Here at the End

Here at the End

By

Ahn Na Blue

Rated PG-13

Chapter Six: To Kill a Rat

Disclaimer: Harry Potter blah blah blah, JK Rowling blah blah blah, Warner Bros., gabba gabba hey.

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“Oh! I can’t find any trace of those wolf-creatures anywhere!” Hermione slammed the cover down on the enormous book she had been reading, sending a little cloud of dust up around her face. “I thought they might be distant relatives of Mongolian vash-tapirs, you know, the giant wild dogs, after all, they’re forest dwelling, but-” She sighed and thumped her forehead against the table.

“Right, yeah, Mongolian vosh-tappers,” Ron said, and rolled his eyes. “We know exactly what they are.”

“Well you would,” Hermione said hotly, “If you did ANY extra reading at all!”

Ginny was sitting beside Hermione, paging calmly through a copy of Carniverous Magical Creatures to Avoid, by Prawnski. “There’s no point getting upset about it,” she said evenly. “It won’t help us find them any faster.” She had insisted on researching with them in the library, and since research didn’t seem all that dangerous, Harry hadn’t tried to argue with her.

Hermione pushed her chair away and left to get another book, just as Luna Lovegood drifted up to their table. She had returned on the Hogwarts Express the previous evening, which was, as Ginny had predicted, nearly empty. She was wearing a necklace of bottle caps.

“Hello Harry, Ginny, Ronald,” she said. “What’re you all looking for?”

“Some monsters that chased Harry and Hermione in the forest,” Ron said. “Big red thingys.”

“Maybe they were Pygmy Hoonhares,” Luna suggested.

“Trust me, there was nothing ‘Pygmy’ about them,” Harry said.

“There’s nothing! Nothing!” Hermione exclaimed, and Harry gave a start. She was standing right behind him, and he hadn’t heard her walk up. “They have to be werewolves…except that they can’t be…” Harry could see that the lack of logic was beginning to drive her crackers.

“But it was broad daylight, and I heard one of them laugh,” he said with a shiver. “And besides, they didn’t even look like werewolves, we’ve seen a werewolf- these things were…much worse.”

“Worse than me?”

The five of them turned to see a very familiar face standing against the shelf behind them.

“Professor Lupin!” Harry and Hermione exclaimed, and Lupin smiled and came to the table, shaking hands with Harry and Ron and nodding to the girls. He placed his hand on Hermione’s shoulder.

“Now, what could be worse than me?”

Harry told him what had happened.

“Have you told anyone else about this?”

Harry shook his head. “Just the Headmistress. She ordered the forest searched, but didn’t find anything. Do you know what they might be?”

Lupin frowned. “They don’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard of,” he said thoughtfully.

The six of them looked at each other in silence until Ron said, “Oy! Does this mean you’re back? Are you the new DADA teacher?”

“I am,” Lupin said. “Apparently with the war on, they’re very short on professors. Although, they did offer the job to Mad-Eye Moody, but he didn’t want it. Said he had more important things to do.”

“Like what?” Hermione asked.

“Like cursing Deatheaters and running the order, I suppose.” He looked around the nearly empty library. “Headmistress McGonagall said that class sizes could be very low. There are only nine first years.”

“Only nine?” Hermione gasped.

Lupin nodded. “Most parents are choosing to hold them back for a year, or at least to send them to schools that are less-” he glanced at Harry, “high profile.”

Harry looked down. He hadn’t realized that his being there was hurting the school.

“But we’ll still have normal classes?” Hermione asked hopefully.

“As normal as we can manage. But, there will probably be no Quidditch, this year.”

“No Quidditch!” Exclaimed Ron and Ginny in unison. Harry looked at Ginny sadly. His last year of school and there would be no Quidditch….

“Maybe it’s for the best, Harry,” Hermione said, trying to be helpful. “You’ve got so much training to do as it is…and with classes, you’d hardly have time for Quidditch practice.”

Harry gave her an annoyed glance, and Ginny was practically glaring at her. Hermione looked away and began to page through her book again.

“Well,” Professor Lupin said. “I’d better go and review my lesson plan. Classes will start up in a few days.”

The table was very quiet after he left. They all knew that classes should have started today, the morning after the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. But the school was so empty, and they knew that Headmistress McGonagall was still holding out some hope that more students would trickle in.

*******************

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked around dismally at all of the empty seats during their first Potions class. There were so few students that the sixth years and seventh years had been grouped together; it would be largely up to the older students to make sure that the younger class could keep up. Ginny, at least, seemed to be doing well. By the end of the first lecture her Flammarion serum was almost as sparkling and golden as Hermione’s.

“I think mine actually made him break a sweat,” Ginny said happily as they left, referring to Professor Oddburg. Professor Oddburg was a nervous young man, who actually reminded Harry a bit of Professor Quirrell, only less unpleasant. He had replaced Horace Slughorn, who had gone into hiding again after Dumbledore’s death.

“I think mine made him want to throw up,” Ron mumbled. Harry tried not to laugh. Ron’s serum really was pathetic, a sickly shade of gray rather than gold, and it kind of just gurgled, rather than sparkled. Flammarion serum was meant to keep the drinker’s body warm even in the coldest of climates, and when prepared properly, was supposed to taste like melted butter and cinnamon. Harry thought that Ron’s potion must have tasted more like warm clay and yard weeds.

Harry looked around. “Where’s Hermione?”

Ginny motioned over her shoulder dismissively. “She stayed behind to talk to the new teacher.”

Harry craned his neck to see the back of the classroom. Hermione was chattering animatedly to Professor Oddburg, who was chattering animatedly back, and motioning something with his hands. Harry wondered what she was up to. She had never been that interested in potions before.

******

By the end of the day, all four of them were loaded down with homework. Even Professor Lupin had asked for two feet of parchment on poisons derived from amphibians.

“I can’t believe all of this homework on the first day!” Ron groaned. “It’s like they’re trying to make up for all of the work they could have assigned if the school was full!”

Harry stared down at his roll of parchment, which had barely four sentences on it. Hermione was scribbling away across the table from him, already done with everything except for her Arithmancy assignment. She was pausing every few moments to take bites from a large sandwich that Dobby had brought up to the Common Room for her. He had brought one for Harry too, but so far, he hadn’t touched it. All of the homework left him with no appetite, even though he and Hermione had skipped dinner in the Great Hall to try to stupefy each other on the Quidditch Pitch.

“There! Done!” Hermione announced proudly, putting down her quill. “What’s wrong, Harry? Why aren’t you eating?”

“Nothing, it’s just-” Harry sighed. “I’m just tired, that’s all.”

Hermione frowned, and tried to push his sandwich plate closer to him. “It’ll give you some energy, at least,” she suggested.

“It’s not the food he needs,” Ron said. “It’s this bloody homework. Why don’t you give him a hand?”

Harry looked up at Hermione hopefully, but she avoided his eyes.

“I’d be happy to look over Harry’s homework once he’s finished with it,” she said simply.

“Oh for pity’s sake Hermione,” Ginny grumbled. “Doesn’t Harry have enough to do without worrying about fifty miles of parchment due the next day?” She reached across the table and gathered up Harry’s things. “Here, I’ll do them for you. I’m almost finished with mine anyway.”

Harry smiled at her gratefully. Suddenly that sandwich was starting to look extremely tasty. What was it that Dobby had made? Roast beef and swiss cheese?

“Hey, what’s the matter with you, Hermione?” Ron asked, raising his eyebrows.

Harry glanced over at her, and was startled to see her expression, dark as a storm cloud. Hermione said nothing, just gave a Hmpf! And stuffed her parchment beneath her arm.

“What’s wrong?” Ron asked again, “Why are you glaring at me? What’d I do now?”

Hermione, who had started to walk towards the girls’ dormitory, stopped and hissed at him, “Doing Harry’s homework is NOT helping him! I can’t believe you suggested it!” And then she turned on her heel and stormed out of the Common Room.

**********************

Since Ginny had already finished his homework, Harry didn’t really mind being called into Headmistress McGonagall’s office early Saturday morning. He actually felt very refreshed; he said the password, ‘Buttercream frosting’, and bounded up the curving stairway.

“Good morning Professor McGonagall,” he said cheerfully as he entered, and then paused when he saw that Professor Lupin and Alastor Moody were there as well. “Er, good morning Professor Lupin…Mad-…er…Moody,” he mumbled, not knowing what to call him.

“It’s Mad Eye Moody, Potter,” Moody said proudly. “Not Mad-Ear.”

“Right,” Harry smiled, even though that wasn’t what he’d said.

“Have a seat, Potter,” the Headmistress said sternly. Harry suddenly got a very strong sense of foreboding. It wasn’t every Saturday morning that he was called into a meeting with three of the strongest members of the Order of the Phoenix.

As he sat down in the chair beside Professor Lupin, he saw them all exchange concerned looks. Mad-Eye actually exchanged two: one per eye.

“What is it?” Harry asked. “What’s going on?”

Professor McGonagall appeared reluctant to speak.

“There have been sightings, Harry,” Professor Lupin said softly.

“Sightings? Of what?”

Lupin glanced at McGonagall, but Moody declared brazenly, “Of Peter Pettigrew!” and both of the other professors winced at his lack of tact.

Harry was filled with a sudden fury. “Peter Pettigrew!? Where? Where is he?!” Harry’s hands were digging into the arms of his chair; he was shaking. The rat was daring to show his face…the rat who had betrayed his parents to their death….who had betrayed his own best friends….

“Harry,” Professor McGonagall said sternly. “The only reason that we are telling you this is because Headmaster Dumbledore left explicit instructions that you were to be involved with all aspects and actions of the order. We aren’t allowed to keep you in the dark, according to his wishes.”

“And is it very good of you, to abide by my wishes.”

All four of them glanced uncomfortably up at Dumbledore’s portrait, which was watching over the meeting very closely, a sly little smile on his face. Harry winced inwardly. Before Dumbledore had died, he had thought that the portraits were a clever way to honor the former Headmasters, but now, it was only an eerie reminder that the portrait was all that was left.

“Yes,” McGonagall said after a few moments. “In any case, we wanted you to be informed, and to be aware that the matter is being handled with great care, and caution.”

“Great care and caution?” Harry said incredulously. Had they all gone mad? This was Peter Pettigrew, the murderer, the man who was responsible for Sirius being imprisoned in Azkaban for most of his life!

“Until we know what he’s up to, we have to use care, Harry,” Professor Lupin said reasonably.

Harry blinked. All three of them were watching him very closely. He had to remain calm. He had to appear calm, or they would disobey Dumbledore’s orders and keep him out of the order. He took two deep breaths, and when he spoke, was impressed at how even his voice sounded. “Where has he been seen?”

Professor McGonagall exhaled. “In Pitcairn forest, south of Hogsmeade. Tonks is watching for him, Harry. He won’t get away.”

“I know that,” Harry said quietly.

***********

When Harry left the meeting, he bumped directly into Ginny.

“Hi Harry,” she said. “What were you doing in the Headmistress’ office?”

Harry opened his mouth, and then hesitated. “Do you know where Hermione and Ron are?”

Ginny frowned. “No. They probably went off together or something. I haven’t seen them this morning.”

Harry scanned the hallway quickly, as if any moment Hermione and Ron might come around the corner. But they didn’t, and he had to tell someone.

“Oh Harry!” Ginny exclaimed, after he had told her about Peter Pettigrew. “Are you going to go after him?”

“I have to,” Harry said determinedly. “He killed my parents. Or he may as well have.” Ginny smiled at him and said something about how brave he was, but all he could hear was Hermione’s voice shouting in his head about dangers, and rushing into things.

“Ginny, do you….do you think that I should?”

Ginny’s eyes blazed. “Harry, Peter Pettigrew ruined your life. He deserves whatever he gets, and you should be the one to give it to him.”

Harry smiled. “Thanks Ginny. Listen, don’t tell anyone, all right?”

“I won’t. Good luck. I know you’ll find him.” And then she leaned in, and kissed him lightly on the lips. By the time Harry had recovered from the shock, she was gone.

*********

Harry ran lightly across the castle grounds, a knapsack slung over his shoulder. He had stopped by the dormitory to pack a few things, just some essentials, extra food and clothes. He hopped over a few of the smaller pumpkins in the patch, running until he saw what he was looking for: a big gray hippogriff, and beside him, grooming his feathers, a bushy haired girl.

“Hermione!” he called out to her and she waved.

“Harry!” She looked at his knapsack uncertainly. “Where are you going?”

“Peter Pettigrew is in Pitcairn forest.”

Hermione looked down and bit her lip. Buckbeak nudged her hand and she absently went back to grooming his feathers. “What does the order say?”

“I’m going to find him,” Harry said, ignoring her. “I’m going to capture him. He must know something. He might even know where the other horcruxes are.”

“Does the order know that you’re going?”

“No,” he said stubbornly.

“Oh Harry, you can’t go! It’s almost certainly a trap; think about it! Why is Pettigrew suddenly showing up? And in the forest, no less, when we already know that those horrible red dogs are in forests…”

“If you’re scared-”

“I am scared!” Hermione cried shrilly. “And you should be scared too! This is serious, Harry-”

“I know it’s serious. But do you want to find those horcruxes or not?” Harry glanced around. The pumpkin patch was empty. Hagrid was nowhere to be seen, but he still didn’t feel comfortable having this conversation out in the open.

Hermione stroked Buckbeak’s neck. “I really don’t think that Peter Pettigrew knows where the other horcruxes are. He’s a weak, simpering idiot; Voldemort would be a complete fool to tell him his secrets.”

“My parents told Pettigrew a secret,” Harry growled.

“That’s not what I meant! Nobody knew then how disloyal he was,” Hermione bristled. “I’m just saying that you shouldn’t go running off into something this dangerous unprepared and all by yourself!”

Harry paused. “What do you mean by myself? Aren’t you coming?”

Hermione made a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a nervous breakdown. “I have to go and change first.”

“I brought some extra slacks for you to wear,” Harry said, reaching into his bag.

“Do you really think I’m going to fit into your slacks?” Hermione asked, sounding offended.

Harry looked at her. She was dressed very prettily in a gray pleated skirt and white blouse. He supposed that she was much slimmer than he was. “Well…I…Hermione, we’re kind of in a hurry.”

With a shake of her head, she drew her wand and softly tapped her skirt, transfiguring it into a pair of dark blue jeans. “We’ll take Buckbeak,” she said, her tone very direct. She started to walk towards Hagrid’s hut, and Harry couldn’t help admiring her blue jean spell. They fit perfectly. Maybe too perfectly, Harry thought suddenly, and tore his eyes away before he started to blush.

Hermione went inside Hagrid’s hut, and when she came back out, her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she was carrying several vials of dark liquid, which she proceeded to stuff into Harry’s bag.

“What’re those?” Harry asked, trying to get a closer look.

“Blood-replenishing potion,” Hermione said. “Professor Oddburg has been helping me to stockpile it.”

“That’s optimistic,” Harry grumbled.

“That’s practical, Harry.” Hermione whistled softly and Buckbeak trotted up. Harry stroked his wings. Hermione had been right; he didn’t need to bow anymore. After a moment, the hippogriff got down on one knee, and Harry sprang onto his back. He wanted to get going; it was a long way to Pitcairn forest, even by hippogriff.

“Just one more thing,” Hermione was saying, almost to herself, as she disappeared into Hagrid’s hut. This time she came out with a very familiar looking jam jar, which she stuffed into a knapsack of her own.

Harry reached down and pulled her up behind him, and in a few short leaps, they were airborne.

***************

The wind was extremely chilly at the height they were flying, looking down through wisps of fog at the tops of the trees of Pitcairn forest, which were very dark green and densely packed together. Harry shivered and nestled his fingers deeper into Buckbeak’s feathers. Behind him, Hermione was snuggling tightly against his back, causing the vials of blood-replenishing potion to rattle about. He wished that there was a little bit of Flammarion serum amongst those nine vials…after all, how much blood did she think he was going to lose?

“It’s so thick,” Hermione shouted in his ear, trying to make herself heard above the howling wind. “We might have to go to the edge of the forest and walk in.”

Harry peered down at the tightly packed treetops. They were so close together that they looked like a head of broccoli. He sighed and scanned the horizon. Nothing but trees. No clearings, and no end to them, that he could see. They had already been flying for hours; the sun was going down. Making it to the edge of the forest would take forever.

“There!” Harry exclaimed, pointing down to a small shadowy space between the trees.

“There?” Hermione said skeptically. “Buckbeak’s never going to fit through that tiny hole! And I’m freezing, can’t we just-”

Harry grasped her hands from where they lay clasped on his chest and put them to his mouth, blowing on them to warm them. “Come on Hermione, Buckbeak can do it. Just duck down close behind me.”

Hermione was staring down frightfully at the trees. “Can’t we just blow a hole through them?”

“Don’t you think that would attract a bit of attention?”

“And a gigantic hippogriff throttling though the brush with a screaming girl on his back isn’t going to attract attention?” she snapped.

“Don’t scream then,” Harry smiled, and clicked softly to Buckbeak, who dove for the small space without a second’s hesitation, tucking his wings tightly against his body. Just before they hit the trees, Harry realized just how small the opening was, and closed his eyes, feeling branch after branch scrape his arms and face.

It seemed to take an eternity to get through the canopy, but then Buckbeak’s wings spread wide, and they floated to the forest floor. Hermione slid down and went to the hippogriff’s face, brushing leaves from it and making sure that he wasn’t hurt.

“Are you all right, Harry?”

“Yes, fine. You?”

“Fine,” she said, and Harry tried to keep from grinning as she plucked a stray twig from her hair.

“Now,” Harry said, looking around thoughtfully. “To find Pettigrew.”

“Oh Harry,” Hermione said, drawing her wand. “There’s nothing in this forest but trees, Peter Pettigrew, and us. It could take forever, and we could get abominably lost.”

“Not with that map spell of yours,” Harry said helpfully. “But you are right. Pettigrew can hide much better than we can, being a rat and everything. I wish we had some kind of Marauder’s Map, you know, one that worked everywhere.”

Hermione had gone suddenly silent at his words. Her brow was knit and she was nibbling her lower lip furiously.

“What? What is it?”

“Nothing….” she mumbled. “At least, not yet.”

Harry looked at her, puzzled. “Well, I suppose there’s only one way to do this then,” he said after a few moments of silence. And they started to walk through the forest, Harry first, Buckbeak second, and Hermione trailing distractedly behind.

****

“Do you want to stop? Have a bit to eat maybe?” Harry said over his shoulder. They had been walking for almost two hours and it was officially dusk. The forest had turned an ethereal gray.

Harry put his knapsack down on a nearby boulder and fished around in it until he found the bread and cheese that he’d hastily wrapped in a cloth that morning. He handed a piece of bread to Hermione, who tore into it gratefully.

“I’d better save some,” she said reluctantly. “To share with Buckbeak. We forgot to bring his ferrets.”

“Don’t think that’s a problem,” Harry smiled, and Hermione turned to see the hippogriff trotting happily from tree to tree, his head low to the ground and his tail flickering excitedly, gobbling up one unlucky chipmunk after another.

“I guess he’s set then,” Hermione said with a grimace. “It’s a good thing you remembered to bring food, Harry. All I remembered to bring were potions. Sometimes I get so involved in preparation, that I…well, I…”

“Forget to prepare?” Harry finished for her, and she blushed.

“Harry, you have a little…crumb-” Hermione reached out tentatively and brushed her fingers against his cheek. “There,” she said, satisfied, and went back to eating her piece of cheese.

Harry sat very still for a moment and watched her eat. There was a soft breeze moving through her hair, and her features were shadowed in the fading light. She really is pretty, Harry thought suddenly. Every bit as pretty as Ginny, actually…maybe even- Harry coughed loudly.

“Are you all right, Harry?”

“Yes,” he said, a little too fast. He looked down at his piece of cheese. “We’re running out of light, do you think we might be able to set a trap for Pettigrew? Use the cheese as bait?”

Hermione blinked at him.

“You know,” he grinned, “Rats love cheese.”

Hermione laughed and pushed him in the shoulder. “Harry really, I don’t think we’re going to get Pettigrew to fall for a mousetrap, no matter how stupid-”

“I’m not stupid!”

The blast from behind them came so quickly that Hermione didn’t even have time to scream, she was knocked off of the boulder and thrown several feet, where she lay in a limp heap. Harry spun, ready to cast the best stinging hex of his life, but Pettigrew disappeared.

He had never seen an Animagus transform so quickly, nor a rat run so fast. In only an instant, Pettigrew had scrambled across the ground to Hermione, and transformed back into himself, dragging her up with him, using her as a shield.

“Who’s the stupid one now, girl!” Pettigrew shrieked in his rodent-like voice. He snapped his wand against the side of her head and she came to, groggily, and then her eyes widened. Pettigrew was stroking her hair like she was some kind of pet.

“Hermione, don’t move,” Harry said evenly.

“Hermione don’t move,” Pettigrew sneered. “Stupid little Harry Potter! The Dark Lord knew that you couldn’t resist me! He knew that I was the one to entrust with this task…that I was the one who could trap the great Harry Potter.”

“He used you as bait, you idiot,” Harry said through clenched teeth, and Pettigrew began to look shiftily from side to side, as though he were wondering about the reliability of his reinforcements. But the fact that it was a trap barely registered in Harry’s mind. All he could see was Hermione’s trembling form, all he could hear was her breath, coming in gasps, and his mind kept replaying the way she had flown through the air…how hard she had struck the ground.

“Let her go,” Harry said.

“Or what?” Pettigrew chattered, his overgrown front teeth clicking grotesquely. “One more move and I curse your girlfriend…right out of her mind!”

To his left, Harry heard Buckbeak screech, and saw the hippogriff paw the ground furiously, snapping his beak like he would very much like to have rat for desert.

“Ah, I see that my friends have arrived,” Pettigrew preened. All around Harry the forest was moving. The great red dogs were coming out of the fog, walking upright and very slowly, in such a way that they could have been there the whole time, motionless amongst the tree trunks. But Harry couldn’t take his eyes from Hermione. There was a trickle of blood leaking from her nose and she looked as though she might cry. Harry’s heart was pounding, and his chest felt so warm, so unlike anything he’d felt before.

Suddenly, Buckbeak gave an ear shattering screech, and charged at the nearest dog-creature, knocking it to the ground. The others, who had been closing in on Harry, smelled the bloodlust and leapt for the hippogriff, who began kicking and snapping his beak in all directions.

“Buckbeak!” Hermione cried, starting to struggle in Pettigrew’s grasp, and in his moment of distraction, Harry yelled, “Expelliarmus!”

Pettigrew’s wand went flying, and Harry was upon him in an instant, tearing his arms away from Hermione, his hands going to Pettigrew’s face.

All he could feel was the warmth in his chest. All he could see was Hermione’s bruised and bleeding face. And beneath him, Peter Pettigrew began to scream, and smoke. And then Harry became extremely dizzy.

*********

“Harry, help me! There are too many of them!”

Harry shook his head to clear it, and saw Hermione, her wand raised, hexing creature after creature as they sprang at them in a flurry of red. Buckbeak was there as well, using his wings to beat one of them senseless upon his back. The red thing tumbled into the dirt, unconscious.

Harry looked down. Beneath him, the ground was charred and black. It was all that remained of Peter Pettigrew.

“Harry!”

Harry stood, still in shock, and shouted, “Impedimenta!” knocking two of the animals to the ground before they even had time to leap. “We have to get out of here. Get up on Buckbeak, I can hold them!” He shouted hexes to his right and left, while Hermione scrambled onto Buckbeak’s back.

“Come on, Harry!” She held her hand out to him, and he took it, heaving himself up behind her just as the red leader sprang, sinking his teeth into Buckbeak’s hindquarter.

“Stupefy!” Harry hissed, and the red thing howled and released its grip. Harry looked down worriedly at the wound, and then back at the ground, and was horrified to realize that the thing he had just hexed appeared to be smiling at him.

**************

Somehow, Buckbeak managed to fly back to the castle grounds. Every now and then, Hermione would try to get him to drink a bit of blood-replenishing potion. His hindquarter was bleeding profusely, and Harry was extremely relieved that she had brought all nine vials. When they landed, Hagrid was so worried for his hippogriff that he didn’t even ask where they had been.

“Don’ worry Buckbeak, we’ll get yer fixed up good as new,” he kept saying, wringing his hands and rummaging through his cupboards of healing herbs. Buckbeak was lying listlessly on the half-giant’s bed, exhausted.

“Hermione, look at me,” Harry said.

Reluctantly, she turned her eyes from the hippogriff and looked at him. There was still a bit of blood on her nose. “Tergeo,” he said softly, touching his wand to her face, and it disappeared.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Learned it from you,” he said, and then looked down. “I killed him.” The weight of it descended on his shoulders like an unwelcome owl. He had hated Pettigrew, and he didn’t regret it exactly, but for some reason he kept thinking of Dumbledore’s words to Draco Malfoy…. ‘you’re not a killer’…

And then Harry gasped in surprise as Hermione flung herself into his arms.

“You saved my life,” she said tearfully. “He would have killed me, he would have killed us both, and you didn’t let him.”

Harry’s eyes blurred as he stared out over Hermione’s shoulder. “I couldn’t,” he realized suddenly. “I couldn’t let him hurt you.”

Hermione pulled away, smiling, and Harry found that he didn’t want to let her go. He wiped a tear from her cheek, not really understanding what was happening.

“You killed Peter Pettigrew?”

Harry and Hermione both gave a start. They had forgotten that Hagrid was even in the room. Harry nodded mutely.

“You two ad better get back up ter the castle.”

***************************

“I guess I’d better go see Professor McGonagall,” Harry said dismally. What he really wanted to do was walk Hermione back to the Common Room and then collapse into bed. He was exhausted.

“I suppose so,” she said, sounding equally tired. “Will you be all right? Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, I-”

“There you are!”

Harry and Hermione gave another start as they saw Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville standing at the top of the stairs. Ron stormed down towards them, and Ginny ran to Harry and threw her arms around him.

“I’m fine, Ginny,” Harry said, peeling her off. His back was starting to hurt, and he was beginning to crave some of Esmerelda Snuffington’s Dueling Cream. Ginny was looking at him proudly, without even knowing what had happened. Harry remembered the kiss from this morning. She was behaving as though they had never broken up.

“You can’t just run off somewhere like that and not even tell me!”

Harry looked up. Ron was shouting at Hermione.

“There wasn’t exactly time, you know,” Hermione hissed, mustering up her best angry goose impression, even though Harry knew how tired she must be. “Besides, the last time I checked, I could go where I pleased!”

“I’m involved in this too…you’re not the only one who’s Harry’s friend-”

“Oh Ron!” Hermione huffed. “We weren’t trying to leave you out! We were- we just had to-”

She was sputtering, and Harry was just about to defend her when she shouted, “What does it matter to you anyway?!”

Ron’s face was so red that it matched his hair. Harry thought that he might just explode into a rage, but then, without another word, Ron reached out and took Hermione in both of his hands, and kissed her.

There was silence in the hallway. Harry stared at them in disbelief. It was painfully clear that he had just witnessed Ron and Hermione’s first kiss.

When Ron finally broke away from her, Hermione stared at him blankly for a few seconds, and then glanced at Harry, who quickly beamed a smile.

“Well, it’s about time,” Ginny said from beside Harry, and rushed to hug Hermione, as though they were sisters and best friends again in an instant.

Hermione looked at him again through the red haze of Ginny’s hair, and attempted a tremulous smile. Harry felt his heart suddenly hit the floor.

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AN: Long chapter, as an apology for the long wait. Thanks to everyone who’s been reviewing and who’s sticking with me. I hope this little Ron thing at the end wasn’t too yucky for you. I really appreciated all of you who wished me luck in California…it went well, and was actually rather interesting.

Thanks for all of the advice and feedback, the reviews have been some of the best I’ve ever seen. Okay I need to stop yacking and post this thing. But first, a teaser:

Next week, Harry starts to explore his newfound feelings, and yes, catfight city. I think we’re almost at the end, folks! And yes, for you careful readers, I did borrow Flammarion Serum from one of my other fics. Creativity goes only so far.