In This Time of War

Every year her skirt got shorter.

It wasn't until that moment Harry realized it. And it was true. But why this moment? This moment was no different then any other. They had just finished dinner, and were starting their homework. Hermione was stretched out across the couch with a book in her hands. And he and Ron were sprawled out on the rug in front of the hearth writing their potions essay.

But why that moment?

Hermione shifted her weight on the couch, her eyes not leaving the pages of her book. She was reading her Advanced Arithmacy book. Harry figured she completed her Potions homework the night it was assigned. She never put off her homework until the last minute. He watched the light of the fire dance in her honey-brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a simple black pin, the rest of her curls were draped around her neck. Harry thought she looked beautiful.

Then she darted her eyes to him and smiled.

He averted her eyes, scared she would be alarmed at why he was staring at her. But she didn't. She simply returned her eyes to her book and turned the page.

He watched her fire-lit eyes dance across the page. He noticed when she was about to turn a page, she would lick her lips, and then lick her finger to turn it. She wore her white button up school shirt, untucked with the sleeves rolled to her elbows. Her black skirt, which only went halfway down her thigh, was bunched up beneath her. She exchanged her knee-highs for large purple socks, which crumpled around her ankles. Harry smiled. He had never seen her looking so beautiful.

“DONE!”

Ron threw his arm out obstructing Harry's view, with his essay in hand waiting for Hermione to check it.

Hermione placed her book down on the floor next to the couch and reached for Ron's essay. She settled back down on the couch and rolled her eyes.

“Ron, Olikank's skin is not used in a hydrating draft. It's used in a heating potion,” she said.

“Er…Right,” Ron said, handing her his quill so she could correct it.

She scoffed and thrusted the essay back at him. “Ronald, you know perfectly well what a bezoar is used for! You out of all people should know, since Harry saved your life with one last year!”

Ron was silent.

“Didn't you Harry?” Hermione asked proudly

“Er…yeah,” He replied.

Harry looked over at Ron, and saw he looked red. He sympathized for his best friend. After all if it had not been for Snape's stupid book then he wouldn't have known what it was either, and Ron would have died. His stomach tightened at the thought.

“Would you like me to check yours, Harry?”

“What?” Harry asked, not catching what Hermione said.

“Would you like me to check your essay?”

He looked down at his own and remembered he had only written a few sentences. “Not yet.”

“Oh, Harry!” she sighed. She closed her book and stood up from the couch. “Well leave it on the table, and I'll check it in the morning. I'm going to bed.”

“Okay.”

Hermione strolled over the stairway. Harry noticed her skirt looked a bit wrinkled, and that if she bent over it would not leave much to the imagination. She disappeared in the stairwell leaving Harry and Ron alone in the common room.

But it wasn't for long; soon Ron began yawning and went off to bed as well. Now Harry was alone pouring over his essay. He had written down another paragraph. But he was stuck again. He pulled his book closer, but it was no use. He kept thinking of Hermione.

He exhaled deeply and heaved his book away. “Bloody hell Potter you're going mental!” he whispered to himself.

He paced in front of the hearth. “She's your best friend; you can't have these thoughts about her!” He muttered to himself.

But you do.

“Shut up!” he told himself.

With his own built up frustration he threw his essay into his bag and went up to bed.

>>o<<

The next morning brought dark clouds and misty rain. Harry didn't feel much better at breakfast. He still felt frustrated, and found it difficult to look Hermione in the eye knowing the kind of dreams he had involving her the night before.

“You didn't leave me your essay,” Hermione stated over bacon and eggs.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Why?”

“I'm not finished,” he said, finding interest in his goblet of orange juice.

She dropped her spoon. “Harry it's due today!”

“I still have lunch to do it,” he said. “…Plus I kind of have “other” things on my mind right now.”

Hermione sighed and leaned in closer to him. He could smell her scent.

“I know you're restless and you want to be out there finding the horcruxes, but you can't. Dumbledore made it quite clear in that letter he left you that you are to finish your last year! You need to learn as much as possible.”

“I know,” he said. He was not referring to the horcruxes.

The bell rang signaling the start of the first class. The trio made their way to Defense against the Dark Arts, which was being taught my Professor Lupin again. After the death of Dumbledore, he offered to help McGonagall in any way possible.

It turned out that it wasn't only Harry that Dumbledore left a letter for. On his orders, Harry had been receiving extra work from his teachers, and had started up the DA again. The charms and enchantments on the school that Dumbledore placed on the school were still in affect. Harry knew better to know death wouldn't stop Dumbledore from protecting his school.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione made there way to Transfiguration, to meet a tired look McGonagall. With the war, there was no time to find a new teacher to fill the Transfiguration position, leaving McGonagall as Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor.

“Okay, sit down and pull out your books,” she instructed, bustling to the front of the class.

Harry took a seat next to Hermione, and pulled out his Transfiguration book. His eyes grazed across the room, reminding him that there were only a handful of students remaining at Hogwarts. In Dumbledore's letter he instructed that all students entering fourth year and below should remain at home for there own safety. And most in fifth, sixth and seventh years didn't return. Some were afraid but most didn't because parents believed their children were safer at home than at school.

Harry noticed that there were only half a dozen students in the class, including him and Hermione. Ron sat at the table across from him and Hermione with Neville. Ginny and Luna sat alone at the back of the classroom.

With the war carrying on, growing more dangerous by the moment, proper lessons were no more. Irrelevant classes such as Divination, Arithmacy (which broke Hermione's heart), Care of Magical Creatures, and Astronomy had been eliminated. Hogwarts now only taught classes they thought would be valuable to their students in the war. Students in all years shared classes together. Students of different houses and were mixed if different classes all the time/

“Mr. Longbottom put that away and get out your book!” snapped McGonagall from the front of the classroom. She averted her eyes from Neville and rested them on the rest of her students. “…Today we will be learning about our animagus's.”

Murmurs and excitement spread across the room.

“Under normal circumstances I would spend five weeks teaching you the properties of an animagi, before I even allowed you the thought of transformation.” she paced around the room, tapping her wand into her palm. “However we are not under normal circumstances.” She made her way over to the board and tapped it with her wand, where a long list of notes appeared. “Your animagus form can assist you greatly in these times of darkness. I will spend two days teaching you need to know, and next week you may all attempt transformation.”

Ron groaned. He was hoping he could try to transform today.

“Please copy these notes, and on my desk by Monday morning four rolls of parchment on the dangers of an animagi,” Instructed McGonagall. “Page 702.”

Everybody pulled out some parchment and began writing down the notes. Harry noticed Hermione was using the scarlet inkless quill that he bought her for her birthday.

“Nice quill,” he whispered.

“Thank you,” she whispered back, with a grin. The bloke who bought it for me has fabulous taste! You should really take a page from his book, Harry.”

The two of them chuckled quietly to themselves.

After Transfiguration was Ron's favorite subject, lunch. Harry joined Ron and Hermione for quick meal in the Great Hall before he sped off the library to finish his potions essay. He opened his book, and pulled his half-finished essay out of his bag. The immediate thought of Hermione came to mind. He closed his eyes. He could see the firelight glowing off her he skin, casting a warm glow upon her. He could see the stray hairs falling around her eyes. He could see her feet in purple socks running up her smooth legs.

“Harry?”

His eyes burst open.

“Hi Luna,” he mumbled, wiping the drool from the side of his mouth.

“What were you doing?” Luna asked, adjusting the weight of her bag on her shoulder.

“Er…uh…just thinking.”

“Oh. Well anyway, Hermione wants to know if you need help with your essay,” she asked.

“Um…” Harry thought deeply. Having her there would be wonderful, but he didn't want her to think he was desperate. He cleared his throat. “…No, I think I'm fine.”

“Okay. Bye Harry.”

Luna turned and excited the library. Harry turned back down to his essay and got to work, with Hermione on the tip of his brain.

-->

Harry made his way through the empty corridors. It was a bright sunny Saturday morning and Harry was on his way to his DA meeting. He didn't feel like teaching today, he wasn't in the greatest of moods. He ran his fingers between the spaces in the bricks as he walked. He passed an empty classroom and saw McGonagall and Hagrid playing Wizard's Chess.

Sooner than he liked he found himself outside the Room of Requirements. He turned the handle to find the usual people inside waiting for him. He closed the door and made his way to the middle of the room. He pulled out the register and went over the list.

“Ron, Hermione, Luna…your all here,” he said placing a check by their names. “When I call your name say `here'.”

“Neville?”

“Here”

“Colin and Dennis?”

“Harry?” Hermione said quietly

“Yeah?”

“Their parents pulled them out of school last week, remember?” Hermione informed.

“Oh right,” Harry mumbled, crossing their names off the list. “Hannah?”

“Here.”

“Ginny?”

“She's sick,” said Luna mistily.

“What?” Ron asked.

“I was talking to her this morning and she said she wasn't feeling well…so…she's in bed.” Luna added.

“Okay, let's get this over with,” said Harry. He stood in the center of the room, and opened his bag. He pulled out a tiny rattling box and placed it on the ground.

He was amused by Hermione's curious glances at the box.

He loved that look in her eyes when she wasn't sure about something.

“What's in the box?” Ron asked.

He pulled his mind away from Hermione. “Oh…um Devilish Pixies…cousin of Cornish Pixies.”

Everybody in the room just stared at him in bewilderment except Hermione; she knew exactly what he was talking about, she gasped and stumbled back a few steps.

Harry kneeled down and opened the lid of the box, and revealed the Devilish Pixies, which were in a stasis-like sleep. “See, its okay.”

Neville stepped forward, shaking ever so slightly. Hermione's horrific glares at the box made him turn white with anxiety. “W-what are t-they-w-what do they do?”

“They're a Dementors worst nightmare,” Hermione whispered. “…And they're banned in Europe.”

Neville gulped.

“If they're banned then how did you get a hold of them?” asked Hannah Abbot.

“Hagrid of course,” Harry said.

Ron came forward. “What do they do?”

“Many things...but they have telekinetic abilities. They manipulate your mind…much worse than reliving your worst memories from a Dementor. Devilish Pixies use them against you…twisting them. Making you think horrible things happened in your memories when they didn't. ” Harry stated.

“…Manipulate your thoughts?” ridiculed Hannah. “…That doesn't sound so horrible!”

“Well it is!” Hermione retorted. “It's far worse to have your memories manipulated then to relive the horrible ones!”

“They also do other things,” Harry declared.

Hannah rolled her eyes, and fiercely crossed her arms. She shot Harry a wicked look as if challenging him with her eyes. “Like?” she rolled off her tongue.

“Er…well if they are trained good enough then they can inflict unbearable pain upon you by boiling your blood with a thought!”

The color drained from Neville's face, as let out a tiny whimper.

Harry met his gaze and gave him a reassuring smile. “Don't worry; these pixies aren't even close to being able to do that. Besides were going to focus on something else today.”

Everybody gave each other suspicious looks.

“We're only using the pixies to practice the Cruciatus Curse.”

Hermione gasped and dropped her wand. She fell to her knees to retrieve it and gazed up at Harry as he gazed back at her looking puzzled. He disregarded this when she picked up her wand and stood to her full height again.

“Everybody find a corner that's where we'll practice-don't want any of these curses going astray,” Harry said his gaze lingering on Hermione.

Everybody scattered about the room to claim a corner for themselves. Hermione dawdled off to the farthest corner to take as her own. Harry kneeled down in the middle of the cold floor and carefully opened the box of Devilish Pixies. He slowly levitated them out the box and with a flick of his wand sent them flying across the room, so each person had one hovering before them.

“When you're ready raise you wand and yell `Crucio', and make sure you mean it, or it won'!” Harry commanded, remembering what Bellatrix Lestrange told him right after she murdered Sirius. The stinging flames burned his insides at the memory of his godfather. His mood drastically turned sour. He huffed and pulled himself up off the cold flagstones. He felt the strong rage brewing with in him. He wanted revenge!

He took a few deep breathes trying to calm the ravenous hatred within, soon to realized he couldn't hear the cries from the rest of the DA. “Why don't I hear any of you shouting curses?” he shouted rather harshly. “Well why?” he added in a sharp tone when nobody dared to respond.

“Er mate?” Ron replied, nervously. “They're still…frozen.”

Harry groaned and flicked his wand, brining the pixies out of their stasis state. He heard the sounds of his students gasp as the pixies shot at them trying with all their might to manipulate their thoughts. He wasn't worried; he knew those pixies wouldn't be able to do more than tug the hair on their heads. But they were good practice for the cruciatus curse.

“Concentrate, and be careful where you aim,” Harry bellowed out to the room.

He could curse himself for thinking of Bellatrix. Now he was in the foulest of moods that he had been in all year. He still felt the strong rage of hatred for her as he did the moment he saw Sirius fall through the veil. He closed his eyes and it all came rushing back to him. He could see Sirius falling through the veil, which faded, into Dumbledore soaring off the battlements. He saw Malfoy and Snape running towards the gates. He was going to yell-he was going to lose it. He forced his eyes open!

Heavily sweating and panting he looked around and was grateful to see nobody had seemed to notice. He had never confided in anyone that he had been suffering from flashbacks since the night of Dumbledore's funeral. He was now left fuming with rage and feeling emotionally weak.

Kneeling on the cold stone floor again, he glanced around the room. Strong shouts of “Crucio” echoed through the room and followed by the faint cries of the withering pixies after every blast. His eyes crossed the room, and settled on the far corner where Hermione was standing.

She stood facing the corner like a punished schoolgirl. Her head was down; her shoulder slumped by her sides. “What now?” he groaned quietly as he picked himself up off the floor. He ambled over to the far corner to see what was wrong with her. “Something wrong?” he asked roughly.

She didn't look up but continued to look at the ground. “I can't do it Harry…” she said barely above a whisper. Harry had to move in closer just to hear her. His heart was racing-he was standing so close to her! “…I can't inflict pain on somebody else.”

Harry exhaled sharply, he was already in the nastiest mood and he didn't want to deal with this at the moment. Hermione still wouldn't look at him. He noticed her Devilish Pixie was wrapping itself in her curls and purring loudly. “Yeah well you're going to have to learn to!” he said harshly. “They're only pixies!”

“These are just baby pixies!” she said louder and firmer. “I can't use the cruciatus curse…I just can't!”

Hermione winced when she heard a pixie squeal followed by, “WICKED!” from Ron.

“Hermione, if you can't do this on a measly pixie then what are you going to do when you have a death eater after you!?” he said, through gritted teeth.

She did not look at him.

“Really, what will you do?” he said louder.

The shouts around the room echoed in his ears.

“WHAT WILL YOU DO THEN HERMIONE?” Harry yelled, not aware of the level of his voice. “BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN YOU KNOW!” He almost sounded mad. “THEY WILL!”

She looked up at him and stared into his eyes, a single tear spilled from her eye. His heart shattered as the tear ran down her cheek. He wished he could take back all he said; he didn't want to hurt her. But he didn't have the time to do anything. Hermione turned and stormed out of the room; she flicked her wand and the all twenty-four pixies followed her out of the room.

Harry was now aware that everybody in the room was staring at him. Feeling ashamed and embarrassed he dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

“What was that about, mate?” Ron asked.

“I don't know.”

“See ya at lunch,” Ron said, exiting the room.

Harry bent down to retrieve the box that had once carried the pixies, and walked out of the room making his way to his private lessons with Professor Lupin.

>>o<<

The end of the weekend came quickly. Hermione had not spoken to him since the incident, and neither had he tried to talk her. He felt too ashamed and embarrassed. He had been eating his meals in his bedroom while Ron and Hermione ate together in the Great Hall. Classes were sure to pass by much slower now that Hermione wouldn't be sitting next to him.

Harry now sat alone by the table next to the fire. He was beginning his Transfiguration essay that he had been putting off all weekend. Ron lay on the rug in front of the hearth reading one of Harry's many Quidditch books. Hermione was again sitting on the couch reading her advanced Arithmacy book. Her hair was messily pulled up; she was wearing a large yellow hockey jersey which undoubtfully belonged to her father in his youth. Black shorts were just visible under the length of her jersey. She was concentrating hard on her reading.

He watched her longingly. He wanted to touch her to tell her how sorry he was for everything. He wanted to tell her about the horrible flashbacks. But he couldn't…he just couldn't. He was never really good at telling girls things even Hermione, his best friend, the woman who knew him better then he did. He knew he would just make things worse if he tried. For now there was nothing he could do. All he could do was sit and watch from a distance…like he was already doing.

-->

“Concentrate Potter!”

“I'm trying!”

Professor McGonagall paced around the room examining Harry. Harry was crouched down on the floor in Professor McGonagall's office. During the previous week McGonagall had set out to teach everybody how to transform into their animagus, then changing her mind. She didn't feel that they were yet ready to transform, so she had spent the past four days teaching them to clear their minds, which had proven to almost be an impossible task for Harry.

“Well try harder, Potter!” she spat. “I am asking you to clear your mind, not to pull a sharp object out of any orifices!”

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes. He had too much on his mind to clear it. Harry ran through the thoughts in his mind: Hermione, Voldemort, Hermione, Horcruxes, Hermione, Saving the World, Hermione and of coarse…Hermione!

“Oh Potter,” she sighed. “That's enough for today. We will try again tomorrow for the SIXTH time!” She held her office door open. “Good day.”

Harry happily got off the ground and left the awkwardness of the room behind. He poured out into the empty corridor wondering what to do next. He had finished with his lessons for the day, and seriously thought about going to the library to do some more research when his stomach growled and gave him the answer he was looking for…dinner!

He marched through the almost empty corridors and down to the Great Hall. He pushed the large wooden doors open to find it was almost deserted. Ron was sitting alone at the Gryffindor table pouring over the latest edition of The Quibbler. Luna and Hannah were over at the far Ravenclaw table laughing at something.

“Hi,” Harry said, sitting down across from Ron.

“Oh hi,” he replied with a mouthful of pork chop. He swallowed and smiled stupidly at Harry. “Did you clear your mind?”

“No,” Harry sighed, piling mashed potatoes onto his plate. “I just couldn't concentrate, and then McGonagall getting mad didn't help. She thinks it so easy for me, and it's not.” He twisted his fork in his food, and sighed. “I have too much on my mind!”

“McGonagall just doesn't get it,” Ron said, ripping his bun in half with a monstrous bite. “She should know and all.” He swallowed then took a large gulp of his pumpkin juice. “Talk to her about it.”

Harry shook his head; he didn't want to talk about McGonagall or anything school related at the moment. He took a few mouthfuls of his dinner then pushed it away. Suddenly he wasn't so hungry anymore. Ron belched loudly then pushed his empty plate away. The girls gave him dirty looks from across the hall, and Ron blushed.

“Want to go see Hagrid?” Harry blurted out, as the idea popped into his over-stuffed brain.

“Sure,” Ron shrugged, sliding off the bench.

The sky was grey and cloudy as they both ran down the steps of the castle, crossed the sloping lawns down to Hagrid's hut. They passed by several Auror's that were stationed at every entrance and around the grounds. Tonk's was stationed just outside the entrance of the South Hall, which made Professor Lupin very happy for his office was just one floor below.

They jogged up the wooden steps of Hagrid's hut when the door flew open. They were greeted by the back of Hermione's head, and a beaming Hagrid.

“Hello Harry! Hello Ron!”

Hermione whipped her head around to look at the two boys, and gave them a quick bleak stare. She was carrying a blue box. “Hi,” she mumbled to them. Hermione was still avoiding Harry, and had barely spoken a word to him.

Hermione pushed past the boys and stomped down the steps. In doing so she brushed against Harry, making him feel weak again. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was. He wanted to hold her and make sure she never hurt again.

In the urge to do something he called out her name, “Hermione!” She stopped in her tracks, and turned to him.

“What?” she said coldly.

He panicked he didn't know what to say. He said the first thing that came to his mind. “I like your hair today.”

He watched her bleak expression soften as she touched her hair. “Thanks,” she mumbled before stalking off towards the castle.

Harry grinned then followed Ron into Hagrid's hut.

“Smart girl!” Hagrid muttered proudly, taking the kettle off the fire.

“What?” asked a befuddled Ron.

“Hermione, she's a smart girl.” he repeated proudly. “She's got brilliant ideas in that head of hers!”

“Hagrid?” Ron asked. “What's going on?”

“Them Devilish Pixies! She wants ta raise `em up `n train `em up! Brilliant I tell ya!” Hagrid spoke proudly. “Harry…ya never told me ya were gunna use `em for the cruciaktis curse. If I'd known I wouldn't `ave given `em to ya!”

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled.

“She can't do that!” Ron burst. “They're horrible; evil things!”

“Since they only babies…gunna try ta see if we can teach `em between good `n bad. Never been done before!” he replied. “…Brilliant girl!”

“How?”

“Dunno Harry,” Hagrid said. “Tea?”

“…Mmm,” Harry shook his head, turning down to his feet. Harry spent the rest of the hour in Hagrid's hut while Ron enjoyed tea and talked about all the new Quidditch moves he had learned about in Harry's new Quidditch books. Finally the rain began to pour down and Ron and Harry dashed back up to the castle to have a late snack before returning to the Gryffindor Common room.

Harry sat at the long table watching Neville losing horribly to Ron in a rough game of Wizard's Chess. Harry had lost to Ron in the previous match of Wizard's Chess, not just because he was almost the world's worst player, but because he spent most of his time watching Hermione.

She was sprawled on the rug in front of hearth in a combination of reading a muggle book and playing with Crookshanks. He sat in front of her and every time she turned the page he would paw at it sending her into a fit of giggles. She would sit up and gather him up in her arms and rub his tummy until he was purring like a motor. This made Harry smile.

After Neville lost his third match Harry decided to go up to bed. He pulled off his school uniform and put on his pajama's and then slipped into bed. He lay there for hours alone in his dormitory with everything racing through his mind. The Horcruxes and where he could possibly find them, his lessons-how was he going to manage to do them all and his extra ones? Then Hermione popped into his mind.

Why did he have these feelings for her? When did these feelings for her start? Did it all happen that night he saw her in the purple socks? How could he be hit with a sudden emotion at one moment? The truth was he didn't know. He started running everything through his mind. From the moment he met her until he saw her last night sprawled out on the carpet.

There was one memory that seemed to stick out in his mind more than the others. It was last summer at Bill and Fleur's wedding, when Harry had a serious wardrobe malfunction.

~*~*Flashback*~*~

“Hurry up, Harry!” Hermione hissed. She was leaning against the second story banister and the Burrow and was waiting for Harry right outside the bathroom door. “The wedding starts any moment now!”

Harry pushed the door open, and gave her the “I-look-stupid” glare.

“Oh heaven, Harry!” she gasped. “What happened?”

“I think Mrs. Weasley picked up the wrong size for me!” Harry said monotonously

“I'd say so!” Hermione mumbled into her hand, trying to fight back the laughter.

Harry was standing in the bathroom doorway glaring dimly. The pants and jacket of his navy blue suit appeared to be at least three inches too small. “What am I going to do?”

“Relax, Stretch, I can fix this,” Hermione chuckled whipping her wand out.

“Hey!”

“Sorry,” she replied.

Hermione pushed Harry back into the tiny bathroom and closed the door. “Stand up straight,” she ordered as she knelt down to fix Harry's pants. Hermione ran her wand over the material as it slowly stretched to the length she wanted. Harry felt a tickling sensation on his skin where his material expanded; making his foot jiggle as he tried to stifle a laugh.

“Will you keep still please,” Hermione asked.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, and she moved up to fix his sleeve.

“Give me your arm, Harry.”

The second floor bathroom was very cramped. Harry and Hermione were mashed together between the toilet and the sink. This bathroom definitely not made for two people to be in at the same time.

Hermione finished the left sleeve and moved onto the right one. Harry smiled at her when they made brief sudden eye contact. He noticed she was wearing a lavish pink tank top and a pretty white and pink floral printed skirt. Her hair was pulled back in a pink elastic and she wore silver hoop earrings that matched the silver chain around her neck.

“You look nice,” he said.

“Thanks,” she smiled. “You will too once we get this fixed. Could you turn please?”

“Oh,” Harry said, as he turned. “Sure.”

Harry turned and Hermione ran her wand over the back of his suit, expanding the length of the shoulders. She ran her wand down the length of his spine, and even lower down his behind and the back of his legs, which made him jump a little bit.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. “…Had to be done.”

“It's okay,” he choked.

“Ok turn around again,” she asked. He did and she smoothed out his jacket and readjusted his black tie. “You're done!”

“Thanks, Hermione,” he said, examining his suit.

Just then the music started from out in the yard.

“Oh shit!” Hermione gasped.

The two of them glanced at each other before they both tried to run out of the tiny bathroom at the same time resulting in both of them falling out into the hallway.

Harry groaned then looked over at his best friend. “Hermione are you okay?”

She was laughing harder then Harry had ever seen her laugh before. “Yeah, I'm fine. Lets go, we have to get outside.”

Harry helped her up not able to hide the smile caused by her eccentric laughter. They ran down the two flights of stairs and through the kitchen, where Harry knocked over a stack of fancy plates. Hermione burst into a stronger fit of laughter and repaired the plates with a flick of her wand. They ran out into the yard and saw Fleur's sister gracefully walking down the isle scattering flowers. They found there seats and pushed past the other guests offering half hearted `excuse me's' and apologies.

Harry sat down in his seat ignoring all of the angry glares from around him. Hermione tried to scoot past him to grab her seat when she lost her balanced and fell into his lap. He let out a faint `oomph' in surprise, and watched her try to hold back more laughter. He held back a cheeky grin and helped her into her seat.

Fleur who was now walking down the isle shot Hermione a very fierce look. Warning Hermione with her eyes if she did anything to ruin her wedding day she would tear her limb from limb. For some reason that Harry didn't understand, this sent Hermione into almost hysterical laughter. She tried to stifle her laughter in his shoulder. Harry held back the biggest grin of his life. This was very unlike Hermione, but he didn't care, he liked it!

~*~* End Flashback*~*~

Harry smiled at the memory; it was one of his favorites. But he still didn't understand why he didn't start to have feelings for her until a few weeks ago. Had he felt this way all along since the wedding? He had no idea. Then something hit him. He reflected back to the Yule Ball in fourth year when he actually realized that Hermione was a girl. Then his mind floated back to Bill and Fleur's wedding and it hit him. That was when it really hit him. It was at Bill and Fleur's wedding when he saw Hermione as a woman for the first time.

She was no longer the little schoolgirl he had met on the train over six years ago. She had grown into beautiful, intelligent, strong woman who was capable of doing anything-because she was Hermione Granger, and he was in love her!

Oh my god I'm in love with her, he thought to himself. I love her!

Now everything made sense! He had been in love her since the moment they both tripped in a rush to get out of the bathroom and he heard her laughing. He had just been too blind and angry at the world to see it with everything going on. But now he was bursting with emotion. He wanted to run around and tell the world that he was in love. But he couldn't, he had to keep this to himself.

“I love Hermione Granger!” he said to himself, smiling like and idiot. “I love her!”

Harry fell asleep that night and had a very pleasant dream!

***

Harry opened his eyes the next morning and saw clouds hovering outside his window. He glanced around his dormitory and saw that Ron must have already gone to breakfast. He rolled over and pulled on his glasses, then glanced at his watch, it past was noon! He must have been having a very good dream if he slept in that late!

He pulled himself out of bed and began rifling through his trunk in search of his housecoat and towel. He decided a nice hot shower before joining Ron for lunch would be a great start to what he thought would be a wonderful day.

The first thing Harry planned on doing after lunch was to track down Hermione and give her the biggest apology she had ever received in her life. But there was no need for this, for when he entered the Great Hall for lunch he found her sitting across from Ron hovering over a large red book.

“Hello,” he said, sitting next to Ron.

“Hi,” replied a dismal Ron. “Four more Dementor attacks last night.” He handed the Daily Prophet over to Harry. Hermione pulled her book down long enough to give Harry a frown. “One of them was Slughorn,” Ron added.

“WHAT!?” Harry roared, snatching the paper from his best friend.

“He was found in a bathroom inside a muggle shop just outside Diagon Alley,” Ron said sadly.

“What was he doing in a muggle shop?” questioned Harry.

“Buying supplies,” Hermione said from behind her book.

“In a muggle shop?” Ron challenged.

She groaned and pulled her book down. “No, Ronald, in Diagon Alley” she let out an annoyed breath. “I was in the library with Ginny yesterday before going down to see Hagrid, and we over heard McGonagall telling Madam Pince that Slughorn was going to Diagon Alley to buy supplies. She said something about needing a certain potion to clear a certain somebody's head.”

Harry gulped. “You mean…”

“Yes, Slughorn was killed because somebody doesn't want you to achieve transformation.” Hermione said dismally. “Somebody has eyes inside this school and knows you haven't been able to transform and intends to keep you that way.”

A chill ran down Harry's spine, he knew that when Hermione said somebody she really meant … Voldemort.

“How did he end up in a muggle shop?” Ron asked.

“I don't know,” she said, barely above a whisper.

***

A few hours later Ron and Harry decided to get in some flying time before the sun went down, to try and lighten the mood of this horrible day. Harry knew nothing would make this day better. He was grateful though that Hermione was speaking to him again, only if it was during those few minutes in the Great Hall.

The girls had decided to come outside to watch the boys fly around and to get some fresh air. Harry watched Hermione and Luna walking a head of him up the lawns toward the pitch. Ron was in a brisk walk beside him. And he turned to see Ginny walking slowly behind him with a book clutched tightly in her arms. She looked utterly depressed, and Harry couldn't blame her, she had been quite fond of Slughorn.

Harry felt the anxiety pooling at the bottom of his stomach, knowing that at that moment Voldemort might be somehow watching him. He almost wanted to vomited at the thought. He wished Dumbledore were here. He looked across the lawns and caught sight of Dumbledore's large white tomb, which almost glowed, in the cloudy afternoon light. He felt a pang of pain hit him.

When they finally reached the pitch, rain began to lightly sprinkle down. The girls climbed the stands until they reached the very top and Harry and Ron mounted their brooms. Harry was glad to feel the familiar rush of wind blowing in his hair; it had been months since he had been on a broom.

After a long while the rain pounded down harder until he could hardly see in front of him. He was surprised that the girls were still in the stands. He was soaked to the bone but he didn't care, he enjoyed the freedom he felt he had been denied for months.

He heard a yell and he looked across the pitch to see Ron hovering by the stands asking Hermione if she wanted to go for a ride on his broom. To his surprise he saw her climb on the back on his broom. He felt jealously brewing within. He moved forward a little bit and watched Ron zoom around the pitch with Hermione holding onto him for dear life.

Harry moved a little closer. Some of these moves that Ron was trying to pull were dangerous, especially in this weather, and Ron was never the greatest flier. Ron was soaring gracefully across the pitch then violently pulled up vertically into a dangerous Quidditch move. Harry heard the most terrorizing scream escape from Hermione, and saw her slipping from Ron's broom.

Without a thought he shot in her direction. It all happened in almost slow motion for him. He watched her lose her grip on Ron's robes, slowly falling off the tail on the broom. Ron turned the nose of the broom down hoping to keep her on. But his plan failed, she fell forward against his back, then lost her balance and slipped off the left side of the broom before he had a chance to catch her.

Harry heard another violent scream escape from her lips. She was able to grab a hold Ron's foot and was dangling in mid-air. She screamed bloody-murder for help. Harry thought he heard her crying his name. Ron was able to reach down and pull her up until he had a good hold around her waist, before Harry could reach them. As he quickly headed for the ground Harry could hear Hermione screaming and shouting curse words at Ron as he touched the ground.

Harry heard Ron mumbling apologies for the beating of the rain. But Hermione was just screaming and cursing at him.

“JUST GO AWAY RON! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

As Harry landed he saw Ron stalking away. At the same time he felt bad for Ron knowing how guilty he must feel, and at the same time he wanted to pulverize him!

Hermione stood in the middle of the pitch panting heavily and completely drenched.

“Hermione!” Harry called as he jogged in her direction. “Are you alright?”

She nodded without saying a word. She wanted to cry.

Harry put a comforting arm around her and led her towards the Gryffindor changing rooms. Inside he sat her down on the bench and looked her over. She didn't have a scratch on her, but she was badly shaken up.

Harry headed over to the cupboard and pulled out a musty smelling towel. “Hermione…say something, are you sure you're alright?”

She said nothing. She stared at the floor and was shaking horribly.

“Hermione?”

She got up and ran into Harry's arms. “Oh, Harry!” she whispered.

Harry was shocked, as her arms wrapped around his middle, and she buried her face in his chest. It took him a second to register everything as he wrapped his arms around her. He pulled the towel tight around her trying to keep her warm. Having her in his arms felt like he had finally found was he had been searching for his whole life.

He ran his hands over her back, trying to comfort her. He felt her shaking in his arms followed with a sniffle and he knew she was crying. He wanted to hold her forever and never let go.

Then the stupidest thing he could say spilled from his lips. “You don't have to always yell at Ron like that, you know?” He couldn't believe he was saying this. How stupid was he?

She pulled away from him. “What?” she gasped. “Harry, he almost DROPPED me!”

What the FUCK are you doing you, Git! His brain screamed at him. You're ruining the perfect moment you ass!

“HARRY!” she screamed, pulling him away from his thoughts. “WHAT ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT?”

“You were being foolish!”

“FOOLISH!?” Hermione shouted. “Harry, he nearly dropped me 200 feet!”

“Yes you were being foolish!” He was almost yelling now, but he wasn't infuriated. He just felt he needed to make this as clear as possible to her and he didn't know why. “You didn't have to be scared, you know why?”

“WHY?” She roared. “TELL ME HARRY WHY I DIDN”T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF FALLING TO MY DEATH!?”

“BECAUSE I WAS THERE! AND I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!” He yelled, so she could him over her own screams.

She quieted, and her angry face softened. “…You love me?”

“…And I would NEVER let anything happen to you!”

Without realizing what he was doing he grabbed her face and pulled her into a deep passionate kiss, which he never wanted to end. His hands found their way into her wet tangled hair as he pulled her mouth harder against his. When reality got the best of him he pulled away. Only inches from her face he stared into her eyes as he panted heavily. He watched her face as she tried to register what had just happed.

He was bursting with emotion as he also tried to register what had just happened. He was going to die if he didn't do something. With that he suddenly turned and stalked out of the changing room, leaving Hermione wet, alone, and confused in the changing room to dwell upon everything that had just happened.

A/N: I really hope you liked it. If you were wondering, I reposted this chapter because I wrote it in a rush and there were some spelling mistakes that were annoying me. I know that this chapter may be a little confusing but I will clear everything up in the next chapter when we hear Hermione's side of everything.

PLEASE REVIEW!!

-->

“You must be a liar.”

Harry groaned weakly and blinked his eyes open in the vivid sunlight. He let his sleepy mind comprehend everything as he tried to fathom what woke him from his slumber. He looked down to see a blurry figure of a person sitting on the foot of his bed. He reached for his glasses and slipped them on.

“Hermione?”

She sat on the foot of the bed, very still, with her back facing him.

“Hermione?” he repeated.

“You are a liar, Harry Potter,” she repeated, remaining still.

“What?” Harry asked. “Why am I a liar?”

She sighed deeply. “Yesterday you told me you loved me.”

He closed his eyes and let the incident on the previous night filter through his mind. He really wished he could forget it all, he wished he could make her forget it all. He felt so embarrassed. He opened his eyes. with a heavy sigh. “Er…yeah.”

“You can't love me…” she said sadly. “…So you must be a liar.”

“What?” Harry threw his bed covers off of him in shock, but remained at the head of the bed. “Why? …I do love you!”

She turned to face him with a frown. Harry saw her face and his heart melted, she looked hurt. “If you love me then why you are always yelling at me, or never have any tolerance for me?” she asked. Her chest hitched with a harsh breath, as tears leaked from her eyes. “If you loved me then you wouldn't be angry and distant with me all the time!”

Harry groaned and crawled down to the end of the bed, he rested his forehead against the back of her shoulder. “Hermione, I do love you. I really do.”

“You can't!”

“But I do,” he sighed.

She looked him in the eye with disbelief. The pain etched on her face shimmered in her eyes as another tear spilled down her cheek. She took in another violent breath, and wiped it away. “Then why are you always angry with me?” she asked.

He bore deep into her eyes, trying to give her the most understanding look he could. “Because I am angry, Hermione” he spoke. “But not at you,” he finished quickly before she jumped to conclusions. “I am just angry at everything else.

“Oh, Harry.”

“I am fighting two wars, Hermione,” he said in a slightly more hostile tone. He stood up, and began pacing the length of his bed. His breath quickened, as rage boiled within him while the thought of these wars raced threw his mind. “The one with Voldemort and these stupid Horcruxes…” his voice grew louder and more enraged with every word. “…And the one I have to fight on the inside while I try to DEAL WITH ALL THIS SHIT!” Harry let out a violent shout and collapsed on the edge of his bed with his face buried in his hands, panting heavily.

Hermione looked at Harry completely astounded. She had never seen him like this before…so vulnerable. She quickly shook her head free of any thoughts and rushed to him. She positioned herself kneeling on the floor in front of him. She gripped his shoulders tightly but he never looked up.

Tears sprung to her eyes as deepest apologies spilled from her lips. “Oh Harry, I am so sorry,” she gasped. “What am I doing? You have the weight of the world on your shoulders, you don't need this right now. I'm sorry, Harry,” she apologized again. “I'll just leave.”

She got up from her spot on the ground, and turned to leave, but Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled back down. “No,” he commanded. “You stay.”

“Harry?”

“Do you feel the same way about me?” he asked hoarsely.

“Harry?” she protested again.

“Do you feel the same way?” he asked forcefully. He pulled his hands away from his face long enough to reveal the tears forming in his eyes.

“Oh, Harry!” Hermione gasped. She quickly hopped onto the side of the bed, cradling Harry's head in her arms.

“Hermione?”

She closed her eyes fleetingly, allowing a few tears to stream down her cheeks. She took in one deep breath. “I would be lying if I said I didn't,” she said quietly.

Harry gave a relieved chuckle and sighed, he squeezed Hermione tightly around the middle gratefully. Hermione smiled through her tears, and pulled him in tighter.

When they pulled away from their embrace, Harry smiled slightly and wiped the tears away from her eyes. “I am sorry, Hermione, for being angry all the time. I have a lot to deal with, but I will try to be better.”

Her palm met the side of his cheek and she stroked it delicately, she rubbed a lingering tear away with a quick brush of her thumb. “Okay,” she said smiling weakly. “And I promise I will help you any way I can.” She gripped his hand without second thought, then afterward blushing at her bold move. She darted her eyes to the window to try and elude her awkward moment. Hermione was shy.

Harry gave a weak chuckle and a smirk, he could see her embarrassment flush in her rosy cheeks, and to him she looked cute that way. He could remember how awkward it could be making a bold statement (kissing Cho and Ginny) so early on in a relationship. The fact that Harry and Hermione had been best friends for years didn't matter, they were now in a new phase of familiarity, and the challenge of first attempts of bold statements, such as hand holding could be daunting. He gave her a sweet smile, and pulled her in to try and make her feel better.

Harry pulled away from her to look into her tear-soaked eyes. Hermione's eyes danced across his, she knew it was coming. Harry leaned in and grazed her lips with his. It wasn't the forceful, tongues swirling, desperate kiss of last night, but a soft, gentle, loving kiss.

Hermione pulled back, and the pair of them stared at the window, coming to the conclusion that they just shared their first `real' kiss…now Harry felt like a fool. He searched his brain for something to lighten the awkward silence, and then it dawned on him.

“This is going to be dangerous.”

Hermione knew he was talking about Voldemort. She had been waiting for him to bring it up. “I know,” she said calmly.

“Maybe we should -“

She cut him off by placing her hand over his mouth. “Harry, I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it. You're going to tell me that if we're together Voldemort will come after me and try to kill me, because that's what he does to everybody who gets close to you, and maybe we should just remain friends” she said staring into his puzzled eyes. “Well, personally, I don't give a flying fuck about Voldemort! He's a low life, cold blooded, murderous bastard who doesn't deserve the satisfaction of us not being together!”

“But he will come after you!” Harry shouted, wide eyed with fear

“Of coarse he'll come after me!” Hermione replied. “I helped you retrieve the Stone in first year so he couldn't get it. I aided you in finding the Chamber of Secrets, resulting in the destruction of a Horcrux. I was at the Department of Mysteries fighting his servants and helping you! And I am going continue helping you and remain standing by your side until that bastard is dead in his grave and long after! Don't you see, Harry? He will come after me no matter what, because of my actions I have helped keep you alive, and prevented him from returning on many occasions. My brain has thwarted his plots. Most of all, Harry, I am your friend, which will probably be the most dangerous of all. I refuse to give you up, just to be targeted by him anyway! Fuck Voldemort!”

Harry sighed, and stared down at his feet. “Hermione, I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want to lose you,” he said quietly.

Hermione placed a hand on his right arm, and looked straight into his green eyes. “Harry, I know you don't, and I don't want to lose you either. But this is war and whether we choose to act on our feelings or not, you will still be in love with me, and I will still be in love with you…there will always be a threat, no matter what,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “Harry, I want to be by your side when it comes time to fight him. I want to help you. I have been your best friend for a very long time, and I am not turning back now, not ever…no matter what. Whether we are together or not I am going to be at risk because I am going to be at your side whether you like it or not, so why should we make ourselves suffer by not being together?”

“Hermione, I want to be with you but it's just…”

“Harry, you pushed Ginny away because of this, please don't do it to me,” she pleaded, her eyes glossy with tears. `Please?” she begged. “I couldn't bare it if you did.”

Harry dropped his heads into his hands again, and let out a long nerve-racking sigh. Hermione was growing concerned that Harry was really considering sacrificing their relationship because he was worried Voldemort would come after her. After a few minutes of silence Hermione finally spoke. “Harry? Are you alright?”

“Don't compare yourself to Ginny,” Harry said, raising his eyes to meet hers. There are two things entirely different about the two of you.” Harry raised his hand to graze her cheek lovingly. “I love you, Hermione…so much. I never loved Ginny. You fought for me when I tried to push you away. When I pushed her away, she let me go without question.”

“Harry…”

“No, shhh let me speak,” he said, now running his fingers through her hair. “You're bloody fantastic, and you're right there will always be a risk no matter what. I would be such a fool if I gave you up.” he smiled at her. “I don't want to push you away,”

“Oh, Harry,' she said under her breath, as Harry pulled her in for another hug, which she gladly yielded too. “I love you, Harry,” she added with a big smile.

He felt something burst inside of him, something he couldn't explain. It was new, it was exciting, it was wonderful, it was also one of the scariest feelings he had ever felt. Overwhelmed with this new emotion exploding inside of him, a lone tear slid down his cheek. He shut his eyes and shuddered.

Hermione pulled away, alarmed at his tears. “Harry is something wrong? Did I do something? Was it something I said?” she pleaded.

“No no no no,” he smiled through his tears, quieting her. “It's just that nobody has ever said that to me before. At least not that I can remember, I am sure my parents said it…but you know…”

“Oh, Harry,” she said throwing herself into arms again. “I am so sorry, it must have been terrible. But I we've always loved you, Ron and me. But I know what you mean and I am glad to be the first person to really say it to you.”

“I am too,” he said wrapping his arms around her. “But aren't you scared?”

“No,” she said simply.

“Why?” he asked, surprised at her calm reply.

“Because Harry Potter is my boyfriend,” said looking straight into his eyes with a happy grin.

***

Much later that afternoon Harry, Ron, and Hermione surrounded a large table in the corner of empty Gryffindor common room beginning their first day of training on the Devilish Pixies. While Hermione sorted out her books on the table, her and Harry made goo-goo eyes at each other from across the table, to which Ron was completely oblivious about. Harry and Hermione decided that for now, they should keep their relationship a secret. These were turbulent times, and they believed allowing themselves to become public would anger everybody, especially Ron and Ginny. Also, the Daily Prophet had been pining for months for another juicy gossip story that didn't revolve around the war, and they would have a field day if they found out Harry and Hermione were dating. A story like that would be front-page news, bringing unwanted attention to the star couple and Hogwarts, and possibly supplying their enemies with too much information.

“Merlin, Hermione!” Ron complained. “It's way too early for something like this.”

“Ronald, it's five in the afternoon!” Hermione scolded.

“Well you threw me out of my dormitory at dawn! And that couch over in the corner isn't as comfy as it looks.” Ron retaliated. “What were you two doing up their alone?” Ron looking from both of his friends and cringed. “Never mind, don't tell me!” he said, as he chuckled sarcastically to himself.

“Shut up, we were talking,” Harry said, throwing a crumpled up piece of parchment at him.

“Riiight,” Ron joked sarcastically, using his fingers as quotations. “ `TALKING' “

“I was asking Harry his theories on training the pixies, if you must know!” Hermione cut in with an annoyed tone. “Which were brilliant by the way!”

“And you had to kick me out to do that?”

“Yes, because you interrupt and jump to the conclusions, you big git!” Hermione said.

Ron ignored her, and pulled one of her books in front of him and stared at the picture of the evil looking Devilish Pixie. “So Harry…lets hear them!”

“Hear what?”

Ron raised his gaze to Harry. “Your brilliant ideas on training the pixies of coarse!” he replied with a smug grin.

Harry's eyes quickly tried to find Hermione's, but she wasn't looking at him. He was left to fend for himself. “Er…um…my idea was to see if we could…um…t-train then up by recognizing different voices -“

Hermione cut him off with a loud gasp, as a brilliant idea soared through her brain. “THAT'S IT!” she said to herself excitedly.

Harry and Ron found each other's glare momentarily asking the same question with their eyes, before returning them to Hermione and eyeing her suspiciously.

“What?” Ron asked, looking utterly confused.

Hermione didn't answer him and she didn't make eye contact with any of the boys. Her eyes darted across the room rapidly as her face light up at excitedly at her own brilliant idea brewing in her mind. “Ooohhhh!” she squealed excitedly, as she raced up to her dormitory.

Harry chased her halfway across the room, and stopped at the bottom of the stairs gaping in bemusement at where she just stood only seconds before. He turned his gaze back to Ron, who mouthed. “What the fuck?” followed by, “She's bloody mental!” Harry nodded in agreement.

A few moments later they heard Hermione's door slam shut, and she raced down the stairs again with a collection of papers under her arm. “Come here,” she commanded breathlessly, as she poured the papers out over the table.

“What are these?” Harry asked moving towards the table.

“Pictures from the Daily Prophet,” she said, spreading them out. “Like you said, I don't think they will recognize voice patterns, and it would be difficult providing them samples of Death Eater voices so they know who's good and who's bad. But maybe they can recognize by sight.” she said, holding up a moving picture of a Death Eater.

“You think it will work?” Ron asked.

“Who knows?” Hermione replied. “Devilish Pixies have never been trained before. Who knows if they even can be?”

“Wonderful!” Ron replied dismally.

Hermione scowled at him, and pulled the box of Pixies closer to her. She pulled off the lid, and was greeted by sorted laughter from Harry and Ron.

“What!?” she growled.

“Collars?” Harry laughed staring at the Devilish Pixies in the box wearing blue and pink collars labeled with names such as `Tinkerbelle' and `Fuzzy'. “Names?” Harry questioned still laughing.

“What?” she shouted angrily. “These are living creatures with feelings and they deserve names! And the collars are to tell the difference between the boys and girls thank you very much! So shut your gobs!”

“You're right, I am sorry Hermione,” Harry said, trying to calm his laughter.

“Look, Harry, this ones named `Silly Toes'!” Ron snorted, as he fell behind the table from hysterics. Harry couldn't control himself he fell into another fit laughter and joined Ron on the floor.

“Get over yourselves and get up off the floor!” Hermione barked, steaming with annoyance.

A few minutes later the laughter calmed, and the boys found their places by the table again. Harry looked at Hermione and mouthed the words, “I'm sorry,” to her.

Hermione gave the `YOU-BETTER-BE' evil girlfriend glare. She passed out moving photographs of the death eaters, and pulled the little Pixies out of their box.

“Okay…first grab one and watch if it tries to attack you, if it does say “Abisto”, it's a pinching charm, so they will learn attacking us is bad. When they do something right, you can reward them with these.” She pulled a small container forward and peeled back the lid, filling the room with a foul smell. “I know they stink, but there like chocolate to a Devilish Pixie.”

“What is it?” Ron said covering his nose.

“A special type of leaf, which only grows in Fiji during an eclipse. It's what I went to Hagrid's for yesterday,” she replied. “Okay, take a Pixie.”

“I have dibs on Silly Toes!” Ron teased with a grin.

Hermione scowled at him, as they each reached for a Pixie.

Training the Pixies turned out to be a much harder feat then Hermione thought. Every time Harry or Ron would pull a Pixie out of the box it squealed in fear and flew back to Hermione, and wrapped itself in her brown locks and purred loudly.

“I should have known this would happen!” she said with a groan. “ I amaze myself at how unbelievable daft I can be!”

“Wow, we better watch out, Harry, these are serious killers we have on our hands here!” Ron said, jumping back sarcastically.

“Can you blame them?” Hermione asked. “Last time they saw you, you were throwing painful curses at them! You two will have to gain their trust again.” She looked at her watch and frowned. “We don't have time today; I have to get that Defense Against the Dark Arts project finished.”

“It's not due until Thursday!” Ron said.

“Exactly, I am way behind!”

“I have to get some extra work done anyway. Lupin is insisting I read about the life of Salazar Slytherin,” Harry said, as he made a face, as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. “He wants nine rolls of parchment on `what I learned' by Tuesday morning.”

“How much have you got done?” Hermione asked.

“Haven't started yet.”

“Oh, Harry,” she sighed. “How do you…”

A firm tapping at the window interrupted Hermione. The three of them shot their looks over to the window and were surprised to find Hedwig hovering outside with tiny piece of parchment tied to her leg.

“Who the bloody hell could be writing you now?” Ron asked. “You're not expecting any letters are you?”

“No,” Harry replied, making his way over to the window, just as shocked as Ron. “I never get any letters anymore now that Sirius is dead and Lupin's here all the time now…just the occasional one from Hagrid, asking me to come down for tea.” Harry opened the window allowing Hedwig to hop inside. He grabbed the letter and tore it open.

Hermione scoffed, and looked down watch again. “Doesn't Hagrid know what time it is? We're having dinner in an hour! And we're not to be wandering all over the grounds at this time of day we could get hurt. Most importantly we have homework!”

“Who's it from, mate?” Ron asked from his spot in the large armchair.

Harry's eyes went momentarily wide, as his eyes darted over the parchment. “Not Hagrid.”

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other in concern.

“Read it,” Hermione encouraged.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione

Urgent meeting in the Great Hall - come now!

-Professor McGonagall

“Sounds serious!” Ron said, standing up urgently. “We better get going.”

Harry folded up the parchment and shoved it in his pocket, before starting to make his way with Ron over to the Portrait Hole.

“Wait!” The boys stopped at turned to face her. “I just have to put these away,” Hermione said pointing to the Pixies still wrapped in her hair. “Then we can go.”

***

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the first to arrive along with Neville who they met up with in the entrance hall.

“Have any idea what this is about?” Neville asked the three of them.

They shook their heads, and waited for the rest of the students to file into the Great Hall. Ten minutes later, Luna, the last person, came rushing in wearing a wrongfully yellow colored smock, which made Ron squint whenever he stared at her.

McGonagall stood at the front of the hall not looking overly impressed. A few teachers and Auror's stood behind her. “I see with still only a small amount of students remaining, tardiness is still a problem in this school. Five points each to Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter for being the only ones on time!”

Harry noticed Crabbe and Goyle scowling at them with their tongues out.

“Such children!” Hermione murmured under her breath.

McGonagall's angry face faded, replaced by gloomy one. “I am sure all of you have heard by now that a member of our staff has passed away. Professor Slughorn was found dead in London on Friday night. We still are not sure who is behind it, it is under full investigation by the Auror department. Professor Slughorn was a fine man, and a brilliant teacher. There will be a memorial held Wednesday morning, for those of you who wish to attend.” Mumbles echoed around the hall amongst a few excited fifth years. McGonagall frowned at them. “Yes, that means morning classes will be cancelled,” she said, answering the questions before anybody had the guts to ask for an asnwer. “It's sad when a teacher has been murdered and all you can do is get excited about missing a few classes.” The students recoiled in their chairs.

Hermione turned and glared at them. “Disgusting,” she murmured under her breath before shooting her hand in the air.

“Yes, Miss Granger?” McGonagall asked.

“Excuse me, Headmistress, but I was just wondering, who will be replacing Slughorn as our Potions Professor?” she asked.

This question stirred the crowd, and many of the students continued murmuring amongst themselves again.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me, Miss Granger,” McGonagall said. She moved closer to the line up of teachers and Auror's. Harry was puzzled; he didn't see any new faces in the line up. He saw Lupin beaming proudly; could he be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as Potions? His question was answered shortly afterward when McGonagall wrapped an arm around one of the female Auror's and declared. “This will be your new potions teacher!”

“TONK'S!?” Ron choked surprise. He whipped his head around to face Harry. “Tonk's is our new Potions teacher?”

Harry never had a chance to reply, because McGonagall continued with her speech. “This is Professor Nymphadora Tonks. She is a highly skilled Auror, and excelled on her Potions N.E.W.T. I know all of you will make her feel at home.”

The crowed broke out in applause, and Tonks murmured a few thank-yous. With a wave of her hand McGonagall dismissed the students, as they emptied out of the Great Hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed towards the exit as Hermione wallowed in how fantastic it was to have Tonk's for a Potions teacher.

“Harry Potter!” McGonagall shouted from the top of the Great Hall. “Will you and your friends stay behind a few minutes, please?”

“What did I do now?” Harry groaned as he turned back up to the front of the Hall with Ron and Hermione at his heel.

“Harry,” McGonagall said as he approached. “I am sure Miss Granger has put the clues together, and told you about the dangers of this situation.”

“You mean about a spy in the school?”

“Yes,” McGonagall replied. She shifted her eyes to Hermione, “Good job, Miss Granger.”

“What's going to happen now?” Harry asked.

“I have contacted the ministry and they have sent over more Auror's. Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye spent the entire night using Veritaserum on the staff, and Auror's to see if they are behind any of it. They all passed with flying colours.” McGonagall said. “We couldn't take any risks with what happened with Professor Snape last year.”

“What about students?” Ron asked, eyeing Crabbe and Goyle. “Some of them seem awfully dodgy.”

“I agree with you there Mr. Weasley,” McGonagall said, watching them across the room appearing to be scowling at Ginny, and Luna with her yellow smock. “But it is illegal to use Veritaserum on a student.” McGonagall turned her attention back to Harry. “Potter, the ministry as requested that if anymore breaches of security are made within the school that I assign an Auror to escort you around the school, and guard you at all times.”

“WHAT!?” Harry roared. “An Auror follow me everywhere I go?”

“Relax, Potter, it isn't happening now. Only if there is another breach in security, and it's for your own protection.” McGonagall said. “In the meantime, do not travel alone, careful of what you say to others, and be wary of Misters Crabbe and Goyle. Take care of each other,” McGonagall said. “Now you may go.” she added, dismissing them. “Oh, Potter, stay behind after Transfiguration tomorrow I would like to work on you with clearing your mind.”

Harry stalked away from McGonagall red in the face with fury as Ron, and Hermione jogged along to keep up. “Harry?” Hermione called. Harry didn't hear her he was deaf with rage as he angrily stomped out of the Great Hall. “HARRY?” Hermione shouted, pulling on his arm to stop him. He stopped and turned to look at her.

“Harry, you need to calm down, nobody is following you at the moment, only if something else happens,” Hermione said, trying to make him feel better. “It's for your safety.”

Harry noticed that Ron was suddenly preoccupied with watching Ginny and Luna, and was facing the opposite direction. Harry gripped Hermione by the arm and led her over to a secluded corner.

“But something will go wrong! It always does! Because I'm Harry Potter and that's how things work in my life!” he said in an irritated tone. “Harry Potter is big enough to save the entire world, but not old enough to walk to class by himself!” He threw McGonagall's note on the ground in a fit of anger. “Before you know it I will have a unit of Auror's following me to the loo!”

Hermione placed a soothing hand on his arm, to try and get him to relax. “Harry…I know it would be awful to have Auror's following you everywhere…” She looked around to see if anybody was watching, luckily nobody was. She leaned into him. “…But if they can keep you protected and keep you with me…then I would gladly welcome them.”

Harry smirked a little, and pulled her closer to him. “But we won't have anytime alone. How can we be together?”

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione sighed contently, standing on her toes to kiss him on the tip of his nose. “You have an invisibility cloak.”

The anger he had been rising in his blood now calmed and was far from his mind. She had amazing power over him that he didn't know she had. She could make him feel and do anything.

“Right…uh huh,” was all Harry could utter.

“I have to go do some homework right now. We can talk about this later, but don't worry about it at the moment, because nothing is happening right now,” Hermione said. “It would do you good to take a page from my book and do you're homework. You need to learn as much as possible.”

Harry and Hermione said a quick goodbye before Hermione darted up to the common room to finish her homework. Harry wandered over to Ron, who seemed to be done watching Luna and his sister.

“I think I like Lovegood,” Ron said. His eyes were glued to Luna, and he appeared to be as stunned as Harry felt.

“Since when? Why?” Harry asked.

“I have no idea!” Ron said, “…I just do.” Ron pulled his eyes away from Luna and focused them on Harry again. “Let's change the subject before I think I've gone as crazy as she is.”

“I think you already have.”

“Shut up,” Ron smirked. Harry and Ron slowly made their way out of the Great Hall. “That sucks about the Auror's.”

“Yeah.”

“Er…Harry, I know what you and Hermione were doing in our dormitory this morning,” Ron said warily.

Harry stopped in his tracks, eyes wide and choked. “You do?”

“Yeah…you guys were talking about what happened last night at the Quidditch pitch, weren't you? Harry, is she mad at me? It was an accident, I didn't mean to…I'm sorry. I don't want her to be mad- -“

“Ron…” Harry said, cutting him off. “No, it's alright. She's not mad, she's fine. We really we're talking about the Pixies, honestly.”

“You sure?”

Harry looked at the floor nervously and back to Ron. He hated lying to his best friend. “Yeah absolutely.”

***

Later that night in the Gryffindor common room Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting silently doing their homework. Ron was sitting at the table immersed in a letter he was writing, which he kept crumpling up and restarting. Harry and Hermione were sitting together on the couch. Harry was very aware of Hermione's leg which was pressed firmly against his. Hermione didn't seem to notice or was very aware and trying to torture him. Harry seemed to think she was trying to torture him.

His thoughts were answered when Hermione shifted her body, and leaned over him to retrieve another book. Harry groaned, as Hermione grabbed her book and returned to her seat with an evil grin planted on her face.

“You're cruel,” Harry said.

They both looked across the room when they heard Ron groan and toss another crumpled piece of parchment on the floor, and pull out a new one and begin writing.

Hermione glanced at her watch, and back up at Harry. “I have to go to bed. I have to get up early to do some more research.” she said.

“Alright,” Harry replied. He was a little disappointed, he was hoping Ron would go up to bed soon so he and Hermione could be alone, but it wasn't going to happen tonight. “Goodnight,” he said, leaning into give her a quick kiss.

“Harry…” she said glancing over at Ron who was writing away oblivious to everything around him. “I don't want to take any chances,” she whispered.

Harry joined her in glancing at Ron, he understood. “Okay, alright,” he whispered. “Goodnight, Hermione.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly as she slowly backed away from him, her hand slowing falling out of his grasp.

“Goodnight,” she replied. “See you in the morning.” She turned and marched over the stairwell leading to the girl's dormitories. “Goodnight Ron,” she said loud enough to pull him out of his train of thoughts.

“Yeah, night Hermione,” he said without raising his head.

Once Hermione had gone Ron groaned again and threw another piece of parchment on the floor, this time setting it on fire with his wand.

“What are you working on, Ron?” Harry asked curiously.

“Nothing,” Ron said, staring at Harry.

“It wouldn't be something for Luna, would it?” Harry teased with a cocky grin.

Ron blushed a horrible shade of crimson, and turned away from Harry and began frantically searching for another sheet of parchment.

Harry chuckled quietly to himself as he picked his book up off the floor and flipped through the pages until he came to the chapter on Salazar Slytherin. His laughter died as he settled down to study the life of Salazar Slytherin and to see if he could discover any potential Horcruxes.

-->

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.

-->