

"I sort of live here," Draco replied, "What's your excuse?"

Ginny held up a handkerchief, "I came to return this to Harry." She squinted at him, "Are you…have you been crying?"

Malfoy blinked rapidly in an attempt to soothe his bloodshot eyes, "No. This house is just dusty. Makes my eyes water."

Ginny didn't seem like she believed him but simply shrugged, "Well, good then. I really don't feel like dealing with seeing a person I hate crying. Are they in here?" she asked, pointing to the attic door.

Draco just nodded, walking away.

"So what's the deal?" she asked him, causing him to stop.

"What deal?" he asked in return, annoyed.

Ginny scowled at his rude tone, "I was just wondering why you would come here, a place where you are clearly unwanted."

"Yeah, well," Malfoy shrugged indifferently as he continued walking away, "The places where I'm unwanted seem to be just about everywhere these days."

Ginny watched him go, then turned and entered the attic, finding the trio lying on the floor, "Am I interrupting?"

They all sat up at the sound of her voice. "No," Harry answered, "Did you need something?"

"I just came to return this to you," Ginny replied, handing him the clean handkerchief.

"Oh," Harry took the cloth from her outstretched hand, "Er…okay. Thanks."

"No problem." Ginny stood there stiffly, as if not sure if she could leave.

"Hey, Gin?" Hermione asked, standing up.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to come have some tea with me? Dobby makes it really sweet," Hermione told her as she headed to the door.

Ginny smiled, relaxing a bit, "Okay, sure. Thank you." She walked through the door and Harry attempted to get Hermione's attention.

Relax, Hermione's voice sounded in his head, throwing him off a bit. Harry watched her walk out with Ginny and then slumped back to the floor. "I think I need to go hit my head into a wall a few times."

Ron grinned, "Why is that?"

Harry sighed, "Ginny is acting like a normal human being again and now my girlfriend is having tea with my ex-girlfriend who doesn't know that I'm dating my best friend. And hey, just to top it off, Hermione just did what I think constitutes as telepathy, and you know what's worse?"

"What?"

Harry sat back up, "I wasn't even surprised that she did it!"

Ron laughed, "I know what you need mate, and it's not to smack your head into a wall."

"And that would be…"

All Ron did in response was smile, "C'mon. We're going to have a little visit with my brothers."

~*~

When Harry and Ron got back home, Ginny was long gone and Hermione was sitting in the living room, reading. "Where have you two been?" she asked curiously at the sight of them.

Harry laughed as Ron began wondering up the stairs, running into the wall twice, "Ron thought I could use a drink, but, well, as you can see…"

"So many stars!" Ron shouted from the hallway and Harry chuckled.

"I think he means stairs. I'm going to go make sure he doesn't kill himself on the way to his room."

Harry came out of Ron's room to find Hermione waiting for him. He took her hands in her and they head up the stairs. "Did you have anything to drink?" Hermione asked.

"I had a butterbeer. You think I'm stupid enough to get smashed when I'm in the middle of training, let alone know that I'm coming home to you?"

Hermione smiled despite herself, smacking him lightly. "It's not like I own you, Harry," she told him as they entered the bedroom.

"Yes, you do," Harry replied, pulling her into a kiss, "But I really don't mind at all."

"Liar."

Harry gasped and put a hand over his heart, "That hurts. I never lie to the women I love."

Hermione sat on the bed and crossed her arms, "There are others?"

"Oh yes," Harry told her with a grin as he sat next to her, "Tonks as captured my heart."

"Oh really…" Hermione replied softly as she leaned back on the bed, "And how does Remus feel about this."

"He doesn't know. She refuses to leave him for me."

Hermione sighed and he lay back as well, leaning over her and placing gentle kisses on her skin. "Maybe she doesn't really love you."

Harry's fingers began to trace lines under her shirt as he whispered in her ear, "That's a horrible thing for you to say."

"It's just another reason…" Hermione tried to regain her thoughts as she became rather distracted, "Another reason to love me more than her."

His hands were searching her bra now, "I already do." She gasped as he found the clasp, but then laughed a little as he clearly couldn't work it, cursing mostly to himself, "Damnit."

Hermione lifted her head and kissed him, then sat up and reached under her shirt, unhooking the material and pulling it off and out through her sleeve as Harry watched in awe. She smiled a little and scooted back on the bed, pulling him with her, "Where were we?"

Harry blinked a few times, "I think I've forgotten." He began to kiss her again, his hands hesitantly moving under her shirt. As his kisses continued to warm her skin, she unconsciously reached down, pulling his shirt over his head and discarding it, lifting her head to kiss his chest, her hands touching his abdomen and making him shiver.

"What is it?" she asked.

Harry smiled and shook his head, "Your hands are just cold."

"Right," Hermione blushed as Harry kissed her fingertips, "Sorry, I just..."

Harry shut her up with his mouth on hers, his tongue instantly tangling with her own as his hands went back to their former ministrations, causing Hermione to give an involuntary moan as his fingers reached the curve of her breast. His other hand reached down and tugged at her shirt, forcing them apart for only a moment before their lips reclaimed each other as the shirt was flung through the air.

They lay their, spooning, for an unknown amount of time, eventually lying next to each other and breathing to the rhythm of soft kisses, soon lulling themselves to sleep.

~*~

A/N: Thanks to Lady Starlight, who took time away from her family just to beta this. I'm extremely grateful. I am sorry to say that this is my last chapter for two or three weeks I believe, with the holidays and all. That said, I will try to get you the next chapter ASAP and will then be back into my usual swing of things.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!! (Or any other holiday that you may celebrate, but even if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a good day on the 25th just the same!) :)


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