Harry knew that hiding in the restricted section of the library under his invisibility cloak after midnight surrounded by parchment and books was not a way he wanted to spend his Tuesday morning. Yet here he was doing just that. Struggling to keep his eyes from fusing shut he kept zapping himself with the pinching charm Hermione had taught.
"Ah, Hermione!" he sighed happily at the thought of her.
He glanced at his watch again, and saw it just after two in the morning. Hermione had gone to bed nearly four hours ago, and he missed her. He wished she was sitting beside him, encouraging him to get his homework done. He laughed at his own stupid thought. If Hermione was here he definitely would not be concentrating on his stupid homework. It was actually because of her he was up so late trying to finish this essay. If Hermione hadn't suggested on finding a secluded broom closet to snog in all evening, he wouldn't have had to lie to her about already having his essay for Professor Lupin completed and he wouldn't be sitting here right now struggling to keep his eyes open to finish it.
Damn Hermione with her gorgeous brown curls, her seductive pink lips, and her luscious voluptuous curves! Harry thought. Those enticing honey brown eyes, her stunning smile, that adorable button nose…
Harry's thoughts were interrupted when the waxy taper that sat on the table went out again. Harry patted his robes down until he found his wand in his pocket and relit the taper, which drew his mind back to his essay. He glanced at his watch it was quarter after two now. He looked down at his essay, he only had two pieces of parchment completed and he had been here for five hours. He knew he better get going it was due in four hours. He wasn't doing this for himself or the Wizarding community; he was doing this for her to make her proud, to keep her safe.
Harry bent his head to continue the essay when--
TAP TAP!
He raised his head and looked around for the source of the noise. Everything was dark and still he knew he was alone. At least he thought he was alone. He waited a few moments, and when no more sounds were heard he dipped his quill into the ink again.
TAP TAP TAP!
Harry dropped his quill and listen again it had to be Filch or Mrs. Norris, he would be in serious trouble if he was caught. Filch would definitely try to hang him upside down in the dungeons by is toes. When he heard the tapping again he pulled the chair out as quietly as possibly and pulled the invisibility cloak tighter around body. He slowly made his way down to the end of stacks and turned the corner to find no source of the noise.
"Hello?" he whispered as he paced along the wall of windows. "Anybody in here?"
TAP TAP TAP TAP!
"BLOODY HELL!" Harry shrieked. He fell back against a large stack of books startled when he saw a creature peering at him through the dark windows. He panted heavily and gulped. "Bloody hell, Potter, it's only an owl calm down!" he muttered to himself. Almost positive that somebody would have heard his shriek Harry waited a few moments until he was sure nobody was coming before he went over to the window and opened it.
The owl shot through the window and landed on the back of the nearest chair. Harry had never seen an owl like this before. It was jet black with one yellow and one red eye which appeared to be surveying him almost malevolently. Harry cautiously reached up to untie the note his eyes never leaving the birds. Who on earth could this owl belong to? And sending a letter at this hour?
Harry unfolded the letter intending to find out the letter was for and give it to them, but was horribly surprised when he saw who is was addressed too.
Potter,
Books cannot help you in your Quest.
But I can.
-Bobby
Harry stared wide-eyed at the letter, as his eyes scanned over it repeatedly. Who the bloody hell was Bobby? Quest? Was this Bobby person talking about the Horcruxes? If he was then how did he know about the Horcruxes? How did he know Harry was studying books? Most off all how did this Bobby know how to find Harry in the Restricted Section on the Library after two in the morning when Harry had been hidden under his invisibility cloak the entire time?
A chill ran down his spine as the eerie feeling of being watched crept up him. The black owl let out a shrieking squawk and stared at Harry with his piercing eyes. It spread out its gigantic wings and squawked again before soaring out the window.
Now alone Harry peered down at the letter again and felt the sudden urge to be sick. Not wanting to spend another minute alone in the library Harry collected his things to finish his essay in the Gryffindor common room.
*********
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked as she raced down the Gryffindor table with Ron trailing behind her. "Are you okay? You look terrible!"
Harry looked down at his scrambled eggs and tried not to fall face first into them from exhaustion. Harry had returned to the common and completed his essay on time for Professor Lupin with time left to sleep before classes began but the mysterious letter continued to plague his mind. He debated whether or not he should share this with Ron and Hermione, but he didn't want to worry them.
"Harry?" Hermione repeated.
"Ughh?" Harry grunted in response.
"I said are you alright? You look terrible!" Hermione said again.
"Oh, yeah. Um…rough night," Harry lied.
"Bad dream?"
"You could say that."
Hermione plopped down on the bench next to Harry not bothering with food as she was more concerned with Harry's well being. Ron came stalking down the opposite side of the table and sat down staring out into space. Harry and Hermione watched Ron for a few moments and were astonished when he didn't immediately begin to pile food onto his plate.
"Ron?" Hermione asked.
Ron shook his head and focused on Harry and Hermione to see they were glaring at him in shock.
"What?" he asked them.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked.
"…Yeah," Ron mumbled.
Hermione's shifted from Ron to Harry suspiciously. "I am going to visit Tonk's. I want to find out what she's teaching today so I can do some research before Potions starts," Hermione said. She paused momentarily to listen to a snide comment from Ron. When he didn't say anything she was taken aback, she dismissed it as she bounced off in the direction of the Staff Table.
Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion at his best friend.
"So…" Ron said attempting to start up a conversation.
"IGUESSYOUWEREWONDERINGWHEREIWASLASTNIGHT?" Ron and Harry blurted out at the same time.
"What?" Harry said in surprise.
"Where were you last night?" Ron said at the same time.
"I was doing some homework in the Restricted Section of the Library!" Harry declared. "Where the hell were you!?"
Ron looked around relieved to find nobody within earshot. He leaned in closer to Harry as a smug smirk appeared on his face. "I was with Luna last night," Ron whispered.
"Luna!?" Harry choked. "How the bloody hell did you manage that?"
Ron chuckled. "I sent her a note last night and she sent one back asking me to go to the Ravenclaw common room. Since she's the only Ravenclaw that came back this year we had the whole place to our selves! It was bloody brilliant!" Ron said excitedly.
"What did you do?" Harry asked, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Luna!" Ron said proudly, peeling the wrap off his blueberry muffin.
Harry choked on his pumpkin juice and spit it out all over the table. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and grinned broadly at Ron. "You slept with Lovegood?" Harry asked.
"Yup!"
"Congratulations mate!" Harry said grinning, giving Ron high-five. "That's fantastic! Tell me, how was it?"
"You jealous nobody's shagged you yet?" Ron teased.
"Hey! You don't what I did with your sister last year," Harry replied pretending to be serious.
"That's not funny!" Ron knew Harry was only joking but he couldn't help the strong desire to punch him welling up inside of him.
"Yes it is," Harry replied. "I'm only joking, now seriously, tell me about it!"
Ron felt the anger fall away. "Well it was really awkward at first. She was all emotional and crying but once we got going it was pretty good." Ron said.
"I can't believe you like Luna Lovegood. But that's good for you; she's a really great girl! A little wacky at times but she's nice."
"Oh I know. I don't want you to think I just slept with her just because I could. I like her! I mean I really really really like her!"
"I know, mate," Harry smiled.
Just then Hermione came jogging back up the Gryffindor table and collapsed next to Harry. She looked back and forth between her two best friends, curious at the amused expressions on their faces.
"What's going on," Hermione asked.
"Nothing," Harry replied continuing to eat his breakfast. "What did Tonk's say?"
"Oooohh," Hermione squealed. "Were going to be learning the Verlast draft today! How exciting!"
"What's that?" Ron asked.
"Potion that can stop death…if it's administered in time!" Hermione replied excitedly.
"Oh," Harry mumbled. He lowered his hand casually under the table and found Hermione's resting on her knee. He gripped it forcefully and she let out a small gasp in surprise that went unnoticed by Ron.
"Oh and later on today I want to work with the Pixies again. I think I found away we can familiarize them," Hermione said.
Harry and Ron nodded their consent.
"Well I'm going to the library see you in Potions," Hermione said. She squeezed Harry's hand tightly before he rushed away to the library.
*********
Potions had indeed been a very exciting class. Tonks, who had not mixed Potions in ages accidentally, used shaved ostrich egg in the Verlast potion instead of clipped Goblin toenails. How anybody could mix the two ingredients up, Harry would never know. The dungeon had exploded in a cloud of smoke that when cleared left the walls a violent shade of pink that would have made Snape's blood curdle.
An irritated looking Professor McGonagall came rushing down the stairs. "What is going on down here?" she shouted. "I could hear it all the way from my office!"
Tonks nervously stepped forward from behind her desk. "It was my fault Headmistress. I used the wrong ingredients." Tonks said. "I am sorry!"
"Well I'll say!" McGonagall shouted staring at the pink walls. "Help me change it back."
Professor McGonagall and Tonks pulled out their wands and began sending charms around the room attempting to change the walls back to their normal colour. This failed horribly. Whenever they attempted to change the colour on the wall it would change from pink to purple to blue to red, until the walls were all the colours of the rainbow.
"She's going to back sacked!" Ron mumbled over a few of the students trying to stifle their laughter.
"She's not going to be sacked, Mr. Weasley!" said McGonagall who had overheard him. "Today is her first day and everybody makes mistakes!" She turned to Tonks. "I hope this will not be a regular occurrence."
"No, of coarse not!" she replied with the most sincere apologies.
"Good," McGonagall snorted. She turned to look at wall bringing her index finger and thumb to her chin as if considering something. "You know," she began, glancing over her shoulder at Tonks. "Maybe we should keep it like this. Does seem to reflect your personality doesn't it?"
"Yeah it does," Tonks replied. "...Very much actually!"
As amusing as the whole Potions incident was Harry couldn't help the timorous sensation that was bubbling in the pit of his stomach that seemed to be weighing him down. He pretended to laugh with the others not to lure suspicion from his two best friends. He fingered the mysterious letter that still remained folded in his pocket and another deep twinge of anxiety swept through him.
Without enough time remaining in the class to redo the potion the students were sent to an early lunch. Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way up to the Great Hall and found their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. Harry noticed that today Luna and Ginny were joining them, which made Ron overly excited. Harry noted that Ginny looked almost as worn out as he felt. She raised her eyes to his they appeared to be filled with remorse and despair, which made Harry curious. His view was obstructed when Hermione crossed his path.
Hermione found her place next to Harry looking utterly disappointed with the Potions class. Her hand swept under the table and claimed Harry's, while the other flipped through the pages of her Potions book.
Hermione heaved and irritated sigh and flipped through the pages of her Potions book aggressively. "Well that was enlightening!" she mumbled angrily in an acerbic tone. When she did not get the anticipated feedback she expected from her friends she looked up questioningly. "What the hell is wrong with everybody today?" Hermione snapped.
Indeed Hermione had a very good reason to be annoyed. Ron was gazing across the table at Luna tending to her with goo-goo eyes and a doting smile. Harry was staring blankly at wall, Hermione was almost positive he had fallen asleep with his eyes open. And Ginny was staring down at her plate as if somebody had just slaughtered Arnold, her Pigmy Puff.
"Seriously what is wrong with you lot today?" Hermione repeated.
Harry snapped out of his sleep-like state at Hermione's words. He turned to face her and mumbled a small apology, claiming that everybody was just tired. Hermione rolled her eyes in disbelief and returned to her book.
After an exceptionally good Transfiguration class (Harry was able to clear his mind) in which they learned more about `finding your inner being'. Harry, Ron, and Hermione marched down the corridor and found and empty classroom in the south tower. They silently slipped inside as Hermione clutched a familiar box in her hands.
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked casually.
Hermione turned to face him and put the box in his hands. "We are going to get you and Harry acquainted with the pixies better!" she said cheerily.
"Well that I know," he replied. "I mean how do you plan on going about it."
Hermione turned her head and winked at Harry. "Did you bring your invisibility cloak, Harry?" she asked him.
"Yeah it's right here," he replied pulling the cloak out of his bag. "Why did you ask me to bring it?"
"I am going to let the Pixies out of the box, and leave one of you alone with them to see if they warm up to you. While me and one of you will be hiding under the invisibility cloak so I can observe!" Hermione said proudly. "Ron, you can go first!"
"What?"
Harry threw the cloak over Hermione and himself. Ron just stared through them looking slightly confused and scared.
"You ready Ron?" Hermione asked from underneath the cloak.
"I guess," he mumbled.
Hermione pulled out her wand out of her pocket, and with a quick swish the lid of the box flew open and the Pixies zoomed into the middle of the room.
It was only now that Harry was starting to understand Hermione's scheme. They were together underneath an invisibility cloak. Invisible to everything around them. It was sizzling under the sultry cloak. Her body was pressed against his, and he could hear her ragged breaths. She looked up at him and grinned wickedly. God, he loved how her brain worked! He grabbed her and pushed her against the cold stone wall as his lips found hers.
"You're brilliant!" Harry mumbled against her mouth.
"Shhh!" she whispered. "Ron's just over there!"
"Oh right!" he whispered with a slight chuckle.
"What are you two doing over there?" Ron asked nonchalantly, interrupting their fun.
"Nothing," Hermione replied.
Ron bent down and slowly tried to approach the Pixies. "If it helps I know you two are playing tonsil Quidditch under the cloak," Ron said, glancing in there direction.
Harry and Hermione froze in shock. Harry felt like he had taken a serious blow to the stomach. Hermione stood there with her both hanging open looking completely flabbergasted. She yanked the cloak off exposing her and Harry to the cool air sending her hair into static shock. She gawked at Ron. "How did you know!?" she asked in a squeaky voice.
"Oh come on, Hermione, I may not have brains like yours but I am not daft!" Ron laughed. "You think I don't know you're holding hands under the table? I see the way you two look at each other. And last night I went into Harry's trunk to get that shirt he borrowed - hope you don't mind but you weren't around to ask - anyways I came across the Marauders Map and saw you two mashed together in a broom closet! There's only one thing teenagers go into a broom closet for…and also Harry moans your name in his sleep." Ron began laughing while Hermione looked stunned and turned to stare at a blushing Harry in shock. "Oh Hermione! Oh Hermione!" Ron mimicked with a laugh.
Harry was standing beside his girlfriend looking completely bewildered, and flushing a horrible shade of crimson. He didn't know what to say. He felt horrible embarrassed.
"You're not angry?" Hermione asked tautly.
"Angry?" Ron questioned. "I'm not angry. Why would I be angry?"
Hermione lowered her eyes and reddened nervously in the face. "Well…we did date last summer," Hermione mumbled almost inaudibly.
"WHAT?" Harry roared. backing against the wall.
"Harry…" Hermione spoke, moving toward him.
His back pressed against the wall his hands spread out wide around him, Harry shifted his eyes from Hermione to Ron and back to Hermione. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why didn't he know about this? He felt to tired and apprehensive about the mysterious letter to deal with this at the moment.
"Harry please…" Hermione said again. This time she was only inches away from his face.
He focused his eye on her he could see the genuine repentant look written on her face. When she placed a hand on his shoulder he brushed it away. "No, Hermione," he said, moving her out of the way and stalking out of the room.
Harry stomped through the corridors fuming all the way up to the Gryffindor common room. He walked past Neville who was playing a game of Wizard's Chess, and Ginny Weasley who was hiding in the corner writing a letter.
He rushed up the stairs to his dormitory and happily welcomed his bed as his head fell onto the pillow. With classes finished for the day, Harry allowed himself to drift off for the night.
*********
For somebody who went to bed so early, Harry woke up amazingly late with just enough time to get dressed and make it in time to the memorial for Professor Slughorn. Feeling slightly ticked off that Ron didn't wake him in time; Harry quickly pulled his jeans and blue shirt on and rushed down to the Great Hall.
Harry found the Great Hall to be packed with many of the students who hadn't returned for the school year with their parents to pay their last respects to Slughorn. Members of the Ministry crowded the first three rows of the seats. The rest of the seats were taken by staff, auror's, students, and old friends. Harry found Hermione crammed together next to Professor Flitwick, and a woman with long dark hair that Harry didn't know in the sixth row. She seemed to be looking around for him but. He waved to try and grab her attention but she didn't see him. Harry found himself a seat in the last row where he spotted Ron sitting across the room hand-in-hand with a beaming Luna Lovegood.
Professor McGonagall walked up the middle of the aisle way with four wizards in green robes in toe silencing the room with their presence. Harry watched them ascend the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall stood in front of a large podium next to an absurd looking portrait of Slughorn looking very smug. She waited until the four wizards found their seats at the top of the hall before she began to speak.
"Good morning and welcome to our Staff, Students, and very Special Guests. We are assembled here today to pay respect to a noble man whose life was tragically cut short. Horace Slughorn was admiral Potions Master who taught for over two decades turning out some of the greatest wizards into the world. Only to come out of retirement by request of the late Albus Dumbledore."
Harry silently chuckled to himself in irony. However much he regretted it or didn't mean too, Horace Slughorn was the reason Voldemort made the Horcruxes and was still alive. This was something Professor McGonagall didn't know.
Just like Slughorn had asked of him last year in Hagrid's hut, Harry had not judged him for it and he never would. However strange Harry thought Slughorn was he always held a deep appreciation for him in his heart. After Dumbledore's death Slughorn took it in his power to help Harry anyway possible to find the Horcruxes. Unfortunately nothing had been found. Harry hadn't told anybody about the mysterious R.A.B, only Ron and Hermione. He felt like this was something he had to discover on his own.
Only when Professor McGonagall continued talking did Harry snap out of his thoughts.
"I have asked four people here today who knew Professor Slughorn very well," McGonagall said surveying the sea of people looking up at her. Harry knew the four wizards were part of the Slug Club. "They would like to share a few words with each of you about Horace," McGonagall finished.
Each of the wizards went up to the podium and spoke for nearly about twenty minutes about the life and their experiences with Horace Slughorn. After the speeches were made there was a small brunch commenced in the honour of their last Potions Master.
Harry got up from his seat to get some food then to track down Hermione, he was still angry with her but he missed her terribly. Instead he was bombarded by two very familiar faces.
"HARRY!" They cried.
Harry was ecstatic to see Dean and Seamus crowding around him. "Hey guys! How're you?" Harry asked.
The both ignored his question. "We're only here for a day. Let's go play Quidditch! You, Weasley, Longbottom, and Us! Whadda say?" shouted an excited Seamus.
"Er…sure," Harry replied. "Just got to get…"
Harry cut himself off when glanced over Seamus's shoulder and found Hermione standing halfway across the Great Hall staring at him. It looked like she was on her way over to see him and stopped when she saw Dean and Seamus jump in front of him. She seemed to understand because she smiled weakly, nodded and then turned to leave with her books clutched tightly to her chest.
"What's going on?" Dean asked. He turned to find what Harry was staring at and chuckled. "Granger? What are you staring at the bookworm for?"
"Leave her the bloody hell alone!" Harry snapped aggressively.
"Oooohhhh!!" Seamus imitated. "What're you in love with her or something?"
Harry didn't answer. He didn't say anything. All he did was push past Dean and Seamus to chase after Hermione. He ran through the Great Hall and out into the entrance where he found her about to turn down another corridor.
"Hermione!" he called.
She stopped and turned for him to catch up so they could continue on. But when Harry reached her he grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her into the nearest broom closet.
"Harry, Harry what are you doing?" she asked looking bewildered.
"I wanted to tell you something!" he replied.
The broom closet was small and cramped which offered hardly any light. Harry could only see Hermione by that light that shone through the threadlike cracks in the ceiling.
"What is it?"
"I just wanted to tell you that I love you," Harry said. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a forceful kiss. When Harry pulled away Hermione's eyes were closed a girlish smile was planted on her face. Harry could turn her into a pile of goo.
"I'm going to go play a game of Quidditch with the guys. I'll meet you in the Common Room later to talk. Is that aright with you?" Harry asked.
"Uh huh," Hermione replied in a dreamy tone.
Harry smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the temple goodbye before he exited the broom closet.
*********
Playing Quidditch with Seamus and Dean felt like old times. They didn't have enough players for a proper match so they played Ron and Harry (since Harry was the best player) against Neville, Dean, and Seamus. Neville turned out to be an excellent player, and if they had a real Quidditch season this year, Harry would seriously consider making Neville a Chaser.
Harry stalked through the castle corridors happily soaking up the warmth. The Quidditch Pitch could get mighty coldl after the sun had set. Heading in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room he could feel the excitement of a great day radiating off of him. It was so good for the guys to get back together. He had said bye to Dean and Seamus at the entrance gates, Neville went off to the kitchens to find some food, and Ron set off to the Ravenclaw Common Room to be with Luna.
He pushed open the Common Room doors and found Hermione standing in the middle of the room alone staring at him.
"Hello," she said. "How was the match?"
Harry dumped his broom and bag on the nearest table and moved forward towards Hermione. "Good, me and Ron won 230 to 90," Harry replied. He closed the distance between then and placed two firm hands on her hips. Hermione grinned and gripped his biceps. "What did you do all day?"
"The term is `Ron and I' not `me and Ron'. And good for you on winning," she corrected. "I've been reading my Arithmacy book. Just because that class was terminated doesn't mean that I am going to stop studying it. I am educating myself!" she added proudly.
"…You and Ron," Harry mumbled. He pulled away from Hermione and moseyed himself over to the fireplace.
"Harry…"
"Hermione, why didn't I know?"
"Well if you would shut up you would know by now!" she said.
"Sorry…" he mumbled.
"Harry, we didn't tell you because Ron and I didn't think it was important because we dated for less than two days! Less than thirty-six hours and we didn't want risk our friendship, in case in shocked you or something," she told him gently. "I was going to tell you. I really was, honest."
Harry plopped down on the couch in front of the fire as Hermione followed him and sat down in the arm chair to the right of him. Harry leaned forward and used his thumb and index finger to pinch the bridge of his nose. "When did this happen?" he asked.
"In July. We broke up the night before Bill and Fleur's wedding," she replied.
He bolted upright and stared at her seriously. "The night before the wedding?" he questioned. "I fell in love with you on the day of the wedding," he replied.
"I was already in love with by then," she smiled.
Harry narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Already in love with me? Then why did you date Ron?" he asked.
"Timing. All year you had the Horcruxes to sort out while you handled Sirius's death. Then when all this went down, Dumbledore had just been murdered and you broke up with Ginny. I thought the last thing you needed was your best friend confessing her love to you! So I focused my attentions on Ron." she said.
Harry jumped to his feet and stared at her. "Well you were wrong, you were the only thing I needed!" he declared.
Hermione rose to her full height and met Harry's eyes with the same vital expression. "I didn't know that then, so I settled for Ron," she said fervently. She looked at him and her serious expression softened. "Merlin, you know how much I hate to be wrong!"
His expression softened as well and he found his seat on the couch again. "So why did you break up?" he asked.
"Because kissing Ron was the most awkward ten seconds of my life! We both felt it, so we decided to go back to being just friends. The way we were meant to be," she answered.
"So…you liked the both of us at the same time?" Harry asked.
"No," Hermione replied.
"What?" Harry asked confused by her answer.
"I liked Ron. I loved you."
"How long?"
"How long what?"
"Have you been in love with me?" he asked.
"The end of fifth year. After the Department of Mysteries when we were all in the Hospital Wing. I looked up at you from the Daily Prophet and you were no longer `The-Boy-Who-Lived' but a man, a broken man. And from that moment on I wanted to fix you."
Harry leaned forward and reached for her hand. "Well you have me now," he said.
"I know," she whispered back. "I am sorry you had to find out this way. I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that. I wanted to sit you down when we got a little further into our relationship and explain it to you," Hermione said.
"I don't like it. But its okay," Harry said. "And I'm sorry I stormed out on you without giving you the chance to explain. I told you I would try and be better and I've failed you already.""
"No you didn't fail me, you reacted naturally!" she told him. "Harry we're going to have times when he fight, and get on each others last nerve. But as long as we really love each other and are honest with one another we'll always be okay at the end of the day," she said.
He pulled Hermione onto the couch and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Hermione, have I ever told you how great you are?" he asked.
"Yes, but not lately," she teased.
"Well then, Hermione Granger, you're Great with a capital G!"
"Oh, I know," she mocked.
"You know, huh?" Harry taunted. He pushed Hermione down onto the couch and pinned here there using his left hand and the weight of his body. While his other hand tickled her until she was squealing and squirming beneath him.
"Harry!" she laughed. "Stop! Ha ha ha! Please stop!" she pleaded.
But Harry didn't stop. He continued to hold her down and tickle her until they both fell off the couch due to Hermione's excessive squirming and fell onto the floor in a heap. Both of them laughing hard Harry rolled onto his back and gathered Hermione in his arms.
"I want to stay here forever," she sighed, snuggling into him.
He looked down at her and agreed she looked more beautiful every time he laid eyes on her. Harry pulled her in tighter. "Me too," he declared.
*********
After spending several glorious hours alone with Hermione in the Common Room, the couple reluctantly had to pry themselves away to go to bed. Harry pushed open the door to his empty dormitory in a blissful daze. Harry suspected that Ron was spending the night with Luna in the Ravenclaw dormitory and Neville still hadn't returned from his late night dinner in the kitchens. Harry meandered over to his bed and pulled off his blue t-shirt ready to pull on his pyjamas.
Once he did he fell back onto is bed happily and heard something odd crinkle beneath his body. He sat up and reached behind him and pulled up and envelope. The same colour envelope he received from the mysterious `Bobby'.
Harry dropped the envelope when he realized what it was and felt all of the happiness leave his body, filling with fear and anxiety. Slowly he bent down and retrieved the envelope. He tore it open with his fingers and read the letter silently.
Potter,
Blue isn't a good colour on you.
<Remember I can help you in your Quest.
Bobby
Harry dropped the letter again and lifted his eyes over to the window to find it hanging open. He slowly stood up and wandered over there to close it. He came back to his bed and lay down. He now felt sick to his stomach. The words of the letter wrote itself into Harry's brain repeatedly.
`Blue isn't a good colour on you'.
Which could only mean one thing: Bobby had been at Hogwarts today.
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